Mrs. P's Homeschool Preschool- week 1

Last week I started homeschooling my boys. To answer the most often asked question- I don't know if I'll continue to homeschool them into grade school years. At this point, that is not my plan, but I'm keeping myself open to God's calling on the subject. For now, I'm putting my degree to work  and throughly enjoying it. Thankfully, my boys love it even more.

side note: for those who don't know, I have a BA in Elementary and Early Childhood Education and was licensed to teach K-5 in the State of Oregon. I started on my M.Ed when I got pregnant with Malakai + decided to stay home full time. 

I felt like I had all the time in the world when I started really planning (not just pinning) at the end of July. We had no big plans for the entire month of August and I figured I'd start school when everyone else did after Labor Day. I planned my brains out, was going to start on August 19th at one point to have the curriculum line up with holidays and then decided I was overdoing it and pushed it back to September, and then finally landed on this past week. I don't know what I was so worried about, I think I just really wanted to get it right and I was a teensy afraid of ending our summer too quickly. Thankfully, preschool is short and flexible...especially when homeschooling. 

I had originally drafted a schedule with school work interspersed throughout the day Monday-Wednesday and Fridays. Then I kept whittling it down further and further until it was flexible enough to just do calendar time and memory verses some days (like Thursdays when the boys spend their mornings at Grandma + Grandpa's house...I know, I'm spoiled). After doing it for a week I'm happy with how it turned out and glad that I planned extras because Malakai has been asking for "more schoolwork" every day. 

We are basing our lessons on curriculum from ABC Jesus Loves Me and then I'm throwing my own thing in and taking some of their stuff out (like the letter books and all the DVD's). I'll throw in some basics I taught in Kindergarten like gluing, cutting, sitting quietly and grab some ideas Pinterest as well. I am mostly using the 4 year old curriculum with both boys, but throwing in colors, shapes, and manners from the 2 year old curriculum as well. Desmond is loving school time, his favorite part is getting stickers.

We start our day after breakfast, often still in PJ's and go into the front of our house where I've set up an are for "Number wall" which is when we update our calendar (people, run to Target and grab up all their adorable classroom supplies from the $1 section), talk about and practice the number, shape, and color of the week. We also update the weather and sometimes do our memory verse before going back into the family room.

Next we practice our memory verse, sing a song or two, review the Bible Story and possibly do a craft to go along with it. 

We take a break for play but all this week Malakai has wanted to do more school work so I'd give him a letter writing worksheet or have him paint or color something. 

Then we'd practice letters, shapes and colors with worksheets, activities, stories, etc. I'd save most of the "desk work" for when Desmond is napping and Malakai is done with quiet time in his room.

{singing "Deep and Wide" and Kai reading the Bible to Desmond}

Once a week we do a focused gross motor skill, a focused small motor skill and a visual perception exercise. All of these ideas so far are from the ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum. For gross motor we played a game outside after nap time called "put out the fire" where I drew flames and a ladder. The boys had to hop up the ladder to dump water on the fire. They wanted to play over and over again. Later that day when Ben got home they wanted him to play, I came to get them for dinner and they had all the neighborhood kids (all much older) playing with them, it was a big hit.

{playing "put out the fire"}

We also get a lot of books at the library. The curriculum has a book of the week, so we get those for the 2 year and 4 year curriculum, plus whatever the boys want to pick out. 

On Mondays I introduce the new subjects for the week, Tuesdays we do activities to reinforce, and by Wednesday I let the boys run the show to see if they can identify them. Then Thursday afternoon and Fridays are for review, catch-up, play dates or other outings. 

With how well it has gone, I wish I had started doing preschool earlier. Having structured activities has really helped my kiddos to not get stir crazy or too wild. It helps me to structure my day a bit more and while we are surely busy, they are more preoccupied for me to step away for a moment during play time or while they are coloring/writing to start a load of dishes or laundry. I know that the school year always starts off with a high and can get pretty dismal as the kids get used to the routine, and even bored with it, but I'm hopeful that my boys will continue to like homeschooling and we'll enjoy it for the rest of our school year. 

