11 Months

I know I'm a bit late with this post, but Judah is still 11 months old so it's not irrelevant. ;)  March was kind of a slow month for us.  The weather was still pretty yucky.  We even got our biggest snowfall this month!  Judah was still stick for a good portion of the month.  I know he can't wait for the warmer weather, either! 

Climbing up the stairs

It amazes me because when Micah was 11 months old I would look at him and see a toddler already.  When I look at Judah he's still such a baby.  But I love it.  Judah has a bit of a temper, but he's still a pretty content kid.  He likes to join in whatever you're doing, but he's also content to just sit still and watch for a while.  He's a very snuggly baby.  It melts my heart whenever he puts his head down on my shoulder.  He's a climber, too.  If I'm laying on the ground, playing with the boys he always crawls over to me, growls and then starts to attack me.  It's hysterical because he just comes at me.  And if I'm in his way he'll just climb right over me.  Micah has still never climbed out of his crib.  I'm convinced Judah will do it before he's two.  Judah loves to eat.  There's not many foods that he's tried that he doesn't like.  He pretty much eats whatever we're eating now.  If we are eating something, he will whine and let you know he wants some.  And if you give him something different than what you're eating he'll let you know he's not happy about it.  He's a little stingy with his smiles and laughs, but when he laughs it's the cutest laugh in the world!  He just belly laughs, I love it.  And the person who is best at making him laugh is his big brother.  Judah thinks Micah hung the moon.  I cannot wait for them to be a little bit older and see how they play and interact together--one of the benefits of having boys so close in age.  Here are some other highlights from Judah's month:

  *Judah went sledding for the first time.  I thought he would enjoy it more than he actually did.  He didn't seem to care one way or another.

Trying to get a picture of the boy Kolar cousins on St. Patrick's Day

  *Judah went to the Oak Forest Fleadh Parade.  It was pretty cold, but he did great sitting there and watching it all.

  *Judah learned how to stand on his own.  He's been cruising all over the house, but now he just stands there.  I know walking isn't too far behind!

  *We took a little trip to Wisconsin to celebrate Judah's cousin's first birthday.  He did great on the ride up there, not so much on the ride home.  He was overtired and just not happy.  He was very good at the party, though, and loved playing with his cousins!

  *We celebrated Judah's first Easter.  I already wrote a post about how we've decided to celebrate Easter.  Judah had a great time at Oma and Boompa's house and he especially loves his new sippy cup!

That's it.  A pretty low-key month.  I can't believe the next time I update about Judah he will be a year old!  My baby boy is growing up way too fast!  But I'm really looking forward to him being a toddler this summer and playing outside and going to the beach, etc.  It'll be so much fun!

Judah loves spaghetti just as much as his brother!

He loves getting into the refrigerator!

Playing in a box--who needs toys?

Whoa!  Judah's hair is getting long!

Easter 2013

After making such a big deal out of celebrating the true meaning of Christmas this year, Brad and I started to think about Easter.  If we make sure to stay focused on Christ during Christmas and not Santa or the presents then why don't we make such an effort on Easter?  After all, isn't Christmas really about Easter?  Jesus came on Christmas so that we could have Easter.  And Easter is starting to become more and more about the Easter bunny and coloring eggs and chocolate and presents.  That's just not what it's really about, though.  And we would rather start off with the true meaning of Easter than have to go back and do damage control in the future because we let things get out of control.

But we just weren't sure how to stay focused on Christ but still participate in the typical Easter festivities.  As I've mentioned before, Brad and I love to give presents, especially to our boys, so we really didn't want to not give them any gifts at all.  After searching for some time we found a few ideas that we really liked and have decided to make part of our family tradition.

