The Good the Bad and the Ugly!!

Hello friends. I am sorry that I have gone so long without posting. I am good at posting when life is mellow.... not so good when life is crazy. In the last couple of weeks, these are some of the main events that have been going on in our lives:
1. My parents came up and helped us paint our ugly cabinets white (thanks again mom and dad)!!! Yeah.. they look so much better. Since then Chris has been on fire doing projects. In the last week, he has put hardwood into the kitchen, put up a new deck, and painted almost all of the doors white (with help from Kris and Dan). Now that we have started all of these projects.. the next step is to finish them... which is hard with Chris being so busy and me chasing a toddler around almost 8 months pregnant trying to figure out how I can help.
2. Sofia and I went to Klamath while Chris was working and spent time with the grandparents and lots of her cousins.
3. We just got back today from spending my birthday at the coast with Heather,her mother-in-law, and Kris.
4. I have been spending time with the funny Sofia who is now trying to sing a lot of different songs. She also spontaneously took her diaper off today and went poop in the toilet, and I captured the moment in the picture shown here(picture I will bust out before her first date). I am not going to push the situation at all at this point, because I am scared I will jinx the situation... but it was very exciting in the moment.
5. Now for the harder toddler times we have been dealing with. Within the last 2 weeks, Sofia has begun to throw some mighty fierce tantrums.. with tonight being the worst one yet. What happened to my sweet baby? She now screams this horror movie scream and freaks out until you think her face will turn blue. Part of this new drama has occured with the change of putting her in her own bed, which was a necessary change with her amazing hurdling and climbing skills. I am feeling a little stressed that a little over a month before the new baby is coming.. Sofia went from sleeping like an angel to waking up often and now resisting naps like the plague. Any advice from anyone who has made this transition recently?

That is our life right now in a nutshell. We are doing well.. happy... and oh so tired.

Einstein Never Used Flashcards

All parents need to read this book! It breaks down the latest research of how kids learn... to show that many of the current parenting trends right now are not necessarily in the best interest of kids. A current trend right now is educational toys. The authors do not claim that all of these toys are bad, but they do think that many are not necessary. For example, many toys trying to drill toddlers on the alphabet are not developmentally appropriate. Even if I spent tons of time teaching Sofia to memorize the alaphabet right now, it would be just that... memorizing. She has no context or experience to make it valuable. I am not saying it is bad to sing the ABC song with your kids, but drilling with the idea that your kid is going to be advanced... yes. The authors talk about how simple play is the best way for small children to learn. The best way to make a child successful in reading is to read to them and help foster creativity. They empahsize the importance of not overscheduling kids with so many activities and giving them more time to interact with the world and people around them. Reading this book took a lot of pressure off me as a parent. It reminded me that my job is to foster a love for learning and to work on praising my kids for their efforts in learning and not just in results. Even after reading this book, I realize that it will still be hard to not sometimes feed into current trends. The other day I overheard a mom bragging to a friend about how young her child was when he learned all of these "advanced" things. I immediately thought of Sofia and couldn't help but compare that she couldn't do any of those things... but then I remembered that I have an active, curious, and happy child who loves being read to, and for now those are the most important things. Okay... I am noticing something about myself. The later I write blog entries.. the more long winded and preachy I am. I am off to bed before this gets lameo. Good night!

Random Thought

I was just driving home from my friend E's baby shower listening to the radio and I heard an advertisement for smuckers pre-made frozen PBJ sandwiches. Come on people, aren't pbj sandwiches like the easiest thing to make in the world? I know that we live in a busy go-go-go society, but my advice: If you are so busy that you don't have time to make a PBJ sandwich, then it is time to reevaluate your schedule. Sorry, this is perhaps my most random post yet.

Becerra Visit

Chris' family was here visiting us up until this morning, and we had a lovely lovely time with them. Sofia loooooves having family here visiting. I think it is a little depressing for her when they all leave, and she is stuck with us again. While family was here, we had fun going to the ocean and Hatfield Marine Science Center, going on hikes and walks, and Chris' mom taught me how to can peaches last night, so I am feeling very domestic. I am blessed with amazing in-laws. I really could not have a better scenario in that department.

By-the-way, if anyone remembers me during my last trimester of Sofia's pregnancy, you may remember me being a little more emotional than normal and some have even gone as far as to say "crazy." I am happy to report that I am doing much better this time around. I have already started nesting, which means I may be using my new skill of canning quite a bit, and I did break down crying once because we didn't have any new diapers for the baby yet, but other than that, I'm as pleasant as Mary Poppins. I can't believe that I have less than 2 months now. This pregnancy has gone by so much faster than the first... too fast. I don't feel ready yet, but I am very excited to meet this little boy who keeps me awake every night with his kicking and dance sessions he must be having inside of me.

My addiction

I have a feeling that I am going to be one of those weird old quirky ladies. Why you may ask do I have this feeling? Probably because I am already a quirky gal. My latest obsession.. garage sales. I seriously have such good garage sale charma.. it is not even funny. This last saturday I gave myself a $7.00 budget, and I came home with: 2 adorable gymboree dresses, one funky hippie little girl dress, Sofia winter hat,3 children books, one pair of jeans for Sofia,and a little refrigerator (not a fancy one) to go with Sofia's kitchen set she will get for her birthday. I am to the point where it is possible to have too much of a good thing. I seriously need to stop. I am starting to plan every saturday morning around going to a few garage sales, so if you have anything to invite me to, saturday mornings would be a great time to help me break the addiction. The other thing that I would like to say about garage sales.... is that there are good garage sales where people want to get rid of their stuff at reasonable/cheap prices.. and then there are the people who think that their used books are worth $7.00 a piece and nasty old stained baby clothes are worth $3.00 a piece. See.. the fact that I even care about this shows that I have a problem. I thought of a solution that may benefit you all. Realistically I should stop going to garage sales period... or you all can send me your wish lists, and I can be your good charma personal shopper. Then I can be happy about finding good deals, but I come home with no new clutter. Okay.. this post needs to end now, I am tired and rambling. Peace out.