Before I Became A Mom

Before I became a mom, I typically went to the grocery store alone.  Now, I usually have at least 1 "helper" with me.

Before I became a mom, I was able to solve every other mom's problems, whether it be discipline issues, time management issues, or anything else.  Now, I feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing most of the time. 

 

Before I became a mom, I would see a mom chasing her kid down the isle at the Target and think she didn't have it together.  Now, I hope others have sympathy when I AM that mom.

Before I became a mom, I could choose whether or not "dress up" and wear makeup or decide to go with the more natural, sporty girl look.  Now, I feel like I have it pretty together if I'm dressed and out the door within 10 minutes (after) I said I was going to leave... or sometimes even within 10 minutes of  when I said I would be there. 

Before I became a mom, if I felt something wet running down my shirt it was me clumsily spilling my drink.  Now, I experience that wet feeling at least once a day... only now it's spit up. 

Before I became a mom, I never thought I would enjoy having someone burp in my face.  Now, I rejoice each time my baby girl burps in my face without spitting up. 

Before I became a mom, I never thought twice about what I ate.  Now, every time my little baby squirms in gassy discomfort, I think, "I wonder if that milkshake made her tummy upset... or was it the broccoli?" 

Before I became a mom, I had no idea how prominent poop could be in someone's life.  Now, I change super stinky diapers at least once or twice a day.  I also get worried if I don't change a poopy diaper for more than a couple of days, and I rejoice when that poopy diaper finally arrives.  

Before I became a mom, I would wake up multiple times because I was restless.  Now, I wake up multiple times to snuggle and take care of the littles' needs.  

Before I became a mom, I thought I understood unconditional love.  Now, I appreciate the unconditional love that God has for His children greater than I ever had before.

What are some things that changed from before you became a mom to now?

When Life gets Messy... Clean up the Crumbs

Just a crumb.  Just a couple more.  What's a few more that fall on the floor?  I'll clean them up later.  Later when I don't have other distractions.

Another crumb.  Maybe two.  I'll clean them up later.  Later when I don't have other distractions.  

A week later.  Maybe two. Still crumbs on the floor.   I'll clean them up later.  Later when I don't have other distractions.  

Stepping on crumbs.  No way to avoid them.  Under the table.  Under the cupboards.  By the door.  It was just a few crumbs.  What happened?  How did it get this far?  

No way to avoid it anymore.  It's gotten too far.  Time to get to work.  Sweep up the crumbs one at a time.  A tiny little crumb.  A harmless little crumb.  One.  Two.  Multiplied so quickly.  A pile of crumbs. 

Distractions must be put aside.  The crumbs must be swept up.  They must be thrown away.

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The last couple of weeks of my pregnancy I got "tired".  Really this tiredness was just laziness masked as being tired.  Rather than taking a few seconds--maybe a couple of minutes--to sweep up the crumbs, I wanted to get upstairs and check Facebook, email, blogs.  I lost discipline in my life.  

Before I could sweep up the crumbs, I needed to do all of the dishes.  Dishes became my distraction. Once the dishes were done, I was too tired.   I just needed to put my feet up.  I'll clean them up later.  

I'll go work on some laundry first.  Get the first load in.  The computer, just a few feet away, draws me in.  I'll get on for a couple of minutes.  The crumbs can wait.  I'll clean them up later. 

It got to the point that I put off this simple task because Kaylee was a distraction.  If I made the piles of crumbs, she would just play in the mess.  "It would be better to just leave them all over the floor."  The thoughts of a lazy, muddled-minded mommy.  I'll clean them up later. 

Sometimes, it takes someone to intervene and clear away the distractions.  My dear husband took Kaylee to the zoo, my intentions made clear that I would work on cleaning while they were away.  The floor would be clean.  No more "later".  No more crumbs. 

They finally got swept up. 

As I was cleaning up the literal crumbs, I was thinking about how so often I tend to allow "little distractions" to get in the way of cleaning up my spiritual life.  I know that I really need to do certain things.  Not only do I need to do them, but wouldn't my life be so much better if I wasn't stepping on "crumbs" all day?  We need to actively put aside our distractions so that we can stop avoiding the crumbs.  We need to fully enter into His presence.  When we avoid the crumbs for so long, life becomes increasingly messy.  However, if we spend time being diligent every single day, the crumbs won't pile up.  We sweep our sins to the feet of the Father.  He nailed them to the cross with Jesus. We become cleaner.  He makes us clean. 

Peanut Butter and Sunshine

I'm so pleased to be launching my blog!  Peanut Butter and Sunshine is a place for moms, food lovers, homemakers, and crafters to all gather to find inspiration.

Why "Peanut Butter and Sunshine"?

Peanut Butter:  I have 2 daughters.  My older daughter (17 months) is a bit of a picky eater.  One thing that I can USUALLY count on her eating is a peanut butter sandwich.  I can also count on her getting pretty messy and sticky at any and every meal.  Peanut butter is also messy and sticky.  Plus I just like it.

Sunshine: I live in sunny southern AZ!  I thoroughly love the sun and the warmth that permeates throughout my entire body in the middle of summer. Growing up I loved soaking up every ounce of sunshine that I could.  My 17 month old also LOVES being outside in the sun.  Sunshine makes life happier.  It helps turn a dreary and rough day into something so much brighter.  Metaphorically speaking, "sunshine" represents Christ in my life.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  Al things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." 

John 1: 1-5 

Please join me in the journey of raising our children, sticky fingers and all, in a Christ-like manner.  Let's make our houses homey by becoming better homemakers and by cooking good, wholesome food.  And let's have fun doing it, too!

Kaylee: The Little that's a BIG JOY in my life.

