A Tale of Three Cities

The Big Move!

2011-12-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well, its official.

My blog is moving to its new home! I'm sad to leave this place...I've been posting memories since June of 2006. 378 posts. I started here when Jackson was 4 months old. He turns 6 in March. This place has seen the birth of two of my babies and thousands of giggles. It's seen heartache and celebration. It's bittersweet to leave.

So, if you'd like to stay up to date with our family, simply visit www.ataleofthreecities.com. It's where we will be from now on!

I'm leaving this blog up to reference to when needed. I *could* move all the posts over to our new home, but that would take forever, so I'm leaving it here for the time being.

See you soon!

Blog Changes!

2011-12-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

I know, I know....long time without a post!

I'm actually just jumping on to let you all know that I am in the process of creating a new blog at a new host site. As soon as its finished I will post the link for you all to visit. While I'm sad to leave this site, I've found one that is much easier to load pictures on and keep all the content in a place that is easier to navigate. There will be a section for recipes, homeschooling, DIY projects, and even some photography stuff!

So, stay tuned!!! :)

And, here is a pick to keep you happy until then...

Much love!
The Malloy Family

The Green Alligators!

2011-11-06T19:15:00.001-08:00

We've dived headlong into organized sports! The year has finally arrived for soccer, with much anticipation for its commencement around this house. Jackson has been involved in gymnastics for the past few months and LOVES that, and was a bit intimidated with the thought of moving into soccer. As you can tell, however, he enjoyed every minute of it. Out of every picture I took, there isn't one where he doesn't have a grin from ear to ear!

And, let's be honest: we loved it. It was a first; our first child's first game. It was AWESOME being able to cheer for him from the sidelines and watch him enjoy playing such a great game. It was so fun picking out shoes and his shin guards, getting his jersey washed and ready, and prepping him for his big day. It was chilly, perfect morning!

I really can hardly believe it. Look how big he is! Old enough for sports? Really?! I have the minivan, and now I have the soccer player. With the insane schedule to boot! Gymnastics is overlapping for a few weeks, so we have gymnastics, soccer practice, and a game that we are adding into our already nutso schedule! Thank goodness we homeschool or I have no idea how we'd get it all done!

Grandma Visits!

2011-10-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

My mom came in from Pennsylvania to visit us this past week! We had a very busy week, including a trip down to Tucson. The kids loved having her around, and kept her pretty busy! I didn't get a lot of pictures, but I think this one is adorable. It is pretty much how pictures look with my three kids...everyone looking different directions.
Thanks for coming, Mom! We had a great time and can't wait to see you again!

Joe's

2011-10-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful fall day here (73 degrees!!! For a high!!!) so we decided to take my mom, who is visiting us from Pennsylvania, out to our favorite restaurant. Joe's Farm Grill has made several appearances on my blog before; we just love the atmosphere and the great food. The kids run around and play, and I get to munch on the best sweet potato fries that have ever been made. As you can see, Brooklyn also enjoys a good orange fry!

Jackson and London love the cheeseburgers there, so they split one with orange fries on the side. They eat as fast as possible so they can get back to playing. Jackson made a friend named Haley who picked him flowers. It was a budding romance; too bad we had to leave before they could make plans for an arranged marriage.
Poor Haley. She really missed out. I mean, who wouldn't want to be married to a ninja chef?

Greg got to come along with us for lunch! London perched herself next to him as she is a big Daddy's girl. I love this picture of them, minus the sun spots on Greg's face. Let's pretend they aren't there, mmmkay? Every photo can't be perfect, but the memories behind them can be.

This is what happens every time (every. single. time!) I try and take a picture of the girls together. One is this way, one is that way, one is crying, one has her eye closed, etc. One day I might get a decent shot of sisterly love. For now, you get London distracted by a bird and Brooklyn trying to figure out how to put another orange fry in a mouth already stuffed with 5 of them.
She figured it out.

Anyway, we had a lovely time! I will be so sad to see it go back up to 98 next week...I could really get used to this "being outdoors" thing!

The Gymnast!

2011-10-01T13:42:00.001-07:00

We recently enrolled London in gymnastics! First, we attempted dance, which was a big fat fail. She just wasn't that interested in prancing around. Tumbling she could get on board with! The first few weeks were hard because it was the first class she had ever been a part of, so learning to follow directions, stay in line, and wait for her turn needed just as much practice as forward rolls and bear walks. Once she got that figured out, things went rather smoothly! She was a good listener and tried really hard!

When you are in the younger class, there is a lot of waiting your turn. :) They did a lot of fun activities, like learning to run and jump, forward roll, backward roll, the beginnings of handstands, and all kinds of fun stuff. London is very cautious, and one of the main reason why I wanted her to take a class to help her find her wings. I've noticed improvements in her everyday life like being able to step down a curb with confidence (she would always sit and scoot down before) and jump.

I think she is having a great time! Today was the last week of her session, and I think we will take a break this next session. Her class is 45 minutes, and usually by the last 10 minutes she wants to go home. Starting in January she can do the classes all by herself, so we may wait until then since now she is in parent class and its hard to figure out a time in our schedule where one of us can go with her.
I will miss seeing her in that cute little leotard!

It's Fall, apparently.

2011-09-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

While our weather hasn't gotten the memo yet, our calendars certainly have. Fall always is a busy time for us. The weather gets nicer so we find ourselves with more outdoor playdates to juggle. This year Jackson is enrolled in extracurricular activities, so we are balancing gymnastics and soccer (which doesn't start until November, thank goodness). We just finished week 7 of our school year, and now the workload starts getting a little heavier. And this month we have a special visitor, Grandma Chris, who is coming the beginning of October! After that, we have our family vacation to Disneyland the end of October, and then the holiday season is here! Before we know it, January will be here and the whole thing will start again. Time really does fly the older you get.
For right now, things are pretty ho-hum around here. I mostly just wanted to grace you with this image of Brooklyn, my little doll face. I just got a new camera lens, so be prepared for an onslaught of pictures, ad nauseam. It's what I do best.

The Odyssey!

2011-09-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

There once was a time I would have rather, I don't know, poked out my eyeballs rather than have a minivan.
That time has come and gone. The little cities made a minivan no longer a want, but a need. Don't get me wrong, we had a great car before. A large SUV that seated 8; when Greg and I bought it, we thought for sure it would be able to handle all that we asked of it. Technically, it did. The problem came with Jackson. He had to sit in the 3rd row, and to get to it he had to climb over the 2nd row. He also didn't have a lot of space, and those long legs of his were running out of room. Enter my dream. My wish for the past...oh, 3 years. The car I never thought I'd get, the car I'd never thought I'd want, became the car I cried over when Greg surprised me with it in our garage...
The Honda Odyssey.

You heard me right; I cried. Instantly, I saw the ease of venturing out of my house with the little humans, and it brought me to tears. Doors that open by themselves! By. Themselves. Basically, the thing reads my mind. "What, Becki? You said you were tired? Well, here. Just press this little button and you don't even have to open doors. There, there, now. What? The kids are crying? Here, press this button. A DVD will start in a minute...".

It's like the Nasa Space Center up front. It'll take me an intensive Honda course to figure out what its all for (my gosh, it came with a DVD instruction video!). It's the Touring edition, which is the fancy version of the Odyssey. I can control the exact temperature of the driver's side, passenger side, and rear. I have a GPS navigation system, a 6 CD changer, heated leather seats (you know, for when it drops below 80), a premium audio system, a rear backup camera (!!!), parking sensors that beep at me if I get to close, the rear hatch opens and closes with the push of a button, and about 1,000 other things that I'm trying to locate.

And the kids LOVE it! This is the view from Jackson's seat. He has so much more space, and I feel so much more comfortable with him being able to get out if we ever were in an accident. I cannot even begin to tell you how much the layout and the doors have changed my life when it comes to leaving the house. Our SUV was so high off of the ground that I had to always put London in, and sometimes even help Jackson, while holding Brooklyn. Buckling, snapping, pushing Jackson over the seat, etc etc etc in 110 degree heat. Yuck. I hated going out with the kids. Now, getting in the car takes about 2 minutes. Doors open (by themselves!!!!), both kids crawl in, hop up, buckle up, and off we go!

Ah, the DVD player (current featured movie? Tangled). We don't (and won't) use it a lot; I'm a believer of car time being a great time to talk with one another. But it is a great distraction if I need to keep a sleepy child awake until we get home for naps, or if we are on a road trip. Brooklyn can't really enjoy it yet because she is still rear facing, but she is working on the head swivel technique.

Greg and I have spent the last week in a state of disbelief. We can't believe that we actually own this car! It is beautiful, convenient, and believe it or not, affordable! We got a great deal, and we are so happy with it!

All About the Girls

2011-09-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

First, the baby girl. At 13 months, Brooklyn is coming out of her days in babyland and moving into full on toddlerhood! She is everywhere at once and into everything in a second. Boundaries don't exist to her, and my new job, apparently, is to see how many times I can say, "No!" in a 2 minute period. I'm exhausted and she is full of energy. She has slowed her weight gain down considerably, but is now sprouting upwards! She is very tall at almost 32 inches, and a healthy 22 pounds. We've discovered that she has a sensitivity to milk, so she is on a lactose free milk for a few months, and then I'll try again when she is a little older. She is my first kid who has ever had an allergy or an intolerance to something; luckily it is very mild and isn't hard to accommodate.

As for her skills, she is coming along nicely. She is a talker and says lots of different things. She is trying to repeat what you say and is learning to follow directions. She is coming slowly along in her large motor skills. She has physical therapy once a week and is showing great improvement in the areas of crawling, pulling up, and cruising. Her walking abilities are still lagging; she does a weird, dragging thing with her right leg that the therapists are trying to figure out. She is in shoes almost full time to try and correct her right foot which turns out. Even though the actual walking milestone seems far in the distance, Brooklyn can now climb up onto things! She can get herself up onto the couch, and if the gate is left open, can make her way all the way upstairs. Yes, I have five heart attacks a day.

London is almost 3. Can you believe it? I can't. She is just a bundle of love and happiness. One of our latest learning curves has been her hair. She, sadly, received my part of the gene pool with that, and has super fine baby hair that is taking half of forever to grow in (not joking...it has taken 9 months to grow 2 inches). She has a weird cowlick at the front of her head which makes bangs impossible. Luckily, the little love begs me to curl her hair and put it in bows, so I get lots of practice. Her vocabulary is growing by the day, and she is almost completely understandable now, unless she gets really excited. Her favorite song is the ABC song, she can count to 10, and knows some of her colors.

Having two girls brings me such joy. I love the sisterly love that I'm starting to see grow between them, and I can't wait for the nights I hear them whispering to each other in the darkness. I am so thankful for these sparkly, glittery additions to our family!

Field Trip: Arizona Science Center!

2011-09-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is being able to take field trips whenever you want! Science is one of Jackson's favorite subjects right now, so I decided that a trip to our Science Center would be perfect. We've had it planned for a few weeks, and Jackson has been counting down the days!

One of the exhibits was a Computer Science one. Most of it was over his head, but one of the stations he could have spent the entire day at! Basically, you take pictures of yourself, create images, and then send them to a large screen to view. Or, you could record your voice and watch the sound waves on the screen. Or, make an animated character of yourself and watch it walk across the screen. Those of you who know Jackson probably could imagine the absolute giddiness of Jackson in this exhibit!

Another exhibit was called "Forces of Nature". Now, Jackson has a love/hate relationship with weather. He is obsessed with weather, and frequently asks to watch the weather channel instead of cartoons. One of his favorite apps on the iPad is a Weather Channel one that updates the forecast and radar. However, when it comes to actually experiencing weather...let's just say that he ends up in our bed during an evening thunderstorm. He is pretty convinced that we will all be washed away in a flood, and reminds us of this daily. One of the coolest parts of Forces of Nature was this stage you stood on that simulated a hurricane, a tornado, an earthquake, and a thunderstorm. Real wind and rain...it was awesome, for Greg and I, anyway. Jackson freaked out, and demanded that we leave. That is, until he found the cloud section.

He stood here, messing with the clouds, for a good 15 minutes (until the Forces of Nature show started again!). He had studied clouds in the past (I don't know how or when) so he knew all their names and just had a blast messing with it.

Another exhibit was called All About Me. Everything from real human organs to wheelchair races were in this section, and Jackson spent a lot of time here. There was even a stomach slide that made real digestive noises as you made your way through the stomach, including a (ahem) *toot* as you made your way out!

There was just some really cool things here! Above is a real digestive system (kinda gross, but cool!) and a drum that mimicked your hearbeat when you placed your hands on the sensors!

But, of course, the shining star of the whole trip was the Planetarium! Jackson was just pysched to see a show there. Space is also one of his big things right now, so I knew he would really enjoy it. There were only 4 of us in there, and Jackson was the only kid, shouting out answers to all the questions. We visited all the planets and rode a "space coaster" and had a great time!

In the car on the way home, he just kept talking about what a great day he'd had. I think we will do this again!

Evenings.

2011-09-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

While it is far from cool outside, it seems as though we may be getting our lovely evenings back. The storms roll in around late afternoon and block the sun as it sets in the west, giving us a break from its heat. Tonight there was even a cool breeze, so we ventured out of summer hibernation and went for a walk to the park.

The girls were thrilled to go for a ride! We haven't gone on very many walks with Brooklyn, and her refusal to walk keeps us away from parks for the most part. London and Brooklyn just chatter with each other and hold hands...it is so cute to see them together.

Jackson has NOT been interested in riding a bike. He got this one for his 4th birthday, and I thought he would be thrilled with it. Nope. I think he's taken it for a spin *maybe* 5 or 6 times. He just isn't in to it. So, we are making it a point to give him more opportunities to practice. At this point, we are thinking about just ditching the training wheels and teaching him to ride on his own. He like riding for about 10 minutes, then he is done. Luckily the park is two houses down!

Last year, London couldn't go down the slide on her own, and was afraid to climb the structure. Not anymore! As soon as we got there, she was off! She went down the slide 46 times, at least, and had a blast.

It was so nice to get out and play, finally! The kids had a great time, and it was a nice taste of the activities we will soon be able to do as soon as it cools off!

Boy Wonder.

2011-09-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, we noticed that Jackson was standing closer to the TV, was squinting while reading, and couldn't see the time unless he was standing near the clock. All signs of bad eyesight, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't sad that it was pretty possible that his tender face would have specs perched atop his nose. We finally were able to get him into the pediatric optamologist a few weeks back, had him fitted for glasses, and they finally arrived this week. He picked this pair out all by himself, and I have to say that I am stunned by how much I love them.

I can't stop staring at him when he wears them, and I probably just look like a goofball as I grin at his handsome face. I find it funny that I was worried about how he'd look in them; I actually now prefer him to wear them!

So far he has been really good about taking care of them. He is getting used to them so he doesn't like to wear them all the time, but when he does have them on you can tell that he can see so much better. It will be an adjustment for him to get used to them; I personally don't like how glasses feel on my face all day, so I'm pretty laidback when it comes to him asking to take them off for a bit. His vision isn't that bad...it is actually the same prescription as mine, so I know that he can get around fine without them.

So, here he is, Boy Wonder...image complete.

The Faces of the Planets

2011-08-26T16:22:00.001-07:00

One day, Jackson asked me to take pictures of all the planets. He made a specific face for each planet, and I thought it was hysterical.
So, here you go...what the planets would look like, if they had faces!

Mercury: "Mercury is SO hot! That is why he has this 'I'm hot!' face."
Really? That is your "I'm hot!" face?

Venus: "Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system and is not a good place for humans. It is so hot because it's blasted with volcanoes that shoot lava. They are monstrous!".

This is also Jackson's "I don't want to do that!" face. He and Venus have a lot in common, apparently.

Earth: "Earth is happy because it is a good place for humans and it is very warm."

I love Earth. Thank goodness we live here, and not on cranky Venus.

Mars: "It is a little gassy, and freezing cold. It actually looks like a hot, dusty desert, but that is not true!".

Funny enough, this is kind of how I picture poor Mars. Nothing much special about him...no distinctive characteristics. Just a big red ball of freezing desert. Poor Mars.

Jupiter: "The gassiest planet in our solar system! It is also the biggest!".

Ahhhh, the "I've gotta fart!" face.

