Valentine's Day 2014

We had a fun Valentine's Day this year.Valentine's Day is always fun, but I think having kids makes it even better. We get to celebrate all day long and have a date night. Nathan was really into it this year.

We pulled the boys out of WEE ministry for the Spring, and this was the first time I was sad that Nathan wasn't in school, because I know he would have had so much fun buying and making Valentines for all his classmates and attending a Valentine's Day party. We made it a special day though, and he had no idea what he was missing.

I had little Valentine's Day baskets sitting at their chairs when they woke up this morning. It was very low key, just some small treats and toys. It was really special for them though. For breakfast we made heart pancakes.

It was fun to have a special breakfast. We have pancakes regularly around here, but these were extra special and a fun way to start off a great day.

After breakfast, we got dressed and headed out. We needed to stop by Target for a couple of things. Then we headed to deliver a very special Valentine to Baby Sarah. Nathan made some Valentines earlier in the week for some family and friends. I let him choose who he wanted to make them for, but I might have given him the idea that Sarah would really like one. He also made one for Sarah's mom. He came up with that all on his own, Erica. We also made some Valentine cookies on Thursday that we delivered with the Valentines. I told Erica to save Sarah's because someday when they get married, I know Sarah will want to have it :).

We stayed and played and cuddled for a bit at the Miller's until it was time for lunch.

We ate heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch along with a few other special treats to make it an extra fun lunch.

I had such a fun day with my little boys expressing my love to them and watching them share it with others. After naps, they headed over to my parents' house, so my other Valentine and I could celebrate the evening together.

We had a low key evening. I wasn't really excited about going out on Valentine's Day. It's just too crazy and the restaurants would be packed, so we stayed in, and I think it was the perfect decision. Our life has been so crazy lately, that we really needed a night in, just the two of us, relaxing and reconnecting.

We cooked dinner together. That was fun since it never happens anymore now that we have kids. Dinnertime is usually a hectic part of the day.

I laughed after I looked at this picture and realized some of the boys' Valentine cards were on the table during our romantic dinner. It's a snapshot of our life right now, I guess.

We ate, visited, relaxed, celebrated and were asleep before 10:00, a perfect night.

I'm certainly blessed to get to love and be loved by such wonderful boys!

11 Months Old

Samuel, You are 11 months old! I've been working on plans for your first birthday party the last couple of weeks. I can't believe we are so close to that milestone. I'm looking forward to celebrating you and what a special blessing you have been to our family over the last year.

You are starting to stand on your own for a few seconds at a time and are walking around our furniture more often. I think there's a chance you'll be walking by your first birthday or shortly afterward.

You have turned into a Daddy's boy this month. You say "dada" all the time and always, always want him to hold you. It's sweet to see how much you love him. Nathan is 100%  a Mommy's boy (except when he wants a horsey ride), so it's fun to see that  bond between you and your daddy.

You love music! I call it dancing when you shake your head back and forth and laugh whenever music is playing. You really like to rock out in the car. I wish I could get that on video. It's hilarious!

You are a big fan of peekaboo. You'll just start playing by yourself anytime you're holding a hat, or towel or something you can cover your face with. You also still love to clap, especially when others join in with you. And you wave bye bye too, and say it as you wave. Adorable

You take four bottles a day and are eating more and more table food at meals. You still usually have a jar or pouch of baby food with most meals, and yogurt or cereal with breakfast, but you're also eating most of what Nathan eats. You love waffles and pancakes with breakfast, and are especially a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches. You also love bananas and goldfish

You go after Nathan's sippy cups anytime he leaves one unattended. You'll drink and then spit out the water. It makes for a big, wet mess, but it keeps you entertained for a long time. You do the same thing with your cups too. It's a fun game you seem to enjoy.

You've recently started sleeping much better at night. In fact for several nights in a row, you've been sleeping all night from between 7:30-8:00 at night to 6:00-7:00 in the the morning. Keep it up buddy! You are a wonderful napper, consistently taking a morning and afternoon nap daily.

