A Memory on a Monday

I remember my husband acting a little bit crazy after I had Jonah...


So this memory isn't Sean's favorite... but like I told him, I'm having a memory and it just happens to be Monday :). I love you Sean!

I had just given birth to Jonah and having had a c-section you are pretty much stuck to the bed the first day/night in the hospital. The hospital graciously gave Sean a nice cot to sleep on and Sean thoughtfully put it nice and close to me in case I needed help. Hmmm... this sounds familiar, if you remember back to previous Monday memories there was a little precursor I talked about. Anyway, it was sometime in the middle of the night and Jonah was crying. The little cradle he was in was just out of my reach and, as said earlier, I couldn't get out of bed so I called on Sean. After many attempts at calling his name, I finally used my pillow and gave him a gentle wop on the head. He finally awoke (or so I thought) with the look of "what do you want??" I then asked him if he could please get Jonah because he was crying. So he gets up and proceeds to "get the baby" but he actually picks up his pillow and starts to hold it like it was the baby. Subconsciously he must have heard Jonah still crying because he then continues to hold the pillow and start to pat the pillow on the "back" and do a little rock/bounce to get the baby to quiet down. Still no luck, the baby is still crying... wonder why??! So here I am in my bed not sure whether to laugh or cry, laughing really hurt my stomach so I was probably doing a little of both. I then say to Sean, "put the pillow down and get the baby!!" but all the while I'm thinking, do I really want him to get the baby?? So Sean, ever so carefully, puts the pillow back down on the cot. Seriously you guys, it was like he was actually laying a baby on the bed, he had the hand behind the "head" and everything. At this point I may have been getting a little inpatient and really wanting Sean to snap out of it. So I was like, "OK Sean enough with the pillow, get the baby!" He then looks at me and says, which I think is the real clincher of the story, "it's not my fault, I didn't know we had two babies!"

Thank you Sean for that memorable day!!

Oh how I LOVE the weekends!

Here are a few reasons why...

1. Weekends equal two days of glorious breakfast (waffles aren't on the weekday diet).

2. Sean's home and that means Dad and the kids make breakfast!


3. The beloved waffle iron is hauled out of the cupboard.


4. We get to enjoy this beautiful creation!

and to top it all off, my most favorite reason of all...

5. Indulging in syrup!

Quote from the movie Elf :

Buddy: "Can you pass the maple syrup please?"

"Uuuhhh, It's spaghetti."

Buddy: "Oh wait, I think I have some."

"You like sugar huh?"

Buddy: "Is there sugar in syrup?"

"Yes."

Buddy: "Then YES!"

Me and Buddy would get along really well! When I was pregnant with Ava, syrup was my one craving that lasted the whole 9 months. Maybe that is why she turned out so sweet ;). Unfortunately I haven't lost the craving. Although, since I've limited the indulgence to just two days, it makes me look forward to the weekends all the more. It also makes exercising during the week much easier because I know the weekend is coming and with that comes a yummy reward!

Thank you Lord for saving Andrew!

Yesterday I was reminded of how precious life is. Each day truly is a precious gift from God.

My nephew Andrew, the first born to my brother, the first grand child to my parents, was in a plane crash Tuesday night. He's currently attending flight school and was scheduled for a routine, cross country training flight. The destination for his flight was about an hour and a half away from his school. He left around 9pm Tuesday night and the plane went down sometime around 10pm. When he didn't reach his destination search planes went out looking for him. The plane crashed in a remote mountainous area where temperatures dropped to near zero with 3 ft of snow all around him, and Andrew of course in just shorts and a shirt. When we got the call Wednesday morning that Andrew was missing my mind instantly imagined the worst. I can't help but cry just thinking about all that he went through, how he was able to survive the crash and then be able to survive the 12 + hours, of waiting/hiking/climbing, to be rescued. Rescuers were finally able to reach him around 11:30am on Wednesday where he was then brought to a hospital and was able to recover from his injuries. It is truly a MIRACLE from our great God that Andrew was able to walk away from that crash alive. I am so thankful to the Lord for His protection over him.

We are so proud of you Andrew!It seems like yesterday when this picture was taken of you, me and Austin out fishing in Grandma and Grandpa's pond. I can't help but think of you like this - little - and remember back when you used to call me Ara, and if I remember right that might have been one of your first words ;).

