I got those washable paint markers and plan to decorate the van for when I pick up Abby. Should be fun! I kept screaming "IT'S THE LAST DAY - YAY!!!!!" all morning, but she wouldn't buy into the excitement with me. She gets that from her Dad - such a reservist. We pulled up to the school and I said, for the twentieth time "HAVE A FUN DAY - YAY!!" and she looks at me real sober like and says "gosh, you act like it's a holiday or something, Mom." *shaking my head* Did I give birth to this child? Hee hee.
Whatever! It's a milestone for me too, so I'll be excited if I want to.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Where's My Talent?
Seriously - what IS my talent? I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance? and I'm in awe of these people's abilities. They have this awesome talent and way of expressing themselves...and I have to ask...What is my talent? Oh sure - I'm a good mom and friend and wife, and I can whip up a dinner (definitely NOT my strong point *wink*) - and I'm not fishing for compliments by any means (feel free to leave one). But really...Scott's a talented Architect, Tennis God, he has HUGE...green thumb *tongue in cheek* and can swoon a plant back to life with the flick of the watering can. It just makes me sit back and wonder...am I talentless or am I just a Jill of All Trades, Master of None? I can do a good many things well enough...ride a bike, make a person laugh, scrub a toilet, scrapbook, write a blog, wrangle a wiggly baby with poop creeping up her back, but I am not excelled or trained or great at any one thing. Does that mean I lack passion? I've never had that "sprint to the finish line and win" feeling. Never received a first place medal. Never won a contest. And for the most part, friends, I'm okay with that. Except when I see that flame of passion burning inside of someone else...or see them succeed to a finishing spot, like my husband. Bless his soul...he wins so often at tennis, that I just expect it out of him. But every match in his eyes is played to be won and when it's not won, he really feels it. I don't know what that feels like and it makes me wonder.
I know that God gives us all unique qualities and special Spiritual gifts when we become followers of Christ, so I know I have those things. I just wonder if I have ONE really cool talent that will drive me someday or if I am just meant to be kinda good at a few things and live contentedly with that. *shrugging my shoulders* It's hard to say I suppose - especially at this stage when my WHOLE life revolves around three little people who need me to be their everything and encourage them to find their talents. Hmmm...maybe being a well-rounded, healthy Mom is the best talent I can have right now? Would I be okay with that? Yes, most likely. Something tells me though that I really do have something bigger - I just need to locate it.
Whatever your talent is - be it that you are a great encourager, a fantastic artist, a person who loves to help others, a dancer, a runner, a cook, etc...use it. Use your talent to bring glory to the One who gave it to you.
I know that God gives us all unique qualities and special Spiritual gifts when we become followers of Christ, so I know I have those things. I just wonder if I have ONE really cool talent that will drive me someday or if I am just meant to be kinda good at a few things and live contentedly with that. *shrugging my shoulders* It's hard to say I suppose - especially at this stage when my WHOLE life revolves around three little people who need me to be their everything and encourage them to find their talents. Hmmm...maybe being a well-rounded, healthy Mom is the best talent I can have right now? Would I be okay with that? Yes, most likely. Something tells me though that I really do have something bigger - I just need to locate it.
Whatever your talent is - be it that you are a great encourager, a fantastic artist, a person who loves to help others, a dancer, a runner, a cook, etc...use it. Use your talent to bring glory to the One who gave it to you.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
What a Great Day!
My neighbor Christina offered to watch the two little ones so that I could go out by myself this morning. Wasn't that so sweet!? So I got to take Abby to school, run a couple of errands (two of which were a bust, but I didn't let it get me down) and then go back to Abby's school for Fun
Day. What a blast that was! They had like ten stations set up with a different game at each one, a couple of them were water games to boot. Which was perfect for today b/c it was SO hot and humid you could slice the air with a knife. Ugh. The coolest set up was a game where they took a leaf blower and attached about ten feet of PVC piping to the end of and shot these soft balls into the air. The kids were all standing about five to ten yard away with baskets, trying to catch the balls. It was hilarious! How fun! We really like Taylor Rd Elementary. They go all out for their students!
