And now

We have basically decided that I will go home and live with my parents during Jon's time away, for many reasons. The support of family is very important. Also, we are pretty certain we will be going overseas after his deployment, so I feel it's important for my kids to spend as much time with their extended family as possible before we go. Also, Jon is worried about me living alone with my diabetes, which I can understand.

So now, we have about 7 months to figure everything out and pack, etc. My mind is constantly racing. "Do I want to keep this or put it in the yard sale?" "Will we really use this in Europe? Can I replace it if I decide I want something like it? Does Europe have Goodwill type stores? I mean, that's where the majority of our belongings and the kids' clothes come from after all. Should I put this in storage or take it to FL with me? Is this worth hanging on to until we have another baby, or should i just get rid of it and replace it down the road? All of these questions and I can't stop thinking about moving. However, I also really want to enjoy the remainder of our time here, so I am trying not to think about it too much.

In other news, I am so ready for Christmas! I can't wait to see the kids open their Christmas gifts this year. I can't wait to get the big box of stuff from Santa out of my room. :) I am completely ready, with the exception of wrapping about 5 more gifts. However, that requires cleaning our awful bedroom so I can find the rest of the gifts haha. That's my plan for the afternoon. In fact, it's 12, so I'm going to go put lil man in bed, put dinner in the crockpot, and start my bedroom and cleaning my bathroom.

Today's good deal. I found a Little Tykes bookcase, like we had growing up, in pink, for $6 at the Goodwill today! Super excited about it, as I think they are now collectors items. It looks like the one below.

How God works

I have shared with a handful of people our sad news. Today, Jon found out he has orders to the Middle East. It's a safe place he's been to many times before, but it's away from us, for a year. He leaves in July. This was a total bombshell to us. We were expecting at least one more year here. During that one more year, we had big plans. Jon was going to apply to Officer Training School, we were going to try to get pregnant again, we were going to go to Rome a year from now for his brother's ordination, we were going to go here and there, etc. Now, none of that will happen. But, it's really amazing how God works...

Jon was going to apply for OTS in December, but the board got canceled. That took some stress off of us, but now we see, it worked out that Jon hasn't been busting his butt to apply, only to find out we couldn't apply. We experienced a miscarriage 2 months ago. We've been waiting on some doctors stuff before we decided to try again. We were planning to in January. Now we're really thankful we had decided to wait until January. We had felt recently like we weren't suppose to go to Rome, even though we really wanted to go. It just didn't feel right for some reason. Now, we know why.

It's amazing to see, when I get out of my "pity-party,- you-stink-Air-Force, you're-messing-up -our-plans" mood, to see how God is and has been working it all out for us. I'm still so NOT happy about it. In fact, I seriously have had crying moments on and off all day, especially when Jon came home and started crying because he's going to miss a year of the kids' lives. Plus, when I'm crying and my 2 year old says "Crying mommy, crying", that doesn't help either.

But, we know this, that God will supply all our needs. We have so much to be thankful for. We're thankful that God let us be stationed here in the beginning of our marriage, so that we could really cultivate our marriage without a deployment for the first 3 and a half years of marriage. We're thankful that God blessed us with two beautiful children during that time. We're thankful that if the kids and I stay here, or if we go back home to FL, we have a support system either way. We're thankful that during Jon's time there, we'll be able to become almost completely debt free. We're thankful that afterwards, we might be able to get orders to Germany and travel throughout Europe during that time.

Now... if I can try and remember all the reasons I'm thankful, and think about the positive instead of the negative, I'd be doing good.

List a Mile long

Of course, it's the holidays. So what does that mean? Lists and lists of things to do. I can't even tell you everything I need to do, and I'm done shopping! Christmas cards, baking, wrapping, mailing packages, finishing both of the wreaths that needed to be redone, clean the house, etc. We have company coming in town on Friday, so it's one of those "I have 5 days to do everything". And this doesn't include the normal stuff, like playgroup's cleaning toys tomorrow night, doc appointment tomorrow, Bible Study on Tues., taking meals to two new mommys on Tues and Wed., playgroup on Wednesday, playdate at my house on Thursday, Holy Day of Obligation on Tuesday, etc. etc. etc. Then I just got an invite to a party on Thurs night. I thankfully am denying the invitation.

Yet, I'm realizing that even though I have this huge list of things to do, I need to stop now and then. I need to read a book or play on the floor with the kids a little. I need to relax and watch a show with Jon. I need to take the time to enjoy the holidays. I am soooo excited about Christmas for the first time in years. I absolutely cannot wait to see my kids and the excitement they get from Christmas this year.

Anyway, I guess my point is, to you, and to myself most importantly, is don't get so overwhelmed by all the "things" this Christmas. remember what it's really about... Jesus' birth, giving, family, spending time together, etc.

Aside from this, last Sat., Hannah just up and decided she wanted to walk, and now she is, all over the house. I LOVE it! It's that wobbly but determined stage. She's following Zach all around wherever he walks. So cute!

Being a better mom

I have, for a while now, wanted to be a better mom. Don't we all? We are never "good enough" for ourselves I think. Yesterday, I had one of those proud "I'm doing better moments".

