Since I Haven't Posted Pictures in a While

This is what happens when you have a big sister

Can we say blackmail? By the way Grandma, how do you like the fur you sent? Leeann insisted Titus got to play with it too...

Part of Titus' room

Our dining room--slightly bigger than our last house!

Titus' room (and one of those boxes I just don't want to unpack!)

Leeann's room. The missing paint is from where a bed was when the room got painted. Oops!

Living Room shot #1

Living Room shot #2

He's just a cute kid. This was taken 2 weeks ago

Daddy and Leeann picked me flowers from the yard!

Leeann's attempts at swaddling Titus. It didn't quite work as well as when mommy does it!

During my trip through memory lane Leeann and I both tried on my old cheerleading uniform. It looks far better on her, so I decided to blog her picture. It's less traumatizing that way!

Grandma R sent this really cute John Deere apron to Leeann. It matches mommys!

I thought I turned this sideways... oops!

This is what happens when Leeann's fed and tired. We had company over for dinner so she ate on the floor in the kitchen and apparently she was done, because she fell asleep. In case you are wondering, this happens fairly often. Rob pulled a chip out of her mouth the other day while she was in her chair. She fell asleep in the middle of putting a chip into her mouth! Rob woke her up and made her swallow what was in her mouth but then she went back to sleep. I missed it because I was sleeping too. Apparantly it had been a long day for both of us!

This was about a month ago, I was showing off his cute baby push-ups!

So here's the deal... my kid is short!

You won't be the least bit surprised to hear that my dear son is in the 3rd% for height. Yes folks, 97% of 4 month olds are taller than him. He truly is his parents child!

Titus had his 4 month Dr. appointment today and everything is healthy and he seems happy. I take that back, he wasn't very happy when they gave him 3 different shots... but other than that things are good!

Height 23 1/4 inches
Weight 12 lbs. 11 oz
Head 16.5 inches

They are supposed to double their birthweight by 4 months, but someone forgot to tell Titus that! His doctor assures me that it isn't anything to worry about as statistics don't take into account short genes. He may not be big, but he sure is cute!

If...

If my house is always about 20 minutes from being company-ready... why don't I just keep it always company-ready? Hmmm...

I find myself doing the 20 minute clean up just before I know that someone is coming over, or just before Rob gets home from work. Our house is never dirty, but it's never usually all picked up either. But it's never more than a few minutes from picked up. I generally just need to put stuff from the living room back into it's proper room, do a quick sweep of Leeann's floor for her toys, pick clothes and towels up off of bathroom floors and do a few dishes and a quick counter swipe. Maybe take a few minutes to make the beds. Not more than 20 minutes worth of work, so why don't I just keep it done all of the time? It's a question worth pondering...

Trying so hard...

Titus is trying so hard to roll over, he just can't quite manage though! He was upstairs in his room playing with a toy and I was sure he was going to make it, but no such luck! That boy smiles like crazy, it's so sweet.

Leeann is watching Blue's Clues... again. I think it's becoming an obsession! I think it's because Steve looks like her dad :0) I'm already planning a Blue's Clues Birthday party and she won't be three until July! Okay, I'm not planning it, I'm just thinking about how to make her special cake. I'll probably order a Blue's Clues cake pan on-line, they are pretty cute. I have a goal to make my kid's Birthday cakes as long as they'll let me. Titus already has a John Deere Tractor pan waiting for his 1st Birthday. I've only made a couple of cakes, but I enjoy doing it a lot, and I even got some special tips for my birthday this year.

I got one more box unpacked today. That felt nice. We only have a couple of them left, but they are boxes that have contents inside that don't have a specific home and that makes me have little motivation to unpack them!

I'm reading a book called "Cure for the Common Life... living in your sweet spot". It's a good book so far, I recommend it! Eroica and I are going through it trying to best figure out what our roles in the business should be. It'll be fun!

Well, I should probably do something. Anything really, I'll write more when there's more to write!

Leeann's New Friends

I have the feeling we're in for it! My daughter is so incredibly social it's almost funny!

Today I went to take thank you notes to some neighbors who had dropped cookies by the other day (I was sad, I wasn't home). So I got to meet to neat young moms in the neighborhood along with some of their children. Well Miss Leeann made some new friends and didn't want to leave, she was having WAY too much fun. So I let her stay and play for a little while and when Miss Jodi brought her home she was just crying and crying when I opened the door. She didn't want to come home, she just wanted to stay and play!

Hopefully when Titus gets old enough to play with Leeann, she'll be more inclined to like being home :0) She loves people a lot... if you've met her you know what I'm talking about! She's got to be the sweetest little girl I ever did meet, I'm so glad God trusted her to us!

SPA DAY!!!

Wait, I do have something good to write about...

The ladies in my church pitch in every year to purchase a gift, usually a gift certificate of some sort, to give to the Pastor's wives on their Birthday. We typically get together for breakfast or dinner somewhere and have a ladies get-together/party. Well, this year it was a little late (yesterday... over a month after my actual Birthday, but who's counting!) and we had breakfast at Elmer's. Strawberry crepes with ice cream on top... yummy! Anyway, I got a $150 gift certificate to a local day spa. Hello, can we say COOLEST GIFT IN THE WHOLE WORLD?!?!? I'm SOOOO excited! I can get a massage, facial, manicure and a cosmetic touch up. I'm not sure what a cosmetic touch up is... but that's okay!

Bottom line is that it's a gift I would never think to get get myself, but I'm grateful that somebody else did! I can't wait to spend the day at the spa, I've always wondered what that would be like, and soon--I will find out!

Daddy's Little Girl

I think every little girl ought to be a "daddy's girl". Maybe I think that because I was a daddy's girl too. Leeann loves her daddy. She very obviously adores him, and he adores her more than I ever could have imagined. Rob just took her out in the yard and they picked me some fresh daffodils to adorn my kitchen table! There's just something about pretty flowers that brighten my day! Now they are on a walk, which they also love to do together. Leeann started loving to be 'working' in the yard with daddy because she would get strawberries for her payment. Now our strawberries belong to somebody else though *tear*. We'll have to get some more. We loved to pick strawberries and put them on top of our homemade ice cream all smothered with chocolate syrup. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Titus seems to get bigger and bigger everyday. He'll be four months old soon, that's hard to imagine! It really seems like just yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting his arrival. He likes to play in his excer-saucer and he smiles ALL THE TIME! I think he's going to be an optomistic little guy. His eyes are still blue, but they still have a fleck of brown in them so I'm curious if they will change color just yet. We'll see. He still drools and spits up a lot, that's to be expected!

I'm beginning to start working on Vacation Bible School for this year. I'm excited about it, but I know I'm going to have to be diligent with the time that I have to make sure that I'm getting everything done that needs to be done. I have my hands in several pots right now--it just always seems to happen that way. Truthfully though, I enjoy being busy. As I write all of this I feel like I'm repeating myself. Something tells me that if I look back at my last couple of posts, much of this might be in there. Oh well. I guess I don't have much to write about! And with that... I'm out...

Baby Joel's Surgery

Baby Joel had open-heart surgery on the 17th of March and he's doing very well. He is 4.5 months old and from all appearances the surgery seems to have been a success. I am excited for Toby and Stephanie to be able to move ahead in their lives with confidence--there have been a lot of unknowns up to this point. Joel is a fighter though, and I'm convinced that God has big plans for his life! Toby and Steph would still appreciate your prayers as he heals and recovers. I'll keep you updated.

Not Much Going on Here

I haven't posted in a while mainly because there's not a whole lot to post about! That's unusual for our crazy lives, but kind of nice!

Titus is trying hard to roll-over but he just can't make it yet. He's doing a really good job of sitting up when someone's holding him and he has really good head control. Everyone wants their kid to hit all of the major mile-stones early (rolling-over, crawling, walking, talking etc.) but I'm kind of hoping Titus is a little late on getting going. I like the fact that when I set him somewhere, he stays there--it makes my life easier! I know I don't have much longer to enjoy the freedom of this stage though, but I'll milk it for all it's worth! And I don't really hope that he's late, it would just make my job significantly easier though, and who doesn't want the easy way? Titus is sleeping well through the night on most nights, typically waking up somewhere between 7 and 9, but sometimes even 10! He's stopped fighting the swaddle, so that seems to be helping a bit. I had a random 3 am wake-up call the other day and I felt like I had been cheated or something!

