Hi all,
I haven't posted in a while and won't catch up for a few days yet, but we are fine. The kids are doing great, just at a busy stage. My sister-in-law, Michelle, is out of the hospital and recovering well, and she gets to hold the babies soon. They are doing well, too, but will likely be at the hospital for a few more weeks. I'll share lots of good stuff soon. The kids are just at a busy stage and I'm with them. :)
Amy
June 30, 2011
June 26, 2011
What We Do Each Morning
In the midst of all the changes that seem to be defining our summer, I'm trying to establish a normal routine around here. Easier said than done, of course, but here's one part of our normal routine.
Each morning after breakfast, Benjamin is down for a nap and Grace goes out to play. She adores her water table. I spend some time pushing her on the swing, and Jonathan is outside for some of this, too, but she is the one who loves to be outside and play in the water. I can usually get the dishes done while she plays. I can't really get them done when she is inside and awake. She hasn't made it past the age of getting into everything yet. I think back to last year, though, and I remember that I had to prop her up against the water table so she could play with it when she first got it. She didn't pull up until she was 13 mos. old, remember?
Now, this is the view I have over my kitchen sink. A great view. Yes, Grace has drawn on just about everything with sidewalk chalk and is now "cleaning." I have stopped putting an actual outfit on her for this part of the morning, and I've started just using a T-shirt. I hadn't figured that out when these pictures were taken. I really enjoy this part of our house and this part of the day!
Each morning after breakfast, Benjamin is down for a nap and Grace goes out to play. She adores her water table. I spend some time pushing her on the swing, and Jonathan is outside for some of this, too, but she is the one who loves to be outside and play in the water. I can usually get the dishes done while she plays. I can't really get them done when she is inside and awake. She hasn't made it past the age of getting into everything yet. I think back to last year, though, and I remember that I had to prop her up against the water table so she could play with it when she first got it. She didn't pull up until she was 13 mos. old, remember?
Now, this is the view I have over my kitchen sink. A great view. Yes, Grace has drawn on just about everything with sidewalk chalk and is now "cleaning." I have stopped putting an actual outfit on her for this part of the morning, and I've started just using a T-shirt. I hadn't figured that out when these pictures were taken. I really enjoy this part of our house and this part of the day!
June 24, 2011
June 23, 2011
Quotable
I love the learning-to-talk stage. Grace is in the thick of it. As much as she is a challenge, she also brings so much joy to my days with the funny things she says. She repeats almost everything her big brother says and does, but she also comes up with her own, original material.
At the beginning of the week, she stopped saying "nate-too!" and began saying "sank you!" I'll admit it, I shed a few tears over that one. I really liked "nate-too." She also replaced "Ben-in" with "Ben-a-min."
When she got hurt and wanted me to make something feel better, she said, "Could you feel it better."
And, my favorite...I was talking to Mom about her and her potty awareness. I told my mom, "Time for potty training...after we're done with traveling." Mom told Grace, "That will be fun!" And Gracie replied, "Fun on the potty train!"
At the beginning of the week, she stopped saying "nate-too!" and began saying "sank you!" I'll admit it, I shed a few tears over that one. I really liked "nate-too." She also replaced "Ben-in" with "Ben-a-min."
When she got hurt and wanted me to make something feel better, she said, "Could you feel it better."
And, my favorite...I was talking to Mom about her and her potty awareness. I told my mom, "Time for potty training...after we're done with traveling." Mom told Grace, "That will be fun!" And Gracie replied, "Fun on the potty train!"
Pictures of My New Nieces
I have pictures of my nieces! I can't believe that my kids have been blessed with five cousins in a year, can you? Benjamin is going to have lots of cousins close to his age. I imagine, though, Grace may be the one playing with all these little girls! :)
This is Brianna. 4 lbs., 2 oz., 16 3/4" long.
I know that they have a lot of tubes and wires right now, but to my eyes, the girls look good. And what we hear from the doctors is that they are doing well. Michelle has had more of a rough time and has HELLP syndrome, among other things, but we hear that she is moving in a positive direction. We are still praying for all of them and appreciate your prayers, too!
