Spanking Children!? Ok or Not Ok?

http://www.drmomma.org/2010/09/why-spanking-is-never-okay.html

It's easy to look at your 10 month old baby; so sweet and innocent, and think that he or she will never be bad or get into any kind of trouble. I read this article today that really made me think about my future as a mother. Growing up I was always spanked when I was bad. Granted, it was not a daily occurrence and rarely ever happened...but I was spanked. I don't think it had any negative impacts on my life or relationships, but I can see how in some cases it can.

I know this is a really retarded comparison but reading this article also made me think about this. I have a dog named Rookie. If you've met him you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that he's a little "fireball." He LOVES to play and run around, barks when the doorbell rings, begs when food is around, and jumps on you when he wants attention. He is the typical hyper puppy. There are days; like yesterday, that I want to kill him. Here I am dealing with a sick baby screaming in the middle of the night, and my dog goes in his room, grabs a poopy diaper from the trash, and shreds it to pieces! I was FURIOUS! So, out of anger I picked him up, put him in the bath and spanked his bum hard! I felt horrible after. I know dogs are nothing like an actual child, but if I can't control my anger around my crazy dog then how will I control it when I'm dealing with my kids in the future? Also, if Cayman watches me do this, what is that teaching him? So, I figure if I can change the way I take care of our dog, I can definitely teach myself not to spank my children in the future.

After talking to Skyler, we've decided on a "no spanking policy!" Cayman has been through a lot and we want to make sure we are the best parents we can possibly be. I don't want him to have even one second where he doesn't feel loved, and I certainly do not want him to learn pain from us. Same goes for our dog. He can be a little turd sometimes, but we love him regardless. Last night while I stayed up with Cayman, he stayed up with me and didn't leave my side. Now he's walking around like a zombie with his ears down; because like me, he is exhausted! haha So today marks our first day of no spanking. I have a feeling ill get a better dog out of it, and a better future for our family. :)

What is your stance on spanking? Im interested to know what other peoples opinions are. :)

Christmas!

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?" 

I wanted Christmas to be perfect this year. Now that we have a new addition to the family, it made it that much more meaningful and I wanted to start new traditions for our own family. I went all out on our Christmas decor, I made Rookie wear Christmas attire all month, and we watch Christmas movies and the Hallmark channel every day. Ha I'm pretty sure I drove Skyler insane with my crazy baking and Christmas music, but it was so worth it. There was never a day in December that we didn't think about the true meaning of Christmas. At least once a week we tried to do something nice for someone, help out a friend in need, or just by bringing treats to a friend. It was a lot of fun and I hope it is a tradition we can share with Cayman when he is old enough to understand.

I made oreo truffles, red velvet cake balls, and chocolate covered pretzels for our friends and neighbors for Christmas. They turned out so good and it was so fun to play Betty Crocker! 

Temple Square~

Temple square this year was a lot of fun. We celebrated my nephew Emmetts birthday that day and then decided to go see the temple lights that night. Skyler was really tired that day, he had just gotten back from a trip to Minnesota and had only gotten an hour of sleep the night before. He knew how much I wanted to go, so he went anyway and didn't complain even once. We had such a good time looking at all the beautiful lights together. Cayman was in his stroller all bundled up and pretty much slept the entire time. We have SUCH a good baby its ridiculous! Skyler even took pictures with me and didn't complain once! He is such a guy in that sense, he absolutely hates taking pictures. Picture taking is more of a girl thing I think. hehe

                                   

                                                

Ward Christmas Party~

I am so happy to say that we were FINALLY able to make it to our ward Christmas party! Every year it seems like we are always out of town, or not able to make it. I have to say it was the best one yet! The food was amazing, our ward is fantastic, and the best part was that Cayman got to enjoy it with us!

Towards the end of the evening, they had everyone sing the song "Here comes Santa Clause," and Santa walked in the door. The kids got so excited and it was cute to witness. One of the kids yelled, "Thats not Santa, thats brother so in so!" haha I got a good laugh out of that!

