Chunky Monkey is 10 months old!~My Pretty Princess

Caiden turned 10 months old on February 10, 2012! I know I say this every month but I really can't believe that he is 10 months old. It seems like time has flown by, but at the same time it seems like he's always been with us.

 My little chunky monkey continues to delight us with his antics and his happy personality. I don't have any official stats this month but when he went to the doctor last week for an ear infection :( they weighed him with clothes on and his weight was 20 lbs. 14 oz. He's still a little shrimp, my friends little boy who is six months old is longer than him; but that's okay, there's not much chance he'll be tall.

Just last week he started pulling up to stand on things. We pulled a leap frog activity table out of storage for him and he loves it. I figured he would. He's so smart he realizes that this is his toy and he grunts at Ayla when she moves in on his territory and tries to play with his toy. Anyway, a day after bringing the activity table home he was crawling around on the floor and kept reaching his little fingers up to play with the table while I was watching Jeopardy. I wasn't looking at him for a minute or so and when I turned back to him he was standing up at the table playing with it, he had the biggest grin on his face; just waiting for me to notice him. It was so cute; but I was a little upset that I missed the first time he pulled up to stand. He now does it on just about anything he can. He also figured out how to go from a crawling position to a sitting position, and open cupboards and drawers. We have some diapers and wipes in a bin in one of the cupboards of our entertainment center. One of Caiden's favorite activities as of late is to open this cupboard, pull out the bin, spread the diapers all over the room and pull out wipes one by one. He laughs hysterically while doing this. Guess I'll have to put a lock on the cupboard.

 He is a very good eater and has eaten everything I've ever given to him. I gave him taco meat last week and he ate that but then cried a few minutes later and I felt so horrible. I didn't think it would be too spicy for him but I guess it was. His favorites are applesauce, bananas, cheerios, ground up spaghetti with meat sauce, avacado, and noodles. I rarely give him baby food anymore unless we are out and about. It has become pretty hard and (trying of my patience) to try to feed him with a spoon. He continually grabs the spoon out of my hand (or tries) over and over and when he doesn't get the spoon he gets irritated and spits food all over; so I try to let him eat things he can pick up with his fingers. He does pretty well and feels like a big boy so he's happier. I just have to watch him because he tends to try and shove whole handfuls of things in his mouth and I've had to dig out five or six cheerios from his mouth a few times. He continues to spit up after eating a bottle, and not just once but numerous times. I'm not sure what it is. I've tried different formulas it doesn't seem to matter. I just recently found a kind of formula specifically for spit up and he has been drinking that for a few days now. The spit up has continued but definitely decreased. So maybe this formula is helping; but of course it's expensive and there is no generic version of it. Ayla used to spit up too but when we switched her to soy formula it stopped, Caiden continues to spit up. Hopefully when he turns one and I can start giving him milk or soy milk he'll stop.

I wanted to add  some thoughts on Ayla as well, I feel like every post lately has been about Caiden. She continues to grow in every way. She is in size 4 shirts and size 3 pants. Long torso and short legs, this is a Forsythe (Lucas's mom's family) trait. She also contiues to learn more and more. She cracks me up on a daily basis with what she says. She has become enthralled with princesses and princess movies. We watched Beauty and the Beast the other day and after she got over her fear of the Beast when he was "mean" she loved it. Since then she has decided that she wants to have fireworks at her wedding (apparently Belle does in the movie?) and she talks about getting married in the temple which is as "beautiful as any castle". (I helped her decide that one :)) The other day we had the missionaries over for dinner and they were asking her all kinds of questions. She started talking about getting married like Mommy and Daddy did and they asked her what colors she wanted at her wedding; without missing a beat Ayla piped up "White with blue stripes!" We all died laughing. I have no idea where she got that from. She also seems to have some sort of seperation anxiety going on lately. She gets very upset when I have to leave to go anywhere without her and she asks me over and over "You're coming back right?" "You would never leave me?" I'm not sure where this is coming from or why it started. She even asks this when we take her to primary on Sundays. I am just trying to reassure her in every way I can and hoping that she'll get over it soon. She also has developed a fear of robots. From what you ask? I'm not sure, I suspect that one day when I was tutoring Daddy watched Transformers and she saw some of it. He insists that this didn't happen; I'm not too sure. So anyway, now she has nightmares about robots and comes into my room in the middle of the night crying about a robot in her closet. We read a book about a kid who kept getting out of his bed and what his parents did and that seems to be helping. She continues to love singing. She sings all the time and asks to listen to music quite a bit. She listens to music while she's eating her lunch; and we sing together every night before bed. Her current favorites are "Twinkle twinkle little star", "Book of Mormon Stories", "The Other Day I Met a Bear", "Going on a Bear Hunt" and for a quiet song before bed "I Am a Child of God."  

I love both of my children so much! They are my world. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with them and gave me the opportunity to be their Mom.