Kaylee-isms 

{This post is from a LONG time ago.  But I'm posting because I don't ever want to forget this little girl. She's changing so much.  She's now my little momma-mini-me.  A 3-year-old full of spunk, attitude, vigor, love for life and all things "fair"--or at least what is fair in her mind. Flashback to little 16-month-old Kaylee is fun.}

My little Kaylee-Bug is such a sweetie pie. I know it's only natural for parents to think that their children are truly the best ever, but with Kaylee it really is true.  {haha}  She's such a little smartie pants.  Some of my favorite things that she does right now:

1)  Her breathy little, "Hi," that she gives while she waves.  She waves and/or says hi to almost everyone that she sees.  Sometimes, when she wants someone's attention really badly, she ends up sounding more and more desperate. 

2)  Speaking of her wave, I love her wave.  Sometimes she just waves her fingers, and keeps them facing towards herself.  Other times she does a stiff little wave of her palm facing out towards the receiving person.  

3)  Shaking her head, "No." Sometimes she has a serious face, sometimes a more goofy face, but her head shake is always very emphatic.  She usually accompanies this with saying, "No."  It used to sound like, "Doh," but it has recently transitioned to a clear, "No."

4)  Nodding, "Yes."  She just recently learned how to do this.  It started out with her entire torso rocking back and forth.  Finally one day she mastered the up and down head motion required for a proper nod.  This is accompanied by the cutest little, "Yeah," ever.  She says it with her voice inflection going up at the end. SO. STINKIN'. CUTE!

5)  "Ohhhh..."  She says this in 2 very distinct and different ways.  

• "Ohhhh..." with her head leaning on something or someone, like, "I'm so cute."

• "Ohhhh..." with a very serious and concerned look on her face, sounding like she's very disappointed.  This is sometimes given along with her shake of the head.  It's almost always in response of something being dropped, whether by her or someone else.  

6)  Her "hot response".  When something is said to be hot, she holds out her hand and blows, usually down on her tray.  Sometimes it's an actually little blow, sometimes it's more of a "hhhhhha". 

7)  Her "cold response".  She shakes her head and says, "o-ooo-ooo-ooo."  It looks and sounds like she is saying, "No," but she is indeed saying that something is cold.  She does this because I once said something was cold and followed it with a pretend shiver saying, "Brrr-rrr-rrr."  

8) Oh Boy!  She doesn't say, "Oh boy!" But any time someone says it she puts her hands up on either side of her head.  Once again, at some point I exclaimed, "Oh Boy!" while I put my hands on my head.  She thought it was hilarious and now does it all the time.  Sometimes she wants to do it as a game so she'll put her hands up on her head and bring it back down and put them up and bring them back down until we give in and finally say, "Oh boy!"  

9)  One! Right at 13 months, she mastered the one figer up in the air, proudly saying that she was 1!  Many times this will also be her response when asked, "How are you?"  1!  :o)

10)  So Big!  This is not unique to Kaylee-bug.  What is unique is somehow, numbers 8, 9, and 10 ended up being grouped together in her mind.  So many times she will give the signs in succession of one another.

11)  Please.  She signs "please" by scratching her chest close to her shoulder. 

12)  How is this one so far down in my list??? One of my favorites. "K."  Not, "Kay." Just the phonetic K sound.  This means none other than, "I want to eat."  If she is SUPER hungry, she's say," K. K. K. K."  Our theory of how that came to be is that most of her preferred foods have some sort of K sound in them.  BreaKfast.  (This was the one I noticed it on first.  I asked if she would like breakfast and her response was, "K.")  Cottage cheese.  Crackers.  Cookies.   Like I said, it's just a theory, but it makes the most sense to us.  Nonetheless, we've never heard any other kid use that sound and associate it with eating. 

13)  "Where?"  Whenever we ask where anything is, her face automatically gets a look of concern or confusion and her hand goes out to the side, asking, "where?"  She doesn't say anything.  However, you can tell by the look on her face how much she really wants to know.  That, and the fact that if she is really curious or concerned both hands will shoot out asking "where?"

14)  "Da."  She loves her daddy.  Pictures of Da.  The office room, where Da works on school.  The soccer ball that Da plays with.  The side of the bed that Da sleeps on.  During the day she is constantly pointing out things she connects with her daddy.  Love. It.  Of course I love, "Momomomom," too.   (Mom).  

15)  Giving and blowing kisses.  She gives kisses so gently, and usually say, "ahhh," at the same time. For blowing kisses she just holds her hand up to her mouth and blows on it.

16)  Whenever we ask her if she understands something she says, "No." VERY. CLEARLY.  "Do you understand?" "NO."  This can follow anything from, "We don't touch that, do you understand?" to, "We're going to go to the zoo today.  Do you understand?"  (She loves the Zoo.)  She always answers no.  We think it might be that she thinks we're asking her if she "stands".  We tell her not to stand in the bathtub, so she might think we're saying something about that?? I don't know for sure. 

17)  She  just started saying. "Moe," meaning more.  This, in her mind, rhymes with "bow" as in hair bow.  I guess she's somewhat right. :)

18) "Bubbo."  She LOVES going outside to blow bubbles.

19)  A recent anecdote: Kaylee, pointing at the fridge, says, "Chee? Yeah.  Chee? Yeah.  Chee? Yeah."  I replied, "Would you like some cream cheese?"  "YEAH!" accompanied by a BIG head nod.

20)  Anatomy:  Eye (said VERY clearly).  Nose (pronounced "no").  Ear (pronounced "ee").  Mouth (pronounced mow, as in mouse).

She is my favorite 16-month-old ever.   Okay, I guess that's enough bragging describing for now.  Please share a unique, fun thing that your kiddos do at this stage in life!  It's so much fun to see the creative minds of little ones.