firsts

Well i have had several firsts this week. So here they go:

1. first day of professional teaching!
So I substituted in the second grade this tuesday. It went great. The kids were great, I made it through the day just fine. I don't by any means think that my actuall lesson teaching was of the highest quality, but hey I'm just a sub right?

2. first day to leave adam with both girls
He was just fine but both girls were coming down with a cold and Isaac was home sick that day. He really got a good first day with the kids! Moriyah did have a little trouble settling down and taking her baba, but in the end she will never refuse food.

3. first days of potty training hannah.
so i know that many people are thinking, isn't she young for that? and yes she is but its her idea. She's been asking for a month for her own potty. I finally got her one and she actually uses it. I thought surely it would just collect dust. We didn't get the boys trained until they were three. this girl is only 19 months. over the past several days she has told me she has to go potty and then gone. Last night she went from dinner to bed time with no accident, only in the potty! HIP HIP HOORAY! I hope she keeps it up. I got her princess pull ups today. Oh and when we were out and about she even told me she had to go. I am simply amazed by this child.

4. first time hannah has been weighed and lost weight.
she only weighs 20 pounds and 12 ounces, down from 21 pounds 4 ounces. this is concerning to the dr because she is now below the growth chart. She is going back in a couple weeks to get weighed and have her well child. since she was sick today they think, and so do i, that she lost that weight due to illness. I'm not really worried about her. she is developmentally just fine. infact she can talk your ear off, is potty trianing and won't let me dress her anymore. two's here we come!

5. first time moriyah played with her toys.
and by play i mean purposefully reach for them repeatedly. It was so cute. she is just adorable. I can't wait to show her off to our friends and family when we're in portland. I have the cutest dress for her.

well i'm sure i forgot something but i want to eat lunch before hannah and moriyah wake up and its a lost cause. I do so enjoy warm meals.

Identity Crisis

Well there is a bit of a war going on over the identity of this man:


The older ones call him Santa Clause, while Hannah insists that this is Noah. No amount of telling or reasoning can change her mind. No matter where we are she shouts Noah everytime she sees him. She gets her stubborness from me I must confess.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Our whole family went up to a snow park just past the Santiam Pass Summit. We had a wintery, windy blast! We're going to go up again when we don't have two little girls with us and we have intertubes.

I hope that we have a white christmas. Just miss having a white thanksgiving! Now that I think about it, we'll be in Portland for Christmas, so probably not.

So Boys Whats on Your Reading List?

So what do you like to read boys, or I should ask what did you like to read as a young boy? What genre, author...

In doing a little reading online I stumbled accross this article, Matching boys with books.

I thought it was interesting, but I really enjoy educational research stuff. I know its not everyones cup of tea. This aricle is user friendly, not technical. It made me think about my boys, including my husband. I have always loved reading, it helps that I was good at it as a kid. Found it more difficult in recent years. My kids love reading. I have never worried about that. I know from our home that all my kids will be lifelong readers. Andrew complained the other day that I didn't get him a book from the library when I went, like I usually do. I didn't even realize that I did that. Isaac has to be pulled away from the latest Lemony Snicket book, The End, when its time for dinner. It came as such a shock to me that Isaac's teacher told me he has a hard time settling down with a book and reading at school. When wondering why that is I came accross this article.

Here are some quotes I liked from the article "Researchers and educators blame the gap between books and boys on everything from a built-in fidgetiness to low expectations"

Oh come on. Built in fidgetiness. How about unrealistic expectations for sitting still? I confess I am guilty of this, its so much easier to teach kids who sit and listen. But the next paragraph of the article cracked me up.

"But now more are suggesting that the problem may not lie entirely within the boys themselves. Some educators believe that the way schools teach reading tends to favor girls, both in terms of teaching style and reading materials chosen."

I thought it was funny that we would just decide to blame the problem on boys!! Oh that would be letting everyone off easy. "Why can't you read Johnny." "Well if you hadn't noticed I'm a boy."

I think, as an educator, that it is definately true that schools favor girls. Think about it. How many male elementary teachers did you have? I'm guessing you had more female teachers. A teacher naturally teaches to their learning style. Not on purpose but it just happens. So if most teachers are female it stands to reason that more of the time they are teaching a style that is more naturally female oriented.

