About Nathan

I simply love that little boy.  Over the past couple of weeks, Nate's little personality is beginning to show.  He is becoming more settled with each passing day.  He will sit in his bouncy chair or lay on the floor, content for an hour, as long as there is activity around him and an occasional glimpse in his direction.  My smiles are always returned with HUGE grins and the occasional laugh. 

I love to watch him fall asleep....something I didn't really do with Nicole and I probably did too much with Hannah.  I really can't tell you anything about how Nicole fell asleep because I was trying to do it "by the book".  With Hannah, she would always tuck her arms under her belly and lift her little toosh in the air just before she crashed. 

Nate....he has two styles.  The first is easy.  He lays down, sucks on a paci for about 30 seconds and is out.  The second style he fights.  He'll kick and grunt and flail his arms and turn his head.  He'll refuse a paci or any comfort device.  He fights and fights and fights.  One moment he's grunting and kicking and the very next, he's passed out...asleep.  He'll often raise his right arm above his head and tuck his left under his chin or under his belly.  That's what he did tonight.  It's almost like sleep is so much more of a reward if he has to fight a bit for it.

I love how Nathan seems to wrap his little arms around me when I rock him to sleep or when he's being carried in the Moby Wrap.  I love how he will surprise me with a sudden glimpse to me and flash a big smile to simply make my day. 

He's a sweet, sweet boy.  People often ask me how it's different having a boy.  Honestly, right now, I still haven't noticed a difference....I know it will come.  For right now, I'm enjoying my third little baby, my first son and our newest addition.  I love you Nate!

Take your (grand)daughter to work day

2 weeks ago, Nicole got a surprise phone call from Grammy, asking her if she would like to come spend the day at work with her.  And, so began a new little tradition with Grammy & Gramps and their grandkids.  For right now, Nicole is the only one old enough to go for the whole day.  Here's what happened that day.

Nicole got  to ride to work with daddy in his work van.  This is a very special treat for her.  She got  to sit up front (because there is no back seat), listen to veggie tales and "raise the roof" music all the way to work with her daddy.

She spent the day helping Grammy staple papers, retrieve faxes, writing e-mails, and giving phone messages.  

So as not to break any child labor laws, they also gave her some break time to ride her bike in the back parking lot, watch a little Disney channel

  eat a few animal crackers, have lunch at The Cracker Barrel and have a short afternoon siesta. 

Nicole Loved, Loved, Loved spending the day with Grammy and Gramps, and riding to work with daddy.  I know that all involved are looking forward to doing this again.

A popular blogger I like to follow, MckMama of My Charming Kids, has a post series she often does called "Stream of Consciousness" where she sort of rambles off whatever she's thinking about.  I think I'm going to do something like that today because I haven't written a post in a while, I'm not sure what I'm going to say, and I have lots of little tidbits to share, but nothing to fill a whole post.  So...here it goes.

Sickness
We have battled the worse case of sicknesses these past 4 weeks that our family has ever had.  I've had to cancel the same play date, 4 weeks in a row because of it.  My sweet friend Jennifer still hasn't given up on us yet.  Hopefully next week we won't have to cancel.  After Nicole and I finished our battle with the 24 hour stomach flu, we so graciously shared it with Jeremy (I'm pretty sure he would have rather us kept it to ourselves though!).  The poor guy was sick, sick sick.  My entire house has been laundered twice in 5 days.  I guess it's one reason for a nice fresh start.  Thankfully, Hannah and Nate seem to have been spared. 

 

Hannah and Nathan NOT sick

  

Um....this is funny.  They have the same exact facial expression.

