A Year in Photos...Many Great Memories!

Happy New Year!

Children are truly a blessing...despite their issues

I will be completely honest with you, I am not the biggest fan of babies.  Don’t take that statement completely wrong.  I love babies to a certain degree.  I love the thought of bringing another blessing into this world.  I love cuddling with my own and watching them grow up.  I like the actual delivery process (ok the last 5 minutes of it).  I like seeing how their looks change into their own self.  I like how my own are almost immediately comforted when I pick them up.

But babies are a lot of work.  You have to plan around their feeding and napping schedule.  You have to change a million poopy diapers and then once you get that diaper changed…they poop again.  They can’t dress or feed themselves.  They cry non-stop while you are driving, so you attempt to feed them…again…even though they just ate before you walked out the door.  They sometimes only want mama to hold them…um I only have two arms you know.  They wake you up during the night.

On a brighter note…babies grow up and the baby stage is only temporary.  They get potty trained so you don’t have any more diaper changes; their nap schedules aren’t as strict.  They can dress themselves and clean up after themselves.  You don’t have to cut up their food in a million little pieces.  They can talk and walk.

Of course there are a new set of problems…discipline issues, fighting with siblings, bigger messes, they can talk and scream….

But all in all…having children is worth it!  I couldn’t imagine my life without my little ones running around here. 

One another note… It boggles my mind when people ask to hold one of my babies.  I have never been one to go up to someone and ask to hold there’s…I get nervous that they will cry or something…I get the mother’s touch and a baby knows who their mom is.  It is really nice when someone comes up to me and asks to hold my little baby…most of the time my arm feels like it is going to fall off…so thank you to those who have offered…I am always amazed!

An oldie but a goodie-- always have loved this picture-- this is Easton when he was 3 weeks--with Sean and the girls.

Weston-- 4 weeks 2 days and counting

Weston on his way home for the first time

Christmas...what we do...

We are usually traveling around this time of year.  We didn’t last year because Sean had a busy work week and we had a pretty big snow storm.  We didn’t go anywhere for Thanksgiving this year because of Weston’s arrival.  I miss traveling and seeing Sean’s family.  The kids miss it too and Sean missed hunting season altogether.  Bad timing to have a baby I guess and everyone has their own family gatherings and busy schedules to travel up here.  Hopefully we will be able to travel again in March and see everyone.  This year we were able to spend an evening with my dad’s family and a morning with my mom’s family.  It was nice seeing my relatives and introducing Weston to my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmas.  

This time of year is hard for the girls to understand.  TV shows, stores, and books are filled with images of Santa Claus.  People come up to my girls all of the time asking what Santa is bringing them.  They have been pretty bold at explaining to people that Santa isn’t real.  We have had to watch them around other kids, as I know there have been some debates about it and other parents usually aren’t too excited when someone is trying to convince their Santa believing child that there is no such thing.  This is a hot topic for a lot of people whether or not to do Santa, we just decided it was not for us.  Lots of reasons, but mainly our concern is convincing a child Santa is real only to reveal the lie at about the same age they are coming to an understanding belief in Christ. We would rather not plant a lie and then try to convince them of the truth of a Savior they can’t see visually either. 

I will be honest with you…my kids really don’t even know why Christmas is celebrated.  We talked about why there is a holiday of Christmas and what others believe.  I told them that people think that it was when Jesus was born and we read in the Bible about his birth and the events surrounding it.   There is a really good chance Jesus wasn’t even born in December…more so it was when it was conceived ,  but as for the exact date no one really knows the exact date (reasons why it wasn’t in December- shepherds weren’t in the fields watching their  flocks in December, census’ weren’t taken in December due to the cold temperatures and bad traveling conditions, the inns typically weren’t full in the cold months) but I guess people celebrate all sorts of things on random dates…secretaries day, half birthdays, teacher appreciation day etc.  The Bible doesn’t tell us when Jesus was born, but a date was set and people celebrate it.  Kind of sad though that the date chosen coincides with a pagan holiday honoring the god Saturn.  The Bible doesn’t tell us to celebrate his birth, nor does it tell us not to celebrate his birth.  Kind of a tricky matter and so everyone just has to figure out what they feel right celebrating and doing.

