Baby Adjustments

With every baby it took a period of adjusting for me. I think I was already starting in one way before Caleb was born. Do you know how many times I set out 6 kid plates for dinner? I did it again tonight. As I was passing out the plates of food, I stood holding one, trying to figure out why the kids all already had one. I did it again. I was holding the plate for Caleb even though tiny little Caleb was across the room in the bassinet. Nursing has been difficult because it's always painful for me in the beginning. Otherwise he's doing great in that department. The little fellow needs to put on some ounces. Right now he is 6lb 5oz. So tiny and ohhhhhhhh so cute. The kids adore him but it is super tough teaching little Ashley, my 2 year old, how to be gentle. I always have to keep an eye out for him. Today I had my son Ryan help me put together the bassinet that is to go in my bedroom. Caleb is staying in MY room till he's a little older. I mean a quite a few months older. Gotta protect the little peanut from two little mommies that want to change his socks and hats every 10 seconds.

Caleb's Slideshow

Caleb Joseph, 6lb 9oz

38 Week Update

I've been working a lot lately to get caught up on some things. Namely laundry. Being that I did laundry from the time I woke up till late at night, I just had contractions all day long. I'm sure I sped things along for myself. I was almost dilated to a 2 a week ago. I see my doctor on Thursday and if I'm at a 3, she's gonna take me in. Soooooo, if I don't blog, you know why. :) I'm so nervous though! I had my daughter 2 weeks early on my own last time and so I'm used to going early. It's still scary you know. Giving birth. I didn't sleep much last night because of it. I finally drifted off in a fitful sleep around 3am. I was super hot even though I cranked the A/C really cold. I'm glad the girls were bundled, like you see in picture. :D (I know, I write with a lot of smiley faces). Anway, I have all the kid's stuff packed and a list for myself of stuff I can't pack until it's time to go. You know, like my toothbrush. I need that right now. And my deoderant! There are just some thing that go in last. What I want to know is where my white silky robe is? I hate those ugly, ugly hospital gowns. Now I'm gonna have to wear my big and pink fluffy one. You know, I'm usually bored laying around in the hospital so guess what I'm bringing with me? My laptop! Sitting in bed (healing) for 2 1/2 days is a long time. Not as long when I had the kidney infection in the hospital. That was 5 or 6 days but I was totally passed out for all that time. It's different when you give birth to a little cutie. I don't know about you but I don't sleep well after that. I'm just so excited and awake that I don't get much rest there. I usually stay up 24 hours after I give birth. Then I want to walk around and talk to people. There is no baby nurseries anymore these days! They are all hidden away with mommy. I'll have my camera of course to take lots of pictures, hee hee.....

I know, I really don't take that many pics. This time I will guys. You don't think I have a lot of pictures do you? (haha) Journaling is my life. I've been writing journals from when I was a little girl.

My boys are just going crazy counting down.

The other day Chaz (9 years old) said, "Mom, wow, your tummy is just getting HUGE! I hope Caleb comes out soon because that's just embarrassing. You know, you can't keep him in there till he's nine years old. That would REALLY be embarrassing."

I Just Love Those Comebacks

We went to to the mall a little bit ago to get some exercise and we saw this outside. A super sweet cop car and a firetruck. The firemen were cool to talk to and we even discussed the movie "Fireproof!" That is a great movie. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out. The cops and firemen were having fun with the kids and were giving them stuff to play with. I love the "pursuit juice" in the back of the trunk. So cute. We always run into our friends LaVona and Adan when we are there! It's so funny. They were outside with us too. Either that or we'll run into them at Costco or the bookstore. I guess we like the same places. :) The only thing that is just so incredibly annoying at the mall is all the comments when we walk by people. Ohhhh, so annoying. They'll either count our kids, or say "whoa! Look at all those kids!" The thing is, my kids behave and are quiet walking right next to us in the mall or at the store so it's not like they are drawing attention to themselves. I guess I would be normal if I had 2 kids and a dog.

I HAVE to tell you what happened at McDonalds yesterday! Ha ha! My husband was sitting in the play area with the kids. A man, with only one kid, says to Charles with a scowl on his face, "Wow, you have a really big family." My husband replied (showing emphasis with his hand), "You have one kid? Wow, you have a reeeeeal little family!" I wasn't there but when he told me in the car what happened I was just laughing and laughing. You'll understand this if you have a big family. You hear the comments left and right wherever you go and it's just so funny when you come up with a comeback. Politely said though, but funny!

