Long Days, Late Nights.

Big Sister Love

Evelyn has really been a sweetheart lately. Giving compliments and loving on her siblings. She walked into the bathroom when I was doing my hair yesterday and said, "Mommy! You are looking so cute!" She's been calling Addy, "sweetie" and calling Ben, "Benny." Telling everyone she loves them and they are cute. She's precious.

Emmett is growing..he is fitting into some 6 month outfits now. I can't believe it. STOP GROWING SO FAST!! He's probably close to 14lbs now and I can't hold him in one arm while nursing anymore. He isn't even 2 months old yet!

Sleepy Mommy...

DIY McDonald's Cinnamon Melt

Sometimes regular old cinnamon rolls get boring...so I decided to change it up today. It worked out really well, and it was a lot less messy than a regular cinnamon roll for the kids. The perfect desert for my scalloped potatoes and left over thanksgiving ham!

1. Grab a can of pillsbury grands cinnabon cinnamon rolls
2. Open and unroll each cinnamon roll
3. Cut strips into pieces
4. Pam a bread pan or a 8x8 baking dish
5. Evenly layer the cinnamon roll pieces
6. Bake as directed
7. When they are done, spread frosting over the top of the pieces, let it melt, and then stir the pieces around to ensure that each piece has some frosting on it.
8. Enjoy!

Easy and delicious :)

Tid Bits & Emmett

Benjamin - "EVERYBODY START YERS ACTIONS!!!" (he meant engines)

Evey (wearing my shoes, Ben wearing Rick's boots) - Oh, I was just at Walmart and you were at work. Army work. right Daddy?" (referring to Ben as Daddy)

Benjamin (telling a bible story at pretend preschool) - "one day baby Isaac was born. Amen."

Evey - TODAY IS THE DAY WE CAN GO TO PREEK SCHOOL! This is gonna be SO great!

Benjamin (still pretending he's a preschool teacher) - "Hey! All you kids come to the black circle and sit on your bottoms until the mommys and daddys come." and "Okay, everybody, come closer so you can see the story. Today we are going to talk about Jesus. Jesus yelled and yelled and yelled and yelled. Jesus likes blue shirts. Amen"

A start of something new...

Tonight we put the little kiddos to bed and about 15 minutes later, Addyson came downstairs saying, "poop!" So I asked her if she needed a new diaper and she pointed to the bathroom, so I took her in there and she hopped up on the potty and peed and pooped (her 2nd time doing so)! She's been really into the bathroom and bathroom related things..like washing hands, flushing, bringing new rolls of toilet paper to anyone who might need it...etc. It's so cute to watch her grow and learn..This is one of my most favorite ages.

Good job Addycakes, we're proud of you!

This is how we do it.

Every morning in our bed there is a kid pile. It's sweet and fun..and annoying..no one really likes being kicked in the face..or having their bladder sat on first thing in the morning...But someday, when our teenagers are sleeping in until noon, we'll probably miss these morning wake up calls...

Things have been out of hand here lately..I just can't seem to catch up. Emmett is starting to be awake more during the day and that means he usually wants to be attached to me..I'm getting dejavu...Today was a typical day, where typical daily things happened..you know, things like Addyson emptying the hand soap all over the small bathroom...She "washed" the toilet paper, the floor, the toilet, the stool, the door, the sink, her hair, her shirt, her hands, her legs, the rug, the wall, and the hand towel. I was nursing at the time, Rick was playing legos with Ben. This is what happens when you have many small children. I thought he had her, he thought I had her, and she had big plans to take down the bathroom with antibacterial soap.

Other things that happened...Addy took off her diaper and pooped on the potty..win. Evey cut holes in Addy's blanket with scissors...fail...better that than her hair I guess..some online Christmas shopping, some home made donut making, one bathroom thoroughly cleaned...and I confess..I cleaned that bathroom and then I locked the door. Because I'm always playing catch up and nothing is ever truly done.

This is just where we are now..I know that, it's not really that bad..it's just a constant self battle full of guilt and shame...Am I a good mom and wife? I don't know, if it was measured by a clean house, then probably not.

I'm praying for balance right now, because this game of catch up is kind of getting old...

**post was written on 11/19**

Oh, the first snowfall of the winter...

Benjamin was SO thrilled to wake up this morning to snow!

Evey saw it first and she said, "oh, hey ben, take a look at this...it's snooooooooooow" and Ben said, "Oh yeah baby!"