On Breaking New Ground- again.

We've recently undergone quite a few big life changes this year. 2013 has been anything but boring. Even just keeping up with our littles is enough to make for a busy life.

Since December of last year I started to feel God calling me away from my job. I wasn't sure how that would work, or if I was hearing him right. Perhaps I was just overwhelmed with my current workload and the stress of the holiday season.

In January some changes at work caused quite a stir which led Ben and I to really examine my role as an employee and our membership at the church. We had a LOT of deep and quite emotional conversations and we prayed incessantly. For a long time we waited to see what God wanted us to do. It was painful to be in that place, not knowing what God desired of us or had in store for our future on quite a few levels (personally, professionally, and overall spiritually). We continued to wait and pray.

I started to think that it would be nice to have Kai's last year before going to Kindergarten to focus on him and Desmond solely. It felt like a daydream, but I thought about it a lot. I loved my job and frankly, we needed the income to even get by.  We have done a lot to slash our budget. We don't eat out, go to movies, buy toys or even clothing really. We've switched to cloth diapering and use baking soda and vinegar to clean just about everything, just to name a few things. So it didn't seem doable for me to stop working and still be able to survive (buy groceries, pay for gas, and you know...our mortgage). Still, the desire lingered in my heart.

Things at work got even more difficult, but nothing worth leaving over. I found a way to simplify my work tasks which REALLY helped for a while. Then we tried out having me do lesson planning and volunteer scheduling late at night after the boys had gone to bed. Long gone were the days when both boys napped and I could get 2-3 hours in each afternoon. Still, I found it wasn't enough time and I didn't much like missing out on one on one time with my husband to be working in the other room at 8pm. When I tried to preoccupy Kai so I could get things done while Desmond napped, I felt like I was neglecting him. Working from home has been one of the biggest challenges I've ever faced. I've work outside the home and for a short time I was solely a stay-at-home mom, but balancing both roles at the same time has been the hardest by far. Even with a well-timed schedule the kids pull rank, as they should.

Ben and I talked and prayed. My dream of leaving in the fall turned to the summer. Next thing I knew, the desire to be home full-time weighed so heavily on my heart that I knew without a doubt that God was calling me to leave my job, not in the fall, not in the summer, but right then. It was hard to swallow, but I knew I had to be obedient and trust in Him to provide for our family. That Ben and I both had to lay our pride down and recognize that we weren't the ones providing for our family in the first place, not alone anyway.

I drafted a letter. Prayed about the timing, and submitted my resignation mid April. It was both painful and freeing. I had to clarify often to staff, friends, and volunteers that we weren't leaving the church and that my leaving my job was strictly in response to God's call on my life and had no bearing on any leadership or co-workers.

May 2nd was my last day and on that day we were gifted $500. It was our first tangible affirmation that we had made the right decision and that God would provide for us in unexpected ways. While the last month has been met with some uncertainty, I'm constantly reminded that God will take care of us and I believe it, deeply. I've even had job offers and suggestions for earning additional income. I know that is not God's plan for me, to leave one job for another.

I will miss my jobs directing the Nursery + Toddlers and Preschool age ministries, but there is no doubt that this was the right move at the right time for our whole family. God is orchestrating the perfect people to take over and I'm exciting to watch these ministries flourish under their leadership as a church member and a parent of children in both age groups.

I'm so enjoying being at home with no outside deadlines pulling me away. No emails, texts, or phone calls. It's glorious. I can tell my kids are enjoying it as well. I've found a joy in fulfilling a dream that God put in my heart just 5 months ago and I look forward to seeing how He'll continue to grow and bless us through this new journey.

today at the park...

...this cuteness happened-

and there was a LOT of giggling.

Malakai + Desmond: growing boys

It's been a while since I've done a comparison of my boys, and since I have to share Desmond's well-check stats from his 4 month in contrast to his 2 month appointment, I might as well see how he compares to Malakai at this age.

