Two

In 11 short days our little man will be two..... and in 6 days we'll be celebrating that special day with our friends and family back in OKC!
I love planning parties, and decorating and all that hoopla.... so I've been a party planning machine for about a month now! Here are a few of the details from last years party... and here are the series of pictures from the actual party... 1, 2, and 3.
This year I wanted to have a birthday theme of something that he really enjoyed. Some possible ideas were cars, Yo Gabba Gabba, and construction.  I went to the party store for inspiration and while there figured out exactly what I wanted to do. They had some gorgeous teal, orange, yellow, and a bright green plates and napkins and such and I knew I def. wanted to use those and instantly decided on a "painting" theme for the party. This little boy LOVES to paint. I think he's going to be super creative as he gets a little older for sure. I would say it's safe to say that the "toys" that get used most in our house are markers, colored pencils, paint, and pens. He gives much more undivided attention to those items than cars or other toys for sure.
With that said.... here's a sneak peak at some of the major products for next weeks party!

The invites! Super cute and super cheap! Dax painted them so they're each different!

For the kids painting table. I'm not a big fan of the typical goody bag filled with sweets.... so we opted for something a little different!

I found this saying online so made my own little printable. They'll be throughout the party... and will find a permanent spot in his room afterwards!

I found some similar cupcake toppers online that you could buy but they were super expensive.... so I made my own :)

Our color inspiration!

Part of a banner...

Part of our center pieces!

Well that's your sneak peak!! And on a side note... anything that has paint on it Dax did himself :)   I'm super excited with how it's all coming together and I can't wait to show all of the details after the party!

Bring it on Meltdowns!

 I'm going to start this post by painting a picture for you.... a slightly terrifying, embarrassing, hilarious story..... be ready to be highly amused.

We're at Target doing our weekly grocery shopping. Things are going good... we're coming to the last few isles and things have been great. I'm pushing the cart, Daniel's grabbing the things we need, and Dax is sitting in the seat doing really well. Well we walk by the cookies... and I tend to have a sweet tooth so I ask Daniel to grab a package for us for the week. Dax likes the idea too.... so much that he immediately starts saying, "cookie! cookie!"  (ps... he never gets cookies at home so I don't know where this obsession came from). I calmly explain that they're for home and we'll have one when we get there. He cries for a few minutes... "cooookie coooookie". But then gets over it. About 2 minutes after getting over that fit he starts squirming around in his seat saying, "out". Walking around isn't a choice for him when we're in the grocery section, because it just leads to more cookie incidents. So I calmly give him the choice of sitting in the basket or in the other seat (we use the cart that has the two seats on the front of it). He whines for a minute but then decided he wants to switch to the other seat. I help him get moved over and he is calm and happy. I'm thinking "alright... disaster diverted.... we're doing good... I'm a rockstar... "  ;)  well about 5 minutes later... it starts again.... but this time we skipped over the squirming stage and went straight to the cry of "waaaalk, waaaaalk"  complete with an arched back and kicking feet. I again calmly explain that that's not a choice right now but he can sit in the cart in the other seat. Not. Happening. Luckily we're grabbing our last few things and begin heading to check out shortly after this melt down begins. We get in line and I remember that I need to go grab one more thing for Dax's party. I volunteer to take Dax so Daniel isn't left with a screaming child by himself.... because we aren't going to the grocery section so surely Dax will calm down once he gets to walk with mommy. Once again... not happening. He is so mad at this point that he doesn't want to walk any more. I carry him over to the isle I needed to go to.... screaming and arching his back the entire way.  I set him on the ground (more like lay him on the ground in order to avoid the busted-head-on-the-ground-when-I through-myself-backwards move he likes to do). I find what I need while having a screaming child on the floor at my feet. I get it and tell him that it's time to go find daddy so we can go home. I once again give him the choice... do you want to walk to find daddy or do you want me to hold you?  And once again... not happening.  So I pick up my screaming child and hold him with my right arm... superman style (similar to when a child is happy and you hold them where it looks like they're flying... only this was on my side with arms and legs flailing in hysteria while I'm doing it) and in the left arm I have a big box. Needless to say my arms were pretty full. We're close to the check out line so Daniel can see us and we make eye contact and just laugh. I try setting my very upset toddler into the back of the cart so I can help Daniel finish checking out and this only makes the very upset toddler even more upset.... grabbing at me, legs flying over the side trying to get out.... meltdown just went up a notch. So I decided I'm going to take him outside and we'll wait for Daniel out there. So once again... superman style gone wrong.... I carry him outside. There are some benches outside of Target about 5 feet from the door so I go set Dax on the ground by those and I sit down. The hysterical child then begins crawling... screaming all the way "Dadddddy Dadddddy" and sits at the window looking into Target. Luckily a few minutes later Daniel comes out and we head to the car. All tears and screaming stop a couple minutes after being in the car.... and Daniel and I can both breath again. We celebrated our success of not screaming at him or spanking him or even loosing our patience with him..... but I can't help but wonder what I've done wrong with my kid.

