Being a stay-at-home mom is an experience I never thought I would be able to have.

But with my husband's job, I have been able to take advantage of our situation & time in Germany to do so! Up until recently, Greyson has obviously been so young & I haven't been able to do much with him other than play with him.

So I decided I should take start something new for us! Why not use my time at home with Greyson to teach him things that he would otherwise be learning in daycare?! I'm not a teacher, just a mom who has some experience with preschool aged kids & a desire to teach my son!

I made a loose schedule for us to follow on our normal days. With him being only 19 months, he isn't the most cooperative to be honest. I have found it best to kind of go with the flow. I have a loose plan of what I want to do that day & rough times of when to do it. But if you look closely, the "structured" times are short & can easily be shifted around.

I made sure to have plenty of time for him to play how he wants. If he wants to read a book, we read. If he wants to play with his puzzle, we do it. I started this off trying to convince him to do what I wanted without much thought to what he wanted & we would both end up frustrated. So I took a new approach & it has been working out much better.

I've read a few articles & information I found through Pins on Pinterest about teaching 18 months-2 year olds. And I decided to start with colors.

First up: Blue!

I pulled out all of the blue Mega Bloks to build with 

I made flash cards of the colors with the name written on them & set out the blue one as well as the various blue crayons & some paper to draw on. 

I collected some blue things from around the house & made a simple sensory bin. I used the last bit of quick oats for the material & just set it down for Grey to explore. I also gave him an empty container so he could move the items back & forth if he wanted

I broke out 2 shades of blue paint & set him up to make a picture! He loves to paint & its sort of a sensory activity too, which I love! & I'm totally "that mom" who put her 19 month old's artwork on the fridge!

On top of that, we read various color books throughout the day. He's slowly catching on. He doesn't pick out the blue items always yet, but he's getting there. He will know his colors in no time, I'm sure!

Hope this inspires you to do some fun activities with your little ones!

So Greyson is 19 months old now! 

He definitely looks so much older now! It's kinda crazy! I'm a little sad because I liked his longer hair, mostly because of the epic bed head he always had, but he is a stud & love this just as much.

I just love the little personality that is developing in Greyson. He's just a tiny person now instead of a baby & I love it!

He is constantly trying to copy everything we do. Sometimes a little better than we imagine he could at his age!

But along with that comes this cute desire to actually want to hang out with us. It's not just him playing with us being around him. He wants to actually engage with us - attempt conversations, share things, & play with us, you know as long as we're doing what he wants to do.

And I must say, it's so much fun!

Ah cloth diapering. One of the best decisions I feel like we've made since becoming parents.

So many perks to it. I'm sure most people who are parents to young kids in diapers have heard them all - great for the environment, super adorable, good for baby [less rashes, fewer blowouts, etc], can save you money, easier to potty train...

All that sounds great, but when you grow up & only know disposables, how do you get to that point?! They're a hard thing to commit to without knowing someone who cloth diapers or at least seeing them in action.

I remember when we were in our OB group while I was pregnant. We talked about all sorts of baby things, starting with pregnancy problems, labor & delivery & post-partum goodness. There were about 10 couples in our group that met once a month. We heard all sorts of things everyone planned on doing - breastfeeding? "Cool! Us too!" Natural birth? "Not for me, but good for you!" Cloth diapering? "What sort of hippies are we in this group with?!"

All I could picture was the old fashion white cloth diapers that you had to safety pin together! Ha, no thanks!

But as I started meeting other moms in the area at various groups, I saw more & more moms using cloth diapers. And whadoyouknow?! They looked just like disposables, except way cute! So easy to use. I was intrigued!

There's a cloth diapering group here in Germany that had an info table that I convinced my skeptical husband to visit with me at a breastfeeding event. We got the same spiel, but still weren't sold on them. Then I was told they have a bag with a hodge-podge of different brands & styles of diapers that people can borrow to check out.

There were pockets, All-in-ones, some hybrid diapers, a fitted and some prefolds with covers. Every type of diaper you could think of basically. I found the pockets to be the best for us at the time - yes they require stuffing, but then they're basically used just like the disposables we were used to already. And they dry faster than All-in-ones or hybrids.

Major selling points for us were saving money & less trash! I hate, hate emptying trash! Especially diaper trash. Ew! But laundry isn't so bad in my book! I already do enough of it, so what's a few extra loads a week. We chose to start our stash with Charlie Banana one-size pocket diapers.

We were late into the game, not starting until our son was already just over 5 months old. But better late than never, right?