Missed My Blog...

My internet was down over the weekend so I missed my blogging! :) All was not lost of course. Haha. I just missed blogging about things the kids say such as;

Ivy my 4 year old- "Mommy, does Caleb drive a car?

Mommy- "Um, Ivy no. He is in my tummy still."

Ivy- "Well, does he at least drive a little car in your tummy?"

Or here is Chaz my 9 year old. My oldest;

Chaz- "Mom, are you feeling uncomfortable at all?"

Mommy- "No Chaz, I'm feeling great. Why?"

Chaz- "Well, I really can't wait to see what Caleb looks like."

30 minutes later!

Chaz- "Mom, is your tummy hurting at all? Are you having baby Caleb now?"

Mommy- "No, my tummy isn't hurting at all (only sometimes). He'll come when he decides, Chaz."

30 or so minutes later!

Chaz- "Mom, I prayed right now and God told me that Caleb is gonna come out today. How are you feeling now?"

This goes on all day till he goes to bed! Then he comes in my bed in the morning, waits for me to wake up and starts the questioning all over. My goodness! Caleb, please come soon for the sake of Chaz. If you're ready of course. :D

Ashley Turns 2!

Whew! The last of the birthdays right next to each other until at last Caleb comes. He will continue the tradition and Charles' birthday soon follows. Ashley turns two and we sang to her as you see in the video! Since July 20th we've celebrated a birthday every two weeks! Ha ha. It's so weird how that happened. Seriously though, I couldn't of planned that. Who would want to? We have all probably gained some weight from the five birthday cakes! I'm including a video I made for Ashley last year when she turned one. I love that video! I wish I could do another but I don't have access to the pictures I need to do it.

Chore Ideas For Kids

Like I was sharing with one of my blogging friends, out of desperation I HAD to come up with a chore system to where we can work together as a family rather than me cleaning all day and never being able to enjoy my kids. This way, when we work together, everything is done SO much faster. Growing up as the baby of the family, my older sisters and mostly my mom would do all the work. It's taken me 10 years to finally come up with a system we can stick with and actually runs smoothly. I really love it.
I color code their chores and so they can quickly go to their chore cards. All the chores, except for making the bed, are done at 10am and repeated at 5pm. I make it age appropriate (through trial and error. Ha) so it's manageable.

I don't worry about toys being out during the day. When these things are done in the morning and late afternoon, we just worry about homeschooling and playtime in between. Otherwise I would just be one frustrated mom trying to make sure everything stays nice in between!

I have Virginia's After Lunch chores
and Before Bed (which is my short evening chores). It's not anything major but it makes waking up the next day smoother. I'm not really spraying down the whole bathroom when I say sanitize. I just take sanitizing wipes and wipe down the toilets, counters, and bathtub. I have to with boys. Can get gross fast. Also straightening the bathroom and making sure everything is put away. I don't like laundry being left out so this way it forces me to put it away and not let it pile up. So it's only 4 things I have to do before I can go to bed. That's my evening chores I talk about.

Since all kids need reminders, sometimes even for the obvious, I post what they are to do in detail! My kids will brush their teeth, not rinse out their toothbrush and then leave on the counter.

Also, we follow the Duggar's advice and have our kids wear their pajamas for 3 nights before they put them in the dirty hamper and get a new pair. (Unless there is of course an accident which is rare.) That's why it says for them to put their pj's under their pillows in the morning.

I always love great ideas so if you guys have any, please share!!! I'm still forever in the learning process and love to get ideas from others.

Negative Influences

We are having revival at church this week so we had two services as usual on Sundays but it continues through Wednesday. It was such a powerful sermon! He talked about negative influences in our lives. My blogging friends who follow me have heard me talk about this in the past. It was so great to hear it reaffirmed though through God's Word.

First he talked about family and he gave several examples of personal stories where family (maybe just one person or more) manipulates and constantly speaks negatively against your faith and your devotion God and being involved. He talked about how (for example) a mother can be such an influence to their son or daughter by always speaking negatively about your spouse. He had story after story of people he's counseled over the years that deal with this. Or they make you feel horrible about yourself. How many kids you have, etc.

