Wednesday, December 21, 2011

4 Days...6th Disease...and 1 Day at a time

Why so many numbers you ask? And what do they all mean? Our lives here seem to be living by the numbers around us...4 Days until Christmas, Everett has 6th Disease (Roseola) and I am taking things 1 Day at a time now...


Poor little E has been through so much lately! He recently got his top two teeth only to have the ones right next to them about to break through. Four teeth at once is a doosey and sure explains why he hasn't been wanting ot nurse very often. (Back on track with that now). He recently had a strange high fever for about 3 nights/4days and caused a lot of concern. It got up towards 104 and even his soft spot was bulging out a bit. I took him to the ER, but with a lack of other symptoms (no cold like things, diarrhea or vomitting) they chalked it up to a virus and told me to watch him. Not the best answer from a Children's Hospital. The fever eventually went away around Monday morning and he has been recouperating since then. I had his 9 month well baby scheduled for today for about a month and it was quite convenient considering his recent health. It definitely turned out to be more than a routine visit! As soon as I took his clothes off, I noticed this crazy rash all over his body. Small red dots and blotchyness. The nurse noticed it too and seemed concerned or curious.

(such a swee pic of my man, can't see his rash here, but I am so in love with him! God gave me the perfect third child...He knew exactly what I needed)


I immediately thought back to what I first thought it was in the beginning of the fever (after doing research on the internet) and thought it was Roseola...and I was right! It is basically a benign childhood illness that doesn't have a treatment besides controlling the fever. The rash appears once the fever is gone and only lasts 1-3 days and isn't a bother to the baby. These pictures don't do justice as the lighting in my house isn't that great. But you can kinda see it.
None the less, he is a healthy happy baby! He wieghs 22 lbs and is 29 1/4 inches long. Meeting all the milestones and sure wooed the doc despite his crazy rash.



4 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!! I think I am more excited than the boys. We have only a few gifts for them this year, but they are so perfect. What fun it is to be a parent and give joyfully to our children! This is an advent calendar I made last year. Each day they put up a new ornament and on the back as a verse to read from the bible about Jesus' birth. Logan and Austin both enjoy it very much.
Logan very much understands what is going on this year and it is great to be starting or continueing our traditions. It is definitely hard being away from family this year, but like I said, I am stoked for our family Christmas!!
Like my star wars snowflakes I cut out? go here: http://mattersofgrey.com/diy-star-wars-snowflakes/ to do it yourself!
Fits in real well huh?



1 Day at a time...so yeah...I am putting my foot down to forgetting and not having a schedule...I am not talking about narowing my day down to every 15 min, but knowing what needs to be cleaned when, what appointments are when, deadlines, birthdays, etc...So so so.....sick and tired of having "mommy brain!". I am doing my best to write things down and keep track of it all. Hard to start a new habit, but hopefully soon I will have it down.
Found this amazing cleaning chart template and it is helping immensly! Go here to download yours and create your needed chores!!


Anyways...not much else going on...one big thing...today Mike re-enlisted! Yup, we are in it for another 6 years, which inevitely will keep us in till the end. Right now we have 9.5 years in so in 6 we will have 15.5 and would be silly to get out. Please be praying for the long year ahead of us with Mike training and going through a rigorous program. We know God has his hand in our family and we are daily striving to glorify Him through all that He has given us!
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Saturday, December 10, 2011

Merry Merry December

Oofta! What a month so far! The testosterone led family is doing great...and the trying very hard to be feminine lady here is doing might fine too:-) I have started to try and take a new approach on things lately and bought myself a handy dandy personal calendar. I am tired of forgetting (still do) and procrastinating (working on that also) and want to cross things off a list (so accomplishing). It is hard to adapt something like that into my daily life because I am always on the go and don't have a set "station" or desk that I can leave the calendar. It is working for the most part though.

