Snow!!

I'm not a cold weather person. I'm fine with fall and sweatshirt weather, but when that temp drops, I'm not thrilled. With that said, I DO like snow! (well you know, if I don't have to drive in it) So when it snowed the passed weekend my girl and I had to get out into it. 
Last year she wasn't such a fan but this year she is all about it. I asked her something like 20 times if her hands were cold and she just kept saying no. They HAD to have been cold... we had gloves on but mine were cold, so I think she was too excited to be cold. We had a blast making a snowman and she woke up yesterday morning wanting to make another one :)

I had the husband take pictures of us from inside while he held Wes, so Norah was slightly confused as to where she should be looking :)

Have you gotten any snow yet  this year? Love it? Hate it? Don't care? 
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Giving Tuesday 2013

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You've heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but do you know there is a Giving Tuesday? Today is the 2nd annual "Giving Tuesday" What better time to give back than now? With our tummies full and our trees going up, I hope that we remember to think of those that may need a little help before we empty our wallets on one too many candy canes. 

Giving Tuesday was started last year and here is what I found on what it is:

Question: What is #GivingTuesday™?

Answer: #GivingTuesday™ (#GT) is a movement to create a national day of giving to kick off the giving season added to the calendar on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The second annual GivingTuesday is on December 3, 2013. In the same way that retail stores take part in Black Friday, we want the giving community to come together for #GivingTuesday. We ask that partners create and commit to a project for/on #GivingTuesday and then help spread the word to their networks. 

Are you participating in Giving Tuesday? Maybe you are donating to a global cause? Or maybe you are keeping it local. It can be something as simple as buying that guy that you always pass on the way home from work that sits there with the sign a quick meal or maybe dropping a few coins into the Salvation Army bucket on your way in the door to get groceries. Maybe you have a neighbor who has been out of a job for weeks/months/years and can't seem to find work, do you have a handyman job that he'd be perfect for around the house? A $50 job could help his family out.  If you have kids there are plenty of ways to get them involved! It doesn't have to be monetary. Here are a few child friendly Giving Tuesday ideas:

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-Have them go through their toys and pick a few to donate.  -Encourage them to donate their allowance this week (if they have one) to a cause/charity. -Have them help a neighbor.  -Go shopping for an Angel Tree kid (or your local program). -Write a solider a letter or color a picture to mail to them. -Have them go with you while you donate blood. They can't yet donate but seeing your example will encourage them. -Raid your panty for canned goods you could donate to your local food bank. 

Comment and let me know if you are participating in Giving Tuesday!
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Learning To Not Rush To Bedtime

Many days bedtime seems to be the prize. If I can get to bedtime I've accomplished something. If the kids and I are still in one piece and they are asleep, I've made it. Sound familiar at all?

Sometimes I get so busy, so self consumed that I forget my children are to be enjoyed. After I've reached that "prize" of the end of the day I often feel guilty. How much of me did the kids get today? Did I enjoy them? Did I simply rush them through the day hoping for the least amount of hiccups until The clock finally said 7:30? Did I love on them... did I enjoy them?
I'm challenging my husband and I (and you!) to make sure we are enjoying our kids. That we don't make parenting a burden. That we fully experience the joy that our children are. Sure, it isn't jump up and down fun all of the time, and that's okay. It's okay if some days bedtime can't come a moment too soon. Days like that are bound to happen. But I have felt convicted lately about not being fully engaged enough to appreciate the kids. 
Maybe I would be less tired if I played on the floor a little more with them. Maybe I would be less stressed if I laughed at them when they splashed in the tub. Maybe I would feel more happiness if I embraced being asked for yet another story at bedtime. Maybe, just maybe, I won't look back on this time, sad that they have grown up, if I take the time to appreciate them being this age, while they are this age. 
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Red and Yellow, Black and White...

The other day we were wasting some time at the store while waiting for the photo lab to finish our order, we found ourselves in the toy section. Who am I kidding though, we find ourselves in the toy aisles frequently :) As we were going up and down the aisles Norah started pointing very excitedly at something. At first I wasn't sure what it was that got her so excited but then my eyes made their way to a baby doll and I knew that was what she was wanting to see. She has a love for baby dolls, especially now that she has a baby brother.She loves to mimic me with her baby doll. She changes her, she burps her, she has even been known to nurse her after seeing me nurse Wes. She enjoys playing the mommy roll.
I handed her the baby doll that she was so excited to get her hands on. 

It was the first time it even crossed my mind to consider getting her a baby doll of another race. I have zero problems with a white child having a black baby doll or vice versa, it simply had just never crossed my mind. I naturally had just only bought her white baby dolls. 
What a great way to broaden her diversity though right? I mean we live in an area that according to the 2010 census is 99.1% white (which is down from 100% white according to the 2000 census). Needless to say, she doesn't have very many opportunities to be around people of another race. I dislike that quite a bit. I grew up very differently. 
I grew up an army brat living on a military base in Virginia (Fort Eustis to be exact - I also lived at Fort Campbell in TN as well) and I was certainly not in the majority there, and yet I never once thought anything of it. Until my dad retired when I was 8 and we moved to the midwest. Then I was a bit taken back that I looked like everyone else, oh and what is this thing they call sales tax?!
I'm glad she picked out that black baby doll the other day. It was a good reminder to me that she currently does not see color as an issue and I want it to always stay that way. I don't want her to be color blind, because we AREN'T all the same and it is okay to acknowledge that. Instead I want her to appreciate our differences and to appreciate the face that we are all unique and the color of our skin plays into that. I simply want it to be a non-issue for her, which I hope is not hindered by the lack of diversity in our location. 
Do you live in a diverse area? If not how do you teach racial diversity, or do you? 

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Wordless Wednesday

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One Week As a Family of Four

"I got baby!" Norah babbles A LOT but she has been a bit slow on actual words and prior to Wesley being born she hadn't strung any words together at all. She was mostly just saying "Bite" "No" basic simple words. Suddenly when Wesley was born she started to very obviously say, "I got baby!" and "It's baby!" When visiting at the hospital every time a nurse would walk into the room she would point at Wesley and say, "I got baby" You know... in case they didn't know ;)
She's a great big sister. She is trying to help and does a good job for he most part (even though sometimes it appears that she is trying to suffocate him). Like I imagined it is hard to give her the same amount of attention but she seems to be doing fine. The only attention issue so far is sometimes when I'm nursing him she tries to literally climb on top of me and as you may know it's a bit tough to nurse and have another kid trying to sit on your lap. 
As far as Wesley goes, he's pretty much awesome. Mostly his only job right now is to eat, sleep, poop and look cute and he's doing well in all of those areas so he's rockin' this whole earth side thing. 
Norah is much happier at the doctor when it isn't for her. Ignore her messy hair... it was an accomplishment just getting to the Pedi. 

I can't believe he is already a week old today. This time last week I had my epidural and was waiting patiently to be fully dilated. On one hand I can't believe it was only a week ago that he was still in my belly and it feels like he's always been here - but then I also can't believe it's already been a whole week and it's went by so fast and I still look over and can't believe he is already here. 

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