We Love Our EBC's

stereotyping

2010-07-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight I decided to try a little something "new" with my cooking, and instead of making regular old pancakes as usual, I decided on making oatmeal pancakes. I thought they were delicious - a little heartier and flavorful than the regular ones - but when Ella took a bite, her response was a little different than mine.

Ella: "Mom - is this Chinese food??"

Me: "No, honey. They're pancakes. Why would you think it's Chinese food?"

Ella: "Because it's DISGUSTING!"

I'm not sure Ella's even TRIED Chinese food before...She's only ever seen us eating it, and she thinks it looks gross.

Who knew you could even stereotype food!

trapped

2010-07-09T08:07:00.001-07:00

In the photo below, you will see a smiley, happy Chloe. But just moments before, she was screaming for dear life.The girls have been playing "house" a lot lately, where Ella is the Mommy, Britten the Daddy and Chloe the baby. They have a whole set-up in our unfinished basement with a bedroom for naptime, toys in a playroom and even a kitchen for their happy little family. Ella and Britten are good little parents, taking good care of their little baby. Clothing her, changing her diapers, and even strapping her in her booster seat and giving her a bottle of water.

The problem with having a 4 year old and 6 year old as parents, is that they can become easily distracted and forget altogether about their baby. They become so distracted, in fact, that they unintentionally leave their baby strapped in her booster seat, all alone, screaming her head off in the unfinished basement. This has honestly happened at least a dozen times in the last couple of weeks.

Chloe's screams are like white-noise around here, so she literally has to scream and scream for way too long before someone actually hears her or remembers they left her strapped in her seat, all alone in the basement.

Andy and I have had many talks with Chloe's "parents" about not leaving their baby unattended, and despite their promises of never doing it again, the fact is, they are 4 and 6. Their promises don't mean much. Chloe is either a glutton for punishment or has the child-like ability to forgive and forget, because she agrees to play "house" with Ella and Britten day after day.

But as you can see, she doesn't seem traumatized by it at all:

Let's hope her REAL parents do a better job taking care of her! :)

our little plumber

2010-07-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

In working with our water meter, Chloe very clearly shows us her plumbing skills.

nothing quite like it

2010-07-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

There's nothing quite like the perfect summer day. As a child, my definition of this would include: swimming, picnicing on the beach, playing at the park...and of course, ending the day with ice cream. I guess now that I think about it, this hasn't changed for me as an adult.

Me and the kids had a day like that today...Enjoying so much quality time together outdoors. I love these sort of days, knowing we're creating memories they'll take with them into adulthood. They're priceless.

The beach was a blast. We met up with some friends to swim, play and picnic on the beach. I don't have pictures to document, but I WISH I would've had my camera on me when Ella literally caught a FISH in her small toy bucket. Not a minnow...an actual FISH. She was utterly ecstatic and very carefully ran around the entire beach showing everyone her "catch of the day!" I honestly don't know how she did it, but that girl has determination like no other child, and when she sets her mind to something, she does it. Such is the case with her catching a fish in her toy bucket. Amazing.

We ended the day by stopping by a local park. We had intentions of playing at the park while Daddy ran errands, but when we got there we found something better! They had a community outreach going on that included live music, FREE woodworking kits for kids (compliments of the local Home Depot), food booths, ice cream, and lots of other things...

We had a blast! I love last minute surprises like that...especially when they're FREE!

Ella enjoyed putting together her birdhouse. It was so cute to see how proud she was of herself when she was done! We're going to paint it tomorrow and put it somewhere in our yard.
This was Chloe's favorite part of the evening...go figure. This girl never stops eating.
It was a fun-filled day, leaving us tired and sun burnt, but it was worth it!

There's nothing quite like the perfect summer day!

6 months old

2010-07-01T19:09:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, you've been sitting on pins and needles for MONTHS waiting to hear the new about this little guy... In short, our life has been NUTS the last six months. I won't go into it all right now, but I know there have been a few concerned blog readers wondering about our well being. So I will just say that we are doing GREAT. And so is the sweet little face you see above.

In fact, that sweet little face turned 6 months old today, if you can believe it!?!? It seems like only yesterday that Asher Andrew was born. Like I expected, I had a very quick (I didn't say painless, just quick!) labor and delivery. They clocked the labor at about 1 hour, and I only pushed through one set of contractions before he was born at 2:04pm on January 1st. 2010.
It left me with a very bruised tail bone, and him a bruised face, but otherwise all was great!

He was a little guy, like we expected him to be. At 6 lbs, 9oz, 20 inches long, Asher was our smallest baby! But he was ready to GROW, and more than doubled his weight by his 2 month appointment.

In a nutshell, I didn't blog right after having Asher because I very much struggled with postpartum depression, along with anxiety/panic attacks. I only struggled through this a short time after delivery, but words cannot describe how scary this was for me...feeling SO out of touch with myself and not being able to control my emotions. My heart goes out to women who struggle with this for months, sometimes years! It's truly debilitating and leaves you feeling completely helpless and overwhelmed. Anyhow...

I can't explain it, but even the idea of blogging stressed me out, so I decided that I wouldn't blog again until I really WANTED to. I realized that day came today...When it dawned on me that my baby boy turned 6 months old and I wanted to show him off to the world - well the blogging world!
This is me and my smiley, sweet boy just a few days ago. He is hands down the sweetest little guy in the universe. The name "Asher" actually means happy, which I found out while pregnant. Somehow, I knew in my heart that his name would suit him perfectly and it really does.

There will be more posts to come, so please don't give up on me. There is a lot of fun things going on these days, and I'm excited to start sharing them with you again!

Until then, Happy 6 months, Baby BOY! You were the best gift God could have ever given our family!

now THAT'S a growth spurt!

2009-12-27T18:30:00.001-08:00

So much for having a smaller baby! In the last two weeks my baby boy has grown...and grown...and grown. I could tell he was getting big by how uncomfortable I've been, but I couldn't believe the difference in his size until I took my 2-week photo today. Holy moly.

This is me two weeks ago...
This is me tonight...

It's only a matter of days (or hours?) before I meet my little guy and I can't wait. My doctor and I have tentatively scheduled a "water break" for this Thursday, December 31st, unless he comes sooner, so the end is in very near sight. I'm feeling very pregnant these days - like I could go at any given moment - but my body's ability to hold off full-blown labor never ceases to amaze me.

Life has been crazy lately. We sold our house last week, hosted Christmas at our house for my husbands whole family, and then to top it off, my husband is terribly sick with strep throat right now. He feels so miserable that I don't even think he's physically capable of coming to the hospital if I were go into labor tonight. Fortunately, me and the girls are healthy and I'm praying it stays that way!

I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon - I'll post something on my blog as soon as baby BOY makes his arrival! YIKES!

any day now!

2009-12-14T15:43:00.001-08:00

Two weeks ago, at 35 weeks:

Tonight at 37 weeks:
It's like I have nothing else to blog about these days except my growing belly. There is a lot of important and memorable things going on in our household, but it takes brain power to write a good blog post and that's something I'm lacking these days. I could make a laundry list of things I've forgotten in the past few weeks, and some of them being major and quite embarrassing. But I guess people are willing to cut me a little slack, given my pretty full plate.

Aside from pretty severe insomnia, leading to my lack of brain power, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm definitely starting to get uncomfortable and I can tell my body is preparing for labor. Lots of lovely things going on, but I'll spare the nitty-gritty details.

In case you have or haven't noticed from my belly pictures, it doesn't seem that baby has any major growth spurts in the last 4-6 weeks. He's definitely getting bigger, that I can personally attest to, but there was some cause for concern at my doctor appointment last week because baby was measuring on the smaller side. I've never measured small with my girls, in fact, if anything, I was always on the bigger side, so hearing I was measuring small was a little shocking, and as you can imagine, a little nerve-wracking. My doctor ordered an ultrasound for the same afternoon, just to put my mind at ease.

Fortunately, everything crucial checked out fine - fluids, umbilical cord, etc - but he is a little small. Last week he was measuring around 5 1/2 lbs, which put him in the 30th percentile for 36 weeks. I understand from what I've read and in talking to others that the ultrasound can be off by a pound (or more sometimes) because they can't determine the amount of fat on the baby, so he might be a bit bigger than that. Needless to say, I'm hoping baby stays INSIDE as long as he needs to because I want him chunked out for the Minnesota cold. Considering his size, we probably won't go through with the induction, and I'm totally okay with that. I want him to come at HIS own pace, because that is ultimately what is best for him. For now, I'm choosing not to worry because my doctor has assured me that everything is fine.

I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has experienced this before and what the outcome was???

it's time again!

2009-11-29T16:42:00.000-08:00

With another two weeks under my belt (literally), it's time for me to photograph the changes in my pregnancy. Here's me two weeks ago, 33+ weeks:

Here's a couple of me tonight, 35+ weeks:

My belly almost looks smaller, but I can guarantee it's because he's dropped in the last week or so. Even though I still feel really good, I'm getting more uncomfortable and I can feel that he's a lot lower.

I'm shocked that I have less than a month to go. We're still on track to have a scheduled "water break" (sounds refreshing, doesn't it? It's not much of a "break" if you ask me!) on the week after Christmas. I'll be over 39 weeks at that point, and if I haven't had the baby by then, my doctor wants to make sure I have a "controlled delivery" given my history of very fast labors. We might have to do it a bit sooner depending on how my body progresses, but for now, I feel really good.

For as excited as I am about having this baby, I'm not even close to being ready. We just listed our house for sale and have been looking at options to build, so suffice to say, I've been very, very busy and preoccupied with all of that. I honestly haven't purchased one baby item (not even one!) for my little guy, not even an outfit to wear home from the hospital. I'm a horrible mommy!

The truth is, I'm not even concerned about it. The more babies I have, the more I realize that most of the preparation for a new baby is done in vain. As long as the car seat is installed properly for the ride home, all the new baby really needs is me. That makes me feel special. :)

two more weeks down...

2009-11-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

Here's my last belly photo taken 2 weeks ago (31+ weeks):

Here's me today (33+ weeks):

Not near as much "noticeable" change from the side view as my last comparison (see my last post), but if you look closely you can tell he's grown more upward in the last couple of weeks than out. From the kicks in my ribs, I'm not at all surprised. He's definitely getting longer and packing on some weight!

Even though he feels big, the measurements at my appointment last week verify that he's growing right on track. To the very week, actually.

This pregnancy has been so good to me. For those of you who know me, you know that I have pretty severe circulatory/vein problems that initially began while pregnant with Britten and required me to have surgery before getting pregnant with Chloe. But they still got so out of control with Chloe that it was literally debilitating and I could hardly get around the last couple of months of my pregnancy. We chose to stop having babies after Chloe because it was so horrible, and frankly, I was scared of what another pregnancy would do to my body.

Suffice to say, God had another plan for our family and despite all of OUR effort to NOT get pregnant, he blessed us with our 4th addition. Ironically, it was while I was at my pre-op appointment preparing for another surgery that I found out I was pregnant again. I can't say that my initial reaction was happiness...It was more like fear.

Fear of having yet another baby when I just stopped nursing Chloe and we just started sleeping through the night again! Fear of the financial implications of adding yet another child to the budget. Fear of starting the baby stage all over again, when I was so ready to put that behind me and move on in our life. But mostly fear of how this might affect my body (not in a "vain" - no pun intended - way, but physical). How could I keep up with everything in my life when struggling with the pain for almost 9 months?!?!

Once the news finally sunk in a little, it didn't take me long to get excited and realize that God gave us this baby for a reason. I assumed it was a boy from the beginning, only because God knew we were already content with the three beautiful girls He gave us...didn't He?!?!? :) Though we would've have been thrilled to have another girl, Andy and I were practically speechless when we found out we were having a boy. God is good. I decided to put my fear aside, leave it all in God's hands, and know that He is ultimately in control. Besides...in the whole scheme of life, it was only 9 months, and I could handle that.

With only about 5 1/2 weeks to go, I am totally amazed and honestly in awe of how good I've felt this pregnancy. I've had days where I'm in pain, and all my body aches to do it sit, but overall, I've been great, and my doctor even commented on how my veins don't look near as bad as they did while I was pregnant with Chloe.

Call it what you will - whether it's related to the hormonal difference between being pregnant with a girl vs. boy, or how the baby is positioned in the womb, or who knows what other medical mystery it might be - but I'm calling it what I think it is: a miracle!

So yeah, overall I'm very happy with how this pregnancy has gone/is going, and I haven't sweat the small stuff this time around. But that's not to say that I'm not looking forward to having this pregnancy done and over with...Because when it is finally done and over with, I'll be holding my little miracle in my arms.

what a difference 2 weeks make!

2009-11-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this more for my own amusement than anything. When you're the one who's pregnant, the day-to-day and week-to-week changes aren't really noticeable. The view from above doesn't change a whole lot, and even though it feels like the baby is filling up more space, and I do feel more uncomfortable as each weeks passes, I honestly haven't felt bigger. In fact, two nights ago I was lying in bed actually worrying about the little guy, wondering if he was growing like he should be.

My concerns were put to rest this afternoon, after I decided to do an impromptu "belly photo" session in front of my bedroom mirror with my phone. I knew I had taken pictures about two weeks ago, so I decided I'd take a few today and see if I could see any noticeable growth.

Here's the one from exactly two weeks ago today (29 1/2 weeks):
Here's one from tonight...You tell me if you see a difference!
Yikes is the first word that came to mind. Seriously. If this is an example of how much he's going to grow on a bi-weekly basis for the remaining weeks of my pregnancy, I'm a little concerned that I'll give birth to a very big boy. I'm about 31 1/2 weeks right now, so that leaves him with about 7 weeks (my approximate guess, based on past pregnancies) to pack on the poundage (is that a word??).

Anyway, I'd much rather have him gaining than not, so seeing this actually made me laugh. I decided that I HAVE to take pictures at least every two weeks from this point on to document the growth. It'll be interesting, to say the least, to watch him/me grow!!!

YIKES!

halloween 2009

2009-11-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, that as a mom of three girls, I'm very lucky that (aside from Chloe's obsession with dolls and babies), my girls aren't really into anything "girlie"...yet. I've been able to save a lot of money and storage space because my girls could literally care less about Barbies, Hannah Montana and American Girl Dolls...yet. I say "yet," because I'm sure it's bound to change one of these days/years.

It's partially because of this that my girls have never obsessed about what they wear for Halloween, and for the fourth consecutive year, have gladly donned their princess and frog costumes.

See proof below:

Halloween 2009

I didn't get many pictures of Halloween this year, and the ones I did weren't very good quality. I was "single-parenting" it for the night (hubby was out of town), and quite frankly, had my hands very full. We were (and still are) also in the midst of recovering/dealing with the flu, and that didn't really help matters. either. It just so happened that all my girls felt good on Halloween, so we were able to handle a little trick-or-treating.

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2007
Halloween 2006

Halloween 2005*
* though there aren't pictures to prove it, Ella wore the frog costume that year

The amazing thing is that the princess dresses have continued to fit them each year - the bigger size being a 4T and the smaller one an 18 months. Both Britten and Chloe will still be able to wear the princess dresses next year and maybe even the year after (that is, if they haven't caught on to my manipulative ways on trying to save money without having to buy new costumes).

The 2010 Halloween mystery remains....