Other updates:
Logan just had his Christmas Program...which I had to miss because Austin was strangely sick just for that morning. Mike was able to go and video taped it. Logan and I watched it later together and he sang me every song:-) He was so proud! I had told Logan that I was sad I wasn't able to go and to prepare him for the worst told him gently that neither Mike or I would be able to go. I hoped that Mike would be able to and like I said he did. Mike caught Logan's reaction to seeing his Dad on the video and it was priceless. Soooo glad Mike went.

Austin is doing well...his old self. Still quite the funny guy with such an independent persona. He is enjoying Everett more and more and I think they will be good buds. Austin loves to pretend play and recently pretended to be a doctor "Mom...are you a boy or girl (girwal-is how he says it)" and then writes it down on a pretend clipboard. Love him!

Everett is cutting the top four teeth right now...seems like it has been over a month since this started and I can't WAIT for them to come through! He is crawling all around the house, and I am really enjoying this curious stage. He doesn't really crawl full force, just kind of meanders around putting random things in his mouth...like dog hair. He has pulled himself up several times, but it still isn't consistent. He still nurses, but is very active so it can be hard to get him to any where else besides his quiet room. I am struggling with if he is getting enough from my milk OR if it is just his teething...we are gonna give it some time and do some experimenting with other foods to find out. Other than that...he is still the happiest baby!


My photography sessions have slowed down, which is nice for the holidays, but I am so pumped for this next spring and summer...got some awesome new places to take people and new ideas! Somehow I do still have time to do some home-made crafts. This fall wreath (yes I know it is winter now) took me about a month, but I got it done in time for Sept! No one ever told me how much burlap sheds...it is awful...it turned into an outside project. One of my favorites though!

And since I didn't have much time to make a Christmas wreath...I just tweaked the fall one with some Christmas tree branches and ornaments and wwwhhalllah!


Funny story...I missed watering the tree one day and after that noticed that it stopped soaking up water. So, in my craziness I asked my incredible husband to help me cut some more off the bottom of the tree in case some sap covered the bottom preventing water being drunk by the tree. In his awesomeness...he did it with help from a friend. That was much more of a project than we expected. The tree is now about 4 inches shorter and lost all the bottom branches. It looks cleaner and healthier though! Oh well!
Hope you all are having a good December and have a Merry Christmas thus far! Miss you family and friends!

PS...oh I will have a good story for you guys next time hopefully...seriously...God is really wanting us to trust Him lately in the most crazy circumstances!! All Glory to Him!
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!!!

Yup...this season has been pretty good so far! Great decorations, beautiful tree, awesome traditions, telling and retelling of the REAL Christmas story, deals on presents, and MIKE is HOME for it! I saw a tutorial on how to make your Christmas Tree glow and I had fun playing with it...basically you close your aperature (F number...as high as possible) open your shutter speed to over 5 seconds, USE A TRIPOD and set your timer on your camera so it doesn't shake. I think my ISO was around 800. Only have your tree lights on and the rest of the house dark or very dim and shoot away! I believe my settings were "10 shutter speed, 22 F, ISO 800. Then I added a slight boost with photoshop...but it really didn't need it.



Then the bokeh tree...I may be wrong on this, but the way I did it was by manually making it out of focus and I could see the bokeh through my camera. I believe my shutter speed was 1/50 and a 2.2F, ISO stil 800. Good thing about this is that you don't really have to worry about shaking too much.

Hope you all are enjoying your Christmas season so far! Wishing we were closer to home for family, but we will make do this year...:-)

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Unedited, SOOC, Family photos:-0

Love this place I found to take photos and I love fall colors! Oh...most of all...love my boys...





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Monday, November 21, 2011

Chaos among the calm...

By the obvious lack of posts...life has been quite chaotic. Which is always good right? Well, in this case it is. I have had numerous photo sessions during the week and weekends for friends and friends of friends. I seriously thought once I started charging people, then it would slow down a bunch, but it is amazing how my second job now is to edit pics and be creative! Loving it!

The boys have found new ways to entertain themselves while I sit next to them on the computer..."little legos" is one of the things they do:-) Hence my table being full of them, while I sip on my coffee and enjoy the chitter of two imaginative buddies. This pic was also taken with my new prime lens...LOVE IT!


