Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween....from Shiloh "the lobster"!

Girly Dreams

I've been dreaming of girly things...especially dolls! I can't wait for the pink invasion. I've been VERY good and haven't bought a single item for our future baby girl. It's getting harder though:) I've been looking at dolls online.....oh yeah, and pink sparkly mary janes:)
Here's my favorite! It's bitty baby from American Girl. I've been dreaming of bitty baby and bitty bear (they have matching outfits!) for years. Our kiddo's Godparents have 4 girls and I've played with bitty baby at their house many times.

Spoiled Child!

Here's my spoiled baby guy this morning at big brother's soccer game. He was cranky, cold and melting down with a temper tantrum.....until.....I gave him the remainder of my latte!

A Mother's Prayer

I saw this on a blog this week and just love it. I printed it out and hung it on my fridge.

Oh, give me patience when tiny hands tug at me with their small demands. And give me gentle and smiling eyes; Keep my lips from sharp replies. And let not fatigue, confusion or noise keep me from sharing my child's new found joys. And most of all, help me to look above when at times I think I have no love. For You have promised to bear my load as these precious lives unfold.

Biblical Fashion

Last night as we opened the Children's Bible to read a story Mr. 4 yr. old asks, "How come everyone in heaven wears flip-flops?".

More from Mr. 4 yr. old

Last night we were getting ready for bed and getting Mr. 4 yr. old's pj's on. I could only find the bottoms and no tops. I asked him if he wanted to wear a t-shirt or just sleep with no top. He replied, "I'll just sleep in my boobies".

Ethiopian Adoption

Get the tissues (a big box). A beautiful story. Glory to God.

Ethiopian Adoption

The Changing Table

Is it nutty to be sad when a piece of furniture leaves your house? Not when it has so many memories attached to it. I decided to sell the baby changing table and replace it with a pad on top of a dresser. It will give us some extra storage space when the new baby comes. The gal who I sold it to came and picked it up today. Whaaaa! I'm really sad to see it go. I resisted the urge to flop on it and tell her I changed my mind! I'm going to miss it though. I have changed countless diapers on it, dried off warm bundles after baths, rubbed oodles of lotion on little bodies, dressed a billion outfits and jammies, given a zillion kisses, and played many games of peek-a-boo.

Baby boy #1 after tubby time.

Baby boy #2 in jammies with big brother

Baby boy #3 enjoying toy giraffe.

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Mr. 4 yr. old has been waiting all week for tonight. Pumpkin carving at the pre-school with Uncle Rick! Papa had to work so the boy's Godfather was thrilled to go in his place. At the last minute the school called and canceled due to bad weather (really windy). Instead they had a good time carving it at home.

Planning the design.

The finished pumpkin with a sad face requested by Mr. 4 yr. old.

So sweet...looking out at the lit pumpkin which kept blowing out in the wind storm.

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday was the pre-school field trip to the pumpkin patch. We had a great time. The weather was cold but no rain:)

Mr. 4 yr. old and his WONDERFUL teacher.

Out in the pumpkin patch.

Found the perfect one to take home and carve.

Eating ice-cream even though it's 55 degrees out!

My Beautiful Special Boy

I read a blog today about a little girl with Down Syndrome. It was a touching story. The Mom talks about how many times they have been told "never" about their daughter and how many times the "never" has been proven wrong. Reading this made me think about my own sweet special boy. We have been very fortunate though to have Dr.'s, teachers and therapists who don't give us the "never" speech. The one instance that stands out in my mind is when a speech therapist said to me that Tuba "will never talk, well, not like you and I talk". When she said it my first thought was, "Whatever fool!". My feeling was that we don't know Tuba's limits and we (especially the therapist) should aim high. Reading this post also made me think about when my hubby was in Nursing school and his class was discussing medical ethics. He came home and told me how the professor was talking about "therapeutic abortions". These types of abortions were for couples who had found out their child had a "flaw" like a genetic disease, like Down Syndrome. My hubby said it made him sick and so sad that the majority of his classmates felt a "therapeutic abortion" was the best choice. He said he kept thinking how our Tuba was much lower functioning than most Down Syndrome kids. His comment was, "Who is the abortion therapeutic for? Certainly not the child.". Anyone who has spent time with a developmentally disabled person knows how much they have to contribute. I'm sad to think that as prenatal testing gets more accurate there will be fewer and fewer special babies being born. Yes, it can be hard at times to raise a special needs child. But hard in different ways than raising my other children. There are things about raising Tuba that are easier and more joyful too. The sweet, happy, delightfully innocent boy that is ours is a blessing from God. There is nothing I would change about him. God knew what He was doing and we are blessed by it.