We are so proud of the godly man you have grown to be and the awesome pilot you are becoming! We have full confidence in you Andrew, that you are going to make a great pilot one day. We are praying for you, both for physical healing and emotional.

We love you so much and we praise our Heavenly Father that He is not through with you yet!

After going through all of this I know I am going to squeeze my kids a little tighter each day, and make sure I tell my family and friends that I love them because we don't know what tomorrow holds. But praise the Lord we can trust in Him and know that He has a plan for each and every one of us.

The following is a link to a few news clips about the accident.
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8071777&nav=menu227_4

A Monday Memory

I remember when Stella first started to love her monkey and how she used to call him "Ha Ha"...

We had a trip planned to CA shortly after Stella turned one. We were flying down and my thought was - Stella needs to have something to comfort her for the big trip...so I chose monkey. He was chosen from the many other animal friends she had because it was quiet, (it didn't have the unseen rattle or squeak inside) and it was super soft. So a few weeks before the big trip I started to push monkey on her. I laugh at that now because on the airplane she slept the whole time and didn't need any comforting. She took to monkey right away, and it was one of the first animal sounds she learned to make. Although instead of saying the "who who" part it was always just the "ha ha" and that ended up being what she called him for the first couple years. Looking back at old pictures it's funny because monkey is kind of like the "Where's Waldo," if you look close enough in each picture you might see him, he's always around.

The other day she said to me "mom when I get older I probably won't sleep with monkey anymore and Ava will probably want him." I told her "Stella, you can sleep with your monkey for as long as you want." She smiled and said "that's good... because you know mom, he really is my most favorite monkey."

Even though monkey has lost some of his luster, he still is her best monkey friend.

Happy Easter

Matthew 28:5-7
"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead..."

We had a great Easter. Our church puts on a huge easter egg hunt for the kids after the service. This year due to the rainy weather they had the hunt set up for inside. So with over 1000 eggs filled with yummy candy, the downstairs of the church looked like an explosion had gone off. There were eggs everywhere! The kids had a blast! I wasn't able to get any pictures of the actual hunt due to the mayhem that was going on down there, but let's just say we got our fair share of eggs. There was definitely no children who went home empty handed.

Looking cute for church

Curly hair and a dress that twirls...
who could ask for more?!

Ava all tuckered out and dad
looking a little tuckered out too



I'll take the big egg that hatched
it looks the sweetest



Jonah and Stella with their loot!

My Sweet Stella

I love my tenderhearted Stella for many reasons, but here are a few of the reasons why...

She loves playing with her brother

She is a big helper when it comes to her baby sister

She says cute things

The other day I was changing Ava's diaper and Stella was there keeping us company...

Stella: "Mom, Ava has a red spot right here" (pointing to her forehead)
Mom: "Yep, that's her birth mark, or actually that's where she was kissed by an angel"
Stella: "Really?" "Why did the angel kiss her?"
Mom: "To make her special, and so we'll always know which baby is Ava"

I could tell Stella was thinking about something...

Stella: "Well I think I know what happened mom"
Mom: "What's that Stell"
Stella: "The angel was wearing lipstick"

And my most favorite reason of all - the way she talks to Ava

I'm not sure there is a more sweeter sound then when a baby first starts to "talk". I think I could listen to it all day long. Stella has taken 1st place in getting Ava to jabber. The minute Ava sees her sister it's an instant smile and then the cooing begins. Stella loves it. She does it so much that the other day she told me she needed to take a break because her cheeks hurt from all that smiling :) What a great big sister Stella is!

Have a listen and enjoy!

Tagged!

Amber tagged me. Let's see if I can do this. :-) I'll try my best to come up with 5 for each category!

5 things you can't live without (well, I could live without them, but I do enjoy these) under $5:
1. Cream for my coffee
2. Diet coke

3. Pony-tail holder for my hair

4. Chap stick/lip gloss

5. Mascara

5 Favorite Movies: (in no particular order)
1. Pride and Prejudice - BBC version, Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea
2. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
3. Hitch
4. Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite, Elf
5.13 Going on 30, and oh so many more....


5 Baby Names you LOVE but won't use

Girls:

1. Norah

2. Emma

3. Eleanore

4. Bella

5.

