Family dinner

"I feel like we should eat at the cemetery for this to be a REAL family dinner" -Caleb

Seriously, the kid knows how to melt my heart & make me cry.

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2011 Goals

No I don't have two thousand and eleven goals. 
Just goals for 2011! 

I posted a few weeks ago about my goals for 2011, here they are again:

1. Give up pop. 
2. Try one new recipe a week!
3. Learn to knit.
4. Take a family vacation! I'm praying it will be Disney, but we'll be happy with Wisconsin dells.
5. Blog more regularly!
6. Finish my year long Bible reading plan.

Here's my update for each:

1.  I have not had ONE SINGLE SIP OF POP since NYE!!!!  I am so incredibly proud of myself!!!  It hasn't been terribly hard since we drink coffee & get caffeine from that, but there have been a couple of days that I wanted to give in and get a pop.  My kids were definitely bummed that we aren't drinking pop (not that they drank it regularily, but every once in a while)  but we have decided that each of us can have one can/glass of pop on our birthday.  I may or may not even have some on my birthday, we'll see.  It'll probably taste nasty to me anyways! 

2. I am still planning to try 52 new recipes this year, but have decided I'll just have to double up some weeks later on in the year.  We are moving next week and I just don't have it in me to try new recipes right now.  Once we are all settled in our new place (that has a bigger kitchen!) I'll start on this one!

3. I tought myself to knit!!!!  Can you believe it???  I hardly can!  I'm working on a scarf for Erika.  I've got a good start to it, but again...we are moving next week.  I haven't had a ton of down time (besides who has down time with a needy 4 month old!) but I can say I have really enjoyed the times when I've been able to sit down & knit.  My only regret....not learning sooner!  I think of all the times that I was sitting in dr. offices and the hospital when I was pregnant with Jenna....man I could have had scarves for all of us finished!

4. Family vacation....we've started looking and pricing things out.  Everything really depends on our tax return!  Hopefully I'll get them filed shortly after we move!

5. Blog more regularily....I would say I'm not doing horrible.  This post will be the 4th this month and considering we are moving next week (do I sound like a broken record on that one yet?) and I have a needy 4 month old...four times this month is pretty darn good!

6. Finish my year long Bible reading plan.  I am almost 13% through the Bible.  I'm ashamed to admit....this is probably the longest I've EVER lasted on a Bible reading plan!  However I am determined to make it all the way through!!!  I'm only one day behind right now, but I'll be caught up by tonight!  I have an app on my phone that lets me check things off as I go and tells me what % I've completed.  I really like it.  It's nice to see that I am making progress, which helps keep me motivated!!

I'll check in again next month with another update on how I am doing with my goals! 
Did you set any goals for yourself??  How are you doing?

I just had to edit this and add....this is my 200th post!!!!

Thumb sucker.....

Cute now.....not so cute when shes five! I'm working hard with the paci, but the little stinker spits it out to suck her thumb! This girl is trouble! But I love her, thumb sucking and all.

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Two boys and two girls

The other day I was at the store with the kids and the cashier said to me, "oh wouldn't that be cool if you had another baby and it was a boy. Then you'd have two boys and two girls."

This is not the first time someone has said this to me.

Nor is this the first time I've had a little battle in my head on how to handle it.

On one hand, I likely will never see this girl again. On the other hand, Dylan is my son. I love him so much and he deserves to be acknowledged. Is it wrong to just blow off the cashier? Is it wrong to not mention Dylan?

While I'm having this 10 second battle in my head Caleb says to the cashier "we already have two boys and two girls in our family. One of us just isn't here because our brother died."

One of us. My heart swelled with pride when Caleb said that.

And then only as Erika can do, the awkwardness was lifted when she said "yeah, Dylan's at the military now. I mean the, the, mom, what kind of tary is Dylan at?"

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2011 is here!

Wow, hard to believe 2010 has come and gone! We hoped and prayed for two major things in 2010: a new job for David and a baby! God blessed us with both!!!

2011 will no doubt have its ups and downs, but we look forward to what the new year holds for our family.

I have set a couple of goals for myself for 2011. I'll share them with you, so I have some accountability!