"But it's not just the books, some insist. The classroom experience needs to be far more interactive...Boys are naturally drawn to action and movement, he points out, and teachers need to find ways of integrating their energy into the reading process."

When my boys were 3-4 they used to act out the story while I read it. They were completely engaged in the story just moving. It does present a management issue in the traditional classroom. When you have 30 kids its hard to read and track what they're doing, be it on task or not. When they're suppossed to be sitting and listening the movement can catch your eye. When I student taught we let everyone draw about the book. I think that is a good strategy but I also think boys need more gross motor movement than drawing provides.

My boys like non-fiction, especially when they were younger. Bugs, dinos, snakes, etc. Anything that is 'bathroom' humor(captain underpants). Adventure is big now. You should check out The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless by ahmet zappa.

To be Valued

I've been thinking the last few days about how it is people feel valued and what makes them feel not valued. Specifically how this relates to school. I was thinking we make our children go to school. Although my children have good attitudes about school, they are essentially there by force, captives for 6.5 hours. In that time they are forced to sit by people they don't choose, do things they don't want to do and then get scored on it.

I think boys have it worse than girls. Honestly most boys don't naturally fit into classrooms. In classrooms being quiet and still are valued. Boys, at least mine, are loud and never stop moving (even when sitting still my husband has to tap his leg, it drives me nuts when we're watching movies).

On top of all of this we are trying to make boys more neutral, pc or just trying to cover in case something happens. My son is no longer allowed to write in his own journal that everyone gets to write on their own topics about most anything that he is interested in. Nothing that involves violence. Just to let you know that means no: Yugioh, pokemon, star wars, heroscape, pirates...
The teacher then made two comments I found very funny.

1. We're just going to have to get him interested in something else.
Um, so to be in this class he has to completely alter who he is and what he likes. Well no wonder he doesn't like it. Maybe we could just sit down and draw up what it is that would be most convenient for us and let him know what he likes from now on.

2. When given a writing task it is hard to get him to complete it.
Duh! you just told him couldn't ever write about anything he likes. What did you expect?

All sarcasm aside I really am at a loss for how to deal with this whole situation. Its much deeper than what is said here and I feel ill equipped to handle it and make decisions regarding it. Please pray for Adam and I as we parent through this situation and for our children. I feel like this is the beginning of a long road for us and I'm so unsure of where we are headed and how to proceed.

"Get into my Belly"

Catching up

We have been settling in to a family of 6! Oddly enough being a mother of 4 isn't too much different than 3, just a little less sleep than the ideal. My baby girl is simply beautiful. She is doing great. Nurses like a champ, sleeps okay and is generally not fussy. Her siblings just adore her. Hannah's love is a bit squashy and I've had to say things I'd never expected. For example, "We don't lick babies."

I'm doing better than I expected. Physicaly I'm doing great but Adam starts his new schedule next week and I am so nervous about it. I love having him home for dinner each night. By that time of the day I can use the reinforcements. But beginning Wednesday he will be gone from 10-9. Leaving me the dinner hour, homework and putting to bed, plus attending to Hannah who can be an evening grump. I want to be a patient and loving mother and I'm afraid I'm going to be exhausted and get frustrated. It does help to know that it's only temporary, he'll have a new schedule in a few months.

Meet the newest wolfgang

Moriyah Jean
Made her debut into this world on October 5th.
7lbs 2 oz
20 1/4 inches
We are all doing well and came home from an interesting hospital stay today.
Thankfully our kiddo's are all still at their grandmas house and we can quietly get acquainted just mom, dad and Moriyah!

It's time for everyone's favorite game...

When do you think Moriyah will be born?
Date?
Time?
weight?
Length?

Here's a little info for a more informed guess.
1. I am officially due October 8th.
2. As of Friday I am 3 cm dialated.
3. She has dropped and is engaged at -2.
4. Here is a couple pictures my mom took of me today, 38 weeks pregnant.

5. As for my previous experiences, Isaac was a week early and both Hannah and andrew were a few days past their due dates.

The official Prize: complete bragging rights to being a genius as well as unlimited picture viewings on this very blog of the little darling.

I'm tired. so why don't you sleep? you may ask yourself

Well who knows. These days there could be lots of reasons. Mostly related to the minute by minute growth of my stomach area.