And so begins where I'm going with this post. The past several weeks Dax has been in full toddler mode... aka... Terrible Twos (not a phrase I like to use but one that most people can relate to). Meltdown after meltdown, pushing boundaries.... you think of it... he's probably tried it in the past few weeks. During these last few weeks I've often caught myself wondering if our form of discipline is doing anything at all for him.... or if we're just contributing to having more of these meltdowns in the future. We don't spank, yell, or do timeout. We reason with him, give him choices, let his actions and choices guide our decision making, and use lots and lots of patience and listening. All of these things I also do in my classes.... and I encourage the parents of my students to do them too... and it's what I studied for 5 years in college.... you can basically say I have a Bachelor of Science in Problem Solving. But the past few weeks I've questioned... for the first time ever... if what I learned and now preach actually works.

But yesterday evening I got the best confirmation that what we're doing with Dax is perfect.... and that it is working... despite having meltdown after meltdown. While browsing pinterest I found this article, "No Bad Kids- Toddler Discipline without Shame". If you have a toddler in your life at all, your own kid, niece, nephew, grandchild, friends kid, or in your class you need to read this article right now... and save it to remind yourself... because trust me... you'll need reminding. In fact I think I'm going to print it and hang it on my fridge for a reminder. It has nine main points that I'll list here but you need to go read the article to get more info about each..

1. Begin with a predictable environment and realistic expectations.
2. Don't be afraid... or take misbehavior personally.
3. Respond in the moment, calmly like a CEO.
4. Speak in first person.
5. No time out
6. Consequences
7. Don't discipline a child for crying.
8. Unconditional love
9. Spanking- NEVER

This article was such a great reminder for me. Despite 20 minute meltdowns over the smallest things.... we're doing awesome. We want him to have those meltdowns. The last two years we've done everything we could to make sure Dax became strong, independent, confident. We wanted to make sure he could think for himself, express his emotions, needs, and wants, and stand firm in what he believes and feels. And these meltdowns let us know that he's doing just that. In fact... if he wasn't having these meltdowns I should be worried that we missed something. We're doing awesome. Do I wish he could express all of the positive personality qualities in another way.... yes... that would be great. But he's two.... and that's a completely unrealistic expectation for him (point #1).

I think our society as a whole is way too wrapped up in having immediate results (and this applies to everything). Yeah, spanking or timeout or raising your voice may solve the problem a little quicker, but in the long run what is it doing? Growing a competent, well rounded person isn't something you can expect to be immediate.  You're going to take the long... sometimes hard, very hard road. But the results are going to be SO worth it in the end.

All nine points in this article are things that Daniel and I have been doing with Dax. So when Dax has a 20 minute meltdown in the future... I need to look at my fridge and remind myself that we're doing everything just the way we should... and then celebrate the fact that he is one strong, independent little boy and that will make him so successful in the future.

 I think as a parent you constantly worry about what you're doing wrong.... so from now on... bring it on meltdowns.... I'm doing everything just the way I should and you won't make me question myself again!

Beautiful Boy..

My blog acts as a memory book for my journey as a mom, teacher, wife, friend.... and today I have a moment that I don't want to ever forget...

It's my vacation so I decided I would lay down with my sweet boy until he fell asleep for nap (he usually just goes in his room and falls asleep on his own). So I go lay down by him, turn on his music, and do the typical mom-fake-sleep-with-one-eye-half-open business.  He looks through each of his bed time books independently and then gets his "nahnee"  (his very beloved blanket) and covers me up with it. He then scoots over as close to me as possible and starts patting my back. This went on for a good five minutes... just me laying there "asleep", his blanket on my back, and him patting away. He finally takes the blanket off me, lays it on his bed, and goes quickly asleep right next to me.  Melt.my.heart.

My little boy is just growing up way too fast. I just hope that he remains as loving, caring, empathetic, sweet, and just plain wonderful as he continues to grow...

In the NICU at one day old... first time seeing each other in almost 24 hours. So perfect

A little work update...

So it's be awhile since I posted on my new job (well... somewhat new job... I've been there for like 5 months now) so I thought what a better time than on my day off from that job :)

I am still loving it so much. Really... I do.  Despite being absolutely exhausted, mentally and physically worn out, I love it. If I was going to be working anywhere... this is the place for me. I love my kids and am super sad that I only have a month left with them before they move up to their new classroom. They have come so far in 5 months and I"m so proud of them... I'll miss them a ton. Even my rotten ones :)   I've seen some very heartbreaking things in the five months I've worked there but that only makes me love my job even more... knowing that for the 6 hours a day that I have those babies they have anything and everything they need. If I was in a position to adopt... I would run out and do it right now. I've always known that I want to adopt a little.... and now I'm even more certain of it. I can't wait for that day...

Well here are some pics of what's been happening in my room over the past 5 months (faces are blurred to protect my babies).

