Anna Kathryn's 2013 Year in Review...
Favorite food: "Pineapples"
Favorite color: "Pink and Purple"
Favorite activity: "Painting"
Favorite book: "Jesus. And, the School Bus book."
Favorite movie: "Frozen"
Favorite memory from the year: "Seeing Frozen."
I asked her...so, you got a new baby sister, you had an Ariel 3rd birthday, we went to other friend's birthdays, Christmas.....seeing Frozen was your favorite thing? She said, "yup."
Best friend: "Brinley"
Brinley is her cousin, the youngest of my older sister's four girls
What do you want to be when you grow up: "A nurse"
She just recently watch fire truck Barney and there's a nurse on there.
Favorite candy: Sprinkles
Really, she loves all candy. Her favorites that she always asks for are gum, marshmallows, orange slices (the gummy candy with sugar), m&m's...)
Favorite tv show: fire truck Barney"
Again, we just watched that recently. Her favorites this year that have been on repeat, Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, Adventures of Mater, Rockefeller Christmas Spectacular....
Favorite toy: "It's at school. It's the baby doll center"
Friends at school: Julia, Hailey, Finley, Ira, Mrs. Lisa, Damian, Lucy, Kbob (Caleb), and McKenzie. And, friends not at school Elizabeth and Trinity.
Macy Jane's 2013 Year in Review...
Favorite food: She loves it all. She started eating solids like soft veggies and fruit. She likes bananas but not the baby food form.
Favorite color: Too early to tell
Favorite activity: She loves to be moving no matter what she's doing or where she is. She hates sitting still.
Favorite book: Anything Anna is reading
Favorite movie: Anything Anna is watching
Favorite memory: Too early to ask her. But, mine has been watching her grow and learn new things. Babies grow so quickly. She's rolled over, sat up on her own, started to rock on all fours, gotten two teeth...I know I'm missing so much.
Best friend: Anna
Favorite candy: She hasn't had candy yet...I think someone snuck her ice cream. One of her grandfathers.
Favorite tv show: Anything Anna is watching
Favorite toy: Any teething toy
Holly's 2013 Year in Review...
Favorite food: Thanksgiving foods. Turkey, my mom's dressing, my mom's sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, my mom's Pie Cherry Salad
Favorite color: I love pink but in clothing I love black and brown
Favorite activity: sleeping in my comfortable bed
Favorite book: The Bible
Favorite movie: We haven't seen a lot of movies this year but we saw Mud with Matthew McCohndhfdjadadfd (I can never spell that man's name) and that was good. I'm more of a documentary on Netflix watcher.
Favorite memory from this year: Hands down, the moment that Anna walked into the hospital room after I had Macy and she saw her for the first time. She walked in with a very serious, "Where's my sister I need to see her now." look and she melted when she saw her. Goodness, it makes me tear up. I hope I never forget that moment. She came in to recovery to see me and of course they took Macy to the nursery while I was there but she came in wih the same determined look but I had to explain that Macy was out of my belly but in the nursery and we would see her very soon. It was important for me not to have her see her baby sister until I was there to witness it. I'm glad I was so concerned with making that happen. The moment was priceless.
Best friend: Blake
Favorite candy: chocolate
Favorite tv show: I don't watch a lot of tv and this year we got rid of cable but I love Big Brother and this year I watched all of the episodes of Revenge
Favorite toy: I'd say my phone...it has games and apps and I can text people quickly
Blake's 2013 Year in Review...
Favorite food: a rib-eye steak that I cooked. Prime rib is pretty good. Venison I cooked was pretty good but a rib-eye is my favorite.
Favorite color: I always tell Anna it's blue but it's not really. Maybe it is but it's not blue, blue. Navy with a little bit of teal to it.