1. Give up pop. (so far today it's been easy, I still have coffee for some caffeine)

2. Try one new recipe a week! There are a few I'm already eyeing up.

3. Learn to knit.

4. Take a family vacation! I'm praying it will be Disney, but we'll be happy with Wisconsin dells.

5. Blog more regularly!

6. Finish my year long Bible reading plan. I started a month ago and so far I'm doing great.

Hope you have had a great start to 2011! I'll try to update once a month on the progress of my goals.

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Christmas Cards!!!

Make The Mantel Christmas 5x7 folded card

Create unique Christmas cards with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Just a test

I got a new fancy schmancy phone that I can blog from. I just wanted to try it out.

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Jenna's 1st Christmas Card!

(sorry....it's not actually here....)

I'll be ordering my Christmas cards from Shutterfly this year, which is a first for me!  I'm excited though!  I heard about Shutterfly's blog promotion and decided to give them a try! Shutterfly is giving cards away to bloggers! Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly! You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

There are so many to choose from, I am going to have a hard time deciding!! 

This is the 1st one that stood out to me. I love the simpleness of it. Retro Christmas

I like the simpleness of this one too: Starlight Snowflakes

I really like this one too, I like how many different pictures you can use:  With Love Blue Christmas

See why I am going to have such a hard time picking one???  But I better get on it soon!  December is upon us which means Christmas is just around the corner!  Good thing we are getting family photos taken in two days!  Once I have our pictures back then I'll have a better idea of what kind of card I want! 

So what about you?  Which one would you choose?  Have you already printed your Christmas cards??  If mine are late or barely on time this year I have a VERY good excuse.  Her name is Jenna.  And I want her 1st Christmas card to be perfect!

There are so many other great photo gift ideas too!  I could get a coffee mug for the grandparents!  Or a calendar!  Or I could REALLY be on top of my game & order Mothers day cards!!  I had never thought of doing that before, but it's a great idea!  What Grandma wouldn't love to receive a completely personalized card including pictures of their adorable grandkids??

Now I'm off to figure out what in the world we are all going to wear on Friday for our pictures!!!

Thankful?

This time of year is a time to sit and think of all the things you are thankful for.  Thanksgiving is, oh what would you say, tainted for me.  I know I'm not alone either.  There are plenty of hurting families this time of year.  Reality is, there are hurting families every day of the year, but it just seems magnified when it comes to a Holiday.  A true reminder that someone is missing.

So Thanksgiving, a time when we celebrate not only thankfulness, but also Dylan's birthday....am I thankful?

Am I thankful for Dylan's life?  Yes, absolutely. 

Am I thankful for Dylan's death?  See that's where it gets tricky. 

If I could change the outcome would I?  For sure...but I can't. 

So instead, I choose to be thankful.

I am thankful that Dylan is a part of our family.

I am thankful that God chose me to be Dylan's mommy.

I am thankful that my kids are proud to have Dylan as part of our family.

I am thankful that I have 3 healthy kids when I thought having more than 1 would never be possible.

I am thankful for the family we have become because of Dylan.

I am thankful  for God's promise that He will never leave us or foresake us.


This Thanksgiving, no matter your circumstances, choose to be thankful.

The Apple Orchard

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately....I'm sure you understand.  And if you don't, well then you've never had a newborn.  :)

A few weeks ago we took Jenna on her first trip to the apple orchard.  The one that we always go to is closing this year, which is really sad for us since we loved it there!!!!  We'll be on the hunt for a new one next year!  We may just have to visit a bunch of them to find the perfect one!  Here are a few pictures from our trip!

 My cute little apple pickers!

I love the look of apple trees.  I just think they are so beautiful!

Miss Erika....she's getting so tall!

The sweet reward of their hard work picking apples!!

 I am SO happy with how this picture turned out! 

I got good smiles from both kids, the baby isn't screaming and the tree in the background just looks perfect!



5QF!!!!

It's been ages since I participated in a 5QF!!

Since the baby is sleeping & I'm avoiding making my grocery list and going to the store I figured I'd take the time to join in today!!





1. What is your favorite Halloween candy?

Any candy. Especially chocolate. Except I am weird....I'd rather just buy my own candy than eat some from some other stranger. It always tastes funny to me. I'm sure it's all in my head and I'm okay with that. It keeps me from eating my kids' Halloween candy.

