Terrific Two's

Let's be real...sticking to your guns is not easy!! In fact it stinks.

Corben asked to go to McDonald's to play today so we went and got a snack - some yogurt for Corben and a dollar sweet tea for Mom. Then I got everyone settled in the play area. Corben was sitting in his chair happily eating his yogurt, baby in a high chair mouthing a spoon I gave him and me sipping my sweet tea.

Another mom was next to us with her two boys and the usual conversation came up.

"Wow, bless your heart how close in age are they??"

Me - "About 21 months apart."

"Well you look like you've got it down. How is it having them that close?"

Me - "Some days are better than others." :)

I was a proud mom at that moment. Look at my sweet boys being so good. Sigh.

Then Corben took his shoes off and got down to play so I moved to his side so I could get a better view of the slide where he was playing. Corben comes back over and tells me to sit in "your" seat and points to the seat that I was in first. I explain calmly that these are everyone's seats and mommy came to sit here so she could see him. Do you want to sit with mommy?" He then starts to push at me and scream that it is "HIS" seat. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. So I pick him up and put him in my lap and tell him that he needs to calm down or we are not going to be able to play anymore. He squirms out of my lap and throws a fit and of course by now the playplace has filled with other parents and their children. I scooped Corben up, got baby out of his high chair and took them to the bathroom.

Then we marched back to the playplace put Corben's shoes on, packed up our stuff and went back home. Our outing lasted a whole 30 minutes.

Being a mom is HARD. Being consistent is even HARDER! I told him we would leave if he acted out. So we had to leave even though he asked so sweetly to stay when we were in the bathroom. But I couldn't... I told him we were going to leave if he threw a fit. So that's what we did.

I really do understand why so many parents don't discipline and aren't consistent. It seems like it would be so much easier to just live and let live. I could have just moved and laughed it off "oh he's just type A like his daddy." I would have totally bypassed the whole situation (well sort of... it would continue to rear its head until its dealt with). But I would have been encouraging the selfish behavior that we have been working through. It's not about me. It's about them understanding actions have consequences. Honoring your parents, using self control, sharing etc etc. All those lessons that are tied up in those short thirty minutes of life.

I don't always handle situations the best but I do the best I can with what I know. I was having a hard time with discipline a while back and started reading some of the articles online from No Greater Joy Ministries. It really encouraged me. He encouraged parents to not be too hard on themselves and that there are not enough hours in a lifetime to devour all the knowledge that you need to be a parent. But you do have God and he has all the wisdom you need.

I can definitely see that I'm going to need a lot more grace and a lot more face time with God as they get older. This must be where praying without ceasing comes from! It gets easier right?

At least I didn't say to the lady. "Oh it's great, having two this close is sooo easy!"

Thanks for letting me vent a little.

Making fresh bread everyday.

I know some of you read this title and got nervous and sweaty. Being a mom of two little ones I would normally be right there with you. Making fresh bread everyday sounds wonderful... for someone else that has lots of time and maybe for me when my kids are grown and I have nothing better to do than bake lots of stuff for the grandkids (Can't wait for those fun days too). But wait, this is something you can do! I promise!

And guess what.... you don't need a breadmachine and you don't have to knead anything! I'll give you a little background first before I give my secret away. Since moving to Macon a mommy group has formed out of people I have met through different circumstances and I have been so blessed by them in so many different ways I can't even describe. They were my saving grace especially when Chad was working non-stop. One of the ladies is a beautiful Italian girl with a grandmothers heart. She is always baking things and bringing them to the group. Everything she cooks is soooo good. One day she told us about this great book called "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day." I was a little skeptical at first but she let me borrow the book and I gave it a try. I had thought many times about getting a bread machine because there is nothing like fresh bread and it is way more cost effective to make your own.

So I gave it a try. Now my first boule loaf was not pretty needless to say, but it was sooo yummy and after a few tries I was getting beautiful loaves and it was so easy. Since then every time I have guests I bake them fresh bread. It takes no time and I can use the dough for boule bread, pizza, stromboli, flat bread etc etc. It's wonderful dipped in spinach dip! When my girl friends came down to visit we put away a whole loaf with some spinach dip.... YUMMMMM!