Tonight however i just can't shut off my brain. Does that ever happen to you? Its usually on a night where i really need some sleep. You know something important happening the next day. I can't think of anything that is out of the ordinary planned for tomorrow. But one never knows.

I am just feeling down today. I hate that I just can't fall asleep and wake up tomorrow feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.

What do you do when you can't sleep? I've run out of things. I've caught up on blog reading, read from my book, surfed a little on the internet... I should probably do some cleaning as I have been neglecting that but nah. Not tonight. Wish me luck I'm off to try again.

Kids say the darndest things...

This is a conversation that Andrew and I had the other day...

Me: "Andrew go get your glasses for reading your homework"
Andrew: "where are they?"
M: "on the computer desk"
Andrew runs and gets the glasses.
M: "we should take you to the dr and have your eyes checked to see if you need new glasses."
With a characteristic whine, Andrew: "Nooooooooooooooo"
M: "its not going to hurt. You just cover one eye and then tell them what you see."
A: " oh we just did that at school. The lady said I got 20 right and 30 wrong."

I'm a Big Girl Now!!

Due to some technical difficulties the crib that we got for the new baby didn't work out for her. We were missing some pieces. It was the kind that converts into a toddler bed so we asked Hannah if she wanted a big girl bed. She was thrilled. Ready or not she is turning into a big girl. shes not my baby girl any more. I suppose thats good because we're about to have a baby girl. But just the same its hard to see her change so quickly.

The power of a word

Have you ever noticed that some words are just way more powerful than others. There are of course lots of factors that can go into it...tone of voice, body language, emotional state...

It doesn't seem to matter how big a word is either. Sometimes the smaller words are actually more powerful. For example my daughter frequently shouts NO, This is the most powerful word that Hannah knows how to say. Well it gets the most reaction maybe. But look its only two letters, N-O. MINE is pretty well used word for her as well, but alas that is another post all together.

Yesterday i found out the power of the word IF. Have you ever thought about that. Lots of people spend time what ifing (sounds better than it looks in print). I had to have an ultrasound this past tuesday because the height of the uterus in my abdomen is measuring small. I wanted to say "have you seen me, how could it get any higher?" but anyway, yesterday i got the results of the ultrasound. they were concerned that the baby is small. I wanted to say "YEAH" but apparently that is not good news, unless you're the one who has to deliver the baby. As it turns out they estimate that as of tuesday she weighs 5lbs 3 oz. I told adam that i am carrying around a bag of sugar. at my appointment the dr checked my progress to find that i was 2cm dialated. She goes on to say that i should make an appointment for next week and IF I'm still pregnant then we'll do another ultrasound. If she has dropped to the 10th percentile in size or there are indications that the placenta is no longer providing enough for the baby, then I will go straight to labor and delivery to be induced.

Did everyone catch the IF's? I mean i have been pregnant a very long time and want it to be over but I was simply astonished. Adam informed me that next week is a very important week of his training at his new job so could I please wait until Friday? We also have the following birthdays coming up:
9/20 my mom
9/21 adam's mom
9/24 ME
9/26 Isaac
9/28 my brother
10/7 Andrew

I would like for this little girl to have her own birthday. But if she must share I only ask that it not be with either of my other children. I guess i need to just trust that God will bring this baby into our arms at just the right time. There is soooo much to do before I will be ready. Perhaps we should choose a name, put up the crib, pack a bag for the hospital, nail down extactly where my other children will go while I'm at the hospital. Think I can get any of that done while I nap?

preggo brain

so for those of you who have not had the opportunity to experience pregnancy you essential lose your marbles. There are so many varied and interesting stories I could relate to you about this but today i choose this one:

I logged onto google to look at my customized homepage. It has everything...my gmail, the date and time, links to a bunch of blogs and the current post. It was at this point when i lost my marbles. I looked at the title of mine, FINALLY. I thought to myself, " that's not right I just wrote a blog yesterday. " Feeling quite irritated i clicked on my blog link and found to my dismay that there was no other blog just FINALLY. I sat and was angry for a moment. The injustice of it all. It was an absolute wonderful blog about my kids first day of school and Hannah and I playing at home. It had adorable pictures.