What will Ella and her baby brother be???!?!?

a "wild" night out

2009-10-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Me and my hubby had an incredibly "wild" night last night...Don't get any crazy ideas. I'm only talking about a hockey game.
We were invited to the Wild hockey game with some friends from church who have incredible season tickets. Unfortunately for them, their boys came down with H1N1 and they couldn't go, but fortunately for these guys...

...They were able to come with us and use the extra tickets. Did I mention they were incredible seats? Talk about up close and personal. Recognize the man in the photo??
I'm not usually the type to take pictures of "famous" people, but when the governor of Minnesota happened to walk right in front of us (several times, I might add), I figured I'd put my hot pink Canon PowerShot to good use.

Fun times!

funny ramblings by britten lou

2009-10-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

Britten has got to be one of the funniest little individuals I personally know (not that I'm biased or anything). She's been a goofball from the beginning, and truly was the easiest, happiest baby in the world. She gave us her first real smile at 2 1/2 weeks old (no one believes us, but it's true!) and hasn't really stopped since (except when she's throwing her emotionally intense tantrums, which seems to happen too often these days).

Britten will say the cutest, most clever things all the time, and every time she does, I tell myself to write it down. But of course I never do. And sadly, as everything does these days, her clever little sayings slip my mind.

In the last few days, Britten has randomly said a few things that have made me literally laugh out loud, and I knew I had to document them somewhere lest they be lost forever.
____________________

Just today, after I took my shower, I threw my wet hair up in a clip for a quick finish. A little later on, I noticed Britten eying my hair, so I asked her what she was thinking (I'm always curious to know why the wheels are spinning).

She said: "Your hair looks like a palm tree."
_____________________

As we were eating dinner last night, I noticed again that Britten was staring at me in wonderment. All of sudden she asks,

"Mommy, where did you get those beautiful eyelashes?" *

Me: "Well, from God, of course."

Her: "Can I pick at them?"

Me: "No, honey, you can't. Please eat your dinner."

* I guarantee the only reason she noticed my (normally very stubby, far from beautiful) eyelashes in the first place was because I was actually wearing mascara - a rarity these days.
___________________

Speaking of beauty, this conversation with Britten takes the cake.

The other night, Britten was going on and on about how much she loved her Daddy (And she does. She's a total Daddy's girl).

So, I asked: "Well, what about me, Britty? Do you love me?"

She looks at me, real serious-like, furrowing her eyebrows, and says, "I only love you when you look beautiful, like you do right now."

I was totally caught off guard. "What do you mean?? When don't I look beautiful to you?"

Still real serious, she responds, "In the morning, when you wake up, when you wear your glasses. I don't love you then, because I don't like the way you look."

Talk about being brutally honest. I attempted to explain the concept of unconditional love to my 4-year old, but it didn't seem to make a dent.

man vs. woman - always a different perspective

2009-10-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

As I was peeling boiled eggs today, preparing to make egg salad sandwiches for lunch, I said to my husband:

"Boiled eggs always remind me of Jesus' resurrection."

He looks at me, confused. "Why?"

"I know it seems weird, but they do. I guess it's because they remind me of Easter, which immediately reminds me of his resurrection."

Him: "Oh. They remind me of farts." No explanation needed.

snowmen in october??!

2009-10-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

For as much as I can't stand the idea of having snow in October, my girls feel MUCH differently about the idea!

***The girls decided that bocce balls would make good buttons. They fell off about an hour later as the snow started to melt.

moving right along

2009-10-10T11:12:00.001-07:00

28+ weeks

Honestly, where does the time go? It's almost been an entire month since my last post, and I feel it's only been days.

Well, here I am again in all my pregnancy glory - just over 28 weeks. I can NOT believe how much ~~I've~~ my baby boy has grown in the last 8 weeks. It's becoming obvious to everyone else, too, because I can't even count the comments I've gotten in the last couple of weeks about how much I've "popped." There's been several of the "you're getting HUGE!" comments flying around already, and all I can think, is "if you think this is huge, just give me a couple more months!" I do get huge, that I can attest to, but I guess it's only expected when I'm just under 5' 3" and have a very short torso.

Overall, I am feeling really good right now, though I'm just starting to experience the aches and pains that indicate I'm in my final stretch. This week at my appointment I get to take the glucose test and drink my favorite drink of all time. Given my history, I'm not at all worried about the results, as I'm sure they'll be fine.

As of now, my doctor and I have talked about the following options. If you know my history with my previous pregnancies, you know that I tend to start the "laboring process" around 35 weeks. The 9th (or is it 10th?? I never understand that!) month of my pregnancy tends to be very uncomfortable as I slowly, but continually,contract, dilate, and efface over the course of the last few weeks. Amazingly, my body and my baby still hold out until they are fully cooked (39 weeks or so) despite that they are literally almost falling out of me.

Let me give you an example from Chloe's pregnancy: At my last check-up, when I was 39 weeks, she was literally so low (and had been for weeks) that my doctor said he could tell she had hair (yikes!), and, to top it off, I was 100% effaced and 4 centimeters dilated. No wonder I was SO uncomfortable! Needless to say, he scheduled me to have my water broken two days from my appointment to avoid me having the baby at home. Chloe had a different plan, though (don't they always), and came on her own that very night (in the hospital - thank God!). Total of 2 hours of labor - that's including pushing, and it would've been 45 minutes shorter, but we had to wait for the doctor to get there so he could break my water. Waiting at 10 cm for 45 minutes to start pushing was not one of my most memorable moments!

Anyway, given my history and the fact that labors tend to be quicker in subseqent pregnancies, my doctor and I have agreed that I should have a scheduled "water break" (with hopefully no pitocin, as long as I'm progressing like previous pregnancies) the last week of December. That's assuming baby doesn't come sooner...

I personally think he might....come sooner, that is. I'm already carrying him SO low, like I can feel his hiccups vibrating my pelvic bone. That might be TMI (too much information), but I wanted to give you an idea of how low he already is. He's also head down and has been for a while (again, the hiccups give it away), and considering he has little to no space to move around (poor little guy), he might just end up staying there until he's ready to come.

He also seems big (let's hope he stays around 8lbs or less!!), filling up my ENTIRE mid-section where I'm already getting kicked in the ribs a little bit. Nothing too painful yet, just a little something to let me know he's there. :)

I love this little guy to bits and pieces and can't wait to meet him. He seems so sweet, gentle and laid back, only giving me nice little nudges and pokes. Reminds me a lot of my pregnancy with Britten, and she turned out to be the easiest baby in the world. Time will tell I guess, and whether he's colicky and high needs, or a cuddler and low maintanence, I'll love him just the same!

desperate attempt

2009-09-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, while baking chocolate chip cookies, I found my tot literally making out with my oven door to get another taste of the delciousness. She was going all out - kissing, licking, noises and all. She had already sampled a small cookie from the previous batch, but apparently one wasn't enough to satisfy the cravings. But really, who can blame her? When it comes to freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, when is one ever enough??

growth spurt

2009-09-12T11:42:00.001-07:00

The not-so-big news around our household is that we're going to have another baby! I've known for months and have neglected to blog about it until now. So much for the "suspense" factor...

Despite not announcing it on my blog right away, we are still thrilled about the idea of welcoming another baby into our family and are even more thrilled by the fact that we're having a BOY this time around!

I've never been one to take pictures and "document" my pregnancy, because quite frankly, I didn't really like seeing proof that I was getting bigger. I know that sounds vain, and I'd tell any other pregnant woman out there to cherish their beautiful growing belly, because it is just that: beautiful. I adore the baby growing inside of me, but can't say I "adore" anything else happening to my body.

But knowing it's my last pregnancy and perhaps because I've done this three times before, I find myself less stressed out this time around about my body changes and I actually don't even care that the scale continues to creep up every time I step on it. I decided that I do want pictures of my growing bump this time around, because no matter how I feel about it now, it will be fun to look at in the future, and I'm sure my children will get a kick out of seeing how huge I get.

So, without further ado, I want to share my growing bump with you. It just so happens that I took pictures of myself almost exactly 1 month apart without even trying, so why not continue the trend in the months ahead?

8/9/09 - 20 weeks

9/11/09 - 24 weeks

Well, there's a definite growth spurt, which of course is expected, but funny how you don't notice it much while it's happening. I'm a little embarrassed by how messy my bedroom is in the 2nd picture, and how disheveled my little Chloe looks. Not to mention how exhausted I look in the 2nd picture...I am tired these days, and it is definitely impacting the amount of time and energy I exert into cleaning my house and keeping my girls (or myself) put together. I honestly don't care, and I have a feeling that it'll only get worse over the next few months.

O'well. I have an excuse...I'm pregnant!!

britten's big day

2009-09-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

A day after saying goodbye to Ella and sending her off to her first big day of kindergarten, we said our same goodbyes to Britten - except she was heading to her very first day of preschool!

Below, Chloe (not exactly dressed for the occasion) and our neighbor boy, Edward (AKA Chloe's boyfriend) decided they needed in on the action. I think they felt left out!

Ella and Britten wait patiently as we continue to take pictures before heading off to school.

Chloe attempting to be "just like her sister!" A common occurance in our home! :)

Chloe and Britten are best buddies and Britten takes such wonderful care of her little sister. I guarantee that there will be a void in Chloe's day when Britten is gone at school.

Britten, you are such a big girl and we are so proud of you! We love you and are so glad you enjoyed your first day of preschool!

a good excuse to blog...

2009-09-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

My baby heading to her first day of kindergarten!! (sniff-sniff)

dread-sporting playdough snowman

2009-05-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ella made the cutest playdough creation EVER this morning....

A snowman (with massively huge eyeballs) sporting some crazy-long dreadlocks.

aging DISgracefully

2009-05-07T20:27:00.001-07:00

I got quite the chuckle out of the following conversation:

I'm at one of the classes that I attend regularly at my gym, doing the 100th set of lunges, when the lady ~~lunging~~ standing next to me strikes up a conversation. She's actually an acquaintance of mine because our daughters attend the same preschool, and I occasionally run into her at the gym.

She started talking to me about the different classes offered at the gym, and why she liked some but really disliked others, when all of sudden she asked me:

"Did you ever attend aerobics classes back in the '80s?"

Um..."What?" Surely I misunderstood the question.

"Did you ever attend aerobics classes in the '80s?"

I didn't know how to respond. She's such a nice lady, I didn't have the heart to say I was born in the '80s (1980, to be exact) and put her in an awkward position, so I responded in the only appropriate way I could think of:

"No."

"Oh." And with that, the conversation ended and we went on with our lunges.

on the eighth day...

2009-03-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Britten, while coloring a picture today, says: "And Jesus said, 'Let there be crayons.' And then there were."

please pray

2009-03-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

Please pray for my friend, who's baby boy is in the hospital experiencing some problems with his heart. You can read their story here.

or not...

2009-02-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

While I'm painting my girls toenails this afternoon (red with white polka dots, if you really want to know), Britten asks me: "Mommy, can I have your love?"

Me: "Oh, sweetie, of course you can! What do you mean, 'can you have my love'?"

Britten: "It means I want you to poop in your pants and throw your friends off your bed."

Oh. Never mind, then.

why to never have "serious talk" in front of your children

2009-02-23T12:14:00.002-08:00

For whatever reason, I decided that having a discussion with my husband about having more children (or rather, not having more children) while my girls were playing in the same room was an appropriate thing to do. I brought it up in the first place because I've been contemplating surgery on my leg, but because I can't have the surgery without knowing that we're done having children, this is a decision we must be certain of. After going back and forth with my husband about the surgery, the pros and cons, etc, I made the following statement (rather hesitantly, if you must know):

"So, I am done having kids then..."

Ella, who had been oblivious to our conversation up to that point, quickly shot up and said: "No! No you can't! You just can't!"

Me, a little surprised by her response, asked: "Ella, do you even understand what we're talking about?"

Ella: "Yes, and you can't be done."

Me, still digging, because I still wasn't certain she knew what we were talking about: "What do you think that means when Mommy says that?"

Ella: "It means you're done with us kids and that you don't want to be a mommy. You're going to leave here and never come back."

You can imagine my shock to her response! She interpreted my simple statement of not wanting to have more children as "I'm done having kids! I don't want them anymore! I'm leaving!"

I instantly scooped Ella into my arms and squeezed her tightly. I told her how much I loved her and I assured her that I would never, ever leave her or the rest of the family. I LOVE being a Mommy. It's my most favorite thing in the whole wide world! I went on to explain that when Mommy says, "I'm done having kids," what I mean is that I'm done having babies and that I won't have a baby in my belly again.

Ella: "No, you can't! You can't be done! You HAVE to have another baby in your belly! You just have to!"

The moral of this story is to never try to have a serious conversation in front of your children unless you want them to gravely misinterpret what you're saying or you want them involved in the decision making process.

tootsie tuesday

2009-02-17T13:13:00.001-08:00

bringing home the bacon

2009-02-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

Ella and Britten are at the ages where they enjoy to make-believe and act out all sorts of their wild ideas. It's during these times that my girls actually get along with each other and somehow put their differences aside. That's a very rare occurrence at our house, so I relish in these moments.

One of their favorites is pretending they're grocery shopping. I can't say I enjoy this particular game as it involves some clean-up on my part, but if they're not hurting themselves (or each other) in the process, I'll gladly take on the extra work.

They begin their grocery excursion by using a dining room chair as a grocery cart and moving it up alongside the pantry door. They open the door and start unloading food items from the pantry, item by item, and putting them on the chair. Once the "cart" is full, they slowly and carefully push the chair down our hallway to their bedroom (or they "drive home," as they call it) where they proceed to unload their groceries into their own "pantry" (aka their bookshelf). They make a few round trips like this before calling it quits. I usually step in at this point because they start talking about "making muffins" or "mixing granola" with their new groceries, and I'm not about to clean up that mess.

Here's my happy little shoppers:

It's funny how they never "pay" for their groceries. :)

san diego

2009-02-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to get my bearings since coming home from San Diego on Saturday, hence the reason for not blogging about my trip yet. There's honestly not much to say, except we had a great time. The weather was a bit chilly and it rained quite a bit, so my hopes of basking in the rays were dashed, but we had fun anyway.

With my husband working for a large part of the weekend, we weren't able to venture very far away and do anything "touristy." But he did have some down time and we took advantage of that by doing things we wouldn't normally do with our children around - eating out at nice restaurants and going to a movie were a couple of the highlights of our trip.

We splurged and ate really big meals every night, trying not to feel guilty as we rolled ourselves out of the restaurants when we were done. I was preparing to dig in to my meal...Any guesses on where we were?!
We spent the majority of our time with our good friends, Jason and Amber, and we shared a lot of laughs together over the weekend. Jason and my husband work together, so Amber and I were each other's companion when the guys were busy. Amber was a massage therapist before having her son and she was kind enough to give me a foot massage on our last night in San Diego. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to my trip!
We had a fabulous time but were anxious to see our girls when we got home. All things went rather smoothly for Grandma Patty, despite a few minor bumps in the road, and I came home to a totally weaned, sleeping-through-the-night Chloe. What a great feeling that was!

