Mommy to an angel

Q&A with Olivia

2010-04-12T10:18:00.000-05:00

Brian and I LOVE asking Olivia questions about things and listening to her response. Her responses have often made us laugh, but sometimes they can be very humbling. I absolutely love the honesty that children bring to the table. They have no fear of rejection and they are so teachable by their honesty.

Yesterday on the way to church we asked Olivia what she wanted to be when she grew up. But we didn't just want any old answer, we asked her specifically what she thought God put her on this earth to do, what was His design for her and how could she fulfill that with our help. She said, "I think God made me to be on a stage." She wants to sing, dance and act. We pushed her a little further and she said, "Actually, I think I should teach kids theater and singing. And I want to teach art." She told me this morning that she has already gone through theater camp so she knows how to be a good actress and singer and she can teach it to other kids.

Last year we got into a conversation with Olivia about growing up. We told her how mommy and daddy left our moms and dads and went away to college and then after college we got married and moved in to the same house. She couldn't imagine ever leaving her parents. She determined that she was never going to college and never getting married because she didn't want to leave us! She was VERY emotional about this - in fact, she was sobbing at the thought of leaving mom and dad. She said, "if I have to go away to be a mermaid artist then I don't want to be anything!" I'm going to remind her of this in about 10 years! So yesterday after she determined what God designed her to be, Brian said, "so when you grow up and leave mom and dad's house to go to college this is what you are going to go to college for and then get married and live with your husband, right?" Silence. After a few seconds, she said, "I'm never leaving." We just can't convince her that this is actually something she will look forward to one of these days.

As we were leaving small group yesterday she said something and Brian said, "Okay little Shawnie". She said, "I'm not little Shawnie." I said, "are you a little Brian." She said, "no". So we got into a discussion about how kids have different characteristics of their mom and their dad and we wanted to know what characteristics she thought she got from each of us. From dad she got "she likes Jack's hair (Brian wanted me to cut it shorter for the summer and I absolutely hate it!) and she likes Jack's shirt (Brian dressed Jack for church in a shirt that I personally do not like)." The next question was what characteristics she thought she got from me. She said, "I say a lot of the same things as you." I should have stopped there! This is one of those times where her honesty has humbled me! I asked, "well what kind of things do I say that you say also?" She said, "get off the couch and do something dad!" Of course I never remember saying this, but I obviously did at some point and that has stuck with her. GULP!!!!

This was such a teachable moment! Sometimes it doesn't matter how much good you do, kids can dwell on the one thing that you did that was less than desirable. It reminds me that in every situation I have to be cautions of the little ears around me. I'm sure that when I did say that about Brian on the couch I said it in a joking manner, but it didn't come out that way when repeated by a 5 year old.

In my MOPS February newsletter there was an article called, "Out of the Mouths of Babes. Love and Marriage as described by kids." There were several questions that were asked to different kids and their responses. One night at dinner we decided to ask Olivia the questions on the page and write down her response.
How do you decide who to marry?
O: If they look handsome.
What is the right age to get married?
O: 31...because you're not a kid anymore
When is it okay to kiss someone?
O: only when they're a part of your family.
How can a stranger tell if 2 people are married?
O: If they kiss.
What do most people do on a date?
O: Go somewhere and have dinner together by themselves, but if they want to stay home then the kids can be the server and give them a flower.
What do you think your mom and dad have in common?
O: you love me!
Is it better to be single or married?
O: Unmarried because if you get married you will miss your family.
How would the world be different if people didn't get married?
O: No one would have a dad.
How would you make a marriage work?
O: Love each other, put on a song and start dancing.

I found a great list of questions to ask kids at Revive Our Hearts, it's called 23 Great Questions To Ask Your Kids by Sharon Jaynes. I think this will be our discussion tonight at dinner. You should try it out also. Print it out and ask your kids these questions today. Be sure to write down their responses. Come back and post some comments we would all like to know some of the responses by other children.

For a couple of years I have kept an index card box in one of my kitchen cabinets. As often as I can remember, I try to jot stuff Olivia says on an index card and put it in there. I put the MOPS article in there with Olivia's responses and I plan to do the same for the questions I linked up to above. It's nothing fancy, but I think it will bring lots of laughs when she gets older. I plan to send it with her one day when she leaves our house to marry her prince charming.

He has risen, He has risen indeed!

2010-04-04T19:18:00.000-05:00

Thank you Jesus for your humble existence on earth and the cruel death for someone like me. It's amazing to think, you could have come to this earth much differently...perhaps, raised in a palace, after all, you're a king! Thanks so much for the surprise on Easter morning...you shocked the world!

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On Thursday I took the kids to Indy to visit family for a couple of days. On Good Friday we visited my parents church for their Easter Cantata and enjoyed a children's spring celebration at their church on Saturday. After that we returned home and before going to bed we decorated Easter eggs and did the Easter Story cookies. Easter morning we attended an incredible service at our church and got together with our NWI family for lunch and an egg hunt.

monster eggs

monster family photo shoot

Easter Story Cookie

Olivia and two friends at church

Crossroad Community Church

morphed

2010-03-15T18:06:00.000-05:00

I'm not really sure when it happened, but I have been morphed into my mother.
I find myself saying the following things that I thought I would NEVER say:
"Don't sit so close to the tv, you'll hurt your eyes."
"If you keep making that face, it's going to stay like that."
"Hear those sirens? The police are coming for you."
"One of these days he's going to be bigger than you."
"You can't go outside like that, you'll catch a cold."
"We're you born in a barn?"
"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand time."
If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?"
"I'm warning you!"
"Do we need to go to the bathroom?"
"Mind your manners."
"There's kids in ________ starving!"
"This place is a pigsty."

I have a feeling the following aren't far behind
"Just you wait until we get home."
"Stop crying before I give you something to cry about."
"Life's not fair!"

I'm sure I'm leaving lots out! What are some things that your mom used to say that you swore you would never say, but have found yourself saying it after having children yourself?

Rub-a-dub-dub, pictures in the tub

2010-03-09T17:27:00.000-06:00

bubble beard

playing in the waterfall

where's sis?

baby butt

taking the bubble beard off of sis

figuring out what toys to play with

blowing bubbles

blowing the bubbles in Jack's face

play-dough

2010-03-04T17:32:00.000-06:00

Once I got over my fear of play-dough colors mixing, I have found that it's okay for our house. I used to hate the stuff. I hated the colors being mixed so I'd watch over Olivia like a hawk and swoop in whenever 2 colors got close to each other.

Olivia has a blast making stuff - it's a little more fun to create stuff when you can use more than one color! She also likes to discover what you get when you mix two colors together. When Jack's not eating it (we have some homemade kind that is safe) he is imitating his big sister and trying to make what she is making.

Olivia was making dinosaurs with the play-dough on this particular day

Jack showing off his creation

Olivia showing off her creation - a triceratops

age 2+ is just a recommendation, right?

Trying to take a picture of Jack when a triceratops walked into the frame

All of Olivia's dinosaur creations

Then there's the clean-up! This is another reason why I used to hate play-dough, but I have discovered that now that there are two kids in the house, the kitchen floor needs swept everyday anyway and I can always get some "help". Here Jack helps with clean-up.

funny faces

2010-02-24T13:59:00.000-06:00

We love making funny faces and taking pictures. Here's some of the latest ones - I definitely have more of Jack because Olivia is too cool for pictures these days.

Scarred for life

2010-02-21T13:27:00.000-06:00

It's been several weeks since Olivia was scarred for life, but it's been a heavy week this week and we are all in need of laughter, so I feel like this post is needed!
Early last month, Olivia developed a horrible stomach flu. She spent several days at home unable to keep anything down and having horrible stomach cramps. After a few days I joined her in hugging the porcelain bowl. Olivia was in a lot of pain and we felt like she needed to see the doctor. Since I was unable to get out of bed Brian felt like it would be best to take Jack with him also. Before the doctor sent them on to the hospital for a CT scan they were sent to the bathroom for a urine sample.
I'm sure you wondering where the laughter comes in, right? I mean so far, this is nothing to laugh about.
Brian takes Olivia and Jack into the bathroom. As Jack starts to open cabinets and get into everything, Brian takes the collection cup and.... Well, he kind of just stands there with lots of thoughts running through his head. He tells Olivia that she needs to pee in the cup and so she drops her pants and starts to get on the toilet - she's been in the bathroom at my midwife's office enough to know how girls do this. Brian on the other hand is completely clueless! He tells her to get off of the toilet and stand up. He has her kind of spread her legs a little and he holds the cup up to her and tells her to pee in it. After looking at him like he has 3 heads she tries, but the girl cannot pee in the cup while standing up. It doesn't help that Jack is getting into everything and she's yelling at him while Brian holds the cup with one hand and tries to keep Jack out of stuff with the other hand.
Brian finally realizes that she is going to need to sit down on the toilet to accomplish this. Olivia sits down and Brian is baffled as to where he puts the cup. He starts to put it in the front but decides the holding it under her from behind will be the best option. He finally gets into place and is ready for her to pee...and he drops the cup in the toilet.
He goes out into the hallway and asks a nurse for a new cup. The nurse also offers to take Jack to help out a little. Brian takes the new cup back into the bathroom and attempts this again. This time Olivia was successful at getting pee into the cup...and all over Brian's hand.
This is when Brian knew that there was something wrong. He told me, "when she peed it just went everywhere and not in a straight stream!".
Thank God Olivia is only 5 and will hopefully never remember this. If she does, it will probably come out in a therapy session many years from now.

Sibling Rivalry

2010-02-16T21:59:00.000-06:00

I know ALL about sibling rivalry because I have two older brothers. One of the cruelest things I remember them doing was mixing up play-doh until they got an ugly brown color. Then they would roll it up to look like poop and put it in my baby doll's diapers. It freaked me out every time and I hated it!

I had no idea that the sibling rivalry would start so soon! Jack's only a year and a half and Olivia has been waiting the entire year and a half for her brother to be old enough and interested in playing with her. Now that he's to that point there are times when she doesn't want it.

Olivia has started the I-don't-want-Jack-in-my-room phase which will probably last for the next 15 years. I know that my children each need their own personal space, but I also feel like it's important to share and part of that means letting your brother come in your room. So the rule I started with Olivia is, "if you have gone into Jack's room today, then he's allowed to go into your room". It seems to be working for now.

When Jack is in Olivia's room and annoying her, she reacts by taking whatever she is playing with to the kitchen table or somewhere else that Jack can't reach. The other night she was playing Littlest Pets and Jack was in her room "wrecking" it so she brought it downstairs to the kitchen table to play by herself.

It didn't take too long for Jack to realize this so he came into the kitchen and climbed up on the table to play with his sister.

Jack the spectator

Here is where he starts to disturb her and she stops him

He decides that he'll just annoy her by peaking through the window

...and while she's not looking, he'll reach through the window and steal whatever is within reach

The I'm-up-to-something look

Olivia takes action, trying to push her brother back

She finally realizes that he's not going anywhere and he might be a good playmate so she let's him play.