I would recommend anyone with a kid or kids in diapers to check into cloth diapers! Such a great investment! We cloth almost exclusively [haven't mastered traveling with them yet & some rashes sent us into disposables because of the cream needed to clear them up!]. And there's so many ways to go about them! Super cheap & economical or a little more expensive & convenient!

Our stash now included the Charlie Bananas, Sunbaby pockets and Best Bottoms All-in-two diapers & I am in the market to expand our stash! Up next - Cloth Diapering Lessons Learned By a Rookie!

What made you choose to cloth diaper? What are your favorite cloth diapers & why?

Our baby boy is officially one year old! 

Weight: 20 lbs [25%] 

Height: 30 inches [50%] 

Favorite foods: bananas, yogurt, chicken & dumplings, pasta

Favorite activities: bath time, being tickled, feeding the dogs [his food], cuddling fuzzy blankets, "reading" books, pulling clothes out of his dresser

I can: say Mama, Dada, Night Night [pronounced "ni ni"], Hi, Yes, wave & say "Bye Bye" 

I LOVE birthdays & doing all sorts of little things to make them as special as possible! And the day for my little guy was no exception! 

First thing he did was walk through his birthday "tunnel!" He was a little skeptical about it at first but quickly realized he loves hitting the balloons! We started off the day bright & early to take daddy for an appointment. Greyson enjoyed eating his banana big boy style while I got some much needed caffeine for the long day ahead! He did great at his doctor's appointment, including going #2 juuuust before the dr walked in. Sweet. 

I made Greyson some Valentine's funfetti pancakes & was super pumped to give them to him - heart-shaped of course! He, however, was less than impressed! 

We followed up his fun snack with some errands & then swimming with some friends! He had such a blast playing in the water, especially stepping in & out of the pool while holding my hand! And finished off the evening by skyping with Nana Deb, eating some pizza & a tiny bit of Valentines Day/Birthday cheesecake! 

I literally dreamt about his birthday for a year & although the whole day didn't go as I imagined it, it was a perfect day! Couldn't ask for a better son to call our own! He is so sweet, funny & loving! The joy in his eyes when he explores the world around him literally melts my heart! I can't wait for the years to come & the many birthdays to plan & make special! <3

Whoa time really does fly! I know I say that a lot, but each month it proves to be even more true! I feel like we were just welcoming this little guy into our lives & now we spend our days chasing him around! 

11 Month Stats: 

Weight: 18 lb 6.5 oz. 

Tooth Count: 6 with one showing through his gums

Favorite Foods: Bananas, Blueberries, Yogurt, Toast, Grilled Cheese, Chicken, Meatballs, Sweet Potato Fries 

Favorite Toys: Basketball Hoop, V-tech Turtle, Mega Bloks, Shape Sorter, Magnet Letters

Favorite Activites: Bath time, Opening & closing doors, Playing with Dexter & his ball, Begging for food, Being a ninja & breaking into things he should be in & pulling things out [examples include the recycling, dog food bin & nightstand drawers], "Coughing" to make us laugh, Being told "Bless you" when he sneezes, Pulling things off of the bookshelves

Least Favorite Things: Being told "no," Getting out of the bath, Not getting to play with things he shouldn't have

He is such an energetic little boy! He always wants to be moving. Always! Diaper changes are an interesting activity now since he for sure never wants to lay still on his back for like 2 minutes. He's like a contortionist when it comes time to get dressed! 

He loves having his picture taken! I'm sure that somehow stems from my constantly taking pictures or videos of him since he was very little. Whenever he sees me snapping pictures, he starts posing & either giving a smile or a creepy, silly face! He does get a little camera shy when I'm trying to take a video of him doing something new, like saying "dada" or making clicking noises with his tongue. 

He also recently started coming up to me every once in awhile, putting his hand on me [usually my shoulder] & giving me a serious look, then trying to eat kiss my face! It's one of the cutest things that he does recently! I could shower him with hugs & kisses all day. & I'm not ashamed to admit that sometimes I do! 

As we quickly approach February, I've been in birthday planning mode like crazy! Gathering a bunch of ideas & spending way too much time on Pinterest looking at parties I could never imagine pulling off! Excited for our little get together we have planned for here in Germany & the second one in the states my mom is planning. It will be a bit belated but it'll still be fun to get to celebrate with friends & family back home who can't be here for his actual birthday! 

Not only am I planning for his party, but I want to make his day extra special! Valentine's Day is no longer one for Greg & I, but instead it's a day for all 3 of us to enjoy! Stay tuned for the cute stuff I planned to fill February 14 with love & birthday fun! 