I was in the midst of laundry, which was way overdue. I had 8 loads to tackle throughout the day. I have learned that it is impossible to fold laundry with a 1 year old and a 2 year old, so I let it all pile up, clean, in to baskets during the day, and start folding at 8pm when the kids go to bed, usually while watching some good show on tv. Yesterday, there was a basket on the floor in the living room, and wouldn't you know, it looked like so much fun to my two little kids. They both decided to start tossing all of the clothes out. I wanted to get mad, but took a moment and paused.

I realized, the living room floor was basically clean. Maybe a few Cherios that I missed from the day before, but that was it. There were no dirty clothes on the floor, so I knew that whatever they were pulling out would be clean when I decided to fold them later. So, I let them do it. Aside from that, I realized I needed another laundry basket, as all were full, and this gave me one. And I stayed cool and calm and realized what they were doing just wasn't in need of me getting mad about. This was my proud mommy moment of the day.

Oh, and I made a dinner with lots of yummy veggies and sausage, thanks to the Crockpot Lady, and when threatened with bed, Zach actually ate it. That made me feel like a good mommy too. :) This was after I let Elmo babysit the kids while I took a shower, which I am off to do again...

Weekend fun

This has been a fun weekend for us. Jon woke up early Sat morning, as he was suppose to go to a men's breakfast at 7:45. He showered and went back to bed, deciding not to go. Sat mornings are the only morning he can make breakfast for us, which he loves to do, and did not want to miss that. So the kids slept until almost 9am. So nice! We got up and got dressed and had homemade chocolate chip pancakes. Yum!

Then we headed to our friends' house. Matt and Brooke are expecting their first little girl any day now. They just, bought their first house, and Matt needed help installing the garage door opener. So, we went to offer help. Our friends Greg and Sheri also came, and their daughter Izzy, who's little girl is 5 days younger than Hannah. The guys spent the day outside and the girls stayed inside with the kids, just talking and having a good time, giving Brooke all kinds of mommy advice.

Then we dashed home, arriving at 4:50. We had a sitter showing up at 5 and our house was NOT appropriate. Jon quickly threw all the dishes in the stove haha (I promise, this is the first we've ever done that!), and cleaned up the table and kitchen as best as he quickly could. I changed diapers and took them all out as the sitter pulled in. Jon fixed Zach leftover pancakes and Hannah some baby food and the sitter started feeding them while we changed and left within 10 min.

We were worried we were going to be late... Our young married couples group at church was having a date night. We were actually the second couple there. We ate at PF Changs. It was a lot of fun. Only four couples showed up, but we really got to enjoy the time together and being out. Then Jon and I went to go see a movie- Law Abiding Citizen. A good movie, def not a disappointment. When we walked out, our car was covered in 2-3 inches of snow. It took us 45 min to get home (normally about a 15 min drive) And we couldn't get up our road. Thankfully, we live on a circle and we were able to get up the back road, otherwise we'd have been walking up our street at midnight haha. When we got home, both of our kids were awake! Hannah had woke up at 10 and woken Zach up. They were being good, but I felt bad for the sitter. They both went right to sleep when we got home.

So this morning, they slept til 9:30! We were suppose to be at church at 9:30 haha. But, there was also a lot more snow, so we felt like it was pretty dangerous to try to go since it wasn't really necessary. So, we stayed home. We ended up having to cancel lunch for the second week in a row with our friends, which I felt bad about, but thankfully they were very understanding. So here I sit, kids napping, Jon watching football, still in our jammies at 1:15. Gotta love a day like this after a busy day like yesterday. I'm about to do the dishes (that are still in the oven ;-)) and some laundry, then I might do some sewing this evening. Overall, it's been a fun and great family and friends weekend.

Sad day

Today I got my new laptop (yay!!!)...(and pink!!! DOUBLE YAY!!!) So now, I will really have time to start posting more often. And to read other people's blogs again. I miss blogs/blogging.

Today has been a hard day. First of all, it's Veteran's Day. Locally, we have lost a LOT of military men recently. The news station is showing many of their pictures with the dates they were KIA.

Also, I am very actively involved on an internet forum. At the end of last week, one of our members, Shelly, passed away at the age of 54. This is the first we've lost someone on the board. It's hit us all really hard, and today was her funeral. She was an amazing woman of the Lord. Worked with her church's youth group, was a great mentor, volunteered in their food pantry, stood up for what she believed, and so much more. She was a great example and wonderful woman and I'm sad I never met her in person.

We also remembered the 5 year anniversary of one of our board member's sons who was KIA today 5 years ago. Her name is LeeAnn and her dear son was Thomas. Thank you to Thomas and all of the other men and women who have given their service, and even more so, their lives for our freedom. And to their families as well.

While Jon is a Veteran, we've been blessed so far in our marriage, since he works within the US, and has not had to deploy. But I've met so many people who's husbands are gone. Their husbands are in my prayers, along with them and their children. I am so thankful for them and what they do.

Hey! There goes our Tire!

In a lake…at 9:30pm…in the middle of no where…with no hotels available in Cody, WY…

This is the story of our return trip from Yellowstone. I will tell about Yellowstone later on, but this part is crazier. And God totally had His hand on all of us during this time. We decided that instead of leaving Sat morning, to leave Thurs night, because we’d seen everything, we were exhausted, and driving at night, the kids could sleep. We had come in to Yellowstone from the south, but it was awful because of road construction, so we decided to leave through the east (we later learned, a God thing because had this incident happened going south, we would have been in much worse shape…)

About 9:30, I was dozing off in the car and Jon started hitting the bumps on the side of the road. I woke up thinking he was falling asleep driving, to see our wheel rolling across the road and going over the edge (God). We lost a lug nut, and the wheel came off. There was a lake on both sides of us. Jon’s first thought was “We’re in a suburban, we’re flipping, and going in to the lake.” Thankfully, none of that happened (God). The truck ended up just sitting right down on the pavement.