It wasn't a lot of snow, and it melted fairly quickly, but they had fun for the 10-15 minutes they were outside.. It was fun to watch them running around and hearing Benjamin talk about the snow from last year and the snow at Nonni's house. It's fun that he remembers things and puts them together to relate with other experiences.

Addy wasn't a fan after her hands got cold, and Evey came in soon after because her "feeties were coldy." lol

One Month

How the heck did a month go by already? This is getting out of hand. They never tell you that time starts to speed up exponentially in relation to how old you are and how many children you have. No wonder people write songs entitled "Don't Blink." I can't handle it..before I know it they are all 4 going to be grown up and leaving me.

Anyway...Things Emmett can do: Poop a lot, make adorable baby noises, roll from tummy to back, and just today he smiled twice, I'm convinced it was at me, but you can never be too sure at this age. I took a video of him rolling over since I guess it's something he's not supposed to be doing yet. So maybe I will post that...

He is spending more time during the day awake and more time at night asleep. He sleeps 4-6 hour stretches at night and that's great for me. I am still co-sleeping and I probably will continue to do that for another month or so....Why? 1. I like having a nursing baby close at night, 2. I like to snuggle him, 3. I'm paranoid something will happen to him, 4. He's most likely my last baby =( and 5. Sometimes in the morning when the littles come in my room, I'm not awake and they quietly take things..I can't have them taking my baby...

====================================================================

In other news...my house is a mess and I can't keep up. We're moving in 2-3 months and I'm terrified. I can honestly tell you it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about packing up our house and moving away from the only place we've ever lived that's felt like home. At the same time I'm okay with a new adventure, but all the while secretly hoping it's just temporary and then we can come back home. I hate the thought of taking Ben and Evelyn out of preschool and moving them away from their friends and the nursery staff at church. Ben is shy by nature and I feel like we've just cleared the hurdle of his anxiety only to have to uproot our lives again...I don't like it..

Just like everything else in my life, I know that I am going to blink and it's going to be time to move, and I'll go to sleep and wake up and it will be time to move again and Benjamin will be 5 years old. Won't somebody please stop this train?

Ah..I'm off to cry now. The life of a mom is a crazy roller coaster ride all the time....can't say I don't love it though. *sigh*

11.11.11

Happy Veteran's Day

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. -G.K. Chesterton

I have no time.

no time to clean
no time to write
no time to try on jeans
no time to read
no time to browse the internet
no time to chat online with hot babes
no time to vacuum
no time to wash windows
no time to take care of my scratchy feet

I do have time to drive for hours in my van to and from preschool
I do have time to get a haircut thanks to my great husband
I do have time to keep the dishwasher full and empty and full and empty....
I do have time to put toilet bowl cleaner in the bowls and forget about it for 2 hours...
I do have time to wash the laundry (but no time to fold it)

Right now we're adjusting to life with four and mostly I feel like I don't have any time to do anything, as soon as I start something, someone appears asking me to grant various requests. I'm a genie. :-P

On preschool days I drop the kids off and if I go home I just have an hour before I have to get back in the car again, so those mornings are usually reserved for errand running. Tomorrow morning I have a dentist appointment during that time and I'm hoping Emmett will sleep through it. It's after 1am right now and I should really make time fore sleeping before I have to wake up and feed my baby again...sometimes ya just need a couple of minutes to do what YOU wanna do. In my case right now, it was write this blog and eat a reese pumpkin.

Trick or Treat!

We have here a jack in the box, a race car driver, a baby caterpillar, and Princess Fiona.
They had a great time trick or treating and handing out candy, Emmett slept through it all, and Ben said the best part about trick or treating was trick or treating. Evey said the best part was candy, and Addy agreed. She ate 3 pieces of candy with the wrappers still on..We'll have to work on that...

Anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful day with no rain so that made for a nice night. It was a cool 52 degrees, but didn't feel cold until it got dark. We wrapped it all up by 8pm so they could be in bed on time for school in the AM. What a life! :-D

A little bit about Evey

She got new Pj's today, they came with that "free matching headband" you see in the photo. She loves it, she is currently sleeping with it on.

Anyway...While the other kids were playing outside, she was "too coldy" so she asked to take a bath, so we did a bath, did her hair, painted her toenails, and then put on her brand new jammies. She was soo happy and wanted to go outside to show the other kids and daddy.

It really was cute. Then she was jumping and riding her scooter and singing about how she was a "pirate princess" who "can do anything."

