tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20810085680003556812024-02-20T19:30:14.037-08:00A Table For FourKristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-80308701376405123772018-05-09T18:52:00.000-07:002018-05-09T19:34:12.208-07:00Our HomeIs it only when you are looking for God's hand that you see it so clearly? Or is it because you are looking that God reveals it more plainly? <br />
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Words cannot express the love I have for our home. I have learned that I cannot pretend I will always love everything about it, but we are in that honeymoon period of home ownership where all we see are the amazing things- the beautiful perennials that are coming up, the amazing ability to send our kids outside without an ounce of guilt and say "go outside and find something to do!" They have 11 acres to run and play and explore, and to me, every inch of that land is perfect and ideal for exploring.</div>
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I hesitate to put family matters into words but I believe doing so would lessen the story- let me tell you the story of our home.</div>
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Since we got married we wanted a certain lifestyle for our children. We wanted them to have the freedom to explore, learn, and get skinned knees. We wanted room for them to roam without fear of what they might encounter. While many would argue that they can do that anywhere, the mama bear in me is sometimes more concerned about the PEOPLE they might encounter than anything we could find in the woods of SW Michigan. Our first home was adorable and idyllic in its character. We had amazing neighbors that we wouldn't have given up for the world in our young parenting life where we needed the friends right next door to encourage us, bring us back down to earth, or just listen as we cried. But it was tiny (900 sq feet plus a minimally finished basement). We figured we'd have one child, maybe another baby, but by the time that 2nd one was too big we'd be moving on. God giggled. We had 2 at once and squeezed every inch of space out of that sweet bungalow before it was time to move on in search of a bit more space.</div>
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Our second home was in our dream school district. It didn't check every box for our "perfect" home, but we bought at the right time, got a great deal on the home (after not getting back what we'd spent on the first), and got into a school district we were excited about. That home allowed us to build some fantastic relationships, dip our feet in the water of public schools, and feel like we had begun to establish a relationship with our long-term community.</div>
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After a few years in our 2nd home we discovered a few things about our life goals that maybe we hadn't realized before. We found out we love having neighbors but we also value privacy. We didn't like having to follow HOA rules (Andy knew this, I was not aware;)), or worrying about how often we were able to mow our lawn or if we could have people over without bothering the neighbors (who were not bothered, but still the fear is there). We realized that in our particular spot there wasn't a whole lot for our kids to explore- we were land locked so to say by busy roads, sidewalks that ended inexplicably, and a larger neighborhood that at their tender young ages our kids were not able to access even though they had school friends who lived in it. We LOVED the pool - something we didn't plan on- but other than that, the benefits of an HOA were lost on us. We knew we hadn't planned to stay forever- but the desire to stretch our legs on some land of our own was STRONG. We spent many evenings daydreaming about owning our own chunk of land.</div>
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It was around the same time that my husband's grandfather began to have health issues in his early 90's. Andy had been raised having spent lots of time on his grandpa's land (also in Byron Center) and felt a huge emotional attachment to it. He fondly remembers helping his grandma in the garden, riding with his grandpa on the tractor, riding bikes, and baking in the kitchen...so many wonderful memories I wish I could have shared with him. His parents worked and relied on his grandparents to care for him and my sister-in-law during the work week. As a result, he got the country-life childhood we both desperately desired for our own children. I'd grown up with space to explore as well, and cherish the memories of time spent alone in the woods exploring and imagining. </div>
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As his grandpa lay in a hospital bed early on in his illness, thinking he would pass soon, he grabbed Andy and asked him if he wanted "the farm." Andy wasn't ready to say goodbye and assured him this was not the time or place to discuss it and thankfully, he was right. We had a few more months with Grandpa for which we are very thankful. During those months when Grandpa's health improved and waned, Andy and I began the process of determining if we could and should buy Grandpa's property. One of the things I (and Andy, but I am certain I spent more time pondering) felt compelled to consider was what our next step looked like versus the typical next step for people our age. We are approaching our mid-thirties and a part of us longed to have our "perfect" home. We wanted a beautiful home- who doesn't? With all the bells and whistles- rooms for each kid, a guest room, a finished basement for the kids to hang in, custom details, allllll the pinterest projects, the perfect paint colors and finishes. We live in a society that says all of this is possible. A theater room? Sure, why not? Smart home? It's to be expected right? But there was a larger part of us that realized, in the transition from our tiny home to our larger home, that what once felt huge and lavish, now felt claustrophobic and full of STUFF. We had filled our bigger home with all the things we "needed," but now we had to maintain all those things, clean all those things, organize and control all those THINGS. I had 4 bathrooms to clean, two living areas, 4 bedrooms, a pretty big backyard and none of it ever felt done. There was always an area that needed attention. What good would an even bigger, fancier house do? We'd go broke building it and furnishing it, then as soon as that was done, we'd feel the need to update- it's a hamster on a wheel-type scenario and I think we both felt done with it.</div>
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Grandpa's land offered a rather forceful escape from all that- his home was OLD- I can't even remember at this point how old, but old, and we didn't have the money to put into all the remodeling and modifying that it would need to be "just right." So, we thought, lets just live in it. Let's accept it for what it is and enjoy the 9 acres it has to offer. After all, Grandpa wasn't looking to make money- just sell it fairly. We could get the land for a good price, live there a few years, purge and decide what we truly needed, and THEN build on the land- exactly but no more than what we required. It felt scary but just counter-cultural enough to be incredibly enticing. And so we pursued.</div>
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Long, sordid story short, there is some history in the family that made our plans impossible. But let me be clear- God used those people to stop our plans and put His own into place. We were saddened to lose that land. We were saddened that hard feelings between aunts and uncles could cause them to go to great lengths to ensure their nephew and niece did not gain a property that could have been incredibly beneficial to their family. But despite it all, our decisions were prayed over and guided by bigger hands than ours. We thought we knew what was right, but we were wrong. Our loving Heavenly Father made that clear to us in no uncertain terms, for which we are incredibly thankful. A local farmer, sought out by the aunts and uncles, purchased the land instead of us, and we settled down for a bit longer in our current home.</div>
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I didn't realize until we were in the process of selling our home just how much we had planned on staying- we paid a lot to have the carpets cleaned, we moved the kids' bedrooms around to make things feel fresh and new, we began to talk about little remodels here and there. Then one day our amazing realtor sent me a picture, taken as she drove by the home, of a house for sale by owner that she felt met all our requirements. However, the price seemed high- it was certainly higher than Grandpa's place had been, and we just weren't there mentally.</div>
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Over the next month I got alerts on my phone of a price decrease, an open house I considered attending just for fun, and then a second open house that happened to fall on a weekend that Andy was home and we had no plans. We decided to go check it out; our main reason being that we could get a better idea of what we would be looking for a couple of years down the road while filling an otherwise empty winter day. Little did we know we would fall in love. It was home. Without our realtor's help as she was out of town, we contacted the listing agent and went for a second walk-through the next day. There is no other way to say it except that it was meant to be. Every box checked, things we didn't dare put on a list of desires- done. Amazing.</div>
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The rest of this part of the story is boring- make an offer, counter offers, financing, inspections. Everything went flawlessly. Our current home had an accepted offer after 10 days on the market and "lucky" for us, we were in Florida for a previously planned vacation during all of the showings and open houses. Now the really fun part.</div>
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Our accepted offer was contingent on the sale of the buyer's home. We never felt peace about it. It was an offer, it was higher than listing, but we were allowed to continue to show the home AND receive other offers. It felt.....wishy-washy. We got more offers, we played ball, it felt awkward. Then we got a 4th offer. Like the good millennial that I am, but will rarely admit, I looked the new family up on facebook and I loved them. I had an innate sense that they needed our home...and they had TWINS- the 3rd set that would potentially live in our home. We decided to back out of the first offer and take this one. I'm so happy that we did. </div>
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I mentioned that the inspections on our new home went flawlessly- they sure did. This house is over 130 years old, and yet it inspected 100% fine on a day when rain was pouring and had been for days - the house is in the muck fields of Byron Center, we expected it to be a bit wet and yet- it was dry! The bank actually waived an appraisal (more confirmation that we had gotten a deal when deals on land in Byron Center are absolutely unheard of). We lost about 500 sqft in the move and it's the perfect amount. We have 2 bathrooms- that's all we need. We have enough room for each kid to have a room but currently we are able to use one as a guest/spare room. We have the ability to add on if we ever need it (will this love for adoption/foster care ever lead somewhere? who knows? but we have the space if needed), yet also a small enough house not to fill it with unnecessary clutter. Perfect. It has just enough character but all of the modern updates we need. Not to mention MORE acreage than Grandpa's place and a killer barn.</div>
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The family we sold to are Christians with crazy similarities to our life story (now having met them I am even more convinced that God's hand was guiding this step of the process and has a whole other story to tell there as well), and the family we bought from are Christians who are thankful to have sold their home to a young family that will cherish and love it like they did. Our next door neighbor is- wait for it- the farmer who bought Grandpa's land and recent interactions with him have shown us just how amazing this whole story is. To God Be The Glory because I could not have fathomed a better story! As I watch the clouds roll in over our gorgeous property where in the last 3 weeks our kids have run wild and free, I praise His name. Thank you Lord for this amazing home, your faithfulness, and the ability to share the beautiful stories that only you could write. <3 div=""></3></div>
Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-85885646587467187982016-10-13T11:52:00.000-07:002016-10-13T12:49:10.667-07:00Dear Christian FriendsDear Christian Friends.<br />
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I have been guilty at times of everything I'm about to say. In fact, I bet you wouldn't have to go back too far in my recorded (read: social media) history to find an example. But that doesn't mean I can't do better, that I shouldn't do better, and that perhaps you should do better too.<br />
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In less than a month, we will have a new president and things will either be in chaos or they won't. My prayer is that everyone can calm down (myself included because I get aggravated and moved by all the stuff I see on TV and the internet too) and go forward with some new lessons learned.<br />
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I hope that those of us who felt misrepresented by "our" parties will do everything within our power to make sure that in four more years this doesn't happen again. Politics is SO not my area of expertise, but ironically it intersects with the thing I'm most passionate about - my faith - all too often. (Incredibly ironic since keeping church and state separate is one of those things that is supposed to separate America from other countries, don't you think?) I mean, it makes sense. Politics have so much to do with our morals. We are asked to vote every single year on issues that mainly stem from questions of morality: Who makes a good leader? How much money should be taken to run the government? Where should that money come from? Is it ok to end a pregnancy by our own volition? How do we decrease poverty? What is marriage and who can get married? Like it or not, the only way we know how to answer these questions is to draw out aspects of our own moral codes. We take what we think we know about right and wrong and we apply it to the situation. <br />