Cookies for Chloe

2010-02-13T11:13:00.000-06:00

If you haven't had the chance to meet Chloe, you're missing out on a very special little girl! That's why when her mom, Aimee, asked me to make cookies for a Thank You party for Chloe I jumped at the chance!
Early in January, Chloe was out enjoying the snow with family and friends when she lost control of the child-size snowmobile she was driving and wrecked. She was taken by ambulance to a near-by hospital where they stabilized her and prepared her for the flight to University of Chicago. She was in a drug-induced coma with a chest tube and on a ventilator.
When I talked to Aimee that night I was in the middle of braiding Olivia's hair. I sat on the phone and I listened to Aimee cry on the other side. She felt helpless, there wasn't a thing she could do. As a mother, my heart just ached for her. I got off the phone and immediately started praying, calling others to pray and requesting prayer through facebook.
I didn't sleep much that night, but the new day brought about new miracles! That evening, about 24 hours after the accident, Chloe woke up for the first time and was taken off the ventilator. Slowly over the next few days Chloe started to become more Chloe-like! Now, a little over a month later, Chloe is still making improvements. She just finished her first week back to school and doctor check-ups and new scans are just proving how much of a little miracle she is. Chloe will most likely make a full recovery with absolutely no surgery needed - praise the Lord!
Aimee and Ryan were shocked by the amount of people who prayed, offered condolences, and did everything from making meals to sending gifts to keep the kids busy. During these types of situations, you really start to realize the number of people in your life who REALLY do care for you, and even the strangers who God places in your life at just the right time! I'm always so amazed at God's perfect plan and they way he lines things up with such perfection. It was a horrible thing that happened, but it was amazing to see God's hand at work.
Because of the overwhelming support that Ryan and Aimee received, they wanted to throw a Thank You Party to honor all of the people who touched their lives during this past month. The date was set for Valentine's Day and because Aimee and I must have been separated at birth, she immediately started thinking THEME! Every party needs a theme, right? Well, since it was Valentine's day, that made Aimee's task a little easier. She came to me with a fabulous idea and I was ecstatic! She wanted conversation heart sugar cookies that had to do with Chloe's accident.

And of course we had to make a few for our house for Valentine's Day - it wouldn't be the same without them! The first time I made my decorated sugar cookies was for Valentine's day - 7 years ago. AND 6 years ago, it was a conversation heart cookie that told Brian we were expecting our first child!

Happy Valentine's Day - may you be blessed with love! Remember to tell those you love just how much they mean to you.

It ends similar to how it begins...with a cup

2010-02-11T23:51:00.000-06:00

I begin my day hoping no one notices me until I've finished my first cup of coffee.

...and after a long day of playing mommy I like to end my day with a different cup in my hand - only this time the house is quiet.

Disney 2009 - Day seven

2010-02-11T23:37:00.000-06:00

Day Seven was our last day in Disney - kind of bittersweet! We were all exhausted and ready to get home, but not ready to leave the magic in Disney!

We spent our last day in Disney at the Magic Kingdom. Olivia had her list of rides that she loved so much she had to do one last time! This was probably one of her favorites - Goofy's barnbuster! Here she is in the back of the plane, riding with daddy. Believe it or not, she actually kept her hands up for most of the ride - just so happens I snapped the pic right as she put them down! She's a brave little girl.

We stopped for a quick picture in front of Minnie's cute little house

Jack didn't last too long, he was exhausted...and sick of the stroller.

We couldn't pass up a photo opportunity with the fairy God-mother outside of Cinderella's Castle.

A few pictures in our resort lobby before packing up for the flight back home

All week long Olivia studied how the girl characters would pose. By the end of the trip, she was "posing" for every picture. Still to this day, she poses like the princesses!

It was an exhausting trip, but it was absolutely amazing! I was so excited for this trip and to see the look on my children's faces when they experienced Disney for the very first time, but I have to admit, I was just as amazed as they were by the magical things at Disney. It was a fabulous trip and we can't wait to go back.

Disney 2009 - Day Six

2010-02-11T23:05:00.000-06:00

We began our 6th day of Disney at Epcot where we definitely felt like we were 6 days into our Disney trip...and exhausted! I must say, I think the kids handled it much better than Brian and I did. I think we did more complaining of the heat and exhaustion than the kids did. This probably had to do with the fact that they got pushed around in a stroller all week with fans attached to it! Brian was also feeling pretty bad and waiting for some meds to kick in from a diverticulitis attack.

We probably spent the first hour and a half at the Seas with Nemo and Friends - we rode the clam-mobile ride two times, sent lot so time looking at the tanks with sea animals and also sat down and had a chat with Crush, the turtle.

We walked through all the countries, but Mexico was really the only country that we spent much time in. We visited the Mexico Pavilion and took a relaxing boat ride. After the ride we walked through the Mexico mart and did a little shopping. Here's Jack trying on a hat!

I feel like we missed out on so much at Epcot, but we were all exhausted and just not into it! There's always next time! We're Cubs fans, we've learned to look at everything that way!

Disney 2009 - Day five

2010-01-17T11:17:00.000-06:00

Our 5th day at Disney was Olivia's 5th birthday! We started the day at downtown Disney where Olivia visited the Bibbity Bobbity boutique. Olivia was picked to be in the front window of the store as she was transformed from Olivia to Jasmine the punk princess. After downtown Disney we went back to our room for a nap before going to Chef Mickey for dinner. At Chef Mickey we visited with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. After dinner the kids got dressed up in their Halloween costumes - Olivia was Jasmine and Jack was Abu (the monkey from Alladin) and we went to the Magic Kingdom for the Mickey's not-so-scary Halloween Party. It was amazing! The park was transformed into a not-so-spooky wonderland! They played spooky music throughout the park and there was fog coming from everywhere. All the characters and cast members were dressed up in Halloween costumes. The kids got to trick-or-treat at different stations around the park. The Halloween parade was absolutely amazing!
We had a wonderful time and Olivia's birthday was absolutely amazing! We got back to our room really late and got in bed, but then I realized that we didn't sing happy birthday to Olivia, so we got a cupcake, put a candle in it and sang - then we ate cake in bed...after brushing our teeth! Dad wasn't too happy about it, but it was fun - Olivia and I just giggled :-)

When Olivia woke up, she had a present in her bed and we decorated the room with the leis we were given when we arrived at our resort.

Olivia was paraded through the store to the front windows. The lady escorting her kept saying, "excuse us, there's a princess coming through" and Olivia just smiled and waved - it was sooo cute!

This is Olivia and her fairy god-mother in training

Punk Jasmine

Jack liked the lego dogs

Abu and Jasmine

Halloween parade

Dinner with Pluto at Chef Mickey

Dinner with Goofy at Chef Mickey

Jack kissing Minnie at Chef Mickey

Dinner with Donald at Chef Mickey

Jack kissing Mickey at Chef Mickey

Goofy stopping to pose with Brian

Jack tried to pull off Pluto's whiskers

We found Anastasia wondering around looking for her sister and mother and her step-sister Cinderella

Abu and mini Abu

(we were on our way out of the park and we had already undressed Jack because he was so hot in his costume, but when I saw Abu, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get Jack's picture with him so I put Jack's costume back on him and we waited in line, only to find out that Abu was leaving and Jasmine and Alladin were coming - the cast member with Abu was kind enough to pull Abu aside and let us get a picture with him!)

The Genie was with Abu, but he didn't stop for a picture

The family got a picture with Jasmine and Alladin

This was Olivia's birthday cupCake that we ate in bed after brushing our teeth...and we giggled about it!

Disney 2009 - Day four

2009-12-07T16:34:00.000-06:00

On our fourth day in Disney, we visited the Animal Kingdom. Not being very fond of animals myself, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the visit to this park. After visiting the park, I discovered that this was one of my favorites!

We started our day with a Safari ride

Jack really enjoyed riding on a big truck!

After the Safari Olivia got her face painted like Pocahontas

Brian found this man walking around playing music

We watched the Festival of the Lion King - this was one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen!

While Jack took a nap, Olivia found lots of characters

We also watched the 3D show It's Tough to be a Bug where we got poked by a bug and learned why a stink bug got his name-DISGUSTING!

The most amazing part of the day was the Finding Nemo Musical - this was THE best show I have ever seen, outside of any Broadway shows. I was so amazed at the details in the stage presentation and props.

Brian started getting pretty sick and we didn't get to spend as much time in Animal Kingdom as we would have liked, but it was still one of our favorite parks in Disney!!

Disney 2009 - day three

2009-12-07T15:06:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday we got up and headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. This was our first venture on a bus - we had been using the monorail which is super convenient for families with strollers. I packed the stroller up and we headed to the bus stop. We were less than thrilled to find out we had to fold up the stroller. We had about 10 different small bags, water bottles, fans...I grabbed both kids and boarded the bus with as much stuff as I could carry while Brian wrestled with the stroller and the remaining items packed inside and out - it was a disaster and took about 5 minutes - everyone on the bus was less than thrilled having to wait on us! After feeling VERY overwhelmed and disorganized, we arrived at Hollywood Studios - the kids were ready to have fun and Brian and I were ready to pull our hair out and go back home. To add to it, Brian had misplaced his Disney card that had his park passes and dining plan on it, so we had to go to guest services and get a replacement before entering the park. Thankfully, Disney has a way of transforming any mood and it didn't take too long and we were having a blast!

Olivia took a seat on Brian's shoulders for a good view of High School Musical performing.

Meeting JoJo and Goliath

Meeting Leo and Annie of the Little Einsteins

We saw the Mickey Mouse club house, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and Pooh and friends on stage.

For lunch we went to Hollywood and Vine

Jack meeting Leo

Olivia posing with June, but Jack was not impressed!

These were three actors on the street doing a little skit while we waited for the block party to begin - they were absolutely hilarious! We laughed our butts off as they started up their own on-the-road band. They started getting on each others nerves and would make jabs at each other, then they would make-up, only to start fighting again over something silly.

The block party was absolutely fabulous!

Our favorite attraction at HS was the Toy Story Mania!

While in Hollywood Studios we also watched the Muppets 3D and the Voyage of Little Mermaid.

Disney 2009 - Day two

2009-12-07T12:20:00.000-06:00

We were super-excited and woke up early on our first morning in Disney. We decided to put on our swimsuits and check out the pool at the hotel.

This is the Volcano at the pool

At night, the volcano lights up and has a mist that comes from the top, there is also a slide that starts at the top, goes through the volcano and drops you into the pool below.

Jack and Olivia playing in the water

This is the beach outside our hotel and the view of the Castle in the distance.

After swimming at the hotel we went to Magic Kingdom. I was finally able to capture the picture I have had in my head for sooo long. This is in memory of out baby Jesse.

Family pics in front of the castle

Olivia watching the parade

We ate lunch in Cinderella's Castle - before lunch, we had a photo shoot with Cinderella

During lunch we were visited by Snow White

Aurora

Belle

and Jasmine

Olivia got a birthday cupcake and everyone sang Happy Birthday to her

Jack learned to swallow swords in the Castle

We visited a knight in shining armor before leaving the castle.

We spent the rest of the day playing in Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed several attractions: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin where we boarded a space cruiser and used our laser cannons to blast away the Evil Emperor Zurg; The Barn Stormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm (little airplane roller coaster that busts through a barn); Brian was "that guy" at Monster's Inc. laugh floor; Peter Pan's flight; Olivia was able to keep her hands up on the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster; we spun until we got dizzy in the tea cups - these were just some of our favorites!
We definitely wore ourselves out before leaving the park!

Disney 2009 - day one

2009-10-20T21:52:00.001-05:00

We flew out of Chicago early Sunday morning dressed in pants and sweatshirts and curled up in blankets. We landed in Orlando and could feel the heat and humidity as soon as we stepped off of the plane. We arrived to our resort, The Disney Polynesian. The resort was amazing and we felt as if EVERYTHING was taken care of by Disney. We were going to be celebrating Olivia's birthday that week and they gave Olivia her birthday button to wear all week. Every cast member throughout the rest of the trip made it a point to tell Olivia Happy Birthday which made her feel like such a princess. In addition to this, she got a cupcake with every sit down meal and they would sing happy birthday to her and she blew out her candle.

