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4 Months

Sweet Baby K,

Can I call you that forever? I’m sure you’ll protest when your 35, but for now…you don’t have much of a say in it 😉 Happy 4 months to you, dear boy. I hope I haven’t failed you. This month has been another tough one for you. You spit up a lot, you have trouble napping, and sometimes you scream out in pain. We’ve been attempting to fix the latter with medicine and I hope you’re feeling at least a little better. I don’t want you to hurt, ya know?

You have begun to laugh out loud this month and my, oh my, if it isn’t the cutest thing in the whole wide world! It makes my day every time I hear it.

You are also grasping at your toys on your play mat now. You can hold them pretty well. You’ve also learned to take your paci out of your mouth, which I’m not as pleased with because you can’t seem to put it back in.

I fear you’re becoming very attached to your mommy and daddy because we never leave you with anyone else. Secretly, I enjoy being the one you want and need. But I also worry that you won’t be very independent as a young un because of our preferences. We want you to feel secure and confident as you grow!

You are so close to rolling over! We love to try to help you, but you can’t seem to maneuver that big ole cloth diaper over all the way. It frustrates you to no end. You get that from both sides, Baby K. We, too, find it annoying when we can’t do something we want to be able to do. If you rolled over, I think it might not be fun for you because you still don’t like tummy time. Despite this, you are doing great in holding your chest off the ground with your hands.

I’m really proud of you, K!

Happy 4 Months to you! I promise every birthday won’t come with a bunch of shots.

Love you to the moon and back,

Mom

 

Blog-o-versary

Two years. A lot can happen in that time frame and a lot has….

That’s how long I’ve been blogging here at Mrs. K and Captain J! I’ve got the previous posts to prove it. 😉

Since it’s my blog-o-versary today, I want to treat you…my readers!

I’m having a giveaway right here, right now. But the treat is a surprise! I will tell you that it smells fantastic, looks quite homey, and you’re definitely going to want this because you can never have too many of them around the house. And if you’ve been really good this year, I might just throw in some extra holiday fun to merry up your Christmas.

All you have to do is go back through my old posts and pick a favorite. I know, I know, it’s going to be hard because I have so many riveting posts. But try, people. You had better hop to it, though because this giveaway opportunity ends on Sunday, December 11th. Simply leave a comment with the title of your favorite post and I’ll throw your hat in the ring for the drawing. Good luck!

And as always, thank you very much for caring what goes on in our little world. My growing family and I appreciate it!

 

The History Behind Holiday Decor

 

While Gaffigan’s explanation to how our decorating traditions came to be is much funnier, it is obviously inaccurate. It got me thinking, “Why do we use trees, garland, and lights to celebrate this time of year?” I decided to take matters into my own hands and see what I could find out.

Did you know the ancient Egyptians used greens in the home to symbolize life’s precedence over death? The Romans, too, have a history celebrating winter solstice by decorating with lights, evergreens, and the exchanging of gifts. The decorations that are placed on the outside of the home have a rich history in which they were thought to have kept evil spirits away and provide promise for a good spring season.

Our modern day Christmas tree has evolved from these traditions. It’s rumored that Martin Luther was the first to decorate trees in celebration of Christmas. The candles he placed on the evergreen he had indoors symbolized and honored the birth of the Christ child. It wasn’t until much later that the tradition became popular and spread to the United States. By 1900, one in five families had a tree around this time of year. The tradition only grew from there until it was commonplace in most homes twenty years later.

(Reference: obtained from this article by David Robson, Horticulture Expert)

Wordless Wednesday

Mrs. K- shower ninja?

After a good study with the ladies at PWOC, a lunch with my hubby, and a drive home with my little darlin’ in tow, I realized…I should probably take a shower. I think it has been a day and a half. I know…ew. I hopped in the shower- all the while trying to convince Baby K that this was going to be SO MUCH FUN! I don’t think he was buying it, though as he was stretching out his legs, raising his arms and attempting to escape his bassinett. If he could speak, I’m sure he would have said, “Hold me, woman!”

