Choosing Joy

Hello 2016! We are starting this year off with so many new adventures. Today starts day one of serious potty training, we will be turning Ryder's nursery into a big kid room with a big kid bed, and we are starting this year off right by deciding on a word of the year. Last year I chose the word embrace. We embraced the crazy, the sad, the happy, and every emotion there is.

My word of the year this year is...

I choose to find the joy in every situation that 2016 can throw at me. This will be a good challenge for me. I am a person that usually can only think of the things that can go wrong. I normally focus on the hard parts and the sad times but not this year! Ryder will be turning three and I'm ready to really let every moment, good or bad, become happy memories! I may or may not have chosen the word joy after watching Inside Out a few too many times in the past couple weeks. We've had a pretty laid back start to the new year, mostly because Ryder has had the worse sleep regression in history! He has needed his mama continuously throughout the night for several nights in a row. I'm talking about screaming, crying, and eventually making himself sick from it. All he wants is for me to hold him in the rocking chair. He is getting his third two year molar so I'm thinking that has been the culprit. Either way, I hope it ends soon so that we can work on transitioning him into a big bed! And this mama just wants some sleep! But I will choose joy by enjoying these last few nights of holding my baby in my arm and rocking him to sleep.

He was not feeling the party hats, also notice the boob latch. His separation anxiety from mama was at an all time high last week!

Once the Christmas decorations come down I am ready to start deep cleaning and filling the house with fresh cut flowers. I know that there are still many weeks of winter ahead of us, but I just can't help but want to declutter and clean every inch of the house. I am so thankful that we found Young Living's Thieves Cleaner!!  Thieves cleaner is made with clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary oils. With no toxic chemicals it is safe to use around children. So safe in fact that Ryder loves to spray and wipe down the table, his toys, the counters...the every growing pile of dirty clothes, and I don't have to keep him from doing so. It is tough enough to remove a permanent marker stain from a white couch (I blame the kid) and gentle enough for baby toys! It is concentrated so you just use one or two capfuls and fill the rest of your spray bottle with water! I also make a paste of Thieves Cleaner (two capfuls), baking soda (4 tbsp), vinegar (1 tbsp), and water (half cup) for our tub and shower. Slather it on, let it sit for a minute or two while you clean the toilet and sink, then rinse it away! One 14 ounce bottle lasts us nearly four months!! That's crazy when the cost is only $22! We use to spend that same amount every single month of cleaning supplies. Plus it smells like cinnamon goodness. Look up the first four ingredients on your household cleaner. I bet you won't want that stuff anywhere near places that you prepare food, cook food, places your children eat, where you bathe...