Humility

I was thinking the other day that I needed to make a post about all the humbling experiences I have had as a mother. There have been a million, but I wanted to name a few. Mainly to show other Mom's how hard I think it is too and also to show that NO ONE has a perfect life or the perfect child. I have been thrown many "can't you control your kids" looks about my kids crying, having a tantrum, ect. I think I am just getting the looks back that I once gave...and YES, I did give them. LITTLE DID I KNOW...I would TOTALLY be that Mom and have that child!!!
~You will complain about your kids, but love them more than your own life...times a million.
~I swore "my kids will never behave that way"....and they TOTALLY do! Even the ones that put on a nice show in public, are not always so nice at home
~Every child hits at some point, whether it be to you, a toy, or one of their friends
~Every child will complain about going to the bathroom, getting dressed, and eating
~I have gone to the grocery store looking like I just got out of bed about A MILLION times. B/c chances are...I barely had a moment to myself to brush my teeth and hair.
~We have had many wear your pajama's days when we don't even leave the house ;)
~I have put Jackson in time-out in restaurants, malls, the grocery store, outside while on a walk, you name it...he has sat in time-out there. (which by the way...people are always amazed that he will actually sit there, at least I have a good time out routine ;) LOL
~NO CHILD always likes to share. I have said, "you have to share" about a billion times!!! You just have to keep at it the rest of their life I think! ;)
~Jackson has been "that kid" at birthday parties, grocery store, the mall, restaurants, Christmas..you name it! And yours will be "that kid" at one of those places too.
~You will inevitably forget something at home...diapers, bottles,wipes, burp cloth, diaper bag, paci, special stuffed animal, or bib...and you find the most inventive ways to get by without whatever it is you have left behind.
~I drive a minivan...I also NEVER thought I would do that! HA...and I LOVE It!!!
~Potty training is like nails on a chalkboard. NO ONE likes to do it and it's TERRIBLE. Even if your kid figures it out in one day...that day was terrible and it will make you never want to do it again!
~Everybody needs a break, don't feel bad if you do.
~I also have a love I never thought possible for my kids. Seriously, it is amazing the love you feel. Before I had kids I have said, "if my child did that I would never talk to them again". That is TOTALLY not the case now, and I can see why parents never give up on their kids. I know I never would. I would always see the good in them, like I do now.

The moral of the story is, watch what you say. Don't be quick to judge another Mom or child, I know I am guilty of it. As John tells me all the time...everyone does things differently, it doesn't mean they are doing it wrong. You will never truly know what you would do unless you were in that particular situation yourself. Jackson is a normal 2 1/2 year old & Bailey is a normal 6 month old. I wouldn't take a moment back...good or bad. The good always out ways the bad anyways. We laugh everyday at what the kids have done that day~heck even if it was something bad! They have all been lessons learned.

Best Bottles EVER!

I wanted to share a super great buy that Amy (yes, Amy to the rescue again!) told me about. I was complaining to her about my Advent bottles (that were not cheap!) leaking all the time!! There is NOTHING worse than a leaking bottle in the middle of the night when your baby is crying! She told me that she actually had the same problem with the Advent ones and told me to buy these. I have to say...I was sceptical at first...afterall they only cost $3.97 for 3 bottles and $4.27 for 6 nipples!!!! They just look so cheap, but they really are THE BEST!! I have spent so much money on bottles in the last 2 1/2 years...it's not even funny. I always tried to buy the "middle of the road" ones, not the expensive Dr. Browns or Born Free ones b/c of the price and the amount of parts to keep track of and wash. I bought a ton of the Playtex Air Vent ones and they leaked, the numbers wore off, and they had WAY too many parts. Then I gave Advent a shot with Bailey...and they were terrible too (it may just be me and Amy, I do see lots of people with them, but I wonder if they just put up with them leaking or if theirs are ok?!?) Anyways just thought I would share my awesome buy! They are called Gerber "First Essentials".

Easter Weekend

Can you believe how much changes in one year?!?!

Well...I guess not everything changes ;)

He did great this year finding eggs!

We all got a great laugh at his facial expressions when he was going down :)

Me and Courtney, who did a great job with the Easter Egg hunt this year!

