Half year with Ki.

I cannot believe 1/2 year has already gone by since we welcomed Ki into our family!

It is crazy that this little baby...

 is now this baby boy...

I cant imagine life without him. He is such a sweet-hearted little man. One of my favorite sounds is to hear him laugh (which is usually at his sister) and I love to watch them play together. I cannot wait to see what the next 6 months holds for us. 

Shut the do'e, Keep out the devil.

As a parent, one of the scariest things is realizing that you are given the life to take care of physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, etc... It is a huge, overwhelming burden at times. I dont know if you are like me, but many times I feel responsible for my children's soul. If I dont teach them the right verses or songs then they will never come to know my Jesus. I obviously know this is wrong and those thoughts are from the devil. What I do know is that we are to fight for our children, our marriages, etc... Here is what I mean.

It all starts in the garden of Eden of course. You know, the whole blame game. She did it first, he told me it was ok to eat it, etc... "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Genesis 2:15. Some versions say Adam was to tend and keep it (the garden). The word keep that is used here in Hebrew is shamar. Shamar means "to exercise great care over." God commands Adam, "take care of," "guard," or "watch over" the garden. If Adam were following God's instructions, the serpent would have never entered the garden. His job was to be a guard and watch over the garden.

In this same way, God has given us our children, spouses, friends, relationships, etc... We are to be watchmen and guard over what we let into our homes, hearts and minds. Listening to a sermon this weekend, I was reminded that we are in a war. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

Satan is always trying to get his way into our lives. I have been examining my life and asking the question, where am I letting him in? Am I fighting for my marriage? Am I fighting for my children? Because I know the devil is trying. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

This war is going on all around us. You can see it everywhere you turn. Satan hates marriage. He especially hates marriages who are focused on Christ. He wants "the world" to teach us how to parent our children. He wants our friendships to be focused on gossip and earthly things.

How do we keep the enemy out? How do we fight the enemy? Paul tell us in Ephesians 6 to fight by putting on the full armor of God and by praying.

I have been really examining my heart and life in this matter. How am I fighting? Am I daily putting on the armor of God? Am I praying for my children, spouse, family, friends? Am I praying against what the devil throws at us? Am I making sure the serpent doesnt even get into these areas of my life?

To listen to the sermon that sparked all of these thoughts, go here.

The Sippy Cup.

I am trying to do everything I did with Audrie with Ki. It is hard. Obviously, it isnt possible because life is different for us now. I still try in ways that I can.

I started giving Audrie a sippy cup at 5 months, so I did the same with Ki.

It went pretty well. And better than when I started with Audrie. And he loves applesauce. He prefers homemade over store bought. 

5 months. Ki.

Our little man in 5 months old! I cant believe it! It really does seem like yesterday he was born!

Here is what he is doing these days:

• He is soooooo observant. He watches everything and anyone. 
• He responds to his name. And "brother".
• He wears 12 month clothes.
• He eats baby food twice a day and a bottle every 3/4 hours.
• He loves to touch our faces. 
• He thinks his sister is really funny!
• He "talks" all the time and squeals alot! 
• For months now, he smiles constantly and laughs out loud all the time.
• He rolls over constantly. To the point where it is getting annoying because he does it in his crib and even though he can roll back he wont. So we have to go do it.
• He tries to sit up on his own but he isnt quite there yet.
• He loves to bounce in his jumperoo.
• He is still sleeping through the night. Some nights he does to bed at 6pm. We feed him a bottle about 9:30 and he will sleep until 8 in the morning! (I know we are super lucky!)
• He is getting a little better about his carseat. He still would prefer not to be in one.
• I started giving him baby mum-mums. He loves them!
• I also started introducing a sippy cup. He likes this too!
• He will go to anyone which is a relief. I hope this doesnt change in months to come.
• He doesnt really like for me to wear him.
• He makes my heart go pitter patter! :) 

Letter Ee

This is how we have been learning the letter Ee!

I started by letter Audrie color the pages with just Ee on them. I tried to start teaching her to color in the lines. I found out it's an impossible task for a 2 year old my friends!

Then we moved on to stamping. I know, brave, right?

I got my scrapbooking stamps out and we went to town. She actually did pretty good!

Then I found these color pumpkins here. I cut them out and cut them in half to make a color matching game. 

I started out giving her just 4 colors at a time, but she asked for all of them. She did really well and kept asking to match them.

Then, Audrie asked to go back to stamping. So, we stamped numbers on the back of the E color page.

Then...she got bored and crumbled her paper. 

After her nap, I got some more activities.

This one, she is supposed to circle the E's in the letters. She did ok. I circled the first one for her.

As you can see, she didnt circle them, she more like scribbled on them, but she got the point. 

Then, I found this cute game. I am SO bad at remembering the website!

The object is to match the peanuts with E,e to the peanut on the picture. She did really well with this but got bored pretty quickly. 

Most of the things I get are from here or here. If they arent from one of those 2 places, then they are a link I found on one of those websites.

We have also been doing the power point of letter Ee from 

Audrie loves it and asks to do her "letter" many times a day! 

Diet Update...

Diet is so far so good. I did break down and weigh myself. I think I already said that?

Anyway, I think I started my diet somewhere in the 230-235 range...and today....I was 217!!!!! YAY!!! I feel like I was stuck at 220 for a week!!!

My husband, by default, has lost about 5 pounds. AND somehow fits in jeans that he hasnt fit in in a long time! Dirty Rat!!! He still eats what he wants but I am cooking healthy, so he has no choice.