 We have decided to participate in family events and some of the other traditions, but we maintain an understanding that these traditions are men’s and are not particularly accurate in regard to the story of Christ’s coming to dwell among men. Yes it is an important thing to remember that Christ was born and it is important to understand the story.  His death and resurrection are far more important though, because without him dying on the cross and providing a payment for our sins, there wouldn’t be such a thing as eternal life for us who believe.   

 That is my two cents on the holiday.  

Who needs toys when you have boxes?

Weston at 4 weeks....kind of scary

Weston at 3 weeks

Family band!

Sean enjoys playing the guitar.  He has done a really good job learning songs that the kids enjoy.  Here is just a short clip of one of the songs.  I wish you could hear it better, but with the entire family band playing....it is a bit hard....and with one breaking out in a the Wiggles Fruit Salad song.

Busy at home doing fun things..

My girls (and Easton to a certain extent) love to color and do arts and craft type activities.  We have a lot of different options around the house from crayons, markers, bendaroos, play dough, paint, and many more little things.  I would have never considered pipe cleaners to be an exciting thing for the girls to play with...well they are.  They could play with pipe cleaners-- called Fazoodles for ever...ok...not forever...but for quiet a while.  So during our school time I thought it would be a neat activity to have the girls make their names with the Fazoodles.  Katelyn has been learning how to write her letters.  She is almost through the entire alphabet, so she described the letters and picked out the colors and I helped her form them into the letters of her name.  Jocelyn made her name also.  Lots of fun things to make with these Fazoodle pipe cleaners.  This set doesn't have eyeballs, but for Christmas Jocelyn is getting one from her Aunt & Uncle Lana and Jody and cousins.   She will be super excited!  Here are also a few pictures of other things we have worked on over the past few weeks.

Popcorn and gumdrop decorations

Katelyn decorated the inside of her snow globe...just a person:)

Jocelyn's snow globe

Boys in Motion- blog link up

My friend Erin has a wonderful blog called "Home with the Boys" and is a co-founder of "The Mob Society" a blog for mom's with boys.  She has a weekly "boys in motion" link up.  Movements are pretty slow when they are so little, but here is a picture of Weston from this past week.

And here is his brother Easton, playing with a box....easily entertained!

All Because Two People Fell In Love...

My husband worked on this little project one day and surprised  me when I got home with these pictures hung in our hallway.  Such sweet pictures.

Of course Uppercase Living above the pictures!

Nutcracker Ballet Camp

Jocelyn attended a Nutcracker Ballet Camp.  She had such a good time.  Poor little Katelyn was left out again...she is still out of the age range for some of her sissies activities...hopefully an Ariel Polly Pocket and a smoothie made up for that...not thinking it did though. Here are a few pictures and video.  Jocelyn was in the lower age bracket (5-9 year olds) so her dance was pretty simple compared to the older girls.  

Jocelyn singing

Gymnastics

The girls just completed the second fall term of gymnastics.  They both loved it and did so good.  Katelyn even got permission to move up to the 4-5 year old group...even though she is still 3!  We aren't sure what they will be doing in January, but they both have mentioned they want to take swimming.  We will see.  Here are some pictures of their last class.

Week Two is Over!

We survived week two with Weston!  If I may brag, I personally think he is the sweetest little baby.  His temperament is similar to Jocelyn’s when she was a baby, as he is a pretty content baby boy.  He cries when he is hungry or tired….or wants me to hold him.  I am slowly adapting to a new schedule again of getting things done when he is napping.  My day revolves around 3 hour shifts of when he needs to be fed.  He can go longer throughout the day, but on average he eats every 3 hours.  Some nights have been easier than others.  On three different nights he slept until 5AM, then the next night 6AM, then 7 AM…and then right back to 3AM…so no consistency.  Wouldn’t that be great if already slept through the night!  I know the time will come, I just have to be patient.

