I want to be a GOOD person- just some thoughts, goals, & venting on this rainy day

I just heard this song "I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get But I’m better than I used to be". I'm not perfect by any means but I try to be a good person & thinking about how I can always improve is uplifting & motivating. I want to be a good mother, a good wife, a good sister, aunt, daughter, granddaughter, niece, a good friend, neighbor, a good Christian, a good coach, a good photographer, a good housekeeper, cook, a good leader, a role model, and overall just a GOOD person.

Rules for me to live by:

1. Be optimistic. Say positive things. One of the things I hate the most is hearing someone always point out the bad about EVERY thing. You may think bad things but you don't always have to say them. Am I sometimes negative? Absolutely. Do I want to be negative less often? Absolutely. I notice when I'm around people that are so positive and I wish I could be around people like that all the time. I wish I was positive all the time. But I can work on it because I think that's one of the first steps to being a GOOD person. A handful of people I am thinking of now that stand out all have one thing in common- they're Christians. This wasn't the point of my post but I just realized it. One is a friend's mom who is a Christian, one is the mentor teacher I student taught with at a Christian school, the other is a student at a different Christian school, one is the bible study leader I had last fall, & the others are a part of my MOPS group at Central Baptist Church and are all Christians.

2. Don't judge people. Am I guilty of this? Every day. But I can try to be better at it & especially not voice judgmental opinions to others. BTW we're not perfect either so don't expect every one else to be.

3. Forgive. Unfortunately this one is a tough one for me. I wish it wasn't but forgiveness is a struggle. However, if you don't forgive you just relive it over and over. It's better for your heart to forgive and it's better for your relationships to forgive.

4. Communicate. This is something I had to learn. I learned through life (especially teenage years and up) that in order to have good relationships you have to communicate. It's not always fun to tell people how you feel or hear how they feel but if you want to keep a good relationship it's a must. I know adults that don't communicate well and we wonder why the divorce rate is 50%? It's not only marriages either. It's all relationships. If you want to have a good relationship with your child then TALK about things. TO THEM.

5. Be happy with your life. Look at all your blessings and don't focus on what's missing, what might have been, or what could become of the future. Love the now. Remember happiness is something we create.

6. Be a Christian. Pray daily & talk to God about what's on your mind. All I can say is I can become a better Christian and I want to & then there's people that aren't, don't plan to, and you can tell they aren't from being around them for a half hour. I want people to be around me for a half hour and know I have some Jesus in me. PLEASE- get some Jesus in you & let's both try to be GOOD people. It's never too late to start.

That's all for now. That's plenty to work on and live by for now. :)

My 2012

In 2012 I am going to do a better job of saying my prayers every night and teaching Tateym about God. And we WILL attend church more regularly. This is going to be a challenge since Jc & I are not morning people but we can do it.

I want to do a much better job of making a menu on Sundays, grocery shopping on Sundays or Mondays, and COOKING! No more eating out all the time.. Friday nights only as of right now.

Justin and I started P90X yesterday morning (2 days down, 88 to go). I am hoping for us both to be healthy and in great shape at the end of 90 days! I am tired on not wearing cute shirts.

Be OPTIMISTIC! I can't stand when people that are always complaining and pointing out the bad in every thing. I don't want to be that person.

Be productive, not lazy. I have made a cleaning schedule and a schedule for teaching Tateym. STICK WITH IT DAILY!! Get out there and take T to the park and to do activities when it's a pretty day. A day off to stay inside and be lazy every once in awhile is fine.

Socialize in 2012. We've taken friends dinner, invited friends over for dinner, and have gone out to dinner with friends. We have so many friends that we only see every once in awhile. Get together more often people!

TRY not to spend as much money.... I need to limit myself on wants vs. needs. We need to pay some things off and put a lot in the savings account.

Love my husband. Yes I do love my husband every day but after having kids your attention is always on them and not so much each other. And unfortunately with volleyball and photography we hardly spent any time together last year. I'll make an effort to make time just for us. That's the best thing we can do for T as well.. she needs parents that love each other and I really really love him! I love spending time with him! So now we need to find and make that time!

