32

This morning was so peaceful. Sofia and Mo timed their naps perfectly, it does not happen often!
I got to take a shower,dry my hair, read the bible, enjoy a cup of coffee quietly! And all the while it is softly snowing outside. It made my whole morning that much better.
Zeke is always asking if is is 32 degrees yet, because then it will snow.
Last weekend it snowed and today it just started, I put on White Christmas as I picked up the house and I just love that we get to have fun cold weather!
The heater keeps kicking on and I have it set at 63, so it must be really cold outside!
Yay for big warm coats and scarfs!
Yay that Moses is finally starting to take long naps!
Yay that he slept from 8pm until 6am with only a couple of little cries in between!
It is the little things that keep me going!
Happy snow day!

gifts

For the last few years we have been trying to do Christmas more simple. We have gradually become more and more simple as the years have gone on. We have never bought our kids Christmas presents, we usually just do stocking stuffers. They have always been young enough to not even notice! And we have family that loves to spoil them!
So this year so far I have spent nothing on them. I made them each hooded towels for after the bath. I did not even buy towels I used some we already had! I know kind of ghetto, but they turned out cute if you ask me!
Dan and I are getting each other one thing, he wanted a cd I want a new calendar. were easy!
We have made it really bare bones and I kind of like it. I have not gone out to the mall searching everywhere for gifts either. Our dear friends the Dunlaps have friends who own a Fair trade store in Oregon, so we had them buy us gifts for family members. I love that we can support other people in countries who have made these gifts themselves and it is their livelihood!
I usually love getting out in the craziness and shopping, but I also like this simple way as well.
Hopefully our kids will learn from example that they don't need lots of gifts!
It may take awhile since Zeke keeps asking why we don't have any gifts under the tree and when can he open up a gift!

pray

I just found out this morning that one our friends from Riverside was in a serious bike accident.
I went to Jr. High with Mark and then about 5 years ago Dan and I reconnected with him and his wife Angie.
They have a son named Nolan.
Mark is in critical condition and they are saying it is not looking good.
Please pray for a miracle.
Please pray for his family.

ocd

I am trying really hard to overcome my slight problem with being obsessive. THis time of year is really hard on me for some reason, It is when everyone is getting sick and passing around germs. Right now Dan has some weird stomach thing, Sofia and Moses have green boogers running down their faces and the beginnings of a cough.
Now the common cold does not freak me out, but when it comes to the stomach flu I majorly freak out!!!
I start to have anxiety attacks thinking about the kids getting sick to their stomach and throwing up, I freak out at the thought of me getting sick. I start to ask myself a million questions like
What if Dan and I are both sick at the same time, who will take care of the kids?
How will I feed Moses if I have some crazy flu!
What is Moses gets it and he is throwing up he is so little, what if he won't nurse and he gets dehydrated?
The list goes on until I literally give myself a stomach ache and my chest is tight.
I know crazy right.
I hate that I get this way, and the whole time I am telling myself God is in control you can't change this.
Although I try by washing my hands until they are really dry and I tell Zeke to count to 15 while he washes his hands and he says stop telling me that mama. And I spray lysol all over the bathroom!
I think it feels more heightened right now because I have not slept for 4 nights in a row, mo can't breathe at night so he is crying every hour.
I am reading Matthew 6 in an effort to talk myself down from crazy town.
Thank goodness for Dan who always brings me back to reality. I can pray, and do my best to keep the freak out to a minimum!
Matthew 6 :32
Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern.

Burrrrr

I just love Ann Taintor, these pics crack me up.


