The Zoo

Missing Person Found!

2011-05-10T21:04:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all that prayed. She turned herself into the police on May 10, 2011. It was a very long ten days. Keep praying for us , we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Missing Person

2011-05-08T13:10:00.001-07:00

This is my daughter, Taylor Anne Kienbusch. She is 15 years old, born 4/1/96. She has been missing since 4/30/11. She was last seen on Grant's Trail on Tuesday, May 2, wearing a light blue sweatshirt and shorts. She is traveling with a boy named William Gallagher. If you seen her please call the St. Louis County Police Dept. 314-889-2341.

She is bipolar and has been off her meds since her disappearance. She is 5'9" and 144 pounds. Thanks for any help you can offer.

It's summer time again!

2010-06-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again for new summer dos. My little ones got haircuts with the flow bee. Liam is a pro and sat there very still to get one. Gavin isn't in the groove so he cried for a while but then relaxed when he realized it was just noisy but not going to hurt. Gavin's transformation is amazing. He reminds me so much of Austin when he was that age. When he was sitting on Austin's lap later on in the day it was like a strange sense of deja vu.

ANother big change is that Gavin is out of the high chair and sitting in a booster seat at the table. He loves it, especially now that he can touch Austin whenever he wants.

Liam has now mastered going potty by himself at night leaving me and Bill to experience the pleasure of sleeping through the night. I know that this will be short lived since Baby Wyatt will be coming in three months or less to rock my world. The nice thing about going back to the baby stage though is that now I know it won't last forever and as they start sleeping through the night you have other challenges along the way but at least for now they just want to be snuggled. For that I will give up sleep any day because they won't be around forever.

Goofy kids

2010-05-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

I have been trying for days to upload a funny video of the kids dancing with sunglasses but google won't let me. Here's a pic of GAvin doing the funky chicken. It's really funny. The other two are of Dylan and Liam wearing embroidery projects that I did. I bought an embroidery machine and have been having fun with it making things for the kids. I plan to do a lot with it this summer before BAby Wyatt comes. I have been really having to go to the LOrd a lot these days with anxiety and it helps not only to pray but to have healthy things to focus on like making cute things for the kids. I have several projects on tap for me this week, a couple of maternity shirts, pajamas, and a nursing gown before I have some jobs coming in. I'm grateful to have work but it's nice to have a break now to get things in order at home.

Praise and Criticism.

2010-04-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Wow! You have your hands full. Do you know what causes that? Can't your husband get another hobby? Maybe this is too much. Another boy? Are you trying for a baseball team? Large families are for sweet people and you , my dear, are not sweet.

This is just a sample of the fun things I hear all the time. Some of them are intentionally snarky and others are saying it out of genuine concern. It has always been hard for me to be diplomatic when people say things that I don't want to hear. I go back to what Oswald Chambers says when he tells people to follow the Lord and leave the consequences up to Him. I don't follow the Lord perfectly to be sure and I fail more often than I succeed. But on the issue the Lord was very clear to us in the message, "Hands off, give control to Me." What a wonderful thing to obey Him in and I love that I can see the face of the Lord in all of my children. I wish that all the people I encounter would feel the same way but I realize I can't control how people feel.

On the bright side I've also heard wonderful comments of praise and support, mostly from my church friends but not always. It is great and reminds me that I need to return positive encouragement to others too.

Who have you encouraged today?

Gavy the great walks!

2010-01-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

He did it! Gavy finally started walking on his own. He just took steps totally unprovoked. It was great. By the time I shot this video he was getting tired so he started stumbling a lot but yeah Gavy! It's so wonderful when they reach those milestones.

Christmas Kienbusch style

2010-01-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here they are, my Christmas photos. We like to go to Bill's family on Christmas Eve. Taylor gets excited and pulls together some sort of festive outfit. We only exchange gag gifts for the adults and we give presents to the children. My gift was from my Brother in law, Bob, who gave me a hair volumizer...nice....just what I needed. Bill got Grecian formula for his mustache. All those grey hairs you know.

Gavin didn't know what was going on but he sure had fun with all the wrapping paper and other babies. He was up and down the couch all night looking at ELlie and Olivia.

We had tons of fun and lots of laughs. Bill has a sister named Wendy who lives in another state and she sent the goofy glasses with elf ears so we took a group shot to send to her. It's great to be a part of a big family like that. It gives me insight as to what type of Christmases I can look forward to in the future when my kids visit me with their families. I'm gonna love it.

One Day Way

2010-01-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading One Day Way by Chantel Hobbs and it's a definite must for people that want to lose weight but are overwhelmed with how much weight they want to lose. Chantel is very encouraging and helps people break down their diet/lifestyle changes into bite sized pieces and not looking too far ahead but just doing what's right now.

After having just lost 40 pounds in the last year I can attest to how hard it is to stay motivated and keep on track. I wish I had read her book last year. Her philosophy is simple, make simple goals and stick to them. For example, move everyday. Eat more vegetables. Skip dessert...just today. As you stick to your goals then add more. Don't try to do it all in one week or beat yourself up if you have that piece of cake. Just get back on the horse and keep going.

Pick it up to encourage you in your new healthy lifestyle, you won't regret it. I have a copy to give away. All you need to do is to post a comment and I will draw a name for who gets it.

Extreme Makeover

2009-12-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

One of the many nice things about having a daughter is that she likes to do hair and makeup. When she first started she was about Liam's age. She would roll my hair around a hairbrush to use as a curler and then she would get it stuck. Bill tried pouring olive oil on my hair to get it unstuck but it didn't work so I had to cut chunks out of it. I was leery of her trying after that.

She's improved a bit since then. She loves to straighten my hair and I love it when she does because it's so smooth. I never want to wash it afterwords. We had fun taking these before and after photos because my curly brown hair scares her. I think she will make a great beautician if that's what she decides to do. Otherwise I can just enjoy good hair for a few more years before she moves out.

Things for sale!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

Quilted Pillows $10 each.

Here are some doll clothes that I still have for sale. The shirts, pants, shoes, shorts, backpack, and hats are all $5 each. The fancy dresses are $20 each. The leotard is $10. The tablecloth is $15. The quilted pillows are $10 each. I can ship what you want to you at a flat rate for $4.95. Please email me at wendy.william@att.net to let me know what you want and to get your address. Local pickup is free of course. I can take paypal or a check but have to wait for the check to clear before shipping the items. Thanks for looking.

If you are leery of ordering from my blog through email I would be happy to list the item on etsy. The link is http://www.etsy.com/shop/taaudy I have the purple dress, Christmas dress and the hat and muffs there already. That way you could pay with a credit card too. Just email me the item you want listed. If you buy multiple items you only pay one shipping charge, the other items are free.

Hats $5

Table cloth $15

Sunflower hat $5

Christmas hat, shoes and dress $25

Blue satin and lace dress $20

Two piece blue satin top and yellow skirt $20

brown jumper and peach shirt $15

Apron hat set $15

Two piece colonial dress $20

Red calico shirt $5

BLue skorts $5Striped pants $5

Plaid skirt and shoes $10

Fall dress $20

Pink satin dress, white lace and ballet slippers $25

Pink hat $5

Red/silver sleeveless dress $15

Cardigan, skirt and shoes $15, hat and muff $5

Red silver dress and jacket $20

2009-12-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

I have a son I call my Eeyore. You know the type, glass half empty, expect the worst type. He was going on and on about the things that were wrong in his life. I then reminded him about all the things that were right. He had athletic abilities (doesn''t get a chance to use them), he had friends (they like Taylor better), he had little brothers that thought he was the greatest (they like Taylor and Dad more). He then went on to do a complicated grammar exercise and got it all correct. "Ha!" I said, be negative about that.

"I wasn't sure I got any of it right!" I had to laugh. In the past I felt that if I just loved someone hard enough that they would be more positive and FEEL loved. I've since realized that you can't do that. But I did give him a hug and told him I love him just the way he is. But I still can't help but pray for him just to be a tad more positive!

Halloween Fun....a little

2009-12-02T05:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's almost Christmas time and I'm just getting the Halloween pictures up but I'm behind. This Halloween Austin and Taylor invited friends with us. Dylan sewed his own costume, complete with chest muscles! Liam was of course Spider man but without the mask as it scared him. Gavoo was warm in his Elmo costume. This year was a little different in that we started out as a family but we let the kids go on by themselves. The boys were out late and then spent the rest of the night trading candy with each other. The girls were cold and Taylor's friend was "bored" . Oh how times change quickly. Liam was just fascinated by the fact that he could go up to the door and say, "Trick or Treat" and people would give him candy. He got over his shyness right away!

I know some Christians don't celebrate Halloween and that's fine. We view it as a chance to visit with neighbors and dress up in cool costumes. We've talked with the kids about the origins of Halloween and what it means. We don't glorify the macabre or the death and violence that seems to permeate the day but instead look on it as a family activity with sweet treats.

Party Animal Liam

2009-12-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

Liam had his first birthday party to go to a couple of weeks ago and he was so excited. He got to even skip a nap to go to it. We went to the store to pick out a present for his little friend Nick. He proudly picked out a remote controlled truck and a Spongebob gift bag to put it in and then he carried it all the way through the store. When the cashier greeted him he proceeded to tell her all about the party he was going to and how he was going to give Nick his present, eat cake and see balloons. He was also going to play with Layna (Elaina). She listened wide eyed to his story and sent him on his way.

The party was fun. There were many children to play with, chocolate cake with blue balloons on it to eat, and many toys to play with. The topper was the spiderman car he got as a party favor. Do my friends know Liam or what? He just loves Spiderman.

I forgot how much fun this stage is when they experience new things for the first time. I hope to have many more such days of this.

A celebration? Perhaps not.

2009-09-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

We went on our first field trip of the school year to Hermann, MO and it was really fun. I took Gavin on a human backpack ride and he loved that. After we went to lunch we had to go to a custard place for dessert. Taylor got him a birthday cake flavored cup but every time we fed it to him this is the reaction we'd get. It definitely wasn't his cup of tea. You'd think we gave him lemons or something. It was such a pronounced reaction that people would stop to look at him on the street. That's Gavin for you!

Trying new things

2009-08-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

My family is in the process of trying new things. Taylor's trying her hand at yearbook class this year. Austin's got a babysitting job. Dylan's doing an art class with a professional art studio. Liam tries getting his poop in the potty. And Gavin's trying to pull up on everything.

Me? In addition to keeping up with all the change here I'm trying to organize my house (not easy and definitely going slowly at that one), planning school one month at a time, coordinating schedules, trying to bake gluten free stuff for me and Taylor (in front of my very sceptical husband who doesn't believe it makes much difference), and lastly I'm doing sewing jobs for people.

I'm repairing a wedding dress for one lady, a backup for another lady in case the first one's too much money, and a guy just asked me to make a weatherproof table cover. I enjoy learning how to do new things and really enjoy making them for people. I met one couple one time that had me make this guy some magic pants. They were so fun to talk to and I was able to do a good job on them. He swore me to secrecy on the pants so I can't divulge any more details.

Sometimes my head swims at all the things I'm trying to do. I keep hearing the Lord say, "Hey, slow down....look at Me!" I tell Him, "Okay, but first let me do thing one, two and three!" I know, it's a problem for me. I do things for the approval for others but then neglect the One I am supposed to be serving. I worry about other's approval but not the Lord's. Why is that?

I guess at this point I feel unfocused and a bit loopy but that's to be expected. I'm taking the week off this week to recoop and ask Him, "What are YOur priorities for me today? This week? This year?" I have the feeling His list looks different than mine.

The Gavy video.

2009-08-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here it is, an actual video of Gavin doing the boot scoot boogey. The kids just have a blast getting him to move around. He looks amused but overwhelmed. Par for the course!

Boot scoot boogey.

2009-08-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

I would think that since I've had the fifth child that nothing would surprise me but I was wrong. Since I've had Gavin it's been an interesting ride to say the least. His latest way to throw me is his crawling. He doesn't really crawl, he scoots on his butt, while doing a complete split and gripping the carpet with his heals. It's really interesting to watch. I'm going to get a video of it when I figure out how to charge the video camera.

Here's a picture of him scooting on my bed. He's so proficient now that he goes across rooms this way and down hallways.

In a Pickle

2009-07-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

We love to garden but really aren't very good at it. We either kill or thieves take most of what we try to grow. Occasionally we have problems with neglect too. The first year we had a salsa garden and every week Bill would make these amazing batches of homemade salsa. That was several years ago and we haven't been able to grow decent tomatoes since.

