away and at play

Noah ~ 8 months

I'm baffled that Noah is 8 months.  Seriously?  Where has the time gone?

In the last month, Noah:

• crawls really, really fast (baby gates are no longer a question...they are a necessity)
• sits up straight (no more propping up on his hands)
• pulls to his knees
• loves to play with toys--especially the ones his brother is currently playing with (I thought this problem would be the other way around). 
• is starting to gain more weight...he's kind of a little guy.
• reaches for Mommy.  :)

He is such a sweet boy with a happy disposition.  I'm in love...

Caleb's Half-Birthday

Both of our boys' birthdays are just about within a month of Christmas.  And they're in the winter, which doesn't give many options for birthday parties.  We've only had family birthday parties so far (for Caleb), but he is getting to the age where he will enjoy having his friends celebrate his birthday.  So Kevin and I decided that we were going to start celebrating the boys half-birthdays.  Their half-birthdays will be the times that we have friend birthday parties.  Their actual birthdays will be celebrated just with family.  We are still waiting until Caleb's half-birthday next year before we have a "friend" party, but we went ahead and celebrated it this year.  We host our small group from church at our house on Sunday evenings, so we had a cake, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Caleb.  He thought it was pretty cool!  Plus, he got a couple very little gifts from us.  It was fun to do a little something for him in the middle of the year..especially since we don't do much for birthdays or Christmas. 

And here are some pictures of Mr. C.

And here is where I told Caleb to smile really big:

Funny kid!

Happy half-birthday, sweet boy!

growing up

It seems as though our boys have grown up overnight! 

Noah is MOBILE now--and he is both fast and curious, a bad combination.  And he's got that orange tint to his skin, just like Caleb had, from all the carotene in his food!  And he has a full head of hair! 

Caleb is Mr. Communicator and loves to talk.  He is starting to talk like a grown-up and it is hilarious.  The other day I told him what we were doing next during the day and he said, "That's a good plan."  I didn't realize I even said that phrase until he said it back to me!  And now when I do games and activities with him, he will say "now...." like wanting to know what we're doing next.  The kids loves to be entertained...so we're working on "independent" time.  :)

Another word that has been added to Caleb's vocabulary is the defiant "no."  Yes, he has known how to say "no" for a while (and even got it confused with "yes" there for a while), but he has never used the word against us.  Until yesterday, that is.  I'm not really sure what to do about that...send him to his room for time-out, ignore him?  Overall, he is a sweet, compliant boy who loves life.

And it's been almost 1 whole week accident-free.  Yippeee!

I couldn't ask for more...

Ooops...I did it again!

I started a new website!

Now, I know what you're thinking, "Jenae, didn't you do that like a couple months ago and it didn't work out so well?"

Well, yes...but this time it is different!

No really--I promise!  My old website was all about getting "good deals."  Yes, I think that is fun (and somewhat consuming), but it isn't my passion (Plus, there are a million other bloggers who have the deals covered).  But teaching is, and always will be, my passion.  Whether it is teaching a room full of first graders or my own kids, I love to learn alongside children!  And everything I do to enhance this website will ultimately benefit my own children...how great is that?

So...this is my new website.  It is called "I Can Teach My Child" because it it dedicated to helping parents of young children (birth-age 5) be their child's first teacher.

The idea came to me this morning, I spent $10 for the domain name (it's stand alone--I've got big plans, people), and here we are!!!

My favorite website is "No Time for Flashcards", but I found that not all of the "domains" of development are necessarily covered on her site and there isn't much for babies to two years old.  I'm licensed as an early childhood teacher with a Master's degree, after all, I can take this and run with it!

It is really bare right now and just the skeleton for the site but I AM SO EXCITED.

And I will probably be looking for people to do some "guest posts."  So let me know if you're interested! 

So, come along and follow me on my new site!

food, fun, family, flicks, & FIREWORKS

Caleb and Luke were like little birdies...begging for poppers!

Kevin, Brad, Kylie, Kellie, and of course the boys--We all enjoyed Toy Story 3 (although I wasn't expecting to have to dry my eyes there at the end)!  And Caleb wore his big boy underwear and stayed DRY (we took one potty break in the middle of the movie)!

