Happy Mother's Day

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Being a mother is the GREATEST and the HARDEST job I've ever done/will do. And I wouldn't change it for anything.

On this Mother's Day...

For all mothers: I wish you all a peaceful day and time with those you love. 

For all the women who have shared their love and support with me, whether you are family or a friend: thank you. I would not be where I am without you.

For mothers-to-be: May your baby continue to grow and arrive safely.

For those who long to be a mom: May God bless you in more ways than you ever imagined.

For my children's grandmothers: Thank you for loving them so much.

For my Mom and Grandma: I love and miss you so much! Wish we could be together, but we will be seeing you soon!

Emma's First Day of Preschool

Emma had her first day of preschool on Wednesday. I gave her my old backpack to use because you can't really find backpacks at the end of the school year. It is almost as big as she is! We had to be to school at 8:10, meaning we needed to leave by 7:30. Mind you this is what time the girls are usually waking up, so this was going to be interesting. We did make it out of the house by then and I realized we were probably going to be quite early. Then I almost got all the way down our rode and realized I had forgotten her paperwork. Oops! So, back we go. By then I'm thinking okay now we're going to be late. Good thing I only have to do this twice a week right now! So, we did make it on time and thank goodness the preschool is pretty relaxed anyway. Her teacher helped her find a place for her jacket and bag, then she got to move her name on the board that showed she was in school. She started to get a little upset so her teacher said I could stay and finish the paperwork. MJ and E did puzzles. By the time I was finished E was ready to move onto the reading center and didn't even notice me. It didn't really bother me to leave her. I knew she'd be taken care of. But picking her up-that was a different story. I pulled up in front of the school and the teachers walk the preschoolers and kindergarteners out to the front every day. I saw her coming out, bright yellow jacket, backpack on, holding her little green paper that said she'd had a great day. She looked so little. That's when I teared up! But, she did have a great day and she told me they painted and sang songs. 

The next day she showed me her picture she had painted. It was a grey whale. She got really upset when I was leaving and I had to leave her crying in the classroom. That was hard. I remember MJ being at this stage (not wanting me to leave her anywhere) and it happened after E was born. I had mixed emotions. I felt bad leaving her for the teacher to deal with plus sad that I was leaving her. She is just barely three years old. But, I know she is in capable hands at the school. And I also know she stops crying right after I leave and has a good day. The teacher said she did do great on Thursday as well. When we got home, she was excited to open her backpack and showed me her green paper and and a book she had made. She glued a wagon on the front and picked out different pictures to glue in it. Then she colored inside. They traced her hand on the back. 

The one thing that has been a little hard is trying to figure out what all she does during the day. Since expressive communication is still a struggle (the whole reason for school right now in the first place), it's kind of a guessing game about what she did. The teacher tells me she had a great day, but we don't really go through everything in detail. I'm going to have to figure out a way to find out more from the teachers, maybe when I drop her off or something. 

We are happy about her being in school though. It will be good for her in many ways. She had her 3-year well child check this morning. She weighs 28.5 lbs. and is 34 inches tall. Her pediatrician said everything looks great. He tells me I have boring kids-medically speaking-no real sicknesses or problems. I take it as a compliment and that's how he means it. We are so thankful for that. I literally thank God every day for my healthy children. The dr. thought our plan for preschool this summer was a great idea too and he could tell she was making a lot of progress. He said that looking back when we were first discussing if she had a problem or not, he was really glad we decided to pursue early intervention. Not that she wouldn't have maybe gotten it eventually, but this early help has made such a difference. 

Show Us Where You Live

So I thought it might be fun to participate in Kelly's blog carnival "Show Us Where You Live" this Friday. This is the living room addition. I am really happy with our living room, but thought it might be fun to see other houses and get ideas/suggestions. So, come along with us and join in if you want. Also be sure and go check out Kelly's cute house. MJ and I started praying for her little Harper back in January when she was very sick in the hospital. She's now a perfectly healthy little girl at home with her folks. And she is adorable!! Maybe she and J could meet some day. :) Anyway...here goes! Just so you get the full effect, this is the room before we remodeled and moved in last summer.

We were able to replace the carpet, remove wallpaper border and repaint the walls.

Here's an after shot of the entry. I just found the bench and it matches the mirror perfectly. Now I just need to order my baskets to go underneath to corral the shoes! 

Click for living room photos

 

The first photo is the view from our entryway. We had the rug in our old house and I just

love it. It has all the colors I love: sage green, crimson red and dark purple. I don't know what the "rules" are for putting a rug over carpet, but I like how it looks. Plus, I don't want to have all of our new carpet exposed. I like the color, but it's still pretty light. And I have small children: enough said.

This is the hub's corner. It has his recliner and his basket (and table) with 

all his cattle magazines. The girls love the rocker too. I usually sit in it when I'm feeding J. I would like to hang a long horizontal shelf along the left wall and a short one behind the chair to display photos. After patching so many holes, I'm a little hammer shy. That's why there is only one frame hanging up right now. The framed art is a little high, but that was the one nail I left in the wall. I know it's in a stud and that picture is heavy. Didn't want to take any chances. The chair is an extra from the dining room. It's been good seating too. I was going to put a ladder shelf there for some vertical shelving, but now with a new baby who will eventually be crawling, I think I'll take up more horizontal space with a floating shelf. Probably a safer option.

