The 24/7 Dad

3rd times the fail?

2016-12-09T12:22:00.001-06:00

Potty trained Emma with the 3 day potty training method and she finished on the 3rd day. By day 4 she was good to go, even at night she didn't have any accidents. She was 20 months old when her training was complete.

Annabella's training using the 3 day method went ok, but on day 3 she refused to go at all in the bathroom. She was 21 months and she liked her undies, but didn't want to use the restroom at all. She later finished her training a week later by herself because she wanted to wear big girl undies like her sister.

Today, we tried number 3. Zach is almost 23 months and he fought me to put his undies on. We had 1 success and 4 failures within 30 minutes. I decided that I could do the training during the week without my wife's help this time, and I was mistaken. Emma is being clingy, Bella has an ear infection, and she has also regressed and has had 4 accidents today, she turns 3 on the 14th of December. I chose a bad day to start, and I should have never tried alone.

This is definitely one of those moments I would ask someone else, "So, what have we learned?" It's been a, self-inflicted, rough day.

A true loss

2016-06-18T19:36:00.001-05:00

I often have a bad habit of thinking the worse when events don't go like they are supposed to. Not like, 'my wife is cheating on me,' or 'she doesn't love me anymore,' but more like, "is she still alive?' 'What'll it be like without her, and what will I tell the kids to end their crying.' It's a macabre image I conjure up, and regardless of the family combination - Mama and Emma, Emma, Bella, and Mama, or Bella and Mama - it is never pleasant.

I have a friend that has just lived my worse thoughts; she lost her 12 year old to a stroke, that followed a coma, then ended with her death, and I am at a loss of words. I can't conceive any word of comfort that'll help bring her mind to a simmer rather than a boil. What can be said?

I think rather than wasting my time with hollow words I'll just embrace her in her biggest hug I can give, and pray my actions convey the words my brain can't say. Then, offer a prayer to her.

What do y'all think? Is there something I can do or say to give her any comfort? Maybe a verse from the Bible, or a quote you know?

Quiet... A little too quiet...

2014-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

When Emma was a smaller baby, she had to have dead silence. I could not leave the room after putting her down until the heat kicked on or a.c. just to make sure I had a noise covering my sound. It was rough and I even wrote an article about how the house was "against" me because if I took a step it creaked every step.

Annabella, however, is completely different! Its crazy to see how different the 2 are. If it gets too silent Annabella is stiring. If she hears noise then she goes back to relaxing. It is fun to see how different they are and makes me wonder what the next will be like.

My mother-in-law talks about her oldest. She said that if any light in the house were on at all, he knew and was yelling for someone to come and get him. What have been your experience with these types of habits?

Diaper cover review: Flip

2014-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been a while since an actual review, but here it is. We jump back into things with Flip diaper covers.

We have been using them for our oldest, up until she was potty trained, for about 4 months or so. There have been a lot of pros and cons to them and lets get started! Don't forget to join me on Facebook by hitting the link on the right and to subscribe to the feed for updates!

Price:
They are certainly not the cheapest way to go when it comes to covers. From the sites we purchase from they start at $14.95 and go from there. With that price you can buy 3 Bububibi, not including inserts, covers and be set for a while. Or are you?

Quality:
One of the first things you'll notice, unlike the bububibi brand, is that the area the legs come out of are all the same material as the rest of the diaper as well as the similar coating. It doesnt sound like much because the area is only a couple cm wide, but when your child has a huge wet diaper it makes a difference. We went 3 days before we had to switch to a different cover and the only reason was because her BM was runny and got the cover all nasty, but there was no leak.

Maintenance:
I would recommend this with all cloth diaper covers. Hand wash them. It keeps you from having to worry about the protective coat being washed out or jeopardize. They do stain easily, but that has been my experience with other covers as well, but they clean up nicely. If you don't get the poo off the covers shortly after the accident, the stains can become permanent.

