Letter of the Week

I have an amazing friend, who I think is like super mom, that I refer to on here very often, but never by name.  She knows who she is and several of you readers probably know, too.  Anyway, a little over a year ago, she began doing letter of the week activities with her two and a half year-old child.  I thought it was the coolest idea ever and I couldn't wait to do it myself!  Well, Aria turned two on Sunday and I think starting off 'A' week with 'A'ria's birthday on Sunday was too perfect to pass up.  Aria was on board immediately and knew that 'A' is for Aria.  Now the challenge of showing her that 'A' is for other things, too.  I'm not planning a pre-school program or a home-school curriculum.  She is only two.  But I am going to start pointing out things in the world around her a little bit more.  Aria is a curious little girl who wants to know and understand everything.  Focusing on a letter a week will just help me teach her about things I would otherwise pass up.  It will give us some variety and encourage us to try new things!  I plan to report what we learned about each letter as a part of my virtual scrapbook and to see her progress.  Check out what we did for the letter 'A' at the end of the week!

Toddler Tidbits

Here are just a few random, silly parts of my day.  :)

Aria is learning to make things plural, but she doesn't always get it exactly right.  When we get dressed I say, "One arm in."  She responds with, "Two arm ins."  Hilarious and cute.

We are trying to teach Aria the polite way to decline something, "no, thank-you."  She hasn't quiet fully grasped it, yet, because she says, "no, please."

Aria very much likes sorting things these days.  If I give her a bowl of cheerios, she dumps them into several different bowls of various shapes and sizes.  It is fun to watch her thought process.

Her imagination is starting to flow.  She has begun pointing out shapes in various objects.  For example she has seen the letter "E" in her half eaten toast.  She has seen a hippo in part of a sandwich.  Sometimes I can see what she sees, sometimes I just smile and agree.

When you ask Aria to hold up two fingers, she holds up her thumb and first finger instead of her first two fingers.  I think it is easier that way, too!

TWO!

Today marks my anniversary of motherhood, more commonly known as Aria's birthday!  Wow!  A two-year-old is now living in my house.  It is kind of strange.  The first year just flew by and I could not believe it was her first birthday.  But this time around it is a bit different.  I have been saying 'she's almost two' since November.  Sometimes I even forgot that she was not yet two.  I don't know what I originally expected out of a two year old, but I feel like Aria has passed those expectations.  Here are some things that amaze me about my little girl:

• She says multi-word phrases (they aren't quite complete sentences, but we're getting there)
• She doesn't forget anything.  Ever.
• Aria recognizes all 26 letters and gets most of the sounds right.  I never know if she doesn't know the sound or if she just physically can't produce it.
• She is a singer!  Maybe it's the name, but Aria belts out many songs.  Her favorites include: How Great is Our God, Twinkle, Twinkle, Stinky, Stinky Diaper Change, the ABC song, our version of Pop Goes the "Toaster", and A-U-G-I-E (Bingo).
• Aria remembers people.  She knows their names.  She remembers the context in which we saw them.  She knows who goes with whom. 
• She also knows the pets that go with the people and often wants to see the pets before the people.
• Aria most definitely has a favorite color, purple.  The other day we were talking about all the things God made and she very excitedly exclaimed, "purple!"
• She can count to 10, although she most often starts at 2 and occasionally skips 4.
• Aria knows what comes next.  I have made several videos of her and she knows what song comes next and what picture or video comes next.  She knows what Bible story is next in her Bible.  She loves the Starfall website and knows what picture or animation comes next. 
• She can look at pictures and know whose house we are at.

I could go on and on and on.  Of course, she is my daughter so everything she does amazes me!  I just love being her mommy!  There are a few things I wish could be a bit more advanced, but only for my own convenience.  For example:

• The dreaded pacifier.  Yep, we still need it.  Therefore we haven't switched to a big girl bed.  For some reason I think it has to be gone before we do.
• This really doesn't bother me, but the kiddo still needs eight teeth to complete her mouth.  She needs four incisors and four two-year molars. 
• Potty training.  Believe me, we do plenty of talking about sitting on the Elmo potty and "poop come out," but do you think it would ever happen.  NOPE.  The closest we've come is she has pooped, it sticks to her little bottom, then she tells me, "poop come out," and when she sits down, it falls off her little bottom into the potty.  We cheer anyway.  I hope it gives her the idea of what is supposed to happen.  Actually, I don't intend to rush her.  Would it be nice to not buy diapers, sure.  But, she has to be ready.  And, I seriously used about five times the wipes to clean off her bottom and the potty then when I just change her diaper.  It will come. 
• Aria would prefer to eat with her hands instead of silverware.  It's messy. 
• I honestly have no idea what hand Aria prefers.  She eats almost primarily with her left.  She throws things equally with both.  She tends to use her right hand a little bit more when coloring, but does use both.  Justin is a lefty.  I am a righty.  I guess she wants to be like both of us.

