Our beautiful blessings

Little tidbits

Updates on us:
Kai knows that you throw a ball, shoes and socks go on your feet, a remote control gets pointed at the TV, you put a phone up to your ear and how to say "more" in sign language, although he'd rather whine for his food! He is still taking 2 naps a day, has 3 teeth, is using a sippy cup with the exception of his night time bottle (he could probably give that up, but we put cereal in with his milk). When he eats, he shovels the food into his mouth by the handfuls like Madelyn used to do. He loves to rough-house with daddy. His favorite pasttime continues to be grabbing two items such as two socks or two beer coozies (no kidding) and walking around the house, looking for trouble. He's a helpful lad who likes to close doors--if there's an open door, he will close it.



Since Rylie is reading on her own now, Madelyn likes to think she can do the same. Often, instead of reading to her, she wants to do it herself and gets mad if you try to help her with the words. Of course, she isn't reading, she's going by memory, but it's a start. She knows that her name starts with M, recognizes M and can draw M; not any other letters though. She and her best friend, Joey, go to preschool two mornings a week at a church daycare. It is so sweet to hear the Bible verses she is learning and see the artwork created after listening to the stories of Ruth, Joseph or Moses. She is obsessed with the books "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses" and "If You Give A Pig A Pancake". One day, our friends were following us to church and Madelyn was worried that they didn't know the way. We said, "No, they know the way." Then she said, "Oh yes, they know the way...step, step, twirl!" That's from Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses! Before dinner Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, she had the honor of saying the prayer; this is how it went "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for my new black dress and headband that mommy gave me. Amen." Of course He blesses our food, why ask??!!

Rylie just got her report card and did great! The common theme she needs to work on is concentration. She has a tendency to daydream (specifically stated), but she is reading above level and has good social skills. None of this info is new--I think her main challenge throughout school will be to focus on the task at hand and keep moving through the assignments without getting distracted. My little dreamer, just like her daddy! She is getting so big and her face and body has changed so much in the last year that she now looks like a "kid" to me, no longer a baby.

Did I tell you about how I flooded our brand new house, for the second time? The first time was when Kai was about a month old and it was very minor; I have an excuse since I was sleep deprived. This time, I started the girls' bath, went downstairs to get Kai's bottle, got distracted and ended up overflowing the tub to such a degree that when Eric poked the garage ceiling with a screwdriver water was POURING down from the upstairs into the garage. We didn't think it was that bad, until we noticed the next morning that Madelyn's carpet in her bedroom was wet (her bedroom is next to the bathroom). We had to have a professional come out and dry out the walls and floor from the inside out. Thankfully, he's a friend of ours, so we got a deal. I NEED TO SLOW DOWN!

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my loving God and His faithfulness, my family, my friends, my job that provides, chips and salsa, McAlister's Deli sweet tea, Desperate Housewives on Sunday evenings with my friend Kirsten, the awesome book that I recently finished called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", yoga and The Big Ten Network!

Pumpkins and Happy Halloween!

Every year, we head to the same pumpkin patch—it has been fun to look back over photos and see how the girls have changed.  Kai was in a sling last year and this year he was toddling around like crazy!  Madelyn wanted a pumpkin with bumps.  That’s the kind I always pick out because I feel sorry for them since it seems everyone else picks the perfectly round and smooth ones.  She usually doesn’t like to have her picture taken, but was surprisingly smiley this photo session.

Halloween night yielded strong rains right as we started putting our costumes on.  Thankfully, it cleared up in time for us to trick-or-treat; then rained as soon as we finished!  Kai slept while we were getting ready so when we got back from trick-or-treating he didn’t recognize us in our face paint and didn’t want a thing to do with us!

Happy Halloween everyone!  The first picture shows Kai’s first skinned knee.

 

Kai is 1 year old!!

He did not know what to do with the presents or the candle, but he knew just what to do with the cake! We now have a trail of chocolate crumbs going up the stairs from our trip to the bath after eating!