This year Austin decided to grow cucumbers and we have had a great crop. We've had over 40 so far after picking twice. We made 12 quarts of spicy pickles and have given raw cucumbers to neighbors and friends. The pickles have gotten mixed reviews. Bill and I like them but they are very spicy. I gave a quart jar to Melanie's family and her husband called them, "strangely addictive." High praise from Mark I suppose. Her son liked them too. My kids sort of like them.

I've been having cucumber and tomato salads that have been fabulous. The tomatoes are unbelievable again so yeah for us!

The spinach died before we got any (rabbits!). We have a huge mass of fresh basil and the chili peppers are starting to sprout. Our pumpkins are taking over one corner of the yard.

Dylan has been diligently watering every day and gives us the report of male/female flowers. He's so excited to see some fruit grow. Last year we tried watermelons and when he got one about the size of a baseball he was so curious that he kept touching it until it died. Hopefully the pumpkins won't meet with the same fate. Gardening is a sort of passion with him. He's been saying since he was four that he wants to be a florist. His great-uncle Henry had a nursery for years so maybe it's in the blood!

Sunrise, sunset.

2009-07-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

Here are two of my favorite pictures of my nephew Robby and Taylor. They are only 10 months apart. Robby is the son of my SIL Wendy, which is confusing since my name is Wendy too. So they both have an Aunt Wendy in their life. They are the best of buds and have been since they were yea high to a junebug! They live faraway so we only get to see them about once or twice a year. Robby told her when he gets older he's going to move near us and be her next door neighbor. What will they do with their pesky younger siblings though????

Holy Roller

2009-07-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a book I've just finished reading called Holy Roller by Julie Lyons. It was very interesting. It's about a woman who is white who starts attending a black pentacostal church and what she learns along the way. Although I disagree with some of her theological views I can relate to her on many levels. I remember feeling some of the same things she felt being an outsider in the black community when I was teaching in Chicago. I really liked what she said about the proof of salvation being in the evidence of a changed life. She really hits home the point that many evangelical churches don't reach the heart of a hurting person. I have found this to be the case sometimes. On the other hand I don't think that hyper emotionalism is the answer either.

Regardless of your views, it's a facinating book and one that I'm recommending. I have a copy to give away. Leave a comment on my blog and then I will pick from those who do. If you have trouble leaving comments then email me and I will copy and paste them!

Happy reading!

Summary
Julie Lyons was working as a crime reporter when she followed a hunch into the South Dallas ghetto. She wasn’t hunting drug dealers, but drug addicts who had been supernaturally healed of their addictions. Was there a church in the most violent part of the city that prayed for addicts and got results?At The Body of Christ Assembly, a rundown church on an out-of-the-way street, Lyons found the story she was looking for. The minister welcomed criminals, prostitutes, and street people–anyone who needed God. He prayed for the sick, the addicted, and the demon-possessed, and people were supernaturally healed. Lyons ’s story landed on the front page of the Dallas Times Herald. But she got much more than just a great story, she found an unlikely spiritual home. Though the parishioners at The Body of Christ Assembly are black and Pentecostal, and Lyons is white and from a traditional church background, she embraced their spirituality–that of “the Holy Ghost and fire.” It’s all here in Holy Roller–the stories of people desperate for God’s help. And the actions of a God who doesn’t forget the people who need His power.

Gavin Lalapoopa!

2009-06-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

All of my kids have zapped me with poop at some point in their lives. It's not a pleasant experience. It's one of those things that you don't know about before you have kids. I thought I'd dodged the bullet with Gavin since he had yet to get me...until today.

We'd had a pleasant day with going to church, swimming, and napping. I'd sewn a pair of comfortable shorts and had just put them on to wear. Gavin woke up from his nap and I was feeding him a bottle. Taylor originally was going to do it but I offered to get the bottle.

I started to notice a smell and couldn't believe how bad it was. I looked down and saw it was no longer in his diaper but all over me. I don't know how it was possible but it was dripping out all over my new shorts. I was holding him standing up hollering for help. Taylor launched herself downstairs and I heard her yell, "Everyone upstairs to help." They all ran upstairs and started gagging and laughing. Taylor got a towel and she took him to the changing station. Dylan got me a package of wipes and a plastic bag so I could clean myself up. They kept saying, "Oh mom, you're new shorts." Bummer I know. I know I'll miss the kids when they leave me but I will not miss that!

At least it wasn't at the pool!

Here's a picture of him pooping at the pool but it was contained.

Diary of a sleep deprived mom day ...whatever it is! I lost count.

2009-06-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well, Liam woke up at 8:50pm, 11:04 pm, 1:30 am, 4 am, and 5:45 am. I did the first two shifts and Bill did the last two so at least I was able to get some sleep. Gavin was coughing a lot last night so I kept waking because of that too. Liam's figured out that he can get out of bed so he's been exploring early in the morning too.

The good news is that he's been accident free for a couple of days now. He ran to the potty this morning and produced a huge turd in the big potty (yeah! No cleaning the little potty seat for me!) He proudly flushed and then said he needed a hug. When I got him a diaper for his naptime I said, "Liam we need to but night night pants on."

He quickly said, "No it's a diaper." "Oh, but it's for night night!" I said.

He looked at me funny and said, "It's still a diaper." What a smart kid!

I then explained that it was to keep the sheets from getting wet. Okay. And with that he went to bed without a sound.

Diary of a sleep deprived mom day two.

2009-06-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last night went way better. For one, I had lots of friends praying for us. Then I moved his potty chair next to the bed. That way he could just go rather than get woken up by the bathroom lights. I also didn't give him milk after lunch, only diluted apple juice. He woke up only twice, once at 11:44 and another time at 5:45.

Tonight Bill gave him milk so I will see if that makes a difference. He does seem to pee a lot more after he drinks that verses other things.

Hope all is well with everyone else. We had a great time visiting the M's in from Colorado/Washington. We don't see them often so it was fun. Some of them were Taylor's age when I last visited so now they are all grown up. Liam had a blast with the little girl who is almost 3. They were the same height and talked up a storm. Matthew and Dylan ran around the house red faced. Dylan got quite emotional when we had to leave. Who knows when we'll see them again?

Diary of a sleep deprived mom take 2!

2009-06-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I decided to potty train Liam like I did all the others. It's been going well for the most part. He has 1-2 accidents a day but is much more willing to go than he was in the past. With the other kids I just put them in diapers at night and they just woke up dry one day and then that stopped.

Last week Liam decided that he needed to get up to go potty. Okay, no problem. I took him potty and then put him back to bed. Unfortunately he needs to go potty 5-6 times a night now. Don't get my post wrong, I love him and I know that this is a phase that will pass. It does help me to blog about it though so take it in that spirit. Don't tell me dumb things like why did you have all those kids? This just goes with the territory sometimes and I know that.

10:30 pm, go to bed
11:00 Liam sits up in bed half asleep and is crying. I tell him to go back to sleep and he does.
11:30 Liam cries again. Goes and sits on the potty but doesn't go.
12:30 Cries again, Bill gets up with him.
1:00 Bill goes in several times in a row and ends up frustrated so he goes downstairs to sleep.
1:30 Cries again, I take him potty and he goes.
1:40 cries again, I tell him to go to sleep.
2:00 He yells that he has to go potty again, he does....I tell him I'm not coming back for a while so he better sleep.
3:30 Cries again, I take him potty and he goes.
4:00 we both sleep out of exhaustion.
6am Gavin decided it was time to wake up. Liam joins the fray.
1pm we all take a nap
2:30 we all wake up and go swimming.

Lingere shopping.

2009-06-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about having a daughter is that we get to do things that interest us separate from the crazy things boys/men like to do. Taylor loves to go shopping and so do I under the right circumstances.

About a month ago I had to get new bras. The others wore out or didn't fit anymore since I've been pregnant/nursing/postpartum the last two years. Taylor really wanted to go with me. They were having a sale at JC Penny so I decided to go there and invest in some nice ones that would last.

Now I don't know when this happened but apparently I like boring old lady bras according to Taylor. I winced because it's true. Years ago I used to get the Fredrick's of Hollywood catalog sent to me, but no longer. I mean really....it's not like it stays on that long anyway!

I was in the dressing room trying on my boring old lady bras, Liam was climbing under the changing room door and yelling loudly since it had an echo, and Taylor was busy browsing. She came in and turned up her nose at the tans and whites I'd picked out. "Mom, oh my word, these will never do. I will pick some out for you." And with that she hopped out of the room and went looking around. She came back with hot pink lacy numbers, frilly purple ones and some black bra that was something out of a midevil torture chamber. Most of them were so impractical or didn't fit. She brought one of lavendar satin though that was so pretty. I tried it on and it did fit., so I bought it and it is my favorite and most comfortable one.

All in all I enjoyed shopping with her and letting her push me a little over my comfort zone. It's a humbling experience but a good bonding one too.

It's Swimming Time

2009-06-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

My kids love to swim. You'd swear they were fish. I'm always the one who wants to leave before they do. Swim team really gives them confidence and helps them expend their boundless energy in a healthy way. They start at 7:45 am swimming laps. Some moms think I'm crazy for doing that but really I'm up at 4 or 5 am anyway so it' s not a big deal to me. This first week however has been nutty between potty training, diarrhea, and cold temps in the morning. It hasn't been a good week for practice. I took these shots on the first day of practice. Even Gavy is happy to try on Taylor's swim cap. Liam always starts strippin and yells that he needs sun screen (said, "ice cream") but when he realized He's not swimming he's sad. We make it up to him in the afternoon.

At first Taylor was concerned that since a "mom" picked out the new suit it would be lame. She said to her friend, "It probably has something awful on it...like daisies!" I thought that was funny. She gave a thumbs up to the new suit though.

Hopefully we'll have a good season this year. If not, at least my kids will be in shape.

Big boy pants!

2009-05-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a week at potty training and so far so good. I must explain that I do it in a rather unconventional way. At one year I introduce the potty. We start giving m n m's for anything that makes it in the potty. Usually by 2 he and the others are going regularly about 5-6 times a day. I then take the kids shopping for underpants and that day they start wearing them. From then on we just bring changes of clothes wherever we go. Taylor was the easiest. She only had one accident the first day and then one about a month later on vacation. Austin took a month, Dylan took 9 months.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Liam. He was willing to go regularly 5-6 times a day like the rest of them, poop included. THe first day we had about 8 accidents...not real good. He kind of started to freak out about using the potty. After that though each day has been getting better. Today he only had 3 accidents and even ran up to Bill and said, "Daddy, I have to go poop!" Yeah! He even made it too! Liam's been enjoying the extra attention that he's been getting from me. Poor Gavin gets fed and played with by the other kids more so he really doesn't know what to do. All in all I'm glad with the way things are going. He has such a big smile on his face, especially when he's wearing Spider-man ones. What a great milestone.

I love potty training!

Evolution of a marriage

2009-05-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

When Bill and I were first married what we quarreled about most was food. He grew up on Ding dongs and Velveeta was it's own food group apparently. He has very sensitive taste buds. Veggies are really awful to him and fruit is okay. He lives on Diet Soda too! Anyway, I love to cook and make fancy food...not a good match with Bill. The only fish he eats is square and he only goes to restaurants with ketchup on the table. There were times that he would take one bite of something and throw the rest of it away in the trash....not very sensitive to his new bride. I would get angry and continue to make yucky food to "change" him.

We finally compromised and said that he would eat veggies, brown rice and other things as a good example to the kids but he needed to make the plate himself. If there was something he really didn't care for he would say, "Thank you for making dinner." so that at least he was acknowledging my efforts in making the food but it was code for, "Don't make that again."

Yesterday I was making a BBQ chicken pot pie which is normally quite good. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to what I was doing and added 1/4 cup vanilla instead of apple cider vinegar to it. I thought I could cover up the vanilla by adding the vinegar and other things to it. When the kids came upstairs they asked me if I'd made brownies. Not a good sign.

When Bill was about to take a bite he started inspecting what was on his fork and smelling it. Another bad sign. He gave me "the look". This means, "What on earth have you done to my dinner?" I started laughing and explained the gaffe. He jumped up and got some spicy salsa and then sat back down. He took another bite but just shook his head. I can chuckle now at my husband's sense of taste and don't take offense at it like I used to. After all, love is not easily offended. Besides he does many other wonderful things for me and the kids that I can only shake my head in amusement about his food issues.

I'm glad that God has taken us this far and we can still have a tranquil marriage. When I apologized later for ruining his dinner he said, "That's okay, we have another memory. Now I don't just have banana meatloaf, I now have vanilla chicken!"

What a guy!

First 100 days

2009-05-11T19:47:00.001-07:00

Here's another video detailing Barack Obama's first 100 days in office. Let me know what you think.