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Christian or not, everyone has a moral code. But Christians, my dear fellow Christians, we have something that everyone else does not. WE have a living Savior who not only died and went to hell for us but was raised again and lives in glory interceding on our behalf before God! He gives wisdom to those that ask and HE ALONE sets up kings and deposes them (Daniel 2:21). We should not fear because He already knows who our next president will be and what will happen to America. No matter who comes to power, Christians remember this- we are NOT Hillary's, or Trump's, or Johnson's people. We are Jesus' people, we belong to him so fully that no matter what happens to America CHRISTIANS will still go on. Please stop fighting one another. Stop writing passive-aggressive articles and then passive-aggressively shoving them down each other's throats. (This is where I cringe to look back in my history and see if I've done this, I'm certain I have) DO have dialogue and be civil to one another, go ahead and "argue your case." The world needs to hear what Christians believe and why they believe it, even if we disagree. But do it with LOVE. Do it with RESPECT. Be amazed that even though we are all reading the same book and praying to the same God we can all walk away from encounters with Scripture and sermons having heard different things, moved to tears by His love yet still interpreting His word so differently. I think Christians need to challenge each other, as iron sharpens iron we must question each other when we get that churning in our gut that something is not right. But we must do so kindly, and remembering that we are all finite, and flawed, we are not all-knowing, none of us has a direct line to God. None of us, no matter how much we study, can ever be trusted to interpret the word of God perfectly nor to understand it wholly. This is not to suggest that we should stop trying to determine what is right, merely that we need to be aware that there are many things in God's word that we just may never fully understand. At some point we need to be OK with walking away from a conversation in disagreement but with the understanding that we are all just doing our best to listen to God better and to make sure His name is glorified above all others on earth.<br />
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Remember friends, that you might be the only Christian example some people ever get, moreover, as it's been put so eloquently by someone much smarter than me- You might be the only Bible some people ever read. Jesus got angry, it is not wrong for us to get angry too, and I do believe there are some things we can know unequivocally and long to defend with righteous anger! But even then- it is not your job to enlighten everyone, it is your job to love Jesus and show others His love. You can't make others be nice, but you can be nice yourself and refuse to get dragged into the name-calling and bashing of other Christians who believe differently than you do.<br />
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I've spent much of this election season just looking for the answer to the question- how can I please God with my vote? Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think that any candidate's name is the answer to that question. (Dare I say, that no candidate has ever been "the one" we had to vote for to please God?) I don't think there is, or ever has been, a Christian candidate(meaning the candidate a Christian should choose), much as we'd sometimes like to think there is. That said, I'm still going to vote, and I think you should too, but only IF you're praying, IF you're searching the Bible and spending way more time talking to God than talking to others about who you should choose (ouch, guilty again!). The only way I feel I can vote in a way that would be pleasing to God is if I cover it with prayer, the whole thing, absolutely soak it in prayer. <br />
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Dear Christian friends, when this is all over we will still have each other. We will still have to be able to look at each other, worship beside each other, pray over hospital beds and weep over lost souls together. Let's not do irreparable damage to our relationships. Let's not let the name "Christian" get dragged down any more than it already has. Remember who you are and WHO'S you are this election season and most of all pray- for each other, for our country, and that God's will be done both in America and truly, in the world as a whole. Remember who's you are.Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-91998332911163706792016-02-06T20:14:00.001-08:002016-02-07T06:09:19.862-08:00If you give a kid a snackThere are plenty of these posts out there, but today I feel like chronicling my story. The reason? After a week of staying with our kids, my mother said the 8 words that every daughter wants to hear her mother who always has a clean house say: "I now understand why your house is messy."<br />
Very much like the parody of "If You Give a Mouse A Cookie," called "If You Give a Mom a Muffin," here is my blog entitled: "If You Give a Kid a Snack." (sorry, mine is not going to be nearly as cute or rhyme-y)<br />
Other possible names for this blog include, but are not limited to:<br />
"Why I never answer my phone."<br />
"Why I'm crazy and need drugs"<br />
Or<br />
"Things to consider before you have children."<br />
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It's morning, breakfast is over, the kids have begrudgingly brought their cereal bowls to the sink. They have so far played several games of Disney Guess Who and watched at least 3 episodes of My Little Pony and Wild Kratts. It's time for a snack!<br />
Thing 1 chooses a snack and opens it in the living room while finishing the last 4 minutes of Wild Kratts and of course, drops the torn corner on the couch along with a few crumbs. This same child suddenly realizes that the snack packaging would make an amazing craft and goes to grab the safety scissors.<br />
He grabs the scissors and knocks the jar of coloring implements on the kitchen floor. He pauses to look at them, then skips merrily on his way as he has things to create.<br />
The dog selects a crayon and chews it to pieces on the living room floor- a new favorite hobby she has recently discovered.<br />
Meanwhile Thing 1 is cutting the snack bag to confetti, inevitably dropping several tiny, impossible-to-pick-up pieces on the floor where they flutter around amidst breakfast crumbs and dog hair.<br />
Mom grabs the vacuum and begins to suck up the confetti, crayon, and floating pieces of dog hair. A few seconds later the vacuum unexpectedly stops. Puzzeled, Mom pushes the power button several times, then follows the cord back to the wall where the baby is smiling innocently while sucking on the prongs of the power cord. Mom wipes off the prongs, but as she is leaning over to plug it back in, smells a poopy diaper.<br />
While changing baby's poopy diaper, Thing 2 manages to bang her knee on......something. Mom kisses the knee but of course, the slight red mark requires a bandaid because Thing 2 has begun screaming that she's dying. Mom, who is a bit preoccupied with the poopy diaper and squirming baby who is suddenly desperate to be anywhere but on the changing table, tells Thing 2 to go ahead and grab a bandaid from the bathroom.<br />
While taking the dirty diaper to the pail, mom sees the aftermath of a child who thinks she's dying and needs at least 2 bandaids to cover the owie- several torn pieces of paper and the little rounded ends of the bandaid strewn around the bathroom. But, the baby is pulling Thing 2's hair so she thinks "I'll bring the vacuum up here in a bit and get those, the upstairs could use a once-over anyway."<br />
When mom gets back downstairs to extricate Thing 2's hair from Baby's grasp, she trips over the vacuum cord and stubs her toe to the point of bleeding. She starts to ask Thing 2 to get her a bandaid when she is distracted by Thing 1 who is about to pour the glue he just uncapped all over the kitchen chair he has decided to craft on.<br />
After replacing the glue cap, mom notices the dog has eaten another crayon and stoops to pick up the coloring utensils. The dog stands at the door begging to go out so she heads to the slider to do so. <i>Go, poop rainbows, you crazy mutt. </i>She thinks as she slides the slider shut. Unfortunately, Mom did not notice that Baby has followed her and promptly stuck her fingers in the briskly closing door (it's cold out there!). Cue screaming baby. Mom soothes baby who is not having it and requires cuddling on the couch with a snack.<br />
Mom decides it's a good time to put on a baby-friendly show and chooses Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.<br />
Daniel Tiger is going to the Library. Yippee!!<br />
Suddenly Mom remembers they have overdue books and as she heads to the fridge to pull out the dinner she had forgotten to get out earlier she realizes there is no milk and she is one ingredient short for dinner.<br />
<i>We'll run to the library, play for a few minutes, then the store, and by the time we're done it'll be rest time. Maybe I can get away with a piece of fruit and the free cookie at Meijer for each of them for lunch... </i><br />
So she loads up the kids after a mad search for a toy that is apparently required for the 5 minute car ride, plus a clean diaper, paci for the baby, and matching socks.<br />
As planned, the library is a hit and while she didnt get to check for thay new book she wanted because the baby pooped again and everyone needed a trip to the bathroom-twice- Mom knows she can check onlin later. When it's time to leave there are tantrums and plenty of whining about not wanting to go to the store, but Mom holds firm and bribes them with a cookie.<br />
After a free cookie, a piece of fruit each, and a meat stick straight from the bag in the grocery store, Mom gets everyone home and to their rooms for rest time.<br />
Mom goes downstairs and puts away groceries, manages to scrounge up a lunch that won't kill her healthy eating plan, and sits down to eat while checking emails.<br />
Oh look! The kids need money in their accounts for hot lunch and Kindergarten registration papers need to be printed off.<br />
She finds the checkbook to refill the lunch accounts, steals "drawing" paper from the kids' stash for the printer, prints the pages and begins to fill them out.<br />
Baby wakes up, kids get up from quiet time. The only way to transition the baby from naptime to a semi-happy wake state is to snuggle on the couch again with a snack.<br />
Mom decides to try to multi-task and google how to make her couch stop smelling funky but baby thinks the phone is her toy and steals it, then hides it under the ottoman.<br />
Once again, Mom remembers she has not pulled out the meat for supper so she runs downstairs and grabs whatever is available while realizing she forgot that one ingredient she needed.<br />
Back in the living room everyone is getting restless so Mom sends the big kids outside. Now the baby is crying at the window.<br />
Mom looks at the baby for a moment and realizes that neither of them has been outside for more than 30 seconds to walk from the car to the house in....2 weeks. It's Michigan in winter, after all. So, she bundles up the baby and they head outside to "play," which involves mom following the baby around and trying to keep her from running into the road 637 times while simultaneously paying rapt attention to all the demands of "Mom, watch this!" from Thing 1 and Thing 2.<br />
Thing 1 falls down and requires a bandaid for his bruised finger. Mom tells him to go ahead and get himself a bandaid, so he disappears inside for approximately 20 minutes at which point the baby is cold and Mom decides to investigate. But Baby does not understand that she's cold because its cold outside and screams "Nooooooo!" the whole way into the house while clawing at Mom's face. Mom and Baby find Thing 1 who got distracted in the bathroom and is standing at the sink sans pants with his alligator letting him "swim in his natural habitat." His sleeves are soaked so Mom tells him to turn off the water and go change his shirt.<br />
It's snack time and time to start prepping for dinner so Mom pulls out some fruit and crackers and everyone eats at the table except the baby who shakes her head at everything but then demands a cracker to walk around with.<br />
Thing 1 remembers his earlier craft and begins cutting more confetti which reminds Mom to finish vacuuming while the oven preheats.<br />
Looking around the living room, Mom realizes she doesn't have time to pick up everything and sort it so she throws everything in a corner to finish with the vacuum.<br />
Finally the vacuuming is done but Mom realizes the oven is now fully preheated and time is running short for dinner so she runs to the kitchen to throw it in the oven and try to find an acceptable vegetable side dish. Meanwhile the baby is actually pretty happy winding the vacuum cord around the living room so she lets it go.<br />
Somehow Mom manages to finish making dinner, but by the time Dad gets home and drops all of his belongings in a pile in the mudroom, takes the vacuum cord from the baby while saying "Honey, did you see that she's chewing on this??" and mom feigns shock and claims "No, I'd never..." everyone is crying because they are SO hungry and Mom is the meanest because she won't let them have another snack and she is no longer their "favorite Mommy."<br />
After plating tiny amounts of each item for the kids, Mom and Dad sit down to eat and spend the majority of dinner answering questions like "can I have more honey on my biscuit?" and "how many bites of this do I have to eat before I can be done?" Between the two of them Thing 1 and Thing 2 manage to eat the serving size of your average sparrow and claim they are "soooo full." Baby has 5th and 6th helpings.<br />
It's bath night so Mom asks Dad to pick up dinner and takes the kids up to get clean. 30 minutes later the bathroom is strewn with clothing, the bandaid wrappers from earlier, water, and towels. The big kids are now starving, but mom loses her shit and tells them they will have to starve. They head to their rooms to get dressed and mom puts the baby to bed. She returns to the big kids to find they are still naked and dancing in ways that make her wonder if they should be pulled from public school.<br />
30 minutes later everyone is in bed and Mom goes downstairs to find Daddy asleep on the couch, dishes still on the table. She <strike>kicks</strike> gently nudges him awake enough for him to say "I was just going to check the news...snore."<br />
Mom puts away the leftovers, loads the dishwasher, tossing in pans that should probably be handwashed, gives the table a cursory wipe-down and collapses on the couch. She turns on the old XFiles just in time for Hubby to wake up and say accusingly, "should you really watch this stuff? Let's watching something else." And promptly steals the remote.<br />
