Wordless Wednesday - Sour Face!

Isaac didn't want to give up this lemon! Funny thing was despite his facial expression he was lovin' it!

What to do...

Over the last few weeks I've really been struggling with Alex and his two year old attitude. I don't want to call it the "terrible two's" mostly for the fact that it seems that he only has this attitude with me. It's his whining, I can't stand it! He whines about something then it's like he won't stop no matter how much or how little I discipline him. On the other hand all Dustin has to do is look at Alex and say "that's enough!" and he instantly stops! What is it that daddy does that I don't? Dustin tells me that I'm doing everything right, he knows that I'm being most consistent. There are days that he's home all day with us so he really does see how things are dealt with, he's been really good about not stepping in when I'm disciplining, Alex needs to know that he has to listen to me just as much as he listens to daddy.

I really make a conscious effort to give him more attention thinking that maybe he's having jealousy issues with Isaac. I spend more time with Alex then with Isaac, honestly, Isaac is so easy going that he really has no complaints just playing on his own for hours. I'm aware that Alex needs more of me.

Some days Alex is a complete angel, extremely polite with "Yes please. No thank you. Yes mom." so it makes it that much harder on his bad days when he's throwing a whining fit that I can't help but know that he could be acting so much better.

I've been praying, asking the Lord to give me wisdom on how to deal with this situation. I've been in tears because I feel like I am constantly disciplining him and doing something wrong as a mom.

Happy Independence Day!

What is Good

• Alex hoping around like a jumping bean then asking him if he has ants in his pants, he then proceeds to pull his pants down saying "where are ants?" Hilarious!!
• A wonderful Wednesday on the lake with great family
• Both boys napping at the same time twice this week
• Hearing Alex say to Isaac while eating their lunch "want some of mine baby?"
• Spending the day with the Young kiddos so that Chris can make it to her doctors appointments so she can get better
• God is GOOD!

Wordless Wednesday - Hot tub and popsicles

There is nothing like soaking in a warm spa and eating a popsicle! Here is Alex and some cousins up at Lake Tahoe last week visiting Great Grandma Gerrie while she was on vacation up there. It was actually raining, they were having a blast though!

Photo Contest: Faces

My blogger friend, Lori, over at A Cowboys Wife is having a photo contest and this months theme is faces.

I thought I'd enter and started looking through my pictures. It seems as though I have a ton of pictures of Isaac alone and very few of Alex alone. I feel horrible about it! And so, I wanted to make up for it by taking some pictures of Alex all by himself, I fell in love with this one of him!

I'm calling it "Smiles and all!"

If you feel inclined to enter the contest yourself here is the link!

Wordless Wednesday - A ride on "Rosie"

Dustin's dad built this Model T car some time ago and brought it out and took the family for rides, they call her Rosie. All the boys (big and small) loved it!

Here he is with Dustin & Alex in the front seat, Elliott is sandwiched between Jeremy & Emmett and Grandma & Isaac in the back seat.

Tiny Prints on Facebook! (Giveaway)

I make a lot of my own cards and invitations and I've always loved doing it! But now that I have two little boys that keep me extremely busy I find that I have less time to indulge myself in card making. I've already been looking around for invitations to our next birthday party and found a huge selection of really cute ones over at Tinyprints.com
They have wedding invitations, baby announcements, Christmas cards and so much more! They pretty much have something for every occasion!

I know that either one of my boys would love to have this one, it's called Digger Truck!

Tiny Prints is having a Facebook open house giveaway celebrating their launch of 4 new Facebook fan pages!

WIN IT!:
In honor of this celebration they have so graciously decided to give one of my lucky readers a $50 gift certificate to Tiny Prints!

HOW TO ENTER:
Just follow these few steps, it's pretty easy: (if you don't have Facebook see the bottom of this post, you can enter too!)

1) Visit one of these 4 Tiny Prints Facebook fan pages:
Eco-Friendly Cards
Business Stationery
Holiday Cards
Wedding Invitations

Click "Become a Fan"

2) Leave a comment on the "wall" of that page with a link to your favorite Tiny Prints or Wedding Paper Diva from that product line.

3) Come back here and leave me a comment letting me know which page you joined with your Facebook name.

Want bonus entries?

1) Become a fan of all 4 pages (if you do so, leave me 4 comments)

2) Leave the link to this blog with your Facebook wall comment(s) and get an extra entry per page you join! that's a possibility of eight entries just from the Tiny Prints' Facebook pages!

3) Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/whatisgood) and tweet about this giveaway. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment here.

4) Follow my blog

Just remember, leave one comment for every entry!

All entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on July 10th.

I will randomly draw one winner and contact by email so make sure that you leave me your email address in each of your comments.

