First Day of Summer

Today, June 20, marks the first day of summer. As you can see from the pictures (for those of you in our neighborhood), we celebrated a little early with our summer toys. Alivia is so much fun in the water and encourages Addison to "play with me," while Asher watches on. As the daycare buses rolled into our neighborhood park yesterday morning (um, 5 of them! Those kids were just a number & it was so sad!), I again counted my blessings, 1 for Alivia, 2 for Addison, 3 for Asher and 4 that I get to stay home with them!

Now, I have to get back to planning what fun things we will do today.

 

Asher - 6 months - chews on

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Return of the Feline

Yeah, that's right. Topher & I caved. Piper came back home last night. She warmed up right away. The girls chased her all over and continued to today. Piper was back to sleeping with Alivia this morning.

 

Meow!

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Happy Father's Day 2008

 

 

Top Pop: Daddy!!

Another year, another child to be blessed to have on this Father's Day for dear ol' Daddy! This year Topher is the Daddy of 3: Asher, 6m, Addison, 23m, & Alivia, now 4!

We saw Grandpa Bob on Saturday & was able to give him his presents since he is at the CWS today. Then Sunday morning went to the annual flight breakfast. Not a very good morning for it since it was stormy (& we got a little hail on the way there). We saw one airplane, so the kids were excited. Daddy opened his exciting presents: A nice backpack (like a fancy work pack) for when he takes his motorcycle to work, 2 polos, and a t-shirt that says " Daddy3" meaning Daddy to the 3rd power or Daddy cubed. This shirt will go into his collection of Daddy t-shirts: Real Daddy's change diapers & Daddy needs a time out. I have one more I want to get him. We topped off the morning time with a little lunch at Panera and TCBY treats (but nobody was hungry so that will be our snack - TCBY gives Daddy free treats on Father's Day).  Now, everyone is full & resting.

Happy Father's Day!

 

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Our 23-month old

That's right, Addison is now 1 month away from being a 2 year old! Oh, it is so sad to see our baby girl turn into a big girl. But, on the other hand, her little words are just so adorable! Our favorites are "peas" for "please," "I love you," "Where's Da- ee at?" and "Hi Asher." When she wakes up in the morning, she just waits quietly in her crib until I come and check on her, then asks where's Asher at or where is Daddy at if they are not with me. Who knows if she just woke up or she has been awake for a while! We are in no rush to convert her new bed. She is doing fine in her crib and seems to like it. Let's not fix what is not broken. Have a mentioned how independent she is? She often comes upstairs with me while Alivia watches one of her many princess movies in the basement with Daddy, just so she can play alone in peace. She even sneaks upstairs to read books alone. We love it when she says "cheese" and squints her eyes and smiles as big as she can. Addison loves playing with her babies, strollers, and getting stroller rides herself even if it is in a baby doll stroller! I have already mentioned the potty training thing, although I have not gotten serious about it at all. I just am not ready for that yet. Maybe in the next few weeks I will go for it, we will see. Terrible 2's? Well, she does pull Alivia's long locks and push occasionally, and she has seen the time out spot a couple times in the past few days. But, I have more patience with her for whatever reason.

Oh, my next Addison update will be when she turns 2. Oh, where did my baby girl go?

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Yeah for Addison!

For the last couple of weeks, Addison has been telling me when she goes potty in her diaper, wanting a new diaper, and even taking off her diaper. I was frequently asking her if she wanted to go potty on the potty, and she kept telling me "no" except at bath time when she would sit on the big potty (she does not like the potty chair). Tonight, at bath time, she wanted to sit on the potty. So, I sat her on the BIG potty and she had success! I could not believe it! She smiled and jumped off like she had been secretly using the potty for months. I realize this is only a start (of something I am not ready to get into yet), but we are on our way to only have 1 child in diapers!

 

Yeah for Addison!

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Summertime fun!

 

It is definitely summer. This week alone we visited our neighborhood sprinkle park, Alivia started a daily swimcamp at Swimtastic (highly recommended!), celebrated Grandma Bet's birthday, we visited the zoo, we went to family swim, played at the big park at Zorinsky with the Maiefski boys (& Heidi), we played with our new sprinkler ball & in the pink pool, & that is in addition to all the playtime at home! I, for one, am tired but having fun with the kids doing the things I always wanted to do with them but did not always have time to do. Oh, I left out the best part (with sarcasm). I wiped out on Alivia's scooter giving myself a big scraped elbow and a purple toe (and 2 little girls doting on Mommy!!). Yeah, scooters should have an age LIMIT. But, I have to admit, it was a fun ride right until I slammed into the pavement telling Chris, "I can't get up!". :)

 

 Happy Summer, & let the fun continue on (& enjoy the pictures from our week)...

