So Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so thankful for these two guys!

And our little one on the way!!

Falling into Fall

It has been a tough autumn for us! Between my hugely pregnant self and JD's neverending illnesses (thank you 4 year molars), we haven't been able to enjoy the fall as much this year.

But we did manage to get out to the park to make some leaf collages with our playgroup. JD loved finding the different color leaves and we were all amazed to see how beautiful the trees could be around here!

We also made it to the arboretum for some pumpkin and fall pictures with JD's cousins. We all took pictures, but our friend Rachel Cooke took some beautiful ones!

I can't believe it is almost time to say goodbye to turkeys and pumpkins and hello to Christmas trees and lights!! How quickly the time flies!

Showering With Love

On Saturday morning, Baby Meg had her first baby shower! My sister Dara, our friend Emily and my friend Tricia threw me the best brunch shower ever! My mom opened up her home for us.

Starting with the so-cute invitations that matched Meg's nursery decor so well, the shower was just perfect! It was a great blend of old friends from EDS and my book club to newer friends from JD's playgroup and Baby Boot Camp!

Jon, Josh and Jordan provided the incredible food - french toast layered with bananas and strawberries, topped with some kind of maple rum sauce. Yum!!

My sister did a phenomenal job on embroidering all sorts of cute clothing for Baby Meg to hang on a clothesline! I am so lucky to have such talented friends and family!

I really enjoyed getting some time to visit with everyone who attended. I felt so loved and I know Meg will have all sorts of loving "aunties" when she is born!

We are ready for Meg's arrival in about a month!

Thank You Jesus!

It is so timely with Thanksgiving right around the corner that JD has started to understand the idea of being thankful. We always kick off our mealtimes with JD saying Thank You Jesus Amen! JD has also said it at bedtime for his nighty-night prayer.

Recently, he has started to add what he is thankful for in his prayers. I just think this is so precious and it has actually brought me to tears a few times when I hear all the things for which he is thankful.

Especially when I hear things like "Thank you Jesus for the muddy mud (he loves to watch dirt car racing with his daddy)." There are some other references to washing cars and race cars too...you can see where his interests lie these days.

I'm very hopeful that we have a prayer warrior on our hands!!

Here is one of his nightly prayers (sound only)...

Moving On Up

Three weeks after JD's entry into the toddler bed, he has now graduated to his very first big boy room!

JD went to spend the weekend with his grandma and grandpa and have a little fun on the farm up there, so we could get his big boy room put together as a surprise!

We are still missing a couple of pieces of art and a book case unit to store toys, but other than that, we were able to get the room assembled.

His room is, of course, a firefighter room! Over the past month, Jon built the bed and we painted it on Friday night. My mom found the bedding and we already had his little playtable and a lot of the accessories.

JD was pretty excited when he saw his room for the first time this afternoon. He counted all the firetrucks in the room and when he sat on his bed for the first time, he said, "I really like it!"

It doesn't get better than that! We still have some finishing touches, but he has already taken his first nap (a successful three hour one at that) in his new room and he is looking forward to sleeping there tonight!

Time Out

Yes, I do sometimes just need some time out, but that isn't what this post is about today.

Ever since JD entered the "terrible twos" (which really haven't been that terrible for us), he has started to understand cause and effect a little better. Which means for us, we can discipline him and he understands why (at least most of the time).

We've employed a method of warnings and time outs for the most part. Spankings are reserved for the most severe offenses. But the warnings and time outs had been working for us.

For instance, if JD throws his toys, he first gets a warning. If he does it again, he gets one more warning. Then if the unthinkable happens and he does it AGAIN, he gets put into time out for 2 minutes. Sometimes, we will put the toy into time out if it is a repeat offense (this is almost as effective).

But recently, I have begun to question the time out method. Especially since my son has started to put himself into time out. Hmmm....kind of takes the punish out of the punishment if he WANTS to go to time out.

Now if I give him a warning, he automatically goes to the time out chair and says "sorry for (fill in the blank), now can I get down?" Since I didn't even put him in time out to begin with, this isn't working too well for me!

And if he stopped doing the offense, then I would consider myself lucky to have a self-punishing kid. But as soon as he pulls himself out of his own time outs, he continues to do whatever it is he wasn't supposed to do.

I wonder what Supernanny would say about that!

Can I Have Some Candy?

Halloween was quite the event for JD this year. He grasped the concept of saying "trick or treat" and getting some candy pretty fast.

We went over to Dara and Josh's for some dinner and playtime before the kids went out to trick or treat. We had a tough time convincing JD to leave the cars behind and to go out for candy instead.

He LOVED the scary decorations on the street and asked to go back to houses that he knew had scary stuff.

By the end of the night, JD had decided it was easier to just ask for the candy instead of saying trick or treat. But he still waited patiently at each house for his turn and said thank you with a smile after each treat.

Now what to do with all that candy...