Leeann is as gorgeous and gorgeous can be! She's so precious and she loves her little brother so much. She smoothers him with hugs and kisses and sometimes puts things near him so he can 'play' with her. She talks to him as if he understands her and I think that's precious. I stuck him in the bath with her the other day and she thought that was the greatest thing in the whole world! She's talking up a storm these days and will randomly belt out her numbers (1-10) or start singing Jesus Loves Me, or start yelling "No tickle daddy, no tickle", which of course means "tickle me daddy, tickle me!" Those two can run around the house chasing each other and teasing each other for a good hour on some days. She's definately a daddy's girl, she loves him so much and the feelings are most definately returned! It's fun to watch them play...

I'm still enjoying working with Precious Portraits and I look forward to learning more and more about photography. I'm anxious to get my own camera, but haven't figured out which one to buy yet--I'll have to do some more research.

I am directing this year's Vacation Bible School again at our church. I really need to sit down and just diligently put some time into getting it off the ground for the year. I'm hoping it will be far easier to plan this year since I already have a year of planning under my belt. This is one of my favorite times of the year, VBS is so exciting for the kids and workers, and for our church as a whole!

Well, my dear sweet Leeann is 'all done' with her cereal so I must be signing off now. I hope your Monday is fantastic and I'll try to post more short snippets of fun soon!

Robyn

Good Stuff

I've been listening to a CD set over the last couple of days titled Purpose Driven Children's Ministry Conference on CD. It's so inspiring! It's the Saddleback Children's Ministry Conference in its entirety on CD and it's GOOD!!! It challenges the way I think about church, how we do church, why we do church and what church looks like through the eyes of kids. There's so much information it's hard to process it all. There are hours and hours worth of the conference, and I think I could listen to it 10 times and still only grasp the tip of what they do. I won't bore you with details because I'm guessing you're not all that interested... but if you are involved in children's ministry I would like to challenge you to get ahold of this cd set and listen to it. If you go to my church by all means ask me for it and I'll let you borrow it!

That has little to do with what's in my nest, other than the fact that because I have been listening to it so have my kids :0)

Titus is drooling a lot. A whole lot! It's kind of gross... but I love him anyway! He's growing by leaps and bounds and he's doing a really good job of sitting up with just a little bit of support. He smiles all day every day and he's just a happy little camper.

Leeann is learning to have her own will more and more. I'm happy about that, but it makes my life a bit more difficult! She's testing the line of obedience more frequently... just seeing what she can get away with. I have to be on my toes because I know I need to let her express herself and learn by testing us, but I also need to be consistent so that she knows that even though she's 'growing up' that she still has rules that she needs to obey and that she still needs to be kind. She's started kind of yelling when she talks. I doubt she's intending to be rude, but it comes across that way so we're trying to encourage her to speak kindly. She's a sweet little girl and she really is growing up so fast. I can't imagine how quickly their childhood is going to fly by. I like the stage that my family is at right now, this is a good place to be!

My Sweet Little Children

He did it mommy... No, mommy, she did it!

My mommy thinks I'm the best looking kid in town!

My mommy says I'm a princess... can't you tell?

I Need Marriage Advice...

Yeah, I thought that would get you reading further! Rob and I are doing pre-marriage counseling for a young couple starting tonight and I was wondering if you (again, whoever YOU are?) could give me your top piece of marital advice? You could maybe even throw in a funny story of what NOT to do in a marriage? I only have one marriage worth of experience to share, so I think it would be fun to maybe pass along other tid-bits of marital advice that you have found helpful.

Click on the comments link beneath this post and it will bring a page by which you can comment on. If you are not a blogger you can sign in under 'other' and leave your message. I hope to hear from you!

My Little Ones

Leeann seems to be feeling much better and she has kept down all of her food for the last 24 hours. We've only given her little bits, but she seems to be in a much better mood today.

My kids slept from 11-9. THE WHOLE TIME! I finally went up to check on them because I was a little worried. That's about twice as long as Titus normally sleeps without waking up to eat. I didn't mind too much, I enjoyed the extra sleep myself!

Titus moved up to 3-6 month clothes finally! I went 'shopping' in his closet and pulled out a whole new wardrobe thanks to aunt Suzy who passed along her boys' clothes. THANKS AUNT SUZY! I found some very, very cute new clothes for Titus! I am going to miss some of the old favorites however, but I guess that's part of life eh?

I've been a little worried about Leeann being afraid to go upstairs by herself. So today I left her up there and put on a Veggie Tales CD for her to listen to and I came downstairs to do some work in the kitchen. I was hoping she'd stay up there for a while. I got a little worried when I couldn't hear her music anymore. I went up there and noticed she had shut the door, which I was really surprised about. When I opened the door I saw that she was 'feeding' her baby. Of course she needs privacy when doing such a thing! I'm glad she feels comfortable up there by herself, but I hope she doesn't continue to nurse her babies forever. Hopefully we'll start all of our 'babies' on solid foods before too long? Hopefully her babies will grow out of nursing when Titus does!

Well, there's still lot's to do around here, including figure out what to do with memory lane. Rob walked in last night and Titus was in his swing surrounded by wadded up newspaper. He brilliantly said to me, "So, Titus has been reading the paper eh"? Yup, it's our attempt at trying to make our kids smart!

A Giant Trip Down Memory Lane

Three boxes marked 'fragile' somehow made it into our foyer during the move. They were boxes that I had packed up from my aunt's house where I was living, just before Rob and I got married. These boxes contain many great memories for me... but what on earth do you do with it all?

You'll laugh at some of these trinkets from my pre-college life:

Snow Globes--several of them. I love snow globes, they have lovely music. I realize now that the ones that I have collected are somewhat cheap, because they didn't survive being wrapped in newspaper very well. They aren't quite as colorful as they once were!

Ceramics--lots and lots of ceramics. I found my 'early' ceramics that were made without a wheel. They appear to be from my 8th grade crafts class. I have some from my junior or senior year that show far more skill. I have some bowls and cups. Nothing worth noting really, just random trinket holders.

Graduation Box--ah, the memories! In it I found my announcements, the program, my honors medal, two sets of cords, and my cap. I found a box of graduation cards that people had sent me. Most included cash at one point, ah, it would be nice to retrieve some of that now! I also found a really neat plaque that is titled "Louie Abrams Award". This was presented to me for being the most inspirational senior girl at St. Helens High School. I will always treasure that one. It's funny how big of a day graduation seemed, and now it just seems like silly ole memories--no big deal. Oh, how I remember it being a big deal though!

Cheerleading Uniform--I'm not even going to humor myself by trying it on! Yes, there was a short stint of time in which I was a cheerleader. It only lasted a season and I wasn't any good anyway. Please refrain from teasing me for this!

Tiarra's--from the Port O Fun. I know, the port o fun sounds silly, and it is. It's a carnival and parade that comes to town every year. I was Port O Fun queen my sophomore year. I have a princess tiarra, a queen tiarra and a sceptor too. I got to do the little princess wave from the back of a really nice car, loads of fun. Again, a big deal back then, but something almost worth laughing about now!

Trophy's--one from 1993. It was a cheetah trophy from my early soccer years. We were the cheetah's, loads of fun, so many memories! I also have a 2nd place speed for the AWANA grand prix and a trophy from when I was in a beauty pageant when I was 8. I know, gag me with another spoon! Hey, I was 4th runner up, that's gotta say something right? Looking back at the pictures of the 5 winners it really doesn't mean much. Really. Maybe you can contribute that to being in the late 80's or early 90's, but I'm guessing the judging wasn't solely on looks!

Random Things--lot's of glass items. I found a china tea cup and saucer, an antique jewelry box, and some other crazy things I couldn't describe if I tried!

So, there you have it, my trip down memory lane. Now I have to figure out what to do with it all! Is it worth boxing back up so that I can get some time down memory lane next time we move? It seems silly. I don't want to throw it away though. We'll see. For now, I've got to go deal with the pile of newspaper that's knee high in my living room now!

All Moved In

HOUSE

So, we're officially all moved in. Not unpacked, but all moved in! We LOVE our new house, we are both very very happy with our purchase. It already is such a blessing! I would change a few cosmetic things, but I can't think of a single floor-plan thing that I would change as of yet. We really do love it! The floors are in and beautiful. We've decided that we will sand or strip and restain the foyer instead of replacing it. And since we have left over laminate now, we may do our bedroom at some point. The floors are GORGEOUS!

SICK

Leeann has been throwing up for the last 30 hours or so. It makes me sad to see her sick. She's just been laying on the couch watching movies and hanging out. So far she's thrown up on the kitchen floor, on her Pooh blanket, in the middle of Burgerville (all over her, the bench, the floor, then some came off of her clothes into the bathroom), on the towel protecting the couch, and a couple of times in the garbage can thanks to mommy or daddy catching on to an episode about to take place! Hopefully she'll get better soon. I've been doing lots of throw up laundry. I can't imagine what Rebekah's (see my links) mommy and daddy have been going through for the last year. Rebekah often needs clothing changes and sheet changes in the middle of the night... but hopefully that part of their life is now over!