Favorite activity: watching Anna just be a kid
Favorite book: The Bible
Favorite movie: Looper
Favorite memory: Macy being born and joining the family
Best friend: You (me, Holly)
Favorite candy: Sweedish Fish
Favorite tv show: Psych
Favorite toy: .308
And, he added, "The love of my life isn't on there? That'd be you." Awww...so special.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
TTR cartoon helpers
Anna was watching Daniel the Tiger cartoon his morning and you know how cartoons ask, do you want to help me with this or that?" Daniel asked, "Do you want to help me in the garden?" and Anna said, "No. I'm not in there." Kids are a hoot!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Macy Jane 7 months
Macy - 7 months old. Two tiny teeth, started solids and loves bananas, green beans, peas, spaghetti noodles...there's nothing she has turned away. Macy started sitting up without support a few weeks ago but the past few days she can go from laying down and push herself up to sitting on her hiney, and she is getting up on her hands and knees but not crawling yet, she hates to miss a thing and loves to see anything and everyone around her. No lounging for this girl. Lots happening in her little life the last couple of months! Best of all, she's still as happy as can be! (except the few days around teething time) :)
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Some Moms...All Moms...Super Moms
I know I have seen at least 5 of my mom friends post this, just today, and many similar viral blog posts before but I'm going to hopefully offer a different perspective. One that's taken me about...31 years to figure out. I have a problem with these bashing super mom articles because I'm not into bashing "super mom" just as much as I am not into praising whatever isn't "super mom." However, I am into bashing the idea that is in my head and in your head of whatever it is you think "super mom" is.
First off, what is a super mom anyway? Answer: it's an image that you yourself have created in your mind of what a great, super mom is. What I think is a super mom might be and probably is different than what you think is a super mom. You might think a super mom is someone who is 100% green and organic. I don't. Sorry. you might think a super mom is someone who clips the most coupons and makes gourmet meals for pennies on the dollar. I kind of think that's actually pretty cool. LOL. But, you get it, right? Just like we all have our likes and dislikes, we all have our own images and feelings on a subject, especially this.
The way I see it, since everyone's idea of what constitutes a super mom is different, then that means the problem lies within ourselves. That means we have to be honest with ourselves and STOP COMPARING and START EMBRACING. Embrace yourself just how God made you. He made everyone so different. Yes, people have similar likes and dislikes but he gifted us with certain talents and certain talents he did not. That's a good thing. God wonderfully made each of us! I'm unlike anyone else (some of you may be saying amen to that - ha!) and you are unlike anyone else. In the end, it's up to us whether we buy into the idea that there even IS a super mom.
I don't want, nor is my intention, to sound mean or rude but, it's not another mom's fault that you are comparing yourself to her. Do not get me wrong though....I'm guilty of comparing myself sometimes, a lot of times, but that doesn't give me the right to bash that "super mom" and then brag about how cool it is that I DON'T do what she does. She might find something so fun and exciting and she gets JOY out of cooking a homemade meal from scratch. Another mom might find JOY in hand making something and because you don't that's okay. One mom might find JOY in snapping pictures and another mom says, "I don't. I'm not good at. Let's call a photographer." It's hard not to compare, I know first hand, but I know I'm happier when I'm glad for other people's successes and am fulfilled when I'm satisfied with my own talents and successes; not expecting approval from anyone else.
Some moms LOVE hand making every single item that they have at a party and they love throwing parties. I fall into that category. I don't do it to keep up or one up or to make people feel better or worse but I do it because I freaking love it!!!!!! Some moms might think that is totally stupid and ridiculous or they don't like that stuff so they either hire someone to do it for them or they instead go to Party City and buy plastic table covers, utensils, etc...and they are happy with that. If they aren't happy with that then it isn't okay to then blame the mom who is.
Some moms are going to buy ALL organic food and cloth diaper their children and post articles on the pros of doing so. Some moms, be it they can't afford it or they just "don't get it," aren't going to do that. I personally fall somewhere in between. I sometimes buy organic and sometimes I don't. I eat red meat and feed it to my kids and I make mac and cheese. great. some moms don't. That's awesome.
Some moms breastfeed, some moms don't. Neither mom should be made to feel guilty about their decision! No mom, that I know, would want something that isn't the best for their child. One might breastfeed because they can't afford formula. One might do formula because they physically can't breastfeed. But, you don't know the reason so if you see someone breastfeeding; they might HAVE to and they aren't doing it to be a "super mom. And, the formula feeding mom might feel so guilty already and then in someone strolls, "oh you aren't breastfeeding??" You just don't know if someone is doing something to be "super mom" or because they have to, or want to!
Some moms buy the jarred baby food some moms home puree it. I'm a Gerber jar baby food mom. Great. A lot of my friends I see on FB have the time and talent to make homemade baby good. That's awesome. I feel like I don't have the time but if I did I honestly probably wouldn't make my own baby food. :/ You might think that mom who does is super mom. Don't. She probably thinks something you do makes you super mom.
