some pictures

Poppy's idea of babysitting

Memories

I have had a lot of time alone with my 2 sons as company, so I have not had much conversation. This leaves me to my thoughts and memories, some good, some bad.

Today 2 memories from my younger years popped into my head, and I thought I'd share them with you. Why these 2 memories came up, I cannot tell you.

My modeling days
In junior high, my friend D.C. had a huge basement, a trunk of crazy dress up clothes, and a video camera, so we made tons of hilarious (or so we thought) videos. One was a fashion show with silly outfits in which my witty best friend Nicole was the emcee. As I was walking the "runway" she commented that I "love windy nights and hate mean dogs". It was so funny at the time (it still makes me chuckle).

He's got legs
In elementary school, a boy in my class named Terry lived behind me, and I would cut through his yard each day to get to school. One day, for some reason, my friend and I started singing to him "Terry's got legs, and he knows how to use them". I think this song was currently on a Nair commercial, so that's all of the song that we knew. As far as I remember, we thought Terry was nice, so I don't think we were trying to be mean. I think he was just the poor guy that had to walk the same way home with us. They were a really nice family and good neighbors.

BeeGee can sleep

He did it! He slept 9 hours last night!"I'm chubby and I like to eat a lot."

Goodbye roses; see you next year

I just cut my last roses of the season. They are slowly withering on my kitchen table. It is now the time of year to close up the house and focus on indoor projects. I can hardly wait for spring already!

I've always felt that as a wife I should have my "wifely thing" that I enjoy. Some women love to cook, some love to clean, some love to sew. I've tried all of these things, but never really loved doing them. Also, I love my boys, but I don't wake up super excited to run around the house and play cars all day. Some mothers live for every moment spent with their children - I need my "me" time.

2 years ago I discovered that I love to garden. Gardening is intimidating because everyone can see my failures. If I stitch something wrong or burn our dinner, no one sees it but my family. If I plant flowers in the wrong area or over water - everyone see it (although I have found that no is really paying attention!). Now, I live to get outside and enjoy God's creation! My son is only 2 months old, and our house is a disaster inside, but I found a couple of moments to get out and plant some bushes and bulbs. My goal this winter is to get our indoors put together so that I can introduce some indoor plants to bring us year-round joy.

So long roses - see you next spring!

BeeGee tries to talk

BeeGee had his 2 month appointment yesterday. He is 14.5 lbs and 24 inches and generally very healthy.

Express Lane - The Enforcer

I always thought that the express lane at stores (10 items or less) was more of a guideline than a rule. Such as, if the lane is wide open and there is no one around, you can go through with a few more than 10 items, as long as the amount is reasonable.

Well, I ran to Target this morning with the boys to pick up a few items including 4 large boxes of diapers and 1 large box of wipes. Since I purchased large items, it appeared that my cart was full of many items when I got in the express lane to checkout. There was one person in front of me and no one even coming near the express lane behind me. The employee rudely told me that this was the express lane. I informed him that I had lots of large items. He let me know that as long as it was under 10 I could stay in the lane. I had to count all of my items, and when I came up with 11, I had to go to another lane behind people with carts full of many, many items, with my toddler and newborn. Mind you - there was still NO ONE checking out in the express lane.

Has this happened to anyone else? I've never encountered an Express Lane Enforcer before.

Tour of Europe Dinner

On Friday night we took a most delicious trip through Europe from the comfort of Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in celebration of Amy's birthday. It was such a great night. The food and wine were incredible. They served a 4 course meal with the first 3 courses paired with a wine that went perfectly with the food. I assumed that each course would come with a small sample of the selected wine, but we found out quickly that they refill your glass as soon as it is empty! J and I do not get out much, so we like to eat at nice places when we can. We would definitely recommend one of these special dinner nights at Fleming's for anyone who appreciates a nice dinner and wine.

Amy (birthday girl) and Aaron

Jason and Heather

J and I

All Aboard the Pumpkin Train

Last weekend we took a ride on the Pumpkin Train sponsored by FFA. My sister was in town and came with us.

They had 3 tractors for kids to sit on.

OE loved the hay maze.

Since the day OE was born, I have heard over and over that he looks just like his daddy. It is true that all the men in J's family do look similar, so this is not surprising. Now I am hearing the same thing about BeeGee.

I am happy that my boys look like their father; after all, I find him to be quite attractive! However, my mom just emailed me 2 pictures of myself that show how much they look like me too. I think BeeGee has my eyes.


No matter who they look like, I have 2 handsome boys.

Kristin vs. Spit Up King

My boys are spitters. It seems no matter what I eat (or ate with OE) they like to give a large portion of it back to me. This morning was an extra grand battle between me and BeeGee's spit up. After changing him 6 times within 10 minutes, having a large amount douse both my leg and the carpet, and my robe covered in curdled chunks of milk, I was almost in tears. Would this boy ever stop? Even though he finally stopped and I was able to clothe him and bathe myself, it was clear that the Spit Up King won this battle.

