Almost 20 months old!

Kristian, what are you up to these days...? You will be 20 months old in 10 days!  You are an independent little guy and you know what you want and won't stop until you get it! 

You now ask for specific foods you want. At breakfast today you asked for cheese, yesterday you wanted apples and bananas. At lunch yesterday you asked for avocado and always ask for more and more of the foods you like.

You mastered going up and down the stairs on your own but you are determined to learn how to go up and down without holding on! You get brave sometimes and look at me with a 'see I can do it' face. If I say you will fall, you you will say  Noooooooooo. Haha our conversations are so fun these days especially when you yell at me if I'm not giving in to your demands haha! I wouldn't have it any other way!

You're a fun toddler that loves to play and laugh and of course you have the toddler bossiness of wanting things your way. You are so cute so it's really hard to not just give in! 

You love your cousins but get a little jealous if mommy and daddy are playing with them too!

We cleared out all the older baby like toys and brought in new ones. You love balls,blocks, cars and puzzles. 

You absolutely love the water!! We need some warmer days tho! 

I love you soooo much!! 

Father's Day weekend

Happy Fathers Day dads! 

And to my husband on his second Father's Day! Kristian adores his dad and its truly amazing watching them play together. Kristian is my husbands mini man ha! They are soo much alike! 

For Father's Day I got the FIL, husband and baby k all matching polos. Totally cute! 

We went to my grandparents house and to my inlaws house yesterday. It was a long day but so much fun seeing everyone ;) baby k was so tired he even cried and was begging to sleep when we gave him a bath in the evening! 

Summer cousin fun

Kristian is so funny when it comes to his cousin baby E, he has toddler kinda love for her, he gives her kisses and not so soft pats haha. Yesterday we went to the mall and when we put baby E in the carseat next to him in the car he yelled, OHhhh Noooo. Haha! He always looks over at her expecting her to chat back or something. He'll babble and point saying baby. I'm thinking he's asking her what she thinks she's doing in his car haha. Baby E is soooo cute! See pic below. 

The kids were so good at the mall which was great for me and my sister ;) we shopped a little at H & M. My sister and I would have these kinda dates before we had kids and spend hours in the mall. Not anymore ha! We are on baby time. 

After an hour or so we went in the family bathroom so baby E can nurse and baby k can run and get his energy out. These bathrooms are awesome. Only for mommy and babies and security lets you in. So glad they have these in most malls now. 

I started going through all of baby k's toys and filtering out the baby ones, some to give away and some to save for baby #2 and bringing out more toys for his age. Little K loves mostly bouncy balls books and blocks and his Elmo.... But so far his favorite thing to do is run run run ha! 

Number one rule in pool safety with kids...

Stay within an arms reach! That's the number one rule in pool safety that was taught to us in last years CPR course.

This weekend we went over to my aunts house for a swim. The whole way driving there I was a little nervous. Last summer baby K didn't walk yet so he was in my arms at all times. This year he is walking and running all over it's hard to keep him close! The whole drive there I repeated in my head... Don't let your eyes off him! Not even for a second! I remembered the number one rule in water safety to keep kids in an arms reach of you.  While there I didn't even need to mention my fears out loud, my family is amazing and every single one of them had their eyes on Kris.. not only because he's a cutie ha! But for his safety. I never let my eyes off him and stayed close!

This summer will be full of water fun I'm sure and baby K loves the water so the second rule I want to add is a life jacket for baby K when walking around a pool/beach area. I bought a swimsuit with an attached floaty in it, that will definitely be this summers bathing suit.

Praying for everyone to have a safe and fun summer!

A little ice cream on this rainy cold spring day

Yes, it's rainy and cold here. The weather is clearly confused. It's not fall, summer is around the corner! Right? I hope ha! 

The last couple days have been cold and rainy so we have been having some indoor fun at playlands and baby groups in our area. Baby k loves to just run free and explore. 

At the zoo over the weekend we used the angel wings to keep Kristian from running too far, he is a fast one so in crowds it's a little scary! My niece had hers too so he liked doing what his big cousin was doing. Which is great because now we can go for walks down the street and I don't need to worry about him making a fast one to the street! 

Today we went to visit baby Ella and met my cousin for dessert too. Yum! Funnel cakes! 

Baby K or should I say little K since he is not a baby anymore, is growing sooo fast! His vocabulary is expanding everyday and he surprises me with something new every single day!! Some words I don't recall saying or teaching him! Haha

He is such a big boy wanting to do things on his own and with out mommies help. Like eating an apple on his own or a whole banana without cutting it up. 

He has 3 canines poking thru leaving only 5 more teeth to come. Soon his front smile will be full! 

His smile just melts my heart!!! 

Check me out on Vine Dreamtnm 

Birthdays, showers and zoo fun!

This weekend was jammed packed with fun. 

Saturday we had my cousins fiancées bridal party and another cousins birthday party! My husband and baby K stayed home playing while I was at the bridal shower. Just to leave and find out baby k walked down steps all by himself! My husband got it on video! I was soo sad that I missed that!!! We have been practicing everyday! I will post the video next post! 

