It's the little things.

It's the little things that count when you're a mommy. We all have such a fast paced life that sometimes we just need to take a step back and enjoy the little moments that make getting through every day worth it.

It's his little dimpled smile every time he looks at me.

It's the way he says, "mama".

It's the way he cuddles his little butt up to me when he sneaks into my bed in the middle of the night.

It's the way he hold my face to give me a big kiss.

It's his little laugh.

It's the sound of his little feet running around the house.

It's the way he says, "ouchie" when he wants a kiss to make it all better.

It's the way he gets into everything he shouldn't and when I ask him what he's doing he looks at me like I'm crazy because he's totally entitled to explore cabinets.

It's the way he stills smells like a baby.

It's the little curls that form on his hair as it gets longer.

It's the sight of him in footie pajamas.

It's the way he brings me a water from the fridge that he opened all by himself.

It is everything about him.

It is him.

Terrible 2's at 1.

I've had a few things I've wanted to blog about lately but we are in the process of moving so my time is very limited, at least until next week.
Something I really wanted to post about was discipline. Every parent has a different method.
I consider myself pretty easy going when it comes down to how I discipline Nikolas. I have a strict, no hitting, no yelling policy because I feel like when children get spanked or yelled at it makes them insecure, and for the most part they don't really understand why you, the parent, is hurting them physically or emotionally. Especially not this young.
I know plenty of people who completely disagree, and that is totally okay with me, because at the end of the day, I'm the mother of my child.
Anyway, I've also never really had to put my foot down with Nikolas until recently. He's always been a really good baby. He never really got into anything, which surprised even me because my mom has a bazillion baubles and such around the house. I never really had to do much as far as correcting his behavior.
I'm not sure where he picked it up from, but he started hitting. ALL THE TIME. At first I thought that maybe he was just testing the waters and seeing what my reaction would be. Then it became something that he would do anytime he wanted my attention, heck, he was doing it any time period. That's not even the worst. He thought it was hilarious!
I was stumped.
My mom suggested that I hit his hand hard when he hit me. I think that is insane. How would I be able to teach him not to do it when I'm doing it to him? I scoured blogs and Google to try to find a sensible solution.
Then it hit me, DUH, time-outs!
Which has really improved our problem. It's not perfect yet, but it is definitely a work in progress.
I read a few versions of how other parents do time-outs and this is what works best for us:

1. When he hits, or does anything he's not supposed to for that matter, I get down to his level, look him in the eyes and firmly warn him that if he does said thing again that he will get a time-out.
2. If he doesn't do it great! If he does, I put him in time-out, which happens to be in his "Pack N' Play" (he hated that thing even before time-outs) and I re-state why he is in time-out.
3. He usually protests and screams and throws a mini hulk tantrum but he calms down in under a minute. I know, I've timed it. Then I let him sit in there for another minute. So in all he's in there for about two minutes.
4. My favorite part, I take him out, give him a ton of kisses and hugs and re-state that he should not do whatever it is he did to land himself in time-out and that mommy loves him.

It's at the point now where all I have to do is give him a warning and he pretty much knows to cut it out. He only really pushes it when he's tired and cranky or he's just being a dare devil.
For now this is working really well for us and I hope it continues because if not I'll be back scouring my favorite mommy blogs for more advice.

How do you discipline your babes?

Seize the Day.

Sometimes it can be really hard to deal with your own struggles while still feeling like an awesome mom.
This week has been to say the least, incredibly draining. I misplaced my phone. I've been having some family issues. I'm stressed about moving, or rather the lack of.
On top of that, my husband has had a really busy week between work and studying for tests so most of the home duties have been on me. Which I would usually just breeze through but I've been an emotional wreck. In turn, it makes me feel like I'm not being the greatest mom I could be.
One of the hardest things EVER about being a mom is dealing with mommy guilt. This week has been prime for those feelings. It can be something as little as being so stressed out that you let your kid watch TV just so you can sit down and take a breather. At that moment you're all like, "No big deal! I deserve to sit and relax for a few minutes!" but then at some point in that day your child decides not to listen when you say no to something and the first thought in your head is? "I-just-damaged-my-child-beyond-repair-because-I-let-him watch-some-senseless-show-on-TV-because-it-kept-him-still-for-like-10-minutes-and-now-he's-already-turning-into-a-rebel-and-oh-my-gosh-how-could-I-have-done-that-I-fail-as-a-mother." Too much for one breath? You bet.
How ridiculous is that really though?
Every single day us moms worry and guilt ourselves over the silliest little things.
It gets even worst when you've had an emotionally charged week, but then you remember.
This little boy loves me unconditionally. This little boy tried to soothe me, his own mother, while I was too busy crying about something silly. This little boy ran up to me while I was stuck in my own wallowing thoughts and gave me a kiss on my cheek and tried to say all better because that's what mommy does with him when he's upset.
Sometimes as adults we break down and we act like children. We cry instead of pulling ourselves together. Sometimes our kids are the ones soothing us. They are the ones showing you love and kindness and compassion. They remind us that we all fall down sometimes in life and scrape our knees, but life moves on. Wounds heal and we forget they were ever there in the first place. They teach us that it's okay to smile after you cry.
They are a reflection of us.

There is always a light at the end of the tunnel and tomorrow is a chance to start fresh. Such a small little person with such a big heart. Thank you, Nikolas.