Category Archives: Parenting

Mar21

The Christian Mama’s Guide to Parenting a Toddler by Erin MacPherson

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toddler

What happens when your little baby morphs into a whole different person over night, leaving you with a child who thinks he can defy gravity and that cookies are the new broccoli? Gone are the days of endless cuddles. There is a new kid in town, and he has many great adventures in store for you. But there is something much greater than rescuing your child from swinging on the kitchen chandelier.  Saving his heart, pointing him in the direction of Christ, outweighs every other aspect of raising a toddler. Teaching your child to read at one or solving quadratic equations by two is not an essential. Raising a child who sees the love of Christ all around him, who is taught about God and the redeeming power of the Christ’s redeeming love, is far greater.

When I opened the envelope to find The Christian Mama’s Guide to Parenting a Toddler, I quickly put down every other thing I was doing and reading and dove right in. Why? Erin MacPherson is hysterical and I loved reading her book The Christian Mama’s Guide to Having a Baby. We’re also on the brink of entering toddler-dom. I need all the mental prep and wisdom I can get before heading into the adventure that awaits. As expected, I found myself laughing out loud, snorting at times, and finding the need to share many Dino nuggets of insight with my husband.

With topics including how to handle the toddler tantrums while avoiding your own meltdowns, how not to potty train your child, special sections for both stay at home moms and working moms, and what to do when even the pediatrician hasn’t seen a case quite like yours, The Christian Mama’s Guide to Parenting a Toddler is a perfect and easy read for all mom’s (and even dads) who find their homes and lives being hijacked by chaos. MacPherson includes prayers, tips, and quality advice on how to focus our hearts toward finding joy in the Lord even during the most trying of situations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Jan2

New Year, New Goals, New Me

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2012 has come and gone. The number one thing on my goals list was accomplished-to have my baby boy and to love him like crazy. Everything else was just icing on the cake! I didn’t accomplish everything on my goals list, but I’m 100% ok with that! Motherhood is different than I was anticipating…at least the sleep deprivation part! I’m loving every single second of being a mom and cannot thank God enough for the blessing He has given us. Such an honor and privilege!

2013 is here now, and with it a great opportunity to seize each moment that the Lord has given us. I want this year to be significant. As a family, I hope that God will use us to  bring glory to Him, and give us opportunities to reach out to others and help those in need!

Without further adieu, here are my goals for this year:

2013 Goals

Personal:

1. Lose weight (I do have a specific amount I’m targeting)

2. Read 1-2 books per month

3. Have a more regular quiet time

4. Drink less soda and more water

5. Stay off the computer more during the daytime, be wiser about time management

Marriage:

1. Resume reading the Bible together during the week

2. Have date nights, even if they have to be at home

3. Spend more time together

Parenting:

1. Cloth diaper on a more regular basis

2. Read to Jonathan more

3. Play more music for Jonathan

4. Successfully wean

5. Attempt to begin potty training by the end of the year

Home:

1. Make bed daily

2. Make one new dinner recipe per month

3. Keep kitchen table & island clear

4. Maintain regular cleaning & organization schedule

Financial:

1. Pay off smaller of two medical school loans

2. Create a monthly budget

3. Be better steward of our finances (for example, stack coupons with sales for smarter grocery shopping)

4. Shop less and reduce expenses where possible

5. Find/pray about ways to help those in need

There are other things I have in mind too, but we’ll just start here and adjust as needed!

Nov13

Parents and Grandparents

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Please don’t take your children and grandchildren for granted!

A few days ago I carried Jonathan outside to get the mail. As I was nearing the end of the driveway, I noticed a lady pushing a stroller with a toddler in it. The little guy started saying “baby” and pointing to Jonathan, so the lady stopped to let him see. We started talking and I found out that the child was her grandson. As the conversation continued, it felt like she didn’t have a positive bone in her body. It was quite discouraging to hear her talk so negatively about her grandson. I understand that being retired and taking care of a two-year old boy can be quite exhausting, especially when he gets into everything! So, in an attempt to swing the conversation back to the positive, I commented “well, you can’t deny that children are such a great blessing!”

Grandma’s response?

“I can’t say that this child is a blessing at all.”

WHAT????

At that point I was stunned and left completely speechless. I wanted to, but I couldn’t find words of encouragement. The grandma continued to speak words of discouragement about her grandson, her daughter, and barely said anything uplifting about her other grandchildren.

