bumps and bruises

I realize all of my blogs are about the kids, but let's get serious what else occupies all of my time! Yesterday we had a heck of day! Both of the kids got hurt numerous times and we have bumps and bruises to prove it! Zeke got his little goose egg on his head after he was blowing a piece of paper off of his face and he head butted the counter top. Literally he gave it a really hard head butt, it was loud and very painful. Later in the day he bumped the same spot with the chair and it was red for an hour so he decided he needed a band-aid.
Later Sofia was walking to the coffee table( it really is now a tv stand) and she thought she was there but she was not and instead of her hands hitting the stand her face did. She has a bruise across her cheek and her mouth was bleeding. It was so sad.
Then today Zeke smashed her finger in the door, ouch.
Both of the kids have very visible bruises on their faces, I am sure it looks like I beat them, I guess these are the war wounds of being a kid.

Zeke's new hair do

So over the weekend after Scarlet and I got our hair cut I stated that Zeke would probably be next. Well he took those words to heart and yesterday morning went to work on his hair. I was upstairs getting dressed and Sofia was sleeping, usually during these times, Zeke draws or watches a short video, well this particular day he obviously didn't have anything to keep himself busy. He walks into my bathroom and says "hey mama do you like my new haircut" I laugh and turn to look at him and realize he is serious and has been busy cutting his own hair with his child scissors! He actually could have done much worse, he only cut his bangs and his hair is so thick that it was not completely gone . Still it looked really funny because his hair was short on his forehead and long over his ears and everywhere else. So when Dan got home he said lets just buzz it, he had been threatening to buzz it anyway, so we went for it. I must admit I was sad, I just love his long hair, it has so many shades of blonde and it is so thick and nice. He looks cute with it buzzed but he says now he can't shake his hair around! As you can see he was not happy while Dan was shaving it, he kept yelling, "daddy DO NOT CUT MY EAR OFF" we were outside and he was yelling this quite a bit so I am sure the neighbors were curious!
Anyway lesson learned on my part, keep the scissors put away and make sure he has something to do while I get ready!

my little miracle

So the rumors are true, I am pregnant! I figure everyone who reads my blog reads Dan's so you already know, but I still wanted to post about it!
What the heck right! We are still in shock about it a lot of the time, 4 months into it and we still get huge smiles on our faces when we talk about God and his surprises!
It is so cool to look back on our journey and see God's plan woven throughout the whole process. 7 years of trying to have children and just when we think our little family of four is complete, God blesses us with this desire that has been deep within us. I love that each of our children are miracles, with different stories and that all along God was orchestrating each and every detail.
I am so absolutely thrilled that I have this little person growing and floating inside me, that she(dan keeps saying he so I am gonna go with she) that she has all her little organs and fingernails and I get to carry her around with me, it is really amazing to me. We have heard the heartbeat twice now and each time I get the chills, it is just like wow, this is really true, finally.
Anyway I just wanted to say thank you to all of our family and friends who have traveled this crazy journey with us, so many of you have been praying with us for literally 7 years and a friend just said on the phone the other day that it was an answer to their prayers as well. How cool that so many people are rejoicing with us in this miracle.
How cool is our God that knows the desires of our hearts and he gives them to us when we least expect it!

We got our hair did

Scarlet and I went to the beauty salon today, it was much needed for both of us!
We actually went on the same day last time we got our hair did! That was back at the beginning of December. Scarlet had all kinds of knots and crazy hair, so she looks so cute now! I was also in a bad state, with the weather up here I had a constant frizzy bob. It was not cute, so I got it thinned out and I am so glad!
Of course it will never look this cute again because I can NEVER re-do it to look as good as when you come out of the salon!
Next it will probably be Zeke's hair we cut, we wanted to grow it but it is against the dress code at his pre-school! Dan and I are bummed because we love his long hair. We'll see, for now it is still unruly and long, without the mullet. So that is a hair update for the Lances, I am sure you can guess how Dan's looks!

Finally Sofia walks

Sofia is walking! She has definitely taken her time! She began walking along all the furniture in November and we swore by Christmas she would be walking! We were so worried she would start when Dan was in Redding and were staying with my parents in December, but no she had other plans. For months she has gotten around by walking along the walls and anything in her path, or speed crawling. She has been content to do this, so lately we have been like this is crazy and we try not to let her crawl but make her walk. I know we are so mean.
Anyway just in the last few days she has been walking almost across the entire family room! She is so cute she walks all the way to us and then just dives into our arms laughing and so proud of herself!
She is so fun and it is hilarious because now Zeke wants the attention and he says it's my turn to walk to you, and he pretends to be learning to walk and fall. It is great fun for the whole family!

The Roadster, don't act like you aren't impressed!

First of all isn't Zeke's bed head so cute! He has the thickest hair and these crazy cowlicks (sp?) that are amazing. Until it gets longer he always has the best crazy hair!
So usually in the morning when Sofia takes a nap Zeke and I either do his homework or build things with legos.
I am proud to say we built this "roadster" all by ourselves today! Zeke is amazing with legos but I am not, so when he wanted to put together this new car, I did not! Anyway we had so much fun and it was like 15 steps, yay for easy legos! It also glows in the dark!