Despite the challenges, I turned the water on to give it time to get warm.

With the rock-n-play pulled up to the door of my tiny bathroom, I began to wash all the dirt spit up off. With the help of the super loud yet soothing fan in the bathroom, my soon-to-be four month old drifted off to sleep within minutes. Oh, joy! A shower with no screaming. It must be my lucky day.

But then, I realized- How in the sam hill am I going to get out of this bathroom?

The bassinett was blocking my only exit. I turned off the water, dried off, and contemplated my exit strategy. Could I jump over? Probably not.

I could climb the sink. That seemed like an ordeal, though.

Finally, I quietly pushed the door back as far as I could get it, threw my phone onto the bed in the next room, and sucked in what the good Lord gave me. I still can’t believe I made it. There were only inches to work with. I felt like a ninja.

So, what did I do with the valuable alone time I was allotted today? I came to regale you all, of course! But now I think I’ll get to work on my blessings list for today. Happy Tuesday, y’all!

Christmas things

I’m a little scared to say it, but….

I have a new baby.

A happy one.

One who only cries when he wants his diaper changed, fed, or his beauty rest.

Today, I’m thankful for modern medicine!

And time to peruse Amazon.com. I just keep finding so many things I want! But I promise I’m only shopping for others, though 😉

Still, I’ve got my eye on these things:

Nikon COOLPIX L120 (so that I can take more pictures of my sweet boy!)

Sewing Machine (Does that come with someone who knows how to use it? )

and the Kindle Fire (because it seems like the affordable, awesome alternative to the iPad2.)

Why is everything I want expensive? I might just treat myself after Christmas to one of these items with the birthday money or Christmas money I have left over after I purchase gifts for everyone else. We’ll see. For now, though…I’ll just visit them online every now and again.

This weekend was nice. On Saturday J, K and I went to the local parade for a few minutes. It was sprinkling so we didn’t stay long because I was worried about Baby K’s little ears. I didn’t want him to catch a cold (even though those two things aren’t really linked. lol). Still, we saw enough to get into the Christmas spirit! Then yesterday I went to a presentation of the Living Christmas Tree at a friend’s church. It was awesome! I spent much of the service intrigued by ‘how they got the lights to do that!’ It doesn’t take much to impress me. Anyway, the Christmas music put me in the mood and I wanted to hop in the car and drive to Tennessee right then and there, but we still have a few weeks left before that can happen.

Who else is pumped about Jesus’s birthday??

Christmas Craft Part 2

Today, I learned I’m no Martha Stewart.

I saw this cutesy pin on Pinterest from Ms. Stewart’s website:

And it looked so easy I just had to give it a whirl. I didn’t plan enough and well, my ornament was a big fat fail. The hot glue I decided to use peeled right off in no time and the pretty paper fell to the floor along with the pine needles from our live tree. Oh, well. Maybe I’ll put a little more effort into in next time. Still, I hung the cookie cutter on our tree because we’re still trying to fill the many branches of our perfectly humongous tree.

It’s looking a bit bare toward the back of the tree, but we’re working on it.

I do love an over-decorated tree, ya know? Or is there such thing?

Anyway, not one to quit crafting before I created something lovely I like…

I made this snowflake ornament-

I just cut up large strips of Christmas(sy) scrapbook paper and arranged them inside a plain glass ornament with my pinky finger. Talk about decorating on a budget!

(I know what you’re thinking- “She wasn’t talking about decorating on a budget. Awkward.”)

I also used what’s around me to my advantage. There are pine cones all over my yard so I’ll definitely be putting them to good use in the future, too.

Have fun creating, y’all!

