We Have This Moment

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T18:04:00.003-06:00

(Click the picture if you want to view a larger version of the "card")

Anyone out there still "reading"--I'm pretty sure given my lack of content over the last year it's not the most happening place...but in case you're out there, from us to you--Merry Christmas!!!

May you experience joy, love, and family while remembering why we celebrate!

SOLD!

2011-11-10T16:13:00.002-06:00

2 years, 5 months, and 9 days after closing on the house we currently live in, our first home is SOLD!

So thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving-month everyone!

Family Photo Shoot

2011-09-17T22:23:00.005-05:00

We had a chance to take some family pictures last week, always so much fun!

Love these pics, love these people!

New Beginnings

2011-09-14T15:30:00.005-05:00

At the end of August I found my middle baby doing this:

My little baby doing this:

And my biggest baby doing this:

Where does the time go? Maybe if we can find some routine around here I'll get a chance to start posting again...maybe.

Someone else has already written the grocery-saving post...

2011-05-20T16:15:00.002-05:00

My friend Jen (who really needs a blog, but to my knowledge doesn't have one) sent me a link to a website she found today. Specifically, she linked me to a page on the site in which the author took my no-spend grocery challenge to a new level. The author lived (successfully) for 100 days spending only $1/day. Wow! From what I can tell, his "family" unit consists only of himself, so if you multiply his $30/month x 5 we're still in that range, but $1/day certainly sounds more impressive!

Anyway, while browsing the website, there was a link to a page on "lazy couponing" as I read along I realized that the article basically outlines my grocery-saving strategies and my philosophy on couponing. I wouldn't have put any of it as bluntly as the author does, but the bones of it are nearly identical.

He states one of his basic philosophies on couponing/saving like this:

Second, you need to be willing to shop in a way that is in your best interest. While this sounds like something that everyone would instantly say “yes, of course I want to do that,” the reality is that very few people do. Doing so will likely require a significant change to how you currently shop. If you are reading this, the chances are overwhelming that you are currently shopping the way grocery stores and manufacturers hope you will shop, not in your own best interest.

He then outlines a very effective strategy for changing how you think of grocery shopping which at least in our family's case has drastically reduced our grocery bill (as promised):

The way that the grocery stores and manufacturers don’t want you to shop is to only purchase the very best deals available each week and nothing else. The way to accomplish this is to plan your meals from what you already have in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboards (your stockpile of food). When you begin to plan all your meals on what you already have on hand, then there is no longer any need to purchase anything at full price. In fact, the only time you need to purchase any item is when it is at the very best price you can get it.

This simple change in the way that you shop will instantly save you 50% or more. In fact, this change is far more powerful than couponing, although the addition of couponing will further reduce the amount you spend on food. If, however, this is a change that you are not willing to make, you are probably better off not even bothering to read any further. While coupons can still save you money without this change, the savings will be minimal and you will quickly grow tired of using them due to the seeming small amount that they help you save (Don’t believe me? Then why aren’t you couponing right now?) Once you make this fundamental grocery shopping change, you take the control away from the store on how much you spend each week and give that power to yourself.

You can go to his blog directly here or to his grocery challenge here. I'd still like to try my hand at outlining what we do and don't do to reduce our grocery bill, but as I can't seem to find the uninterrupted time to write it, hopefully this will point you in the same direction and provide inspiration and ideas that you can incorporate into your own saving strategies. Enjoy!

Belly Laughs

2011-04-03T21:26:00.004-05:00

Someone thinks Daddy is hilarious! I love the sound of a baby laughing, I'm not sure there's a sweeter sound in the world, Annika's just in such a fun stage right now...

Stay tuned this week for the no-spend March recap and (hopefully) the grocery post. For now, I'm going to tuck in my big two who had a special stay-up-late night with Mom and Dad once Anni was in bed. :)

Week 1 Recap

2011-03-09T15:32:00.005-06:00

March's first week is in the books, and our "No-spend" experiment went pretty well. So far, so good. I've gotten a lot of questions about our grocery spending, so I'm trying to put together a post, but I didn't get it finished yet--naps for the bigger two have been sparse recently and it's hard to write with three kids buzzing about, hopefully I'll have a chance in the next couple of days.

The highlights:

-I got more done at home since my shopping time was greatly reduced. For the first week since Annika's been home, I really felt like I didn't have a pressing list of chores that were woefully neglected. (It's hard to credit all of this to No-Spend March (NSM) since she finally got onto a bit of a sleep/wake schedule this week as well, but it definitely was a factor.)

-I found the needed next-winter boots for Joshua, James, and Annika at 75% off. I went in for boots and didn't even look at the other racks, even though there were huge "final clearance" signs around. For me, that's progress!

-We went out as a family on Friday night. We made the monthly character-building variety show our church puts on for the first time and our kids had a blast! Quality entertainment for FREE!

-Saturday night James and I had a game-night with some friends while our kiddos played. Again, fun, quality time with people for no cost.

-We brought the kids on board as coaches. The first few trips into the stores (or past McDonalds in Lydia's case) brought pleas for desired, but definitely unneeded, items. So we explained how we were trying to focus on spending time together, but not spending money on items we already had or didn't need and asked the kids to remind us if they saw us looking at something we didn't need. Though saving money isn't the primary focus, we decided a bit of reward might be in place for the kids, so we promised them 1% of whatever we DON'T spend this month. Joshua is VERY focused on keeping spending down now...and they've stopped whining for extras.

-I went into Target to purchase a needed item and left with NOTHING else. Yep, just what was on my list...that never happens!

-I did use Craigslist this week, but only as a seller. Yay for switching unused items for ca$h! :)

The Lowlights:

-While purchasing needed boots for the aforementioned family members I fell "off the wagon" for the first time. I saw very cute, very cheap, but not strictly needed boots for Lydia for next winter as well. And I purchased them. Oops, first time, but probably not the last.

-I received an extra 30% off coupon in the mail from Kohl's this week. And there are great clearance sales going on in there this week. That may be my biggest challenge: a bargain hunter's paradise. Must. Not. Look.

-James' company's anniversary party is the 19th. It's free, check. We're swapping with friends for sitting, check. But, the theme is Red-Carpet Extravaganza, red-carpet attire is encouraged. I don't have any gala-wear. It's my one excuse per year to go all out and purchase something fancy. I'm not sure what to do. Any thoughts? For the sake of discipline, I want to stick to the no-spend rules, but I also really want something fun to wear. Anyone want to let me shop in your closet for the night??? :)

The Cuties:

I know at least part of my "readership" comes to this site only to see cute pictures of my little people. Here are a few of my favorites from the week:

She's into toys now

But, not quite as much as Lydia would like...

Working hard on sitting up

These two are too cute: hosting a birthday party for Ellie on a couch-boat

She hates being on her tummy, but she's getting better at it. :)

Why Hello, (No-Spend) March!

2011-03-02T14:35:00.004-06:00

March is here and with it little signs of spring...for example, the monthly test of the tornado siren. My kids sat bolt upright and wanted to know why there were alarms going off at promptly 12pm. Not the most pleasant reminder, but it makes me smile because I know spring is right around the corner.

This little face also makes me smile.

Isn't she a charmer? Other than the fact she's decided not to sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time and to make a real fuss at bedtime, she's pretty much the perfect baby--all 13 lbs of her! That's right, she's now a full thirteen pounds in her birthday suit and 24 inches long. It's hard to believe that my little tiny peanut has gained over eight pounds (nine from her lowest weight) and six inches in the past (almost) five months. She's now in the 27th percentile for weight based on her birthdate (50th percentile if age adjusted.) Can you tell her sister is one of her biggest fans?

In other March news, we've decided to participate in "No-Spend March" as challenged by James' cousin, Joylynn. You can read about her reasons for seeking to eliminate a lot of the "extra" in her life this month in these posts. I love her heart for finding simplicity and realizing how much our stuff can control our time, thoughts, and happiness and I love the idea of seeking a simpler life and more meaningful interactions with those around me. I'm hopeful that reducing my dependence on things (and deal-seeking in particular) will make me realize again just how much I've already been given, loosen the grip the desire to always be acquiring more has on me, and help me learn to be more intentional when I do spend.

Here's the full list of the rules, both Joy's originals and our own as we've edited them for our family:

The Rules for "no spend" March

(you can modify to fit your situation if you choose to take part):

1. No purchasing apparel of any kind (clothes,shoes, accessories, cosmetics, etc...) for myself, [my husband, or my kids] regardless of how cute/inexpensive they might be.

2. No purchasing/acquiring (even if free!) items for our home such as furniture, decorative items, supplies to make something for our home (fabric, sewing stuff, paint, random pretty chotchikes...), organizational items, office supplies, etc...

3. No going on Craigslist, to Goodwill/other thrift stores, other retail stores except to buy necessities (as outlined in #4), perusing estate sales in the area, etc...

4. Money will be spent on necessities (mortgage, tithing/other giving, utilities, gas for the car, groceries, medical care if needed, am I forgetting anything?)

5. *Money will also be spent on "experiences" as already accounted for in our budget (a $50 total that can include eating out, going to a museum, renting from the Red Box, etc...).

All of these rules are designed to a) create healthier boundaries on how I spend my time and money and b) allow some freedom for spending within those boundaries. Not too extreme on either side. Which is exactly what I'm going for.

And our addendums:

1. We're going to slash our grocery/household necessities (T.P., laundry detergent and such) budget in half. For us that means $100 for groceries, $50 for necessities.

2. We're still going to purchase (if found) a couple of end-of-winter-clearance items we've previously decided on and budgeted for. (Boots/snowpants for Joshua for next winter and a snowblower.) Even for the "no spend" cause we think it's most prudent to buy these at the end of the season instead of the beginning of next winter. :)

3. We're going to try to keep our entertainment free this month. We too usually have $50/month for the purpose, but we're going to try to get more creative with "fun" and see what we come up with. Hey, by the end of the month it might even be warm enough to peruse the (free) zoo!

4. We're going to try to throw-out/recycle/donate/sell/give-away at least one item in the house that's not being used every day this Month.

Thanks for the inspiration, Joy. I'll try to post weekly on how I'm doing and look to blogland for encouragement and accountability. Anyone else want to join? If you do, I'd love to hear about it.

Bye, Bye February (a.k.a. Sabbatical Pt.1)

2011-02-28T10:44:00.005-06:00

So much for being better about posting this month. Tomorrow is March 1st, hard to believe!

February sped past for us, mostly thanks to James' three-week long sabbatical leave and an [eventually] two week long stay in Barbados.

Barbados was amazing--gorgeous weather, perfect scenery, lots of family time...

Beautiful, huh?

The only not-so-fun part was when Annika decided to make the trip more dramatic, We arrived on Monday and by Saturday she was running her first fever, irritable, congested and somewhat lethargic. (As an aside, how do kids only get sick over the weekend, even in a foreign country on vacation???) By the next morning she was breathing rapidly and grunting/retracting part of the time. Not too fun anywhere, particularly in a place where you don't know the medical professionals, let alone know who is good.

We consulted the first doctor our condo complex recommended on Sunday afternoon. He told us that we hadn't told him anything that concerned him, just to treat the fever with Tylenol and that the breathing fast was likely from the elevated temperature. He also mentioned in the course of conversation that they're "just basically chicks at this point." Huh? Needless to say we didn't really click.

Monday she seemed somewhat better, but the fever and labored breathing returned late that evening, so we got an appointment with a different doc the next morning. Thankfully, this woman was on top of things and was able to give us answers and treatments. The diagnosis: RSV, severe bronchiolitis, and a double ear infection. :( Thankfully after a couple of breathing treatments and a number of prescriptions, she was feeling better quickly. Unfortunately, our flight was scheduled to leave early Wednesday morning. Yeah, that didn't happen--the doctor was adamant that Annika wouldn't be flying anywhere until at least Friday. So, the rest of Tuesday was spent trying to redo all of our travel plans. We got it figured out, but it was not cheap. Thank goodness for travel insurance and for the decision to purchase it!

By Wednesday Anni was feeling much better, so we were able to enjoy a couple more days in the sunshine without worrying about the little one so much.

Our return flights went smoothly with the exception of our first experience of airsickness (Lydia) and a crabby lady seated way too close. :(

We spent last week trying to catch up with ourselves. Thankfully, James had last week off so we could re-acclimate a bit more slowly. We enjoyed the extra time and got to a number of the projects we'd been meaning to do, but had been unable to find time for.

We're back to "normal" this week, Daddy was out the door to work first thing this morning, the kids and I are here on our own, and I have a feeling after three weeks with James around this day may seem VERY LONG. Wish us luck!

A Month Already?

2011-01-21T14:31:00.003-06:00

Wow, it's been a month since I last posted, sorry about that. I'm in a stage where I feel if I get a chance to shower I'm doing well, blogging has fallen a bit down on my list. Not for lack of posting material, it's been a very busy month...

Anyway, here are a couple of new pictures of the kiddos.

Almost Laughing

First time in the snow

My cuties

Precious!

Annika's Dedication

By The Numbers

2010-12-21T14:57:00.003-06:00

3--The number of appointments we had at the doctor's office today

45--The number of minutes the appointments were scheduled to go. Yeah right...

11--Total number of vaccines received by the 5 members of our family.

3--The number of nurses it took to administer said vaccines in addition to both parents.

8.75--The amount in pounds that Annika now weighs. (8lbs, 12oz)

21.5--Her length in inches

89--The percentile Lydia finds herself in for height, no wonder she keeps passing her 4 and 5 year old friends.

34.25--Lydia's weight in pounds, also in the upper 80's percentile wise.

3--The number of times Joshua made the doctor laugh out loud with his antics

1--The number of times he had to sit in time-out while their. Not a highlight.

2--The number of tears Joshua shed during his two shots. He's getting so grown up.

Multitudes--The amount of tears Lydia shed during three shots. She's our drama queen. In fact, she made such a scene that on the way home she told us she only had one shot because she was too worked up to notice the other two. Poor girl. :(

40--Joshua's weight in pounds, glad he's officially big enough for the booster seat he's been riding in since October. :)

105--The number of minutes our appointments really took.

Innumerable--The blessings of three happy, healthy kids!

Cute Siblings

2010-12-16T09:14:00.003-06:00

We're spending some time with parents while daddy's on a business trip. I'm behind on posting (again!) but with the newborn lifestyle, even when baby's sleeping there isn't much time for blogging.

So, for now, enjoy some new pictures. :)

While I'm still Brand New!

2010-11-11T22:02:00.005-06:00

Miss Annika had her newborn photos taken today by our friend, Andrea, and we got some beautiful pictures of the sweetest newborn around (not that I'm biased or anything). It was a lot of fun to watch, and Andrea's so talented and captured a lot of great photo memories that really are so like our Anni.

Another "super-mom" plug, she did all of these with another 3 kids ages 4 and under in the house at the time. :) Here's a sampling of my favorites, Enjoy!

If you want to see more photos, I also posted them to my Facebook profile.

Birth Story

2010-11-07T14:41:00.002-06:00

Today was (one of) my original due date with Annika. (Maybe TMI, but there was a 2-day discrepancy between the dates I had and the date my doctor went by, due to cycle length)

So, before I forget, I thought I'd mark this day with Miss Anni's birth story. :)

Where did we leave off? I think I'd updated on here once I'd been officially diagnosed with severe preeclampsia on Thursday, September 30. After initially deciding to hospitalize me for the duration of the pregnancy, my OB reconsidered and sent me home on strict bedrest, taking my blood pressure 3 times daily and coming into the hospital/clinic every other day for a non-stress test.

On Friday, Sue, James' mom drove down to stay with us for the next few days. Shortly after she got here, my blood pressure went up past the limits my doctor had given me, and we headed into labor and delivery. After being in triage for a couple of hours, having labs redrawn, etc. they decided it was just a fluke bump in BP and sent me back home. Saturday I was scheduled to have a NST at L&D which I went to as planned. During that visit I was on constant BP monitoring and the doctors decided the numbers were consistently higher than they wanted them to be, so I was put on a blood pressure lowering medication and sent home again. All went as planned, and in fact my pressure numbers did drop a bit after a couple of doses of the medication. We were settling in on Sunday for another week of bedrest, and even had a clinic visit scheduled for first-thing on Monday morning. Just before we headed to bed on Sunday night, I had my blood pressure checked again. It was high again, very high--148/98--and I called the on-call doctor as directed. She directed us to come in again and the plan was to hospitalize me at that point.

After arriving in triage at about 11pm, we realized it was a VERY busy night in L&D. The until was swamped and during the course of the night they were laboring not one, not two, but three mothers due to deliver twins! Needless to say, the pregnant lady not having contractions was a bit low on their priority list. We sat in the triage room for the next several hours--various residents, doctors, and lab techs were in and out. Labs were run again, and I was put on the monitors both to check on how baby was tolerating the high blood pressure and keeping tabs on my blood pressure. It dropped a bit again once I got into the hospital, but it still wasn't low.

Finally, the attending physician came in and conferenced with us. Even though I appeared to be stable at the time, she told us, she was recommending we proceed delivery of the baby--that night. After the roller coaster of the previous five days, it was not a shock, we had been anticipating the arrival of our baby sooner rather than later, yet we'd had the plans changed so many times it hardly seemed real.

It was now about 2am on Monday morning, and I'll be honest, I was quite nervous about beginning labor without any sleep. I was curious however to see what kind of progress my body had been making on its own, if any. I'd been having frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions during my whole third trimester and I was favorable for so long with Lydia I was hopeful that maybe we'd have some progress. Unfortunately, not so much this time. When checked after being admitted I was a fingertip dilated, not effaced, and very posterior. Great--not good conditions for beginning an induction five weeks early. At that point I was prepared for a long journey. My IV was started, and by 3:30am the resident had placed the cervical ripener, Cervadil, given to hopefully start the induction process. It takes 12 hours for the drug to work, so we were in a holding pattern until the next afternoon as long as my condition remained stable. Thankfully it did, but wow, that was a long 12 hours! Contractions, albeit mild ones, began almost as soon as they inserted the Cervadil. They were fairly regular at about 7 minutes apart and definitely noticeable, especially since I wasn't allowed to leave my bed except to use the restroom. I was again hopefully when the resident came in to check me that because I'd been able to feel the effects I would have made a lot of positive progress. And I'll tell you, it is a sad day when you're hoping someone will tell you it's time to start Pitocin!

During the 12 hours letting the Cervadil do its thing there was a change-over of the residents. I really liked the woman who was on during the night, I wasn't so much a fan of the daytime resident. There was nothing really WRONG with her per-say, we just didn't really click. She came in around 4pm to check me and pretty soon dashed my hopes of having a Monday baby. Per her exam I'd progressed to about 1cm, effaced to about 30%, and was still very posterior and high station. Needless to say, not the progress we were looking for. The resident tried to be empathetic, but I'm fairly certain she's never been a laboring woman herself. Her condolence: "don't get discouraged, cervical ripening can be a slow process, this might take days." Um yeah, thanks for that--very helpful! The only nice thing I can say about the woman was that when I complained that I was afraid that between no sleep and not eating since dinner on Sunday night that I'd have nothing left when it came time to really labor she shocked the whole room. She informed me that she always lets her cervical ripening patients eat--yep, not just jello or broth, but meals from the cafeteria. That information would have been nice to know all day, but I wasn't complaining, I just wanted my food STAT. Once she left the room the nurse brought me the menu and the phone and confided that she'd never seen a doctor let someone eat before, but by all means go ahead and get something. I still think that was perhaps what allowed me to get through the next 12 hours.

Anyway, back to the induction process, since the Cervadil had been so ineffective it was decided that we should try the other drug used for cervical ripening, Misoprostol. The best news about the new drug, it only takes 4 hours for each dose. It was about 4:30 or so when the new drug was placed. We went back to what we'd been doing all day, trying our best to rest. About 6pm, Sue brought Joshua and Lydia in to see us, it was nice to have them visit and helped take the strain of the process off a bit. I felt more relaxed and confident after their visit. At 7pm the staff changed out again, this time for the better. Not only was I assigned a nurse that I really clicked with, but the resident from the previous night was back on (someone I found out later is a good friend of one of my friends) and it was almost time to see what progress, if any I'd been making.

8pm arrived and with it good news. Not only had I made progress, I'd made good progress. Although I was still quite posterior and she was still very high, I was now dilated to 4cm and 60% effaced! The downside was that because she was ballotable (not fully engaged) rather than being able to break my water and let nature take its course, I would still have to be started on Pitocin.

