Sleeping with Budgets and Other Tales of a 2 Year Old

We have made many changes in our life (mostly financial) and it's no surprise that some of the things we're changing has rubbed off on Joshua.

The other night, as Jim was working on our budget, Joshua was at the table next to him writing on his papers. When it was time for bed he grabbed his paper and said, "Mom can I sleep with my budget?" (of course I let him). The next morning he stood by my bed rustling his budget (which is how I woke up) :)

Today, when at Walmart, we passed by the toy clearance section and there was a Tow Truck and Excavator (Joshua calls it a Digger) that he FELL IN LOVE WITH. He asked if he could have it and I told him that it wasn't in the budget, but we could have a budget committee meeting with dad when he came home and talk about adding it to the budget.

When he woke up from his nap, Jim was home from work and he ran out of the room saying, Daddy I want to buy a digger at Walmart and mom says we need to have a meeting. So after dinner, we got Joshua's piggy bank (actually it's a monkey) and told him he only had enough to buy one (with the help of Mom and Dad) and he was very possessive of that money in his bank. But, he eventually decided that he would like to use his money to buy the digger.

Preaching to the Multitudes

Ever since our January Meeting, when Joshua's interest in preaching was sparked, he has been pretend preaching as part of his playtime. He came to the realization recently that his foam mats stacked together could be a make-shift pulpit and his blanket spread on the floor somewhat resembles a pew, and his lov-a-lees (that's what he calls all his stuffed animals) sitting on the "pew" make for a nice congregation... (we're taking a bit of creative license on this one folks) And what do you get when you put all these pieces together? A really cute little boy preaching in his "Sunday best undies"- be advised, his message is short and it's more of a video about the hard work that goes into preparing for a sermon

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Blanket Time Day 1

I have recently been exposed to the concept of Blanket Time (or Blanket Training) and while it may be a controversial topic, I felt like it might be a good opportunity for us to teach Joshua some boundaries and self control. There are a few techniques of blanket training that I do not really agree with, but there are no blanket training police patrolling the area telling me I am doing it all wrong. :) The concept is this: Lay a special blanket (meaning dedicated just for blanket time) on a space on the floor and allow child to have toys (also dedicated just to floor time) and train them to play quietly for a determined amount of time without setting foot off the blanket. You are supposed to start with about 3-5 minutes on the blanket and gradually work up to an hour. I thought I might have missed a window of opportunity with Joshua being 2 1/2 already, but it was quite the opposite. His comprehension level is marvelous and I had no problem communicating to him what we were doing. I explained to him what we were doing, set the timer for 5 minutes and when the timer rang, He looked at me like he was not ready to be done, so I let him go another 5 minutes. (We did briefly stop the timer for a potty break). But the first attempt was, I think, successful. We tried again on Saturday morning and that one was not as smooth (but I think that had to do with Jim being home) One of the things I hope to establish in the upcoming weeks is that he can sing and play quietly, and to cut down on the amount of time I interact with him. Here is some video I captured of him not being a wild man and playing nicely on his blanket. (nothing real interesting, just video evidence [for my sake] that he stayed put) :)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Web Cam Singing

I have a hard time getting video of Joshua because he is so vain he wants to watch himself on the camera rather than let me video him. So I got the bright idea of allowing him to sit at the computer on the webcam so he could see himself while he was being recorded. It proved to be a big hit (and quite funny) because of the slight delay, Joshua got easily distracted by himself. The video is unedited because there are so many funny things throughout. I still laugh everytime I watch it!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Conversations with a 2 year old

We had a wonderful spirit-filled meeting this weekend at Little Union. During the course of the meeting, Joshua told Jim and I at least 3 times that he wanted to preach. The first time I was not present when he said it. The remaining times, I "brushed" it off with the comment, "let's work on your song leading first" (he loves to get up before services and pretend to lead singing)

Then, Sunday night, as we were putting Joshua to bed we had this conversation:

Joshua: I gonna preach, daddy

Jim (raising his eyebrows at me): Well Joshua, if God has called you to preach, then you need to pray that God will help you to learn the scriptures and learn to be a good servant

Joshua (immediately folding his hands and bowing his head): Dear God, please help me to be a preacher, amen

Can you say lump in throat?

Joshua's Favorite Toy

Is it the wooden train set from Mimmy?


no, sorry!


It must be the ABC Train (battery operated) from Poppa and Gigi?


Um, negatory!


It must be the Doctor kit or broom/dustpan from Aunt Ki-Ki!

Try again!


Well, then it has to be the HUGE dumptruck and blocks from Grandma and Grandpa, right?


Wrong again!


You mean to tell me, Joshua got all of these totally awesome toys for Christmas and they are not currently his favorite? Well, what, pray tell, could possibly beat out all those great toys?

You would be correct if you guessed a big box that has been turned into a playhouse- and as you can see it's plenty spacious for Joshua and a house guest (aka- daddyboy)

Potty Training Week 1 Recap and Week 2 Happenings

Well, if you had asked me last Monday how I thought Joshua would do with Potty Training, I would have told you he was not ready, I was not ready, and we should all call the whole thing off. However, after the attitude adjustment(s) Tuesday through Saturday were a breeze. It's a little bit surreal that he picked up on potty training so well. As I mentioned in previous posts, we went with the "nakey baby" method (which is a little difficult when the weather in FL throws you a curve ball and gives you frigid arctic air in the middle of November) With the heater on, and a pair of socks and shirt, we went with the "nakey bottom" method. By the third day, Joshua was pretty much running to the potty on his own when he needed to go. I would remind him several times throughout the day. But he had really grasped the concept quite well. On Wednesday and Sunday, he and I sat on the back pew (towel on the pew) and he wore his big-boy underwear. He did great. No accidents at all!

