Lately

It's only Wednesday and this week has been full already! Among other things, we have started potty training. You likely think I'm crazy because Makafui is only 16 months old. Well, I'm starting to think I am too, but there is a reason behind it. I'm all about not rushing kids when it comes to development. Then, Makafui started leaking through pretty much any diaper option. Luvs in a bigger size than he "needs" are our best bet right now, but he can pee out of those too. He also says "pee pee" and "potty" and loves to flush the toilet. He's all about doing things on his own. So I figured I should seize the oportunity and use his independence to my advantage. Also, I really didn't want to start using 'sposies all the time. So we switched to undies, have two potties and a big ol' jar of M&Ms. And do you know what? It's not going as well as I anticipated. Like, at all. Then I read some random blog where a mom was potty training a 3 year old and it was going about as well for her as it is for us, so I felt a little encouraged. I'm not sure what we're going to do. He liked it a lot more when it was a novelty, now that we are full on doing it, he's not so interested...maybe even stubborn about it? We are real chill about accidents and not making it a big deal and we freak out when he does go to the potty with song and dance and clapping and M&Ms. He still pees pretty much everywhere but on the potty...then he tells me he peed! I'm not frustrated with him, but I am a little discouraged by this process. However, I figure if people can toilet train cats, then I can certainly toilet train my brilliant little person. So for now, we just keep at it and plan to get the carpet steam cleaned once we succeed. Undies only at home! Mr. Independent, you need to decide wet undies are yuck and start using those cute little potties!! :)

Really, who decided a poop colored doggie on the butt of training pants was a good idea? Then again, I bought them...

One of the other things we did this week was set up a little learning/creativity center for M. He is loving it!! He goes over to it and sits down to color several times a day. It's so cute! :)

 Want to color, Mama?

 Love this boy!!!!!!

One of my favorite summer treats are Starbucks' Passion Tea lemonades. However, they are full of sugar (even the unsweetened one) I have to get out of the car and take M in to buy one, and they cost like $4! So I started making them at home and they are just as good!! 1 Tazo Passion Teabag + 1/2c.  lemon juice + 1/4c.Truvia Baking Blend + large pitcher filled with water= Awesome! It's about $9 for 6 gallons and there will be Truvia left over. Yum, yum!!

My sister and I have started doing a low carb diet, a la The 100 by Jorge Cruz. We are both enjoying it!! My sister is dropping weight like crazy!! Actually weighing is not my thing, but I just want to slim down a little. I'm not sure I'm going to do this for the long haul, but my Sis is pretty committed. I'm proud of her!! My favorite treat is the low carb, healthy chocolate cake made with almond flour and Truvia. Yum, yummmm!!

Have you ever taken a Sh'bam class? It's my new favorite thing! It's 45 minutes of intense cardio dancing to club hits. It's super fun even though I know I look like a fool! I may or may not break out some of my new moves at my little brother's wedding next month....as long as my family won't disown me.

More Phone Pics

Geez I love this kid!!! Here are some new and old pics from G's phone.

Makafui didn't want Mommy's healthier lunch, he wanted G's burger which was pretty close to the size of his head. He definitely ate his fair share!

Piano time with Uncle Jer.

We went to a BBQ this past weekend and the people had two awesomely chill and sweet BIG dogs. Makafui LOVED them! G was a little nervous about them, but Makafui still got some good lovin. It's too bad dogs are so flippin dirty!! He got a very good scrub down afterwards.

And then there was the cat...yuck. This was before it hissed at Makafui.

New skills.

Just. Can't. Get. Enough.

Smarty Pants

Each day, Makafui shocks me with the things he knows!! I know I will forget this later on when he knows even more new things, and I'm sure I will repeat some things I've already noted.

At 16 months...

Makafui counts to 3, usually followed by a hearty WHEEEEEE!

He knows up and asks to go up anywhere with stairs/escalator/elevator.

He recognizes Gigi and Pops' street from his backseat view coming from both directions and starts to yell their names.

He says go and means it. He was commanding a ball to GO this morning (said doe), apparently his ball does not obey very well.

He does not like flies. If they make it into the house he chases them around scolding them, "NO! No, no!!"

He can spot M&Ms from a mile away...sheesh!

