Don't Wish It Away

We've all done it.  And I'm guilty of it myself.  What am I talking about?

Wishing it away.

Its something we shouldn't do..but sometimes it just can't be helped.  Human nature is to blame, I guess.

You are still wondering.."What on earth is she talking about?".

Those of us with kiddos..especially littles ones.  There is a tendency to want them to grow up.  To do things they aren't able to do just yet.  Like crawling, talking, walking, running, going to school.  The list goes on and on. 

You know what I'm talking about now!

We shouldn't want to 'wish this time away' in their precious lives.  Being content with where they are now..in their babyhood..toddlerhood..tweenhood..where ever they may be right now.  Be content.  Even the Bible mentions how we should be content.

Hebrews 13:5 ~ Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

I see so many moms..especially new moms..counting down the days until they can wean their babies..or wean them from the bottle.  Or the sippy cup.  I could list and list things that we can't 'wait' for them out outgrow and become more independent. 

But you know..right now is when they need us.  They'll always 'need' us..but when they are little..they are solely dependent on us as parents..for everything.  I'm not saying weaning and letting them grow up is a bad thing.  Of course they need to grow and learn how to do things on their own.  But its not something that should be forced.  Especially when your child isn't ready. 

After all..they are only babies once.

Even though my Makayla is 14 months old now..and not walking..I'm ok with that.  She'll do it when she's good and ready.  She still likes for me to feed her..but you know..she can feed herself too.  When she doesn't want me doing it anymore..she'll let me know.  We still nurse..but only once a day now.  This time last year it was a round the clock thing with nursing.  So you see..she's slowly let me know over time she needs it less and less. 

Don't wish your baby's 'baby-ness' or toddler's 'toddler-ness' away.  Before you know it they will be grown men and women with their own families and you'll wish you had this time back for yourself again.

Projects and Stuff

Seems like so much has been going on around here in the past week (or weeks if I'm really honest about it!).  I've been doing a bit of crafting/experimenting with Pinterest projects/dreaming of even more.  I've done a few things and have a few more on the agenda when time permits and I get over this awesome cold I've had since the weekend.  Yeah..a summer cold..go figure!  And I caught it from my precious baby girl to beat it all!  I think she's faired way better than I have though..which I'm grateful for! 

Onto the projects...

First..I made homemade chocolate syrup about a week ago.  YES..you can make it yourself..and its so much better than store bought.  Plus its super easy!  I got the idea from fellow blogger Rachel.   A HUGE thank you for that post!!  Here is the recipe and a picture I took in the process of making the yumminess...

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup cocoa

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

You whisk together the sugar and cocoa in a saucepan with a wire whisk until almost all the lumps are gone.  Then add the water and salt and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly.  Bring it to a boil and continue to cook, while stirring, for a few minutes..until it starts to get good and thick.  You'll know....



Remove it from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.  Then add the vanilla.  Pour it into a container (I just happened to have used up a bottle of chocolate syrup..so I just cleaned it up real good and put it in that!) and keep in the fridge!  Its AWESOME..give it a try!!!

I've also made Makayla a bandana dress..another idea from pinterest.  I made a burgandy one and have the materials to make a blue one as well..just haven't gotten around to it as of yet....

How cute!!!

In the works..I'm very excited to try making a tshirt dress!  I bought all the materials for well under $10 and I must say..with the color combinations I think its going to look rather snazzy!!  Here are my materials for the dress..I opted for a tshirt rather than a tank top (if you look up tank dress on pinterest you'll find this idea) so I could wear it more than just for the summer months.  The fabrics I found at Hobby Lobby (how much do you love this store!!??)...

I also plan on making another skirt with this material I found for 50% off at Hobby Lobby too!

I've also done some things that are non-wearable too.  I had been wanting for the longest time to find Makayla an owl clock for her room..since we're so owl obsessed around here!  Well..since I haven't seen a THING..the other night I thought hmm..wonder if you could make something like that?  Well low and behold I found clock that was fashioned with some mod podge and scrapbook paper to create the color combination that particular person was looking for to match their decor.  A lightbulb went off and so did my hunt for some sort of paper to mod podge onto a clock!

