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!

The waiting game

I always heard the end of the pregnancy is so hard, you get tired and uncomfortable and just want to be done. I feel those things but even more so I am just ready to meet my baby!!!
It has been about 2 days of contractions and they never progress into anything. It gets frustrating, but I know this is part of the process of having a baby!
Went to the Dr. today, she wanted me to have a non-stress test to check on the baby.
Everything was great, Moses is doing terrific, I am so thankful for this!!
Some of the circumstances made her want to possibly induce me today, but we decided against it. I really want to go into labor naturally if possible.
My contractions are 2 to 4 minutes apart but mild, so we are waiting it out and hoping that in the next day or two he will be ready to make his entrance!
So until then we wait...
My mom comes into town tonight, which I am so thankful for, I will feel so much better knowing she is here with the kids, the less trauma for them the better!
Anyway if you think of us pray for us! We will keep you posted!

Aren't my kids cute?

Dan already posted one of these, but I took some pictures of the kids a few days ago while we were playing at a ball field. It is really hard to capture anything from them, they are constantly on the move! Soon I will have to try to capture 3 kids in a picture!! At least Moses will stay in one place for a little while!
The count down is on, we want to get through Wednesday, then Moses can join us out here in this crazy world! But if he decides to come early I think we can make it work!

Is it nap time yet?????

So tired today.
We went to take the dog to the groomers and Target and I was dragging myself through Target, both kids crabby and crying. I kind of wanted to just find a chair and sit down for awhile, hoping when I returned the kids would be done whining and crying. Of course I did not do this but man my energy is low today.
We made it home and I am being #1 mom by putting on a little Einstein video so that I can sit on the couch for 20 minutes and not have to think for these few precious minutes! I really have felt so good through this whole pregnancy, which I am SO thankful for. But man if I am going to have 2 weeks of this my kids are going to be very unhappy! Zeke's like let's go to the park, let's go swimming, let's take a walk again, let's go to gymnastics! I 'm like let's take a family nap!!
He is used to getting out and doing something everyday!
That is all really, just tired today.

The picture is for all my Riverside friends who wanted to see how huge I am, there are very few clothes still fitting me, every once in awhile I sport the ghetto belly hanging out of the bottom of my shirts! Good times!

The moby Wrap

So as I await the arrival of Moses one of the things I am working on is making a Moby Wrap. I am a lover of slings for my babies. Each one I have tried a different sling and I absolutely love carrying my babies around close to me. With Zeke my dear friend Jess told me about over the shoulder baby holders, which at the time was one of the only slings out there. Funny what has changed in 5 years, now there are like 50 different types of slings, which is great! Anyway Zeke did SO well in a sling, he was a preemie so he needed extra time to adjust to this crazy world, and I think being bundled up tight and close to us was so good for him. He was a colicky, crying baby and when he was in the sling life was good!
Sofia got jipped out of time in the sling since we didn't get her until she was 6 months, but that didn't stop me from using the sling all the time as soon as we got her from the orphanage! My friends went in together and got me a sloomb, which is like the sling I had for Zeke but cuter fabric! It is an easy one to wear your kid on your hip too. Which if I was not pregnant I would still do, I did it until my belly got in the way.
So tonight I worked on my Moby wrap, which you can easily buy online, but I opted to buy fabric and cut the dimensions. Jess constantly wore her daughter in it, and when we moved up to Redding Leah Caldwell had made herself one and was loving it, so I thought sure I will do that too!
But let me just say it is annoying laying that much fabric out to cut the dimensions!!
But I finished it and it is cute, I tried it out and it was not looking quite like the picture online, then I realized oh yeah, I still have this huge belly, maybe it will fit better when the baby is here!!
Anyway it made me excited to finally have him here and hold him!!
Hopefully it is soon!!!

