Christmas

It's so funny. It took about 2 months of shopping, three weeks of wrapping, 1 week of decorating and a full day of cooking. And now its all over. Just like that. It took about 23 seconds for all of the beautiful wrapping to be ripped through and a mess like none other to be created in our living room. It was quite a challenge keeping Ashley away from all the pieces of paper and tiny plastic choking hazards that come with every single toy.
This is what Caleb looked like when he realized we finally got him an IPod.

And then when he realized it was Jamie's old IPod he was suddenly a bit deflated, but still appreciative. (sweet boy) Then Jamie opened up the NEW IPod and Caleb was a bit disturbed but soon realized we were tricking him and then he did this.

This is a tight, genuine, full of appreciation and thankfulness, hug. It was nice. He was truly surprised. LOVE that part of Christmas.


Faith was so cute with everything. She was thrilled that Santa left her the dancing doll she asked for. (And every other doll sold in toys stores as well.)
This girl has so many dolls! Her favorite is this one...

This doll is really special. She says things like "I'm hungry, Mommy". Then you have to feed her (yes, actual food!). And she says "I'm thirsty, Mommy". And you have to give her water in her sippy cup. And she says "Did I make a stinky?".  And then you change her diaper. That's right, folks. I've said it would never happen but I have allowed another pooping, peeing object into my house. Let me tell you how gross this is too. I held her over the sink last night cleaning the green goo out of her mouth with water and vinegar. As I held the doll over the sink, a long, slimy, stringy green piece of loveliness fell from the hole in the bottom of the doll. I almost puked.
But Faith LOVES this doll. She feeds her and changes her like a crazy woman. She responds to the dolls every demand and just loves taking care of her. I had to laugh as she excitedly changed her 24th diaper. I hope I remember this to tell her about it when she has a baby of her own and has all those diapers full of real poo to tend too. I wonder if she will still be as eager.

Caleb also got a tablet and tablet accessories. And the usual basketball pants and shirts that he pretended were the best thing ever. But in reality, I just wrapped them so he'd have more to open since his Christmas was small with big ticket items.
Faith got dolls and more dolls. And a neat VTech electronic game system called a MobiGo. Really great! She hasn't played with it a ton but I'm hoping she will get into it during our 15 hour drive to Alabama.

For Christmas Eve, we had snacks galore! 

And Christmas Day, we had cornish hens.

The kids thought it was pretty neat having their own bird. I was really creeped out. I don't do well with meat on bones. Ick. Moments after this picture, I decided they weren't cooked enough and put them all back in the over. Well, except for Jamie's. He wouldn't have any part of over cooked chicken. I guess his was okay too since he didn't die. But I made the kids wait on theirs. We had it later in the day with other leftovers. I'll make chicken salad out of the rest. Everyone gets to pick a side for Christmas dinner. Caleb picked canned green beans, Faith chose macaroni, Jamie wanted sauteed mushrooms and I got corn casserole. Faith was unhappy that I didn't make boxed macaroni though. I decided to make homemade and she wasn't thrilled. We ate Jamie's mushrooms the night before at our Christmas eve feast so, Caleb and I were the only ones happy with the sides.
Oh well. We all spent the day in our pajamas and had a really fun day. It was a great Christmas. One of the best yet. All the kids are at such great ages! Next year will be even better since I won't be pulling paper out of Ashley's mouth every 30 seconds. Hopefully.

We leave on Friday for Alabama. Really looking forward to ringing in the New Years with Mimi and Pops! After we get home, we'll be doing final preparations for our baby turning ONE! Such fun things happening!

On a not so fun note, Faith will be having another heart catherization in February. Date still to be determined. More information to come on this later. Right now, we are still in the midst of our holiday cheer and I'm trying not to worry about this upcoming event quite yet. One day at a time.

Happy holidays to everyone!!!

More Faith

Today was a good day. A very good day. I love days that I look back on and just laugh. Most days are like this but some days, I rather not look back on at all.
We played hide and seek this morning. Faith runs to hide while I count. She told me to count to 11 though because she wanted more time. And then she told me not to look in her closet when I tried to find her.