First, one small thing that I love about our pediatrician's office is that they take a photo at every well check. I take my own photos all the time, but for some reason it's just so great to have their photos to compare. Here are Desmond's photos so far...

Talk about a quick change! In 2 months his head grew an inch, he grew 3 inches in length, and gained 4lbs! Here are his 4 month stats: height 26 1/4 (85%), weight- 18lbs 15.5oz ( above 95%), head- 17 1/4 in. (85%). 

And Malakai's at this age: height- 24 3/4 inches (43%), weight- 17lbs 8oz (88%), head- 18 in. (99%).  

Kai was seeing a different doctor, so we don't have the well-check photos for him. When Kai was 4 months his pediatrician had us all worried about his growth and development. I'm glad to have switched doctors and to know that both my boys are healthy and well without jumping to conclusions and being given the worst case scenario at every visit. 

Ben + I were just realizing last night that it has been 9 months since Kai's surgery. It seems like a lifetime ago, and we are so glad to have that behind us!

Anyway here is Kai at 4 months in November of 2009 and Des at 4 months now.

We get a lot of comments about how Des looks "just like his brother!" but I really don't agree. They have some of the same features, but each has a look of their own. Well, except for the fact that Malakai is an exact replica of Ben.

This week Desmond has been teething like crazy and Malakai is learning to use the potty. It's been challenging and I surely wouldn't have planned to start potty-training with Kai while sleep deprived because of Desmond's teething and my having a cold...but he was ready so I went with it. The kid totally gets it, but doesn't really care to go unless I remind him that he gets a sticker, then he's all about it, but would rather put a diaper back on than a pull-up or underwear...I have a feeling it's going to take a while!

photo friday: me + my boys.

When Desmond was just 8 days old we decided to take advantage of Ben being home during the days and take the boys to the pumpkin patch when it would be less busy than on the weekends.







We saw goats, Kai jumped in puddles, we went for a walk around the farm, checked out the picked pumpkins and ate some lunch. We had a blast and we didn't even go to the actual pumpkin patch part of the farm (at $3 a person to take the hay ride it just wasn't worth it this year).

Throughout the past 3 weeks (whoah) we've had lots of visitors and I haven't had to make dinner once. If someone wasn't bringing a meal we had plenty of leftovers from a previous ones. We barely even worry about lunch. Desmond met a lot of friends + family and has gained 2lbs since birth.



The boys have had many firsts, especially Desmond of course. He was not a fan of his first tub bath so daddy made sure to go as fast as possible.



This week Malakai, Desmond, + I have been figuring out our days together since Ben went back to work. Since I came down with Mastitis last weekend my mom came on Monday and spontaneously offered to come again for a bit yesterday. She and my brother took Kai to the park and wore him out just before lunch and nap. It was such a nice break and was so good for Kai to get outside and play. I'm doing tons better with the help of antibiotics and feeding Desmond as often as possible. Once my fever broke I felt like a human again. This week has been a challenge and I'm very ready for the weekend.

We've also been making sure that Kai gets plenty of daddy time in the evenings since he got so used to spending his days with Ben during his leave. I love watching them play together.



Those are just a few photos from our past few weeks. They aren't really in any good order, which would drive me nuts if I had the time to worry about it...

the past 2 weeks

October has been an interesting month for us. We've had some challenges as well as some wonderful things happen. First my stay in the hospital for monitoring, then Desmond's birth, next my recovery. Last week I came down with a stomach bug which luckily only lasted a day.

Then this past weekend I came down with a nasty fever. Ben took me to the after hours clinic and I was diagnosed with mastitis. I felt like I had been in a car accident, the aches and pains were almost unbearable. However,  I was so thankful to not have something contagious. Poor Ben had to take care of the whole family all by himself- he did an amazing job. Sadly we spent the last days of his paternity leave stuck in the house feeling pretty miserable.

Our plan to transition from having Ben home full time for 2 weeks was during the last week to have me take on more time with Malakai as I could based on Desmond's feeding demands. Unfortunately, that was interrupted by my being so sick I could barely get off the couch.

