A very boring day.

I do say, we have a HUGE case of cabin fever at my house! It is still too cold for us all to be out there, and Callie didn't seem to want to sleep so I could take the boys out yesterday(I of course take a moniter out with me) so we were left with the usual toys to play with. I even brought out all the "special" boring day toys, but they didn't keep the boys attention spans for long. When is it going to get nice here???? I mean, Come ON weather!!! My life is much easier when we can be outside! Anyway, Hunter had been talking about birthdays and birthday parties so I thought, hey, why not, lets have a birthday party! So...we decided on an animal theme. We made a cake, I blew up some balloons, and we made animal hats. Hunter was a lion:


Tate was a gorilla:


I was a zebra but we don't need to see that. I grabbed a few of the boys cars and tractors and wrapped them up. Here they are opening them: (I love Tate's goofy face in the one)



Then we had some birthday cake. For lunch. Desperate times call for desperate measures.



After "lunch" we had an animal hunt. I took some of their plastic animals and hid them around the living room. Then I had chosen some books all about animals and we read about 5 of them. Then it was nap time. Brent came home a little early yesterday, so he was there to help with the chaos that took place after nap. Brent brought home a futon mattress(we are needing something for Tate after we take the crib away) and he had that in the living room. The boys were running around all hopped up(still from the cake??) and jumping off the couches. They were wild. Really wild. I told Brent they NEEDED to go outside, so after supper he took them outside for awhile. I stayed in with Callie but we watched them play out the window. Brent had a ratchet strap hooked from the Jeep to the wagon, and Hunter was driving Tate all around the yard. I think it did a fairly good job of wearing them out.

I just hope the weather gets nicer fast. I'm running out of ideas...

Brrr!

It's still pretty chilly out. At least the snow is melting. I have been trying to bring out Tate's summer clothes tub from the basement and go through it today, and also clean out some of the basement and organize some of Callie's clothes. In our five short years of marriage we have certainly acquired quiet the load of junk. Brent and I are both minimalists, so that helps when shifting through our stuff. I can't seem to get rid of as much as I'd like b/c I usually do it while the kids are awake and they get into everything and drag it all over the house. Or I try to do it when they are sleeping and they wake up and drag it all over the house. Brent told me to do what I could and then leave it messy if I had to and come back to it later, so I'm doing that. I am not having a garage sale b/c the amount of work it would be in my opinion is not worth the money I would make. So much goes into a garage sale. Plus, its a REALLY great feeling giving the boys clothes away instead of selling them. I've been really blessed by friends letting me borrow their girls clothes for Callie, and its nice to bless someone else. I've decided in an attempt to save on our gas bill that I'm not going out until Callie's doctor appointment on Wednesday, so I have a few days to go through all our stuff. I've been taking some stuff to the thrift store here in town. I feel lighter and happier when I leave after dropping stuff off.

I occasionally go "blog hopping" as I like to call it. I go from blog to blog through peoples links, and the other day I came across a blog post that really helped me with my whole "bad mom" feeling. I posted some about that in the "You might want to skip this one" post. Anyway, this lady goes to a Bible study and she was writing something that really stuck out to her in it, and it really stuck out to me. Here's what she said: (I hope I'm not breaking some sort of law by copying it)


The difference between the lies of the enemy (whispered in our ear) vs. the promptings of the Holy Spirit.


Lies of the Enemy - are broad, global, non-specific. example: "You're a bad Mom." And they lead to despair.
Promptings of the Holy Spirit - are specific, example: "When you yelled at your son a minute ago, that was unkind." and they lead to action and restoration.
It's so easy to believe the lies of the enemy - who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But let the WORD of Christ dwell in us richly, and let us take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ!

I hadn't realized that I'd been letting the devil have victory over my thoughts in that area. I have been believing his lie that I'm a bad mom, and was really encouraged by what she wrote.

Yesterday I realized that Hunter is a mini version of Brent. Here's why I think that: I was sitting on the floor getting Tate dressed for church and Hunter came up to me, looked at me and said in a funny tone, "Hey, watch this!" and then turned his bottom toward me and farted. He then began to laugh hysterically. Boys.

A funny Hunter saying:
-the other night as we were in the bathroom giving the boys a bath Brent and I smooched and Hunter said, "You guys are good kissers!"

Callie is two months!

