Son moves from crib to a big boy bed

Well, this weekend after much debate, we decided it was time to move our son from his crib to a mattress on the floor. Right now, he shares his room as it is necessary in our house. He had begun to notice the fact that he had bars and couldn’t move freely and big sister could. He had also started putting his foot up like he could crawl out of it or something silly like that!

This all being the case, the good hubby (and daddy) that he is, he took apart the crib and opened a whole new world up to our Little Man! Needless to say the transition for him has been easier than the transition for me. Besides the simple fact that my little boy is growing up way too fast, I spend countless times going into their room during nap time and stressing the fact that they are to be sleeping not playing! Luckily, these two are best friends and share lots of laughs and those laughs make me laugh or else I’d be losing my mind!  Also, we are very lucky that there is never a problem at night, everyone simply goes to sleep in their own bed and without a word heard from them! Hopefully this will continue!

One Christmas Tradition

Huntsville has wonderful Botanical Gardens. Every year for Mother’s Day my gift is to rejoin the gardens. We spent many picnic trips and just times walking there throughout the year. At Christmas they have about a mile and a half tour of lights. The members are allowed to walk through it before the general public is allowed to walk through or drive through. As a side note, if anyone lives in the area, it is worth checking out at their website.

Well, this past weekend was member night for the walk through and I of course wanted to go. I am a huge holiday person and love to do anything holiday related. We packed up our wagon, the kids, and some treats for kids for the walk. We started our walk and were so lucky because the smallest slept almost the whole time! The two big kids loved looking at all the lights. After a few minutes we let the big girl out to walk the rest of the time. Now, normally this is a risky move because if there is a need for she to ride again the bottom falls out of the Earth. However, tonight was completely different. The big girl got in and out of the wagon without any trouble. The big boy sat there so nicely say “ba” to everything he saw. They smiled and laughed and talked the entire time!!

I have always loved Christmas. My family has always made a huge deal out of holidays. I’ve looked forward to having children to pass along my love of holidays. I think I have children who will get as excited as me about holidays! I look forward to creating more and more traditions with my kids! If anyone has any great family traditions they are willing to share – please by all means do so!

Auburn

War Eagle! Tomorrow Auburn plays the oldest rivalry in the south when we face the Georgia Bulldogs at home. I wish the team good luck and I look forward to a great game! Auburn will be retiring Eagle V, also known as Tiger, and be introducing Eagle VI, also known as Nova. It should be a great game and a very special pregame as Nova enters the elite few eagles who have proudly served the Auburn tradition. Go Tigers!!

Politics and News thoughts

My husband began blogging this past spring when I was out of town. He really seems to enjoy it so I thought I’d give it a try. If you are interested in reading about politics, crazy news, or college football give his blog a shot!

Picture Website

As I said in my “A Little about me” section I am an avid scrapbooker. I do it whenever I get a chance!  Anyhow, that being the case I of course am a picture lover! I take a camera everywhere we go and I get as many pictures of my kids growing up as possible. That being the case I have to be very careful about getting my pictures made but I also want the absolute best quality because I’m extremely picky.

If you haven’t heard about Winkflash then here you go. It is a wonderful website. You upload your pictures and then they come straight to your door. A bonus for anyone in my position! The pictures are super and they are printed on Fuji paper which I am partial to. Not only that, the real great hing is they are $.12 a print with a flat fee of $.99 shipping on 4×6 prints.

Here’s the other great thing. I order my daughter’s birth announcement and I received it yesterday and the cards are super! If you are looking for somewhere to order Christmas cards definitely give Winkflash a look!

Big Families

As of now, my family is considered to be a big family. We are a family of five having been very blessed with three beautiful children. I’ll just say that I think children are the best thing in the world!

I read a very interesting article about the idea of big families coming back. It simply talks about how more and more people are choosing to break that two child barrier. I find that wonderful! The article says that more wealthy and educated families are making the decision to have more children. It seems that more people are choosing children over “things.” This switch is something I see as a positive move for our future.

I think Americans have become very material driven (I’m no different than most) and I think that society could benefit from more people choosing children and the love that brings to families.

My one problem with this article is that is says intelligence level decreases with each child. I think that if you are an involved parent and want to work with all your children, then each child will be intelligent.