Suddenly it hit me that I never wrote that blog. No indeed I sat down to the computer to start and the batteries in the keyboard needed to be changed. Having just recharged a few I ran to get them and put them in the keyboard. I followed the incredibly easy instructions for reconnecting the wireless keyboard. you have to push a couple buttons and voila you're back in business. Works everytime adam does it. For the life of me I could not get it to work. I stopped short of throwing the stupid keyboard out of the sliding glass door.

When adam came home from work i asked him to fix it for me. He tried and nothing. At this point I felt good that at least he was struggling too. He took the batteries out only to find that I had put them in backwards. Man I need a nap.

FINALLY!!

Well if you've ever dealt with a government agency, or two, you will know what I'm talking about. In order to get my teaching lisence I had to have my fingerprints cleared with the feds, then my application cleared with the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commision. Needless to say it took months but I am FINALLY A LISENCED TEACHER!!

Not that I'll be coming to a classroom near you. I'm having a baby. No classrooms for me. Just sleepless nights filled with poopy diapers and crying babies. Followed by sleepless days filled with poopy diapers, crying babies and stinky boys. Oh this is the life. I bet everyone wishes they could be me right now. Well maybe not right now as this little girl has herself wedged into my ribs. I really think that I may be too short to bear children. I need a bigger abdomin or to have itty bitty tiny babies. Either way she feels enormous right now. I hope the next 39 days go by fairly quickly...well not too quickly. There's such a tug between wanting to have my body to myself and not being entirely ready to take care of a newborn. Odd huh.

You must have grown up in the 80's and early 90's if:

I found this on my birth club board. Hope you enjoy.

You must have grown up in the 80's and early 90's if:

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE."

2. You watched the Pound Puppies.

3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Belair"..and can do the "Carlton"

4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.

5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby Sitters Club and tried to start a club of your own.

6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.

7. You know that "WHOA" comes from Joey on Blossom.

8. Two words: Hammer Pants!!

9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock."

10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars...and "spokey-dokes" or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect.

11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales "

12.When it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.

14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles " on the big screen ... and still know the turtles names.

15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.

16. You made your Mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.

17. You played the game "MASH" (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)

18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.

19. L.A.Gear....need I say more?!

20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM " in Kindergarten.

21. You remember reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and all the Ramona books.

22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"

23. You wanted to be a Goonie.

24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing

25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted

26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.

27. You took lunch boxes to school ... and traded Garbage Pail Kids

in the schoolyard.

28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.

29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.

30. You remember Hypercolor T-shirts.

31. Barbie and The Rockers was your favorite band.

32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up.

33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.

34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes

35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?" (yes, and you had to say it sounding like pee-wee herman)

36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up" (then the craze of Ive fallen and I cant reach my beer shirts)

37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.

38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.

39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.

40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.

41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.

42. You remember Popples..

43. "Don't worry, be happy"

44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.

45. You wore socks scrunched down

46. "Miss MARY MACK MACK MACK, all dressed in BLACK BLACK BLACK"

47. You remember boom boxes.. and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.

48. You remember watching both "Gremlins" movies.

49. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"

50. You remember watching "Rainbow Bright" and "My Little Pony Tales"

51. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.

52. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.

53. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB". (Danny, Donnie, Joe, Jon, Jordon

54. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By the Bell," the ORIGINAL class.

55. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.

56. You just sang those words to yourself.

57. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.

58. Homemade Levi shorts

59. You remember when mullets were cool!

60. You had a mullet!

61. You still sing "We are the World"

62. You tight rolled your jeans.

63. You owned a banana clip.

64. You remember "Where's the Beef?

65. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' about Willis?"

66. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.

67. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!!!?

68. You were practically raised on Kool-Aid.

So Isaac and Andrew thought that I was so cool because I knew the name AND weapon of each of the ninja turtles.

A dose of familiarity and the fair

Well this past week the boys headed up to Portland with their dad. I joined them a day later after my dr appointment. We were in Portland for several days. It was really strange to drive around and recognize everything we by and to really KNOW where we were going. Church was absolutely fantastic. It felt so good to sing familiar songs with people that we love. In fact it really felt like the only truely fulfilling worship service that I've been to in a long time. It was refreshing, it filled me and made me long for more.

