2nd Birthday!!! Elmo is here! (much belated entry!)

Our little guy's second birthday party was such a hit. With all this adorableness:)

 These mason jars with straws was probably my favorite touch. Soooo cute, and adults loved them too!

Above, is all the stuff I stayed up untill 4 am working on. Including the character t-shirts below! Soooo much fabric glue. I never want to use it again. But the end results were worth it;)

Some blurry action shots, but worth adding in here! Emmett had a blast and loved all his gifts. 

     

.....required a strong dose of recuperation immediately following.

Pretty much one of the cutest days with our little guy thus far. We'll never forget that day! Especially since he's been singing "happy birthday to you" on a daily basis ever since.

Ta ta, for now!

"Roll up baby!"

Montessori-esque home additions!

I've made a few changes to our home that are more along the lines of Montessori traditions to see how Emmett would respond to them. I did these few things by spending about $3, but it definitely would have been possible without spending any money at all!

Firstly, I added a kitchen space for him, which includes snacks and water he can pour into his own cup. It's not complete yet because I need to put some "works" there too (basically Montessori-approved activities to keep him busy in the kitchen while he's in there.)

I also converted his crib to a toddler bed using a conversion kit we bought at the time we got the crib. It's low enough that Emmett can get in and out of it without assistance, though it isn't 100% Montessori approved. Three sides of the crib rails remain on the bed, which still kind of act like a "cage." Also, it's a dark wood color which is not supposed to be used (light colors only). It definitely still acts like a crib for the most part, but it's probably what I'm going to stick with, at least for a while.

Thoughts on toddler education

I have recently become very interested in early childhood education, mostly, and obviously, because of the age of my child. Emmett is coming up on his second birthday and that means a year from now he will (most likely) be in a preschool of some sort! That thought is crazy, but also super exciting! His superabsorbent mind will have an even more complex environment! (I feel like being home with me all the time may not be the most interesting thing ever.)

On this topic, I have been reading about the Montessori way of things and its history. Besides being very intriguing, I feel that I personally agree with lots of concepts introduced by the practice. So basically, I have been subtely introducing some of the Montessori concepts into our home to see how Emmett responds to them. It turns out, I had already been kind of Montessori-esque with the ways I did some things. Like having "works" for your child in the kitchen, and having a special spot for the child in every room of the house. So I think that transitioning into these methods more systematically and consistently wouldn't be that big a leap for me.

I am currently changing up my toddler's room into a more on-topic setting, and will post photos of the redo! (I'm spending very little, if any, on the redo. It's really not that big of a thing!)

Talk soon!!!

A mini spiritual tidbit of my life

So, I have this problem sometimes. This problem that exists constantly but I only recognize it in my quiet moments every now and then when God's trying to get my attention. He wants me to recognize that He is there for me always. Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a given to a lot of people. But I mean He's reeeeally there for me. Like when everything is awful, and when everything is amazing. He's still there.

I forget to seek Him out when I feel like I'm so anxious I'm just gonna fall apart. I forget to thank Him when I'm so happy I must be about to burst at the seams. I don't forget about Him, I forget that he is right there with me. Going through my junk with me, or celebrating right alongside me.

When something AMAZING happens, I tend to feel that I somehow made that thing come about all on my own, and that I don't have anyone to thank but myself. And every now and then, I catch myself. Why do I tend to only remember to thank God for Who He is when everything is just normal, blah-blah?? Why shouldn't I recognize that every blessing along the way is sent from Him, even if that blessing was something I worked for?? Or that even when things are falling apart, or seem to be, He's still there with me offering whatever comfort I'll accept from Him?

It's sooooo easy to remember that He's there and with me when everything is normal and I'm not worried, or anxious, or overly excited. The times when I can send up a quick, "Hey there, things are pretty good down here." Then suddenly...poof! REAL LIFE happens and all I can think about are my overpowering emotions of joy or sadness. I want, more than anything, to get to a point in which I recognize Him! Always, in every situation, I desire my first thought conscious though to be of Him. He is so much more worthy than anything else I could devote my mind to. Or my time, or my life.

That is what I want. To think of Him always. I'm trying to get there.
Let's see where this goes:)