Adoption

2009-05-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

I just love this ad. It shows what potential could be wasted should moms choose to abort rather than give their babies a chance through adoption. I hope you enjoyed this ad as much as I did.

A funny thing happened at the picnic.

2009-05-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Bill's work had a family picnic complete with rides, inflatables, and carnival games. It was amazing. Liam spent most of his time in this bouncy inflatable or drinking juice boxes. Taylor, Austin, and Dylan climbed the rock climbing wall, rode a mechanical bull, slid down a 20ft slide and played a lot of games.

Taylor begged me to go on this inflatable obstacle course with her. She said that there would only be two people at a time so we could race each other. Okay, I can do that. Ready, set, go... and off I went. Most of it was too low so I was crawling through it. I got to a hump that was about 3 ft high. When I shimmed up the inflatable bar was too low and I got stuck. I was still struggling to squeeze through when I felt these little hands on my butt. I turned around and there were two little tykes there smiling at me. I still couldn't get through so they decided to crawl over me. I was laughing hard at this time so I really couldn't get through. They came around again and this time they pushed on my butt hard enough to send me flying down to the bottom. I was laying on the floor with my head but my legs were stuck up in the air. At this point my kids and Bill were all wondering where I was. I emerged sweaty, hair all wild, and laughing hysterically.

"Want to do it again?" Taylor asked.

"Ah, no!" I laughed.

The day ended well and we went home tired but refreshed. The little guys were really well behaved all things considering. We left with a family picture a bag of goodies and sleepy kids. A day well spent I think.

Future Baseball player?

2009-05-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and that means only one thing for our house....baseball. Austin's promised me to take me to a Cardinals game WHEN he makes the team. He's out there most days practicing his pitching. Bill takes him to the fields when the weather is nice to practice batting.

On thursday his Grandpa took him and Dylan to the Cardinals game AND the batting cages. They were so excited. They paid for it later with tummy aches because of all the junk food but hey, that's the price that you pay for being at the ball park...even without the Cracker Jack.

Dylan plays too but he's not aspiring to play ball professionally. I think he just likes having something in common with his brother, which is a great reason to me.

Are you the homeschoolers?

2009-05-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

When I asked the kids at the beginning of the school year what they'd like me to do more of they quickly answered, "More field trips!" I promised I would but then life happened and consequently our first real field trip was on May 1st. We went to a Civil War Reenactment down in Cape Girardeau. When I emailed the leader he told me friday would be a school day with activities for the kids to do. He told me to try to be there by 9. Seeing as how that was 2.5 hours from us and I was traveling with 6 kids (we adopted a friend's daughter for the day!) that didn't seem very likely that we'd be leaving by 6:30 am. Keep in mind that what I was expecting was a huge festival where people are milling around all day (like the Mideavil festival in Wentzville) when you read the rest of the story.

When we got there at 10:20 people were already well underway. There were only about 30 people in attendance total. As we crested the top of the hill everyone stopped and looked at us. The leader who was speaking to a group of kids stopped his talk and yelled, "Are you the homeschoolers?" I'm pretty sure a few in the audience gasped at the question.

"Yes," I replied sheepishly. I don't get embarrased easily but I'm sure I was blushing at this point. I had hoped to slip in unnoticed but since we were the only kids not in school uniforms and I had a baby and toddler in attendance we pretty much caused the who affair to screech to a halt.

"Well, just join a class or walk around and observe."

"Okay." We started at the first tent that had a lady with a very pretty hoop skirt in it. "Are you the homeschoolers?" she asked.

"Yes," I gulped this time, really not liking the fact that I was being asked this...again.

"We are too."

I breathed a sigh of relief. It turns out that they started this to get their kids more into history. The sold things like old toys, and clothing articles. I loved the silk hairnet but it was $14 dollars. Oh well, maybe someday.

We skipped the tent with the sullen teen sitting in it not facing anyone. WE then went to the ammunition tent where the guy was explaining how to make bullets and pack gunpowder. He made a point to stop his talk to goo at Gavin. All the teenager students looked at me like what was I doing there. Oh well, at least Gavin was not crying.

The next tent had three women in it cooking over a campfire and explaining what it took to cook for the men. When they described hardtack Dylan wrinkled up his nose in disgust.

Next were the horses. Liam refused to pet them but they were very sweet and well behaved. We decided to step away when they shot off the cannon and the gun for us. I didn't want Nelly to get skittish and kick us!

Then the program was over. WE'd only been there an hour and had only gone to half the stations. When I asked the leader about it he said it was closed and everyone was taking a break because there was another school group coming soon. "That's why I told you to be here at 9!" He admonished. Hmmm, he really didn't emphasize the fact that he would be ending at a definite time! Uggh! 2.5 hours in the car for 1 hour of presentation.

I decided to make it up to the kids by going to Taco Bell for lunch. I then decided to make a detour to the Trail of Tears park. The sign said it was only 11 miles away. What it didn't say was that it was 11 miles of windy back roads. The kids were almost sick with hunger and motion sickness by the time we went there. We spread a blanket out on the grass in front of the visitor center to eat. Gavin was so happy to be out of that car seat and suck on my car keys.

After we ate we ran around and played catch with napkins we balled up. We went to the visitor center and found a nice older lady that told us lots of things about the Trail of Tears. It's a very sad chapter in our history. Then we looked at the animal and Indian displays. Gavin decided the Indian maniquin was horrible and started crying everytime we went by it. It was kind of funny.

On the way home the littles slept...not long enough. We passed through some thunderstorms and I had to stop for coffee. I had been up all night with Gavin the night before (had I mentioned that he was sick?).

We made a day of it and we had fun. We were all dissapointed that the Civil War demonstration wasn't longer but oh well, can't change that.

Here are some pictures of the cheesy toy Taco Bell gave us for Liam's lunch. It was called an ancient cave dwelling writing tool. Liam was very unimpressed!

My first reversal baby is 2!

2009-05-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

CAn you believe he's two now? It really does seem like just yesterday he was born. I marvel to think that if Bill hadn't had the surgery then we wouldn't have been blessed with him. He really is such a character. He has a full array of moods. Sometimes he's wonderfully compliant and likes to make others laugh. Other times he pouts and throws himself on the ground wailing. He's already learned some of his letters and numbers by sight and goes potty on the seat 5-6 times a day. He's a great big brother to Gavin. He loves to give him toys when he cries and helps me burp him after a bottle. Gavin loves to watch his antics and he laughs at Liam more easily than anyone else. My favorite is when Bill comes home he runs to him and gives him a hug. It's a great greeting.

Most of all I love his snuggles, as infrequent as they might be due to his busy little two year old self!

Above are pics from our little birthday celebration. We had a big party last year but this year we had a low key dinner of grilled cheese, vegetable soup and crock pot chocolate cake. It was good. The kids made him chocolate chip cookies that day for lunch too! Look at those big eyes! You could swim in them!

Here's a picture from the day we went from the hospital. My how he has changed. I'm sure the best is yet to come.

The Dream vs. REality

2009-04-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have this fantasy...one where we wake up to a pancake breakfast on Sunday, everyone gets ready for church and we sit listening attentively to the sermon. Afterwards we eat a family lunch and we share what we've learned and we spend the rest of the day having fun together. The children play with each other happily and Bill and I go to bed together peacefully.....Ahhh!

Okay, now let me tell you how today really went. First we did wake up to a pancake breakfast that Bill makes on Sunday mornings but we had to eat it in shifts while getting ready and changing diapers and feeding bottles to the little one. On the way to church the kids were telling Amanda, Taylor's friend who'd spent the night, all of the bad stuff each other did in the past trying to see who could tear the other one down the most. Then they proceeded to complain about Bill's taste in music (some bohemian version of Over the Rainbow).

After the sermon we went to the nursery to pick up the boys and Gavin had a poopy diaper to change. We went to Costco to grocery shop and Liam proceeded to throw himself down on the floor in every aisle to the point that Taylor took him out to the car to contain him. Gavin then started to cry because he was hungry and needed a nap. We got home and threw food at both the kids. The lunch was peppered with Gavin's whining because he was so tired. We put them to bed and I then launched into my 101 things I wanted to do before they woke up.

I was planning to sew first so Taylor asked me if she could sew too. Sure, no problem. We got into it for about a half and hour when suddenly Gavin woke up. He'd only slept a little less than an hour. I let it go figuring he'd go back to sleep. He continued to wail and woke up Liam. Party's over. We got them up and took them outside. WE all spent time playing outside in between Austin and Dylan doing things to aggravate each other. Bill suggested they wash the car and Liam was cooperative for a while. When he stopped listening I dragged him in the house because by this time I needed to make dinner (sausage/spincach foccacia pockets!). He was still wailing so I opened the dishwasher and asked him to help. Ironically this is something he loves to do so he happily grabbed spoons, forks, and butter knives and threw them in the utensil drawer and then put all the sippy cups and bottles away. He also handed me dishes, pots and pans. That was enough to make him happy.

By this time the kids came into the house arguing about who had put the most away after washing. I asked where Bill was but he'd taken Gavin for a walk because he was crabby. When he got back I tried to put him in the swing but he'd have none of that so then I asked the kids to help by taking turns holding him. Liam was on complete meltdown mode so Bill took him downstairs to watch a video. I then finished dinner, made ice cream, and started making baby food all the while trying to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

We ate dinner while Gavin kept fussing and fuming. The kids liked the dinner and gave it a thumbs up ( a new recipe so I asked them for reviews positive or negative). Dylan had bath duty tonight so that means that he gets to help me bathe the little guys. They both had poop, again! Liam decided to go on a potty strike but then changed his mind at the last minute. Dylan threw himself on the floor in protest of his duty (the kids each have two nights a week of help and every third sunday night). When I reminded him that the wii was at stake he jumped up and begrudgingly helped.

After bath I tried to give Gavin a bottle but he still fought it for a while before giving in and drinking it. A friend called to give me some disappointing news and then I had to change poop...again! My house is trashed too! I then put the little guys to bed, finish cleaning the kitchen, making baby food, putting the ice cream maker downstairs, and the sit to eat my bowl of ice cream. Bill has long since gone to bed...lucky for him! I sit to check my email and Taylor wants me to download something on her ipod. I download it but it's still going...two hours later. She's bummed that she has to go to bed without looking at it.

The good news is that we were all together, the weather was beautiful, and we all have our health. As much as I wanted a day of rest I guess that will come in time. In the meantime I can laugh at some of the funny little moments along the way and hope we all still love each other at the end of the day.

Idolatry...it's everywhere.

2009-04-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a great sermon that I just finished watching. It's long but so worth it. It talks about the idols that we all have in our lives. Which ones do you have? I have several of them, mostly stemming from relationships. I hope that one day I will trust in Christ alone and not my idols.

Enjoy!

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/resources/video/The-Grand-Demythologizer-The-Gospel-and-Idolatry

Easter Fun!

2009-04-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our Easter. I really wanted this holiday to have some spiritual significance for the kids this year but again...I dropped the ball. It was basically about the candy. I fear being viewed by the kids as a no-fun mom by trying to get them to think about what Easter really means (Jesus rising from the dead) that I end up doing nothing. Hopefully I can get over that and have a balance some day.

We went over to Bill's parent's house and had a great time. We ate good food, had great conversation and the little guys had an Easter egg hunt. It's really nice to have family in the area. Bill was overflowing with family goodness! Anyway, that's all for now.

Isn't he so smart?

2009-04-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Dylan got new glasses last week and boy have they helped. The doctor said that he had an overfocusing problem. I noticed that he was holding books far away and his eyes would water when he'd read. Between getting glasses and a new reading program he's well on his way to being an independent reader, something very important in life.

Today we went to the orthodontist to get a retainer for his teeth. He hated the molding but didn't fuss or freak out. I'm hoping for a big toothy grin from him someday.

It's great to see him grow and develop into a young man. He's so good with Gavin and plays with him constantly. As incentive to help around the house I told them they could earn an hour of wii playing in the afternoon if they volunteered to help. It's amazing how willing he is now to take the kids to play outside or to hold Gavin when I'm working out! Hey it works! Unfortunately it only goes so far...I still have to change the poopy diapers!

What we do to innocent children.

2009-04-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

I'll give you 3 guesses as to who did all of this. Taylor loves to victimize people with goofy outfits. Her friend Anna came over to spend the night and this is how they greeted the boys in the morning. Austin was quite shocked to see this wierd girl with a green mustache right there eye level with his bed, which is a loft bed. She was on Taylor's shoulders. I could hear the two of them laughing hysterically before they went in there. They said Austin's face was a mix of fear and confusion. I guess being born on April Fool's Day helps her be the practical joker that she is.

