Loving Your Child Is Not Enough

So we've had 2 really bad nights in the house.........both nights with Savannah waking up 3 times.......ugh.....I'm so tired, I feel like I'm barley running on auto pilot. Tonight is Thursday, so it's the usual trip to the in-laws for dinner and then to Woodmans to get some groceries...going to try a new chicken with broccoli crock pot recipe I found online next week!

So today, while pumping at work, I finished reading "Loving Your Child is not Enough - Positive Discipline That Works" by Nancy Samalin with Martha Moraghan Jablow. I have to say that I really enjoyed the book. It was written in a way that you can relate with the way other people feel/talk to their children and it gave great examples on ways you can just slightly alter your words to change the way your child will react to what you are saying. I'm really trying to get Scott to agree to read the book as well, because I think it will be more affective if we both know the "rules". He's not much of a reader, but I told him if he just reads 10 pages a night, skips 1 day a week, he'll have it finished in around a month. So I think that is doable, I just hope he does it! I will probably want to refer back to this book time and time again, and re-read it often. Do you have a favorite book that really helped with your parenting style?? If so let me know, and I'll try to read it!

Easter

So the spring semester at MATC is coming to an end, I’ll be done in the next 1-2 weeks. I have my paper for Intro to International Business due tonight…….I have it finished, but I’m waiting for Jessica to e-mail me back any changes I should make….I’m horrible at proof reading, so hopefully she can add some insight on the project (Scott wasn’t much help…he only found 1 thing…and I know there has to be more errors than that in it). I think I should be getting A’s in both of my classes which will equal a 4.0, and I have enough credits that it would put be on the Dean’s List again, yay!!

So obviously Sunday was Easter. Did everyone have fun?? The Easter Bunny made a stop at our house and brought Connor some snacks, clothes, and a Lotso toy (Toy Story 3). Savannah got dresses, snacks (which she won’t get to enjoy for a couple of more months) and Sophie the giraffe (from 3 Men & a Baby). We then made the usual rounds to the family. Starting at Jim & Pat’s, then John & Carol’s, and then finishing up at Aunt Missy’s house. Every house had an Easter Egg Hunt, which means we accumulated more candy at each house….I brought a bag of it to work for everyone to have some, because there is no way we could eat that much candy. Pretty sure Connor had a blast, he is the egg hunting king!

Coloring Eggs

So I can’t believe that April is almost coming to a close…….2 more days and my baby brother will be the same age as me….and only a few more after that and we will already be in May!! This weekend is the Sun Prairie Garage Sale, and we will be participating. So if you know anyone who may need: stove, dishwasher, workout equipment, clothes, recliners, etc. then stop on by the house!

So this past Friday we had Jessica & Justin over for dinner. Had some burgers on the grill again, some Caesar pasta salad and some baked potatoes, yumm! After dinner we colored some eggs. Well Jessica, I & Connor colored eggs….Scott & Savannah just watched, while Justin watched TV and played on his phone. It was pretty fun. It wasn’t your normal drop in the cup coloring. You actually took 3 different color packets and dropped a couple of drops in plastic baggies , dropped the egg in the baggie, and shook it up. Connor had a lot of fun doing it! He did break a couple of eggs though from hitting the egg on the table, lol.

Baby-led Weaning

So Scott is at his bowling banquet tonight, so it's just me & the kids again. We're all in bed right now, Savannah is sleeping & Connor is watching Over The Hedge. Usually we do baths right about now, but I'm breaking routine for the night....to keep my sanity, and it's always fun for Connor to break routine once and awhile....just got to make sure we don't do it to often.

So yesterday I finally finished Baby-led Weaning The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett (purchased on amazon for around $10). I 100% recommend this book to anyone who has a baby and is going to be introducing food to soon, or anyone who will be watching babies. The whole philosophy of the book is to have the baby eat when they are ready! They feed themselves when they are physically and mentally ready to eat. There is no "stages" like with purees, no right or wrong order to introduce food. The whole point of offering food is for the baby to learn about different textures, shapes, sizes, etc. Babies have a natural survival instinct, they will eat when they need to, and they will eat what they need to eat as long as they are offered it. I could go on and on about this books and the benefits about Baby-led Weaning, but I'll stop at this. Go out and buy this book!! I know I definitely will be going back to certain parts of the book- suggestions on what works best at the beginning, ways to prepare the food, etc. One last thing - it SAVES money and will also help you to eat better too!!!

Sittin' Time

I really need to get to bed, but I had a couple of different things I wanted to post tonight... so I'm postponing the shower and posting on here instead. Connor's in bed now & Scott & Savannah are watching some WWE.

So tonight we were practicing "sitting" with Savannah, and she actually did it!! It was only for about 15-20 seconds, but it counts, right? I think it counts since I had enough time to catch a super cute picture of it!!! What a big girl! She can stop growing anytime....I want her to stay a baby forever!! Cause if she doesn't, it'll just make me want another one...cause no matter how sleep deprived I am, just looking down at that sweet little Innocent thing just makes my day!

Gary Allan

So it's Monday night already...where did the weekend go?? Why does it go so fast?? My weekend was even longer than normal because I had to leave work Friday afternoon because Connor was sick. Well the nice thing to look forward to is that I have a short week, I have Good Friday off because Scott's mom has "off".

