Work in progress...

I started this blog ages ago...I'd have to cheat and look to actually see when...but I've never been good at it, forgot/sidetracked/didn't care/whatever you want to call it...basically I wasn't here.

That changed about 3 weeks ago, I decided that this was going to be my "escape" what I used to relax at the end of the day as well as keeping all our memories and events written in one spot. I'm proud to say I have blogged everyday since (minus our trip to Denver)
In the last week I've decided to put everything here...our schedules, my recipes, our homeschooling adventures and our lives.

Last night I re-vamped the home page with my pictures and the header. Tonight I added my additional blogs; Recipes, Schedules and Homeschool.
They are visable on the left hand side of the screen...I'm not tech savvy and there is possibly a better way to do this but for now this is what I've come up with :) I still need to add ways to navigate back to the main blog too.

It's a work in progress...

The sounds I love

I love...

the thundering of little feet down the stairs and across the tile floor

the squeak of the bedroom door and the attempt at a whispering voice from a 3 yr old

the banging hand on the bed in an attempt to wake Mummy up

the giggles and coos from a little boy as he opens his eyes

the laughter, whines, cries, shrieks, coos, giggles, and words that fill my day

the fight to sleep little groans

the books hitting the floor as they fall off the bed

the snoring of a little sweet girl

the sucking of a pacifier

the clicking of a keyboard

the cool jersey sheets hitting warm skin

the silence that fills the night

I think I found a church...

of course now I need to actually attend a few services, but this one is close, has lots of kid friendly activities and seems like it will be a good fit for us.

I enjoy Church, I enjoy talking to God in Church and I enjoy what I get out of Church...I'm FAR from uber religious, I don't pray daily, I don't pray for everything and everyone, I don't devote my life to Jesus Christ, I believe in God and I'm comfortable with our relationship and at the same time still exploring it. I admire people who devote their entire life to the Lord, that's just not me and I feel God is kosher with that, I have my own understanding and perception of the bible and enjoy guidance from Church and various pastors. I ask questions, I listen and I do pray both in Church and on my own time just not everyday.

Do Good, Do No Harm and Stay in Love with God-Three simple rules to follow

I didn't grow up in a religious home, I went to Sunday School out my own choice when we lived in Indonesia with the neighbors...I loved the bible and talking to God. I went to a Methodist school for boarding school and attended various services from non-denominational to Catholic throughout college. When I graduated I went to a few Methodist services, but nothing regular. Being pregnant with Kaitlyn I decided it was time to go back to church, I went to the United Methodist Church down the street and found a wonderful pastor. The parish wasn't quite what I wanted as probably 70% of the congregation was over the age of 65, but the young adult meetings on Wednesday nights (which usually consisted of me and one other girl) and the conversations with my pastor kept me going every Sunday. Kaitlyn was baptized when she was 2 weeks old.

I wasn't baptized as a baby and it always bothered me, I wanted to be apart of Church, learn all about the Methodist religion and what it meant to be a follow of Christ. I took classes through my local Church and in July of 2008 I was baptized. It was a short ceremony but meant a lot to me, my pastor gave me a New Life Bible that I'm still working through two years later....it's a study bible and so great to read, re-read, mark and talk about.

I'm hoping the Church I found works out for us and we can get Blake baptized soon!

I will attend with the kids on Sunday mornings, hubby believes in God but he's not religious and doesn't believe in attending Church, he does agree with me in wanting our kids to go to Church and attend Sunday School until they reach high school, at that age they can decide if they wish to continue the religious path of if they want to go/believe otherwise.

Saying okay but not meaning okay

Yesterday was Blake's 4 month check up! I know already right? how and when did that happen? He weighed in at a hefty 16lbs 9ozs (75%) and is a ridiculous 27 inches long (94%). He's big, not really chunky though he does have some nice rolls on his thighs, and very tall :)
The impending vaccination conversation came up...I decided with Blake we're going to take it slow, he will be fully vaccinated like his sister but to avoid the horrible fever and pain that Kait ended up with after shots we're taking it one or two at a time. At 2 months he had the predivax which includes the DTap, Hib and Polio vax and the oral roto virus...at that time we saw an awful doctor who was plain rude and frankly quite dumb...we've since switched to a wonderful dr. reccommended by another mum at dance (who is actually a medical assistant at the office).

So at his visit yesterday I said we would do the follow up predivax and the roto virus but wait on the other again which is the pnenumoccocul (spelling is not my forte).
Dr. M said "okay, I'm not saying okay because I think it's okay but I'm saying okay"...
He's great, he is
In fact not 5 mins before in our conversation about Blake's reflux where I said I wasn't doing the medication but my crunchy mama take on it, he said GREAT I prefer you do that instead of giving him med's.
So we'll go back at 5 months to get the pneumoccocul vax
6 months for the well check up again and the pedivax and roto
and wait on the others to 7 months, and so on
MMR I think we'll wait until 2 years
I still have a lot of reading and researching to do before I make decisions...at the moment I'm happy with where we are and to make me feel even better about my choice Blake didn't utter a cry with the one quick shot and has had no reaction!
Here is my little/big guy in his size 9 month pj's all ready for bed! So tired and still smiling, melts my heart!

The key to a sucessful marriage...

We've been married for 2 years, 5 months and 3 weeks...we've known each other for waaaaaaaaaaaay longer. Our relationship over the years has grown, we have had our battles, some that have almost ended us completely, our love is passionate which means our fights are also passionate. There were bets in college about how long our relationship would last, we beat them all!  Some days I'm surprised we haven't killed each other. Others I don't know how I lived a day without him. Live, Laugh, Love it works for us :)

To schedule of not to schedule

So I spent time writing out a long schedule, figuring in our activities, what I want to accomplish, etc....today was the beginning of said schedule...and I'm quickly finding with a 3 yr old and a 4 month old (tomorrow) a strict schedule is really not possible. Well it's possible but not if I want to keep kids happy and enjoy my time with them!

I am re-evaluating what needs to be scheduled and how to go about our days. I'm thinking instead of scheduling our day, we or better yet I need to set goals. Instead of at 10am I will clean, my goal is by noon to have finished my cleaning for the day and be ready to start lunch. That way when B decides he wants to nap at 10:30 instead of 10am I'm not thrown off for the rest of the day. I want to cheerish all the time I have with my kids at home, as well as maintain a clean house...with two kids and home alone all week it's not easy. But I'm confident we will find a balance that will make everyone happy!

Today I did not fulfill the schedule at all...but tomorrow I will catch up on today's chores and finish tomorrows! We have B's 4 month check up in the am, I cannot believe he is 4 months old already :( time is moving so fast, after that we'll grab some Chick Fil A for lunch as a treat then home to clean, organize and play, play play with my two loves :)

A tribute to some wonderful friends!

I LOVE this picture! The daughter of a dear friend, Elsa is 6 months older than Blake almost to the day.

These two have been best friends since Kaitlyn was 9 weeks old...Luca is 4 months older.

This family is a big big party of why we miss Denver so much! Courtney was our nanny for Kaitlyn when I returned to work at 9wks...I found her on craiglist...little did I know I was not only finding an amazing nanny for my daughter but a friend! Three years and another kid for each of us later, we're still great friends and I cheerish her friendship!

Our kids are close in age and I hope we will continue our friendship and our younger two will be friends like our older two!
She has Luca, April 07 and Elsa November 09
I have Kaitlyn July 07 and Blake May 10