Thea is three months today!

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 1Samuel 1:27


3 months ago Today I was at the hospital having Thea! I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how much she has grown in 3 short months. She truly is a blessing to us. Her brothers adore her. Ashton will often say, "I'm so happy daddy brought our baby home to us". It is so cute...even though I would like to get the credit for getting the baby out and home! Landon loves to hold her with me and say, "rock the baby" and try to rock her. Quintin can often be found sitting next to her swing or bouncer reading her "to sleep" at night. We were shocked to see how well he really can read. When he reads to us he stumbles and struggles, but when reading bible stories to his sister, he has no trouble. The verse above is so special to me, as I prayed for a baby girl after Ashton and Landon were born. First and foremost I asked our Heavenly Father for a healthy baby who would grow to love and serve Him. But I also prayed that this time it might be a girl, as I longed for pink clothes, baby dolls, and someone who would be interested in sewing, crafting and shopping with me. God said yes! Now my prayers are that I might raise her to be a Godly help meet and mother, that we would have a close relationship, and that someday she will marry a man who loves the Lord and that they will serve Him together.
May God give me the wisdom and guidance to raise her according to His will!

A trip to the zoo

To end our "A" week for preschool we went to the Honolulu Zoo to visit the African exhibit. We had such a great time! A hippo swam right up to the glass where we were standing. Both Landon and Ashton backed away and got pretty scared at that big animal coming right towards them! Ashton said the "big hippo" was his favorite animal, and Landon said "I don't know" when I asked him. On the way home Landon kept saying "saw dragons". So maybe the kimodo (spelling??) dragons were his favorite.
This was Thea's first trip to the zoo and she spent a few minutes nursing and then sleeping in the wrap. I was upset at myself for not getting some pictures of her in front of the animals. I guess that's what happens when it's number 4, you just forget to do all these things!

Landon is talking so much! We were amazed to hear him say, "wiping the table mama?" when looking at an employee wiping up a table at Taco Del Mar on Friday. He then said, "another one" as the employee moved to wipe the next table. We were watching black rhinos at the zoo today and were leaving the exhibit when Landon said, "another one, daddy!!" very excitedly. We looked back to see another rhino walking into view. Ashton's in trouble though...now Landon can say "Ashton hit me" or "Ashton took it" so he's gotten busted a couple of times because of that!
He loves to copy his brothers saying "look at me, daddy!". I wonder if I should be upset that he says daddy more than mama. Not when he gets hurt, though, then it's all about mama!

Tomorrow Thea is 3 months. We're planning on trying to do a little photo shoot of our own...still thinking of a place to go.

Past 2 days

Well, the past couple of days have been pretty uneventful at the house. Landon decided to spice things up a bit by putting all the bath toys in the potty. He was excited about tubby time and mama was taking too long to get in there, so he went to playing on his own I guess. An hour later he decided that our walls were too boring and made some nice marker artwork on the walls. I agree with him. White painted cinderblock IS boring. You can't even nail into it to put a picture up! Quintin immediately cleaned up the marker (without being asked...wooohooo!) and Landon was reminded that paper is the only place to color. His brothers had been coloring and he felt quite left out because I told him no coloring. He always ends up looking like braveheart going into battle with all the marker streaks on his face.

We went to the doctor yesterday. Landon had been running a fever for the past few nights and Thea's cough was sounding pretty bad. I just wanted to make sure their lungs were clear. After Landon's pneamonia (spelling??) and RSV and Thea's recent trip to the ER for breathing treatments I get a little nervous! He thinks that there's a little something in Thea's lungs, but Landon's lungs sounded good. I really, really am liking my doctor a lot! We talked about fevers and he said that you can give them tylenol, but even better than that is lots of water. He went on to explain that when kids come into the ER with high fevers they can start an IV and without any tylenol or motrin the fever will drop. He said parents are always amazed at how much water goes into their child without them having to pee. What a wonderful thing to know! Next time I have to take one of them to the ER for fever I can say NO to the drugs and ask for an IV first. We do not use tylenol or motrin unless it's a very extreme situation and this was great to hear from a doctor. This is the same doctor who gave us extensive information on eliminating allergins in our home so landon won't have to take and meds for them. And who felt that it was good of us not to vaccinate Thea yet and said "whatever you're comfortable with". And meant it!! Praise God!!! I hate going to the doctor to have them look at me like i'm from the moon or talk down to me because I don't give my kids over the counter drugs, feed them dairy, etc.
OH...and Thea weighed 13 lbs and Landon weighed 30!! No wonder we call him "tank". He's just solid! It's not that heavy, but after Q and A who are skinny, skinny it's crazy for us to have such a thick child!

