Hiding in the dryer

Really, there is no need to call anyone about the pictures that you see in this post. I know that it's dangerous for kids to play in the dryer. As soon as I got done laughing in the other room, both Abby and Jenna were told how dangerous being in the dryer can be. But when I found her, I really couldn't stop myself from laughing at the choice of places she chose to hide.

I was getting us all ready this morning to go to a birthday party, when I realized that I couldn't hear Abby. She had been playing in the tent in her room and was in and out of my bathroom. I went to look for her and couldn't find her. I looked everywhere and called her name a million times. Finally, I saw the laundry room light on and somehow thought to look in the dryer. Yep, there she was, smiling back at me feeling so proud of her good hiding place! The door was not closed and she didn't seem to be scared, but she was definitely in the dryer.

Have I mentioned that Abby is my adventure? She constantly keeps us on our toes, and this is just one more experience to prove it.

It looks like I'll be installing some sort of babyproofing mechanism on the dryer door very soon!

Soccer

Today was Jenna's first day of soccer! I have to admit, that I signed her up for two reasons. #1--I panicked a little bit at the end of preschool and wondered what I was going to do with her all day every day. I wanted to have some activities for her to do in the summer. #2--I wanted to see if she liked a sport as much as she likes dance. I want to let her decide what she pursues (down the road of course) but I wanted to see how she liked sports along with dance.

So . . . today was SUPPOSED to be her first day. Last night, we went to Sport's Authority and got pink shinguards, a pink ball, and pink soccer socks. We were set. She had her shinguards and socks on all morning and was SO, SO excited. As we were getting into the car to go to her session, my cell phone rang. The instructor was sick and the class was cancelled. Jenna was very disappointed.

So we decided to go the park and have our own soccer lesson instead. I did my best from what I remember from 20 years ago. Here are a few pictures of our first soccer experience!

Notice the pink theme? Notice the socks on Abby? She had to be like her big sister!

All ready for soccer!

Our "soccer lesson" in the park.

A Question from Jenna

"Mommy, why is the top of your hair all dark and brown and the bottom of your hair is blonde?

When your four year old daughter recognizes "the dark and brown" on the top of your head, you should probably do something about it, right?

I have an appointment for a cut and highlight on Friday:)

Heatbreak & Guilt

I haven't worked full time in almost five years. Wow--that's a long time when I think about it! I've done some very, very part time things in the past five years, but last week, I went back to work. I am teaching the GED preparation class for three hours in the mornings at our local adult school. It's only part time, but this position requires me to have a sitter for the girls this summer. In the fall, when I teach the class, Jenna will be in preschool and Abby will be with a regular sitter.

Going back to work has stirred up a whole range of emotions for me. On one hand, being able to contribute to the family finances and have some time in the professional world is appealing to me. But on the other hand, I absolutely hate the idea of Abby (especially) having to be with a sitter while I work. I feel guilty for not being with them all day and going off to work. But me working is in the best interest of our family at this point. The last week has been okay. Work has been fine and our new schedule seems to be working for us.

But today was hard. When I picked the girls up from the babysitter's house, Jenna broke down and cried. First she cried about the vaccination shots she'll have to get in January. Then she cried about the fact that I still make her sit in the car seat with a five point harness as opposed to the booter seats with the regular seat belt. But then she said," Mommy, I don't want you to go to work. I like being at home with you better. Why can't I be with you?"

heartbreak & guilt . . .

We going booms?

"Booms" is Abby's word for the fireworks:) Last night, we went to see the fireworks, and our children behaved consistently with their personalities. Jenna flipped out at first. After a while thought that they were the best thing since sliced bread (although in our day and age, I would replace the words "sliced bread" with "DVR" or "high-speed Internet" or "the Shark Steam Mop." But I digress . . .

So, Jenna flipped out at first and Abby sat and watched them in amazement, clapping at the particularly spectacular ones. The first thing Jenna said to me this morning, was, "Mommy, weren't the fireworks SO AMAZING?" And all day, Abby's been asking,"We going booms?" She wants to go to the fireworks again tonight, but it'll, of course, have to be another year before we experience that extravaganza again:)

Just because I love these pictures

These pictures were taken on Jenna's last day of preschool in June, and I love them because #1 they are loving each other and #2 Jenna is doing her best to make Abby smile.

"Mommy, you got boos on!"

Jenna is enrolled in a little dance class, and I am really excited that she is enjoying herself so much each week. Today, they danced around with ribbons and learned how to shuffle with their little tap shoes on. They even did a little shimmy move, which was so hilarious to me!

While the little girls are dancing with Miss Mandi in the studio, it's a whole other world in the observation area where the parents and siblings hang out. You've got boys running around like crazy men, practically knocking all the adults over (much like the Playplace at McDonalds). You've got moms instructing their kids through the windows, which again is hilarious because the kids can't hear them. Then you've got the little girl whose Mom has no control over her as she runs back and forth between the studio and observation room, slamming the door each time. The best, however, is the mom who wears stiletto heels on the dance floor and talks on her cell phone while she dances with her limp daughter who refuses to participate in any part of the program. (I'm sure Miss Mandi really loves that!)

Abby and I just hang out by the observation window. I try to get a spot where she can see, because she likes to do the moves along with Jenna while she's watching. Today, I was holding Abby, who often loves to stick her hands down my shirt for no apparent reason. I am usually caught off guard, but catch her before I flash everyone around me. Today, I wasn't so fast. She grabbed my shirt, pulled it out and said, "Mommy! You got boos on!"

I was immediately mortified because I saw those crazy, running boys looking at me and some of the other mothers had turned to look at me too. I immediately thought she was saying, "Mommy, you got boobs!" but then she said, "Boo, I yike dat coyuer (color)"

Thank goodness she was only talking about the color of that particular undergarment. Hey, I figure that at least I'm not that lady in the stiletto heels!

Grocery Store, Broken Light Bulb, and an Old Man

After Jenna's dance class today, we stopped at the grocery store to get bags of salad for dinner tonight. But this was a new grocery store; one that I've never been to before.

I had no idea where the salad was and I couldn't see it from the entrance of the store, so we started on the right hand side and walked along the edges of the store until we found the salads, because they are usually on some wall in every store. As we were walking, Jenna kept touching *everything* in sight. When I realized she was doing this, I asked her to stop. She didn't. I saw her little hands beginning to graze the glass bottles of barbeque sauce and I immediately grabbed her hand.

After asking her several more times I started to tell her that if she touched on more thing that she would lose her computer privileges tomorrow. As those words came out of my mouth, she knocked over a lightbulb and it, of course, smashed into lots of tiny bits.

We stopped. Jenna knew she was in trouble. Surprisingly, I didn't get all worked up about it, I just calmly told her that the lightbulb was broken because she didn't listen to me the first time I asked her not to touch all the merchandise. (We are currently working on listening on the first time directions are given. It obviously didn't work out too well today.) Jenna was crying. I was trying to talk to her and find somene to clean up the broken glass at the same time.

There was an older man standing about five feet away from us and as I got up to ask the lady at the deli counter to help, he looked at me and said, "That wouldn't have happened if she wouldn't have touched the lightbulb." Now I was ticked. Really ticked. I am used to the occasional spectacle that we can be in a store. I've shopped with screaming kids before, knocked over an entire display of Ragu spaghetti sauce before, and picked up 50 apples that have fallen off the display in the produce section because Abby decided to swipe the one from the very bottom. But I have never had anyone talk to me directly, and make such an obvious and irritating observation.

I looked at this guy and said, "Do you think I don't know that? Really, do you think I don't know that the lightbulb wouldn't have broken if she wouldn't have touched it?"

I know, I know . . . not a very nice thing to say and certainly not very pastor wifish of me, but I just couldn't hold back. I'm happy that this particular store is not my normal grocery store. I won't be going back anytime soon!

My Sweet Little Adventure

Sometimes I write posts simply because I don't want to lose the memories that have happened during the day. This blog is a lot of things for me, and one of them is a record of our lives. I don't scrapbook and I don't keep a regular journal, but I want to remember the "stuff" of our lives and this seems to be the only way that happens for me.

So today is a post about our little Abby. She's two and still an adventure and I love being her mommy. Here are a few things that happened today that deserve to be remembered (at least for me).

