Control

There has been lots of talk about another baby in our house. Both from Jason & I & even Jake has gotten in on the conversation. His Aunt had twins about 9 weeks ago which I think is what has sparked Jake's interest in talking about babies. But for Jason & I it is just getting to be about that time.

I am a huge planner...like to a fault. I know that my plans aren't the plans that matter. That I should be leaving my plans in God's hands and fully trusting that he knows the way. But I just haven't been able to give up my control and let God lead the way. I am praying about this daily.

I know that it is always a good time to have a baby!!

But I just can't help, but think if we wait for this or we do that it might be better. I am at the point now where I just want to give it to God and let him take charge of when is a good time. You would think after struggling to get pregnant with Jake I would know that my plans aren't always the same as God's plan. If it had been my plan Jake would have been born in April of 2007. But instead God knew what we needed and blessed us with Jake in October (only 5 days after my birthday and the day before Halloween).  I should have learned that no matter how much planning there is on my part usually it doesn't work out that way.

It seems that when Jason & I talk about it I just can't really seem to give it all to God. It is so easy to say, to pray, to ask God to let me give up control, but when it comes down to actually letting go of control I can't fully release it. I still have a hold maybe not as tight of a hold as last week or even yesterday, but still  holding on to control. 

However, there is planning that needs to be done here on earth.

The biggest thing I need is to find a new doctor! The doctor I have now won't allow vbacs.

There have been plenty of women who change doctors in the middle of their pregnancy, but I want to start out with a good doctor who will listen to my wishes. So I have partially been on the hunt for a new doctor. I think I haven't really been putting my all into searching for a doctor because I am not really sure if this is the *right* time for us to have a baby. Feeling like if I put off finding a doctor I can wait until what seems like the *right* time!

But will I ever feel like this is the *right* time?

I am opening my heart just a little & sharing some of these struggles. This is what is on my mind right now and is basically all consuming of every free moment my brain & heart has.  Is the time now??

Preschool??

I am not sure if it is because Jake is getting to that age(can't believe he will be 3 in less then 2 months) or because it is that time of year...but almost daily I am asked if we will be putting Jake in any type of preschool.

The answer is hmm...not this year. I am not sure on this one. In fact I am not even sure he will go to any kind of school ever...other then school at home.

I love having him home with me all the time. Yes, there are the days that I could use a few minutes alone at Starbucks or days when bed time can't come soon enough. But those days are few & far between. I really truly love being home with him every day all day.

We aren't just sitting around watching tv or him doing his thing while I do mine.

We spend most of our day in the play room. Of course playing, but also lots of learning. I am a total planner so we focus on a letter, color, & shape for each week.  Then do fun craft projects, cooking projects, & even some times shopping that has to do with our theme for the week. This is more because I like I having a plan for the week and doing things with him...not so much that I think he needs to learn everything now at almost three. But being at home we also have time for lots of imagination play & free play. Not to mention lots of out door exploring time too.

We have a mommy & me music class we go to on Tuesdays(so excited for the fall session to start this week), we have a play group with a few of our wonderful friends that gets together once a week, I am in a Bible study one day & Jake gets to play with lots of other kids during this time(away from me). He is in a Sunday school class with kids his age. And of course there are his cousins to play with too.

So he is definitely getting his socialization in during the week & we are getting lots of learning in too. And some of it is out of the box learning that you would never get from a classroom type setting. And a lot of the time he is with kids of different ages which I think is good too.

And then of course there is the part of me still being able to shelter him and protect him & be there for  whatever need he might have during the day.  Did I mention that I really love being with him every day?

But being asked this question so often lately has really had me thinking...should we be thinking about sending him to preschool? Is he supposed to go to preschool? The way people ask the question almost makes it seem like a requirement of childhood.

