You can either worry about it, or post the pictures of it on Facebook.

I've decided this is my new life philosophy.

Example: Running out the door, late to something, and as you're frantically brushing your teeth, you hear the oh too familiar sound of something dumping all over your floor. You run to the kitchen to find this:


Yes that's right. An entire box of cheerios....all over the floor. The dog hair infested floor you can't remember the last time you swept, let alone mopped. And she's eating them. A lot of them.

Now, my husband and I are well suited for each other. Because it is my natural instinct to laugh about it, sit on the floor and stick cheerios between our toes, and then post pictures on Facebook. It is my husband's natural instinct to discipline, clean it up, and get to wherever we where going on time. I think somewhere in the middle is the perfect parent. But this time, I won. (I often do.)

As a parent, as a person, there are so many things that go wrong. SO MANY! So many things change, and people mess stuff up, and things break and it rains, and at that moment, when things are so off track, I believe you have two choices:

You can either worry about it, or post the pictures of it on Facebook.

Ok, fine, there are probably more choices than that. But you get the point. You can worry about it, or laugh about it.

When you are in the dressing room, desperately trying to find a dress that doesn't make you look like you've lived off a steady diet of Starbucks and cake for the last 5 years (when that is EXACTLY what you've done.) And you are having NO luck, you can either throw yourself on the floor of the dressing room, surrounded by "XXL" hangers and scream made up swear words. (DANIMALS YOGURT!). OR...You can send this picture to your BFF saying

"Dress shopping...found a winner"


So be prepared Facebook friends. I've decided to share my failures and fat rolls with the world.

Stella.

This is one of the first pictures I have of Lucy and Stella. They have been best friends since before Lucy was born. I will always remember carrying Stella around, sitting on my belly full of Lucy. This sweet little girl taught me so much about being a mom before I squeezed Lucy out. I've loved her since the first time I saw her in the hospital, tiny, hooked up to scary machines, and making raccoon noises. She has made me laugh until I cried, and, lets be honest, peed my pants. I am thankful to be her "aunt" and even more thankful that my sassy little Lucy has a best friend.





Whether she likes it or not.

What I love about these two babies, is that they are so black and white, in every way.

Stella is a rock. An athlete. I'm pretty sure she could beat me up if she wanted. She is tough, laughing when she falls. Lucy is a noodle. She can put her feet behind her head. She always sits with her legs in a "W". She cries if she almost falls. She has been affectionately called "Dough Baby" and rightfully so.

Stella loves to laugh. She has an infectious, hearty laughter. She's been that way since she was old enough to laugh. There is one person in the whole world who can make her laugh so hard, she literally has an asthma attack. Joe Baughman. Lucy thinks Joe is scary. She yells "NO!" and runs away when he tries to chase her. She does love sweet quiet Michael Baughman. Lucy does laugh, and is hilarious, but is not so quickly won over as Stella.

I could write a whole post on their sleeping habits, which fascinate me. Stella will not sleep if there is anyone over. She does not want to be left out. She spends hours laughing and talking her self to sleep. Lucy has literally slept next door to a rock band. She is 18 months and is currently sleeping in a "big girl" bed, because for her, when it's time to sleep, nothing else matters.

Oh and also, Stella is black and Lucy is white. Really white. You should see her dance. Poor girl doesn't have an ounce of color in her.



These two babies have taught each other so much already. Lucy happily passed on her love of the word "NO!" to her bff, and Stella somehow managed to teach Lucy to announce when she pooped. Ok, maybe they haven't been the best influence on each other...yet. I do believe as they grow up, they will grow closer together, and learn so much from each other.

Stella came to see Lucy in the hospital when she was born, and one year ago, Lucy and I got to be at Stella's official "birth" into the Badertscher family. I'll never forget weeping in that tiny room as a judge confirmed what we had known since the day Carrie and I drove her home from the hospital. Stella was one of us. Forever and always. (I say "us", because I have officially wormed my way into the family. David loves it.) I am thankful for this sweet sugar bee. She is incredible. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to spend every moment they can with her.

Well. This post has been random and sappy. I will just leave you with one of my favorite picture of the girls. They are best friends.

There is something about mittens that make me weepy.

I don't know if it's because I've been out of school to long, or what, but I cannot find a way to describe the way I felt standing at my kitchen window, making hot chocolate, and watching my husband play in the snow with our daughter. (I've obviously been out of school to long, that sentence was way to long.) She loved every second of it. She was laughing, squealing really. Chasing the dog, throwing snow, and waving at me from the window. I almost lost it when she came in for a mitten switch, and I saw tiny pink mittens, covered in snow, laying on the counter. I feel consumed with love for her. Babies have a sweet, new, holding still quality about them, but there is something wonderfully intoxicating about a toddler. Running around, playing pretend, and yelling BUH BYE!

I have nothing incredibly awesome to say about any of this. I just wanted to share that I love my Lucy, and she loves the snow. And she's probably the cutest snow bunny you've ever seen.

I'll be the first to admit it...she's a brat.

I always knew my parenting style would be somewhat lax. I laugh too easily, and find things that should be naughty funny. But I hadn't thought about what I would really do as a parent until recently. I don't want Lucy to be naughty. I want her to understand "no". I want her to get along with others. I knew disciplining would be hard. I would need to have a plan of attack. I would need....a naughty spot.

