Ice Skating

Here are some pictures from skating on the frozen pond. It was such a fun treat to be able to do this on Christmas. It makes me really appreciate the seasons - I love that Daddy and Mr. Mister swam in this lake this summer and now we were skating on it.

The guys rigged up the Christmas tree on the middle of the ice. One night Daddy and I went for a late night skate under the stars. So romantic :)

Home Again

We are back home from a wonderful Christmas trip to PA.  Once all our pictures are uploaded I'll have some fun ones to post.  A highlight was skating on the frozen lake on a snowy Christmas day.  Mr. Mister got his first pair of ice skates - double runners, which were adorable and made it easy for him to stay standing.

Daddy is on vacation the rest of the week!  Yipee!

We came to a realization today (one that we come to often).  Life with little kids = not restful.  As we stood among bags to unpack, new toys to put away, laundry to fold, mail to go through, emails to catch up on, appointments to make, and seemingly a million other tasks, all the while with kids to play with and feed and put Baby Vick's on for the hundreth time (because Mr. Newton has a cough that seems to never go away), life felt really chaotic.  And as I can still barely walk across the floor without stepping on something, it still does.  If today was a vacation day, why wasn't it restful? we thought.

Enter our realization.  Because a three year old and almost 8 month old are not restful.  Until they are asleep.  So instead of getting frustrated, we choose to change our expectations.  Vacation will not be restful.  Whether it is a day off at home or a week on the beach, vacation looks different now than it ever did in our previous life.

But, we will enjoy this life that we are abundantly blessed with. We CHOOSE to enjoy life when it's easier to feel overwhelmed and tired.  We will love our kids and get on the floor and play with them even if it's hard to find space on the floor among the stuff waiting to be put away.  We will leave dirty dishes so we can have extra time to read and wrestle before bed. We will paint and color and play Chutes and Ladders and sweep dozens of Cheerios off the floor at every meal.  Because this is our life.  It's not supposed to be restful, but it can be fun.  If we choose to have fun.

A friend gave us the book Let Me Hold You Longer for Christmas.  It's a children's book that I think is mostly written for parents, encouraging us not to miss out on our kids' "lasts."  It makes me cry every time and is really good for me to read on days like these. It puts parenting in perspective and helps me choose to just enjoy.  Because even though it seems that the little kid season of life is permanent, it is not.  And someday I'll have all the time in the world to sit and read a book that I want to read.  And I know at that point, I'll be a little sad that my floor is missing game pieces and random toy parts and Cheerios and train tracks and blocks and board books and cars and balls and random articles of clothing that never quite made it to the laundry basket.

How could you not have fun with these boys?!

A Wife

It's hard to believe that Mr. Mister will someday have a wife.  We went to a wedding this past weekend and we were talking about how hard it is to comprehend that someday our boys will stand on an altar and commit their lives to a (very lucky) woman.  Oh, it makes me just want to treasure this time with them even more.  

When Mr. Mister was 2 months old, we went my friend's wedding and I cried when the groom danced with his mom.  I know...it's way down the road.  But I also know it will be here more quickly than I think.

So anyway, in light of all of that, here is a conversation to treasure forever:  

Mr. Mister: Can I have a son when I grow up?

Daddy: Yes.  What do you want to name your son someday?

Mr. Mister: I don’t know…maybe Mr. Newton?

Daddy: Who do you want to be your wife?

Mr. Mister: How about Mommy?  Mommy, when I grow up as a man I want you to be my wife.  Can you be my wife?

It makes my heart smile. 

A Case for Cloth

I've been wanting to write a post about why I love cloth diapers for a while.  So on a Friday afternoon without any new stories or pictures, here it is.

Let me first say that when I had Mr. Mister, cloth diapers weren't even on my radar.  About halfway through his diapering journey (which thankfully is down to nights only), I became interested in them as my sister started using them.  But at that point, I decided to just wait until we had another child.  So when Mr. Newton came along, I was ready to give it a try.  Now I am completely sold!

Reasons I'm a fan of cloth diapers:

1. They save A LOT of money.  Cloth diapering has become way more economical in the past few years.  The total cost of all of our diapers and accessories (wet bags, sprayer, etc.) was right around $300.  For those of you who aren't aware of how expensive disposable diapers are, it doesn't take long to get to $300.  And if you register for them and get them as gifts when you have your baby, you may pay even less!