Thea is napping in her bassinette vs. her swing for the first time today. She is starting to wake up from loud noise (and boys putting big books on her and running past her yelling), so I thought this might work better. She's been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours! I keep checking on her to make sure she's alright.
I love these kids! I thank God I have an understanding husband who supports my staying home with them and dosen't ask me all the time if I'm ready to go back to work!

And cloth diapers...I think i'll have to save that post for another day! But we're up to 100% usage of cloth. Even overnight! Go fuzzi bunz.

Saturday at the beach

On Saturday Dan rented us a cabana at the beach on the air force base. It was lots of fun. The boys love going to the beach. We have to watch Landon pretty closely because he will sometimes fall down even in the shallow water. I don't have a swim suit for my post baby body yet so I hung out with Thea a lot. Quintin made friends with the kids in the cabana next to us and played lots of football in the water. We're definately considering having Landon's b-day party next month there.

These kids crack me up

My boys are so funny! Tonight at dinner Quintin and Ashton were telling Landon to make a funny face. Landon would put his arms up and make silly noises and the other 2 would just laugh so hard! Then Ashton started everyone laughing by saying, "you give me gum-gum?" from the night at the museum movie. The funniest part was when I heard A cracking up in the bathroom. Turns out he was saying it in front of the mirror and making himself laugh. He kept running back into the bathroom and then I would hear him start to laugh so hard.
I'm off to bed early! Thea's been up keeping us up coughing and gagging at night so we're exhausted! Poor landon is running a fever now, too! I think we're in for a fun filled trip to the ped. tomorrow.

Date night

Dan and I had a date tonight!! Well, as much of a date as one can have with 4 kids and no baby-sitter! I put the boys to bed at 6:30 while Dan went out and got take out from a local Italian place. We ate dinner and then ice cream and had a really good time. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to just sit down and eat a meal. Not run back and forth to the kitchen 100 times, cut up meat, retrieve cups and utencils or remind anyone to use manners. We talked a lot about vaccinations and whether or not we should vaccinate Thea. It hasn't even been an issue yet really, because she's been sick so much since she was born and we won't vaccinate her when she's sick.
The best part was that we got to spend quality time together and Dan still got to bed by 8:30. I wish I was in bed, but a certain little girl isnt' quite ready :)

Getting back into the groove

Having a new baby always throws a wrench into things. After Ashton I tried to get "back into the groove", but discovered that with a baby (and every new baby) it's not so much getting back into the groove, but finding an entirely new groove. I think 3 to 4 has been harder than everyone told me. Mostly because it's just hard to find time to do everything! I finally seem to have worked exercise in. We've also figured out getting our errands done and preschool done. However, by the time all of that is done it's lunch and then nap time. Now where the heck am I supposed to clean during all of this? I also have to fit in 3 loads of laundry a day.
So our schedule has been...
wake up/get dressed
breakfast
walk outside for exercise
come home and change clothes (me)
go out to do errands
storytime
preschool work
lunch
nap (it's hard to do much during nap because of noise and kids sleeping in my bedroom)

Today I tried cleaning after preschool time and before lunch while the kids watched a movie. It worked out alright, but the we ended up eating around 1pm and they went down late for nap.
My good friend has one of those amazingly beautiful, clean houses and told me that she cleans one room a day and picks up the house every night before bed. I decided to try that and started in my VERY dusty cluttered bedroom. It's going to take me more than 1 day to finish it, but i figure if I can do one room a day then it'll be easier after I do the initial big cleaning of each. Before when i would just dust, I would miss a bunch of things like outlet covers and my bathroom mirror never got windexed. I'm hoping with 1 room a day I can be very complete in each room.
I'm really rambling about this plan aren't I? There's more! I have a little carrying bucket thing where we store cleaning supplies. I can just bring that into the room I'm doing along with the broom, vaccuum and paper towels and get to work. Also, I'll bring a bag for trash, something to put laundry in and possibly a basket to put things that belong in another room. That way I won't get sidetracked while walking around to different parts of the house putting things away.
So now I just have to figure out a block of time to clean. And NOT naptime or after the kids go to bed...i need to rest then!

