Wide Open

I took some pictures of Noah the other day and when I went to upload them on my laptop, I noticed his mouth was wide open in every picture but one! If you look through the Carmack family photo albums, you'll see my little sister Amy was the same way. Interesting.

"Pre" Pre-School

Lincoln's at such a fun age where he seems to be literally soaking up gobs of information at an alarming rate...it's amazing how these little brains can hold so much and not go insane! It would have been nice if that gift would have continued on through high school and such...arg.
Lately I've been working on his numbers (1-5), letters (ABC), and colors (green, purple, red, blue), but it's been very unstructured and random. Being that this is my first "school year" as a stay-at-home-mom, I'm getting over zealous and excited for ways to foster this ever-exploding brain of his. So far, he LOVES working on the stuff we do - thinks of it as "playtime" (again, why does this feature GO AWAY??). So today I did some surfing online for more structured "programs" and curriculum tailored to his age and found this website.
It looks fun and fairly simple and the links to everything makes it super convenient! I also love the weekly Bible verses and stories. Now - self confession here: I used to think it was strange when I heard of toddlers having "curriculum" at home. So guilty as charged, because I GET IT now. They love it...love learning...and it just provides more structure and ideas for the not-so-creative parent (um, me.).
I know that we will not follow this exactly and it might be amazing to fit in 3 lessons in one week even, but I'm excited about some new ideas to do with Lincoln for the days where our plans a few (or those blizzard days if it's anything like last year!).
So I'm curious...what kinds of structured learning do you do with your kids while staying at home? Has it worked for you? Have a good week!

6 Month Check-Up

Yesterday was Noah's 6 month well-check. He is actually 6.5 months now, though. His aunt Amy came along to help with Mr. Lincoln and that was (and always is since she does it almost every time!) a HUGE help.

Noah measured just fine, though he's still a tiny fella! He's in the 20-25th on height and weight, but moving up on his scale just fine. I chart his measurements every visit on Lincoln's old charts to see how they compare, and Noah was 15lbs this visit when Lincoln was 18lbs at his 6 months! They're both about the same for height at 6 months. Lincoln didn't start growing taller until later.

As for Noah, he can now feed himself his own bottles, though his brother LOVES to help him. :)

And as of a few days ago, Noah has started to scoot all around the living room! He's not crawling yet, but sure is mobile - love it. Yesterday, he kept getting into a push-up position and would, sometimes, propel himself forward.

It's such a fun stage when they can sit unsupported and "Get somewhere" on their own. He's so much more content and happy with his new exploration skills!

Friends

Last night we watched my neighbor's (and good friends!) kids for a few hours. Their son is a few years older than Lincoln, but Lincoln adores him! It's really cute to watch...and likewise, Lincoln has been introduced to some things he's never tried before.

Like, tennis!

And what's better than a cold popsicle after a hard game of tennis? Not much (according to Lincoln, at least).

It's really funny because Lincoln and his friend love to yell, dance, play chase, throw balls, throw water on each other, wrestle (this can be a little scary sometimes)...full blown BOYS.

And then there's these two...

Not a single care in the world, soft spoken, and just oozing with sweetness. They have no idea what they're in for with their big brothers. :)

ABC's/1-2-3's (or just "FOUR!")

Yesterday I turned into a slight mad woman in regards to cleaning. It started with just cleaning the kitchen when the boys went down for their nap, but turned into sweeping, vacuuming, washing/folding all laundry, reorganizing three drawers in the kitchen, cleaning our bedroom, making the bed, reorganizing the laundry room, and (this is where I got crazy) VACUUMING out the garage. Yes. with the vacuum hose. The whole thing. Who does that? Ours was disgusting and I'll spare you all the things I sucked up (you might think differently about me), but - oh my goodness - after dis-infecting the vacuum hose, it's CLEAN!

My reasons for doing this (other than every insect known to man-kind had built mansions in there) was because I made an "art table" out there for us to enjoy with the garage open when the weather gets cooler. We have an old white table we used to use in out kitchen collecting dust out there, so I clean/disinfected it, cleaned the chairs, rearranged some things in our garage, and made it an art table. That way, the messy colors never come into the house (our rent house, remember). The table is perfect because you can color all over it and it wipes clean (not sure why, but it does) with a wet rag.

When Lincoln woke up, I showed him his new station in the garage, and he LOVED it. We colored until Noah woke up, and then 2 more times throughout the day, he was standing at the door that leads to our garage going "color??".

I also bought some numbers/ABC/colors/pictures flashcards yesterday to work on him with while we're out there. I've noticed when I work on these things with him, he has the best concentration at meal time (when he's strapped in). Other than that, he can do it sometimes, but others is way distracted by all his other toys everywhere. But guess what? TOTAL attention at the art table in the garage!