BABIES

Well, two of my friends, Jennifer and Becky are in the hospital about to have babies. Or maybe they've already had them and I just haven't gotten word yet. I'm anxious to hear how they and their babies are doing. I'm so excited for both of them. It's funny because I feel like I can't sympathize with them. I knew exactly when my baby would be born and I knew it would take about 30 minutes from first cut to sew-up and I knew I wouldn't feel pain. They've just been waiting and agonizing and curious (Is today the day? What will the pain feel like? Can I handle it?) I'll never be able to fully understand!

Well, I should be going, just wanted to leave my curious readers with a little update!

Almost Done... Kind Of

We are almost done with the flooring. I say that as if I'm helping, when I'm just 'she who delivers food'! However, we are only almost done with the flooring in the living room and dining room. We are considering leaving the current foyer/bathroom floor which is hard wood and sanding and varnishing it to match the pergo. It would save a great deal of hassle if that's a possibility. If we do that however, we will have probably a good $200-$300 worth of flooring that we can't take back because we opened it to dry it out. Oh well, maybe we'll find something else to do with it!

Approximately 18 hours til the church moving crew comes in and hauls everything out of here. I look around and there's still so much last minute stuff to pack. Tomorrow's going to be a full-full day for me. I just realized a few minutes ago that we are almost out of boxes. First thing on the list tomorrow... get some more! It's so hard to do what needs to get done with kids everywhere. This might sound kind of silly but I dread going anywhere because getting the kids in and out of the van is somewhat painful. Titus is heavy in his carseat and cumbersome to carry for such a little gal like me. Such is life though, such is life!

I'm so excited to get moved into our new house. I still can't imagine in my head where everything will go but I guess we'll see tomorrow. Wow, this is our last night in this house. I really have far more things that I ought to be doing than blogging to who knows who? I really have no idea who reads my blog... but hello whoever you are! I hope your day is great and hey, maybe I'll see some of you tomorrow to help us move? My current house, 6:00! If your really bored, you might even help me clean up this place after everything's moved out? I'm really dreading that part, but I know it's important to leave it in great shape... I'd want that done for me. So, with that being said, I'm off to bed--or packing--or something!

Flooring Snafoo's

My daddy and Tasha and my little brother and sister came down last night to redo the flooring in my new foyer and living room/dining room. Right now he's trying to trouble shoot some issues... of course things can't go off without a hitch!

Currently the carpet is ripped up, but it needs some Kilz painted over some spots where dog's have marked their territory in the living room. No big deal, but a little money and a little time.

The flooring that is now exposed in the living room is far lower than the kitchen or foyer (which has the 1/2 bath and laundry off of it). So do we bite the bullet, pay some money and put boards down on the living room and dining room floor to raise it? Then what about the fireplace that'll sit lower than the flooring? Or do you just have little steps up into the kitchen and foyer or bathroom depending on where we tear that floor up at. If we tear the foyer up before laying the new stuff down then we have to tear up the bathroom but then the toilet is slightly exposed. I don't really understand much of this, I'm just relaying the little I know.

Rob and I made a big mistake. We picked up the flooring from Costco on Monday night and loaded it in the rain and then left it in our friends truck, which is covered. But apparently there was a lot of moisture on the flooring which caused some of them to warp, potentially all of them (which would be a LOT of wasted money!) We dried them out the best we could, but we won't know what kind of damage was done until my dad starts laying th floor. That could have been a very expensive mistake on our part! It's okay, our new house has a money tree in the back right?

Well, I need to get ready for my day and go help my daddy deal with more flooring snafoos!

3 Years Ago Today

Three years ago today we bought our first house. We got our keys from the agent and walked into our 3 bedroom, 1 bath 912 square foot home. It was perfect for us! I was in my Junior year of college and Rob was about to finish his first year of full-time ministry. Just the two of us, hanging out, loving each other and enjoying life.

We'll probably move out in 5-7 years we told ourselves. Our goal was to stay in our home until we had two kids. We knew the dining room was a limiting factor, it's nearly impossible to fit a family of four around our table because the dining room is so small. I had another year of school left and we probably wouldn't start trying to have kids until sometime after that. Then of course you have the 9 month wait for the first baby, the 1-3 year wait between kids, and the customary 9 month wait for baby #2 right? HA HA HA! God laughs at our plans!

Exactly 3 years later we have 2 beautiful gifts from God named Leeann and Titus. But as we hoped, we are able to move into a bigger home to accomodate our bigger family. EXACTLY 3 years later, isn't that just crazy? It's hard to believe and ironic in a weird way. God has blessed our marriage and our family in ways that we just can't fathom. Why is He so good to us when we are so undeserving? God is good, all the time!

Two More Days Til Move Day!!!

We take possession of our house on Tuesday! Yay! We don't have to be fully out of our house until Friday at noon and it looks like we'll be pushing it pretty close to then. We'll move most of our big stuff on Thursday evening so that'll probably be our first day officially in our new house. Which means that I'll spend all of Friday morning getting our current place ready to hand over to the buyers. They seem like really nice people and I certainly want to leave the home as I would want it left for me to move in. Bottom line, it's going to be a long week!

We spent all of yesterday packing, packing and packing some more. I hate packing! We've got most everything packed (our house looks like a maze of boxes!) but it's the random little stuff that drives me nuts. What box do you pack that random do-hicky in and what room will it go into in our new house? Do we really even need it? What the heck is it anyway? Hmmm... life's little wonders!

Friday night Rob got a babysitter and took me to the Olive Garden for my Birthday--it was really sweet. I love the Olive Garden! He and Leeann baked me a cake on Thursday and when I got home from my long wait at the DMV he sent me on a "Leeann's Clues" hunt. (It's a spoof from Blue's Clues which Leeann loves to watch). Rob traced part of Leeann's hand onto sticky notes and sent me on a treasure hunt around the house. I finally found my card smooshed between two plastic totes. It was a very cute Veggie Tales card and it had $40 inside of it. I'm saving up to buy a really nice camera of my own to use for my new photography business. Eroica has a super-nice camera that we use for business but it sure would be nice for us to both have one, especially for weddings. Besides, I'd love to take it along with me wherever I go so I can get some great looking shots anytime (It's funny how I was so excited about my Kodak a couple of months ago but now that I see what expensive camera's can do I'm no longer so content!). Unfortunately they are not very cheap... but I'm going to try real hard to get one soon. We've talked about letting me buy one on 'credit' that I'll have to pay back with my earnings by Christmas. Credit meaning I borrow it from our savings and pay it back with interest :0) I'm willing to do that if it means I'll get my camera sooner. As soon as moving is all done I'm going to do a little research until I find one that makes me drool!

I simply can't wait to be moved in and settled into our new house. Our life has seemed so chaotic since Titus was born! First the baby, then Christmas, then house shopping, selling, signing, buying, packing etc. Not to mention starting a new business to boot! Sometimes I think I live a crazy life, but I wouldn't want it any other way~ I truly love my life! Unless you think I'm WAY too crazy I should let you know that I'm no longer doing day care from my home. I don't think I ever blogged that in the excitement and stress of packing and such.

Baby Joel vs. Baby Titus

If you've been a long-time blog follower you will remember me asking for prayers for Baby Joel who was born 6 weeks early weighing in at a mere 3 lbs 2 oz! He and Titus were due within a day of each other, so gestationally they are the same age. Joel has a heart condition that you can learn more about by reading his blog http://www.joelbaby.com/. He is doing very well and he'll be having surgery on April 17th to repair his heart condition. Please continue to pray for his health and for the upcoming surgery. Titus and Joel got a chance to meet each other a few days ago and I want to show you the pictures. Joel seems a teeny bit bigger than Titus now, but they are virtually the same size which is so neat to see. It's taken Joel a while to start gaining weight but he's doing very well now. We are excited for him and his parents and the progress they've made. So... without further adue... pictures!!

A Happy Birthday

Today was my 24th Birthday. 24. Crazy! I woke up to Lucky Charms in bed with some yellow flowers to brighten my day. Rob spent the morning working in the garage while I bathed the kids and got them, and myself, ready for the day. We headed off to sign papers for the house at 2 then I headed to the DMV to renew my license. I wanted to renew it after signing the papers so that I wouldn't have to spend the next 8 years with a sticker on my card. So, after the customary hour of wait time at the DMV I was told I had the wrong paper to show my new address. So I went home and got the rest of the paper work and brought it back only to be told that wasn't sufficient either. So I went to the title place who told me that things wouldn't actually clear until Tuesday. By that time the DMV closed so I know have an expired license. I'll have Eroica drive me to the DMV tomorrow and just concede to 8 years with the silly sticker. Oh well, such is life!

