this week we made webbed hands and feet to go on the ends of the arm and leg buds that started forming last week. so crazy. a little baby duck is cooking in my belly! and it's the size of a blueberry.
chris and i had a great weekend to cap off a really crazy work week for him. friday night we went out for some wicked good chinese food with our friends charles and grace. they are my map to eating yummily in the valley. i have actually been to this restaurant with them before, and it was good before, but this time- it was phenomenal. grace really likes this sizzling rice soup, which was mad delicious. i myself love sweet and sour soup, though many chinese restaurants manage to mess it up. not this restaurant though. it was SO GOOD. a shockingly great dish was the walnut shrimp dish, which is basically a bed of walnuts with shrimp that has been fried and then covered in mayonnaise on top. sounds horrid. tastes like heaven. so good. the name and place of this ugly yet incredible eatery is WONG'S (can you get more chinese than that? i think not.) and it is located on the south side of baseline, east of mc clintock. let me know if you want to try it out. i want to go to there.
the next night we had another date night planned (chinese food is maybe all the more delicious when you are pregnant and not sharing your food with a picky 3 and 4 year old). we had no idea what to do. we didn't really want to just go out for dinner, and we definitely didn't want to go out to a movie. i had the genius idea of going to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls and maybe getting dessert afterwards. chris was initially very excited about the plan until his amazing daddy-intuition kicked in and he said it was a bad idea. when i asked him why, he said that since swinging a golf club is such an ab exercise that maybe we should hold off till i was out of the first trimester. what a great dad! and a great golfer. i don't actually think i use my abs when i golf, but i just agreed with my genius husband and we didn't golf.
so that was week seven. still tired. still not loving smells. still not feeling incredible, but enjoying the peace that comes with that.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
easter with the watsons
around here, we try to talk about Jesus a lot and help the kids to realize what holidays are really about. it's hard, especially when you walk around target every few weeks and all you see are decorations and giant signs marking the next holiday, even if it is months before the big day.
so, since right after valentines day, we have been talking about easter. (thanks for that target). which is good. if you ask the kids what Easter is about, they will most likely say: "Jesus died. and then He came back!" and then they will mention something about heaven. they are not sure what heaven is about, but we have explained to them that Jesus died so that we can go to heaven and be with Him one day.
on easter sunday, we went to church with our lovely friends, the hartmans. aka hobey and his family. they actually have started going to a church in tempe, which is SO great but we thought we would invite them to ours so that the kids could go to sunday school since the tempe church doesn't have that up and running yet. since i am not entirely sure what they think of the gospel, i listened to sunday's message as a 'non-believer'. and to be honest, it all sounds kinda hokey. someone loves me so much that they died for me? Jesus touched people with leprosy? who cares? i can do all things through someone who is going to give me strength? weird. God is full of comapssion? i don't believe it.
man! it was really easy to not believe! it's easy to disregard everything you hear at church as being a nice story from a really big book of stories, and that's it. but the thing of it is- it's all real. it's really real to me. so much so that i feed these stories to my kids and i pray that these stories transform the way my kids live their lives and give them hope in a pretty hopeless world.
i love easter. we definitely celebrate it in a very commercial way. we have an easter egg hunt at nana's and papa's and the kids love it so much. when we were getting in the car to go to barb's topher asked if we were going to heaven. we said we would one day, but not at this very second. he absorbed what we were saying to him and then he asked: "can we go to nana's house first? and then go to heaven?"
oh my boy! so precious. i just hope he realizes one day that heaven is actually better than going to nana's house for funtimes with the family and a bucket full of candy. although that sounds pretty good too.
hope you all had a wonderful easter. praise be to the One who loves, touches, heals, dies, and comes back!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
so, since right after valentines day, we have been talking about easter. (thanks for that target). which is good. if you ask the kids what Easter is about, they will most likely say: "Jesus died. and then He came back!" and then they will mention something about heaven. they are not sure what heaven is about, but we have explained to them that Jesus died so that we can go to heaven and be with Him one day.
on easter sunday, we went to church with our lovely friends, the hartmans. aka hobey and his family. they actually have started going to a church in tempe, which is SO great but we thought we would invite them to ours so that the kids could go to sunday school since the tempe church doesn't have that up and running yet. since i am not entirely sure what they think of the gospel, i listened to sunday's message as a 'non-believer'. and to be honest, it all sounds kinda hokey. someone loves me so much that they died for me? Jesus touched people with leprosy? who cares? i can do all things through someone who is going to give me strength? weird. God is full of comapssion? i don't believe it.
man! it was really easy to not believe! it's easy to disregard everything you hear at church as being a nice story from a really big book of stories, and that's it. but the thing of it is- it's all real. it's really real to me. so much so that i feed these stories to my kids and i pray that these stories transform the way my kids live their lives and give them hope in a pretty hopeless world.
i love easter. we definitely celebrate it in a very commercial way. we have an easter egg hunt at nana's and papa's and the kids love it so much. when we were getting in the car to go to barb's topher asked if we were going to heaven. we said we would one day, but not at this very second. he absorbed what we were saying to him and then he asked: "can we go to nana's house first? and then go to heaven?"
oh my boy! so precious. i just hope he realizes one day that heaven is actually better than going to nana's house for funtimes with the family and a bucket full of candy. although that sounds pretty good too.
hope you all had a wonderful easter. praise be to the One who loves, touches, heals, dies, and comes back!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
week lentil bean
week six, my baby is the size of a lentil bean and is working on it's facial features, arm and leg buds. again- amazing.
the beginning of the week marked the arrival of the super-sensitive-pregnant nose. no more scented lotions, or anything for that matter. topher woke up tuesday morning with an over-full-of-pee diaper and i almost threw up on him when i caught a whiff of it. changing zane and hobey's diapers this week was a special challenge, as it will be for the next few months :)
then the dreaded/much anticipated morning sickness arrived. yeah and boo!!!!! so i finally feel pregnant, and it is exhausting and terrible and so reassuring! one night i needed to eat some soft tacos from taco bell. i've never seen chris so happy to run out and 'make' dinner for us. a major perk of being pregnant. then this morning i really really needed to eat some pancakes, so we went to Denny's. so great. sure our bank account may take a hit this month on my wanting to eat everything and not wanting to cook anything, but this is the last time we are planning on being pregnant, so i am just going to live it up.