Check my YouTube bar below for video of Abby doing the Wet Sponge Relay.
Then I ran to check the mail at lunchtime and lo and behold...what was there!? THE TEST RESULTS!! He passed, of course, but also included in the envelope was a letter of Certification making Scott an official Architect. :) Woohoo!! I quickly made up a banner for Scott and hung it on the garage. :) It's SUCH a relief to have this done and over with, especially for Scott. Another milestone met!
Oh, and I am planning to include on my upcoming website a Recipe of The Week. I made a really good marinated shrimp recipe as well as a strawberry salad. Our strawberries are doing awesome and we seem to be pulling out about two to three cups worth each day. SO, I had to find something to do with them all and this recipe was AWESOME. I loved it anyway. No one else would try it b/c it had healthy stuff in it. You know - lettuce and nuts. It's an uphill battle trying to get these people to eat a piece of multi-grain bread! I also tried Cous Cous yesterday and only Lilly and I would eat. Abby said she liked the first bite and then wouldn't eat another. *sigh* With Zachary needing more iron in his diet - we're definitely going to be trying to incorporate more nutritious foods. Whether they like it or not!
Day. What a blast that was! They had like ten stations set up with a different game at each one, a couple of them were water games to boot. Which was perfect for today b/c it was SO hot and humid you could slice the air with a knife. Ugh. The coolest set up was a game where they took a leaf blower and attached about ten feet of PVC piping to the end of and shot these soft balls into the air. The kids were all standing about five to ten yard away with baskets, trying to catch the balls. It was hilarious! How fun! We really like Taylor Rd Elementary. They go all out for their students!Check my YouTube bar below for video of Abby doing the Wet Sponge Relay.
Then I ran to check the mail at lunchtime and lo and behold...what was there!? THE TEST RESULTS!! He passed, of course, but also included in the envelope was a letter of Certification making Scott an official Architect. :) Woohoo!! I quickly made up a banner for Scott and hung it on the garage. :) It's SUCH a relief to have this done and over with, especially for Scott. Another milestone met!
Oh, and I am planning to include on my upcoming website a Recipe of The Week. I made a really good marinated shrimp recipe as well as a strawberry salad. Our strawberries are doing awesome and we seem to be pulling out about two to three cups worth each day. SO, I had to find something to do with them all and this recipe was AWESOME. I loved it anyway. No one else would try it b/c it had healthy stuff in it. You know - lettuce and nuts. It's an uphill battle trying to get these people to eat a piece of multi-grain bread! I also tried Cous Cous yesterday and only Lilly and I would eat. Abby said she liked the first bite and then wouldn't eat another. *sigh* With Zachary needing more iron in his diet - we're definitely going to be trying to incorporate more nutritious foods. Whether they like it or not!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
I came upon these verses this morning b/c I was searching for "peace" (the kid situation really has me nuts) and I thought others might benefit.
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
It tells me about who Christ is - gentle and humble in heart. This makes me want him to come to my house and sit on my couch so that I can lay my head in his lap. Wouldn't that be so awesome!? I do long for his second coming.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
"The Plan"
Okay - so here I go again with another great idea. Who knows if it'll flop or fly, but I really hope that I can be consistent with it. In an effort to give Zachary more personal one on one time and
stimulate his growing, hyperactive brain - I found this website with a preschool homeschooling curriculum on it. The idea is that each week he has a "theme" that we learn about, as well as a Letter, Number and Shape per week. So here's a picture of our lesson board that we hung up in the kitchen and it should be fairly easy to keep up with. That's super important - it must be easy for Mommy too b/c my brain goes in a hundred different directions throughout one day. Anything that wants undivided attention must usually be screaming, puking or pooping. I haven't printed out the nursery rhyme for the week (Hey Diddle, Diddle), but he already knows half of it. The vocab words will come tomorrow too. Should be fun! I'm already singing "the Daddy cow says MOO (in a low, booming voice)" to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell all day long, even when no kids are in my presence. It's just fun to sing! The Mommy cow says "MOO" in a prissy voice while fluttering her eyelashes. LOL See - I can be a fun mom too!