I have posted only little bits of information as it hasn't been my story to tell, but I hope you are as glad to see pictures as I am. Big congratulations go out to Michelle and Jamie! Michelle had just barely had her baby shower before she went in to have the girls very unexpectedly. I sure wish I was close by to help out!
June 22, 2011
Father's Day Pictures
Here are some of my favorite pictures of the kids. My goal was to get some group shots for Jeff to put up in his new office at work. The individual shots of the kids turned out pretty well, too, so it was a really successful session. It may sound cheesy to say it, but I'm very happy with the job done by JCPenney. :) I meant to upload them in a different order, but I'm not going to take the time to fix them. Hope you enjoy them!
Father's Day Stuff
Father's Day is now a memory, but I thought you might like to see what we did for Jeff this year. He has been a great father from the very beginning, but I feel like he is really becoming an even more excellent father now that we have added a third baby to our family. The kids and I are all blessed to have him.
The collage above has been on our living room wall since the Father's Day after Gracie was born. So, it's looked this way for two years. The group shot in the middle was taken when I was pregnant with her. We had talked about getting family photos taken while I was expecting Benjamin, but between how miserable I was feeling and getting to the doc's office three times each week, it just didn't happen.
This year for Father's Day, my gift for Jeff was pictures of the kids. This, as you can imagine, was more of an act of service than anything else. My mom met us at JCPenney to help me out, thank goodness, because it took a lot of energy to make the pictures happen. The photographer did a great job! We caught a few shots that I loved.
Some of the pictures in the above collage were my favorite pictures ever of the kids, so I hated to replace them. But, it was time to update and make sure everyone was included on the wall. Can you spot while ones I switched? You can click the picture to see it bigger.
I'll post color versions of the kids' pictures soon. And sometime, maybe after Benjamin is walking, we'll take a family portrait to put in the middle. For now, though, we're pretty updated. And Jeff likes the new pictures, so that's what matters!
Quite Possibly...
the coolest post I have EVER seen on all things for a Lego birthday party. Click here.
June 21, 2011
All About Family Camp, Part 2
Thanks for your patience on this post! I am behind on emails and posting and pretty much everything else right now!
Here are some beach and camp pictures.
Here I am with my little sweeties, watching the waves. The weather was beautiful. Yes, Benjamin is strapped to me in the Ergo...again. We didn't dip his feet in the ocean because he was asleep, but this was technically his first time to the Pacific, I think.
Jeff and Jonathan
Grace didn't feel as brave about the waves as Jonathan did. This also happens to be the location of Grace's first trip to the beach. She was just a few weeks old her first time here.
Conked out on Daddy on the trip back to camp.
One thing Jonathan enjoyed about dining buffet-style was the frequent availability of olives. I was just happy not to cook and do dishes. And I ate a lot. :)
A little ice cream date. I didn't share with Benjamin, but he didn't protest.
The programs for the kids were fantastic. Jonathan got to go to Day Camp, which was for elementary-aged kids, in the morning and evening, and Grace got to go to Child Care for toddlers. There were lots of adults (college-aged) who were there for the summer to love on kids. Grace did pretty well, and Jonathan loved it. I don't have pictures of Jonathan's Day Camp experience except for this one that Jen got of him and Ella on the giant slip 'n slide. They had big, fun stuff planned every day of the week.
In the mornings while the kids were doing their thing, Jeff and I got to enjoy the speaker and choose from some different seminars and activities. (I usually fed Benjamin at the beginning of speaker time and then let him spend some time in the infant room. He did great.) One morning, we took a guided walk in the forest.
Our guide introduced us to redwood sorrel, which supposedly tasted like sour apples. I tried it. It tasted like sour apples. I don't like sour apples.
Redwood sorrel looks better than it tastes.
These are new-growth redwoods, not old growth, but they are still majestic
And I thought these teeny flowers were pretty, too.