Jon started looking for the wheel right next to us, but I said no, I saw it go to the other side. I didn’t realize yet there was a lake over there. Jon went over with a flashlight and found it, floating in the lake. He looked down, and there happened to be a big stick that he was able to use to pull it out (God).

Just as he was walking back to the truck, a police officer pulled up behind us. Now, let me explain, when I say we were in the middle of nowhere, I mean NOWHERE. We had passed a “town” that had a bar and Post office about 15 min before, and the next city was another 10-15 miles ahead of us. Come to find out, this police officer is never out that way, and works 100 miles away. He happened to be helping out in another town and was driving back and said that he probably would not be out there again for 2 years (God!).

Well, eventually a highway patrolman showed up as well, along with a tow truck. So, Jon and Hannah rode with the tow truck man (let’s not talk about car seat safety on that one!) and Zach and I rode with the highway patrolman. They were going to drop us off at a hotel. The only problem? Literally every hotel in the city of Cody, WY was full, not one single room available. The PO called almost every hotel for us, with no luck. It was going on 12:30 now, Zach was still awake, we were just praying.

Eventually, the sheriff’s office called us… they had called Crisis Prevention, and they had ONE room available in the next city, 22 mi away. (GOD) So the towman and the PO drove us out there. On our way, my insulin pump battery died. I was about to freak out, then I remembered I happened to grab Jon’s toiletry bag from the truck while grabbing things for the night, and my spare batteries were in there! (God) Anyway, the motel was not my first choice of where to stay, but it was totally fine by me! Talk about God making you humble!

We stayed the night there, and woke up to my pump battery dead, again (I think it was a bad battery). I was freaking out, because we had no way of getting anywhere, but Jon remembered that the night before, he’d given Zach a flashlight to play with, so it just happened to come with us, and it had the right kind of batteries (God again!) Eventually we learned that our car would not be fixed that day. So we tried finding a hotel, only to find one that was going to cost $143/night, and we’d have to be there til at least Mon.

Come to find out, Jon’s brother knew someone who just moved away from Cody, WY, so he called him. He had a friend’s cousin (or something like that) that lived there, and this person was willing to let us come stay with them! Well, we then learned it was going to take until at least Wed to fix the truck, and decided that we should just rent a vehicle to drive home one way in, and then get another one to come back or have Jon fly back. However, this family is actually coming south in about a week, and has volunteered to drive it to meet us about half way! Hopefully this will work out for us.

We eventually got a rental car and made it home about 1am this morning. I have never, ever, ever been so happy and thankful to be back home. The interesting thing is I’ve been reading the Shack while out of town (BAD book to start reading while camping!) but, it was great because at first I wanted to ask “Why is God letting this happen to us?” and then I just heard parts of the book echoing in my head. God is so good! And I’m so glad he just really had us in the palm of His hands, looked after us, took care of us, etc.

Peanut Butter and banana

I'm sitting here eating a BPB and figured this was a good time to update my blog, before mopping the floors. (Don't be jealous, you know mopping floors is a blast!)

Our most exciting news is that we're heading to Yellowstone National Park next week! Pray for us, as we are being daring and taking 2 kids, under 2, tent camping, for a week.... Go ahead and put the "insane" sticker on me now. God is really blessing us, because one of our good friends is lending us their bike trailer. We wanted to buy one for the trip, but now we don't have to. Then, some friends from church offered to let us borrow their 8 person tent, so we don't have to buy a new one! We're very thankful and incredibly excited. Now, I just have to remember to pack everything, like towels and sheets, food, etc. The things I Don't normally take on trips.

As for the kiddos... Hannah is sitting up really well, and trying very hard to crawl. Jon said she crawled like 2....legs? Not sure what you'd call it, yesterday. Then today, I set her on the kitchen floor for a moment (I don't usually since it's hard) and she laid down and pulled herself across the floor, to get the oatmeal lid that Zach had left. I was shocked! She has also been slowly cutting her top teeth. One came in last week, and one the past few days is finally poking through. Then I noticed she has a third one trying to poke through up top! Needless to say, between teething, and a possible growth spurt, I'm not getting much sleep, as she's been getting up 3x a night! UGH! She thinks she's a newborn again or something. She's also FINALLY eating more solids. We're up to about 2 to 2 and a half jars a day! That's a big improvement haha. And she's finally decided she wants to start eating puffs... we're still working on that fine motor skills part of picking them up with 2 fingers though. She also loves to pull herself up on things now, and I'm usually finding her standing in her bed talking when she wakes up. So yeah, she's growing up, too fast.