Colors/patterns:
The Flip covers come with some gorgeous patterns and the earth toned colors are bright and look good. The lovelace is my favorite and we have gotten many compliments on them. Most don't realize they are cloth diapers.

Conclusion:
The Flip brand covers are our favorite diaper covers webhave used so far. The price isn't insanely out of reach and if you get a few with some prefolds, you can get to free shipping quite quickly. My wife and I started with 3 and after a week of using them decided to get three more. We have not run out of the covers yet and most of them still look brand new. I highly recommend the Flip brand covers and hope that this post has helped you in your purchase!

Here is a link to a trusted sight I have used in the past with great reviews and quick delivery.
https://www.nickisdiapers.com/mobile/flip-diaper-covers.html#

Please let me know your experience with Flip or any other cover you have used in the past!

Baby Rule of 3

2014-01-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Ive come to the conclusion that there is a baby rules of three. Like with all things, so says Murphy "anything that can go wrong will go wrong", but not just once for use but thrice.

Annabella was having a rough night and couldn't fall to sleep and Emma woke up, not cause she heard her sister, but because she just woke up (you cant hear baby crying from the other side of the house). Then after a long time putting Annabella to sleep I finally got Emma down. Then Emma woke back up an hour later waking Annabella back up...

I know this sounds like 4, but I actually only count that as 2, one for each wake-up. The third came in a form of me not having to work on Monday and then finding out that I did. Doesnt sound like a big deal until you know that we had a doctor appointment early in the morning and I had planned on going to help my wife with the girls. So now she had to drive 1hr and 30mins to get there wait an hour for the doc cause he was behind, then drive back the hour and a half.

Have any of you noticed there is a baby rule of 3? If so what brought it to your attention?

The Strongend

2014-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

you follow me on fb youll know that I have been having great success with Emma and her potty training! I've stopped asking herto tell me when she needs to go and have just trusted her to tell me. I'm impressed!

She has had 2 accidents. 1 diarrhea and the other just a little tinkle. Im very happy with the way things turned out. The book talked about how you need to persist. I think we may have relinquished a bit and caused out own issues. Idk if this is normal for kids or not, but we went to the store and had no accidents and church and she went twice there! (She loved the toddler potty). Zig ziglar talks about the way you use your words can effect the outcome of your attitude.

For instance: "go lights" instead of stop lights. Or "opportunity alarm" instead of alarm clock. We used strongend instead of weekend! Do you use any words that would normally be identified as negatives and if so, hownlong didnit take you to get to that point where it was natural? I still have issues using positive words over negative!

Accidents happen

2014-01-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was far better than the day before! Emma was able to go to the bathroom a few times, but she only went 4 or 5 times rather than her normal 8 or so. These are total trips to the bathroom, not just successful trips. She just keeps holding it and waiting until she can't hold it anymore. With the success of only 2 trips I'm going to more on to something else...

Annabella. She is almost 3 weeks old and is small. It's crazy to think that Emma was just 1 inch longer than her when she was first born. I've tried cloth diapers, Flips and Bububibi, and both covers leak. Her legs are too small? Perhaps. For sure the Bububibi are much tighter and get far smaller than the Flips, but they still leaked and got on blankets and clothes and etc. I don't remember having this issues with Emma, but then again, we had a whole different issue with her (not eating well).

Have you ever used cloth diapers on a newborn? If so, what did you use for your diaper covers and what worked?

Yesterday is not Today...

2014-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well, although we had a great time on the 1st, but yesterday it was so different. The 3 day Potty Training Method was keen to talk about regression, but not after the 1st day. I wonder if maybe I should have weened her off of the time I gave Emma day by day instead of just going back to normal schedule of getting the newborn and cleaning/cooking.

She woke in the morning and said, "good morning," then signed and said, "more potty" and we went to the bathroom successfully. I was excited. She didn't wet the bed and she started of so well...

