The number one lesson I’ve learned, and the thing I fail at most often, in raising a preschooler is this:

If there’s no good reason to say no, then my answer must be yes.

Xander loves Reagan. We’re not sure exactly why, because he is neither of our favorites (mine is Polk, Rob’s is Teddy Roosevelt), and we purposely don’t tell him which presidents are good guys or bad guys. But he loves watching the “Mr. Gorbachev” speech on YouTube, and I think the cowboy hat may have something to do with the admiration.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to celebrate after I picked him up from preschool. So after a google search, I came up with a birthday lunch using things we already had in the house. It wasn’t difficult because Reagan’s favorite food was mac and cheese, his favorite dessert was brownies, and he loved jelly beans. I’m amazed he lived so long with such tastes.

Xander enjoyed the birthday party and got to learn a little bit more about president number “four and zero”.

Gather your ingredients…

Test for quality and practice your counting skills…

Combine…

Mix…

Lick…

Drop and bake…

Enjoy.

My role in the church is that of a Christian and a church member. I do the things here that I would at any church I attend if I wasn’t married to a pastor.

Another popular phrase is regarding priorities:

My priorities are first to God, then to supporting my husband and nurturing our children, and then to serving the church.

But there’s also something else we tend to say. And it sounds like this:

Our people aren’t volunteering enough. We need more people to step up and not make excuses for why they don’t have time to serve.

I recently realized how frequently I say the third statement, and the terrible attitude it showed in me.

How can I claim to be in the same boat as other church members, yet refer to them as “they”? How can I see a need in my church, wonder how it will be met, and never once consider that I may be the one called to do it?

I realized that my list of reasons why I couldn’t serve in a particular place were no different than those of everyone else. “I have 2 kids of my own and another on the way.” “I just don’t have the time right now; maybe in a couple years.” “I’m already serving here and here.” And my personal favorite excuse: “If I volunteer, I’ll get taken advantage of and get stuck there forever.”

But if I am a part of “them” like I claim to be, then I need to be just as willing to serve where I’m needed as “they” should be, even if it’s a little outside my comfort zone.

So “I am They”. Kind of a new realization, one I’m still working through, and the above paragraphs probably didn’t make a bit of sense, so I’m not sure exactly how to end this post.

End.

This morning I thought Arya looked cute with her jammies, bed head, and little doll so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take a cell phone snapshot for my mother. It’s a quick way to update her on what the kids are up to a couple times a week, and she loves sharing them with her friends at work.

But what I saw in the camera today astounded me.

Where did my little baby go?
All I see is a toddler.

January 21, 2012. 7:20pm

Arranged chess board, a new useless-now-but-useful-later skill learned this week.

Awaiting a game of checkers with his dad.

Red marker stains on his shirt and upper lip.

Purple food coloring on his hands.

Today was a good day.

But Xander needed a change immediately. He no longer takes a daily nap, so we have what we call “room time”: 60-90 minutes a day where he can do anything he wants as long as it’s quiet and in his room. While waiting for spackling and paint to dry last week, I decided to tackle the issue of how to give Xander some freedoms of an older child but within limits for his age.

We don’t have any "extra" rooms, so a playroom is not an option for us. I’m also a firm believer that if toys can’t fit neatly into my kids’ rooms then they have too much stuff.

A lot of toys in Xander’s room were no longer age appropriate, so we gave them to Arya. With all our guests over the holidays, his toys had started to creep into the living room, so they needed to get sent back to his bedroom. He also had a 2-shelf bookcase in his room that was no longer big enough for our needs. Xander goes to half-day preschool three days a week, but the rest of the time he is unofficially home schooled (I have yet to decide how he’ll be schooled at 5 so I’m doing both right now but again, another day, another post). Because all of my and Rob’s books are still in boxes, and probably will be for quite some time, I stole an empty shelf and gave it to Xander.

The result is a room that is much more functional for a preschooler, and it cost me nothing. I tried to make sure that there is nothing in the the room that can permanently mark or stain. The worst that can happen as Xander is playing alone is that he creates a pile of toys to put away.

Corner 1:

Corner 2:

Corner 3:

Corner 4:

Because of all the space opened up by SuperPantry, I was able to move all of Xander’s jigsaws, messy toys, and other things he needs to ask for into the hall closet, which is still a work in progress.

Because I’ll have my hands full with the girls in 3 months, I tried to help Xander be more independent in the kitchen. I put all the kids’ plates and cups in a low cabinet so Xander can help himself. The new pantry has a drawer where I’ll keep pre-made snack bags that Xander can take. The next step, happening this week, is to organize the fridge so Xander can reach snack bags with his fruits and veggies. I don’t have fatty foods in the house, period. We rarely have sodas around. I keep everything as organic or natural as we can afford; nothing artificial for the kids. And I don’t keep juice or milk within Xander’s reach in fridge so that if he’s thirsty his only option is water.

With our new arrangement, Xander feels like a big boy, and I am more free to help Arya.

It was located here:

When we were house shopping, we looked for a place with as much storage space as possible. We both have several hobbies, and with soon-to-be 3 kids we have to stay organized. When we chose this house we knew that the strange location of the laundry room, the lack of pantry, and the cabinet space would be something to fix immediately.

So first things first, we called up a plumber and electrician to reroute some pipes and cables. Then we moved the machines under the stairs. (The room needs some love, but one thing at a time.)

Removing the shelving showed exactly why you don’t want a laundry room in your kitchen.

And left me with a few anchor holes to patch.

I had a brief bit of trouble with the access door cover, because ours is apparently an odd size. Rather than get a custom one made for a hefty sum, I decided to saw some plywood.

Some orange paint that I didn’t need to buy because I had bought a gallon more than I needed for a room at the old house. It happens to complement the shade in the kitchen perfectly.

Out with the old floor, in with the new:

My job was done and then it was Rob’s turn to transform the room. Shelving:

Aaaaand…done!
Total amout of space opened up for better uses: 4 kitchen cabinets, 1.5 kitchen drawers, and half a hall closet!

The finished product:

I have such beautiful, happy, photogenic kids. Taking their picture is so easy.

Or not…

They’re distracted:

They’re constantly in motion:

They don’t always put on their best face:

And they’ll let you know when picture time is over:

It might take two days and 107 attempts, but the end result is worth it:

Arya tried to help us out until her naptime.

Putting the tree together

Lights…

Star…

Ornaments and ribbon. Yes, purple, gold, and lime. (Xander insisted that his robot ornament be put on the big tree until his room tree was ready.)

Xander in front of the completed family tree.

5 stockings this year, including one for Baby Aliza (we’ll be calling her Liza).

A tree to match Xander’s bedroom.

Look closely and you’ll find some robots and Jedi.

Merry Christmas!