Really, those aren't things to complain about, but just little tidbits of her development that I want to log.  While watching all of her development is really cool, I have also enjoyed seeing my own growth just as much.  Being a mom has made me a totally different person.  I often think back to my teaching and coaching days and know I would do a lot of things differently now.  Sometimes I view my pre-Aria life as an entirely different world.  It seems so much longer ago than two years.  Here are some the best lessons I've learned throughout motherhood:

•   "Making the decision to have a child--it's momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  Elizabeth Stone, from a cute little book called, Spit Happens.  I love this quote and it is oh so true.  I didn't know my heart could be taken over by something so small.  I was always kind of embarrassed when my dad would brag about me as I was growing up, but now I totally get it.  Look at this kid!  She's mine!  I want every dream she ever has to come true.  I never want her to get hurt.  I love her more than I'll ever possibly be able to describe.  I didn't know I was capable of that.  I didn't know that is what motherhood really was.
• That love that I feel, doesn't even come close to God's love for me.  I don't even know what to say.  Isn't that amazing?!?  As much as I love Aria, no matter what, forever and ever and ever, God loves me (and her) more than that.  I still can't comprehend that, but having a child of my own to love helps just a little bit.
• My most recent lesson in motherhood is that I am an example.  It can be really fun and really horrifying to see yourself come out in your child.  Aria is at the parrot stage of mimicing everything we do and repeating everything we say.  I've learned that I scream or growl when I am frustrated.  I've learned that I tell Aria she is cute a lot.  I really like basketball.  I am shy around large groups of people.  I say, "thanks" instead of thank-you. Occasionally I slip and say, "butt" instead of "bottom." All of these things have come out in my daughter lately.  While it is fun to see her mock me, I also feel an extra sense of responsibility to teach my daughter all of life's lessons.  I want her to see me love God, pray often, and read my Bible daily.  I want her to see me love others unconditionally.  I want her to see that I have confidence in who God made me.  Those are all things I need to work on. 
• Becoming a mom means I can no longer be selfish.  In the beginning, I had an infant who depended on me for everything.  I couldn't follow my own agenda; I had to follow hers.  As she has gotten older, we developed a routine that worked for both of us.  I get to do some things for myself, while still constantly meeting her needs.  This is going to have a negative connotation, but my world really does revolve around Aria.  No, we don't give in to her every desire (that would be Grandma) and I think we are teaching her to obey the rules and boundaries we see fit for a two-year-old.  But, even with those rules and boundaries, my life is pretty Aria focused.  Sure, I am involved in a couple ministries at church without her, Justin and I go on dates and we have babysitters and I meet with some amazing friends once a week.  However, all of that happens within the realm of what works for our family.  We plan our schedule carefully.  I try to be home between 1:00 and 4:00 every day because Aria needs a nap.  We don't stay out much past 8:00 because Aria needs to go to bed.  We want to eat healthy, so we make decisions for meals based on health instead of convenience.  And, that is all okay.  I am happy to admit that I was in bed by 11:00 on New Year's Eve because it's what worked best for our family this year.  I am excited to go on vacation and visit zoos, children's museums, and parks.  Justin and I took a trip by ourselves last summer and we will do one again this year, but our family trips are going to be 80% for Aria and 20% for us.  But, that percentage isn't truly accurate because Justin and I  get just as much of a thrill out of watching Aria at a zoo than if we had chose somewhere for adults.  Being the parent of a young child is awesome!  And, I'm sure being a parent continues to be awesome as they grow.  I am happy to have given up my previous night owl, ridiculous money spending, spontaneous trip taking life for the one I have now.  I never knew it would be this good!

I have many more lessons I could write about, but I've already wrote a book.  I am so happy to be the mom of a two-year-old, I could go on forever.  My life is full of God's amazing blessings, all wrapped up in a 30 pound, 35 inch package.  And, today, we get to celebrate...complete with Elmo cake, ice cream, cupcakes, cookies, mac 'n cheese, grandparents, friends, and presents.  This is a special day!  January 29 will be a day that brings tears of joy, pride, and unconditional love for the rest of my life!

Happy 2nd birthday, Aria!  I love you so much!

Fears

This post is not going to be the most flattering, or the easiest to write, but it is what has been on my mind, so here it goes.  For as long as I can remember I have had a great fear of rejection.  As a young girl, it was rejection from friends or potential friends.  I was always afraid that I wasn't cool enough.  I wanted to have the right clothes, the right things to say, the right hair color.  Oh the teasing that comes for red-heads, at least for me.  I am a pretty black and white, serious person.  I have never handled sarcasm or teasing very well.  I used to not like fantasy because it couldn't really happen.  I wanted people to be real and honest.  I was always seeking praise and probably was described as a teacher's pet.  I knew how to gain the respect of my parents and adults by behaving and giving my best effort, but a lot of times that type of behavior didn't transfer to affirmation from friends. 

Middle school and high school were interesting times for me.  I went to a really small school, so grades 7-12 were in the same building.  Prior to seventh grade, I had friends mostly just in my same grade.  In the "big school," I was immersed in several grades all at once and didn't know how to handle making friends beyond my age-mates.  I just have never been good at, "Hey!  I think you're cool!  We should hang out and be friends!"  I'm still not.  It always comes out wrong.  Needless to say, when attention started coming from boys, I craved it.  I basically had one boyfriend for three of my high school years.  It probably shouldn't have lasted that long based on the way he treated me at times, but I was afraid no one else would like me.  Oh, teenage romance. 

When I went off to college and a whole new world of awkwardly making friends, I often wore a mask and didn't reveal the true me.  I could be silly and fun-loving, which caused people to like me, but I often didn't let people in to see the real me or I changed who I was to reflect the group of people I was trying to impress at the time.  I have always been pretty slow to trust.  I did have one awesome friend throughout college that got to hear all of my stories; that listened for hours to all the things going on inside my head.  For Nicole, and her listening abilities, I am truly thankful!

Back to now.  I have a wonderful husband.  I have an awesome core group of friends whom I've grown so close to.  Yet I still fear rejection.  Big time.  I don't fear it from them.  I trust them and they have seen the real me.  I find I fear rejection the most in people I admire from a distance.  It could be people in our ABF group, other people in our church, or people we know from college.  Still, I can't ever figure out how to say, "Hey, I am inspired by the way you live your life.  Want to be friends?"  Still sounds corny. 

