Surprise!!!!

About 6 weeks ago I sent John the following e-mail:

“Yesterday in church, when Denny was talking about Sarah and Abraham and how God sent them messages, I was really jealous of the “Bible” people that got clear commands and messages from God. I thought, “how easy it would be to do what you’re supposed to do and be fine with it when it’s coming directly from God! I mean how easy could life get, right?”

I’m not jealous anymore.”

And then I attached the following picture:


I say this because for once I can see how people would doubt God’s plans and question why he wanted them to do something. Because that was what I was doing ever since I saw that second line pop up (which was rather quickly I might add).

We had always thought we had wanted 4 kids. But dealing with three, and the fact that Ryan is getting easier and easier every day, has made us question our original thoughts. We had discussed it off and on, realizing that we didn’t want too much time to pass if we were in fact going to have another one. We both thought that in the future, the picture would not be complete with just three, but I hate being pregnant (which is a known fact), and it’s really hard to have babies around when you have a bunch of older kids that need your attention, or need a diaper change, or need to eat. We did both agree too that we liked the 3 year gap between Josh and Ryan better than the 2 year gap between Kylie and Josh – we were able to enjoy Ryan so much more! So we both agreed that we would come back to the discussions after my sister’s wedding in August, because of course, there’s no way I could be pregnant during that…I already had my bridesmaid dress up in the closet, and there was a bachelorette party to go too…

Apparently God had other, bigger, better plans. I’m good about planning, and therefore, if I didn’t want a baby, I was doing what I should be doing to prevent one. But nothing is going to prevent God from doing what he wants. Therefore, this baby will be the constant lesson to ALL of our children that no birth control is 100%foolproof!

Thankfully, when I told John he was super excited, which helped me a little bit. Even though I feel sick, there are lots of times that I let myself forget about this whole thing. I don’t want to sound like I’m not happy, because babies do make me happy (especially when they’re mine), but they also make me tired; very tired. And right now I have three babies at home that are exhausting me – through no fault of their own…they’re just being normal kids!

I got to see the baby wiggling around and its little heart beating like crazy last week…that made it a little more real for me. But I’m not going to lie…when I was taking care of the kids by myself at John’s brother’s wedding this past weekend, I all but had a major meltdown because I can’t figure out how I’m going to have the patience and energy to take care of 4 kids. But then on the way home John again told me he thought I was a fabulous mother, and reminded me that we are a team, and that neither of us could do this on our own…we have to rely on each other. I definitely felt a lot better…

So now the countdown to January 18, 2011 begins (30 weeks to be exact). And while I doubt my abilities, I must keep remembering that God will take care of me and help me, and if I give all of my worries over to Him, I will be OK.

Busy Shower and Birthday Weekend...

Last weekend was one of the busiest weekends I’ve had in a long time! I had my sister’s bridal shower and then the kids’ birthday party the next day…

Friday night we all went to the grocery store to pick up everything I needed to cook the food for my sister’s bridal shower. My sister came in from Michigan and we stayed up late cooking everything for the shower. I finally got to bed around 1:30 Saturday morning.

Saturday I woke up early and started getting everything ready to go to the shower. My dad took Kylie to gymnastics and my sister and I packed the car up. Then we headed to get some balloons, pick Kylie up, and head over to the shower location. We spent the next two hours finishing the food prep and decorating the place. The shower was a Luau theme, so we had lots of bright colors and beachy items. We also had a Tupperware consultant and an At Home America consultant there for people to buy gifts from. These ladies did all of the games and prizes, so Suzie and I got to really enjoy the shower and visit with people. We had about 16 people there which turned out to be the perfect number!

Kylie and Aunt Suzie:






After everyone left we cleaned up and finally left around 5:30. We got home and put everything away just in time to get ready to go to dinner with my sister’s fiancé’s family. We loaded up the kids and headed downtown. Dinner was really nice and I got to talk to Big Josh’s parents and they were really nice. Even though we were beyond exhausted, it was a really nice dinner.

Sunday we got up and went to church and then stopped and got some balloons for the kids’ party. When we got home we fed the kids lunch and then put them down for naps. John and I then went out and cleaned out the garage and set everything up for the party. There was a chance of rain, so we wanted to make sure we had a place for the kids to go if it started raining on us!

We had Chulo the clown come for the party, who happens to be our children’s pastor at church. He put on a great show and the kids (and adults) seemed to enjoy him. After that we had cake and ice cream and the kids opened presents. I felt bad because Kylie had invited so many kids from her class and had a lot more presents than Josh. But Josh was such a great sport about it!

Kylie really impressed me at this party – she greeted every guest as they arrived, and when she opened her presents she oohhed and aahhed over everything and thanked each person for their gift. She was so mature the whole time!

After all the kids left we ordered some pizza for the family and our neighbors and the kids got out Josh’s new slip ‘n slide and they all had so much fun! Finally around 8:00 John and I dragged ourselves out of our chairs to clean up. It wasn’t too bad and we were able to get it all cleaned up before we went to bed that night.

But Monday was a hard day to get through… :)

A Great Weeknight...

Last night was such a fun night!

John had a church leadership team meeting, so the pastor’s wife suggested that the wives and kids go to Chick-fil-a to eat dinner and play, and then everyone meet back at the pastor’s house for a fire and s’mores.