but the strangest thing happened this morning as i was drinking my decaf cup of coffee. i was NOT enjoying it. i don't know whose baby is in my womb, but this baby does not like coffee! what the what!?!? so crazy. even though i am a pretty serious coffee drinker (anywhere from 1-3 cups a day) i have not had any withdrawals from my gradual change from regular to decaf, and now decaf to no-coffee. this journey just keeps getting more and more interesting as the days go by.
another perk/downfall of being pregnant is i took a serious two hour nap today. chris was home so i enjoyed the nap without any fear that my kids were somewhere drinking bleach. on days when i am watching lots of kids, and by myself, napping turns into an artform, where sometimes i close my eyes for a few minutes while everyone is having a snack, strapped into their chairs at the table!
in two more weeks we will have our first ultrasound! i definitely feel like things are going well, but i know a good handfull of people who have gone to their 8 week ultrasound and had bad bad bad news delivered on that day. so i am being cautious and prayerful and still not telling lots of people. we especially haven't told lily and topher cause 1. nine months is a long long time to wait for a 4 and a 3 year old. and 2. it's no fun telling people you aren't pregnant afterall, i really don't know how i would tell that to lily and topher.
***real time moment- this is present jihae, not past-jihae from 3 weeks ago. we have told lily and topher and they are not necessarily as excited as i thought they would be. but lily is convinced that there is a baby sister for her living in my belly :)
the beginning of the week marked the arrival of the super-sensitive-pregnant nose. no more scented lotions, or anything for that matter. topher woke up tuesday morning with an over-full-of-pee diaper and i almost threw up on him when i caught a whiff of it. changing zane and hobey's diapers this week was a special challenge, as it will be for the next few months :)
then the dreaded/much anticipated morning sickness arrived. yeah and boo!!!!! so i finally feel pregnant, and it is exhausting and terrible and so reassuring! one night i needed to eat some soft tacos from taco bell. i've never seen chris so happy to run out and 'make' dinner for us. a major perk of being pregnant. then this morning i really really needed to eat some pancakes, so we went to Denny's. so great. sure our bank account may take a hit this month on my wanting to eat everything and not wanting to cook anything, but this is the last time we are planning on being pregnant, so i am just going to live it up.
but the strangest thing happened this morning as i was drinking my decaf cup of coffee. i was NOT enjoying it. i don't know whose baby is in my womb, but this baby does not like coffee! what the what!?!? so crazy. even though i am a pretty serious coffee drinker (anywhere from 1-3 cups a day) i have not had any withdrawals from my gradual change from regular to decaf, and now decaf to no-coffee. this journey just keeps getting more and more interesting as the days go by.
another perk/downfall of being pregnant is i took a serious two hour nap today. chris was home so i enjoyed the nap without any fear that my kids were somewhere drinking bleach. on days when i am watching lots of kids, and by myself, napping turns into an artform, where sometimes i close my eyes for a few minutes while everyone is having a snack, strapped into their chairs at the table!
in two more weeks we will have our first ultrasound! i definitely feel like things are going well, but i know a good handfull of people who have gone to their 8 week ultrasound and had bad bad bad news delivered on that day. so i am being cautious and prayerful and still not telling lots of people. we especially haven't told lily and topher cause 1. nine months is a long long time to wait for a 4 and a 3 year old. and 2. it's no fun telling people you aren't pregnant afterall, i really don't know how i would tell that to lily and topher.
***real time moment- this is present jihae, not past-jihae from 3 weeks ago. we have told lily and topher and they are not necessarily as excited as i thought they would be. but lily is convinced that there is a baby sister for her living in my belly :)
Sunday, April 24, 2011
week 5
i wrote this post almost five weeks ago! hope everyone had a great easter weekend :)
at week five my baby is the size of a grain of rice and is forming it's heart. how crazy is that?!?!?!?! look at a grain of rice. and imagine that rice being a person with a heart. that is sheer insanity.
this week i had moments of narcolepsy mixed in with lots of moments of feeling totally and completely fine. which sent me off of my rocker. i guess you can say i freaked out that i didn't have morning sickness yet and was yearning for it (idiot!). i had my first doctor's appointment on monday the 21st, and there they proclaimed that i was 5 weeks pregnant. i was having a good amount of cramping, which they said was fine, as long as it wasn't very sharp and only on one side. the pain was pretty well distributed. safe. and no spotting. also safe. but my pregnant brain played lots of evil tricks on me this week, and it was a daily struggle to lift up my rice baby to Him and ask for proctection and health.
it's been FIVE years since i was pregnant with lily. i am not remembering anything clearly, but i am trying to enjoy the fact that i am not sitting in front of the toilet puking my guts out, like i did with lily. the journey begins! again!
at week five my baby is the size of a grain of rice and is forming it's heart. how crazy is that?!?!?!?! look at a grain of rice. and imagine that rice being a person with a heart. that is sheer insanity.
this week i had moments of narcolepsy mixed in with lots of moments of feeling totally and completely fine. which sent me off of my rocker. i guess you can say i freaked out that i didn't have morning sickness yet and was yearning for it (idiot!). i had my first doctor's appointment on monday the 21st, and there they proclaimed that i was 5 weeks pregnant. i was having a good amount of cramping, which they said was fine, as long as it wasn't very sharp and only on one side. the pain was pretty well distributed. safe. and no spotting. also safe. but my pregnant brain played lots of evil tricks on me this week, and it was a daily struggle to lift up my rice baby to Him and ask for proctection and health.
it's been FIVE years since i was pregnant with lily. i am not remembering anything clearly, but i am trying to enjoy the fact that i am not sitting in front of the toilet puking my guts out, like i did with lily. the journey begins! again!