Caleb "lovin' on" his cousin Luke

Cousin Blake having fun with the "big boy" fireworks.

Getting into trouble...

Noah, Lola and me looking at pictures

Our family of 4 on the fourth (with Caleb singing a song).  :)

Happy boy!

He looks like he's posing for his "fully body shot"

The only smile we could get... :)

Daddy and Noah

Uncle Brad, Kylie, Aunt Kellie, Jaydan, Lola, Papa, and us!

If you look really close (between Kevin's legs), you can see the ankles of a little boy wanting to demonstrate his ability to potty in the bushes while at my parents house.  Gotta love boys!

We hope you had a happy fourth! 

inspiration

In this journey of parenthood, life, and the pursuit of a deeper relationship with God, I have found inspiration from so many.  Our parents have been such an inspiration to me by the way that they unconditionally love their grandchildren.  They love to spend time with them and often times have much more patience than I do!  I am so glad that our boys are blessed with two sets of grandparents that love them so much

I find inspiration through conversations with my friends.  Silly conversations about the crazy things our kids do and serious conversations about raising them to love the Lord.

I find inspiration my listening to music.  I am SO NOT a musical person, but there are some songs that just touch me to my core.

And one unlikely place where I have found inspiration is here...on the internet.  Reading blogs of other people--the struggles they are facing and the ways that God is using them--has brought unspeakable inspiration to my life.  These blogs are different because they are truly authentic.  These sweet friends don't sugarcoat the trials they are facing.  But they don't complain about them either.  They simply point their readers to their one source of lasting hope--God!  What a powerful way God is using these women.

I think about Jessica, who I worked with at Eddie Bauer Home in college one summer.  Her and her husband Joel lost their firstborn baby girl to cancer when she was 11 months old.  Her blog has touched me (and tons of other people, I'm sure) in ways I could have never imagined.  Reading about their heart-wrenching grief and how God has brought them peace has done more for my relationship with God than any sermon could.  I am utterly amazed at the way Jess and Joel put their trust in God to carry them through such a dark time.  They now have a sweet baby boy to cuddle and love...but I know their hearts will always ache that Levi will not know his sweet sister until they are reunited in Heaven.

And my college friend, Julie, has also been a source of inspiration in my life recently.  Her sweet little girl Calla was born at just 26 weeks gestation.  After months in the NICU, Calla is home and thriving!  Reading about Julie and Ian's constant trust in God and their daily prayers and praises while Calla was in the NICU is humbling.

I found Shilo's blog through Facebook.  She is a long, lost childhood friend who lives in the northwest with her husband and three beautiful children.  After spending some time reading some of her posts, I was so encouraged!  She has a way of challenging me in my walk with God (and I doubt she even knows I read it) while revealing her own struggles in an honest and most genuine way.  This particular post brought a fresh renewal to the way I think about my relationship with God. 

I of course love reading about all of my friend's children and all of the sweet and silly stories!  Kristen, Beth, Mercedes, Emily, Brittany, Kara, Crystal, Kate, Rachel, Sharla, Melissa...thanks for sharing your lives with me (with a few of you...your blog is the only way I keep up with what's going on in your lives).  And for anyone else that I know who reads this...let me know if you have a blog so I can read yours too.  :)

And finally...my sweet, wonderful husband left this rose on our kitchen counter one morning.  It is from our yard.  If you can't tell, the "vase" is actually a baby bottle.  For some reason, I found this picture to be so fitting of our lives right now.  So very beautiful...bottles, poopy diapers, potty training and all!

potty progress

We have had a pretty good week!  We have had some accidents (like this morning when Caleb chose to go poopy in his underwear instead of the potty), but overall he is doing really well.  I consider one accident to every ten times going on the potty a pretty good ratio for a novice!

We are still using the timer, so I am hoping that in the next several days he will begin telling us when he needs to potty.  Until then, we will stick around the house (uhhh...that's getting really old) and be consistent.

Progress is progress--one tinkle at a time.  ;)