The Combs Family Four

It's a Crazy Life

2011-09-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family that still tune into watch our lives unfold! Most of my friends don't keep up with their blogs anymore, but I use mine as a diary of the children's lives, so I will try to be faithful about updating as much as possible. Well, since I last blogged, a lot has happened. It seems like a million years ago. Aaron was gone all summer and that was really difficult with trying to get into a new routine with the boys we foster and then learning how to juggle four children, two of which were into everything. It was a tough struggle in the beginning and there were some days that I didn't know how I was going to get through it all, but we survived. What I didn't realize, was how hard it would be to do your normal activities with four children. Going out and about with a baby, toddler, preschooler and 6 year old was near impossible, which meant we stayed home a lot and that left me feeling very lonely. All my friends were going to the beach etc. and those were things I couldn't do by myself and it was very depressing. I forget how isolating it can be to have a baby in the house again. I tried to keep the kids busy playing in the baby pool, slip and slide and on the swing set. Bella said it was the best summer ever, because she got to love on the baby, which made her summer, but Natalie and Hova argued about everything and fought over toys all day long. That has gotten a lot better in the last month. Our foster boys have grown so much in so many ways. It's been fun to be on this journey with them. The baby learned how to stand, walk, say a couple of words and gained 5 teeth with us. Hova is almost two and he's been a blast to watch. His first sentence was "I Wub u", which was said to Aaron over skype while he was gone. He loves having a daddy around and eats up "guy time." He's gained so many words and everything has become so much clearer. Every day that they are here we love them even more. When they leave, which I think will be in December (it's tentative) it will be hard to say good-bye. I don't know how professional foster parents do it. All the hugs, cuddles, "I love yous", and when they lay their head on your shoulders when you hold them - wow, what a reward, but how painful at the same time. We started out with the boys thinking it would be a very short stay before they were placed with family and then it was indefinite and even though we would like to adopt them, we always knew it wasn't an option. After everything we learned through this process, Aaron and I have decided to not to seek children for adoption that have already had their parental ties severed. I don't know what the future holds for us, but if it means that it's just the four of us, I think we will be content with that.

Bella started second grade a couple of weeks ago and she loves it. She loves her teacher and her closest friend from kindergarten is back with her in second grade and she's made lots of new friends and is very happy. She just turned seven on Friday and she had a tea party for her birthday. Everyone that was invited, showed up, so it was completely crazy here that night. 12 screaming girls hyped up on sugar and excitement. I've never seen such excited girls!!!! Aaron's mom let us borrow her huge tea set and we did sandwiches cut in cute flower shapes and lots of pretty candy decorating the table. I actually succeeded in making Bella's teapot cake, which was a huge relief. I had planned lots of games, but the girls wanted to have more of a play date, so we left some time at the end and they had a blast. I think next year we will skip an actual party and just plan a giant play date for the girls.

Natalie started preschool at Learning Ship and loves school too. We miss Mrs. Jenny at gymnastics preschool from last year - she is a wonderful christian woman who is blessed with the gift of teaching young children. Nat's new teachers are Mrs. Anne and Mrs. Sue and Bella had them back when she attended Learning Ship. Mrs. Anne is the most beautiful person inside and out that I have ever met. I truly feel God's presence when I am around her. I feel very blessed that Natalie gets to be in her class this year.

Right now things are crazy but good. We take the boys for visits with their bio parents twice a week, Bella is in school full time, Nat has school three days a week, we have small group, I have Bible study, the girls have AWANA and I watch my neighbors's son once a week. It's nice to have Aaron home again and things back to semi-normal. Happy fall everyone:)

Big Changes

2011-06-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well, Bella is now a second grader! I can't believe that first grade went so fast. She had a wonderful teacher and a wonderful year. I loved reading with her class every week and watch them all blossom into such good readers - I will miss the kiddos too. She has a great teacher lined up for next year and her two best friends from kindergarten are in her class this year, so she's very excited about that. The girls loved gymnastics this year and have gotten very strong. Natalie finished her 3's preschool with a great report card. Apparently she's not as naughty for other people as she is for me;) We have started family bike rides, now that Bella is more confident. She's been able to ride since she's four, but she was deathly afraid to do it, so she only road when we made her, but after riding down the street crying "I hate riding bikes - you are so mean", she suddenly got very brave and now asks us to go for rides;)
We were finally certified for foster care/adoption about two weeks ago and in one week, I think we got four calls! It's sad what a need they have for fostering children. We accepted the fourth call and last Friday night, we picked up our two foster sons. They are 8 months old and 19 months old and they are brothers. It's been a challenge, that's for sure. We haven't had a baby in the house for three years, so we had to put the crib back together and get out all the baby clothes and toys and bottels, etc. Luckily I don't have a lot of stuff sitting out for little ones to get into, but we still had to modify things to keep them safe. We have a crawler and a runner! The older one gets into everything, so I am exhausted by the time I go to bed. They told us, that it would be a temporary placement, but I'm starting to wonder how temporary this will be. A bunch of family members had expressed interest in taking them, but no one has called back to get them. Aaron leaves for six weeks next week. Things liking getting groceries and still seeing my friends is worrying me a bit. I'm really juggling with trying to not let my kids slip through the cracks, while I am running around taking care of the little ones. We have only been up three hours and everyone is fed, changed (twice), had coloring time, school work time, computer time and story time. I might tackle taking them out to play in the back yard, but it's so humid out. Luckily the baby is taking his morning nap and the kids are playing well together. Bella of course, is trying to mother him and wants to do everything, which is very helpful and Natalie wants to help, but she' more in the way when she helps. When we got them, we had no instructions on their needs, so we were a little over-whelmed at first, but we have already fallen into a routine, which is great. They are two very happy boys. Please pray for us as we continue to transition. When you parent your own kids, so can be way more layed back. I'm constantly trying to keep them safe and when they are these ages, they are so top heavy, they are constantly hitting their heads. I pray that I will relax more with them! I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Nat's 4th birthday and Easter

2011-04-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

We started my birthday in April with an 85 degree day and a week later we had an inch of snow on the ground - crazy! Natalie's birthday was after mine and her theme this year was princesses. She invited all her family and told everyone that they had to dress up like kings and princesses. Most people wore crowns or dresses or even both (thanks family). She was so excited about her party this year, she was telling everyone she met, from the postal carrier to the ladies at the grocery store. Most of her presents had to do with the theme, but she got a scooter from my parents that she's been riding around the house all week and her grandpa Combs made her a rocking chair. She was very blessed this year! Easter was quiet this year, we are spending it at home where it's nice and quiet. We haven't had enough family time lately, so it's just right. The girls got up at 6:30 today - they are usually great sleepers, but they couldn't wait to see what the Easter bunny brought them, so I woke up to two little girls screaming in my ear that the Easter bunny brought them Lalaloopsy toys! I wanted to see their faces when they saw their baskets for the first time, but I didn't predict they would get up that early. We usually have to wake them up for Easters and Christmas'. It's so fun watching them get to experience all these holidays and the joy that it brings them. They know the real reason why we celebrate Christmas and Easter - if you ask them, they will give you a detailed description of why these holidays are so amazing, but there's no reason that they can't have the same memories that Aaron and I had of waking up on these special days and the magic that it brings. Happy Easter everyone - may you all be thankful for the price that Jesus paid on the cross for everyone of us. We love you!

Lessons In Life

2011-03-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

With the death of Grandma Combs came the lesson of life and death with our girls. Aaron and I tried very hard to explain how useless our bodies are when we die and that when we are believers, we go to heaven and don't need them anymore - also explaining to them the process of visitations, funerals and burials. Grandma's funeral was beautiful and so many people sent beautiful arrangements of flowers. Rockford Baptist put together a wonderful luncheon as well. I thought I had explained everything to the girls well enough until the pall-bearers started walking away with the coffin and then Natalie started crying "where is my Grandma?" and "I can't see her - Grandma Grandma". Everyone that was within ear-shot started crying harder. That was the rough part for me as well. Every time a loved-one passes it feels like the world will never be the same and it isn't. The day after the funeral Bella came down with influenza and was sicker than I have ever seen her for eight solid days. Then in the middle of that Nat got it for four days, but not too bad. Then after Nat, I came down with it as well. Can I just say that I will never go without the flu shot in my life again? It has been over a month and I am still coughing. I didn't know it was possible to feel that sick and not die. Thank you to all my small group who brought me dinner while Aaron was gone and to Jess who brought me groceries and to Jenn who brought my kids to church for me! Thank you to my momther-in-law who spent 24 hours at the house so I could stay in bed. What a blessing you all were to me. I will forever be greatful! March 4th my grandma Roath turned 90 and we headed to Joliet for a quick trip of 6 hours to celebrate with her. All the family that could attend, went to church with her that Sunday morning and then we all went out for brunch. It was such a gift to see the joy that all of us brought to her when we surprised her at church. She is one of my favorite people on this earth. She is 90 but she says she feels the same as she did 30 years ago. She still lives in the house that the kids grew up in and is still active in her church. I am so thankful to God that I still get to have her as my grandma down here for a while!
The kids are doing good. Bella does great in school and when we spoke with her teacher at conferences she described her as an old soul, which made me feel happy, because that's what we have always said about her too and it makes us feel good that with so many kids in the classroom, that her teacher has taken the time to get to know her. I feel so blessed that Bella has had nothing but beautifully sweet teachers since preschool! What I also love about Bella is her imagination. It's so neat to listen to her play with Nat or by herself because she comes up with some of the best stories. She constantly cracks me up. I still miss her everyday when she is at school. She's taking swim lessons right now, so I feel like between that and AWANA, she's busy until bedtime. Natalie hasn't had confrences yet, but her confrences are going to go totally different than Bella's. Natalie also has a wonderful teacher at gymnastics preschool. She has to be a saint to handle Nat - she can go from crossing her arms accross her chest and giving you the stink eye, to hugging you with a big smile and telling you she loves you in half a second. Mrs. Jen is going to get a special crown in heaven for dealing with our sweet little handful:) Right now she's into princesses. She wears her dresses from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed and when she has school or church and I make her wear actual clothes she throws quite a fit. We all play prince to her princess and she makes up dance with her constantly. Her naughty of the month is when Bella is getting in trouble for something, Nat is right behind us telling us how much she loves us and how wonderful and perfect parents we are. She learned how to suck-up really early in life;( Everyone who gives her love is her best friend, but if you ask her who her bestest friend is, it's Aunt Carrie. She's loving her swim lessons too and her funny for this month is: the other night I was talking to her and she was hiding behind the curtains. When I asked her what she was doing because I could not hear her talking, she told me "be quiet - I'm talking to Jesus about something very important". I wish I could remember what was so important, but it has escaped me now. That's why I write this blog. Someday I am going to compile it into a book for the girls and I, to remind us of this funny little journey we are on together. Well, spring is here and we can't wait for summer weather where we can be out in the garden and the swingset. I hope spring is finding you all well!

Grandma Combs

2011-02-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

Today we lost Grandma Combs. She's been sick for a long time and although we are happy that she is in peace and no longer in any pain, we are grieving her loss. She was an amazing woman. She was a strong, loving Christian woman. She had polio as a small child and wasn't expected to make it. She defied the odds and made it through with only a limp to distinguish her. Because of her battle with polio, she was never able to run and jump like everyone else. Aaron and I picture her running through heaven without any pain, meeting her parents and siblings and her two babies that she lost. Although she is Aaron's biological Grandma, I couldn't love her any more if she were my own. They lived in Rockford and they were the first family that welcomed me into the family in 1997. We spent lots of time there while we attended Grand Valley. They were a home away from home and they loved me with open arms. Please pray for all of us as we learn how to live in a world without our "Matriarch".