Saturn: "It is very windy and it LOVES its rings. It can even float in water!".

If only Saturn was this friendly and pleasant to live on. And now all I can ever think of when I hear Jackson talk about Saturn is this "kid quote" thing I read on Pinterest. Basically, a question was asked to a student as to why Saturn has rings, and the child replied, "Because God liked Saturn and put a ring on it." You can thank me for the Beyonce tune in your head later.

Uranus: "It's a little tilted and he doesn't like that. He can't even see his rings and he is really cold.

Excuse me while I contain my laughter over this one. Tee-hee. I am a junior higher, apparently. Uranus.

Neptune: "It is the coldest planet, and it is the farthest planet in our solar system. It is also the windiest!".

This child doesn't even know the meaning of cold.

He refused to take a Pluto picture. Funny how I grew up with 9 planets, and he only has 8. He thinks that it might be a dwarf planet, but dwarf planets don't get pictures. Go figure.

Whose Got Their Hand...

2011-08-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

...in the cookie jar?

(This is what happens when you turn your head for 2.3 seconds).

All Caught Up!

2011-08-22T20:44:00.001-07:00

For awhile, I felt like I was behind on everything.

I hadn't updated the blog in eons. Mostly because my computer was freaking out over uploading my pictures...so now that that situation is all taken care of, you'll see a lot more of us around here. I like pictures and I like talking about my kids, which means lots of blogs for you!

We also were behind on all of the kid's well check appointments. We had insurance that didn't cover well check appointments (meaning that we had to pay out of pocket). Normally that isn't a big deal, but the kids were so sick this past winter that paying for well checks on top of sick visits just wasn't going to happen. Shoot, we will be paying off London's hospital bill from January for a looooong time! With Greg's new job, our insurance rocks, so I've spent the last two weeks catching everyone up. That means lots of shots, tears, trips, and information!

Everyone is in general good health. Jackson is small for his age, but brilliant. He needs glasses, which we will be getting this week! I can't wait to post pictures of him in his new specs! London is right on track, which surprised me. She seems so heavy that I thought for sure that she'd tip the scales, but nope. She is in the 50% for weight and height...so perfectly normal! She is still anemic, but I think that will just be a constant battle for her because no matter what we do, her levels are low. She also has an eye appointment for her Nystagmus in a few weeks where we will most likely get an order for an MRI on her brain...but that's a story for another morning. Brooklyn is doing well and starts physical therapy next week!

We are in our third week of school and will start all of our fall activities soon! Jackson starts gymnastics that will go through October and then will start soccer in November. London is starting dance that will go through spring, and I'm so excited to see her in little leotards and tights! Be prepared for lots of cute pictures!

Slow and Steady.

2011-08-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

About a month ago at one of Brooklyn's well checks, her pediatrician was concerned about a few developmental milestones that she hadn't reached yet. At one, she isn't pulling up to stand or cruising, and won't crawl on her hands and knees. So, for the past month or so we've gone through a process of having Brooklyn evaluated to see if she is eligible for physical therapy, or if she should just continue to develop at her own pace.

It has been determined that Brooklyn is indeed developmentally delayed and qualifies for physical therapy. I'm not sure how I feel about it all. I freaked out when I first found out that she was behind (I hadn't even noticed that she hadn't hit specific milestones!) and I calmed down over time, convincing myself that she was just fine and that she wouldn't need therapy. It's hard to hear a specialist decide that your bundle of perfection needs help. It's hard to not feel guilty for...gosh, I don't even know what to feel guilty over, but guilty I feel. Did I not pay enough attention to her? Should I have spent more time correcting her crawl? Making her stand? More fruits and veggies? You know, all the things moms tear themselves up over.

The bright side of the rainbow is that at least once a week a physical therapist will be here to play with Brooklyn! I'm excited to learn new things to help her grow and thrive, and I know that this is the best thing for her. Hopefully soon I'll be posting a video of her walking! :)

The Big Party!!!

2011-08-16T20:46:00.001-07:00

The big event...Brooklyn's 1st birthday party! Let me first say this: I do not like throwing birthday parties, especially 1st ones. I do it because they are big days, but the child has NO clue what's going on. Basically it's more like a, "Please come and eat cake and celebrate the fact that we (the mother and father) have somehow managed to keep this child alive for at least a year" sort of party.
That is, until this one.
I had SO MUCH FUN planning this party! I went all out...it's my last first birthday party, right?! I made my own decorations. I made my own party cups. I made super fun cakes and ordered a special outfit for her and...well, you'll see.
And, secondly, major props to my friend Mary at Captured Photography for these amazing pictures! I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such talented people.

The decorations were really fun to do! For the drinks, I purchased mason jars that I filled with strawberry pink lemonade. I decorated the jars with rickrack and flowers, with coordinating paper on the lids. I had coordinating paper for people to glue their initials to the top of the jar so they wouldn't lose their drink. I ordered vintage paper straws to match our party colors (aqua, teal, and red), made tons of tissue paper balls and tulle balls that were strung from the ceiling, along with a custom ordered banner that said, "Happy Birthday Brooklyn". She had a beautiful bouquet of coral pink roses...because every girl deserves flowers on her birthday.

As for the food, we had quite a spread, but my favorite thing was the ice cream cone cupcakes I made! Very fun and really cute! I made homemade buttercream frosting to match the party colors and added edible pearls and red candy apples. I also made a chocolate triffle for the adult dessert, but I'm pretty sure everyone wanted the cupcakes! (Note to self: next time make more cupcake cones!)

Isn't this an amazing shot? It's Daddy handing me Brooklyn's cake. It speaks to my heart, and I love it.

She enjoyed it, too. She devoured practically the whole thing! She is my first to do that...both Jackson and London just sort of shoved it around and poked at it. Not Brooklyn...she went after it as though she had been planning her attack the whole year.
I seriously wouldn't doubt it.

She loved opening her presents! She was very blessed by all her friends and family! She got lots of new hairbows with super cute flower/ribbon holders to clip them to, a beautiful homemade paper flower "B" to hang in her room, lots of toys, cute outfits, and some cash to buy the musical table Mommy has her eye on for her. Luckily sharing is one of Brooklyn's good qualities, because with 15 kids (did I forget to mention that almost 45 people were at her party?) scrambling around her in the tissue paper and wrappings, her goodies were being opened before they even got to her!
It was beautiful chaos.

It truly was a wonderful day! We were surrounded by everyone who loved and treasured our Brookie Bear, and that meant so much to us. We have been truly blessed in all of our amazing friendships here, and I am so thankful for them all!

The next birthday party? London. I'm thinking fairies. Watch out, world!

2nd Grade Begins!

2011-08-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

We did it! I organized it all, prepared it all, worried over it all, cried once or twice over it all...but we did it! Jackson started 2nd grade!

I'm so much more comfortable with it all than I was last year. I have confidence in the curriculum, and I can see that Jackson is actually being challenged, which is a nice change of pace. I feel like I chose the perfect grade for him. His reading skills are more like 3rd-4th grade, but all the other subjects he seems to be right on point with 2nd. People keep asking him if he started kindergarten this year, and he looks at me like, "What are they talking about?!". "I'm in 2nd grrraaaaddddeee!", he'll reply with a huff and puff, like its completely normal for a 5 year old to be in 2nd grade. That's exactly what I want him to think!

His favorite subjects so far are reading and science. The only place we seem to be having an issue in is handwriting, which is to be expected. By 2nd grade, most children are 7-8 and have had 2 or more years of practiced handwriting, therefore a lot of assignments require more writing than he is used to. So, we are working on that, and eventually he will catch up as his physical abilities start to match his mental ones.

I'm so proud of him! 1 week down, 35 to go!

Brooklyn's Letter.

2011-08-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

My Brooklyn, Brookie Bear, Brooke-ster, Brookie Face, and Most Tender Face,

Have I told you how much I love you lately?
I’m sure it’s only been hours. But in case I haven’t,
I love you.

I remember the second I found out you were here. It was Christmas morning of 2009, and I had woken up early. I had an inkling that you were around, and I wanted to make sure…because if you were, it would be the best Christmas gift ever.

You were, and it was.

The moment you arrived in this world, 9:11 pm on August 13th…I knew our family was complete. You were instantly everything to me. My hear t swelled with love for you, and in that instant, you were forever bonded to me, and I to you. I knew your cries, your face, your touch, your smell. You were mine, and I loved you to the moon and back.
I knew that you were my last baby, so I tried very hard to soak up every moment of you. You were my last late night nursing session, my last newborn, my last first smile, first coo, first word, first reach-your-arms-out-to-me, my last first…everything. My last baby; my last tiny face. Brooklyn, if there is anything I can say about your first year, it would be that…

…I enjoyed Every. Single. Moment.

You are one of the happiest creatures God has ever created. You exude joy from every pore in your body, and your belly shakes with your laughter, and you are quick to clap with pleasure. You squeal and shriek with such delight that I sometimes struggle to see what is so darn funny! Your charm is infectious and you draw people in with your remarkable blue eyes. I light up your room, and you light up my heart. When you see me, you squeal with pleasure and do whatever it takes to make it to me. If you are playing in another room, I simply have to walk into your vision, crouch low with my arms extended out to you, and you stop what you’re doing and quickly make your way into my embrace.

The morning of your first birthday, your brother and I came upstairs to wake you. We opened the door quietly, thinking you were still asleep. You weren’t; you were sitting up, cuddling your pink elephant. Jackson and I crawled on our hands and knees and shouted “Happy Birthday!!!” to you, and you instantly laughed and clapped…as if you knew what a special day it was. My heart spilled over and my tears were hard to contain as I thought of all the wonderful joy you had brought into our lives.

I am so thankful for you, Brooklyn Elle. God has shared one of his most precious creations with me, and I am beyond blessed to be called your Mama. I pray for wisdom to guide you and teach you in this life, and I pray that you will someday know your Creator and delight in His promises. I pray that your father and I will be good examples, and that you will know and believe in our love for you.

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet girl!
Love,
Mama

P.S- I love you.

She is 1.

2011-08-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

My heart is like a fountain true
That flows and flows with love to you.
As chirps the lark unto the tree
...So chirps my pretty babe to me.

There's not a rose where'er I seek,
As comely as my baby's cheek.
There's not a comb of honey-bee,
So full of sweets as babe to me.

There's not a star that shines on high,
Is brighter than my baby's eye.
There's not a boat upon the sea,
Can dance as baby does to me.

No silk was ever spun so fine
As is the hair of baby mine.
My baby smells more sweet to me
Than smells in spring the elder tree.

A little fish swims in the well,
So in my heart does baby dwell.
A little flower blows on the tree,
My baby is the flower to me.

The Queen has sceptre, crown and ball,
You are my sceptre, crown and all.
For all her robes of royal silk,
More fair your skin, as white as milk.

Ten thousand parks where deer do run,
Ten thousand roses in the sun,
Ten thousand pearls beneath the sea,
My babe more precious is to me.

Happy Birthday, my sweet treasure. My heart cannot even begin to express my love for you...you are priceless to me. God has blessed me richly with you, and I so look forward to your next year!
I love you, my babe.

Our Playroom/Schoolroom

2011-08-11T14:22:00.001-07:00

Finally! It's done! This room has been a work in progress for almost a year now. This is our previous formal dining room/living room. It was never used, so about a year ago we brought all the kid's toys in here and turned it into their play space. It has worked out splendidly; they play in there all the time and am close to me in case they need anything.

It is also our schoolroom. When we started homeschooling last year, this is where we would meet. Last year=unorganized chaos. I was determined to have this year start out better, so we ordered new curriculum (which I love!) and revamped our playroom so it was functional, organized, and fun! Now there is a place for school and all our supplies, plus a space for all of their toys which are now organized in 12 buckets!

One of my favorite additions are my artwork frames. I found some old frames and painted them red. I then took chicken wire and used a staple gun to attach it to the back of the frame, then secured fabric behind that. Wa-la! Functional art that holds art!

I still have some minor details to add (like wooden alphabet letters for the space above the map), but it is mostly done. It's my new favorite room in the house!

Box Day!!!

2011-07-24T19:50:00.001-07:00

2nd Grade has arrived!!!

This was our first year using a new curriculum called Sonlight. I am beyond estatic over it! I could go on and on over it all, but my favorite parts of it are:

1. It's literature based, which means lots and lots of books!
2. Everything is all planned out for me, so I don't have to make lesson plans! All 36 weeks are ready to go!
3. Our science comes with all the things we will need for experiments, and we get to do 30 experiments this year!
4. It all comes packaged together, so I don't have to order all these different books/subjects from different places.

We are doing everything through Sonlight this year, except for Math. Sonlight uses Horizon Math, which I'm not particularly fond of, so we are sticking with Math-U-See, which Jackson loves. So I will still have to do lesson plans for math, but that's so much better than all the subjects. So this year he will be doing Literature, Grammar, History, Math, Science, Critical Thinking, Science, and Geography.

The day all your curriculum comes is fondly called "Box Day" by those who use Sonlight. Jackson simply could not believe that all those books were for him (there were over 50!) and took awhile to warm up to it. Once he did, there was no putting them down. He sat and read for over an hour, and is still going to the bookshelf to pick out new books or re-read ones over again.

This is our school bookshelf with all the books we will use this year (we have a seperate bookshelf for all our other books). I'm in the process of organizing our playroom/schoolroom, so I'll show more pictures of the whole thing when its finished, but I'm really excited to get the space put together. We will be starting school August 8th! It's kind of weird not enrolling him in kindergarten and just moving on to 2nd grade. It's a little (a lot) overwhelming, but I know that this is what is best for him, so I'm asking God for a lot of patience, a lot of grace, and an abundance of wisdom. Wish us luck!! :)

Tender Soul

2011-07-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Our London girl.
She breaks the mold. She isn't a typical two year old. At 2.5, she's never had a timeout. Ever. She hasn't needed one, because she actually obeys. Always. If you ask her to do something, she says, "Okay, Mommy. I obey."
Then actually does it.
Stunned?
Me too.
Now, don't get me wrong...she comes with her share of drama. Her bits of drama, however, are overshadowed by her tender, sweet heart. She absolutely cannot stand others being sad, in pain, worried, etc. When Brooklyn cries in the car (Brookie isn't a big fan of her carseat all the time), London is quick to soothe. "It's okay, baby! We be home in 2 minutes! Just 2 minutes, baby!", she'll say. She's the first to say "Bless you!" when you sneeze, ALWAYS says please and thank you (peez? tank you!), asks if you are okay if you fall/trip/etc.

One particular day, Greg and I got a glimpse into her little heart. Jackson had to have breathing treatments, and he HATES them (understandably). London just couldn't bear it. So, the entire time he was getting a treatment, she stood right next to him. One hand she kept tightly in his grasp, and the other hand she placed on his shoulder. She stood there, right by his side, the entire 6 minutes of his treatment, encouraging him. When he was done, she clapped and cheered and hugged him.
She makes me a better person. She is most precious to us, and such a wonderful addition to our family.

Mac Attack

2011-06-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

I would just like to take a moment to point out that I have been pro Mac for a very long time. In fact, when we bought new HPs about 3 years ago, I wanted a Mac. I tried to convince Greg that we should make the switch, but he wasn't ready to make the crossover. My husband isn't the biggest fan of change. He's a creature of habit, that one.

Just pointing this out for, you know, the record.

Because now, finally, we are a Mac family. The transistion has come slowly, first starting with an iPod Touch for my birthday a few years ago (which Greg has taken over). Then came the iPad (which Jackson has taken over), and now Greg has a shiny new Macbook Air. And me? The one who wanted Macs in the first place? Let's just say that I'm not typing this blog up on a Macbook Pro. My time will come, I suppose. At least, that's what I'm told.

Back to the point of this blog: Jackson is now in full control of the iPad. I had Cabbage Patch dolls and cardboard boxes...he has a $500 mini computer. Nuts. Not that we bought it FOR him or even intended him to play with it, it just sort of turned out that way. There are tons of educational apps out there, with his favorite being a game called "Stack the Countries". My kid is a geography wizard, so this is right up his alley. Basically, you try and stack countries on top of each other by answering questions correctly. I sat amazed one day as I watched him play, answering questions like "Which country borders Peru" and "Accra is the capital of which country" quickly and accurately. There is an insanely hard part of it called Pile Up. Imagine Tetris with countries...as they are falling you have to click on the correct one it tells you to make it disappear so you don't go over the line and lose. It is just the country's shape...it's crazy hard, for me at least. Jackson taps out countries like Kiribati and Micronesia (um, whhhhaaaat?!?!) just based on what they LOOK like. Crazy nuts.

