It's a first!

I cooked on a bbq grill for the first time ever today! I used the George Forman grill for the last 4 years of my marriage but today I ventured out and used the bbq we bought last month. I was pleasantly surprised and I think I'm addicted! There is nothing like the taste of bbq chicken on the grill, yum!

Paula Harper

There is a woman at my church named Paula Harper. She is the one that gave me the houses to clean temporarily as she battles breast cancer. Today is her surgery. I am asking for any and all prayers for complete healing for her. She is a woman of faith and one of those people who will probably lead the nurses, doctors, and all hospital staff to Christ while there. She has such a positive outlook on it all and knows that she is going through this so her character is refined and she can be more like Christ. She is amazing and today is her 10 hour surgery. Please keep her in your prayers.

Psalm 103:2-4 (NIV)
“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion…”

Romans 8:28 (Ph)
“Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.”

Survey

A Parenting Tag



OK, the directions are to post a favorite pic of me and my children and answer the following questions, then tag as many as I'd like! Here we go:

1. How many kids do you have? 2

2. What are their ages? 3, 10 months

3. What time do you usually start your day? 6:30-7am

4. What do they eat for breakfast? The second Kai wakes up he says I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I want milk, juice, granola bar, chicken! I give him juice and a pancake, bagel, waffle, granola bar, peaches, or toast. Nash eats toast with fruit.

5. Do they get to watch T.V.? Nash doesn't like tv. Kai loves it and talks about watching his 'show' all day if we don't get out of the house! He usually watches in the morning and then if he's had a nap he can watch a movie in the evening when I'm watching my shows.

6. What's their favorite activity? Kai likes to wrestle with anyone who is willing including Nash. Nash likes to drum on things with his sticks.

7. Do you get a break during the day for some "you" time? Almost never. Kai has outgrown his naps and it's hard to keep him in his room without him opening the doors a hundred times.

8. How do you end your day? Put the kids to bed at 7pm and watch all the shows I'm addicted too with Devin. Sometimes I'll read after that.

9. What's your best parenting advice or tip? Be consistent and honest with the actions/morals you are teaching your children. They pick up on things very early. Take the time to play with them even when you are doing something "important."

10. Tagging the following:

1. Caryn
2. Any other mom who reads this?

Embarrassing moment

Another tribute to being a mom: being humiliated!

About a month ago I ran into a lady from church at the grocery store. As we were talking Kai held out his finger to show her a fresh booger from his nose. I was very embarrassed and quickly looked for a tissue which I didn't have. The lady dug in her purse and pulled out a pack of kleenex and told me to just keep it :)

Then today while in the shoe aisle, you know how cramped it can get in size 8, Kai looks down at his chest and says nipple. Yes he does have a shirt on but he was using x-ray vision. Then he looks up at me and says Mommy do you have a nipple? rather loudly! I immediately try to hide my smirk and he sees that I think he's funny so he starts repeating nipple, nipple, what mommy, do you have a nipple? I got food out and shoved it into his mouth! At that point I would have fed him anything he wanted to get him to stop. I didn't even look around to see the stares but I'm sure they were there! Yikes!

Being a mom

When I grow up I want to be a mom. I think I said it all the time when I was young. But did I really know what that meant? Sometimes I feel like all I ever do is wipe poopy butts, argue over food with my picky eater, clean up, say things like "do you have to go potty, no you can't watch anymore tv, don't touch that, do you need a time out, someone needs a nap, and the list goes on! I have been feeling wrapped up in feelings of guilt from the amount of yelling that goes on these days and the lack of learning that should be going on in my house.

Moms have such a unique responsibility for caring for their children and raising them up as best as possible. I enjoy the prayers at night before bed, the cuddle time, the adoration, and the occasional manners. I think it's easy to start feeling overwhelmed and discouraged but God entrusted us these children and he knows what we struggle with. I think I'll take it one day at a time as my patience increases (I hope) and I mature as a parent hopeful things will pay off in the end.

Pirate Party! Arrrrr!

My pirate cupcakes, not so easy to do!







The pirate party went pretty well. We didn't do a whole lot. Parties overwhelm me and I feel that I need to live up to some expectations of a perfect hostess with all the right games and giveaways. I decided to go really easy with pizza, cupcakes, 1 game, and a park. Let's start small when he's young and doesn't expect anything and hopefully I will get more energy to be creative as he gets older.

My sweet Kai turns 3 today! Time really does fly by so I'm trying to savor every minute. We had moms group this morning and I made oreo cupcakes and an egg & sausage casserole. Kai ran around with the other kids and because it was 'his day' he got a little too aggressive and ended up in time out twice! Later we went to his 3 year check up and he got a shot. He said he wanted another owie so he could get more bandaids. Silly kid. He measured 90% in height and 98% in weight. Yikes! After that we went to Toys R Us and he picked out a birthday toy. He got a little legos set from the movie Cars and some of their characters. He's playing with it right now.

