Evie Kate at Six Months

Evie Kate Kate (that's what we often call her and I don't know why) is now six and a half months old. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago with my phone. I have been absolutely, positively horrible about taking pictures. This must change!

At six months:

- She is still toothless regardless of how many times I've thought she's teething.

- She wears size 3 diapers.

- She weighs 17 pounds 8 ounces and is 26.5 inches long putting her in the 75th percentile for both weight and height.

- She is breastfeeding almost exclusively. We've tried solids. She's not that interested.

- She loves to grab my face and neck with her little hands and squeeze with all her might while she rubs her face into mine. I think this is her way of snuggling and kissing, but it can be painful. She often leaves scratches on my neck no matter how short her nails are.

- She continues to be the happiest and most contented baby around.

- She almost immediately rolls to her belly when placed on her back.

- She loves to jump in her johnny jump up.

- She adores her older siblings. Owen can make her laugh the hardest.

- She takes two naps a day that are each a few hours long. She's sleeping 12 hours at night.

- She has great hair. :)

Start Solids? Check.

Evelyn has reached another milestone. *sigh*Evelyn had cereal for the first time today. I put it off as long as I could. With my first born I was excited to start solids right at 4 months. By child number three, I was excited to put it off as long as possible. My baby girl is getting so big! She turned five months old one week ago.

I have no idea what my goofy girl, Aubrey, is doing in this picture.

She loves her thumb and I love seeing her suck it. She often rolls over on to her back in the morning, grabs her blanket and pulls it up to her cheek while sucking her thumb. PRECIOUS.

Little Lady in Red

She makes me smile. She is such a happy baby! She hardly ever cries. She's a great sleeper, a good eater and is so easy to please. I could snuggle and kiss her all day long!

She Rolls

A couple weeks ago Evelyn started rolling from her belly to her back. She hasn't quite figured out how to get back to her belly so she yells out in the middle of the night if she needs us to come flip her. I love this baby!

Owen's First Chapter Book

Two weeks ago I began reading Charlotte's Web to Owen. We finished it tonight and I think it's safe to say that he loved every single one of the 184 pages in the book. Each day he begged me to read more. Tonight I let him stay up past bed time so that we could read the last three chapters. He hung on every word and I could see the emotion in his face when we read about Wilbur fainting, Charlotte dying and the baby spiders being born. I'm amazed how much a four year old can understand! Tonight as I tucked him into bed he asked if he could pray first. He started his prayer with, "Dear God, thank you SO MUCH for protecting and saving Wilbur." I sure do love his innocence, and his sweetness. He has such a tender heart.

Tomorrow, as a reward for finishing the book, we will be watching the movie, Charlotte's Web. Owen is so excited! Popcorn and a movie - that's his kind of treat.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy home schooling?

Now that we are finished with our first chapter book I think it's time to start another. Any suggestions on what would be a good age appropriate book to read next?

No Longer on the Potty Train - Yay!

We boarded the Potty Train several months ago but we have finally reached our destination!

I was convinced long ago that Aubrey was totally capable of using the toilet and that she understood how to do it. She just didn't necessarily want to do it. I didn't stress about it since she wasn't even two years old yet, but I was getting tired of cleaning out her underwear since I did not allow her to wear diapers.

I started training her the same way I did with Owen. I made a sticker chart. And if you look at the above pictures you can see what she did with that sticker chart. It was not an incentive for her! She just tore it off the door and ripped it up.

In the very beginning she would even let herself outside on the patio, drop her pants and go. If she was a dog this would have pleased me.

She would go a whole day without an accident only to have half a dozen accidents the next day. Talk about maddening!

So why now does she decide to go? Well, it's actually quite simple. An elderly man at our church was sneaking smarties to Aubrey and she loved them. So I decided that she could have two of these tiny little candies every time she went potty. And what do you know . . . all of the sudden she "got it." Of course I believe she "got it" long ago I just had to find the right thing to motivate her! The beautiful thing about it is that she started to forget about the candy and instead asked if she could wear the "pretty panties" I bought her months ago. Because I couldn't trust her I was only allowing her to wear the thick cotton training underwear. Well after going an entire week without a single accident, I had to put her in the thick cotton underwear because I had some major laundry to do. All of the sudden she had two accidents right away. I couldn't believe it! By the second accident I had her pretty panties (as she calls them) washed and dried and gave her a pair to put on. As she put them on she said to herself, "I keep my pretty ones clean and dry." And she hasn't had an accident since - because I haven't given her anything but her pretty panties to wear ever since. What a stinker! She's been playing me this whole time.

