Caught In The Act

Here is our J-boy, caught in the act of smiling for one of the very first times. There is some debate as to whether he was smiling at my dear hubby (who does seem to get the biggest grins from him) or whether he was all excited about his yellow sunshine toy, but either way, his smile lights up our hearts!

 

 

A Girl And Her Goggles

Last week at swim lesssons, Lorelin hit a major milestone. She floated on her back all by herself for the fist time!! She has been working on floating for months, but just couldn't seem to get completly relaxed in the water. Last week the swim teacher had the idea of trying goggles to prevent the water from getting in her eyes. Sure enough, they did the trick. Lorelin got her very first ribbon at her swim schol and was SOO excited!!!! She spent the entire next day "playing" swim lessons. I dug out a pair of goggles that we had in the bottom of our swim stuff, and she instantly adored them. She hasn't taken them off since. Here she is wearing them the first day I found them.

 

She has since worn them to meals, in the van (I won't let her take them in somewhere for fear they would get lost), in the bathtub, and ALL around the house. Here she is feeding J-boy on the couch yesterday - fully equipped, of course, with her swim goggles.

 

Who knows, they might come in handy when he spits up!
Anyway, at first, the goggles were just part of her imaginary play as she "swam" around the house puffing out her cheeks to hold her breath while she moved her arms. However, yesterday, Lorelin discovered that the goggles could double as a mask as she donned a pink sparkly cape and became, in her words - SUPER LORE-LIN!!!!

 

Now she could fly in the air AND swim under the water. Very impressive, huh?
This morning she stuck a straw in the band on one side of her head and stuck the tip in her mouth. It was her "snorkel" she said, as she pretended to dive under water to discover new fish.
I LOVE this little person and her goggles too!

Monday Moments

I love my K-Bug's imagination. She can spend hours pretending with her playsets or stuffed animals. And, as any preschooler does, she likes to give her characters made-up names to relate to each other with. However, these are not your average, run-of-the-mill names like "Karen" or "Ariel" or any of the other people names that you can think of.
These names are made up of a preschool language all their own.
And they crack me up! So, for the sake of sharing with you (and for my own remembrance) I got out a bucket of beanie babies the other day and asked K-Bug about the various names for each of the animals. Here she is posing with some of the animals.

 

I wrote down the names, and had a mini-photo shoot with some of the Beanie Babies. We had a great time! I wanted to share just a few with you now:
This is GOBBER - the Brown Bear

 

This is SPAT - the bat (I like how that just rolls off of the tongue, don't you?)

 

This is BARRALAH (she prounounced it BAR-E-LAH) the Elephant....

 

To be continued....

Songs From The Dishwasher

Have you ever seen the Three Amigos where they go and find the singing bush? That movie is one of my favorite-est movies EVER!!!

And that part entirely cracks me up….

Anyway, not that it really has anything to do with what I’m about to blog about except the thought of a singing dishwasher made me think of the singing bush and well….

Such is my mind. It’s like a busy intersection of fun.

Soooo….I was whining yesterday to God about well, all sorts of things really. My dear hubby and I have been talking about selling our house (and moving to who knows where, we just know for now we’re running out of room), and we can’t seem to agree on some of the details about if we should sell, when we should sell, yada, yada, yada….

I was probably whining about other things too, but I can’t remember what. What I do remember is that whilst I was having this little grip-session to God, that I was in the kitchen cleaning up after everyone had already gone to bed.

I had just turned on the dishwasher and it was whirring away with a rhythmic

Ka-chunka-chik, Ka-chunka-chik, Ka-chunk-chik


And, all of a sudden, a song entered my head perfectly in time with the rhythm of the dishwasher.

“Rejoice in the Lord always, and I again I say rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Re-jo-ice! Re-jo-ice! And again I say rejoice!”

Now, the reason that this particular song popped in my head has everything to do with the fact that we have a new Wee Sing Bible Songs CD in the van which my girls absolutely adore right now. And, while I think that these particular recordings of these Bible songs are done in a somewhat corny way, I do love the fact that my girlies are learning new Bible songs and LOVING it.

Anyway, let’s just say that I’ve been listening to the CD a lot…..and, at that moment, God used the truth of this little Bible song to pierce me right to the heart.

This song is taken directly from Scripture, where Paul says in Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, Rejoice!” To rejoice means to be exceedingly glad, and always, well, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation, does it? It means to do it all the time.

God is always big enough to throw whatever we have at Him, and he wants to know and hear our hearts, even if we are whining, but I believe that He desires to have us rejoice in Him, even when things are tough, and we don’t understand why things aren’t going exactly the way we thought they would or should.

It is definitely a reoccurring theme in my own heart and life that I don’t want to be one who constantly complains – to others or to God. Although there are times when it’s tough, I truly want to rejoice in Him.