That was very short lived. We gave her, her juice and ate and it quickly declined from there. Every so often it was her wetting the floor or pooping in her pants. It took everything in me to not get frustrated. The frustration isn't because she had the accident, but because she was capable to hold it and then would just let it go on the ground. She had 1 successful potty and 9 accidents. They were spread out.

I'm really hoping that she does so much better today. I'm not really looking forward to another day of picking her up and running her to the bathroom. Did anyone else have this same issue? Or was there a strategy that you used to keep it from happening? Not sure where I dropped the ball as we did everything the same except the 100% attention to her. Please let me know in the comments.

3 day potty training - final wrap up

2014-01-02T12:24:00.001-06:00

So the three days have come and gone. One thing to keep in mind with doing this is that you must have someone to help with the other children/child, if you have more than one. The hardest part was keeping myself from going to get my other daughter when mommy was needing to do something. Also, I generally cook and clean and was unable to do so. This caused frustration for my wife.

Thankfully, we were able to get through it thanks to our daughter. One thing the book mentions is that for the first 2 days the child could possibly have an accident every time they need to go and on the last day it'll just "click". If Emma had done this my wife and I would be having a very different conversation, mainly because she would most likely be the one to clean it because I had to shadow and keep Emma with me to catch the accidents as they happened.

We learned this as I was cooking and had Emma next to me in a chair "helping" and she just started peeing and I didnt notice any ques or any pleads for help. After thatbmy wofe did the cooking.

Overall, it was a great experience and I do recomend the "3 day potty training" eBook. Have any other suggestions please let me know in the comments. I'll let y'all know how the day after goes!

PS I do realize that 2 and 3 are out of order. I posted 3 before I realized that 2 never went live. Sorry.

Potty Training - day 2 self doubt

2014-01-01T23:50:00.000-06:00

It's crazy to think that today is day 2 of training. Emma is doing a fantastic! It's me that is having the issue. Idk if any of you reading this have ever fasted or not, but when you do it for a while, you start to have self doubt, as though you could have done it, but there is justba mental block that is keeping you from progressing. Ive pushed past it, but man was it attacking!

My wife is doing better, especially with Emma having so few accidents. She us really getting on board. Emma at times seems so determined to not only not have an accident but to also not go in the potty that she only went half as many times today as she did yesterday. I ended up giving her a shower cause she had drank 2 cups of juice and hadn't peed in 2hours! She couldn't hold it in the shower and I'm glad cause she needed her nap.

Days tally:
Accidents half accidents success
2 2 7

My hope is that things go better tomorrow and that I dont go crazy from Emma holding it in for so long! What was the worst day for some of you?

Potty Training - day 3 already over

2014-01-01T23:48:00.000-06:00

It seems like we just started this morning and already it has come to an end. Emma had a few accidents today, 2, but really they weren't that bad and 1 included over night. To celebrate we are going to chuck e. Cheese this weekend and hopefully things go well there. She can hold her liquid for 2 to 3 hours, which drives me crazy, and that was a problem.

Continually I tried caught myself almost forcing her to go to the bathroom because I knew she had to and was refusing. Of two half accidents she had she still fought me on one of them. I was on the edge of my seat for all three days watching her like a bomb about to explode. It was kind of nerve wrecking and tiring. Her last 3 potty breaks she told me she had to go and was abke to without fail. I did take her anshower at the end of the day just in case she decided there was still a little more she was holsong on to. Im really hoping that tomorrw she wakes dry.

Day three wasnt as hard as day 2 but it was still difficult for me to stop and I found myself slipping and wanting to fully engage in a movie, Despicable Me 2, and just enjoy it. We didnt watch much tv because she zones out and has a hard time snapping out of it and I kinda do the same. So we spend the time playing games, singing and doing puzzles.

Todays tally:
Accidents half accidents success
1 2 8

What distractions did you use and did they work because we will still have at least 1 more to train and all suggestions help!

Potty training - Day 1

2013-12-30T23:37:00.001-06:00

So, the posts are going to be late, sorry. It is because of the way the training is being conducted and because I don't want to miss telling how something really went.