We're planning a family party for saturday which should be fun. Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles abound in our family. So far the weather looks like it will cooperate so I'm hoping most people will be outside instead of crammed in the house.

I still can't believe I'm the mom of a teen, although it seems I've been one for a long time if you know what I mean. It's not bad or anything it's just that there can be an extreme swing in emotions from time to time. It's not that I don't have them too but these come on suddenly. Overall though I like teens, it's why I became a jr. high teacher. Jr. High kids are wierd and so am I so it fits. Hopefully my kids will still think I'm wierd but in a good way (the jury is still out on that one.)

This is as good as it gets.

2009-03-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, I tried to take a good picture of the boys together but do you have any idea how hard that is to get a toddler and baby to pose and smile and look at you all at the same time? I even tried burst mode thinking that it would help but this was the only pose I could get the boys to do. I then thought Liam would cooperate with Taylor but as you can seen he wasn't too happy about that either.

I just finished a homeschool conference and spent WAY too much money on new books but hey, it's my kids' education. I really enjoy homeschooling my children. It's given us a relationship that I don't think we would have had if they'd have gone to school for several hours a day. I'm looking forward to teaching a new batch how to read and write! Taylor's close to high school level so we're getting really serious about some things.

How did this happen?

2009-03-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

I look at this young lady that I have in my life and wonder how she went from being this chubby baby to beautiful girl? I love watching her dance and making choices about her life. We talk about marriage, boys, and school and so far she has a great head on her shoulders...much better than mine at that age. She loves life and makes things fun for the rest of us. The only thing she wants and doesn't have is a sister, not much I can do about that one.

I enjoy my time with her when we shop and talk. It's great to have a girl in the house full of boys! I'd be so alone otherwise! It's nice to have help organizing and cleaning instead of reprimanding someone to stop mutilating things! I enjoy seeing her barbie pink toenails and watching her develop her own taste in clothes and music. I'm grateful it's stuff I like too!

Enjoy pictures of her.

A rare sick free moment

2009-03-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

I don't remember when I took this but here's Liam going potty. He's awfully proud of himself when he goes. He sheepishly looks at me and asks, "See?" If I see pee-pee then I shout, "Yeah, Liam went pee-pee in the potty!" He then dances around and then shouts with both fists clenched, "M n m!" He knows he gets one. He then immediately wants me to dump the potty so he can flush. It's a very cute routine. Can you believe he'll be two next month?

Sickness update.

2009-03-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm slowly on the mend here with whatever we've caught. It's been awful. I've had three days of not caring whether I or anyone else lived or died. Friends brought by food and Bill stayed home Friday to take care of the kids since I couldn't get out of bed.

Gavin's still got a high fever. He's going on almost a week now being feverish. The docs took chest xrays yesterday and said his lungs looked great but that his head was full of mucous so they gave me some stuff to dry up the mucous and also amoxicillin to prevent infection. I hope that helps because he's just so miserable. I miss seeing him smile and try to suck on his toes. Now he just lays there with watery eyes and moans in misery. If he feels as bad as I did then I'm sure he's not too happy about being here either.

Dylan's now bedridden and Austin's got a sore throat. Taylor's still asleep so I hope that doesn't mean she's in for a second round. She is almost a teen so maybe she's discovering the benefit of sleeping in.

As nasty as this is I'm very thankful that it's temporary. I really feel for the parent with a chronically or fatally ill child. I can't imagine what that would be like. It's so stressful with what we have so that would just be horrible.

Thanks for the prayers I can tell people have been saying them. I slept for the first time last night in a long time.

Calling all prayer warriors!

2009-03-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

When will I learn? I actually told someone that I thought I had dodged the bullet on sickness this year. Then Liam and Taylor got mono. And now guess what? I think me and Gavin are sick now too. I'm achy and feverish and so is Gavin. Please, please pray for us. I'm worried about a baby getting mono. I know we're in the Lord's hands but I'm not looking forward to this.
Thanks!

Charity in all things.

2009-03-08T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not good at everything. Yes, I know that's a shock to everyone...lol. It's just something that hit me today. I beat myself up because my house is messy and the kids bicker and I think, "What's wrong with my mothering that I can't handle all of this?" I want the house to be picked up and for the children to skip around saying, "Yes, mother, how may we help you?" I know this is unrealistic but for seome reason I can't let go of this idea. It really slammed me between the eyes today that I'm not good at everything. I do some things well with the kids and for the kids. I am a good wife in some areas but not others. I really need to extend grace to myself for the areas I'm weak in and pray for the ability to extend grace to others. Thank the Lord that He doesn't expect me to be perfect so by all means I shouldn't expect it from myself or others.

ON another note, I pretty much think this daylight savings time is designed to torture parents. Just when you get a routine they throw this at you and bam, you have a week of gettting things back on track. I'm so tired today. We just didn't get to church, Taylor's still sick, and Gavin threw up all night due to some new formula I tried. Oy! I"m hoping tomorrow brings better things.

Super duper Gavy!

2009-03-07T05:10:00.000-08:00

I just love bathtime. Gavin and Liam do too. It's a chance to kick in the water and play with each other. I usually have a rotating chart for one older kid to help me so that no one gets hurt.

One night Dylan was helping me and Liam had given Gavin a toy. When it was time to go Liam ripped the toy from Gavin's hand and Gavin started to cry in protest. I then took the same toy from Liam and gave it back to Gavin and then Liam started to cry too....loudly. This scared Gavin so he started to cry again. Dylan started laughing at the scene and shook his head and said, "I can't believe this is all over a stupid toy." I found that funny since you should see the way he and Austin bicker over stuff. The whole thing was reminiscent of my life about ten years ago with those guys. I figure I survived that so I can survive this phase too. Actually I'm enjoying it this time around so I'll have more fun this time.

In the meantime, enjoy the great picture of a chubby baby!

Another one down!

2009-03-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well, my big helper is down with a fever, sore throat and cough. She feels awful. She's been sleeping most of the day. I was told she already had had mono, can you get it again? I'm bummed as she's great help, plus I hate to see her feeling so miserable. I'm hoping no one else gets it.

On the bright side, Gavin slept until 6:30 this morning. Whoo-hoo! I was a new woman. I still woke up at 5 but to have 1.5 hours to myself to spend in quiet time was quite a treat. The Lord must have known I would need it because the rest of the day's been stressful.

2009-03-03T08:41:00.000-08:00

During a particularly tiring moment I sighed and looked upwards. THere was blueberry smoothie on the ceiling that "someone" had done but "no one" copped to it. I laughed. My kitchen ceilings are 15 feet high so really that took a lot of talent.

Apparently Bill had seen it too but didn't say anything. The next day we were at Costco and the kids asked to get frozen berries. They pulled the bag out of the store's freezer and Bill sighed, "Ahhh, spackle for the ceiling!" I was laughing so hard. I'm glad he has a sense of humor about our house.

I know one day the kids will be gone and my house will be in order but way too quiet. By that time I will have to make bionic smoothies for myself. I'm glad for my messes for they mean my house is full, if I laugh then maybe that will teach them to laugh at themselves too.

In the meantime does anyone know how to get marionberry stains out of white ceilings?

Refinancing woes.

2009-02-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Well, Bill and I refinanced our house today with the lower interest rates. We were excited to see our mortgage payment go down by as much as $100 a month. Yeah! Imagine our shock as it only went down by $20. Huh? It turns out that our pmi insurance more than doubled. Why? Do you ask? Well because the rates went up since so many are defaulting on their loans. Oh, I see. So some people default and we, who have great credit and have never missed a payment are being punished. It's so infuriating to me. This bailout angers me to begin with as people were stupid and greedy in their spending (REpublicans and Democrats alike) and our children and grandchildren are going to pay for it. When does it end?

My dad reminded me that we at least have our health and can eat. That's so true.

Thank you, though, I shall have no tea! Leave socialism to England!

Feeling slammed!

2009-02-25T17:48:00.000-08:00

Well if you haven't heard yet I've been slammed at my house with illness. Taylor and Dylan came home the other day with fevers of 100 and sore throats but seemed to get over them fast. On Monday Liam started running a fever that jumped to over 103 by that afternoon. I started giving him Motrin and he responded well to that. By the next morning though he was throwing up gatorade (all over me and Gavin who were laying down on the bed to nurse) and was running a fever of over 105. After an hour of motrin it was only down to 104.8. I called the doctor who immediately wanted to see him. When I got there his tonsils were so swollen they were touching and they were worried that they would continue to swell and cut off his airway. Since he didn't have strep and they didn't know what we were dealing with they sent me to Children's hospital ER. I left the baby with the kids and told them to hang in there. The hospital had a parking space close so I could go right in. I arrived at 1:30 and checked in but we weren't seen until 3:30. The lobby had some fun safari pictures so we paced the hall for over an hour until they called us in. The doctor told us to test for mono and get a cbc in addition to getting xrays of the soft tissues. They had to stick Liam four times to draw blood. He was so traumatized that anytime a nurse said anything to him after that he would start crying. His big eyes were so watery and sad it just broke my heart. The test for mono came up positive so they sent us home with a prescription for an oral steroid to control swelling of his tonsils. He fell asleep in the car as by this point it was 6:30.

Unfortunately the day took it's toll on the kids so both of them woke up every 1-2 hours (alternately) all night long. Oy! It was good for me to nurse that much since I was so engorged. He's decided that he should bite me though each time...hard so that's not a fun development. He seems more tired too so I'm afraid he's getting it. My good friend Kris gave me a dinner so at least I didin't have to do that and I went all day taking care of crabby babies! It was such a nice day though that when they went down for a nap I went outside with a cup of coffee, my bible and my prayer journal. I thanked the Lord for a moment of rest in a very wearing day. It was so refreshing. I was amazed that when the Lord trys me, He also extends grace. Conversely when He blesses me He also wants me to extend that to others. Just as things in my life had been so peaceful and now were turned upside down, so also His grace is there.

After nap things weren't much better but I had some sustenance to get me through. How wonderful. Now we'll see how tonight goes.

Highlights!

2009-02-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

I am loving having an almost teen in the house. Here's a picture of her new highlights. We did it from a box. It was my first attempt at highlighting hair. Apparently I didn't miss a calling being a hairstylist! She's happy with it.

I had a cool experience with Taylor this week. I have been finding that I am nagging the kids a lot with putting things away. The piles everywhere on every surface area of the house are driving me crazy but I also hate that I'm nagging. I never wanted to be that kind of mom. Anyway, when I'm prayed about it I felt the Lord tell me to humble myself before the kids and ask them. So at the table one day I apologized for being so nagging and negative (I use sarcasm a lot) and asked them for a solution to the junk everywhere. Taylor suggested that everyone pick up five things before each meal. Everyone quickly agreed and that's what we've been doing ever since. It was so easy and such a helpful idea. She also kept me from wandering around the parking lot today and pointed me to where the van was. It's great having someone looking out for us! Taylor's growing into a beautiful girl. I'm proud to be her mom.

My little guy!

2009-02-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

Entering toddlerhood the second time around is so much more fun! Especially since it's Liam. He really is such a joyous child. He loves to pray and read books about Jesus. He's helpful and cleans up after himself (something his older siblings have a hard time with). He's trying to go potty and counts to ten! He loves t.v. (a personal favorite of his dad's). He runs around and makes goofy faces for us all to laugh at, including Gavin. I love that he's taking the role of big brother seriously and puts Gavin's binky in and turns on toys for him. He's still having problems sharing (don't we all). I truly marvel at the fact that if Bill hadn't had the surgery he and his brother Gavin wouldn't be here. What a loss that would have been to our family. I hope the rest of our relatives will see it that way some day too. In the meantime we have a constant source of bubbly entertainment!

Hats galore!

2009-02-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Most people think my husband's a serious guy but really he's quite the goofball. It was his idea to put hats on everyone and take pictures. It's probably not his idea to post it on my blog but ha ha on him. Look at the ball on GAvin's hat...it's as big as his head! Too funny. These were given to us by my mom who for some reason doesn't want any hats or wool socks anymore. GAvin hates hats but we got these shots in time before the meltdown ensued. I guess he might be like mom after all.

Bernard Nathanson

2009-01-30T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a video by Bernard Nathanson, who was one of the founders of Naral. When he viewed an ultrasound of his abortion he left the room , sick and hasn't done another abortion since. I decided not to put the actual footage of that on my blog but if we aren't faced with the horror of what abortion is then we won't be moved to stop it. It's on You Tube if you wish to view it.

What do you choose?

