Category: baby

Like Africa Does It

So due to the heat wave – mmmm, yes (dripping with sarcasm)- we have been entertaining ourselves indoors. And also due to the heat wave my poor littlest one has a won’t-go-away-and-very-painful diaper rash (yes we went to the DR. and got some helpful cremes) that is thriving on the heat and moisture. While I try to introduce my children to God’s worldview through our missions wall and talking about God’s work around the world, I wouldn’t have anticipated Africa to be visiting our hygienic living. So we’ve been doing life like Africa does it for my little Abi-bare-bum.

Abi being bare bummed means we are spending a lot of time playing with washable large Legos on the kitchen floor. Thus, I introduce you to our Lego creations:

Mommy’s creation” “The Garden of Eden”

Rachael’s creation: “A Wonderful Cage”
Abi’s creation: “Destruction” 
(she’s more into the abstract arts.)

And for obvious modesty reasons, baby girl is not pictured beside her creation.



In other news: 

Matt and I are 1/2 way through our adoption trainings. And can I just say here that while obedience to God’s call in our lives is a wonderful thing, these classes can be like PULLING TEETH for our social work majored, my foster care worker past and our “we can really read the policy manual too” annoyances. But alas…. perseverance, friends, perseverance.

We headed out to Aunt Jes’ work picnic/festivities. And I will post an entire post to that goodness. But let me just say here that it was a BLAST!

We got a bunkbed set off freecycle for the whopping price of $0. And while we need to purchase a ladder to accommodate the set when we plan on bunking it, I’d say free is an awfully nice price.

O, and then there’s this critter, who has enjoyed the freedoms of our preparation of our guest bedroom (second kid bedroom) to receive whomever God is adding to our family. Yeah, this freedom-seeker, took to contemplation atop of our queen box-spring before it found a new home elsewhere (the box-spring and mattress found a new home, not our cat… I promise….).

 
Jungle-boy!
So that’s us lately! 
On the horizon:
  • our first family mission trip – tagging along on the youth mission trip. We hope not to be a distraction, but to delight in Jesus together, while we still get our NEEDED naps in. =)
  • Home assessor – whom I LOVE- makes her first home visit the day after we return from our mission trip. And yes she will see our parenting of our crazy-off-schedule kids then. 
  • Family vacation to Myrtle beach 7 days after returning from the mission trip – no we’re not COMPLETELY insane, but yes we are driving… for 13 hours… with a 1 and 2 year old. 
  • Then Matt starts back to seminary for the Fall semester. I’ve been so use to his break that it’s going to be a real adjustment. 
  • And intermixed in that 4 week span we will be completing the remaining adoption classes (three hours a piece of “joy” – refer to above commentary).
  • And then by mid-September we will be completed with classes, waiting for our homestudy to be finished in 1-2 months post our class completion and then praying and waiting for our phone calls. 
  • Oh yes and add in some serious closet cleaning and repainting of our second kid bedroom amidst all that – and beginning some homeschooling amidst that as well….. 

IT’S GONNA BE GREAT!!!!!!

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Ending it All

Welp, we finished up our week with a Sprinkler park trip on Thursday and Free-for-all Friday. Lexi enjoyed randomly meeting friends at the park, which was a good thing cause my two were more interested in swinging and cuddling and watching than playing. Lexi played hard, running between the sprinkler park area and the regular park area. And when my two showed beginning signs of needing a nap, we headed home. All three of them knocked out and slept for at least an hour.

Friday we went for a bike ride. Matt stayed home with the baby because we don’t have a helmet for her yet (we’re going to get her one today). And I took Lexi on her bike and Rachael in the pull-along carrier attached to my bike. We were out for a half hour, but we worked hard in the hilled areas of our community. And it was fun teaching about stop signs and bike signals and traffic awareness. We also found a children’s picnic table at a local garage sale for $4. Yes, people! That’s what I’m talking about. I had been looking around for one to aid in our outdoor lunches and also to prove as an outdoor water-color painting opportunity for my paint-dripping toddler. So I was happy to have invested a whole 4 dollars in hours and hours of artistry fun. =) Lexi’s Friday at our house was concluded with a little board game playing, sandbox fun, and hide-and-seek with Uncle James (our Friday night and Saturday add-on).