The plan for Abby is to do half an hour of reading per day and one math worksheet every other day.
We also are putting into effect a "downtime" each day from 1-3pm. It's basically been this way all school year with the two smaller ones attempting to nap during this time, so I think it's prudent we stay with this for everyone's sanity and health. Otherwise I might be nuts by the end of June. I may or may not have signed Abby up for every VBS within 30 miles of our house. :)~
Here's to hoping that a "plan", prayer and a pool membership will make for family fun and bonding this Summer of '08!
stimulate his growing, hyperactive brain - I found this website with a preschool homeschooling curriculum on it. The idea is that each week he has a "theme" that we learn about, as well as a Letter, Number and Shape per week. So here's a picture of our lesson board that we hung up in the kitchen and it should be fairly easy to keep up with. That's super important - it must be easy for Mommy too b/c my brain goes in a hundred different directions throughout one day. Anything that wants undivided attention must usually be screaming, puking or pooping. I haven't printed out the nursery rhyme for the week (Hey Diddle, Diddle), but he already knows half of it. The vocab words will come tomorrow too. Should be fun! I'm already singing "the Daddy cow says MOO (in a low, booming voice)" to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell all day long, even when no kids are in my presence. It's just fun to sing! The Mommy cow says "MOO" in a prissy voice while fluttering her eyelashes. LOL See - I can be a fun mom too!The plan for Abby is to do half an hour of reading per day and one math worksheet every other day.
We also are putting into effect a "downtime" each day from 1-3pm. It's basically been this way all school year with the two smaller ones attempting to nap during this time, so I think it's prudent we stay with this for everyone's sanity and health. Otherwise I might be nuts by the end of June. I may or may not have signed Abby up for every VBS within 30 miles of our house. :)~
Here's to hoping that a "plan", prayer and a pool membership will make for family fun and bonding this Summer of '08!
By the Light of Day
Lilly was awake all day yesterday (slept twice, twenty minutes each) and screamed for 90% of it. I can't tell if it's teeth coming in or if she's dealing with a bug (she has a runny nose and major grumpies), but either way...she's a total hag to be around, yesterday at least. And last night was no exception. She went to sleep at 8:30ish, woke up at 10:30, ate and went back to sleep 'til 12:30, fell back to sleep in my arms, but as soon as her head touched the crib sheet - the screaming started again. Then we were up until almost 2:00am. Got to watch more Dirty Jobs and Jon and Kate Plus Eight though.
Scott woke up and offered to keep her while I went back to bed, but I knew that it would take some jostling and just the right amount of firmness and letting go and such. You know that special routine that only Mommy knows. I wasn't too sweet either. I had just gone to bed at 11:30 and to be woken up one hour later REALLY sucked. My eyes were sticky and my head felt like lead. I was cursing the day she was born and ranting all the way. I am NOT a very sweet, gentle Mommy in the middle of the night - I admit it. But, by the light of day, I remembered how it is suppose to go and met my chubby baby with smiles again. Thanks be to God that each day is a new start!
Today Zach had his three year check up. We continue to selectively vaccinate him and this time, since we weren't doing all the "normal" vaccines, he didn't have to get any at all. I don't get that! They'll give mega doses of vaccines to a six month old baby, but once they hit two years old they don't need/get the same amount. Dr. Rogers did say that he could get Tetanus this time around, but I still remain firm that the DTaP is mostly unnecessary. Tetanus shots can be administered at the ER should he get a wound that is deep enough that he'd need medical attention. Diptheria is really rare here in the states and Pertussis is treatable. Plus, the accelular pertussis is the part of the vaccine that has higher risk for severe reaction. So today he only needed to get his finger pricked to have his iron level checked. Up until this point Daddy was more than willing to do whatever procedure it was before Zach (get on the scale, have his BP checked), to show him that it didn't hurt. What a good Daddy, right!? But this was as far as he was going - the rest was up to Zach.