Snuggle time
This little nook was a huge blessing for us! As I mentioned, our first night was horrible. Our room was like a hotel room. (My sister-in-law told me before we left that she hoped family camp was heavy on the "family" and light on the "camp." It was! Our room was carpeted and had its own bathroom, fresh linens daily, etc.) If you can imagine the little spot some rooms have for hanging clothes and storing a suitcase, you can imagine where we put Grace's bed on day 2. It worked great! There was a little half-wall that prevented her from seeing the rest of us, and the bathroom was right next to her so that the exhaust fan made great white noise. I am so thankful that sleep was not a problem after we moved her. Our nights were short because of late evening activities, but we all slept hard!
One afternoon that Jonathan and I got to hang out during the little ones' naptime. He's pretty cute, huh? We decided to do something crafty. He painted a pinewood derby car and I painted a picture frame. It was more about the time spent together than anything else!
Jonathan didn't want to be in the all-camp pinewood derby race, but he wanted to test and play with his car. Here he is trying it out.
One night, dinner was just for adults. We enjoyed a little more conversation and a little less chaos.
I am pretty sure this is when Jonathan and Jeff were about to do the zip line on the high ropes course. I can't believe that Jonathan didn't get the faulty "afraid of heights" gene, but I am very happy that he didn't! He and Jeff had some great bonding over ropes this week. I didn't get to see it in person because I was giving Grace and Benjamin some naptime. But, I've seen the video clips, so I know it happened!
Jonathan...pondering the high ropes course. Jonathan tells me that he and Jeff went across the suspension bridges to get hooked up to the zip line.
Brave six-year-old doing the high ropes. Can you believe I birthed this child? Neither can I. I'm really proud of him.
My proud hubby and son.
My little buddy and me during campfire on our final evening. This was just for the adults (well, except for Benjamin,) and I really enjoyed hearing the adults share their hearts with the whole group.
Grace on the run with Jeff close behind.
Here are Jeff and Gracie enjoying the children's program on the last night. All the kids that were older than Grace got up in front of the parents and shared a song, chant, etc., and told what they had enjoyed and learned. Very cute. I'm not positive that Jonathan actually sang, but I did see him mouthing some of the words. Jonathan is not big on singing. At all. When he saw me trying to take his picture, he hid behind another kid. That's my son. (Edit: Jonathan is reading this as I prepare to post, and he says, "It's because I didn't exactly want you to see me. That's why I hid.")
There were lots of ordinary moments that involved lots of managing and not a lot of pictures, and we decided to take a picture of one of them. This is breakfast in the dining hall on our last morning. Yes, Benjamin is strapped to me...again. Meals were a bit chaotic, but I really loved not cooking and not doing dishes. We were sad to see the week come to an end. Jonathan was especially sad, so we tried not to dwell on the end but instead talk about our plans to return in 2012.
A good time was had by all. And, we are still catching up on sleep!
Here are some beach and camp pictures.
Here I am with my little sweeties, watching the waves. The weather was beautiful. Yes, Benjamin is strapped to me in the Ergo...again. We didn't dip his feet in the ocean because he was asleep, but this was technically his first time to the Pacific, I think.
Jeff and Jonathan
Grace didn't feel as brave about the waves as Jonathan did. This also happens to be the location of Grace's first trip to the beach. She was just a few weeks old her first time here.
Conked out on Daddy on the trip back to camp.
One thing Jonathan enjoyed about dining buffet-style was the frequent availability of olives. I was just happy not to cook and do dishes. And I ate a lot. :)
A little ice cream date. I didn't share with Benjamin, but he didn't protest.
The programs for the kids were fantastic. Jonathan got to go to Day Camp, which was for elementary-aged kids, in the morning and evening, and Grace got to go to Child Care for toddlers. There were lots of adults (college-aged) who were there for the summer to love on kids. Grace did pretty well, and Jonathan loved it. I don't have pictures of Jonathan's Day Camp experience except for this one that Jen got of him and Ella on the giant slip 'n slide. They had big, fun stuff planned every day of the week.
In the mornings while the kids were doing their thing, Jeff and I got to enjoy the speaker and choose from some different seminars and activities. (I usually fed Benjamin at the beginning of speaker time and then let him spend some time in the infant room. He did great.) One morning, we took a guided walk in the forest.