Thankfully the antibiotics kicked in quickly and after two days of a miserable fever, it broke last night and I felt like a human being again today. Just in time for Ben to go to work! My mom came over this morning to help which we had planned before my fever cleared. It was nice to have her help this morning to ease the transition. She stayed til nap and because I felt so much better I let her know that I'd be fine for the afternoon and she went home. I also had several friends offer to come over and help or pick up anything I needed which makes me feel really loved, thank you ladies! It was really nice to not need them and I'm hoping that this will be my only fight against mastitis as I've had a couple people tell me they've had it several times! I can't even imagine.

_____ _ _ _ _____ _ _ _ _____ _ _ _ _____ _ _ _ 

Our boys are doing really well. Kai is still establishing some physical boundaries with Desmond. He hasn't quite grasped the difference between jumping on daddy and jumping on baby. He loves his little brother though and every morning asks "where's baby? find him? see him?" which I absolutely love.

Desmond it two weeks old today! He loves to eat which helps out with having mastitis. I think I actually came down with it though in part due to his sleeping well at night. He can sleep 2-4 hours at a time, which Kai didn't do so early. He is getting so chubby already and is increasing his wakeful hours during the day.

We still have people bringing meals, which is super nice with my being sick and transitioning to being home with the boys without help during the day. Kai gets a bit mischievous and seems to know that I'm less mobile while feeding Desmond. He'll open the fridge (the lock broke just before Des was born), mess with the tv buttons, or jump off the couch because he knows I can't stop him right away. I'll have to figure out just how to get him to be preoccupied during the frequent feedings as tv, toys, and snacks only go so far.

Thanks for all the inquiries and congrats! I appreciate all of you. Be back soon (with photos!).

back from the hospital

 

Last night was my first night away from Malakai, ever. It didn't happen intentionally, I had no time to prepare. I found myself wishing we had followed through with a trial overnighter like we had planned on. Even just him staying at home overnight with someone other than us. He's done well going to bed for others, which is basically the hardest part.

I'll back up. Yesterday morning I was walking out of the play room and stepped on a toy (typical) and I stumbled, hitting belly first on the open door. I didn't fall down, just sort of bounced off the wall. It wasn't really painful, just startling. I lay down to make sure baby was moving and all was well and then I called my doctor's office. When I finally heard back from the nurse she told me they'd probably just monitor me for a bit when I came in for my weekly appointment later that afternoon, but she needed to talk with my OB. Baby was still moving and I wasn't really worried at all. I wasn't in pain and nothing was out of the ordinary.

I get another call back letting me know that I was to head straight to the hospital for "extended monitoring". I still felt like I shouldn't worry but being told to go right away scared me a bit. Malakai was napping by this point so Ben's mom came to stay with him while we headed to the hospital. Once we got to triage in Labor + Delivery I asked the nurse how long we should expect to be there. She had to check with my doctor but let us know that extended monitoring usually meant 4 hours, but could be 12. Once she got clarification from Dr. M we were told to expect 4 hours on the monitors. I was grumpy about the whole thing, but knew that it was best to play it safe.

After 3 hours and a lot of back and forth between 3 different nurses and the on-call doc (who was stuck at the other hospital) we were told that because my uterus was overly active that they were going to keep me overnight for continued monitoring. News we were not expecting at all. They were watching for signs of placental abruption. While baby's heart rate and movement was tracking normal, my uterus wasn't. Protocol said that I needed to be monitored for roughly 24 hours to be sure that everything was ok.

To get medical/technical, I was told during monitoring when I was pregnant with Malakai that I have an active/irritable uterus. Basically it doesn't really show up as a flat line on the monitors as having no movement, which is what the nurses wanted to see in order to send me home. So while I was certain that everything was normal, they couldn't send me home.

