Loooooong day

First of all, we found our dream home today. It's so, so, so awesome. It's also so, so, so ugly right now, but we just need to undo the 80's decorating job inside, and we'll be good to go. We're putting an offer on it on Friday (the first chance we have to get to the realtor's office together), and so nervous to see how the inspection goes in the coming weeks.

My mom kept the kids today while we saw this house and another one (I LOVED that house, but the neighborhood was not as good as the other house). Then I went to the hospital to visit Grandma. She's not doing as well as we thought she was doing--she's got a long road, and not out of the woods yet. She was so sad tonight because she wants to see the kids desperately. She was able to walk a little today, so we told her if she can make it to the waiting room down the hall tomorrow for her physical therapy, the kids will be waiting for her (they're not allowed in the hospital room).

I'm going to sit with them in the morning, as I'm the only one who can do it tomorrow. I'll be anxious to hear what the doctor has to say.

A few cute things from the kids:

Ethan told me last night that he's going to marry me when I grow up. I told him that when he's older he'll find someone else he loves a lot that he wants to marry, and he insisted he'll always love me and only me :) Sweet now, creepy later!

Bella randomly told me yesterday that "girls toot and boys fart." Thanks, Nana. I told her everyone farts, and she says she's too cute to fart.

Maile now blows kisses. It's about time! It's adorable!

First of all, Grandma is improving greatly. Everyone is optimistic for a full recovery. She should be having her valve replacement in 4-6 weeks, whenever she is fully recovered from the stroke.

We had a nice day at home today. This morning was crazy, but the afternoon and evening were fun. I put Maile down for bed at 7, but the kids stayed up with me to watch American Idol. We hadn't spent any quality time together today, and I didn't really see them much this weekend or yesterday. It was nice to hang out together. I love their age (most of the time). We did some puzzles and built skyscrapers. Ethan built Lexington, complete with big blue building. :)

This 365 thing is not for me!

Apparently I'm not so good at updating daily. We've had a long weekend...house hunting all weekend, and my grandmother had a stroke this morning. She was supposed to have valve replacement surgery this morning, but the doctors screwed up majorly and had her off her blood thinners longer than they should have (6 days). She had a stroke at 1:30 am. She's doing better than was originally thought, but she has a long road ahead, recovering from the stroke, and then finally having the valve replacement.

Jonathan stayed home with the kids this morning when I went to the hospital. I came home because he had a meeting at 2, and we fixed some food to take to the hospital, then we went back up there. They were a nice distraction for the family. Grandma said she was so proud they were there, even though she didn't get to see them. It was awesome to know she had said that, because this morning all that she could say was a bunch of garbled words thrown together. It was so sad.

We're going to a few more houses this week--one we're really interested in, and are ready to put an offer on it if we like it as well as we think we will.

Feeling so blessed

Last night I went in to kiss the kids before I went to bed. I ended up sitting there staring at them for 30 minutes. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. They are just so precious, especially while sleeping so peacefully. Of course, I always love them, every minute of every day, but I also really take their lives for granted all too often.

Anyway, today was homeschool group day. The kids were so bummed that it was canceled last week. We found out when we showed up that Ethan's best bud was not coming this semester, so Ethan was crushed. Bella has a girl in there with her now, though, so she's super excited!

Ethan loves to surprise me by doing the dishes:

The kids make their own bed every morning:

Long day!

Maile was in a mood today. She slept like crap last night, was up twice for an hour each (never happens). She cried from the time she woke up until I laid her in her crib at 11. She just laid down, and I didn't hear her, so I assumed she went to sleep. I went in after my shower about 45 minutes later to get dressed and there she is, laying there with her eyes open just staring. She must have needed time to chill.

I went to keep my friend's 2 kids for awhile. Ethan has his two best friends in the world--Lambchop and Blue Baby. He had them right before we left, but apparently he put them down before we buckled in. We didn't realize it until I was tucking them in and he couldn't find them. He then remember he sat them down in the middle of their playroom.