After taking a brief rest in our hotel, we got ready and went to Magic Kingdom. Upon our arrival, this is what we saw

The Disney Castle with a beautiful rainbow to the right of it. I honestly had tears in my eyes as I walked down Main Street USA. I was completely amazed at the details that go into the store fronts, streets and costumes - it's just such a magical place!

We got to enjoy the "Celebrate" parade on Main Street USA and Olivia and Brian danced in the streets with the cast members. Disney definitely knows how to put together an awesome parade! After the parade we went to dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern where Olivia was treated to her first happy birthday song and birthday cupcake and candle. After dinner we were captivated by the most magical fireworks show in front of Cinderella's Castle. After the show, I was ready to go enjoy some rides and stay up really late - the park was open that night until 11PM, but Olivia was tuckered out by 10 and requesting to go back to the hotel so she could go to sleep.

Disney

2009-10-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

We had an amazing trip to Disney last week, it was both of our kids first trip to Disney and the first trip for Brian and I since we were children. The trip was magical in every way and we had the best time. We also celebrated Olivia's 5th birthday while we were there. I plan on posting a lot of pics from our trip, but today I just wanted to post one special picture, in memory of our baby Jesse

I love when kids fall asleep while eating!

2009-10-04T20:49:00.000-05:00

Not so sure why I like it so much, but there's just something so cute about watching a child fall asleep while eating. Both of my kids LOVE their sleep and they LOVE their beds. Outside of their beds and the car they rarely fall asleep anywhere - once they're tired they usually ASK for bed.

A couple weeks ago we went to a summer festival and got home pretty late. I was feeding Jack his cereal before putting him to bed and he was soooooo tired. He started rubbing his little eyes and I knew I had to grab the camera...I couldn't miss this POSSIBLE once in a lifetime photo shoot.

It always ends with a head-nod that wakes you up...this is as his head was falling!

Sometimes it's the little things in life that bring us the most joy!

1st day of school

2009-09-01T10:08:00.000-05:00

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

I give you a little wink and a smile

as you entered my room today.

I know how hard it is to leave

and simply walk away.

You've been together for several years.

You've been a loving guide.

But now the time has finally come,

to leave your child by my side.

Just know that as you drive away

and the tears may start to flow,

I'll love your child as I would my own

and help your little one to grow.

So place a favorite picture here,

and cherish it in your own way.

And know your child will be safe and loved

as we work and learn each day.

(note sent with the parents from the teacher)

Olivia was eating breakfast and seemed a little annoyed that mommy already had the camera out!

She was having a little trouble keeping the backpack on her shoulders (we forgot to tighten the straps)

Being silly, acting too cool to smile at mom!

She couldn't keep the cool look going for too long - she ended up laughing =}

Such a beautiful girl

Daddy held her hand and walked her to the building

Olivia in her room - The Garden Room

One last pose before I had to leave her..........and cry!

I made it to the parking lot before the tears started flowing and the letter from the teacher didn't help! It's nice to know she's in good hands and her teacher loves her, but it's still not momma!

Olivia,

Mommy and daddy are so proud of you and the little girl you have become. We wish we could keep you small forever, but we know that this is just part of life! We pray that you'll always be surrounded by God's arms of protection and that you always know you are a true princess and loved.

Love,

Mom and dad

Psalm 23

2009-08-31T23:40:00.000-05:00

This is a huge accomplishment for Olivia - we set out to memorize Psalm 23 this summer and she did fabulous! I'm very proud of her and I hope she keeps up the great work.

Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

She's with the band!

2009-08-29T11:15:00.001-05:00

I heard a lot of noise coming from downstairs and when I went to investigate this is what I found! Olivia set it all up! It went on for much longer, but I was running around the house trying to find my camera so I didn't get it all on video.

Jack's 1st Birthday

2009-08-27T14:10:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful time on Saturday at Jack's first birthday party. The theme was baseball! We love our Cubbies, but we loved seeing all our friends show up in their different baseball jerseys from all different teams. Thanks to everyone who came out and helped us celebrate Jack's first birthday.

To complete the baseball theme the menu was popular baseball food like hot dogs, nachos, walking tacos, and of course, ice cold beer!!

I ordered a set of baseball cookie cutters - at first I debated if I should even add the stress of making cookies to it all, but they turned out soooo good and I'm glad I did it!

The cake turned out really cute too - I had a cold so I couldn't really taste it, but everyone said it was good!

♪♫♫♪♪♪♪♫♫Happy Birthday To You♪♫♫♪♪♪♪♫♫

Jack and his smash cake

Brian thought it wasn't messy enough so he planted Jack's face in it!

Very excited to add some boy toys to the house!!

...even the METAL Tonka truck!

Thanks to my brother, Brian, who made these awesome baseball cards :-)

...and we can't forget big sis Olivia - she was Jack's cheerleader! She was so excited to do all the big sis stuff like give Jack his smash cake and help him open his presents.

Happy 1st Birthday Jack - we love you!!

Is it really a deal?

2009-08-26T09:43:00.002-05:00

Still in the diaper-buying stage of motherhood? If you're like me, trying to find a good deal can sometimes make your head spin! You see a package on sale, but it's a different size than you normally buy at Costco or Babies R Us and you're not really sure if it's a good deal, right? Or is the off brand really cheaper than finding a name brand on sale and stacking with coupons?

I came across this chart today that lays it all out there for you when it comes to Huggies, Pampers and Luvs. It tells you how many diapers are in what size packs and the price to beat per diaper. See a deal you think might be good? Just do a little math before you buy it!
How Many Diapers Per Pack?

I'm losing my power

2009-08-25T12:29:00.002-05:00

You know the power bar on video games? Starts out as full strength, green bar and as you go on the bar gets smaller and smaller and then when it gets real close to you "dying" it goes red and there's only a small sliver left....know what I'm talking about? That's where I'm at right now, just a little tiny sliver of red left on my super-human mom power bar and I'm super emotional about it! I know that this is another milestone, another page in the book, but I'm having a really hard time right now.

Jack's weaning himself and we're done having kids!

I couldn't wait for the day for Olivia to wean - in fact, she woke up on her 1st birthday and she was done - she didn't ask for it again for a few days and then I couldn't really help her with it. For a couple of weeks now Jack was nursing once in the morning and once at night, but last week he dropped the evening nursing. Saturday he wanted nothing to do with nursing in the morning so I know it's coming. I had no problem with Olivia weaning, in fact, I was happy she was done, but Brian and I thought that after Jack was born that he'd be our last so now that he's starting to wean I'm a huge mess! I will no longer have my super-human mom power of growing a baby inside my body and providing all the nourishment needed to form this baby and I will no longer provide nourishment to a baby through nursing.

It's such a special thing to me - I absolutely LOVE being pregnant, the thought of my body being capable of "making" another human being is so awesome. I even LOVE giving birth - even with the long labors I tend to have and the fear of medications and epidurals - there's just something very fascinating about the way God has designed women and the way that everything works together to deliver a baby - thankfully I have an awesome midwife that allows MY body to deliver the baby instead of the Dr delivering the baby with the many interventions such as episiotomy, forceps, vacuums, Cesarean...(I know that these things are sometimes needed in lifesaving situation, but unfortunately it has become less about life-saving and more about time-saving). I had an awesome birth experience with both Jesse and Jack - it's just amazing how the body works.

I also find it fascinating that after 9 months of growing a baby in my body that I am able to nourish this baby for 6+ months with ONLY what my body produces - it's just amazing!

I know there are some of you reading this thinking that I'm crazy - we all feel completely different on these issues, but this is MY experience and we see things differently.

So here I am, knowing that what's occurring is just a normal part of life, another transition. I look forward to the future, but at the same time I really want to hold on to the past and present - I guess it's my way of trying to keep my baby little for just a bit longer.

Happy 1st Birthday Jack (August 23)

2009-08-21T08:23:00.005-05:00

This time last year I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of another baby. I was filled with so many emotions - fear, excitement, joy.....but nothing compared to what I felt the second you were born. Jack, you are my rainbow - the beautiful masterpiece of God after a horrible storm. I can't even put into words the love that I have for you. I have greatly enjoyed this past year with you and I look forward to many more. You have been a wonderful baby, sure there were times when things got rough, but I can always count on you for a smile to brighten my day and a snuggle to make it all better. I love you with all of my heart and I pray each day that God will make me the perfect mother for you. I hope I never let you down and I hope I always lift you up.
Love,
Ma-ma

Look how I've grown!

God, please bless this little boy with a lifetime of happiness and health. Protect him from evil. Help me, as his mother, to encourage him to have a personal relationship with you and help him to always turn to you first. Give me strength to be the mother that I need to be for him. Amen

When you need your angel's help, just ask

2009-07-25T23:01:00.007-05:00

I was awoken by the thunderstorms last night and as I rolled over I glanced at the clock which read 12:03 AM - July 25th was finally here I thought to myself...Jesse's 3rd birthday. I laid awake and said a prayer that God would provide us with the comfort and peace needed to make it through another anniversary. I also asked God to send my angel to be near us on his special day and to make his presence known...when you need your angel's help, just ask! If you haven't read it yet you should glance back at a post I did a couple of days ago about feeling Jesse's presence. I quickly fell back to sleep and awoke to the wonderful sounds of children giggling in the morning.
We had several things planned for Jesse's birthday. We began our day visiting Lowe's for a little children's workshop that they were having. Olivia and Brian made a helicopter for Jesse for his birthday.

After our visit to Lowe's we went to Memory Lane and spent some time at Jesse's grave. We decorated Jesse and AJ (our friend's son who was stillborn 6 days after Jesse) headstones with balloons, Olivia put the helicopter she had made on the headstone and we prayed.

On our way home from Memory Lane "I Can Only Imagine" (the song played at Jesse's graveside service) came on the radio. We pulled into our driveway, but sat in the car to listen to the rest of the song. As we sat there a butterfly flew past our car and landed in the grass next to the car. The butterfly remained there until Brian walked right up to it.

We went to lunch at Red Robin and then returned home for Jack to take a nap. After naptime we went to the Saturday night service at church because Brian was giving his testimony. After church we ate a quick dinner and went to the beach to fly a kite.

Here is the sun as it set on Jesse's 3rd Anniversary in Heaven - if this is just a glimpse of the beauty we will see in heaven I can't wait!

After the beach, baths and bed for the kids I went to the kitchen to ice the cupcakes that I had made for Jesse's birthday.

As I was standing there putting the icing into the bag I felt something at my feet, I kicked it away at first, but felt it again and so I looked down. It was one of the helium balloons that the kids brought home from lunch at Red Robin - notice I said HELIUM and that it was AT MY FEET. I remembered the balloon being in our bedroom upstairs. I walked over to the stairs of our tri-level and looked down at Brian who was on the computer. I asked him if he had moved the balloon out of our room and he said that he took it out of the room, but just put it outside of our door at the top of the stairs. So the balloon made it down the stairs and into the kitchen and feel to my feet as I was icing the cupcakes for Jesse's birthday. As I stood at the top of the stairs I released the balloon and it slowly floated back up towards the ceiling.