I have included a few pics from the park play. For obvious reasons I have no pics of our bike ride (not that skilled) and I didn’t take any pics on Friday – – camera battery needed a rest. =)

 Smiley Swings
 Genuine Joy.
 Initiated Helper.
 One of the few moments I could catch her still enough.
=)
 Weeeeee.
 She really just loves the swings. =)
Ahhh yes, so hard to be blond in the sun. 

So in all it was a fun, and more busy than usual, but a good week.

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Water Play Day

This week is one of Lexi’s final weeks at our house before she starts her vacationing, summer camp and then on into her first grade plans. So with only 2 weeks of fun left for us around here (the 2 weeks have a 3 week recess in between), we’ve been trying to have themed-ish days. Monday we went to boonshoft children’s museum and my camera lived on it’s protected shelf at home. There’s something about taking a few kids (one being a baby) that allows minimal extra hands for pictures. Tuesday, Lexi spent the day with a friend. And today was Water Play Day.

Thus the following 900 (kidding! No dying) pictures are from our water play adventures in the good ole backyard of fun!

 Happy baby cuteness – with teeth!

 O the fun, O the fun.
(THANKS MOM!!! They LOVE it!)
 Daddy adding hot water to the pool
– go on with your hypothermia-preventing bad self, babe!
 Please forgive Rachael, she’s in an ugly smiling phase
(that is if you can get her to sit still long enough AND look at the camera).
 sweet intimate friends.
 pretty much how most pics go of this child – she’s talking and not looking at the camera.
(photographer hits her head)
 Watching Lexi’s daredevil jumping into the pool moves from the safety of a good distance away Rachael kept yelling “do it again!” hehehe. my little precautious one.
 Nothing like the joy of a good warm towel when the water gets a little too cool.
 Rachael working so hard to be “just like Lexi.”
 And yes, even I joined in on the fun. But according to
precautious Rachael I moved around and splashed too much. hehehe.
 Outdoor picnic – I love our wagon. Useful in so many ways.
 mmmmm. good.
 the blonde-haired, fair skinned, we-no-like-the-sun shade section of our dining experience.
 Someone enjoyed their summer sun cat nap.
 (sorry for the slight fuzziness, my camera was thinking too hard. hehe)
 She is just tall enough to furniture walk around the exterior
of the pool, using the wall for balance, and O how it delights her so.
 Look! She does actually smile naturally! AND I caught it “on film.”
 No matter how big she gets, she’ll always be my baby Rachael.
My sweet little girl.
 You really have no idea how hard to was to capture this picture.
But at least we have 3 pairs of eyes and 2.5 smiles. =) YAY!
 YAY! BOTH my kids in a pic AND smiling. Woot! Woot!

Abi’s getting brave in the corner, while Rachael delights in the sun-warmed water.
And what better than to end it all with a little cleaning water play in the good ole bathtub.
2 for 1 cleaning, suits and kids all in one. =) [Talk about simplifying, eh Jess? ]
And then the children promptly fell asleep for a long and sound nap time.
Mmmm the joys.
O How I love thee, Water Play Day. =)

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Answered

You know it may sound silly, but after 2 months of looking for our wagon and trying to be frugal and most responsible with our funds, I said a prayer on Abi’s birthday that we could get her the wagon. I was in contact with another lady about the wagon (I had contacted “a few” about their wagons) and she had not responded past my original interest. We were running out of time and I was starting to get bummed that we would have nothing to give Abi on her birthday. While she wouldn’t remember, it mattered to me – enough so that I had been working on it for 2 months.

And God answered our prayer. You know, if God would have answered our prayer with a “no” He still would have been God and He still would be doing the best for us. It’s just nice to know that even the little silly things, in comparison to eternity, that matter to our hearts matter to our Father. So thank You, again, God for the blessing of bringing these smiles to her on her birthday:

She loves it.
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Celebrating Our Abi

Oh your tiny hands and feet, how my heart longed to protect you from the first time I layed eyes on you at 5:08p on June 16, 2010. Your little snuggle, nuzzeling into my warmth. Holding you Daddy’s hand. Perfectly contented to sleep… and sleep… and sleep.