Later, while they were all in bed, Ben was crying because he didn't grab ALL of his stuff (his bed is already piled high, I really should take a picture of it..it's kind of embarrassing and we should probably call hoarders..) ANYWAY...so Ben was crying and we hear Evey tell him, "Ben, stop that! You are being "weed-ick-you-us." (that's ridiculous..) She cracks me up.

Breakdown -The first 10 Days...

Emmett arrived on Wednesday morning and we brought him home on Thursday...on Thursday night, Ben and Addyson got fevers that lasted to Friday so we took them to the Dr. with Emmett for his weight check..His weight was down 5%..and Ben and Addy still had fevers...Ben puked in the waiting room, so maybe Rick's illness during my labor wasn't just a fluke..

Friday night they barked and hacked all night. Rick slept upstairs with them to make sure no one had a cough attack...The Dr. gave them a steroid for the cough and that really seemed to help with the croup sounding cough, but they still were breathing funny and coughing at night so Rick continued to sleep upstairs with them while I kept Emmett quarantined in our bedroom. Croup can be dangerous for newborns...

It was absolutely miserable..whining, coughing, sick kids, they slept on and off all day for 3 days in a row..When they were awake they were crying..They wanted to touch and hold the baby, they wanted me to take care of them, but I was afraid to get sick because I'm the only one who can feed the baby...

Around the 6th day, we thought things were looking up, but then Ben and Addy got Diarrhea and Evey came down with a fever. She never did get that barking cough, but did sleep the next two days away...The diarrhea thing lasted until yesterday and had Ben up at night calling for Daddy to please come help him...Addy woke up 3 days in a row covered in poop....

Soo..not quite the 10 days of blissful family bonding we'd hoped for...but we did have some nice friends bringing us meals, and Richard was awesome at taking care of the kids while I kept Emmett and myself locked up..I felt pretty guilty (especially when Addy was crying for me)... but I am blessed to have a husband who is willing to help. Richard had it all under control, and it ended up being okay, now today I have a bit of a sore throat and he seemed pretty tired..but I think that's how it always goes..now that the kiddos are feeling a little better, we have time to slow down and get sick! Hopefully it won't go much further than a cold...and I'm still praying Emmett stays healthy.

Anyway...it's late and my baby just fell asleep, so I guess I should go to bed..I need to be up in 2-4 hours.. :-P

The Force was with Us...

For a little while...

We got invited to a Star Wars themed birthday party for our friend's son. We decided we would try our hand at a homemade gift. So we set to work on a star wars play set with peg dolls and a millennium falcon.

We put the kids to bed and set up our card table next to the couch and had a little paint date. We watched sleepless in seattle and it was a genuinely good time spent chatting and admiring each others creativity. ♥

The photos aren't quite what I had in mind, but we ran out of time before we had to give it to the birthday boy and in my defense, I took the above photos while I was nursing Emmett. A Nikon D700 is kinda hard to hold in one hand..so whatev.

Anyway, we really loved creating it, so much that it was a little hard to give it away...but we did and I think the birthday boy enjoyed it..and he did know who all the characters were, he opened Han Solo and said, "Look Mama! It's Captain Solo!"

=)

Emmett is One Week Old!

Here are some pictures from his very first photo shoot!

♥

To the Pumpkin Patch

Since it was sunny today, we decided to go to the pumpkin patch. The kids had a great time.
Even though they've been sick, they were still excited to go.

We did a hay ride, petted some animals, and picked out our pumpkins, they had a great time while we were there, but they all fell asleep on the way home. Little sickies. ♥

I think the fresh air was good for them and the sun felt good too...Also, for the record, Emmett had socks on the whole time until I took him out of the front pack and they fell off, so we left them off for the picture...

**side story -- We got home from the hospital on Thursday, and all three older kids came down with fevers and then got croup! So we've been recovering from that...not very fun when they love their new brother soooo much and have to be banned from touching him or going near him! So hopefully we'll all be better soon and can get back to normal...well, the new normal!**

The Birth of Emmett

If you don't want to read about the birth of Emmett, then you'd better stop reading now. =)

******

On Tuesday morning I went to my regular OB appointment, only to discover that I was having some contractions, was 3cm dilated, and had stubborn high blood pressure that wouldn't go down. So my dr. decided I should head to the hospital for an induction since he was already worried about the size of the baby anyway..(Evelyn at her chunky 9lbs 4oz got herself stuck and we didn't want that again!).

So, I went home, took the kids to preschool, called the husband, called some friends, packed a bag, and headed to the hospital. They had me all set up to get a drug they call "Miso" but I was contracting too much already, so they gave me an IV and started some pitocin. I was SURE I'd have a baby by 8pm that evening....I was wrong.

