Unintended Consequences

My mom got my 2 yr old a really neat responsibility chart a few weeks ago that has magnets with written chores and responsibilities and different colored reward magnets. She is a little young for the whole thing, but we got it out anyways and just let her play with all of the magnets. As she was playing with it the most amazing thing happened, she learned her colors! She would ask me what each of the reward magnets were and then repeat the color. The next day she brought me the magnets and told me about the colors. Now, the really funny part about this whole thing is that I have been trying to teach her colors for weeks then the moment I backed off she learned it on her own. Amazing!

She's teaching me!

Here is my frugal idea of the week! Let your kids talk you out of purchases. My daughter did a great job of that last week.
I took my toddler with me to pick out a birthday present for her cousin last week and let me tell you, she is the good shopper! I was drawn in by the clearance aisle and pillow cases and other things for her, but when I asked her if she wanted to take things home she said no. She was quite content to play with the toys for a few minutes in the aisle and then return them to the shelf. She didn't feel entitled to a toy just because we were getting one for her cousin. Amazing, she talked me out of purchases, and she is two!
For more great frugal ideas check out Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.

A yes mom!

Fishmama has been sharing recently how she wants to be a yes mom. Yesterday afternoon I decide to follow in her footsteps. I wish I had taken pictures, we were quite the mess! When my 2 yr old woke up from her nap she told me she wanted to help cook. ( I stir it mommy!) At first I said no, byt she convinced me, and I am so glad. It probably didn't go as quickly as it would have, but it was fun, all the way to the licking of the spoon. (don't worry, no raw eggs in our shortcake recipe)

The Things They Say :)

I took my daughter (23 months old) over to my in laws a few nights ago and it was starting to get late for her and the later it got the more behavior issues I was having with her. Finally, I decided that we should probably head home before she completely melted down, and I called her to come to me. She decided that instead of coming to me she would run the other direction, when I caught up I told her we would be talking about this in the car, but she needed to come say good-bye to everyone. She walked out to grandparents, aunts, and uncles and said to them all, "bye-bye, Help!" Did my best not to giggle as we walked out to the car to discuss running away from Mommy. :)

Will My Family Starve This Week (Another Failed Recipe attempt)?

Ugh! I want to love $5 dinners, but nothing I have made has tasted great. We tried again tonight, but another night, another failed recipe. This was a vegetarian meal, so I didn’t even try it out on my husband, but my daughter was sobbing throughout the meal (so NOT like her at all). Ever time she took a bite she would look at me and start crying again. I eventually gave up and gave her leftovers from lunch (and of course cakeJ ). I ate my portion, and I guess I’ll be eating it again for lunch, because I can’t stand waste, but I am not looking forward to lunch tomorrow. This meal was the gnocchi meal, and it wasn’t awful, it just didn’t have a whole lot of taste. Maybe if I added something to it it would pass, but I don’t plan on making it again. Sorry guys. I’ll let you know if I find a winner.

The things they say...

My father-in-law has a fun tradition with his grandchildren that he has been teaching them since they were old enough to have pockets in their clothing. When he pays a bill at a restraunt he keeps out a few extra ones and asks them all if anyone has pockets. All pocketed grandchildren respond by running to him and having each pocket filled with a one dollar bill. My daughter is only 20 months old and speaks only in one word sentences and I really didn't think she knew what was going on. I figured she only participated because her older cousins made it look cool. Today I was quite amused to find out that she pays more attention that she has been letting on. We went to dinner today just our family and Pop, Nana, and 1 Uncle, no other grandchildren. Our girl did great during dinner, she ate well, she talked in a quiet voice, she laughed at her crazy uncle, and was generally fun to be around. Near the end of dinner Pop was getting ready to pay the bill and our girl was starting to get squirmy, then she saw the money. She stopped squirming immediately and looked up at Pop and said (and quite clearly I might add) "Pocket!" It was hysterical. She started feeling all around her pants (which did not have pockets, by the way) and repeating it to him over and over...Oh my... have we created a monster? He laughed and we all followed suit. He gave her the dollar (which she tried to tuck into her pocketless pants) and the tradition continues. :)

Naps, or not...

For the last two days my toddler has taken amazing 3.5 hr naps (granted, her bedtime was rough, laying awake for an hour before falling asleep) so today she decided that the 2o min nap she had in the car was plenty. When I tried to lay her down after being all around town she quickly and quietly got in her bed with her book and baby and "read" to herself and then laid her head down for about 30 - 45 minutes, but sleeping, no way! Oh well, hopefully bedtime will be easy.

Life!

Life is good. It's amazing how good this week has been. Because of sickness on all fronts, I really haven't worked in the last two weeks and it has been great. I love having all day to focus on my girl and the stuff we need to get done around our house, but it will also be great to get back to our routine next week. Wish us luck!

New Lasagna Recipe!

I did get together my meal plan on Monday, but forgot to post it. Oh well. No way we are sticking to it anyways this week has already thrown us a ton of curves.
The best news is that I ended up trying a new lasagna recipe to take to a friend who's son is in the hospital (and has been since december - please pray for them). You can find the recipe here. It uses cream cheese instead of ricotta, but it is amazing. I wasn't sure about the switch at first, but yummy! All are agreed at my house. I ended up using the leftover bits to make a mock manicotti that we enjoyed on Tuesday, and now that it is Wednesday all of our plans are up in the air. My toddler has been throwing up all afternoon, so I won't be getting into the kitchen tonight. My amazing husband did go by the store and pick up fried chicken so that at least he and I could eat. I'm not sure what the plan will be Thursday and Friday, because we will need to eat a more bland version then we usually do if my girl is up to eating at all. So pray for us, and all of our health. I would rather not get the virus my toddler has and of course I want her on the way to a quick recovery.