What a year

In the orphanage

At home this week


My friend Kara left me a message the other day saying can you believe it was a year ago that we got our daughters! Her and her husband Wei were in Kyrgyzstan the same time as we were adopting their little girl. They were not with our agency or anything we just saw them at the orphange and we connected, obviously, we were going through craziness together!
I was just thinking about the things Sofia has been through, seen and done in her little life already! She lived in an orphanage for the first 6 months of her life, traveled across the whole world to a new family, moved to a new home after 6 more months, and now she is getting a baby brother! So much in a year and she is so easy going and sweet!
When I think back to a year ago the stress and anxiety of bringing her home is hardly memorable. I remember thinking if we can just make it home I will be able to breathe again! Those 10 days trying to bring her home were absolutely the most stressful days of my life. It felt like everything that could go wrong did, and I was just so worried we would not make it out of there with our daughter! One of the days that papers were missing, out hotel reservation was lost and it was 2am and I was crying in this scary motel room with no a/c and it was 90 degrees outside, Dan said you know we didn't sign up for some easy trip to pick her up, we knew it would be hard. It was so true, I just needed to be reminded that adoption is not an easy road, but God was so faithful in providing everything we needed, often at the very last second!
I just love the way God has put our family together, none of it has been easy, but all of it has been so worth it and I am so grateful to have our little Sofia. To look at then and now and see how much she has changed and grown in amazing to me!

Backfire

I bribed Zeke today and it has majorly backfired on me.
His fingernails and toenails were ridiculously long, they were like some of my girlfriends who grow their toenails long and paint them, they were freaking me out!
So I said I would put batteries in this hummer of his if he let me cut them!
I have been trying to cut them for the last 2 days and this bribe seemed like a good idea at the time.
So we got the nails cut but there was a very good reason why I had never before replaced these batteries!
It is a fire hummer and when you put new batteries in not only do lights flash (if only that were all!), but also this lady yells out All unites code 469, Avenue 63, then the siren goes off for like 10 seconds. And a guy yells back were on our way!!! Then the siren again!!!
And it is LOUD, and in the last 20 minutes I have heard that over and over again at least 100 times.
What was I thinking, that is what I get for bribing my kids!

my crazy week, so far...

This week has been anything but uneventful!
I think "oh Zeke is gone, it will be quiet", which it was in the noise sense, but otherwise it has been crazy.
We put our name in on a list for some apartments that usually take 6 months to a year, and not even a week later we get a call that one is available to us. We get all our paper work etc. in, it looks great and we start to freak out about moving. (at least I freaked out)
Then Monday evening I got really sick, I think I did it to myself. I drank some sweet tea from McDonald's that I am sure has 1 gallon of sugar in it! I did water it down, but when you also eat almost a half of a watermelon by yourself it is a bad combo.
So I was up all night cursing the indigestion and stomach ache that was haunting me.
All day Tuesday I felt horrible, thank you McDonalds.
Tuesday evening I had a bit of a break down, anxiety and stress over moving, missing my son, missing my family etc etc. Had a good cry, felt better.
Wednesday Dan and I sit down go over the pros and cons of moving, we come to the conclusion it is totally worth it to move, the money we will save alone is great! We feel good about the decision and start going through things in house doing a clean sweep.
Thursday I pack a few boxes not much, but continue to go through the house down sizing.
Thursday night we get home from our staff BBq and I am walking out the front door to take Scarlet for a potty trip and I bite it hard. I guess I tripped I don't know, I slid across the pavement on my side. I at least had a little bit of time to turn on my side and not fall on my stomach! Luckily Dan was there and he is so great under stress. I was starting to freak out and he is like your fine, you were close to the ground, you didn't fall too hard, everything is totally fine. I have a few scrapes up my arms, legs and booty but all in all I am ok. Moses was moving right after so that made me feel so much better.
Friday today, Dan gets a call that we did not get the apartment. He was so bummed, as was I. It is hard when you start planning and getting ready for something and then things change. So I guess God wants us to stay where we are for now and be content in that.
Needless to say this week has not been low on stress, anxiety or action.
I think I might take a nap today!