Here's some pictures of my beautiful kids!

 Since it is so hard getting Caiden to sit still while taking his picture, and even harder when there's a paper involved; I thought that it would work well and be cute if he stood at the gate while the sign was taped to it.

 Uh oh, he noticed the paper. This photo session is just about over.

 Playing with his new favorite toy!

 "Ugh, this slider on my toy is really hard to pull!"

My beautiful little princess

Heavenly Father Knows Best

Most of you know that I was very apprehensive about giving up my teaching job and postponing my career for a few years. However Lucas and I prayed, went to the temple and pondered, and really thought on this decision for months before actually coming to the conclusion that yes resigning from my job was what I was supposed to do. We were both very nervous. My job was very stable, not based on the economy, and provided me with a feeling of fulfillment and the sense that I was helping others...but  we both felt very strongly that I needed to stay home full time with my kids. We also know that the Lord answered our prayers with a very firm, "yes you do need to stay home." So we took a huge leap of faith and as of the end of last school year I was no longer employed.  I spent hours and hours this summer and into the fall applying for all kinds of part time positions, going to job fairs, etc... looking for something I could do part time that would still allow me to be in the education field. I feel very strongly about my talent as a teacher and really love teaching. I also didn't want to just sit idly by and wait for years then try to get back into teaching after not keeping up with it for years. I was informed by several friends a few who are in the position to hire teachers that one of the things that they do not like is when someone has not been working in the field at all for years and then tries to come back. 

With all of this in mind, and again after praying and feeling like I was being guided, I decided to start my own business. It's called Read With Ease Tutoring. I tutor kids in need of extra help. Reading is what I specialize in but I also provide homework help, organizational skills, and even (believe it or not) math help. I made a website which can be viewed  at: www.readwitheasetutoring.com . Please be kind when viewing the website and remember I am doing it all on my own and it's still a work in progress and no-where near being completed. I also made up some flyers, and weatherproof signs that I've put up around the area. I also had some business cards made up. Because of my many contacts in the education field the business cards have been a huge success. I've given them out to guidance counselors, other teachers, and social workers. I have gotten numerous phone calls or emails from people who were referred to me through someone who knew me and gave them my business card. Because of this I am happy to report that my business is going strong. I have two clients every Mon, Tues, and Wed afternoon from 4-6. Lucas gets home at 3:30 Mon-Wed so he's home with the kids. I have one client who comes to my home Fri afternoon and two clients that come to my home Sat morning. This brings me to a total of nine clients! I actually just this week started a waiting list with some students who are in need and interested in my services but need to come at one of the times I already have scheduled. I LOVE it! It's perfect for me, it gives me a chance to continue doing what I love which is working with kids and teaching them. It gives me a chance to still feel like I'm making a difference and giving something back. Between the tutoring and subbing an average of four times per month we also have been able to bring in the extra income we need to supplement what Lucas is making. This has made it possible for us to still continue to pay bills, while paying off debt. We don't have much extra but with making sacrifices and I've learned to be a pretty good coupon clipper, we've been getting by just fine. 

I am very happy and feel so blessed to be able to have the opportunity to stay at home with my children and really raise them the way I want them to be raised. I see the difference it is making with me being there with them everyday. Ayla is learning so much and I really feel that I'm able to give more time to Caiden than I was able to with Ayla when she was the same age. I am so glad that I listened to the Lord and took the leap of faith required of me to receive these blessings. I have such a strong testimony of prayer and the power of turning your life over to the Lord. When I finally decided to turn my life over to the Lord and live the way I knew I should the Lord has blessed me. Every time! First he led me to Virginia where I found the job I had been seeking for years in NY but was unable to find. Then he led me to the singles ward where I met my wonderful husband who truly does adore me. Then my two wonderful children joined our life and filled it with so much joy! Then I once again prayed and made a huge leap of faith when giving up my job and once again the Lord blessed me and provided for me. He has truly shown me that if I will do what he asks of me he will take care of me. I know the saying is "Father knows best" but in my life it's "Heavenly Father knows best".

New Year's Eve

This year for New Year's Eve Lucas and I wanted to have a nice romantic night alone. HA! With two kids that was not quick to happen...but eventually we did get them settled and into bed and the two of us had a nice romantic dinner for two. Our dinner consisted of steak, lobster, brussel sprouts, (my favorite veggie!) and baked potatoes! It was DELICIOUS! We ate by candlelight, then watched a movie together while cuddling on the couch. It was great to spend the time alone together and reconnect. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. We really enjoyed our night.

 

It's so funny how ten years ago I would have spent my New Year's Eve celebrating in a whole different way, yet wouldn't have had nearly as much fun! I LOVE my life and I'm so thankful for the choices I've made and guidance I've received to lead me to the life I have now. As I started the year I spent some time reflecting on all of my blessings and it really hit me as to how lucky I am. I have much to be thankful for.