Eight Months

Ethan, you are eight months old today. I truly can't comprehend how fast the past eight months have flown by, and how much joy you have brought to our family.

What are you up to these days?

You have your first bruises on your forehead from pulling up. It breaks my heart each time you fall, but you always recover so fast.  You have been pulling up for about a month now, and are starting to cruise the coffee table. You are also an expert at tearing apart the train table, and getting Nathaniel's toys.

You are always moving, and it takes all my energy to keep you out of trouble. I spend a lot of time trying to keep you safe. You always seem to be able to get into things you shouldn't have. Your Nana has always joked that you will be more trouble than your big brother. I'm starting to believe she might be right. haha

You have been eating solid food for a couple of months now. You like squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots. The green veggies are not your favorite so far. We let you have some pumpkin n pears food the other day, and it was by far your favorite. You just could not get enough of it. It just shows even more that you belong in this pumpkin loving family. You are still nursing every few hours right now. I love the closeness we have during mealtimes. 

Each month that goes by brings us a little closer to your birthday. Sometimes I wish that I could slow down time so you never have to turn one.  It is truly a blessing from God that you share a birthday with your Granddaddy. It will be a wonderful day of celebration of your life, but I know that I will also be a little sad thinking about your Granddad, and wishing he were here with us on that day. Your Granddad loved you so much, and was overjoyed that you were born on his birthday. I do wish he could have shared it with you for a long time, but we just thank God for the time that you did share together. I hope you always know how special you and your big brother are to me.

Great Monday!

I really think this has been the greatest day I have had in forever. It will probably sound pretty boring most people, but I don't get out much. I'm some of the day's greatness has to do with the fact that I actually got to have a nice quiet time this morning. I usually fail to get up early enough, or the boys wake up early. There is always something to distract me, but not this morning. Stefan headed off to work on time, and Nathaniel woke up and went straight to the potty. He didn't do anything, but at least it was on his mind. I had some nice mommy time with just Nathaniel while Ethan slept in. 

We have been out of groceries for a few days now, and I just had to get to the store. This is usually a huge chore because I have to wait until Stefan is home to either watch the boys, or all of us go out together. It is not ever fun to grocery shop with a 2 year old, but I really didn't have a choice. I decided to get brave and venture out by myself with them. I prayed several times that God would help Nathaniel to act well, and God definitely answered my prayers. We went straight in with out list, got our stuff, and got out without any problems. It always helps to go in the morning when there are fewer people. I always put Ethan in the mei tai when we shop, and he is never a problem so far. He just looks around at everyone, and even goes to sleep sometimes.

 This is from the zoo, but here is how we look in the mei tai. I know people wonder what I am wearing in Walmart, but wearing Ethan makes everything so much easier.

This afternoon was even better because Jennifer came to visit us. I love when she visits, and I actually get to talk to another adult. She watched Nathaniel for me the whole time I was pregnant, so we have gotten to know each other really well. I am so glad to have such a great friend. Nathaniel was so sweet with her today. He just sat on her lap and cuddled for the longest time. He also managed to use the potty twice with no accidents. It made me so happy and proud of him.

Tonight, I had my small group women's study. We are going through the book Becoming God's True Women. I was really blessed, and felt really comfortable even though I don't really know any of the other ladies in the group. I always get nervous meeting new people, but I was able to put that behind me tonight.

Now, I am home and both the boys are asleep.  Hopefully they will stay that way all night.

Potty Training!

Update!

We have made so much progress today. Nathaniel has used to potty several times today. He usually starts a little in his underwear, but he is able to stop and we go to the potty and finish. He made it one time while keeping his underwear completely dry. The last time he started, managed to stop, and ran to the potty saying "Uh Oh."  I love progress!

I have been slowly trying to introduce Nathaniel to potty training for awhile now. Usually I feel forced because he will go through a stage of not keeping diapers on. This always ends with him being completely uninterested, and me getting frustrated and giving up. I get jealous of all the kids younger than Nathaniel that are already training. I just tell myself you can't make them potty train, and as soon as he decides to go it will be a quick process.

Well, I finally decided Nathaniel is plenty old enough to use the potty, and I am not giving up anymore. We have been trying to go on an hourly schedule with still no success. I have tried pull-ups with no success. Using real underwear seems to be the only thing that gets him to notice what is going on. After a few accidents, I started putting the diapers back on him, but I guess now he hates them. This boy will not keep a diaper or pull-up on anymore. He even managed to take his diaper off sometime during the night, and woke up with a wet bed. At this point I have no choice but to get him trained.