Our guide introduced us to redwood sorrel, which supposedly tasted like sour apples. I tried it. It tasted like sour apples. I don't like sour apples.
Redwood sorrel looks better than it tastes.
These are new-growth redwoods, not old growth, but they are still majestic
And I thought these teeny flowers were pretty, too.
Snuggle time
This little nook was a huge blessing for us! As I mentioned, our first night was horrible. Our room was like a hotel room. (My sister-in-law told me before we left that she hoped family camp was heavy on the "family" and light on the "camp." It was! Our room was carpeted and had its own bathroom, fresh linens daily, etc.) If you can imagine the little spot some rooms have for hanging clothes and storing a suitcase, you can imagine where we put Grace's bed on day 2. It worked great! There was a little half-wall that prevented her from seeing the rest of us, and the bathroom was right next to her so that the exhaust fan made great white noise. I am so thankful that sleep was not a problem after we moved her. Our nights were short because of late evening activities, but we all slept hard!
One afternoon that Jonathan and I got to hang out during the little ones' naptime. He's pretty cute, huh? We decided to do something crafty. He painted a pinewood derby car and I painted a picture frame. It was more about the time spent together than anything else!
Jonathan didn't want to be in the all-camp pinewood derby race, but he wanted to test and play with his car. Here he is trying it out.
One night, dinner was just for adults. We enjoyed a little more conversation and a little less chaos.
I am pretty sure this is when Jonathan and Jeff were about to do the zip line on the high ropes course. I can't believe that Jonathan didn't get the faulty "afraid of heights" gene, but I am very happy that he didn't! He and Jeff had some great bonding over ropes this week. I didn't get to see it in person because I was giving Grace and Benjamin some naptime. But, I've seen the video clips, so I know it happened!
Jonathan...pondering the high ropes course. Jonathan tells me that he and Jeff went across the suspension bridges to get hooked up to the zip line.
Brave six-year-old doing the high ropes. Can you believe I birthed this child? Neither can I. I'm really proud of him.
My proud hubby and son.
My little buddy and me during campfire on our final evening. This was just for the adults (well, except for Benjamin,) and I really enjoyed hearing the adults share their hearts with the whole group.
Grace on the run with Jeff close behind.
Here are Jeff and Gracie enjoying the children's program on the last night. All the kids that were older than Grace got up in front of the parents and shared a song, chant, etc., and told what they had enjoyed and learned. Very cute. I'm not positive that Jonathan actually sang, but I did see him mouthing some of the words. Jonathan is not big on singing. At all. When he saw me trying to take his picture, he hid behind another kid. That's my son. (Edit: Jonathan is reading this as I prepare to post, and he says, "It's because I didn't exactly want you to see me. That's why I hid.")
There were lots of ordinary moments that involved lots of managing and not a lot of pictures, and we decided to take a picture of one of them. This is breakfast in the dining hall on our last morning. Yes, Benjamin is strapped to me...again. Meals were a bit chaotic, but I really loved not cooking and not doing dishes. We were sad to see the week come to an end. Jonathan was especially sad, so we tried not to dwell on the end but instead talk about our plans to return in 2012.
A good time was had by all. And, we are still catching up on sleep!
June 20, 2011
Baby Girls are Here...
Both girls have been born safely and are on oxygen, and Michelle is having some complications and is still in surgery. That's all I know for now, and thank you so much for praying. I'm hoping to know more details that I can share soon!
Babies on the Way
Jeff's sister, Michelle, is going in for a c-section right now to deliver her identical twin baby girls. Apparently, she has developed pre-eclampsia. They are not due until August. If you'd pray for their safe delivery, I would be so grateful! I'll post when I have news to share.
June 19, 2011
All About Family Camp, Part 1
Consider yourself warned: These next two posts are very long!