*** I promised an update on the detox, so I wanted to just say that I am a true believer in the Arbonne Sea Source detox. It did wonders for my skin, it really did. I had my husband feel my cheek the other day and he described it "as soft as a lamb's bottom." I wasn't sure how to feel about that response, but decided it was a man's way of complimenting me on my skin. :)

one by one

2009-02-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

I discovered the most hilarious thing when I opened the bathroom door this morning. Being the wonderfully independent player that Chloe is, she will shut the door to whatever room she is in and continue to entertain and play by herself for a very long time. But because she is only 15 months old, and I tend to always ~~think worse case scenario~~ ere on the side of extreme caution, I check in on her periodically to make sure she's not doing anything that is potentially life threatening.

When I opened the bathroom door, I was expecting to find Chloe either playing in the toilet, unrolling the toilet paper or pulling out all the hair stuff from the drawer. Instead, I found Chloe doing something much more clever and seemingly, much more fun than any one of those things:

Chloe found my box of tampons under the sink, carried them over to the stool, opened our laundry shoot door and proceeded to drop my tampons down the shoot.

I stood there in amazement as I watched my baby drop them down one by one, laughing to myself so as not to disturb her intricate little game.

There's something about this little girl that makes her almost edible and I seriously have to squeeze her every time I see her. I mean that in most loving way, so please don't report me to child protection services.

After Chloe emptied the box, I carried her downstairs so we could both see the results of her hard work. I was so proud of my little girl!

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not decide to let all three of my children run wild in Target while my husband and I shopped for a new car seat for Ella. Nor did I let them climb all over the Target display cases, where they did not have the time of their lives pretending they were in a cave. Chloe, in particular, did not get such a kick out of this! I would never let my perfectly, well-behaved children act like this while shopping in Target because I care way too much about what people think of me as a parent! Oh, and I did not continually feed them marshmallows and candy hearts while shopping just to keep them happy and preoccupied. I would never do that!
I did not have the same load of laundry sitting in my washing machine all week, and I did not re-wash this load of laundry 5 times because it smelled so bad! I'm so good about staying on top of my laundry that I would never have about 10 dirty loads waiting to be washed.

I do not keep my children in their pajamas most days just to save on laundry. I dress them every morning, do their hair in cute ponies, and have them looking perfectly groomed every day!

I did not let a whole chicken cook in the crockpot this week for so long that it turned almost entirely into mush. And I did not gag at the sight and smell of this while taking it out and salvaging the pieces that were still edible.

While scrubbing my kitchen floor the other day, I did not decide to pull the rug over a spot of food that would take too much time and effort to clean up. I'm not that kind of housekeeper!

Those were a few highlights of things I most certainly did not do this week! I am a perfect mother, wife and housekeeper and I would never stoop to that level!

detox update

2009-02-02T06:15:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated over the last couple of days because there really isn't anything "new" to report. At this point, I'll give my final update when I'm done. I am feeling really good, though, and can especially see the benefits of drinking a lot more water. If anything, this detox is getting me into the good habit of always drinking water --- something I've never been good about.

detox day #3

2009-01-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

For those of waiting on the edge of your seats to get a "detox update," I apologize that I didn't post one yesterday. I was actually battling one of the worst tension headaches of my life, one that started the night before and didn't ease up until yesterday afternoon. From my research on doing body cleanses, tension headaches can actually be one of the side affects, but it honestly could've been from a number things: lack of sleep, lack of caffeine in diet or very likely the nasty side affect from eating a half of pan of brownies. Too much chocolate is never a good thing, I guess!

Aside from having a headache yesterday, there aren't any gruesome details to report. Sorry, people! I do feel like it's doing "the job," but it's doing it in a very natural way. Some bloating, only a little cramping, but fortunately no emergency situations! I do feel "cleaner," if that's even possible yet. I also had a few friendly pimples make their appearances, which I've read it also a normal side effect, but aside from that, my skin actually feels softer! Maybe it's all in my mind, but it does seem to be working!

If I'm being brutally honest, I have cheated on my diet during the detox, not only eating healthy foods like they recommend. I enjoyed some Dots at a movie last night, 1/2 donut at MOPS this morning and I still drink my morning coffee w/creamer (oops!). Otherwise, I've been eating well for the most part.

I wanted to address a few questions that were asked of me by an Anonymous reader on my last detox post:

What are my goals/plans for doing the detox? I'm truly doing this to rid my body of waste and toxins. In all the research I've done on body cleansing, I've read that it's beneficial to do this at least once or twice a year, not only for your body and skin, but for your health. Am I doing this to lose weight?! Sure, why not? My body tends to carry a few extra pounds of fat while nursing, so I'd be thrilled if doing the detox gave my body the jumpstart it needed to lose that extra weight. So far, I'm down 1 pound, but I tend to fluctuate 2 pounds depending on the day, so who knows? My primary goal is not to lose weight, but it is one of the benefits to doing this. My girlfriend lost 12 pounds her first time doing this, but I don't think that's a typical result.

The reader also asked about San Diego and why I'm going...My husband is going for work, so I'm going with for fun! I long for the warm weather and hope to bask in the rays the entire time I'm there!

Stay tuned for more detox results!

a pleasant surprise

2009-01-30T11:03:00.001-08:00

One of the highlights of my life is going to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) every other Friday. Just this year, I took a leap of faith and started a MOPS ministry at my church, not knowing the incredible impact it would have on my life. God gave me an AMAZING group of women who serve on the leadership team with me, and without them, there is no way I could do this. Every person attending MOPS is incredible, but I've been extremely blessed by the women who sit at my table. Three of them are sisters, all equally beautiful inside and out. I've told them that I get such a kick out of watching them interact as it reminds me SO much of the relationship I share with my own sister. I feel like I fit right in with them!

Today, when I sat down at my table, I saw the cutest little box with my name on it (I WISH I would've taken a picture of it, it was so stinkin' adorable!). I was caught off guard, assuming they must've had the wrong Amanda, but when I looked around at the 3 sister's, they all smiled and said, "We just wanted to thank you for all you're doing for us and the MOPS program."

I opened the box to find this inside:

It's a "pea-in-the-pod" necklace. There are three peas inside the pod, each representing one my daughters.

On the back of the pod, my girl's names are engraved. I know you can't see it very well in this picture, but it clearly reads: Ella, Britten, Chloe.

I had goosebumps. It was truly the most thoughtful, beautiful gift I had ever received from a friend. Ironically, I had just mentioned to my husband that I really wanted a necklace that signified my being a mom, and I couldn't have picked out something more perfect.

I love this necklace.

Thank you SO much, Jess, Tiff & Becky! You are all such wonderful friends and I couldn't have asked for a better group of women at my table!

Oh, and in case YOU'RE interested in buying a pea in the pod necklace for yourself, a friend, or your favorite MOPS leader (j/k!), the company that makes them is called Falling Forward and here's a link to their site.

my new little venture

2009-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

With nursing behind me (I officially went 24 hours without nursing, not going to Chloe in the middle of the night last night, and it went...well...ok. We made it, and that's all that matters!), I am starting a new little venture for myself. I am doing a body DETOX!

I've never done a detox or body cleanse before, particularly because you can't do them while pregnant or nursing, and since I've been doing one or the other for the last 6 years, I haven't had a choice in the matter. But I've been really wanting to do this for a long time, knowing there are definite health benefits to "detoxifying" your body.

With my San Diego trip a week away, I decided not to waste any time. I called my friend, Steph, who sells Arbonne, and ordered my Sea Source 7-day detox. It arrived today in the mail (I heart getting packages!) and I ripped into it immediately. I'm currently ~~choking down~~ enjoying my Day 1 Detox drink as I type this post. I'll compare the taste to a very rancid, old glass of wine.

The detox is very simple: There are 7 cute little blue bottles, each one containing a wonderful concoction that's supposedly going to cleanse my body and skin and leave me feeling like a new woman after one week. Each day, I add one bottle to 32-ounces of water, ~~guzzle it as quick as humanly possible~~ drink it at my leisure throughout the day, drink an extra 32-ounces of water (to equal a total of 64-ounces), eat relatively healthy foods, exercise 30 minutes on a daily basis, and try to cut out caffeine (yikes - what about my coffee?). And voila! I'm a new woman!

I have to admit that I'm a little nervous as to what this might do to my stomach. I'm not referring to the 6-pack I'll have when I'm done (yeah right!!), but to the gut-wrenching cramps and nasty stomach aches I might get because of it. I've been told that this Arbonne cleanse is very mild compared to other detoxes, but I think it really depends on the person. I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has ever done this clease before? And if so, what was your personal experience/opinion? Were you happy with the results?

I'll definitely keep you posted on my 7-day detox because I'm sure you really want to know about it. I'll spare the gruesome details if that will keep you reading my blog! :) Oh, and I'll also let you know if eating almost a half of pan of brownies before starting the detox is a bad idea...

weaning the Chloe-bean

2009-01-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

I've officially begun the weaning process with Chloe. At almost 15 months old, some of you might be thinking "it's about time"...while others are thinking, "why not go a few more years?" My thoughts are...well...Ugh. This is where the guilt comes crashing in.

I'm a huge breastfeeding advocate, and though I totally understand that it's not always the right or best decision for every person, I firmly believe that under normal circumstances, it is the healthiest option for both the mom and her baby. God made women this way for a purpose, and created breastfeeding as a source of nourishment, but also as a natural and beautiful way to bond with the baby. I love breastfeeding. Not because I enjoy it or the hassles that go along with it, but because I know I'm doing what I feel is best for my baby.

I've nursed all three of my girls and have had, for the most part, success with all of them. Ella and Britten were "text book" scenarios, both nursing every 2-3 hours for the first couple months of life, gradually introducing rice cereal at 5-6 months, and eventually by 9 months, when eating mostly solid foods, they naturally weaned themselves. This was a little early for me as I had hoped to nurse them until they turned 1, but apparently I had no say in the matter. They would wiggle and squirm, scream and grunt and fight me for all they were worth if I tried to nurse them. I finally gave up the fight and realized they were done. I still had to force myself not to feel guilty, knowing in reality they were going to be fine either way.

I never had to deal with the weaning process before Chloe, and quite honestly I've been dreading it. I've been secretly hoping that Chloe would just wake up one morning and think, "I'm a big girl now. I don't need anymore "nummies" (that's what she calls "them") from Mommy. I'm done, cold turkey." If that could actually happen with Britten and her Nuk,* then surely it could happen with Chloe and her addictive nursing habits...

Or not.

I knew Chloe was a Mommy's girl who had a penchant for nursing from her very first day. The nurses at the hospital attempted to take our quiet, docile, recently nursed baby girl to the nursery so I could catch some much needed sleep, only to bring her back 55 minutes later screaming at the top her lungs. Apparently, moments after entering the nursery, Chloe began to scream (I was told by the nurse holding her that Chloe had the loudest cry they had heard in a long time...wonderful). The qualified team of nurses did all they could to comfort her, swaddling her tight, giving her a pacificer, rocking her back and forth. But nothing worked. Almost an hour later, and after Chloe made all the other babies in the nursery agitated, the nurses decided there was nothing they could do and brought her back to me. I picked up my swaddled, screaming baby out of the cold, plastic bassinet, gave her a quick peck on her soft, black hair, and then did what any nursing mom would do - I "hooked" her up. Within seconds, she was quiet and sleeping peacefully. That was all she wanted and nothing else would do... she was only 1 day old. Nothing has changed since.

I knew, that whenever I decided to wean Chloe, it would be a battle of wills. I never put a time frame on it, knowing that I would only do it if it happened naturally or if I felt it was the right time to do it. Well, that time came a little sooner than expected when I made the impromto decision to go to San Diego with my husband the first week of February. My husband and I agreed that the trip would only be fun and beneficial to our relationship if we could do it without the baby in tow. We needed this trip as an opportunity to escape reality for a few days and spend some much needed quality time together.

Then came the tough decision for me. I was/am still nursing Chloe. Chloe never has/never will take a bottle, so I've never wanted to torture anyone by leaving Chloe overnight with them. She's never been much of sleeper, and even up until a few weeks ago, Chloe was consistently waking up several times a night to nurse. Because her screams (the loudest ever heard, as the nurse pointed out) would wake Britten and Ella, I'd always give in. It was, by far, the easiest option for us but I knew it would come back to bite me (no pun intended).

The decision was made: I would wean the Chloe-bean. And I had three weeks to do it.

I leave for San Diego in one week from tomorrow and so far, I've weaned Chloe from both day feedings (before nap and bedtime) and two of her night time feedings. THAT was tough and took lots of crying...from both mommy and baby. :) She still wakes up at her scheduled times (11pm and 3am) but only fusses and then falls back to sleep. It's her 5am feeding that I'm still working on, but I think that tonight (or tomorrow) I'm just going to let it be, no matter how long or hard she cries...I'll let you know how it goes. :)

It's been a tough couple of weeks, particularly because she's also getting ALL 4 incisors and ALL she wants is ME and her "nummies." Every time I try to put her in her crib, she screams, arches, throws herself around, hits and scratches me all over my face and chest and cries herself silly before she falls asleep (I have to point out that if her Daddy puts her down, she gazes at him lovingly and says in her sweetest voice, "Ni - Ni" and proceeds to quietly drift off to sleep - what's that all about?!?!?!).

It's been torture and the guilt is eating me away, but I know this is ultimately the right decision...particularly for me and my husband. We need this trip like never before and we're really looking forward to it. And if I can be brutally honest (don't tell Chloe), I'm really, really looking forward to being done with nursing and claiming the rights back to her "nummies." :)

*We fought and fought and fought Britten with her Nuk for an entire year, from age 2 to 3 (no judging please!). All of a sudden, after her 3rd birthday, Britten walks up to me, hands me her Nuk and says, "Mommy, I'm 3 and I'm a big girl now. I don't need my Nukky anymore." And that was it. She never asked for it again.

mother's everywhere will love this

2009-01-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

I'm running errands one morning with the baby in tow and all of a sudden my phone dings, indicating that I have a new text. The message is from my husband and it reads:

"Check your email. You're going to love this!"

Having the ability to check my email on my phone, I quickly opened up my account and saw a new message from him. Upon checking the message, this picture appeared:
No, you're not imagining it. This picture is what it appears to be, and believe me, I was as stunned as you when I first saw it.

My husband is a brilliantly, creative man and he loves coming up with new, fun things for the girls to do. When being gone for a short time, I'm always prepared to walk in the door to either find ~~the house torn apart~~ our living room turned into a a massive fort, the girls bedroom turned into a giant jungle gym, or some amazing craft project sitting on the dining room table that the girls and their dad had designed by using pipe cleaners, construction paper and googly eyes. For as much as I tend to stress about having a messy house, I absolutely LOVE that my husband wants to spend quality, fun time with his daughter, and I really ~~try not to freak out when I walk in the door~~ try to encourage this interaction.

But, with that said, when I got his email that morning with this picture in my inbox...

...I think my heart skipped a beat.

In case you're interested in knowing how to do this at home for your own children, the checklist goes a little something like this:

How to Make an Indoor Slide

1) You need two twin mattresses, both dragged across the house from your child's room, and then placed side-by-side down the stairwell. Amazingly, they fit perfectly - length and width-wise.
2) 2 pillows that you literally NAIL to the doorframe at the bottom of steps, to prevent...you know...any head injuries.
3) 5-6 comforters, taken from every bed in the home, to pile at the bottom of the steps for a soft landing.
4) And last but not least, and this one is a MUST, the plastic lid from their toybox, used of course, as a means of transportation down the slide. PLEASE NOTE: It is helpful for a parent to assist the child with getting the "sled" back up the slide. This could prevent the "sled" from coming loose from the child's grip and hitting them very hard in the mouth, causing their teeth to almost get knocked out.