My favorite treat to eat in the fall though is peanuts mixed with candy corn. It's almost like a salted nut roll. Yummmm.

2. Do you fold your socks?

Absolutely NOT! I have better things to do with my time!!! I sort them & put them in drawers, they can match them when it's time to put the socks on! For the kids, I only buy white socks and I only buy one kind for each kid. So really they don't have to worry about matching them, they just pull two socks out & they are the same since there are no other kind of socks in their drawer. It works well for us.

Not to mention....when you fold them it stretches out the socks & then they feel like they have already been worn for a day when you put them on & I hate that!!! I already told you in #1 that I am weird. I really am. But I really am okay with it!

3. What is something that you wish you had been warned about?

Money, budgets & credit cards. And the housing market crash...that would have been nice to know about in advance!

4. What is the most significant difference between you and your significant other?

I'd have to say body heat. It can be 40 degrees (not that it ever is!!!) in our bedroom & David could sleep with just a sheet & still sweat. It's rediculous! Me on the other hand, I'd be under 5 blankets & still be shivering.

5. What are three words you would use to describe yourself?

Hmmm....I hate this question, lol.

#1 Shy/quiet/introvert. That's 3 words right there.

#2 Maternal. I LOVE being a mom. Definitely a dream come true.

#3 Frugal. I love a good deal & saving money!!

Wordless Wednesday (almost!)

All four of my babies.

Jenna Elaine Maybelle!!!!!

Let me just warn you....if you don't want to look at way too many pictures of an adorable newborn baby girl, then you may just want to stop right now.  This post has a lot of pictures!!!

And I'll apologize for not blogging for nearly a month.  I've been just a little busy. 

My life is completely consumed by this sweet face:

On 09/21/10 at 2:15 pm Jenna Elaine Maybelle made her grand entrance into this world!

We spent the morning waiting, waiting & waiting!!  My c-section was originally scheduled for 11:30, but we didn't end up getting started until 1:30.

Daddy played on his phone & I watched TV.  And of course took pictures!

Here I am in my beautiful & ultra comfy designer hospital gown from Annie & Isabel

I seriously can't say enough good things about my hospital gown!!!  SO much better than the gowns at the hospital!  If you want to bless an expectant mom or anyone who will be spending time in the hospital I HIGHLY recommend an Annie & Isabel gown.  I did end up wearing a regular hospital gown during the c-section, which I wasn't happy about at first but the nurse suggested it "just in case" so I could have my pretty gown still clean & ready for me when I was recovering.  I am actually really glad I listened to her....within 5 minutes in the OR I had blood & fluid all over my gown!!!  Something happened with my IV, not the actual part that was in my hand, but the tube where the fluid was, somehow it came unattached & made a huge mess! 

I was SOOOO relieved when we finally made it to the OR!  The extra wait was horrible!!!  We were so anxious to meet our baby girl!  I can't believe I am actually posting this picture of me....David really wanted to take it, so I let him! (although as you can probably see, I wouldn't have been able to stop him! I couldn't hardly move!)

And she's here!!!!!  I absolutely love this picture of her because I had SEVERAL ultrasounds showing her hand over her face!  Cutie pie!!!  (I'll spare you the bloody c-section pictures...if you really want to see them you'll have to come look at her scrapbook because they will definitely be in there!!!)

Jenna's first picture with mommy & daddy!!

She weighed in at 6lbs 11ozs and was 20.5 inches long!  Her Apgar scores were great, but after about a half hour she was having a little trouble breathing.  They initially stuck an oxygen mask on her, but quickly realized she didn't need it.  What she ended up needing was a CPAP machine.  She was able to breath room air, but just needed that little bit of pressure while she worked out some fluid that was in her lungs.  She had to stay in the NICU for 48 hours while they ran a blood culture to make sure it wasn't pneumonia (it wasn't) or anything else. 

This picture is dark, but you can see the CPAP mask on her.  You can also see she has "boxing gloves" on!  She kept pulling everything off, so they had to do that to stop her.  :)  That made me smile!  My little fighter! 

This was the next morning!  Still in the NICU but as a "normal newborn"  as they put it!  We were beyond thrilled!  This was the first time I got to hold her outside of the OR.