After Ashley nap, we took her to get her first pair of shoes. It as quite the adventure. Faith and Caleb love this baby so much and really don't give her the space so desires. It was hard for her to walk around the store with them hovering on her examining her new shoes. And the fact that she hated them made the experience all that more funny. She's warmed up to them a bit more now. But she did act like a cat with tape on its paws at first. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you really should find a cat and a roll of tape. Funniest thing ever. And I'll attempt to video Ashley doing it just in case you don't have a cat handy.

This afternoon we went to see a movie. "Arthur Christmas".  Very cute movie, by the way. I decided it would be fun to take Faith, Braden and Nathan along too. (her BFF's from playgroup) We were missing one but Taylor had already seen the movie. So off we went.
On the way there, the conversation went like this:

Braden: "I'm going to sit next to Faith in the movie"
Nathan: "I want to sit next to Braden"
Faith: "I'm going to sit next to Braden:
Braden:"I'm going to sit by Faith"
Faith: "I want to sit by Braden"

Nathan starts to panic.

Nathan: "I want to sit by Nathan"

All the 4 year olds cracked up.

Then Faith says "I'm an ice princess."

Caleb looks at me and says "Random thoughts by Faith."


Once we were in the movie, the 4 year olds did great! They sat nicely in their seats and arranged their snack packs on their laps. Nathan suddenly realized that these theater chairs posed a serious threat and could possibly swallow him whole. So..... he sat on my lap during the movie. It was so incredibly hard not to laugh but he was so serious about this fear that I couldn't laugh at him. I love 4 year olds! Such a fun age. 

Faithisms

Stuff like this is said in my house all the time and cracks me up. At the time I always think, I need to write that down and most of the time, I forget.
So now I'm writing it down.

Tonight, Faith hugs me and squeezes some of my love handle. Sweet girl. I say "Faith, don't squeeze mommy's fat." She says "You're not fat, mommy. You're tall."
"Awww, Faith. You don't think I'm fat? I'm tall??"

"Well, you're kind of tall."

"Just kind of tall?"

"Yes. But not really tall at all. And a little fat."


Love. This. Girl.

And now I'm on a diet.

One year ago.....

I ordered Ashley's 1st birthday party invitations this evening. How in the world has an entire year gone by? One year ago I was on restricted activity trying to keep this baby in my belly for a few weeks longer. One year ago I cried because I wasn't able to make Christmas dinner for my family and we had to order it from a store. One year ago, I laid on my bed and felt my baby doing flip flops in my belly and cried knowing it was the last time I would ever feel a baby move and grow inside of me.

This baby is no longer a little baby.
She climbs, she screams, she walks. She walks! We have a walker. She took a few steps a couple of weeks ago and then slowly progressed. Now she walks like a pro. Well, like a pro after having a few cocktails. Its cute as heck though!
So now I'm planning her 1st birthday party. Faith is excited to know she will no longer be "nothing" but will now be one. Caleb is excited because he is just in love with her and loves every single thing to do with this baby. We are all in love with her.

On another note... we are planning our trek to Alabama to see Mimi and Pops. They are finally home again after a long 9 1/2 months in Houston. Jamie says we will leave at 4am on whatever day we decide to leave on. He said he wants to drive "until we can't drive anymore" and then stop to find a hotel. No planning ahead. No reservations. Then he said he was going to find something he could buy and have handy to pee in rather than stopping. And he tried to fist pump me and get me excited about this whole plan. But I have so many problems with this plan. First of all, we are traveling with three chlidren who complain on the 6 mile drive to Wal-mart. Driving until we can't drive anymore... we may make it to Missouri. Secondly, peeing into a container of some sort to avoid bathroom breaks. Well, this just is not going to happen. No fist pumping on this matter at all. Not happening.

We saw Santa last weekend.

 This was the picture where Ashley had her bottle and was happy.

This is the picture where she was not.

And this is when she thrashed around until she couldn't see and Caleb was beside himself cracking up.

And Faith was like a statue the entire time.


After seeing Santa, we went to Target and did some shopping. Faith had told Santa that she wanted a doll that you pushed her belly button and it danced. Since we had never heard about this, we were curious what she was talking about. We found the doll and Faith pointed out, kind of disappointedly, that it didn't look like the dolls belly button after all, it looked more like a penis. Caleb cracked up and said there should be a sign that said "Push penis to make doll dance". My kids.