But, here's the short part of the story: Jeff is in between jobs, and unexpectedly, too. No, it's not a bad thing...his next job starts in July, and we are very, very thankful for the timing of everything. God has taken great care of us. And the great thing about being in between jobs is that we get some extra time with Jeff without burning any vacation days. We had all of last week without any solid commitments in it, so we started brainstorming how we might use it to make some great memories as a family. Go to the coast? Disneyland? Canada? Hawaii? Family camp? Well, as you already know from the title of this post, we narrowed down our options and decided to go to family camp. We realized that doing anything with our kids at this age would be a lot of work, but family camp seemed like the best option of all of them. Plus, Dave and Jen encouraged us to go, and we had been hearing great things about family camp for a long time. We registered just a few days beforehand and were excited to find out that they had room for us. We weren't disappointed!
Here are a ton of pictures, and not all in order, but I hope you enjoy them! After doing laundry and packing for myself and the kids (yes, Jeff has to pack for himself,) we made it up to camp. Jen hauled two pack 'n plays and a backpack up for us. As you can imagine, our Subaru Outback wouldn't hold us, our stuff, and the pack 'n plays.
On the first afternoon, camp started with a carnival, and both kids got their face painted. Jonathan requested a red admiral butterfly, which he described to the painter.
This is what Grace looked like after dinner, watermelon, and ice cream, as we walked back to our room for bed.
Getting everyone to sleep the first night was rough. I won't lie...I thought we might have made a mistake coming to camp while the kids were so young and trying to get our small children to sleep in one room. At one point they were all crying. After they got to sleep, though, they were fine for the night, and after we made it through the first 24 hours, we got into a groove. I'll show where Grace slept later on in the pictures...
This particular camp is steeped in tradition. Some families were there with three generations and had been coming to family camp for several decades. We were a bit of a novelty since we were first-timers. Our first-time status earned us a place in the Newlywed Game. (Obviously, we were not newlyweds!) The camp had a speaker time for the adults each morning and each evening, and we really enjoyed both speakers. I didn't get sleepy while listening, despite my sleep deprivation.
You'll notice that my camp posts are heavy on ropes course pictures. This isn't because we spent most of our time on the ropes course, but because a lot of our time was spent managing our kids, and we didn't take pictures of that. :) In this picture, Jeff and Jonathan are getting ready for the climbing wall.
That's my boy! Can you believe it? I'm pretty proud of him. He made it about halfway up.
The grounds were beautiful...in the heart of the redwoods. Being in so much green was wonderful. Green is not a word you'd use to describe where we live in the summer, so the lush greenery was refreshing.
Jeff went on the redwood canopy tour. He loved it. He told me, of course, "You'd hate it." I wish I wasn't afraid of heights.
Yup, I'd hate it.
In the afternoons, one of us would usually let the younger kids take a nap while the other did something fun with Jonathan. On the canopy tour day, I had all the kids, and they did great resting (or reading, in Jonathan's case) while Jeff was on the redwood zip line.
Craziness.
Jeff and Jonathan went on the low ropes course together, and Jonathan made it all the way through. I say "low," but I mean 15-20 feet in the air. I'm thankful that Jonathan doesn't take after me and is not afraid of heights!
Benjamin took a lot of snoozes in the Ergo carrier, but he did manage to squeeze in some good afternoon sleeps in the pack 'n play. This was his first experience being dropped off at a nursery, and I took advantage of that service for him each day, usually after feeding him. We got lots of practice nursing in public. There were plenty of adults there for the number of babies in the nursery, and he got lots of holding and attention.
I managed to get Grace and Benjamin bathed. Once. I know the Bumbo is specifically not for the bathtub, but "you gotta do what you gotta do."
A famous banana slug. This one is all scrunched up, not stretched out to its full, slimy 2-3" glory. No, I didn't kiss it.
On Wednesday, we rode the open-air train down to the coast. Here I am with my dear friend, Jen, who invited us to camp, showed us around, introduced us to her friends, and made us feel welcome. This picture is with our "babies." When I met Jen, she was pregnant with Delia.
Sometimes our family is like a small zoo.
I love this picture of Benjamin.
Sometimes our family is not like a zoo and we are pretty calm.
The younger sweeties with Jeff on the train.
All of them, with me, on a train stop. More pictures to come...