They did have to check it twice and did come up as having low iron. They gave us lab orders to get his blood drawn and checked more thoroughly. But after asking more questions - he's barely off the normal range (they like them to be an 11 and he was a 10.2) and Dr Rogers said most often it turns out to be nothing more than a low reading that day and IF he was anemic it would just be a vitamin supplemented with iron. So we're just gonna go ahead and up the iron intake in his diet and get him an iron enriched vitamin. Other than that - he's a totally healthy little boy - 95th percentile on height of course. *wink* He did really well too, being at the doctor. He didn't want to do any of the things required (weight check, feeling the tummy, etc) but once he was pressed harder he relented and didn't balk too much. I did ask about his inattentiveness and hyperactivity, but all he would say is that it's not usually addressed until it becomes a hindrance to his functioning, like in a school setting. So basically, deal with it and hope for the best.
Scott woke up and offered to keep her while I went back to bed, but I knew that it would take some jostling and just the right amount of firmness and letting go and such. You know that special routine that only Mommy knows. I wasn't too sweet either. I had just gone to bed at 11:30 and to be woken up one hour later REALLY sucked. My eyes were sticky and my head felt like lead. I was cursing the day she was born and ranting all the way. I am NOT a very sweet, gentle Mommy in the middle of the night - I admit it. But, by the light of day, I remembered how it is suppose to go and met my chubby baby with smiles again. Thanks be to God that each day is a new start!
Today Zach had his three year check up. We continue to selectively vaccinate him and this time, since we weren't doing all the "normal" vaccines, he didn't have to get any at all. I don't get that! They'll give mega doses of vaccines to a six month old baby, but once they hit two years old they don't need/get the same amount. Dr. Rogers did say that he could get Tetanus this time around, but I still remain firm that the DTaP is mostly unnecessary. Tetanus shots can be administered at the ER should he get a wound that is deep enough that he'd need medical attention. Diptheria is really rare here in the states and Pertussis is treatable. Plus, the accelular pertussis is the part of the vaccine that has higher risk for severe reaction. So today he only needed to get his finger pricked to have his iron level checked. Up until this point Daddy was more than willing to do whatever procedure it was before Zach (get on the scale, have his BP checked), to show him that it didn't hurt. What a good Daddy, right!? But this was as far as he was going - the rest was up to Zach.
They did have to check it twice and did come up as having low iron. They gave us lab orders to get his blood drawn and checked more thoroughly. But after asking more questions - he's barely off the normal range (they like them to be an 11 and he was a 10.2) and Dr Rogers said most often it turns out to be nothing more than a low reading that day and IF he was anemic it would just be a vitamin supplemented with iron. So we're just gonna go ahead and up the iron intake in his diet and get him an iron enriched vitamin. Other than that - he's a totally healthy little boy - 95th percentile on height of course. *wink* He did really well too, being at the doctor. He didn't want to do any of the things required (weight check, feeling the tummy, etc) but once he was pressed harder he relented and didn't balk too much. I did ask about his inattentiveness and hyperactivity, but all he would say is that it's not usually addressed until it becomes a hindrance to his functioning, like in a school setting. So basically, deal with it and hope for the best.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Quick Update
Goodness - it's been a few days since I've posted! Well, let me remedy that right now. It's time for a "kid update" right? What's going on in the FAB-U - lous lives of the Baker kids?
Let's see...
