Christmas 2007

Well it is the day after Christmas and I can't believe it is over. What a busy and exciting few days. On Sunday we went to Jay's mom and dads house to celebrate with the Jeeninga's. A great time was had by all. Here is the best picture we have ever gotten of all 5 kids!!
And this is a shot of the kids enjoying the awesome gift from Grandma and Grandpa Jeeninga
Oh yes it is a full size air hockey table. The kids love it. Jay and I like it too. On Sunday night Jay and I stayed up quite late playing.
On Monday we went to my Grandma's house for our Christmas celebration with my family. This is always the greatest day of the year. All of my cousins and their families are there as well as all aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents. It is a full house but so much fun. This is the only time of the year we are all together with our children. Here is a picture of the boys before we left the house

Here they are waiting patiently to open presents

This is the only time I will ever put a picture of me on the blog. Here is me with my cousin Lisa. She has been my best friend since birth and now I love to see our children playing together. She has 2 boys and then she went and had a girl in October. Not too sure what to do with her:) I am the one in purple for those of you who have never actually seen me.




On Christmas morning we actually slept in a bit. Jay, Jacob, Tyler, Camden and I were all up by 8am waiting for Sam who strolled out of bed about 8:30. After opening our stockings, each of the kids had one present under the tree. Jacob and Sam opened theirs but Tyler didn't have one. He looked a bit concerned for a moment, even fought back the tears, when Jay ran down stairs to get the video camera ready. Once ready he called Tyler down. Ty found a large blob covered by a blanket with a large bow on top. We told him to open his present and this is what he found....




I can't believe I actually bought drums to keep in my LOUD house of boys, but there is something about finding that perfect Christmas present that tends to send all reason out the window. He was ECSTATIC to say the least.
Here is the baby on his first Christmas....



I had 3 different baby's first Christmas outfits for him to wear for each day of our Christmas's but apparently I never took any pictures of him while he was wearing them. Since he pukes a gallon every 3 minutes, none of the overpriced outfits lasted too long. At least I got him in the bib.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and if you didn't, at least it is over:)


I know you are all proud of me finally adding pictures to my blog. I FIGURED IT OUT!!!!! Now I need to learn how to upload videos, but don't hold your breath-it took me almost a year to get a handle on the picture situation.

Questions

I know, I know, its been a while. Seriously, I mean to keep up with this blog and then before I know it, it's been a month. I am having a bit of writers block lately or maybe it is the children induced brain drain, either way I haven't been able to come up with much to write about. So today I pose to you, the reader, some questions. Some of these are my questions, others have been asked by my kids and I do not have an answer.
1. Mel, can you send me the recipe for that dip you made for mops? I am still dreaming about it!! Any other appetizer recipes would be appreciated. I have lots of "events" coming up in the next few weeks that require my bringing something and you can only bring spinach dip so many years in a row before everyone gets sick of it.
2. What's sex? This question was, of course, presented by my children. But it was delivered with such a shock effect, that I had no answer for them. I fell back, by default, on the "go ask your dad" answer, but I am not sure his answer was much better than mine. All I kept thinking was, "why do you need to know, your 6" but I figured Dr. Dobson taught me better than that, I just couldn't think of anything in that moment!!
3. Why is it that when boys play anything it includes sound effects accompanied by obsessive amounts of spit? The better the move, the more spit. Seriously, I don't get this one. Every time I play whatever it is we are playing, even uno, I end up covered in spit!!! And while we are on this one, why do I always have to be the bad guy?? And how come when you do the jump, kick, spit move, you kill me, when I do it, you magically put up a force field at the perfect time which sends it back to me and again I am down?????
Ok that is enough questions for today!


An update on the kiddos:
Today is the last day of school for 2.5 weeks and honestly I can't wait!! I love having my boys home with me. Sam will be SO excited to have his brothers home which means less spit activities for me:) Camden is 5 months today and he is doing great!! He is such a good baby. He NEVER cries unless he is hungry. He is rolling over and trying very hard to be a thumb sucker. I just keep pulling it out and giving a Binky. Gives me a feeling of more control.


Well that is all I have for you. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!!

