Pictures...

I have been wanting to put up some of the pictures, so today is the day. A few weeks ago, I made a tent for Gus :)

Reading with Daddy is always a highlight!

These two love each other! And oh how they have the same eyes....

Sometimes they look so much alike..

Funny faces!

The end

Fun Weekend

I'm finally getting around to talking about last weekend! Gus, Maddie and I drove to a nearby city to eat with some family that was in town. My cousin was graduating with his Master's degree, and it was my uncle's birthday so we had lots to celebrate.

 

 

 Maddie and Aunt Rachel

Gus and Uncle Bill

On Friday morning my mom called and said she and my dad would like to come up for the weekend. We were thrilled. Gus LOVED spending time with his MiMi and Big Daddy, and Maddie did too.

 

 Gus loves everyone's phone

And Big Daddy's hat

We played in Maddie's room

 

And tickled

 

 Gus finally started pedaling his "bicycle"

 

 

 Gus and his MiMi

Maddie sat in a highchair for the first time at our favorite Mexican food place in town- big day!(And yes, the man in the background has on a cowboy hat, that's normal for where we live in Texas!)

 

Saturday night my parents stayed with the kids so Josh and I could go to dinner. We really enjoyed our "date!" 

It was such a fun weekend. We are blessed by our family!

Build 'Um Up: Being Confident in Motherhood

I'm excited to link-up today with some of my favorite bloggers. This is very real to me right now so I wanted to share.

Nothing can prepare you for being a mom. No amount of reading. Nor countless conversations with other moms. It is different when you do it for yourself.

Sure, it's ok to ask other moms what they did. And most moms love to share their experience. There is a lot you can learn from others. But you are the mommy.

And every child is different just as we know each person is different. It is something you have to always keep in mind.

I read several books. I read blogs and websites. I tried to be as prepared as I could be before my little boy was born.

He was colicky. He screamed from 2-4 almost every night until he was 3 months old. And he didn't sleep through the night until he was 9 months. We had everyone give us suggestions on what to do. And many thought we must be doing something wrong for him to do that. But we knew that wasn't true. He just was colicky and had to grow out of it. We were there for every minute of his screams. 

Breastfeeding, we just did't get along. I made it 4 months with my first and 3 with my second child. I wish I had been a super mom that made it a year. But I know that my whole family is happier that I didn't. I don't beat myself up about it. I did my best. My kids are fine. Life goes on.

There will always be people that do things differently. All you can do is pray that you are doing what is best for your child, and keep working! The work of a mommy doesn't stop!

We have chosen for me to stay at home with the kids. We think it is best for our kids. Not everyone will agree, but we are happy with our decision.

We also plan to homeschool our kids. Although it is a while before we will be starting that, we are not afraid if people ask to tell them this is our plan. We believe it is best for our family.

Whatever it is you are choosing to do, do it. Being a mom is the most challenging, most fun, and most rewarding job I believe in the world. There are days I want a break. There are days I get nothing done because I was sitting on the floor tickling my little boy. I believe I'm doing what God called me to do. I'm confident of that.

I hope this encourages you today to be bold. Don't be afraid of what others think. All you can do is give all of yourself to your little ones, it will be worth it, I know for sure. 

 

Maddie - 6 Months

How did this happen? In the blink of an eye, you are 6 months old. 

 

Every day you look older.

You are talking more and more. 

You love your brother. When we aren't at home you usually don't like other people to hold you, you are a momma's girl.

You like to eat. 

You are rolling everywhere, not crawling yet but so close! 

You still nap a lot, which is ok with me! 

You are doing better at night! We will just keep working until you sleep completely through the night.

I'm not sure of your weight and height yet. You wear mostly 6 month clothes and size 3 diapers. 

Your hair is growing! I can't wait until I can clip a bow in it :) You look a little like me, which is fun.

I love you so much. You are my precious, precious, baby girl.

Adventures in the Kitchen- Homemade Pasta

Josh and I have talked many times about making homemade pasta. I was looking through one of my cookbooks this weekend and read the recipe. It didn't sound too difficult, so I decided to give it a try. 

I'm not going to put all the detail of the recipe here, just mostly pictures and what I did. 

First, flour and eggs. You make a hole for the eggs:

As I tried to mix, the eggs began getting away from the flour! I was quickly building a new wall!

I mixed and mixed. 

You form a ball and let it sit, then some smaller balls of dough and let them sit. 

Then its time to roll (I did mine with a rolling pin, I don't have a pasta roller- wish I did!)

I cut them with a pizza cutter, then hung them over a contraption I found in the pantry.

After they got dry, I put some in the freezer and some in the fridge for dinner. 

I made asparagus with tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil for Josh.

And I made some alfredo sauce for me (with some of the tomatoes too)

It tasted good. The pasta was like linguini, a little thicker since I didn't have a pasta roller. 

Another adventure in the kitchen accomplished! I may start a series sharing the things I try!

All kinds of things...

I wanted to just write about some little things that have been going on around here.

~ Maddie had a lot of firsts last week! She rode in the shopping cart (with a cart cover) for the first time. I think she enjoyed being able to see, but we still only have a short window of her being happy there. I have put some of her toys in her room and she enjoys when we play in there together. She has also eaten acorn squash and peas and likes them both!

 

~Maddie and Gus have started taking a bath together and they both love it. We had been holding onto Maddie, but my sweet friend Kayla is letting us use her bathtub seat now. I can't wait to try it! One night I was being silly with Gus and making him laugh in the tub. Then Maddie started laughing at Gus laughing. It was the cutest thing ever!!! And yes, we got it on video. ("Josh, get the phone quick!")

~Gus is just putting more and more words together each day! A big highlight last week was finding a big toad in the backyard. Gus has been very busy helping his daddy with all the yard work and helps me water the flowers we planted last week.

~Gus likes lots of attention and is constantly talking to me it seems. Although sometimes he wears me out with the constant " Mommy Mommy Mommy" I wouldn't trade it for the world.

~ We are still not perfect with Maddie's sleeping. Last night she cried for a hour and a half, or something like that. I just let her cry, but it was hard for me to sleep during that!

~One of the biggest jobs a mom of young children has is to keep them entertained an occupied all day! Sometimes the days seem so long, and you just don't know what to do! (and you feel guilty just turning on yet another Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ). This morning I wanted to shell some pecans to put in some cookies. We have pecan trees in our yard which is so nice! I let Gus help me and made him go look for pecans while I shelled. It was a new activity and kept us both busy for a while.

( And no he does not use that potty yet, I was trying to get ready for the day and it served as a good stand for the ipad and watching mouse)

~Last week we got lots of new plants for our yard. Some will take a while to grow, but we also got some beautiful flowers and herbs for pots on our back porch. They are beautiful, and I love them!

~ It is starting to get warmer here and I try to get us outside as much as I can during the day. I put Maddie in her bouncer under the shade of an umbrella so I can water the flowers and Gus helps me. It's great for Gus to be outside, and I'm trying to work on my tan too ;)

 

Random pictures:

Maddie and her Daddy on the back porch:

Gus and Maddie busy playing together:

Most morning are spend on the floor of our bedroom, kids and dogs:

Thank you Aunt Elise for my gift card for "Chicken Fries!" "I love to drink milk like a big boy too!"

Mommy and Daddy's bed is the best place to sleep!

And so goes our exciting everyday life!