In all fairness to Pitocin, I've never labored without it, so maybe it's just that labor is wicked, but Pitocin is evil stuff. My body does really weird things while on Pitocin. First of all, it doesn't seem to get the message that no matter if my body is making progress, it needs to show up on the monitor, or the staff will just keep cranking the levels. With Joshua the Pit level was so high that by the time my body got the message and contributed it's own labor I was hyper-contracting and he went into distress. For awhile with Lydia, even though I was feeling intense contractions, on the monitor they were showing up as negative (or dipping/inverted) contractions. This time was no different, though I could feel the intensity progressing the monitor was showing barely any contractions of significance. They got closer together, but to someone not experiencing them, they didn't appear to be actively making progress.

The rest of the evening passed as pleasantly as any labor can, I think. While uncomfortable, the contractions were still manageable, so we got comfy. In fact there was a period where the nurse, resident, and I were swapping birth stories. I gained new respect for the resident, who I discovered was a mother of four pre-school aged kids, the last of whom was born this spring in a flurry that the attending physician barely arrived in time for. The nurse and the doctor had working at each others deliveries, both earlier this year, so they were comfortable together. I was able to share that once things had gotten going both of my previous deliveries had gone FAST! Though it was just a conversation at the time, it turned out to be one of the most important bits of information I shared all night.

Monday crawled to an end, and I realized that all of my kids would be born on Tuesdays, and I was hopeful that they would all be born during the wee hours of the morning (Joshua was 3:08am, Lydia 12:29am) but I thought it was actually most likely that my doctor would deliver this baby as well sometime after she came on duty at 7am. I started feeling a lot of pressure around midnight, and while it didn't really feel like the pushing sensation I was familiar with, I asked to be checked. During the past four hours of being on ever-increasing doses of Pitocin I'd moved from 4cm to 5cm, but was unchanged other than that. At that point I realized it could still be a long process and I began to really think about my pain relief options.

I intended to get an epidural during the course of my labor with Joshua, but was barely dilated when I started discussing it with my nurses, and they convinced me to try a narcotic first. During the couple of hours the narcotic was in effect, I progressed VERY quickly, and by the time I was sure I couldn't tolerate the pain any longer I was 8.5cm dilated and being headed to the OR for a probable emergency C-section. (That didn't happen, but that's a story for another day.) With Lydia, when my induction began I was already 5cm dilated and 80% effaced. Because Lydia was also ballotable, I was on Pitocin for a few hours, but because I was able to be up and walking around I was able to get through the contractions. When I finally felt like it was time for some pain relief I was 9cm dilated and pushing just a few minutes later--too late again! So this time I wanted to be more intentional. After delivering two babies without an epidural, it wasn't that I thought I couldn't do it, it was just that I wasn't sure I wanted to. I also knew that things would probably go very quickly at the end, so I wanted a plan. I debated asking for the epidural back and forth, but finally settled on asking for a dose of narcotic pain relief. The plan was for me to get the narcotic right before my water was broken, and I figured it would be fully in effect during transition and pushing. Given my history, I was doubtful labor would last more than a couple of hours after my water was broken, so I'd have some relief, but not more than needed.

It was a nice plan in theory, however nothing over the past couple of weeks had gone as planned, so I'm not sure why I thought that would! After being checked at midnight, I was pretty much on my own through the next few hours. The nurse popped in and out, but I didn't see the doctor again. The contractions continued to intensify slowly, but nothing noteworthy seemed to be happening. I tried to rest as much as possible and James was dozing on the couch. The monitor continued to show only little blips of contractions and I'm sure everyone thought this would drag on for a very long time. I know I was starting to...

At 4:21am I had another contraction just like the hundreds I'd been having over the past 24 hours, except...during the peak of the contraction I felt something like a rubber-band popping internally. It happened twice and my contraction instantly intensified tenfold. I wondered if my water had broken (it had been broken by the doctor in both of my other labors), but there was no fluid gush, drip, or leak. Just the weird internal popping noises. I told James what had happened and went ahead and paged the nurse. During the next contraction my water began gushing. During the midst of that contraction a nurse I had never seen before walked into the room. She calmly informed me that I should get up and go to the bathroom and she'd change the bed. Um, yeah...about that, I was pretty sure I wasn't going anywhere. At this point the contractions were coming nearly one on top of the other and they were INTENSE. To her credit she seemed to figure that out pretty quickly and backpedaled on the request for me to get up, she just put new padding down. She was not, however, taking me seriously that this was going to happen fast. I requested a doctor so I could be checked, because I was pretty sure I was transitioning and was starting to get the urge to push.

Though there are some very great nurses, I'm always surprised that they seem to think they know better than the mom, especially if the mother has had a child before. When I told the nurse I was starting to feel like the baby was coming quickly, she told me that contractions always intensify right after water breaks, but they'd settle down and come more slowly after a few minutes. She was obviously not getting it! I asked for my doctor and my nurse again and was told my nurse was assisting with a delivery in the next room. At this point I knew whoever was there or not there this baby was coming SOON. My body was starting to push unbidden and I felt the incredible urge to join it. The nurse was still taking her sweet time until I mentioned that Lydia had been born 45 minutes after my water was broken. That got her into action, she then paged the doctors again and started trying to prevent me from pushing. She checked me and told me I wasn't complete. That was very concerning to her, much less so to me, I knew it was only a matter of minutes (seconds?) before I would be--but she was very insistent I couldn't push. Again, I always wonder, have you done this??? There's nothing else you can do when you get to that point. Finally after what seemed like hours, but was really only minutes the doctor and nurse arrived. The nurse kept protesting that I wasn't complete--the doctor re-checked and I was in fact complete. It all happened in a blur after that. I knew she was coming and I didn't think it would be long. I pushed a couple of times and then could feel she was crowning. The doctor was scrambling to get her second glove on while she was born. And then it was over. There hadn't been time to get the bed transformed, the doctor wasn't gowned up, and the attending didn't even make it into the room until after Annika had already arrived. The best part of the whole labor--no tears--what a great thing!!! :)

At 4:43, just 22 minutes after the first "popping" contraction, Annika Caroline joined our family. You all know the rest of the NICU story, it wasn't what we had hoped and planned for, but we survived it, and couldn't be more pleased to have Annika as part of our family. We are in love! Happy Due Date baby girl, I'm so glad you're here snuggling with me. :)

The Fog

2010-10-30T21:49:00.002-05:00

Annika came home last Friday (10/22), so we've spent our last week in the fog that envelopes all households with a newborn. We've been keeping a low profile as Annika's immune system is very immature, she's had respiratory problems, and in general we've just been really tired!

Miss Annika is doing well, lots of sleeping, eating, and pooping. Mommy and Daddy have been getting all the snuggles we can while trying to keep the big brother and big sister entertained as well.

Friends near and far have been so helpful, and even though we received such an abundant supply of meals while we were making trips back and forth to the NICU, we've continued to have people offer to keep us well fed--what a blessing!

Our biggest struggle since bringing Annika home has been transitioning from the bottle to the breast, but after getting a nipple-shield yesterday and deciding to breastfeed exclusively for 2-3 days, I think we've made a breakthrough and it's been 24 hours since she's needed to take any of her feedings by bottle!

Hopefully the next post won't be so long in coming and will be filled with cute, snuggly, newborn photos...and of course trick-or-treating pics as well!

On the 12th Day in NICU...

2010-10-16T16:10:00.006-05:00

My baby got to try...bottle feeding for the first time! :)

Annika continues to improve each day, slowly but surely. As of today, she's down to room air (21% oxygen) again, on 2.5L worth of air flow on the nasal cannula. She graduated yesterday to an open-top crib instead of the isolette and she's been maintaining her body temperature quite well. She is being given a 3-day course of Lasik (a diuretic to reduce water retention) to eliminate the extra fluid she has from being on IV's for 10 days. We can see the reduction in the puffiness in her face, but the main goal is actually to help reduce extra fluid retention in her lungs. It seems to be working well, as her respiration rate has come down steadily over the past couple of days and except for occasional "episodes" she's staying nicely in the optimal range (20-60 breaths per minute). Because of the reduced respiration rate and longer alert periods, she was allowed to try bottle feeding starting last night, and when we were visiting this morning, I got to give her a bottle! :)

To follow up on my last post, I'm sure most of you heard the update either in person, or via Facebook updates, but we learned on Monday (I think, it might have been Tuesday...my days are running together) that Annika had a probable case of pneumonia on top of the premature lung disease from being born at 35 weeks without any steroid lung maturation. Sunday was a rough day, but we actually didn't become aware of the condition until she was starting to make progress again. Honestly, as rough as last weekend was, we feel very blessed that my Group B strep status was unknown when labor began. What seemed like an unnecessary precaution at the time (I've been negative with both other kids, and was again this time we found out later) turned out to make a huge difference in Annika's life. If we had known that I was group B negative, they wouldn't have started her on antibiotics immediately following birth. Without the antibiotics, the pneumonia could potentially have been even more serious than it was, and Annika could have had an even rougher start than she did. Though the journey still seems far from over, we've already starting to see God's hand working throughout the situation. Though it would never have been what we would have chosen, we can still see how much worse things could have been and how God has been keeping us and our daughter safe when we could not have done anything to protect ourselves on our own.

I think the hardest part for me is still that we're just not sure how much longer she'll be in the NICU. She's making progress on all the goals she needs to be, but I think it'll probably still be a week or two before she's ready to join us at home. It's just a bit frustrating, because everyone says she's doing well, but no one is able to tell us how long the rest of her progress might take. She's really setting the pace right now, so it's just really up to her at this point. I definitely want her to be healthy and as ready as she needs to be before we bring her home, but it gets harder and harder to leave her as she's more aware of our presence and also as we're able to do more and more for her. At the beginning it was obvious we couldn't care for her in the medical condition she was in, but now it seems like almost everything she needs we could do at home with the right equipment. However, they have protocol and so she'll continue teaching mommy a lesson in patience.

We finally got pictures of our whole family together (aren't the kiddos all just too cute?) and I just am so excited to think about our little family returning to "normal" though it may be awhile before that actually happens. In the meantime we'll treasure the time we get to spend with her and rejoice in each step she takes toward coming home!

Week 1

2010-10-11T09:28:00.002-05:00

Well, I feel significantly better this Monday morning than I did last Monday at this time. I can't ever say I enjoy any part of labor, other than when it's over. However, I absolutely cannot believe my baby girl is one week old tonight. I don't think it's possible for someone to work herself more into my heart than Annika has this week. Not being able to hold her is incredibly difficult, as it feels like there's not any way to let her know how much I love her without doing so.

I apologize in advance, this may be a bit all over the place.

The first week has been rough, I never imagined this would be as hard as it has been. In fact, before last week, I guess I really never imagined the NICU being part of my story ever. Your entire perspective on everything changes instantly. Leaving the hospital without your baby is something no parent should have to do. I think perhaps I was even more poorly prepared, because while I knew that at 35 weeks she would likely have to stay, I saw it as more of a speed bump than a long term stay. After a week, I don't really know what to believe.

Annika is stable for now. She's still on the ventilator, which she's been on since Thursday morning. They've been able to adjust her settings lower over the past few days, but I haven't really heard talk of trying to take her off it for the past couple of days. I think it's mostly due to the fact that while she's holding pretty steady, she's not really making the forward progress the neonatologists would expect for someone of her gestational age and size. Though she doesn't seem to be in pain, she's fairly lethargic most of the time, and they feel like she's "sick." What they haven't figured out is if it's just the trouble breathing that's tiring her, or if she has some sort of bug that they haven't identified.

Yesterday we were there when they rounded, and the one neonatologist in particular seemed fairly puzzled and concerned. She was not re-assuring to a mother's heart. Their biggest concern is that they would expect a baby of her age to have started producing her own surfactant within the first 1-3 days following birth, and there's no indication that she's done so. Her chest x-ray is still very cloudy, she's still taking too many breaths per minute, which is making her oxygen usage ineffective on her own, and is working to hard to breathe. As a result they've started to investigate if there are other structural issues putting more stress on her lungs. Annika had an EKG yesterday, which didn't really turn up anything explanatory or terribly concerning. She has a few small, very common holes in her heart, but according to the cardiologist almost any baby would have visible holes at this age, just most aren't given an EKG because they close on their own in the first few months following birth anyway.

Today she has tests for liver functionality due to some bilirubin numbers that are atypical, and she'll also have another blood draw to see if she's still has elevated levels of antibodies that are usually indicative of infection. I never thought I'd be hopeful that my child had an infection, and it still concerns me, but if she has a bug that she's not getting antibiotics for, it might be a quick and "easy" solution.

The unknown is what's so difficult for me right now. If someone could tell me that she'll be fine and give me a timeline for when she's coming home, I feel like I could deal with it, somewhat regardless of when it might be. I've already mentally extended my "2 weeks at most" perspective I had before and during her birth. I'm trying to prepare myself for a long road.

Unfortunately, I'm also concerned about the doctor's concern. I don't know about all moms, but I can imagine all sorts of terrible outcomes. I know the statistics on 35 week preemies says they almost all do just fine, but yet all of us know that there are always exceptions to statistics and there's not a worse fear as a parent than the thought of losing your child.

We're trying to take things one day at a time, stay present for our kids at home, and make time for each other, but many times it seems that there's just too much uncertainty to find any "normal" in this stage.

We still cannot thank everyone enough for continued concern and support: calls, meals, offers to help with kids, and asking about how Annika is doing. Thanks for loving our daughter with us, even though most of you haven't yet met her. Thanks for loving us well too! Hopefully the next update can be more encouraging.

Welcome Baby Girl!

2010-10-09T19:49:00.003-05:00

As nearly all of you have probably heard, we had our baby girl this past Tuesday. Annika Caroline made her (fast) entrance into the world at 4:43am, and weighed in at 4lbs, 13oz while stretching out to 18."

Though she did make it to 35 weeks gestational age, her lungs are not fully developed. So, the past several days have been a roller coaster ride of adjusting to being a NICU-parent. We're not sure how long this road will take. For the first three days it seemed that we were only moving backwards, with Annika ending up on a ventilator by Thursday morning. She's been holding steady since and today she's actually been making forward progress going down in both oxygen percentage and number of breaths the vent is taking for her. We're hoping that she'll continue to make forward progress, but no one can really tell us when or how that may happen. The kids are both thrilled to have a little sister, but a bit confused as to why they're not able to hold her much (they've both gotten to do so once before she was vented) or play with her, or have her live here at our house. All in all they're doing OK.

Her bilirubin levels rose steadily over the first few days, but she started to poop yesterday, and the levels were down today, so she's only on a bili-light now, and was able to retire the bili-blanket. Even though she hasn't been able to work on eating yet, she's receiving intravenous nutrition, and after initial weight loss, she's picked back up a couple of ounces over the past two days, so we're hopeful her weight is on the way up for good.

So, we're taking things one day at a time and hoping and praying she'll be able to join our family at home as soon as possible. Leaving her behind when I checked out of the hospital was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, for sure the hardest thing as a mom!

Thanks for everyone who has prayed for us and Annika, brought us food, called, taken care of the kids, or supported us in so many other ways, we couldn't have made it through this past week without it!

Be Careful What You Wish For...

2010-09-30T17:05:00.001-05:00

Who hasn't heard this line a million times? And yet, every so often you realize just why you hear it all the time. Sometimes what you wish for...comes true...just not how you'd planned. For any of you who may not be in the parent camp and are worried about too much mommy TMI, just scroll down to the bottom for the 'what's next' section. We covet your prayers even if you don't want the details!

Many of you know I had my regularly scheduled 34 week OB visit on Tuesday. This pregnancy has been going along without a glitch so far, but on Tuesday there were some anomalies in the regular-visit checks they always run. My blood pressure was up (though still in a borderline range) and I was spilling protein. Given my history of pre-eclampsia with Joshua, I was immediately sent down to the lab for a blood draw and to get set up with a 24-hour urinalysis fo ra more accurate count of how much protein was actually spilling over the course of a day. I was also put on partial bedrest until my follow-up appointment and NST this morning.

James and our friends have been awesome, and the past two days have been spent being able to truly lay-low for the most part. I've been feeling OK, but anxious to see what we're really dealing with.

This morning started out quite well. All of my blood work came back normal, no elevations or anything that would be concerning or indicate stress from the pre-eclampsia, etc. Baby and I had a non-stress test (NST) and everything looked perfect. Heart rate looked great, baby had a good number of accelerations as they like to see, and all indications are that the placenta is functioning well and not being too stressed either. My blood pressure numbers were almost the same as they had been on Tuesday (low 130's over low 80's) and still in an only slightly elevated range and as an added bonus (at least from the view of all women, pregnant or otherwise) I'd actually lost almost 3lbs since Tuesday! However, the results of the 24-hour urinalysis were also waiting for me. According the my OB/GYN the typical amount of protein collected over a 24 hour period should be <.3, my number was 2.2. Yep, more than 7x the "elevated" amount! Unfortunately, this alone is enough to classify me as severely pre-eclamptic. :(

I'm home now on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy, monitoring my blood pressure throughout the day and watching for any of the other warning symptoms that signal worsening pre-eclampsia. Baby and I will be monitored by my doctor in the hospital or the birth center every two days and have labs drawn each time. If anything changes, I will be hospitalized until the baby arrives. If I present with one more "severe" symptom, I will likely be induced immediately. The best-case scenario at this point would be to make the pregnancy continue until the baby is 36 weeks gestational age (October 10th), we are hoping to be able to make it at least through this weekend when the baby would reach 35 weeks maturity. Given the severe nature of the case, we will almost definitely have a baby on or before October 15th regardless of what happens, as delivery is the only treatment/remedy for pre-eclampsia.

Waiting is not without risks to my health, delivering immediately not without risks for the baby, it's a balancing act at this point. Would you pray with us that we and the doctors would have wisdom to find the right course of action for the best outcomes for both of us? Also, pray for me as I feel so torn between what's best for the kids I already have and doing whatever it takes to protect this baby within, I feel like it's a no-win situation. Lydia is confused and Joshua is worried. :( Would you also pray for James this type of uncertainty and needing to be both the day-in-day-out prarent and the working parent puts a lot of stress on him as well and we all feel like we're on a roller coaster we can't get off?

Thanks so much for all the love, hugs, prayers, offers to help, and support we've been surrounded by over the past few days. We are so blessed to have such a supportive group of family and friends!

It's Fall

2010-09-27T09:14:00.004-05:00

Fall has arrived here in Wisconsin, and after a brief return of the humidity of summer last week (which this pregnant lady is beyond done with) we're back to breezy, sunny days and chilly nights perfect for snuggling under a blanket. I love fall!

I'm in full blown nesting phase, which is currently manifesting itself in a need to plan and store food for when this baby arrives. This morning I'm not sure what possessed me to get these yesterday, but they were beautiful, free, and I'm blaming it on the nesting bug.

Not looking forward to all of the peeling, seeding, and cooking down that awaits me today, but the end results will be worth it. Nothing better than homemade tomato sauce/marinara on a cold winter evening. :)

I've got a bunch of other nesting-related projects going, but I'm running out of energy long before I accomplish everything, so I don't think this baby should count on being the first of my babies to have a nursery finished BEFORE she arrives. I'm pretty sure she'll have to wait until 4-6 months just like the other two. Though all the essentials are there and the clothes are even washed and in the drawers and the changing table is stocked, so we're prepared on a supplies front. (In fact with the deal-hunting/couponing I've done for diapers over the past months, if I cloth diaper ~50% like I did with Lydia, I might never have to buy a diaper once she arrives...a girl can always hope, right?)

I'm also trying to soak up these last few weeks of "just" being mommy of two of the cutest kids on the planet. I've been trying to be more intentional about getting an extra hug here and a snuggle there before this next little one arrives. They're just so precious, and while I know I won't love them any less as we add another, they may feel a little less treasured for a bit simply because of all the attention and energy getting through life with a newborn takes. So, I want to pour into them now while I can, and really, I just can't get enough.

Anyway, a sure sign of fall at our house is always the arrival of the pumpkins. I know it's only September, but pumpkins are way ahead of schedule this year, and our CSA farm hosted their annual pumpkin party and end-of-season crop gleaning yesterday. We've been members of this CSA for two years now, and the pumpkin pick was a highlight of our fall last year, so we knew we'd be back. We spent much of the afternoon yesterday wandering the farm, picking crops that were at the end of their production (past the point they were "worth" the farm-worker's labor-hours to try to get more saleable harvest, but with much tasty, usuable produce remaining) and opened up to the CSA members to take whatever they could use for their families. Sadly, the peppers around here have had a bad season, so none of the beautiful red peppers got last year, but the tomatoes made up for it. Oh my, so many. :)

We also picked broccoli, lettuce, a stray onion or two, and carrots.