2009-01-29T07:24:00.000-08:00

PlannedParenthood founder and eugenics advocate Margaret Sanger's infamous words state: "The most merciful thing that the large family does to oneof its infant members is to kill it." How very sad these words are to me. Look at the pictures of my children and ask, which one would you kill out of "mercy"? Nancy Pelosi is now calling birth control "economic stimulus". REally? She wants our tax dollars to fund abortion and birth control as part of the economic stimulus plan.

How these words contrast to Mother Theresa's words: "It is a poverty that a child should die so you can live as you choose." She also said, "Too many children? That's like saying there are too many flowers." Which person has the true attitude of mercy? Margaret Sanger or Mother Theresa?

What if William Wilberforce thought slavery too big an issue to tackle? We may still have had Africans enslaved today. The same argumrnts were used....economics. Yes, humans were treated less so to benefit someone else's economic standing. So what will you do? Say it's too big? The more we throw up our hands in helplessness the more the slaughter will go on.

So which one do you choose? I for one believe all children are precious and will continue to treat them as such and not as economic drains. After all, we can't take our money with us.

Let it snow!

2009-01-27T12:20:00.000-08:00

Yeah for snow. We finally have our first significant snowfall of the year now. The kids were so excited. Even Dylan got up at 7 am to finish his schoolwork so that he could play. I've never seen him diagram prepositional phrases so fast in all my life. After every sentence that I was reading for history he asked, "Are we done yet? How about now?" I think I did a lot of deep breathing by then and gave up and sent them on their way.

Taylor took Liam out for his first snow adventure and he even got to sled a little. He keeps looking out and saying, "cold, cold!" If I can manage it I will take pictures and post them later but it involves me jumping the neighbors' fence and I just don't know if I have it in me to do that this year. My body just isn't as cooperative as it used to be.

Poor Gavin

2009-01-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

He's had it rough lately. First he had the poop of the century that started off this horrible diaper rash. Then he continued to poop to the point that his butt was so red it was almost purple. Then he was fussy and would cry a lot. I've tried everything. Bill even went out and bought disposables thinking that it was the evil cloth diapers. He broke out in a worse rash that radiated out onto his tummy. I put hydrocortisone cream on and switched back to cloth and it finally got better. I went out and bought this uber expensive stuff called triple paste and that has seemed to help too.

Then he got a hair stuck around two toes. I had to break it off with tweezers but by this point the hair was so tight it had caused his toes to swell up and turn red. We got it off finally and his toes started to pink up again.

He's still not sleeping through the night but now he just wakes up once at 12 to fuss for about 15 minutes and then doesn't wake again until 4 or 5.

Here he is in the exersaucer. Liam loved it but Gavin isn't amused too long in it. It helps for short stays but not enough for me to sew or work out in. Those luxuries are saved for naptime! Liam keeps trying to climb back in them but we don't let him! He used to bounce so hard in it that it would scoot across the room like a walker. Too funny! Gavin's not having any of that nonsense!

What child is this?

2009-01-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

In my hand is a plastic model of a 12 week old fetus. As you can see it's fully formed but small. You can even tell it's a boy but you won't be able to see it for a few more weeks on ultrasound. Did you know that all fetuses are fully formed at 12 weeks? They need the rest of gestation to mature and grow larger. This is the stage that most women have abortions.

This week is the unfortunate anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It is a time of liberation for some and should be a time for mourning in the church. We in the church have been silent for too long about this issue because we're afraid of offending people. I, for one, am especially guilty of being quiet about this. But I have decided that I shall be silent no longer.

The way I see it is that the two camps, pro-abortion and pro-life are coming at the issue from two different worldviews. Pro abortion people assume that life is a product only of human will and desire. If the the mother doesn't desire it, it is her right to terminate that life. Pro-life people assume that life is a gift from God and that we should accept it whether it comes at a time of convenience or not. If the child isn't wanted by the mother, there are other potential parents that would love to raise it as their own. One side views pregnancy as a punishment (Barack Obama said so in his comment about how he'd feel if his daughters were to get pregnant). The other side views pregnancy as a gift. Even if the circumstances are tragic such as the case of rape or incest, why should the baby be punished by death for a terrible crime? The rapist, not the baby, deserves punishment.

There are even some Christians who either don't regard abortion as a relevant topic for their voting choices or use birth control that can cause abortions. I'm not sure where they are basing their choices because it isn't from scripture. The Bible is very clear that God knows us before we're formed and that He has plans for us(Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:3-16). In that view our mission should be to protect life as much as possible and not allow anything to harm that life that God has created. Many hormonal forms of birth control can allow for conception but impedes implantation. This is against the view of scripture that life begins at conception and that it's God's alone to give or take. If we participate in any other view it's not a truly pro-life one. Some Christians had no problem voting for pro-abortion candidates either. This baffles me. While we are to pray for and respect our leaders we have a moral obligation not to support evil and the freedom to voice our opinion through our votes. Our society will be judged by how we treat the most vulnerable of our citizens.

Many people don't realize that Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood and largest abortion provider, was a enthusiastic Malthusian Eugenicist. She wanted to get rid of what she called "undesirable races" and abortion and birth control was one way to do it. She was a big supporter of Adolf Hitler too. Did you know that African-Americans make up only 13% of the population but account for 30% of all abortions? I would think that would make people outraged but most just shrug their shoulders. Yes, racism is alive and well in the disguise of women's choice.

The same arguments for slavery are only recycyled now for justifying abortion. They say that the baby isn't human just as they said that slaves weren't fully human. History gives us clear vision that one is wrong but we can't make the connection today that the other is too?
The slogan in favor of abortion was to let every child be a wanted child. Has that really happened? Aren't there still children abandoned, left in garbage cans? Killed? Our society has so devalued life that anything goes now. Another argument was that the baby was just tissue. We now know through the miracle of ultrasound that that is not the case. And anyway does size determine one's humaness? If that was the case I guess short people and dwarfs are less human than tall ones. What about level of development? Because it is less developed it is less human? Are more intelligent people more human that less intelligent ones? What about environment? Being in the womb makes you less human than being out of the womb? Why is it that we can abort one baby at 24 weeks and then work to save another one born premature at the same level of gestation? And what about level of dependency? Are babies less human than children? Children less than teens? Teens less than adults? Of course not. Abortion just doesn't make sense to me.

But I know that if you're reading this you either agree with me or vehemently disagree and I'm not likely to change your mind. I only hope that I've given you something to think about. My own husband was pro-abortion until I became pregnant with our first child. Once he saw her on the ultrasound he knew that it was a baby and has been pro-life ever since. We in the church need to do more than just give lip service to abortion. It might mean mentoring a teen mom. It might mean giving of our time and money to support girls so they don't feel they have to turn to abortion. I know what it's like to have children and not feel family support and I know it's not fun. I'm not kidding myself that at three in the morning blessing isn't a word going through my mind when I'm caring for a baby. But this too shall pass and I couldn't imagine life without any of my children even though some of them came at a time I didn't think was convenient. I'm glad that my feelings changed and that I can see my children daily. I pity women who made another choice and will always wonder what if....?

We in the church should also be reaching out to women who've been victimized by abortion. Shoving posters of aborted babies in their faces isn't exactly a compassionate response. We should love them and be ready to show them God's forgiveness. Remember that sin is sin and we are all guilty of murder on some level. Who knows how many I may have aborted by using birth control pills in ignorance? I'm just as guilty. There is forgiveness through Jesus Christ and for that I'm grateful. Let's go and tell others about it too.

Babes

2009-01-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the babes. I tried to give the picture of Liam an old fashioned painted look but instead he looks like something out of a 1950's space age movie. Gavin's gaining weight like crazy now. Yeah!
HE and Liam are really starting to notice each other now too. When Liam isn't gouging his eyes Gavin likes him.

Mealtime fun

2009-01-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of us being goofy. The first is of Liam eating applesauce. Notice that he's using his hands but holds the spoon with the other hand. Hmm...something's wrong with this picture.

The second is of me...as you can tell Dylan needs to practice with his aim with the camera. It's still a funny picture.\

The next one is of Gavin eating cereal. Austin's feeding him and got a bib that's supposed to fit over his head but instead he just put it around his head. He looks like a mini nun! It was hilarous at the time.

The last one is Taylor being corny with a jelly bean. She's so dramatic....I don't know where she gets that from....I'm so even tempered! Lol!

Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight

2009-01-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Here's information on a book I just started reading. It's called Only Nuns Change Their Habits Overnight. So far it's good. It's a good book for anyone to read, especially at New Year's resolution time! A link to buy it is here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400074002. If you read it let me know what you think.

Book: Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight
Summary: Every woman longs for change in some area of her life. Unfortunately, fear, fatigue, adversity, heartbreak, past failures, and even the choices of other people get in the way and make lasting change seem out of reach. Having been there herself, Karen Linamen knows exactly how to take readers from where they are to where they want to be.
In Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight, she examines 52 powerful actions readers can apply to any change they long to embrace. Her insights apply to career, finances, personal health and fitness, relationships, faith—in fact, every facet of a woman’s life.
Blending laugh-out-loud humor and sage advice, Linamen shows readers the link between dissatisfaction and transformation, how to remodel habits, the little-known truth about procrastination, how to generate the energy they need to pursue the life they desire, how to benefit from options and resources they never dreamed they had, and much, much more!

A Light at the end of the tunnel

2009-01-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

Much better!

5:45 am Gavin wakes up happy. I nurse him and he falls instantly asleep afterwards.

7:30 I wake him up so he can nap well later.

10:00 he's tired so he goes down for nap. He only cries for less than 5 minutes.

11:45 Wake Gavin again. I feed him.

12:30 He starts screaming and I realize I forgot his zantac. I quickly give it to him and he stops.

2:00 I put Gavin down for a nap. He cries for about 5 minutes and then is out.

3:30 He wakes up but I'm at the gym. Austin gives him a bottle.

5:00 He fusses so I feed him again. Sometimes Austin skimps on a bottle because he's worried that Gavin will throw up. Boys!

6:30 I feed him after a nice bath.

7:30 Put him to sleep in the swing.

8:00 Gavin wakes up...uh oh! I have to leave to get Taylor so Austin takes him. He's fussy. Austin calls me 20 minutes later and asks when I'll be home. I come home 15 minutes later and he's fine.

9:30 I start to feed Gavin but he's squirmy and has a hard time. He fusses. I check my milk but it's fine so I figure he's just tired.

10:30 Gavin falls asleep. He stays asleep in the crib when I put him down. No heartbeat cd today. He doesn't wake up until 5am. He nursed and then went right back to sleep. He seems to be slightly congested in his nose so he doesn't eat real well but hey, things are much better.

Thanks for praying for me. I could tell! I'll start blogging about other things now!

Day Four

2009-01-05T18:39:00.000-08:00

This is a much better day!

3:45 Gavin wakes up. I feed him and put him back to bed.

4:30 Gavin's asleep. I pray for the Lord to help me go back to sleep.

8:08 We both wake up! Wow!

10:15 Gavin is tired so I put him to bed with my t-shirt that I wore last night.

10:30 Gavin's asleep.

11:15 Gavin's awake. Dylan holds him while I take a shower as I worked out and he doesn't like to nurse if I haven't showered.

11:30 I nurse Gavin. He's so happy today.

12:45 Gavin's tired again but I can nurse him and hopefully he'll have a better nap.

1:30 I put Gavin in his crib. He screams bloody murder for about 10 minutes. At first I think I have a tough battle ahead but then he's quiet. I check and he's asleep. Yay!
3:30 Gavin's awake! The longest nap in his crib yet!

3:45 I nurse Gavin and get him ready to run errands. He doesn't cry in the car seat anymore when we leave, only coming home.
5:00 I'm at Cottonbabies making a purchase and the cashier has a problem figuring out how to check me out. Liam starts melting down and Gavin spits up all over the front of me. At this point I'm laughing.
5:30 Gavin screams his head off at being in his carseat. Now we head off to Payless.
5:45 Buy Dylan new sneakers while Liam picks out a stylish new set of gold pumps. The cashier comments on how well behaved my kids are. I smile...if she only knew. She coos at Gavin and he flashes her his best smile.
6:00 Put food on the table that I made before we left. It's chicken pot pie and the kids beg me to make it again. I make it with organic veggies and know my friend Christina would be proud. Bill was the one that bought them though.
6:30 After bath I nurse Gavin again. I put him in the swing.
6:45 Gavin's still screaming
7:00 I give him the binky that he accepts gratefully and he falls asleep instantly.

I can't get over how much better my day went. I can thank the Lord for it as we started the day with prayer and He eased the day. I figured it would be horrible getting back to school with being on vacation woujld be horrible but it went great. We had a great discussion on the Secret Service and also how hard it must be to be the President's children. The kids agreed to pray for Obama's daughters. What a touching discussion.