Faith also had her Winter recital this past weekend. For the first time ever, she didn't want to leave me to go backstage. She never ever has any issues leaving me. But this time she did. I fought back my tears and the urge to just grab her and run. Thank goodness too. She did an amazing job and had a blast!
Can't wait for the Spring recital now.


But first, we have to get through my last baby turning one. The last time I will ever throw a first birthday party. Yes. You better bet I will cry. As a matter of fact, I might just cry now.

Whirlwind holidays

We are just weeks away from the fat mans arrival and I suddenly feel like this entire year just slipped right by. That overwhelming sensation of being unorganized, unprepared, and completely caught off guard by December took a tight hold of me this weekend. Luckily the kids don't know what plans I had to make this year spectacular so their expectations will remain low. Probably for the best.
We did make our chocolate covered pretzels this weekend.

We also made a gingerbread house.

And I played with my new camera some more.

Ashley learned to climb into her push toy.

And Ashley got a booster seat and now sits at the table with us.

Buster is most excited.

Yes... the dog is wearing a coat. And it has skulls on it. It's okay to laugh.

We will be visiting Santa on Sunday. Faith is beyond excited. I reminded her last week that she needed to behave because Santa was watching. This reminder actually came during one of her not so great 4 year old moments. And I'm pretty sure I said something more like "You better knock it off because you are not behaving and Santa is watching". And I'm sure it was in an angry, not very nice tone.
So she says "Yea, but God is watching YOU!".
Gulp.

God certainly trumps Santa.

Little stinker.

We are also preparing for a 15 hour car ride to see Mimi and Pops in Alabama. We are praying that Mimi gets released from MD Anderson and gets to head home for Christmas. If this happens, we hope to go see them at New Years. Fingers crossed! The idea of taking a 15 hour car ride with the children who ask 10 times "are we there yet" enroute to Walmart 6 miles away is a little less than appealing. But the idea of getting to see Mimi (Leukemia free!) and ring in the New Year with Mimi and Pops is incredibly exciting!

Time to get the girls in bed. We need to sprinkle our Elf with dust first. That silly elf has returned again this year and is doing all sorts of silly things! Nothing quite like waking up to Faith laughing about her Elf that she wishes was a girl. I love these kids.

Consider yourselves warned.

Jamie gave me my Christmas/ birthday present today. It's a new camera. So, I've been taking a few pictures.

And I am so happy!!!! I even caught this beyond adorable moment....

So... consider yourselves warned. Many more pictures to come!!!!!

Around 3:45 today, Faith jumped out of her chair, grabbed her chest and said "That hurts!". Trying not to panic, I assessed the situation. She wasn't discolored. She wasn't faint. Her heart wasn't racing. She was breathing. Check, check and check. So we sat for a few minutes until the "pain" passed. Within a few minutes she was back to her normal self and bouncing around like nothing had happened.
After a call to her cardiologist, her and I set off for the hospital to have her checked out. All is well. We'll have to follow up with her cardiologist tomorrow and determine what the deal is. Most likely its Premature Atrial Contractions. We've had issues with these before.

It's moments like this that suddenly smack me in the face with a loud reminder that I'm the mother of a child with heart disease. I don't understand why God chose her to have this heart. But I thank God that he chose me to be her mother. She is such an amazing little girl. Her strength and fearless attitude is so inspiring.

With the doctor in the room and her resting on my lap, she farted. It wasn't just a littly girly passing gas. It was a fart. And it was gross. And she laughed her butt off. And we all smelled it for quite some time after the butt explosion was over. Which made her giggle even more. And then I was reminded that even though she has this heart with issues, she's a four year old little girl. Thank God she's ours. Smell and all.

It's been a week...

Overbooked myself several days this week, had too much laundry and too little time and long nights with a baby that is over babied by her momma.
I was nearly in tears this evening praying for nighttime so all the kids could go to bed. And then I saw this....

Now I'm sitting on the couch crying because this sweet baby girl will be 10 months old when we wake up tomorrow. And these times are going to become fewer and fewer and before I know it, I won't have a baby at all anymore. And the other two that I was considering selling on Craigslist, will no longer be small either. And one day, it will be completely silent. And I won't have all of their activities to keep my booked or over booked during the days. And I won't have anyone waking me during the night.
That's when I'll rest.
For now, I'll just enjoy the noise and chaos.

