the Crisp family

2010-12-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

ok, i've given up. we've moved. i promise if you follow us to our new location, i will regularly make you laugh, move you to tears, inspire profound thoughts. or maybe just share random pictures of the kids. (fyi, i know the name is cheesy, but everything good was taken!)

http://thecrispies.blogspot.com

2010-11-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm quite sure nobody still checks our blog, but just in case, I thought I'd share another wordy update. I haven't even been taking pictures, so even if it did work, I wouldn't have much to post. FYI, I even tried starting a new blog, and I had problems with that. Do you think it's me?

picture of big red truck here. So, Patrick has a work truck! It's really nice, I've ridden in it. He's thrown himself into this new job, I'm so proud of him. He's having to do quite a bit of reorganization, nearly starting from scratch with building clientele. Lots to overcome, but L]limitless opportunity!
picture: boxes of kleenex. The whole family has been sick the past few weeks, and I get the prize for the sickest, I think. Colds, and then the stomach flu for a few days. I can only remember a few days in the past 3 years when I absolutely could not take care of my kiddos, and this was one of them. I'm amazed they survived, Charlie not falling down stairs or me not dropping him. Hannah would get out pieces of bread to feed Charlie, and they carried around snacktraps of cereal. Hannah spent her first night away from home!
picture: patrick in camo. Patrick went pheasant hunting for the first time, and he did so well, he got 3. (They were good, but I got sick the next day, so it might be a while before I eat them again.) We got him all outfitted, and part of that was waterproof, warm boots. He was gone for 12 hrs, actually hunting for 9 or so. Walking through grass taller than he, lifting those boots, he actually couldn't walk the next day. It was a sorry sight around here. But he had fun.
picture: cut up credit cards. We are out of credit card debt! I am excited about this, but it did come at great personal sacrifice, so I am taking it seriously. We still have a Lowe's card, and some leftover from one of Charlie's surgeries, but we're on a roll. (apparently it's called the snowball something or other, thanks to Mr. Dave Ramsey)
picture: Hannah stuffing shoeboxes. We actually use the sturdy plastic tubs with the removable lids, but we still call them shoeboxes. This year she's old enough to pick out items to put in them, and then we went online and watched a promo video from Samaritan's Purse. She payed attention really well, but when it ended I was crying so much I couldn't explain more or pray over our boxes. Any opportunity to share Christ's love and message with a hurting child is always amazing, but to share that with my child is special indeed. Some people try to raise children without influencing them one way or another, without pushing their own beliefs on them. I, on the other hand, try to brainwash/indoctrinate my children any chance I get, through any means! Something God said about when you sit down, when you get up, writing it all over your house, etc. She said she wanted to give somebody her box personally. I told her she can, one day!( www.samaritanspurse.org- you can give a box too!)
Hannah knows nearly all her letters, and some of the sounds they make. Her numbers came first, maybe she'll be a mathematician instead of a writer. Preschool hasn't been terribly regular these days, but she's doing great anyways. Charlie is getting more teeth, finally. And I'm confident he will walk soon! If you want to see how they're growing, I guess you'll have to come visit.

"I know the plans I have for you" - God

2010-11-01T17:34:00.001-07:00

so for those of you who have not been with us since the beginning, let me recap:

when i was much younger, I had my life all planned out. It began with getting married immediately after college, and having a baby approximately 2 yrs later. i am soooooo grateful that isn't how it worked out. we all know life doesn't always go how we imagined, and patrick and i have experienced that time and time again.

fall 2005: get back from Africa, move directly to Longview, TX, get married 2 mos later. now that was a whirlwind. go through a few random jobs before I get my dream job at an amazing gym. Patrick and I live in a little apartment, life is good.

fall 2006: I'm at that job exactly 2 wks before we get pregnant with Hannah. Patrick was in school full time, he had a full year to go.

summer 2007 We switch the apt out for a little house we bought close to campus. I work full time till a month before she's born, then we struggle through the fall.

spring 2008 Patrick gets a job with Premier Aircraft Sales, immediately after graduation. we sell the house. we move to Opelika, Alabama. Buy another house, put in flower beds and a vegetable garden, paint the bedrooms, have block parties with the neighbours, all for approx. 10 mos, at which point Patrick has the opportunity for a promotion. So, we sell that house, and move to Dallas.

fall 2008 after losing so much selling our last house, we rent in Frisco, north of Dallas. During this time, Patrick works as regional sales manager. A few months after the move, he's informed his contract has been changed and there will be no salary, only comission. Due to financial constraints at Premier, he home offices for much of our time there. we get pregnant with charlie right after moving.

summer 2009 charlie's born, I'm staying busy working at church and keeping other kids at home. We're really starting to make friends, get to know the small universe of dallas/ft worth, and looking around for where we want to buy a house. Business, however, is not going great.

spring 2010 patrick finally decides he's given premier all he can, and he resigns. THAT VERY AFTERNOON he is presented with a job opportunity in pratt, Ks, just down the road from where he grew up. However, this means leaving aviation. Being a pilot wasn't just a job, it was Patrick's lifelong dream. Giving up aviation was a huge sacrifice for Patrick. However, unable to deny the coincidences, we soon accept. A few months later, we're packing up and moving to Pratt.

summer 2010 we stay in a rent house for a little while till we finalize the sale of our new house. night before the closing, a wall collapses. we step back and think about what we want to do, decide to proceed, but it takes months before we can move. During this time, and since, we pour so much into this house, financially, emotionally, and physically. We have high hopes for selling this house down the road, at a profit.

10 days ago patrick hears his company is being sold, and there will be no jobs for anyone. we cry, we are speechless with disbelief, we are very confused and possibly angry at being led into this situation only to have it turn out this way, but most of all, we decide: we ain't movin. no packing, no more unsettled, no more pizza on paper plates, no more introducing ourselves to the neighbours, at least for another few years. we dont' know what we're going to do, but whatever it is, it's happening here. or at least within a commutable distance.

7 days ago Patrick is offered a job with a local company, managing one of their divisions. completely new field, but basically sales in a managerial position. Today, he accepts this new job, and starts Wednesday. more details later.

take a moment to catch your breath, as i feel the need to do when i think of the changes that have happened in the last 5 yrs. another bend in the road; we'll see where it leads.

technical difficulties with the blog. again.

2010-10-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

so, i can't get any pictures to upload. anybody else having that problem? it isn't my computer, i think it's a blog problem. we had a great visit with my dad last weekend, and we've been working really hard on the house, one of these days i'll have to take some pictures of the house. so in absence of pictures a few news bites:

i have stitches for the first time in my life! in my mouth, not fun. as far as surgery goes, even minor outpatient surgery, it really wasn't that bad. he cut open a flap in the roof of my mouth, attached a chain to the delinquent adult tooth, and sewed it back up, and now the orthodontist can pull on the chain that's attached to my braces, and in another 18 mos, i should no longer look like a hillbilly.
we are no longer carolina panthers fans. seeing as how their games are never on tv here, we can't talk about it with anybody here, and, let's face it, they suck, patrick has exercised leadership in this area and decided we are kansas city chiefs fans. maybe next year we'll go to a game!
hannah is night time potty trained! we just took off the pull ups, and she hasn't had a single accident. we're quite shocked. i had her bed made with two layers of plastic sheets, i wouldn't let her drink hours before bed, we woke up her in the middle of the night, everything. but apparently she's got it under control. literally. yeah hannah!
charlie is not walking. i thought that would have made a good news piece if he were though :-).
I am starting up an hourly childcare business, in hopes of getting some investment capital for the preschool i want to do in the fall. Hannah and I are both enjoying the unstructured approach we have now (fyi, she's now working on counting 10-20, and recognizing those numbers as well. i'm so proud of her!) however, i think i would also really enjoy teaching another 4 or 5 kids, as well. i'm already planning out activities, and researching how i watn to stock my centers: music in one corner, art in another, reading, science, etc. I want to have an ant farm, and get them involved in my garden. i want it to be very hands on, as they learn. now that charlie's party is over, i need something to keep me up at night! i do want to host a christmas drop in for our neighbourhood, though. . . :-)
patrick's good, working so hard at the house. soon i'll itemize everything he's done. it's amazing!

if anyone has thoughts on my blog problems, let me know!

flashback to August

2010-10-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

although these are 2 mos old, i still wanted to share the pictures. (they were on my mom's camera, and i couldn't get them until she came). the kids and i drove up to my mom's, then patrick surprised us for the last few days! it's approx 18 hrs, and the first 15 hrs of scenery look exactly the same: farmland. it was cold again this year, but warmed up enough at the very end to get in the water. charlie loved it, he wasn't scared at all.

patrick had great success fishing this year. one of the kinds he caught is extremely difficult to filet, so bob was giving him a tutorial. there's my girl, right in the thick of fish guts.

we had a bonfire, which they do in that tub thing to lessen the risk of forest fires. hannah had her first ever smore. it was worth it just to hear her say "marshmallow." if i remember correctly, i ate 3, and felt sick for days!

this picture makes me think of a story my mom (and nana) tells me all the time, i guess she thinks i forget :-). we've had the floating dock for as long as i can remember. when i was 5, we were having a fire at night like this one, and somebody realized they hadn't seen me in awhile. a little bit of yelling later, i yelled back from out in the water. apparently, i just headed out to the dock by myself, not thinking i should ask or tell anyone. but hey, we were good swimmers!

building a sandcastle with bob. hannah is still at the stage where she likes to build something for the express purpose of jumping on it right after. it can be frustrating for the adults.

my mom has taken up kayaking for exercise, and patrick tried it out.

it looks sooooo different from when i was growing up. but still recognizable. that thing at the very back of the property that looks like a fence is the solar panels for electricity. that's a newish addition, it used to just be the generator.

hannah did really well in the water, even though it was cold. she still won't be in by herself, without someone holding her. trying to tread water and hold a 3 yr old, even if she's wearing a lifejacket, is harder than it seems!

charlie, just watching the show

i have no idea what is up with my face, so focus on my calvin klein model here.

heading home after our picnic across the lake.

sorry about the squinting, it's the wind and sun. charlie, in my lap, fell asleep nearly immediately. just like nearly every other baby, i think. tired out from playing, and the hum of the boat, works every time.

early(ish) morning serenity

but not for long, with this impish grin around

ah, siblings. (i get nostalgic seeing charlie before his haircut :-(

so as you can imagine, there is quite a bit of wildlife in the area. unfortunately, the bears are halfway domesticated and come every day to eat at the dump. it's somewhat of a tourist attraction. not only is it sad, i can't imagine what it does for their health. but anyways, hannah got to see bears. i do have to mention, though, that we did actually see a real bear in the wild, the morning we started our drive home.

entertaining the kids inside, seeing as how it was about 50 degrees outside.

while i huddled up inside making charlie's bday invitations, hannah "helped" out with various projects. hopefully nothing involving power tools.

it was a wonderful visit with grandma and grandpa bob!

2010-09-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

so, a few days ago i did my much anticipated target trip. My orthodontist is an hour away, which is a drag but gives me a real reason to go to a real town. (compared to here, anyways). I can also hit target, starbucks, and hobby lobby. The kids actually need some winter clothes, so it was guilt free. well, except the pumpkin scone. is it emotionally unhealthy that the instant i walk into starbucks i simply feel better about life? it also helped that i only had one child with me. Anyways, pumpkin scone + %50 off all fall decor at hobby lobby + clinique gift time + being allowed to get the kids some new clothes = a happy me. and i needed that encouragement, as shallow and short lived as it was, because around the time i headed home, the wrenching pain from my braces started up and is still going strong. I had a cartload of slimfast at the grocery store and i felt the need to qualify to the checkout person that i just had my braces adjusted, i wasn't doing a liquid fast because i wanted to. not that they care what kind of diet i do, i'm sure.

so the other day, patrick got me a gift. just for no reason, except he saw it and knew i needed it and it would bless me. (it's the recipe book holder, up there). and it sure did bless me! saving me counter space when i'm cooking and protecting my recipes, sure, but knowing that he was thinking of me like that! i was very impressed.

i love my children! (not that i wouldn't rent them out for an afternoon to, well, anybody!)

david and des came for a quick visit last week, we didn't take many pictures because we didn't do much,, but they did get to spend time with the kids. they're actually praying about a job opportunity over by wichita. they helped out so much with our house over the summer we were glad they were able to see the (somewhat) finished product.

so, Hannah started out a really difficult baby then got easier as she grew up. charlie was an incredibly easy baby, but he's making up for it these days! last night was the first time he's slept through the night in i dont' know how long. we're down to one nap a day, but he doesn't sleep for long at all and wakes up so cranky, and stays that way till bed time. so, if he wakes up too early, the afternoon is looooooong! there isn't really anywhere to go, either. we used to go to the playplace at the mall, the train table/kids section at barnes and noble, various parks and nature areas, even toysrus because they have alot out to play with. i'm not complaining, we just need to come up with some different ideas for when we have bad weather and cranky children. patrick is going to have the basement finished really soon, and that will be our play/preschool room. anyways, all that to explain the picture: it was raining, but we went on our walk anyways.

charlie opening his birthday present from nana and pop pop.

he just loves it. and so does hannah. she always try to steal it away from him.

of course the box is also fun to play with.

so, i got my harvest table in plenty of time to celebrate, well, harvest! in case you missed the post awhile ago, patrick made this table. his grandpa vic and david had done it before him, so he thought we needed one to, and we love it. it is so nice to have so much room at the table. you'll have to come see!

we love fall: pumpkin bread, apple cider, scented candles, sweaters (hopefully eventually. it was 85 today), decorating. i love every season, but we're ready for fall. we've both lived in much warmer climates for quite a while, so this will be a change.

so my mom will be here next week, and lar is also coming to celebrate charlie's party with us. i'll try to post again before, i've done quite a bit of prep work already, and we're going really simple with the food, so i'm hoping it will be low stress. patrick especially is hoping it will be low stress!

2010-09-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

apparently my life is flying by because i thought it had been only a few days since i update, and here it is, almost 2 wks. this is just a little example of how much hannah, uh, helps me out! she loves to climb in charlie's crib and play with him, so often in the morning or when he wakes up from his nap and is crying, she'll go entertain him and i'll get a few more minutes of productiveness. i guess it's actually productivity. anyways, she loves dumping everything out in one huge pile. but then when it comes to picking it up. . . ! there's a giant trash bag of toys sitting in the closet for that exact reason. the toy jail is full these days. but then i think, if she can keep herself so amused when she's missing half her toys, can i just go ahead and take the bag to goodwill?

now that's what i call pizza dough!

i can't get over her pose here. the eyes and everything, her finger on the pastry brush. like she's doing a cooking show. when i have the patience for it, i love cooking with hannah. there's alot she does already, like peel garlic or pull the herb leaves of the stems. and, apparently, brush oil on the pizza crust.

"Alright guys, i'm all ready for my first haircut. let's get this show on the road!"

"uh, i'm sorry, what did you say was going to happen? he's going to come at me with scissors? yeah. . . "

"well, i can see your point. it is getting kind of long around the ears. but only if i can play with this nifty brush."

"careful now. my do is important! i dont' want to lose my reputation with the ladies at playgroup"

"alright, alright. i'm diggin it!"

mommy thinks he got a little carried away with the razor, and should have stopped after the scissors. but he's a boy, it'll grow back fast!

my next batch of supercharlie food: quinoa, lentils, butternut squash, collard greens, and beets.

if only we all ate like that! (right, patrick? :-)

turns around to see if i'm watching. . .

and yep, he's going for it! i can't believe he's big enough to reach the doorknob. and that type is so much easier to open. patrick got it for me because he knew how my hands are always full, and it's helpful to just use an elbow to open the door. but i forgot it's also alot easier for the crisplings.

so, we finally had a cool day. that would be, something under 100. ok, maybe i'm exaggerating, but just a little, honestly. i had a hot chocolate craving (more specifically a starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate craving. alas, they don't even make that anymore). so i decided we should start a tradition of making hot chocolate on the first real fall day of the year. i would love to say it was all happily ever after, but our milk had gone bad. we didn't know this until after we wasted the time and ingredients making it. does anybody know if raw milk goes bad faster? or is it because it's whole, as opposed to the skim we used to get. i don't know, but we never get through the gallon before it goes bad.

she's getting so strong! this adorable outfit was made by Grandma (my mom).

i mentioned how much she loves puzzles. i got her a new one to challenge her a little bit. we did it together, but i really only helped with the border. she is learning so much these days. the other day we were talking about food, and i mentioned protein, and started listing different protein sources she eats. she piped up with, what about eggs, mommy? i said yes, eggs too. are you learning your food groups? she says, yes, in homeschool, just like my letters! (that isn't something we talk about specifically much, because the word school just isn't that important at three. but apparently she already knows what's going on!)

also heard around town:

mother and daughter and baby are in store. mother is on phone with mother in law, and distracted by son in cart. mother periodically loses daughter, and calls to her. daughter responds, loudly enough for other shoppers to hear: "mommy! don't bother me!" (it's unfortunate that rebellion can sometimes seem so cute, isn't it?)
H has a certain CD called animal songs, from the cd display at walmart. it's one of those things she begs to listen to ALL. THE. TIME. i simply must have a break occasionally. instead of expressing myself appropriately, i have been known to yell, in response to begging, NO! because i am so sick of your animal songs cd. sooooo, other day I make chicken pot pie. i thought it was the best chicken pot pie ever. i used leftover gravy, maybe that's why. anyways, H decided she doesn't like it. i tell her to eat more. no, she says. are you full? no, my tummy's sick. oh, you don't feel well? no, i'm just sick of this food. just like you're sick of my cd. whoops.
daddy and H are talking before bed. H refers back, all in a jumble, to numerous convos H and mommy had throughout the day. relating to babies, nursing, marriage, and for some reason the 2nd coming of Jesus. (not sure how that related, but anyways.) H tells daddy she is going to get married to a boy, and we don't know his name yet, but Jesus knows his name. she then tells daddy this boy will give her babies. (now those weren't even my words, so don't think i'm getting all scientific on her already.) he will also have blonde hair, blue eyes, and be able to do this (insert picture of Hannah making fish face here.) You mean he'll kiss you? (i ask because mommy and daddy do like to kiss, even in front of children. gasp!) no, not kiss, just fish face. she will also have a pink and purple wedding ring.