Today when I drove Zeke to school around 8:15am it was 38 degrees!!!
It is finally turning into winter weather! The kids are outside playing right now and it is cold, it is probably about 50 degrees and the sun is out, the kids don't care except they say their hands are cold!
I love this weather, I have beans soaking so I can make soup tomorrow for dinner!
Thanksgiving gave me the itch to cook again. I have to admit that ever since Moses was born I have been slacking off when it comes to cooking. Until last week Moses was only taking 20 minute naps like 3 times a day. Needless to say 20 min. doesn't allow me time to prepare a dinner!
Plus I was being lazy.
Anyway ever since cooking the 24 pound turkey I have also made enchiladas, (aunt lindy's yummy recipe), I baked chocolate chip bars, and tonight I am making a bean soup.
I have been using all the leftover turkey and it has been awesome!
It only took me 4 months to get back into the groove of my housewife duties! Thank goodness I have the best husband who never complains and says sure grilled cheese sounds great!
( I seriously have made grilled cheeses 500 times in the last few months!)

givin' thanks

This thanksgiving was our first one all grown up! We have always gone to our families house for the thanksgiving meal, but this year we stayed here in Redding and started a new tradition.
We had 8 adults and 9 kids, still we were outnumbered!
Melissa, Gafners, Osbornes, and Christian.
We had yummy food, and played scattegories, there was much cheating going on, usually by Dan.
The kids did awesome they ran around outside for 5 hours and rarely got into any fights, it was amazing. We are pretty sure the kids thanksgiving meal only consisted of cupcakes and brownies, but hey it is only once a year right!
The only fiasco was saved by my mom. I forgot to take the bag of giblets out of the butt of the turkey! It was in the oven cooking when I got a text from my dad wishing us a happy thanksgiving, when I texted back, my mom just happened to say you checked both ends of the turkey right?...
Both ends, what!!!
So I had to take the 24 pound turkey back out of the oven, out of the oven bag and reach up there and get the bag, nasty.
Doing the turkey reminded me why I have thought of becoming a vegetarian. The fact that you have to pull the neck out and other insides, sick.
Anyway thanks mom for saving my turkey!
Thanks Sean for cutting the turkey and making yummy gravy!
All in all it was a great day.

2 boys and a girl.

It totally looks like Z is wearing skinny pants, but they are his jammies that are too small!!
Don't be jealous of how clean our play room is!


Poor Sofia, with 2 brothers she seems destined to be a tom boy. We have never been one to buy toys for our kids, so the toys they have have been gifts. (they have way too many!)
And Sofia has a really cool kitchen and a tea set along with one doll. I personally think this is PLENTY to play with, but for 80% of her day she plays with boy toys.
The picture is of her playing with legos, she has just discovered she can build things and she has been doing it all morning! I am sure it is from the influence of her brother and his amazing ability to build things.
Every once in awhile we see glimpses of Sofia's girliness. She LOVES to try on shoes and clothes, every time someone comes over she finds their shoes and is walking around the house in them, her favorite is Zeke's cowboy boots.
So cute
So I do have hope of her wanting to do tea parties and play house.
she is very sweet with her doll, she rocks her and rubs her back when I do the same with moses. I am still waiting for her to start nursing her doll!
But for now she would rather vroom cars with Zeke and build things with legos.
It is amazing to see how they learn through play, I think I have some pretty amazing kids!
Side note: Moses started rolling over last week, what the heck he is only 3 and 1/2 months!

it is here!!

Today is the day!!!
Twilight is showing tonight at midnight and a bunch of us crazy girls are going to see it!
I feel like a giddy 16 year old about to go see New kids on the block or something! Even though I never really liked them in jr high and high school, I think this is how I might feel!
I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now and I am so excited to go and see it!!!
Rebecca and I joked about getting t-shirts, but i don't think we were really joking...
But I am too cheap to spend money, and probably won't make it to the mall anytime soon today!
Anyway if you have not read the books yet do it, then go see the movie!!!
Tomorrow I will be kicking myself for acting young and crazy when I have to feed Moses at 3am and my kids get up at 6am!
But for now I can't wait!!!

did you see...