Veterans Day and fleece blankets

A lot has happened this past week. I'll just do a quick synopsis on the two best things. The first best thing was Veterans Day.
There was an assembly at Caleb's school that was just super cool. One of the greatest things about this assembly is that Caleb tried out and got a spot in the band for the assembly! This was after only two months of having the trumpet. To be honest, I really didn't think he would get it. The kid does not practice. But he's still pretty darn good. Wish I could say he gets that from me.
Not only to Caleb get to play "My Country Tis of Thee" with the other selected 5th graders, but he also got to assist with the opening and closing flag ceremonies with the VFW members in attendance. It was really great. At some point, I will figure out how to post a video on here and then you can see for yourself! For now, just use your imagination and trust me, it was cool.
It was really great how all the Veteran guests got to sit up front, facing the wide eyed children in the audience. And each Veteran was introduced by the person they were in attendance with. It was super cute to see these small children introduce their grandparent, parent, sibling, cousin or family friend with such pride.
I saw Caleb squat down next to Jamie and wasn't sure what was going on at first. Then I realize he was preparing to introduce his father. I imediately got a knot in my throat.
Then Caleb stood, dug deep into his pocket and retrieved a piece of paper. The entire gym, full of 500+ students and also parents, faculty and staff became completely silent.
I felt the tears welling into my eyes and was afraid what he was going to read and afraid that I was going to bawl.
He unfolded the paper, made eye contact with the crowd and began to read.  "My name is Caleb Schmittendorf and I would like to introduce my father, Jamie Schmittendorf."

Seriously.

That kid. He sure makes me proud. I love him so much it makes me ache.

The other most awesome thing that happened this week was a confirmation of something I already knew. For over 10 years now I have been a part of MOMS Club. MOMS is a national organization that pretty much saved my life when Caleb was a baby and we first moved to California. I have made some really great friends through this organization!
Well, the Shawnee group that I've been with for 4 years now did a service project for CHD Families. CHD Familes is the heart group we belong to and have grown to love over the past few years of having our heart miracle. This group of stay at home moms got together and donated 16 blankets, a huge bag of toiletries and money to the CHD group. This will enable CHD to provide care packages to so many families admitted to Children's Mercy for heart procedures. CHD provides so much support to so many familes and relies soley on donations like this for their organization to survive. They are such a great group and MOMS Club is such a great group too. I'm so proud to be part of groups that do such great things for so many people. I wish I could do more personally, but helping these groups do what they do is just a small step in the right direction.

Aside from these two really awesome things, here are some other things we've been doing:
We completed the diaper study with some horribly nasty diapers being delivered to the research facility, but made $125!
Dealt with Ashley randomly puking throughout the week (still a bit on edge with this one~ not a fun new trick!)
Attended three birthday parties, rearranged the living room furniture to make room for Christmas decorations, hung the Christmas lights on the house, made a new Bierock casserole recipe that was fantastic, learned that peanut butter cookies with spit in them really do taste good, learned that Faith wants to name her firstborn son "Junior" and her seventh son "Sasha", discovered that Ashley can stand unassisted for quite some time and even take a step or two from the coffee table to the couch, visited and loved another Boy Scout troup, decided to have Thanksgiving at our house this year, watched Caleb pull out two more teeth and hope he has enough teeth to eat Thanksgiving dinner.
I know there is much more but that is about all I can remember. Hopefully videos and pictures will be on soon.

Finished Tiara

The finished tiara Jamie made for Faith. We are off to paint it. She wants it yellow. Love my girl!

Fall days and art nights!

Caleb has "Hat Day" coming up at school. He said he wants to wear a Spartan hat. So... his father made him one. That's right. My husband who is an amazing hands on father figured out how to make a paper-mache Spartan hat.

-

It's not 100% completed but how cool is that!?!?

Of course, he can't leave Faith out. So he is making her a Tiara.

I'll put a new picture on when that is all done. It's on the back porch drying now.

Since Dad was getting messy, I thought we all should. So we had art night!

Faith was very excited to make more pictures for her Mimi. Every chance she gets, she wants to make something for Mimi.  (you'll be getting more mail soon, Bonnie!)

Before our art night got underway, Caleb and Faith were playing. Not sure what they were playing but they were using their imaginations so I'm happy. Faith got dressed up like Cleopatra.

And Caleb dressed up as... well, we don't know what he was dressed up as. A really odd 10 year old, I think.