my charlie man is such a climber. he can't walk, but he climbs up anything he can. he gets in hannah's rocking chair and stands up. (we have all hardwood, so i don't like this stunt). he climbs up the slide, as far as he can. he speeds his way all the way up the stairs. on his way to the rocking chair or horse, actually. i can't believe i have a preschooler and a toddler, not a toddler and a baby. (a toddler who just got himself 2nd degree burns on 3 fingers, from the oven door :-(. he really doesn't seem like a baby any more either because we're pretty much free of each other in the nursing dept. I wasn't tired of nursing, just the stupid supplementer. so, no more mixing up formula. when i get sad thinking about moving on from that stage, i just think, hey, no more corn syrup solids for charlie! (if you don't know the whole story i understand that sounds confusing. just roll with it. i'd be happy to explain later :-).

oh, if it weren't blurry, this might be the sweetest picture ever taken of any 1yr old boy. i love how intent he is on his tractor, a birthday gift from grandma loretta and grandpa alvin. whenever i get it out for him to play with, hannah swipes it, though.

next week david and des are coming for a few days, then mom and lar are coming the weekend of charlie's party, then dad and bunny the next weekend. i'm really excited about the company! we kind of get bored here :-) so, whoever comes, can you bring me a pumpkin spice latte? :-)

the simple life

2010-09-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

so it's a good thing we has "Western Fun Days" (or something or other) recently, or i'd have absolutely nothing to put on the blog! no six flags around, so this was our outing for saturday. nearly free, it only cost $2 for the whole family to ride the train :-). the kids are so easily entertained right now, so they had fun. yes, even just riding stick horses!

i love that little lip thing he does. he's such a goober!

of course we had to do the provided photo shoots.

charlie's first train ride

for some reason i think charlie actually resembles me in this picture!

my 2 boys. . .

but, he does have a sister! hannah got a princess outfit for her birthday, which surprisingly we don't have a picture of yet. she loves putting the tiara on charlie, and he'll leave it on for quite a while. she is in love with princesses. for some reason, specifically Snow White, Tinkerbell, and Ariel. (she has not seen any of these movies, especially little mermaid, i have no idea where she got these names or why she is so attached to them.) she is set on calling charlie "Tink", as a nickname. How she even got the idea to shorten it, i'm not sure. but it's kind of cute, maybe it'll stick :-)

Charlie turned one last week, without much fanfare. (we're waiting for his party) But he needs at least a shout out, i think. my sweet boy, getting so big. he only takes one nap a day, and we only nurse at bedtime. he is so affectionate, if i'm ever on the floor, he crawls right over and gets on my lap or climbs on my back. we've started to read books before his nap, and he pays attention really well. he loves playing in the fridge and the dishwasher, the toilet, the cellphone, the recycling bin, climbing up stairs (he is so fast all the way up to the top), and many other things. i realize most of those are hazardous to his health. in the morning, when we're eating breakfast and he hears the stairs creak, he gets so excited because he knows patrick will be coming around the corner. he just loves to dance, all with his arms. whenever he hears any kind of music, he gets going. he knows how to wave, say bye, and we're working on blowing kisses. he also claps and gives high fives. he eats like a pro football player. especially fruit, the boy loves fruit. he loves his family, if hannah's not around and i say her name, he'll start looking around for her. at the playground, even though he can't walk he crawls all over the place in the sand, and climbs up on whatever he can. loves the slide, and the swings. i am so in love with him, and i kiss him every chance i get because i know in not too long i won't be able to be physically close to him, not like hannah. he's making me completely re evaluate how i feel about boys. i can't wait to be his mommy as he grows, becoming more boy every day.

hannah is getting so big too. she built this lego castle all by herself. she's also really into puzzles, and books. we are taking a less structured approach to preschool than i planned originally. she is, after all, only 3. we do have workbooks and such, but we don't do them every day. instead, i just make sure i spend a good chunk of time (as long as her attention span is!) reading, doing puzzles, doing crafts, legos, or something else and we learn as we go. I just want to expose her to all kinds of avenues for learning, and being with her all the time, it's easy to reinforce things in different situations. reading recipes, for example: she can pick out nearly all her numbers.

we are starting a new phase in our lives, called "getting out of debt". (creative, i know :-) obviously it's something we've always been working towards, but we've recently simply had enough with credit card payments. so, we're taking some drastic measures to accomplish this. I am selling my violin, which has been really difiicult for me, even though i rarely play it. my dad gave it to me when i graduated high school, and i never imagined i'd sell it. i know it's just a thing, but it represented so much more to me, it used to be such a huge part of who i was. whenever i get too sad and want to change my mind, i remember patrick leaving aviation for us, and i'm encouraged. not by him being sad as well, but that even though we make sacrifices, even ones we really struggle with, like sometimes giving up our dreams, God knows how we're feeling and I know He can replace them with other dreams or bring them back in some way, eventually filling that emptiness with peace and excitement for the future, even if it looks different than what we thought. This would be a good time to sign off, as i usually try to leave the personal reflections to other bloggers! anyways, three cheers for dave ramsey! wish us luck :-)

2010-08-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

one of the highlights of our the canada trip was catching up with old friends the Gualdieris. Monica (center) and Lara went to preschool together, so even though don't see each other hardly ever, it's still wonderful when we do! also notable was the banana nutella crepe i had for breakfast in this picture. unbelievable! Nita's on the right, and Alex is the youngest. He's starting college this year. Makes me feel so old. I remember when he was born!

you got to love how i somehow pawned the double stroller off on lar!

My dad bought all the ladies a necklace at the Byward Market to commemorate the occasion.

my son can put away the peaches! and the watermelon. often Hannah declines my offer of a snack, then just steals it off of charlie's tray. swiper!

sleepy face.

smiley face!

so, hannah's bday cake. (now, before i talk about this, i know lots of regular old sahm's make amazing amazing cakes. i am not one of them. so, it may not be that impressive, but it sure was an accomplishment in this house.) it was kind of an afterthought, I know how much work (and $$$) these things can be. i guess i just did it to say i'd done it. i started 4 days beforehand. made 3 layers, then used the pampered chef batter bowl for the top. i made chocolate ganache for 2 layer fillings, then raspberry jam for the other one. then we did regular buttercream on the outside. patrick made a hole to put the doll in. then together we decorated it.

the flowers were all patrick. i have to say, we were pretty happy!

and it was GOOOOOOOOOD. (well, kind of rich. and a little too much ganache. but hey, hannah and i like chocolate! nobody else could finish their piece :-)

Aunt Jeana, Grandma Jan, and Aunt Dixie were among our distinguished party guests.

my big birthday girl

this is my last batch of baby food. I just thought it looked so nice and colourful, i love colourful food! green kale, orange carrots, yellow summer squash, purple cabbage, and rice. Yum!

now for my little birthday boy. this is the picture from his party invitations. it's a farm theme!

so, our front yard has been a little busy these days. the basement wall is rebuilt! the yard still looks disastrous, but it's fixed. we'll get the porch put back on soon, and then get around to redoing the inside of the wall.

what is this, you might say? well, glad you asked. it's my new dining room table! patricks building it himself. i'm so excited. he's talked about it for awhile, but to be honest I didn't actually think he'd do it. but now he's almost done. it's going to be beautiful!

my anorexic tomato plants. so sad. and to think of all the time i've spent watering them.

alright, this post may also be somewhat anorexic, but now i can cross it off my list!

we interrup your regularly scheduled programming. . .

2010-08-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

although i'm doing a million things today, i wanted to stop and share a moment right away, before it got away from me. our laundry is in the basement, and i try to not bring charlie down there because what with the ongoing construction there's so much to put in his mouth, which he does. anyways, the kids were with me and charlie kept climbing up the stairs. he can get up, but not down, which is not a good system! so i kept grabbing him and putting him somewhere else. I overheard Hannah talking to him: "charlie, you can't climb up the stairs, because you will fall, and crack your head, and you will bleed, and you will die, and you will go to heaven to see Jesus, but we don't want you to be with Jesus we want you to be here in this house, to stay here with us in this house until we die and go to heaven too." and she said it just like that, in one big run on sentence.

the other day, i lost my temper and yelled at her. (i know it's no excuse, but sometimes the whining, aggghhhh!). a few minutes later i apologized, and said i had made the wrong decision. Even though I was frustrated, i should have communicated differently but instead I chose to yell, and that was wrong because I was disobeying God. She was quiet, then said, "Jesus can help you obey. You can ask Jesus to help you obey and make the right choice." so we decided to help each other remember that, and regularly ask Jesus to help us obey. we'll see how it goes!

canada, part 2

2010-08-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

i know alot has happened in our lives since our canada trip, but we had so many memories i wanted it up there. this was our last night at the cottage on Stony Lake, which is a few hours from Toronto. My dad and bunny both grew up close to here, and my family went to see my Dad's family there when i was younger, so it was neat to go back with my kids, even just the general area. that's my aunt and uncle and grandma down at the end. Hannah is at the table even though it's very late; one or the other of my children were up late every night. with charlie it was 11 pm a few nights! contrary to popular perception, it does get hot in canada, and it sure did. every day was in the 90's, and there was no air conditioning.

so, of course we spent as much time as we could in the water. now i know lakes are not for everyone, but i'm pretty partial to them. as long as they're clean and relatively clear, so that probably rules out most of the lakes in the southern half of the US :-). i've been swimming in lakes since i was old enough to walk, even before, and it doesn't really matter which lake i'm on, i love being there. this particular property was on a point, so surrounded by water and it had a little trail through the whole thing, which was heavily wooded, as it all is up there. there were small benches at different places, and two little bridges. at night, hot though it was, i put charlie in the carrier and went on walks to try to get him to sleep. alot of musquitoes, but i still loved it! water and trees, i do miss them in KS! Kennedy was wonderful playing with Charlie (above).

and then there's boats. it really doesn't matter what kind of boat i'm on, i love them all. my kids, not so much! or maybe it was the uncomfortable lifejackets all kids wear as a rule. boats have always been a part of my dad's family, in one way or another, owning a marina or mechanics or something, so i got my love of boats from him. (i used to live on a boat, for those of you who don't know. fun random fact)

hannah does love her tomatoes, but i think it was just coincidence sitting here. there were 4 adults and 7 children (ages 5 and under) at this cottage, so it was more than a little crazy. we rarely ever sat down and ate at the same time, and everybody has a little different nap and bedtime schedule, but we made it work. despite what people say, i am more flexible than i was 2 yrs ago. we didn't get much sleep, though. neither the adults or the kids!

once again, lookin like she's ready for the papparazzi.

alot of birthdays fell in July, so Bunny had a giant birthday party. the kids had fun with a pinata.

these are bunny's daughter's twins, a few months older than charlie. it was blueberry season, every few miles on the 4 hr drive between ottawa and peterborough there's another blueberry stand. so charlie ate his weight in blueberries! actually, the local foodshed in that area is just wonderful! they put out a booklet with all the local food producers, fruits/vegetables, meat/dairy, baking, honey, etc. It was a really neat idea.

everybody agreed that charlie's just about the most mellow baby ever. even he had his moments, though!

while i do love lakes, there are drawbacks: often no beach unless it's manmade, and alot of rocks and seaweed. so, floatie things are important for those who don't like their legs to touch the seaweed :-).

the cottage. this isnt' in the family, dad and bunny just rented it for a month.

even surrounded by countless beautiful lakes, sometimes the baby pool is just the way to go!

i cannot underestimate the importance of french fries to canadians. (at least the part of canada that i'm familiar with.) my sisters and i have realized that most americans are not familiar with the concept of a "chip truck", so here is an example. this is hardly representative, though, most aren't nearly this nice. some have only french fries, many have brats, maybe hamburgers, and then, of course, poutine (pooh teen). pretty sure it's a french canadian thing: french fries with cheese curds and gravy. sounds gross, but's somewhat of a regional delicacy. anyways, there was a poutinerie right by our hotel in ottawa, that served 20 different kinds of poutine. that's how seriously these people (or we, i guess. i am still canadian :-) take their poutine. and of course, almost all french fries, or chips, are liberally doused with white vinegar!

there's no way to capture with words or pictures how much i enjoyed the byward market in downtown ottawa. Ottawa, the capital of my great country, is in the province of Ontario but also borders Quebec, the french part of canada. The market is in the English half of the city, technically, but there was so much french spoken in the market it seemed like you were there. not just french, actually, all kinds of languages. I ate and ate. French, Thai, Indian, Greek, Moroccan, all right next to each other. and endless stalls of produce, flowers, honey and maple syrup, everything. then artisans. and all kinds of wonderful amazing bakeries. i'm not talkin doughnut shops, but fresh bread, pastries, and big bowls of cafe au lait. also whole stores devoted to cheeses or meats. oh, it was so wonderful. i was so distracted, i set a carton of raspberries right down in front of charlie, on the stroller tray. only i forgot he was wearing a white shirt. it was a disaster. but i digress. anyways, i wish patrick had been with me, with no children, and we could have gone every day for coffee and breakfast.

my cousin and his fiance (i guess it's wife now) had a barbeque at their house, and the shoes at the door made me so nostalgic.

we didnt' get around to participating in as much of the canada day celebrations as we wanted, but it was still fun.

we are in front of the parliament buildings here, which is where all the government is. the streets were literally packed with people, so trying to navigate a wheelchair, 2 double strollers, and 7 adults was a challenge.

we did get to see the queen!

my poor hannah, not quite sure where she comes from, much less where her mommy comes from! so, it was really neat to be able to share this with my kids and everybody else. it took an awful lot for everybody to be there, but it was worth it.

2010-07-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

just a quick note: we don't have internet at our house yet (that would be our new house!), so that's why i'm a little behind. we did move a week after we got back from canada! Mom and Bob came down and worked like dogs, we could not have done it without them. As well as everybody else that's helped over the past few months. Even though it's been disorganized, messy and hot in our house, i am deliriously happy to be there. we finally got a stove and countertops this week, so we really are making progress. much more on that later.
the next little while will be busy, big surprise. We are having a little party for Hannah this weekend, then the kids and i are going to my mom's, then we're coming back and planning charlie's big first birthday, and also creating and planting a fall garden, starting preschool with hannah, and hopefully starting violin lessons for me. before we know it, it'll be thanksgiving. again, though we are tired and still overwhelmed with what needs to be done, we are together, we are grateful to be together and to be in our house, and happy!

2010-07-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

before i get into our trip, the big news is that our closing is scheduled for tomorrow! so if it does go through this time, i will be a little busy for awhile. we've been unsettled for 4 months now, and assuming it'll take awhile to get resettled in our new house, we should feel better by the fall. and we are so ready for that.
ok, we covered an awful lot of miles during the 10 days we were away, but made it home in relatively good health (if incredibly sleep deprived, and somewhat low on patience) with all of our luggage intact. i used to really enjoy traveling, even flying. alas, there is no starbucks and a magazine anymore. we had really good itineraries both ways, with just the right amount of layover. people helped with the luggage, but it was still a miserable experience. especially on the way back, from toronto to wichita, going through customs in the airport: wearing charlie in the carrier, hannah and the carryons in the double stroller, balancng the 2 car seats on top, pulling our checked bag. so embarassing. why i still persist in wearing heels in such a situation is just beyond me. and why i have to take off charlie's shoes to go through security? seriously?

it was a good trip. so so so busy. i'd love to document it thoroughly, so we can
remember in the future, but i'm doing good to even get the pictures up right now. i'm supposed to be packing, but if i don't do this now i may never. soooo, above you see the first morning of our trip. auntie lara was incredibly gracious and helpful as we tore apart her beautiful new condo. hannah had an absolute blast playing with her cousins, even though she and parker act like brother and sister and fight quite a bit! coming from pratt (pop. 7,000 or something) to boston was fun: all the people, the food, the view from the apartment, the food, the trains, the food!

making forts out of the coffee tables.

unfortunately this is all the food i got a picture of! but the bakeries, oh my gosh. amazing stuff, made from scratch. if you ever go to boston, eat at flour bakery and cafe. sooooooooo good.

lar has lived in boston for 3 yrs now, she moved there just before hannah was born. she fell in love with her new city immediately, and has become pretty familiar with it. however, navigating the city with 5 small children is a whole nother ball game. we eventually got everywhere we were supposed to go. every 10 minutes meghan or i would say, " how do people with kids do it in this place?" :-)

i'm still surprised nobody got lost. not just boston but ottawa too. this was the train to and from the beach.

manchester by the sea is this little town on the coast, just like it says :-). if you ever flipped through a pottery barn magazine and said, who lives in beach houses like that? well, they're all here, in lovely manchester by the sea. i am not easily impressed, but this place was truly storybook.

in case anyone else is familiar with the area, this proves we were really there. this little spot is very close to the train station, then you have quite a hike to the beach, nearly a mile. our ice cream melted while we were trying to maneuver the double strollers up those hills.

but it was worth it! hannah and i hadn't been to the ocean in 2 yrs, and charlie never, so even though we were only there for a few hours it was a special occasion.

the kids entertained themselves really well.

i could not stop this kid from eating sand by the fistfulls. and you could tell, the next day!

we weren't even in boston for 48 hrs, then we headed out for canada. lara, the kids and i in one car, meg and her kids in the other. it was supposed to be a 7 hr trip, but turned into 10 1/2. crossing the border on the eve of canada day didn't help. of course we stopped for poutine at harvey's right across the border, too. charlie did not handle the trip well, maybe something to do with the copious amounts of sand he consumed. i would love to do that roadtrip again, under different circumstances. i adore new england, the picturesque towns, the food, the landscape.

such a male. only happy if he's behind the wheel!

in the midst of the charming antique stores, local food stores, beautiful farms, and farmers markets, a walmart truck pulled up beside us as we were waiting for the ferry. it kind of ruined my moment!

on the ferry across lake champlain. we got into ottawa really late, around 11.30. Hannah does not do well waking up in the middle of the night and not being in a bed. so waking up and being in a hotel, with lots of people but no daddy, she had a meltdown of all meltdowns. i was walking around trying to get situated and she was just holding onto me so tightly, i wasn't even holding her and i couldn't shake her off. thankfully my family helped me get the packnplays set up and everybody in their pjs. this was the first installment, more to come!