As of today, I have vowed to completely stay away from dairy. No more cheating!

Attention Breast-feeding Mamas

I have to tell all breast-feeding moms about a product that I received at the hospital that has made breast-feeding easier on my body. It is Natural Nipple Butter by Earth Mama Angel Baby. I used Lansinoh with OE, but this nipple cream is far superior in every way. It is all natural and ok for baby to consume. It spreads so easily and irritates much less than Lansinoh. It does cost more, of course, ($12-15 for 2 fl. oz. that lasts about 3-4 weeks) but we're talking about preventing some major soreness of a very tender body part.

It can be purchased at Riverview Hospital Women's Boutique (they have 20% off coupons) and Babies R Us.

Introducing my newest love - BeeGee

I am so happy to introduce to you my precious son, born Sept. 1 at 6:05 p.m. He is so wonderful and easy-going. I am totally in love! OE is a great big brother and loves to help me. He has welcomed BeeGee into our family with open arms. This morning OE found his batman card and ran into BeeGee's room just to show it to him. I love it!

Mommy and BeeGee

Daddy and BeeGee

Angel face

Cows are pretty cool

The following is the story of BeeGee's birth (I will not get graphic, but if medical details make you uneasy - don't read on!):

I was induced at 7:45 a.m. on Sept. 1. I convinced the doctor and nurse that I wanted to attempt a drug-free delivery, so they agreed to give me an IV block instead of hooking up the IV from the beginning. I had to lie in bed for an hour, and then we walked around for 45 minutes trying to kick-start labor. This worked a little, and my doctor broke my water at about 9:30 a.m. I was checked again at about 11:30 and I had stalled around 4 cm, so they gave me pitocin, in which I was required to haul around the IV stand with me the rest of the day. The contractions picked up and were pretty manageable. I was 7 cm the next time they checked (a couple hours later), and then I was still at 7 cm the time after that (another couple of hours later). At that point I was discouraged, but my nurse encouraged me that 8-10 cm goes the fastest. I had been changing positions all throughout the day, so I moved back to the birthing ball. I was there for about a hour or so with contractions about 2 minutes apart. It got bad, but still manageable with J helping me relax each time. However, I had decided that if I had not moved to at least a 9 the next time they checked me, I was going to get an epidural - I couldn't get through another 2 hours of the pain every 2 minutes. However, my prayers were answered - quite quickly. The nurse suggested another position that women like, so I tried it. Apparently it works, because after 10 seconds of being in that position, BeeGee dislodged from my right hip and was ready to be born. They had to page the doctor who sprinted to the delivery room. I had to labor down for probably 5 minutes - which was incredibly difficult, although not really painful. Once the doctor got there (she told me later that she got her gloves on and one bootie, but didn't have time for anything else!) I pushed for about 2 minutes and BeeGee was born! His poor little face was bruised all over because he had descended so quickly that he bumped into my hips and pelvis bones. Also, my right hip hurt really bad for about a week - I'm pretty sure I had internal bruising too. It was so incredible! I still can't believe I made it without drugs - it is one of my biggest accomplishments.

We are so blessed that we are all healthy and adjusting to our new family life. Thanks for reading my lengthy story.

Due today

I cannot believe that I am already 40 weeks today. The time has passed so quickly; I feel like it should still be my 2nd trimester. I am scheduled to be induced on Tuesday, September 1, and seeing as I am still not having contractions or anything to speak of, chances are I will be induced.

We are excited to welcome Bee Gee into our family, and we will let everyone know when he is here.

I am also excited to sleep with one pillow, for my shirts to cover my entire belly, and to be able to get off the floor without grunting.

The widow's offering

In thinking about the blog I posted this morning, I wanted to follow up with a story I heard about a homeless man at Brookside. What happened was witnessed by a family that was cleaning the dining hall after they had served the Sunday morning breakfast. A man came late to the breakfast, after everyone but a homeless man had left. There was no more food. The man was distraught because he would not get to eat that day. The homeless man that was still there had a plate of food to take with him for later. He said to the man, "Here, you take this; I've already eaten today." As I am writing this I am tearing up. It reminds me of the following story:

Luke 21:1-4
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

God's Provisions

I am so amazed each day by God's provisions. J and I have been in such awe this last year at how God even chooses to bless and provide for us. We spend time each week with people that are truly poor, homeless, and cannot seem to catch a break no matter what they do. However, they also seem to know that each day God provides for them so that they can eat and survive.

J and I are obviously far from this position in life. J has a great job and makes oodles of money compared to 99% of the world. So, why would God choose to bless us too? Shouldn't he be focusing on those that really need it? It is fantastic that his grace, love, mercy, and blessings are LIMITLESS!