Friday, April 22, 2011
watermelon time
i love watermelon. so juicy and delicious. it is the fruit of summer and summer is here in arizona. i just ate 1/4 of a mini seedless watermelon by myself. like 2 minutes ago. cause everyone is napping. and i didn't have to share it. and i loved every second of it.
but now i feel like i need to share this:
turn up your volume otherwise you will miss it. and don't blink, cause the video is only 9 seconds long.
this video is real and was taken about 5 weeks ago. chris' smile at te end is the best which is why i love watching it over and over again.
that's how i like to make big announcements- make lily do it for me. she delivers it with great poise and cuteness. i especially love how chris says: "really?" and she answers: "yes", but she actually has no idea what she is talking about. she never asked me what "pregnant" meant, and didn't find out herself until chris and i had our first ultrasound last monday.
everything is looking good- baby has a nice strong heartbeat and i am feeling gross, tired, and all around kind of terrible. yeah!!!!!! i am an early-show-er, and already have a good baby bump though most articles i have read say: "you aren't showing yet, so take some pictures of yourself now to compare during the rest ofyour pregnancy." too late. now that i am announcing it, i feel like i can proudly display my growing midsection.
so i am due november 20th, but will be doing my best to push this baby out on 11/11/11 at 11:11. surely there must be a prize for that, right? but in the much nearer future than november, be looking forward to an avalanche of posts concerning my pregnancy as i have been blogging-without-posting for the last 5 weeks. i am happy to be living up to my name of 'baby havin babies' though i think chris thinks it might be time to rename the blog 'midddle age woman havin babies but definitely still acting like a giant baby'.
but now i feel like i need to share this:
turn up your volume otherwise you will miss it. and don't blink, cause the video is only 9 seconds long.
this video is real and was taken about 5 weeks ago. chris' smile at te end is the best which is why i love watching it over and over again.
that's how i like to make big announcements- make lily do it for me. she delivers it with great poise and cuteness. i especially love how chris says: "really?" and she answers: "yes", but she actually has no idea what she is talking about. she never asked me what "pregnant" meant, and didn't find out herself until chris and i had our first ultrasound last monday.
everything is looking good- baby has a nice strong heartbeat and i am feeling gross, tired, and all around kind of terrible. yeah!!!!!! i am an early-show-er, and already have a good baby bump though most articles i have read say: "you aren't showing yet, so take some pictures of yourself now to compare during the rest ofyour pregnancy." too late. now that i am announcing it, i feel like i can proudly display my growing midsection.
so i am due november 20th, but will be doing my best to push this baby out on 11/11/11 at 11:11. surely there must be a prize for that, right? but in the much nearer future than november, be looking forward to an avalanche of posts concerning my pregnancy as i have been blogging-without-posting for the last 5 weeks. i am happy to be living up to my name of 'baby havin babies' though i think chris thinks it might be time to rename the blog 'midddle age woman havin babies but definitely still acting like a giant baby'.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
thank you utah!
thursday morning, chris and robert hopped on an airplane to go to salt lake city for a few days for some brother bonding time (aka running away from their wives and young children time). many people have asked why they chose to hang out in salt lake city. cause there was a half marathon there on saturday, and these crazy boys wanted to run while on vacation. i don't understand it. but that's just me.
so they left and they did all the things that i do not like to do. namely go to the movies and watch crazy, scary, bloody, movies. they did this. every day. thursday. friday. saturday. sunday. and then they came home on monday. before they left, chris lookde up the top 30 things to do in salt lake city. i think #9 was: "check out the library!" oh dear. i knew chris was going to be just fine on his man trip.
so, the funniest thing that happened was, in the midst of the abundant boredom, the boys went shopping. chris went to barnes and noble and bought books for the kids. two early reading books for lily (she doesn't know how to read yet) and a batman book for topher. they were so very very happy with their gifts. i too was very pleased with the great gifts chris chose for our kids. after chris gave the kids their books, he handed me a lovely little gift bag and inside was a beautiful shirt. so sweet! i love it. but more than i love the shirt, i love the story that goes with the shirt:
-chris walked into this store at the mall on a sunday in salt lake city. the place was deserted. the girl who was working there was trying to help chris cause he was the only human being she had seen that day so far. she asked if chris was looking for a shirt, or an outift, or something else. chris said "outfit" with confidence, though he was unaware that he was in a pretty expensive store (i was surprised when i saw the bag!) so the girl lit up like christmas (commission much?) and started showing chris some outifts. the shirts were all about $20, but the bottoms were all about $70. i don't normally pay $20 for tops, but i NEVER pay $70 for bottoms. chris made a pretend phone call to robert, started muttering something about how many pants and shorts i already owned, and then told the girl that he would just get me a shirt.
i don't know why. i just pictured the whole thing and it was hilarious. my beautiful, yet cheap, husband. (that's not a jab at chris. i am cheaper than him.)
so, chris came back on monday, happy to see the desert sun (it was cold in salt lake),and his family. there is no time for boredom in our house! the kids were all over him, and were so happy to have someone to play tag with (i don't know why, they never ask me to play tag with them at the park, and i guess i never really offer...) and then when we came back from the park, chris announcedthat he was going to teach our kids how to read, so he got one of the books that he bought for lily and started to teach her how to read. "lily, what letter is this? what sound does it make? what's the next letter? what sound does that make?" and so on and so forth. he tried really hard! it was a beautiful sight to see!
so, thanks to salt lake city having nothing to do except go to the library and run, my hubby has come back a healthier man who is obsessed with reading. this is the kind of man trip i am happy to support.
so they left and they did all the things that i do not like to do. namely go to the movies and watch crazy, scary, bloody, movies. they did this. every day. thursday. friday. saturday. sunday. and then they came home on monday. before they left, chris lookde up the top 30 things to do in salt lake city. i think #9 was: "check out the library!" oh dear. i knew chris was going to be just fine on his man trip.