 

Potty Training
Speaking of Miss Hannah, she's pretty much day time potty trained.  She is in undies full time now. The diapers have been packed up and stored away for a year or so from now when Nathan fits in size 4.  I'm happy to have one less diaper to put on.   She wears Pull-ups at night and at nap, and they are dry about 50% of the time.  Potty training wasn't much of an effort.  I just thought one day that since we were stuck at home sick, there was no reason for her to be wearing diapers and we'd give it a shot.  There's been a few accidents here and there, but  for the most part she's done a fantastic job.  I'm not sure that having her potty trained is easier or harder....it's easier at home, but harder when we are out and I'm alone with them (I'm sure I put on a quite a show for others in the bathroom with us! In fact, I pretty much think public bathroom time can be the funniest time between me and my kids.  Between them cheering for someone in the other stall because they just went potty, to being afraid of the sensor hand dryers, to Nicole reaching under the stall one time to touch a random lady's very pretty painted toenails)  I'm happy we are through it though...and she loves her undies (by the way, she calls them ALL Dora, because she has Dora on like 5 pair, so the rest must be Dora too, right?).

Wedding
Justin and Erica are getting married in a week and half.  My poor mom has been trying to get our family's hair colored and cut for 2 weeks, but we keep backing out of our "appointments" because we have been sick.  This weekend they have to be done. Nicole is excited about wearing her princess dress (she's a flower girl), Hannah has a precious purple crotched hat to go with her little dress, and my friend Kirsten is making Nathan a faux tuxedo on a onsie.  I can't wait to show you pictures of these kids.  They will be perfectly adorable!

I've been thinking a lot lately about love, water dripping and sheep.  Maybe I'll share more later.

 

Can you feel the love?

I've also become a mystery shopper.  I have a shop I need to perform by Friday around noon.  I'm hoping to go tomorrow.  I'm not being paid, but I am being reimbursed for my purchase.  Jeremy and I are going to try mystery shopping a few restaurants when they are available.  We have to pay the money upfront, but get reimbursed, so it's sort of like a free date night.  I'll share how my experience goes.  I can't tell you where I went, but I can tell you the companies I've signed up with, probably later once I do a few.

I've also found a way to sort of earn a very little bit of money each month in the form of gift cards.  These gift cards I'll use to help pay for Christmas next year.  I'm hoping to have $100 in Amazon gift cards by then.  To read a little about how to do it, click here.  I wrote a little post on our Clipper Chicks website.

I went to a Mary Kay party last night that my friend Jami hosted.  I was really looking forward to going out for a couple hours, but once I got there, really all I wanted to do was be home.  I miss Jeremy when he's home and I'm not.  It's true...I just do.  I love him and want to be near him as much as possible.  People tell me it's good for me to get away, and maybe it is...but I really only want to be away if I'm with him. 

I like to hang out with the kids and take pictures.  Here are a few more we snapped this morning.

 

This little boy is really getting to be fun.  He simply loves to be talked to and to "talk" back.  He soaks up every ounce of attention he can get.  He's adorable!

 

Look....a real Hannah smile!  I had to share!!!!

 

We had to let Nicole in on the action too.  She's been wearing her cinderlla princess dress pretty much any time we are at home right now.  I need to go to a garage sale or two and find some more dress up clothes for her.  She simply loves it.

Well....I think that's it for me today.  We are having chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight.  Yumm-o.  What are you having?

FIRST LAUGH!!!!

Seriously...you missed it.  Every single one of you!  Nathan let out two of the biggest laughs I've EVER heard from a baby before.  Even Nicole and Hannah were laughing at him.  It was perfectly wonderful! 

24

It's amazing the difference 24 hours can make.

24 hours ago, this was what our house looked like.

 

I don't have a picture of today, but let's just say it is much different.  Hannah is playing with play-doh, Nicole is looking at a magazine, and Nate is happy to be getting some attention.

24 hours ago, Nicole I were both battling a stomach bug.  We had been up all night, along with Jeremy who had Hannah in bed with him because,well, she couldn't stay in her bed.  Jeremy was a great sport and help in the middle of the night, even though he had a very important day at work the next morning.

When day broke, so did the videos.  We watched movies and videos all day long.  We generally limit ourselves to one 1/2 hour video a day, but hey...there's always exceptions to the rule, right?

So far, Hannah, Nathan and Jeremy haven't shown signs of getting this nasty little bug.  I am still praying they won't.

Thankfully I had both my mom and my mother-in-law to help me yesterday.  My mom went to the store and brought us some much needed supplies like juice, gatorade, crackers and soup.  She also did an incredible amount of laundry for me.