I looked at Hobby Lobby and a few other places with no luck.  Then while at Walmart I came across a really cute owl gift bag for .98.  YES..I think to myself..this will work perfectly!  So I bought a cheap $3.98 clock..the owl gift bag..and some stickers (which I had to go back later on and buy more since I didn't have enough 1's).  I already had brown spray paint at home since I wanted the rim of the clock to match her pink/brown decor..I didn't want to leave it white.  This is the result..I can't tell you how much I LOVE THIS CLOCK!

Have you done any creative projects or pinterest-inspired projects lately?



Two-A-Day..and Sippy's!

We are on the weaning way!!  I've got Makayla down to 2 a day now.  We do our morning feeding in the morning when she wakes up around 9-ish and then she has a bottle (yes..I will explain in a bit) with only around 2-3 oz of breastmilk and the rest whole milk at night before bedtime.  She cut out her mid-day nurse by herself really.  Letting her self wean so far has definately been the way to go because it transitions both of us easily into one less feeding without either of us having problems. 

Now..I do give her a bottle still..but only at her nighttime feeding.  My fears are if I give her the milk in her sippy cup..she might start refusing me all together in the mornings before either of us are ready.  Call me crazy..it probably wouldn't happen but in my mind somehow thats what goes on!  I just don't want it to end 'abruptly'..I want this to be a gradual process since we've made it this far.  Of course, she's definately not going to be one of those kids who are 2 or 3 and still breastfeeding..no way..no how!  No offense to anyone who does plan or has breastfed for that long..but thats just not what I had in mind when I started this journey.  I'm so THANKFUL we've made it as far as we have..because many of you know I had some problems in the beginnnig and honestly didn't think we'd make it past the 6 month mark.  Just goes to prove that God is in control!

I also wanted to address sippy cups since its a 'hot' topic with all of us new moms right now who have successfully (or unsuccessfully) transitioned our toddlers (how crazy is it we all have toddlers now instead of babies?!) to the sippy cup.  At first..I used the Nuby 3 stage sippy cup but it seemed (with the nipple) it was really no different from using a bottle...



So I sort of felt like it was a waste of time to get her to like that when it was no different from a bottle.  I tried the spout but she wasnt going for it..so I moved on..at a later time.  You just can't force your baby/toddler to use something just because thats what all the charts/people/other mommies are doing.  EVERY child is different and learn things on their own timing.  I've come to learn this especially with Makayla cause it takes her a little longer to catch on to stuff (to me it seems that way, anyways) but she does..in her own time. 

Anyways..after her first birthday I moved on to some other sippy cups.  Mind you..I had a nice stash by this time because I had been buying some different brands over the course of several months and giving her a try at each to see what seemed to suit her or not.  I found one I hadn't tried and it was funny because it was highly recommended on alot of forums I read online prior to purchasing it AND it was cheap!  I had 2 of this brand in a straw sippy variety but she's not taking to the straw type at this time.  So..I bought the spout type and it worked!!



This is the Nuby Soft Spout Sport sippy cup.  She loved this one and did really well with it for a little while. Well..she still does..but then I discovered the next cup I'm about to tell you about and well..I like it even better.  The only problem we had with this cup is the spout is pretty big and we had some leaks because of the spout being so big and the little 'lip' that the spouts have..liquid would accumulate in it when she'd drink from it.  Thus the leaks.  Soooo....



When I saw the Nuk sippy cup at walmart, I was VERY intrigued.  The spout was smaller (and soft..not hard), with NO lips for liquid to accumulate (thus less leakage) and lets face it..its cute with the ladybug design (we have the exact same one in the picture).  I looked at it for a couple weeks before I bought it and boy am I glad I made the decison to purchase this!!  Its the BEST one we've had so far (with her at this stage anyways).  Virtually no leaking and she took to it directly.  I LOVE THIS SIPPY! 

So..after almost 14 months of being a mommy..this is where we are now!

9am-ish ~ Morning feeding

after breakfast ~ One to One and a Half sippys of strawberry milk

after nap ~ One to one and a Half sippys of juice

bedtime ~ One Bottle (8 oz) of breastmilk/whole milk with a touch of rice cereal

Lots of meals and snacks in between, of course!