We also went to the Deschutes county fair. I took Isaac, Andrew, Hannah and my sister Hayley by myself! Not sure what I was thinking. It was fun though. Man you could spend a pretty penny at the fair, luckily mom was there and wouldn't let them. We had a great time. The Bend Bulletin had a family fun center with a bunch of stuff the kids could do for free. They participated in the tractor pull, Isaac won! He pulled 275 pounds. Next was the pretend circus. Isaac was the only one who was willing to be a part of it. They got to watch a mini monster truck show, went on a pony ride, rode one of the carnival rides and got to have a sno cone! Next year Adam is going to come with us and I'm sure it will be excellent.

We have been having a fabulous summer. Here are some of the pictures I like so far.

body parts

so do you really know what all you body parts do? not talking arms legs heart, etc. do you know what your gallbladder, appendix, or spleen do? well i don't care to, i just want them to work properly.

due to the fact that my gallbladder is not functioning properly i now know what it does. i have an ultrasound on tuesday. generally when you hear a pregnant woman say that they are excited. i just can't bring myself to be excited about seeing my gallbladder, kidneys and pancreas.

due to the fact that i couldn't keep down anything on sunday i have been on a clear liquid diet for just over 24 hours. starting tonight at 1am i have to fast, nothing by mouth, not even water. I kept asking if they knew i was pregnant. man i'm starving.

lets go over what i've eaten (i'm using this term losely to mean anything that i put in my mouth. as you'll be able to see almost nothing actually required chewing) in the last 24 hours just for fun.

1. water
2. flavored water--thanks to my wonderful husband who got it for me and then fixed dinner so i didn't have to.
3.popsicles--but not my favorite, no red or purple died anything.
4. beef broth--which is not great on a 100 degree day by the way.
5. ritz crackers--not a good idea made me really sick
6. more water
7. cheerios--again not a good idea
8. lime jello--gross but at least it had flavor
9. another popsicle, orange

i really don't want to have gallbladder surgery. I hope that i don't have to. but from the state of things it may be inevitable. Please pray for me and my family. My husband is going out of town on wednesday for a few days and I will get the results of my ultrasound on thursday. i am dreading having to make a decision. From the little bit of research I've done on the surgery its not advisable in the thrid trimester, which i'm in. It said there was a risk of losing the baby. It also said having gallstones puts you at risk for premature labor. After the surgery you can't lift anything or go up/down the stairs for a week. That would really suck because i have a daughter who loves me and loves me to hold her.

Is your tetnis shot current?

Well mine is. I just got one yesterday. Here's how it happened...

The boys were riding bikes outside and hannah went in the garage and climbed in her stroller. She proclaimed, "walk, walk" I said how about the mail. this pleased the little munchkin so I went inside got the keys and slipped on my flip flops.

The mailbox is about twenty feet away from the end of our driveway. Hannah and I embarked on our adventure but just after we turned onto the sidewalk I stopped. I had stepped down and onto something. I thought,"wow that doesn't feel like a rock." I lifted up my foot and pulled the flip flop away from it, only to see that I was also pulling a rusty nail out of my foot. It had gone clean through the flip flop and into my foot. I promptly turned around and hobbled back up the driveway.

At this point in the story I need to make a side note. I have been meaning to write a post about how blessed we are to have the neighbors that moved in next door. I am so thankful that God placed them in our lives.

I sat on our little porch and surveyed the now puddle of blood in my sandle. I called to my neighbor also named sarah. She came out and lept into action. She brought things to clean the wound, checked out the nail and started asking me questions. When was my last tetnis? no idea. is my car unlocked? probably. Call your dr. Okay. In a matter of minutes she had rounded up the kiddos (her two and my three) got them all in her car and was driving me to the ER. When we arrived they looked at it. Cleaned it again. Gave me a wonderful shot and told me not to walk on it for a few days. I wanted to ask if they knew what life with a toddler is like. I have not been able to stay off it and I believe I am paying for it.

After the ER Sarah took us to fred meyers. She told me to go get my antibiotic filled at the pharmacy while she took the kids for ice cream at baskin robins. Not one to argue I went ahead. When we finally got home everyone was exhausted. Hannah had missed her nap and desperately needed one but would not leave my side. After dinner Sarah invited the boys to go to the park with her and her kids for a bike ride. She took them for about an hour and a half. I don't know what I would have done without her help yesterday. I am so greatful that she was around. Not just through this experience but many others I can see what it looks like to love your neighbor as yourself.