strange times

It is so funny how much easier it is to write a nonsense blog rather than write what I am feeling or struggling with.
I could just write how I am sitting here listening to Coldplay's new album, which is amazing by the way (Nate is crazy to say otherwise!). I could write how I am eating egg salad sandwich again for dinner,(pregnancy craving) how much I accomplished today or what the kids did. It is much easier to write those things.
On July 4th I was sitting outside in the smoky weather reading my Bible, writing in my journal trying to hear something from God. The 4th was such a lonely day for me, Zeke was gone so the house was so still and quiet, we had no family or friends to hang out with and I just felt this sadness.
It feels like forever that I have been going through the motions of dailyness.
6 months of being in a funk, being sad and down, feeling lazy and unmotivated. I know it has maybe a little bit to do with the fact that I got pregnant finally after 7 years, moved our whole family and started a new life in a matter of a month. Now there is no family down the street, there are no friends that know you so deeply and live life with you daily anymore. I have to start that all over again and it does not happen very quickly.
I don't want to whine or be a Debbie Downer, but it has been hard.
I hate that when I go into labor I can't call my mom and tell her to come over to watch the kids, or that my kids can't go down the street anymore to their cousins house to play. So many daily things that seem so little but are actually huge to me.
Or maybe they are magnified because I am 8 months pregnant and an emotional wreck 98% of the time!
Anyway I felt like on the 4th God said ask for people to pray, let people know your struggle. Be vulnerable, it's easy right!
So at church Nate gave us the opportunity to pray with the people around us, and Rebecca and Erica prayed for me and it was so comforting to not pretend, but to have others who understood and prayed for me. Thanks girls it meant a lot.
Anyway I am longing to climb out of this funk and i hope it can begin now.
I am so very thankful for where God has us, but that doesn't mean it has been easy or will be easy, we sacrificed a lot to come here and sometimes that sucks. But I do not want my family to be anywhere that God doesn't want us to be.
So that means we keep moving forward, living out what God has called us to.
I hope a year from now I can look back at this time and see all the amazing things that came from the hard times!

why is it so quiet around here?

So Zeke left today for over a week! Dan's mom took him down to hang out with friends and family in So cal. He was excited up until this morning when it was time to go. then he said nope I am not going, I am staying here! He calmed down and was excited again 2 minutes later!
He has only been gone a few hours and it is already so weird.
He has more energy than anyone I know so the house is so quiet and still.
Sofia and Scarlet are going to be so bored.
They won't have to watch their backs constantly to make sure Zeke is not going to wrestle them to the ground!
We had a family nap time this morning, it was great. Sofia still takes morning naps and we got up early to get nana and Zeke to the airport so of course Dan and I took advantage and took a little snooze.
This week should be a good opportunity to get things ready for the baby, I have so much to do! One less kid and more nap time should allow me to get things done!
Or maybe the quiet will make me lazy and want to sleep all the time!

Feeling dumb

Sometimes when I read others blogs I feel dumb. For example my wonderful husband Dan, just put up a video up which received many rather long and detailed comments. As I was reading through some I fell asleep. J/K
I didn't but I have to admit that the time it would take me to watch the video, read the comments and then leave one would be entirely too long. In the time it has taken me to write this much, Sofia and Zeke got into a pushing fight, Sofia was carrying around some white out upside, and honking this annoying horn that almost made me lose my mind. How in the world could I form a complete thought that would be smart and witty to add to someones blog!
As I type this Zeke is asking me the same question 100 times, and telling me I hurt his feelings and he never wants to play with me again.
These are my daily conversations, not unfortunately politics and discussions on grace. I probably need to get out more.

Things I miss

I absolutely love being pregnant, it has been a desire for really my whole life, I remember being young and thinking pregnant women were so beautiful, and I couldn't wait until it was my turn. So after 7 years of praying for it I am thrilled it has finally happened to me.
But there are a few things I miss and can't wait to do when I have the baby.

Like sleeping on my stomach! Oh how I miss sleeping on my back and stomach, I have always slept on my stomach and it is an adjustment not being able to do that!

Stretching! That morning stretch when you are laying in bed on your back before you get out of bed. For some reason I can't stretch, maybe because you use your stomach muscles and they are all stretched out with a baby pushing on them. And you can't point and stretch your feet because it hurts and then you have those crazy charlie horses!

Being able to see below my belly, and do things like reach your feet! We had a girls night last weekend and I realized I can't paint my toenails anymore! I couldn't breathe, so Erica kindly painted them for me! Thanks Erica

Drink a big fat Cherry coke. I hardly have soda, but every once in awhile I crave a cherry coke with my friend Karen(miss you girl).

Having a glass of wine. Also something I don't do that often but there are those great nights when the kids are in bed and we go sit outside and it would be perfect to sip a glass of wine with my husband!

Sleep longer than 3 hours without having to get up to go pee! Not that this is going to change anytime soon, but I look forward to this day!

Eating hummus and not getting indigestion! I get indigestion when I drink water! I love hummus and Trav & Annette brought us some from Trader joes when they came up and every time I eat it it stays with me all day!! But I still do it because I love it so much!

Those are just a few things lately I have been missing, but to counter those there are a million things I love about being pregnant and I feel so thankful to be able to experience this crazy thing that God designed our bodies for!