I’ve been praying for this lady since I met her. I don’t know why the Lord made our paths cross that day, or if they’ll ever cross again. I know she needs encouragement, needs the love of the Lord shown to her.

Nov12

Looking Ahead

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2013 is around the corner which means a few things around here.

1) I really need to start Christmas shopping.

2) I should probably figure out our plans for Thanksgiving

3) Did I meet/surpass any of my goals for 2012?

4) I need to start coming up with a list of goals for 2013

Since its hard to Christmas shop while nursing, cleaning, sleeping, playing with Jonathan, and/or any of the other things I do during the day and middle of the night, I figured why not start looking ahead. There is still plenty of time to do those things and time to look back, right?

I find myself with such a desire to get certain things accomplished. After 6 months of long sought after time to accomplish things, quality nap times are finally happening, and I’m reclaiming my house, as well as my self. *Insert a big sigh of relief*

I want to make 2013 a year of being focused. Focused with my faith, my marriage, my role as mom. I want to be focused about my health/self (because let’s be honest, the past few years I’ve really stunk at this). I want to be focused regarding the relationships I build around me. I want to be focused when it comes to our finances and making sure I do every thing possible to save us money, to help pay off one medical school loan and the rest of the car, while still being able to give generously to ministry opportunities that arise.

I’m looking forward to outlining my goals for 2013 over the next few weeks. I’d love to hear your ideas and goals for 2013! Be sure to leave a comment here or on FB!

Sep11

Recent Pinterest Projects

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Are you part of the Pinterest cult yet? It is by far one of the most addicting things I’ve ever seen, but I try to limit my time on there to only when I’m feeding Jonathan…if I can help it. There are so many projects I want to do, so many recipes I want to make, so much decor inspiration that I’d love to do for my house!

My recent pin projects I’ve completed:

My front door (pardon its dirtiness) is now ready for fall! The original inspiration came from this pin. The project was around $20. I used 4 pieces of wood from WalMart ($0.99/ea), scrapbook paper (less than $2 total), black letters (I think they were $1.99/ea). I had a coupon for the ribbon which started out at $10 for a huge spool. I spray painted the pieces of wood black & used ModPodge (both I had on hand) for the scrapbook paper (about 4 coats worth). I glued the letters on using heavy duty wood glue. I finished it off by drilling a hole in each corner to thread the ribbon through.

I hung a command hook upside down on the back of the door (thanks to this pin for the tip) to catch the ribbon from the FALL sign hanging on my front door.

This sign now hangs in the window next to our doorbell. I thought it was a brilliant idea so that visitors didn’t wake my possibly napping baby. Apparently the UPS man couldn’t read the other day. The idea came from this pin (her’s is much prettier than mine. My pink paint pen bled everywhere). The pencil lines have since been erased!

Recipes recently (as in the last month) attempted:

Slow cooker Salisbury steak - great, and we’ll have it again…once Jonathan’s intolerance for dairy subsides. I served it with rice, because that’s what I had on hand. Mashed potatoes would have been MUCH better!

Sweet & Sour chicken – Decent, but doubt I’ll make it again. The amount of time spent wasn’t worth it!

See all of the pins I’ve completed over on my “I did it!” page on Pinterest

Jul4

2 Months!

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Jonathan,

Happy 2 months (and 4 days) little guy! The past month has flown by, yet crept along, all at the same time. Last week I had to pack up all of your newborn clothes and some of your 0-3 month things. It made me a little sad to have to put them away, but at the same time I’m looking forward to the days ahead! This past month has been filled with a few new things for you.

- You took a bath in your whale tub for the first time

- We recently started putting you in cloth diapers. When you were in your very first one, you decided to have a nice big blowout. I wasn’t prepared for that! But it has gotten a little better each day!

- On a few occasions, you’ve started rubbing your eyes to indicate that you’re sleepy.

- You still hate the pacifier, which I’m ok with. It will be one less habit we have to break in the future!

- You have become fascinated with the little birds that hang from your bouncy seat. Because of this, we have set up a play gym on the floor for you and put your mobile up in your bed. You love looking at the toys hanging above you, and find yourself amusing in the mirror. Your play gym has a little piano that you love to kick, but you’re not always fond of it making music.

- You have developed the need to grab things! Most of the time it is my hair or shirt, but we’re working on grabbing other things too!

