Magic Mommy Kisses

I absolutely love it when Izzy comes up to me with an "ouchy" and wants me to kiss it. After I do it is all-of-a-sudden all better! Magic!!! Once mommy and daddy kiss it, it no longer calls for any attention. It makes me feel like a super hero, and I am so glad that one little act can put his little mind at ease. Izzy, I will kiss your little "ouchies" as long as you want me to. Hope that you will always come to me when you are hurting, even when it turns from physical pain, to spiritual and emotional. I love you!

Growing up

Yesterday afternoon we took away Paci. The thought has been in my head for awhile now, but wasn't sure when to do it. Izzy loves his paci and it broke my heart to think of taking it away, but it was also wearing me out hearing him whine for it all the time. We have tried really hard from the very beginning to not let him have it unless it was absolutely necessary, or it was bed time. Then he got older and got sick, and then he started asking for it. Not that gave in all the time, but sometimes (I will confess) I got so tired of hearing him whine, that I gave it to him for a few min. Yesterday I let him have it for nap time, but after he got up, I told him it was time to put paci nigh-night, which he did with a very good attitude. He was great all afternoon and only asked for it a couple times. I had talked to my mom about it, and of course Joel, so all afternoon I was praying that the Lord would give me wisdom to know how and when to do this. Yes I pray about how to take pacies away! We played, ate dinner, got ready for bed...all without paci. I read to him, and then decided to see what would happen if I didn't give it to him to sleep. He of course asked for it, and started looking for it in bed. When we couldn't find it, I told him to lay down with diti, and he did. He fussed for a little bit and then was mad when I told him that they were all gone, but calmed down realy quickly and went to sleep. Today he has been so good, and excepting that they are all gone, but nap time was a little rough...for me. I hate hearing him cry. But it wasn't even five minutes and he was out. Hopefully this goes well, and we can be rid of these wonderful but addicting things.

Hide Heart

I know that I have mentioned the Hide'm In Your Heart DVDs and how wonderful they are. My son, 1 1/2, LOVES them! And when I say Loves them, that is probably an understatement. This past week he has figured out how to say it. It surprised me when I heard him ask for Hide Heart. The only thing that keeps me from letting him watch it all day everyday, is because well, he needs to do something other than sit in front of the tv with his diti and paci (diti being his blanket). But other than that, I am THRILLED that he loves these because it is just scripture put to song. I he quotes the scripture and the reference before each song. Joel and I have the songs memorized and the order in which they come. But my prayer is that as he gets older, these songs will penetrate his heart. The scriptures says that God's word will NOT return void. These are great songs/verses and I am so grateful that he is going to have these hidden in his heart. Friday afternoon I realized that he had a low temperature, and Saturday in climbed to 103 degrees. We lost track of how many times he watched Hide Heart Saturday and today. It is the only movie he asks for. We have definitely gotten our moneys worth. Now...if we can just figure out how to get them on our iphones!

Goodnight Moon

I am sure that all of you have heard of the book Goodnight Moon. It is one of my favorites especially since my mom read it to us. So now I get to read it to my son. But...there is a special way to read it. There are certain voice inflections that must be followed while reading the list of things to say goodnight to. The first time Joel read it, it just didn't sound right. It almost ruined the book for me. So now I am teaching him how to read it the right way, and he is being such a good sport. I am so gald that he understand or at least humors me in this area. Tonight he was reading it to Israel, and he looked up and asked "am I doing it right?" I told him he was getting better. I know it sounds silly, but I am sure that all of you have something like this, whether it is a book that needs to be read a certain way or something else. What is one of your peculiar or special request?

Grape Thief!

Israel LOVES grapes! He gets a small glimps of them and he goes crazy. Well, today after I got home from grocery shopping, I was putting away the groceries. Of course I had the fridge open and my little helper was "helping" me. At least I thought he was until he peeped around the fridge with his mouth full of grapes! He had figured out how to open the grape container and was helping himself tho them. It was so funny! Anyway, he is evidence of the grape thief!

Izzy tidbits at 15 months

Israel is 15 months old. He is growing up so fast, and I am enjoying every minute of it. Sometimes I stop and am in awe at how big he is getting because it seems like we get going about our lives and then all of a sudden he is bigger! He is saying so many words like "no" , "yes", Thanx", "Bible", "Bubble", "Ball", And various other words that we can't fully understand. His newest word is "Cool Dude!" and he says this when he puts on his cool sunglasses.

He loves to eat with a fork and his newest thing is popcorn! Oh does he love it. And he doesn't just put one piece in his mouth, he takes a handful, throws his head back as he puts it in his mouth like daddy does.