Boys:

1. Joshua

2. Elijah

3. Noah

4. Isaac

5. Jacob

5 songs you could hear over and over again:

1. You are My King

2.Michael Buble' songs

3.Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace

4.Christmas music

5. Stella and Jonah's "songs"

5 People who influenced your life in a positive way:
1. Jesus
2. Sean
3.My parents
4.My siblings
5.John MacArthur

5 Things that stay in your purse at all times:
1. Chap Stick/Lip gloss
2. Wallet
3. Pacifier, except for when it's in the babies mouth!
4. Diaper
5. Wipes

5 Moments that you knew changed you forever:
1. My sophomore year of college
2. Marrying Sean
3. Giving birth to Stella
4. " " Jonah
5. " " Ava

5 Obsessions you have right now:
1. Blogging
2. Dieting
3. Exercising
4. Home improvements
5. Babies

5 Places you would really like to go:
1. Bahamas
2. Hawaii
3. Mexico
4. California
5. New York

5 People you would love to see their top 5: (in no particular order)
1. Tori
2. Reese
3. Molly
4. Erin
5. and anyone who reads this and wants to play 'tag you're it' :)

Please pray!

This is a picture of Matt, Jackie and their children Dustin, Tesa, and twins Taylor and Jordyn. Jackie is the sister to Steve King, my brother-in-law. They just found out a couple weeks ago that Matt has been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome. This is a very rare blood disease and a precursor to Acute Myeloid Leukemia. In order for Matt to be cured he is going to need a stem cell transplant, or a miracle from our Great God! They had a stem cell drive here the past couple days, looking for a match for Matt. So please pray them. Pray that they find a match soon, because time is of the essence. Pray also for continued strength and peace for the whole family. There is a long road ahead of them, but with Christ it is possible by taking it one day at a time. As it says in Philippians 4:13, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

So if you are here at my blog and reading this, please just take a minute and pray. I believe, with all my heart, in the power of prayer and I know this family covets each and every one of our prayers.

James 5:16 "...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God:that if
we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if
we know that he hears us - whatever we ask -
we know that we
have what we asked of him."

Here is a link to a news clip from yesterday on Komo 4 of Matt and Jackie and their situation. Check it out.

www.komotv.com/news/16802581.html

Monday, a day for memories...

Let's start with college memories, which of course means basketball....

I remember pre-season, 6am workouts and being so scared we would be late for them, that we would sleep in our clothes the night before.

I remember running - oh wait - sprinting around the soccer field a million times . Then once the workout was done I remember having to hurry like crazy back up to the dorms to shower. We had like 15 minutes to shower, get some breakfast and make it to class on time. There were days when one of my friends would
still have mud splatters on the back of her legs - that is how rushed we were!

I remember my senior year I tore my ACL. We were in Tennessee and I think it was like 5 minutes in to the game when it happened. I drove to the right, jump stopped and then heard a "pop" and I was down for the count. I remember having my knee surgery and recovering with the help of my mom, Tricia and Sean. Sean said he'd sleep on the floor beside me so he could help me if I needed to get up during the night. I remember needing to get up in the night, but there was no help. Pillows were thrown and his name was hollered... if I only knew this was a precursor of things to come! Thankfully my mom heard me and came to the rescue.

I remember making the best friends ever because of basketball and to this day staying in touch with each one of them. I love that we can get together each summer at Lake Chelan.
I love coming home with a sore stomach
knowing it is because we laughed and
laughed and laughed, and okay, maybe because
we ate a little too much candy. Those are memories
I'm going to treasure forever. I hope we
can continue to reunion until we're in
our 80's. 'Ladies of the Lake' forever!


I remember the day Sean proposed. It was Sunday December 12th, 1999. We went straight from church to 3rd Street in Santa Monica to do Christmas shopping. After a full afternoon of shopping and never stopping for lunch I was tired and, I hate to say it, a little cranky??? Sean wanted to go down to the beach to watch the sunset and my thought was "are you kidding me?" I'm so thankful for Sean and his perseverance, and for basically dragging me down there despite my grumbles. I'm so glad Sean still found it in him to find that "rock in his sock" as he so ingeniously put it.


I remember graduating from TMC. I can hardly believe that it will be 8 years this May. I remember being so excited because in just 3 short months I was going to marry my best friend.









It was so fun getting married right out of college
because a lot of our friends could make it to the
wedding.




I remember our wedding was an hour late. The ferry that had all my relatives coming to the island was running behind schedule. Sean was sweating bullets, literally. He was in this tiny room in the church and it was SO hot in there. I think it was the hottest day of the summer on our wedding day.




more Monday memories to come....