But, here's the short part of the story: Jeff is in between jobs, and unexpectedly, too. No, it's not a bad thing...his next job starts in July, and we are very, very thankful for the timing of everything. God has taken great care of us. And the great thing about being in between jobs is that we get some extra time with Jeff without burning any vacation days. We had all of last week without any solid commitments in it, so we started brainstorming how we might use it to make some great memories as a family. Go to the coast? Disneyland? Canada? Hawaii? Family camp? Well, as you already know from the title of this post, we narrowed down our options and decided to go to family camp. We realized that doing anything with our kids at this age would be a lot of work, but family camp seemed like the best option of all of them. Plus, Dave and Jen encouraged us to go, and we had been hearing great things about family camp for a long time. We registered just a few days beforehand and were excited to find out that they had room for us. We weren't disappointed!
Here are a ton of pictures, and not all in order, but I hope you enjoy them! After doing laundry and packing for myself and the kids (yes, Jeff has to pack for himself,) we made it up to camp. Jen hauled two pack 'n plays and a backpack up for us. As you can imagine, our Subaru Outback wouldn't hold us, our stuff, and the pack 'n plays.
On the first afternoon, camp started with a carnival, and both kids got their face painted. Jonathan requested a red admiral butterfly, which he described to the painter.
This is what Grace looked like after dinner, watermelon, and ice cream, as we walked back to our room for bed.
Getting everyone to sleep the first night was rough. I won't lie...I thought we might have made a mistake coming to camp while the kids were so young and trying to get our small children to sleep in one room. At one point they were all crying. After they got to sleep, though, they were fine for the night, and after we made it through the first 24 hours, we got into a groove. I'll show where Grace slept later on in the pictures...
This particular camp is steeped in tradition. Some families were there with three generations and had been coming to family camp for several decades. We were a bit of a novelty since we were first-timers. Our first-time status earned us a place in the Newlywed Game. (Obviously, we were not newlyweds!) The camp had a speaker time for the adults each morning and each evening, and we really enjoyed both speakers. I didn't get sleepy while listening, despite my sleep deprivation.
You'll notice that my camp posts are heavy on ropes course pictures. This isn't because we spent most of our time on the ropes course, but because a lot of our time was spent managing our kids, and we didn't take pictures of that. :) In this picture, Jeff and Jonathan are getting ready for the climbing wall.
That's my boy! Can you believe it? I'm pretty proud of him. He made it about halfway up.
The grounds were beautiful...in the heart of the redwoods. Being in so much green was wonderful. Green is not a word you'd use to describe where we live in the summer, so the lush greenery was refreshing.
Jeff went on the redwood canopy tour. He loved it. He told me, of course, "You'd hate it." I wish I wasn't afraid of heights.
Yup, I'd hate it.
In the afternoons, one of us would usually let the younger kids take a nap while the other did something fun with Jonathan. On the canopy tour day, I had all the kids, and they did great resting (or reading, in Jonathan's case) while Jeff was on the redwood zip line.
Craziness.
Jeff and Jonathan went on the low ropes course together, and Jonathan made it all the way through. I say "low," but I mean 15-20 feet in the air. I'm thankful that Jonathan doesn't take after me and is not afraid of heights!
Benjamin took a lot of snoozes in the Ergo carrier, but he did manage to squeeze in some good afternoon sleeps in the pack 'n play. This was his first experience being dropped off at a nursery, and I took advantage of that service for him each day, usually after feeding him. We got lots of practice nursing in public. There were plenty of adults there for the number of babies in the nursery, and he got lots of holding and attention.
I managed to get Grace and Benjamin bathed. Once. I know the Bumbo is specifically not for the bathtub, but "you gotta do what you gotta do."
A famous banana slug. This one is all scrunched up, not stretched out to its full, slimy 2-3" glory. No, I didn't kiss it.
On Wednesday, we rode the open-air train down to the coast. Here I am with my dear friend, Jen, who invited us to camp, showed us around, introduced us to her friends, and made us feel welcome. This picture is with our "babies." When I met Jen, she was pregnant with Delia.
Sometimes our family is like a small zoo.
I love this picture of Benjamin.
Sometimes our family is not like a zoo and we are pretty calm.
The younger sweeties with Jeff on the train.
All of them, with me, on a train stop. More pictures to come...
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