Reflections on the summer

There were lots of big milestones achieved this summer by the kids that I want to record:

• Rylie learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She is now very confident (after weeks of throwing fits and knocking her bike down because "it isn't working right!") and speeds up and down the street. Eric set up obstacle courses with 2x4s so she got used to riding over bumps. And, they are building a house down the street so once the land was graded and before the building took place, the neighborhood boys turned it into a sand lot for kickball and X-Game-quality bike riding. Rylie joined them in the bike riding adventures! Madelyn also got a bike (with training wheels) this summer, but is TERRIBLE at steering and braking. Other than that, she's awesome!
• Madelyn is potty trained!! This is an amazing feat that we weren't sure would ever happen. As I have blogged before, we tried guilt, bribing, etc. and nothing worked with that hard-headed little thing until she realized that Marley, one of the few girls at church her age, was in a different class because she is potty trained. It took about a week for Mad to figure it all out, but she has successfully moved to "Marley's class", as she calls it.
• Kai learned to walk! Late into his 10 month he started taking steps and by 11 months, he was all over the place! A major difference that I have noticed between boys and girls is that he does not sit and play with toys. He needs to be on the move at all times! Instead of playing with his trucks, he will carry one in each hand and walk around with them. He also loves to carry a pair of socks in each hand has he walks. He is obsessed with the kitchen and goes straight for the lower cabinet with the kid cups. We were constantly picking up kid cups until Eric barricaded off the kitchen.
• This week: Kai's first work is officially: CAT. He says it like "ta".

Other:

• I got a new DSLR camera after my old point and shoot fell in the ocean. So all future pictures appearing on the blog will be from my new camera! Hooray!
• We also bought a new laptop as our computer was 7 years old and painfully slow. I think we had a momentary lapse of memory and forgot that he doesn't have a job! Thank God for the Sept. bonus money that I receive every year from work. Another big project this fall will be to replace the bushes that we lost last year. We lost about 15 baby bushes right when we moved in due to drought conditions. That will be a fun project for me (I get to pick everything out) and a tough project for Eric (he gets to plant them all).
• Hunting season started on Tuesday so I am a hunting widow every Sat. from now until Jan. 1. Boo hoo!
• The girls have such a vivid imagination that I have to record some of their imaginings--they are "Hot Lava Girls" who have to stay away from the lava in order to save the latest creature/person in distress. They are cowgirls who race through the house shouting "woo-hoo"! They are mermaids in the bathtub. They slip-slide all around the tub together and blow bubbles in the water. Rylie and her friend, Emma, are cats with loud, high-pitched meows and you never know where that storyline will take them!

Pictures at Seabrook Island

Seabrook Island long weekend

After keeping track of 3 kids all summer (Eric) and 2 back-to-back business trips (April), we were ready for a relaxing getaway! So, we found an awesome island house on vrbo.com, rounded up Jan and Leon, and headed off to Seabrook Island for 4 days. We have never visited the island (next to Kiawah Island) so it has been a pleasant surprise to experience its relaxing, perfectly beachy setting. It is marshy and wooded with lovely beaches, live oaks with swaying spanish moss, and inhabited by turtles, deer, horses, cranes, pelicans and alligators right outside our door. We are having a great time resting, playing with the kids, boogie boarding, reading, eating seafood, and riding the bikes that were provided. This was Kai's first trip to the beach and he is true to his name ("sea water")! As soon as we plopped him on the soft sand, he took off toward the water with his mouth open, tongue out trying to take in as much sand and water as possible, literally, including eating a small shell! Has anyone ever cleaned a sandy-poopy diaper; we aren't looking forward to it? Rylie discovered boogie boarding and it is hard to drag that water-bug out of the water! Madelyn, timid with the water as ever, stays near the shore and lets the waves chase her or digs holes in the sand and eats snacks. Eric and I took a long bike ride around the whole island which was beautiful but hot! I plan to take a bath tonight in the claw foot bath tub while Eric watches the Panthers tonight. Also, the owners of this house are a British cleryman and his wife--she wrote a book and I picked it up to read while I am here. Good long weekend!

Rylie says: my favorite part of the TRIP was playing with Kai and surfing on the waves with my surf board and daddy.

Mad says: I like to play with cards.

Pictures to come (BTW, Kai did 3 barrel rolls in the ocean while I had my camera in my hand. Since he is infinitely more important than any electronic device we no longer own a digital camera!

This too shall pass...

Kai learning to crawl--9 mos.

My dear friend Em the night before her wedding.

