Manna for Moms

My friend Meg from Rebekah's birthclub on BabyCenter has started a website of devotionals for moms called Manna for Moms. She is an excellent writer, and she takes everyday moments with her children and applies them to biblical principles. I hope you will check out her website!

The Letter 'S'

Rebekah has made some simple shapes and letters on her own, but the most complex letter she has made clearly was what she created on Sunday. She shouted with excitement, "Mommy! It's the letter 'S'!" She continued to trace the letter with other colored crayons to practice. This is definitely going to be saved with a number of her other crafts and art work.

Isn't this supposed to be Summer?

*I've posted 3 times tonight, so check them all out!*

Who knew that colds could be common in the summer as well as winter? Evidently, Rebekah picked up a little cold recently. Yesterday she was feeling rather sluggish after church, especially as the day drew to a close. I had planned to let her play with her neighbor friend Emmy, but Rebekah seemed tired, and her eyelids were red. She claimed that her eyes hurt. I decided to make a call to Emmy's mom to let them know Rebekah wouldn't be up to playing that evening.

This morning Rebekah seemed pretty happy, but as the morning went on I was hesitant to take her to playgroup. She was extra cuddly and just wasn't acting herself. She seemed tired and was fussier than normal. Rebekah's voice also sounded like her nose was stopped up, although she hadn't had any other indications of a runny nose or stuffy head. In the end I decided to keep the kids home. Around 11:00 or so this morning Rebekah told me that her left ear hurt, so I made an appointment to see Dr. Rodgers. I gave her some Motrin and put heat to the ear to give it some relief. By lunch time Rebekah was feeling much better. She even asked me, "Does my ear feel better?" as if she wanted me to ask her about it. When I asked she told me that it did. By that time the Motrin had kicked in, but what was to come once the medicine wore off?

We didn't get to go to the pediatrician's office until 3:30, but that allowed Joshua to get a good nap before we had to leave. Rebekah not only has a fairly severe ear infection in her left ear, she also has a mild one in her right ear. Evidently, she has a high pain tolerance, so if she mentions something hurting I should take it seriously.

Since we had to wait a while on the prescription to be filled we went to Chick-fil-A for supper. Rebekah seemed to enjoy that well, especially since she got to play on the indoor playground. We were all tired, and I managed to get the kids their baths and to bed at a decent hour even though Darrin is gone on business. Hopefully Rebekah will be feeling better tomorrow.

One, Two, Three!

As I was snapping up Joshua's onesie I began to count each snap. I tend to do this sort of thing a lot without thinking of it. I guess that's why Rebekah loves numbers so much.

After I snapped the first snap and said, "one", Joshua followed with "two". I then said, "two" and he responded with "three". I managed to get it on video a couple times later that day.

In the second snapshot video you can see how proud he is when he says "two" and "three". It is so cute! I love how he pronounces "two" like "teeoo". About 10 seconds from the end of the video you also hear Joshua say, "Dadaddy!"

Fun in the...Water

Saturday evening our playgroup met for a family night at Riverpark. We don't get together much with the dads unless it's for a birthday party, and we thought it would be fun to have a family night to mix and mingle and watch the kids play. Boy, were we in for an evening!

It had sprinkled and lightly rained off an on throughout the day, and while we were hanging out under the pavilion a pretty good shower came through. One of the dads started pushing kids in a little toddler car back and forth out in the rain and back under the pavilion. The kids had much fun getting a little wet then escaping the rain for a few moments before riding back into the rain for a few seconds again.

A little while later the children noticed a big puddle just outside the pavilion where the concrete sloped into the grass. Oh, my! What fun they had splashing, jumping, and running through the water! Shirts and tops came off (good thing they are all age 3 and under!) while they played in the water and even the leftover drizzling rain.

Poor little Joshua was cranky the whole evening. He is teething like crazy, plus he wanted to be down to play, but I was concerned about him scratching up his knees on the concrete. It was a rough evening for him, but Rebekah had a blast!

Rebekah stepped out into the rain for a moment then returned to dry safety under the pavilion.


Joshua snuggling with his Daddy


Water fun!


Joshua had fun riding in this car for a little while. At least he was content while riding. This was also the car used to push the kids out in the rain.


Rebekah and her friend Pia



Even the walking babies, ummm, toddlers joined in.