Another New Year and Look at the Last

2011-01-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

Although last year was another year I wish we could forget, there were some pockets of truly precious times. I again, am very thankful for my two healthy girls and my awesome husband who works so hard! Dec. 21st Bella lost her first tooth. She was very reluctant to pull it out, so I reached in and grabbed it and she was surprised to find that it didn't hurt at all;) She's about to lose her second any day now - not a big deal to most people, but Bella's been waiting for these days for a long time! She still loves first grade and recently became a strong swimmer. For her AWANA points that she had earned for the first semester, she got to shop in the "store" and ended up buying me a cupcake box, because she knows I collect them! I was so impressed that she, at such a young age, could think about someone else above her own wants and desires. Natalie is doing really well also. She is finally turning a corner in her naughtiness and is able to be a rational human being - most days anyway;) She had a great year by potty training this past spring and then finally staying dry through the night by late fall. I thought the day would never come so I say Hallelujah!!!!! She loves gymnastics and is getting a little better at swimming. Although the death defying acts have become less frequent, that have not stopped coming. We went home to Joliet for Christmas and my sister had to do the Heimlich maneuver on her, because she was choking on a cookie. (sigh) At least they are fewer and further in-between:( We had a wonderful time in Joliet and I say a great big thank you to my dad "Pop" for getting up with my girls while we stayed with them every morning. He fed them and kept them busy, which allowed us to sleep in and relax. I couldn't have been happier:) The girls got everything they wanted for Christmas thanks to them and of course that makes me thankful, because it takes the stress off of us. I am most thankful that we still get to celebrate another Christmas with both of my grandmas who are so incredibly healthy and agile - one of which is about to turn 90! Aaron's grandma Combs is doing better, so thank you for your prayers! She and Grandpa just celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary - congratulations you guys! We didn't think that she would make it until Christas, so that was a wonderful gift. Speaking of gifts....... we welcome the newest member of the Combs family - Aaron's sister Shannon had a baby girl on December 23 and her name is Rebekah Marie Buys. She is so sweet and everyone has loved giving her kisses. Congrats to Shannon and Adam who are awesome parents - we are so proud of you! When we got to the hospital to see Becca for the first time, Natalie says "this where we go to visit sick granmas". We have been there so much over her lifetime, that she recognized the parking garage:( Another funny Natism of 2010 (when she had a headach) "my forehead hurts". I wish I could keep a better record of all the funny things she says. I hope everyone is staying healthy enough this season - we have had a lot of sickness in our household since the fall. God bless you All!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Jesus humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary's finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier. Why? Because that's what love does. The gift of God...... The birth of Christ. This is Christmas..... This is love. - Max Lucado Blessings to all of you and have a Merry Christmas.

The Wedding

2010-11-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time on our trip! The girls were awesome on the planes and were well behaved for the most part the whole time. The week went so fast, that I feel like we just left, but we packed a lot of adventure into the time we had. The first two days were busy with wedding things, but I was so happy for my sister Carrie and her husband Lee. The wedding took place at a resort, outside, over-looking a mountain, at sunset. It was a beautiful pink sunset and the weather was perfect. The food was awesome and the atmosphere felt like a fairy tale. My grandmas weren't able to travel, so they were greatly missed, but my aunt Lissa and Uncle Terry came in from Texas, so I was soooooo happy to see them. I hated my dress, sorry Carrie if you read this, but it wasn't her first choice, so I didn't include ANY photos of me at the wedding. (Just in case you are wondering) We did some hiking in the hills, did a lot of swimming, shopping, eating at yummy restaraunts, and traveled to Sedona for half a day of hiking and shopping and did the Grand Canyon in record time. Luckily I had already done the whole Arizona trip with my sister ten years ago, so I didn't feel bad about the bad weather at the Grand Canyon, but I felt bad for Aaron and the girls. The weather wasn't quite 40 and it was snowing!!! The clouds were so low, that we didn't have a very good view until we were leaving. We did not stay long - everyone was shivering. When we drove back through Sedona though, it was beautiful and the sunset was breath taking again. After traveling around the world, I can safely say, that there is no more beautiful a place at sunset, than Sedona! We had a couple of near drownings in the pool with Nat. One was funny, but the other was pretty serious. I didn't get to relax much on the trip with her. I always have to be surveying the surroundings looking for potential life-threatning situations. She must have gotten Bella to take her life jacket off while they were in the kiddie pool, because all of a sudden she jumped into the deep end of the big pool and forgot her life jacket wasn't on and Aaron had to jump in and save her. It took him a while to get to her and we were freaking out. I think she swallowed a gallon of water:( I can't wait until we can get to a time in her life, where she can be more responsible. She is scarry dangerous. Well, congratulations Carrie and Lee - I hope you have a wonderful marriage full of love and happiness!

Good-byes

2010-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

It seems like every few month lately I am saying good-bye to another dear friend. I'm not talking about seasonal friends, but the kind of friends that you consider family - some of my closest friends. This is how it has been for the last couple of years or so. I don't think it has been by chance, that these have been the toughest couple of years in Aaron's and my life. God calls us over and over in the Bible, to come to him first during the trials in our lives. He wants us to cling to him for comfort, but often times the first thing we do when sorrow hits, is call our friends to hold us up - physically, spiritually and or emotionally. I know I have been very guilty of this. Sometimes we just need to feel God's love physically from our friends. Sometimes a hug feels like just what we need instead of opening up God's word. For me, one of these people is my friend Nikki. When Aaron and I were grieving, she came to my house and challenged me to listen to God's words, even when that was the last thing I wanted to hear. She is a true picture of Christ to me and a hand to hold when I hurt. She inspires me to be the best version of myself and I'm going to miss her painfully so. She is following, where God is leading and for that I am happy, but for those of us who will be left behind - we are sad. I guess the challenge for myself is that not only do I remember to go to God first, but that I learn how to suffer joyously through this grief in my life. I know that doesn't even seem possible, but I have hope, because if I have learned anything else from Ms. Nikki,it is to hope and my hope is in Jesus!

Our Big News

2010-09-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well............... we have some pretty exciting things that will be happening for our family in the next six months or so and we wanted to share them with our friends. We have decided to persue adoption through foster care. We will not be doing foster care, but finding a sibling group to adopt through the foster care system. Yes, I did say sibling group. We would like very young children and we would also like to help keep a set of 2-3 children together. There isn't a need for adoptions of one-child families, but because it's a much more difficult a job trying to place a multi-child family, there are many children in the foster care system. This is something that has always pulled at my heart strings. Before Aaron and I were married, we talked about doing foster care, so this isn't anything new for us. It's just a big descion to finally start the adoption classes, which total 30 hours and get the paper work done, which will take six months. People have asked us what the girls think and they are thrilled. Bella wants me to tell you guys that she is super duper happy! She wants at least one baby boy. I told her, that if that happens, that baby most likely won't be an infant, but more like nine months to a year. We are looking for at least two boys under the age of five. I just ask that you all will pray for our family as we begin this new journey in our lives. Depending on what family we go with, the kids will have some set backs and some emotional issues to work through. It may be a lifetime of challenge, but we our up for the challenge and are excited to see what family God has chosen to become part of our own. Thanks, and God bless!

School Has Begun And One More Birthday

2010-09-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been less than two weeks ago that Bella started first grade. It feels like a month ago at least. Bella is my good sleeper and I've always enjoyed her allowing me to sleep in, but now that she has to go to school all day, it's pretty rough on her. I have to wake her up everyday - I was hoping that her internal clock would click in by now. She's getting faster everyday, but she's still walking around the house like a zombie and still has circles under her eyes. She's one of those kids who needs a full night's sleep to not be emotional, so I'm dealing with a lot of melt downs. It's hard on us to get used to our easy going kid acting like someone else. She's also making new friends, so it's interesting to watch some of her mannerisms morph into someone else. She loves her teacher and gets to see her kindergarten pals on the playground, so I think that's her favorite part of her day. Today is her birthday and she just turned six. She was our lunch time baby. She came into the world at exactly 12:00. This is the most significant day of my life, because this is the day that turned us into parents. It's a very profound day for me because of the difficult road we had to take to get her. No matter what happens in the rest of my life, I will never be more thankful than the day that Bella was born. She had a Curious George birthday party on Saturday and the kids had a blast. They were so cute! Tonight we are heading to the circus and the kids can barely contain themselves. They have been bouncing off the walls with excitement. Natalie and I are going to get Bella from school and take her to lunch for her big day. It's really rough being away from her all day now. I don't think I'll ever get comfortable with that. I miss her so much! Last week, Natalie Jane kept asking me to go pick Bell up because she missed her too much:( "We need to go get her!", she kept saying. This time alone with me has been really great for her though and she's doing great. She's behaving herself and hardly ever tells me no! I never thought I would see this day. I have to keep her busy, because she's used to Bella entertaining her, but she's actually letting me teach her sometimes, so I am excited to see what she is capable of. We are thinking of doing gymnastics preschool two days a week starting next week. It has lots of openings, so we are still thinking this over. She would love it! I hope everyone who has kids has survived the start of another school year!

Another End to Another Summer

2010-08-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well, Aaron came back from Washington, was home for a bit, and them is gone to Colorado this week. He will be home this weekend again. The girls did really well this time and the time went quickly since this was the busiest summer we have ever had! Thank you to all my friends who took the girls for me, so I could have a break - you saved my sanity! I also made sure I got plenty of babysitters all summer long, which helped as well. Aaron's cousins are in high school and needed work, so we made sure we kept them in business. Us girls went to the beach, park, did crafts, colored, helped Bella with school work, read lots of stories, watched lots of movies, played on our swing set and learned how to grow a garden. We have our first orange tomatoes this week!:) We were very excited about that one. Even though Natalie is still very busy, I don't think we had any disasters like the last three summers, so that made things easier as well. Aaron is excited about some projects his boss has for him with the Army reserves. The colonel is also a pastor and wants Aaron to start planning some service projects (missions trips) around the world for his college students. They all have to have at least one multi-cultural experience before they graduate. The gorvernment wouldn't be funding the trips, so the kids would have to raise the money themselves. It's good to see the goverment coming up with ideas to make the world a better place instead of only wanting to take over third-world countries! Aaron is really excited about the possibilites! We as a family have big news too, and no it does not include me being pregnant. We will share our news when we have talked with our families about it first. Bella starts first grade in a couple of weeks and we have been buys getting her ready to start this new journey. I feel so blessed to be a mom and experience all these exciting moments with my girls - being a mom rocks! Have a great rest of the summer everyone!

