My Big 5 Year Old!

I can't believe my little guy turned 5 years old last week. Man, time really flies when you have little ones! Chandler's actual birthday was last Thursday (the 26th), but the BIG celebration was this weekend. Our family started a little "tradition" of going to the T-Rex cafe' for our kids 5th birthday, so this year it was Channy's turn! He has been talking about his birthday for MONTHS and when the day finally arrived he was way excited about it! He told everyone he saw it was his birthday & that he was going to the T-Rex cafe'. This was so huge for him, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed watching him get so excited about turning 5 :-). It was fun to let the excitement & anticipation build until the big day arrived.

Well, Saturday was the day! And man did we have fun!! We started off the day by taking all the kids to see "WALL-E". It was a cute movie, and the kids even got free "Wall-E" watches because it was the opening weekend. We bought a giant popcorn and coke and let the kids have at it...they ate every last kernel! I think Maya ate the most, which would be a first for her.

Right after the movie we swung back by our house to pick up the cake I made for Channy....

Too cute, huh?

















Then, it was off to the T-Rex cafe'!
"Nana and PaPa" came along too.












Chandler and "Dexter".


















The big ol' brontosaurus above our table.














Channy and McKenna checking out a giant "three horn".













Me and Maya looking at the fish.














Chandler wanted a little help with his candles.
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The fun didn't end after lunch...oh, NO! Nana a Papa let Chandler go into the "Build-A-Dino" workshop & make his very own dinosaur buddy. He got to pick everything out all by himself.

Do you think he is just a little excited?













Giving his new dino a "fluff up".













Picking out the "perfect" outfit and accessories.













*Just a cute side note: When it came time to make the "birth certificate" for Chandler's dinosaur Jonathan asked him what he wanted to name him & without even a moments hesitation Chandler replied "Kevin". Uh...OK..."Kevin" it is??? Where does this kid come up with this stuff? To my knowledge we don't know any "Kevin's" personally, nor was I aware that Chandler had ever heard the name "Kevin", or was even particularly fond of the name. Weird??? But, "Kevin" it was...and there was no question about that!

After the "Build-A-Dino" the fun still wasn't over. We had to do some digging for fossils & some gem mining before we left ;-).

McKenna was enjoying her little brother's birthday quite a bit.













Chandler and Maya were quite the team!













"Come on Maya....just do what I do"













After a long and eventful Saturday we all crashed as soon as we got home! Then....it was on to party #2 with the rest of the family on Sunday! This time we were a little more low key & we just mainly played at a park and ate some "Wall-E" cupcakes.

The highlight of Chandler's afternoon came when Mommy and Daddy gave him his "BIG" birthday gift. A TRANSFORMER OPTIMUS PRIME VOICE CHANGER MASK!!

Apparently, there is nothing cooler to a five year old little boy than getting to don an OPTIMUS PRIME mask that can change your voice into that of a robot. This was a little slice of heaven for Chandler!









Finally, after 3 long hours of park fun (and "voice changing" fun), we headed over to our other favorite place to celebrate special occasions...Misky's pizza!

What a weekend! I'm pretty sure this will be a birthday Chandler will remember for some time. I'm also pretty sure that "Kevin" and the Optimus Prime mask are going to be Chandler's two favorite toy's for a looooooooooong time to come!

"Robots, transform and roll out!"


















"Kevin"...the coolest Velociraptor ever!


















"Optimus Prime" & Kevin...Best Friends Forever! :-)

Lessons Learned From My Stupidity.

Yes...today was in fact my son's 5th birthday & he had a wonderful day. But...we will talk more about that later (I'll do a full "birthday" post after the weekend festivities wrap up).

Right now I'm going to tell on myself & come clean about my frivolous pursuit of that perfect "summer glow". Ah, yes...the suntan! Something that seems to evade me year end and year out. I'm one of the cursed few in our society that is trying to bring "milky" back, but it never seems to catch on. As hard as I try, the "white glow" just isn't something that creates much envy. People do laugh and point at me when I drop my stark white legs into a pair of shorts though. It's humiliating to say the least :-(.

