State of the Family #23

Hunker down folks, this ones a doozy. . .you might have to split up your reading time or just skip it altogether, we really aren't that interesting.

So it happened. The baby of the family turned one and we all survived. What else has been going on? Not sure I really remember. Where has the time gone? Halloween was in there somewhere.

Here are my cuties (and a couple of friends/cousins) in their costumes.

Miss Thumb Sucker continues to toddle about with her poor broken arm in a splint. It will be weird to see her without it (but oh so much easier to get her dressed!) come Sunday when we can finally take it off. But, oh the stories we will be able to tell her! She is completely on whole milk and doing quite well. Even only having a bottle in the morning most days! And that is only because she still insists that she needs to eat at 5:30 am and mommy is too lazy to sit and feed her so I just give her a bottle to drink in her crib and go back to sleep. She drinks the bottle better than a sippy cup, so I know she'll go back to sleep with the bottle better than a sippy cup as well. I know, its terrible of me, but you can throw stones later! Her birthday party was a blast and she did great! She hardly made a mess with her cake and it took her quite a while to dig into her birthday pudding. She was spoiled by all our family and friends! She is very in to babies and puppies and stuffed animals right now. Always loving on them and giving them kisses. Every single animal is a "puh puh" and everything else is a "ba ba". This includes babies, bottles, cups and balls. She also started saying "pa pa" for grandpa we think. Either that or she is calling grandpa's puppies too. Its hard to tell at this point.

Miss Firecracker has become quite the artist the last couple weeks and thus has been banned from any type of writing or coloring utensil for quite a while. In the last two weeks she has taken a crayon to the carpet and our tile kitchen floor, a pencil to our bathroom tile floor, a colored pencil to our kitchen table and an ink pen to our banister wall. . . every time the crime has been followed by a spanking, a time out and her having to help in the clean up process. You'd think she would figure it out, but she continues to find random things and color away on something new, none of which seem to be paper. Heaven help me! On a positive note for my fiery red-head. She had her 2 1/2 yr check up (finally) and quite impressed our new pediatrician. When she asked if Miss Firecracker could count to three for her. . . I asked her to count to ten. Although Miss Firecracker was being shy and would not comply the Dr was quite impressed with the fact that she was able to do so (truth is she can really count to 12 without help!). She was also blown away by her knowledge of her ABC's, body parts, shapes, colors, ability to copy a circle and x mark, to dress herself and attempts to skip and hop. My ornery little girl is functioning closer to a 4-yr-old than a 2 1/2-yr-old (could this be why is is such a trouble-maker?). Thus concludes my bragging-on-my-babies section. :)

She was not impressed with carving pumpkins, but liked the end product!

Noisy Man has been quite the comedian the last couple weeks. A few of his comical quotes include "I just want what I want!" (during one of his own little fits in which he wasn't allowed to have yet another piece of Halloween candy), "Mom, we should have another baby so we can name him the Muffin Man" (yeah, good luck with that one honey!), and "We don't want the animals to get hurt and die, Mommy. We want to get to hunt them down!" (this one came from a conversation about litter, and a book we had read about how animals can try to eat litter and it can hurt them.) He has also had his fair share of fits lately as well. He has started yelling at the top of his lungs about how unfair his punishment for disobedience is and/or how he should be able to have something he has been denied. Not sure where this is coming from as he is usually my even-tempered, soft-hearted one. I am guessing from a lack of sleep mostly as he has still only had about 2-3 naps in the last month. It isn't for a lack of trying, but with preschool in the afternoons he doesn't take naps those days and on his non-school days I make him lay down for a nap, but he will not fall asleep. Either way I need to figure out how to end these rantings from both of my older children before they teach their baby sister how to do it as well.

He thought digging out the guts of the pumpkin was a great time!