Then Rob and I took the kids to Costco and enjoyed some pizza for dinner. We went to check out some laminate flooring for our new house. We then went to Home Depot to see if we could find the matching pieces for the thresholds and we mosied around there for a while. My daddy is going to come down next week and help us install some laminate flooring in our new house. Right now the dining room is carpeted which isn't kid friendly! I look forward to spending time with my daddy and also to a new pretty floor!

We then headed to small group which was fun. I got a Birthday cake complete with candles. I like Birthday cake, especially with ice cream. Leeann and Rob made me one today but I haven't gotten to have any yet. I'll get some tomorrow I'm sure! Leeann spent the whole day saying "Leeann Birthday Cake". I guess she'll have to wait until tomorrow to get some, cause she's in bed now.

Our house is over come with boxes and yet there are still so many more boxes to be packed. I can't wait until my life resumes some hint of normalcy!

Well... I'm going to go now. It's late and I should take advantage of this childless time to pack yet one more box... or maybe two...

Life at high speed

Time flies and life is busy. I feel like I'm a broken record as I type that!

We're full swing into packing as we sign papers this Thursday and we take possession of our new home next Tuesday. We don't have to turn possession of our home over until Friday though, so at least we have a couple of days of wiggle room. I'm beyond excited for our new home, but I really do hate packing. It's difficult to be motivated to do so with the kids around and needing attention. One box at a time though, we're getting there. The boxes are stacked high invading our living room. Sometimes I feel like a mouse in a maze!

I've been busy the last couple of days with Precious Portraits also. Today and tomorrow we took and are taking preschool pictures of individual kids at North Albany Preschool. It'll be a total of 24 kids, so Eroica will take one class for editing and I'll take the other. We promised to have the proofs back to the parents by March 1st (yup, right smack dab in the middle of moving) so this week will be beyond busy! I'm having fun though, and learning lots day by day!

Things at church are going great, we've had an architect in to begin some preliminary drawings for our 20 year plan. It's exciting to be a part of such a huge project. We're looking ahead to build a church to reach people for Christ who might not even be born yet! I'm amazed at the unity of our leadership as they forge ahead with this project. Nearly 100 people in our church are part of 9 different teams that are all working together on this project. Eroica and I are heading up the communications team which makes us very very busy right now! As soon as we are moved in I also need to start working on putting together this year's Vacation Bible School. It's the most exciting week of the year at our church and it's neat to be a part of that too!

Speaking of being busy and packing... I should go do some more of that now. I just wanted to let you know that we are still here and still alive!

It's Our Valentine's Day

Rob and I choose to celebrate Valentine's Day on June 15th instead of February 14th. Rob's Birthday is at the end of October, then we have our anniversary December 15th, then Christmas, then my Birthday just after the traditional Valentine's Day. Unfortunately we didn't have a reason to give gifts for the other months of the year... and V-day being so close to all the other days didn't really make it all that special. Not to mention the fact that on June 15th roses are back down to their $10 a dozen instead of $40, it's extremely easy to get reservations at a nice restaraunt, and we never have to fight for a babysitter. Instead, we like to babysit for other people on Valentine's Day and it works out nicely.

Well, this year we babysat for some friends of ours who have 3 kids. One of them is 4 year-old Hamish. Leeann has always been fond of Hamish--he is a cutie! Well, after about an hour of rough-housing with the kids Rob put on the Incredibles and Leeann snuggled next to him on the couch. Until she saw Hamish. She scooted close to him, looked up at him and said "hi". "Hello" he replied. She sat there for another minute then she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He did the polite thing and kissed her back. After another minute or so she leaned up for another cheek shot and he didn't think that was good enough. He put his arms around her, grabbed her face and went in for a lip shot. He looked up at Rob as if to see if he was in trouble and said to him, "It's our Valentine's Day."

Does it get any cuter than this?

Isn't it Ironical...ly Awful?

So here's the deal. I didn't sleep much last night and I'm a little cranky this morning. Titus can only sleep if he's swaddled right? That's just the way it's been for almost 3 months now. Well, last night he decided he didn't want to be swaddled anymore. The problem? That meant no sleep either. He would wake up every 2 hours or so and I would feed him and reswaddle him because his little arms would have broken out of the top of his blankets. So finally, at the last of FOUR feedings last night I got smart (or so I thought). I took his arms out of his sleeves and put them down into his jammies. Then I swaddled both blankets around him. I thought: there's no way he's getting out of this one! WRONG... I woke up to him crying this morning with his little hands poking out the top of his jammies. Arggg! Anybody, anywhere have any idea how I can avoid a bazillion more sleepless nights due to this perdicument?

The worst part is that we made a deal last night that he would sleep clear til 5 because we're going to have a super late night tonight. So much for that tactic. We already have double booked plans for a wedding reception and a funeral at the same time... and part way between either we need to pick a highschool boy up from school because he's staying with us tonight. So really we can't do anything, I'm not sure which one we're going to try to make. And so resume, the days of our lives!

I Love My Kids

I don't know if I have much else to say today. I love my kids that's all there is to it. They are both sweet, well-behaved (for a two-year old and a 2 month old that is... keep it in perspective) loving little people. It makes me smile to see them smile and it makes me laugh to see them laugh. I like my little ones!

Cancer Survivor

If you have ever followed my link to Rebekah's Page http://rebekahspage.blogspot.com/ I'm sure that you were extremely touched by her story. I hope that you will take a few minutes to head over there and read the latest post titled Please Read On... I bet it'll make you cry, it sure made me cry!

Fussy, Fussy, Fussy

Wow, today has been a tiring day with Titus. He's been just plain fussy. Not the cute little random noise-making-fussy... but the all out screaming-his-head-off fussy! I know, I'm spoiled because I'm just now experiencing this. He generally only cries when he's hugry but today he just couldn't be settled. When in need of advice--call a sister! Suzy helped me calm him down by telling me to put him on his tummy over my knees. It did the trick for a while. He wasn't as easily calmed by it this evening though. I wasn't sure who was going to lose it first, me or Rob. I was trying to get some work done for church this evening so Rob was on after dinner kid duty. We passed Titus back and forth for a while trying anything and everything to get him to settle down. I finally got out some gas drops, Rob swaddled him up and rocked him and finally got him to go to sleep. I hope he feels better when he wakes up.

I was happy to have Rob here this evening so I didn't have to go through it myself like I did this afternoon. It's hard because I can tell that he hurts but I just don't know what to do to make it better. It might be harmful in the long run though because if Titus tests Rob's patience too much then he might be hesitant to let me escape for a little while. Hmmm, the catch 22 I'm in. He's a good daddy... we both just need to find the infant instruction manual. Does anybody have one of those handy?

At Aunt Shelly's

Leeann, Titus and I decided to hitch a ride from a family in our church up to visit Rob's family in Washington. Rob couldn't come along *tear* but we're having fun anyway! We are staying at his sisters house with her husband and four kids... they are lot's of fun. This morning I sent Leeann downstairs at 8:00 and Titus and I slept in until 10:00. It was so wonderful!

Yesterday we went to visit Rob's mom who's in the hospital for a couple of days (hence our trip up here). She has some medical problems and the latest landed her a trip to the hospital unfortunately. The fluid inside of her stomach is infected and they are treating her with IV antibiotics so she has to stay for several days. She was originally supposed to be home Wednesday or maybe Thursday but that's been set back to Friday or later. The kids and I were going to stay with her during the day while Carmin (her husband) was at work. She took such good care of us when Titus was born that I was hoping to return the favor, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. We have to leave tomorrow evening to hitch our ride back home. I enjoy being up here a lot but I sure am missing Rob. I'm kind of pathetic because I even find myself missing him when he's just at work for the day. So going several days without him is really hard.