I was talking on the phone with a friend tonight as Abby was finishing up her dinner. She's generally messy and I have learned not to flip out about that, but tonight, she got extra messy. She had applesauce for dinner, as I glanced over at her and caught her rubbing appplesauce up and down her arms as if she were rubbing lotion on her skin. Before I got to her, she had moved to her face. So messy, but oh so cute:)

Every night we say prayers. We say the "Now I Lay Me" prayer and then the Lord's Prayer right after. At the end, we always tag on a few extra prayers for the day. Abby has never said anything during this time, but right as I was about to wrap up the prayer, she said, "My turn, my turn!" They I heard this little voice say, "I wuv Duh Duh (Jenna) and Mama and Da Da and Gamma and Papa. And I wuv Sheshus (Jesus)."

So, so precious.

I Can't Do It

Nate and I are in agreement that we are done adding to our family. We don't feel the need to try for a boy or 8 kids (which everyone always asks me since Nate is the oldest of 8 kids). I am happy with that decision and have been for some time.

My problem is the baby clothes. I have a desire to bless women who cannot afford clothes on their own with the large amount of baby clothes that we have accumulated in the last four years. There is this wonderful charity called, Hope, that collects items for people in need. Another perk is that they pick up your stuff from the curb every few months. I have never put anything out, but this month I am ready! I have a few bags of toys and old clothes of ours that I am ready to part with, and they are ready to go in our garage. I have a note on my calendar to put the clothes out next Wednesday. But I can't seem to bring myself to part with the the numerous large bins of baby clothes that occupy a large space in our garage.

I set a deadline for myself that I would at least go through 0-6 months for this pickup and get rid of most of those. But I can't do it. I stood in my garage tonight, looking at the bins of baby clothes and couldn't even open them to go through them.

I guess giving away the baby clothes is the final acceptance that I am not a mommy of babies anymore and that part of my life is over. And that makes me kind of sad. There's also another part to this. I JUST KNOW that the second I give my clothes away, God will start laughing and give me another little girl. You never know with God, and I'm not looking to give him a reason to laugh at me right now.

So, I can't do it. I'll keep working on it though. . . I've got four days!

Nightmare At The Mall Play Place

Next to those "kid friendly" grocery carts that have a two-seater car on the front with two steering wheels (which is impossible to navigate through the aisles without toppling over a display of Ragu spaghetti sauce), I LOATHE the little play areas that have become popular in malls. You know the ones. The ones with bright green turtles to climb on and cars to drive. The ones with squishy floors where many parents think it's free time for them and an anything goes time for their children?

I took the girls to the mall today to just walk around, have a girls' day out that included the Disney store, dinner, and an ice cream treat. I can never remember the best place to park, as to avoid the play area, and this time, right after we walked into the mall, there it was. Right in front of the Macy's where we came out of from the parking lot. I had obviously parked in the wrong spot. The girls wanted to play so badly, so I let them.

We had an awful experience during our play time and I vow never to go there again. (Let's hope I can remember where to park so I can avoid it all together). So here are my issues with the play areas in malls, based on today's experience.

Issue #1: The germs that must be crawling in that place. I'm pretty sure we'll have a cold or the stomach flu next week.

Issue #2: Big kids that run around like crazy people, knocking little kids down, and the parents that allow that.

Issue #3: Parents not watching their kids.

Issue #4: A little girl who pinched Abby and then pushed her off the bright green turtle. The parent saw this happen did nothing to stop it, didn't apologize to Abby or me, as she fell face first onto the ground crying.

Issue #5: Parents who stand directly behind me and give me dirty looks after I fall into them because their stroller is touching my heels as I am trying to take off Abby's shoes. Why stand that close to me?

Issue #6: Parents who let their little boy run around the play area in only a shirt and a diaper. And a full diaper at that. Seriously . . .gross.

Issue #7: Kids who don't let other kids play in the giant shoe (I think it was a shoe) that had more than enough space for 6 kids and the parents who won't let any other kids in either.

After Issue #4 happened, I scooped up my kids and left muttering under my breath that the play area was the worst place ever. I really wanted to give the mother of the little girl who pushed Abby off the turtle a piece of my mind, but I am trying to avoid drama these days and just kept on walking.

Although the play place was a nightmare today, we had a fun girls' day out:)

A Bit Of Our Day

In case you were all worried . . . we found Blossom! She was all wrapped up in a blanket that was on the couch, and even though I checked it once, I must not have checked well enough. So a crisis was averted, although I was getting pretty nervous and frustrated for a while there.

Today Jenna had her first dance class for the summer at the studio that I'm going to sign her up for in the fall. This particular studio offers a program through the local parks department, so I thought we'd try it out before I committed an entire year's worth of money to them. Jenna's never been in an official dance class before, except for an awful class of 2 year olds through the parks department a few years ago which was so disorganized it was ridiculous. So I vowed that the next dance experience would be with a good studio. So here we are.

We walk in today and Jenna immediately clams up, which shouldn't be a surprise to me, but I was caught off guard. Kind of like when she wouldn't walk down the aisle when she was a flower girl for Josh and Annie's wedding. Really . . . I know that is takes her a while to warm up and that she doesn't just jump into things, but I always seem to forget that. For the first ten minutes, she refused to stand in the circle with the kids, and stood there all shy and nervous. I was so upset that she wouldn't participate. I was thinking about how excited she was for this and how disappointed I would be if she were the kid that stood in the corner each week. (Kind of like swimming lessons when she just stood on the steps for a good 16 weeks.) I stayed in the room with her for a few minutes, but as soon as I left, she was fine. She was having such a great time, and it made me so happy to see her enjoy herself. Especially after we'd spent time and money on the shoes and outfit:)

Wish me luck on the swimming lessons though. We're starting those up again in the fall:) I only pray that she'll get off the steps this time:)

Blossom is on vacation . . .again.

By vacation, I mean that she is missing. I know she is in this house, but I cannot find her for the life of me.

Blossom is Jenna's little bear that is like a member of our family. She is her security, her friend, and her sleeping buddy. She's had her since she was very little.

Last time Blossom went on vacation, I'm pretty sure we lost her in our grocery store. We never found her and I ended up having to order a new one online. We told Jenna that Blossom was on vacation, and that worked for the week or so I needed to find a new one and have it delivered to the house. I can't do that this time. Blossom is a form of a Beanie Baby and is retired. It would be VERY hard to find one.

I saw Blossom today. Jenna had her this afternoon when she was tired and cuddled up to me on the couch. I've looked everywhere!

I've looked:
in the desk drawer (where Jenna has been known to stuff her)
in the refrigerator
in the freezer
in the pantry
in every laundry basket
in the bathtub
under every bed
in every bed
in every drawer
in the play kitchen
in the trashcans
in the garage
in the car
in the desk
in the toy bins
under the couch
behind the chair
outside
everywhere

So, hopefully, we won't be going to bed without our Blossom. We'll see though. I hope she isn't on vacation for long . . . I'm exhausted from looking for her and not looking forward to trying to get Jenna to sleep tonight:)

To Nate

I love my husband, and I love that God gave me the family that He did. Nate is a wonderful daddy, and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have him by my side in this adventure called parenting. Here are a few things that I love about Nate.

I love that he is always willing to play princess dress up.
I love that he actually sounds like the real Elmo when he makes our giant Elmo doll come to life.
I love that he is ready, willing, and able to change diapers, give baths, or get the girls ready at any given time.
I love that he sings the "La Dee Da Dee" part of a song from Cinderella to the girls as he pretends to waltz them around the kitchen like prince charming.
I love that he often turns into a tiger and chases the girls around the house.
I love that he wore a tiara during the entire performance of "Princesses on Ice."
I love that he takes the girls on dates to Blockbuster and King Egg Roll.
I love that he is ours.

Happy Father's Day!

Things I've learned lately.

1. Windex kills ants INSTANTLY. It's actually kind of fun to watch when they are trying to invade your kitchen.

2. Signing Jenna up for swimming lessons only results in her sitting on the steps for two full sessions, that would be 16 weeks, of lessons. Putting up the 8 foot pool in the backyard results in her doing all the things her swimming teacher tried to get her to do--with no fear. Sheesh!

