Wykes Times Four

9 months in, 9 months out

2012-01-23T12:52:00.002-05:00

Judah turned NINE months last week. It is hard to believe he has been out now as long as he was in. Pregnancy lasts forever. I mean, f o r e v e r. At least for me. Especially that last month or so, which actually lasts one year all on it's own. ANd then ZIP, your baby is nine months old. Crazy.

He is crawling around like crazy, constantly on the move. He enjoys legos, matchbox cars and chewing on Wii remotes (I should clarify these choice toys by explaining he really just wants to be a part of whatever Eli is doing). He does a fine job of pulling himself up on the couch, walking along it, but then finds himself stuck in the up position quite often. He does some sort of downward dog position, but usually ends up just doing a face plant. He is doing much better with solids - but we still make a mixture with the cereal... that is mostly cereal. He doesn't seem to have a real desire for flavor yet. He eats puffs - sometimes, and is just warming up to Cheerios. I know, we're way behind. Such is life.

He has four teeth, weighs 20.5 lbs, and wears 12 mo. clothing for the most part. He thoroughly enjoys his brother, his dad, and random people, but he's still a mama's boy <3 Who knows how long that will last, but I'm enjoying it still while it does (since my other child regularly reminds me he "not only doesn't love you, I don't even like you, mama"). He's such a wonderful gift from the Lord and we enjoy every day with him. It's the nights we struggle with (oh yes, he's still not sleeping).

Here's some pictures of the big little man :)

ELIJAH at nine months.

Wykes Family 2011 in Review

2012-01-02T10:56:00.001-05:00

It seems like way more than a year ago that I was just 4 months pregnant with our little Judah man. We were a family of three with a two year old and no idea of the busyness ahead. Covered in a good 3 feet of snow, we started 2011.

This year, we have been blessed with another healthy baby boy. He is now 8 months old, Eli is three, and we are some busy parents :) Here is everything that happened in between (and I will apologize in advance for the length of this post, geesh!):

January: I had my dreaded sugar test in January and failed it, again. Pregnancy number two with gestational diabetes. No fun. Patrick was quite busy teaching two labs at Grand Valley and of course, being the most awesome athletic trainer in West Michigan :)

February: Patrick and I had our birthdays. Patrick entered his last year of his 20's, sigh. He thinks this is no big deal, but I do, since it means I only have TWO left in my twenties. Yikes. It was also about this time I realized my husband was shrinking away! He had lost about 40 lbs. at this point, I think. Maybe more.

March: In March, Elijah got to go to his "big brother class", which was essentially useless, but cute all the same. Patrick participated in his annual "Ride" at the Lakes mall with his co-workers. I was busy being uncomfortable, and washing and folding onesies one million times over.

April: This month brought our last precious moments with ELijah as our only child. I tried to soak them in as much as possible. Then, on April 20th, Judah Cohen Wykes was brought into our lives, via induced c-section. He was 7 lbs 4 oz and absolutely perfect. We came home from the hospital on Saturday, and had 15 people over for Easter on Sunday :) Good times.

May: This month was all about HELP and attempting to function again... finding a new normal. We were SO blessed with lots of meals from friends and family. Due to his busy, busy schedule in the spring, Patrick is no where to be found from about April to June. So my mom stayed with me the first week, my mother in law the second and sporadically the third. Recovering from a c-section with a toddler who refuses to adjust, a husband who is mostly MIA, and a baby who's favorite passion in life is crying, was not easy. But like I said, we were blessed with tons of help. And tulip time :) We were blessed with that too!

Tulip Time with friends!

This is what Judah spent most of May doing.

Mother's Day with my mom and TWO kids!

Oh yeh, AND we had family pictures in May. WHEW.

June: June brought back some normalcy. Towards the end, Patrick gets to start showing his face around home again, which is always a relief. We had lots of birthday parties, warm weather, and my last month as a full time stay at home mom. I applied for a 16-hr a week position at our church and got the job in early June. I decided to stay at home 'til the little man was 10 weeks, so I started June 28th.

At Luke's birthday party

At Gabbie's first birthday party

At Carol's 30th birthday party - Eli blowing out the
candles/spitting on the cupcakes!

July: This is another one of those months where I wonder "how the heck did we do all that in one month??" I started my new job, and loved having a break from the home in brief, four hour stints. I timed it so I would be gone during nap time and it worked well. We discovered the best babysitter EVER in Brianne. We missed out on fireworks this year, with Judah still on the colicky side and not so much sleeping great. We were just plain tuckered out. We made it to the beach once, up at Patrick's family cottage, which was a huge accomplishment all in itself :) AND we had all 22 members of my immediate family spend the weekend here, and then go camping together.

At the beach, at the cottage

Eli's first trip to the movies to see Cars 2 with his California cousins

All these people slept at my house. It was crazy fun.

Our camping trip to Tri-Ponds.

A new addition to our small group! Alina Wickstra

August: We had to say goodbye to our beloved Brianne (she went back to college). Patrick did his annual Ludington Triathlon, so we got our one family vacation alone for the summer, the last week of August. It was lovely. I was in my childhood friend Molly's wedding, and the same weekend, we had the funeral of Patrick's last remaining grandparent, Helen Wykes.

Another new addition for our small group! Amelia Sidlauskas with my boys

Eli with Brianne on her last day

Ludington State Park beach

Before the triathlon

All the Wykes cousins at the funeral

Molly, Billy and I at the wedding

September: We were blessed with a new nephew, Ethan Robert Morehead. He is my sister Holly's fifth child, and no, we have no intentions of "catching up" with ANY of my sisters, for that matter. Patrick started up at the school full time again, and decided to add a lecture course to his two labs he was teaching at Grand Valley. He has really enjoyed the teaching more than he thought he would, and is doing it again this semester (in January). Other than that, we had a church picnic and enjoyed the last of the really warm days.

Brotherly love

Moran Park Church picnic

October: Elijah turned three, and out of his mouth started coming the funniest of things. I started to log them, which you can find here and here. He is really into puzzles, the iPad, running around, animal crackers, chicken nuggets, and play dough. We also had Halloween, which we spent at another church picnic and then trick or treating.

November: Not too much in this month. Judah started sitting up and holding his own bottle, which was great. My parents moved from Sterling Heights to Howell, which was also great as it shaved an hour off our drive. Sad, though, that Eli thinks of that as Grandpa and Grandma's house and it just confused. And although I only lived there a few months, it was the longest my parents had ever stayed in a house as long as I've been alive. But they already found a cute little replacement and like I said, it's a shorter drive and we'll take it.

Our big boy sitting up on his own!

Moving my parents

December: Finally made it to the end! We had lots of Christmas parties, one of which was missed at the last minute due to a trip to Devos Children's Hospital after Elijah swallowed three magnets. Still haven't seen the bill for that come through, I'm so not looking forward to that. Six sets of x-rays, a scope, and a overnight stay I'm sure won't come cheap :) They came out in a diaper a few days later. *UGH* Christmas Eve was spent with friends, and Christmas day we spent at home, as my parents were in California. The Wykes fam came over in the afternoon and as usual, my kids were plastered with generous gifts from the family! We spent New Year's Eve with Patrick's two college roommates, Mike and Jon and all of our families. We've been doing this since before any of us had kids, and now we have six between us. Good times!

The boys enjoying the first (and only thus far) snow in Holland.

Just us, Christmas morning

Love.

Opening presents!

The adults at New Years

The kids!

The kids at New Years Eve 2009, hah!

God has truly blessed our family so many times and in so many different ways this past year! We are so thankful to him and cannot wait to see what he has in store for the Wykes family in 2012! Thanks for journeying alongside of us!

A Boy and His Bear - All 8 Months

2011-12-26T17:08:00.002-05:00

I want that paper!

And I'm out of here!

There they all are! Seriously unsure of how to capture the next 3 without him devouring the paper, but I'll give it the old college try :O) And just for kicks, here is Elijah at 8 months:

Looks like mama :) Judah - not so much! Different noses for sure.

Worst Elijahism, maybe ever

2011-12-12T09:07:00.000-05:00

Me: Eli, I said get into bed, it's nap time!

Eli: I ate those hooker-on things

Me: What?

Eli: Those hooker-on things! I ate some.

Me: What??

Eli: Those things that hold the pictures up there. I ate two. (pointing to his magnetic board on the wall)

Oh yes, he ate magnets. And thus began our Sunday afternoon and night at Helen Devos Children's Hospital. And you think I'm kidding. I'm not kidding. Apparently, you cannot just let magnets just pass through. Go ahead, google it. That's what we did. And the first article that came up was "Child swallows One Magnet? Ok. Two Magnets? Call 911." Geeeeez. We did not call 911, but we did leave immediately for the ER here in Holland. They took some X-Rays, and "yup! there they are!" but because X-Rays are vague on the whereabouts of said magnets, they decided to send us to Devos Children's Hospital because "guys, we just got to get these things out". This is because when there is the possibility of more than one magnet being in there, they can attract to one another and get stuck to tissue and cause some real problems. Oh boy.

So we headed over to Devos (ambulance? no thank you, I'll save myself that $100), where we were met by a children's gastronologist. He was going to perform a scope down Eli's throat, and was hoping to retrieve them this way. Well, he had originally swallowed these things around 1:30. By the time we made it through three sets of Xrays and a transfer and got to the scope, it was past 9 PM. So they gave him an IV (which he was such a champ for), knocked him out, and performed the scope. Patrick and I headed to the waiting room and feasted on Pop Tarts and candy bars (since none of us had eaten since lunch). The scope showed the magnets weren't retrievable since they were into the intestines (SHOCKING, after 8 hours). They decided to have Eli stay overnight for observation, and they would do successive X-Rays, starting in the morning, to ensure the magnets were moving through his system. So that is where we are now! Fun times, let me tell you. I came home around midnight last night to relieve my in-laws from the Judah man, and am just waiting to hear what the doctors decide. We're praying they just keep moving along and he is able to go home this afternoon. And then we get to throw some magnetic photo boards away. True story.

Elijahisms, Part II

2011-12-06T20:35:00.001-05:00

Oh, more fun for all.

In the car, him, Judah and I:
Eli: Mom, is this a slow road?
Me: Yeh, I guess.
Eli: Well, you are going fast. You are passing lots of cars.
Me: Ok.
Eli: Well, I don't want you to crash, mom. I have 3 of my (matchbox) cars in here.

Me: What are you doing??
Eli: I'm a monster! Grrr! I'm a ANGRY bird!

Eli: Who's here mom?
Me: Just Cara and Owen.
We arrive. Eli is looking all over.
Me: What are you doing?
Eli: Where's Just, mom? You said he was here.

Oh, how they make me giggle.

Some great examples of Eli spitting our words back at us:

Eli: Mom, what animal is this?
Me: It's a dinosaur. (not even looking, thinking he was asking about his nuggets, which were)
Eli: Mom, I need you to look at me and understand. What animal is THIS mom? (pointing to his plate, which was a fox). Do you understand me?

Eli: Mom! Mommy!
Me: What?
Eli: C'mere!
Me: (There) what?
Eli: You made a good decision, mom. Thank you for listening to me.

(Going to bed, Patrick at work)
Eli: Where's daddy?
Me: At work, he's late tonight, bud.
Eli: I really miss him. He's so strong.

And just in case you missed the ones on Facebook:

Getting his diaper changed:
Eli (singing): "Maybe I have to go home, maybe I have to say no, maaaaybe it's coooold outsiiiiiide!"
(he watches too much Elf).

Patrick gives Eli a stern "go to bed" speech, and as he is leaving the room, Eli starts clapping and says "yeh, big money, big money!" (he played a bit of Wheel of Fortune over the weekend with Uncle Justin on the iPad).

Halloween Circa 2011

2011-11-01T21:06:00.001-04:00

Halloween was a bit of a whirlwind in the Wykes household this year :) It started with our church's fall party on Sunday. It was a neighborhood park party with pumpkins, face painting, balloon animals, cider, donuts, etc. etc. Lots o' fun for all involved. We feel really blessed to be a part of the church we are currently at. It truly is like a family. We really feel God moving there and have made some life long friends as a bonus :) Here are some shots from the day:

Pounding his hammer on a pumpkin. The most perfect game for Bob the Builder!

Playing a tossing game

Love these ladies! I am working with the young, dark haired
one on our Christmas program right now!

Showing off the treat bag he decorated

I am in a Monday evening study with Becky - love to listen to her talk!

The fam

And then on Monday (Halloween), we went trick or treating around our own neighborhood and handed out candy to our neighbors! I love it, because it's usually one of the ast times we see them all before everyone hunkers down for the winter. Eli combed the neighborhood with his friend Lucas, and then another set of friends joined us after. Here are the pics from all of that:

Handsome little devils, ready to go!

Halloween, Circa 2010

Anyway, back to this year:

Neighbor boy greeting the trick or treaters

This is the one pic of them walking. they ran the whole time!

Patrick and Mike handing out candy!

Sweaty boys

Again, them in 2010. Aww, Eli looks so little to me.

Happy boys

Then, after all the craziness, we told Eli he needed to round up all his treats, put them back in the bag, and leave them on his door handle. A Halloween fairy was coming to get them and was going to trade them for a cool toy! Thanks jodimichelle.com for that idea! It worked awesome!

Leaving his candy out

What was left in his bag in the morning! Best $2.97 I ever spent

So that was our Halloween. Oh, and I found this little gem on the Old Navy Facebook page here. They asked for everyone to post pics of their kids in their costumes.. there were like 300 on their page and they picked their top 20 - and the boys made the cut. Fun!