 Caleb & Erika came to visit on Wednesday!  In our NICU, you have to be 5 in order to visit.  So in order to prevent extreme jealousy between Caleb (7) & Erika (4) we decided to not let Caleb go back & see Jenna.  They weren't terribly upset.  At that point all they cared about was seeing mama!!  They missed me.  I think they both spent most of our visit telling me how much they missed me & asking when I'd be home!  (In fact just the other day Caleb talked again about how much he missed me when I was in the hospital!!!)

What do you think?  Does Erika look like me???  I sure think so!

Two days old & they FINALLY get to meet their new sister!!! I just LOVE the look on Erika's face here!

They are proud!!!  Can you tell?



Jenna slept the whole time they visited & then this was her for the next hour:

She was WIDE awake!  Just stared at me, listening to my voice!  I absolutely loved it!  I missed her terribly those first 48 hours when she was in the NICU!  I think she missed me too.  That 1st night together she screamed anytime I put her in the little bassinet but as soon as I picked her up & snuggled, she was out again.  So we settled in together and ended up getting some pretty decent sleep.



 Here she is ready to go home!

 Get us out of here!!!!  We want to go home!

I am SO bummed, I forgot to get a picture of the 5 (!!!!) of us before we left the hospital!  Oh well though, we've gotten a couple since we've been home! 

If you have read this long...bless you!  :)  That was LONG!  I have a bunch more pictures I want to blog hopefully soon...just not tonight, baby is sleeping so I am headed to do the same very soon!!!

Transparent

So I'm just going to be real with you.  Transparent.

Something I'm not all that good at.

The longer I am pregnant the less hope I have that I will actually get to bring my baby home with me.

Backwards thinking, huh?

I know it's totally satan messing with me.

But it's how I feel.

I just have to remind myself....my hope is in the Lord. 

He will not leave us or forsake us.

Worship music is a must for me right now. 

It's the only way I will make it through this week until I have my sweet baby girl in my arms.

What's Happening??

In case you haven't heard....our sweet girl did not make her grand entrance into this world today. 

Yesterday I had an amnio done, which revealed that her lungs are not quite ready.

Of course it's hard news to swallow, when you have your heart set on meeting your baby!

However, we know it's much better for her to stay in there & keep growing so when she does arrive, she'll be healthy!

After the amnio, I didn't feel good all day & it progressively got worse as the evening went on.

I had a lower back ache, cramping & a weird pain in my upper right side.  By the end of the night I could barely walk. 

I did not think I was in labor, but I knew it wasn't right.  We called the doc & they wanted us to go in to get it all checked out just to make sure the baby & I were okay.

We spent a few hours being observed & were sent home.

We're waiting results from a urine analysis to see if I have some kind of infection.  We should know the results by the morning.

I still don't feel all that great, but I'm not nearly as uncomfortable as I was last night.

We'll have another amnio on Monday to see if this baby girls lungs are developed and if they are, she will arrive late Tuesday morning.

And if they aren't mature?  Well lets not even get started on that.  I just might need to be checked into the looney bin. 

The Great MN Get Together!!!!

Cheese curds, deep fried pickles, pronto pups, fudge puppy's, giant pickle, deep fried cheese on a stick, deep fried candy bar on a stick, quesadilla's, gizmo sandwich, smoothies, cotton candy, corn on the cob, taffy. 

I think that's it. 

That is what we ate at the fair last week when we went on opening day!! 

Thank goodness we were there for over 7 hours & shared just about everything. 

Otherwise, can you say heart attack!!!!!

Here are some picture highlights!!

I did a lot of this.....sitting in the shade!

We did more than just eat....David, Caleb & Erika at the top of the giant slide!

Caleb was too fast so I didn't get a picture of him going down the slide, but I did get Daddy & Erika!

This was one thing Erika REALLY wanted....a giant pickle!!!  The girl LOVES her pickles.  I wanted to get a picture of it before she devoured half of it, but I wasn't quick enough!

Yummy corn on the cob.  I wish I knew how they made it so I could duplicate it!  SO YUMMY!!!!

Choo Choo Bob's was at the fair, which if you know anything about Caleb, then you know this was the highlight of his day!  They had a little show and a cool layout with wooden trains they could play with.

Next up was rides!  Caleb likes rides, but he is very cautious.  He has fun usually but doesn't typically show it on his face until after the ride is over.  Erika on the other hand, that girl has no fear & likes to give her mommy a heart attack!!  She giggled the ENTIRE time on this swing ride.

