Adam-isms

I have always kept a journal of the funny things our kids say. There are days that I go back to that journal to remember some of the cuter things that the kids say, and it is true...you do forget. So my advice is to write it down!

Adam AKA "Cookie" (the name fondly given to him by his brother and sister...will also answer to "cook" )is developing quite a language and mostly a language of his own. But again...I do not want to forget this stage of life of his.

CooCoo...Car
BlahBlah...Water or any other type of drink, swimming pool, pond, bathtub, etc.
We'll ask him to say, Emma and he responds with "Sissy" with sort of a -th beginning to it
Shluu...Luke
And my personal favorite: We'll say, "I love you Adam." And he responds with "Too"!
I am sure there will be more....stay tuned!

Great friends, whole lotta moms, Lynne Spears...

Only at the MOPS Convention in Dalls, TX this past weekend. I traveled with 7 other moms to participate in an amazing weekend surrounded by topics just for us...moms of preschool kiddos.
It was 4 years ago when someone stopped me in the halls of our church and said, "Here, sign up for this..." Did I look THAT obvious? Sweet Emma was just about 2 years old, and Luke was 15 months old when we started the MOPS group at our church. Back then, church was the ONLY place I would go by myself with two little little kids. I was placed at a table where I was the youngest mom there, which still seems like yesterday (I'm hanging onto my youth!) I could not believe what a blessing it was to come to hear speakers talk about truly relevant topics all while people watched my kids, and food...unbelievable food! Now starting my 5th year in MOPS, I have served as a table discussion leader, decided it would be a good idea to co-lead the group when Adam was 1 month old, and lead the group last year, and now this year....goin' with the food! I can't tell you how blessed I have been by the moms, mentors and friends I have made through this program and to witness its profound experiences in the lives of thousands of moms this weekend.

We had buttons on all weekend..."Flair" if you will for those of you obsessed with Facebook. The white button with black letters read, SDWSC. After days of waiting it was revealed to us exactly what it stood for "She Did What She Could". It is taken out of Mark 14:8 Often as moms we are judged by the decisions we make from breastfeeding, private school, activities, books to read, need I go on? However, after thinking a lot about SDWSC...I am challenged, that as long as I trust in the words on the pages of that incredible book, continue to be on my knees with my kids and for my kids, and be completely humbled by the job that has been set before me and the job I have done in the past, I would like that to be said of me, "She did what she could."

Throughout the weekend, we heard several fabulous artists performing for our group. Some of the songs are playing now as you read. This is my shameless plug for these artists including, Plumb, Jaci Velasquez and her husband Nick Gonzales of Salvador, Go Fish (great kids music that is quite fun for adults as well).

Overall, I would say my weekend included a great getaway with great friends, more than enough laughter, a few moments of tears, fantastic wisdom, thought provoking ideas and an overall appreciation for this vocation of mothering.

Careful of your Thoughts!

I have always had a flair for the dramatic and those of you who know me are not really shocked by this revelation you are reading on the page. However, sometimes my thoughts get a little carried away and head down a wrong and sometimes destructive path. I believe that I have overcome quite a bit in this area, thanks to a handful of books from Shad Helmstetter including What to Say When You Talk to Yourself and John Maxwell's Thinking for A Change. But once again, last week, it was proof that I am human and do sway off the path of productive change and slide down the slope of horrible thoughts.
Poor little Adam fell down more last week than he had since he was learning to walk. Open road, he'd fall, run into doors, and of course the standard scrapes and bruises he obtains from running down our semi-steep driveway. Well, at first it was not a big deal, but then I began to worry. (Bad idea!) From when he was six months old, he has had what they call benign macrocephaly and for those of you who took med-tech terminology in college it really translates into "no big deal big head". Of course I knew his head was big when he was born and it measured 15cm around....real cool, since we are graciously given 10cm in childbirth. So at 9 months (last summer) we had a full CT scan on his head and it was determined that it was really nothing, just a big head. I think it is charming, but I am partial.
But when he started stumbling all over the place, I was taken back to the place of thoughts I had when he had that scan and all the things that "could've" been wrong. I remember not spending much time there (I must have been reading some of Dr. Helmstetters books at the time). For whatever reason, last week, I was going down a terrible path.

I have a dear friend, who has gone through way more than CT scans with her child starting at age 3 months, brain surgerys, tests beyond belief and I often think of what she does to control her thoughts. This is her reality, it is true and real and fully present in their daily lives. When I was reading one of her blogs, she had gone through so many thoughts of What if this? What if that? And her wise mother told her..."So What?" How true that is? So what? Is it going to change anything? Will we love our children less? Will it turn us to the Lord in prayer more? Will it humble ourselves to trust that God is in control? Sounds like a way better thought process to me. That is why she has the song by Mercy Me, Bring the Rain on her blog.

