Lessons Learned

We recently redid Jake's room and gave him a big boy room! There are always lessons to be learned during these things. Here are a few we learned during this short little redo project.
Sometime I should listen to Jason on paint choices. He wanted to go with a darker color & I wanted to go with the color that looked most like the bedding. Turns out the gray I chose looks a little to light.

Everyone tells you your kids will grow so fast. Giving Jake a big boy room really hit that home. I honestly try and enjoy each minute with him because I know every time I blink he grows a little bit and seems a little older. Giving him a big boy room 4 years after finding out we were pregnant(almost to the day) made for some tears on redo day. Kids grow way too fast, but you will never understand this until you are in it. 100'S of people can tell you this while you are pregnant, but it just doesn't have the same meaning.

Don't ever use border!! Well, I suppose if you never plan to take it down it might be ok. Taking down the 1 strip of border Jake had going around his room was the hardest(physical) part of redoing Jake's room. And then trying to paint where the border was provided to be another struggle. Several coats of paint later and it looks fine now. But NEVER use border!!!

It was very bittersweet giving Jake his bog boy room. Converting his toddler bed(which had been converted from his crib) into a full size bed was exciting for him, but pretty sad for us. His full size bed is so big and theoretically will be his bed until he goes away to college(crazy...to picture a big teenage boy in his full size bed when he looks so small in it right now).

Jake loves his room and his big boy bed and even a week later still refers to it as his big boy bed instead of just his bed. And as this week has gone on I have grown to really enjoy reading books to him from his bed instead of his rocking chair, cuddling on his bed before he falls asleep, and accepting my 3 year old big boy that he is.

The Star

Every year Jason holds Jake up to put the star on the tree. Or I guess really to just look like he is next to the star. This marked the 4th year of Jake helping daddy to put the star on the tree. I really can't believe how much my tiny baby has grown.

Grown

Just yesterday he was a baby
and today it seems he is GROWN!

It started with a hair cut. Mind you this is not the 1st, but with each hair cut he has seemed older. Then Jason took him a couple weeks ago for another. When they came home he was GROWN!

We have been talking about getting rid of his pacifier for months now. Really it was more me holding back then anything. He loves his paci (and was super attached). I didn't want to be the one to make him sad.

We were down to 2 pacifiers left in the house(I promise those things disappear). Both the pacifiers had been chewed and were left with a hole in each. Last week Jake bit the end off his most favorite paci. But he was ok with it he still had the little bit favorite. (his words)

But really it was time to let go....I was having a hard time just giving it up.
And so was Jake. You couldn't even mention "get rid of the paci" if he  was a around. He would yell from where ever he was(because his ears were on radar for those words) "no, it not time to get rid of my paci."

I knew this road would not be fun...I am not a cry it out kind of parent. And what do you do when your sweet boy is crying for one of his most favorite possessions(the other is his blankie...which he still has)?

Finally the inevitable happened.....

While at my mom's and of course being the clown he is & trying to show off...
He bit the end off the VERY last paci we had(well really there was one at my mom's but we were done).

Before he did this we gave him full warning..."if you bite it off your paci will be gone and you won't have it any more."

When he did we all acted super excited and told him what a big boy he would be without a paci.

Too cute Caleb even gave him a high 5 and said "yeah, you a big boy no more paci."

Jake was proud!

For the 1st time ever he let you call him a big boy when talking about his paci. In months past he would say he was a big boy until you said "well, big boys don't have pacis." Then he would revert and so "no, my a baby."

I was not....literally I had to hold the tears back (even now as I write this post and recap the end I am holding tears back....ok, maybe a few rolling down my cheek).

This was the last thing holding him at being a baby

This was it....

From here what do you get?

GROWN!!!

That is the only word to describe my sweet baby boy this week...GROWN!! He just seems so grown without it. Although he had stopped walking around the house with it. He did still have it pretty regularly.

Some how he just seems GROWN!!!

Daily Moments

Linking up for another week of Project Life with The Mom Creative 

This week was super busy which made for a couple days with no pictures. Here is a short recap of the week. Wed night Jason's truck wouldn't start. He had to get a ride home from work and Jake & I had to drive him to work on Thursday morning. Thankfully it was only his battery and it is up and running now. Friday I took Jake to his mawmaw & papa Jack's. When I got in my car to leave it wouldn't start either...again the battery. 2 dead batteries in one week. Thankfully I was at my inlaw's house and they were able to help me with my car. I had wedding rehearsal Friday night for a wedding I was in Saturday. Friday night on my way to the rehearsal I got a phone call that they were taking my sister in for her c-section. She was 25 weeks pregnant with twin boys and had been in the hospital for a week. They were able to hold off labor until Friday when her contractions started again. She delivered Luke Stephen(1.5 pounds & 12") & Logan Michael(2 pounds 13") Friday evening.  The boys are doing as well as could be expected, but they will have a long stay in the nicu. Then Saturday I was in a friend from high schools wedding and Sunday we ended the weekend celebrating my nephews 3rd birthday. To say this has been a busy week is an understatement. But it was filled with so many blessings too!!! Here are pictures from the week(at least from the days that I have).