Enjoy and good luck!

a day to remember

2008-11-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

I'm only a week late in posting pictures from our birthday bash last weekend...With Ella turning 5 and Chloe turning 1 within 2 days of each other, we decided to combine their parties while neither one of them care.

It was your typical late fall/early winter day, with it being partly cloudy and a bit chilly. But the weather was perfect for our "fall-themed" festivities, all planned for the great outdoors.

The hayride was everyone's favorite part of the afternoon. We live in the city, but we're blessed with a big backyard that backs up to a private city easement. We took advantage of this by pulling the kids in a hay-filled trailer behind my husband's John Deere lawn mower all around the back easement.

The kids all took turns piling in the tractor for their rides.

This birthday girl loved the hayride more than anything...

...while this little birthday girl despised it more than anything.

But fast forward 20 minutes and she was as happy as a clam chowing down on her pumpkin cupcake.*

It was a great afternoon, but a week later, I think I'm still recovering from it. Let's see...Only about 15 more years of throwing these parties!

* My wonderful and very talented friend, Amy, made and decorated these cupcakes for the party. There is no way I'm capable of doing something so creative! Thanks, Amy!

there's a reason...

2008-11-12T17:27:00.000-08:00

...my girls and I don't do bangs. And here it is:

This was Britten at 1 1/2 years old. I remember the precise moment I got the itch to cut her bangs. At the time I thought she looked positively adorable, but now I understand why my husband got so upset when he walked through the door from work that day.

It looked much cuter styled with piggies...

extreme measures

2008-11-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

Ella's response to Chloe's bout of constipation today:

"Mommy, should I press the fire alarm on the security system so the fireman can help Chloe?"

and this is precisely why...

2008-11-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

...I rarely answer my phone during the day.

Unless my kids are napping or completely preoccupied, I refuse to answer my phone...especially if it's an unknown number. I. will.not.do.it. I've learned that it only creates a situation where a disaster is imminent. What might have been a controlled environment instantly turns to chaos.

Take the above disaster, for instance. At 11:00am my phone rings. It's an unknown number. Chloe's napping and the older two are snuggled together on the brown chair eating a snack and watching a favorite cartoon. I think I'm in the clear for answering the phone, as long as I make it quick, so I do the unthinkable: I answer my phone while my girls are in the next room.

Within seconds from answering, I realized I should've let it go to voicemail. A mother from my MOPS group was calling and really needed to talk and needed my full on attention. I decided to take my call into the other room, to have a little more privacy.

40 minutes later...I'm finally off the phone. Mentally fried and completely overwhelmed by the fact that I have 20 minutes to make lunch, get Ella dressed and ready for school, do her hair pretty for school pictures, and get my own self ready for a lunch meeting I had that day, I walked into the living room to find this...

Our entire game cupboard was emptied and every single game was strewn about my living room floor, millions of different pieces had been mixed together. All in one big pile.

I seriously didn't know what to do. What I wanted to do was walk back to my bedroom, crawl under the covers, curl myself into the fetal position and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. Instead, I just stood there. Without words, without emotion. I was completely at a void of what to do. I was blank.

And then I did something you're never supposed to do in front of your children when they do something naughty --- I started laughing. Laughing uncontrollably. My girls, who had been sheepishly standing there amongst the mess, eyes darting all over the room, instantly looked at me as though some strange alien creature had inhabited my body. Relief flooded their little faces as they, too, started to laugh. Once I composed myself I made it very clear that "even though Mommy was laughing, this situation is NOT funny. There were going to be major consequences for not behaving while Mommy was on the phone."

My husband and I spent nearly 2 hours organizing the pieces and putting the games back together. We then had the girls help us pack all of the games into 3 large garbage bags. We told them we were putting their games into a 7-day time-out in the garage, and if this...

...ever happened again, everything would be donated to children who cared about their toys, listened to their parents, and of course, let their Mommy's talk on the phone.

i'm all grown up now

2008-11-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Apparently turning 5 years old means Ella thinks she's old enough to take care of herself.

Being the early riser she is, there are mornings she wakes up long before anyone else. On these particular mornings, she'll come into our room to let us know she's awake, but then she'll proceed to go into the living room and plop herself down in our big brown chair. She'll grab the remote, turn the TV to Channel 5-3, and from there, sit and watch a couple of her favorite Disney cartoons until the rest of us roll out of bed.

There are times she'll wake me up because she's hungry. I'll quickly make her some toast, pour her some cereal or scramble her an egg, but I'll almost always head back to bed for a few more minutes of zzz's.

Today Ella decided she didn't need my help anymore. Since turning 5 a couple of days ago, Ella is convinced she is independent enough to survive on her own sheer will. Most days, that's probably true.

My husband was second to rise this morning. As most mornings, he goes into the living room to find Ella in her chair eating cereal. But unlike most mornings, she was devouring her cereal from a large tupperware container. Odd, he thought.

He walks into the kitchen to find a pot of coffee brewing. Grounds are strewn about and water is spilled on the countertops. He turns around to see Ella standing behind him, a big smile on her face.

"I made coffee, Daddy. All by myself! And I got my own cereal, too! I didn't even ask Mommy!"

Andy looks around the kitchen...The cereal had been put back in the pantry with no crumbs to be found on the counter. The milk was put back in its' place in the fridge, the cap tightly screwed back on. And believe it or not, the coffee tasted great.

it's a miracle!

2008-11-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Apparently the sleeping through the whole night thing was a fluke. Last night she was up to her old antics of getting me up 2 times. A lot of nights it's still 3 times, so maybe I should be thankful for this?

ORIGINAL POST: Guess who slept through the night last night?!?!

It only took a year, give or take 2 days, for crying out loud! But believe you me, I am NOT holding my breath that this will be the new trend. I'm thinking it's a fluke, but only time will tell.

five years

2008-11-05T14:17:00.001-08:00

Ella-bella, you are 5 years old today! Look at you, growing up so quickly and turning into such a beautiful little girl! Just today I was told by another mom at preschool that her son had a MAJOR crush on you. As she was tucking him into bed the other night he said, "I like Ella. I don't hafta love her, I don't hafta kiss her. I just like her. " You'd never in a million years allow him to kiss you, anyway. You despise getting kisses, particularly yucky, wet kisses!! You only let me and Daddy kiss you, but not before we've begged you and wiped our lips off first! You are very particular about certain things. In fact, you're very particular about a lot of things, but I think that goes along with being the oldest sibling.

I love that picture of you, Ella. You and Daddy. Two peas in the pod. You have been a Daddy's girl from day one, always preferring him to anyone else. I think it's because you understand each other so well. You take after your Daddy in almost every single way. You're very tall and will outgrow me before your 10. You're smart, coordinated, creative, senstive, intensely stubborn, incredibly musical, process things internally, you have a goofy sense of humor and a smile that could charm a rock. The only quality you've inherited from your mother is that you LOVE having your feet tickled.

I can't believe it's been 5 years already. Before I know it you'll be dating boys (gulp!), driving a car, graduating from high school...I'm not sure I should think about this right now. I already have tears in my eyes.

I love you, sweetie, and I hope you have a fantastic birthday!

birthday girls

2008-11-03T06:35:00.001-08:00

Two/thirds of our girls are turning a year older this week.

Our baby is turning ONE in four days. I'm amazed by how quickly this past year has gone. It's almost a blur...Or, maybe that's just sleep deprivation. I can never tell anymore. I can vividly remember what it felt like being pregnant with her, so much so, that at times I can almost feel her kicking. But in other ways it feels like it's been much longer than a year. We can't remember life without this little girl or what it was like having only two children. Chloe, you complete me us.
Oh, Ella. Our little dare devil diva. Remember this? Ella turns 5 on November 5th - her golden birthday. Ella is an amazing little girl with talent and intuition that blows my mind. But anyone who knows our Ella knows that with her sweet and very sensitive nature comes an intensity and strong will that continually challenges us in our parenting. But I'm so thankful for her and the dynamics she brings to our home and our family.

I can only thank God for all he has given us over the past 5 years. It's been an amazing journey, and I'm sure this week of birthday parties and craziness will be no exception!

a revelation

2008-11-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

Britten: "Mommy, Chloe always calls you "Ma-ma," doesn't she?"

Me: "Yes, honey. She does."

Britten: "Who am I, Mommy?"

Me: "Well, your Britty, aren't you?"

Britten: "No, I'm the competition."

I don't even think Britten understands the meaning of that word. She only hears it in the context of when her and Ella are trying to beat each other at something and we're having to explain to them that not everything in life has to be a COMPETITION!

some halloween memories

2008-11-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2008

Ella - Princess
Britten - Princess
Chloe - Frog

Let's check out last year...

Halloween 2007

Ella & Britten - Oh, the same princesses as last year!
Chloe - Mommy's Tummy (a week from entering the world!)

Halloween 2006

Ella - You're kidding...she's the same princess! Poor girl.
Britten - Wow. That frog costume looks a little familiar...Oh yes, it's the same costume Chloe wore this year!
Chloe - a twinkle in the good Lord's eye

In all reality, I love the fact that we've been able to reuse our costumes every year! Our girls always WANT to be princesses, so we've really lucked out that their costumes continue to fit them...Hmmm...I wonder what they'll be next year? I guess you'll have to stay tuned!

once upon a time...

2008-10-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

There was a perfect little family.

The happily married couple were very much in love. They spent each day as though it were there last, never taking each other for granted and enjoying every minute together. They never fought, they were never angry with each other, never impatient or rude and loved each other unconditionally. They were always happy.

They had three beautiful little girls who all adored each other and got along swimmingly. They were very well-mannered and always on their best behavior. They too loved each other unconditionally and never, ever raised their voices or used aggressive behavior when upset. They shared with each other, played well together, and always listened to their Mommy and Daddy. They sat at the table through every meal, never complaining or refusing to eat, and they never, ever made a mess with their food.

There was no drama, no temper tantrums, and absolutely no screaming. Everyone always used their "inside voices" in this happy, little family.

They always had fun and got along so well!

It must have had something to do with ALL of the good sleep they got...

...or the nutritious food they ate...

Or maybe it was just because they loved each other so much. And love is always perfect.

Or not.

support me please

2008-10-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

I know I've mentioned on at least one occasion that I am coordinating the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) ministry at my church this year. This is a new ministry for my church, and though I've personally been involved in MOPS at another church for last 4 years, this is my very first year in leadership. In fact, aside from being on Student Council back in the days, this is my first experience with leading anything.

With it being a new ministry, the gals and I ("the gals" being the fabulous women who serve on leadership with me) are working tirelessly to build a budget for our group. We hosted a garage sale in August, and even with it raining, it was a major success. So now with one fundraiser under our belts, we're on to the next one! So, this is where YOUR support comes in, and I promise it won't require much time, energy or even much money.

This Sunday on October 26th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m, we will be hosting a fundraiser at Cici's Pizza in Eagan. The address is 1292 Town Centre Dr. It's quite simple, actually. All you need to do is show up, eat a lot of food for really cheap (I think their buffet is something like $5.99/person) and drop your receipt into a bucket labeled for our MOPS group. Ci Ci's will then donate 15% of the all the proceeds to our group. And voila! We made a little extra money for a really good cause.

So if you live in that general area and are looking for something FUN to do with the family on Sunday afternoon, PLEASE show up! You don't even have to KNOW me to do this...How cool is that?!

a helping hand hold

2008-10-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Ella absolutely adores Chloe, there's no doubt about it. Unlike her relationship with her other sister,* her relationship with Chloe is full of kindness, generousity and affection. She thinks the world of Chloe and is always doing her best to keep her involved in what's going on around her.

For example, should Chloe be left alone in another room for even a second, Ella runs to her rescue and does this to solve the problem...
You might not be able to tell by the picture, but Chloe's feet are several inches off of the floor because Ella is carrying her. As you can tell by Chloe's expression, this is not a new thing for her, and in fact, she's quite happy being carried around the house by her big sister.

The first few times Ella tried this, Chloe screamed and wiggled so much Ella was forced to ~~drop~~ gently put her on the floor. But like a cat gets used to being swung around in a blanket (though this is NOT advised, my little brother did this to our cat all the time while we were growing up, and in the end, my brother was the cat's favorite person in the whole wide world), Chloe has gotten used to this. Ella will even sit down on the rocking chair with Chloe like this and the two of them will sit there rocking for several minutes at a time. It is the sweetest thing to witness, watching Chloe giggle as Ella rocks and talks to her.

* While Britten and Ella love each other dearly and are best buddies, they have a love/I'm-going-to-beat-you-to-a-bloody-pulp-if-you-look-at-me-wrong relationship.

our new not-so little toy

2008-10-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about the new toy my husband brought home today! It was a gift. A very generous gift from very wonderful friends. And did I mention I was excited?

They gave us a brand new piano! Well, it's not brand new exactly. In fact, it's really, really old. It's an antique piano, and a cute little thing at that, and it originally belonged and was played by the mother of my very generous friend. But it's brand new to us and we are so excited to be owners of a piano! We've been wanting one for ages but couldn't afford to buy one, let alone move one. Hiring movers to transport a piano costs an arm and a leg and wasn't in the cards for us.

Good thing for me I'm married to a strong, manly-man. Oh, and it helped my manly-man husband that our very generous friend was once a body builder and he offered to help us move it.
My husband is also resourceful and had the clever idea of pulling the piano on the trailer behind his John Deere tractor to our backyard so they could bring the piano into our walkout basement. It was quite hilarious to watch, but a seamless process, and my piano was ready for playing within minutes of arrival!

I have such high hopes for this piano! Now I just need to get my girls in lessons so they can start serenading me throughout my day!

fall fun

2008-10-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

Britten is attempting to pick out a pumpkin. She settled with one that fit in the palm of her hands.
Our family loves everything about fall. The beautiful weather, with just enough chill in the air to justify wearing a sweater and jeans, the ever-changing colors, and best of all, the crunchy leaves that have fallen from the trees.

Britten's enjoying a sucker at the pumpkin patch. Fortunately, we didn't have a repeat of this.

I honestly think this is the first family picture we've had taken since Chloe was born. It only took us a year.

Me and my girls. My husband took about 12 pictures of this pose and there were none in which the girls were actually looking at the camera.

By the end of the afternoon, Britten had enough of the camera and was begging, through her tears, for her Daddy to put it away.
Soon we will have to say goodbye to this beautiful fall weather. But until then, we'll cherish our time having fun in leaves!

lemme explain

2008-09-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

In recent days, I've had a few close friends ask me about my blogging habits. More specifically, they were wondering why and giving me a hard time (jokingly, of course) that I haven't been blogging much over the last few months. I was a little surprised anyone noticed, or even cared really, that I wasn't posting on a regular basis. I mostly keep it light on my blog, writing about the things my girls do that I find funny, or documenting the moments I feel are memorable. To think anyone else enjoys reading my ramblings and claim to miss reading them regularly is actually quite hilarious to me.

It was because of this I decided to explain myself to my few avid reader and friends, who open my blog daily, patiently awaiting another post.