So, if you are looking for a fun, educational game for your Mac products, check this one out. I think it was even free! It's perfect for any learner who is obsessed with geography like mine, or one who needs to practice skills in a fun, interactive way!

Or, you know, to practice so your 5 year old doesn't make you feel stupid.

Family Food Friday

2011-06-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...you all are clammering around for pictures. I'm having a bit of technical difficulties with my camera at the moment; but soon, I promise!

In the meantime, I'm hooking up with other bloggers and joining in on something called "Family Food Friday" (a bit late, being that today is Sunday, but whatever). We keep a strict food budget around here, and I adhere to it in two ways: 1. couponing (I got $140 worth of groceries today for $40) and 2. meal planning. Lots of people have asked how I do it, which I find kind of funny because to me it isn't all that hard to sit down and just write out what you are having for the week. Maybe it's just because I've always done it that way, and can somewhat be a bit anal about organization...who knows. I've gotten so good that I actually plan out our meals a month at a time. I plan 5 meals a week, leaving room for nights I don't feel like cooking, leftovers, or eating out. So, this week its:

Monday: Spaghetti and garlic bread
Tuesday: Honey Soy Salmon, couscous, broccoli
Wednesday: Cheeseburgers, sweet potato fries
Thursday: 3 Cheese Baked Pasta
Friday: Crockpot MacNCheese

Now, I know you are thinking...wow, that's a lot of pasta. This is usually what happens at the end of the month because I have meals that are leftover from earlier in the month that I haven't made, but have the stuff to do it. So, this week will be a bit of a carb overload, but oh well. I'll just break it up with the salmon one night, and then hamburgers a few days later.

And who knows, I'll probably add Chipotle somewhere in the mix. ;)

Love.

2011-06-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of it around here.

Homeschool Confessions: Questions Answered

2011-06-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

As popular as homeschooling is becoming, we are still in the minority. I don't think homeschooling will ever make a huge comeback simply because so many households require both mom and dad to work, but I will say that the "stigma" of homeschooling is fading. If anything, I hear more of, "I wish I could do that" over "Are you crazy?"...which helps on the days that I really do feel like I'm crazy. :) I get a lot of questions about how I juggle it all, and I've received a lot in the past few weeks, so I thought I would just do one big blog post to answer questions.

1. Why did you decide to homeschool?
There were lots of reasons. We had decided to homeschool long before we knew that Jackson couldn't be enrolled in public schools...his "talents" just made it an even easier decision. To bring it down to a simple, easy point: we don't believe in the worldview that is being taught in schools. We don't believe in evolution. We believe in God who created all things, and whom all things submit to. You may be thinking that it is only taught in science and in older grades, but it isn't. It's taught from the very beginning in history, English, science, art, etc. It's all there, from the very beginning, just in little spaces you might not notice at first. Some might say that we are the light of the world and therefore must send out children to school, but we don't believe in sending our children out into the schools to be little missionaries...we feel that children are too young to carry that responsibility before they are ready to face the social pressures that they will most definitely encounter. We feel that the Bible is clear in its message that we are held accountable for the rearing of our children...to teach them up in the ways of the Lord. This isn't just how to behave at the dinner table; to us, its teaching these principles in all the subjects that are taught in public school.

2. What curriculum do you use? How did you decide?

We use Sonlight. Cheesy name, I know, but I can tell you this: as an educator myself, I've not found a better curriculum, and I've spent the past five years researching them. We didn't use it this past year because of cost, and I'm kicking myself for that decision. It is a literature based curriculum, which means that they read...a lot. I love it. :) It promotes family, because as part of the lessons you have "read aloud" times that you read together as a family...books like Charlotte's Web and other treasures. It is parent friendly; all your lessons for the year come preplanned so you literally just have to sit down with your child and follow your lesson plan for the day. For Math, we use a program called Math U See. I hate math. Hate it. Never been good at it, so I needed a program that was easy for me to teach and was "hands on". This is perfect. Children watch a DVD of the instructor teaching the lesson (which helps you learn what to do as well) and then you spend the week practicing what they learn.

3. What does it all cost?

Well, we look at it this way. We would never, ever put our kids in public school. We would consider private, but the ones we've looked at would cost us at least $10,000 a year, if not more once all 3 are enrolled. So, for our Sonlight (which covers Literature, Grammar, History, Writing, Science, and Electives...we are doing Critical Thinking this year) and our Math program, we spend about $800 per year. The nice thing is that I'm buying it for Jackson, but I'll just reuse it all for London and Brooklyn, so I won't ever have to pay for two programs in one year. Phew. :)

4. How has Jackson liked it?

So far, he's loved it. We breezed through 1st grade in about 5 months, and we are just starting second grade now (Math, at least. I'm still waiting for our Sonlight curriculum). We get to do fun things, like swimming and playdates and museums whenever we want to. Greg's new schedule isn't an issue (he now works from 12-8) because we aren't shipping him off to school everyday. He would just be starting Kindergarten in August, so he doesn't really know that he isn't "in school" yet. I don't think he will ask those questions for awhile.

5. How do you manage it all?

Good question. It really isn't bad at all. Because we homeschool, we don't have to follow the traditional schedule of an 8 hour day. Homeschooling takes about an hour a day...maybe a little more. So, we usually do it while the girls are sleeping, or in the morning when Brooklyn is sleeping at least. Because all my lessons are pre-done, that doesn't take a lot of time. We just do it...it's a part of our day. It'll get more interesting as the girls start to get involved...but I pretty much rock, so I'm not too worried. ;)

I think that covered most of the questions!!! Trust me, its hard sometimes, but if as a parent I only did the easy things, I wouldn't consider myself a good parent. I'd be selling myself, and my children, short. Plus, I'd sound a lot like my 5 year old, "Mooooommmm, its toooooo haaarrrrdddd," which drives me bonkers. ;)

Show Your Shop Saturday

2011-06-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh...couponing. How I love thee.

Seriously, though. The blog I'm following is called "The Cents'Able Shoppin" and every Saturday she does something called "Show Your Shop Saturday". You put a picture up of your shopping trip, especially if it was good!

Today, mine was good.

While I don't have time to total it all up and tell you exactly what it would have been out of pocket (I know its around $200, easily), I do know that I spent $88. That $88 even includes things like laundry detergent, fabric softner, 2 bodywash, 2 strawberries, 2 raspberries, grapes, tomatoes, carrots, lotion, 6 Wheat Thin Stix, 3 boxes of cereal, 3 lbs of chicken, 2 lbs of turkey, 4 V8 Fusion Juices, 3 bags of my favorite potato chip, cheese, milk, water, orange juice...and more.

I'm pretty proud of myself.

Want to do it yourself? Check out her blog! It's FABULOUS!!! I've linked her blog up, so just click on "The Cents'Able Shoppin" above, and you will get right to her page!

Thanks, Sheryl!

9 Months

2011-06-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

My little sugar love. She's hit the stage of babyhood that I just LOVE: her personality sparkles through like bright sunshine, she giggles and "talks" and finds everything funny, she sits up and plays, yet she can't REALLY move yet. Sure, she can roll and scoot, but crawling still is a few weeks off. So, these are the last days that she will be content to just sit in my lap and play; soon she'll be off exploring, while I'll just be sitting nearby, remembering what it was like to cuddle my last baby love.

9 months has been a month of super growth for her, both physically and cognitively. She was recently weighed and is coming in at a whopping 22 pounds! She sits up on her own and scoots to whatever she needs; I think crawling is really close at hand. She waves "hi" and "bye", got her first two teeth, and said her first word, "Dada!". She reaches up at you to be picked up, still sleeps like a champ, but is still swaddled. She eats everything, and is almost done with babyfood. Tonight she had chicken, potatoes and carrots and just gobbled it down! She now doesn't take any bottles and just drinks from a sippy cup if I'm away and can't feed her myself (yep, I'm still breastfeeding!).

I can't beleive that the next big "month" will be her 1st birthday! This year has flown by...I'm sad to see it go. Plans for her first birthday have started (August 13th), and I'm really excited to throw her the ultimate party...it's my last baby's first birthday, and we are going out with a bang!

World Premiere: Her First Word

2011-05-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

Pretty cute, huh? Now its her favorite thing to babble, and since she knows that she gets such a great response from it, she'll say it and then laugh hysterically. It's almost like she's taunting me.

"Mama, thanks for all you do. In honor of that, I'll shout 'DaDa!' from the rooftops!"

Thanks, kid.

Here, Summer Starts Early.

2011-05-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Calendars don't make much sense here. We get Spring for about two weeks, but I can't complain too much. I mean, its May and we are out swimming and sliding and tanning and sippin' lemonade. Right now, we love it. Come August, we'll whine and complain like we always do.

But you really can't blame us because 115 would make anyone complain.

Anyway, Jackson got a waterslide for his birthday, so we decided to break it out of the box and test it out (plus, our grass needed a good watering).

He had a hard time getting up enough momentum to get himself flying down the slide, so Greg put on his Resourceful Daddy hat, grabbed the rake and told Jackson to hold on to the handle. Greg would zip him down, and Jackson would let go...mission accomplished!

Funnily enough, its a breezy 70 degree day today...a lovely break from our 100 degree weather!

My First With Three.

2011-05-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

"...but I'm also..."

Have you even noticed a woman, especially a stay at home mom, add that to a sentence about what she does? I hear it all the time. "I stay at home, but I also...", or "I stay at home, but I used to be a...", as if the role "stay at home mom" doesn't hold enough value on its own.

I'm guilty of it. I mean, its hard to feel worthy when half the time you never get out of your jammies. When you do manage to get ready for the day, it isn't a rarity to find dried Cheerios in your hair and spit up stains on your shirt AFTER you've already left the house. I don't see immediate results in my job...I don't turn in grade cards or have evaluations or even fight for pay raises. I don't wear expensive shoes (where would I wear them?), carry a designer handbag, or have hair appointments on a monthly schedule. Its a rare treat to converse with another adult during the day; I'd be lying if I said I never drooled over the thought of using daycare for just one.single.day.to.just.breath.or.pee.on.my.own.

On the other hand, there isn't a role harder than mine. I'm never off the clock; I go 24 hours a day. I sleep with one eye open, and if that eye closes, both ears are open. I'm trained to jump out of bed at alert the second something is amiss. I miraculously heal wounds and dry tears, I make 3 meals a day and am in charge of countless snacks. There isn't a person in this house who has more knowledge and interest in the bodily functions of the little people who reside here. I'm in charge of appointments, playdates, groceries, and everything in between. There is not a moment of their lives I don't know about, because I've been there for every bit. And the house? Oh my gosh, the house. I swear if we didn't need the space I'd live in a cardboard box just so I didn't have to clean it. Over and over and over and over again I clean. And clean. And clean....but if you walked in my house this very second, you'd never know it.

This is my first year with three...and I think I'm doing pretty good. There have probably been more days that my hair hasn't been washed than it has, more days where I'm in jammies instead of jeans, and probably even a few days where I've left the house and forgotten to brush my teeth. Luckily for me, how well I'm doing isn't based on those things. All I have to do is look at my children. My children...who are happy. My children, who are smothered in the love of their mother all day. My children, who eat my food and are healthy. My children, who thrive on consistancy and routine, even when that routine makes me go mad some days. They are my report card.

So no more, "but I also do.." or "but I used to be.." for me. What I do is enough, and what I do is worthy of recognition and honor on its own.

Here's to you, fellow Mamas. Happy Mother's Day...we rock. :)

Her big brother...

2011-04-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

...is so very, very proud.

Why? Read it here.

He is the Jedi; and she, the Padawan.

Brooklyn, 8 months

2011-04-23T07:46:00.001-07:00

I'm a little late to the party, here. Brooklyn hit 8 months a few weeks ago, so these pictures were taken a wee bit late. As you can see, she is getting so big. Like, crazy kinds of big. She hasn't been weighed since her 6 month appointment, but I'm guessing she's a little over 20 lbs now.

While she isn't crawling yet, she is very mobile. She twists and turns and flips and scoots to wherever and whatever she wants. She sits up all by herself, and is learning to feed herself. I haven't found a food she doesn't love (obviously), so she is a reallly good eater. I still nurse her, and she gets solid foods for lunch and dinner. Soon I'll add in breakfast. Her Easter basket contains a sippy cup, so tomorrow we will start to work on moving her to a cup!

She still sleep likes a champ, as long as she is swaddled. Crazy, right? I thought to myself one night, "Hey, you are 8 months old. Babies are supposed to be done with this by now." So we decided to try and break her of her swaddle habit.

No dice.

She just cried and cried and cried and then cried some more. Now, those of you who know me know that I'm not afraid of a little crying. However, with Brooklyn, she'd cry for an hour, fall asleep for 45 minutes, and then wake up crying again. So it was ruining her sleep more than it was helping it. In her swaddle, she take 2 hour naps and sleeps at night from 6:30pm-8am. So, swaddled she stays. Until she's 5, for all I care. I know there will come a time where she won't want it anymore...at least, that's what I'm hoping for.

So, that's the update on our little bunny. She's the happiest baby I've ever met, and I'm so lucky to be her Mama.

Painting Eggs

2011-04-21T14:02:00.001-07:00

Up until this year, I haven't been a huge fan of the Easter egg coloring thing. It's messy, smelly, and was, in my opinon, kind of boring. Plop an egg in a cup, wait 10 minutes, take it out. Wah-wah-wah.

However, this year, we got something new...and I will do it every year from now on!!! It's a kit that actually lets you paint the eggs with the egg dye! You get all the colors you normally would and little sponge rollers that the kids can dip into the color and roll onto the eggs.

This is SO much better! First, less smelly. It's still a vinegar based dye, but you don't have to mix it up. No color tabs, no measuring out vinegar, no using your own mugs. You just squeeze the packets into the tray it came with. Second, even little kids can do it! London does not have the attention span to sit and wait for eggs to color 10 minutes in a mug. That's the opposite of fun for her (and me). However, she LOVES to paint, so this was perfect! Third, you get cooler looking eggs!!! Can I get an "Amen!" when it came to how ridiculously annoying it is to have to hold eggs in dye to get them different colors? Really, the only downside is that it is messy, but it super easy cleanup. This year I also made the mistake of only buying one, so the colors got mixed up pretty quickly because London wasn't having the "only use this sponge for this color" thing. So, next year each kid will get their own color kit. They weren't expensive...about $3.

As you can see, they were very pleased with the whole process! No tears, no boredom, just fun.

It was so easy, that I think even an 20 month old Brooklyn may be able to do it next year! As you can tell, she can hardly wait.
(P.S-Aren't my kids adorable?)

My New Hobby: Coupons!

2011-04-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

So, let's see...what do I have?
-4 boxes of Golden Graham
-4 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios
-1 Lysol Multipurpose Cleaner
-1 Lysol Bathroom Cleaner
-1 bottle Windex
-1 Large pack (48 ct) Always
-2 Reach Total Care Toothbrushes
-2 Colgate Toothpastes
-2 Clorox Cleaning Wipes
-6 pack of Scotts Natural Paper Towels
-3 bottles of Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner
-1 bottle Aquafresh Kid's Training Toothpaste
-1 package Reach Floss
-1 75 ct Listerine Pocket Paks
-2 goody hair accessories
-1 Nivea BodyWash
(Not pictured: 4 AirWick Freshmatic Starter Kits, (2) 30 ct Oxiclean Max Force Laundry Detergent Tabs, 2 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner rolls, 2 Pillsburty Orange Sweet Rolls, 1 Johnson and Johnson Baby Wash.)

Would you like to know how much I paid for all that?

About $25. Isn't that crazy? All of that retails for about $130. I paid $25.