Dan has been out of town and Zeke had this whole week off of school, so needless to say it has been a really long week. But today Dan gets home and I am so excited! The kids actually did great, it is just hard not having a break. We planned trips to Old Navy, walks around our complex, and dinner with some new friends. So it was good to have things to do. I just heard that we are getting a big storm today, with crazy winds up to 50mph! I hope it waits until Dan gets home!

Every movie is bad

That is how Zeke feels right now, and it is so annoying! He is in this phase where he vehemently swears all movies are bad. The only movie he will watch is Cars. In class they showed a cartoon and he cried the whole time and sat on the teachers lap, at the gym last week they had cartoons quietly playing in the background and he cried, but refused to stop watching it!
We keep trying new movies and it is always a disaster! My parents got him Curious George for Christmas and we have made him watch it twice, most of the movie he laughs but some parts he covers his ears and yells at us, then afterwards says it was a bad movie and he didn't like it at all! So we decided to rent Ratatouille since we heard how cute it was. So as I am putting it on he is already crying and mad at me for making him stay downstairs. But that is the problem he won't even give it a chance! Of course one of the first scenes is an old lady shooting at the rats with her shot gun, and a million rats running through the gutters. He is already crying and covering his ears, good times. So we made it through but I missed 70% of it due to his yelling at me! I really hope someday soon we get over this phobia!
On a lighter note I have seen two movies lately which I enjoyed. Now you might say, "um Alyssa those movies have been out for awhile", I know this but I am a bit behind on movies!

We rented "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and loved it, George Clooney's character was great, and his expressions were amazing.
Also "Becoming Jane" this was a girl movie that Dan kind of watched with me. He had just gotten a new phone so he was really doing that instead.
Anyway his comment half way through was sarcastically "oh I wonder how this will end, will they live happily ever after?" And I said well if it is true to Jane Austen's life then no Dan she won't! Anyway I will not spoil it if you have not seen it, it is great, but I LOVE period pieces and Jane Austen!
So this has been movies in the life of the Lances! Yes we are outdated, but that is what happens with kids!

my music vs. the kids music

So for Valentines Day Dan got me this C.D. which I love! Love the movie, love the music!
We went out to this really nice golf club and ate dinner with some new friends, it was great.
I have unfortunately not had this cd stuck in my head for the last week, I have had veggie tales ingrained in there instead. Zeke has recently been into this veggie tales juke box dvd, you pick all the songs you want to hear and it plays through them all like a juke box. Well we have been listening to it daily for more than a week!
Now I have to give it up to veggie tales they have catchy, funny songs. They make us all laugh. For example they have a song called the bellybutton song, where the veggies are dressed like the backstreet boys and sing lines like baby I gotta tell you somethin', I don't got a bellybutton. And they sing little tunes about Sport utility vehicles, cruisin to 7-11 for frito lays and kickin it in 4 wheel drive for a dozen eggs. Now this might not sound that funny, but the veggies are dressed like yuppies and driving pink and blue matching SUV's.
Anyway last night at 1am when I woke to visit the ladies room, I was singing in my head one of the tunes about a yodeling veterinarian! It has gone too far when all day these catchy tunes are in my head!
So I am going to work on getting some good music in my head! It is cute to watch Zeke giggle at these tunes, he has never been into veggie tales, but who wouldn't love to hear a cucumber sing about his lost hairbrush!
by the way Zeke is sick again, has had a fever on and off since yesterday, in the month and a half since we moved, he has been well for one week! ugh!

Creatures of Habit

I was realizing that our daily routine in the mornings is exactly the same everyday! When it comes to breakfast we each have our own little thing we eat everyday. Dan eats Special K cereal daily, he has eaten that for almost 2 years now. (it is a good weight watchers breakfast) I make myself an egg mcmuffin of sorts every morning. I cook my egg add a slice of colby jack cheese and eat it on a toasted english muffin (they have nooks and crannies ya know).
Zeke has eaten the same breakfast since he was 2 years old. He either eats cheerios or bees. You might be wondering what bees are, Zeke named them bees when he could hardly talk, they are actually organic panda puffs from Trader Joes. We never figured out why he named them bees, but it has stuck and everyone in our family calls them that!
Sofia is still eating baby cereal so we are not sure what her breakfast favorite will be!
I know this is a weird boring post, but it struck me as funny that we are so stuck in our routines of breakfast foods!
Happy Wednesday, the sun is shining again! Yay!