Mike has been enjoying getting the boys out and running around (still wishing for a swing set in our backyard) but the obstacle course will do fine for now. Boys sure will be boys!!
Such a big guy climbing the ropes!
Always a teaching moment for Daddy and Son. Austin is so independent and so brave...but sometimes he does need help! Notice the look on his face?


I FINALLY got to meet my wonderful nephew! And yes, my great sister and brother in law visited also:-) It was so awesome to see them as a family, growing their own precious boy. It is always so fun to have them visit because of how laid back we can all be, the video gaming by the men, and constant conversation for me and Jillian. They were amazing though...they saw a glimpse of my chaotic life and the messiness that goes along with it...and yet they still wanted to be here. Josh (my BIL) did the dishes several times, and Jillian as well. So great to have helpful visitors! Anyways, we stayed home a bunch, but got to take family photos of both our families, did a little shopping, movie watching, and mothering.

Here are all four boys together...Logan 4.5, Everett 7.5 months, Noah 3 months, and Austin 2.5!


All in the tub one night:-) Everett is obsessed with splashing, more so than his older brothers and poor Noah got so much water in his face! He was a trooper though...I know there will be pay back some day:-)


Crazy kids...Everett was a little interested in Noah, but mainly like to have something to climb on...the bouncer!


I got to hold him while he was sleeping one time...oh HEAVEN! He kept smiling and making silly expressions...love him!


Here are a few shots of Everett exploring...I think he really wanted to go outside that day!


On the move:-)


Beautiful Mommy and her handsome son!



Yes, Logan was in love with Noah and we had to keep reminding him to be gentle with him. "Noah doesn't have brothers like EVerett does" (who is used to the roughness by now).
Logan kept making the funniest faces when we were taking pics of them...Noah enjoyed the attention.


Stay tuned....I have plenty more photos coming!!



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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Still here!

Hey ya'll...we are still here! SUPER busy and growing up fast! Everett is officially a crawler and is hilarious. He basically uses one foot and drags the other leg under him. Kinda like a hurt let. Oh well! Gets him around places huh? Logan was super excited at first but now has to constantly move his toys and keep things on the table. Oh the joys of a little brother.

Halloween was fun...we thought the boys would be more into it, but they were done in about 10 minutes. Austin actually walked into the first two houses and was very upset when we told him he couldn't go into strangers houses. What a goof! Overall, they had a good time and got lots of candy for only an hour!

IronHide


Spidey and his web
Me and my cute puppy:-) Found it at a thrift store!
Going around the neighborhood!
I made some Santa Fe Chicken Chili the other night and it was quite beautiful in the crockpot before it cooked!! From www.skinnytaste.com


Me finishing my 10K. It seriously was the worst weather...so windy that when the gust of 30-40 mile and hour wind hit my jello like legs at mile 5, I about fell over! I ran the whole way though, I was determined to do that even if it wasn't that fast. This was a halloween race, so you were encouraged to dress up. There were some hilarious costumes like slinky dog, Michael Jackson on an IV running with his doctor, several Flinestones, etc. Great race. Haven't run since though because I am trying to heal some severe shin splints. I can't wait to get back out there!

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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

So proud...

(could this be?!?!?! 2 posts in one day!?!?!) yup...i am so proud...so so proud of my big man Logan. It has been fun to see what he has learned in pre-school and how much things have "clicked" for him. He is trying to sound out words and is getting Austin involved. He loves to write his letters over and over again, while getting so much praise:-)

It is fun to see him come home with his papers and see his name written on his work. I can imagine how diligently he worked on writing his name and how proud he must be every time he does it. I know I am:-)





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Motherhood Conviction

The other day I woke up quite crabby. I had a sour look on my face, and mean touch. My patience was long gone and I just wanted to sit until I felt better. Pretty selfish huh? I love my Pandora radio that we play on our PS3...I knew that listening to some music praising the Lord would probably help get me out of this funk. So as the morning was going on, a much over played song came on...BUT it was exactly what I needed to hear and boy did it stab me deep!