Some moms have babies all natural without drugs (the super mom?) and some moms don't. Does that make the baby more special or the mom better? no way! Both moms had to carry their babies for 9 months, both had different ways their babies entered the world but both have to recover from it. One mom might have a swollen who-who (is our word for it) and the other might have a 6-8 inch scar that is also pretty painful. Neither mom is made better through the way they deliver. Know that.
Some moms choose to and are financially able to stay home. Are they better, and more of a super mom, than the mom who goes to work and drops their kids off at the best daycare they could find or afford. Neither wants bad for their child; their circumstances are just different. I find myself comparing myself to stay at home moms. And, then I remind myself to stop it. While they never get a break, neither do I. I have to get up at 5 and get myself and two kids out the door, work 9 hours, miss my babies and still have dinner and laundry and all that. The stay at home mom might also get up at 5 am. They have to fill their precious baby's time with some activities and that probably means sacrificing a lot, a lot of me time. They also have laundry and cleaning to do. neither is a super mom. Each mom can boast because they are each doing the best they can, aren't they?
Some moms send their kids to public school and go to work. Some moms send their kids to private school and work. Or stay home. Some choose to homeschool. Is the super mom the one who homeschools? Or is your idea of the super mom the private school mom? Each is doing what they feel is right for their family. No one is super mom over the other.
I think, for our own happiness and sanity, we have to embrace our own talents and do what WE love doing. Do what God made US to do. Whatever that may be. Just as the Bible says do not conform to this world I think that can be applied here - do not conform to what your friend or sister or neighbor is doing. Do what you love doing. Use the talents God gave YOU! Do not blame other moms who were also made by God, and also made completely different from you, because they do something that in your head constitutes super mom. What if it brings them that JOY? What do you find JOY in? What things are YOU good at? I think that God probably hurts when he hears us say, "that person is better than me" and he hears us mentally compare ourselves to one another. I think he hurts because he sees all the talents he gave you that you are over looking or aren't using because you are trying to be the image of super mom in your head.Let's each of us moms pray for God to reveal our talents and then use them to bring honor to him!
Galations 6:4 says, "Anyone think they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load." I'm going to make this my own focus verse when I start to see someone who I think is a super mom and I start bashing my own self, or start bashing that mom for doing whatever it is. Let us lift one another up - even the "super moms." Why would we bash someone for doing something good for their kids just because we haven't or don't want to? Good job super moms! Good job regular (although you're a super mom too!) moms. Why should we bash ourselves because we think we aren't measuring up to the "super mom?" idea we have in our head? Good job ALL MOMS! Your kids love you no matter if there is Kraft mac and cheese or homemade mac and cheese on the table. That truth, our love for one another, and our life through Christ, is what we need to lift up rather than getting frustrated with ourselves or other moms.
First off, what is a super mom anyway? Answer: it's an image that you yourself have created in your mind of what a great, super mom is. What I think is a super mom might be and probably is different than what you think is a super mom. You might think a super mom is someone who is 100% green and organic. I don't. Sorry. you might think a super mom is someone who clips the most coupons and makes gourmet meals for pennies on the dollar. I kind of think that's actually pretty cool. LOL. But, you get it, right? Just like we all have our likes and dislikes, we all have our own images and feelings on a subject, especially this.
The way I see it, since everyone's idea of what constitutes a super mom is different, then that means the problem lies within ourselves. That means we have to be honest with ourselves and STOP COMPARING and START EMBRACING. Embrace yourself just how God made you. He made everyone so different. Yes, people have similar likes and dislikes but he gifted us with certain talents and certain talents he did not. That's a good thing. God wonderfully made each of us! I'm unlike anyone else (some of you may be saying amen to that - ha!) and you are unlike anyone else. In the end, it's up to us whether we buy into the idea that there even IS a super mom.
I don't want, nor is my intention, to sound mean or rude but, it's not another mom's fault that you are comparing yourself to her. Do not get me wrong though....I'm guilty of comparing myself sometimes, a lot of times, but that doesn't give me the right to bash that "super mom" and then brag about how cool it is that I DON'T do what she does. She might find something so fun and exciting and she gets JOY out of cooking a homemade meal from scratch. Another mom might find JOY in hand making something and because you don't that's okay. One mom might find JOY in snapping pictures and another mom says, "I don't. I'm not good at. Let's call a photographer." It's hard not to compare, I know first hand, but I know I'm happier when I'm glad for other people's successes and am fulfilled when I'm satisfied with my own talents and successes; not expecting approval from anyone else.