I miss my trash man

It seems like every week I miss the trash guy.
We hardly have any trash because we recycle absolutely everything, but we have been using these biodegradable diapers called nature baby and so these are in our trash can. There are not too many in a weeks time because I am still using gdiapers/ cloth diapers alongside of them, but the few that are in there are horr-ib-leee! (said with a spanish accent)!!
When Sofia is teething it is a crazy mess in the diapers! And when that happens in a cloth it equals some major gagging. I think it is heightened with my pregnancy, smells are soo much stronger!
Luckily Sofia gets into a routine and I know when she might do some business so I put on the throw away biodegradable ones!
Anyway my point is today is trash day and again I missed it. our trash can smells like something died in it and I am not kidding no matter how fast you open and close it, the smell could literally knock you out!
So I have to keep this smell in our garage for another week, that is the only place for our trash cans!
I know I should put them out the night before but we never remember because we have our life group, and Dan leaves really early in the morning for his prayer time, so that leaves it up to me to remember. Not good, since I forget every week!
I was going to run across the street with my trash can and just wait for him to take it, but every house had their can out so it was a no go.
oh well, we will try again next week

endurance

So last week Dan and I were discussing giving birth and planning out how we wanted it to look, hopefully! When Dan commented on my lack of working out. It is true I have not worked out in months! Granted I go up and down stairs 50 times a day with 20 more pounds than I used to have , sometime 40 if I am carrying Sofia. Plus just keeping up with the kids all day. So I am not sitting on my butt all day, but I have not been purposeful about it either.
Dan was like don't you think you might want to work out more so you will have some endurance for childbirth?
huh? Interesting question which makes perfect sense and I had not thought of!!!
I really want a natural childbirth and I pray I will be strong enough for it, so I have been exercising every other day this week.
You may be thinking um isn't it a little late to start now, aren't you due soon?
Yes, yes I am, in two months actually!
But better late than never right!

Things to ponder from Zeke

You gotta love the photo booth on imac it is hours of fun for Zeke!

Some thoughts by Zeke:

Two of these thoughts/memories were said to me in the car on the way to Mom's group this morning. The other one was yesterday in the car on the way home from the aquatic center.

We got on the 44 and Zeke said "hey mama this one time Grammy and Grampy had to drive so super very fast on the freeway because I had to poop and it was hurting me real real bad. So Grampy was driving way too fast and we made it home and I pooped."

What is funny is this was like a year ago, I don't know what brought the memory up again?

Next we were listening to some worship music and I was singing along, Zeke says,
"hey mama, please stop singing, you just need to listen and hear the words, not sing them to us, ok."
Ouch, I know my voice is not that great, but he usually doesn't mind when I sing, it must have been especially off key today!

The other funny one happened yesterday when our whole family was driving home from the pool.
" Hey daddy and Mama, um my teeth are really tight I need to just take them out of my mouth like Grandpa Oyler does with his"
What is funny is he has not seen my Grandpa who I guess can take his teeth out of his mouth, for over a year. They live in Indiana and we have not seen them since they visited last spring!

I love Zeke's memory he always brings up things from so long ago, it is funny what stays with them or what impresses them! I guess someone being able to remove their teeth completely was pretty important!

9 years (a couple of weeks ago)

Last night Dan got someone to watch the kids and surprised me by taking me out!
It was kind of for our anniversary that was a couple of weeks ago, we were a little busy when it came around.
We were going to go to dinner and a movie, but I am cheap and I said lets just do dinner since we have to pay for a sitter too! It is funny how much you take family for granted when you live around the corner and they can watch your kids almost anytime you need! (we miss you family!)
Anyway we went to Outback and tried something other than Steak since we are kind of going off red meat. I have never had anything other than steak there, but I got some chicken and rice with grilled vegetables that was delicious!!
And then Dan asked what I wanted to do and I said can we run some errands since we don't have the kids! I know what a date, but it is so much easier without the kids. The good thing is we can have fun anywhere together! We cruised around Kohls after returning some things and we each got a little something with the store credit!
As I write this I am realizing how old and married we are sounding! We have been married for 9 years, but Dan still makes me laugh more than anyone in the world and I love that he knows what I am going to say before it leaves my mouth. I love that we can laugh at each other and life, I love that we can still sit for hours and talk. I love the way he leads our family and pushes us all toward Jesus and loving like Jesus.
The funny thing is we have been together for almost half of my life, we dated for 5 years before we got married, so it has been 14 years with him!
I think that is amazing, I am so thankful for what a gift our marriage is.
Happy 9 years Dan, love you