Summer

2010-07-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well Aaron has been gone for three weeks now and I am glad to report that things are going pretty smoothly. At this time last year I could have written a book on all the crazy things Natalie had done, but life with a three-year old Natalie is much easier:) I can actually post some sweet things this time instead of frustrating death-defying tricks she has been infamous for in the past summers. This week she climbed up in the chair with me and leaned into my face and said "Mommy, you are so beautiful." I of course praised her for her uncharacteristic thoughtfulness and then Bella comes running (to not be out-done) and says "Mommy, you aren't just beautiful, you are gorgeous!" I had to laugh that they were competing for my attention in such a unique way;) This past week I designed a big stained glass window for the girls' bathroom in popsicles and ice cream cones and then I made individual rainbow colored Popsicles and strung them on Christmas lights and hung them around the top of the wall and they were so encouraging. Natalie told me what a good job she thought I did and kept praising me on how pretty it was! It's just so crazy that she's thinking outside of herself and being so appreciative like that all of a sudden. We have been staying so busy this summer that sometimes I feel like there are not enough hours in the day. It is making the time go by quicker and I really appreciate that. We went to the beach today and it was such an awesome day! Thursdays I have a standing lunch date with someone I hold very dear and I eagerly await those special times to get a break from motherhood. The girls love swimming lessons and although they are not gifted swimmers, they are getting stronger and stronger every time they are in the water. Aaron is enjoying what he is doing in Washington and that makes me happy as well. Please pray for my sister - she had to put her beloved puppy to sleep yesterday. He was almost 14 and he was her baby. We love pets in our family with too much of ourselves sometimes. It's so hard to see them go. Also please pray for my dear friend Beth who lost her mom this month. It's so hard to watch people you love grieve and know that there is nothing you can do to make it better. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

Sick Sick Sick

2010-06-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the flu just went through our home and it was not fun! It's been so long since I had the flu, that I forgot how horrible it is to feel sick. Natalie started it in the beginning of the week and threw up while she was bouncing around laughing and continued to laugh afterwards, so I didn't think it was a bug. Then Bella got it the second to the last day of school. I got it two days later and it was bad. Being a sometimes over-whelmed mom, I've often wished for getting sick, so I could lay in bed all day and sleep, but never again. Besides feeling like death so the sleep was unable to come, I had to listen to Aaron stressed, freaking out about everything Natalie did. It is comical to me now as I remember how badly she kept her daddy hopping, but it was a little crazy at the time. I keep saying how much easier Natalie has gotten since toddlerhood and how there are fewer disasters and dangerous incidents, but after listening to Aaron on Saturday I realized that what has happened, is that I have just learned that I have to be one step ahead of her at all times. It has become second nature, so I don't even think about it, but for Aaron who works so much, he has not learned to adapt to the triple D as I have come to acknowledge her in my head.(Disasterous, dangerous, and disobedient) So, first thing in the morning Nat is fighting with Aaron to sit on the potty. She is potty trainned now, but refuses to go potty first thing in the morning and we try to avoid accidents the best we can, but she hates to sit for us first thing in the morning. So...... she was screaming forever about that and then was complaining about breakfast and then I hear Aaron screaming later and he barges into the bedroom with a chunck of Natalie's hair and a pair of scissors and very kindly;) let me know that MY daughter had cut her hair off. We didn't put the scissors away after the craft he was doing with Bella. He continued to have a day where she refused to get dressed, made messes, got into trouble and drove him certifiably insane. At the end of the weekend he was soooo exhausted and he announced to the family that he needed a vacation to rest from his weekend. I have to say, that although, I would never wish that kind of weekend on anyone, especially my husband, it did give me some sence of gratitude. He now knows what I deal with on a regular basis and I feel appreciated:)

Funny Little People

2010-05-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was playing dolls with Bella and she wanted to play the doctor, so she gets out her doctor kit and inspects her baby doll and in her doctor voice, tells me, "After giving your baby a thorough inspection, I can say that there is nothing wrong with her, it's an obvious case on hypochondria. She thinks she's sick, but there's clearly nothing wrong with her." I sat in stunned silence, before I died laughing. I asked her how she knew what hypochondria was and she explained to me that they talked about it in one of her kid's movies. Well, I guess she pays closer attention to cartoons than I thought! Natalie's little funny is calling her swim suit her suit case. No matter how many times I try to correct her, she still calls it her suit case. Yesterday I walked into the kitchen and she was sitting at the table with the phone in her hand and it was making that lovely noise when it's been off the hook too long and she tells me that she tried to call Grammy and Pop, but no one was answering (with a very grumpy face). The weather has been so warm this week and we tried to turn the air conditioning on last night and it was broken! I hope it can be fixed and not for an arm and a leg. We moved the set of bunk beds we don't use to the downstairs bed room for the girls to sleep, since it's so much cooler there. We were taking down those darn bunk beds in probably 90 degree temps and hauling them down two flights of stairs. I don't think the kids were asleep until after 11:00. I guess we are going to try getting them to sleep in the same bedroom this summer. I don't know how that will go - Natt was up and down for quite a while. The kids are playing in their kiddie pool right now and staying cool before Bella goes to school and it's so quiet in here. She only has a couple of weeks left and kindergarten will be over. Will all of her grades go this quickly? These last two years have come and gone and I can barely believe it.

My Sweet Girls

2010-04-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all our friends and family who have been lifting us up in prayer! WE are really doing better and I appreciate all the cards, flowers, tree and prayers:) We have the best friends ever! Through this last loss we experienced, Aaron and I have experienced a new love for our girls that has been quite profound. As a result, Natalie Jane and I have a much better relationship. We have always butted heads, but I think she can feel that things are different in our house and she has been so sweet to me and less naughty:) She is staying dry most days now, which is a huge relief to me. I won't call her potty trained yet, but we are on our way. She turned three this past week and had her little friends over for a Dora party. She was so excited to have Karlie and Lillian and Isabelle over. We had another beautiful spring week here and it was awesome to have the house filled with the giggles and laughter of five little girls. Bella is still doing wonderfully in kindergarten and loves it. She is getting so tall and sometimes when I look at her with those long legs she's getting, I am just so blown away at how quick it's all going. Yesterday I woke up all by myself and wondered where the girls were. I heard voices upstairs, so I went to check on them and found them both cuddled up in Natt's bed and Bella was reading away to her baby sister! It was such a sweet sight, let alone finding out your daughter can read a book like the one she was reading. Sometimes I just want to stop time and keep them this age forever. So many hugs and so many I love yous - I keep telling them to remember this in 10 years!

My birthday

2010-04-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is for all my friends who have not heard yet - so I don't have to tell everyone individually over and over again. We spent the early hours of my birthday in the Emergency room. I was pregnant, but lost our baby in what would have been our tenth week. It was a pretty horrible experience. Please pray for us.

February 2010

2010-02-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well, February is almost over and I am so thankful! When February is finished, I am able to really get excited about the spring. I know we have some more snow fall expected for next month, but the coldest snowiest times of the season are behind me, at least in my mind:) We had an uneventful winter and I am pretty thankful for that. It went faster than last year, so that is awesome as well. We all seem to be doing well and the girls are happy. I'm still knocking my head against the wall with the potty training ordeal, but she's staying dry most days, but she just doesn't let me know when she has to go, so I have to be aware every hour! She's very stubborn, because last summer she was telling me when she had to go, but nine months later, she won't do that at all. Aaron has to be gone for a month this summer, so I am praying that we will have success by then. She is still a character and her latest funny is that she tells me "I'm going to Hollywood". I have no idea where she got that one, but she thinks it's very funny. Bella just finished her winter break and I loved having her home to love on. I missed her as I put her on the bus today. She's such my little buddy. We didn't do much over the break, but that was nice too. It's so neat to hear the girls playing make-believe together on their own. I love the way their little minds work. I lost my dear Aunt Marilyn yesterday and we are all grieving her death. She died in her sleep, probably of a heart attack, but she's a believer, so she is basking in God's glory right now. I am both excited for her and sad for our family. She was a character and we will miss her so much. Pray for her husband, who has no one else in his life to support him. I am sure he is very lonely. God bless you all - I hope you are happy, healthy, safe and warm. Love you!

A New Year

2010-01-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas season and I can't believe it is already January! We had six Christmas', but I know some people have more than that. It was so nice spending time with our family, but we also missed the ones we couldn't be with too. We actually made it through the holidays without any sickness. I think that it's a record! We usally go home to visit my family and get everyone else sick too:) The girls really had a great visit from Santa this year. Bella was so funny - the first thing she did on Christmas morning was go and check if Santa ate all the cookies and took the carrots for the reindeer:) She waited to see what Santa brought her - I was shocked. Her reaction to what she got was priceless. She wanted a robo kitty and a unicorn and she got both, so she was extatic. Natalie went along for the ride, but didn't really ask for anything. Aaron and I spent the Christmas break working on my new stained glass workshop. We are both pretty excited on how it turned out. Bella started school again today after her break and was excited to go back. I love that she really likes her teacher. Natalie loved that she had me to herself again. She wanted to play "mato" - that's playdoh to most people. She was so excited to open her new Christmas present with all new doh and cutting supplies. I don't think I have ever seen her that excited about a toy. She makes me laugh every day (inbetween all the naughtiness;). I am excited to see what 2010 will bring. 2009 was a year I don't want to remember too well, but through it all, I got a much closer realationship with Christ and a stronger hunger for God's word. I wonder what things he has to show me this year! I hope his lessons aren't too painful;)

Christmas 2009

2009-12-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone! It seems like Christmas gets busier every year. With Christmas programs at church, buying and wrapping presents, getting Christmas pictures taken, getting the cards ordered and then addressing and labeling them, not to mention the parties and travelling out of town for the holidays. Phew - I get tired just looking at the list! I try to stop and remember the real reason for celebrating this wonderful holiday - Jesus the son of God, coming to earth to save us from our sins. When I try to take in the magnitude of God's blessing in just that very gift, my breath is taken away. I look at the miracle of both my children's births and I am so thankful for their gifts as well. We are continually challenged by my two-year old gift, who has a propensity for sneakiness. I found her chewing a mouthful of gum and took it away, but found her chewing gum the next time I checked on her. After scolding her, she quickly said, it's OK Mom, I got more in my pocket (this said in a two-year old voice I can barely understand). I then reached into said pocket and found more warm sticky gum. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Another issue with Nat lately was trying to stop her sucking her thumb. The more I tried to keep her from putting her thumb in her mouth, the further behind she got in potty training. We actually went backwards. So, my big plans went out the window and now I am going to try and re-focus on the potty training thing after the holidays. My five-year old gift amazed me this year when I looked at our Christmas pictures taken and I saw a little girl instead of my baby. She is growing up right before my eyes. With her being in school half the day and then with her and Natalie Jane playing so well together off on their own, I feel like her childhood is slipping away. I want to rewind time and make her smaller, so she can just sit and my lap and let me cuddle her. She really is doing awesome in school and actually cried last week when I told her she had a snow day:( That never would have been me. I am happy that she enjoys school, that she wants to come home and do homework and practice reading. That is so foreign to me. I laughed with my friend Beth at church on Sunday watching her in the Christmas program. Aaron participated as well. He actually got a scholarship in theatre and in voice his first two years of college and here's our Bella up front who was barely singing the songs and spent most of the time making faces like she was in pain. A scholarship in theatre - not in her future:) We have a couple of more Christmas parties before we go home to Joliet for Christmas next week. I can't believe that we are only a week away from the big day! I am going to miss all the music on the radio and the Christmas cheer in the air when it's all over. Have a safe and happy holiday everyone - God bless you all!

Thankful

2009-11-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a great time with my family over Halloween weekend and then an even better week in Texas with my family. My sister and I got to go together, which was a nice treat. We use to travel a lot together before the kiddos came along and so it was nice to spend time with her and to be able to go on a vacation. We visited our aunt and uncle whom we don't get to see enough. The older I get, the more I realize how important family is. It gets harder and harder to say good-bye. Aaron stayed home with the girls for the week and did a superb job with them. Thank you again Aaron. This was a rough week in our home. We had lots of sickness and lack of sleep and whiny kids and someone got a hold of my credit card and tried to make some very expensive purchases. I think that is all under control, but I was thinking. Today would have been the due date for the baby we lost last spring. The last 7 months have been difficult. I use to not understand why people focused on a due date for a miscarriage when there no longer was a baby, but now I know. For us, who have gone through so much money, emotion and heart break to create our family, to have gotten pregnant and then gone through that loss, was extra painful. I was pretty bitter and I was holding onto that grief with all my might. I finally gave it up to God and asked him to take it away and the next day I woke up and it was gone. God is so amazing. That was just a couple of weeks ago. Last night I was over-come by a wave of great sadness for what today would mean, but I shed my tears and felt so relieved. For seven months I would occasionally tell myself that I should be pregnant right now and it felt horrible to think about, but now, after today, I feel like that is gone. I am over that hurdle and it feels so much better. So, after what 2009 was like for our family, I can safely say that what we are most thankful for this year, is our girls, for family and for our health. Some of the people we hold most dear to us in our family are suffering from major health battles right now and we just want to let you know that we lift you up in prayer and that we love you with all of our hearts. Happy thanksgiving everyone!

