Tell me Tuesday-a link up!

Welcome my dears. I hope you are all doing fantastic!

as always I want to feature some of my favorite 

links for last week!!! 

ALSO if you would like to be a guest host please contact me at

ashleywhetman@hotmail.com

 

 The thinking closet

Kathe with an E

Annemaries Haakblog

Mama Miss

A mommy's life with a touch of yellow

 If you were featured and would like a button
they are on the sidebar!!

Make sure to check out 
Lil Mrs. Tori
to see if you were featured there!

steps backward

This linky has been rather sketchy lately. Im sorry for that. I can't seem to sit in front of the computer and write a motivational post. I feel like I am lying to your faces...errr computer screens. So to be honest....I'm not doing so great. I feel like I can't get motivated or find the desire to stop shoving food into my mouth. Is the excuse that I am nursing going to hold up much longer. Ember is 5 months old and I still have plenty of weight to lose. Which is fine...I don't expect it to fall off, especially when I can't stop snacking all day long. I can't be mad really..Not at anything but myself. But I am mad. I am mad at myself. Almost every day I sit and ponder...telling myself things like ...today is the day..your going to eat healthy all day long....your going to wake up at 5:30 and go to the gym...you will work hard because you want it...Then it happens I catch myself having my third snack of the day and its noon...ugh. Granted they are healthy snacks...one positive thing is I never buy junk food. If I want something unhealthy or am having a sweet tooth fix, I have to munch on chocolate chips that are intended for baking. But still I can only eat so many cups of yogurt or apples or pb&js or almonds or string cheese before my love handles start saying hello. Healthy foods in unhealthy portions is not healthy eating. I feel so bloated its sickening. I honestly can step on the scale and not cry. It's not really the number that's bothering me. Its my self image, the way I feel in my pants, the feeling I get after eating too much...Thats what is really getting me down. I end the day mad at myself. I feel like when I am unhappy about myself and the way I look and feel I start to let little things bother me that shouldn't, I am not as good of a wife and mother. I hate catching myself being snappy and knowing deep down inside that its me..all me. I am the reason I am acting the way I am. That I have the power to change it and yet I feel so helpless to knowing how to fix it.

 Is it possible to want something so bad and be the first person to sabotage it?
 I am my own worse enemy.

I guess I can say for the most part I am happy. I am not as bad off as I could be. and where I am is purely off no diet and occasional exercise. So I know if I put in the work and time that my goals could be reached.  Why then don't I try a little harder to do a little better??? 

 

raising friends

I was very worried when about to have Ember. People told me things like....

-Ty is going to get so jealous
-He will throw temper fits
-He will most likely not like the baby right away
-He will feel left out
yada yada yada

Seriously thinking my son would hate our new baby girl. . .Or that I would not be able to give him the proper attention he would need. So I started doing some research on how to prevent these things. Well Ember is now 5 months old and they are already GREAT friends. Ty adores Ember. So much in fact he tells me he loves her the most.

A few ways I encourage friendship.

Lets start from the beginning. . 
While pregnant I would talk about the baby with Ty. (note: Ty was very young still while I was pregnant with Ember, for older siblings you could get more in depth about the pregnancy). But I would say things like 

"Ty are you so excited to have a little sister"
"She is going to be your little sister"
"Ty, we love the baby so much huh!" 
"Are you so excited to hold the baby?!"
"Ty did you know there is a baby in mommy's belly"

I would also let Ty feel my stomach when Ember would kick, then say things like
"Ty, thats the baby saying hi to you"
"She loves you so much and can't wait to see you"

At night while reading books I would tell Ty that we are also reading to the baby. He would sit on my side (mostly because my belly was so big that he couldn't fit on my lap) and he would hold the book and point to things as if trying to show the baby.

It worked very well for us. Ty constantly said "baby baby baby" always pointing to my stomach and jumping up and down. 

We also tried to expose him to other babies. When we saw a couple with a baby at church or while we were out we would point to it and say 
"Ty thats a baby, were going to have a baby soon"

 I also thought it was great to have Ty come to the hospital to see the baby. (obviously once the craziness ended). Letting him see her at the hospital and not just surprising him at home was somehow more special.

The moment Ty saw his baby sister. You could see it in his eyes. He loved and adored her. He knew that she was apart of our family and was very special. He knew this little girl was our baby, the one we had been so excited to welcome into the world.

 They were teasing each other so early.  

We didn't want Ty to be afraid of the new baby. We didn't want him to think she was weird or that he couldn't be around her. So one of the first things we did was have him hold her. Telling him that she is our baby and that she loves him. 

 

He soon wanted to hold her and kiss her all the time. With toddlers they don't really know how to be soft...at least Ty didn't. So that was the next thing we worked on. When he would hold her we would stroke her cheek and say "soft baby". We also didn't want him kissing all over on her face...germs and newborns are not good....So we made it fun for him to kiss her head and stomach.

 He got very protective very fast. I started to notice him not wanting other people to hold her. Mom and Dad were obviously ok. But when aunts and uncles and cousins would come around he would get very cautious of them and how close they got to her.  Even standing guard as she slept. 

I like to start each morning with Ty getting some one on one time. I think this puts him in a good mood for the rest of the day. It can be as easy as laying the baby down and eating breakfast together..or reading his favorite book. 

I love to let Ty help take care of Ember. 

Changing diapers.

I always ask Ty to go get babies diaper....He runs to get it so excited. He usually likes to un-button her onesie. Then throw the diaper away once we are done. The task seems to take twice as long, but he is so excited to help and feels so accomplished. 