As she looks around the living room, strewn with every toy she had originally thrown in the corner and a few she didn't even realize they owned, she notes the pieces of confetti she missed and pulls out her phone from under the ottoman. There are at least 25 notifications she should probably attend to before bed, plus a book she should search out and <i>hey, do they sell dog food on Amazon?</i><br />
She sighs, looks over at her husband sleeping peacefully in his boxers with one sock hanging off and thinks: <i>At least I vacuumed. </i>Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-3845296294800382602015-07-21T18:38:00.000-07:002015-07-21T18:38:24.050-07:00Coraline's Birth Story- TMI Warning, but not too bad...Because I'm behind on so many things- those Christmas photo books I was going to make once a year of all our pictures from the previous year? Yeah, those aren't finished...I decided I'd tick one thing off the list before I forget too many details. So here I am about 6 months late finally finishing this up!<br />
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Cora's due date came and went (11/14) and I was doing really well at being OK with it. Lots of people were asking when the induction would be and my standard answer "I'm just waiting until she's ready!" was serving me well. Then we found out that hubs was going to be leaving for his annual training on the 29th (two days after the two week post-due-date limit we had set for letting things happen on their own). I obviously didn't want to have the baby without daddy around, and also preferred not to end up going home to an empty house, so we amped up the "do this it worked for me" natural labor-inducing tactics as a possible induction seemed to loom ever closer. I walked, ate eggplant parmesan from Olive Garden, ate dates till I couldn't stand them, drank Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, put Clary Sage in my bath, the list goes on.<br />
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My doc had decided to induce on Wednesday night so I'd kind of resigned myself to that plan. On Monday I got up and headed to the gym to walk on the treadmill with Bradi. We walked for awhile, then I headed home with the kiddos. All day I had contractions, nothing major, just more of the braxton hicks I'd been having since 14 weeks. Mid-afternoon there was some spotting, which kept up and got heavier throughout the day. In my mind I was thinking - cool, induction will move quicker than last time! No big deal. That evening Bradi and I had scheduled a pedicure so we headed to Kim's and told the woman there to push every pressure point I had because I was overdue! She said in a very cute Vietnamese accent- "Ok, you have this baby tonight!" Didn't seem like she did much different from every other pedicure I'd had, little did I know...<br />
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After returing home from the pedicure my contractions continued but they were still very spread out and very irregular. Around 11pm I think I realized that I was in early labor but it STILL had not sunk in that this would lead to true labor. No one in my immediate family had ever had a baby without pitocin or a c-section, it honestly was not really on my radar (denial much?). I tried to sleep, but couldn't, so I tried to settle into a long night with no sleep. Andy went to bed not really knowing things were moving along- I didn't see the need to get excited. Again I tried to lay down, took a bath, watched some TV, but after awhile even sitting was not comfortable. Next I busted out the yoga ball and spent some time sitting/laying/rolling on that. I think it was around 2am that I finally called my doula and said something along the lines of "ok, I'm having contractions but they aren't regular or anything so...just thought you should know." I also asked her when I ought to call her if things continued to progress as I couldn't really remember what I was supposed to watch for. She said once the contractions were 3-4 min apart, lasting a minute long, and had been that way for an hour, I should give her a call. <br />
In my always-planning brain I figured I'd labor through the night, get the kids off to school, then head to the hospital to get settled as we already had people in place to pick them up at school (it was Grandparents' Day)!<br />
I was timing the contractions on an app on my phone and they were anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes apart. By 4am they were still not regular but sometimes they seemed to be on top of each other. I was hesitant to call and wake up my doula again but I was VERY uncomfortable. I told her my contractions didn't seem to meet the criteria but that I just didn't know how long I could handle this so something was happening. After listening to me talk a bit she said she thought she ought to come to my house. At that moment I knew labor was happening but I still thought I'd be going all night and possibly through the morning. However, something about picturing her at my house made me realize I didn't have that long (she lives about 40 min away) and I said "I don't think if I wait much longer I'll be able to sit in the car." So we decided she'd meet us at the hospital. At this point the contractions were 3ish minutes apart, then there would be two right on top of each other lasting only 30secs or so, then it'd be 5 minutes. I STIL thought we were going in a bit early but I couldn't sit down and when they hit I was moaning/crying loudly and could only stand on my tip toes bent over the couch or leaning on the wall.<br />
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I went and got Andy and told him what was going on. We called his mom to come stay with the kids and started gathering our stuff. Suddenly I KNEW things were moving (I swear I could feel dilation!). At this point Elijah came out of his room and said "Daddy can you turn up my white noise? Mommy is too loud." Thanks for the concern son. I called my mom to tell her we were headed to the hospital but could hardly talk so she told me to call her once we were in the car. I also tried Bradi but didn't get an answer! <br />
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I'd started to feel nauseous so Andy grabbed me a bowl and I sat on the couch (kinda) until my MIL got here. The ride to the hospital is a blur. My mom called but I was screaming and couldn't talk, Andy was calm and drove through the snowstorm like it was no big deal! At about the S-Curve on 131 I started to throw up, which was great fun between the crying, screaming, and desperate desire to NOT be sitting AT ALL. I got a little scared as I knew that typically women throw up during transition. Turns out an apple fruit squeezie to give me energy was not going to be giving me much energy.<br />
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We got to the hospital but neither of us could remember exactly where L&D triage was so we went to the regular emergency entrance. I was dropped off in a wheelchair and brought inside where I promptly told the triage nurse that I was "very" in labor while Andy parked the car. Since I could not possibly sit any longer I stood up next to the wheelchair and held on for dear life while screaming in a room full of strangers. I'm pretty sure I heard someone say "is she going to have a baby right here?!" And the triage nurse was definitely making it clear to L&D on the phone that they needed to come get me- fast.<br />
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I was wheeled to Labor and Delivery triage and asked if I felt the urge to push- I said no, so they put me in a regular room where I told the nurse "if you tell me I'm a 3 I'm going to die!" She laughed and said "I don't want to be the one checking you!" When she was able to check me she paused and said "how does a 6-7 sound?" Excellent. Praise the Lord. When Andy arrived I was crying and told him I didn't think I could do it, I wanted an epidural, Brenda better get there fast to talk me out of it. He was sympathetic and tried to make small talk with the nurse about the beautiful new L&D triage facility...so helpful ;) I kept begging to stand up but they kept telling me I'd be moving to delivery quickly and had to be on a bed to do so. Honestly, I'd have walked up there if they'd let me, sitting was torture! <br />
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Everything again was a blur, it seemed like a few minutes before they had me rolling down the hall to the elevator. Just as we got into the elevator I suddenly understood that whole "urge to push" thing. The nurse told me firmly- "you cannot have this baby in the elevator, I don't even have any gloves!" So I just went back to writhing, screaming and crying. At one point I felt warm liquid all over me and told her "either my water just broke or I peed." "Doesn't matter," she said. Thank you for making peeing myself normal, because it was not my water ;)...<br />
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We arrived in delivery and I continued screaming like a crazy person as they wheeled me to my room. The contractions were nonstop and I felt like I had no time to adjust to each new level of pain. Every nurse at the nurse's station was staring at me and I remember just staring back whilst screaming. If this sounds like a whole lot of screaming- that about sums it up. Things moved SO. Fast. I was checked again in my room and was already a solid 9 with pretty much no ability to stop my body from pushing. Telling a woman not to push is really pointless, I'd heard that before but had no idea how true it is.<br />
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At this point Brenda arrived. There I lay on the bed, on my side, totally naked and not caring about that one bit. Someone asked me if I wanted a sheet and I said "I don't care." This was my standard answer because I was past the point of being able to care about anything other than getting. the. baby. OUT. Dr. Edvenson, one of the OB's at my practice was on call and came in just as they were breaking down the bed and doing that magic thing where all the lights and equipment seem to appear from nowhere. He still told me not to push yet- yeah right -and spoke super quietly so that I had no idea who he was mumbling to. Turns out, it was me, but I had no clue due to my own constant yelling. He asked me what my plan for pain control was and I managed a "nothing" while silently wondering what on earth he would have done if I'd demanded an epidural or narcotic...they hadn't even had time to do the normal blood draw let alone place an IV (the lab came in to take my blood and a nurse yelled- "too late, we're delivering here!"). I imagine he was hoping to make a remark along the lines of "too bad little lady" had I asked for one of these things because seriously- there was no time for that nonsense. He hadn't even read my birth plan for crying out loud, hello!? This stuff is important people! Where was my diffuser with relaxing lavender oil? My calming music? My bathtub full of soothing water? Instead I got "I'm going to just do an episiotomy now because I don't like tearing" and did not have the will to argue. I can still see Brenda next to me going "uh, um...oh, nevermind" when I said "fine, do what you have to do!" in response (she can advocate for me but she won't argue with me so the fact that I said go ahead kind of nullfied my desire to not be cut (which of course was written neatly in my unread and discarded birth plan). He even used a local anesthetic first, which was another thing I hadn't wanted but again, I just wanted that baby out of me and was willing to do whatever it took. <br />
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Finally no one was telling me not to push and things got real- as if they weren't before. I was suddenly terrified of pushing, I had already muttered the classic "I can't do it" phrase indicative of transition (right Brenda?!) and truly felt like this whole thing was not possible. I could literally feel her moving down, I had no idea a laboring mom could really feel that, but it was distinct. I am truly amazed at how effective God made us in this process, it all just seems so impossible.<br />
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Throughout pushing I was pretty much in a haze. I saw tons of nurses- it was a shift change so there were double the norm at one point as I think the ladies who had started with me kinda wanted to see what would happen with this screaming woman that almost waited too long to get to the hospital. There was also a team from the NICU in there because there had been meconium in the amniotic fluid so if she'd had trouble breathing as a result they would have stepped in and taken care of her. I wanted to (but was able to refrain from) crying out for my mommy, and had to be repeatedly told to breath deeply so I did not hyperventilate. Andy and Brenda stood by my head and held my hands while I pushed desperately and with everything I had. After about ten minutes of pushing (so I'm told, it felt much longer to me) Sweet Coraline was born! The doctor had asked (barely audibly, as was his custom) if I wanted to know what her hair color was while I was pushing. Being unable to answer I remember thinking "of course it's blonde of some sort" so when she was laid on my chest and her hair was dark it was a total surprise! I also immediately noticed her long fingers and the little spit bubbles she was making (which she still does when she's hungry). Again we go into blur mode, Dr. Taber arrived in time to stitch me up, (I already felt great and joked "Just in time Dr. Taber!") Cora was weighed and measured (8lbs 4oz, 21"), and provided a beautiful spread-toed footprint for the nurse.<br />
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Having a pain-med free labor is one of the coolest things I've ever done. I am certain that had it not been my plan I'd have gone into the hospital sooner (although not much sooner since I was basically in denial), and if I hadn't known Brenda was coming to support me I'd definitely have asked for an epidural. It was indeed the worst pain I have ever felt, it compares to nothing I've ever experienced, but it's amazing how quickly the pain passes when it's finished. I was able to get up and shower within an hour (and got the fun surprise of seeing how many blood vessels I'd broken while pushing in the hospital bathroom mirror- that's what desperation will do for ya), nursing was easier, and I generally felt great. Bonus- Andy did not have the heart to argue with me when I pulled rank and chose "Coraline" over "Natalie" which was our backup choice. He loves it now but was unsure for a few days ;)<br />