Our family tree. The kids painted the branch and I hung pics of everyone in our class on it. It's hanging from the ceiling first thing when you walk in the room

Some serious ramp action has been happening. They're pretty simple ramps but they're doing such awesome things with them.

We've been doing a nature study for over a month now. They're obsessed. I believe this was a millipede that they found.

More with out nature study. Our sensory table is full of items they/we have found and collected. She was saying, "it's so cold on my hand"   :)

This little love found some rocks and did some seriation/counting activities with them completely on her own. Melt.my.heart

Our nature study took a big turn to birds/nest. They loved looking at feathers on the light table.

They wanted to feed the birds and came up with the idea of buying a bird feeder. They filled it up and everything on their own :)

This turned out to be my absolute favorite project they have done. It started out as just a weaving project.... but the kids began calling it a "Birds nest". Beautiful. It's now hanging in our classroom and is perfect. I'll take a final pic soon and post it.

I found this best at home and took a pic of the eggs that were in it. They loved it! I also was able to get a pic of the baby birds a little later. 

Our science area is my favorite space in the room. I hung branches from the ceiling above it and from the branches have hung nature items that the kids have collected and painted. It also has our actual birds nest in it and some small ones that a couple of my girls made from paper.

We like to turn trash into treasure in our room :)

some watercolor paintings separate our room from the bathroom and our neighboring classroom (which is what you see in the background)

We did some seed planting in our room. The kids prepared the dirt, filled up the container, planted the seeds, wrote the labels (which is what you see here), and are watering the flowers each day.

Their finished planting project.

Well sorry for the picture overload... but there are so many awesome things happening I couldn't narrow it down :).... and I also love my job.... just a little...

Food Makeover

So our house is having a food makeover.  Dax has always ate great... we've made sure of that. But over the past several months Daniel and I have become major slackers (and I think that's putting it nicely!) I credit it to us getting use to my new work routine and Daniel's constantly changing schedule (thank you third year of medschool). With all excuses aside, we def. needed to start making some better choices.... and not only with our food, but with our money too. This fall is going to bring some major changes for us, one of which will be residency interviewing. If you're new to the medschool process, Daniel will probably apply to like 30 residency programs across the US (like literally across... one being Boston) and will hopefully do interviews at like ten of those. Needless to say that between applications, flights, hotels, rental cars, etc, this process gets really pricey, really quick.  Therefore, we really need to start getting a little smarter with our money... and that includes making a set budget for food and sticking to it. Before we've never really had a set food budget. We just went shopping and bought what we wanted.  Well my super awesome BFF post this wonderful blog post about their budget so we decided to try it out as well! 

Her idea (that we're also doing) is to budget $100 a week for groceries for us. Each weekend we go to the farmers and buy whatever veggies catch our eye. Where we live there aren't any huge farmers markets around... but there are a few different small ones that we have checked out (so we may drive around to each of them and get whatever we're wanting at each one). This is what we came away with on our very first trip to the farmers market..

Doesn't it look delish!? All of it was absolutely wonderful. Porter Peaches are by far some of the best peaches you'll ever have and the local honey was to die for. All of it tasted (and looked, for sure) ten times better than buying it at your regular grocery store where it has travel hundreds of miles before you can purchase it. I'll give you some of the recipes we tried out in another post...

Anyways, back to the plan! After going to the farmers market, we went home and made our dinner plans for the week. We decided what we would make each night for dinner using the veggies we got at the farmers market, and from there made a list of additional things we needed to get at the store. It was super exciting when our "store" list was so small. It felt good knowing that we would be eating mostly local, fresh veggies instead of processed things.

Now money wise we decided to get $100 cash out for our first trip to the farmers market. We used cash to make our purchases there, and at Target (where we do the rest of our grocery shopping) we use our Target Red Card (which if you're an avid Target shopper I highly suggest! It's pretty much a debit card that gets you 5% off your total purchase each time you use it... no strings attached!) Any cash that we had left over we put into a cookie jar that we have in our house and saved it for the next weeks trip to the farmers market or for an "eating out" fund. I'm not going to lie... there was one day last week where we were both exhausted, it was late, and making dinner just didn't sound appealing.... so we busted out our extra money in our food budget (I believe we had like $15 left last week) and got a pizza from pizza hut. Only using that cash for eating out keeps us from going over our $100 a week food budget.  We are also keeping a really detailed list of all the money we spend on food in the month of June so that we have a better idea of where our money is going to (this includes everything, from groceries to a drink at starbucks... which I had to add this morning). Now the first week we over bought at the farmers market because we forgot to take into account that there are some nights when Daniel won't be home for dinner because of his schedule. But this week before heading out to do our shopping we figured out how many meals we would be needing so we could keep that in mind when shopping.

Our new food budget has worked out awesome so far. We haven't gone over budget yet (granted we've only been doing it for two weeks), we're eating way better than before, and we're being held accountable for what we're eating/spending on food.  If you have any other ideas (on food or just budgeting in general) let us know!! We would love to hear them!