Girrrrlfriend

2011-10-31T14:17:00.000-04:00

So I don't know about you, but there are seasons in my life when I need a personal trainer for my spiritual life. I need someone there, cheering me on, forcing me to just OPEN your Bible Staci! Because once I get in it, I'm always glad I did. It's just prioritizing it (and not a clean house, HGTV, or laundry) that is sometimes the problem. For just over a week now, a small group of girls and I have been emailing each other daily what we've learned in the word that day, or in our devotional, whatever. And it has been so, so helpful. I cannot even begin to tell you. When I miss a day, I feel bad, and when I read my bible study (or whatever), I can't wait to share what God is teaching me. It's been awesome accountability. I would highly recommend doing something like this with your girlfriends. And if you do, don't be afraid to challenge one another! Call each other out - we all need it sometimes. Today I was feeling particularly discouraged by some things going on right now, and one of my friend's emailed her devotion and it was PERFECT for what I was feeling. That's how amazing God is. Just sayin'.

Yup, we're pretty cool.

What else?

2011-10-28T21:42:00.004-04:00

An update on our boys - what else, silly? A fun thing about their birthdays is that they will hit milestones together, as they are almost exactly 2.5 years apart. Elijah turned three and Judah man hit his half birthday - both in October. They continue to keep our hands full. Up until about 2 weeks ago, Judah was sleeping in approximately 45 min - 2 hour time periods. It was pretty awesome, I'm not going to lie. He would nurse or drink full 7 oz. bottles 3 times a night, and then barely eat all day. So two weeks ago, I decided to reverse this habit. I stopped nursing at his 6 month mark, and stopped feeding him at night all together at the same time. The first three days were the worst, with 2-3 hour crying stretches, and work the next day. Ouch. Then it got down to an hour, and by the fifth night, he was still waking, but not crying.

Two weeks later, he still wakes 2 or 3 times, but is quickly pacified by a paci and a hand to hold for a second, then he's right back to sleep. So still pretty broken sleep patterns for the both of us, but much better than where we were a few weeks ago. Progress my friends, progress.

On the Elijah front, he is in a constant state of energy. The kid never tires. Ever. He goes 100 miles per hour from the moment his feet hit the floor in the morning, right to (and most nights past) bedtime. It's amazing. There is no warm up, there is no cool down, just go. Which is fine, he's a three year old boy, I don't expect him to sit and do word puzzles all day. He is quite the little comedian, even though he has no idea. I post them on Facebook from time to time, but really, I could post them all stinkin' day. He's hilarious. Just tonight he says this:

(I read his blessing which includes saying his full name, Elijah Patrick Wykes)

Me: Ok, it's your turn to do mommy's blessing

Eli: God bless you Mommy Patrick Wykes. He loves you all the time.

(Later, I'm eating a bowl of cereal after he's in bed. He can't see me, only hear me out in the kitchen)
Eli: Mommy! Mommmmy!
Me: What?
Eli: Don't eat oatmeal now. We eat it in the morning. Stop eating it. Do it.

He kills me. Anyway, here are their stats:

Judah is 18 lbs 4 oz.

Elijah is 37 lbs, 38 in.

I don't the rest of them because it's all written on a sheet that has already been stuck in their respective baby books, and if I take them out, chances are slim they will ever make it back :) Judah ranges in the high percentiles (for size), Eli is always middle of the road ('cept that head, which is off the charts!).

This little man loves the camera :)

But still has his limits. Who doesn't?

This big guy loves his cars. Well, I won't even box it in. Anything with wheels.

And of course, running. Can't stop that!

I don't like you anymore

2011-10-20T20:37:00.003-04:00

Elijah turned 3 this month. And oh man, is this child ever giving us some joy to spread around. Here are some recent (what I like to call) Elijah-isms.

Me: Time for bed

Eli: I don't like you anymore. We're not friends, mom.

(After getting in trouble)

Eli: mom, are you angry with me? I'm happy with you. I don't want to fight anymore.

(the song Beautiful, Beautiful comes on the radio)

Eli: oh mommy! this is the feeful, feeful song!

(patrick, eli, judah and I were sitting on the couch together)

eli: look! we're a puzzle with all the pieces!

(after doing/reading our bedtime blessing over him)

Eli: I'll do one for you now mommy.

Me: ok, pick one and read it to me.

Eli: I can't read (sad face)

Me: Just make it up then

Eli: God loves you all the time, even when you make bad choices. Even when you get out of bed. The bible gives me wisdom! (i think this is like everything he's learned in Sunday school mashed with what he often gets in trouble for :)

I hear him in his room saying "swish, swish, swish, swish, swish"

Me: Eli, what are you doing?

Eli: Singing the bus song! this is the part i know, swish swish, swish, swish

Me: Eli, eat your peas, it will make you strong

Eli (eats a bite, goes and picks up the bouncy seat): look mommy, it worked! i got muscles!

Me: This is so stupid

Eli: mommy, don't say that! use nice words like cool and awesome!

(Eli doing an alphabet puzzle by himself)

Eli: Look! I found the E for Elijah and P for Patrick all by myself! Daddy is going to be so so proud of me.

(he wanted to put his train puzzle out so daddy could see it)
Me: put it right over there by the door so he sees it right when he comes in
Eli: no, he'll want to come in and see you first. i'll put it over here instead.
hahahaha

"I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers...
your love has given me great joy and encouragement." Phlm :4,7

Judah - 5 months

2011-09-21T18:04:00.003-04:00

So yesterday our Judah man turned 5 months. He is so much fun right now! The boys started a new daycare last week and they said all the kiddo's love him because he just laughs and smiles at them no matter what they do! Elijah does an especially great job of cracking him up. Judah regularly makes loud shreaky (happy) noises and just started blowing raspberries/spit bubbles. He really loves playing with his feet right, as well as chewing on any and every thing. His favorite toys are chew toys, and a plastic ball that hangs from his car seat and has a bell in it. He also really likes lights and music. He hasn't figured out the whole rolling over thing, but that has alot to do with not getting alot of floor time... he still REALLY prefers to be held most of the time. I'm pretty sure I feel his first tooth poking through on the bottom already. I say already because Elijah was 7 months before he got his first. He still isn't sleeping well at night, he gets up every 2-3 hours still, which is a bummer. We're hoping he'll figure it all out soon.

Thank you Lord for this precious gift of life, we love him so!

Here are his stats (from 9/9/11, so actually a little less than 5 months):
16 lbs 8 oz
26 in
Both 75th percentile for his age!

Our happy boy and his bear!

Eli trying to teach him how to roll over! Judah hasn't quite figured it out yet!

Judah and daddy at the church picnic!

Gifts from Elijah

No Big Deal.. oh wait..

2011-09-08T22:18:00.001-04:00

So this evening, I am sitting on Elijah's bed with him - covers, stuffed animals and pillows on the floor in a protest of bedtime, and he says to me, "I'm going to tell you a story mom". He starts talking in a gibberish fashion, but I make out a couple words consistently: God and Jesus. He finishes his story, and then tells me it's my turn to tell a story. But I am too struck by the fact that he just attempted to tell me a story about God and Jesus, that I just sit there. Has something gotten through?? Oh, this makes my night. Most of the time I feel like I am just babbling to myself when I talk to Eli about God and Jesus and things of the sort. It seems like such a huge thing for a child to grasp. So, I am suddenly willing to forgo the routine of making him sit in there for what seems like an endless amount of time, fighting sleep, just to listen to more of this story. We prayed together and quickly talked about how it's time to stay in bed, and yada yada. But I look at this little person in this big bed and realize what a big responsibility I have. As parents, we cannot pray enough for our children. I have the privilege of raising this little man, and along with this privilege comes the need for so much help. Help I can really only get from my heavenly Father. Being a mom can be tough, you know? But it's little moments like tonight that bring just enough reward to keep me fighting the good fight. Some gems for you:
Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

The world is full of women blindsided by the unceasing demands of motherhood, still flabbergasted by how a job can be so terrific and torturous. ~Anna Quindlen

I’d like to be the ideal mother, but I’m too busy raising my kids. ~Unknown

The Incredible Man

2011-09-01T16:32:00.003-04:00

So sometimes you just have to blog about your husband, and today is my day. One might assume I am going to blog about his busy schedule, or endless sports, or some thing that I normally blab needlessly on about. But not this time. THIS time I have to share with you another story in pictures:

Ludington Triathlon August 2009

Ludington Triathlon 2009

Ludington Triathlon August 2010

Ludington Tri August 2011

Ludington Triathlon 2011

I don't think I really need to say alot! It's just crazy to me. He has crossed over the 50 lbs (lost) threshold now (with NO help from me... I keep the Oreo's and ice cream well stocked). It's funny because living with it, I don't really notice a day to day difference. I loved him how he was, and every day in between. But looking back at pictures like this, I just can't believe how big a change it's been. He really is the incredible shrinking man!

Childhood Friends

2011-08-28T20:53:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I was in the wedding of a girl I grew up with. Saying this seems funny to me on two levels. One being that it kind of means I'm done "growing up" or that it was a long time ago or something? Which it was, it just doesn't always feel like that until something like this happens. And two, saying she was my "childhood friend" doesn't seem to sum up my memories of this girl. One of the other bridesmaids (I believe a college roommate of hers) asked me how I knew her and I said "I knew her when we were younger". But does that really sum it up? That I spent endless hours with this girl on my bedroom floor playing and dreaming our weddings up. Or that we went to church together 3 times a week (and then some) and then went to lunch after that, that she was there when my appendix decided to explode, eating french fries while I was required to fast (stinker!). It just seems like such a simple statement, "we grew up together". Anyway, her wedding was a beautiful thing, and I really am glad I got to be a part of it. It was like a little piece of my childhood becoming complete. Weird, but so true.

Her beautifully unique bouquet made of antique brooches

She was a tad nervous :O)

Before heading out to the ceremony

Like I may have mentioned... she was nervous ;)

The part of the wedding party my lens could fit. I'm the midget on the end there :)

The most yummy cupcakes I've ever had! SO good!

The newly weds

Yeh, we grew up together. It's kind of a big deal :)

A boy and his bear

2011-08-22T11:45:00.000-04:00

May 20, 2011

June 20, 2011

July 20, 2011

August 20, 2011

August? When did that happen?

2011-08-15T15:15:00.000-04:00

It's been almost a solid month since my last post, yet it seems like enough has happened in that month that I could have filled 6 posts. Oh well, I'll do my best at recapping without rambling. Could be tough.

Let's see, we have welcomed 2 new little girls to our small group family. Alina and Amelia, both too cute to stand. Judah certainly will have his pick of gorgeous little girls to pick on ;)

Alina Angeline Wickstra... just look at those cheeks!

Amelia Verena Sidlauskas (with my now GIANT looking Judah and Eli)

Besides the excitement of two births, we've had lots of not great news as well. Some financial woes of our own, (involving a filing mistake on our 2008 tax return that we just got a letter from the IRS about last week. ouch. seriously ouch.) and the passing of Patrick's last grandparent. Helen left us just this past Sunday morning. She was such a delightful lady - 94 and so cute. We always looked forward to her cards, they generally would include fun random facts like "Happy Birthday Patrick, did you know Obama is our new president?" They would make us giggle, but mostly, they were just adorable.

All smiles with Grandma Great!

Football has started back up (and cross country, volleyball, water polo, etc etc), the late nights and Saturdays without "daddy" have started, and summer seems to be slipping through our fingers. It passed us right by without a vacation or escape away. I'm bummed, but at the same time, still feeling so blessed. The fall brings lots of great things too, and I have to keep focusing on that. Plus, today I got to play race cars, red light/green light and build a watermelon tower. How could you not feel blessed with an agenda like that?

My own little slice of heaven on my living room floor

Three Months and back (to the birth)

2011-07-20T17:43:00.001-04:00

This morning, our smiley baby boy

Three precious months have already passed since our Judah man came into our lives. And what a great time to tell you all about our birthing story =) I meant to do so after he was born, but have been, you know, busy with a newborn and all. But TODAY he is officially no longer a newborn, so I should have a bunch of time freeing up soon, right?!

So we were scheduled for a c-section, which was bizarre. It was very strange packing up our circus of items into the car, heading to the hospital, knowing we'd have a baby in an hour or so. Strange. Anyway, we got there, about 10 minutes late (weird, I know) and were greeted by a nurse. I use the term "greeted" extremely loosely, as our greeting was "Are you Staci? Oh, good. We've been waiting for you." Apparently they don't take kindly to you being there at 6:10 for a 7:30 caesarean. Oops. She then hooked me up to an IV, and we sat and waited for the doctor to come in, about an hour later (hurry up and wait!). Then, like no big deal, they told me it was time to walk to the O.R. Go ahead and grab your IV and we'll walk on down, the nurse told me. Again, so strange to me. once in the OR, they had me sit on the freezing steel table, bend forwards, and prepare to be poked by what I hope is the largest needle I will ever be poked by again. I had a "Rick" and a "Tim" as anesthesiologists, who were a great team. They made jokes and even had a sound track for the whole ordeal, which I remember including "don't worry, be happy". The worst part of it, that I remember, is feeling the blood trickle down my lower back after they had pushed it in. Eeew, it was so gross feeling. Then the doctor came in, and it all went very quickly from there. As she was pulling Judah out, I felt an immense amount of pressure, like someone was stepping on my chest. The anesthesiologist pulled the curtain down (not at my request, or anything. or any warning for that matter) so I could watch him actually coming out of my abdomen. Have I mentioned the word straaange yet? Because that part really was. Pretty gross, too. I really feel that no one should have to look down and see themselves cut open. Period.