2010-06-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

so you may be thinking we haven't updated because we're busy unpacking and whatnot. alas, that is not exactly the case. what you're looking at is our basement wall. well i guess it isn't "our" wall, seeing as how this wall caved in the night before we were supposed to close. less than 24 hrs, actually. soooooo, things are a little up in the air. we may be back to square one, in which case we'll rent for a year or so until we find the perfect house, or we may buy this one for an extremely reduced price.

Hannah is such a wonderful helper these days, when I have the patience to let her :-). she always helps me make the bed, but on a whim the other day, i sent her in there to do it herself. from the time we get up in the morning till 5 pm or so, we're basically just generating piles and piles of mess. then we run around in a whirlwind cleaning up before patrick comes home. hannah's first every bed making was part of this daily routine. she was SO proud of herself, i got teary eyed. also, i can send her into the living room by herself, tell her to pick up everything that doesn't belong there, and she normally gets most of it. not just her own stuff either, but the whole family's.

she's my little sous chef, for sure. pratt, and kansas in general, has so much to offer, but ethnic food isn't one of those things. so we made tzatziki this week. she especially loves the garlic press. if you've never heard a 2 1/2 yr old try to say tzatziki, you should put it on your bucket list. it's priceless. she loves to tell stories these days, and plays outside forever. she has three best "friends": ariel, tinkerbell, and snow white. where this came from i have no idea, since she has never seen a disney movie. she also loves to sing and dance and twirl. I'm just so proud of her, even though i get frustrated alot, she has such a sweet spirit. when we're at the grocery store, if we go by the bakery section, she always asks for cookies and i always say no and she just says "ok mommy." i've babysat kids who flip out if they don't get the right food on the right plate. the other day i pulled one of her kid plates out of the cupboard instead of a real one and she was so appreciative, she said "mommy i just love this special plate. thank you so much for giving it to me, that was so sweet." really, that's what she said. i don't want to forget these moments.

now charlie man, he's just taking off! at the moment, we have no space for things like the computer. so it gets moved around, and the cords are always all over the place being tripped over. (our wireless doesn't work well, and neither does the battery, so we're in the computer dark ages.) i know all our keys are going to be pulled off soon if i keep forgetting to shut it.

"what mommy? it's just oats." before i took this picture he was laying on his stomach swimming in it. and it was alllllll over the floor. which begs the question, where was i while this was taking place. i don't remember, actually. he just gets into everything so fast. so does hannah. and so does the dog. so i just run around after the 3 of them. we just have some open pantry shelves in the kitchen, and charlie just loves to pull himself up on them and knock the food onto the floor. but there's no other place to put it.

also loves the dishwasher, and the toilet. (no, we don't have one, this is Jan's. dishwasher, that is. we do have a toilet. we aren't that rural :-).

he had a few super fussy days so i took him in to see if he had an ear infection. of course, when we got there he was the happiest kid around. we did our 9 mos well check too, and he's doing great, which we knew. nearly 20 lbs. his feet are still funky (metatarsal adductus, for the record), but that will straighten out within a few months of walking, they say. there actually isn't a pediatrician here, just family doctors. we are going to the same one patrick went to when he was little. my first appt with a doctor is always somewhat of an interview, and he passed! of course, i should just be grateful he didn't throw me out on my homebirth birthing, private breast milk donating, non vaccinating, raw milk drinking butt.

so say what you will about how stupid it was to work on the house before we owned it, we'd probably do it the same way next time. we had our closing scheduled, and a few days before went in to start cleaning, painting, and doing other little things. and some not so little things. david and patrick worked SO hard. and it's getting hot here in south central kansas. des worked really hard as well: she babysat every single day. the grandparents volunteered as well, we are so grateful.

so you may not have noticed at first glance, but at the top of the picture, you can see what the floor looks like underneath the dirt. i honestly did not know the tile wasn't so brown. i just barely started excavating the house from underneath its filth. this is actually as far as i got on the bathroom floor.

there are no words!

who is this big girl? surely not mine.

hanging out at the pool, in his fancy baby floatie. Hannah's getting much braver this year, putting her head under water and blowing bubbles. She absolutely loves the waterslide, as well.

we're off in a few days for a whirlwind of a trip: wichita to boston for 2 nights, driving up 7 hrs to ottawa for my cousin's wedding, Canada Day, and a side trip to see where i spent most of my childhood. I lived in a suburb of Ottawa called Manotick for 7 yrs (i think), much longer than i've lived anywhere else put together. i don't really have roots, and i definitely don't have a home, so any opportunity i have to connect with my past is priceless. anyways, we stay in ottawa for 3 nights, then drive 4 hrs to a cottage with dad and bunny for 4 nights, then back here. all of this will be in extremely close quarters with lots of people, so we hope the kids sleep through the night somehow magically. drugs, anyone?

2010-06-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

this is our current abode. we're nice and cozy!

yes, they do have alot of cows around here, but these ones are special. why, you might ask? because these healthy, happy looking cows, who reside at Hilltop Farms in Zenda, KS provide milk for us!

She actually drank the entire half-glass I gave her without putting it down once. I think the technical term would be "chugged" her milk. She then declared it to be the best milk she'd ever had. (i promise that was unprompted. she's funny like that. the other day she was telling me a story, and she mentioned "a brilliantly coloured elephant." seriously. where did that come from? she also told me something had disappeared.)

we also picked up eggs, and jelly. these eggs, btw, were $1.75/doz. i find that amazing. we've also found beef locally, for $2.00/lb. That's so much cheaper than the grocery store! They also make wine, cheese, and yogurt, and have chicken and sometimes pork. Then fruit trees, and walnuts. Unfortunately, most of that's just for them. More on this topic at a later date. An entire post dedicated to real food, with not a picture of my children in sight. unless they're seen enjoying the aforementioned real food.

the other day alvin, loretta and jan spent the day with us. loretta kept the kids, and we worked on the house. Patrick has worked his butt off: completely remodeled the bathroom, extensive plumbing repair, ripped up the kitchen, hung drywall, and will be installing tile floor. and we finally passed the inspection to qualify for the loan. so, there should be nothing to prevent us from closing Friday.

this is the dining room. now that charlie's feeding himself, it's so much easier to keep the bathtub right near the table to just throw him in when we're done. we're actually considering just feeding him in the bathtub, naked. efficiency at its best! actually, the bathroom is off to the right and patrick had to take the tub out to redo the floors. he asked me to come over to help him move the tub. in my defense, it's heavier than it looks. i strained and strained, no go. imagine my embarassment when the 14 yr old he had helping him on saturday did it relatively easily.

Grandma Jan was in charge of painting. She did a great job, but there's still PLENTY left, for whoever's interested! we'll pay you in local, organic farm fresh milk and eggs. And i finally made good biscuits. After trying for a few years, these were actually amazing. I could have eaten the whole pan. The secret, I've decided, is to actually follow the recipe and put as much butter and white flour as the recipe calls for :-).

the other day someone asked me what i do all day. this isn't the first time i've gotten this question, and to be honest, many days i'm not exactly sure. I would venture that most people that work in an office are not exactly productive every minute of the day either. anyways, an example of how things seem to materialize out of thin air: my daughter making a hopscotch out of her toy bins. this was better than normal; she sometimes just dumps them all in one giant pile.

i put charlie in the baby pool for the first time, and he did great. kept climbing out to eat grass, maybe he thinks he's a cow :-). it's creeping up to 100 degrees here already. sorry mom, i told you it was colder than tx!

this is what i was talking about the other day. that child had never had that much fun in his 8 1/2 mos of life. how often does an adult's face look like that?

he celebrated his 9 mo birthday by standing up for us! he's also started crawling but prefers sliding wormlike on his tummy.

david and des will be here on Monday, and we hope to get lots done on the house while they're here to watch the kids. i'm dragging patrick to an art festival in OK tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. art festival in Alva, Oklahoma, you say? we'll see!

2010-05-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

keep your fingers crossed! we should be closing in a few weeks, Lord willing. I walk/drive by at least every day, and often pop in just for the fun of it. I also have a picture on the fridge, so when i feel like our current house is closing in on me, i remind myself that this isn't all there is! patrick has been working doubletime, at his regular job in the day and often at the house in the evenings. there are quite a lot of things that have to be done before our bank will approve the loan. soooo, hopefully soon.

charlie will be 9 mos next week, and he's doing great! loves to babble, and can army crawl really really fast. he is eating all kinds of food, and working on picking up pieces himself. i've introduced a cup, but it hasn't really caught on yet. he occasionally sleeps through the night, but not as a rule. we put charlie down in the kids' room, and hannah down in ours. then when we go to sleep, we move hannah to her bed. then when charlie wakes up in the middle of the night and i can't get him to sleep quick enough, we put him in the packnplay in the kitchen. it works, sort of! hannah, little stinker, doesn't take a nap anymore :-(. it just wasn't worth the fight. but at least she goes to bed at night really easily. in this picture, i asked her to smile. that didn't work, so i said laugh, instead. so that's a laugh. she has her dolly and a book for one of our walks. we like to walk alot, so they bring entertainment. i walk to do alot of our errands like the post office, library, and even light grocery shopping. when we move, we'll be right next to "downtown".

patrick had the genius idea to let charlie feed himself. when he was eating a blueberry/strawberry puree, of all things.

a friend once told me that every parent should have a picture of their child sleeping. so here it is, my sleeping beauty.

and then, like dr. jekyl and mr. hyde, here is the same child awake. imagine!

at grandma jan's this weekend. i don't know who started it, but they (patrick and Jan) let Hannah get ahold of the hose. i can't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. top right: any time she gets wet or dirty, she strips down. it's something we're trying to work on!

just like hannah did, charlie loves climbing up under the coffee table. he's so proud of himself. we didn't get a picture, but at a store the other day we put them in one of those car grocery carts, and he was absolutely beside himself. i never would have thought he was old enough, but his entire face just lit up and he couldn't stop laughing and grabbing the steering wheel. it was great!

some pictures from our mother's day cards.

pratt has many beautiful victorian homes. Some have been neglected, but others are alive and well, such as this one. we love walking in the older parts of town, and admiring them.

the water towers on the left, and then it may be too small, but on the right, in the window, are the prices of different crops: wheat, corn, milo and something else i can't see. the other popular one is soybeans.

of course storms around here are legendary, so there are also alot of rainbows. this double rainbow happened right after we moved here, and we took it as a blessing! this is our backyard, the best thing about the house. and especially, the fence alvin and loretta crisp put up. thank you!

after 2 days of unpacking, we decided to leave the rest and go exploring. we were back by lunch :-). just kidding. we were already familiar with this town, though, so that helped quite a bit. there are so many other towns in a 1 hr to 1 1/5 hr radius, that i also count when i'm thinking of entertaining/shopping/dining opportunities. it's a common misconception that if you live in a ginormous city like the metroplex (dfw metroplex, that is), you're constantly on the road. maybe if you had to commute, but i practically refused to go anywhere longer than 15 min. away. I had no need to. but at least here, if you have to drive an hour to get to something, it's through beautiful fields, a few forests or creeks, through picturesque towns. the journey is part of the appeal. in dallas, an hour on the road would have meant confusing interchanges, toll roads, bad traffic, and all kinds of policemen! and numerous billboards for not so very gentlemenly "gentlemen's clubs". i actually enjoy driving places here. which is good, because i've already put alot of miles on the car!

patrick's in Denver this week, meeting with the head office and all that good stuff. he called and told me there were 3 whole foods right around his hotel. stinker! but more importantly, he made his first deal! I'm so proud of him! that means he beat out competitors and convinced an oil operator around here to sell Patrick, or High Sierra Energy, his oil. Patrick will now figure out how to get the oil where it needs to go. It's actually very complex, which i didn't know. that reminds me, some other news that he may want mentioned: Patrick brought home a dog the other day. we named it sierra, for good luck and to commemorate this new stage in life. i have nothing against dogs as a rule, for other people. but i haven't warmed up to one becoming part of my family, so we'll see how it goes. hannah likes her.

2010-05-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

so, i finally bought another downloading cord, and here we are. i had so many pictures from before we moved, so i decided to do it in installments. this was charlie's first time in the swing, he seemed to like it ok!

when patrick heard he got the job, mom and bob took us out for a celebratory dinner. we went to fogo de chao, a brazilian steakhouse that is one of our favourite restaurants. it's the kind, however, that you only go a few times in your life. (our lives, anyways!)

charlie was sick and i couldn't get him to sleep before the babysitter came, so he got to join us. thankfully, it was still special for me because i didn't have to hold him. got to love grandparents!

we went to grapevine, a picturesque little town with lots of shopping and restaurants and all kinds of fun stuff. we love grapevine. decorated at christmas it's absolutely adorable. there's also a Great Wolf Lodge, the Gaylord Texan Hotel, the Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall right there, all right next to the DFW airport. did i mention we love it? :-) but we're not going to get nostalgic about texas, are we??? anyways, we love this little bakery/lunch place, where we were enjoying some afternoon specialties. Don't even get me started on the food. last time i had a brie/pear/spinach/pancetta panini. i guess i'll have to make my own now!

so, hannah eats a little more sugar now than she used to! definitely a fan. she's mine and patrick's daughter for sure. and my mom's granddaughter :-).

so as everybody was sitting here enjoying being together, the gorgeous weather, our wonderful food, admiring my precious babies, what do i do? stand up and start getting on everybody to get moving, of course. my goodness, i struggle with relaxing. i did the same thing at thanksgiving when Grandma Jan, David and Des joined us at the Dallas Arboretum. I really must work on sitting still and smelling the flowers, or whatever people do when they're sitting down :-).

everyone is smiling so brightly because they were out of the house and therefore removed from my crazy easter preparations. I decided not to make my braided easter bread, so we could have this special day together. i struggled at the time, but it was so worth it!

sometimes i wish patrick liked to windowshop as much as i do, but it has its advantages. who else would watch the packages and the stroller? and the little tornado?

we had a few redneck sightings, as well. it takes a strong man, that's all i'm going to say! :-)

this is a actually a self portrait. patrick and i are usually too busy to get this close, so it was nice.

Mom and Hannah had a great time doing eggs for our centerpiece.

I just can't get enough of their smiling faces! others may not notice, but I will look back on this picture and notice the living room is empty because we were already packing. that last week is such a blur, especially with having a garage sale and everything. we did have dinner a few nights with friends, and even though at the time it was hard for me to stop working, i'm glad we did it.

patrick drove the uhaul and towed his truck. we moved on tax day, so he voiced our convictions with his "don't tread on me" flag, as he traveled :-).

as i mentioned, those last few days were crazy. we packed the truck one day, then spent the night with just our matresses and left first thing the next morning. patrick let me splurge on getting a cleaner, or else we'd have been up till 2 am. That night we went out for Thai food and Cold Stone and tried to have closure. When you're in the middle of everything, sometimes you don't process as much as you want to. I thought about it on my 9 hr drive, but the kids are pretty noisy in the car. Ok, just one of them actually. We had mixed feelings about leaving. We enjoyed our life there, and will look back on it fondly. That 18 mos was really the longest we've been anywhere, and were really just starting to feel settled. We are really going to miss our church, and food. Grocery store and restaurant food. and having the huge, cheap Frisco Athletic Center 3 min from our house! If I were one of those good bloggers, i'd make some funny top 10 list about this. oh well. That being said, We really are excited about where God is leading us.

and this is where we were led:

you know how sometimes one day can feel like a whole week? i started off in our house in N Dallas, eating blueberry doughnuts that some friends brought. i ended the day, many miles and hours and coffee later, here, in south central KS, a world away from N Dallas. Kansas really is its own kind of beautiful, and as soon as we started driving west from wichita, i was overwhelmed with the bigness and beauty of it. it did start to rain, and we finally pulled up in front of our little rent house, swarming with people helping us unpack. the kids and i fell out of the car, and i went inside. more than a little overwhelmed, i nearly cried then i noticed someone had picked a stem of lilacs and put them in an antique glass jar and set them on the stove. every time over the next few days that i wanted to cry, i went back and looked at the flowers. thank you Jeana!

ok, now we're sort of caught up. we will soon be posting about our new house (currently under contract), Patrick's job, and my indescribably horrible braces!

He is Risen Indeed!

2010-04-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

so, i know you probably want to see pictures of our new home, but i can't find my downloading cord. i'll probably have to buy a new one. easter was so special, and since i'm doing this more for us to remember our own lives than for anybody else, here's a post about easter!
it was wonderful, other than me stressing everybody out because i worked hard and, as already mentioned, lost alot of sleep over wanting easter to be perfect. what's the big deal, you may say, just put some eggs in a basket! for me it starts on palm sunday, and we celebrate Good Friday as well. So there was alot of food and church and, yes, even outfits. above: this was all charlie got to eat. he does that to me less often, thankfully, now that he has 4 good sized teeth.

he's sitting up so well! not quite crawling, but he does manage to get to where he wants to be.