Random Thought Process

Sometimes I let my thoughts run away when I am doing something mindless. Dan always is amazed how I can be talking about one thing and 2 minutes later be on some completely other random subject.
This morning I was cleaning out Zeke's art supply shelf and my thoughts were jumping all over the place.
Here they are:

It was so nice that my Uncle and Aunt came to visit...
They live in Indiana and are on a long road trip, they went out of their way to visit us, took us to lunch, shopping for the kids and to dinner. It was so nice to see them since we only see them every few years! They are on their way to Reno for a car club meeting, they love old classic cars.
This led me to my next thought as I remembered my dream

Weird that when your pregnant you have such crazy dreams...
In my dream I was hanging out with Beyonce! We were at a fancy party and the paparazzi were chasing us and we hopped in our classic car and drove off to the next party. I found it strange that she was in my dream, I have never listened to her music or been a big fan, not that I don't like her she seems great, it was just weird.
This lead me to thinking about how I was not pregnant in the dream

Crazy that I only have a little over 2 months left until the baby comes...
Dan's blog has the creepy floating baby and it says 67 days left! Oh man I still have nothing done and ready for the baby! I really should get on that! This lead me to wondering how Zeke and Sof would do sharing a room

I wonder if Sofia will ever take a nap again...
I just keep thinking that once they are in the same room they will play constantly and never sleep again. This made me realize how tired I am right now

Oh man I am so tired and it is only 8:45 am this could be a long day...
I need to have the kids run around and get some energy out so we could all take a nap this afternoon!!

There you have it my random thought process, nothing really exciting I know.

Top 10 Things I love about camping

Our family went on our annual camping trip with our close friends. This was our 7th year camping together with these 5 families. We had a blast here are some highlights

10. Sleeping in a tent in 40 degree weather, not showering for 3 days

9. The tree swing that Adam made for the kids to play on, they loved it! Watching Zeke play with his friends that he misses so much.

8. Doing dishes with the girls(although I didn't do much) and I agree Annette, we could totally live in community!
7. Sitting around the campfire when the kids are in bed, freezing our butts off and laughing together, just being with friends who know you so well.
6. Listening to the guys play their guitars and ukuleles, it would not be a camping trip without the sound of them playing music together.
5. Listening to the song Zeke and Jonah made up about Cheese nips, they sang it for 2 days straight. This was after they added it to everyones name. "Hi Davey Cheese nip." Davey didn't appreciate that name.
4. Going to the tide pools with kids, just watching them learn and explore
3. Watching Zeke learn how to play baseball for the first time ever

2. Just having meals together and living for a short time as a family
1. Being with these people that are family to us, being known and loved by them. Miss you all already

3rd trimester!

FYI This picture makes me look bigger than I am, I think...
I was realizing today that I am just starting my 3rd trimester, I can't believe how fast it has gone by! I was reading about this time and it said that my baby is a little over 2 pounds. I thought of Zeke and how he was born at 26 weeks and how that was 2 weeks ago for me, how crazy is that!

It also said I will gain about 11 pounds this last trimester and I am already up more than I thought I would be at this time! But it is all well worth it!
Zeke is getting so excited about the baby he tells me everyday something new he is going to teach Moses. Today he said when Moses comes out "I will teach him to change a light bulb and I will get him milk when he is thirsty". Yesterday he said he would teach him to fix the blades on his fan.
We just had a talk with him about being a big brother and helping us out more, we can only hope that it will really happen!
Sofia is always lifting my shirt and pointing at my belly then lifting her own shirt and pointing, I don't think she gets it but she is really intrigued with the size of my stomach!
We have been putting off getting ready, I am not sure why, I guess busyness??? But we still have to move the kids into the same room, get Sofia a bed and move and fit all of her stuff into Zeke's room. Sometimes I don't think it has sunk in that we are having a baby!
Amazing that we are having a baby!