After that, it's all a bit of a blur of emotions, pictures, ice packs, and pain killers. And of course, a beautiful baby boy, whom in my said drug-induced state I named Judah Cohen. For a couple weeks prior to his birth, we were debating between Judah Patrick and Judah Maxim. Oh well. The overall experience was just 100 times better than Elijah's horrible birth story, so I left a happy camper. It's a good thing I didn't have a blog then, because I may have done a better job remembering how horrible it was. And then there may have been no Judah :)

So here he is now, at 3 months. He weighs 12 lbs, 4 oz this morning, I have no idea how long. He talks up a storm, and giggles quite often, and has been for a few weeks now. It's adorable. He eats when he's hungry, which is about every 2-3 hours. I still nurse in the night and in the morning, and pump during the day. We've been supplementing with formula since about 7 weeks, and it made a tremendous change in his happiness factor. It also, along with a swaddler, helped him start sleeping through the night at that age as well. he currently goes down around 9 PM and gets up between 5 and 6, eats/nurses a little and then goes back down until about 8 or 9 AM. He's an amazing blessing from God, that's for sure :O) He also still has blue eyes, which we're a little obsessed with. Will they stay, or will they go?!? Only time will tell =)

Whew, that was fun.

2011-07-12T21:54:00.000-04:00

This summer is FLYING by. Why can't the winter fly by... ever? Anyway, I cannot believe it is already mid July, we have been having a lovely time wasting our summer away =) My new job started last week, and is going great! Elijah loves Brianne, who comes to play with him every day I work. It breaks up my day wonderfully and I think is a big part of why time seems to be just cruising by us.

This past weekend, we had my entire family (well, 22 of 24) at my house for a get together. It was pure chaos packed into 1700 square feet. About an hour after everyone arrived, we ate dinner, then about 30 minutes later had to leave for family pics (I believe Patrick accurately nailed the situation when saying "what kid is going to play Kevin when we all take off out of here?". Which, by the way, went amazingly smooth for 22 people, 13 of which were children, 10 being under the age of 7. Any great photographer's nightmare. Jodi handled it like a pro. Pez dispenser on top of the camera?? Yes, please. Genius. Here are a few shots:

The whole clan

My beautiful parents

Silly kids

The California Cuties

Stef's girls. Too gorgeous.

This is awesome cause this kid never smiles for the camera!

Cousins. Minus Judah, I couldn't talk him into walking up there.

Who doesn't want a great shot of their behind?!?

Seriously cute.

Photogenic much?

Love him

AND then, after being crammed into my house, we decided to cram into about 400 square feet of cabins. Oh yes, we did. We went camping. Not one of our families are "camping" families. So on that account, we were all terribly ill-prepared. Wood? no. Matches? no. Flashlight? no. Tableclothes for eating outside 100% of the time? no. How 'bout something to turn the food with on the grill? nope. Oh, you would like to hang your wet clothes somewhere to dry? no. Bug spay? Oh thank GOODness, yes. Lucky for us, the managers of the camp are friends of ours, so we got to be the needy, high maintenance campers and ask for all these things. Anyway, the camp ground is seriously amazing, with all kinds of fun things to do, and the kids LOVED it. But I have yet to be converted, sorry. But that may have had something to do with the fact we were completely rained out the second day and had to load the car in crazy windy, pouring rain, humid as heck weather, tracking mud everywhere. I must have wiped down the cabin 8 times just to clean up my own tracks while cleaning. Yeah, dumb. I know.

Anyway, here are some the pics. Like I said, the kids adored it, and overall, we all had a good time together. But holy cow, I will get a hotel for the fam next time around if it kills me =)

Swimming in the pond

This little man was such a trooper. It was 97 and soooo humid.

Waiting for the rain to pass. So hard to hold still.

Playing games in between rounds of rain

Got a few minutes on the jumping pillow before rain round #2

Not sure you can see how hard it was raining. It was a bummer.

Judah-man At Two Months

2011-06-24T16:38:00.001-04:00

Our little peanut is still in the 25th to 35th percentile for all things measured at his appointment at 10 lbs 14 oz and 22 inches. He probably would have been in the 10th percentile for weight had I not started supplementing formula a couple weeks ago. He has packed on the weight since we started that. He also has been a MUCH happier baby. Who woulda thought, apparently he was just hungry :). He is coo-ing at us regularly now, and I even got a little giggle out of him the other day! He has really become quite a happy baby to be around. I think God realized I was about to lose my mind with one crying all the time and the other throwing tantrums nonstop. So he eased my crying baby! Just have to keep praying for the one with the tantrums :). No, he isn't all bad. But he certainly has his 2 year old moments where I want to walk away from him at the store and start asking those around whose kid is that?!? Hah! What I really need to do is find that "strong willed child" book and read it cover to cover... Minus the fact I hardly have time to read my magazines right now... Hmm, maybe an audio book. He does love his little "brodder", and does a fine job of repeating terms he hears like "what's that face??" and "it's ok, it's ok bud". Cracks us up.

Can't be left out of the action :)

Funny Boy, He is

2011-06-17T13:27:00.001-04:00

So I have a hundred things to do today before we pack up and head over to my parents for the weekend. But I just had to type a few things out before I forgot them. Elijah cracks me up sometimes. He has really just been trying and challenging lately, but every once in awhile he has jewel moments. Here are a couple instances in just the last 2 days that ever-confirm he is a daddy's boy:

Pat (to Elijah): I love you buddy!
Elijah: I love you more!
....
Me: Elijah, I love you to the moon and back!
Elijah: I love you to... umm... the sidewalk. (I realize this is really the only "location" he really knows, but c'mon!)

Me: "Elijah, mommy does not like to have to put you in time out, but when you don't listen and obey, I have to. It's my job"
Elijah: "What's my job?"
Me: "To listen and obey"
Elijah: "MY job is not easy. What's daddy's job?"
Me: "Daddy goes to work"
Elijah: "I think me and Judah and daddy should stay here and you should go to work"

Nice!

Sweating the Small Stuff

2011-06-14T16:04:00.001-04:00

I am super good at sweating the small stuff. Some people call this OCD. Some call it anal. Whatever, I like the details. I like things to be clean, constantly. In an effort to try to not feel so overwhelmed lately, I'm trying to pick my battles. Patrick and I fondly refer to Elijah as our "little tornado", as he can turn a perfectly clean home into a complete wreck in minutes. So my new theory is to pick up his toys once a day. It's proven to be unbelievably hard for me. Ahhhhh! So, I decided to take a picture for all of you in an effort to prove I have not picked up today yet (so mind you, this room was totally clean approx. 7 hours ago when he woke up). I'm thinking maybe if I put it out there, and you come visit me in the middle of the day and it's clean, you can call me out on it. And if you come over and my house looks like this

you won't need wonder why :)

Amazing

2011-06-09T14:19:00.000-04:00

So can I just say that God is amazing? Hah! I don't know why I give him any less credit, but seriously. So I put up this post about how nervous I am about the changes and then everything just fell into place. I just met our new babysitter today and I am so excited! She came highly recommended from a friend from church, which was great. I really wanted someone that someone already knew (does that make sense??). And she is so sweet! She also attends our church, but the main campus, so I had not met her. She is going to come over to play with Elijah before I start so he can get used to her. On top of this, the day after I posted how my "colicky" baby is, he took a three hour nap in his crib in the middle of the day =o) Which he has never done, ever, in his 7 weeks of life. Aaaaaamazing. Oh, the power of prayer. That's all.

Changes a Brewing

2011-06-07T23:28:00.002-04:00

Sooooo, I decided to re-enter the workforce, kind of. I will be working part time, very part time (16 hrs/week) at our church. I am excited about it, but at the same time, just want to stick Judah in my pocket and give his little head kisses all the day long. I don't start for another 3 weeks, so I'm going into full "let's go to the beach today because soon I will be at work and we can't ever go to the beach AGAIN" mode. Very silly, really, considering they are generously letting me break my schedule into the little time slots I want (their nap time) and the boys will hardly know I am gone. And I'm researching diligently to find someone to care for them in the four hour time brackets needed. But still, it's funny how your brain just goes into crisis mode every time there is change. CHANGE (insert scary music and sound effects)! I've been doing a whole lot of praying lately, just for peace and for the boys and for calmed nerves and great child care. I think it is because every other job I've had has been 45 hours plus, and I can't stop thinking of it that way.

But it's not that way, it's absolutely perfect - a little work there (of something I love doing), a whole lotta boys here, and a little balance for a currently overwhelmed mama. Judah is slightly on the colicky side, and by slightly, I mean just really. He cries and cries and while I've almost learned to tune it out, Elijah has not, so add to it "mommy! make him stop crying!" every 2 seconds - which is super helpful. (I should disclaimer this with the fact Judah does give me a good 5 mintues of smiles a day, which I store up in my memory for the other 23 hours and 55 minutes when I need them so). He refuses to let me set him down without the screaming ensuing.

So daily, I am losing the clean house battle to my 2 year old tornado and baby items that appear out of no where and multiple at an ever increasing rate. And for someone that crazy-loves a clean house, it's been mind boggling (and super humbling because we all know how many people like to just stop over with a new baby around). It's all a phase and it will end, and I still love them to pieces, but I think a little structure (away) in my day is going to go a long way. And not only that, but the job is at my church, which I am more than super excited to get plugged into in a whole new way. So that's my news! And here are our new family pics, which also, I adore. Love, love, love Walcott Imaging. They never cease to amaze.

5 years and counting

2011-05-19T14:31:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is our five year anniversary since this day:

And now:

Picture one, we were young new college graduates living in a college town in crappy little apartments. He was working at a golf course, I was working for the county (with big kid jobs lined up). He had his (sacred) Jeep Wrangler and I had a sporty lil' Mustang GT. If you would have asked us our five year plan then, it would have included travel, careers, and maybe start thinking about growing our family (after 5 years). I would tell you that our kids would be named Jacob and Julia, because I would know their sex, because they would be adopted. As I had no intentions of pushing anything out of anywhere (which I suppose that part I was correct on, yay! for c-sections). Our main concerns consisted of what gym and tanner we would get a membership at, what $1000 dog we had to have, and where we should spend our day off shopping (so.. we were shallow?!? hmm...)

Picture number two, we are nearing our 30's (well, him more than me ;) with home ownership under our belts, and completely different jobs in tow, along with two kids already. And absolutely no couple traveling since our one year anniversary trip to California to see my sister. Our concerns are more adult-like and serious - healthy children, theirs and our spiritual growth, starting college funds, home repairs, how are we ever going to have time to get a work out or tan ever again?!?

Funny, it's been five years, and SO much has changed, but at the same time... not that much has? He's still Patrick and I'm still Staci. He still is the handsomest man I've ever seen and can make me laugh like none other. And we're still in love :) So see, not that much has really changed. Happy Anniversary doody! Love you!!

Life As We Know It

2011-05-09T18:06:00.000-04:00

Things have been crazy around here :) I forgot how time consuming a new baby really is! Holy moly. Today I had a goal of bringing Judah in to my old work to visit the ladies. My original goal was 10 AM. Get up, take a shower, and go. That's all. Then 10 passed by. 11. 12... and so on :) We ended up making the trip a little after 3 :) And even then, I was hesitating heading in. Bah! It is so true, that saying that if you wait for the perfect time to travel with a baby, you will never go anywhere. I can talk myself out of pretty much anything these days. Quite easily. For instance, last year, I headed downtown every single night of tulip time. 18 month old son in tow, who was just entering his tantrum stage, I fought the crowds, his attitude, and crappy cold weather evening after evening. This year, not so appealing, even in 70 degree sunny weather :( Even without the two year old (he is staying with my parents for a couple days right now). There's the whole nursing thing - like that he wants to do it all the time and it's kind of a pain in public. And that he doesn't like to be set down at all - which again means no free arms for me (makes eating an elephant ear challenging). Bah! But we are going to give it a whirl - I am meeting a girlfriend ~~for dinner tonight~~ (rain!) and another for lunch tomorrow. So we'll see how it goes :) Typing this now one handed as he nurses away is not all that encouraging, but here's hoping!

Here are some more pics of the Judah man since we've been home!

First bath at home. Not so much a fan.

Judah, being held (happy as a pig in mud) 9 days old

Judah after he gets set down. Stinker.

What a stud :) Oh man, has he been keeping our hands very full lately =/

Mother's Day 2011 and Tulip Time!!

Keeping out of trouble for the moment!

Judah's milk coma! hahaha

and for those of you that think Eli and Judah look alike...

A sleeping Elijah at 2 weeks old

A sleeping Judah at 2 weeks

Totally different, right?!?

Judah Cohen Wykes

2011-04-21T20:11:00.000-04:00

Here are some of my favorite pics from the day of the new little man's arrival:

Arriving in our home for the next four days :) Nervous as can be!

On the left is my doctor, Dr. Gootjes, she's amazing :) Just thought I'd give some credit where due!

Love this shot mainly b/c we have a very similar one with Elijah in which I look HORRIBLE. Blessed to be coherent and smiling for this one!

Elijah getting his first look at his new baby brother!

My dad is one of those people who struggle "fake" smiling - so I had to post this one :) It 's such a good pic of them!

This will forever make my heart melt a little. He kept holding his hands out like this, saying "I hold that?" - like it was a cheeseburger or something. Too cute :)

But he did such a good job holding him (which he has done lots now!)