Zach is being Mr. Mischievous like always. For example, today, he had the oatmeal container, with spagetti pasta sticking up out of it, like a flower arrangement or something. Yesterday, he got out of the bath, and while Jon was grabbing a diaper, he ran in to the dining room, stood on Hannah's highchair tray that was on the floor for some reason, and peed on it.... yesterday he also brought me a sweet potato and a plastic fork and said "Pease! and my most recent favorite, I recently found that he had poured his snack in his potty chair and was eating it out of the bowl...yeah.... But at the same time, he's so sweet. He constantly asks me to hold Hannah (but only for 2 seconds, then he pushes her away haha!) He loves to give her kisses, or his stuffed animals... he rocks them like I rock Hannah (and nurses them lol!) He will randomly just crawl on my lap and go "Ahh" and rock back and forth, so I will rock him. He's a very sweet little guy, but a total boy.

As for me, I think I mentioned before that I'm doing a Beth Moore Bible study on Esther and OH.MY.WORD. FABULOUS! Who know that 10 chapters of the Bible contained SOOOO MUCH!!?! Amazing! I'm also about to take over our weekly playgroup at church. I'm really excited about that opportunity, to be back in my "element" some what, doing what I love.

Anyway, that's about it for the past two weeks. Here's a few pictures.

Standing up

Zach wanted her in the stroller so he could push her.

Fourth of July outfits
This is Zach's newest thing, laying on the coffee table
with one of his blankets and saying "awww...Night night"
(Yes, it's Hannah's blanket)

Busy busy

Wow, lots going on for us this summer. We returned from FL about a month ago (Yeah, it's been a while since I updated). We had a great trip, and picked up our new suburban. We LOVE it! The DVD player was great for traveling back across the country and keeping Zach entertained. While in FL, Aimee got to eat at the Loop and we got Firehouse, two important meals when in FL. We spent Sunday in St. Augustine with my parents, part of it with Tim and his girlfriend, Sarah, and the other part with Andrew and Katie. While there, we attended mass at the Cathedral, visited the Fort, the mission, got ice cream, and shopped on St. George Street. We also spent an great evening with Viviane, Mike and Story, and Aimee got to eat lunch with the girls one day.

On our way back, we spent some time in MO with Jon's family. While there, we had some BBQs, went to a park, went to the Bounce house place, ate at the Mongolean BBQ restaurant, and got to replace the alternator. Thank God it went out there instead of on our drive there or in the middle of Kansas.

On Father's Day, Jon also celebrated his 26th birthday. So to surprise him, I got some friends to come babysit, without him knowing, and took him hiking at Red Rock Canyon. We had lots of fun and then went to The Loop for dinner. Sadly, it's not the same Loop as in Jax, and this was Mexican. It was ok food, but Jax's Loop is much better!

Jon also just learned that he passed his test for Tech Sgt that he took in Feb! This is a big promotion, as it's one of the hardest tests to pass, most people take it 3-4 times, this was his 2nd time taking it. It's also a huge pay increase. Sadly, he doesn't actually get it until NEXT July.

Along with work, he will be finished with school a year from now, meaning he can go ahead and apply for OTS (Officer Training School). He has to lose a lot of weight and have his application in by Dec. We should find out by mid-March if he made it the first time or has to reapply. If he made it, he could be going probably as early as Aug or Sept of next year! This is exciting and scary for us. I am also working with him to lose weight on my own.

As for me, I've been doing a Beth Moore Bible study, Esther, at another church over the summer. I've really enjoyed seeing what God has to show me through Esther and Beth Moore really has a great way of making you dig deeper. I also just attended one of their summer MOPS meetings and really enjoyed it, and hope to participate in MOPS in the fall. The kids and I have also been going to the park most Wednesday's with our church's playgroup. This is always a nice break in the middle of the week.

Zach is growing much more independent and learning to listen to mom. I've recently started telling him if he doesn't stop, he's going to bed (as timeout). I've had to put him in bed once today, and ever since, he's done what I've told him to. He's being mischieveous still as well. FOr example, the other day he put creamer in a bowl of corn I was defrosting (Creamed corn haha!) but then he also has his sweet moments, like when we were praying at dinner the other night, he took his dog's hands and folded them in prayer. He's been playing pretend a lot lately. That is so much fun to watch.

Hannah is growing so fast. She's 7 1/2 months already. She has her bottom 2 teeth and is trying to cut the top one. She's sitting up really well and trying to get down on all fours. Crawling is defintely in her near future.

Well, this gives you an idea of what is going on for us this summer. I hope everyone else is having a great summer!

Stess-ness

First of all, my baby girl is 6 months old today! How'd that happen?!?!

And yeah, I'm a lil stressed. I'm taking a short moment to post while I chow down on leftover pizza from teh grocery store... pizza that lied about the carbs, as I ended up eating over 100 carbs throughout the night to correct for too much insulin...but I digress..

Life is a little crazy from here on out. Tonight, I'm going out with the moms from our playgroup for mom's night out. We're going to my favorite Italian restaurant, yummy! Then tomorrow, Jon's best friend is flying in and styaing with us, along with his two girls. Then Sat we're throwing a HUGE party-like 25 people or so- welcoming our friend back from being deployed for a year. Then Sun is church... hoping to make it to the early service since we have lots to do, but might end up at the late one if we're up too late Sat night. THen packing all day, maybe going out to eat for dinner, then leave the house at 6:30 am on Mon.

Thankfully a little stress was relieved. I was stupid and only planned a 55 min layover. But, thank goodness, we found out we're going to the smaller airport in the city instead of the big one, so we'll be fine instead of freaking out.