Then he talked about friends. We may not necessarily talk bad when we're with them but we allow them to talk bad about others to us. Who we hang out with and fellowship with can really affect us in so many ways. Even if we are just listening to the gossip they are telling us, we are partaking in that sin. Even if we're not saying anything. I know from personal experience that listening to someone constantly talking bad about your friends, your family, or your pastor can make you look at them differently. EVEN when you tell yourself you know it's all a lie and not true. Just listening to it and not judging it will affect your relationships with those other people that you care about. At the end, he pulled an alter call to have people come down who deal with this issue and break free from it. It just really spoke to home and to many other obviously from how many went down.

Sometimes family or even a friend can buy you gifts or give you money but use these things as leverage to make you feel like you have to put up with the abuse against your decision to live for God. Read God's Word and know what the truth is. If they are giving you advice against the words in the bible, know that its not advice you need to worry about. :) You know the scriptures and what He desires for us. When someone gives me a hard time about children, I just ask them to show me scripture in the bible that tells me I must limit myself. When someone tells me I go to church too much, I ask them to show me scripture that says being in God's house too often is wrong. Or if someone tells me I'm wrong for not having a TV, I tell them what the bible says about not putting evil before my eyes. Tell me where I'm commanded to put one in my house. Too many times I am shocked by even just commercials that pop up in front of my kids while we are waiting somewhere. The world will tell you what you are doing wrong. Just read God's Word to know what you are doing that is right. They may say you need to catch up with the times. The bible says that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I choose believe God's Word.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry...

Sometimes at night I will sit and think about my day. Even when I rush into the bathroom to go potty. (I say that like a kid). Why am I rushing? Rush to make dinner. Why? Whats the rush? Hurry, get in the car. Don't take so long brushing your teeth or taking a shower. At the end of the day, with my head on my pillow, I ask myself "What's the rush?" Why do I WANT to rush? I think we see everything in a goal setting. What we forget, is tomorrow is gonna come and we're gonna do the same thing. The day after that. What is the real goal here? Why can't I slow down while making dinner and eating at the table? Why can we just walk to the car together and talk to each other? Why can't we just enjoy our shower or they enjoy their long bubble bath? Will I just wake up in the morning and have another list of accomplishments I must complete? For what? Accomplishments ARE good to have. But sometimes we set too much at one time. We say we want to enjoy life, enjoy our kids, our grandkids. We talk about "someday". Why not now? After reading "In Praise of Stay At Home Moms" by Dr. Laura, I realized that I needed to slow down and not worry about the perfect house. (Don't worry, mine was never perfect). Instead I could sit down like I did this morning and play a card game with Chaz. Or show the boys how fun it is to do a puzzle together like we did today. Charles came home after work and showed all of them how to play the game of Risk. Lets just have fun, take a breath, and enjoy each beautiful day. As if each day doesn't just flow into the next. Imagine that someone knocks on your door and you sign for a package. In that package is one day. What are you gonna do with it? Fight? Complain? Rush? Make more lists of things to do? I think I'd like to sign for that package, take it inside, cut the twine, open the paper, the box, and cherish what we decide for just that day. We can have our chores, some accomplishments, but why not some fun together? After all, I don't want my tombstone someday to read "She kept the house clean." When I took the pictures above, Ashley and Ivy were suppposed to be sleeping but they came out of their rooms with swimsuits pulled over their pajamas. They were giggling so cute together, I had to watch them play and hold hands together for awhile before sending them back to bed.

(((((The Espresso Gene))))))

