So Big!

This morning, as I was driving to the Doctor's office for Mathias' 9 month check-up, I came to the realization that he really isn't a baby anymore. At least he doesn't seem like one to me. He has a very vivid personality, which makes him seem older than he is. I sometimes feel like he really understands what we're trying to communicate to him, and he's really good at communicating back with us. Physically he's making huge strides as well. He learned to crawl in one day! At least, that's what it felt like.


It happened on May 31st, when I wasn't watching. You see, that was the day Chelsea got married, and I was with her all day, while Malachi and Mathias were at my parents'. The previous day was like any other day. Mathias would lie on his belly and pull his knees up underneath himself. He would sit there for several minutes and just rock back and forth. Then, when he felt comfortable with that, he would scoot his knees forward, ever. So. Slightly, alternating knees until he fell flat onto his tummy again, exhausted from all of the effort.


Naively, I thought that things would go on like this for at least a few days, and maybe, if I was lucky, a few weeks...? Well I think Mathias knew what I was thinking, because remember, he can understand what we're communicating to him, even the non-verbals. So on that 31st day of May, 2008, Mathias decided he'd show me! He practiced all day long, unbeknownst to those around him, nor to his parents and sister, who had so selfishly left him for the day. And lo and behold, come Sunday morning, he was not only all-out-crawling, but even scooting back into a seated position when he needed to rest!

I'll tell ya, this Momma is in dire need of some baby-proofing...GOTTA GO!

Whirlwind Weekend Part I- The Rehearsal!

Well, they say a picture's like a thousand words, so here are a few thousand for you:

Whirlwind Weekend Part II- The Wedding!

Whirlwind Weekend Part III- The Reception!

Whirlwind Weekend Part IV- David Graduates!

My brother David graduated from high school on Sunday. Here are a few thousand more words:

Busy, Busy

To excuse my blogging laziness, I'll give you a rundown of what's been going on, and what's about to go on in our lives of late:

On June 7th, we're having my brother's High School/Junior College graduation party AT OUR HOUSE! In electing to do so, we've had to come to the realization that there are several PROJECTS that need to get done between now and then. We've already completed a couple, including painting our sunroom, which has been a boring beige since we moved in. (I'll have pictures posted soon, I promise.) We've also cleaned every window in the entire house, started organizing the garage, and "relocated" every single toy to the basement...in a very organized fashion, I might add...

On the docket for the next couple of weeks: We need to paint the front porch, as it is looking a little weather-worn, finish organizing the garage, and paint the picnic table...those are the projects. Seth, Madison and I are also in a wedding on the 31st, and we have friends coming to stay with us a couple of nights in the week before...starting this Sunday! (We're pretty excited about that part.) Add to that all of the laundry and dishes and school and work and life, and you've got a recipe for busyness.

So forgive me for the sudden burst of posts to make up for the recent lack, but we'll update you in a few!

Mothers

This Mother's Day, my Dad's parents drove all the way to Minnesota from North Carolina. My brother and cousin are graduating from High School this year so they came to say "Congrats" to the Grads.

It was a fun Mother's Day. We went to church with my sister, since she was singing, then drove the two hours to my Aunt and Uncle's. We ate nummy food-some venison my Uncle and Dad brought home from a recent hunting trip, caught up with family members, and played a couple of rousing games of Apples to Apples. I always love it when my Grandparents can see my children, also.

Here's a picture of four generations of women in our family:

Left to Right: Madison, Mom, Grandma, Me

We hope to see you again soon, Grandma and Grandpa!

Misty will be Missed

My parents recently had to put down their dog, Misty. Misty was a dog my folks found at an animal shelter about 9 years ago. They suspected that she had been with an abusive owner prior to my parents adopting her. She was an excellent dog, I never had to worry about leaving my babies with her. On May 3rd, my parents noticed that she was walking very unsteadily and having trouble sitting down. She would circle several times like she wanted to, she just couldn't figure out how. We all suspected that she had had a stroke. My mom told me that if I wanted my children to be able to say goodbye, that I should do it then, because they were taking Misty to be put down the next day.