Duck hunting has gone down hill for daddy the last few weeks. Not shooting much, but he still considers this one of the best seasons he has had in over 5 years, so I guess not all is lost. I just have to figure out a good way to cook up some of this new meat that has now entered my freezer. Most of the time it just sits there and we end up throwing it out. Now we move on to deer season. I like deer season best. It is much shorter than duck season and daddy isn't very patient with it. He usually shoots his deer by the end of opening weekend because he is already tired of sitting still for so long. I do like getting the very cheap meat as well since we have the majority of it made into ground meat to use in place of hamburger. It is also a much healthier alternative. If anyone is interested, he has two tags to fill, so if you want to process the meat, he would gladly shoot a 2nd deer for you!

I am on cloud nine today as I am no longer nursing and am not pregnant. Like I said in a previous post, this is a first in a little over 5 years for me! I am ready for the break, but I do miss the quiet time with my baby. Luckily, she is a cuddle bug so I still get in some good snuggles. Also on cloud nine as I am wearing a pair of my pre-pregnancy, "skinny" jeans (I put this in quotes since I would never consider my thighs to be skinny, but this is almost as small as they get). They are still a bit snug around the thighs, but with my legs I am accustomed to this. I am just thrilled to be able to wear them and not look like I had to jump off a building to get in them! We'll see if they still fit in a couple of months after no nursing and the holidays!! Speaking of holidays, Christmas #1 for us is just around the corner as we are celebrating it at Thanksgiving since my niece will be here from TX. I can proudly say I only have one more gift to buy for this one! It is nice to have almost 1/2 my shopping done! It will also be nice to take a little of the gift getting/giving pressure off my kids so we can focus a little more on Jesus. Speaking of Jesus, I am currently reading an awesome book that I highly recommend. It is called "A Modern Girls Guide to Bible Study" by Jen Hatmaker. If you have ever felt (or always felt) a little stuck in your personal Bible reading time or like you don't get much out of it, this book is great! I am only in the 5th chapter. I have already learned so much and have a new view on my quiet times and personal Bible Study. Read it!

I'm One!

I turn one today!






I have a splint on my arm and a buggery, stuffy nose, but it is still my birthday and I am going to enjoy it.

Not quite sure where the time went! As I sit here and type my baby girl has transformed before my eyes. She is no longer the tiny little thing we are just bringing home from the hospital, but instead she is standing by my knees playing peek-a-boo with me from behind my laptop. Time flies. uiiko'











7421

'WOWZA!!" Wednesday

This is what we did today. . .

It was a blast. They were so well behaved and we had such much fun creating, imagining and running around.

And then when we got home, this is what my kids insisted on doing. . . .

Seriously, they ASKED to vacuum. I didn't force it upon them or anything, really! Now if only they picked up their toys with such enthusiasm. Oh well, I'll live in the moment. I am one blessed mommy!!

State of the Family #22

Lots going on, but I am going to try and be brief. . . I'll let the pictures tell the stories!

Miss Thumb Sucker is walking all over the place now as long as she doesn't have on shoes! I put shoes on her and she just doesn't know what to do. It is kinda funny. The splint hasn't slowed her down a bit, that is as soon as we got it trimmed back far enough that she could still suck her thumb! Heaven forbid we lose our nickname. She also became a candy thief and thought she was quite funny when we were bagging up some treats for her upcoming birthday party. She is also eating like a small horse! I think she out-eats her big sister at most meals. She was quite intrigued with her first tractor ride with G'pa Gary and really had a good time. Peek at the base of his hat in the tractor pics and you'll see where the red comes from. His is a little faded due to some greys, but. . . .

Miss Firecracker is going on little sleep this last week for some reason, and she is like her mama. When we don't get sleep, watch out! So it has been a little rough around here with her. She is in a girlie mode too. Always wanting to wear dresses and lip gloss, boas and her dressy shoes. But like a friend of mine said, she is a tomboy with a tiara because she is right on the floor wrestling with her brother and playing tractors in all her pink and glitter glory. She loved the tractor and combine rides we took on Sunday with G'pa Gary. She actually fell asleep in the combine for a little while. This was the first time she got to ride in the combine and really had a great time.

