Cool site for mom's with young children

I just found this web-site for children's learning activities and I LOVE it! It gives a lot of great ideas for learning activities you can do with your child that are age-appropriate. It was neat to see that I am already doing some of them without even thinking about the fact that I am teaching Israel things he needs to know. If you are interested in checking it out you can go to www.learningdevelopmentactivities.blogspot.com

pics of the week..............

I love this lil guy! I have to strap him down in his high chair in order to get a good pick of him....the kid does not stop moving......uh oh, I think I am in for it...lol!

"ni ni" and....... what is on my mind at the moment

Israel says "ni ni" now....I say it to him every time I lay him down for naps or bedtime....he loves it! He says it back to me, it is so cute! I am pretty sure he has also been trying to say doggy, he says something like "do do"......when I say doggy he looks for our dog....he definitely knows what the word means....but this week I caught him trying to say it while looking at dogs. I think the word took on new meaning for him because he was introduced to 4 new dogs this week besides our dog. He loves dogs....he has ever since he has been aware of them.

I went to a baby shower today for a church friend named Sarah. I sat with several other moms from church and other acquaintances. Israel stayed at home...it was so nice to be out of the house and have adult conversations with other women that I have so much in common with... they all have small children AND they love the Lord. We talked mostly about our kids, which is always fun.

Until recently, I have never seen the importance for having female friends than I do right now. Sometimes I crave the interaction and special connection found only in a female friend. Through my high school years I had a lot of friends and I LIVED for my social life. But it was very superficial....don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my friends and I had great ones but it was a time where I didn't feel comfortable within myself....I don't think I felt comfortable totally being myself with all of the pressures to be cool and all. Then in my college years, I so badly wanted to do well in school (since my grades suffered in high school b/c of my social life and the things I got involved with) so I got a boyfriend and we pretty much secluded ourselves. I had women that wanted to be my friends, and they were, to a degree....but I wasn't a very good friend b/c I chose instead to spend EVERY moment possible with my boyfriend. (I apologize ladies! I know some of you read this blog occasionally) I was a bit of a recluse and people probably thought I was a bit strange holing myself up in my room 24/7. Looking back, I was very lost in this time in my life.....thank the Lord, I am finally found:)

Now, I am married to a wonderful, godly man......and I feel safe, secure, I don't feel I have anything to prove.....I have a lil boy, whom I love dearly........I am settled in my skin, in my life....but still striving to be better.....and I want to have deep, meaningful, godly friendships with other women....to rub lives with them, share wisdom, laugh, cry, love, live, pray together and for one another......I see how important this is and how the Lord wants us to share our lives with others besides those we live with....it is part of being a witness of His great love.

I have realized that I do have a best, female friend and I have to say that it didn't come easy at first.....I love her dearly......she is my sister-in-law and we met just before I started dating her brother........we hit it off great and then things got distant between us, I don't even know what really happened but I know that Satan did not want us to be friends....I think deep down we both wanted to be friends and what can I say but that the Lord has restored our friendship, 20 times! What a blessing it is to be friends with someone that you don't feel like you have to impress and can just be your "loser self" with, LOL!....someone that listens.......and is ALWAYS encouraging.....loyal......keeps secrets. Even though we are at different places in our lives, we still have so much in common because of our relationship with the Lord. She inspires me and I am proud to call her not only my sister, but my friend.

So, if you sometimes think that making and keeping friends is more work than it is worth....remember that EVERY beautiful relationship IS work, you have to give of yourself and spend time and energy to get there....BUT in the end it is worth it just to have that someone you call friend! Okay, I didn't plan for such a mushy post but there you have it....I guess the Lord is laying something special on my heart................that I need to be better about reaching out to other women that might be looking for a special friend.

9 months and randomness

Oh man.....my baby is getting so BIG! I can't believe he is 9 months already. When I had him, in my head I couldn't even imagine him older than 6 months. He has grown a lot in his social interactions in the last couple of weeks. He likes to look at me and laugh for no apparent reason, just to watch me laugh back at him....HAha...it is funny! He is now handing me items, upon request and randomly. He will also feed me his Cheerios...lol....sometimes, just when he feels like sharing. The last couple of weeks have been tough on him...he has been trying to cut his top two teeth for the past month...finally last week the top left one broke through, the other is so close. He went through a growth spurt and grew 1.5 inches in less than 2 weeks. And he was sick for the first time...it started with a cold: sneezing, snotty nose, dry cough...then he ran a 102 degree fever off and on for 3 days....as a result would wake up every night around 2,3, or 4 and couldn't go back to sleep unless I held him.....I have to admit, I loved the cuddling, even if it was in the middle of the night. Then, once the fever went down he broke out in a rash all over his body. I did some research and this is the exact symptoms of roseola....they get a cold, then a fever, then a rash. Nothing you can do, except Tylenol for the fever, it is a virus and has to run its course. He is still nursing 4 to 5 times a day so the nursings seemed to help calm him in the middle of the night.

He is now 30.5 inches long and 20 lbs 4 oz. He is pulling up on everything and today he even started stepping up on things while he is holding something, to make himself taller....he stepped up on two different toys and on daddy's head....lol! I love him so!!

In other news....I found a web-site that I really like that I want to share about homemaking that has sample schedules and ideas for cleaning routines. It is at http://www.flylady.net/

She has a lot of good ideas on there for making and keeping a home more presentable.

I am learning to knit....currently, I am almost done with my scarf and am also working on a throw. They both actually look really good so far. It has been a lot of fun to have something to do with my extra time. I have also been working on a scrapbook of Israel's first year that I plan to be a gift for his 1st birthday...something he will enjoy down the road.

Oh, and how about that sunshine and those few warm days we had last week. A wonderful preview of what is to come. So excited for summer to get here and to play outside with Israel. I took him out on those few warms days....he got so excited and giggly as the sunshine and wind hit his face. I just know he is going to have a blast exploring this summer....good thing we have a GIANT yard!

Well, that is all for now! God bless!