And this pic is too good not to post. Rebekah's friend Maggie turned her head upside down in the water. It was too funny!

Curly Girl

Several months ago I learned about a hair washing process for curly hair. Having stick straight hair myself I didn't really know how to care for Rebekah's curls. I had tried brushing it, combing with a large-toothed comb, using my fingers to separate the hair. I had also tried a number of different products for curly hair as well as for children.

I just ordered the book Curly Girl by salon owner Lorraine Massey. I received it on Monday and read through it in one evening. How little I knew about curly hair! Her whole idea is to cut shampoo completely out of hair washing and use only conditioner to cleanse the scalp and hair. Now, there are variations to this, such as using a little shampoo for wavy hair, and other things one can use to cleanse the hair in addition to conditioner, but the main idea is using only conditioner to wash the hair and adding gel. No brushing, no blow drying, and letting the hair do its thing.

I've just been amazed with the results after only 3 washings! I am also using some olive oil in her hair since it cuts down on frizz. Her hair is curlier all over, especially in the front on the sides and on top where it was flat before. Even Darrin noticed a difference when he got home from work after the first day of her being a "Curly Girl". That really says something!

Here are a couple pics from this afternoon.

New words

Joshua has said some new words over the last couple of weeks.

1. While playing with a train engine I would say "Choo-Choo" and Joshua imitated me. He now says it when he plays with his train.

2. When I asked Joshua if he wanted to play or go with me to the potty he replied with a two-syllable word that ended in -tee. He has already said "play" a number of times, so it was obvious what he wanted.

3. When we play "Ring Around the Rosies" Joshua will say "ashies, ashies" over and over again. We also think he tries to say "down", but he says "dee".

4. Darrin is pretty sure Joshua said "thank you" last night.

Messy Fun

While trying to keep her preoccupied while I did some housework I decided to let Rebekah have some shaving cream fun on the window in the kitchen. Boy, did she have fun! The only thing was that every two minutes she wanted to wash her hands, so it didn't give me much time to get stuff done

Darrin got home from work to see Rebekah's masterpiece. You should have seen the look on his face! It was priceless! He was not sure at all what to think. He looked at the window with this funny look like, "What in the world????!!" then asked me what was on the window. When I told him it was shaving cream he said, "My shaving cream?" Yeah, I didn't use much. Ha! He thought it was going to be a mess to clean up. Just wipe with a wet cloth and you've got a clean window! The next time I want to keep Rebekah busy, though, I may strip her down and let her play with it in the bathtub.

Stepping Up In This World

Joshua took his first step!!! He was standing in our master bathroom and wasn't holding onto anything. He has been able to stand without support since June 20, but he just didn't feel confident. When he did do it he usually did not realize it, and once he noticed that he wasn't holding anything he would lose his balance. When he does stand without support he is doing things like pulling items out of my drawer with both hands alternating grabbing an object and tossing it on the floor.

Friday afternoon Joshua stood for several seconds in our bathroom without support. The next thing I knew he took a tiny step backward! Later that evening Darrin was working with him and Joshua took a step torward him! We tried to get some on video, but he wouldn't do any more. I have a feeling that once he gets the confidence to start walking he will take off running. He has the physical abilities to do it; he just lacks the confidence...and a little bit of balance that is improving quickly.

A Good Day Going Bad

Every day this week we have had something going on or have been going somewhere. I had nothing planned for today, so I was looking forward to a quiet day with the kids at home. Oh, it started out that way, but things are going downhill.

It is now going on 1:30 and I have still to take a shower. I am wearing my pajamas still along with a pair of sandals. If I am still in my pj's it means I have gotten next to nothing done. I can't stand doing anything around the house with my pj's on, and once Joshua is awake there is no shower until naptime, thus, I've not showered yet. Yes, Joshua is napping now, and this would be a great time to take that quick shower, but things have not been unfolding in such a way to allow it.

Lately Rebekah has not been successful pooping in the potty. She has had successes in the past, but they are always because I have caught her just as she was about to poop in her panties. Peeing is a little different. She holds it until I take her, so she has been very successful with that. The thing about all this potty training is that Rebekah does not initiate going to the potty. Oh, she will ask to go if I am going, but she doesn't suddenly feel the urge and go...except to have an accident.