I love my red wall. I painted a couple walls red in our old house and just loved it. It was in the dining room and it more of an apple color. This is a darker though--Chianti from Behr at Home Depot. The rest of the walls are Hillsborough Beige from Benjamin Moore. It's the color my aunt has in her entry way. She gave me the paint chip when I was still in college and I held onto it ever since. I just knew I wanted to use that color in my house someday. We used in the living room, entry and down the hall. I went one shade lighter in the dining room, then one more lighter in the kitchen. It's a subtle difference and I love how it turned out. One of the first things we purchased was the flat screen. We already had all the furniture. I had hoped for a nice armoire to house the tv, but we started using the coffee table and it worked out just fine. Plus I like having all the open floor space. 

This was my parent's piano and I learned to play on it. M is already looking forward to taking lessons. I still play some, but it's hard when you have two little helpers who also want to play at the same time. We usually pull out the Christmas books during the holidays and they will let me play while the three of us sing.

My mom redid this wardrobe for me when I went to college. I had it in my first apartment. I just love it. I never liked dark wood until I had this piece and now I love dark wood the best. This piece means a lot to me. (This picture wound up blurry somehow). The saying above it reads: Life isn't about the breaths we take, its about the moments that take our breath away. The other one is from AtHome America. It's called Words of Endearment, Life's Rules. The six panels say Love your family, Love one another, Keep your faith, Always have hope, Follow your dreams and Cherish your home. 

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our living room. It was kind of fun describing it. Made me think about what things mean to me and why this space is important to us. Our family spends a lot of time in here. Fortunately we have a playroom, so we don't have to have any toys housed here like in the old house. It feels like an "adult" space, but is kid friendly. Lots of room for the girls to practice ballet moves, dance or do gymnastic stretchs. E loves to run around in circles too. Another reason we don't have a coffee table. :) We feel very blessed to have been able to move into this house, make changes to it and turn it into our home. 

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma!

5/5/06

5/5/09

This morning we celebrated your birthday with a donut breakfast courtesy of Daddy. Then, we took MJ to school and then ran to Walmart to pick up some birthday and thank you gifts. Today was your last session with Laura. We will all miss seeing her each week. This afternoon you rode your new scooter on the patio. About 5 p.m. you fell asleep in my arms on the couch. I had to put you down to finish fixing your birthday dinner. You woke up pretty cranky, which I suspected would happen. But, we were able to make it through dinner. I fixed Teriyaki Chicken and Veggies with Rice. After dinner, you opened cards and presents. You received this fun purple robe with a monkey on it from G'ma Jo and G'dad Brock. You and MJ enjoyed a bowl of ice cream for dessert while Daddy put together your new workbench. You girls then played with it for about half an hour before bedtime. You were still so tired, you went right to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow too-your first day of preschool! 

You came into this world three years ago today, unexpectedly two weeks early, but you have been a blessing ever since. You are such a joyful child, Emma. Full of spunk and spark with a beautiful grin that melts our hearts. You're our munchkin, our muffin, our Emmi. We love you so much, always and forever!

Love you,

Mom, Dad, Mackenzie and Jayten

Marathon blogger

Okay, so that was a marathon blogging session. And it's only the 4th of May! Granted most of the pics were from April that I hadn't posted yet. Plus, this really is my online scrapbook for the moment until I can get back to the real thing. 

It's been raining for three days now, off and on. Great for the crops, not so much fun for running around in or working in for Josh. The girls woke up with runny noses on Friday, and Josh and I have sore throats. I'm hoping it's allergies. And that J doesn't come down with anything. I finished a work project today and will have another one soon. We're all looking forward to a couple slow weeks before it gets busy again. 

I hope once the rain stops the girls and I can get outside again and back to the yard and planting flowers. That's always an activity we enjoy doing together each spring.

Well, enough for now. Hope it wasn't too overwhelming! 

3 months old

Our little guy turned 3 months old on Sunday! Where has the time gone? 

-he has slept through the night two nights in a row, including waking up in the middle of one, fussy for a little while then going back to sleep by himself. Yeah! He has slept through before, but not two in a row. We'll see what tonight brings. 

-he is very smiley, usually in the morning when he wakes up and has eaten, during diaper changes or anytime we put him on the floor and look at him

-he is still in size 2 diapers

-he has found his hands and is starting to suck on them a lot. I just hope he doesn't forget he likes his pacifier.

-he is surviving his daily maulings of kisses and hugs by big sister Emma

-the only time he is still is while he sleeps. Most of the time he is kicking his legs and flailing his arms around with a gleeful look

-he is starting to coo and gurgle a lot more

-I still don't quite know what his eat/nap schedule is, but whatever it is it seems to be working for all of us (maybe I should write that down?! Or just continue going with the flow)

-I found myself just wanting to sit and do nothing but hold him and look into those big blue eyes and talk to him while he smiles adoringly back at me. :)

-he's holding his head up better, but still does the bobble head

-he doesn't really like tummy time, and I need to be better at putting him there a little bit each day

-he has outgrown some of his 0-3 month clothes and is wearing a few 3-6 month things

-Josh calls him "Little J"

-some days he prefers to sleep in his bouncy seat where we all are. He won't stay asleep in the bassinet, but when I bring him out to the noise he sleeps right through it. Other days he takes a good nap in his bassinet. See I don't have it figured out so we just go with whatever. He also sleeps a lot in the car and during our running around. Can't beat that. 

-he still sleeps in his bassinet in our room. I am having a hard time thinking about moving him to his crib. We'll see if we get some more nights of not waking up. The girls were sleeping through by now, so it was easier with them. Plus there is something else holding me back I think.

-I've said this before, but it is so true. He is such a great baby and we are all so blessed to have him in our family.

We love you J Man! Happy 3 months!