Leeann must have eaten something that really did her in. Between 2 and 7 yesterday I changed 5 really icky diapers. It seems like everytime I turned around there was another one. It almost got to the point of funny. So far we had 3 more today in a 3 hour time span too. The final one ended with her in tears because we were leaving the park and my niece KayLee was trying to buckle her into her carseat. She started crying hystarically screaming about her diaper (she was sitting in it with an already sore bottom from the last 7 icky diapers). So I changed her in the back seat which is very difficult to do. She had it all over her clothes and she would scream when I would touch her with the wipes. Of course, all of this has to be in a day where I'm the sole diaper changer. Where's daddy when you need him? I've actually been quite spoiled because he's been taking most of Leeann's diapers when he's home. Titus's blow out last night, accompanied by his large spit up almost sent me over the edge. Not to mention his leaking this morning and his spit up on my jeans (again). By the time I changed Leeann and we were leaving the park Shelly felt sorry enough for me that she brought me a double-chocolate chip blended creme from Starbucks...yummy... thanks aunt Shelly! Somehow that made my misery better. I don't know if I packed enough pull-ups and wipes to get me through tomorrow though. I suppose it just depends on if Leeann's all cleaned out yet. I can't imagine where more would come from.

Anway, I'll stop boring you with potty details eventhough it seems to be defining my life lately. With that I ask you to pray for Janice (Rob's mom) and I'll keep you updated on what's going on there.

The Princess is Dry!

I woke Leeann up for church this morning and peeked into her pants to see if 'the princess was dry' (she has pull-ups with a princess on the front that fade when they're wet)... and much to my surprise, the princess was dry! So after much praise, hugs and going potty, mommy gave her TWO nickels. She held it in all night, which gives me great hope in this potty training thing going quickly. I'm so proud of her! So this morning she is all dressed up in her princess play dress and ready for church.

Daddy already left and I asked Leeann where he went. She informed me that "daddy eat pizza Costco tay?" I think she thinks when daddy leaves that's where he goes... to eat pizza at Costco. It's her favorite place to eat too! For some reason she seems to associate church with pizza lately.

Oh, one more thing. I was reading the cereal box this morning at breakfast and Leeann gently leaned over the table and took it from me and began reading the box herself. She learns so much from us. If that isn't a reason to follow Christ, I don't know what is!

A Precious Portrait...

This is a picture that I took the other day... I was trying to get something we might be able to use for a Mother's Day Brochure. Kind of fun!

Bath Time

I was just noticing that it has been a while since I posted some Titus pictures, so here you go. This was of bath time last week. I'll take 2 month old photos of him tomorrow hopefully, so I'll try to post some good ones soon. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of my super-cute kids!

Just a Couple of Pictures

This is a picture of Leeann and her birth mom Kyndall playing pretend food just before dinner the other day.

Tell me you don't see the resembelance?

Take special note of the onesiee on the outside of her pants and the finger up her nose.

Just Plain Busy

Life has been just plain busy for me lately. It seems like Rob and I have both been running ragged from sun-up to sun-down. With the addition of our Real Estate adventures and of my new job at Precious Portraits... not to mention the new baby... things are just crazy!

I'm loving my new job though. I've had one photo shoot for each of the last three days and I'll have another on Thursday. Most are for my benefit, portfolio and experience solely (vs. paying customers who want to come in and get their portraits done). I've actually gotten some really good pictures and they've turned out especially well after editing. I think I'm really going to enjoy this new stage in my life!

Titus and Leeann are both doing well these days. He's getting big and she's talking non-stop! I'm amazed at how many new words she learns each and every day. It was just a couple of months ago that her vocabulary consisted of very few words. Now it seems like there are few words she doesn't know. We are at the stage though that we definately have to watch what we say around her!

Well, I'm signing off for now, I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here and still alive. May today find you more rested than me!

Mr. Smiley Pants

There are few moments worth blogging about at 5:30 in the morning, but this is one of them...

I begrudgingly got up to feed Titus at five, though it'd been a good 5 1/2 hours since he last ate and I should be grateful. He didn't give me a very good burp which he usually does--so I should have taken extra precaution. I changed him because I was worried about a blowout with the sounds that had come out of him since I came into his room, and I picked him up to try to burp him one last time. He was sounding quite wheezy and I wanted to try to clear him up like a good mommy. I held him with his head over my shoulder and not more than 10 seconds later he threw up. Not spit up. Threw up! A puddle was on the carpet, all down the front of him and of course on me too. Just when I wanted to crawl back into bed and make Rob clean him up he looked up at me with a HUGE SMILE! It was the most handsome smile ever and it was like he was saying, "Thank you mommy!". I think I could have done without the throw up, but I'm glad for such great smiles. It makes being a mommy at 5 in the morning far easier to cope with!

We Bought a House!

We officially bought the house on that I've blogged about. Apparently she signed our counter-offer last night--although Rob forgot to mention that to me! Our agent called this morning about some paper work and shared the good news, he thought I already knew though!

So, on or before March 12th we will move into our new home! It's quite exciting! I keep dreaming about decorating bathrooms, and where I'll put furniture and which kitchen items will go in which cabinets. But before I can dream too much about those things I have to dream about boxes, and labeling, and packing etc.

Today Rob and I will take our kids up to our alma mater Corban College (formerly Western Baptist College) for a Homecoming celebration. It's always fun to be up there and see old friends. I'm also going to a baby shower today for a WB friend... babies are fun. Although, I haven't RSVP'd, so Krista or Becky, if you are reading this I'll be there and I'm even going to bring my kiddys!

With that, I need to get a step on my day and get in the shower. Rob is working on some plumbing today and the length of time we'll have to without water varies each time he's under the house. You just never know! I try to have all my dishes and laundry done just in case. That is not the case today however, so I hope it's not too long!

My little girl... getting married!

(This is a picture of Erin, Keane, and Branden... 3 of our 'original' highschool students when they were on a trip to Mexico a couple of years ago.)

Okay, so she's not my little girl... but she's kind of one of them! *tear* One of my high school girls (well, not anymore) is getting married. She called me yesterday and asked if we could meet for coffee, but first she excitedly told me that she had gotten engaged the night before! It's so hard to believe, because it seems like just yesterday she was a freshman in highschool giddily frolicking around without a care in the world. She's such a sweet young lady and I'm certain God has amazing things in store for her. She might be the first, but the rest will soon follow I'm sure. It's exciting to see those you love find someone to love and be committed to forever. I've never met him, but he sounds like a truly worthy guy. He better be! I have so many fond memories of my time with Erin... including her making me drive her by a crush's house so I could see where he lived, and fun at sleep overs and random youth events. She livens up any place, and I'm sure she'll liven up the life of her soon-to-be husband also!

More House Stuff

Our house is officially sold (well, pending inspection, financing going through yada yada yada)! We got our full price offer (which is amazing in itself), and Rob and I are thrilled!

We almost lost the other house though. Although the house has been on the market for the better part of 10 months, lo and behold, another offer came in at the same time as ours. We offered significantly less than it was worth so when we were told that another offer came in my heart sunk... I thought we might lose the house unless she countered both of our offers. If she did that we would both have to offer our best offer, which is difficult to do. We don't want to pay too much for it, but we want it, so what do we offer? It was kind of sad to think about losing it. I got a call from our agent last night however saying that she is more intrigued by our offer because we have an offer on our home already. So she came down a little and I think we'll probably accept before she gets too frustrated with us and just goes with this other person... or before the other person sells their home too and we're back in the make your best offer boat.

I spent so much of last night imagining where things would go, which kid would get which room, how we're going to decorate the bathrooms. I have a big goal of keeping the garage clean, I am determined to be able to park in it. Can you imagine, not having to shuffle kids and groceries in and out in the rain? Or if Leeann falls asleep in the van I could safely leave her there until she wakes up (with the door to the house open of course!) I really am so excited!

OTHER NEWS:

Titus went to bed about 10:30ish last night and didn't wake up until 6 this morning! Oh, that felt so good! He spent most of the day awake yesterday, so I think he might be getting the hang of this night-time day-time thing!

I'm continuing to learn more and more about photography and editing, and the inner workings of developing and running a small business. It really is quite an adventure for me! I hope to get a nice camera before too long. I think that's what I'm going to save my first couple of months of photography earnings for. Bottom line--it's a fun job!

Well, I think I'm going to get my household up and running before any of my cleanliness gets messed up, and before anyone calls and says "Can I show your house in 15 minutes?" I think it's listed as contingent today however, so we shouldn't be seeing too much more traffic.

I hope your day is wonderful, as always!

Did I mention we are selling our house?

Okay, so that's been part of the crazy crazy busyness around our house lately. We've been house researching, house hunting, house cleaning, house fixing etc. One of the things we did was take pictures of our house, so I thought I'd share them with you just in case you've never been here. Okay, they are a little deceiving in that my house isn't normally this clean. I'd clean one room, throw all the extra stuff in the hallway and take a picture then put it all back.

