Hungry????

So, our constant battle (or I should say...ONE of our constant battles) with Maeve is her patience.
She is usually the first one at the table yelling "I am ready to eat!" over and over and over again. As I struggle to get the food, plates, utensils, drinks, etc to the table, she is sitting in her high chair pounding the table with her hands and yelling at me that she is hungry and ready to eat.

Nice.

Before each meal, we pray and thank God for the food that He has given us. We don't eat until we pray. This is not a new thing in our house. But, this is the thing that she just doesn't understand.
If the food is put on her plate before we pray, we have to move the plate off the table so that her anxious hands don't start scooping food into her mouth. If the food is in bowls, we have to move the bowls over to the opposite side of the table so that she doesn't start serving herself. It's funny, and frustrating at the same time.

Last week, she managed to sneak a bite while we all had our heads bowed. She is sneaky, that one!

I caught her in the act the other day at dinner. I made all the food at the counter, set it at the table, and before I knew it, this is what I saw....


Are you kidding me???? Notice, no one else is at the table! Notice that all their food is untouched and hers is GONE?????!!!!! What in the world is a mom to do??

Maeve Turns 2!!!

My sweet Maeve turned two last week. As we have done for all the "2 year" birthdays, we had a small family party. I have found that my two year olds get a little overwhelmed with the big stuff, and so the smaller things always seem to work out best!

Maeve loves jumpy houses, so my original plan was to rent a small one for her and her cousins to play in during the evening party. Rain cancelled my plans, so we had to make some changes in the day.


After a yummy breakfast of pancakes and Nutella (or "Choc-o-late" as she says) we all headed to the local Pump It Up for some indoor jumpy time. She loved, loved, loved it!


*Side note - why do I always go to pump it up when I am pregnant???? Its not so fun to squirm, climb and slide when you feel like you are either going to a)pee your pants, or b) have contraction after contraction. Here is my last adventure at Pump it Up....

We spent the morning doing slides, obstacle courses, and bouncing off the walls...literally. Cannon and his bff/cousin Luke were also there, and they were hot and sweaty by the time we left.

After naps (for everyone) we had the grandparents, and family over for cupcakes and ice cream. The birthday girl enjoyed all this, and even managed to sing a little bit of "Happy Birthday" with everyone else!


Presents were torn into, and "oohed and aahed" over. She is my girly girl. Loves baby's, barbies and jewelry. Its fun to watch her cuddle and comfort a "crying" baby, and have full conversations with dolls. I love this little one!


Happy Birthday to my joyful Maeve! You are a blessing to Daddy and Me! We love your sense of humor, and your sweet voice. We love how we know where you are by just listening for your singing. We love your sweet caring nature to all your babies, and dollies. You are the one that loves to be woken up with hugs and kisses, and your constant "hold you" request is precious. You are tough when you need to be, but sensitive to our words, and we love you for that! We pray that this next year is full of fun, and laughter as you continue to grow and teach us more about yourself!
We love you to the moon and back,
Mommy and Daddy

Happy Mothers Day!

Here are the reasons that my Mothers Day was great:

The day started like this...
...but then I got this....
..and that made me smile in spite of this...


So instead of "toughing it out at the campsite", we packed up and drove home and ate this for lunch...

...and I had the entire afternoon to finish reading this...

...which was not the best book I have ever read, by the way.

Then, because it was Mothers day, and I didn't want to cook we ate this for dinner...


...and to make the night perfect, we slept in our own comfy, warm beds...


And I wouldn't have gotten to do all that, if it weren't for my three (and one on the way) wonderful kids, who have taught me more about God, myself, life, and Hot Wheel cars than I ever thought possible.


"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new."

First Camping Trip

Dear kids...
I hope that you remember our camping trips with "rose-colored glasses".

We had our first trip of 2010, and although you all were crying and didn't want to leave, Mommy and Daddy had to pack up a day early and head out.

Mommy's first mistake was to let you wear the clothes from the day inland out to the beach, and for some not-so-smart reason, I expected you to be warm enough to enjoy the evening. I was wrong. You were all shivering within minutes of arriving and I started to panic.

Mommy's second mistake was to pack all of your clothing from the bins in the garage that had recently been taken from your drawers. The reason that they were taken from the drawers was BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL TOO SMALL, but in my blissful hormone-induced pregnant mind, they would do for a weekend right? My bad. Brynn, your pants were too short, and way to tight to button, and your only jacket was too short on the arms and midriff. Cannon, you were ok, I just had to pull up your socks to cover the space between the bottom of your pants and your shoes. Maeve, you lucked out. I packed from your drawers, because I have made the mistake in the past (ok, last year...) of not getting warm enough clothing for you, and you made the trip miserable for us at night.

Our third mistake was to park the tent trailer right in the direct line of the campfire, which made the inside smokey, and cold at the same time. Don't ask how we managed that one kids....its a mystery of nature.