This was a long, busy week.  We took the girls on our first family outing to gymnastics on Monday night.  I am glad Sean was there to see the girls in gymnastics and to help me with Easton.  The girls are both doing so well in gymnastics! We had a bit of drama in the locker room where my two little guys were basically attacked by a special needs teenager.  They are ok…just a scratch on Weston and a little bump on Easton’s head.  I was almost in tears when it was happening, because I didn’t see it coming and no one was helping me…just staring on.  Lovely!

On Wednesday, we stopped by Sean’s work so he could show off Weston.  Everyone was delighted to meet him and was shocked by his hair and size.  We ended up stopping at 5 different places in 3 hours.  All of the kids were troopers and Weston slept the entire time…thank goodness.  

That same evening after bible study in Omaha, my friend Erica, took the girls home with her, so they could play with her little girl for a few days.  Let’s just say Thursday was soooooooo nice.  I got so many things done with just having Easton and Weston here.  I didn’t have to stop every two minutes for the girls.  It was also so quiet around here. 

On Friday, I got to introduce Weston to my friends at MOPS.  It was so nice seeing everyone again, as it had been a month or two since I had seen many of my friends because we have been busy.  It was nice to have some friends there to hold him and give me a little break, as my arm feels like they are going to fall off some times.  But I am building muscle—right!?

Saturday was another day with no girls.  They were at my parent’s house in Omaha.  We missed having them with us, but it was definitely easier navigating the mall and eating at Old Chicago without them…and a lot cheaper! 

Sunday….I believe I am going to dread Sundays.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going to church, but in order for us to get out of the door by 8AM to make it there by 9AM, I need to get up by 5:30AM at the latest so I have enough time to get all of the kids and myself ready.  That is really early.  So today of course we were an hour late…even though I just had two kids and I didn’t even fix my hair.  It will be a challenge, but one of these days we will make it there on time…one of these days.  I also dread the afternoons on Sundays.  I for sure won’t be getting a well needed nap since the kids sleep on the way home.  I will be ok…just a bit grouchy when we get home because I am so tired, but there is so much to do. 

This next week is gearing up to be an extremely busy week.  More things going on than normal and more driving to Omaha.  It will be ok, I just need to prepare in advance for everything…and breathe!  Things will calm down after next week…hopefully!:)

This week I am thankful for many things:

Friends.  Friends who hold Weston.  Friends who help me out to my car.  Friends who have made meals for us.  Friends who e-mail me to see how things are going. 

My friend Erica, who called earlier in the week and offered to take the girls for a few days.  That was a really nice break away from chaos so I could get caught up on things.

My parents, once again who kept the girls this weekend.  I know it creates for a busy weekend for them, but it was nice.

Sean, who is finally feeling better and has helped hold Weston when I am in the middle of trying to get things done and has helped with the other kids when they seem to be deaf at times.

Easton…who has accepted that Weston is not going away any time soon.  I think we realized why he was so grouchy and cranky the first week…it was the girls.  He was pretty calm and quiet when they were away, but cranky again today.  I think he likes when he has more attention from Sean and I.  I am sure as he gets older he will get better and realize that none of his siblings are going anywhere.

Sorry for those who I have not gotten back to through e-mail.  It is a bit more difficult to sit down at the computer and type a long e-mail…so hopefully my blog will do for now.  I will try to update it a little more than once a week as things slow down.  

Many have asked if Weston looks like our other three...yes and no.  His face does, but he definitely has a lot more hair than the others and none of them had dark brown hair.  Here are pics from the first day of each of their lives.

Jocelyn

Katelyn

Easton

Weston