A Little of Everything

This morning we set out early for the Frontier Days Parade. We left about half an hour before it was supposed to start so we could get seats. Of course, all of the old people were already there and camped out right up next to the curb so the kids couldn't have the spaces. We did find some though and sat to wait...it seemed to take forever for the thing to start and we were a block down from the beginning. The boys had fun though and got a ton of candy!

He slept like this the entire 2 hours we were there

Happy to be munching and waving his flag while waiting for it to start

Lol

He hates loud noises and the police sirens at the start didn't exactly please him

He was awake but cuddling

Finally out getting candy!

Not missing any!

Jax used my camera for a bit and here is a nice self portrait lol

Happy with his candy!

Our bag of goodies was way more than we needed!

It was funny because there were families on both sides of us so all of us parents were trying to get the kids to only get the candy that was straight in front of them. The parents on both sides of us had kids slightly older and more anxious to get the candy so they kept having to hand it to Jaxton even though we said it was fine. At one point Jax wanted to sit in the stroller for a bit and the kids were still getting candy and bringing it over to him. It was cute to know there are kids that can share like that.

The parade lasted forever...an hour and a half after it started we left. The kids were getting bored with it, Korbin was about to wake up and be ready to eat, and we were done. Some other people were starting to pack up also, so we wanted to beat the rush of traffic in getting out of the area also. I don't think we missed much more anyway.

When we came home it was lunchtime and naps! I laid down with Korbin and Jax, not expecting to be up there long, but that didn't work. I had to go in the first place because Jax wouldn't behave and lay down. I didn't think Korbin would sleep after such a long nap at the parade, but I was wrong. We ended up staying up there quite a while until I took him and we to my mom's for a few.

After the older boys woke up, I got my way and took Mr Bentley for a much needed haircut! I have been fighting for this for over a month now and finally got my way so I ran out the door. He did so good with it. At first he whined a little and then he just snuggled up to me the rest of the time and closed his eyes. He looks so different now!

Before

After

Since my baby hit the 4 month mark today I had to take my monthly picture. This was much more a challenge because every time I set him down he rolled over! Little stinker...he is growing up too fast!

I plan on doing some more pictures tomorrow since he wasn't really in the mood today. The older boys wanted their pictures taken too while I was taking these so I made an attempt at a picture of all three. Surprisingly a couple weren't horrible and it makes me want to try again with a little more effort! These were just snapped quick to please them. Jax wanted to hold Korbin first so naturally Bentley had to hold him too.

They can be so sweet sometimes<3 I love the random faces in the last one lol

The rest of the night we didn't do a whole lot. I bought a Wii Fit today from my cousin and so I had to use it. Jax thought it was fun to do the exercises along with me and wanted to play even when I had to stop because Korbin woke up and was hungry. Hopefully it helps me along with some of the weight loss and toning since running hasn't been easy to get done lately.

After putting the older two to bed, I went over to mom's to enjoy a few minutes by the fire and treat myself to a couple smores. I didn't stay too long because it was kind of chilly for Korbin to be out and I didn't want him in the smoke for long. Now here I am...with Jaxton still awake next to me.

Before heading to bed for the night I better share our pictures for the photo challenge. The theme was "empty." Jaxton was taking pictures at the parade while the tractors were going by since they weren't passing out candy so here is his people that are "empty" handed

And here is mine...the empty seats by the fire

Now off to cuddle with my babies<3

Jaxton's Photo A Day Starts!

Like promised, I started doing the June Photo a Day Challenge...and so did Jax! I think it'll be fun but I'll definitely have to help him out with what some of them mean. Today's theme was "morning" and I let him choose what he wanted to take a picture of and I'm going to post his two top ones. He is using my point and shoot for his pictures, which he loves running around with!

His favorite breakfast

And what would a morning be without Spongebob on tv?!

For mine I used my favorite part of every morning...my chats with Korbin. Every morning when we go downstairs, since we are usually the first ones up, we sit and chat before anything else. He just smiles and coos and it is the sweetest thing ever<3

He is such a happy baby in the morning!

I haven't posted much lately because I haven't really had much to talk about. I've worked a few days and just been kind of lazy really. The weather cant decide what it wants to do but we have been outside when it's nice enough.

Tomorrow is the city's Frontier Days Parade so we are planning on going to that for the kids to enjoy. Otherwise I have no idea what the weekend will have in store!

For some reason I am actually fairly tired tonight though so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Maybe I'll be more talkative tomorrow:)

Memorial Day

Yesterday was a fun filled day. In the morning we attempted an art project I came up with that was somewhat a fail but still looks ok I suppose. I planned to take the letters off after painting it...but the paint ran underneath a few of them and some stuck down so they are staying on. I want to buy a frame and cut down the paper to hang it up:)

Finished product:)

And they had to run and play in the sand before we went inside...this led to sand being dumped on both kids' heads

After naptime we went over to my mom's. They had gotten to run through the sprinkler the day before so they wanted to go back. Kayden went over too so they all had fun for a while.

We took the jumperoo outside for Korbin

Yesterday's photo of the day was "the weather today"

Sunny with plenty of wind!