Soooooo...this week I decided to try and even out a few funky "burn lines" (I say "burn" because I tend to go from red to white, and skip that whole "tan" phase) I scored while wearing my nifty halter/v-neck maternity swimsuit a few weeks ago. Oh, and then to make things worse I wore a wide strap (scoop neck) tank top last weekend while playing outside with the kids, and then I changed to a skinny strap tank top to work in the yard later that day. What I was left with was some crazy mix of tan lines (er...I mean burn lines). My markings ranged from narrow to wide, v-neck to scoop neck, and then I had a nice white strip right around the sides of neck and all the way around the back. I counted three different strap marks across my back and shoulders. Pretty!

Today I decided that it was time to even things out a bit (and maybe work on that elusive tan). I filled up the kids pool, set out my lounge chair in a sunny spot, and donned my ever-so-cute maternity suit for some quality Vitamin D enrichment in my backyard. Oh, but this time I took it a step further and tucked in the nasty halter strap on my swimsuit, and then I folded the rest of my "tankini" top into a nice little roll (think old school tube top look). You see, I've been wondering if those pesky old stretch marks from my other three kids would look less noticeable if they were just a little tan. It was late in the afternoon & I only had about an hour to sunbathe. I mean, how much sun could one gleaming white pregnant belly really soak up in just one hour? The answer...plenty!

You have probably guessed the outcome, but I'm pretty slow when it comes to this sort of thing. Probably because I'm not a seasoned sunbathing pro like so many other women my age (evidenced by my year round pallor). Apparently, if you NEVER EVER let your stomach see the light of day, then one hour is more than enough to "tan" those pesky stretch marks. Oh, and one other little side note: stretch marks don't "tan"... they burn!

Pretty much what I did today was draw even MORE attention to my stretch marked tummy by "highlighting" all it's flaws and markings. While the rest of the skin on my tummy isn't too badly burned, those stretch marks sure did soak up the sun! I'll keep you posted on how the rest of the tan lines fared, but you can be sure I won't be flaunting my perfectly tanned pregnant belly. Let's just call me stupid and be done with it...shall we? It's a good thing I don't have a Dr's appointment for a few more weeks. I can hear already hear the "skin cancer" lectures.

Maya's New "do".

In need of some ideas.

I'm in need of some fun/creative ideas of things to do with the kids. Channy's summer school is coming to an end next week, and we have already done swim lessons, so now I need to think of a few more things for us to do in July. Just fun stuff...nothing too complicated! I'm not one who feels the the need to clutter up my calendar to ensure that my kids are never "bored" (horror!). I do expect my kids to be "self-entertained" much of the time, but I also like to get out there and play with them too :-).

I've always maintained that children should be allowed to be "children". For that exact reason I refuse to sign my 2 year old up for a soccer league or dance classes. I also refuse to shuttle the kids all over town for pointless "enrichment" crap (Translation: Classes that guilt parents into spending a bunch of money so that their kid will be "better, brighter, and more talented than everyone else") . So....I'm not really looking for those kinds of suggestions.

For starters, I need fun ideas for the Fourth of July. What did you do when you were a kid? I used to have this Family Fun magazine & it had some great 4th of July ideas & now I can't find it! We will buy some fireworks and go somewhere to shoot them off...but what else can we do? Are pools open? Hmmm........ Is it too late to try and get a campground spot? Maybe I'll torture myself this one time before I get too big to go camping-LOL! I guess there is always the "camping in the backyard" option :-).

So tell me, what kind of things do you like to do in the summer with your family? I know there are a lot of really creative people who read this blog, so leave a comment or drop me and e-mail. Help a momma out!

Signed,
Going crazy at home!

Little Boys Sure Are Expensive!

Last night, while enjoying an evening cookout at my parents house, my little guy ran into trouble once again! In a freak "deck accident" Chandler wound up with a 6 inch shard of cedar decking embedded in the bottom of his foot. Ouch!!! As much as we tried (and we tried really, really hard!), that hunk of wood was NOT coming out of his little foot! So....off to the ER we went!

The good news is this ER experience was 1,000 X's better than our last 5 hour ER debacle (the dog bite!)! We were in and out in just over an hour! It only took one "restraint" board, two nurses, two parents, one doctor, one numbing shot, and a scalpel to remove that piece of wood from Channy's foot, but we eventually got it out! Not without some trauma, and bloodshed...but we did succeed :-).