Just a bunch of stuff

Now that the comment situation is remedied I can quit obsessing about it and get on with life. Things have been CRAZY busy around here. On Saturday a group of people from church came over to help us with jobs around the house. I am so blessed to be a part of such an awesome church!! We painted our living room, dining room, hallway upstairs, hallway downstairs, foyer, the whole lower level, kitchen, and boy's room closets. In addition to all of that painting, windows and blinds got cleaned, gutters cleaned out, leaves raked, garage organized, and a bunch of electric thingys changed. It was a busy and exhausting day for all, but the results are AMAZING!!!! We have lived here almost 3 years and had never painted anything. The walls were a yucky antique whitish color originally painted about 30 years ago. So it was time. I also must confess, I have never cleaned windows or blinds. I daily clean off the fingerprints, but the whole inside and outside and screens have NEVER been done! What a blessing this was to me!!! I didn't realize but I love clean windows! Probably not enough to try to fit it into my "cleaning" but enough to say the one who did it is my new best friend! So now I am on to the business of putting my house back together. I figure it is time for the Christmas decos to come out anyway, so I will use all of the open space for that purpose.
We are approaching my favorite weekend of the year!! After a giant dinner on Thursday, my kiddos will sleep over at grandma's so Jay and I can wake up before the crack of dawn to SHOP!! We love it! We map out our route on Thursday night and hit the ground running! I should be done Christmas shopping by about 8am on Friday! That is if I can fight off the other crazy moms for that sweet new transformer on sale while nursing a 17 pound baby! This ought to be interesting this year with baby in tow. It has been a few years since I have had to whip out the (lets be pc out there for my male readers) "baby feeding devices" at Kohls at 4:00am while surrounded by 100's of other people. But lets face it, I can currently nurse, take out the garbage, clean up spilled milk, cook dinner, and paint my toe nails all at the same time, so Kohl's should be childs play! Then it is off the buy the family Christmas tree. I dive into full egg nog mode on Friday and continue on it straight through Christmas day. I am a nut about Christmas. I love everything about it. The sights, the smells, the food, the Starbucks choices, the movies, the music, the weather, and most of all the fact that MY SAVIOR came as a baby! I will never get over how amazing that is! I am awestruck every year at the humble way he came into this world. He could have easily descended on a cloud surrounded by trumpets and thunder and lightening, but no, the God of the universe came the same way the rest of us do! Often times I find the things I think are incredible about Jesus are more so what he didn't do. Oh the scene he could have made, deserved to make, but he didn't. Leaves me speechless (something I rarely am)!
So, in closing, welcome back commenting friends. My house is clean, er I mean painted. The kids are good, providing no humorous stories for you but sanity for me! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

OK try this

Although I was absolutely in love with my layout and colors, I decided to change it to something else to see if it help my comment situation. So let me know if this helps, if it doesn't I am going back to pretty.

So much to blog, so little time

I would love to make this a nice long post but time is not my friend lately. So I will quickly hit a few points.....
1. about an hour after the previous blog entry, Tyler began throwing up!! So much for the underfed or emotional issues diagnoses. Just the plain old repulsive stomach flu!
2. computer issues solved!! Pictures will follow as soon as I learn how to do it. Apparently it is easier to solve to issue of a new computer than it is to resolve the stupidity of the user.
3. Why is it that when I wait 15 minutes for a good parking spot, just so I don't have to walk alone with a baby through a dark parking lot at night, that I forget where I parked and end up spending an extra 15 minutes wondering around said dark parking lot alone with baby trying to find the van that is parked right in front of the exit??????

I am MOTHER OF THE YEAR!!!!

No matter how hard you try to figure out your kids, they will ALWAYS surprise you. I learned this lesson again today while dining at McDonalds with some gals from my mops group. A great time was had by all. There were about 10 kids between the 4 of us although it seemed like about 25. Us ladies were busy gabbing, while ignoring the chaos around us when my cell phone rings. Normally in a situation like this I would not answer the phone as it is loud and it looks really bad when your kid is running nuts and you are on the phone. Today though I did not recognize the number and thought to myself I better take this.
This is the interesting part. On the other end of the phone is Mrs. Kitchenmaster (yes that is her real name) the school nurse at my kids school. I knew immediately this call was pertaining to Tyler because Jacob NEVER goes to the nurse. She begins to tell me that Tyler has a stomach ache. I said ok, should I come get him? Here is where it gets funny..... She says, " well Mrs. Jeeninga, he says that he has been having stomach aches every morning and that he doesn't get breakfast. We, here at school, offer free breakfast and lunch to all kids if you are having trouble. I will send home the application for you with Tyler today. We gave him some cereal this morning and have also offered him some lunch." At this point, I am having a hard time holding my composure. I explained to Mrs. Kitchenmaster that my children are offered a quality, high protein breakfast every morning and a lunch is packed for them every day except Friday when they buy lunch with the money put on their lunch accounts. While I can appreciate her acting on the information provided by my now grounded, attention seeking child, really we are doing ok and are fully able to provide food for our children. And then it goes on....." have their been any problems or changes at home in the past weeks that could be causing this. Because you know often times stomach aches are just a cover up for deeper emotional issues. Or maybe he is having trouble with someone at school? Have you discussed this with him?" "Not as of yet" I replied," but I have every intention of TALKING to him when I see him. In fact, how about I come pick him up now and see if we can get to the bottom of this while it is still fresh." So off I go to the school to pick up Tyler. Now I am angry, embarrassed, and finding all of this a little bit funny. I am doing my very best to temper my sarcasm and act like a grown up now when I enter the school. Camden had just cried himself to sleep when I pulled up in front of the school so I decide to leave him in the car while I run quickly in to get Ty. Samuel follows me in and as I am opening the door, I realize he has no coat on and no shoes because he took them off in the car. Normally I would not care too much about this, but my ability to provide for my children has already been called into question once today and to be honest with you, once a day is plenty for me. So I try to run back to the car to get his shoes at least, when the secretary hit the button and inadvertently buzzed in Samuel. I saw this occurring and turned to run back and catch the door before it locked but I was late. Now I am on one side of the locked door and Samuel is on the other. Bad, very bad. He takes off like a maniac down the hall. I am finally buzzed in when he hits a corner, turns to look at me, and makes the wrong choice. I honestly could hear what was going on in his brain at that moment. He has been wanting to be let loose in that school for 1.5 years now and he saw his chance. In his looking back at me, he knew he shouldn't, but the sinner in him won and off he went. SO at this point, I have a baby locked alone in a car, a shoeless, coat less 4 year old running like a banshee through the halls of the school, and a 6 year old who has convinced the school nurse I don't feed him. I am having a great day. I finally catch up to Sam, who by the mercy of God, must stop at every drinking fountain he encounters. Definitely slows him down a bit. We walk purposefully back to the office to get Tyler, all the while I have a death grip on Samuel's arm. I am busy signing him out, when in comes Mrs. Kitchenmaster. She kindly tells Tyler she hopes he feels better, greets Samuel, informs him it is too cold not to wear a coat ( thankfully she didn't look down at his bare feet) when Tyler asks where Camden is. I try desperately hard to avoid answering this question until we are outside, but it is not one of those days. Samuel (loudly) replies, "Oh mommy locked him in the car" At this point, I do not even bother to reply. I simply gather up my children and head out to the car. Once in the privacy of my car, I began this buffet of emotion. Even the kids asked me if I was crying or laughing, angry or happy. I could not answer this for I was unable to talk. I beelined to Starbucks, got a grande pumpkin latte, and came home to pretend this day never happened. Miraculously, Tyler's stomach ache is gone shortly after arriving home. I have a feeling this is not what the psalmist meant when he said they will rise up and call me blessed!!!

