Mrs. H

Wacky Wednesday

– “Oh Daddy I’m so GLAD to see you!!”

– I went in to get her up from the night. “Good morning, Mommy! I missed you so much!” She really does have her super sweet moments! 12 hours was a long time away from me, apparently! I’m glad she missed me. 🙂

– At HEB in the parking lot, she started waving at someone. Me: “Who are you waving at?” Becca: “That lady. She was sad. Now she’s happy!” As I looked, the lady was smiling at her and waving back. I love her heart.

– “Daddy, are you sad?” Cody: “No, I’m happy.” Becca: “Well, where’s your happy face?” She’s definitely picking up on other’s emotions, and wants everyone to be happy. 🙂

– I had a stye in my eye, and was miserable. She kept noticing me closing my eye/s in pain. “Mommy, it’s not goodnight time. It’s goodmorning time. Does your eye think it’s goodnight time?” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

– Playing with Grayson in his room – “Broyer, I go get you a car. I’ll be right back. Don’t roll over on me. I’ll be right back. Ok, broyer?” A) I love how she says “brother.” B) Seriously – “don’t roll over on me?” HAHAHA where does she come up with this stuff?

– I started setting up the PS3 to access Netflix, but hit the wrong button and screen went black. “Oh no that’s TERRIBLE!” Yup, yup it is.

– “Mommy, where’s my shadow? It disappeared. Oh! There it is! It reappeared now!” Amazing to me how just last week she was learning the concept of appeared vs disappeared, and now she understands reappeared and uses it in context appropriately… astounding.

No Apologies Necessary

We as moms beat ourselves up. A lot.

I recently read a really well-written blog post from someone (who will remain nameless) who was apologizing to her second child for all of what she felt were injustices being done to him because he was the second child. We often hear the jokes about how the first child gets the expensive diapers and the second gets “Luvs,” etc. I totally understand where this comes from. It’s called “Mommy guilt.” And it’s real.

However – I have decided to look at things differently. I was an only child. So perhaps I’m naive. Perhaps I’m clueless. Perhaps, I’m even stupid. But I don’t think so. Here’s how I see it:

Sweet Baby Grayson and Precious Big Sister Becca,
I love you both SO MUCH. Words cannot express how very much I love both of you – uniquely and deeply. You have both been loved since before you were conceived, and will continue to have 150% of my heart to claim as your own. I could never more fully love EACH of you, and your Daddy. It’s amazing how God creates room in the human heart so that more love is always abundant and free to give.

You each have your own special personalities and interests, and I love that about you. I’m sure as you grow, more things will develop. I love how independent each of you are becoming – one because it’s in your nature, and one because it’s part of your nuture. You are each learning patience and discovering that I am only one person. Sometimes you each need to take a turn waiting, and you are both learning and growing in that area. I love how snuggly you both are – one because it’s in your nature, and one because you’re learning by observation what snuggles are all about, and you want in on the “goods.” It’s so wonderful what you are already learning from each other. I love how already you are beginning to play together – as big sister brings toys, and baby brother learns, observes and explores.

I will not be the perfect mother. There will be times when you will live in filth. There will be times when I will force you to help clean the filth you have made, and you might not like me very much. There will be days when the food you eat will not be of the highest caliber. There will be days when I will make food and force you to eat it. There will be days when I am stressed to the max and I might express my frustration in ways that folks (myself included!) would say are inappropriate. And there will be days when you are stressed to the max, and you will express frustration in ways that drive me to the edge of a cliff. But for all of these things, I do not apologize.

WHAT? I don’t apologize? Oh, there will be times when I will say I’m sorry, because it will be necessary – I’m FAR from perfect. But I DO NOT apologize for your birth order. I DO NOT apologize that I am human. I DO NOT apologize for how your father and I have chosen to parent you. I DO NOT. WHY?

Because God gave us you. Both of you. In HIS time. And He is guiding and directing our footsteps, as well as yours. He is growing and stretching each of us into the people He wants us to be. So on the days that regret might begin to seep in because I don’t have as much time with just one of you, and on the days that I might be tempted to apologize because one of you has to (cry and) wait while the other gets served first, I will remember that. And I will be grateful for His timing and His plan.

We tried over two years to get pregnant, and had about given up when you came along – our Princess. And after you were born, we knew we wanted you to have a sibling to grow with and play with and fight with and love. We lost one, then another, and we grieved. But God had a plan. He had for us – you – our Prince. We are far from perfect, but we are your parents, and God has placed all of us together in this family. So there will be no apologies for what brand of diapers you wore or didn’t wear, for what percentage of your clothes were new or hand-me-down, for what percentage of your toys had been used before, or how much one-on-one time you got or didn’t get in your first six months.