Faith wouldn't even stand in the same picture as him. I think Buster was a little bothered too. Yes, he is wearing a foot brace and an arm brace. No, there is nothing wrong with him.
Well, he has not broken or sprained appendages.

Aside from letting our creative sides show through, we also played outside on this amazing gorgeous fall day. Ashley loves to be outside. I almost wish she would hurry up and learn to walk so that she would stop ruining all of her clothes crawling everywhere. Did I just wish my baby to grow up quicker? Ugh.

  

It was a good weekend. These nice weathered weekends are going to be far and few between. We enjoy them so much right now but will be excited for our first snowfall. Can't wait to take all the kids sledding! But right now, I have a really big mess to clean up.

I sat here for five minutes trying to think of a title. I've got nothing. My brain is complete mush after the day I've had.
I'll start with the beginning. I'm in the middle of doing a diaper study with Ashley. All this means is that a company provides me with diapers, bags and forms. I use their diapers, put them in the said bags and complete the forms. I return the used diapers 4 different times during this study. The study lasts a total of 16 days. At the end of the study, I make $145. Awesome.
I normally cloth diaper, but sure, you can pay me to use your diapers. I'm okay with that.

Anyway... I had to return some diapers today. In typical Murphy's Law fashion, after I had dropped the diapers, Ashley had a complete blow out. This blow out left me gasping for air and considering throwing everything touching her in the garbage. However, I needed that diaper. I sat in this parking lot for about 10 minutes trying to decide what to do. All the while, Faith had her head hanging out the back window gagging.

It finally came to me. I had two airline barf bags in my glove box. (LOVE having a sister in law who works for Delta!) So I passed Faith one of the bags and told her that if she was going to throw up, get it into that bag. And I set to work with the diaper.
I don't know how much money the people who have to deal with the diapers make, but it isn't enough. I however, earned my $145 with this one diaper change.
Once all was cleaned up, the dirty diaper went into the barf bag and into my glove box. That's right. We drove home with this horrendous diaper that really should have earned its own spot at the county landfill, in the glove box. My insurance papers will never be the same.

With this experience behind us, I moved on with the day. On the agenda for this afternoon was a trip to the doctors for Caleb. He's been having some pain in an area that I know absolutely nothing about, his testicles. Now this is an entire post in itself but I will say that all is fine and he's okay. We'll leave it at that for now. But before we reached this conclusion, we had to see the pediatrician who ordered an ultrasound on his goods. Off to the hospital we went. Luckily, Faith was with a friend. This was an experience that I do believe would have started her much needed therapy years earlier than planned.

Back tracking just a bit....
When Faith has her echocardiograms on her heart, they do all sorts of things to keep her attention focused on the task of being still. One of the "tricks" is they always promise her that she can fingerpaint in the gel on her chest when they are done with the test.

Back to today. Caleb was laying on this table, pants off and towel laying over what is supposed to be a sacred area. This incredibly sweet, older woman was doing everything in her power to make him comfortable and not scared. She was amazing. She lathered him up really good with the gel and then he says.....
 "When you're all done, can I finger paint?"
I was all out of energy to explain about my middle child with heart disease, echos and all the above. I just kind of stood there and she looked utterly confused and horrified. She simply answered with "Probably not." and then moved on to other issues at hand.
Lovely.

The best news from today came after hours and hours of smelling this awful smell, making the kids check their shoes, checking the van and even looking at the van tires only to realize that the smell was me. I had poop on my knee. Most likely elsewhere too. 

Best. Day. Ever.

Wine time.

Halloween

This is a picture of our Halloween 2007.

Caleb was 6, Faith was 6 months.

This is Halloween 2011.

Caleb is 10 1/2, Faith 4 1/2 and Ashley 9 months.

Things sure have changed!

The biggest change (aside from the third kid!) is that my baby didn't want to go trick or treating with his momma. Our boy hit the roads with 6 buddies and pillowcases ready to fill with candy. I was pushing my sweet little bumble bee and walking beside my Princess Witch but I kept thinking about my baby boy out on the streets without me. And I kept thinking about his second Halloween. He was 2 1/2 years old and totally into Superheros. He wore a Superman costume for months. Months! We couldn't leave home without his cape.
Now my baby is big enough to be running door to door dressed in his exectioner costume with his buds.