The final thing is, I'll share my scary mom moment from yesterday! Last evening, I was in Zach's room, cleaning his bed. Zach was down stairs with Jon last I knew. Jon was playing video games with his headset on (Grrrr).... Anyway, the doorbell rings. Of course, Jon didn't hear it, so I went to answer it. It was the people across the street- WITH ZACH! He had gotten out the back door, walked through the backyard barefoot, opened the gate (it doesnt lock), and was walking up the sidewalk! Thank God for our neighbors who saw him, thank God he didn't go in the street and get hit or kidnapped, thank God for so many other things! He is so sneaking and mischeivious for a 20mo! Anyway, I insisted that as soon as we get back, we get a lock for the gate, and spend money on a new screen door that locks properly. I'm still so upset about it and the posibilities of things that could have happened!

Playing pretend

Getting ready

Well, a week from Monday, we are flying to FL! I am so excited. I haven't been home in 15 months and Jon hasn't been to FL in 2 years! We are long overdue. We will be in FL for a little over a week, then driving back across the country in a little less than a week. A trip of this magnitude takes lots of planning. And if you know me at all, you know I'm a BIG planner.

So today, we tried putting 3 suitcases, 2 duffle bags, the pack n play, and the stroller in the trunk to see if it all fits. AND IT DOES! Wahoo, we can fit it all! (I LOVE my trunk in my Impala!!!) So, we'll be good there. I can easily fit between the two car seats (I LOVE the width of my Impala!), so we have room to have someone come with us and drive our car back from the airport. So, I feel like a major part has been checked off.

Yesterday, we FINALLY went and got Hannah's birth certificate, so that's checked off as well. My parents are giving us their Suburban, which is how we're driving back, so we went to the DMV to get what we needed to, so that's done as well. I have also packed a duffle bag full of toys for the plane ride...I wanted to do that now, so it'll be a little while since Zach has played with those toys and he'll be excited for them on the plane. I'm trying to decide if I should take crayons and a coloring book or not. I've also deflated the pool tube to take and bought bathing suits for Hannah and I. Zach needs sandles still, but that can likely wait til FL. I'm not impressed with what I've found for $10 around here.

So yeah, that's what's been going on here, just trying to get ready. I will leave you with two fun videos. The first is of Hannah rolling, with Zach helping her, and all of Zach's words. The second, which I had to put under a different post, is Zach playing pretend with Hannah.

Well, the second one ended up above... it didn't work out the way I wanted, but that's ok :)

Peas

Zach has started saying "Please". Well, "peas", but just the same. And it's soooo cute. He gives you this big smile and says "peas" and gets so excited.

Tonight, he went down stairs and came back up with his detde (aka his blankie... Jon called it a detde growing up, and ever since, for all kids and grandkids after him, that's what it's been called), came up to me waving and saying "Nigh-nigh". ::Ahhh:: Seriously, how is this boy talking already?!!? I said "Are you ready for bed?" and he kept waving and saying it, walking off. So we went to bed. He wasn't happy to change his diaper first, but settled in for prayers. Before I was half done, he was waving to me. I guess he wanted me out of there. (Yet he laid in there talking for 30 minutes still haha)

We've also been trying lately to teach him sign language. I didn't when he was younger, and sort of wish I had, so we're teaching him a few things, so he'll be able to use signs, and also be able to teach them to Hannah. So tonight, he got down from the dinner table, and I said "are you done?" and he made the sign for eat! It wasn't the right answer really, but it let me know he knew what he was doing.

He also has some stuffed animals and is loving them lately. Today, he was walking going "ahh" while hugging one. He put two of them in the swing a few days ago to push them. Last night, he put his bear in his mini Tonka truck and was pushing him around the kitchen. This little boy has totally captured my heart more than I ever thought kids could! I'm so glad my heart softened before getting married about having kids!

As for Hannah, I stopped giving her cereal for a while, because she just didn't seem like she was ready for it. So, I tried again this afternoon. She ate it with so much gusto! She was doing really well and getting excited and happy with each bite.

I bought her some sandles today. I have a complaint about baby shoes! They are never the same size! She has two pair of black dress shoes, both size 2. One falls off, the other is too small. I bought her a pair of pink shoes for the summer, size 2 (Without her there), and they're too big. So today, I found sandles for her at Baby Depot, and ended up getting her one size 1, and one size 2! And get this... Size 2 is "3-6months". My daughter wears almost NOTHING size 3-6 mo anymore, except shoes.. and a size 1 that's 0-3 hahaha! I guess she just has tiny feet.

In other news, we have 5 tulips and 1 dandelion that have bloomed-all yellow! Wahoo. It looks like 2 red tulips will any day now. Also, I added a few more links to my other blogs. Cake Wrecks is HILARIOUS but be warned, some can be a little inappropriate, but they will have you laughing for hours.

With all of this, I shall end my post... Jon will be home soon. He had to work this morning, then got to come home for a few hours, then go back until 10pm. ::Sigh:: So, I'd like to have the dishes done in the next 1/2 hour, so, goodnight to all! Much love from us.

Learning so much

I am totally seeing where every little thing is a learning experience. Let's take this afternoon. We went to plant grass in the backyard. Zach got to learn how to turn the seed spreader wheel thingy. He also got to figure out the hose a little bit, and how walking underneath gets you wet. He also got a lesson in walking through mud gets you hosed off.