Proud daddy! Finally gets a boy that looks like him (we think)!

Our new normal :) Family of four!

Nerves

2011-04-19T07:22:00.000-04:00

So the only logical explanation for being wide awake and ready to put away laundry at 5:30 AM? Ahh, yes, nerves :) And maybe a touch of nesting gone overboard. Probably a lot of both. This has got to be one of the oddest things - knowing when you're going to have a baby. I feel like there is a reason it isn't naturally done this way... it's just weird knowing you're "having a baby tomorrow morning". It messes with your head I think. And definitely your sleep :)

With Elijah, we had no idea "this is the last night we can sleep" or "this is the last dinner we will have for a month" or whatever. Although, I must say, having a "scheduled delivery" has it's perks. Making it to this date, I was able to line up child care for Elijah (thanks mom and dad!), line up someone to come take pictures of the baby in case I'm completely out of it again (thanks Jen!) and clean my house and have my laundry done... it's a nice feeling. In all of the pics from Elijah's delivery, I look like someone dragged me to the hospital in the middle of the night, completely unaware of what was going on. Oh wait, that is what happened. I had no bag packed, no toothbrush or hair brush or clothes (people bring these things with them?? I had no idea). We went in at 3 AM, so my hair was up in some messy ponytail with no shower. You get the idea. It wasn't pretty =) So I'm excited to have a bag ready and packed and be able to get up and shower and go! Tomorrow!! (again, it's just messing with my head at this point).

But then there is the fact that I am having a baby cut out of me in less than 24 hours. Eeeeeew, I hate thinking about that. Again, with Elijah, it all happened so fast and I was so completely drugged that I had little to no thoughts on what was actually going on. I have talked to lots of people since then that have had c-sections and think "really? I don't remember that part.." or "no, I don't remember them doing that.." Which leads me to places like iVillage.com and horrible, horrible comment sections on everyone's totally "awesome" experience with c-sections. Aye! Talk about messing with your head. So I think that's where the nerves come in =O) Note to self: stay off message boards today - in hope of getting some sliver of sleep tonight =o)

Elijah v. 2.5

2011-04-13T15:01:00.000-04:00

So last week Elijah officially turned 2 and a half, so I thought I'd do a quick update on where he is at. Since I have a feeling my next few posts may be about his new little brother, he can enjoy the spotlight of being an only child one last time :)

Loves to wear our shoes

Has the "guilty but don't kill me" look down cold. Also needing a haircut - he is good at that too! His hair grows so fast!

Likes to fake sleep - which he is doing here for the camera. He lays down, starts snoring, then seconds later proclaims "I just wake up!"

LOVES his firetruck still - whips that thing around our wood-laminate floors like no one's business. And really, any and all things trucks are numero uno in his book.

Has become quite the master of the Mr. Potato head. He can stick all the pieces in himself and in the correct places even. However, it's kept pretty high up in the closet still, due to the 42 pieces generally landing house-wide when he plays with it :O)

Still very much a daddy's boy. He posed this picture himself - I was wanting a pic with the potato head and he said "no, I stand here and daddy, you lay here... cheeeeese". What a goof.

Still likes to give us mini-heart attacks with his breathing skills. This is one of his medicines, which he actually takes quite well nowadays. We haven't had an ER trip in a few months, which has been splendid. They told us they thought he'd grow out of it by age 2, so here's hoping they were right and it will all soon be a thing of the past.

Always a ham for the camera!

Words/phrases commonly heard:

"oh my gosh!... oh my goodness" - we have tried correcting him from saying oh my gosh with the goodness, so now he just says both.

"I don't like XXX anyMORE" - input anything into the X that you can think of, with special emphasis on the ANY-MORE :)

"I just wake up!" - likes to try to pass off a nap by looking at books quietly in his room and then come out of his room 15 minutes later claiming to have been asleep. nice.

"let's go, mommy. let's go" - this is while he is holding your hand pulling you somewhere. you would think he had 6 younger siblings the way this kid bosses people around already!

"cheeeeese! great!" - not sure why - I must say this? but he smiles for a picture and then as soon as I take it, he says "great" and runs along. funny stuff.

"No, I wanna walk" - getting into an independent stage, that's for sure. He no longer wants to hold our hand or ride in the cart or stroller. He wants to walk and he wants to do it on his own. Annoying :>)

38 weeks and 1 to go

2011-04-13T13:38:00.000-04:00

So today was my last doctor visit! It was a weird feeling to walk out and not stop at the reception desk to plot out the next one. Next week at this time, I will have a 5 hour-old baby boy :) So exciting! She said everything looks good, which is an answer to many, many prayers - mine, and others (thanks!). Granted, there is still a week to make it through, but we are on course to make it to the scheduled delivery. This is the point where Elijah's pregnancy took a major downward spiral and he was delivered a couple weeks early. So this is uncharted territory for me to make it this far ;) Yay!

So here is my last pregnancy picture and update:

38 weeks

Playing with Elijah in the newly painted nursery/Elijah's room :)

Size of Baby: This was the first visit he measured on track - 38 weeks exactly. My doctor thinks he will be bigger than Elijah and I agree (Patrick is guessing 7 lbs 6 oz. I am guessing over 8 - more like 8 lbs. 4 oz. - just wanted record of that somewhere :) Elijah was 7 lbs. 2 oz.). She said he either is big, or hasn't dropped yet, and that either way, but I should be thankful for my scheduled caesarian delivery, as it doesn't seem this kid is getting ready to move out on his own any time soon :O)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have had some good weight gain these past couple weeks, putting me at almost 20 lbs gained total. I am at about 17 lbs currently, so I am sure I will hit the 20 lbs mark before delivery. This is less than I gained with Elijah, unless I gain 8 lbs in the next week :) I gained 25 total with him.

Maternity Clothes: Bah! Over them :) But the gorgeous weather has allowed me to break out some of the short sleeved shirts I had from my first pregnancy, so that's been nice.

Movement: Lots! Still feeling him move quite a bit, and he is still very present in my ribs. He is pretty high up there, which is where my dr's theory of him being big or not dropped comes from.

Sleep: I am being well prepared for having a newborn. I am not sleeping well :) Lots of hip pain from having to sleep on my side.

What I miss: Nothing new really, but for some reason this past week I have really been craving those liquid carbs. Juice, pop, slurpees, etc. that cannot even be slipped into a diabetic diet. I almost bought a bottle of orange juice to have for next week while grocery shopping today, then thought it might be better to wait. I would have a really hard time not drinking it over the next week :O)

Cravings: Sleep, my jeans, walking comfortably, and to meet our new kiddo

Symptoms: Pretty tired from lack of any quality sleep, lots of sciatic nerve/back pain and still loving the Tums. No real signs of labor at all - no early contractions or anything this time around.

Best Moment this week: Being able to say I only have a week left! YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAYYY! And also this past week with the warm weather and Pat home more due to spring break, I had a nice wave of energy that allowed us to get a lot done! I really feel quite "ready" for this! Patrick repainted Elijah's bedroom blue so it is ready for some new company!

Who Wants To Go Job Hunting?

2011-03-26T13:46:00.000-04:00

Longest week EVER. Ok, maybe not ever, but it has got to be close. I am sure in the upcoming weeks when I am even more uncomfortable and my husband's spring sports schedule is in full swing, I will have more trying weeks. Oh, and the weeks after that with the infant AND the 2 year old, with the hubby at work 'til 10 PM daily? Those should be fun too. But this one will come close, I am sure.

Elijah was home sick this week with a cold. He had a lovely cough that woke him up several times a night and also allotted for some pretty short naps. This all added up to a very crabby, whiny little boy, stuck in the house with a mommy who is ever ready to get this next baby out of her :O) Elijah literally did not leave the house from Saturday through Friday, except one trip to Meijer, which was less out of necessity of groceries, and more out of necessity for mommy feeling like she needed witnesses around her. Ahem...

Yesterday I had decided I needed to go job hunting. "Hello, I am nine months pregnant and will certainly lose my marbles if you do not hire me and let me start working on Monday. Thank you for your understanding." I had come to the conclusion that being a stay at home mom was a complete failure of a mission for me, and that I was just not cut out for the hours. The endless hours. At least when I had a job away from home, I got a break from this house. This way, it just seems you are always "on the clock". Especially when the hubby is super busy and you just kind of literally ARE on the clock all the time. Did I mention I am ready for warm weather? Even going out to the yard is a change of scenery at this point, and being literally STUCK inside made for such a long week. And today, Patrick had a couple lacrosse games, so here we are again. Bah!

Anyway, all this to say, my child SLEPT last night from 8:30 PM to 7 AM today, and then played in his room until 7:30, when my husband got up and took over. It was like Elijah some how knew I needed a reset. And it has made all the difference today. Yes, his nose is still running, his mouth is still whining, and his listening leaves much to be desired. But he woke me up with a bouquet of flowers, saying "I sorry mommy for being naughty this week" (with some heavy prompting from and a trip to the store with his daddy). And then I had breakfast made for me before Pat had to leave for work. Not a bad deal, being well rested and feeling loved :) I guess I'll leave the job hunting on the back burner for awhile longer ;)

Who, me?!? Not possible!

The Ride

2011-03-16T13:54:00.000-04:00

For the past three years, Patrick has done "the Ride" at Lakes Mall in Norton Shores with his work, a fundraiser for heart disease. I thought it would be fun to compare the pics over the past 3 years :)

Patrick on the bike year one (2009)

His new biggest fan! Year one (2009)

On the bike year two (2010)

The biggest fan returns, year two (2010)

On the bike year three (2011)

Patrick and his biggest fan, year three (2011)

Here's a couple more from this year, just 'cause they're cute =)

Daddy's boy with an S4 - Shoreline Sport and Spine Spinner :) Mouth full, no?

Loved watching daddy ride!!

34 Week Update

2011-03-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

Just one month from this Sunday, we will have "kids" instead of just one child! Craziness. Here is a pic of me now, and at a similar time in my pregnancy with Elijah:

34 weeks with Baby Wykes #2

35 weeks pregnant with Elijah - I measured ahead with him most of the pregnancy

Pregnancy Highlights (I stole this from a friend's blog - just some general updates!)

Size of Baby: At our last ultrasound (31 weeks), only the head and abdomen were measuring ahead, everything else was right on track or a week behind. Last week, at my 33 week appointment, I was measuring (overall) at 32 weeks. So still mostly measuring small/behind :O)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up until month 7, I had only gained 5 lbs. I have found some leeway in my sugar scores lately, so my doctor told me to start pushing it. In the last month, I have gained an additional 6-7 lbs. So I'm within the healthy weight gain range for my size (15-20 lbs) at about 12 lbs. gained thus far. However, I find it hard to eat a lot (and gain) when my diet is so regulated. And sans carbs. If I could eat pizza and pancakes all day, I'd be higher I'm sure :) Carrots and lunch meat just aren't doing it for me!

Maternity Clothes: Still able to wear some of my non-maternity pants, and ONE pair I can still button (yay for low rise pants!) But I am definitely tiring of the 4 same shirts every day. However, it's too late to add to this wardrobe. Especially considering this could very well be the last time I need maternity clothes!

Gender: Stiiiillll a boy =) And I have been blessed with friends and family (and a huge local Mom2Mom sale) that has allowed me to find/get some pretty darn cute little boy clothes. And the idea of little brothers close in age is growing on me for sure.

Movement: Lots! I think he does jumping jacks because he somehow manages to push down on my bladder and into my ribs at the same time. It's talent, I tell you. I never had the rib-pushing sensation with Elijah, so it's a new thing this time around. Not so comfy.

Sleep: It's been sketchy at best. Tough to get comfortable, tough to turn over :) You know. Also tend to wake up around 3 or 4 and stay awake for a good hour if not more. Usually until Pat's alarm goes off :O) Then I fall back asleep.

What I miss: Normal clothes, pancakes, waffles, baking (I have pretty much given this up for the time being, just too hard to have it in my house and not eat), slurpees, Coke, Cinnamon rolls, Easter candy in general, changing from a sitting to standing position comfortably, and Oreos

Cravings: See foods above :) Carbs pretty much. The really sugary excessive ones I just can't even pretend to slip into this diet.

Symptoms: Tired from not sleeping well, get heartburn quite regularly, especially in evening (I semi-live off Tums, it's true), lots of sciatic nerve/back pain

Best Moment this week: Eating dinner at my sister's last night! I didn't have to cook, it was super yummy (oven fried chicken and mashed potatoes), and my sugar score was much lower than I anticipated. Yay!

Oh Happy Day and Sleeping on the Floor

2011-03-11T16:17:00.001-05:00

So this post is mostly going to be randomness. 2 bits of randomess, really.

First of all, amazon screwed up and I am loving it. For some reason, I was able to use the same "$10 off coupon for a baby store purchase" twice, and not only that, on the second transaction of $13, it somehow brought my total down to $0.00. Crazy, but I'll take it. A mega box of diapers for free? Sure, why not ;) THEN it allowed me to use ANOTHER $10 coupon on the same account (usually it is limited to one per customer) on another box of diapers. I am not sure why either of these flukes happened, but all in all, I paid $11.21 for almost 200 diapers and 720 wipes. I thought this all too good to be true until it all showed up on my doorstep today, via free 2 day shipping. Nice! Amazon, feel free to continue being screwy :)

Second, my son refuses to sleep in his toddler bed still. He does go to bed, and generally in the vicinity of the toddler bed, but for some reason, finds the floor much more appealing. It's quite the running joke with Patrick and I to "go see where he fell asleep tonight!" It's so funny! Sometimes it's in the corner of his room under his giant giraffe, the other day it was next to his old crib, once it was half in the toddler bed (feet on the floor still). But a lot of the time it is curled up next to the gate we put in his doorway. Here is a lovely pic of a nap time of what I'm talking about:

I don't get it. I guess it doesn't matter - he does fall asleep and all, but why on earth is this more appealing than a bed?!? Silliness.

