Audrey is 5 months old today!

What a cutie! Yes, she is chubby (6-12 month size outfit), but she is cute, and sweet!

What she is up to now:

Giggling at brother. Staring at brother. Smiling at brother. Playing with brother. She has such a cute laugh. He makes her laugh the most of all of us, and he gets the best laughs. They have such a special relationship. One major goal in life will be to pray for that relationship, and preserve it as much as possible on my end. Caleb and Audrey adore each other. It brings me joy to see them interact everyday. I never tire of it. Caleb is definitely Audrey's favorite person!

Reading... Audrey LOVES books, read to her, and to eat.

Bath time. She gets a bath every other day, with Caleb. What fun! She splashes and kicks, and splashes some more.

Slapping things with her right hand. That hand is going constantly and she tries to get anything and everything around her. She is going to be a wild one.

Rolling from tummy to back.

Scooting on her back... she is quite good at it.

Trying to scoot on her tummy... not as good, but she puts in a lot of effort.

Babbling baby babble, so cute! I love "talking" with her. She is quite the talker.

Staring at Daddy with a HUGE smile and following his voice with her eyes. She knows if he is around even before she sees him.

Christian showed her her toes today, she now LOVES her toes and tries to get them when she can.

Chewing anything and everything with ferocious energy.

Not napping so great. Nightime is okay, but used to be better. Very alert these days, and doesn't want to miss a thing!

I just love her and she is very sweet and enjoyable. Caleb and I have a lot of fun with her each day, and she goes with the flow most of the time with Caleb's schedule. Although hard to have two, Audrey herself is a joy.

Caleb's 3rd Birthday!

Happy Birthday Caleb!


My big boy... my baby...but such a big boy! Caleb is three today. Three years ago today, I held him in my arms for the first time. I still cannot explain the feeling I felt when Christian held Caleb up and placed him on my belly, "We have a Caleb." Total euphoria, love, adoration, and so mcuh more. Caleb, I love you, and I am so thankful for you!

Lot's of pics on Facebook of the big day, check them out. but here are a few highlights...

Caleb was allowed to invite 3 friends: Stasi and Sasha (package deal), Ella, and Jesse. They had a great time!

Audrey Rolled Over!

Audrey rolled over yesterday. She has done this twice before (once at 2 months) and the other is a post earlier on my blog. Yesterday was definitely intentional, she really wanted something, but I am not sure she knows what she did, or how to do it again for that matter.

Green Day... Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We all wore green, ate green food, made green projects, and had a green time!

So fun! Go Green!

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Hi All,

Here is a shameless plug for my sister-in-law, Marlo, and her latest book coming out in May, If Tomorrow Never Comes. You have to read the interview, and then the book, and then her books she has already written. I have read them all, and enjoyed them all.

Here is the link to the interview on her blog:
http://marloschalesky.blogspot.com/

What I love about Marlo's books is that she deals with real life pain and issues, and weaves her faith into the story in a non-confrontational way. Her characters often go from a simple faith to a profound faith, and I have grown in my faith as I have read her books. Of course, I have the bonus of getting to grow in my faith as I hang out with Marlo too!

Check her out. Any mom of 5 kids who is also a business owner and a writer is worth checking out!

I am not crazy!

Remember last week when I was feeling like a terrible mother?

Well, it was plaguing me so much that I had to go see my counselor. I hadn't been in a year, so it was probably time for a check up anyway. Yes, I said check up. Don't all normal people see a counselor once a year?

Anyway, my counselor listened to me for almost an hour. When I was done talking (when you don't go for a year there is a lot to catch up on!), she said I am not crazy. Whew! That was a relief.

What she did say is that I am run down and worn out. That I never was good about taking breaks when Caleb was a baby, and now with two children I have a bad habit of not taking breaks. She said it is catching up to me.

How do you take a break with a nursing infant? I challenged.

Apparently, I am to leave the kiddos with Christian, a friend, someone for at least an hour, two is better. Once a week. Does anyone else do this?

I came home and told Christian, and because I have a wonderful husband, he said it makes sense. He also said he will help me to get away for an hour once a week, to go on a walk, meet with a friend, whatever. In fact, I already have some alone time scheduled for this week.

I remember my counselor wanting me to do this with Caleb too, but it just seemed impossible, wrong even, and I had no desire to be without him. However, now with two children, it sounds like a good idea. Especially since I am finding myself being angry a lot. Angry with Christian, angry with God, and in the last year, angry with Caleb. You would think that any of those would be cause enough to send me to figure things out, but it was the angry with Caleb part that made me go see my counselor. I thought she was going to tell me that I had some deep seeded emotional issue I had to work out. But no, she just wants me to take a break 1-2 hours a week.

I think I can do it. And... is this possible? I haven't been as angry since I went yesterday. In fact, I didn't feel angry at all today. Tired yes, sick yes, but no anger. Woohoo!

Oops, and other male/female bathroom blunders

Context:
Caleb truly is so proud that he wears big boy underwear now. And yes, as part of the whole, "pee pee on the potty" idea, we use to say to Caleb, "Show (enter relative or close friend's name) how you can pee pee on the potty." This led to Caleb believeing that anyone that is around when he is going potty (that he even slightly knows, especially other kids) ought to watch him go. Most kids happily oblige, especially those who are not yet potty trained, as potty training is this huge mysterious thing.

Friend's Post:
http://www.houseofwaffles.com/hw/Blog/Entries/2009/3/9_Castration_anxiety_(No%2C_not_me).html

Jen, I am so sorry for the confusion this caused!

My sister, (sorry for outing you Katie) used to believe she had a penis. She, like Anna, use to insist on it, rather vehemently. You will be happy to know Jen, that today, she is a well adjusted woman. Quite happy with her (ahem) girl parts, with a great husband and daughter to boot.

And I will let Christian know to be expecting a call from Adam soon. :)