To say I've been busy this summer is an understatement. Between training for my 1/2 marathon, getting MOPS off the ground at my church, working part time (as a Realtor), traveling almost every weekend, and trying to manage being a Mom and Wife, I've had little to no down time. And with the little down time I have had, I've had NO energy to sit at my computer and write. Writing requires you to think, or at least it requires ME to think. And because I'm a slow processor, I'm not someone who can pound out an interesting post in a matter of a few minutes. It takes me a while and exerts a lot of brain power. Brain power I lack when I still have yet to get a full night of sleep (this is a result of a blue-eyed baby who still wakes up 2-4 times a night).

But even with a busy schedule, I've still found time to blog in the past, so my "busyness" is a lame excuse and a cover-up to the real reason I've been MIA.

It all has to do with the power of addiction. Addiction runs in my family, but I'd be surprised to hear of a family that doesn't struggle with addiction in one form or another. Fortunately, I've been able to rise above and make the right choices in my life to keep me out of any major trouble. My entire family is living proof that by God's grace alone, you can overcome addiction and not let it control your life.

But even with choosing the right path, so to speak, I still find that I have the tendencies to be easily consumed by certain things and find it next to impossible to break particular habits. If you see where I'm going with this, you won't be surprised to hear me admit the following:

Hi. My name is Amanda and I'm a blogging addict.

Once I started blogging last winter, I couldn't stop. Whether it was writing my own posts or reading and commenting on other blogs, I was wasting away hours at my computer every day. My thoughts were consumed by topics I wanted to blog about and I found myself drawn to the computer, opening up my favorite blogs on an almost hourly basis.

Before my blogging days, I'd spend a maximum of one hour at my computer daily, only using it to check my email and possibly the weather. I'm a busy body, a trait I inherited from my mother, and just the idea of sitting for more than 10 minutes at a time makes me bored. Because of this, I had no clue I'd enjoy blogging so much and that is would control me in the way it did.

Yes, there are worse things I could be addicted to. Way worse. But when blogging started taking precedence over my family and my commitments as a wife and a mother, I realized I had a problem. I realized I needed to make a change. I've also been dealing with a lot over the last few months, emotionally and spiritually, and knew I had to make certain sacrifices in order to not succumb to the stress and pressure weighing on my shoulders.

When my children are snuggled safely in their beds at night, I will push the urge aside to run to my computer and spend the rest of my waking hours blogging. I need to spend what little downtime I have doing the things that are necessary to keep me sane and happy. Those include devotions with my Lord and Savior, because without HIM, I would be utterly lost. Running, cleaning my house, doing the laundry, grocery shopping, doing bills and responding to necessary emails are just a few of the other things that top my list of priorities.

But with all that said, I still absolutely love my blog and totally enjoy reading other blogs. I've just learned to balance things a bit better, and I've found that my family and I are better of this way. I have a feeling you'll be hearing more from me in days to come, though, because a couple weeks ago I sent Ella off to her second year of preschool and I now have three afternoons a week where I'm left with 2 hours of down time.

Sigh. Down time. It's been a long time coming!

simon ella says

2008-09-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Ella to Britten:

"Hey, Britty, repeat after me: My....Mom...Is...Cool."

I heard Ella say this to Britten from another room, and it totally melted my heart.

________________________________________________

Ella to Britten:

"Hey, Britty, can I have some of your pretzel's?"

Britten shakes her head No.

"Britty, can I please?"

Answer still No.

"Britten, it makes Jesus very sad when you don't share. So I'm just going to take one from you."

Hmmm...Not sure it works that way.

_______________________________________________

Andy, trying to be conspicuous, asks me the following question last night...

"Hey, do you think I should take our eldest two daughters to the M-A-L-L?" Spelling it out so as not to give Ella and Britten false hope.

Ella, who overheard his question, "I'll sound it out. Mmm...Aaaa...Llllll. MALL." Runs off yelling, "Britty, we're going to the MALL with Daddy!!!"

Gone are the days for spelling out words so our girls won't understand us!

three years

2008-09-07T18:22:00.001-07:00

Three years ago today, we welcomed our middle daughter, Britten Lou, into our lives.

Weighing just 6 lbs. 13 oz., she was a peanut. The little thing had no fat on her body, including cheeks (and I'm not referring to her face), but the girl had LUNGS and wouldn't stop crying for the first two hours of her life! But apparently that was all she had, because once she stopped crying, she was the happiest baby in the world and rarely, and I mean rarely, did she ever cry again as an infant.

Today we celebrated her birthday by taking her out to dinner to her restaurant of choice. Surprise, surprise, she chose to sit by her Daddy.

Apparently we chose the perfect night to go out to eat because they had conveniently hired a guy to walk around making balloon creatures for kids. The girls were enthralled!

Britten's fish was the same size as her!

Ella chose a monkey hanging on a palm tree. It even had its own coconuts!

Chloe desperately wanted a balloon, but eight sharp teeth and a habit to bite made for a dangerous combination. She settled for her bottle of water.

We ended our night enjoying cake at home that Ella and I made during naps today. Someone forgot to pick up candles, so I improvised a little.

Happy Birthday, Britty Louskie! Your sweet, thoughtful nature and goofy personality brings joy and laughter to our family! You are an amazing little girl and we love you to bits and pieces! You told me the other day, "Mommy, I don't wanna be 3." Believe me, sweetie, if I had it my way, you'd stay 2 forever!

starting early

2008-09-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, maybe as a symbol for turning 3 today, Britten has a huge whitehead pimple on her cheek.

Britten, this morning, asks her Daddy, "What's this, Daddy?"

Daddy: "Well, it's a zit."

Britten's response: "Hmmm....A zit."

Daddy: "Britten, can you say "puberty?"

Britten: "Pu."

Daddy: "No, say "puberty."

Britten: "Pu."

Daddy: "No. Pu-ber-ty."

Britten: "Pew, Britty."

mission impossible accomplished

2008-09-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

WE DID IT!!!! Finishing the race (still running) in just over 2 hours (2:02 or so, though I won't know exact numbers until they update everything online), it was an awesome run and even better experiece. The weather was perfect and the view was beautiful, with most of the run taking us around a lake. My wonderful friend from childhood, Heather, joined me in the race and we had such a great time running together. It makes such a difference to have a running partner and I hope to never run alone again. Hmmm...maybe my hubby will take up a new hobby in running?
The medals worn around our neck are proof that we successfully finished. Everyone got a medal, so unfortunately that doesn't mean we placed in the top 10, but at least we felt and looked like winners!

Coming around the last bend in the final 1/4 mile stretch, I was greeted by this sweet little face:

Seeing Chloe and my mom standing on the sidelines, cheering me on, was so awesome! It gave me the little burst of adreneline I needed to push myself harder through the finish lines. I'm very happy with my time, though I had no expectations set, but even happier I finished. And I finished feeling great. No blisters or toenails lost to speak of. Sorry, that's gross.

One thing's for sure: I am absolutely and totally addicted to running marathons. I can't wait for my next race!

my little clowns

2008-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

the time has come

2008-09-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

Feeling a combination of relief, excitement and sadness, and with my nerves a bit frayed, I leave today and head north to run my 1/2 marathon. I know in a lot of people's minds, running 13.1 miles is not that big of deal. People do it and a whole lot more all of the time. I know it's not that big of deal. It's really not.

But then again, it is. I set this goal for myself in May, starting my training the first week of June. Juggling training among my already busy life was hard, but because I spread my training over three months, I found this gradual process very manageable. And because I've never done anything so structured or intense, I was surprised by how well my body adjusted to the increased mileage. Apparently training works! Who knew?!?

I'm very happy I did this. Proud of myself, in fact. I have set no time goal for myself, nor do I care in the least bit if I finish the race in last place. My only goal is that I finish, and that I finish running. I'm not a natural competitor and tend to shy away from situations where I feel pressured. But the idea of running with hundreds of other competitors is thrilling and I have a feeling will become addictive. I've had people tell me that once I start marathons I'll never stop. I think by this time tomorrow, I'll understand why.

Wish me luck. Or better yet, say a prayer for me. Goodness knows I'll need them! For as excited as I am about tomorrow, I am nervous and feeling doubtful that I'll finish. I don't know why I feel this way, considering I've already ran 13 miles and finished will little problems, but I do. Having confidence in myself, and my abilities, is something I've always struggled with my entire life, and in some ways, I feel God has sent me on this particular mission to show me that "with HIM, all things are possible."

As my mom always taught me, WORDS ARE A POWERFUL WEAPON. So I will only speak positively. I CAN do this, I WILL finish the race...still running. With HIM, ALL things are possible and that's a very comforting thought!

I AM a (1/2) Marathon Mommy, hear me roar! :)

sparkly shoes

2008-09-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

The mission was simple. The goal obtainable. Ella needed a new pair of shoes. She starts preschool (3-days a week) next Monday and I'm not about to send her back wearing the same old Crocs she wore last year, now completely worn through in the toes.

First mistake. We took the entire family to the shoe store last night, thinking we could make it a fun, family outing. I naively thought that my girls were old enough to appreciate and enjoy their first experience with buying a new pair of shoes for the new school year! This was always a highlight for me. I'll never forget my first experience of my mom buying me a new pair of shoes:

I was 6 years old and heading into first grade. I had my sight set on a pair of Punky Brewster high-tops.* They were the coolest things I ever laid eyes on. From what I recall, though my memory may be a bit fuzzy, was that they were purple and blue, had multi-colored shoe laces, and they sparkled from top to bottom. That, of course, was my favorite feature. I loved those shoes and remember being so excited to wear them at my first day of school, proudly admiring them as I sat in my desk. And so began my obsession with shoes.

Apparently, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

The second we walked into the shoe store, Ella instantly spotted her new loves:

A pair of pink, sparkly jelly sandals.

She was smitten. She grabbed a pair for herself, Britten and even Chloe. Surprisingly, grabbing the right size for all three of them. Had summer just started, I might have considered buying them for Ella. But with fall just around the corner, and Ella's feet growing at least 1-2 sizes a year, I wasn't about to buy a pair of (very expensive) jelly sandals that would only be worn for a handful of weeks (days, even!) before going into storage! It wasn't an option. But try explaining that to a very determined 4 year old who has her heart set on a pair of sparkly jelly sandals.

And so it began. It being a full blown, dramatically intense, wailing at the top of her lungs, meltdown. Instead of throwing herself on the floor, like she had done on many occasions in years past, she decided to run around the store, all the while screaming that "she wanted her sparkly shoes!"

My husband, who was trying to juggle a fussy baby and toddler (or is Britten considered a preschooler?) who claimed to have a "tummy ache" and needed to "go potty really bad,"
tried his best to reel in our screaming preschooler. To no avail.

All the while, I'm dealing with a very sweet, but very new, employee of the shoe store, trying to track down the right size and color of the shoes we did decide on for Ella. What was supposed to be a quick, fun and exciting trip to the shoe store, ended up lasting a treacherous 45 minutes. In the end, the most frustrating thing about the entire trip was that we left empty-handed, with no shoes purchased.

For whatever reason, the store clerk and her manager, probably distracted by my whiny, very misbehaved children, weren't of much help. They couldn't find the right sizes or colors and because their computer system wasn't "working properly," they weren't able to special order the shoes for a free home delivery.

Ugh.

My husband and I left the store completely and utterly drained. Not of money, just energy. Both grumbling under our breath, we vowed to never, ever do that again. Yeah right. We always say that.

To give my girls some credit, it was nearing their bedtime and I think we were partially to blame by expecting them to "behave" while we tried to find shoes for Ella. It's hard to get mad at them in situations like that, when in all reality, we knew better. We really did.

*I Googled "Punky Brewster high tops" to see if I could share a photo of the coolest shoes ever to be manufactured, but I was disappointed and a little surprised by the fact that I couldn't find even one picture.

who ever said that getting the right picture was hard?

2008-09-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

"Britten and Ella, hug Choe and smile! Chloe, look at the camera!"

"Chloe, quit crying. Here's a leaf...now smile!"

"Okay, a stick will do. Now Chloe's happy. Britten, quick! Look at the camera and SMILE and Ella, open your eyes!"

"Ugh. Chloe, sweetie, open your eyes!"

"This obviously isn't working so let's try something else..."

"Hmmm...Let's see..."

"Nope. It's pointless."

All she needed was a little cuddle time with Mommy (Oh, and she wanted to eat, and she wanted out of her dress. She takes after her mom like that. She's not fond of dresses) before she finally decided to give us one of these:

In the end, we ended up with ONE picture, none in which the three girls are actually looking at the camera, but it still turned out cute. My husband is doing final touches to it and I'll post it later.

racism knows no boundaries

2008-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

On the back of my Calcium/Vitamin D supplements, the box reads:

"Regular exercise and a healthy diet with enough calcium helps teen and young adult white and Asian women maintain good bone health and may reduce their high risk of osteoporosis later in life."

Where does that leave the rest of the female population? Geesh.

marathon mommies: weekly "whenever i feel like it" log

2008-08-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you wondering, I am still training for my 1/2 marathon. I've been training for 2 1/2 months and I'm very happy with where things stand. Last weekend I ran 11.2 miles, my longest run to date, and it went really well. By the last 2 miles, I was dragging my feet a bit. Mostly, I was just bored out of my mind! I ran around a local lake 4 times in order to reach my mileage, and I about lost it by the 4th lap. I was seriously talking to familiar landmarks, thanking them for their support and letting them know it was the last time I'd see them that day. This weekend I run 13.2 miles, and I've already planned out another route that will take me around 3 lakes in an absolutely gorgeous area of the city. I'm actually looking forward to that! I hope the weather holds out or I'll be stuck on a treadmill and that would stink!

I did end up having to buy yet another pair of running shoes. Turns out, my old "new" pair that I bought just over a month ago weren't a very good fit. They always felt a little "off," but I assumed I'd get used to the fit as I put on more miles. But the longer I ran, the worse I felt, and I knew I couldn't put off the obvious: I needed another pair of shoes. There was no way I could force my body to run 13.2 miles in a pair of ill-fitting shoes without doing serious damage to my feet or knees. You can't return a pair of used running, because frankly, that's just gross. But the manager at the Running Store was very understanding of my situation and gave me 20% off on my NEW shoes. And as it turned out, they were selling last year's model of my OLD FAITHFUL running shoe, the Asics Gel Nimbus, for 1/2 off, so I got a GREAT deal. I broke them in last weekend running 11.2 miles and they felt marvelous. It was well worth the money spent.

So overall, everything in the running department is on a roll and I'm gearing up for the big race day: September 6th. I love having a goal to work towards...It has pushed me to run further and harder than I ever have before and I am so grateful for that. Accomplishing something for myself is so rewarding. I am, however, looking forward to a break from "training" and being able to run at my leisure again.

makeup artist

2008-08-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

She didn't do too bad of a job for a 4 year old, you think?

And, yes, I was aware she was putting on makeup. No, this is NOT an every day thing. And NO, I do NOT let her shave her legs.

lier, lier, pants on fire

2008-08-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

"I cannot tell a lie." The infamous words George Washington spoke as a boy, after chopping down his father's prized cherry tree. I would personally like to know what his parents did to instill such hard core values into such a young lad.

You see, lately we've had a little fibber on our hands, and her name is Ella. She's just recently grasped the whole concept of "I might be able to get away with something if I don't tell the truth." Though I'm her mother and I see right through it. Her eyes darting here and there, her wheels turning a million miles a minute, trying to weave a story that makes sense in her little mind. She might know how to lie, but I can tell that her conscience fighting it at every turn.