so, the funniest thing that happened was, in the midst of the abundant boredom, the boys went shopping. chris went to barnes and noble and bought books for the kids. two early reading books for lily (she doesn't know how to read yet) and a batman book for topher. they were so very very happy with their gifts. i too was very pleased with the great gifts chris chose for our kids. after chris gave the kids their books, he handed me a lovely little gift bag and inside was a beautiful shirt. so sweet! i love it. but more than i love the shirt, i love the story that goes with the shirt:
-chris walked into this store at the mall on a sunday in salt lake city. the place was deserted. the girl who was working there was trying to help chris cause he was the only human being she had seen that day so far. she asked if chris was looking for a shirt, or an outift, or something else. chris said "outfit" with confidence, though he was unaware that he was in a pretty expensive store (i was surprised when i saw the bag!) so the girl lit up like christmas (commission much?) and started showing chris some outifts. the shirts were all about $20, but the bottoms were all about $70. i don't normally pay $20 for tops, but i NEVER pay $70 for bottoms. chris made a pretend phone call to robert, started muttering something about how many pants and shorts i already owned, and then told the girl that he would just get me a shirt.
i don't know why. i just pictured the whole thing and it was hilarious. my beautiful, yet cheap, husband. (that's not a jab at chris. i am cheaper than him.)
so, chris came back on monday, happy to see the desert sun (it was cold in salt lake),and his family. there is no time for boredom in our house! the kids were all over him, and were so happy to have someone to play tag with (i don't know why, they never ask me to play tag with them at the park, and i guess i never really offer...) and then when we came back from the park, chris announcedthat he was going to teach our kids how to read, so he got one of the books that he bought for lily and started to teach her how to read. "lily, what letter is this? what sound does it make? what's the next letter? what sound does that make?" and so on and so forth. he tried really hard! it was a beautiful sight to see!
so, thanks to salt lake city having nothing to do except go to the library and run, my hubby has come back a healthier man who is obsessed with reading. this is the kind of man trip i am happy to support.
Monday, April 18, 2011
the evils of water
when chris was in iraq, i was always so happy to meet people who had come back from iraq, safe and alive. now that chris is a cop, i really enjoy meeting retired cops, people who have served for 20+ years and are safe and alive. these days, i am enjoying meeting adults/teenagers who have grown up in arizona and are safe and alive.
did you know that there are 90 pool-related deaths in arizona every year? and they occur between april and august. two weekends ago, a little 7 year old boy died in a canal, while his 6 year old brother, also in the canal, managed to survive. this weekend on saturday, one 3 year old and one 7 year old girl died in swimming pools. the 3 year old was in a pool full of other kids, the oldest one being 14. the 7 year old died at her grandparents house in an above ground pool. there wasn't a ladder on the pool, but there was one close by, and the 7 year old pushed it over and drowned. my heart breaks for all of the families that have lost their children in this horrid month of april.
but heart is also divided between being sad and being extremely angry because drowning is so preventable! i feel like it should be mandatory for swim lessons to be free in this state. is that crazy talk? i am pretty sure i took free swimming lessons in canada at the local rec center. and they were great swimming lessons. i became a lifeguard. i think i even took synchronized swimming lessons for free (that didn't last long. the lessons. not the free-ness). sure that was EONS ago, but can't we just do that here in the land of the 6 month long summer? i mean, there's about 2 months, max, that you are swimming outside in canada, and yet we have free swimming lessons. i knew 1 person with a pool in their backyard growing up. 1 person. that's it. and i can't yell at parents on this blog to go out and pay a ton of money for swimming lessons, especially if they don't have the dough for it. but then at least be ridiculously vigilant about watching your kids near water and letting kids know that water is EVIL AND DANGEROUS! ok. it's not always. but young kids don't do great with 'exceptions to the rule' so for now, lily and topher have been getting an earful about how dangerous and evil water is.
these last two weeks have put me in a quandry. the boys who fell in the canal were on a bike ride. their dad started looking for them after they had been missing for quite a while. but they were on a bike ride. that's safe, right? something they probably did every weekend, if not every day. but they had an accident. i don't know all the details to this story, but i can only hope they didn't intentionally go into the canal, especially because it was freakishly cold last saturday. so does that mean i still shouldn't trust lily and topher to be outside when they are 7? that's not old enough, but then what is old enough? at this point, the kids are going to live with me for the rest of their lives because they won't have nya friends cause i won't let them go anywhere or do anything cause i can't trust them. oh evil water.
but i guess not all water is evil. ok. i know it's really really not. this weekend was baptism weekend at our church and many people were baptized. one of my 'young' friends (high school student)that i volunteer with jumped out of her seat and got baptized at the last second. it happened to be at the service i was attending and i was so blessed to have been at the same service as her. what joy it is to watch people give their lives to Christ. to go under that water and emerge as a new creation. i guess water is evil if you don't emerge from it.
the baptisms were the highlight of my day yesterday. i guess this is an angry post because i found out that the 7 year old who drowned at her grandparents' house was one of my students in my special needs class. she was the sweetest little angel who had a plethora of different afflictions, one of which was not being able to speak. i have been praying for her family in this insane time of loss and mourning and grieving, and i guess instead of ranting about how our state should offer free swimming lessons, i should just be asking you to please pray for this little girl's family. i have hope and faith that this little one is in heaven, communicating ever so clearly to our heavenly Father, and they are laughing and sharing some inside jokes, and He is delighted to have her with Him. she is in a better place. and now we pray for her family to try to get to a better place mentally and spiritually.
did you know that there are 90 pool-related deaths in arizona every year? and they occur between april and august. two weekends ago, a little 7 year old boy died in a canal, while his 6 year old brother, also in the canal, managed to survive. this weekend on saturday, one 3 year old and one 7 year old girl died in swimming pools. the 3 year old was in a pool full of other kids, the oldest one being 14. the 7 year old died at her grandparents house in an above ground pool. there wasn't a ladder on the pool, but there was one close by, and the 7 year old pushed it over and drowned. my heart breaks for all of the families that have lost their children in this horrid month of april.