3. Actually trying to stick to a budget is really, really hard.

4. Abby likes to play with the camera (when she can reach it) and likes to play hide and seek with the memory card. This particulaly made me furious in the five minutes before preschool graduation when I realized we had no camera.

5. There are some crazy, way too academic preschools around here. I checked into a few and the local Montessori school expected Jenna to be able to read. She's 4. They also said that at their school, by the end of Kindergarten, kids are able to identify parts of speech. What? That sounds a little developmentally off to me!!

I've finally accepted that I have smell issues.

I think, that I am THAT person. That person who is super-sensitive to smells. Especially candles, potpourri, and lotion--but the big one is cologne/perfume for me.

I have tried to deny my issue for quite some time now, but I've been running a series of tests on myself for the past few weeks, and I finally have to come to the realization that I am THAT person.

It all started when Nate went out and bought himself some nice cologne. Polo cologne to be exact. I really don't know what it's called, other than Polo in a nice green bottle. At first, I thought he was squirting too much (which I still think, but that is another issue). Every morning, he would get ready for work and I would dread him coming anywhere near me because the awful smell of his cologne seemed to envelope him like Pigpen's stench and linger in the house for hours giving me nasty headaches. I asked him to only put on one spray instead of two or three. But after a while, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I hid the bottle of cologne. Now, I should have just thrown it away, but I figured I'd get in really big trouble for that one, so I simply hid it. I told him I hid it, and he spent the next few months looking for it. No more yucky Polo cologne smell anymore and I was in heaven.

Then he found it. And started wearing it again. After I complained enough, he agreed to stop wearing it. Then . . . when we were in Houston, and he fell in love with Tommy Bahama cologne. I liked the smell too! Convinced that my headaches came from the nasty Polo cologne, I was so excited that my troubles seemed to be going away.

Well, the problem wasn't the cologne-it was me. The Tommy Bahama cologne does the same thing to me and it puts me in a difficult position.

When I ride in the car with Nate, I roll the window down. When I get in his car, my eyes sting from the faint smell of the cologne. I will often get a headache after hugging him before he leaves for work because the cologne gets to me. Last week, I put some of my perfume on, which I rarely wear, and I got a headache . . . so I for sure know that I have smell issues.

I can't ask Nate to quit wearing his cologne because he loves it, but I hate whining every day about the smell bothering me. I try to tell him that he wears too much, but he says that he doesn't. I think I just finally have to accept that the issue is not him, but it is me and my smell issues. If anyone has any good cologne suggestions that don't incite headaches, they are welcome!

The Strangest Thing

Last night, I hosted the first meeting of a book club that we are starting at church. It's just a bunch of girls meeting to talk about a book we're reading. Our first book is by Dr. Kevin Leman, 7 things he'll never tell you, but you need to know. We had a really fun time . . . nothing too serious, just fun talk about the way God made men:)

At one point, we ended up talking about making beds--I'm not sure how we got on that topic, but we did. Two women in our group talked about how they make their bed before they get into at night.

Really? I have never heard of this before!

I asked them if they made it in the morning, and they said no, that they only make it right before they get into bed at night so that that the covers are all straight.

I have just never heard of this before and thought it was a bit strange! If you don't make your bed in the morning, why go to the trouble right before you mess it all up again?

My two friends, however, were adament about the importance of making the bed before going to sleep:)

Does anyone else out there do that?

I think I might have to try it and see what they are talking about!

Self-Control at Kohls

Kohls was having a huge sale today. Like 60% off sale if you went to the early bird part.

I love Kohls. I love the clothes, the housewares, the purses, the shoes. I love most of Kohls and usually have a hard time leaving without something cute.

Today, I went in to buy a comforter and sheet set for the vicar's apartment and I was so proud of myself. I went straight into the store, headed to the bedding department, picked out my comforter, and proceeded right to the checkout.

I passed the cute kids clothes, the shoes, the cute new purses, the new capris that I really thought might look cute on me, and I went and paid. I didn't stop once to look and be tempted. Sure, I saw lots of stuff that I could certainly use, but I didn't stop. Nope--just kept going.

I got a steal on the comforter too.

Now that's what I call self-control at Kohls. A first for me.

I'm in love with the steam mop

I guess you know you are old when you get excited about corded appliances . . . I was super excited about the new toaster oven that Nate gave me for my birthday, but I have a new love. The Shark Steam Mop.

I hate mopping the floor. I hate the mess on the floor. Those two things don't go together, so I decided to try the Steam Mop.

It's awesome! You just fill it with water, wait 30 seconds, and mop the floor! It's as clean as regular mopping with no sticky nastiness on the floor, and it dries in minutes so the kids don't have to be herded out of the kitchen for a long time while the floor dries.

So there it is . . . my commercial. But I love the Steam Mop and if you hate mopping and are looking for an easy solution--check it out!

I am.

I am a mommy, but my girls are not babies anymore. My mommy role is the same, but always changing.

I am a teacher, but not to kids, but to adults who are getting their lives together.

I am a wife, with a wonderfully forgiving, understanding, and one heck of a cleaner husband.

I am a pastor's wife, sometimes uncomfortable with life in that bubble.

I am a daughter, too far away from my parents.

I am a graddaughter, too far away from my grandma.

I am a friend, always learning and growing, trying to figure it out.

But most of all I am here. I am in this spot for a reason. I have the life that I have, the job that I have, the friends that I have, the house that I have--all for a reason. And it is all so very good. Ashamedly, I've been too much of a complainer to myself and others around me. (I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I've had a bad attitude for a while now.) But God gave me all of these good things, and I don't want life to pass me by while I dwell on the hard and difficult things.

I have quit lots of things I'm involved in--which is not a bad thing. I am no longer teaching the women's Bible study. I am no longer working as an administrative assistant from home. I am no longer volunteering for any big projects at church. I am taking a step back to let all the good in my life happen and focus on that. (Not to say that volunteering at church isn't good--the time committment isn't good at this point). I have a new job that allows me to work for three hours a day and devote the rest of my time to my family. I want to do just that. I want to play Barbies with my girls without worrying about what project I have to work on next. I want to paint Abby's room and fill photo albums (and yes, I have finally accepted that scrapbooking is never in my future because I detest crafts), and take baby dolls for a walk with my girls.

I've realized that complaining about the things that I wish were different gets me nowhere. I have a beautiful family and precious time with them that won't be here forever. Pretty soon they'll be on their cell phones talking to boys and wearing makeup. And before that happens, I want to take the time to just "be" their mommy and all that goes with that.

Life is good, my family is good, and I look forward to focusing on that goodness.

I might need a margarita before noon

I am not a huge drinker. Red wine gives me headaches, beer makes me tipsy too fast, and alcohol in general makes me sleepy. I cannot afford to be sleepy these days with two little girls demanding my attention all day.

But sometimes, a raspberry swirl margarita from On The Border sounds so very good.

Now would be one of those times. It's 7:50am. Some mornings the girls aren't even out of bed at this time, but they've been up testing my patience for about an hour now.

I got on the exercise bike this morning (this is the first time I've consistently exercised since my Penn State days) and rode for about 25 minutes. During the last half of the ride, Abby sat next to the bike, whining about wanting to go downstairs. I knew she just wanted a yogurt (the drinking kind) and I asked Nate if he would get one for her so she could fill her tummy and I could ride in peace for the last 10 minutes. He refused because he was sure that she would spill it all over the floor--which she never does with drinking yogurt. And while I understood Nate's point, it is such a mental struggle to even get myself on the exercise bike and I just wanted to finish my time whine free. That didn't happen, and I listened to "ounstairs mommy, ounstairs" for the next ten minutes.

Jenna gets up and immediately starts crying because she didn't get to give Nate a hug before he left. He left about 2 minutes before she got out of her bed.

Next, Jenna refused to take her Pull-Up off and laid on the ground for a good 5 minutes whining about how she didn't want to do it.

As Jenna is getting changed, Abby tried to tell Jenna something and Jenna ignored her. Abby came running out of her room crying her head off because her big sister was ignoring her. After I cleared that up, we headed downstairs.