2012 can be what you want it to be! What you do this year is up to you. You decide on the level of your happiness by choosing your attitude every day. The people that are the happiest don't have everything but they are thankful for everything that they have. Yes I am talking to myself as well. A few months ago the preacher said something simple that really made me think.. It was something along the lines of.. if you're unhappy flowing through life, you don't have to be, get out of the boat and make a change. So that's what I'm trying to do. Something simple my bible study teacher said that stuck with me is that if you don't plug in the lamp it will not shine. You need to plug in with God every day to work as well. She said she knew that sounded corny but it's so true. Having a bad day? Bad week? Plug it in! If I spend a few minutes praying I will have a better day. The days I went to bible study were the best. I hated getting up and going in the mornings (& getting T ready really) but I was in a great mood for the rest of the day. By going there I realized how lucky I am to be a believer & to know I'll be in kingdom of heaven one day & I realized how much I want to raise Tateym & my children to be believers.

2012- you WILL be a great year! Because I WILL make sure of it! :)

2012 will bring us:

- Niece Saylor turns 2

- Justin's 28th bday in April
- a NEW niece in April

- Niece Kelsey's sweet 16

- an exciting, fun-filled spring and summer

- Tateym's 3rd birthday in August

- my 27th bday in September (what?!?! this must be wrong. I literally just checked this with a calculator. That's when you know you're old. I could never understand how my parents forgot how old they were.. I already can't remember my age.)

- our 6th wedding anniversary in September

- a great volleyball season

- the best Christmas ever

- and hopefully, maybe, POSSIBLY baby #2 ;)

Kid + Donuts = Mommy shops - Potty X 2 = Zero (Mommy goes home)

I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind. Target. Despite how my husband probably feels about it I usually head to Target about every 2 days.. sometimes every 3 days.. sometimes twice in one day. Well I hadn't been all week because I'm trying to keep up with the many new changes I'm trying to implement into my daily routine (New Year's resolutions galore) so my Target list has gotten too long.

First thing I must do is stop by Shipley's donuts. Justin and I start P90X on Monday so I need to squeeze in every ounce of sugar (i.e. the cake I'm making later today) I can before I have to actually try to start losing weight next week. And it's two fold actually.. because the donut holes will keep T busy in her seat in the cart so I can shop without hearing, "I NEED out!" I inhale my two glazed donuts and 2-3 of T's holes, arrive at Target, and hand T the bag of the remaining donut holes. She's happy & I'm off. I get the boring stuff on the list like vitamins and body wash, then head to the fun stuff like clothes and decorations. Everything is good. T sees a stuffed Dora (as in the Explorer) and I give it to her to hold while we're there thinking I can put it back before we leave. I go down that aisle later, distract her, and throw the Dora on the shelf without even looking at it. "Mommy wait! My Dora!" Hmm.. Ok didn't work.

Now it's time to see what is left in the Christmas decor. I see 90% off and lots of stuff I'd want. Donuts and this in one day?! I'm a happy girl. Just as I get there and start digging through 20 cent ornaments I hear, "I have to go potty....." "Ok, let me get just a few more ornaments." "I HAVE TO GO POTTY" "Ok, ok" So I walk from the back corner of Target to the front corner of Target only to walk in the restroom door and hear T say, " I don't have to go potty." "What?!" Well I make her try. Someone in the next stall passes a little gas so like lightning I throw my hand on T's mouth knowing she's going to giggle and say TOOT! She got a smirk out and I distracted her. In the end she did NOT potty. So after washing our hands and getting back in the cart we head back to the opposite side of Target to the Christmas spot.

There's 4-5 other people there now so I feel like I'm at a garage sale and I need to get in there and get the good stuff before it's gone. I grab about 3 things when I hear, "I need to poop." AHHHH!! "Why didn't you go when we were there? Ok, just a sec." "I need to poop, I need to poop, I need to poop, I need to poop, I need to poop." Everyone looks at me and smiles. I give a little half smile/giggle smirk and get out of there. Needless to say I didn't get to finish shopping today. If you go there and see the pinecone cluster balls with glitter on them THEY ARE MINE. IF there are any left. I'm going back for them Monday when T is at Mother's Day Out! I head to check out to realize my card is on the console in the car. I forgot to put it back in my wallet when I got the donuts. I ask the sales guys Ben if I can run and get it from my car. That dang Dora doll is on the pile of stuff to be checked out (Yes I can say no at times to T getting toys at the store but today is NOT the day for that fight). T realizes we're leaving without it and starts crying bloody murder. I'm running out the store pushing her in the cart to go get my card. I'm sure to people in the parking lot I looked like a crazed shop lifter running out and frightening her toddler. I get the card and go back inside to pay.