Lord, you know my heart, and where it needs improvement. Come to me in this place in my life and fill my heart with rejoicing. Amen.

Do You Like It?

My very, very talented friend Tracy created my new blog page for me. It reminds me of one of her beautiful scrapbook pages that she creates – only this one is on my blog for everyone to see. Tracy has also recently started putting her graphic design services at an Etsy shop under the name of

 

I am SOO proud of my Sistechick! Tell your friends (and business associates too) to head on over to Yellow Dog Creative and check it out!

Feeling Better....

I am SOO glad that it’s Monday! It feels like a fresh start to a new week. Our past week was taken up largely with illness. Lorelin’s illness spanned a couple of days, and our carpet was largely worse for the wear. My ever-generous Mom offered to get our carpets cleaned the same day that she has hers done (this past Thursday), so once again, we have clean and happy carpet.The last time our carpet cleaner had seen me was the morning before I gave birth to Joshua, so he thought is was really fun to see how big our baby was already!
My dear hubby participated in the March For Babies with Team “Great” Dane on Saturday morning. He had such a great time! A big thank you to all who supported us and our friends the Robinsons in the March. Head over to Nicole’s blog to see some pictures and hear her take on day.
We spent Saturday afternoon at the park flying the girls new kite (Lorelin had gotten it as a get-well gift), and enjoying what’s left of Phoenix’s mild spring weather.

 

 

Sunday morning was church, and then home for looong naps on Sunday afternoon. We eneded the weekend with a barbeque dinner with my parents.
I am looking forward to a much more “normal” week…
Oh, and here's a picture of Mister J-boy at seven weeks old wearing his o-so-cute organic outfit from his Aunt A and Uncle B!! He's so stylin!

 

Sleep Is....

So highly overrated…I mean, I only got about a half- hour last night, and pssshhh….I…feel…fine…

Well…Ok…so maybe I really feel like something the dog buried in the backyard and then the cat dragged in, but really, at least I’m still upright, breathing, and tryping too (albeit with a few typos…)

I was washing bottles last night at 11:30 p.m. to get ready for a night of feeding J-boy when Miss Lorelin walked into the kitchen. I was tempted to be aggravated at her because she had had already a rough time getting settled into bed that night until I took a good look at her.

She was COVERED in um….yucky spit-uppey stuff…..from head to toe.

Poor thing! I immediately threw her in the bathtub and got her some fresh PJs. Her head felt a tiny bit warm, but she seemed otherwise happy-go-lucky after her adventure. I pulled my dear hubby out of bed after I saw the mess that was the bedroom carpet and her entire bed.

Unfortunately for all for all of us, the night was just getting started. Poor Miss Lorelin spent the next four hours heaving her poor little guts out every 10 to 20 minutes. She would, of course, beg for drinks in-between. Even small sips of water came instantly back up. About this time, the “tiny bit warm” on her head turned into a fever, complete with chills.

At 3:30 a.m., after about the 15th round, we decided to take her into Good Night Pediatrics for some relief. I called my Mom, who graciously threw on a pair of jeans and accompanied Miss Lorelin and I down to the urgent care.

Turns out that she has a rather nasty ear infection, which the doctors think caused the vomiting. The doctor said that sometimes the pain and equilibrium problems caused by an ear infection can set off nausea and vomiting.
He gave her some ear drops there in the office to help numb the pain, and wrote a prescription for some antibiotics. We set off to our local 24 hr Walgreens to fill the script, and then finally home around 5:30 a.m. where I fell into bed for a full half-hour before being woken up by a feverish Lorelin, a hungry Joshua and then a cheerful little Girl-Bug (who reports that she slept “great!”)

The good news is that we haven’t seen any more yuckies making a return visit today. Lorelin has been stuffing Pedialyte Pops down her mouth at an amazing rate, and after a three and a half hour nap this afternoon, she is still running a slight fever and looking a little wrung-out, but is doing altogether better.

I have managed to catch a few small snoozies here and there, and will be praying for a MUCH quieter night tonight – for all of us….

Top Ten Thursday

 

You Might Be The Mother Of A Preschooler If…

1.Your three year old throws up on your feet, and you are not COMPLETELY grossed out (however if it was anyone else’s throw-up, I would gag and throw-up too)
2.You cherish your time on the potty because it means that you get to be alone for three minutes (unless your child sticks her fingers under the door while asking, "Mommy, what are you doing in there?)
3.You can spend an entire day wiping bottoms and noses and STILL not be completely grossed out (notice I said completely….snotty noses still get to me)
4.You find yourself eating macaroni and cheese and dino nuggets for lunch too
5.You can carry on a normal phone conversation while changing a baby, preparing lunch, and finding your two-year old’s lost dolly
6.Your idea of a shopping spree is going to Walgreen’s for some carpet cleaner while your husband watches the kids (did you know they have some cee-ute clothes at Walgreens? Seriously…)
7.You find yourself lying in bed at night with the latest Veggie Tales song floating through your head (or whatever cartoon your preschooler likes)
8.The only kind of band-aids you own have cartoon characters on them
9.The Sunday morning sermon is one of the few quiet hours you have in the week – and you end up falling asleep… (which I will admit to perhaps nodding off once or twice when my babies were all young….sorry Scott!)

