What a 4 year old needs to know...

I have seen this article several times and I love it, so I'm sharing it! It pretty much sums up mine and Travis' thoughts... why we don't place a lot pressure on Tyler to do/know certain things right now and why we make family time a priority. Kids are growing up so fast these days and I'm happy to let Tyler enjoy being a kid... playing with toys, eating candy and ice cream, watching Saturday morning cartoons, being carefree... all the things we enjoyed as kids. Now, that's not to say that we don't say ABC's or count objects (and of course, we think our little dude is sooo smart), but soon enough, he'll be off to school, learning and coming home with piles of home work to do and until then... we're spending our time having fun!

"It’s back to school time and children all over are starting preschool. Many parents are frantically searching the internet to find out if their little ones are “on track” and know everything they should. I wrote this article about what a four-year-old should know many years ago but it continues to be the most popular page on the Magical Childhood site. So in honor of the new school year, I’m posting it again… What should a 4 year old know? I was on a parenting bulletin board recently and read a post by a mother who was worried that her 4 1/2 year old did not know enough. “What should a 4 year old know?” she asked. Most of the answers left me not only saddened but pretty soundly annoyed. One mom posted a laundry list of all of the things her son knew. Counting to 100, planets, how to write his first and last name, and on and on. Others chimed in with how much more their children already knew, some who were only 3. A few posted URL’s to lists of what each age should know. The fewest yet said that each child develops at his own pace and not to worry. It bothered me greatly to see these mothers responding to a worried mom by adding to her concern, with lists of all the things their children could do that hers couldn’t. We are such a competitive culture that even our preschoolers have become trophies and bragging rights. Childhood shouldn’t be a race.

So here, I offer my list of what a 4 year old should know.
1. She should know that she is loved wholly and unconditionally, all of the time.
2. He should know that he is safe and he should know how to keep himself safe in public, with others, and in varied situations. He should know that he can trust his instincts about people and that he never has to do something that doesn’t feel right, no matter who is asking. He should know his personal rights and that his family will back them up.
3. She should know how to laugh, act silly, be goofy and use her imagination. She should know that it is always okay to paint the sky orange and give cats 6 legs.
4. He should know his own interests and be encouraged to follow them. If he could care less about learning his numbers, his parents should realize he’ll learn them accidentally soon enough and let him immerse himself instead in rocket ships, drawing, dinosaurs or playing in the mud.
5. She should know that the world is magical and that so is she. She should know that she’s wonderful, brilliant, creative, compassionate and marvelous. She should know that it’s just as worthy to spend the day outside making daisy chains, mud pies and fairy houses as it is to practice phonics. Scratch that– way more worthy.

But more important, here’s what parents need to know.
1. That every child learns to walk, talk, read and do algebra at his own pace and that it will have no bearing on how well he walks, talks, reads or does algebra.
2. That the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers, but mom or dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.
3. That being the smartest or most accomplished kid in class has never had any bearing on being the happiest. We are so caught up in trying to give our children “advantages” that we’re giving them lives as multi-tasked and stressful as ours. One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.
4. That our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them.
5. That our children need more of us. We have become so good at saying that we need to take care of ourselves that some of us have used it as an excuse to have the rest of the world take care of our kids. Yes, we all need undisturbed baths, time with friends, sanity breaks and an occasional life outside of parenthood. But we live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit to 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That’s not okay! Our children don’t need Nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccer practice nearly as much as they need US. They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They need us to take walks with them and not mind the .1 MPH pace of a toddler on a spring night. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes it twice as much work. They deserve to know that they’re a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them.

So, what does a 4 year old need? Much less than we realize, and much more."

Belly pics

I'm not really the maternity pictures type of gal (love them for other people, just not so much for myself), however, Tyler is the sweetest when it comes to my growing belly and always wants to kiss it, hug it, rub it, etc., so I thought it would be fun to share the picture experience with him and capture some of that sweetness. He didn't exactly cooperate as I hoped, but we still got a couple of decent pictures and I'm sure I'll look back on these belly shots down the road and appreciate that I did get them done. :-)

Wildlife Ranch

We're taking advantage of the beautiful weather and what little time we have left as a family of three and spending quality time together. We went to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch in New Braunfels yesterday and then to Landa Park for a little train ride by the water.



























Tyler took a HUGE liking to this baby goat and started calling him his 'best friend.' He even got teary-eyed as we were leaving because he didn't give the goat a hug and kiss good-bye. We had to go back. haha.








Train ride at Landa Park




It was a perfect day for this!