Help

Ok I need help. Ever since redoing my header and layout only about half of my blogger friends can access my comments and links. The odd part is that some can, but others can't. Does anyone know how I can fix this??? I have no problem getting to my links and comments but many others can't. If you can help me but can't tell me because you are one of the ones who cannot comment catch me on myspace or facebook or email me. Thank you for you immediate attention to my computer stupidity:)

More Camden

The long awaited pictures of Camden

Finally, after nearly 3 months, I have pictures of Camden I can post. I must begin with a HUGE thank you to Michelle for taking these awesome pictures and uploading them for me! She does such a great job!! Capturing a 2.5 month old on film is no easy task. His smiles are still so hard to get, his head is still so wobbly, and he gets tired and fussy after a little bit.

Here is our little pumpkin!
Isn't he sweet!!!

He has a very happy looking smile, tongue always up!

This is a picture of what we will be doing Sunday, in the second half, when the Packers are beating the Bears so bad, we might as well take a nap!

I think this is my favorite!! Kind of far away, but so precious!

I hate potty training!!!

I began potty training my first child in 2001. I was eager to prove that a child could be potty trained at the age of 2 if mom was good at her job. Well, if I could have had a glimpse into the next 7 years (and checked my pride) I would have waited a little longer. At that time, Jacob was 2 and Tyler was 6 months. After a year of attempts, Jacob was finally trained. Enter Tyler....I again started at 2 and at 3.7 years old Tyler was finally trained. Enter Sam....I AGAIN began at 2(you'd think I would have learned). Sam is now 4.4 years old and WILL NOT use the toilet. I have been potty training almost non stop for near 7 years and I still have one more to go. At this rate Camden may be using the toilet before his big brother. I have always said to other potty training moms to relax, eventually they get it, don't worry they won't go to kindergarten in diapers. This may not be the case for my precious little one. I am having trouble finding a kindergarten that accepts a child in pull-ups!
As I look back on the last 7 years, I feel like I am in the movie Groundhog Day. Only my day that keeps repeating is full of fluids and smells that would have drove Bill Murray to tears!! I can admit it I AM TERRIBLE AT POTTY TRAINING!!! There is no pride left here. We have every potty chart, chair, and treat ever created and yet they all fail me. I have learned over the potty years that I don't like that which I can't control. I can't make them use the toilet. We have even spent an ENTIRE day in the bathroom. Playing, reading, cleaning. With the big porcelain bowl right there, and still untouched.
So I digress. I have taken advice from every book, friend, doctor, and "potty training expert" out there, but if you have some nugget of help I am all ears. Otherwise PRAY FOR ME!! I am drowning in a literal sea of CRAP!!!!!

In other news, gotta give credit to my friend Mel for my new page. I LOVE IT!!! She is so creative, something else I am not. Although I do have many talents, potty training and creativity are not among them. Thanks Mel for making my blog pretty!!