We decided just before Titus arrived that we need to do something about our living situation. Our 900 square foot home was perfect for the stage of life that we were in when we bought it. Add two kids however, and often three additional ones, and the knowledge that we will probably stay in Albany for a really long time (hopefully), and it gets really really small. It's already difficult to fit more than 3 people at our dining room table which makes it very difficult to invite people over--and that's no good for a pastor!

So in the beginning of November we decided that we would add on to our house. After doing some research however we realized that for this stage in the real estate market we would be better off to sell our house and buy something bigger rather than add on. So we slowly began our search between Christmas and caring for a newborn, recovering from surgery and such. We came across a house (a condo type home actually) in the neighborhood that we love, with the schools that we prefer and far more square footage for our money than anything else in our price range. It has 2.5 baths... I've never dreamed of living in a home with that many bathrooms! We wanted to make an offer on it but decided it would be best to list our home first.

So, we met with our agent on Saturday to list our home. He left about 1:30 and as soon as he got back to the office he called an agent from his office who wanted to know as soon as our house hit the market because he had some people who were looking for a 3 and 1 in our neighborhood with a big back yard. They had seen a lot of houses they didn't want to buy, but he thought they might be interested in ours. So, by 3:00 they were in our home and Rob and I took the kids to Target. We hadn't even left Target by the time our agent called and said they were going to put an offer in tomorrow morning (Sunday). Our house didn't even hit the MLS until Monday and we already had an offer! We sat down with our agent yesterday to go over the offer, but decided that we didn't want to take anything less than full price because it hadn't hit the market yet, and our home is really the only decent one in our price range. So he got a verbal back from their agent saying they'll pay full price. Crazy huh? God is sooooo good to us. Just this summer there were 4 or so houses on our street alone that had for sale signs in the yard for a long time, and that were selling for far less than what we put ours on the market for. Rob and I are often amazed at God's provision for us, and for His constant perfect timing! Had we put our house on the market this summer we wouldn't have enough to purchase this other house (which is everything I ever dreamed of in a house!)

So, neither is a done deal yet, we are still in talks for selling our house and for purchasing the other one. This real estate thing really is a long waiting game... and so we wait. I'll keep you updated though. I didn't want to blog this earlier because we just weren't sure if we were going to sell or not. Now we know however, and now you know why I've been too busy to do much in the blogging realm. In fact, off I go right now to get some more housework done!

Our Little House

Living Room

Kitchen

Bathroom

Leeann's Room

Titus's Room (and the computer and bookshelves, but you can't see that part)

Our Bedroom

Princess Leeann

Princess Leeann is all dressed up accessorized with a pretty

pink fur sent in the mail by Grandma last week

Seriously, do they get any cuter than this?

Leeann and Titus, just hanging out

Did I mention we bought a mini-van?

God is soooo good!

I've always wanted a mini-van. Even before we had kids I wanted one. For the last several years I have seen the need for one in so many areas of our lives. In ministry for sure, and now for our kids, for the kids I babysit, for letting my friend Eroica and I go somewhere together with our 3 kids in carseats, for having enough space to pack up the kids and their stuff when we go visit family, for hauling students around, for going on youth trips etc.

The problem? Mini-vans are generally expensive and we have a strong desire to pay cash for our vehicles if we can (realizing there could certainly be times where cars break and we don't have that ability). It's just been a goal of ours. Anyway, we have been slowly saving over the last year and have scraped up enough for about 1/3 of what we were imagining a van in decent condition would cost. At this same rate it would be feasible to think that we would be able to buy one after two more years. With the addition of Titus and the recognition that it's not the safest to have one of the kids I babysit for in the middle of the front seat with a drivers side air-bag, we have increased the fervency and the frequency of our prayers for a mini-van. Lo and behold Rob was sitting at work a week or two ago and a mini-van drives up with a for sale sign in it. Out of curiosity Rob asks how much it cost. Approximately $100 less than what we had already saved!

So, Rob and I are now the proud owners of a 1995 Ford Windstar with just over 100,000 miles. The best part is that it has had two owners. One of which we know well (and said he could sell it to a pastor in good conscience), and the other of which he knew. Some of the best features include automatic lights, a 'miles to empty gauge' and keyless entry (with two clickers so Rob and I can each have one! No more trading keys).

With that being said we have more big news (and no, it's not more kids), but I'll blog about that later. I'm wiped out, it's been a long couple of weeks. Tomorrow's another long day too, but such is life. Thanks for letting me share my exciting mini-van story with you!

Sleeping through the night (well, kind of)

Titus has been sleeping through the night... or at least that's what someone told me. How many hours dictates sleeping through the night I'm not sure! I'll put him down between 11:30 and 12:30 usually and he's been waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 mostly. But, one day I put him to bed at 11:30 and he didn't wake up til 6:30, that was exciting! But, bottom line is I'm only getting him up once to feed him during the terrible middle of the night hours, so I'm happy. The best part is that on MWF I can make it coinside with the time the kids come (4:15ish). That's all I have for now!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Can you believe that this is the first time since Friday that I've actually been able to sit down at my computer long enough to blog? It's been an incredibly busy week!

I spent part of the weekend in St. Helens where my family gathered for lunch in support of my Grandma following my Grandpa's death. It's always good to be with family and to be surrounded by so many people that you know love each other and are committed to each other through thick and thin. That's what family is all about. I'll post pictures once I actually get the chance to sit down long enough to upload them and attach them etc.

Sunday was just plain busy, it always is. I left at 8:30 and didn't get home until almost 10:00 that night.

Monday was just as busy as I had 5 kids all day. Yup, 5 kids. That's just too many! Since there was no school the kids I babysit for were at my house all day. Let's just say it was the toughest day I had with them over the past year. By the time there mom came I was just plain wiped out. Rob and I debriefed about our hectic days over dinner then I fell into bed for a nap. It didn't last too long though, Titus got hungry. So Rob and I spent the next several hours enjoying each others company over ice cream and a new game called Bohnanza (thanks for the recommendation Steve and Heather!) It was fun, we played it again this evening.

Today was just as crazy it seems, although Tuesday's are supposed to be my day to relax. But, because I've been so busy it ended up turning into my day to get stuff done. I worked all morning on some stuff for a big important meeting we have coming up at church this weekend. Then I fed the kids, fed myself and got us all ready for Titus's 6 week check up. It was at 2:30 right? Nope, 2:00... whoops, I forgot? I really thought it was 2:30. At 2:15 I hurriedly told Leeann to go potty before we left (she's in pull-ups now). She said eww, but I wasn't paying attention. I was in the bathroom with her doing my hair and I smelled something funny. Leeann being the sweet obedient girl that she was trying to take off her pants and her pull-ups and had sat on her little potty. You guessed it, poop everywhere! On her feet, her legs, the chair, a towel she had stepped on. I wanted so badly to cry but I just had to laugh. So I spent the next 15 minutes cleaning her up and everything around her. I finally finished that, buckled Titus in, gathered the diaper bag, a burpee. Found my phone which I had lost, tracked down my keys, put my jacket on and grabbed my purse. I looked at the clock-- 2:30. Then all of the sudden I though, "oh no, was it at 2:00"? So I looked on my fridge and confirmed that it was at 2:00. Could my day get any crazier? I called to reschedule and she told me just to go ahead and come on in...

TITUS STATS:

10 lbs 5 oz (average)
15 1/4 inch head size (average)
21 3/4 inches long (in the bottom 10%... he is his parents child!)

He got 3 seperate shots and cried and cried and cried. Then Leeann fell in the doctors office and joined in. Neither could be consoled. I thought I was going crazy. We came home a bit after 4 and I slumped onto the couch exhausted once more. My house is crazy, my life is busy and my mind is everywhere. It actually helps to blog. I feel like I'm venting, although I have no idea to whom! Rob graciously made dinner and even watched the kids for a couple of hours while I hit Toy's R Us. They're closing and having some big sales... I bought a few things. I can't wait til they're really big sales! Although by that time there isn't much worth buying usually. We'll see though.

And now I'm going to go spend the last few minutes of Rob being gone (he's at a b-ball game of one of the high school boys) to try to make some sense of my house. Or at least to do enough that I feel like I accomplished something today!

His First Night

Last night was Titus's first night in his crib... it was harder for me than I thought it would be!

I decided it was time because I could no longer pick him up out of his bassinet from bed, so I would have to get up to get him out of his bassinet, bring him back to my bed, feed him, get up again and put him back in. All the meanwhile Rob is needlessly being subjected to all of this moving around and Titus fussing while he's eating etc. I decided if I have to get up I might as well get up and go to him room allowing Rob some sleep. Besides, he makes a lot of sounds at night each of which can wake either of us up at any given time. Last night we didn't hear as many of those as usual, just the big screams! I'm sure I'll sleep better on future nights, I spent this one just a little worried because he wasn't right next to me. He may as well have been right next to me as his room is right across the hall and our doors were both open... and we wer virtually maybe 20 feet away from each other!