- You do not like excessive noise. For example, if the tv is on or is on too loud, you get quite fussy! You tend to enjoy it being quiet much more!

The neatest thing that happened over the last month was that your baby Spock picture went viral on the internet. Actor George Tekai, who played Sulu on the original Star Trek posted your picture on his Facebook page too! People from all over the world saw you when you were only 6 weeks old!

 The things I’ve absolutely loved?  Your smiles and laughs, even at 4:00 in the morning when you’ve not let me sleep very much!

 The main challenge this past month has been with your sleep! You still do not like sleeping at night, and honestly some days don’t like sleeping then either. I guess you’re fascinated with the world around you! You did give your mama a nice three and a half hours a few nights, but that was sadly short-lived! Most nights it ranges from 45 minute sleep intervals to two and a half hours. We feed you like crazy, especially before bedtime, hoping a full belly will help you sleep better. We’ve tried white noise and silence, night light and darkness, motion and stillness. You’ve developed a true hatred for swaddling and fight to get free, but without being wrapped in some way, your hands and legs fly freely about and you keep yourself awake. Part of the problem lies with your reflux & gas, but I just think you are curious and don’t want to miss a minute of the world around you!

Yesterday you had your two month doctor’s visit. You’re doing really well and gaining weight like a champ! You weigh 11 pounds and 13 ounces and are 22 inches long. You had a few shots yesterday too, but took them like a champ and only cried for a minute.

This coming month I pray for you  to develop more skills and your curiosity to grow even more! I’m also continuing to pray for much better sleep habits! While I’m looking forward to 4-5 hour stretches of sleep, I’m mostly looking forward to being a better mama, which will come when I’m more fully awake, not stumbling through life barely able to open my eyes and in pain from the exhaustion.

Love you little one!

Here are pictures from when your Grandma and cousin Katie came to visit!

May14

A Call to All Moms

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Before I get to my question for moms, I need to brag on Joe. I can honestly say that there is NO WAY I could have survived the past two weeks without Joe. He’s been by my side the entire time, helping me, answering questions and reassuring me, wiping my tears away, and all around being such a servant to both Jonathan and I. Joe’s gotten up with me during the middle of the night for diaper changes and feedings, helping me supplement feedings with a baby who never could be satisfied, yet didn’t want to gain weight. He’s prepared lunch and dinner for us, run errands, helped out so much around the house and given so much of himself…on little sleep! He’s taken Jonathan from me practically every morning and sent me back to bed for uninterrupted sleep.

That being said, I’m mildly terrified about what will happen come Wednesday when he has to go back to work and I’m all alone with a 7lb newborn. What was once “normal” to me no longer exists. “Normal” has yet to be defined in our new little world. But I knew this day would come and I would have to embrace it. I don’t want to feel like I could collapse in fear or sadness. I want to feel capable of taking care of my baby for extended periods of time with no one around. And I realize that Joe is simply two blocks away most days if I need him. And I’ve got friends who I know will be by my side if I need them. While I need, and want, my husband here longer, his patients need him too!

I know this is a normal feeling. I know that because I’ve heard so many women talk about it when their husbands have had to return to work and they’re still at home, either on maternity leave or they are staying at home for good.

My question for all my mommy friends and readers is how do you cope? How do/did you establish a new normal for your life? I know I have to put Jonathan down during the day in order to accomplish things (I’ve been practicing this the past few days). I realize too, that I must continue to take naps with him at least once or twice a day in order to function at a semi-normal level. I’m asking for tips or battle stories, but I don’t plan on resuming my chaotic organizing and cleaning routines. I’m ok with just getting a load of laundry accomplished! I appreciate book suggestions, but in reality, I’m not going to be reading right now. Its taken me four days to finish writing this post, and I just managed to clean out the 300+ emails in my inbox. I need things I can read while half coherent at 3:00 in the morning in between sleep, feeding, and pumping.

Mar11

Lets Rock This

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Let the countdown continue! We’re now at 9 weeks left before our due date, and still plenty left to accomplish! But that’s ok, we’re going to rock this! Last week was really successful as far as accomplishing the majority of my to-do list, which is opposite of the norm here lately! I feel like I set a reasonable set of goals, each of which was attainable! And the success didn’t stop at what I had on the list. I did get more accomplished!