snow trip 2008

Dan already put a quick post up about our snow trip to Mt. Shasta. The Osborne's came up to visit for the weekend and we braved a trip to Mt. Shasta. The weather was actually perfect, the sun was shining and it was clear and beautiful! As you can see there was a ridiculous amount of snow piled up on the sides of the road, it was crazy! The slopes were not as groomed as we were used to but it was free and fun, a great combo! When we used to go down south in Running springs it would cost like $8 a person, so free was a great bonus!
The pictures of Zeke are priceless and sum up his snow experience! The hill was a little rough so Sofia and I just hung out on the saucer, we are pretending to go down the hill, but don't be fooled we are sitting still!
We went to get hot coco afterward, and even though Zeke was unhappy 85% of the time and Sofia didn't feel good, we still had a great time with friends.
It is amazing to me that we live an hour away from Mt. Shasta, it is so beautiful up there!

kids = MESS

It's a wonder I get anything done around here. The first picture is of Zeke hiding in the dirty laundry. The laundry I had just separated into 3 piles to wash, they are no longer separated.
The 2nd picture is of Sofia and she gets into absolutely everything possible. I load the dishwasher she empties it all over the floor, I pick up the family room she throws all the books off the bookself, and all the dvd's and cd's as well. This is a drawer that she daily empties out.
The only time the house gets cleaned is if the kids are sleeping! Then the day begins again and the house gets destroyed! But that is life with kids and I love it!

Things that are not so good...

Sofia and I getting sick again after only being well for less than a week

Sofia teething and biting everything, including your hand when you least expect it

Sofia having ridiculous poops, often (4 times a day) due to her teething. Cloth diapers are not so fun on these days.

Buying too many big items at Ikea and realizing it may not fit in the car... I am sure Dan will post about this experience soon.

Leaving the dog for 9 hours to travel to Ikea in Sacramento and coming home to some surprises! I can't fault her for pooping in the house, sometimes you just gotta go.

Feeling aching and tired and having and really really messy house, it just might stay this way for a couple of days!

Jesus and legos

Life lessons with Zeke:
So a couple of days ago Zeke and I were in the kitchen and he pointed at this old trivet I have hanging in the kitchen from my Grandma Krull. He asked what it was, so I explained to him and told him about Grandma Krull. He asked where she was and I said she is with Jesus know. He said who is Jesus? (now this is Zeke's new thing, I ask him if he wants some rice and he says who is rice?) So I began to talk about Jesus and what the Bible says he was like while here on earth. How he spent time with the poor and those alone and in need. He healed the sick and loved the lonely. At first he didn't agree, he said no Jesus was a baby. So we continued to talk and later he looked at me and said "mama I think Jesus would share his legos" I said Zeke I think you are right!
I love that he can put it into his own terms and make it make sense in his world.

Things I think are good...

Lately I have enjoyed a few random things which I will list here:

Movies: In 2007 the best movie I saw of course was Juno, I think you all know that. (of course I think I only saw 3 movies in 2007!)
Also just saw The Great Debaters, amazing movie, i love movies that are true and have happened, i love movies that make you proud of other people and where they have been and the change they helped bring about in our country.

Book:
A thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. I have been wanting to read this book since it came out but was too cheap to buy the hard back and it was always checked out at the library. So I finally borrowed it from my dear friend Karen. It is one of the best books I have read in a really long time. We read his first book, the Kite runner a few years back in our book club, I think it was the 2nd book we picked, also one of the best books I have read. What is crazy is the author has only written these 2 books. He has a way of capturing you and connecting you to the characters so that love them! You can't put the book down, I read it in 2 nights when Dan was gone. If you have not read it you should!

The political debates:
I have to admit this is the first election that I really care about. I have always voted but honestly have just voted for the republican because thats what you do.
This year Dan and I have taped the debates and when the kids go to bed we get excited, pop some popcorn and watch! I guess we are getting older and realize the importance of this election. Adam had a really cool site on his blog called glassbooth where you can go and answer questions and see which candidate cares about the things you do. It was great to reaffirm Obama believes in a lot of the things I do.

Hot drink:
Our whole family has been sick for over a week now and it is fun! My throat has been hurting so I started having a slice of lemon in hot water with some honey. It is really good and I think it has helped a lot! I think it is good, but not everyone feels the same!

Soup:
I made a recipe of Kathy Risinger's a few days ago and have been enjoying it at every meal. She gave me a tortilla soup recipe a few months back and it is so good and easy. I think she had the recipe on her blog a little while ago, try it out!

Baby Einstein:
There seems to be a certain time of day, (evening) that the kids are just crabby and restless. So every once in awhile I throw on a baby Einstein, and luckily there are a few older ones that Zeke still enjoys, so nice that both the kids can enjoy something while dan and I can eat a meal semi peacefully together.

Sleeping in:
Now once you become parents this luxury is gone for what seems like forever. But we had a fleeting time of the kids sleeping in until 8am!!!!! The first week and a half we were up here the weather was so rainy that it would be a little darker than normal so they would sleep in until 8. We were in heaven while it lasted.

Amazing Race:
We have loved this show for years and we were rooting so hard for T.K. and Rachel and they won, Yay!!! THis season was awesome and they were a couple who remained calm and kind to one another in the midst of some serious stress!

Those are just a few things I have enjoyed lately, thought I would share!

It's snowing in Redding!

