Admittance

Ok, I admit it. Michigan can be beautiful.

I love this picture. Beautiful. Maybe I should say handsome....

Excellent Stander

This is my little expert stander. Boy is she good at it now and she can stand there for a long, long time. Sometimes I go save her to give her a rest.

Had to throw a pic with my little man in it too on here. Didn't want him to feel left out. Lately he has been feeling like that. I say, "Look, sissy is standing up!" He says, "Mommy, me up, me up!" Or I say, "Look at sissy!" He says, "Look me, look me!"

Cheetos

My dog loves Cheetos Puffs. She comes running when she hears the bag, not just any bag, Cheetos Puffs bags. They were on sale this week and I had a $1.00 off coupon. I bought two bags Monday night. We (Abby and I) are down to one bag. This is a snag. I love snags. They are hilarious. Abby's long canine teeth get caught on her long jowls and this is what happens.

Right Now

Right now I am at Panera Bread, by myself! Yes, by myself. No kids. Not even one of them. How did this happen? Well, a very sweet friend of mine from my bible study came over this morning to watch the kids so I could go out, run some errands and have a little "me" time. You don't realize how much you need it until you have it and think, boy, I really needed this.

I have been blessed with an amazing group of girls in my bible study. They bring me food when we are sick, they stop by so I can take a shower, they watch the kids so I can stay sane. And most of all they pray for me and my family. God blessed me with this group of friends and I am so thankful for it.

But my time is up now and I have to go home. That's ok, because I have two sweetie pies at home waiting to see me and as much as I liked my alone time, I am ready to be back with my babies.

Pete The Photographer....and Poop

I rarely let Pete play with my camera but I let him snap a few pics for the fun of it Sunday. I wonder if he will take as many pictures as I do someday. I already know he loves to look at them. We sit and look at pictures on my laptop for hours at least a couple times a week and if I stop he says, "More, more!"

Pete's pictures.
And poop. Poop, poop, poop. Pete likes poop. Is it a boy thing? Mommy, me poop. Mommy, sissy poop? Abby poop, poop on the walk, poop in a diaper, poop in the yard. He is the best little pooper scooper around.

And She's Up!

Jamie stood up today! She is 8 months and 11 days and she is standing. She pulls herself up by a piece of furniture and still has to hold onto something to stay up but holy cow, she is standing. I had to put the side of her crib up today.

This is why I stay home with our kids. So I can see things like this, the first time she does them and I can get them on video to show dad when he gets home and show Jamie when she gets older.

Holy cow, Jamie is standing! Time to have another baby. No, j/k. A big just kidding.

Everything is Messy

My house is messy, my kids are messy and my life is messy, well, my life is not messy just really disorganized. But that's ok because my family is happy and the mess can wait. It will still be there for me tomorrow right? Never in a million years did I think I would live in a messy house. The toys, oh the toys. And the magazine pile from unread magazines I plan to read has taken over a corner of my kitchen counter. The kitchen table, the closets, the living room floor, all messy. I should be cleaning but I am blogging. But that makes me happy and the mess will still be there for me tomorrow, right?

I found a couple of pictures that show the messiness. Yikes!


Messiest lemon bars I have ever made.Watch this girl closely! I spend much of my day fishing things out of her mouth, pulling her out from behind the desk or couch, putting things back in drawers and cabinets she empties, working up a sweat trying to change her diaper, and trying to keep her out of the bathroom (her favorite place to explore). And yesterday she stood up. 8 1/2 months, stood up (while holding onto something). Ahhhh! Would post a picture of it but she was naked so it's not going to make it to the blog.
Cuteness under the blanket. Ok, this picture is not messy but the room behind her is, I am sure of it. Yes, the messiness bothers me, can you tell? But at the end of the day I know my kids were well cared for, well played with, well fed and well loved. Now, off to clean. Bye.

So Fast!

Video of Jamie feeding herself.

I didn't get the first time she fed herself on video but I did get the third time. And I did see the first two times! Not bad for the second baby I have to say so myself!