Abby will start her last week of First Grade tomorrow. *sniff* It's been a fast year, I think. I can't believe that we're already moving into June and beginning the Summer! She's reading nearly at a third grade level now and we hope to breeze through the public library's Summer Reading program this year. She spent four hours at the pool today (we went ahead and switched pools and now have a season pass here in town, as opposed to the Y pool 20 minutes away) and came home with a killer sunburn. She took her shirt off to shower this evening and my stomach fell to the floor when I saw that bright red back with a very light criss cross bathing suit mark. Even the small of her back has a red streak across it. YOWSER! I made her slather on sunscreen before we left the house, but amidst all the chaos I don't think I got her back at all. :( Bad mommy! So hopefully she can sleep tonight and it'll be better in the morning. We've doused her with Aloe Vera twice already tonight.
Zachary is breezing toward the finish line of potty training. He already has mad control of his bladder. We've had two full days of no diaper outings (we did put one on for church just in case) an NO accidents, and he even went to the potty once on his own. He has zero desire to sit on the
potty still, so the pooping part will have to come on it's own. He just waits until we get the diaper on for nap or bedtime, quickly craps and tells us. We change him and move on with life. I'm happy with the progress at this point and will work on the dookie throughout the Summer. He does need to be potty trained before school this Fall though, so here's to hoping!! Zach is still a major tornado in our life. He wakes up at mach speed and goes to sleep hard, and everything in between is a blur of vivid color. I've heard people say (of their own children) "if I'd have had him {it's usually a boy, right!? *wink*} first, there wouldn't have been anymore." Well, that's Zachary for us. He's more than we can handle at various points in the day and it's often the fact that he's SO friggin cute that saves his life.
Lilly. Ahh...Miss Lilly. She's a roly poly tyrant. Miss Lilly has four teeth now, can crawl and pull herself up on anything she can get a grip on. She also has this really high pitched scream that she sounds off when she's super frustrated. I always come running b/c history tells me that that is a hurt cry, but when I get to her it's because she can't get to something she wants or because wants out of her crib or just plain is pissed and wants attention. It's really annoying. At the same time, she has this grin. All you have to do is say "Lilly! Whatcha doin!?" and she clenches her pearly whites together, squints her eyes, wrinkles up her nose and grins like "nuttin! Ain't I cute!?" It's freak-ing adorable! We are fairly sure she'll be walking within a month or two. She already gets on her feet and then just lets go. She'll have to be fast and fearless to keep up with the other two. Although, I must admit...I really want her to be slow and cautious. Can I have just one, Lord? Pleeeeease?
What else?
We're still waiting on that stinking test result...even though we already know the outcome. We just want the darned thing so it can be finished already. WHAT is the hold up? We had a congratulatory get together in Scott's honor Saturday night. It was fun!
I still love my hairdo - surprisingly. I keep getting compliments too, so that helps. OH, and Scott is right now working on a new official website for me. He just pulled together a homepage template for me and it's really nice. He's got da skillz, yo. :) I already have the website domain bought and waiting for something to be published on it. I'll keep you all posted as that comes along. Fun! A few things I'd like to add on my new site is a section for a weekly recipe that I've tried and a section for what's going on in my spiritual life. I feel like I have several areas of my life that are not all meshing into one. Maybe having a place where I can document what exactly in going on in each area of my life (kids, wife, spiritual side, house, friends, being silly ol' me) will help me to see more clearly who I am or who I am becoming. It's tough being this age...30. My childhood was all about growing to 18, then college was about getting to adulthood, then my twenties were figuring out who I was suppose to be, and now I feel like I am starting to know who I am, but my daily life is so crazy and shifting that I can't yet enjoy me in my own skin. It's all about being this "Mom" that I want to be and should be.
Okay - this post went way longer than I expected. G'night all! Who knows what these next nine hours will bring for me, surely at least one child will wake up. Better go grab some Z's while I can!
Hope the first week of June is awesome and your Summer plans are shaping up.
Let's see...