He loves his blanket and calls it "Diti." Every morning we walk in and he immediately holds up diti and wants out. He now finds it along with his paci when he wants to be held and cuddled. I love it! I love that he has something that comforts him. 

We are in the process of transitioning away from the morning nap and that has been okay. It is a lot easier when we have errands to run or something to do to keep us busy. It is hard when we are home all day and I have to come up with things to keep him occupied and not cranky. But we will make it.

He loves to play with the pots and pans. I think that he just might grow up to be a cook of some sort. He loves to color (only for a few seconds though), loves to play ball, and LOVES the park. We go there a lot! His best buddies are Melody, and Levi and it is always a treat to see them.

We have started using cloth diapers and so far it is not that bad. If I think about it too much when I am rinsing out a diaper I think I might throw-up, but if I just do it, then I am okay. I will not be doing this for the rest of my life right?

We are loving this stage. We love to cuddle, listen to music and sing Snuggle Puppy.

Summer time

Growing up the icecream truck was a novelty. It was a such a treat whenever we got a chance to get one of those dripping, cold, delicious, creamy icecream cones!

So the other day when Izzy woke up from his nap we were sitting on the couch when I heard the famous icecream truck song. I couldn't resist it! I grabed Izzy, and my dollar and rushed outside to make sure I didn't miss it. Izzy wasn't so sure what to think about the popcycle, but it was sure cute to watch him!

"What is this, mom?"

Perseverance

My little 14 month old is now walking. At first I thought it was taking him too long to start this, seeing that all his little friends were doing it already and some of them younger than he was. Then I realized that he had his own pace and that I need to just let him develope at that God given pace. So I started enjoying the process a lot more. It was fun to see him go from being frustrated with us for asking him to walk to which his reply would be sitting down on the floor and gruntig, to initiating it on his own. It was fun to see how each day he became more confident and took more and more steps. It has been fun to see him go from crawling more, to walking and crawling the same amount, to walking most of the time. This process has been gradual and I have loved seeing the process.

I have been watching him closely and notice how many times he plops down on his cushy bottom because of a loss of balance, only to get right back up. He will do this over and over again! I am amazed at his perseverance and determination and patience to keep getting up and doing it again.

Israel, through life you will fall on your bottom, but don't stay there. Keep getting up and seeking the Lord for guidence and strength to combat the trials and setbacks that life brings so that you can have an abundant life of joy in the Lord Jesus! I love you son and thank you for the example you are to me at this young age.

Swonderful!

We are completely sold on what is called a teething necklace. It is made from Balitc Amber beads and it is wonderful! Before the necklace, we would have really bad teething days where both of us were about to pull our hair out! Well, maybe Israel was about to pull teeth out or something, but they were not good days for either of us. So we splurged on the necklace (not really a splurge though) and decided to try it out. We have been pretty impressed. Today I found out that he was cutting molers and I didn't even know it. He is perfectly fine, and I can already feel them coming through! I am so excited to be having so much success with this necklace. I recommend them to everyone.

A Scare

Sunday afternoon naps are a must in our household. We had just gotten up from our naps today and Izzy was playing on our bed just has he always does. he was near the edge because there was something on the floor that had his attention. He was bouncing and we were telling "Be careful" But before we knew it he took a dive off the bed and landed on his head. I immediately picked him up and he was screaming at this point. You know how babies or kids will cry so hard they look like they are not going to take a breathe? Well that is what he was doing. He has done this before and we have just blown in his face and he takes a breath. We did that this time, but he wouldn't take a breath. He started turning really pale and passed out on us. We didn't know that is what happened. All I knew was that my baby had gone limp in my arms, and rigid at the same time. His eyes rolled back into his head and we both freaked out! I started blowing and pumping his chest. I also was softly slapping his cheeks trying to wake him up. He would open his eyes a little bit, but then close them again. Joel was on the phone with 911 immediately and the ambulance was on their way. Izzy came too, but was still lathargic when the fire truck arrived. By the time the ambulance got there and we had been put inside, they checked all his vitals and said that they thought everything was fine. They still took us to the hospital just to make sure, and we were told that everything was fine. We left very releaved and thankful for another day with our little boy.

Those few minutes were the worst few minutes of my life. To hold your darling baby and see them loose consciousness is one of the worst feelings in the world. We were terrified. Thankfully it is over, and he is sleeping soundly. Thank you Lord!!!