but heart is also divided between being sad and being extremely angry because drowning is so preventable! i feel like it should be mandatory for swim lessons to be free in this state. is that crazy talk? i am pretty sure i took free swimming lessons in canada at the local rec center. and they were great swimming lessons. i became a lifeguard. i think i even took synchronized swimming lessons for free (that didn't last long. the lessons. not the free-ness). sure that was EONS ago, but can't we just do that here in the land of the 6 month long summer? i mean, there's about 2 months, max, that you are swimming outside in canada, and yet we have free swimming lessons. i knew 1 person with a pool in their backyard growing up. 1 person. that's it. and i can't yell at parents on this blog to go out and pay a ton of money for swimming lessons, especially if they don't have the dough for it. but then at least be ridiculously vigilant about watching your kids near water and letting kids know that water is EVIL AND DANGEROUS! ok. it's not always. but young kids don't do great with 'exceptions to the rule' so for now, lily and topher have been getting an earful about how dangerous and evil water is.
these last two weeks have put me in a quandry. the boys who fell in the canal were on a bike ride. their dad started looking for them after they had been missing for quite a while. but they were on a bike ride. that's safe, right? something they probably did every weekend, if not every day. but they had an accident. i don't know all the details to this story, but i can only hope they didn't intentionally go into the canal, especially because it was freakishly cold last saturday. so does that mean i still shouldn't trust lily and topher to be outside when they are 7? that's not old enough, but then what is old enough? at this point, the kids are going to live with me for the rest of their lives because they won't have nya friends cause i won't let them go anywhere or do anything cause i can't trust them. oh evil water.
but i guess not all water is evil. ok. i know it's really really not. this weekend was baptism weekend at our church and many people were baptized. one of my 'young' friends (high school student)that i volunteer with jumped out of her seat and got baptized at the last second. it happened to be at the service i was attending and i was so blessed to have been at the same service as her. what joy it is to watch people give their lives to Christ. to go under that water and emerge as a new creation. i guess water is evil if you don't emerge from it.
the baptisms were the highlight of my day yesterday. i guess this is an angry post because i found out that the 7 year old who drowned at her grandparents' house was one of my students in my special needs class. she was the sweetest little angel who had a plethora of different afflictions, one of which was not being able to speak. i have been praying for her family in this insane time of loss and mourning and grieving, and i guess instead of ranting about how our state should offer free swimming lessons, i should just be asking you to please pray for this little girl's family. i have hope and faith that this little one is in heaven, communicating ever so clearly to our heavenly Father, and they are laughing and sharing some inside jokes, and He is delighted to have her with Him. she is in a better place. and now we pray for her family to try to get to a better place mentally and spiritually.
Friday, April 15, 2011
life change
the best thing happened to me last week. or maybe it was two weeks ago.
it started with a trip to walmart. i don't love walmart the way i love target, but it's half a mile away from our house. so that's why we were there. but i digress.
we were in the market for more sleep, and were looking to get it by way of room darkening shades. here in the desert the sun shows off its beautiful rays at about 6am. it's only april. it's going to get worse ie. earlier. which is not ok.
so we were shopping the copious aisles or walmart and we found some curtains by the brand name of 'Eclipse'. clever. i think they were $10 a panel. we had to get two. but it was a very very worthwhile investment!!!!!!
eons ago i bought a blackout shade for chris when he was a rookie cop. eons ago! i think we spent like $40 plus for em. they were good. but unattractive. and it probably would have cost more to cover the kids' gigantic window. then last year when we lived in the apartment, i bought some 'blackout shades' that were essentially paper folded into honeycomb hexagons. they were supposed to not only darken your room, but also save you money on cooling and heating your house. those sucked. a lot. i don't know how much money i spent on that. i was at bed, bath and beyond so i am pretty sure i got 20% off (cause they are always sending those coupons out!) but i still wasted 100% of my money.
now these Eclipse curtains i bought did not pay off on day 1. the kids still woke up at 6:30ish, the time i was resolved to waking up for the rest of my life. but then day 2 and 3 and 4 and beyond happened and we slept in until 7:40ish one day! sure we all went to bed at like 10 the night before, but it was still so incredible! the kids have been sleeping, and even napping, like little exhausted champions.
so if you have some crazy early risers, and you fear the culprit is the giant ball of fire that rises too early for anyone's own good, then head on over to your local walmart and pick up some Eclipse curtains and experience the same life change i have. good luck and good night. and great morning :)
it started with a trip to walmart. i don't love walmart the way i love target, but it's half a mile away from our house. so that's why we were there. but i digress.
we were in the market for more sleep, and were looking to get it by way of room darkening shades. here in the desert the sun shows off its beautiful rays at about 6am. it's only april. it's going to get worse ie. earlier. which is not ok.
so we were shopping the copious aisles or walmart and we found some curtains by the brand name of 'Eclipse'. clever. i think they were $10 a panel. we had to get two. but it was a very very worthwhile investment!!!!!!
eons ago i bought a blackout shade for chris when he was a rookie cop. eons ago! i think we spent like $40 plus for em. they were good. but unattractive. and it probably would have cost more to cover the kids' gigantic window. then last year when we lived in the apartment, i bought some 'blackout shades' that were essentially paper folded into honeycomb hexagons. they were supposed to not only darken your room, but also save you money on cooling and heating your house. those sucked. a lot. i don't know how much money i spent on that. i was at bed, bath and beyond so i am pretty sure i got 20% off (cause they are always sending those coupons out!) but i still wasted 100% of my money.
now these Eclipse curtains i bought did not pay off on day 1. the kids still woke up at 6:30ish, the time i was resolved to waking up for the rest of my life. but then day 2 and 3 and 4 and beyond happened and we slept in until 7:40ish one day! sure we all went to bed at like 10 the night before, but it was still so incredible! the kids have been sleeping, and even napping, like little exhausted champions.
so if you have some crazy early risers, and you fear the culprit is the giant ball of fire that rises too early for anyone's own good, then head on over to your local walmart and pick up some Eclipse curtains and experience the same life change i have. good luck and good night. and great morning :)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
lily and topher got some colored bubbles for their birthday. they love it. i am ok with it. it fortunately stains the concrete and doesn't stain clothes or skin.
