A letter

To My Son, Judah

I am amazed and overwhelmed by how much my heart swells for you.  I truly did not know it was possible to love another child as much as I love your sister.  You are such a gift and a blessing to us, and even though we are all still adjusting to being a family of four, I already cannot imagine life without you. 

I cannot imagine not being able to hold you, to rock you, or to be up at all hours of the night with you.  I love nursing you, to be able to "have to" hold you in my arms when you get hungry is a privilege.  It's a fantastic reason to sit down, relax and spend some one on one time with you. 

Your sister sure loves you.  I know this morning you probably thought differently when she tried to kick you, but please give her some grace, she's just learning how to be a big sister.  Also, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure that won't be the last time she tries to kick you.  You are awfully good to her, letting her hold you, pat you on the head, and all those kisses!  She is always trying to kiss you!   

Now, I am your Mama, so I can guarantee you that I will be protective and perhaps a bit smothering.  Ok, a lot smothering.  Sometimes you'll have to tell me to let you go, to let you make mistakes and to let your knees get skinned.  When that time comes, please be gentle with me, as I'll still be picturing you as a sweet but fragile little baby.  I know your Dad will let you do all the crazy things a boy has to do at least once in a lifetime, and I might cringe and/or worry, but I'll always be there when you do need a snuggle or a kiss.  I'll even be there when you don't want one.  

I pray that you become a solid man of God.  That you will look up to your Dad, and respect him.  That you will look out for your sister, and treat all women with respect and honour.  I pray that you will not hold grudges, that you will be compassionate and understanding.  That you will stand up for the underdogs and less fortunate.  I pray that you will become a leader.  A man who knows he is loved for who he is, and who can love others for who they are.  I pray that you will live a good life, with all the twists and turns that make a good one.  I pray that your Dad and I can do our best to provide you with a wonderful childhood full of memories, lessons and lots of laughter.

But most of all, I pray that you will be happy. 

So please, don't grow up too fast little dude.        

Chazz

 Our oh-so-lenient kitty.  He lets Bee love on him and when he's tired of all her lovin' he walks away without trying to prove anything.  Best pet ever.

You can tell he's not really into being wrapped in one of her bear blankies, but he lets her.  He also lets her hug (almost strangle) him, pet him (not so gently), kiss him (leave slobber on his head), play with him (chuck his toys at him) and basically be a toddler with him.  And for all that she does out of love, he seems to get it.  He sometimes follows her and allows her to snuggle up to him while she reads books.  We try to be really watchful so she doesn't actually hurt him, and so far they seem to be on track to being best pals.  Not bad for a first pet.  Jimmy on the other hand, is still pretty skittish, but surprisingly lets her get the closest to him out of the three of us. 

What Big Hands You Have M'Dear

  

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast at the Town Cafe with Gramps, and had returned home, Bee decided she wanted his gloves.  They were ridiculously and humorously huge on her.

Doesn't it look like I Photoshopped them on her?  HAHA

Little Mennonite-in-Training

Bee helping Mama make dinner rolls to go with our green bean and farmer sausage soup for dinner.

 I like how this angle makes me look super short and stubby, but makes our kitchen look spacious.

 

 She tried so hard to make them round

That was about as far as she got before she started eating the dough.

She sure makes me proud!

Being Treated Like the Princess She Is

Bee just loved being pulled around on Jack's dog bed.  So much in fact, she didn't want to let Maxim or Silvu have a turn, and the one time she did, she gave them approximately 30 seconds before she jumped right back in. 
 

I think its safe to say they treated her like a princess the whole time!

Ashley, my new sister and mama to these two munchkins was so worried they would be too rough with Bee.  I think they proved they know how to be gentle, even though my kid was the rough one, stealing their cars and destroying their Lego creations.

Timeouts

I realize that how you discipline your child is a highly debated topic that raises tempers and attracts opinions from far and wide.  I normally don't share publicly how we as a family deal with "naughty behaviour" not because I'm ashamed or feel guilty for how we treat Bee, but because I don't really care to be bombarded with everyone's idea of perfect parenting.  That being said, we were giving Bee swats on her padded diaper bum because nothing else seemed to work or get her attention.  And for awhile, she understood what was allowed and what wasn't allowed.  Then it clicked in her head that if she was swatted for "naughty" behaviour, so should Mama and Daddy.  And fearing that we had taught her to hit people when she didn't like what was happening, we switched to 1 minute timeouts with her facing a corner, and seating her on a "timeout" stool.  So far, it's been working like a charm.

Then today, we got a glimpse of what the swats and timeouts must be like through her eyes.  We laughed so hard we cried.  Of course, the video is not good quality since I was laughing through most of it, but this is just a little bit of what we saw during dinner. 

playing in mama's closet

 Time seems to be flying for us.  I'm already 28 weeks, Bee is starting to learn new words, Josh's work is starting to slow down and the diner I work at is slowly getting less and less busy.  I can't believe summer is almost over.  The pollen is blowing around aggravating Josh's allergies and the smoke from all the fires is still hanging around, giving everyone sore throats and stuffy noses.  The trees are turning yellow, the bull elk are chasing cows, cars and people alike, and the locals are starting to long for the quiet winter months without tourists.

Bee is coming into her own a little bit more each day.  She's started to try to dress herself...unsuccessfully, but still keeps on trying.  The other day she found some clothes I was getting rid of and decided to play dress-ups with them.  My girl is so sweet.  I see her copying things she sees me do everyday (putting lotion on, brushing teeth, blowing on her food to cool it down), and it just makes me melt.  Of course, she is also coming into her terrible twos so our timeout stool is seeing a lot of use.  Those moments do not make me melt. 

I have almost no energy while working so my weekends seem to be full of projects and lists.  I even have a list of projects to start and finish after I'm done working (which thankfully is Oct 3!).  I don't like to pull the "I'm pregnant" card while working but after another waitress wore her pedometer to work and found out she walked 10 miles each shift, I no longer feel so guilty when I come home totally exhausted and all I accomplish is filling the dishwasher and making Bee's lunch for daycare.    

We are loving life these days, and are so grateful to be living here in the park.  I never thought I'd be proud to be what I call "park people" but I am.  We are so blessed and even though I'm not a country girl or even an outdoorsy girl except for camping, I see the beauty and can appreciate the gift that living here is.  
We are getting ready for winter, buying our first 2 heaters ever and shopping for winter gear.  This will be my first full winter in Wyoming/Montana so I may not like living here as much by January, but we'll see!  Fall is generally my favourite season, and I'm so excited for all the soups, stews, pumpkin flavoured baking, and cozy evenings crocheting for my family.  Hopefully once these last two weeks of work are over I'll have the energy to write more often!  As it is, my eyelids are drooping and my brain is shutting down.  Which is my cue for bed since my shift starts at 7:30am tomorrow!