"May the words of my

mouth and the

meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O Lord, my Rock and my

Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14

Lord, thank you for a day set apart from all other days.

Just because I love 'em and can't get enough of 'em

The latest buzzzzzzz....

Jonah showing his strong muscles to go
along with his big boy hair cut

Like Father, Like Son

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

The LAUNDRY MONSTER was in the house
again and it was

starting to gobble up the kids...

(yes, those are faces you see)

...but today I killed the BEAST!

And just for good measure, I took it upon myself
to tame the COAT and SHOE monsters too.




Tonight I can go to bed and rest at ease knowing
tomorrow will be a much lighter load to bear.

Design on a dime!

Last week I finally started tackling the project of redoing the spare bedroom in order for Stella to move in. This is a picture of the room that inspired me. Stella's new room really doesn't look much like this one, but it gave me ideas. I love the color pink, I love polka dots and I love toile. In the new room I decided not to go with pink walls. Since her old room, which is now Ava's room, is pink I didn't want to have two bedrooms with pink walls, and seeing that it is still technically the guest room I thought it would be better to do a more muted color. I found the fabric for the bed skirt online and my mom helped me make it. That was the hardest part of the project. I do not claim to be a sewer, and making bed skirts with gathers is not something I'd recommend for a beginner! I already had the white duvet cover and I found some polka dot fabric at a fabric store and sewed that on to the duvet and added some ribbon to make it pop. Then I did the same to the pillows (and mind you this was all done with my moms help). I also made some pillow covers out of the polka dot fabric. Even though I still think my inspiration room is so much cuter, I think the new room turned out pretty good. And hey, for a room done on a Parsons' budget not a Potterybarn budget I think we did alright!
Here it is, the semi - finished product. Sean still needs to nail up the trim to go along the walls between the white and blue. And there are still a lot of finishing touches I want to add... but for now it's done. Stella has been enjoying sleeping in a big bed, she told me now she has room to stretch out! Just today when she saw the picture of the inspiration room she said "that looks like my room." So I guess according to her the room gets an A+.
So thank you mom for all your help, I couldn't have done it without you and your expertise. And to all my "guests" out there, I hope the new room looks appealing to you and makes you want to come stay for a visit! Oh and don't worry about Stella, she'll consider it a treat to sleep in her old room with her baby sister.

Eye infections, ear aches, runny noses ... Oh my!

I have to say, I am so sick of this cold and flu season! I'm beyond ready for it to be done, no more, gone! It's been an endless cycle with my kids, once one gets better the next one gets it. Stella came down with pink eye, or I should say pink eyes since the infection is now in both of her eyes. So far she is the only one to have it and I'm praying it stays that way and that it doesn't spread to the rest of us. We've been washing our hands non-stop. Stella's comment about that is "man mom, I don't like having colds because we have to wash our hands so much and they get so dry." Boy is that true, I feel like my hands are going to crack off. As soon as I put lotion on them I have to wash them again.

This is my new best friend, Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface spray, hmmmmm... Stella and Jonah are kind of like hard surfaces??!! I feel like I follow them around and spray, spray, spray all day long. I think it's funny how when the kids are sick it makes me want to disinfect everything, our house smells like bleach.

notice the green in the nose

Jonah has been sure to tell me on a regular basis "mom I'm not feeling real well." I think I hear that at least 50 times a day. I'm pretty sure my ears could use a couple months off from hearing that line.

notice the red eyes

Poor Stella... she told me today "mom, I'm one sick girl," and that is oh so true. I think the hardest part for her about being sick is she can't love on her sister. There is a rule when they are sick - get no closer then an arms length away from Ava. It's hard for me too because Stella is SO good with her and Ava loves her just as much. So far Ava hasn't gotten sick...yet. Lord willing this sickness will pass right by her.

Through it all, having sick children sure makes me that much more thankful for our good health. So here 's to washing our hands, drinking a lot of water, and taking our vitamin C!

3 months old and still kickin'

Ava's 3 months old today. No major milestones yet as far as rolling over, sitting up... just a lot of cuteness. I wanted to take a '3 month' picture, but how could I decide on just one?! She's so sweet and I love everything about her - from her angel kissed forehead and kissable cheeks, to her squishy little body. Now if we could just get her to sleep through the night...