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My mom and sister arrived pretty quickly after. Apparently my mom had originally resisted heading straight to the hospital and thought crying at home was a better option until my dad asked her what on earth she was doing. :) Bradi had decided to leave her phone plugged in in the kitchen for the first time ever and missed my call which is why she wasn't able to be there for the birth (Andy told me I sounded very angry when I was on the phone with her on the way to the hospital. I said something along the lines of "If you want to see this baby be born you better get here NOW!" lol...hey, I was barfing in a mixing bowl, what'd he want?!)<br />
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All that said, for about a week I couldn't imagine doing that again, but now I look back and I seriously have to talk myself down from having another just to do all that again. It is just so cool to actually experience childbirth. I felt before like it was something I read about in history books (silly, huh?) and magazines, like it was something you just didn't do if you had any other option. But choosing to forgo the epidural and deal with the pain was extremely empowering. I would highly recommend it to anyone who even thinks they might want to give it a try. There is no shame in having an epidural or other pain management aid, but for me, I am just so thrilled I was able to experience what millions of women before me have gone through.<br />
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<br />Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-77830562029288039042014-06-03T18:41:00.002-07:002014-06-04T17:47:50.107-07:00The Follow-Up PostI promised a post about my "deep thoughts and turmoil." I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath...maybe not but here it is, because recording these things helps me process them and I enjoy looking back later. I also hope that somewhere out there, there is someone who might need to know they aren't alone in what they feel about a change of plans.<br />
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First of all, like so many changes in life we've gotten used to the idea of having a baby now and are so thankful for this blessing for so many reasons. I won't apologize for being unsure at first, it's natural to struggle with a major life change you never saw coming, even if it seems to others that it would be your dream come true! But I'm thankful to be on the other side of that (though I will admit I may never get over the "oh my goodness we are starting ALL OVER from SQUARE ONE" thing;).<br />
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I have never liked to be a stereotype (which is, ironically, stereotypical of my generation- ha!) and so being "that" couple that got pregnant while trying to adopt was...not my first choice. More importantly though, I didn't want those comments, the ones I've already gotten, the ones I'll tell you right now- DON'T MAKE because no one wants to hear them:<br />
#1- "You just needed to relax." Nothing is more insulting to a person who has struggled with infertility than hearing this. If you think about it, it's easy to see why- basically you're saying that by wanting something so badly, she sabotaged her own efforts. In other words- it's your fault you didn't get pregnant until now. Ouch! Plus, this is just untrue. If it were true, women in high-powered positions would not get pregnant, women in war-torn countries with hardly any food to eat would not get pregnant. It has (almost) nothing to do with just relaxing.<br />
#2- "Now you don't have to adopt, isn't this better?" No kidding, word. for. word. I've had at least one person say this and many others imply it. I get it, I do. If you aren't "into" adoption, you might see it as a second choice. But as I've said before- it was not our second choice. It was the 2nd step in our personal process for building our family. We felt it was a good idea, for us, to have bio kids first, but it was/is/never will be our second choice or last resort. This comment hurts me for my friends that have adopted and have their kids home and are so in love and so certain of this plan for their lives- please, even if you don't get it, just don't say it.<br />
<i>I feel like I should add that I don't honestly remember who has/hasn't said these things to me. I am not offended by them so much as I find them a bit predictable and insensitive. I usually try to give a response that will cause the person saying it to think a bit, but I don't go home and cry or hold a grudge. I understand that these things are said out of a lack of empathizing with the situation and/or just not knowing what else to say,</i><br />
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So here is what I know(the list is short). <br />
-There is a plan for this baby. This baby is not here just to teach mom and dad a lesson about how we are not in control. This baby, as someone else so eloquently put it in an article I read recently, "has been part of the plan since time immeasurable." While I'm sure that we are meant to be reminded of Who is in control, I also know baby #3 has a WHOLE life, whether short or over 100 years long, full of relationships and people he/she will impact besides just our family. I don't know why our adoption was put on hold right now, except that I know for a fact that there needed to be room right now for <i>this </i>pregnancy and <i>this </i>baby.<br />
-And yes, I said the adoption is on hold. That's because Andy and I still believe 100% wholeheartedly without a doubt that we are meant to help with orphan care. Somehow. Perhaps we're back to the idea of refugee foster care, maybe it will be an older child later, maybe it will be helping others financially with their adoptions, most likely it will be in the form of another curve ball we could never even think of. <br />
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Unwittingly I came up with a pretty good metaphor as Andy and I tried to sort out our feelings the first night after we'd learned about our little surprise. I said: "It's like you're going on vacation. Which is great, and you're planning to go one place so you make plans, pick activities, and get excited. Then you find out that you are actually going somewhere totally different. It's still vacation and it's still great, there are great things to do in this new place too. But you have to get used to the idea of the change. You might be bummed to not get to experience the things you'd started getting excited about, and you also might plan to visit that place another time. You don't stop wanting to go to that first place, and perhaps there is even a feeling of missing out, but you allow yourself to get excited about the new destination."<br />
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We were excited to have a biracial family. We loved that idea for us and for all our children. We were excited to adopt a child we were as certain as we could be would not have a good life or people who wanted it. We had decided to adopt an HIV positive child and (I, more than Andy, but he was coming around) were excited to become advocates for a group of people that is hugely misunderstood. We had a picture of our family in our minds and in it was a little blank spot with a shadow of a brown-skinned child (or more than one) who's features we had yet to make out clearly. That picture has changed a lot but our hearts haven't.<br />
My husband is a pretty amazing pilot, but Praise the Lord- God is even better. We trust him to get us to the correct destination and I know that when we look back on the memories of this new destination, we won't be able to imagine life without this particular detour :)Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-85150224740199604302014-05-04T16:44:00.002-07:002014-05-04T16:44:36.049-07:00Baby #3About 6 weeks ago we got the surprise of our lives...Baby #3 is on it's way! I've spent much of the last six weeks trying to figure out how to describe our thoughts and feelings but I want to keep it as simple as I can for those who only want the nitty-gritty and not my story of emotional turmoil, I promise to post that later ;)<br />
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As you know if you've read my old posts; we've had our issues having babies. Lots of ups and downs, loses, disappointments, and though each event that resulted in a lack of a pregnancy was a time of mourning, we eventually got to a point where we were quite ok with the fact that we were not going to have another newborn. I'll say it now and keep it simple- Adoption was NEVER a second choice for us. We may have decided to have biological kids if we could first, but it was NOT something we landed on because we "had" to. We have always wanted adoption for our family.<br />
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So, since getting on the adoption train a few months ago we've been gung-ho, praying about our options and choices, talking a lot at home alone and with family and friends. There was so much that went into some of these choices and babies have been FAR from our minds. Throughout the process, even though I felt I'd be devastated if it happened, I asked God to stop us if this was not what we were supposed to be doing. Each time I asked for a "STOP" if it was necessary, I felt we got a lot of affirmation- from verses I read, people I spoke to, doors opening, even money that was there right when we needed it.<br />
Then, in March, I had a few things going on with my health that were a little odd. Nothing I couldn't write off to something else- for example I'd been due for a thyroid check and had a script, so when I got super tired one week I decided to go finally have it done. The following Sunday I brought our adoption announcements (Thank you for your help on those, Nikki!) to church, put them in boxes, then headed to the service.<br />
The sermon that day? God's Sense of Humor, focusing on God's Interesting Timing. The thought had crossed my mind once or twice in the previous days to take a pregnancy test, but when you've gone through what we have, and you value your sanity, you don't rush and and buy one very easily.<br />
While I listened to our pastor speak about Abraham and Sarah's desire for a child, their efforts to "get one" another way, and God's "last laugh" when they finally had one on their own....I KNEW. I could hardly stand to sit in my seat. I grabbed my friend after church and took her to the store with me, we headed down to the church basement (since the kids were still in Sunday School) and lo and behold that thing turned positive!<br />
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Immediately I sent my friend back upstairs to take all those adoption announcements out of boxes and I called Andy. Poor guy, he was literally stepping into the plane (I could hear it powering up behind him) when I shared the news. He said "Ok honey, I gotta go, I love you!" Then he proceeded to get into the plane and stare at the controls blankly until his co-pilot offered some assistance ;)<br />
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Crazy story, huh? So here we are- back to square one with a gap of four years between kids! The twins are excited- they got to hear the heartbeat last week- so Evie keeps asking when her baby sister is coming out (she's convinced it's a girl and will not hear any arguments). Elijah tells me from time to time "I like your baby, Mama," and asks weird questions like "Does the baby get wet when you take a shower?" So we're adjusting to this new future we are just now getting a glimpse of and knowing there is a plan for this baby since OBVIOUSLY we were meant to get pregnant right now. Just waiting to see what this little one is going to add to our family! :)<br />
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(Stay tuned for more of my musings about this new revelation, if you're into that kind of stuff.)Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-42351747347165838562014-02-20T20:43:00.000-08:002014-02-20T20:43:16.601-08:00ExpectingFinally! We get to let you in on a little "secret" we've been hiding for awhile ("secret" is in quotes because it's not common knowledge but it's not really been a secret either!) A new little person will soon be joining our family! Since most of you know that pregnancy and newborn babies do not appear to be in the plan for us anymore, this little one will be joining us by way of adoption from Ethiopia, and we could not be more thrilled!<br />
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This all feels like the culmination of years of thinking, praying, wishing, and learning, so while some of you may know adoption has always been on our radar, for others of you this might come as a surprise. Thankfully God loves surprises and has been preparing us for this one for quite awhile. When Andy and I first got married the question of adoption came up- I think we arbitrarily had a conversation about it one day. I'm pretty sure I (Krista) asked Andy if he'd ever consider it, he said yes, I was faintly surprised, and we moved on.<br />
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Then, when we tried to start a family, the question came up again as we considered our options for handling our troubles having biological children. We visited Adoption Associates, we visited The Fertility Center, and at that point in our lives adoption got put on the back burner as we decided for many reasons that trying to have bio children first was the best way for us to get started. Fast forward 4 years and here with are, with 2 children, no desire to proceed with more fertility treatments (after several failed attempts), and still wanting to add to our family. Back to Adoption Associates we went and from there to the Ethiopia Special Needs program.<br />
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We don't know a lot right now; we haven't specified a gender since we don't really care either way (though we've heard a boy is most likely), and we agree with AAI that an adopted child should be younger than the twins, preferably by at least 9 months. We also know that for us, the term Special Needs will be defined as a physical problem ranging from a minor deformity, to vision or hearing difficulties, to HIV. There are a lot of unknowns right now, but we DO know that God has a little one already planned for us and we cannot wait to find out more about him/her and for more and more light to be shed, revealing His plan.<br />