I also have had this ulcer on my tongue that has been extremely painful so I havent been able to eat much because of the pain. I am tired of it now and would like for it go away.

Still no exercise. I order a "backpack" type carrier. Hope this will do the trick and I can start a walking routine.

Somedays I want to give up...but I wont let myself. I have already come too far.

Confessions:

I ate a french fry dipped in polynesian Friday night. Just 1 though. And it wasnt as good as I was expecting.

I cooked White Cheddar Chicken Pasta last night. It wasnt healthy. But I only ate 1 serving.

I go to the doctor on the 18th and will know for sure how much I lost!!! :)

GT or Ki?

4 months. Ki.

HAPPY 4 MONTHS TO MY SWEET BIG BOY!

Today was Ki's 4 month doctor's appt! (He is really 4.5 months).

Weight 17lbs (79%)
Height 27 inches (97%)
Head Cir 16 1/4 (10%)


      

He is rolling over both ways!
He is smilings and cooing.
He follows me in a room.
He eats 6 oz every 3/4 hours and eats solid food twice a day.
So far he has had sweet potatoes, green beans, banana's, carrots and avocado's.
He sleeps through the night.
He loves to eat his hands.
He loves his bouncer. And being on his belly.
He smiles and laughs all the time!!!!
    He is such a sweet baby. We are so blessed and overfilled with joy!

Comparison:

Audrie weighed 14 lb 7 oz, height 26 3/4 inches long and her head was 16.

 

Sometimes they look so much alike and then other times so different, its weird. Audrie's hair was alot darker. I think Ki will have my color hair as a baby/kid-strawberry blonde.

Audrie wont let me take picture of Ki without her being in one or two, or 100. :)

I love being a mama! 

hands canvas.

I felt crafty yesterday. Well really I felt stressed and when I craft, I disstress.

Here was the result.

I had been wanting something for my hallway. The idea is to put pics of Ki and Audrie all around.

And for me to read all the time that they are a gift and a reward. Sometimes I forget this in the stress of life.

It is really hard to get a 4 months old handprint. :)

Me and technology.

So. I shouldnt be trusted with expensive technology.

First. This happened.

Well, what had happened was...I was trying to keep Audrie from playing on the laptop so I put it next to the recliner. Apparently, I shoved it a little too far and it went under the recliner. And, I rocked back on it. I worked on this computer, like this, for about a year. 

Then last Friday, this happened...

When I get the kids out of the car, I put my keys and phone on top of the car. Especially if I am running in some where quick. And sometimes, I forget them there. This particular time, GT took my car right after I had gotten somewhere. And about 1/2 mile down the road, he saw it fly up in the air.

Good thing: It still works. It didnt damage the inside, just the outside. And...my contract is up for renewal and I wanted an Iphone anyway.

Bad news: they are expensive. And I hate waiting. 

Diet Update No.1

It hasnt quite been a week of my diet yet. But there is time for me to post right now, and since that is rare, I am going to take advantage. PLUS- I need to vent and talk. And my husband doesnt really understand, so I need my girlfriends out there! :)

The diet started out easy like last time. I ate few calories day 1 and 2. I started having trouble sleeping and getting anxiety again. I cut my adipex in half and decided I needed to eat 1200-1500 calories a day.

I just had in my mind that I wanted to do just like last time. Lose 40 lbs really fast. Then I could go back to eating whatever I want just portions. Apparently, 2 years older and another kid later, its not going to work this time. And I feel bad when I eat anything when I am on my diet. I have this all or nothing mentality. I eat, I just dont want to go over 1000 calories.

I am currently reading:

This book has really challenged me in a lot of areas of my diet and my spiritual life. She is a little more extreme than I am on my diet. But it made me step back and really think about why I want to lose weight. The real important reason is because I am unhealthy. I want to be healthy for my kids, my husband and to show God that I am taking care of this temple He has created. 

So last night, came my challenge...Audrie had requested a happy meal and we wanted to get her energy out so we took a trip to McDonalds. I did my research before I went and figured a cheeseburger/fries happy meal is about the same calories as a salad/dressing/croutons. I weighed it back and forth in my mind. I love cheeseburgers. The adipex would keep me full just eating that little bit. I am still eating less calories. Ultimately, God whispered to me, "You are more." More than the cheeseburger and fries. And I knew after I ate it, I would feel guilty and gross. 

The week is pretty easy for me. I am running around chasing Audrie, carrying Ki from here to there, etc...I dont have too much time to think about food. The weekend is so hard. I want to go out to eat. AND I want to eat bad stuff. 

Another hard part is exercise. I enjoy the exercise, but the kids make it hard. We went Monday, Ki screamed the whole time. Audrie got in and out of the stroller the whole time, making me stop every 1/4 mile. Timing is hard too. I guess it is all excuses and if I want to exercise and it was important I would make the time. I looked up if grocery shopping was considered exercise, it wasnt in the database :(  It should be! 

Next weeks goal: exercise at least 3 days a week. Continue eating the same. 

Now, here are some of my favorite diet treats:

Ki update.

I was so much better about blogging about Audrie's life as a baby. Making up for that here is a Ki post:

Ki tried sweet potatoes for the first time:

He really liked them.

He is getting used to this person we call his "sister". He cries when she does, it is so sweet.

He is now rolling over both ways!

I made him green beans today.

He didnt care for them.

I love him so much it's insane!

He will be 4 months old tomorrow! Yay for my big boy! :)