Two things from this past week stand out most. First we were able to have another ultrasound and see our little guy. He definitely proved to us his gender, but did not want us to see his face! His hands covered his face the entire time!!! Maybe he’s going to be shy? The second thing that stands out is a conversation Joe and I were able to have regarding our marriage and our future as parents. God is amazing in how He, when we allow Him to, orchestrates the details in our lives. We’ve been married almost four years now. Our marriage grows stronger each day, and its all because we allow the Lord God to be at the forefront of everything we do and how we treat each other!

This week has some exciting things in store as well. Or at least I’m excited about them! After having my linen closet organization project on hold for the last month and a half, my back ordered baskets FINALLY came in! This is what they look like:

I am beyond thrilled that I can finally get to this project and get it crossed off my list! I’m also going to be able to finish reorganizing our laundry room this week as well! I was able to start, but I needed a few things to finish the project, so I stopped at the end of the week. The number one reason I need to get our laundry room organized is because I store some products on the floor. Once we have a little one, all cleaning chemicals will need to be high up, out of reach! Plus getting it more organized will make doing laundry less frustrating- no more piles of things in the corner or on top of the dryer. I didn’t take “before” pictures, but will post pictures of both the linen closet and laundry room once I finish!

Goals for 3/11- 3/17

Household organization-

-Finish reorganizing laundry room

-Linen closet project  with the exception of ironing/folding a set of sheets and doing a small repair on my old blanket before putting away, the linen closet is FINISHED!

-Replace lightbulbs in upstairs hallway

Marriage-

-Read Bible together 3 nights during the week

-Spend quality time together, away from tv and computer

Reading list-

-Finish reading The Happiness Project - I won’t finish, so I’ll just continue reading :)

-Start reading another breast-feeding book – This won’t be happening this week, too much going on!

Nursery/Having a baby-

-Start organizing nursery and putting things away

-make up crib

-order nursing bras  (Thanks to my friend April for brand suggestions!)

Health/Preparing for Natural Birth-

-WATER! Meet goals at least 4 days during the week

-Workout at least twice  Such a slacker this week. I only made it to the gym once

-Relaxation & Visualization, 2 days, 30 minutes

-Start working on scripture book

Jan6

We’re Officially Registered!

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And now I can finally take a deep breath!

It’s really difficult registering for baby stuff! I want to make sure to register for quality items, things that will last and not fall apart. And like I’ve said before, its hard knowing what our little boy will like! When registering for things, I kept in mind that this hopefully won’t be our only child and that we’ll get to use things again. If we’re so blessed as to have another child, I want to be able to utilize things such as furniture, stroller, high chair, monitor, etc well into the future.

Another issue in registering for baby items is safety. We really want baby gear with great safety ratings. For instance, I narrowed strollers down to 2 for us to look at. The more research I did, the more reviews I read, I was quickly disheartened. The one I liked the most and wanted us to check out started having really bad reviews and people started posting pictures of some of the pieces breaking! Ack! The stroller we finally settled on, the UPPAbaby Vista, has incredible reviews everywhere we look & read.

Another big decision we had to make was about car seats. Wow, what a big decision! And whats the best way to go? Carrier? Convertible? We’ve heard countless opinions from people regarding their experiences. Though some people may not agree with our decision, we’ve decided to go straight for a convertible car seat. We’re going with the Diono RadianXT car seat, which seats children from as little as 5lbs and as much as 120lbs, as it goes from birth to booster. If after our baby boy is born we find that we definitely need a carrier, we’ll get one. But for the time being, we’re going for the convertible. We’re also only going with one carseat instead of two. A lot of people have told us its best to have one car set for each car. At this point though, we’re going to stick with just one.

A smaller decision we had to make was regarding baby monitors. Audio, video, motion sensor. Not as many decisions as car seats and strollers, but still a decision that we had to make. Because I have hearing loss, I have this fear that I won’t be able to hear our baby cry or something happen. Half the time I can’t hear Joe when he’s right beside me. To hopefully steer clear of this problem, we’re going with the Motorola video monitor. This item seems to have a lot of great reviews, so hopefully it will work out well for us.