Family Christmas Photo's~

This year we decided to take our own Christmas photo's with our camera and tripod. Let me just say, this was not my idea, it was Skylers. NEVER AGAIN will I do this. We tried to get some with our dog Rookie, but we could never get him to look and the camera, and Cayman was always trying to grab Rookies ears. It was a nightmare. We tried it, its was an epic FAIL, and we'll know better next year! :) I did however get some really adorable photos of Cayman. 

Cayman met SANTA!~
Yep, that's right. My son did not cry when he met Santa! I thought for sure he would, but he was just way too fascinated with his beard. He was talking to Santa, smiling at him, playing with his coat, and tugging on his beard. A huge crowd of people stopped to watch them together because he was being so cute. Yep, my boys a cutie. I am one proud mommy! :)

Its...Christmas eve!!

We stayed in Layton with my mom for Christmas so all of my sisters were together, it was an absolute blast! The Downing family has some fun Christmas traditions. My favorite? Christmas pj's! Every year we get a new set of pajamas, and fuzzy socks. It just makes Christmas eve that much more exciting, and gets us more excited for Christmas day. Here are all the girls showing off our new pajamas, Charlies Angels style! :)

My aunt Mary was in town so during the day we did some last minute Christmas shopping, baked cookies, and watched the Grinch. I stayed up till 3 in the morning helping my mom wrap presents, but I didn't mind. Christmas just wouldn't really feel like Christmas if I didn't have to do some last minute shopping, or stay up late wrapping presents. It's what we did growing up, so I've learned to love it. 

Christmas!~

My aunt Mary and her husband Danny came over for Christmas and to open presents, then my cousin Nancy and her boys came later that day. There were tons of kids running around, but it was a lot of fun. Im so glad Cayman has so many cousins to play with when he gets older. Christmas dinner was amazing as usual. My mom is the best at Christmas dinner, just thinking about it makes me hungry! We opened out presents that morning, but Cayman was still tired so we let him sleep while we all unwrapped presents. The cool part about that was when he woke up, he had his own little mini christmas with all of the attention!

Christmas with a little one is so much fun. It was awesome watching Cayman open all his presents (with our help of course). He gave us this face like, "for me?" every present. 

Our big present to him was the "combi adventure walker." Its a race car walker with fake leather seats, a detachable play table, and bouncer. A race car just seemed fitting, considering he was named after a sports car! lol We could't fit it in the car so we gave it to him when we got home from Utah. He LOVES it!

Not only did Cayman get spoiled, but I got spoiled too! My mom went all out this Christmas and I was overwhelmed with all the awesome things I got. I seriously have a whole new wardrobe. Skyler spoiled me too, I wasn't expecting to get anything because he bought me an SUV and new iPhone for Christmas. BUT he surprised me and got me these really cute Diesel jeans I wanted from Volt  at Fashion Place. I tried them on and fell in LOVE, but Skyler said they were too expensive. He's so sneaky! I started screaming when I opened the box and saw the jeans, then ran and gave him  huge hug. haha he also got me the Kinect for xbox, its so much fun. Except for I've learned I'm a really poor sport. I absolutely HATE losing to him! Skyler got tons of stuff too, I made sure to spoil him this year. Although I might regret getting him every single video game he asked for. whoops.

Last but not least. I married a SUPER DAD! I cannot tell you how much I love my husband, I've noticed lately that I am super protective of him. Well, I always have been but its intensified as of late. I see him every day and the sacrifice he makes for other people, and what a good heart he has. The week before Christmas while on a drive to one of our friends houses, he told me that he wanted to become a better person. He didn't want us to only do acts of service just for Christmas; but all year, and next year he wanted to help out at homeless shelters and show Cayman what the true meaning of Christmas is. Who say's that? I thought that was MY job? On Christmas while everyone was opening their stockings and enjoying there mini Christmas (my mom goes all out on our stockings) Skyler didn't even open his. He sat there with Cayman on his lap and showed him every toy he got in his stocking. He opened them for him and just enjoyed watching him delight in every present we got him. Not only that, but the week of Christmas was very hectic. My mom had family coming in town, a house to clean, last minute shopping to do, Christmas presents to wrap. So, I tried to help her out as much as I could. Skyler pretty much played mom all week. He watched him and played with him, changed his diapers, put him to sleep, and never complained even once. Not that he usually doesn't do that, he just usually doesn't do it 24/7. He will never know how much the little things he does help me. I love my husband, I love my family. I am truly blessed. 