There is also God's great commission.  Matthew 28:19 says, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  You mean I should reach out to people I don't even know from a distance or who are outside of my comfort zone?  How in the world do I do that when I am so afraid of rejection? 

I guess I need to get over my fear.  Slowly but surely, as I read and learn, I realize that I need to be confident in who God made me.  People can't love me if I don't love me.  How can they see God if I don't reflect Him?  It is okay if I reach out to someone and they say, 'no.'  It doesn't change who I am.  It doesn't have to be embarrassing.  I am a firm believer that God places people in my life for many reasons.  Sometimes it is to help me grow.  Sometimes it is to help them grow.  Sometimes it is to build a life-long friendship (right Ash?!?)  When I feel a connection with someone, I need to get bold and find a way to build the relationship.  Maybe it won't last long, but it could be extremely significant in the growth of all involved. 

My fear of rejection is real and it is something I have to work on.  But it is also nothing I can't conquer with God working inside of me.  Here's to new friendship and the confidence to build them!

A Forgotten Christmas Celebration

Oops!  I forgot one!  My excuse is that I forgot my camera that day, so I don't have any pictures of it.  Remember our friends who got married this summer?  These people have been my friends for many, many years.  I explain it all in that blog, so if you're curious about our history, follow the link and read!  Anyway, as Ashley and Jena have grown, it has been increasingly more difficult for me to think of Christmas presents for them.  So, one year I decided we wouldn't do presents anymore and we would go do something fun together!  This year we went to the Amanas and stayed at the hotel with the waterpark.  Aside from the freezing cold water in the pool, it was a blast!  Ashiejena (who really are two separate people, but Aria combines them), Camryn, Justin, Aria, and I (Spencer thought hunting would be more fun....silly guy) spent an evening playing in the pool, eating pizza, and playing games. 

The waterpark is definitely geared towards young children, probably about four to ten.  I say four because there were gobs of kids playing on the jungle gym and going down the kiddie waterslide with no supervision.  There was no way I was letting Aria on it by herself and of course I couldn't go with her because it was one person at a time (not that the kids followed that).  The water park also had one of those big buckets that fills up with water and then dumps out everywhere.  Aria thought it was super cool....from a very long distance away, and hasn't stopped talking about the bucket ever since.  There were also two bigger waterslides and I'm not exaggerating when I say the water was about 50 degrees.  It was FREEZING.  Camryn braved it a few times and Justin and I each went once.  Ashiejena did not try it.  We did all enjoy the pool with the basketball hoops, even though that water was only about 65 degrees. 

When we finished playing in the water for the evening, we went back to our two room suite and ate pizza.  Once it was time for Aria to go to bed, we put her in one room and headed to the other to play games.  This was our first time staying in the same hotel room as Aria and it worked out really well.  We were in the living room part of the suite, so we had a pull-out couch bed.  We arranged the furniture so Aria was behind the back of the couch and couldn't see us.  She was awake early, but actually went back to sleep until almost 9:00!  We played in the freezing pool a bit again in the morning and then headed for home.  It was a fun little get-a-way!

I wish I had some pictures to show from our night, but oh well.  We had such a good time we won't soon forget it!  Thanks for braving the cold pool to swim with Aria, Ashiejena, and Camryn!  We cherish every time we get together with you guys!  I hope we get to do something again soon!

Blogging about Blogging

I've hit an all-time high for number of blogs in a month and it was completely unintentional.  A friend of mind noticed the increase in blogs and asked if it was my New Year's resolution or something.  It wasn't.  It actually didn't even cross my radar.  It all started when I discovered I could schedule a blog post instead of having it post whenever I was finished writing it.  I have this weird OCD mindset that I can't post more than one thing on my blog in a day and I've often not posted because of it.  Most of the time I have countless ideas running through my head for my blog, but they don't get to the screen.  Now, when I have those ideas, I sit down and write two, three, four blog posts at once and schedule them for the subsequent days.  After about a week's worth of blogs, I wanted to see how long I could keep it going.  It reminds me of when I read 14 books in 14 days the summer I was pregnant.  I just had to see how long I could keep it going.  I am competitive, can you tell?  Well, I hit a block the other day and decided I'm only going to keep this silly competition in my head going through the month of January.  Then I'm going to let it go.  If I continue having daily blog posts, great!  But if I miss a day, I'm not going to feel like I've lost something. 

All that being said, I love my blog!  It is such a release.  Of course, the main idea is a virtual baby book for Aria, but it is so much more than that for me.  I am an introvert and a private person.  I rarely say all that is on my mind.  Through writing, I get a little bit more out there.  I get to brag a little more about my child, tell people how much I appreciate them, and use my sense of humor and creativity.  I love reading other blogs and keeping in touch with friends that way, so I hope this is a way for friends to keep in touch with us.  I know people out there who write blogs for an income and that is not for me.  This is my freedom and I would hate to feel the pressure of making sure I put things on here that other people will love and earn me money.  I also want to express my opinions without worrying about losing viewers. 

I guess that is all I have to say about my blog.  I'll end this at 3:52 on January, 23 and we'll see when I schedule it to appear!

What to Do on an Icy Day...

When it is too icy to go to music class and you have to stay inside all day, what should you do??

Build a fort of course!

Black Bean and Corn Soup

There are all kinds of reasons I tried this new soup recipe.  Lately, I've been interested in eating healthier, buying more whole, organic foods, I like having at least one meatless meal per week, and I love cooking in the crock pot!  Plus, we love Mexican food in our house and black beans.  I actually bought some organic dry black beans in the health market at Hy Vee, so we tested out this soup and it was AWESOME!  Justin and I really loved it.  Aria was distracted by the cheese quesadillas I made with them and the fruit, but she still ate some.  It was easy to make and had a lot of zing!  I think you could make it as spicy as you prefer, but following the recipe exactly, I'd say it was medium on the hot-o-meter.  If you enjoy Mexican food and black beans, then check this out!