2009-11-19T20:56:00.001-08:00

Fall 2009

2009-10-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, October is usually my favorite month, but this one in particular has been very disappointing. It rains nearly every day and there has only been one sunny day in the last two weeks at least. I had to turn my heater on last night, because the high winds were making our house even colder than usual. I'm praying for a break in this dreary weather before winter hits. So, the reason I started this blog, besides having it for my family who lives far away and likes to see the updates and slide shows of their girls, was so that I could someday make books for the girls out of them when they are older. My friend Kristen told me about a business that puts them together for you, so you can give them to your kids when they are older to show them what their family was going through - kind of like a diary. I thought this was an awesome idea. I am torn about what to write sometimes though. I want to write about their accomplishments and the things they struggle with or put me through;), so I can give them an accurate view of what their childhoods were like, especially before they have memories of them, but I don't want to come ac cross as bragging about them, to friends who tune in to see what's new with us. I also struggle with the fact that these are essentially for my kids and I feel like I focus too much on all the terrible things that Natalie Jane is getting into, but at the same time I want her to know how mischievous she was and how much she is loved. I am trying to find a balance I guess, so here goes. Natalie is slowing down in terms of the amount of things she gets into. Now there are bad days instead of bad months or weeks. She still pushes Bella's buttons, by standing in front of the TV when Bella is trying to watch a program or turning the TV off or by just coming up to her and pushing her. This week she drew all over my brand new kitchen table the day after we got it, with crayon. Her sister was coloring, and I just didn't get the crayon out of her hand fast enough. She still tells me no about everything and it is all battles still. For all of her naughtiness, she is still a lover. Her favorite place to be is in my lap and when you pick her up to put her there, she grabs your arms and pulls them around her. She tells me she "lubs" me about 20 times a day and it is still music to my ears. The other day our house was very cold and she was sitting down to go potty on her potty chair and jumped up and said "mommy, my hooha is ccccold!" Oh my gosh, I just couldn't stop laughing at her. I never gave her the anatomical names for her private parts, because she yells them out in public just to get a rise out of me, so when she says it, I always laugh. Bella just loves kindergarten and is doing really well. Her teacher sent me an email last week telling me what a kind and compassionate child she is and it made me feel better about starting her in kindergarten with her September birthday. Every day she comes home and can't stop telling me all the things that she is learning and all the friends she has. I was nervous about her riding the bus with all the older kids, but that seems to be going OK. She has told me about some kids picking on other kids, so I am trying to teach her about what bullies are and how she needs to stick up for the kids being picked on. I want to empower her so she feels brave enough to speak her mind for other kids and herself. School can be so tough. She got her stitches out and that was a pretty traumatic experience as well, but it was pretty quick. We literally had to carry her out of the house kicking, screaming and crying. (We should never have told her where we were going!) She grabbed a hold of the door and wouldn't let go. We couldn't get her to stay in the van and when we got to the med center, she wouldn't get out of the van and again we had to pry her fingers lose from the van door. I can only imagine what people were thinking watching the circus that was our family! She kept crying out to Aaron who was holding her and making her go to the med center "you are not my favorite person!" I am glad to have that whole experience behind us. Last week I was hit with the old adage "well so and so is doing it", for the first time. I should have seen it coming. Apparently her friend got to see a movie that I thought might be too scary for my kids and she didn't really like my response. We had a little argument and I had to pull out a great line that my friend Beth equip ed me with (she's so wise). I told Bella that I was not responsible to God for so and so, I was responsible to God for her. I'm sure it's just the start of lots more battles to come. I hope everyone stays warm this fall. I can't wait until we go to the pumpkin and apple farms soon!

Stitches

2009-09-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

What a crazy week! Last week when we were in Joliet visiting my family, Bella fell off a chair she was standing on and hit her head and gave herself a deep gash that could have used a couple of stitches. It was deep, but not long enough and we had never been to the ER, so we didn't know what warranted stitches. Head wounds bleed so bad. I was traumatized watching her in pain, crying and bleeding all over the place, but it all finally calmed down. We stared school the next day and she loved it. She had a great week, made new friends and loved riding the bus. Today she had a play date with her favorite person in the whole world and then Aaron was mopping our wood floors and Bella, who was on the computer, jumped up to tell me something and fell crack onto the floor. I was three feet away, but she fell so fast and hard, I couldn't have done anything. She completely laid her chin open. Again, she cried very hard. It was pretty clear this time she needed to get stitches, so we headed to the med center. That was the hardest thing I had to endure watching my baby get five stitches. She was crying and yelling when they gave her the shots to numb the wound and then when they started sewing her up it was incredibly hard to watch. It still gives me chills thinking about it. Ugh. She was such a little trooper though. Natalie decided last month she wanted to potty train and has been doing really well the last three or four weeks. Yesterday she stayed dry all day except for nap time and did pretty well today. I wasn't prepared to even try until she was closer to three because she loves being a baby and she's the most stouborn child a know, so I can only give praise to the Lord, because it is all him! Yeah God:)

Bella's First Day of Kindergarten

2009-09-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! Summer is over and in some ways it felt like it never began. We enjoyed the cool weather, but it still seems strange that it is almost fall and never had continually hot days. Labor day was short and sweet. We went home to visit my family in the burbs of Chicago and celebrated Bella's fifth birthday. My mom threw her a Tinker Bell party and she got almost everything she wanted, so she is a very happy girl. We got home last night, so we were scrambeling to get her school forms filled out, unpack our bags and figure out a new nightly routine. Even though she attended preshcool last year, it feels like a whole new world with getting her ready to ride the bus. We had an open house last week and met her teacher and road the bus around the neighborhood to get her comfortable with this new transition. I thought that it was a good idea. Her teacher is Mrs. St. John and she seems like a great teacher, so I am very excited for Bella. I layed in bed with her last night and talked to her about what she was excited about tomorrow and what made her nervous. She was excited to make new friends. When I went to kiss her good night she started stalling and told me "don't go - tell me about yourself." Ha ha - she is good. We woke up this morning and it was nice that we didn't have to rush around the house since she has P.M. kindergarten. We picked out her clothes and worked on her first piece of homework. She decorated a star to hang in the classroom. I was still sressed making sure all her forms were correct and that she had her milk money and snack ready and clean clothes on. Aaron came home for her big send off since he already was in the area and we had lunch and prayed that she would be brave and have a good day. Last year I could barely hold it together long enough for that prayer. We waited in the driveway and when the bus came down the street, we walked her accross it, kissed her good-bye and up she climbed with out any worries. She amazes me every day. I held it together the whole time until Natty started to cry Bella's name. She wanted to go on the bus with her big sister, but she enjoyed the time with me all to herself until nap time. I am counting the minutes until my baby girl is back in my arms. (sigh)

August

2009-08-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

Aaron is home and things are finally back to normal, phew! We have had a busy summer with lots of firsts and some lasts. Bella learned to ride her bike a couple of weeks ago, but she's not a strong rider yet. It was tough work trying to keep her steady, but it was a good work-out running beside her. She continues to amaze us with the funny things she says. This week she told me her imaginary friend had a skin condition and that all his hair was falling out! Hahahahah! Today she was asking me why some of her friends only have one parent and I had to talk to her about the reasons why families come in different packages. That prompted her to tell me that she was an accident. I about burst into tears (we have never referred to her as that). I then explained to her that God has a purpose for each and every one of us and we are all special. God does not make accidents! She then said, "I think God accidentally put me in someone else's belly for you". Realizing she just wasn't getting it, but still laughing, because it was such a cute thing to say, I gave her a huge hug. She said "that why my name is Belly, (nick name) because I was in the wrong one". What a funny girl. We are starting to get her ready for kindergarten this September. I can't believe my baby girl is going off to school on the bus! It seems like yesterday when we were bringing her home from the hospital. I included a couple of slide shows at the bottom of my blog in honor of her fifth birthday coming up in a few weeks.
Natalie still amazes me with the things she can get into. Monday she got into the fridge and unscrewed the instant coffee and dumped the whole thing on my bed, the night stand, the floor and herself. She was busy for a while with that, because when I found her, she had been making coffee angels on the floor:( All the wood floors in my house are still sticky, after mopping three times. Our house will smell like coffee forever I am sure (sigh). Tuesday she got in the pool, rolled around in the sand and went into the living room and rolled all over my clean carpet and my couch. Today she got into the fridge again and some how picked up the almost empty jug of milk and chug-a-lugged the whole thing all over her and my clean kitchen floor. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I meant to get to the store this weekend and get a lock for the fridge after she learned how to open it and continued to chase me all over the house with the contents of all things refrigerated. After she went through the egg carton and kept handing me squashed raw eggs! Things have been busy, but you can bet I get to the store for that lock now. (sigh again) She is constantly coming to find me dripping in or covered in what ever she has gotten into and says "she Mommy?" (she talks like she has a mouth full of food when she speaks). Today after thinking she just wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, because she just doesn't get it, she proceeded to count to five all by herself! I finally realized that she gets it really well. She wants my undivided attention at all times and the only way to do that is by destroying my house. I guess I have a lot more respect for the little turkey now;) I love her to pieces even when she is the very naughtiest possible. I just wish toddler-hood was as easy as it was with Bella. I have two little characters that keep me laughing all the time and I am blessed!

The Funny Things They Say

2009-07-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

We are doing pretty well since Aaron left and we are finally more than half way there. We have not made any trips to the E.R. yet and Natalie hasn't given me any heart attacks. I bought them a plastic pool to keep them busy, but all I did was give them more ways to keep me busy. They keep going into the pool when they don't have their suits on, so we go through lots of clean clothes in a day and then they have been playing in the pool, walking through the sand and then through my house, which keeps me sweeping up sand by the bucket-full. Bella told me the other day, "Mom - I sure am enjoying my childhood". I just laugh at her funny little sayings most of the time that seem to be wiser than her years. Last week she gave me a hug while we were playing together and then said "Mom - when I get married me and my husband are going to live with you". I told her that I didn't think her future husband would enjoy that very much and she said "Oh yes he will!". In the car today she said "Mom - the more I learn about the world, the more I want to see of it". She also told Natty, "You sure are a good sister Nat" and I laughed again. She is so precocious. Natalie on the other hand is still a hand full, but at least she is speaking in sentences that I can understand now. She has been less wild since Aaron has left and I know that it has been an answer to prayer, so thank you to all who have kept us in your prayers! She misses Aaron terribly and talks about him all day. We do video conferencing on the computer and every time I get on to check my mail she starts crying that she wants to talk to her daddy. Six weeks is a long time for a two-year old. I know it could be worse having a father in the military, so I can't complain. I just started teaching Bella to ride her bike. There aren't many kids in the neighborhood and we are never in the front yard, so I have to make a real effort to get her out there. She's a pretty cautious kid, so it hasn't been easy. My parents were up this weekend to visit, so that was a nice diversion and we had a family treasure hunt at the church this weekend and we all had a blast. Keeping busy is key when you don't have a break! I hope everyone is having a great summer!