Yes. I did feel a bit teary. Luckily, it was dark so noone seemed to notice. It felt like an end of an era. And while I will have the girls by my side for several more years, Caleb was my first Halloween trick or treater. He was the beginning of it all and its so hard to just step back and let him grow up. I really wish I could find that pause button on his life. Did I mention that this 10 year old is now 5'3? Geez. No chance of him fitting into that Superman costume today.



On another note....
When I was looking at the old Halloween picture, I found this.

And this...

These are some old pictures of Faith. I think its safe to say Ashley will look just like her sister when she is older!

So, now its November. We spent the first day of November at the zoo. Gorgeous and perfect day for our last zoo outing of the year. It was 77 today. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow night. Hello Winter.

Time to start taking down the Halloween decorations. Glad we made it through and happy my big boy has entered a new phase of his life. And I'm glad I survived as well. This parenting stuff is especially hard when you need to learn how and when to let go.

Quick update

Ashley is finally better. Just a bit snotty but that is totally expected this time of year regardless of having a double ear infection.
Caleb missed a day this week from a sore throat. At 8am, he was pretty convinced it was going to be the death of him but by 10am, he was claiming to be bored. When Jamie got home from work at 5 and caught him on his DS it was all over with. We do not allow any electronics when you stay home from school. If you're too sick to miss school, you're too sick to play. So you sleep, lay in bed and read. With the rule broken and a stern talk from dad, he decided to go back to school the next day.
So I woke up this morning pretty sure I would never be able to swallow again. So not fair for Moms to get sick. It should be a rule that makes that impossible.
Jamie graciously stayed home so I could go to the doctor and find out how much longer I had to live. Turns out its just a sinus infection and after 5 days of meds, I should be 100%. Thank God.

Jamie did so awesome with the girls today. The house was destroyed with toys but they are both happy. Neither of them were dressed today, but they both had fun. Faith decorated Halloween cookies and has eaten icing all day long. With a huge smile on her face.
Jamie did put child locks on the kitchen cabinet that holds the garbage can. After Ashley pulled out some eggs, toast and coffee grounds, he decided it was time. She too is happy though.

It wasn't until after I woke from a really long nap that the screams began. And that was only after I closed Ashley's poor little finger in the pantry door. Sigh.

They're a mess and everything else is a mess but the kids are not hurt and they are happy. Thanks to Dad. I'm going back to bed.

Sick baby... again

I feel like I just wrote this same post. Luckily, this time, there is no vomiting. I can handle almost all illnesses but the puking.
This time, Ashley has double ear infections. She is quite pathetic too. Bless her heart. Shes got snot oozing from all parts of her face and its so gross, but so so sad. We just gave her the 2nd dose of her antibiotic so she should be feeling better soon. I have a feeling there will be tubes in this baby's future.

I'm tired and covered in snot so the conversation we had with Caleb after dinner gave me the laugh I really needed.
It all started because our garbage disposal has decided its done working. Jamie was tinkering with it trying to figure out if he could get anymore life out of it. Once he decided it was a goner, he called it. And then he announces for no one to put food in the sink. Caleb turns around and says (rather panicked!) "But if the garbage disposal isn't working, how will we do the dishes!?"
So we cleared that up for him and all had a little laugh.

(except for him. I might need to explain that to him again later.)

Then he comes out and says "Did you know the microwave was invented in 1947? Dad, weren't you born in 1947?"
We cleared that up too.

Then Jamie and I went on talking about microwaves from when we were kids. I told him how I remembered getting our first microwave and how it was huge. And that we had a lot of neighbors who still didn't have one and they thought it was pretty neat to use ours. I also told him about some good friends of ours who just got their first microwave about 10 years ago.

He got a horrified look on his face.
Then he says "If they didn't have a microwave, how did they cook their food?"

We cleared that up too.

And for the record, I do not use our microwave to cook many foods. I have sat here tonight trying to think of all I use it for and while I do use it quite a bit, I could totally do with out it. Its more of a convenience factor than a necessity. I do not feed my family microwave meals. The only problem I would encounter by not having a microwave is the microwave popcorn I'm addicted to. Not sure I could do with out that.

Anyway, Caleb had a bit of a history lesson. And I feel a bit older than I did just a few short hours ago. Pretty funny to think that one day all the appliances we use will be so out dated and he'll share with his family about the stone age way we did things.