I decided to start a reward chart for pooping due to all the accidents she has had lately. I just started yesterday, and she's yet to have success, but it's only the second day. However, Rebekah seems to be digressing in her peeing as well. She had an accident yesterday evening only an hour after I had taken her to the potty. Don't you know she just did it again! I was getting Joshua down for a nap, and when I came out of his room she was leaned over holding the toy box and peeing on the floor! I immediately took her to the bathroom where I made her strip down, but she got the floor wet in there too. So she is now in the bathtub waiting on a bath, the floor is wet from a quick mop, and once it's dry I will give her a quick bath.

Oh, boy! Joshua just woke up! He's not even had a full nap. Will I get a shower? I doubt it...not until Darrin gets home.

Driver's Reaction

My uncle Wayne sent me an email forward saying that the average driver's reaction time is 0.75 seconds, or one car-length, per 10 mph according to an automotibile manual. You can test your reaction time here.

A New Baby!

A friend of mine, Becky, had her baby boy Wesley Alan! He was born Friday, July 11 at 7:45AM. He was 8lbs. 13oz. and 20 inches long. Isn't he beautiful?!

Rebekah wanted to go to the hospital with me to visit baby Wesley, and it was really interesting to see her around a newborn again. She is so much more mature than she was 16 months ago when Joshua was born. She sat with me and helped me hold the baby.


I think Rebekah was hoping to see her friend Max, Wesley's big brother, but she told me that she liked the baby.

I promise I don't have the baby bug...but this is why I just felt uneasy about last Friday's surgery. Poor Darrin! He would have the "deer in the headlights" look if we had another, though.

The Point of No Return

Soon after Joshua was born I dealt with the "baby blues". I had never experienced anything like this with Rebekah, and all I really knew was that I was not myself. I cried really easily and was very moody. Now, if you know me pretty well you know that I am normally very even keel and let things slide off my shoulders for the most part. It takes quite a bit of stress to bother me much, and I tend to perform better under a little bit of pressure. Even when I experienced hormonal changes I would not deal with large dips in mood swings.

Everything seemed to change following Joshua's birth. I think part of it was the fact that I suddenly had to go to the hospital to have Joshua delivered 4 1/2 weeks early which was a huge surprise. I was not expecting that at all, and I was devastated. We were totally unprepared for Joshua's immenent arrival. Part of it was also dealing with a Cesaerean. I had a wonderful birthing experience with Rebekah, and I really wanted the same with Joshua. He was not handling the labor well at all, so a C-section was necessary. I really struggled with this for a while, and all of these things seemed to fall on top of me at once. I was also nursing Joshua, so the combination of these things sent me in a hormonal spiral where I felt so out of control of my emotions.

In the midst of my emotional and hormonal chaos Darrin brought up the discussion of permanent birth control. Ummmmm...are you telling me that you are asking me to never be pregnant again ever??? I couldn't even fathom it. I was crushed. Here I was with our second child only days old, and Darrin was ready to put a halt to more children. He quickly realized that it was just really bad timing.

Months went by and the more we both thought about it the more we started to meet in the middle. I finally gave Darrin the green light to have a consultation, but even after we met with the doctor and made the appointment I had a bit of uneasiness about it. Yes, I am content with our two children, and I would be perfectly happy if we didn't have any more, but am I okay with going out of our way to have no more?

As time came closer to the surgery date I had thoughts in my mind. Second thoughts. I didn't say anything to Darrin because I knew this was really important to him, but I began questioning if this is what God desires of us. Darrin has had such a peace about it. I have not. I thought about the verse in Scripture that says that "children are a blessing from the Lord". If we go through with this are we asking God not to give us any more blessings? Yes, I understand why Darrin wants to stop, but is God able to overcome these if His will is to give us more? I even thought about the song from Phantom of the Opera, "Past the Point of No Return". What a morbid song to be reminded of, but I just couldn't get it out of my head.

I never mentioned anything to Darrin until he brought it up the night before the scheduled surgery. He could sense my uneasiness. I was okay with it, but he told me he wants me to be 100% ready. What if I'm never 100% ready? All I know is that if God gave us another child I would be delighted, but if He didn't I would be just as happy. Some days I think it would be neat to have more children while other days I am ready to pull my hair out. I only have two arms, two legs for a lap, and two hips to carry my kids. Would adding a third to the mix pull more attention away from Rebekah who is desperately needy of me already? These are all questions I will have to continue to wade through and pray about. I'm just thankful that Darrin was so understanding that he was willing to cancel the surgery.