well, instead of blowing bubbles, they spilled the bubbles on the ground and slipped around in it.
they made a giant mess, had a bath, and all was well. except the poor dog got some pink and blue bubbles on his hair, and he did not have a bath.
then this morning chris took Pug to get his junk snipped. chris left our pink/blue haired dog with these wonderful people at teh humane society for a few hours, and then when he went to pick our dog up, this is what he got:
someone at the humane society saw Pug's colorful hair and decided to bling our dog out even more. they added these glittery string things that high school girls actually pay money for to get tied into their hair. and our dog got it for free! take that high school girls. and i guess it's appropriate that now that our dog no longer has his manhood that he should be looking like a high school girl.
well, instead of blowing bubbles, they spilled the bubbles on the ground and slipped around in it.
they made a giant mess, had a bath, and all was well. except the poor dog got some pink and blue bubbles on his hair, and he did not have a bath.
then this morning chris took Pug to get his junk snipped. chris left our pink/blue haired dog with these wonderful people at teh humane society for a few hours, and then when he went to pick our dog up, this is what he got:
someone at the humane society saw Pug's colorful hair and decided to bling our dog out even more. they added these glittery string things that high school girls actually pay money for to get tied into their hair. and our dog got it for free! take that high school girls. and i guess it's appropriate that now that our dog no longer has his manhood that he should be looking like a high school girl.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
come, let us return
i know i must surely have shared this verse in the past, but i can't seem to find it in my old posts. but really, you can read the Bible a million times over and find new amazing truths in it every time you read it.
one of my favorite verses comes from the book of Hosea. if you are not familiar with the Bible, Hosea is a book in the old testament and he was a prophet. the coolest thing about this book is that it is a reflection of God's absolutely insane love for us, his sinful people. God commands Hosea to take a wife who is a prostitute and to deal with it. we are like the crazy dirty prostitutes that are married to a sinless beautiful spouse who loves us unconditionally, and who eventually lays his life down for us and redeems us of our pasts. Hosea. if you haven't read it before, bust it open, and enjoy.
so i was just reading this passage again today, because there are many who are near and dear to my heart who are in the midst of some pain and suffering. and they/we need healing, peace, rest, comfort, Jesus.
"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth."
Hosea 6:1-3
spring rain! it finally rained this last weekend in the desert. i know it probably ruined/altered at least 3 weddings that i know were planned for outside on saturday, but the rain, especially here, is so refreshing! where gross patches of dead grass have been laying in our front and backyards- green grass is now starting to grow! it's amazing what a little refreshing rain can do for the earth, and for the spirit.
God is good and He has a plan. Lots of people have Jer 29:11 as their favorite verse in the Bible. it's a good one for sure. Most versions I have heard start out: "I have a plan for you." but i was just reading this verse last week in our High School small group meeting and my version (new king james) says:
"For I know the THOUGHTS that I THINK towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." how lovely is that? that God thinks of us and has good thoguhts towards us!
if you are in a place of hurting or know people who are, i hope these verses have brought you some comfort, cause our God is a God of love and compassion and He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
one of my favorite verses comes from the book of Hosea. if you are not familiar with the Bible, Hosea is a book in the old testament and he was a prophet. the coolest thing about this book is that it is a reflection of God's absolutely insane love for us, his sinful people. God commands Hosea to take a wife who is a prostitute and to deal with it. we are like the crazy dirty prostitutes that are married to a sinless beautiful spouse who loves us unconditionally, and who eventually lays his life down for us and redeems us of our pasts. Hosea. if you haven't read it before, bust it open, and enjoy.
so i was just reading this passage again today, because there are many who are near and dear to my heart who are in the midst of some pain and suffering. and they/we need healing, peace, rest, comfort, Jesus.
"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth."
Hosea 6:1-3
spring rain! it finally rained this last weekend in the desert. i know it probably ruined/altered at least 3 weddings that i know were planned for outside on saturday, but the rain, especially here, is so refreshing! where gross patches of dead grass have been laying in our front and backyards- green grass is now starting to grow! it's amazing what a little refreshing rain can do for the earth, and for the spirit.
God is good and He has a plan. Lots of people have Jer 29:11 as their favorite verse in the Bible. it's a good one for sure. Most versions I have heard start out: "I have a plan for you." but i was just reading this verse last week in our High School small group meeting and my version (new king james) says:
"For I know the THOUGHTS that I THINK towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." how lovely is that? that God thinks of us and has good thoguhts towards us!
if you are in a place of hurting or know people who are, i hope these verses have brought you some comfort, cause our God is a God of love and compassion and He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
Thursday, April 7, 2011
time for teeth
on monday lily and topher had their first ever dentist appointment. this was brought on by our doctor's visit last week. i've been meaning to send the kids to the dentist for a very very long time now. some books that you read say that kids should go to the dentist as soon as their first teeth arrive. other books say 18 months, and others say later than that. lily is 4 and i really have wanted to take her to the dentist before monday. it just never happened. the road to cavities is paved with sugar and good intentions...
so my pediatrician recommended Pediatric Dental Specialists, P.C. they are located at Greenfield and Guadalupe. their phone number is 480-558-0777 and their website is www.chewchew.net (clever). they actually have a whole train theme going on at their office and it is very nice (you can see a giant train in the wall behind lily in the top pic). the kids enjoyed being in the dentist's office and felt like it was a superfun place to be. it also helped that there is a playground right outside of the office. you can see it from most of the dentist's chairs that the kids sit in to get their teeth checked out. it was great for me cause i kept telling lily and topher they could play there after our visit.
everyone who works at this office (or everyone i encountered) was very very nice and really great with my kids. they explained what everything was so that nothing would catch the kids off guard or cause them to be scared. even when they put on their little rubber gloves, they let the kids feel them: "these are really soft, see?". really great! topher was just fine with everything until they actually tried to clean his teeth. you'd think the kid has never seen a toothbrush before. he even has a spinning electric toothbrush that he loves, but the cleaning tool that they had was not ok with him. after me getting into the chair with him, and lots of bribes, we had no luck getting his teeth cleaned.