I was pretty emotional considering I didn't get to prepare for my first night away from Malakai. By then Ben's mom had left and my mom had come over to watch Kai. It started to get late and the doctor had still not seen us so we decided Ben should go home to at least get Kai to bed and see whether or not he should stay with Kai or come back to be with me. Ultimately Malakai was having too rough a time getting to bed so Ben stayed home, it was our first night apart in 3 years, making my stay alone in the hospital even more rough.

The on-call doctor didn't even get to me until 10:30pm, I had been at the hospital at 1pm. It was a long and stressful wait just to hear that they definitely would not discharge me and that I was stuck.

I was hooked up to the uncomfortable and often painful monitors all night and only got about 3 hours of sleep, non-consecutively. I fought back a lot of tears, and tried my best to not get worked up as to not cause unnecessary stress to myself and little brother. By the time morning came I was really missing my boys and feeling pretty lonely. Not to mention feeling the aches and pains of being restricted to sleeping in a hospital bed with monitors and wires everywhere.

Ben + Kai came to get me around 8 this morning and I couldn't have been happier to see them. I had been away from Malakai for nearly 20 hours, which is the longest stretch ever. It may seem silly to some, but our lifestyle just doesn't afford overnight vacations away from our child and since I'm primarily a stay-at-home mom it's just our reality that I'm with him all the time. I knew this time would come but thought I'd be in labor so I'd have some time to mentally prepare myself, not to mention the distraction that laboring would bring.

After going back and forth with several nurses and 2 different on-call doctors I was finally discharged, after 18 hours of continuous monitoring. It's not 100% that everything is fine, but everything looks good. I just need to take extra care to notice baby's movements or lack thereof and some other symptoms of a placental abruption. I'm confident that I didn't really hit my tummy THAT hard and that overall God is watching over us.

So, needless to say, it was a rough night. I'm still recovering physically from being stuck in bed that long (the aches + pains!), not sleeping (I will be napping soon), and the emotional roller coaster it all ended up being.

I'd appreciate any and all prayers for myself and little brother as we await labor and delivery over the next couple weeks (or days!).

in preparation

Here is what we've done so far to prepare for little brother and family of 4 status (in no particular order)

• rearrange our bedroom to set up + attach the mini co-sleeper. this also involved us switching sides of the bed.
• transformation of our guest room into a play room, a few things still pending.
• rearrange and anchor furniture in Malakai's room. 
• sort through all of Kai's clothing, newborn-18 months. 
• wash and organize all newborn-6 month clothing
• repack all 9-18 month clothing into plastic storage containers and put away in garage.
• get out of storage: pump, bottles, bath, swing, etc.
• wash all new baby items: blankets, clothes, etc. and put away
• contact paper dresser drawers and organize toys, baby toilettries, and clothes into the dresser. 
• reorganize living room bookshelf to include all children's book (non-board books) that were in the dresser. 
• dust all surfaces, wash windows, and other deep cleaning
• clean and organize my vanity/dresser
• wash insane amounts of our laundry to catch up before baby gets here (ongoing)
• purchase a deep freeze
• clear out garden beds and harvest pumpkins + squash. 
• keep an eye on tomatoes that are still ripening.
• freeze 2 dozen tomatoes
• make 3 batches of salsa
• give away extras
• Keep up with general weeklies: laundry, dishes, meals, cleaning, diapers, nap time, appointments, birthdays, and more.
• purge all excess:
• garage sale
• donations
• repurposing
• garbage + recycle
• Reorganize + clean garage space. This was a huge job and almost entirely Ben's doing. I wish I had before + after photos to document the transformation. My husband is amazing!
• pack hospital bag (about 3/4 of the way done)
• clean out car + install infant car seat.
• purchase needed items off of baby registry: wash and put away
• a dozen other things I'm forgetting that we've already done.