Michigania buddies at Em's wedding: Erica, Julie and Libby

Rylie on this cool swing at Emily Greenberg's backyard pre-wedding party

Mom with the girls

Rylie and Ashley

Madelyn and Ashley

Visiting family in Indiana--Alyssa, Amy and Kaylee

Leah's graduation

Madelyn's "new" hand-me-down bike

Rylie's real new bike

Mad splashing in the puddles

I love my children dearly, but some days are harder than others. One day, I will probably look back on these days with nostalgia and remember laughing at their funny comments, watching their personalities develop and being there for all the milestones and "firsts" like riding a bike without training wheels or standing alone. I will probably be able to picture the way their hair glistened in the sun, their perpetual dirty fingernails and bruised legs from playing outside, their sweet little made up songs, the ridiculous names they come up with for their babies and stuffed animals. I will probably long to hold them in my arms again and kiss them over and over again without any resistance. Right now--right now, I just want my children to obey. Over the past several weeks, we have really been struggling with listening, whining and arguing (Rylie) and an attitude of indifference as if it doesn't matter if one gets in trouble (Madelyn). I am sure it is their ages combined with their God-given personalities. I am sure those personalities will one day allow them to do wonderful things, things of which I will be proud. However, right now I just want respect and peace. OK, that's enough of that...

Here's what we've been up to..
Went to Indiana and Michigan at the beginning of June. 12 hours in a car with 3 children is absolute bliss, I don't care what anyone says. We had a great time seeing our loved ones, both friends and family and it always seems to go so fast. As an added bonus, my friend from Michigania in college, Emily, got married in Michigan while we were there.

Kai--he is almost 10 months. As of yesterday, he is standing alone. Today, he even went from squatting position to standing by himself. He is obsessed with the dishwasher and as soon as it is open, he heads straight to the knives and forks (he is very speedy in his walker!). We are working on giving kisses and waving, but he hasn't grasped either concept yet. He has a penchant for growling so it sounds like we are in the presence of a little Gremlin. He grins so easily and we get warm welcomes when we enter the room full of kicking, clapping and babbling. Still no teeth. I have him his second haircut this weekend and he seems to be getting blonder.

Madelyn--She is getting more confident with each pool visit. She is the type to take things slowly and cautiously at first, but then dive in, so to speak once comfortable. She is jumping at 2 ft. deep by herself and is beginning to voluntarily put her head under water. Rylie was already swimming by this age, so we need to get this girl some lessons! She likes to use the word "Whatever" and "Exhausting" (such as "Kai is so exhausting" instead of exhausted). Mad is a sponge when it comes to words and lyrics. Eric was in the car with her the other day, listening to a Kelly Pickler song. Madelyn pops her thumb out of her mouth and asks, "What's Pack of Pickles singing about?"

Rylie--She is VERY into her friends especially Emma and Laine on our street. And I mean VERY. She has no use for her family anymore. For her birthday, we had 6 little girls over for a backyard camp out. They were all so excited that they put their PJs on at 6:30. Didn't go to sleep til 11 though. I slept terribly next to a damp tent wall on a blow-up mattress that kept losing air, but my girl had a blast with her friends so it was worth it. One day in church, she was talking during the worship songs. I told her multiple times to be quiet so she got out a piece of paper and wrote me a note. It said, "You are only nice to Kai. I was just trying to tell you something." About a week later, after we'd had a particularly rough night getting everyone to sleep, she came downstairs and somberly said, "Mommy, sometimes I think you don't love me." This one can lay down the guilt trips!

Eric--He is starting a website for hunters and hunt clubs which should be available soon. The address is http://www.thehuntclubconnection.com/. The purpose of the site is to connect hunters with hunt clubs in their area and it will eventually be nationwide. Although Eric is into deer hunting, this website will focus on all types of hunting. A great way to use his passion.

Me--We had our downstairs painted a few weeks ago and it looks awesome! I am very happy with it as I was so over the cream construction paint. I went on a work-related trip to TN a few weeks ago to participate in a cadaver lab. We are working with a company that is testing out a new line of trauma products so we were getting Orthopedic Trauma Surgeons' feedback on the products. I thought I might have the opportunity to implant some plates and screws on a broken bone, but since there were med students there as well, I restrained myself so they could practice. They used real human legs and arms--it was really interesting. The only time I was slightly grossed out was when they cut into the knee and the knee cap was sliding all around. Are you sick yet? By the way, I ran over my Blackberry today with our truck, so don't try to call. I am finally free of the damn thing!! ha!

Happy Mother's Day and Baptism Day!

After Baptism today

First trip to the baby pool. Yes, those are American Flag speedos!

Do you like my new haircut? Daddy says I finally look like a boy.