I say, "No thank you"

to instrumental worship, especially when done with a country twang. It has not been until we have attended a church outside the church of christ that I realized what I truly value about that tradition. In the five Sundays we've been here we have tried three churches. None of them felt like home. We are going to a new church next week.

so here we go, reasons why I like acapella worship.

1. you can hear that other people are singing too.

2. It doesn't sound like you're at a concert.

3. It is simple.

4. I know the songs.

5. My husband can stomp to it.

6. It feels like home.

7. I've never had an acapella country worship experience.

8. it doesn't feel like we're singing along with the radio.

9. people can pretend to be various percussion instruments.

10. i just like it better.

truly the worst time of the year

i have a confession to make. I don't like the fourth of july. Actually it would be more fair to say I hate this holiday. Not only is it hot and hard to sleep, especially while being pregnant, but oh so many lovely neighbors insist on lighting off fireworks for the week before and several weeks after the actual blessed event. I am not interested in hearing your irritating fireworks at all hours of the night and if you wake my daughter who has not been sleeping well since we moved, I just might go insane and come to find whoever you are. I will come prepared with a bucket and my hose. All of those preciously annoying fireworks shall get doused in water. Ha! try lighting them after that.

I apologize to all those who enjoy this holiday, especially my family and children. But the fourth of july and halloween just don't do it for me.

Bics

My daughter has a new food obsession. She loves bics. (For those of you who don't speak fluent hannah bics=chips).

I like chips. I am not at all oppossed to them. The problem is that Hannah only has 2 teeth. This would be fine if they were opposite each other in her mouth but they are not. They are in fact both on the bottom. After allowing her to eat a few she scared me and choked. I here her little tiny voice carrying around a bag of chips and proclaiming, "Pease" (pease=please) over and over again. It really is a sad sight.

If you're happy and you know it...

clap your hands.

if you're happy and you know it...

say HOORAY!

Feeling a little homeless

We have been homeless for two weeks, well not exactly homeless. We still have our wonderful townhouse. We are in need of a church home though. You know that saying you don't know what you had until it was gone, or something like that. Well I had no idea that I felt so comfortable at my church home until it was not my home anymore. We were a part of a community in more ways than I knew. I did not think that I was the most plugged in at PUMP church but it was a bigger part of my life than I realized and now I fell homeless.

Last week we went to the church that is several blocks from our new home and yesterday we went to East County. There is nothing wrong with either of these churchs, they just weren't home. I miss the singing, the clapping, the preaching, knowing the people there and dare I say the tight quarters. I had a hard time being in a super huge complex. I also realized that at PUMP the children may not behave all the time but they are a part of the worship. Many of the times that the children speak out it is in response to the worship. I felt like we were trying to busy our kids with quiet activities rather than worship with them. As I looked around at other families it looked much the same. The children didn't even have any idea when we were praying.

I know that we will not find a church home that is exactly like the one we left. That is not our expectation. But I am coming to see what it was that I loved about my former church home. I hope that we can find a place that we can come to love as our church home as much as the one we are several hours away from. And I hope we do it soon.

connected again

Well we moved and had to wait nearly a week to get the internet service started. I had no idea how much I used the internet until I couldn't. I really missed mapquest because I have no idea where anything is. When you talk to people on the phone they tell you an address but guess what... I still have no idea!! I took the long way to some places. I have figured out the main roads out of our neighborhood.

Our neighbors moved out today. It is very quiet now. They had three kids, two girls and a boy. Hannah loved the kids. But they also had a dog. Andrew was playing in the grass on our side of the complex and stepped in their dogs poo. Yesterday when we were all outside they had their garage door open.I was chasing Hannah around and walked near their garage. I suddenly got a huge whiff of dog crap. It was all over their garage. It looked as if it had been stepped on many times. Now I don't have a dog. For many reasons, but among them is the fact that I do not wish to shovel poop. If you have a dog there is no option. You must clean up after it. You chose the dog so you chose to clean up poop. I will not miss that dog.

We are settling in. I have unpacked the kitchen, and all the downstairs boxes accept three. The boys have yet to help me unpack their room and I flatly refuse to do it myself. I don't really care to play with their toys, so if they want to they gotta pitch in and help. Hannah's room is mostly unpacked and adam and my room is a huge disaster! Seems like I just keep dumping stuff in their. Eventually I'll get things put away.

