Birth-Day Part Deux

I am officially a mommy of 2, count them, 2 human beings that the Lord has seen fit that I raise.  Beings that He has seen me fit for this amazing task, I surly possess what it takes to do it.  (see the following Scripts for reference)

Philippians 4:13

Ephesians 3:20

Psalm 28: 7

Lincoln Teimoshi Takemoto made me a mommy for the second time on December 24, 2012 at 6:23 in the evening.  Yep, Christmas Eve......Jesus really wasn't born in December so technically he only shares Jesus' 'contemporary birthday' dates.  Every year we will decorate our house, buy our tree and wrap lots of presents in red and green but I will be more excited about balloons, birthday wrapping paper and birthday cake.  To this mommy, Christmas Eve will be a birthday party.  I will love Christmas ON Christmas but treasure and celebrate the night before as my 2nd son's BIRTHDAY!

I am writing about Lincoln's birth much faster than I did for Jackson.  With my first child I couldn't see straight for the better part of 2 months.  With Lincoln's arrival, I was so busy with Jackson that I didn't have time to not see straight.  Don't get me wrong, bringing home a newborn is a force to be reckoned with that has gale force winds of change like that of hurricane, but it was not nearly as shocking as the first.  I was prepared (I say this loosely because can one really prepare to raise a human) and not nearly as nervous because I knew I couldn't and probably wouldn't break him (case in point - Jackson)

Lincoln came home to the hustle and bustle of Christmas day but to be honest with you, I didn't even realize it was Christmas most of that day. To me, it was the day I got in a good shower, slept in my own bed and clipped off the hospital bands.  It was the day a sign decorated my garage welcoming Lincoln home.  It was the day I had to FaceTime my sick son at Grandma's house because he couldn't come home yet to meet brother.  It was the day I loved my husband a little bit more as I watched him hold his second son.  And it was the day I realized there was new sheriff in town and between his brother and him my heart felt like exploding.

The joy, insanity and feeling of having a baby is kind of addictive.  If you are a mom, you know what I am talking about....if I could go back and re-live them handing my sons to me for the first time over and over and over again I would.  There is something to be said for the second child....I truly took this pregnancy, labor, delivery and homecoming to heart in a whole different way. 

Welcome to the world Lincoln!! I gave you back to the Lord the very first second I held you and asked Him to help me be the mommy you need me to be.  Son, we can do nothing apart from Christ and I hope that is something you see me live day in and day out.  He has shown His favor with me by allowing me to parent you. 

Happy BIRTH-Day

Mommies, read it and weep....with laughter

This article 'Think you are ready to have children?' made me literally laugh out loud!! The goat and the octopus parts were my favorite!

It is right on the money and I wish I would have been the one to write such greatness!

 

He knows he is cute.....knowledge is power....are you tracking with me?

Some Catch Up - 12 months of success

Like stated in my last post....I am inconsistent.  I may start to to catch up....no promises though.  I have found I had more time to write when "The Boss" was not as mobile and took multiple naps a day.  We are down to only 1 nap a day, which is the saddest thing for a SAHM.  I felt like having a funeral for my free time and wearing black for a week in protest.  Neither of which would change Jackson's mind about his naps.  SAD.  Pity party over.  Back to the post. 

WE MADE IT TO 1 YEAR OLD

12 things I have learned in the first 12 months of Jackson's life. 

1) Mommies get to sleep again.....eventually......until the next phase decides to disrupt it....again.

2) Nothing goes 'according to plan' or how the book says it will or how other kids do it.  They change everything just as you are finally getting used to it.

3) I am a toddler mommy

4) Jackson is by far the best thing I have ever done

5) New mommies put way too much pressure on themselves

6) Jesus is the only way I could ever be a successful mommy

7) Feeding a toddler is often as hard as feeding a non-latching newborn

8) Time-outs often start sooner than expected

9) When Jackson falls, he learns to do it differently next time. Falling is good

10) My children will be older kids longer than they are younger kids so all hard stuff in the beginning isn't so bad

11) Shots are easier when they are newborns

12) Mommies and Daddies need to be on the same team/page to ensure success

**Bonus Lesson** In the first 12 months I have eaten a lot of crow (humble pie) are you tracking with me.  Being a mommy is HARD!

Stay-At-Home-Mommy-Syndrome (SAHMS) Episode #2

Well my friends. just as I suspected in this post, I experienced another case of Stay-At-Home-Mommy-Syndrome.  This time involved a 'could not miss' opportunity and one day my son will surely shake his head at this event.

Definition
SAHMS : A non-treatable condition in which stay at home mommies crack and do whatever it takes to liven up their days.