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If you know much about adoption you know that nothing is certain (not an easy thing for this planner, semi-type-A personality to accept!) and things, more likely than not, will move slowly the majority of the time. We are doing our best to prepare ourselves and our family for just about anything, but would covet your prayers of support throughout this process. Pray specifically for Eli and Evie, that they would be able to approach this new sibling with love and excitement. Pray for our adopted little one that he/she will stay healthy while waiting and will transition to our family life smoothly. Please also pray for his/her biological family- we cannot know all the details of how or why our child has become orphaned but we are very aware that our joy in adding another family member comes to us because of other's loss(es). My heart breaks to think of the loss our child will already have experienced in his/her short life by the time we are able to bring him/her home as well as the loss his/her family is experiencing in not being able to raise this little one.<br />
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Something you may not know, is that adoption, whether international or domestic is not an inexpensive undertaking. Currently we are expecting our adoption to cost between $30,000 and $40,000. While we anticipate being able to cover about half of the funds ourselves, we will still need to do significant fundraising along the lines of $10,000-$20,000, to allow us to bring our little one home. We are also planning to apply for some of the wonderful grants we have been told about and would appreciate prayers on our behalf for those. If you would like to be a part of our adoption story and support us financially we would of course, be very, very thankful. <br />
We have been so blessed by the love and support we have already been shown from friends and family as we've gotten started in this time of expectation. While the wait may be longer or shorter than the typical pregnancy, our "nine months" starts now!<br />
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<br />Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-52306197225533605972013-12-10T17:55:00.001-08:002013-12-10T17:55:30.065-08:00Gives Good GiftsMatthew 7:11 says- If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!<br />
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Sometimes I tend to claim the verses that remind me how much work I need to do. It probably stems from my good Reformed heritage, knowing we are totally depraved and all that, I often feel the need to remind myself of all the work I need to be doing out of LOVE (not requirement, though sometimes I think we all forget) for Jesus and what he did/does for us. But every now and then a verse like this will come to mind and just remind me how awesome our God is and how much he LOVES to love us.<br />
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During this season of anticipation, thanks, joy, and of course gift-giving, I am reminded of all the gifts we have been given and are going to be given by our Heavenly Father. Particularly as I think about giving gifts to my kids. This is one of those times when being a parent can bring your heart just so close to God's. On any given day my kids can make me cry with frustration, jump for joy, laugh at their humor, yell with anger, and shed tears of pride at their accomplishments. No matter the day though, whether it has been mostly good or mostly bad, I always delight in giving them a good gift! Maybe it's just time- reading together, snuggling together, watching a favorite tv show, or maybe it's a literal gift- a new toy, a book, something I've crafted to give them a fun new activity to try, etc. The point is, rarely does it cross my mind that maybe they don't deserve it (I say rarely because I can't be 100% sure it hasn't, but not in recent memory) or that I'd rather just withhold something that will bring them joy. Parents love to bring their kids joy and there are few things that put that sparkle in their eyes faster than a gift, big or small.<br />
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This is the first year that I've been able to see my kids get really excited about Christmas. I love that they talk about Jesus, that is my favorite part. I also love that every morning when Evie comes downstairs she checks her stocking, she can't help it! I've had fun finding them gifts I know they'll love, now that their personalities and likes/dislikes are so evident, and they have even been able to tell me what they hope to get. (Evie- Hello Kitty, Elijah- A car) I also love that Elijah stands in front of the window every time we get a flake of snow and says "Mommy, it's Christmas! Snow means Christmas! Merry Christmas Mommy, Ho Ho Ho." And Evie says: "It'll be Christmas when my Hello Kitty comes, right mommy?"<br />
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All of this is to say that the giving of gifts to my kids is, in itself, such a gift. To go out and buy virtually anything they want, within reason, and watch the smiles on their faces...to have the time, ability, energy, to give them the other types of gifts- time, food, even medical care(!), those are blessings! There are a lot of mamas and daddies out there that cannot give such gifts to their kids, they struggle even to feed their children, and they deal with the type of decision we cannot even imagine- to have to consider actually giving your child up in the hopes of them getting a better life. My heart and mind are with those mamas today, in addition I am claiming for them and for our family, that God gives good gifts to those who ask. Can you imagine, how much more lavishly God wishes to shower us with "gifts" when it feels so good for us who are EVIL to give gifts to OUR children? I pray that this holiday season we will learn to give good gifts, as well as ask for and anticipate the GOOD GIFTS our Heavenly Father wishes to give us.<br />
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Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-26141428909489872962013-11-26T12:02:00.001-08:002013-11-26T12:02:25.688-08:00On all the things I SHOULD do...I'm going to write this today, then I think I'm going to print it out and post it alllll over my house to remind myself on days that I'm not at my best.<br />
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Here goes. I choose to embrace mediocre for once in my life.<br />
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I am tired. Tired of all the things out there that I "should" do. Things that if I was a good mom, wife, human, Christian, ___________(insert your own choice here), I would make time for. I've never understood people who need to "take a break" from social media before. I always thought they were responding to catty comments or rude "friends." But today I am realizing that sometime the break might be from feeling badly about yourself.<br />
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On any given day here is a list of the causes and issues I feel I should research or spend time on based on my newsfeed, email, TV commercials, even the church newsletter or conversations with friends:<br />
-Buying locally<br />
-Buying consciously (no slave labor, no sweat shops, no unfair wages, etc.)<br />
-Reducing consumerism in general<br />
-Not buying on Thanksgiving or Black Friday<br />
-Teaching your kids about giving and the excess we have in the US<br />
-Making sure kids do not think Santa is the reason for Christmas <br />
-Read with the kids 20 minutes per day at the minimum<br />
-No TV before age 2, 1 show or less each day<br />
-Vaccines, yea or nay?<br />
-Having a vibrant prayer/devotional life<br />
-Organic foods, GMO's, MSG, Food Dyes, Preservatives, Sugar Content, Fat Content oh my!<br />
-Responsibly-grown and harvested foods<br />
-Food allergies causing everything from digestive issues to insomnia to depression to behavior problems and of course, cancer.<br />
-Antibiotics for my kids, yea or nay?<br />
-Homeopathic remedies in general<br />
-Recycling, finding creative ways to recycle what my local recycling center does not accept<br />
-Homeschooling, should my kids go to mainstream school?<br />
-Buying things vs. making them when everything has a pinterest tutorial<br />
-Making food versus buying it, homemade is better! Food not lawns!<br />
-Exercise; daily, for a long time, while pregnant, sick, depressed, just DO IT! And if possible, make it hot yoga, spin, or zumba.... Also post selfies of self in gym.<br />
<br />
Add your own list, I know there are more, and don't get me wrong, all of these things are things that can be very important. The problem is that I cannot do it all! These days we have more chemicals, more options, AND all of the information we could ever need to decide whether or not to subject our families to these things than ever before. But unfortunately I don't think knowledge is power in this case, sometimes knowledge is regret, knowledge is guilt, knowledge is stress and grief and exhausting. I want healthy food options for Andy and I and the kids but buying organic is expensive and you have to know the differences between all the symbols at the grocery store and have an app on your phone for the "dirty dozen" of produce. You also need this scanner app that allows you to scan the barcodes of everything you buy to make sure it wasn't made by a victim of human trafficking or unfair wages. But what about the items that aren't in the database? I could be unknowingly supporting these things just like I have all my life, even if I spend an extra 2 hours at the grocery store scanning everything and trying desperately to get a wifi connection in a store that basically acts like a giant vacuum for radio waves or whatever it is 3G is connecting to.<br />
<br />
It's a conundrum, it really is. Because whether or not you choose to embrace any or none of these causes, you pretty much have to have an opinion on all of them or you won't survive your next dinner party. (maybe an exaggeration) Plus, maybe you spend several hours a week planning meals and a grocery list for your family to ensure healthy, sit-down, affordable meals together...but that means that you're not able to spend time at the gym right now. One person will praise you for your efforts to feed your family healthfully, another will condemn you for not making enough time for your own health (what's YOUR excuse?) This is why we are not supposed to try to please people, only God. We will never please everyone, nor should we try. But how to balance when all of these things are worthy, they are all important, and all feel like things that could drastically change life for the better?<br />
<br />
What do YOU do about it? Well I'll be the first to say I am just not sure. All I can do is what I can do. Maybe it's a cop-out to say I can't lose sleep over this but I can't; I lose enough sleep from kids wandering into my room at night and worries about just the everyday life issues that arise when you have anyone in your life that you love and care about. <br />
<br />
So I'm deciding here and now to let myself off the hook. I'm going to keep doing what I can- meaning I'll have days when I don't shop at Costco or Walmart, I DO workout at the gym, AND manage to purchase only organic items for our dinner. Then I will take those items home and add them to my pantry full of stuff with ingredients I can't pronounce. I'll also have days where I volunteer for an organization like Women At Risk, but I'll be wearing a shirt I bought at Meijer and frankly I'm not sure who made it because I grabbed 3 sizes off the shelf when I had a spare 30 seconds the kids weren't screaming and took all 3 home to try on because goodness knows I am not dragging my offspring into a dressing room since the Maurices Debacle of 2011.<br />
<br />
I won't compromise on my kids' faith but there are nights that we forget to pray before bed and days that my kids think Santa was at the manger in Bethlehem. In fact, I'm considering buying a little Santa to hang around the stable because in the end if they think he was just a nice guy that likes to give presents that also happened to be in attendance at the birth of our Christ I think I am 100% OK with that. In the end the most important thing to me is that my husband and my kids know that I love them and that the only reason any of us are here to do anything is because we were put here for a purpose. I also know that no matter how long I live, whether I get cancer, develop some other disease, keep the extra 20lbs I want to lose, or make it to the finish line 120 years old with nothing worse than a bad flu- it won't be because I added any additional days to my life than were already given to me. Or my kids. <br />
Pressure is off, go enjoy your family, your home, God's people, and do for them what He has called you to do, not what others call you to do. It really is the <em>best</em> we can do when we have faith that God will help us accomplish the things that he put us here to accomplish.Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-10353582082943068322013-11-25T17:36:00.000-08:002013-11-25T17:36:18.261-08:00A Conversation with ElijahI have to share this conversation with Elijah while it is fresh in my mind.<br />
<br />
While we got ready for bed tonight; tucking in, reading stories, singing songs, etc. I chose to sing "Cast All My Cares" for Eli since it's one of this favorites.<br />
<br />
I began singing: "I cast, all my cares..."<br />
Elijah: "Mom, what is cares?"<br />
Me: "Well, it means you give God anything you are afraid of so you don't have to be afraid anymore."<br />
Elijah: "Like if I'm scared of monsters?"<br />
Me: "Yes, like being scared of monsters."<br />
Elijah: "Are you afraid of things?"<br />
Me: "Yes, everyone has things they are afraid of."<br />
Elijah: "Like when I'm a monster, then you can give that to God and not be scared anymore."<br />
Me: "That's right!"<br />
Elijah: "Oh, my dad has things he's scared of. And Ryan, and Trevor, and Evie."<br />
Me: "Yup, they all have things, can I keep singing?"<br />
Elijah: "Yep."<br />
Me: "I lay, all of my burdens..."<br />
Elijah: "Mom, what is burdens?"<br />
Me: "Well, things that make you sad, what makes you sad?"<br />
Elijah: "When you give me spanks I get sad."<br />
Me: "What else."<br />
Elijah: "When daddy gives me spanks I get really REALLY sad."<br />
Me: "Yes, I bet it does, anything else?"<br />Elijah: "When Papa gives me spanks I am bad, and I get really upset, and then I am sad."<br />
Me: "Right, and I bet you were sad when you lost your sunglasses too, right."<br />
Elijah: "Oh yeah, losing my sunglasses makes me sad too, they were grey and maybe I can get new ones that fit me that are grey like they were."<br />
Me: "Maybe, can I finish singing now?"<br />
<br />
This conversation has been shortened for your reading pleasure, lots of stuttering and repeated words removed ;)Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-53817220476025541632013-11-22T11:30:00.003-08:002013-11-22T11:30:41.135-08:00Reasons my Toddler is CryingIf you have not seen the blog of the guy that does a regular post of "reasons why my kid is crying," you should check it out. I would link it, but don't really feel like hunting it down right now ;)<br />
<br />