True Happiness~

Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes we may feel that things could not be more perfect, and others days we may only look at the bad. I have realized lately that almost any situation can be a good one with the right attitude.

The day Skyler told me he wanted to move back to Idaho, I was very upset. I never thought I could love living here; but he felt that it was the right thing for our family, and as much as I didn't want to believe him, I couldn't help but feel it was where we needed to be. After traveling all over the US for Skyler's job, it is nice living in a small town. I can finally say that I know he made the right choice, and I am thankful for that. I love my friends here, I love our ward, I love our neighborhood, I love that there is a brand new park literally in our backyard (Cayman will love that when he's older), I love that we live in a great city to raise a family, I love that my husband is home by 6 every night, and of course I LOVE that my family and friends in Utah are only 2 hours away. Yesterday we went to the mall to have Cayman's picture taken with Santa, and we didn't have to wait in a long line. The Grand Opening of Panda Express was last week, and we didn't have to wait very long in the drive thru. "Traffic" is pretty much nonexistent here, and we love that. 

I am content, happy, and so thankful that God has directed us in our path so that we could somehow end up here. It feels right, like home. I know its where we need to be. I also know that with prayer, faith, and of course a very handsome and intuitive husband; any situation can be a good one. I can't help but feel extremely blessed. 

I LOVE MY SON!

Ok, ok. I know I said I was done blogging for today but I just have to say one last thing. I LOVE my sweet baby Cayman, I don't know how I got so lucky! :)

The last four months~

The last four months have been rather eventful, and considering I haven't really posted anything important in the last four months, I thought I should do a little catch up post.

First, Skyler and I celebrated our 2nd year anniversary in October. The second year was very eventful, and there were definitely hard times. Cayman was born and spent almost 3 months in the NICU, we became new parents, we moved twice. It was a rough year, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am so grateful for my husband. Every little thing he does, I don't think he'll ever know how much they mean to me. We spent our anniversary in Park City and the best part was that we got to bring Cayman with us! Skyler- you know how I feel. I love you!
Here's just a couple pictures Skyler took of me and Cayman on our anniversary.

Pumpkin Patch~ This fall was an absolute blast! We went to Swan Farms Pumkin Patch and I am so glad we did. We were able to find the most perfect pumpkins and get fun pictures. Here's just a few...

Pumpkin Carving- A few days after we went to the Pumpkin Patch, we carved the pumpkins. During that time we had at least 5 members from our ward stop by and say hi and give us treats. We spent so much time getting to know everyone, that it took us about 5 hours to finish the pumpkins!! haha

Halloween- Yes, we decided to do a Star Wars theme this year for Halloween. I must say Skyler totally rocked his Anakin Skywalker costume, and of course Cayman was the cutest wittle Yoda EVER!

We totally won best costume at the Halloween party... haha jk.

Our New Home~ As you know we are finally settled in our new home in Pocatello. Its the perfect house for us. Three bedrooms upstairs, and two downstairs (once its finished) along with a HUGE second living room. We are basically doing a "rent-to-own" because we want to make sure we love the area, love the ward, and can see ourselves living in this house for 5 years. So far we love it. Its brand new. Granite countertops, knotty alder cabinets, two tone paint, vaulted ceilings, etc. I have had so much fun decorating it. Now that I actually like my house, I can finally decorate it the way I like it, and not what "works" for the house. I decorated for the fall but completely forgot to get some good pictures, so ill share my Christmas decor and Cayman's new room. :) I decided to use the colors gold, silver, and brown this year. I did not want any red whatsoever this year. I don't know why, maybe its because I've always decorated my house with red and I'm sick of it? Who knows... all I know is that there will not be one red decoration in my house for the rest of my life!!!!! 