Well, I'm pleased to say that after a very rough morning we are actually making progress with the potty training. He started out with the wet bed. I figured it would be a waste of time to put anything on him besides real underwear, so that is what we have used all day. He knows that he is supposed to use the potty, but is still very resistant to it. He went through several pairs of underwear this morning because he would start to pee in them, then I would take him straight to the potty and try to finish. After doing this several times, he finally finished and managed to stay dry 3  hours after that. I noticed him a little wet again, and this time it was much easier to get him to finish in the potty. I never thought I would be so happy to see his pee in the potty...lol The Three Day Method is what finally started working for us. I think it is going to take a little longer than 3 days, but overall I feel really good about this method. I will update later to say how we really like this method.

Big Project!

If you know me at all, you know that I love to rearrange things often. I guess I have need for regular change. This week I decided to fix the boys' rooms up. They have each had their own rooms, and I suddenly got the idea that it would be great to put in the same room to sleep, and use the larger room as a play room. I have been working on this all week and here is some of the progress.

Here is the new bedroom, previously Ethan's room. I really need to work on some wall decor.

 Small amount of progress in the new playroom. I have to work on fitting a large train table in here, and we need some wall storage.

I'm kind of proud of the playroom closet.

Now that I have their beds in the same room it is time to get them sleeping on a more regular schedule. Nathaniel has always been a great sleeper, but Ethan is a completely different story.

And some pics of the boys just because they are cute. Nathaniel is wearing real underwear, but that story is for a whole different post.

It's been a long time

It has been way too long since I last posted, but I am back with a new blog mindset. Of course, I want to use this as a way to keep memories of the family, but I also want to use this blog as a way to reach out to people. There has been a lot of changes in our lives over the past year, and I want to share how our family has adapted. My parenting style has also changed in a great way, and I want to share and encourage other moms about how great parenting can be. I hope this will be a fun place to come read about our adventures in cloth diapering, babywearing, and trying to live a more natural lifestyle in general.

4 years

Stefan and I will be married for 4 years tomorrow. I really can't believe it has been that long. I guess it seems like the fastest 4 years of my life. We have never really celebrated our anniversary due to other things happening at the same time. This year we decided to spend one night in Branson. It doesn't sound like much, but it will be a great break for us. Nathaniel will be staying with his nana on Saturday night. This will be his first time to stay with anyone else over night. I'm not worried that he will have any problems, but it is still a big step for me. We are only taking a short weekend, because Stefan is saving all of his vacation days for when the baby is born.

I started feeling the baby yesterday. It is still very small movements, and I probably wouldn't realize what it was if this were my first time. I can't wait for the baby to get stronger and feel it all the time. It really is the most amazing feeling to feel the baby move inside you.

The baby is about the size of the softball now. I am kind of starting to show, but anyone who didn't know would not guess I was pregnant. I worry sometimes about not showing because I know this is my second pregnancy and I should show faster. It seemed like forever before I started showing with Nathaniel, and I carried him really low throughout the whole pregnancy. I guess that makes me lucky because carrying him low meant I never had to get too big. I have decided not to worry about anything unless the doctor says there is something to worry about. I am still sick and lacking energy. I still have to take my medicine regularly, but it doesn't always help.

Long time

It has been forever since I have made any type of post. Plenty of things have been happening in our lives, I just figure most of it is too boring for other people to care about. I think being pregnant with our second child should be the perfect time to get in the habit of blogging again.

Stefan is working in the finance department at UoPhoenix. He really loves his job, and we both love all the benefits. It has been such a relief to have a group insurance plan instead of an individual plan.

Nathaniel is changing everyday. He is not our little baby anymore. It is so amazing when when he learns a new word, or figures out how to solve some problem that he has. He spends most of his days getting into some type of trouble. He is busy all the time, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am 15 weeks pregnant with out second child. The due date is August 30th. We completely planned to have our children this close together. I still get scared sometimes when I think about having two young children, but I know it is going to be so wonderful getting to see them grow up together.

The feelings about this second pregnancy have been so different from when I was pregnant the first time. We had Nathaniel's name picked out within a week of finding out we were expecting him. We never could pick a girls name, so I guess we were just lucky that he was a boy. I was really sick for several weeks with him, and this second pregnancy has been no different in that aspect. Even though I have been plenty sick enough to know I'm pregnant, I still have to remind myself most of the time that I actually am. Nathaniel keeps my mind busy during the days, and I don't have all the time to think about the new baby that I had with Nathaniel. We have not even started to think about names. I think we are just going to wait until we know the sex of the baby. We should be finding out in April. I can't believe that I am almost halfway through this pregnancy. I feel like it is going to be over with before I realize we are having another baby.

I think that is enough blabbing for this post. I am going to do my best to update more often.