Fast forward to the afternoon, Rick showed up after finishing a few things up at work and stopping at home to see the kids, and he brought Dairy Queen for himself because I wasn't allowed to have anything. I should have eaten more than a banana!

Anyway, time went on, nothing really changed, so they stopped the pitocin, amped the IV to help slow my contractions enough to give me one dose of Miso.

Around 10pm Richard fell asleep, but the Miso was kicking in and the contractions were getting harder and more regular. While Rick slept, I did some word searches, sent some text messages, took obnoxious photos of myself...paced...tried to sleep...

Midnight came and my nurse and I were SURE I'd have the baby by 3am, 4 at the latest! We were both wrong.

Around 3am Rick stirred, I was in the bathroom. He threw up. The sound of him puking made me puke too. Thankfully I was in the bathroom already. Gross, I know..but these are the facts...

Rick went back to sleep feeling tired and sick and I went back to dealing with contractions...for the next 6 hours I had regular, 2 minute apart contractions that would have been doing something if the baby's head wasn't floating. So my nurse came in and told me to walk, hop, squat, whatever I thought I felt like would work to get him to drop...

At about 5:30 something I did worked and my water broke..from there, everything went intensely fast. This was a pain med free birth by choice...but if I had to do this one again, I think I would have opted for the drugs..and as a good friend once reminded me, the medals never arrived for those first three pain med free births! :)

This is the birth that caused me the most physical pain, the contractions were really hard and intense, but I'm guessing it was mostly because I'd been awake for about 24 hours at the Emmett was born, I'd also only eaten a salad and a banana....

Anyway, our beautiful baby was born after 16 hours of labor at 6:48am on October 12, weighing 8lbs 90z, and measuring 21 inches long!

We're thrilled and his siblings are enamored by him. I love having another boy, blue's my favorite color!

So far, he's a pretty laid back baby, much like Addyson was. Only cries when he's hungry or needs his diaper changed. He's pretty cute too. :)

Anyway, if this blog sounded mostly like a nut rambling on and on...you can blame it on the lack of sleep. =)

It's A Boy!

Emmett James

Born today, in the morning, weighing nearly 9lbs and 21 inches long!

Just a few things...

• I am ready to have this baby. I am 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant.
  
• I do my hair every 12-ish hours so if I spontaneously go into labor I know my hair will be looking good.
  
• My wedding ring doesn't fit, this is the first time ever.
  
• I'm not sleeping very well any more, it's too hard to just "roll over!"
• I take my contacts out early at night, so that if I spontaneously go into labor in the middle of the night, my eyes will have had time to breathe before I put my contacts back in...I just can't have a baby while wearing my glasses...Vain much?
  
• I crave Dr. Pepper, I prefer the fountain version. :)
  
• My favorite food this pregnancy has been Pizza and anything yumtastic with bread..like potato soup in a bread bowl...or just plain crescent rolls.
• I've been pregnant for half of the time I've been married, that's 38 months pregnant!
  
• I do not feel fat or ugly, I've loved being pregnant. =)
  

Come on out Baby 4, we're ready for you!
♥♥♥♥

Tid Bits

3 days ago I put a new toilet seat on the potty that the kids use (it's been broken for a few months)...
Ben - LOOK EVEY! THE POTTY HAS A LID!
Ev- OH MY Dosh!
Ben - Now Addy won't be putting her hands in the water!
Ev - Ben, it is SO beautiful!
Ben - I know!

Yesterday we were doing an art project, we collected leaves to put between contact paper and make a mobile.

Ben - I really got some nice leaves out there today.
Me- yes, you did
Ben - look at this red one? it's so great.
Me - yep, it really looks good.
Ben - I know, I love art.

Ev being sweet to Addy after she fell and got hurt.

Addy - crying
Ev - oh, baby! are you okay? do you want your "baynbee" (what Addy calls her blankie)
It's okay, lets go tell mommy! (holds her hand brings her to me)

18 Months

Miss Addyson is 18 months old!

She is turning into such a little person. I really can't believe all the words she says and how she holds her own with her brother and sister.

She loves to run.

She screams when she gets excited.

She loves to feel like one of the big kids. (I am always a little sad when she can't stay at preschool with Ben and Ev. )

She says a ton of words now and her cuteness cracks us all up every day.

She has a stubborn streak too, and doesn't really take crap from anyone.

