Newsworthy

Sort of...we moved to a new blog. 

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That's all.

My Loves

Call this my Valentine's Day post. This lady can be so sweet (and spicy too) at times. Lately, she will just tell us she loves us, unprompted. We also have a game. I used to say "hey Em, guess what?" and she would just look at me. I would then say "I love you!" Now she comes up to me, and in one phrase says "mom, guess what, I love you!" or "you know what? I love you!" She also is full of compliments: I like your sweater, I like your drink, I like your pillow, you're a nice girl mommy, you're a good boy daddy. Now she is asking questions: do you like biscuits? what are you doing? what do you want for lunch? do you like warm milk? do you like cold milk?

This of course is another love of my life, especially when he is doing dishes! We have had the arrangement for awhile that if I make supper, he'll clean up and do dishes. This is a huge blessing when we entertain others because I still get to visit guests and not miss the show because of cleaning up. Every night he takes Em to brush her teeth, read stories, pray, do a Bible verse and put her in bed. He is usually the one taking out the trash, and is always the one to double check a secure house at night. He makes Emersen laugh, and me, more than anyone else. He keeps me on schedule for our shows, which is a running joke with us. As he pursues his passions and the direction God sends him, I love him more each day.

This is Em at her TV table. When I was taking down Christmas decorations, which WAS before February but towards the end of January, our table was covered with boxes so we ate in the living room. Em helped me carry her table into the living room and then set our TV tables with napkins and forks. It was an adventure for her!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whinese

Can I get an "AMEN" on this? What is the DEAL with whining being the only language my two year old knows how to speak? Even if she's not complaining. Sometimes I look at her because it sounds like she's whining and she's happy. This is unacceptable. 

Emersen has reverted back to terrible two behavior as of the past few days. I suppose we can blame it on a cold/cough she has had, but she doesn't really seem to feel badly. It's hard to deal with an irrational little being all day long. I get that she's two, but some stuff is simply outrageous that she flips out over. I'm trying to stay on top of snacks and making sure she's well fed a balanced meal to be sure hunger/low blood sugar isn't causing these fits. But today we had to amp up discipline and punishment because the way she talked to us is shameful. One of these attempts included a condition of well behavior (listen & obey/no whining/fits) at Kroger today in exchange for the stickers she always gets. Wes said "tell her no stickers if she can't listen and obey". So I did. And we got through the trip, after the whining/arguing a bit over the actual condition. Irony. Until the checkout line, of course. Then, I experience the new pet peeve of my mothering existence: the cashier who hands your kid a sucker without checking with you first. 

I know many times the cashier is a younger adult that hasn't had to care for a toddler/kid before and has no idea of the ramifications of this interaction. You (parents) should be able to tell your kid "no," which I do sometimes, but that's logical and logic can't be applied to a TWO YEAR OLD. Eighteen month old Emersen would have just been okay if I turned down a sucker on her behalf. Not now. 

We had a similar experience at church one Sunday during an event that included people handing out food. Two different adults just handed Emersen food - a cookie from one, a cupcake from the other. Number 1: I'm a mean mom and Emersen doesn't get to have cookies and cupcakes whenever she wants, much less both at the same time. Number 2 (and more importantly): Emersen has food allergies! Fortunately, as far as we know, not extreme allergies like some kids. These kids are the reasons our kids ministry posts an Allergy Alert of what snacks are being served. Number 3: The adults that gave my kid food were NOT people involved in my life, nor did I even know their names. Close friends and family know what she can and can't eat, and even then usually ask. Do you know that cream of chicken soup has eggs in it, and canned potato soup, and meatloaf, and cupcakes and cookies, and even some hard candy decorations? Never mind the kids with the peanut allergies! I mean, we do carry around an EPI pen. 