Ben scans Dora and gives it to T so that madness is over. I ask Ben how much the pine cone cluster is and he points out that it's missing a pine cone or two. I explained that I didn't care, it was the only one I could find at the time. It's only 1.50, I'll take it. Ben says, "Wow this Christmas stuff is going to go fast now that it's 90% off." Thanks for the reminder Ben. I said, "I know, I would have looked through it longer if I didn't have my daughter with me." He says, "You know how to solve that? You get a slurpie and some popcorn when you come through the door." He doesn't think I know that & haven't done that a dozen times?? I have a 2 year old. I've figured that out already. Poor guy is just trying to be nice though. I answer, "Yeah well she already went through a bag of donut holes." I pay and start to head home. A lady walks up behind me and Ben looks at her cart and then me and says, "Oh look, more of the pinecones!" She had about 6 of MY pine cone clusters in her cart. Gee thanks for pointing that out Ben. We head home and T still has yet to actually poop.

Tateym & Mommy's 1st week of "homeschool preschool"

I feel that Tateym (now almost 2 1/2 years old) needs some structured instruction throughout the day. She's not at the baby stage anymore where I constantly have to be hands-on with her but at the same time she needs something more than just play all day. She becomes bored and wants to snack and watch tv. So I've decided to do a small, short, no pressure curriculum with her daily. It starts tomorrow so we will see how it goes. Each "lesson" is only up to 15 minutes to keep her attention- after all she is 2! I am curious to see if this is enough time or too much time for what I have planned. This is definitely going to be trial and error, but I can make needed changes for the following week. I am hoping she sees this time as fun time with Mommy but she'll also be learning. :) I am putting that expensive Early Childhood Education degree to use! Below is our first week's curriculum. This by no means meets any TEKS criteria.. I decided on a theme for each week and went with it.. The first week's theme is "FARM ANIMALS" and the bible theme is "God Made it All".

Monday, Jan. 2
READING TIME: (9-9:15am)
Read books-
1. Farmer Duck
2. F is for Farm
3. Moo, Baa, La La La
LITERACY TIME: (9:15-9:30)
Sing ABC Song
Letter A- Recognize and Find A's (She already knows A but we're going thru all the letters)
Practice writing a T
MATH TIME: (9:30-9:45)
Count the farm animals. Put numbered animals in order of 1-9. Then feed the animals that number of beans.
SOC. ST./SCIENCE: (9:45-10)
Discuss what is a farm, barn, farmer, and what animals are on a farm. Look at the Search and Find Book Farm Page to see what we find on the farm. Do (draw/decorate) page 1 of our book: Pigs like mud.
LANGUAGES: (10-10:15)
Pig- Learn the ASL sign for pig. Act like a pig.
BIBLE: (10:15-10:30)
God Made All Things. Read Page 1-3 in her Bible Book. Prayers. Discuss what God made the first 7 days. Draw a picture showing these things.
MUSIC & ART: (10:30-10:45)
Sing Old McDonald Had a Farm & Wiggle Those Piggies (on toes).
Color the Barn and Animals.

Then we'll do outside play, inside play, lunch, nap, snack, tv time, dinner, outside play, etc. (9-10:45am is the only structured time.)

This is our first day's plan.. other fun highlights for the week include:
- Counting using magnetic ducks.
- Finishing our book with these pages: Cows give milk. Sheep give wool. Chickens eat corn. Ducks like water.
- Signs for cow, sheep, horse, duck, and chicken as well as pig.
- Finishing 7 coloring pages of what God created.
- Working on verse: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1
- Lots of fun songs such as Animals Around the Farm (sung to Wheels on the Bus), Five Little Ducks, etc.
- Art projects such as painting a pink paper plate pig face, making a sheep from cotton balls, painting a chicken using stamps, etc.

Tateym at 23 Months!

Last month with a 1 year old!! :( :) I have mixed feelings about that. I am definitely sad that I don't have a baby anymore but I am loving this age! I love that she can talk now, she's so much more independent, & I feel I can actually have a conversation with her with her understanding pretty much everything. And she can go fetch things for me.. lol.