So today Zeke and I were sitting at the table playing with legos when Scarlet needed to go outside, I turn around to open the slider and what do I see, SNOW falling! It was so fun, Zeke stood on a chair trying to catch some in his hand and yelled mama its almost like Christmas! For some reason he thinks it can only snow at Christmas.
Anyway it is freezing cold outside and the snow is not staying on the ground yet but it is getting thicker as it falls so maybe later today. What is funny is today for Zeke's class his teacher planned a winter wonderland with literally thousands of pieces of tissue paper balled up into snowballs and they are supposed to wear big jackets and mittens and hats, how fitting is it that is it actually snowing!

So tired of boogs

That is what we call boogers in our home and I am so tired of seeing them all over my shirt and in kleenex all over the house. Our whole family has been sick for the last week and it is not fun. Sofia has not slept for the last 2 nights. She has had so many boogers she sounds like a rabid animal snorting around my room in the middle of the night! It just sucks for babies because you cannot give them cold medicine so they just have to suffer. They can't blow their noses you have to use the aspirator which no child enjoys.
The first night of her sickness Dan slept in the family room because he has a hacking cough and didn't want to keep us up. Sofia slept for a few hours until I came to bed at 11pm then she was snorting and uncomfortable. So we tried to sleep in bed but she was just a mess, and I began to go crazy from listening to boogers snort in and out for 3 hours. So I went to lay in the hallway but the dog thought this meant play time. So from 11pm to around 2am we were awake and miserable. I went downstairs at one point to suck the boogers out of Sofia's nose and Dan didn't even wake up over the crying and noise, he took Nyquil and didn't even know I came down there. Lucky dog! Around 2:30 Carol came in (she is visiting for the weekend) and took over and let me sleep which I was so thankful for. Last night we were only up for about 2 and 1/2 hours so it is getting better!
Anyway Dan is leading worship tonight and he sounds the worst out of all of us. Hopefully this week our boogers will clear up!

The Sun is shining!

The last few days it has been sunny or at least not raining! So of course Zeke wants to be outside! The pic with the dump truck is of Zeke in our backyard with our really tall weeds, yes some of them are about 3 feet high! It is hard to be motivated to go clean up a backyard when it is 40 degrees out! Zeke doesn't seem to mind in the afternoon when it is in the mid 40's out. Yesterday we went for a walk around 9am and it was so cold, Dan loves this kind of weather, clear but really cold out. It burns my face off! You can see Sofia was quite bundled up, she didn't complain the whole time we were out.
Unfortunately I do not have a lot of interesting updates to give you, we are pretty boring lately. We are still getting into the groove of school and a schedule so we pretty much do the same things daily. This is actually comforting to me, having a routine makes things feel normal and doesn't give me time to feel sorry for myself! I have to admit the house is still a mess and there are still boxes to unpack, but it is slowly starting to get me motivated!
Dan lead worship last weekend at the Stirring and it went great, we are starting a series called When God dreams, I think it is going to be really good.
Alright I gotta get back to building legos with Zeke! In the mornings when Sofia takes her nap we do homework then build cars with legos!

some happenings in the Lance household

I was talking to my mom on the phone today and she informed me that Dan and I had not updated our blogs for a few days and I had not realized the week had gone by already! It has been a busy week getting into the swing of school with Zeke and still trying to unpack and get settled. Zeke has school in the afternoon which is not real condusive to Sofia's naps, but we are working out a schedule. This post will be random happenings this week.
The pictures are of Sofia and her fat lip. Her and Zeke were playing and she got pushed face first on the tile and got a bloody nose and a fat lip, it was sad and Zeke felt so bad because it really was just playing. She is tough and it is cute when she smiles and it is lopsided. And Scarlet settling in to her life of napping and trying to dodge to rain as she does her business outside. It has seriously taken her this whole week to get used to going out in the rain, the first few days she would hold it for hours and hours because she was scared to go outside! She is a spoiled so cal doggy!
It has been raining since we have been here, one week. Yesterday it was cloudy but no rain until evening, it is hard getting the kids out of the car when it is pouring down, no one stays dry. Zeke said to us the other day "why is it just raining and raining and raining here?" I guess he is used to last winter in Riverside where it rained a total of 3 times.
Dan and I met with Zeke's teacher yesterday and she gave us some insight into what they do in class and what we need to work on with him.
She said he does great with his numbers and letters but his writing is really struggling. We have not worked with him in holding his pencil the correct way we just kind of let him do what he wanted and now we have to correct that! He is catching on and doing great, I have been working with him 2 times a day in order to help him catch up to his classmates. He was not required to do anything homework or writing at his other pre-k class so it is an adjustment. He would much rather play with his legos but he gets so excited when he accomplishes his work.
Sofia got another tooth on the top, she still has a crazy swollen gum on top with no tooth yet we keep saying maybe there is just a huge tooth in there and it will pop through and we will have to call her Mater from the Car movie. (he has huge buck teeth if you have not enjoyed that film) She is adjusting well, she is recently attached to me and gets upset when I am not in view. I am hoping this is just a stage because it is hard to get anything done!
Well those are just a few thing going on, we are slowly settling in I still get emotional when I realize my parents don't live down the street anymore or we can't call up Steve & Karen to hang out or when my mom calls and I have to pull it together so I don't cry on the phone. There is always that comfort with a mom where you hear her voice and you get choked up. Maybe that is just me. I will try to update more often. Sorry this is kind of all over the place, just writing down thoughts as they come!