Her house is about 30 minutes from here, and Maile was already sleeping in her crib. Of course, Ethan doesn't believe anyone could possibly take care of them as well as he can and was devastated that I didn't want to go get them. My heart was breaking for him, but I knew if we loaded up to go get them that he'd fall asleep before we even got there. After I calmed him down (singing Desperado does the trick...seriously has since the day he was born. There's nothing that song can't help), we agreed that Daddy would pick them up on the way home from work. It sounds like a good compromise!

So, the 365 thing? Ha!

I'm putting my best foot forward, but it's not possible to update daily. Okay, really...I could always find the 5 minutes--5 minutes less on FB or a message board or window shopping the internet. No excuses, then. I just suck at it.

Nothing exciting is happening around here. We've been mainly hanging out around the house and playing. The older 2 are really enjoying their barbies the last few days. They're sleeping in my bed tonight, so I'm letting them stay up late (I want Maile to get the chance to really get into deep sleep before taking them in there). They're reading books and being so cute just reading together and discussing the books. It's awesome to see them be best friends.

Dear God...

Tonight we were reading the human body book (one of their favorites!). We were talking about the heart, and that their Great-Mommo would be going to the hospital this week to have the doctor open up her heart and fix it. Ethan wanted to say a prayer before he went to sleep , and all he said was "Dear God, please fix my great-mommo's heart." He is the most precious, sweet, thoughtful child ever. He was named after my grandfather, and he obviously has the same spirit as him. He has his 3 year old moments, of course, but he's such an old soul. He's giving and completely selfless. He always amazes me with his beautiful nature. He's continually teaching me life lessons.

So tonight...Dear God, thank you so much for giving me my wonderful son. He impacts my life in ways I never knew possible.

Jan. 8

So, 1 week in I already missed an update. Oh, well. Kids, if you're reading this 20 years down the road, I'm so sorry for failing to update Jan. 7, 2010!

We got a call for some snow. I didn't want to be stuck in the house for a few days alone with the kids (Jonathan's working a lot this week), so we headed to my mom and dad's house for a couple of days. We are usually very active and out a lot, so it's hard on all of us to be at home all day every day. It's been nice to be here. I'd say we got about 5 inches of snow here. The main roads aren't bad at all. The side roads are pretty bad, but the main reason I don't like getting out right now is the temperature. It's just too cold to be out unless we have to.

I did let the kids ride down the front yard hill once this morning, but those 30 seconds were all that was bearable outside today. Otherwise, it's been uneventful, but enjoyable. I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures. I couldn't find my parent's camera. My photography isn't so great, so no one's really missing it too much! I promise a picture of Jan. 9. Today the kids have watched probably 3 hours of TV (that's so rare...they don't even watch it usually but once per week). They have pretended to be Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus (completely with Joseph pulling Mary and Jesus on the "donkey" aka rocking horse). We made chocolate chip banana muffins and cucumber soup (usually Ethan's favorite, but he didn't eat any tonight).

Jan. 6

Last night I really realized that I don't remember anything about Ethan or Arabella at Maile's age. When Ethan was a young toddler, I had a very demanding, high-needs newborn. When Bella was this age, I was pregnant and had hyperemesis (severe nausea and vomiting, 24 hours a day, all the way through pregnancy). I was checked out for the most part, you know? I'm sure I doted on them and thought they were awesome...but it's all a blur. I feel like I only have video to remind me now.

Maile is just so stinking cute. She drives me nuts with her climbing and ability to get into everything...but she just continues to make me melt. Everything she does is the most amazing thing ever. It's like I'm experiencing this age for the first time. The funniest part is it's what kids her age do. But to me, it's the cutest thing ever.

For example, my kids love to do "cheers." Maile picked that up a couple of days ago (did I mention that yesterday?" She was making her "uh, uh, uh" noise and raising her cup to me after I did cheers with Ethan and Bella. My phone's ringtone is the beginning of Crazy Train. The "all abooooooard!" came on, and Maile went "aye, aye, aye." and did a little chuckle. It totally amazed me (Is it amazing? Probably not. But I think it is.) This morning we were getting ready to head to Kroger, and I told her to go get her socks by the playroom door, and she ran off, and came back with the socks and a giant smile on her face. She's totally obsessed with shoes and socks (shoes is a regular word for her, and she has to try everyone's shoes on. Total girl).

