731 days

 Dear Baylee,

Today we celebrate the completion of your second trip around the sun. On one hand, it's hard to believe you have been with us that long. On the other hand, it feels like you have been here forever. You have accomplished many things this past year and your dad and I are very proud of who you are becoming. You continue to astound us with how fast you learn things.
 You right now:

wearing: big girl panties (Tinkerbell, of course) 2t-3t clothes, size 6 shoes, pony tails in your hair

eating: raisin bran crunch cereal, honey on everything, ice cream

doing: 25 piece puzzles, cutting with the big kid scissors, jumping on the trampoline
saying: you have a lot of words, but the words you say the most are mommy, daddy, please, and thank you.

As you turn two, we know there are some days ahead of us that are going to require us to have a lot of patience. Please be gentle with Mommy and Daddy as we help you to figure out this great big world.

We love you, big girl!

Everything is a choice

     That's it. That is the word I have chosen to guide my 2013. It wasn't an easy choice. I didn't have any great revelations about what it should be. It didn't appear in my coffee as I sipping it gingerly. No, ironically, I had a tough time choosing my word. It had come down to two words and after debating between the two, I had chosen the other word (Focus). I thought it was perfect and had been posting it around my house for a few weeks. But whenever it I would remind myself to focus, I would think about the choices I was making when I focus on one thing over another. In the end, I decided to change my word.
     In the past, I haven't done anything grand with my word. No necklaces or scrapbooks (although I would love to-just haven't). This year, though, I'm going to work hard to use it to guide my actions and outcomes. I have a choice. I can choose to say yes, or I can choose to say no. I can choose to walk past the pile of laundry, or I can choose to put it in the washing machine. When I think of how many choices make throughout the day, it is very overwhelming:

• get up or sleep in
• cold breakfast or hot breakfast
• Bible study or check my email
• take a walk or stay in
• let Baylee watch t.v or read her a book
• chicken or beef for dinner

 I want Christ to be at the center of all of my choices, so I need to be very intentional about the choices I make. Because of this, one of the first intentional choices I have made this year, is to join a discipleship study with some ladies at my church. I will let you know how this choice impacts the other choices I make and hope to be able to look back at this blog at the end of the year and see how my year was influenced by the choices I make.

Happy New Ye...oh, wait,...

I spent the month of January preparing for February.
Huh??????
You see, it's all about the resolutions and goals we all tend to set at the beginning of the year. I love the excitement and promise a new year brings. I hate the disappointment and feeling of failure that unmet expectations bring. So, I started something a few years ago that has revolutionized the way I start my year. Well, maybe not revolutionized, but definitely taken the pressure off.  Want to know what it is?

My new year doesn't officially start until February 1st.         Simple.As.That.

 I realized that December is so full of Holiday happenings that I don't have the time to invest in making reasonable goals that are attainable. Plus, I would rather be focusing on the beauty of Christmas than thinking about "the future" that is January. I then spend all of January working on my goals and plans for the new year. By February 1st, everything is ready to put into practice, and I am much more likely to be successful.

Some of the things I worked on during January:

• I chose my One Little Word for the year (hint, hint)
• I designed a layout for my notebook that will be useful in keeping me on track
• I listed 3 goals for each month of the year. I will not get behind, I will not work ahead. 
• Cleaned and purged in order to simplify

I think my plan is doable. Of course, I know I have to be adaptable, but I will not use that as a crutch. 

So, what about you? How are you doing on your resolutions?

Making snow ice cream.

The Child as Protagonist

     Are you familiar with the Reggio Emilia approach to education? I first heard of it while attending a teaching conference in 1994. The idea that children are way more capable than we give them credit for is something I strongly believe in, and is at the heart of what the approach is about. Through the years, I have been eager to learn more about it and adopt it's strategies into my teaching style. The more I learned, the more passionate I became about the approach. In recent years its use has become more widespread in the United States and I was happy to discover that St. Louis has several schools that have embraced this approach.