Another milestone

Since May, we have been slowly taking bottles away from Izzy's eating schedule. He has kind of been weening himself and I have just observed when he wasn't eating much of a certain bottle, and then I would take it away. the morning bottle was the easiest, and then three weeks later I took the afternoon bottle. That took a couple days for him to get used to. It wasn't that bad, just a few shorter naps. I would give him a snack and he would be fine. So tonight was the last night for the bottle before bed. He doesn't know what is going on, but I do, and I cried. This evening bottle has been so special to me...and to him.  I love the short time of cuddling, and that quiet moment after a busy day. I love how he gets so excited when I mention it, or show it to him. The other night he couldn't get to me fast enough. He literally triped over himself trying to turn around faster that his little body would. I love that I can give him that little moment of pleasure and it is going to be a hard night tomorrow when I have to put him to bed without it. I am hoping that he won't notice, since he has accidentally gone to be bed without it before. Joel cried with me as we realized yet again that our little guy is growing up, and sometimes way to fast for our liking. I love being a mom!

#1

Israel David Kelley turns 1 today! Joel is taking the day off and we are going to spend it doing fun things. I can't believe that it has already been a whole year! We have gone through so many changes, good and difficult but none of it I would change. Israel is the joy of our lives and we love watching him grow and learn new things every day. We look forward to see how God is going to use him as he grows.

Tuesday we had a party with family. So I baked a cake, we bought a present (legos) and got ready to party! It was a blast. He didn't really dive into the cake, but once we gave him his own peice, he had at it! Thursday night we celebrated with Melody who turned one on Wednesday. We gave them another piece of cake and again they devoured! Fun, Fun, Fun!

Nap time

I love nap time for several reasons, but one of my favorites is singing the nap time song and saying a short prayer (for a long nap). I always sing "You are my Sunshine" and I changed the words to the end so instead of saying "please don't take my sunshine away", I say "and forever my sunshine you'll stay." And then I pray. Without fail, Izzy snuggles his head into his blanket and my shoulder and snuggles until I am finished. Then we lay down. It always makes me smile!

Book Lover

Izzy loves books! He gets so excited when we say we are going to read a book, and starts kicking his legs and laughing. He will also crawl into his room and sit there for awhile just looking through all of his books. It is the most adorable thing in the world! I hope that this continues and he grows up to love reading!!

Rocket Crawler!!

I have a pro rocket crawler! I went to the store today to look for some clothes for Izzy. It was lunch time, and he was tired, so I didn't feel like putting up with him stuck in a shopping cart. The floor is all carpet, and it is a consignment store, so a little more layed back, therefore I thought it was okay to just set him down on the floor and give him something to play with. but he wasn't down on the ground 5 minutes when I look away for a second, look back and he is gone! I look under the rack of clothes both ways, and see him about 10 fee away looking at a book. It was like he flew over there! So the whole rest of the time I was chasing my little crawler as he scurried here and there, crying when I had to try some shoes on him, and laughing when I had to chase him down. I was so embarrased! I probably looked like one of those mothers who I swore I would never be, and swore I would "train my child so that he would be perfect all the time!" Ha! How silly I was...when I didn't have a child. I think I will put up with the shopping cart next time so that our visit to the store isn't a show.

compromise

I have a son who will not eat vegetables. It has been such a struggle until...I decided to get smart. Don't get me wrong, I still make him take one bite even if it means forcing it into his mouth, because sometimes he thinks he doesn't like it and then when he tates it, he finds out he does. But to be able to get more veggies in him I resorted to my favorite cookbook right now. It is called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. She has kid friendly recipes that have certain veggies hidden in them. She has tested, and retested these and says they are the best of the best. I have tried the chicken nuggest with brocoli, mozzarella sticks with cauliflower, pancakes with sweet potatoes, pita pizzas with spinach, applesauce muffins with carrots, and my personal favorite...Macaroni and cheese with cauliflower! It is the best homemade mac and cheese ever! I am so thrilled with this book and even excited to cook some meals for us grown-ups out of it. Everything I have cooked has been really yummy and Israel has eaten them up! He is eating veggies and he doesn't even know it!!!!

Perfect timing!

When we were expecting Israel, I was getting his room ready trying to find the most perfect stuff for his room including a rug. We have hardwood floors, so this was really important to me. I found one...an expensive one, but thanks to many generous people we had enough gift cards to cover it. I wondered if it would be okay for a little baby since the way it was made would make it easy for them to pull apart and put in mouth! But I got it anyway. Well yesterday Izzy found out that he could pull the pieces out and put them in his mouth. I decided that it was time to get a different rug. Yes I could say "no" and spank his little hand, and take it out of his mouth, but what if I were not in there, and he decided to disobey (not uncommon considering his age) I would not want him to choke. So...I was in Target today looking for a booster seat because I am tired of my big highchair. I was walking by the rugs and noticed a blue one that would be perfect and it was only 20 dollars! I got it, it is great, and I was just reflecting on how perfect the timing was for each rug and how God allowed us to find this one on sale, same size and everything, now, when we don't have gift cards. God is good...All the time.