Weekend Fun

We had beautiful sunny and warm weather this weekend. The boys had a great time playing outside.

After soccer Mr. 4 yr. old rode his bike and then played t-ball.

Baby guy got in on the t-ball action too.

Tuba helped me take the air out of the pool, clean it up and put it away.

It's a "boo-tiful" day for having a snack outside! Chips and bananas are served:)

Apple Butter

Yesterday I spent the day making apple butter. We brought home apples from my dad's house. The boys helped Grandpa pick them from his orchard. It's been a long time since I made apple butter or canned anything. Mr. 4 yr. old had a great time helping me wash the apples, peel the apples, and put them into the pot to cook. I knew I was a little disorganized as a started but as the day went on I realized how unprepared I really was. I had all the jars and lids I needed-that was good. I couldn't remember what I did with my canner-that was not so good. I did have an old pressure cooker in my garage that I had never used. Well, how hard can it be to figure out? HARD! The direction booklet was about the worst one I've ever read. It didn't include any directions on how to actually use it.....things like timing. After consulting the Internet, calling my "knows everything" friend (not "know it all" but really does know everything!) I decided to try the pressure cooker. Oh, and I remembered why I got rid of my canner. You can't use them on a ceramic top stove...which is what we have! Does anyone have a good water bath canner that can be used on a ceramic stove? So, after trial and error and a whole day spent trying to can apple butter it finally got done. It's yummy too!

Apple Butter Hand Pies is the first thing I'm going to make with it.

Do Not Turn

We've been discussing different road signs as we drive. Today Mr. 4 yr old says, "How come no arrows are allowed?".

Library day

Today was library day. It's one of my very favorite things to do with my boys. The little boys and I go once a week to our wonderful downtown public library. We start our time in the library's coffee shop. It's so much fun to sit at a table with our treats (latte for mama, cocoa for boys, sandwich, chips, and a cookie to share. After our treats we head off to the drop off area and return our previous week's checkout. Mr. 4 yr. old is such a gentleman and holds the swinging arm open for us to go through into the main area. We check in on the huge fish tank before heading to look at books, play with the toys and games (Mr. Potato Head is the current favorite), draw on the chalkboard and finally pick a movie. Tonight will be so much fun at book time when we get to read our newest treasures!

This morning while I was in the shower Mr. 4 yr. old came to tell me Shiloh was eating some toilet paper. I told him it was okay and it wouldn't hurt her. She likes to unravel the roll and sometimes bites a piece off. Little did I know that she had taken the whole roll off and was "beating it up". There were little bits of blood from her teeth all over the bits of paper. I think she might be losing her baby teeth. She was not happy when I cleaned it all up.

Some things you just didn't need to know!

Tonight while Mr. 4 yr. old was having his bath I commented on the fact that there was a bunch of pee-pee on the floor around the toilet. I blathered on about how he and his brother need to make sure they are getting the pee-pee into the toilet. As I was bent over cleaning it up Mr. 4 yr. old tells me, "It's not pee, it's all wet from me because I was putting my foot into the toilet". Super! I guess at least he told the truth?

Home Improvement

This is a dollhouse that my Grandpa made (Grandpa built it and Grandma decorated it) and gave to my sisters and I for Christmas when we were little girls. I can't remember how old I was but I think about 10. It has seen a lot of play time since then. My Dad has been waiting for one of us to have a girl and take the house home. Well, after 6 grandsons....a girl is finally in the future. My Dad dropped the house off today. I'm going to start the renovations soon. It needs a lot of work including an update. Can you dig those floors? Also, my Mom saved all of our dollhouse furniture (enough to fill 3 huge hat boxes!). Anyone know how to get crayon off of the cedar shingle roof?

A day in the vineyard

We spent the weekend at my dad and step mom's house. My dad owns and runs a winery. We had the most magical day yesterday in the vineyard. The weather was lovely, the scenery was magnificent, we had a bonfire, watched the kids play with their cousins, drank REALLY good wine and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Delightful!

The birds and the bees....oh my!

On the way home from the library today Mr. 4 yr. old says to me, "Mom, how do babies get out of their mom's tummy?". EEEEEEKS! HELP! Okay deep breath....what do I say....how much do I say? Where's my husband when I REALLY need him? My brain was flooded but I managed to respond, "Mamas have a little hole that the babies come out of. Remember how your bottom has a little hole where the poo-poo comes out?". Great, I've just compared babies to poop! Last week we had a long discussion because the ever curious 4 yr. old wanted to know how the poopoo gets out and then asked how does the hole know how to open and close again! Good grief! In desperation I suggested we could get a book from the library that shows how babies come out. I continued on..."Boys have a penis and mamas have a girl potty called a vagina." We've had this discussion once before which ended when he then said, "show me". After my girl potty comment he then says, "So, the hole is right by your butt!". "Yes". That was the end of the conversation. He seemed to be satisfied with my answers. I spent the rest of the drive home thinking of what I could have said differently. Last year he just thought babies came from airplanes from Ethiopia. I think I prefer this thinking!