So then, we went to the library. Walking there, and back, he got a lesson in crossing the road-look both ways, hold daddy's hand, etc. At the library, he learned there are many ways to go, ways to get lost in all the racks. Plus he learned how to run away from mom and dad, and how to show mom and dad he wanted to play with the legos. Also, staying with mom and dad as they check out, even if he doesn't want to.

Leaving the library, he learned we CAN pick up the big rocks outside, and if we aren't careful, we can almost make it land on daddy's foot. Walking back, he also found a golf ball. He wandered in to someone's yard, which he isn't suppose to do, but because he spotted the ball. So he picked it up and immediately through it in to the road. Then he was upset we wouldn't let him go get it. When he got home, he learned how to throw it down the driveway and watch it roll. He also picked up a rock and threw it several times, but it didn't roll as well.

Oh, what a life for a little boy! It's so fun watching them learn and teaching them things constantly!

Learning words

So Zach has been learning to talk (say actual words) a lot more lately. His newest one that he likes to say a lot is "clock". Everything is a clock right now. It started because of this... He knows who Jesus is, and points and says "Jesus" when he seems him. Well, Jesus is usually hanging on the wall, so he pointed to the clock and said "Jesus" and we said no, that's a clock. So every time we're at the table, he points to it and says clock.

We are also learning our body parts. We know nose, ears, eyes, toes, feet and kind of mouth... and today, we worked on hair, teeth and tongue.

After dinner, he helped daddy do dishes tonight. Well, "helped". Then, I asked him if he wanted to play legos or read a book. He ran and got a book and got up on the couch, waiting for me (This isn't something we do often, so I was surprised). It was a 500 First words book and he sat there for at least 20 minutes, looking through it. We found shoes, socks, a cat, a dog, and well... a clock... more than *I* thought were in the book (ie a book was a clock, a lamp, etc) I never thought teaching a one and a half year old words would be so fun!

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

Ok, so my post yesterday ended up proving me wrong. I finished writing that post, in the office. Zach was just outside the office, in the den, playing on his slide (Yes, he has a slide in the den. It lasts longer and can be played on more inside lol) I posted, talked to Jon in the office for a few, and walked out. No, he wasn't playing on the slide anymore... he was playing.... IN... the FIREPLACE! Yes, covered in ashes. So, I took him, clothes and all, and put him in the SECOND bath of the day... or "GA" as he calls it. I just hope he doesn't realize anytime soon that if he does something really messy, that means he can get a bath. This boy definitely keeps me on my toes.

Today was nice. We went grocery shopping this morning, Jon included. He's working tonight, all night, so he had the morning off. As we're standing in line to checkout, Jon's holding Hannah in front of Zach. Next thing we know, she's crying, and he is too... why? Because he bit her foot!!!! :-O And then her crying and Jon flicking him in the mouth for it, upset him. But then, we came home, and she was lying on the floor on her play gym and he was playing with her... he handed her the hanging toy so she could hold it... then he handed her a rattle and rubbed her head. When she was lying on her belly, he got down on his belly in front of her and showed her how to drive his little car (because you  know girls so want to know how to drive cars!) When she went to bed, he said "Night night" and kissed her head. Those sweet moments are the ones I love. Oh, and the one from last night. He took his stuffed bear and dog (or maybe it was the stuffed wolf?? I don't remember, he loves them all) and put them in Hannah's swing and turned it on, then pushed them while swaying back and forth himself and "singing" to them. He loves his stuffed animals and will go around hugging them and kissing them. Kids are so smart at picking things up! And a while ago, I use to tell him every morning after getting dressed I needed a hug and a kiss, now he almost always just does it on his own. And he'll point to Jesus in our house and say "-esus" (or something like that) and he'll even wave goodnight to Jesus. 19 months is such a fun age, that's for sure!

Another great story, this one about Hannah...I had her lying on her play gym, on her back, head facing the tv..I came back in the living room from doing something else and she was lying parallel to the tv... and a few minutes later, she somehow had her feet facing the tv! She can do a complete 180, but can't roll over! All the other girls her age are rolling over, but nope, not her! Her other new thing is she scoots in her bed, in her sleep. Literally every hour to hour and a half last night, she would wake up crying because she would be stuck in the corner. I'm praying this doesn't continue because I can't keep getting up every hour to hour and a half just to remove her.

Anyway, the diapers are done washing... Which reminds me, I got more cloth diapers, wahoo! No, I'm not going green... I'm going "Save $$$!" because diapers for two, even the cheap Walmart ones, were costing us $50+/month. But I got some really cute ones this time. I'll post pictures eventually...maybe. So, diapers are done, Jon's working tonight, and the kids and I are going to a huge church garage sale early tomorrow morning... in other words, I'm out... like the light soon will be!

Much love,
Aimee 

Computers and fingers

The excitement of our day... I had surgery on my finger last week- had a ganglion cyst removed. I went for a followup today and got told "It looks good".

The other exciting part, we got the parts for Jon to build a new computer (Ours died last week) Thank God my hubby is smart with computers and can fix it by just getting new parts instead of a whole new computer.

Wow... what an exciting day. Oh, and the kids and I went to playgroup this morning, and they behaved greatly in the doctor's office. That's a miracle. ::sigh:: What a hard life I live.

