The Wonders of Kindness

This week, I read something amazing that made me decide to change the way that I was parenting my children. Specifically, my 2 year old.

The way I was doing it before wasn't the way I chose to do it, nor was it the way I had always pictured. I got caught up in noticing how often my child was misbehaving and not enough on how he wasn't. I caught myself being a mom that I didn't want to be.

Two-year-olds can be so difficult at times. I'm sure that every age is difficult (and perhaps even more difficult than twos) but I was struggling with how I responded to him when he was misbehaving. I noticed myself getting angry with him when he would get angry, frustrated when he was frustrated, and loud when he was loud. I would tell myself, "how is he supposed to know that I am upset with his behavior if I don't show him that I am mad"?

Then God showed me something I needed to hear. Something that I have been wanting to hear, to remind me of who I wanted to be as his mom and a child of God.

If you haven't heard of the blog called "Mundane Faithfulness" I suggest you visit it and check it out.

I happened upon a post by Blythe Hunt called "Kindness Matters" on their website and something stuck out to me in a beautiful "God-planned" way.

"Anger does not beget heart change; it begets shame. Yelling does not beget understanding; it begets hurt. Harsh words do not beget love; they beget humiliation. Intimidation does not beget kindness; it begets fear. Only kindness begets kindness; kindness begets love."

WOW. That insert changed me and I felt God speaking to me and telling me that this is why the last 2 weeks with my 2 year old have been so hard. I am so thankful that I stumbled upon this post and took the time to read it because it spoke to my heart in ways that I can't put into words.

The thing that is even more amazing is what happened the next day (and every day since I read this). I woke up the next morning committed to this statement. I would not get angry with Josiah. I will not yell at him and I will not use harsh words. No matter what.

When Josiah got up and started misbehaving: yelling, throwing things, hitting things... I was not going to use anything other than kindness. I could not believe the day that we had. It was AMAZING the effect that kindness had on him that day. After struggling with him every day for a week, all I needed to do was show him more kindness and love.

Isn't it amazing how Jesus love us so unconditionally. How we disobey Him and His Word, yet he loves us and shows us kindness continually, no matter what?! Every day, I pray with Josiah that we will remember to love one another like Jesus does to act more like Jesus every day.

How did I ever think anger was going to work anyway? Young children are such imitators, that when I treated him with kindness, love, and patience, he showed me the same in return.

“The Book of Romans tells us that it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. I want to love with a kindness that nurtures a hard heart to desire to be soft. God is the only one able to transform someone else’s heart, but if I live a life submitted to Him, then His love will be reflected through me.

 — Kara Tippetts, Big Love

@ http://www.mundanefaithfulness.com/home/2015/3/11/kindness-matters

A Little Bit of Life

I meant to have a fun post up today but I spent most of the precious "both kids are napping" time working on updating my About Page. Check it out if you get a moment! :)

Just a little bit about my week:

Something that has been extra fun lately is the progression of Little Ox #2's personality! This is one of my favorite stages! They are moving out of the newborn phase a little bit and becoming more aware of their surroundings. I say this a lot but I can't stress the fact enough that Nolan loves watching his older brother! One of my favorite things since having #2 is watching #1 morph into an amazing older brother. He is so gentle, loving, and protective of his little brother. He loves showing him off to other people and loves having someone to make laugh. Josiah was SO excited this week when I dressed them up in the same outfit.

Little Ox #2 loves his baths! It took Josiah a few months before we were able to do his baths without any screaming along the way. Since Nolan's second bath ever, he has been like this. It is one of his favorite things ever!

Little Ox #1 has been fascinated with everything associated with breastfeeding. Here is a sweet little shot of him "feeding" his baby that we got him before #2 was born. He tries to nurse his baby and pump any time he can. It is so sweet and funny how aware of his surroundings he is!

Another great thing that happened this week was somewhat of a sleep milestone for Nolan! He has slept mostly through the night for a month or so now, but the other day while I was working out, I laid him in his crib with his pacifier while he sleepy, thinking I could get a few minutes of the workout in before he started crying, needing to be held. However, I went to check on him 10 minutes later and he had fallen asleep, on his own, unswaddled, in his CRIB! This is amazing because usually the ONLY way we can get him to sleep is swaddled, in his swing, usually with white noise. I was so surprised! We decided that night to see if he would sleep in his crib all night like he does in his swing. So that night, we swaddled him, sleepy, and laid him in his crib with white noise and he was out in 10 minutes, no crying, and he slept until almost 4:30am! Woohoo! 

