Kiddos

Our take on brussel sprouts: 

And this little guy is getting taller by the minute! 

Wordless Wednesday

Here's what we have been up to today! 

This is how I feel today...

This pretty much sums up my day! We have been working on getting DS to sleep through the night, preferably by himself. Which means less sleep in our near future and more sleep on the distant horizon. Last week was difficult because he had a bug of some kind and ran a fever from Tuesday morning through Friday afternoon. We had to cancel all play dates and Christmas party plans. 

Snow!

Second snow before Thanksgiving. We are a little too excited about the winter weather here! 

It's been awhile...

I am officially terrible at this blogging thing! It has been so long since I have posted, I am afraid I won't have room for all the things I'd like to say. I have seen a few ideas on little updates I can do each week, and I think i will start doing it. First, lets see what if we can catch up.

• For those of you that I haven't told (I may be addressing an imaginary online audience) I did not pass the Foreign Service test on the first try. I was a few points shy but I am confident I can pass once I brush up on American History. I feel better about it because I will know what to expect going into it next year. I read a lot of advice online on different topics to study, what to memorize, etc. After taking the test, I would say most of the information was not extremely helpful and was not needed at all. Just like most tests I have taken, the answers can be logically deduced if you have an idea of which answers are wrong. So, if I know the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, then it cannot be the correct answer for which amendment is known as the "lame duck" amendment (that is the 20th amendment btw). 
• Another huge change that has happened, we have moved to Ohio. We have taken up a ministry opportunity here and we love it. No matter where we have been, it all feels like home. I think having the immediate support of church family makes it feel that way. I can't imagine what it would be like to move and not have that support. There are still things that cause chaos, like packing nearly everything on the 16' truck only to realize we should have gotten the biggest truck; even though we fit everything on a 16' truck only 9 months prior (proof that our stuff does in fact multiply!). And forgetting the freezer full of milk that we should have grabbed the morning we headed out. Thank goodness M and B were amazing landlords and stored it in the freezer in their basement until we came back through a few weeks later. We are still unpacking things although it has been slow going lately. I really enjoy the space we have here, I don't feel as cramped. We have a dining room now, a garage, and even a room downstairs for DH to store a SMALL amount of musical equipment. 
• That leads to another change that has happened. I will be enrolling in college next fall to finish up my Bachelors. We have just arrived in Ohio so I have more research to complete, but right now it's between Malone and Kent State. I picked next fall because DD will be in kindergarten and I will only need to find childcare for DS who will be closer to two years old. I plan on finishing college debt free, so I also want to make sure I have the time to apply for scholarships and grants before the deadlines pass. Plus, I should qualify for in-state tuition by then. 
• DD has gotten so big, I think she has grown half a foot in the last 6 months. Pajamas she got in February are like capris now! We looked at quite a few preschools in the area before deciding to keep her home one more year. When we looked at the cost, number of hours taught each week, and the Ohio early learning standards, and felt it would be best to do "preschool" differently. We are focusing on learning while at home, and will continue to schedule play dates and involve her in extracurricular activities this year. By not paying for preschool, we can enroll her in classes and have family field trips instead. And I believe she is on target for where she needs to be going into kindergarten. Next year will be the big decision: public or private school. We visited a very nice private school in the area and I loved it. It is exactly what we would want for her in terms of education, environment and everything else. Tuition, however, is quite a bit. We will keep praying about it and see which one is best for our family. 
• DS is growing as fast as his sister! He has four teeth and is starting to be mobile, but not like I would expect. He will roll over on his back, plant his feet, and push down. He will scoot around on the floor like this for a few minutes before becoming frustrated. If babies can have a favorite toy, he loves balls. He is fascinated by them and gets really excited when you hand him one. We are also working on breaking the co-sleeping habit. With the move and other changes, it has just been easier for him to sleep with us but we are ready for a better nights sleep. He has been doing really well, although I am still getting up a few times each night to comfort him. He is also sleeping in the play pen (toy free of course) because he shares a room with DD and I don't want her to wake up everytime he cries. 

Four Months, Coupons and Blowouts

• DS is now four months old. It is hard to believe how fast he is growing! He is now 15.2 pounds and 24 inches long. He is right on track for his age; cooing, smiling, and riding imaginary bicycles as fast as possible (or practicing infant karate against unsuspecting parents lol). He had four shots and an oral vaccine yesterday and it went really well. He was smiling by the time we left the office. He has a fever today but no other symptoms. 
  
• DD is growing so much to! It is a real blessing to be at home with her and see her reach more and more milestones. She can completely dress herself, she is starting to spell words we see, recognize numbers, and patterns. She is getting better at not interrupting and her attention span has gotten longer. She was the flower girl at a wedding this weekend and not only was she pretty, but she stood beside me during the whole ceremony (even if she was twirling, eating candy and putting the basket on her head...). 
  
• We played "store" this morning and used the opportunity to practice counting money (and using coupons of course!). It made me realize that kids don't get the chance to see how money actually works. We simply swipe a plastic card and put it back in our purse or wallet - which explains why she always wanted to get the money back after she paid lol! I think we will make more of an effort to pay in cash so she will understand the concepts better. And by the way, I have been trying my darndest to save money with coupons, but I think I only saved $5 on my last trip... Not that I am complaining, because we would have bought the pizza, cereal, yogurt and lunchmeat anyway BUT it hardly seems worth the hour of planning I spent on it before we went to the store...
• I am so glad we were able to visit Missouri for all the special occasions! Sorry if we were not able to see everyone this time around! It was so good to see Mel graduate, it is hard to believe she will be in college this fall! It seems like yesterday when she was staying with us, learning bass guitar, getting her first job (and second lol) and saving up for her first car! 
• The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, just like the bride! It was a blast seeing her again and reminiscing about old times :). I do wish DS had better timing with his movements however... We had a blowout in the salon while my hair was still being done. Guess who was the only one available to change it... the bride! Poor girl :( needless to say, I had to step in, especially when the child was head down in the car seat, crying and covered in poo lol. That is one bridal party the salon will not soon forget! 