Our lesson for week 2 is to get Joshua used to wearing underwear and the complications that come with that. I will say this about little boy underwear, I don't know why they make little boys undies so tight around the waste, he cannot get them off by himself. But that didn't hinder him in any fashion. He did great all day yesterday and would come and get me when he needed to use the potty. We even made it up to Walmart wearing underwear instead of pull-ups and no accidents the entire time! Anyway. We had one accident last night, the "I've got more important things to do" culprit appeared. But, we knew that would happen eventually. All in all, I would say that the Lord has greatly blessed this to be an easy transition. And I am truly thankful for that!

So we will just stay close to home this week and work on our potty training with underpants on and occasionally venture out to Sams and Walmart.

October Happenings

I took on the pleasurable task of babysitting for all of the nieces/nephew (except for baby Kinley) a couple weeks back. Before the other kiddos got out of school it was just Joshua and Lindsey. At lunchtime, Joshua and Lindsey got a special treat of eating in the living room while watching Barney on DVD. They were GLUED to the tv as you can see... but I must say, I didn't have to get on to either of them to eat.

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Miss Lucy Elizabeth Franklin. I literally slept with my phone next to my ear JUST IN CASE I got the call in the middle of the night. I am very happy to say that I share a birthday with the cutest Lucy Goosey in the world!

(Birthday day was spent at the hospital w/ the Franklin Family)

(Birthday evening was spent with my in-laws and this delicious cake that my mom-in-law made for me)

(Joshua and Grandpa hanging out)

Since I was on call JUST IN CASE, I put off the potty training (I didn't want someone else to be responsible for that while I was off making googley eyes with Lucy). So we will commence potty Training on November 1.

In preparation of potty training, we converted Joshua's bed to a toddler bed and I must say, he has taken to it as if he has always slept in a big boy bed. The very first naptime, he stayed awake for 1.5 hours singing and playing in his bed, but he never got out. I disciplined a couple of times and he finally went to sleep. But it's been smooth sailing ever since.

We had a great photoshoot with Bethany last weekend. She's such a great photographer and is so patient with us (Joshua does not cooperate when it comes to posing) Here are just a FEW of my favorites (it was hard to narrow them down)

(Jim was plum wore out after the photoshoot. So Joshua let him take a nap with Puppy and Gator blanky!)

(me and Joshua just hanging out and being cheesey)

Glimmer of Hope

Perhaps Joshua is not a perfect heathen. We took Jim's mom to a viewing on Saturday (for the passing of a relative). While walking around in the lobby of the funeral home. Jim and Joshua had a nice conversation about the angel statues and Jim told him a little about angels. When all of the sudden Joshua told Jim, "Dadda, I see God" at first Jim didn't understand him, so he asked Joshua what he said and he repeated himself. Jim asked, "where do you see God?" to which Joshua replied, "at church"

As Jim recounted this story to me, I had to fight back the tears. As a parent, my biggest prayer has been that Joshua would love the Lord as much as Jim and I do. Who could know the extent to which he "understands" (except God). But I would like to think that he HAS seen God, and I pray that he continues to seek HIM and grow in grace and knowledge!

Joshua-isms

Don't you just love the things kids say? Jim and I tend to disagree on the whole baby talk thing. I don't necessarily talk baby talk to Joshua, but when he says a word incorrectly (especially when it's REALLY cute how he says it) I don't correct him but Jim thinks it's imperative to teach him the correct way to say things. But, lucky for me, Jim is not home enough during the week to make a serious impact on that end so... here are some of my favorite things Joshua says:

Hopikeekee (sometimes Hopikaka)= helicopter

Uppeyside Down= upside down

Oh Daddyboy (what he yells from his bedroom when he wants Jim to come to his room)

cancake= his very most favorite breakfast item, pancake

mac ronie cheese (said as three words)= any pasta item

shocker ball (I'll give you a hint- it's a black and white ball that is referred to as a football in some countries)

rammaw/ranpaw (he has stopped calling Jim's parents memaw and pepaw and is calling them grandma and grandpa now...well kinda)

dayee bled (you know, Thank you, God for our daily bread)

He's just so cute! Don't you think?

Quality Time

Joshua and Jim have been spending some great quality time together in the early evenings. One of Joshua's favorite things to do with his dad is to go outside and walk all the way around the house: checking the plants, the trees, finding sticks beating on misc. items with said stick... he also likes to walk over to his grandma and grandpa's house and see if Buddy is hanging out in the porch.

He also likes sweeping the back porch for dad...

But of all the things he likes outside, the very most FAVORITE thing right now is the lawn mower (or as he says "mow mower") Kerry donated Brady's old lawn mower, which has been a big hit, but he really does prefer the real thing.

Sit N' Spin

Joshua's cousing Grace (he calls her Aunt Grace) brought over a Sit N' Spin that her grand-daughter used. I didn't think he would ever get the concept (I was constantly having to spin him, but he knew right away how to push the buttons to turn the music on). One day Kimberly and Lindsey were over at my house (Kimberly and I were working on a super-secret baby shower item) and Lindsey (who had used a Sit N' Spin before) got on and spun her little heart out. The next day, Joshua gets on that thing and starts spinning, like he had always known how to do it.

Thanks little (big) cuzzy for teaching Joshua how to Sit N' Spin!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Haircut

Joshua's hair has proven to be pretty wild and curly now that he has gotten so much. Most of you know that I have wanted to give him a haircut since he was born (ok, that may be a little drastic but he had a lot of hair). Well, Saturday night after giving Joshua a bath, I was brushing his hair and Jim said "Joshua, I think I agree with mamma, you need a haircut". I ran and got the scissors and between Jim and I, we cut his sideburns, and a little off the top. Is he not the most handsome boy? (no comments from the peanut gallery "moms") :)