One of the funniest things we’ve put on our registry is a “poop deck” nautical sign. We’re decorating the nursery with a tropical beach theme. Our plan is to put the sign above the changing area :)

We’ve decided that we don’t want to have a bedding set because most of it isn’t worth it. The AAP doesn’t suggest using bumpers, a blanket/comforter wouldn’t be used for quite a while, and diaper stackers aren’t worth it, especially since we’ll be cloth diapering. There is no point of us putting something that ranges in prices from $100-$400 on our registry, especially if we won’t get any/much use out of it.

A lot of friends have asked us where we’re going to register. Because we have family and friends spread out, we decided to do our primary registry through Amazon and our secondary registry through Babies R Us.  Amazon is great for so many reasons. One of the things I love about registering there, I can leave “notes” with the items. There are other websites that have a few of our registry items for cheaper at times and I can let others know that. Even if people choose to purchase things from other sites, Amazon makes it easy to mark the item off the list. I also love Amazon because they are typically cheaper on most items.

Next item on the to do list: buy crib and dresser! And pick out a name!

Jan5

Not Quite Knocking It Out of the Park

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That’s My Son: How Moms Can Influence Boys to Become Men of Character- This book was a tough one for me to read. It’s an “ok” book from my point of view, but I wouldn’t read it again. It was hard for me because it is geared directly at single moms raising boys. But no where does it say or allude to that. Johnson quotes a lot of things from a few authors/books, including Wild at Heart by John Eldredge and Dr. Dobson’s Bringing up Boys, both of which I’d rather have invested my money in. If anyone reading this is a single mom trying to raise a boy(s), then this book would be great for you! Because that is not our situation, it was harder for me to appreciate some of the points he was trying to make. There were a few things I took away from the book, but those could have been obtained from other books addressing raising boys. I was honestly left a little disappointed in my purchase.

I struggled long and hard about what to read next. The first book I read from my goals list touched on the spiritual aspect of my life, the second on the organizational side. I had hoped the third book would be something great geared towards bringing a child, a son, into the world. Since I was disappointed, I considered going straight for another book focused on babies. As much as I wanted to read something about preparing for him, I felt deep in my heart that I should read something focused on my marriage. I’m in no way, shape, or form saying there is anything wrong with my marriage. In fact, I consider myself to be pretty darn blessed to have such a great one! Even so, I think everyone can benefit from trying to grow and strengthen their marriages. I doubt it does any harm to try to be a better wife or husband, especially if you’re approaching it from a Biblical standpoint.

My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife by Sara Horn was an incredible, quick read. I did not want to put it down after reading the first page. Sara Horn is a great author, very “real”. This book is by no means a guide to obtaining the characteristics of the Proverbs 31 wife. In fact, what caused Horn to try this experiment was when her pastor preached on the subject and she got infuriated by the standards in which the Proverbs 31 wife lives. She thought it was completely unrealistic but set out to see if it was possible in the world we live in today. The book details her journey in a very “real” way. She doesn’t hide behind her emotions and openly discusses her struggles as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, and as child of God. The end of the book doesn’t leave you feeling like a failure if you’re not obtaining all the characteristics of the P31 wife. In fact, Horn’s realization is will leave you feeling better, not worse, about yourself.

As a Christian, as a woman, and as a wife, its hard for me not to want to strive for the qualities the Proverbs 31 woman possesses.  I can honestly say that I’m not hitting home runs over here.

Take yesterday for example. I had a morning full of errands and then essentially crashed for the afternoon (hello bread of idleness). One of my errands involved me dropping a pile of clothes off at the tailor to be hemmed. When she told me the final price due at pickup, I almost choked. $35 for 5 pairs of pants. THIRTY FIVE dollars. It kills me because I have the materials and capability to hem them myself. However, I’m lacking the motivation, the energy, or quite frankly, the desire. And I think a lot of that boils down to the fact that I worry I will screw something up and someone will walk around looking like a dork with one pant leg higher than the other.

It’s not about hemming pants. It’s about taking care of my family, taking care of our home, being good stewards of our time and resources. But it’s also a big part about my attitude when doing these things. I didn’t want to cook dinner tonight. I am tired from not sleeping well and my leg was on fire from standing a lot today (I have nerve issues in my left leg). I grumbled through cleaning up, even though Joe helped me with the few dishes we had. Emily = bad attitude = not glorifying God at all. 

I’ll never be the Proverbs 31 woman, I get that. God hasn’t called me to be her, He’s called me to be me…his Child, a faithful follower, trusting in Him the entire way.

But it still doesn’t keep me from wanting to possess qualities that she does.