I have to admit that it can be exhausting for me to take all three kids out by myself. Ryan still needs carried most of the time and trying to order food, get it back to the table, get everyone fed, and then eat myself can be difficult and tiring. But luckily some people stayed back at the table with the kids while I got the food, so that part was easy :) I still didn’t get to eat until later by the time I got everyone else’s food out and cut up and I had to keep giving Ryan drinks of “chocamilk” because it wasn’t in a sippy cup.

After we ate the kids went in the play area and had a blast! Even Ryan was able to play by himself in the little kids area, so I was able to sit with a friend and talk while we watched all the kids. Our kids have all known each other their whole lives and really enjoy playing together!

After about 2 ½ hours there, we headed over to the pastor’s house and sat by the fire. The guys joined us right after we got there and the kids continued playing together in the yard. We didn’t end up leaving until 10:00 and Ryan had already fallen asleep on John’s shoulder. Joshie told some of the ladies "this is the best night ever!"

It was so nice to hang out with friends and just sit and relax. It’s hard to do that at home because when you’re home, you always feel like there’s something to do, so relaxing rarely gets done.

Last Day of School...

Yesterday was Kylie’s last day of school…she is now a second grader!!! (and Josh is a Kindergartner!!).

I was supposed to take ½ day of PTO so that I could go to her party, but when I called my temporary nanny (because our normal nanny is on maternity leave), she was still asleep because she thought I was taking the whole day off, I decided to take the whole day off.

So I got to feed the kids breakfast, make Kylie a lunch for the last time for a couple of months, and then take Kylie to school. The weather was gorgeous, so that just made it even better!

After we took Kylie to school we took Josh over to urgent care because the night before he had stoved his finger playing football and woke up to it bruised and swollen. Since I was already off work and I wanted to be sure he was OK, we had some x-rays taken. Thank goodness nothing was broken and once the doctor wrapped his fingers together he was good to go!

When we got back to the house I put Ryan down for a nap and Josh and I went outside. We brought out some chips and salsa because 10:30 was too early for lunch, but we were hungry! Josh played with the little boy that lives behind us and I read a magazine for a little bit. I went in and made us some sandwiches and then went in and woke Ryan up so that we could go to Kylie’s party. They were getting out 2 hours early, so her party started at 12:00.

All of the classes were outside and we quickly found Kylie’s and watched as she played games. Most of the games involved water balloons, and unfortunately, our creepy neighbor, who was also in charge of the party, was trying so hard to get the teacher all wet with the balloons and tubs of water, was going after her and as she was trying to get away from him she tripped over Josh. He started crying and we were consoling him when I heard Ryan start crying and when I looked at him he was soaked! So I took his shirt off (luckily we had towels so we were semi-prepared) and got him to stop crying.

After the games we had ice cream sundaes from Culver’s which tasted so good! Then we all headed inside where their teacher gave them little gifts and everyone said their good-byes.

After the party, Kylie’s best friend came over and they played while Josh took a nap. Ryan and I played outside for a little bit and then he went up for a nap. We had dinner and then Josh had a t-ball game where he had 2 good hits with John pitching! We ended the night with three kids in one bathtub having a blast playing together. After baths Kylie and Josh actually spent a long time playing together up in Kylie’s room. They were trading Silly Bandz and counting their money together.

It was a really good day!

Kylie and her teacher:

The teacher had the kids line up against the wall so that she could throw water balloons at them! (She threw them at the wall above their heads): Kylie and her "twin" Jordyn:
Kylie was not happy about the bubblegum bubble-blowing game:
She did end up smiling during the game:

A Busy Football Weekend...

This past weekend was so exhausting. Fun, but exhausting!

I only worked ½ day on Friday, so John and I headed over to the Memorial Tournament. John has a friend that’s family has a house on the 18th green, so we went there, had a fabulous lunch and just sat out on the upper deck and watched as golfers came by and played. It was so relaxing and nice!

Friday night we had our house church people over for ice cream sundaes. We all hung out outside while the kids played on the swing set and the trampoline while the adults watched them and talked. We ended the night with the kids trying to catch the few lightening bugs that were out :) I got to end the night by snuggling with Kylie and fell asleep with her in her bed which was a nice treat :)

Saturday morning John and Josh left around 7:45 AM for their big day of football games at the Horseshoe! Their first game was at 9:00 and we were just praying that it didn’t get rained out…we had woken up to heavy rain and the forecast called for off and on rain all day. Thankfully the rain was just up where we lived and not down by the stadium.

Meanwhile, my dad dropped Ryan off because he was going down with Josh and John. Ryan cried non-stop the whole time I got ready and got Kylie ready for gymnastics. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him! He didn’t want any food or drink…he just cried! Finally I loaded us all up into the car and he fell asleep right after I dropped Kylie off.

I drove over to Yutzy’s when I pulled in Ryan woke up. He was happy and joking around with me while I got our lunch meat. I bought his donuts and he started eating one while I drove over to Dings and Dents. When we got there, he handed me ½ of his donut, which was weird, but I figured he didn’t like how messy he had gotten. As we were shopping, I rubbed his head and he was burning up! So we hurried up and of course just as we’re ready to leave it starts pouring outside! I quickly get him in the car and then get the groceries in too. We head home so that I can get some last minute items (including Motrin for Ryan) and put the groceries in the house.

We head over to get Kylie and get to watch her last 15 minutes. After that we drive down to the Horseshoe to see Joshie’s next game. When we got there we found the other team parents, my dad and John’s parents. It’s amazing how different the Shoe looks without all the red and white fans! It looks so much smaller and older.