Well, I'm off to start my day, I have more photography lessons with Eroica scheduled!

A Blog Far More Meaningful Than Mine

Rob and I got hooked up with an adoption lawyer through our adoption agency about a year ago. Well, at some point I was trying to get ahold of him for some reason and I couldn't find his number so I looked him up on the web. On his website I found a link to a page called Rebekah's Page:

http://rebekahspage.blogspot.com/

As I read it I burst into tears, finding it impossible to imagine what they must be going through. His now four year old daughter has a form of childhood cancer and her site gives daily updates as to her condition. They are faithful in posting most everyday and it just takes a minute or two to read. If you have time I encourage you to follow her story... it will most certainly put life into a proper perspective!

It's Back... (but this time we're not purple)

Yup, the most awful terrible painful thing in the whole world--thrush--is back. Before you get too sad and start sending me cards and flowers and chocolate by the truck loads, it's not nearly as bad as it was last time. On second thought, maybe you should go ahead and send the chocolate... it couldn't hurt! I noticed some white in Titus's mouth on Saturday and nearly burst into tears at the mere thought of getting it again. It's slowly been becoming more painful to feed him, but it is so far from the pain that it was last time that I wasn't even positive that we had it. We do though and we're being treated so everything should be better soon. She suspects that it maybe never totally went away. I dunno, but I'm thankful we caught it before it got too bad. So, in the meantime I'll just sit here and wait for my truck loads of chocolate to come...

Precious Portraits

This is a picture of me holding baby Titus's feet at one month old. My friend, Eroica, started a photography studio out of her home this summer (yay for working-from-home moms!) She recently began training me up as an apprentice of sorts and we sat down today for her to impart some of her photography wisdom to me. One of the results is the above picture which to me, is priceless! So, if you get the chance you should check out the link to her website in my links section. And if you live in the area you should make an appointment to stop on by the studio and get some of your own precious portraits taken. If you aren't in the area--it's worth the drive! (Yup, that's my shameless plug for the day!)

My Grandpa Beaston

About 15 minutes ago Rob looked at his cell phone and saw that he had missed a call at 2:30 this morning. Nobody likes calls that early because it's never good news. It was my cousin's cell phone number and I knew in my gut right away why she was calling. (I accidently left mine at the church yesterday, so I obviously didn't have it with me)

I tried to call her, and my dad to no avail. So I tried my aunt whom I woke up (sorry Pam) who confirmed that my Grandpa had passed away a little after 2:00 this morning. My other Grandfather passed away in September. Please pray for my Grandma who I imagine must be going through a great deal right now. I can think of no greater saddness that one must go through than to lose a spouse, except maybe to lose a child. I don't like it when people are sick, and I certainly don't like it when people die, especially when they are family. As I grow older the number of people that I lose that are dear to me is only going to grow. I wish it wasn't that way...

In Awe

Sometimes I just stare at Leeann or Titus in awe and wonder why God has entrusted us with two amazing miracles? Some people have asked in the past if we thought it would be different to have Titus than it was to have Leeann because he's a biological child. Many have questioned whether one can love an adopted child as much as one that you bonded with while in the womb and whom you birthed and have held since the beginning. The answer? You sure can! It's funny, we hardly ever think of Leeann as adopted because she's so much a part of our lives. We simply couldn't imagine our lives without her--it would be so boring! Her smile is enchanting and she's such an amazing beautiful little gift from God. And that's the thing, she's truly a gift. We didn't do anything to deserve her. We had no part in making her or bringing her into this world. She was simply given to us from God, the greatest gift in the world! Granted, Titus was also a gift from God, but we certainly had a part in that. I think that's why the two are on an even playing field... one not being any more special than the other. Is it different? Sure, because they were given to us from two unique circumstances. Is one more special? Not at all! Adoption is an amazing thing and so is bringing a child into this world. We're especially blessed because we've gotten to experience both gifts first-hand! God is great--I love being a mommy!

They Fit! (not the same, but they fit!)

I originally hadn't had any hopes of getting back into my normal clothes until this summer, because they say it takes nine months to put it on, you should expect nine months to take it off. Well, I'm still waiting because it isn't all off... but I fit into my pants and I even buttoned them this morning! YEAH!

Okay, so I admit they don't fit quite the same as they used to, BUT I can button them and still breathe, which makes them at least wearable! These are the pants that I've been measuring my baby-fat loss with. Every couple of days I'll put them on just for kicks--to see if I'm getting any closer to being able to wear them. Well, today... I'm going to wear them just because I can! I might just wear them tomorrow and the next day too (depending on how my other pants fit!)

However, I did finally give up on some of my clothes from Jr. High/early High School. We moved my dresser into Leeann's room before Titus came home so we would have a place for his bassinet, and Leeann needed a dresser anyway. So on Wednesday I finally got around to clearing my clothes out of it (most of which I no longer wore). I finally admitted to myself that I was never going to fit back into those teeny tiny jeans I wore 10 years ago and the world would be a better place if I passed them on. And some of my really playful (i.e. youthful) t-shirts I passed along as well. In fact, I got rid of a fairly good sized garbage bag full of clothes and it felt nice. Not to mention the fact that we have lot's more room now. I was holding onto a lot of stuff 'just in case', but in reality they are things I will probably never wear again.

So, my challenge to you for the day is this: Go through your closet or your drawers and get rid of 10 items you no longer wear, or face it, no longer fit! Place them in a bag and take them to your local Good Will or pass them along to someone who might use them. Don't make a day of it, don't stress over it, just make a goal of 10 things. You'll feel good about it and it will be that much less that you'll have to look through next time you are looking for something you actually want to wear.

But, What Number do Mommy's Call?

When Rob was sick on Tuesday, he didn't even have to call into work--I did it for him. BUT, I knew exactly who to call and the secretary, Lauri assured me everything would be fine without him but she'd call if she needed him. So Rob enjoyed an entire day of rest (well, mostly because the kids were still here and we do make noise. The next day he wasn't feeling spectacular, but he was much better.

Today I woke up with a headache, a stuffy nose that runs (isn't it ironic) and a slightly sore throat. I'm tired. No, I'm plain pooped! Ask Titus if he cares though. Leeann? Nope, she doesn't really care either, although she does sympathize a little, she seems to be more helpful and subdued and easier to entertain when she knows I'm not feeling well. The kids I babysit for? Well, they are helpful, but the boys still needed woken up fairly early and Krista still needed a ride to school. Byron needed lunch (which isn't so bad, it made me eat and of course Leeann had to eat too). Krista will need picked up after a while and they will all need a snack at some point.

Picking up Krista means 6 of us in my car now. We have two carseats in the back with just a little bit of room for Krista. Byron and Tony both have to sit up front which makes it squished. Byron really shouldn't be up there as he's pretty small and I have a driver's side air bag. We continue to pray hard for a mini-van... understandable? There have been many days that I've prayed one would just show up in our driveway. Not a new one, not even a nice one necessarily--just a well working one. I haven't seen a great deal of well-working free mini-vans though lately though... have you? Let me know if you happen to come across one!

This One's For Miss Pam (and Mr. Dave)

Pam and Dave are dear sweet people that left us for California at the beginning of last year. She was the church secretary and Dave was an elder. They were also our college small group leaders and dear friends.

Dave and Pam,

We missed you at this year's staff Christmas Party, it just wasn't the same without you. Thank you for leaving behind 'the mouse', I think Tom opened it, Pam H stole it and Les stole it from her... it was the hottest item next to the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas cassette tape! Les promised to bring this reoccuring gift back next year. Pam H was sullen as she asked at the beginning of the gift exchange who ended up with the mouse last year. I sadly told her Dave had and she was dissapointed that he wasn't going to be back this year. Little did she know, you graciously left it behind so it could remain the highlight of our gift exchange.

Some other hot items? Denny ended up with some sample cans of formula (thanks to Cherish). Noah ended up with an outside porch light (very useful, thanks Les). Larry got a trophy from a recent b team basketball tournament (Tom?) Lauri got some random food items such as mac n' cheese, fruit snacks, canned soup etc (compliments of my pantry).

I don't know if anything will beat our first leadership white elephant gift exchange though. It was the day after our 1 year anniversary so Rob and I wrapped up our wedding cake topper that had been in our freezer for a year. Of course, it had the customary slice taken out of it that we had eaten. It was a little dry, but not too bad. Shirley took it to work if I remember right, and people actually ate it!

