Usborne Books and Douglas Update

I'm having an Usborne Book party! (Check out the details on the left side.)

Okay, now on to Douglas. I feel like I haven't said much about him lately. Well, he'll be 18 months in May and has hit that shy stage just in time for church nursery. He seems to be growing and learning everyday. When I'd hear mothers say, "I'm so sad, my baby is growing up.", I'd always think, "Duh, what did you think would happen." And now I'm that mother. Douglas climbs on everything and is able to physically do so much and he just looks like a little boy to me, not a baby. It's sad. I feel like next week he'll be leaving on his mission. Also, Douglas is babbling more and making more sounds which is very hopeful. We've been having Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) come out since late February b/c Douglas wasn't saying any words. As of 2 weeks ago they've been coming every week. And as of most recently, Douglas has been imitating our words (or trying). The human words he definitely says are Dadda, see (and you'd better say "I see" or he'll repeat it forever), lawnmower, and mama (although he hardly ever does). ECI said to count animal sounds as words so Douglas says the sound for cat, dog, duck, owl, cow, tiger. So basically, Douglas excels in animalese. Take him to a barn and he's good to go! He loves animals, construction vehicles, water, throwing rocks in the water, buses, and books. While at the temple last night, I was thinking of how richly blessed I am and I couldn't help but thank Heavenly Father for his perfect creation, Douglas. Sure Douglas isn't perfect in that sense of the word, but he is truly magnificent and perfect in my life. I love him immensely. He brings us the greatest joy. Well, that's about it for him. Have a great day!

Douglas learned to play "fetch."

Pay if forward prize!

So you can see my scrap blog for further details, but basically I made a badge album that I'd love to share. It's made from badge protectors so it's only like 3.25x 3.5 big. I made it of Douglas' favorite animals. Anyways, all you (the winners) need to do is send me a close up of your child or children and I'll replace Douglas' picture with your children. And for the last picture if you could send me a picture of your child from behind (like the one I took of Douglas) then I'll replace that as well. There is also a picture of Douglas with a cat and I'll just replace that picture with a generic cat picture. I'll print them and put them in the badge protectors and send it to you. Email me those pictures and your address.
The lucky 3 are Laura, Jessica Bybee, and Jen Craiker. (Stephanine, how about I just send you the files.)

Pay it forward

In January, my friend Becky posted a "Pay it forward" post where the first 3 people to comment on it would receive a special gift from her. In return the 3 people to comment would have to do the same/similar thing. Well I posted and got a nifty bag that she made. The reason why it's taken sooo long for me to pay it forward is b/c I had no idea what to do, especially if one of the people lived far away. I now have something in mind that I'm super excited about. So...

The first 3 people to comment on this post will receive something from me. I'll let you know in a few days what and how it'll go. Remember,the catch, if you are one of the super lucky few to win, you will also have to pay it forward.

Organization Please

Douglas is 17 months and his toy situation is almost driving me NUTS. I'd like to just put all toys in his room but he doesn't play in his room unless I'm in there. So there is a bin of toys in the living room and toys in his room. We are okay about picking up the toys in the living room at night but I don't touch his room until I need to vaccuum. So here's what I have in the way of organization: a bin in the living, a blue book shelf type thing in his room, and the bin thing in his room (see pictures). I want to know what I should do about his toy situation. Any ideas?