Did anyone see Extreme home make over last night!?
It was amazing, I was crying like a baby throughout the whole show!
It was about this family who had 3 sons biologically then adopted 5 boys from Hati and 3 boys from their inner city. So they had 11 kids!!!!
They seemed so sweet and sincere and it was so exciting to see a family sacrifice in order for these kids to have a home. It made me want to adopt again, but then reality hit as I stood bouncing my crying 3 month old for the 2nd hour in a row. Maybe some day when I can get a grip on three crazy kids!
Anyway it made me think of so many people we know who have walked the road of adoption, and I am thankful that these stories are being told, maybe someone somewhere wants to adopt a child now, how awesome would that be!

been awhile

So much has happened in the last couple weeks!
We packed up our apartment, very quickly, worked on our new house painting, cleaning etc, then we moved. it all happened so fast there was barely enough time to get everything done! Our new place is still a mess but I am ok with taking our time to unpack and settle in. The kids only let me get so much done anyway!
I turned 31, wow i can't believe i am in my 30's now!!!
Celebrated halloween in our new house,
Dan preached, all of this in one weekend, we are tired!
Moses is doing so great getting so big and he has been giggling lately and I just can't get enough of it!!!!!! He gets a huge smile when zeke and sofia talk to him, it is so sweet.
It took us over a week to get internet, so i will
try to keep up with the crazy blog world now!
For now some pics will have to do!

of course..

Of course on the day we are getting the keys to our new house our kids would get sick!
We have huge plans for painting and cleaning our house this week, we hope to finish in a week and move in the end of this week. But as soon as I put my gloves on to get down and dirty my phone rings. It is Zeke's school office letting me know he has a fever! Sofia also has one!
So sad when my kids are sick, they have so much energy normally so when they just lay on the ground with sad faces it breaks your heart!
So I guess we will see what we can get done, Dan will defintely be doing all the work.
Thanks Annette for helping me clean this morning, your a great friend!
I guess I will be home more than I planned, then again I have barely packed so I guess I will have plenty to do!!!

3 kids on a plane=crazy

Well our trip home to Riverside was eventful!
Sometimes I think I was crazy to travel this way
The travel actually went a lot better than it could have. If it had not been for Lorrie someone would not have made it! Sofia would have been left somewhere! She was a pistol in the airport and on the plane, thank you Lorrie for putting up with my crazy kids.
We had such a good time visiting family, the kids got lots of love and attention from the grandparents, which they love!
Went to the park with Jess and the girls, I went out with my girlfriends for dessert, went shopping with my parents and sister, got a manicure. I slept in, thanks to my mom and mother-in -law taking care of my noisy early risers!
It was a great restful weekend, and I was so glad to get back, we missed Dan!!!

So excited!

The kids & I are going to Riverside for a long weekend! We leave tomorrow in the afternoon, we are driving down to Sac, ugh, then we will fly down south. Sometimes I think I might be crazy to travel with my 3 kids one being a new baby, one being a 20 month old who loves to run away from you, and one being a 5 year old that I am praying wants to be mama's helper tomorrow!
We will see!
Actually I think it might go pretty well, a girl from our old church in Riverside is flying to help me!! She worked for Southwest and so she can fly easily and she offered to help me out! Amazing!!!
I am so thankful for the help! Otherwise I am not sure my sanity would be intact when I arrived!!
Can't wait to see family, friends, go to lunch with my mom and sister, go to coffee with my girlfriends! Maybe a pedicure or manicure!!
So excited!!!
Dan can't wait to have a quiet house and sleep in!!!
I admit I am a bit jealous of the sleeping in, but I know he will miss the chaos!
I get to enjoy the chaos on the plane and in the car!
But it is worth it when i can get my Riverside fix!

Do you have it?!!!

Does anyone have the 4th book in the Twilight saga!!!!
I'm hooked and everyone I know has loaned it out!
If you have one and i can borrow it let me know!!!
I have to admit that when Erica told me about them I giggled and said I probably wouldn't read them... well you were right Erica they are awesome!!!

math is fun!

Zeke is learning about number sentences in school right now. Now you would think that when I see him practicing that I would be proud, but not when he is practicing on the closet door!
He and Sofia have been destroying their room at night. We go to check on them and the light will be on and they will be passed out in a pile of toys on their beds!
So this morning I see that the blue crayon has struck again. Last week it was all over the couch and dresser, today it was on the bed and the closet.
The ironic thing is when Zeke was 2 he never did anything like this, now that he is 5 and knows better, he is going for it!!
Keeping me on my toes, that is what my kids are all about!

Pigtails

Isn't she so cute!
She looks so big with her hair like this!
Just wanted to share!

it is 3:58 am right now!

This was a week or two ago, he was mad
don't you just love his dan furrowed brow, so cute!