Well, Dave and Pam. We miss you. We wish you were here, it just isn't the same without you. I hope you are enjoying sunny California though, snag some sun in memory of your Oregonian friends!

Love,
Robyn

My Case for an Artificial Christmas Tree

I decided to take down my tree today. Nobody forced me to, nobody told me to, the tree wasn't dying, I didn't have to get it out to the recycle, it wasn't a fire hazard... it was just good timing for me... so I did! Did I mention that I don't have to clean up any pine needles and I didn't even have to water it once?

Besides that, all of the ornaments fit right back into the boxes they came out of. Better yet, when I pull them out next year I'll have the perfect amount of ornaments for my tree... because it's the same tree! The strands of lights I have and the beaded garland will be the perfect length!

It will be placed out into the garage when my husband returns, along with the box of perfectly coordinating Christmas ornaments and it will be ready to pull out whenever we want next year.

I don't have to wait until after Thanksgiving to put my tree up, because that's when they start going on sale. I could put mine up after Halloween if I want to. And guess how much I'll pay? NOTHING! Rob's mom graciously passed hers along to us when we got married. We'll never spend any money on a tree and we'll never have to buy more ornaments for when we 'get a bigger tree next year'. So what can I say, we're cheap. It's just the way we are! I know, I know, 'but the smell of Christmas is lost'... they make all sorts of air freshners and potpourri to suite your fancy these days. Or better yet, cut a branch off of the neighbors tree and sneak behind yours.

So, there's my random ranting for the day.

Fun at Steve and Heathers

This is a picture of Rob and one of his best friends Steve with both of their kids, Micah, Leeann and Titus.

This is a family picture of us taken at the Scott's. The reason you don't see Titus's face is because it was very very purple!

This is Leeann helping Heather feed Micah. I realize now that I don't have any other pictures of Heather on my computer. We didn't take one of their family on our camera while we were there!

This is a random picture of Rob and I that Steve took of us. It's been a while since we've had a picture of just the two of us, so it was kind of nice to get this one!

Titus is 1 Month Old Today

Here are some pictures of Titus exactly one month after his birth. My only question is, where on earth did time go? Mothering an infant has had its ups and downs, but I think the ups are finally starting to outweigh the downs! Today Titus was staring at me and smiling and he's even begun to follow me with his eyes. I know it's probably not a big deal to anyone else, but to me... it was priceless!

The rest of our Christmas Break

St. Helens... We then spent the evening with my family (dad, siblings, grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins kids etc.) at my cousin Jenni's house. My family throws routine impromptu parties. Our extended family is like most people's immediate family. We all talk on a regular basis, gather what seems like several times a month for Birthday parties and holiday's. Luckily, when I come into town everyone usually gets together somewhere so we can see everyone in one place without having to zip from house to house in a short amount of time. My family has its wacky sides, but I wouldn't want to be part of any other family. You always know you'll be taken care of and that everyone is always there for you in every situation!

We went to visit my best friend since kindergarten, Angie, and her family (husband Robbie and two beautiful boys Hunter and Levi). It's always good to see her and to catch up. I think it's so neat that our friendship has lasted so long, she's a keeper!

Next stop... Kent. We drove up to Kent late Wednesday night and pulled into Rob's sister, Shelly's house around 11 or so. On Thursday Rob's other sister, Suzy came over with her two boys, Weston and Logan and we just spent the day hanging out.

Is this silly or what, I can't remember what we did on Friday. Hmmm. Oh wait, I remember! We went to visit one of Rob's very bestest friends, Steve and his wife Heather and their 9 month old son Micah. I'll post pictures. We always look forward to getting to spend time with Steve and Heather. These are two of the neatest people anyone might ever meet. They love the Lord, they love each other and they love people, it's so obvious!

On Saturday Rob's brother Dan, and his Dad and Step-mom Stephanie joined the rest of the gang for a Christmas Eve Christmas Party complete with a customary $10 gift exchange. I left with a Costco sized bag of pistachios! We had fun, again, it's always great to be with family, I look forward to getting to see everyone when we go up there.

Sunday brought Christmas with Rob's siblings and their families, his mom Janice, and step-dad Carmin, his mom's brother Doug and his family and her parents, Stan and Martha. Christmas was packed full of fun, family and food and lot's of presents too! Titus got a cross-stitch wall hanging from his Great Grandma Deardorff in John Deere colors with his name on it. Titus also got a really cool wooden puzzle with his name on it. Uncle Doug makes them http://www.dougspuzzles.com/. So now I have at least two items each with Leeann's name spelled right and with Titus's name. I may never find anything else that has that, but that's okay!

In all Sunday was a pretty tough day for me though. It was the day that my thrush was at it's worst and I spent part of the day simply in tears, part of it trying to find how to get relief on the internet so I wouldn't have to bug my mid-wife on Christmas, and the other part of the day on the phone with my mid-wife when nothing on the internet seemed worthwhile. She ordered in a new prescription for me and promised me relief in 24 hours. It helped just knowing that it would be gone soon.

That evening Rob, Janice, our niece KayLee and I stayed up way too late playing "Trump" a new game Janice got for Christmas. It was fun! Rob and I are big board game fans!

Rob headed home on Monday so he could attend Winter Youth Celebration with 10 of our high school students. I was so jealous that I couldn't be there! Leeann, Titus and I stayed at Shelly's so that we wouldn't have to be home alone. It was a huge blessing to be able to spend a few extra days with Rob's family. Suzy and her kids spent several more days hanging out with us too. Suzy, Shelly and I got in several additional rounds of Settlers (a board game that we LOVE) and Leeann got some much loved time with her cousins. Titus got held for almost 10 days straight and I got treated like a princess by aunt Shelly who fed me (well--I might add), didn't make me clean and even did my laundry! It was such a blessing to be there! I also got in some 'shopping' time with Rob's mom and my kids. It's customary to go to Jo-Ann fabrics together whenever possible!

In all, the trip was great. It was nice to come home, albeit to a whopping mess that still isn't anywhere close to clean. It's always nice to see Rob after being away from him for a couple of days... I can't help it, I like the guy!

We spent New Year's Eve attempting to clean our a house a little and catching up on some much needed sleep. Leeann spent a couple of hours with Grampy and Mimi (Kyndall's dad and step-mom), Nanay (that's what she calls her birth mom Kyndall), and Kyndall's siblings Kendra and Kalen to celebrate Christmas. Leeann got a cool travel magna-doodle and 5 or 6 Veggie Tales DVD's, including Lord of the Beans (which Shelly's kids got for Christmas and we must have watched a good 10 times while we were there!) She has fun when she's over there. It really is quite a neat arrangement that we have with them. Leeann is one of the most blessed girls I know with so many people that love her and care for her!

We went to the YMCA for a couple of hours New Year's Eve. Our church rents out the facility and we play games, use their gyms, courts and pool and eat lot's of yummy food. It's always a great time! Rob and I then headed over to some good friends of ours house, Craig and Mandy for some additional food and fun. Another couple, Jennifer and Ryan met up with us there and we had some of Craig's famous nachos, and some apple pie, ice cream and sparkling cider as we rang in the New Year over a rousing game of Beyond Balderdash. Bottom line-- we like friends and we like board games, so it was a great night!

New Year's Day was pretty uneventful. We had church, lunch at Wendy's, a nap and then youth group. Fun day I suppose, but nothing too out of the ordinary (except meeting up with Rob's old youth intern John and a friend of his, Kristin for lunch... it was good to catch up and its always nice to see him!)

Yesterday I spent pretty much the whole day with my friend Eroica editing a Newsletter for our church's potential building project. It was fun but time consuming. I always enjoy spending time with Eroica though, so that makes work less tedious.

And that brings us to today. Rob isn't feeling well so he's staying home from work for at least the morning. He's in our room hence the fact that I have Titus and Leeann hulled up in Titus room (with the computer) trying to keep any of us from making too much noise. Our house isn't exactly big and when someone's sleeping it generally means a measure of intended quietness on the part of those who are not enjoying slumber.

Again, I must say, if you are still reading at this point, I question why. I really said little of significance in this super-long post, but now I'm up to date!

Titus and Grandma Jo

I will continue to post pictures of our Christmas Vacation as I get the time... I haven't had much of an opportunity to be at my computer at all over the last several weeks so I'll have to post about our Christmas fun in stages.

Our first stop of Christmas break was to visit my Grandma Jo at the nursing home she lives in. We met my Aunt Heidi and her fiance and kids at Meadow Park so they could all meet Titus. Keep in mind that Titus's purple mouth is because of medication he was taking--he's no longer purple!