Joshie’s game got going and it was so fun watching him again! They ended up winning their game 15 to 14 and they did their “ooga ooga touchdown Titans” cheer one last time in the Horseshoe!

We had about 2 hours until their next game, so John’s parents, Kylie, Ryan and I headed to get lunch while the team went to get ice cream since they had eaten lunch during the previous break. Ryan was not eating anything, which is just not like him at all.

We met the team at Graeter’s and then headed back to the stadium. Ryan fell asleep on the way back because by now it was 3:30 and Ryan had missed at least one nap. We all went over to the practice field and got ready to watch the game. The Steelers got the ball first and their star player ran a touchdown on the very first play. Then the refs called lightening and we all had to head back into the stadium. I’m glad we did because not long after we got in there it started pouring! My dad let me use his chair and I just sat with Ryan while he rested on my shoulder and I watched all the kids running around after each other and playing. It was so neat to watch! The coaches were all trying to keep everyone calm so that they could keep their energy, but it wasn’t working :) Our team had a serious disadvantage because we only had 5 players, and that’s how many play at a time, so our players never got breaks during the game, except for half-time and time-outs.

Finally they let us back on the field and we started the game back up. The Steelers missed their extra points and we responded with a touchdown of our own and we got our extra points. The game went back and forth like that the whole time. The bad thing was that the Steelers had one great player, and they gave him the ball every time (12 times in total), which is against the rules, so we were a little frustrated. But Joshie scored an awesome touchdown! John was supposed to fake to him, but instead he saw there was an opening up the middle so he handed him the ball and yelled “Go! Go!” Joshie ran right up the middle and scored!

In the end we were about 1 play away from winning and we ran out of time. The Steelers beat us 27 to 25. It was frustrating, but at the same time it was 6:00 and we all were tired! I don’t think our little Titans would have had another game in them!

That night we ended up grilling out some chicken for dinner and then going to bed. Ryan took a nap as soon as we got home and woke up around 8:30 and then laid in bed with me at 10:00. He still had not eaten hardly anything all day, and he didn’t sleep well at all that night. But honestly, him not feeling so great was a lot easier on me the whole day. He was content to sit in the stroller or let me hold him the whole time whereas if he were feeling fine he would have been running around all over the place and I wouldn’t have gotten to see Joshie play very much.

Sunday we woke up for church and Ryan was much better! We went to church and Ryan ate some cereal and his usual donut! After church we went over to my niece’s for her 3rd birthday party. Ryan didn’t eat lunch and was feeling warm again and fell asleep laying on me.

After the party John had to go and get measured for his tux for his brother’s wedding, so we headed to the mall. After that we went to Sonic and got slushies and milkshakes and the kids were in such great moods all the way home! We declared that as soon as we got home (4:00), it was family nap time. We all took naps and Ryan and I ended up sleeping 2 hours! I was so worn out and sadly the nap only helped a little :( We all went outside to play and caught up with our neighbors. After that we went and got some pizza and had a great dinner!

Like I said, it was an exhausting weekend, but watching Joshie play in the Horseshoe was priceless! And unfortunately, our busy weekends don’t stop for a long time…

Yesterday was Kylie’s 7 year-old well check. She was excited because she was pretty sure she didn’t need any shots.

I picked her up from school and we headed to the doctor’s office. She’s so funny because she told me she hates leaving school and then coming back because people look at her and ask her where she was. Who cares?!? I told her that I tell people if I’m going to the doctor…it’s no big deal.

We get there and the appointment was super quick! The doctor did the usual stuff and we didn’t have anything to discuss so she was in and out of there. I can’t remember the specifics, unfortunately, but she weighs about 48 lbs. and was in the 35 percentile and she is 46 ½ inches tall and in the 22 percentile.

After her appointment we had our usual lunch at Olive Garden. I love taking her out to eat! She’s such fun little company, and obviously as she gets older she gets more and more fun.

I forgot my camera :( so I had to take the picture with my cell phone which does horrible indoors. But here is the picture of her at our lunch. The one of her back is her showing off how she started the trend of everyone signing her camp shirt at school. We sent her to school with a Sharpie and everyone thought it was so cool to sign her shirt.




She also had her boy-play date last night. It went pretty well…I think she had a hard time realizing that boys want to play different things than girls a lot of times. They finally got into their groove when she suggested digging in the dirt to look for bugs and worms. Thank goodness I have a well-rounded little girl :)

Getting Bigger...

My kids are growing up…

Tonight Kylie has a play date…with a boy!!!! A couple of days ago she was trying to get up the nerve to call him – she was so nervous! She kept calling her best friend for “girl advice” and in the meantime, the boy ended up calling her :) She said that he sounded so nervous – she was cracking me up!

Luckily the boys mom and I had been e-mailing back and forth before the kids actually set something up. She and I decided on today, after school, and Kylie could not be more excited.

I’ve decided to approach this boy thing with a laid-back attitude. I figure if I don’t make a big deal about it and just go with the flow, then maybe I can raise her to have good relationships with boys and feel she can talk to me about anything. When I was growing up, my parents made such a big deal about how “bad” boys were, that I think I had a very messed up view of them and as a result felt very awkward around them.

The other child growing up is Josh. I finally found him some boxers that fit his little tiny waste, and last night they were all washed and ready for him to wear after his shower. He was so excited to put them on and felt like such a big guy now that he was like Daddy. He was such a cutie! But he won’t sleep in just the boxers…the poor guy stuffs them into his tight little PJ pants because he says he’d be too embarrassed if someone (i.e. our nanny in the morning) saw him in just his boxers. We’ll see…maybe he’ll get used to them and change his mind.

