Become like children

This whole past week, Attila and I have been putting on Vacation Bible School (along with other volunteers, of course).  As much as it was stressful to plan this year (we were NOT as organized as last year, but do the kiddies care?) we have had fun and have been in awe of the purity and innocence of these beautiful children.  It is such a joy to work with them and to learn from them.  These kids are our friends, really.  We had a woman from the diocese come check out our VBS program yesterday and she made a really good point.  VBS is usually 15 hours for one week in the summer.  Religious ed. on Sundays during the school year lasts about 30 ish weeks and each session is usually about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  VBS is half that!  It really is a great tool to teach the children about our faith in the middle of the school break, and to surround them with God's love and His grace.  We had such a great group of kiddos who were soaking up anything we tell them about the Lord.  And we had water games.  What else do you need, really?!

I have some good memories of VBS from when I was little.  Planning the crafts and seeing everything come together this week gets me so excited for when our little James is ready to engage his faith like this.  The crafts alone get me thinking of so many crafts that I can do with him at home!  And he survived this week.  He was barely home during the daytime, he witnessed the stress of his parents, and he's been introduced to a large group of crazy, loud children.  Today, he spent some time with two of our little friends who are 7 and 8.  He loooooved watching them run around.  He would sit, watch them with excitement, and move his little legs so fast, wishing he could join them.  Too cute!

Praise God.  "The disciples asked Jesus, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?  He called a child, whom he put among them and said, 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever welcome one such child in my name, welcomes me."  Matthew 18:2-5

Look what I can do!

So, I wanted to try uploading videos on here to see if it was quicker that facebook, but not really!  I was going to post some more videos later.  This is James playing with favorite toy, Mr. Golden Sun.  It's so exciting to see him develop!  This was probably taken two weeks ago. 

Make sure to cjeck facebook for more photos :)

Also, I'm thinking of a new title for our blog, soo keep an eye out!

Parenting

Now that our "teeny Valentiny" (who is not so teeny anymore) is here, I plan on using this blog to post about some of our ideas about parenting and education.  Especially now that James is developing so fast; almost everyday he hits new milestones and it is so exciting.  I love being attentive to how I can help all his areas of development.  Attila and I are totally invested in helping him grow to have complete trust and security with us so he has nothing to do but grow into a happy and whole person.  And by "whole person" I mean we will try our best to put all of our love and energy into who he is emotionally, intellectually, socially, and most of all spiritually.  We aren't perfect parents and never will be, but by the grace of God, he will grow up as part of a unified, peaceful, and safe family environment. 

My first installment of this is to introduce a style of parenting that Attila and I have sort of "adopted".  I am going to include a link that can explain it better then I can.  It's called "Attachment Parenting".  It really is just a starting point for T and I as parents, we'll see where we go with it through out our life.  We're most attracted to the idea of listening to your child's needs and getting to know them the best we can.  It encourages listening to your own instincts as a parent, and not what others tell you you should be doing. Like I said, we're totally invested in our child and this is an extension of our hearts desires.  If you're curious, check out the link, and don't hesitate to ask questions.  Don't be turned off by the name of the style of parenting.  Our goal is not to have a 6 year old child who clings to our leg everywhere we go, as I think people often picture when they hear "attachment parenting."  Even I was totally turned off when I first heard about this.  And I will admit I've lacked courage in letting people know this is what we're trying to do.  But how can I be ashamed of trying to love and provide security for my baby? 

Ultimately, we understand that there are many ways to parent and there is no right or wrong in parenting, as long as you're motivated by free, total, unconditional love!

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/attachment-parenting/what-ap-7-baby-bs

So many clothes!

This week is a week of denial and stretching.  Let me explain:

My son is/has grown out of 0-3 months sized clothes.  But I am too lazy to switch them out for the next size up.  Part of this is because we don't have anything to put the old clothes in and partly because I don't want to wash and fold and put away all the 3-6 months clothes.  So I am stretching how long he can really last in 0-3 months.

He also has soooo many clothes, many which are cute and were given as gifts and probably haven't been worn much so I feel the need to make sure he wears everything atleast once.  Some days, I put on a cute outfit, only for him to spit up/pee/poop all over it before we can take a pic or get out in public for people to see.   Then I think, "Why do people pay good money on new clothes for babies that are cute and what not when the child could care less?"  By the generosity of others, we haven't bought many clothes ourselves and when we do, we go to Goodwill or Once Upon a Child. 