From the 12th edition Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

2 1/4 cups dry black beans (1 pound)
1 10 oz pkg frozen whole kernel corn
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 to 1/2 tsp bottled hot pepper sauce
4 cups boiling water
1 14 1/2 oz can Ro-Tel

Rinse beans; place in a large saucepan.  Add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Cover; let stand for 1 hour.  Drain and rinse beans.

In a 3.5 to 4 quart crock pot combine the beans, corn, onion, garlic, cumin, salt, coriander, and hot pepper sauce.  Pour boiling water over all.  Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.  To serve mash beans slightly to thicken.  Stir in undrained tomatoes. 

I also added some more hot water near the end because it was a little too thick.  I added some sour cream and cheese to my bowl, but also had it the next day without and it was great!

The Littlest Hawkeye Fan!

Okay, so she's probably not the littlest, but she is definitely a fan!  We've been to three Hawkeye Women's basketball games this year and Aria has loved it!  In fact, when we most recently went, she could hardly contain her excitement all day long.  We got groceries in the morning and she started crying when we went home because she wanted to go to the basketball game!  Here is her list of favorites at the game:

1. Herky
2. The ginormous flags that lead the team out on the floor.
3. Jaime (the player we know)
4. Popcorn

Of course Justin and I are mega sports fans, so she is heavily influenced in her choice of extra-curriculars, but I'd like to think she chooses to enjoy basketball on her own, too.  I certainly don't force her to play with her basketball hoop as much as she does!  At any rate, it is a ton of fun to have quality family time at events we all love!

Two Special Ladies

I am 100% glad I am a stay-at-home mom with Aria.  There are so many things we get to do because my focus is solely on her upbringing instead of dividing my time between her and working outside the home.  We spend a lot of time together and therefore, Aria can be pretty attached to me.  There have been many times it has been really difficult to leave Aria in the church nursery or with a babysitter because she cries and cries when I leave.  It has gotten much better as she has gotten older, but we still have some moments.  The key for Aria is staying with someone she knows and trusts.  Family and friends have never been too much of a problem because she feels comfortable with people she sees often. 

However, there are two very special people in Aria's life who are neither family nor were they close friends before Aria met them.  These two ladies are Connie and Robin and they both volunteer with the children's ministry at our church.  Justin and I had not previously met Connie or Robin before Aria entered our lives, but you would never guess that now.  These two very special people love our daughter almost as much as we do and they have made it absolutely wonderful to drop Aria off in the nursery at church. 

We go to the early 8:00 am service and Connie has been there nearly every week of Aria's life to care for her.  She always has a big smile and cheers when Aria arrives.  Aria could say Connie's name and talked about her very early in her speaking abilities.  There are never any tears when Connie is there.  In fact, for awhile, all the other nursery volunteers would say, "Uh oh...Connie's not here," whenever she was gone for a week because they knew Aria has a special connection with her.  I can't even begin to describe how much we appreciate Connie.  She gets up early every Sunday morning, just to come spend time with infants and toddlers in the nursery at church.  You can tell she thoroughly enjoys the kids because she is always happy.  From the start, Connie has understood that Aria needs that special connection.  She knows that building a relationship with the child makes it easier for them to leave mommy and daddy for awhile.  Connie, we are forever grateful for the beautiful person you are and how much you have loved Aria.  We love you, too!

Aria and I just met Robin this fall at MOPS.  I think Aria might have drove Robin nuts the very first time she cared for her because Aria asked for mommy and daddy every two minutes.  Finally, Robin decided to be silly with Aria and said, "mommy daddy mommy daddy," over and over, really fast, in a silly voice.  Well, Aria thought it was hilarious and still says that whenever we see or talk about Robin.  That was also enough to make a personal connection with her and we haven't had one teary-eye MOPS since.  (Which is a big contrast to every MOPS being teary-eyed last year.)  Robin is full of energy and has a lot of fun with the toddlers every other Tuesday at MOPS.  Aria enjoys her because Robin always makes her laugh.  It is also very clear that Robin loves Aria because we have heard from numerous people, "Robin told me she wants to take you home, Aria."  I greatly appreciate Robin because I can go to MOPS stress free now.  In fact, I seriously considered dropping out of MOPS because I didn't think it was worth causing my child so much grief.  But again, a special lady who volunteers her time every other week saved the day.  Robin, we appreciate how much you have connected with our daughter and made her smile and laugh.  We love you!

When I think about these two very special ladies (and all the other people who touch Aria's life) I realize we are not raising our child alone.  There will be many people who will influence Aria's life along the way and help shape the person she will become.  I am so thankful for our church and for Connie and Robin, who volunteer their time to show God's love to the little people.

More Snow!

I posted a few days ago about Aria's first experiences in the snow.  We did go out in the snow last year, but she couldn't walk yet.  I took her outside and sat her down in the snow and she didn't move at all.  I don't think she hated it, but she just didn't know what to do.  Never mind she was like a big marshmallow...no wonder she didn't move!  She enjoyed watching Augie play in it last year. 

This year is a whole different story!  We get to experience snow angels, snowmen, and sledding!  Aria loves putting on her snow boots and tromping around in the snow!  It was actually pretty warm when we got home from church last Sunday, so we bundled up for Aria's first sledding experience.  As you will see, the hill in our yard isn't very big, but it was a nice build up for our ABF's sledding party coming up soon!  We also made a snowman, complete with a carrot nose!  I couldn't help but log these awesome firsts for my girl!

