I Want To Be The Kind Of Mom Who...

I have a book I checked out from the library called 101 Things Every Kid Should Do Growing Up and looking through it reminded me of a feature on a blog I like to read called Simply Radiant. I decided to copy her idea to keep track of some of the things I want to do as a mom. I really loved some of her ideas, which included having readathons, making at least one homemade gift for birthdays and Christmas (I didn't for Christmas, but made him photo blocks of his family for his birthday), participating in a mother-son book club, having trade-in coupons for Halloween candy(staying up late, a glass of hot chocolate, etc), and printing some of the toys on this Toy-A-Day blog. I also want to check these books out from the library for more ideas: 101 Things You Gotta Do Before You're 12!, 101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12! and 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. Without further ado, here are some of the ideas I got from the book.

-I want to be the kind of mom who helps her family participate in service and make the world a better place. I love this idea for teaching children about donating.

-I want to be the kind of mom who plans fun adventures for her kids like camping in the backyard, going on "pajama rides" where you wake them up for a late-night drive and treat, etc.




I want to be the kind of mom who allows my child to make choices, decisions and mistakes. Easier said then done, right? Especially with the mistakes. I think it's important though.

-I want to be the kind of mom who lets their child decorate their own room.

-I want to be the type of mom who helps facilitate learning. For example, I want to go on a trip to D.C. and other Eastern historical sights after Brayden starts learning about U.S. history.

-I want to be the kind of mom who has fun traditions in place. I love this idea for the Christmas season and I have some ideas for fall I want to do like making caramel apples, painting/carving pumpkins, etc.

Ketchup

Yes, I have been sorely lacking on the blog front. I've been in a bit of a funk lately, but I think I'm past it. I stole the title from my friend Stephanie's blog because I thought it was cute (just to let you know I wasn't creative enough to think of it myself).

-We went to the ranch two more times in September- once on our own (some of Adam's family came up for a day) and once with my family. These are from the first time. I'll post pictures of my family's weekend later when I get them.





-I read Jane Eyre for the second time, the first being in high school. As before, I loved it. I've met so many women lately who don't enjoy books like the romantic classics of the Bronte sisters or Jane Austen. I'm sure glad I do.

-I'm finally getting started on a scrapbook for Brayden. I had forgotten how messy scrapbooking is! I'm not as good at it as I used to be, nor do I have the money to spend as much as I used to, but I hope he enjoys having something.

-I'm in a small book club and we read Mockingjay. Out of the four of us I probably liked it the most. One of the women really didn't like it. I know some of you have read the first two... so what did you think?

-I was totally a domestic goddess today (if you don't count cleaning anyways). I canned peaches and made peach jam (thanks to Karen for showing me how earlier this week). I also made zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini cake, and froze grated zucchini. Still to do: figure out what to do with all the tomatoes my dad gave me (I want to make tomato sauce but don't have a sieve) and make peach muffins or cobbler with the peaches I had left.

Brayden at 14 months

Brayden is 14 months old today. It seems like his birthday was just yesterday, even though he's experienced and learned a lot since then. So here we go...

-He experienced his first fireworks show the night of his birthday party. He was even awake for all of it but the finale.

-We took a mom and tot swim class in July that he loved (except for the part we put them under).

-We joined the zoo. His favorite part has the be the gopher holes because one of us stays outside to wave at him.

-He's ridden on a 4-wheeler multiple times since his birthday at Adam's grandparent's ranch. It's exciting at first, but if the ride lasts too long he starts to get bored. He even fell asleep on the way back from one of the longer
rides, even with all the bumps.

-He is trying to talk more, but it's definitely in his own language. :) Here is what he has said for sure: mama, dada, duck, jackson, and no go (luckily only one time). We think he's come close or at least tried to say: up, outside, outfit, and adam.

-He is climbing everywhere!

-He's doing so good at walking down the stairs outside of our condo. Twice now, he has even done it only holding on to the railing and not my hand (I'm sure that terrifies my parents, but I'm really careful with him).

-He is a total goofball. He definitely takes after his dad. One thing he does is purposely take really tiny steps because he knows it makes us laugh. It sounds dumb trying to explain- I need to get it on video. He also hates hats, but willingly wears these play ones I bought him (army, fireman and construction worker hats from the $ spot at Target) because he knows it makes me laugh.

-He did pretty well on the flights to and from Houston. He fell asleep both times so I actually did have time to read!

-He can identify the duck and the frog from the bath toys. He also is starting to play with himself more and more in the bath. Oh, the joys of being a mom of a boy (not).

-His favorite foods are bananas and graham crackers. We're really working on getting some more color in with smoothies, beans, etc.