ANNND…NUMBER TEN…You Might Be The Mother Of A Preschooler IF

10. Your arms are full, but your heart is even fuller of little hands giving BIG hugs and LOTS of love!

Hanging Out.....

 

Here is Mister J-boy at almost six weeks old. You have to love the chubby cheeks and oh-so-squeezable leggers...:)

Mugs & Magnets

Prologue: I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who prayed for my family during my Grandma’s illness. After several weeks in hospice care, she graduated to heaven to be with Jesus three weeks after the birth of J-boy. I was not able to go and attend the funeral, but both my brother and sister and their spouses were able to come and be with my Mom and Dad, which was a big comfort to them. My parents were gone for about a week, and came home with boxes of stuff from my Grandma’s house. The contents of those boxes are what inspired this next post.


Of all the thoughts that my Mommy brain can think at the end of a day, right now I am thinking about magnets. Refrigerator magnets, to be exact. And not just any refrigerator magnets.
These are the magnets that occupied the space on my Grandma’s refrigerator. After viewing pictures of my Grandma’s house that my Mom had taken on her first trip down to Texas, I was flooded with a host of memories about my Grandma’s kitchen.
When my Mom asked me what I might like to have of my Grandma’s to help remember her by, I asked for only three things:
1.One of her quilts
2.A plaque that she had hanging in her kitchen AND
3.Her refrigerator magnets.
If I’d been thinking, I would have asked her to bring home her mugs as well, but more about that in a minute.
As it was, yesterday I found myself with a bucket full of my Grandma’s refrigerator magnets. Many of them had been hanging in her kitchen since my early childhood.
It was then, looking through these magnets,that a few tears finally fell as I allowed myself the time and space to fully realize that I won’t see my Grandma again on this side of heaven. Such memories…
The kitchen was the very heart of my Grandma’s home, and baking for us grandkids was one of the ways she loved on us. I remember a well-stocked cookie jar, lots of juice, and even little Dixie cups with pictures on them that she would buy for us kids whenever we came to visit.
And the magnets, I remember them SO well. Quirky magnets, silly magnets, pretty magnets.
I also remember mugs of various sizes and shapes. Although these are not as vivid in my mind, I know that she had several mugs that she loved to use over and over again.
As I was putting the magnets on my fridge, I realized that I have a similar love for mugs and magnets. It is the first thing I look for on a vacation – I have mugs and magnets from Sea World, Disneyland, different states I’ve visited, and different events I’ve been to. I especially cherish mugs and magnets given to me by my family and friends (my birthday is in May….hint, hint)
My fridge DOES look a little cluttered, but my magnets tell a story of the quirky person I am……
Just like my Grandma

Random Thoughts From My Baby Brain

I’ve probably started four or five different posts, only to be sidetracked by a crying baby, a toddler who needs me to help her go potty, or to listen to my preschooler’s drama about a broken toy. I truly miss blogging (so please hang in there with me – I’ll be back) but I also miss sleeping thru the night and having a clean (ok, well, cleaner) house, both of which I don’t expect to happen again anytime in the super near future.
I’ve also discovered that I’m more of a multi-taker than I thought. Trying to make dinner, entertain and/or discipline my girlies, and rock the baby to sleep is like trying to tap dance with china plates on my head – doable but tricky.

Who knew I was so skilled at dancing?

Speaking of dancing, I’ve been dancing everywhere since discovering my new ease of movement without a nine month pregnant belly. The other night in the kitchen, I whirled and twirled my way to the music on the radio (with no audience besides my Heavenly Father) – thanking the Lord for the return of a body that can move, jump, bend, and DANCE!

Don’t think I’m whining though – I wouldn’t trade these wonderful days for the world. Soon I’ll turn around, and my tiny baby will be a big boy. I know, because my baby girls keep trying to grow up on me.

I’ll be the first to admit that the first three months of a baby’s life are tough in so many ways. And while I will be glad to have a baby that sleeps more at night and smiles and coos throughout the day, I will enjoy cuddling my tiny baby right now – I will hold him close and kiss his soft downy head and pray for his future.

The laundry will still be there tomorrow....