Day 22: June 6

Eric grew up with movies and video games. He loves to come home and watch a movie. As for me, I grew up watching limited TV. I am not saying watching TV/Movies are bad, but I do want Hyrum to focus on using his imagination. I want Hyrum to grow up with less movies and to play outside. Hyrum is the type of kid where when you put a movie on, two things happen:

1) He would sit the entire movie and watch it, eyes glazed, mouth open, not aware of anything. Few movies produce this result. Wreck It Ralph definitely got his attention. So does Star Wars. He he :)

2) He gets bored fast. Hyrum figured out how to swipe our phones, click Netflix in our phone and press a movie he wants to watch. Then he would watch a movie for 5 minutes, then switch to a different movie. He jumps from movies to movies fast. He gets bored easily. With our TV, he often messes with the input or channel. So I just tell him if he does that, he doesn't get to watch a movie.

Now....I am trying hard to let him watch ONE or two movies a week. Yes a WEEK. I don't want him to watch movies all week or all day. I don't want to hear him say, "Movie....movie....movie..." all day. If I put our tiny TV in the closet, he throws temper tantrum. It's so ridiculous! So I am trying to keep him from watching movies all the time. I am not saying you are a bad parent or you shouldn't let your kids watch movies all the time. Each family has to decide what's best for them. It's something I'm used to since I grew up that way. So I'm passing along to my children. Eric has a harder time sticking to that rule, but we are trying haha.

As a result, Friday is movie night for  us. WE have pizza and a movie every Friday. Today I let Hyrum watch a Christian cartoons about the scriptures. But of course, he did try to change the channel so I told him no more movies for him. 

The cons of having this type of TV- you can never see the movies because Hyrum swings back and forth, blocking your view! And he likes to be close to the TV. Sigh. We're working on it. 

Little Lady A love to look at people. She's so content!

Too close, Buddy. Too close....

Day 21: June 5th

I started the day by packing up some of Hyrum's old clothes. They were taking up a lot of spaces. I was sad to get rid of his clothes, but we don't need them right now, we need more space, we're moving soon, and some mother somewhere needs some clothes for her baby. 

Then there's Hyrum's "bed." Hyrum would NOT sleep on his bed. As soon as we turn the lights out, he crawls to the floor and goes to sleep. So we decided as long as he sleeps, which he does, we don't care. We have moved his crib away from the wall since Hyrum figured out how to climb the crib to turn on the light. His room is so small we have no choice but move the crib right next to his bed. 

Then when Hyrum takes a nap, Anna and I will spend time with each other during naptime. Anna is very fascinated with a lot of things and shows her fascination by pursing her lips and looking wide eyed at an item. It's so adorable to watch. 

 Anna has gorgeous, observant eyes. 

Before I had about 8 boxes of Hyrum's clothes. 2 years worth of clothes. Now it's down to three boxes. :( 

Hyrum's bed. 

Anna was fascinated with the DVD case. 

Day 20: June 4th

Princess Sophia got some BIG kisses from mom on each cheeks!

Today I went to Walmart. I guess I took too long because by the time I got to the checkout, both kids were crying. especially Anna with Hyrum telling her "NO! No! No. No. No no no. No!" 

UGH! Hyrum has finally entered into the Land of No's. Hopefully he'll get out of this phase soon. 

Day 19: June 3

It was a very long, lazy day. Eric was working late. So it was just me and the kids all day long. 

Every night, after dinner, I will let Hyrum play for 15 mins. Then have him clean up his toys. Then he gets his milk while we say the family prayer and scripture study. Most nights we also have a bath, but tonight it was 30 minutes past his bedtime. I'm pretty strict with bedtime.

He went and brushed his teeth, then we washed his face. Now since it's summer, he goes without pajamas. He seems happy that way. And he sleeps on the floor now. No matter what, he just crawls down and sleeps on the floor. We decided as long as he's asleep, not running around or staying up and playing, we don't care where he sleeps. I will read him a story, then have him say his own personal prayer, and then sing his song. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and then hugs and kisses. Without bathtime, the whole thing takes 15 minutes. 

Since Eric wasn't home, I put Anna on Hyrum's bed so I could take care of him. She fell asleep. After I said goodnight to Hyrum, I put her on her bassinet and she is still asleep there. She is so easy compared to Hyrum her age! She also sucks her thumb, which I don't care about. It makes her happy and soothes her, so she can suck her thumb. 

Day 18: June 2: Attempting to babywear....

I am not totally "crunchy" as you would call some moms. Haha! I do practice some "crunchy" parenting (co-sleeping, baby led weaning {skipping baby food and going straight to table food}, cosleeping and some others, but I wouldn't consider myself crunchy). There are a lot of things I do that crunchy moms hate such as cry it out, vaccinations and others. 

I am neutral with babywearing. It is BIG in the crunchy culture, especially here in Colorado. I just mostly held my son. I do not believe I can spoil my baby and that it delays walking. I held Hyrum a lot, then when he started crawling, he didn't want me as much anymore. Since he turned one, he has been cuddling less and less. It's hard to snuggle with an active, hyper two year old.

I'm trying to do the same thing with Anna. But it's so hard to hold her and take care of Hyrum at the same time. She is a pretty content baby and is MUCH better sleeping in her bassinet, or staying in her bouncer. Hyrum refused. In fact, I had to wash the dishes or cook and rock Hyrum by rocking the carseat with my foot at the same time! He would cry if he wasn't in my arms.

So I am trying this maya wrap and I am hoping we will master this so that I can wear Anna while taking care of Hyrum and the things around the house. So far I am not having a lot of success. She gets mad after 30 minutes of babywearing! I'll keep trying. 

This is where she sort of sits crossed legs.

30 minutes later. Angry little chicken!!!! I tried rocking and moving around. Nope nothing. 

2nd position, 2nd attempt. This is where she is in cradle hold position. Still cried 30 mins later. 

Day 17: It's now June!!!! Hurray for Summer!!!!

Who can resist kissing those little toes??? 

Day 16: May 31, 2014

We had some rainbow today. It was so nice to be reminded of God's promise.