Ramblings

Did you know that the flight from Chicago to Hong Kong is 15 1/2 hours long?  I found that out today, when I purchased a flight to Hong Kong.  And then to South Korea.  And then to home.  At least we're flying business class.  That, plus several good books, plus an ability to sleep on planes (albeit with my mouth hanging wide open) will make the flight manageable, possibly even enjoyable.  I leave in 5 1/2 weeks and will be gone for 13 days.  gulp.... I already miss my babies.  And I'm imagining how cool it will be to experience Hong Kong (between my 15 meetings with vendors).  It will be a great experience and my family will realize just how much they love me while I'm gone. :)

We got a new swingset today and we are SO excited!  Next summer, I imagine us relaxing on the patio, sipping on our coffee, still in our sweats and t-shirts, while our children play independently on the swingset.  Based on the fact that I was tromping around on the swingset myself tonight (hey, I had to show Claire how it works!), maybe I will be right in there with the kids while Josh supervises.  Regardless, we're excited about this new addition to our backyard.

My final rambling for the night, before I move onto working on Max's 1 year video and possibly my 2011 Shutterfly book, is regarding my strange, incessant nausea.  For about five weeks now, I have had nausea off and on, every single day.  I am not pregnant, not sick, and don't have any other symptoms.  My nausea  is worse than the morning sickness I had with either pregnancy.  For the first several weeks, it would occur most often in the morning and in the evening, around 8PM.  Now it happens almost every single time I eat (no matter what I eat).  On my drive home from work yesterday, I had to pull over and run into a gas station's bathroom so I could vomit (sorry, TMI).  I don't think it's simply a "bug" because those don't last for over five weeks, right?  Any ideas on what it could be?  My mom thinks I should go into a doctor and have some bloodwork done and I should probably listen to her because Mama knows best.

Have a good evening, friends!

Bookshelves

I'm not crafty, although I wish I was.  My friend Katie and I took sewing lessons when we children and I did pretty well but now it's been 20 years since I have touched a sewing machine.  If I ever find time I'd love to try to up my craftiness.  Pinterest is certainly a source of inspiration!  I found an idea for cheap bookshelves here and enjoyed treading in the waters of craftiness.

It took two trips to Ikea to get the racks because apparently they're popular.  But are they used more for spice racks (as they are intended) or for bookshelves?  Hmm.  I decided to spray paint them red, to match Max's room.

I would say I'm below average to poor when it comes to spray paint.  Good thing Max won't notice.  

And here they are!  For a grand total of $14 ($3.99 for each bookshelf plus spray paint), he has cute, functional shelves for his books!  

Now if only we can keep him from using the bookshelves to pull himself up, we'll be good..

2016?

Have you thought about what your life might be like five years from now?  If I think back to five years ago, in 2006, I wouldn't have expected my life to look the way it does today.  In some ways, yes, but in other ways, namely my career, certainly no. 

I'm going to print this post, tuck it away, and see how different my life in 2016 is compared to my predictions today.

Here is how I see my life in 2016....

• In 2016, I will be 34/35 years old.  Claire will be in 2nd grade and Max will be in kindergarten.
• I think we'll still have two children, although there's a slight possibility we may have a third. In my mind I see this potential third child as a boy.  Another Mama's boy, no doubt. 
• We will still live in our current house and the neighbors behind us, who are the primary reason I'd ever move from here, are gone. :) The five trees we planted last summer are large, full, and thriving. 
• We are planning a kitchen remodel- new hardwood flooring, new cabinets, new appliances, backsplash, lighting.  We pay for it with cash.
• We will have no debt, other than our mortgage, meaning our vehicles and my grad school student loans are paid off.  We're still driving the same two vehicles we have today and are planning on buying our next vehicles with cash. (Can you see a theme?  I am vowing to not be tied to debt my entire life!).
• I am still working at Target and was promoted to a Senior Manager.  I enjoy what I do (like I do today). 
• Josh is a tough one..... I want to say that he has left Target and is busy full-time with Red.Sea. He is able to be home with our children during the summer and on school breaks.  That said, I can also see him still working at Target too.
• We continue to be involved with HOPE International and serve at our church in the childrens ministry.
• We are tithing (giving 10% of our income).  We are working towards this today but aren't there quite yet.  In five years I certainly plan to be.  We focus our giving on organizations that have a temporal and eternal impact-- meaning, they are overtly Christ-centered.  Today our giving is towards HOPE International, our church, and our local Christian radio station. I see us supporting the same three organizations five years from now as well.  Maybe we will also be supporting children through Compassion International (although I think Christ-centered micro-finance, such as HOPE International, is profoundly more impactful for children than sponsorships through organizations such as Compassion), that are Claire and Max's ages.  So when Claire opens the fridge and exclaims, "there is nothing to eat in here!!!", I can point to a picture of the child we support on the fridge and answer, "No, Claire, our friend _____ has no choices of what food to eat today.  You have plenty of choices."  Perspective and gratitude- if there is one thing I teach my children, it will be this (besides the truth about Jesus, salvation, etc, of course).  I digress....
• We take a family vacation every 12-24 months.
• We spend evenings and weekends watching our kids play soccer/baseball/softball games and in dance or gymnastics classes, but they are not overly scheduled and can just be kids and have plenty of time to play outside with their friends. 
• We are in better shape than we are today.
• We are happy, content, in love with each other and our children, and realize how blessed we are.  We use that gratitude to spread the GOOD news about Jesus and impact lives around us.