I do offer the disclaimer that I am a strict parent. Emersen doesn't eat candy/cookies/cake on a regular basis and not just because of her allergies. She can usually have baked goods. But we're trying to teach her healthy habits at the age at which things become part of who you are. We want her to think that eating healthy is just normal, rather than thought of as a diet. We want her to think physical activity/exercise is just normal, not something of a chore. I CAN control what she eats right now, so I want her to get the best start she can. Additionally, she is TWO. She doesn't have the capability to weigh pros and cons to make a decision. Given the opportunity, she WILL overeat and eat the wrong things. I repeat, she is TWO. As a two year old, she also still over generalizes things. For example, she thinks you ALWAYS get stickers at Kroger. You know what, sometimes they're out of stickers. Therefore, if you just hand my kid a sucker, she will think you always get a sucker at Kroger. But if I let her have a sucker every time we went to Kroger, that would be a lot of suckers because we go there a lot. And this may just be Emersen; she has an obsessive personality. Nevertheless, I know that a typical two year old will be unhappy when handed a sucker only to have mom take it right away. 

I don't want to be THAT mom, though I know I am. But I care more about teaching self-control to my child, as well as healthy habits, that what others think of me. However, I know how difficult it is to stay strong in your parenting and disciplining with a child, especially a two year old. And especially if you are the primary care giver and are with your child all the time. It's easy to relax and appease just to get some peace. Today Em threw a napkin up to the front of the car and I ignored it because I just didn't want to deal with it. That's why I want to communicate things like this to people who just haven't had to consider situations with kids and the ramifications the grown up has to deal with thereafter. You NEVER get to stop being a parent, or at least I don't think you should. I believe in proactive parenting, not just winging it. I want to be teaching my child appropriate behavior, not just correcting inappropriate behavior. I do not believe in letting "kids be kids" all the time to learn lessons by trial and error AT THIS AGE because she can't completely understand situations or cause & effect yet. 

I say all of that to say, PLEASE HELP ME! Please help me, and other moms/dads/grown ups/caregivers raise their children to be well adjusted adults. It DOES take a village to raise a child well; it's a cliche for a reason. Being a mom, especially an at-home mom, is (thus far) the hardest job I've ever had. It isn't 9-5 and Monday-Friday, it's ALL the time. And I'm thankful for the opportunity. But as we see parents on the news having made life altering mistakes involving their children, I think we have to consider how we can support parents so they can take the time to appropriately raise their kids. 

Rather than undermining parents' ability to parent by giving kids things - candy, cookies, cake, toys - ask the parents permission first. This will help teach kids not to take things from strangers at the same time! You know your motives, but parents don't. Similarly, if I tell my child to say ma'am or sir, let them do it. Don't tell them they don't have to - it's confusing for them because they don't know who to listen to (it's the parent that they should listen to, by the way). You can mention it to just me later. Same for if an adult tells a child not to touch something, it doesn't matter if you say "oh they can't hurt that." My two year old may not hurt your pillows, but I've seen what she can do to mine, so forgive me if I ignore your comment. Additionally, you might not care if something breakable gets broken, but that isn't the case for everyone and I want to set my child up to succeed, not put them in the situation to fail later. 

I know this post is reminiscent of a venting blog from when I was pregnant. If it's harsh, I'm sorry. Truly. I just want to open up communication in a non-confrontational arena and hopefully promote assistance and support for parents/adults. I feel like parents of kids that may have a handicap or disability have an opinion and look for the outlets to communicate terminology or behavior that is hurtful to them or ways that you can help them feel included with others. And I'm sure I should read one, because I may have just used the wrong descriptive words in my last sentence. That is what I'm hoping for here: understanding of another person's walk of life. In my case, it's the walk of life of the neurotic & strict parent, right? That's fine.

In the end, you won't screw up my life or my kids by giving my kid a sucker. In our case, just if you give her eggs or tree nuts. In that case, I'll send you the hospital bill. 

Sprinter

Sprinter = Spring in Winter

This was one of those randomly warm days. We may have even eaten our lunch outside. I can't actually remember. But this day did make me think that I could perhaps live elsewhere, someplace that has predominantly warm weather. I'm just tired of not being able to get warm while inside. I'm currently wearing a couple layers, including socks, my snow boots and a shawl. Yep, a shawl. 

Anyway, these aren't that exciting of pictures. Same toys, same backyard. The sunglasses are new from Christmas, thanks Mindy. Em does enjoy having glasses like Mommy as well. 

Snowy

Emmy watching it snow.

What is it about snow? Despite the fact it was 70 degrees two days ago, I'm still camped out in front of the window with hot cinnamon orange tea mesmerized by the chaotically falling, swirling & blowing giant white flakes. 