Valerie came over and helped me disinfect my bathrooms and clean the floors.  I won't go into details, but it was needed. Grammy found a happy little helper though:-)

I'm sure Hannah didn't understand what was going on, but she also loved "vegging out" on the couch yesterday:-)  And, somehow, Nathan knew his job was to sleep as much as possible and he did!

Praise the Lord, we are 100% better.  It's amazing what 24 hours can do!

I am tired of doing the dishes
I am tired of sweeping the floors
I am tired of washing, folding, putting away clothes
I am tired of putting toys and books away
I am tired of not feeling well
I am tired of saying no
I am tired of being tired

I am NOT tired of this

Or this

I am never tired of him

or her

or her

or him

On the days that I feel tired of my duties....I am always encouraged by the ones I work hard for.  The ones I work to keep clean clothes on their backs, clean dishes in the cupboards, crumbs off their little feet, and discipline in their hearts.  Days like today when I still don't feel that great, when I feel like I can't keep up, it's moments like these

 

  

  

 

that bring a smile to my face and remind me that I am blessed, far more than I could ever deserve. 

I love my family.

Blood

Nicole has been asking me lately where her blood is and what is  blood.  So, we took the opportunity to talk a little bit about our bodies.  Last week it was rainy and we were sick, so I had to be creative and come up with some inside activities.  I traced the girls on a large sheet of paper and then we drew in our hearts and blood, and our basic digestive system.  Go ahead and ask Nicole what happens to her food when she eats it...I dare you!  :-) 

Anyway, here are their little bodies

The sheets are hanging up in my laundry room now.  Every time Hannah walks out there she screams with excitement, runs over, points and says "ME!!!!" She's learning a lot through it too.

The girls got to color themselves.  But I found Hannah trying to do it like a chimpanze.

Someone tell her she's suppose to use her hands to color...not her feet.

Something else we've been doing since we've been sick, stuck inside for almost 2 weeks (we've been out a couple of times)  is potty training.  I wouldn't confidently say that Hannah is day-time trained, because I'm still nervous to take her to the store without a diaper on...but we are getting close.  I figured she might as well be wearing undies while we were stuck inside so much, and it seems to be paying off.  We'll see.  I hope it sticks and she doesn't regress.  But, for now, she's wearing undies except to nap and at night.  Every times she uses the potty is one less diaper for me to use:-)

And...I just saw on one of my favorite blog fiddledeedeemom that Focus on the Family is offering a free 6 month subscription for Thriving Family magazine.  I've never read it, but thought I'd give it a shot if it's free.

Faith like a child

A conversation between Jeremy & Nicole yesterday at the park while Nicole was sitting all by herself on the swing with the wind blowing her face in her hair.

J: Hey Nicole, what are you doing?
N: Praying for the wind to stop.
J: Oh...
N: When Jesus makes the wind stop, I'll stop praying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another (non-spiritual) converstion with Nicole as we head to Five Guys (a hamburger joint that lets you snack on free peanuts).

N: Daddy, when I get to Five Guys, I'm going to eat A LOOOOOOOTTTTT of peanuts.
J: OK
N: Hey Daddy?
J: Yes Nicole
N: I like peanuts
J: I know
N: Hey Daddy?
J. Yes Nicole
N: Peanuts are a good snack.

Thinking of two friends

and wishing we could have a girls night together again. 

Nicole and daddy at Home Depot

It's the first Saturday of February...so do you know what that means???  Home Depot kid's workshop. 

Jeremy's been talking to Nicole all week about this, so by this morning, she was super excited to go build something with daddy again.  Hannah was scream "YAY" when she heard Home Depot, but she didn't realize she wasn't going.  Thankfully though, she didn't pitch much of a fit when they left. 

Anyway....Here are some precious pictures to share.

Adorable Nicole, waiting for her supplies, sitting on an upside down bucket.

Peyton and Caulder also came (with their daddy)

 

 

Cute little buddies with their finished projects.

Nicole got another pin for her Home Depot apron and a certificate stating she finished the project. 

When they got home, we took off to the neighborhood park.  It's a beauiful day today (yes...be jealous you northerners!).  I wanted to share more pictures from the park.