Our House Sold

Well, the home Joshua has grown up in thus far has been sold. We signed the contract today and closing is on March 31st (twenty-one days from now). In a small way it will be hard to leave the house and I am most likely to cry as we pull away for the very last time. This is the home that we moved into after getting married, we had many happy memories...I can remember digging up the grass to extend out the flower bed closest to the house...planting all our roses, and most of all....bringing Joshua home from the hospital to this house. He learned to roll, crawl, stand-up alone, and walk in this house.

Although I am looking forward to starting new memories out on the land as we build our house and get my huge vegetable garden, chickens, and the cows (or as Uncle John says...home grown steaks). We aren't going to have a huge amount of animals...the ones we will have will be for food (so I probably shouldn't name the goat, Billy). I am hoping to make the home as self-sufficient as possible. Plant and grow what vegetables/fruits we eat regularly in meals so that I can can them and keep them always on hand when it is not growing season to do it all again the next year. The animals will be taken to a butcher to have the cuts of meat put aside to put in the freezer for later.

I know many are reading this asking...where are you going to live while the house is being built. Well, we are going to be living in a 5th wheel. How confining!!! I know that you thought that just now...well, most of the time is going to be in the summer time. Where do most kids want to be in the summer? OUTSIDE. And when you have an animal loving child like I do what better place to be than playing with the animals and swimming in your pool (well the blow up kind). Then there is always story time at the library, the park just down the road, and of course there are bound to be some play dates with any kids in the Elgin Congregation.

Here is the floor plan to the 5th wheel we have been looking at and fell in love with:

So, he won't have a crib set up, but I was thinking of this flip out sofa for him that can be put in the living area to be used for naps and eventually night time until the house is finished. What do you think?

Nap Time Sleep Training

Well, today I started with sleep training...we will start with the naps before moving onto night time. The things I have to do because I didn't get blessed with a baby that miraculously slept all night long from birth. So in the morning which he has now decided that he will wake up at five o' clock in the morning and say good-bye to Daddy and not go back to sleep will push his nap time to either 8:30 or 9:00 am. At 8:30 I changed his diaper, put his sippy and lovey's into the crib, kissed him on the forehead and told him I loved him and into the crib he was laid down. I turned and walked out of the room and closed the door. Since I had worked out early I got into the shower and took a long leisurely shower (actually got to shave my legs). Joshua screamed the entire hour he was in his crib. You'd think with how tired he was he would have just laid down and fallen asleep because it feels so much better to sleep than be exhausted. When I walked in to get him after the hour was up I found all his toys thrown out of the crib, his sippy on the floor, and yep you guessed it....his pants on the floor too!!!

He was so mad and kept screaming as I changed his diaper again. Then I put him down and went about doing some picking up of toys around the house. He followed screaming the entire time holding out his arms to me. I shouldn't have given in and picked him up, but I can only do so much screaming in a day. Although after this afternoon's attempt he will not be held so he can go to sleep because he won't sleep at night.

So, on we go with the sleep training.

Loving Mommy's iPhone

Joshua loves the apps that I have on my phone just for him. He's learned this one so well that he can do it all by himself and he LOVES it. If he's in a bad mood I put this one on and can always get a smile and laugh.

Eating Like A Champ

At about 1o months old we stopped giving Joshua any type of purees and tried to get him to eat more table food with us. It didn't quite work out so well and he ate mostly applesauce with cereal in it. At 12 months we stopped that and he had to eat what we gave him or nothing. It was a long drawn out battle, but it worked...in a month he gained almost a pound.

Today...he rarely even has applesauce at breakfast, but I always keep it on hand for those days when we are running behind and need to get food into him quickly. Most mornings it's toast, yogurt, and a fruit of some sort. At lunch it's yogurt, a fruit, some lunch meat, and crackers. At dinner it is usually what ever we are eating. He eats fish, steak, hamburger, pasta, turkey, sausage, etc.

So the other night we had spaghetti and the results were priceless...spaghetti sauce all over his face and he enjoyed playing with the noodles all over the table. Then for breakfast when I make a protien shake he will get his own little glass and will sip it all up with a straw.

We go to the doctor again on the 22nd and Raul and I are predicting that he will have gained at least two pounds. What do you predict he will have gained? His weight at 15 months was 20lbs 5oz (he lost 10oz from his 13 month check-up due to being sick for two weeks before).

Eating a banana

Having Spaghetti

Drinking his smoothie with Mommy