He understands what pee pee is, but isn't too interested in putting it in the potty. He will pee pee on the floor, tell me about it and go play somewhere else. Thanks, baby.

He's really warming up to swimming. He will "jump" from the side and has tried to blow bubbles in the water. We're going to try the splash pad again on Sunday, I hope he really enjoys it.

He loves trucks, a LOT! He calls out dump trucks whenever he sees them and fire trucks whenever he hears them. Everything else that's bigger than a car is still a tractor.

He is choosing to communicate, rather than react more and more! Instead of freaking out or going totally toddler on me when he doesn't like something, he tells me that he's "all done" when he's had enough of the car seat, stroller, shopping cart or playing/doing something that he can't just walk away from. It's been so wonderful!! I can usually talk to him and let him know that we are indeed almost done and he'll chill out for a bit until we finish. Running errands has gotten a lot easier!

He loves following directions and getting praise. He's pretty proud of himself. He does well with single commands and can even handle dual commands sometimes.

His kisses have gotten very dramatic and it's super-duper sweet! MMMMMMMwuah! Love, love, love.

He knows candles and herbs smell good (thanks, Gigi, this is a very important toddler skill) he always has to smell the plants and candles at Gigi and Pops' house. The really nice stuff also gets shoved up to my nose. :)

He is obsessed with the dishwasher. He knows how to turn the knob and lock it to turn it on. Unfortunately, he wants to do this about a dozen times a day.

He does not like it when babies cry and tells me, "Oh no! Baybeeee. Oh no!" With a great deal of concern on his face. So. Flippin. Sweet.

Love this sweet boy!

Picture Dump

I found my camera and there were more pictures I had forgotten to post.

 

We clearly love sink baths around here...we try to get Makafui to multi-task and clean at the same time.

We've also put him to work mopping.

We went to the mall a while back and it was a hit!

Pleeeeease can I ride?

 
The first pony he rode had a tramp stamp...I was cracking up, it was lost on those two.

 

He still doesn't know that if you put money in, these things go around, he loves just climbing on them. Yes...let's keep it that way!

Round two...

Our visitors from Ghana made and brought M this awesome top! He's also showing off his hygiene skills.

M loves Liberty, the other dog, not so much... He had just thrown her a treat and was watching her eat it. "Here Wibby!"

Sink baths at Gigi's are even better! Boy sure does love to bathe and brush those teeth!

 

Why yes, that is a vibrating back massager he has on the back door. Don't all kids play with those?

 This is one of my favorite outfits, his matching socks have whales on them. Hee hee.

 Mother's Day

Sometimes he goes in the bathroom sink so I can finish getting ready.

 Bubbles are the bomb!

 

 I love having modular furniture, I think this is the 5th arrangement we've tried. :)

Skillz!

 

So. Obsessed. Could he be any more adorable and fun and cute and sweet?!

Shirt: Is it legal to carry guns this big?

Our Summer Days

We are working on making the most of these long summer days! George has been working a lot lately, we are thankful for the job and blessed by the overtime but it makes for some long days as just M and me. :) Like two of you may care what our days look like, but I will share anyway.

Makafui wakes up pretty early (typically between 5:30 and 6:00) so after Daddy heads off to work around 6:45 we finish breakfast, maybe start a load of laundry, hang out/play pick up the mess, get dressed and packed and head to the gym in the 8 o'clock hour.

After I workout and M plays we may swim or just come home. We pass G's work on our way back, so sometimes we get to stop and say hi. :)

At home, we will eat a snack, then M will tornado through the house and take toys, books, shoes, food and anything else he can reach out of their proper places and put them on the floor or give them a new place. He will also pick up what little trash he can find and throw it away. He'll also put any spare dishes in the dishwasher, as if to say, "Come on Mom, let's get it together."

He naps around 11, for 30 minutes. If I'm lucky I can shower, eat lunch and check my e-mail (or blog) and tidy up. I leave his door open so he can get up and come out on his own, I always crack up when he saunters out of his room and exclaims, "Heh-woah!!"

Once he is up he eats lunch and I clean up again.