Zeke's new favorite pass-time

Zeke is very excited about the fact that we have stairs, he is constantly sliding down them on his stomach and cracking up the whole time. I do not share the same love of the stairs with him. I have forgotten the constant up and down of cleaning up and oh I forgot my glasses or shoes etc. I have begun to make piles at the foot of the stairs so that I do not have to go up and down 50 times a day. We installed some safety gates with doors that open because Sofia is just as enthralled with the stairs as Zeke is.
Zeke began at his new school today and he did great, he goes everyday now and in the afternoon, he has a small class of 10 kids and I am so excited about that. They are much more academic than we are used to but I think it will be great preparation for Kindergarten next fall. What the heck we almost have a kid in elementary school! There are many changes with his new school, including a dress code! As well as he needs a backpack and a folder and he has homework! I think the homework will be great it keeps me diligent in working with him at home which I need.
Last night was the kids and mine first time to the Stirring and it went great. It was definitely overwhelming meeting new people and realizing I have to make new friends and start over! The kids did great and I am so impressed with how Zeke is handling so much change. Thank you Jesus for that! Anyway just wanted to do a quick update and let you know we are surviving and we are thankful for where God has placed us.
love to all our peeps in the 951, miss you all.

Sofia is 1!

The day before we hit the road we had a family party for Sofia. My parents graciously opened their home and did all the work for the party! My mom made yummy tortilla soup and sandwiches, along with our family favorite chocolate mint freeze for dessert. She also made a small cake for Sofia to dive into. (she did not do any diving)
We had both of our families over for lunch and time together to celebrate Sofia. As you can see from the picture Sofia doesn't care for sweet things she did no eat the cake and just made faces when we tried to feed it to her.
It was a great time with family before leaving, thanks mom and dad for all of your hard work. Sofia will thank you later in life, she would not have had a party otherwise!
I was planing on updating with some more info but Sofia is all of the sudden stuck to my side constantly crying all day long. I'm not sure but it may be due to some change that has been going on lately!

Day one of Redding

Well we made it and are settling in finally to Redding. Dan blogged about our trip, seriously it could not have gone better, thank you Jesus! The kids did great and so did the dog after she barfed once!
We have been unpacking all day and are still not even close to being done. The car was ridiculously full and so it will be a process! Zeke seems to love the new house, there are fans everywhere and new places to explore around the house. He loves sliding down the stairs on his stomach and Sofia has already tried to climb the stairs and fallen. She got a bruise on her head to start the day off. She is into everything and I cannot get a single thing done without stopping to get her out of the dog food, or off the stairs or out of the oven! Anyway it is good to be here, it rained all day but we have kept ourselves occupied with unpacking.
Thanks for praying for us, please continue as we have a lot of change ahead!

Christmas Pics!

Hummer#1 Thanks Aunt Lindi!
Sofia's First Christmas, she just wanted the bows and wrapping!
Grampy Wrestling with Zeke and his cousins, Zeke constantly says "Grampy wets wrestle" Scarlet of course needed to get in on some of the action!

it's been awhile

Since we have been misplaced for about a month now it has been really hard for me to blog! We have no routine or sense of normalcy so my time just does not go to bloggin!
Since Dan has been back we have been so busy with sickness and family get togethers and trying to wrap up all the details of life in Riverside. Our Christmas was great, this was the first Christmas where Zeke anticipated the day and what it would bring. Sadly he knew presents were coming and for about a week before he would ask if it was Christmas yet and if Santa was going to bring him a Christmas hummer. And yes Santa brought 2 of them! Anyway our families blessed us so much, and we are grateful for our time with them.
The time is coming closer when we will be leaving for our trek up to Redding and it is starting to set in. I got sad when we were at my parents house during Christmas just realizing I won't see my mom and dad every week and I won't just go hang out at my parents house whenever I want to. My sister and I won't live around the corner from each other anymore & Zeke won't be able to hang out with his cousins ever week. Little things like that are starting to set in and they are things I have not thought about until the past few days.
So it is with mixed emotions that we wait to leave, we are anxious to start new and get into life in Redding but we are so sad to leave our families and friends and a life that has been everything we've known for so so long.
Hope your Christmas was a great time with family! Happy Birthday Jesus!