Lunch at the San Marcos River Pub and Grill

Just waitin'

I know I still have about six weeks to go, but I think I'm ready to get this baby show on the road! Aside from just feeling incredibly big and uncomfortable, (which is making me practically count the minutes until our little girl's due date), everything in the house is set and ready for her arrival. Nursery is complete, cradle is ready to go in our room, changing table has been reorganized to accommodate the baby and Tyler, all clothes/blankets have been washed and put away, all odds and ins have been purchased, Tyler/baby sister gifts to each other have been purchased, hospital checklist is ready, and nesting/organizing is done! We're ready!

It's pretty entertaining to think of how things were when I had six weeks left to go with Tyler. Our house was a complete disaster, we didn't have his nursery furniture yet and I was still driving my sporty Eclipse and car shopping for something more mommy-suited. We have pretty much redone every single thing in our house over the last 4 1/2 years, but these remodel photos are what was happening 5-6 weeks before Tyler's due date. It's absolutely crazy when I think back!

Our kitchen was completely updated: Travis had to do all the demo work first and then we did new counter tops, new appliances, fixtures, back splash and had our cabinets stained. It took several weeks to get this complete and throughout that time, we had no counters, no sink, stove or microwave and all of our dishes, etc. were stored in the dining room. Can you imagine not having a working kitchen for two weeks right before having a baby?! We replaced all the carpet in our house, Travis was redoing our fireplace, and we were finishing the master bath complete remodel (you can see some of the tape, etc. in the previous post of my 35 belly shot with Tyler).

Here are some of the pics I dug up:

(carpet replacement)




(fireplace before)


(fireplace remodel in progress)


(fireplace today)


(after Travis did the demo of counter tops and back splash in kitchen)






(no sink!)


(counter tops were installed, all dishes, etc. were removed and everything was taped off in preparation for cabinet staining)








(the one lonely piece of furniture we had in the living room)


(kitchen prior to move-in)


(kitchen today with all updates)




As you can see, it was a lot of chaos!! :-) It's a completely different calm this time around and I've enjoyed getting organized and actually being able to nest! One day I'll get around to posting pictures of all our remodel projects because they are pretty cool to look at. Sometimes I wonder why we didn't just build a house since we've literally redone everything inside/outside of this one.... next time, I guess. :-)

30/32/34 week Pregnancy check-up

These last trimester appointments come so frequently and are usually pretty uneventful with just quick weigh-ins and a quick general check, but I still enjoy going and being able to hear that little heart beating for 10 seconds or so. :-) We've been so busy and I didn't post about my 30 week check-up (or take a picture), although, like I said... it was really uneventful. Baby's heart beat was in the 140s and I measured exactly on schedule at 30 weeks. My glucose testing came back normal and we signed up to donate my cord blood through the Texas Cord Blood Bank.

My appointments got off track a little and my 32 week appointment was scheduled for Friday the 4th (when I was actually 33 weeks), but that appointment was cancelled due to our snow day/bad weather and rescheduled for this past Wednesday (at 33 1/2 weeks). As a result, we're skipping the scheduled 34 week appointment and my next one will be at 36 weeks. Catch all that?? It feels like we're really on a count down now! The days/weeks are flying by. This last appointment was even more uneventful than the one before. Doctor S. said everything was great and I am measuring right as I should. Baby's heart rate was in the 160's today and she wouldn't stay still for two seconds. Tyler's heart rate was always in the 160's and as his space became more cramped and he was supposed to be less active because of it, he actually became more active! Our little girl is constantly moving these days and I'm really starting to doubt my thoughts on having a calm baby as we're getting closer to the end. I'm starting to think she's going to be a mini-Tyler and give us a good run for our money! Oh boy!

I'm feeling well, just really tired these days as I still have bad insomnia and can't get comfortable to save my life. If I had to guess, I would say that baby girl is definitely in the head down position and getting prepared to make her debut. I have been feeling an incredible amount of pressure and anytime I go from a sit to standing position, I race to the bathroom. While most women are complaining about 'waddling' at this point, I am quite the opposite. I have to walk slow with my legs close together for fear of a bathroom accident. Haha. The only pregnancy dream that I have had so far was that the baby came four weeks early and was 5 1/2lbs. At this point, I'm starting to wonder.........

34 week belly picture~ total weight gained 24lbs


comparison with Tyler: 35 week belly picture~

Snow Day!

Can't believe we've had a snow day two years in a row!! This snow day was a little different than the wet/icy slush we had last year... we actually had snow! It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to get out and play in for a bit. Tyler is like his momma, and when he got too cold and decided he was done... he was done(!) and we then enjoyed seeing the ground covered in white from INSIDE our warm and cozy house. :-)