Speaking of Kroger, that was a nightmare. We're supposed to get snow tonight, and it's also Senior Discount Day. It took forever to get the few things we needed. We survived, though!

The older 2 were up at 6 this morning (Ethan had to pee, so decided to get Bella out of bed, too). I tried to make them go back to sleep, but it wasn't happening. They napped (which they never do) and were up a bit later than usual. Me? I'm past exhausted. I have laundry to fold and then I'm off to bed.

I'd update with pictures from making applesauce today, but honestly I just don't feel like it :)

Jan. 4

Today was just a normal day. Honestly, our days are much smoother when Jonathan is working. Our routine just gets thrown off when he's off for anything longer than a weekend!

Ethan and Bella always love to do "cheers" at the table with their glasses. Maile picked it up today and it's SO stinking cute. She looks so proud of herself when she's doing something her brother and sister do.

Fun things from today:

Bella is pretending to be Mommy Mary with Baby Jesus in her castle. I found out today that Baby Jesus is, in fact, a girl.

Ethan doing what he does best: rock!

"Prince Charmy" and "Princess Bella" at the ball:


Good night!

Getting back into the swing of things

So, Jonathan's back to work today. He works nights, so he just left. He generally doesn't leave until 3:30 or so, but had to leave by 2:30 today. He's been off for almost 2 weeks, so it will take some adjusting for all of us. We both thought we'd be ready for him to go back, but we've had a really nice time. Ethan and Bella were fine with it, but Maile was really sad to see him leave.

Our day today was more boring than yesterday. We're all still in our pj's. We put together a solar system model we've had for awhile. The kids enjoyed reading our solar system book and attempting to help put it together, although it was obviously gear towards older kids. It's now hanging from the ceiling fan in their playroom. Maile woke up from her nap and couldn't stop staring at it. At least we know one of them will enjoy it!

After we made the mobile, I decided I wanted something sweet, so we made some strawberry cupcakes. They weren't delicious, but it satisfied my sweet tooth. The kids always enjoy helping do things in the kitchen. Of course, there were hardly enough strawberries to put in the cake after the kids got their hands on them!

After the cupcakes, we all went into the playroom and turned on some rock and roll and sang and danced.

As for the rest of the night, we're going to continue on this path of laziness. We'll be eating leftovers for dinner, and get back into the routine of a 7 pm bedtime for the kiddos.

January 3...and it's even colder!

I'm ready to not leave my house until Spring. I hate heat, but I hate cold just as much. We did leave today, though. My mom was making a chicken and wild rice casserole for lunch, and I just can't pass it up. A family friend made it right after Maile was born and we've all loved it since then!

I had to run to Target for diapers while there...yuck. I've used cloth for 3 years now, and I miss it a lot. I hate the expense of disposable diapers, I hate that Maile's clothes don't fit her in disposables, and I hate that they're all going to the landfill. We moved into this house in February 2009, and I fought so hard to keep my diapers clean, but we have the world's hardest water in this house, and it was just impossible. I gave up recently. We're hoping to buy our first house in the next couple of months, and I'm ready to start using cloth again.

Anyway, after that, we headed to Jonathan's parents house for supper. Normally his mom would cook for us, but we thought we'd cook and make the eggplant parmesan (parmigiana?) I mentioned yesterday. I've made eggplant parm before, and it's always hit and miss how it turns out. We saw this variation on Throwdown with Bobby Flay and had to try it.

It was a lengthy process--peeling the eggplant, slicing it super-thin, dip in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then deep-fry, then layer like a lasagna in a baking dish. Not the healthiest meal, but oh, it was worth it. It was the best eggplant parm I've ever had. Even his dad ate it, and he's rather picky.