After getting downstairs and agreeing that the girls would have waffles and strawberries for breakfast, I started making breakfast. Jenna whined because it was taking too long, and then after I put her plate in front of her, she whined some more about the fact that the pieces I cut (which is the way I cut them all the time, per her request) were too big.

While I've been typing this post, there's been no more crying or whining--so the day is looking much better! Don't get me wrong--I know that kids cry and whine, but we had an awful lot of it in such a short period of time first thing this morning, and I seriously thought about getting the blender out:)

Why not wear snow boots in 95 degree weather?

Abby chose her own shoes this morning, and insisted on these pink snow boots. I didn't argue, because it's not worth trying to rationalize with a 2 year old. I am a firm believer in picking my battles, and this is not one worth picking.

So what if we got snickers in Target and the grocery store as we went about our shopping? Abby knows what she wants and I was not about to get in the way of this one:)

Such High Hopes

I've been having a hard time finding a dinner that everyone likes. Abby is the biggest issue. Some days she likes ham, some days she doesn't. Some days she likes mac and cheese, some days she doesn't. Some days she likes hot dogs, some days, she doesn't. I hate to make multiple meals for dinner--I'm into everyone eating the same thing each night. But as Abby began crossing things off her list of food items that she liked, I was forced to try to come up with new meal ideas.

So, I dug back to my childhood and pulled out the old pot roast. My mom made pot roast a lot. It was good, but I have never, ever made it in our 8 1/2 years of marriage. Not because I don't like it, but mostly because I had no idea how to make it (okay, I'm a bit embarrassed about that) and never looked up the recipe. So, I looked it up, got out my slow cooker, and made this fabulous pot roast that every single person in our family devoured. I really mean devoured. Nate, Jenna, and Abby all ate their first helping, and asked for more. This does not happen often.

I had high hopes for tonight. I planned to make the pot roast again, sure that it would be a hit and a hassle free dinner.

I was wrong.

I prepared the pot roast just like before (at least I think I did) and was excited about our family meal tonight. Keep in mind that Nate isn't home every night and I am not the best meal planner. I often pull something together at the last minute. But tonight, I had a plan, and a good one.

After the side dishes were done, I went to cut the pot roast and realized that I had to really work at cutting the meat. Pot roast is not supposed to be like this. The pot roast was as hard as a rock and not edible. So everything else is ready and I have no meat to serve. The kids have been scavengering for an hour-which, in our house, means that they are sneaking into the pantry and climbing counters to get food because they are so hungry. I am desperate to feed them a good meal. So, what did I pull out?

Hot dogs. Seriously . . . . I am so disappointed that the meal that everyone will eat is not going to happen and I had to resort to hot dogs.

On top of that, Nate ended up not being home for dinner and, you guessed it. Abby says, "Mommy, I no like gahgogs."

At least I tried.

Such high hopes.

More on our Disneyland Adventure

As I was reading my blog post from yesterday on our trip to Disneyland, I was a tiny bit embarrassed. I am not the best writer in the world, but that last post was pathetic, and I apologize to you all. I really wanted to get a few pictures up and tell about our trip, but I ended up writing a fragmented account of our trip. If that were an English essay and I was grading it, I would have given myself a failing grade.

So here's, hopefully, a better account of our wonderful trip last week.

My parents came down before our trip and spent the weekend with us, which was so wonderful! We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and got ready for our travels. We left Monday and gave ourselves the whole day to travel. #1 We had a 6-7 hour car ride. #2 We have two children who can barely make it to Target without complaining and #3 All the adults in the car would definitely need a break from those who were 4 or under in the car. We were right. We left at 10 and got in at 7:30pm. We were smart to leave a whole day.

We have portable DVD players, but haven't used them in a long time--for several reasons. #1 We don't take long car trips anymore since we have to fly to see everyone we know. I don't let the kids watch tv in the car to go 20 minutes away. I had to entertain myself, so do they. #2, Jenna used to get car sick.

I can't say used to anymore, because by the time we got to Gilroy (20 minutes away), she was looking green after watching the DVD players in the car. No throwing up, but my hope of having the girls zoned out by the DVD player was dashed and I had to deal with their every need, complaint, and issue.

We stayed in the Residence Inn, which I am now in love with, but is still 2nd to the Hampton Inn. We booked a suite with two bedrooms and a living room and kitchen for the kids. My parents had one bedroom and we had another with the girls. It was perfect for Disneyland and our sanity. They put on a killer breakfast with kids' tables and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on flat screen tvs all over the room. It was perfect.

Disneyland itself is definitely a magical place and we were so very happy to experience it with my parents. The girls were in awe every time they saw a character walk down the street, and even more so when we got to meet the princesses. They have these autograph books, where you can put a picture next to the page that the character signs. My mom got one for Jenna and her first signature was Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. After she finished signing her book, Jenna walked up to me, almost in tears, wondering why the Fairy Godmother had scribbled in her book:) I had to explain that she signed it. How cute. She soon got over it and understood the process.

We spent most of our time on the Merry Go Round and the Tea Cups. We also liked the little princess area, that I can't remember the name of right now. One time, we caught a story told by Sleeping Beauty and another time we caught a lesson by several of the princesses on how to dance like one. I do have some advice for anyone considering this as a vacation. Do not take your children on "Snow White's Scary Adventures" because you think the "Snow White" part will erase the "scary" part. Not true. Jenna refused to go on any more rides that were inside buildings like the Snow White ride was.

Jenna was also afraid of the pirates from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. She was convinced that they were roaming the park after her. Luckily, they didn't find her:)

Abby had just as much fun as Jenna did! Here are her names for the princesses. I have to write this down so I remember it:

Snow White (her favorite)= Oh White
Cinderella = Cindayahyah
Sleeping Beauty = Seeping Booty (kind of funny!)
Jasmine = Gamine
Ariel = Yoyo

The ride home was torturous. I really was counting on the DVD players and that was out of the picture given the large possibility of Jenna puking. The girls were exhausted, as was I. They were never satisfied with any snack, activity, or answer when they asked every five minutes, "When are we going to be there?" At one point, Nate told me that I was being awful, so I had to straighten up a bit, but I strongly contend that driving the car is a way easier job than sitting in the back with children. Next time, I am going to stake my claim on driving if I can.

So, two days was enough for me, but a magical and wonderful experience that I'm so happy to have shared with my parents and our friends, the Gibsons. I'm also happy that we live close enough to visit again someday.

Our Disneyland Adventure

Last week, we took the girls to Disneyland and it was such a wonderful, awesome experience. We only went for two days, and I'm glad that's all we did. We were all worn out and ready to go home! My parents came with us and got to witness, first hand, the absolute joy on the girls' faces when they met the princesses face to face. The former senior pastor at Mt. Olive, lives close to Disney, so he and his family met us there for one day and had a blast as well.

The princess breakfast really was the highlight for the girls. We ate breakfast at a place called Ariel's Grotto--which is way expensive--and the princesses came around to each table and talked to the girls before they took their picture with them. It really was priceless and I think Abby just stood in amazement the whole time.

Here are a few pictures from our time at Disney.

Another slot in my DVD player is gone forever

Well, maybe not forever, but for a long time.

We have a DVD player that holds six DVDs at the same time in our van. Currently, and in this order, this is what we have in there:
1. Worship mix music made by Nate--lots of Lincoln Brewster and Chris Tomlin.
2. Paul Baloche--a great Christian songwriter
3. VBS music from two years ago--Fiesta
4. VBS music from one year ago--Wild Ride
5. Hannah Montana (not complaining about this one)
6. Wheels On The Bus (fun kid songs)

So yesterday we walked into the church lobby and saw THE table. It's the one we've been waiting for for a while now. The VBS table with the VBS cds available for sale. This year, VBS is called Power Lab and has some really great songs. I enjoy these songs just as much as the girls do and don't mind the fact that I will be listening to them for the next two to three years on a daily basis. We've already made up a fun dance routine to the first song:)

I just have to tell you that we've had the first two VBS DVDs in our car since they first came out one and two years ago. Now, I have to figure out which slot in my DVD player that I will permanently give up. If I were selfish, I'd get rid of the Wheels on the Bus, but if I weren't selfish, I'd get rid of one of my worship CDs. I definitely can't get rid of either VBS cd or Hannah Montana. And I"m not willing to get rid of my worship mix because I really love that one. So, it's down to Paul Baloche or Wheels on the Bus. I'll let you know what I decide.