sick baby

It has been awhile since I have had a sick baby and I forget how much attention and care is needed when your little one is not up to par. Sofia has had a fever and sore throat for about 3 or 4 days now. It is so sad when they are in such pain, she was not eating or even wanting to drink her bottle for almost a day because it hurt her so bad to swallow. Her fever finally went down yesterday and we seem to be on the mend, thank goodness!
I have a blog friend Amanda who has been caring for her daughter who had a huge surgery and they were in the hospital for weeks and now home care for weeks, I do not know how she does it all, I am so amazed by her great attitude and the love this family has given to their new daughter. Thank the lord that they brought her into their family and have gone through so much pain and effort to help their daughter heal!
I am so thankful to be at my parents house because they are helping me so much, my mom after a long day at work comes home and instantly helps me take care of the kids. Sofia just loves my mom and my mom is spoiling her with rocking and holding time! So this is why my blog has gone so long without posts. By the time the kids are in bed and asleep I end up falling asleep on the couch watching a Christmas movie with my parents, (who also fall asleep nightly on the couch!)
Anyway this has been my life this last week so nothing else has been accomplished! I think it is ok sometimes to not get things done, only sometimes!

lights and MORE lights

Last night we drove around Riverside to pass some time in the evening. Evenings are hard, the kids get restless and poor Sofia's gums are killing her, she had a fever yesterday and is just restless and hurting, so we went for a drive. I am not sure if any of you knew but Zeke LOVES lights! We drove through our old neighborhood and there are a ton of lights around there, it was so pretty and Zeke was so excited! His excitement did not waver from the first lights we saw to the last ones as we drove back into the driveway. He was so cute, he would describe each house we past. "Did you see those mama, look at those green, red, candy canes, snowflakes, flashing ones, santa, etc etc. Each time he would shout there is more, and there is more, MORE and MORE!! It was so sweet the way his amazement did not end after the first 10 houses! I was just so blessed by his love and wonder of lights. Something so simple fills him with joy and excitement, it made me cry a little, just because I do that, and it is Christmas and things are changing and hard. But it was a good cry because there was so much joy in the car! Sofia didn't cry until the end when she was so tired and feverish, but the whole time I think she just watched Zeke! Yay for simple pleasures like Christmas lights!

does zeke need new socks!

Zeke does not have one pair of socks without holes in it! I have been holding out for Christmas stocking stuffers! I know I am cheap, but when I know he will get some soon it is hard to go spend money!
Well today was finally a good day! We had an awful day yesterday and I didn't know if I was going to make it the whole 16 days without Dan, but today Zeke had a much better day. We are working so hard on obedience and speaking kindly to one another. He just struggles so much with things changing and Daddy not being here. The thing I need the most with him is patience and that is what I am lacking in the most! I am so grateful for family, they are so encouraging and positive. Thank goodness because I need it right now. Thanks mom and Dad for letting us take over your house, leave messes, be way too noisy, and eat all your food. It feels really nice to be home with my family during this season. Now I just need Dan here!

two days down 16 more to go!

So dan left yesterday morning at 3:45am with our massive Uhaul truck and the car attached to the back! He actually made great time and the drive he was dreading was not too bad. Thank you Jesus! I was so worried about him all morning but it went so well.
Myself and the kids are staying with my parents and it is so nice to not be alone and to have people to help. It is only day 2 and we are having a hard time, so much change has been really hard on Zeke and he has a hard time whenever Dan is gone. Plus Sofia just got another tooth and has been in so much pain today, it is so sad to see her uncomfortable all day long!
I spent about 2 and 1/2 hours cleaning our empty house yesterday and it was kind of sad and lonely to be there with every sound echoing. It felt good to be done with that and such a relief to be on to the next phase. Now I just have to get through 16 more days without my husband!
For all of you waiting to hear from Dan I am sure he will write in a day or two, he has been a busy bee setting up our new home, how lucky am I to skip this part!

EnerGY!!!

This picture can't even capture Zeke and his energy today! He is shaking his head and yelling aaahahhahhhahhh!!
Today we had a goodbye Lunch at the Grove Grill with the staff at church, it was really nice to just fellowship with friends. But something happened that made our afternoon and evening quite crazy. Nana (Dan's mom) gave Zeke a huge, HUGE cookie after he ate his lunch. Well who knew that the result of that would be a ridiculously crazy 6 hours! I am not exaggerating when I say Zeke was wired for 6 hours! He was excited and jumping and wrestling, and laughing and yelling, and running, and did not stop all night long. It was so wild to watch him never slow down. Even when we put him to bed he was jumping on his bed and trying to wrestle with Scarlet.
I can't even put into words how much energy Zeke had. I might have to put myself to bed early tonight because I am tired from just watching him and his energy! Thanks Carol for the cookie!

packing sucks

The kids actually took a nap today and I have been wandering around trying to figure out what to pack next. I pick a room and then realize I still have over a week and I will need those items I was going to pack! I packed some more books today worked on adoption stuff, but it doesn't look like I have done a darn thing. Since I have been married we have moved I think 6 times. Not fun, I am tired of it and so unmotivated! I am not a procrastinator but I am totally acting like one right now!
Let's hope I can pull this off, and get it all done!