I made hot cross buns this year for the first time, but they weren't all that great. there's always next year. it's a good friday tradition, apparently. we actually never made it to church on good friday because both the kids were sick, and we'd just been so stressed and busy we decided to stay home. We watched the Passion of the Christ, which I hadn't seen since i was in africa. then we took communion together.
Sunday morning Mom, Bob, Charlie and I went to a sunrise service, which is a tradition I really love. Then we came home and opened easter baskets. Patrick had to be at church early for choir, and it was just crazy. the whole day passed in a giant blur until 5 pm or so when our company left.

charlie just trying to stay out of the way!

we were in various stages of getting ready for church. hence the pyjamas and wet hair. sorry!

oh, the infamous chocolate. hannah knows what easter means, she'll tell you if you ask because we've been talking about it for weeks. but she also knows the cultural tradition of chocolate. and i have to say, she liked it. this was actually her first chocolate experience. i was so busy, she ended up eating just chocolate for breakfast. dont' think she minded!

i'm still apalled at myself, but this is the only picture of the much agonized over easter outfits. patrick was already gone, and we were rushing out the door like crazy people, and my mom stopped to take a picture of hannah. i got on her because we were so late, i said oh, we'll do it all when we come back. well, thanks mom, because we at least got one! of course it looks better without the sweater, and the deer in the headlights smile. but i remember what she really looked like. when i was a little girl i always had a hat and gloves, and this was hannah's first time.

we had friends over, so hannah had somebody to do and easter egg hunt with. i was in the kitchen during this part, but i think they had fun. and yes, some eggs had more chocolate in them. she was wired, that's for sure.

i never could have pulled it off without my mom. having a nursing baby seriously impedes my productivity! and he was really sick that week. my mom did almost everything, and i am so grateful. we didn't eat until 2.30 or something, but it was wonderful. Thank you mom! we had rosemary glazed lamb, scalloped potatoes, green beans with almonds, rolls, and coconut cake. and i know this is stupid, but as an aspiring informal party planner, i was tickled that when i went on allrecipes.com i saw that the menu they had featured for easter was EXACTLY the same one i came up with on my own!

somebody might read this and infer that i enjoy easter because of the decorating and celebrating and eating and matching outfits. i do like celebrations, and traditions, but in case you are reading this and don't know me, i have to make sure that we reiterate the purpose of Easter: remembering the life and sacrificial death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, meditating on our sinful, lost state, and exulting in the most amazing miracle of all time, the Resurrection of Jesus. Those are more than words, and Easter is more than a fun holiday. It is the only thing

that gives my life eternal meaning. Not only does it mean that I do not have to pay for my own sins and can spend eternity with God, it means that here on earth I can victory over my own sin, through the power of the Risen Lord. the older i get, the worse off I feel: I don't know if I'm actually digressing, or just maturing enough to see how lost I am on my own. either way, I desperately need Jesus every day. and because of Easter, I can claim Him as my own Lord and Saviour and rise above the darkness, loneliness, emptiness, and everything that this world uses to bring us down to it's level. Because of Easter, I am a new person. I know that old things can pass away and new things can come. Not just for Jesus, but for me and you too. If you dont' know for sure that you are experiencing new life in Christ, I encourage you to search it out today!

thanks again to Mom for her incredible help, and to her, bob, patrick and hannah for putting up with me. i hope you remember the good times and not, well, my witchiness :-)

2010-04-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

ok, we're all here and accounted for! it's been a super stressful month or so. and in the middle of this we've had easter, and mom and bob's visit. I really celebrate Easter, so between that and moving i think i've only survived the last 4 wks with copious amounts of caffeine, sugar, and adrenaline. Patrick leaves tomorrow morning, for the week. I and the kids are going to do nothing more than eat and sleep on a regular schedule, and have baths every night! We are mostly settled in our "cozy" rental house :-). the kids sharing a room isn't going all that well, not sure what to do about that. we dont' have internet yet, so i'm doing this somewhere else, but as soon as we do, i'll get some pictures up. from easter and from our new home. there will be a certain amount of adjustment time, i think, possibly even culture shock! patrick will be gone a whole lot over the next little while, at least 6 months we think. so between that and feeling unsettled because we aren't in our permanent home. . . !
kids are pretty good, charlie's almost crawling, and has 4 teeth now!

ps. cultural moment: this morning in church they were advertising a fundraiser for youth camp. you can hire a youth for work, and he said, if any of y'all have a poopy chicken coop that needs to be cleaned out, come get a youth. i laughed then realized he was serious :-)

2010-04-13T10:01:00.001-07:00

so, the truck's pulling out thursday morning, Lord willing and if the creek don't rise :-)
pray for me, that one of my children't doesn't get accidentally left behind. we'll get an update just as soon as we can.

2010-04-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

A. it will be the 18th time in my life I move, when we move to pratt, Kansas! yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are again on the move :-). It is quite the story, actually. Patrick had been thinking about quitting for a year, and the day he did, he had lunch with a former client. This man is vice president of an energy company based in Denver. He travels around quite a bit, which is why he bought an airplane. He was telling Patrick about an average day, and mentioned he went through Pratt. Long story short, he sort of offered Patrick a job there. (This happens to be the same Pratt that Patrick grew up right next to.) Over the next few days we clarified how serious he was, and as it turns out, he was really serious. Although Patrick has no experience in this particular field, he so impressed them that they want him to start Monday. (We are going to wait till next Monday, fyi :-) So, he will be a crude oil sales rep for that territory, but i'm not exactly sure where that entails yet. We will be moving very soon, within a few weeks. The past month has been intense, and now we are ready to progress to the next season, albeit with mixed feelings. I've discovered I may not be the gypsy I thought I was! But we are very excited and will keep you posted!

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

Q. what is special about the # 18?

2010-03-23T20:52:00.003-07:00

So, mommy has been begging daddy to write the captions for the pictures that she spent 1.5 hours uploading the other night. After much procrastination, daddy has given in. His only request is that you don't hold him to the same standard as his superior blogging wife. She has a great way of adding humor to our othewise humour-less lives. (Some things are actually rather funny, but most are simply frustrating. I think its a two year old thing?)

So charlie has began making messes with solid food. Peas, and carrots for now, fried chicken and chocolate cake in the near future. (If you did't realize that daddy was writting this, you should now.) Charlie is so cute! He similes anytime you catch his eye, and laughs all the time.

We had a great time in KS. This was our final meal...grandma Jan's famous fried chicken, mashed potatos, and fried chicken gravy! oh my, you just don't know what your missing. (Hannah didn't really know what to do with all this yummy food)

Hannah had a great time playing with daddy's grandparents. I am simply amazed at how much energy all of my grandparents still have. This was a rare picture of Hannah and mommy together. Normally, mommy is on the wrong side of the camera.

I'm not sure...

Hannah introduced grandma jan to Veggie tails. Not sure if grandma was a huge fan, but they had a lot of fun together!

Does anyone else notice how great grandma jan's hair looks? We're so proud of how great she has done this past year with her cancer. Oh wait, that's right...she doesn't have cancer anymore!!! Many more memories to make.

Grandma is about to start crawling. You can do it!

I love you grandma, but hannah has a beautiful expression on her face in this picture. I still can't believe I had something to do with that???

Generation one and four together.

Kansas and porch swings go together like fried chicken and gravy. It was still a bit cold though.

Good looking girls.

Not sure how much he actually ate, but at least he is enjoying himself.

So in case you haven't heard, I finally resigned from Premier. Perhaps this was the reason I was having such a hard time selling?

So Hannah loves to climb into Charlie's crib. I think they are going to have so much fun together in the future.

Again, he is so cute!

This is s new exibit at the Dallas zoo.

Would someone please brush this childs teeth. Oh, I guess that's my job.

Mommy's little helper.

We'll that's it for now. Got to go pick up my pizza! ( I wish I was joking, but I'm not) Hope to have some good news on the job front really soon. We would appreciate your prayers!

A new day

2010-03-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

we went for a walk yesterday after supper, now that the days are getting longer. so this was actuallya sunset. there are so many people and buildings that we never get to see much, so it was special. hannah just knelt down and looked at it, like she was worshipping.

hannah is such a special girl, as trying as it is sometimes! she currently loves her dollies, colouring/playdough/crafts, playing outside, going to church, watching tv (i still try to limit that, but that doesn't stop her from loving it!), changing her clothes, roughhousing with daddy, cooking with me, and making charlie laugh. she makes him cry quite a bit too, but we hope that's by accident! i'm pretty sure she knows her colours now, and she counts to ten. she loves to sing, and her current favourite is swing low sweet chariot. she calls it sweet cherry hot. she knows all the words. she is fiercely independent, she gets very upset if you try to help her with her clothes/shoes/potty/snacks/etc. i try to let her do things by herself, but sometimes we have quite the power struggle. at night, she absolutely refuses to stay in her bed, or leave the light off. i've almost given up. i know she's supposed to listen to me, but i'm quite defeated in this department. i guess she'll fall asleep when she's tired! she's growing up so fast.

hannah actually took this picture, while i steadied the camera. i think she did a pretty good job!

and then i took this one! does anybody want a print? :-)

so charlie's just such a mellow contended dude that he's really made no progress in moving. anywhere. or sitting. i thought i'd try to help him use the boppy, but he just fell right over! he does like to pretend he's swimming, by waving his arms and legs alot. kind of like a windmill, lots of activity but all in one place. he loves toys, but is willing to accept substitutions. for example, he is just as happy to play with the drawstring on his pants, his socks, or the seatbelt strap on the carseat. he doesn't actually have teeth, but you can see the top 2 perfectly, they're right there! but not through yet. he is really starting to babble, making actual consonant sounds. that's a good sign for his hearing. which i know we haven't talked about in a while, we never got another hearing test, the day we went in they wouldn't do it because he wasn't feeling well. but i'm positive it's fine, the original impairment was a result of the infection and blockage. and while i'm on a charlie update, he does have another ear infection. he just got over it last week. i guess this is what they mean by chronic ear infections. i worked so hard to get donated milk, it kills me to do this, but i think i'm going to try a lactose free formula for a while and see if that helps. but he's a trooper!

so, about our title. life is full of surprises, and it's a good thing i like change, because we seem to have alot of it! patrick resigned from Premier Aircraft Sales on friday, after a year of making it with no salary. We finally decided that it was not what was best for our family, even though he really enjoyed the job. We are pursuing a couple options right now, and really praying for God to prepare the way for us. i don't know why, but i'm reticent to ask Him for something really great, because we don't deserve it, and life isn't supposed to work out so well, i guess i think it's supposed to be hard. but i want the best possible for my children, so maybe God feels that way too? we should know something in the next few weeks.

we're going to ks on monday so patrick's family there can meet our sweet charlie. i'm sorry i haven't been taking pictures, it seems we never do anything. the past few weeks have been dentist for me, dr for charlie, and church. next week will be better. then, mom and bob will be here for easter and we're really excited about that!

random rambles

2010-02-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

so as i think i've mentioned, nobody seems to get much sleep around here. last night was par for the course: got home from church after 8, got the kids into bed around 9, patrick got home from worship team practice at 9.30, he works for an hour to get ready for his expos this weekend, i do some laundry and ironing for him to pack, we go to bed around 11, i can't fall asleep because of stupid restless leg and not being able to turn my brain off, charlie wakes up, i go get him and come back to bed at 12.30. hannah wakes up at 5.30, goes into the kitchen, turns the light on, and starts getting herself food. patrick tries to get her back to bed. she makes a big commotion, patrick goes and gets her junk (blankets and animals) and hauls it to our room where she amazingly falls back asleep on the floor. unfortunately, all this woke charlie up. at 6 i bring him into our bed, and 3 of the 4 crisps are asleep. (not me, of course). patrick's phone rings. then his alarm clock goes off at 6.45. charlie sleeps, but hannah's now up. she jumps onto bed with me and charlie, now charlie's up, and it's all over. aggghhhh. 5 hrs is not enough! patrick leaves for the weekend, leaving me with 2 very unhappy children and the one i babysit on the way.

which brings me to my next point. consider above picture: homemade cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing (patrick has a new flight student who made these and gave to him. don't worry, she's old(er), vs. the proteinpowder/flaxmeal/oatmeal/carrot/apple/raisin/walnut/1 tbsp of oil in whole batch muffins i (and hannah) made yesterday. one cannot be expected to make a good decision under these circumstances. i told patrick to take them with him and he said no. put these two scenarios together, and what do you get? we had muffins for a snack, then when charlie went for an early nap, we (yes, hannah too) had wonderful warm cinnamon rolls, perfectly scrambled cheesy eggs, and absolutely wonderful hazelnut coffee (from brett and jess). oh my. AND, we ate it in front of the tv! decadence at our house, i'm telling you. you just wish you were here! but the catch is, you have to be up all night in order to deserve it. :-)

oh. my. gosh. he's so cute! and i can't decide which one i mean. i know my mom will hate this, but i'm thinking of actually doing his hair, with gel, for Sunday. it's rocker dude adorable! maybe he'll join daddy on the bass. :-)

so he's a very hands on kid. he doesn't do this to everyone, mind you, so either he really loves me or thinks he can eat my chin. whenever i pick him up, he claws my face/hair/glasses/nose in an attempt to get my chin in his mouth. it's really funny, but he kept looking at patrick. he's remarkably strong for a little guy.

i don't think i've had a picture taken with charlie for about 2 mos. see that hole in my teeth? i'm getting braces. ugghh. 16-20 mos. very not thrilled. anybody have any advice to pass on?

i kept thinking we can't cut hannah's hair because she doesn't have hardly any. but then i decided, the mullet just has to go. so, she got her first hair cut! it's 1.5 in shorter, and looks way better. maybe now it'll grow straight. i guess since i have another baby, these milestones don't make me that sad. but when it's my last one (so 5 or 6 from now :-), i'll be so sad!

i finally caved to popular opinion. she asked me if hannah could have a sucker, and for some crazy reason i said yes. i guess i was tired of how people look at me when i say no. but it was the cutest thing. she said mommy, what is this? i don't know how to eat it. YEAH! that's my girl :-).

a mouse in the house? no, this is just something she does know how to eat. we had a lock on the fridge for a day or so, but it broke, or it was annoying so we took it off, i don't remember. i keep thinking she should just learn that she's so not old enough to get her own snacks. but the girl's so bloody persistent. so the other day i found her just eating the block of cheese. thank the Lord she didn't try to cut it herself, i guess. i have no idea how much she ate.

so, i think God was trying to teach me a lesson the other day. Hannah has different levels of clothes. play/stay at home clothes, going out clothes and church clothes. it is very important not to confuse these categories. unless, of course, it will make her overdressed for the occasion as opposed to underdressed. so patrick, wonderful man, got her dressed one day. no, it shouldn't matter, but i actually made her change. then, she has a potty accident. i'd stopped carrying extra outfits around. so, i have to find the tub of reject clothes at the church, and she has to do the walk of shame out to the car. (this was the best i could find, really. her shirt says 'firecracker'. i wanted her to keep it). as if that's not enough, we had to go to the grocery store like that, and we were having company that night so i was really distracted. her bag of wet clothes and shoes stayed on the washer until the next day. when i took them out, the shoes had stained the shirt. it wouldn't come out. not happy. my fault? probably.

right after that, she had another outfit, with a matching sweater that happens to be white. she goes in the fridge herself, tries to get a bowl of pasta, and spills it all down her sweater. it was red sauce. (if only i'd gone with the super unhealthy alfredo!). this was one of my favourite outfits, so when i see her i start yelling. (i never knew i'd do that, until i had a 2 yr old). HANNAH! YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE FRIDGE BY YOURSELF! she stands there dripping in sauce and says, mommy, don't yell at me, that's not sweet! it was definitely a turn around and count to 10 moment before you proceed.

this is the sweater.

i found it on ebay. not to buy again, just to show you because other mommies might recognize the collection, so you know how cute it is so you'll know i was justified in being frustrated. ok, maybe not. any hoo.

lest you think i'm not aware of anything outside my house, how bout that ghanaian skiier? more importantly, there is something other than the olympics that has occupied my almost every waking thought, and many sleeping thoughts, for the past 2 wks: my former roommate, kari #1 we call her (both my roommates were named kari/carrie), and her husband jonathan, also a former Lebou teammate, are back in senegal! just on a visit right now, but they're going to be moving soon. it would be much to difficult to attempt to share my feelings on this, so i haven't tried. but i will be sharing some pictures she sent me, of people and places very special to my heart.

2010-02-18T17:51:00.000-08:00

there's not alot i can say right now other than we're surviving. i'm not sure when the thriving should kick in, but i'm sure we'll get there one day! everybody's been sick, first stomach flus and now colds. both of my kids first time throwing up was within a week of each other. coincidence? i think not! I'd never seen Hannah like she was, not eating and just laying around on the couch. Charlie had a really rough time, i actually took him to urgent care because he couldn't stop throwing up. he's been to the doctor more in his 5 mos than hannah has in 2 1/2 yrs.

as i'm sure you heard on the news, we got snow! real snow. about 9" in frisco. we went over to a friend's house, fellow canadians, actually, to play. the men came up with a bigger than life snowman, that is sure to be the last thing to melt. (patrick's on the right)

we went out the first afternoon to play, but it was still snowing really hard so we didn't last long.

we being charlie, i guess. he wasn't thrilled with the snow yet.

so, i can't wait to get my "I'm with the band" t-shirt. :-) patrick has taken up the bass again, so we're excited to start jamming with the bass and the violin.

in the absence of a valentine's day party, we made up some treats for some friends and neighbours. some of them never got delivered, so we ate them ourselves.