Yes the thing that strikes fear into most parents & their fellow travelers - there's a baby on board! That's right, flying with a baby can be quite the scary thought. I know I was crazy nervous the first time we flew with Greyson.

Our trip was an 8 hour plane ride from Germany to Baltimore immediately followed by a 6.5 car ride to my parents house. Greyson was about 7.5 months old at the time and already constantly wanting to move around. He easily lost interest in toys at this point & was much  more into anything we had, but he was [& still is] an overall chill baby. We didn't buy new toys for him since he wasn't too into toys still at this point.

Since we were flying Space Available through the military, I was worried about the loadmasters banging up our stroller. Despite hearing the positives of taking the stroller along & checking it, we opted to not bring it at all to avoid damage [last minute-ish trip & no time to order a bag for it]. Since my husband was with me, this didn't end up being a terrible decision. I wore our son in my Moby wrap in the airports while carrying my bag & my husband managed his bag & the car seat. It was nice when the long flight ended to not have to wait around for our stroller to be brought up to us. We just walked on straight to the lovely customs line.

We decided to bring our car seat which I know many choose to not do and just hold the baby on their lap. That may work for short domestic flights, but for our long flight & car ride, our car seat was not only a must, but a good decision. It gave Greyson a space of his own to hang out & play with some toys; not to mention sleep without us needing to hold him for hours without moving.

I was given the best piece of advice before our trip - nurse Greyson on takeoff & landing. We started the take-off with him in his car seat but the pressure [& screaming toddler] quickly bothered him & nursing immediately helped! He was calmed & intrigued by his new surroundings. He loved playing with the movie screen on the back of the headrest in front of us & lifting up the armrests that are between the seats. After some playing & food, he nursed to sleep & was out until we landed. I don't even think anyone around us would've known we had a baby if they didn't see him.

The hardest part honestly of our trip was the following car ride. We were all exhausted from traveling all night & being trapped on a plane for 8 hours. We were literally stuck in the middle of the night - we left Germany around 11 PM and got to Baltimore around 12:30 AM. Since Greyson slept so much on the plane, he wanted to be up and move around when we were finally off. That's when the fun started, because he did not want to be strapped into his car seat again. If he got cranky on the plane, it was okay because we could take him out & play with him or walk the aisles, but that's kind of illegal in a car. Everyone else [except my mom who was driving] was asleep & here I was playing this annoying toy's song over & over again because it was the only thing that kept him calm. And if I let it not play for longer than 10 seconds, you better look out!

All in all I would say it was a successful trip for us! We all made it there in one, big, yet tired, piece! And I may be crazy but I am going to attempt the same trip but solo this time in February. I will have the stroller this time for ease & since it is planned further in advance & will pray I can get a flight into closer to my parents' house than Baltimore!

What are other tips or tricks you have found work great for flying with an older baby? I would love to hear what others have found before I go on my adventure in February!

I've never really been someone who writes New Years resolutions for myself. Yes I start the new year like everyone else - wanting to eat healthier, workout more [especially after holiday sweets]. But those are things I tell myself to do all year round. And they are so much more for myself than anyone else.

But 2013 brought us the greatest joy -- Greyson! He changed our lives so much from the moment we set eyes on him! And I am now finding myself doing things more for him than myself.

The problem is, he doesn't care if we get somewhere on time or if he has toys thrown around the house like a tornado ripped through the house. His day doesn't shatter if there are some dirty dishes waiting while we sit down for breakfast. What he wants is to play with some books & only sometimes try to rip the pages out! He wants to play with his new blocks & show mommy how he can put them in the bucket & take them out. He wants daddy to throw him in the air & pretend to use him like a barbell.

My goal for 2014 is to slow down, take everything in with Greyson & our family, without trying to rush through it. Last year flew by so quickly & it astounds me that Greyson is almost a year old already! I wish I would've soaked so much more of it up!

As he keeps growing, I know he will become more social, curious & want to do so many more things. I want to put off doing the dishes if it means I can spend 10 more minutes playing with little cars. I want to accept being late sometimes if it means adding some extra tickles in during diaper changes. I want to make messes if it means making memories with my family.

There are so many important things in life. And my family is one of the most important things to me! I want to make myself slow down so I can cherish every moment with them & not have regrets in the future that I missed out on things.

How do you plan to make the most of 2014? I would love to hear others' goals! Hope 2014 treats everyone well!