De-Stress Your Christmas

With tree number four up and decorated, I have started thinking more and more about the holiday season that is upon us. There are so many people who become stressed rather than comforted by the Christmas season, myself included sometimes. In effort to prevent that from happening this year, I did a little research on the topic as a reminder for myself and for you to take a chill pill and remember why we celebrate. To me Christmas is about celebrating the birth of my Savior, spending time with my loves, and the spirit of giving (even if it’s simply baking cookies and gifting those out). Actually, scratch that…nobody wants my homemade cookies! 😉

Anyway, here are some tips and tricks to chillax and enjoy your winter break. Some of these are borrowed from PsychologyToday.com and some are from my little, ole wrinkled brain:

*Be realistic. You know you can’t be in two places at once. You (probably) know you can’t buy someone everything they could possibly want. And hopefully you are keeping your expectations of the holiday season in check. I have found that if I expect a certain day to be perfect, I am more aware when the day doesn’t turn out as I had hoped. Additionally, I’m well aware that I can’t afford to buy a ton of people a ton of presents. Being a stay at home mom means that we’re living off one paycheck (one that congress keeps trying to delay…ahem) so money can be tight each month. To remedy this, we try to set a budget each year and stick as close to it as possible. Sure, we go over a bit every single time, but tis the season!  The main thing I struggle with in this realistic category is the first one. Because we live so far away from family and friends, when we get to town our time is stretched very thin. It’s difficult to fit everyone in. This year, I am going to attempt to not worry about not being able to make this engagement or that. I’m just going to do what my little heart desires and actually enjoy the time off I have with my people back home. There’s no need to dwell on and stress little things like that. That’s not what Christmas is about at all.

*Be thankful. This is sort of a carry-over from last month, I suppose. It’s just so easy to pick out things each day that I’m thankful for. And you know what? When I write them down, I have a better day. I’m going to keep up my blessings list throughout the Christmas season just as a reminder of what all God has given me. There’s a pin floating around Pinterest that states, “What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?” That’s the spirit of thanksgiving that I want to create in my life during the month of Christ’s birthday. There are so so many people who are less fortunate than I am. If I can remember this in my lowest moments and choose to focus on a positive in my day, then I’ll be doing good. Here’s my list from yesterday:

*Exercise. What you say?? Yes, in the midst of all the eating it might be a good idea to get some exercise. Clearly, this isn’t one of the suggestions I thought of because I’m still sportin’ an extra 3lbs from Baby K. But I think it is a noteworthy tip! The author of Tis the Season emphasizes the importance of self-care during Christmas (and the rest of the year!). The impact that exercise can have on one’s mental health isn’t lost on me as I have focused on this very notion in research papers past. My senior thesis was on enjoyment and exercise. 🙂 Now, let’s see if I can take my own advice!

*Make a list. And check it twice. Ok, I just wanted to write that. You don’t have to check it twice. But if you’re a list maker, then get to writing! Organize your gift list. Organize your schedule. And maybe your plan is to not plan. You can write that down, too. I’ve made a list of the things and events that I want to do (on my iphone, of course) and the rest of the break is dedicated to not having a plan. I’m going to enjoy my time at “home” and do what I want when I want. Although it may sound like it, it’s not selfish. I’m in charge of only myself (well and Baby K) so in order to keep the stress away, I’m going to focus on what’s best for me and what’s best for K. Having a visual of the set plans will allow me to see the freedom I have in the un-planned days, too.

I hope these help you. Happy December!

Reference

Mintz, L. (2011, November 30). Tis the season.Psychology Today, Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stress-and-sex/201111/tis-the-season

Winner announced

Thanks to all who entered the My Memories Suite giveaway! As always, I used the trusty Random.org to find a winner:

Comment number one was the lovely blogger over at Delights and Delectables! I’ll send you your code today. Prepare to be addicted 🙂

P.S. Don’t forget! If you didn’t win you can still receive $10 off your download by typing in the code STMMMS1331.

Also, I’ll be having giveaways of this product in the near future, too! Stay tuned, loves.