She loves to go for rides in the power wheels jeep.

She loves going for rides.

When she knows she's naughty she puts herself on time out...cutest thing ever.

She loves alone time without her brother and sister..which is why preschool has been a great thing for us! I love the time we get to have each week. She is cute and cracks me up.

She is kind of moving into the DIY stage of toddlerhood, she is trying to dress herself, likes brushing her hair, takes off her diaper, and she can put on certain pairs of shoes.

She has 9 teeth. 5 on the top and 3 on the bottom.

She wears size 24 month clothes and a 6 shoe! I have to take her for her 18 month well baby exam still..on our scale she weighs 24 pounds (Evey weighs 28!)

My favorite thing she does now is when she shakes her head yes. She shakes her whole body and it's adorable.

Rick's favorite thing is when he comes home from work, she runs to give him a hug, but always backs up into him and snuggles into his lap.

What else....she loves her baby dolls and her blankie (she calls it a baym-bie)....

Happy 18 months Addy girl, we love you to pieces!

First Day of School!

Ben & Ev went to preschool today, they both loved it and did really well. They love their teachers and their classroom.

What was the best part about preschool today?

Ben - Umm I really like painting a lot and we played on the playground.

Ev - I like girls that I like and drawing, and they have a little potty there.

Did you make any friends?

Ben - No, but I played with Lucy a long day. We have two Lucy's in our class but I like the one with the pig tails.

Ev - I don't have any friends, but I played with Lucy too.

Who is your favorite teacher today?

Ben - I like Mrs. Sue, she is very nice.

Ev - I like Mrs Sue too, and the one with the red shirt.

Did you miss me while you were at school?

Ben - I missed you, but I didn't cry when you left me.

Ev - I missed you just only a little bit, but not a lot, but a little bit because you were coming right back for us, but I only missed you a little bit.


****

Addy was sad she didn't get to stay at school, but we had a fun day shopping and she did get her new shoes, which she wore for the rest of the afternoon. =) It was a good day.

tidbits 2

Ben reading to Addy - "one ponce a time a doe there was a verrrry big but-tano and all the dinosaurs were so so scared they went to reindeer mountain..."

That would be, once upon a time ago there was a verry big volcano and all the dinosaurs were so scared they went to mt. rainier. :)

Evey modeling her new fall clothes - "Hey Ben, check me out, I look so good. Really good. Mommy got all these new clothes just for me. You look pretty good too."

Tidbits...

Me and all my babies =)

Evelyn talking to herself : "Do I want to keep making messes? NO! Do I want to clean this up? NO! Do I want to rip this paper? NO! Do I wanna make Daddy sad? NO!"

Ben praying : "Bless Noni and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, Gramma Poo, and Nana and Boots" (that would be grandma pugh and Nana and Bops)

Addy - Me- did you poop? Addy - yeah, blah.

Evey - Mommy, I just need to be pretty. I need to be in your room to get things to be pretty.

Evey on my cell phone - Hello? How you are doing? Okay. *hangs up* Umm Mommy, Noni says we can go to hers house anytime.

Ben - Uhh Hey Mommy, if you speel (spill) water on the floor you have to get A LOTTTA LOTTA towels and clean up that mess or the floor will be ruined, forever! Daddy telled me that.

As I Think it...

Rick's brother and his wife are here visiting for the week. The kids have really enjoyed having new people in the house, and it's been fun to watch them all interact. It's been nice for us too, other adults to converse with and do fun stuff with. Tomorrow we got a babysitter so we can all go out sans kids. The picture above is from our trip in Seattle. We went up the space needle and before you go they take a photo of you in front of the fake background. We decided we wouldn't be purchasing the photo, but we all agreed it turned out better than we thought anyway! Definitely fridge worthy. :)

In other news...I am 34 weeks pregnant now. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes on Monday and now I must check my blood sugar 4 times a day and watch what I eat. So far, it hasn't been too bad and I've lost 4 pounds (not that I'm trying to, it just happened). The baby is active and gets the hiccups a lot..I am not too uncomfortable yet and the babe has even dropped a little low relieving me of the intense heartburn I was suffering from since around 19 weeks! I haven't been as tired since I started my iron supplement either which has been nice.

The weather has been really nice the past few weeks since we returned from our vacation. It feels like an Indian Summer which has always been a favorite of mine. I love pumpkins and fall smells and decorations, but it's nice that it's cool in the mornings/evenings and warm during the day.