So yesterday we worked with the ABC flashcards (he pretty much has all the pictures down). About 30% of the time he could say the right letter when I showed him the card, but he was fantastic at me showing him the card and him telling me what sound it made! Almost perfect on that skill. I was so proud! His favorite is the "C" sound. Now, we'll see if he remembers today. :)

We're not so much tackling numbers yet. He was doing great at 1-3, but then we added "4" last week, and he loves to say "Four". So everytime we count now, I start with "One..." and he goes "Two...FOUR! FOUR! FOUR!". Not sure why, but oh well...goofball.

Oh yeah - our garage used to be infested with flies. You could hardly sit in it, it was that annoying. But after vacuuming it (again - it was one of the most disgusting things I've done/seen)...we didn't have a single fly bother us. Excellent.

And our dear Noah? Well, he's been taking crazy long naps this whole week (growing??) so after lunch, well, we just don't see much of him.

But when he wakes up, he's usually in such a sweet mood - babies after naps are the best - seriously.

What's For Dinner

I'm going to start mixing things up a bit and posting some recipes here and there (when I remember and have the time). Included in our budget is me working my tail off to keep groceries under $500/mo., which has resulted in me (finally) meal planning.
I've actually enjoyed it (going on 4 weeks now!), and have also, thus, been cooking more. My weekly goals? Cook at least two meals that can also be eaten as left-overs the next night. :) Yes I'm a cheater, but I've found I enjoy it more if it's not a daily thing.
So I have my own list I made of things I cook that all of us enjoy (can be kind of tricky in our house since Jason and I are pretty much "opposite eaters"), but I also LOVE seeing what all of you cook for dinner and getting fresh ideas. So I thought I start posting things we have as well. :

This was last night (and tonight's) dinner: HOMEMADE PIZZA.
Obviously pizza doesn't take much of a brain or creativity, but I thought I'd share what makes ours so fantastic - all about the homemade dough. This has been my mom's recipe for years and Jason absolutely LOVES it. I always make two pans because this is one of those that tastes just as yummy heated up for lunch or dinner the next day.
Here's how it's done:
The main ingredient:

This box of hot rolls mix is found in the bakery isle usually.

Other ingredients:

Pizza Sauce (we just use whatever spaghetti sauce we have left over)

One egg (for the dough)

Low-fat margarine

Mozzarella cheese (we use 2%)

and whatever toppings you want! I usually cook up some extra lean hamburger meat mixed with italian spices, then bell peppers, onions, olives, and mushrooms for veggies.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 (don't use oven times on back of dough box!)

2. Make dough according to box instructions (one box = 1 pan of pizza...we usually make two)

3. Use cookie baking sheets (square pizza makes super yummy crusts!)

4. Spread dough across cookie sheet and bake in oven for ONLY 4 MINUTES.

5. Take pan out, spread pizza sauce, cheese, and then top with fresh toppings of choice.

6. Put back in over for 15-20 minutes. Watch it carefully, though, because the dough is not nearly as good if it gets too done. We like ours a tad underdone.

This dough is seriously huge, thick, doughy and fantastic!

And as you can see below, Jason has his "no-veggie" version...

And I have mine. :)

Oh yeah - It's totally kid-approved. :)

Back to Full-Time

Tomorrow Jason goes back to work full time and we being the fast-track slide toward busy busy basketball season. Bittersweet. Bitter because this summer has been one of the most fun summer's we've had since we've been married. It's funny because this summer is the first summer we haven't been an extravagant vacation (though we did get a mini getaway that was fantastic with Jason's parents!). But yet - though the vacations are an unbelievable blessing, what has made this summer so fantastic is how much time we've gotten to spend as a family - it's one I'll treasure. We had a new move, made some new friends, found a new church, and both of us have experienced tremendous spiritual growth over these summer months both individually and as a couple. It's sad to see these months end, but I literally get GIDDY thinking about the fall!! It's by far my favorite time of the year! Football season, birthdays, holidays, colder weather, beginning of basketball season...so fun. So there's the sweet part. :) And now that we live close (and this will be my first fall season as a stay-at-home-mom) I'm hopeful we still get to see plenty of Jason even through the madness.

Another thing I am super excited about is starting a Bible study class at Fellowship on Wednesday mornings called "Significant Woman." I've great things about it and am excited to see how God is going to work in/through me this fall. Granted the kids do well 2xs/week, I also hope to go to Mother Matters in Siloam again on Fridays. And on top of that, my neighbor and I have talked about starting a play group when the weather gets colder...so between those mornings and basketball evenings, we should have an eventful next few months.