At the bottom of the stairs, down where Brian was on the computer, is a fan that is pointing up the stairs (it's always colder downstairs and the fan helps the air circulate a little better). I walked back into the kitchen and turned to watch the balloon. The balloon stopped floating up towards the ceiling and instead descended down the stairs in the opposite direction that the fan was blowing. It floated in the air near Brian and then floated back up the stairs and into the kitchen where it still remains now.

You might call all of these things coincidences, but for me I choose to look at them as an answer to my prayers. I asked God early this morning to bring me peace and to send my angel to be near me and I feel as though He did just that. If you ever need your angel's help, don't be afraid to ask...it just might make your day. Here I sit, almost 24 hours after my story began at the beginning of this blog post. It's my son's 3rd birthday in heaven, but I have such a wonderful sense of peace.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jesse

2009-07-25T06:04:00.002-05:00

Jesse,

I am remembering you today and wishing so much that I could go back 3 years and change everything. You're life was taken from us far too soon and by such surprise. I had no clue that a life could be taken so sudden. I think back to the 7 months that I carried you right next to my heart. I remember what it felt like when you kicked, tossed and turned and I can remember the last time I felt that. Oh to go back....I'd do it in a heartbeat!

Another year has gone by and so much has changed. The room that would have been yours is now Jack's room. The walls that would have been red are now blue. The bedding that would have been lady bugs (since we thought you were a girl) is now construction trucks. Life has gone on, but it is forever changed. There is a whole in my heart that can't be filled with anything that this crazy world has to offer.

I had dreams for you, just as every mom does. I dreamt about holding you as a baby, nurturing you into a little boy, helping you take your first steps, teaching you to throw a ball, helping you ride a bicycle....but most importantly, as most moms would agree, I dreamt about the days of teaching you about God. As a mom, I want my children to have the personal relationship with God that I grew up with. I want them to lean on Him when times are rough and look to Him when times are tough. I want them to have the personal relationship with God that will lead to salvation. I dreamt this for you just as I did for Olivia and Jack, but you made it there already! You are spending eternity with the Maker of heaven and earth and you never had to experience one heartache that this world can hand you. I never had to wipe away a tear from you cheek or calm your fears. I never had to bandage up a boo boo or embrace you when you had a hard time.

I want so much for things to be different. I want you here with me NOW! I want to hold you again. I want to sing to you again. I want to read a story to you and I would absolutely LOVE to hear your voice! I look forward to the day when I will be able to do all of this with you. I just keep trying to think that all these years that continue to go by are not even seconds when it comes to eternity.

I thank you so much for the things that your short life has taught me. I have learned to appreciate things a little more than I ever did before. I try to remember that life can be sooo short and can be taken from us so quickly. I've learned that when I think I can't go on another minute that God can and that His strength is far greater than my own.

I'm so thankful for such an amazing family, church family and friends who have been such a wonderful support system for us. I'm so thankful that you have not been forgotten - that is my biggest fear is that your short little life will not be remembered. Above all, I'm thankful for our Father who has provided us with the strength, courage and peace needed to handle the loss of a child.

Jesse, you will never be forgotten. Until the day I hold you in my arms again I will remember you and what it felt like to carry your body right next to my heart. I will continue to talk about you and to share your brief life with others. You are one of my children and I will not let you be forgotten. I love you so much. Thank you for all that your short little life taught me.

Love always,

Mom

Fly high my wee little angel and sleep tight in angel's wings.

www.jesse-barnett.memory-of.com

I thought it was supposed to get easier

2009-07-16T09:08:00.008-05:00

Ever hear the saying, "Time heals the heart"? Doesn't that mean that things get easier with time? I thought so and it has appeared so until it was time to flip the calendar to July this year. July 25th will be Jesse's 3rd birthday and also 3rd anniversary in heaven. Each year it seems as though the work-up to the 25th is the worse, the anticipation, wondering what the day will be like, scared to reach yet another anniversary and then the day usually gets here and it appears as though it isn't half as bad as anticipated - I think this is all by God's grace! Thank God that His grace is sufficient!

But this year seems to be harder than the past and I think it's for a couple of reasons. First, I was blessed with Jack almost a year ago and I look at that little boy all the time and think just how much Jesse would have been like Jack. I'm experiencing all this new "boy stuff" and think, I should have been experiencing it a long time ago...this shouldn't be a new experience for me. I watch Olivia and Jack play together and wonder what it would be like if Jesse was included in the pile of kids on top of their daddy, fighting for mommy's lap or tugging on my shirt.

Another reason it seems harder is the series we are doing at church - Storm Watch. God's timing always amazes me - how appropriate that this series would be in the month of July, 3 years after I went through THE worst storm in my life!!! "Storm Watch" series at church: Why does God allow suffering?, What did I do to deserve this? & Where is God when it hurts? are all up at Crossroads website - click on sermon audio. There will be 2 more sermons in this series, one on July 18 & 19 and one on July 25 & 26. Brian will also be giving his testimony on July 25 & 26 - Jesse died on July 25th and it's his death that turned Brian's life around and he became saved in the hospital chapel while I was in labor with Jesse. I haven't been able to walk into church at all this month without crying and I don't anticipate the next two weeks to be any easier. Some people would say, "then just don't go", I actually LOVE the series and it brings sooo much comfort to me. Of course it brings tears of sorrow as well, but it's more about how God gets us through the storms in our lives and I know it's only through God's grace that I made it through the Storm of my son dying and I know it's only through God's grace that He used such a tragic event to bring Salvation to Brian and I know it's only through God's grace that I continue to make it through each anniversary.

Another reason it seems to be harder this year is because I have felt Jesse's presence so much this month which brings me comfort, but when I "feel" him around me, it just makes me want to hold him so much more. Some of you might be rolling your eyes at what I am about to say, and I was one of you before my son died, but once you experience what I have there doesn't appear to be any explanation. Just recently we have had toys go off in our house that either haven't been played with in years (in the crawl space) or when no one is around. For instance, there is a toy in the living room that we call the Elmo table. It's a toy that a child can stand at and there's buttons to push with music and talking and there is a big Elmo head that wiggles when the toy is being played with. There's also this Cookie monster head and when someone lifts up on his head for him to open his mouth he yells, "OPEN". Brian and I were sitting on the couch the other night after the kids went to bed and all of the sudden it yelled out "OPEN". Within about 15 minutes it made a few other noises before Brian turned it off. There's also a night light at the top of our stairs that has a sensor on it - the only time the night light comes on is when it's dark or someone walks past it and blocks the daytime light. Just recently it will be so sunny in the house and the night light will turn on like someone just walked past it or sometimes it will stay on for several minutes like someone is sitting at the top of the stairs blocking the outside light from it. I look up there and imagine Jesse sitting at the top of the stairs watching his big sister and little brother play together. Also, after Jesse died I started noticing a LOT of butterflies coming around. I would see them every where I would go and they would get really close to me and not be afraid when I would get closer to them. I would get a thought of Jesse and then a butterfly would fly right by my face. Every since then, whenever I see a butterfly I like to think that it's Jesse sending his love from heaven and lately I have had a LOT of butterfly moments - I literately had one smack me in the head at my uncle's house two days ago! It brings so much comfort knowing that he is so near, but at the same time I just want to go grab him and love on him.

In addition to all of these things my Rose of Sharon is starting to bloom. On our way home from the hospital after saying good-bye to Jesse I was just looking out the window and I kept seeing all of these beautiful bushes with these beautiful flowers on them - it was as if I had never noticed them before and their beauty was something I just couldn't get enough of. I started asking people what they were and soon discovered that it was a Rose of Sharon. We planted one in our yard for Jesse's first birthday and it's so neat that it just starts blooming beautiful flowers right around his birthday. After planting it I started reading about the Rose of Sharon and the reference to it in the bible. I had always heard of Jesus being referred to as a rose of Sharon, but after reading more about it, there is no where in the bible that he is referred to AS the rose of Sharon. He is SYMBOLICALLY referred to as the rose of Sharon because He is God's gift to believers - - this is the meaning of Jesse, God's gift! I just thought it was so neat that we picked a name that meant God's gift and then choose to plant something in our yard in remembrance of Jesse and it means the same thing AND blooms at his birthday.

I know that God will get me through another anniversary and I'm so thankful for his love, grace, patience and peace and all the blessings He has given me.

An Angel Never Dies

Don't let them say, I wasn't born
That something stopped my heart
I felt each tender squeeze you gave
I've loved you from the start.

Although my body you can't hold,
It doesn't mean I'm gone.
This world was worthy, not, of me
God chose that I move on.

I know the pain that drowns your soul,
What you are forced to face.
You have my word, I'll fill your arms
Someday we will embrace.

You'll hear that it was "meant to be,
God doesn't make mistakes"
But that won't soften your worst blow..
Or make your heart not ache.

I'm watching over all you do,
another child you'll bear.
Believe me when I say to you,
That I am always there.

There will come a time, I promise you
When you will hold my hand,
Stroke my face and kiss my lips
And then you'll understand.

Although, I've never breathed your air,
Or gazed into your eyes..
That doesn't mean I never "was"
An Angel Never Dies........

Author Unknown

Awesome giveaway

2009-07-16T08:48:00.003-05:00

My friend Aimee has an awesome giveaway on her blog that you should check out! It includes a $100 gift card, but you'll have to visit her blog and follow her rules in order to sign up for a chance to win it!

Rookie of the year

2009-06-30T22:35:00.002-05:00

Here's my little slugger!!

who turned on the lights?

2009-06-13T20:08:00.004-05:00

Last week was a great week with Jack. It was as if someone turned on the lightbulb! He finally started using 3 different signs that we have been teaching him for months: eat, more and all done - I think Brian even taught him one - Jack rubbed his face on my chest, then looked at me and did the sign for more! I think the message was clear - we wanted to nurse! As you can see from my last post on Jack he started doing "SO BIG". He has also started clapping, intentionally waving and trying to speak some words like all done and hi. We also started limiting the pacifier (nu-nu) to the bed and car only and when I get him out of bed he has learned that he drops the nu-nu and waves bye-bye. This is such a fun time - this is when they really start picking up on stuff really fast and it's so exciting to watch them learn so fast. I look forward to the next few weeks and months as he learns more and more.

Here are some pictures that I took of him at the park the other day.

A walk in the park

2009-06-11T17:38:00.008-05:00

Every summer my niece and nephew visit us for a few days. This time they stayed the longest that they ever have AND Olivia was old enough that she got to have a sleepover with them each night downstairs (it was a big deal that she didn't have to sleep in her bed!!). We stayed really busy doing lots of fun stuff and we had a very great time together. Here's some pics I took at the park while they were here.

I will post some pictures of Jack in a separate post.

Jack's getting bigger

2009-06-06T21:41:00.005-05:00

Jack is finally big enough to ride the rocking horse he got at Christmas from my parents. My mom wanted to see pics of him on it and this is the easiest way to share pics and video of him.

Turn down the volume so you don't hear my annoying "baby talk" voice :-)

lots and lots of pictures

2009-05-27T13:58:00.004-05:00

Olivia went fishing for the first time over Memorial Day weekend with her new barbie fishing pole.

Her First Catch!!

We had family pictures taken outside over Memorial Day weekend with Jen Topp of Jen Topp Photography Here are a few of the pics that Jen posted on FB - I can't wait to see them all!!

GREAT JOB JEN!!

I cried at church today!

2009-05-24T11:58:00.002-05:00

So last week and this week at church the sermon has been about marriage. Both sermons have been really good and I urge you to listen to them at www.aboutccc.com

This morning I cried at this video that was shown - you have to watch it...I guarantee you too will cry...from laughing!