A Zoo Day!

Last Wednesday I got to take off work and chaperone Kylie’s field trip to the zoo.

Last week and this week the whole first grade is in Camp Skeeter. They have camp shirts (each class is a different color), brought in their sleeping bags, have camp fires in the classroom, sing camp songs and tell ghost stories. For the two weeks they are in “camp,” they learn about nature, insects, animals and anything else that you might encounter at camp. So a field trip to the zoo fit in perfectly with the camp theme.

When the form came in, Kylie begged and begged me to chaperone. I had no desire to do this…why? Because 1.) I really don’t like the zoo because I really don’t like animals, and 2.) because if I’m going to take a day off work, I’d rather take a day off to play with all my kids and not have to be responsible for other kids. But she worked her magic and I finally caved and sent in my form and ticket money.

The field trip date happened to be the date before John and I were leaving for Charlotte, so I only had to work two days last week which was a nice break! So that morning I got to sleep in and leisurely get ready and get some stuff done around the house before the kids started waking up. I got Ryan dressed and fed and Joshie dressed and fed. We all walked Kylie over to school, and then when we came home the baby-sitter was there for the boys and I left to meet the bus at the school.

I went in to Kylie’s classroom and saw my group. I already knew ahead of time that I had Kylie, her best friend, and her other good friend in my group, so I knew we were going to have a ton of fun! I gathered all of their lunches and put them in my bag and they headed out to get on the buses. Kylie was super excited because since she walks to school, these field trips are the only time she ever gets to ride the bus.

We are lucky because the zoo, which I’ve heard is one of the top zoos in the country, is 2 minutes down the road from us. So I go in and park and wait for the bus to unload. They have a really great system of getting the kids off the buses, which is good because there are a ton of schools there! We then all go and wait in line and finally they let us into the zoo around 10:15.

The kids had each done a research project on a specific animal just a couple of weeks before, so the teacher wanted us to make sure we got to see each animal they researched, so we headed off to find them. Around 10:45 the girls were starving, which is appropriate since that’s when they normally eat lunch. We stopped at a nice picnic spot and ate our lunch, and while we were there, their teacher joined us, which the girls just thought was the best thing (it’s so funny how they act like their teacher is some kind of celebrity!). So she joined us as we headed out to see some more animals. Despite me not liking animals or the zoo, I was really having a lot of fun with these girls! And I loved the time that I got with Kylie.

After a while the girls were getting tired so we stopped and got some Dippin’ Dots and rested. I honestly think that was the best part of the whole day for them :) After that we saw a few more animals and then headed back around 1:15 to catch the bus. The girls just collapsed in the chairs when we got there – they were so exhausted! When someone asked the teacher what they would be doing in class the rest of the day, she said that when they got back it would be time for recess and they all groaned! I’ve never heard kids groan about recess, but they were all so tired! Kylie said they actually ended up just watching a movie because they were so beat.

After I helped get them back on the bus I took off and headed home. I was able to spend some time with Josh and Ryan before we had to go and pick Kylie up. It was such a fun day and I’m really glad that Kylie talked me into going :)

This past weekend was so long and so busy and so hectic. But it was also a fun weekend, so I can’t complain!

We started it off by having dinner and some friends’ new house. They bought their house and did a lot of work to it and it looks so beautiful. They have two kids, one of which plays on Joshie’s football team, so the boys were playing football out in the rain while Kylie and their little girl played inside. My parents offered to watch Ryan for us, so we were able to stay until 11:00 and we had such a great time!

Saturday morning John and Josh had t-ball practice, and I took Kylie to gymnastics, and then Ryan and I headed to our usual Saturday morning places (Yutzy’s and Dings and Dents). I really cherish the time that I get to spend with Ryan alone. He is at my favorite age and I love talking to him. The whole time we were in the car he was saying “big trucks, see, mo,” which meant he wanted to see more big trucks. He’s fascinated with big semi-trucks right now, and he gets so excited when he sees one…he says, in a squeaky high-pitched voice, “mommy, big truck.” He was such a good boy the whole time were shopping – I had so much fun!

After we ran our errands, we went to the gym to watch Kylie. The minute we got in there Ryan was yelling “Kylie, Sissy” and pointing. She has so much fun at gymnastics, and I love seeing her face out there when she’s practicing!

After that we went home and had lunch. John worked on a computer problem for his dad while Kylie and I went up and cleaned out her room. I sorted through all of her clothes, and then we pulled all the toys and furniture out. Then I taped her room so we would be ready to paint. Then we all headed to Home Depot to look at blinds for her room (because she had custom princess blinds up there that now needed to come down). My parents again were such a huge help and kept Ryan, so the four of us could get what we needed and get home! We ended up getting blinds for a couple different rooms and headed out to the pain store. We were going to get pain at Sherwin-Williams because 1.) I had a 20% off coupon, 2.) I had another coupon that I could use, and 3.) we were going to keep the pink that was already in her room, and it was from there and needed matched. We pull up to Sherwin-Williams at 5:10 and they closed at 5:00. It was the worst luck ever and Kylie was so disappointed because we promised her room would be done that day.