I sometimes think that our next baby should be a boy so we don't have to buy new clothes for a girl, haha!  But our family would buy us clothes for a girl, I;m sure.  I can't even imagine how many clothes we would collect if we had a girl and how much more I will try to put her in all the cute clothes.   

This whole week has been pretty laid back.  I've atleast managed to cook dinner everyday and do the dishes.  When I do the dishes, I put James in his highchair, pull him next to the sink, and talk to him about things.  He just laughs and smiles.  I think he likes the sound of the running water.  Maybe he likes to hear me talk ;)  He also loved watching me bake a pie on Monday.  It was my first pie - strawberry and raspberry.  Yum yum! 

I also need to go to the store today, but baby is sleeping and I'm watching soccer :)  Maybe later...

Proud baby keep on rolling...

We had a good weekend.  James had a hard day Friday night when we went to a friend's house and then again Monday at Attila's parents.  Monday morning was very rough on him so we decided to stay put and not try to go to see some more friends and family.  It was hard for me to know that we weren't going to see certain people, but it was best for our son.  Sunday was the best day.  We went to the mall, where he fell asleep in Dad's arms and then to a friends house, where he did really well.  He was quite social, really!

Tuesday morning we drove back home and settled in at home for the day.  It was a big day for Attila James!  He had a very messy diaper and peed on himself when I was changing it, so we took a bath.  When the bath was done, of course he peed on himself again.  At lunch, Dad came home and we decided to have tummy time.  See, he really hates tummy time so I've been forcing us to do it so he gets more used to it.  Over the weekend when we tried it, he did really well and held his head up really high.  This particular tummy time he rolled over!  It brought tears to my eyes, hehe :)  It is so neat to see him develop and get to new milestones.  Today (Wednesday) we noticed how much he was watching us eat lunch, and we even watched as he mimicked chewing.  Yikes, I was thinking it may be awhile before we start solids, but he may be ready in a couple months.  We'll see!  We also watched him focus on deliberatlely moving his leg up to kick my knee.  He's the coolest kid, ever!

I feel like we're in a strange limbo period.  James loves to be awake and play, but there comes a point when all of the sudden, his mood changes and he's crabby and super tired.  I just don't know how to prevent these sudden outbursts that are evidently him overstimulated and tired.  I really don't know how I feel about putting him on a "schedule" where I try to get him to nap at specific times during the day.  I think he's too young for that and that it would be exhausting to almost "sleep train" him.  We've just started getting in the routine of bedtime at the same time every night and wake up for the day every day at roughly the same time.  Some days he seems to need more sleep; other days not so much.  It's a waiting game and a balance game, I guess! 

And today, there was no rolling over at tummy time :(  But the day is not over and I know it may be awhile before he does it again...

On the road again...

This week has been the first week where I felt like we were really on a do-able routine.  Bed time everynight at the same time, wake-up routine the same everyday, walks outside everyday at the same time, etc.  Last weekend was a particularly hard weekend for James (he had many bouts of inconsolable crying).  This week, I tried some new tactics to calming him and it was a good week, if I should say so myself. 

We're going to South Bend for the Fourth of July weekend.  Now, I feel like the classic Mom, who dreads a trip because of the fact that it is going to disrupt this routine and possibly throw my child back into disorganization and chaos.  Don't get me wrong, I am excited about seeing family and friends, but I hope its not all too hard on my little boy.  Since he is more awake these days, his naptimes are that more important and I'm a little worried about him getting passed around so much that he won't be able to get good rest in.  Since we dont see family and friends as often as we (and they) would like, everyone always wants to play and hold him.  I'm going to be honest, pull out the "first time Mom" card, and if he is sleeping, insist he stays in one spot or with one person until he is rested.  Any advice for me?  Should I not worry so much and just roll with the punches?  Of course, and by the end of the weekend, I'm sure I'll be thinking, "What was I so worried about?"

Happy Fourth of July everyone.  May God bless our country and shower us with the grace that we need to live in dignity and truth.