redding trip

The last few days were spent in Redding looking for a place for us to live when we move. It was such an awesome trip, God provided for us in so many ways! The first day we went to two place and the second one was love at first sight! We had heard about this town home and I had high hopes for it and it far exceded what I expected! It is so beautiful and we are getting an amazing deal from a guy that Nate knows from Risen King ( the church we went to while living in Redding). We are so grateful, we feel like it is the perfect fit for our family. THe pre-school we want Zeke to go to was so great, they were so friendly and willing to work with us financially, which was a huge concern for us!
A few days before we left I hurt my neck really badly and sleeping on the hotel pillow made it 100 times worse. I woke up Thursday morning and literally could not get out of bed. Nate called a friend from the Stirring who is a Chiropractor and he got us in right away. HE took x -rays, adjusted me and did not charge us. Today my neck is fianlly moving and the inflmation is going down. It was just amazing how everyone took care of us and was so willing to help meet our needs.
It was exciting driving around planning for our family but also felt lonely and overwhelming. I know God is calling us to go to Redding and that is a comfort to know we are doing what he asks. But that doesn't make it easy to leave. I need to start packing my house up and that freaks me out.
Thansk for praying for us as we were in Redding, God overwhelmed us with his provision for us.

reading is sexy

I have been slowly thinking of all the things I will miss when we move, the list is quite extensive! I am having such a hard time leaving our families and even more so Zeke not having his Grammy and Grampy and Nana and Papa. I get emotional so often when I think about how hard it will be for him. But I know he will be ok, so will I!
But I have been thinking so often of my book club, oh how I love my book club! We started I think about 2 years ago and there are only 3 original members from when we started. Jenn, Karen and I. There have been many added and there is a steady group of about 5 of us. I love this group because we read fun books, have great discussions about these books and we laugh a ton. What I love most is that we talk about the book for like 15 minutes and we talk about life the other hour and a half! We always seem to get on subjects I really can't blog about! I am so grateful I have had this outlet where I can go and talk about our lives, how we want to change, our struggles, and other crazy subjects! Thanks Jenn, Karen, Kari and Shari for sharing and listening I am going to miss you all so much. Maybe I can still read along with you!
Jenn came up with our motto so long ago, Reading is sexy! Thanks Jenn, maybe we should get T-shirts made with our motto on it!

forts, churches and sidewalks

(I don't know how to turn my picture, our mac is in the shop and I already forget how to use a PC!)

Lately Zeke has been making forts, churches and "sidewalks" everyday. He takes all of the cushions and pillows off of our couch and chaise lounge and makes things. He does it every morning while Sofia is sleeping and he and I lay under the fort and read books, or chase Scarlet on the sidewalk he makes. It is fun and he always comes up with something different we need to do. TOday we made a place for the Little Einsteins to play and rocket to park. It is so fun to see his imagination take off and he is so creative!

It is good for me to learn to be ok with a constant messy house as well. I have just accepted that our house will always be out of control for like 5 years. I have relaxed a lot about it and I am proud of myself for it!

THe other picture is of Zeke's room, instead of going to sleep last night he took out every toy he has and stuck 3 pages of stickers all over the wood floors, good times!

some funny happenings

The last few days some really funny things have happened, all of them with Zeke. At least I think they are funny. THese are the random stories that fill our days!
The first was yesterday evening, we told Zeke he needed to go sit on the potty, yes he needs a reminder most days to poop! Anyway he is supposed to be on the potty and Dan walks by the bathroom and sees Zeke with his pants down and he is using my towel to scratch his butt cheeks! Now if you know me you know I am really weird about my towels and pillow, do not under any circumstance use them and defintely do not scratch your butt with them! I was so grossed out and even more so this morning as I was drying my face off after the shower! I completely forgot to change it last night and did not remember until it was on my face! nasty.

Then when Dan was helping Zeke brush his teeth Zeke said Daddy do not shake the toothbrush because if you get splashes on the mirror mama will be soooo mad at you! What a bummer, my neat freakness is obvious to my 4 year old!

Today I fell into my addiction with Bakers, I stopped by to get myself a burrito after running errands with the kids. They had already eaten and as I was ordering Zeke Yells loudly from the back seat, "um yea I'll have the kids chicken nuggets please! They don't even have nuggets at Bakers, but it was hilarious to me.
THis afternoon Zeke took something out of Sofia's hands for the 1000th time and I sent him to his room where he screamed out "I am so mad at you" and slammed his door twice, he opened it and slammed it again just to make sure I heard it. I was just thinking to myself really we are already slamming doors at hating me, isn't that supposed to be like 10 years from now, when he is 14!
He certainly keeps things lively around here!

halloween pics

I know everyone who is on top of things posted their pics last week, but better late than never!
The first is Zeke and his cousins, and then sofia as a lion, yay we reused Zeke's baby costume, and then Dan looking so cute in his new cowboy hat!