Then we check in with G to see when he should get a lunch break, the rest of the day will shift depending on what time that is. We try to be home for G's lunch so we can spend time with him. On Thursdays, we get him and go out for lunch together

In the afternoon we try to get out again and also get some exercise. We will run errands or go swimming, we love to visit with family members, have play dates, walk the mall or IKEA, play at new parks or anything else we fancy!

The countdown for Daddy officially begins at 3:00. I'm not sure why, but it does!

We try to be home around 5ish and get dinner started and work on making the house look a little less tornado-like. :) We like to go out and wait for Daddy if it's not too hot or if M is not too tired.

Depending on how things went, we will either all eat together or M will have his dinner and G and I will eat after he goes to bed.

Bath time is for Daddy and Makafui and gives me a break to either be productive or take a shower alone. :)

If I was successful at wearing Makafui out, he will go to bed in the 7 o'clock hour....yes, that's about 10 hours of sleep! :)

There's not much time for blogging in our day, but we have a great time! Today, Makafui started praying on his own and I love it! He stands still, clasps his hands and jibber jabbers away, ending with a hearty AAAAAMMEEN! Then he's off to whatever he was doing. So cute!

He loves to lead the way wherever we go!

 

And he's gotten very good at climbing in cabinets!

I know I have more pictures, but Master Organizer here has put our camera in a new place...I will look for it tomorrow.

Weekend Ramblings

I quit Diet Dr. Pepper. I know, monumental. It hit me one day juuuuust how many I was consuming and juuuuust how bad they are for me. Thanks to Kristen, when I do want a diet soda, I'll be having a Dr. Zevia instead.

I really want to have a great summer! This is M's first summer as a kid old enough to do anything and I want to get all I can out of it. I think I may make a summer schedule.

Words are great! Our talking machine is the best! My favorite things he says lately are, "Reawy?!" "Ibewightdare" (I'll be right there) "Hey baybeee!" "BAY!" (Babe...copying Mommy calling out to Daddy) "Sauna Hauna " (Shonda Honda) and "peepees".

I knew it was coming, "no" has finally and firmly entered the vocabulary. It started out all cute, "no, no, no" he would say to my parents' dogs. Now, he says it very firmly and with conviction!

I took M to the pool Thursday and there were 6 teenagers hanging out in the baby pool. SIX. Um, go away. After we got there they started talking about jungle fever. Um, I can hear you!

Teenagers are tricky...maybe even scary.

I am sooooo old, I'm sure the teenagers thought so too.

You know who is older though? George. He just started playing on an indoor soccer league and he's in the Men's 30 and Older Division...his teammates are a lot older than just 30. Hee hee.

George's soccer team in called Insubordinate Gentlemen. Kill me!!

I am oh-so-seriously considering giving potty training a try sooner rather than later.

I took a Pilates class this week! It was awesome. Pilates is tricky though, it seems so chill and low impact, but the next day muscles you forgot you had are aching!

I hate baseball and pretty much everything about it...the socks, the pants, the spitting, the blows to the sternum, the Good Ol' Boy culture, the crotch grabbing...all of it. Yuck. I sincerely hope Makafui never shows interest in the sport.

As if anyone "needs" to watch TV, but I'd like a good show or mini-series for the summer. I just finished Call The Midwife. Any suggestions?

G got me hooked on Candy Crush...good game.

I need some good summer meal ideas. I would eat huge salads, fruit and maybe some cheese or cold cuts for protein all summer, but G isn't really feelin' it. Ha!

Tomorrow is my future sister-in-law's Bridal Shower. I'm excited and I hope she loves what we have put together.

Today, my mom, sister and both our babies went out to breakfast and shopping for the shower. Something amazing happened. BOTH children were calm, happy and frankly, low maintenance for the entire. time. There were very few tears shed.

Later in the day, my little family hit up the Quarry Splash Pad again. It was much warmer this time and M was slightly more adventurous. We had fun and I have faith he'll be running into the water on his own later in the summer.

Happy Weekend!

Half Ass for Jesus

A super popular Christian Mom Blogger recently posted a blog about what a lame end--of-school-year Mom she is. I don't read her blog regularly and I don't know her, but several of my Facebook friends "shared" it, so I took a peek.

It was sad.

And it lined up with a lot of attitudes I've seen around me lately (and in the past) as well as things I've been wrestling with spiritually.