The kids are spending the night there tonight, besides Maile. I haven't let her spend the night away yet. It's not much of a break since Ethan and Bella aren't hard to deal with right now, but I know they all enjoy it.

So, there it is. Not an exciting day by any means. It was rather boring, actually. Jonathan and I really enjoyed being able to cook without worrying about the kids or having Maile at our feet the whole time. That was definitely the highlight of today.

I'm about to get Maile in bed, then it will be time for Desperate Housewives followed by some Food Network.

Wow, it's cold!

We woke up this morning to a temperature of 14F. Yikes! I had things I wanted to do today, but really didn't feel like getting in and out of the car with the kids. I had made bread in my bread machine last night, and it tasted awful by itself, so we decided to give the kids a treat and make french toast for breakfast. We don't allow sugary foods very often, and breakfast is usually very healthy, but I couldn't resist having it this morning.



In the past, our french toast has always been like scrambled eggs on toast (not so good), but it was rather good today. I ran out of maple syrup recently, so I found a recipe for pancake syrup with ingredients I had on hand, and it was so yummy. Everything was very homemade, even the brown sugar in the syrup (ran out of that recently, too, but you can make it by adding 2 tbsp molasses to each cup of white sugar). We had leftover heavy cream from dinner last night (Johnny Carino's bowtie festival), so we even had whipped cream on top.



After breakfast, we spent the morning organizing closets (for the second time this week). I put a lot of clothes outside in our storage closet to go through sometime soon to divide between goodwill, giving away to family or friends, or keeping for Maile.

Then Maile went down for a nap (fell asleep in her crib very easily for nap, and also went right to sleep last night in it. She thought it was awesome. I brought her in bed at 2:30 for her bottle, and she fell back asleep until 8 with me). I made marinara sauce for the eggplant parmesan we'll be making tomorrow with Jonathan's parents (his mom sounds excited about it, and his dad even agreed to try it!)

Tonight we'll be going to my parent's house for supper. My dad wanted to make pizza with the kids. I think after tomorrow I will have had enough italian to last for a few weeks.

Happy New Year

So, I'm new to this blogging thing, so excuse me if this sucks. I thought I'd document our year with posts and/or pictures every day. It will (hopefully) be cool to have and print at the end of the year.

So, to start with January 1.

My oldest 2 kids, Ethan and Arabella (Bella Grace) spent the night with my parents. The youngest, Maile, was home with us. She's 13.5 months and a bundle of energy (by that, I mean pure trouble). Maile has decided that she does not enjoy co-sleeping. She has never enjoyed nursing or cuddling to sleep. She generally went to sleep laying next to me. She had a time where she would only fall asleep in her stroller.

She's recently decided that the only place to sleep is the pack-n-play I had borrowed from my parents. I can try for an hour to put her to sleep without success, but as soon as I lay her in there, she goes to sleep...never a tear shed. It's so odd. I would personally prefer to put her to sleep by rocking or snuggling her, so it's sad for me. Jonathan (my husband) works nights, so doesn't put her to bed often. He tried without fail to put her to sleep the other night, and put her in the pack-n-play. He came out of the room saying how weird it is, that she just lays down and goes right to sleep so happily. He hadn't believed me that it was that easy.

So...anyway, for today, I decided to travel 1.5 to my sister's house. I gave her the crib we had purchased before my son was born and hardly used. She had 2 in cribs at one point, so it made sense for her to use ours instead of buying another. We brought it home and Jonathan put it together. Maile thinks it's rather awesome. I was considering putting it in the room that my older 2 share, but I still need her close to me for now. My son slept part-time in a crib from 4-8 months, but I have been co-sleeping at least part-time for almost 4 years, and full-time for over 3 years. It's going to be hard on me not to have a baby in bed with me, because I really, really enjoy co-sleeping.

We had a nice trip to visit my sister and her two boys (the oldest is 2.5 months older than my oldest). It was a short trip, but the kids always enjoy playing together.

Wish us luck tonight. Mainly wish me luck that I get some sleep...it won't be easy adjusting to this (for me).