That's my vision for five years from now.  It's not necessarily a dream because I think all of it is attainable, especially if we set goals and work towards achieving them.  I can see God shaking his head and chuckling at me as I type these words.  As they say, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him what your plans are".  First and foremost, I pray that my children and family are healthy-- everything else would be icing on the cake.

So, what about you?  Where do you see your life in five years?

Friday funday

I should be working today but I worked last Friday so today I'm off!  I'm loving my day with the kids so far.  Max slept until 7:15am!  This week I had to wake him at 6:30 to nurse before I left for work and I hated doing it.  Claire has been a very sweet and well-behaved girl today.  Ashley, and her kids Izzy (6 weeks younger than Max) and TJ (1 week older than Claire), as well as Rachel and her son Colin (2 1/2 weeks) came over for a playdate.  TJ is full of energy and gave Rachel and I a glimpse into our future with our boys!  Claire enjoyed having the kids over and said "Thank you for coming" when they packed up to leave.  Right now both kids are sleeping and I'm enjoying the quiet time.  Tonight I'm meeting Sara and Rachel for dinner and can't wait! Love my Friday fundays! 

Colin's practicing his monster faces for Max's birthday party.  He already has his monster outfit! Is he gorgeous or what?

Max: "I'm not really sure what's happening but I think I'm supposed to be screaming...?" 

Max: "I'm outtie!" 

Claire {hearts} Max

This little girl loves her brother.  She will randomly exclaim, "I LOVE you, Max!" and plant smooches on his sweet little face.  Tonight Grandpa Leroy ("E-fry" to Claire), Great Uncle Doug, Uncle Chris and Aunt Becky came to our house to watch the second half of the Vikings game and enjoy some dinner. Afterwards we hung out on the patio.  It was a beautiful day with amazing weather in the evening, which we know will not last for long!  Claire had a great time pushing Max around the patio and Max thought it was pretty cool too.  I love these two together. 

A quick break to give Max a kiss. 

How could a Mama's heart not overflow? 

Back at it! Her favorite part was running into objects.  She'd SQUEL with laughter.  Becky says it's just a matter of time until Max has a broken bone. :) 

Toddler sleeping woes

Our rather 'perfect' sleeper is having some serious sleep regression.

At 10:15PM this evening she started crying from her room.  I went into the room and she says, "I'm all done sleeping. I'm all done, Mommy." I explain to her that she, in fact, is not all done sleeping. She says she wants to sleep in "daddy's crib" (aka our bed).  We have never allowed her to sleep in our bed, precisely to prevent this type of problem.  She asks me to wash her paci (yes, not only does she have a paci at night, but she requests us to 'wash' (run it under water) it during the night).  I decline. She asks to "rockabye".  I decline (usually when this happens, I do rock her but I have learned that it only solves the issue momentarily and as soon as I put her back into her crib, the screaming resumes). She asks for me to lay on the floor next to her crib...and I decline.  We talk for another minute and I shut her bedroom door.  That was 38 minutes ago and she hasn't stopped crying/screaming (truthfully, more screaming like we are torturing her than crying) since. All I can hear from two levels above me is "MOMMMMYYYYYY!!!!  MOMMMYYYYYY!!!!!"

The same thing occurred this morning.  She awoke at 5:00AM and wanted to get up for the day.  That time is entirely too early so she continued to cry until I finally got her up at 6:30 (and I've been wondering who 'won' in her mind?  Me because I waited 1 1/2 hours, or her because, in her mind, I finally gave in to her crying?).  Again, the same thing occurred Wednesday night from 9:00-11:00PM.   And that's just in the past few days.