Landon said "what he doing?" today when he saw a man getting into a tree trimming truck. He is also saying "i don't know" a lot and was telling his daddy over and over that he had a soccer shirt on.
Ashton didn't take a nap AGAIN today. I feel like he's starting to grow out of needing one. I told him he didn't have to sleep, but he had to sit quietly on my bed and I gave him a quiet toy to play with. He's amazing with a soccer ball. He dribbles all over the yard. Dan has big plans for him, but I dont want to push him into anything he's not ready for or dosen't want to do.

Goodwill rocked today! I found a new 3T wardrobe for Ashton. All Polo, Children's Place, Old Navy and Gap. It was in such good shape! short and long sleeved shirts, shorts, 3 pairs of jeans and a swim suit. I never want to have to buy any clothes new again! Not when I can get great stuff at goodwill for $1.80 a piece!

It's my night to cook dinner for us and Tonya. Mexican casserole...easy AND yummy. Then we're off to get our side by side double stroller. Go craigslist! We sold the back to back double Sunday.

1st day of "letter of the week"

We had a fun first day today! At breakfast we listened to Chicka, Chicka, Boom, boom on cassette as this is our alphabet overview week. After breakfast I got the boys in the stroller and thea in the wrap and went for a walk. What a difference it makes in my day to get out and get some exercise in the morning! My spirits are lifted and I have so much more energy. It's only 20 minutes, but makes a big difference! After a run to the PO and commisary we came home to start our preschool fun. We read 3 alphabet books, (chicka, chicka, boom, boom, upside down alphabet, and hawaiian alphabet) and then the boys each colored a letter page. Ashton an A and Landon an L. By the end of the week they'll have colored their whole name. Ashton drew a great A on his paper that I put into his portfolio. Afterwards I hid letters on sheets of paper around their room. They had a great time searching for the letters. Then we put the letters on the train table and found objects that started with that letter and put it on top of the letter. The grand finally was an alphabet Seasame Street video. Not a lot of prep, but a lot of fun. I worked with Landon on keeping the crayon/marker on the paper and he really seemed to understand. He loved having me next to him while he colored.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them"
Psalm 127:3-5

Thank you, Dan. For the best mother's day I've ever had. I love you so much and thank you for giving me our 4 little blessings!!! And for the awesome filet at Cattle Company.

I LOVE garage sales

Today was the big yard sale at richardson field. It's an MWR navy thing and about 100 families were there participating. Dan has duty, but I was determined to go anyway. The boys were really good!! We got...
2 pair VERY cute girls Robeez $1.50 each

Lamp with fabric shade w/ contruction trucks on it $3.00 (looks like pottery barn)

3 soft books for church
1 lift the flap book
1 tupperwear container (actually tupperwear0
1 play army helmet All that for $2.50

Gallon bag full of "better blocks", sort of like legos, but you can move the pieces once you've put them together $2

I probably would have found more, but I hated to stay there looking with the 4 kids trailing behind me. It also started to get hot and we didn't have hats or sunscreen with us. There was a combi side by side highest model stroller for $100. I gave him my email and told her that if she didn't sell it I'd give her $75 for it. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from her!! It was a really nice stroller and if I didn't already have 2 doubles and had enough money with me I would have snatched it right up! The same people had this adorable small play kitchen that was just Landon's size for $3. Too bad I couldn't carry it...Landon would have loved it and I hate to pay big bucks for a new one. We've got enough toys as it is!

Next quarter we're going to have to set us up a spot there, too. Clean out before the move and make some money to pay for setting up house on the other end...in Ohio!!

Being a mother

Dan was blessed to have today off. I had made an appt. to sell clothes to our local resale shop several days ago so he took the boys to the beach while I went. After coming home ashton was waking up from his nap. He came and found me and with a sleepy voice said,"mama, we got you some candles. We got some good ones". Not knowing he had just given away my mother's day present, I hid a laugh and told him how happy it made me that he had picked out candles for me.
What joys they are. I love how tender their hearts are when they first wake up. That's the time they will let me hold and cuddle them...until they're awake and off to get into something!! In those moments I thank our Lord for sending me these blessings from heaven. I know I did nothing to deserve them, but God blessed me with them anyways!!