Christmas Celebrations...Extended Family

On the day after Christmas, we returned to Justin's parents' house for his Mom's family get-together.  Even though there were more people at this gathering, it felt more low key.  Justin has a cousin whose daughter is three months older than Aria.  They enjoy playing with each other and everyone else enjoys watching them!  They got a few more presents from great-grandma and we just enjoyed more food and card games!  Aria even got to play Bingo for the first time!  It was another fun day

Christmas Celebrations...Justin's Family

I think this is the fifth celebration I've posted about...I've lost track!  On Christmas Day we went to church in the morning.  It has been awhile since I've been to church on Christmas Day.  Usually we go on Christmas Eve.  This year it worked better to go in the morning and it was a great way to start the day!  I absolutely love our church!  Afterwards we went home, switched out the presents and headed to Justin's parents' house.  We arrived around lunch time.  It was nice to sit down for a nice meal, allow Aria to take a nap, and then open presents.  Once again, we were so thankful to not have to rush around to several places.  Aria was a trooper, too.  She took naps in in different places without any complaint.  We kept her up late and opened a ton of presents.  But it was all enjoyable.  Once again, an only grandchild, this kid is SPOILED!  Check out another video of Christmas fun!

Piggie Tails!

It's finally long enough!!

Stinky Diaper Change

We have a book that has several familiar children's songs with new, silly lyrics.  One of them, to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, is Stinky, Stinky Diaper Change.  We have been singing this song to Aria since she was about four or five months old during diaper changes.  She has always laughed and enjoyed the song, but it has been awhile since I have sang the song to her  Just the other day, she needed her diaper changed and she went in her room, got out a diaper and wipes and started singing the song.  Pretty cute!  Here are the lyrics so you can follow along:

Stinky, stinky diaper change
Oh my daughter smells so strange
She did something in her pants
Sure hope it won't attract ants
Stinky, stinky diaper change
Oh my daughter smells so strange

More Time Out

I once heard a middle schooler explain the Bible story about Jonah saying that God put Jonah in time out for disobeying.  I don't know if his mom told him the story that way or if he dreamed it up on his own, but I thought it was an excellent way to explain the story to Aria.  Time out is something she obviously understands so I thought it would be an easy connection for her.  Connection made!  Here is her telling of Jonah!

Pizza Roll-Up

Okay so this recipe isn't going to be found on a healthy food website, but it is fun and can be as healthy as you make it.  We love pizza in our house and this is a nice twist to your traditional pizza.  This is how I made it most recently:

Spread out a refrigerated pizza crust on a greased pan.
Put on pizza sauce.
Top with sausage, mushrooms, onions and cheese.
Roll the crust and toppings up long-ways into a large roll.
Put it seam side down.
Bake according to the directions on the pizza crust can.

I have put many different toppings inside the roll with or without pizza sauce.  It is quick and easy and we really enjoy it!  I want to try it with my homemade pizza crust, but haven't yet.  I was also thinking of putting chicken in one sometime, even though I don't care for chicken on pizza.  The possibilities are endless!  Enjoy!

Christmas Celebration...My Parents

Our fourth day of Christmas....

We made the short trek to my parents house on Christmas Eve morning.  It was so nice to know we had the whole day ahead of us without trying to go more than one place in a day.  For those of you that don't know, I am an only child, so coordinating the holidays with my parents is pretty easy.  We opened presents shortly after our arrival in the morning.  Again, it was on no time schedule and we could play with our new things for awhile before opening something else.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching the grandparents open our homemade presents like hand prints and calendars.  Those are things all the money in the world can't buy.  We at the traditional lunch of chicken and noodles and stuffed ourselves silly.  Aria took a decent nap and then we spent more time playing.  Besides the new presents, playing the guitar and playing golf and basketball in my parents' basement were highlights of the day.  We spent the night there and woke up early Christmas morning to head to church.  Justin and I are so thankful we spread out the celebrations and could spend so much time with each family this year!   

Once again, I had a hard time making a short video.  Enjoy the clippings from grandparents spoiling their only grandchild rotten!

SNOW!

Waking up and discovering the snow.... 2 minutes.   "Open.  Snow.  Walk.  Snow boots."

 Wearing snow boots around house all morning... 2 hours.

Putting on long underwear and turtleneck....5 minutes.

 Finding snow pants...3 minutes.
Putting on snow pants...2 minutes.

 Time it takes for dog to be very excited about going outside...1 second.
Putting on coat, hat, and gloves...3 minutes.
Waiting for Mommy to put on snow pants, coat, hat, and gloves...5 minutes.

 Learning how to walk in the snow for the very first time...5 minutes.

 Waiting for Mommy to take too many pictures...5 minutes.

Playing in the snow for the very first (real) time of her life (for about 15 minutes)...well worth the wait!

Banana Pancakes

A friend of mine recently directed me to a website about completely eliminating processed foods from your diet.  She and her family are going for it 100%.  I am the kind of person who has to make gradual changes or I feel like a failure the second I don't follow my new rule.  However, I am liking the idea of eating whole foods.  I like to be healthy and I want Aria to enjoy many kinds of healthy foods, too.  Our first attempt at making one of the whole food recipes was these banana pancakes.  Wow!  They were delicious!  Aria and I both gobbled them up!  Justin hasn't tried them yet.  It did take me longer to make them then regular Bisquick pancakes, but they were worth the wait.  We also only had blueberry syrup in the house, so we had healthy pancakes with sugary syrup.  The batch I made yielded 9 extra large pancakes.  I followed the suggestion and froze the rest.  I am excited to get them out and have them again.  Usually Aria's request for breakfast is Rice Krispies.  Today she asked for pancakes.  I think that means she gave them her full endorsement!   