Still on the to-do list (also not in order of importance)

• replace tile floors in kitchen/dining area with laminate flooring (to match the rest of the house) This is in progress and will happen TOMORROW!
• dust again (after breaking up the tile, the house will need it)
• vacuum, mop, steam carpets
• replace door to garage, also tomorrow. the current one is crooked and slides across the floor. 
• prepare + freeze meals for after little brother's arrival
• mow + fertilize lawn for the fall
• repaint kitchen chalkboard
• repaint baseboards in Kai's room (they're peeling!)
• clean out fridge
• get a replacement shelf for the empty spot in our kitchen cupboard that has been w/o one since we moved here.
• store more toys to make additional space in play room 
• replace front room blinds
• hang curtains + decor in playroom, secure furniture to walls
• finish packing hospital bag
• pre-register at hospital and complete birth plan
• choose birth announcments and finalize mailing list
• finish childproofing: install latches for cabinets in bathroom + kitchen
• put together bouncer
• clean off double strollers and store single stroller
• clean out desk
• clear all surfaces of clutter: mail, magazines, random items

I think that about sums it up. I obviously still have a lot to do, but aside from packing the hospital bag none of it is detrimental to little brother's arrival. Well, we are praying he doesn't choose to be born while our house is under construction tomorrow, that would prove to be interesting. 

I'm hoping to get most of these things done just so we don't have to worry about them once little brother is here. We know very well that even small chores can go overlooked for a long time when you have a newborn, let alone a toddler as well! Wish us luck!

Happy Friday!

blustery spring

Oregon's blustery spring weather has returned. We've been spoiled the last week or so with clear skies and temperatures in the 70's. I may be the only one welcoming the rain. Less work for me to do in the yard and another reason to stay inside. I've been trying to get stuff done in and around the house but the sunshine makes it hard to stay inside. I've also been wanting to do some baking but who wants to mix, measure, + pour in a hot kitchen on a hot day?

So it's very windy and wet out today. I ran some errands + went in to the church offices this morning. I think I'll join Kai for nap time in a few (hoping to sleep off a headache). Then I'm going to bake this, or maybe try some of these. Afterwards I may fold some laundry or just read books + color with my boy.

What do you like to do on the blustery days?








P.S. Don't forget to enter my current giveaway here and vote in our poll in the upper left column. We find out the sex of our new baby tomorrow morning!

mama fail + a winner

This morning while I was getting ready, Malakai was playing with a toy in his crib. I keep some toys in the closet and only bring them out when I need him to be preoccupied while I get something done. Usually he's still sleeping when I get ready in the morning, but today he insisted on waking up at 6 am.

I kept checking in on him every few minutes. You see, ten days ago when Kai turned 18 months something switched on. He suddenly figured out how to climb, and how to use toys or what have you to climb even higher. So I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to climb the toy he had and get hurt. Each time I checked he was sitting quietly pushing the buttons.

Less than a minute after checking on him I  heard a thud. I dropped everything and came running into his room to find him flat on his back on the floor, head towards the crib. He had climbed out and fallen on the ground. I picked him up + consoled him, and then checked him head to toe. (when my brother was this age he broke his arm falling backward off of a stool, so I was freaked out). He barely cried and was ready to play.

Guess what he used to climb out of his crib (that is on the very lowest setting)? Nope, not the toy I was worried about, but his quilt his grandma had made him that is usually at the other end of his bed.

{Reason #37 why he's often referred to as "genius baby"}

He barely uses it, I just leave it in case I want to cover him up on a cold day while he's napping. Apparently he found other uses for it. By crumpling it up in the corner he must have climbed on top and somersaulted over the edge, landing flat on his back. Or he somehow landed on his feet and the force tossed him backward.

Later, to add insult to injury, he emptied some of his hamper and then somehow got a hold of the baby wipes and scattered them in about 30 seconds flat.

 {When I was taking this picture, I felt like I was documenting a crime scene.}

Anyway, I was feeling pretty low about the crib incident until I got some confirmation from other mama's on facebook that it happens to everyone. So, thank you. I'm just so thankful that Malakai wasn't hurt and that it's an easy problem to solve. His crib is now empty of everything except his small favorite blankie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And NOW on to announce the winner of the $40 gift code to CSN stores! The giveaway ended last night at 11pm. There were 81 total entries, but the last 3 were submitted after the deadline, so out of 78 entries our winner is...