Overall, it is going ok. A few accidents, but not nearly as many as I thought there would be. When the eBook says to get over 20 undies, they are not kidding! We went through 5 in the first 2 hours! Thankfully, it slowed down after she got used to having them and having us tell her to, "Let daddy know when you have to go potty."

The problem I'm finding is that during the rest times, nap and sleep, she is saying she needs to potty and doesn't. I think it's because she is trying to stay up longer and knows that we rush her to the bathroom. So, we'll have to address that, but other than that, it's been quite simple.

I have found that my patience is not running thin with her, but it is with Mama, Just a little. I've found that I need to take a breath and not get short with my wife. She makes suggestions and it's contrary to the book, that she didn't read, and it just bothers me. I really need to pray about my heart in this respect. I don't want to cause a division over something so small.

So far, the tally of the Accidents, Half way (started to have an accident, but stopped her self and we made it to the bathroom and success is as follows:

Accident Half way Success
Day 1 12 2 8

Doesn't look too bad in my opinion!

Anyone else training have similar issues? Or have you used the "3 day" method? please let me know and how you were able to handle it!

Potty training... GULP

2013-12-29T20:26:00.000-06:00

So, there is a book called "3 Day Potty Training" and I've read it! Emma, has not been potty trained as of yet, and she is about the age (21 almost 22 months) recommended in the book (22 months) to start training. She is showing all the signs and has been for a while, and has also been using the bathroom a bit every now and again, but we haven't done any method.

I'm in high hopes that this book can help me get it done. She went to bed tonight 12/29/13 at 8pm and her last drink was at 6PM. So, she ideally should wake up dry, and then I'll change her and she'll be out of her Cloth diapers for ever!

Truth be told, I'm tired of hand washing them and the covers and this'll be a great reprieve between her and her sister, Annabella Marie, who was born on 12/14.

Below is a link to her the books site:
http://www.3daypottytraining.com/
also, don't forget to check me out on FB and share if you enjoy it!
1 last also, pray for me!!!! I'm going to need it while I teach our new "Big Girl" how to do it like mommy and daddy.

Stitches...

2013-09-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

We went to the doctor and finally got the stitches out. I'm so thankful that our little one is so tough. The doctor was even impressed with how well she handled the removal. The only problem we had was that she kept wanting to see what the doc was up to.

A poke at the head and she'd turn to look up and see what the doc was doing. That was the worst of it. Have you ever had a moment like this or are we just really blessed with how well this one behaves and are in a world of hurt with the next one?

Attack of the House???

2013-09-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

Its been a long and hard night. You finally are able to put the baby to sleep. You gently lay her down and tip toe out of the room, knowing that any sound in the dead of the night just might wake her.

1 strep, good. 2nd step, still good. Third step, crick. You pause and release that breath you had been holding and take an even deeper one as you try to take another. Then, every step after that the house cracks under your footfalls and the baby starts to stir and as you get even farther way you can hear her no longer stirring, but starting to pout...

In a final, ditch, effort, you hustle even faster out of the door and thou make it to the hall way when the whole floor goes CRACK! And the little one goes into full on crying. Anyone else's home out for blood or is it just mine?

Glass Bottles Review - Lifefactory

2013-09-13T07:30:00.000-05:00

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Today will be the first of several product reviews. I plan on reviewing:
Cloth diapers
Glass Bottles
Diapers covers
Baby toys
and more!

Starting us off will be Lifefactory's Glass bottles:

Price
@ $16.99 for 9 oz bottles and 14.99 for 4 oz bottles, they certainly are not the cheapest on the market. The package deals do offer some off, but you really have to shop around to find the best deal. We bought ours at a local shop, but Amazon.com has some great pricing for them. The nipples are not universal and must be Lifefactory, and the sippy caps are also expensive at $8.99 for 2.