Decisions

Some decisions are easy to make, but some are really hard. I have come to find out that most of the decisions I make as a mom are hard ones because everything is so important. What time should I put him down for a nap might seem like a silly decision, but depending on which nap it is could determine how the rest of you day goes. What kind of food should I let enter my child's body is an EXTREMELY hard question because some foods that you would like your child to eat, he won't, so you end up settling for the not so ideal sometimes, at least right now until he is older and I can demand more of him.

Now we have entered the phase of more decisions since he is crawling and standing up and overall doing a lot more. We, Joel and I, have decided to do what is called Blanket time. Some of you might have done a version of this with a play pen where they spend a concentrated time alone in a confined area occupying themselves. Blanket time is like this except you have to train them to use self control and not leave the blanket. There are not sides keeping them in. I favor this method for a couple reason. 1. It makes them or should I say gives them the opportunity to obey at all times while they are on the blanket. 2. It is mobil! You can lay down any blanket, and boom you have your boundaries! I have seen this play out before my eyes very successfully and knew that this is what I wanted to impliment in my home. So we started this yesterday. The first time lasted probably less than a minute, before I had to bring him back to the blanket with a firm "no" and a swat on the hand 3 times! So that ended the first session. The second session lasted longer. This is going to be hard, because of course I do NOT like causing my child to cry, but if it is for his benefit, which it is, then it is all worth it.

The next decision I have had to make is what to do about nap and bed time. Nap time is worse. Since he has figured out how to stand up, this is is favorite thing to do especially at nap time. I don't know what it is, but somehow he can be falling asleep while playing, and then the minute I put him in bed...play time!!! I have spent 30 long min. going in and laying him back down just to have him pop right back up again. I have had people tell me to just leave them alone and eventually they will get tired and fall asleep. I didn't feel comfortable with this because I felt like it was giving to much freedom to such a little guy. He doesn't know what is best for him yet. That is why God gave him me! So me leaving him to decide when he will go to sleep wasn't appealing to me. So after much thought, and prayer that the Lord would soften Israel heart to instruction even at this small age, I have decided that deciplinary actions must occur. A wonderful mom whom I highly respect affirmed my decision. So today after laying him down, I went back in there to find him standing up and laughing at me, but in a way that sounded like he knew he wasn't supposed to be standing. After a firm no, I laid him down and he went to sleep. This time was easy and I know they won't all be that way, but I can still be encouraged.

This or That?

I am now apart of the group with crawling toddlers! And I love it! It is so nice that Israel can get to where he wants to go...although sometimes I have to say "no" or put him somewhere else. Today before I got in the shower I hid the heater that we have in his bedroom, put the trash can on his dresser and closed the closet doors. This is new for me, but so far we are enjoying it marvel at how he moves. But my question is, and maybe some of you moms can help me out, is what do I let him play with and what is off limits? I know it is going to be somewhat different for me than for you since we have different stuff in our homes, and of course there are the no brainers: The toilet is off limits along with the outlet plugs, heaters, trash cans, drawers that smash his fingers etc. Today he was opening and closing my drawer and the tips of his fingers got caught. He wasn't pushing very hard but it still hurt him....maybe he won't do that again! So if you have been doing this longer than me and have found that some things around the house are okay, let me know!

We will be starting blanket time soon, so I will let you know how that goes.

Spring cleaning

I decided to start some spring cleaning. But I didn't know where to start, so I printed off a check list from the internet to help me know what extra stuff to do. Yesterday I started in the kitchen. Started is the key word. But before I finish in the kitchen I have to share with you my favorite cleaning product EVER! It is called Bar Keepers Friend. And boy is it my friend. This powder will get anything up from rust on your tile, to the little black spotts that somehow get on your fridge from your magnets to the gunky stuff on your stove to the pan scratches in your sink with little to no scrubbing. It is amazying. I call it my miracle powder. Try it, it will make your life so much easier!

Oh and Izzy is doing new things everyday. Yesterday he pulled up to his feet holding onto the couch, and in his crib. Today is side steped down the couch trying to get stuff he wanted. He is amazing. His crawl is so funny kinda a mix betweek walking and crawling if that makes sense. maybe it is the hardwood floors that he feels like he has to do something to get traction. Oh boy, he keeps me laughing!