I was a huge skeptic of couponing at first. I buy tons of produce, so I didn't really think that couponing would really help me out that much at first. But when I really thought about it, a lot of my grocery budget is spent on household supplies, and that stuff we go through fast. For example, I have 3 toilets, all which get cleaned once a week. That is a LOT of toilet cleaner. I was paying $4 a bottle for this stuff. With couponing, I got those 3 bottles you see up there for about .38. Cereal? Oh my gosh, we go through that stuff like crazy. Paper Towels? And don't even get me started on toothpaste. There are lots of teeth in this house! :)

A few notes on couponing:

1. There is a wrong way to do it. I don't think its right to gather up 65 bottles of Nivea bodywash simply because you can get it for free. No one needs that much body wash. Crazy coupon people will try and make it okay by saying, "Oh, well I donate it." Really? I say donate 5 bottles and leave the other 50 for other people to buy because they need it. So, no, I'm not a hoarder. All the things you see up there we use regularly, and I only buy in amounts that we will realistically use. I never clear out shelves unless it really is the last ones (I picked up the last 2 toothbrushes).

2. It takes time to figure it all out. I follow a local blogger who scopes out all the sales and breaks down what coupons to use where. I probably read her blog for a month before I felt comfortable breaking out on my own. Its nice that way because I don't have to spend hours combing over ads looking for deals...its done for me. I just have to clip and go!

3. You don't have to go to 5,000 different stores. Walmart price matches AND accepts coupons. So let's say Walgreens has Nivea body wash on sale for $3.79 and you have a $3 off coupon. You can tell your Walmart cashier the Walgreens price, they will change their price, and then hand them the coupon. The only other store I go to is Fry's (Kroger or Dillons for you midwest folk) because they make coupons worth $1.

It's a learning process. For example, this morning I went to Walgreens and bought some stuff. I spent about $6, but when I got home I realized that if I would have used a different coupon and bought a different item, I would have actually MADE $1!! Oops! So, you have to give yourself time to learn it all and figure out all the rules.

I'm pretty proud of myself! :)

The Newborn Malloys

2011-04-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

My kids look a lot alike. I've really never seen siblings that look so similar. Jackson is starting to branch away as he gets older and his hair becomes darker; but he and London were little clones for a bit.

And Brooklyn! Oh my word...just wait until I post comparison pics of Jackson and her at 9 months. They are the same child seperated by gender and 4.5 years. It's crazy how much they look alike! I think its because of her crazy chubby cheeks, but she also has the same tuft of hair in the front that he did. Her eyes are the same...everything. It's eery. Just pop her in a sweater vest and Photoshop him in a tutu and wa-la! Instant switcheroo! I love having cute kids. :)

Big Girl!!!

2011-04-13T19:16:00.001-07:00

Could it be true? Could the thing I've been dreading since those two little pink lines appeared before me in May of 2008 be over? Could my 2nd child be potty-trained?!?!

Yes.

I hate potty training. Really, its the thing I probably hate most about parenting small humans. It's messy, long, time consuming...it's just awful. London started to show interest a few months ago, so we tried around Christmas. Epic fail. It freaked her out and she wanted nothing to do with it. So, we tried a month or so later...same results. Then last week, I decided to try again. It clicked, and it clicked quickly. Within 3 days, she was fully potty-trained! She is completely in underwear, even in public, except for her naps and bedtime. How amazing is that!!?? Jackson took about a week, but then he took almost 6 months to fully train when it came to...you know, #2. Not London...she is good to go!

And! And!! One night last week I went out with friends for a bit and Greg decided that he would teach London how to sleep in a big girl bed. The child has stayed in bed ever since, never getting out once! To say I'm shocked is an understatement; Jackson took 3 weeks to teach how to stay in bed! Huge Daddy props to Greg...I love how he takes initiative and helps with these major things!

So, within one week, we knocked those blocks down! She grew up, and is allllll big girl. It is so cute to see her running around in little underwear and to see her curled up in her toddler bed.

Ahhh...just one left in diapers! If only I could train my 8 month old to wear underwear... ;)

London's 2nd Birthday

2011-03-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

I realized as I was finally getting on track with writing blogs again that I never put pictures up of London's 2nd birthday! Her birthday was a very sad day; it was the day that she was admitted to the Children's Hospital in January. She spent four days there, and then took about 2 weeks to fully recover, so her birthday celebration was put on hold for a few weeks. Finally we got our act together (or should we say, our immune systems got their act together!) and we had a little celebration for her. Her birthdays have been so sad these past few years...we had to cancel her 1st birthday party because she had been exposed to the chicken pox, and now this birthday was spent in the hospital. Poor little thing...we'll have to make it up to her next year!

My London-girl,

I've dreamt of you my whole life. I don't think you realize how much I wanted you...I don't even think I did. I realized it the second the ultrasound technician proclaimed that you were a girl, and I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how special you are to me.

You are sassy and spectacular. You make Daddy and I laugh all the minutes of the day! You have the most gorgeous eyes; huge, round, blue eyes that capture everyone who looks at you. "Lock that girl up," they'll say, and I smile. You are beautiful, and so much more. You are tender and sweet; you would spend all day cuddled in our laps if you could. You are compassionate; the other night while your brother was getting a breathing treatment, you stood there the whole time with your hand on his shoulder, because you know he doesn't like them. When the six minutes (yes, you stood there for six whole minutes, perched by his side!) was up, you clapped and cheered for him, and gave him a big hug. If Daddy or I ever leave, the moment we walk back in the door, you scream our name and come running at us, insisting on hugs and welcome home kisses. You love to have bows in your hair; "two bows peez!", you'll say, running to the bathroom. You change your babies diapers, and help take care of Brooklyn with such a gentle hand. You must always give her a kiss on the head after her naps and in the morning. You are such a big girl, and we love you more than words could ever express.

I love you, princess face.

Mommy

Her Creative Side

2011-03-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Painting is something I always forget about. In fact, today was the first time London has ever gotten her hands on a paintbrush! I know, I know...in my defense, she has only recently shown a huge interest in wanting to color all the time, and I didn't have any watercolors around. I've found that watercolors are the best for young children...so easy to wipe up and if they mix all the colors up it isn't a big deal! Plus, they are cheap. We could go through one a week and not make a big dent in the checkbook! The kids LOVE to paint. They both sat in the playroom for close to an hour this morning painting. I usually use this time to do some housework, but I decided to be a good Mommy and actually play with them today. :) London's first painting was a success...when I asked her what she wanted to call it, she proclaimed, "ME!". So "ME!" is proudly hanging in our playroom now, soon to be framed.

She also loves to read. Jackson was gone for a few days at Nana's house, so London had total control over the bookshelf. My children love to read. London will sit here most of the afternoon, "reading" book after book. We've read them all so many times to her that she knows most of the hand motions or sounds that go with them. She will "read" to all her babies and animals. I love it. She plays happily by herself most of the time, and sometimes I'll just sit and watch her little mind make her world bigger. She is my best little friend. I love her.

What She's Up To

2011-03-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

Brookie Bear is growing up right before our eyes! She's added lots of things to her list of accomplishments, including sitting up and eating finger foods. She loves the Baby MumMum rice crackers; they are big enough for her to grasp and hold on to as she eats. She is now eating dinner and lunch solid food as well! She is SO mobile, and is well on her way to crawling. She rolls everywhere quickly, and just the other day I saw her scoot herself forward to get a toy! It won't be long before she is on the move, so I keep her close and cuddled on my lap while she will still let me!

Homeschooling Confessions: School (Or Lack Thereof)

2011-03-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

People know some of the reasons why I homeschool. In fact, when people meet Jackson, before they even know that fact, they often ask, "oh my, what are you going to do with him in school?". I smile and reply, "We homeschool," to which they always reply, "Well, I guess you'd have to!". Really, there are a lot of reasons why we homeschool, and even if Jackson wasn't how he is, we'd still do it. I don't know if our other children will be "gifted" like Jackson, but it doesn't really matter. No matter the aptitude of our children in academia, all of them will be homeschooled.

There are many challenges in teaching gifted children. In fact, I don't know if I've ever really taught one. I've taught smart kids for sure, but gifted is much different as I'm learning. I love that Jackson can hold his own. I love that he understands the world around him and is constantly looking for challenges. The problem is giving him those challenges that he needs.

For example, in August, I thought I'd be challenging him by starting him in 1st grade. He was 4.5, and I made the mistake of basing his needs on his age. In my mind, most kids don't start 1st grade until 6, sometimes 7, so I figured I was pushing him way ahead. Nope. In fact, this year has been just a review for him, which is not only frustrating to me, but him as well. I feel like we are stuck in a rut, doing things he already knows. We were barely through his Math book (Lesson 13 out of 30), when he just flipped to the back of the book, on his own, and completed the final test for the whole year. Everything I've presented to him he either already knows or masters it in 15 minutes, without need for repetition or review.

So, we are changing up everything. We are going to switch to a new curriculum that allows us to choose different levels within the same grade range. I'm SO excited because I really feel like I've found something that will challenge him, without having to enroll him in the 4th grade! In the meantime, we are just using teachable moments. For example, the other morning Jackson was playing with a nerf gun. Greg made a target on the white board and put some numbers in it. He loved it, lightbulbs went off in my head, and a math game was formed! This is how we have to do it around here sometimes! :)

We have a lot of fun around here! So even though we aren't following a "traditional" school year at the moment, I make sure to turn lots of moments into teachable ones. And just because she's cute...here is a picture of London from the morning!

She loves all of our little games too! :)

Jackson's 5th Birthday!

2011-03-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

He's 5! A whole hand. Crazy to beleive. I started this blog when he was 3 months old; 5 years of his life are documented here. He's left babyhood, toddlerhood, and preschooler behind. What comes after preschooler? Kid? Boy? I don't know! For his birthday, we decided to really celebrate! 5 is a big year, so we went all out for him. We rented a bounce house and had it at his favorite park and invited ALL his friends. He wanted a WipeOut party, so that was as close as we could come to his favorite TV show! He had cupcakes with red gumballs because our rule was that he could have gum when he turned 5! People blessed him with presents, I had lots of his favorite foods...he was so happy. Over 30 people showed up to celebrate his life; he truly is a special, loved boy!

To My Jackson, My darling, you bring me such joy. God has blessed me incredibly with you as a son; I am so honored to be called your Mama. You are so precious to us, and I simply can't wait to see what your next year holds.

You are so many things, Bug. You are kind, gentle, compassionate, loving, funny, smart, energetic, happy, a great big brother, a dreamer, and polite. Your mind works all the time, and you are constantly figuring things out and looking for things to understand deeper. You love to pretend to live in other countries and be other people; I frequently have to call you a different name that you've come up with for the day! You are working your way through countries alphabetically in your pretend world; today we lived in Canada, for example! Every night when I tuck you in, you pray for the people of whatever country you "lived in" to know Jesus. You have a heart for God, and I love seeing you learn more and more about our Savior everyday. I love how Bibles are your favorite books, and I love how in the middle of the night, you prefer praise songs to soothe you back to sleep (Holy, Holy, Holy is one of your favorites).

I love you, Jackson. You are my most favorite boy in the whole world and I LOVE being your Mommy!

Love,

Mama

Are You Smarter Than Jackson? (I'm Not).

2011-03-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

Jackson's FAVORITE items as of late are an old atlas from Greg's office and the globe that his Gramma and Papa got him for Christmas. I'm not kidding, these items go with him everywhere. He sleeps with them, takes them in the car with him, eats with them, watches cartoons with them, etc. He pours over the atlas, and then finds places he reads about on the globe.

Today, Greg grabbed the globe and started asking him what the capitals of countries were. I was sitting there, and the following happened. By the end of this conversation, Greg and I had to pick our jaws up off of the floor.

*We have never done geography before. I have not taught him ANY of this. This is alllll him.*

Jackson, what's the capital of Boliva? Sucre.
Argentina? Buenos Aires.
Uruguay? Montevideo.
Colombia? Bogota.
Honduras? Tegucigalpa.

Belize? Belmopan.
Guyana? Georgetown.
Algeria? Algiers.
Egypt? Cairo.
Ethiopa? Addis Ababa
Angola? Luanda.
South Africa? Well, Daddy, there are three. Cape Town, Maputo, and Tshwane.
Madagascar? Antananarivo.
Afghanistan? Kabul.
Turkey? Ankara.
Bulgaria? Sofia.
Hungary? Budapest.
Poland? Warsaw.
Philippines? Manila.

And on and on and on. He knew every single capital of all the countries. There were some he faltered on because we were pronouncing them differently than he had, but if we showed him the country we meant (covering up the capital), he would instantly know the right answer.

I am now almost 100% positive that he has a true photographic memory. At one point, Greg couldn't find the capital of the a certain country, and Jackson said, "Look at the line near the....", as if looking at a picture from memory.

We also have been reading him the book ABC Bible Verses before bed. Every night is a new verse that starts with whatever letter we are on. We just finished Z last night. We would do a new one every night. Jackson knows all 26 verses, even though we only went over it ONCE. Some of the verses are hard, too, like L's. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." (Matthew 5:16). I asked him what L's was, and he just rattled if off, like nothing. I don't even know 26 verses!!!!

We really can't believe him sometimes. It is just plain crazy. I wonder what it will be like to live with a 10 year old who really will be smarter than me?!

Jackson-isms.

2011-03-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

This kid has been DELIGHTING us with his funny statements lately. Here are a few gems!

*Tonight his Bible verse had to do with turning away from sin and trusting Jesus. Jackson has been studying the planets recently...you'll understand in a minute why this is connected! :)*

Me: Do you know what turning away from sin means?
Jackson: Well, does it mean that we have to say NO to what Saturn tell us?
Me: Ummmm...yes.
Jackson: So when Saturn tells us, "Push your sister!", if you don't do it, you are turning away.
Me: Yes. (thinking he had some imaginary friend named Saturn).
Jackson: Heeeey! There is a planet in our solar system named Saturn, too!
Me: Oh wait! You mean, Satan! (Duh)

*
Me: Jackson, will you love me when you are as big as Daddy?
Jackson: Yes!!! And I'll love you when you are old, too!
Me: How old?
Jackson: Like, 1000 years old!
Me: Mommies don't live that long, silly!
Jackson: Yes they do! The ones that are all wrapped up in white sheets!
Me: Oh, you mean mummies!!!
Jackson: Oh, yeah. Mummies.

*
Sometimes if I miss a nursing session with Brooklyn, I'll have to pump. I don't normally have to during the day, so Jackson doesn't see this very often. When he does, he normally has something funny to say! This particular time was hysterical. He walked in while I was pumping, took one look at me and said,

"Man, some really awkward things happen in this house!"

and then walks away! I agree, baby. I agree. :)

Brooklyn is SIX months old!

2011-02-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

Six months. Half a year. 176 days.

When she was born in August, I was terrified of what life would be like with 3 children. After my bout with postpartum depression when London was born, I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to handle it and my world would come crashing down around me.

The Lord knew my fears, answered my prayers, and blessed me with a child that simply blew my expectations out of the water. From her first moments, her easy-going personality wooed us to her. We didn't hear her cry for weeks, she slept through the night by 4.5 weeks, she gained weight quickly, traveled to Europe like a pro, and delights us with her laugh every moment she is awake. She is gorgeous, and honestly the most perfect baby I've ever met! Everyday I seem to mention something along the lines to Greg of, "Can you believe how awesome she is?".

Once she turned 6 months, she decided that she was ready to hit some milestones! She rolls like a log and is sitting up! She babbles and recognizes her name and even her nickname (Brookie Bear). She can grab toys and get them to her mouth, hold her own binky and, if she liked it enough, would probably just pop it in herself. She found her toes and thinks they are the coolest things ever. Her favorite person is Jackson; no one else can get her giggling like he does! She is still taking 3 naps during the day and sleeping all night. She is eating lots of different foods, and she actually seems to prefer veggies over fruit (see!? I told you she was perfect)!

When she is sleeping, I actually MISS her. I wait patiently for her to wake up in the morning and then I scoop her up to kiss her fabulous cheeks and snuggle her neck. I love her to the moon and back, and am so thankful for her. Happy Half Birthday, Brooklyn. I adore you.

Tricks: Tummy and Toes

2011-02-16T20:22:00.001-08:00

Look, Mommy! I found a treasure!

My toes! Aren't they awesome? (yes, baby, they are.)

And for my next trick....

(Errr, uh...hold on a second!)

Phew...there! I did it! All by myself! Aren't I awesome? (yes, baby, you are.)

