A Blogger Award

My sweet cousin, Ginny, from The Patterson 5 has given my blog a "Kreativ Blogger" award for my creative parenting. I have loved blogging since the day I started, and one of the blessings God has granted me through blogging is a wonderful way to keep up with such a sweet cousin who lives so far away and who I rarely get to see. The other blessing God has granted me is a way to communicate to the world what a blessing being a parent is and let you guys into just a little bit of our lives. I actually think all parents are creative...you can't raise a child if you don't have a little creativity or have a sense of humor. Thanks for my award, Ginny. I love you.

My instructions are now to nominate 7 other bloggers for this award, and they are to nominate 7 others. (Be sure to leave a comment on their blog about the award.) Those nominated must then write a list of 7 things their blog readers might not know about them.

So, here I go with my 7 things you might not know about me...which is hard to do since I already have done a post with 25 things you don't know about me...I'll try to come up with new ones:

1. When I sleep in long pants at night, I tuck my pants into my socks so that I don't have any air unevenly touching my legs and so my pants don't ride up my legs in the night. Be glad you've never seen a picture of this...it's a very lovely look.
2. I have never dyed or colored my hair, and the only makeup I wear is mascara, lipstick, and gloss. I like quick and easy.
3. I am a creature of habit about a lot of things, and my habits change over time. My current habit: Before every meal, I have a Lorna Doone shortbread cookie topped with peanut butter and two peanut M&Ms. It's really good...you should try it.
4. I sneeze when I take Benadryl or after I choke on something. I said this next statement in my 25 things post, but my brother says I should donate my body to science. Maybe he's right.
5. Chris and I love to eat out. We always joke that we are going to buy an RV when we get older and travel around the country eating good food. We want to find the best bbq and ice cream in the nation. We've often wondered how you get the job of being a food critic. You get to go out to eat for free....sounds like a job I could have.
6. I used a push mower by myself for the first time two weeks ago. Even though I grew up in the country, we always used riding mowers. I felt like I really accomplished something by cutting the grass while Chris was at work.
7. When I was younger, I used to think teachers never went to the bathroom. Even though my mom was a teacher and I knew she went to the bathroom, I never saw any of my lower elementary teachers go into the bathroom. This always baffled me. My mom laughed at this when I told her this years later.

Here are the blogs I'm going to award:

1. O Love that Will Not Let Me Go - Even though I don't personally know this couple, their blog has been such an inspiration to me over the past year. The Roberts family had a little girl (Magdalena) who was born around the time Hayden was born with a chromosomal abnormality. She was able to bless the world so much in the short time she was on the earth and made a huge impact in my life and in the lives of others. Their blog tells their story in such a creative way that can't help but draw you closer to your family and closer to God.
2. The Neyland's - Creative describes this blog perfectly. Just check out the creative buckets for her daughter's birthday party and her room decor ideas. She created a website for Chris and I when Hayden was born as a creative way to let family and friends know about his birth, see some pictures of the family, and post some notes to us.
3. Picky-Palate - This is one of my favorite recipe blogs. She makes such creative and wonderful things. I love the Cookies and Cream Rice Krispies, Cookies and Cream Cheese Brownies with a Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache, Nutter Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies, and so many more. If I were going to have a cooking blog (and I've thought about it before), this is what I'd want mine to be like...and she takes wonderful pictures.
4. The Patrick Family - I know I may be a little biased and that she hasn't blogged in about a month now (hint, hint...hehehe), but I have to award this blog for its funny stories created by all the crazy things her creative little children do. They may be my neice and nephew, but they do some funny stuff.
5. As We Go - I love all the creative stories about scorpions and reading her Friday Fritters. She calls herself a "work in progress" on her profile, but I think she handles life with three little girls very well. She is a creative parent if I've ever seen one. :o)
6. Life on the Chicken Farm - Being a country girl myself, I just had to award this blog for her creative parenting...well, on a chicken farm. Her cute little girl is a girl after my own heart. She loves to look cute but then can be digging around in the dirt with her dog, Otis. I love it.
7. The Macs - I stumbled across this blog after hearing their story at a bible study. This family had a little girl named Cora...one day, her mommy was posting about ear infections, and the next day, there were posts about cancer. Cora is with Jesus now, but I love their story and how they have clung to God for strength. Cora's mom is very creative and has opened a store on Etsy called Cora's. She makes the most creative and cute clothes. There are things for little girls and little boys.