And then there came the tension of you not gaining weight quite right, you just wanted to sleep. But after a few days of bootcamp, you started thriving and filling out. We were out of the lightweight scare without the need of intervention.

You started growing strong and you character started to emerge. My vocal baby, you sure found your lungs. But even when you were most worked up, touch brought you comfort. Oh there were the rough moments, it wasn’t all sunshine, in which the porch swing seemed our only comforter. Oh the miles on that porch swing. But one thing remained – snuggling was a necessity. It’s how you understand love.

So here I sit, a year later on your birthday, swinging you on the porch swing. Your calm, more than content to just snuggle into me and watch my face. Here in my arms is your preference, even though curiosity runs in your bones. Curiosity about the big wonderful world and the tastes of the plants and mulch nearby. But here in my arms you are calm, quiet, safe… loved.

Abi, my love, I always imagined our kid #2 would be wonderful, but you are unfathomable. From the way you cling to my arm when I hold you to that little pacifier smile and twinkle in your eye that says, “that’s my mommy,” you bless me so. God really has blessed me so with your warm little heart. And while you may be more than satisfied to just be held instead of investigating the world, and while my sidekick can sometimes be a bit of a challenge in tasks like one-handed-dish-washing or one-handed-laundry-folding, you are worth the challenge in every way. And it really is a compliment to know that you would rather just be near me than seek your own independence. The time will come when you too will spread your wings like your sister and set off on your own adventures of toddlerhood. But, my sweet little birthday baby, I am glad that that day is not quite today. I love holding you and snuggling you while I still can, my little Abi baby.

Happy birthday, lovey. Snuggles all around.


Start

Oh wait, this tastes good!

All hands on deck.

No crumb left behind policy.

Finished.

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Practically Speaking

So I have a practical post here for all my helpful community out there. I was hoping you could keep a heads up for me regarding the following items. It’s garage sale season and I have been searching for these lovelies to aid in the giggles for our little clan:

I’d really like a radio flyer wagon without paying a kidney – or 7 for it. So if you happen to see one in the 20-30 price range will you call me so I can snatch it up? I’ve been watching Craigslist (LOVE) for 2 months now seeking this item and was hoping to have given it to Abi for her birthday. But apparently that’s not going to work out. I really would like the one with the seatbelts and the tall backed seats shown in the above link since my kiddos are so little that falling out of a wagon after it hits a rough patch in the grass is in their DNA. Thanks all.

*** Yay we got the wagon on Abi’s birthday! (see above)

Also, if you happen to see a toddler climber this would be wonderful for our “in between” stage right now in our backyard play. It could be something small like this or something bigger. Rachael’s not quite skilled enough to play on our big jungle gym (she’s still very butt heavy in climbing the ladder) and it really just makes me quite nervous – and Abi – yeah right. So even if you were to find a “suntanned” toddler climber with a slide I’d be super happy to buy it within the 20-40 range again. Something like attached pictures above that’s sturdy and all. I don’t really care what it looks like and I’m not brand specific. I just can’t rationalize spending that amount of money on a toy for the backyard. Seriously some of these things go for $600. That’s feeding Tofic AND Lidia for TEN MONTHS!!! (gasps and dies).

We’re also looking for a double jogging stroller with a swiveling front wheel. Matt and I are hoping to train for a 1/2 marathon because we are sincerely insane, but it’s really hard to find babysitting 24/7. So if you find a double jogging stroller out there that’s not trashed within the 30-40 range we would REALLY benefit from such. Something like the pictured above or whatever would be helpful.

Again, we’re not made of money here and we’re trying not to acquire merely a bunch of junk, but some useful pieces to add to our outdoor adventures. Used things are fantastic with us! Thanks for all you garage sale/bargain shopping goo-roos who have become delighted by this practical post. And thanks for not looking upon this post as a materialistic overload. =) Just trying to be frugal and practical all in one.

-Thanks!

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