Say No to No!

After teaching preschool for 7 years I already understood the importance of not saying, "No!" Once Sidney was mobile I found myself saying it several times one day. I have since then made a conscious effort to "no saying no" at our house. It is difficult when you see your child about to make a huge mess, hurt themselves or hurt something in the house. I read somewhere that a toddler hears no about 400 times a day. Not only is it negative, but it weakens the meaning of the word. I am trying really hard to use redirection and positive reinforcement and save saying, "no" for emergencies when she is really is in danger. I found 2 helpful articles today and I thought I would share them.

18 Ways to Say No Positively

Mistakes Moms Make

14 months old!

Sidney is 14 months old today! She is so much fun and has the cutest personality. She is a very happy and active baby. She loves swimming, Elmo, music, taking walks and putting her toys in any hiding spot she can find. She can say, Dada, car, ball, dog, quack quack, mama, hi, circle and is starting to repeat more and more words. She loves to run and walk on her own. Her favorite food right now is banana. Her activities right now are going to the library and checking out books, going to music class and going to see her friends in the wobbly walkers nursery at church. We are going to say goodbye to the bedtime bottle this week... wish us luck! We are a little behind but we are ok with that since the move through us all off a bit. Her 15 month checkup is next month. I am very excited about her new pediatrician. Living near the biggest med center in the world definitely has it's perks!

Here is a picture of me and my little buddy this time last year.

Here is a picture from last week. How fast they change!
Love you baby Sidney!

Howdy from Houston!

Wow! Things have been busy at the Alexander's... we made it to Houston!

Shew. All the boxes are unpacked! I actually sat down yesterday and took a breath. My first impressions of Houston are:

1. HOT

2. Terrible bugs

3. Flat

4. Not pretty like KY

5. No KY sports here or horses :)

Ok, so those are all negative. But true. On a positive note Houston has:

1. Palm trees

2. Shopping (any store you want)

3. Mexican food

4. Great parks

5. Great museums

We have not gotten settled at all other than getting the house organized. This is mainly because we are living with 1 car. Horrible! Craig started his job last week at Texas Children's Hospital, which is the biggest pediatric hospital in the country. Wow! On his first day we dropped him off. Sidney did not want to wake up and was a grump all day. Then when he was done it was her bedtime so you can imagine how that went. I have let him take the car since then. So, we have been stuck in the house. I mean stuck. Nowhere to go and nothing to do. We can't even venture outside due to the 100 degree temps. So our first priority this weekend is to buy a car!

We have been attending a church that we really like and Sidney is going to start a music class there next week. I have signed up for the JR League transfer class and it starts in August. So I feel like we are taking baby steps to meet some people.

I love being home with her and having more time to help Craig stay organized. It's not an easy job! My goal is to post once a week. Someone make me! I will try my best.

Fall Photo Shoot-Zoombug Photos

We got our first family pictures made in November. I was so happy with how they turned out. Aseel always does a wonderful job! She also did SKA's 6 month photos. You can see them here along with her other great work! Here are a few pics from the Fall.

Winter Wonderland

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! And, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. I have gone back to work, which would explain my lack of posting. I wish I was one of those people that truly love their job. I just feel that I have lost all motivation. I love my students and really strive to be a positive influence in their life. But, I miss Sidney every second of every day! We have already had three snow days. My little buddy and I have had a blast! She has experienced cold weather at it's finest with her first snow, temps at under 10 degrees and even a small ice storm. She was not impressed with the snow but will always crack a smile for Daddy! Especially when he throws her in the air..

GO

BIG

BLUE!

Countdown to Kickoff! GO CATS!