Old fashion play!

2009-05-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

I LOVE some old fashion play!! I love to see girls get together and play dolls and have tea parties. I love it when kids come up with secret hand shakes and clubs that require codes and passwords to gain access; clubhouses and tree houses; or playing dress-up...there's just something so cool about seeing a child's creativity come out when there isn't technology involved.

Olivia had her best friend Abbey over for some old fashion play! They set up a tea party in the driveway. On the menu was dolphin, octopus and tea.

when it got a little windy, the tea party moved to the bed of Brian's truck that was parked in the garage.

with the guest of honor, dad

Put Olivia on an elevated surface and it quickly becomes a stage! The girls decided that they would play Snow White

Olivia: I'm going to be the evil woman

Abbey: and I'm going to be Snow White

Olivia: (turned to Brian's truck window) Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? WHAT?!? SNOW WHITE?!? I'm going to have to kill her.

Olivia: Ohhhh, Snooow Whiiiiite, Snooow Whiiite I have a lovely apple for you
Abbey: (grabs apple and takes a bite)

WHAM!! Abbey hits the deck!

Olivia: (turns into a prince and kisses Snow White)

Abbey: (comes back to life)

THE END

BFFs telling secrets

After the tea party the girls dumped their water in the truck bed, rolled up their pants and stomped around in the puddles.

Mother's Day present

2009-05-18T21:11:00.001-05:00

I finally got my mother's day present out of the box and was able to play with it 6 days after I got it! I got the camera of my dreams last week for Mother's day and my birthday which is months away. I would love to become a professional photographer when I grow up, but for now I just want it as a hobby and to take pictures of my kids, family and friends. Here's just a few of the pics I took the other day.

5 Minutes for Mom Mother's Day Giveaway

2009-05-06T15:12:00.004-05:00

Head over to 5 Minutes for Mom for some incredible Mother's Day Giveaways - you don't have to be a blogger to participate!!

Interested in a new camera? How about a Kodak EASYSHARE M380?

Are you a purse addict? How about a Coach Parker Hippie Purse? or maybe an Elliot Lucca Ellene Satchel is more your style.

Need a laptop? How about a Toshiba Portege?

Shop at Macy's? There's a $50 giftcard giveaway too!

There's also a kid carrier that I could soooo use.

Rainbow dad

2009-05-05T21:43:00.003-05:00

Olivia's class has been working on songs for their preschool graduation. I love to hear her sing and sometimes I even giggle at how she thinks the song goes. One of the songs they are working on is "God Bless The USA" here's how she thinks it goes:

I'm proud to be an American,

Where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me

And I'll gladly stand up

next to you and offend myself today

rainbow dad, I love this land

God bless the USA!

Not too sure who rainbow dad is!! It must be the reason she offended herself!

A trip without the kids

2009-04-29T15:59:00.014-05:00

If you're ever able to take a trip away with your husband without the kids, I highly recommend it! We went to Naples, FL for 3 nights while both of our moms stayed with the kids. We had a wonderful time together and it was very relaxing. It was so nice to sit out by the pool or beach and know that I ONLY had to be responsible for myself - I could sit back and close my eyes and not worry about my kid being too close to the water or eating sand or to hear a kid say "mom" and know that I didn't have to respond :-) I DID miss the kids greatly - it started almost immediately - as in, we were in the airport in Chicago and I cried because I saw a little boy about Jack's age sitting in a stroller with his hands in his mouth like Jack does - Brian told me I needed to get my emotions under control!
The last time we went to Naples we stayed in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condo because we went for a week and we had Olivia who was still taking naps, but this time we got a simple hotel room right on 5th Avenue - it was magnificent!

Hotel Lobby

Rooftop swimming pool, hot tub and sun deck

We spent two evenings out at the pier watching the fisherman and the sun set. The pier is approx 1,000 feet long and extends out into the Gulf of Mexico - it's beautiful to stand at the end of the pier and watch the sun set - or as Olivia says, "ssssssssss" (sizzles when it touches the water).

There is so much wildlife to look at from the pier - you can watch dolphins jump out of the water as close as 10 feet from where you are standing on the pier. I tried to get some pictures of them, but these are the best I could do

There are lots of fisherman on the pier as well and although I do not like to fish, it's fun to watch them. They catch them and then just throw them on the pier and let them flop around until they eventually die - it's kind of sad, I wanted to go along and kick them back into the water. Here's a little gut who wasn't so lucky!

I also didn't know that people catch stingrays and eat them. I had to take a picture of this guy who was in disguise.

There's lots of pelicans who like to hang out by the pier - this one swam right into one of the fisherman's lines and got hooked.

This apparently happens quite often, one of the other fishermen got this huge net that they lowered down into the water to pull the pelican out. A couple of guys held it down while the fisherman untangled him and got the hook out.

random picture of a bird - I liked it's Shadow

Horatio Ignatius Crustaceous Sebastian

I had to take video of him also

We sat outside and had some drinks after dinner on Saturday and people watched - we had so much fun playing silly games like "will he? or won't he?" - wondering if the next guy to walk down the street would step on a penis straw that a bachlorette party had left behind, or "thong or no thong?" everytime a girl (and sometimes guy) would walk by in white bottoms - I'm amazed at the people who don't know what to wear under their white bottoms - a white thong is not the way to go people!!! We honestly laughed until....well, I peed my pants a little - JUST A LITTLE!!!

We discovered Historical 3rd street - it's another hot spot for shopping and dining located downtown Naples - we never even knew it existed - probably a good thing since we wouldn't even be able to afford a pair of socks at one of the boutiques!

Sunday afternoon We took a jet ski out into Gulf of Mexico - I was scared to death! I figured Brian would get a little carried away and I would fall off only to be eaten by a shark - this obviously didn't happen - he was very cautious and didn't get carried away - we both stayed on the entire time. The most amazing part was a dolphin who was showing off about 50 feet from us - it kept jumping completely out of the water - like they do at the zoo!! It was amazing!!

Here's a picture of the clouds on our flight back to Chicago

This is my favorite picture. I love that our shadow is in the sand where I wrote "Shawnie 'hearts' Brian

We had an incredible time - thank you so much honey for surprising me with this little getaway - you're the best!

boys have a penis, girls have a vagina

2009-04-19T21:55:00.002-05:00

...and that's only the beginning!

Now that Jack is approaching 8 months, I am so amazed at the differences between boys and girls, and at such an early age. Olivia was always such a dainty little girl - - not so with Jack! He was slow to start eating foods, but it didn't take him long to get used to it and he's gone from fighting to eat a few bites to requiring 3 to 4 meals in addition to breastfeeding. Olivia was eating at this age, but not as much as Jack and definitely not as fast as Jack - - he can devour a container of food in about 7.9 seconds. The food has to be shoveled in so quickly that you hardly have time to get the next spoonful before hearing some kind of noise from the kid. There's nothing that this boy won't eat - Olivia was eating stage 2 baby food still well after a year because she hated the texture of table food or stage 3 baby food - Jack will eat baby food, but he would prefer to eat whatever we are eating. He's eating things like lasagna, chicken Marsala, spaghetti, refried beans and pizza in addition to pieces of fruit and veggies...basically anything that can be mashed up or cut into small pieces and he can put it away!

Another difference is vocal. Olivia started babbling as a baby and never shut-up. She was forming sentences fairly early, developed an incredible vocabulary and can now give definitions to words I had no idea she even knew. Jack has been babbling a little more in the last week, but he would rather sit around and grunt - - typical male, huh?

Then there comes the difference in play...give the boy a toy and he will find something to bang it against in order to make the loudest noise possible - I don't remember Olivia being so aggressive with her toys.

He's definitely got a soft side though. Pick him up and you will probably get an immediate snuggle, but if not you can simply ask for a "hugguz" and he will snuggle up for a hug and pucker up and he'll go in for the wonderful open-mouth slobbery kisses. He's also a little flirt - he'll follow any cute girl with his eyes and give a flirty little grin when they acknowledge him - - he's just like his daddy!

I feel so blessed to have two incredible kids and I am enjoying them so much. I love to see all their similarities and differences and I'm sure it will only get better with time. Looking at the two of them also makes me think of Jesse and wonder what he would have been like - he would have been 3 this summer - him and Jack would probably be teaming up to terrorize their big sister - they'd be eating dirt and playing with worms - I have a feeling they'd be best buds!

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T08:31:00.005-05:00

We had an awesome Easter weekend "planned" this year. I say "planned" because it didn't pan out to be as anticipated. I went to Indy on Thursday with the kids and stayed two nights. My parents church had their Easter Cantata Friday night that we went to...it was one of the best ones I have been to. Saturday morning we were back at my parents church for a spring festival that included a bible lesson, craft time, face painting, snacks and an Easter egg hunt.

This is Makiah (my cousin's daughter), Olivia and Marissa (my niece)

We came back home on Saturday in time for the Saturday night service at our church where Brian and I both sang in the Easter chorus. After church we decorated eggs, made the Easter story cookies and went to bed...until about 2 AM when Olivia woke up sick - we got her cleaned up only to be back up at 4 AM with sick again. The night before I had put her hair in curlers for Easter Sunday and the only thing she was worried about after getting sick was the curlers in her hair. She nearly had a panic attack when Brian mentioned getting in the bath at 2 AM - I had to assure her that her curlers would stay in and we wouldn't get them wet! Such the girly-girl! Brian went ahead and went to church Sunday morning so he could sing at both services and I stayed home with the kids. When the kids woke up, they found their Easter baskets that the Easter bunny had hid in the house...I anticipated Olivia helping Jack find his, but Jack actually found his own! It was hid under his little activity thing - I layed him on the floor and went to find the camera and he rolled over to it and pulled it out! Olivia woke up a little later and seemed to be just fine. She wanted her curlers out and then was off to find her Easter basket. After being awake for about 30 minutes she wanted to lay in our bed and color. I thought that she might have eaten something that made her sick, but we soon found out that it was the stomach flu...now it's Tuesday and the poor thing is still sick.

Jack was too quick and I didn't get a pic of him pulling his Easter basket out...he was so proud of himself!!

Olivia said that Jesus must have told the Easter bunny that she wanted blendy pens

She hasn't been out of bed since this pic - except to go to the bathroom and sit at the table with us last night for a few minutes.

I don't think she has realized yet that she didn't get to wear her bubble skirt that we had made for Easter - we'll save it for her preschool graduation in May :-)

So, the weekend didn't go as planned, but at least we were able to celebrate the Easter a couple times prior to the actual day. This year was the first year that Olivia really comprehended the true meaning of Easter and was able to tell US the Easter story and what Jesus did for us - - there's nothing that brings me greater joy than to hear her shout out "I believe" when I read John 3:16 to her.

A prayer for Stellan

2009-03-25T16:57:00.004-05:00

If you are a Confessions of a CF Husband follower then you have recently seen the post about praying for Stellan. I'm his friend on facebook and he's been making several status updates about Stellan for the past few days and I've become very interested in the story and have been praying for the family for the past several days. My heart goes out for this family and I'm just asking you to please please please say a prayer for Stellan, the family and friends. You can check out the entire story at MckMama's blog. She's been updating several times and she's on twitter and her last three twitter updates are on the sidebar of her blog. I don't know this child from Adam, but a part of my heart aches for this mother - I just think that once you become a mother your heart goes out to moms in situations that are our worst nightmare. I admire MckMama for her courage, strength and faith. Our God is an awesome God and it shows through this mother.