This was her favorite ride!!  She called it the "tummy flying ride" 

Caleb liked this one too, I think he felt secure so he let himself enjoy it! 

Erika went a 2nd time with Caleb! 

The last treat of the day....pure sugar!!

We made one last stop on the way to the car.....the Miracle of Birth Barn!

These cuties were less than 24 hours old!

This one was only 10 or 12 hours old!  Amazing!

And these little piglets were about 9 hours old!

We ended up having a great day at the fair!!!!  Wish we could go again....just thinking about some of the food makes my mouth water! 

Probably our favorite new thing we tried this year was the deep fried candy bars!  The Reese's Peanut Butter cups were the best!!  Next time we'll have to try to deep fried oreo's!

Just some randomness....

I am exhausted.

I am beyond ready to have my girl in my arms.

My 1st baby starts 1st grade next week!

My 1st baby will be 7 (!!!!) in just a few weeks!

Erika is completely out of sorts lately.

She knows change is coming, I'm sure.

My kids are grounded FROM their room tomorrow.

They aren't taking care of their toys & therefore can't play with them for a day.

Am I the only mom who grounds their kids from their room???

My hubby & kids are going out of town this weekend for a wedding.

It is a wedding I so desperately want to be at. 

I have known the bride since, goodness I want to say, she was 4 or 5.

There is a SLIGHT chance my doc will okay the road trip. 

But it's not likely.  :(

However, I am more than happy to not risk having a baby in Kansas City.

Weird how you can feel so many emotions at once. 

I want more than anything to be at that wedding, but I want to do what's best for me & baby.

To help out, I've got a girls night planned with some friends from church.

Scrapbooking.....I can't wait!!!!

I'm really blessed to have such great friends at church.

Looking forward to Friday night too....Camp Rock 2!!  Party at my house!!!!

I LOVE that I have a friend who will watch any cheesy Disney movie & love it, just like I do!

My kids are OUT for the night!

I am working on laundry.

I will try to blog again before baby makes her grand entrance, but I make no promises!!!! 

OH YEAH, one last thing.  My sister is home!!!!!!!

She's been at Basic Training for National Guard all summer.

We missed her big time!  :)

Good night & God Bless!

29 weeks 5 days

That's how far along I am as of today.

Seems like such a random point in a pregnancy to blog about, but it's not.

Making it this far & seeing a beautiful heart beat this morning means more to me than most at 29 weeks 5 days pregnant.

The day I delivered Dylan, I was 29 weeks 5 days pregnant.

The ultrasound I had that morning on November 24, 2004 compared to the ultrasound I had this morning....breathtaking. 

Knowing that this baby girl inside me is alive & well....breathtaking.

Even when I'm uncomfortable & she is doing jumping jacks on my bladder, I'm thankful.

I know all too well what could be happening at this point of the pregnancy.

So far, this pregnancy is going much like Erika's and we have every reason to believe that we'll be choosing our daughters birthday around 37-38 weeks vs. having it chosen for us because there is something wrong.

We are very anxious to get this sweet baby girl in our arms, but we cherish every day she spends inside me growing.

Bad bad blogger.....

It's been WAY too long since I blogged! 

I do however have a good excuse. 

I'm currently growing a human being. 

That takes a LOT of energy!

I have a post brewing in my head, but for the most part it will have to wait till Friday! 

Come back then! :)

P.S. If you live in my area & need boy clothes let me know!  I'm selling all my boy clothes size newborn-5 in a garage sale this week!!!!

A few thoughts from our beach trip today

Today we ventured out to a new beach.  Thankfully this new beach is very close to us!!! 

Here are my thoughts:

1. If you don't like sand you probably shouldn't bring your kids to a sandy beach.  One mom there was flipping out over the sand! 

2. I'm all for self confidence & being secure with the way your body looks.  But sometimes no matter how secure & confident you are,  you still shouldn't be wearing a bikini.

3. If your kids "need" something from you every few minutes, tell thim it's almost time to go & then magically they don't "need" anything for at least a 1/2 hour!  :)

4. I just *might* be willing to get sand in every crevice of my body & do all the work of a beach trip every week if it guarantees me napping kids afterwards!!!!!