For now, her lies really seem harmless. Seem being the key word in that sentence.

Take two instances yesterday:

Me, seeing red marker scribbled all over her new jeans: "Ella, what happened to your jeans? Did you color all over yourself?"

She glances down, eyes starting to dart around before they focus on the ceiling: "No, I didn't do it. I think the marker fell off the table and did this to my jeans."

Uh-huh. A marker happened to roll off the table and scribble on your jeans from your thigh to your knee cap.

OR, this:

As I'm trying to get Ella's seatbelt around her carseat, I see, in my peripheral vision, that Ella is winding up to flick me. She does this sort of thing not to be mean, but to pick and pester. I was like that as a child. I was known as the pest of the family, and to date, my siblings still think I'm a pest. I honestly have no idea why. To make matters worse, they still think I tell everyone what they're getting for Christmas, even though I seriously haven't done that since I was like 10! Apparently you never grow up in the eyes of your family! Obviously it's a sore spot for me.

Anyway, I see Ella about to flick me...

"Ella, don't you dare flick me or we're going in the house and you're getting a time-out."

Pause. Eyes darting. "I wasn't going to flick you, Mommy. I was only making the number 6 with my fingers."

Wow. She's a smart cookie. I seriously hide a smile and stifle my laugh until I close the van door and turn away from her. She told a lie, a small, funny lie, but it's a lie nonetheless and she can't see me laugh about it.

There have been times where I've blown off her lying without a reprimand, realizing after the fact that by not "nipping it the bud" (as my mother would say), I am doing wrong by her. By not confronting the lie, and using it as a time to explain why lies are wrong, I am teaching her that is okay to lie, when it is definitely not! If I allow her to get away with lying about small and meaningless things, she will think it's okay to lie about something when it could potentially hurt someone. Teaching my child to be honest, no matter the consequences, is crucial in teaching her to be a woman of integrity.

So it's been a struggle. But I hope that in the end, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do in order to lead Ella down the right path. Its times like these that I cling to the following verse:

"Train up a child in the way he should go, for that when he is old, he will not part from it."

Any helpful or creative suggestions about teaching your children not to lie would be very much appreciated!

stats

2008-08-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Chloe had her 9 month appointment today, only 6 days late! Not too bad, considering I'm usually a good month behind on those things.

Her stats showed that she slowed a little on growth charts, but she's still bigger than the average baby girl her age.

Weight: 19 lbs even - 60%
Length: 28.5 " - 80%
Head: 46cm - 80%

All of my girls are bigger than I was when I was a baby. I weighed in at 17 1/2 lbs and was 27" long at 9 months old. As stats would show, Ella and Chloe take after their Daddy when it comes to their height. Britten has been hanging steady at the 50% for height and weight since birth, so we'll see how things progress as they get older.

She also found a new toy. Hmmm...let's see how this works.

"testing...testing..."

or maybe...

"Hello? Mommy? How are you today?"

We won't tell her where it's really for! Ignorance is bliss!

go speed racer

2008-08-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

work of art

2008-08-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

I love watching my girls create art, color, draw pictures, write letters, cut shapes and the list could go on and on. Seeing them use their God-given talents, and watching their little wheels turn as they learn new things, is one of my favorite things about being a mom. Like any parent, I'm so proud of my girls.

The following picture is one of my favorite creations that Britten has been drawing lately:

In case you can't make it out, it's a hand...Her hand. She traces her own, missing her pinky finger and her thumb in the process, which leaves her with a 3-fingered hand. She doesn't seem to notice the deformation, so why point it out? She finishes it off by coloring "fingernails" and by drawing a line to connect the fingers together.

I love this picture. I keep finding it drawn on random pieces of scrap paper all over the house and in true two-year old style, have even found it drawn on walls a few times. It wasn't hard to figure out who the 3-fingered culprit was!

Part of me feels sad when I see this little drawing all over the house. Before long, these little drawings will start changing and they'll start resembling a more realistic looking hand. While the "hand" is evolving, Britten is evolving...From a little girl, who I still consider a toddler (though I know she's well past those days!), to a young girl, who I'll soon be sending off to preschool (gulp!).

I watch my girls reach their milestones with pride, but try as I might, I can't push away the sadness that accompanies it. I know that I'll eventually have to let my girls go. It's part of the responsibility of being a parent and I'm ok with that. But until then, I'm going to cherish the little 3-fingered drawings, even if it means I have to scrub them off my walls!

family fun

2008-08-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a few pictures from last weekend. We spent it up north (YES, again) with my entire immediate family. We do this once a summer...Not the traveling up north thing, because you as you know, I've done that like a billion times this summer (spending about equivalent of that amount on gas). My family - parents, siblings and all my beautiful nieces and nephews - ALL come home on the SAME weekend. We have so much fun together! I love my family!

can it be?

2008-08-07T12:52:00.001-07:00

Somehow it's already been a week since my last post. How does that happen? And somehow August is almost half over already and you know what that means...Winter is just around the corner. But before winter begins, we're blessed to experience beauty in all its' glory: Fall. But don't blink, because you might miss it.

And somehow, through all the hustle and bustle of our daily grind, the significance of today almost passed me by. I'm so glad I looked at my calendar and realized that today was not only Thursday (I thought it was Wednesday!) but it was the 7th day of the month. This particular date marks yet another month that my blue-eyed Munchkin has blessed us with her presence.

Chloe is 9 months old today. Can it already be? In someway it seems like ions have passed since delivering my baby girl after a mere two hour labor, but on the other hand, it seems like only a few short weeks have passed.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us Chloe. Her sweet little smile, soft and squishy arms and legs, adorable giggle, quick little army crawl, her bright blue-eyes, dark head of hair, and her spunky, yet loving personality, have added so much joy to all of our lives.

So much joy, in fact, I can get over the fact that she still wakes up 2-3 times a night and has had a major bout of constipation since June.

Chloe Jean, your Mommy, Daddy and your big sisters love you SO very much! I can't believe you've been on this earth as long as you were in my tummy!

please pray

2008-07-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

The other day I briefly mentioned how my dear friend and unborn baby boy, Stellan, were in desperate need of prayer. Please, please, PLEASE, read her story here (you will fall in love with the baby, my friend and her blog!) and say a prayer (or a dozen) for them! Despite how scary this is for her, my friend is clinging to the Lord and believing for a miracle!

"With Him, ALL things are possible..."

lucky duckies in the pool

2008-07-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

We're so lucky...

On night's like tonight, when it's so blasted hot and humid you can hardly move around your air-conditioned home without breaking a sweat, we have neighbor's two doors down with an inground pool. They have generously opened up their pool to us like it's our own and have given us permission to use it to our hearts desire.

And use it we do:

We splish...

...and we splash...

...and we soak so long in the beautifully refreshing water...

...that our tootsies turn into prunes!

yummo!

2008-07-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

Mommy made me a yummy lunch today - black beans and avocados - and I had so much fun eating it! Mommy really enjoyed watching me eat all by myself, she didn't even care that I made such a mess! I kept wondering when she was going to put a bib on me, but she never did. She's the one who has the clean up my messes anyway, so why should I care? I purposely rubbed the food up and down my arms so Mommy would give me a bath. I was giggling and splashing water all over her as she worked really hard to clean the beans and avocado that I smooshed inside my ears. I hope Mommy gives me something really messy for dinner tonight --- We'll have fun all over again!

leatherheads

2008-07-28T07:35:00.001-07:00

In celebration of our seven years of marriage, my husband and I went out TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW! That in itself is a miracle, because we haven't been on a date by ourselves since our last year anniversary! Pathetic, I know, and probably not the key to a healthy and successful marriage. No worries, though, as we've vowed to make a point to get out more often before our next anniversary.

We spent Saturday night on our own. We left our girls in good hands and enjoyed a night out eating dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant and going to watch The Dark Knight at the new IMAX Theater in town. What started out as a semi-romantic evening over hummus and gyros ended in an intense two and a half hours of nail biting and knots churning in my stomach. It was a fun night and very reminiscent of how we used to spend our time B.C. (before children).

Last night was sort of a spur of the moment thing, with my husband's mom coming into town last minute and offering to watch our girls. We jumped at the opportunity and planned a night out with our good friends, Eric and Amy. As it turns out, my husband's dad just happened to make a surprise visit on his motorcycle moments before we were supposed to leave. Minutes later, Eric and Amy pulled up in front of our house driving Eric's dad's motorcycle...

Are you seeing where this is going?!?!

We threw on our leathers and took advantage of having TWO really big, really loud and really comfortable motorcycles and had SO much fun cruising around the city. We drove to a local pizza place (another hole-in-the-wall, but I determined these kind of places truly make the most authentic, best tasting food), stuffed ourselves silly, and decided to work off some of the calories by taking a lovely stroll around a lake. Yet again, another FUN night out!

We're feeling really cool right about now:

Dinner at Fat Lorenzo's. Their pizza's the best and they have a really nice waiter that let us store our helmets and leather gear in the office so we could enjoy our walk after dinner.

Our friends, Eric & Amy, taking a little rest from our walk around the lake to display some PDA. They're good at that!

We decided to join in on the PDA action. For those of you who know us, you'd know that my husband towers over me by a good foot. This picture gives the impression that I'm hanging from his back, when in reality I was standing on a bench:

seven years

2008-07-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Seven years ago today, I awoke at 6:00am sharp with knots in my stomach. I had a restless night, drifting in and out of sleep, and altogether slept about 3 hours. I opened my eyes that morning knowing that by this time the next day, I would be a different woman. Or at least my name would be different and thus would change the course of my future. I was getting married.

Happy 7th Anniversary! I love you! Here's to 70 more years together...

To read more about our story and how we met, click here:

2 Timothy 4:7

2008-07-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

"I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith."

This particular verse kept coming to my mind this morning as I awoke, bright and early, donned my running gear, and went out to run my first 10k of the summer. But this verse, for as much as it pertained to my run this morning, was more on my mind for a dear friend who is in the middle of a major life crisis, her own race of sorts. Through it all, I have been blown away and so encouraged by her faith and her ability to lean on God and know that He is faithful to his word. As I ran this morning, she never left my thoughts or my prayers. Her struggles revolve around her unborn baby, and as a mother myself, I can't begin to imagine how scary this is for her. Please read her story here and keep her and her beautiful baby in your prayers.

My prayers for her must've done something for me, because today I ran the best race of my life! But I guess that's not hard to do, considering it's the third race I've ever participated in, but still, I finished my 10k race in a much better time than I was expecting: 51:53 to be exact.

I always assumed that I ran 9:40 minute miles, based on where I set my speed on my treadmill, but it's hard to gauge my speed when I'm running outside. I'm no mathematician, but the gentlemen at the 1-mile marker who was tracking our time kindly ~~told me~~ yelled out that I had finished my first mile in 8:14. I was flabbergasted! I was a bit winded compared to my normal runs, but I still felt great, so I was determined to keep this pace as long as my 5'2" frame allowed! At the 5-mile marker, the sweet, and totally ripped, lady on the bicycle gave me the same numbers. My legs were aching, but with 1.25 miles to go, I wasn't about to give up.

I was running alone, with no one cheering me on (I'm not having a pity party, just stating the facts), so by the last 1 mile stretch I was sorta wishing I had a partner to motivate me. Lo and behold, my wish was granted. This girl, who I'd been pacing for a while, was also running alone, and we sorta just "bonded" in our last mile. We only said about 20 words to each other, because frankly, it's hard to speak in full sentences after running for so long, but we really kept each other going. It was in the last 100 yards or so that she really pushed me, saying "C'mon! We can DO this!" and we both picked it up several notches and crossed the finish line together. I never did catch her name...only her number: 142. Thank you, 142, for your support and encouragement!

I fought the good fight. I ran the good race. And I kept the faith.

My biggest fans were waiting for me (half naked or in mismatched jammies) when I pulled in the driveway this morning:

is someone feeling outnumbered?

2008-07-25T20:36:00.001-07:00

Micah's looking a little freaked-out...

Don't worry, buddy. Someday you'll appreciate this!

she's on the move

2008-07-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

In a matter of two days, our house has managed to get even crazier that it already was. How this could happen can only be attributed to one thing, and that thing just happens to weigh 18 lbs, have big blue eyes and a smile that could charm a rock. You guessed it - Chloe.

Chloe has always been a busy baby, grabbing at things from the moment she had any sort of control over her little hands. We always assumed she'd be the baby that crawled at 6 months, but fortunately for us, she held out longer than that. I think, though it's amazing how quickly details are forgotten, she started sitting really well around 5 months, and for at least a couple of months, she was content to sit around and watch her older sisters ~~fight~~ play. But the days of contentedness are soon to be forgotten. Chloe has become very vocal about feeling "left out" of situations and gets downright angry if she's left sitting on the opposite side of the room with a pile of toys while the older girls are playing a game of Candyland. I knew it was just a matter of time...

Last night as I was preparing dinner, I left Chloe in the living room playing with her toys on the floor, assuming there wasn't anything she could choke on, electrocute herself with, or possibly pull on top of her head. She was safe and sound, chewing away on the edge of her book. About one minute later, as I'm stirring food on the oven, I hear a squawk not 5 feet from me. I look down to see Chloe, smiling at me on all fours. She had crawled across the living room and positioned herself just at the top of our stairway - um, let me rephrase that - our ungated stairway - in the kitchen. Naturally, I instantly felt the knotinmystomach, imagining all the potential things that could've happened in less than a blink of an eye. Thankfully her little squawk saved her from her first major tumble down the stairs...and my first heart attack that would've gone along with it.

Now that she can get around, there's no stopping her. In two days she went from sitting, with hardly attempting to move, unless it's to purposely tip so she can roll over to a toy, to this:

And if she spots something she wants from across the room, like my camera strap for example, she makes a beeline for it.

She realizes, after the long trek across the room, that's she's getting rather tired...

She's had ENOUGH and fusses and cries and wants Mommy to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way...but WAIT, Chloe...Look!

She lifts her heavy head, blurry-eyed from tears, and sees it dangling all but a few inches from her face...

...And she thinks: "I made it and now I claim it! It's MINE!"

We're really in for it now, aren't we?!?

something to be proud of

2008-07-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

As I was reading books with the girls tonight, Britten slid off the couch and announced that "she'd be right back. She had to go potty."

Literally 5 seconds later...

Britten: "Mommy, I'm done!"

Me: "Already?! Are you sure?!?"

Britten: "Ya. I'm the fastest pooper ever!"

No kidding.

minus one

2008-07-21T13:56:00.001-07:00

The last two days around our house have been very quiet. The dynamics have drastically changed and things have been...peaceful. This is for one reason, and one reason alone: there's no sibling rivalry to be had.

We dropped Ella off with my mom on Saturday night at my sister's house, who then took Ella and my niece, Evie, up north to stay with her and my Dad until Wednesday. This "adventure" to Grandma's has become an annual tradition, with them doing the same thing last summer.

We miss Ella dearly, but knowing she's having a blast (going to the County Fair, swimming at the local Community Center and going on a boat ride on Grandpa's boat are just a few of the fun outings they have planned while at Grandma's) and the fact that the drama levels in our house, if only temporary, have significantly decreased, has made the last couple of days fly by.