Sofia the vaccum

Sofia is in this stage where she puts everything in her mouth! Zeke was never into so much stuff the way she is, she makes a mess just by walking by something! So in the last 2 days here is a list of the things she has put into her mouth!
Yesterday at the Dr. office her nasty bloody band-aid (at least it was hers right!)
The dog bone, she and Scarlet were playing fetch and she was carrying it around in her mouth!
Every book she picks up
Her wooden chair (she is teething so it must feel good)
A paper clip (that was scary)
Zeke's drum stick
50 rocks from outside (for some reason she is always trying to eat these)
a cracker that she gave to Scarlet then took back
Daddy's wrench (zeke is always playing with Dan's tools and he left them out for her)

What is funny is who knows what else I have not seen go into her mouth, let's hope we get through this phase quickly. It freaks me out and grosses me out!

It's getting hot in here...

Today the temp is 105!!!!
I am not ready for this heat yet!
Zeke had western day today and they got to ride a pony!
I had no idea how it would go, I thought for sure he would refuse, but he surprised me and jumped right on with a smile!
In the fall at his old preschool they had western day and a fake wooden horse he would not get on, now look at him riding a real horse! What a difference a year makes!

It was out in the middle of the field and it was at noon. The sun was blazing down on us and Sofia gets so hot and sweaty. I have a feeling she is going to be a bit moody this summer, as you can see from the picture.
We might head to the pool later today but right now it is way too hot!
I am just praying it cools down again for a few weeks, note to self don't buy a 2 story in Redding!

oh what a night!

Dan posted about how the kids were so out of it last evening from 4 shots each, well the fun had only just begun!
8:00pm put the kids to bed
12:30am Dan gets home from poker with the guys
1:00am Zeke wakes up crying with a fever
Dan takes him downstairs so he is not alone
1:30 I come down to check out the situation and find our thermometer is saying his temp is anywhere from 101 to 105!!!!!
I freak out, but Dan reassures me the thermometer is unreliable
1:45 give him tylenol
1:50 Dan heads out to Walgreens to get a new thermometer
2:15 he returns and Zeke has finally fallen asleep and is not burning up as much
2:30 Dan and I go to sleep
3:15 Sofia wakes up crying with a fever
I rock her and sing she calms down
4:00am we give her some tylenol
we lay her down to sleep
4:30 she is crying again Dan rocks her for awhile and puts her down again
5:00 she is awake again I bring her to bed with me where she moans and rolls around for an hour
6:15am I go downstairs with her where Dan and Zeke are awake and watching a video
we sit with the kids while they sip gatorade and eat 5 cheerios
Sofia gulps her gatorade and clams down to a nap
7am I go back to bed, Dan does not
9am Dan went off to work exhausted and the day is only beginning!
Luckily Zeke seems completely over it and is loud and playing again!
Nights like these make me so thankful for healthy kids, God has blessed us and they rarely get sick. Let me think about wether or not I am going to do that many shots again... ah NO!

weird emotions

Since being pregnant I have had ridiculously weird emotions. there have been a few occasions where something will strike me as hilarious and I literally can't stop laughing. It is usually something my husband says, he makes me laugh more than anyone I know. But there have been a couple of occasions where something will just rock me and I can't stop crying. I very much dislike this. The first was while watching a movie where a dog died. I do not know why but I was uncontrollably crying. Not just a little bit, but balling couldn't talk crying so hard. Dan laughed at first then was not sure what to do with me.
So early this morning at around 4:45am I woke up crying from a weird dream.
In the dream I was at pinkberry ( a frozen yogurt place) and I ordered a cake. They don't have cake there and I don't even really like cake. Anyway I turn around to get something and when I turn back a friend had licked all of the icing off of my cake and was laughing about it. For some reason this made me really sad. Then I was at my house (that was not really my house, you know how dreams are weird that way). And I was trying to describe how sad and lonely I was feeling because my friend had licked the frosting off of my cake.
Then I woke up crying and I realized I was really sad to be leaving Riverside tomorrow.
So I got up to get some kleenex and get my cry out without waking Dan. I have been up ever since and I am bummed that i am missing out on my last day to sleep in!
I am hoping with this ridiculous emotional outburst out of my system I won't loose it when I have to say goodbye to my family!
Anyway it is almost 6am maybe I could still sleep for an hour or so.
This post is random

These are a few of my favorite things(about vacation)

Sleeping in! We have been sleeping in until 9 or 9:30 everyday!!!!! It has been amazing

Alone time with Dan. It's like we are dating again, just the two of us having conversations uniterrupted!

Going to the movies! with kids we never get to go out to the movies we have seen 2 in the last 2 days!