Day three

2009-01-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

12:26 am Gavin wakes up, put binky in mouth and he goes to sleep.

12:45 Liam wakes up. Turn on mobile and he goes back to sleep.

1:40 am Gavin wakes up, he's soaking wet from a leaking diaper. I change him and nurse him.

2:30 am I put Gavin down in the crib. He's wide awake so I decide to lay back down and wait for screaming to commence.

2:50 I realize that it's rather quiet and look and he's sound asleep! Yay! A major victory. You don't know how tempted I was to have him in bed with me to get some sleep.

7:00am Gavin's awake, happy and ready for breakfast. I realize that I need to stay home from church so that I can deal with his sleep issues. Bill agrees.

9:30am Gavin looks tired. I put him in his crib and tell him it's night night time. I turn on heartbeat cd. He fusses for 10 minutes (at least it's not the blood curdling screaming I am used to) and is sound asleep. Is this light at the end of the tunnel?

10:15 Gavin's awake and happy.

12:45 Gavin starts screaming his head off. He's now too tired to nurse. I tried to do everything to calm him down but he just wants to sleep.

1:00 Gavin's asleep in the swing.

1:50 Gavin's awake. I nurse him.

2:30 I try to put Gavin in the crib but he'll have none of that.

3:30 I give up trying to get him to go to sleep and nurse him again. He's VERY tired now.

6:00 He's so tired that I have to hold him in my lap to feed him solids. I nurse him again.

6:30 Gavin's asleep

6:50 Gavin's awake! Uggh! We try desperately to get him to sleep again but he won't and I worry he'll wake up Liam. I get him out of the swing and take him downstairs.

8:00 I have to get Taylor from Bible study so I leave Gavin with Austin. He has a bottle, binky and all supplies to keep him happy.

8:30 I come home to find Gavin calm and Austin survived. He only took 2 oz so I nurse him. He goes to sleep immediately afterwards.

10:00 I put him to bed. He fusses but I give him a binky and he falls asleep again. I go to sleep listening to a psychotic heartbeat machine.

Day two

2009-01-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

1:15 am: Gavin's awake, put binky in mouth and he goes right back to sleep.

5:05 am Gavin's awake again, nurse him in bed and let him stay there...we're both exhausted still from yesterday.

8:08 am Gavin and I both wake up. He's happy and cooing. I nurse him and feed him cereal.

10:00 am Put Gavin in crib. He cries for a couple of minutes and then is asleep by 10:15.

10:15 leave with Taylor and Liam to get her ears pierced. Taylor is happy.

10:45 Get a call from a glum Austin that Gavin's awake. Austin blames Dylan for making noise in the kitchen. I assure him that the fan and heartbeat cd would mask any noise.

11:00 Austin feeds Gavin a bottle 4oz after Dylan spilled 3 of my hard pumped milk. Oy!

12:00 Try to put Gavin down, he freaks and I worry he didn't eat enough. so I nurse him again.

1:00 try to put him down again.

1:15 Gavin's asleep.

2:00 Gavin's awake.

2:08 I nurse Gavin again

2:35 I try to put a sleepy Gavin down again but he has a death grip on my thumb and his gums are threatening to chomp my nipple.

3:00 Gavin's in the crib cooing at the mobile.

3:08 Gavin decides that being alone stinks so he starts to protest....loudly.

3:18 Gavin's asleep.

3:45 Gavins awake...I contemplate burning the no cry sleep solution book.

3:48 Taylor tries to get him back to sleep but reports that he's wide awake.

4:08 Nurse Gavin.

4:48 After playing with him I figure he's got to be tired so I put him down.

5:20 Not tired at all but screaming his head off. I get him out and hold him. We play pass the baby. He's content as long as you're holding him.

6:00 Feed him cereal.

6:30 bathtime. He loves bathtime except when Liam splashes the heck out of him.

7:00 Nurse him. He's very sleepy.

7:25 I put him in the swing and he fusses for 3 minutes and then passes out.

9:00 Nurse him for the last time tonight. I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever sleep much on his own. The good news is that he's getting better about sleeping in the crib, the bad news is that he won't sleep there very long.

10:00 pm Wakes up as I put him in the crib. I put the binky in his mouth, turn on heartbeat cd and he goes to sleep.

Diary of a sleep deprived mom Day one!

2009-01-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

I've had enough. Gavin seems to need more and more to get to sleep so I've decided to cut the cord. I thought I'd write about it so you all would be glad you weren't me today.

1am: Wake up and put pacifier in Gavin's mouth. Press heartbeat cd.

4am : Wake up again, feed baby and put baby back to sleep in crib. So far it's going well. In the past he's only slept in a swing and/or my bed.

I decide to stay awake and have quiet time.

5am: Workout, curse the fact that I have to and am still at the stage where I hate it.

5:22 done and ready to hit the shower.

6:06 Gavin's awake. Normally he sleeps until 7 or 8 in my bed. Not a good sign . Decide to get him up rather than break down and nurse him in bed.

8:30 Put Gavin to sleep in swing since he woke up early.

9:00 Gavin wakes up due to Liam throwing every loud toy down the hall and screaming. Hearbeat cd didn't help at all. Tell Taylor that we're not getting her ears pierced today...prepare for preadolescent emotions...they came.

9:05 Nurse Gavin

10:30 decide to put Gavin down in the crib. Tell poor dh to go grocery shopping as I have decided to battle it out. Sit in bedroom and keep putting the pacifier in his mouth. He's relatively happy to be in there but not sleep.

11:05 Gavin's asleep go play wii with Austin

11:15 Gavin's awake run upstairs to put him down again.

11:30 Gavin's asleep.

12:05 Gavin's awake. This isn't going well. He usually has a 1-2 hour nap by this point. Nurse Gavin again.

1:30 Camp out in room again. Gavin really fights this one...

2:20 Gavin' s asleep...finally.

3:00 Gavin's awake with a diaper full of poo! Lucky lucky for me.

3:30 Break down and nurse him in bed. He's a total maniac at this point and can't even nurse he's so tired.

4:00 Gavin's asleep in my bed and seems in a coma so I sneak out. I start organizing my sewing area.

6:00 Get ready to eat pizza.

6:06 Gavin's awake but happy. Nurse Gavin and look longingly at the pizza while the rest of the family eats.

6:30 eat my allotted two pieces of pizza...ate too fast so now I want another one. It's thin crust so I do.

7:30 Gavin's fussy so I nurse him again and put him in swing.

8:00 Gavin screams in the swing like someone is sticking something in his eyes. I check but noth8ing seems to be wrong. Put binky in mouth but he spits it out at me. Liam sighs, "Oh Gavy." He's upset because usually he gets one on one time with me at this point. Liam hits me in the eye with a book. Liam goes to bed.

8:20 Gavin's still wailing...I worry that he will wake up dh who will wonder why I'm drinking chocolate milk and trying not to go crazy. Call in for reinforcements.

8:25 Austin takes over binky duty. I don't know what it is but he can get that kid asleep within five minutes. Gavin fights Austin tonight however and takes about 15 minutes instead.

8:40 start blogging about my day. I will probably nurse him once more and put him to bed to start another day of battle tomorrow. Pray for me, I'm going to need it.

2008-12-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

The first picture is of me, Gavin and Liam and the Kienbusch's for Christmas Eve. We have a fun celebration where all the kids, grandkids and even great-grandkids get together and exchange gifts and eat yummy food. Everyone brings a dish and cookies so we always leave very full. Liam was totally wacked out and overwhelmed. Gavin was too towards the end. Taylor, Austin, and Dylan all enjoyed seeing their cousins, especially the ones from Florida and a good time was had by all.

The other picture is of Gavin and Daphne, Dylan's lovey from when he was a kid. They look cute together.

The last picture is of Gavin with his hair standing on end. Austin kept rubbing his head with a balloon to make it straighten up. He looks like he likes it. There's never a dull moment here!

I'm still trying to get to know Gavin. Here's what I've discovered so far: He needs to sleep in a quiet atmosphere! Poor baby! He also is allergic to milk (he pukes until it comes out his nose!). He's very impatient...pulls on my nipple when it doesn't come out fast enough! OUch! And he's a smiley kids when he gets sleep and people are talking to him.

Gavin the great

2008-12-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a rare scream free moment from Gavin. He's so cute in the bumbo don't you think? Last night he slept in his own crib for 3 hours! I'm praising the Lord for little baby steps. Even though he's high maintenance right now I wouldn't trade him for the world. He's our little miracle baby.

Goals

2008-12-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

If you haven't heard from me I've been very busy making some changes. For one, I started a new diet from Body for Life. It's very challenging (up my alley) but simple so I decided to start now rather than wait until Christmas was over. I've been following the fitness plan for two weeks but have just started the diet portion of it. I ended up with mastitis last week so I had to take a break for 24 hours to clear that up.

I'm also following the House that Cleans Itself (also up my alley...I loathe housework). My first room is the bedroom. I want it to be a haven from the chaos. I need a changing table and am moving it into the boys room (they're thrilled!). I told them that the diaper pail can stay in our room. It's closer to the bathroom for bidet purposes! You disposable users probably have no idea what I'm talking about!

Lastly, I'm following the No Cry Sleep Solution for Gavin to sleep in his crib. Yesterday he slept there for 4.5 hours! A record. He used to scream everytime I put him in it. Unfortunately we had a bad day with him yesterday so the night was probably easier because he was exhausted. We had gone Christmas shopping at target and he ended up with a leaking diaper that had him wet (it was 10 degrees last night) and since it was a "quick errand" I didn't have a change of clothing with me. The kids didn't tell me either since Liam was also melting down and I was closing my eyes a lot and trying to practice deep breathing exercises. Poor baby! No wonder he was so fussy!

I'll post pictures of my progress. Life has been so much better since I've had quiet time every morning and have been exercising. It definitely chases the blahs away!

Please email me to let me know how you are doing. I can't call much but I can do online stuff while I'm nursing!

Boys Galore.

2008-12-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

Well, we managed to make it two days without a concussion checklist. Oy! Life with a lot of boys is great but it's quite a rollercoaster. The first picture is one of GAvin in a rare non-screaming moment. The second is of the four boys but you'll notice that Liam's head blocks most of Gavin's. His version of loving thy brother is something akin to smothering him...literally! At least he doesn't use Gavin's head as a stepstool like Austin did to Dylan at this age. One time Austin climbed into Dylan's crib when he was 5 mos old and I heard through the baby monitor "I get horsey ride!" and then Dylan's screamed. I ran in there and sure enough Austin was straddling my little 5 mos old. We eventually moved Dylan in with Taylor for his survival.

Another pic is the boys with their matching sleepers. Mitzi's husband thinks I shouldn't be posting pics of me in my slinky purple pajamas! Lol. Enjoy!

The Christmas Spirit

2008-12-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

I've finally gotten back in the swing of sewing again. Here's my latest creation, a matching sleeper set for Gavin and Liam. Gavin's isn't done quite yet. I'm also working on replacing the velcro on some of his diapers. I'll soon be making a dress for my niece (oh to be making little girl dresses again! I miss it!)

Next is a picture of me and Gavin in his christmas outfit that Mitzi Lowe gave me last year. I'm so glad that it fits.
I've been thinking a lot about making Christmas meaningful this year for the kids instead of focusing on what's not important. The older ones saved their money for a trampoline but donated some of it to Operation Christmas Child. It was fun to watch them get excited about giving toys to someone else. What else can we do? I always have intentions of doing an advent celebration but we just can't seem to get it together to do that. I can't find my Christmas devotional either. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if anything hits me!

Changes

2008-11-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Here's Liam, another victim of Taylor's fashion torture. There's something so cute about it though.

It's been tough around here lately with sickness and fussy babies so we have to cut loose sometimes.

Here's a picture of my new haircut too. I'm glad to have something that's easier to take care of at this point. Gotta go, Gavin's screaming....again.

Praise God in all things

2008-11-13T05:50:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about a post I received about how we're willing to praise God when things go well but do we think to do it when things aren't? Not really. I was really convicted about that and so started to praise Him for the hard times that caused me to grow or that transformed my marriage. At the time it wasn't fun but it definitely was for the best.