There is the side that it might be good for him to be away from me for a little while during the day(he is I am  pretty attached). After all I won't be there forever to protect him from everything. And what if we do decide to send him to school? It would probably be good for him to have some type of idea of school and being away from me before being "thrown" into kindergarten. But really wasn't it not too long ago that most children were just "thrown" into kindergarten anyway? I didn't have any type of pre anything school. Just one day I was in kindergarten.

Maybe there is too much pressure on the kids(and parents too) to know everything before they get to kindergarten. Shouldn't this time of "pre"-school be for playing and being with your mommy all day every day. There will be a time for school and being away at another age.

But really what are your thoughts on preschool? Is it necessary? Have you seen signs of huge benefit from those children who attend preschool as to those who don't?

Memories

I am horrible about keeping things unless it can go in a scrapbook(which really only leaves paper things to be kept). So mostly that means I don't keep clothes. I frequently go through my closet and get rid of things I haven't worn in a few months. Sometimes a few weeks later I think about wearing the shirt and remember I got rid of it.

As Jake has grown out of his clothes I have been getting rid of some, keeping ones I really liked or had some type of sentimental value, and then most of them went back to my sister. Given that over half of Jake's clothes come from my nephew who is 4 months older then Jake.

The things I wanted to keep of Jake's are put away into a rubbermaid container. Then every time a new season comes around I open up the container and put new clothes to keep in. But of course each time I open the container I have to look at all the sweet little things I have saved and am reminded of how much he has grown.

Do you remember I said I am horrible about keeping things?

This means that each time I go through these containers there are things I realize I don't need to save and I get rid of them.

This past month as I was going through his closet and getting some stuff together for consignment I decided to really take a look at what I was keeping. Most of the stuff was pretty cheap stuff when we bought it to begin with so I didn't need to keep it now. Then there was the thinking that all though the outfit was really cute would I really use it for another baby. Chances are another baby would be born in a different season or be a different size and I would have saved the clothes for nothing. Someone else could get much better use out of the clothes taking up space in Jake's closet.

Then there were the things that were just too sweet and precious to give up. Like the outfit he wore for his first Christmas, his pumpkin hat he wore in the hospital on Halloween day, his tiny little white hospital shirt he wore, things that have his monogram on them, and several other things I just couldn't get rid of.

But then there was that whole...I am horrible at keeping things!!!  And obviously things monogrammed with JNR or that said 1st birthday would never be worn by another baby.

So I did what any girl would do & came up with a crazy idea to turn these clothes into a blanket. And then I turned to my mother-in-law to see if she could make a blanket out of Jake's clothes. (after all I don't know how to sew...it is 1 of my 12 new things for April)

And my wonderful mother-in-law didn't let me down. I now have the sweetest blanket with all of my favorite and memorable pieces of Jake's clothes sewed on it.

My only request of my mother-in-law was that the blanket be finished by the time Jake was 18 and heading to college so that I could curl up with it every night while he was gone. Of course she way out did herself and had the blanket finished in a week.  I love this blanket and want to snuggle with it now...it brings tears to my eyes every time I look at it & remember when Jake wore a piece on the blanket. I also love it so much I want to frame it and hang it on my wall for everyone to see.

For now it is laying over the back of the chair in Jake's room. Where he & I talk about each piece every time we go in there.

Thank you so much Linda for the wonderful blanket of memories you have given me!!!

Learning

Although, I am not in school it is always great to learn new things. I am joining in with Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee for her 12 new things in 12 months. I am getting in a little late as everyone else will be posting their new thing they learned for August today. I am just now posting my list of 12 new things. I will have my August new thing up on Monday of next week. 



So here is my 12 in 12:

August- Learn to make a braid rug
September- Run (1 mile without stopping)
October- Knit a blanket
November- Make a pie crust (no more Pillsbury refrigerated crust)
December- learn how to make jewlery
January- find and perfect a homemade chicken noodle soup recipe
February- perfect a cake recipe(that will be my go to cake)
March-learn to ice a cake(smooth pretty...nothing fancy)
April- Learn to sew
May- Make homemade yogurt
June- Learn how to use a lawn mower
July-Learn the basics of grilling and how to grill a hamburger

It was actually a little harder to come up with 12 things I wanted to learn then I thought it would be. But I am super excited about each of them. And can't wait to keep track of my progress and let you all know how each thing is coming along.