I need to do some more research and plan for some new recipes and ingredients, but I am excited to buy more whole foods.  That also means more shopping at Hy-Vee!!  Even though it will cost more money, I have decided our health is worth it.  I am also willing to make sacrifices in other areas if necessary.  I have a feeling it will equal out, though, because when I shop at Wal-Mart I can always make an excuse to buy Aria that shirt or toy or some other random thing we don't need.  At Hy-Vee I won't have that luxury, so I'll just buy the healthy foods! 

Music Together

One of Aria's Christmas presents from my parents was admission to a ten week Music Together class, put on by Orchestra Iowa.  We went to our first class this week and it was a blast!  Like usual, Aria was timid at first, but really jumped in as soon as the teacher got out the shakers.  We got to sing, dance, play instruments, and meet new friends.  There are five kids in the class from 14 months to four.  It is certainly a fun way to get out of the house and to be exposed to music and instruments we don't necessarily have at home.  After attending the class this week, I was again reassured as to why I stay home with Aria.  I am so glad we have opportunities to have all kinds of experiences.  Sure, we can sing, dance, and play instruments at home, too, but I appreciate having new ideas and Aria being around other teachers and children.  She is already talking about music class and is excited to go back next week.  Although, I think she was a little disappointed she didn't get to play the teacher's guitar like she gets to play Papa's guitar.  Even though we've only gone once, I give it two thumbs up!  If you have a little one with a birthday coming up, maybe an experience like Music Together can be a gift idea.  After all, how many toys do we really need?

Time Out

Effective?  You decide.

Lately, Aria has been hitting when frustrated.  Thankfully, she has only hit Mommy and Daddy (and not any other children) and it has been incidents when we tell her 'no' for something she wants to have or do.  Generally, the behavior happens more often when she is hungry or tired.  When she hits she must have a time out.  Justin and I do not plan to spank Aria.  I just can't get past hitting her to teach her not to hit.  I know that spanking works for other families, but I don't believe it is for us.  I certainly will not judge how others choose to discipline.  Every family and child is different and has different needs.  Our discipline choice is a two minute time out.  I read somewhere that the time out should be the minutes of the child's age.  It seems to be appropriate at this stage.  Aria has to sit in a corner, keep her hands to herself and be quiet.  When the time out timer goes off, I talk with her about her disobedience and we say a prayer to ask Jesus to help us learn from it.  With hitting, it is an easy explanation for me.  Jesus wants us to love others and hitting is not a way we show love to others.  Sometimes the explanations aren't that easy. 

Today we had a hitting incident and Aria had a time out.  After the time out, Aria went and got a stuffed animal and a little doll chair.  'Skip,' the stuffed animal, had to have a time out because he hit she told me.  She also told me Jesus loves others.  I think she understood the lesson of the day.  The key is, will she remember it and refrain from hitting next time?  Possibly.  There have been times I've seen her get frustrated and then say, "no hitting."  But other times she lashes out before thinking.  As I just typed the last sentence, I thought, "isn't that what we do as adults?"  Sometimes we lash out before thinking, too.  I guess lessons for toddlers are lessons for life. 

Christmas Celebrations...Our Family of 3

Both last year and this year I really struggled with when and how to celebrate Christmas.  We are so blessed that all of our family is close, including extended aunts, uncles, and cousins.  However, everyone has a celebration of some sort and it is just not practical nor possible to make it to all of them, especially when they are on the same day.  In my opinion, the quality time spent together is more important than what day you do your celebrations.  It is really hard to give up Christmas day traditions, but as families grow and change some things have to give. 

This year, Justin and I decided we didn't want to spend a lot of our holiday in the car.  So we spread it out.  Our first day of Christmas was on December 23 and it was a day for our family of three.  We spend the entire day at home.  In the morning we made cupcakes for Jesus' birthday and frosted and decorated cookies.  Aria was thrilled to help out and Justin and I both agreed it was the beginning of a Christmas tradition for our family.  After Aria's nap, we opened our presents.  We started by reading the Christmas story from the book Aria got in her stocking.  The we took turns opening our presents.  Last year we decided we would each get three presents to represent the gifts brought to Jesus.  We followed suit this year, only Justin and I decided to donate our "spiritual gift" to the Advent Conspiracy.  So, the gift opening was a small celebration, but it was a ton of fun because we could open each present and play with it some before rushing on to the next one.  We were on no time schedule and thoroughly enjoyed giving.  We put the video camera on a chair and recorded the whole thing so neither of us had to worry about holding it or taking pictures.  Aria really enjoyed opening all the presents (including ours) and playing with her new basketball hoop, nativity set, and underwear! 

After the presents, we made a homemade pizza and Aria got to help with that, too.  I'm sure that has become an offical tradition, as well.  We topped off the night with the cupcakes and it was definitely the best Christmas celebration Justin and I had in our eight Christmases as a family. 

I couldn't begin to capture all of that for this blog, so I made a video with some highlights.  It is long.  It could have been extremely long.  I didn't put any of the present opening video in.  I put several cookie decorating tidbits because you also get a glimpse of her singing the Glo----Aria song.  I had a hard time cutting parts out because my kid is the cutest kid ever.  So, enjoy six minutes of our all day Christmas, 2011.