In any case, she just turned two and I think it's safe to say that we have exited the potty train . . . until it's time for Evelyn to climb aboard.

Evelyn at 8 Weeks

Evie Kate is 8 weeks old today! I don't know how much she weighs or how tall she is, but here's what I do know:

- She's a snuggler!

- She's sleeping on average about 10 hours a night.

- She started intentionally smiling on August 28 (the day Ben was voted in as pastor of Springview Community Church).

- She's wearing size one diapers (barely) and no longer fits into 0-3 month clothes.

- While she still has a nice head of hair, she has lost some.

- She's taken a bottle twice now.

- She's only had one blow out diaper!

- Just like my other two children, she doesn't care for the pacifier.

- She's a wonderful bundle of sweetness! We love her so much!

Aubrey at Age 2

You know you're not taking enough pictures of your precious children when the only recent one you have of just your two year old is one in which she's wearing nothing but her pajama top and a pair of underwear.

At two years of age, Aubrey weighs 28 pounds and is 35 inches tall, putting her in the 75th percentile for both weight and height.

Here's a little bit about our "sweetie" (her nickname):
- She's just about potty trained. I still can't say we're totally there.
- In one word, she is "FUN." She is absolutely hilarious with her dare-devil personality (she'll try anything), deep voice and and no-nonsense approach to life.
- She climbs everything.
- She is super polite. I almost never have to remind her to say, "please," "thank you," "excuse me," etc.
- Her vocabulary is impressive for a girl her age. If you want to be entertained all you have to do is sit down and have a conversation with Aubrey. I'm continually taken off guard by the words that come out of her mouth and her level of understanding.
- She is a great mother to her baby dolls.
- She is a daddy's girl.
- She loves books!
- She's a great eater and will try just about anything.
- When she wants something she doesn't give up easily. This is frustrating to me now but I know will be a good quality in the future.
- She is a "go-getter" and has a take charge personality.
- She is SILLY. Between her quick comments and goofy facial expressions she makes everyone laugh.
- She is super independent and wants to do everything all by herself.
- She is pure sweetness. She lives up to her nickname, "sweetie."
- My dad tells me often that Aubrey reminds him of me at her age. He says we're just alike. I love that.
Does it sound like I'm bragging? I'm sorry if it does. I'm a proud mommy. But let me share some of the not-so-pretty things too.
Without a doubt Aubrey gives me moments of stress and frustration. When she follows me in the store screaming at the top of her lungs because I won't carry her baby doll when we had already agreed that she could only bring it in if she carried it by herself, I feel like screaming. When she knocks over a mannequin in the mall and breaks off both of its arms, I shake my head. When she approaches a boy in the portrait studio and demands that he sit down even though he's standing quietly with his mother, I get a little embarrassed. When she doesn't feel like talking and a stranger asks her her name and she replies, "me" I sigh. And when she's overly tired and cannot get control of herself and throws the world's biggest fit I feel exasperated. But would I change her or trade her? NO WAY! I love and accept this daughter of mine as she is, but I will pray for her. I pray for her salvation and I am hopeful about what God can do with her life. I trust and I pray he'll perform a good work in her.
Every bit of stress is worth it. I love being her Mommy. And after a big fit when she takes a deep breath and says, "I'm happy now, Mama. Will you rock me?" I quickly oblige. These days are passing too quickly. I don't want to wish them away.

First Day

Monday, September 12 was a big day in our family! Ben started his first day as pastor of our new church and Owen started preschool!
Owen was very excited to start school. A friend of mine told me that she put together a special pencil box for her daughter's first day of home school. So the night before we started homeschooling I went to the store to find a pencil box (not an easy thing to do this late into the school year, by the way). I'm so glad I found one because Monday morning Owen was delighted to see a bright orange box with his name on it. Inside was a brand new box of crayons, new scissors from Aunt Sarah, a new eraser, two new pencils and a glue stick. After handling each of the items Owen (without any prompting from me) bowed his hand and thanked God for his school box. Driving to three different stores at 10:00 at night to purchase the last box on the shelf now seemed totally worth it!