I love snow. It's always magical. Always. Maybe a snowfall always holds the ability to take you back to those "good old days" of being a kid. Maybe the lazy drop of the flakes hypnotizes you, removing the ability to worry or even think as you watch each flake whirl and twirl, creating an inner peace. Maybe it's a deeper issue with creation, serving a call from God; it's a little fuzzy yet pure and clean confetti-fall to put a smile on your face. 

All I know is that I'm a sucker for some snow. I love watching it blow towards me like it is going to brush my face. I relish the quiet outside characteristic only to a snowfall. I'm torn between wanting to stand in its presence bundled up or hibernating from it indoors accompanied by hot drinks & blankets. It's January's only redeeming quality; the pacifier as we leave the jolly days of Christmas that create a warm atmosphere every day, that give theme to every activity, craft or recipe. 

The theme today is snow white-ness, is pure fluff, is gentle peace falling from the sky, is a gift from the creator Himself. 

Little Face

Pink lady. And just full disclosure, those wreaths are still up on my house. Tomorrow I'll take them down, when it's warm.

"Blowing" bubbles. Sometimes she gets a little excitedly close to her mouth.

Rudolph is driving while sock monkey is hanging out the back. Mufasa is over the pile of clothes. And I'm not sure who is at fault for the school bus accident...

And this is a picture of what we wish would happen daily. She is just sitting. She has not done her business in the potty yet. She isn't very excited about using the potty in real life. She'll talk about it like she wants to go in the potty. She loves this song called The Poopsmith Song (it's hilarious, any kiddo will love it). But we have to get there because she's holding it, not like in rebellion, just normally and then going and it's so much that her diaper gets overflowed. Especially first thing in the morning. 

Emersen has been as ridiculous as ever. Miss independent most days. She's been loving her some Daddy lately. And I liken her to a drunk college girl because she goes around saying "I love you Daddy, I love you Mommy, I love you trains, I love you moon." Sweet girl. Fortunately, it seems that on most days she is waking up much happier after naptime than she was for awhile. She's going happily into her class at church. She's talking to other more often. Today we went to a friends house and on the way she said "I won't be shy." I told her she would be great and just to be herself. And she talked soon after we arrived! She is doing better at saying "hold me" instead of "hold you." She really knows her letters pretty well. Numbers are not coming as quickly. She's still loves trains, baby dolls, carrying stuff around in bags, her dollhouse, cars of all sorts, going to the library and Gymboree, singing, reading and climbing. She loves her milk and hot tea. She is still eating pretty well - even eating the Greek pizza at Grey Goose. Basically, she's a pretty awesome little two year old that can press your nerves fairly regularly but woos you back when she pets your head and says "Mama, you're a good girl. Mama, your nice."

Eating and Drinking

Em says "they're eating and drinking!" one day while we're watching TV. I think she's talking about TV and then realize there is something on the side table. It's her Disney Princess Little People and some random Little People that looks like a wizard (Waverly left it at our house). And she put the little balls that came with her Holy Cow toy in some blocks turned upside down for cups. LOVE IT! 

THEN, I said "oh, I'm going to take a picture" and she says "oh, me too!" as she grabs her toy camera while I grabbed my camera. LOVE IT!

Dang girl, pull up your skirt!

And then she gets distracted by the TV while I try to get her to look at the camera. Whatever.

The Spice of Life

Who doesn't like to be independent? Emersen is certainly trying to find ways to exert her independence on a daily basis. She now wants to get the chair and drag it into the kitchen for every meal or snack. Her "helping" isn't always as helpful as I'm sure she wants to be.

She usually finds some kitchen tool to play around with - measuring cup, plastic spoon, the candy canes in the corner.

She helped set the table for dinner. We usually serve ourselves from the kitchen and bring the plates to the table - less dishes dirtied. She only had to set out spoons and napkins, as it was a Wes-less dinner, so we were having tomato soup with rice.

As much as I don't like to encourage a lot of climbing on her part, because I know it will come back and bite me, it's nice to be able to tell her to go get in her chair. And she does. She hasn't quite mastered her dismount yet.

