Hoop It Up!

 

Now that I am getting a good 7 hours of sleep at night I feel like life is going back to normal.  I made some goals for our home this year so I can hopefully finish decorating.  This month the goal is to finish our play room.  The closet is organized (thanks to my mom) so now I am working on a project to decorate the walls.  I am blogging about this project so you can learn what NOT to do if you want to attempt it.  I never do things smoothly, there are always a few bumps in the road, but if you can learn from them then great!  I am trying to make some fabric hoops.  I went to JoAnn's last night and got the hoops and some fun fabric.  Today I spray painted the hoops white.  Mistake #1-I don't think the spray paint was the way to go.  I am pretty sure I will be painting them again tonight so there is better coverage.  I'll keep you posted!

3 Months Already!

 I was finally able to get some good pictures of Drew.  He's been a little bit harder to get some good ones of.  I am not sure if it is just because he is constantly moving or what.  I was determined to get some because he is now 3 months old!  I can't believe it but I can all at the same time.  He's such a happy baby and I tried to capture that but I still have yet to get him when he is really smiling.  He continues to bring us much joy.

 Sadie Jane wanted to be a part of things as soon as I let her down from her high chair.  I kept her up there for most of the photo shoot.  Give her some crackers and she is a happy girl!

 This is what Drew has to endure every day from his Sissy.  She must point out all of his features and here she is showing me his "nosie". 

I had to throw in one of the big sister.  The great thing about having little kids is they think you are the funniest person in the world:)

A Little Bit of SJ

 I did it.  I bought my daughter jeggings!  They are super cute on her but they also fit her way better than normal jeans.  She needs a little stretch in her pants with her big belly:)  She's getting so big.  I can now put her hair in a ponytail and pig tails.  She really loves Drew and loves getting next to him and talking to him or pointing out all his features (eyes, mouth, nose). 

Our friends, the Harasick's, gave us this book for the kids.  We try to read it to SJ at night a few times a week. She loves it and calls it her Bible. 

SJ loves Wednesday nights.  Wednesdays are when the Herd (our church youth group) meet at our house.  She gets a kick out of everyone being here and I know she likes the attention she gets.  Its a fun time to see her interact with the students and I am trying to use it as a time to train her to stay still as we sing at the beginning.  

Now I just need to work on getting some more pictures of Drew.  He doesn't do much yet so I have not taken many pictures of the little guy.  I will work on it!

Nana Time

While Andrew was with our students at winter camp my mom came to help out.  We completely redid the closet in our play room to create a work space for me.  I LOVE it!!!  The only bad thing is I didn't take a before picture.  When we moved in here a year ago it became the closet I kept shoving things in and it was not useful at all.  It is such a large closet so I had a great vision of it being a little nook for me to have a space to work on stuff.  My mom helped me make it happen.  That woman could be a professional organizer!  I'll have to take a picture of it later but it is just so nice opening it up and cringing anymore.  The kids loved being with their Nana!

The Dreaded Book List

Well I did it.  I made a New Year's resolution to read more.  Surprising?  No, because I know it is a common one but it might be surprising for those of you that know me better and know that I am not a reader AT ALL.  I want to read many books, we have a lot of books to read, but I just don't find it relaxing so at the end of a long day with 2 little kids it is not the first thing I want to do.  I am realizing though that I am missing out and I need to try to make it part of my day in whatever way that looks like.  So I made a list of books that I hope to get through this year.  One of them is the book "Don't Make Me Count to Three."  I am very encouraged to say I already finished it!  This is huge for me because I feel like I have very little time to read and I am a super slow reader.  I have found that I can read much faster on my lap top through Kindle so I am hoping to do more that way.  
I would totally recommend that any mom with young kids read this book.  It is a huge encouragement and challenge for those of us that are seeking to know when and how to discipline our kids as we are trying to train them in righteousness.  I learned so many things from this book and could apply them daily with our little SJ.  The biggest thing I took away from reading this was that I need to know the Bible better.  I need to know it better so I can love God more and worship Him but I also need to know it better so I can apply it to my parenting.  I need to speak the Word of God to my children as I am raising them.  I need to help them see that it is the reason I do what I do and it shapes and molds my thoughts and actions.  
Right now you can get this book for $3.99 through Amazon for your Kindle (and remember you don't have to have a Kindle but can put the Kindle app on your computer) and believe me it is worth way more!
I saw that this same author has a book on whining.  I might need to add that to my book list.  We have some whining issues going on around here! (no the issues are not with Andrew:)
I encourage you, whatever your stage in life, to make a book list.  Maybe its 3 books or more, whatever is practical for your life right now but have a plan and go after it.  I think it is one more way we can make the most of our time and seek ways to grow so we don't grow complacent.  Let me know if you have a book list and what you recommend reading.  I would love to hear!