One Looooooooooooong Night

2009-06-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Aaron's been gone for four days now and the girls have been pretty well behaved for me. Natalie Jane has not tried any death-defying acts yet. That always makes me breath a little easier. Last night I had my old college friend stay the night with her little guy and we all had a sleep-over. We got to bed kind of late after watching a movie and couldn't get our kids to stay in their beds until after we went to bed, so they were up late as well. Bella ended up in bed with me and then woke up with her stomach hurting, so I was up most of the night with that and half way through the night the thunderstorms started and my big baby of a dog Zoe, who is afraid of thunderstorms, jumped over the baby gate that keeps them in their bed at night and ended up in bed with me. She was shaking so hard that the bed was REALLY moving. Bella and I kept sighing and then in the dark I could hear her whisper into Zoe's ear "don't worry Zozo girl, it will be OK". It was so sweet. After about 4:30the thunderstorms stopped and I got Zoe back in her bed. My friend had to leave at 7:30, so I woke up to say good-bye to her and never really got back to sleep. Bella woke up soon after that and watched cartoons in bed. Luckily Nat slept until 9:30 so I could at least lay in bed a while. Tomorrow we are off to Joliet to see my family so please pray that I make it OK alone with them both. Long car trips were a lot easier when Natalie wasn't old enough to fight with Bella over who got to hold the DVD player. They have no idea how lucky they are to even have a TV in the Car! Back in my day............ha ha ha. Happy fathers day dads. I hope you have a good one!

Life

2009-06-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family who tune into see how we are all fairing. Spring was a difficult time for us. We suffered our third miscarriage and are trying to heal from that, as well as figure out where God wants us to be in our lives. Talking to friends lately has made me realize how much pain there is out there. To all my beloved friends who are suffering from emotional pain from circumstances beyond their control - I am praying for you all! Life is difficult. Bella, who I count on to be my rock/perfect child, has decided that bringing frogs into our house is a great idea despite how much I punish her. Yesterday when she knew I was coming in from the garden, she quick passed off the frog to Nat, who was so pleased with herself that she nearly squeezed the life out of it. Bella, by the way, took off to hide from my wrath. Urgh!!! The other day as Aaron was talking to her about it for the 100Th time she cried to him, "Daddy, I just can't take my eyes off the toads!". I'm hoping this will pass just like everything else. Natalie on the other hand, I pray that her naughtiness will pass, but it never does. In the last month I've walked into the bathroom flooded from her playing in the sink, watched as she scooped water out of the toilet with a cup and drank it, found that she colored all over the stair walls with a black permanent marker, decorated Bella's wall with that same marker, painted the white kitchen cabinets with a pink marker (don't know where this one came from - believe me, we learned our lessons from the past), learned how to climb up on the deck railing (it's a long way down), learned how to stick metal screws in the light socket(yes we have covers - she learned how to take them off at nine or ten months), learned how to unzip the safety enclosure of the trampoline and fell out on her knees(also a long way down), learned how to let Bosley out the front door so he could take hiself for a walk (our lovely neighbors have brought him home three times now)........I could go on forever. Needless to say, she keeps me hopping (no pun intended). Aaron will be heading to Washington (the state)for 5-6 weeks starting June 15Th, so I will need lots of prayers that I don't loose my sanity with a child that's so active! I hope you all survive the summer with all the kids out of school! Take care.............

Spring

2009-05-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Well I finally feel like spring is here for good and we have been having so much fun planting gardens and getting the yard all cleaned up. I got lots of rose bushes for mother's day and I can't wait until they are all blooming this summer! Bella graduates from preschool next week and although we are excited to end that chapter of Bella's life, we are already terribly sad to say good-bye to her teachers. What a God-send they were this year! Mrs. Sue and Mrs. Ann were the best teachers I have ever come to know and we all feel blessed to have had them be a part of Bella's life! I wanted to also take this time to wish all of our mothers and grandmothers happy mother's day! We are so thankful that we have each and every one of you to love. God is so good! What would we do without you? Thank you mom for all of your love and support this spring - I am blessed and I know it! Our dear friend Jess is scheduled for her c-section Friday the 15Th and I if you could pray for baby number five that he/she is healthy and that Jess recovers quickly, that would be great. Also if you want pray that it is a boy,that would be great too! Not that a fifth girl wouldn't be as exciting, but I'm sure they would love to experience the gifts that a little boy can bring into their lives and so would all of us friends! I pray that each and every one of you who reads this is doing well and that spring brings you lots of hope and joy! God bless!

My Birthday and Easter

2009-04-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to all of our friends and family! This has been a busy week with Bella having spring break, Aaron being gone, celebrating my birthday and Easter today. Thankfully the weather was nice all week and we were able to spend a lot of time outside. I just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers in the last couple of weeks. We couldn't have gotten through this time without them. The Easter bunny paid us a visit this morning and Bella was very excited. Natalie Jane wasn't that into finding the eggs this year, but Bella made up for her. They are playing with their Easter goodies right now and hopefully we will spend some time with family today. We had a very nice service at church this morning and now we can relax after getting ready for this crazy weekend. Take care everyone!

Sad Hearts

2009-03-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that we had another IVF procedure and got pregnant. Our blood worked looked great and right away we had large numbers. We were suppose to have our first ultra-sound on Thursday, but the doctor couldn't find the heart beat. The sack was too small for six weeks, so I had more blood work that night, but by Friday my HCG showed that my levels were dropping and that my body was going to lose this pregnancy. We were not prepared for this news at all. Everything seemed to be going according to plan and with doing an IVF, they pump you so full of hormones, you feel more confident about not miscarrying, at least we did. It's rare, but it happened, and now we have to put all of our hopes, expectations and excitement away and continue the grieving process. Bella has been asking for another little brother or sister for a while now, and so we did tell her when we felt like it was safe to. She was praying every night that the baby would be safe and strong and that it would teach Natalie how to love and how not to be naughty. She was sad at first, but now she's just praying for another little brother or sister to come along. I wish life was that simple for Aaron and I. I wish that I didn't desire a big family or to be pregnant again, but I do (we do), so we put our faith in God and understand that our days are numbered and that this baby may have only lived for six weeks, but it was loved so much and in the end, isn't that what life is suppose to be all about?

Bella Accepted Christ Today

2009-02-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks around the Combs's household have been difficult and I woke up today feeling a little bit weary, but then something amazing happened. We were listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella" song on the radio and those of you who don't know the song, it is about how his little girl wants to play Cinderella all the time and dance with her daddy and then it flashes to prom when she's older and she asks him to help her practice dancing and then flashes forward again to her wedding day and it's a tear jirking song, but the really sad part of the song is that the artist that sings that song lost his four-year old daughter (whom he wrote the song about) last year when his older son hit her in the driveway with the car accidentally. Bella remembered the story I had told her. We told her about the story so we could explain the danger of running in front of cars. I hadn't said anything yet, but she was really quiet and I said "what are you thinking about?" She said "I was thinking of the little girl who died". We talked about that story and she said she was very sad for her, but I explained to her that she didn't need to be sad for the little girl, because she was in heaven with Jesus now and although we are sad for her family and the ones who miss her, we are excited that she is with him. We have been talking to her about how you get to heaven and praying to Jesus when she was ready to have hime come into her heart, but I always tell her that it doesn't need to be done today, but when she's really ready and understands what that means. Well, today she said "I want Jesus to come into my heart today Mom, so I can go to heaven when I die". A lot of you have been going through this very same moment with your children lately and I was so excited for each and every one of you, but when it's your child, there are no words to express the happiness you feel. I don't know if at four and half she really undnerstands completely, but there is nothing like the pure faith of a child! It's funny to see someone so young, also be so compassionate at the same time. Every time we pray, she always prays for the homeless people downtown who live in boxes under the bridge who have no home or food and she's still asking questions about our friend Ryand who passed away last June. She worries about people who are sad or who have lost someone. I have always been proud of her for her soft heart, but lately she has been having issues and has been in kind of a funk. She's definetely been batteling something and when this morning she prayed her prayer with me, it renewed my spirit and made me understand that Aaron and I are doing something right at least. That Bella loves Christ and the hurting - I couldn't feel more OK, no matter what happens from here!

These Sweet Moments

2009-01-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, things are finally slowling down after the holidays and with that I am taking more time to appreciate the girls and all the sweet and funny things they say and do. Like the song says "time falls away", and I wish that I had a photographic memory so I can remember it all before I forget it. Will I remember how small their piggies are right now or how high their sweet voices are or what it feels like to be wrapped in such small little arms? I try to to write it all down, but time slips away and that moment is forgotten. Today was a challenge with Natty - she was her usual naughty self - some call it busy, but it's just a nice way of saying the same thing. I feel bad giving her that label, but she is truely the most challenging child I've ever delt with. Her favorite thing to do is sit in my lap and suck her thumb, but life is busy and so she does the other favorite thing she does best - hang on the fridge or cabinets crying that she needs "cheese" or "canny". When she inevitablly doesn't get what she wants, she throws her temper tantrums, which come by the dozens these days. She learned to say "no" and "mine" this past week and they are my least favorite words coming from a toddler's mouth, BUT in the taking of my time appreciating her tonight I got to watch her swim in the tub and climb into her bed all by herself and sing along with me for the first time as I sang Adel Vise to her. It was one of the sweetest moments I've had with her and it melted my angry heart. When we were done she clapped and folded her hands to say her prayers and giggled when I prayed for her to not be naughty tomorrow - not a coinsidence:) She said Amen all by herself and I thought what a cool little person she's becoming. Aaron is gone tonight, so Bella and I are going to have movie night. She is waiting for me so patiently. Her teacher's brother is in the hospital tonight with spinal meningitus and is unconscious. They have decided to let him go and tomorrow will be his first day with Jesus. All their kids and family will be coming in from out of town. If you could pray for that family. I can't imagine what they must be going through right now and I know that they could use all the prayers they can get. God bless!

Our Trip

2008-12-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

We are finally home from our trip and I have been trying hard to figure out how to describe a trip of a lifetime. I just don't even know where to start. I feel blessed that the army gave back to us, after I feel like it's taken so much time from our family. I thank God for that bonus and my wonderful friend Shannon for mothering my children for me while I was gone. No one could have done a better job. Bella is still talking about all the wonderful things they did together. It warms my heart to know that they were so happy. Our favorite place in Australia was Cairns - that's the city that the Great Barrier Reef is off of. It's really the whole area around it that was amazing. There were rain forests and parks and waterfalls galore. We just couldn't get enough. My favorite day of the whole trip was snorkeling in the reef. I felt a little bad that Aaron couldn't go scuba diving, since he is licensed and it would have been the best place in the world for it, but he stuck with me and did not have a pleasant time. For some reason he got stung by five jelly fish, and bit by not only a parrot fish, but a barracuda as well -it was a small one. He was miserable, but I was in awe! The neon fish and reef were just amazing. I don't even know how to describe it. I wanted to stay there forever. It was like another world. I got to hold Koalas at the zoo in Cairns too, which was my second favorite thing about the trip. They are so sweet and they smell like eucalyptus - go figure:) That was always a dream of mine from as long as I can remember. We thought that the outback was amazing as well, but it was just so different. It was so hot and dry. The red rock formations there were very interesting and the life of the Aboriginal people was fascinating. Sydney was just beautiful. It felt like they took England and plonked it right down in the middle of the Caribbean. The buildings were cool and the foliage was tropical. The weather was perfect there - spring time with flowers blooming every where. We visited the big aquarium and took a tour of the town. We went to the famous markets and had a lot of fish and chips. We didn't enjoy Melbourne as much, but we spent most of our time on the Great Ocean Road tour that showed us all these cool rock formations in the ocean. We stopped at lots of parks along the way and saw the beach where they filmed that surf movie with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze - Point Break. I got some cool shells from that beach shhhhhh;) It was the most beautiful part of the ocean I've ever seen besides the reef that is. We saw wild Koalas sleeping and trees. Wow! I feel so blessed to have gotten to experience that! Our next stop was New Zealand and that was a trip with-in itself. It was only a three hour flight and a couple more time changes. We started in Christchurch, but we weren't there that long. It was a cute little town with a lot of galleries and artists. It felt a little like Ireland did. We took a boat ride down the river like in Italy. When we got to Queenstown, it had just stopped raining and we were greeted by the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen - it was enormous! We went on lots of tours there and got to see the places where they filmed much of the Lord of The Rings films. We got to take lots of trips up the mountains by way of the gondola. The view from that, was extraordinary. We could see across the lake to the mountains. Wow again! We ended the trip by paragliding off the top of Bob's peak. Aaron just had to do it and I'm usually up for anything, but the idea of crashing and orphaning my girls didn't sound appealing. OK, so who was the one that crashed on their first attempt off the cliff? Oh yeah - that would be me! APPARENTLY our chute only half-way filled with wind when we went running off the edge of the mountain. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmm.I couldn't understand my Aussi tandem jump coach. Their accents are so thick:0 "Negative, negative". Iyiyiyi I hurt my arm, but it was OK. I saw my life flash before my eyes as I was sliding down and clinging to every last pebble and blade of grass. (Sigh) My legs were shaking when we did our final run off the other side. Can you imagine? All of our 13 flights connected great and we only had one long delay, which ended up allowing us to feed wild wallabies in Alice Springs, so all worked out in the end and I came home feeling so relaxed. Happy healthy kids and we survived jet-lag. Thank you God!