Changes

As you can see, I've made some changes to my blog. I figured since I was finally getting back to posting, some change might be good. I also updated my links, got rid of the ones that dont work haha, and added some new ones I'd like to visit more frequently. I have a feeling I'll eventually be adding even more. This is a short post though, because I've spent the last hour, during naps, playing with my blog. I need to quickly get a shower before the little ones awake again.

Mischievous Zachary

I love my son, but today, he's driving me nuts, and it's not even noon yet! To begin with, I was sitting in the basement on the computer. I assumed the bathroom door was shut. I hear this loud gushing... went in and he had the container the toilet brush sits in... had that in the toilet, picking up buckets of water and pouring them on the floor....

So then, later, I'm washing my hands in the other bathroom, and within one second, he takes a handful of trash from the can, and puts it in the toilet (including a dirty diaper, tissue, and a cleaning glove)

So then, I'm downstairs doing something, and I hear him upstairs crying. I go up to see. He's in Hannah's room, stuck in the railing of her bed... and she's awake! She's now crying, letting me know she's not happy he woke her up. And me, well, I'm going for my 3rd cup of coffee, praying Lord, please let naps come soon so I can get a relaxing shower.


In other news... the water obsession is a new thing of his. Two nights ago, he had a cup in the tub, and poured several cups of water on the floor before we caught him. So the cup isn't allowed in the tub any more. Last night, I heard him too excited in the bathtub while I was doing something...he had a lego and discovered it holds water, so was pouring it on the floor..and had it all the way to the door and all over the toilet. He's only 19mo!?! Am I facing terrible twos already??

behind again

Man, I'm having a hard time keeping up with this lately! Part of the reason is because i no longer have a laptop (Zach...diet coke... laptop...fried). Therefore, I have to share with Jon, and he's taking classes online. The other, well, I'm a busy mom!

The past few weeks have been crazy. Last week Jon's family was in town. We had lots of fun and they were great house guests. Then Tues, I had a ganglion cyst removed from my left ring finger. Not a big deal really, but it was getting painful after like 5 yrs of having it, so they had to take it out. It ended up being a large finger cast that I couldn't get wet, so Jon got to take the rest of this week off, so he's been off the past 2 weeks, except for one day. Then, the motherboard on our computer died this week, so we got to replace that... still waiting on parts to come. And we finally decided that we just couldn't keep paying $50+/mo on diapers, so we have gone back to cloth diapers. I only had 14, so I've been washing them every.single.day. So, I got to order another dozen this week, and i'm anxiously awaiting those as well.

Zach had been being a pain about eating lately, so I'm reading "Child of Mine" by ellen Satter. It's great and I really recommend it for anyone with children. I am also reading Innocent Man by John Grisham, but I feel like I've read it before, or at least started it before. I also just finished reading the Duggars book- 20 and counting- and I totally recommend it. Easy read and really interesting. IT was awesome to see how God has worked in their lives and how they seek him. I've also been working on scrapbooking a lot more lately.

As I finish this post, I will share a funny Zach story with you. About every other night, after dinner, Zach gets a bath ("ga" in his words). HE LOVES his baths. The other night, we were eating and I asked Jon if he needed a B-A-T-H. (yes, i spelled it out). We decided he didnt need one. As we got done, he pointed and said "Ga?!?" with a questioning look. We started laughing, and when he got down, he walked down the hall, so excited, looking for us behind him, and pointing saying "ga?" We ended up giving him a bath anyway. We couldn't stop laughing. He is at this very smart, learning stage, and copying everything we do. It's so fun! I'm sure I'll have more to come soon, if I can keep up with this.

Retreat: Childhood memories

I've decided to try to do this online retreat to work on focusing more on God. The first week, they've encouraged us to focus on memories of our life throughout the day, and really work to think about the memories and look to see how God has shaped our lives through everything. So, today I'm going to think about some of my childhood memories from when we still lived in Jax.