Today

A few things in my world right now . . .

1. My parents are coming at the end of this week and we are all going to Disneyland together! Jenna, especially, is so very excited to meet the princesses and see where they live. This will be an awesome experience and we are REALLY looking forward to it.
2. I am working hard to find a new apartment for the next vicar. The current ones live in a place that I picked out and thought was nice. A few weeks ago, there was a prostitution ring busted and a guy arrested IN THEIR BUILDING who was wanted on criminal charges in another state. We can't have the new vicar living there! So of course, I am looking for nice places without criminals. Wish me luck.
3. I am enjoying my new job--teaching Saturday GED preparation classes.
4. I got home from the women's retreat yesterday. I was a co-coordinator and I think it went pretty well. You know when you have those moments with God when he tells you something that you've been trying to figure out for a while? Well, God told me that I have a bad attitude this past weekend, so I'm working on that . . . and I think I agree with him:)
5. Abby wants to do everything herself: change her own diaper, dress herself, brush her own teeth, get her own utensils, buckle her own carseat, walk by herself-she often refuses to hold my hand, and fix her own hair. As you can imagine allowing a two year old to do some of these things without assitance can be very messy and/or frustrating. My patience has been tested a lot lately.
6. My friend, Tamara, sent me a YouTube clip this morning of Bon Jovi and the All-American Rejects singing, "It's My Life." The subject line in her email was "a bright start to your day." She must know that God told me that I have a bad attitude and needed some JBJ to start my day today. She knows me well:)
7. Because my parents are coming, I will be spending the next few days planning each meal, cleaning carpets, working in the yard, and generally making sure that everything is ready for their arrival because my husband loves when they come and wants everything to look good and be perfect. He's obsessive about the carpets and the massive carpet cleaning starts in a few hours. So fun, so fun!

I can't believe she said that . . .

As I was getting breakfast ready this morning, a conversation between me and Jenna went like this:

Jenna: Mommy, can I wear my Easter shoes today? You know the pink ones with the sparkles?
Me: No, Jenna. We only wear those on Sundays now.

Looking over her shoulder with a scowl on her face, her hand on her hip, and her little rear end sticking out, she said . . .

"If you don't be good to me, you'll have to talk to the booty butt!"

I almost cracked up right there!! Where the heck did she learn that? I didn't know if I should laugh or scold her for telling me to talk to her butt.

I did both.

Odds & Ends

Nate left this morning to go to St. Louis to meet our new vicar (can you believe the seminary gives him a vicar?) and I am already bored. My house is picked up, the dishes are done, the laundry is in a good place, I have no work for Arlene, and my kids are in bed. I am thoroughly looking forward to The Bachelor tonight, but that's a whole other post.

So here are a few things in my world today:

1) I bought this new scrapbooking software. Tamara--I know, I can't compare to the scrapbooking goddess that you are, but I have to do something with the 5500 pictures on my computer. If I can't get my act together to get into this digital scrapbooking thing where you arrange pictures on templates (or create your own--but I'll probably stick with the templates) then I'll just have to resign myself to being okay just printing out pictures to put in albums. I REALLY want to be a crafty scrapbooker, but I am not. I hate crafts. I was so happy when our MOPS group banned crafts. That's just me. But I want to have a good record of our kids and our life together. I want to at least have albums, scrapbooks would be great even if they are faker digital ones.

2) The Bay Area has lots and lots of homeless people. It is very common to have a homeless person on all four medians at a busy intersection asking for food or money. When I take Jenna to preschool, there is this one guy who is ALWAYS at the median in the left hand turn lane right before her school. I always feel awful because I have no food to give him. (I don't give money usually, because I'm not comfortable with that). Every day, I see him and look around my car to see if I have anything to give him. I always figure that he doesn't want Goldfish crumbs, so I try to remember to bring some food from home. I never remember. But today I did. And he wasn't there. I even packed him a whole roll of Oreos. Oh well, I'll try again soon.

3) I've been feeling a bit isolated lately and am so happy that I get to go to my grandma's 94th birthday party in May. I hate not being able to get in the car and go to family functions. But I am really happy to be able to go to this one. It's been over a year since I've seen her and last time I talked to her on the phone she told me that she hoped she would see me before she dies. I have to go and want to go, she's my grandma, and I love her.

4) I was so proud of Jenna today. In the car, "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi came on, and she said, "Mommy, I know this song and I love it. What's that guy's name? Jon Jovi?" So proud . . . So proud.

5) We just discovered Skype. It's awesome and free.

Baptized or Bathtized?

I came across the most hilarious thing earlier this week while my kids were playing in the bathtub! As I was busy straightening the bathroom up, they started pouring water on each others' heads. I didn't pay much attention at first, because they love to pour cups of water all over the place in the bathtub. Then I looked back and this is what I heard and saw:

Jenna: Abby, lean back because I am going to bathtize you.
Abby: No, Ja Ja (her name for Jenna)
Jenna: Come on, Abby. I'll be Daddy, and you be the baby.
Abby: Okay Ja Ja.

Abby leans her head back and Jenna pours water on her head and says, "Now you're bathtized into God's family. Yay Abby!"

After I laughed under my break, as not to interrupt this hilarous site, I wondered if Jenna forgot that Abby had already been baptized. Hmmm. . . And I also wondered if they are really interchanging the words "baptize" and "bathtize" or if "bathtize" is just the bathtub version of the baptisms Daddy does at church. I'll have to ask Jenna.

So today, there was a baptism at church and both girls happened to still be in church at that point. (Abby usually makes it to the sermon and then we take her to the nursery.) The conversation between them went like this:

Jenna: Hey Abby, that little baby is getting baptized just like us!
Abby: No baff (bath) Ja Ja (Jenna). Where the baff (bath)?

I hope one day, my children understand the real meaning of being baptized, but for now it seems to be a fun game they play in the bathtub.

Go ahead . . . I'm sure you are all thinking that I'm a terrible pastor's wife/mommy who lets her kids play baptism in the bathtub. Hey, at least they get that a baptism includes water!

I can't wait to share this story with them when they are 12:)

A Date with Daddy

Nate and Jenna went to the Giant's game yesterday and had some wonderful Daddy & Jenna time. As Jenna was getting ready to go--putting her hat and sunglasses on, Abby thought she was going too. She found her sunglasses and walked out the door and said,"Bye Mommy!" She was REALLY upset when she realized that she couldn't go. Nate only had two tickets and she was still recovering from the nasty stomach flu that hit her the day before.

The members of our church share season's tickets to Giant's games and draft for them each year. We have awesome seats, but due to the blazing hot sun and the fact that there's not much melatonin in either Nate or Jenna's skin, they moved to the seats with shade.

When I asked Jenna what her favorite part of the day was, she said cotton candy and Daddy. :)

Candy For Dinner?

We have this bowl of M&Ms and jelly beans that are on our kitchen counter. They are far enough where the girls can't reach it without getting a chair to swipe some. In the past few days, Abby has been working very hard to get her chair to the counter fast enough to be able to get to the candy bowl before I catch her in the act. But today, she tried a different approach. She quietly snuck over to the counter and reached up as far as she could. She got the edge of the candy dish and slid it to the edge. This is all while I am about five feet from her with my back to her.

When I heard the bowl being dragged to the edge of the counter, I watched her for a minute:) She kept looking back at me with this smirk on her face carefully watching me to see if I would catch her. When our eyes met, I said, "Abby, you can't have any candy. We are having dinner soon."
With that same smirk she said, "Abby numma nummas (M&Ms)?"
I said, "No M&Ms for dinner."
Abby said, "Chocolate dinner?" (She wanted chocolate for dinner.)
I said, "No chocolate for dinner."
Abby said,"Foot acks dinner?" (Fruit snacks)
I said, "No stinker--no fruit snacks for dinner."

All of this with a sneaky little smirk on her face. But oh so cute:)

A Lesson in Contentment

I lead a women's Bible study on Tuesday mornings, and today was the last day in our series on contentment. I am constantly amazed at how God continues to shape, mold, and teach me as I go. I have been leading this Bible study for six weeks (although I was gone a few for vacation) and just today realized what a gift I was given in terms of contentment.