Then it was off to the pumpkin patch. Joshua was really into it, trying to make sure he had "the biggest one." He wants to decorate his pumpkin right away of course, but we're trying to convince him that he should wait a bit closer to Halloween. He's also looking forward to roasting and eating the seeds. :) Lydia looked at us a bit incredulously when we told her she could just walk into the field and pick any pumpkin she wanted. She settled for one right on the very edge of the patch anyway... As always, no matter what they choose it makes for some fun pictures. :)

So, now I guess all we need to make this fall complete is the little pumpkin waiting to make a debut and making mommy think 6 weeks sounds like a long time!

Smaller, Bigger, or the Same?

2010-09-07T12:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had on an outfit I remembered wearing in one of the few belly shots I have from my pregnancy with Lydia. I also realized that the pictures were taken within a week of the same point in the pregancy also, so I thought it would be interesting to compare.

At least for me I feel the particular shirt I'm wearing makes the bump look different sizes, so it's hard to compare unless you've controlled for that variable. ;-)

Anyway, what do you guys think, how does the size compare? Bigger this time, or last?

The first picture is me pregnant with Lydia at 30ish weeks. The second is pregnant with baby #3 at 31 weeks exactly.

P.S. Please ignore the "just woke up" look in the current picture...it's true, but not so flattering!

The After

2010-08-12T11:06:00.005-05:00

We're finally done with all our rehab-ing of the house and it's officially on the market again.

We ended up being about 50% over our budget for the project, and 50% over the time we hoped us to take, but we feel a bit like house-flippers from an HGTV show at this point. We've pretty much re-worked every surface of the house in some fashion or another over the past three weeks.

We've did a bathroom re-model, a new roof, a new front door and shutters, re-worked landscaping, paint on every surface in the house, all new light fixtures inside and out, updated a lot in the kitchen, and a lot of touch-up and detail work besides.

We're official on the MLS today and our website is up and running. Check it out: http://205marietta.com. If you know anyone in South Central Wisconsin looking for a house, let us know, we'd love for them to take a look.

You can see some "good" before pictures by heading back to this post or this one from last summer, though a lot of stuff was in much worse shape once the tenants got done with it...as you can imagine.

Now we're back to the wait and see game, but at least we should be able to enjoy the last snippets of our summer without feeling guilt for every minute we're NOT working on the house. Thanks to everyone who helped us make everything happen in three weeks, whatever role you played, there's no way we could have done it without you!

The Saga, Pt. 6 (The Finale...We Hope)

2010-07-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

I bet you thought there was never going to be an end to this story, right? Trust me, us too.

Anyway, our court date was set for June 12th, and from our perspective it couldn't come fast enough. Our very own moment with Madison's 'Judge Judy', aww, how precious. Check one more thing off the bucket list. Ahem...

Well, remember how tenant-friendly our county is. Turns out the first "court date" is actually a mandatory mediation hearing where a non-judicial mediator meets with both parties to see if they can come to a legally-binding settlement without appearing in court. This was fairly discouraging to us, since you can't get an eviction without attending the hearing, but we would be out of town for the first court date available following the mediation.

We also discovered the weekend prior to the hearing that the state maintains an online database of all the small claims court cases filed and you can search by case number OR name. While this information would have been incredibly helpful several months before, our morbid curiosity was at least satisfied a bit to learn what kind of character we were dealing with. Turns out that between Bill and Sandy, not one or two, but six small claims cases had been opened since 2006 listing them as defendants, either separately or jointly. Furthermore, three of the cases were eviction cases, all since the very end of 2006. Ours would be their fourth, they'd lost all previous cases. At this point we began to assume that our friendly neighborhood squatters wouldn't even show for the mediation, I mean, why bother? For us that would have been a potentially best case scenario, we thought, as a no-show meant an instant writ of eviction.

But June 12th dawned gray and drizzly, much like my mood and who should be waiting for us upon walking into the courthouse waiting room than Bill? Jolly as you please he pleasantly inquired how we were as if we were perhaps bumping into a long-lost acquaintance at a restaurant or grocery store, certainly not as if he were the devious crook who'd given us the runaround on our rent for two months, been squatting for over a month, and was now over $3000.00 in the hole for rental payments, utilities, and court costs incurred. Some people will never cease to surprise me.

We did learn a lot about ourselves and the situation in the hour that followed. Like, for instance, that the non-payment had never been about the money, but rather that he'd never received the utility statements that he'd requested. Or that he was sure we could all agree that we'd done things we regretted in the situation. (Well yes, but none of them in the sense of my unfair treatment of you, Bill, trust me I would be much less of a Mr. Nice-Guy to any scumbag who tried the same tricks in the future and much quicker to bring down the hammer) We also learned that Sandy really thought an ideal and fair solution would be for them to stay until the end of the summer at least. And that we were really devious people who couldn't be trusted to keep our word, so he definitely couldn't pay us until he was completely ready to move out, as there was no telling what we might do to him or the property in the meantime. I started to wonder what alternate universe this guy lives on more and more as the meeting progressed, but the session ended eventually ended with him agreeing to pay in two cash lump sums, one the following week and one the week after, and to be moved out by June 30th. He assured us he would comply lest we use the "ultimate weapon" (eviction) on him, which he would NEVER let happen to Diva and Jr. (Umm, apparently he doesn't know about the small claims record database, either, huh? You mean you wouldn't let it happen a 4th time?) At this point I didn't trust the guy as far as I could throw him, and he probably tops the scales close to 400lbs. so you all can figure how far that would be, so I figured it was yet another game and we'd never see a cent of the money.

Well, some people never cease to amaze me, and on the day appointed for the first lump sum, guess who showed up at the appointed meeting time and place and paid it all, down to the cent, a sum slightly over $1700.00 in cash. The largest bill was a $20. That did bring James and myself a good chuckle (should have taken a suitcase like the movies) and a bit of relief that maybe he'd had enough of his games.

Alas, if that were the case the surprises really would have been over, so true to his more typical nature, he blew off the next payment date and June 30th came and went with him "really working on getting out." The reason for the delay? Well, it's the first of the month, so I couldn't get a truck. Oh yeah, because you haven't known for three weeks (or three months, depending on how you look at it) that this day was coming?

Why you might ask didn't we rush down and get our writ of eviction. Well, turns out in Wisconsin you have to handle all your evictee's possessions with kid gloves. For example, if you move their stuff out you have to hire bonded movers to move it and you can't place it on the curb, but rather must pay to have it stored in a insured storage unit. No selling the property to pay off owed debts either. Also, the process comes with more court fees and a up to 10 day waiting period, so since he was actually making progress toward moving out (there were now boxes and a truck) we decided to go with it for a few more days. Finally on July 1st, James was able to get another $500 cash from him and one key (apparently Sandy had taken the other to work with her--who does that on a day you're vacating a property?) along with his signature and assurances that he'd be completely moved out by 6pm that night. Also, he informed James, they were visiting family in Iowa that weekend and he hadn't had time to get to the ATM since he was so busy moving, so the rest of the money would have to be paid on Tuesday. So, imagine our surprise when upon arriving home from our own long weekend visiting family over the 4th, we found one of their vehicles in our driveway. The explanation? Well, Sandy had become ill over the weekend, so they didn't actually go to Iowa, or finish moving out, but it would be done shortly. And the money? Well, he was waiting on a check to clear, and you know since the banks weren't open Monday in observance of the holiday it would just have to wait until Tuesday afternoon.

To his credit all of their stuff (well, all that they felt like moving...apparently the couch and grill were too large and hassle-some) was out on Monday morning and the other key was left as well, however we got the run-around all day on Tuesday again regarding when he'd actually have the rest of the money. Talk about a case of Deja Vu.

And the house, well considering all that could have gone wrong it's in decent shape. They apparently broke the dryer at some point (I'm assuming during the squatter days, since it would have been our responsibility to fix otherwise) but neglected to tell us. Two closet doors are maimed beyond repair, and they broke the door to the master bedroom. Perhaps my favorite casualty however is Diva's room. I'm fairly certain at some point in our lives this whole situation with the paint will be funny, though I can't say we're there yet. Remember how it all started with sweet nursery colors, transformed to purple/pink/leopard and how we were assured it would return to neutral boring-ness quickly. Remember when that happened, yep that's right, March 16th. Bill's one comment upon moving out was that he hadn't quite been able to complete the painting job (yes, you assume correctly, the one that was supposed to be done by 3/18) in the rush to move out and that he'd run out of paint. He could finish it for us of course, it would just take another day or two. We told him no thanks, we'd complete it, he could just reimburse us. Well, he wasn't joking when he said he wasn't done. In fact, the room looked as if someone had been raptured mid-job. Cardboard, rollers, and a paint tray were scattered around. The coats that were on the wall were providing the poorest coverage and the paint job was the sloppiest I've ever seen. Some pieces were nearly covered, though not smoothly, others had barely any paint on them at all. And oh my, I didn't know you could spill that much paint on the floor and trim if you tried. Basically, the oak trim throughout the room is a lost cause, it'll need to either be completely sanded and re-varnished, or painted white to salvage it. Oh my! And all because a 14-year-old couldn't live with baby blue and yellow for two months. However, my pity for Diva is less than great, as apparently no one has taught the near-woman that when you decide to deface something with a Sharpie, unless you're a mid-east terrorist type, you probably shouldn't write your real name, even if you do put lots of little hearts around it. My two-year-old knows not to write on walls with markers and that she's not even supposed to use a Sharpie anywhere without permission...wow!

Anyway, to wrap up this long saga as best as possible, we're now back to pursuing the rest of the cash from Bill through legal means. We're quite doubtful we'll ever see it again, but as my mom pointed out, I paid a LOT more in college to learn significantly fewer life lessons than this experience has taught us, so all is not lost. We're six months older, but significantly wiser, (albeit more cynical and jaded) and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

We've definitely concluded that at this stage in our life we don't have what it takes to make it as landlords!

The Saga, Pt 5.

2010-07-18T06:30:00.001-05:00

On April 26th, Bill told James he'd gotten all his tax issues sorted out and now had the money to pay us our April rent, not seemingly concerned that he was not almost a month late.

The original plan was for them to meet at a local coffee-house around noon. When James checked around 11am to verify that the meeting was still on, Bill requested that the meeting be pushed back until 1pm. Due to the kids naptimes and James' work schedules, 1pm was not going to work for either of us, but he agreed to 12:45, only to cancel a few minutes before. Again.

However, he told James, if he'd just come by the house at his convenience anytime after 3pm he'd be there and have the money waiting for him so he could quickly be on his way. James dropped by after work to find no one home, but a note waiting for him on the door. Inside was a check and a note. This should be good, right? Not so much. The note told James that he didn't have the cash after all, but he didn't want to leave him with nothing, so he wrote him a check. A post-dated check. For $1400.00 For the 30th of April. From an account with neither name verification, nor a number. Opened in Bill's name using our address. From an account, we learned upon presenting it to the bank it was written against, which had been open for approximately 6 hours at the time it was left for James and which contained the grand sum of $100. Um, yeah...

In addition to the non-payment, we had another significant problem brewing. When our agent was at the property for a showing that same week he gave us a disturbing heads up. Anyone recall the move-out date we'd hesitantly and over-generously agreed to? May 1st, right? So you'd think by the last week in April there would be some sign of packing/organizing/preparing to move. Surprisingly, from anything our Realtor could tell there were none. Unsure what to do since about it, we just hoped they were last-minute procrastinators who would magically pack and move as planned in the next week. Though, after the chain of events from the previous month, we were less than optimistic.

About this time, though most of our correspondence had been with Bill, we decided to contact Sandy again and see if she was any more helpful in getting the payment problem resolved. When we got her on the phone she was "shocked" to learn that Bill had not paid the rent. She told us she'd given him the money to do so a couple of weeks prior, and he'd informed her it was taken care of. She apologized profusely and promised that none of their future payments would be late. Future payments, this was a red flag, how was someone who was aware that they were due to move out in just days even mentioning future payments? She told us she was currently at work, couldn't provide us with an email because Bill was constantly snooping in hers and she was in the process of creating another (really? how long does getting a yahoo or google mail account take?I'm pretty sure I could create one, or five, while writing this post.) but would call us as soon as she was finished and get it straightened out. We weren't sure what to believe about all this, until Bill called James in a huff less than an hour later. How could we have gone behind his back to complain to his wife, that was so low, he said he'd get us the money, etc. So, it's a bit hard to believe she's really the clueless, in-the-dark wife if she called him immediately, especially since we didn't hear a word from her again. Ever.

Unsurprisingly, when April 30th dawned, there was no where near the amount to cover the check that was written earlier in the week, and by this point we were honestly just hoping they'd get out on May 1st and we could move on, even if it was without the rent money due us. All we really wanted to do was sell the house. So we emailed asking what time he'd like to drop off the keys since his lease expired at midnight.

His reply? Well, they'd run into some more delays with the house and the little run in with the taxmen had delayed their purchase yet again and they'd let us know when they got that resolved. Let us know, huh? Whose house is this anyway? I've asked myself that alot over the past couple of months. And the money? Oh yeah, he actually doesn't have it, he should have been more open and forthcoming about that. You think? He assured us that we're very important to him though, and he would get us the money as soon as he could.

At this point what I really wanted to know is why he thought that information would be re-assuring. Oh yeah, I'm not actually moving out of your house as promised, and no I don't have your month-late rent, but you're very important to me, I'll let you know when it's available. Does this really placate ANYONE living?

We also informed him that due to his non-payment of utilities for the previous month and a half, he had three days during which he could either provide us with the remaining information we'd need to set up utilities in his name on his behalf, or he could call and change them himself, but we would have them turned off on our end as of the 3rd. (Something we should have done at least a month previously.) Turns out, he must have thought we wouldn't really follow through and didn't leave himself enough time, and apparently didn't have the credit/correct information to use the electric company's online form which may or may not have resulted in a brief interruption of his electric service. Oops! Not.

At this point (about a month too late, again with the hindsight thing...) we started formal eviction proceedings. Only to find that Wisconsin is one of the most tenant friendly states in the country, and oh yeah, our county is even more tenant-biased than the state at large. Our first (and only) step if we wanted them out without the option to pay-and-stay was a 14-day notice of contract violation. No problem, at this point they were not only in violation of the contract, they actually had no valid contract and were squatting. Check! 14 days passed with not only no attempt on Bill and Sandy's part at resolution, but no return contact whatsoever. We spent much of the time collecting data, checking out our options, learning much more about the eviction process than we ever wanted to know, mailing more registered mail than ever before in our lifetimes combined, and trying to be ready to go when the waiting period passed. We called and received a court date for June 12th (thanks to Memorial Day we were one business day short of the required waiting period for a date the previous week) and then got to learn all about process servers, court filing fees, and other legal processes of which most law-abiding citizens are completely unawares. I would have been happy to stay with that group for the foreseeable future, but it was enlightening. Thankfully my wonderful husband has much more patience than I do and was a champ about dutifully filling out forms, following up on forms, and patiently waiting for our day in court. So, though we wanted them out in April, we now were forced to come to grips with the fact it would be at least mid-June before we again had access to the property. And our peak summer selling season was quickly rolling past with us unable to show. :(

To Be Continued...

The Saga, Pt. 4

2010-07-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Where were we, oh yes, the meeting with Bill and Sandy.

After arriving at the appointed time and waiting for a few minutes, Bill showed up alone. Turns out Sandy wanted to be there, but couldn't, an excuse that would be repeated often in the future...we're still not sure what Sandy's involvement in what went down after this point was, but needless to say we're pretty sure they could use a marriage-family counselor, though that was the least of our worries.

Anyway, Bill arrived with another addition to his story. The scoop, he said, was that they were planning on a cash purchase of their new home and that they were being "yanked around" by the seller. It seems that his wife didn't want to relocate so she was dragging her feet on moving out and they were now being told it would be the first of May at the soonest before they could get into their new property. Couldn't we please just give them an additional couple of weeks, at least, so they could stay in one location. They'd be extra cooperative with showings, and all we needed to do was say the word and they'd work with us however we needed, even if the showings were last minute, or inconvenient, they were our people.

The furniture and possessions in the property that were in somewhat-worse-than-good condition? Purchases off Craigslist so he could avoid unpacking his storage unit until he got into his big, beautiful house.

His wife? Neurotic, please don't contact her in the future, she doesn't deal well with changes.

And the room color? Well he guessed if he thought really hard about it he did remember us saying neutral, but Diva was just so excited about having her own room again, and she just loved those colors so much, and he's pretty sure if we just gave it a chance we'd see how stylish she'd made it. Um, yeah. Stylish for a 14-year-old, maybe. Buyer appropriate, not a chance. When we reiterated that we did in fact mean neutral, and only neutral he told us he'd get right on that. Couldn't do it the following day as he had evening meetings, but the day after for sure he'd get that fixed right up. He also informed us that he's quite a handy painter and it would be no problem. We dropped the paint off the next morning and assumed it had been taken care of.

Following our meeting with Bill and subsequent conversations with our agent, we reluctantly agreed to the May 1st move-out date, on the condition that showings were being accommodated and the property was in good condition, a situation our Realtor was comfortable with and we felt we could tolerate. We were somewhat concerned that we'd be missing our peak window for a sale this summer with the tax-credit expiring on the 30th of April, but we were trying to do the right thing and not be selfish. What help a crystal ball would have been...

While they did in fact allow showings over the next couple of weeks without too much hassle, we now get to the crux of the problem. As you probably recall, Bill had paid for February and March in cash at lease signing. He'd also provided an advance on the utilities which ran out about mid-March. During our meeting we mentioned that the cash for utilities had been expended and we'd be needing more and he assured us it was no problem, just let him know and he'd get it right to us. So, on April 1st we were anticipating receiving a check for April's rent and the amount we'd let him know was due on utilities. April 1 came and went, no check. On April 5th, the date the late payment went into effect, James called to give him a reminder that payment had not been received and to make sure the money was on its way. Bill was very apologetic and informed us that he'd been out of town the previous week, but he'd get a check out to us right away. By the beginning of the following week, we'd still received no payment, so we checked in with him again. He told us that he'd mailed it the day he and James had last talked (6 days prior) so the post office must have lost it. He'd put a stop payment on his check and get us a new one right away. ANOTHER five days passed. When we had still not received any payment, James and I were starting to get highly frustrated, though Bill didn't seem to pick up on it. As happily as you please he told us that when he talked to Sandy, he found out she hadn't sent the check until two days later, so if we'd just wait another three days he was sure we'd have it. (Keep in mind the postal service had the difficult task of delivering this check approximately 1.7 miles, perhaps as much as 3 if you figure the triangle between his house, the post office, and our house.) Annoyed, but just wanting our money, we waited the requested time and then contacted him again. His excuse? The post office must have lost it again! Really? In a same-town delivery over the course of two weeks the post office has lost not one, but two letters containing your rent check? What bad luck!

He informed us he was just too frustrated with sending the mail and was done dealing in checks, he'd just pay us cash the following day. We agreed that cash would be fine and he and James set up a time the next day to meet. About 15 minutes before that meeting was supposed to happen he emailed to say that he had something "really important" that he'd forgotten about and he'd have to cancel and wait until the following day. This process went on for the next ten days, each day he'd forget about a meeting, or have to leave a the last minute, or once he "had to make a last minute trip to Milwaukee overnight" though interestingly when we dropped by the property on our way out of town at 8:30 the following morning he was present, but he just didn't have the money on him, though he would later that afternoon. All this time, he didn't seem to find anything unusual about his behavior, or understand why our patience might be limited. And again, newbie mistakes, we didn't start investigating our options nearly soon enough.

His next tactic was an interesting one, and one I would never have thought to make up, so perhaps it was true, perhaps he's just a great storyteller. The basics: he directs a non-profit and told James that he'd played "creative" games with our great nations friendly revenue collection service and "gotten busted." According to his story, they'd put a freeze on his account so he couldn't get any money out, but his assets were supposed to be unfrozen "tomorrow" and he'd get us the money right away. During this time he also had a couple of scandalously high utility bills arrive, but when pressed for the money to pay those he made similar excuses and asked for copies of the statements. And so the plot thickens.

To Be Continued...

The Saga, Pt. 3

2010-07-16T08:41:00.001-05:00

February was a quiet month. The house was occupied, the money for rent in the bank account, and while we would have loved to have sold it, we thought this renting thing wasn't so bad. We'd mostly just relaxed on the house front for the time being and turned our focus to other things, like our kids, our current home, and well, ahem...expanding our family!

At the end of February, in accordance with our rental documents and our discussions with Bill and Sandy before they moved in, we contacted them to arrange a time to meet with our Realtor at the property to discuss re-listing and home condition, etc. Surprisingly, although it was the final week of Feb. and we'd made it quite clear that our plan was to actively have the property listed on March 1st, we got a lot of hassle from Bill about the need to get into the house. Odd, he'd seemed so accommodating when he moved in. He even went to far to say that he'd paid "extra" in February so he didn't have to deal with showings and did we really need 2 hours to meet with our agents? In all actuality, he was receiving a discount in March to account for the property being listed and needing to work with our Realtor to allow the property to be showed. But, after a couple of fairly snippy emails, he conceded that it did make sense we needed to get in ahead of the list date and we scheduled our meetings as planned. He told us he'd have it in great condition and there would be no issues.