Want an even sweeter deal?! When the Tiny Prints' fan pages reach 400 fans, Tiny Prints will draw three fans from each page to win a $50 gift certificate too! So if you don't win here, you could win there!

Don't have a Facebook account? You can still enter.
1) Visit Tiny Prints
2) Save your favorite design in your account by clicking the "save in favorites” link.
3) Leave a comment here on my blog with a link to your favorite. For a valid entry you must leave me your email address and make sure it is the same one used to create account so participation can be verified.

What is Good

• $7 inflatable kiddie pool from Walmart
  
• Paper plates (eliminates unnecessary dishes in the sink)
• Alex + sand + shovel + bucket = endless entertainment (he will finally play happily and not freak out that his hands are dirty, just as long as we wash them when he is finished!)
• A clean house
• Graduation parties
  
• God is GOOD!
  

Wordless Wednesday - Isaac thinks milk rocks!

Isaac is such a happy baby! Here are some pictures of him wearing a cute shirt from Aunt Christine!

One of my favorites! I just love it, so classic!!

What is Good

• Having the first date night with my husband this year! Thanks to Andrea we were able to celebrate our anniversary childless
• Coming home from our date to find our downstairs walls had been painted by Jay and Andrea. The cutting in at the top of the walls had been unfinished since we moved in here over 2 years ago. Thanks guys!
• Having the windows throughout the house open with the feel of the fresh air and hearing the birds sing
• Isaac falling asleep in my arms (it's happening less and less as he gets older)
• Living in a great neighborhood where I feel safe
  
• God is Good!
  

Happy Anniversary Baby Love!

Dustin, six years ago today was the beginning of my new life with you! I am so richly blessed by all the Lord has given me in you, you are an amazing husband. You are everything to me and I love you more today than yesterday.

Here we are just moments after saying I do!

Last weekend we took a short drive up to Camino to the High Sierra Iris Gardens where we got married. I walked down these steps with dad...

...and saw you standing here waiting for me!

What a beautiful spot to say "Yes" to the man I will always and forever love! It was such a special time visiting this place with you and the boys, it brought back a flood of wonderful memories ~ like when you dropped my ring as you were getting ready to slip it on my finger because you were so nervous, that was pretty funny, I even thought it was funny as it was happening! Or, when you carried me up all those stairs and I could hear every one gasping and yelling at you to be careful, you didn't care, you just kept on going with me in your arms. You still make me laugh and surprise me with just being YOU! I love you so very much Mr. Rose!

Wordless Wednesday - Fun at the movies

Yesterday we went to the theaters and saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Alex loved the first one so much that we thought he would enjoy it and sure enough he loved it!

A cure for our Eczema

It doesn't come as a huge surprise that Isaac has a mild case of baby eczema. Several years ago I started to have really bad skin irritation on my hands (oddly enough it's only my hands) and was diagnosed with eczema. I went through many prescription creams and nothing worked, I mean nothing! My dad heard about a natural product called Skin Zinc that he told me about. I immediately ordered it and it really did wonders to clear up my Eczema.

I felt instant relief from the burning and itching the moment I started using it. I have it under control and now just use it whenever I feel like an outbreak may be coming on and it soothes and relieves the pain immediately, it's wonderful! Skin Zinc has anti fungal and anti bacterial properties and it's especially beneficial for me because my eczema is caused by a zinc deficiency.

Even though Skin Zinc has natural ingredients and seems safe enough for children I decided against using it on Isaac. Dustin and I agreed not taking him to the pediatrician to get a prescription since we knew from my experience that all they would give us were steroid creams and odds were none of them would even work. So, my quest to find Isaac something natural began a few months ago.

There are several products that I have tired that failed to work. Then I remembered hearing about a baby line of products when I went to an Arbonne Spa Party last year at moms house. I immediately got online and ordered their baby wash, it's a gentle, ultra-sensitive, tear-free cleanser for hair and delicate skin made especially for babies. As it cleans it helps replace the skin’s natural oils and also conditions and moisturizes. It's fragrance free and ultra-sensitive which is a huge must not only for his skin but for me as well since I don't want any kind of flare up on my own hands.

The other product that we use is Aveeno's Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream. I rub Isaac down with the cream about every other day. It has natural colloidal oatmeal, soy and mild proteins to help restore lost moisture for the relief of dry skin associated with eczema. It's hypoallergenic and fragrance free so it won't irritate his skin or mine.

I make sure that these are the only things we use on Isaac. In fact, when the boys take a bath together there are absolutely no bubbles and we wash Alex after Isaac is out of the tub. All the chemicals in the bubble bath and other washes only instigate the eczema. When I consistently use these two products on Isaac he seems to be symptom free!