Bah, hormones

2011-03-01T15:31:00.001-05:00

I'm going to go ahead and blame this entire post on hormones because lately, that is what I do. Lose my mind daily over my 2 year old dumping his sock drawer daily? Hormones. Drive my hubby up the wall and back o.b.s.e.s.s.i.n.g over sorting all baby clothes by size, then color? (hello! stupid tags that say 3 months, not 0-3, not 3-6. just 3. who's idea was that, goodness gracious!) Hormones. Check, check, and check. One of the few perks of being pregnant (in my mind, I know there are those of you who LOVE being pregnant and are just silly in other ways, too) is being able to blame all things on hormones. And I only have 7 weeks left to do this! But then I guess it continues with "well I just had a baby" hormone nuttiness, and I'm-nursing-leave-me-alone hormones and I miss having a little tiny cuddly baby hormones - where did this giant child come from?!? hormones. Yes, I suppose I do have some good amount of time to soak this one up.

Anywho, I have been spending Elijah's nap times awake lately. Just not really that tired right now. So first, I try to make some dent in what seems like a whoooole lotta Bible study to go around. I am currently in Bible Study Fellowship and a Beth Moore study, which if you have done either, you may feel my homework pain. On top of it, a couples small group, in which we're reading Mere Christianity, which you have to read each chapter 6 times to not stop and go "huh?" after (because he is a genius and I am not). So now that I am done apparently tooting my own Bible study horn (?), the remainder of nap time has been spent on the internet scouring blogs. I love them. And in particular, I have found several I feel the need to share. And other random things I have stumbled upon, as of late, that I feel the need to share with you too:

THIS is my new favorite make-me-feel-like-a-horrible-parent website. She is amazing. She lists all the developmental things she does with her son, and at what age, and on and on. THere are SO many cool things that I would love to try with the little man. Hopefully in the next few weeks, our last few with just the two of us. Building castles in the sky, just the two of us... anyway.

THIS is my new favorite mascara. It too is amazing, and does not make me feel like a horrible parent, but more of a put together person. And at like $5/tube, it beats the heck out of the Estee Lauder one I was using previous to this :)

THIS site is just a mom of 3, but fun to read all the same.

THIS site taught me how to make curtains without my new sewing machine I have had for 2 months and still do not know how to use.

THIS is my favorite smell - Johnson's baby shampoo/wash in Elijah's hair right after a bath. I love sitting next to him and kissing his head and having it smell like that. And not some random gross smell, as it mostly does. And if you go to that link, it is a coupon. Bonus!

THIS site is amazing, in case I haven't mentioned it 100 times, because it is. Especially for West Michigan people. They tell you all the deals and coupons you need, where to go to use them and when to do so. I LOVE it. I get an email from them almost daily and I get so excited to read them. TRUTH. Not hormones.

And in light of the sun shining today and it being March, and with spring being just 3 WEEKS away, I would like to remind you all that my favorite spider is a dead one. The end.

All things baby on the brain

2011-02-25T09:03:00.001-05:00

Ok, with the new baby coming in less than 2 months, I have been a mad woman searching the internet for deals and baby things. Here are a few things I happen to think are aaaaadorable:

More Than Words Photography - LOVE her infant shots. Well, all of them. Too much.

Simply Sassy - Owl hats are so cute!!

Snowhill Design Company - Super cute boxes would look great any the nursery!

Petunias - Local gal with a TON of super cute stuff - even for boys :) Who woulda thought!

Adorabilatee - She makes little guy ties! Not too much on her Etsy page, but lots more cute stuff on her FB page

Ok, I could go on all day. But it's a start anyway :)

Diaper Extravaganza

2011-02-19T10:11:00.000-05:00

Well good morning lovely ladies :) I am so excited to share this with you - I hope I do it clearly enough :) I first heard about this through savingaddiction.com, an amazing West Michigan blog that tells about all sorts of deals. However, it sounded lengthy and involved to me, so I never took the time to really try.

But the other night, I decided to just look into it. And I am so glad I did! It's easier than I originally thought - but let me warn you, DOES include coupons. But they are easy to get :) I found 3 of them in my baby/parenting magazines, which is what grabbed my curiosity. There was one in last month's Parent's magazine, one in this month's and then I got my third one out of "BabyTalk" magazine, which I had grabbed at my Ob-Gyn's office last week (they have piles of them they give out for free, I didn't steal a magazine from the dr's office!)

Okay, so first you have to sign up at Amazon.com/mom for a FREE account. This is a great start anyway, as this gets you free two day shipping on all their Amazon stocked baby products.

Then, click on the diapers link in Amazon mom. These are the diapers you have to choose from. There isn't every size - but a pretty good selection. I know I pay 19 cents a diaper for Elijah's Target brand diapers in the biggest box. So anything under that (shipping is free! remember) is a good price for me. On the list of diapers, they tell you the price per diaper. Super handy.

Click on the diapers you want to purchase, bringing up the description. On the right side of the screen (before you add it to your cart) there is a "subscribe and save" option. I chose the 'Every 6 months' option, and then "Subscribe Now". Here is a pic of the screen:

If you figure out how to zoom that in alot - you will see you will get 30% off the listed prices for doing subscribe and save. So after doing that, my price was $13.15 (and no shipping on top of that, remember). Then you will have to select your payment options and shipping options (also with Amazon mom, you can get overnight shipping for $3.99). On the final review page, you can enter a promotional code (off to the right again). This is where I entered my '$10 off any Baby Store purchase on Amazon.com' coupon I got out of Parents. This brought my total down to $3.15 for a box of newborn diapers.

Now let me explain a little better. The subscribe and save is telling Amazon I want them to ship this is me every 6 months. However, once it has shipped (the first time) you can cancel these subscriptions very easily. There is a "manage my subscriptions" tab that will show up in your account once you subscribe and right under the subscription, there is a "change/delete my subscription" button. Simple! Furthermore, by selecting I want this every six months, I have six months to remember to cancel it :)

Ok, I think that is all. Oh - my other two coupons were for an additional 20%, so after getting the 30% listed price for doing Amazon mom and subscribe and save, I got ANOTHER 20% off, which brought a box of 180 count size 1 diapers down to 12 cents a diaper. Another steal :) I totally recommend at least signing up for the Amazon.com/mom thing, especially if you shop Amazon at all already. Also, as I mentioned on my facebook, Mamapedia is running a deal on "Parenting: the early Years" for $3 for 2 years right now. And these coupons are in there frequently, so I think it's worth it. They advertise it at $8, but if you are new to the site, you get a $5 credit for creating an account, which you can apply to your first purchase. So that brings your total to $3.

This seems much lengthier than I thought - sorry! But really it took me maybe 10 minutes total - and most of that was spent searching for the size/brand I wanted for diapers. Happy shopping ladies!! OH, and if you get Parents magazine and aren't interested in doing this, please feel free to email me your codes! I would be happy to use them for you :)

What the Amazon coupons should look like

29 weeeeeeeks

2011-02-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

YAY! In case you missed it in my facebook post, I grew a month's worth of baby in 2 weeks :) At my last appointment 2 weeks ago, baby Wykes was measuring a week behind. This week, a week ahead. He's been busy growing and stretching me in the most painful ways :) I think I may have jinxed myself saying (last time) the pregnancy was flying by. Is April 20 really still 10 weeks away?!? How is that possible. Aye! Anyway, on with it, the 29 week pic (and some birthday extras):

Mmmm I look sleepy. I am.

My best surprised face for the birthday gifts I picked out :) hee hee

White Chocolate Cheesecake from Olive Garden. Can we say yummmmmmm?

He was aaallll too ready to dig into this with me :)

Family Band

2011-02-08T12:02:00.000-05:00

Oh yes, my friends. We are practically professionals! Ok, that is a total lie. We failed several times, got boo'd off stage and I think at my high point got an 80% on vocals, hahaha! But it was fun anyway ;)

Eli and daddy on guitar

Eli continuing to help with guitar. Pat needed it ;) juuuust kidding hon :)

I am clearly confused here. But still one of my better moments.

These three were good, I'm not going to lie

Patrick found his calling - 100% on vocals! Score one for the Wykes!

Gabbie did not find us entertaining

Elijah jamming on the drums!

Birthday Time of Year

2011-02-08T11:51:00.001-05:00

With Patrick and I having our birthdays just 6 days apart, we get a birthday week of sorts :) We celebrated his birthday on Friday, then again with his family on Saturday, then my family on Sunday and then my birthday is this upcoming Thursday. Fun stuff! Here are the pics from the festivities thus far:

Patrick with his card from Elijah

Showing off his new goods!

His super awesome funfetti cake from his wife :)

Opening our cards/giftcard from my fam!

My birthday helper!

He decided to blow out the candles before they finished singing. He was ready for cake.

Always camera ready :)

Calen enjoying some cake! Yum!

Ok, maybe not always camera ready =O)

Meijer Deal

2011-01-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

So after coming home from grocery shopping at Meijer on Tuesday, my husband was all too delighted to see these in my bags:

He had just recently given me a speech on how I need to start liking and eating beans. They are high in protein! Blah. However, these lovely bags were on sale for 99 cents each. What a steal. So I bought three. Not for me, though =) For under $3, I have a brand new activity for Elijah, which he LOVES! Measuring, scooping, transferring, OH! The joy! So go get yourself (or your child) some cheap beans this week :)

Fun stuff

They were all separated by color at one time... oh well :)

Oh, but stay close... he ingested a few already. Oh well, again!

Ticking Time Bomb

2011-01-26T18:40:00.001-05:00

After my latest appointment with the baby doctor, I can't help but feel like a lot of things in my life right now are on the cusp of expiring. According to the lovely emails that pop into my inbox daily, I have T minus 86 days to go in this pregnancy. Under the 90 day mark? Lovely. Only another 85 days (at most, this is a scheduled appointment people) of my current way of life? Terrifying. I feel like my "alone" days with Elijah are so numbered right now! This poor child has no idea what is about to come and rock his little self-focused world. He currently has my (mostly) undivided attention all day. Oh, how that is about to change. 86 days my precious friend. Then you and me become partners, not playmates. Oh, you don't want to help change diapers Elijah? Oh, right, you are still in diapers. Bummer. So I just really wonder how this is all going to work out :) I am fully aware people all over the earth have gone successfully from one child to two, but lately I just feel like constantly taking pictures of Elijah to document to him that once upon a time I did have time :) Lately, with both of us donning lovely colds, I have been laying down with him in my bed at nap time. However, as my body has no need for a two hour nap, I spend most of it sitting in bed reading. Today, mid-nap, with his eyes hardly open, he demands "mommy! hold my hand!" I gave him my hand, he closed his eyes, and slept for another hour. And I got in another couple of chapters. In 86 days, I think my thoughts will be more along the lines of "a hand? you want a hand? do you think I have four?? I do not have four. go back to sleep child."

On another note, it seems my days of eating Hostess cupcakes and Pixi Stix at will have not only been numbered, but pretty much ended. I failed the glucose test and have to get back on the diabetic diet of very limited carbs, poking my finger every time I eat, and logging it for my doctor to be sure I did not sneak in any Hostess cupcakes. Bummer. But I am hoping since the odds were against me in this 50/50 battle, they will be with me on the HELLP syndrome. I had a 50% chance of either of them recurring... so what are the chances that both reoccur? Still 50% you say? Eh. Sadly, math was my strong subject.

Other things ending in 86 days? Sleeping on my side, walking like a penguin, constantly thinking I need to pee, poking my finger, thinking about what I'm eating/going to eat constantly (I'm an eat-to-live, not a live-to-eat, I do not so much enjoy this focus on food), pants that don't fit, or just fit funny, the name of this blog (hmm.. thinking, thinking, got nothing) and the blessed name battle (I found out from my friend Kate today you have to pay extra if you leave the hospital w/o naming your baby to change the certificate... so we will have to come up with a name by then, right?!? bah!)

Start the Countdown

2011-01-12T15:39:00.002-05:00

YAY! Only one trimester left - amazing! Maybe because for a good portion of it, I haven't felt (or really even looked that) pregnant, I feel like this pregnancy is flying by. I can't believe in 14 short weeks we will have a baby around here again! The pressure and back pain are starting to kick in on a more regular basis, we have narrowed the name down quite a bit (and it doesn't rhyme with anyone else's, yippee!) and I have started to dig through Eli's bins of old clothes to see what will be usable in April. It's funny when I think about how much more expensive the first child was! At 7 months with Elijah, we had spent so much money! On the nursery, the clothes, the eeeverything.... it was all I thought about every time I went into a store. For this child, I have spent a total of $3.69 thus far. Hah! I purchased a swim shirt at Old Navy which was wicked clearance cheap at 69 cents and a clearance $2.99 hat at Crazy 8 that I just could not pass. Well I could of, but I didn't. Poor boy. Oh well! I'm sure there will be purchases to come :) We missed the 24 week picture last week, so here is the 25 week one - the last of the 2nd trimester (as I am only taking them every four weeks and that would put the next one at 29 weeks - the LAST trimester, WAHOO!):

25 weeks and counting!