Imagine our surprise then, upon entering the property to find that not only were things not overly clean, but nothing was put away, piles of stuff were lying around, and in general, while nothing appeared to be damaged, it was definitely not being kept in showing condition. All this would have been disappointing and discouraging, but the real issues began upon walking into Diva's bedroom. What colors would come to mind for you if I were to tell you it would be fine to paint a room in a "neutral" color? Maybe taupe, or khaki, cream, white, possibly even a pale shade of yellow or green (though even these could be a stretch)? What about electric pink and bright purple?? Yeah, that's what I thought. Nonetheless, the walls were indeed painted in teeny-bopper shades or pink and purple, with an accessory choice of faux-leopard. Hmmm...not quite what we had in mind, and curiously, probably no more appealing to an incoming prospective buyer than the nursery shades that preceded it. Needless to say, the agents were less than impressed as well and we realized that showing the place with them in the house would be difficult, if not impossible, and we began to wonder what else that had been so clearly defined upfront would be blatantly disregarded. Well, it wouldn't take us long to find out.

The next couple of weeks were spent getting the necessary paperwork in order for the re-list, finalizing our decision on an agent, and in general prepping to put the house back up for sale. During this process we got a call from the tenants saying the toilet was leaking. Wanting to be good landlords, we called our plumber immediately and he was able to come out that afternoon and repair the leak. Or so we thought. We received a call back later that night letting us know the toilet was "gushing" water and we needed to do something else. When I called the plumber back he said if the seal hadn't fixed the issue, he was pretty sure it was because they'd let the leak go for awhile and the subfloor was now water damaged. We'd need to find someone who could repair/replace the subfloor and replace the toilet. Again, imagining that this was a pretty sizeable and urgent problem we were able to find a repair-person to do the work the next day. We called as soon as arrangements had been made (mid-afternoon) and let them know the repairman would be coming the next morning to fix the problem, but got no answer on either of their phone numbers. So, we left voicemail, sent an email, and tried calling again later that evening, all with no response. Having heard nothing, we left the plans in place, only to be woken at 7am to a call from Sandy, who was not a happy camper. How could we have made plans to get this taken care of so soon, it was a in-service day so her kids would be home (with Bill) and had invited friends over all day and why did we need to have it taken care of right now, etc. Again, trying to be considerate, we called the repairman to see if the time could be moved. He was able to push the time back an hour, but was already on his way and it couldn't be re-scheduled entirely (and to be clear, we didn't want it to be delayed, if a toilet is gushing into a sub-floor, I'd like it replaced as soon as possible, I don't want to rip out the whole house) so we called to notify them. This time we made contact with Bill, and he again tried to talk us out of the repair until later. After letting him know that we would be out of town the following week so the repair needed to happen now, he changed his story. Now, instead of "gushing" the water was just dripping and "not that bad." He informed me that he'd only said "gushing" because he was "pi**ed off" and it had been a long day. He also told me they'd called back the previous evening (at midnight) to let us know the timing was bad, but surprise, surprise...there were no voicemails, missed calls, or incoming calls from them all night, or from anyone at that time of night. So yeah, nice try. As it turns out, it was leaking significantly into the sub-floor and it's a good thing we got it taken care of right away, but our view of the tenant-landlord relations took a significant hit at that point in time.

The next week the property went live on the MLS and we had a couple of showings with mixed reviews on the show-readiness of the property. At this point being unimpressed with their ability to communicate, and wanting to make sure all our bases were covered we decided to proceed with making sure their details for an April 1st move-out were still in place. According to the terms of the contract, the initial 2-month rental agreement terminated on April 1, but unless we gave a month's notice, they were able to stay on a month-to-month agreement after that. We didn't really expect to exercise much of that clause, given their April 1 closing date, but again wanting to keep our bases covered, notified them on March 14th that we were just trying to verify their move-out date and that even if there had been a delay for some reason we didn't wish to renew for another month as we needed to focus on a sale. We quickly received a reply that their details had changed and they would now be unable to close until the 1st of May. Would we please re-consider and let them stay until May 1 so that they didn't have to do temporary housing again. We agreed to meet and talk things through the following evening. And that's where the real fun to this story begins.

To Be Continued...

The Saga, Pt 2.

2010-07-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

Late in January James got a call from our insurance agent. The conversation went something like this:

Agent: I see you have two homeowners policies with us...

James: Yes

Agent: Are these both primary dwellings?

James: No, we live in [current address] and we are in the process of selling [old house address].

Agent: Well, we don't cover unoccupied properties.

James: Oh, according to our policy documents as long as the property continues to be maintained (heated, utilities connected) and cared for coverage is still valid.

Agent: Well, yes, but not when they're so close in proximity to each other. (As an aside, it turns out people don't usually buy a vacation property less than two miles from their primary residence in the middle of a city in Wisconsin, imagine that...) Unless you can prove that you maintain residency at the property at least 1/3 of the time we'll have to discontinue your coverage. You have until the end of the month to either prove that you live their, sell, or find renters (so the switch to a rental policy could happen).

Well, that threw us into a bit of a panic. We tossed around crazy ideas (maybe we could piece together enough furniture to partially furnish the other house and have all or part of us live there a couple of days a week), improbable ideas (maybe we had a brother or friend who could come out and live there temporarily until we could establish rental coverage), and variations on both before deciding the most practical option would be to seek out short-term renters from the public at large. So, we put an ad on a popular classified's website and decided to see what would happen. It seemed like the best, if not the only, decision at the time and we were hopeful that it would be a solution not only to our insurance conundrum, but also to the large sucking sound coming from our bank account due to paying two mortgages every month.

Within a day of posting the ad we had a response. We set up a time to meet and didn't really know what to expect. The next day we met a couple, we'll call them "Bill" and "Sandy" and their two teenagers "Jr." and "Diva" and showed them around the property. Their story, as presented to us, was that they had just sold a property, much more quickly than expected, and were unable to close on their new home until April 1. The new home, we were told, was in a very prominent neighborhood (we'll just call it "Eagle's Airport") on Madison's West Side and would be their dream home, he even rattled off an address. Perhaps warning bells should have gone off at this point, as they didn't look like the type of people who would currently, or probably ever, be able to afford this neighborhood. But, looks can be deceiving and who am I to judge how people spend their money, so I didn't give it too much thought. Furthermore, they were quite eager to move-in as, their story goes, they were living in an extended stay hotel and had finally decided it just wouldn't work for them for 3 months.

Being the newbie landlords that we were, we wrote up a contract (which to our credit was actually decent) from online resources and arranged to meet the next day to receive the security deposit and the first months rent and hand over the keys. We didn't do the background checks and references that we should have and there made our first big mistake. The following day we met Bill at the property and he produced, in cash, all of the security deposit, and not one, but two months of rent money. Perfect,we thought, now we don't even have to mess with collection, late payments, etc. we have it in advance! His only two requests seemed workable. Since it was such a short-term lease, he said, could we just leave the utilities in our names and he could pay us for them as they came in. He'd give us an advance to cover the first month or so, and then he'd get us the rest as we needed it. That would save him and us the hassle of having to change everything again in April when they moved out and into their new place. Also, could he paint Diva's room a neutral shade instead of the nursery scheme that was currently there. Diva, at the ripe old age of 14, just couldn't bear two months in a baby-room, he was never going to hear the end of it. Big mistakes #2 and #3, we said yes to both. Newbie mistake again on the utilities, just didn't comprehend how wrong it could all go with the paint.

We met on a Friday, and by Sunday they were fully in occupancy. We contacted our insurance agent, got the policy changed to a rental policy, and thought the sailing would be smooth. And for the first month or so it was.

To Be Continued...

The Saga, Pt. 1

2010-07-14T10:13:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I don't really know where to start. At this point, I'm mostly categorizing this all for my future ability to remember. So, bear with me if it's scattered and all over the place...

Backing up, as most of you remember, we moved last June and put our house on the market a couple of weeks later. If doing it over, I would have made sure the house was on the market in March, even if it seemed impossible to keep show-ready with small kids underfoot, but hindsight is always 20/20, right? Anyway, it was listed in mid-June and showings began in earnest. We did some basic cleaning, pruning, minor cosmetic updates, but largely we left it as it was. We knew the roof would need to be replaced at some point in the not-too-distant future, but we were hopeful we could just negotiate some credit to a buyer at closing and not have to mess with the details ourselves. We had A LOT of showings and began waiting for someone to put an offer in...well, the offer never came.

We live in a town known well throughout the area for having great schools, this is a bonus, but it makes the housing market a bit more summer-sales heavy that it might otherwise be, so we knew it was really important to get something figured out by August.

August came and went with lots of interest, but no offers, so we lowered the price and, combined with the tax credit, showings continued in earnest throughout the fall. We really thought we had a buyer in mid-October (someone looked at it 3 or 4 times, but ultimately decided to go with another property) and it seemed our two-house-owning days were numbered. Unfortunately, we're still numbering them...

We've now entered into the winter phase, which as all of you from the mid-west (are there any readers NOT from the mid-west) know means lots and lots of COLD with some snow/ice/etc. thrown in for good measure. The biggest "flaw" in our house is that the previous owners decided to convert their garage space into a family room. This actually is great for the living space in the house, over doubling the non-kitchen/bedroom living areas in the house. However, the lot our house is on, while very deep (hello, HUGE backyard), is also quite narrow. Given that the home is ranch style, there is not room to get around the existing structure to put another garage in the back. So, we're pretty much stuck garage-less unless we want to convert the other area BACK into a garage. Anyway, this is a more obvious downside in the winter when it's cold and you're actively thinking about shoveling and scraping off your car every morning. So, showings crawled to a halt, our listing expired and we were in the process of trying to figure out what our next steps were.

We started seriously considering renting the property on a short-term basis, and even had a meeting with a potential renter set up. We went over to the house to meet with the person who was interesting in renting, but after waiting a few minutes and having him not show up we got a call. He apologized for not having called sooner, but let us know he'd found another place. During the conversation I noticed that the windows on the house were all fogged up--weird, since I'd been in the house earlier that day making sure all was in order. We decided to follow up on it and I'm quite glad we did. When we walked in the house all seemed to be normal on first glance except for the humidity level. But when we turned on the light in the stairway leading to the basement is became obvious what the problem was. The basement was COVERED in water...not just a bit on the floor, but several inches covering everything! We walked downstairs and the scent made it clear is was sewage water from the storm sewer and it was rising quickly!

The next several hours were spent on the phone to the city and working with their after-hours guy to figure out what was going on. Turns out the storm sewer had become blocked just past our house and we were the first lucky recipients of the back-up. However, the blessing in it was that we were there so quickly. From the rate the water was rising (over and inch per hour) we figure we must have arrived within the first 3-4 hours of the backup (this was at 7pm) and it was resolved by 9pm. Had we not had the no-show rental prospect, we wouldn't have been back in the house until the following day at the earliest, possibly not for a couple of days. I don't even want to think about what type of mess that would have been. Also, we were very fortunate that the city acknowledged its ultimate responsibility in the matter and fully took care of the clean up costs, since sewer back-ups are excluded under normal homeowners insurance coverage. However, we spent most of the rest of January working with water-damage restoration specialists and contractors to put the basement back together. And then we got the call...

To be Continued...

Twenty-One

2010-06-28T14:28:00.002-05:00

Yours truly, at 21 weeks. Over half-way done "growing" this baby! :-D

Twenty-One

2010-06-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

Yours truly, at 21 weeks. Over half-way done "growing" this baby! :-D

One Year!

2010-06-01T19:57:00.004-05:00

It's been one year since we closed on this house. Wow, a year already?!?

It's been a busy year, spent making happy memories in this space and it feels 100% like home.

We've changed nothing major, but changed a lot of minor details, that have made it feel more like ours. I think every room but the kids bathroom has gotten a fresh coat of paint, there's only one remaining original light fixture on the main two levels, and most of the faucets have been updated as well. Perennials we planted when we moved in are blooming all around the house,

the deck's been painted and a playset lives in our backyard. Yes, it's been a good year indeed. :)

Happy One Year Anniversary, Home! And many more. :)

Wedding Bells

2010-05-28T15:24:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we attended James' youngest brother's wedding and a good time was had by all! Congratulations Jeremy and Julie!!

Here are some of my favorite shots from the big day! Well, just the reception really. Since James was a groomsman, I was on my own during the ceremony and I had my hands too full handling my two "flower kids" (as Joshua refers to himself and Lydia) once they got down the aisle to take any shots during the actual ceremony as it was a long one, and not much is more boring to lively 2 and 4 year olds during the middle of nap time than a marriage ceremony Especially since their understanding of why they needed to be quiet and calm was non-existent. A big thanks to my sister-in-law, Laura, for her help keeping the mayhem at bay in our pew for the whole service, and to my parents for rescuing the kids when they ran out of steam and needed their beds badly, long before the reception was done!

Enjoy!

Dancing with the beautiful bride! Lydia was actually quite miffed when Julie had to put her down to dance with her new hubby and greet the rest of the guests. :)

Oh my, this picture cracks me up every time!

This is probably my favorite from the whole day. So sweet!

Our little family, all dressed up!

No place a tired little girl would rather be than with her daddy! I love this one too. :)

Can you guess what the kiddos just got?

2010-05-07T16:10:00.003-05:00

Or how they feel about it?

If you can't fix it...

2010-04-23T16:11:00.003-05:00

Take a picture of it...

Three washes later with every internet-color-removal-trick I can find and the color just won't budge!

Anyone care to take a guess as to what color these were BEFORE they went into the washer?

So Happy Together...

2010-03-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

Oh how much easier my job would be if they were always like this! nonetheless it still brings a smile to my heart when they do have these moments. :)

Lincoln Log Abraham

2010-03-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

Joshua loves coins: big coins, small coins, foreign coins, old coins and new coins. He loves collecting them, giving them away, finding them, sorting them, trading them, and trying to find extra chores he can do to get more.

His current fascination is with the "Life of Lincoln" series of pennies. (Mostly because they're really shiny!)
I honestly don't remember having a conversation with him about the scenes depicted on the back, but either I've forgotten or someone else must have done so because he seems to get what's going on.

Tonight he told me that his favorite coin is 'Lincoln-Log Abraham Learns to Read'. Yep you read that right, "Lincoln-Log Abraham"! Puts a whole new take on history, huh? That little man cracks me up!

26 Months, 6 days

2010-03-14T17:38:00.004-05:00

...And cute as a button!

Kid Pics...

2010-03-08T14:42:00.004-06:00

A few shots from our recent trip back to Hastings. The kids LOVED hanging out with their cousin, Liam, and some of the pics are just too cute. Although, it is nearly impossible to get three little kids all looking pleasantly at one person at one time. And, when all three of the photo subjects are mobile and in love with cameras some funny antics ensue!

Somehow the camera didn't come out until the last couple of days, so missing are pics from the GR children's museum and dinner with my college roomate "Aunt" Cathy, and playdate with Paula (including a really sweet hug between Joshua and her little girl, Ella...too cute!). I also got to sneak out early one morning sans-kids and have a coffee-date with college/blogger friend, Liz and hear about her family's upcoming adventures!

So refreshing to catch up with old friends!!! :)

Rambling through...

2010-02-25T15:08:00.003-06:00

Ok, not enough mental organization to do a real post, but just in case any of you are wondering if we've dropped off the face of the earth, here's a quick bullet-point style update to bring us up to speed. Maybe one of these days I'll become a good blogger again...

*The weather in Wisconsin has been surprisingly un-snowy. When we moved here everyone told us how little snow south-central Wisconsin receives, but two of the previous four winters we've been here we've had record snowfall, so we haven't really believed them. But, it does seem that we've received much less snow this year than I was accustomed to growing up in western Michigan.

*Lydia's chatting up a storm and has something to say about everything! We have a high-efficiency washer and I usually use the extra spin feature to get extra moisture out of the clothes before popping them into the dryer. I set the extra spin cycle and walked away. Lydia began tugging on the washer door (it was locked) and saying "Mama, not yet, you forgot the Oxi-Clean." She cracks me up, what 2 year old watches the laundry process so carefully that she's worried when you start the washer without the usual products...

*Joshua's VERY into letters and the sounds they make and the way they go together to form words. I don't want to put any pressure on him to do so, but I'll actually be very surprised if he's not reading by the time he turns 5. He also knows the letters and order of not only his own name, but Lydia's as well. We didn't realize this until yesterday when we noticed she had writing down her arm...sure enough...L-Y-D-I-A, and he had the matching J-O-S-H-U-A on his own fore-arm. Future star of Wisconsin Ink???

*We found short-term renters for our other property during the off-market break we were taking. It sounds like such a good deal for everyone, they get a place to live, we get some help with the mortgage in a place we weren't occupying anyway. All seemed to be going fairly well for the past month. However, this week has had it's fair share of challenges and re-assured me that we do not want to be landlords any longer than we have to. It's bad enough to have something break in your own home and be stuck with the repair, but to be expected to fix something in a home someone else is occupying and on their schedule to boot is even less fun. And it's hard to plan and communicate when phone calls and emails are rarely returned in a timely fashion...So we're looking forward to this portion of our housing adventure being wrapped up (hopefully) soon!

*We interviewed realtors in anticipation of our re-list this week. I really liked one of the agents we met with, felt like we clicked, and think the person would be great to work with. I did not so much gel with another one we interviewed. Perhaps I'm just cynical, perhaps the generation I'm a part of has a very different vision for what selling a home looks like and what value should be attached to services provided, perhaps it was just a difference of personalities, but I came away from the meeting thinking of all the things I dislike about the real-estate commission-based process. But, we feel like we tried the limited-service/for sale by owner route last fall and are already spread as thin as we care to go from a time standpoint and don't really have the energy to do all we should/could to make a sale happen quickly on our own, so I think a Realtor is in our future. Furthermore, it would be much easier if there were general consensus about what makes or breaks sales in this market. To stage, or not to stage. To list right away, or not until the tenants leave. Pictures, websites, mailings, team-based sales, individual agent...ahhh, does it really even matter?? On the plus side, it looks like the market and sale prices have continued to improve over the winter. :)

*We're traveling next week: James for business, the kids and I for pleasure. We're excited about seeing (hopefully) everyone in my family, and having some down time at my parents place while Daddy's on his business trip. We are not looking forward to the many hours in the car that trip will require. The kids did really well over Christmas-time, but I wouldn't say any of us enjoy that length of a trip and last time Lydia didn't sleep AT ALL even thought the entirety of our travels were at nap and bedtimes. We're hopeful she'll get more cozy with the zzzzz's on this trip, but we shall see... And of course there's all the laundry before leaving, packing, loading, unpacking, laundry, re-packing, loading, un-packing, and of course more laundry when you return...

Well, I think that's the highs and lows. Again, maybe I'll be able to catch up with something more interesting and positive next week, or at least some fun pictures!

Who doesn't love a bargain?

2010-02-12T14:27:00.003-06:00

Ok, so everybody pretty much knows I'm always looking to score a deal. Or two. Or five.

I will freely admit I get a huge rush when I know I've found a way to make a good deal even better. And this deal is pretty good, if I do say so myself. :)

So, I thought I'd share it here in case any of you a.) haven't heard about it. and b.) have an interest in taking advantage.

Walgreens is having a Friends and Family promotion today, where by printing a coupon off their website EVERYONE gets their employee discount (15%) off their total purchase. If you buy any of the Walgreens branded products, you get 20% off those items. You can find the coupon here. There's some fine print, but basically it tells you that it's not valid on prescriptions, booze, stamps, gift cards, or items prohibited from being included by law...pretty standard.

This deal becomes even sweeter if you already have coupons or take advantage of their sale prices. Yep, it works on top of whatever the price would have been, even if it's already FREE or better-than-free after Register Rewards (RR). And you can use a coupon as well. This makes a good deal a killer deal!

Some of my personal favorites:

Dove Men's (new line) body care products are on sale for $5.99 this week and a $6 off your next purchase coupon prints at the register. So, anytime this week you'd MAKE one cent to purchase it. Well today only (Feb 12), you'll get 15% off the $5.99. So, you pay ~$5.10 for the product and get $6 back!