Full contact sports

In first grade at my children's school, they use a system of colors for behavior. Green is good, blue not so good, yellow even worse, red is very bad. Only once have we had a red. Last year Jacob found a pin on the floor and proceeded to poke his neighbor because "she looked squishy." Drew blood, apparently violating some school policy about weapons. If you know Jacob, you are laughing now. This incident marked the only dropped color for Jacob his whole year of first grade. Enter Tyler....(for those of you with only one or even one and a baby let me just tell you , your second and subsequent children will surprise you often!!). Tyler has been in exactly 3 weeks of first grade and we have had 2 dropped colors already. First one he was trying to "help" someone blink and "accidentally" hit him in the face. When he came home, we discussed why he didn't need to "help" anyone blink and I informed him that God already took care of that by giving us very little control over blinking. This week we had another blue. Sometimes getting a story out of Tyler can be tricky so I dove into this carefully. Here is how the conversation went:

Mom: I see you are on blue today, buddy. What happened?
Tyler: I hit Mallory.
Mom: Oh Tyler you know you aren't supposed to hit, and above all a girl.
Tyler: But mom, we were playing a game.
Mom (thinking it must be tag or something at recess, you know accidents happen and girls are a bit more sensitive): What game were you playing?
Tyler: Tic tac toe
Mom: WHAT???? How on earth would hitting be part of a game of tic tac toe?
Tyler: Well she lost.
Mom: so you hit her??
Tyler: yeah
Mom: Well that is just not acceptable. It is hard enough to lose sometimes and then you go and hit her. Blah, blah, blah..... What got you so upset to hit her if you won?
Tyler: I wasn't mad, when you win you take the other persons arm and say"I win, you lose, now you've got a big bruise."
And that folks, is how tic tac toe became a full contact sport.

DISCLAIMER

I will begin with a disclaimer. I, in no way, intended to be "complaining" in my last post. I have been told that I have a "dry" sense of humor (would the opposite then be a "wet" sense of humor, I would love to hang out with that person) and my story could easily be misunderstood. I simply wanted to express reality. I am very thankful for all that I have and have to do. Actually unloading the dishwasher is a great feat and I am awfully proud of me for accomplishing that.


Anyhow, true to form for me, I got distracted while microwaving a bag of popcorn the other day. Let me just tell you 7 minutes is TOO long. Once I got the small fire out, we were good to go. Or so I thought. Every thing I put in my microwave now tastes like burnt popcorn. Does anyone know how to eradicate that??? My microwave burrito just isn't the same anymore!!

Is it ADD???

I have sat down to post many times now and I just keep getting distracted. I have been noticing this quite often lately. For example..... I wake up around 5:30am each day and set off to do all of those things on my mental to do list. Upon pouring my cup of sanity, I mean coffee, I realize the dishwasher is full and clean and needing to be emptied so the mountain of dirty dishes can be hidden. So off I go to empty the dishwasher. After a few pieces have found their homes, I notice how messy my cabinets are so I decide to organize them before adding anymore dishes. I pull out all that doesn't belong and start to put them in their proper homes. I take the unused cookbooks back to their home in the dining room and bang my leg on the dishwasher door I forgot to close. I am on my way to the bathroom to get a band aid for the gaping wound on my leg while all of my boys watch in utter amazement at how cool the blood looks. I put on my veggie tales band aid ( cuz that is all we have) and as I am heaving my giant leg off of the sink I notice all of the sparkly blue toothpaste painted on my sink and counter. Before I can wipe that up, the baby cries...time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes.... Back to work. While nursing the baby I see a family of ants that is having a picnic of lucky charms cereal on my living room floor ( no marshmallows of course, they are the only thing they want to eat) I grab the ant spray and a broom and break up the picnic when the phone rings. It is my husband, he asks me to wash some underwear for him for he is out. No problem I say. I head up to gather all of the laundry and notice that clothes is falling out of the drawers in my kids rooms so I begin to fix that. Well I realize that half of this clothes is NEVER worn anymore so I make piles of that which we will save, donate, and trash. I head down to get a bin to put them in and the baby cries...time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes......Back to work. I decide to pee because my body kept demanding it. I again find the sparkly blue toothpaste in the bathroom and internally complain because no one has cleaned it up yet, but leave it alone because my toilet is a mess. Apparently boys have a hard time hitting the target. I go back to the kitchen to get the toilet cleaner and realize it is lunch time. I make a gourmet lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for all when the phone rings. Husband again (he calls on break, lunch, and on the way home every day). Now I remember that I was doing laundry. Quickly and purposefully I gather the laundry and head down to start a load. I open the washer to find a load fermenting in there. I rewash that and throw in a couple of pairs of underwear for the hubby. Start the dryer to get the wrinkles out of the load that has been sitting in there for a couple of days when the baby cries....time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes. Back to work. I get up to get a glass of water because nursing sucks you dry, when my adorable 4 year old walks in the room wearing EVERY piece of clothes that was on his floor. I forgot to finish cleaning that up and he is doing a fashion show. I ask him, kindly and gently, to please take off all 21 layers of clothes and put it back in the piles they were in (HAHAHA). I hear the dryer buzz and head down to change the loads. On the way I find a few pieces of clothing from the fashion show on the floor and they are wet. After a very scientific experiment of smelling the clothes, I realize that they have been peed on. Now these were the outermost layers, so I begin to wonder where the rest of them are. I follow the trail until all are in my possession and head back to the laundry room when lo and behold baby cries....time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes. Back to work. I head back in the kitchen to get that drink of water and realize there are no glasses in the cabinet. Oh yeah, the dishwasher. So I unload that when my wonderful husband walks in the door from work. He asks what I did today and my only reply can be "I unloaded the dishwasher"(I have left out most of the interruptions from the kids because I figured this was long enough). Somehow I get up at 5:30am, create a disaster in my path, and only manage to unload the dishwasher. Stuff still on counters, sparkly blue toothpaste still in sink, clothes unsorted, underwear not dried, laundry not folded, water not drank. And that is a day in my life!!!