Grandma left Hannah a surprise, and i have to say, it's really easy to please a toddler! almost every day since then, she's reminded us, Grandma gave me a present! socks, and a headband! it's SO cute.

so the day Hannah was throwing up, i gave her a bowl to carry around just in case. i was in the other room and she yelled, quite concerned, mommy, charlie's in the bowl. a little confused, i peeked around the corner, and sure enough, he was in the bowl. good thing it was still clean!

i'm not sure what skills she'd be working on in preschool right now, but i was proud that she's using scissors. she loves doing crafts. i'm sure the gluegun will be quick to follow :-)

oh, she thinks she's such a big girl. and she's getting there, unfortunately.

at first glance this may just be a jello salad, but it is actually representative of a new friendship i'm working on with a neighbour. i'm still trying to figure out my role in/out of the home, and how to be involved in ministry without sacrificing what's best for my family or letting the church nursery workers partially raise my children! so, i met this persian woman a few months ago, and we hit it off. she was a midwife in iran, and likes gardening and music. anyways, awhile ago she sent me home with this, complete with pomegranate seeds from the tree she transplanted into her backyard. i'm supposed to helping with her English, and hopefully be able to share the hope that's within me in the process.

so long story short, we're very short on sleep, but good other than that. happy belated valentine's day. i hope everyone felt loved!

2010-02-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

i am tired. so, so tired. it is now 8 oclock, i just got everyone asleep, patrick's at choir practice, i have to do the dishes and pick up the playroom that is currently spread across the entire house, and i haven't even been to the grocery store to get the ingredients for some vday stuff i'm making that i wanted to start tonight. however, i wanted to make sure i write a few things down, before i forget. i don't keep track of anything anywhere other than here, so even if nobody else cares about these little things, 10 yrs from now i will be able to look back in cyberspace and remember my baby girl before she grew up.

looking at pictures, Hannah asked, Did daddy marry to you mommy? yes, i say. When I get bigger, Daddy will marry to me. (i know this phenomenon is not unique to my daughter, but it's widespreadedness does not lessen it's preciousness for me!)
making muffins today, she helped me pour the honey. we don't use honey very much except for things like tea. she stops, looks up all excited/worried, and says, this honey is for winnie the pooh!
then filling the muffin tray, she's standing beside me on a chair. she asks if she can do it, and i say this is more a job for mommies. you can do this part when you're older. so she rubs my back and says, well, you're doing a good job mommy!
changing charlie's diaper, she notices that elmo is on his diaper. she asks, is that charlie's elmo panties mommy? no, i say, charlie's a boy he doesn't wear panties. oh, she says, when charlie gets older and bes (pronounced bees, she says i instead of is, i guess) a girl, then he can wear elmo panties.
and my favourite: picking a book to read tonight, i asked if she knew why her bible was different from all her other books. yes, she says. why? because it's from God, she says. and who's it to? she doesn't know. to you, i say. God wrote it for you so you would know Him better. she looks at it, gives it a big hug, and says thank you, God! yes, i got teary eyed.

we have been having some very rough days around the crispy household. Hannah is kind of, uh, dramatic at times. major meltdowns. hysterical screaming because i gave her the wrong fork, or something. patrick and i are often at the end of ourselves. so thank God for sending moments like this.

2010-01-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

so, no particular order here. we found the downloading cord for my camera, but we only had a few pictures from christmas. i depended on everybody else's pictures, that we'll get soon so you can see. this is katy, a baby who comes for a fews hours tue/thur. she's a cutie patootie. very active, alot like hannah was.

this is my attempt at homeschool preschool. i got this map and had it laminated, then put pictures of our family so she can visualize where people are, and in relation to us. nana and pop pop are absent because the picture i printed out for them ended up being way too big for the map, so i need to do another one. but we didn't forget you!

this is one of my 2 new years resolutions. it's amazing (shameful, probably!) how the days can go by without me spending any real one-on-one time with my girl. if i'm not purposeful, almost all my interaction with her would be sit down/be quiet/eat/don't touch that and so forth. so, we came up with this little tool. every day she picks one idea out of the jar, and that's what we do. we've been playing with all her christmas toys and games that she needs an adult for. believe it or not, i have been much less OC about the house. patrick told me i don't actually have to sweep every day :-). so, i've been slacking a little with the housekeeping but i know 20 yrs from now i'll have made the right decision.

my little charlieman is doing great. he has another ear infection :-(, so he's been up alot more than usual. but he's a trooper. he now rolls over back to front as well! and he's very grabby. i used to always hold him while we're eating, but i can't anymore because he steals my food and spills my drink! and so strong. he and hannah are already friends. he laughs alot, more with daddy than with me. that's ok, i know my role and it isn't exactly the fun one :-). i'm hoping he may start sleeping through the night one of these days. . . He will be 5 mos next week!

at brett and jes's house, his makeshift bathub. it made me think of moses in the nile.

christmas morning at dad's. i think emerson looks like a tudor queen or something.

i think hannah was saying, now here's what goes on at christmas, emerson. just stick with me and i'll show you the ropes!

charlie enjoying one of his presents. (before hannah stole it from him very soon after and has really been enjoying).

so we all have our not so photogenic moments, eh? charlie had these two tufts right above his ears that were just getting really funny looking, so we finally cut them off. honestly, we didn't photoshop these pictures. it really was that long, just in that one spot.

hannah enjoying a bubblebath unlike any other!

my dad helped bunny out quite a bit with all those meals. i'm not sure what his role was with the turkey, but i know he did a great job!

my grandma was down from canada and it was so wonderful to spend time with her and to introduce charlie to her.

so, one day we went up to boone. they had snow upon snow upon snow. and it was cold. very cold. we were not adequately dressed. well hannah was, thanks to meghan. but as you can see, i had grocery bags tied over my target so-not-waterproof-$15-boots. that's my old church in the back, they have a huge hill there. boone (and the appalachian mountains) is my favourite place, and i really want to go back for more than one day. i've moved so many times i don't really have roots, but i feel strongly about there, for some reason. i really miss it still.

brave auntie meghan and hannah, sliding. we did the kids up with duct tape so the snow wouldn't get into their cuffs. my kids are not quite as hardy as hers. hannah lasted about 10 min. Emerson, on the other hand, was out for hours. she eventually just fell asleep in her little bucket sled. they're just little polar bears.

this is from before christmas, making gingerbread. i left to get charlie or something and came back to flour everywhere. predictably, i know. she communicates so well, sometimes i forget she's still little. oh, what can i say about Hannah? she is so independent, i've never seen the like. has quite the passionate spirit. if we can get through the next, oh, 15 yrs or so, i will be really excited to see what God has planned for her life! assuming we can channel all that fierce determination to do her own thing. i've got to go for now, charlie woke up!

happy new year

2010-01-17T14:43:00.000-08:00

my oh my oh my. i'm sure anyone who ever did check our blog has completely given up on us now! we are here, all safe and sound. just busy, it seems. it would take way longer than i have or you care to read to give you a thorough rundown on our christmas activities. the drive to NC was 16 hrs there, 18hrs back. we drove through the night, and it was actually much better than i thought. we may have broken a certain carseat law, but God protected everybody :-). we were at my dad's for christmas, and my grandma from canada came down, and lar from boston. and meghan and chad are there already. then the day after we went to brett and jes', a few hours north of charlotte, for just a short visit. david, des, and grandma jan were there. then we came home and mom and bob came a few days later for a while. i feel so blessed that we were able to see almost all our family this year. hannah is really developing relationships with people, and we just love to share charlie with the world because everyone should meet the world's happiest baby.

patrick started family hugs a long time ago. hannah loves it, and now that there are four of us it's even more fun. it's amazing charlie survives, but he does.

mom and bob, for those of you who don't know. live in the north pole. or something like that :-). so they're in the states for awhile to get away from it. except when they came here, it was cold. bitterly cold. (sorry, guys! serves you right for it being so cold at the cottage this summer.) i actually enjoyed feeling like we had winter for a few days. we, thankfully, didn't have the dangerous weather like alot of the rest of the south did.

charlieman loves his exersaucer (of course, because he loves everything) these days. he is doing such a good job grabbing at toys and getting them into his mouth.

mom gave hannah an easel, which she loves. i'm going to wait on the painting, though!

she got to do lots of cooking with grandma.

yes, they got lots of attention. and it made everybody very happy. i think that will be my all time favourite picture of charlie as a baby.

normally this is how he looks in pictures.

but he really is the smiliest kid you've ever seen. and talkative! in case anyone's wondering, no, he does not sleep through the night.

seeing my children interact is so special. (i have to take advantage of those fuzzy feelings before they start killing each other!) hannah often goes over to him and helps distract him, if he's fussing. she'll sing and pat him or bring him toys. he often gets fistfuls of her hair, and she's more patient with him than i ever would have thought.

what with patrick home officing, and charlie coming along, we no longer have a guest room. problematic, because we're far away from everyone and i love having people come stay with us. so mom sewed heavy drapes for patrick and bob to rig up, and now we at least have a semi-private front room that previously wasn't used for much. so, come on down, everybody! and thanks mom!

charlie a la parker. (nobody has ever seen the top of my nephew's head, i'm sure. he's the hat man :-)

charlie enjoying one of his christmas presents, before hannah steals it from him.

again, it would take to long to share everything i'd like to. we are starting off the new year strong and in unity as a family, grateful for where God is leading us. December was a good month for Patrick, which was exciting. Hannah is always role playing these days, with her dolls or cooking or something. she even reads her bible to her dolls. charlie is now rolling front to back, and will get the other way pretty soon. I am, for the first time in my life, working out at the horrible hour of 6 am, as it seems to be the only way to get to it and still have time for anything else in my day. i've only done it for 2 wks now, but it does seem to jumpstart me into being a little more productive, which i've really needed. we are babysitting 3 different kids now, 2 toddlers and a baby, for a total of 15 or so hrs/wk. Charlie's so mellow i was getting bored! :-)

we are going through a time of faith testing as a family in regards to charlie, actually. we have had concerns about his hearing, and are in a period of waiting till Feb 16 when he have a second hearing test. long story short, he did poorly on a hearing test right before christmas, and the ENT said there was fluid on one of his ears, but not much infection. we were told he would need hearing aids for life, starting right now. we attempted to process this over christmas, as we prayed for God to heal. we went to a second ENT and decided to get tubes. during that surgery we found out his ears were actually severely infected, which was sort of a good thing because hopefully his hearing will improve when the infection clears up. It sounds simple, but we've been up and down and all over the place with different diagnoses, and what we think is or isn't wrong. we do think there's been a positive change in the last week since they put the tubes in. no matter what happens next, God has taught us alot and we've experienced His faithfulness through this. we'll keep you posted. i'll remind you closer to feb 16.

2009-12-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

before Thanksgiving, Hannah and I did alot of prep work together. the first of many, i hope!

this little guy is enjoying his tummy time more. he's so much more content that he isn't that motivated to go anywhere, like hannah was. he'll just sit in his swing forever or lay on a blanket not really moving. but he is holding his head up better.

helping decorate, of course.

yes, what you saw on the news was correct. we had snow last week. very strange. seeing as how this was charlie's first snowfall, i wanted to commemorate it.

salon a la daddy. i'm not sure why Hannah was getting star treatment, but they both seem to be having fun :-)

now don't laugh mom! we really have been having some cold days. below freezing, no. but cold to us. and we've had alot of outdoor activities. that i neglected to take pictures of. i know. i'm sorry. we had a great time at our sunday school christmas party on friday (sans kiddos). it's been just over a year that we've been here, and we really feel connected and at home now. then we went to the children's parade in downtown, like last year.

Hannah's been having a wonderful time with her advent presents from my mom, she opens one every sunday of advent so she can start learning now why we're celebrating. she knows quite a bit of the story now. I feel like i've made up my own little catechism, i seem to ask her the same questions each time we talk about it. like why did Jesus come? she asks me "why" all the time now. "why is charlie hungry" "why is it cold" why are you washing that" why why why!

she talks SO much. it still kind of baffles me, the things she says and how much she picks up and remembers. i was sorting through our winter gear and came across a few hats meghan let me borrow, a few years ago, i think :-). she picked up one and said, "this hat is so pretty. i look cute in it. this hat will keep me warm!"

patrick planned a special night for two people (hint: it wasn't the above two people), of watching White Christmas, drinking mulled cider he made and eating kettle corn. alas, who comes waltzing out of her bedroom but our wide awake little munchkin? so patrick let her stay up for a little while and participate. who knows, it may be her first memory :-)

You see our whole family in church together for a very special occasion: our baby dedication. baby and toddler, i guess. we did them together. we had a special baby dedication/children's baptism service sunday night, and i was holding back tears from start to finish. If i get that emotional when someone else's kid gets baptized, what am i going to do when it's my own?

I would say mine are the cutest ones, but those are my friends' babies up there too :-)

We keenly felt the absence of our families. Sometimes living so far away is harder than others.

He prayed a blessing over each child.

Our senior pastor is in green, and children's pastor in red. (for those of you who notice small details, i realize Charlie's bottom half doesn't match. he doesn't have black pants, sorry!)

As those of you who have been blessed with children know, words cannot begin to express what my babies mean to me. to us. (sorry patrick :-). I don't want to assume that everyone is familiar with the whole baby dedication thing, so i'll give you a rundown.

Patrick and I were both blessed to grow up in homes where we always attended church and the Bible was taught and we were encouraged to follow in our parents' footsteps. But when it came right down to it, the decision was ours to make. Our parents' influence over us was great, to be sure, but our backgrounds, our physical presence on Sundays, our own dedications when we were children, even having a pastor for a father, none of that remotely affects our personal relationships with God. We each had to make our own commitment, which we did as children. So the baby dedication wasn't deciding anything for Hannah or Charlie, it was more about us as parents. An opportunity for us to make a public covenant between us parents and God, primarily, and also with the church body and our extended family, who all play a role in our children's development. An opportunity for us to surrender our children to God, acknowledge them as His, and commit to raising them as such. It is our profound hope that they will follow in our footsteps and both decide to accept Jesus Christ as their own Saviour and Lord when they are old enough to understand that they need a Saviour. We are completely dependent on God's wisdom to raise them up in a way that honours Him, and hopefully prepare them to be used by Him to change the world and further the Kingdom.

Then after that time, we had a special celebratory family dinner at macaroni grill! and we did really miss our families. :-(

2009-11-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

so, we had a wonderful week, and now we're all alone again and much less skinny. not that we were skinny before, but you know what i mean! grandma jan almost didn't get to come, but we are so glad that she made it. she is looking wonderful, now all done with her radiation!

Hannah "helped" me decorate and set the table. i kept fighting back tears thinking of when she wouldn't come home for thanksgiving.

me and my precious baby girl, proud of the table

this is the closest we came to a group picture. i made half of the food ahead of time, and Gma Jan did the turkey, so the day wasn't even stressful. we had turkey, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, horseradish carrots, baked mac'n'cheese, and rolls. Then we had mulled cider, and Patrick made a pumpkin-pecan pie for dessert. I was somewhat nervous about hosting my first big holiday, my mom having set such high standards, but it turned out great i think. paper plates and all!

patrick and hannah digging in. really all she liked was macncheese and rolls.

charlie charmed everyone! nana got all kinds of smiles and laughs out of him.

daddy has big shoes to fill

we went to the dallas arboretum, and had a wonderful time. all kinds of pictures. it was such a gorgeous day, and my children were so sweet and beautiful.

a little blurry, but still one of my favourites

nana practiced silly smile/sweet smile with hannah, so she'd be ready for pictures

hannah and i have enjoyed playing in the leaves this fall. i love to see her face light up and hear her laugh, just enjoying life. i know this is cliche, but i will treasure those moments forever.

we are so thankful to God for our family. My children teach me so much, and I am blessed beyond what I could ever deserve to call my husband and children my own.

we're back!

2009-11-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

i'm just going to do basic captions here, and you all can fill in the blanks with the details of our lives. it's taken me too long just to upload these things! this is hannah and brody, who we babysit. they love playing together and i love watching them. i think they could be twins.

painting a pumpkin (with a sharpie. i guess you can't call that painting). she scribbled "hair" on one side, and patrick did the face.

our pumpkin family. patrick did everybody's faces, being the artistic one in the family. he did me a glamour shots one :-)

we are so in love with this boy. he is the absolute sweetest thing. he is so mellow, i worry about neglecting him. he does spend a significant amount of time in the snugli with me, so i guess he's ok. only waking up once at night! he loves interacting with you, and sometimes he just sits there and talks to himself. i could just eat him! he's started focusing on things really well, like his bunny or the rings i put on his carseat. he is the baby everybody wants and i didn't think existed.

now this is true love, for hannah to give charlie her babou. on R, you can see how she's dying to have someone to play with! i think it'll be a few years, though.

i know it looks like he lives in the swing, but i can't very well take pictures of him when i'm holding him, so this is the only time i do it. and i'm the only one who does it :-)

so we went to our church's fall festival, which was a big outing for me by myself with them. she was too scared to do any of the little bounce house things, and i wouldn't let her eat the candy, so it was kind of pointless to go. but she did, however, have a blast taking these ducks in and out of the baby pool. not sure what the game was supposed to be, but i have to confess i was somewhat worried about her intelligence as i watched her do that over and over again. good thing i know she's a genius ;-)

yes, this is the same strawberry from last year. and charlie spent the whole time in the snugli, so nobody saw how cute he was. my niece kennedy went through this smile stage that Hannah is in now. when you tell her to smile for pictures, it's kind of scary!

we went to a huge airshow a few weeks ago that had, among many other things, that blue angels. i would never have believed it if i hadn't seen it myself. unbelievable what these guys do. crazy, in my opinion. Hannah loved it until she got too tired.