 

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It's Not About Us Anymore

Okay, Chris & I did not just figure this out, but we are becoming more and more aware that our decisions are not about us anymore. This became more evident to us when we gave away Piper (the cat in which we are not trying to get back even though Chris & I do not want her). We find ourselves doing things that we may not necessarily want to do but do so for the kids. For example, we are getting Piper back because Addison will not stop asking "Where Piper at?" & Alivia has cried many nights to go and get her. Yes, we could have been dishonest and said she ran away. But, I could not do that. Next, Chris took Alivia to her first movie this week. He had one in mind, but had her pick from the trailers online. The movie she picked Chris did not want to sit through, but went anyway. They BOTH turned out to have a good time! And finally, our blog. I was, in the past, hiding our pictures to only people that were in our neighborhood. Then, I started showing more and more pictures as friends & family told us that they checked it out (& we know that we have many friends & family that discretely read the blog). I did not want them to miss out on the pictures. However, people anywhere in the world can be viewing our blog. After a recent Dateline episode, I have decided to leave the family pictures to the neighborhood. Seriously, if you want to view our pictures, joining vox is easy. You don't even have to put anything on there for us to add you to our neighborhood. Just let us know you joined and we will add you to our neighborhood so you can view photos. We are sorry to have to do this, but it is about the safety of our children and our family. But, I will continue to blog on & leave most of those postings public.

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Your Questions Answered

 

1. Are you done yet?

This is a question we get a lot. We had a garage sale last weekend and a complete stranger even asked us! So, I will address the question. We are Catholic. I did not go through several months of classes to NOT be a Catholic. So, we are leaving it in God's hands. It has worked well so far (see the next question). Now, let's just hope God does not turn us into the Dugger family (http://www.duggarfamily.com/) who have 17 with number 18 on the way! Yikes! We also hope that God does not see us having a baby when I am 45 (oh, Heaven help us). I have started selling some of the worn looking baby clothes of the girls' that I could part with because of lack of space. And, I have sold a vast majority of my maternity clothes (because I am hoping to not ever have to wear those ugly things again!). I did not feel like our family was complete after Addison. I can say that now.

So, are we done yet? Only God knows I guess.

2. How do you like staying home?

I love it! I love it! I love it! I am not changing my answer either. There is a member of our family that asks this question every time he sees me. I think he thinks I hate staying home and wants me to confess or something. If you have to ask the question, you must have just met me. Staying home with my kids is all I ever wanted to do since I became pregnant with Alivia. I did not want to miss anything! The young years of our kids' lives are just a snapshot in time that we can never get back.

Going back to putting it into God's Hands. When Alivia was born and I cried to a "friend" of mine that I wanted to stay home, she (and even her husband) told me that I just needed to stop dreaming. I remember it clearly. I felt as if her husband was trying to be sympathetic to Chris (like poor Chris because he had to put up with my whining. But, Chris wanted me to stay home too!). From that point on, I prepared to stay at home. I prayed and cried to God as Addison was born to stay at home. Then, I became pregnant with Asher and scary Judy happened. All of suddened, we were ready for me to quit. All our ducks were in a row and it happened. My prayers were answered. So, leaving it in God's Hands does work. 

3. How can you afford staying at home now?

Can I repeat myself? God has big Hands. The money just happens, it just works out. Chris kept telling me all those years I wanted to stay home - just quit. I would not listen. I quit, Chris got a raise and got promoted. Humm... We live smartly I guess. I am a budget nerd, too. It is fun for me. I should have been an accountant, but I was awful at math! I would like to get an "as needed" night nursing job for extra money, but for now have opted not to & it is not necessary(& Chris does not want me to anyway). I am busy enough. I thought as a stay at home mom I would be at home more! When I get our $ challenge video done I will clear up this answer more. 

4. Thing I can not live without?

Pizza cutter. I use it for everything! Cut pizza, crusts off, cut up pancakes, french toast, etc. Love it!

5. Do I have free time?
Little, but I take some extra every night I have energy for it. I usually run & think. Helps me to clear my head before going to bed even if it means that my laundry has to wait to get folded. Oh, and I blog as I get Asher's "milk" ready.

6. Thing I miss about working (if anything)?
Shopping. :) I rarely get out shopping now, but that probably is a good thing.

Enough said for now. Any questions I missed?

 

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Our Little Husker Fan...

...& what a smile!

Little Husker Fan

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May's Pictures

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We started the month celebrating May Day with our first May Day baskets and celebrating (accidentally) Cinco de Mayo by having a picnic. Asher, 5m, started sitting alone, laughing and "talking" more, sleeping through the night consistently, and now has somewhat of a schedule! Yeah. He is eating more baby foods - but usually spits everything out. Addison turned 22 months this month and is beginning to develop those 2 year old traits. She gets frustrated and makes fists and shakes (without a word and nor sound usually). She is REALLY frustrated if she does this! She also started saying "no" a lot instead of just shaking her head. We think it is cute now, but we will probably not think so next month. Alivia ended the month turning 4! We can hardly believe it. She got a new bike and scooter for her birthday, among our things, so has fun things to play with outside for a while. May Day, Mother's Day, Alivia's birthday, & Asher's 1/2 birthday - now that is a lot of cake! Happy June!

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Celebrating Asher's 1/2 Birthday!