Visit Like A Warm Cup of Coffee if you want to join in. Leave a comment and let me know if you know how to do any of these things I listed...I might be calling on you for instructional help.

How about you are there 12 things you would like to learn to do over the next 12 months?

'stache bash

My best friend (spoonful of frosting) throws the very BEST parties. She is so creative and when she decides on a theme she runs with it.

She was selected by houseparty.com to host a Baboli grilling pizza party. Instead of just having a pizza party she went with an italian theme and turned it into a 'stache bash.

Random fact did you know that mustaches are the it thing right now...and super fun too!!

The kids each got to make their own pizzas and all of the adults helped make some super yummy pizzas.

With Vickie's help I made Jake a super cute I love mustaches shirt(which he loved!) Every time I put makeup on Jake asks for makeup so a while back I started drawing a mustache on him with my eye liner. So he was all about this mustache themed pizza party!

We all had our picture taken in the mustache photo booth with mustaches on sticks.






And of course did we not only enjoy s'mores pizza & fruit pizza for dessert...we had mustache cookies, mustache cake, & mustache chocolate suckers too.

 Just because these 2 are just way too cute & in an ideal world they would be prearranged for marriage!!

Good Morning Girls

I have a group of friends that I love so dearly. Some of these friends have come along with me and joined in the Good Morning Girls group. Thanks to Courtney at Women Living Well for starting this.

I really feel so close to this group of Good Morning Girls & I love that we are so transparent with each other. I can feel us growing closer with each email.




Oh...I didn't tell you what the Good Morning Girls were all about it?
In a nutshell we are an accountability group (that is really the nutshell....we are SO much more to each other).

We email each other every day to share what we read/learn during our quiet time with God that day. Some of us have our quiet time 1st thing in the morning and others not till late at night. But whatever time of day you have your quiet time you email the group and share a little piece of what you read that day. Usually we end up sharing a lot more...and really opening up to each other about struggles, praises, or thoughts. And best of all when we share with each other we get emails back with great Godly wisdom and encouragement.

Over the last several weeks I have learned so much from this great group of ladies. We are finishing up our final week now...and I already know I will miss our daily emails so much. I think I will start marking off the days on my calendar until our fall session starts up.

To celebrate our time together(I really can't remember when we started was it June or July?) we had a wonderful Girls night out dinner (we were missing 3 of the girls). We all know each other in real life and are real life friends, but it was so great to get together and just hang out and talk after spending all this time emailing every day.

It really was wonderful!!!

I am sure when we rejoin up in a couple weeks a few will drop off as fall is a busier time. But I think most of us will be back and counting down the day until we get our 1st email that says Good Morning Girls!!!

Thanks friends for letting me be transparent and knowing that I needed to have my quiet time because there was someone waiting for my email that day. Will be praying for each of you daily...during our time apart!

Rubbermaid Clean Little Secrets

I finally was selected for my very 1st house party. If you have never heard of house party click the link to get all the info. But basically they host different types of parties featuring different products and you can apply to be one of the host for a particular house party item. I pretty much apply for every single one because I really want to do it. My best friend got to do an awesome William Sonoma one and that is how I found House Party.

Finally I was chosen for my 1st one. And it is totally up my ally....
Rubbermaid Reveal Mop

I received my party kit last week and was so excited to open it and start using my mop. I literally could not wait to mop my floors.

However, I also had a 2 year old who was equally excited(if not more so) about our new mop. He couldn't wait for me to take it out of the box. And he kept saying "can I mop?"

Being a nice mom, I mixed up our floor cleaning solution into the mop spray bottle and let him try it.

Little did I know I would literally have to fight him for the mop just to try it out.