So this past weekend was the Gary Allan concert. I had gotten Scott the tickets for his birthday. It was at the Crystal Grand Music Theatre and I had a blast. I had never been there, and it really is a neat little place. Before the concert we went to Pedros and had dinner with Uncle Pate, I of course, had my chicken chimichanga (sp?), yumm!! The concert was only a little over 1.5 hours, the shortest one I had ever been to, but it was worth it. No opener, which saves time, and there wasn't a lot of long breaks in between any of the songs, it was pretty much constant music the entire time. He didn't play my favorite song...but I'll forgive him...it's not the most popular of his songs anyways.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

So tonight Connor had gymnastics....and ugh......it was a rough night......he yelled at his teacher, which he has never done before. I had to pull him out for about five minutes, threaten to leave, and then finally *after a couple attempts* got him to go apologize to his teacher....ugh...hopefully this doesn't happen in two weeks. Madison has spring break next week, so he doesn't have class then. Only a couple of more weeks, and then it's summer break (not sure if we're going back in the fall), and then swim lessons start for both kids!!

So FINALLY I finished the book I was suppose to finish for book club several months ago. Unfortunately we still haven't met to talk about the book.....not sure exactly what happened with our book club, but it kind of crumbled....hopefully we can continue on again in the fall. So the book was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Overall it was a pretty good book. I can't really give a good review on it because it took me so long to finish the book (not entirely the book's fault). I will say I enjoyed it more the second half (which I read in about a week or so, so I remember it!) The first half took me so long to read that I kept getting the characters confused and couldn't figure out who had written what to whom. It may be worth reading again some day, and I'll make sure I read it faster so I understand/like it better.

First Trip To The Zoo

So the month of April is just about 1/2 over already....can you believe it?? Why do the days and weeks go by so fast? Sometimes I want things to hurry up and get here, but then it's done and gone just as quickly as it came....is this the way life will always be from now on?? Wanting it to SLOW down?? I guess we just need to sit back and enjoy as much of it as we can!!

Talking about enjoying life, this past Sunday was BEAUTIFUL outside!! First awesome day of the year, and we took advantage and went to the zoo. We went with Matt, Chrissy, Buddy, Ella, Jim, Michelle & Donovan. While Ella slept 1/2 of the time, Savannah was wide awake and staring at her brother & cousins as the ran around to look at the animals. Connor wanted to see the turtles and Buddy liked the giraffes. It was so nice to be outside almost all weekend, but unfortunately it's back to being in the 50's, and just a little to cold to spend any significant amount of time outside. Savannah must have loved being outside as most of her life as been inside. All I know is the fresh air must have worn her out because on Sunday night she slept 7.5 hours, the longest she's ever slept!

Madison Monroe

Sitting around the house, playing Candy Land with Connor while watching some of the basketball game....not that it matters, none of my teams are left, but whatever. Both kids are crabby...that's always fun to deal with on a Saturday night....Connor didn't have a nap today, and I'm pretty sure Savannah is going threw a growth spurt and possibly in early stages of teething....fun stuff!!

So today we finally got to make the trip up north to visit my niece Madison Monroe. She was born on March 23 at 3:20 p.m. and she was 8lbs5oz and 22 inches long. She has the cutest chubby cheeks ever, but then I was surprised to see little chicken legs. She was such a good baby, she barley ever cried when we where visiting. It was to bad that I didn't get to see Nick because he was working, but I'm thinking I may head up north to Aunt Jenny's pampered chef party next weekend so hopefully they'll stop by & I can see him. Other than briefly at Savannah's baptism I haven't seen him since he visited us in the hospital when Savannah was born. Hopefully now with Madison around we'll get to see each other more often, either us going up there, or him coming down here.

1 Year Ago

So we are going to go visit Miss. Madison today, and I can't wait. I feel so bad that we couldn't get up there sooner, she's already 1.5 weeks old, but sometimes life gets in the way of our plans. I am charging my camera right now so I can take lots of pictures!!

So 1 year ago today I found out I was preggo, and we all know now that it was with Miss. Savannah, my little princess. I can't believe that was 1 year ago already. Sometimes it just feels like yesterday, while other times it feels like a lot longer than a year. So much has stayed the same and so much has changed in the last year. What where you all doing a year ago??

4 Months Already

I am so glad it is almost the weekend!! It has been a long week!!! Tuesday night Connor woke up in the middle of the night, Wednesday night Savannah woke up twice in the middle of the night instead of just her usual once….and then last night I stayed up to late to watch Grey’s & Private………so I’m a little tired, and looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow!!!

So today is April 1st, 2011 and Miss. Savannah is officially 4 months old!! I can’t believe how much she’s growing already. She doesn’t have her 4 month check up until the 11th, but you can definitely tell she is growing nicely! This is the time when most people would start their baby on baby cereal or purees….NOT US. We started Connor around 4.5 months, but we are skipping this step all together with Miss. Savannah. She will not be having anything until 6 months and she can feed herself. This is called Baby Led Weaning, and is really (in my belief) the best option for any child. If you are interested in learning more information let me know, I have a wonderful book that I’m reading about it (will have a review on it later when I finish).

Easter Pictures

So last weekend we didn’t end up going to visit and meet Miss. Madison. I woke up Saturday morning at 1:30 and was super sick all day……..yuck!! We’re going to try again tomorrow, lets hope I don’t wake up sick again!!

So yesterday we went to JcPenny’s after work & dinner to get our Easter Pictures taken. We started with Connor, and then did Savannah, then both of them, then family and then Savannah again. Connor did very well for his pictures, but about ½ way threw he decided he wanted to be a stinker and started to do his fake smiles/cheesy faces!! Savannah did great for her first pictures too, but by the time we wanted to do the naked baby bunny pictures she was done and didn’t want to smile anymore….oh well I think we got a few good ones.