Aubrey joined in on the excitement even though she didn't know what the rest of us were so excited about. Excuse the jammies and undies, I wasn't expecting to get a picture of her.

We had to get a picture of Owen with his teacher!

Since we started homeschooling I keep thinking about Luke 6:40. I feel the weight of responsibility, to be sure.

"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher."

Here they are, my two boys on their first day. Owen's first day of formal education. Ben's first day as pastor of a church, shepherding the people God has entrusted him with. I am excited for my guys as they begin their journey. I trust and pray they will both be faithful to the task which God has called them to.

The Gift of Sleep

I have learned since becoming a mother that people define “sleeping through the night” in many different ways. The textbook definition is sleeping five consecutive hours without a feeding. Some mommies say their baby is sleeping through the night when they go back to sleep quickly and easily after a middle of the night feeding. There’s nothing wrong with these definitions except that neither one is my idea of a restful night of sleep! If I have to get up to feed the baby, we’re not sleeping! And five hours is not my idea of a full night of rest. I’m a sleepyhead. Therefore, I am not quick to announce that my baby is sleeping through the night until baby is sleeping at least 8 hours without me having to get up at all.
Here’s where the drum roll comes in. Can you hear it?!?

Evelyn celebrated her 5 week birthday by sleeping through the night! She has done it the last two nights and I'm hoping that in spite of our traveling schedule the next few days she'll keep at it. Last night I put her to bed at 10 pm and she slept until 6:30 this morning. I know they say that it's a gift to your children when you train them to sleep through the night. But let me tell ya, it feels like a gift to Mommy too!

Owen & Coloring

Owen has never really been all that interested in coloring. Sometimes he asks to do it but even then he doesn't do it for long. His pictures are almost always scribbles on the page with only one color. He makes no attempt to stay in the lines. I've tried showing him how he can turn a plain white page into something really colorful and pretty but he just doesn't care. And frankly, neither do I. If he's not interested I'm not pushing it.

Last week Owen received some early birthday presents from his Great-Aunt Judy. We wrote her a thank you note and I told Owen it would be really nice of him to color her a picture to show her his appreciate for the nice gifts. He agreed to do it and took the project seriously. He used several different colors and while he still made no effort to stay in the lines he was very intentional about coloring each object on the page. If you look in the photo you'll notice that he colored the trunk of the tree blue, the apples another color and the flowers another color. While this may look like scribbling to everyone else, his Mama think it's a piece of art! This is huge improvement! And he did it on his own without any prompting or direction from me. He was VERY proud of his picture and SUPER excited to put it in the mail for Aunt Judy. I almost didn't want to send it because it's by far the best picture he's ever colored. I wanted to put it in my journal but thought it best to send it on since Judy was the reason Owen worked so hard on it. Instead, I took this picture to put in my journal.

And as I write Owen is pulling out his crayons and coloring books to work on another piece of art. He might just learn to enjoy coloring after all!

Big Boy Milestones

When my children were younger it was easy to recognize their milestones. They got their first tooth, took their first steps, began using the potty, etc. As they age sometimes milestones fly past me and I hardly notice them. Last night it hit me - Owen is growing so fast! He's not a toddler, he's a boy. A big boy. A kid. Some of these milestones are no longer new but I wanted to record them anyway. Some of the things he's doing now that makes me think he's so big are:
- Using adult toothpaste
- No longer wearing pajamas to bed, just underwear (if that doesn't make a kid seem old I don't know what does!)
- Using regular glasses and silverware as opposed to any kind of sippy cup or child size flatware.
- Swimming without the assistance of any kind of floatation device. This is his most recent and biggest milestone. He looks so big jumping off the diving board, swimming under water and in the deep end with children several years older than he is. I'm proud of him!
I didn't have my good camera with me when I took these pictures so they are a bit blurry. Owen loves it when we swim in the evening when Daddy is able to join us. They now like to do different tricks off the diving board together.