Bible School

Our annual vacation bible school just ended a couple hours ago!  We had such a good time!  Me and Makayla went every day and daddy came a couple days too when he wasn't busy with things around the house.  Today the kids all performed some songs they learned (using sign language!) during the week.  I always love to watch kids sign (or anyone..I'm fascinated by sign lanugage!) and doing it in an uplifting way to God just makes it all the better!!  They did a great job and it brought tears to my eyes....

We had a picnic outside afterwards to celebrate the week.  I brought some cupcakes from Sam's Club (they have the BEST cupcakes if you've never tried them I recommend them highly!) and they fixed hot dogs on the grill with all the fixins..potato salad, pasta salad, and a few other items.  The kids and adults alike enjoyed themselves!

We had to eat inside..too hard to hold a squirmy baby and try to eat!

A friend of mine brought her girls with her this year..hadn't got to see or talk to her much since we graduated high school!  Always good to see a familiar face!

And then after the eating was complete..the local fire department came down with the fire truck and 'cooled' off the kiddos!!  I think that was the best part of the day for them!

We had a great time and can't wait for next year and the team from the Sweetwater  Baptist Church in Georgia to come back and fellowship with us again!









I'm a Survivor!



(trees down by my parents house)

After last week and having no power..I can say I'm definately a survivor!!!  We were without power for exactly one week.  It went out friday at 730pm and came on this past friday at you guessed it..730pm!  Let me tell you..EVERYONE was rejoicing..and not just in my household!  It had been a long, hot week for our community.  Everyone's power was turned on around here by time saturday had came to a close.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone out there who said a prayer for us!!

I did manage to have a big mommy meltdown a couple days before our power was restored.  With what we were dealing with along with alot of other stresses I won't go into right now..I had reached my limit.  And then some.  Thankfully..after seeing how stressed I had been Damon took Makayla the next day and told me to go for a drive for a few hours.  So I did.  It did a world of good too let me tell you! 

So enough of that..I want to just forget that week never happened now that its behind us!  Some positive notes..I managed to do some crafts last week.  I made a pinterest inspired patriot coffee can windsock things (super cute) and I made Makayla a patriotic tshirt with red ricrak and star buttons! 



Makaylas shirt!

patriotic coffee cans

I even managed to have patriotic toes!!



This week we have vacation bible school going on at our church.  Its always a big event and alot of fun!  We have outside help since our church is so little..some wonderful people comes in all the way from the Sweetwater Baptist Church in Georgia and hosts bible school for us.  I love these people!  They are so caring and sweet..just what you think of when you think of 'southern hospitality'!  Me and Makayla went down today and had a good time even though she's still too little to be in a class.  We plan on going every day, Lord willing, and having a good time with our church family.  Its so critical to get your kids in church at a young age.  Even when (like now) they are too little to understand things fully..they still understand...you know? 

And on a totally different note..my bloggy friend Callie is having a great giveaway over on her blog this week..be sure to check it out!! 

Thats about it for now..hope to post some pictures and a post later this week with the activities from bible school!  Until then..enjoy your week and stay cool!

In the dark (so to speak)

Soooo..guess what happened here Friday evening just as we were getting home from a shopping trip in Charleston?

Our power went off.

Yup..and its been 100+ degrees too.  Not fun.  I'm trying my best to stay positive.  We have a generator.  I'm so thankful for that!  It makes things bearable.  We didn't have any damage to our home or anything else.  VERY thankful for that because there are some around us that did.   But if you know me very well..I'm not a hot weather gal.  Never have been.  Someone on facebook posted a funny saying in response to our heat wave and crisis...

"Satan called.  He wants his weather back."

Though yes..that is funny...dealing with this heat right now can really get your mind to thinking.  If you think its hot here now..can you imagine how hot hell is?  Thats something I never want to find out.

Thank God I'm heaven bound!!

But in all seriousness..please keep good old West Virginia and this gal and her family in your prayers.  Its not easy keeping a 1 year old entertained in a semi-cool house with nowhere to go.  They are saying it could be a week before we get our power turned back on.  I'm refusing to believe it will be that long.  Why? 

Because prayer can change things!!

:-)