Great Site

I just thought I'd share this amazing site with you!

A friend of mine homeschools and uses this link to show her kids all kinds of things! They have TONS of virtual tours listed and it looks great! I can't wait to show my kids!

A lot of them are pictures and some have video tours! It is a neat collection of websites with lots of info for kids.

"Look, Ma, No Hands!!!"

Wow!


And this one was just too adorable not to share, since it was taken at the same time!

Crazi Beautiful Women

I wanted to let you all know about a great new website! It's called CraziBeautiful Women! They are gathering experts in lots of areas to write, inspire, encourage...you get the idea! It is a really fun place and it is just starting up!

The best part for me is that I have been asked to blog about gardening for them!! If you go to their site and hover over Girlfriend to Girlfriend and then click onBack to the Basics and there I am! I am really excited to blog like this! My first post will be on Friday! Come check it out!

I'll still blog about gardening at Turn Your Thumb Green, too!

Doodle's Eight Months Old

Wow! I can hardly believe that my tiny little (8 lb 7 oz) baby is 8 months old! She is huge and adorable. She is such a happy baby!!

Doodle loves baths, food, her family, Freckles, eating grass (wire, paper, leaves) and being big. We all just love her! She is so easy to love!

She LOVES to eat. She hasn't turned anything away. She'll eat baby food and she loves and can handle small bites of many "adult" foods, too! She loves nursing as well as anything I'm willing to give her.

She can crawl, sit up on her own and pull up to standing. She is on her way to walking by 10 months like her siblings! She is so proud of herself, too! You can see it on her face when she does her newest tricks!

She has more hair than either of her siblings (definitely more than Princess had even at a year old)! She has two teeth already, which is also early for our family.

I just love this grin!! She loves to share it with us all the time!


She is already a "ham" at picture time. She makes it difficult to get a decent picture because she wants to come up and stop what she was doing to see the camera.

Lookin' Yummy!

I love it when food looks pretty! This recipe has just the right color combination to make me happy! This isn't the original recipe, but it is really close! I use picante sauce and puree it in the blender. I also top it with more sauce and green onions along with the cheese!

It is so yummy! We just had it and I want it again!

Tower of Streghth

I have not yet read this book, but I have loved all of Annette Lyons other books! I can't wait to get ahold of a copy and check it out!

In the mean time, Annette is having a Tower of Strength week of giveaways! She is a great lady and a great author, too! Go check it out!

It's a Beatiful Day in the Neighborhood!

We have been playing outside and went for a walk. I can't believe that it's 63 degrees outside! That's totally shorts and t-shirt weather!! Yay!! I'm so excited to get in the garden! I can't wait!

Why?

Why does my baby think that this is the most comfortable way to take a nap???


It freaks me out!

I guess I like to have the covers around my face, too! CM hates it because I pull the covers off of his feet to be on my face! But I HATE to have them covering my mouth and nose like that!

Princessism of the Day

Conversation I overheard:

Dad: Don't wipe your nose on your shirt.

Princess: But if I leave it on my finger it would be gross!

Don't you just love kids? They are awesome!!

Tax Return Surprise

We filed our federal taxes online this year at the government site. It worked out easily and we got the check quickly.

BUT, when a tax return comes back $1500 more than you filed for, you get a little worried. You want to be excited, but you think that there HAS to be a problem. We were going to call when they were open again, but before that CM checked the status page online and there was a message that said there were errors and the money was ours!

So, we got a new TV. We got one that isn't too big. We don't like to have the TV be the center of our lives and house. We haven't had a new TV in about 6 years, so we thought it was a good idea.

We're going to put the same amount or more on our debt that we were planning, but now we can watch TV without trying to figure out what's going on in the dark! (It was really going dark and a lot of shows/movies like to do things at night!)

Long Time No Post

Sorry about the lapse in posts. I had something interesting to write about and I only just remembered what it was as I was typing this sentence!