Last night was a prime example. Liam decided to scream in his crib on and off for over two hours. I checked his diaper several times and kept telling him to go to sleep but nothing would soothe him. I really got frustrated and gave up. Then Bill got involved and in his frustration brought all the kids back downstairs to watch t.v. since no one was sleeping anyway. I told him to go back upstairs and turn off the baby monitor. Liam stayed up until 11:30 and then threw himself down on the air matress in exhaustion. Then at 12:00 he threw up. Taylor ran upstairs and I had to clean up barf. As I was wiping the cushions I was thinking about how I should praise the Lord in all things. I already had worship music on in the background to help my patience level. Praising God really helped me laugh at the situation. I made up my mind that I wouldn't get any sleep anyway so I started praying too. It really was a great night even though the circumstances weren't great. These are times that force you to depend on Him. Thank you Lord for such lessons.

Halloween fun!

2008-11-09T04:40:00.000-08:00

My kids love Halloween. They especially love to dress up and of course the candy. We call it candy day. It's a fun time to talk to neighbors and let the kids create a look for the night.

Dylan made the Spongebob costume himself. It's so cute but it made his arms hurt having to have them up all night.

Taylor was a Kabuki theater woman and wore my old kimono. It's an authentic kimono that was hand-stitched as a gift for me when I taught over there years ago.

Austin was Dracula ( a character from literature mind you!) and had fun with that.

We took their friend Anna this year who was Sarah Palin. Since most of our neighborohood was Democrat I wasn't sure if anyone would be rude but everyone was very sweet. Many would say, "Hey look, Sarah Palin is making a personal campaign stop!" One lady asked if she was a teacher.

What my children do for fun!

2008-11-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

This was an unauthorized activity but the kids took the leaf blower and blew it into their faces. THEy are funny pictures though although Bill had quite a talk about it with them. Another pic is of GAvin! Do you see how his face is starting to fill out? He's almost completely weaned off the lactation aid! Yeah! The other pic is of Austin and Liam having so much fun in leaves. We're trying to enjoy the beautiful weather now while we can!

I feel like a big loser.

2008-10-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

Follow up isn't very strong characteristic for me. When I got my dog I had great plans to train her and make her a real good dog. Well that didn't happen. Apparently when you neglect this particular breed they become destructive so she went on rampages of steeling food and going through the garbage cans. She ended up driving me crazy and I gave up on her. The kids gave up too. In the end she was put outside most of the day and was miserable so I told the kids she needed to be in a different home, one where the people in it could pay attention to her. So that's what we did but it wasn't without lots of guilt from me. I guess I deserve it.

I also cannot keep my house in a state of order. It's in constant chaos. I know this is driving Bill crazy but I don't know what to about it. I feel like I nag my children daily about putting their things away but it doesn't help and they look at me like I'm some cyclops monster. This is my fault too as I don't put my own stuff away so they've taken my bad habits and run with them ten fold. At least Liam is good about putting his stuff away!

I know that the Lord puts things in our way so that we stop and run to Him (hopefully), so that's what I want to do. The problem is that I get distracted when I pray due to sleep deprivation and the chaos so I'm not spending as much time as I need or like. I don't want to be the way I am, easily frustrated right now but I don't know how to not do it in my own power. Thankfully I know that I'm not perfect and the Lord knows it too. Breathe on me sweet breath of God! I would so like to be a sweet and thoughtful woman but instead I feel like a scatterbrained nincompoop! Maybe that will happen yet someday.

Sorry to be a bummer of a post but I just felt the need to be honest.

THings I'm grateful for:

Health,
Shelter
Food
Clothing
Family
Fall Colors
The honor of living in a free country with the right to choose our leaders!
Freedom of religion
My Bible
My husband
Books
Sewing machine
music
Friends (especially the ones who really know who I am!)

Learning to be a big brother.

2008-10-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Liam is doing well being a big brother these days. He likes to touch Gavin's nose and give him kisses. At times he does things like smack his head and poke his eyes but I think it's more out of toddler enthusiasm than vindictiveness. He is fussy these days though but I think it's because he's sick. I've been trying to give the baby to someone else to hold so I can spend time with him. Sometimes all he needs is to be held and kissed too. Don't we all?

Look who's filling out!

2008-10-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Gavin is doing great. He's gained 2.5 pounds since he was born. He eats well and is trying to smile but doesn't quite get it. He sleeps 2 six hour stints at night. Whoo-hoo! I'm so in love with all of them!

My little babes.

2008-10-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

Liam was playing dress up this week. It's his Halloween costume that is too cute on him but unfortunately he doesn't like it too much. I think it's because it's a pretty warm outfit. Taylor managed to snap a picture anyway.

Me and Gavin posed for the next two pictures. I was going for a sepia tone in the first shot but I don't think it looks like that. I need to play with it a little more. The second was a cute pic but was very dark so I lightened it but now it looks like a really old picture. Gavin had a hard day today. He barely slept all day and then just crashed. I'm grateful that it wasn't in the middle of the night like he did one night. I paid Taylor some babysitting money to hold him for an hour while I took a nap. After that hour she ran upstairs and begged me to take him as he'd been crying almost the entire time. He had really bad gas pains...poor baby!

The other boys had soccer games that they either won or tied. Austin's coach paid him a compliment that he'd played really well, the best ever for him last week.

Taylor started going to a Bible study for girls at our church. Several people commented that she was a crack up and made the evening lively for everyone!

As for me, I'm tired but that's par for the course with a newborn. We're starting to get back to doing school although we never seem to get a normal day without interuptions. The kids don't mind but I've been very neglectful with science and history. Oops!

New pics of Gavin and family.

2008-10-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here's some more pics of my cutie petuties! Gavin is 3 weeks old and over 7 lbs. I'm so grateful for the way God's blessed us. I fall asleep thanking Him for healthy children. His cheeks are starting to fill out. Liam likes kissing the top of his head (he doesn't like kissing anyone else). It is certainly crazy around here with schooling, and basic things like eating and bathing but I wouldn't have it any other way. I do admit to enjoying that time at night when everyone's in bed and I can breathe deeply again (and sit!). Gavin has started sleeping 5-6 hours at night. How cool is that? I sleep more now than when I was pregnant.

6 unremarkable things about me

2008-10-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

Melanie tagged me for a meme. It's supposed to be about 6 unremarkable things about me.

1. I love chocolate and can never get enough. I was diagnosed years ago with manic depression and when I told a counselor that he made an observation that I ate chocolate every day which was a form of self-medication. Great! One more reason to pass the chocolates! It's for my mental health.

2. I love kids but never planned to be a stay at home mom. I really wanted a career and wanted kids too but didn't plan on spending time at home with them, especially not to homeschool them...those people were crazy! Once I had Taylor though I couldn't stand it that others were raising her. Over time I've realized that you only get one shot with your children and you'd better make it count. I love staying home now and usually love being with them (unless they are bickering...then I wouldn't mind that little yellow bus!)

3. I really love studying the Bible with aids. GIve me a concordance, commentaries, and other study aids and I really like to study the Bible. I'm not into those get togethers where we all discuss our feelings....yuck! The more academic the better. Unfortunately I'm the only one that likes to study this way so for now I'm on my own.

4. I fall asleep to the t.v. It's a terrible habit, I know but it puts me to sleep faster than a pill. My mom was vacationing with me at one point and as soon as she heard the Law and Order "dun, dun" music she'd look over and I'd be fast asleep.

5. I've always wanted to play the violin. Someday maybe I will. I really want one of my own but I don't really have the time or money. It's on my list of things to do one day. For now I fiddle with Dylan's half sized one sometimes and can play Mary had a Little Lamb.

6. I hate housework. No surprise to anyone who knows me. One day I hope to have a handle on my bad habits like collecting things and not cleaning up very much. Give my choice between spending time with the kids or the Lord and cleaning and the kids win every time.

I tag: Lisa P, Kris H, Dana, Lisa M. Rachel, and Deb.

The greatest big sister ever!

2008-09-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Now it's time to tribute Taylor and all of her talents as a big sister. She has the touch of comfort for the little ones. Yesterday she was helping to clean and she made the act of vacuming fun for Liam. All of the boys follow her lead in just about anything, except Austin when it comes to dressing up. She squabbles with them too but when it comes to defending them she's the first to come to their aid. She's also a HUGE help to me. She brings me tea and gives me pedicures. She's been helping to clean the house also (something I detest doing). We've had a buggy problem lately so that's been of assistance since we're having to clean more often.

I'm so grateful for my daughter and look forward to her continuing journey into womanhood. She's going to make a fantastic mother someday. Hopefully she won't have to kiss too many frogs to find her prince (like I did!).

Brotherly love

2008-09-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of the boys with each other. Liam loves his baby brother (at least most of the time). He helps me burp and comb his hair. He's really cute. Austin love snuggling with him nightly and Dylan likes to hold him too. It looks like Gavin may have dark eyes which pleases Dylan so that the balance of power (light vs. dark eyed people) in our family.

He's starting to really put on weight and growing into his skin...which is good because now his a scrawny chicken boy. His nickname is Mr. Fiske.

Life is good. All of the children are healthy and we enjoy them very much.

More pictures of our exciting day.

2008-09-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the kids and I during my hospital stay. Liam couldn't wait to play with the helium balloons Bill bought and the kids couldn't wait to hold him. They were always arguing about my turn, my turn!

I had the easy job of laying in bed and taking care of the sleepy child. Bill had to hold down the fort. He told one of my friends that it's definitely easier to go to work than to stay home. Anyway, he said the kids did a marvelous job. He did, however, buy some satan pants because he hates cloth diapers....oh well, he needs to stay sane this week. It's only a small package though so I think we're safe from all the militants!

I'm home now from the hospital and feel great. I'm even ready to start some housework and schoolwork if you can believe that.

So far Gavin is nursing well, I think. The pediatrician appointment is tomorrow so we'll see for sure how he's doing then.

Gavin is here!

2008-09-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well, after what seemed like a long wait Gavin is here. On Monday I was having some contractions but they were very far apart so I didn't think anything of it. The kids got excited and starting rubbing the accupressure points on my ankles and hands. I was even online with my friend Rachel who told me to pack my bags but I still didn't because I wanted something to do when I was really in labor (something I find rather funny now!)

About 4:30 I had regular contractions but they were still about 5 minutes apart. They were bad enough that I didn't want to talk nor did I want to go to the library as I had planned. It was Taylor's night to make dinner so I sat on my balance ball and directed her. By 5:30 I needed to take a hot shower. When I was in there my water broke. Usually I deliver about 2 hours after they break my water so I went upstairs to tell Bill and instantly everyone jumped up from the table. I had to tell them to calm down that I still had to call the doctor. The doctor said, "This is your fifth? Get here now!" Okay into the car we all went. By the time we got to the hospital the contractions were 2 minutes apart and the ride itself was fairly miserable.

The nurses asked me if I was sure that my water broke and I said yeah, as it was running down my leg. They had to ask me lots of annoying questions like Am I suicidal? Um...no....not until you started asking me these stupid questions. They checked me and I was 6 cm dialated. I knew it would be fast. We got cups of ice to placate Liam (he's an ice cube freak!) and I got down to business breathing. The nurses decided I needed an IV line in just in case I needed fluids. Unfortunately they kept blowing out my veins and I was getting really cranky. They took pity on me and brought in a nurse anesthetist to do it and worked like a charm. My hands look like I went to the boxing ring though.

Around 7:30 I had to lay down. This is usually a sign for me that the baby is coming very soon as I normally sit in a lotus position through labor. I told the nurse and she checked me and I was at a nine. "You will probably go quickly so I'll get the doc but she's delivering the lady next door. " The very next contraction I started to scream, "Help, help, help." Austin and Dylan ran out of the room with Liam in tow and Bill yelled for someone to come in and the nurse was insistent that she'd just checked and I was only at nine. Well, I felt the head and yelled for help. Since I was laying on my side I flipped over and the baby shot out onto the bed. All of the nurses were standing there in shock as if they couldn't believe he was actually there on the bed. Bill looked at them and said, "The baby's out." That seemed to break their shock and they went to work.

The doc came in and introduced herself to me. I'd never met her before as I'd always gone to my doc in the same practice.

THe kids all got to hold him and then they left. As for me I couldn't sleep all night as I was so excited. That's the birth story. I'll post more pics later.

The gospel of entertainment?

2008-09-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

He never sought to amuse them!(Archibald Brown, "The Devil's Mission of Amusement")

Jesus pitied sinners, pleaded with them, sighed over them, warned them, and wept over them; but He never sought to amuse them!When many of His disciples turned away, because of the searching nature of His preaching--I do not find there was any attempt to bring them back, by resorting to something more pleasant to the flesh. I do not hear Him saying, "We must keep up the gatherings at any cost! So run after the people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow! Something very short and attractive, with little, if any, preaching. Today was a service for God--but tomorrow we will have a pleasant evening for the people! Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it, and have a pleasant time. Be quick, Peter! We must get the people somehow; if not by Gospel--then by entertainment!"
No, this was not how He argued. Gazing in sorrow on those who would not hear the Word--He simply turns to the twelve, and asks, "Will you go away also?"

