Intentional Parenting, aka "Parenting Like You Mean It"

I'd just like to write a few thoughts I've had lately about parenting. I'm by no means an expert (only 20 months in!) so please take everything I say with a grain of salt!

Caitlin's entering the "girl" stage now and leaving all her baby ways behind. It's super fun to watch her discover new things and react so transparently to the world around her. In the last two days her vocabulary has gotten much "clearer" too and suddenly I'm understanding the words coming out of her little mouth-! What a milestone!

Of course there have been challenges along the way--I remember many of the nights when Grady and I would lie in bed just listening to her cry after putting her down at night, just so unsure about what to do for her long term best interest. And then there came needing to somehow communicate that although we understood her sign language requests, we still weren't going to say yes all the time (complicated message to get through to a one year old!). Most recently it's been issues like playing with or dropping food during mealtimes and coming when we call her or not touching what we say is off limits, etc--all first time obedience issues. It's getting more complicated but I'm so glad God has put the people and resources in our life to help guide us on a meaningful and effective path through it all.

It's on my heart to encourage all parents out there to be intentional in your role of bring up your children. This is my biggest struggle--it is SO much easier to stay sitting on the couch after telling Caitlin not to touch the Christmas tree--again--instead of actually getting up and moving her away--in effect, simply following through. Or being consistent in my instruction to not play with her full drink cup, no matter how long it takes her to behave that way. Or (my least personal favorite at the moment) actually taking her down to her crib for a few minutes of "isolation" (aka time out) when she's acting defiantly, even in little ways. It's lots of effort, but then seeing the little ways in which she does demonstrate self control and obedience already are such rewards for the hard work put in. Knowing that teaching her these things now (which she is totally capable of learning, even at such a young age!) will instill lifelong discipline and strength of character in her. There's no better payoff than knowing your child is growing up free to blossom into the person God intends for her to be because she is secure in her boundaries and in the instructional love of her parents. We love Caitlin too much to just "let her figure things out for herself," which seems like such a popular parenting attitude these days.

Of course we are only 20 months into things and have made many mistakes and are bound to continue--thank goodness for God's grace. And thank God for giving us such a wonderful gift in our daughter who is slowly but surely opening our eyes more to the intricacies of how God loves us. May you also intentionally guard and direct the children God has given you!

(And our efforts are already paying off--she fully cooperates when we put her to sleep both for naps and at night, and she's also (in general) learning how to accept our "no's" when she's asked for something--two huge blessings for our family!)

Seasonal Delights

I can't really say if it's a typical "nesting" behavior of certain pregnant women, but I'm sure enjoying baking in every form these last couple weeks. Let's see, so far I've successfully made:
*7 dozen whipped shortbread (last Tuesday)
*1 tray peanut butter marshmallow squares (Wednesday)
*6 dozen gingerbread crinkles (Thursday)
*2 more trays peanut butter marshmallow squares (Friday) --for an Xmas party last Saturday!
*6 dozen linzer cookies (today, see pictures)
*4 dozen dark chocolate orange truffles (today)
*3 dozen almond lace cookies (today)
And an added bonus is that 6 dozen of the whipped shortbread turned into 12 half dozens of multiple other baked varieties last Thursday after a cookie exchange! Yum yum yummmmy!

Still on my list:
*honeycomb toffee brittle
*traditional shortbread
*star and tree shaped sugar cookies
...with the potential of 3-4 dozen of my linzer cookies turning into more variety tomorrow evening if I decide to venture out in the arctic-wasteland aka Rochester, MN. The HIGH today was -4F (that's -20C for all you non-Americans!)

I do love the feeling of accomplishment after simply blending a few simple ingredients, setting the timer, and pulling out the finished beauties at the right moment. Not to mention how great it is to know that our nearby family's and friends' gifts are being taken care of more than a week before the big day! It feels nice to be on top of things for once.

I hope you're enjoying your own variety of baked goodies too!

Who Knew??

It'd be such a shame if only pregnant women who received this newsletter found out these interesting tidbits, so I just had to share! Woot Week 33!

how nice!

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....oh my....!
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good one.

Please Excuse...

...the mess that has become of my blog! And it's really nothing I can change--it seems that blogger has just lost my pictures (yayyyy.) Here's hoping they come back soon....

{insert frustration!}

Update (Dec 12th):
I've decided to re-upload the pictures for the latest ten posts and hope that somehow the others can be recovered eventually (when the guys in the "help group" finally--if ever--get to my plea and can fix it-!). Thanks everyone for your patience...

Baby Bump

pictures taken at 31 weeks

Come On In, Part Two

And as promised, here's the second half of our home tour! I do have a few disclaimers though:

• there is no photo of our bedroom because it never seems to be in a very presentable state, oops.
• the dining room table is far from picture perfect, I am in the middle of getting Christmas cards out!
• the boxes/bags of Christmas decorations are clearly seen in that picture. Please ignore. Thanks.
• I am so proud to tell people that all the furniture in Caitlin's room is second hand, acquired from friends or garage sales. And isn't that room painted so cute! It was like that when we bought the house.
• please note the clearer picture of the recently painted border, it's white not pink!

Ok, now you may enjoy. :)

Uh-Huh

Unfortunately, not too far from the truth...