There's a couple tricks that make it so easy but mainly it's because you mix it ahead of time and then store it in your fridge for up to two weeks. Everytime you need a fresh loaf, you just cut off a chunk, let it sit while you make dinner and then throw it in the oven. Beautiful bread everytime! You can find the recipe for the basic bread online HERE. Give it a try! If you like it, get the book - there are so many wonderful recipes you can make. You will impress your guests everytime!

Who needs a bread machine and who has time to knead??? NOT ME!!

The Beach

Last weekend was my brothers wedding in Charleston so we decided to make a vacation of it. So we rented this house on Seabrook Island for Friday through Monday. We were originally going to rent a hotel but found that a house was about the same! We booked it a week before and didn't know much about where we were staying. We just wanted to be near the beach and that's all we needed to know.


It turned out to be a wonderful family area to stay. It is a private island so no fighting crowds for beach space and there was so much wildlife. It was just gorgeous. The island had horseback riding, biking, tennis, restaurants and a little "town" area with beach shops and a soda fountain in the drug store. We had a blast. While on the beach I captured a shot of someone riding a horse on the beach and a beautiful sailboat going by. Wow. I think next time we'll have to do the horseback riding thing!
Unfortunately it was really windy. So we only stayed on the beach for a few minutes. So the rest of the time we enjoyed biking the island with bikes that were provided for us, and just being lazy and enjoying our kids!


The town area had some wonderful restaurants and a grocery store so there was no need to leave the island for anything. It was sooo nice. We ate at a wonderful authentic Italian place (I know we are at the beach and we should eat seafood, but I'm just not a big seafood person). But I LOVE italian food. Their pizza was out of this world.


The rest of the days we just ate simple meals in the kitchen and then had a big brunch for John's wedding. Which was gorgeous. They got married at a gazebo right on the pier in Charleston. I wore my BIG hat and felt like a real southern lady :).

To be honest I didn't know how a vacation would be with two small children but after a little bit of adjustment the first day, it was great. So our first family vacation was a success... now I'm ready for the next one!!!

You'll never look at your food the same way again!

I have been soo into documentaries lately. It has helped that we now have Netflix. Maybe I'm the only one, but if I am going to rent a movie... I want to be entertained and I just don't think of documentaries as entertaining... they are more educational. If I want educational, I'll read a book.

But if you can rent a movie any time you want and have instant movies available - you are more willing to watch a documentary. That's just me anyway. So back to my real point. A few weeks ago I got the chance to watch Food, inc. and was totally blown away.

Not only was the documentary well done - it will totally change the way you view your food. I always thought of myself as pretty food conscious. I read labels like a crazy woman. Making sure there is no MSG, high fructose corn syrup etc. etc. I try to make my meals from scratch if I can help it. But after watching this I felt the conviction to take it to the next level and get more aggressive about eating organic.

I have to admit that cost has deterred me for a while. I've bought organic here and there but didn't think it was that big of a deal right? So what if there is a little pesticide residue on my veggies. It will wash off right? I challenge you to look up some of the fruits and veggies you eat on a regular basis on sites like what's on my food. Yeah, it's crazy. But back to the cost... in a previous post I talked about my new coupon fetish. Well, there is a coupon site for organic coupons too. If you are interested check out this coupon blog. A lot of the organic companies have coupons you can print off their site every month. So it's not as bad as I thought.

So go watch this documentary! If you want to be savvy and well-informed, you won't be sorry.

No more diapers

It's potty training time! If you need an excuse as to why I haven't blogged in a while.. there it is!!!

About a month ago...all of a sudden Corben started coming to me and demanding to be changed if his diaper was the least bit wet. So... I decided to start.

Am I using any certain method, No. Not that I know of any way. I've try to make it work for us and be age appropriate for Corben too.

I'm not sure I buy into all the "readiness checklist" stuff. If they don't like their diapers being messy anymore... I think it's time. Now, Corben just turned two so connecting the ideas of going to the bathroom are a little more difficult than with a child that is closer to three but I still think he's ready. The more we try, the more he is getting it.

I have to admit my heart did break a little when I put some big boy underwear on him for the first time. This is a big deal... my baby is not going to need me nearly as much very soon.

So I've tried pull-ups, bare-bottom and underwear. After trying out all of them I think it makes sense to have him in underwear so he can get used to wearing them. The pull-ups are nice if we are going out on an errand. They won't cause a mess but if we need to go potty they are easy to pull down. I do not like them for everyday use because Corben doesn't get "messy" if he has an accident hence there is no incentive to go on the potty. Corben hates to be messy by the way... I wonder who he gets that from???

So at first there were some tears and not wanting to sit on the potty but I stayed consistent and decided to add a timer to give him something to focus on. So we "try" for three minutes. Sometimes I will go longer if it is obvious he needs to go. So we are making small advances. Just today he came to me twice and said potty instead of "stinkies or wet diaper." I'm taking every small progression as a victory and trying to remember he's still young... it may take him a little while but he'll get it soon enough.

Sometimes I feel ridiculous when I talk him through going to the potty and I feel like all I do is ask him if he needs to go. I've tried several different ways of explaining it to try to get him to want to go potty. Explaining that it's messy to go in your pants but you'll be dry if you go on the potty. I even have a little potty cheer which I won't share here. :) I even tried to appeal to his sweet side... "Your pee-pee wants to be put in the potty but it needs help. Can you help your pee-pee go in the potty?" Oh the joys of potty training.

As far as incentives - we are doing the potty chart with stickers which Corben likes to do and I'll give him a chocolate chip if he actually goes in the potty. I still go back and forth about the chocolate chip idea. Will I be giving him a chocolate chip every time he goes after he's trained? When does it stop??

I ordered the "No diapers for ducky" book which I think will help the potty seem less intimidating and speak to him more on his level. Not to mention he loves books. I didn't go for any of the anatomically correct books with the step by step guide to going to the potty... I just don't think he can think of it cognitively like that yet. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe I'll change my mind and get one. Who knows. Right now I think he benefits more to relating to how things feel and sound. I talk to him about what it sounds like when he goes potty and try to help him connect that with pushing it out. It seems to be working. So this is what I've been working on lately.

Say a prayer for me! I know this will be behind us before we know it but for now it's a lot of work!

Couponing

On the subject of savvy. I don't think I have ever posted about my couponing fetish. This started probably about 4 or 5 months ago. As if I couldn't get any stranger or more of a "mom." I am totally addicted to couponing. Who can blame you when you can get free stuff??

I usually save at least 50% if not more on my grocery bill and end up with a few free items every week. Some examples of free stuff I've gotten: cream cheese, tissues, eye make-up, hot cocoa... etc etc. And I never pay more than 5.50 - 6.50 for huggies/pampers. It pays to do this! It just takes a little bit of time but for the most part these sites walk you through it and match up the coupons to the sales for you. My favorite is www.southernsavers.com. And in the past few months I have been doing all my shopping at Publix when I used to be an avid Kroger shopper. If you use publix coupons and stack them with manufacturer coupons. You can save a lot!! And they take competitor coupons too! Is there such a thing as a mom geek? Because I think I am falling into that category. Oh well, if it helps me be able to stay home with my kids and be a good steward of our money then so be it! These sites even helped me get great deals on customized Christmas gifts. I only had to pay shipping on photo mugs, collage photos/posters, desk calendar etc.

Here are some of the sites I use:
www.southernsavers.com
www.iheartpublix.com
www.dealseekingmom.com
www.moneysavingmom.com

Give it a try!

I survived!

I know my posts have been so few and far between lately. But now that I am getting a little break throughout the week. I hope to have more time for it.

Chad has started to have days off. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I was spoiled last week. He had two days off and got off early for New Year Eve and New Years Day. I didn't know what to do with myself! Taking care of two kids alone is no easy task. But we made it! I didn't know if I would be able to handle it but with the help of a few key people I could vent to. I survived and my kids did too :)

Corben is just blossoming lately and he seems to be getting less and less frustrated and fussy. Which I am very excited about. Devlin is a sweet butterball. More than once Chad has asked me if we should put him on a diet. No! It'll all come off when he starts moving around. But for now I just love those cute chubby rolls! He is so happy and it's just magical to see him laugh at something Corben is doing and Corben getting so excited that he can make his baby brother happy. Those moments are what make the rough times totally worth it.

On the subject of rough... Corben was sick this past Saturday. After napping in my arms he woke up and vomited all over himself and me. LOVELY! So I quickly gathered all the yucky clothes and got Corben in a bath. While everything was in the wash I realized I hadn't put his blanket in with everything. So I put it in and washed it all again. A few minutes later I realize.... my phone was in my jeans... I washed my phone.... twice.

We still have Chad's old phone so I'm going to see if I can get that one reactivated. Well I have a great "mom" story under my belt!