Adjusting

Well life as I know it now has resumed. Mom back to work, all kids home, and off we go. Camden is doing GREAT!! I took him back to the Dr. yesterday and he looks wonderful. He left the hospital on Saturday weighing 8lbs 12oz. Yesterday, only 3 days later, he was back up to his birth weight of 9lbs 5oz!! The kid is an amazing eater!! The first couple of nights home he was up alot at night, which was ok with me cuz if he didn't eat often mom might explode!! Last night he went down around 9:30pm and slept until 1:00am. I fed him, only half, then he fell asleep. I changed his diaper, and laid him in his bed unswaddled and even left the light on, expecting to hear from him again very soon. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew Jay's alarm was going off and it was 5:00am. The light was still on, I was half sitting up, and Camden was sound asleep!! I can't complain about the sleep thats for sure! Although if he isn't going to eat in the middle of the night, I may have to get up and pump cuz by 5:00am I am pretty uncomfortable.
The kids are just in love with this baby. I am actually hoping the novelty wears off pretty soon because they are constantly fussing with him. Sam says he is "his baby!" If he even whimpers, all three boys come running to help him. Heaven forbid if I leave him cry for even a moment, they all yell at me to take care of him. They are trying so hard to be "helpful" I love to see them be so sweet with him. They are like 3 little daddy's.
I am anxious to get back to feeling a bit normal. The postpartum hormones wreak havoc on your mind and emotions. I feel a bit overwhelmed be even the smallest things. I know this will pass, but I am not good at waiting (see last 5 posts:)! I can't imagine life with out Camden being here, and being pretty certain he is our last, I am doing my best to enjoy every minute!!

On another note, Jacob is 8 today!! I can't believe I have an 8 year old!!! He is so much the little man in our house and such a great brother. He is a very typical first born. Obedient, pleasant (most of the time), and he has a huge desire to learn all that he can all of the time. He loves to read and studies about different subjects that interest him all the time. He has said ever since he was able to talk that he wanted to be a paleontologist when he grows up. He still loves dinosaurs and loves to learn about them. I love this kid so much and I am so proud of the man he is becoming!! Happy Birthday Jacob! We love everything about you!!!

Welcome

Camden Ray Jeeninga
July 19, 2007
10:48am
9lbs 5oz, 21 inches long
More details and a picture to follow

Click here to see picture from nursery

It's 1:32am and that can only mean one thing

MY WATER BROKE!!!!! I will be back with all of you soon to let you know the details for now it is off to the hospital!!

What not to say

Every time I leave the house I am bombarded with comments from people. I do my best to smile politely and quietly repent as I walk away. This has inspired me to make a list of those things not to say to an overdue pregnant woman.

5. "That is definitely a girl (or boy)"-the truth is you have no idea and it is a bit irritating.

4. "Is it twins?"- no explanation required

3. "Oh another boy, I am so sorry."-Is a baby not exciting enough? Do we really have to make negative comments about the genitalia they have?

2. "Hello Preggers"-from friends~not so bad, from the deli lady at the grocery store~so annoying!

And number one has got to be
"You have a ways to go, you haven't even dropped yet."-really do you want to leave with your life intact???????

Crazy dreams

Yes still pregnant!! But even better is the turn my dreams are taking. For the past month or so, I have dreamt every night about either childbirth or the baby. These types of dreams have been crazy enough themselves, but last night iced the cake. I had a dream that Jay went out to the store to get some "ornaments" for my belly. He came home with some hook-type dangling earrings. After discussing how we could not hook them into my skin, he then proceeded to go back out and buy this gaudy gold belt with large circles on it. He came home put it around my ENORMOUS belly and hung all of these earrings from it. So instead of dreaming that this belly might sometime be gone, in my mind, I've just begun to decorate that which will never leave. I guess this is my best attempt at making the best of it!!!

Its Official

Well folks I am officially OVERDUE!! I know (Elizabeth) its only one day late so far, but I have NEVER been overdue before. This waiting game is beginning to consume my life. I know of a total of 5 people all due on or about the same day. They are all currently loving on their newborns and I am trying to get mine off my sciatic nerve!! Oh well I must remember that God knows the day in which he will enter the world and even though I think I know better sometimes, His will is perfect. So the waiting continues......