Except that my kids don't need an espresso. That would actually do the opposite effect and calm them down! No joke! I think all my kids stopped napping at 2 1/2 years old exactly. They go from morning till night, just happily spinning in circles around each other or me. I like free puppies. So the threat of this sign would not even apply to me. I'd be like "whatever." Big factor here though, I NEVER leave my children unattended. I've had enough experiences with my kids (and the ER) that it's when you take your eye off of them that someone's getting into the makeup, feeding the dog their dinner because they feel sorry for him, sucking a forbidden popsicle behind a door (because they know you can only have one after lunch or dinner time), another kid looking for the highest point in the house they can jump from, etc. I just can't name them all here. The boys, it's more physical stuff. With my boys it's like having Spiderman living in our house. On any given hour of the day, you can be walking down the hallway and look up to see one of my boys hiked up the wall with their feet spread apart. They put a foot on each side of the hallway and climbed their way up. Then they'll be really quiet so when you walk underneath them, they can yell "BOO!!!!". That's when I look up at the and scream. The girls are just sneaky in other ways. I don't know how many times I've caught the girls in my makeup, my new lipstick, nail polish. Yes, I do train my kids and don't let them just get away with forbidden stuff, but it's a daily process. You don't just train them for one week and say, "Well, I guess we've covered that. We should be good until highschool where you might need a refresher course." Ha, I wish! But no, even when we are at church, our kids are next to us at all times. Pastor can say it a hundred times. "Parents, you need to keep your kids with you at all times and not them them just run around everywhere." Still, you'll see kids in the parking lot, out by the street, in the foyer alone, or in the bathroom alone. I've had a few follow me out to my car while we are leaving. "Where's your parents?" I'll ask. "I don't know". I don't know how people do that because I'm so protective that I imagine all kinds of evils. There could be a boogerman in the bathroom. Even if that guy in the bathroom looks like a nice man. A car can run a little one over in a parking lot, the kid can fall into the street or run out into it. When you turn your back they can get snatched. So my kids are extensions of my body when we are in public. As far as hyper kids vs. calm kids, James Dobson says that usually how you were as a child, your children will be. So if you were the really hyper type AND your husband was really hyper... MOST LIKELY YOUR KIDS WILL HAVE LOTS OF ENERGY. Boy, did that turn out to true. There are a few couples at our church that are so much the calm type, all the time, that they have really calm kids JUST LIKE THEM. I can't imagine what that would be like. I could have like 15 kids if mine were like that. They even talk quietly. Amazing! I'm still really hyper so my kids must've got that espresso gene from not only my husband, but an overload from me. My friends say that pregnancy usually makes women tired but it only makes me normal. Haha. Do your kids have the Espresso gene?

Designer New or Designer Used. Whatever.

I was always the kid that slid way down in my seat when my mom would pull up to a thrift store. In fact, all three of us girls did. We would hide on the floor in case another kid from school saw us. We would mock and laugh. What we didn't know was that my mom was just being smart with her money. Why buy brand new when you can be ultra picky and find something that looks as good as new?

The first years of our marriage, make that the first decade, we only shopped at malls. Well, a year ago, some things changed for us and when the economy slowed down, our pocketbook wasn't as fat. It's okay. As long as we can pay our bills, I feel immensely blessed. I think we Americans are fat and happy and all the wining about how our recession is like the 1930's makes me want to throw up. I've seen the pictures of The Depression and I still don't see the comparison. Our restaurants are still full, malls are still being shopped at, Jenny Craig is still in business, and kids are still battling obesity in America. I'm mean, sheesh. Us Americans are so spoiled.

With that said, we've gone thrifty. I don't mean thrifty where we get a hunger to spend money so we browse around a thrift store buying stuff for no reason. We go with a purpose in mind. If one kid needs a pair of shoes then we'll pull up to a used place and I'll go straight back to that aisle and not divert. If there are no shoes there, I don't browse around at other stuff. I just leave. So the past couple of weeks, we've been looking for dress shirts for the boys, dress shoes for Ashley, and a pair of dress shoes for me since my only black pair broke. I haven't found any of those three things we're looking for yet but I can promise you I haven't diverted and bought a coffeepot. Ha ha. Another thing we've been thinking about is a car seat for our newest one. We don't have one since our last (new) one was donated and so we headed to Toys R Us last month to look for one. A new one. I about fell over when I saw how expensive they were. $120??? I walked out and said "no way". Before, with lots of cash I was always able to spend, I would've done it. I wasn't worried about money so I got kind of spoiled. So yesterday I headed to an exchange place for moms and bought a beautiful and new looking one for $40. I got my awesome bassinet for Caleb from Craigslist that's still in the original box and never opened. On and on. So if anything, having finances change for us, I think changed something for the better in me and made me realize how wasteful I was. I walked into a new shoe store yesterday just to see if they had dress shoes for Ashley at a decent price. These tiny ones were $20. Um no, not getting it so I walked out.