We took advantage of only having the two youngest girls by taking them for a walk around the lake with B.O.B, our trusty jogging stroller. It was such a nice, relaxing walk, with no squabbling, screaming or pulling of hair. What a change from our normal, day-to-day life.

For as nice and manageable as the last couple days have been (Even with my husband out of town, I made it to church 20 minutes early yesterday!), we're looking forward to getting Ella back home on Wednesday. Britten, in particular, is missing her partner in crime.

Here's a few pictures from our outing today:

She looks lonely up there, doesn't she?!?

Either this tree stump looks MUCH bigger than it really was or Britten looks MUCH smaller than she really is (it's the wide angle lens on my husband's new camera)...Either way, I would NEVER put my daughter in a dangerous situation where she could take a tumble and break her little bones.

This is a more accurate view of stump, with Britten standing inside of it!
While my husband kept taking pictures of Britten, asking her to smile, she kept saying, "Why are you doing this?!?"

marathon mommies:(bi)-weekly log

2008-07-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Ladies - How's it going? I hope the summer heat and humidity hasn't been slowing you down! I know it's hard, believe you me, I KNOW! But hang in there, because our training is over half over and the light is just around the corner! The "light" being the day after the 1/2 marathon, when we can finally kick off our running shoes and take a little break!

Through this training, I've determined one thing: I will not stop running. Ever. I've always loved running, but over the last two months, my body has started to need it on an almost daily basis.

I'm going through a time in my life where telling you I'm not getting much sleep is an understatement. It's because of this reason that my patience is thin and my emotions are a little out of control. I can tell you, that without a doubt, running has given me the energy to get through this "rough" patch of life.

I know it seems twisted - that exerting my exhausted, drained and tired body could actually GIVE me the energy I need to get through the day - but it DOES! And I'm so grateful for it. Grateful that God has given me the health and strength that I need in order to pursue my training.

Life is crazy. Life is so, so busy. But no matter what, I've been making time for my runs. My husband has been a wonderful support and very flexible with my training schedule. I had my 8-mile run, which I did on Friday, and he dropped me off at a local lake to run and he took the girls to the park by the lake for a "photo shoot." I couldn't do it without him, that's for sure.

I have a 5k race scheduled for this Wednesday and a 10k race schedule for Saturday. I'm excited for both of them and look forward to getting a couple races under my belt before the BIG run in September.

So, tell me, how's your training or your running going? It's so motivating to hear from each and every one of you and I'm excited to be on this journey with you, whether you're running a marathon or not!

alive and well

2008-07-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who still check my blog, all 2 of you, I'm finally back! Back from nowhere in particular...Just back on my blog again.

Though my last post sorta gave the impression I was heading out of town on vacation, I have not been spending the last (almost) 3 weeks relaxing in the sun with my family and soaking in the beautiful rays. That "getaway" lasted a mere 2 1/2 days. Nor have I been held against my will, unable to make contact with friends, family, but most importantly, the blogging community. I assure you that I am safe, sound and very happy. Enjoying life to the utmost.

Here's a little proof :

This picture of me and Chloe was taken 2 days ago (by my husband's new camera, the Canon 5D, because I know some of you might be wondering....).

If I haven't been on vacation or held against my will, where have I been?!?!

If I gave you every last detail, that answer would become much too long and quite possibly very boring. Let's just say that I've been very, very busy. Life has taken my in many different directions over the past couple of weeks, and as each day passed, I became more and more overwhelmed by the idea of sitting down and documenting our fun and crazy daily adventures. Quite frankly, I decided if I was ever going to post on my blog again, I had to just sit down and do it.

So, here I am. I'm back. And even though we've had some of the busiest and funnest weeks of the summer, I won't bother with the details. I'll start fresh. From today. I'm back, alive and well for the world to see!

holiday plans

2008-07-02T20:43:00.001-07:00

Though our first thought was to huddle in and stay home over the holidays, we changed our mind last minute and decided to join my sister and her family as they celebrate up north with my parents. Yes, the same parents I've visited like 3 times in the last 2 months, and will be visiting again and again throughout the summer. Traveling up north this often is not the norm for me, and it seems crazy that I've made the trek so many times with gas as ridiculously high as it is, but I've had good reasons for each trip. So we're leaving tomorrow and heading north to hang out with family, spend time at my brother's lake cabin and watch the local fireworks. I'm expecting it to be fun, but that solely depends on how well the girls sleep. It's a hit or miss when we travel. Not sure I'll be blogging while away for the holidays. I know I've been away from my blog a lot lately, and for as much as I wish I had time and energy to blog about my life and daily happenings, I just don't at the moment. So much to do, so little time. A girl's work is never done, is it (It has to be said that once I publish this post, I'm heading to the utility room at 10:50pm to finish folding my 5th load of laundry for the night)?!

marathon mommies: weekly log

2008-07-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

By now, you can pretty much guarantee I'll be a little late with posting my weekly log. Just bear with me! Things are going well and I'm happy to say that I bought a new pair of running shoes today. My feet were in desperate need of this purchase. Suffice to say, when I attempted my 7 mile run on Saturday, I fell short of finishing my run by about 1 1/2 miles. To spare you the gruesome details, I will only tell you my reason for quitting involved a very sore and bloody toe. Sorry, I guess that was still gruesome. Had my toes and shoes been in working order, I know I could've physically finished my run. But alas, I wasn't about to lose a toenail or do extensive damage to my foot just to run another 1 1/2 miles.

I took my new shoes out for a test run tonight and they felt mighty nice. New shoes always feel weird, so I know it will take a little time to get used to them, but I'm confident they're a good fit. Even though my calendar suggests taking time off over the holidays, I've decided I will continue my training through the weekend. I know if I don't, I'll be feeling it next week when I attempt to run 5 miles on Monday again.

That's not to say YOU should run over the holidays. Take some time off and enjoy it! You've been working hard and I'm proud of you!

alternative to the beach

2008-06-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

We were bored last night and it was hot......and like everything else, my girls don't like to do anything alone! So, here we go!

a sticky situation

2008-06-29T18:01:00.001-07:00

As a last minute decision, I decided to take my girls up north to visit my parents for the weekend. With my husband out of town again for a few days, I had the urge to leave for a while.

Before we headed home this afternoon, I explained to the girls that if they behaved for the first two hours of the trip, we could stop and get a sucker as a nice little treat to enjoy for the remaining hour-long drive.

Sure enough, the girls did great, so I made a quick pit-stop at a gas station to pick up a couple suckers. As I was perusing the aisles for a Tootsie pop, the only suckers I could find were the SUPER blow-pops, SUPER meaning they were at least twice the normal size. I wasn't about to back down on my promise to the girls, so I grabbed two SUPER pops to go. At first glance, the girls literally gasped they were so excited. I can't say I felt the same.

As the girls worked on their suckers, Britten kept telling me she was getting "all sticky," and that she would need "a little bath when we get home." I acknowledged her of course, but because she sits two rows behind me, I wasn't paying much attention to the sticky mess unfolding in the backseat.

In fact, it wasn't until I opened the van doors and Britten stumbled out of the back that I realized, to my horror, the "sticky situation" Britten had gotten herself into with that SUPER blow-pop:

My husband and I actually found it so funny we were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes. Fortunately for clean-up sake, our older daughter did a much cleaner job of finishing of her sucker.
Not sure I'll be making that purchase again anytime soon!

Note: I'm relieved to say that with a nice, long bath and a lot of picking and scrubbing, we were able to undo Britten's "sticky situation."

satisfaction absolutely guaranteed (unless you don't like avocado or cilantro)

2008-06-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

Primarily eaten as salsa, but also enjoyed as an everyday salad, try this recipe and I guarantee you'll never be the same!

Cowboy Salsa:

1 Can of black-eyed peas (thoroughly rinsed)
1 Can of Corn niblets (drained)
2/3 c. chopped cilantro
2/3 c. chopped green onion
1 c. chopped tomato
2 c. cubed avocado

Dressing:
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp cumin

Mix ingredients in large bowl, adding dressing last and mix well. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving. YUMMO!

monster cookies

2008-06-25T13:08:00.001-07:00

Remember these beautiful and very tasty creations?

Because a dear friend asked, and because I know she's probably having some pretty major cravings nowadays, I decided I'd happily post my Monster Cookie recipe just for her!

Monster Cookies:

3 eggs
1 1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. corn syrup
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. peanut butter
4 1/2 c. rolled oats
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. m & m's

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a very large bowl, beat the eggs
3. Add the remaining ingredients in order, mixing well
4. Use an ice cream scoop to put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

***Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes to prevent crumbling.

ENJOY and try not to eat the whole batch in one sitting!

the workings of a two year old

2008-06-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

While driving home from picking my girls up from Vacation Bible School yesterday, I was trying to pick Britten's brain about everything she learned that morning. Britten's a little young to participate in VBS, missing the age deadline of turning 3 by several months. But I felt Britten would really enjoy and benefit from attending VBS as I've personally witnessed her do similar things alongside Ella during Ella's preschool year and absolutely love it. So after much ~~begging and pleading~~ kindly asking, the director of Children's ministry agreed to let Britten attend.

After a short bout of tears while dropping her off with Ella yesterday, Britten joined right in and had wonderful morning. When I picked them up, 2 1/2 hours later, I could tell, from big pouty lips and tired eyes, that Britten was exhausted and a little crabby.

So, here I am, driving home with the girls, happily trying to pry any bit of information out of Britten. "How was your day? What did you learn? Did you sing any songs? Did you get to eat a snack?"

On any normal day, Britten would be bouncing up and down in her car seat, spilling out answers at a million miles a minute. But yesterday, she was different. She was quiet.

Finally, out of the blue, Britten said:

"Mommy, stop talking!"

Whoa...you can imagine my surprise by that response. It was a little rude, which of course, caught me off guard, but more than anything I was shocked that Britten wouldn't talk to me!

So, acting hurt, I decided to play along.

"Fine, Britten...I'm zipping my mouth shut and not talking the rest of the way home!"

Her eyes got as big as saucers. Within a millisecond, the "old" Britten was back, talking away, a million miles a minute, trying desperately to get me to talk! But, I wouldn't. I just drove, looking straight-ahead, not saying a word. Finally, a frustrated Britten said:

"Mommy, put your mouth back on and TALK!"

And with that, we enjoyed a friendly conversation the rest of the drive home.

***On a side note, I'm beginning to think Britten IS still a little young to enjoy a full week of VBS. Apparently, when my husband picked her up today, Britten's teacher kindly mentioned that Britten didn't want to participate much of the morning and instead, preferred to be held. I'm not sure we'll be sending her back tomorrow, if not for Britten's sake, at least for the sake of her teacher's poor arms.

marathon mommies: weekly log

2008-06-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm pretty horrible at this whole weekly log thing. I know I totally forgot, well, I didn't forget, I just didn't have the time last week to post a weekly log before we left for Colorado. The good news is that I'm much better at the whole running side of things and have only missed one day of my scheduled runs.

I did, however, miss the 10k on Saturday I intended to run and instead ran my own "race" around the neighborhood. It was a tough decision, but because we had just returned home from Colorado and a 5-hour drive from picking up the older girls from Grandma, I determined that loading the girls back in the van the very next morning for yet another 3 hours wasn't a wise decision.

I do admit, as I'm into my 4th consecutive week of training, that I'm becoming less enthused about my almost daily runs. That's not to say I'm quitting, because I'm not, I'm still very excited about accomplishing my goal of running the 1/2 marathon at the end of the summer. I just feel the "excitement" of starting something new has worn off a little and it's becoming more of a chore. I'm supposed to run 8 miles this Saturday, which I'm confident I CAN do, but with my husband out of town again, I'll have to run this long trek on the treadmill at the gym. YUCK! I'm at least very fortunate to have childcare at my gym so I have the option of getting out of the house and running during daylight hours (as opposed to jumping on my own treadmill after bedtime hours).

While in Colorado last week, I did continue my training, though I did slack a little and only ran about 2 miles each day. I felt I deserved a little break with being on vacation and all, or if that's just a lame excuse for laziness, I figured the high altitude made up for the difference in miles I missed (or is that a lame excuse for laziness?). Either way, I did run but was shy a few miles of what my calendar suggests. It was because of this, I found myself struggling while trying to run 6 miles on Saturday. I guess it pays to keep the momentum going...

Aside from desperately needing new running shoes, my training is going well. I'm physically feeling the benefits already and am excited to see the strides (no pun intended!) I make in the coming weeks. I do look forward to running my first race in July as I think that will be the true test on my strength and endurance.

One's things for sure: Having the accountability and support from my fellow marathon mommies has made all the difference in the world for keeping me motivated, so THANK YOU, to all of you!

my idea of a perfect start to the morning

2008-06-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

the day of sabbath and not a lot of rest

2008-06-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

The Day of Sabbath, traditionally known for a day of rest. I wonder when, exactly, that particular tradition ceased to exist. In today's society, weekends are exceptionally busy for most, each person trying to cram all they possibly can into two short days. Each hour planned down to the minute, so that time can be used efficiently and productively. And in the end, this cycle creates more chaos and stress, which is ironic, considering the weekend is our supposed "time off."

I'm not one to talk, because Saturdays and Sundays tend to be my busiest days. My husband's job requires him to travel sporadically during the week, but more often than not, he's gone on the weekends. While most are anxiously awaiting Friday's arrival, I dig my heels in, knowing the craziness has only begun. And Monday, the day dreaded by all, happens to be my favorite day. It's usually the day we welcome the man of the house home, with open and very tired arms. So yes, weekends are busy for me and I have no option but to stay busy, making it impossible to enjoy a day of rest.

While most may think I'm crazy, I don't mind being home alone with my children. I much prefer a busy day to a day of doing nothing, and of course, being home alone with three little ones under the age of 4 keeps me on some very busy toes. I try to keep it fun and interesting for my girls, though I do keep in mind that children benefit from having a day of rest and relaxation more than anyone. That is why, when contemplating loading my girls up for the weekend and driving them 3 hours north, less than a day after getting home from spending a week with the Grandparents (or in Chloe's case, toted around the nation), I opted to stay home with them. It was a hard decision for me, knowing that staying home meant not running in the 10k race I had signed up for, but I knew in my heart of hearts it was the best decision...for them, at least.

So yesterday, our Sabbath, was in a way, a day of rest, though it began bright and early at 5:00am. After going to church and working in the nursery all morning, me and the girls enjoyed some quality time at home. We ate a ~~relaxing~~ not-so-relaxing lunch together, because really, how can you relax when you're trying to feed a 4 and 2 year old who don't understand the concept of sitting still at the table, all the while trying to puree peas and bananas for the hungry little baby, who in the end, gagged on the peas and only nibbled on the bananas. Somehow I found the time to mix together a quick lunch for me, but I can guarantee I ate that lunch standing up, between throwing food on the table for the older girls and attempting to squeeze food between Chloe's pursed lips.

The afternoon and evening were much more enjoyable. Britten and Chloe took good naps, while Ella and I put together a puzzle and enjoyed interesting conversation. When they woke up, I decided it'd be fun to make cookies together, all 4 of us! Why on earth I thought it'd be fun is beyond me, but it did turn out to be an interesting little endeavor, and at least the end product turned out scrumptious. Here's a little taste of our afternoon:

It began a little like this....