Huggies Diapers/Pull-Ups trainers jumbo packs are on sale for $8.99 this week and at the register a RR for $3 off your next order will print. I don't know about the rest of you, but every few weeks I get coupons in the mail from Huggies. So I usually have at least a couple lying around for between $1-3 dollars off. So, all week long, $8.99-$3RR-$2 coupon means you could get these diapers for about $4/pack. Not bad. However, today with the employee discount coupon they'll ring up at $7.49, use your $2 coupon to bring the price to $5.49, and then you'll get the $3 RR, so basically you can get the diapers for $2.50/pack!!

And, if you don't have any coupons, you're not a man/mom/you only use Pampers/you cloth-diaper exclusively this could still be a great deal if you need any household items (toothpaste/deodorant/shampoo/cleaning products) especially since it seems there's always a sale on at least one of the brands at any given time. Or, re-stock your medicine cabinet with Walgreeens branded supplies (they've been just as effective as the name brands for us) and save even more. And no, Walgreens isn't giving me anything to promote this, but boy I wish they would!

Happy (Bargain) Shopping!!!

Cousins

2010-02-08T17:09:00.002-06:00

I love, love, LOVE these pictures, taken at Christmas-time! Just a bit delayed in posting. :)

Fast French Bread

2010-02-05T15:48:00.003-06:00

This bread is really fast, only an hour or an hour-and-a-half from getting out the ingredients to eating warm, crusty, soft French Bread! What can beat that?

I found the recipe on this great mommy-blogger site and let's just say we'll be making it again! It made three loaves, of which we ate about 1/2 loaf at dinner that night, saved the other half for the next day and froze 4 half-loaves (just let thaw on the counter for a couple of hours wrapped in foil and pop in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes and it's like fresh-from-the oven bread again). Yum!! Not bad work for less than 2 hours total prep-work including rising and baking time.

Don't our pictures make you want some for yourself?? For those of you who love photos, doesn't James' new lens make you want one for yourself??

No Fail Quick French Bread (Found at Gourmet Mom on-the Go)
Ingredients:
1 T shortening
1 T salt
2 T sugar
1 C boiling water
1 C cold water
1/3 C lukewarm water
1 T yeast (cut your yeast in half if you are at a high altitude)
4 1/2 C - 6 C flour
1 egg

Directions:
1. Place the 1 C hot water in the microwave for 3 minutes to get it boiling.
2. Dissolve the yeast into the warm water. Stir it around until it is all mixed.
3. Combine the salt, shortening, and sugar in the bottom of your mixer with a fork. The dough hook doesn't work very well.
4. Pour the boiling water over the shortening mixture.
5. Pour the cold water over the mixture.
6. Pour the warm water and yeast into the mixer.
7. Begin to add the flour, one cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the side of your mixer.
8. Let the dough mix on high for 8 minutes.
9. Let the dough rise in the mixer for about 20 minutes. (This step can actually be skipped if you are in a hurry!)
10. Separate the dough into three parts and place on a large jelly roll pan sprayed with cooking spray. Let the dough sit for about 5 minutes. Letting it sit will make it MUCH easier to shape.

11. Spread the dough out into a large (12"x18" or so) rectangle.

12. Then roll the dough up on the short side--you should know have an approximately 18" long rope of dough.

14. Turn the loaf so the seam side is down. Repeat these steps with the other 2 parts of dough.
15. Spray a sharp knife with cooking spray.
16. Make your egg wash by whisking the egg until frothy.
17. Cut three diagonal slits in the top of each loaf. Cover with the egg wash being sure to get it into all of the slits.

18. Place the loaves in a warm 170 degree oven and let rise for about 15 minutes.
19. Turn the oven up to 375 degrees for a convection oven, and 400 degrees for a regular oven. Leave the loaves in while the oven increases in temperature.
20. Bake for 10 minutes convection or 15 regular oven, or until the loaves are golden brown and crusty.
21. Turn the oven down to 325 for convection, 350 for regular and turn the pan around in the oven. Bake for another 7 minutes convection or 10 minutes for regular.

On our Bookshelf

2010-01-19T19:03:00.003-06:00

We've been reading this book ALOT recently! Lydia in particular loves everything about it. It's cutely written in a rhyme-y but not annoying fashion, which is also a bonus since Joshua can't get enough of rhyming these days.

It's about a kitten who is having a bad day because she's just too enthusiastic as she tries to help her mama, and of course her eagerness results in more, not less work for her mom.

I love the ending especially because it so accurately describes how I feel most days:

Mama runs to Calico...

"Mama, do you think I'm bad?

Mama smiles. "I'm not mad. Why, you are good as good can be--a blessing every day to me!

You'll make mistakes, but dearest, know...I'll always love you Calico!"

While my kids are not fictional, and thereby not always 'as good as good can be', they definitely are a blessing and usually good and trying to help, so I hope I can always communicate my great love for them instead of annoyance when things go wrong, though in the moment it's harder than it sounds!

2 Nights, 2 Meals, 30 minutes prep, for real.

2010-01-15T13:59:00.003-06:00

While it is probably no secret to most of you reading (is there anyone besides James out there reading?), I love my crockpot. It's so handy, I love the way it makes the house smell good all day, and really, who doesn't love a one-pot, forget-its-there-until-dinners-done sort of appliance. Anyway, you get my point, I love me a good crock-pot recipe and I'm always looking for more (so if you have a good one send it my way, please).

On Wednesday I found a whole new way to combine two crockpot meals into a tasty, cheap, and fast 2-for-1. So I thought I'd share:

Day 1: Beer-Roasted Chicken (I served this with microwave baked potatoes and a salad, but you could do whatever is fast and suits your personal fancy)

You need:

1 (3-4lb) whole fryer chicken

1 (12oz.) can beer (or substitute equal amount beef broth if you don't have or would prefer not to use)

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1/2 t. paprika

To prepare:

Remove any extra parts (neck, organs) from inside cavity of chicken and place bird in crockpot. Pour beer/broth over and into the chicken. Sprinkle with seasonings and place lid on. Cook on medium high for 4 hours, or low for up to 8. This chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender and nicely flavored, yum! Serves 4.

Serve and store for tomorrow:

Remove skin from chicken, carve and reserve meat needed for dinner as desired. Remove the remaining meat from bones. Lightly shred extra chicken and place in a storage dish in refrigerator. Discard bones and strain broth to another refrigerated container.

Day 2: Chicken Taco Soup, adapted from this recipe (serve with tortilla chips for dipping or crumbling on top or over instant brown rice)

You need:

Leftover Chicken from Day 1

Leftover Stock from Day 1

1 medium onion coarsley chopped

1 (15 oz.) can chili-style beans, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained

1-2 cups water (depending on how this you want it)

1 (15 oz.) can diced chili-style or mexican-style tomatoes, undrained

1 (15oz.) can corn, drained OR 1 (1lb.) package frozen corn

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce OR 2 cups tomato juice

1 package taco seasoning or 1/3 this recipe

1/2 t. chipotle chili powder (optional)

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Sour cream (optional)

Cilantro, chopped (optional)

To prepare:

Remove reserved chicken stock from fridge, using a spoon, scrape layer of fat off the top and discard. Remaining stock will be thick like jello. (Don't worry, it will return to a normal consistency as it warms)

Add all ingredients through chili powder (if using) to a crockpot and cook on high for 1 hour, or on low for up to 8.

Top bowls of soup with cheese, sour cream, and cilantro as desired. Serves 8.

Tips:

If you don't think you'll have enough chicken for both meals you could cook two whole birds at the same time and use all of one for dinner, and all of the the other for the soup.

If you just want to make the soup but didn't roast the chicken the previous day, substitute 3 bonless, skinless chicken breasts for leftover meat and 1 can of beer/broth in place of the water called for. (Basically, just follow the recipe I linked to as written.)

Oh where, oh where has my baby boy gone...and other musings of a 4-year mom...

2010-01-14T15:25:00.003-06:00

Birthday season has now passed us by for another year. In addition to newly 2-year-old Lydia, Joshua turned four on Sunday. In some ways it seems like yesterday that I became a mom, in others that I have been doing this all my life. But either way, I can't imagine my life without him.

Joshua, before you were born I had moments of worry about how I would take care of you, or the ways you would change my life, or if I was ready to always be thinking of and responsible for another human being. I even worried if I was strong enough to get through the process of bringing you into this world.

And then, as I started having complications the week before your birth I knew I could and would do whatever was in my power to keep you safe and out of harm. Labor was different than I ever imagined and yet when they placed teeny-tiny you into my arms I knew instantly it was all worth it. Every second of uncertainty, pain, and worry faded into the perfection of your little body, 10 fingers and toes, bright blue eyes, and a sense of connection I'd never experienced before with someone I'd just met.

These past four years have changed and stretched me in ways I'd thought it would and in so many ways I never envisioned. I always thought the role of a parent was to guide and direct a child into the person they would become, but I've learned that it is just as much the child teaching and refreshing the parent and shaping them into the person they were meant to be as well.

You've come so far these past four years and I feel like you've crossed from little boy to mini-man recently. I cherish the moments you still call me "Mommy" and want to snuggle or make sure I tuck you in and give you just one more hug and kiss, and yet I'm so proud of you when you step out and do things on your own, or want to try something for yourself, even though I know if means you need me just a little less.

Having a conversation with you is often enlightening and nearly always humorous! You have so much to offer and I love to watch you make connections and put the world together. You are driven, inquisitive, and confident, but at the same time so sensitive and so concerned about what you can't plan, understand or control.

I see so much of myself in you, and I hope I can use that empathy to encourage you to step outside your (our) comfort zone and yet I'm guessing that I will find that you will be the one showing me that the first step is always the hardest, but that the rewards for trying are well worth the risk.

Every day with you is a blessing and I feel so priveleged to have been in your life these past four years and look forward to the next year (and the rest of your life) with you too, and no matter how big you get you'll always be my baby.

Happy 4th Birthday, baby boy!

Two

2010-01-08T16:11:00.004-06:00

My baby girl is two-years-old today! Wow, where did the time go? I started this blog to let far-flung family and friends know of her arrival here, and if you've been following along for awhile the rest, as they say, is history.

To my baby girl on her birthday, January 8th, 2010:

Lydia Elise, you make me smile each and every morning when I go in to get you up and I'm still smiling when I put you to bed in the evening.

You're so sweet and sensitive and no matter what mood I'm in I can't help but feel warm and fuzzy inside when you give me a hug or climb on my lap and cuddle.

Somtimes I miss the snuggles of you as a baby, and now I treasure those rare baby moments more, but I love watching you grow and I wouldn't trade for your babyhood back for anything.

This has been a big year for you, I don't even realize how much until I stop to look at pictures and ponder. Running, jumping, potty-training, big-girl bed sleeping, growing, your little personality has just bloomed and bloomed!

You're such a caring "mommy" for your baby-dolls and it warms my heart to seeing you show them such nurture and concern, because I know that means your daddy and I are doing a good job of showing you how much we love you and your brother and that you feel it as well.

I love walking into a room to find you singing a song at the top of your lungs, usually just a tiny bit off-key and missing just a few words, but more precious than anything I could imagine. Hearing you sing the lullabies we've sung to you brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.

Your energy, love of life, and enthusiasm for whatever we're doing is contagious. Your vocabulary is growing by the day and yet you still have the charm of a tiny talker. I will miss when you lose the last of your "baby" words and you don't ask me to "hold-jer me" when you want to be picked up.

And yet, I look forward to all the changes I know this upcoming year will bring. I used to think that I would dread the "terrible-twos" and yet, I know that most of it should be labeled the "teachable-twos" for the learning and growth that takes place is astounding and I'm glad I'm your mommy and get to watch it take place and play a little part in making you the person you are becoming.
Baby Girl, I love you more and more each day and I'm so blessed and thankful that you're ours!
Happy 2nd Birthday!

The Shots behind "the Shot"

2009-12-22T12:16:00.007-06:00

All of this:

(My favorite of the "outtakes", I actually love this one, it's so our life right now!)

All for these:

Ahh!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

'Tis the Season

2009-12-07T14:02:00.006-06:00

For fun in the snow...

Of Merry music...
(Check out some great holiday tunes here)

For time together...

Of creating, cooking, and crafting...

We will return to our regularly scheduled programming at a later date. :)

Answers...and our own photos

2009-11-20T13:51:00.002-06:00

Ok, here are the answers from last time:

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Elizabeth
2. What is your favorite food? Cheese
3. What high school did you go to? I was homeschooled
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? I don't have one...and for some reason when I searched "celebrity crush" the picture I used came up...random, but somehow charming
6. Favorite drink? Proof that I'm uninteresting, it really and truly is water.
7. Dream vacation? Iguazu Falls on the Border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Maybe we'll actually get to do this for our sabbatical! (YAY!!!)
8. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? How do you even answer this question. I searched for "complete"
10. What do you love most in life? My family
11. One Word to describe you. Loyal
12. Your flickr name: Most random of the whole bunch...I use James' flickr account and his user name is the really original "James Slager" and lo and behold, for some reason when you type that into search, the photo I posted is the only one that comes up and I can't figure out how it relates at all to anything with "james" or "slager"

How'd you do? Did you guess them right?

And because I've been having a lot of fun with the collage-maker and because I absolutely love these shots we've taken over the past year, and since posts with no pictures can be boring,here is a collage I made the other day:

Just For Fun

2009-11-18T16:25:00.004-06:00

It's a drippy gray day here, with not a whole lot going on (well, except Lydia may be coming down with something. *fingers-crossed* Hopefully not!)

Sooo, I stumbled on this little Flickr game today. As an aside, if you've never visited Flickr, go now. Wow, I love me some good photographs and even if I devoted my life to the process, I wouldn't have time to find them all on Flickr. If only I took pictures like that!

Anyway, I spent way too much of naptime doing this, but it was fun. Here's my picture:

And here are the credits: 1. Elizabeth Cady Stanton House at Night, 2. Meant To Be Dinner: Cheese Board, 3. Home Office, 4. TRue BLue BaBy i LoVe You!!!, 5. Mind Your Manners 1954, 6. macro water drop, 7. Cataratas del Iguazú 002 / Iguassu Falls 002, 8. Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with Raspberries, 9. .freedom., 10. My brother and his family, 11. Hill of Loyal, Perth and Kinross, 12. e-flux video rental opens at Carpenter Center, Boston

Here are the rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image. (You can choose between interesting, recent, and relevant)
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Can you guess my answers from the pictures???
Stay tuned, I'll post the answers in the next couple of days. Hope you enjoy!

Singing the Lunchtime Blues

2009-11-11T14:21:00.004-06:00

Lunch is becoming the bane of my existence! Ok, so that's overly dramatic, but really, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on dinner ideas and breakfast is always the same, but what on earth should I feed my kids for lunch day after day.

It seems that they'd prefer to have a "favorite" every day, but you can only have mac 'n cheese or hot dogs so often with out having to turn in your mom card. Grilled cheese is also a hit, and while potentially healthier than the previous two, it's still not a nutritional goldmine.

Lunchmeats are always so salty and full of preservatives, etc. and expensive to boot, so we don't usually have them in the house since the kids only eat them once in a while even when they're around. And, it seems that by the time we return from whatever the morning activity was, I don't have the time or energy to make a whole new meal from scratch and the kids want food NOW!

I like leftovers just fine, but many times there aren't enough for all four of us, and even if there are, the kids usually won't go for something from a previous dinner the second time around. Further complicating the matter, Joshua has a peanut allergy, so all forms of peanut containing/contaminated foods are out as well...

Both kids eat fruits and veggies pretty well, but I'm at a loss for what to serve as a "main-course" at lunch. So what am I missing?? Someone must have more or better ideas on what to feed to small children for lunch five days a week that is quick, yet still reasonably healthy and economical! Or, do the rest of you struggle with this for yourself or your kids too??? Hit me with your best ideas, I'm all ears!

Halloween 09

2009-11-05T15:07:00.004-06:00

The day of the year Joshua's been looking forward to most since his birthday has finally come, and gone just as quickly.
Here are a few pictures of my little cuties all ready to go get CANDY!!!

Four Months

2009-10-12T16:52:00.004-05:00

It's been a little more than four months since we moved into our new house. Typing that I can hardly believe it--it feels both like yesterday and like it was years ago all at once. But, four months it has been and we've been busy trying to put our touch on the house. I think we've succeeded, I think we've completed most of our short-term projects, although there is always a seemingly endless list of things we'd like to do "someday."

Somewhat surprisingly, given how clueless we felt when we first become homeowners four years ago, we've found we really enjoy doing a lot of do-it-yourself improvements and doing them together.

We're also still right on the fence between the hand-me-down/early-garage-sale-era styles of furnishing and starting to buy pieces that we hope to have long term and which represent our own style and preferences.

All in good time, but for now we're doing the best we can with what we have and trying to make responsible, economical, and resource-conscious decisions about what to keep, what to replace, and what we can "remake" in order to use things we already have, but love them more. (For example, we just got new slipcovers for our living room couches, since they're both still comfortable, usable couches, but the upholstery has seen better days...)

I was going to post before and after photos here, but blogger isn't cooperating with me and photos recently and I'm running out of time, so for now I'll post links to online photo albums, both before and after. Check them out!
Before:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026607&id=178201571&l=e87729a2fe
After: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030084&id=178201571&l=06f31aef04

And, just because she's too cute, and I really like how this picture turned out, here's Lydia while she was playing in the leaves yesterday...

Gleaning

2009-10-09T14:52:00.007-05:00

We were part of a community supported agriculture (CSA) program again this year (our 2nd year, but with a new provider) at a local farm and we've just loved it. Our kids are so excited to get our box every week and see what's in it, and Joshua's been looking forward to the pumpkin party the farm was hosting for weeks.Last Sunday was the appointed day, so we headed off to Evansville to get our pumpkins and show the kids the farm. As an added bonus, the farm owners had decided to open the farm up for a gleaning as well. Basically, all of the crops that were finished with harvest for the year (and a couple that weren't) were opened up to the CSA members and your family could take home what you'd like to use/freeze or otherwise enjoy. So much fun! We picked cucumbers, red peppers, green beans, watermelon, tomatoes, carrots and broccoli in addition to our pumpkins. We could have picked a couple others, but somehow summer squash and zucchini just have never charmed any of us so extras weren't desired.

I guess this cool, moist, but not overly-wet summer was great for production and since it hasn't yet frosted in most of southern wisconsin the produce was still good for the taking. An overabundance, what a blessing--so different from our experience with CSA last year where crops were scarce. The frost is supposed to come tonight and with it the official end of the 2009 harvest season here in Wisconsin, but one we've truly enjoyed!

Welcome

2009-10-07T16:27:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to say a quick welcome to this guy:

Pipp joined our family about two months ago and he's been a great source of entertainment for the kiddos. Joshua very carefully monitors all things he does because "otherwise he might DIE."

After the tragic suicide of Michael we also invested in a new (to us) mini-acquarium with a COVER, hopefully preventing the same fate from meeting Mr. Pipp.

Welcome, little blue Pipp, we hope you'll stay with us for a very long fishy life!

No More Diapers! (Sort-of)

2009-10-06T15:24:00.006-05:00

**Edited to add, I've known for a while that I've lost much of my mental accuity with the arrival of kids, but this is a new low. I realized while talking to someone this morning that Lydia is 21 months old today, not 22, like my original post indicated. Watch out, next thing you know I'll refer to them by each other's names...**

Without further ado I'll take this opportunity to make an announcement I hope I don't regret and have to take back soon: Lydia is potty-trained! She's been in underwear for probably 6 weeks or so now, but I've been hesitating to make it "official" since I've been sure the moment I did she would regress and refuse to use the toilet for the next year or so. But, she's even gotten to the point where she'll take herself to the bathroom and do her business when she feels the call, so I think we've reached the point of no return. *Fingers-crossed*

We're not really even close to being dry overnight most nights and I still put her in a pull-up at naptime because she tends to wake up and play quietly and happily in her bed for upwards of half and hour before I hear her. Since she's in a crib, unless I hear her right away, she can't get out so she has an accident if nature calls during her playtime. So, we're probably 50-50% as far as dryness until I get her up from her nap. She'll still only be 21 months-old on Thursday, so she's now greatly exceeded my wildest imaginations for when she'd be potty-trained so I can take months (years) of only diapering at night at this point!

She's going to kill me for this at some point, but it's just too funny not to share...she begged for a "bwa" to go with her undies!

21 months going on 21 years?

So, during the daytime at least, we're done with diapers until we decide to take the plunge and start trying for #3!