Cosmetics
The bottles do look fantastic. Many people that see them are impressed with how clean the look is and feel. They also come in an array of colors. Note that the colors are very limited. As I'm writing this, there are only 7 colors in the 9 oz sleeves and 8 colors in the 4 oz sleeves, but regardless, they do look pretty cool.

Durability
The bottles themselves are very durable and can withstand drops from various heights. We personally have dropped them several times on concrete, tile and hardwood. While the bottles themselves can take a beating the white caps can not. For 4 of our bottles, on the 1st drop we lost 2 white caps, then later another 2. Then, we lost another as I was fastening it to the bottle. It was possibly already damaged, but I've never had that happen with another brand. Again, everything for this product is pricey if you're on a budget as we are. Like all things glass, the bottles do break. Yes, we have dropped them onto cement, but that doesn't mean that on the 1st or 11th time they won't break. Just know, it will happen. We had one break in the bag.

Practicality
The bottles, even without the sleeves are heavy. My daughter, very muscular, never liked to hold them by herself and often would have them slip through her tiny fingers. The bottle white caps can be tightened and loosened to increase or decrease the flow. If the cap is too tight, the baby will have issues with sucking the milk through, and if it's too loose, then the milk may spill out. The bottles can be used as a sippy, but if your child has a "hard suck" then the rubber stopper can get twisted and close the flow or fall off leaving a wide open flow to pour all over the place. You can drop them, but again with all glass they can break.

Conclusion
Overall, the Lifefactory Glass bottles are an excellent purchase if you don't worry about a budget and can afford to put a couple hundred down to start you off. They are very durable, more than Evenflo, and they feel like they can make it through multiple babies. That being said, they are pricey and weight too much. You can't really lug around 3 or 4 of the bottles in sleeves as they are very bulky and heavy, and you certainly don't want to take them out of the sleeves and leave them exposed to... well life. Will I use them again? Yes. Will I purchase more? The short answer is, "No". There are other bottles that are less expensive, but not as durable, but with the money you save, you can buy 5 additional bottles.

Wounded

2013-09-12T23:21:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it 17 months before my daughter got a serious wound. She, unfortunately, tripped over a big pillow from the living room while it was in our bedroom and went face first into the corner of our bed.

Poor baby had to wait at the hospital for several hours, thankfully we have health insurance as they out us on the fast track, but it still took a long time to get through. Then, the nurses had to clean it and immediately told his she'll need stitches. I always wondered how they did the stitches on babies but I never wanted to find out.

The doc came in, and told us what they would do and the time it would take to before they could begin. The nurse then gave Emma some cream that went onto the cut to numb it then gave us a sarrenge of medicine. We just called it loopy juice. They said unit makes them act funny and calms them, and possibly puts them to bed, we were hoping for the latter.

She got a little loopy, but it didn't hit her hard at all. She was talking like normal, and acted perfectly fine. The entire trip there and wait she was fine. Thankfully she didn't start vomiting or throwing a huge fit. I honestly think babies handle it better than adults do.

When the 30 mins had past the head nurse wrapped her like a burrito, and just as a recurrence she hates to be swaddled, and hates to be pinned. Then, he asked me to hold her arms down while mama tried to comfort her and the nurse held her head fully pinning her down. Thankfully, my mom was there immediately from her work and helped us with her. Mama did good and almost lost it when Emma looked up at her and said, "mama" with tear filled eyes pleading her to stop the pain. The tears welled up in mama's eyes as she fought the instant instinct to comfort her.

The doctor put the needle through slowly cause my daughter is very strong for her age and was able to push her head around several times. to top it off she was still crying hard and her sniffling for air made her body jump. The doctor, with precision, was able to finish it. It's been only a day and it feels like it was just yesterday... oh, wait. It was. What's the worst injury your child has sustained? I know this won't be the last, but I hope nothing worst is still to come.

Cloth Diaper Fail

2013-09-11T08:50:00.003-05:00

Like everything in life it's an experiment that your are performing or someone else has already performed. Cloth diapering is no different.