Some moms LOVE hand making every single item that they have at a party and they love throwing parties. I fall into that category. I don't do it to keep up or one up or to make people feel better or worse but I do it because I freaking love it!!!!!! Some moms might think that is totally stupid and ridiculous or they don't like that stuff so they either hire someone to do it for them or they instead go to Party City and buy plastic table covers, utensils, etc...and they are happy with that. If they aren't happy with that then it isn't okay to then blame the mom who is.
Some moms are going to buy ALL organic food and cloth diaper their children and post articles on the pros of doing so. Some moms, be it they can't afford it or they just "don't get it," aren't going to do that. I personally fall somewhere in between. I sometimes buy organic and sometimes I don't. I eat red meat and feed it to my kids and I make mac and cheese. great. some moms don't. That's awesome.
Some moms breastfeed, some moms don't. Neither mom should be made to feel guilty about their decision! No mom, that I know, would want something that isn't the best for their child. One might breastfeed because they can't afford formula. One might do formula because they physically can't breastfeed. But, you don't know the reason so if you see someone breastfeeding; they might HAVE to and they aren't doing it to be a "super mom. And, the formula feeding mom might feel so guilty already and then in someone strolls, "oh you aren't breastfeeding??" You just don't know if someone is doing something to be "super mom" or because they have to, or want to!
Some moms buy the jarred baby food some moms home puree it. I'm a Gerber jar baby food mom. Great. A lot of my friends I see on FB have the time and talent to make homemade baby good. That's awesome. I feel like I don't have the time but if I did I honestly probably wouldn't make my own baby food. :/ You might think that mom who does is super mom. Don't. She probably thinks something you do makes you super mom.
Some moms have babies all natural without drugs (the super mom?) and some moms don't. Does that make the baby more special or the mom better? no way! Both moms had to carry their babies for 9 months, both had different ways their babies entered the world but both have to recover from it. One mom might have a swollen who-who (is our word for it) and the other might have a 6-8 inch scar that is also pretty painful. Neither mom is made better through the way they deliver. Know that.
Some moms choose to and are financially able to stay home. Are they better, and more of a super mom, than the mom who goes to work and drops their kids off at the best daycare they could find or afford. Neither wants bad for their child; their circumstances are just different. I find myself comparing myself to stay at home moms. And, then I remind myself to stop it. While they never get a break, neither do I. I have to get up at 5 and get myself and two kids out the door, work 9 hours, miss my babies and still have dinner and laundry and all that. The stay at home mom might also get up at 5 am. They have to fill their precious baby's time with some activities and that probably means sacrificing a lot, a lot of me time. They also have laundry and cleaning to do. neither is a super mom. Each mom can boast because they are each doing the best they can, aren't they?
Some moms send their kids to public school and go to work. Some moms send their kids to private school and work. Or stay home. Some choose to homeschool. Is the super mom the one who homeschools? Or is your idea of the super mom the private school mom? Each is doing what they feel is right for their family. No one is super mom over the other.
I think, for our own happiness and sanity, we have to embrace our own talents and do what WE love doing. Do what God made US to do. Whatever that may be. Just as the Bible says do not conform to this world I think that can be applied here - do not conform to what your friend or sister or neighbor is doing. Do what you love doing. Use the talents God gave YOU! Do not blame other moms who were also made by God, and also made completely different from you, because they do something that in your head constitutes super mom. What if it brings them that JOY? What do you find JOY in? What things are YOU good at? I think that God probably hurts when he hears us say, "that person is better than me" and he hears us mentally compare ourselves to one another. I think he hurts because he sees all the talents he gave you that you are over looking or aren't using because you are trying to be the image of super mom in your head.Let's each of us moms pray for God to reveal our talents and then use them to bring honor to him!
Galations 6:4 says, "Anyone think they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load." I'm going to make this my own focus verse when I start to see someone who I think is a super mom and I start bashing my own self, or start bashing that mom for doing whatever it is. Let us lift one another up - even the "super moms." Why would we bash someone for doing something good for their kids just because we haven't or don't want to? Good job super moms! Good job regular (although you're a super mom too!) moms. Why should we bash ourselves because we think we aren't measuring up to the "super mom?" idea we have in our head? Good job ALL MOMS! Your kids love you no matter if there is Kraft mac and cheese or homemade mac and cheese on the table. That truth, our love for one another, and our life through Christ, is what we need to lift up rather than getting frustrated with ourselves or other moms.
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