Today's theme is "number"

The zeros show how much I have to my name...the money for the pic was borrowed from my hubby lol

Attachment Parenting...My Views

I truly don't understand why this has to be such a big ordeal. Why can't people mind their own business and let others raise their kids the way they want to? There are so many critics of different areas of attachment parenting who have no idea what they're even talking about and it's slowly driving me crazy.

Let me start out by saying that with my first child I had no idea what this even was. Although now I do actively do the three most commonly mentioned parts, I still don't know that I'd say I practice this strongly. However, given the chance I definitely would. The three things that are usually talked about are breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and baby-wearing.

I will admit that before I had children, the idea of breastfeeding was awkward to me. I wasn't comfortable when people would breastfeed in public around me, but I wouldn't say anything to them because I respected their decision to do this. I can definitely say this view has changed. This doesn't mean I always whip my boob out whenever we go somewhere (although it may feel like that to my husband), but I am not going to take bottles of my precious pumped milk when I am with my baby! There is no reason I can't feed him wherever I go and I now also think there is no reason for people to complain if I do. We don't cover up when we eat and bottle fed babies aren't covered...so why should breastfed babies? If you think about it you see less boob when a baby is eating than someone wearing a bikini around. The baby's head is covering most of it and usually a shirt is covering some of the rest. So what is there to complain about...a baby eating? I think a lot of this has to do with people being judgemental and uneducated...

On to co-sleeping. I'll start this part off by saying Korbin is sleeping in my bed next to me as I type this<3 Before having kids and even while pregnant with Jaxton, I swore I would never let my babies sleep in my bed. This last about 2 days, until I realized he slept better when he was with me. I was still extremely paranoid of rolling over on him so he slept on my chest, on the couch, for about a month. Both Jax and Bentley were put in their own rooms around 3 months old. Korbin I have been more laid back about. I also co-sleep because I have done my research now and know that it is actually good for them and doesn't just make them sleep better. Now it is also more convenient for breastfeeding purposes also, but I truly enjoy it. It is my time to snuggle with my baby and I always know he's safe with me. I do feel like it has taken away from some time with my husband, but he isn't much of a cuddler anyway so this gives me my cuddle time too. On the subject of people criticizing others for co-sleeping, I don't see why it should matter at all to someone else who does or doesn't sleep with their baby. There are benefits of both ways and it is a matter of opinion on what is best.

Now for baby-wearing...with my first I thought it looked funny. With my second I tried one carrier and hated it, so I assumed they all were just as much of a hassle and didn't try any more. Now, I wear my baby all the time! It is the best $10 I have spent in a long time! Not only am I able to walk around with my hands free and get stuff done, but he is happy and gets to snuggle while I do so! Do people look at me funny when I'm in public with my Moby on? Of course they do, but they don't know how great it really is! I'm not saying everyone has to wear their baby, but many people who do thoroughly enjoy it, and I am one of them:)

All of this being said, unless someone is doing something unsafe with their child, I will usually keep my mouth shut. A lot of things depend on personal opinion...but not everyone needs to hear it! One of my biggest pet peeves is people being uneducated and telling those who do know what they're doing that they are wrong. With attachment parenting as a whole, sure it may be better for some people, but others it's not going to work. The parents AND the children have to be in this together and for some parents it may be too much. This doesn't mean they are bad parents by any means. It also doesn't have to be practiced exactly by the book because every family is different. My advice for people...if you don't like someone else telling YOU how to do things, don't do it to others. They may prove you wrong and make you look like an idiot:)

End of rant.


Side note: since I am in bed no picture tonight...my camera is downstairs and I'm going to stay here and snuggle my baby<3

Summertime Rant

Does nobody watch their kids anymore?! I drove over to my mom's house earlier and on the way there kids were walking/riding bikes down the street when there was a sidewalk right to the side of them! There were two more kids up a block ahead that seemed to be with the group. The catch? None of these kids could have been over 10 years old!

Then on the way home there was a group of four kids just standing outside the BAR! Seriously people?! I don't see how people just let their young kids wander and not have any idea what they are doing. And if they do know that their kids are hanging out outside of a bar then they need help.

Maybe I am overprotective or just paranoid, but I would never let my kids do either. For one, I want to know where they are and that they are supervised at ALL times. Two, why they heck do kids need to be hanging out at a bar? Three, do people not realize that these kids could get hit by a car and nobody would know who to contact for them or a drunk could walk out of the bar and hurt one of them and the same would apply. I wish people would just watch their kids! It can't be that much to ask...

Ok, done with the complaint. Now on to my normal post:)

We stayed pretty busy today. This morning the kids and I got up and went over to my mom's for a good part of the day. Since my husband has been having a lot of headaches and dizziness still from his accident I thought it'd be nice to give him some quiet time. Plus, my mom made us breakfast!

Jax came out of the kitchen and said "Look at me! I'm Sponge-gar!" For anyone who doesn't have kids obsessed with Spongebob that is the Prehistoric Spongebob's name lol

Most of the morning was pretty lazy. The boys played with whatever they could find and beat up Keith until he left. When naptime rolled around it didn't last long enough for anyone. I didn't even try to take one for once, but it wouldn't have been worth it anyway. Korbin barely napped at all because he wanted to be attached to me the whole time and I got up.