F 18s are loud! I hadn't even thought about ear protection, never having been to an airshow before. I was so worried about their ears, but they seem to be doing ok since.

the scary smile again. and thanks grandma jan, for the stickers!

good lookin' boy, all ready for church!!! (then he peed through his snazzy outfit and i put him back in pjs :-).

so there are good things and bad things about hannah being potty trained. she can go by herself but you never know what you're going to find. later in the day patrick yelled that she'd done it all again. i was confused how she'd done that when i'd never put it back. then i had to tell patrick that actually i just never cleaned it up. i guess i'm out of the running for america's next top homemaker :-). i never did, either. it stayed in a big pile until it was gone. those kind of things are just not priorities right now!

he's such a big boy. here he's smiling at daddy. i do think they look alike.

so we went to beavers bend state park in broken bow, oklahoma this weekend. stayed in a beautiful cabin with a porch swing. we had a great time mostly, except i woke up with a horrific case of pink eye on saturday. oh, i was so angry at the timing. i was hoping i could wait, but by saturday afternoon i was begging patrick to take me to the doctor. it was 30 min away, and meant we had to waste our precious time there and miss our scheduled hayride. but it was terrible. i never thought pinkeye was that bad, but i wanted to claw it out. it swelled nearly shut. and i was trying to hike, with charlie in the snugli. i was actually in tears it hurt so bad. i looked like a bad halloween leftover. the antibiotics kicked in about 12 hrs after i started, and it's definitely improved. I remember how many kids had conjunctivitis in senegal, and now i want to send over cases of medicine. we take so much for granted, that we just run to the doctor, pick up our prescription, and get better within a few days. most of the world just suffers through it.

the folk festival and craft show was this weekend, which was really neat. i love that kind of thing! they had all kind of period demonstrations (candles, soap, woodworking, etc), all kinds of different musical groups, food of course. and a petting zoo. we've been reading "is your mama a llama?", and then hannah got to see one.

yes, she's trying to smile.

sometimes i get so frustrated with her 2yr old ness that i don't notice her cuteness that also comes from being two. she loved these bears, and was standing in front of them saying "daddy bear, baby bear." i wasn't really paying attention until i heard someone else saying something to her about how sweet she was. and she is. she really is. we just have to remind ourselves sometimes!

he's such an albino. i guess that's what happens when you spend the summer months in utero :-)

it is so beautiful there. we would often just stop and look around, or listen to the water.

i felt so bad for making us miss the hayride, but we caught a trainride the next day. i love this picture. i think she had a fun weekend. patrick mentioned that she's going to start remembering things now. that's scary and exciting at the same time.

patrick went fishing once by himself, and then we all went together. mellowman just hung out in his carseat for a while by himself, and i tried unsuccessfully to keep hannah out of the water. she was having a blast, getting dirty and finding bugs.

i want to print out this picture and put it on patrick's desk so he can look at it when he gets really stressed!

so we survived our first time away with both of them. hannah slept in a big bed, and she did fine except waking up super super early. like 6. not cool. especially on vacation! charlie slept in a little travel bed and did great. he always does great :-)

peace and privacy. it was wonderful (other than the eye thing) and too short. next time we want to stay a whole week. and not be on a diet!

2009-10-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

so it seems as if all i do is clean up messes. make food, clean up from food, do laundry, change diapers, and clean up messes. regular messes like the kitchen, and none regular messes like the ones that miraculously follow 2yr olds around constantly. like the entire tube of toothpaste squeezed out on the bathroom counter. (we've since invested in doorknob covers).

as high maintenance as she is, she is also very helpful. seriously. two of her newest "chores": she goes to get her's and charlie's hampers when we do laundry, and puts them back; she unloads the dishwasher silverware drawer. doesn't have the sizes down yet, but that'll come.

he doesn't actually look that small, does he?

we were making muffins and i don't know where she got this, but she kept calling this bag muffin seeds. it isn't even a mix, i don't know why she said that. but technically it's true, i guess.

he still spends the night in our room, but sometimes he naps in his crib. it's crazy to think that soon he'll take up almost all of it.

as soon as he has a bedtime (instead of the 11 oclock one he has now!), i'll move him to his bed.

look at that belly! he hasn't that many baths so far, but i think he likes it. hannah, of course, loves to help. last time she dumped a whole bowl of water on his face because that's how i rinse out her hair.

it was cuter in real life :-)

family snuggle time

she crawled under when patrick was putting the crib together. then it really got me thinking. . .

i don't know why it's so yellow. if anyone knows, please tell me. anyways, sometime hannah puts on a cape (apron) and does her supper hannah impersonation.

the other day i turned around and she had everything she needed for poopy elmo. even a pad for the floor, and a plastic bag for elmo. it is cute, but everytime i turn around she's pulling everything out. there doesn't seem to be anywhere out of her reach!

so right before this i was saying to patrick, i think he's due for a poopy diaper. yes, we do alot of laundry.

this is how hannah plays golf, apparently. swinging both clubs in circles over her head. it's amazing charlie's lasted 6 wks here.

hannah had a great time with aunty lar while she was here. we also had dad and bunny come visit, but didn't get pictures! a belated sincere thank you to all our family who came to help. i don't know what we would have done without you!

Charlie and Daddy working on the plumbing. their first project together :-). (we had some serious garbage disposal problems. it looked like this for a few days.)

one of our favourite parks has a huge globe fountain thing. everybody plays in it. a few weeks ago we went, and i figured it'd be easier to strip her down to her skivvies. she had a blast. i guess next year i won't be able to do that anymore. she's getting so big!

so it looks like she's doing the chicken dance. not sure what that's about!

i thought this train david made was worth a shout out.

i hope they continue to bond as he gets older

no matter what you say to hannah about her (you're so cute, you're a stinker, you whatever) she says, no mommy, i'm hannah grace crisp. the grace crisp has a little bit of a lisp to it, it's so cute. i have to get it on video before she'll grow out of it.

this is pretty old, but it's still a family picture.

this is what normally happens.

So we've had a rough 10 days or so because everyone's been sick. In order of severity: patrick, hannah, charlie, and myself. we're mostly better now, just leftover coughing and runny noses. i wanted to let my faithful readers, all 3 of you, know that i'm going to be taking a blogging break for a while. i might put some random pictures up, but i am struggling a bit with having, or taking, the time i need to pay attention to my children. wholeheartedly, not just looking over my shoulder and saying oh that's nice. we have a 2 day family honeymoon Nov 15-16. I promise i'll have a regular update after that. but i'm not pursuing much else for the next month or so, like social or babysitting opportunities. i know some people can do everything, but i am not one of those people. i hope you understand, and when we come back, everybody will be the better for it. don't worry, i'm sure they won't change that much in 4 wks :-)

2009-10-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

contrary to my regular nature, i refuse to make apologies for taking so long to update. it is what it is, and we're doing our best! we had company for 5 wks, and no, i was not too long, in my opinion :-). i appreciated every minute of help. the only thing I was ready to get back was more time with my sweet Hannah. she kind of pushed everybody else around, and we needed to get her butt back in gear. actually, I was missing the relationship. recently, all i'd been was The Enforcer, swooping in when I hear her little attitude from the other room, disrespecting a surprised family member :-). Now that's balanced with good close times again.

above: i love chocolate cake. (it's all about the icing, btw). patrick got me a gourmet Williams Sonoma cake mix, icing, and raspberry filling as part of my gift basket, and we made it together. i must say it was spectacular. alas, i am now back to my prepregnancy routine of less cake, more excersize.

(some of) the grand'rents with the kiddos

she has been doing amazingly well with her new little bro. aside from some rough hugs. no jealousy or acting out at all. she just likes to help all the time. this is a strange 2yr old. the other day she replaced the toilet paper. not on the dispenser, but she got a new roll from under the cabinet and set it up there. and when she took her breakfast bowl to the sink, she took mine too, without being asked. i know adults that don't do that :-). and she's so appreciative. I changed her sheets, and she noticed when she got in bed and said, "thank you for changing my sheets mommy!" we finally put the crib in what has been a well-used guest room, and all my fears about her missing her crib were unfounded. she is so excited to share her baby bed with charlie. even though he's still in our room. i'd like to get him down to only waking up twice in the middle of the night before i move him away. at 2 am, it feels like a long trek down the hall.

feeding the fish at the park.

i have no caption; she leaves me speechless :-)

yes, i have 2 children. still getting used to saying that.

never have i met a more helpful child. at least, she wants to be! it's often difficult to find a way in which she can help, especially if you're using knives or the stove. but apparently shucking corn was right up her alley. getting to pull things apart!

finally, a full frontal hug! no more of this awkward side hug business. the relief of no more watermelon belly.

yep. it's football season. not much else i have to say about that :-). perhaps i'd have more if our team weren't doing so poorly. but we're loyal nonetheless. patrick got to go the panthers-cowboys game last monday, in the new cowboys stadium, with my dad.

i don't know what you guys, think, but 100% of the people who comment on charlie say he looks like patrick, just like hannah did. or does she still?

The End!

ps. since you may be wondering, yes, charlie's doing well. we're all doing good, just tired. he's so much more mellow than hannah i think they have to be different species. I used to wonder if it was just me that thought she was so difficult, but now i know she really was a super difficult baby. thank the Lord, Charlie is not. He doesn't like to be put down awake, but he wears down really well. almost the second i stick him in the carrier, he's out. i still need to wake him up to eat, in the day. in his second month i hope he'll have more awake time during the day. and maybe sart eating faster.

random pictures

2009-09-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

chillin in the bassinet

skin to skin

almost a smile

uh, daddy, you're squishing my face

after the bath

he was starting to smell :-)

i'm so cute you can't even be mad when i wake up every 2 hrs!

doing prints for his babybook

he was pretty mellow the whole time

his first ever piece of mail: SS card, so he's an official person!

he seems to be hungry all the time. whenever i kiss him on the cheek, i guess he thinks he's going to eat because he turns his mouth to me and ends up giving me a kiss back. a very open mouth kiss!

hannah loves the pouty face/happy face game. she pouts, then someone says "happy face" and she breaks out this big silly smile and laughs. patrick is trying to teach charlie pouty face.

yes, i have two children. it doesn't really feel as big of a deal as i thought it would when i was younger. kind of seems matter of fact.

so thankful for the grandparents to be here for hannah!

i may have put this picture up before, don't remember. but i like it.

meet my newest baby

2009-09-13T18:50:00.000-07:00

I've only known him for a few days, so I don't know him very well yet. but what i do know, i wanted to share with you all!

he's the cutest baby in the world
he has very kissable cheeks
he loves having his hands up by his face (he even came out that way, actually, one hand at his face. yeah, that was fun :-)
he often tries to suck on his hands, but can't quite manage to co ordinate with his thumb.
he periodically makes squeaky noises
he likes to be held upright better than horizontal
he has very dark eyes, and his dark hair is finally drying out
he has tiny little scrawny legs that look disproportionate to the rest of his body
he has big, although skinny, hands and feet
he has no hiney so his diaper always fall down and he wets through everything
he has a big sister that loves him and is very concerned about him and wants to help all the time.
he likes his baby papasan chair better than his bassinet. and mommy's bed most of all.
he has a few hours of fussy time in the evenings
he takes forever to eat (hopefully this will get better after the surgery)
his whole body kind of molted in the last few days
the boy can cry if you don't get to him fast enough!
he is going to change the world

2009-09-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

i'm sorry we haven't been taking pictures, so we don't have much to post. we are having the surgery monday morning, we have to be there at 5.30. am. Two hours before and probably two hours after, for a procedure that will take under ten minutes!

Even once we get that fixed, i'm 95% sure our nursing situation isn't going to be any better with him than it was with Hannah. But no one can tell me I haven't tried this time. It is still hard, but I can look at Hannah and know there is so much more to my being a good mother than being able to nurse. And I have 2 beautiful children to worry about right now, not just one. So, that's the word. On an extra special note, it cooled off enough in TX for us to open our windows tonight!

2009-09-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

I want to be honest and positive at the same time. might be difficult! We have discovered that Charlie is severely tongue tied, which we've been told requires surgery. With general anesthesia. and unfortunately, this may take 2-3 wks to get done. I redoubled my nursing efforts this time around, being more prepared and trying more purposefully. We were going to make progress, I think. But my issues, combined with his issues, let's just say things are not going well. I know everything will work out, and we are just so blessed and grateful to have him and for him to be so perfect and healthy. But this does mean an awful lot to me and we have tried so very hard this time. We will see what happens tomorrow. Not sleeping very much. Me, not him!

My 2 good lookin boys! He doesn't have many awake-not-fussing times, so this was special.

Mom was mostly housekeeper and Hannahkeeper, so she didn't hold Charlie much. I'm surprised I got this picture!

He's been kind of yellow, so I've taken him outside some. I've missed being able to play with my little girl, but thankfully someone else has blown bubbles and drawn chalk pictures with her.

yes, we had our first outing. but now i'm back to hibernating, other than doctors appointments.

He slept through the entire breakfast, which was wonderful!

I am so thankful for Patrick's relationship with Hannah. They are so close.

My family! It makes me cry. (then again, EVERYTHING makes me cry right now :-)

somehow my mom managed to sew Hannah her own apron while she was here. It's a little big, so lots of room to grow. and the other side is a Christmas one. so she'll be all ready to help me.

We haven't taken a third of the pictures we did with Hannah, but here's at least one for the book.

He likes to flop his arms around, and take up lots of space.

At my shower, people wrote things on diapers. This was my favourite.

This was his first few hours of birth. I never wanted Hannah to be an only child, but I never knew exactly how much joy I would feel watching my children together.

The best seat in the house!

she LOVES to hold him. tries to do it herself all the time, actually. so far, no accidents :-)

she wanted to give Charlie stickers, which are some of her favourite things.

Patrick gave me this amazing gift basket he put together himself, that really showed that he knew me. I was so impressed. and believe it or not, i cried :-) He even picked out the ribbon for the bow himself.

My mom remembered Hannah might feel left out, so she had something to open to.

This was the very first day too. When he had to wear a hat, Hannah wanted a hat too. My mom had just gotten her this really cute one for fall, so we pulled it out so they could match.

The crisps weren't coming till monday, but we begged and pleaded, so Des came early! Unless I were to throw Cheerios at Hannah and keep her strapped into a chair in front of the tv, there's no way i could do both right now. So I am incredibly grateful. David will come Monday. Patrick is back at work, unfortunately. But at least it's mostly from home, so i'm not complaining. We'll talk to you all later. thanks for checking.

2009-09-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

2009-09-03T02:39:00.001-07:00

so, i figured i could take our ticker tape down since I'm typing this while I'm finally IN LABOUR! already really different from last time. seeing as how it started at 2.30 this morning, Kari was the only person i told right away. perhaps the only occasion that time difference comes in handy. letting patrick and mom sleep. somebody will take hannah to her friend's house when she wakes up. unless we're done by then. but i doubt it! thanks for your prayers. They mean so very much to me, knowing that my friends and family are supporting and encouraging us from near and far. we love you, and will keep you posted.

no, not yet

2009-09-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

so yes, here we are. i saw this picture and wondered if i had accidentally stretched out the picture. but no, that's the real thing! but every day is one day closer, right? has to be!!!!

thankfully i've been moderately busy, doing things like organizing his room. after this picture, i even found a few more bags of clothes in other closets!

so, today Hannah climbed out of her crib. Finally, we didn't find something out by accident! so we decided to move her to the big girl bed that's been sitting in the garage. I know, alot of transition. might as well get it over with, right? on the left is all the friends she wanted to take to her new bed with her.

she had a great time playing in it for awhile, which i hope she got out of her system before bed tonight.

and the big moment: first night in the big girl bed. so far it's going well! i think naptime will be more difficult.

helping grandma push the stroller to the park. me attempting to play with her on the ground!

she has also taken to climbing up on the bathroom counter, all by herself. not really thrilled about that one.

playing playdough with daddy.

enjoying grilled corn. she finished off everybody else's after they were done.

so, ever since my mom got here, i've heard hannah calling someone other than me constantly. it's kind of nice! the left is dress up, the right is a coat my mom made. i can't wait for cooler weather!

right: she learned how to "cheers" with her cup, and likes to do it again. and again. and again.

so, the potty training is going really well. we haven't tackled naps or nighttime yet, but the days are great. we haven't had an accident since last week. such a big girl :-( it's a good thing i'm having another baby. or at least that's what they tell me. I don't have a whole lot to say right now, we are definitely distracted. so, we'll let you know whenever we have news!

potty training and preparing for charlie

2009-08-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

so i have many reasons for not being superblogger these days, computer problems and potty training being at the top of the list. definitely not lack of time, because here i am again on the computer at 12.30, trying to put myself to sleep! i remember last time, i was awake all night but then i slept in till nine and had nothing to do all day. now, my beautiful precious terrible two year old changes things a bit.

she is such a big girl, she always wants to participate. "i want go with my mommy!" "I want help my mommy!" "please see mommy, please see!" all. the. time. she is quite proficient at pulling a chair over to the counter so she can see everything i'm doing. i figure if i have the patience for it for the next few years, by 6 or 7 she could be quite helpful! we've worked on colours when I sort the laundry, and this time she helped me put things on the drying rack. she had sock detail, and she got every one on there, i was so proud of her. normally she'll do one, get bored, and pull all the rest off. i didn't fix any before taking the picture, she actually hung them properly herself. i was very impressed!