Again, my point is that I need to brush up on my thoughts and after several good friends and family had told me, "He's probably growing." or "Maybe his allergies are bothering him and he has extra fluid in his ears throwing off his equilibrium" Uh, yeah, WAY better thoughts than mine of "What if they missed something?" No thanks, I'll be reading! Thank you God for good friends, for your word, for your thoughts that I desperately need to be mine.

Happy Birthday Little A

We are so happy to have celebrated Adam's 2nd birthday last weekend. His party was equipped with both sets of grandparents, 17 of his closest friends, their moms and dads and well...a rainy day! But put a few problem solving parents together and we managed to have quite an entertaining birthday party for our sweet little boy. It is hard to believe that it has gone by this fast. It still shocking to me actually! Luke and Emma have been watching the video from when he was born and that has brought back so many fond memories for us. Little A was far from little when he was born, he arrived 4 days late and much to all of our surprise, he weighed 9 lbs. 8oz. Phew...none of us were expecting that. How great it was to finally hear him cry after what seemed like a long time and once the crying began...to finally find out who exactly was on that table...a boy or a girl....a minor detail they did not mention when he was born....I guess breathing was slightly more important.

As I recall all of the reasons he makes our family so special, I want to share them with all of you.
I love that he can say his brother and sister's names...you will often find him yelling "Luuuuuu" and "Sissy". I just love how much he loves them and how sad he is to leave them at school everyday and what joy fills his heart when he sees them come out the door at the end of their day. I love his laugh, his big brown eyes, his hugs, and the wet and sometimes slimy kisses. He is so funny, he loves to investigate, and in my opinion has a future in Public Relations as he will say Hi to anyone who he meets and if you walk by him in a store and do not say hello...he'll keep at it until you do! I love looking at his fat little hands as he points to things or waves to a neighbor down the street. I know those fat hands will not last long...so I want to eat them up while I can! He is a great dancer, a great runner...although that sometimes is a problem and if you can't tell...I think he is just great. Most of all, I am so thankful for the addition of our baby boy to this family. What a blessing he continues to be for our family. Happy Birthday Little A...we love you!

My Brave Little Girl

This week we have been fighting illness in our house. Adam started it with pink eye and then on Tuesday, both of the older kids had pink eye as well. Emma was so bummed out that she would have to miss school, but no one wants to be "that mom" who sends their infectious kids to school. Jeremy and I were up on Tuesday evening with her as she had a horrible earache. But she insisted on going to school on Wednesday and seemed fine all day. Today, when I was dropping Luke off to school, I was giving Emma a dose of her pink eye drops and she mentioned that her ear hurt a little. An hour later, she was in tears at the nurse's office with a terrible double ear infection.
What is my point in all of this? Clearly, not the illness update of the Hagans...but what a remarkable little girl we are so very privileged to raise. From the moment I found out I was pregnant with her 7 years ago, she has been such a tough kid. I was never as sick as I was with her, and her mom was not very tough, she couldn't even keep food down until I was 20 weeks along. But she continued to grow, and to be the strong girl that she is today. Then her mom had kidney stones two separate times. This was not good for the baby, her environment was not "ideal" to say the least. When she thought about bailing out (and coming too early), she decided to stick it out with me; because she is brave, because she is tough and because she is Emma, and she does not give up even under the most undesirable circumstances. I am not going to lie or sugar coat this at all, Emma is hard to raise on many days, but I am beginning to understand that it is her toughness that makes her who she is and with the good tough comes the bad tough. I cannot wait to see what she will do in her life. I am so incredibly excited to see what she will do with that toughness.
I emailed her teacher to let her know that Emma would miss tomorrow and she asked me if Emma had a high tolerance for pain? After a bit of email dialogue, I said, yes, she rarely cries over being hurt or in pain. (Don't get me wrong..she cries a lot over stuff). And her teacher informed me that Emma herself did not tell her that she was ill, another student had told her that she was sick. That little girl was going to try and stick it out even though she has a terrible earache! If I were to fast forward 15 years...I would totally hire her!!!!

Dear Lord,
Please place your healing hand on Emma Grace and heal her from this pain she is enduring and thank you for allowing us to be her parents and to experience this incredible person.
Amen

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

After surviving our first full week of school, Jeremy took the older kids to a Royals baseball game on Friday night. Several friends of ours and some of their children took to the ball park to make it to Fireworks Friday Night (Thanks Mike for offering the tickets to us!). Recognizing that the Royals are not exactly in playoff contention....the Fireworks are usually the highlight if you can last that long. Well, not last night, there were some big highlights before the fireworks began. Daddy fulfilled his lifelong dream and caught a foul ball at a Major League Ballpark. I am not sure if it was the "Rally Cap" look that he and Luke were sporting or what (by the way...the rally cap did not prove to work for the Royals to win the game...lost 4-3)...but WOW is Dad the coolest or what!?!? Apparently Emma was so lovey to her Daddy and was showering him with praises and kisses on how great he was...I better remind her of that when she is 15! It reminds me that it is the simple things and precious time spent with our kids. It does not have to be a trip to Disney or vacation spots around the globe. Jeremy was able to take our kids to Kaufman Stadium and watch a game and the kids loved it. Of course him catching the ball was really cool in their eyes, but so was having the chance to be with their Dad.

