Sushi Date

I have taken some time off work to be at home with George. On our first day home together I decided we needed to do something together for the first time. We went out for sushi for lunch. George hasn't had sushi before, so I thought it was a perfect thing for us to do. Don't worry I didn't feed him raw fish! 

It's always a little scary to take a toddler out for a meal. You aren't sure how they will behave while they wait for food or even once the food arrives for that matter. It was the perfect little lunch date! We played with some toys I keep in my purse while we waited for our food. George insisted that the chopsticks were straws. When I opened them he took them to put in the glasses. 

He tried to drink out of the chopsticks and was very confused why nothing was coming out. lol

He loved the Miso Soup. I wasn't sure what he would think of the broth, but he kept asking for more. 

I ordered chicken teriyaki, steam rice, and a couple pieces of a cooked salmon roll. He tore up that food! It was the perfect amount for the 2 of us. He would eat food right off the chopsticks. Thankfully we had 2 pairs, so I could use the other pair. lol

We will have to go again. He really liked the food. I like to introduce lots of foods to him, so he will be open to eating almost anything. So far the only thing he doesn't like is mushrooms. He will eat them cooked, but wants nothing to do with them raw. He throws them saying no no no. 

I am looking forward to our time together. We have lots of adventures planned. 

Wordless Wednesday

Answered Prayers

Have you ever prayed for big things for years and wonder why they just aren't getting answered? Then when they do get answered you sit there in a state of shock. That has been me the past couple months. I have prayed for some big things over the past couple years. In my eyes they were big requests. Asking God to answer these prayers the best he could. My pray even changed to if you aren't going to answer them can you help me accept things? 

What I have learned lately is sometimes the timing isn't right. Doors were shut when I wanted things to change. I prayed for a new job for probably close to 5 plus years. I wasn't happy with my job for many reasons. Every time I would look for a new job a door would close. Or I would get the wrong job offer. Or I would have a health issue. I just couldn't understand why in the world God wasn't listening to me. 

Looking back I can see how things were working out in God's time. How he was teaching me lessons. He was listening to me, but instead he was teaching me to be patient. I had to stop pushing for my timing and wait on His.  I LOVE Lauren Daigle song Trust in You. Not only do we need to trust in Him to get us through our trial, but to accept what is handed to us. 

Motherhood Pressure

Recently I had a conversation with a friend that has grown kids. I mentioned how George loves his bottle and I am not sure when I plan to get rid of it. I said he LOVES it! When he sees a bottle with milk he gets soooo happy. The other night he was laughing, sticking out his tongue and dancing around. He loves for his bottle is like my love for my morning cup of coffee. 

My friend said who cares if he has a bottle. She mentioned how some of her friends when her kids were small all compared when kids walked, gave up bottles, potty trained etc. She said no one ever mentions those things now. Once kids grow up no one ever asks, so when did you stop drinking a bottle, how old were you when you started using the toilet, how many times did it take you to pass your drivers license. She said my kids are functioning adults even though I had to bribe some of them with M&M's to use the toilet. We had a good laugh about it. 

I was talking to a mom who has a son a couple months younger than George at a mommy & me class. People were commenting on how small he is and how their granddaughter was a lot bigger than him but she was younger. ::::inserteyeroll:::: Who cares! I told her he isn't small. He is a good size. Then I told her how small George was when he was born and at 1 years old. She opened up then and started talking. She was such a nice person just trying her best to raise her kid the best way she knows how too. 

It made me really think how much pressure we put on ourselves and our kids. Why are we doing this? Not only are we putting pressure on ourselves and our kids, but on other mothers and children. How boring would this world be if we all did things the same and at the same time. We would have a cookie cutter world which would be totally boring. 

I have been one to judge other moms. I recently read something that opened my eyes. It mentioned how a mom might be putting on an older child shoes because they have autism or had a rough day. At that moment the mom is helping the child cope with whatever they are dealing with. I am not even putting it as good as the person who wrote the article. It made me stop and think. Instead of giving a mom the side eye at the park the other day who was putting her daughter about 8 or 9 shoes on her I just smiled. Maybe she is coddling that child, but guess what that is NONE of my business. I have my own child to raise. And if you don't have a child to raise keep your damn opinions to yourself. lol One day you will have a child and see things totally different or you won't have a kid and will continue to know everything. 

I love being a mom more than anything in this world. What I do not love is dealing with some of the other mothers in this world. 

Rainy Day Hardware Store Fun

Dale Hardware for the win on this rainy day! This is a place for grown men and small boys. You can keep them both happy wandering around on a rainy day. They have these adorable little carts that little kids LOVE to push. 

George LOVED pushing the cart. He didn't even care that it was empty for the majority of the trip. 

The only time the cart was left was when he saw the lawnmowers. Oh dear he let out a LOUD scream and went running. He wanted to climb on each of them. He tried to push them too. 

This was the cheapest activity I have found. We will be making many more trips back to Dale Hardware on rainy days. The little shopping carts keep kids from touching all the merchandise. They get to run off their energy pushing the carts. Mom's put on your running shoes, grab a coffee and take your boys to Dale Hardware for some fun on a rainy day. I am sure you can find other hardware stores in your area with little carts. Lowe's & Home Depot you should get your act together and invest in some mini carts! lol

FTC Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I am writing this post based on my experience with the service and all opinions are my own. I am not being compensated to write this post. 