Looks like someone might be getting an extra transformer for his birthday this Thursday! He was such a brave little guy...much more so than his mommy! I think I'm more traumatized than he is-LOL! Nothing is as sad as seeing your "baby" in pain like that. I wanted to cry the whole time, but I held back knowing that would only scare him more. Ugh...having boys is going to turn me completely gray really, really soon!!

Jeez....I'm beginning to think we should just have Nana and Pa Pa over to OUR house from now on! It would appear that each visit to the grandparents house ends in some sort of trip to the ER for poor Channy!

This thing called fear.

It's late, I'm sick as a dog with some wicked sinus infection that only gets worse when I try to sleep...so I'm here at the computer, just writing about my thoughts.....


The last week has been full of sleepless nights because I've had a lot on my mind & a LOT has happened that I haven't even had time to write about. For starters, I had a bit of a scare with my unborn child, and then on Friday my grandpa died. As sad as this may sound, I didn't even shed one tear...I just didn't know him. It's as simple as that. It feels a bit wrong & very unsettling to be so ambivalent about his passing, but that's honestly how I felt. It was really hard to know just what to feel when I never knew him. However, that event got me thinking about my life and my legacy.

What do I want to leave behind. How do I want my children & my grandchildren to remember me. What will be the mark I leave on this world that will last. If I'm honest, really honest, these thoughts scare me quite a bit. When I think about what I want to leave behind the task seems daunting. One thing that I desire more than anything else is to raise my children to be "thinkers". I want them to question things they don't understand until they find the answers. I want them to think "outside the box" (as cliche' as that sounds) & be stubborn enough to cling to their passions. I want to model for my children a strong love for God's word & a passion for doing what's right.

However, the reason these things scare me is that I know there is a very heavy price to be paid when you do these things. It's never easy to travel "the road less traveled". BUT...I want my children to know the reward that awaits them when they challenge convention & find the freedom on the other side! I want to teach my children and my children's children to look at this thing called "fear" square in the face & tell it "you don't own me", because that's the only way we win.

Having said all that, I'm struggling with my own battle of sorts right now, and it's so painful! I hate it! Long story short... I feel like God has been leading me down a whole new road with no map to follow. Talk about confusing! It seems like the more I search, the more questions I have. It just doesn't seem fair! On the one hand, I long to fall into that "mold" where things are easy & predictable. On the other hand, it's kind of exciting to be searching out a whole new path. I definitely need a little more direction right now, but that will come...that will come. I just hope I'm brave enough this time to face my fears & not allow them to own me. I don't want that to happen with this one...I want to win this battle even if I'm left with a limp.

The one thing I take comfort in is this: God has never failed me yet! I've been through too much to think that God makes mistakes, or that he leads us down empty roads. When God created me he knew my hearts desires even before I did. He knew I would come to this day & ask these questions. Nothing takes him by surprise. I believe He delights in our questioning, because it only proves that we are using the brains he gave us to think with ;-). For now, I'll have to be patient, because it appears these answers won't come overnight.

I love this song by Kendall Payne. I cried my eyes out tonight when I listened to it because I felt The Lord speaking straight to my heart through these lyrics. It's one of those songs I've heard before, but tonight it just hit me.

I Will Show You Love
- By: Kendall Payne

I will show you love like you’ve never loved before
I will go the distance and back for more if you just say the word

You will come alive again and call the trying times your friend
The pain that you have suffered through will never get the best of you
You will hope in something real that won’t depend on how you feel
When you call my name then I will answer, answer

I am on your side though the wind and waves beat against your faith
You were on my mind when the world was made
Trust in me my child, Trust in me my child

Walk out on the water where you have no control
So scared to death of failure you sacrifice your soul, please let that go

You have climbed an uphill road, You have worn a heavy load
You have cried through endless nights and nearly given up the fight
Watched your dreams like falling stars the heartaches made you who you are
Now looking back you see that I have always been there

Where you gonna hide? Where you gonna hide from Me?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go that I can’t see?