her first time eating a popsicle. it was hilarious, and i wish we had it on video. she had a really hard time holding on to the stick, so she kept using two hands, or even leaving it on the tray and bringing her head down to it. apparently even the sweetness wasn't enough to motivate her, because she gave up very quickly!

she was much more committed to eating the onion. yes, the onion. we were cutting up toppings for taco baked potatoes. well, i was cutting, she was putting in bowls. and she just picked up the onion and started eating it. actually taking bites. top R was taken as she was chewing it. apparently it was that enjoyable. strange child!

oh, potty training. just those two words now make me want to collapse in the floor in a heap of fatigue, physical and emotional. i had no idea it was this hard! i dont' think it has to be. my daughter is simply the headstrong product of two headstrong people. she is fully capable of controlling herself and not having accidents. she simply does not want to use the potty. the first time, when we took the picture up top, was such a fluke. nevertheless, it motivated me. better now than after the baby, right? and do you know what the diaper bill is for two children? even generic. wow. so, i said, she's smart, she's highly verbal, she always wants to use the potty and i've been telling her later later later. today's the day! or the 3 days, which is supposed to be how long it takes with this intensive method. 3 days of caging you and your child up in a tiled area next to the evil potty, doing nothing but staring at her waiting for her to go, then putting her on the potty. except my child will stop midstream because she is so stubborn. she will hold it for 2 hrs, and keep telling me i have to pee pee mommy. i say ok, let's sit on the potty. no, I don't want to! (there is no way i can convey the depth of sassy attitude that goes along with that sentence. it makes me quiver in my boots about teen years). so she holds it until she absolutely can't anymore. when i put her on the potty, she kicks and arches her back and cries. screeches hysterically, actually. (and yes, patrick is working from home. sounds great to potential customers, over the phone!) and then there's the 9 3/4 mos pregnant, sitting hours on end on a tile floor. except when i'm on my hands and knees mopping the floor. or trying to squish my watermelon belly close enough to the sink to rinse out elmo or cinderella underwear. patrick came out a few times today to find hannah and i crying hysterically, surrounded by puddles on all sides. it has nothing to do with her not being ready, i think it's just a battle of wills. i will end this potty narrative by saying it got a little better this afternoon. so, pray for us tomorrow. or today, since it's almost 1 am.

so, we've had charlie's bassinet ready in our room for awhile, stocked with diapers and pjs and what not. hannah knows she isn't supposed to be in it, but since when does that matter, right? very short term memory. this last time she got into the diapers she wanted to put on one elmo. i almost got frustrated with her again, then i thought, i want her to associate positive thoughts with all things charlie, so i let her have a diaper and we practiced putting it on elmo. she loves it! takes it off often, and then i have to put it back on, but later when i'm changing charlie she can change elmo. maybe?

we are all ready for the birth, except our midwife is out of town this weekend. (in kenora, actually, the very small town in northern ontario where my mom lives. talk about a small world.)

anyways, what we do to get ready is a little different from how hospital birth parents prepare, so i wanted to have pictures of our birth supplies and what not. but i didn't get around to it: clean towels, washcloths, sheets, crockpot, a syringe to clean out his mouth/nose, shower curtain for the bed, thermometer, propel for me to drink, hydrogen peroxide. we supply those kinds of things, and sorani, the midwife, brings all the medical things, like the fetal monitor (she even has one for underwater), oxygen, fetal rescuscitation stuff, equipment for doing the cord and suturing, if need be, drugs for excessive bleeding (those are the only drugs she brings).

then it's pretty easy: she supplies the necessary direction, patrick provides the emotional/physical support, and i provide the baby.

the other side of preparing i've done is for the nursing problem thing, which also probably isn't familiar to most people. but this time around we are much more prepared, and will hopefully get in to the swing of things much more easily as a result. I ordered the supplies i needed for my lactaid supplementers (i got 4 this time, so i won't have to wash it out every 2 hrs), some drugs that are supposed to help, some of the supplements i had last time, and also a hospital grade pump and a scale, so i can keep track of his weight every day. we also have accumulated a small stash of donor milk in the freezer, and i'm praying for more! i wont' talk about that much more, but if anyone has questions, criticisms, ideas, encouragement, or anything, please let me know. many people have helped me, and i'm sure there's someone out there who is in the same situation or similar. or just if you're curious. janacrisp@yahoo.com

one more thing, to put anybody's mind to rest:

we will NOT be putting up a detailed birth story. so you dont' have to be afraid to check the blog, over the next few weeks. or get your wife to screen for you :-). you can expect to hear when we go into labour, and when he's born. that's about it. i'm not really into personal details. again if you're curious or whatever, or just one of those crazy people who love birth :-), let me know and i will be happy to share with you. but not here. and in case you don't know me personally, also be reassured that there will be no personal pictures. much less a video :-) just the thought makes me cringe!

How much is enough?

2009-08-13T21:20:00.001-07:00

So tonight, as usual, found me unable to fall asleep, so I got up again, thought i'd check my email before I read to make myself fall asleep. I noticed a post on here from a girl I know (my old roommate's sister in law :-), and that reminded me to check on how they're doing. Her name is Kate, and she works for an organization called World Orphans. She has the unique blessing/curse of living in both worlds: physically being here in America most of the time, but often travelling and probably always being mentally, emotionally, and spiritually occupied in many other places. Places that some of us can't imagine, and others of us are very aware of just tend not to think about most of the time. I heard very little about their personal life as I read her blog, but I was reminded about that something else: the rest of the world.

Many of you know I had a really hard time leaving Senegal and "re-entering", as they call it, life here. (Patrick bore the brunt of this transition.) $4 coffees? How many clothes? How important is that car? How many church "programs" and how few people actually being baptized? How many ice cream socials or ladies brunches and how few unchurched people actually being reached? Yes, I came across as judgemental, I'm sure. It's been almost 4 yrs, believe it or not, since I've been "home." And my "perspective" has changed again. But I am still very torn. We don't have much money, so we don't spend much money. New clothes, eating out, entertainment, such things are very rare. But nor am I as consumed as I once was. Every one of us who calls himself a Christian fights this battle. Where is the line, if you will? I'm pretty sure Jesus never said there was a line, it was an all or nothing deal with Him. You're either in the world or part of the Kingdom. Light and darkness. Selfish or selfless.

So, do we all just live in 2 bedroom apartments, take the bus, have 4 outfits and eat beans and rice? I can't imagine how that lifestyle would make everybody else feel? Like I said, Kate works with orphans. I am about to have my second baby. He won't be lavished with material possessions compared to most of his 'colleagues' in the church nursery. Nearly all of his clothes will be used, and those new will have been bought on clearance. But he already has way more clothes than he needs. He already has 3 or 4 teddy bears waiting for him. He already has a variety of baby equipment to make his, or my, life easier. Are those things wrong? No, I don't think so. Just like the occasional special night out with my husband isn't wrong, or family vacation, or $4 coffee. But then again, what did Jesus mean? How much money is ok to spend on yourself? If we support one orphan, or two orphans, or three orphans, then does that balance things out? Or if we give money, then are we exempt from going ourselves, or spending serious time in prayer for the rest of the world? Or if we live more simply than those around us, so we can afford to give more to those far away, is that ok? We are, after all, Americans. $4 coffee is simply what we do, right?

Again, where is the line? And why do we define our involvement by how much money we give? Our churches have a missions program because it's a line item on the budget. We send off a shoebox or two every Christmas. We even support a child through Compassion or a native missionary through GFA. But where are our hearts? Where is my heart? To be honest, I am usually much more concerned about keeping carcinogens away from my daughter than I am about the millions of children starving to death (without the hope of eternity). I believe wholeheartedly that right now my primary mission field is my children, and my primary ministry is simply supporting my husband and being the strength behind my family as they grow. But where does everything else fit in? I don't know. I want to be poured out as an offering, not just for my children but for children who have no mother. I want Patrick to be my leader and provider, but what about those who have no leader and provider? Is there enough of him and me to go around? How far does our responsibility go? To the least of these?

I never would have survived in America had I not become somewhat more comfortable with life here. But does God really want us to be comfortable? Or are we supposed to be uncomfortable when what is around us doesn't necessarily reflect God's nature and priorities? I remember that movie about that guy who was fighting slavery in England. Amazing Grace, or something. He said he had nightmares, hearing the slaves, and picturing them. He was unable to live in regular society because he was so burdened for those slaves. I have often wondered why we aren't so affected by the less comfortable, physically and/or spiritually, around us. Myself included. Why can I put it out of my mind? Is it because the task is too great? My bank account is too small? My husband/children need me so much? I don't have enough time right now? If I can't actually be there full time, than I can't do anything that counts anyways? What if we substituted, say, half our Bible study or fellowship times for service opportunities or ministering to others?

How much is God really asking of us? I dont' pretend to know in specifics, for me or especially for anybody else. But I do think it's more than being in church, giving our exact percentage for tithe and an occasional special offering, or even teaching sunday school. Or even having this amazing strong relationship with God myself. What did He mean when He said to live is Christ and to die is gain? To put ourself last? To not store up treasures on earth? To seek first the kingdom of God? Again, I don't have the answers. But I think God will lead us if we at least ask the questions. Thanks, Kate, for reminding me.
http://untiltheyallhavehomes.blogspot.com/

2009-08-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

so even though there are babies all over the place at my church, and this is my second, some of my friends gave me a baby shower. it was so sweet because we have been somewhat distracted by potential changes in the work situation and that these days and honestly haven't really focused on the baby much.

i almost didn't put this picture up because it's so obvious how huge i am. (height, not necessarily belly. that's huge too, you just can't tell) whoever said being tall was a good thing has never stood out so much from everybody around them! but anyways, these are my fellow pregnant people, in order of due dates. and each of the women not in this picture has a baby under a year. so i'm in good company.

hannah enjoying helping me.

hannah and her little friend andrew, keeping themselves occupied. andrew is my friend kim's son, and she is having her baby a day after my due date. busy busy!

she didn't even ask for any cake or chocolate fondue. just sat and ate her tortilla chips.

the two ladies who hosted my shower. chandra (L), has a 6 mos old, and she is going to come over and help with Hannah during the birth. Camille has twin boys, and she's having a little girl this fall.

we enjoyed a special last date before the baby comes.

hannah and i have both not been sleeping well, and the other day she woke up before seven. since i was already awake, we left the house so patrick could sleep. we walked to starbucks, and i packed ernest hemingway for me and strawberry shortcake for her. which do you think got more attention? there was a woman there who stayed for quite a while reading the latest jodi picoult book, who happens to be one of my favourite authors. i had a moment of envy, then looked back at my daughter and realized how precious this time is.

playing outside. she loves to roleplay that she's leaving. she'll get a bag, her toy phone, even keys if she can get ahold of them, then come and say, bye, have a good day, i'm leaving. then she'll come back and say, I'm back, or something. it's especially fun with her car, of course.

bonding with our friends. Hananh calls the older brother Bubba, because the other ones do. I think it's pretty cute!

this, on the other hand, was not cute. it came in a bag of donated stuff, and i showed it to patrick as a joke, and hannah decided she liked it. honestly, she wouldn't let me take it off all day. she doesn't even know who sponge bob is, i have no idea why she liked it. and even her hair looks like a mullet here!

so i wanted to get some good pictures at the sprinkler park, but the kids didn't co operate. we really like going to the sprinkler park, it makes being outside more bearable!

the other day i was trying to make muffins and Hannah was driving me crazy, so i stopped trying to distract her and instead asked her to participate. that made things take twice as long and twice as messy, but i think we both had fun.

my mom got Hannah this puzzle for her birthday, and the 3 of us put it together the other day. after i got them to stop fighting over it!

She also got this adorable little case from Jeana, Patrick's aunt. She loves putting things in it and carrying them around!

Am I allowed to start complaining now about being uncomfortable? because I am definitely uncomfortable! I guess it's a good thing we have company 4 days/wk, because it'll help keep me distracted. I'm dfinitely in a zone where it's hard to get motivated or excited about anything, all I want to do is have this baby. so, join me in praying for early!

home again

2009-07-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

so we're back in tx, with a random assortment of pictures in no particular order, as usual!
hannah had her first happy meal. She liked the french fries and apparently shared my opinion of the chicken nuggets. inedible :-). she got a stuffed ronald mcdonald as her toy, which for some strange reason she calls farmer and loves dearly. just to defend myself, we did pack some food, but we ate it for lunch, and on the plane, so by the time we got to supper, we had to make do.

did i mention it was far away? :-) there are only 4 houses that share this road, so technically they live in a gated community :-)

my mom made mosaic tile plates with the kids to put in a path, and they're going to do one every year they're there.

there was alot of rain, which meant alot of playing inside. it got kind of loud :-)

this is the floating dock, which they take in every winter and put out again in the summer. patrick put it out while he was there. this is the coldest summer they've had in 100 yrs.
how special.

this is my favourite picture. it is so hard to get good pictures, because all the adults are normally busy and the kids don't look at the camera. so this my prize!

grandma had waaaay better playdough toys than we do!

this is where hannah, and the others, spent the majority of their time. we are lucky to have a beach, as most of the shoreline is simply rock and trees. the water was very cold, but she didn't seem to mind sitting in it.

right when this was taken, Hannah had looked up and said, mommy, you holding baby emerson? I said yes, baby. Then she's quiet for a second and says, with much excitement, I'm going to be a big sister! I was surprised she seems to be making the connection of another baby.

getting in a little relaxing

so, i looked at pictures and realized i am in fact very pregnant. in case anyone was wondering. :-) this is a spot we've gone "cliff jumping" in the past. we tried it with everybody, but needless to say it was difficult for myself and the kids to climb up. patrick had fun, i hope. i just stayed in the water.

my mom entertained the kids with a boat picnic while meghan and i swam and patrick jumped. ok, i wasn't actually swimming, i was sitting on a life jacket in the water. something about my lungs not working that well. . .

my surfer girl. those water shoes kept many a bloodsucker from attacking her!

patrick drove the boat for tubing. i tried to go with hannah, but it was actually quite difficult to balance us, what with my belly and then her. we gave up. maybe next year!

it's amazing how long she can be entertained by transferring sand, water, or rocks from one place/container to another!

we tried fishing, but not so much luck. we did, however, eat some out of the freezer that did come from the lake, and it was wonderful!

these were the only pictures i got of mom and bob with hannah.

mom and i took the kids on a canoeing trip, which was also more difficult than i expected. hannah was a little nervous, and she insisted on standing right in between my legs, so between her and the belly i couldn't paddle well. but it was fun nonetheless. there are all kinds of little coves and tributaries to visit. we went on sooooo many canoe rides when i was younger. good memories!

nothin like fitting a hoodie under a life jacket! only in canada. or the north in general.

eating cantaloupe. realizing cantaloupe is now very "bubbly" due to slimy bubbly fingers.

there were 6 people there with birthdays within a few weeks, so we had a joint cake. yes, hannah got some.

understanding this falls under the world's scariest picture of me, just bypass that. this was hannah opening a birthday present from grandma, a really neat alphabet train puzzle.

bob's a carpenter, among many other things, and he made this beautiful little bear potty that the kids love. if we had one like this at home, she'd be toilet trained in a day, she likes sitting on it so much!

i'm sorry to say we didn't get a single extended family, crisp family, or even jana/patrick picture. i promise we were all there together! patrick went on to osh kosh, wisconsin, and hannah and i came back by ourselves. 16 hrs door to door, and it even went really until until the last 1.5 hrs. she was exceptionally good in the car, and by the time we landed in dallas that night, i would have been screaming too except i'm not allowed, being an adult. i didn't even go into labour carrying my 28 lb child, large diaper bag, her backpack, my 49 lb suitcase and the carseat strapped on. don't tell patrick, but i couldn't justify $4 on a luggage cart!

we had an appointment today, and charlie's measuring 35 1/2 centimeters, which just happens to be exactly how far along i am. they are coming for the home visit next week, and we are writing our birth plan, whatever that means! now that i'm almost 36 wks, he can come anytime, because we can stay home. (before that time, they would have me go to the hospital). so, all that to say, it's more a reality now. we're actually going to be having another baby!

note to future parents

2009-07-20T20:44:00.001-07:00

I would definitely not advise waiting too long before you get pregnant with your second child. chances are, you'll change your mind. If it hadn't been decided 8 mos ago, i'm not so sure i'd be trying to do this right now. and people with little babies, when other people tell you to enjoy the time now when they're easy, believe them! this toddler thing is a whole 'nother ball game.

2009-07-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

perhaps a unique way to start out my post, but we try to share an honest look at real life, right? this is what we do with our weekends :-). even though we're renting, we try to take care of the things we can do on our own. i thought a simple faucet change would be just that, simple. oh my. i think it took 5 hrs for this project, start to finish. (there were 3 trips to the store in there, too). but now, we have a non-leaking faucet. thanks, babe!

so hardly the most flattering picture of my angelic daughter, but it was a serious face for a serious moment. not really, but patrick and i think so. this was her first bday card this year; she's turning two. TWO! i know. we aren't sure how we let this happen. patrick's put his foot down: no more birthdays! this is scandalous. somebody stole our precious baby and replaced them with this full grown child. (thank you, Grandma Loretta and Grandpa Alvin for the card. she loves carrying it around :-)

Pop Pop and Nana (David and Des) sent a picture with their card, which I thought was really neat. Hannah enjoyed looking at it. And this card had stickers in it. always a hit! she was exerting all her energy trying to get them off!

for some reason i think hannah looks french in this picture. brooke is trying to teach hannah how to play dress up.

and on the other hand, Gavin is teaching Hannah boy toys. Since we dont' have any cars, he brough this own this week, and she loved it. maybe i should get her some.

it's not often a man gets to bring flowers to his wife and his girlfriend together, and everyone be happy :-). just for the record, i didn't notice she wasn't wearing any pants when this was taken, i'm sorry. she just likes to take them off :-)

so, joining the multiple kid club brings alot of changes. I agonized over this double stroller decision for a few weeks. driving patrick and meghan crazy, i know! in the end, we settled on the ever popular graco duo glide. gavin helped us break it in at the mall, and i thought it handled really well, even with a 2 and 3 yr old in it. it is hard to get charlie's carseat in and out without hanging him almost upside down. but they say second babies sleep through that kind of thing, right? anyways, i have to say i felt a little proud of myself at the mall. until everyone starts screaming and climbing out and stealing things off the shelves and all kinds of things. then we just leave. quickly :-).

we can handle up to 100, but recently it's been over that. sometimes we go to the playplace in the mall instead of the park. aren't you impressed by my calm peaceful children?

yeah, i didn't fall for it either! don't worry. the floors are padded in this place.

she was just so still, laying on the floor, i thought i'd get a picture where she's really looking at the camera for once!