Shel!

Congratulations! I've sent you an email, please respond within 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thank you to everyone who entered, hang around for more giveaways, reviews + discounts coming soon. Plus, you know, the regular ramblings from me as well.






P.S. For those of you newly following Stories for Kiddos, be sure to read through the stories and leave a comment on your favorite one for Ben (my husband, for those of you who are new around here as well).

Sunny Day

I was not expecting a sunny + somewhat "warm" day today, but here it is! Malakai hasn't tromped around outside in way too long with the cold + wet weather we've been having, so I jumped on the opportunity to take him outside.

I didn't feel like getting myself ready to go out, so we played in the backyard. I think it's safer that way anyway to be in the grass, leaves + mud than to want to play on the wet play structures and soggy bark.

He had a ton of fun and looked too cute in his galoshes + hoodie. He got super muddy because it's apparently hard to stand up after falling when your stiff rubber boots go up to your knees.

{we started out clean + dry and really excited}

{it didn't take long to fall + get wet, but it was still fun}

{the start of the muddy clothes phase}

{super grumpy about coming in for lunch}

I'll spare your hearts the ache of seeing his face after he got really upset about coming in. Luckily, he likes food just as much as he likes outside. Once he understood I was going to feed him, he calmed down considerably. 

I'm hoping for some more sunny days + time outdoors. It's so good for him to explore and really fun for me to watch him learn + play. 

Did you have sun today?

About Malakai: eighteen months

Malakai Benson is 18 months old today.  A year and a half ago he looked like this-

{my teeeensy tiny, peaceful, + quiet baby}

And today he looks like this-

{my big, wild, + noisy toddler}

These days he is doing something new everyday. Yesterday he pointed at G'Pa and said "whatdat newt?"..."what's that nose?" We all had a good laugh. A little later he found the microphone for his Aunt Nanner's Disney Wii game and started to sing + dance while watching himself in the mirror.

Kai is all boy. He loves to wrestle, run, and jump. He also does a few strange things like bash his head or his mouth into the wall, the couch, daddy's knee. As I type this he is putting his mega blocks in the sink while daddy tries to do the dishes. He knows when he's doing something wrong, he'll say "no no no" or "uhoh" but then continue to do it. He doesn't seem to mind time-outs very much, but they can still be a good reset for unwanted behavior. 

He loves to try to push the buttons on my laptop or shut the lid on my hands while I'm typing. He puts toys into the back of the tv's speakers, tries to push the power button, gets into all drawers + cupboards. He climbs whatever he can to get to the couch, drags the end table from the living room into the kitchen + back, slides the outlet protector off, opens the oven door latch, and unlocks the latch on the dishwasher while it's running. He likes to turn the handle on the diaper pail, throw toys, hit with toys, grab other kids by their clothes to move them out of his way, and he is still resistant to sharing- especially toys that he knows are his. 

He also loves to gives hugs + kisses, snuggles up on daddy's shoulder at night, dance while holding his glow worm, climb into a loved ones lap to listen to a story, flip through the pages of his Old McDonald book + sing "eieio". He still falls asleep in the car + lets mama transfer him to bed. He loves to play peek-a-boo, giggles endlessly at a specific scene of Elmo tripping on a pile of apples, says "bwease" if you dare stop swinging, tickling, bouncing, or pushing him in a basket or box around the room like it's a racecar. He always has a smile for someone new, even when he's acting shy at first. He gets so excited when he sees his grandparents, waves "bye" when anyone is leaving, blows kisses, tries on everyone's shoes, and puts mama's purse on his shoulder. He knows that when the garage door creaks it means that daddy is home, and he does a little happy dance and runs to the door. He's loving + sweet and so perfectly innocent + full of wonder. 

Some of the words + phrases he's saying are:

"what's that?" 

"there you are!"

"Elmo, please"

"hi, mama!"

"bye!" with a wave

"up, please!"