Regardless, I think it's a fantastic idea and right up my slightly sarcastic way of dealing with the stress of kids. So here are a few reasons my toddlers were crying this week (or today, possibly just today).<br />
<br />
1- I sang the wrong song. While I had begun singing the correct song, I could not unsing the previous melody and this was not appreciated.<br />
<br />
2- I refused to let my toddler poke me in the face anymore.<br />
<br />
3- My toddler wanted to hand the item to the cashier, no matter if she had already scanned the item.<br />
<br />
4- The nutrigrain bar had a slight bend it in. aka IT IS BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR AND/OR INJESTION!!!!<br />
<br />
5- The sailboat we have at home is not the sailboat our friend had, nor is it "my size."<br />
<br />
So, how many irrational 30lb crazies have you dealt with this week? :)Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-38396691197908905472013-10-09T20:14:00.002-07:002013-10-09T20:14:39.477-07:00Three Year Old ThoughtsI want to get back into blogging. I love reading back over stuff I blogged and remember things I honestly would have forgotten otherwise! Today I got an email from a friend of mine who I had over the other night to talk "twins" as she is also expecting boy/girl twins. We discussed nursing twins, the difficulties I experienced, expectations vs. realities, ideas for getting as much sleep as possible, products needed/not needed etc. Then she left, and I thought to myself: "Did I say ANYTHING positive about having twins?!"<br />
Praise the Lord she left feeling good about our conversation, she wrote me an email saying the evening had helped her prepare and feel a bit more confident, for which I was so thankful because I was really worried I needed to call and apologize.<br />
I wrote her a reply, and upon rereading the email before I sent it I felt like I needed to post this because it was one of those moments where I had really said what I meant. Had summed it up well, and the thoughts I'd been having might be expressed well as a little 3-year summary. So here is what I wrote:<br />
<div>
Ok, I am so happy you sent this because you left and I was like "Did I say ANYTHING positive about having twins?!" It's just weird because I'm on "the other side" now, in a lot of respects. The first year is hard, the second year is a different kind of hard, and the third year, yet another kind. But with each passing month/year you just get better at it, and life becomes "normal," and so looking back I'm like- "yeah, I was kind of a crazy person for awhile there!" </div>
<div>
But seriously, I am SO. THANKFUL. that God gave us twins and that he gave them to us first. I look at things a lot in how they have changed me or made me a better person and I think having these two has just taught me so much about who I am, and what kind of mom I really am vs. who I thought I would be etc. So much of that has just been incredibly influenced by there being "two of them," as I often say. I love that they taught me to chill out, to not be a helicopter mom, to realize that parenting does not always mean doing things the way you want, the way people tell you to, the way you thought you would. I love that I've learned to be flexible. I have a feeling I would have been this way anyway, but having twins made it OK to just let the little things go, it gave me permission to be the mom I am and not that mom people think I should be.</div>
<div>
It's brief, and perhaps a bit disjointed, but it's so true. I feel like I'm a this stage in life where a bunch of my friends that had the first round of kiddos with me are now having their second round and suddenly joining me in The World Of Two Children. We reminisce about the differences between 1 and 2 (um, yeah, I have no clue), being a first time mom and a second time mom, (again, no clue really!), and how laid back we've gotten. But then I realize that I've lived in this weird limbo state of 1.5 kids. Like yes, I have two, but I've only approached, lived through, and told the tale of each stage one time. I haven't learned things and gotten to apply them to kid #2. I've just done it, whatever I chose to do, to both kids, and prayed for the best. </div>
<div>
I love (some of) ever minute of it, I like to be different(sorta different, there are a lot of twins out there these days!), I like that there is no rule book, that every once in awhile I get to say- there are two of them and I'm playing the twin card! But I also love that we are there, we are enjoying, we are seeing the benefits, we are breathing again. I am tired and have days that I just want to run away, but more than ever before, I feel like the mom of two kids who is figuring it out. I say I "feel like I'm there," but I know I haven't arrived. Boy do I know to NEVER SAY THAT. As soon as you think you've got it figured out, things change, and honestly, I'm sitting on my couch right now with a glass of wine watching HGTV. The frustrations of the day are behind me, but those frustrations, (not the kids) they will rear their ugly heads tomorrow and I'll be back to feeling helpless and a little like a crazy person. So all in all, 3 years old is looking great. It's looking so different from 2 and I am so excited...</div>
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</div>
Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-46845952186689635132012-12-28T18:40:00.003-08:002012-12-28T18:40:58.340-08:00Teddy Bear Hair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This girl. She cracks me up. And she has new way to make me laugh...I don't know about the rest of you but we have a dog, and binkies. Put those two things together and you get the occasional dog-hair-on-the-binkie emergency. The kids are used to it- they hand me the binkie and say it's "icky" or they come to me with their tounge out and say "dog hair." Once it was a mama hair and so sometimes they say "mama hair." Recently Evie had a clump of little hairs in her mouth and I pulled it off her tounge correcting her "dog hair" with "nope, it's a teddy bear hair" since it appeared her new teddy (aptly named Baby Jesus Teddy Bear...oye) had been shedding in her bed. Ever since that incident, whenever Evie gets something in her mouth that she doesn't want in there, she comes to me and says, totally dead-pan and straight faced (aside from the crinkled nose of displeasure): "Teddy bear hair" (which sounds like "Teddy bahr hahr.") I dare you not to laugh...<br />
<br />Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-5331339069942406522012-12-21T11:47:00.001-08:002012-12-21T11:47:50.850-08:00Baby JesusI cannot not blog about this. It just happened and I immediately dropped everything to write this story down.<br />
<br />
Evelyn has been having a difficult time going to sleep lately for naps. She hangs out in her room alright, but I often have to go in several times and remind her to get back in bed. That's the rule- you can be awake, but you must be playing quietly enough that mama does not know you're out of bed or else you'll get put back in!<br />
<br />
Anywho, I hadn't heard anything for awhile and thought it was safe to just confirm everyone was sleeping before I got started on my next project. When I entered Evie's room she'd stripped the bedding off the bed and was nowhere to be found.<br />
<br />
Then, quietly from behind her bed I heard her say "Baby Jesus." Evelyn inherited my old nightstand. I got it a garage sale and it's pretty old. The top is a regular table, the underside has a spot for magazines or books placed on an angle. There are two slats of wood that form a sort of "V."<br />
<br />
Evidently Evelyn recognized this "V" shape as very manger-esk. She had carefully laid her little blanket in there and I can only assume her next step was to place her little baby doll in as a Baby Jesus stand in.<br />
<br />
She threw a fit when I reached over for the blanket (not having put two-and-two together yet), yelling "Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus!" So I put it back in place and while I did not want to reprimand her for what can only be described as "the best pretend-play ever." I gently told her to stay in bed from now on...<br />
<br />
Night night Baby Jesus. And Evelyn.Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-65885054941405167022012-12-19T19:10:00.000-08:002012-12-19T19:17:38.759-08:00Things to RememberI have to remind myself occasionally to write these posts that highlight cute kid moments. Since I left my camera at a family get-together and cannot post cute kid pics this seems like the perfect opportunity. So here are some "lately" moments from the kiddos.<br />
<br />
Elijah in the car-<br />
Eli- "A train! Thomas!"<br />
Mommy- "We don't watch Thomas, how do you know who that is?" (thinking I was pretty much talking to myself, I did not expect an answer)<br />
Eli- "Eli watch Thomas at Gramma house!"<br />
(This is probably one of the longest sentences he has ever uttered, caught me totally off-guard)<br />
<br />
Evelyn at a Live Nativity where Christmas music about the birthday of Jesus was playing-<br />
"Happy Burfday Baby Jesus!"<br />
<br />
Both kids in regards to Samson licking them-<br />
"Sammy! No bite Eli!" "Sammy! No bite Evie!"<br />
<br />
Evelyn in response to someone asking her what her full name is-<br />
"Ebie....Hope....Hee-sta"<br />
<br />
Elijah after a shower with Mommy, Daddy put him in his bed all wrapped in a towel to wait till we could get him dressed. When I went to get him he said: "Eli sooo nuggly!" He repeated this perfectly adorable phrase tonight when I tucked him in bed. He wrapped both arms around himself and said "sooo nuggly!" Good grief child.<br />
<br />
Evelyn's favorite phrase is "See you soon, Mama!" Or "dada," or whoever else is leaving...<br />
<br />
The minute we get in the car, both kids ask to listen to "Bone Away." Carrie Underwoods- Blown Away...<br />
<br />
And now for some of the not-so-cute: It seems like lately it's a constant dance to keep both kids from dissolving into terrible fights of sibling rivalry. Every light switch that gets turned on, every button that needs pushing (elevators, van doors, etc.), every piece of trash taken to the trash can MUST be able to be done twice. It's difficult for me to say no every. single. time. Sometimes it's easier to let them turn a light off, then turn it back on so the other can turn it off (but I draw the line there), but boy does that stop the day cold and add extra second or minutes to each and every task. I also struggle with how bossy they've gotten lately- everything must be "just so," especially for Elijah. They now have preferences for the colors of their cups, the clothing they wear, even where Mommy sits on the couch when we watch tv together. It's a fine balance, as I'm sure I don't have to tell other moms, between keeping the peace and also keeping them from ruling the roost. "Choose your battles" is truly the name of the game these days!Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-12837286068821404992012-12-02T20:34:00.001-08:002012-12-02T20:34:12.252-08:00Photo Book<object width="425" height="425" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-ui.swf"/><param name="flashvars" value="configXMLURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/config/config-share.xml&slideshowModuleURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-module.swf&projectGUID=1MaOGrVy1Z0M&swfName=slideshowFlashContent&showReplay=true"/><param name="menu" value="false"/><param name="quality" value="best"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><embed width="425" height="425" align="middle" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="wrapper" quality="best" menu="false" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="configXMLURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/config/config-share.xml&slideshowModuleURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-module.swf&projectGUID=1MaOGrVy1Z0M&swfName=slideshowFlashContent&showReplay=true" src="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-ui.swf"></embed></object><p style="width:425px;margin-top:0;text-align:center;"><a href="http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1MaOGrVy1dF&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET&eid=115">Click here to view this photo book larger</a><div style="margin-top: 10px; width: 425px; text-align: center;">Create your own<a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books" style="color: #6666cc;"> custom photo books</a> at Shutterfly.com.</div><img width="1" height="1" border="0" style="padding: 0; background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none;" src="https://os.shutterfly.com/b/ss/sflyshareprod/1/H.15/111?pageName=sharekey&c1=photobook&c2=blogger" /></p>Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-50699477433850289892012-12-02T20:29:00.001-08:002012-12-02T20:29:16.743-08:00Photo Book<object width="425" height="425" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-ui.swf"/><param name="flashvars" value="configXMLURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/config/config-share.xml&slideshowModuleURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-module.swf&projectGUID=1MaOGrVy1ZxY&swfName=slideshowFlashContent&showReplay=true"/><param name="menu" value="false"/><param name="quality" value="best"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><embed width="425" height="425" align="middle" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="wrapper" quality="best" menu="false" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="configXMLURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/config/config-share.xml&slideshowModuleURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-module.swf&projectGUID=1MaOGrVy1ZxY&swfName=slideshowFlashContent&showReplay=true" src="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-ui.swf"></embed></object><p style="width:425px;margin-top:0;text-align:center;"><a href="http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1MaOGrVy1cQ&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET&eid=115">Click here to view this photo book larger</a><div style="margin-top: 10px; width: 425px; text-align: center;">Start your own Shutterfly <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books" style="color: #6666cc;">Photo Book</a> today.</div><img width="1" height="1" border="0" style="padding: 0; background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none;" src="https://os.shutterfly.com/b/ss/sflyshareprod/1/H.15/111?pageName=sharekey&c1=photobook&c2=blogger" /></p>Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-19327431883417074312012-11-18T11:09:00.004-08:002012-11-18T11:09:51.908-08:00LOVE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I feel like a walking dichotomy at the moment. I googled the definition just to be certain and here is what I found: "A division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different." Pretty accurate and here is why...I have never been a toddler person. By that I of course mean other people's toddlers because I've never had any of my own until now. I love other people's babies (although the infant stage was hard for me as mom with two to care for, I still LOVE a good baby snuggle), but once they hit toddler hood I've always been kind of hands-off. Even with my own nieces, nephews, and friends' kids...I love them, in the way that you love family and friends, but from about 2-4 years old I have just always felt this disconnect.<br />