And of course the guys - the greatest ministry I'll ever be a part of. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing Noah be able to play more and more with Lincoln over these next months...I'm also aware that the whole sharing/arguing issue is probably lurking around the corner. Good teaching moments...right? I feel like I have so much to learn in this next toddler phase of development with two little guys!

We're going to miss the pool when it gets cooler! It has become an after-dinner tradition. Last night we went at dark...it's always one of my favorite times to go swimming!

Last night we went to the Bella Vista park after dinner so I could run and we could all play in the creek. We took Bruce along with us cause he loves the water and I've been running with him a lot - I don't get a break and neither does he. :) Lincoln had a blast...Jason was skipping rocks and Lincoln thought it was super cool. He attempted but I think had just as much fun picking them up and just chucking them (I put my foot down when he started using Bruce as a target though!) He thought it was hilarious that Bruce was in the creek too, and would "shake his main off" every time Bruce would.

Mimi and Papa also came to play the other night:

Oh Money.

Just thought I'd share a bit on something not related to the precious rascals. :)

Through some influential sermons. mentors, prayer, and personal convictions, Jason and I have embarked on a journey to become completely debt-free, all in the next 3 years (with the exception of my graduate loans which will take a bit longer). We literally drew out this master plan one night, dedicated to the Lord, and asked for his help to be conscious of our spending (recognizing the frivolous from the necessary) and to help each other not lose sight of our ultimate goal. Thus our budgets are extremely tight right now, but (so far!) we have happy hearts. :)
Our main goal is to free up "debt money" we spend on bills every month in order to be able to give more to certain ministries we're passionate about and let God use us in that way. Our goal is NOT to then buy nicer things or even change our budget once we get there - we understand this, however is where Satan will try and trip us up, and therefore, we pray about this part often.

In the past month, there has been a handful of graces from God (as I have come to call them) that have blown us away and assured us of His presence with us throughout this journey. A few of our close friends have told us we need to write these things down and keep record of this plan and how God is working.

Thus, the other night, we started another blog, strictly about our finances and God's presence through this journey to get out of debt (and do our best to incur it no more!)

For the time being I am keeping it private, for mine and Jason's own records. It is very blunt and honest and not necessarily public worthy yet. :) But we do hope to finish this thing through until the end, and someday share our story of how it was done.

Mike Erre, the Pastor at Rock Harbor (my old church in Cali - download his podcasts "Money, Sex, and Power") once asked us all this question:
"How much of God's money are you going to give back to Him?"

It's always rung in my ears, is written in my Bible, and Oh.My.Goodness. convicts me at my core sometimes.

Butt Paste

Have you ever let your toddler play in the butt paste? Yeah, neither have I. Has your toddler ever had 15 minutes alone with a huge tub of butt paste and you were completely unaware? Well, that's what happened last night at the McMahan's house (only it was the toddler and his sidekick Bruce who were the culprits) and let me tell you  - there is no cleaner equipped for the disastrous MESS that junk makes! Oh my word did we have our hands full. I wish I had a picture, but we were so mortified by the sticky clumps of paste all over the bed room, clothes, the walls, the furniture, the floor, the DOG (yes, Bruce was sporting nice clumps of the mess), Lincoln's hair...Seriously. If you've ever had this happen, you understand. If not, I pray it never happens to you. In the end, I had to throw away all of Lincoln's bath toys, bleach out the tub to get it all (what came off his body), we're discussing buzzing his hair, because that's STILL not completely out, after 3 washes! I washed his clothes and - NOPE. Still there. Oh and Bruce? We tried to wipe him off the best we could...then about an hour later, Bruce began puking the most humongous piles EVER. Oh dear. He ate it, too. I then became nervous, googled it, and found Bruce isn't the only dog to ingest such nastiness. Oh - and to take him straight to the hospital because it was toxic to dog. But our Bruce seemed just fine after he puked and is 100% normal today so we'll pass on that bill.

On a happier note, here is Lincoln playing in the floor with little Noah.

6 Months

It's Noah's half birthday today!!! Does that mean you still get cake? No. Cupcakes. :) That's how we do it in the Mcmahan's house. The family took a trip to First Friday in downtown Bentonville tonight, enjoyed the festivities, and - yes - a huge, delicious cupcake in honor of Mr. Noah's fast progression through life!
Can you believe the spiky hair and huge eyes was only 24 weeks ago???


Noah looked like he was born with a suntan! True Carmack style, let me tell ya.

So what's the little man's latest antics these days? Let me tell you...