Well, there you go. My first blogger award. I hope to be posting some pictures soon of Hayden's swimming abilities. I am amazed at how well he does in the water. Until next time....

Into Everything

Wow...I have let my blogging go lately, haven't I? I've been trying to get adjusted to being home everyday with Hayden (no more Mother's Day Out this summer) and trying to get us into a good summer routine....not to mention trying to keep up with him. Hehehe... I think we're figuring out our routine now. In his best babble 10 month old talk, Hayden clearly told me recently that he wanted to go to the pool regularly to make up for putting me on bedrest all last summer. I, being such a sacrificial mother, am willing to leave my fun housework duties at home and oblige, so we've gone everyday for the past couple of days. I really want him to get used to the water, since I love swimming so much. He does great and especially loves to smile at all the pretty little girls at the pool...he seems to have a preference for the blonde ones. I'm going to have my hands full. Actually, I already have my hands full. Hehehe....

We've definitely reached the "getting into everything" stage. Even though he's been crawling for about 3 months now, he's now become a pro at it and is almost as fast as me. He sees a door open that he's not supposed to go into, and those little legs book it to try to get in before I get there. He's been pulling up for about 2 months now, but now, he can pull up on a flat surface like a door or cabinet...so he's discovered the kitchen cabinets. The locks we bought for the kitchen cabinets didn't work, so I put some picture hanging wire around all of them the other day. It is a temporary fix but is making my life easier not to have to chase him everywhere he goes.

The improved mobility also means I have a little shadow now. He follows me throughout the house, and pulls up on my legs. If I'm sitting on the floor, he pulls up on me, and hugs me. If I'm sitting on the furniture, he's pulling up and trying to get to me. Everyone told me when I found out I was having a boy that, "Little boys love their mommies." That is definitely true. He loves his daddy, too, and Chris is a wonderful dad.

He's getting to be a pretty good eater. Like most kids, there are times when he just doesn't want to eat...and I don't press the matter, because he'll eat if he's hungry. Then, there are other times when I have to limit his food so he doesn't fill himself up so much that he spits up. When he first started eating finger foods, he was super picky, and I was resigned to the fact that he would only eat bread and puffs. But, he's gotten to where he likes more things. He won't eat bananas. That is a definite fact....I think it's a texture thing. He loves sandwiches, gerber cereal bars, puffs, turkey sandwich meat, chicken nuggets, waffles, and he's just now gotten to where he'll eat that fruit that comes in the snack packages.

Some new things he can do: says "Gu" for Gus and "Du" for duck, gets the ball when I ask him, gets his duck when I ask him, plays peek-a-boo (this is especially cute), tries to clap, turns the lights on and off, turns the faucets on and off, does this funny thing with his lips that we taught him (I'll video it), and says "Mama" and "Dada" on request (this is in the last day, but I still don't think he really connects us with our names yet). He's pulling up and sitting back down real smoothly and cruising well along furniture. I don't know when the walking will happen, but I think he'll run before he walks. :o) Oh, and he has 7 teeth now.

Here are some recent pictures. As you can see, that hair is getting so thick and is almost ready for his second haircut (it's traveling over the ears). He definitely has his daddy's hair. :o) I'll try to get some swimming pictures soon. Oh, and the picture of him swinging was at Gran's house. He laughed and laughed and totally loved it. My brother and sister-in-law are living out there right now in between selling their house in Clinton and building a new house in Brandon, and their swing set went with them out there.