Sweetness!!!

Going to do what boys do best...play with cars :)

I love this one with John!

Dot, Janet, Uncle Eddie, John, and Bailey

Bailey's Baptism

Bailey's Baptism was beautiful, just like the weather that day. She was such an angel. We had so many family and friends to share the special occasion with us. Almost everyone had to drive anywhere from 1-6 hours to be with us. A HUGE thank you to Nana (especially Nana, who never sits down and is constantly doing something for me, John, and the kids) and Opa for making almost all the food, doing my laundry, and cleaning my house! They really made the day so much easier on us! And I can't forget my Mom, Janet, and Uncle Joe brought some delicious food too! All the Dad's helped watch and play with the kids outside~they all had a blast! **The reason I did not label the pictures is because my blog is doing crazy things to my layout. I will have it one way before I post it and once I do, it completely changes my format . I will change it back 100 times and it will STILL mess it up. You have no idea how frustrating it can be, so if anyone knows some tips on how to fix it, please let me know!!!

1/2 Birthdays!

I can't believe we have a 6 month old and a 2 1/2 year old! Where has the time gone?!?!

JACKSON: He makes us laugh ALL day long! Watching him grow has been amazing. He is talking so great these days. He says things like, "Have to be careful", "have to share", "Stay home or go home" (and he understands the concept), "go to fishy store" (walmart!LOL), "Bailey sleep in da car", "wake up Bailey" (most the time I don't want her to!), "have to be quiet, Bailey sleeping" (and he whispers it). And a million other things...he is doing so much better with his words and remembering things. He just learned to give me butterfly kisses (flapping eyelashes up and down on my cheek~SOOO cute!). He also LOVES to dance and sing...he does both ALL DAY LONG! He sings row-row-row your boat and a bunch of other songs. In the car he yells, "uh uh, good song Mama, good song" b/c he wants me to turn up the radio and sing/dance with him :) He is doing great with pee-peeing on the potty! Now to the things we need to improve on...he is STILL wearing pull-ups and doing # 2 in his pants, but we will get there eventually! He throws the most MASSIVE temper tantrums and freaks out when he thinks people are not coming with him somewhere or when he can't have something he wants. Needless to say, he still sits in time out A LOT! He has gotten better and explaining what he did wrong though. When I ask him to tell me he says, "no throw toy" or "no screaming" (which is says OFTEN! hahaha).

BAILEY: Here are Bailey's stats...

Height: 26 1/4 inches (75th %ile)

Weight: 15 lbs 8 oz (50th %ile)

She is doing great otherwise! She can sit up now (for about 3-4 min before falling over with no bobby pillow around her and a long time when she has it around her). She is eating stage 2 foods now and has tried just about everything. She is not a big eater (with both baby food or the bottle) and never has been, but she seems to be gaining weight ok. She can hold her own bottle, especially when she is super hungry. She has just now this week started to wake up only once a night (keeping my fingers crossed). She rolls over both ways and has been doing that for a while now. She has two super cute bottom teeth :) She has what we like to call a "Kung Fu grip". Seriously, we have to warn people watch out when they hold her that she can grip your face or neck~and it HURTS! hahaha! She can get up on all 4's and does it a lot when she is getting up from her nap b/c she is so excited to see me (one of my favorite parts of the day!). She wakes up at 8am, takes a nap at about 9:30am or 10am for usually 2 hs...sometimes more or less. Then takes a nap at 2pm for 2-3 hours (this is the time when I get the most done b/c Jackson is down at that time too!), then off to bed at 8pm.

Meet Olivia Reese Wilson!

Bailey's new best friend Olivia was born on March 23rd :) We went over to visit Jessi & Olivia last week and this is the first picture with our little girls! Can you believe how much has changed in 2 and a 1/2 years!! This was the first time Jackson went over to Jessi's house :) They have grown up way too fast! Which made me want to take a look down memory lane...here are a few of my favorites!

Just goes to show you what our girls have to look forward too ;) We are so lucky the boys are only 3 months apart and the girls are only 6 months. Can't wait to have lots of fun with ALL 4 kids!