If Only The'y'd Be in School....

This is a phrase that I would often say early on in the years when Emma and Luke were little. There would be days that would seem to have no end, the crying, the fighting, the constant needs, coveting of toys...
Today we took Emma to school and it was 8:05 a.m. and she was quick to run into the gym where all of her friends were. Well, I stayed....after all, this would be the first day that I had left her at a school until 3:40 when I can pick her up! She was not real pleased, because after all, "Mom...I know how to get to my class you know!" Then this afternoon, we took Luke to his first day of afternoon Kindergarten. While several of the little ones in his class were having a terrible time leaving their Moms & Dads...not Luke, he sat right down at his chair and started coloring. Do not get me wrong...this is what we wanted...no tears, just excitement for the fun ahead. We spent over a year and a half of him crying and clinging to our legs when we would leave him at church for an hour, I was over that years ago...and apparently, so is Luke.

I am sure that this sick feeling in my stomach will go away, the lump in my throat will soften, and the tears will dry. And to think that those thoughts of "if only they'd be in school" from 3-4 years ago, they are gone too. They are there..at school and they are bigger now, they are confident, ready to learn, and they are so happy to be entering this chapter in their life. Who am I to squash those feelings for them? It does not diminish the memories of how hard it really was when they were 2, 3, etc. But it does make this experience extremely bittersweet. We have so many memories ahead of us for a great school year. It's just 2 hours and 11 minutes until I can pick them up!!! Hooray! :)

Get Rhythm....

We went to Corydon, IA (Jeremy's hometown) this weekend for the 125th Old Settler's Reunion...and after participating in probably 10 of these "events" I might venture to say that this particular one was memorable to say the least. As you can see from the video above, Adam really enjoyed the live music from Saturday night which happened to include a collection of Johnny Cash songs by the artist. Unfortunately...the funniest was toward the end of the night when "Get Rhythm" was being played and Adam nearly fell out of his chair he was dancing so dramatically. Wait, maybe it was me that nearly fell out of my chair laughing at him!

However, as with any true carnival, there is your collection of interesting characters running the "is this thing really safe" machines and we have our 6 and 5 year olds begging us to go on these rides. I had a lapse in judgement and allowed Ms. Independent go on "The Ride" with the 7 year old younger sister of my sister-in-law Malisha. While most of the rides were harmless (if you can disregard the stale human sweat smell that somehow overwhelm one's olfactory nerves), this one was fast and I did not realize how much they really were not strapped in and as Emma is going around and around, I kept thinking, she's going to slip right out of that thing...there is nothing keeping her from falling out other than a bar that she could FIT through! So, that being said, she insisted on going again, because after all...it was SOOOO FUN!! I told her the only way she could is if another adult went with her and sat with her. Well, that sparked Luke's interest, who was just shy of being tall enough, saw other, smaller kids on the ride with their parents....you know where this is going....Jeremy and I took Emma and Luke on the awful (in my opinion) Paratrooper ride. I had visions of the rusty old squeaky thing breaking and poor Adam being left with no family as the rest of his family is forever remembered in the 125th Annual event as the one where the Paratrooper Ride accident took place. Realizing that thought process was more than unproductive.....I stopped thinking through that nightmare and not wishing to completely squash Emma's joy of how much fun she was having, I managed to create a pleasant face. Perhaps I should have embraced the Johnny Cash lyrics....Get rhythm...when you get the blues...get rhythm...

But the night would not have been complete without a funny from our dear Emma...after being "old settlers" for approximately 9 hours on Saturday...we were all in desparate need of a shower...Emma proclaims, "Yeah, one of those rides was going so fast...I wet my pants! Isn't that just hysterical?" After nearly wetting my pants myself...it was confirmed...time was of no matter...shower was absolutely necessary...

Jeremy & Luke listening to music in the park

Andrew waiting for his mom (Amy) to come by with her class of '98 float...or maybe just waiting for candy

Emma at the Big Parade

And if you thought I was kidding...the Big Parade also included Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin

Destiny (Emma & Luke's cousin) on a ride...was THIS the alleged wetting the pants incident?