2. They grow with the child.  We use Flip diapers, which on an average size kid can be used from birth to potty training. So that $300 should be all we spend on diapers for 3 years.  To not pay for diapers is seriously like getting a raise!  And it feels so good to walk past the diaper aisle in the grocery store.

3. Less waste. This was a big one for me.  Our weekly garbage was cut in half when we went to cloth.  I have long wished to get by on one bag of garbage for the week and now we can.  (if my neighborhood would now allow me to compost or if I ever get brave enough to try an indoor worm composting system then we'll reduce it even more.)

4. Fewer poop blowouts.  The elastic waist and legs holds poop explosions in so much better.  If you are tired of cleaning poop out of your baby's onesies, consider cloth!  I rarely have to clean #2 out of Mr. Newton's clothes.

5. No chemicals. It makes me feel good that the cloth against his skin is 100% chemical free.

As in everything, it's wise to count the cost before diving in.  The biggest cost for using cloth diapers is being willing to wash them every other day.  Before I started, that idea kind of overwhelmed me because I do laundry almost every day already.  But, it's really not that bad and now that I'm in the groove of doing it, it's hardly an inconvenience.

Poopy diapers can feel inconvenient.  It's a lot easier to throw them away than wash them.  But most good things in life are hard (i.e. marriage, having kids, running a marathon, etc.) so for me, the benefits far outweigh the cost.

If you're interested in cloth diapers, I'd love to talk to you more!  It can be an overwhelming task to tackle as you start to look into them.  But I had my sister and a few friends to walk me through it, which was so helpful.

Okay well there's my case for cloth!

On the Move

Mr. Newton started crawling yesterday! He's not zooming around the room quite yet, but he has figured out how to move forward to get something he wants.  It's cute - he moves really slowly like he's trying to figure it out still.  I'm sure it won't take long!

A New Freedom

This week, I experienced a new freedom - the freedom that comes with saying no.  A month shy of my 30th birthday, you think I would have figured this out earlier in life. I've had glimpses of this freedom here and there, but my people pleasing personality always defaults to saying yes or doing something out of obligation or fear of disappointing people.

But three times this week, I chose the good of my family and my mental health over an obligatory attendance at a previously committed event.  Not that I'm promoting backing out of commitments, but there are just some times that it's better not to go.  And every time this week that I chose to stay home, I was so refreshed.  Rest is refreshing - imagine that!

Family Dancing

One of my favorite things we do as a family is dance together.  We love just turning on some fun music and going all out.  Mr. Mister is, of course, all into it and even Mr. Newton will now sit and wiggle and move his arms when the music comes on!

We have two favorite songs.  The first is Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis.  Usually I hold Mr. Mister and he pretends to twirl me around.  It's so sweet.  The other day he was coloring and I was doing some work on the computer and that song came on.  He dropped everything, ran over to me and said, "Mommy, it's our song! It's our song!"  So we had an impromptu dance. Such fun memories.

The other song we like to dance to is Time Bomb, which is on a video on the Charity:Water website.  It's great because we get to have fun but at the same time, Mr. Mister has learned some global awareness from watching this video over and over.  The other day, he told me he was going to give his coins to help people get clean water.




Here are two videos of our dance night tonight.  The first is Mr. Newton doing his wiggle.  The second is them dancing together on the table with a dramatic jump off at the end.  Jumping off of things, I have learned, is a big part of raising boys.

Thank you for the cake.

When we were in Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago, Mr. Mister was in on a surprise, which was a risky move.  He knew that we had an ice cream cake sitting outside in the cold, waiting until after dinner to surprise Cousin E for her birthday.  I thought for sure he would march right up to her and tell her, but he did really well staying quiet.  Until...

Right before dinner, he raised his hand and volunteered to pray for our food.  I was shocked since we often ask him if he wants to pray before dinner and he never wants to.  So I excitedly told him that we'd love for him to pray.  

His prayer went like this:

"Jesus, thank you for our lives. 

Thank you for our family. 

Thank you for being here. 

And thank you for the cake. That's outside."