I forget how quickly babies grow after they hit six months. All of a sudden Brooklyn has places to go! She never stays in one spot! AND she is sitting up (which I haven't gotten a picture of yet)! All of this happened this week...its crazy! My little one is growing up so fast!

Brooklyn, 5 months!

2011-02-01T19:21:00.001-08:00

There's the chunky muffin!!! Isn't she delightful?

She had a doctor's appointment a few weeks ago, and is wonderfully chunky and tall. She was 17 pounds, 4 ounces and 26 inches long. So, essentially, she has gained 11 pounds and grown 8 inches since birth!
She is in a big girl carseat now, but obviously still rear facing. Her infant carrier only went to 20 pounds, so we went ahead and put her in a big seat and she loves it! She is on the move and rolls in both directions, although she is mostly content on her back and tends to stay there. She is moving to only 2 naps per day (one morning, one afternoon), and still is sleeping like a champ all night. She has figured out that her feet work well to make toys move in her play gym, and loves to suck on her fingers and fists. She is still swaddled at night because she LOVES it; I briefly considered taking her out of it, but I figure, why mess with a good thing? Just this week we started giving her rice cereal, and so far she has tried both green beans and peas (she favors the green beans)! She is still breastfed, but she REALLY loves to eat off a spoon!
She is so much fun, and all kinds of happy! We love our Brookie Bear!

London

2011-01-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where to begin.

Really, it all started with Jackson. About two weeks ago, Jackson started his Saturday morning off with a high fever and a cough. By Wednesday, he wasn't getting any better, so we took him into the doctor. He had pneumonia, and was put on antibotics. I was feeling awful as well, and went to the doctor right after Jackson, where I found out that I had strep throat. The antibiotics weren't working for me, so I had to go back on Saturday.

Saturday evening London came down with a fever and a cough. We put her to bed, knowing that she most likely caught whatever Jackson and I had. Sure enough, she woke up on Sunday (her 2nd birthday!) morning witha 104 fever and a horrible cough. It was clear that by Sunday midmorning that she needed to be seen by a doctor, so we rushed her to urgent care. After being there for hours, she was diagnosed with pneumonia AND croup. She was sent home with antibiotics and steroids. We got her home and tried to give her the medicine, which she promptly thew up.

At this point, things started looking pretty bad. London couldn't catch her breath. She would cough, her eyes would get wide as saucers, and her lips started to turn blue. She started drooling and gasping for air. Luckily we have an ER about 5 minutes from our house, so it was quicker for me to throw her in our car and race to the hospital. It was the most terrifying ride of my life. London is struggling to breath, I'm racing down the road at 70 mph, willing cars out of my way as I scream at her to keep breathing. When we reached the ER, there was a line at the desk, but when people heard London struggling, they let us through to the front of the line. She was taken back where they gave her a breathing treatment and a steroid. The treatment seemed to be working, but they wanted us to wait 3 hours. If after 3 hours she was still doing okay, we could go home. She was good up until 3 hours, at which point she began having a hard time again. At that point they decided to transport her via ambulance to the nearest children's hospital, Cardon's Children's Medical Center. I was so scared for her at this point.

We arrived at Cardon's at 1:30 am. She received another breathing treatment. Usually with croup cases, just one treatment is enough. Over the course of her hospital stay, London had to received 7-8...I began to lose count. At one point there was mention that if she didn't start responding to the treatments they may have to intubate her. She became so dehydrated that they had to start an IV line. She just laid there, lethargic and sleepy. She made no attempt to get out of her bed. She wasn't eating or drinking. She would sleep for hours, wake up for a few minutes and cry to be held or go home, and then would drift off to sleep again.

On Wednesday, things started looking up. It had been 24 hours since her last breathing treatment. Her lungs sounded clear, and the croup seemed to have cleared up, even though she still wasn't drinking on her own. They decided to release her. We brought her home, so happy that we were able to leave. We put her to bed at 6 pm, and she didn't wake up to 9:15 am. She ate a little, and then went back to bed until 1 pm. She started to get a pretty wicked cough and still hadn't gotten her voice back. This morning (Friday) we took her back to the ped for a follow up visit. The Dr walked in, obviously concerned. She didn't like the cough, and sure enough, London now has junk in her lungs. She should be on the upswing by now, and she isn't. Her Dr. gave her another dose of steroids at the office. London is now on more steroids, antibiotics, and breathing treatments at home. If she isn't better by next week, she may have to go back to the hospital.

So, needless to say, it has been a little crazy over here. Please pray for our London; that she would be healed and free of any pain. She is such a little trooper. Brooklyn has shown no signs of becoming sick, and Jackson is completely clear and healthy. I'm still recovering a bit from being sick, and Greg so far seems to be healthy. Hopefully this will all blow over soon! We are waiting until London feels better to celebrate her birthday, poor thing!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

2011-01-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have noticed that on my January Monthly Menu, Whole Wheat Pancakes were one of the items for breakfast. I found the recipe on Confessions of a Homeschooler, and decided to try it.
They were really good, and as healthy as pancakes can get as they were made with whole wheat flour. I also tripled the recipe so I could just make them all this morning and then just microwave the leftovers throughout the month as my menu calls for them.

Here is the recipe, enjoy!

1 1/4 C Whole Wheat flour
1 egg
1 C milk
1 TB sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 TB lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients together and cook on a griddle or flat skillet. Very easy!

New Year's Resolutions for Families

2011-01-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

We aren't big "resolution" kind of people. We have goals all the time, not just at the beginning of the year.
However, in the Focus on the Family magazine for this month, they had an interesting article on 50 New Year's Resolutions for your family. I LOVED some of them, so I thought I'd share them with you all in hopes that you can be inspired to try something new as well!

-Build a family fort using only cardboard and duct tape.
-Start a prayer jar. Each family member can write prayers or draw prayer pictures and leave them in the jar. At year's end, look through the prayers together and talk about God's faithfulness.
-Give something away every month this year. Be looking for the needs of friends and how their needs may overlap with what you own. Give freely.
-Have a "friends" dinner. Let each child invite a guest.
-Switch places at the dining room table.
-Make a list of 12 parks in the city. Picnic at one each month.
-Create a family quote board. Each time someone says something funny, post it on the board.
-Fill a jar with ideas for "fun things to do" and draw one each week.
-Pray a blessing over your child every morning.

Those were just some of the ones I enjoyed!

Bumbo

2011-01-06T12:53:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn has graduated to the Bumbo chair, which is lovely. I love the Bumbo, for a variety of reasons:

1. At this age (almost 5 months), Brooklyn pretty much wants to be a part of everything that is going on. From this vantage point, she can feel like she's part of the action.

2. That "action" mentioned in point 1 usually involves Jackson swinging around the house like a monkey, so I feel like she's a little bit safer in this as opposed to laying on a blanket, waiting to be pounced upon.

3. It's perfect to take to restaurants. Brooklyn is at that stage where she is too heavy to carry around in her infant carrier, but doesn't have enough head/neck control to sit in a highchair. So, you just get a booth and use the bumbo!

4. It helps her strengthen her head and neck muscles so she can eventually crawl. I have mixed feelings about this.

5. But most of all, I love it because it will help fix this...

...because that is just a bit ridiculous. :)

Homeschooling Confessions: Meal Planning

2011-01-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

I have a lot on my plate.

I have 3 children, all under the age of 5. One of them is super tiny (not literally, though) and requires a lot of time, especially since I'm breastfeeding her. The next one is a bit of drama, and needs Momma snuggles a lot. The third is just this huge ball of boy energy that needs constant corralling or the walls of our house may fall down from his Ninja Warrior antics. I have a house full of laundry, shelves with an inch of dust, a sink full of dishes, overflowing trash cans, and toilets that have seen better (cleaner) days.
Oh, and did I mention that I homeschool?

Needless to say, meal times around here tend to be a frantic, chaotic mess of cheesesticks and peanut butter and jelly. For the past year or so I started planning out our dinners on a month-to-month basis, and that REALLY helped, not only on a time management plane, but also with our budget. The idea, however, of planning out every meal and snack seemed a bit daunting. Until I found this. A Homeschooling Momma of four kids chronicles all her fabulous stuff on her Confessions of a Homeschooler blog. I visit there from time to time to get new ideas. She posts these Word Docs of her meal plans with EVERY meal on there and is nice enough to share them with us all! So, I decided that I'm tired of the chaos and the "what's for snack?" questions and dove right on in! I just took her format, put my meals in (I used some of her ideas as well!) and waaa-la...instant awesome-ness. :)

Can I tell you how amazing this is? This idea of planning out every meal? AhhhhMazing. It took me about an hour to put it all together. That's it...an hour. AND when I went to the grocery store to buy all of my stuff for TWO weeks...I spent $100. For five people. For two weeks. All because of a list and a plan. Plus, I can look at a day and know that my kids are hitting (for the most part) their nutritional needs.

Here is how it works: the first line is breakfast, second is lunch, third is afternoon snack, and last is dinner. The end. How simple is that? It's so nice just going to the fridge and looking to see what I need to get out! I love it!

Anything that makes my life easier and *may* give me a spare moment to clean toilets, I'll do. :)

Three Cities 2010 Christmas Picture

2010-12-30T14:45:00.001-08:00

I took close to 50 pictures.
I got one that is semi-decent.
Apparently, that's how it goes with 3 children, a camera, and a Christmas tree.
Enjoy!

The Girls.

2010-12-30T12:43:00.001-08:00

It is really fun having girls.
I didn't have a sister. I always wanted one, especially as I got older. To have that instant, life-long best friend just seems like a super cool relationship. One of my best friends has a sister that she is only 20 months older than, just like my girls (well, mine are 18 months) and they are suuuuuper close. All the pictures of them when they were kids are just adorable, and I'm slightly jealous of all the fun stories and jokes they share. My brothers and I just weren't like that. My brother and I probably talk about 2-3 times per year; it isn't because we don't love each other, it's just that we didn't have the type of family where siblings were close to each other. We kind of did our own thing. I think my brothers were close to each other...maybe I'm just out of the loop because I'm the only girl.

To be the mother of two girls is a huge responsibility. Girls just don't grow up well-rounded, confident, and well mannered. In fact, if you leave a girl to her own devices, she most likely will turn out selfish and searching for love in all the wrong places. So while it will be a whole lot of fun raising these two gems, it will be a whole lot of work as well. To teach a girl that she is beautiful and loved for who she is by the only One who matters...that is a tall order. I pray for wisdom daily!

They are beautiful, aren't they? :)

Brooklyn, 4 months!

2010-12-29T12:40:00.000-08:00

I know I start off every monthly post with, "I seriously can't believe its been ____ months!", but, really...I can't help myself. Every person I know who has older children reminds me that it flies by quickly and the next thing you know they are asking for the keys to the minivan you bought to store all their Cheerios in. I know I look at them like they are silly, because most days this phase of tiny children seems to craaaaawwwl by. The days pass by slowly and the years fly by quickly.

While we haven't quite hit a year yet, Brooklyn turned 4 months old this month! She hasn't been to the doctor yet, so I can't give you official stats (I know you are just hanging on the edge of your seats...), but let's just say she ain't hurting for meals. According to my scale, she weighs just over 17#, which for her age is 100%. Which means most babies are smaller than she is! It's true; when I looked back at Jackson and London's 4 month stats, both of them were just 14#s. This means that we will have to buy her a new carseat waaaay before she turns one, most likely in February. I'm hoping for her to stay under 20 lbs until then...a new carseat isn't in the budget quite yet!!!

She is still her awesome little self. She LOVES to laugh. She still hasn't rolled over, but that's okay. Mama wants her littlest and last baby to stay right where she is! She has awesome head control and tries to grab at all of her toys. She still sleeps like a champ; she goes to bed at 7pm and I usually have to wake the lazy bones up at 8:30 am! She loves to suck on her fingers and doesn't really like a pacifier. She is still swaddled at night, but that's mostly because I don't have warm jammies for her.
Christmas Day last year was when we found out that I was pregnant with Brookie Bear. It's been a year since she joined our little family, and we are so happy to have her around!

A Spectacular Christmas!

2010-12-26T21:39:00.001-08:00

We had a pretty awesome Christmas weekend around here! Jackson was horribly sick, but he was such a trooper and pushed through it (I think all the presents and treats helped)! Our festivities started out on the 23rd with Greg's family coming over for our annual Family Christmas Dinner. It is my favorite family gathering of the year, and we host it here at our house.

Jackson was feeling pretty crummy by the next day, so instead of going to Christmas Eve services, we just stayed home. I felt so bad for him; he ended up sleeping in my bed that night because he woke up unable to breathe! So, he saw his Christmas presents a little early since he trudged down the stairs at 10 pm! Poor Greg had to sleep on the couch.

Christmas Day was awesome. Having a 4 year old and an allllllmost 2 year old makes Christmas morning so exciting! Each year gets better and better as they get more and more excited over the holiday. We spent the morning opening presents, eating our traditional breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. After breakfast and presents, we got ready and headed to Tucson for dinner with my Dad and stepmom Marilyn!

The kids love going to their Gramma and PaPa's house, so they were all very excited! My brother came in from Texas where he is stationed in the Army. It was good to see him and his wife; he had never met London or Brooklyn! We had a traditional Swedish dinner (Marilyn is Swedish) which I LOVE, and just hung out and opened more presents.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and Jackson finally seems to be on the mend. He's already started his countdown until next year! :)

Video Palooza Part Five: Story Time!

2010-12-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of having an older brother is that they can read you stories while Mommy is busy! Jackson loves to read to Brooklyn and London, but he prefers Brooklyn because she just sits and listens to him (London is a little busy these days!).

Video Palooza Part Four: Until June

2010-12-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

A few of our friends have a band called Until June. Their album is on my phone, and Jackson LOVES to listen to their music (it's pretty good!). We caught him in action grooving to their tunes. He's a little out of breath; by this point he had been dancing and singing to them for about an hour!

Video Palooza Part 3-Snoring London

2010-12-20T14:11:00.000-08:00

Greg's lap is one of London's favorite snuggle spots. For some reason, naptime hadn't worked out for her, so her super tired self crawled up on Daddy's lap and she fell asleep. We learned a secret about London that day...she has a pretty incredible snore!

Video Palooza Part Two-Brooklyn Giggles

2010-12-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

It is really easy to make Brooklyn laugh. She is super ticklish, so just a few touches of her belly will send her into fits. Jackson figured out that her little vibrating fish can really tickle her funny bone!

Video Palooza Part One-"Diamond Earrings for Mommy?"

2010-12-20T12:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've uploaded videos of the kids for you to see! I love videos; they are so much better than pictures because you can hear tiny voices and remind yourself of how small they once were. Greg and I watched videos of Jackson when he was a wee one the other night...it's hard to beleive that its almost been five years since we brought him home. His baby videos are actually on mini tapes, so we need to take them in and have them transferred onto DVDs. I don't think that's cheap to do, so needless to say, you won't see them on here anytime soon. Trust me, though...he was adorable!
This one is of Brooklyn and I having a little conversation about Christmas presents. Stay tuned...I have lots of videos!

A Year Later

2010-12-09T11:56:00.001-08:00

It has been a year since Jackson's reaction to Singulair. Yes, it was that bad that I am aware enough of it to realize that it's been a year. We are still dealing with some of the effects of what he went through during that horrible week. I still deal with guilt; before we knew what was happening to him, he was punished for his behavior. It still makes me shudder.
Jackson still sleeps with a light on. It has gotten better; he used to have to have a full light on all night long; now he sleeps with a small lamp with a 25 watt bulb. Next I'll try a 15 watt, and then hopefully get rid of the light all together. He has to have lots of "white noise" in his room; "sounds" still freak him out, so he has a CD player and a humidifier going. This used to be a child who would go to bed with no nightlight and the door shut, and we wouldn't see him until morning. Not so much anymore, but it's getting better. After it happened, he slept on an air mattress in our room for four months, so the fact that he is even in his own room on a consistant basis is praise worthy! I can't even begin to imagine what his little brain went through that week.