We decided to head home and cook some burgers and relax for the rest of the evening. The kids played outside, John mowed, and I played with Ryan. It was a good ending to a very busy day. If only we knew it would pale in comparison to Sunday…

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. I helped John get all the kids set up and then Kylie and I actually met my parents at the nursery to pick out my plants. One of my other goals for the weekend was to get my garden in, so I got all of the plants and my parents took them home for me while Kylie and I went back to church to help clean up. Have I said how much I appreciated my parents this weekend???

After church we headed to grab some lunch, and my parents met us there. We took our food to the high school where Joshie’s championship game was going to be played and we ate it in the parking lot with our friends from Friday night. We were tailgating before the flag football game :) Afterwards we headed into the stadium and got set for a hot game. The sun was out and the temperature was in the 80’s…a huge change from what we’ve been in (60’s, maybe 70’s if we’re lucky).

The boys had fun playing, and we were cheering super loud! Both teams were undefeated, so it was a really good game. In the end, our Titans lost, but they tried and for the most part looked like they had a lot of fun! Ryan was not making it very well and cried the last ½ of the game. Again, my parents to the rescue…my mom walked around with him in the shade so that I could watch the end of Joshie’s game.

After the game, as we drove home, we devised our plan for the rest of the day. Ryan fell asleep with the phone that he was playing with still up to his ear, and even though Joshie tried hard, he fell asleep too. Once we were at home, we put the boys down for a nap, and I went out to put my garden in. My parents weren’t back yet, so we couldn’t go and get the paint since the boys were sleeping. I got my whole garden in pretty quickly (thanks to my dad who had prepared my dirt in the preceding weeks), and once my parents were home John and I headed out.

We decided that God did not want us buying pain at Sherwin-Williams. We pulled in at 4:25 and they had closed at 4:00. I have never heard of a store closing at 4:00…it’s such an odd time. So we took it as a sign and headed over to Home Depot and got her paint.

Once we got home we quickly at some Skyline hot dogs and then headed up to put the first coat of paint on. My parents watched Ryan outside while my dad finished his garden project, and Kylie and Josh came up to help us. They helped with two of the walls, but then finally, John and I had to kick them out because there were just too many painters in there! I got them into the shower (Josh was full of paint!) and then they played a little bit downstairs while John and I painted. By this time my dad had left to go back home and my mom offered to take Ryan over to her house with her. When I sent Kylie over to get her backpack from my parents’ house, Kylie said that Ryan was on the trampoline, so I don’t think my mom ever made it inside :)

I got the kids into bed, and John and I continued. My mom brought Ryan in because he was hungry and needed a snack. I got him eating and my mom informed me she had watered my garden (the only thing I had left to do from planting) and cleaned up all of my gardening stuff and closed up our garages. I really don’t know what we would have done if we didn’t have her help! She ended up giving Ryan a bath and cleaning up after our dinner too. Seriously, such a help to us!

John and I finally finished up painting around 10:30. The only thing we have left to do are the edges where we have to tape the newly painted wall (because we have two pink walls and two brown walls), so we’ll wait to do that next week when we know the paint is good and dry. We will try to put her room back together tonight and hopefully get her blinds up. We were so beat by the end of the day!

So as you can see, it was a jam-packed weekend, but we got a lot accomplished which felt really good. I’ll hopefully have pictures of the finished room soon. And the only thing that was getting us through all the work was knowing that I’m going on Kylie’s field trip to the zoon on Wednesday, and then John and I head to Charlotte on Thursday, so only two days of work this week!

The kid on the left is only 8 months older than Josh! Poor Joshie looks so little!

Joshie and his friend Taylor. This girl was the best player on the team by far! You could always count on Taylor to pull the flag or score when she had the ball. She was always chasing Joshie and he loved it :)

This is Joshie upset because they were no longer undefeated:

Coach dad and Joshie before the game:

Pictures From Kylie's Birthday...

Here are a couple of pictures from Kylie's birthday the other day:

Us singing to Kylie (that is her diet Coke in the picture - she asked me so sweetly since it was her birthday if she could have diet Coke...how could I say "no?"):

Kylie opening the cool wallet from Grandma. She absolutely adores that thing! All of her allowance money went right into it!

Kylie opening the picture of the bedding set we ordered her:

Recap of Kylie's Birthday...

What a fun birthday Kylie had!

I again copied from this cool lady and wrote out 7 birthday love notes that I went around and hid the night before. I taped the first one to my bedroom door because every morning she wakes up while I’m still getting ready and comes in and hangs out with me, so I knew she would see it there :) She ended up finding all of her notes before she left for school.

I decided to take ½ day off so that I could surprise her and pick her up from school, and so that I could get an early start on her special birthday dinner. So I got home and was able to play with Josh and Ryan all afternoon. We also decorated for Kylie’s birthday with streamers and balloons. Ryan LOVED the balloons!

Kylie was super surprised when I picked her up! As soon as we got home we started right in making her special dinner. Her request was fried chicken (which was always my request when I was little) and watermelon. So she and Josh helped me make the coatings for the fried chicken and got them all ready to go so they could sit out for a while before frying them.

While I was getting everything ready for dinner, the kids all played (mostly with the balloons) and my mom helped watch Ryan. We finally sat down to an awesome feast! We had some of the best fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and watermelon. It really was a wonderful dinner!