Symptoms: can be but are not limited to:

Shamelessly grabbing the video camera to record your screaming baby while he is (safely but madly) stuck in a box.  He crawled into a box while I was in the washroom and could not find his way out.  Who knows, maybe this is our $500,000 winning video for America's Funniest Home Videos one day.  (RELAX PEOPLE, it is only a 10 second video and you know you would do it too)

Treatments: Giving into your urges as long as they are fun and you and your little one(s)are safe

Stayed tuned.....there are future episodes to be had.

Nice Baby Bangs

There are so many things that change when we have babies.  Some things are WAY too personal to publish on the blog and fellow mommies, you know what those are.  Others are blog appropriate.... like hair.  I wrote about my extensive hair loss in this post.  It was 5 months of tragedy for me and for my vacuum.  At 8 months, postpartum, I finally stopped losing my do!! YAY *clap clap clap*

~wait, hold the applause~

I am now in the re-growth stage. 

My first thought was, 'finally, my hair will replenish itself'. 

Now that it is happening, I look in the mirror at the short, wispy, wiry, untamable mini hairs of re-growth and think, 'ugh, why don't you just fall out'. 

Do you know of these rebellious hairs?? In some spots mine stick straight up submitting to NO product.  In other spots there are so many I think, 'wow, I was truly bald there'.  And to top off those woes, my hair is naturally curly so these new little guys look like they have been hit with the humidity of the deep south and you can't straighten them because the heat will fry these fragile babes leaving them worse off than they already are.  (hmmm was that a run on sentence??  Maybe but all the information in it was pertinent - so I am leaving it).

OH THE MADDENING WORLD OF BABY BANGS!

Got Smelly Bottles??

No matter how many times I cleaned and steamed/sterilized my bottles I couldn't seem to get that stinky 'milk/formula' smell from them. YUCK!!

Are you in my boat?

Are you afraid to admit that your kid has been drinking from a CLEAN yet still stinky bottle? Don't be because mine was!! I am here to offer a solution!!

Can you see the fine print of 'deodorizing'.........HALLELUJAH!!

Soak your bottles and all their parts in a solution made of baking soda and warm water for about 2 hours or longer if you like, it will not harm anything.

Solution: 4 tablespoons of baking soda per 1 gallon of warm water

I will be doing this every so often to help keep the stink away! Thanks Arm & Hammer

Stay-At-Home-Mommy-Syndrome (SAHMS) Episode #1

SAHMS is a real thing and I am about to prove it to you.

Definition
SAHMS : A non-treatable condition in which stay at home mommies crack and do whatever it takes to liven up their days.

Symptoms: can be but are not limited to:

Forcing your 7 month's itty bitty fat hand open to make a Christmas Tree craft even when he is screaming for you to stop (side note: baby's fists are ALWAYS clamped shut in a fist like ball when you want them to do something)

Setting up a 'photo shoot' and realizing it might be a bad idea when your little one puts Christmas lights in their mouth but you keep going anyways, continuously swatting the lights out of their mouths even though they are ninja fast at putting them back in because....what else are you gonna do with your afternoon.

The one shot that made all the craziness worth it.....

Treatments: Giving into your urges as long as they are fun and you and your little one(s)are safe. 

See, I told you I would prove to you that this is real!

Stayed tuned....I am positive there are more 'episodes' to come.

What do you do that an outsider may think....um why is she doing that?

A time out for a time out

I must blog about this now so I can remember it in a few years.

I am thinking Dr. James Dobson's 'The Dare to Discipline' and this may do the trick one day!

New Year, New Joys, Same Jesus ~ John Piper

Happy New Year + 6 days!! Welcome 2012!

How many resloutions do people make at the start of a new? 1? 5? Lose weight, read more, spend less.  Laugh more, relax more, worry less.  How many resolutions are kept? How many goals are actually met when we look back on any given year?  If you are like me, most of the time, the answer is none.  Oops.  I have the best of intentions but somewhere between January 1st and January 31st I allow life to drown out my 'resolutions'.  I give the gym back to those who were going waaaayyyy before January 1st! They are the rightful owners and its only fair I give them back their treadmills!

There is one thing, though, that I want to make sure I do not let life drown out this year (and every year) and that is Jesus.  Time with Him through prayer and through His Word is the insurance that I have to know that I will be victorious in 2012.  Walking with Jesus will ensure that I will be more than a conqueror in 2012 (Romans 8:32).  Time in His word will guarentee that when the enemy sends his flaming arrows, I will have the armor of God on which is able to extinguish them (Ephesians 6:16).  Knowing His truths will renew my mind when the world tells me lies (Romans 12:2).  And trusting Jesus each and every day with each and every thing will show my son that we serve an all powerful, infinate God that really is all powerful and infinite.  But what I see now more than ever is showing Jackson means living it for myself.  Lord, help me do this.

'Start off children on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.' Proverbs 22:6.

In the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:19 'pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.' 

THIS is what I want 2012 to be about. 

New Year, New Joys, Same Jesus!