It's one of those moments where it would be really nice to pat yourself on the back and pride yourself on your great parenting training/techniques, but looking back at PTing both kids I realize that it's totally and completely not about me. No matter how much I wanted, planned, or was indifferent to potty-training when they were ready they "got it". I'll be honest, I was actually quite hesitant and even almost resistant to starting with Lydia when began asking/wanting to use the potty a couple of months ago. I figured it would just mean more work for me and that she had at least another 6-18 months before she'd really put all the pieces together. I mean, I thought Joshua was pretty early and he was 2 1/2. We'd started at the same age with Joshua and it was months-and-months of up and down, excitement and misery, success and failure, and in the end, once I'd pretty much decided to stop trying, it suddenly just clicked and he was doing it. So, I'd told myself I wasn't even going to try this time around, I'd just wait for her to do it on her own. And now she has, and I'm shaking my head, feeling even less like I have any sort of "formula" for potty training a child.

Lastly, I know there are many of you, my mommy-friends, out there who have kids that are still working on (or not even interested in) the potty training thing and they're the same age as mine. I've actually hesitated to write this post for that reason too, I really, really don't want this to sound like "my kids are so advanced and talented" or make you feel any more pressure than I know we moms already put on ourselves when we want something really badly.

Know that I feel the same pressure, not in our family's case with potty training, but with so many other things in regards to being a "good" mom. I've decided to just put the "she's potty-trained story" out there because I'm really proud of Lydia and I'm really happy with how this aspect of our family is going right now, but it's not in any way intended to be a "I'm really good at this" type of post.

If there's one thing I've learned and re-learned, and will definitely still be learning years from now, it's that I don't have all the answers or any sort of fool-proof plan for parenting my kids and I probably never will. I'm just doing the best I can with the kids I have and sometimes that exceeds my expectations and sometimes I wonder if what I'm doing is working at all. I'm happy to share what's worked for us, but it's just that, what worked for us and it may or may not be the same in your family... I love this bond of motherhood, but I hate that I so easily and quickly compare myself to others and feel badly about myself and my parenting if someone else is having a seemingly easier time than I or not struggling with something that has me repeatedly in tears. I know that "having it all together" is usually a facade and yet I fall for it nearly every time.

Basically this has been a really long and rambling way of saying, I want to strive for greater openness and honestly about both my successes and struggles. I so greatly admire people who are "real" and yet I struggle with wanting to try to look good, because maybe then others will buy it and then so can I. I don't want to feel that way, I want to share the experiences that make me joyful without having to apologize in case they might make you feel badly and I want to be open about the things that frustrate me without trying so hard to maintain an image, knowing that my friends will be there to empathize and support me. So this is me, calling all of us to a greater community--one where we know we don't have it all together and we give grace to others knowing that they don't either--anyone care to join me?

The Three Chef-kateers!

2009-09-21T16:27:00.005-05:00

All of you with little people in your life that want to be just like you need to get t his book. Buy, borrow, or rent, just hurry, winter is coming, do it now!

A friend and I are doing a pre-school swap this semester since we both have kids who won't start kindergarten for two more years--we wanted them to get the fun and exposure to pre-school, but with a more relaxed and flexible schedule and without the pre-school cost and committment.

For the month of September we've been studying food. Where it grows, how it grows, why we should eat a balanced diet, and yes, cooking. We went to the library and looked for books the kids could read to go along with our theme, field trips, etc. There are a lot more books on the topic in the picture-book/early reader section than I would have imagined, and we came away with a dozen or so on various topics. My favorite has to be the book I mentioned at the top of the post. It's called Salad People and it's a picture cookbook with recipes even pre-schoolers can make largely themselves. Obviously each recipe has "adult-only" jobs, but after the intro page and written recipe there are step-by-step picture instructions as well.

It was my turn to host the kids, so we made a little menu, grocery shopped for the items we needed, and then it was cooking time. I was really impressed by how well everybody listened and how patient they were in waiting. Our menu: granola, focaccia bread, and cream of tomato soup. I'd be willing to guess there are a large number of adults who haven't cooked these items from "scratch" but with the instructions in this book they really were easy enough that two 3-year-olds (and a one-year-old who thinks she's three, of course) did it. :) No food tastes better than food you made yourself!

Yogurt, Yum!

2009-09-03T14:18:00.002-05:00

Ok, so during my blogging hiatus I've finally been trying several of the things I've wanted to, but just didn't get around to. (Sounds a bit like my blogging now that I mention it...)

My favorite is the yogurt. I'd seen a lot of people posting that they'd made yogurt and it's gotten so pricey...really, .$75 for a 4-6oz. carton of NON-organic yogurt? I enjoy a yogurt here and there, but with the way everyone else in my family eats it, we'd need to buy stock in Yoplait.

Anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot and worst case scenario was I'd wasted a half gallon of milk. Well, it turned out great! We're well on our way to batch #3 and I'm not rationing yogurt anymore. :) It's super simple and hands-off too. Here's my "recipe" (which I originally found here) if you can call it that, why not give it a try?

What you need:

1/2 gallon whole milk

1/4-1/2 cup non-fat dry milk (optional, will increase thickness as well as calcium/protein in your yogurt)

1/2 cup plain, unsweetened live-culture yogurt (this is your starter and can be any plain yogurt, you just don't want it to have added sugar or flavorings...I've heard Dannon naturals works well, I used yogurt from a local farm the first time and 1/2 c. from my first batch the second time.)

Crockpot

Towel

This is what you do:

Pour the entire half gallon of milk into your crockpot on its lowest (not warm) setting. Cook for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Turn crockpot off and let the milk sit for 3 hours. Place two cups of warm milk in a separate bowl and stir in plain yogurt "starter" until well combined, then return the mixture to the crockpot with the rest of the warm milk. Pour in non-fat dry milk if using.

Take the whole crockpot, wrap in a heavy towel and place in a warm place (I like to use my oven with the light on--doesn't get bumped and it stays nice and warm) for at least 8 hours or overnight.

When you wake up you will have yogurt!
Place in a large bowl and keep in the fridge, it will stay fresh about 7-10 days in it's plain form.

To serve:

Scoop out the desired amount and add honey, fruit, jam, vanilla, granola, etc. to taste. Only flavor/sweeten what you'll use at once since it becomes less thick once you add flavorings.
For an extra special treat, place the desired amount of yogurt in a coffee filter over a mug Let sit for at least two hours, then drain liquid in bottom of cup. You'll have super thick, creamy Greek-style yogurt. Sweeten and top as before!

Ignore the following if you're just in a crafty mood and don't care about the cost-benefit analysis. However, I was curious how much I was actually saving, so I did the math. I've included it below. These are based on the typical prices I've seen here in my upper-midwestern grocery store. You actual costs may be more or less depending on location, but it should give you a good idea at least. I've given ranges of price, but used my high-end numbers accross the board, results would obviously be a bit different if I had used the middle of the range or the bottom, but it should scale similarly.

Cost analysis: This is a great way to save a bunch of money! For traditional yogurt I figure the total cost for one batch (~1/2 gallon) is between $1.50 and $2. Cost for organic is between $3-4 per batch. A typical single-serve(4oz.) traditional yogurt costs between $0.40-0.75 per container and organic is between $.75-1.25 per container. Greek yogurt is even pricier, costing between $1.25-2.5o for a single serving. Each batch of homemade yogurt makes about 16 single servings (or 12 servings of Greek-style once you pour off the liquid). Using these numbers the costs for homemade yogurt per serving is as follows: $0.125 per serving for traditional, $0.25 for organic,

or $0.16 for Greek-style. Total savings for one batch of traditional yogurt? $10 ($12 for 64oz. purchased yogurt in single-serving containers-$2 for 64oz. homemade yogurt.) That's quite a bit of saving!

#100

2009-08-19T16:28:00.002-05:00

No, we haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but August has seemed to fly past. I have a whole bunch of topics I WANT to post about, but lack the time/motivation to actually post about them.

So, look forward to posts about the yogurt I made, our anniversary get-away, our first meeting of my way-too-cute nephew, or the little "face-lift" projects we've been working on around our houses. I'd also like to do a fun, interesting, and/or witty post about reaching entry #100.

But, the kids call and dinner needs to get made, so those will have to wait for post #101. For now, Happy 100th, little blog, and thanks to those of you who have been keeping up with us for all or part of the past year and a half! :-)

Gone

2009-07-28T15:08:00.004-05:00

Remember this guy? He's been such a happy, easy-going, low-maintenence part of our family for a year and a half now. Yesterday he left us.

He went out in a most dramatic way. When we left to run errands he was fine, doing swimmingly even... It all happened so fast. (Or maybe it was slow? We were gone.)

When we returned home from the library and grocery store Joshua was the first in the door. I walked in to hear "mommy there's a fish on the floor by our deck." My first thought was What?!? But I looked over and sure enough, there was Michael, flopping on the floor by the patio door to the deck.

As far as we can figure, the water was a bit higher than usual and he jumped out. But, instead of staying there and waiting for help, he started on an adventure turned suicide-attempt. Somehow he survived the four-foot-drop off the island cupboard and flopped the 10 feet over to the deck door. The kids have never even watched Finding Nemo, so he couldn't have gotten any inspiration for an escape from that...but to the door he was drawn nonetheless. And there we found him, in rough shape.

I thought he was a goner for sure. But, to be a good (albeit very surprised) Mommy, I got the fish net and scooped him up and plopped him back in his bowl. And started warning his owner of his likely approaching death.

He made it all afternoon and into the evening, though I was pretty sure he wouldn't fully recover. We left for a walk and when we returned he'd finally given up on recovery. Joshua found him and was quite stoic, saying "he's got one of his wings (fins) up in the air, I think he's dead" Lydia is confused: she keeps saying Michael. Potty. Flush. Gone. and going in there to see if he's come back. Joshua asked to hold him before his "flushing ceremony." This grossed Mommy out a little, but it's his fish and he hasn't been able to touch for over a year, so we (well James, actually...thanks honey!) wrapped him in plastic wrap and Joshua said his good-byes.

It's only a fish, but it's really our kids first personal experience with death. Joshua got teary after he was gone and wanted answers about where Michael was now and if we'd see him again. How do you re-assure a 3-year-old about death while being honest but not scaring them? We held him and talked about what a good pet Michael had been. He liked the idea of Michael going down the pipes to the sewage plant and eventually "becoming dirt." It is the life cycle, but it's never easy.

He's now looking forward to the next fish, which he's already told us will be blue and named Pipp. Ah, resiliency, it's how we get through life with a pre-schooler--everything is dramatic, but at least he recovers quickly.

Good-bye, Michael, you will be missed as much as any fish can...!

Concerts on the Square

2009-07-23T13:25:00.008-05:00

In case I haven't mentioned it here recently, I think Madison's a pretty cool town! There's the zoo (it's FREE), a great children's museum, and of course the farmer's market.

But, although we've been here for four years now (wow, has it really been four years already?!?) we're still discovering and becoming part of other Madison traditions and opportunities.

For example, Concerts on the Square. I know free concerts in a park with some sort of live musician(s) are not a tradition original to Madison. My first experience with one of these was in London, actually, but I know it's common all over... However, it's something that happens every summer in Madison, on the capitol square (the orchestra plays on the steps, pretty cool), and not just one week, or two, but for every week for six weeks each summer!

We've made a concert intentionally one other time since moving here, and another time we happened to be downtown when it was going on, but before this summer one child or the other was not really big enough to last for a whole concert. We've made it twice now this summer, and I think we'll continue to try to be there regularly.

Basically, the whole lawn of the capitol square becomes a giant picnicking/relaxing/chatting sprawl of concert attenders. To take part you simply place blankets or chairs or much more elaborate set ups on the lawn. (I didn't get a picture of these, but some people actually have custom made tables just for this purpose and bring/buy a gourmet meal and sip wine while the concert moves along--sounds relaxing to be sure, but we are not in that life stage right now!)

It's an eclectic mix of young and old, dressy and casual, well-to-do and working class. There are kids playing and dancing on the mall and collections of seniors in their rocking lawnchairs tapping in time to the beat and a lot of everyone in betwen. Everyone comes together for one purpose and puts aside their differences for the evening. And it's totally Madison. Love it!

We really enjoyed the music both times, though I'd have to say as much as I enjoy classical music, hearing an orchestra playing movie themes live just really cannot be beat, so the week the whole program was epic movie themes has to be my favorite. The kids enjoyed the music as well, but hands down their favorite part was the treat we got the first week. Rather that purchasing individual ice cream cones for everyone from the vendor and spending a good chunk of the entertainment budget for the month in the process (somewhat defeating the whole point of a FREE event) we instead stopped at a corner grocery store and got a 1/2 gallon and a package of cones. Total cost: just shy of $4, and out of the grocery budget to boot. :) Extra bonus: the kids thought nothing could be cooler than making their own ice cream cones and eating straight from the carton. Mommy loved the fact that it was all outside and everthing that got coated in sticky ice cream hands could either be left behind, wiped down, or tossed in the washing machine upon our arrival home!

We're loving summer time here in Madison (though it's been a bit chilly) and are looking forward to the fun continuing into fall, which somehow seems to be just around the corner. How about you? What's your favorite free summertime activity with or without kiddos?

Precious Little Feet with Big Shoes to Fill

2009-07-21T14:14:00.006-05:00

This is our entry for iHeartFaces special "feet week" edition.

I love this picture! It was taken last summer as part of a larger set in which Joshua is playing with a caterpillar. He randomly decided that it would be fastest to take a pair of James' shoes outside instead of putting on his own. The result is precious. I've always loved it when my little boy decided to wear his daddy's shoes--for me it just captures all of the awe, respect, love and wonder a son has for his father. And it's a bittersweet reminder that someday in the not-too-distant future, those shoes won't be to big for him, but he might be too big for them.

But, for right now, I'm going to enjoy him like he is--curious, inquisitive, sweet and busy, busy, busy!!

Click on over to this week's iheartFaces post and browse the other fun entries.

A Tale of Two Half-Birthdays

2009-07-13T16:11:00.010-05:00

The nice part about having kids with birthdays two days apart is that with a mostly-combined birthday celebration on their actual birthdays, I actually have some interest and energy for their "half-birthday(s)."
I remember several years as a child when we got to celebrate with a half-birthday-cake and I still remember it fondly. I've never been super disciplined about it like I know some people are (my mom has a friend who celebrates her "birthday" each month of the year!) but I think it's fun for my kids especially while they're this little--a year is a long time when you've only celebrated three...or one! Anyway, we actually made a "half" cake this year. (I took one layer of cake and split it in half and stacked it so only half of it was there.) It looks a bit worse for the wear since the kids wanted our fresh homemade strawberry-mulberry jam on it in addition to the frosting and the humidity was high. But, it was tasty anyway, and the kids (who helped me make it) were very excited for their "cup-cake" as Lydia referred to it. :)
Candles and sprinkles are requirements for any "celebration" as Joshua called it, but I don't have a clue where the birthday candles got put during the move, so as you'll see we had to make do with a decorative candle, but they didn't seem to mind. It was fun for all of us, you just can't help catching the excitement of your kids!
Here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Lydia's still a novice, it took her a couple of attempts to blow out the candle...

Joshua's quite the expert, however!

Ready to dig in! (Joshua kept running to find James or me saying "hurry it's time for our celebration!")

Verdict: It's good...

It's very, very good....

I think this face says it all...

Happy 1/2 Birthday Babies!

Snippets

2009-06-24T11:25:00.005-05:00

Here's a quick recap of our last week. Nothing is really big enough for a whole post, but it's been awhile, so we'll catch you up.

Since my last post we:

*Enjoyed having my mom and grandma in town last Tuesday through Saturday. It was my grandma's first out-of-state excursion since her stroke last fall and she did quite well. The kids love having family around and all the extra attention it brings and showing off their new as well, so it was a good combination. My mom was a big help with the gardening/landscaping as we had perennials to split at the old house and I didn't really have a clue to go about it!

*Went strawberry picking for Father's Day. There's not a whole lot that James loves more than fresh-picked fruit and the rest of us feel similarly. We spent an hour or so in the patch and ended up with 15lbs of perfectly sun-ripened berries. (Well, most of them were perfectly ripe, Joshua had a bit of trouble determining which ones were "red-enough" at the beginning--probably doesn't help that he thinks the green ones taste good too...) We've since enjoyed shortcake, lots plain, and made a couple batches of jam. Yum!

*We're starting to get art/photos on our walls, giving it a much more personal look. There's a lot more to do, but it's a start.

*With an afternoon of focused work in our garage, we're now able to park both cars inside. It's a less-impressive feat when you realize we have a three-stall garage, but it's an achievement none the less.

*We got the old house officially listed on the MLS this week and have our first showings set-up. If you know anyone looking to buy a perfect first-home, send them the link. If not, you can just be thinking of us as we start this process. It's a bit unnerving to realize it's mostly out of your control and you just have to hurry up and wait. But, we feel good about our listing and we'll see where it goes.

*We're trying to stay cool, Southern Wisconsin has gotten caught in a mid-west heat wave. So, we're looking at temperatures approaching or above 90 degrees for most of the next week. It's supposed to cool just in time for our trip up to the shores of Lake Superior to spend the 4th with James' family at his parent's new home. Could we keep the heat wave there and lose it here?

*Lydia has insisted that it's time to start potty training. I don't have high hopes, but she's telling me just before or right after she's wet and has had a number of on-potty successes over the past week as well as being VERY verbal about it. I'd love for her to be done, but if she's not really old enough to have it click, I have plenty to do without spending my days mopping accidents up--so I wish I knew how to proceed.

*On the mopping up accidents front, I've really been struggling with Joshua's attitude/behavior/listening skills this week. Is/has anyone else having/had a similar issue with your own three year old? I'm badly needing someone to tell me this is normal! He's defiant, blatantly disobedient, and for the past week or so he's been having accidents, lots of them. He's been potty-trained for a year now and it's been 9-10 months since we've had accidents of any sort. We've had both types this week and I'm pretty much at the end of my rope. Nothing seems to be wrong, he just seems to be really lazy about going, and not listening to the cues.

*Between one potty training child, and one who seems to be un-potty-training (is that a real thing?) I feel like my washing machine/dryer are ALWAYS running. As in constantly. And I'm spending all day doing laundry, so my dishes don't get done. And, and, and. It's a domino effect that basically makes me feel that I'm living in a pig-pen. One unplanned chore/errand and any of the rest of the things I get done during the day are taking up time I'd planned for another. Any energy we have at the end of the day is mostly spent at the other house doing various projects. And my poor husband has two lawns to maintain in this weather...

Ok, I'll be done with my rant now. I'm sure it will all feel more under control soon. I'm very, very blessed--but does anyone else forget to remember their blessings under a pile of housework? I know I do at times like this week!

Beautiful...

2009-06-16T12:35:00.000-05:00

I found an anonymous post on this blog while I was browsing today. It's well worth the read. I can relate--I love that though there are so many ways to approach the details of motherhood, the emotions and desires behind it are the same for nearly all of us.

Enjoy!

Being a mom .. Anynomous….
We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of “starting a family.” “We’re taking a survey,” she says half-joking. “Do you think I should have a baby?” “It will change your life,” I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. “I know,” she says, “no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations.” But that is not what I meant at all, I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes, I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, “What if that had been MY child?” That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die. I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of “Mom!” will cause her to drop a souffle or her best crystal without a moments hesitation. I feel that I should warn her than no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby’s sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is alright. I want my daughter to know that everyday decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy’s desire to go to the men’s room rather than the women’s at McDonald’s will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish his. I want her to know that a Cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter’s relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic. I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who hae tried to stop war, prejudice, and drunk driving. I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts. My daughter’s quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. “You’ll never regret it,” I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter’s hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

Family Photo Shoot

2009-06-14T15:03:00.005-05:00

We had a great week this week--though we're all quite tired. Moving is hard work! We shifted focus from moving stuff into our new place, to showing and sharing it with people. I think we had people over for dinner three nights this past week!

Probably the most fun we had this week was a photo shoot and dinner with our good friends, Adam and Erin, and their two cute kiddos. Adam is expanding his client base and re-working his website, and we took him up on the offer for a family shoot. We haven't ever had a "real" photo shoot as a family before--we've done the in-store studio route a couple of times, though not since Lydia was born (I know, I've got mommy guilt over that one, which I assuage by reminding myself that we got the SLR and the pictures we took of her are better quality that with Joshua...)--and the resulting pictures are so much more us! Thanks Adam, we can't wait to see the rest!

Here are a few of our favorites from our preview:

Our first "pro" shot alone together since our wedding (sad, but true)

This one captures our Lydia perfectly--what a sweetheart!
Love it, love it! (Although Joshua was pretty much done at this point as you can see...)
You can find the rest of our preview here: http://timepiecestudio-adam.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post_14.html.

And, if you're in Wisconsin and need a photographer, we have one we'd highly recommend! :)

Our Sweetie ♥ 's Sweet Corn

2009-06-04T23:42:00.003-05:00

...And playing with it. She's just too cute!

