A feeling I hope I never forget

I just went to pick up Adam out of his crib after his nap. I absolutely love the warm cuddles that he gives me after he wakes up and his cheeks are all red and warm from being all snuggly with his "blank" and "beebee" (leave me alone...I have NOT gotten rid of the pacifier yet, the other two did not use one or suck a thumb, so I figure if you average it all out...its not THAT long). Everytime, he so excited to see me. I think it is because he likes me, but it could possibly be that he cannot (at least that he knows) get out of his crib yet. He is already changing so much and is starting to "smell" like a kid, and a boy kid at that, and has lost that sweet baby smell. But more than anything he does not like to be held for very long anymore. Ugh, really, already? I am NOT a touchy feely person...at all! I remember when Emma was just over one and Luke was born, I literally was touched and holding someone all day long and I mean all day long.....nights too! It was enough to make me crawl out of my skin. But now, Emma & Luke do not need to be held much if at all anymore and I sort of miss it. That squishy baby skin, fat thighs and delicious cheeks are beginning to slim down. I do love where we are right now, but I do miss some of the past, probably because at the time, I did not cherish the moment. So when Adam comes running to me with his arms in the air, begging, and pleading to be picked up; I will most likely do it. I do not remember when it happened but I can promise that Emma & Luke do not do that anymore....and it won't be long before Little A won't either.

Out with the old....please new...come soon!

We are in the process of a small remodel in our bathroom. Thank goodness it is small, I could not handle much more. I added a few pictures of the demolition and the "see ya later blue flowered wallpaper". Just so we do not forget how pretty it is! We are scheduled to get everything done within the next few weeks. I will enjoy the new bathroom and getting things back to normal. Stay tuned for new pictures of the finished product.

Ohh...Great news...Emma lost her other tooth lastnight! Woo Hoo. Went without drama...yeah right! :) She flailed for awhile, but redemption comes when the tooth fairy delivers the next morning.

Hanging on by a thread

Here is a picture of Emma after she lost one of her top two teeth. Losing teeth for her has been, well, dramatic. She literally lets them hang on by a thread. The first one, I brushed it out with her toothbrush. She wised up, the second one, Jeremy popped it out (she nearly swallowed that one!). The third one, was bumped out by her brother, Luke. This 4th one, should have been out a week ago...but we hang on to it. She needs to let go of it...for crying out loud, let it go! It got me to thinking, what am I hanging on to? What will I not let go of? Perhaps it is my short fuse temper? Perhaps those around me are saying the same about me...For crying out loud..let go of it already!

Life is always full of Change

Over the past several months, we have watched the election of our new president unfold and while both candidates focused on "change"...I believe we can all agree that was bound to happen. Nothing stays the same....ever. We have a world full of people who I would like to believe are all looking for change; hopefully within their own lives and not just in our elected officials. Why? Because real change and redemption comes from way more than one person on earth, he has already been here and we can continue to pray for that return. And no one is changing us, unless we surrender to the belief that there is one that is in ultimate control. We are all called to work, and to work hard. For me, it is a season of working daily on myself (which I pray is actually more than seasonal) and on the shaping of the hearts of my young children of whom I get to raise for 12-16 more years if that is what I am allowed. That is a short window. I struggle daily with the sin in my life. Most days I would rather just stay in bed, and let someone else do my "changin" for me...yes that does include diapers. Right now, I am working on changing my anger and getting ahold of the anger that gets the best of me, especially from the 6 and under crowd. Not that I subscribe to the "this could be your last day on earth" but again, knowing that I did not get to sign up for a lot of the choices in my life; I can choose to make each day the best I can for my kids and for myself.
I do believe that the people of this country want change. We are an innovative, exciting, relentless group of people that make up this nation and knowing how other countries live; I am so grateful to live here. I want people to change in this country. Some of the change has been so very good and in some ways it has been so very bad. Do I believe that Barack Obama is going to change our country? He had better or the 52% of the people who voted for him are counting on him to do so could be disappointed. He has a 4-8 year window to do so, which is even a shorter window than the opportunity I have with my kids and there are just 3 of them. However, I will still stand by the belief that people are broken and if you choose to disagree with me, try to name someone who has never ever disappointed you. Do I believe that Barack Obama will disappoint people? He probably already has, even amongst the people who voted for him. There is no worse feeling than to be disappointed and that is made extremely clear in my eyes when I see true disappointment in the eyes of my kids. I want to keep them from being disappointed every chance that I get, but knowing that I have had disappointment, I have to guide them through the process. My heart gets broken along the way. Now, disappointment in our house is quite varying: Emma was so disappointed when a playdate got cancelled last week. For Jeremy, he gets disappointed when his business is not growing and he wonders where the next pay check will come from. As we grow older, the stakes get higher, and the disappointment grows. But I choose to trust and continue to build my faith and knowing that like the famous quote states: "I do not know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future" keeps life in balance, rhythm and extreme perspective for me. I am excited to see what is next, could be markers on a freshly painted wall and it could be peace in a country who has never known peace. I consider it a blessing to be a part of it all. For now in my house, we are going to continue to working on changing the way we react to things. For the kids, although its being met with much resistance; they are going to be working on NOT blaming others for everything that is wrong in their lives. A lofty goal I realize...but actualy quite fitting...what if we all did that? As I describe to them..."when you point the finger at someone else...there is at least 3 more fingers pointing toward you."

This is Halloween!!!

We enjoyed great weather for Halloween this year. Adam enjoyed the festivities to the fullest. His day began by watching his big sister turn into a Rock Star.
After a short nap he went to the school to watch the Halloween parade. I think he enjoyed himself the most by Ooohhing and Aaahing about all the costumes. And he never figured out which one was Luke, he was asleep when Luke got dressed for school.



He made his way to two Halloween parties at school, chose the snacks that were the most appealing, and proceeded to run out of the school as apparently he had enough Halloween parties at the school. One of my more charming moments with two wash tubs filled with leftover craft items, two kids in costume and literally not knowing which way to go get him. Then of course when I caught him...I had to stop and think...Can I spank him? Or will I get turned in? Just to fill you in on my decision...I did spank him and did not feel bad about the decision because what if he runs into the street next time!?!?!
Ok, back to Halloween. We came home and let the kids chill out and we prepared for our evening and baked our jack o lantern pizza that we had missed out upon last year. Papa Murphy's makes this pizza into the shape of a jack o lantern and when I went to pick one up last year for Halloween night, the line was several blocks long, we missed out on it. After much disappointment, we promised them one this year...so...I planned ahead and bought it the day before!
We had a great time taking the kids around to our neighborhood and watching Adam attempt to say Trick or Treat and saying Thank You after each house was just adorable. I'll leave you with a slide show of the kids Halloween 2008. Enjoy!