WOW - it's been a long time

2009-03-23T15:12:00.002-05:00

Now that I can access the Internet from my cell phone and I have the facebook application along with email on my IPhone, I NEVER get on the computer anymore - thus not blogging either. I actually miss it. I enjoy blogging as well as keeping up with several other blogs, but it's just fallen to the wayside lately....I promise it's going to make a comeback!

Not a lot has been going on lately - I'm going to give a quick update...Christmas letter/New Year letter style!

Jack has become a much more enjoyable child! He's fallen into a better routine, he's eating foods now, he's sleeping through the night and he's doing a lot less crying - PRAISE THE LORD!!! There for awhile I was ready to pull my hair out!

He's not one for baby food so I've been giving him regular food all mashed up - he's completely opposite from Olivia - she couldn't stand any bit of texture in her foods until she was well over a year old - Jack on the other hand doesn't like the puree variety and he now has two teeth on the bottom to help out with eating.

He's on the move now and quickly! He can roll across the room in a few seconds flat! He's started getting up on his knees and rocking - this is something new for us because Olivia never crawled - in fact, she really didn't discover she had knees until after she walked. I have a feeling he will be crawling before too long! He's not a very vocal child though - except for crying - he's said mama a few times and a few dadas, but nothing consistently.

Olivia is enjoying him much more now that he actually is doing more than just laying around and crying. She enjoys playing on the floor with him and loves to get him laughing - it's such a joy to watch the two of them play together.

Olivia is visiting memaw and papaw in Indianapolis right now during her first spring break! I tried talking to her on the phone last night but she told me she just didn't have much time! She is enjoying being spoiled by her family and visiting with her cousins. She has had an incredible year at Wholehearted in their preschool program and she will be attending kindergarten there next year. She's really become interested in drawing and journaling - she will go through a spiral notebook in a weekend with pictures - it's hilarious to sit down and let her explain it to you - she likes to come up with "stories".

I had my gall bladder surgery 3 days ago and am recovering from that - I am no longer stoned...which isn't a great feeling! The doctor was pretty impressed with the size of my stones, but he wouldn't share them with us. I've got three small incisions that aren't bothersome at all, but I have a larger incision in my belly button that hurts like hell. Each day has been a little bit better - Brian goes back to work tomorrow AND Olivia comes home tomorrow so I'm hoping that I get much better between now and then.

Brian has been working a lot of hours lately and the job has been a bit stressful at times, but we are so thankful that he has a job - anything is better than nothing right now. He's an incredible husband and father and he surprised me with a get-away for the two of us at the end of next month - this time next month I will be packing for Naples, FL - it was a huge surprise and MUCH needed - I am so excited to spend 3 nights alone with my hunny!

There, all caught up now! That's all that's been going on here...mostly.

New Recipes

2009-03-02T14:18:00.000-06:00

I recently came across three great recipes that I had to share.

The first is Chicken Enchiladas with creamy ranch sauce. I discovered the recipe from my friend Susan's blog who got it from a blog named Poop on Jelly. You have got to try it! It's super easy and EXCELLENT! Brian and Olivia are not fans of what I call "sloppy enchiladas" - meaning enchiladas that are smothered in sauce so for half of the pan I did not add the cream sauce over the top of the enchiladas and I added a very little bit of the red enchilada sauce so they weren't too dry.

The second recipe is another Mexican dish. It's called Santa Fe Foldover . I got it from the Eat Better America website and I added grilled chicken to it. The recipe is supposed to be 3 servings, but I doubled it - it was plenty of food, but there's no way one serving would have been enough! I also didn't make it as one whole meal - I separated the dough and made three separate foldovers. I gave one portion of the dough to Olivia and she was in charge of making her own - this is a wonderful recipe to have your kids help out with. I find that she eats better when she is involved in making it. I told her that she had to have beans, chicken, cheese, lettuce and tomato but she could arrange it all the way she wanted. She made her foldover with beans and cheese, had the chicken on the side and made a salad with her lettuce and tomato. I made a side of brown rice and mixed in salsa for a healthier version of Mexican rice. In addition, you can make your own bisquick alternative - this is cheaper and excludes all the preservatives that are added to bisquick. Try this bisquick substitute at wikiHow.

The third recipe is pasta dish. It's called Southwest Fettuccine Bowl. I got it from the Eat Better America website and I added grilled chicken to it also. This is by far the easiest recipe I have made in a long time. Make sure you use the chili sauce in the recipe because it adds a great taste! I thought about just using some extra salsa instead of buying an entire jar of chili sauce for two Tablespoons. If you do not have chili sauce, or don't want to buy it, then you can make your own.

ENJOY!!

Keep in mind that I have a VERY picky husband and he hates to find out that I'm trying out a a new recipe, but he actually was impressed by all of these recipes...you know it HAS to be good now!!

Things that will make you laugh

2009-02-27T20:05:00.001-06:00

Olivia and I were playing around with pictures on photobucket and cracking ourselves up. I posted them on fb, but some of you are not on fb so I had to post them here too. Enjoy!!

oh, no! It's starting already!!

2009-02-25T16:07:00.002-06:00

What am I talking about? I'm talking about D-R-A-M-A drama, and the girl kind!
Olivia: Mommy will you play with me? I haven't played with anyone all day, not even at school because my friends wouldn't sit by me.
me: Oh, really? Why is that? Were you mean to your friends?
Olivia: (whining) Well, my best friend Lauren is friends with Catherine now, but I'm friends with Mia and Maddy, but Mia and Maddy were together today and that just left me out - they didn't even sit by me - I asked them to, but they were already sitting down and it wasn't by me.
me: Well, if you want to sit next to someone you can't always expect them to move, you could have gotten up and moved closer to them if there was room or you could have made new friends with the people around you.
Olivia: Well, I'm not going to move and that hurt my feelings!
me: Just let it go hunny. let. it. go.

It's cute now...not so much in 10 years!

videos

2009-02-24T17:00:00.003-06:00

I wanted to post a couple videos of the kids. The first is Olivia doing what she does best...shaking her skirt! Olivia has a love of music and dance and every once in awhile I'm able to catch it on video. The two of us LOVE to dance crazy to silly music - our favorite song being "Black Betty" because it's a VERY long song and has some great opportunity for air guitar and air drums - we have a blast, and surprisingly it's a great workout! Here she is dancing to a different song.

Jack has started playing peek-a-boo and it's soo stinkin' cute! This isn't the best peek-a-boo session we've had, but it's the only one I was able to capture on video AND it's right in the middle of him having bronchilitis and RSV so he's not that into it, but it's still cute. (Sorry my voice is so loud and annoying - I hate to hear myself on camera.)

Great Deals

2009-02-23T09:47:00.003-06:00

**********UPDATE**********

Looks like the Kmart double coupon deal is not going on in our area. I read it at www.mummydeals.org but she apparently shops a different Kmart than one that is in our area. I hope I didn't cause any headaches for you. If any of you find a Kmart that is offering the deal, please let me know by posting a comment.

Remember all the double coupon offer at Kmart that I took advantage of last month? Check out my awesome deals here. Well, Kmart is offering double coupons again this week. Make sure you take advantage of it. Check out their ad online and match coupons with sale prices to save even more. If you haven't signed up online at Kmart you can get an additional $5 coupon off $50 purchase - make sure you have the cashier scan this coupon first and then your other coupons, otherwise if you drop below $50 after all your coupons you won't be able to use it.

Another great deal is a free baby blanket offer at babies one step. Click here, fill out the form and answer a few questions.

HAPPY SAVINGS!!

He's just not that into it

2009-02-20T12:34:00.003-06:00

I just find it so amazing how different two kids can be when they're from the same family - I just don't get it. Olivia took right to her first food of rice cereal and loved every bite of it. In fact she continued to eat the baby cereal way into her first year! She has texture issues and the smooth texture of the baby cereal was perfect for her. We added several things to it as she got older and sometime after she turned one we started adding regular oatmeal to it little by little. But she loved the stuff and wanted it every morning for breakfast - I thought I would be feeding her oatmeal for the rest of her life until she finally discovered bagels and cream cheese and now she eat a much greater variety. Jack on the other hand is completely different! He will be 6 months on Monday and he still isn't eating cereal. I've tried atleast 15 different times. I've made it thin and thick and everything in between. I've made it with water, formula and breast milk. I've tried it in the morning, afternoon and evening and I recently mixed it with bananas and he still hates it.

He has his 6 month wellness visit a week from today and I'm just wondering what the doctor will say. He's also not gaining much weight - Olivia wasn't a big baby either, but I don't think that Jack is even as big as she was at this age (I'll have to check the baby book) and he had a 1/2 pound head start on her. He seems perfectly content with breastfeeding - I try to offer additional feedings and try to keep him eating for longer periods of time, but when he's done, he's done!

So, any suggestions? What were your kid's first foods? Did you always start with cereal? I gave him a few bites of banana the other day and he seemed to like it better so I'm thinking of skipping the cereal all together.

I also know there are developmental signs that a baby is ready for solids and Jack is getting there - he is getting better at sitting, but still needs support, the tongue-thrust reflex isn't as strong - he will not immediately push the food from his mouth, but it eventually comes out, he's VERY interested in the family at mealtime - he watches our every move as we eat and drink. So am I just being overly eager to start something he's just not ready for or do I need to encourage it a bit more? Should I stop nursing him before offering solids? Should I just chill and not worry about it all? or D - all of the above.

You would think that once you've been a mother of a baby that you've learned all you need to learn, but I'm slowly finding out that one size does not fit all when it comes to children. So what I did for Olivia isn't working for Jack - what worked for your kids?

You want to take it out through my va-jay-jay?!?

2009-02-10T17:34:00.003-06:00

Have you heard the recent news story about a lady who had a tumor removed from her kidney through her va-jay-jay? Or this story where a lady donated a kidney and the doctor removed it through her va-jay-jay.
It's a new surgical procedure called Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgeries (NOTES) that uses a natural body opening to remove organs and tissues. They say it's better for the patient because they are not left with any visible scars and the healing time is less and there is supposedly less pain. One article I was reading said that removal through the vagina eliminated the need for a 5 to 6 inch incision on one lady's abdomen. I'm not so sure I would be proud of that - what is that saying about her? Okay, enough, enough!

I discovered yesterday after suffering in pain for several hours and scaring Brian half to death that my gall bladder is loaded with large stones. My midwife seems to think that my gall bladder will need to be removed ASAP which is why I am going to see a surgeon on Thursday. I can't imagine what in the world I would do if I went to the surgical consultation and the doctor informed me that he would be removing my gall bladder through my va-jay-jay. I just can't believe that this is the direction surgery is headed in. The next thing you know you'll be going to the dentist for a tooth extraction - the dr will say, "open wide" and he will not be talking about your mouth.

At Last.....

2009-02-06T14:48:00.005-06:00

I hope Etta James doesn't get upset with me because I used this as my title :-)
Jack's room is finally finished!
Remember this post? Back in May, I was totally freaking out because I wanted the nursery done before the baby arrived, but I didn't want to find out the sex of the baby AND I didn't want a gender neutral room. Brian promised me that we would get it done after the baby was born.....well, I finally took the bulls by the horn and got it done - with the help of a painter. I hired the painter to paint all the walls blue, but I did the road.

The theme is "little builder" from his baby bedding. I have a bunch of little CAT construction trucks to put on shelves eventually.