My wife and I were trying to find the best way to clean our diaper covers. We were starting to have issues with them leaking more and more and we wanted to see if there is a better way, shy of hands washing. We came across a site that said putting the wash on high heat would clean them better, diapers and covers, and then hang them on the line. We did and the next day my daughter went through 5 covers! And by the 5th cover the day wasn't even over.

What had we done? Turns out reading the label is a useful thing and you should do it. If you don't feel like it, it says, "Machine/hand wash cold to medium water only." High heat didn't shrink them, but pulled the coating off our Bububibi causing them to leak far more than they ever had. We washed them with the cloth diapers.

Thankfully we didn't wash them all that way, but after going to the sight it seems as though everything is bad for this brand. Don't leave them in a moist area, don't leave them in sunlight, once dry remove from dryer immediately. Really this is a bit considering we sometimes start the dryer before we head out and have them dried before we get back, but we'll make changes to keep these working as long as possible. We are going to give the Flip brand a shot and let you know how that goes.

I may begin to hand wash the diapers just to ensure we can get the longest life out of them. How are you washing them and what results are you getting?

Here are some trusted sites that we have personally used to purchase cloth diapers. Enjoy!
Ibabydepot.com
Thegreennursery.com
Nickisdiapers.com
Theecochicboutique.com

She's still asleep!!!

2013-09-04T23:25:00.004-05:00

With all the help I got from the last post (None!) my wife and I have come up with a way that just might get her to sleep, but not just sleep, sleep the entire night!

After we brush our teeth and say our prayers, generally it's only 8pm, but since my father-in-law is in town helping and teaching me about repairs around the house, she's been going to bed between 9pm to 10pm. It seems to be working! I'm excited as we are on the third night of not waking in the middle of the night!

If this continues to be true, then it'll be her new bed time. If not, then it's back to the drawing board and I'm still turning to the people reading this for help. What time is your sweet spot and what time does your child wake up in the mornings?

What is a normal Night?

2013-08-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Its been tough putting Emma to sleep. A lot of the issues are from us jumping at her waking, as my wife put it, 'it breaks my heart to hear her cry.' She would say that she couldn't be heartless and now even today, or tonight as I'm writing this, we are suffering.

Experts and other parents have said that wee just need them to cry it out, but its just not that simple when it's your first. We should have listened and now we have a little girl that's almost 17 months old that still doesn't sleep through the night, but a hand full of times a month. We developed a bad habit in our child, we own that, but we are struggling to have normal nights.

What is a normal night? To us, its a crying baby at 1am, then again at 6am. I've started staying awake until she wakes up the 1st time so that my wife can get a good nights rest. Then she wakes up at 5 and Emma wakes at 5:30-ish.

I suppose it's better than it had been. When used to wake at 11pm then again last 1am and stay awake until 3am-ish. I'm thankful we have moved from that, but we just can't seem to find that sweet spot that'll get her full nights rest going forward. With another one on the way, we can't keep this up and something has to change. Can anyone offer some helpful advise? We are thinking it's teething, and are giving her some Tylenol, but she is still waking.

HELP!

Some simple signs. Video

2013-08-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

I hope you enjoy this 1st video.

The signs that are shown are:
Orange
Cookie
Banana
Orange
More
and both baby sign and baby Spanish
Done
Food

If there are other signs that you want to see next time, please feel free post them in the comments section of the video or this post. You can also e-mail me at the247daddy@gmail.com

Almost Witnessed

2013-08-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Just a story today, but a lesson leaned, none the less.

Emma and I hopped out of the shower and we go to her room to get her diapered and clothed. Then, as we are coming out of the hallway towards the formal dining room the doorbell rings.

I'm in a towel! And, to make things better, my daughter decides she wants to play a game of pull off the towel! The front door is just before the dining room and the only way to get to my clothes is to cross the dining room and go past the door, that happens to have a glass designed window, so you can see in if you are looking and to top it off, I had the good sense to open the window that is next to the door opened and there were 2 people at the door, one dangerously close to the window!