But, all in all, you loved our trip! You were dirty, and stinky,and sticky, and happy! When we woke up to rain on sunday, we realized that an entire day trapped in the trailer, with you three might be fun...and might not, so we packed up and headed home. Cannon, you cried, because you "wanted to stay there forever", and I don't doubt that you probably would if you could! Brynn, you cried because you were exhausted from not sleeping much since you have yet to learn how to sleep inside of a sleeping bag. (You were shivering all night...I am sorry baby!) Maeve, I think you were crying just to be part of the crowd, but who knows!

Anyways, please forgive me for my incompetent packing skills when it comes to beach camping. I am not used to this kind of "cold" camping! My childhood camping trips consisted of hot climate, redwood trees, and at the most, the need of a light sweatshirt at night.

Also, please forgive me for only taking out the camera one time... This is the only picture to capture our first trip of the year. But then again, maybe this trip is best left up to the imagination...


Love you all to the moon and back!
Mommy

4th Birthday (Part 2)

Cannon's Army party was on Friday, and due to budget cuts in the school system, Brynn and her cousins were able to come without missing a day of school. (There is a bright side to everything right????)

Cannon was super excited to have this party, and it was fun to put together. He is OBSESSED with airplanes, cars, tractors and trailers right now, and so that made gift giving easy for most!

The party included 15 little ones running around the backyard, army supplies (which I scored for free from the army recruiting office), an obstacle course (straw bales to climb, cones to weave in and out of, hula hoops to jump through, a tent to crawl through, and a plank over the little pool to balance on), face painting, binoculars made from duct tape and toilet paper rolls, a super yummy cake made by Elissa, and lots of these guys of course!


The kids arrived, and were given their dog tags, and water bottle to stay hydrated throughout the "training". They ran the obstacle course, got their face painted, and searched the yard for hidden army guys.




The kids had fun, and the weather was perfect!


Cannon loved all the attention, and LOVED all the gifts!


Hope your day was special sweet boy!!!

4th Birthday (Part 1)

Cannon turned 4 on Wed....of last week. (I am behind, but slowly gaining ground on catching up with all my blog posts.)

We started his birthday out with the breakfast of his choice. Homemade cinnamon rolls, and fruit salad. Of course, the fruit was quickly forgotten and the cinnamon rolls devoured....but whatever. We have a rule in our house that on your birthday, you can pretty much do whatever you want! Its your special day, and it only happens once a year....



He got to open his presents at the table, and seemed to enjoy them. Immediately he had to go outside and try out his new airplanes. Unfortunately, about 3 minutes into the playing the planes broke. Nice....



After breakfast, I took him and his best buddy/cousin, out for an "adventure". We headed to the park, and on the way, the boys chattered up a storm. I wasn't really paying much attention to their excited chatter, until I heard the phrase, "A wild bear eating mommy..." and then I quietly listened. The conversation went something like this:
Luke: What if a wild bear came into the car and ate auntie up?
Cannon: You mean the bear tore her to pieces and she was dead?
Luke: Yeah. Then the bear went and ate my mommy too....
Cannon: Then we wouldn't have anyone in charge of us!
Luke: Yeah! We would eat candy all day! And throw candy at people.
Both: (giggling madly at the idea of eating candy all day long...)
Cannon: That would be soooo fun!
Luke: And we could sit and throw gum in peoples hair!
Cannon: Yeah! Awesome!

Ok, so I have to admit that I laughed...and then tried to do the right thing and steer their imaginations a different way...but it was still really, really, funny!

The boys played hard at the park, diving into the sand, building castles (or destroying the girls' castles) and jumping off the slides and such. They had a blast, and the ride to the second part of the "adventure" was much more quiet and subdued.

We went to Chuckie Cheese for lunch and some games. Cannon put a quarter in almost every machine he walked by, and Luke held onto his like they were precious gold. They cashed in their tickets at the end of the day for a tootsie roll pop, and a fake plastic spider, and the day couldn't have been better for either one.



We followed dinner that night with a doughnut (per Cannon's request) with 4 candles stuck in it.
(That kid would eat doughnuts until he puked....)



Happy birthday to our sweet 4 year old! The first thing I noticed about you when you were born was the size of your hands! They were HUGE!!!(I called them "man hands" in the delirium of post delivery...) I pray that you use those hands for good things and not bad. I pray that you take all that passion and emotion that you have and use it to stand fast for the things that you know are right! I pray that the stubbornness that we see in you is used to stand up for what you believe, and not against it. I pray that those words that flow so easily from your mouth will be used to build up and not tear down. That you will lead, and not follow. That you will be a man of God, and not a man of this world. We love you, and can't wait to continue to get to know you more and more!

Love you to the moon and back!
Mommy and Daddy

Could they be more different????

For example.......

The Model~

The Silly One~


The Messy One~

5/11/10

I am alive....I promise.

Blog posts coming soon.