Moving, update 1

2009-06-02T14:39:00.002-05:00

Well, we're homeowners twice from yesterday until whenever our first place sells! Don't have much time for a post, so I'll just link to our Facebook photo albums. I promise a real post and pictures coming soon.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026607&id=178201571&l=e87729a2fe (My Album, inside pics)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026592&id=178201772&l=4446c72a9d (James' album, moving pics)

We're still here

2009-05-27T08:25:00.007-05:00

It's been awhile I see. Funny, it doesn't really seem that long ago that I posted, but the date belies my sentiment! I guess we've been accomplishing a lot, but it seems like we're kind of in the in between. We can't move, but we can't really continue here with life as normal either.

So, we've been trying to do as much of both as possible. Our storage space is nearly packed full, chores to get/keep this house ready for sale are approaching completion, and we're making plans for where everything will go in the new house, etc. We met with the banker yesterday to go over closing documents and I purchased our new homeowners insurance policy. So, we're definitely moving in the direction of actually taking possession of the new place every day.

But, kids have a way of making sure you live in the present. They wake up everyday and insist on as close as possible to the same routines. They need love, care, and attention, no matter what else is going on and meeting their needs keeps us in today pretty well too. So, we're moving along a fine line of staying the same on the surface, but knowing a big change is coming right around the corner.

I'm starting to anticipate and wonder how the kids will really do with the move. Right now Joshua is super-excited about the whole idea and Lydia's clueless, but when it comes time to leave this house behind I'm not sure how that will affect them.

As of Monday we'll be homeowners...of two houses...something I never really wanted to be, but always knew in the back of my mind we'd probably have to be since we're moving with two little kiddos who make it near-impossible to get a house show ready while they're occupying it. However, as we get closer to that point, I've started to have the doubts that I think are pretty common. Did we make the right decision to buy before this house sold? How long will it take to get the right buyer? And of course, should we try to sell it on our own for a bit, or should we cave and get a realtor right away in hopes of significantly shortening the time we own the place?

I don't have answers to these question and it's bringing out my control issues and worrier side. I know it will all resolve itself in the end and that there's probably not any right or wrong answers to a couple of the questions. I'm even quite sure that for us, buying while we had the ability to look as long as we liked and find exactly what we wanted was the right choice. Neither of us are really snap-decision geared people and both would have disliked "having" to buy something just because closing was approaching on this place. So, we wait...

Anyway, not the most interesting post, but I mostly needed to corral my thoughts for myself if no one else. :) Thanks for "listening."

On a less pensive note, my two youngest brothers are here this week and we've really been enjoying the time with them. One bonus to moving is that we should get to see a lot of family in the coming weeks! :)

Other random notes from the last week:

We got our planters filled, and I'm quite happy with the results, I've never really done container plantings before and I thought they turned out quite well!

And, while we were visiting the construction site at James' employer to sate the big vehicles need of our three year old, I was playing with the settings on our camera with MckMama's tips from this post (and failing miserably, you'll note) but I got a picture I love! Worth it... :)

(If you get this in a feed, sorry for the multiple takes...I was watching (corralling) both kids while I wrote and didn't have much chance for a focused proofread, so had to edit for sense a couple of times...)

Tickle Tickle

2009-05-17T21:55:00.003-05:00

Again, just a clip of some family tickle time. This is both of the kids' favorite game right now. :)

Itsy Bitsy Spider

2009-05-17T21:52:00.001-05:00

Lydia LOVES the song "the Itsy Bitsy Spider" and for being sixteen-months, I think she does quite well with the motions. You can't really hear her "words" in the clip, but they something like this: "Eeee beeee, DOWN, eeee beee, YAY!!!!! (Clapping)"

The second clip is Joshua singing for her. He's really sweet about this (usually) and has started insisting that James/I can't sing along, he wants to do it for her by himself.

In general they're playing together more and he's pretty sweet, but we definitely still have our moments (days) where they're out to get each other. Or, more accurately, Joshua's out to get Lydia--she still worships the ground he walks on.

Free Chocolate Anyone???

2009-05-14T15:49:00.004-05:00

If you know me well, you'll know that I love to bargain hunt. Even better if the bargain is actually FREE! Some of you will probably also know that the photo below makes me very excited, and while pregnant, I'm slightly addicted!!! Don't believe me, just ask James...

So imagine my delight when I heard about this promotion. The Mars Candy Company (which makes candy like Snickers, Twix, and M&M's) is having a promotion all summer where they are giving away a free candy bars every Friday. Simply visit their website, and they'll send you a coupon for a free candy bar of your choice. The way I understand it, you can try this every Friday and get up to four free coupons this summer! Tomorrow is a double give away with half a million coupons available, so the perfect day to get started.

I'll have to be on the lookout for this creature though. She roams our house looking for chocolate of all sorts--from her face, do you think she enjoyed it??? Hmmm, maybe I'll just have to hide it and have it once the angels are in bed. My other big question, do I use it for a Snickers or a Twix???

I've been noticing some new visitors, welcome! I love comments, so take this chance to leave me one and introduce yourself, or at least tell us about your chocolate preferences! What's your favorite candy bar??

This post brought to you by...

2009-05-13T09:43:00.004-05:00

Tree Pollen

Pet Dander (which he frequently rubbed in his eyes, due to the aforementioned tree-pollen induced itching...)

Poor little man, he was SO miserable by bedtime last night! But a good night's sleep in his cat/dog free room, some anti-histamines, and a rain last night have put him on the mend...as you can see he's my little marshmallow when he bumps into something he's allergic to. (And yes, we've seen an allergist and have an epi-pen, just in case...)

The Invisible Mom

2009-05-11T14:05:00.002-05:00

I received this yesterday from a friend in my email and I thought it was pretty sweet. Many days I do feel invisible, spurred on only by a quick "thank you" from my kids, encouragement from my husband, or kind words from a friend. The task often seems endless and thankless. So I can relate on that level. I also remember visiting cathedrals on my trip to Europe during college and being amazed by how complex they are and how long they took to build. What do moms and cathedrals have in common? Read on and be refreshed in your own building adventure.

The Invisible Mom, Author Unknown

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask me a question.
Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously, not.
No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England ...
Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.
I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'
It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .
I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book.

And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
They mdde great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.
It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

I'll Show you Mine, if you Show Me Yours...

2009-05-08T15:10:00.007-05:00

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner hosts a blog carnival on Fridays called "Show us Where you Live." The theme this week is Living rooms, I've had a lot of fun clicking through people's links and seeing where they live--hopefully gaining ideas for future spaces and projects in our new place. The room of choice made me smile. How convenient. :) We just finished decluttering, etc. last night in preparation for putting the house on the market, so I just happen to have a relatively clean room and pictures to boot!

Anyway, there's nothing particularly remarkable about our living space, we're definitely still in the "function-first" stage of decorating and made the decision to upgrade the house instead of upgrading the furniture in the house. All in good time, I guess. So, as you can see we're desperately in need of a new couch(s) and chair(s) or at the very least a nice new slipcover! Probably a slipcover and a move to the playroom when the time comes, that couch is so comfy, I'm going to have a hard time letting it go before it falls apart.

What I love about this room is the high ceilings! It's hard to dust/change lightbulbs/etc. but it makes the room feel much larger. Also a bonus, it's sunken three steps from the rest of the house, so my kids have done stairs like champs much sooner than I think they would have in a house that was all one level OR one with a full flight of stairs. :)

So, we're coming along in getting the house show-ready, just one more room to go. I'm starting to get somewhat saddened by the thought of leaving this house, it's just full of so many great memories--but I know the new place is right for the family as a whole and I really will love it, it's just always hard to say good-bye!

Anyway, hop on over to Kelly's post and show us where you blog!

Packing, in Pictures

2009-05-05T23:53:00.007-05:00

Some of my favorite shots from the packing/moving/sorting so far....

Here is a peek at the kids' rooms, they're as clean and organized as they're probably going to get in this house. These are both done and ready to show.

Our first home, I'm excited for the new one, but this house certainly holds a lot of fond memories. It's where we became "real" adults (no longer students) and where we brought both our babies home. We'd like it to go to a "good home" as they say in pet listings--anyone know someone in the Madison area that's in the market for a cute 3 bed, 1 bath? If so, send them our way!

Man I'm going to miss this huge, fenced backyard!

And some random shots of the kiddies and the boxes, which as I mentioned in my previous packing post, they think are the best toys ever!

Whirlwind Weekend

2009-05-04T15:05:00.002-05:00

Our weekend went quickly from open to jam-packed. As of Friday night we had no plans except readying the house for listing and looking for garden plants at the farmer's market, by Saturday morning we had a mini-family reunion in the works! (We did get our heirloom tomato plants, by the way. Yum!)

James' youngest brother, Jeremy, has spent the semester studying abroad and returned to the US yesterday. We knew his parents and probably his grandpa were going to meet him at the airport, so we thought we'd get a hotel, let Joshua swim and make a night of it. What we didn't expect was that the party would grow and grow and be also able to get hotel rooms in the same hotel. But it all came together quickly and by Saturday evening we were joined by James' parents, his grandpa, his brother and sister-in-law, aunt and uncle and two cousins.

We enjoyed an evening together and in the morning manufactured a nearly-complete Wilson family welcoming committee for a very surprised Jeremy! It was a fun weekend that included the aforementioned hotel activities: chatting, swimming, kid watching, lots of pictures and general catching-up. We also went downtown and walked around (turned out to be a gorgeous day, 70's and sunny with a light breeze), stuffed ourself with Chicago-stlye pizza (I've now eaten at both of the classic places--if you've eaten pizza in downtown Chicago, you'll probably know where I mean) and heard tales from Jeremy's adventures in kosher eating!

Almost exactly 24 hours after our arrival we loaded up, climbed back in the car and made the trek home. We all scattered to our various homes around the midwest as Jeremy finished his trip back to see his sweet fiancee in Mississippi, and by bedtime all was back to normal. But it sure felt like we packed as much as you possibly could into one day--we made the minutes count! What's your favorite spur-of-the-moment or whirlwind trip you've ever taken? James and I seem to have most of our best adventures relatively spontaneously--maybe it's just part of having small children??? It's hard to plan ahead since we have no idea how the day will be going once it rolls around and the more time we have to think about it the more likely we are to do see the negatives. But, it's always fun when it comes together.

I'll put pictures in when I get them. As is usually the case when surrounded by the extended family, everyone else is taking so many photos our cameras don't even come out of the bag!

Packing

2009-04-29T13:41:00.005-05:00

As many of you know, we're moving in June. We're excited, of course--but right now we're in that part of moving that I don't think anyone enjoys. Packing. There's one question that figures prominently in my mind everytime I clear something (anything) off. How did we get this much stuff?

The new place

The last time we moved we were fresh out of college, and while we had a baby on the way, we hadn't really started collecting any of the items that go with having children. Four years later (wow, has it really been four years since moved into our house?) and we have two small kids. For all you parents out there, that should pretty much be enough said. For those of you who aren't--just wait. Kids are tiny, but they come with a whole load of stuff!

Plus, while the kids are excited and for the most part trying to be helpful, their idea of "packing" and mine are just not the same. Joshua wants his own box which he fills with his treasures and other random items. Which would be fine, except that he then moves it to another part of the house and dumps it out, only to start all over again. Lydia thinks that all the boxes are boats, or forts, or great stages for epic games of "peek-a-boo" and is quite upset if I try to use one of "her" boxes for it's proper purpose.

That being said, after a month of work and loads of boxes later, we are finally starting to see progress. So much of the packing I did at the beginning was of stuff that found its home 360 days a year in the back of a closet, or cupboard, etc. So, for a long time no matter how much I packed the amount of "stuff" in the house didn't seem to diminish--in fact it just looked messier because it was all pulled out and there were piles of boxes to boot. But, we're now packing items that usually take up space in the house and I'm wondering why we had all of it to begin with. I'm hoping to be able to weed it out and not put it all back into the new house. And, conveniently, since we're upsizing even if it all moved in it shouldn't feel so full. But, I'd definitely like to be able reduce unused/unneeded items to a minimum.

Finally, for all those of you following along with this blog for the long haul, an update on how all my snoopy-little-old-ladies-across-the-street are doing with the move. (I know at least a couple of you were secretly wondering...) Well, in short. They. Are. Hilarious. They think they're so sneaky and unobtrusive, but if they can see us they should realize we can probably see them! We got a storage unit last week to contain the boxes so they're not all sitting in our living room for the next month. The official reason is because this house goes on the market in a week or so. The unofficial reason is that mommy was going crazy with a stack of boxes eating my livingroom. Take your pick. Anyway, back to the ladies. So, as we've been making trips over to the storage unit, one woman has seriously sat next to her patio window and watched every trip. She thinks she's sneaky, since she moved the chair back behind the frame, but she leans so far forward to get a good view, it's quite obvious! I've seen several others checking us out too. So far, no one has crossed the street to point blank ask us what's going on, but I'm sure they have their own theories circling around. :)

So, that's us. Not the most exciting stuff, but pretty all-consuming in our world right now. I'll add pictures to the post when I get a chance, but I hear my little princess calling to get up, so I need to go for now.

I Heart Faces

2009-04-21T13:04:00.003-05:00

Ok, this is my first entry at

.

I've been lurking for a couple of weeks now, but I decided to take the plunge. I love this picture of Lydia and me. This pictures was somewhat of an accident, I was holding the camera after taking a couple of pictures of the kids together and figured I'd turn it on us (always can use a new Facebook profile shot) and it worked. I love how startling our eyes are--especially hers! I'm not into pictures of myself, I'm definitely my own biggest critic. However, since having kids it's become important to me to document our moments together in hopes that it will trigger memories for me in the future. Childhood just goes so fast!

Today's the Day

2009-04-21T09:06:00.005-05:00

Today is....

Did you guess it?

Ben and Jerry's Annual FREE CONE DAY!!! Ice cream lovers everywhere, head to your nearest B&J's ice cream and enjoy your favorite one. FREE cones only come one day a year! :)

Just a quick reminder from your friendly neighborhood ice-cream fan!

Have you seen this?

2009-04-18T15:19:00.005-05:00

Ok, just a quick little post, because I know many of the readers of this blog love a great garage sale as much as I do! I just saw this linked to yesterday and it's pretty sweet. Check it out! I hereby announce garage sale season 2009 is officially open. :)

We made it to a couple yesterday, and while we didn't find anything earthshaking, it was fun to be outside in 70 degree sunshine hunting for a bargain!

And, since posts without pictures rob me of opportunities to share the current fun and faces of my little cuties (me, biased? no!) I'll go ahead and post a couple of shots that are largely unrelated to the post...well, except that there's a good chance that whatever they're wearing (or playing with) was one of last summers garage sale finds!

Pretending to sleep in our windowsill.

Identity

2009-04-09T16:18:00.000-05:00

This post has been in the works for awhile. In fact, it is my best attempt to sum up thoughts that have been floating around in my head since shortly after I brought home that tiny, sweet bundle known as Joshua over three years ago now.

Motherhood is hard! Never have I taken a position that is so fulfilling and at the same time so completely all-consuming.

We had a speaker at my mommies group recently whose topic was "Identity." She was bright, funny, and most importantly real in speaking to the hearts of moms everywhere. How do we maintain an identity of our own when motherhood changes the way we look at everything, especially ourselves? And because we are so totally invested, we have never been so insecure and looking for re-assurance as we are as moms. We read books, parenting magazines, blogs, and constantly assess and interpret every comment and look wherever we go--hoping we measure up and are doing it "right." (This is true for me, I teared up and then almost made a rude retort to the lady behind me in line at Target today. She much less than kindly asked "do you mind keeping her from doing that?!" in response to Lydia's curious touching of her milk jug which she had of course loaded at the very front of her order--right in front of my ever-exploring, independent, and nap-needing little girl.

Did I mention she spoke straight to my heart? She managed to capture what has been floating around in my head all this time. We will always find someone doing better than we are, and someone we deem to be doing poorly than ourselves. It won't matter if the subject is appearance, attitude, or children's behavior, we are programmed to compare ourselves. And as she said, "as long as we focus our identity on those around us, we are aiming at a moving target...". The solution, of course, is to acknowledge that we are worthy solely because we are created and loved by God himself. When our focus is on Him we won't judge ourselves (or others) for good or bad based on the messages culture is constantly pushing at us.

It is simple, beautiful and yet overwhelmingly difficult. We are trained to listen to the voices around us and it seems impossible to shut them out. But I want to try. Partly for my sanity, for it all seems overwhelming when you're trying to be super-mom. Mostly though, I want to find peace and identity in being a chosen daughter of God for those I love. It all goes so fast, and I know that when I'm trying to be approved and accepted by those around me in order to identify myself as worthy it causes me to become short or harsh with my kids. I read this post today and I couldn't agree more.

Furthermore, I don't think misplaced identity and seeking acceptance are reserved for young moms. I think it is a struggle we all face each and every day, no matter what our gender, role, or life stage. Truly, as long as we are struggling to find worth for ourselves, I don't think we're very effective at reminding others of their great worth to God. And yet, we are all so hungry for affirmation, acceptance, and encouragement.

All that being said, I think this is a struggle that will rage on for me. I will need to remind myself and be reminded each day that my worth is found not in what I accomplish, or how well my kids behave, but in God's unconditional love for me. And on the days that it doesn't go so well, I'll need to remind myself that my worth hasn't changed. It's a challenge I want to take--anyone care to join me?

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-08T09:31:00.000-05:00

Before I was a mom...

2009-04-06T11:53:00.004-05:00

For all you mama's out there--I got this via email and thought I would share + pictures. :) Enjoy!

Before I was a Mom,

author unknown

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys

or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind

and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried myself.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby

just because I didn 't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling

of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

the heartache,

the wonderment,
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom ...

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life.

From here, to there, and back.

2009-04-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

Oh where, oh where have our last three weeks gone...?

This would sum up my life throughout March pretty well. We're halfway (or more) through the muddy season which makes the primary laundry person in the house thankful! Before we know it 60 degree days will be a regular occurance rather than the occasional treat.

Since my last post we've been surrounded by a bunch of family and it has been really nice. It's so out of the ordinary for us to have family in our daily lives at all that being in the presence of at least one of them for all of the past two weeks was definitely a treat, but it's nice to be back to just the four of us too.

James' brother Justin and his wife Laura were able to join us for an extended weekend and we enjoyed their visit a lot. I don't know that we've ever jam-packed a weekend so full since having kids, but the weather cooperated and the kiddos had so much they wanted to show Uncle Justin and Aunt Laura that we managed to watch a parade, visit the park (multiple times), go to the library, the firestation, out for ice cream and fit in our first visit to the zoo for the year all in just over 48 hours!

They headed home Tuesday morning and later that same afternoon my brother Matt arrived to spend the remainder of the week. We repeated park visits and exploring Madison, although the weather turned colder and didn't allow for the same outdoorsy types of activities the previous weekend had. We had a fun time and Matt should receive many extra uncle points for spending his spring break in a house with two toddlers and no guest bedroom. I'm sure the mornings were early for his liking, but he didn't complain and the kids absolutely loved having him here! :-)

The next week brought Matt's return to campus to finish his semester and James had a business trip to Chicago, so the kids and I headed to my parents house to enjoy some quality time with Marmee, Gramps, and Uncle Stephen. Again, we really enjoyed the time, and the kids kept the family members on their toes, especially given Lydia's love affair with all things related to Flit, my parents "tiitee!" They also found some rollers and were instantly transformed into stylists--in addition to their insisting rollers be put in their own hair they convinced my brother Stephen to model for them--what a good sport! We also celebrated an early "Easter" so the kids got their baskets and subsequently ate almost everthing edible while they were there, so at least we're spreading the treats out this year...:-D

Anyway, it's back to life as usual (mostly) here over the next few weeks. Now we await the permanent arrival of spring, and Easter of course. Joshua's already counting down the days and reminding me every time we see a display in the store or elsewhere--"Look, eggs, Mommy. Easter is coming soon!" Now I just have to figure out how to appropriately share with a three year old that Easter is about much, much more than eggs and the Easter bunny...I see several viewings of an Easter Carol in our near future.

Of Writers Block and Narcissism

2009-04-02T15:48:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the long blogging hiatus folks. Partly it's been due to either having family in town or being out of town with family for over two weeks, but mostly I just haven't been in the mood to write. I want to post, but I don't feel I have the words to put it down the way I'd like to. So, I'll share with you all the lastest 20-questions-like list going around which this time (maybe always) appears to be quite self-focused in nature. Maybe you'll learn something new, maybe it will just trigger a release to my writers block. Either way, here goes. :)

Also, I thought it would be fun to include pictures from our early years together, or even from back in high school when we were mere acquaintences--but I realized that all of our photos prior to moving to Wisconsin are film photos and I don't have digital copies. Maybe, I'll get on scanning them sometime soon, but don't hold your breath...