I paused for a bit. Good they weren't peeking. (side note: its rude to peek into someone's home! Have we forgotten this?) Just as the guy starts moving towards the window on the door I dash across and make it to the other side. I'll start taking my clothes with me to the shower from now on. Have you ever been caught in a similar situation?

Baby Signlanguage Part 2

2013-08-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Though the "food" and "done" were great, teaching her "more" was extremely useful. She could apply it to drink or bottle, Playing outside or even, as she like to do, "more" Curious George.

I taught her this by doing the sign while saying the word and then give her the food. It only took a few days and she had 3 very useful words that she could sign.

Needless to say "cookie" was simple for her. I must say, in my experience, that teaching her "cookie" and "banana" so close to each other was a negative. She now does a "half cookie" and "half banana" for both of them and it has been tough to correct and to be honest, it hasn't been corrected and she's already 16months.

On Saturday I'll post a vlog of how to sign:
Apple
Orange
More
Food
Done
Cookie
Banana

Along with how I said the words in Spanish so that, if you chose to, you can use these simplified versions of the words.

If there is a word you would like to see please leave it in the comments section, and I'd be more than happy to have them added in another vlog.

The Power of Prayer

2013-08-14T10:40:00.003-05:00

I have a faint memory. I'm standing in a pew with my parents and I'm holding my dad's hand. I'm looking around and he squeezes mine it to remind me that were are in the middle of praying. I close my eyes and return to my prayers. I can't say when that happened, but I know that it did happen.

I also remember my mom. Telling me, reminding me that GOD is a GOD that listens and that he's with you and listening to you wherever you go and that you can pray no matter where you are.

I may have fallen away from faith when I got older,but even in my darkest times I never forgot. Those memories and that wisdom was always there, I was just afraid to use it and afraid that I had veered so far off the course that, 'How could GOD ever want me back?' That's literally what I thought and when I felt alone and in the dark. I wanted to be protected and wanted to have peace, but why would GOD want someone like me?

Now that I am older and I have actually read the Bible, I found in John 3:16 it says that 'GOD so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, and who so believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.' It wasn't just for the people with clean backgrounds, or the pastors or the people that spent their lives in church. It was for everyone. I know that people were praying for my salvation and because of prayer I was able to come to the Father and be forgiven of my sins and the burdens of my past and all of my sins were placed on Jesus when he died at the cross. That was his point in coming to Earth as a man and the entire point of him dying on the cross. To save and to free us from the sins that bound us.

A great joy I have as a parent is that before we eat and before we go to bed and randomly throughout the day, Emma loves to grab our hands a bow her head and she just waits. I don't know if she's praying in her mind or not, but I do know that she's waiting on me to lead in prayer. We can't start eating until we've prayed. I hope and prayer is that she learn from my mistake, and that she never have to feel the loneliness and unrest of being away from the Prince of Peace. I my hope and prayer is that she never forgets.

Baby Signlanguage part 1

2013-08-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

When I first heard of this, my wife used to work at a daycare, I was blown away. Then I saw the movie that had it and was like, 'I can do that!' So I decided that when the baby was old enough I would teach her some sign language.

She was around 4mo old when she learned "done", and I used a trick I had learned from helping raise my niece, Lauren now 13, and was able too teach my daughter to sign done using an ESL and Spanish combination.

I'm not an expert at Spanish, in fact I only know a hand full of words, but growing up, the words I knew, like caca for poop and moco for booger, I thought they were English.

First is "bah". I can't spell it and I'm not sure if that's the correct way to spell it, but I do know its like saying "done" and through repetition I was able to help her begin her communication. 2nd was "food". I would say, "Bah-pah" which I learned as food, although I'm sure it means potatoes, and did the sign for food. Sure it took a while, but getting to know that she was hungry and when she was done was a giant leap in a direction that changed the difficulty of being a stay at home.

Have you ever taught your child/children to sign? What was the first word they picked up and how old?