 I made this swag myself, it was time consuming but turned out perfect!

 Made the centerpiece and wreath myself. 

 This wreath took me 2 days and 5 hours to make!! I almost gave up, but I'm glad I didn't. 

Cayman's Blessing~ We FINALLY were able to bless our sweet baby boy! We had to wait until Cayman was old enough and his immune system was strong enough to be blessed at church. We thought we would do it at our house in MN, but we wanted our whole family to be there so I'm glad we waited till we did. Skyler gave a beautiful blessing. It brought our entire row of people to tears. I am so grateful to have a worthy priesthood holder as my husband. I love you Skyler! We had everyone over for yummy food afterwards, it was so fun to have so many of my amazing friends and family there.

 Here's a few of the people that came to his blessing, most everyone left before I remembered to take a picture! LOL^^^

Cute boy so excited to be blessed!

New Car~ Skyler and I had been looking for a nice SUV for months.  I just couldn't imagine driving around Cayman in my little Lancer in the snow. I am way too paranoid as it is, so we wanted to find a family car safe for us in the winter. We test drove a bunch of SUV's, but nothing seemed to compare to the Infinity FX35. Unfortunately its a pretty penny, and we are really trying to save right now. So, once id finally given up on the idea, we got a phone call from one of our close friends saying they got an FX35 with really low miles in their dealership. It was an 07' with only 30,000 miles on it!! We almost bought the 09' model of it with over double the mileage! haha I fell in love with it instantly, but Skyler seemed like he didn't feel right about it. He called me from the dealership and said he wasn't going to get it. I was so bummed. But an hour later he walked in the house, handed me my keys, and said go pick up your new car! I drove to the dealership, finished the paperwork and drove my new SUV home! I absolutely love it.  Thanks hubby :)

Ok, I have been blogging for way too long. I can only take so much before I go insane, and therefore stop blogging for months on end. Hah so ill stop now, so I have something to look forward to. Stay tuned for more posts coming SOON!

They grow up too fast!

Cayman is 8 almost 9 months old!? Where did the time go? Please, someone tell me where the time went? I have pretty much sucked at blogging lately. Having an 8 1/2 month old is hard work, who would have thought? haha BUT I am loving being a mommy. It is by far one of the greatest blessings I have ever received in life. Here are a few pictures I've taken over the months to give you an idea of how much he's grown and changed.

Cayman's Likes and Dislikes~

Likes-
1. Smiles- He smiles ALL THE TIME. Not just a grin, but big huge smiles.
2. Giggles- He thinks his dad is extremely funny.  Here's a video-



3. Rolling over- He has become so good at rolling over. He will roll and roll until he almost hits something!
4. Grabbing things- He finds everything so interesting that he simply MUST put it right in his mouth!
5. Christmas tree- His favorite thing right now is sitting under our Christmas tree and trying to get the ornaments
6. Sitting up- He likes to sit up like a big boy, even though he doesn't last very long before he falls over. :)
7. Touching faces- When I rock him to sleep, he likes to put his hand on my face and play with my lips or stroke my cheeks until he falls asleep. :) My favorite.
8. Cooing- Before we wake up in the morning, he will just play in his crib and coo and babble until we get him. He is such a happy boy in the morning.
9. Screaming- Lately if we try to rock him to sleep (especially if Skyler does) he will SCREAM! It's so cute now but I don't know if ill be singing the same tune in a year or so. :) Here's a funny video of Skyler trying to put him to sleep. (don't mind Skyler showing off Cayman's acrobatics, as you can see it freaks me out and I don't really let him do it anymore. lol)

10. Blankie- when we give him his favorite blanket, he throws his arms up and starts kicking his legs while he lets out a very happy scream! He absolutely loves his blankie!
11. Rookie- He love love LOVES his puppy Rookie. If Rookies around he lights up and tries to grab his fur or legs. Poor Rookie. :(
12. His baba- What baby doesn't like his bottle really? He gets so excited and opens his mouth whenever he see's it!