Because no matter what anyone says, you are stronger together. You are made for each other. You are blessed. And you are LOVED. This perfectly imperfect set of parents that God has given you loves BOTH of you with every fibre of our beings, and that will NEVER change, and doesn’t matter who was born first or second. So no apologies. None. Just love. And remember that when you are parents, too, ok?

We love you. 150% of our hearts. Always.

Love,
Mommy

This letter was sent to both of their email accounts – that were created for them before they were born. I occasionally send them little notes – some separately, some to both of them at the same time. If you have kids, setting up an email account for them is a fabulous way to write letters to them… and then give them the address and password at whatever age you feel it’s appropriate. 🙂

Rock Box

Becca frequently gets little obsessions, and when she has an obsession about something, she MUST follow it through to its end. She really, really, really loves rocks. The bigger, the better. Maybe it’s because she’s living in a home surrounded by them. Who knows? But anyway, she has been collecting rocks for a while now, and they’ve just been gathering random places. So a while back, I told her we’d decorate a box for her rocks. But I kept forgetting. She wouldn’t let me forget for long, though. And finally, I found a shoe box, and we got busy. We used decorative contact paper, and then I did something I have a hard time doing – I let her go. I let her decorate the box how ever she wanted. She had me help some (I cut the pieces of tape, and did the front of the box), but she did the top pretty much by herself. And she is SO proud of her rock box!! (Of course we had to go outside after we made the box to attempt to fill it up! HA!)

Recycling Rocks!

I’ve had a lot going on lately… to say the least. So just this week I finally picked up all the signs of Halloween around the house and got them tucked away for next year. I wanted to do one more sensory bin for Becca before putting the water table up in the attic for the Christmas season (way too much stuff will be in our living room…), but WHAT? I wanted something fallish, but different from her pumpkin center. So I looked around and found some items that have long since been forgotten… her fall leaves number tree, her box of beans (minus the pom poms), and her tub of beans, leaves, and pumpkins. And I’m pretty pleased with what I came up with! (And she was, too!)

I emptied all of the beans, leaves, and pumpkins I could find into the main part of the water table, put her rake and shovel with the number tree in the top, and then put the Indian corn in a festive pumpkin basket that she can’t seem to get enough of (she hauls the thing all over the house at least twice a day). She loved digging around using her tools, and just running her fingers through the beans again. “This is fun, Mommy! I like it better in here than that other place.” So see, part of my problem before had been not enough space to dig in! Now we know. The container really DOES make a difference, and this water table (affiliate link – thank you!) is FABULOUS for way more than just water play!

I also showed her how she can pull the silks off the Indian corn and make fun strings, and how to pop the corn kernels off (into the table), which she had a blast doing! Once she tired of it, she immediately pulled the fall number tree out, and we did that together. Such fun to revisit old favorites – in a new format! Recycling really does rock, ya’ll. No need to throw out those activities because she was seemingly done with them! Just gotta find a way to make things new!

What activities do you have around your house that could stand to be recycled or “up cycled” into something new and different?

The gift that keeps on giving!

Back on August 4th, I told you about our Farmer’s Market sorting set (this one: Learning Resources Farmers Market Color Sorting Set– affiliate link, thank you!), and how much Becca enjoys it. I talked about all the fabulous ways you could use the set for teaching math skills, etc. It really is a fabulous set.

But today, I wanted to shine the spotlight on Mr. Grayson. You see, he’s learning how to pick things up, and how to drop them, and how to put them in his mouth… and once again, I’m impressed with the versatility of this set! Because it’s fabulous for him, at 5 1/2 months, just as much as it’s fabulous for his big sister at 2!

I love that the fruits and veggies are bright colors and have a variety of textures, so he’s getting a great sensory experience while playing with them. And I love that they are big enough to really work his motor skills as well as his hand-eye coordination – while being safe… he isn’t going to choke on any of these items. Sister also loves to play WITH him – she will bring him the right color bucket and help him drop them in! She is also great about picking up the ones he drops on the floor (because that happens a lot)!

The manufacturer recommends this product for 36 months- 6 years. But I would definitely say that if you’re looking for a Christmas gift that’s gonna just keep on giving, this is it – for any age of baby, toddler, or preschooler. Granted, he doesn’t have any teeth yet – and I don’t know what will happen once he does and tries to chew on these, but they feel firm enough that I doubt he’ll be able to really take a bite out of any of these items. (We’ll watch him close, though, and I’d of course recommend you do the same if you have a little one who will be playing with them.)

So there you go – a gift perfect for the little kiddos in your life – because they will never stop learning, imagining, and loving this set!

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