We all laughed so hard while trying to still maintain the surprise for E.  It was so funny.  The first three lines were so heartfelt and he prayed with such sincerity that I was really awed by the whole thing. And then he threw that in at the end and caught us all off guard.  

Thankfully, his cousin didn't think too much of it and was still surprised.  I still laugh when I think about it!

Christmas Tree and Concert

This past Saturday was quite eventful.  It snowed a beautiful, peaceful snow all day, which made for a perfect day for getting our Christmas tree and enjoying Mr. Mister's outdoor choir concert.  

In the morning we went to get our tree, which I thought would tire Mr. Mister out enough to get a good nap before his concert....

But despite all the outdoor activity, he did not nap. That never happens. He always naps.  Except on the day he really needed to.  Mr. Newton didn't want to fall asleep either.  Except he did, 10 minutes before we had to leave.

So off we went, having to wake up and drag out into the snow a cozy Mr. Newton and not knowing what to expect from our napless three year old.  We should have known...five minutes into our ride, he fell asleep in the car.

So upon arrival we had a not-so-happy baby and a sleepy little boy.  Mr. Mister woke up but never fully woke up.  He looked pretty tired on stage.  And I'm sure waking up to a performance is a little intimidating, too.

Here he is.  This was his expression almost the whole time!

(Side note - I had to intentionally resist going up and fixing his pant leg before it started. I didn't want to be the mom who cared so much what her son looked like up there. And plus, I think it makes the whole experience even funnier.  I'm sure we'll get some good laughs down the road when we look back on it!)

He showed some energy when they sang the verse of "This Little Light of Mine" that goes Hide it under a bushel, NO! I'm gonna let it shine.  He is always up for shouting NO!

Despite the tiredness, he did great.  Although later when we told him we were proud of him, he said, "What did I do?"  I think it was all a little foggy for him.

And despite the cold and snow, we had so many fun people come and support him.  I think he had half the crowd (which wasn't huge, but still!)




I am really thankful for the community we have here.  All of these friends came to see a 3 year old sing five songs in the snow.  We felt so loved!

7 Months

Mr. Newton...
Today you are seven months old. You are closer to 1 than birth, which means time is going quickly.

Your two front bottom teeth are now visible when you smile, which is all the time. You are so happy! Your smile takes up your whole face and lights up the room. It is such genuine joy that it makes my heart ache with an overflowing enjoyment of you.

In just the past week it seems like you have become so aware of what's going on. You know what you want and sometimes you begin to whimper when something is taken away from you.

You notice everything around you and you want to see everything, even bending almost backwards to catch a glimpse.

You move around really well for not crawling yet, although I think you'll be crawling in the next couple of weeks. You like to rock back and forth on all fours but then you fall when you try to move.

Today you started trying to pull yourself up on the laundry basket and the side of your crib.  You had a big smile the whole time like you were so proud of your new independence!

You also have started to cry when I leave the room.  Maybe it's the beginning of a separation anxiety stage.  It's actually kind of cute and makes me feel loved.  But it also makes me feel bad when I just need to get a glass of water or go to the bathroom.

You are starting to talk more.  I am hearing some consonant sounds, which I know will become words not too far down the road.  Your brother likes to talk in a high pitched voice and pretend it was you saying something.  Especially like, "I forgive you" when he says I'm sorry to you.  It's funny.

I could go on and on but I just want to remember what you're doing at each stage.  It goes so fast!  I love you and am thankful you are part of our family!

Singing Loud

The other day Mr. Mister told me about a boy in his choir class named Owen.  He said, "He's a nice boy. But he doesn't sing loud like me. I sing loud!"

I'm sure you do, Mr. Mister.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that class.

The Stage

The day after Thanksgiving we headed out to Pittsburgh for my husband's 10 year h.s. reunion and also to spend time with our family there. The big treat for Mr. Mister was that Papa built him a stage, complete with a microphone and karaoke machine! He loved singing and it was good practice for this Saturday, when he has a little performance with his children's choir class!


He's a natural on stage. He doesn't get that from me!

Climbing Papa's tree stand. He made it almost half way up the tree by himself (as Daddy followed close behind and I stood by worrying).

Cousin love.

We celebrated Cousin E's birthday while we were there. This is the purse Mr. Mister picked out for her at the store and even helped pay for!