Jack has 3 Mommies!

So, it seems like lately the girls have been taking very good care of Jack... well, they are trying at least! If I am not paying attention then the girls are usually playing babies with Jack and they are the Moms! I always make sure he is safe, but all 3 of them seem to enjoy it, so why not!  

This is a pretty typical scene around here... Jack isn't quite crawling yet, so he ends up going backwards and getting stuck under things! At first I laughed when I saw him happily playing under his pack n' play and then I decided to grab the camera. 

While I was busy taking his picture, the girls decided to help him and pull him out. 

 Don't worry, they weren't pulling hard and I did help him right after I took their picture, but it just shows you how much they want to help him lately!

Meal time is another time when they want to help Jack out a lot! They often ask to feed him and want to watch me make his baby food or mix his cereal. These pictures were taken while I was cooking supper and Mia decided to help Jack eat his puffs. She climbed into the chair in front of him and started putting them right into his mouth. He didn't care, someone was helping him eat so he just went right along with it! :0)

 This one looks like she is force feeding him! Haha!

 Bailee wanted in on the action, so when Mia left she jumped up there and gave him a drink!

It's starting to look like I will be able to leave them all alone in a few weeks. I'm sure Bailee and Mia won't mind babysitting while I go out for a few hours... ;-) 

Do you think Joseph drove a Hummer?

My children's favorite new toy of the season is our Little People Nativity Set! We've had it for a few years, but I put away during the "off" season and take it back out from Thanksgiving to New Years. It gets stored with our Christmas decorations every year so that I don't forget to bring it out. The kids love it! I have blogged about Little People before because I love how they grow with your child. Babies love to chew on them, toddlers love to line them up and knock them down, and preschoolers love to do dramatic play with them.

Bailee's new found love is the Baby Jesus Little Person. (In fact, she calls the whole nativity set, her "Jesus People.") When the girls play with them, she wants to be the one to hold Baby Jesus the whole time!

A few days ago, the girls were setting up their usual wise-men, shepherd and manger scene when Bailee ran into the other room and came back with the Little People minivan. She sat it down and proceeded to place Mary in the drivers seat, Joseph in the passenger seat, and Baby Jesus sat in the back. I giggled to myself to think that Mary didn't have it that easy... the donkey was a much bumpier ride!

The whole thing was purely innocent and cute, but it made me stop and think about what the nativity scene would look like today. Would Joseph be driving a Hummer with a GPS system installed instead of leading a donkey? Would Mary be wearing the most up-to-date and fashionable maternity clothes instead of a rag? Would Baby Jesus be born in a state-of-the-art hospital instead of being laid in a manger filled with dirty hay? Would dirty shepherds be allowed in to visit? Would the wise men's gifts be stolen on their way to see Jesus?

What a world we live in now. I love the simplicity and the purity of the nativity scene. God sure had his hand in the whole thing and I am grateful that we can look back at that beautiful scene in the stable!

How to baby proof your Christmas tree!

A lot of people have asked me the past few years how I keep my kids off or out of our Christmas tree. I have no magical way or any fancy tricks, but I do have a few tips that has REALLY helped us the past few years.

1. Let them help you decorate. If they aren't allowed to touch the tree AT ALL, then they are only going to be more curious later and probably touch it when you aren't looking. Get it out of their system, and let them touch the ornaments, put some on the tree and feel the pine needles. (You may have to redecorate later, but at least they have been a part of it!)

Mia had fun helping me this year!

 Bailee was excited to find "her" ornaments!

2. Put paper, plastic and cloth ornaments on the bottom. Don't put any ornaments of value or breakable ones in their reach. This is only common sense, but it will save you from panicking when they grab one off the tree. Plus, it will keep them safer and you won't risk them cutting themselves on a broken glass bulb!

A plastic Elmo ornament is one of the favorites this year!

3. Always use new Christmas lights. I don't mean that you have to buy new ones every year, but just make sure they aren't the old kind that get really hot. The old ones could burn your child or, even worse, burn your whole house down!

4. My favorite and best trick of all is to line the whole bottom of your tree with jingle bells!!! On every branch around the bottom of my tree I have put small silver bells that jingle every time someone touches the tree. They are baby safe and when the tree moves or someone is touching it I hear it immediately! I have done this the last few years and it works like a charm!!! Just the other day Jack was playing with an ornament (when I wasn't looking) but I heard the bell jingle and quickly turned around to see him pulling it down! It's such a quick, easy, and cheap way to keep your kids safe! (You can usually find a box of 12 small bells at the dollar store!)

I hope this helps someone. I know it's always tricky to have a tree in the house with babies and toddlers around, but with some careful planning it can be fun!

What happened to my baby?

I'm not sure what happened, but I must have blinked because my little newborn baby is growing up toooooo fast! I know he's not a newborn anymore, but I feel like he was born just yesterday (actually some days it seems like I should still be pregnant with him!) I realized that last week he turned 7 months old and that before I know it we'll be planning his first birthday! I wanted to cry! I just want him to stay little longer and it's not happening!

I grabbed the camera a few days ago and just snapped a few photos of him during the day. Here is a little bit of "a day in the life of Jack!"

Waking up from nap time and playing with my fingers! (notice the trusty nuk!)

 We woke up super happy and was grunting at me in his crib while I took a few more photos!

 Playing contently while his sister's nap. He loves to flirt with Mama!