She is not only putting 2-3 words together but she's starting to say sentences as well.

Phrases we hear most often from her:

- I love you Mommy, I love you Daddy AND I love you too Mommy, Daddy, Nana, etc.
- Hi, I'm Tate!

- Tate's house, Aunt B's house, Nannie Papa house, Papi house.

- I'll be riiiiiiight back!

- I'm ok! (when she falls)

- You ok? (if someone else falls)

- T for Tate
- Gaggie NO! (Maggie) or Pop Gaggie (Stop Maggie)

- It boke (broke)

- Where are you?

- Boo!

- It's me!

- Knock Knock

- Thank You

- You're Welcome

- Momma play. Daddy play.

- No (Word she doesn't want. example: No bath. No pee pee potty.)

- Excuuuse Meee!

- Where'd Tate go?

- Oh wow.

Other words we hear most often:

- Names: Momma, Mommy, Dada, Daddy, Nana, Papa, Aunt B, Susie (Saylor), Helsey (Kelsey), Uke (Uncle Luke), Papi, etc.

- Character Names: Mickey, Ninnie (Minnie), Susie Duck (Daisy Duck), Ducky Duck (Donald Duck), Melmo (Elmo), Goofy, Foofa, Muno, Plex, Toodee, Brobee,

- Snack, milk, juice, snack, eat, pee pee, poo poo, night night, bath, outside, play, baby, uh oh, no, yes, hi, bye bye, etc.

- She can identify all numbers 1-9 and will say them all other than 1 and 7. She can say them and has before but chooses to skip them or not say those numbers.

Tateym Kayte will be 2 in just 10 days!!

Tateym at 22 Months!

Miss Tateym is a big girl now!

She can identify all her colors and she can say all the names of the colors other than orange.

She can identify numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 and say most of them.

Typical counting sounds like.. 2, P, 2, P.. 8, 9, 10!

We started swim lessons 2 days ago & she's doing great! Every time we are getting ready to go she says, "Hippo Pool!" because we have 2 kiddy hippo pools in our backyard. Then she says, "Aunt B! Helsey (Kelsey), Suzie (Saylor), Uke (Uncle Luke)!" because usually when we get our swim suits on we're going to swim at their house.

After I clipped her finger nails I let her play with the clippers for a minute. She went to Justin and "clipped" his toenails and then "clipped" mine. Now she has an interest in my finger nails and feeling the different lengths. She's already had 2 pedicures (just toenails painted) with Mommy at the Nail Salon.

A few fairly new words and phrases:

We're Home!

Here you go Momma (or Dada)

Gaggie (Maggie) MOVE!

Apple Juice.

Excuse Me.

Hello (person's name).

Hi, I'm Tate!

Beaty Beat Beaty Beat Clap Clap (Song on Yo Gabba Gabba).

Ready? Go.

Love you/I love you (My favorite)

Tate's House or (person's name such as Papi, Nana, Papa, Aunt B)'s House!

No no Tate.

Still loves Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse, & now Sesame Street as well. (T.V. shows, books, characters, toys)

She's a genius with technology- especially our iphones and ipad.

For some reason she is terrified of loud noises- our neighbor's loud car (every time he leaves or comes home she runs to me crying), dogs barking, trucks, airplanes, and even the bath water coming out of the faucet or my phone ringing. It's like this happened over night & I have no idea why.

She's still a picky eater but giving new foods a try every once in awhile.

Does not like: washing her hair, must meats, loud noises, when people are leaving/going bye bye, when her cup is empty (we're learning not to get mad and throw it on the floor)

Does like: fruits, cheese, juice, Yo GG, Elmo, Abby, Cookie Monster, Micky & Minnie Mouse & friends, going outside, riding in the car because she gets to watch tv, tickling Mommy, swimming, swinging, going on walks, coloring, putting things into other things (crayons in box, jewelry in box, things in a purse, etc.), make-up, being chased, animals, snacks, bubbles, giving love, family.

Tateym at 21 months!

Tateym is 21 months! Only 3 month until my little girl is 2 years old!