Clipboard

2011-01-08T15:01:00.001-05:00

I am so excited to get this rolling! I received an email from someone last year that had different Christmas tradition ideas. One of them was to get a basket or clipboard for all of your Christmas cards. Each week, put a different family's card on the board, and your family prays for them that week. I wanted to do this last year and kept my cards up forever meaning to go get a clipboard, and never did. Well I finally got the darn clipboard today! Yay! So up it went:

Wickstra family, it appears you are up first! =O)

It is hanging right next to our family calendar in the kitchen/dining area, so it will be passed/seen often. The goal is at breakfast or dinner or whenever we pray as a family, to be reminded to pray for this family and their current needs/concerns too! We received 23 Christmas cards, so it will get us through almost half the year! If you didn't send out cards (tsk, tsk... hee hee :) but would like to be included, feel free to send us a note or letter and we'll add you to the pile! We have 29 open slots left this year :)

2010 Recap (sorry, longest post EVER)

2011-01-03T12:17:00.004-05:00

You crown the year with Your good blessings, and You leave abundance in Your wake. Psalm 65:11

I would say 2010 brought some pretty big changes/blessings here in the Wykes household! For me, obviously the biggest blessings were going from being a full time employee at a company, to being a full time employee of my household =) And the other would be going from a mom of one, to a soon-to-be mom of 2! Still scary to think about! Here is our year besides that:

January

We rang in the New Year with the Wilcox and Sidlauskas families! Look how little the boys are!

It seems this can't be a year ago?? He looks so innocent ;)

February

Dianna and I celebrated our 20th anniversary of friendship in Chicago! Great times!

March

I started my "couch to 5K" training in March. Oh the pain.

Patrick had his annual bike ride at the Lakes Mall

Stretching out with daddy. Cutie pie.

April

We were able to visit both families for Easter - here with Grandma Great Helen (Wykes)

My sister and I with our boys and (their) Grandma Great Betty (Osborne)

May

Tulip Time Fun with friends!

Tulip Time Run 5k completed! Woohoo! We look tired. We were.

We spent Mother's Day in Howell meeting up with cousins!

The end of May brought the 4 year anniversary of this lovely day! Love you Patrick!

June

June brought an early delivery for Gabriella Elaine Alexander

5 lbs and 5 oz. of pure preciousness!

Patrick and I attended an S3 wedding and had a blast! Here's the whole group!

Summer fun for Elijah and Calen

Father's Day with my dad!

July

July 4th in Holland

July 4th weekend at the cottage with the Wykes Family!

Lots of beach time this summer - Elijah loved the sand, and a little water :)

August - this is the month I turned in my notice at work, but I don't have any pics of that!

Patrick completed the Ludington Triathlon. It was upon returning from this trip
we discovered we were expecting Wykes baby #2! Quite a surprise!

We spent as much time outside as a family as possible - soaking up the sun
and the limited days that Patrick has a 9 - 5 schedule! Eli loved "helping" wash cars!

September - I ended my employment with Informs, Inc. and became a (very morning sick) stay at home mom!

Over Labor Day weekend, we painted the cabinets white. Quite the project!

At the end of the month, we announced we were expecting!

Baby Wykes #2 making it's picture debut (Sept. 28th, 10 wks.)

October

Elijah turned 2 on October 3! Elmo party!

And let the play-dates with friends begin!

Fall fun with friends! The jumping pillow, always a good time :)

Halloween cuties at Moran Park Trunk or Treat

November

Elijah got to have a mini reunion with his childcare girlfriends when
we joined them for a trip to the nature center!

Thanksgiving Day playing with Calen!

December - in early December, we had our ultra sound and got a clear shot of what would be our second Wykes son =o)

Mid December, Elijah transitioned to a big boy bed, complete with
transportation bedding he picked out! Oh man, he's so old!

The snow started off in December!

And the snow came and came and buried us!

Our 2nd annual Ugly Sweater Party!

Christmas 2010 - Elijah's fire truck from Uncle Justin. Holy cow!

At the end of the month, we took a trip to Chicago with my parents!

So that about sums up the year in pictures! We are very excited for 2011 - especially the arrival of our new baby boy in just a few short months! Thanks for scrolling through and thanks for being a part of our past year!!

As a side note (for those STILL reading ;) I would like to point out my shrinking husband in pictures:

SO proud of him - he lost over 30 lbs this year from May (top pic) to November (bottom pic). What can I say, he's amazing!!

Can we just skip age 2?

2010-12-22T12:36:00.000-05:00

Galatians 6:9 says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest IF we do not give up!” I feel so much like giving up these days, so this verse has been very helpful :) Just when I feel like we're making some progress with Elijah, we have a rough day where I feel like a majority of it is spent in time out. I really have to remind myself that I am not aiming for perfection, just progress - he is 2, after all. And a young 2 - he hasn't quite clicked over to the comprehension level of understanding discipline. After a time out, I ask him if he knows why he is in time out and then tell him it's not nice, or whatever, and then to say sorry for what he did. Most of this involves repeating me, and after a few times of this, he just started repeating everything I said... "Elijah do you know why you're in time out?" and he says "Jah-jah, do you know why in time out?" So I know he doesn't quite understand what's going on yet. But we'll get there soon, so we keep on keepin' on. Maybe at 2 and a half or 3 we will reap our harvest of good behavior. I am confident if we keep on top of it and not just give up out of frustration or because WE are tired of disciplining, and keep praying for help, he will come around. He's a good little boy MOST of the time =o)

In other news, I received my ultrasound report today, and this child is measuring right on track (so no change in due date). After Elijah's u/s, and before we knew I would have a c-section, my doctor told me to brace myself, as his head and shoulders were the only thing measuring ahead. And his length was measuring behind - she said I was having a troll (she's quite the comedian). But with this boy, everything was right between 45-60th percentile, so it seems we may have a chance of actually buying proper size headwear for him. Elijah never wore toddler size hats - oh wait, yes he did, when he was a baby. He now wears youth size, and a couple of Pat's. Funny stuff.

My doctor may have also cinched the name game for me today... she asked me what we were planning to name him, and I told her. She said "oh, XXXX (the name of our friend's kid it rhymes with)." and I said "no, YYYYY (sounding it out for her)" and she "oh, that's cute". BLAH! I do not want to have to do that every time I tell someone my kid's name. Hmmmmm... it may have just been shifted to name #2 on the list : /

Sell your life away

2010-12-21T14:39:00.000-05:00

So we had done a really good job of getting a savings built up, and then we decided to pay off the Jeep and keep just $1000 in there. It hurt, Dave Ramsey, it hurt. I love being down to one car payment, but having savings to me is such a safety net that it's painful to see it all go. So then we decided to go down to one income and try to build it back up again. But in a much shorter period of time, which we weren't really sure how :) So I will tell you how (well, a helper anyway)! According to Dave Ramsey, you should sell so much, the kids think they're next. So I use Craig's List - I love it! Our grand total, since August (so roughly 4 months), with the sale of our old dishwasher today, is currently at $790, with another $155 pending out there. And the wonderful part is, I don't miss any of the stuff! It was just "stuff" sitting around our house which wasn't doing anything but collecting dust - and helped perk our savings up - or just cover stuff so we didn't have to hit the savings. And most everything on there has sold within a week of posting it. My rule of thumb with Craigs list is that if you haven't gotten an email within a day or two of posting, you're asking too much, need a better picture, or better description. But usually just asking too much. It isn't the perfect market for all things - we have a $15k cello (circa 1900) that we've been trying to sell for years (anyone in need??). Not so much on Craigs List. But for most things under $500 (and vehicles!), I would highly recommend utilizing it - it's totally free and very easy to use. And maybe your savings account could use a little perk too! Time to clean out that basement :o)

I was busy taking pictures of the dishwasher to post, and he was following me around -
"mommy! cheeeese! mommy!" Apparently he is used to being the recipient of my camera :)

Ho ho ho... or no?

2010-12-10T11:51:00.002-05:00

We recently had a discussion with friends on whether or not they will be telling their kids Santa is real. We have not really had to deal with this yet, as Elijah still has no clue what's coming in a couple weeks. Whether you tell them all their gifts are from him - or one, or whatever, it's whether or not you decide to let them believe.

I was not raised this way (to believe in Santa), and always thought I would do it the other way. I saw how excited my cousins got on Christmas Eve and thought "I want my kids to get that excited too". But now that I am older, I have changed my mind and think I better understand why my parents did it the way they did it. For my family, the goal/focus was not for the the gifts we received, but rather the true meaning and reason for the season. We read the whole story out of the Bible, completed the Advent season, and prayed as a family before we were given anything. And now that I'm preparing to create my own traditions, I'm not sure the idea of Santa fits into that.

I saw this article posted this morning, and really love the concept/ideas he presents to his 5 children. It's from Mark Driscoll, the founding pastor of Mars Hill church in Seattle (thanks Mol!). Here's a snippet of what he has to say (full article here) (and sorry about the mixed font, it pasted funny):

'Tis the season . . . for parents to decide if they will tell the truth about Santa. When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don't feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

Redeeming Santa

So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.

We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children.

What we are concerned about, though, is lying to our children. We teach them that they can always trust us because we will tell them the truth and not lie to them. Conversely, we ask that they be honest with us and never lie. Since we also teach our children that Jesus is a real person who did perform real miracles, our fear is that if we teach them fanciful, make-believe stories as truth, it could erode confidence in our truthfulness where it really matters. So, we distinguish between lies, secrets, surprises, and pretend for our kids. We ask them not to tell lies or keep secrets, but do teach them that some surprises (like gift-giving) and pretending (like dressing up) can be fun and should be encouraged. We tell them the truth and encourage them to have fun watching Christmas shows on television and even sitting on Santa's lap for a holiday photo if they so desire. For parents of younger children wanting them to learn the real story of Santa Claus the Veggie Tales movie Saint Nicholas is a good choice.

Boy oh boy oh boy

2010-12-09T15:38:00.002-05:00

So last week we had our ultra sound and found out another Wykes gentleman is on his way :) I had a good day of mental breakdowns, then woke up the next day over it. Well, maybe not 100%, but I realize I'm not the one who knows what's best for my family. God does, and he gave us another boy. So while I can make all kind of lists as to why it's ok, it doesn't really matter if I prefer it or not. A boy it is!

We've been having all kinds of fun with Elijah lately too, his vocabulary seems to be expanding daily and we find ourselves saying "did he really just that? and in the correct context??" So funny. He put his giraffe in time out today and Pat and I were cracking up. He's been doing lots of things like this lately, laying it down with him at nap time (he's sleepy!), feeding it crackers (oh, he's not hungry) or putting it in time out (he was naughty). I love that he's starting to comprehend things better too and we can talk to him and get responses.

So here is the lovely 20 week pic - according to the ultrasound, I'm measuring just a few days ahead (3-4) but I doubt it will effect the due date at all. I won't see my actual doctor until the end of the month. And that is when the dreaded sugar test is. Ehhhhhhhhhhhh....

20 weeks - half way done! YIPPEE!

Playing in the snow! We have TONS!

Mr. Giraffe in time out

Thankful little boy

2010-11-30T12:13:00.000-05:00

So for a few months, we've been praying with Elijah before bed. After awhile, he pretty much had the prayer memorized.. "thanks for mommy, daddy, elijah, the baby. I pray we stay healthy and have a good night. I love you Jesus, AMEN! (that's his favorite part to say)". However, in the last month, he has realized he can be thankful for more than just his immediate family and started adding things in as he sees fit. This generally can go on forever, as it includes anything and everything that pops into his 2 years old mind.

Last night we were on video chat with all my sisters and parents, so I think they were fresh on his mind. "Thanks for excavators, bulldozers, our cars, Aunt Steppie, Madison (which is actually Dominic, don't ask), dump trucks, Elijah's house, Calen, Grandma, and cars (they get in 3 - 4 times a prayer usually)." SO cute to listen to him list these things off. So then we're singing a song with him (Itsy Bitsy Spider) and right in the middle of the song, he folds his hands, closes his eyes and says "thanks for excavators and bags of cookies", then continues singing. He cracks me up. We also asked him if he wanted a brother or a sister - he said sister (with NO prompting, I swear!) So he's also been adding that in prayers... here's hoping that having faith like a child will pull through ;) Although really, I think if he knew what we were asking, he'd more appreciate a brother =o)

Here are some pics of our most recent family outings - Thanksgiving at my parents house and cutting down our tree (which it turned out he was allergic to, oh well!):

My parents, sister Stefani and (half her) crew, and us for Thanksgiving dinner

Elijah and Calen being wrangled by Grandma Sue for a pic. These two go crazy together!!

Elijah with Grandma and Grandpa Osborne at Partridge Creek outdoor mall

Our pretty little tree we cut down in vain :)

Early on the trigger

2010-11-17T16:22:00.001-05:00

I know, I know, it's not Thanksgiving until next week, and Christmas decorating and what not usually starts after that in this fam. But my kid is taking a late nap today and the house is clean.... so I actually had time to change the summery background on this thing. Therefore, I couldn't bite off doing a background that would only be good for a week :) This one buys me a good 6 weeks. Nice.