Happy Birthday Kai!

Breastfeeding woes

I usually post about my kids but I like to think of my blog as a place to espress my deepest concerns, worries, praises, and nonsense. So here I go...I had a breast reduction 9 years ago and I was told that I would have a 50% chance of breastfeeding. I was 19 and really didn't care about that since I didn't even know if I would get married. Once I was pregnant with Kai I really started to think about that and I had a strong desire to want to breastfeed. A dear friend of mine told me about bfar.org, a support group for women who had a reduction. What a blessing! It's a bunch of women who tell you that you can do it even without a full supply.

Once I had Kai my milk came in and I had about a 50% supply. I was depressed about it and regretting my surgery. Nurses told me I should just give formula and he clearly was still left hungry after I fed him. I went on medication to produce more milk, I had to overcome the odds! I struggled for 6 months, pumping, taking medication, praying for more milk, and supplementing with formula. I eventually weaned him at 6 months and just gave him formula. I never overcame the suffering of not being able to fully breastfeed for that first year.

When I had Nash I didn't know what was going to happen. Through my trusty friends from the website, I found an herbal supplement that I could take with the medication. I started that and to my astonishment I had a full supply! Nash is 10 months old and I have been able to produce enough milk to feed his needs. It's an amazing feeling and bonding experience. Last week I decided to go off the medication and start to give him milk as well as breastfeed since the meds have side effects that aren't pleasant. My milk supply dropped and Nash became very fussy and I've had to give him lots of formula because he decided he doesn't like milk! Once again I'm going through depressing feelings that I can't give my baby what he wants and needs. So I'm starting the medication again but I don't get it for another week and it takes a couple of weeks to kick in. It will be hard until then but there is nothing like nursing your baby and that connection you get. It really is a feeling that God created for us moms. One day I hope to help people in the same situation that I was in and be there chearleader that they can do it and overcome the odds as well.

T

A long awaited answer to prayer

We've been struggling financially for quite some time. I've been pleading to God to provide somehow as I search part time jobs, even paper routes that I can do. Right now Devin works as a worship leader and then as a swim instructor part time. The swim position takes all his time with us away. I maybe see him 1 hour a day. I'm miserable. I broke down with God yesterday and told him I just can't take anymore. I'm willing to work at Starbucks if needed, just please get Devin back at home, I'm lonely.

Today I ran into someone I know at Target. She told me she cleans houses part time and sometimes she has people ask her but she doesn't have time. She said she would refer them to me or I can ask the lady who gave her the clients in the first place from our church named Paula. So I called Paula and asked her to refer anyone she can't do to me if possible. She told me that she has breast cancer and wants to keep her clients but needs to do treatment and needs someone to take over temperarily. She said I was an answer from God and I told her she was my answer. I start tomorrow with her. Let's hope I know how to clean well enough! Just call me the "House Keeper". She has 3 homes she cleans and it would be enough money for us not to worry how we will pay our bills and Devin could quit the 2nd job. Please pray that this works out if it's God's will and for complete healing for Paula's cancer.

Thanks to all who read this!

Once-shame on baby; twice-shame on mommy!

Last month Nash was taking a bath and I stepped out of the bathroom for about 5 seconds to yell at Kai. I know I know, never leave a baby alone in the bath tub but seriously it was 5 seconds! Well I came back into the bathroom to find Nash flopping on the floor like a fish out of water! Somehow he fell over the edge.

Today I heard some screaming and went to get Nash out of his crib from nap time figuring he was up and grumpy. I opened the door to find him sitting there crying. Yep you guessed it! He fell out of his crib! Looks like it's time to lower it to the lowest setting. Now one time of this happening it could be blamed on baby :) But twice, well somehow I feel this is MY fault! I'm just glad he didn't get hurt either time.

Cleaning

I got on a cleaning kick this morning. It is VERY hard to clean a house that is 3400 square feet. I always feel behind, never ahead. But today I decided to clean and my laundry room is one that I always find messy. I recently bought a clothes organizer and instead of piles being on the floor they are in this now. My laundry room is now one that I love being in and I feel oh so organized! I highly recommend it and it was only $15 at Walmart. It's amazing how destressed you can feel by just having things organized. I'm savoring the moment because no doubt in a few hours Kai will have hauled in the comforter from his bed, his pillow, his toys upstairs to downstairs, my broom, daddy's shoes, my hair brush, and some diapers. Tomorrow I'll look around and think back on the day that everything was so clean.

Harry Potter

Do you see any resemblance to Harry Potter? Kai decided to drag a blanket across the cord to the fan and it fell on him. Poor guy!

They really are listening!

"Are you listening to me? What did I just tell you?!" Are some of the lines that Kai is giving back to me lately. I guess he really IS listening to me but choosing not to obey.

Nash is in the phase of copying what we do. Here are his favorites: mama, dada, ahhhhh, wow, grrrrrr, shhhhhhhhh.