After dinner we got everyone bathed and then it was time for cake! Kylie had picked out these little chocolate mousse cakes that tasted so good! After cake Kylie opened her presents. She only had a few to open because we are having a joint birthday party for her and Josh in June, and most people have opted to wait and giver her their presents then. She opened a present from my mother-in-law that she adored! It was a wallet that she had wanted with some money in it and a McDonald’s gift card. She really loved it! Then she opened our present, which unfortunately was just a picture because it hadn’t gotten there yet! John and I are going to redo her room this Saturday, so I had a picture of the bedding I had ordered her and she loved it! Josh and Ryan got her a sheet set to go with her new bedding :)

After all that the kids played a little more and then it was bed time. They all crashed fast and hard! John met with his co-coach and neighbor to talk about t-ball and I got to just relax and watch a little TV.

It was a great birthday! I forgot my memory stick, so hopefully I’ll have some pictures tomorrow :)

Happy Birthday Kylie!

Dear Kylie,
Today you are 7 years old. 7 years ago right now I was lying in a hospital bed wondering when I would get to meet you! I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by…I look at pictures of you when you were younger and I feel like it was just yesterday. Right now I’m looking at a picture from your first trip to Disney, which was only 2 ½ years ago, and you look like such a little girl compared to how you look now!

You are an amazing little girl. Everyday you come up with new ideas or thoughts and I just sit back amazed. And you spoil me…I rarely have to help you with any of your schoolwork because you either already know how to do everything, or you take the initiative and work on the stuff by yourself. You just did a presentation on koala bears, and I was so proud of you because you got on the internet by yourself and googled “koala bears” (which you thought was the neatest thing to do) and did the whole project completely by yourself! I’m still so proud and amazed! If we could just work through your frustration when you don’t know how to do something, I think school will always be a very easy thing for you.

You are a fabulous big sister. Last night you told Joshie he could sleep with you, even though you like to sleep in your room by yourself, just because he was sad. You guys laugh together and play together and have a really good relationship. And you with Ryan? Amazing! You watch over him so well and are such a huge help to me with him. You hug him and kiss him (even when he screeches “Noooo”) and play with him when I need to get something done. Last night you voluntarily shared your mint ice cream with him, just as you share a lot of things with him. You are great about running and getting me something I need when I’m in the middle of changing his diaper. He looks up to you and loves you so much because you are so great with him!

You are doing great in gymnastics. You have joined the Scarlet and Grey team, so you will start competing next fall, which is super exciting! You have Miss Laura for a teacher, who is your favorite, and you practice with all levels, which I think has been motivating for you. But you also like to do a lot of chit-chatting during practice :) Right now you’re working on your mill spin and you’re so close! You do your back handspring with a light spot and you’re doing handstands on the beam. You love to go to practice each week!

You still love to snuggle, and you love “mommy-time.” We love watching Supernanny together and you tell me all about your friends and boyfriends :) I love listening to you read to me because you’re such a great reader. And of course you love it when I jump on the trampoline with you!

Thank you for being my daughter princess…I love you more than you’ll probably ever know. I hope you have a very happy 7th birthday and that this next year is even better than the past 7!

Love,
Mommy

A Very Busy Weekend...

What a weekend! I can’t believe how much we packed into this weekend, and how quickly it went by…

Friday evening we packed up our picnic stuff and headed to a park for house church. The kids played on the playground, the guys grilled and played corn hole, and the girls talked/watched the kids. We stayed as long as we possibly could (which means it was dark and we could no longer see the kids playing) and had a really, really good time.

Saturday we woke up and my sister and I took Kylie to gymnastics, and then we took Ryan and headed over to the nearby city for some cheap lunch meat and yummy donuts :) After that we headed to the dings and dents grocery store and then back over to watch Kylie finish up at gymnastics.

When we got home, we lathered everyone up in sunscreen and got ready to go play outside. It was GORGEOUS out! The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. Unfortunately, this was also the time that my other sister called us telling us that the moving truck was on the way to the house, so we loaded Kylie up and headed out.

We grabbed some Chipotle for lunch and then went to my sister’s new house. It’s beautiful! It’s a really neat floor plan and a great size for them. The boxes that we needed to unpack, unfortunately, were at the back of the truck, so the movers had to bring in all the furniture before there was anything we could do. Finally, around 2:30, the boxes started coming in and I spent the rest of the day unpacking all of the kitchen boxes. I’m amazed that my sister really didn’t care where I put things…if it were me, there’s no way I’d let anyone organize my kitchen – I would want to carefully plan out exactly where each and every little thing went!

We finally finished up around 7:00 and everyone else joined us to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We had pizza, watched Monsters vs. Aliens, and then had a wonderful Heath Bar Blizzard cake from Dairy Queen. We finally left around 9:30 and we were exhausted!

Sunday we went to church, and then afterwards drove through McDonald’s and headed to Josh’s football game. Thankfully it was not freezing like it has been the last couple of weeks! Ryan was in a great, funny mood and as always, I had a wonderful time watching the little Titans kick their opponents’ butts! Joshie caught an amazingly long pass for a touchdown!

After the game we headed home and went to work putting my dad’s dresser together (which was his birthday present). It was quite humorous listening to John, my sister, me, and occasionally Kylie, Ryan and Josh putting that thing together! But it was worth it because it looked wonderful and my dad was so happy!

After that my sister headed back to Michigan and John and Josh played some baseball. Kylie went in to finish up her Koala bear presentation and Ryan and I played in the court for a while.
We headed inside and the kids were bathed and fed, and then Kylie practiced her presentation with us a few times. Then we put the kids to bed and then ourselves to bed not long after that!