So, I've been meaning to do a little update and photo of Callie by her rabbit blanket for a week now. I am hopefully going to take a picture of her by her rabbit blanket every month in hopes to document her growth. We haven't gone to her 2 month appointment yet, we have that on Wednesday, so I can't officially report her weight just yet, but I did weigh myself and then weighed myself holding her last week and it was 10.5 pounds different. She doesn't look it or feel it to me, she's such a little peanut, but she is growing! Some things she is doing at two months:

-being awake more
-looking around at things more and focusing on faces more
-sleeping for stretches of 6 hours (we had two 8 hour nights this week!!!)
-cooing and trying to talk to us

and my personal favorite:
-smiling alot! I absolutely LOVE her cute little smile. She has dimples, which I am so happy about.

Some of her favorite things right now:

-being sung to. She likes me to sing to her. I never sang much to any of the other kids, mostly b/c I don't sing well, but she doesn't seem to mind.
-her soft pink blanket
-being read to
-her brothers kisses (mostly)
-the sound of the vacuum (puts her RIGHT to sleep)
-baths
-me doing the laundry. If she is fussy I will put her on the boppy, get some laundry and start folding it. I fluff the laundry right in front of her face as I'm folding it and she absolutely loves it. I'm pretty sure its her favorite thing. Her eyes get wide and she quiets right down. It has worked every time. Fortunately(or unfortunatly, however you want to look at it) I ALWAYS have laundry to fold.

I am still just loving having a little girl, I can't imagine our lives without her. Here is her two month picture with the bunny. I'll try to post the one month one as well below it.

There's something wrong with this picture...

Two days ago:


Today:


I'm about ready to get out the Christmas decorations.

You can skip this one if you like.

This has been a hard week for both Brent and myself. Brent has worked a ton. The resort he was cleaning chairs at totally miscalculated how many chairs they had for the guys to clean by about 700 or so, so they had to bust their behinds to get it done in the alloted time. That meant late hours and early mornings. He worked from 8-8 on Wednesday. That type of work was also hard on his body, so he's been really stiff and sore. I have had a crummy week b/c I've been worn out by the kids. Callie has been really fussy, crying a ton and I can't seem to do anything to help. This is probably more honest and candid than I'd like to be on something that others may read, but I think its incredibly hard to be a mom. Way harder than I thought before I had kids. I thought I'd be a great mom, full of love and gentelness and great craft projects. I thought my kids would marvel at what a wonderful mom they got and that we'd all just live happily ever after. I think I was really niave about all that. So far all my ideas are just that: ideas. I feel like I stink at the whole gentelness thing, and my kids certainly aren't marveling. I think I've always been maybe a little more critical of myself than is healthy, but that is only b/c I want the best from myself. I find myself just wanting to go on autopilot with the kids sometimes. I'm finding that having kids teaches you so much about yourself, and mostly what its taught me so far is that I don't like much of myself. I'm certainly not patient. I take things too personally. I get irritated at things I shouldn't, and too often. But mostly I'm finding that I am very selfish. I want MY own time. I don't want to do everything the kids ask just b/c they want to. I just wish I could be less selfish. I want to do what they want to do always, and with a good attitude. But how? I think that what I'm doing by raising kids is too important not to do the best I can, and I don't think I'm doing the best. I want a whole bunch of wisdom NOW, so I can not mess it up. We were talking about what we would define as a "sucessful" life at youth group on Wednsday and my top answer was my family and the legacy I left for them. I know that I'll never be the perfect mom, but I just want to be better than I am now.

Our day in pictures...

Callie napped outside this morning...



The boys played in the mud...





We baked two cakes for youth group tonight... (it was a mess)

I worked a little bit on my new "list" journal. I got the idea from this: http://www.amazon.com/Listography-Journal-Your-Life-Lists/dp/0811859088


And I did a bunch of laundry.

Wohoo! 8 hours!

I don't really have time to blog right now, I should be doing other things. Oh well. We had a fun weekend. We went to the cities for a surprise party for my sister-in-law and then we saw my new nephew, Matty. We stayed overnight in a hotel with Steve and Debbie. The surprise party went really well, my sis-in-law was surprised and the kids did really well there. Hunter let the cat out of the bag about our b-day gift to Fawnda. Right after she walked in and we said "Surprise!" Hunter said to her, "We got you a necklace." I guess I won't be telling him anything I want to be kept a surprise. The nights sleep at the hotel was non existent. Tate was up constantly it seemed like until about 2 am. He was in a bed with Hunter and he must have been scared. I finally took him out to the main room and rocked him a little while, and around 2 he went to sleep finally. Callie slept from 10-4:20 which was great but I couldn't fully enjoy it since I was up with Tate. She wanted to be awake from 4:30-6, though, so I slept from 2-4:20 and then from 6-6:30 when the boys came out and greeted me. I was so tired I could hardly function. I felt sick I was so tired. We got a little nap in while gpa and gma took the boys around, but I was in bed as early as I could Sunday night. We went to Nik and Joe's to meet Matty after lunch (at Panera Bread, WOHOO!) and I must say that he is a total cutie. I am so excited to be an aunt. We got some nice pictures of all the cousins:




Yesterday was a day of parks. Callie and I went to the chiropractor in the morning, then we went to a nice park with some friends. We had a picnic lunch and came back for an early nap so we could go to another park later with a different friend. The skies had gone all cloudy and there was a breeze coming off the lake, so it was pretty chilly. It was good to see my friend and the park was really nice for my age of kids, but it was a little chaotic. Hunter had to go potty right when we got there, and Callie wanted to nurse. I was sitting nursing her when I noticed Hunter doing his potty dance. He yelled out, "I have to go poopy!!" and so we went running back to the bathroom. He didn't quite make it and went a little in his pants and then went in the toilet. I had to lift him up to the toilet while holding Callie. Then I had to take off his poopy underwear and shoes while holding Callie. Then I had to wash his hands(and mine) and put back on his pants and shoes. While holding Callie. It was an experience. I just threw the underwear away, sometimes you just have to cut your losses. I didn't have any spare underwear with me. When I got home Callie was in her car seat for a few minutes and my mom and I were talking on the phone(well, trying to anyway) and Callie started fussing. I took her out of her car seat and went to change her diaper. I put my hand in to take out her leg and when I brought my fingers out they were covered in poop. So I got off the phone with mom and bathed her in wipes. The boys were squatted
around me
watching me. Hunter was talking to her and kissed her back, but it was still covered in poop. You should have seen the look on his face:) So it was a day of parks and poop.

And now for the subject: 8 hours! Oh yes, that is how long Callie slept last night. Praise the LORD!!! I feel like a new woman. I'm not going to be too optimistic for tonight, but I was thrilled to have her sleep so long! I woke up drenched in the front, but oh well!

Hunter has been cracking me up lately. A few of his funny sayings:

-at the hotel Brent went in to the room after we'd put the boys to bed and Hunter was mad. Brent asked him what was wrong and he said, "Dad, Tate had his foot up my shirt and that is NOT FUN!"
-I went in a few minutes later b/c he was mad again and he said, "It smells bad in here and I think the stink is coming from Tate's feet!"
-This morning I told Tate to go get his blanket through his crib bars to take to MOPS, and he couldn't get it. I heard Hunter go in the room and tell Tate, "I'll get it, I'm Heroman!"
-after lunch today his stomach must have been grumbling, b/c he said to me, "Mom, my stomach just farted!"

Ten(of the many) things I love about my Hunter Bear...

1. Your sense of style. If it has Lightning McQueen or camo on it, you're sold and want to wear it everyday!

2. Your sensitive spirit. You get your feelings hurt more easily, but you are also more sensitive to others feelings, which is important.

3. Your bargaining skills. For example, when you don't want to eat something and I say, "Take two more bites!" you bargain me by saying, "No, I don't want to take two more bites, how about three more bites?!"

4. How you are always up for an adventure. You love going to the library, the grocery store etc.

5. Your love for music. I REALLY like it that you love music, b/c I love music myself. You are already developing your taste, you have your favorite songs. Right now you love Angels and Airwaves, and we often rock out in the van. I frequently look in the rear view mirror to find you bobbing your head up and down to the tunes I'm playing. You often say, "Louder mom!"

6. Your imagination. You are always pretending(usually to be Gpa Steve) and you love to pretend to take trips to Iowa(which is usually the kitchen)

7. Your willingness to help. You are always going to get diapers, tissues, burp cloths etc. to help me out. I don't know what I'd have done without you when I was recovering from Callie's birth. You were(and still are) SO helpful!

8. I love that you like to bake. You are really good at pouring all the ingredients in the bowl without making a mess. You love to use the mixer and feeling the dough.

9. You love to read books. I hope your love of books is a lifelong love. I just love it when I walk in the playroom to find you and Tate sitting amongst a pile of books quietly reading them. You could read for hours.

10. I love it that you love your family. You are always giving Callie kisses and hugs and speaking sweetly to her. You care about Tate and (mostly) love playing with him. You love your aunts and uncles and are always wanting to go see them. You ESPECIALLY love your grandparents! I love it when you surprise me by saying that you love me at random times. It makes any bad day good. And remember, my kisses don't wipe off!