He's under. He's also swimming with his head under water as opposed to swimming like a dog.

He likes to RUN off the board.

8th Anniversary

July 12 was our 8th anniversary but we waited until this last Saturday to celebrate. We dropped the kids off at my sister's house on our way to Detroit where we had tickets to a Tiger's baseball game. We both love baseball and this is the first time we've ever gone to a game together. It was a hot night but we had seats in the shade which made it much more comfortable.

Yes, we were sweaty!

Baby #3 went to his/her first baseball game too!

After the game we enjoyed dinner together where we could talk without distraction or interruption. It was wonderful! The kids spent the night at their cousin's house so we got to sleep in the next morning and go out for donuts before church. We even grabbed lunch after church together before picking up the kids.

This was our first date in a long time and I'm sure it will be our last for some time with the coming arrival of our new baby. Getting away sure is refreshing and energizing though! We talked about some of our goals for our marriage and family. I'm so thankful for 8 wonderful years with my husband.

We tried to remember how we've celebrated our last anniversaries. This is what we remembered:

1st Anniversary: We went to Niagara Falls and Toronto and visited many tourist attractions

2nd Anniversary: We went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse

3rd Anniversary: Our friend, Chris, treated us to an outdoor concert. That was a fun night!

4th Anniversary: I don't remember what we did to celebrate.

5th Anniversary: I don't remember what we did to celebrate but I enjoyed looking back on this post that I wrote in honor of it.

6th Anniversary: We left Owen for the first time and spent a few days in Gatlinburg. Great trip!

7th Anniversary: We went on a dinner cruise down the Ohio River.

First Dentist Appointment

Owen had his very first dentist appointment today and yes, I was *that* mom who brought the camera to snap a couple of pictures! He did great! If I had more time before the baby's due date I would have first taken Owen with me to an appointment to let him just observe. But we're down to crunch time so I just made his appointment and talked to him about it beforehand. He was a little apprehensive at first but he warmed up quickly opening his mouth really wide and sitting still as can be. I was proud of him. The dentist was great with him!

The Dentist said Owen's 20 teeth look great and that "somebody" is doing an excellent job brushing them. Owen was pretty excited about the new toothpaste and toothbrush he received at the end of the appointment and Aubrey was pretty upset that she didn't get one.

New Beds!

My Grandma loves to shop at garage sales and auctions and I'm always impressed with the deals she finds. A few weeks ago I asked her to keep her eye open for a nice set of bunk beds for me. I was in no hurry to get them, but thought it would be nice to purchase a set before the baby is born. In less than a week my grandma called and asked, "Have you bought a set yet?" I replied, "I haven't even started looking!" She responded, "Well, you don't need to. I just found a nice wooden set that is being sold with two new mattresses." Tears filled my eyes when I got this news because earlier that day I had learned that we had to move our belongings out of the barn we had been storing them in for the last 4.5 years. It was a hard day for me and my grandma's call could not have come at a better time. It was as if God was reminding me, "Things might be tough, but I haven't forgotten about you. I'm still going to take care of you." So while I had no intentions of moving my 19 month old girl out of her crib right now we decided to go ahead with it once the beds were delivered this last weekend. I was a little hesitant because Owen had a difficult time transitioning from a crib to a toddler bed. He was less than 22 months when we first tried and he cried and cried for his crib every night. He got out of bed repeatedly and when he finally fell asleep he would get out of bed a few times a night and roam into our bedroom. He started waking up earlier and his naps got shorter - for a time. I hate to say this too soon, but so far, Aubrey is doing GREAT in her new bed. I could not be more pleased. For some reason after we put her to bed at night she takes her footie pajamas off and comes running out of her room giggling. Once we put her pajamas back on her she stays in bed. She sleeps all night without getting up and still sleeps in. Once she wakes up she stays in bed until I come to get her. Even nap time has been a success. She goes right down and naps for about 3 hours. I'm so thankful she has adjusted so well and so easily!

Until we get a safety railing for the bottom bunk she is using the toddler bed. Owen loves sleeping in the top bunk. He thinks it's so cool that he has to climb up a ladder to get into bed and that nobody else gets to go up there.

Sleeping Soundly