Christmas Celebrations...Day 2

Okay, so if you want to be very technical, the following is not an "official" Christmas celebration, but it may as well have been.  The weekend before Christmas, my mom's sisters, my female cousins, and their children all came to our house to bake cookies.  We had 3 grandmas, 1 soon-to-be grandma, 3 mommies, 1 soon-to-be mommy, and 9 little people.  And Justin.  It was pretty much chaos, but it was a great time!  All of those people were not collectively going to be together again for Christmas, so some presents were passed out to the little people.  It wasn't an official Christmas celebration since almost all of the male portion of the family wasn't here, but it definitely had the Christmas spirit.  I have six first cousins on my mom's side of the family.  From December of 2009 to May of 2010, four of the seven of us had babies.  The next generation exploded!  So, it is fun to get all the toddlers together.  Here are some pictures from our fun day!

 

Christmas Celebrations...Day 1

We had many Christmas celebrations in the Pegump family this year.  It was such a blast watching Aria learn about Christmas, seeing her delight in old and new traditions, and remembering the purpose ourselves.  There are hours upon hours of video and hundreds of pictures.  I won't share them all, but I'll give some highlights of each of the celebrations.

I actually have already blogged about our first Christmas celebration when I wrote about St. Nicholas Day.  But, I never shared the video of her enthusiasm for her stocking.  It was too much fun not to go back and share.  Never again will I be able to stuff her stocking full and expect her not to peek until December 6!

Get a Video Monitor

This is going to be short and sweet.  If you are an expecting parent out there, get a video monitor!  It won't matter much when your precious little one is so tiny they can't move, but it will be so much fun when he/she is older and you'd love to be a fly on the wall in the room.  Right now I am listening to my awesome almost two-year-old who just woke up from her nap.  She is singing some crazy song and banging that dreaded pacifier on her bed.  I hear wiggling so I imagine dancing.  I would so very much love to watch what she is doing.  We didn't get a video monitor.  But it does tell us the temperature in her room!  :)

Outside Vocabulary

Today is January 5.  It was approximately 55 degrees.  Playing outside in January is supposed to consist of making snowmen and snowangels.  Your fingers are supposed to be red from cold and you are supposed to drink hot chocolate when you come inside.  Nevertheless, it was fun to play outside today.  We haven't played in our backyard for at least two months.  It surprised me to hear Aria talk about the outdoors.  Swing, slide, sand, and wagon were all words she had two months ago, but not with the clarity she spoke them today.  I was probably the only one who understood them two months ago when they were used one word at a time.  But today Aria was speaking in phrases about the things she enjoys to do outside.  It is so amazing to me how much her vocabulary and speaking ability changes in just a couple of months.  I would not have realized this if the weather had not been ridiculous for January.  I am still rooting for massive snowstorms and feet of snow, but I will take the smiles and fresh air. 

"Motherhood in the Trenches"

Actually the title is, "Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches" but I find the second part rather funny.  This cute 102 page book is by Rachel Jankovic, mother of FIVE children aged FIVE and under.  Holy cow.  Her goal in writing the book was to provide encouragement to other mothers because she needs it, too. 

A friend of mine passed along this quick read and it was fabulous.  It is short, funny, insightful, and thought provoking.  Parenting is hard, but well worth it and this book points out ways to deal with the hard stuff and delight in it at the same time.  While I'm not even sure two children are in our future, five seems outrageous to me.  And they are all so young.  But, this mom has some great things to say about managing her home and treating each little person like the individual they are.  There are 20 short chapters in this book and I could probably talk about the lesson in each one because I really enjoyed them all.  However, if you are a mom of a little person, I think you should read this book and I don't want to ruin it for you. 

The best lesson I took away from the book was that I am raising my daughter to release her someday.  It is hard for me to even fathom Aria as an 18-year-old headed off to college, but when she reaches that point I hope I have helped her become a strong, confident young woman who can make her own decisions and live her life according to God's will for her.  Right now I have authority over her and must discipline her to help her learn how God wants us to live.  In the book, Jankovic talks about making sure your child(ren) understands why you are disciplining in line with God's authority.  For example, God tells us to love others.  That is why we do not hit our friends (or mommy, daddy, the dog, etc.).  It is not because "Mommy said so" or because I have some power over her.  Through discipline, I should be teaching Aria how I live my life under God's authority so she can someday live completely under God's authority and not mine.

Another chapter that really hit home was "Growth Spurts."  Before reading this book I had already learned the lesson of not getting too comfortable in the "normal" with an infant/toddler because pretty soon it changes.  But this chapter put a nice perspective on it.  A lot of times I do find myself complaining, "Why won't Aria just.....sleep, eat, stop screaming, use a spoon, etc."  When really, I should be seeing it as a growth spurt.  Something in her life is changing and developing and I need to foster it.  According to Jankovic, I need to be praying about how I can help them in this new phase, how I can make it fun, and how to appreciate their new needs.  That makes a lot of sense to me.  I should embrace each stage we come to, difficult, fun, or exhausting as it may be.  As it says in the book, if I have the right attitude, most likely it will transfer over to Aria.

Those are just a couple of the big ideas I loved in this book.  I highly recommend it to all mothers of young children!  Definitely a 10 out of 10!

Resolutions

 'Tis the season for making resolutions.  While I think it is an excellent idea to set goals and resolutions, I am not about needing a specific day to make that happen.  In my opinion, if you have something you want to change in your life, start the very next day.  Don't wait for New Year's or your birthday or whatever excuse you make for a date.  If there is something you are motivated to change, get going.  In fact, I think starting a new habit or routine in the middle of the week is an excellent idea.  It gives you a few days to get started without the overwhelming long week, month, or year ahead of you. 

Now, a lot of people make a resolution at the start of the year to eat healthier, lose weight, stop smoking, etc. and they stick to it and make a big change in their life.  That is excellent.  If a new year motivates you, then great.  All I'm saying is that it doesn't have to be a new year.  Set a goal or make a change anytime!  I went to the dreaded Wal-Mart today and found all the sales and advertisements about exercise equipment hilarious.  I bet they do make big money on that stuff right now.  Marketing people definitely know the seasons for everything. 

