Giveaway!

The always talented, Ness, of the best nesst is hosting a giveaway of one of her small journals from her etsy shop. I LOVE my journal that she made & use it more often than any journal I've had in the past. I think it is because it's so pretty!

{Here is a sample of one of her small journals.}

I had no idea how kiddos under 2 years old were not actually babies, but tiny people. Even though we have a slew of nephews and nieces I was not around them much as they were this age and since I was the worst baby sitter on Drury Street I kind of feel like someone, anyone should have told me so I would be better prepared to handle this stage I am finding myself in. For instance I never knew that I would need to know multiple nursery rhymes and choreographed moves by memory, or that my knowledge of animal noises would require such diversity, or that I would need to be ready to go from coloring, to puzzles, to cars and back to coloring all within a 5 minute window.
Although I am living in a constantly surprised state I am loving it! Levi is doing so many fun things these days and more and more of his personality is emerging. He is really into driving cars, and hanging out with his pals: Bill, Bill, Bear and Froggie, He loves to dance around the living room and spinning so fast he falls down, He is constantly asking "This"? He wants to know what ever single thing is. When reading a book it usually takes about 3 or 4 times of telling him before we are able to turn the page. This? Flower. This? Flower. This? Flower. When he finally mutters the word under his breath and I know it is safe to move on. He thinks it is hilarious to call daddy by his first name. You'll hear him in his crib saying "Roy" over and over as he falls asleep. He also really likes to point out when his daddy or I get seconds at dinner time which although cute it is a little alarming how often he gets to ask "Moooooooore"?. He likes to count his snacks although he doesn't always get it right I am encouraged that he continues to try. He loves going places, seeing people and playing andI look forward to the many surprises that are certain to come.

Raking leaves is not my favorite way to pass the time, but it is much more bearable in the company of my fellas. We took advantage of some lovely fall weather this weekend and spent some time cleaning up the yard. The downside is that they aren't even our leaves. The trees are all in our neighbor's yard and I counted all but three leaves fall into our yard...and we will have to rake a few more times before winter, but on the bright side we are able to take advantage of their lovely shade in the summer time so all is well.Levi took his role very seriously. He is an awesome helper!

Levi must get his enthusiasm from his daddy.

Did I mention we only did the back yard? Much more raking to be done.

I am still fairly new to this life of parenting, but from what I know so far I find it to be totally hilarious. It is not always hilarious immediately I have known it to have a time delay, but it definitely helps the situation when you can see the humor in it. For instance the first time I took baby levi and junebug the dog on a solo walk I thought it was so sweet...levi snuggled up in this front pack, me getting out and about, and feeling so confident that I even thought to let the dog have some fresh air. Then just as we rounded the corner levi decided that was the ideal opportunity for spitting up (vomiting) all over his mama. As I stood stunned in the middle of the street, while junebug the dog was winding her leash round and round my legs, having no idea what to do, but noticing that spit up was seeping through my many layers of shirts, embedding itself in the front pack, coating not only my hair but the hair of my baby I really didn't think it hilarious at the time- thus the time delay.

Below is a sample of some Hysterical truths about parenting the little ones. For the whole story look here

Thinking of Having Kids?
Do This 10 Step Program First

Lesson 2
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approx. 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down gently, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at midnight and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1am.
4. Set alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45.
7. Get up at 3am when alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4am.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive.)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus in the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this- all morning.

Lesson 6
Go to the grocery store. Take the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goats eat or destroy. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 7
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a 9 month-old baby.

Stoney Ridge Farm

One of our favorite fall time activities is to spend some time at Stoney Ridge Farm. What is not to like about animals, pumpkin patches, a corn maze, kids play area, and amazing apple pie with the works? I had feared we had missed our opportunity to make a visit this year due to constant weekend down pour, but today we were blessed with sunshine & decided along with the rest of the county to spend the afternoon on the farm.

Levi is totally into donkeys right now he loves to say Hee-Haw, and read about them, but he refuses to wear the Eyore costume we were given so I thought spending time with a real live donkey would make him see the error of his ways. Turns out real live donkeys are not the best motivators...he was scared of his donkey friend.

One of my favorite pics from the day.

Such a trooper to indulge mama with the photos I wanted especially since he decided today was a no nap day.

Right here, Right now (my apologies to anyone who gets that song stuck in their head as I have done).

Aren't we always waiting for the next phase/season/journey to begin. When we are little we want to be a little bit older so that we can do more things ourselves & have more freedom. When we are in high school we can't wait to be in college. When we are in our 20's we can't wait to be in our 30's (well, maybe that was just me & just because I was excited to turn 30 a few years ago does not mean I hold that same anticipation for getting into the 40's.) Why is that? Why don't we do a better job at living in the NOW? I read somewhere once that if God were to reveal to us where we would be in a few years 50% of us would just try to skip ahead to that step & 50% of us would start living in fear of failure of what was to come not believing that they were going to be able to get to that step. That would be so sad to be one of those who would want to skip ahead to miss all of the little great moments that make us the season we are in right now. To miss that one amazing sunset, to not have that one really great belly laugh that makes you cry, to not be able to see a child's face when it lights up in recognition, to miss out on all of those great snuggle times on the couch. There are a lot of not so great moments we would miss out on as well, but missing out on those would mean we wouldn't be getting the preparation we need in order to survive the next trial that would come our way or we would be missing out on how to encourage someone who is in the midst of something we'd already would have gone through, missing out on seeing a part of God's plan for our life revealed. He already knows our lives from beginning to end & that assurance should motivate us to slow down, to cherish, savor, & appreciate the present moment, the NOW, we are living in.

I love my cowboy!

Thanks to Gen for the great hat. It is a favorite right now & I can't wait until he wants to wear it on an outing!

I love how he shows no prejudice & is happy to wave & smile to anyone we might cross paths with. It is so neat to watch him spread joy (as I am sure all little ones do) when he waves at that certain someone or says "hello" to them & by seeing their expression sometimes I wonder if he is the first one who has spoken to them that day & showed them some attention. It is heart breakingly sweet.