Rebekah and Math

Rebekah's mind is definitely more mathematical than anything else. I don't know if she's necessarily advanced in math, but she leans toward math skills more than any other, and she gets it honestly. Darrin and I are both strong in math, so we are not surprised to see how much Rebekah enjoys it.

Rebekah is doing some simple addition. She has been doing this for several months, but I finally got some on video today. I think it's so funny that when she doesn't know or remember the answer she'll say, "You know..."



Rebekah can also count to 49 now, and she has recently become interested in her jigsaw puzzles again. It has been a long time since she has played with them. She likes for me to help her with them, but she can practically do them with no help. She's been doing some 48- and 60-piece puzzles, so I'm looking into buying some 100-piece puzzles for a challenge.

More Words

Since the weather is so hot during the middle of the day and afternoon I make a point to take the kids outside in the evenings where we can play in the shade. Some days if it's not too hot Darrin and I will take them for a wagon ride around the corner and down the street where the road is not too hilly. Both Rebekah and Joshua love it, and it's good exercise for Darrin and me.

A little over a week ago we were out walking while the kids were riding in the wagon. Across the street and diagonally from our house two girls were out playing and riding their bikes in the driveway. One girl is 7 and the other is 4 years old. They made conversation with us as we walked by, and then as we moved farther away they waved and said, 'bye!' For the first time Joshua held his arm up, waved his hand, and repeatedly said, 'eye, eye, eye'. He continued this after we had turned the corner and were no longer in viewing of the girls. When we passed them on the way back to our house they caught Joshua's attention. He started to stand up in the wagon and was ready to climb out! I think he would have crawled right over to them if he could have.

Yesterday Joshua said 'mommy' for the first time. I just love it!!! He repeated it several times today as well as 'daddy' after Darrin came home. He's also starting to say Rebekah's name again which he hasn't attempted in a while. Another new word from today is 'play'. I gave Joshua a couple of choices, one of which was to play. He looked at me with a big smile and said something that sounded like a consonant attached to "ay". Sure enough, he was happy when I placed him on the floor to play with his toys!

Joshua also says variations of 'yes' - yes, yeah, yah. Funny thing is when he wants to communicate 'no' he just shakes his head from side to side, and he's very emphatic about it. When he's had enough of a certain food he shakes his head at it. When I ask him if he wants to get out of the bath tub, he just looks at me and shakes his head then smiles.

All these new words are so fun to hear him communicate! One of these days, though, I'm sure I'll be wishing for a moment's peace from him.

What Does It Mean to Be Quiet?

When Joshua was really little he slept so well in his crib. I could even lay him down awake and he would go right to sleep without a fuss for bed and naps. Last winter we dealt with lots of teething and sickness (colds and stomach virus) that forced us to get out of bed more for Joshua since he was feeling miserable. As a result, the transition back to sleeping on his own did not go well at all. He would cry when I put him down, wake 2-4 times in the night wanting to nurse, and I got into the habit of rocking and nursing him to sleep. It became a vicious cycle.

We finally had to start letting Joshua cry in his crib. We were mostly concerned for Rebekah because his crying would keep her awake, but once we stuck with it the crying quickly dissipated and Joshua hasn't even wimpered the last two nights when I put him down. And yes, he was awake when I laid him in his crib.

Naps are another story. If I let Joshua cry during the day he will cry until he is wide awake, and it's another 2-3 hours before he'll even think about sleep again. Many times Joshua falls asleep in the car while we're out, so even if we had no plans to be out we have to take him on a car ride to settle him down to sleep. He then takes a nice nap in the basement where it's comfortable. Otherwise, if he does nap in his crib it's no more than about 30 minutes. And he only takes one nap.

Today Joshua fought taking a nap in his crib, and we had only 30 minutes before I had to pick up Rebekah from preschool. I had thought about heading out early and letting Joshua konk out in the car, but as I held him in the kitchen while the nearby washer and dryer were running he drifted off to sleep in my arms. I took him down to the car and he woke briefly and settled down to sleep. Wow! If I could only get him to do that in his crib! (Darrin just put up some black-out shades in Joshua's room, so I hope and pray it works.)