Our 10Th Anniversary Trip

2008-11-17T07:12:00.000-08:00

Hey all! We are just about ready for our trip now and I wanted to leave you with our itineraries in case we crash on one of the 12 or 13 flights we will have in store for us. OK we are flying from Chicago to St. Louis to LA to Sydney to Cairns (the great barriar reef) we are there for three days and then to Ayers Rock and Alice Springs for a day each and then back to Sydney for three days to Melbourne for two and then we fly to New Zealand and we will be in Christchurch, Queenstown, some smaller towns and Aukland for a total of five days. We leave Thursday for our trip, but we may be going to Chicago on Wednesday night depending on the weather. In case we don't see any of you before the trip - have a happy Thanksgiving! We love you all!

The Roath Family Christmas Exchange List

2008-11-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

Names: Who you buy for:
Vickie- Kelly wants mixing bowls
Mike- Emily
Carrie- Cate
Lee- Chris
TJ- Vickie wants candles from Yankee candles Orange/mango or Christmas
scents or Bath and Body Works gift card
Meghan- Mike wants either a gift card to Home Depot or Texas Roadhouse
Jeff- Carrie wants a cardigan sweater size small any color
Kelly- Lee wants i tunes gift card or Frank LLoyd Wright calendar (@ the
mall)
Rick- John
Lynn- Jeff didn't request anything, but like video games and movies (Best
Buy Maybe?)
Chris- Lynn wants gift card to Sephora, Borders or fresh scented candles
Cate- Rick wants a gift card to Outback, Red Lobster or size M hoodie
Emily- Meghan Wants a gift card to Old Navy or Borders
John- TJ wants a gift gird to Old Navy or Borders

OK guys - if you haven't gotten back to me by now, I had to get this posted, so I can go on my trip and I won't be back until the middle of December. If John isn't going to be at Christmas then just let Mike or Carrie know and we'll adjust the draw. I won't see many of you for Christmas, so have a merry one and eat lots of turkey for me - love you guys!

My Craft Shows

2008-11-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hey all - I wrote about my craft show and about my business on my Whimsical Creations blog, so if you want, you can click on my blog to the left of this post to find out how I did. It's been a while since I updated on the family, so here goes. Natalie just cut her 9Th tooth yesterday and 10Th tooth today, which to some may seem like no big deal, but for her it's huge! Most toddlers have their full set of 16 closer to 13 or 14 months, but Natalie is almost 19 months and she eats more than any child her age and can barely chew her food! We joked that for Halloween she was our Jack-O-Lantern. We are so happy for her. She is speaking small sentences now, but you really have to know her to understand her. It's cute though to finally have her communicating with us. I just wish she would stop her whining! This weekend she finally started watching TV. Bella at one year-old would sit and watch almost an entire episode of Sesame Street, but Natty just realized the TV does more than turn on and off and it was cute to witness. Bella was watching cartoons and Nat walked past the TV and then stopped, sat down, then layed down and put her hands behind her head and watched the rest of the show. I couldn't believe my eyes. This week we finally had to put a lock on the pantry doors. All day long she cries because she is hungry and if I don't feed her every half hour or sooner, she brings me cans and boxes from the pantry to let me know what she wants. I was getting so frustrated. I hate locks on the cabinets, but it had to be done. The other cute thing that happened in the last month was Natalie wanting to hold hands with Bella when we pick her up from pre-school. It brought tears to my eyes. Bella has been getting ready for her Christmas pageant at school and she has a speaking part that she's practicing and I can't wait to see it. She started Awana this fall as well and she is now in the cubbies class. It focuses on the kids learning Bible verses and she gets patches on her vest if she learns enough verses. She got three already and I'm really surprised at her memory. She retains the ones she has already learned and gets ready for new ones. I was never great at memorizing, so I'm pretty proud of her! She still loves school and her best friend Isabelle and she'll be in her first ballet class this winter. She talks about that a lot. We leave for our Australia trip in one week and I'm already worried that I'm going to miss the girls too much to enjoy myself. Please pray for our safety and for the the girls. Please pray for my friend Shannon who will be caring for the girls - she'll need it - they are so busy!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hello to all the friends and family who tune in to read about our crazy family! We had a great Halloween at the combs household. Bella had her Fall Harvest party at school on Friday and I helped out with that. The kids were so cute. Thanks Shannon for watching Natalie Jane for me, so I could attend. Bella was so excited that she couldn't sleep during nap time, but she was still in a good mood for trick - or - treating. Natty on the other hand was a bear. She didn't want to pose for pictures in her costume and she wanted me to hold her the whole night. She did pretty good when we walked around the neighborhood. Thanks Aunti Shannon for coming with us - you made Bella's night. She was so proud to have you there. Both girls had so much candy it was falling out of their buckets! We walked for almost two hours. I did get to hand out candy for 10 minutes or so and it was nice to actually be in a neighborhood this year. I was pretty happy about that. This past weekend I did my first craft show and made out pretty well. This Saturday is the next one, so please pray that it goes even better than the last one. I'm even getting orders off of my blog store, so thank you for all who have been shopping - I really appreciate it. We leave for our trip in 18 days. Please pray that I'm not too anxious about flying for so long. I'm not worried about the sitting for 18 hours, but I am worried about crashing to my death. I don't want to orphan me sweet girls. I don't usually worry like this, but I would like to actually look forward to my 10 year anniversary without anxiety.

My stained glass blog store is now open!

2008-10-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hey friends and family - I finally have my blog store open and running. I have projects posted that are up for sale and I can also customize those pieces to your liking in terms of color and size. I will be at Holy Cross Lutheran Church for the next craft fair on Nov. 8 SAT from 9-5. I would love it, if you can post this blog site on your family blogs, so others might take a look as well. I am getting orders by word of mouth, which helps tremendously. I'm trying to make this more of a career and hope that it will work out accordingly. Thanks for all your support - take a look, even if it's only for fun:)

Post Family Farm and more Post Family Farm

2008-10-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

Bella had her field trip to the pumpkin farm this week and she had a blast. She got to go on a trip through the barn and see all the animals and got to pet a baby chick. Next she got to ride the pumpkin train, then we went on a hay ride where we stopped and we all got to pick a pumpkin. They had hot, fresh pumpkin donuts and cider and then the class put on a small pumpkin play. Bella was the pumpkin seed. Her favorite part was being able to spend time with her best friend Isabelle. She just adores her. My parents came up for a visit yesterday and the girls were so excited. We had a good time and we miss them already. Today we were back at the farm for our annual church small groups get-together. The kids rode the pumpkin train, played, and we went on another hay ride. We had more donuts and cider at the bonfire and then we called it a night. The best part of the evening was watching the kids reactions on the pumpkin train. Carlie was the cutest! What a babe! They were so proud of themselves. Natalie rode with Bella and she thought she was queen bee!

The Wedding

2008-10-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, Aaron's sister's wedding was tonight and all in all it turned out very nice. When we got to the church we realized that neither Aaron or I grabbed Bellas' dress, so Aaron had to go back and get it and was gone for an hour. The three hours we were at the church before the wedding getting pictures done, Natalie was throwing herself on the ground and was crying. She only wanted me to hold her and I was trying to get Bella ready and keep her from destroying her hair and dress. When it was finally time for the wedding, Bella had the hugest melt down of her life, because she wanted to sit with her cousin Ashlynn. The pastor had to come and get me from the front of the church, so I could settle her down. I think that conversation with my daughter took ten years off my life! I was determined not haggle with her or give her any altumatums. I finally got her settled down telling her jokes - she's the joke queen. I was very busy drying her tears and blowing her face dry. She walked down the isle without any problems or reservations, but she was very slow in dropping the leaves - a lot of people giggled. She is a very meticulous little girl. She sat next to me pretty well during the service and only whispered loudly a few times. Aaron was a groomsman and he looked handsome in his tux. The reception went very well and we had a good time. We all got a kick out of Bella's dancing. She looks like Elaine from Seinfeld when she dances - complete with some interesting faces:) - see photos. Natalie was a wreck with cutting 8 or more teeth all at once, but she did very well at the reception. Aaron is getting ready to leave early tomorrow morning to train his students how to survive in the woods and be a real army guy. Thanks for all of you who prayed that today would go smoothly. I'm just glad it's all over with!

Two Little Ghosts

2008-09-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Let me just say, that today was a very bad day! Bella who I always say is my easy, mostly compliant child, (except for the water issue) was awful today. I'll only share a couple of the naughty things she did today. UrgH! Bella decided that she wanted to act like Natalie, so I find both girls putting every pair of their shoes in the dog's water bowl, even Bella's new brown shoes. Water was every where. Natalie got into a bag of bird seed I had sitting out and Bella somehow broke her TV. So, I thought I would be nice and give her the TV from our bedroom, because we hardley ever use it. So I'm walking up the stairs with a giant TV in my arms when I smell a strong whiff of baby powder over-coming me. Then I see a streak run past me into the bathroom (Bella hiding) and a white cloud of dust coming from the nursary. After I put the TV down, I find Natalie sitting on a rubber-made container full of her next size up clothes completely covered in baby powder and she's rubbing her hands through it, it's all over the floor, the rocker, her teddy bears, the dresser, the stool and all of her toys. Bella had pushed the container up to the dresser to get the baby powder down and when I asked her what she was doing she replied "Natty and I were playing ghostists". Can I just say I don't think I'm ever getting that smell out of her carpet!