Nate and I have been struggling with the issue of me going back to work for a while. To be frank, in order for us to make it financially out here, I need to work. I wish it weren't that way, I wish that every time I turn around a utility bill wasn't going up or that a gallon of gas wasn't getting closer to $4 a gallon every day. (We are currently at $3.79.) But we were told that before we even came here. We knew that most women worked and we knew that our decision for me to stay home with the girls wouldn't last forever and that we'd be tight for that time. But now it's time for me to jump back into teaching and there has been much to think about.

For weeks, I obsessed about what I should do. Should I teach full time at a public school and put my kids in daycare all day? Should I work at a Christian school where both girls could be in school/daycare on the same campus as me? Should I look for something part-time?

I almost immediately threw out the idea of working at a public school (although I could have made good money there) because I couldn't bear the thought of getting up super early to hand my kids over to another woman to raise (at least Abby). I just couldn't do it. There are women that are completely comfortable with full time daycare and I respect their decision, but for me personally, I just couldn't see myself doing that. Not with Abby being too young to even be in preschool.

I contacted all the Christian schools in the area, and not one had an opening for a middle school language arts teacher. I then gave up and told God that if he wanted me to work, he would have to figure this all out. Then I saw a job posting for the adult school. Long story short--it looks like I will be teaching a Monday-Saturday GED test preparation class in the morning from 9-12. Perfect. I can do part-time. Jenna can be in morning preschool and Abby can go to a babysitter for four mornings a week. Nate is home on Friday and Saturdays and can be with the girls then.

As I have been obsessing over how I am going to contribute financially to our family, God has been working up a plan that meets all of our needs. As soon as I gave the situation to him and took myself out of it, a great situation came up. Now, if I had my choice, I would always be teaching 7th graders, but I am excited for the new teaching road ahead and know that if God made that path straight, than it must be a good one.

I am content.

A Good Day Is . . .

1. When Jenna does not fight me about what she is going to wear. Usually she only wants to wear Easter type dresses and that doesn't work most days.
2. When my jeans have just come out of the dryer and they fit well without showing off my belly fat.
3. When Jenna agrees to take a nap and I get to take one too.
4. When Nate is home in the evening.
5. When I actually plan a healthy meal instead of standing in front of my pantry at 5pm trying to figure out what to make.
6. When Abby doesn't make some mess that is a pain to clean up. For example in between #5 and #6, she climbed up on the office desk, grabbed the black Sharpie marker that I thought was out of reach, and colored all over the computer monitor. Lovely.
7. When we get to take our "babies" (the girls' dolls--no I am not pregnant) for a walk around the neighborhood.
8. When I get to have coffee with a friend.
9. When I get to go to Target. I'll take this one with or without kids.
10. When my house is clean before I go to bed.

A Confession

A few weeks ago, I was so excited about Abby's progress in potty training. I wrote that she was all but potty trained and that I was so excited for diapers to be a thing of the past.

I jinxed myself.

While she was doing so well with potty training, she would go through a ton of diapers. She'd get a new one every time she went, so I decided to get her those Pampers Easy Ups--the ones with Dora on them. Since I got those for her, she has not gone on the potty. I thought it would be easier for her to slip them on and off and she wouldn't waste as many. But, she's quit all together.

So, I am confessing that my daughter is not potty trained like I said before. I am still buying diapers. And we are back to square one with potty training.

Lesson learned? Never change the routine of a potty training child and never write about it on your blog.

Tidbits from our trip to Houston

We just got back from a week long trip to Houston, Texas. We did our vicarage there and made some friends who have become our family. Here are some highlights from the trip.

-Perpetual sweat. 89 degrees and 89% humidity. When you live in the Bay Area where there is 0% humidity, this is quite an adjustment.
-A shopping trip to Target. This was great because #1 it was with Tamara, #2 we walked up and down every single aisle and got to carefully look at anything we wanted because #3 the kids weren't with us.
-Cindy's chocolate martinis. So yummy.
-Going to church and sitting next to my husband.
-Not being anyone's pastor (or the pastor's family). I am not the pastor, as you all know, so I guess Nate was just Nate this week and I was happy for him to be just Nate this week.
-Seeing our kids get to know and love Shelby and Seth (Chuck and Tamara's kids).
-An evening of excellent Mexican food, a good margarita, and a few hours of singing along to the Bon Jovi DVD.
-Watching Seth pin Abby under a large bucket. Her little legs was hanging out and she was crying so hard. I so wanted to go grab my camera because it really was a hilarious sight, but I would have felt guilty for leaving my screaming, scared child under a bucket while I snapped a picture of her.
-Visiting with Nate's aunt and uncle. They are so loving and giving and fun to be with. We love connecting with family we don't get to see often.
-Experiencing the friendliness of Texans. There really has to be something to Southern hospitality. People wave to you, they talk to you in stores--it's a phenomenon that I've only seen in Texas.
-The best pedicure ever--Really, this place (and I can't remember the name of it) tops all the other places I've been. Not that there's been many, but if I lived in Kingwood, I'd have a hard time avoiding that place.
-Going to the zoo and watching Seth chase ducks in the mud.
-The best part was just being able to spend time some of our favorite people in the whole world. They love us and we love them.

Happy Birthday Abby!

Abby's 2 today!

Nate = Murray Wiggle

Jenna doesn't like to go in the nursery anymore, so she usually sits with me in church. But tonight, she REALLY wanted to sit with Nate. That couldn't happen because Nate did a reenactment type thing of the Last Supper and played the part of Jesus. So he wasn't sitting in the pews. Jenna went up to Nate before the service started, and the conversation went something like this:

Jenna: Daddy, can I sit with you tonight?
Nate: Sorry, sweatheart, not tonight. I won't be sitting in the pews.
Jenna: Well how about tomorrow night, we have church then too. Can I sit with you
then?
Nate: No, I have to sing with the band tomorrow night.
Jenna: So that makes you a Wiggle then? (Obviously since he sings in a band.)
Nate: Which Wiggle does that make me?
Jenna: Murray Wiggle, since you play the guitar and sing on stage:)

Three Things I Can Never Find In My House

#1 I can never find muffin cups when I want to make cupcakes. Why? My children think that they are to be used for all kinds of art projects. They especially seem to make good snowflakes. Abby constantly tries to use them to carry snacks around, although they constantly fall out because they are only paper. Even if I put them somewhere where I think the girls won't find them, they always seem to sniff them out.

#2 Band-Aids. Everytime I buy new Band-Aids, they are gone within 5 days. As I speak, Abby is unloading the new box of Barbie ones I just bought and put all 35 on her right foot. All this in less than 10 minutes.

#3 My underwear. I really think that I have a lot of underwear. In fact, I know I do. But I have had to hunt for one clean pair every morning the last few weeks. I was lucky enough to find a clean pair in the load I did yesterday. I have an idea where they go . . . I recently found about 12 pairs in a backpack that Jenna conveniently packed. The backpack was buried in her closet. So, I know my underwear is in the house, I'm just not sure where Jenna has put them.

Update on Abby

We are home from the hospital and Abby is doing well after her surgery today. She's a little groggy and not too happy about the bandage on her hand where the IV was, but she's eating and resting on the couch with Jenna watching Barbie, the Magic Pegasus. We'll know she's back to feeling 100% when we catch her scaling the bathroom counter again:)

Before I give you the details of our day, I just have to say that I absolutely love our health insurance. We have Kaiser Permanente, which is an HMO, and it is the best healthcare we've ever received. Guess how much we paid for Abby's surgery today? $5. Yes, $5. That's it. In addition to the low costs for us, they have excellent doctors. In fact, doctors compete to be on staff with them. Kaiser is awesome and our church selected a great plan that is top notch--so yay to both of them. And for those of you wondering why our LCMS church isn't with the Concordia Health Plans, it's because they are way more expensive for the church and for us. I know most LCMS churches wouldn't even dare go someplace other than Concordia for their health plan, but our church does their own thing sometimes and we are grateful that they did.