Additionally, while I am still SO THANKFUL to be done with 3-a-day naps, bottles, up-all-night crying, and babies that cannot communicate, toddler-hood (and the "terrible twos") have officially descended upon our household and are rearing their ugly heads. (I feel like I need to add at this point too however that we are not done having children, just that in the future we hope to have them one at a time;)...<br />
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Here's where the disconnect comes in...I am LOVING this stage way more than I ever thought I would! I'm exhausted, I feel like my brain is on planning overload most of the time, I sometimes talk in toddlereese, I'm occasionally desperate for adult company, and of course I still feel like I'm losing my mind on a regular basis, BUT...the personalities, interaction, and just all-out craziness emerging from my two year olds right now is SUCH A BLAST. We had such a fun day yesterday. It started out with the Grand Rapids Jaycees Santa Parade in downtown GR. I'd wanted to go last year but we missed it, which honestly is probably not a bad thing considering how well the twinners sat through...anything....last year. But this year was perfect, even better than the parades we attended earlier this summer, they seemed to really get it and we just really had fun.<br />
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Don't let Elijah's stoicism fool you...he had fun, but about halfway through I think he just got a little overwhelmed and tired. He was content to be held or sit quietly on the curb and take it all in. Near the end of the parade the Davenport University Rugby Team came by and were asking for a little boy who would hug the rugby ball for a picture. None of the other kids were stepping up so I sent Eli up there and he happily hugged the ball for a picture. The best part was- they let him keep the ball! They just walked away leaving him with this giant red/white/black ball! It's been a hit ever since, he loves to carry it around or sit in his carseat with it on his lap beating it like a drum. Pretty sweet if you ask me, I searched all over Daveport's website to see if they'd posted the pic anywhere but I haven't seen it.<br />
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Evelyn met and made friends with "Gracie" the big, beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog (I hope to have one of these one day!). I just love this picture, Evelyn must seen Santa coming and Gracie is obviously hoping Santa has dog treats.<br />
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And there he is! After almost two hours of parade he was there! In his bright red sleigh with 8 tiny reindeer :)<br />
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We finished up the day with dinner and games at The Tallman's house with all of our great church friends: The Paarlbergs, Westhouses, and Shelley's. Six toddlers, all within 9 months of eachother- lots of fun! Spaghetti was a hit, and a big thank you to Jessica and Rebecca for watching the kids so the parents could play :)<br />
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Cheeseball loves to smile for the camera in between slurping spaghetti noodles!Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-18436751068184450732012-11-01T15:39:00.001-07:002012-11-01T15:39:19.092-07:00Halloween 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Halloween, love it or hate it, it's so much fun with little ones! This year we had a little "pack" of monsters. The two girls- Evelyn and Molly were both Sully from Monster's Inc (Though Molly was much fluffier as I had to wash Evelyn's costume and made the mistake of putting it in the dryer- doh!), and Elijah was a cuddly little green, furry, horned monster with no specific name. <br />
They melted my hearts as they bravely walked up to each door saying "Hawoween!" or "Twick oh Tweet!" and following it up with "See you soon!" as they departed for the next house. The twins got to hitch a ride with uncle Brad on the sit n stand, which was really nice as short little legs can make it a slooooow process.<br />
Much to my chagrin though, they are still subject to picking the prettiest, most eye catching packaging rather than the boring brown (chocloate!) packages which often contain the yummier candy. Twice they each chose a butterscotch disk, mini reeces cup, or rootbeer barrel when other, more enticing (bigger!) candies were right on top of the same bowl. Sigh. We'll have to work on that for next year....<br />
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Happy Halloween from our 2 Little Monsters!Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-29137230799697380592012-10-20T19:41:00.002-07:002012-10-20T19:41:57.334-07:00Time for "Two"I don't do it often enough so allow me to take this opportunity to record what is going on right now with our TWO, TWO year olds!<br />
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Elijah- One thing is clear, he is a quick learner, a mind like a steel trap. I would not be surprised to find out one day that this kid has a photographic memory. We have books that he can basically read to me, and while a lot of this is due to repetition, there are some that I swear we don't read often enough or simply have too many words for him to know so well! He's smart as a whip and very much like his Daddy in the way he zones in and focuses on one. thing. at. a. time. Sometimes I have to work my way around this- like acknowledging the thing that has his attention so firmly before I can get him to move on to the next thing. For example, if he sees a green car and wants me to know about it, he will say it over and over and over and over well past when the car is out of sight and until I say back to him "yes, a green car!" Another option is to break his line of sight and make him look at me, instead of in the direction of the green car that is no longer there, but even then I may just get a louder "Green Car!" shouted in my face...He's nothing if not insistent. Also like his daddy is the way he sleeps. While he struggles to fall asleep some places (not like Daddy), he also seems to pass out in the strangest positions and often mid-activity. While it's been awhile since we found him on the floor, when he first figured out how to get out of his crib he would often turn off his white noise and lay next to the door so he could peer out and listen to us as he fell asleep. Also like Andy is WHEN he sleeps best- given a choice he is an early riser and a long napper. While he's struggled with sleep off and on throughout the last two years this has really always been a pattern once he settles into a good sleep routine. In fact it was part of the reason the two can no longer share a room- Evelyn would much rather sleep in late in the morning and take a shorter nap while Elijah would prefer to wake up early and nap longer. It ended up with both of them being consistently short on sleep so for now, seperate rooms is a must for our little twinners.<br />
Now that he has a big boy haircut, I hardly recognize the little curly-haired munchkin from pictures past, though he's still skinny as a rail and only getting taller. He's in a big boy bed- has been for several months, and loves to ask us to "lay by you" at night, which actually means "lay by me" and sing songs/read books for a few minutes before he goes to sleep. His favorite is "Pooh," but Mommy also insists on singing "Jesus Loves Me" and he's usually game for that one as well. He is always excited to see "Puppy," his little beanie-baby-like dog, and MUST have at least 2 but preferably 3 or 4 "boos" (binkies) to sleep with. Before I leave the room I ask him if I should make his airplanes go (his airplane mobile) and I know he'll go right to sleep if he says yes.<br />
Favorite foods are...hit and miss. He will always eat toast, yogurt, pizza, and usually bananas. Cereal w/ milk is a current fave, but even those classic kids foods like hot dogs and chicken nuggets are awesome one day and completely repulsive the next. I am thankful for Carnation Instant Breakfast and children's vitamins right now, as both things, in moderation, give him some of the nutrition I'm afraid he misses in his chosen diet. I'm also thankful that subtle forms of bribery and just good old fashioned discipline are beginning to work. I can get him to try things by withholding favorite foods until he does, or telling him that he can be "all done WHEN" he eats whatever it is I'm trying to coax down his throat.<br />
At the moment we oscillate between loving baths and being terrified that bath toys are going to drown or disappear. He is obsessed with cars/trucks/trains, animals of all kinds, balloons, bikes, and above all- Mickey Mouse. Favorite books are "Old Hat, New Hat," "Gossie," (I LOVE hearing him say "gosling."), "Peedie," and "Shake a Leg." With each book comes specific things he must point out or say during each reading (I'm afraid he may have some of mama's OCD ;) He is such a joy to us, always ready with hugs and kisses, quick to please, and even though he's our early riser, he is generally content to watch cartoons and let whichever parent is up with him snooze on the couch while getting great Elijah cuddles. <br />
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Evelyn- While her brother is quick to dissolve into tears and terrible sadness, this girl can hold her own in a battle of wills. She makes us work for our kisses, withholding them until she gets sad faces all around. Her tantrums are epic (I'm not sure I'll ever forget the 15-minute-long episodes we've seen over too-tight footy pajamas and her 2-year checkup), but she can turn around and melt our hearts with a well-placed "wuv you" and huge, gap-toothed grin.<br />
This girl pretty much embodies a love of life. She's a thrill-seeker- loving playing "Dip!" with Daddy (when she suddenly throws herself backward and Daddy catches her before she hits the floor...oye), and "Cowboy" on our knees. She'd swing and slide at the playground all day if she could and often runs in circles with excitement when people she loves (or has just met) stop by for a visit.<br />
It must be said that she LOVES her Papa, getting a huge smile and yelling his name anytime she gets a glimpse of his picture or he drops by to visit (sorry Nana and Grandma, this girl just loves her some Papa!). But she is also a Daddy's girl through and through. When Andy returns home from work late at night he always goes in her room to get a quick kiss and "ni-night Daddy" before she drifts back to sleep, and she often goes to bed asking for a kiss from Daddy when he is not home at bedtime.<br />
She has a hard time sitting still and shows how many calories she must burn by being a fantastic eater. While she isn't a kid who will eat everything, she is willing to try just about anything and for the most part seems to enjoy what she tries. Her favorites are fruit snacks, pretzels, hot dogs, mac n cheese, soup, and french fries, and she's the perfect yin to Eli's yang as she loves the ice cream while he loves the cake. One of her cutest quirks is getting oh-so-excited when the song "Happy Birthday" is sung that she runs around looking for candles to blow out. Even scented jar candles will do, she simply sees it as a must.<br />
Her best phrase at the moment is "Evie got it" which means: "leave me alone I'm going to do it myself." I know she learned this from me as I often tell the kids: "Mama's got it"-awesome grammer, I know- when they try to do something themselves that I'd rather they let me do for them (like zipping up coats, putting on shoes, or turning every light switch in the house on and off). In the speech department she has always been a bit behind Elijah but is quickly catching up. In the last couple of months she's learned new words in spades and while he is putting together sentences with 4-5 words she is not far behind with 3-4. She has a bit of a lisp that I'm sure will go away soon but is exaggerated by how pitch-perfect Elijah is with his pronunciation. However, I really love hearing her raspy little baby words for things, particularly when she calls an orange an "onch." Good grief it is too stinkin' cute. By far my favorite sentence she uses frequently is "tay-too mama" (thank you mama), which she uses for everything from a meal placed in front of her to a change of diaper, to getting her hair combed, or even buckled into her seat...I love how thankful this girl is!<br />
Evelyn's favorite books are still flip books, she loves to sing the ABC's, and while in the past she's never been big on playing with toys she is starting to finally show some interest in---baby dolls! I've never seen her play with one real toy for so long and I must say I am SO thankful. She pushes them around in her stroller, wraps and rewraps them in everything from a washcloth to an old t-shirt, feeds them bottles, and walks around with them up on her shoulder, patting their backs saying "shhh." She also loves it when I help her "wock" (rock) them, and has a fascination with watching real moms nurse their babies (sigh...I'm just waiting for the day she starts feeding her own baby dolls this way;). She's a great little caretaker with a tender heart, even for all her busy, fearless, bruiser ways.<br />
She melts our hearts (and all our defenses) every day...we LOVE this sweet little girl!Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-15400614923607063972012-09-30T10:42:00.001-07:002012-09-30T10:45:41.768-07:00ArtPrize #3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the first ArtPrize I was approx 37 weeks pregnant.</div>
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For the second ArtPrize we had curious one-year-olds.</div>
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For the third ArtPrize we have hot-dog-lovin' crazy, still curious, tantrum-throwing almost-two-year olds.</div>