YUP

.......still pregnant.........

In case you were wondering

still pregnant.......

update

Went to the doctor this morning. I am almost 3, 50%, and -3. If you know what that means, you are a mom. If you don't, google it. Please pray that this baby comes soon, my doctor leaves for vacation on Sunday!! That is all for now, I am going to do some squats, jump on the trampoline, scrub a floor.......

Yes I am STILL around and no it is not twins!!

Well we have reached 39.1 weeks of pregnancy and all is going well. Gotta say there is no feeling quite like being this pregnant in 98 degree weather. I have become an indoor girl lately. Other than being rather large and a little moody and impatient, I feel pretty good. I have people asking me every where I go if I am having twins! They must not have read my last post warning against those very comments:) I go back to the doctor tomorrow so we will see if any further progress has been made. For her own safety, I hope she has good news!! I am trying very hard to "be content in any and every situation" but it is difficult to say the least. I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET THIS BABY!!!!! Well that is all for now I will try to keep you posted in the event that something actually happens here.

Still here

Hi all! Not much to report as of now, but I thought it might be nice if I stopped in to say hi! I am 37.5 weeks pregnant, hot, large, and a touch on the crabby side. But there is light in my tunnel. Eventually this little moocher will exit my body and rest in a bed of his own!!
Still no name, but we have narrowed it down to a few and most likely we will wait until we see him to finalize it. I have been busy "nesting" this week, cleaning and organizing all that I can. Although with 3 other boys running around here, I never quite feel like I finish. The boys are enjoying their summer so far. We spent 6 days at my parents camper while Jay was in Mexico. That was lots of fun. My parents bought the boys a bonsai water slide that they keep out there. I attempted to go down this thing, but in my current condition that proved to be a BAD idea!! I couldn't heave my enormous leg over the top of the thing and ended up falling off the back. I was fine, but I am sure I looked ridiculous!!
Well, like Bipin says, now it is like waiting for water to boil. Although I never tell my water, " dang you look big!!" Such comforting words for a woman with highly volatile mood swings!! Being pregnant with your fourth is a lot different then the rest. I don't think I want to see how a fifth would be. I am not 25 anymore, I can't take a nap (but so desperately need one), I can't see my toes, and I would love to complete a sentence without having to stop to pee! Come on baby, today is a good day for a birthday!!!!!!

Maybe Uniqua???

Ok we are down to the final 8 weeks and still without a name for this baby. Once you have had so many of the same sex, you run out of ideas. The kids have been very helpful in this area suggesting names like Uniqua (from backyardigans), Jesus, and Tyler the second. We would be thrilled with some other options. So today I open it up to any ideas you have. In case you are new here, it is a boy. Our only idea was Four Nomore Jeeninga, but I was hoping for something a little less obscure. Suggest away blogger friends!

I'm still here

Hello everyone
I am still here. Just not alot to post lately. Which around here is a good thing. I do have a request though. In May, Jay and I have to got to a dinner where he must wear a coat and tie. Let me tell you, he can't wait!!:) I am in need of a dress I can wear. I will be 32 weeks pregnant and I really don't want to spend the benjamin's on a dress I will never wear again. So if any of you blogging friends out there have had to do this in the past and wouldn't mind lending it out, I would really appreciate it. It will be sort of like a wedding type event, without the wedding part. Let me know. Oh by the way, you should probably be over 5'2" tall at least, seeing as I am 5'10" and modesty is always an issue. Sorry 5 in a row, that leaves you out!! Thank you for considering my request and I look forward to hearing from you.

The case of the missing blankey

My children have all had blankeys. They love their blankeys and they have all had just one that was good enough. We could not substitute a decoy, oh no they knew better. They would not be fooled by that trick. So maintaining a location on the blankey has always been a high priority for me.
About 6 months ago, I sat in my kitchen with a CPS caseworker and watched my adorable 3 year old stand on the picnic table outside of my open kitchen window and sing "I like big butts" while dancing with his blankey. You know, one of those moments of pride!! After my subtle suggestions of a new song, he finally lost interest in his "show" and proceeded to play outside for a little while longer. Flash forward to later on that evening, it is bed time and the blankey is nowhere to be found. I knew that I hadn't left the house since I had last seen blankey, due to the memorable moment that had occurred. So I began to search. We looked all over the house, in every conceivable and inconceivable location. I took a flashlight and searched all over the backyard. I walked the perimeter of our privacy fence to see if it had by chance flown the coup. I even knocked on my neighbors door and asked them to check their yard in case it had gone south for the night. NO BLANKEY!!
I was baffled. After a lot of tears, he finally passed out with out a blankey. I woke up the next morning on a mission to find the missing family member. I even went as far as to offer large sums of money to the one who found the blankey. Meanwhile, my mom had a blanket at her house that he would occasionally use in addition to blankey, so I hightailed it to moms to pick up that one. Begrudgingly he accepted the substitute, but continued to pray for the return of his best friend for weeks. Eventually we resigned. Where ever it was, it would remain. Maybe it ended up in the garbage and we missed it, maybe it fell in the neighbors yard and their dog at it and they were too embarrassed to fess up. So blankey was gone. He slowly adjusted to the new blankey and over time talked less and less about the "other blankey" Life goes on. Tough lesson for a 3 year old, but one of natural consequences since I have always told them not to take them outside.
Today, 6 months later, I look outside where my boys were playing and I hear Sam screaming. He is standing in the yard holding BLANKEY!!!! I stand in awe in the kitchen for a moment. thinking I am seeing a ghost. Sam comes running in the house and sure enough it is the real thing. Of course, I immediately ask, "where the heck did you find that!!???!@!!!" He takes me outside to show me and I can't help but crack up. On the side of our house is our hose reel. It is a plastic thing attached to the house and in the front of it is a small door for holding attachments. There, protected from the elements of a NWI winter, is precious blankey. Looking exactly the same as the day we lost him. Sam is beside himself and I can't believe I never checked there. Actually I didn't even know there was a "there" to check. So mystery solved, blankey in washer, Samuel ecstatic, and mom still scratching her head wondering how in the world that even happened!!!