I have heard you cry and it breaks my heart for I love you so
I would never lie, this is not the end there is still a hope

Ultrasound Update.

Just a quick update on my Ultrasound today.

For the most part it was really good news. Baby was VERY active (which is SO unlike him...figures!), but we still got lots of good shots. The tech was laughing about how she had to chase him around to get a good look at his little heart. The ultrasound took at least 30+ minutes & the tech did a very good job at telling us what she was looking at & why. The Dr came in to talk to us about halfway through the scan & gave us his ideas on what could have caused the irregular heart rhythm. He spent a good amount of time looking at the scan with the tech & covering everything in great detail.

In the end they found two very small areas of "mild" concern. One was a small VSD (ventricular septal defect), and the other one I've already forgotten the name of (basically it was a "flap" in the upper chamber of the heart that was opening a little too wide). The good news is that smaller congenital VSDs often close on their own as the heart grows, and in most cases can be treated conservatively. The Dr that I saw today seems to think that our little guy will most likely outgrow this small VSD by the time he is born or shortly thereafter.

Oh, and this baby never once had an irregular heart rhythm, or skipped a beat the whole time they were doing the ultrasound! So, that was good news too! All in all it was a pretty positive appointment. I'll go back to my OB in three weeks for a regular prenatal appointment & then I'll see this specialist again three weeks after that for a follow up scan. They are hoping to find that the baby has outgrown one or both of the defects by then.

*If I can scan my sono pictures soon I'll have to post them! This was a 4D sono & we got some great pictures of our little guy...he's a cutie pie just like his big brother!

Swimming Lessons...and other stuff!

*Sorry I've been absent for the last few weeks, but now that summer has come I'm not finding a lot of free time to blog with three little ones to entertain all the time. We are having a lot of fun so far this summer, but don't expect quite as many updates as we have been busy, busy, busy!

You know it's officially summer when swimming lessons get under way & that's just what we have been doing for the last two weeks! Today we completed our accelerated two week swimming courses at the "Y" & the kids loved every minute of it! They went 4 days a week for two weeks straight & boy am I tired! On top of the swimming lessons Chandler has been going to summer school every day & to a special "social skills" group once a week-whew! I know that sounds like a lot, but come July we will slow down quite a bit. However, one thing is for sure, I'm certainly not slowing down in the "growth" department. I think I wake up a little bigger every day.

Here are a few pictures from the kids swimming lessons:

Awww, what a cute brother and sister picture!

















Chandler learning to float on his back in a life vest (part of boating safety day).













Chandler waiting his turn.














McKenna was SO excited to go to her lessons all week.

















Working hard on that side stroke.













Here is just a *bonus* picture of the kids from last weekends "camping in the backyard" adventure!


Mmmmmm, S'mores in the backyard!














































Oh, and just in case you were wondering....yes, I'm only 5 months pregnant. Please, say that to my face in a really shocked and surprised tone that seems to insinuate "Geez, you look more like 7 or 8 months along". I just LOVE that!


The classic side/headless view.













Chandler thought he needed to be in this picture with "his baby". How cute is that?
















*On a little more serious note, I wanted to let you all know that your prayers would be much appreciated concerning a little "bump" in my pregnancy journey. On Tuesday I had a regular prenatal visit with my midwife & she detected an irregular heartbeat/skipped heartbeat in the baby. She quickly assured me that this may not be something to be too overly concerned with, but that we did need to try and figure out if there was something that is causing it. Soooo, I'll be going in for a Level II sonogram with a perinatologist on Monday. At that appointment they will do a more detailed sonogram of the baby's heart (called a fetal echocardiogram) to determine if there is any obvious reason for the irregular/skipped heartbeat. This could just be something that will clear up on it's own before (or shortly after) the birth.

All in all, that's pretty reassuring to know that this is most likely not something to be super concerned with. However.....it's certainly not the kind of thing you want to hear halfway through your pregnancy. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a tad concerned after hearing such a funky heartbeat on the doppler this last Tuesday, but that's kind of my job as a Mom to worry a little (it comes naturally to us Mom's).

I'll keep you all (all two of you that read this blog-ha!) posted on the ultrasound results after Monday's appointment :-).