(chorus)
I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

Ouch right? Not sure if you do this, but I often think about how my kids will remember their childhood. Will they remember the slow and easy mornings, the family dinners, the clean bedroom (or messy these days), the van rides, bath nights, etc. What will they remember about all this? I think as a woman I really associate moods with memories...so for me when I remember my childhood I have a lot of peace and contented memories. The family dinner memories are full of family time, love and routine. Playing outside are feelings of being carefree and trusted.
When I was convicted yesterday morning, I thought to myself...are my boys remembering a mom who loves and shows grace? Or a mom who stays mad and yells? The song and my conviction are not a selfish conviction...I am not trying to be remembered for my sake, but for the Lords sake. The kind of legacy that Jesus left is the kind of legacy that I want to leave (hence the name of the blog:-) Our intern pastor said something quite emotional and profound this past Sunday. Now...it won't really be like this and we won't be thinking about this when we get to Heaven, but this is a good earthly way to think of life now with the eternal perspective.
~When my boys (yes all 4) stand before God, will they be better off because of me? Will they have made better choices in life because of what I taught them and how I loved them?~

Anyways...lots of heaviness, but I am very thankful for that conviction because I needed it yesterday and all the days I have the moments that I just want to scream, but really I need to love more. Oofta...mothering is hard but soooo worth it.

Here is the video of the song if you are interested. Like I said it is a well known song so maybe just listen for some "conviction or motivation!"



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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Everett...oh Everett...




Wow...did we kick ourselves in the butt!! We boasted about our two older boys being great sleepers at night and now...we have the worst. Well, I know there are a lot of terrible sleepers out there, so he is one of the worst. For the first few months I chalked it up to on demand nursing and him not having a schedule because of our busy lives. Then I hoped once he started eating he would sleep longer...nope. I also hoped that he would get on some kind of routine at night...like getting up at certain hours and eating, then going back to bed easily...nope. NEVER has the same night twice. And I am not talking about one night sleeping for 4 hours and then the next night up every 2...I am talking about just plain inconsistency!

For the past 4 weeks he has been the worst. First he was sick...ok kid, you get extra attention at night for being sick. Don't like seeing and hearing my baby have croup. Then once that was over he started teething...two teeth later he gets sick again. I just couldn't believe it! I thought breastfed babies weren't supposed to get sick so much! So I took him into the doc yesterday and she said he has "baby asthma"...WHAT?!?! So here goes trying to figure out if it is asthma or not. She gave us an inhaler and singulair to give him daily. I feel so bad giving him the inhaler because it amps him up so much. He looks like he was given a cup of sugar! I just wish we could figure out what really is wrong and get him to sleep.

Last night he was up till 1230am...a first for him and a first for our marriage. Let's just say the strain of no sleep and conflicting ideas on how to deal with this isn't easy for us. I have ordered the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child because I have heard rave reviews about it and am waiting now over a week for it (come one person, don't you know I need to sleep!?!).

Anyways...I really shouldn't complain because I know some people have it worse. And I am so grateful for my little Everett. Even though he is sleeping horribly right now, he is still an easy baby. He plays a ton by himself and the other boys. Is sitting up totally on his own now, just waiting for him to figure out crawling. He is going through a screaming phase...and yes I mean high pitch shrieks. If any one has been on the phone with me while he does it, you know know what I mean. I count every day a blessing that he continues to nurse because this was about the time when Austin stopped. He loves to nurse and we are pretty good at it still:-) He is so chunky and may be the biggest of the boys. Over 18 lbs and over 27 inches long. Well into 12 month clothing! He may be a ninja for Halloween...if I can find the costume. That means that all three boys were this ninja for their first Halloween. Hand-me-downs are starting to be sentimental! Well, if you have any tips please let me know. We are going to start the cry it out method soon and try and wean him down to 1 feeding a night. Pray for our patience with our little guy!!

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