The first is celebrating the first day of Spring the way most people celebrate Easter Sunday.  The boys woke up and found their baskets filled with goodies.  We usually try to give the boys gifts that we know they will use rather than something that will just fill a basket.  So, in Judah's basket we put two new diapers, a sippy cup, and a book (we give the boys books for every holiday).  Micah's basket had LeapFrog letter magnets, stamp letters, bath crayons, and a book.  Then, we had a special breakfast.  Micah loves pancakes so Brad made him pancakes in the shape of a bunny.  Did you know that a bunny is a symbol of Easter because they procreate so easily that they are a sign of new life, which is what Easter is really all about?  Cool, huh?

Then, that morning, we had a First Day of Spring party with some of our friends.  At our party, we had an egg hunt, colored eggs, made a craft, and had some yummy food.  Micah had a blast playing with everyone and he got to enjoy all of the regular Easter activities, apart from Easter Sunday.  This is definitely a tradition we will keep up!

However, focusing on Jesus at Easter is about more than ignoring the "secular" part of the holiday.  It's about celebrating him and his resurrection.  So, Easter morning when the boys woke up they each had a little something waiting for them at their seat at the table.  Each of them got a book about Easter, which we read to them during the day, and a Bible verse printed on a piece of paper.  The Bible verse is the verse that Brad and I have chosen to pray for each of them in the next year.  A verse to focus on for each of them.  We printed the verse on a piece of cardstock and are going to buy a frame to put them in to hang in their rooms so that they can be reminded that we are always praying for them.  What better gift can we give our children then to show them that we are praying for them? 

Curious what verses we chose?  For Micah we chose Ephesians 3:17b-19 "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and
long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God."  Pretty self-explanatory as to why we chose it. :)  For Judah we chose Pslam 139:13-14a "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  Judah has had a lot of tummy and skin issues.  We're trying to figure out if he had food allergies or sensitivities.  Sometimes it can be so easy to get upset and feel like there's just something wrong.  But we need to be reminded that God created him just as he is.  And if he does have allergies, God created him that way.  He's a unique little boy.  Very
different from his brother, that's the way God made him.  And we praise God for making Judah Judah and we want him to know that.

After breakfast, we went to church and had a wonderful service!  Both of the boys got to sit with us during worship, which I love.  I think it's so good for them to see us praising God with song and I just love sharing that with them.  Then, we went to my parents' house for some time with my family.  While we were there, my dad read the resurrection story from Micah's Bible.  It was a great way to end the day. 

I'm so happy with the traditions that we are making for our boys and the example that we are setting for them.  It is my prayer that Easter will never be about some bunny or coloring eggs for them, but it will always be about the amazing gift that Jesus gave them on the Resurrection Sunday when he conquered death because of his love for them.  And I pray that someday they will accept that gift as their own and love Jesus with all of their heart.

No More Perfect Moms

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending the Hearts at Home Conference with some women from my  MOPS group.  This was my second year going and both years I have come away with so much.

This year's theme was "No more perfect moms."  While not all of my workshops addressed this topic specifically I was hit all weekend with the reminder that I don't have to be perfect.  Jill Savage talked about what she calls "the perfection infection."  We read facebook statuses or twitter tweets and compare our everyday with someone else's highlights.  We look on pinterest and beat ourselves up for not cutting our kids' sandwiches up into their favorite character or not having a perfectly clean, beautiful house, or not having a gourmet meal every night for dinner.  We strive for perfection, but perfection is simply not obtainable.  We will fail every time.

I am so guilty of this.  It's not that I'm a perfectionist, necessarily (I settle for "good enough" in a lot of areas!).  It's more that I want to be the best mommy and wife.  I so easily get caught up in what I can be doing better that I forget about what I'm doing right right now.  I truly see this as the most important job I will ever have and I am afraid of failure.  I don't want my boys to grow up and feel like I neglected them because we didn't do projects together or I didn't make cool things to play.  I don't want them to go to school and be the only kid that doesn't know his letters and numbers.  I don't want them to feel like we never go anywhere fun.