Abby will start her last week of First Grade tomorrow. *sniff* It's been a fast year, I think. I can't believe that we're already moving into June and beginning the Summer! She's reading nearly at a third grade level now and we hope to breeze through the public library's Summer Reading program this year. She spent four hours at the pool today (we went ahead and switched pools and now have a season pass here in town, as opposed to the Y pool 20 minutes away) and came home with a killer sunburn. She took her shirt off to shower this evening and my stomach fell to the floor when I saw that bright red back with a very light criss cross bathing suit mark. Even the small of her back has a red streak across it. YOWSER! I made her slather on sunscreen before we left the house, but amidst all the chaos I don't think I got her back at all. :( Bad mommy! So hopefully she can sleep tonight and it'll be better in the morning. We've doused her with Aloe Vera twice already tonight.
Zachary is breezing toward the finish line of potty training. He already has mad control of his bladder. We've had two full days of no diaper outings (we did put one on for church just in case) an NO accidents, and he even went to the potty once on his own. He has zero desire to sit on the
potty still, so the pooping part will have to come on it's own. He just waits until we get the diaper on for nap or bedtime, quickly craps and tells us. We change him and move on with life. I'm happy with the progress at this point and will work on the dookie throughout the Summer. He does need to be potty trained before school this Fall though, so here's to hoping!! Zach is still a major tornado in our life. He wakes up at mach speed and goes to sleep hard, and everything in between is a blur of vivid color. I've heard people say (of their own children) "if I'd have had him {it's usually a boy, right!? *wink*} first, there wouldn't have been anymore." Well, that's Zachary for us. He's more than we can handle at various points in the day and it's often the fact that he's SO friggin cute that saves his life. Lilly. Ahh...Miss Lilly. She's a roly poly tyrant. Miss Lilly has four teeth now, can crawl and pull herself up on anything she can get a grip on. She also has this really high pitched scream that she sounds off when she's super frustrated. I always come running b/c history tells me that that is a hurt cry, but when I get to her it's because she can't get to something she wants or because wants out of her crib or just plain is pissed and wants attention. It's really annoying. At the same time, she has this grin. All you have to do is say "Lilly! Whatcha doin!?" and she clenches her pearly whites together, squints her eyes, wrinkles up her nose and grins like "nuttin! Ain't I cute!?" It's freak-ing adorable! We are fairly sure she'll be walking within a month or two. She already gets on her feet and then just lets go. She'll have to be fast and fearless to keep up with the other two. Although, I must admit...I really want her to be slow and cautious. Can I have just one, Lord? Pleeeeease?
What else?
We're still waiting on that stinking test result...even though we already know the outcome. We just want the darned thing so it can be finished already. WHAT is the hold up? We had a congratulatory get together in Scott's honor Saturday night. It was fun!
I still love my hairdo - surprisingly. I keep getting compliments too, so that helps. OH, and Scott is right now working on a new official website for me. He just pulled together a homepage template for me and it's really nice. He's got da skillz, yo. :) I already have the website domain bought and waiting for something to be published on it. I'll keep you all posted as that comes along. Fun! A few things I'd like to add on my new site is a section for a weekly recipe that I've tried and a section for what's going on in my spiritual life. I feel like I have several areas of my life that are not all meshing into one. Maybe having a place where I can document what exactly in going on in each area of my life (kids, wife, spiritual side, house, friends, being silly ol' me) will help me to see more clearly who I am or who I am becoming. It's tough being this age...30. My childhood was all about growing to 18, then college was about getting to adulthood, then my twenties were figuring out who I was suppose to be, and now I feel like I am starting to know who I am, but my daily life is so crazy and shifting that I can't yet enjoy me in my own skin. It's all about being this "Mom" that I want to be and should be.
Okay - this post went way longer than I expected. G'night all! Who knows what these next nine hours will bring for me, surely at least one child will wake up. Better go grab some Z's while I can!
Hope the first week of June is awesome and your Summer plans are shaping up.
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