In the kid department...Addyson is talking so much now and she always bursts into these little made up songs, Evey will almost always join her until it turns into a musical shouting match. It can be annoying, but I'm glad they have a love for music.

Evelyn will be going to preschool too, the same time as Ben, so that will be a nice little morning break for me and the littles 2x a week. Maybe we'll grocery shop or sleep in the parking lot, who knows...but I am excited to see how it goes.

Ben is acting more and more like a kid and less like a toddler. He has always been an independent kid, but more so now. Some days, I'm not sure I like it! He's definitely a strong willed child and has a stubborn streak..but despite that, he is still such a sweet kid, and very intuitive of feelings (when he's not blinded by his own demands!).

Anyway...I'm sure my time (it's quiet time for the kiddos) is dwindling away, but I wanted to update since it's been so long. I always get better at blogging in the Winter...less fun stuff to do outside. I still need to shower for the day..yeah it's almost 4pm..oh well. Some days you win at life, some days you don't.. :)

Where are we now?

Well..we were in Ohio..then we were in Michigan...and now we are back in Ohio...

We arrived in Ohio (me and the kids on Tuesday the 10th.) Then Rick came on Friday..and we spent some time at Kalahari with the siblings, it was fun..less so for me since I'm 31 weeks pregnant..not the ideal condition to be riding water slides or brushing up on my surfing skills..I may or may not have been taken down by the wave pool...

Anyway, on Sunday morning we drove to Michigan to hang with Rick's family for a couple of days. It was a nice time. We got to see everyone's home improvements, chat, and let the kids get reacquainted with their cousins. It was a nice time.

So here we are, back in Ohio..swimming and enjoying Noni's construction zone. (Richard has ripped up every floor in the house, leveled and replaced it with new tar paper and sub floor..he's on a roll!) Ben has learned to use the air nailer and he is loving it. He's such a hard worker. Yesterday he came in from swimming and said it was time to "work with daddy now." So we went to change his clothes and he wanted dry swim shorts, his running shoes, and no shirt ("to match with daddy").

Ah..anyway..I'm waiting on Rick to shower and get to bed..thankfully Addyson went to bed tonight without too much protest...she's kind of been a nightmare. Actually..this is the first trip we've taken that our kids didn't really adjust. Usually it's a breeze..Too much change I guess. I'm worried about when we move!

Oh..and the picture above..those are Rick's 93 year old grandparents. Still doing pretty well and living at home. So glad we got to visit with them!

Bed time for me!

Words Addyson Says...

Within the past week Addy has really started talking a lot. She's repeating and even Ben and Ev have been encouraging her. "Addy, can you say..." It's pretty cute.

Today she said, Uh Oh, Oh no, bye bye, hi, bed, nigh night, this way, go, bike, cup, and blankie. She also says blah when things are gross and ow if she gets hurt, she says flip flops when she wants her shoes on, no matter which pair of shoes she chooses, they are all flip flops. She says drink, and yum, poop, diaper, wipes, and baby.

It's so cute to listen to her talk. This is one of my most favorite stages!

I really just wanted to document it before I forget...My pregnant brain is lame.

"There's a beebee in yers tummy"

Again... :-D Benjamin drew this for me today. It's a picture of me with "the new baby in yers tummy. With two arms, two legs, and a belly cord" The blue on top is my hair. It's kinda wild and I need to brush it. Hehehe. The picture he drew after this was similar but had my hair in a pony tail.

Ah, so cute!

In new baby news...I had my glucose test last week. I failed. So it's a grand 3 hour test in my near future. Dane it.

The baby is measuring ahead, but that's pretty typical for me at this point. I do get to have an ultrasound next week to measure the baby's actual size though, so that's always fun. I love to see what the little babe is doing in there!

Busy.

I am busy. Wow. My kids really have been keeping me on my toes lately..and with the husband busy too, some times I look at the clock and I swear it isn't moving!

Today I cleaned upstairs, sorted our endless supply of toys, locked up some old ones, brought out something different to entertain them with...It was a large job, last time I was organizing my closet they were upstairs in the toy closet dumping bin after bin of blocks, train tracks, pretty much everything...such a pain..It took me 5 hours to complete the job in between re-doing what the kids were un-doing, entertaining them (hmm I should have put a movie on..where was my brain..), feeding them...etc. I don't think I sat down at all until they were in bed tonight!

Rick worked until 8pm too, so it was the whole dinner/bath/bed routine solo tonight. I know I've said it before, but I can't picture doing it alone anymore. I was saved only by the grace of God during that stupid deployment. Small children are a LOT of work (but of course a lot of fun too!). Being pregnant on top of that doesn't probably help my cause..but still, I am super exhausted!