I LOVE it!!!
And best of all it is super eco-friendly.

You can use whatever cleaning solution you want. No using the swifter poison cleaner in a bottle. For us that meant vinegar, water, and a little bit of method dish soap.(the same stuff we have always used...except now it sprays out of a bottle attached to the mop)

Then the pad that you use to mop the floor is-WASHABLE! Hello money savings.

The handle swivels nicely making it easy to use and get into hard to reach spots.

It probably won't be the best choice if your floors are super dirty with a lot of caked on grossness. I had a sticky spot on my floor and it was a little difficult to scrub. But after a few more squirts of the cleaner and pushing down kind of hard it did come off the floor. 

I am hosting a Rubbermaid Clean Little Secrets party later this month. Where several of my friends will come over and have a chance to try out the mop. As well as, compete against the mop with their own mops right here in my house. And they each will  walk away with a few little party favors of their own.

For now I will keep blissfully mopping my kitchen floor...at least when I am not fighting the 2 year old for it. Seriously...he has asked me every day since the mop arrived if he can mop the floor. My floors have never been cleaner!

Of course when you are 2 and have spent 30 minutes mopping the floor. The only other logical thing to do would be get all your little people figures and line them up on the floor. Then spraying them with the mop and mopping them up. This lasted another 30 minutes at least. He is too cute!!!

Daily Moments(8/2-8/8)

I did better taking pictures this week. So here we are with another Daily Moments Project Life Tuesday with The Mom Creative.

Monday-August 2nd-Mondays are family days for us...and we love it! Jason wanted to walk around Toys R Us. Of course Jake loved this. I think this was the 1st time Jake actually walked around & didn't ride around in the cart. He (well, we) had so much fun walking around and playing with all the toys.

 Tuesday-August 3rd-Sometimes life isn't all rainbows & roses. And honestly sometimes when Jake does this I have to turn away and laugh. Sometimes when he doesn't get his way he will slowly lie himself on the floor facing away from us and kick his feet. Today I decided to capture the moment.

Wednesday-August 4th- Sometimes I find Jake lying or sitting on the back of our couch. Usually I ask him to get down, but today I decided to take his picture. He thinks he is big stuff when he is up there!!
Sometimes life isn't all rainbows & roses. And honestly sometimes when Jake does this I have to turn away and laugh. Sometimes when he doesn't get his way he will slowly lie himself on the floor facing away from us and kick his feet. Today I decided to capture the moment.

Thursday-August 5th- I was selected by House Party to host a Rubbermaid Reveal mop party. Today my party kit came in the mail & Jake was just as excited about our new mop as I was. In fact I had to fight him for a chance to try it out myself. He spent a good 30 minutes mopping the kitchen floor.

Friday-August 6th-Lasagna Rolls....don't they look so pretty with the frilly lasagna noodle edge. This is one of Jason's favorite meals and was made by his request. (full recipe coming soon)

 Saturday-August 7th- I love this tan lined back....too cute!! We spend all summer in the pool. Usually Jake wears a swim shirt....always has tons of sunscreen on. A few times(literally like 3 or 4) he hasn't had his swim shirt on. Still covered in sunscreen and some how his little back has gotten so tan. Love it!!

Daily Moments

It seems I wasn't really picture taking this week. I did get a picture most days, but other days I would think I need a picture of this. And then realize I didn't have my camera( I really hate how my phone takes pictures). So silently in my head I would think *click* I want to remember this moment. I am linking up another week with The Mom Creative for project life Tuesday.

Tuesday-July 27th-We were eating orange slice candy(for some reason I love these things). Jake said "mommy, watch me do a lemon face." Where he got this from I have no idea. But he would suck on the orange candy and suck his cheeks way in and then look like the 2nd picture afterward. Toocute!!

 Wednesday-July 28th-Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister Heather. Here we are at Zaxby's for birthday cake milkshakes. They really taste just like yellow cake mix...yummy!!!

