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For Christmas this year Katie gave Zach and I a gift card to a super cute restaurant in downtown Valdosta. We talked about using it for a Valentine's date and even got a sitter to come for our special night :) We are trying to do better with actually USING the money we set aside each month for date night. It's easy to get caught up in the busy busy busy of life and drop the ball on going out...especially when you add the cost of paying for a sitter. But that's why a restaurant gift card is such a great gift b/c it helps offset that cost ;) I don't own a lot of "sexy" clothes. I'm a Christian and a mom of three. I mean modesty and comfortability is where it's at. But I do love the top of this dress and think it brings a "sexier" vibe to the outfit...Zach agreed ;) I always say Valentine's Day is super casual with us but we looked back at past V-Days and it turns out my husband kinda always goes above and beyond for this holid...
Today we continue with our theme of discipline and our spotlight blogger is Natasha from Let's Be Brave. Natasha is so inspiring to me! She's a foster mama, an adoptive mama, and is pregnant with her first bio baby! She offers so much insight into the world of foster and adoption and this post offers so many great points - even if you aren't a foster family! I especially love this from her post: " We are raising these people to be adults in the real world someday, and no excuse, no matter how valid, will work. You have been entrusted with these humans for a short time or maybe forever, and while they’re yours, you should teach them well. Set the bar high and help them reach it. Stay the course and be consistent, and, Lord willing, you’ll find some method of discipline that works. " With our plans to adopt I want to make sure I don't look at Tab differently than my bio kids. I don't want to give him excuses! Be sure to read her entire post here! ...
This week is our Babywise Friendly Blog Network Week! We are all discussing the topic of discipline and Valerie, from Chronicles of a Babywise Mom , is kicking things off with a post overflowing with TONS of great stuff on discipline. Even if you DO spank...these tips and tricks will help minimize the times spankings happen ;) I especially found this point to stand out to me: " Be Consistent You need to be consistent in your expectations and in your consequences for breaking those rules. You can't allow something one day and then flip out the next day when the same thing is done. That makes no sense to a child. Children are excellent observers and scientists. They know how to test things out to see what is okay in life and what isn't. If you flip flop, you can't expect them to be straight and narrow." I know a big switch for us with the third kid thing is that being consistent! It's tough to always stick to the same standards at all times. But it...
Tomorrow our baby boy turns 8!!! This year it seems like he's truly grown up SO MUCH. He looks so different now than he did even just a year ago and I look back at baby pictures and can't quite remember him being that little. It breaks my heart a bit that I can't remember the way his soft baby hands felt or the way his baby voice sounded. But I'm so thankful for the stage we are in now. I read somewhere that 7 is the "best age of childhood" and while the age of 7 was fantastic, I bet the age of 8 will continue to be just as great with our awesome son. He brings us such joy and pride. He blesses me each and every day as his mama and I'm excited to be celebrating his special day at Disney together tomorrow! Each year for each child's birthday I put together a slideshow of many of the pics taken throughout their past year. We always enjoy watching them as a family! Each kid gets to choose their three current favorite songs for me to include in the...