Diapers

Size 4 Target brand diapers on the left, size 4 Target brand diapers on the right. Difference? Left ones bought in CA, right ones bought here in MI. They are completely different. The ones on the left that we bought in CA were thicker, had more elastic around the waist but smaller. The ones on the right that we buy in MI are not as thick, not as form fitting but fit better and the kids will be in them longer. If we lived in CA we would have had to move into size 5. Weird how the same brand, same diaper, same size could be so different from one state to another.

You Gave Her What????

Last night I went to a friend's house for a get together with all the ladies in my bible study. P. was going to have to get Jamie fed because I wasn't going to be home until late. When I got home I asked P. what Jamie ate thinking he was going to say something like sweet potatoes, peas, maybe peaches but instead he said, "She ate a whole bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios!" And he was so proud of her......and himself.

"She ate what??????!!!!!!!"

Week of Firsts

Within a week I did a bunch of "firsts". Here is my list.

I can sit up on my own.
I can eat Cheerios/puffs on my own.
I took my first ride in the stroller without my car seat.
I took my first ride on daddy's shoulders.
I went to my first garage sale.
And I have my first diaper rash because I am pooping so much. It's all of mom's good food!

Unfortunate Incident

Poor, poor Pete.

On My Mind

About me and what's going on in my mind these days....

Sex and the City 2 coming out May 27th!

I went shopping this week and used some gift cards I received for my birthday to get myself some clothes. I wore one of the shirts yesterday and it felt great. Amazing what a cute new shirt can do for your "mommy" self esteem.

I am still growing my hair out and I still hate it. But, I am going to stick with it and hopefully when it gets longer I will love it. If not, it's coming off immediately!

Abby has visited the Vet once a week for three weeks in a row now. That equals $300. While we were in CA she got a scratch on her eye which turned into an ulcer that didn't heal. And it still hasn't healed after many procedures and eye drops. 8 eye drops a day that is. There was a week there where I was applying 16 eye drops a day into Pete, Jamie and Abby. P. said if Abby's eye doesn't heal this time we are just going to put a patch on it and move on.

I am back to my pre-baby weight. Pre-Jamie weight that is. Not pre-Pete weight but that's ok. I have no idea how this has happened! It's almost ridiculous that I can eat this much, not work-out and lose weight. Don't hate me but understand it is either the excellent nursing I am doing or there is seriously something wrong with me.

Pete's new cute word this week is money. He says "nemmy" and he loves to play with coins.

We went out garage sale shopping yesterday for the first time this "garage sale season". It was so much fun. We took the kids in the double stroller and walked around a neighborhood sale close to our house. I think we spent $6 and got a load of stuff. Love it! Even got a picture of Jamie at her first garage sale ever. Get used to it sweetie, you will visit a lot of these.
Me, my new shirt and my kinda long hair.First Cheerios.First shoulder ride on daddy.Sex and the City 2 out May 27th! Like!

Terrible Two's

The two's are terrible. And I have heard the threes are worse. Please no.

If it was not Friday I would cry. This was a long, long week. Usually I use my blog to brag about my children but tonight I will just say I am really tired and very glad the babies are asleep for the next 10 hours.

They are still really cute though.....Pete picking the chocolate chips out of his Quaker Granola Bar. Sounds like something I would do....

Pete feeding Jamie baby puffs. She is a big fan of them and he thinks it is so cool he can actually put something in her mouth and not get in trouble for it.
Giggles from my ball of sugar.
Goodnight and good weekend.

Easter

Throwing leaves in the water on Easter. Our first trip of the year to our favorite park.Mama and her babies.
Easter eggs and chocolate. Jamie's first Easter.
That's my girl!

Pete Turns 2

Happy birthday to my little man! Two years ago today you were born and my life changed forever. I can't imagine a day without you in it. I am so proud of who you are and the smart, sweet little boy you have grown to be.

As of today you say about 30 words. I am sure you say more but I just haven't figured them out yet. Some of my favorite words you say are mommy, daddy, water (wa-wu), Abby, sissy (i-dee), bike, juice, poop, turtle (tu-tu), and dog (woof woof). You can count to ten but can only say two and nine. You know everything I am saying. You might not say a lot but you know a lot. It is so fun to see you learn more and more every day and I am so proud of how smart you are.