But the thing is, they won't.  It's not what we do that my boys will remember.  It's who they do it with.  And right now my boys are easily impressed.  A morning playing trains with Mommy is Micah's favorite day ever.  A lunch of chicken nuggets, french fries, and a juice box is the best.  Sitting on the couch, watching Thomas is how Micah would prefer to spend his afternoon.  And sitting in Mommy's lap, reading a couple of books, and getting his back rubbed is the best way to get ready for bed. 

So why do I put so much pressure on myself?  Why do I feel like I have to strive to be perfect?  It only stresses me (and my family) out.  I was challenged last weekend to stop striving for perfection and just focus on being okay.  Okay is a good place to be.  It's not putting unrealistic expectations on myself or those around me.  It's being okay with failure because I am human and I am going to fail.  It's making time for what really matters (my family) and not getting caught up in the frilly things that don't.  So, I'm going to work on being "the world's okayest mom."  That doesn't mean we're not going to do art projects or fun activities in our house anymore.  It just means if we don't do those things I will be okay with it.  If all we do all day is play trains that's okay.  Because that's all my little boy really wants.  And at the end of the day what matters most to me is making him happy.

What about you?  Will you stop striving for perfection with me and settle for the world's okayest mom?

Sledding

A couple weeks ago we finally got a good snow.  Both Brad and I were bummed, however, because he was at work all day and couldn't enjoy it with Micah.  But as soon as Brad got home that day he ran upstairs to change his clothes so that he could take Micah sledding.  At the last minute, we decided that Judah and I would join them as well.  So, we bundled both of the boys up and headed down the street to the Manhattan sledding hill.

 This was Micah's first time sledding.  He was scared at first (no surprise there!) so we took Judah down first.  Judah, of course, loved it.  Eventually, we had to just grab Micah and go.  After that, he realized that he loved it and wanted to go again and again.  He even climbed up the hill every time all by himself.  He tried carrying the sled, too, but it was too hard for him to keep his traction and hold the sled.

Everyone had a fun time sledding.  I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to go at least once this winter, even if it was the end of winter.  We're already looking forward to NEXT winter when we get to go again--maybe Micah will even go down by himself!

10 Months

This was a rough month.  It seems like someone was sick every day this month.  That made for a lot of time inside.  Poor Judah had both influenza and the stomach flu.  He's also dealing with some nasty eczema that is pretty much all over his body.  He's been handling the sickness pretty well, though.  He likes to cuddle when he doesn't feel good, which I love!  He gets a bit whiny, too, which can be hard to deal with, but you take the good with the bad.  With all of the time spent at home this month Judah has really started turning into a big boy.  He pulls himself up on everything and is even beginning to stand on his own (not quite there yet, but he's trying!).  He's into everything and loves playing with his toys.  Wherever big brother is, he wants to be, but he also enjoys his time alone.  Not much highlights from this month, but here they are:

  *Judah got his second tooth.  He bites down on everything now--mostly our fingers--and it hurts!

  *He weighed 20lbs 11oz at his doctor's appointment.  Not sure what his height was, though, we forgot to have the nurse write it down and I never heard what she said.

  *He celebrated his first Valentine's Day.  Mommy and Micah had BSF that morning and Daddy had to work that night so after his morning nap, Judah and Daddy met us at Giordanno's for some heart-shaped pizza (a tradition of ours).  

  *He had his first sleepover at Mimi's house.  We spent Saturday at the Museum of Science and Industry, then he went home with Mimi and Micah.  She said he did great.  We were happy for a night away, but were even happier to return home to our boys!

  *He started saying "mamamama"  He says it all the time now.  He's a little chatterbox, always has something to say.

  *He went on his first train ride to Oak Lawn Children's Museum.  He had such a fun time looking around at everything.  His favorite was hearing his voice echo in the train station.

Fingerpainting on a "sick day."

Happy Valentine's Day from Judah!

Eating dinner.

Hanging on to his train ticket.

Doesn't he look like he doesn't feel good?  Poor baby!

Watching the Irish Fest Parade from our front window--he loved it!

Playing at the Children's Museum.