I took Madison and Malachi over to my mom's and explained to them that Misty was really sick, and that tomorrow Grandma was going to take her to the vet. The vet would then give Misty some medicine to help her sleep forever, and that now was the time to say "goodbye". Malachi seemed pretty unphased by the whole ordeal. He said "goodbye" to Misty then took off to play. Madison, however, had a pretty tough time with everything. She's always been a big animal lover anyway, so to lose an animal that she was close to was hard for her. We had brought our camera with us to Grandma's, so she wanted to take some pictures of Misty (which was hard, since Misty could hardly stand, she was so off-balance). Madison then just sat with Misty for awhile and laid her head on her back. Over the course of the next few days, I would notice that Madison was much more subdued than normal, (okay, I guess "subdued" and "normal" don't exactly belong in the same sentance when we're talking about Madison) and occasionally, I would notice her crying. At these times, I just tried to hold her and stroke her hair, not wanting to say much, just let her grieve. During one of these sadder moments, Madison asked me, "Mommy, when Misty is "Sleeping Forever" can she breathe?" "No, honey." I said. That's when I think she really knew that Misty was not coming back and that she had died. This was Madison's first real experience with death. I think she handled it really well. We miss you Misty!

On Every Mother's iPod...

This Mother's Day, Seth and the kids bought me a Zune. So while I'm still figuring out how to use it, (as technically challenged as I am, I was surprised to find it's really rather easy to use...so far.) give me a list of songs that you think EVERY mother should have on her MP3 player.

Ready?

GO!

EW!

Tuesday morning, the kids and I tried a new cereal: Wild Harvest Natural Blueberry Flax Granola. It was delicious~so I convinced Seth to try it.

The next morning, Seth woke me up to find this "blueberry" floating in his cereal:

Yeah, here's a closeup:

Grossed out? Yeah, me too...and I ate the stuff!

AND, Malachi, um, "tossed his cookies" in the van Tuesday night.

Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

Photo Shoot

This one's the Poster:

And here's the CD cover:

Home Is Where The Mom Is

I get a weekly e-mail newsletter from the MOPS Organization (Mothers Of Preschoolers). The newsletter this week reminded me how important our job is as protector and safe haven to our children. This is a job that I don't take lightly, and also, as other mommies know, it's a very warm and rewarding job:


"Stranded"
By Barb Vogelgesang, Area Coordinator

I was traveling recently and found myself stranded at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. This unexpected curve allowed me to spend some time people watching. The waiting area at the gate was crowded with stranded passengers. I noticed a young mom with two children pushing a carriage while she struggled to pull along their carry-on bag. She stopped and scoped out the available spaces and moved to two chairs near the ticket agent counter. It was interesting to watch her set up camp.
She blocked off the two chairs with the bag and the carriage creating a safe play area for her toddler. A blanket was put down with some toys and the little guy sat down happily at his mom’s feet. Every once in awhile he would stand up to check on his baby brother sleeping in the carriage and pat his mom’s leg. His mom’s desire and ability to create a temporary home for him made him content. When the ticket agent announced that our flight was canceled the mom left the safe corral to get on line. She built her “home” close enough to the ticket counter that she was able to keep one hand on the carriage at all times. As long as her little guy could see mom’s hand he was just fine.
It’s amazing how as moms we can establish a cozy dwelling place and the security this gives our children. A carriage, a suitcase, two chairs, and a blanket in a crowded airport and a little two year old played happily while his infant brother slept, all because mom was near. I’ve heard the saying home is where the heart is, but the reality for a young child is home is wherever mom is.

Golden Nuggets

I've been catching my kids lately saying the "darndest things"...

I overheard a scuffle between Madison and Malachi, and although I don't know what happened, they seemed to resolve it on their own:

Madison: "Say 'Sorry', for goodness sakes!"

Malachi: (With emphasis) "Sorry, for goodness aches!"

On Easter Sunday morning, our neighbor brought over a basket of goodies for the kids and left it on our back patio. The kids enjoyed going through it and finding delicious treasures while Seth and I enjoyed watching the kids dive in. We had to laugh as we watched as Malachi picked up sparkly plastic egg and exclaimed,

"What's this 'Doo-(h)ickey'?"

Yesterday, I changed Mathias' diaper in the dining room, then, in order to get him redressed without grabbing the soggy dud, wrapped it up and threw it in the direction of the kitchen garbage...Now, even if I was Michael Jordan, I wouldn't have been able to make it in the can, but Malachi noticed the flaw and said,

"Mom, you whiffed it!"