Help!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

O.K. guys any help would be welcomed. We have been struggeling with Bella over playing in her bathroom sink. For the last few months, she has been bringing water into her room so she can have tea parties and what ever else and we keep telling her that she can not take the water into her room. Well, then I started finding glasses of water under her bed. It doesn't matter if we give her sippy cups with water before bed, it's not about that. She is deliberately disobeying and lying about it to us. Everyday she promises she won't make a mess and then I go into her bathroom and find her cups all over the sink and floor with water in them. Every day I step in puddles of water in her room or on the bathroom floor. She takes all the kitchen toys and fills them up and even if I hide all the cups, she somehow finds more. OK, so my master plan was to turn the water off to her sink and make her use hand sanitizer instead of soap and water and I thought I was so brilliant coming up with this idea, but boy was I wrong. It appears my 4-year old is smarter than me. This is what happens. Bella tells Aaron when he's upstairs, "Daddy I need a drink of water" and Aaron says, "OK, you need to leave the room and I will get you some". Bella say's " Dad, I know how you can turn the water on - you just follow the pipes behind the sink where there is a knob and turn the water on" and she goes behind the pedestal sink and tuns the knob to get the water turned back on! Aaron said "how did you figure that one out?" and She said "because I am very smart". Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Bella is usually my good and obediant child. I hardley ever have issues with her, but on this particular issue, we cannot win. Any suggestions? Right now she's grounded from her room and has to sleep downstairs in the spare bedroom, but she's right next to another bathroom, so I don't know what to do. Please leave comments if you have any grand ideas. Thanks guys!

And then there was a princess......

2008-09-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today Bella had her birthday party and she had a lot of fun. Everyone dressed up like a Disney princess and the girls made their own magic wands, which could have been very messy, but all the moms helped out tremendously and it went without a hitch. They played lots of games, but what Bella wanted to do the most was play with her friends without all that party fuss. I kept having to call her back from trying to jump on the trampoline and kept yelling at her to stop taking everyone upstairs. Ugg. Anyway, she had a princess cake and opened her presents a little earlier than I would have like.....maybe when I was actually in the room for example, but I know she was excited, so I tried to remain calm. She started this new sneaky faze, that is really making me a little disgruntled and I found her hiding behind the couch with the bowl of M & M's. Ugg again. The party was a nap time, so that was kind of difficult, but I had no other choice. I had a lot to do by myself since Aaron was down after his surgery. He did help with the wand creating, so I was thankful for that. She got an Ariel movie and she was very excited about that, so I decided that movie time was a good idea. You could mostly find Natalie following after me with her arms in the air saying "ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah" - you get the picture or laying on the ground crying. She was a big help. I hope all the girls had a good time.

Aaron's Surgery

2008-09-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

Aaron had had surgery two days ago to repair a hernia and is still in a lot of pain. Because it was an outpatient surgery, we both thought he would recovery a lot more quickly. He needs lots of prayer that the pain will go away and that he will recover soon. It's hard to watch him hurting and there's nothing that I can do. I have three babies to take care of this week - in Aaron's words, and it's true. I am trying to get ready for Bella's birthday party tomorrow and take care of the house-hold duties and it's a little over-whelming. My to-do list is a mile long. Please pray that we get through this time. Thanks!

My Baby Turns 4

2008-09-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I let Bella sleep with me and we had a sleep-over. She loves to wake up with me in her bed. I made her favorite breakfast and Aaron worked later last night, so he could spend the morning with us on Bella's special day. We went to the mall so she could go to Build a Bear and she made a doggy and put her on rollerskates. We had lunch and the girls rode all the rides that they put in just recently. They were cute in the little blue convertible. We had Bella's party with Aaron's side of the family and she was so excited. We got her 101 Dalmations and she was so cute when she opened it. She hugged and it and said "I've always wanted this!". Her aunt Carrie called to wish her happy birthday and she said "thanks for remembering me". Aaron and I ended the night by looking at photos of Bella when she was born. Where did the last four years go? Although I miss her being that small, I really look forward to seeing the young lady she grows into!

Today

2008-09-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

I am: blessed.
I think: you learn more about yourself through times of struggle and sorrow.
I know: I'm stubborn.
I want: more children.
I wish: my friend Kristen could have her husband back.
I hate: waiting.
I miss: my oldest friends Jane and Aaron.
I fear: I will out-live my children.
I smell: fall in the air.
I crave: time to myself.
I search: for patience.
I regret: all the people I've hurt in my life.
I love: my family and friends.
I ache: when I think about how hard it was to create our family.
I care: about the salvation of my girls.
I always: thank the Lord for my children.
I am not: perfect.
I believe: it's not what happens to you in life that matters, but how you deal with it.
I sing: "You are my sunshine" to Natalie.
I cry: when I remember seeing Bella in the hospital nursery for the first time.
I fight: with my husband about who is right.
I write: all the funny things Bella says in a book.
I win: some arguments.
I lose: my mind trying to pick up toys everyday!
I hurt: my hands when I do stained glass work.
I care: about people who are hurting.
I never: like to hear gossip.
I confuse: euphemisms.
I listen: to my daughter's footsteps running upstairs when she should be in bed.
I can usually be found: cleaning my house.
I am scared: of bridges over water.
I need: God to get me through this life.
I am happy about: having a sister.
I hope: they find a cure for cancer in my life-time and that I don't crash to my
death on the way to Australia in November.

Bella"s First Day of School

2008-09-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Today was Bella's first day of school and what an emotional morning for me! When I woke her up, she jumped out of a bed and gave me a koala hug and was ready for the day. We quick got ready and her dad called to wish her well and asked her how she felt on her first day of school and she said "I'm a little bit scared, but a lot brave". I started to cry. We prayed together for her day and that it would go smootly and I cried even harder. We took pictures before we left and when we got there. When she walked in the class her teacher greeted her and gave her a little hug and showed her where her cubby was. She then had to put the whale with her name on it, into a fish bowl (her class is called the whales). Her teacher sent her to a table to have free time with the kids and she never looked back. She settled in all excited and instantly made new friends and I just watched my sweet baby growing up before my eyes. I tried so hard to hold it together in front of the other parents who were struggling to pry their crying children off of their shoulders. There were enough people crying in that room - yikes! I knew Bella wouldn't be apprehensive, but I was still proud of how she just settled right in and made herself comfortable -she is not at all shy, but she can be moody sometimes. I knew this day would be hard, but I miss her already. Natalie is loving having me all to herself and is having a ball. I don't want to take too much time away from her, but I wanted to write this, before the freshness of the day wares off. My sweet baby girl - I couldn't be more proud of her.

The Long Holiday

2008-09-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a good Labor day holiday, but it was busy and there were disasters. My aunt and uncle came up from Texas and all the rest of my family lives down there, so we did a lot of shopping and eating out and we celebrated Bella's birthday - one of her three parties. She got everything she wanted and she was so excited. She told me she couldn't wait until we got home so she could open up her gifts. We got to Joliet fine, but when we were coming home from getting dinner out and we were on the highway, the car started to over-heat and then the police came and helped us out like five minutes later and then a tow truck one minute later. Yikes. They towed it almost to my parents house - they live right off the highway and we got it worked on a couple of days later. I hate spending money on car repair. Yuck! We were late getting home - we hadn't intended on staying so long. These next couple of weeks are going to be busy, like everyone else I guess. The girls enjoyed spending time with Grammy and Pop and Bella already misses them. She didn't want to come home with us:( Of course, she loves her Aunt Carrie and hero worships her. She gets the biggest reaction from Bella. I know how special aunties can be. I'm so happy for family and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful one. I wished we weren't all separated from one another by such distance. Bella managed to hurt herself everyday we were away and is covered in scratches and bumps. She had more than Natalie for a change. I'll be doing their pictures when ever she doesn't look like she's back from war! I hope everyone else had a good holiday weekend and school started off without too many hitches.

Out of the Mouths of Babes!

2008-08-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

OK, this update is going to be a painfully honest update, because I owe it to Bella. Last night she got in trouble about six times: not cleaning up her room, ling that she did, bringing glasses full of water into her room and dumping them all over herself and the carpet - the third warning in three days, not going to bed when she was suppose to and not staying in bed when she was put there. Well, Aaron and I were frustrated with her and I was getting angrier and angrier and then Aaron and I got into it about that and other of life's frustrations, in front of her, while we were cleaning up her disaster of a room. The next day I was telling Bella how much I loved her and she was hugging me and she said "mom, if I give you a big hug, will you promise to never fight with Daddy again? I don't like the words you say when you fight with him". Then she proceeded to tell me if I would just wave my hands side to side "like this", she said as she imitated what looked like the hula dance. "Your anger will just go away". I'll have to remember that;) Out of the mouths of babes! That was quite a reality check for me. I have been battling with my Meniere's disease all summer and it makes me very tired, on top of which, the medicine I take to help me feel better does the same thing. Sometimes I just get so discouraged, feeling miserable so much of the time and I take it out on my family. I will definitely be working on that! Later after nap, she was having her snack and was talking about her snow globe she got for Christmas - it was only a very tiny little thing, but recently Natalie Jane broke it and Bella was pretty sad. Bella said "I really miss my snow globe" and I said "why don't you ask for one for Christmas" and she said "I don't think Santa does those". Natalie learned how to say no and Bella among other important words. She's showing a stubborn streak a mile long and keeps throwing small fits. It's been a taxing week with that little one!

Funny Little Girls

2008-08-14T12:33:00.001-07:00

I always wanted a little girl - always - so let me just say that I am over the moon that I have two and one's with hilarious personalities as well. I feel very blessed and lucky although I don't really believe in luck, you know what I mean all the same. The other night Aaron went up to put Bella to bed and there she was already in bed with her helmet, knee pads and elbow pads on. Aaron asked her what she was doing and she said "they are for in case I fall out of the bed - I won't get hurt". What a funny little person. She's always so cautious and so safe. I had to fill out a form for her school asking questions about her personality, fears and likes and I asked her what are you afraid of and she said "I'm afraid someone will take me and I am afraid of bridges". Well, we tried to talk about stranger danger with her without scarring her, because she is such a friendly, sweet and trusting little girl, but She thinks about things well after our discussions. How much is too much? I just don't seem to know. The other fear she mentioned was funny to me, because it is my fear. I despise driving over bridges above water. I don't ever remember telling her about this fear and since she was born, I have made it a point to now speak about it out loud. I don't want her to have learned fears. I want her to be braver and more sure of herself than I was when I was little. Natalie is funny too, but in a naughty way. I could write a book about her naughtiness, but she's still cute and lovable, so that is how I get through the day - with endless kisses and hugs from this little person who continues to show us who she is every new day.

This weekend

2008-08-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well, my parents came up to visit this weekend and we had a blast. Bella liked swimming in the hotel pool and even Natalie Jane got in! I finished a couple of stained glass projects I was working on, so I have a nice sense of satisfaction and Aaron and I got to go on another date this weekend! I'm excited to watch women's gymnastics at the Olympics and share it with Bella. Natalie learned that the remote does indeed change channels on the TV, much to the dismay of Bella:) I found naughty Natty feeding fat Bosley dog biscuits through the hole in the screen. She was going back for seconds when I caught her. I think she is his new best friend!