Here's a pic of Olivia "helping" me paint. I have no idea why she has on goggles as safety glasses, but I thought it was hilarious AND I love the Hannah Montana microphone that she was using as her paint brush.

I am so happy to finally have this done. When I was pregnant with Jesse I had plans to put up a border and I had marked on the wall where that border would go. I never ended up painting the room for Jesse or got the border up so the markings have been there for almost 3 years and everytime I go in there it's just a reminder of the nursery that never got finished for the baby who never came home with us. I'm so glad that those marks are no longer visible. Not to say that I don't think of Jesse - especially when I'm in the room that would have been his, and I'm not saying that I don't want to think of him, but it's just another step in the healing process for me AND I'm glad to have such a cute room for Jack now. There will always be a little memory of Jesse in that room because I put little blue footprints in the corner of the closet in memory of him.

A 4 year old's perspective

2009-02-04T12:25:00.001-06:00

"Hey mom, that brown thing came out of the hole and saw it's shadow. That means there's 6 more days until Christmas!!!!!"

HUGE SAVINGS!!

2009-01-23T17:25:00.004-06:00

So I found out at Christmas that I am part Dutch - I guess the Dutch in me has really been coming out lately. I went to Macy's and got my free product yesterday. Today I visited Jewel where I got an $11 bottle of Dreft for $2! I had a $2 manufacture coupon, a $2 store coupon for Dreft and a $5 baby product coupon. Then I was off to K Mart where they were offering double coupons this week (offer still good through Saturday so go if you haven't!) and I got ALL of the stuff you see in the pic below for $34.62 - I saved $24.21 with in-store sales and $20 in coupons! My bill would have been almost $80!!

The best deals after KMart sale combined with coupons were Bounty paper towel roll for $0.49, Special K for $0.50, Froot Loops Straws for $0.25, AND they paid me $0.49 to take a Swiffer Dust starter kit off of their hands - I never buy these things, but I figured if they were going to pay me then I might as well take it!

Before I left I also signed up at KMart and received a $5 off $50 coupon and I had the cashier scan it before my other coupons so I saved $5 without really spending the $50!!!

It's great being Dutch!

FREEEEEEEEE!

2009-01-19T22:48:00.003-06:00

Many of you will be waking up this morning (inauguration day) reading my blog and thinking that I am posting something about Freedom - "A Birth of Freedom" (2009 Inaugural theme)....while I love a theme! - this post has nothing to do with Freedom, Obama, yo momma, or inauguration day at all! It really has to do with F-R-E-E, free!!!
I know, your mom always said, "nothing is Free" Well, this my friend is free! And you don't have to search any online ads, find a manufacture coupon for a certain dollar amount and pair it with a store coupon for a certain amount, send in a rebate form.....All you have to do is walk your butt into Bergdorf Goodman, Bergner’s, Bloomingdale’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Dillard’s, Gottschalks, Herberger’s, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Parisian, Saks Fifth Avenue or Younkers starting on Tuesday, January 20th through Monday, January 26th (or while supplies last), sign a form stating that you are a US Resident and state that you purchased one of the products listed here (Department store products like cosmetics and fragrance)between May 29, 1994 through July 16, 2003. You will receive one free product - products depend on Department store and availability, but you can see a list of possibilities listed here. And you can also read the story at www.cosmeticssettlement.com or if you prefer, you can check it out on snopes. It's the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that accused cosmetic manufactures and retailers of price fixing.
There is supposed to be a table/booth set up that you can go to specifically for this - not sure where it will be in your store, but I'm sure someone there will lead you in the right direction.
Enjoy your free product and be sure to tell your mom that you can indeed get something for FREE! I LOVE FREE!

Mother bear's claws came out this morning

2009-01-15T09:11:00.002-06:00

Olivia had her first accident at school yesterday. It was W week and they got out the water table to play with water. The teacher said that as soon as she stuck her hands in the water she peed herself. Luckily they had us bring in extra clothes at the beginning of the year so the teacher changed her and she was back at the table playing.
When I picked her up from school the teacher brought out her ziploc bag with her wet clothes in it and told me what happened. Olivia was standing there and looked like she was going to cry. I told her it was just an accident and asked if she got embarrassed, but she said no. Once we got to the car I asked he what was wrong and she told me that a boy named "M" made fun of her. I asked what he said and she told me he kept saying, "Olivia peed her pants!" over and over again.
me: What did you do?
Olivia: Just stood there
me: Did you cry?
Olivia: No, but I wanted to.
me: You need to stick up for yourself when someone is being a bully. Don't just stand there and let someone make fun of you - you tell them how you feel! You should have told him that it was just an accident and everyone has accidents and that you don't like it when he says things that are hurtful.
Later that night Brian was talking to her about it and he said, "Olivia, do you think you could take him?" (in a joking manner)
Olivia: what does that mean?
Brian: Could you beat him up or is he bigger? (again in a joking manner - we do not encourage bullying!)
Olivia: No, he's bigger, but he's really funny! He always hits himself and we all laugh!

Well, this morning I am pulling into school and Olivia says, "hey mom, that's "M"." That's when the mother bear in me wanted to get out of my car and just start throwing snowballs at this kid, or better yet, the icicles hanging off the building (okay, I'm getting carried away).
My mom has always told me about those mother bear instincts, this is the first time that I really felt like I could hurt someone who hurt my little baby! I mean, I wouldn't really hurt a 4 year old, but it just broke my heart listening to her tell me the story yesterday.
I know this is the first of many - boy does it hurt!

4 wheeler sledding

2009-01-12T14:33:00.005-06:00

Thanks to all the snow we have gotten in the past week we were able to go sledding with the 4-wheelers Sunday after church.

Jack's all snuggled....and asleep!

Here's a pic of Jack enjoying his first 4-wheeler ride! (I hope my mother doesn't see these pics!!)

Here I am getting ready for my first ride on the sled - Brian's the driver

Once out in the field we traded - I became the driver and Brian went sledding. Here's a pic of him warming up by the fire after I dumped him off the sled while doing doughnuts on the 4-wheeler. Notice the dark blue coat that is now white!

Here I am going out again on the sled - this time Dan was the driver and this picture is taken right before the tailbone injury! My butt hurts so bad!!

Here's Olivia all ready to go!

Daddy getting Olivia ready on the sled

playing catch-up

2009-01-08T12:40:00.008-06:00

We enjoyed a candle light service at our Church on Christmas Eve

From church we went to our NW Indiana "family" Christmas Eve celebration at Ree-Ree's

Here is Olivia with her BFF Abbey

Here's Olivia when she wouldn't share with her BFF

Jack was satisfied with his pacifier and his ability to put it in his mouth all by himself....sometimes!

Making Candy Cane cookies for Santa

We enjoyed our very first Christmas morning at HOME - we usually wake up at my parents house on Christmas, but this year we stayed at our house and traveled to Indianapolis on Christmas Day after we enjoyed our morning together. It was nice to be home!

Once in Indy we first went to Brian's parents house - here's Olivia there with her Rescue Pets Swim puppy - she has wanted this thing since the summer and it's the only thing she requested from Santa - she didn't let it out of her sight! I wish the toy performed like it's supposed to, but thankfully, Olivia just loves it the way it is! (Don't waste your money!! Santa needs to work out some of the flaws!!)

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Saturday at my parent's house

The kids built a gingerbread house...

and destroyed a gingerbread house!

...and got VERY messy

of course me and my sister-in-law Lauren had to join in!

Then there was clean-up! Someone thought it would be a good idea to jump in the bathtub to clean up....all 5 of the girls AT THE SAME TIME!!!

You can imagine the mess when 5 girls, ages 13 to 1, take a bath together! It was hilarious! The girls were sporting Olivia's swim puppy goggles and there was water and bubbles going everywhere. I took several pics, but I don't think pics of little girls in a bathtub is appropriate for the Internet.....we'll leave that for KFC - hahaha!

Here's Olivia with a couple of her cousins - Penny Lane and Lucy Sky

Memaw, Olivia and I taught Penny and Lucy all about hair bows and how every little girl needs to wear bows in their hair ;-) The girls love the bows....can't say the same for mommy and daddy! hehehehahaha Next time, we'll teach them all about chocolate being a food group and how to incorporate it into every dish! And then we'll teach them about lip gloss!!

Here's my new favorite pic of Jack taken while in Indy

Olivia had her BFF Abbey over on New Year's Day to play "Megzy and Amber" AKA hair salon!

Olivia got this from my parents for Christmas - it's a salon station equipped with a bowl for washing hair, mirror, drawers for accessories and a chair with a built in dryer. Megzy and Amber are the two girls who cut Olivia's hair.

To round out Christmas break we met several friends at one of the local Jumpy places. We had so much fun - even the adults get to join in!! Here's some pics of Brian with the kids.

______________________________________

Yesterday I took Olivia sledding.....with Jack! Let me tell you, I got my workout for the day!

It's not easy climbing a hill while pulling a 4 year-old on a sled with a 4 month on in a sling!

Here's Olivia as I pulled her up the hill.

Here's Jack all bundled up - I put him in the sling and Yes, I went sledding with him in the sling - not sure if he liked it or not - he went to sleep after taking this pic!

Here's Olivia sledding by herself after I let go of the ropes near the top of the hill.

Then Jack woke up for the last hill of the day - we all went together on one sled! You can kind of see his little head peaking out!

Olivia wanted to climb the hill one last time before we left - I made her do it by herself - I was too exhausted!! She didn't want the sled either - she just wanted to climb it and scoot down on her butt!

It was hard work with both kids by myself, but it was worth it, we had lots of fun and I got a good work-out!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T15:37:00.005-06:00

Wishing you a blessed 2009!

I'm making the same New Year's Resolution this year that I have made for the last 10+ years - surprise - surprise!!!! I'm going to lose weight and get healthy - this probably comes as a huge shocker, right? This is the first year that I will be doing this with the help of a personal trainer who kicks my butt twice a week along with a few of my closest girlfriends. I am hoping that these additions will help me stick with it this year!
If you recall, I did a biggest loser challenge with my family this holiday season. My parents and one of my brothers were the only ones brave enough to tackle this during the holidays. We weighed in on Thanksgiving and then again on Christmas Eve. I worked my butt off - literately!! I lost 8 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas and won the challenge walking away with $140!!! I happened to gain back 4 pounds between Christmas and New Years, but it's a new year and I'm back on track now! I've never come out of the holiday season weighing less than I did before Thanksgiving so I still pat myself on the back even though I gained half of it back.

I have also made a resolution to read my bible more, bite my tongue more, be a little more patient with my children, be more open with my husband and show him often that I love him and appreciate him and all that he does.

What are some of the resolutions that you made this year?

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T00:30:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas and God Bless You!

The video of the week!

2008-12-20T11:20:00.003-06:00

We went outside today to play in the snow - but unfortunately the snow was covered with an inch or two of ice. It turned out to be fun anyway!! Olivia spent most of her time on her bottom. I was able to capture a little video and my timing could not have been more perfect. I caught her falling, but the funniest part was when she stood up and stepped in the whole that a certain part of her body had made - listen carefully to what she said.

If you can't hear what she said see below...................

She fell and made a hole in the ice with her butt. She stood up and played for a few seconds and then stepped in the whole and said, "I'm stepping in my butt hole!" and of course since I laughed (and nearly peed my pants) she had to repeat it once more a minute later!

Making sugar cookies with Olivia

2008-12-19T23:08:00.005-06:00

It's that time of year again!! Here's some pics of Olivia and I making Christmas cookies.