I am shocked at all the details that have to be taken care of when you move. It is so overwhelming. I can't wait for all that to be over. I am glad we aren't planning on moving again until we buy a place.

We're back

The happiest place on Earth

We are leaving for the airport in fifteen minutes for what is sure to be an eventful flight. Although I hope it isn't I'm sure my kids will spice up my life in ways I can only imagine. I think that we are bringing everything in the house that I haven't put into a moving box yet. It looks like we're set to move to california. I think hannah leads the pack with stuff shes bringing. Why is it always the smallest ones who need the most? I am so excited I can hardly believe its time to go. Have a great week everyone. I just got a new memory card for my digital camera and it can hold 797 pictures. Any bets on how full I can make it by Saturday? Look forward to sharing our pictures with you when we return! Adios.

IT'S A...

GIRL!!!!!!!

We went to have an ultrasound today and the very first thing that we saw was that she is a girl! We are so excited. Last night when I put the boys to bed I asked them what they think the baby is. Andrew said that he wanted it to be a girl but thought it would be a boy. Isaac thought it would be a boy as well. Andrew was so ecstatic when we got home and told him. Everything else seemed to go well. She had all the right fingers and toes. Trouble was she would not stop moving and wiggling around. She kept putting her hands up by her face. It looked like she was rubbing her eyes.

We had the ultrasound done at the new adventist place kinda near the old navy in Gresham. It was fabulous. They asked us if we wanted to have a picture cd of the ultrasound. well Yeah! It was so easy to upload them and I can email them to my mom and other family. The tech was the nicest one I've ever had.

The only news that was a bit disappointing was that she measures small. Based on the measuremtents I would not be due the 7th of october but the 15th. Andrew's birthday is the 7th and we wanted to have the baby after his birthday but what a bummer to find out I have one more week to be pregnant that I thought.

Here's some more pictures of our new baby girl!

packing woes

Well we are crazy. We are going to Disneyland!! on May 23rd and coming back the 27th. This is in an of itself a great undertaking but we are also moving on the 30th. My goal is to have our house packed up before we leave for Disneyland. That way I just have to clean when we get back. Right now I have no idea where anything in my house is. Its all just everywhere. There are scattered boxes around the house. Now it seems to me that as I packed up our belongings there would be less things to strewn around but oh was I wrong. The next few weeks are just going to be crazy!!

Redmond Here We Come!!

We took a quick trip over to Remond, Oregon to look for a place to live. I had a backup plan all thought out in case we couldn't find something suitable. I didn't think we were asking for much. We simply wanted three bedrooms and a washer dryer hookup. I can't imagine using a laundry mat with six people in our family, two of them being under two. We finally found a place that we liked. She had several townhomes and she was incredibly nice on the phone. We decided on 3016 SW Juniper Ave. It is close by the elementary school, a huge Baptist church and is in a new subdevelopment. We are going to fill out the application and fax it to her. Once we do that we should hear in about 8 hours. The only hang up could be that we don't quite make 3 times the amount of rent. We're really close and she said if our rental history is good then she'll most likely recommend us to the landlord. Please pray that whatever our previous landlords say it is positive. We have had good experiences and I'm sure Our history will check out. Here are some pictures.
This is the view from the street

Here is the kitchen

This is the living room

This is the dining room

Oh the joys of mothering boys!

I had asked the boys, Isaac and Andrew, to go and pick up the masive pile of legos on their floor. They obliged and about five minutes later Isaac came out laughing. As a mother of young boys I have learned that laughter followed by "mom look at this" can yield surprising results. Sure enough, Isaac faked a sneeze and a lego flew out of his nose. By the look on his face I could tell he thought that it was so cool and a great idea. I told him gross, don't put things up in your nose. After that he said Andrew tried it but his lego got stuck in his nose. I called Andrew out and performed a small lego removal from his left nostral. The things that you don't realize come with the job!

How wonderful

I am blessed to have the most wonderful husband. Today at school a large box arrived for me. It was flowers. Adam ordered them and had them delivered to my school. That put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

When I got home today all the boys immediately left to get things from the grocery store. I was a little suspicious but we really need groceries so.. go ahead. When they got home I was told that I needed to remain in Hannah's room or in our room. They made a restaurant for Valentines day! It was so cute. All orchestrated by my wonderful husband.