And just so you don't think she's ALWAYS sweet smiling....here is reality. Who KNOWS what caused her to make this face. She wants what she wants and wants it NOW. She asks us things 100 times. And even when the answer is "yes, in 5 minutes" she keeps asking. It really works my nerves. Mostly because I get frustrated that I can't get her to understand that I'm saying YES to her request. Like tonight I was shredding lettuce for tacos and she wanted to do the salad spinner. But I wasn't ready to spin the salad yet. And she kept asking until it turned into a whine/demand, even though I said "yes, you can help me, but you have to wait, I'll do it later." She understands wait and later, but not at that moment. I can't figure another way to help her understand.

But she is sweet and smiling a lot of the time. I do love random hugs and "mommy, I love you." Or Mama, as it appears to be for her now. She's a regular Georgia peach I suppose. Coupled with her pronunciation of the word church - chuch - she sounds pretty southern. She also told me she was playing hide and sink today too...

Songs to Live By

Blessed Assurance - Frances Crosby

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
   Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
   Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
   Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
   • Refrain:
     This is my story, this is my song,
     Praising my Savior all the day long;
     This is my story, this is my song,
     Praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
   Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
   Angels, descending, bring from above
   Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest,
   I in my Savior am happy and blest,
   Watching and waiting, looking above,
   Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Listened to this song today. It's always been one of my favorites. It's certainly the first hymn I remember learning and knowing. I used to be in choir, as a kid of course, when we attending Summit Heights UMC. The details are for my on reminiscing. Kid's choir doesn't require much skill, obviously. But, just as much of what you learn as a kid, the lyrics have stuck with me over the years. Today it stuck out to me as well. I was listening to a more recent version of the song by Jadon Lavik on Spotify. 

Many songs hold more power than they should or do at face value. Just the other day at a restaurant, I heard a song that brought back memories of a friend that lives far away. I texted her and got a little down about it as well. This song, fortunately, holds it's power in the lyrics of praise rather than a situation I experienced. This type of song becomes a "classic" for that reason. Whats your favorite worship song? hymn? song you learned as a kid? most memorable song? I know that John Mayer's album that put him on the charts, as well as Ben Folds' Cd Rockin' the Suburbs could be considered soundtracks of my junior year of high school. And the song Hot in Here reminds me of junior prom - I think junior. And Get Low reminds me of freshman year of college, as does Britney Spears' song Toxic.   There are country songs from a CD a boyfriend made me in high school that takes me "back". And same for some Coldplay songs - one almost brought me to tears in the Commons at UK when I was in college. There is a Phil Collins song, of which I don't know the title, that has a hard to understand lyric in it. When Wes and I were starting to date, maybe we weren't dating yet...but he guessed the right lyrics in some argument with a friend. And I always think about how I first heard that song, while driving around at Fayette Mall, and I thought to myself "oh, Wes was right!" Which, by the way, I have to think quite often, as he's often right. 

And finally, I'll probably always have a soft spot in my heart for songs like Jingle Bells, The Drummer Boy (parum-pa-pum-pum, as she calls it), You are My Sunshine because Emersen loves these songs and sings them. 

Hollywood

Emersen got some new sunglasses for Christmas. She hasn't quite grasped when the appropriate time is to wear them. She also likes to wear them on her head instead, of course defeating the point of having the sunglasses. Oh geez, glamour girl in the making!

Something that's been super fantastic lately is the revived connection between Wes and Emersen. It was really beneficial to have him home for awhile over the holidays. For reasons I don't yet understand, the whole mom-at-home thing facilitates an obsession with tiny two year old. The more she is with me, the more she wants to be with me, play with me, be held by me. Like an addiction. One day, Wes got up with Emersen so I could sleep in. He fed her, played with her, bathed her, took her out to run errands, etc. I was our running errands at other times so that she was with him all day. In the times that I was home with them, Emersen still wanted daddy, or was balanced out between the two. She didn't mind me leaving or doing something else. One of our "New Years Resolutions" is to facilitate that relationship more regularly for all the reasons a father-daughter relationship needs to be strong and also to ensure my sanity of doing something sometimes other than be Em's cook/maid/valet. Win win for all!

