Friday Phone Pics

Not to much excitement over here this week. I haven't had all four kids so it's been rather quiet. I started the week not feeling so good. I am still really tired but feeling better. Here are my favorite phone pics from the week.

We made puppets yesterday and IJ was very proud of his. He helped and everything.

Apparently IJ really needed to stand there because he moved the bottom rack off the dishwasher himself...

One night I went in to check on E before I went to bed and this is what was lined up along side his bed. He is so funny.

The weather was nice enough we even got to swing outside for a bit...Ethan spent his time driving his tractor around. He sure loves that thing.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!!

First Time...

Last week for the first time I left Isaac for 26 hours. I had to go to Portland for a quick trip. I left Monday at 630 pm and returned Tuesday at 1030 pm. Jon took off work on Tuesday to stay home with the kids. They both loved having Jon home all day to them self, I don't think I was missed all that much. But that is a good thing.

The trip was ok, I get nervous traveling by my self so my stomach hurt almost the whole trip. I flew on one of those small planes with propellers. On the way there is was a smooth flight but I was sitting right by the propeller so my chair vibrated the whole time. My rear end was numb when I got off lol. On the way back I sat on the last seat of the plane, that was special. At one point it was so bumpy I almost landed in the guys lap next to me. luckily he almost ended up in the isle, so it was okay.

This was my rental car haha. It was so small, my dad is longer than the car. Shoot...I am longer than this car probably. I had to bend down to look out the windows. I went through a large mud puddle on accident and I thought the car was going to drown. It made me laugh every time I thought of the car though. And I drove all over without getting lost (we wont mention I brought our GPS haha). But all in all it was a good trip. I survived.

The boys loved being home with Jon all by themselves. They built trains and Jon took them swimming at the Y. Such a good dad. It was nice to know they were being taken such good care of.

Numbered Wednesday....

ONE -  number of times I have gone to the bathroom alone today

TWO- times I have put all the DVDs back in the entertainment center today.

THREE - meals have been cooked and it's the number of times I will do the dishes today

FOUR - munchkins ran around here all day

FIVE - poopy diapers changed so far (apparently the prunes worked for Isaac!!)

SIX - loads of laundry waiting to be folded lol (you may have noticed a trend that I am not the best at folding)

SEVEN - hugs and kisses given and received

EIGHT - picture and text messages sent to parents and grandparents of our fun today. I won't mention that I only received three "LOL" texts all day back...

NINE -  times I have washed my hands.

TEN times I will be sure to thank God for all the wonderful blessings he has given me!!

bonus 11 just for Jon...

ELEVEN times I have rolled on the floor laughing (while clearing my throat). Apparently SOME people think I over use "rofl" . And talk to the person who broke my nose about my throat clearing...he knows who he is!!! He actually sat behind me in church a few years ago...my nose ached the whole time.

ps- thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support! It's nice to know I am not the only one who has these thoughts. And it means the world to me to have the encouragement of my mom and sister.

Perspective

I have found myself thinking and praying a lot this week. Not that I don't think or pray normally haha...just more than usual I guess. Two weeks ago I decided that I wanted to try to get Isaac to take a bottle again. So I could have some more free time and leave every once and a while. He used to take one so I didn't think it would be a big deal. How wrong was I lol. He refuses...closes his mouth up, cries and won't even suck on it. I kept thinking...what am I doing wrong...what do I need to do to get him to take a bottle...why won't he take one...am I going to be nursing him forever lol.

I have also been thinking a lot about what God's plan for me is. Is it really as simple as staying home with kids during the day? How silly I am sometimes.

But after a lot of praying and a lot of thought their paths seemed to cross into one thing and things seemed to make sense. They seem to make even more sense as I write them down now. My job is to be the best mom and wife I can be. I am sure of it. We lost a whole income 7 months ago...and we still pay the bills every month. This could be only God's doing.  When I still enjoy being with all four kids at the end of the day...I am very certain this is God's doing. When I feel a sense of pride in taking care of our house for my family...this is God's doing.

For me, being the best mom I can be means being here for Isaac whenever he needs. I am not going to lie...there are times, especially in the middle of the night I wish he would take a bottle. But my job is to be the best I can be...and that means being here for Isaac every 3.5 to 4 hours. I still almost cry when I think about trying to force him to take a bottle. He obviously doesn't want one...he wants mommy. And why would I ever want to change that. So instead of wishing for free time...wishing for sleep... or wishing I could have a large dr. pepper or other foods that bother him, I have changed my perspective. I think about the wonderful bond I have with this little guy. I think of how he cuddles with me and gives little kisses. I think of how I am doing the best thing for him and that makes me happy.  I have found myself enjoying feeding him at night now. Sure I am tired...but what mom isn't! And when I am feeding him in the middle of the night the house is so quite..it's just him and I rocking away. It's peaceful and soon he won't need it anymore so I will treasure every moment of it.

I am still working on what it means to me to be the best wife. Perhaps I should have Jon write his thoughts on that one lol. But I am reading the book A Wife After God's Heart. It really is a good book and I am enjoying it. I will say that this past week I enjoyed folding the clothes and cleaning the house a lot more. It means a lot to me to do things for my family, even if they are small things. I have found that when I do the small things during the day it means Jon and I have more time together during the evening.

So I will keep praying for God to help me and I know with his help I will be doing exactly what he wants me to be doing.

Light Bulbs

In my previous life I used to think all the time how long lasting our light bulbs were. Rarely did we have to change them. In my new life, where I stay home all day, I have come to realize that our light bulbs are not so long lasting lol...we were just never home. How sad is that. This weekend Jon changed 3 light bulbs out in just the kitchen. I won't mention the one in my room or the back room that need to be changed currently.  The last time we changed light bulbs there were 7 out before we could get to the store ha ha. I hate sitting in a dark room, so if I am home I keep all the windows open and the lights on in whatever room I am in.  Maybe my prince charming will fix the other two for me when he gets home. Although he will have to wade through a mountain of clothes that need to be folded, so maybe he will fold first. :) A girl can wish right??

I have come to realize that I also buy way more dishwasher soap and paper towels...

Oh Paper Towels..I am not very green. It's so easy to just grab one whenever I need to dry my hands or wipe on the the kids. I am working on this habit. But it's hard. I limit myself to one roll a week. HA HA HA, I think I need to find more coupons to support my paper towel habit.

Well that was pretty random but it's Tuesday and we had a busy Easter weekend so I am taking it pretty easy today.