Start your morning with a jigsaw puzzle

The flooring installer finished last night at about 7:00 pm. I was disappointed to find out that he wasn't going to be putting the trim back on the walls:( So, this morning I was installing 25 pieces of trim at 7:00 am. I needed to get this done before hubby came home from work (graveyard worker) and had to go to bed. If I was the one who had taken the trim off of the walls I would have labeled each piece. But....the water restoration people took it off 2 months ago....and sort of organized it by room and banded it together. After the trim was done I got working cleaning the rooms up. What a load of junk had accumulated in the sewing room! Now it's done and I'm ready to get sewing:)

The before pictures


And....after pictures....Isn't it gloriously beautiful?

I even cleaned out and organized my fabric cupboard!

Babies abound!

I spent the morning at the hospital visiting my good friend (met her in 7th grade) and cooing over her new baby boy. She has 2 girls ages 3 & 5. I have been thinking lots about babies. I have 5 more friends who are pregnant and 4 more friends who are awaiting babies/children through Ethiopian adoption. It's so exciting!!! I love the anticipation. I called AAI this week to find out where we are on the wait list for our baby girl. We are half way down on the list. We are estimating a referral in Jan. sometime. The wait is going pretty fast this time but I am starting to feel a bit antsy recently. I haven't bought a single girl item....yet:) I have been shopping for a double stroller (any suggestions?), bunk beds, and toddler bed. Oh...my list of to-do is starting to grow.

The day so far...

I started the day today at 6:30 am. I went in to wake up Tuba. The house was pitch dark and Tuba was all snuggled up in his blankets sleeping soundly. I pulled back his blankets, rubbed his cheek and said "time to get up". He opened his sleepy eyes and said, "Eggs". It cracked me up. I guess he was dreaming of breakfast already:)

Then it was off to the dentist for Baby Guy's appt. They took off the broken piece. He cried a tiny bit (mostly I think from being held down). It bled a tiny bit. The whole thing took 2 minutes. It doesn't look as bad (snaggletoothed) as I thought it would. Now it's wait and pray time. We are to keep the area really clean by brushing it (starting tomorrow). Hopefully, God willing, the tooth will heal, not turn black and not need to be pulled. If all goes well than in a couple of years the dentist will build up the tooth so it looks normal. That would be great!

Then it was back home to wait for my new flooring to be delivered! Yeah! It's been 2 months without a floor covering in the entry, laundry, sewing area. It's such a mess and the concrete is so cold and gross to look at. Tomorrow the marmoleum gets installed. Yipee:)

Mama has gone 'round the bend

I'm just sick and beside myself with grief. Baby guy had a bad fall on Sunday and his top front tooth is cracked all the way up to the gum. We went to our dentist yesterday and then this morning to the specialist. The opinion of the two dentists is that the inner piece should be removed (because it keeps twisting forward) and then we can do a wait and see on the rest of the tooth. I've been warned that most likely the whole tooth will have to come out. If one more person says, "It's only a baby tooth" I think I'll have to sit on my hands to keep from whacking them! The dentist didn't say this (they've dealt with plenty of moms to know better:). I'd like to know one adult who would think it's perfectly fine to have no front tooth for 5 plus years! All the grandparents have been perfectly sympathetic and helpful. I'm going to call Children's Hospital's dental clinic today and see if we should get one more opinion. I just wish they could glue it or fix it somehow. It will take about 6 weeks to tell how much the root is damaged and if the tooth is going to die and have to come out anyway. Say some prayers for baby guy's tooth (and some for his mama too).

If you click the picture you can look at his tooth up close. It's his top left (right side of picture) tooth. The costume was his brothers suggestion. Baby guy loves wearing it!

Mathetes Award

I am truly humbled to have been named a recipient of the Mathetes Award by my blogger friend Jane.

Mathetes is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) it to make more disciples. In the spirit of this award, the rules are simple. Winners of this award must pick five other "disciples" to pass it on to. As you pass it on, you mention and provide links for 1. this post as the originator of the award and, 2. the person that awarded it to you.
The 5 blogger women I chose to award inspire me to be a better Christian. By reading their blogs I am inspired by their words and their Christ centered lives.
1. Leah
2. Jamie
3. Renee
4. Sonora
5. Miranda
I would also include Jane in this list too but I think the "rules" don't allow me to re-award the person that awarded me? I don't know...anyway....right back at you Jane!