Asher turns 6 months!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Asher! Asher has changed a lot in the last month or so. He is now into a good routine. He sleeps from 8 to between 5 or 6 am typically at night. Oh, and you know when he started sleeping through the night? When he learned to roll onto his stomach & sleep like that. Humm... He nurses and then goes back to sleep until 7:30-8am. When he wakes, he has started to play with the toys in his crib (that is always a shocker). He nurses at 5am-8-12-4-and then 7:30-8 pm for the night. He finally started swallowing a couple bites of baby food. He is not a fan of baby cereal, but likes the baby fruits and vegetables okay. I can usually get him to take 3-4 bites before the head turning begins. Addison loves to help feed Asher, too! Physically he is growing and changing too. He had his first hair cut or trim over his ears. He still has a little mohawk, but he has lots of spiky hair all over now where it is growing back. He can now sit well without support and has started to lunge forward a bit more at toys. He also likes to stand at the toy box (with Mommy right there of course) and pick out toys and toss them out (or eat them). His favorite thing is to roll all over. It is difficult to catch Asher without a teether, his hands or even his feet in his mouth! He does not have any teeth yet, but is a big drooler. He has become more vocal, too, chatting to Addison some (and laughing at her a lot). Addison and Asher are really close and already play well together. I do have to watch Addison close, though, because she tends to think Asher should already be ready to play catch ball with her! Nap time is a bit trickier. Asher tends to wake up later in the morning, sometimes around 8. He rarely seems to be ready for a nap at 10. By 11, he is usually getting tired, but it is almost lunchtime. So, I keep him awake for lunchtime, then he naps most of the afternoon (on good days). I need to work on the morning nap situation better because he gets so tired in the morning. He goes to sleep better in the afternoon, too, if he has had his morning nap. Bad Mommy!

At his 6 month check up Asher was growing well. He was 26 inches long (41%), 15lb 5 oz (17%). His head is a little small varying from no to little growth (from negative on the charts to just on the growth chart). I was a little concerned at first, but Asher is developing fine. My pediatrician's wife is a pediatric neurologist, and she said just to watch him and she was sure he would come around. Chris reminded me not to go Mommy about it! Asher did not mind the exam at all, smiling at the pediatrician. However, I think he could do without all the shots (and Addison did not like those either!).

Today, after getting his 6 month pictures taken this morning (along with Alivia's 4 year pictures) we celebrated with a 1/2 birthday cake that the girls & I made (we found yet another reason to eat more cake!). I even let him try a little frosting! He ate it despite not being able to taste it probably because of his cold. 

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Asher!

 

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Memorial Day 2008

Memorial Day in Iowa. My mom hosted the Graybill Annual picnic following services in Shelby. Good food, & let's just say conversation that none of us will ever forget.

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Happy Birthday, Alivia!

 

 

May 25th is the date,

That Alivia wants you to help to celebrate.

For she will be turning 4!

So please join us for cake, icecream & more!

Today is Alivia's 4th birthday! It is so hard to believe that our baby girl is 4 years old already. Seems like yesterday that she surprised us with her arrival 4 weeks early.  Today she wakes up and gets dressed by herself. She likes to pick out her clothes, liking to wear pink on most days. She likes to have her cheerios in the morning, sometimes helping to pour the milk. We love it when she tells us many times a day that she loves us, telling us extra when we are doing something special or eating a special snack. Her favorite foods are totinos pizza (yuck!), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and desserts. Seriously, other than those listed items, we can hardly get her to eat! She is a lot like her Mommy & Daddy as far as being a picky eater goes.

Alivia is a great big sister, usually playing nice with Addison & Asher. She is very helpful with both of them, too. Alivia had to grow up fast, having been a big sister 2 times in her first 3 years. Alivia likes to ride her bike and is working on doing so without the training wheels (she got a new bike for her 4th birthday, too!). Her only problem is that she is too short to touch the ground (kinda difficult to learn to ride a bike that way). She also likes riding her scooter and our many other outdoor toys (she got a new razor scooter for her birthday that she really likes, too!). Inside she likes to color, work on writing her name and numbers in her workbooks, and play with her "babies" with Addison. She also likes any Disney movie, but really likes the princess movies. That is why her theme for her 4th birthday was the Disney Princesses. She picked out her cake herself. 

Today we celebrated with our family. Alivia was so excited she got up at 5 am! She had a good day...ended with a rainbow. Happy Birthday Alivia!

 

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Alivia's Birthday weekend begins...

 

That's right, our baby girl Alivia will be having her 4th birthday on this Sunday! We typically celebrate her day by going to the zoo. But, this year we are having her party on her birthday. So, today we went to the zoo, rain and all. We stayed for the morning & ended the trip at Zesto's just before Asher was ready for a nap. Alivia & Addison both liked the new butterfly exhibit best, despite having to wait nearly 50 minutes to see it (again, in the on & off rain). It was fun & a work out all in one. Alivia is so excited for her birthday!

 

Wet & ready to go home

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Alivia's Last Day...

Alivia...with her #4 necklace

Alivia had her last day of her first year of preschool today. We can hardly believe she has already completed one year and is about to turn 4 years old (on Sunday!). Stay tuned to see her art album. I read about this idea in February, so I got a late start. I took digital pictures of her artwork to put on DVD. Much better than keeping all art work.

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