Wyatt's first birthday!

Well, Wyatt had his first birthday about a week ago. Isaac's parents came in town for the birthday weekend. Lucky for us, they brought our adorable niece, and Wyatt's cousin, Leila! She is such a happy baby and is such a joy to be around. Just look at how cute she is in these next few photos.

Leila loves to clap, especially when she sees that the adults around her are getting excited about something.

I made a Texas Sheet Cake for my Texan baby!

Wyatt and his parents. You can see that Wyatt already dug his little fingers into the cake.

 "Um, I think I like cake."

"Cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Wyatt pretty much ate his whole piece of cake. He was a little energetic afterward.

Our messy Wyatt then got to take a bath. Wyatt loves the bath so he was on cloud nine; cake and a bath!

Wyatt is such a joy! He is walking along furniture and is trying to stand on his own. We think he will start to walk in the next few months. Wyatt loves to crawl throughout the house and open all the cupboards. He loves to open and close doors. I call him a gentleman because he always gets the door for me when we are walking out of a room. Wyatt also takes a lot of pride in his ability to turn out the lights and fan in the bathroom. He smiles at himself in the mirror as he watches himself turn off the lights when we leave the bathroom after he has had a bath. Wyatt can wave hi and bye, say "Dada" and "Mama" (though it isn't directed at us yet), and clap his hands. Wyatt is also working on blowing kisses. Wyatt finally loves to cuddle. For the longest time, Wyatt never wanted to cuddle with us but now he can sit still and snuggle up. Nothing is better than having your baby cuddle up next to you. Wyatt can also give kisses when we ask him for one, but he sticks out his tongue so it can be kind of shocking. Wyatt is such a good tempered child and I feel so lucky to be his mom and see him grow.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Wyatt!

I dress up, but I don't dress up for you

Remember when you were little and your mom asked you to change into your "play clothes"? I do. Your mom probably asked you to do that because different activities often require a different type of clothing. Since becoming a mom, I have noticed that some moms judge other moms for not dressing nice enough. I'm sorry if my sweatpants offend you. I'm sorry if you don't like my air-dried hair. I'm sorry if it bothers you that I'm not wearing make up. I am in the season of sweatpants. That's right. Now, maybe you got married at 20 and started having children, so I understand that you would still like to dress up. I got married at age 27. That means six years of school, two years of full time work, and a year and half serving a church mission which required that I wear a dress or skirt EVERYDAY! Don't get me wrong, I still like to wear skirts and go shopping. But after years and years of having to dress up everyday, I relish in the fact that I get to choose my own dress code. 

Now, I don't live in sweatpants but when I'm home all day doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, and playing with my child, I am probably wearing sweat pants. I dress up when I go to work. I dress up if I go out with my husband. I dress up if I meet a friend for lunch. But I do not dress up for other people. I've heard that women dress for other women. Maybe that is true, but not here. I'll give you an example. Last week I took my child to playgroup. He loves being around other kids and it is nice to be able to talk to some adults since I only work one day a week. Well, at playgroup you see different kinds of moms. Now, I'm not judging anyone in particular because if someone is really dressed up they might have somewhere to go afterwards. I don't know what their plans are. And I totally understand that maybe you also wear sweatpants everyday and maybe you just wanted an excuse to wear normal clothes. But, there are moms that dress to impress, and there are moms that are secretly competing with you. Maybe on the playground, maybe while picking up their kids from school, wherever. You know, when I went to play group this week I wore jeans...because I couldn't find any clean sweatpants! Ha! And you know, if you find me wearing workout clothes, it isn't because I worked out. It's because they are comfortable and they come from a time when I used to work out. 

Here's the thing, I personally don't care if someone judges me for wearing sweatpants but there are a lot of moms out there that are giving their all to their children and they may not be able to afford the nice clothes that you can afford. These moms may have a difficult child, and something as simple as a shower may be a personal victory. So don't be that mom who judges another mom for not being in style. She doesn't need to turn heads, she doesn't need to compete. If she wants to dress nice because it makes her feel good about herself, more power to her. But she doesn't need anyone making her feel inferior. And if she is being judged other moms it is probably for one of two reasons: 1) They are trying to make themselves feel better by comparing or 2) they are jealous that the other mom doesn't care what everyone else thinks and they wish they were as comfortable as she is. 

Because, after all, sweatpants are where it is at.

My child's first tantrum

Wyatt's first birthday is just a few days away, so today we went shopping for birthday gifts and party decor. A few months ago, I saw these cute John Deere toys at Tractor Supply that I knew Wyatt would love. So we went into Tractor Supply to buy the gift. Isaac had to run to the bathroom, so I pushed Wyatt in his stroller over to the toys. I picked up the toy and noticed a little section in the store that had a bunch of toys that were bargain toys. They sold some tall tubes filled with different groupings of animals like farm, safari, horses, etc. I grabbed the tube and gave it to Wyatt to see if he thought it was cool. Wyatt loved it! So once I saw he liked it, I took it away and the crying began. He was so loud and I didn't want to bother the other customers, so I gave the toy back. Isaac came and found us and took the toy from Wyatt and he started to throw the fit again. Isaac said, "Let him throw the tantrum." I felt so dumb. I felt dumb because I am a therapist, right? I am constantly telling parents that they shouldn't give into their children, and what did I do? I allowed Wyatt's screaming to stress me out and I just gave in. I didn't think even think. It happened so fast. I was so worried about Wyatt's tantrum bothering other people, I put Wyatt last. I didn't think about the lesson Wyatt needed to learn. After Isaac had taken away the toy, Wyatt threw his little tantrum but calmed down relatively quickly. I'm grateful for my husband and that he was there so that we did the right thing for Wyatt. I'm also glad that I'll get another chance to properly react to the situation. I know that just because I am therapist doesn't mean that I will be the perfect wife or the perfect parent. It helps to have studied about relationships but just like everyone else, I still have to learn how to apply my knowledge to real life situations.