     I have had the opportunity to visit one of these schools, and can only say that it is the school of my dreams. I would love to work there. I would love for my daughter to attend (it's Pre-k through 8th grade). I wish I would have been able to go there as a young student. Basically, I can't rave about it enough. The problem is that it is 45 minutes from my house and the tuition is way out of my budget ($12,000/ year for Pre-k). Since there is no way I will ever be able to afford that, and there are seldom any job openings, I have to settle for attending their free events and open houses.
     This past weekend, I took Baylee to their Winter Children's Festival. I wish I had more pictures so you could see how they use and adapt the environment in the classrooms to create a sense of wonder and a love of learning, but exploring with a 21 month old doesn't allow me to take many pictures. Here are just a few, and if you are curious about the approach, take some time to Google it or look it up on Pinterest.

Creating in the atelier. I especially like that children are taught how to properly use the materials. 

A collaborative sculpture done by the three year old class.

Playing in the housekeeping area. I love the use of the sheers to divide the areas without blocking your view.

They have a fabulous playground that allows the children to climb and explore.

Royal Birth

     We tend to blame the fact that people overlook the true meaning of Christmas because it has become so commercialized. Stores put out decorations right after Halloween, Black Friday sales start on Thanksgiving, and It's A Wonderful Life can be seen non-stop. Somewhere within all of the hustle and bustle, the birth of Jesus gets lost.
     It wasn't always like that. 2000 years ago there weren't mega malls, television, and 24 hour news cycles. Life was much more simple. We know that Christ our King was born in a manger, in a stable, in Bethlehem. We know that shepherds came and the Wise men followed a star. But what about everybody else? What about the inn keeper? Did he know? Did life go on as usual in Bethlehem the day after Jesus was born? I have a feeling it did.
   
     Meanwhile, Will and Kate will soon give birth to a royal baby who will be tweeted about, photographed, and celebrated. The whole world will know within minutes.


This is what I've been thinking about every time I hear this song.

Do you hear what I hear?

     I look forward each year to the day Christmas music starts playing on the radio and listen to it pretty much non-stop throughout the season. As much as I love it,  I do get tired of hearing the same songs over and over. This year, we have really been trying to simplify Christmas and focus more on the true meaning of the day. One of the ways I have chosen to do this, is to scale back on the Christmas music that usually plays 24/7 in our house. Instead of listening to music that talks about Santa and presents, I have only been listening to the songs that focus on the birth of Christ and what that means.
     It has really made me stop and think. This story, about the birth of Jesus? The story that I have heard at least 200 times in my life, never gets old. It is amazing, and wonderful every time I hear it. And as I have grown, I have found different parts of the story meaningful.
     Last year, my first Christmas as a Mother, this song really touched me. I know there are plenty of songs about Mary, but I had never really stopped to think about how Joseph felt. Being a new parent is such a scary thing. Imagine being a parent to Jesus.



     Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of the songs that has helped to make this Christmas more Christ focused. I hope you take the time to listen to each one and reflect on what God has done for you.

21 months

Right now...

• You will not keep your clothes on! You wear pajamas to bed, but as soon as you get up, you take them off. As you walk through the house stripping, you say, "hot, hot". It drives your dad crazy.

• You are wearing panties all day- even during nap! You go through about 15 pair a day. Not because you have accidents, but because you changed your mind about which character you want to wear. You are so independent that you will go in your room, open your drawer, pull out a new pair, and change before I even realize what you are doing. (You have also decided that you don't need me to help you go potty. Whenever you go in the bathroom, you put your hand up to stop me from coming in, and you close the door. You are doing great with this concept. I, however, am not ready for you not to need me.)

• You call Santa Claus "San Tee."

• Your favorite bedtime snack is ice cream. Any time someone walks towards the refrigerator, you run into the kitchen yelling, "ahs-keem!"

• You still love to jump on the mini-trampoline. We are keeping it in the corner in the kitchen and you jump on it at least 20 times a day.

• You would watch Barney all day if I would let you, but I don't.

• You can't wait for your dad to get home each day. It's like you know when it is 4:30 and every time you hear a car door, you run to the front door looking for him and yelling his name. You love him so much and he is equally enamored with you.

• You wake up every morning at 7:30, nap from 1:30-3:30, and go to bed at 8:30. 

• Your hair is getting longer and thicker everyday, although you still won't keep anything in it. 

• You know your colors, a few letters, and can count to two. You are an expert at puzzles and love to draw with markers. You really want to cut, but don't quite have the strength to get the scissors to do what you want.

• I love your smile and your giggle and I feel so blessed to be your mom.