Ryan was up for about 1 ½ hours last night. I’m not sure what his deal was, but he was wide awake and wanted to play. So needless to say, I’m a little tired this morning :)

Tomorrow is Kylie’s birthday, so tonight we’ll be getting stuff ready for her to take her treats to class and make sure we have everything for her birthday dinner request (fried chicken and watermelon).

I'm Back!

It’s been way too long since I’ve updated here. I’m so frustrated with myself that I’ve let weeks go by undocumented. But I can’t change it, so I’m moving forward, with a goal to get back into the routine of updating…because otherwise I will forget the daily craziness of my kids and our family life, and I don’t want to forget.

It is now the middle of May. We are so busy and I don’t see an end to the business until September, which makes me sick. I hate being so busy, but no matter how hard I try to not be, I still am.

Today my sister and her fiancé are closing on their first house! It’s an M/I house, so I’ve put together a fun bucket of gifts for the closing people to give them after they’ve signed the five million papers they will have to sign to buy this house.

Tonight we have house church at a park. We are cooking out and will get to just hang out and relax while the kids play. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous and I’m really looking forward to being outside!

Tomorrow Kylie has gymnastics, and I hope to run to Yutzy’s and the dings and dents grocery store. Yutzy’s is a little market in a town that’s about 35 minutes from us. They have the cheapest sandwich meats and cheeses around and they taste amazing! The dings and dents grocery store is a warehouse that has grocery items that are either dented or are close to their expiration date. It’s awesome because they have name-brand products that I normally buy, for a lot cheaper. I got a box of chocolate Cheerios for $1.50 and I had seen it at Wal-mart the day before for $3.38! We try to get over to these stores every Saturday while Kylie is in gymnastics.

After that we’re (my other sister is here from Michigan) going over to help my sister unpack all of her boxes and stuff at her new house. After that we’re going to celebrate mother’s day and my dad’s birthday with some food and a movie.

Sunday we have church and Joshie has a football game. It’s his last game before the championship game. His team is doing awesome…they are undefeated! After his game I have to plant my garden!

So that’s the plan for the weekend. While it sounds like a lot of fun things, it will be fast-paced and go by quickly, which stinks. But the weather is supposed to be gorgeous, so any time outside will be wonderful!

A Great Monday!

Last night was a fun night…and what made it even better was the return of Front Porch Mondays!!!

This morning before I left for work, Jen, our nanny, informed me that this would be her last week working before maternity leave, which was a week earlier than we had planned. She told me that her doctor, who happens to be a male doctor in the same practice as my female doctor, had told her that she was dilating and the baby was moving down, and since she was full-term, she should take it easy. She felt so bad, and I know it’s not her fault, but I’m furious with her doctor! Are you kidding me? She’s freaking full-term!! I feel like I have talked to a lot of women with male doctors that tell them to take it easy and stop working…I’m guessing because they have no freaking idea what it’s like to have a baby. My doctor never said that to me, and I was huge and swollen with Kylie! Why didn’t she? Because she’s had 4 kids and knows that you just live with it! And what about moms that are pregnant with subsequent kids? All my nanny does is what any other mom does…she just takes care of the kids during the day! Could you tell a mom she needs to stop being a mom a couple of weeks before her due date?? Never!

Now if the baby was coming too early, or if there was something else “wrong” (i.e. high blood pressure, etc.) then I would completely understand, but even Jen acknowledged that nothing was wrong. But she’s a first time mom-to-be and just wants to do what her doctor tells her :( And like I said, I don’t blame her at all…I would do the same thing if I were in her position. I’m just mad at the doctor…

So anyway, I started immediately stressing about finding someone to watch the kids next week. I called John on the way to work and he was awesome…he told me not to stress and that he would take care of it. Later on that day he sent me an e-mail talking about how much he was looking forward to front porch Monday – just us and a glass of wine and catching up with each other!

As soon as we got home from work we went out to play. John and I took turns jumping on the trampoline with Kylie and Josh and pushing Ryan in the swing. We grilled some hamburgers and ate on the front porch.

After dinner the kids got baths/showers and we settled in for something that Kylie wanted to show us. She had come home Sunday all excited about how her teacher had shown her about having a clean and pure heart using water and food coloring. So we got her all set up and she gave us such a neat lesson!

After that the kids played their DSs for a little bit and John and I played with Ryan. At 8:15 all kids were sent up to bed and John and I headed out to the porch. It was so nice to be back again! We talked for a while and got into a serious discussion that actually took us away from the porch and up into our office to work on a solution to something that had been bothering us. At the end of the night there were hugs and tears and prayers and an overwhelming feeling of peace. So our first front porch Monday of the year was definitely a success!

The only downside to the day was the fact that Ryan got up twice in the middle of the night. The first time I was able to get to him fast enough, before he had sat up, and he went back to sleep. The second time, however, I was not so lucky. I rocked him and he finally stopped crying. After about 15 minutes I decided to put him back in the crib and see what he did. He was wide awake, but he just laid there and let me cover him up and give him all of his pacis. I swear that kid is an amazing sleeper! I kept waiting for him to start crying but he never did…he just went right back to sleep!

Annual Scrapbooking Weekend Recap...

Another scrapbooking weekend was a success!

After work on Friday, John helped me finish getting everything ready for my weekend. This time we decided to move the couch out of the family room since there were going to be a lot of people there this time. This allowed us to stretch the tables all the way from the kitchen into the family room so that we could all scrap together.

