Yeah Yeah................4th of July!

I may or many not have forgotten that I have a blog this summer. We were just busy having a lot of fun. We went on a trip over the 4th of July to Anacortes Washington with Jon's family. Long drive....but worth it. The boys had a great time.

We took Ethan and Isaac on their first ferry ride through the San Juan Islands.  Ethan thought it was pretty cool that it held people and cars. When we were waiting for the ferry ride back Ethan was flagging all the cars out of the ferry...everyone was smiling at him and saying how cute he was.

We walked around Friday Harbor one day. Isaac did fabulous and charmed everyone with his smiles and took his naps like a good boy.

Then we visited Rosario. The boys got to throw rocks in the lake...because that is what boys do!

We also were able to take a boat ride which Ethan was thrilled to do. He was so excited he put his life jacket on all by himself hehe. Don't worry I fixed it before we went on the boat.

He was a little scared at first and sat on the floor wrapped in my legs clinging to my arm haha.

But after a few minutes he joined me on the seat.  We didn't see any whales unfortunately. We told Ethan that whales like Shamu lived in the water. After about a 30 minute discussion on "how could Shamu live there because he lives at Sea World"...and "Orcas are a type of whale...shamu is just one of them"...we finally told him Shamu's family lived there lol. He was funny and told everyone he saw that Shamu's family was out there. It was funny.

Isaac took a nap again on Daddy while we went for a boat ride....

I l.o.v.e. this picture...

But don't worry Isaac woke up soon and he had fun too....

We also visited this very cool park that had all sorts of exciting things to do...

The little Inn we were staying at was across from a lake so we were able to watch the 4th of July fireworks right from our room. It was a fabulous weekend.



T-Ball Fun

There is something about sitting on the sidelines watching your little boy playing t-ball that makes me so proud. I love watching him learn to catch, making new friends, and learning to play with a team. He is pretty good at it if I do say so myself. 

He started t-ball in June and plays every Tuesday and Thursday till the middle of July. It's in the evenings which is perfect because Jon doesn't want to miss it. And it's not on the weekends or Saturday...so it's perfect.  Here are few of my favorite pics...

He loves to hit hard and hit it far lol...

And I have to say a big thank you to my dad "the bapa-ratzie" for capturing all of our memories for us. It's an invaluable gift to have great pictures of my kids. Please keep stalking them dad...lol.

Blue Eyes

I don't know how I managed to end up with two...TWO...blue eyed boys. When we were pregnant with Ethan I was expecting a dark haired, brown eyed baby to come out! When they said he had blond hair and blue eyes I was shocked!!  And then the same thing happened with Isaac lol! Luckily Isaac looks a little more like me than Ethan does I think.

There is obviously some strong blue eyed genes coming from Jon.

Here is my blue-eyed Isaac....he is so cute. :)

It was here??

Spring...it really did make an appearance for a while. I have photos to prove it!!


We did some sprinkler playing!! These pictures are probably my most favorite pictures right now. It's Brady's first spring as a big boy and that means his first time playing in the sprinklers. Ethan walked over and took his hand and lead him to the sprinklers to show him how to do it. Then Maddie took his other hand and they walked him through for his very first time. Melt...My...Heart...

Look at the little guy's face.

These two come up with the funniest things to do....

We also did some serious playing in the sandbox...

Some of us got so dirty that we had to be cleaned off in the sink....

Even the littlest one enjoyed being outside...

It looks like spring might be back again...let's hope it stays!!

Thirty - One

Guess who is the big 31 today! You better not guess me that's for sure. Last year I had this great plan for Jon's 30th birthday. I ordered 30 black balloons to fill in his car while he was at work. Since Jon drives the corolla it would have been great. But then I suddenly came down with the flu...a horrible case of it. Poor birthday boy had to pick up his own balloons because I had already paid for them!

Oh but I have been waiting 364 days to do something...and I made sure I didn't have the flu this year. Vitamins..cardio work outs...and push-ups were all done to prepare for this day.

I packed all four kids....yes I said all four into the car.......


We headed to the balloon store where I unpacked all four kids out of the car and into the store where we purchased 31 black balloons.


And then I escorted 4 kids and 31 black balloons out of the store..in the wind....(now that is a site to see)


But it turns out 31 balloons and 4 kids don't fit safely in my car lol. So we let a few of them go and fit what we could into the car.


And in all of our giddiness we drove on I-84 and headed west (I sure hope that right or this will be embarrassing).


And then we arrived at Jon's work...


We spotted Jon's car and unpacked the balloons into the corolla as fast as I could....


And then we headed back home with all four kids super excited about our field trip.


And since blogger sends an e-mail to Jon with every new post I am guessing right about now Jon is shaking his head thinking....oh no she didn't and is looking for his car keys.



But OH YES I DID.....



And now he is picking up his phone to call his wife...

Gotta run...Jon is calling me hahaha. Happy Birthday Daddy. We love you!! Love Christy, Ethan and Isaac (with support from Maddie and Brady).

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.