The ABCs of Rach

A. Attached or single? Attached...usually with a small child...literally!
B. Best friend? I'm like Emma...everyone is my "best" friend
C. Cake or pie? Does the word "chocolate" count for both!
D. Day of choice? Saturday
E. Essential item? Hmmm...I have lots...but Skin Conditioning Oil from Arbonne...it really does heal what ails ya
F. Favorite color? Gold & Black!!!
G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears....but do enjoy the sour patch variety of HFCS items! :)
H. Home town? Red Oak, Iowa
I. Favorite indulgence? Pedicures... . .
J. January or July? July...my birthday and pretty much do not like the cold...ever!
K. Kids? Emma, Luke, & Adam
L. Life isn't complete without? Friends and Starbucks!
M. Marriage date? June 13, 1998.
N. Number of brothers and sisters? Two older sisters
O. Oranges or apples? Apples...can I dip them in caramel?
P. Phobias? Bugs....especially the ones that make their way into my home...we're at capacity here...take up residence elsewhere please!
Q. Quotes? I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than attempting to satisfy them.
R. Reasons to smile? Happy smiles, laughter of children, hugs and kisses
S. Season of choice? Fall....its football season!
T. Tag 5 people:You decide...
U. Unknown fact about me? I'm an open book....
V. Vegetable? Sweet corn!
W. Worst habit? I'm with Lisa..procrastinating...(But then I do really great work under pressure...but that is hard with 3 small employees in tow.
X. X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound....and NOT to find out the sex of our babies, being in a dark room is way to uneventful for such an amazing discovery....but just because it is absolutely amazing to see God's miracles moving around and seing that precious heartbeating!!!
Y. Your favorite food? One food? Today I pick guacamole from Chipotle!
Z. Zodiac sign? Leo

Great Girlfriends

Recently a group of my friends and I went out to dinner for my birthday. We had a fantastic meal and as usual when a bunch of ladies get together...there is usually a lot of laughing! I am so fortunate for the friends that I have made throughout my life. From my childhood friends that I reunited with at my reunion this summer, to my college friends, whom I learned so much from and essentially grew up with, to the group of friends I have made over the past 8 years. While because of the stage of life we are currently active participants in; I do not keep in touch as well with several of these good friends. However it certainly does not diminish the importance of each of them in my heart. What a blessing it is to have great girlfriends from when I was in elementary school, in my 20's and now in my 30's. My sisters and I were discussing once, what it would be like without our girlfriends...each of our responses were exactly the same...we could not imagine it. Thank you to all of my friends for being my friend and for blessing my life in so many ways!

You'll Get Used to Her

As we go through our lives, from the minute we are born, we continuously learn to adapt to our world and this next story is Emma's understanding of that process. Last weekend we were in the car as a family and Emma was asking Adam about all the people he loved. Everytime he would answer with a big head nod for "Yes". He was answering yes to everyone...then it came to Mommy...she asked him and he shook his head and verbally said, "No." While that did not really bother me that much and I am quite secure in his love for me, what made the experience so funny was what Emma said next. She patted Adam on the back and said, "Its o.k. buddy...you'll get used to her." Too funny if you ask me. I have long kept a journal of the funny things our kids have said and this one is definitely part of that collection!

Below is a video of Emma knee boarding at the lake in Nebraska last weekend. We traveled to Ginger Cove (the family home of the Harmons) a total of 10 adults and 13 kids made the weekend journey (Emma being the oldest child). We have been a part of this community group from church for nearly 7 years now. While our group has changed throughout the seven years, we have truly enjoyed journeying through our lives with this group of people. The kids (and adults) had a great time playing all weekend.

Tubing...also a big hit!

Summer Vacation?

I have found myself realizing that certain terms do not always mean the same thing to everyone. For example...Summer Vacation...Here is a phrase commonly used with regards to the famous school calendar each school comes up with. However, in my mind, summer vacation was always equivilent to fun, fantastic, freedom from schedules and routines. After the first 4 days of our "summer vacation" I began to realize that just because the school calendar says summer, and perhaps the sun says summer, does it always mean vacation! We began our summer by driving 6+ hours in the car to Arkansas to attend a family reunion on Jeremy's side of the family; this would be our "vacation". While we enjoyed the weather, the hikes and the conversations with family, Jeremy and his parents enjoyed a whole bunch of MOLD! Grandma's house had flooded (she does not live there, it is a vacation home) and then grew the mold. Jeremy would often be described as a worker by most people, and this was not untrue of this particular weekend either. In my mind we would spend 100% of our time as a family, playing outside, hiking and enjoying one another, which we did do for part of the time. There is the problem, I thought this is what we would do ALL of the time...when do we ever do exactly as we plan 100% of the time? We are continuously putting our lives in a box and carving out boxed time that we believe in a way it should be. Perhaps I should stop taking things so literally and just sitting back and enjoying the "moments".....during what some call vacation!