Who knew…

That I would have to tell Nug that she couldn’t have anymore carrots.

Isn’t that against the law to tell a child they can’t have anymore veggies or something???  In my defense, she has taken to eating raw carrots (the long whole ones that are a sweeter than baby ones) like candy but refuses to eat anything else if it was up to her.  Maybe she is trading one habit (aka paci) for another.  At least if she keeps this one up, she will have really great eyesight!  And considering she gets half her chromosomal make-up from me, she is bound to be blind as a bat.

Oh and we have been having a nap time fight for the past few days.  Nug thinks that since her door is closed that she can do whatever she wants because nap time is optional.  Oh no you can’t!  I am a mom and I have super hearing and can see through walls and I will win this battle!!!  Because mom’s always win!

To my beautiful boy

I can’t believe this time one year ago I had a sweet baby boy in my arms.  He needed me for everything.  He still needs me but not in the same way.  He is growing into a sweet little dude who loves people, animals, bats and balls.

My Awesome Husband and I pray for him every day (as we do Nug), that he would become a man who follows after Jesus and desires to serve Him.  And today marks the day our first prayer for him was answered a year ago – that we would have a healthy baby boy to hold and nurture.

We reminisced last night about how we spent our last night as a family of three.  Nug was sick and I was nesting like crazy.  The next morning we (very quickly) welcomed Duder into our family and he has brought us great joy!

Happy birthday Little Dude!

Fresh out of the oven.

Baby feet always make me smile:-)

REAL mom Wednesday

You know you are a REAL mom when…

*You have to wash your pots and pans before you cook because they are covered in drool.

*You are someone’s personal kleenex.

*You refuse to get your hair cut short because you got too many “That’s such a mommy hair cut!” the last time and nowhere in the statement did they say it looked good.

I don’t mind looking like a mom but sometimes I just want to look plain ol’ nice!

Baby carriers

I have owned four baby carriers.  A sling – hated it.  Nug would slide down in it and I felt like I was shoving her in it and digging her out. Then there was the Bjorn that I was given – This hurt my back soooo much and there were too many buckles and it didn’t seem to support baby that well.  I fell in love with my moby wrap – This wrap was great for a newborn.  Duder would fall asleep and I just tucked his little head in.  The only problem I found with this carrier is that when baby faces outward, the cloth becomes a mini baby thong.  But as long as you have baby facing you it is great and super easy to use.  Another problem our small family had was my Awesome Husband wouldn’t use it outside the house because it was too girly.

Ever since then, I have been looking for the perfect carrier.  And I found it!!!  It comes with a big price tag but it is worth it (and it was Duder’s birthday present!).  The Performance Ergo is amazing!  I can wear both Nug and Duder in it while I am pregnant and it really feels like I am not holding a child at all.  The distribution of weight makes them feel weightless and they seem to love it.  My Awesome Husband really, really likes it as well and has promised to use it.  I highly recommend it!

Not every baby carrier is perfect for everyone or their needs or the baby, so I am not one to recommend something unless I’ve tried it.  But if you are looking for some awesome, get an Ergo!

I love mommy toys:-)

Oh the teeth!

Duder went down for his nap with four teeth and woke up screaming with six.  No wonder he had been a paci addict the past few days!

They really do love each other

See, there's love!

Kisses!!!

Sibling love can only last so long.

Duder helping Nug with her crunches...now that is love.

New blog stylin’

My Awesome Husband told me that my old blog lay out was blah and that I needed something new.  So, he is helping navigate this world of technology to figure out how it should look.  What a sweet guy!

I think that the titles across the top will soon hold any posts that I link to them.

In the mean time, I came across this wonderful article on motherhood and since I am pregnant with Turkey, my arms are going to become more full.

Whether you have only have one or ten littles filling your arms up (or are hoping to one day have them filled), I wanted to pass on the encouragement.  Motherhood is tough and an overwhelming job and sometimes it is hard to get past the diapers and feedings and vomit to realize that we have such a great task, even if we are never named “Mother of the Year” by anyone other than the little people that surround us.

May your arms always be full and your heart be even fuller.

We are chicken people

Almost every Sunday after church we can be found at the food court at the mall.  It is cheap, quick, easy, and satisfying.  But it is also saddening.  Why?  Chick-fil-A isn’t open.  Every Sunday is met with great sadness as we all long for the scrumptious chicken that would await us if Chick-fil-A were open.  It never is.  Why?  Because the founder wanted to give all his employees a chance to go to church on Sunday.  Good enough reason.  But that doesn’t mean we still don’t want the chicken on Sunday.

Nug and Duder have been so sad lately that they dress up as chickens because they are chicken kids.  Nugs can’t live on healthy food alone.  They must have some fried chicken goodness.

The shy chicken.

That is one sad chicken.

Our little chicken nugget likes to read away her sorrow.

I know Chick-fil-A wants people to dress like cows but come on, when you have chicken nugs that look this cute, don’t you think they deserve a free meal?

Vinegar and water

Love this stuff!

I clean with vinegar and water (I add nothing else to mine) – it is my multi-purpose solution.  It is cheap.  It is safe around children.  And you could drink it or at least Nug does.

I bought some method cleaner over 8 months ago on sale for cheap.  Once I had used the stuff up, I cleaned out the bottle real good and filled it up with my vinegar-water solution and have been using that for the last 7 months (lets just say I love the way the bottle looks and that is why I kept it to reuse). Lately when I clean the kitchen table Nug asks for a drink of it.  At first I was weirded out by it and told her no.  This was my cleaning solution and who drinks cleaning solution?

A few days ago, I found my Awesome Husband asking me if vinegar-water was okay for Nug to drink and I said yep, not thinking of the reason he might be asking.  Well, he went ahead and gave her a little squirt in her mouth thinking that she would be repulsed by the taste.  She asked for more. We told her no.  Ever since then, she has been asking for us to squirt it in her mouth.  I usually don’t do it but really it isn’t harmful in the slightest and when I make vinegar cucumbers, I use one part water to one part vinegar – the exact same thing as my “cleaner.”

It is kind of weird that she likes it so much and she probably would lick the table after I squirt it on but I try and hold her back from that because we are very civilized in this house;)

A nice day, finally!

It has been soooo HOT out this week that me and the nugs have stayed inside most of the week.  That means that this week, along with a few other things, has been really long.  Thank goodness it is Friday and today has been a bite of perfection!

Not only did we all sleep in but it wasn’t terribly hot out.  So, what did we do?  We went to the eye doctor to schedule an appointment and get new contacts ordered and then went to visit my Awesome Husband at work.  We even snuck him out for lunch!  Nug and Duder enjoyed the out of the ordinary day we have had.  And I have enjoyed not being cooped up or making lunch and the fact that my eyesight won’t runout here in the next couple of weeks.

Here is to hoping that the rest of this day is just as *perfect as the start!

*Perfect does not mean that everything went as smoothly as it should have but the fact that I did not stress about any of it, is what made the morning great!