so much to do , so little time

I must admit my blogging has been sparse lately, I know you all depend on my wit and intelligent thoughts to get you through the day. I will try harder!
Actually things have been so crazy busy lately when I do have a free moment I just read a few blogs and that is all I have time for. We are trying to prepare to move and wrap things up that we have put off for so long. I have been trying to finish up the adoption stuff as well. Some of you may remember my rant a month ago about possibly having to re-adopt Sofia. It is looking like that is not the case yay! But things are still unresolved. I went to the court to file my petition but they still didn't know what any of my paper work was all about and the lady that possibly knew a little bit could not be found. So I left my paper work and still have not heard back. It is hard to have so many things unresolved, at least it is for me, I like things to be wrapped up nice and pretty so I can be done worrying about them!
It is just crazy because in a month we need to have our house rented and packed up and everything ready to go, it feels impossible. I know it will come together it always does, but the craziness that comes before that is what scares me! I have been putting off the sadness and goodbyes because there is so many other things to do. I don't even want to begin to think of the actual day we leave, lets just pretend it is still a long way off!

sweet time with my little man

Lately Zeke has been having a hard time, we attribute it to us moving. IF you don't know we are moving to Redding CA in January. We are excited, sad, stressed, anxious and more. We told Zeke about a month ago and he was actually really excited, he wanted to know if we would drive on the 60 freeway to get there! And he wanted to know if he would be close to Ava and aidia, NAte and erica and Trisha. He knows they live there and I think it helped to have familiar friends already there. But in this last month we have had many, many many ups and downs and I think he grasps small pieces of our life changing.
But yesterday and today we had two distinct moments together that I loved. Yesterday we were at his nana and papa's waiting for Sofia to wake up from a morning nap and it was just he and I. We layed on the couch together facing each other and just talked for like 10 minutes. We talked about school, and dressing up for Halloween, how the colors of our eyes were different and he said mine were green and orange and brown so so pretty. THen a minute later he asked if my teeth were gray! You gotta love the honesty of kids, Dan says it is just because in the Lorax they talk about the Onclers teeth being gray. I am going to go with!
THen today he crawled into bed with me and whispered "mama it's your birthday today you are 30 years old" It was so sweet and he just layed beside me and asked me how I slept and if I was doing ok, it was so so sweet and I cherish these times that seem so few lately. It makes me tired and sad to think about the months ahead and how hard they might be for him, he is so sweet and sensative I am just praying for a smooth transition for him!

Best husband ever!

This weekend my husband surprised me with flying my best friend Annette down for the weekend, for my birthday! It was so amazing, they kept it a secret and I was so excited when she came to the door! We had a party on Saturday with tons of friends and Sangria! Thanks everyone for celebrating with me! It was funny because I kept giving Dan a hard time for not taking me to see Wicked which I had been wanting to see forever! But of course I felt like a jerk later because he had already planned for Annette and I to go! He planned it with my great friend Andrea who hooked us up with 4th row seats!! It was hands down the best musical I have ever seen, can't say enough great things about it!
It was a great birthday and Dan went all out in planning it and giving me everything I wanted for my 30th! He went to so much trouble to think of all the details and plan everything out, I am so so so so so lucky! He is exhausted from weeks of going non-stop, work and planning a party and surprises, watching the kids a ton so I could gallivant around town with my best friend. Thanks babe I love you!

taking things for granted

It is funny the things you take for granted until they are missing and can't be used! I woke up today to the normal sounds of my daughter chattering in her room at around 6:50am, but to my surprise my alarm clock was blank! My very first thought was how am I going to feed my baby? She is very very picky and will only eat her cereal hot and her bottle hot, not warm, hot. So I hopped in the car in search of somewhere with power to fill my thermos with hot water. No such luck, I began to call family and friends to use their hot water and realized all of Riverside was out of power. I came back home and thought the water heater has to have some hot water stored up. It did and it got hot enough to get us through our morning feeding. Then I wondered what am I going to do all day without power? Luckily it was only 3 hours without, not bad at all considering all of Riverside was without it. But I began to think about the chaos and stress of a mother in New Orleans, during Katrina. How excruciating to not be able to provide your child with food, or a clean diaper. They had nothing to give and nothing for themselves, I cannot imagine the pain that those parents must have felt as they searched and tried to provide for their children.
It made me want to stock pile my house with supplies, and I think it is good to be prepared but at the same time we can' t get crazy. I have that tendency!
It just made my heart ache again for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi. How many people are still suffering there, 2 years later, way too many. It is so easy to be selfish and forget others in need. I do not want to be that person and I don't want my kids to be those people.

Sorry mom!

So you may have already seen these on Dan's blog this morning, but I wanted to show them off as well. We went to Sid's tattoo parlor yesterday to get them done. I have wanted an anchor tattoo for about 4 years and never knew where I wanted it. After we got Sofia I thought I need 2 anchors to represent the hope God has given me, and the gift of our kids. So I went for the shoulders. I am not gonna lie it hurt like the dickens, but I did so much better than I thought I would! I told Dan not to be surprised if I cried but I didn't, I just took it like a true sailor! They took about 2.5 hours and toward the end it got really hard!
Anyway my mom is not happy about it, sorry mom.
But I am so excited with how they turned out, they are more beautiful than I thought they would be! If you need a tattoo Sid is your man!