Noisy Man continues on his no-nap streak and still wakes up at 6:30 am or earlier every day, with no exceptions for the weekend. Anyone know how to teach your kids how to sleep in? I would really like to know! He was all over the tractor and combine rides as well and was quite upset we couldn't stay all day and camp out in the combine like one of the other combine drivers' daughter was doing that day. His preschool teacher came last Friday for our home visit and gave us quite the insight! Really, it was just what we expected. He gets a little loud at times, LOL wonder how he got his nickname. He loves to play in the kitchen and they have to set a timer for him when he is at the computer. Yep, that's my boy. He also really only plays with the girls. Oh dear! I am in trouble all ready. They are going to start him and a few other kids on reading, so at least he is doing great there. I also need some tricks on teaching him how to recognize his numbers, we have done a lot of different things and he still doesn't know much past 4! I guess we'll keep working on that one.

Daddy continues to have good luck in the duck blind, which is great because that makes for a happy daddy! I bought him some new running shoes on my shopping trip so hopefully he will keep up with me on the treadmill.

I had a blast on my shopping trip with my sister and my aunt down to Kansas City. Got lots of great deals and even came home with some money! I am cramming to get everything planned for Miss Thumb Sucker's birthday party and also had a blast riding the tractor with my dad. It has been a VERY long time since I have done that.

State of the Family #21

Oh dear. . . almost 2 weeks again and there has been a lot going on around here. God is good and God gets us through that is for sure!!

Miss Thumb Sucker of course had her little mishap with brother, that ended with her arm in a splint. But she had some other fun stuff going on as well. She got to go on her 1st adventure to the pumpkin patch and was quite the trooper. She was along for the ride and hardly ever made a fuss. Which is amazing considering she did not take a nap until almost 3 o'clock that day! She is transferring to the sippy cup pretty well these last few days and only nurses at night and in the morning now. Still an almost walker, but not quite all the way there yet. She will take 6 to 7 steps as long as the destination in mind is relatively close, and of course exciting to get to. She didn't like the 2 days she couldn't crawl at all after she hurt her arm and before she got the splint on. She would be stuck in one spot unsure of how to move and just get MAD. It was kind of cute actually, but pathetic at the same time. She also started saying "puh puh" for puppy and "ba" for ball too. She has 2 more teeth on the top poking through as well, which is what I am hoping the early mornings have been coming from.

Miss Firecracker absolutely LOVED the pumpkin patch and everything it entailed. She was AMAZINGLY well behaved. Probably the best one out of the whole clan of 5 kids! I don't remember a single whine or fit from her at all. She was ready to go and even stopped to take pictures like a pro. She has also been talking non-stop lately. Don't get me wrong, she has always been quite the chatterbox, but the last week seems to be continuous. So far, it hasn't driven me nuts, but I can see if she keeps it up it just might. Right now it is just darn adorable all the things she comes up with. Today it was quite revealing all that she thinks she knows about Heaven and Jesus. . . she isn't naughty there, Jesus lives there, and she is going to go there all by herself like a big girl. There was much more to this little conversation that didn't make sense at all to me or her (when I would try to answer some of her questions to the best of my ability) but heck, Heaven is a hard concept for most seasoned Christians, let alone a 2-yr-old. I need to keep a record of all the crazy things that turn in her little mind!

Noisy Man hasn't had a nap in over 2 weeks. . . I think that covers it for him. OK, maybe not quite. He dropped his sister and cried harder than she did when he realized that she was really hurt. He was truly just trying to be helpful and keep his sister away from the toys he knows can hurt her. Thankfully, both have seemed to recover pretty quickly. He was all over the place at the pumpkin patch and not quite so well-behaved as his sisters. Mostly before lunch though. Pictures were cramping his fun-to-be-had style and he must have been hungry, cuz the rest of the day he was really quite agreeable. It is fun to take him to the same pumpkin patch for the 5th year in a row and see all the new things he can try every year. The first year we took him I think the only thing we did was take pictures of him! He also got to have his cousins come spend the night with him the night before we went and he thought that was great! I am getting anxious for our parent/teacher conference with his teachers this Friday! I hate not being able to know exactly what he is doing every day, and he isn't exactly a wealth of information when asked about his day at preschool. It usually goes a little like this; me: How was your day? NM: good. me: What did you do? NM: Played. . . . and so on and so forth. I think he learned this from my father. One word answers. Drives me bonkers!!