Trader Joes! My mom gave us a gift card to TJ and we stocked up on favorites for our little kitchen. Yummy things like pesto bowls, and hummus and pita chips, dark chocolate bars, Lingon berry scones! Oh how i miss TJ!

Laying in the sun reading. This has not happened yet as the weather has been overcast and cold. But I have hope that tomorrow will be sunny and I can lay on the beach and read my book while tanning my super pasty white legs!

Just doing nothing. Having no plans. I always have a plan and it is nice to not think about it.

Reading a huge book without someone asking me a million questions! I have not sat down to read a book since January so it has been awesome!

Taking naps!

Eating out, we have spent like $30 so far! We eat breakfast and lunch at our time share then treat ourselves to dinner. But we have some gift cards that have been burning a whole in our pockets since CHristmas! So we are treating ourselves to fun places like Yard House and PF. Changs!

It is going by fast so I am trying my best to soak it all up!

ahh vacation!

This is our view from our hotel balcony. We are Newport and staying at an awesome time share! We have the kids so the relaxing part of vacation has not officially kicked off yet. Zeke thought it would be cool to wake up at 6am again today. He has been so excited to be with grandparents that he is ready to start the day early!
No big plans today, take the kids to the beach and play. I can't wait it will be fun!
We have had a few bumps in the road, Dan couldn't find his atm card yesterday and so we thought through all the places he had been in the last 2 days. I called 411 5 times getting numbers of business where we used our card, thanks Erica for searching for the taco bell number in Redding!
We finally found it in Williams CA, where we stopped for breakfast on the way to Sac!
So we are relieved it is found, that would have been a great way to start vacation, with our card being lost!
I am sure we will have fun pics of the kids at the beach soon, it is beautiful today!

My baby is 5!

Zeke turned 5 today and he woke up and said "yesterday I was 4 now I am 5, how come I am 5 now?" I love his questions, they are almost always unanswerable. Like why is fire hot?
I don't know it just is!
Dan wrote an amazing blog for Zeke, check it out I cried just thinking about his little lifeand how special he is.
I feel so blessed to be Zeke's mom and I am grateful everyday that I get to learn from him and love him.
We went to round table pizza with a few friends for his birthday, not because he loves pizza actually he hates it, but they had fans and games so of course he chose it!
Anyway today we are taking cupcakes to class and tomorrow he gets to fly on a plane and see all of his favorite people so I think this is going to be a great birthday!

counting down

Vacation is in 5 days and I am starting to get a little crazy as I wait for it. As I write the house is in shambles, literally, Zeke won't stop asking me the same 3 questions about a flashlight, a fan and when we get to go over to the nieghbors house and Sofia is crying because I won't let her rip the paper out of the printer and I keep giving her chicken instead of animal crackers.
The count down began months ago for vacation but I am now counting the minutes... as Dan says "don't worry babe when the baby comes things will get much easier!!"
The photo was just taken and I just picked up half the stuff that was on the floor, good times!

Can you please hold?

I am sitting on hold with my bank...again. It seems like every week I sit on hold for something that I need to fix or change, my Dr office, my health insurance, the bank, the phone company, the credit card company, and the list goes on. Since moving it seems like there is always something I have to switch or a wrong charge etc. Seriously our phone bill has never been this high, we only have our cell phones so it is adding up! I feel like i need to get one of those really cool ear piece phones that important people have, so I won't have a neck ache. Can't you just see me wandering around the house doing housework while wearing an ear piece! I am pretty sure it won't happen but it is a funny picture.
I am trying to have patience but the bank girl just came back for the 3rd time without an answer to my question. Aghhh!
Anyway I have no patience or organization for this part of my housewife duties! Luckily my kids are happily playing, usually when I am on the phone it is some kind of hidden cue to act like animals and go running and screaming through the house! Yay for those rare moments when they are content and don't need my attention for longer than 2 minutes!
This blog has no point except to complain about being on the phone!

lather, rinse repeat

That title doesn't really make sense but I like the sound of it.
So I was realizing lately that as a mom I repeat myself a ridiculous amount of times during the day. It starts to drive a person insane when you say the same thing over and over again with no real results, but I guess that is the joy of motherhood and teaching your children how to behave!
But on any certain day I find that these few phrases come out of my mouth over and over again:
To Zeke:
Stop hitting your sister
Stop picking your nose
Wash your hands
eat your dinner
stop yelling
turn your volume down
stop hitting your sister
don't kick the dog
no you can't have the fan on
did you wash your hands with soap
don't talk back
don't push your sister
stop talking like a baby
don't sass me
turn off the fan please
did you hear what I said
be gentle with your sister or the dog(whichever fits best in the circumstance)