FEEDING:
- He still eats every 3 hours (6oz.), about 5 bottles/day. Though here in the past few, I'm not sure he's finished one of those...maybe we're embarking on the four hour stretch??? We'll see.
- He no longer gets fed in the middle of the night (blessing), but usually has his last bottle around 9:00pm or so, then off to bed till morning (most of the time).
- He's been eating rice cereal for the past week in the mornings - not a fan. He hasn't yet mastered the pushing it back part (he acts like I'm choking him!)

SLEEPING
- Oh sleeping...we have good nights and we have not-so-good ones. Happy to report that for the past week now, we have had GREAT ones!!! He sleeps from about 9ish pm - 7:30ish am. Some nights we never hear a peep, while others, he might jostle around some to where I go put his pacy in and he drifts back to sleep for the rest of the night. Neither deserve complaints cause I know it can be MUCH worse.
- Up until 4 days/nights ago, he was swaddled in a fancy blanket - super tight - for every nap/night time experience. This was somewhat of a hassle. He definitely came with more instructions when leaving him babysitters (aka. my parents or sister).
- But ALAS! We got stubborn and had a few forceful rests non-swaddle (some took him quite a while to fall asleep) but only 4 days later, he's a champ without the swaddle!
- He takes NAP #1 after being awake for an hour and a half (ish)...NAP #2 about 2 hours after waking from the previous (this is usually the long one - 2-3 hours sometimes)...and NAP #3 somewhere around dinner time. He's a great napper - Lincoln never was at that age.

PERSONALITY
- Noah has come alive at 6 months and it is so fun! I remember Lincoln having this turning point a few months earlier...
- He loves to be entertained by you throwing him in the air, toys, the dogs, Lincoln - pretty much everything.
- He no longer cries in his car seat or the stroller or the baby bjorn. This is huge.
- He loves his bouncy deal and has recently been introduced to his boat in the swimming pool. He even goes under water with daddy and loves it all.
- He notices our food and wants what we're eating. :)
- He doesn't cry ALL the time when Lincoln gives him kisses now.

Though no more spiky hair, he still has those huge eyes!

And is trying to be more like his big, cool brother everyday. :)


PS. His well-check apt. is in a few weeks. I'll post that soon.

Shooie...Pig Shooie.

Finally!!! I know all babies develop at their own pace and the worst thing you can do is compare yours to another, but - come on moms - you can't help it! And Lincoln's verbal skilled always seemed behind to me! But then I would always have to stop myself and realize that most of his little friends are also older than him. He had bunches of words that he has been able to say in the past 6 months or so and Jason and I could most of the time, understand what he was trying to communicate, but he has finally started saying SO many new words as of the past few weeks and even has a couple of sentences he says regularly now. Maybe I can stop researching speech therapists numbers/costs...just kidding (kind of).
The past couple of weeks I have attempted to tackle the tasks of teaching him to say/recognize "ABC", "1-2-3", and learn just two colors - red and blue. Small tasks but I figure we can start with the itty ones. On the colors deal - he can say the word "color" and I think he knows what I'm referring to...but he gets the "red/blue" matched with the right color about 60% of the time. He's got a 50/50 shot, so I kind of figure it's due to luck more than anything.
On the "ABC's", he can say the letters perfectly, but I still think he has no concept.
But the numbers...(this is where i get excited)...I've been going over "1-2-3" with him and simultaneously teaching him to respond to the question: "How old are you?" He can do this perfectly: "One" as he holds up one finger. But he still hasn't been able to count on his own. This morning at breakfast, I asked him how old he is...he responds "One". Then he sat there for a few seconds and goes "Two...Three...", with a HUGE smile! I cheered liked he scored his first touchdown by which he repeated to count to three over and over. At least he's getting that concept!
Oh and as for the sentences? He can say "I wanna a...." Usually it's followed by "paci" and lately "kitty" since we have a stray kitten camping out on our porch. This morning he said "Bruce wants a nack (snack)" and gave bruce a piece of his bagel. He can also say "I love mommy" and "I love daddy" as of last week.
It's crazy because I really do feel like these pas few weeks he's picked up on SO many new words and ideas - it's blowing my mind this little sponge!
Now - his claim to fame? He can now call the hogs in FULL FASHION. He puts his hands up and goes "WOOOOOOOOO" then brings then down and goes "Shooie...Pig Shooie." (you know...Bond, James Bond-ish). It's precious.
So, also this morning, we played the sound game:
"What sound does a dog make?"
Lincoln - "Woof."
"What sound does a duck make?"
Lincoln - "Quack quack"
"What sounds does a kitty make?"
Lincoln - "Meow meow meow meow meow"
"What sound does a cow make?" This one's his favorite.
Lincoln - "MOOOOOOOO!"
What sounds does a pig make?"
Lincoln - "Shooie...Pig Shooie."
Oh dear.