She is talking twice as much now! I'm sure I can't list them all but here are some words that she is saying regularly: Momma, Mommy, Mom, Dada, Daddy, Dad, Maggie, Tate (what she calls herself), Nana, Papa, Papi, Aunt B, SaySay, Kelsey (said twice now), GG, puppy, kitty, fish, hippo, giraffe, monkey, rhino, duck, pig, piggy, teeth, ball, balloon, hop, march, ice, eyes, keys, light, night night, eat, off, up, out, cookie, snack, milk, juice, shoes, sock, pink, blue, purple, yellow, green, black, apple, uh oh, up, thank you, pool, baby, baba (bottle), Yo Gabba Gabba characters: Muno, Foofa, Plex, & calls the show "Ba Gabba or Ba Gabbug", Mickey characters: Minnie (Ninnie), Mick or Mickey, Puppy, Duck, and goofy, book, bubble, bee, two, nine, Elmo, hat, bunny, bobo, yummy (or um), eat, Ming Ming (wonder pet character), hi, bye bye, bow, choo choo, tickle tickle, twinkle twinkle, circle, star, heart, bug, yes, no, no no, Abby (Sesame Street character), ding dong, knock knock, book, stop, the end (when reading a book- sounds like uh han).

She's putting 2 words together now. She just said, "Uh oh Momma.. Tate bobo." She got a bobo because she was climbing on the coffee table. She is a climber! I've already taken her off the kitchen table this morning by 9am. She's very active and rarely slows down. She hops, marches, runs, climbs, can kick a ball hard, throw, do a forward roll all by herself, & jump.

Makes these sounds: Moo, back (chicken), quack, tweet tweet, elephant noise with arm extended like trunk, monkey noise, eigh or neigh for horse, pig noises, bark (same little snort she's always done), vroom vroom (car/truck), chugga chugga choo choo, ssss (Snake)- this is what she told us she found in her potty- gross.

Knows colors! First learned pink and blue. Then purple, green, and yellow about the same time. Red shortly after. Now can say black and recognize orange and gray but doesn't say those.

Knows some shapes! Can say and recognize circle, heart, and star and can draw a circle.

Loves Mommy's makeup and purse, writing with a pen, bubbles, Daddy's Ipad, snacks, juice, cheese, reading books, watching her dvds or shows, and animals!

It's amazing how she knows how to work Justin's Ipad 2! She can unlock it, scroll through to find her icon, click on it, choose which app she wants, and plays with the app. She knows exactly how they work and how to exit it, etc. She went to give Justin a hug then other day when he got home but then saw the Ipad and went straight for that! Her favorite is the animal app (or piggy is what she calls it), but there's also Cat in the Hat book, nursery rhymes, piano, etc.

She got her first pedicure the other day (toes painted) with Mommy, Brandy Chappell Turner, baby Dayton, and Mrs. Chappell. She also had her first sucker there!

Knows body parts: head, hair, eyes, nose, teeth, tongue, ears, chin, cheeks, belly, belly button, arms, elbow, hand, fingers, legs, knee, foot, toes, hiney (her bottom), back.

Loves the shows Yo Gabba Gabba & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Also loves her Elmo dvd. She'll have a Yo GG birthday party in August for her 2nd bday.

Does not like: going to sleep, rinsing hair in bathtub, most meats and veggies, having to put on panties, pullup, or shorts after going most of the day naked waist down.

She's naked waist down most of the day because she's been potty training. She's pretty much potty trained (after 3 days) but when she has on a pull up she'll just go in it and has acccidents in panties. If she doesn't have anything on she'll go sit on the potty herself!

The funniest potty training event: One day she got the potpourri bowl off my shelf, emptied it out, and peed in the bowl! Oh my! Let's just hope she doesn't do that at someone else's house..

Her hair is getting long and her bangs will need cut in about a month or so.

She went to the Waco zoo and the Circus last month. The elephant and lions were a hit and the zoo and the elephants and puppies were a hit at the circus.

She picks her nose a lot and sometimes eats it if she doesn't think I'm looking. Gross.

She's wearing a size 7 shoe & 18-24 month or 2T clothes

Cookies, crackers, and chips are all called cookies.

Maggie still sounds like Gaggie.

Tate (what she calls herself because she can't say Tateym) is such a fun little girl! I love this age and how she has her own personality and opinions. She's such a joy to have and be around- what a fun silly little girl and a blessing to our family!