Thanks, Happy Birthday Tressa, What did you say??

After a difficult week, we are doing well. Thank you so much for your prayers! On Wednesday morning, the caseworker came and picked up Marcus and Brandon. It was, to say the least, a very difficult day. But Gods grace is amazing and his mercies new every morning, so each day has gotten a little bit better. I miss them like crazy, but I cry a little less with each new morning.

On to other news, tomorrow is Tressa's birthday. She is 8 and such a joy to us. She is, by far, the princess of this house ( right beneath me the queen:). We love you so much Tressa!!!

Yesterday we had Tressa's birthday party at Odyssey fun world in Tinley Park. The kids had a blast. Jay and I were exhausted!!! During the party, I was listening to the kids talk. There were 8 total kids there, 4 of which were ours. This is the exchange I heard:
Jacob: Somebody pinch me
Tyler: OK ( here he proceeds to pinch Jacob)
Jacob: OOOWWW Tyler, Metaphorically speaking!!! ( here he rolls his eyes and looks to the other party guests for a laugh)
Now, mind you, they are all under 8, so nobody, but me, laughed! I don't even know where he heard that before. It sounded awfully funny coming out of the mouth of a 7 year old!!!
Well that is all for now. Have a great week and enjoy the beautiful weather!

a change of life

Hello everyone. Today I write with a heavier heart than usual. We found out yesterday that we will be saying goodbye to our foster kids, Marcus and Brandon, on Wednesday of this week. After a year together, they will be moving to their permanent family. I knew this day was approaching for months now, but the reality of it is both exciting and sad. I know the Lord is entirely in control, even where they are going is an example of that. I do know these people and will be able to maintain contact with them to check on the kids. But we cannot see the kids again after Wednesday for a long time. I am so excited that this will be their last move and they are leaving us to be a part of the family God has chosen for them. I can't wait to hear the adoption is final and they can begin to be normal kids again and not "foster" kids anymore!! Saying goodbye is the hardest part, hard for Jay and I and hard for the kids. We would appreciate your prayers as we go through this time of change in our family. Our kids are sad and really don't understand why they are leaving. They have done such a great job of accepting these kids and making them a part of their family. I am proud of the way they have handled sharing their house and parents for the last year. Please pray for Marcus and Brandon that they will soon feel at home in their new family and pray that we can all move on, in confidence, that we have done the will of God this year and it is time to move into that which He has for us next.

Its a....

Well blogger friends the verdict is in. It is a big, healthy, active baby BOY!!! But really what else could it be. Apparently girls are very difficult to produce. But that is just fine with me. I am so excited to have a house full of boys. Every thing looks good with the baby and he is currently larger than he should be so my due date may get adjusted. I got some great pictures, but I don't have a scanner to put them up. But I am sure you can picture him. Totally adorable in an alien like way:) The kids are excited as well, except for Tyler who apparently wanted a sister. Well like I always say to the kids, " you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!!"

ideas needed

Does anyone know how to get red burger king Icee out of light beige burber carpet????

I need a vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have I mentioned that February is the longest month?? It may only have 28 days, but that is God's grace to us. Even 28 days seems like 57!! It is too cold to do much, too snowy to do anything, and its been too long since we could do anything. It is simply a tough month to get through. The winter always seems to sink in in February. And I am ready for warm weather!!! I am ready to go somewhere without 45 minutes of dressing and searching for hats and gloves, ready to let my children out in the yard to run off some steam without said 45 minutes of dressing and searching, and darn it ready to wear flip-flops!!

Anyhow, enough of that. Today my kitchen window go broken. I won't even go into how that happened, but as you can imagine I am not a happy mommy today! My kitchen is cold and I have had to remove tiny, minuscule pieces of glass out of 3 different feet already today. I swept and vacuumed, but there are still renegade pieces remaining. SO I have cried, been on my knees, and have decided to get myself off the floor, pull up my maternity pants that fall down every 4 seconds, and move about my day with a smile on my face. Forced as it is, I am trying to avoid doing some sort of permanent psychological damage to my children who are home for like the 15th day this month!! Plus today is Brandons 2nd birthday and I really try not to be a royal crab on birthdays. So party on we will.