Lots of parents ask me if I would ever recommend Singulair to anyone else. It's a difficult question to answer. My first response is always "No", simply because I don't want any other child or parent to go through what we did. In fact, after this happened with Jackson, countless other moms I know came out of the woodwork and let me know that the same thing had happened to their children, even older teens! On the other hand, it has proven to be a miracle drug for other children. At one time, it was for us. The first time Jackson was put on it, we finally got a full night's sleep after a week of coughing and not breathing (literally, sometimes it would be a full minute before he could get a breath; we had to take him to the ER!). He took it for a few months and then we pulled him off of it. It was the 2nd time he went on it that his body reacted to it. I have a friend who's daughter has been on it for years and never had a problem. So, as with any drug, I recommend to proceed with caution. I tell parents to watch for certain signs and symptoms which usually appear within 3-4 days of taking the drug. For us, even those 3 days reeked enough havoc to last a full year.

His allergy season is approaching. He can't take any allergy pills now; all we have are the breathing treatments. Each year for him has gotten better, so hopefully he doesn't suffer.

*Here is the link to the December 2009 archive if you want to read what happened to him. I just did; I had forgotten a lot of it! Just scroll down, there are a few posts about it.*

Brooklyn, 3 Months.

2010-11-28T11:52:00.000-08:00

Three months already (actually, 3.5). I really can't beleive how fast she's growing up; my pudgy-faced girl is already pushing 16 pounds!!!! In case you are wondering where that falls on the range of baby weight, she's in the 100th percentile, meaning that she's the big baby on the block. Buuuut, she's also super long so she evens herself out a bit. Still, most people can't help but comment that it looks like she hasn't missed many meals! :) She's so big you'd think I feed her formula...but nope. It's only Mommy around here!

She's my precious angel baby. She sleeps all night long, from about 6 pm-8am. She's been doing that for a long time now! Every ounce of her being wants to sit up; if you lay her down, she'll squeeze her tiny abs and lift her head and shoulders off of the ground! She giggles and coos and "talks" all day long, and always greets you with a smile when you come to get her from her bed. She is extremely ticklish and will laugh and scream when you tickle her tummy. She is now sleeping up in her room, which Jackson thinks is great because, "all three kids are upstairs now!". She never cries...I can count on both hands the amount of times I've heard her cry in her life. She'll fuss from time to time, but never cry. She's just content to be loved on, and we do lots of that around here!

3 Month Milestones:
1. Sleeps all night long, 14 hours!!!
2. "Talks" and giggles
3. Found her hands and loves to suck on them!
4. Sleeps in her own room
5. Can sit in her Bumbo chair, assisted. Trys desperately to sit on her own!

(In case you are wondering, yes...I missed the 2 month shots with the calendar! Oops! But if you want to see how she's grown so far, here is Newborn and Month One!)

London, Part One

2010-11-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

London Grace Malloy?

Nope. Instead, this is about a trip to a place our darling girl was named after. Sadly, she didn't join us, but her tiny sister Brooklyn did. Perhaps we will take London to Brooklyn in order to even things out a bit!

Greg, Brooklyn, and I hopped on the red-eye to London last Tuesday night. It's a 10 hour flight, nonstop, and I had no idea how she'd do. Because of the time change, we didn't arrive into London until 1 pm...we were soooooo jet-lagged. The only one who made it through with flying colors was Brooklyn! Not a peep on the plane, caught right up with time and slept all night long the next night. She really is amazing. So, obviously our first day was a travel day/catch up on time/roam the streets of London searching for our hotel/figuring out the metro rails/food?/etc sort of day...not blog worthy, really. So I'll start with the next day, Thursday.

First, we visited Hyde Park. For those of you unfamiliar with famous places in London, this is one of them. It sits not too far from Buckingham Palace and is right in central London. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe this patch of land on the Earth, but I am coming from the desert, so anything green catches my fancy. The history this city contains is just fascinating; walking paths that C.S Lewis once walked, passing places kings and queens live in, etc. It was a beautiful day, and I took lots of pictures of us with our Brooklyn girl.

We also went to Buckingham Palace and Piccadily Circus. PC is the major "tourist" shopping spot, and it was crowded and crazy, so we really didn't stay long. We walked half of London this day, I'm sure!

Milk and Cookies!

2010-11-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Presenting a tall glass of milk and two chocolate chip cookies!!! While flipping through a Parents Magazine last month, they had a section on easy homemade costumes that were themed for two or more kids. I saw this one and just had to do it! It was so simple and cheap (about $20 for all three costumes!) and the kids looked awesome!!! There were lots of different ideas for costumes, so I pocketed a few ideas away for the next few years. At some point I know Jackson will want to be a Spidey man or something equally boy-ish, but he hasn't asked yet so I'll continue to play!

We went over to our friend Sarita's house for a Fall Festival. All of Jackson and London's (and our!) friend's were there, and we had a huge potluck dinner and played fun games. The kids had a great time, and Brooklyn was amazing like always. I didn't have the time to photograph the kids before the event, which I'm bummed about. Oh well...next year!

Giveaway!!!

2010-10-27T09:59:00.001-07:00

My friend Brittany is having an AWESOME giveaway on her blog! It's for an Flip Ultra HD...Greg and I want one of these desperately, so needless to say, I entered! You should, too!

Just click HERE to get to her blog!

Good luck...sort of. I really hope I win it. ;)

The Farm

2010-10-24T19:13:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year....pumpkin patch time! We have a super cute little farm not to far from our house called Vertuccio Farms. They have a cute little fall festival thing that runs through October, complete with a pumpkin patch, corn maze, barrel rides, bounce houses, etc. The kids LOVED it. We've had beautiful weather the past few days, so it was marvelous to get out of the house and not sweat to death!

While it looks like London is pushing the see-saw, she was actually standing a few feet back, pretending to! Brooklyn pondered life while sitting amongst the pumpkins, probably still stewing over the fact that she didn't get to seesaw. Poor, deprived little thing.

In case you can't read faces, London's is saying, "This goat is NOT my friend. And neither are the flies hovering around him. I am a girl. Where are the sparkly, glittery animals?". Jackson tried his hand at milking a cow, much to the fake cow's detriment. Poor, fake cow.

The bounce house was the biggest attraction for Jackson. Forget petting animals, running through mazes, picking pumpkins, or flying high on swings; this kid lives for bounce houses.

We had a great time! It was our first family fun outing as a family of five, and we certainly had fun!

Christmas

2010-10-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I'm getting ahead of myself. This is about the time of year where I seriously kick myself and moan at my lack of saving all year long for Christmas. Each year when I'm trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to get them everything I want to, I say, "Next year I'm going to put away moeny month every month!". Did I? Nope. *Kick* and *Moan*.

Part of our problem is that both Jackson and London have birthdays that are relatively close to Christmas (1/23 and 3/20), so they go without gifts most of the year. So I get all these awesome ideas and say, "Ohhh, we will get it for Christmas," or "That'd be perfect for London's/Jackson's birthday!", forgetting that they all happen within three months. Oops. And now the Pink Peanut (Brooklyn) will be a part of the fun! At least she really has no clue what's going on...I'll wrap a few things that'd I have to buy anyway just for pictures!

Needless to say, I think Craiglist is going to be my new best friend this year. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically an online garage sale. We just bought a Combi stroller for $45 for our trip to London (don't even get me started on the fact that I had to buy ANOTHER stroller...this is number 6), and normally that stroller is much pricier. Now, its all used stuff, but they don't care.

We are on the hunt for a Wii. Wipeout is Jackson's favorite TV Show, and they have a Wipeout game that he'd just love. But, I also know that he'd love this. And I'd love to get this for the backyard, because I know the kids would love it. Most of all, I would love getting it for them! While I can't get them all of it, or maybe even any of it, I know they won't care. That's really the point. I don't want my kids to think of Christmas as just a time to get stuff, and I really don't want to deal with older tweens who throw horrible tantrums when their Christmas lists aren't fulfilled because they've been trained to expect huge things on December 25th.

But next year, I AM going to save! Really.

Archaeologists!

2010-10-13T19:05:00.001-07:00

History this week was really exciting! Jackson is learning about what history is, and so part of his first lesson was learning about archaeology and what archaeologists do. When we built our backyard, we had a large sandpit put in for the kids to have a place to dig and get dirty. So, I made a grid over an area, buried a few objects (like a cup, paintbrush, pencil, keys, etc) that would give clues to what the people did who owned them, and let them dig it up! Jackson's friend Rowan, who is also homeschooled, came over since they are on the same lesson to dig with us. The boys had a blast uncovering the objects, and it really brought the lesson home!

(Jackson was reading this post out loud behind me as I wrote it. Now he's giggling. He is VERY silly. I love you, Jackson!)

The Siblings

2010-10-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

So much of the past two months has been all about Brooklyn, including this blog. It's sort of what happens when a new kid shows up on the block, but both Jackson and London have taken it in stride. They are excellent siblings and simply adore the new addition to our family. Jackson, of course, cannot wait until she can jump and play and pretend to be on the latest episode of Ninja Warrior with him while London loves to help, kiss, and hold. So this post is about the siblings, because who can forget about these two?!?!

Jackson recently celebrated his half-birthday (YES, we celebrate half-birthdays around here. A year is WAY too long to wait!) a few weeks ago and proudly considers himself 4.5. He just started first grade, which he adores, and also just started going to Awana's on Sunday nights at our church. He was put in the 3/4's class, which he of course dominates, and every teacher wonders where this kid came from (so do we)!!! Last night we went to his favorite restaurant (Joe's Farm Grill) for dinner so he could climb trees, which is one of his latest passions. He likes to pretend that he is a ninja, a 12 year old boy from Japan, an NBA basketball player, etc etc etc. Basically, he spends most of his day pretending, and I get such a laugh from it. He adores his sisters and loves playing with London. Those two are joined at the hip and spend all day running around giggling with each other.

London is almost 21 months old, almost 2 going on 12. She has a new nickname, and it fits her to a tee. "Spicy Pepper" is full of drama and life. She is HYSTERICAL. She makes Greg and I laugh pretty much all day with her antics. She'll even say, "Spicy Pepper" when we ask her to, and she screams it while she shakes her fists and laughs. See? It totally fits. Everyday she leaves a bit more of babyhood behind and walks further into girl-land, and boy is this child a girl. Babies and bows and stuffed animals and binkies draw this lady in like a magnet. She almost always has one of her baby's tucked under her arms and a bow dangling from her hair (she pulls them out after I put them in, but demands them in. I don't get it.). She knows all of her body parts and is starting to recognize letters (a,e,i,o, and u are her favorites). She loves to dance, catch bubbles, and play dress up with my underwear. Yes, my underwear. She will dig them out of my drawer and wear them around her neck (again, I don't get it). We love this child more than life itself, our Spicy Pepper!

And while I could go on and on, I just realized that it's 8 o'clock and I haven't eaten dinner. Motherhood rocks.

1st Grade!

2010-10-09T19:19:00.001-07:00

The homeschooling adventure begins! I have to admit, I've been putting it off. Brooklyn arrived early August, so there was no way I was going to start school that month, September was spent adjusting to our new life, and the first part of October was me freaking out over the fact that I needed to start school. I was so nervous; I mean, really, I'm taking full responsibility over the academic development of my children. I have no teachers to blame if they fall behind, no superintendent to vote out of office if I'm unhappy...it's just me. On the flip side, IF something goes haywire, at least I can change and not expect or wait for someone else to get on board.

So, my 4.5 year old started 1st grade this week! He did AWESOME!!! I'm not sure what I was so nervous about. The best part? We spend about an hour a day doing school. That's it. One hour, and he receives everything he'd get in 8 hours of public school. We do math, reading, spelling, writing, and history. In a few weeks I'll add in grammer, and we do Science once a week with one of his friends who is also being homeschooled. He loves it, which is an added bonus!

I love it, too. I love teaching, and I love teaching him. This week we worked on place value in math. We practiced it all week, and by Thursday I saw the lightbulb go off and he had it. I love that. I love seeing him learn and being a part of this journey with him. While I know there will be lots of trials and challenges ahead, at least our first week rocked!

One Month

2010-10-01T19:13:00.001-07:00

I have been horrible about updating the blog, I know! Really, I have no excuse. Wait, yes I do! I have three kids! Needless to say, it's crazy busy around here. C-R-A-Z-Y.

It's a good crazy, though. I mostly haven't blogged because there isn't much to blog about. We haven't really gone anywhere in the past seven weeks; its been baby bootcamp around here. Things are getting much easier in that regard; Brooklyn started sleeping through the night at about 4 weeks old, so that makes things much easier. She will occasionally get up in the middle fo the night to eat, but that isn't a big deal. She is a very easy baby! Jackson and London are getting a bit stir crazy, but thankfully the weather is cooling off so we can soon send them out back to play. We are all recovering from colds and I just had surgery this past Tuesday. Needless to say, we are ready for a break around here!

I promise more pictures and blogs to come!

As the Months Fly By....

2010-09-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

...I figured I'd get a shot of Brooklyn in each one!

My friend Susie passed along this idea as a way of capturing just how quickly our children get big! I thought it was such a cute idea that I jumped right on it, even though I'm 3 weeks late for her birthday. Too bad, too, since she was under 6 pounds...she would have been soooo tiny on that calendar! So each month on the 13th I'll put her cute little body on the current month and shoot away!

I'm really excited to see how each month turns out!

(By the way, I promise pictures of the other two soon! Brooklyn is a camera hog...)

Days of the Newborn

2010-09-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I ADORE this child?

She has such a sweet disposition. She is calm and cuddly; we still haven't heard her cry for longer than 2 or 3 seconds. It's like she sends up a little warning call and then waits patiently for us to get to her. She receives London's 47 kisses a day in stride and barely flinches as her brother narrowly misses her as he tumbles from whatever he's found himself on top of. Funny enough, the best word I can use to describe her is quiet. A quiet newborn.

The days are passing by fast...she is over 3 weeks old now. I can't believe she's almost a month old. Our little peanut is growing steadily and is well into the 7lb range. She sleeps long stretches at night; the other night she went over 6 hours.

I'm trying hard to enjoy every second of our little tiny face. It's the last time we'll enjoy newborn cuddles and coos, sweet milk breath and puffy cheeks. She makes it so easy to do, my Brooklyn. She fits her name, at least what I thought Brooklyn sounded like to me.

Sweet and sunny.

The Best Invention EVER!

2010-08-21T15:32:00.001-07:00

It's called the Woombie. It's so great, it almost makes me want to use my womb again for another child. Key word: almost.

ANY. WAY.

If you have a small baby or are planning to have one soon AND you swaddle them, you may find yourself in the same position we have with 2 out of our 3 children: they are lil' houdinis'. Both Jackson and Brooklyn, even though they needed it to fall and stay asleep, tried with all their might and succeeded 96% of the time when it came to breaking out of their swaddle. Brooklyn weighs 6 pounds soaking wet, but she's like Hulk Hogan when it comes to breaking out of the swaddle.

Enter amazing step-mother and Woombie. My lovely Marilyn bought us this for Brooklyn and I could not love her more for it. It is made out of a soft, stretchy blend of cotton and spandex so your child can still move around in it (like bring their hands up to their chin like Brooklyn likes to do) but they can't reach their face to scratch or beat at it. It eliminates the startle reflex that so many babies wake themselves up with.

Last night, Brooklyn slept from 10:30-4!!! I fed her, laid her back down, and had to wake her up at 7:30 to eat again! She's been a good sleeper anyway, but she extended from 2:30 am to 4 am just with the Woombie. I'd usually find her at 2:30 with both her arms and SOMEHOW her legs out of her swaddle, with her little stick legs cold. Now she is perfectly cocooned and warm!

Needless to say, the first thing Greg and I did in the morning was order another one. Thank you, Leah, for sending me the link to this amazing thing!

Brooklyn Elle

2010-08-19T17:17:00.001-07:00

Brooklyn is here!!!!

There are tons of pictures...way too many to choose from. I'll upload lots throughout the next few days.

As you may have noticed, she is a weeee bit early. My due date wasn't until August 29th, and she made her grand entrance all on her own on August 13th at 9:11 pm. I didn't even know I was in labor! At about 2 in the afternoon I realized that I hadn't felt her moving very much. I called my OB and they told me to come into the hospital to get monitored, just as a precaution. I had London with me, and Greg was with Jackson up by the hospital (thankfully). So, Greg met me at the hospital and took the kids to the mall to play. We thought I'd be monitored for an hour or so just to make sure she was okay and then be sent home. Wrong!