Enjoy, we sure did!

Easter, Etc.

Hi Folks,

I think it's high time I update you on recent happenings in our lives.

First of all, The Promise was a success. As far as I know, there were 3 people who gave their hearts to the Lord! That makes all of the hours and hard work worth it, right there. Below is a picture of our family in front of the empty tomb! (I missed the opportunities to get pictures of our family in our "Promise Garb", sorry.)

After church, Easter morning, my whole family went out for brunch. I only share that because I want you to see Mathias' reaction to Grandma giving him his first lemon:

After a nice afternoon nap, we headed to Seth's Folks' house for an Easter Egg Hunt. Seth's twin sister Sandy, who doesn't have kids yet, brought a huge tote FULL of eggs with little prizes inside. Divide those by the number of children hunting (7) and you've got a large grocery sack full for each child! The adults were just throwing eggs on the ground to get them all "hidden".

Auntie Sandy

Uncle Davy (Sandy's husband) assisting in the festivities

All in all, it turned out to be a nice Early Easter in Minnesota!

Life Is About to Get A Whole Lot Busier...

Last night was the first in a weeklong series of practices, dress rehearsals and performances for THE PROMISE, an Easter Production on the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As I've stated before, our WHOLE family will be involved. Please pray for stamina for us as we try to take it all one day at a time :D

Please also pray for Mathias, as I've been trying diligently to get him on a reasonable eating and sleeping schedule...which, I'm sure will go right out the window this week.

And finally, pray for the hundreds that will see THE PROMISE this year, that they will be open to what God wants to do in their hearts and lives through the drama.

Thanks,
Rachel

"Ferberization"

As I type this, I am listening to my poor little baby wail himself to sleep on the monitor in my living room. How long does it take until they're okay with going to sleep on their own? We've been using the Ferber Method since he was born! And when will he start sleeping for longer than 2-3 hour intervals in the middle of the night?

For the most part, Mathias has a pretty constant napping schedule. I lay him down between 9 and 9:30 for his first nap, and between 12 and 1 for his second. Then, he usually gets tired again around 4 or 5 so he'll take his final nap then. We lay him down for the night around 7:30-8 and then he's up again 4-5 times per night. Right now we're slowly introducing solids before bedtime in hopes that it will calm any hunger pains he may feel in the night, but I think it's too early to tell if that's working or not.

I'll admit that in the night, I don't let him cry very long before I go in and get him. Seth's pointed that out to me more than once :D. And as for his daytime naps, they tend to be pretty short-1/2 hour to 45 minutes most of the time.

HELP! Does anyone have any sleep advice for me?

If You Were a Five Year Old Girl...

What sorts of pictures would be on your digital camera?


Yea, that'd be about right. Enjoy the photographic talent of my five year old.

Another Thing to be Proud of...

As rotton as I felt yesterday, I still managed to be somewhat productive. (And as long as Mat wasn't going to let me sleep, I might as well have gotten something done...)

That's right, FIVE STINKIN' scrapbook pages! Let me tell you, if you're at all behind in your scrapbooking and need some motivation? You NEED to get the Everyday Power Palette from Creative Memories. There's enough in there do complete a whole scrapbook and still have some left over! And the best part? Everything co-ordinates! I have quite a bit of cheap-o Dollar Store stuff, and sometimes even the stuff in the same pack doesn't even match! So if you're like me and you're ready to fill your long, stuck inside, freezing cold days doing something productive, go here and order an Everyday Power Palette for yourself!

Oh, My Aching Body!

It's amazing how one day you can feel just fine-good, in fact-and the next feel like you hit a freight train.

As I type this with my freezing cold fingers, I can consciously feel every part of my body. My feet ache, my back aches. My head and neck ache. When Seth or one of the kids touches me, I can feel a surge run through my sore body. My eyes are all red and bloodshot.

But good news: Lunchtime is about to conclude, and then my two older children will be off to dreamland. The bad news? Mathias just awoke from an hour and a half morning nap and I don't forsee him settling back in between the sheets any time soon.

Well, I'll just make myself a cup of hot something-or-other and burrow into blankets on the couch. I'll pop in our taping of IDOL last night and pull Mat and his bouncer right up next to me. And, hopefully, I can catch some healing ZZZs.

Sleepy Boy

Remember when you could sleep anywhere?
Yea, me neither.