The girls are sleeping. I hope the shortest one sleeps all night and wakes up with that beautiful smiling face! The boys are at Boy Scouts.....
time for some popcorn!

Pumpkin Patch trip

What a perfect weekend.
Lots of amazing weather, lots of great out door playtime, a really fabulous soccer game with some great blocks by my favorite defense player, a fun trip to the pumpkin patch and some over decorating for Halloween. Perfection.
This pumpkin patch was super cute! This was our first trip to this particular one. Thanks to our friends, The Keelers, we have found our new favorite.
Caleb found the most perfect pumpkin.

Okay. This wasn't the one we choose. But it sure was slim pickings. We haven't had much rain and I knew our grass was showing the effects but this poor pumpkin patch really suffered. Faith was on a mission to find Cinderella's pumpkin. Her, Jamie and Caleb scoured the entire patch until they finally found the perfect one. Then she decided it wasn't in fact Cinderella's pumpkin. After many tears and many decision changes, she finally settled on one. I'm still not sure she is convinced its the "right" one but I'm hoping after some glitter paint and some beautifying materials, it will be the most perfect pumpkin.
Caleb got an awesome golden pumpkin. I'm pretty sure it was purchased at the grocery store and then placed in this patch. But whatever. The kids are happy.
And it was fun!!

Of course, the pumpkin patch stayed true to most pumpkin patches and had lots of those wooden cut outs to stick your face through. Those always make us laugh. This one made us crack up. But not until we actually saw the picture later...

And, Jamie and I actually had a photo take together! A huge rarity! Thank you, Heather!!!

She even got TWO shots!!!


After the pumpkin patch, we stopped at a buffet and stuffed ourselves silly. I'm not a fan of buffets. I have issues with germs. Lately, even more so since I watched a quite revealing tv show that detailed exactly what could be found in fast food playlands, shopping carts and bathrooms. Oh. My. Gosh.
I've been extremely careful to only go to places that are germ free since this show. And I like living in the bubble I've created...
Anyway, we ate at this germ free buffet. And it was good.
So when dinner time rolled around, no one was really hungry. Faith had a bowl of cocoa puffs, Caleb had chips and salsa, I had left over Chinese and Jamie watched this disgusting dinner unfold. Faith would take a bite of her cereal and then have a chip with salsa. Then more cereal. So gross.
Just before she went to bed, she said her tummy hurt. We told her it was probably what she ate at dinner and told her it just wasn't really healthy. She got furious and corrected Jamie saying "I had milk in my cereal and milk is healthy!"

Wow. I see chocolate cake for breakfast in her kids future!

A little too much education for our 4 year old

So we are extremely honest with our children. We believe in telling them the truth, no matter how ugly it might be. We had "the talk" with Caleb last year. We started by giving little bits of information. And correcting his theory of his baby sister getting in my belly via my ear.
Then we slowly gave him more and more information. As much as we thought he could handle at a time. A year later, our 10 year old has all the information he needs to know. Until he marries and his wife fills him in on the rest.
Today, Jamie discovered and incredibly awesome video. It shows conception from the very beginning to birth. Very amazing. I suggested we show Caleb. So we all sat and watched this incredible video together. We used all the correct words. Sperm. Eggs. Ovaries. Womb. Uterus. I'm sure he was silently vomitting in his mouth, but he stuck with it and watched the video.

It wasn't until his soccer game, two hours later, that we realized something. Our 4 year old was peering over our shoulder watching this video.

Oops.

As our sweet little angelic 4 year old played in the grass on the soccer field, questions began spewing from her sweet little mouth.

She says "Mom, what is that stuff that goes inside the egg called?"

Since I'm half listening to her, I could only assume she was talking about Easter eggs. So I responded "Candy, Faith. You know that."
Then she says... "No, mommy. Its squirmy and has no head or legs."

Not a clue what she was talking about. So I ignored her. Isn't that what you're supposed to do. When in doubt, ignore??

About ten minutes later, she was snuggled up on Jamie's lap when I see him laughing and looking at my with a bit of a panicked look. I listen in and hear "What is that thing called, dad? It goes in the egg in the mommy's belly?"
Jamie quickly starts talking about Pumpkin Patches and rainbows. Anything but the thing that has no head or legs and goes inside the egg in mommy's belly.

Sigh.