For the past few weeks, as I have been driving Indy to his karate class, there are several vehicles on the side of the road. All of the people are staring at the mountain. Some have binoculars, one had a camera. I tried to see what they were all looking at. I was driving 55 MPH, so I couldn't really see it. All I can guess is that it is some kind of animal. But, why would that draw so many people for so long? Maybe it's some "religious" group waiting for the Giant Spaghetti Monster to fly out of the mountain!

Any guesses?

My Mom Toolbox/Bookshelf

Now that I am on my (most likely) last child, I have found all of the books that help me be a better parent. You know how they say that kids don't come with an instruction manual? Well, I think this list of books is really close to being the perfect pregnancy and parenting instruction manual for me!

Planning Your Pregnancy and Birth

This is the best pregnancy book I have ever read. It was produced by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. I love to have books written by people who have researched and know the most about a topic. I wish I had had this book when I was pregnant with all of my children, instead of just Doodle. It is a really informative and helpful guide to know what is normal, and what is not. I also have the "What to Expect..." books, and I don't like them. They always gave me things to be paranoid about. This book is very straightforward and organized well.

Nursing Mother's Companion

Breastfeeding is difficult at first and remains that way for many people. I'd recommend this book and you should start reading it before you have your baby and keep it close by for the first couple of months. It is amazing! I think I would have been able to nurse my first baby for a lot longer if I'd had this book!

Babywearing

Okay, so this isn't so much a book as a way to help take care of kids. I found this when Princess was about 18 months old, so I got to carry her around a bit. She is actually still small enough, so this summer, we may still use them for her. I don't carry Doodle around in a carrier all the time, but when I know we're going to be walking around a lot, I do. I love my Mei Tai ("May Tie")! It is so nice to have her so close. Shopping is wonderful and I don't have to carry a heavy car seat everywhere we go!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

No matter how old your kids are, go read this book! It is the best book I have read about sleep. The author teaches why sleep is so important and tells you what to do to make sure your child gets enough quality sleep. I read a little of this book when I was pregnant with Princess and she was a lot better sleeper than Indy, still is! Now, Doodle is a great sleeper. We are still working on night time, but she puts herself to sleep so well! It makes life so much better!

From Baby to Toddler

Again, I like this one better than the "What to expect..." books that I also got. It goes through each month and helps you to know what your child may be doing and how to play with him or her to get them to their full potential.

Diaper Free Before 3

This book is what gave me the confidence to get Princess out of diapers. It is written by a pediatrician and mother of three. She talks a lot about why we potty train the way we do and how it is completely wrong. She says that waiting until the child is "ready" is a bad idea. Instead, she says to start putting your child on a potty when they are six months old. You don't expect them to do anything at that age but get used to it as a normal part of life. Then, at one year old, you get them out of disposable diapers and into cotton underwear. It may sound crazy, but I am going to try it with Doodle. With Princess, it is a little different, but I just get her to "go" every couple of hours. After three weeks, she sometimes tells me when she needs to go. There are still accidents, but it is working! Go read this book!

Supernanny: How to get the Best from your Children

So, this one isn't written by a doctor or anything, but I really like the way that Jo does things. She has a no-nonsense attitude about child rearing. She goes through several "issues" and teaches you how to have control of yourself and teach your children.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone out there. I just wish I could have had these tools all along. I have learned so much and I'm always learning new things. If you have any questions about them, just ask!

What are your favorite parenting "manuals"?

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

And it has been for three days, now! I don't think I've seen this much rain since moving from Florida. Even then, it usually only rained this constantly if there was a hurricane nearby or something! It kind of reminds me of Florida. I usually don't miss the weather there, but I guess once in a while, it's nice to be reminded.

It's crazy!

I'm glad it isn't snow, because we'd really be digging out at this point.

I love feeling like the earth is clean when it rains so much!

It does make it hard to go places, though!

Do you like rain?

Doodle's Six Months Old

Sorry about the lateness of this post. I should have done it last month!