John had booked a weekend at a local hotel with a swimming pool for him and the kids to stay at since they were booted from the house :) Kylie was going to a sleepover birthday party for her friend that night, so she stayed around with me until I had to take her over there. My parents offered to keep Ryan for the night so that John could have some one-on-one time with Joshie. We were really worried about everything we had to accomplish this weekend – Kylie to her sleepover, Kylie picked up in the morning and taken to gymnastics, Kylie picked up from gymnastics, Ryan picked up, and on Sunday, John had to pick up the Sunday school stuff, have all of the football stuff ready to go, after church, my dad had to bring Ryan home and John had to get Kylie and Josh lunch and then get them to Joshie’s football game. I asked John if he was nervous that we might lose a kid this weekend and he said “yes!” I tell you, there’s no way we could have done it without the help of my parents. I’m so grateful for their eager willingness to help us out with the kids and their acknowledgement that John and I need time together, as well as time with our friends.

John and Josh left around 6:00 and Kylie and I hung out until I had to take her at 6:30. All of my friends started arriving around 6:15. We had 7 scrapping on Friday night, with 6 spending the night. Everyone brought wonderful food to eat, and we all got busy scrapping. After a while we fired up the chocolate fountain, and most of us stayed up until around 1:00 AM.

I woke up the next morning around 7:00, but I hung out in bed for an hour. It was so nice not having to get out of bed if I didn’t want to, and it was so nice watching a girly-show while I was doing that :)

We spent the day scrapping, and eating, and watching TV. I easily watched more TV than scrapbooked, but it was so nice being able to watch shows that I would never be able to watch with the kids around. I know that’s why the weekend was so relaxing for me…I was able to do what I wanted, whether it be watch TV, scrapbook, or eat :) We had 8 girls on Saturday, and the day seemed to fly by way too quickly!

Saturday night we continued the annual tradition and went to dinner. We ate at a local Mexican restaurant and definitely enjoyed the margaritas! After that we walked over to our local scrapbooking store and had fun just wondering around and buying a few things.

We scrapped the rest of the evening, and around 10:00 I called it quits for the night. I made myself up some dessert and plopped myself on the couch to watch TV. I actually fell asleep on the couch and woke up to go up to bed only to find one of my friends still scrapping :)

Sunday morning John stopped by to pick up all of the Sunday school stuff. I went out to help him, and he said that Ryan was not happy. I went to say “hi” to all of the kids, and Ryan kept saying “et, et” (which means “out”). I decided to take him out and feed him breakfast so that John could get to church and get everything set up without worrying about him. My dad ended up taking Ryan to church with him, so it all worked out and I was able to get some scrapbooking done.

Joshie had his first football game on Sunday, so that meant that John had to leave right from church and go to the game. My dad brought Ryan home, and he fell asleep in the car. I put him to bed, and my dad packed up and headed to the game. My sisters and my sister’s fiancé were also going to the game, which helped alleviate my guilt for missing it :( My family was so awesome…John had forgotten to bring snacks for the kids, so my sisters stopped and picked them up for us, and my dad brought something else to John that he had forgotten. It was a crazy morning!

Once all of that was cleared, I went back to scrapbooking. Slowly everyone started leaving, which of course was sad. The last people ended up leaving around 2:30, and I was able to get some things cleaned up before Ryan woke up (he ended up taking a 2 ½ hour nap!). My sister was hanging out for a little while before heading back to Michigan, which was nice. So we all went outside to play. It was so gorgeous outside and I had so much fun playing with the kids. All Ryan wanted to do was “weeee” (swing) and the kids and I jumped on the trampoline.

Once we got inside we worked to get homework done, dinner eaten, baths and the house cleaned up. When John and I finally collapsed on the couch at 9:30 we were exhausted! But we both had a wonderful weekend! He said he had a blast with the kids, and I of course had so much fun with my friends. And we didn’t lose any of the kids… :)

A Week in Review...

This week has been a mix of all kinds of things.

First, the week started off warm and sunny. It is ending cold and gloomy :( Our high today is in the low 50’s :(

Joshie had football practice on Monday night. This time John is head coach and they are both loving it! He’s also playing with a friend from church, and his dad is helping to coach, so that’s a lot of fun too! The problem for me this time is that Ryan no longer wants to sit in the stroller. So I try to keep him content playing by me while I try to watch, but then I eventually take him over to the playground. Last fall I was able to put him in the stroller and watch the whole game…not this time!

We grilled out for the first time this year on Tuesday and Wednesday. I love being able to cook dinner while playing outside with the kids!

John and I got to have lunch together this week, which never happens! His mom and dad were in town, and it was the day before his mom's birthday, so we met them, John's aunt and uncle, and his sister and her daughter for a wonderful lunch. It was so nice going out to eat and not having to cut food or worry about entertaining little ones :)

My annual scrapbooking weekend is this weekend, so I’ve been trying to get ready for it a little each night. There will be 8 girls in total each day, and 6 will be spending the night. Thankfully the kids spent the night at my mom’s last night, so I was able to get all of the sheets washed and their rooms cleaned and their bathroom cleaned so that is all done! Now I just have to get the playroom cleaned :)

I can’t wait for this weekend…we always have so much fun! We will have the chocolate fountain and go out for dinner tomorrow night, just like we have for the past 3 years. I love how we have so many little traditions when it comes to our scrapbooking get-aways!

So that’s my plan for the weekend. Joshie has an early football game on Sunday, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it or not. But at least the weather is supposed to be beautiful for it!