I love you bunches, buddy!

Shout is quickly becoming my best friend...

Now I LOVE being outside! I am so ready to spend all our time outside, but with it comes a TON of added laundry and baths. The boys are now going through at least two pairs of pants. We went out after lunch today and all was well until Hunter pushed Tate down in a big mud puddle. Then after I'd gotten Tate cleaned and changed(into BLACK pants) he got stuck in the mud with his boots. I told Hunter to "tow" him out(b/c that's what Mater would do) and Hunter took his hand and was helping Tate get unstuck, but Tate managed to fall in the process. So we came in. We saved the box our fridge came in, so I cut a door and window in it and it is the boys new "clubhouse". Here are some pictures of our time outside, it was REALLY nice out!



More about that bath talk. So, I've written on here before that Tate always smashes food into his hair the morning I give him a bath. I remedied that problem by doing baths at night. I used to do baths at night, but found mornings easier, but now we are back to night baths. So, he basically stopped smashing his hair. I can't remember the last time he did it. Well, they needed a bath and we are busy with youth group tonight, so I gave them one this morning(I also cut Hunter's hair) And at lunch that little stinker smashed lasagna all into his freshly washed hair. I really think he does it on purpose! Here is what it looked like:



Callie went to bed at 9:30 last night! She was up all evening, and then I gave her a bath(which she is following in her brothers footsteps b/c she spit up all over her hair) and nursed her and she went right to sleep without any problems. So I went to sleep(w/out any problems) She slept until 2:30 and I got up and nursed her, but fell asleep somewhere shortly after. I woke up at 5 and realized she was still on my lap(thank goodness for boppy pillows) I nursed her again and she went to sleep. My glasses got knocked off my nightstand, so I laid her in between Brent and I while I felt around for them when I heard(and felt) her projectile vomit all over my side of the bed and herself and me. More than I've ever seen any of my kids spit up. So I couldn't stay in my bed b/c my side was soaked. I took her downstairs and she fussed for the next hour and a half. I stood jiggling her in the kitchen b/c I didn't want to wake the boys up with her crying, and when she fell asleep at 6:30 I sat in the playroom watching the news. I dozed off a little after 6:30 and the boys woke me up a little before 7. So, I'm tired again. As always. It'd be a bit easier to "savor" the newborn stage with more sleep. Here's a picture of the cutie pie, though:


A funny Hunter moment from the other day: He has seen Cars one two many times. While at gma and gpa Normans the other day he was watching it and was speaking word for word what the characters were saying. So funny to watch. Anyway, we were leaving the grocery store Monday and I was getting the kids buckled in while the carryout guy put the groceries in the car. Hunter looks up at me, points to me and says(from Cars) "Hey! You, me, dinner. Kachow!" I burst out laughing.

Extreme tiredness.

Pictures from last week:








Those words could describe me right now. Callie just doesn't like to sleep at night! She slept from 11:30-3:45 and then was up until basically 7. I nursed her right away at 3:45, then at 4:45 hoping to put her back to sleep, but that didn't work. Then I sat on the edge of the bed patting her back while she was in the bassinet off and on for another half hour to an hour. Finally I just got her out of her bassinet and put her in bed with us(thank goodness for king size beds) and she just laid there awake and kicking me until 7 when I got her out of bed and went downstairs to nurse her. I don't know what her problem is! I was determined to keep her up as much as possible yesterday so she'd sleep more at night, but it is near impossible when she wants to sleep she's going to sleep. Then I was having this dream over and over last night(when I was in and out of sleep) about Hunter. We were in a big city and he kept getting mad at me and running really fast away from me into the car filled streets and was almost ran over. That happened like 2 or 3 times. I can't say it was a restful sleep. Oh well, thank goodness for coffee. I'm back to my one cup in the morning and loving it.

Yesterday I took the kids out to the local grocery store and it was a little chaotic. The boys were running down the isles holding hands and laughing while touching every item on the shelves. I can't believe I used to judge moms who's children ran wild. You only have so many hands!! Then Hunter said he had to go potty(at the complete opposite end of where the restrooms where) So we ran as fast as we could to the bathroom. It was an interesting trip. They sure looked cute holding hands, though.

Hunter woke up first from his nap yesterday(he's been taking naps off and on) and was playing with me a little and himself a little and soon Tate was up. They were sitting on Hunter's bed playing and I was nursing Callie in the living room and I heard Hunter tell Tate, "Tate, I'm so glad you're up from your nap!!!" I thought that was cute.