I apologize for this most NOT uplifting blog. I would post a picture of my puffy-eyed, not happy but smiling face but I still cannot post pictures so a word picture will have to do. Till tomorrow.

Ok Ok Ok

Well it has been a while since my last post. I still cannot post pictures, but I will post anyway. All is well around here. I am 18 weeks pregnant and growing. So far everything is going well with this pregnancy and I feel good. The kids are all great, thankfully with no major news to report there either. So the reason why I haven't posted in a while is I have nothing to tell. It has been too cold to do much else than stay in. My house is a mess and my kids are bored! But never fear, the groundhog says spring will come early this year:) Since I base all of my weather info on that special little hairy groundhog, I have hope:)
In other news, my much anticipated ultrasound is coming up in 2 weeks. I assume it is a boy, but I would love to hear your thoughts. I have no preference other than healthy, but it is always fun to guess! So leave me your comments on what you think it is and I will let you know in 2 weeks the big answer!!!

I've been Tagged!!

Alright I got tagged so I am indulging Jen. Here goes....

A- Available or married? Married 7.5 years

B- Best Friend? My husband!!!

C- Cake or Pie? pie, banana cream!!

D- Drink of Choice? Dr. Pepper

E- Essential Item? Cell phone

F- Favorite Color? Orange

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? bears

H- Hometown? MattEson Il

I- Indulgence? Egg McMuffins(2 at a time) with 3 hash browns!! I know, I'm pregnant!!

J- January or February? February, cuz it is closer to spring

K- Kids & names? Tressa-8, Jacob-7, Tyler-6, Marcus-5, Samuel-3, Brandon-almost 2, we are taking ideas for the newest

L- Life is incomplete without? Jesus

M- Marriage Date? May 2, 1999

N- Number of Siblings? Brad, Gordon, and Joanie + spouses

O- Oranges or apples? Neither, not much of a fruit girl

P- Phobias/Fears? falling out of a moving car

Q-Favorite Quote? I'm, sure it is from an 80's movie, but I can think of none right now.

R- Reason to Smile? Egg McMuffin's are currently 2 for 3.00!!!

S- Season? Fall

T- Tag three people! Melanie, Michelle T., Clair( I would create links, but I have no idea how)

U- Unknown fact about me: I'm an open book

W- Worst habit? Biting my nails

Y- Your favorite food? I'm going to have to go with Egg McMuffins (after all of this egg McMuffin talk, I am on my way to get a couple)

Z- Zodiac? Is stupid!!!

Houston, we have a problem

I have hit a glitch in my blogging capabilities. Apparently, my computer has only about 500 megabytes of space left on it. I have been informed not to put anymore pictures, music, etc. onto my piece of garbage! So that leaves me a little stuck for my blog and my poor lonely ipod!! We will be looking into purchasing a new computer soon, but those kind of purchases tend to take a back seat to the needs of 6 children and the coming attraction! So my future blogs will probably not include too many pictures. ARRGG!!!!! If anyone has any suggestions on how to get a good computer on a tight budget, I am open to ideas. As I look over the checkbook, I am not sure how a computer fits in so it may be a while. In the meantime, I can read your blogs and check my email and I suppose I need to be content with just that. A bit frustrating, but not the end of the world. If fact just typing this and rereading it has given me some clearly needed perspective on that which are "needs" and that which are "wants." I sound a little spoiled complaining about computer space. And on that note of confession, I must sign off and go repent!!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

Today Tyler is 6!! As I reflect over the last 6 years, I am so excited about the hope that I have for Ty. This child gave the terrible 2's their name!! It started at 18 months and continued until about 3 and 1/2. A rough couple of years for us. Now he is the most amazing child. So kind and sweet, with a heart for worship like no other. As I watch his relationship with the Lord grow and change, I am so excited to see what God has for him. We love you Ty Ty French Fry!! Happy Birthday big guy!!!

5 little monkeys sitting on a couch!!

This past week we enjoyed a wonderful visit to the Barker's. I forgot my camera, but my Amazing friend Sam took these for me. Here is one of the few shots in existence of all of the boys together. It is no small feat to get them all to sit still for the time it takes to get a picture.

Brandon and Faith were SO cute that day. Well they are so cute everyday!!!

I will update with Christmas pictures shortly. Although, we purchased a new video camera this year so I didn't get as many still shots as usual.
As for me, I feel good. First trimester down, two to go!!! I am due July 15. We have now told the kids and they are so excited. For the first couple of days, Tyler didn't want to leave my side in case the baby came!! We finally convinced him he will not miss anything! It would be a long six months for him otherwise! Well I will be back in a few days with the Christmas pictures.

GO PACKERS!!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Green Bay 26- Bears 7!!!!!!