So I got all the information in the mail regarding Abby's surgery earlier this week. On the sheet, it said that Abby had to stop eating at midnight the night before, but could have clear liquids (which includes Jello, juice, water, popsicles, etc.) until 7:30am. They wanted a 3 hour time frame of no eating at all before her surgery at 10:30am. Then yesterday, I got a phone call from some nurse telling me that she couldn't have anything--no clear liquids at all after midnight. I freaked out a little bit, because I couldn't imagine not feeding Abby something in the morning. She demands gogo (yogurt) the second she wakes up every morning. So, I called the pediatric surgeon's office who sent me the paper saying I could give her clear liquids before 7:30. She said, absolutely yes. She can have a cup of Jello before 7:30.

So, I gave Abby Jello and a little bit of water at about 7:15am. When we got to the hospital, our doctor was ahead of schedule and wanted to take Abby in early, but coudln't because it hadn't been three hours since she had her Jello and water. The doctor and the nurses treated me like I had done something wrong by giving her the Jello and water before 7:30. I kept telling them that the sheet they sent me said I could and that I even called the nurse to make sure. Our doctor was visibly annoyed that I gave Abby Jello this morning and the nurses left the room talking about how awful it was that I did that. So, I felt like the worst mom ever, even though I was told twice it was okay to give her Jello before 7:30.

We had to wait an hour and a half for them to do surgery on another baby while Abby's Jello digested. They brought in this sedative medicine that made Abby act like a drunk little baby. It was so funny! She was talking slowly and slurring her words. Her eyes were rolling in her head and she was giggling at nothing. Pretty funny.

After Abby came out of surgery, the doctor apologized to me about the way she and her staff had acted earlier and said that they needed to all be on the same page about food before surgery. So, I gave her the sheet that was my proof for Abby to eat Jello before 7:30. Needless to say, I felt better about the whole thing after I realized that I hadn't done anything wrong. It was a communication problem between the pediatric surgery department and the anesthesia department.

So, we are thankful for a successful surgery and that it wasn't wasn't a terribly serious health issue. The nurse told me that our doctor was performing 7 surgeries today, all on children under 3. As I saw them coming in an out of the waiting room, I wondered what their condition was. Their parents had scared looks on their faces, much like mine, and I prayed for each of them as they went in. Abby just had a little cyst that had to be removed, but I'm sure that some of those kids had surgeries that were more complicated and scary than hers. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Thank you for all of your prayers today!

Abby's Surgery

We would appreciate prayers for Abby tomorrow. She is scheduled for surgery to remove a urachal cyst. She has a little bubble of skin on the end of her belly button that is growing bigger ever so slightly as it fills up with fluid. Apparently, when babies are born, something inside of them in the belly button area (sorry I don't know the technical terms) closes off, but Abby's did not. So, she has a tiny little opening that is leaking fluid into the cyst (or bubble of skin) on the outside. If it becomes infected, it could infect her insides and that wouldn't be good. So the cyst comes off tomorrow.

I first noticed it when she was a few months old and asked our doctor about. He told me it was nothing and not to worry about it. That doctor turned out to be AWLFUL for many reasons I won't go into, but we switched doctors and when I pointed the bubble on Abby's belly button out to our new doctor, she took one look at it and said, "Oh yeah, that's a urachal cyst and it needs to be surgically removed." Needless to say, we LOVE our new doctor and am happy to be rid of the other one. It's taken a while to get into the pediatric surgeon and get surgery scheduled, but here we are--it's tomorrow.

It's not a major procedure. They have to take the cyst off and tie up the inside, but they have to put her under for it and that's what makes me nervous. Actually, the fact that she can't eat or drink much of anything tomorrow morning makes me really nervous. The doctor says she can have Jello and water before 7:30am, but that's it. So, I am hoping that Abby is okay with Jello and water for breakfast. She loves those Danimals drinking yogurts and the first thing out of her mouth in the morning is usually, "Mommy, I wan a gogo!" (Mommy, I want a yogurt!) So wish me luck trying to convince Abby that the gogo is all gone tomorrow.

Abby will be home tomorrow, but she probably won't feel very good after the anesthesia, so we plan to spent a few days at home recooperating. We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

A few fun pictures

The first one is of Jenna trying to imitate me putting on makeup. Doesn't she look beautiful? She'll learn someday that the eyeliner actually goes around the eyes:)

The next one is of us right before we left for Princesses on Ice. It was fun to walk through the streets of San Jose with our little princesses. A fun night!

Miss Independent

Notice the pants in this picture of Abby? Miss Independent. She insists on doing everything herself and accepts no help unless defeat is inevitable.

So, this week, Abby potty trained herself. No, I am not pushing her to be potty trained by two or anxious to get her out of diapers. Jenna wasn't trained until she was 3. I'm a big believer in letting my kids do things when they are ready. She just did it by herself. She sees Jenna and wants to be just like her. About every thirty minutes or so, Abby is MIA and I know exactly where to find her. In the bathroom. Her diaper is neatly thrown in the trash, half the roll of toilet paper is on the floor (why? I don't know, but it happens every time), and she is proudly sitting on the potty saying, "Mommy, I see pawee." (translation, "Mommy, I sit potty.")

I'm pretty excited about the fact that diapers may be a thing of the past in our house and looking forward to the raise that will come in our monthly budget because of it.

So, our little independent, I do everything myself, my way or the highway, go getter, sweet Abby, continues to live up to her personality.

Yay for no more diapers!

Living in the Fishbowl

Thank you to all of you who commented on the post about pastor's wives. I learned that I am not the only one interested in this, and I wonder if maybe there's a need for more communication between pastor's wives and church workers in general about life in the fishbowl. One comment from Megan said she gets to talk about her frustrations with other pastor's wives in the area. I don't have many of those. We don't live in Lutheran land or even Christian land. Only 5% of our community here in the Bay Area even knows of Jesus Christ as their savior. So, these conversations are definitely good for me.

So here are a few more things to discuss. And feel free to ask your own questions. There are probably other issues out there that I am not hitting on.

Finances--It's sometimes hard for me that everyone in our congregation has the opportunity to know how much we make (if they happen to be at the voters' meeting). I've had someone offer to pay for our dinner while we were out with them "because they know how much we make." (It's one thing to do it and another to say it!) Most people our age out here don't own a home because it is crazy expensive. It's almost impossible unless you make a ton of money. We are able to own our home because the church recognized the fact that if they don't help with housing, they would have a hard time getting any pastor to stay here. We are blessed to be in the house that we are, but I often feel weird about it. I guess I feel a little strange that we have a house and so many of our friends and church members are dealing with the crazy cost of both real estate and rent. That is my own issue though.

Tithing. I fully believe that God wants us to put Him before everything else. He wants us to trust him and he wants to take care of us. I am a big believer in tithing--not only because we've seen the blessings that come from it, but most importantly because God tells us to do it and through our giving, others know Christ. But finances are often an issue for all kinds of church workers. We come out of Concordia with more debt than we make in an entire year--and that's usually only school debt. Let's face it, we did not get into this profession to make money, and falling into the debt trap is so easy to do.

My question is--is it okay for a church worker's family not to tithe? That's a hard question to answer, but all I know is that I'm not sure Nate could preach a sermon on tithing, tell his church members to obey God in that area, and not be doing it himself.

Have at it!

Seriously . . .

I was watching the news today and learned that Barack Obama raised 50 million dollars in a month lately and Hillary Clinton raised 35 million in one month. Why can't people donate that kind of money to get rid of poverty, bring clean water to third world countries, or help get rid of the AIDS crisis? Seriously . . .

A discussion on pastor's wives

Nate has a vicar this year. I know that stuns some of you because he hasn't been out of seminary long himself, but the seminary approved his request and we are so thankful that they did. Chris and Cheryl have been wonderful and we will surely miss them when they are gone!

Nate had some really great mentors who have helped shape him into the pastor he is today. Namely, his father, Pastor Al, and Pastor Mike. But with a vicar, Nate has found himself in the position of being a mentor himself. And so have I.

It is actually pretty funny to me that I could be a mentor to our vicar's wife, because I've only been a pastor's wife for about 3 years now. What do I have to offer? What credibility do I have to back me up? Our vicar's wife is actually older than me, and that makes me feel even more uncomfortable!