Hunting season (ducks that is) has begun and daddy is in 7th heaven! They have a new spot thanks to some friends of ours from church and they have had a great season so far. He actually shot his limit of birds by 10 am last Sunday. I think this is the first day he has bagged a limit in over 4 years. He has "burn" days left at work and is planning to burn them in his duck blind! He is also continuing to enjoy the treadmill almost as much as me and is getting his endurance up quite well. Maybe by next spring I'll convince him to run the Lincoln 1/2 with me!! Yeah right! He was a trooper as the only "dad" at the pumpkin patch as his sister's hubby had to sit out for harvest and his dad was still laid up by ACL surgery. Secretly, I think he really likes going anyway.

Me, I am still here. Praying through it all. I just don't see how mothers of young children make it in this world without God to lean on! I forgot to add into both the girls' spots that they had croup as well this week. So we have been hacking away around here. I had to say good-bye to one of my best friends after a depressing NE football game on Saturday. I ran a 15K in the Governor's Cup last Sunday and did great until mile 7 where my body decided it had had enough. My legs started cramping (I haven't had a cramp in my legs since High School) my lungs were burning and I felt like the little water I had during the race was going to come right back up. The last 2 miles were not pretty, and the rest of the evening was even worse. I'm not sure how I drove home without having to stop and I spent the rest of the night on the couch. Even got a slight fever. The next morning had a RAGING headache and was very, very thankful for an awesome hubby who took a couple hours off of work to let me sleep in. Then I got to spend the next 2 1/2 hours at the Dr.'s office diagnosing croup and getting Xrays! Not to mention all this time I should have been enjoying myself at MOPS! OK, now I am just complaining. God is good, isn't He! I am thankful I was able to enjoy a full day with my family at the pumpkin patch, able to even survive through 9.3 miles and still be able to walk at the end even though I felt a little worse for the wear. Thankful that my son cares enough about his baby sister to want to keep her safe, and that it is just a splint. Thankful that I have 3 amazing children I get to stay at home with and most of all thankful that they make me want to pull my hair out some days because that means they are healthy, normal kids! God is definitely good!

Tell All Tuesday

Brother tried to move me out of his legos and dropped me. . . Now I have some kind of a "buckle" in my forearm. . . just a step below a hairline fracture and have to wear this splint for 10 days.

Weary Wednesday

Truthfully, it should be weary first part of the week. Miss Thumb Sucker is throwing me for a loop again. Waking up at 5:30 every morning which is just enough time for me NOT to be able to go to back to sleep after I am done feeding her before my alarm goes off at 6:15. She is genuinely hungry most times though. I have found that if she isn't hungry I can lay her back down and she will go back to sleep, but if she wants to eat. . . there is no going back to sleep. And letting her cry it out is not an option at 5:30 am because it wakes the whole house up and there is no going back to sleep for anyone. Believe me. That is what started this whole weary week!

My other weariness is nursing. I have absolutely loved nursing all of my kids until they were a year old. Noisy Man I even did morning and night feedings until he was 14 months. Miss Firecracker 13 months and with Miss Thumb Sucker I am SO ready to be done! Perhaps it is because I have either been nursing or pregnant for the last 5 years and 3 months! Perhaps it is because she is a mean and restless nurser. She pinches me and pushes and pulls and wiggles and even bites every now and then. Why do I feel so guilty about wanting to be done? I think, honestly, part of it is a fear on my part as well about the fact that I won't have a bodily need for 300-500 extra calories per day any more and might blow up like a balloon!! YIKES!