Bouncing through March

It's always feast or famine with the blog, right? Some months I post every couple of days, then others, it takes me a couple of weeks to get motivated to upload the pictures and post...so here we are, 17 days into March, and I'm finally posting!

Our Silas has made so many changes over the past few weeks! He is smiling all the time now, and he laughs when someone is talking to and cooing at him. He loves repeating sounds and is still so sweet. He rarely cries, and when he's hungry, he just makes a few fussy sounds until I feed him. It is like he is saying "Mommy, I don't want to impose but my belly's rumbling a bit." LOL! He is just so sweet. He is really developing good hand - eye coordination and is reaching for things and grabbing at things. Its like this stage is when babies tend to really become little people. I cannot believe that he is already 3 months old. Time really does fly! I had to pack away all his 3 - 6 months clothes this weekend because none of them fit his big belly! He is just too cute! His new favorite thing is bouncing in the Tigger bouncer and we got some great pictures of that!

Big Boy Josiah is also growing a lot these days. It seems like at his age, things remain the same for a few weeks, then BAM he hits either a physical or emotional/knowledge base growth spurt. He has really learned the value of the word "please" and has taken full advantage of its power. I say "No you cannot play in the toilet," he says "Peese" (meaning, please?). I say "No you may not stick your fingers in the light socket," he says "Peese." Another thing that has really been a bear this week his that he loves taking off his diaper. So now, instead of crying when he is tired and I put him in bed for a nap, he just laughs at me as I walk out of the room, takes his diaper off and throws it in the trash can. I hear over the monitor "Trash" and "Pee Pee Pee Pee Pee Pee." Ugh!!! He also loves playing in his room now! Who would've thought that day would ever come? I cannot recount to you the horrors we went through to switch him out of our room to his, and now he loves his room. Last night, I heard him get up around 2 am play in his drawers for about 15 minutes and then go back to sleep. This morning instead of waking up sad or upset, he woke up and started playing! It is so crazy.

I have been thinking a lot about "Mom guilt" lately. You know, Moms, that inner feeling that you aren't doing something right, or enough, and that your kids will be hopelessly flawed because of you. I tend to struggle with the Mom guilt over:
1. Do I hold Silas enough?

2. Does Silas hear us talk enough to develop a good vocabulary?

3. Do I play with Josiah enough?

4. Is Josiah drinking too much milk?

5. Do I brush Josiah's teeth long enough each time?

6. Is the house clean enough? Is the laundry done enough?


ETC. ETC. So in thinking about all this stuff lately I really realize that God has no intentions for us to live this way. His greatest example of parenting to us is love, love, love, love, love. In fact, I read today that the word "love" occurs 610 times in the KJV of the bible. That is huge. When I think of it this way, I'm a pretty amazing mom (parent), and I bet you are too. I totally know that my kids are 100% sure that I love them, and although the other stuff is hugely important, it pales in comparison to love. So, let's resolve that at the end of the day, when we go to bed at night, that despite all the other things we do or don't do, we rest knowing that we've loved well.

With LOVE,

Jenn

Enjoy the pictures below!