Monday July 5th- we were still celebrating 4th of July. We roasted marshmallows on the grill and made s'mores. But eventually just eating the marshmallows on the stick were better then the rest.

Tuesday July 6th- My Good Morning Girls group came over to hang out. We had such a great time!! I made these super yummy Martha Stewart s'mores cookies.

Wednesday July 7th-no picture for today...picture Jason's broken truck sitting at work

Thusday July 8th-again no picture today

Friday July 9th- Today we welcomed 2 tiny new nephews. Although, I have some pictures of them I wasn't sure if I should post them. If you are a praying person please pray for these tiny babies. But thankfully I have a super cute picture of Jake to share. He has been really into superheroes lately. Not a specific one, but he loves to run around the house yelling, "Superhero saves the day." His Mawmaw made him this super cute superhero cape with a J on the back. He loves it!!!

Saturday-July 10th- Here we are all dressed up after my friends wedding. It is such a joy to attend and be a part of a wedding.

Sunday-July 11th- Happy Birthday Caleb Reece today you are 3 years old. (of course the birthday boy is the one not looking...this was the best of like 5 pictures) We celebrated at Jump 4 Joey with a John Deere theme.

That is our week in a nutshell!!

Life Skills

Do your children do chores? Do you call it chores? Do they get paid for it? How old were they when you started?

These are all questions I have about this and would love for you to give me your feed back in the comments.

Jake is too young to be paid for things he does to help...but am I wrong?

At this age we call them life skills and feel the things he is learning to do are part of growing up and all are things you need to learn.

At 2 he is learning to make his bed. He carries his plate to the sink & wipes off the table after each meal. He also helps to load & unload the dishwasher.  Along with other small things around the house.

He loves to help & I really work on letting him.  I recently read a blog post at passionate homemaking about learning experiences around the house. It was great and inspiring. Gave me more ideas of where to let Jake help. It takes a little more time, but really aren't these life skills are children need to learn?

I think for now we are focusing on the life skill aspect and being a part of the family. Not the chore get paid for it kind of stuff. But really I would love to hear your thoughts!!

Half...a little note to my boy

Two & a half!!! Half way to THREE that much farther from TWO!

Sadness, Joy, excitement, & anxiety are all the things I feel at you turning 2 1/2!

Already you are such a little boy no baby anywhere to be found. Although, we haven't made you give up your paci & blankie and you have no desire to do so. When I tell you that big boys don't have paci's & ask if you are a baby? You reply so matter of fact with "no, my Jake." But sometimes you will turn to me and say "mommy, my a baby." Which melts my heart...because really you will always be my baby. Even if you don't understand that now. Or when I won't let you have your paci, you look at me and say, "but my tired." Because really I "try" to only let you have it when it is nap or bed time. Sweet boy the time of the paci is going to come to an end very soon. One more thing to make you seem even more grown up.

You carry on the best conversations. And your little voice is so much fun to listen to. We talk all the time. And all though your "why?" 10,000 times a day can get a little out of control...I really try to answer every "why?" And remind myself that you are just being curious and learning. You really are super smart!!

Your imagination is out of this world.  The things you come up with make me laugh all day long!!! We spend so much time laughing!  You sometimes have an imaginary dog named, Missy and it is too cute to see  you get a high pitched voice and call "Missy" to come to you. And sometimes you feed imaginary police men that are in our back yard. There is a bird that flies around in our back yard and for some reason you have decided this bird is your's . You can even tell the difference when other birds come & we ask if they are your bird. You get so frustrated with your bird because it always flies away when you try to catch it. You say "my just want my bird right here on my hand"(pointing at your hand). But you usually run out the back door yelling, "come here bird." So it is no wonder that it always flies away when you try to get it.

We still have our hard days with discipline. I can't turn my back for more then a second without you getting into something. And you tend to tell me "no" when I ask you to do something. But this has gotten better too.

Even between the difficult times you being 2 1/2 is so much fun! And I am so blessed to see you change, learn, & grow every day. I truly feel that being home is where I am supposed to be. I can't imagine missing one minute of our days.

I can't believe in 6 short months you will be the BIG 3! I love you sweet boy and look forward to every day with you!
Mommy