For me, I don't really have a resolution right now.  Are there things I would like to improve about my life, of course.  But I don't really have a specific goal in mind.  At the beginning of November, I changed my routine to exercising in the morning before Aria and Justin wake up instead of doing it at nap time.  I'm not really a morning person and I dreaded making the change, but I just thought it would work better for everyone's schedule.  I love how I feel the rest of they day when I exercise right away.  I love having nap time free to accomplish other tasks.  I don't love getting up in the morning.  However, I am really glad I started my new routine in November instead of waiting until January 1.  I've missed several days over the break, but it was no problem getting right back into it because it was already my routine.  So, if you need a change or have a goal, start now.  I guess you would be kind of cliche because it is the beginning of January, but if you have something else that needs tweaking in April, start then, too!

Wonderful Break

I am so very thankful for the eleven days off my husband got for Christmas and New Year's Day.  It seems to be more common that companies shut down between the two holidays and I think it is incredibly smart.  First of all, a lot of employees would probably take vacation during that time anyway.  If they didn't take vacation, they would probably be in the holiday coma at work.  Even more importantly, employees need a stress free-break.  We all know how difficult it is to take vacation from work.  You have to plan to be gone, making arrangements for someone else to cover for you.  You probably have to check your email and take care of emergencies while on vacation.  And, it is such a dread to go back to the pile of things to take care of from missing time.  When the whole company shuts down, no one has to worry about any of that. 

In the case of Justin's company, this year the break was especially necessary.  His company had it's best year ever, especially in the last quarter.  The production employees were working 80 and 90 hour weeks in November and December.  Thankfully, Justin does not work in production and while he was busy, he didn't have to work any overtime.  A lot of those crazy hours were somewhat by choice for those employees, but still, they needed a break.  I'm sure some of them worked this past week, but it wasn't near what they had been.  Hopefully, as they all start back to work, they will be refreshed and ready to be productive in January.

Personally, it was quite awesome to have Justin home for so many days.  We got to have some excellent family of three time and spend time with other family and friends.  We had four days of Christmas celebrations and didn't feel awful because we still had the rest of the week off.  We got to take a trip to a waterpark hotel with friends in the middle of the week.  We went to two basketball games to watch a player I used to coach.  We rearranged our office, cleaned the garage and the house, and purged some things to make room for the new.  It was a wonderful eleven days.  It is time to get back to the normal routine, but thank you awesome place of employment for caring about your employees and allowing for such a long shut down!

Snow Please

I'm not one to complain about the weather.  It is something you absolutely cannot control, so why complain about it?  Sure, it is no fun when rain or snow or heat ruin events you had planned.  But there is nothing that can be done about it, so why complain?  Also, we live in an area that is known for long, cold, snowy winters.  This happens every year.  If you don't like it, move.  My family is here, my job, blah, blah, blah....then deal with it.  I happen to like winter and snow.  I am always excited for a snowstorm, even if it ruins something I had planned.  In fact, growing up my biggest dream was to play basketball in the State Tournament.  My team qualified my senior year for the first time in school history!  There was a massive snowstorm the day we played and not many fans could come.  It was very disappointing, but we did get stuck there and had to stay an extra night.  It was a blast.  I always love snow!  So, please could we just have some snow already??  I changed my background in hopes it would send a hint to the clouds! 

Remember Forever

Aria is at that stage where I wish someone would invent video recording glasses so I could just wear the glasses all the time and record everything she says and does.  She has so many cute words, phrases, and actions that I just can't capture at all.  And sometimes, rushing to get the video camera ruins the moment.  This blog is kind of like my virtual baby book/journal.  I hope to be able to go back and show Aria all kinds of stuff on here when she is older.  I tried to start a section on here called Toddler Tidbits where I could post random cute things, but I haven't been doing a very good job of posting things lately.  So here are just a few things as of late that I hope to remember forever.

1. Did you know the song, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" is really about Aria?  'Glo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh   oh-oh-oh-oh-oh   oh-oh-oh-oh-Aria'   Absolutely adorable to hear her sing it!  And she just heard it on the radio one day and started singing.

2.  Speaking of singing, I also can't get enough of her singing "Great our God.  Sing with me.  Great our God." 

3.  She has officially nicknamed herself, "Arie"  (pronounced R-E)  If you ask her what her name is, she says, "Aria" or "Aria Pegump" but when she wants something it is "Arie banana please."  Or fill in the blank with whatever she wants.  And she always refers to herself in the third person.

4.  When Aria wants one of us to come play with her, she'll grab our finger and say, "goin.'"  I think she started just pulling on our fingers, but I would ask where we were going so now she says "goin.'"

5.  This kid LOVES to bounce on the spare bed we have downstairs. 

6.  I think I already posted about playing hide-and-seek, but I'll just mention again that we have to do it all the time!

7.  When Aria counts, she always starts at 2 and usually skips 5.

8.  Aria knows the name of all the dogs she comes in contact with .  Every friend or family member who has a dog we've visited or seen pictures of, she knows its name and includes it in the list of family members when we talk about those people.  She knows the entire neighborhood of dogs that live by my parents. 

9.  This child's memory is ridiculous.  She will talk about people we saw or things we did months ago.  She recognizes where we are in pictures she looks at.  If anything is out of place or has changed in any way around the house, she notices it right away.  I am so impressed by her attention to detail.

10.  When I play a song on the piano or even sing her a little tune, at the end, Aria will cheer for me and say, "yay Mommy!"  I love it!  My biggest fan!