A new fridge

Well, it is Sunday night at 8:45 and I am wiped out. We had a long day fridge shopping. I'll go back a little bit further about that... Brent changed the cord on it and it appeared to be working, but it wasn't. It was blowing but not cooling, so we called the repairman. He came out on Saturday morning and told us the bad news, so we went to a few stores yesterday looking for one. We had the kids with, so that made it interesting, and we didn't end up getting one then. This afternoon Brent and I went down by ourselves and found one. I was originally going to get the cheapest/best value one I could find, and was planning on not being able to get my ideal one(fridge on top) but after thinking about it I decided to get what I really wanted even if it would cost more. So the one I got was a fridge on top. It isn't as wide as our old one, but they evidently don't make them the size ours was anymore. I am sad to see my old one go, b/c I really did love it, but this one seems nice. It was nice to hang out with Brent while we were looking for them, too.

The weather was nicer today, also, and it helped my outlook. We got the boys some rain boots while in Brainerd, and I am thinking that was money well spent. They splashed around for a good half hour tonight and came inside with dry feet. I couldn't say the same for their pants, but their feet stayed dry! I took a few pictures, and also one of Callie:







A funny Hunter saying:
-at church today I was downstairs in the nursing mothers side of the nursery and heard Hunter talking with the kids. He was talking a mile a minute and must have been playing with a clock. He told the nursery worker, "Hey, its three o'clock! Time for Wheel of Fortune!"

*Sigh*

Off to go refrigerator shopping.

A crazy day...and its only 8:30!

Oh what a night! We lost power b/c of the lovely weather around 8:15 last night (right in the middle of a new office episode!) and it didn't come on again until after midnight. Brent and I hung out on the couches downstairs, b/c our bedroom upstairs is colder anyway. It got down to about 64 degrees, not too bad or anything. We went to bed and Brent got up when the boys got up b/c I was sacked out, and when I went downstairs I found Brent working on our non-working refrigerator. If you know me you know that I am deeply in love with my fridge, so I was upset, but Brent, being the how-to stud that he is fixed it. Turns out it was a burnt out power cord. My first thoughts on hearing this fridge-on-the-fritz news was to pack up some clothes, get in the car and keep driving until it gets warm. I am so sick of snow, and we just got and are getting MORE OF IT! GRR! I'm thinking this is an all time worst for my snow hating. But the day is looking up a bit... Brent fixing the fridge, then his uncle called and told him he didn't have to come into work today, so that is great news! I better go, Callie is crying, but here is something funny Hunter said this morning to Callie: "Mom, can you brush Callie's stinky breath so she can breathe better?"

No time to blog right now but time for a picture!

I caught Callie smiling with the camera this morning...




...and the boys in their "boat"...

Nope, I guess I dare not say its spring...

The view out my kitchen door:


I'm not happy.

Dare I say that spring is here???

Today was gorgeous! My attitude is much more positive when warm weather hits. We went for a walk as a family last night, and today the kids and our friends and I went for a walk. I just love being outside! We went on a walk to the river and the boys liked playing around by this big tree that's there.

The boys and Brent are on their way to the re-grand-opening of the local theatre tonight. They are going to go see "Horton Hears a Who". This will be Tate's first movie, so I'm hoping he isn't too antsy. We had to crack into our loose change to be able to afford to go, so Brent is carrying $13 of loose change with him, I hope he doesn't get too embarrassed. I, hopefully, will be enjoying a relaxing evening. I have no idea what to do, there are so many things I would enjoy. I'd like to read, go for a walk with Callie, paint my toes, organize the CDs, sleep etc... I'll probably just end up nursing all night, though:) At least I can do other stuff while I nurse.

If Tate could really talk a lot he could say this statement: "My brother has peed on me." Brent and I were in the kitchen tonight and I was making pizza when Tate came in the kitchen shouting and pointing towards Hunter. Hunter came out and said, "Yeah, I peed on Tate." Brent and I were like, "WHAT!?!?!?" Sure enough, Tate's sweatshirt was wet, along with the kitchen set. Brent asked Hunter where he peed on Tate at, and Hunter went right over and showed him that he had been sitting by the kitchen set. I am not sure and will never be sure of what on earth possessed him to pee on his brother! Nothing they do will surprise me anymore.

Callie slept from 10-4 last night!!! I don't know if it was the chiropractic treatment or the fresh air from our walk, or what, but I was glad. She was up from 4-6:30 then, but if she can just keep sleeping later and later then hopefully we'll see an all night sleeper soon. I pray and hope anyway.

Well, I'm going to go get started having fun. Here are some pictures from our day: