Hello Second Trimester!!

I can't believe my first trimester is already behind me! I found out I was pregnant right at 5 weeks, so I thought the next 7 weeks would drag on and on.....but they flew pretty quickly!! I am feeling pretty good. The nausea has tapered off a tad.....some days are better than others right now. But the exhaustion is still pretty bad. I hope I get some energy back SOON!
I am way excited for my ultrasound on Monday. I remember I had one right at 12 weeks with Cam, and you could see arms, legs.....a whole little person!! I will try to scan the ultrasound pic to put on here. Nate can't go, he's pretty bummed, but we will make sure he's at the big ultrasound with the technician where we find out what we're having and make sure all the organs are forming properly. The technician who performs those only comes to my doctor's office on Tuesdays, so Nate had to miss it with Cameron. So we had the tech write down what we were having on a paper and put it in an envelope. I had to drive clear back up to Salt Lake with this envelope sitting on the seat next to me....pure torture! But I didn't want to find out before Nate. We will make sure he can be there this time!! We should find out at the end of August, hopefully before his Fall semester starts so he can come.

Sunday

Nicole Kidman just had a baby girl named SUNDAY.
WHY?????

Call Me Crazy......

For the past couple of days, I SWEAR I have been feeling this baby move like crazy! I'm only 12 weeks, and I know that's probably "too early" to feel anything, but I remember exactly what Cam felt like when he moved, and this baby is doing somersaults! I felt Cameron move at 14 weeks, and you could see my belly moving at 16 weeks. Craziness. I LOVE feeling the baby move, it makes me so happy!
Anyway, I'm freaking out over baby names. Our girl name is set in stone, but we're debating our boy name. It WAS set in stone, but I suddenly don't love it anymore. It was Chase, and we have a CRAZY Chase in our Primary who is seriously making me not like that name as much, is that bad? Nate really likes Oliver. So I dunno.....Give me some suggestions!!!!!!!

My Thoughts On Discipline

This is Cameron smack dab in the middle of a tantrum about 6 months ago. Hilarious!! (and a little bit sad.....)

Anyway, so here are my personal thoughts, ideas & opinions on discipline. I am a HUGE fan of the Supernanny. I think her ideas and methods are so wonderful. I have always watched her show and knew I wanted to use her methods when I had kids. So right when Cameron turned 18 months, we started using Time-Out. Nate and I sat down and decided what we wanted to deserve a Time-Out as punishment. Obviously this "list" will change as Cameron gets older, but as of today, these are the things that Cam gets Time-Out for:
1. Throwing food on the floor. (This was a HUGE problem a few months ago. So if even the tiniest morsel of food hit the floor, he was in Time-Out. It worked, and he only does it about once a week now, as opposed to after every meal!)
2. Throwing things (unless it's a ball). He tends to throw things when he gets tired.
3. Disobeying Mommy or Daddy if we ask him to do or stop doing something more than 3 times. He has been getting time-out A LOT for this lately! He hasn't been listening to us very well lately.

This is Cameron in Time-Out a few months ago. Now we have a little stool he has to sit on. When he was 18 months, he had to stay there for 1 minute. Then a few weeks ago we bumped it up to 1 1/2 minutes. And on his 2nd birthday, he will start sitting there for 2 minutes. He actually does a pretty good job of sitting there. He knows not to move until his timer beeps. If we don't keep an eye on him, he'll make a run for his room, but if he knows we're watching, then he'll sit still. Then he has to come and apologize. Hearing him say "Sorry Mommy or Sorry Daddy" is the cutest thing EVER!

I just think that consistency is KEY. You HAVE to stick to it. If sometimes they get in trouble and sometimes they don't, then they will be confused. And I feel VERY strongly that discipline is important. I think some parents feel mean or like they are "threatening a friendship" if they discipline their kids. I think it's the opposite! I think children who aren't discplined are MUCH worse off than those who are. Kids need rules and boundaries. Otherwise they will be COMPLETELY out of control.....just like all the crazy kids on Supernanny! And when I look at Cameron, I still see a happy, loving kid. He doesn't hate me or Nate because we put him in Time-Out or tell him "no". He still hugs and kisses us every day.

I also think that consistency between BOTH parents is another key. I think discipline is completely pointless if both parents aren't on the same page. Like I said, Nate and I sat down together and agreed on what constitutes a Time-Out and what doesn't. Kids need to be kids.....I don't think they should be disciplined for EVERY little thing. Most of the time, at Cam's age, anyway, simply redirecting their attention to another toy or activity will fix the problem. I do want to parent with love and not be mad at my child all the time!!!!

On to spanking.....I do NOT thing spanking is effective at all, but I have spanked Cameron. I've spanked him more than I planned on!!! It just gets hard when you get SO angry!!! But I don't want to be a mom who spanks, so I've been working on controlling my own actions. It's REALLY hard to not let your emotions take over. It's hard to stay calm!! Nate is worse than I am about controlling his anger (are you all surprised? I was!!). So we had a talk the other night about trying to parent with love more. I am going to work on using more effective methods than spanking, and Nate is going to work on using more effective methods than blowing up and yelling at Cam. There.....see, we're not perfect!! I'm just grateful that Nate is the kind of daddy who is willing to sit down with me and talk about these things. I'm sure a LOT of dads just tune out and let mom take care of everything. A lot of dads just want to be the "fun" parent. I think that's really unfair to leave the wife on her own like that!

Anyway, there are my thoughts on all of that. Keep your opinions coming!

Here We Go!!!

Okay, it's time to talk discipline! This will be fun! Don't be shy, I want to hear all of your opinions, ideas, what works, what doesn't.....NOBODY is perfect, and no ideas are right or wrong. I feel strongly about disciplining children, so I'll be posting soon...... Keep the recipes coming, too!

Quick, Easy, Healthy, Inexpensive Meal Ideas???

Since those of you who read this blog are moms with busy lives, busy kids & probably not rich, I am wondering what some of your favorite busy weeknight meals are. I'm always up for new ideas. Especially if they are inexpensive and easy! I am starting to enjoy cooking a little more than I used to, but since I don't have a dishwasher, I try not to cook meals that are too complicated because complicated usually results in lots of dishes!!
We eat a LOT of rice and pasta. My newest favorite snack is to make pasta and toss it with butter, garlic, s&p, & Parmesan cheese. SO unhealthy, but I don't care, it's so good! And I'm all about the crockpot. The problem is it usually makes too much food for just the 3 of us. I'm just getting tired of trying to come up with ideas, so I'll let you guys help me out! So anyway, let me know some of your favorite recipes.

Cameron's Birthday Party Plans

So this post isn't about the baby, but Cameron will always be my baby, so am going to write about him on this blog too.

So I am planning a little party for his birthday, which is in ONE WEEK!! I am keeping it VERY simple again, like I did last year. I don't want to plan this huge ordeal for a kid who doesn't even really know what a birthday is! Last year I made 2 cakes (from a box), we opened some gifts and just visited. This year will pretty much be the same. We're having some family and friends over. The kids can play out on the playground, and the adults can sit in the air-conditioned apartment. It's been really hot lately. I think this year I am going to make these:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Cup-Cupcakes/Detail.aspx

I can't wait! I think I will make them this weekend too, to test them out, of course!! :)

But I also want to do a chocolate cupcake too. I thought cupcakes would be fun this time. So does anyone have a good chocolate cupcake recipe? I've also thought about making them from a cake box, but maybe putting Oreos or something in the batter too! How YUM would that be!!

Next year for his 3rd birthday, I will finally take the time, energy & money to go all out for a themed party. I will probably do either a sports theme (this kid is OBSESSED with soccer and basketball. We just raised his hoop up to 4 feet and he swishes them like no tomorrow!!!) or maybe a Disney CARS theme, or maybe a Legoes theme. I found a cute idea to make a Legoes cake.

(Okay, WEIRD! I pulled this off the internet and it just "happens" to say Happy Birthday Cameron on it! It's a sign!! This cake looks so nice though, I HIGHLY doubt my attempt would turn out like this!!!)


I want my children to have fun birthday parties growing up like I did, but I'm definitely not going to start them until they are old enough to care!! We keep telling Cameron his birthday is coming up and that he will be TWO, but he doesn't care.

So now lets hear about all of your kids' fun birthday parties!!!!