She managed to make quite the mess!!

When Olivia started icing her she told me that her candy cane was going to be so beautiful that I wouldn't even believe my eyes! She was right!!

She asked if she could try a bite of her finished cookies - after tasting she said, "they're actually pretty good"

Here's her finished product

...and here's mine.

She told me that my cookies look pretty, but the best kind of cookies are the messy ones and that's why she likes to make hers messy - I must admit, she's absolutely right!!

Preschool Christmas party

2008-12-19T22:32:00.003-06:00

During the month of December the kids "traveled" around the world visiting different countries to learn how they celebrate during the Christmas season. Each day at school they "flew" to a different country. On Wednesday they arrived back to the United States and packed their bags to come home! She left school on Wednesday with her "suitcase" packed full of all the goodies that they made throughout the month. It was such a treat to sit down with her and learn from a 4 year old about different countries and their traditions. She learned all about the wooden dutch shoes that the kids in Holland sit out filled with treats for the reindeer and on a picture she had to write and color what she would put in her shoes if she lived in Holland and she said "hay and broccoli". While "visiting" Mexico she painted a maraca and made a poinsettia pin to wear. She sewed a pillowcase and placed pictures of presents she wanted inside just like the kids in Australia do and on Christmas Eve the pillowcase is filled with their gifts. She learned that in France, mistletoe is hung and you stand under it and make a wish - not like what we do in the states with the kiss! She had to write her wish on the mistletoe and it was to have her baby Jack come to her school - that came true!! Olivia had her preschool Christmas party yesterday and Jack and myself were her guests! The kids played snowman bowling, made treats and crafts and we listened to a story about snowmen at night.

Here she is putting her finishing touches on her snowman

Here's the kids racing the parents to build a snowman

Santa's arrival

Explaining to Santa what a Rescue Pet Swim Puppy is so that he and his elves can make one

This picture is a little blurry, but I just love the emotion that it captures in her face - she's just amazed!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-17T10:17:00.001-06:00

What's in a name?

2008-12-16T14:52:00.002-06:00

Read this article

Would you ever consider naming your children JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell or Adolf Hitler Campbell? In case you decide to do that you will probably not be able to get their name on a cake at Rite Aid! (Just an FYI for all of you who were going to consider it with your next born!!)

I'm in awe! I just can't even fathom this. What do you think the family and friends said when the parents gave their name ideas when they were pregnant? Do you think they got a lot of "ahh, that's so cute!" or "that's my favorite name!" or even "that's what I was going to name Syphalus Gon Area Kla Midea Clap if she was a boy - you are totally taking my boy name!" Why in the world would you want to put your child on a fast track to name calling and being made fun of?

If money were no object....

2008-12-15T18:10:00.002-06:00

Would you have a nanny?
I'm not talking a babysitter who comes to your house once in awhile so you can work, work-out, shop, go out to eat.....I'm talking a true nanny, but not the live-in kind.
When I lived in Chicago one of my good friends was a nanny for a family. She would arrive at the house at 7 AM, get the kids ready for school, feed them breakfast, take them to school, do the family's shopping with any non-school aged kids in toe, pick the kids up from school, make dinner, do homework, give baths, get the kids in their jammies and leave at 6 PM. She did absolutely EVERYTHING for the kids and with the kids. If the kids had Dr appointments or dentist appointments she took them. If the kids needed pictures taken she would be in charge of that - she was basically their mom and was there for all the achievement and milestones.
Would you want that?
I personally don't think I would. I WOULD enjoy SOME help, but to take over? Absolutely not!!! I couldn't imagine missing out on all of the things that my friend got to witness and be a part of. First words, first steps, first hair cuts....
So, if money were no object, would you have a nanny? Saying yes to this does not make you a bad mom!!! I'm just curious. I read an article in Parenting magazine about a family who had a nanny, but had to get rid of her because of finances. After getting rid of her the mom discovered how much she had been missing, but also how much she missed the nanny with her structure..... Anyway - it just got me thinking and thought I'd get a discussion going.

She's pretty smart!

2008-12-11T16:22:00.002-06:00

Olivia was playing with this flying polly pocket toy - polly gets strapped to a winged contraption and loaded into a launcher, then you push the button and she goes flying across the room. I put Jack down on the floor to play and told her DO NOT POINT THAT ANYWHERE NEAR JACK - POINT IT THAT WAY!!! As I pointed across the room. What does she do? She sits down next to Jack and pushes the freakin' button right next to his head! He starts screaming - not that he was hurt, she actually didn't hit him with the flying polly, but it scared the daylights out of him!! I had her pick the toy up and hand it to me and I put it up. I told her she couldn't play with it right now because she intentionally disobeyed me. She stomped to the corner and did her silent pouting - I love when she does the silent kind :-) She stayed there for several minutes before jumping up and running upstairs. I thought this was odd because typically after she pouts she comes to me and tells me how I have hurt her feelings and made her upset and that she is going to tell Jesus that I upset her......you're typically dramatic girly stuff! But she didn't do that this time. She came back downstairs and very sweetly walked up to me on the verge of tears and says, "mommy, can we trade? I'll give you all the money I have (hand stretched out with her money in it) if you'll just give me back my toy (lip quivering)."
So, I did what any mom would do at Christmas time - I took the money!!! Just kidding :-) I explained to her that I didn't want her money that I just wanted her to be obedient. And yes, I gave her the toy back - I was a softy! She got me at, "mommy, I really want to obey you this time."

Kristin Chenoweth

2008-12-10T15:26:00.002-06:00

I LOVE Kristin Chenoweth - I just think she's hysterical! Last week I was watching her on the Martha Stewart show and I about wet my pants when she slipped up on the word "organza" while doing a craft with Martha. Check out the YouTube video of her.
(I'm sure you don't have time to watch the entire 8 minutes of part one and 8 minutes of part two so if you just want to watch the slip-up fast forward to 3:25 of part two and listen for about 30 seconds - but if you have the time, watch all of it because it's all pretty funny! Especially for all of you who are not good at crafts!)

Part One

Part Two

Elf on the shelf

2008-12-09T11:54:00.000-06:00

EVERYONE need an Elf on the Shelf!

My mom bought this for all the grand kids this year and it's the most incredible thing ever!

Here's an explanation from the Elf on the Shelf website. "This charming tradition began for our family when my children were very small. Plagued by their desire to know how Santa really knew who had been naughty or nice, I searched through the Christmas decorations for a plausible explanation. Nestled among them was the answer; a small elf doll from my own childhood. With that discovery, the idea for the elf tradition was born.At our home the elf would arrive around the holidays, usually at Thanksgiving. His sole responsibility was to watch my children's behavior and report it to "Santa" each night. The next morning after the children awoke, they discovered the elf had returned from the "North Pole" and was hiding in a different place. My children would race each other out of bed to try and be the first to spy him in his new position.Over the years the tradition was perfected and rules were even introduced. For example, to better preserve his mystique the children were not allowed to touch him; however, they were allowed to talk to him. For obvious reasons, he was not allowed to reply. Eventually, my children even gave him a name - officially adopting him into the family.Unwittingly, the tradition provided an added benefit: it helped the children to better control themselves. All it took was a gentle reminder that the "elf was watching" for errant behavior to be modified.I never dreamed this simple tradition would lead to so many Christmas memories for our entire family. It is my earnest desire that The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition will bring as much joy to your family as it has to mine."

Olivia has named her elf Taylor and all it takes is to say to her, "Taylor is watching." or "I'm going to have to report your behavior to Taylor if you don't stop." and she straightens right up and apologizes for whatever she had done. It's amazing!
Here's some pics of Olivia talking to Taylor

You know you're a redneck when.....

2008-12-08T09:13:00.008-06:00

.......you take your kids to visit Santa at the

That's right! The Bass Pro Shop!
We visited the Santa's Wonderland Friday night. A mom at Olivia's preschool was talking about it and we love the seafood restaurant there so we figured we could eat dinner and visit Santa all at the same place. Plus, the Santa at our mall is a little creepy and the back drop is not very pretty. So we went and had a blast! First of all, we got right in at the restaurant - we've gone before and waited over an hour to eat there (it was a Saturday night though). After dinner we went to Santa's Wonderland and there were only 3 kids ahead of us - beats the long line at the mall we would have stood in on Friday night! The Santa was AMAZING!! He was one of the most beautiful Santas I have ever seen - just a jolly old fellow!! The elf at the beginning of the line talked a little to the kids while they waited in line and I don't know how, but Santa listened so he knew the kids names when they got to him - just like it should be, Santa has to know their name - he's been watching them all season, right?
Olivia told Santa that she wanted a Rescue Pet swim puppy and that Jack wanted a basketball. We received a FREE photo - yep, I said FREE! And two coupons for free kids meals at the seafood restaurant - wish I would have known that first - we would have waited to eat :-) but the coupons are good through January so we'll just have to go back.
After visiting Santa we played with a Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle (actually it was a Red Ryder laser gun), a soft dart bow and remote control trucks. There were other things to do too like color pictures and write a letter to Santa.
So, we might be rednecks, but we had an awesome time together. Here's some pics

Then on Saturday we visited a tree farm to cut down a Christmas tree. We haven't had a real tree since we came home from Indy several years ago and found it had toppled over - the water had seeped into the carpet and pad and sap got all over our floor and I broke my vacuum cleaner cleaning up the mess!
This year we are staying home for Christmas. This will be our first Christmas ever in our own house. We will travel to Indy on Christmas day after we spend Christmas morning at our house. So in honor of our first Christmas in our house we bought a really nice artificial tree. But then Brian thought about Olivia's first Christmas when we all went to a Christmas tree farm and cut down a tree and he wanted to do the same with Jack. So we bundled up and went to a tree farm where the family got to take a hayride to the field and back and enjoy hot cocoa while we waited on our tree to get wrapped up. We also ran into our good friend's, The Schutts (mommy25).

Jack was oblivious - he was bundled up in the sling and slept the entire time!

Even Santa came to visit!

Free gift certificates

2008-12-05T09:10:00.000-06:00

So my friend Aimee introduced me to Restaurant.com a month or so ago and I just can't get enough of it. You can go online and purchase printable gift certificates for a fraction of the price! For instance, there was a gift certificate to a restaurant for $10, but the cost was only $3, but I found a coupon code online and got it even cheaper! You purchase it using your CC or paypal and then you get a link in your email to print - it's that easy! AND it's legit!! Well, I discovered this feed it forward thing that restaurant.com is doing and each day you can go on their webiste by clicking here and you can sign up 3 people EVERY day to receive a free $10 giftcard - you can sign up the same three people every day or you can sign up different people every day - you can also sign up yourself!! The person will get an email and details on how to redeem your gift card, go online, find the restaurant of your choice and print your gift certificate - it really is that simple!

There are some stipulations on some gift certificates - like it might be valid only for lunch, or on a purchase of $25+, or must be presented before purchase.....

So start printing your gift certificates and enjoy!

Jack's first haircut

2008-12-02T16:12:00.003-06:00

My baby's only 3 months old, but it was time for his first hair cut! I enjoyed the flips he had going on, but it drove dad nuts that his hair was past his ears! I know most of you complain that your little girl has often been mistaken for a boy even though dressed in head to toe pink, well I have the opposite happen here - Jack has been in head to toe blue with a huge blue pacifier hanging out of his mouth and people will ask what HER name is - I think it's the hair! On Thanksgiving my cousin, who is a hair stylist, gave him his first hair cut at my mom's house.