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I think I may always see ArtPrize as a milestone of sorts. They certainly fill up their strollers much more than they did last year. They are easier to feed, just as uninterested in riding along rather than walking as they were...So this year we added shoulder rides to our modes of transport.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPy-I3bqP-Hp2a0lPbeBbaIWgHGYhmmOlOc2wsKGaWjJR54SsI3iMxvVC5unPN_thT8m-MBBMhUTKEdUapyZPxsxV_KXpQDo3suLx_Tk5SbxX7LvSAcsvx_pf4xfQyRUKGZCYSowAfvNM/s1600/2012-09-24+23.58.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPy-I3bqP-Hp2a0lPbeBbaIWgHGYhmmOlOc2wsKGaWjJR54SsI3iMxvVC5unPN_thT8m-MBBMhUTKEdUapyZPxsxV_KXpQDo3suLx_Tk5SbxX7LvSAcsvx_pf4xfQyRUKGZCYSowAfvNM/s320/2012-09-24+23.58.50.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Evelyn's "handle bars" were not prompted in any way. This is simply how she chose to hold on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKiTP6aSGOWuX4RIR1ck8yqzpm9PwRY9IGKWlwNhJgqF9ppl7r5t4g63fnHMb7OsJMcBgyDV8ikYR4McE5K7h10F7VMUErYLBjzsu_2pB4FJWowtQRLqnUXlBx5oJZH52PvduARCY5rI/s1600/2012-09-25+00.03.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKiTP6aSGOWuX4RIR1ck8yqzpm9PwRY9IGKWlwNhJgqF9ppl7r5t4g63fnHMb7OsJMcBgyDV8ikYR4McE5K7h10F7VMUErYLBjzsu_2pB4FJWowtQRLqnUXlBx5oJZH52PvduARCY5rI/s320/2012-09-25+00.03.01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
T-Rex!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChyACSOHlUktXYmt60QpkzVcBZYrdr3bxF4r-uzY-Nz1JLUG9UshFlbi1JE7nsr4cwJ1QYefXJKpXaQTgyfPCv-0CJI3602bxpFtniD0KOngtbON0oSlea0SnHSb55BlhVBO6dFijS60/s1600/2012-09-25+00.03.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChyACSOHlUktXYmt60QpkzVcBZYrdr3bxF4r-uzY-Nz1JLUG9UshFlbi1JE7nsr4cwJ1QYefXJKpXaQTgyfPCv-0CJI3602bxpFtniD0KOngtbON0oSlea0SnHSb55BlhVBO6dFijS60/s320/2012-09-25+00.03.34.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Pretty cool.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpDtmTpTWzuG9BYf7iafGH9TAOmnQ4_Iky4xIuJhW68F99VTulrxEDAmHTP1wy7Mdw4gECcjGxjWTMbFbHwJ8iTsLMlGVGynnojrAGuowJO-jEbCrQmkXFzdARfpKZC6AMMTI2x1YuNng/s1600/2012-09-25+00.09.36-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpDtmTpTWzuG9BYf7iafGH9TAOmnQ4_Iky4xIuJhW68F99VTulrxEDAmHTP1wy7Mdw4gECcjGxjWTMbFbHwJ8iTsLMlGVGynnojrAGuowJO-jEbCrQmkXFzdARfpKZC6AMMTI2x1YuNng/s320/2012-09-25+00.09.36-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Family portrait on the bridge. I see that a combinations of summer, the end of Body by Vi, and the energy-suck that two two-year-olds provide has made it high time mommy steps back on the treadmill... :(Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-54368088976174129282012-09-19T18:36:00.001-07:002012-09-19T18:38:16.076-07:00Tubtime Terror<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKZWywBzvqKnOL42v8ywBx1jifMQmsXaWItMy8xEar89J5rmxfFib_fIShflRE_h_aSj5xojpl1cdJMEff_wu0wFhtL7YeVe4ptdfg7hW2QzFc1NQ-iqBlnmvG-TEYXFYO73fl83vw_g/s1600/deadrubberduck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKZWywBzvqKnOL42v8ywBx1jifMQmsXaWItMy8xEar89J5rmxfFib_fIShflRE_h_aSj5xojpl1cdJMEff_wu0wFhtL7YeVe4ptdfg7hW2QzFc1NQ-iqBlnmvG-TEYXFYO73fl83vw_g/s1600/deadrubberduck.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMWBCIJImLaUrqQNzXafW_V-9d8JbwD46iAm0SpBeib_ZgfP95-OeIcF59RCWrDy0XYARdj58tRcn3NT2al75yggkOnikQGSYDNQH1bsEGVd39gI9A6bXyF6ixt9dVTRKZFnuMDeZ4m0/s1600/lots+of+ducks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMWBCIJImLaUrqQNzXafW_V-9d8JbwD46iAm0SpBeib_ZgfP95-OeIcF59RCWrDy0XYARdj58tRcn3NT2al75yggkOnikQGSYDNQH1bsEGVd39gI9A6bXyF6ixt9dVTRKZFnuMDeZ4m0/s1600/lots+of+ducks.jpg" /></a></div>
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What does the sum of the above three images represent?.........................................................................<br />
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Elijah's new Worst Nightmare<br />
<br />
Yet another thing to record for posterity to share with him when he gets older- we have entered the age of irrational fears.<br />
I was warned of this by Nana and Andy but last night got to experience it for myself.<br />
Elijah is absolutely terrified that his bathtoys are going to drown, at least, this is our best guess.<br />
It began last night when we entered the bathroom to start the tub; all of the bathtoys were scattered across the bottom of the bathtub and Elijah began to point and scream. Tears followed. I turned on the water and the screaming got louder. Andy suggested I pick up all the toys and put them in our toy basket. As the last toy was deposited in the basket- the screaming stopped but Eli continued to sniffle until I hung it on the hook safely out of harm's way.<br />
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Upon getting the kids in the tub I tried to offer them a few toys and the screaming began again as he scrambled about trying to pick up every toy and rescue it. I swear I've never seen him so distressed! Apparently he is afraid that any of the toys he cannot hold onto will either disappear down the drain or drown. <br />
We finally settled at a cup and scoop for Evelyn and a boat and spongy star for Elijah. As long as all the toys were in someone's hands Elijah was fine but the minute Evelyn let go of the cup, Elijah began to yell: "Evie, cup! Evie, cup!" as he tried to pick it up while holding the boat and star under one arm. When a washcloth was added it could. not. be. set. down. Otherwise I got a soaking wet washcloth whipped at me by a frantic Elijah.<br />
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Thankfully this seems to be "normal." I had heard of such things (remember my fear of Jack Frost mom?), but goggled it anyway and found that other kids his age have such weird fears as "buildings with high ceilings" (one mom said anytime they went somewhere new her son would ask if it had high ceilings), a sibling's striped shirt, round food (plate, peas, nuggets), cake being squashed (another mom said it happens a lot in cartoons and her daughter runs from the room as soon as she realizes the cake is doomed), flies (Evie had a momentary problem with them as well: "Bugk! Bugk!"), and my personal favorite: the song "to market to market to buy a fat pig" because the child insisted the pig did not want to go home, it wanted to go to the sand pit...<br />
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While it's a bit inconvenient and makes me sad because I wish I could help him not be so terrified, it's also very cute in it's own way and will hopefully pass quickly. I only wish I could figure out what the trigger was...did he sit on a toy and it hurt so he doesn't like not being able to see them under the bubbles? Did he lose one down the overflow tube? I know a couple have dissappeared down there...I doubt we will ever know.<br />
Oh toddler-hood, what a trip!Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-91817606943531507782012-09-04T19:35:00.001-07:002012-09-04T19:35:10.862-07:00Big Kid Beds and Bless YouTwo big things over here lately...Big Kid Beds and Sentences!<br />
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I put off big kid beds as long as possible, but Elijah was climbing out constantly and I was worried about his breaking a leg or arm or neck. He also kept falling asleep on the floor, right. in. front. of. the. door. Which means he was effectively a giant doorstop that squeaked when you bumped it.<br />
Evelyn on the other hand could get out, but being the lover of sleep that she is, stayed in (and still does!) quite well.<br />
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Off we went in search of beds (which means, I turned on my computer and opened craigslist and my fave fb garage sale group). We picked up two very cute twin beds and headboard/footboards for $55. Then it was on to mattresses which we got at Sleep Doctor along with free boxsprings from Bradi's friend (Thanks Brenda!). Because I'm a girl and a planner and occasionally a bit Type A...oh and I like shopping...the next week of my life was devoted to finding the perfect bedding. Let me tell you. It wasn't easy. I wanted something that would grow with them, or, at the very least, I didn't hate so I wouldn't hesitate to use it for guest bedding when five years from now they beg and plead for bieber bedding or something like that (which is another story because my daughter is not sleeping with a boy that she's not related to until she's 35 and married so why would I let her start with the giant face of one at 7?). <br />
Of course, as all things are, girl bedding was the easiest- I found something I loved on the first day out. For Elijah the search took longer but I finally found something I really liked and that he can truly use until he graduates if he wants (we might have to switch out the sea turtle and alligator sheets but who knows?).<br />
Now it's been a fun struggle of staying in bed...Elijah still doesn't want to...but I am really enjoying being able to lay down and cuddle with my cuties before bed or pile on the bed to read books at night. Evelyn stays in her bed for the most part and is loving her new freedom to sprawl. At Nana and Papa's this weekend when I tried to put her in the pack n play for bed she said "No, bed!" and pointed to the king size monolith. She got her way and promptly took up the entire thing with her little 32" body. It was pretty precious.<br />
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In addition to the big beds, Elijah has begun to use sentences. His first one (that I know of) was "Daddy inside sleeping" one day when Daddy was sick from a bad toothache/headcold. Today however he took the cake when his cuteness when Evelyn sneezed and he responded quickly with "Bless you Ebie." Sigh....even though he pushed every button I had today, those three little words completely made up for it!Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-36747764563175490582012-08-26T11:14:00.001-07:002012-08-26T11:14:16.671-07:00My Teenage DaughterShe thinks shes 12 and she's not even two.<br />
It's a good thing she can't talk well b/c then there would be absolutely nothing holding her back!<br />
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Today I got a sneak peek into what riding in the car with twin teenagers will be like. First of all, Elijah was asleep, but in this fictional world we'll say he had his ipod-of-the-future and headphones on (aka: dead to the world). Evelyn was talking on the phone to her daddy, but for this fictional scenario we'll pretend it was her bff, not all that far off actually ;) So here she sits, phone to her ear, feet up on the seat in front of her, aaaallll smiles and chatting daddy's ear off while she stares happily out the window. She even gesticulated with her hands a little. Here's what it kinda sounded like:<br />
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Evie: "Hashteesh (she says this a lot, we don't know what it means) Yaya (Elijah) Mama.<br />
(pause)<br />
"Hashteesh baba, kisha boosh Cheese!"<br />
(pause as she listens)<br />
"Hashteesh nana papa beep beep!"<br />
(mommy honks horn)<br />
"Uht oh!"<br />
"Mama phone, hashteesh mama yaya."<br />
(pause)<br />
"No."<br />
"Puppy, puuuuuuppppy. meow, woof, no."<br />
(pause)<br />
"Hashteesh Dada."<br />
"Bye"<br />
(looks at phone to turn it off and hands it to me)<br />
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Seriously, I hope I have painted enough of a mental image for you because the child was grinning from ear to ear. There was not a doubt in her mind that she and her (bff) were having a long and involved conversation. Probably solving world peace and all that :)Kristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2081008568000355681.post-54359648565400750012012-07-30T19:55:00.000-07:002012-07-30T19:55:32.003-07:00Oh My Word I Think He's GiftedI'm hesitant to admit that my kids are the coolest kids out there. I mean, they are, but in mommy-world it's just not cool to state it as fact. Unless you put the words "to me they will always be..." before those sentences as a qualifier. Such as: "to me they will always be the cutest kids in the world," or "to me they will always be perfect," even when you think it's really 100% true, no qualifier is needed...Along the same lines, it's also not that cool to say "my kid is advanced," or "my kid is smarter than your kid," don't ask me why, it's just a little frowned-upon...crazy.That said, I need to let you in on a little secret (all five of you that read this, hi mom, hi dad!)...shhh...I think Elijah might be gifted. Particularly in the animal and color-identification lobes of the brain. I'm telling you, that kid soaks. it. up. It sounds most impressive to say that my child is 1 year old and knows all his colors, including shades like white, gray, pink, every animal he's ever laid eyes on whether in person or a book, and most of their sounds. In reality he is nearly two and most other kids his age do have a color or two down and a lot of their animal sounds but seriously, he amazes me sometimes with his ability to retain and repeat information.For example, yesterday while he ate his Cheerios (Chee-ee-oos) and watched Praise Baby (Pays Baby) in bed with mommy he pointed to a yellow dot on the bedspread and said "yew-wo." Then he pointed to the grey, I told him it was grey, and the same with the white. This morning, again eating chee-ee-oos and watching Pays Baby, he spotted one teeny tiny letter amongst all the other, mainly primary-colored letters, and shouted "White!" Um...seriously kid? Most children your age would hardly even notice that non-color of a letter, let alone know what that color is called. However he did it several other times today throughout the day when he encountered something white, in addition to the normal "boo one!" "Geen one!" and yew-wo, wed, puhpul, pink, onch (orange) etc. that we are used to.<br />
Lest you think I'm just being the proud mommy, I'd like to point out that throughout all of this Evelyn remains mostly mute unless it's to point out some color that invariably, is wrong, with the biggest, heart-wrenching smile on her face as she waits for the praise she is due. Maybe this is why she doesn't know her colors...I don't have the heart to tell her she's wrong...I digress. Evie right now is mainly preoccupied with finding new ways to steal food, rip out her hair pretties, push her brother, run from mommy, tear apart books, climb on the table, wind up in timeout, and make up for it all with the biggest, sweetest, fish-face kisses a mom could ask for. I'm not concerned about her development as she is really pretty right-on with what she says and knows, but her "normalcy" only serves to point out her brother's slightly accelerated skills all the more.<br />
At the end of all this, I will be the first to admit that I have no idea if this knowledge will serve him well in the future- at this rate he's destined to become a starving artist who travels the world to paint "doggies" and "kitties" and "piggies, la la la" in brilliant technicolor. Maybe one day I'll be nice and teach him that in fact, a pig says "oink," a mouse says "squeak"(not cheese), and a horse says "neigh" (not haaa-ay). Havin' fun in the Heights! ~KristaKristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05866611968241008374noreply@blogger.com6