When they put me on the monitor, the contractions showed up. I wasn't really feeling them, but they were there! They checked me, and sure enough I was already 5cm dilated! This was at about 4 pm. That's when the chaos started. Our hospital is a little over an hour away from our house. Greg had the kids with him, so he had to drive all the way back to our house and wait for who we had planned to watch the kids show up. Things were progressing so quickly with me that it made things even worse. I was by myself, laboring in the hospital, Greg was an hour away figuring out things with the kids. He finally arrived at around 7:30 pm, and by then I was in full blown labor, no time for an epidural, although they tried (it didn't work). I progressed quickly, and the next thing we knew, our third child had arrived!

She is perfect. She was 6lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long. She's lost weight since then, so she is just this tiny little peanut. So far she is calm and sleepy; we've actually yet to hear her even cry, and she is a week old tomorrow!!! Even London is adjusting well, and the phrase we hear ringing through the house all day is, "HI baaaybee!". Jackson adores 'baby brooklyn' and asks to hold her all the time. He has the big brother thing down pat!

So, pictures! Enjoy! I'm sure there will be lots more to come!

Ding Dings

2010-08-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

I've done several posts on "Ding Dings". It's a series of games that Greg and Jackson have made up that they play in our room, most with our bed as the setting. Greg started 'ding dings' when Jackson was just 6 or 7 months old, wrestling him around the bed and such. As he got older, the games have progressed, and they make new ones up all the time.

A few weeks ago Greg and I were talking about how Jackson would be our only boy. There was a moment of sadness for him when he realized that one day Jackson would outgrow 'ding dings'. He already asks for it less and less; at one point in time, the first thing they would do when Greg got home from work was their games. Greg wondered if our girls would ever want to do those things.

I think London will, at least. :)

Brooklyn Update

2010-07-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is probably my favorite belly picture of all time, mostly because of Jackson. He is just hysterical!

This picture was taken about six weeks ago when I was 30 weeks pregnant. I'm now 36, offically 9 months pregnant! It is crazy how fast this pregnancy has flown by, and pretty soon we will be meeting our little Brooklyn Bear!

When is she coming, you ask? Jury is still out on that one. As you may recall from before, my babies are just WAY too excited to come out and meet their awesome parents. They never stay as long as they are supposed to. I'm on medication right now to keep the contractions at bay and on "light duty", which basically means that I can't do anything, but they knew "bedrest" would be a joke with 2 kids. Since we are a hour away from our hospital, and I typically take less time than that to have the child once I'm in labor, the plan is to induce to make sure that we have Brooklyn in a safe enviroment, rather than the car or our driveway! So even though my due date isn't until August 29th, she will be born sooner than that. We haven't decided the date yet, and I'm really not sure if we'll tell anyone once we do, other than people who need to know.

We are slowly getting everything ready for her. We have a bunch of little stuff to purchase for her, and have had some awesome friends who have lent us stuff that we needed to replace after 2 kids had already used them. She has a ton of clothes from London, but I'll have to buy her winter clothes for this winter. She's got it pretty good!

We can't wait for her newborn snuggles, her sweet smell, her puffy cheeks (she already had HUGE fat cheeks in her 30 week ultrasound pictures), and most of all to see what she looks like! Will she look like Jackson and London (whom we frequently have to look at the background of pictures to determine what baby we are looking at!), or totally different? So exciting!

Rainy Day!

2010-07-31T13:14:00.001-07:00

My poor Arizona babies. They barely know the pleasures of a rainy day; the puddles, the cool breezes, the long naps on gray days. So when these days do come along, they get a real kick out of it. It poured here for the better part of an hour, and Jackson enjoyed every second of it out in our driveway. We don't really have drainage systems here, so the water floods down the street and creates awesome puddles to jump around it. This morning London even got out in it because it rained this morning, so her and Jackson played around in the sandbox in our backyard.
We love days like this!

PRAISE!!!

2010-07-28T11:52:00.001-07:00

Exactly a year ago to the day, we were told that London had a condition called Congenital Nystagmus. At that appointment, we were told that she would most likely need glasses by 2. This information has been sitting in the back of my mind for a year, and I scheduled her follow up exam for yesterday. It takes months to get in to see a pediatric optamalogist, so I scheduled it back in May. Yesterday loomed over me because I knew what a challenge it would be to try and keep glasses on an 18 month old!

We actually went to a new doctor. I wanted a second opinion, plus we've moved pretty far away from the former doctor. The new doctor came highly recommended and is associated with Phoenix Children's Hospital. We found out a lot of interesting information. First, an MRI scan should have been done to make sure that the CN was not being caused by something neurological. The op/ped was shocked that the former doctor had just given this diagnosis without any further study to see what was causing her shimmer. He gave her a thorough exam and said that while he would have ordered an MRI if he had been the first to see her when she was 6 months, he didn't think one was necessary now because any problems that would have been causing this would most likely have caused other problems by now. He offered an order for one if we wanted it, but an MRI at her age requires general anethesia. So, we've decided to take it on a year by year basis.

The biggest praise is that London doesn't need glasses!!!! Her vision is PERFECT! The CN is turning out to be just a really cool party trick that shouldn't affect her. We will continue to take her in every year, but her first "true" exam (where she will try and identify pictures from a distance) won't take place until she is 4. Even if she needs glasses then, keeping glasses on a 4 year old seems much more doable!

Then and Now

2010-07-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

Then...

...and Now.

Today, you turn 18 months. A year and a half. You have brought such beauty to our lives; your smile and laughter fills our home. We couldn't imagine our lives without you, our precious face. I have no idea where the past 18 months went. There have been times when I didn't know how we'd make it here, but most of the time I spend wishing time would slow down. Your personality shines through, and we can't wait to see more!

Some of your fun characteristics:

1. You have a firecracker laugh. It's like a cackle, and reminds us of Spongebob, actually. We hear it a lot, because you LOVE to laugh.

2. You are friendly. You stare people down until they look at you, and then you furiously shake your arms and hands, yelling "Hi!" or "Bye Bye!", depending on what's appropriate.

3. You know no stranger. Today at lunch you were offering the people who walked by pieces of your chicken. I know it was hard for them to decline!

4. You like to dance. You spin in circles until you get dizzy, fall, and then get up and do it again.

5. You like to copy sounds. It's hard to describe in words, but Daddy and I will take turns making up wierd noises, and you'll copy them, even matching the different tones!!!

6. You love books. You will just sit and flip through books. Your favorite book is Funny Faces. You also like Cleo Counts to Ten, and your favorite page is the number 8 page because it has bees.

7. When you see pictures of bees, you tickle your own tummy and say, "BUZZZZZ!".

8. You aren't very good at hide and seek. You either just cover your eyes, or you try and hide between my legs. I find you everytime.

9. You hate having bows in your hair, and I'm working on that.

10. You love shoes. You always want shoes on your feet; it doesn't even matter if they match or not.

We love you, London girl. Happy half -birthday. You got a dolly, and next month you get a little sister. You are going to be a great big sister!

Recipe for Relaxin'

2010-07-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

London gets her feathers ruffled.

I'm sure it has some to do with the fact that she's a girl, lots to do with the fact that she has an older brother who forgets the meaning of gentle, and a smidge to do with the fact that she can't quite communicate all that she is trying to say. Whatever causes it, this girl can reach Maximum Meltdown Mania quite quickly. She isn't the type to really scream or throw herself down on the floor (yet), but you know you've reached MMM perportions when you just can't calm her cries. She still sobs on your shoulder, refuses a snack, and freaks out if you put her down.

What's a Mom to do who wants to keep just a tiny bit of her sanity and doesn't want to go gray by 30?

Enter binky, blankie, and Seahorse!

It doesn't matter the level of MMM. Just grab the three ingredients, head to the rocking chair, and sit. She nuzzles right in, and all cries cease. At the most she'll sit there with you for 5 minutes, and then she'll be up and playing as though rain clouds never dampened her skies.

Sometimes, I wish that was all I needed! :)

Sunsplash!

2010-07-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

This week has been highly anticipated by the boy child who takes up residence in our household. Once a year he gets to go to the water park here in Phoenix called Sunsplash, and he literally talks about it all year long! Greg and I make a day of it for him, including leaving the girl child with a babysitter so it can just be a Mommy, Daddy, and Jackson day. We try really hard to make these happen frequently for our children. Every week on Friday Jackson goes with Greg to work so London and I can have some time together. When Brooklyn comes it will be a little bit harder to make this happen for all 3 children, but it is something that is very important to us, so we will make it work!

We started off the day by dropping London off and then heading out to breakfast! We then headed to Sunsplash where Jackson was in a state of bliss for the remainder of the day. He loves the slides, especially the ones where he gets to go on a tube with Daddy. I could only watch this year, so I can't wait to be able to take him next year. Jackson has already declared that Sunsplash is his thing, so I'm pretty sure that will be his BIG outing with us for many years to come!

Language: Latin and Greek

2010-06-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

One of the subjects Jackson will be studying this year is Foreign Language, which we've chosen as Latin and Greek since they have such a strong foundation in the English language. Learning these subjects will only help him in reading, writing, and grammar, so we figured it's better to teach him now than wait until college!
The program we chose is called English From the Roots Up. He is working on the Volume 1 set. Through the elementary years, the best way a child learns is through memorization, and that is how this program is set to work. He has 50 flashcards that are Greek and 50 that are Latin. He learns the words through memorization, and on the back of each card there are lists of how that particular word is rooted in words of the English language.
Jackson LOVES it. The first night they came we just let him dig through them. He learned, on his own, about 10 words and then started using them in sentences! He loves looking through the cards, learning new words, and putting them into sentences.
If you aren't homeschooling, this program is an excellent way to supplement your child's education at home, especially if they seem to do well with things like flashcards.
This kid is already smarter than me. ;)

London and the Cob

2010-06-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

What's summer without corn on the cob?

I think it felt good gnawing on it with the FOUR teeth she has coming in at the same time (2 are molars)! She snuck them in on me; I looked in her mouth the other day (she was really fussy) and couldn't believe how crazy her poor gums looked! At least she's getting teeth; she's been rocking four for a long time now.

As for corn, she won't eat it unless she gets to eat it off the cob! My kind of girl!

Let the Fun Begin!

2010-06-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

As if I don't have enough to worry about.

As if I don't have enough that I'm already responsible for. I'd start a list, but we all know. It's everything. Everything that moves and breathes in this house that is under 4 ft tall looks to me for guidance and leadership. Intimidating? Very.

I knew this from the beginning. I knew being a Mommy was a full time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, not a second of vacation kind of responsibility. It's a heavy weight sometimes. So, I'd say it was a pretty fair reaction when Greg first approached me about homeschooling when Jackson was 6 or 7 months to look at him, cock my head and grunt, "Say whaaa?".

Homeschooling had never even been on my radar. I had all the misguided assumptions about homeschooling (What about socialization? What about memories like the first day of school? School pictures? Prom? NERD KIDS.). It took me a long time to really wrap my mind around the possibility. Now, after years of study, prayer, research, and TIME, I know its the absolute best decision. Jackson made it quite easy; there is no way in this universe I could enroll him in schools out here. And even if I could find a program that wouldn't bore him to tears or force him into a grade where his peers are years older than him, I wouldn't do it. But that's a different conversation for a different day.

The next issue was dealing with my brainiac. Yes, I was going to homeschool. I knew that for a fact. My prodigy is only 4 and completely ready for the 1st grade; in fact, he is in the middle of first grade material in most subjects. What should I do? I can't do kindergarten at all. Waste of time. So do I wait a whole year and a half to start 1st grade? He'd still only be 5, a full year younger than most kids starting 1st. Do I start him now, putting him a full 2 years younger? I can't keep holding him back; he wants to learn.

And then I realized this: I can do whatever I want to do. So what if he's young? It just gives us more time to do lots more stuff if we want! So what if he technically graduates high school at 15? He doesn't have to run off to college right away. I was looking way too far down the path, when I just needed to stop and look at the little boy who wanted to learn now.

So we made the leap! I ordered all of our curriculum. He will be doing Latin, Greek, Math, Spelling, Grammar, Reading, History, and Science. As it all comes in and we start working through it, I'll post what we are using and how it works. I know lots of moms who are interested but just have absolutely no idea where to start. I've spent years researching out the best programs, curricula, and methods and I'm really excited to share anything that will help. Yesterday some of our curricula arrived and I thought the kid was going to explode from happiness.

I know I almost did.

From the Beginning

2010-06-26T12:18:00.001-07:00

I have an awesome book.

It's called Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander. Its 260 weekly developmental activities from birth to age 5. It has an activity to focus on for each week of life in that time period (let's not get stuck on the fact that there are 260 of them!!!) that teaches them different things from fine motor skills to language to large motor skills. It starts with the very first week (moving body parts, observing movement) and ends with the very last week before their fifth birthday (The Traveling Bag) and is meant to fully prepare them for kindergarten. I've loved using this book for Jackson, but we stopped a long time ago because he moved past it. I've haven't been as consistant using it for London, but it will be easier now that I'm already doing lesson plans for Jackson, so I can easily include an activity for London and Brooklyn. It is basically what I use as our Preschool Curriculum for homeschooling.

Anyway, this week's (Age 1-Week 19) for London was really fun. It's called "Finger Painting Can Be Fun". Super easy. We just laid some wax paper down, mixed 2 Tb of flour with a bit of water to make a paste, and added food coloring. As they are painting with their fingers, you make sure to mention things like "wet", "dry", and "slippery" to help them connect what they are feeling with describing words. London pretty much hated every second of it! She didn't like how she couldn't lick it off of her fingers, and she is a girly-girl to the max and doesn't like being dirty! But, I will do it a few more times during the week to help her become more comfortable. Just like veggies, you gotta keep offering things! Jackson loved it, tho. Surprised? Not me. :)

If you have little ones, I highly recommend this book. Check it out!

Giveaway!

2010-06-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have a mommy friend who I want to be just like when I grow up.

She builds things. She's organized. She's frugal. She's a super cool Momma.

She's having a little giveaway on her blog that you can enter! It's for this really cute stuff by Kiokko Bebe Couture.

Head over there and check it out!!!!

http://www.mommywords.com/2010/06/kiokko-bebe-couture-review-giveaway/

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

To the bestest Daddy in the world! ;)

Toy Story 3

2010-06-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

Is there anything better than a movie with your best friend? When you are 4...no, there isn't.

Ava and Jackson have been best buds since his first birthday party. Little Ava was only 6 months old at the time, but it was clear from the beginning that they were pals (click HERE for their very first picture at Jackson's party...its down at the bottom). Of course, Leah and I made it practically impossible for them NOT to be BFF; we literally spent the better course of 3 years at each other's houses! It's been a bit harder lately getting together to hang out (especially since we've been used to hanging out all day 2-3 times a week!), so we realllllly enjoy the time that we do all get to spend together.

Yesterday we got the chance to go hang out at Leah's AND go see the new movie Toy Story 3! Both of them were crazy excited about going; Ava decided a long time ago that she wanted to be a cowboy (no, not a cowGIRL) when she grew up, and is rarely seen without her Woody doll. Jackson really hadn't been introduced to the Toy Story saga, yet. We tried to show him the first movie a few weeks ago, but the Sid part where all the toys are all jacked up really turned him off (that part is really creepy!). He was very excited to see the 3rd one, tho...mostly because it meant that he'd get an Icee, popcorn, and he'd get to sit next to Ava!

I will say it was my least favorite out of the 3, with Toy Story 2 being my all time favorite. It seemed unnecessairly long and there was one part where Jackson demanded that the movie be turned off (little scary part). Jackson, always the critic, decided that he didn't really like the movie very much. I could watch 1 and 2 over and over; 3 just didn't seem as funny. But, the kids had fun going to a movie, and before it started Jackson could not express his love for me enough! It's fun sharing things like this with him!

In London news...she officially has enough hair to put into a ponytail holder with a bow! Hooray! She's definitely rocking the mullet with it being longer in the back, that's for sure! At Leah's house she sat at a table and ate grapes. Such a big girl...growing up so fast!

A Sneak Peek...

2010-06-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that we are finally (!!!!!) doing our backyard! We bought our house with an unfinished backyard...it was pure desert, with red ant piles and all! Over the past weeks/months it has slowly turned into the family oasis we envisioned. There is still a lot of work to do, but all the hard work is done, including grass!!! I'm waiting just a few more days to post the pics of the transformation because, while it is technically "finished" (minus patio furniture), it's a bit of a wreck with all the tools and stuff out!