Bathing.

This one can be tricky since its dangerous. However I think it safe to have the sibling wipe the baby down a little. Or squeeze the shampoo out -as long as they know what a little means- 

Once Ember is out of the bath he helps me dry her off. Then I usually have two outfits out and ask him what one baby should wear. 

Feeding.

So this one im not going to lie is still hard for us. I am nursing and can't exactly let Ty "hold the bottle"...but if you do bottle feed I think its a great idea to let the sibling help hold the bottle. I usually tell Ty to tickle her feet..or try to have a special toy or activity out for him to do while Ember is nursing.  

Give your child ideas. 
One day I was trying to get ready and Ember was screaming...Ty was being wild and I was running late. 
I told him to go get a book and read it to her..
Now when Ember starts to cry he will often pick up a book and babble to her and point to the pictures so she can see...She LOVES it.

Encourage time together. 
Ember watches baby Einstein, but Ty wants to watch Cars....
I always tell him that he should watch the show with baby and make sure she likes it.
Then I let him watch Cars and tell him "ok now it's your turn, and thank you so much for letting baby watch her show, she loved it so much!"

I am definitely not the worlds best mom. Most of the time I have no idea what im doing. But I love my children with my whole heart and try so hard to let them know it. I try and help them love each other and take care of each other. 

The best thing I think you can do for your children is pray for them. Every single morning and night I pray that Ty and Ember can be best friends. That they will take care of each other. I pray that Ty will share and be soft. I pray that Ember will learn from Ty and look up to him. I ask my Heavenly Father to help me be sensitive to their needs. To help me know how to raise them to be strong followers of Christ. I thank him for trusting me with two beautiful spirits. Trusting me to guide and direct them. Thanking him for the blessing of motherhood and the love that it has taught me. For the Joy it brings in my life. I thank him for every smile they give me and every time I get to hold their sweet hands. 

baby valentines

Having kids inspires me in so many ways. I absolutely love giving them sweet little handmade gifts. I was searching pinterest of course when I saw these darling felt robots....thought they would make perfect little gifts for the kiddos.

My rule is you have to name your projects...well stuffed animals and doll type projects. I also have a rule that you can't name them tell they are 100% done!! I made Trixi first and when the name came to me I just loved it. I had a harder time with Atom...I remembered the movie with the fighting robots and Hugh Jackmon....the robot on there is named Atom and I loved it...So he is named after a super star robot!

Meet Atom. He is a stud right?!!!

....and pretty Trixi.

I can't lie...I had a hard time making the cubes at first. I made Trixi THREE different heads before I got the hang of it. I went into it thinking it would be SO EASY...sat down and thought O man ill just whip one of these up and make the next one tomorrow night...UM no..I had a few set backs...The first night I didn't keep anything I worked on. I threw everything away. However I took a deep breath and went to bed and seriously laid there pondering on how to make it go smoother.  

As soon as I got the hang of it and took deep breaths it was much better...But still between wiping tooshies, nursing and filling up sippi cups full of milk it still took two days to complete ONE robot. But I am very happy with the way they turned out. 

Trixi is so special. She actually reminds me of Ember. Big blue eyes, long lashes, big smile and a full heart. To top it all off her sweet little hair bow melts my heart. All together I think its soft, cute and perfect for my baby girl. 

Atom is also special and reminds me of Ty. Big blue eyes and a little smirk smile...almost as if he is up to something, but with a big heart! Just like my Ty Ty. 

You will need:

Felt for base color

scrap felt for heart

two buttons

bow (if its a girl)

coordinating sewing floss

stuffing 

hot glue 

cutting mat 

and slicer

 Cut all your felt with the proper measurements.

(see picture above)

Cut your felt heart out

Hand stitch the buttons to one of the head sized squares

stitch on eye lashes if desired 

and smile

Stitch on heart to one of the body sized squares

(I sprayed my heart with basting spray first so it wouldn't move while stitching)

 

Hand sew your squares to make the cubes using sewing floss.

I sewed mine and didn't flip them inside out. 

I liked the look of the seam on the outside. 

I thought It looked more square and -robotish-

Finish all but one side
fill with stuffing
then sew it completely closed

Now that all your cubes are made

head, body, 2arms and 2feet 

attach them together 

I hot glued mine 

and put a few stitches with thread

(hot glue and felt are not the best of friends) 

Then add the bow to a girl

I was thinking a baseball cap would be SO cute for the boys

Maybe ill update soon and add a hat to Atom.

Linking up with
Country girl at home
happy go lucky blog
 lip gloss and crayons
the dedicated house

Tell me Tuesday -LINK UP!-

Last week was wonderful. We hit over 100 LINK UPS!!!  Thank you all SO much who participated. It truly means a lot to see our little linky grow!! 
HUGS!! 

dear beautiful

Do you have a blog....A favorite blog?? The one that as soon as you see they have a new post your heart flutters in excitement??!! That is how I feel about Lucy and her beautiful blog at dear beautiful.

the DIY dreamer

Um ok, this picture could not be any cuter!! I LOVE IT

and those cookies look pretty yummy as well

 family home and life

mouth watering deliciousness right here....

violet imperfection

Thanks Leslie...I will TOTALLY be making one of these SOON

for my Lil Miss. 

 nap-time creations

Valentines is SO close...and I think I may surprise my sweetie with something this sweet!

 If you were featured and would like a button
they are on the sidebar!!

Make sure to check out 
Lil Mrs. Tori
to see if you were featured there!