I know sometimes people get turned off by what they see people wear that's used. My husband said it's like they are on a mission to find the most used and faded looking item in the store. You have to be picky guys! For me it can't be faded or worn looking and pretty much new looking. I've walked in many of used places and walked right back out because there were five racks of overly worn looking clothes. It's like finding that needle in the haystack.

I'm also wondering why the heck some places have raised their prices so high I could pay a couple dollars more brand new at a store. Then you have to wait for their half off days every other week just to get that item back to a normal used price. Last night, my husband and I followed the Duggars advice and found a thrift shop that is not popular and we checked it out. Once again, I only looked for the things on my list. Heads up! Two rows of brand new (never used) costumes for Halloween at only $3 a piece. We normally buy our kid's costumes at Costco for $25 a piece. That adds up per kid. I showed the boys the costumes and they fell in love with them because it was exactly what they were wanting to be for Halloween. I took it to the register and didn't know it was half off day. So I bought 4 kids costumes for $7. Sheesh la weezers. We are returning our kids costumes at Costco today and getting almost a $100 back. $93 savings.

So many times when I pray, I would pray that God would bless us and help us. Then I started thinking, I feel kind of stupid praying that when I am not a good steward of what He gives us. "Oh God, help us make our water bill this month. I pray for a miracle." Yet, I just bought some designer jeans in the mall for a pretty penny. I used to drop $100 on one dress for any occasion. Now I'm realizing, I really am a fat and happy American. I have it so good. Whether I buy used or not, we really don't have much to complain about. Whether we live in an apartment, house, or a mansion. Whether we wear designer clothes new, or designer clothes from a used store. Whether we're on the best insurance plan, or using government healthcare for the poor. America is truly, truly blessed.

Diggin' Ditches

In case you're wondering, I didn't force my kids out in the backyard to do this. I heard all the kids in one spot by the back patio and and I went out to see what's going on. They all had shovels and were working hard at digging. They said they are looking for buried treasure. Kyle here (below) told me that this should be his new chore. He really felt like he was doing an honorable service for this family which explains this picture.

You are never too young to start according to some countries! Ashley here at only two is proving herself useful. It was either she does this or no dinner for the evening. Ha. Just kidding. She went right along with the boys digging away. Luckily we have kid size shovels we had gotten from Home Depot. There were plenty of shovels to go around.

Ivy's job was to find the "treasure" once more dirt was hauled away. Every few minutes or so, one of the kids would come inside and beg me to make this their daily chore. Ummmm.... no. One hole in the backyard by the patio is enough for me to avoid falling in as it is. Plus, digging ditches can become quite a chore I assured them.

I gave Kyle a box (below) to put treasure in so he could actually have buried treasure. So he put 10 pennies in there and went to work covering it up. As you can see, the kids were working even after the sun went down. Talk about dedicated. Now, if only I can convince them chores are just as important.... They've never saluted me like they did in that first picture! Ha ha.

Being kids, they really couldn't wait till the next day to dig up the treasure so it was done immediately after it was buried. The kids actually got really excited. :D

The girls were busy patting down the loose dirt to make things neater. The boys making a mess while doing their duty. The girls, making the mess seem so much nicer. :)

YES!!! We found the TREASURE!!!! Job well done guys....

NOW IT'S TIME FOR A SHOWER

......

So after Kyle got out of the shower, he put his digging ditches clothes back on. Even his dirty socks and shoes. I said, "Um, I don't think so Kyle. Take those clothes off and hop back into the shower." He just stared at me with wide eyes. Then cried. He couldn't believe he got all dressed again, just to take off his dirt filled clothes and get right back in the shower! So cute.