we looked over at lily and she was in the middle of getting her teeth cleaned. she was SO GREAT! she was just laying still in the chair, with a pair of sunglasses on (that they provide to protect the kids' eyes. so cute!), mouth wide open, enjoying getting her teeth cleaned. she even did great when they took an x-ray of her mouth. when topher saw his brave big sister he asked: "when's my turn?" so we went back to his chair and he sat in it upside down, which the dental hygienist did not mind at all, and he let her clean his teeth, and paint some flouride on to boot. lily is the best Judas Cow in the world. if you need to take your apprehensive child to the dentist, you can borrow lily for a few hours so she can show your kid there is nothing to be afraid of!
the night before we went, we read a book that we have which is called: "Just Going to the Dentist." it's a Little Critter book. very cute. i don't know if it helped get the kids to feel more comfortable at the dentist or not (it probably didn't help topher all that much) but it was nice to prep the kids for something they had never experienced before. if you need to borrow my book- you can do that too :)
so that's it. we actually had a really really great time at our first dentist visit. i was very happy to hear that they usually recommend kids to come in for their first appointment when they are 3 (only a year behind with lils!). and i was happiest when they told me neither of the kids had cavities! yeah!!!!!!
Monday, April 4, 2011
time for feet
yesterday was a great day.
i told lily that we were going somewhere supfun with Nana and Aunt Lindsay after church. topher asked where he was going. i told him he was going to hang out with dad. "are we going on a boyadventure?" he asked. "you have to ask dad." i don't know where he got boyadventure from, but it's my new favorite word. when chris woke up, topher posed the same question to his dad, and chris said: "of course." he had no plan but how can you say no to a boyadventure???
so after church we parted ways. topher and chris went to Peter Piper Pizza, a cheaper version of ChuckECheese (is that how you spell that?...) and topher was so happy with the boyadventure that his dad had chosen for them.
the ladies on the other hand made it over to Elite Nails on Val Vista and Elliot for pedicures! we were celebrating Barb's birthday which was last week. happy birthday Barb! where would i be without thee???? you are the wind beneath my wings :)
when i had called the day before to set up our appointments, (480-507-6900 if you're interested!) i told the receptionist that there would be 4 of us but that one of us was a child. so i asked how much that would cost- $25 for the adults and $15 for the child. hmm... a bit steep considering lily's 10 toe nails are the size of my big toe nail combined, but chris said you can't put a price on the experience and to just go for it. what a great dad!
so we got there and lily LOVED it. i told her she could pick whatever color she wanted and she said: "GREEN!!!!!!!" ok. so she picked out a minty green and she was ready to party!
lily sat in her own chair for a little while. then sat with nana. then sat with me. the salon people looked at her and were wondering how they would get her feet to reach the tub of water. i told them not to bother, cause there was no way to make it happen except to have her just stand up straight in it. while she sat on Barb's lap, they sprayed her feet with the little hose, and they took off the nail polish that was on her toes already.
then she sat with me and when the guy (possibly the owner?) finished with my feet he started his work on Lily's little tootsies. he threw on two coats of the green. ok. not worth $15. then he busted out some pink nail polish and put a cute flower on both big toes. ok. that was cute. then he got out some glitter and fancied those flowers up some more. ok. $15 was kind of worth it after all. but then we paid for the whole shabang and the guy only charged me $5 for lily's toes! THE BEST $5 I HAVE EVER SPENT!!!!!
afterwards we went out for some Starbucks. lily had a little pink donut and the rest of us had some wonderfully cold beverages. it was a perfectly lovely ladies' afternoon with 3 of my favoritest ladies.
i told lily that we were going somewhere supfun with Nana and Aunt Lindsay after church. topher asked where he was going. i told him he was going to hang out with dad. "are we going on a boyadventure?" he asked. "you have to ask dad." i don't know where he got boyadventure from, but it's my new favorite word. when chris woke up, topher posed the same question to his dad, and chris said: "of course." he had no plan but how can you say no to a boyadventure???
so after church we parted ways. topher and chris went to Peter Piper Pizza, a cheaper version of ChuckECheese (is that how you spell that?...) and topher was so happy with the boyadventure that his dad had chosen for them.
the ladies on the other hand made it over to Elite Nails on Val Vista and Elliot for pedicures! we were celebrating Barb's birthday which was last week. happy birthday Barb! where would i be without thee???? you are the wind beneath my wings :)
when i had called the day before to set up our appointments, (480-507-6900 if you're interested!) i told the receptionist that there would be 4 of us but that one of us was a child. so i asked how much that would cost- $25 for the adults and $15 for the child. hmm... a bit steep considering lily's 10 toe nails are the size of my big toe nail combined, but chris said you can't put a price on the experience and to just go for it. what a great dad!
so we got there and lily LOVED it. i told her she could pick whatever color she wanted and she said: "GREEN!!!!!!!" ok. so she picked out a minty green and she was ready to party!
lily sat in her own chair for a little while. then sat with nana. then sat with me. the salon people looked at her and were wondering how they would get her feet to reach the tub of water. i told them not to bother, cause there was no way to make it happen except to have her just stand up straight in it. while she sat on Barb's lap, they sprayed her feet with the little hose, and they took off the nail polish that was on her toes already.
then she sat with me and when the guy (possibly the owner?) finished with my feet he started his work on Lily's little tootsies. he threw on two coats of the green. ok. not worth $15. then he busted out some pink nail polish and put a cute flower on both big toes. ok. that was cute. then he got out some glitter and fancied those flowers up some more. ok. $15 was kind of worth it after all. but then we paid for the whole shabang and the guy only charged me $5 for lily's toes! THE BEST $5 I HAVE EVER SPENT!!!!!
afterwards we went out for some Starbucks. lily had a little pink donut and the rest of us had some wonderfully cold beverages. it was a perfectly lovely ladies' afternoon with 3 of my favoritest ladies.
Friday, April 1, 2011
no fools today. yesterday- plenty!
i had the lamest april fools day today. no pranks. no nothing. i guess my poor husband has better things to do than play practical jokes on his wife. we are officially an old, boring, married couple. ;)
but yesterday was full of much tomfoolery and i just wanted to share some of that with you today.