Hannah getting up close and personal with the charlie belly. it really is difficult for her to sit on my lap. she has to arch her back, or go sideways. it's wierd to think that she'll be sharing it from now on. sometimes makes me sad. is that a bad thing?

we participated in the library's summer reading program, which i hope is the first time of many. it's so easy at this stage, then the books are 10 or so pages long! we got all kinds of neat coupons, like free tickets to soccer games, the circus, bowling, a month of karate lessons, free book from barnes and nobles, and of course lots of food coupons. we love those! i'm not quite sure why i liked to read so much when i was younger, but i hope my kids enjoy reading as well.

so the other day i made cookies with the older kids (almost 8, almost 5)

while the younger kids cooked up their own special recipe. i keep the same bag of dried beans for just such occasions. i poured it into two bowls and gave them each wooden spoons and measuring cups. it took all of 3 minutes for this to happen. hannah would have been looking, but she was busy digging beans out of her feet.

this is it, ladies and gentlemen! we're ready to go. possibility of inclement weather notwithstanding, we are heading to canada! this is the last opportunity to travel with one child, and for that one child to not have to pay for a ticket! we get back 3 days before her birthday. we'll be all together on the way up, and patrick will stay for a little bit then he's working a show in Oshkosh (not the overalls) Wisconsin. It's a really big deal in the aviation community, so he's excited. He'll be there with his old boss/friend from Alabama.

anyways, we are really excited about Canada, especially to see the changes Mom and Bob have made to the cottage. My grandpa built this cottage ages ago, and I have been there almost every year. I dont' have alot of roots, which I don't mind, but even I get a little nostalgic about the cottage on Gibi Lake. many many many memories. and it's the only place, be it building or geographical location, that i still go back to. something that's actually been a part of my life from the very beginning and still is. it is a stinkin long ways away, which i guess is part of the appeal. always been a little rustic, but i guess that's also part of the appeal. hannah is so excited, she wakes up every morning and says, "I want to go to Canada, mommy!" too bad she doesn't know that means a 3 hr. plane ride, then an 8 hr. drive. anyways, the cousins will be there, so we're excited! we get back next tuesday, then i'm working wed/thur/fri, and patrick will still be gone, so i may not update immediately.

2009-07-17T06:19:00.000-07:00

So I've started my own blog: www.acrispperspective.blogspot.com

This is something that I have been wanting to do for a while now and will cover a wide variety of topics; primarily current events and issues. My goal is to have a mixture of my own thoughts and opinions, some guest contributions, and highlights from other online and print media that I find interesting and enlightening.

I welcome your feedback, and hope you enjoy reading (and participating) in the discussion.

2009-07-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

Things I want to do

Do up my shoes myself

Wear jeans

Margarita. rocks. no salt

lay on my stomach

hold hannah on my lap

breathe deeply

do my own pedicure

sleep comfortably (long ways away, i know!)

not have strangers approach me

carry around my baby outside instead of inside!

2009-07-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

i got a few pictures from my boston weekend. we were busy, and it was short, so we didn't take that many pictures.

one day we drove out of the city a little bit to a picturesque old place called marblehead. i would have loved to spend more time there. there are all kinds of towns along the coast, that look like this.

we did go to the beach, but it was cold! for me, at least. i'm using a towel as a wrap. :-)

at the restaurant where we ate lunch.

emerson rose, in the appropriate outfit of course :-) she looked so cute i'm surprised she didn't get eaten.

the park right near my sister's apartment. it's beautiful, with a duck pond and a little carousel.

ice cream. lar knows every dessert place in the city!

we didn't do much for the 4th, but frisco did have a little street festival thing that we went to. no, hannah's face isn't normally that red. it was just very warm. they had a fire truck open that i thought she might like, but i couldn't get her to go inside.

patrick gave blood for the first time! i was so proud of him. and grateful, because we all got to sit in the airconditioned bus and drink free cold water!

she was too busy looking at the cow to care about me.

Hannah got a tattoo on her arm, which they had to try 3 times before it worked because she was so sweaty. she loves smiley face stickers, so we picked a flag smiley face.

this is probably borderline heat stroke right here! they had huge buckets of bubbles for the kids to play with.

this is much much earlier in the day, in downtown historic grapevine. that's why she looks so much fresher!

so the friday before, patrick took off and it seemed like a vacation of sorts. i desperately wanted ihop chocolate chip pancakes, but patrick is much too virtuous these days. so we made our own. 10 grain, with a banana and some protein powder thrown in, with strawberries and toasted pecans. good, but i still want ihop :-). maybe someone can come visit and go with me?

on the same friday morning, i was reminded how different life is with a toddler. (not that i needed reminding.) normally i wake up before hannah to have 30 min. of peace, but this morning i stayed in bed. patrick went to get her when she woke, and we tried to get her to snuggle. should have known better, she's such a wiggleworm. so i told her to go play with toys. she brings back her entire pot set and throws in into bed with us, then climbs up herself. you know how much noise those things make? not the sleeping in family snuggle time i had in mind!

as luck would have it, we got a toysrus coupon for this shopping cart right after we got that kitchen. she loves, just like the stroller from christmas.

having a meal with brooke and brody. she does love to cook!

we've been enjoying a cold front. it's been only 85-90 the past few days. wonderful.

addendum to yesterday

2009-06-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

we got our a/c fixed, thank God!
despite what I said yesterday, at almost any point today I would have given Hannah away, at least temporarily! I know that comes as no surprise to any parent out there. I'm sure tomorrow I will have more patience. But if I get the right offer. . . :-)

beware: on a sweaty soapbox (or two)

2009-06-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

so, i've recently been reminded of the importance of reading labels. I did know better about these, but we got some for our road trip a few weeks ago. On the back it says they're wholesome. Just for the fun of it, I wanted to share the ingredients of this wholesome snack:

Glucose, rolled oats, rice flour, sugar, modified palm kernel and palm oil, wheat flakes, canola oil, honey, whey powder, blueberries, sugar, sunflower oil, brown sugar, strawberries (sugar ascorbic acid, sunflower oil) cranberries (sugar, sunflower oil), yogurt, apples, liquid invert sugar, molasses, salt, and a bunch of preservatives.

good gracious. this is when i honestly think people are trying to murder the unsuspecting american public through their food. i opened up a can of beans for hannah, which i do often. but i got a different brand this time, and only noticed the ingredients as i was taking the label off for recycling. should be beans and salt, in my opinion. this one also had cane syrup AND high fructose corn syrup. gross.

we had a big storm this morning, and when it slowed down enough we went puddlejumping. always fun. they're so easy to entertain at this age!

so we call this piece "big man; little cookie." patrick has been more committed than i've ever seen to this current lifestyle change. he eats more vegetables than i do! i have appreciated his good influence, because it is easier to make concessions when you're pregnant. if you're going to be gaining 50 lbs anyways, what the heck, right? anyways, he got some "diet food" the other day, and i had to laugh at this poor little cookie. of course, they come in single serving packages.

so there is a progression here: bottom right, Hannah's fully clothed in the outfit i put on her. Bottom left, we've completely stripped down because it is ungodly hot outside, even at 10 in the morning. top right, we've put clothes back on her because of the sun. poor thing. at least i'm still trying to play with them outside.

so our own little tomato plant is struggling. it was getting eaten by birds. big birds. so big they knocked the plants over. i researched, and came up with putting hose on them. i feel bad because i remember having to wear hose at bob jones, even in the summer, and let me tell you, that's just cruel and unusual. but at least they aren't getting even. i also put a cd up top to scare them away. i'm going to add my coffee grounds and egg shells too. we'll see how it goes.

it's a good thing we're having another child, because patrick and i practically worship hannah. that does not mean she gets her way, by any stretch. she is far from spoiled. but not only is she beautiful and brilliant :-), she is also nice to be around (most of the time) because she isn't in charge and she knows she isn't in charge. we do have tantrums, but they don't get her very far so they don't last. so far, anyways! she's just, as my friend kari says (not necessarily about hannah but just in general), so stinkin' cute! i got some good video the other day, and i swear i'm going to try to put it up soon. we honestly feel that people who dont' get to be around her regularly live slightly emptier lives than we do :-)

speaking of brilliant. . . :-) j/k. i'm not pushing her into a curriculum yet. but she does like to pull out the 'school' books and look at them.

so, as i write this, it's 81 degrees in our house. i wish i could say i was being really virtuous and left the air up that high to save money. alas, no. it finally happened to us: the air died. i realize i survived in nearly saharan africa, but that's just not the point. hannah woke up tonight and i went in there and she'd taken her pants and diaper off and her shirt was pulled up behind her head with her arms still on. it was pretty funny, except she was obviously uncomfortable. then she told me it was hot. i was like, oh, you have no idea how how it's going to get my friend. i put her in a onesie, filled her cup with ice, and turned her fan on high. we'll see how it goes. patrick said it will probably take a few days to fix. i guess i can just be grateful this is happening before the baby comes. the baby and my mom! just like i don't like the cold in kenora, she doesn't like the heat in texas!

the other night we watched a movie that impressed me so much i wanted to give it a shout out. when patrick brought home marley and me, i was like, ok, another stupid romantic comedy with questionable everything. i would almost just as soon not watch anything made in the past 30 yrs. this one, however, seems to be in a class by itself, or with a few others. If you haven't seen it, it just follows the life of a couple as they become a family and weather some of life's challenges. Some was obvious, like the scene where she decided to be a stay at home home. She was also nursing her baby, btw. Other aspects were not so obvious. The way the wife acknowledged her husband's restlessness and encouraged him to make the changes he needed to to be fulfilled, even though it was probably hard for the family, they stuck together and put each other's needs first. they followed him halfway across the country. the way the husband and wife had normal struggles with losing themselves in work/kids/etc, but still cared about their marriage enough to keep it interesting (such as skinny dipping together!). the way even though the wife was stressed, not always nice to be around, and probably somewhat nagging, not once, not one single time, did they have the husband even glance in the direction of another woman. the movie was set in florida, and they were on the beach all the time, and most movies would have had him at look somewhat longingly at those hooches on the beach while his wife was at home with their 3 kids and dog. most movies/books/songs/anything make it so commonplace, even acceptable, for one or the other spouse to look for fulfillment elsewhere, even if it's just emotionally or privately. But not once did what's his face appear to dishonour his wife or his marriage, even in his thoughts. they respected and invested in their marriage and their family. in that order, it seemed. it was actually challenging for me. a hollywood movie! so if you haven't seen it yet, you should!

2009-06-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

i've dispensed with the formalities of cropping and formatting this time. the bare bones will have to do! We've had a busy few weeks, like everyone else i'm sure. still don't have any pictures to show you of boston, but i promise i went there :-). VBS last week was good, but i'm glad it's over. over 50 kids made professions of faith, praise the Lord! then we had a great visit with my dad. he and hannah had alot of fun together. we figured she was old enough for our first zoo trip. Hannah came away with some souvenirs that she's pretty fond of!

peeking back to make sure papa's still there!

she really enjoyed the reptile building. we found this one rattlesnake that was a native texan, just like her

at first hannah was pretty scared of the crocodile, until she believed us that it wasn't real.

patrick found his namesake

who knew there are three sizes of penguins?

trying to get at the animals

we got this cup at the front gate, and the sign just said free refills all over the park. which was nice, because it's, well, hot! i didn't drink it, just gave it to hannah. she said "juice, mommy?" i wasn't really paying attention, so i just said no, baby, it's water. about 2 hrs later patrick said, that smells like lemonade. sure enough! thankfully, i don't think she drank that much. we dumped it out and replaced it with water :-).

i have no idea what she was going for here, but the gloves with the naked baby was just funny!

i've been trying to involve hannah in the necessary activities of daily life, instead of telling her to go play with toys while i do things myself. yes, it's faster and easier to do it myself. but then what's the point in staying at home with my kids, if not to be together? she got a kitchen as an early birthday present, and it came with a bag of toys. apparently not everyone cleans their toys before they consign them, so washed them together. she did have a blast!

i advertised on freecycle for craft supplies, and somebody gave me this huge tub of stuff. the majority of it was actually school supplies, for preschool and the first few years. I know I won't be using it for awhile, but even sorting it was so exciting! I dont' want to push her, but I can't wait to start. I guess we have already. I've also borrowed some books from a friend. There are so many ways to homeschool, as many ways as there are to educate in general. I really want to explore different methods and philosophies before we start in earnest. I tend more towards the regular old textbooks and worksheets, but I don't want to limit us to that. so, we'll see!

we ordered Hannah her own food the first time the other night. she's such a big girl now!

don't know if it's a pregnancy thing, but i've really been wanting mexican breakfast lately. so it's been huevos rancheros on corn tortillas for me and Hannah. she really likes salsa, and she even rolled it up herself.

not much else to post. things are fine on the charlie front. we got him some bedding the other day, it got me excited. still 10 wks away though. it's very warm here, tonight i saw a sign that said it was 7.45, and 100 degrees still. we miss everybody!

from the frying pan to the fire

2009-06-13T18:13:00.001-07:00

and i mean that in two ways. first of all, i came back from boston on monday, where i thought it had been warm, and exited the airport here in texas. oh mymymy. it is hot in texas. 95 or over every day this week. so yes, i met my sisters in boston for a last minute getaway. something we've talked about doing and haven't in about 5 yrs. emerson came, but she wasn't much of a distraction. we had a good time, but i dont' have any pictures yet. except the above: do you see how light i can travel now, when i'm by myself? 3 nights, in that one little bag. except i ended up having to spend one in atlanta. oh, airtran!

when i came home patrick had the whole house cleaned and grilled steak salad made for dinner, which i absolutely love. i was a little disappointed how well they did without me! and i didn't realize how much i missed hannah until i saw her in the airport. i wont' do that again for a long time! i was especially appreciative of his preparations because the very next morning i started my regular summer schedule of extra kiddos. it's a good thing i didn't think i was that busy with my last posts activities, because things definitely kicked up a notch!

this is Gavin, Hannah's new best friend! I have been so pleasantly surprised at how well it's going. We enjoy having him around, he makes our lives more interesting. Not only is he new, but he's a boy, and he's 3! They play so well together. Of course they have their toddler moments, but they seem to restore unity after these altercations significantly faster than adults (or at least I) would! We go to storytime at the library together, and i've just started going to a playgroup at the park for new/young homeschooling families. I've met alot of new people, and even though we're not quite there yet officially, i can still learn alot from people who are ahead of me.

bunnies are about as prolific as squirrels in this neck of the woods, so it wasn't a big surprise when patrick found a bunny nest in our yard. natural selection apparently starts early, because we've already had to dispose of a couple. hopefully some will make it. Hannah loves going out to check on them.

We do love going to the huge play pool at the gym, but sometimes we can only make it to the backyard. we still have fun though!

She's such a big girl now, she can put on her own shoes (R). she also is working on riding her trike, but she can only go backwards.

when Gavin's not here, we have 2 or 3 more friends! Brooke and Brody, and sometimes big brother Blake, come play and Hannah loves the company. She learns so much from older kids. Here they were watching a puppet show. That lasted about 2.5 min!

rehydrating at the pool. She can drink from a regular cup now.

not sure what these faces were about.

i have been looking for a kids table for quite awhile, and we finally got one. patrick actually picked out this noahs' ark set, and hannah loves it. all day long she kept saying "daddy got me my table?"

hannah had her first tea party with water this week, due to the influence of an older friend? peer pressure to drink starts early! :-) you can see her pouring water in the first one, then the puddle on her pants in the second. oh well. she had so much fun!

It has been a crazy busy week, but in a way i'm grateful because i've spent alot more time really playing and interacting with Hannah than I normallly would, because they take my full attention. having patrick here is soooooooooo wonderful. hannah and i are both getting spoiled; i know he's here if i need to run to the grocery store during their naps, and she can run in to his office and get a daddy kiss almost whenever she wants. i dont' know how long it will last, but i, for one, love having him here. even just to talk to an adult sometimes!

i took hannah to her first birthday party today, a friend from church. I didnt' document it because i was a pool party and i have to stay 2 steps away from her all the time, because she does tend to go under. but it was really fun. we then had a barbeque with our SS class this afternoon, which was also fun, aside from the heat. everybody was in little clusters wherever there was shade, but we were still melting into puddles. there are so many kids, it's a regular baby factory! lots of food, and more swimming. again, not documented. sorry!

next week is vbs every day, so i wont' have any kids. we have a midwife checkup, so i'll let you know how charlie's doing. next weekend my dad is coming, so we are very excited about that! and hopefully i'll have pictures from boston soon. patrick is almost done with his next airplane model, which he's going to display with the first. he has been keeping really busy at the gym, working hard there. we have alot of stuff for charlie's room for our farm theme, that i'll show you soon. thanks for checking in!