This week Josiah and I made superhero masks too! If you didn't know already, he LOVES superheroes and tries to use anything as his superhero props. So I found an amazing DIY on Pinterest and I sewed some up for him. Look out for a new post soon on how I made them!

Another woohoo moment is that I finished every one of my workouts this week! Once you get on a roll it is hard to stop. You start actually WANTING to work out 

Lastly, I am so excited to be starting some research on putting together a marriage workshop. Marriage is so important and I am so passionate about making my marriage the absolute best it can possibly be. Being a CFLE is so exciting because I am able to help others and share with them my passion about making a marriage thrive and helping it enrich your life!

Impending Spring

I will admit that ever since having Little Ox #2, I have had a hard time adjusting to how I schedule my time with #1 during the day. Some days it seems like nothing gets done and all my toddler has done was play by himself or watch TV, but hey - moms aren't perfect right?!

Luckily, now that #2 is closing in on being 3 months old, things are starting to look a little bit more normal around here. As a Stay-At-Home mama, I like to have a (flexible) schedule for every day to ensure that we all don't end up sitting on the couch all day. It creates a lot of structure for me and puts Little Ox #1 in a much better mood for the day!

My toddler has SO much energy, so when he has creative outlets for that energy, the tantrums are less and he is a much happier two-year old! Since it has been so cold and rainy here lately, it is difficult to give him time to play outside (and on top of that, we practically live in a forest, so there is no flat ground to play outside anyway.) **another reason I am SO excited to be moving soon**

So we have to find lots of fun inside activities to do while it's still a little cold and rainy. Luckily, Spring is almost here and we are slowly having a few warm, sunny days.

Something that #1 has been into lately has been SUPERHEROES. Like every superhero - but mostly all the Avengers (+Spiderman). And because of the amazing world of Pinterest, I was able to find this awesome site that shows you how to make felt Superhero Masks of all his favorite guys.

http://cutesycrafts.com/2012/07/superhero-party-masks.html

We will definitely be making these soon!!

Aren't toddler boys amazing!?! I think he is in such a fun stage right now and I love spending my days with him. Other activities that are fun for us right now are:

• Finger Painting: Last time it got sooo messy I have been contemplating doing it in the bathtub. He loves being in the tub - so maybe doing it in an empty tub will be fun and have an easy cleanup! 

• Magnet boards: HERE you can find when we use his magnet board and how we made it. We bought alphabet magnets and we turn his play into a fun school lesson - practicing words, letters, and colors.

• Cooking: This has been so fun to do with him! Real cooking and pretending in his play kitchen! I will be having a small series about Cooking With Toddlers with recipes and tips for cooking and baking with your little ones.

On another note -

Little Ox #2 just turned 12 WEEKS OLD and he will be 3 months on Friday.

He is starting to have more control of his head and body. He loves looking at his big brother and laying on his tummy. He doesn't have any teeth yet but he is definitely teething! He is still exclusively breastfed and I am pretty sure he is going through a growth spurt. He now consistently is sleeping 6(ish) hours every night and sleeps really well during the day (even while big brother is napping!)

I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with my boys and watch them grow! Geeze - life is pretty amazing, huh? You know what else is amazing!?

These fashion/drool bibs for babies up to 2 years old!! Here is Little Ox #1 modeling some!

www.etsy.com/shop/mimasnurseryshoppe

I will be getting some soon for #2! They will be perfect for drool and spit up, especially during this teething phase! You can find those here! 

Happy Monday!

A Little Break

I decided to take a little break from blogging for a while for a few reasons. It started with a family trip to California for my cousin's wedding, that turned into coming home and getting the flu, and then time adjusting to being home with two sick babies once my older one got the flu and the littlest Ox started teething (AT 2 MONTHS OLD!). I guess my babies just like to teeth early since Little Ox #1 got his first teeth at 3 months...

Another reason why we have been so busy is because we are starting the process of buying our first home! We are so excited!

Does anyone have any great first-time home buying tips?!

That being said, it is a new month and I am ready to be back!

Here is a sweet shot of my soon-to-be THREE month old getting "loved-on" by big brother and his toys. At least my toddler is sharing, right?! :)

Lastly - I just wanted to mention how amazing it is to see joy in your children. I LOVE the way that big brother looks at his little and how little brother looks at his big. It reminds me over and over again about the love of God that is in us from the moment we are placed on this earth.