I can see your verbal comprehension improving daily. You understand so many words- all the members of our family, bottle, ball, bye bye, clap, dance. I know there are more. I know you understand "no" even if you pretend you don't :)

You are wearing 12 months clothes and a size 4 diaper. I have no idea how much you weigh. We won't find out until your 12 month check up

You play with lots of different toys. Your favorite activity is climbing up and down the stairs. You also like the train table. It's the perfect height for you. Unfortunately, your play right now consists of tearing the train track apart, which doesn't make your brother too happy. Someday you two will play together. For now, we usually keep you entertained with something else while Nathan is playing with the train table. You play with firetrucks and balls a lot and enjoy taking things out of drawers and finding every door stop in our house.

You have a big month coming up, Little One. It's a joy to watch you grow!

First Trimester Recap

This pregnancy is cruising right along. I can't believe we've know about this precious little life for two months and are six months away from becoming a family of five!

I'm fourteen (almost fifteen) weeks, and I will say that I have never been more excited about hitting the second trimester milestone than with this pregnancy. Maybe it's because I know that the second trimester has always been really good to me, or if it's just tougher the third time around with two little ones sucking away any energy that the pregnancy doesn't zap, but I have been counting down the days and weeks to the fourteen week mark since I found out I was pregnant.

My biggest symptom has obviously been exhaustion which has been a common theme in all my pregnancies, but this one has hit me hardest. I was thinking back to when I was pregnant with Nathan. I had no other children, and Matt was working weeks on end in Florida, so I was on my own a lot of the time. I was working full time, but my late afternoons/evenings were lazy. I could nap or go to bed early anytime I wanted. When I was pregnant with Samuel, Nathan was napping super consistently, and I napped almost every single day with him throughout my first trimester. This time, I'm just exhausted. I put both kids down for afternoon naps at the same time every afternoon, but I can't count on them both being asleep at the same time or for any length of time together. Nathan only naps every other day or so. Even though he has downtime in his crib for at least an hour on the days he doesn't nap, I can't let myself sleep if he's not. Occasionally, I will nap with them, but it's rare. I do try and at least lie down and rest for 45 minutes or so, while they are down, and that helps a little. They are also not sleeping great at night especially since we've moved. I'm getting up at least once at night with one of them, so even my nighttime sleep is interrupted. It's just been rough. I usually hit a wall right around nap time, and if I don't get any good rest in then, it comes back around 6:30 or so, just in time for the chaos of bath and bedtime routines. I've noticed turning a corner in the last week or so. I'm still tired, but I have a little more energy in the evenings than I'm used to, and am not quite as worn out in the afternoons. Things are improving, and I'm thankful. It's hard to function and be present and intentional with my kiddos when I'm so tired. I feel like we've been in survival mode the last few weeks with the move and the pregnancy. I'm trying to give myself grace during this crazy time, but I'm ready to have some footing under me again.

I've never really suffered morning sickness with my pregnancies (So thankful for that!). This time around, it's been a little weird though. I haven't been sick, but have some some queasiness. It's been so inconsistent though. During the early part of my pregnancy (6-8 weeks), I felt pretty queasy for a lot of the days. I would wake up feeling nauseous, feel better as the day went on, and then feel queasy again around dinnertime. It felt significantly worse than my other two pregnancies. But then, it sort of went away, and hadn't been a issue at all until the last two weeks or so. It's weird to me, because I felt better for so long. I would feel sick and wonder what was going on before it would register to me that "Oh yeah, Angela, you're pregnant." It's just funny to me because this is when those symptoms should be ending not resurfacing. I'm still nowhere close to throwing up, so I don't have anything to complain about.

I don't really remember many cravings with my other pregnancies, but this baby likes salt, especially Mexican food. I could eat it everyday. Good thing Matt likes it too, because anytime we eat out, I request it. Pizza always sounds good too. Yum!