In Loving Memory...

I also want to post a tribute to my great grandmother Audrey A. Wilson who passed away earlier this year in Yucca Valley, CA. We last visited her in 2010 when we went to California for my grandfather's funeral. She was so gracious and I wish we would have gotten to know her better. I do not know enough about my roots, and this is a reminder to me to ask questions now, while I have the opportunity. Here are the few pictures I have of Audrey, maybe some family members can fill in the details or add their own memories???

Hand written note on back: "Audrey Stone 1940 Married Jack 1942"

Jack Wilson (my great-great grandfather)

"Jack and Audrey 1940"

No writing on this one, but Audrey is on the far left, with Susan (?) on her lap and my grandmother is center with my grandfather on the right.

No date on this one, but this is Audrey and my grandpa.

Catching Up

 It is amazing how this blog is new and I am already behind (Sorry mom!)! I will try to update this more regularly. The easiest way to catch up is for me to show you some pictures from the last month and a half.

Here are the glow-in-the-dark Easter eggs we made for a night time scavenger hunt. This was very entertaining!

 Here is the ice cream cake DH got me for my Golden Birthday. I turned 27 on March 27th. :)

Here is DS in one of his cloth diapers. I really like these and hope to continue with cloth. The only downside, is we may not actually be saving money because we do not have an energy efficient water heater :(

 




















DD's monster face and a very happy baby :)

three months old

three months old

"I am what I am"

  DH getting home from work :)

I could not get a picture without DS crying! We just got home from a fantastic pirate birthday party (like something you would see in a magazine!) and I wanted to get a picture of these guys in their pirate costumes. The irony here is that DD was crying and upset the entire party and DS was happy!

Soooo sweet !!!!

• Ok, that should catch us up. Next week DS has his 4 month check-up and shots. We will also be heading back to Missouri to get ready for everything! I am so excited to see Mel graduate and I cannot wait to be a part of E's wedding. It has been such a privilege to be a part of these girls' lives and I have been blessed by their presence in mine. 

• Oh yeah, I have also been accepted to take the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) in June. I am super excited [doing a little dance inside] but also crazy nervous! I do not expect to pass this the first time, since I can honestly say I do not know as much U.S. History as one should and I have not written a paper since college... But, this is something you can only take once a year and I would hope to pass it next year, or the next... :). I am also wanting to finish my Bachelor's in International Studies, once DS gets a little older, and that should better equip me. This is something DH and I have been talking about and researching for the last year and I still feel drawn to this field/career so, why not? Maybe God is planting that desire now to lead us somewhere we never imagined???!!! 

March 2013

• DS had his two month check up this week. He is now at 10.4 lbs, 22 inches long and 15 inch head measurement. We weighed him on the bathroom scale last week just for fun, so it was nice to see it was pretty accurate (he did not enjoy this!). The doctor was pleased with his progress, DS was a pound heavier than the doctor thought he would be. He is now in the 25th percentile for weight and 15th percentile for height. When he was born, he was not even on the chart. This is called "catch up growth" and he should continue with this. He will also have an ultrasound next Monday because I brought up my concern about his sacral dimple (small indent right inside his crack). The doctor does not expect to find anything since it is not visible above the crack and no hair or other marks are present. This will just be a precaution, we want to make sure he does not have a tethered spinal cord or anything. If he does, it should be correctable with surgery (scary!!). 

He does not want to see the number! 

Tummy Time :)

DD idea of comforting her brother

• DD has been wonderful! She has been so helpful and loves her brother a little too much! Poor guy gets mauled by her at least once a day lol. Last Thursday we had planned on a lunch date at the park with her friend, however, the weather would not cooperate. Since it was too cold, we invited them over for a play date here. We had a "green" lunch which she thought was great! I had a food color mist spray in the cabinet, so the butterfly shaped sandwich was green, along with the green grapes, celery and green goldfish (we picked out all the green goldfish in the colored goldfish bag). I think this was a hit we will continue to have themed lunches. Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day so we went to a local park for a walk. I used my Mobi Wrap for DS (which I LOVE!) and DD rode her bike. We walked about a mile and a half but it took about an hour and a half lol. I felt like we were doing circuit training, we would sprint a few yard, stop and pick flowers or sit on rocks, then back on the trail to sprint again! Hopefully the weather will keep getting nicer and we can spend more time outside. 

• Some interesting conversations this week:

        Seeing geese on the walk, DD decided that the one with the knob on its head must be the King and the Queen must be around somewhere :)

        We discussed eating more vegetables while we were on our way home one day. After telling her she should try more vegetables, she replied "I should try more vegetables. Like broccoli, tomatoes, oranges... and chicken, because chicken is a vegetable." 

       Conversation I overheard while we had some little friends over: DD comes out of room with a dress on, little boy: "are you playing dress up?" DD: "No, this is what I am wearing today. It's called CLOTHES". 

             

• This week we got to spend time with lots of great friends, I am constantly amazed at how generous and friendly everyone has been. I have enjoyed spending time with other moms from church and I look forward to our Mom's group meetings. Last night we had dinner with A and M. They are amazing cooks! They have the cutest little boys and I can't wait to get to know them better.