I know it's after midnight. I should be sleeping..but I still feel kinda wound up from the stress of the day....

*Blogging break* :-D Be back soon...

In funnier news...Ben & Ev continue to crack me up daily. Comic relief is so great at this stage.

We had some errands to run (i.e. deliver things to Rick at work), and when we got home the screen door was open (it has a thing you step on to keep it open, helpful for groceries..etc). Ben saw it open and said....

B- Mommy! Why you leff this door open?
M- I forgot to close it, I guess....
B - You can't do that. Old people can get in! And we don't want that..no *shakes his head.*
M- *trying not to laugh* No, you're right, we really don't want the old people to get in.
E- WE. DON'T. WANT. BAD. OLPEOPLE EITHER!
M - Hmm, nope Ev, I think it would be really bad if bad old people got in our house!
B - Ooooh yeah Evey! Bad old people might be dirty too.
M - okay..let's get ready to eat..
B - But Mommy, you check that front door to be closed so those old people can't get in ours house.


Hilarious..where do they even get this stuff???

We ordered pizza tonight, since I was in absolutely no mood to cook and Richard requested a Slurpee in our giant refillable Slurpee cup from his sister...I gave it to Ben to bring to the van, but he left it on the table when he put his shoes on..annnnnyway...

M- B, where's that Slurpee cup?
B -Oh snap. I for-dot it. You got it in yers purse?
M- nope..I didn't bring it..I guess we can't get a Slurpee today.
B- oh! mommy! they have cups in the Slurpee store. it's no problem.

Riiiight. Silly me..

Anyway...I suppose I'm ready for bed..watched some TV, blogged, checked out Etsy, spent some time on Pinterest...Tomorrow we're going to a wedding, parts of which I'm photographing. So I should probably be rested..

Goodnight all.

It goes Bleh in the night.

Ben has always been a puker. When he was littler, he would puke due to anxiety, too much sugar, not enough sleep, etc. I have one dear sister who might say I deserve a puking child..some people just can't get over the fact that some times other sick people can't make it to the bathroom and thus results in the Christmas present puke disaster of 1996. Watch out Rob..you don't know what Jordan is capable of...

I usually don't mind cleaning up puke that much, I've seen a lot of it in my 5+ years of babysitting, pregnancy, and parenting. One of our friends puked spaghetti and wine all over our couch and bathroom once. That was actually pretty gross...

Anyway, little kids can't help it. Ben almost always ends up puking in his sleep, which I agree, is weird.

So last night at 03:30, I heard the tell tale call of the puking Benjamin and I went to his aid.

Indeed, he had puked Cars2 shaped mac&cheese, corn, and ice cream cake all over himself, his bed, and his pillow. He was so apologetic I couldn't even be mad for one second.

Me - Aww man, what happened?!
Ben - I puked mommy, I tried to hold it in, but I was hiccup-ing and I just couldn't. I don't like puking in my bed, mommy, I want to wash my hands.
Me - Okay, you go wash your hands and face while Mommy cleans up your bed.
Ben - MOMMY! There is puke on my jammies..it's on my hair.
Me - (gagging my way into the bathroom)
Ben - Mommy, why are you hiccup-ing? You going to puke too? There's the potty.

After we got him all cleaned up, I re-made his bed, he woke Addy up, and then asked me to lay with him, and then he told me he couldn't lay in his "nassty bed" anymore, so I set him up a sleeping bag in the loft. He told me he couldn't sleep again unless he watched Mickey Mouse. Classy move, Ben.

He fell asleep, Addy stayed up until almost 6am. At which time Rick's alarm clock went off and thus began the stressful and desperate search for his wallet..Which was not successful in enough time for him to make it to PT. Dane it. So we went back to bed and I fell into a coma until 8am when it was time to get on with the day again.

As I type this, I just saw two kids run by completely naked, and a baby carrying my cell phone....Since I am surely up for Mother of the Year, I'd better be going!

Happy Birthday, Richard!

There once was a good looking man, young and in his 20's. He was engaged to quite a catch. One day as they were cruising the town in his 97' Grand Prix GT, they started dreaming about their future together. This future would eventually involve cars.

The young man stated that some day he'd love to have a brand new BMW. The young woman, with stars in her eyes promised her man that she'd deliver when he turned 30 (a VERY long time from then...)..