...and with the help of these big girls...

...and this little one (given the fact Chloe is 7 months old, she did not actually participate in the measuring or mixing of the ingredients, but she did a darn great job of sitting quietly in the laundry basket* and looking cute)!

It came together like this...

...and ended like that!

* In case you're wondering about the laundry basket, I find it to be a more comfortable place for Chloe to sit while we're in the kitchen together. She finds her highchair confining, and because of a few instances of her head hitting the hard, tile floor, I needed to find a better and safer alternative to sitting on the floor.

colorado

2008-06-21T14:07:00.001-07:00

We're back! We've actually been home since late Thursday night, but between settling back into our normal routine, unpacking and cleaning our house and my husband leaving town again, I haven't had a spare minute to post anything about our trip.

In a nutshell, the trip was great. The main purpose of going to Colorado was to visit our friends, Kris & Natalie. Kris is my husband's best friend from his college years, and Natalie and I became really close while my husband and I dated. Sadly (for us), they moved away to pursue other things around the time my husband and I married and have since had 3 kids (sound familiar?!). When they settled in the Boulder area two years ago, we vowed to visit them.

My worries and stress about traveling with Chloe were all in vain. She was, hands down, the best baby in the world and handled everything, and I mean everything, in stride.

Here's an example of how well Chloe did on trip out to Colorado. In fact, both there and back, she nursed on the runway, filling her tummy for the trip home, fell asleep the instant we took-off, and woke up, two and a half hours later, the moment the wheels touched the ground. I was absolutely amazed and so was everyone around us! We were so proud of her!

Kris and Natalie went above and beyond the call of the "gracious host" duty! Between allowing us to stay at their home and being our personal taxi, and the fact that we used our frequent flier miles to buy our airplane tickets, this was the cheapest vacation ever! They also planned our days with fun "Colorado" adventures...

...and it began the very night we arrived by going to a Colorado Rockies baseball game!

As you can see, Chloe was a huge fan...

..and despite being a little tired from our trip, loved every minute of the game!

We spent the next day in Estes Park, seeing the beautiful sites, visiting the historic Stanley Hotel where the movie "The Shining" was produced, and enjoying the best darn pizza and homemade ice cream I've ever eaten in my life!
Here's the view from the porch of the Stanley Hotel. Notice the handy contraption on my husband's back? We borrowed that from our neighbor, who coincidentally, used to live in Colorado. They assured us, that after using that backpack for a few days, we'd love it so much we'd want to have three more kids...

Not. :)
We spent our last night in Colorado hanging out in downtown Boulder. It was, by far, the coolest atmosphere and some of the most fun we've had in a long time. Notice the red double stroller in the background? This was "home" to Chloe and Jocelyn, Kris and Natalie's 2 1/2 month old, for most of our trip. Boulder is such a unique city, with live music and street entertainers lining the corners. They also had a farmer's market, where we enjoyed some wonderful food and did a little wine tasting.

Here we are...The three of us. Enjoying our last night together before heading home to reality.
Chloe was plum wore out by the time we left, not even moving a muscle while sleeping on the trip home.

Like I said, it was a great trip with memories we'll cherish! It was nice to get home, though, and reunite with Ella and Britten. We missed them to pieces, and though it helped to fill the void by spending time with Kris & Natalie's kids, we aren't complete unless we're a family of 5!

what it means to be a nurse

2008-06-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

The following conversation is one that I shared with Ella about her time spent at Grandma Patty and Grandpa Dave's house:

Me: "Ella, did Grandma Patty take you and Britten to the hospital to visit with old people?"

Ella: "No. But after we leave, Grandma is going to work at the hospital and help nurse people." (Grandma Patty works as a nurse.)

Me: "Do you know what it means to be a "nurse?"

Ella. "Yes. Grandma is going to help nurse babies."

and we're off!

2008-06-16T09:35:00.001-07:00

We officially began our vacation last night by dropping the older girls off with Grandma Patty and Grandpa Dave. We met halfway to avoid either us of us having to make the entire 5 hour trek, and fortunately for us, we were able to stretch our legs and fill our tummies at the Golden Arches.

By the look on my face, it's pretty obvious I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of scarfing down a greasy cheeseburger, but the girls certainly didn't mind the food and of course, LOVED the Playland.
Grandma & Grandpa got the girls home by 11:30pm, and after talking with them first thing this morning, we learned they crashed and went right to sleep after the long drive. Even so, they woke up bright and early, rearing to go, at 7:30am. As always, Grandma Patty was prepared with an itinerary of a fun-filled day.

First things first. Clean off the playhouse!Then they were off to take their new "wheels" for a spin!Like I said, already a fun-filled morning! I love seeing their smiling faces! Is it pathetic to admit that I already miss them to pieces!

We haven't left yet for Colorado, but we leave for the airport in an hour or so. I'm hoping to to blog from the mountains, but I'm not sure time will allow for such a thing!

For those of you wondering, I AM going to try and run while we're in Colorado, but I'm afraid of the altitude kicking my butt! We'll see what happens!

spoiled

2008-06-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

I'm the first to admit that I'm the stricter parent between me and my husband. Whether it's discipline or snacks, the girls much prefer Daddy's method to Mommy's. Daddy has a hard time saying no to his girls, when they give him the doe eyes and say "pretty please." So when one of them complains that their sippy cup is "too cold to hold," Daddy goes above and beyond (as always) to please his little princesses:

In case you're wondering, this is Britten's sock stretched over the cup (and somehow, he's managed to use Chloe's little socks for this same purpose before). Oh, Daddy, you've outdone me again!

traveling not-so "light" with a "light"weight in tow

2008-06-13T12:55:00.001-07:00

Our trip to Colorado next week will be the first vacation in which I've flown with one of my children. I know that seems impossible, considering we have a 4 1/2 year old, but really, it's true. I can count on one hand the number of times I've flown since having children, and when I have, I'm flying strictly for childless vacation purposes.

I always end up sitting next to a mom and her baby, or right across the aisle from a family with small children. I can assure you I am not the person rolling my eyes or grumbling under my breath about the crying baby or the screaming toddler. I am the understanding mother, trying my best to relieve the tension with an empathetic smile. But under that smile, I am always pondering the same thought, "Someday that will be me - the frazzled mom with a screaming baby or a tantrum-throwing toddler - and I absolutely dread that day."

That dreaded day has finally come, and truthfully, I'm excited about traveling with Chloe. I think she'll manage fine with the flight and our Colorado adventure. Chloe's very adaptable and is known to "go with the flow." But as I prepare for our trip, I'm becoming absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of "baby stuff" we need to bring in order to sustain Chloe for 4 measly days. I thought it was rough for me, as a woman, to travel light ("Yes, hubby, I NEED 8 pairs of shoes, because you just never know, you know?!"). But for some reason, my 18 pound baby puts my packing habits to shame. Here's what I mean...

Things to pack for Chloe:

4 summer outfits
2 winter outfits, because in Colorado, it could snow in June
4 onesies
2 pair of socks
shoes/sandals
3 sets of pajamas - 1 warm, 2 cool
coat
sweatshirt
bathing suit
swimming diapers
sun hat
sun screen
hair clips - you know, to keep her "wisps" out of her eyes
baby shampoo
diapers
wipes
ointment
medicine (Tylenol & teething medicine, because you just never know!)
2 nuks
baby food, because in recent days, Chloe's been eating food
baby spoon
bib
a few toys
car seat for the rented car
baby back-pack carrier, borrowed to us by our wonderful neighbors
nursing cover, though it does little to no good nowadays, as Chloe gets SO irritated by it and ends up pushing it out of her face.
burp cloths

Things I should pack for Chloe, but won't:

pack'n'play
booster seat
stroller
breast pump, because you never know when that would come in handy!
nail polish to paint her cute little toe nails (I'm kidding on that one. I'll be packing nail polish for sure. :) j/k)

Yowsers. I'm sure I'm forgetting some important necessities, and if I am, please let me know. My brain's a little fried right now.

a little vacation and a not-so-little spider bite

2008-06-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is a week of preparation for us...Well, preparation and spider bites.

While up north visiting my parents, Britten was bitten by a spider on her leg. We believe this happened while she was sleeping on the floor of my parents bedroom, but have no definite answer, and really, it doesn't matter when it happened. What matters is that the bite got infected and we had to rush Britten to the doctor on Wednesday, two days after she was bitten, with an oozing bite mark and a swollen leg. The doctor was quite concerned, to say the least, but she immediately started Britten on a round of antibiotics and told us to watch Britten carefully, and if she develops a fever, bring her right back.

When Britten woke up on Thursday, she seemed much better. As the day progressed, she started complaining of a headache, stomachache and kept telling us she was really tired. Britten is our little busy-body-wiggle-worm, so for her to complain of being tired and asking to to go to sleep, was totally out of character and really worried us. We called the doctor, but because Britten didn't have a fever and the bite mark seemed better, there wasn't much need for concern. But by 10:00pm last night, Britten did have a fever and it had spiked to over 104. Back to the ER we went, or more precisely, Daddy and Britten went. I stayed home with sleeping Ella and sleeping Chloe, knowing Chloe would soon not be sleeping and want her Mommy. Long story short, blood tests came back normal (thank God!) and it didn't seem the fever was related to the spider bite. They determined she had a viral infection as her throat was red and a little swollen. This diagnosis made sense as I've been sick with a sore throat and no voice for the last three days. Poor Britty. An infected spider bite and a viral infection to boot. She's doing much, much better today though, and with a good nap and full night sleep tonight, I'm expecting to have my "busy-body-wiggle-worm" back to normal in no time.

So as I mentioned earlier in the post, this is a week of preparation for us. Andy and I are leaving the older girls with Grandma Patty and Grandpa Dave, and taking Chloe (because it certainly wouldn't be fair to leave an almost exclusive-nurser and horrible sleeper with Grandma for 4 days and nights) with us to Boulder, Colorado. We are dropping the girls off with Grandma and Grandpa this Sunday, and Monday morning flying out to Colorado to visit friends and enjoy an almost childless vacation through Thursday. We're totally pumped and are really looking forward to some time away. For as much as I love my little Chloe and know she'll be a little trooper for us, we won't have a REAL vacation until we can get away from all three of our girls at once and have the free time to lay in the sun, read books until our eyes bug out and actually get a full night of sleep. :)

marathon mommies: weekly log

2008-06-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a day late with posting my weekly accountability post. I was out of town for a few days with the girls, visiting my parents, while my husband was home, working hard on projects around the house. For those of you with children, you can relate with how impossible it is to get tasks done when you have the little ones at your heels. We have several big summer projects we need to finish in the upcoming weeks, and for as much I'd love to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty, my husband is much more capable and efficient with these sort of things, so I'm left with the responsibility of keeping the kids out of his hair (or lack thereof). So off to Grandma's and Grandpa's we went for a 2 1/2 day adventure!

Overall, I had a great first week of training. I ran every scheduled run, with the exception of today, and pushed myself a little harder than my "calendar" recommended, knowing I have to be ready for a 10k in a couple of weeks.

Today was supposed to be a 4 mile run, and like I said, I didn't do it. I was out of town until this afternoon, and after one of the longest trips of my life with the girls, I couldn't muster up the energy to do it. I do, however, plan to "make-up" the run sometime this week, so I'll keep you posted on my next weekly log.

I wish I had the energy to write a little more, but I don't, and my brain is shut...t...i...n...g d...o...w...n.

Yawn. I'm going to go eat some ice cream and go to bed. I deserve a reward after all my running, wouldn't you agree?

How about you...How was YOUR week?

a lot of juggling and a little yo-yo action

2008-06-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

The last two days has consisted of a lot of quality girl time. With Daddy out of town for a couple days, it's been me and my girls. With a forecast of dreary weather, I woke up yesterday morning wondering how we were going to fill our time without the option of playing outside or going to the park. I got out of bed, sat down at my laptop with my coffee in hand (Because without my morning cup of coffee, I'm worthless. It's a horrible addiction.), and typed in the local library web address.

The library is such a great place to enjoy cheap (by cheap, I mean free) fun. Up until recently, I wasn't one to keep a good eye on the price of entertainment, particularly for children. I'd go to the local zoo, drop $30.00 - $40.00, and not even think twice about it. But my reality changed, along with my perspective, when a month ago, my husband left one of his jobs to fully commit his time and attention to his other career. He had been juggling essentially two full time jobs, one in which required him to travel, since we had Britten. He did this primarily so I could be home with our girls and we wouldn't have the stress of losing my income. Suffice to say, over time, he started to burn-out and began to feel the stress of spending too much time away from our family. He made the emotional and difficult decision to quit one career to focus on the other, and in the process, met his primary goal of being home more with our family. Of course this meant losing one income, but in the end, we realized that being on a tight budget and having more time as a family far outweighed having more money in our pockets. We are slowly becoming accustomed to living on our new and improved budget, and quite honestly, I carry less guilt about spending money frivolously.

So like I said, a library is a great place for cheap entertainment, for adults and kids alike. Reading is a personal passion, so walking into a room with rows and rows of free books is like a little taste of heaven on earth. By the look on my girls faces when we walk through the library doors, I know they feel the same way.

When I opened their website yesterday morning, I noticed they had "Dave the Yo-Yo Master" performing at 10:30 that morning! What could be more fun than taking the girls to watch a man yo-yo for an hour? Don't answer that. Considering it was only 8:00am, I knew I had enough time in my morning to get everyone ready and out the door in time. We quickly ate breakfast, took showers, got ready - Chloe took a quick nap -- and we were out the door with just enough time to get to the library, take our seats on the floor (among 1,000 other kids) and see "Dave the Yo-Yo Master" start his little act. I wish, wish, wish I had pictures to share, but I don't. My husband took the camera for the weekend, so I guess you'll have to take my word for it. We WERE there and watched most of the yo-yo show, until my girls got bored and asked if we could go read instead. :) It was a fun-filled, and most importantly, FREE, morning at the library.

I woke up this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see the sun in the sky. I was thrilled for the warmer weather as I had big plans in store for us. Today marked our neighborhood's 35th Annual Community Garage Sale, where over 100 home owner's participate and the event draws close to 10,000 people every year. The main street that runs through our neighborhood resembles that of the main drag of the State Fair, with Sweet Corn, Brats, Cotton Candy and Pop booths lining the streets, and hoards of people walking in every which direction. I'm not much of a garage-saler (is that a word?), but this event is so much fun and something I try not to miss.

I got the older girls in the wagon, lathered them in sunscreen, and gave them each a purse with 4 quarters in it. I put Chloe in my sling, and again, lathered her in sunscreen, and threw a big, pink, polka-dot hat on her head to block the sun from her eyes. She was so cute, with her big cheeks poking out from under the hat and her roly-poly legs and arms hanging from the sling.

As we walked through the neighborhood, among the crowd of people, I got the occasional comments like "She's really brave!" or "What is she thinking?" and the "Are you crazy?" stares, but that's to be expected. I underestimated the amount of work it would be, carrying my 18 lb baby in her sling, and pulling Ella and Britten in the wagon, all with the sun beating down on my head, that after 45 minutes or so, I decided to head back home. Though we didn't buy any garage sale items, I relented in letting the girls each buy chips and a donut with their money. Again, I wish, wish, wish I had pictures to document our morning together, but believe you me, Ella and Britten both had tummy aches to prove it!