Doodle loves to eat anything! She is a great nurser and does well from a spoon and little cup. She'll laugh when you put something extra yummy in her mouth! Not only does she love cereal and mashed fruits and veggies, but paper and wires! It's great fun! We're in BIG trouble when she starts to crawl! Which, won't be too long! She can get up on her hands and feet and hands and knees. She'll rock back and forth a lot. She can pivot, roll and scoot all over the room. She can only go backwards with the occasional and accidental forward movements. I think if she knew that it was possible, she'd be crawling!


Doodle is very curious and loves to find anything she can! She can sit up, but only for short times. She loves to eat her toes, but only when she's not dressed. She usually leaves them alone even when she isn't wearing socks. I don't quite get it!



She loves to babble and is very social. She she still dances when she is going to sleep. She loves to be sung to.

She loves her brother and sister! There is definitely some idol-worship going on between those two!



She has had almost a constant cold since she was 2 months old. Her loving siblings won't stay out of her face. I think the fact that we are exposed to two new schools and a different set of germs in the neighborhood and church make it all that much harder! Hopefully, it will lead to a strong immune system??

She is an awesome napper, but won't sleep for more than 3 to maybe 4 hours at a time at night. I think a lot of that is the stuffy noses she keeps getting!

Anyway, we are loving our little Doodle! She is amazing and such a sweet little girl! I'm so excited to have her in our home!

Another Pottytraining Update

Friday was a horrible day of potty training! I'm not sure Princess "went" in the potty even once. I wanted to quit! It didn't help that the dog had made a huge mess of our carpet the day before with Amish bread starter! She ate almost the entire bag. Bag included! Then, on Friday, she threw it up! Just one more nasty mess on my carpets. I think we may be getting new carpets when our last child is done potty training. OR at least getting them professionally cleaned!

But, we kept going and today has been wonderful! She hasn't had a single accident and even went #2 after telling me she needed to! She went on my MIL's toilet with a potty seat on it and it has been a day to be happy that we are doing this!

Inauguration

I am really excited to watch the Presidential Inauguration. I have been the most involved in this election than any in the past. It must be my age. I've been the most informed (though still not as informed as I'd like to be) and the most interested in what happens.

So, tomorrow, I hope to fit the inauguration into my day!

CODE REMOVED

It is always "historic" to see a new president take the oath of office, but this time it is more so. Plus, I think it's really cool!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Sweetheart

Princess loves to sing. I caught her at a great moment and got her to sing several songs!

"It's Working!!"

***Potty training update!

Things are going well. I think the difference is that I have the confidence, understanding and readiness. She is ready, too. She doesn't want to wear diapers anymore and she is doing great.

We had a couple of days where she just couldn't go on the toilet. She would say, "It's not working." Then, when she was finally able to do it, she exclaimed, "It's working!!" Every time, when she pees on the potty, she says that. It's so cute and we use the terminology, too.

So far, it is working. Yes, I'm mostly the one who is potty trained, but she is so willing and is enjoying it!

Finally!

Two Weeks

I had CM and Indy home for two weeks, well more if you count weekends. It was awesome! I miss them, now. Sure, there were a lot more messes and Doodle is still not back to her normal napping schedule, but it was great. We were able to get the house into order that it hasn't seen since we moved it six months ago. CM also did a ton of projects. We have more outlets, coat racks, a clean basement, and a lot of other things that just aren't coming to mind. I wish he could be home more.

In some ways, it's nice to be back to normal, and Indy needs to go to school, but I loved having them home. I can't wait for the next break.

It's nice when the holidays match up because CM teaches in the same school district where Indy goes to school. Yet another reason I'm glad we moved!

Magic Ernie

When Indy was a baby, we were given a wonderful toy!

It's a magical toy really. It's power is to stop babies from crying.


I don't know what it is about this particular toy, but it is amazing! It plays the Sesame Street theme song. It's hands, feet and ears move back and forth, playing peekaboo with the baby. It is quite cute.

I love it because it works.

Do you have any magical toys?