Once Jax and Bentley woke up they wanted to go outside and play with bubbles. Oh my goodness it was humid out! Of course they didn't care if they sweat the whole time though...they loved it all the same!

When we came home they were in the kind of mood where they needed entertainment because they were both tired. I took them out and we painted sun-catchers for a bit and then they used up the last of the paint on some paper.

While we were on the porch sitting around after the painting was all cleaned up, Jaxton saw his flower from preschool and started talking about it so I had the great idea of planting it. Well, we didn't have a hand shovel so I had to drive back over and steal some from mom's but that worked out good because she had a spare plant so Bentley could have one too:)

With their plants before putting them in the ground

Digging holes for their plants

Jaxton's flower

Now two of the three are finally off to bed. I have a lot I'd like to get done still but Korbin keeps stirring and thinks I should stay with him at all times, so I'll probably just head back to bed here shortly...

As for the photo of the day...I realized this afternoon that my photo yesterday was actually from the day before's theme...I was off a day. So I had an idea for what to take a picture of but turned out it was for yesterday's theme:( Today's was 12 o'clock and that had already passed a few hours beforehand and I couldn't find anything creative to use for it so no picture tonight. Tomorrow I'll use the right date and start again I guess!

Preschool Program

Yesterday was Jaxton's preschool program! He is now officially done with his first year of school! I have no idea where time has gone but at least I still have another year before I have two kids in school. 

The morning started out fairly decent, even though we had Kayden too. The boys all got along up until around 9:30ish. This made for a ton of fun when I had to get Jax ready and finish getting myself and the other two kids ready to go. Since Kayden got crabby the other two did also. Lucky me.

I had arranged for my grandma, who also helps out with the preschool, to watch Bentley and Kayden in the nursery during the program so I could get some pictures...that didn't work like planned. Once the first song started they were already out of there. Ugh. Oh well. Jax did really good during the program though and had fun. He even got a diploma for finishing his first year of school:)

(Don't mind the white eyes in the pics. I haven't had the chance to go through them all yet and fix them and the church is weird colored so they do that all the time)

Getting ready to walk in

With his teachers after the program

And just for fun I had to add this picture of Korbin from yesterday. He loves sitting in his jumperoo now and was just hanging out talking to the little animals on it yesterday:) We are at my mom's now and he's in hers just having a whole conversation with the bear on it. He is just getting so big already but it's so sweet to hear him talk and have him smile at everything.

And like I promised...back on the bandwagon for picture of the day. Today's theme was "technology" and I had something cute planned but didn't get the chance to do it so all you get is a picture of my normal nights...quiet time with the baby monitor and the laptop to blog and check Facebook:)

Last Normal Day

Today was Jaxton's last "normal" day of preschool for the year. It makes me feel so old that my baby is already done with a year of school! It's been fun to watch him learn so much and grow throughout the year. He loves going, even if he doesn't always behave the best when he is there...part of that has to do with my mom being the teacher I'm sure but oh well.

This morning Bentley woke up at 5am crying for some reason so I got up and snuggled him for a bit. Korbin started stirring so Bentley went back to bed with me so I could feed Korbin. Well that didn't last long because he wouldn't lay still so nobody else could sleep. Luckily, he went back to sleep in his own bed easily. It did throw the rest of us off though. Korbin is always up by 7:30 at the very latest. Usually I'm lucky to sleep til 7. Today was the one day I didn't set my alarm (since I've been up before it every day) and he slept until 8! I woke up in a panic because I had to be out the door in 15 minutes to get Jax to school on time!

I managed to get him ready in time and even snap a picture of my big boy before we had to leave:)

When I went to pick him up I asked him what his favorite thing to do at preschool was. He walked around for a bit and told me the toys. I asked which ones and he said "the ones boy Devon brought today." lol Devon had show and tell along with Jax today and he had a Spiderman toy we don't have. He did show me his favorite place to sit on the carpet though.

Had to have this one to go with the first day of school pic!

Tomorrow is his program so that'll be fun. There's a lunch after too so we will see if he actually wants to stay for that or not. I am crazy and agreed to watch my nephew throughout all of this so I may lose my mind before noon!

I definitely went overboard on gifts for the teachers/helpers this year. There are two teachers and two "grandmas" so I had to do something for all of them. Thanks to Pinterest I made all four of them these:

The teachers also are getting a big candle and I cut out a flower to put on top that says "Thank you for being a scent-sational teacher." They get the extra because I originally bought those for the helpers and the cases for the teachers, but decided the candles were probably nicer than just candy so I'd do the candy for everyone and give the teachers the candles lol. I'm crazy I know!

For those who actually read this on a normal basis, I do plan to start posting more again. I needed a short break from posting every day but realized I miss doing it! I also think for the month of June I may have Jaxton join me on the photo a day challenge since he LOVES taking pictures! He is pretty good with my point and shoot so it'd be interesting to see what he comes up with for each theme:) I'll start back with those tomorrow!