The shower was so nice and I got to catch up with a lot of family members. 

That same evening we went downtown to a restaurant in a old Mansion that was built in the 1800's for my cousins 25th birthday. The dinner was delicious and we had a great night out. 

Sunday we went to the zoo. When we first got there we decided to see the Pandas first. The line was long! And it rained on us! Ha! But other than that the weather was great! 

The kids had a great time! 

Fun rain or shine

Yesterday was a mix of rain and sun. So we went to the mall for a bit to run around and later in the day we spent it outdoors. Baby k is ok staying in his stroller for a bit, but the second he is out he does not want to get back in. He had fun pushing is stroller through the mall ha!

We bought a water table this year and I'm soo glad we did. Warm weather splashing and playing with water is so much fun for Kristian. He loves it! Video link below too! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD331lb5c7k

Spring cleaning on a rainy day

Baby K and I are still sick with our colds. :( Hopefully they will be fully gone soon! 

 I've been tackling all our closets and doing some spring cleaning. We will be redoing our floors soon so I don't want to  deal with over filled closets when we do! 

I finally finished baby K's closet today. Soo much small clothing. Got me thinking that baby #2 has to be a boy ha! He will get a lot of hand me downs. It actually made me emotional seeing the tiny little newborn clothes! 

Trying to organize with a toddler is more work, baby k kept taking things out of the boxes instead of putting them in. So let's just say our closet clean up took longer than it should have haha. 

3 totes full of old clothes that can be used again. And 2 boxes of shoes. He has more shoes than I do in just 19 months ha! 

A little down but fun weekend

This weekend baby K and I were sick with a cold, we still have it which makes this morning a cranky one for both of us!

We had a family BBQ yesterday which was great. The weather wasn't too bad but geez we could be having a better May! Hope it's warmer this week! 

Baby K will be 19 months this week. I can hardly believe it!!! He surprises me everyday! He is strong willed and has such a soft side too. Saturday we were both grumpy from being sick and I spoke firmly to him to stop fighting his nap. He made a pouty face and came to hug and pat my back and looked up at me with puppy eyes. Oh boy. I'm in trouble. How could I ever be upset with him! He just knows how to melt my heart! 

He is into everything and anything these days. He knows how to open our bedroom door and tries to open the other doors to go outside. He can't reach the locks yet but soon we will need to get door safety thingies! 

He never stops when he wants to learn something. He is so dedicated and persistent. He wants to go up and down the stairs alone, so every chance he gets he practices. 

My boy is growing up way too fast!!! 

SAHM-WAHM-WM-Daycare-Nanny-Bottle feeding-Breastfeeding-Milk-No Milk-You get it.

Yesterday was Build 'Em Up Tuesday post on Kellys Korner Blog. Being  confident in your choices in Motherhood.

Oh boy, where do I start! We all have our fair share of stories on this from the second we found out we were pregnant, heck even before when it was just a thought.

I know soo many different families and lifestyles... SAHM's WAHM's, Working Moms, kids in daycare, with a nanny with grandparents or friends or home with mom or dad. And every single parent has some kind of doubt or guilt from decision they made.  NO ONE is perfect yet perfect in our own way. We are all doing what we feel is best for our family.

We need to be stronger and trust in ourselves with the decisions we have made or are going to make. Many times we don't have the choice too, so we are blessed to even have the opportunity to make a decision to begin with. We need to trust that things will always workout. As long as our children are loved as the priority :)

Before I had a child (and I know you were the same :) you thought... OH! I will be like this as a mom, Do that as a mom, I will NEVER do that or have a child like THAT mom! Ha!


Once that little one is in your life so many thoughts and decisions race through your mind everyday!

What I learned early on is to follow my baby's lead and that has truly worked out best for me. Eating, Sleeping, Talking and going forward I will always follow his lead without pressuring him to hurry up. This works best for me with less stress. The times that I did try to force things like a sleep schedule it caused me and my family soo much stress. Then one day when baby k was ready, he gave himself a schedule and it's perfect for us.
 

I always remind myself to do what is best for my family. This took me a while to really follow and still I need to repeat it many times. No two families are the same, no two babies/kids are the same. This brings out so many insecurities about yourself as a parent too. I always love when my husband gets advice from other fathers about how WE should be doing things in OUR home... They do not know us or our lifestyle and why is it that THEY are doing it so right and we so wrong? To me, they are doing it the way they know best... and so are we. I may not agree with their ways and they not with mine but I have enough things to think about than what others are doing. (even though we tend to look at others sometimes) I'm only thinking whats best for me and my family. So next time we think about how we are doing things vs another family, lets remember that we are all doing what is best for our families and doing it the way we know how.

Kelly said it best, lets support other mothers and not make them feel that they are WRONG just because they are DIFFERENT than you. And support our own decisions too because we can be so hard on ourselves for being different.