"all done"

"nuh-night"

"eieio"

"niiiice"

"doggie"

"meow"

"nana" (banana)

"nummies"

"pizza"

"hot dog"

"water" (when it's raining)

There are many many more. He's just soaking up information like a little sponge. Ben + I are always looking at each other in awe of how quickly he learns something. 

He's been working on all four cuspid teeth at once and has been for over a month. His gums are inflamed and at times he is visible (and audibly) miserable. Last night he was chewing on everything and despite some pain meds, he would not go to sleep after 2 hours of trying different techniques to calm + soothe him. At 18 months old, we had to go back to the tried + true method of going on a long drive. Thankfully he almost always transfers well. 

So, he is very much a toddler, but still sometimes my baby. It's going by so fast, each stage that has passed is already hard to remember. I want to soak him up and live in the moment. 

We're so proud of our growing little boy. 

photo friday: point + shoot

It has been a while since I've done a photo post around here. Mostly because just about everything I post is riddled with photos. Also, I haven't actually sat down to organize my photos since August. I have a lot of work to do!

This week I don't have the usual Canon Rebel camera to work with. It actually belongs to my in-laws, but spends about 98% of it's time here with us. They went to the first game at the new basketball arena last night and wanted to take some photos with the zoom lens.

I haven't stopped taking pictures, but I've definitely been spoiled by the fast shutter speed and photo quality the comes from a SLR camera. These photos were taken with my point + shoot Samsung which is about 3 years old now.

This is the response I got when I asked Malakai to show me his teeth. He knows what teeth are, he can point to them, and he tries to say the word. For some reason, he just kept sticking his tongue out when I smiled at him with my teeth.

{funny kid}

Then he got a hold of this lid. He thought it was hilarious to look at me through it. He'd laugh even hard when I'd say "Does mama look funny!?" 

{"dehyuhyar!"}

This is the pathetic look I got after nap time yesterday when he wanted me to pick him up. How could I resist?

{"upbwease?"}

For about 4 hours this morning I had 3 toddler boys running around my house. We had Henry as usual, and also our friend from church, Jacob. Malakai will be 18 months this weekend and both Henry + Jacob are 20 months old. 

How cute are these boys?!

{ball pit fun + zoned out on a few minutes of "Ehlma"}

Be sure to check out Ben's latest story at Stories for Kiddos. Don't be shy, if you read around here or over at his blog, click the follow button to let us know you're there and leave a comment too!

Happy Weekend!

P.S. Bonus points for anyone who can translate Kai's words in quotes.

Thankful on a Thursday: just the two of us

Today is our slowest of the week, just Malakai + I at home. I plan on enjoying some one on one time with my boy. Once he goes down for his nap I'd love to sit around and eat pumpkin bread and catch up on all my blog reading. But, since the rest of the week has been and will continue to be such a blur, I have to catch up on laundry, dishes, and all other sorts of household chores. I'm okay with that, it's the job I chose.

With now having two part time jobs, I've found that keeping up with things at home is becoming more of a challenge. While having a messy kitchen, a bed full of laundry to fold, and turning the guest room back in to a catch-all space isn't my ideal situation, I still get to spend most of my days with my son and I am so thankful for that.

I'm also thankful for...

461. adorable galoshes that Malakai loves even more than I do.

{the big picture is one I found on my camera after Mima babysat yesterday, LOVE!}

462. the few moments I get to myself to update here + work on a few other hobbies.

463. the surprise blessings received when serving others.

464. watching Malakai catch on to new things so quickly- he's soaking it all up like a little sponge these days!

{we only "taught" him nose, the rest he picked up on his own} 

465. the rewarding feeling of Kai learning something that takes a little more time to master (sharing, not hitting, the usual toddler stuff)

466. a working vacuum, a broom + dust pan,  a washer + dryer and other helpful tools for getting things done around the house.

467. internet friends.

468. The time we got to spend watching the game with family, despite the outcome.

469. all 895 square feet of our home sweet home.

470. hearing my boy chatting to himself happily after a good nap/ night's sleep.

What are you thankful for?