This Mama who writes books and speaks at conferences (kind of proudly?) went on and on about how sucky she is, that she's basically given up on her kids and her involvement in their education because it's the end of the year. She was good at the beginning of the year and she will be next year too, and then she'll suck again as the year progresses. You know why? Becuase she's tiiiiired! Super funny, huh?

No. It's not funny. Not to me.

And I don't think God thinks it's funny either.

I've heard a lot of this attitude lately, from people I know and just from Moms I meet in passing. The just-get-by-I'm-such-an-exhausted-martyr mentality...oh and it's funny!

I know being a Mom is HARD WORK and I know it makes you tiiiired (remember my Precious Dude didn't sleep through the night until he was 11 months old and now only takes a 30 minute nap)!! And I know there will always be some hard days or moments where a just-get-through-it attitude is probably the best option (we've all been there and we will all be there again!). But to live your life as if your family and kids are some group of inconveniences, not worth giving your all or fodder for your super funny blog so hundreds of people can stroke your ego with their supportive comments is sad. Sad for the mom, sad for the kids and very sad for the people looking up to you.

Hebrews 12 tells us to '...run with perseverance the race set before us.' And Colossians 3 says 'whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.'

I want to be a Mama who runs this race with perseverance, with all my heart! I know I miss the mark, but it's still my goal.

Growing up, my parents always told us to "finish strong" not to get weak or lazy just because it's the end of a project, school year, no one is watching, etc.. What a great attitude to impart to your kids-thanks Mom and Dad!

Life is hard. Raising tiny humans to the glory of God is VERY hard. But God equips us, leads us, gives us grace and strength so that we don't have to be sucky! He also puts people in our lives to come along side us and encourage and support us.

What really made me sad about this blog was the number of people who read it and look up to her and felt good about their sub-par Mothering as well, who want to be like her. I don't think anyone was challenged to do better or work unto the Lord, if anything, it was kind of permission to suck more. (If you happen to read her blog, I'm not judging you, just sharing how I felt about this post.)

I want to be around people who inspire me to be better and give me hope for the future!! My mom does this of course, but in my life right now I have two friends who come to mind.

My friend Kristen makes me want to keep a cleaner, less cluttered home, with an organized fridge and bubble water. She inspires me to seize the day by the way she plans fun things for her family to do-always making great memories and taking advantage of what Austin has to offer. Most importantly though, Kristen gives me hope! Hope that my sleepless, high energy, to-the-max toddler will one day sleep! Hope that he too will be an awesome, chilled out preschooler...or if he's not chilled out, he can at least "take it down a notch" when told to do so! :) Hope, that the hard work I'm putting in now really does pay off, and sooner than I realize.

My friend Stephanie, has 3 kids, 3 and under. She never treats them like a herd and is excited over each milestone as if it were her first. She is organized, she is calm and put together. She picked up and moved across the country with her husband with a huge amount of grace and has taken on this adventure head on. She makes time with each of her kids individually. I love watching her be a Mama.

I want to be a Mom who inspires others. Who lives each day to the fullest and to the glory of God. Not a Mom who is half ass for Jesus.

If you can't tell, I've been thinking a lot lately. I'm reading I Saw The Angel In The Marble by Chris and Ellyn Davis. It is giving me a lot to chew on. So far, I highly recommend, it's inspiring me to be "all in" and to seek out what exactly my God given responsibilities are as Makafui's Mama.

Phone Pics

These two pics are only a glimpse of Makafui's A Self Portrait on Daddy's Phone collection...there are about a dozen more.

 

True male bonding= a sink bath and silly Ghana movies on the laptop.

Can you tell we live by the mall? Seems we have LOTS of pictures hanging out there! Makafui is loving being able to run around on his own.



 

Serious boy...or maybe poser boy.

 

M had a very independent breakfast this weekend. He took the knife (butter knife) out of the Nutella and slapped it on a waffle, drank out of a glass the whole time and decided to try out cheese-water.



...cheese-water was a little clumsy.

 

Finally, turn the sound off before you watch this, you don't need to hear my nasally voice! This was a super long video that we just grabbed a clip of. M has been watching Daddy do pull-ups and has decided he needs to exercise too...he does this anytime he can! :)