We've had so many special moments throughout my first trimester. Announcing a pregnancy is always fun for us. This year, we had the opportunity to tell all our family (my parents, grandparents, Matt's parents and sister and brother-in-law) in one place since we had a large family get together planned at Christmas. It was fun to announce to everyone together, but we had to wait almost two weeks after finding out before we could tell a soul. It was torture to be around my mom and have to keep the secret from her! We framed and wrapped this framed photo and had Nathan give it to my mom and Matt's mom when we were all together

 My mom had a hunch since I had to work hard to convince her not to leave early to get home because of weather, but everyone seemed excited. Once we told our families we could share with close friends which is always special.

And the first ultrasound is always a great day! I'm always nervous that something might be wrong going into that first appointment, and seeing that tiny little baby moving around inside me, well there are just no words, only joy! The doctor commented on how big we were smiling after the ultrasound. We are blessed, indeed. My mom was disappointed there was only one baby... I wasn't :)

 Sharing and experiencing this pregnancy with Nathan has been so special. He was still such a baby with my last pregnancy that he didn't understand much, but his comprehension is much greater this time around. He is so excited about the new baby and says the sweetest (and funniest) things.

At the beginning of my pregnancy, we asked Nathan if he wanted the new baby to be a boy or a girl. His response is one my favorite things he has ever said. He said, "A girl!... Like Sammy." Oops, we had some clarification to do there. Once we clarified who in our family was a boy and who was a girl, he would always say he wanted the new baby to be a boy and a girl! Sorry, sweetie, just one baby in there. Now, he says he wants the baby to be a boy so Samuel can play with him. That sweetheart melts me.

He asks all the time when the new baby is going to come out. My best friend had a baby a few days ago, and we told him we were going to visit her in the hospital and wait for her baby to come out. He asked if our new baby was going to come out then too. We've been teaching him that he will be three before the new baby comes.

We made Valentine's this week for some friends and family, and he told me he wanted to make a Valentine for the new baby in Mommy's tummy.

When I told him I had to go to the doctor because the baby in my tummy needed a checkup, he asked if the doctor was going to check the baby's ears. I told him the baby's ears were too little for the doctor to check them. He assured me that the baby would get bigger, and then the doctor could check his ears.

We took the boys to a doctor's appointment with us this week, and since we had them with us, the nurse was sweet to put us in the ultrasound room, so Nathan would see the baby. He was so excited when he saw the baby on the screen. The doctor printed out a picture for him. He went over to Samuel and said, "Sammy, look it's the new baby. You like the new baby, guy?"

 One of the best things that happened during my first trimester was the birth of Sarah Louise. Erica and I share the same doctor and she delivered at the same hospital that I've delivered my babies at (and will this time as well). We spent several hours in that waiting room waiting on sweet Sarah to be born, and I was really glad I was pregnant, because it would have given me major baby fever! That hospital floor contains the absolute best memories of my life, anticipating our babies being born, meeting them, nursing and snuggling for the first time, watching our dear family and friends meet and love on them. Oh I get teary eyed thinking back to those moments. It was a joy to watch Matt and Erica experience those memories, and I'm all the more excited about August. Seriously, I'd have 12 kids just to experience those moments again and again. I can't even think about not having that to look forward to in the future. It's too sad.

And it will be so fun to have a baby close in age to little Sarah, either a best girl friend or higher odds that she'll marry into our family someday :). Either way will be perfect.

We are looking forward to what the second trimester will bring, hopefully more energy, feeling baby kicks, and a pink or blue cake. We are ready for the fun!

Samuel's First Hair Cut

We took Samuel for his first haircut last weekend! I had been putting it off for a long time because I remember how sad I was after Nathan's first haircut because he looked SO big afterward. I wasn't ready for Samuel to look any bigger than he already does, but his hair was looking pretty ragged and hanging over his ears, so I gave in. My mom heard about this fun kid's place to take Nathan to, since he still has a hard time with haircuts, and I thought it would be perfect for Samuel's first.