In the past year, we have had so many people give us things that we "need" without any prompting. 3 good friends of mine have blessed us incredibly with maternity and toddler clothing. I haven't had to spend hardly any money on either. My neighbor's daughter gave me all of her son's used clothing and Thomas the train toys. Incredible! Our neighbors gave us their lawnmower when ours broke down and told us to keep it! Amazing!

Fortunately, the cycle of God's love doesn't stop there. J and I truly believe that we are blessed by God to be a blessing to others. So, when we don't have to spend $150 on a new mower, that money can then go to those who need it more. However, I am hesitant to say that we are blessing those people that we see weekly, because the more I get to know them, the more they bless me. But that is for another blog...

A week of celebrations!

Last week was a time of celebration. We were able to celebrate the birthdays of 2 of our favorite children: little miss Sweet Pea turned one and big boy LA turned 3.

OE next to the birthday boy.

Awesome fire trucks!

Our hosts were such good (and hot) sports. I think it was 93 degrees out! I can't image the temp inside the suits.

OE is ready to model for the Firebaby calendar.

Also, we were so excited to find out that my friend Amy and our neighbor Wes both accepted new jobs last week. Congratulations! This is certainly something to celebrate in the current economy.

I hope the good news keeps rolling in (perhaps the birth of a baby boy - we'll keep you posted on that one!).

My first week of being 30

I was excited to be 30 - to me it just seems like the age when you are officially grown up and responsible. Well, after experiencing my first week of my 30's, I'm not so sure that I like it now.

I would love to report that in my first week I suddenly became the perfect parent, wife, and friend, not to mention that I was able to feed the hungry and find housing for the homeless. Ok, maybe those goals were a little ambitious.

I spent most of my first week on the couch either with severe back pain or fever and chills, not to mention the 4 hours in the hospital. I turned 30 and instantly my body fell apart. Apart from being super uncomfortable in my 36th week of pregnancy, I had 2 separate unrelated infections and pulled 3 different muscles in my back on 2 different days causing sharp pains in my lungs with every breath.

The only word that I can use to describe the last week is ridiculous. Ridiculous!

I would like to leave you with pictures from the good times. Thanks ladies for the wonderful baby shower/birthday party last Saturday. Thank you to my loving husband for the date night on my birthday. I love you! (I also have to brag about my hubby who offered to sleep on the couch when my back was bad so I could use the whole bed.)

The lovely hostesses and my in-laws. Thank you for the great party!

My sister and also a "Kristin Expert".

Amy and me.

Shannon, Elisha, and me.A gift card from all the ladies for a manicure and pedicure. Woo hoo!!!

Fugo de Chao - yummy! I ate enough meat to last me for a while now.

My birthday dessert on the house - mango something or other. Yummy!

Baby #2 - Momma needs a new do

Now that I am so close to having baby 2, I decided it was time for an easier, cooler (as in not hot) look. So on Thursday my friend Elisha Haffner chopped my hair for me. Didn't she do a great job?! Plus, her salon is really nice and they give you the star treatment - everyone should go see her!

Elisha Haffner DL Lowry Salon 317-843-2611

4-H Fair

We took our Brookside buddies to the 4-H Fair yesterday. It was so much fun, and the boys are so well-behaved! They really thought the goats were funny.

Kiss your mama with that mouth?

OE loves to wander around the house singing nonsense words. The other night's song was pretty interesting. He was experimenting with the "f" sound and thought the "f-bomb" made an interesting word. He danced around our house singing/yelling the "f-bomb" for about 5 minutes.

Fortunately, I remember wise advice from my mother - don't react. He doesn't know what the word means, and if you react or make a it a big deal, he will think its funny and do it all the time. As much as it felt like nails on the chalkboard to hear my little guy saying the "f" word, J and I just went along with our business and ignored it. Hopefully we won't hear that word in our house again, or at least until we have teens - then it will not be ignored!

July 4 Chicago Fun

J and I hit up our last planned Cubs game of the season. It was pretty funny to see me huffing and puffing my way up the ramps to Wrigley's upper deck. The lady behind us was pretty prego too, so J and I had a good chuckle about how silly she and I looked going up and down the steep stairs.

This was before the game (smiling)...

during the game (rally cap)...and after the game (frowns).

My sis was able to join us a Steiny's BBQ since she just lives up the road from him.
J and Steiny - friends forever.

The BBQ was fun - they had fun games set up with awards and everything (see Steiny's award around his neck). They had the popular egg toss (I think Steiny won that event), and a water balloon slingshot contest. The water balloons had to aim for 3 targets adhered to wood with Fabio being the most points. One girl slinged it so hard it made a hole right through Fabio's face. I think he was more attractive that way... Now if only a water balloon had knocked off some of his hair.