It is almost 4am, moses and i have been up for an hour hanging out. He has been getting so much better with sleeping lately, he is just having some gas issues tonight. he has been ripping them off like he is a burly 15 year old who just ate 4 chili dogs!
It is so sad the way he screams out in pain, his pour little tummy must really hurt. It makes me feel so bad and i try to go over everything i ate to see what caused this. Can't figure it out, was it the blt i had for lunch, the grilled cheese for dinner??? (i have been making some gourmet meals lately) Dan has been working late so i have not made the effort to cook much!
Anyway just hanging out passing the time until Mo decides to drift off to sleep!
hope it is soon since he will want to eat again in less than 2 hours!

Choices

Lately we have been talking to Zeke about making the right choice. Unfortunately he has been deciding to make the wrong choices lately.

Like when he decides to try on a whole package of Sofia's swim diapers and wear them around. I woke him up Monday and he was wearing a swim diaper again.

Like when he dumps out 6 tubs of toys in order to stack the tubs up and get stuff down from the top of the closet. He fell on his head.

Like when he decides to take a blue crayon and write all over the black couch and wood dresser.

Like when he cuts my shirt up to use the ribbon for one of his "projects"

Like when he gets the tamborine out and bangs on it while Sofia and Moses are napping.

Like when he somehow gets to the top of his closet and opens up presents that are not for him and plays with them during his rest time.

Like when he uses my razor to cut his hair

Like when he gets into Dan's drawer and comes out smelling like a whole bottle of after shave.

This has been in the last week or so that all of these things have happened!
It is just so weird, maybe it is his rebellion and his way of getting used to having a new baby, but it has been crazy, we never know what is going to happen next!

pictures

These are in no order!
Sofia and I before the baby, even she has changed in 6 weeks!
Zeke hanging out with Papa
Moses and I caught up in the Twilight saga! So addiciting!


My family, Grammy and Grampy with the grandkids



Today I downloaded all the pictures off of Dan's camera and I realized I had not even looked at the pictures from Moses' birth! It has been so crazy these last 6 weeks and life is finally starting to fall into a routine and it was so fun to see pictures I had never knew existed!
So i thought I would share a few with you from the last few weeks!

EZ-E, wouldn't it be cute if we called him that!

I just found this old pic of Zeke 2 years ago, so cute!!!

Just wanted to share some funny things that Zeke has done in the last couple of days.

First of all a couple of months back Zeke decided he was going to get into Dan's tools and take the training wheels off of his bike. But then he wouldn't let us help him learn to ride. So it has been months of not riding his bike. This past week he hops on Davey's bike and takes off! He is literally jumping his bike off the curb and off the speed bumps. Amazing

This week he goes into the trash can in our bathroom and digs out the blade off of my razor. He cuts his bangs and his forehead! We thought it was from a fall off his bike but then I discovered hair all over the bathroom floor and my razor sitting on the counter. He cut his bangs in the spring as well with his kid scissors.
Why he thinks he is qualified to cut his own hair every few months is beyond me!!!
I guess I need to keep up with haircuts or he is going to take things into his own hands!

Also this week he has been quoting America's Funniest Videos. We have one on tape courtesy of the Osbornes and he loves it, watching people crash into others and little boys hitting a ball at their dad's crotch is always good laughs! Anyway there is one where a hampster gets his behind caught in his spinning wheel.
Well as we are driving home from church on Sunday Zeke asks me in between giggles if I have junk in my trunk!
I start cracking up and then realize later it is from the video, I just hope he is not asking his teacher if she has junk in her trunk!
It seems like all of our kids are about keeping us on our toes lately, no sleeping on the job for us!
As soon as we relax one of them does something crazy!
I guess that is the joy of parenthood, and really it is pretty fun!

yippee for colder weather!

So I can't call it cold weather yet because I think next week it is supposed to get back into the 90's but for now I am loving this 70 and 80 degree weather! We have been opening our windows at night and then we come downstairs in the morning and it is sooo cold! I love it, today when I came down with the kids I had to go back up and get my sweats!!!
The thing I love the most is making a hot cup of tea or coffee! There is something about holding a hot cup of tea when it is cold outside, I love that!
I love fall weather, wearing a scarf, getting a pumpkin spice latte,wearing a comfy sweater!
I am so looking forward to when it is actually going to stay cold!
For now I am just enjoying my tea and snuggling up in a blanket with the kids on the couch!