Here are a few before pictures. Pay close attention to how he looks like a baby :)

He did really good. A few whimpers and some unsure looks, but nothing a sucker couldn't cure. That child would not let go of it. He has his Mommy's sweet tooth

Oh gracious, he came out of that airplane a toddler, but a beautiful, sweet one at that.

And we couldn't forget Big Brother. He has done so much better with haircuts lately. He loved the police car and all the fun toys he played with while he was waiting for his turn. He asked to go back the next day.

Precious baby boy, looking all grown up!

Moving

It's been a really long time since I blogged. Usually, January is a slow blogging month for me, because it's a pretty boring month for us, no celebrations, no fun activities because the weather is cold, just a little boring and sometimes dreary. This January, that is not the case. The lack of blogging has been due to the fact that life is crazy right now! Painting, moving, cleaning, unpacking, organizing, wiring, address changing,  all the while caring for two little boys who have needed extra loving and attention because of the major life changes their brains can't quite process fully. Oh yeah, and then throw in the growing a baby and first trimester exhaustion, and I'm a little surprised we're all still alive around here :). This move has about done Matt and I in. Our last move was so smooth and easy. We didn't buy a single gallon of paint, we had a lot less stuff to unpack, and a smaller space to organize and clean, and no boys asking to be held and played with. I know we both expected this to be harder, but not quite this hard. We are thankful for this new home and have to constantly remind ourselves that the tasks on our ever growing to do lists do not have to be completed immediately. Our walls can be bare for a few months, and our garage can be cluttered. Life's not going to end.

We've made a lot of progress and things are starting to come together. I am loving having more space and especially a play room that helps to keep some of the  toys contained. Most of our boxes are unpacked and our closets are not overflowing. It's a great feeling!

Through this move, I've been reminded of so many of our blessings. We are thankful to the Lord for his provision to our family in allowing us to buy this beautiful home, and I was blown away by the physical help we received from so many friends and family throughout our move. We had so much help with painting and helping us move. The Body of Christ is an amazing thing and made the process so much easier. And my parents, they were invaluable to us. They watched the boys the entire weekend we moved, and were over at our house every night cleaning or painting or babysitting for two weeks straight after we closed. I tell Matt all the time that when our kids are grown, I hope we can bless them they way my parents constantly bless us with help.

One thing I loved about our move was we were able to do it gradually, which helped tremendously. We did have one big move day with a Uhaul and about 15 friends and family members, but before that we moved a few things at time. It made everything go so much faster. I would throw a few things in a box (especially for the kitchen), not worry about packing it well, drive it over and immediately unpack it. So by the time we moved, we had very few boxes left to be moved, and our kitchen was almost entirely unpacked and organized. We had everything moved over and unloaded out of the Uhaul in about four hours on our big moving day. It was awesome.

Nathan was so cute during the move. I don't know what his parents were thinking giving him some authority over what color he wanted his room to be painted, but he was adamant on an orange room. We settled on a light creamy peach color that everyone was satisfied with. His little brain had a hard time comprehending moving especially that we wouldn't live in two houses. He wanted some things to stay at our old house and some to be at our new house. Moving is rough on a two year old. I worked hard on that Saturday evening to unpack and organize his room so everything would be ready for him when he saw it for the first time. I knew that would help him. He was so excited when he saw it! He ran around screaming and pointing out everything that was his. "That's my bed!" That's my dresser!" "That's my book shelf!" "That's my dump truck!" That's my cash register!" It was such a fun memory watching his excitement.

Samuel is obsessed with the stairs. He can climb them like a pro, and I think he has a sixth sense to notice when we haven't closed the stair gate. He heads straight for them. Matt says they are his favorite toy. They are not as fun for Mommy in the middle of the night, but we are getting used to it.

We are certainly settling in and getting things figured out, and this home is starting to feel like our home. I'm looking forward to all the memories these walls will contain throughout the coming years.