I've had "the naughty spot" for a month or so now, and only really used it once. The moment I sat her on it, she bawled and ran for daddy. She wouldn't sit on it. (I didn't expect her to, she's only 15 months...she won't sit anywhere unless strapped in.) But she knew she was in trouble, and stopped doing whatever she got in trouble for in the first place. Success!

However, she's now going through a rather clingy phase. She just wants to be with me all the time. Which is easy during the day for a stay at home mom. She just is...because she has to be. The trouble comes when I have to leave her...even just in the other room with Jeff. I know this is a phase every kid goes through. And what mom can just ignore their kid when they are screaming and reaching for you? And not a naughty scream. A sad, scared scream. So I try and be with her when I can. When we are around "strangers" I hold her. I don't make her go to them. When we are home, we sit together, and play together as much as possible. But sometimes, I have to go to the bathroom, I have to cook dinner, etc, so what then? I don't want to discipline her for wanting to be with me. So we are together as much as possible, and just deal with being apart. I take her to grandmas, and leave her at the nursery, even though she cries. I'm just hoping she'll get over this phase. Advice is welcome.

So, anyway, all this to say that today, I decided she's being a brat, and that it's not always just because she want to be with me. So I picked my battle. Lunch. We will eat. We will sit in our highchair. We will not throw our food on the floor. After a few trips to the naughty spot, lots of screams, and Neako getting a good helping of pears, I feel rather accomplished. She didn't eat the first thing I made her. But she did eat something. She sat in her highchair...when she wasn't in the naughty spot. And she...threw a lot of food on the floor...BUT I think she at least begun to understand that throwing food on the floor is a "NO!". She is now sitting beside me, laughing and trying to ride Neako. Win.

I always knew my parenting style would be a little lax. But she will be good. She will not be mean. She will not be a brat...even if it kills me.

One year and counting...

I can't believe how fast time goes. My sweet little baby is a year old. I feel like it was not that long ago when she was just a little blueberry in my stomach, and now she's eating whole blueberries! She used to only be awake for 4 or 5 hours a day, and now she only sleeps 4 or 5 hours a day! It's crazy, but I got to say, I love this age. I like little babies, they are sweet and precious, but I've waited desperately for this day:

Walking and holding hands! I love it. Although, we do have to work on "come with Mommy!" and not just going where we like.

Our little family is doing well. Jeff is back to school and really enjoys it. I'm enjoying working the the Prairie Camp ministry in new and exciting ways. We plan on taking a trip to Florida during Christmas break, which I'm super psyched about because I've never been to Florida! We are currently planning a little kitchen make over weekend project. My poor 70's kitchen has been a work in progress. I finally got a new dishwasher and new floors, and now hope to update the decor a little and add a new island! It's funny what you find exciting when you get old and own a house. My life sounds boring...but I like it.

Blogging is a funny thing, because I'm not really sure who I'm writing this for. But I like to write it. Maybe it's just for me. A scrapbook of sorts. Yes.

Self Feeding and Facebook

There is something wonderful about the day that you can dump a bunch of food on your child's high chair tray, and they happily feed it to themselves. Now this requires a lot more meal planning, more baths, and fits of frustration when the time comes for you to spoon feed them; however the benefits far out weigh all that! For example, after dumping peaches and a whole wheat waffle on her tray, I made some coffee, played on Facebook, and started this blog! How wonderful! I can't believe how fast this baby is growing up! I love that when I go to get her in the morning, she's standing up in her crib, waiting for me. I love that when I come home from a meeting, she's sitting on the floor laughing and reaching for me. I love that she pulls herself up on the ottoman and cruises from one side to the other. I do sometimes miss that sweet, quiet, perfectly still newborn (usually when she's gabbing and squirming during church). But I love this age, this part in her life. I look forward to little things, like facing forward in the car, holding my hand and walking beside me, holding her own cup (this should be happening soon right?). But I'm trying to do my best to enjoy this moment in time. I know one day, she'll be this crazy teenager, wanting me to drop her off a block away from school. Hopefully in those moments, I'll remember her sitting here, pulling toys out of her box, blowing raspberries for no reason, and turning around to smile at me. (And for the record: I will not drop her off a block away from school. I plan on being super embarrassing.)

I love you store bought baby food!

My little Lu turned 4 months old and I began the wonderful journey into solid foods! After reading every article ever written by everyone from highly educated pediatricians to family bed, breastfeeding for the first four years, everything organic health nuts; I realized that no one knew what they were talking about. "Start only rice cereal at 6 months" "When your baby starts to show interest in your food, start letting her try pureed foods" I talked to my mom, my best friend, strangers at the grocery store...and eventually decided I was going to make it up as I went along. I started with rice cereal around four months, and oh man! She was hooked. Then came veggies, then fruits, and by 6 months, she was eating 2 servings of cereal, and a serving of vegetables and fruits, and weighted 17lbs 6ozs! (Luckily, she is super long also, so she isn't just a chunky monkey) I love letting her try new things and seeing her face. (She's not a fan of hummus...) I wanted her to try something other than the usual sweet potatoes and apples so I decided to try and make my own baby food. I bought some plums and Googled how to make food. After about an hour of carefully simmering, peeling, pitting, and pureeing the plums I realized something. It is TOTALLY worth the money for store bought baby food. I can get good organic food, perfectly prepared and stored. WORTH IT! So now I'm a bottle feeding, store bought food mom, and I'm loving it.