This camelion is like the one we saw today, but a bit bigger. We saw this one on halloween crawling up a tree in our yard.





Talking about halloween got me to remembering it! Here are my babies looking so cute in the costumes I made them (using only fabric glue..lol). Yeah, I know it's may.

Enjoying Hawaii

Today the boys and I walked the 4 blocks up to the mini mart after lunch. It was beautiful out. On that walk we can see the mountains in front of us and behind us and walk next to beautiful palm trees that line the streets. After we got home I heard Landon saying "geck-o, geck-o" and Ashton said, "mama come look at something!" so I got Thea out of the stroller and walked to the bush they were looking at. There was a 3 horned camelion moving quickly up the branches. We talked about how easily they get scared and stayed very quiet. The camelion didn't hold Landon's attention for long because a big male peacock (complete with a loooong tail) was right accross the yard begging to be chased by the boys. Weren't the boys suprised when it turned around and started coming towards them!! Ashton said, "it's not gonna get me! I'm running fast!" and took off for the porch. Poor landon was trying to run with his thumb in his mouth and tripped over a stick trying to get up to mama and away from the peacock that had turned his way. We came inside and sat down to read a book only to look up and see Mr. Peacock at our screen door hoping for some scraps. What an experience it has been to live here!!!

New Preschool Cirriculum

I've decided to try and do "preschool" consistantly at home. We have been using the Before 5 in a Row cirriculum on and off for awhile now. The boys and I really enjoyed it, but sometimes I feel like there's too much prep work. Instead I'm going to switch to a "letter of the week" theme. That way I won't have to decide which theme to use the following week as the alphabet is already in order for me...haha.
I found this site http://www.letteroftheweek.com/preschool_age_3.html and am going to use that as a guide. So no new book to buy!!! I am also hoping to use the library and the craft supplies we already have to make this a completely free cirriculum! At least that's the goal! I'm going to use the rest of this week to lesson plan and start next week with an alphabet introduction week. My challenge will be to make sure I have things that Landon can do also. Being number 2 I feel like I do'nt work with him as much as I did with Ashton.

Our day today.

Today I made my first baby blanket with the sewing machine. It's really cute and has a princess theme to it. I also made a matching burp cloth and wipes. Although, it's not perfect I'm excited to at least be starting to learn to sew more. Hopfully I can figure out how to attach pictures. This past Sunday we were blessed to be invited to dinner with a wonderful family we met at the church we just started attending. They have 7 children, 2 of whom are girls about 12ish, 13ish. They are homeschooled and getting sewing lessons from another lady at church. They told me about some tools that I could use and how to make the blanket. I can't wait to show it to them at church this sunday.

Oogles and googles was so much fun this morning. The theme was shapes and colors and Ashton was chosen as a volunteer. He held up a picture with a green circle on it. He was so excited to be up front and was able to follow the directions given to him. Last time he was a volunteer he got to dress up with a pirate had and vest and had a great time! Reading is very important to our family so we love that the library on base has a weekly storytime for the boys to go to.

Lastly, I actually exercised today! This morning I put on my jeans and thought, "these seem tight". It freaked me out because i'm supposed to be loosing weight...not gaining it!! So I fed the boys breakfast, put them in the jogger and thea in the wrap and went walking. It was beautiful today. Such a nice breeze and not too hot. Although I was wishing I had pulled my hair up and worn shorts! The boys behaved so well. I am hoping to walk at least 3 mornings a week with 5 being the ideal.

Last night we watched "Night at the Museum" to make sure it was alright for the boys. What a fun movie! They're watching it right now. I am hoping to finish up the princess wipes tonight and go to bed by 10. Here's hopin'.


Figured out pictures!!! What do you think?? Not bad for a first project!

A new page

I am so excited to be starting this page. A way to record our family's day to day life and accomplishments big and little without having to pull out paper and glue and cut pictures! Of course I have started this at night while the kids are asleep and am exhausted. It must be time for me to go to bed so I can keep up with them tomorrow.