Not too much to report around here. We are at week 17 with the pregnancy - and today only 2 weeks and 2 days away from our (hopefully) all telling ultrasound! I'm so excited! However, I have started listing with Pat all of the reasons why it would be ok to have another boy :) We wouldn't have to paint the nursery, we have lots of boy "stuff" - ok ALL boy "stuff", it would be alot easier on the budget, I am having an easier time with boy names this time around, oddly, they could share a room... this list seems so much longer in my head! Anywho, I know it is not up to me, and God has a plan either way! Maybe I am just meant to be a mom to all boys. Who woulda' thought! Just lately I have started feeling regular kicking, mostly at night, but even a couple during the day! Now that I am feeling better and can still pretty much hide the bump in any well-layered outfit, it can easily be forgotten in daily routines. So now, there is no forgetting there is something very much alive in there :) Ahh, the second trimester bliss :)

Already??

2010-11-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

4 months down, woo hoo! Here it is, the 16 week pic:

I hate posing for these. I do.

Lovely! It actually looks like I'm in pain, and it may be the first pic that I am not. Oh, the irony. Days have been going well, I even have felt a few kicks here and there. I forgot how much fun that part is. An awesome daily reminder to take my vitamins. I have a super hard time remembering those, but when I get kicked, it's a nice little prompt :) The whole staying home thing is still going well too. Almost 2 months down for that, and we seem to finally be getting into a routine of some sort. Still lots of tweaking to do, especially with the winter encroaching. But I have found several sites with helpful tips to stay busy/keep a routine, etc. Here are a couple I like to hit weekly (ok, some daily, but who's counting?):

Jodi Michelle
Women Living Well
Good Morning Girls
Literacy Play Groups

Coming around...

2010-11-01T13:50:00.000-04:00

The Wykes Crew at Halloween

So after a week of keeping a b s o l u t e l y nothing in me, followed by a cold, followed by pink eye, I think I may finally be coming out of it =) It's hard to tell if my pregnancy is still effecting my energy when I feel like crap anyway. So now that the cold is subsiding, the eye stuff is over, and food seems to be staying put, we 're going to try working through Elijah's naps :) We'll see how this goes. It's a great time to experiment, as usually without the nap I crash about 6 or 6:30. Which would be cool, except alot of the nights Pat is not here to tag off to, so we have another good 2 hours to go and I'm just tired :) It usually entails lots of book reading and playing with toys that involve holding still! Anyway, Patrick is "in between" fall and winter seasons right now, so he's coming home most nights. Yippee!

So I am up and Elijah is down sleeping, as I type. I think I am really going to enjoy this whole taking advantage of the nap thing... I did some dishes, started some laundry, folded yesterday's, and have some banana bread in the oven. Yum! And I have yet to eye the couch with a longing. Good sign. I am off to tackle some rice crispy treats for the kids at church tonight, and then work on some bible study homework. If he sleeps a whole two hours, I won't know what to do with myself. A book maybe? Say it isn't so =)

Elijah with Sierra, his future girlfriend, if we can teach him to walk in stilts :)

Our lil tough guy

Luke and Elijah strolling the neighborhood for goods

Shocking, I know

2010-10-19T13:19:00.001-04:00

I CANNOT believe I am actually doing this, but I already forced my husband to take TWO pregnancy pics. You may not think this is shocking, but considering there are probably 3 of my first pregnancy total, I think I am doing pretty good =) I am attempting to do a 4 week tracker, to keep track of when, all the sudden, I look pregnant. I FEEL oh-so-pregnant and always look at these pics after he takes them and say "why do I feel so much bigger than that??" I look down, it's there. He takes a pic, it disappears. Ah-mazing.

I was talking with some girls at work just before I found out I was pregnant about when my stomach 'popped out' and when I stopped feeling sick, etc. and realized I wasn't really sure, as I recorded nothing. So I ventured to Amazon, bought a pregnancy journal, and am recording aaaaalllll kinds of crap I am sure to never look back on. But at least it will be there just in case I ever think, oh, it wasn't so bad... Ok, so here are the first couple. These early-on ones are kind of silly, because it looks like I'm just standing around taking pics of myself turned side ways for fun:

8 weeks. Sillyness.

This is me, after looking at the first 8 week picture, saying "I swear I FEEL more pregnant than this!"

12 weeks. Again, I swear it is bigger than this. My camera clearly makes you lose 10 lbs. In the stomach.

Spilling It!

2010-09-29T15:04:00.000-04:00

So I haven't posted on here for a whole month. And now I can tell you why :) A little over a month ago, Patrick and I found out we were pregnant. And you know how when you're first pregnant all your brain thinks about is "Holy crap, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant....etc."? Well that was my brain anyway, so I couldn't post on here without bringing it into EVERYTHING, so now I am free to post again! YAY!

I will get all of the common questions out of the way for you, because I know you are just dying to know ;) I did not know I was pregnant when I decided to quit working, but obviously knew it was a possibility in the near future. I turned in my notice on Aug. 4th and found out Aug 21, so just a couple weeks later. Which of course, sent both of our heads reeling in new ways, as we wondered how a second mouth and a second bottom to diaper would effect our already tight budget. But we also decided we really felt like God had lead us here, and we highly doubted He gave us a baby for us to turn around and head back the other way.

I am due April 28th. However, with the minor and few (bah ha ha ha) complications I had last time, my doctor said I won't be going past 39 weeks, so that puts us at about April 21 or so. I have a 50% chance of the gestational diabetes coming again, and also a 50% chance of the HELLP Syndrome and preeclampsia happening again. So she said with those odds, I am likely to experience at least one of them again. Boo to the hoo to that. But at least this time ,we know what we're looking for, and I now know I CAN live without sugar for like 4 months. Any longer, and it becomes questionable.

Sooooo yeh, I think that is all for now folks! I am very much looking forward to the end of my first trimester in a couple weeks here... the exhausted, nauseous me is not so much fun for a 2 year old to play with all day =o)

Elijah's cool new shirt. Yep, he has no idea.

First picture of Wykes Baby #2

A little more sure...

2010-08-24T21:10:00.000-04:00

So I had Friday of last week and Monday of this week off. I was supposed to be in Ludington soaking in the sun, but Pat had some football scrimmages to attend to, so his two days off became no days off. However, I decided to keep mine. We spent Saturday and Sunday supporting Patrick in his triathlon (woohoo honey! you rock!!), but I spent both of my "vacation" days home with Elijah. And I was pleasantly surprised at how it went =) He ended up with a cold anyway, so in between breathing treatments and feeding him teaspoons of honey, we had lots of fun. I was so surprised at how well he does with one on one attention. Usually, he is at daycare all day with 2-4 other kids, and then we get home around 5:45, make/eat dinner and I am done, and really so is he. He starts to melt down and act out, etc etc. Super quality time for the both of us. But on Friday, I was able to spend all day with him, doing puzzles, coloring, stickering (not a word, I know), playing catch, playing outside and before I knew it, the days were gone.

I had gotten this picture in my head of my child being just grumpy and crabby, because at 6 or 7 PM, when I get to sit down with him, that's what he is. But I really think it has something to do with him fighting (kind of literally) all day for attention of SOMEONE. ANYONE. Then for two days (well four, really) he got it, and he just seemed like a totally different child. So, instead of scaring me off into "well crap what am I supposed to do all day now", my days with him seemed to have reinforced my theory. It really will do him well. And me too, I get to see a whole new side of my son. Which is super exciting =o) And not only that, but the other doors I think God is going to open for our family. He's already opening doors, and it will only get better from here. Now, if I could just get us over this darn cold... I am not so good at this whole "rest" thing :)

Elijah patiently waiting for Daddy while he was swimming. Oh to have his eyelashes...

2 legs into the triathlon and STILL smiling for his wife taking pics! He's an animal!!

Patrick carried Elijah the last bit of his race. Elijah was oh so delighted... Da-yee!!

New direction

2010-08-17T15:51:00.003-04:00

So many changes, I don't know quite where to start. So I suppose I should start with quitting my job... AH! Even typing it seems weird still. I am about to be unemployed, at least formally so, and for possibly quite a chunk of time. I have decided to be a stay at home mom. This excites me and terrifies me at the same time :) So where did this come from, you may wonder?

Starting in June, Patrick started working early mornings, leaving the AM drop off at child care to me. This has never really been my responsibility. I think in my mind I was always just leaving him home with Pat. It was a lot easier to swallow, believe me. So every day, I dropped him off, with his arms wrapped around my neck, amidst "nooooooo's". Literally, every morning, my heart would break a little more as I pulled away in my car. It continues to do so, to this very day. It just felt like a heavy weight on my heart all day. So I threw the idea at Pat of me staying home. We decided to try out not spending my check, saving all we could, and cutting expenses where we felt would be easiest. And finally, it just happened. Literally, within a couple weeks of deciding it was going to be do-able, I turned in my notice at work. Though I was planning on waiting until the end of the month, I felt like I just needed to get it out there. Make it real and known before I could take it back.

So that was a couple weeks ago. I am staying at work until they replace me, and train the new hire, I will done one month from today. September 17th. alksjdflaksdjf;aldskjf. One month! I have had (at least one job, if not 2 or 3) consistently since I was 16 years old. So taking this "break" from the career ladder and making my new boss someone with sticky fingers and fruit snack addictions and Bob the Builder obsessions is a little intimidating =o) But I trust God has a plan and a purpose for this change in our lives. I am excited about what it is going to bring and excited where it will take us as a family. Here's to new directions!

Pretty Classy

2010-07-20T18:36:00.000-04:00

So after suffering a long day of double vision and headaches, I really really really wanted to not cook and just go to Logan's tonight for dinner. But here we are, attempting to save money, and eat at home more and bla bla bla. So I resisted the urge, took some Advil, and talked Patrick into grilling. While he grilled, Elijah and I decided to play outside (he in the pool, me a chair catching rays). Dinner came quickly, and dragging that kid out of his mini-splendor is not fun, so we decided to eat outside.

So here is the lovely evidence of us, dining poolside, in our classy patio furniture (insert haughty-taughty laugh):

Elijah stole Pat's chair, so Pat was left to fend for himself :)

Ah, the summer days. Going to miss these soon enough.

Budget Shmudget

2010-07-13T17:29:00.000-04:00

Aaaaaaye! I am screaming at myself, all the way to Target, where I go blindly, essentially every time I pass. Seriously. Seriously. So this past weekend, my husband and I came to the glaring reality that we have got to be some of the most wasteful people ever. We blow through our income like nobody's business and it's just become ridiculous. It's been in the back of my head a lot lately, but it just really isn't an option anymore. It's a got to. And Target, you have been a bad, bad friend with your end caps full of feature fresh products and neat little do-dads. I will avoid you like the plague if I must. Well I will at least try to go only with a purpose. And maybe with some sort of Target hater that can be my accountability partner. Who hates Target?

So I need budget help. I have never done one (as if that isn't clear) and am unsure how this is going to best work for us. We tried collecting receipts once, that didn't work. We tried paying in all cash once, that didn't last. We tried going to Dave Ramsey and paying off massive amounts of debt, which we did and in the end just wiped out all of our savings. Hmmmm. A girl from work suggested writing all expenses, as much as possible in a spreadsheet and tracking each month in a tab so you can easily compare. And another friend Jodi, pays in all cash and has this cute little accordion-type plastic thing she organizes and carries it all around in. I just need to figure out what is going to work for us - that we will actually stick to. I do know one thing, that birth order book wasn't kidding when it said two babies getting married spells t r o u b l e in the finance department :) Yikes!

I love my child

2010-07-01T17:41:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to make sure you all knew that :=) My last post was a bit of a rant and I apologize 'bout that. His breathing has been much better, which is really what matters! He is learning and growing every day, the kid started out in his "warm weather clothes" in 18mo, skipped right to 24 mo and is now wearing 2T in some things. We pray with him before meals and bed and he is getting so good at it! He folds his hands and squints his eyes and says "Jeeeeeeee-sus!" It's pretty darn cute :) His other favorite phrase is "big truck" (which every van, truck and SUV qualifies as), which requires puffing his chest out and making fists to say. Or when a semi passes by he goes "whoa. big truck!" Hah! Ok, enough rambling. I forgot to post pics of my new little niece born last month - here they are. She's a beaut!

Gabriella Elaine Alexander June 5th, 2010

Gabriella's whole family :) My sister Stefani and crew!

Toddler on drugs

2010-06-30T19:04:00.000-04:00

So last week my son had another one of his lovely breathing fits again. The Dr likes to tell me that he just has small air ways, but I find this ridiculous. Every time the kid gets a cold, his oxygen levels are low enough to keep us at the ER all night getting steroid treatments. Is this normal? I think not. It started when he was 4 months old, that was his first episode. He had 4 his first winter, a couple more the following summer, and had 3 his past winter. They are terrifying and exhausting.

Anyway, moral of the story is they finally gave us something to deal with it at home! They gave us a steroid he can take with his nebulizer when his "small air ways" act up. So we've been doing these treatments twice a day.... and he has been the worst monster ever! I am not claiming he was some angel before this, I am not as disillusioned as my Facebook pictures may lead you to believe. He certainly has his moments, but overall he is a pretty well-natured kid.

But not right now. Oh my ever loving word. EVERYTHING entitles him to a complete melt down. I have to watch Elmo instead of Manny? excuse me while I cry for 5 minutes. It's insane. So then, come to find out, this lovely steroid causes stomach aches and moodiness. Whaaaat? I suppose for the sake of keeping my child breathing, it is better to keep him on it (until we get an appt with an allergist and maybe see what the heck is actually causing all this). But seriously, I wonder sometimes. I have had opportunity after opportunity to pray for patience - that's for sure. Patrick and I were sitting at the dinner table last night while Elijah wiggled and squirmed in his chair, refusing any food, and I had serious considerations of putting the kid to bed at 6. Just to not pin him there :) Sooo yeh, that is my life right now - life with one heck of a moody 21 month old. Aye! Enough venting though... here are some pics in the life of a pre-drugged 20 month old Eli =)

Here we battled the pavement and lost. Tough cookie.