Easter Sunday

Today was a special day, not only is it Mother's Day, but Kai was baptized today. He was baptized along with 6 other babies and 2 older kids. I pray that these babies grow up together and encourage one another in their faith. I also thank God that he blessed us and trusted us with this little boy to raise. He was great during the baptism and didn't even flinch when the holy water was placed on his head. Eric read the following verse:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. ~Psalms 119:9

I read: Kai, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~Ephesians 3:16-19

Other notables: Rylie got "Character Kid" for the month of April. She has really been trying to improve her bahavior at school so we are really proud of her. There was a time when she was getting 1-2 yellow cards every week, but that's down to 1-2 a month. Hooray for Ry! As a treat one week, we received her first CD--Taylor Swift. As we listened to it in the car for the first time, Eric and I decided that she could've picked something a lot worse (like those awful Jonas Brothers!). A few weeks ago, she and I went shopping and she spent her own money on a pair of flip flops. My baby is turning into a kid! Funny: Mad was in the car with Eric one day listening to country music. She shouts out, "She's singing about Girl Power and red...she knows her colors like I do...red, blue, yellow, green..." (The real song is "Gun Powder and Lead"). Another day, I put her in time out for something, after her obligatory 3 minutes, I knelt down and asked her if she knew why she was in time out. She furrowed her brow, looked at me seriously and said, "Because you put me here." At this very moment, Mad is in a purple Ariel dress and Joey (her best friend) is in a wedding dress singing "Here comes the bride all dressed in white..." I showed them how to hold their bouquet and walk slowly down the aisle. Practice makes perfect.

The time that Eric has had with Kai has definitely made Kai a daddy's boy. He lights up when Eric is around. I think the order of interest for Kai is 1) dogs and cat, 2) daddy, and 3) close tie between mommy and sisters.

Madelyn is a very complex character. I wouldn't say she is a mommy's girl or a daddy's girl. She is very much simply Madelyn; there aren't any "boxes" you could place her in which makes her very interesting. She marches to the beat of her own drum and always has. One minute she is go-with-the-flow and the next she is leading the charge and on fire. She is very literal and, we think, will be quite book smart. Kind of hard to explain. She is little and mighty!

Rylie, is the complete opposite and pretty easy to explain. She is the socialite, the nurturer and the snuggler; she possesses geniune compassion and kindness. She experiences joy through attention, community, acceptance, creativity and imagination. She will be the one who will take care of us when we are old and gray. God made them all our children for reasons known only to Him. I can only begin to imagine what I will learn from them and what He is trying to teach me through being their mother. Although we sometimes get frustrated with them (why can't they be more...), I try to keep those thoughts in my mind. They aren't mine to "make" or "change". They are who they are for greater reasons then I could ever come up with. I am just lucky that I am their mommy and I get to watch it all become clearer over time.

Toys: we are ALL ABOUT princesses and dress up around here. When the neighborhood girls come over, they go straight upstairs, strip down, and put on dress up gear. They do a lot of unisex things like digging in the dirt pile in the backyard, building, coloring, etc., but that's what I think of first when I think of their interests. They are into Dora and Diego between 7-8pm (down time), Curious George, and a show called "something-something Kai-Lan" in the mornings where they learn Chinese; it's similar to Dora.

Carrots for the Carrot-top!

Over the last few weeks, our little carrot-top has tried veggies for the first time and learned to sit! That's enough to make a 6 month old need a vacation! So, we left him and his sisters with their grandparents for the first time this weekend. We spent a fun, relaxing time with our friends in Richmond, VA and the kids got the undivided attention of their mama and boppa for a few days. The favorite veggie so far seems to be squash; he grabs the spoon and pulls it to his mouth with excitement. The picture of him sitting with the crib in the background is his first attempt at sitting that I witnessed. As it was happening, I gleefully yell downstairs to Eric, "Come look! He's sitting!" to which he responds, "Yeah, he's been doing that for a while." All previously babysitters kept quiet about milestones until I announced that a particular one had been achieved. I think I need to fire this one. ha!

Aunt Amy, in one of the above pictures Kai is wearing the beach hat that you made Rylie when she was born.

Another picture above is of the girls with their neighborhood friends. Previous visitors would recognize those girls as Laine and Joey. By the way, Laine's baby sister, Loren, arrived 3 weeks ago. The final picture is me in my prom dress from the 10th grade with a borrowed wig. Mom, I thought you would enjoy this one. I was a "show girl" for our church's mission auction. A few of my friends and I decided to wear sparkly dresses for the occasion which gave me an excuse to wear my "oldie but goodie". The wig caught a lot of attention and we had a fun night playing up the auction items and being silly. In an impromptu effort to raise even more money, we auctioned off the wig and my evening's persona "Roxy" was gone as quickly as it came.