 Lunch time that day was YoBaby Yogurt... vanilla flavored, yum yum! This was a challenge because I am right handed, but to take a picture I had to feed him with my left. Usually we're not that messy! :0)

He loves sippy cups now, not because he drinks from them, but because he chews on them. This particular cup had a large hole in the mouth piece after he got done with it!!! His teeth are soooo sharp!

Playing with Nanny that afternoon. He looks so grown up to me in this picture!

 Nanny was kind and gave Jack his first taste of a candy cane. It was cherry flavored and he LOVED it! It definitely tasted better than his usual baby food peas or carrots! :0)

Here is a fun one I took of his beautiful blue eyes! His eyes melt my heart... love that little munchkin! Now, stop growing up please!

Haircuts!

Taking toddlers to have their cut sounds like a nightmare! That's why I am so thankful that my Mom is a beautician. I asked her if she would be willing to come to our house and give the girl's their first haircuts. She agreed! I was so relieved because I didn't want to go through the drama of having a stranger approach my kid's head with scissors and have them freak out! (She has always cut my hair too and I am so grateful that we can save a little money that way!)

If you have ever seen my girls, then you know that they don't have much hair at all!!! (Especially Bailee! She's 3 years old and never had her haircut because it's not growing!) I didn't want their hair cut because it was getting too long, I just thought the dead baby hairs needed to be trimmed and cleaned up a little bit!

Bailee was pretty nervous at first and wasn't sure that she wanted to cooperate, but she did. Luckily by the end of it she was smiling and happy about having her "hair cuts!" Mia was so excited to sit in the chair and wear the silly cape. She wasn't hesitant at all and jumped right up there. It was to watch her excitement as my Mom trimmed her up!

This was Bailee's hair before... never been cut, baby fine and split ends...

 She was pretty scared, so Nanny was showing her the comb and scissors...

Here we go...

 After a few minutes she realized it was kind of fun and enjoyed herself!

 Here is her hair after! Isn't she cute!

 Mia's turn! She was so excited!!!

 Just a little trim was all she needed!

 And here they are together after their first haircuts! Just as cute as ever!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble, gobble, gobble until you wobble, wobble, wobble! :0) Happy Turkey Day!

Thankful in 2010

I have been so blessed in 2010. That is an understatement because the Lord has been so good to me and my family! I have so many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season and I thought I would just share a few with you!

1. My husband. Tom has been such a faithful, loving, hard working husband and has never failed to give 100% for our family. I could write 100 blog posts just on his love, patience, and kind heart. I just love that man!

2. My children. I am thankful that they cry, that means they have the ability to feel emotions. I am thankful that they fight with each other, that means they have spunk. I am thankful that they always need a snack, it means they are growing. I am thankful they have tons of energy, that means they are healthy. I am thankful that they make messes, it reminds me that they are home for me to enjoy. I am thankful that they get dirty, it means I get to watch them play in the tub. I am thankful they get tired, that means they go to bed! :0)

3. Our health. Even though we are currently all sick with colds, I am grateful that we are generally healthy and don't have any major health problems to deal with. My kids don't have allergies that we have to worry about on a daily basis. They aren't hospitalized regularly. We only visit the doctor's for regular routine check ups and minor issues. Praise the Lord!

4. Our home. If I am honest with you, then I can say that I am often envious of others who have large houses with lots of land. We have a small little ranch on a quarter of an acre, but it's perfect for us! Yes, I would love to have a bigger house and more land some day, but for now I am so grateful for the roof over our heads! Plus, having a small house means less space to clean! 

5. Laundry. I am grateful for tons of laundry to do every day. Piles and piles of clean laundry means we have plenty of clothes to keep us warm and protected. 

6. Dirty dishes. When the sink is piled high with dirty pots and pans I have to remember that it means we ate a huge yummy meal and probably had plenty of left overs for the next day. I hate doing the dishes, but if I didn't have those messes to clean up then we would be hungry. (I'm also soooo thankful for my dishwasher!)

7. Good friends and my sister. As a stay-at-home mom I don't think I could survive my day without good friends to chat with, get together with and have play dates with. Not only do my children love getting together with other kids, it keeps me sane. My sister is also one of those people that I can kill an hour on the phone with and not think anything of it. We get together all the time and spend time in our jammies just chatting and playing referee with our kiddos. It's chaotic but still fun. (Both my sister and my sister-in-law are going to be giving me a new niece and nephew soon too!!! I'm extremely grateful to them for that!) :0)

8. Long hot showers. At the end of my crazy, chaotic and stressful day taking care of 3 kids under the age of 3 I REALLY look forward to my long hot shower before bed time! I'm grateful that we have a shower, plenty of soap and clean water. We take these things for granted and in other countries they are a luxury. Long hot showers also save us tons of money in therapy and trips to the spa! ;-)

9. Chocolate, fresh fruit, warm apple cider, pizza, peanut butter cups, ice cream, home made bread, squash, chinese food, cold milk and cookies. Okay, just a few of my favorites! :0)

10. My new business. I have started a very small and simple photography business that has taken off! I started just taking a few friends photos for fun and they told a few more friends and it has just continued to blossom. I am now getting phone calls from strangers to have their pictures taken and it's very exciting. My hobby has turned into a little business and it has been so much fun for me. It gets me out of the house for a little while, it brings in a little bit more money, and I thoroughly enjoy it! Thank you to everyone that has supported me and has spread the word! 

I hope you take time this Thanksgiving to reflect on all of the blessings you've been given and how they have impacted your life. It's the simple every day things we take for granted! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!