The moby wrap

I have been wearing Moses in my Moby warp lately, it is so much better on my back than my sling. I find myself slouching and leaning forward when I have my sling on, and it kills my neck. The moby puts Moses right in front of me and this morning I was emptying the dishwasher, loading it up again, doing the laundry! It was amazing, and all the while he was snoozing away!
Now if only we could get him to snooze away the night!
Last night he just wanted to be awake! I watched some Jimmy Kimmel from midnight to 1am. Kobe Bryant was on, snooze...
He was up from 3am to 4am. Then Dan was up from 4am to 5am downstairs trying to get him to sleep. Thankfully my body is adjusting to having less sleep and I feel like I can at least function even if I have had little sleep the night before. My house is a constant wreck but I figure as long as the kids are getting fed and are surviving I am doing ok!
I really need to blog about something other than my lack of sleep.
I will work on that!

It's gonna be a long night!

So I am typing with one hand trying to keep Moses awake. He has been sleeping all day today which means he will be up all night! Every time I get him calmed down, he falls asleep then I have to wake him up again and the crying begins again. It is a vicious cycle!!!
I think i will try a bath to get him really happy with me!!
This is life right now, get the 2 older kids in bed and then the night begins! There is no more sitting on the couch with my husband talking!
Although I shouldn't complain we went on our first date alone in over 5 weeks!!!
Yay!!!
ok gotta go it is getting loud!!!

Master Zeke

If you don't know my son, (the older one) then you might not know how creative he is. He loves to take things apart and put them back together. Or take things apart and make new things out of the parts. We have gotten used to this and know that many things in our house are in pieces, but for the most part it is Zeke's toys and things that see the wrath of his imagination.
A couple of days ago he informs me that he made something and he wanted me to see it. I was nursing Moses so I said I would in a minute, I said but why don't you tell me about it until I can see it. So he explains that he found some ribbon, cut it up and taped it to his little table fan and when he turns it on the ribbons blow and it looks so cool!
So the day went on and we forgot to go check it out, until it was bed time.
I happen to see his cool invention and think to myself those ribbons look familiar what are they from?
It just so happens he cut up one of my shirts to use the ribbons! The ribbons were literally part of my shirt and tied in the back. He found scissors and just started cutting my shirt up for his creation!
I was so dumbfounded, thinking how could he have thought that it was ok to cut up an actual piece of clothing!!!! His response was oh sorry mama I didn't know!
Anyway I had to throw the shirt away since it was cut up!
I guess that is the price I pay for a little mind that wants to create!

I forgot!

It is funny the things you can forget.
I forgot how hard this baby stage is, it has been so long since we have gone through it. Zeke is almost 5 now and he was such a hard baby!
Moses is following in his footsteps! Here it is almost 4 weeks since his birth and he still has not mastered the day and night difference. It is 2 am and Moses is wide awake!
The evenings are so hard if he is not sleeping or eating he is crying. Zeke was the same way I literally sat in front of the TV watching Friends episodes because Zeke would only sleep if someone was holding him!!!
I never thought I would get so much use out of seasons of Friends again but here I am about to start season 3 at 2am!
I know I will miss this baby stage but right now I want to skip ahead to where I am feeling somewhat normal and healthy and can sleep for longer than a 2 hour stretch!
Nursing is such a huge task of giving up your self and time for your baby, I love that i get to do it and am grateful for it, I just never realized what a sacrifice it is!
Anyway keep praying for us, I am hopefully on my way to recovering from the mastitis. Wow did that hit me hard!!
Well off to watch the antics of those crazy Friends!
Sleep tight all you lucky people!

shout out

Just wanted to give a shout out to all the people who have been bringing us food.
Thank you so much it has been so amazing.
By the end of the day I am wiped out (let's get serious I start the day that way!)
anyway it has been so great not having to think about cooking a meal.
Thank you Stirring family for blessing us.
The food has been yummy!!