What a convicting sermon. This is especially contrary to today's sermons where the services tend more towards entertainment than education. We set people up to expect the Christian life to be full of thrills and amusement. When it is not they run away discouraged. May Christians boldly preach the gospel in love and may others hear with open ears.
~ ~ ~ ~

Liam's no good, rotten, terrible day.

2008-09-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

I should have known when I woke up peacefully that I was going to pay for that later. Seriously, Liam had slept all night without a peep. He slept until 6:45 and then was happy to play instead of crying to get out. Breakfast went well! Then after breakfast I took Liam into my room to play while I put laundry away. We have this game where he stands on my bed and then I say, "No standing," and push him down back onto the pillows. He squeels with delight at this. Today we had done this a few times. Then, when my back was turned, he stood and ran off the bed and landed on his head on the hard wood floor. He cried and cried and I held him. No more bed fun for him!

Then I told the kids to be careful with Liam since I was already on concussion watch (my second mistake). Apparently when I say be careful the children interpret this to mean the opposite. Within a half hour Austin had tackled him on his bed and then Liam screamed bloody murder. Taylor brought him downstairs and Liam couldn't put any weight on his legs. He couldn't walk either. So it was on to the doctor for us. Fortunately he started to take some steps while we were there but we still had to go to the urgent care center to get xrays.

Since I'm pregnant they let Taylor stay in the room but I had to leave. He started screaming again when they laid him on the table. He had been chewing on a cracker and inhaled it and started choking. The tech sat him back up and tried to get him to spit it out but he refused. I had to go back there again to calm him down and then start the process all over again.

The xrays didn't show anything serious so we were allowed to go home. By the time we got home he was walking better but he still stumbles a little. He's tired from all the crying too. I'm thankful it wasn't worse but I'm praying for a more peaceful afternoon!

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

2008-09-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

I don't think time seems to move slower than when you're waiting to have a baby. Unless, of course, you're waiting for medical test results. Both of which I've done in recent days. The night's are long and rest is rather elusive which I'm sure tends to exaggerate the problem. I've been praying to be patient and to wait on the Lord for His timing. I'm so grateful to be having another child. I know that there are many women who would love to be waiting for the birth of their own babies right now and I don't take that lightly.

For the time being though I'm trying to get the rest of my to do list done. I'm almost done with making my diaper bag, I finished a shrug for Taylor and her dress is finished. I need to do the shorts for the boys but that takes hardly any time. I finished a maternity outfit but then forgot to wear it for church! Oops!

Incidentally, a woman at church yesterday said, "You are always so happy looking. You always have a smile on your face." It was so nice to have someone comment on something other than my physical size. I do try to be happy and positive and it was so nice for someone to notice that.

Update on skin infections

2008-09-05T06:52:00.001-07:00

Well it turns out we don't have MRSA. Instead Dylan has psuedonoma aeruginosa. It's not as bad as MRSA and you can get it from swimming pools or hot tubs. It's good news that we don't have MRSA as that would be quite the ordeal. I'm thankful for all the people that called and said they were praying for me. A lot of people said they thought I must be having the baby (I wish) but no I was just tired and a little emotional not knowing what all of this was. It's so comforting knowing that the Holy Spirit was prompting people to lift up our family in prayer.

A typical breakfast.

2008-09-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

This is what I deal with every morning. I don't dress Liam until after breakfast because he's such a messy eater. You can tell he's quite pleased with himself. He hates to be clean. I call it wiping torture because when I clean him up he is so resistant. Such a boy! It's a good thing he's so cute huh?

It's a good thing you're deaf!

2008-08-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

That's what Bill said to me when we left church. Apparently as we were leaving he kept hearing people say things like, "My word, she looks like she's going to pop!" I was blissfully unaware of such things as I was leaving. Honestly I'm pretty used to it but it would be nice if people would say other things than to comment on how big I am. Just in the last week I've heard the same tired lines like, "You're going to have your hands full!" or "Don't you know what causes that?" and "Are you sure there's just one in there." My answers follow: 1. yes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 2. Yes, I know what causes that...obviously we like it very much!" 3. Yes, there's only one. Deafness actually comes in handy many times. Bill's snoring has never bothered me. The stuff I catch the kids saying is band enough...I can't imagine hearing everything.

Anyway, I enclosed a picture of myself. I'm definitely close!

Cloth Diaper wishlist and other thoughts.

2008-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all the stress of recent days I decided to shop at Cottonbabies. I love that store and decided to register there. A couple of people have asked what I would like for the baby. I basically have everything but this is a list of things that would be SO nice to have. Here's the link if you're interested. http://www.cottonbabies.com/1086.php.

We're still working on getting the kids healthy. We are doing what we can and praying about the rest. For a change I'm glad I'm still pregnant and not bringing a newborn into a potentially hazardous environment. I'm done with basic planning of school but haven't done much for the year plan. I may not get to it and once again fly by the seat of my pants! What a surprise!

I'm coming up on my 13th wedding anniversary! I'm getting to be an old married woman! Ha! It's funny because in some ways it feels like I've know Bill forever but in other ways I can't believe it's been 13 years. We have a lot to show for it. We have a house, 4.75 children, a dog, and a lot of laughter. Bill was bouncing around the house singing today. I think he's delirious at having a saturday off, getting to work with wood (he's making bunkbeds), and it's not soccer time yet. Our saturdays will be full from here on out until november! I should be cleaning but instead I'm doing laundry and blogging. I might make a recipe from my new Ben and Jerry's cookbook....chocolate makes everything more bearable.

What fun for me!

2008-08-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. It looks like the kids may have MRSA. What that means is way more laundry and special bathing protocols for a while. The good news is that the kids don't seem to be bothered too much by it and I don't think me or Bill have it but what a pain. I'm already feeling behind on doing things.

I've been trying to find a dumb map of the U.S. during the French/Indian war but I can't after 2 hours of surfing find one. I just want something the kids can color but there aren't any to be had. I want to finish planning history out for the week but it's such slow going.

I look on the bright side though, at least I don't have a newborn yet to deal with while trying to contain the outbreak. I just hope it clears quickly.

One Old Vet

2008-08-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting video that I found today. If you believe in Government run health care, go visit your local VA hospital or talk to someone in Cananda who's been on a waiting list for a life giving procedure. If you don't have a problem with illegal aliens please read about what happened to Rev. Scott Willis and his wife Janet who lost 6 of their nine children in a fiery car accident because the truck driver couldn't understand english enough to respond to repeated warnings that his truck had something dangling from it. Both political parties are corrupt and don't care to run the country according to conviction, only according to polls and money. Now I'm not so isolationist that I believe we shouldn't ever get involved with world affairs and/or am against all immigration. But I do believe we need to be wary of foreign entanglements (as warned to us by George Washington) and I believe immigrants should come here legally and learn english. People of different faiths are welcome here but this campaign to take God out of everything is ridiculous. The non-establishment clause was to protect the church against the state as our forefathers witnessed the Kings and Queens of different countries burning everyone of a different faith and then to have the pendulum swing back again.

I actually had a refugee ask me to figure out how she could take the citizenship test without learnng to read or speak english.....uh, no...sorry. I told her that was offensive to me as an American and pure laziness on her part. She didn't ask again.

I'd appreciate hearing your response to what this man says.

Eeek! Baby Gavin needs an extreme makeover!

2008-08-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Gavin as made by this website that takes two pictures and combines it. I feel sorry for him if he really looks like this. Too funny. It's good for a laugh though.
What do you think about my little new baby Gavin?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

Lee-HAm the Forth!

2008-08-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Liam in Dylan's old cape. He loved running up and down the halls with it on and fluttering behind him. His face shows that he thinks he's such royalty. I love the combination of fat thighs, diaper, and gold, sparkly cape.

I just got back from the doctor and I'm 1-2 cm dialated and 50% effaced. It's not much but then I'm still early. Maybe this little guy will be more cooperative than the others. It could happen but I won't hold my breath either.

Last night Taylor treated me to a massage. She did my feet, legs, hands, arms, tummy, and shoulders. It was wonderful. I hadn't felt that good and relaxed in a long time. What a daughter I have. It was such a beautiful act of service.

Focusing on the positive

2008-08-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

I have realized that my attitude has not been the best lately. I could make all sorts of excuses but really I've just been in a funk. I heard this audio selection from Grace GEms that really put it into perspective for me. http://playmp3.sa-media.com/filearea/81308211683/81308211683.mp3 REally life is too short to go about harboring resentment for little things. If Christ could look upon his executioners with forgiveness then shouldn't I be able to get over my frustrations over rudeness and inconsideration? I can through Christ who strengthens me.

I've realized too that my quiet times have been erratic and not as long as I'd like and this has affecting things for me too. If you think of it you could pray for me. The time for the new baby is short and I'd like to be positive for everyone's sake.

The Meanest most lame Mom ever!

2008-08-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

I guess it's my turn to be one of those! Today my dd called me lame because I won't let her pick out my next set of checks. I told her she could pick out her own set but now I'm lame because I only pick out lame things.

My ds's eyes were completely bloodshot and he was flopping all over the couch due to fatigue and I sent him to bed at 8:30, thus I am the meanest most unfair mom ever.

They say I live to give demerits....hmmm....it would be a different story if they would do what they need to like put their stuff away. I know I've been a horrible role model for that one though so I guess I can't blame them too much.

Anyway, I guess I've officially crossed over to the parent who doesn't know anything category. I'm sure it doesn't help that my dd programs my cellphone for me and picks out my avatar. I probably could do these things if I had patience but I don't. She told me the other day that she so enjoyed shopping with Nana because she has taste in clothes and I don't. Ouch! I bit back the comment in my head about letting that be a priority over other things! Oy!

Parenting is an unusual journey. It starts out being so physically demanding that you don't know which end is up because you're so sleep deprived and exhausted. It transitions into nights of full sleep for a while and then goes back to sleepless nights because you're wondering where they are.

I keep hoping that by doing things for them they won't think I'm so bad. Yesterday Taylor got to invite a friend swimming, I played several matches of boggle with Dylan, and I played horse with Austin. I'm under the delusion that by doing these things it will produce happy children. I now know all you can do is the best you can and in the end the good will outweigh the bad in their memories. I'm not perfect and neither are they.

On the bright side Taylor made me a bracelet, Austin offered to help with Liam, and Dylan took Liam roller blading. I guess maybe I should be the one to focus on what's right and not the occasional bonehead comment that comes out of their mouth. Lord knows I had my share!

Dealing with Discouragement

2008-08-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm having a tough time this week. I've been working very hard to purge, organize, and get ready for 4 weeks now but it never seems to be enough. I'm constantly swimming on a tidal wave of junk and feel like I"m spinning my wheels. My one son I have disciplined every day for leaving stuff out and talking back but it doesn't seem to be helping....he's still scattering his things everywhere. I found a cloth napkin in someone's lego box and there were pool toys all over the blue room (the ones no one plays with). I feel like gathering it all and starting a bonfire in my front yard! My neighbors would like that, especially when someone called the County on us for stacking plywood against the house and hoarding tree limbs in our front yard! Urrr!

One of my sons is sick and just wants to sleep all day, definitely not typical for him. So we're stuck at home and my other children and whining about having to stay here with nothing to do (oh yeah, what about all the toys we have that you never play with?) I know this phase will pass but it is frustrating.

I'm trying to set up a class with homeschoolers (all of them contacted ME to say they were interested) but when it came time to commit I haven't heard from many of them. This is why I gave up trying to have the blooming class in the first place because I can't stand the, "oh yeah, I want to take that class" and then they never show up. Last year I had 4 people sign up for sewing class and then NONE of them showed up. One did offer to pay for it anyway but then never sent the check. Oy! It makes me not want to initiate anything with these people...oh yeah, I didn't they came to ME!

Okay, I know I'm hormonal and tired so things aren't looking up for me right now but that will change. When I was praying about it I felt like the Lord was saying, "You're so focused on what everyone's doing wrong instead of what everyone's doing right." Oops, okay. I guess I'll need help with that one!

Mr. Big Eyes

2008-08-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Liam does this funny thing now that we call big eyes. He tries to force his eyes really big and then waits for us all to laugh. These pictures don't capture it completely but they give you an idea. He's such a ham.

Last night I told him to tell Dylan good night and he said very clearly, "Night, night Dylan!" and gave him a hug. It was so cute. He says a new word every day now. He also pulls up my shirt to see baby Gavin and rub my tummy. Little does he know how much his life is about to change in about a month. For now he's just blissfully unaware.