Dislikes-
1. When daddy tries to put him to bed-but we already mentioned that. ;)
2. When one of us leaves the room- He will watch us, and the SECOND we are out of his sight he starts to cry. He loves attention.
3. Diaper changing time- He rolls over, kicks, anything to try and get out of diaper time
4. Changing clothes- He pretty much does the same thing as diaper time. :)
5. Waiting for his bottle- If he is really hungry, he will let you know it!
6. Sitting still- He just wants to GO GO GO!
7. Shoes- Shoes are like my bows if he were a girl. I love putting shoes on him, but he HATES them! lol
8. Our entertainment center- Can't tell you how many times I've saved him from hitting our entertainment center. He just rolls and rolls and sometimes bumps his head on it. :(
9. Car Seat- I tell ya the second he feels his head touch the carseat, he flips out! Thank goodness for car seat toys and binkies!
10. 6 am- I don't know what it is about 6 am but no matter what time I put him to bed, or how much I feed him. He wakes up at 6 am EVERY DAY and wants a bottle. Glad he's on a schedule, but man I wish it were 9!

Mommy's LOVES~

Because Cayman was born so early, we have a physical therapist and a lady from the infant Toddler program visit him once a month. So far he is in the 70-75 percentile for his corrected age, and I LOVE that. This means he is doing great and is right where he needs to be, and I am so proud of him. :) He's been sleeping through the night for a few months now. He goes to bed at 9, wakes up 6am and takes a bottle, then falls back asleep for another hour and plays and talks to himself in his crib until we wake up. haha. Pretty good if you ask me! His hair is FINALLY growing back. He had so much when he was first born, but with being born so early and always rubbing his head on something in the NICU and at home... it fell out fairly quickly. Its coming back in and straight up like a "chia pet" as Skyler would say.  Right now we are just enjoying life and loving every moment. Every day Cayman changes and grows a little more and it's so exciting seeing what he'll do next. I have a lot to post about, so stay tuned!

PET PEEVE

So I am one of those people that believe blogging shouldn't always be about how "perfect" your life is. Because, well lets face it... NO ONES LIFE IS PERFECT and if you don't think so then,"thou doth protest a little too much." (In the wise words of Whitney)

I ran into a lady at the grocery store today and she asked me how old my son was. I responded, "oh, he's 6 months." Well of course she says, "Wow, my son is six months and he's THREE TIMES HIS SIZE." She was the sweetest lady, but to be honest I was having an off day today and really did not want to explain how my son was born early for the millionth time. So in as few words as I could, I told her that he was a micro preemie and is actually 3 months "corrected" which is why he looks like a three month old. Anyway, that obviously wasn't enough information for her because she wanted to know more. Just for the record, I usually do not mind answering questions about Cayman. I love having any excuse to talk about my little man; BUT like I said, it was an off day for me. She wanted to know how much he weighed, how many weeks he was, how long he was in the NICU, etc etc. I explained everything and then she said, "Well if he was only 2 pounds then it must have been a really easy labor, imagine what you felt and multiply that times ten!!! I wish my kids were micro preemie." WHAT!? Who on Earth would say that?

Im sure she was just being funny or sarcastic, but I was a little bugged after that. I've had so many people tell me lately that my labor was "so much easier than a full term baby." This has become such a pet peeve of mine, so let me make this clear. IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW BIG THE BABY IS... LABOR PAINS ARE ALL THE SAME!!! So, next time you want to belittle what I went through. Try being in hard labor for 2 weeks, full blown labor for over 24 hours getting little to no sleep, delivering a 2 pound micro preemie, THEN tell me how "easy" it was! You have just experienced one of Bethany Lynne Dyers rage rants, I hope you enjoyed it. ;)