Teething Toddler!

I thought we were done with teething, at least for a little while. My 19 month old has a mouth full of teeth and I figured I had a few months before the 2 yr molars started. I was WRONG! She has been back to madame crankypants this week, not a lot of sleep for either of us, and she is desperate for motrin. Please tell me that this will eventually end. Eventually she will have all of her teeth, right??

Sleep...when do we get to have more of it?

My daughter has been sleeping pretty well in the last few weeks, but in the last 4 days she has been a mess again! Last night she slept well, but she was up at 5:00 am. I thought I would just try to get her to lay down again, but when I went in there was nothing doing. She had a wet diaper and was already asking for breakfast. Oh, well. Hopefully she (we) will be able to take a good nap today. At least she is happy right now, I hope it sticks.

1 nap or 2?

My beautiful toddler is confused about whether she needs one nap or two and it is confusing me! Most days she takes 1 nap just after lunch and manages a good 2 - 2.5 hr nap during that time, but the last few days she has begged for a morning nap. She follows me around holding my legs saying "hold you" or "night-night." I have given her the nap when she asks, but I don't know what is best? Maybe she is fighting off being sick and will go back to one nap in a few days? Why are toddlers so confusing???

The Thrill of a Great Find

I am on a deal high today. I knew that I needed some new diapers for my daughter, but I have been putting it off until it was absolutely necessary. I had the funds for the diapers, but I wanted to make sure I got a good deal. I hadn't seen any great deals advertised, but I had a few coupons and decided to go and check out target. Target is good because I can always get a box of the target diapers for about$13 and sometimes they have sales on Huggies. Today was a diapering gold mine for us. The huggies were slightly cheaper than at Publix ($1) and if I bought 2 boxes I could get a five dollar gift card back. I checked my coupons and I had $1.50 off one package and $5 off of a pack of diapers and a pack of wipes. Yay! Is it ridiculous that I am so excited about this feat??

Telling God your plans

Ever heard the saying if you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans? Today my plans included dropping off my daughter at Nana's, an eye appointment, lunch, taking the same daughter to a splash park and sprinkle in a few naps for the daughter and today was ready...right? So far I went to an eye appt that had been cancelled without my knowledge, had to go to the grocery store, my daughter has slept at crazy times, and oh, last but not least, it is storming. OK God, I get it!

Teething!

My daughter has been working on getting some molars for the last few days (not to mention the front teeth that are still missing) and boy has it been miserable! She does not sleep well, does not sit well, does not play well and is constantly teary. I have tried distraction, cold toys, things to chew on all to no avail. I have tried tylenol, motrin, and even teething tablets to relieve some of the suffering (for us all) and nothing seems to be working. It would not be so bad if she could just get some decent sleep while she is going through it, but nothing seems to be working. Hopefully this current nap will help, it has been a lot longer than normal. Please Lord, help that baby girl!

The Museum

I took my daughter to the museum today for the first time since she has been able to walk around by herself. It was quite an experience. She actually did really well for most of the time, but I did have to sneak her crackers when the security guards were busy. (Do I lose Good Mom points for sneaking?) It was a lot of fun and virtually free (although we did pay to go through one of the exhibits). I recommend looking up your town on the web to see what you have going nearby, that's how we ended up at the museum this morning and it was definitely worth it!

Legalism, Relationship, Prayer

I have been reading 1 Timothy and studying with a group of women near my home. This week I have really been struck by the thought that legalism (or following any set of rules) just doesn't cut it. The only way to live in the center of God's will seems to be to ask him about it. I want to be better about praying, I want to treat God as a friend and remember to tell him all and talk to him about everything, but I am constantly failing in that area of my life. Right now this scares me more than it ever has before in my life, not just because of how it affects me, but because of how it affects my baby girl. My toddler wants to be just like me, she imitates my every move and I know that things I say and do every day are what she is learning every day. Now to compound matters we are getting into the days where she is starting to understand what I want her to do and does not always chose to do those things and suddenly I realized with my study that even though I can train her and discipline her and teach her the right way to act that isn't enough. I MUST be praying for the attitudes of her heart, I MUST be praying that her heart is moldable, and most of all I MUST be praying that she is leaning on and trusting in Jesus and that he will direct her paths! Whoa! Talk about conviction. Luckily this week I was also reminded of another verse. James 4:8 "come near to God and he will come near to you..." So this week my prayer is Lord, draw me near to you and Lord allow my girl to see you in me. Draw her, teach her, mold her. Do not let me be her stumbling block.

Sleep Success...and failures!

Calling all parents! Do you ever feel like you finally have the whole sleep thing figured out just to find out that your toddler finds a new way to thwart your effort at a full nights sleep days later? I just finished bragging to all of my "mommy" friends that my 13 month old has (no a better verb is had) been sleeping from 7pm to 6-6:30 am pretty much every night. I guess she must have heard me, because now she is having a hard time going down again and I feel like I am back at the beginning of the "sleep training process" again. Does it ever end? She will at some point develop a routine...right??