still alive

I am still alive, barely it feels like sometimes.
Things are so crazy at our house and with church. Dan and I are only getting a few hours of sleep at night, this has been 2 and a half weeks of lack of sleep. It starts to catch up with you. Dan said he fell asleep at the stop light tonight coming home. That's safe.
There are few moments of quiet in the house, even when Zeke and Sofia go to bed, that is when Moses is up and loud. It is hard not to feel stressed and exhausted.
I feel like all I do is feed the kids, and nurse moses.
I got a clogged milk duct and I hear it is from stress and lack of sleep. My lactation consultant said I need to sleep more. I told her I would love that but it is probably not gonna happen!
Today I feel better, and I am thankful for that. Although I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I think I look 5 years older all of the sudden. Bummer.
Anyway just wanted to let everyone know I am still alive and we are surviving.
It has to get easier, right!

My sweet Sofia

This last week and a half has been so many things. Wonderful, exciting, relief, exhausting, emotional, TIRING!!!
Our family adjusting to a baby has been anything but easy.
Moses does not sleep at night, and with 2 kids that means I don't sleep during the day either!
Zeke started school which was a really hard transition for him.
Sofia , my sweet easy girl has turned into the demolition queen! In this first week I will just highlight a few things Sofia has been up to, all usually while I am nursing and can't get to her in time!
Sofia has been playing in the toilet
eating dog food
emptying my entire recipe box
sitting in the pantry eating a bag of chips
pulling all of Zeke's books off the shelf
feeding the dog her entire p.b sandwich
pushing the buttons on the printer and jamming it.
Throwing multiple fits of rolling around on the ground and screaming
I am sure there is more but this is just a small list of what she likes to fill her time with.
So we are trying to give her love and attention as we teach her to obey. Not easy when you have a week old baby!
One day I will look back and tell her the stories of her with her new baby brother and we will laugh. I look forward to that day!!

Big Brother

I didn't have my camera handy but I couldn't pass up this photo opportunity! Thank goodness for the Mac and the photo booth! This is Zeke reading a story to Moses on the couch. So sweet.
Zeke informed me that Moses loved the book.
Sofia on the other hand is not making the transition of a baby brother as smoothly as Zeke.
I will save that for another post!

What I have been doing!

Before baby (thanks emily for the pics!!)

After. Moses coming home!
( I don't know how to flip the picture and I am too tired to figure it out!)

So as most of you know Moses came into this world one week ago today!
What an experience!!!
So so so thankful I got to experience giving birth, but as of now I do not want to do it again!
My water broke last Sunday afternoon, Dan raced home and we took off for the hospital.
It was a long 12 hours, which I hear is not too bad for a first birth.
Had pitocin to help push my labor along, which make the contractions really hard!
The pain was unreal, and just when we were ready to give in and get the epidural I was finally at 8 centimeters! I was really out of it because I got some Demoral which did nothing for the pain but put me into a state of deliriousness (is that a word?)
I would feel like I was in a drugged out dream state for the one minute in between contractions, then the pain would start again and I was completely aware of everything. It was the weirdest thing I have ever been through.
Finally After pushing for about 45 minutes or an hour Moses flew into this crazy world!
I am thankful I got to do a natural birth and everything went well since this will most likely be my one and only time giving birth!
So far we are surviving, on little to no sleep and the energy of the kids.
They are adjusting to having a baby, I would not call it a smooth transition but it will get there! My mom stayed for a week and a half and literally cleaned my house top to bottom and took care of the kids the whole time!
My dad, sister and nephews came up this weekend and helped us cope with a family of 3! Thanks for everything you guys, the house feels quiet (if that is possible) without you!
I remember feeling overwhelmed when Zeke came home from the hospital, and now I think oh how nice it would be to recover with just one! Just the exhaustion of giving birth and recovery is crazy, plus trying to nurse and sleep and take care of 2 kids, and bills and a house to clean. I applaud my friends with 3 or more kids!
So this has been my life for the last week, luckily Dan is good at keeping everyone up to date since I can barely stay awake to type this!
Thanks for all the love and support!