Thursday-July 29th-as part of the previous weeks Completing Him Challenge I made Jason his most favorite dessert, pumpkin cheesecake.

Friday-July 30th-This is our local recycling center. Every week or sometimes every other Jake & I make a trip here with our 3 containers of recycling. And every time we leave I feel like super woman and that I did a small part to save the world. (crazy I know) But because of this super woman feeling I wanted a picture of one of the places that make me feel this way(kind of a dump when you look at the picture)!!

Sunday-August 1st-I am sure just like brothers Caleb & Jake fight. Some days that is all they do and then there are others where they get along great the whole day. This was one of those days. They put pillows on the floor and both pretended to be a sleep. I love that you can see Jake's scrunched up yes from trying to close them.

Visions of a Leading Man

Only a few short weeks left in the Completing Him Challenge. I am going to really miss this challenge when it is over. This weeks challenge is Support his vision.  Discuss with your husband his vision for your family. Where does he see your family in 1 year, 5 years, & 10 years? Then share how you let your husband lead.





Ephesians 5:23-24-For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives submit to their husbands in everything.

Letting Jason lead is so hard for me sometimes most of the time. I am a typical type A personality. Wanting to be totally in control of everything and everything being the way I think it should be. Over the last few years I have had to really work on this in our marriage (umm...still working I should say).

I did a Denise Glen Bible study called "Wisdom For Mothers." In this study she says that if your husband is ok with you being the leader then you need to squeeze behind him no matter what and let him lead. This really opened my eyes to things that I just take over and do. Never even thinking about considering Jason's opinion.

Soon after this study I did Elizabeth George's "A Wife After God's Own Heart." This is what I am striving (stumbling) to be each day in my marriage. If you have not done this study before I suggest you pick it up very soon. It will transform your view as your role as a wife.

With Jason being gone so much sometimes it just seems easier for me to take charge and do what I think is right. Or do what I want. Never even running it by him 1st.
My solution to this has become for my answer to be "let me talk to my husband about that." No matter what the "that" might be. I now try & remember to check with him even when I am planning a day with friends or an evening out with my girl friends even when I know he won't be home. Just a quick conversation with him lets me feel like he is leading our family.

There are so many other areas of our marriage that we are still working on me taking a step back and letting him lead. I am really praying through my control issues. That is what it all comes down to in the bigger picture. Me wanting to be in control All.the.time.

And as crazy at it might sound(in 2010) I really do want him to be the leader. Not in a doormat wife kind of way, but as him being the head of our household Biblical way.  I just wonder if I would be so willing to let him lead if it was regarding a big decision that would change our lives. Until we have to come to that type of decision I can pray that I will let him lead.

Because Jason was off on a work trip to Las Vegas for most of last week I wasn't able to cook for him. So last weeks challenge of cooking your husbands favorite meal and the bonus of making his favorite foods all week will also be continuing into this week.

Jumpin' Good Time

We celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday at Jump 4 Joey's. A big in door bounce place with lots of bounce houses & inflatable slides. The kids (and even the adults) had a great time running and jumping.

Caleb is only 4 months older then Jake. Since my sister & I are so close they really have no choice, but to spend lots of time together. We hope they will always be close friends even when they aren't forced to hang out with each other.

 Love this picture Jason, Jake & Heather

Closed

8 years ago today we closed on our very 1st house.

What an exciting time it was for us.

So much has happened in our 1st home!

This is where we came the night we got married before leaving on our honeymoon.

This is where we found out we were expecting our 1st baby.

And then again where we brought him home to from the hospital.

Not to mention all the not so big, but still wonderful memories we have here in our 1st home.

Our neighborhood is wonderful....and I have met some of my very best friends here.

Jake has friends to play with

And we are happy here in our 1st home!!

I can't believe how different everything looks!

Look at our tiny Japanase Maple tree and how big it is now...not to mention the rose bushes we have planted with it now

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!!