-i went to pick lily up from preschool. her teacher said that she had another bad day cause a kid tried pushing her off of the slide. no good. her teacher said that because lily never cries or whines at school, her heartstrings really get yanked at when she hears poor lily cry because she has gotten hurt. really? my daughter? never cries or whines? hmmm...
-after school, the kids had their 3 and 4 year well-checks at the pediatrician. so nice being able to go once and get everything done in one visit. the doctor came in, grabbed a book, and immediately started quizzing the kids. i started to sweat. what color is this? what color is this? what is this? what letter is this? yowsers! i did not know there was going to be an exam associated with this doctor's visit! fortunately the kids got all the answers right! topher even threw in an 'amarillo' when she asked about the yellow jelly bean. good boy! but then more question came- do you know how to ride a bike? do you wear a helmet? do you eat chicken nuggets? do you eat broccoli? lily, like the perfect little girl that she is answered 'yes' to every question which made the doctor very happy. me too. even though lily lied about every other question... (in my defense- we only ride our tricycles in the backyard and i get serious heartburn when i eat broccoli! i make other vegetables!!)
-just a follow up of the previous paragraph- topher is weighing in at a 'hefty' 29lbs and is 36in. they have stopped measuring how big his melon is. he is at the 25th percentil for weight and height. lily weighs 33lbs and is 38in tall, putting her at the 50th and 25th percentile respectively. they each got one booster shot and handled it like... little screaming babies! many looks of sympathy and relief were given as i was exiting the office. i could never work in a pediatrician's office. there is always at least one kid screaming bloody murder in there. and when i was there, there were at least 2...
-the grand finale for my crazy day yesterday- we went to barb's for pizza for dinner. chris and i drove seperately to get there, but going home, we caravaned. he was in the van with the kids, i was in the truck by myself. in the truck that has a blown out tail light. in the truck that caught the attention of a bored DPS officer, who thus pulled me over and gave me a ticket and a warning. a warning for the tail light and a ticket for not having my driver's license on me that was in the minivan in front of me. sadness!!!!!!!!! the worst part was that i also didn't have my phone on me, and chris had seen me getting pulled over, so he pulled over a few yards ahead of me. i thought about mentioning the fact that my hardworking husband is a police officer too, but i just kept my mouth shut. but then chris told me that i absolutely should have mentioned that i am married to a fellow man in uniform. argh. then i felt even worse. but then chris researched my ticket, and if you are driving without your license on your person in scottsdale or mesa, you can have the fine revoked if you later show proof of a valid driver's license, which is what i will be doing ten days from now.
so in my list of fools from yesterday: me, for having raised the perfect angel- for preschool only! the doctor, for believing every single 'yes' that came out of lily's mouth. me, for not feeding my kids broccoli just cause i can't eat it. the police officer who essentially gave me a ticket for nothing. me, for getting pulled over by the police in the first place. i guess i played the fool enough times yesterday that i deserved to have a quiet april fools today.
but yesterday was full of much tomfoolery and i just wanted to share some of that with you today.
-i went to pick lily up from preschool. her teacher said that she had another bad day cause a kid tried pushing her off of the slide. no good. her teacher said that because lily never cries or whines at school, her heartstrings really get yanked at when she hears poor lily cry because she has gotten hurt. really? my daughter? never cries or whines? hmmm...
-after school, the kids had their 3 and 4 year well-checks at the pediatrician. so nice being able to go once and get everything done in one visit. the doctor came in, grabbed a book, and immediately started quizzing the kids. i started to sweat. what color is this? what color is this? what is this? what letter is this? yowsers! i did not know there was going to be an exam associated with this doctor's visit! fortunately the kids got all the answers right! topher even threw in an 'amarillo' when she asked about the yellow jelly bean. good boy! but then more question came- do you know how to ride a bike? do you wear a helmet? do you eat chicken nuggets? do you eat broccoli? lily, like the perfect little girl that she is answered 'yes' to every question which made the doctor very happy. me too. even though lily lied about every other question... (in my defense- we only ride our tricycles in the backyard and i get serious heartburn when i eat broccoli! i make other vegetables!!)
-just a follow up of the previous paragraph- topher is weighing in at a 'hefty' 29lbs and is 36in. they have stopped measuring how big his melon is. he is at the 25th percentil for weight and height. lily weighs 33lbs and is 38in tall, putting her at the 50th and 25th percentile respectively. they each got one booster shot and handled it like... little screaming babies! many looks of sympathy and relief were given as i was exiting the office. i could never work in a pediatrician's office. there is always at least one kid screaming bloody murder in there. and when i was there, there were at least 2...
-the grand finale for my crazy day yesterday- we went to barb's for pizza for dinner. chris and i drove seperately to get there, but going home, we caravaned. he was in the van with the kids, i was in the truck by myself. in the truck that has a blown out tail light. in the truck that caught the attention of a bored DPS officer, who thus pulled me over and gave me a ticket and a warning. a warning for the tail light and a ticket for not having my driver's license on me that was in the minivan in front of me. sadness!!!!!!!!! the worst part was that i also didn't have my phone on me, and chris had seen me getting pulled over, so he pulled over a few yards ahead of me. i thought about mentioning the fact that my hardworking husband is a police officer too, but i just kept my mouth shut. but then chris told me that i absolutely should have mentioned that i am married to a fellow man in uniform. argh. then i felt even worse. but then chris researched my ticket, and if you are driving without your license on your person in scottsdale or mesa, you can have the fine revoked if you later show proof of a valid driver's license, which is what i will be doing ten days from now.
so in my list of fools from yesterday: me, for having raised the perfect angel- for preschool only! the doctor, for believing every single 'yes' that came out of lily's mouth. me, for not feeding my kids broccoli just cause i can't eat it. the police officer who essentially gave me a ticket for nothing. me, for getting pulled over by the police in the first place. i guess i played the fool enough times yesterday that i deserved to have a quiet april fools today.
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