Waiting for the train with Mommy.

Being silly with Daddy while waiting for the train.

My Little Conductor

I've mentioned a few times that Micah's new obsession is with trains.  He is seriously all about trains right now.  Every morning the first thing he does is go to his box of trains and ask us to put together his track.  He usually sleeps with two or three of his trains.  When he was sick playing with his trains is the only thing he did that didn't involve laying on the couch and watching TV.  Whenever we come up to a railroad crossing he gets super excited about "going over the tracks" and seeing "the ding-dings."  He has a sixth sense when it comes to hearing a train whistle and he names every train he sees.  "That's Thomas."  "Here comes Percy."  "It's Gordon!"  The only time he gets possessive and mad at other kids is when they're messing with "his" trains (whether they are actually his or not).  What can I say?  The boy loves his trains.

Brad and I have been wanting to take him for a ride on a train for a while.  We actually planned to a couple times, but someone kept getting sick, preventing us from going.  We had some reservations, too.  Even though Micah loves trains he's scared of them.  He won't go near the real life ones at the Museum of Science and Industry.  Whenever we drive by the boxcar in town Micah reminds us that the train "doesn't move" because we always have to assure him that it won't move.  We weren't sure how he would actually do getting on a train.

But we decided to try it out anyway.




Today we took the train to the Children's Museum.  It was a short ride--just five stops, but just enough time that if he was really freaking out we wouldn't have to suffer too long.  And there would be something fun to do when we got off the train.  Micah did great.  He was super excited the whole way there.  When he heard the train coming he started to get really scared and told us he didn't want to get on the train yet.  But we got on anyway.  And within 30 seconds he was good.  He was in awe!  He loved being on the tracks and looking out the window.  He kept telling us we were "puffing."  He anticipated every tunnel and bridge.  He said hi to the conductor (and showed him his conductor's hat that he was so proud to wear) and just kept looking around at everything. 

It was a perfect trip.  It was so much fun to see how much he enjoyed being on the train.  I loved watching his excitement build as we were driving to the station.  He kept telling us he was wearing his conductor's hat and asking if we were going to ride the train.  Today was one of those days you look forward to even before you have kids.  It was a good day.

Some Days You Just Get it Right

This winter is getting to me.  I mean, really getting to me.  I don't think there's been a week since Christmas that one of us hasn't been sick with something.  Normally, I don't hate winter, but if March 20th doesn't get here soon I'm moving to Florida.  We have been stuck inside for far too long without seeing our friends or doing fun activities.  We have watched way too much TV.  And I don't know how many more times I can push the train around the track before I lose it.  Like send me to the nuthouse lose it.

Lately I have just felt like I am missing the mark so much.  I lose my patience quickly.  Give in too easily.  Neglect the activities I have planned (all that time spent on Pinterest!) in lieu of another episode of Thomas.  I didn't make those sensory bottles for Judah yet.  We're only on letter B with Micah.  I didn't make that dinner or bake those cookies.  I've been focusing on all the things I haven't done, frustrated because I know I can do so much better.  And every morning I pledge to do just that, but then Judah is cranky and takes a long time to go down for his nap.  Or Micah is so happy just watching Thomas.  And I go to bed feeling like I failed yet again. 

Then, there's nights like tonight.  Brad was at work so it was just me and the boys at dinner.  We are sitting at the table and I tell Micah we have to pray before we can eat.  He folds his hands and says, "Dear Lord, thank you for today." 

And I just said "Amen."

Amen.  Let it be.  Not only did my son just pray for the first time ever, but it was so perfect.  Thank you for today.  For the blessing of this day.  For waking us all up this morning.  Thank you for the time I had to play with both of my little boys.  Thank you for lunch that we all enjoyed together as a family.  Thank you for this day, with all of its successes and failures. 

Suddenly, I'm not so focused on how I failed, but on what I've done right.  Micah prayed for the first time.  What a proud moment.  Some days you just get it right.