So all of this has made me think about the role of pastor's wives. I have no idea who reads this blog, but I know that some of you are pastor's wives. Whether you fit into that category or not, your feedback on this post would be just as helpful. It would be fun to hear from all kinds of people on this subject.

What do you think about the following topics?

Should pastor's wives have friends in the church or is it not a smart idea to get too close to anyone?

Is it important for pastor's wives to be visible at church services and other activities?

Should pastor's wives always look nice or have a clean house just in case someone from the church comes over?

How should pastor's wives handle people who talk negatively about their husbands?

Because we are married to pastors, we sometimes have privileged information that other people will do anything to get out of us. What is the best way to handle this?

Should pastor's wives feel the stress to have well-behaved children?

How do pastor's wives handle the fact that their husbands have extremely busy schedules?

Discuss! (Hopefully)

Insanity

Insanity is doing or thinking the same thing over and over and over again, expecting to get a different result.

Instructions from Jenna

"Mommy . . . when I grow up and become a rock star, you are going to have to buy me a bigger guitar and a real microphone that works. Oh, and please find a guitar that has both pink and purple on it. Then I can be a rock star."

Some Things Never Change

When Jenna was a baby, her little arm would always find my neck or face when she was sleeping next to me. It was so sweet--kind of like she just needed to know I was beside her. When Abby was born, I was suprised to find that she does the same thing. That simple touch from a sleeping baby is so sweet.

Our kids don't sleep in our bed. We have never allowed it simply because I could never sleep with a moving child. Abby is almost two and has been a good sleeper for a long time, so we don't have those moments of her sleeping in my arms anymore.

Last night, she woke up coughing. Abby is a drama queen when it comes to coughing. If she has the slightest bit of ickiness in her throat, she'll cough like she's deathly ill. I usually let her cough in her room because holding her or giving her medicine hasn't worked. But we have a houseguest and Abby's room is right next to hers. So, when the crazy coughing began last night, I took Abby downstairs on the couch.

She laid next to me all night with her little hand pressed to my cheek or neck. Every once in a while, I'd catch one of her eyes open, peeking to see if I was still there. And even though I slept very little, I enjoyed every minute of having that little hand plastered to me reminding me of those precious baby moments that are most likely over for us.

Dixie Chicks

Yesterday while I was driving in the car to meet a friend for lunch, I heard a Dixie Chicks song. And for the first time in many years, I heard another Dixie Chicks song on the way home, which makes two Dixie Chicks songs in one day!

You may be asking why this is a big deal to me.

Ever since Natalie Maines made a comment about being embarrassed that George Bush was from Texas, many county music radio stations have all but erased them from their playlists. I remember living in both Missouri and Texas--both areas where county is quite popular--and hearing DJs say that they will never play the Dixie Chicks again because of the "unpatriotic" comment that they made. Keep in mind, this was during the beginning of the war on terror and it wasn't cool (like it is now) to publically be negative about President Bush. So, country music fans all across the country (who tend to be, or used to be supporters of our current president) called for people to stop listening to the Dixie Chicks. Even years later, when they released a new album (which was outstanding) they couldn't get people to come to their concerts. People were still holding that comment against them.

I have always had a problem with those people who were so critical of Natalie Maines. First of all--the Dixie Chicks were HUGELY successful. They have real talent. Who doesn't love "Cowboy Take Me Away" or "Sin Wagon" or "Goodbye Earl?" They are a perfect mix of country, rock, and bluegrass. They appealed to so many people. But with one comment, their fans denounced them and turned their backs on them.

Granted, I realize that celebrities can't just say nasty things without consequences, but to completely write them off and ignore the great music that they produce is a shame.

I used to hear a Dixie Chicks song every time I got in the car. Now, I get excited when I hear one! Let alone two in one day. Maybe that happened because I live on the left coast. The people here probably love the Dixie Chicks for insulting President Bush.

But I still love the Dixie Chicks and value them for what they are--musicians. Not for their opinions.

Conversations in the car are the best

After I pick Jenna up from preschool in the afternoon, she is usually tired and chatty. Those two things make for some interesting conversations in the car. Today it went like this:

Jenna: Mommy, when do you think God is going to give me a baby to take care of?
Me: Not for a very,very, very long time.
Jenna: Well, we better start collecting toys now for my baby. I really hope that God gives me a girl baby.
Me: Oh really? What would you name her?
Jenna: Brietta (after the horse on Barbie the Magic Pegasus)
Me: What if you had a boy?
Jenna: I don't think God will give me a boy baby. But I better pray right now to tell God that I want a girl baby. (She bows her head and quietly mutters a prayer to God--which is hilarious)
Jenna: When I go to preschool and I have my girl baby, you can hold her, okay Mommy?
Me: Okay.
Jenna: I'm going to be the teacher. No, I think I'm going to be a rock 'n roll star and play my guitar, but maybe I shouldn't because I might get a blister. So, I think I'll be a teacher.
Me: You would be great at either Jenna.
Jenna: Yeah, Daddy can teach me guitar and you can show me how to be a teacher.

Funny how they want to be exactly like their parents! Girl babies, guitar players, and teachers. Interesting.

4:50 AM is way too early to be up

Seriously. I've been up since 4:50AM, not because I set my alarm to wake up at this time or because I had a sudden case of insomnia. No. I woke up to a 4 year old redhead about two inches from my face asking me if we could go downstairs and play Pretty Pretty Princess. I tried to tell her that we are only allowed to wake up when the sun is out, but all I saw were two big blue eyes staring at me for another half hour while I pretended to be asleep, hoping she would follow suit.

Needless to say, it's 6:50AM and I've been up for about two hours now.

Seriously.

A Little Bit Obsessed

No one will really talk politics with me (except my friend Lindsay) so I have to write a post about this because it is all just so exciting!

I love the presidential race. I love watching Fox News or CNN and finding out about all the new happenings with the candidates--because something new happens everyday, whether it's mudslinging, polls going up or down, or someone dropping out of the race. Primary days are especially exciting to me, and I love the fact that we live on the left coast, oh sorry, west coast so that we can see the results at dinner time and not have to wait until late at night. So you can imagine how much I'm looking foward to Super Tuesday next week. I have already voted. In California, they're advertising this permanant voting by mail thing, and both Nate and I are doing that. It's just so much easier.

I really don't know who I am going to vote for in November. In CA, we can only vote within our party for the primary, but oddly enough I REALLY like two candidates and they are in separate parties.

Voting is such a privilege and holds such power in our country. With so many important issues facing us both internationally and domestically, I take the process seriously and try my best to learn about each candidate and pick the one that I believe is best for our country.

You may not be as obsessed as I am, but if you have the debate TiVoed for tonight like I do, you might be joining in my obsession!

A rough morning in the nursery

I just finished my monthly nursery duty at church and I need a glass of wine.

If you know me, you know that I would much prefer a room of 7th graders as opposed to a room full of children aged 4 and under. But, I have grown in my little kid skills. Maybe having two of my own has something to do with it, but I still believe that taking care of your own kids is way different than taking care of someone else's--especially 17 of them. Yes, I said 17. We had 17 kids in the nursery today, and that's a lot for our church.

My good friend, Michelle, was helping me today which was so wonderful because she is a preschool teacher and knows exactly what to do in all little kid situations. The morning went pretty well for the first three quarters of the service. And of course, all at the same time, all the little kids wanted to be held because they were tired. One was screaming his head off trying to get out of the nursery and another was hungry and wouldn't take his bottle. We had pinching and crying and sharing issues--all in a span of about fifteen minutes, and it was crazy.

After everyone was taken care of, things calmed down and all was well again, but I am worn out and in need of a glass of wine.

Disclaimer---I am not complaining about the nursery here. I love the fact that I can go to Bible study or worship in somewhat peace while Abby is in the nursery. Laurie, our children's ministry director who runs the nursery, is a saint and handles all of the hard situations (with kids and adults) with ease and professionalism. Because I am grateful for the nursery, I am more than willing to take my turn in there as a parent. I just know that my gifts are with older kids and I get easily stressed out with a room full of little kids. Hence the degree in secondary education and not elementary or early childhood!

Update on the diaper situation

Abby got out of the tape . . . :) Such a little stinker.

Maybe I should consider potty training at this early age.