Sorry, kid. You're a few years away from "that talk". So for now, we will distract and ignore you. And make sure you are never around for another educational talk or video again. And please stop talking about it. Please. And please please please do not bring it up on the soccer field ever again.

My funny and a little paranoid husband. How I love thee....

I have to start this by saying how much I love Jamie. He is an amazing father, an amazing husband and the very best friend ever. I could not have asked for a better spouse and am thankful every single day that he choose me to spend the rest of his life with. I am incredibly lucky.
Okay... that being said. This man is crazy. And the older he gets, the worse it is. He will not go to bed unless he checks that the oven is off and makes sure every single door is locked. Thank goodness for him doing this though, because I sure don't!

So it got cold last night. Really cold. I turned the heater on and set panic into the house. You know how the heater smells when you first turn it on after a long Summers break? Both Jamie and Caleb went running through the house investigating the "burning" smell.
Jamie turned the heater off and then set to work. He changed the filter and did a thorough investigation of the situation. Once he was comfortable, he turned the heater back on. All was good. So I thought.

He and I went to bed a few hours later. All three kids were already fast asleep in their respective rooms. Just as I started to doze, my husband says "Okay. Here's the plan. When (NOT IF but WHEN!) the smoke detectors go off, you get Ashley, I'll get Faith. I'll jump out the master bedroom window with Faith and you drop Ashley to me. Then you jump out too."
I said "What in the hell, Jamie!?!? Why would the smoke detector go off? What is going on?!" He then gets agitated with me and said "Just do it! And don't act like a girl about it. Jump out the damn window. And hurry up about it."
And now he is yelling at me. Sounding a tad more crazy than even I ever imagined.
I say, "But what is going on? Should we be worried about something?"
He says, "I'm worried. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. I know you say that smell is normal but I don't like it and yes, I'm worried. I'll lay here awake all night long worried."
And then he says, (very sternly) "Just get Ashley, throw her to me, and jump out the damn window, Krissy. And you have to be quick about it because I am then going around to the front to get Caleb."
"But Jamie, why can't we go out the front door."

"If we can, we will. But plan on going out the window. And I'm serious. (Now he is yelling!) JUMP. Do not act like a girl. JUMP. I can't leave the girls alone and I have to hurry back in to get Caleb."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan. Maybe we should have a fire drill this weekend?"

"Sure. But this is what we are doing tonight. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Is your cell phone next to you?"

"Yes"

"Grab it before you jump."

"Okay"

And now I am wide awake with my heart beating so loud I can actually hear it. And I'm seriously considering getting dressed so I'm ready to move and jump out that window. And then I start to visualize where Ashley's warmest blanket is that I can grab to wrap her in and trying to remember what pajamas I dressed Faith in wondering if she will be warm enough as she jumps from the second story window in her fathers arms.

Then I hear a noise.

It's Jamie snoring.

And just like that. our conversation was over. And I laid awake for the next two hours sniffing the air and listening very intently to every. single. noise. Even his snores.

Thanks, honey. Love you. And yes, we are having a fire drill this weekend.

Ashley Marie is 9 months!

Its so hard to believe this sweet baby is 9 months old. She weighs in at 22 lbs and 28 1/2 inches long. She is the first baby to be below 90% for height and over 90% for weight! It's safe to say her nickname "Chunk" fits her.
She has changed so much over the past 9 months....

She is trying so hard to walk. She can stand unassisted for short periods of time. She can out run her big sister on all fours. She can find the smallest piece of dust or food on the floor and cram it into a corner of her mouth nearly impossible to find. She belly laughs at Buster licking her hands clean. She smiles at everyone and she eats everything.

Her favorite person is anyone who talks to her and her favorite food is anything she can feed herself. She loves to empty the cabinets in the kitchen and loves to climb the stairs. Taking walks is always a fun thing to do but crawling in the grass and eating mulch are even better.
Ashley is so easy going. She sits for long periods of time for Caleb's Lacrosse games and soccer games and patiently plays during Faith's dance classes. She just goes with the flow and smiles cheerfully where ever we drag her to.

I'm still in awe that I'm the mother of three. After all the years of fertility issues, all the miscarriages, all the tears and heart ache, we are a family of five. And this sweet baby girl is truly the perfect completion.

Happy nine months, sweet sweet Ashley Marie. We all love you more than you'll ever realize!