I just don't know what to do!

I feel like a few days of letting her 'cry it out' should teach her that she cannot pull these shenanigans but so far, she hasn't learned.

Any advice?!

(The silver lining for Josh may be that it is during these moments that I think, "I am D-O-N-E having children! Two is perfect for me!")

Max at 10 months

Notice the glossy eyes, which is the 'tired' look he gets while eating. 

You can definitely feel autumn in the air and it reminds me of the season in which Max was born last year.  Last year at this time, I was so looking forward to the fall, first for some relief from the heat, secondly because I just love the fall, and thirdly because it meant my baby boy was arriving.  Now it's a year later, fall is once again making itself known, and my baby boy is just two months shy of a year old!

At 10 months old, Max:

• continues to be a terrific sleeper, and I don't take the beauty of it for granted for a minute! He goes to bed between 7-7:30 PM and generally wakes up around 6:30AM.  He takes three naps a day and goes down easily.  He usually fusses for a minute or less and that's it.  He wakes up around 5:00AM and Josh gives him a diaper change. I can't go in his room because it would be all over at that point.  ("Mommy! FEED MEEEEEE!!!").  Though I love nursing him and will be very sad when it comes to an end, one positive thing to look forward to is being able to "sleep" in until, say, 7:30AM once a week.  Before Max was here, Josh and I took turns on the weekend getting up with the kids and letting the other one lay in bed awhile longer (although I was ALWAYS up by 8AM, or, more often, 7:30AM, or else it felt like I was wasting the day away!) Because I cannot feed Max in the morning and put him back down (one of the cardinal sins according to our sleep doctor), I am up with him for the day once he awakes.  Josh is a lucky duck that he gets to 'sleep' in every weekend day- but it won't last forever! :) 
• crawls!  He started crawling at 9 months and one week old- on August 8th.  He can move along at a quick clip.  I always put him in pants or else his little knees get red and painful from crawling on the laminate floor and carpet.
• Can put himself into a sitting position from laying or crawling on the floor.  He's working on pulling himself to standing but he's not there quite yet.  When I stand him up and lean him against something, he has a very wide stance and doesn't know how to sit down by himself so he shrieks (with a high pitch!) until we rescue him. :)
• wears size 9 month and 12 month clothing and size 4 diapers.
• is finally eating well again after a strong attempt for several weeks to only eat yogurt.  For awhile there he'd eat yogurt like it was his last meal but refused to eat anything else!  We said he would "kung fu" when we tried feeding him because he would wave his arms in front of his mouth like he was doing martial arts. During dinner Claire would excitedly say, "Max is doing kung fu! Max kung fu, Mommy!".  We had to 'trick' him into eating by taking a bottle of water in one hand and squirting it into his mouth so he would open it.  Then, with the spoon full of food in the other hand, we'd sneak it right in.  Bwahahaha- winning!  Thankfully he realized he's no match for Daddy and me and he gave up his strike against veggies and fruits.  I am still making all of his baby food. Lately he's had a lot of spaghetti squash (it really does look like spaghetti before you blend it), pears, apples, peas, and carrots (fresh from my garden!).  He still has his gag reflex so I haven't tried giving him any table foods other than his baby puffs and yogurt melts. 
• not surprisingly, is still a very happy, laid back, easy going (I know that's redundant but it goes to show just how chill he is :)), joyful Mama's boy.  If he even hears my voice he starts frantically searching around for me.  
• babbles and has a very sweet voice.  He says, "yah, yah, yah" the most.  Claire responds, "Yah, yah, yah MAX!!!".  He also says "mamamamamamama" but without reference to me.  
• likes to play games.  When we're upstairs he makes a quick beeline for the top of the stairs.  When I chase after him and say, "no, no, no, Max!" he squeals and laughs and picks up his speed. Josh says I shouldn't encourage that behavior but it's too fun to "play" with him.  
• is sensitive in some regards, just like his sister was.  (Or is it just a 'baby' thing?  Regardless, I think Claire was more sensitive than average).  He has caused me some pain while nursing lately and when I react, he gets big eyes, his lip pouts, and then he breaks into a sad cry.  Today I said, "No, Claire!" while I was nursing Max and he started crying.  Poor little guy. 
• has just his bottom two teeth, although his top two should be in soon. 
• loves to be outside.  Claire now insists on pulling the wagon instead of riding in it.  This makes for a loooooong walk around the neighborhood.  During the long walks, Max just sits contentedly (even without a toy) and looks around.  

I often tell Max, "God knew just what we needed when He gave us you".  It's so true.