This is hard for me, as I don't remember back that far really. I remember the house we lived in... I remember my friend down the street. She had My Little Ponies, I had Barbies, and we loved to play with each other's toys. I remember we found birds in our chimney a lot... I remember wanting to go to church and going in and waking my parents up so we could go. I remember Christmas morning, we weren't allowed to go down the hall way until mom and dad were up, so we'd sit at the very edge of the hall, waiting for them. I remember our playroom and mom every so often, coming in on one of the little red chairs we had, and starting at one end of the room and making us help her clean because it'd get SO MESSY. (I think a playroom is an awesome idea and I'm remembering it for the future...) I remember saying Bible verses in 1st grade I think and getting a scripture magnet printed on wood in sunday school. I remember the many church musicals we did, esp We Like Sheep (Aren't we all singing that in our heads now?) and Amerikids and going to Walt Disney World because of Amerikids and my mom french braiding my hair, Lauren S.'s and the other girl in our group on the bus. (There was also my brother Bryan and a friend of his). I remember having a seizure when my Aunt Jen was babysitting. I dont remember much about it except they asked me where my parents worked and I couldn't remember... I knew they worked at 2 hospitals but I didn't know which one worked at which hospital. Then I remember that when I got to the hospital, I was so upset because they had to cut my favorite jammies off of me. I remember praying before meals "God is great, God is good..." I remember we always wanted plastic Easter eggs for Easter, because then we'd gather everyone's together and hide htem all across the house/yard and have to find where they were hidden. I also remember finding a kite hidden under my parent's lazy boy, then getting it for Easter... that's when I knew about the Easter Bunny... I remember the toothfairy always took several days to visit hahaha! And I remember going to my mom and telling her I knew Santa wasn't real anymore, and I had known for a few years, but I wasn't telling her bc I was afraid I wouldn't get those gifts anymore. Funny, Santa still came even when I graduated from high school. I wonder if he'll come if we make it home next year ;-) I remember going to family reunions on my mom's side... it was all my aunts and uncles and cousins every Mother's day... The first one, we went all out, and bought bright pink shirts that said "**(Name)** Family Reunion" and we stayed at Goldhead NAtional Park and some kid drowned in the lake that year, and I had problems with my diabetes and got really sick while staying in the cabin (I had so forgotten about that!) I remember one year at Christmas, we all brought ornaments and sat around in a circle (extended family as well) and read teh Christmas story and everytime the word "angel" and another word, maybe "baby"?, was said, we'd pass the ornament to our left, and everyone got an ornament when it was done. I remember feeling special because I got to be one of the readers. I remember my granddad had dentures and I didn't know it. He pulled them out of his teeth once to show me, and scared me so much I was crying and trying to get away from him. I remember we all tried to eat Annie's dogfood and I cried so much when she died. I remember my friend Mari coming over to help me make a spaceship for a school project. I remember my bedroom was pink and the boys was orange. I remember pulling my sister out of her crib and telling mom "Mom! She climbed out of bed because she wants to sleep with me." But then, a little while later, calling mom and telling her she wouldn't lay still and go to sleep. Amazing how when mom put her back in her bed, she never climbed out haha ;-)

WOW! This is crazy.... I really haven't thought back to all of these in a long time! What fun!

stupid shopping carts

I rarely go to stores w/out Jon but needed diapers and milk, so had to go... and of course, forgot my wrap. So, I had to put the carseat in the back of the buggy and Z in the front... well, 1st target.... their buggies are awful! the front seat like reclines and z hates it. but also, the back isnt wide enough for a safe seat car seat.... I saw THREE other moms w/ car seats in the back, but the safeseat wont (One of my complaints about the safe seat) So i had to turn her and prop her on the 2 sides of the buggy and hold on to her throughout shopping... and take her out to put almost anything in the buggy, instead of placing things around her

So then safeway....they had just collected buggies i guess bc none in the parking lot except the small, 2 basket type ones so i had to try to get in to the store holding z's hand (DOES NOT like to hold your hand) and the carseat... well, they have nice new buggies... w/ cupholders in the back part, therfore, leaving me to have to do the same thing I did in target... You just KNOW that men must create these darn buggies lol.

so, i'm totally frustrated and frazzled and emotions starting to show (Let's just say aunt flow and not really seeing Jon/spending time together in almost a week hasnt helped).... placed my coupon container on H so i could grab yogurts. Next thing I know... coupons are flying everywhere. This was my first "Bad mommy moment in public" where I lost it, yelled at him, then proceeded to tear up as this lady gave me this mean, disapproving look.

Kids are now asleep (If H will stay when I lay her down) and i'm hoping to get some frustrations out on housework.

TOOOO Long!

Wow, it has been too long! First and foremost, our sweet Hannah Lucia was born Nov. 21 at 2:06am, via repeat c-section after laboring for 24 hrs, weighing 10 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches long!!! She was a big girl! :) Life is a little busy, making the adjustment from 1 to 2, but it's not too bad. We're actually handling it great. Zach loves his little sister, says "Sis" and points to her, will rub her head, pat her back like mommy does to burp her, and will give her nice big, wet kisses. He's still young though, so we've caught him trying to climb on her to sit in the bouncy, on top of her. We have to watch him haha!

Other than that, life is well. Jon is now on a normal work schedule, basically working M-F, 8-5. Has its pluses and minuses. We just spent 2 weeks in MO at the beginning of the year for Jon's sister's wedding and seeing everyone. Hannah was baptized the day we got back and she looked beautiful. Soon after that, Zach spilled diet coke all over my laptop and fried it, so we're now sharing a computer. Jon just started back to school after taking a semester off, so between that and work, he's staying busy. We're also super excited that LOST is back on :) We're flying home in May for my sister's graduation, wahoo! I haven't been home in a year and a half, so I've very excited about that. We're also starting to look at little/plan a little for Rome. We're going there in 2 years for Jon's brother's ordination in to the priesthood. We've very excited about that and looking forward to it.

God has been doing a lot in our lives. Jon and I recently began reading "When Couples Pray" by Cheri Fuller. It's been incredible for our spiritual walk together and it's been so touching to hear us pray for each other. I definitely recommend it to other couples! God's also been bringing Eph 5 up to me a lot, and really encouraging me regarding our marriage. I'm also beginning to consider getting up before the kids to shower and do my own devotional now that I"m getting a little more sleep, but that hasn't happened yet. We also just finished reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and are striving to live on a better budget, to pay off debt, and save lots. We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary last week as well. We got a babysitter and went to dinner and a yummy Italian restaurant we'd never been to, and then went and saw Defiance. Sad, but great movie. Based off a true story during the Holocaust.

Anyway, just gives you a small idea of what's been going on in our lives the past 2 months. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I'm hoping to try to keep up with this about once a week now that things are settling down to our new adjustment. Hope all are doing well!

Much love, Aimee