What a Great Summer

2008-08-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

We were just taking advantage of this great summer weather with the girls and I was thinking of how blessed we were this season. The temp. outside has never been too hot for more than three or four days in a row when a nice cool breeze would blow in and it would be comfortable again. It has rained quite a few nights and we have not had to water the grass at all and it's now August 3rd! We have never had a summer like that. Aaron burned the grass accidentally with weed killer, so today we are trying to revive it, but I am so thankful that we got exactly what we have needed in the months when it is usually so hot you don't want to set foot outside for weeks at a time. We finished our softball season and we again are the league champs. We didn't come in first in the tournament yesterday, but I think most of us were ok with that since we didn't want to be outside in the sun for 8 or 9 hours. Five was enough for us. We had fun and that really in the end, is all that counts! Praise God not one of us got injured this season. Not even accident-prone me! We missed the annual family reunion on Aaron's side this year because of the tournament. We are looking forward to next years already. I am getting better at my glass cutting and that is also very exciting. Creatively it is very exhilerating to conquer another challenge that I thought I never would never be able to. I wish it weren't such an expensive hobby. You have to practice a lot to get better and glass and supplies aren't cheap. I'm so happy that Aaron's mom has given her time to help me learn this skill. I bet everyone can guess what there are getting for christmas:) Well, Natalie Jane said her first sentence! When my mom told her she loved her over the phone she said "I wub you". She said it back to me the next day and then I was sure she really did say it and it wasn't wishful thinking. She's such a sweet-heart. Bella is getting ready for preschool and we got all her form in and paid for the year and so now we are looking forward to what the school year will bring. I'm sure Natalie will enjoy having me to herself three mornings a week. She's a different kid when she has me to herself. We put the slide in the pool after church today and the girls took turns sliding into the water. Nat loved it! She learned to pull herself out of the water and get out over the big inflated side of the whale pool all by herself! She never seases to amaze me by her independence. We also learned this summer that the girls love freeze pops. All of these summer-time treats that we take advantage of will soon be a distant memory before we know it. Time goes by so fast! Ok, well I think I solved the mouse problem and I didn't have to do anything myself. I was painting the basement hallway a few days ago and I took the vent plate off to paint around it and I found a dead mouse. I think it's the one Zoe has been smelling in the vent, so I am thankful he died of his own doing and I didn't have to make that desicion for him. Whew! God is so good! Take care everyone.

There's a Mouse in the House

2008-07-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

OK, bad day part two! All was well when Aaron called this morning from the airport to check in on us and I reported the everything was fine, but I spoke too soon. A few minutes later I kept hearing a strange noise upstairs and I yelled up to Bella and asked if Natalie was playing upstairs with her and she said "no, but Zoe is and she is ripping up my carpet. (Those who don't know - Zoe is our dog) Well, I go running upstairs to find Zoe tearing up the carpet with her teeth and claws. Apparently she smelled what I can only imagine as a mouse coming from our vent and was ripping the vent out of the floor along with our carpet and floor boards. (scream!) The carpet is burbur (spell?)and is a huge mess. Bella's room is the largest room in our house with carpet, so there's no way I'm replacing it. Ugggg! So after I clean up that mess, I go downstairs and notice there is a huge rainbow sized scratch on the wood floor by the toys - probably from Natalie and it didn't come off when I rubbed it. Ugggggggggggg again!!!!!!!!!! A little while later I'm trying to make lunch and hand Natalie her sippy cup, which she discovered did not have a leak lock in her cup and proceeded to put her cup upside down and walk around the perimeter of our kitchen table and dump the whole thing full of sticky milk all over the floor, so I flip out and start trying to wipe up and then Natalie slips in it and hits her head and starts screaming and I jump up trying to help her and hit my head on the table where I decided it was time for Aaron to be home before I checked myself into Pine Rest (cookoo). Later, Bella didn't shut her door and Zoe started ripping the floor up again. (she was finally let out of her bed for the day). It was my fault, but Aaron had just gotten home and it was chaotic.Well he's home now and I got to go to Bible study which I really needed and things are calm now, but given my love for animals, I've never allowed Aaron to kill any rodent or pest which has taken up residence in our house, so I'm not sure what to do about the mouse situation. Yikes.

More Weekends with Aaron away!

2008-07-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, Aaron had to go away on short notice this time, and I had one of the worst Mommy moments ever. Thank you Jessica for taking Bella to dinner with you Friday and to the museum on Saturday. It was a great help! We had a house-warming party at Aaron's cousin's house and visited Aaron's parents where Bella got to swing in the coolest swing ever and she loved playing with Buster and Penny their dogs. We came home and Bella was letting the dogs out and I ran to the bathroom and come back running to crying, where aparently Natalie had climbed up on the table and fell off on her head and has a goose egg. Then she proceeded to hit her head two more times in a row on the table because she didn't want me looking at it. She was screaming, the dogs were barking, Bella was crying about not getting her way and I was trying to get dinner ready. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I had a major melt down of the screaming variety and surprised everyone for a moment. They all just looked on at me in awe. Anyway, after dinner I tried to print something off the computer and Natalie was under - foot, so I put my glass full of Coke up on my glass shelves and a couple of minutes the top shelf gave way and all the glass shelves full of glass vases and my glass of pop caming crashing to the floor which Natalie decided was a good time to go running through it, as well as the dogs. This one I handled much better though. I washed the glass out of Nat's feet, which she handled just fine and then everyone went to bed! The end! Today was better, we had our church picnic and Bella got to ride horses and jump in the moon walk. Natalie was in good spirits and it was a beautiful day - a little windy, but cool. Thanks again to Beth and Randy for helping watch the girls and thanks to Trevor I was able to fill our plates and get everyone to their seats with little fuss. I just got to plant a bunch of things Aaron's mom gave me for my garden, so I feel like the weekend is getting better and the girls are napping so I even have time to rest before I start on my next stain-glass project. What would I ever do without my friends- God bless you all!

Fourth of July Weekend

2008-07-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Wow did we have a busy fourth of July holiday weekend! We went to Aaron's uncle's cottage for the fourth and had lots of fun with family, food and fire works. They were the best we have ever seen and we only had to walk across the street to the lake, so that was nice too. Natalie said "Grandma" for the first time which tickled Aaron's mom and she loved the golf cart ride around the lake that we went on. Bella continued to be a stick-in-the-mud by not going in the water or in the sprinklers at the sprinkler park there. (sigh) She loved playing with her cousin Ashlynn who is her age though and they had a blast together. She said during the fire works "when the last one goes off - we're out of here". Everyone admired her new earings and she ate that right up. Saturday we had a party at our friend Nikki's house and the kids stayed busy playing with all their friend's from church. Today we went out on our friend Jodi's megga boat. It was huge! We headed out towards Saugatuck and through anchor out and swam in the lake. We actually got Bella out in the water with her buddy Grace who is the same age. Randy and Beth went and they love kids, so they helped watch the girls. We got lots of sun and of course and ate way too much again. All of us girls fell asleep in the car on the way home. Happy fourth everyone - I hope you had a good weekend!

Summer Vacation

2008-06-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

We just got back from spending a few days in Grand Haven. My sister rented a cottage on the lake and we stayed with her and had lots of beach time, shopping and good food. The girls wouldn't go in the water and one of the days was really windy, so we got sand blasted. Bella curled herself up in a little ball and wouldn't move. She can be quite a stick in the mudd sometimes:) We visited Saugatuck and shopped and ate some more and went to the mall in Muskegon and Bella got her ears pierced!!!!!! They couldn't do it two at a time, so when they went to do the second ear, she threw a royal fit. She did really well the first time and was kind of excited about her pretty earing, but that loud clicking sound didn't make her happy. I felt horrible holding her down, while they did it again. She looks like a little lady now.

Beautiful Christian Sister by Maya Angelou

2008-06-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin''
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain..
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

Father's Day 2008

2008-06-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

I woke up today and the first thing I thought of was that it would be the first father's day that our friend Kristen's children would be without their dad. He died last week and we are still so very sad to go on without him. Because of this, I am more appreciative of Aaron and thankful to have him in my life. Aaron is passionate and youthful. He always dotes on me and the kids and will run out and get whatever I need or want. Everyday he makes me feel loved, needed and special. Bella adores him and as soon as he walks in the door she grabs his hand and leads him up stairs saying "come on Daddy - Let's play!". Natalie just wants give him kisses and touch foreheads to show her affection. Today I watched as he dressed both girls in their swimming suits and filled the pool with cold water and stood their with teeth chattering, playing in the pool with the kids. Now that's dedication for ya! Every day I am thankful that we are blessed to be parents and able to celebrate holidays like Mother's day and Father's day. We still thank God everyday for our little miracles. God is so good! So, dad if your reading this today Happy Father's day and to Dad Combs, you too. Thank you for being such loving, supportive, adoring dads, that we could grow up and do our best to make you proud. We love you - Lori, Bella, and Natalie Jane!

June 2008

2008-06-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well, June has started out pretty miserable. Along with the oppressive heat and humidity which leaves us prisoners of our house once again, I have started feeling symptoms of my Mineres disease again. We are just praying that it doesn't turn into an episode. I havn't had one in a few months now - praise the Lord! On a sadder note, we lost a friend from church on Friday morning. His name was Ryan and he was a great guy. He had an awesome sense of humor and was a great testimony in Christ. He leaves behind a young wife and twin two-year olds. It breaks our hearts to see him leave, but we know he is in God's glorious kingdom and he no longer has to deal with sick lungs or cystic fibrosis. If anyone wants to donate money, just walk into any fifth third bank and tell them you want to contribute to the Sweeney trust fund. I don't know how they will make ends meet or how the kids will go to college, but I have faith that the Lord will get them through it all. Please keep them in your prayers. Our camera is still in Joliet with my sister, so we are unable to update pictures at this time. Natalie Jane has learned to blow kisses and throw small temper tantrums and growls when she gets mad. Hmmm....I wonder where she got that growl;) Bella finished gymnastics and loved it and we ended up getting a trampoline to help her learn all kinds of new tricks. Hopefully her fist E.R. visit isn't one of them. I have been busy with scrapbooking and other crafts and Aaron has been out of town a lot lately. Hopefully, things will slow down for us now. Hope all is well in each of your households.

Natalie Jane's First Birthday!

2008-04-29T20:34:00.002-07:00

Thank you to all who made Natty's first birthday party a success. I appreciate all your help getting ready and leaving. Thanks also to everyone who made the long trip up as well. She loves her music machine and is a dancing fool. She learned how to shake her head no this last week and fed herself with a spoon. She's loving giving people high-fives and sings to music sometimes in baby language. Bella is my interpreter or so she says anyway. The first thing Natalie does when I get her out of bed in the morning is give me a big kiss. There is no better way to start the day! Bella loves her gymnastics class and is a real natural. She is so strong and can hold herself up on the bar or the rings perfectly straight or in a el position. She did all her jumps on drops on the trampoline perfect, the only problem was, the teacher didn't stay on her enough, and she tended to wander over to other things and distract others. Ok, apparently she is another little Lori. What goes around comes around. Yikes! Anyway, the babes are good and happy and we won our first softball game at church. I scored and ran lots of people in. Not one single strike:) Aaron's gone again for more Army trainning for two weeks and we are holding down the fort. Take care.

Spring Fever

2008-04-13T20:25:00.001-07:00

Spring is suppose to be here, but it keeps going from warm to very cold. I have lots of birds now at my bird feeder and I'm so excited! Natalie's birthday party is coming up this weekend and our car is still in the shop, so it's making preparations a little difficult. I hope she's not too over-overwhelmed. She's been pretty emotional lately with her teeth continuing to come in. I can't believe where the year went. She's not my little baby any more. She loves to do the "so big" hands in the air movement and nod her head yes and say "yeah" and wave bye. She gives good kisses too, but they are a little wet. Bella is doing great and learning a lot more letters. This week we learned how to make letters with our bodies. She's really into Littlest Pet Shop animals and I have been collecting with her. It's actually kind of fun. Both girls love to play on their new swing set and Natalie looooovvvvves the baby swing. She giggles so hard it becomes infectious:)

Thoughts from the Combs family

2008-03-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

Hello all to those who inquire about the Combs family. Things are great with the girls. Natalie Jane cut her second tooth today and hopefully she'll have a couple more teeth by the time her first birthday rolls around in three weeks. We all got to play outside yesterday. It was sunny and warm and dry. Natalie Jane loves Bella's Cozy Coupe and that's the only thing she can ride right now. Bella wants it because Nat wants it, and there you have it. I had my first bird at my bird feeder yesterday and I was very excited about that. The former owners of our house moved out of the salon last weekend and I moved Aaron's boxes in and it is officially called the "Cave". We can now park both cars in the garage. YeaaaaaaaH!