When I picked Rebekah up from preschool I told her that she needed to be really quiet because Joshua was sleeping in the car. I bribed her with some candy, too. Normally on the ride home Rebekah either is so tired that she doesn't talk the whole way home or she is really happy and wants to talk about her friends and teachers and what she did in her class. Today was the latter.

The ENTIRE ride home Rebekah whispered about everyone and everything. She would ask questions constantly. "Is _______ going home?" She repeated the same question with a different person in the blank multiple times. If I turned right she would ask what was in the opposite direction. She talked about all her friends, her teachers, and asked what they were doing. All of this continued in a whisper. A couple times she got excited and forgot to whisper and I had to remind her to not speak loudly, but for the most part she constantly whispered until we arrived home. When she ran out of things about preschool she switched the subject. She began to ask rhetorical questions. Questions to which she knows the answers, but she likes to ask them anyway. "Mommy, what color is your hair?" Then she asked funny questions like, "What is my name?" "What is Joshua's name?"

Don't you know, none of Rebekah's whispering bothered Joshua at all, but once we pulled into the driveway he started to wake. Rebekah got excited and shouted, "Joshua's awake!" Once his eyes began to open she considered that a green light to let her lungs loose.

Happy 4th of July!

On Friday, July 4, Carrie, Taylor, and Lindsey came along with my parents to celebrate the holiday. We let the kids play inside for a while then enjoyed Sticky Fingers in our home for an early supper. Poor Joshua didn't get a nap all day, and he nearly fell asleep in his highchair. He finally took a short nap while we took the kids outside to play.

Here is another overload of pics. I can't resist though.

Joshua had A LOT of fun with my dad! There are times when Joshua wants to have nothing to do with anyone but me and maybe Darrin, and other times he will go to other close family members or friends. This was one of those times that he went to my dad no problem and had a ball.



I took several pics of the kids and still never got a really great snapshot of all three. I think it's impossible. Notice Joshua's and Taylor's outfits, though. Isn't that too cute?!



This was is too funny not to share. Totally impromptu.


My mom and the granddaughters


Rebekah wanted to play "Ring Around the Rosies" with Taylor. Both the girls had so much fun! Taylor is walking really well now, and it's interesting to see how differently Rebekah treats a walking toddler to a crawling child who is only 6 weeks younger. Rebekah treated Taylor as if she was just a smaller version of herself. She fully expected Taylor to run like her as well, so I had to continually remind Rebekah to be easy with Taylor. Not that I don't have to remind her not to be rough with Joshua (she loves to rough house Joshua!), but she wanted to play with Taylor more like a little girl than a baby.

Here in this pic we had just finished the game. Taylor never figured out that she was supposed to sit down at the end, but she had fun walking around in a circle with us.


Rebekah loves to swing high! Six months ago when we first got the swingset I never would have imagined how well she would be swinging in a regular belt swing.


Rebekah walked Taylor up and down the driveway.



Sisters and cousins

A Visit from Carrie

Last week my sister Carrie, her daughter Taylor, and their babysitter Lindsey came to visit Chattanooga for a few days. Daniel needed to work on the kitchen, so he sent Carrie and Taylor out of the house, and they chose to visit us for the holiday.

They arrived town on Monday, and since Rebekah didn't have preschool on Wednesday they came over while the kids played in the kiddie and baby pools and other outside toys. Friends of ours, Tina and and her baby boy Caleb, came over as well. We had an enjoyable afternoon with each other and the kids.

Joshua did not last long in the baby pool at all, so in the play gym he went. He wasn't too happy about this either. I did manage to calm him down with a Hot Wheels car, and he stopped fussing for a moment when a garbage truck drove by. Funny thing, Caleb and Joshua noticed the truck, Joshua moreso, but Rebekah and Taylor could care less. It's funny to see how different boys and girls are even at such a young age.


Fussing - he's teething again. It's about time! He only has 6 teeth!


Taylor and Caleb enjoying the baby pool. Taylor outlasted everyone in the water!


Nothing like a toy on which to chew!


Taylor


Caleb


Rebekah enjoys her pool too.



Tina, Joshua, and I, and Carrie


After some water fun we went down to the swingset to play.


Rebekah pushes Taylor in the infant swing


Rebekah introduces the sand and water table to Taylor


Cute pose


Carrie, Taylor, and Lindsey