Sick Sick Sick

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!