Wordless Wednesday

Tips for Traveling with a Toddler

We are getting ready to travel with a toddler again. The first time we flew I scoured Pinterest looking for ideas on how to keep a toddler busy on a plane. Well I packed a bag FULL of stuff. Lesson learned you don't need to take that much stuff. On the way home I lightened my load and brought a few things for him to play with. 

My tip for any trip is to pack new toys. Go to your local dollar store and buy 5-10 items depending the age and amount of travel time. I like to buy dollar items because I don't care if they get lost or ruined. George loves to pull things out of packages, so tissues are fabulous. Post it notes are another fun thing. He can write on them, post them around the car or airplane and move them around. You can also buy stickers to put on the post it notes. 

Above are some newer things I bought for our upcoming trip. He won't know how to fling the chickens, but he will like the rubbery feel. I am thinking once we get to our destination we will have fun flinging them around the condo. 

The little play packs are from the $ section of Target. He loves to pull everything out of the bag. Stickers, crayons, pictures, scribble on the items and shove it all back in. It keeps him busy for a little while. 

George LOVES my wallet. He loves to pull out the cards, hand them to pay for items and shove them back in. I decided to take one of Art's wallets he doesn't use anymore and put in some gift cards, hotel cards and various other cards we had laying around. He has fun pulling them out and putting them back in. One thing I learned was to only put a few cards in the wallet. Keep the rest to the side to replace the ones that he loses. When there are too many cards he gets overwhelmed and isn't interested. 

He is really into books right now. He brings me different books on a daily basis to read. His favorite are books with flaps to open, pop up books and ones that have different textures to feel. I bought him a couple flap books. 

I keep all these toys in a container in his closet, so he can't play with them. I want them to be new exciting toys just for a trip. That way he is excited to play with them. 

I recently discovered Turo a company that can help you make some money while you are on a trip. Did you know at certain airports you can leave your car, park free, earn some money by letting others drive your car while you are gone? Ok this is awesome because I HATE paying to park my car while I am gone. We will be looking into leaving our car in the future when we are gone. Check them out if you are willing to let someone drive your vehicle while you are gone. 

FTC Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I am writing this post based on my experience with the service and all opinions are my own. I am not being compensated to write this post. 

Change in Careers

I am not a big crier. It takes a lot for me to cry. One thing that makes me cry every time is reading Rory's blog This Life I Live. Usually I'm sobbing. I can relate so much to how Joey felt about not wanting to leave her little girl. 

Cancer is such a ugly thing. It takes people way too early. I didn't really worry about dying before I had G. I knew my friends and family would be sad if some thing happened. Having a child as you battle cancer is a whole other story. I'm not afraid of much. I don't like the dark and I get scared going into dark rooms. I'm terrified of dying and leaving my child. The pain he will go through and the sadness he will face tears me up. 

I've made some big decisions lately because of Joey. I have one life to live and I need to give my all to my husband and son. I could careless about a career. I've worked very hard to make it where I am in my career. Sometimes I think the things I was able to accomplish over the past year was God saying here you go I'm helping you accomplish these things, so you can walk away and be proud.

The weekend that Joey passed away helped me make a huge decision. That weekend I made a final decision I no longer was going to work. My life may be short, but I am not going to give myself to a job instead I am going to give myself to my family. Enjoying my moments left in this life. It has been one of the best decisions I have made for all of us. Within a few days I felt like a HUGE burden was lifted off me. There are times I have to remind myself I am not on vacation and I won't have to return to work. 

I have spent a lot of my life planning for the future and wishing for future events. Now I am enjoying the here and now. I will sit on our patio watching George spill bubbled all over the place. This is the moment in life where I use to dream of and hope for. 

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 8 Years!

We made it through the 7 year itch to 8 years of marriage!!! 

As I look back over the past year I am so very happy with where we are today. We have been through some crappy crappy stuff over the past year. There was a period I thought crap we aren't going to make it to 8 years. That is just the reality of how things went. We have pushed through some rough stuff to make things work. I am proud of both of us for working on ourselves this year to make us better for the other. 

When I decided to marry Art I never questions if he loved me or would be faithful to me.  Faithfulness in a spouse is priceless! I am thankful I found that in my spouse. He has loved me through some dark times in our marriage. He has seen me at my worst. I remember the first time I was sick when we were dating. I had him take me to urgent care when I had strep throat. He made me smile or laugh the whole way there. I finally had to ask him to stop making me laugh because I was so horribly sick I just didn't have the strength. 

We have spent a lot of smiling and laughing in our marriage. The pranksters in each of us have helped keep our marriage fun. Maybe next year instead of an anniversary gift I should turn it into another April's Fools Day. Oh how I love when I get him on a good prank. This reminds me I need to blog about the great ones I pulled on him this year. 

My heart is full and running over as we enter into year 8! 

Toddler Time at the Farm

We went on a play date to Ardenwood Farms the other day. They have Toddler Time on Wednesday. George loves going to the farm. His favorite thing are the animals. Usually he loves the goats. This trip he was very into feeding the sheep and waving at the rabbits. 

Playing in the corn

grinding the corn

learning how to milk a cow

Waving at the rabbits

We had a lot of fun!