36 Week Update

Today I went to my 36 week check-up and a weigh in. Yipee! Everyone woman loves a weigh in! Ha ha. I drove there anticipating my exam (not!) and wondering what my doctor was going to say. I have not had any contractions or even any Braxton Hicks for that matter! I was only dilated to a one which I told her I was not surprised. She asked if I wanted to be induced one week early. Nope. I NEED the element of surprise. I crave it! I did the induction thing once. How boring! I must have been pretty desperate. Besides, I'm enjoying this pregnancy and I feel GREAT! Nothing hurts, nothing is uncomfortable, no swelling. I just feel fantastic. So as I walked down the hallway to the room, the only thing I was dreading was the weigh in. I stepped on that LARGE looming scale. I didn't want to look down but I did. Oh, I couldn't see anything. My belly was in the way. So I tipped slightly, hoping I wouldn't be like a tipping canoe. I gained 3lbs. Yikes! I couldn't believe it. That means I've gained 4lbs this pregnancy. I should count my blessings! One time I gave my friend a hard time about gaining 7lbs in two weeks and then at my very next appointment, I found out I did the same thing. Ha ha! That's what I get for teasing her. I just think I have a fear of scales. After we discussed issues of induction, I left and drove the LONG drive back to my house. I drive far for this awesomely beautiful angel for a doctor. She asked me if I was all set. House wise and packing wise. Nope. I have a whole list of things. I have to get my kid's bags packed for the house they are staying at. My good friends will be caring for my five kiddos! Wow! Bless her amazing heart. I'm so very glad I won't be delivering this little pumpkin with five kids in the room watching like my friend had to. She had all her four kids in the room because she had no sitter! :D It's just called procrastination on my part. I hadn't thought about it till now. It's all taken care of though. So I'll be delivering little Caleb without a cheering section of little guys. Either that or a grossed out section with kids having nightmares later. I'm just glad it's working out.

Labor Day Fun 2009

For Labor Day we headed to our friend Carol's for swimming and fellowship. I love visiting with friends from church. There were 15 kids in the pool so we had to have one watching at all times!

Here Ashley is petting the cute little miniature dachshund. I want another one!

Most of us camped under the shade for the day to try and get away from getting burned. I only got in the sun for a half hour and I did! I kept putting sunblock on my kids but they still look like tomatoes.

My friends Michelle and Becky.

I used my camera that has continuous shooting to catch this. The kids loved it! We all stayed for 6 hours fellowshipping so the kids were exhausted when we got home!

Ivy is ready to swim!

Carol is laughing at Nancy because she's taking a picture of me while I take a picture of her.

Little Kyle adjusting his goggles.

I love this picture! My daugther Ivy is swimming together with her friend Elizabeth.

My kid's shoes lined up. My five little stinkers.

My friend Becky and I. I am 36 weeks pregnant here (for future reference). :D

Becky's daughter Ruth holding Ashley in the water.


Wow! Richard is hungry (in the background). :D Haha. The guys played a game of Risk under the shade. They are already under an awning but had to use the umbrella so the misters wouldn't get the game wet.


I love watching Ivy play with her friend Elizabeth. Elizabeth is the sweetest girl. Ivy is helping her here.

Killing Our Creepy Visitors

Remember one of my posts where I told you about the scorpion in my girl's room? Well, we see them all the time. Also, spiders and other creepy crawlers come right underneath our door. We especially see this problem in the summer. Well, my neighbor who has no kids puts down some pretty powerful poison around her house that is too dangerous for kids so I'm not able to do that. It's been pretty annoying so we spent the weekend staying out of the house while the poison of bombing does it's work. 5 hours at the mall!! Oh goodness gracious. I'm not a shopaholic (even though I looove clothes like most girls) and so I was bored pretty fast there. We went into the Lego store and while I was sitting in the front seat of the stroller, because my legs hurt, I saw a family of eight walk in. "Ooh, instant friend!", I said. I hopped up and went to go talk to her. She has six kids under the age of 8. She homeschools. She even knows a friend of mine. Small world! So we talked for about a half hour and exchanged numbers. I looove running into families like mine because, believe me, in the mall you get glares and stares. You get comments such as "Look at all those kids! Oh my!" We bigger family moms gotta stick together! Ha ha. Actually, I think we have a medium size family but in this day and age, 3 kids and a dog is considered big I guess. After the mall, we headed to McDonalds to pass more time (make sure those buggies are really getting it). Charles and I were goofing with our cell phone camera. That's my sweety! I had no clue when we were dating that I was with a guy who would love having a family so much. We were so much into each other we never talked about it really. We both express our relief that we found each other. Our marriage isn't perfect, but we're more than each other's love, we're best buddies! So hanging out all day, being forced out of our home for so long, we just took our tribe and hung out together. Thank goodness Charles is such a fun guy to be around! Most guys loathe the mall or even MD's.