Well, the two grew up, moved through life, had many small children and owned a home..needs changed and desires changed and the man no longer wanted that BMW he once dreamed of. He wanted a truck. A nice big manly truck to haul children, toys, wood for projects, dirt, and anything else he might need to perfect his home.

The wife took note and began to research.

The man's 30th birthday was fast approaching and finally, the time was right to tell him that a new truck was going to be his.



The man was happy, the wife was happy, the promise was fulfilled and they lived happily ever after.

The End.

***-------------------------------------------------------***

Rick's birthday was nice :) Just us at home, we had kabobs on the grill, opened presents, did some sparklers, blew up a sand bucket with a fire cracker, played Jarts, made pictures in the dark with laser pointers and the camera, and ate ice cream cake. It was a good day.

Happy 30th Birthday to my favorite man. I love you!

Summer vacation!

We started our summer vacation last Tuesday..loading up the camper and ready to head down the Oregon coast. The weather forecast showed some rain, but a little sun too. But as we started our journey, it was as if a dark cloud was following us! It rained every single one of the 10 days we were gone, but we did get to see some sun, and the rain didn't make the trip unbearable. Thank goodness for our camper, because if we were in a tent, I would have given up and come home!

Our first stop was the Ape Caves, caves formed by lava flow near Mt. St. Helen's. The cave was cool, but Ben hated every minute we were in it because it was too dark and too tall. Whatever that means..
That night we decided to stay at a motel since it was raining pretty hard and it was late by the time we decided to stop. We chose a motel 6 for it's cheapness. It was THE hardest, most uncomfortable bed we have ever slept on. Richard said we probably would have had a better night on the box spring!

The next morning, it wasn't raining and we were hopeful. The kids did really well during our two hour drive to Ft Stevens State park. It was a nice camp ground, but it rained both days. We did manage to check out the old military post and museum, which was cool and we all liked. The camp ground itself was very well maintained, but there were tons of mosquitoes. Our neighbors told us that keeping cheap mouth wash in a spray bottle is a good way to ward them off.. We'll have to try it some time!

On our way out of Ft Stevens we stopped for the day in Seaside, OR. It's a super cute little town near the ocean and had one of the nicer, sandier beaches..though it was quite windy and misty, so we didn't really get to spend a lot of time there. We had some delicious pizza for lunch and Evey got to ride the bumper cars with Daddy. Ben didn't want to. He said they were just too bumpy.

From Seaside we headed to South Beach. Here we got almost a full day of sun, and really enjoyed the beach. Ben and Evey found many good rocks and shells to bring home to add to their collection. (Which is growing quite huge on the front porch..) Addy loved playing in the sand, but didn't enjoy it much after her clothes got soaked. Most of our trip the temp hung around 58-60 degrees. The South Beach camp ground was really nice, and had a lot of little squirrels that liked to come right up on the table and eat out of your hand. The kids got a kick out of that. We were also super close to the bathroom, which was nice for this 27 week pregnant mommy!


After South Beach we headed to Honeyman State Park. We highly recommend this, especially if you own four wheelers or other ATV type stuff. The sand dunes are huge and long (47 miles!) and the kids had a blast there. They have a fresh water lake, with paddle boats and salamanders and snails to catch (and release of course). This was our favorite stop, and we would have stayed longer if we could! When we first arrived they gave us a campsite that was near the bathroom, but totally covered by trees, very small, and on a hill. Both of us were really sad, so we drove around to see what else they had. We found a loop that had mostly flat and open sites, close to a bathroom, and near a playground. So we went back to the office and they had just one site open for a 3 day period. It was the biggest and best campsite we saw and we felt so blessed to have the last one, especially since our trip hadn't gone as smoothly as we'd hoped. (With all that rain, and setting up and taking down the camper in wet weather..stressful!)
We had fairly decent weather after our first night too, which was really nice. The kids had a large parking lot to ride their bikes and the bugs were minimal.

After Honeyman, we drove all the way to Portland to visit the Multnomah falls. It was beautiful, and then we headed home.

Overall it was a great trip, and we took lots of pictures (all of which are on face book). And the kids didn't mind the rain. We didn't really either until it was time to move the wet camper to the next location. That just gets old...

Anyway...with our vacation over, and the summer coming to an end, we decided to sell the camper. I listed it on Craigslist last night around midnight and this morning we had 5 people interested. One woman sent a text at 6am and asked to please be the first to look at it. She was and they bought it. We are thankful it wasn't a headache for us.

We truly are blessed. I just can't say it enough. God has been so good to us!