20+ Questions, James and Liz Edition

What are your middle names? Wesley and Elaine
How long have you been together? Let's see, 6 years this summer, married for almost 5.
How long did you know each other before you started dating? A long time--we met during my freshman year in high school and started dating following my sophomore year of college--so 5 1/2 years???
Who asked who out? James asked me out, but we both knew there was interest there before that.
How old are each of you? We're both 26.
Whose siblings do/did you see the most? It's pretty even, we live a long ways from all of them, so none as often as we'd like. We probably see my youngest brother and his oldest brother the most, and my oldest and his youngest brother the least.
Do you have any children together? We have the two most beatiful children in the world (me biased?, no!) Joshua is 3 and Lydia is 14 months.
What about pets? Joshua has a red betta named Michael, does that count? He's also allergic to cats AND dogs, so probably won't have any in the near future either.
Did you go to the same school? High school no, college yes.
Are you from the same home town? Nope, I'm from Hastings and he's from Spring Arbor
Who is the smartest? That's a difficult question, the true answer is it's pretty even, it just depends on the subject for who has the edge.
Who is the most sensitive? In the traditional sense, me. He's very sensitive in other ways, especially when it comes to the kids and me, which is super sweet to watch.
Where do you eat out most as a couple? Eat Out? We don't do much of it, really. We like to try something new when we do, so nothing really becomes the go-to place.
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? As a couple, or together? We backpacked in Europe with my brother when we just friends, so probably Bratislava, Slovakia or Oslo, Norway. As a couple that would have to be Florida or New Orleans or New Hampshire/Maine/Quebec (for our honeymoon). I'm not sure which is actually farthest and I'm trying to be less OCD, so I won't look it up either. :)
Who has more crazy exes? Him, but neither has that many and they're not that crazy...so really the question doesn't apply.
Who has the worst temper? I think that would be me, at least it's much more easy to set me off. James doesn't really get upset in a traditional way.
Who does the cooking? I'm executive chef, but he makes a great sous chef!
Who is more social? Me, though neither of us is super-outgoing.
Who is the neat-freak? I wouldn't classify either of us as particular neat freaks. We both have areas that we like a lot of order and organization, but they're pretty different from each other's which has been good, more of it stays neat that way.
Who is the more stubborn? I probably show it more often and more clearly, but we're both pretty stubborn
Who hogs the bed? I hog the bed and he hogs the blankets.
Who wakes up earlier? We usually wake up about the same time, but I've been so lucky since James usually gets up with the kids and checks his work mail while I catch a few more zzzz's or at least rest time!
Where was your first date? Ummm...I'm not quite sure. We went to a movie together (just the two of us) while in Prague, so maybe that--but we didn't date for a few months after that. Cedar point, maybe?
Who has the bigger family? I have 3 brothers and he has 2, but his extended family is larger.
Do you get flowers often? Not often, but on occasion and usually "just because" so I'm happy with that. :)
How do you spend the holidays? Living at a distance from extended families we usually make it back for one or two major holidays and split the time between our families and many of the smaller holidays we spend as just the four of us or with local friends. We'll see how it goes as the kids get older.
Who is more jealous? That would be me, he's really patient and content and not at all prone to jealousy of any kind! If we're specifically talking relationally, neither of us is highly jealous, we don't really have any reason to be.
What is your song? We don't really have a song. We had "I will be Here" at our wedding, but nothing really comes to mind other than that.
How long did it take to get serious? That's a hard one. We'd known each other for over 5 years and been good friends for more than 2, so I think when we decided to date at all it was from a pretty serious starting point. To admit it to each other, probably about 4 months and we were engaged within two months of that!
Who does/did the laundry? I mostly do. He's always happy to help and good about moving loads or helping to put it away if he sees it though. :)
Who’s better with the computer? James, hands down. I'm married to a nerd, remember!
Who drives when you are together? James, unless there's a particular reason for me to be driving, or I pick him up, or he's really tired. He just likes to drive alot and I'm rather ambivalent about it.

My Very Hungry Caterpillar

2009-03-12T14:50:00.003-05:00

I'm assuming almost all of you reading have also read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Many of you have probably read it more times than you care to count. As a teenager it was one of my favorite books to read while babysitting, now that I'm a mom I don't really have to read it per se, just turn the pages at the appropriate spots, for it is all but committed to memory!

Anyway, over the past few weeks Joshua has acquired a voracious appetite that seemingly can't be satisfied. He is barely finished eating when he wants to eat again! I'm assuming this is just a growth spurt, but many days he is eating more than I am--I expected this when we approached the teenage years, but at three? I'm running out of idea for what to feed him that is both nutritious and varied!

So, without further ado, I present to you yesterday's food consumed list, very hungry caterpillar style.

On Wednesday My very hungry Caterpillar ate through:

-One glass of chocolate milk

-One gummy vitamin

-One banana

-One bowl of cereal

-One piece of string cheese

-One serving of whole grain crackers

-One serving cheese cubes

-Three fish sticks (I think, these might have been Tuesday...)

-One glass of (secretly) watered down berry juice

-One handful of almonds

-One apple

-One graham cracker

-One bowl of chicken tortilla soup

-Two cookies

-One tube of yogurt

-One bowlful of grapes

-One cheese quesadilla

-One slice turkey breast

-One peach

-One handful crackers (again!)

Yeah, for real! I'm pretty sure at this pace my little caterpillar won't be a little caterpillar anymore either, but so far he shows no sign of not being hungry anymore. :)

It's D-day

2009-03-08T11:59:00.004-05:00

Hey All. Welcome to wet, drippy Wisconsin--pretty typical for March, but getting old pretty fast!

This weekend it's been constant rain, which makes me feel personally wet and drippy too. Even the little things become irritating more quickly. The kids are going crazy caged inside, but you can't even brave the cold and take a walk, it's just too wet. :(

In other notes, I've noticed on my ClustrMap that there are seemingly new readers to our little blog. Welcome! I'd love to hear who you are in addition to seeing your little red dot on my map. :)

So, since it's a slow day and not much is going on and since I always love to hear "Aha" ideas for what to do with my kiddos when they're driving us and themselves wild, let's make it D-day. De-lurking day for all you browsers out there. Leave a comment and let me know your best tip for a rainy day (especially with two little ones, including a bouncing-off-the-walls-3-year-old) or just let me know that you're reading. Either way it'll brighten my day, because comments on here always make my day more interesting! And if you're one of my "faithful" readers, give me your best tips too, I don't think I can ever get an aresenal of we're-stuck-inside ideas that's too large.

And for those of you who read this blog exclusively for the photos, here are my sweet babies, who make me smile, even when it's rainy!

An interview with my little J-Man

2009-03-06T10:48:00.004-06:00

I saw this floating around someplace and figured it could be cute. It was a little above Joshua's head (would have been funnier and more interesting if he'd been 5-ish) but he's quite the little chatterbox and he was excited about playing the "question game" although he lost interest about #10. :) I asked him the questions then wrote down his answers verbatim, some are interesting, some are cute, and some are just weird!

1. What is something mommy always says to you? "I wove you"
2. What makes mommy happy? "saying "I wove you" and give hugs makes you happy"
3. What makes mommy sad? "if I say 'no' it makes mommy sad and if I don't sleep that makes ya sad"
4. How does your mommy make you laugh? "if you laugh at me it makes me laugh, if you say 'wee, wee, wee all the way home' it makes me laugh"
5. What was your mommy like as a child? "I don't know"
6. How old is your mommy? "big enough to drive a car" (this is probably my favorite answer)
7. How tall is your mommy? "BIG"
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Hugs"
9. What does your mommy do when you're not around? "Goes to a meeting"
10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? "I don't know"
11. What is your mommy really good at? "working"
12. What is your mommy not very good at? "writing" (I have no idea why he said this...)
13. What does your mommy do for her job? "work for Joshua and Daddy and Wydia"
14. What is your mommy's favorite food? "broccoli, but when you were a boy you didn't like broccoli, you tried and tried and tried and didn't like it when you were a boy!!!"
15. What makes you proud of your mommy? "vacuuming" (I think he thought the question was what makes me proud of him)
16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Plablo" (Pablo from Backyardigans)
17. What do you and your mommy do together? "vacuum, cook, read"
18. How are you and your mommy the same? "we're both a Slager, and blue eyes"
19. How are you and your mommy different? "cuz you're a medicine doctory" (he's not really getting the question, he's talking about one of our friends who's a pharmacist..I think, or maybe I'm a medicine doctor because I give him his medicine, not sure)
20. How do you know your mommy loves you? "good"
21. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go? "to the market, to the farmer's market" (interesting, but it is one of my favorite places, though I would never have thought to answer this way myself...)

I love my little guy and it's so fun being able to have real conversations with him and seeing the connections form for him each and every day. :)

Nothing Notable

2009-02-26T11:02:00.006-06:00

I always dream of having a witty post, or a nostalgic or emotionally meaningful one, but my life doesn't seem to be much like that these days. We're still here, trying to hang in there through the rest of winter, which seems to be hanging on and refusing to leave.

The kids are doing well, growing and changing and learning new things as usual. I'm continually amazed by how much they learn even over short periods of time.

My Little Monkeys

I think I'm in a rut, both with writing and just in general. I'm feeling a yearning for something fun, new, and a bit routine shaking--but not really sure what. I think mostly I'm just starting to have a case of cabin fever and the winter blues all rolled into one... I just need to keep reminding myself that March is less than a week away, and to cherish each day for the unique, special time with my kids that it is. Even when I feel like my life is stalled in slow, I know they'll be different even tomorrow and I don't want to miss that!

Thirteen Months

Here are a few pictures of the kids from the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Yeah, I've feared this

2009-02-14T21:30:00.004-06:00

We're on vacation this week, but had to share this anyway.
For all of you parents of two out there, you know you've worried about this when you turned your back for even just a minute...here's photographic proof your worst fear has become someone's reality. At least the parents had the sense of humor to take a photo. :)

Lydia's Latest Language Leaps

2009-02-12T09:17:00.003-06:00

Ok, here's my updates on Lydia's new words for my own personal record. James and I have been telling each other that this has to be one of our favorite kid stages we've experienced so far. Each and every day she learns new things and daily we get to see her own little person emerge. We're trying to enjoy all of it, but she's a spirited one so it means new challenges as well.

But, onto the new words:

"Gup", cup

"Baba", bottle

"Paba", paci/pacifier

"Papa", Grandpa Slager (Papa is what Joshua has called him since he started talking. although he said Gigi first, now they're even I suppose. :)

"Ma", more

"Daa-da", Dolly

"Dog-og", Doggy

"Beek-boo-boo", Peek-a-boo

"Bnk", Blankie

"isshh" or "shishy", Fish/fishy

"shdoo", shoe

"Ki-ki", Michael (Joshua's fish)

"Du-dee", Ducky

She also 'roars' when she sees a picture of a lion and tried to make a funny blowing/trumpeting sound (like Daddy always does) when she sees pictures of elephant or stuffed elephants, etc.

Ahhhh! Much Better. :-D

2009-02-10T15:13:00.002-06:00

Guess where we went today? If you said "the park" you'd be right. It was the muddiest its ever been when I've conceded to going, but with our very unseasonable, but well-loved 55 degrees and sunshine day came around I just couldn't resist. Both of the kids had a blast and didn't want to leave. (Lydia decided to throw a huge hissy fit to remind me of the fact I'm a very cruel mother for teasing her with a few minutes of swinging fun and then removing her...)
I'm a bit concerned that even when the temperatures inevitably plunge 20-30 degrees for the next six weeks Joshua will still hound me daily to go back. And, I'm wishing that I'd thought of going to the zoo. That would have been a fun trip, but easier to get out of doing regularly.
Anyway, in true February in Wisconsin fashion, I'm pretty sure there's a chance of snow tomorrow, but we're ignoring that fact and trying to soak up as much of the warm sun as possible to tide us through til April when it comes for good.

Kind Words

2009-01-28T14:15:00.003-06:00

Those of you who have been following along with this blog for awhile, or who have had discussions with me about grocery shopping with kids will know that I don't always have high opinions of a trip for food while surrounded by large numbers of the elderly. I generally feel like they make a mis-behaving child 100x worse. Most of them appear as though your presence in the store is making their trip a hassle, so no mercy for you/your child, just scorn. Or they give you that look that says: "what is that?!?" while their eyes bore a laser beam of disdain into your child. This is only magnified if your child happens to be having, well, a toddler moment. Few seem to realize that they were themselves young parents (and young children) at one point, and that others showed them grace at that time. (As an aside, I do love to be shopping with a bunch of middle-aged parents, for they seen t0 most often possess a charitable combination of remembrance and compassion, driven by having endured such days in the past while having moved on to other parenting struggles.)

However, every so often a person seems to be divinely sent to a particular place in your life just to speak to you where you're at right then, and today for me that person was an elderly lady in a grocery store. At the end of an already-too-long shopping trip, both kids were acting out. To make matters worse, I'd forgotten a couple of necessary items and had decided that due to scanner malfunctions, it was late enough I needed to get something for "lunch" as well. So, I committed the first parental faux-pas of grocery shopping. The "I don't need a cart because it's only a few items" one--if you've done it you've probably lived to regret it. Anyway, Lydia (my usually calm and well-behaved grocery shopper) wanted to be down and running all over, and was kicking her feet in protest at being held, and during the mayhem Joshua slipped off and began choosing items of interest to him. (If you're thinking candy, pop, junk food, you're on the right track...) When I finally convinced him to come back by me (in none too sweet of a tone) he started to make his way over, but got distracted right in front of an older couple. He was completely blocking their path, and I was sure they were none too pleased by it.

So, I pulled him back to my side and told him "Joshua, you can't just run without looking in a store. Those people are shopping and they're probably in a hurry, but you're standing in front of them and they can't move." I tried to escape with a quick "sorry" and moved on down the aisle. At this point I was truly ready to drop my items, skip the checkout, and leave without the items I'd forgotten, because I was highly stressed and close to tears. It's in those moments that parenting feels truly overwhelming. And that's when it happened.

The poor woman who Joshua had been totally obstructing walked over to where we were now picking out items and in the process totally changed the course of my day. She laid her hand on my shoulder, gave me a smile and said: "We are not in a hurry, you are not in the way. On the contrary, we are just watching, admiring. You (moms) do the hardest, most thankless job every day, and you do it with grace and beauty. Thank you!" I managed a 'thank you' of my own with tears in my eyes and she went on her way. But I was left humbled and grateful. I've never met the woman before, I can't thank her in any other way, so I will share her story. I know many times I am too quick to judge others and I hope I can be more like this woman, giving grace and encouragement at times of need, not just when people seem "deserving." Remember, she'd just witnessed one of my not-so-finest moments of motherhood: raising my voice, feeling out of control, two tantruming/disobeying children, and yet she saw the spirit and not the circumstances. Wow!

I have no idea if this woman knows Jesus, but she became the example of Jesus in the world through her actions today. There is no doubt in my mind that it is this type of behavior we are supposed to illustrate each and every day, speaking and serving the least of these in our daily lives. I have been blessed. May I remember to share this simple, yet meaningful blessing with others as I go throughout my life!

Proverbs 12: 25 'An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.'

Weekly Menus

2009-01-27T12:20:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I've been doing this the past few weeks and it's amazing how much time/stress it's saved to just pick dinner entrees ahead of time. There have been several days I just haven't felt like making what was on the menu, and that's fine with me, I like to think I'm spontaneous at times. However, not having to try to think something up starting at 3pm has been well worth it.

Today while browsing recipes, I found a link to this blog carnival. So I figured, why not, I'll participate. Besides, I could win a cool prize off of Etsy. Man, I love Etsy! (On an Etsy note, stay tuned, both of our moms have shoppes on Etsy, so I'm contemplating some type of post/giveaway, etc. that would feature them)

Anyway, without further ado, here's my meal plan:
(Sorry the recipes don't link yet, this week most of my recipes are from Eating Well magazine, so I can't link them. Maybe if I get a lot of time I'll check their site and see if they're online as well. If something looks really good, leave me a comment, or email me and I'll pass the recipe along.)

Monday: Marinated Steak with Balsamic-Red Wine Reduction, cheesy mashed potatoes, asian green beans and Creamy almond cheesecake. (We had a kid-free dinner! yay!)

Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wednesday: Red Pepper and Sweet Potato Pasta

Thursday: Leftover Night

Friday: MuShu Tofu

Saturday: Roasted Chicken Quesadillas

Cold and Warm

2009-01-27T11:49:00.003-06:00

It is cold, cold, cold here in Wisconsin, AGAIN! This will probably be the story from now until the end of February. :( No one told us when we moved here that the reason we get less snow that Michigan is because it's honestly too cold to snow for much of the last half of the winter. Anyway, enough about that, we may be crazy, but we wouldn't want to live anywhere besides the upper mid-west, so we're OK with it.

Since it's so cold here, I thought I'd go ahead and post a couple of the videos I mentioned, because they certainly bring a smile to my face and warm me up inside!

The first video is of Lydia blowing kisses to her daddy. She does this often now whenever one of us is going somewhere and I find it absolutely precious. She's finally mastered the kissing sound, so they're getting pretty real. Although kisses that are actually applied to your face are still pretty sloppy!

The second video highlights one of Joshua's b-day presents and if you're between the ages of 25 and 35, I guarantee you'll recognize the song without any intro. Check out Joshua's dance moves...and then believe me when I say, the child has NEVER seen MC Hammer's original video. (Ok, this is no longer true, James showed it to him after seeing him bust out his own moves...but when the video was taken, he'd never even heard the song before the car started playing it.) Both kids LOVE to dance with the car and fights literally break out at our house over who gets to play with it!

Anyway, stay warm and enjoy!

Why I (Usually) Buy Name Brand

2009-01-22T11:26:00.007-06:00

As many of you know, I've rarely met a bargain I didn't like. I really enjoy hunting for one and the satisfied feeling I get when I've found one. I also like grocery shopping, for real! This is probably mostly due to the fact that I typically find at least a couple of bargains while I'm there. In fact, since starting to purchase my own groceries, better than five years ago now, I've pretty much stopped making my grocery purchases based on what we're having to eat that week (with the exception of dairy and produce, of course) and instead making a list based on what's truly on sale. I have a fairly well-stocked pantry, so if we're having pasta, I've already purchased that when it was a good deal and I don't have to pay full price.

Significantly improving my ability to shop ahead is my chest freezer. My parents gave us one when we bought this house and if it were to die now, we'd immediately go out and purchase another, it saves us that much!

Anyway, all this to say that I'm going to post about my grocery shopping trip from yesterday, so if that type of thing bores you, it might be time to look away. But, this was probably one of my best trips ever, so I'd like to record it for my own personal memory, and I figured it might interest a couple of you in the process. If not, I'll be back with something more kid-focused later this week. We just got a Flip, so look for videos coming soon!

Without further ado here's a picture of my table after I unloaded my groceries from yesterdays shopping:

What would you guess I paid for all that stuff? (As a note, I realize it looks like I went crazy on the oatmeal and cereal purchases--however, both James and I eat oatmeal for breakfast nearly everyday, I make my own granola, and I have two kids 3 and under, so Cheerios go FAST! Same it true of the string cheese...)

Are you ready...wait for it...here it comes....

$41.53

Yep, that's right, just barely over forty dollars for:

2 gallons of milk

1/2 gallon of orange juice

54 pieces of string cheese

6 boxes multi-grain Cheerios

1 box Honey Kix

1 (1lb.) package tofu

1 (4lb) whole chicken

3 boxes Kraft Mac'n Cheese

4 cans Campbell's tomato soup

5 (8 pack) boxes Quaker instant oatmeal

5 (2 1/2lb) cans Quaker old fashioned oats

3lbs. fresh broccoli

1 (2lb) can of organic whole-milk yogurt

3 (6 pack) boxes of Nature Valley granola bars

And that's why as a general rule I buy name brand. If you're just running into the grocery store to pick up something quickly, it's true that the store brand will almost always be at least a few cents cheaper (sometimes a lot). However, they rarely go on a truly good sale, while if you watch carefully, name brands will usually be on sale at nearly 1/2 price (or more!) at least a few times per year. And, it's nearly impossible to find coupons for store brands, while there are some very valuable coupons out there for the name brands. Combine that with double coupon days (Wednesdays where we live) and you can really find a deal. In fact, I actually made $3 on those 5 boxes of instant oatmeal packets!

Aslo, completly off topic, but because I can't stop laughing about it, according to Joshua a few minutes ago, the past tense of 'make' is not 'made', it is "moke." As in "Look mommy, I just moke a tent out of a blanket and that chair!"