To Sofia
Don't hit mama
are you hungry
don't eat the dog food
no, no Sof don't touch
don't hit mama
don't eat the dog food
are you hungry
no don't open the toilet
don't hit brother
be gentle with the dog
don't eat the dog food

I know one day I will miss the way I constantly said the same things 100 plus times a day, so I will cherish it now! But there are definitely days when you want to yell is anyone listening to what I am saying!!!
There are many good things that I repeat as well, like reading books, both of the kids LOVE to read books and I read the same ones 25 times a day but it is so worth it when they both cuddle up on each side of me and we read Quick as a cricket for the 13th time today!
Being a mom tests your patience, makes you humble, exhausts you and brings you some of the greatest joy. I am so thankful I get to be a mom, what a crazy responsibility, raising these kids to love God and love others. So tomorrow when I wake up saying the same thing to Zeke I will be grateful for my life of lather rinse repeat!

Jesus plays basketball

I just love the mind of my almost 5 year old. This morning I was talking with him about what he learned at church last night, he told me there were some people who didn't have food so some other people gave them some. They were talking about Acts, I was glad he had soaked some of the lesson up, then he went on to say that he also learned Jesus played basketball and that in the summer when Jesus comes to the park downtown he will turn on the fans for us.
Thanks Nate!
On Saturday night we went to Pizza with the Edwardsons and then went to a grassy area where they do Marketfest on Thursday nights in the summer. There were these huge tall industrial Fans and Zeke really REALLY wanted to turn them on. We kept telling him that only people who work at the city can turn them on when it is really hot. But Nate decided to say that Jesus had to power to turn them on and to ask him! So of course Zeke has been talking about how this summer Jesus will come to this park and turn them on!
As far as Jesus playing basketball, the only thing I can come up with for that thought is that on the front cover of his little story a man is holding a basket of food that kind of looks like a basketball??? So of course he assumed Jesus feeds the hungry and plays a little b-ball as well!
I love how it all comes back to fans, even the Bible story and Jesus, everything comes back to his beloved fans!

women's retreat

We had the first Women's retreat for the The Stirring last weekend and things were so crazy when I got back this is the first time I have had to debrief and mull over the weekend.
For me the retreat was amazing, it was so nice to have more than 5 minutes to talk with girls from church. It seems on Sundays my time is limited to really sit and talk with people because of my responsibilities as a mom. Which is one of my favorite jobs!
But to really hang out and laugh with other women was so nice for me. It has been hard for me to adjust and find my spot here in Redding. I know these things take time and I also know my role as mom and wife is priority, but it is hard to make new friends and new relationships.
The retreat was so awesome to just sit and meditate on God's word. I love that Jesus can use one word or one phrase and show me what things in my life I need to work through in order to become more like Him. I loved to worship with so many other women, the feeling of our hearts calling out to Jesus to meet us to change us. It was so what I needed and I am so thankful I could be a part of it.

Visitors

In the last month we have had a lot of visitors come up to see us! Dan's mom came up last weekend and we flew kites twice which I think we adults may have enjoyed more than the kids! I didn't get too many pics of the first day where Carol could have seriously injured herself trying to get the kite up, but I think that is what Grandmas do, they just go for it in order to please the kids!
Our dear dear friends Steve & karen came up on Sunday and stayed with us for a few days and when they left today it made me miss them even more! It is always so fun to hang out and relax with friends you have known for so long. Friends you can talk about anything with and who make you laugh and who love your kids like they are their own. Zeke absolutely LOVES steve and Karen, they are like family to him and every morning he woke up and waited for them outside their room to get up! He got plenty of wrestle time in with Steve, and Karen of course read him books and the teacher in her played phonics games with him! Zeke also enjoys acting like their cat immojean, and Karen obliged by teaching him to purr and scratching him behind the ears. You know they are good friends when they indulge your kids in the weird games and acting they want to do!
I miss that feeling of friendship where you are truly known by your friends. I know we will always be great friends with them, it just sucks not having them down the street anymore.
We love you guys, thanks for good times... thankfully see ya soon!