Buuuuutttt....I couldn't wait to share these super cute pics of Jackson enjoying part of his new backyard! The kids have a huge built in sandbox, complete with a misting system to keep them cool in our warm (read: blazing hot) summers!

And, in good 'ole fashioned parenting form, we've taught him that you work to enjoy! ;) So, he was out there most days with his Daddy helping him do things from watering the dirt to soften it up to helping him unroll the sod! He was quite the little helper, and was always asking to work with Daddy!

So...stay tuned!!! We are LOVING it so far and it is really turning out nice!

Walking!

2010-05-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

The day has finally arrived where I can say that London no longer crawls! Wow, she took her sweet, precious time, didn't she? She started taking steps while I was in the hospital (4/29), and everyday since then she's just added more and more. So, she's been walking for about a month now, but she'd always resort back to crawling because it got her places faster than her toddling steps. Now all she wants to do is walk, and today is the first day that I haven't seen her crawl at all! She seems much happier because she can just go wherever she wants to and get there quickly. It makes it nicer for me because I don't have to carry her anymore, most times. I'm probably "not" supposed to lift her anyway since she's over 20 lbs; riiiiiight. Try explaining that to a 16 month old!

Some other fun things she is doing, at 16 months old:

-she has about 15-20 words that she uses here and there. My favorite was the other night when she picked up her fork during dinner and said, "More beans!". Her words are mostly hi, bye bye, mama, dada, more, all done, night-night, binky, ball, baby, eat, up, Jackson, banana, and a few others I can't remember!

-she can name most of her body parts, like toes, feet, nose, hair, belly, eyes, etc.

-she is learning her colors. Right now she knows purple and blue (most of the time).

-she follows directions! For example, if you ask her to go get her shoes, she'll go get them and bring them to you. She also understands things like when you tell her "time to change your pants", she'll go lay down by her changing station to get a new diaper, or she'll bring one to you!

She's at a really fun age!

He's Got Skillz

2010-05-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

I remember getting an ultrasound with Jackson around 27 weeks. "Wow!", the ultrasound tech exclaimed. "He's got a big head!". Great, I thought. A big head. Just what a first time mom whose freakin' out about 'HOW in the world the baby is supposed to get out?' wants to hear, right? Sure enough, he did have a large head, and always has. Like his sister who came later, both my kids rock the 100% growth charts when it comes to head size. What's interesting is that their heads are so big because their brains are so big.

For Jackson, that big brain has really come into use. People ask me all the time time what I've done to get Jackson to level he is now. I really, honestly, truely don't think that I've done anything extra special. I sung him his ABC's, I read to him a lot (but not some crazy amount), I provided educational toys like ABC puzzles and phonics toys. But really, Jackson knew how to read before I taught him. I noticed he was putting together words, but it wasn't until he was a little over 2 that I sat him down to teach him the short a vowel word families. The stinker, however, already knew them all. I set out to teach him some basic sight words...he knew all those already. My 2 year old taught himself how to read, and still amazes me to this day. The child will bust out reading words that I KNOW he's never seen before. It's not only reading, either. He breezes through Math as well, again without much formal instruction. He hears something one time and has it forever. It's not me, people. I'm just along for the ride!

The above video was taken of him one Sunday after church. He had picked up that Bible in the church nursery and asked to bring it home. I had never read to him out of it before, and he had never seen it before. He sat and read the whole thing to us. And you can see that this is not a book a 4 yr old should be able to read!

So you can just imagine what I was thinking when my 15 month old holds up her foam alphabet letters in the bathtub and says, "I!!" and "B", etc. Good grief! We once thought that poor London would stand in the shadows of her brother's academia and shine with her own special talents, and while she still will...he definitely won't leave her behind!

Beanpole Bobble-head!

2010-05-19T19:15:00.001-07:00

London has what I've never had: heighth. I'm glad; not that I wanted to be so much taller, but a couple of inches more would have been nice just for buying jeans. London is "projected" to be about 5'6 or 5'7, which seems about perfect! Wierd to think that one day she'll tower over me! Today she had her 15 month appointment. We had taken her in almost exactly a month ago when she got sick. They did her wieght and height at that appointment and we found out that she was measuring really small in the fat department. She was still under 20 lbs (10%) but was doing well at a 30 1/4 inches (60%). This was before she started walking and not too long after we had found out that she was anemic, so I really wanted to beef her up to help her general health. Sooooo, I started her on toddler formula. Not much per day; I just replaced one of her sippies of water with 6 oz of formula. She was still getting her iron supplements, but I figured the extra iron in the formula would just help her along. Sure enough, we were SHOCKED at her 15 month stats. In one month, she has gained a whopping 1.5 pounds and grew a whole INCH! So now her weight is back up to the 25% (which is still a far cry from the 75% title she used to hold) and her height is at 75%. Her head? Welp, following in her brother's footsteps, the child is sitting at a whopping 95% with an almost 20 inch circumference! So basically, she is this super tall, super skinny, major bobblehead Princess face! Her big head equals big brains, especially with all she's doing. She has about 10-12 words, can name about 8 or 9 body parts (eyes, nose, tummy, hair, belly button, tongue, teeth, toes, ears), and is even starting to recognize her alphabet! I think she's even farther ahead than Jackson was at this age, which is slightly scary! ;)

Mixed Bag

2010-05-10T11:07:00.001-07:00

I've been pretty horrible about taking pictures lately! I just keep forgetting my camera! I should just put my little point-and-shoot one in my diaper bag so I always have one just in case.

So this post will just be a little of this and a little of that to catch you all up!

London: Miss Princess finally decided that maybe...just maybe...it might be a good idea to try and walk! She most certainly isn't proficient yet and hasn't started running circles around me yet, but she is taking steps. The most she's gone in a row is 8 or 9, but we are sooo proud of her. She had a physical therapy evaluation a few weeks ago where we were given exercises to help her gain strength and they really seemed to help her! I'm trying to prepare my little dramatic, territorial, sorta "needy" (in a cute way, of course!) daughter for her new little sister who is coming in 3 months. We got her a baby doll and she has noticed that I'm getting larger. She keeps poking at my belly as if to say, "Uh, Momma, lay off the cupcakes!". I'm nervous for how things will be those first few weeks while everyone is adjusting to the adorable Brooklyn; I think it will be hardest for my London girl, so keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I know she'll be a great big sister!

Jackson: I can't keep up with this kid's imagination! Every hour seems to bring a new game, a new name (he pretends to be different people with different ages), or some other random thing that I'll forget from one moment to the next. I have a video of him reading that I should post on here; you simply won't believe it. The other day at church one of the workers asked me if I had done "Your Baby Can Read" with him. Nope...just good 'ole fashioned phonics! :) (By the way, please, please, please don't use that program with your kids). We are trying to teach him how to buckle himself in the car in his booster seat, but our seats are funny and its really difficult to get that latch down in the buckle! I'm hoping to move him to the 3rd row when Brooklyn comes, but we have enough room in the 2nd row to put all three seats if we have to.

Brooklyn: She's really starting to grow and move. I can now feel her kick and squirm with my hands on my belly, and can see my clothes move when she gets really excited about something. Her awake time seems to be around 10 pm, so I'm hoping that will change! ;) She's a little over a pound and a foot long. We have appointments every two weeks to check her fluid levels (all the drugs I was on can affect how much amniotic fluid she has to swim in) and her heartrate. She seems to be doing just fine!

Us: We are playing musical rooms at our house! The other night Greg and I realized that we have so much wasted space. Our front living room/dining room is never used (and I mean never. I haven't even vacuumed it since we moved in because, well, it hasn't been touched!) and the loft upstairs is rarely played in because the stairs are impossible for London and a hassle for me. Greg's office isn't used very much at all either because it just isn't functional! So, we threw out our plans to have London and Brooklyn share a room and decided to:

1. Give Brooklyn her own room. She will take over Greg's office (formerly Jackson's old room).

2. Switch the loft with the living room. We will move the couches upstairs to the loft and the entire loft downstairs. I'm excited because that means that the kids will really play in there, and it's so much easier to watch them! When we get a formal dining table we will have to shift the toys over a bit, but it will still be okay! When Brooklyn is old enough to go up and down the stairs by herself (so around 2), we may switch it back, but we'll see.

3. Create a dual office space/sitting area/spare room in the loft for Greg and I. It's a huge space, and since the kids are rarely up there but to sleep and take baths, we will make it an "adult" space.

Every single inch of our house will now be used! We are really excited to make all the changes, but I'm mostly excited for the loft transfer!

Stones.

2010-05-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a true test of our patience and endurance. It has been a true test of our family and friendships, of whom all came through with flying colors! It has been a test of our children and their awesome ability to adapt to schedule and caregiver changes.

Tuesday evening I started feeling very off. My back started aching while I was putting Jackson to bed, and as soon as I finished, I quickly came downstairs and layed on the couch, thinking that I was having some mean Braxton Hicks contractions (fakes) or mad stretching pains. Seemed to go away, so I took a shower (I was SO thankful for that decision later!), but soon after that I was back on the couch. The pain was getting worse and worse, and by the time Greg got home (he worked late that night) I was practically in tears. I called my OB and she ordered me to our hospital...and the ordeal began.

The pain was horrific. No one knew what was wrong. There were 3 guesses: kidney stones, appendicitis, or a distended cyst that was causing my ovary to die a slow, agonizing death. At that point, 2 Percocet had not touched the pain, and they soon had to give me Morphine which even took awhile to take effect. I was admitted that morning.

And that is where I stayed. Numerous tests, 4 ultrasounds, monitoring, poking, Morphine every 4 hours...that's how I passed my days. Finally by Thursday they guessed kidney stones, and although I never passed a stone, I did pass some "sandy" type stuff that I was told was more painful than stones. Awesome. I was finally released Friday evening relatively pain free...just a horrid headache from coming off of all the narcotics I had been pumped with.

We could NOT have made it through this week without all of our family and friends. Nana came for 2 days to watch the kids, Sarita even came over the night we had to go to the hospital and was here until 5 am until Greg returned, sans me, to figure out what we were going to do. We really, really could not have done it without them! Friends are bringing meals this week...we are so blessed!

As for Brooklyn, she's no worse for the wear. She's been monitored, and while she had some decreases in her heartrate on Friday, she's okay.

As for me, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. My kidneys hate me, and I'm actually experiencing what may be the start of more fun. I'm hoping its just residual pain, but we'll make it through.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!

Easter

2010-04-16T19:57:00.001-07:00

I realized I never blogged about our Easter!!!

I love Easter. It's just such a special holiday, and I love any holiday that gets our family together. You'd think that our family would get together more often since we all live in Phoenix, but that just isn't the case, sadly. So I REALLY look forward to the holidays because I love family dinners and get togethers!

This year we headed to chuch in the morning. Easter is our looooongest day because we have all the church stuff in the morning, then family stuff, so it makes for a great (long) day. After church and a brief stop at Nana's house to kill some time, we headed over to the Strachan's house (Greg's bro) for Easter dinner. It was so great to see everyone and the cousins got to all hang out (we have 3 nieces, Bethany, Haley, and Chloe). The girls are getting so big, and Jackson adores playing with them. London got to sit at the big table, which was pretty hysterical because I forgot her seat, so she had to stand to eat!

After dinner we had an Easter Egg hunt for Jackson and Chloe. London was content with the two eggs she found at her feet. I'm REALLY glad that I got Easter photos of them a few days before because London was just really uncomfy in her dress and I changed her clothes. In my defense, I bought the dress months ago thinking that she'd be walking by Easter (hellloooo...the girl is almost 15 months old!) so it wouldn't matter if it was longer. Well, she isn't walking, so she couldn't crawl very well in it. Poor girl.

The kids finished up our evening playing Rock Band. Even London got into it, but only for a few seconds before she realized that chewing on the drumsticks is way more fun than banging them, apparently.

We had a wonderful holiday, and we hope you did, too!

Tears for Others

2010-04-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

I follow lots of blogs.

Some of those blogs are posted on here for all of you to read, some are just ones I follow for fun recipes and home advice, some are Mommy blogs that give me a bit of sanity.

And some? Well, some are sad blogs. You see, once you start following one blog, you are bound to follow another from their website. Unfortuneatly, in this sad, twisted world...some Mommies have friends that unspeakable acts of horror have happened to their children, to their lives. So they post, asking for prayers, and you are led to them.

Most of these blogs didn't start off as sad blogs. These blogs started off just like this blog, just like mine. A blog started by a mommy who wanted to document her children's growing up stuff. A place to post pictures, write down memories, and possibly lament over how hard this whole mommy thing can be.

I follow four sad blogs. Four blogs whom I pray for the authors almost daily. One blog follows a family who lost their baby at 17 months due to complications of prematurity (Madeline Sphor/The Sphors are Multiplying), one blog follows a family's journey as they deal with the ramifications of what happens when your baby is violently shaken by his trusted daycare provider (Noah's Road), another follows the family who just lost their 2 year old to cancer (Layla Grace), and the other follows the family who just lost their little boy to Leukemia (Healing Hunter).

Hunter and Layla just passed away. I've been following their journey for months, and even though I don't know these children or their families personally, my heart aches and screams out against their loss. No parent should lose their child. NEVER, EVER. All of us, all of us who followed (thousands of people) hoped, prayed, and believed that they would make it through. Now we all have tears for others. Hunter's parents actually, somehow, caught their little boy's last waking moments on video. They also have pictures of their grief in the moments after he passed. It's a horrid sight...their grief. Grief is very, very ugly.

You may be wondering why the heck I put myself through this agony (and now you!). For one, while these blogs are hard to follow at times, they are also filled with a love that you sometimes forget to take advantage of. These blogs remind me to squeeze my children tighter, to give extra kisses, to jump at the chance to get another cup of juice, to relish moments rocking them back to sleep at 3 am, to take extra pictures, to read lots of stories, to do things that make memories, and to take full advantage of NOW. Because now is all we've been promised, and sometimes you need to be reminded of that.

Secondly, these moms/dads/families NEED support. Could you imagine going through that alone? They need people praying, listening, grieving with them. If I am ever challenged with such horrible circumstances revolving around my children, I can only hope that people will flock here, to my blog, by the thousands to offer their support, prayers, and encouragment. Let's face it: we need each other.

One of these moments where I thank these blogs just happened. Greg and Jackson called me into the bedroom for something. My first thought was, "But I'm writing a blog! And I'd have to get up!", and the second thought was, "Look at what you are writing about!". Me putting my computer down and getting up resulted in the most HILARIOUS game of Hot/Cold that I have ever played in my life, and Jackson was the star of the show. It's a memory I will carry with me for a long, long time. So, thank you, Layla, Hunter, Maddie, and Noah. Your lives have helped me live mine better.

Brooklyn--Halfway Here!

2010-04-10T14:31:00.001-07:00

I have not been very good at "documenting" this pregnancy. London has a book where I filled out something every week during my pregnancy and I took multiple photos of my growing belly.
Brooklyn? Not so much.
I think it's got to do with 2 major things:
1. I have two other children who seems to vacuum up my day with their endless energy, requests, needs, and cuddles.
2. The pregnancy is FLYING by.

So...uh, here is Brooklyn's first "picture", at almost 20 weeks. Halway done, but let's be honest, we all know she'll be here by 38 weeks, so I'm more than halfway done. I really, really, need the whole nesting thing to kick in.

Things are pretty normal for her. I'm actually going to a chiropractor to help with the whole 'not being able to walk after 25 weeks' thang my body seems to love to sping on me. It's amazing how much better I feel after I go, so hopefully that will help! I'm already having contractions (I'd say about 3-4 a day), so I'm just praying that the little things I do will help keep her in as long as possible and I don't end up in preterm labor with bedrest like London (although I was informed by my OB that this is a very real possibility...but what do doctors know?) :). I also found out that I will have to have surgery on that pesky little (not so little) cyst that has been growing right by Brooklyn (at least she has a pal?) after delivery. But, I'll cross that bridge when we get there. I finally gained a pound, which is pretty much all kiddo...but I blame it on the 14,769 whoopie pies and 56 pounds of peach cobbler I ate over Easter!
So that's it for 9 oz baby Brooklyn! Such a big girl! ;)