When I’m out with my children, I no doubt get lots of looks from people who must think I’m insane. I’ve even had a man say to me sarcastically, “Wow, you’ve sure figured out the home making thing haven’t you?” To say I think these comments and looks are rude is an understatement. I think that my big family is wonderful. I even hold hope that I might want one more child (of course that might make me crazy but oh well!). I was told that the move from two to three was the hardest and it was for a little while but the love felt from that baby has made the transition smooth! If you are thinking of breaking that two child barrier remember that no one can tell you what is right for your family and no matter how many kids you have there is always enough love!

The need to be in the know

Well, many people tell you of the wonderful stage kids reach where everything is “why?” but they neglected to mention the stage where everything is “Doing Mommy?”

We have entered this stage and despite liking to explain to my children what I’m doing, the same question over and over gets really old. I feel like a broken record answering with the same answer time and time again. I hope that this is a stage that will not last very long! I’m sure when she gets done with such question, my son will express that need to be in the know.

This of course, really begs the question of how long will they stick their nose into everything I’m doing – which at this moment is Christmas shopping! Hopefully, I’ll find time to shop for my daughter without that wonderful question of “Doing Mommy.”

Cooking

I am a huge fan of being in the kitchen. My grandmother was an amazing cook – actually both my grandmothers were great in the kitchen. I remember spending many times in the kitchen while my Grandmom was fixing dinner, a snack, or my favorite was her applesauce. I do not eat store bought applesauce even to this day!

Anyhow, this being the case I’m always looking for something new to cook and test on my hungry bunch. My family will eat almost anything and they love to try new things. Too much of the same gets old very quickly. That being said, if you have a great recipe or site to visit, please let me know and if you are like me please check out the sites I’ve added (and will continue to add) at the right. Happy eating!!

Safe Haven Laws

I have TiVo so I’m usually behind watching shows that I enjoy. I watched the Oprah from Friday this weekend. I was a little leery to watch it since the topic is tough to deal with. I listen to the young girl tell her story of her pregnancy at fifteen and then how she killed her son. I was emotional through it and wondered the first part about why Oprah had done such a story. Oprah always (or almost always) has an important message that needs to be relayed to the public.

Safe Haven Laws was her message this show. I find this to be extremely important. If you do not know about the safe haven law then here’s a quick recap. If there is an unwanted pregnancy then the all the mom needs to do is drop the newborn off at a hospital, fire station, or police station shortly after birth. No questions will be asked, other than medical I’m understood, and the mom will not even have to give her name and no charges will be filed. Forty seven states have such an adapted law (Nebraska, Hawaii, and Alaska do not) and the word needs to be spread.

After this message was shared, Oprah shared a personal story and then gave Jessica (the young woman) something that I think we can all learn from – young and old alike. Oprah’s message was this:

What you have done is the past, and you alone get to determine what your future will be.

As a parent, I think it is important to teach my children responsibility, how to talk to us, and how to be smart adults who can think for themselves. I want to them to understand that I love them unconditionally and there is nothing they could do to ever change that. We all make mistakes as humans and we all possess the ability to forgive. That forgiveness is important and I have come to believe that the harder it is to forgive the more one should. I hope that I take this message of the ability to change and move on while learning from mistakes and teach it to my kids. I think it is one of many important lessons they will need as life sends many challenges to all.

Christmas Craziness

I know this is probably the first of many frustrating writings I will do about this subject, but the fact that’s it is only the first of November is crazy! I, like most parents I’m sure, decided to start my Christmas “hunting” this weekend. Not thinking through it too much I took my two daughters to Toys ‘R Us last night to look for a toddler bed for my son.

Let me tell you that what I saw was appalling at some points during our trip. Luckily my oldest was excellent and had fun just looking at the toys and said “pretty” to what she liked. She attempted to try to get me to buy an Elmo for her brother which was simply her way of asking for it, but other than that it was uneventful from my end.

Uneventful would not be a word many parents there could use to describe their trips however. I was amazed at how many kids were running around the store with a parent pushing a cart behind them while the kid loaded it up. Kids were getting toys already and it seemed like they were constantly saying “I want this.” I was amazed and wondered to myself how this can be stopped because I won’t put up with this behavior out of my kids!

The real funny part is I took my youngest out for some more hunting today and found it ironic that I am having trouble finding things to get my kids for Christmas! To all you parents out there on the hunt also, good luck (you might need it!)!!