You don't eat a lot of different foods. In fact you are incredibly picky and would probably go all day without eating if I didn't make you eat something. You like fruit, especially frozen blueberries, apples, strawberries and watermelon. You also like peanuts, Goldfish, cheese, Cheerios, waffles, raisins, and anything sweet. Wonder where you got that? You just discovered fruit snacks and are a big fan of those too.

You love to be outside. And you hate to come inside! We got you a tricycle for your birthday and I think you have ridden it every day since we gave it to you. Actually you have ridden it every day since you found it hidden in our closet, little stinker. You love to push, pull and ride anything that moves. You love to walk through leaves and explore rocks on the ground. And you love water. Wa-wu is your heaven.

And last but not least you are a sweet, sweet boy. You are sweet to your mom and dad and you are sweet to your sister and dog. You give the best kisses on my nose. I love holding you and snuggling with you when you wake up from a nap. I love watching you make your sister laugh and am so proud of you when you give your sister one of your toys to play with. I love how much you love your daddy. It is so sweet to see you guys together. You are a really good listener and I am so thankful you listen and obey like you do. Thank you sweet boy.

Thank you sweet boy for making the last two years the best of my life. I love you so much and can't wait for every year we get to spend together in the future.

Here are some pictures of you on your real birthday, today. We didn't do much today but I think you enjoyed your day outside riding your bike and playing in the rain puddles from the stormy night last night.
Oh and you peed in your potty for the first time ever today. I was shocked. And you were so excited. We weren't even potty training yet! Last weekend we celebrated your birthday up north with Omi, Opa, Uncle Mike, Katelyn, Krischan and Katie. Here are some pictures of your birthday party. We went to the country club for dinner and they sang you happy birthday and brought you a sundae. You really liked it.I made you a race car cake this year. You liked it a lot. You showed it off to everyone that would look. Here is a pic of you helping me make it.The beginning product.Finishing up.And you opened a few gifts. You got the game Connect Four, a bag of doctor's equipment (since you are a doctor's office pro with all our trips there lately) and a bag full of McDonald's foods that you and your little sister love to play with.
Sleep well mama's boy. Tomorrow you will be 2 years and a day old. Boy how time flies. Happy birthday to you, the best little boy in the whole world.

Babies

People have asked me lately if we are done having kids. I think my answer changes every day. Or maybe a couple times a day. If you had asked me in CA in the middle of the worst of it all I would have said absolutely not. Then I look at Pete or Jamie, my sweet beautiful children and think absolutely yes.

Pros: Another perfectly beautiful child from God.
Cons: I started a list, it was too long to post. It included things like morning sickness, no sleep, expensive, etc. But when I reviewed my list I didn't feel any of them, or even all of them put together, outweighed the joy of another baby.

Travels

Date: Saturday, Feb 20th Getting to CA

At the airport in Grand Rapids doing the double diaper change before getting on the plane.
Jamie's first plane ride. Us and all our stuff.Pete meets the pilots and touches a few buttons. Mama and her girl sitting together. Jamie slept for a few minutes on the way to MN. Pete colored in the Delta magazine.Us camped out in the MN airport. We were waiting for our long flight to CA. We got a lot of stares. It was weird. Maybe they were checking out how cute our kids were. Pete and Jamie asleep with dad. Dad was watching the movie The Invention of Lying. I hope to rent it someday. It looked pretty funny but we only had one set of headphones and I wasn't going to purchase any. Now anything that looks like headphones Pete puts in his ears. Like the strings on my drawstring pants and hoodies..... I wear a lot of those two things.How was the flight out there? Long but overall it went well. In fact, better than I expected. The kids did well and like usual, we got a few compliments on how well behaved our kids are. I don't like to fly. I find it stressful and the seats to be incredibly uncomfortable. I just wanted to get there and was very excited to arrive, see my family and get settled. The travels went smoothly and quickly and before we knew it we were saying hi to my dad at the airport in LA.