Big Blue Days

I try to avoid anything that says "princess" on it but here in KY, being a UK princess is quite alright! Em got this shirt and skirt for Christmas -  love it! I wish grown up ladies could wear fun and colorful skirts and leggings all the time too. Also in Emersen's hands are "girl monkey" as she is so fondly referred to and her Dora cup. Em reminds us that the song to Dora says "do-do-do-dora"!

Other Emersen-isms:

Mama, you a girl

Daddy, you a boy

Swiper, no swiping!

Little man say "shh" - from Silent Sale via Green's Toyota commercial

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Fayette Mall - another commercial

This is a....this is a.... - in response to something she can't remember what to call it

This is Jeopardy!

I want apples - calls a healthy fruit/veggie drink "apples"

Smell it - she wants to smell everything!

Other things that are my favorite behaviors right now:

She asks for paper towels/napkins to wipe her hands

She asks to put plates in the sink or trash in the garbage can

She wants to carry something upstairs, but then asks us to carry it for her after going up one step

Telling me what to do - mama, put your right leg up here; mama, change your clothes

She's a hoot, that's for sure.

Starting Again

Happy New Year! We're on our way in 2013 and I'm sure you're contemplating changes to make or new things to try/implement. We've thrown around topics such as our budget, home improvement projects, exercise and diet. Now, we don't have answers, resolutions or plans in place yet, but we're discussing these things. One thing that we do have a plan for is our bible reading plan for 2013. I don't think that's ever been a "plan" for me, but after reading the above pictured book, I was challenged to read the entire bible in a year. David Platt issues some challenges at the end of the book, and while we're not embracing the whole list, this one I am. As of right now, the plan is to read it chronologically, as in the order each piece was written. Wes has chosen 12 different books of the bible and will spend a month on each book.

Other things I took away from this book:

• We need to be focused on discipleship as Christians, to try to be more like Christ and help other Christians do the same thing.
• We are ridiculously rich compared to much of the rest of the world. We need to remember that, we need to be grateful for what we have, we need to share what we have. 
• I was reminded that often what God calls us to do sounds crazy and stupid and irresponsible to someone who doesn't have a personal relationship with God, who hasn't committed their life to Christ. (For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:17-19)
• I was reminded that often what God calls us to do sounds crazy and stupid and irresponsible to even those who are Christians and have been for awhile. (For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:24-26)
• We need to give more and more away.
• We are blessed in the United States because there are so many churches, Christian radio stations, bookstores, websites and so forth that provide answers to questions about God, that provide the bible for us to read, and even people who will pray for you. While we sometimes feel persecuted as Christians in the states, comparatively to other countries, it ain't nothing. This inspires me to pray for more and more missionaries to go and at least give those elsewhere the opportunity to at least HEAR the name of Jesus and who he is, with the opportunity to commit their life to Christ and have their sins forgiven and secure their place in heaven. I need to pray this prayer for myself as well as others because the bible tells us to go and make disciples of the nations. This means some sort of mission trip for us. This makes me love my friends in Africa and those going to Africa for their obedience even more, even though I miss and will miss them. Someone's life will be changed and saved because of their obedience to God. 
• We have but one purpose here on earth - to glorify God. God tells us how to do this in his Word and as a Christian, I need to be obedient to his commands to share his gospel, to love him above all else, to love others as myself, to be holy because he is holy.

I think I could go on and on because this book was awesome in a refocusing and makes you want to be better way. A co-worker challenged me to read it this past summer and I just got to it this fall. It was a great recommendation and I highly recommend it as a beginning of the year read as it will probably spur some thought on how you're currently living and maybe give you some thoughts on your relationship with God - do you have a real relationship with him? if so, how are you serving him? how are you sharing the gospel? how are you showing love to others? if you're not doing these things, are you going to start?

Anyway, hope you had a safe and happy New Year's Eve. We waited until midnight to celebrate with a kiss then hit the sack pretty soon after. And by "hit the sack" I mean we set the sleep timer and turned off our lights because if we were up that late, we were definitely already in pj's and laying in bed. Yep, we're already there friends. Whatever. 

Life returns to normal tomorrow with Wes going back to work. Hopefully more snow will come for more fun pictures, and I'll try to catch some candids of the crazy toddler we have around here. She's utterly ridiculous and hilarious MOST of the time, and I want to share that with others, of course.