Loves playing with his water table, especially with his cousin Calen

Is very good at finding random things like daddy's old glasses

Did I mention this kid LOVES water?

And jumping. This is us (and Eli's friend Sierra) on a giant jumping pillow

And last, but not least, the beach! Can't get enough of the sand, this kid

Bye bye my favorite festival...

2010-05-07T21:29:00.004-04:00

I can't get enough of it, it's almost over!! Tulip time is dwindling down and I am so sad it is going out in a miserable weekend of rain and cold temps. Bummer! But Elijah and I spent lots of quality time (ok, I liked it, he mostly just squirmed and screamed through it) down town this week. We went down every night to watch the dancers. Patrick was able to join us on Wednesday, he had to work the rest (another bummer!)

Here is a lovely list, that I think will make you all want to puke, as it basically did me, of my food purchased/eaten this week:

Saturday – corn dog, French fries, cotton candy, ice cream (you have to start out strong…. mind you, I ran a 5k that morning, this day hardly even counts)

Sunday – Funnel cake and fresh lemonade, candied almonds

Monday - Just cotton candy

Tuesday – Pizza, breadsticks, cotton candy, caramel apple

Wednesday – Philly steak sub, lemonade, French fries

Thursday – Corn dog, homemade potato chips, cotton candy, funnel cake, ice cream (Kilwins)

Friday - Tums. just tums.

Here are some of the pics:

Family pic with the CMU tulips :)

Tulip Time night with the "small group" from church :) Love them!

All the girls with their kiddo

Elijah in his dutch outfit with "Lowa" (Laura)

Me and my momther enjoying the tulip festivities!

I work with these two "dutchmen" - Jill and Shirlee!

Just a fun old pic - our first Tulip Time (2008). Four months preggo with Eli in this pic!

Almost there...

2010-04-27T10:16:00.000-04:00

So it is go time this week – the 5k is only 4 days away. The 8 weeks of training has gone by so incredibly fast. The most unbelievable thing of it all is that I got up early this morning and ran 3 miles ALL BY MYSELF before heading off to work. Holy cow. If you would have told me I would do that 2 months ago, I would have gotten my best work out of my week laughing at you. AMAZING!

I am really excited for the run this weekend, but even more super duper excited for Tulip Time!! Oh my goodness – the flowers, parades, Dutch Dancing, people crawling all over the place (I actually love this, I’m weird, I know), and the best part… the junk food vendors on every corner! I can taste the Elephant Ears now… and the funnel cakes, and the corn dogs, and the steak fries, and the cotton candy, and the sno-cones… oh the list goes on and on :) It's my favorite week of the year for sure. Nothing better than meeting up with friends and family and showing off your little part of Michigan. Especially when your little part of Michigan has over 3 million tulips! Yep, we pretty much rule.

Staycation

2010-04-07T21:06:00.000-04:00

We're on our staycation here in Holland - Dave Ramsey style. Patrick and I both took the whole week off for his spring break. We don't have any plans, just no work :) This is the first year since getting married we haven't gone somewhere for this vacation, but we're on a budget now, so no can do.

Our plans included lots of outdoor work, yard maintenance, etc. but the weather has hardly cooperated. It's been a pretty rainy week, which has put a damper on everything. But it really has been nice just hanging out around our home, playing with our son all day. He has been going to bed around 9 since daylight savings. Today he was out cold by 8:15. Apparently we're wearing the kid out :)

I am currently in week 5 of my 8 week "couch to 5k" training program. I can't believe it has already been 5 weeks, and it completely terrifies me that I have only have 3 left. Yikes. On Sunday, I would have told you three weeks would do it. I had an awesome run with Pat and my mom around her subdivision. We did 3 miles in 30 minutes. My best - by far. I was all pumped up, thinking "this is what it feels like to a runner". THEN Carolynn and I went running Tuesday and I was dying again the WHOLE time. UGH! So frustrating. I'm hoping tomorrow goes a lot better. I don't see how it can't.

Not too much else going on - sorry :) Here are my random thoughts of the day: Organized my closet today and that feels wonderful! I am currently waiting for American Idol to come on (in 7 minutes) and am excited that I finally feel like this season is getting somewhere. I can finally eat candy again - have so much from Easter I can't see straight - and think I kind of got used to not eating it that much? Weird.

Here are some pics from the holiday, enjoy:

This is my fav pic from Easter. Elijah and his Grandma-Great Helen

Elijah's first Easter egg hunt. They were filled with fruit snacks. Yum.

With his cousin, Calen. He is 3 weeks older than Elijah.

My sister and I got them matching outfits. So stinkin' cute.

Family

Probably my 2nd fav pic of the lot. He cashed out

sitting with Grandpa. Just takin' a snooze.

My own March Madness...

2010-03-20T19:45:00.001-04:00

As I sit here listening to my husband and Mike complain about their ruined brackets, I am thinking about the status of the two most horrible things in my March (no, they are not my husband and Mike). For one, no candy - still! UGH! However, I am only 2 weeks away from getting to eat candy when ever my little heart desires and this makes me happy. What doesn't make me happy is running. I am only 2 weeks IN to this, and Oh the pain! I am convinced there is some mechanical disfunction with my body that makes it more painful for me than anyone else, EVER. Isn't that convenient of me to come up with? hah. But seriously, they say the first two weeks are the worst, and I am really hoping so. If Carolynn were not running next to me every time, I am POSITIVE I would have quit about a week and a half ago. It doesn't seem to be getting any easier! I am not so much sore the next day anymore... I am just gasping for breath and feeling like my lungs are giving out about a half mile in. Oh boy. And more poor little feet. Oh how they ache.

I decided to post pictures of my son galavanting around the house the way he does at the ripe age of 18 months (an official toddler, oh my goodness!) These pictures are much better than looking at me suffer pounding pavement. Enjoy.

Watching daddy's bike race at the mall. Loves water bottles now.

Stretching with daddy. Yep, he's being honed.

I am looking forward to the day when we finally get rid of this gate.

He just has to master those darn stairs!

LOVES brushing his teeth. Ok, he loves the toothpaste :)

Dunkan Sheik comes to mind...

2010-03-07T20:21:00.000-05:00

Carolynn fanning herself through her 20 minutes....

Mike getting a massage in the background :)

Here's something you don't see every day!

Using the "TrueStretch" in an attempt to be able to move the next day.

So today was our first day of training for our 5k coming up in May. And after doing a running/walking combo for 20 minutes, I find my theme song should be the one hit wonder of one Mr. Sheik. You know the song... "Cuz I am barely breathing and I can't find the air, don't know who I'm kidding...." No, really, it wasn't THAT bad. Carolynn and I (with husbands and kids in tow) went up to Pat's physical therapy clinic to make our first attempt at our 5k training. I made it through my 20 minutes and still managed to chase my child around the clinic without falling over, so I think that's a good sign. Come back tomorrow - when I'm unable to remove myself from my bed, and I'm sure my story will change =)

Run... who me??

2010-03-03T12:47:00.000-05:00

Here's me, doing my usual exercise routine. Involves napping. That's all.

First I give up candy for lent and THEN I volunteer myself to run over 3 miles... I have gone officially nuts. Oh my word I'm going to run a 5k.... I just want to put it out there so I can't back out. Thanks.

20 Years

2010-03-03T12:40:00.000-05:00

Diyana Bean and Staysea Dee - or Dr. Watermelon and Dr. Peach (don't ask)

View from our room at the Dana Hotel and Spa

Our awesome room

So 20 years is a long time, and the fact that I have done ANYTHING for 20 years pretty much just makes me feel old. So let me precursor this by saying - we met in first grade :)

Dianna Wren and I have been friends for 20 years this month. That is a long dang time. She has seen me through elementary (we didn't actually get along that well ALL the time, but we had our moments), junior high crushes (we never failed to like the same boy), high school dances (we were pretty much professional dancers at dancing to "Gettin' Jiggy With It"), long distance friendships (I left her in 10th grade - she was never the same (hah)), living together in college (oh boy), my wedding, and now my baby boy (whom I am grooming to be a fine ring bearer for her use in the future, if not groomsmen). Anyway, here are some pictures of our weekend in Chicago celebrating this milestone. Love you lady ;)

Eyelash masacre

2010-02-18T20:06:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm ready to admit it: I tore out a good 80% of my eyelashes this past Sunday. I was using my beloved curler, fell forward, and didn't let go of the curler. Yowza! Out came all the eyelashes it had it's grip on. No one has really noticed this week, so I feel comfortable pointing it out now. Plus, Emily, a friend from work, told me eyelashes have a 3 week cycle. That made me feel much better about it :)

Weekend with the family

2010-02-18T19:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, I was playing football. These are just the size of people I prefer to play with :)

Elijah with (some of) his cousins. Both him and Calen look none too thrilled to be taking pics

Elijah and daddy enjoying the snow

Playing in the backyard

Dylan going for a touchdown

He loved this slide. So weather appropriate :)

Exploring

Complaining Gets Me Nowhere.

2010-02-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

I am being lazy and not getting up to get my camera to load pictures from this past weekend. It was a fun, but rough one. We went to Troy for a marriage retreat/seminar at Kensington Church and stayed with my parents for the weekend. The seminar was very good, and we had a great time with the fam, but it was hard for me to concentrate. I've been having a hard time with my vision again. Not taking the medicine they gave me doesn't help, so Sunday when we got home, I decided it was time to get back on track. However, since then, I have been sorely reminded as to why I hate taking it. I have zero energy and am nauseous most of the time. This is not a great set up for a 9 hour day at work and an active baby boy to follow around at home all evening. I hate feeling like this, but the double vision and headaches are no picnic either :/ Okay, enough complaining. It certainly isn't going to solve anything.

For lent, I am giving up candy. Yes, you heard me right. I am doing this for a couple reasons. My husband is trying to eat better, and it's no help when I bring nothing but crap home all the time. Also, I don't think it helps my vision issues with how poor my eating habits are. The amount of sugar I intake has to be effecting something, so I figure why not give it up and see how it helps. I eat candy at work all day long, so this will have to be replaced with something. I'm hoping that something will be things like carrots and apples. We'll see. I also think it's important to give up something that is a challenge, so that we are reminded daily what/why we are doing it. TO remember the sacrifice God made for us :)

Ooooook I think that is all I have to spout out for now. I am going to go do my homework for my Beth Moore group. That should be encouraging... and I could use some right about now :)

Shorty Sweet Tooth

2010-02-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

Hmmm yep, that might stick :) So I came up with "Smarty Tall Pants" for my tall, intelligent friend Kate. And in the same theme, I think mine should be shorty sweet tooth (wait... there's no pants. oh well). I can't help it, I just love candy. I eat it.. alot. I have 2 candy dishes on my desk, which I refill almost daily (it's not ALL me... I have co-workers, I swear). Anyway, continuing in my "birthday week", my husband sent me this candy bouquet at work today. Does he know me, or does he know me?? This is amazingly wonderful. I love him. And the candy.

Turning 27

2010-02-10T20:18:00.000-05:00

Not about to get nostalgic and look back on 27 years, nope. Just wanted to leave a few quick thoughts on how WONDERFUL my husband is. I could not ask for any more, seriously. He turned this birthday into my birthday WEEK. How cool is that? Monday he brought home Olive Garden (my fav), Tuesday he brought home beautiful pink roses (pictured), and some grape tomatoes (also a fav). Today he got up and made me my favorite breakfast (french toast), went and got me a mocha, and when I got home from work, he was already here, cleaning the driveway of my annual birthday blizzard snow (yes, I have my own blizzard that comes without fail in my honor, on my birthday). THEN he gave me another present - a Wi-Fi memory card that automatically uploads my pictures to iPhoto for me! Holy cow, I am excited. My sister heather thinks I'm a photo factory now, she has no idea what's coming ;)

ANYWAY, I just wanted to say that I am amazed by my awesome hubby daily and I love him dearly. How blessed am I??? I may now be in my late twenties *sigh*, but who cares, I have SUCH a catch =)

Colts vs. Saints... I think :)

2010-02-09T21:04:00.001-05:00

I will openly admit I watched possibly a total of 20 minutes of this game. I was "cheering" for the Saints, but mostly because I heard somewhere along the line (from my hubby, I'm sure) that they had never gone to the Super Bowl. Gotta love firsts. So, my team won! YAY :) Sickly competitive, I know.

Anywho, we had some of our friends over to enjoy the game/commercials/food with us. I refuse to classify these people as my "small group" friends, because I am positive we would have become friends with or without the group =) They are such awesome people and we love them and their kids so much! Oh - and might I mention the 20 minutes of the game I did watch were all in the 4th quarter - after each of the children individually melted down and the parents respectfully threw in the towel and headed out in the 3rd quarter.

I decided to include this picture of my son watching the game because it includes Hershey, the best dog ever. Hershey is not my dog, and I am not convinced I would still think she was the best dog ever if she was, but she's pretty spectacular either way. She is labradoodle puppy whom we've been dog-sitting for almost a week. She's so calm and great with kids. She doesn't shed on my furniture and hasn't chewed any of my furniture, or pee'd on any of my floors. That puts her about 100 points ahead of my own former dogs... but the kicker is she hasn't barked! Oh the silence is wonderful. I forgot that you can have dogs and almost forget they are in your home. Holy crap - Hershey has restored my faith in the animal once again.