Fluffy love.

Another reason I love cloth diapers?

Pants are usually not necessary anymore.

They're so cute, who would want to cover them up?

And no, this is not an excuse to walk around pant-less. Unless you wear cute cloth diapers, that is.

Less laundry = a happy mama.

Choosing your battles.

One weekend Tyler and I were visiting my parents and we were having one of our many deep discussions with them, when I asked... "what is one thing you would change about your parenting techniques from when we were kids?"

My mom was quick to answer. She told me, "The constant fight over eating. For years it seemed like every mealtime was a battle with you kids. You have to pick your battle."

I've tried to remember that piece of advice when all the sudden after turning into a toddler, Jaxon became the most stubborn little man at lunch/dinner time. He's always been picky, which I feel like I'm probably to blame. But more than just picky, he turned into stubborn. He didn't want to eat what I served at all, so I would make him something else. Turns out after my husband tattled on me to our pediatrician, that is not recommended. {yeah I knew it all along, but what was the other choice? to send him to bed hungry?} Apparently, yes. If he does not want to eat what I made, then he doesn't eat at all. And I'm happy to say I've only broken that rule a couple times we've stuck to that rule pretty well.

My big thing is getting him to just try it. Take ONE bite. If you don't like it and you choose not to eat the rest of your meal, then fine. But I want him to at least try it. Can I get an amen?

One day at lunch, I made him PB&J. A classic around here, I swear I have it for lunch at least 3-4 times a week. Jaxon eats it fairly well, but this day he was refusing to take a single bite. I mean, really? Something that I knew he liked... he was just being stubborn and I knew it. Usually my rule for taking one bite doesn't work because he throws a fit and after 10 minutes I'm tired of it, so I usually let him down. But this day was different... I was in a stubborn-kind of mood myself, and wasn't having it. He was going to take a bite before he got down, even if it meant him taking his afternoon nap at the table. Seriously, I was adamant.

During this period of time, I probably told him at least 100 times "Jaxon, if you take one bite of your sandwich you can get down. Just one!" I sat in the living room where I could see him sitting at the table, and watched him just stare at the sandwich. He'd touch it now and then, pick it up, but always put it back down. On and off he'd cry, and I would gently remind him to just take one bite.

An hour and 6 minutes later, he took that single bite of PB&J. An hour and 6 minutes... think about how long that had to have been for a 2 year old. I praised him like crazy, clapping, jumping, telling him what a good boy he was... and he was allowed down from the table.

The point of this story? Every meal since then, when I have asked him to take one bite before getting down, he does it immediately. Immediately! Sometimes he'll even take one bite, realize it's yummy, and have multiple more.

And this my friends, is what we call a Mommy victory. They are few and far between these days, so we need to celebrate.

Who wants a diet coke?

Cohen - 6 months

{thanks to everyone who commented on the Dentist drama... appreciate all your opinions!}

Cohen Michael,

You are now half a year old. I can't believe in 6 short months we'll be celebrating your 1st birthday... even more than that, I can't believe half a year has gone by in the blink of an eye.

If it's even possible, I swear every day I love you more and more, which seems impossible considering how much I loved you before you were even born. You are one of the happiest babies on the planet, the only times you cry these days are when your teeth are bothering you, or when you're hungry. Even in the morning and after naps, you lay in your crib and laugh and talk, instead of cry. You are one amazing baby and I'm so glad you're mine.

Here's what you're up to this month!

• you weigh about 17 pounds! My healthy chunky man :)
• you are a huge flirt! you will flash that dimple-filled smile to anyone who pays attention to you.
• you sit up unassisted for long periods of time, which includes bending over to grab a toy, then pulling yourself back up into a sitting position.
• you love to jump! you do this constantly, even while being held.
• you army crawl all over the place, mostly in circles.
• you discovered your feet, although you have not tried tasting them yet.
• you love to snuggle and bury your face into my neck and shoulders when you're tired.
• you love all foods that we've given to you, minus green beans.
• you have 2 teeth! a vast improvement from last month when we were still waiting for your first to come in.
• you are a HUGE mama's boy... i secretly hope this never changes. :)

Happy 6 month birthday, little guy.

I love you,

Mommy

this facial expression cracks me up... i swear he's telling me how weird i am!

Your thoughts.

I had a tooth removed today.

Yeah, ouch. I am having issues talking right now because of the pain/swelling and frankly? I am having issues enjoying anything about this day. It was a bad experience and I need to step back from the situation, ask for your thoughts, and re-evaluate.

The farthest back tooth on my top left side has been hurting me for a long time. My dentist in KC told me years ago how I needed to have a crown put on in order to prevent it from cracking or breaking. Of course I didn't want to shell out the $100ish at the time, so I kept putting it off.

He was right, and it eventually cracked. See? Here's the picture.

{crack is on bottom, the white thing in-between is food, ha!}

Every time I tried to eat anything it was painful because food would get lodged up in the crack. I had to use my waterpik after I ate anything and particles of my tooth would come out, because the tooth was so weak and just literally falling apart.

A couple months ago I went to a Dentist here in town that, of course, wanted to fix it. {this was before it was painful} He gave me an estimate to have the work done and it was going to be about $1200 out of pocket. Not going to happen. My Mom suggested I just have it pulled... it's the farthest back tooth and no one will ever see it obviously.

Fast forward a couple months and now with the constant pain I was in, I knew I needed to either A.) shell out a bunch of money to have it fixed or B.) have it pulled. If you know me or our financial situation at all, you know option A just wasn't happening. So I made an appt with a different dentist in town that came highly recommended by friends of ours AND my pediatrician.

From the moment that I sat down in the chair this morning they were trying to talk me out of having it pulled. The dentist even made numerous comments about it, but the most annoying one was, "so every time you have a tooth problem you're just going to have it pulled?" He sent in his office manager to talk to me and give me all my financing options for having it fixed instead of pulled. The hygienist asked me at least 2 times "are you sure you want to do this?"

I finally broke down in the chair. Obviously I did not want to have to pull my tooth. But lady, I cannot afford it... $70 vs $1000? What part of that do you not understand? I get it, I realize that obviously it would have been more ideal for me to keep this tooth rather than having it pulled. But I just felt like they were completely insensitive to the fact that I simply stated that I could not afford any more medical expenses and so rude to ask me over and over and over again. Seemed like a money-thirsty dental office and I'm seriously annoyed about it.

How much is too much... I mean, how many times do you have to tell someone "no" before they stop bothering you? Reminds me of when you shop at Old Navy and they ask you 7 million times while they're scanning your clothes if you want to open a credit card.

Am I over reacting or is this "complaint worthy" to you? I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

Home.

wherever

we are together,

that is home.