Happy Birthday Caleb

It's hard to believe that my littlest boy is turning three in a few hours. Three years ago right about this time I was going to bed. When I am expecting I have a lot of contractions from about the mid-point on, and I know I was that night as well, but nothing unusual. About 2:15 a.m. I woke up with labor happening fast... he was born at 4:15! By that point I was surely ready though - it was the most pregnant I'd ever been. Ian came 3 weeks early, and we'd been in the hospital with Caleb a few times before the "real deal" (which was one week early from the projected due date). I was one of those women that walked around 4 centimeters dilated for 2 weeks. Ugh. Those extra two weeks at the end were tough. They were extra to me anyway. I really feel for those women who go past their due date!

Look at this pouty face. He still makes the same one.


I am so thankful for cameras. This is one of the most amazing and special moments of any mom's life: finally getting to look into the eyes of the one you've been wondering about for months. We did not know if he would be a boy or girl until the delivery, and it was so fun to finally get to see this little face. I was in love with him when he was inside me, and here is the moment that I was falling in love even more:

8 pounds 9 ounces of joy came into our lives that night/morning and he has been a joy every day since. Now don't get me wrong. He's turning three. He is a normal boy. There have been messes. There has been drama. There has been willful defiance. But mostly, lots of laughter, dancing, hilarious comments, the softest skin you can imagine, and tons of warm snuggles. Caleb is a delight to me! Happy Birthday sweet little boy! And don't rush this growing up thing as much as you did coming into the world!

"... since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father..."
Colossians 1:9-12

just chatting

Since the last post I've made a delicious apple clafouti with homemade whipped cream - YUM... plan to make apple pie, maybe apple bread... definitely will be bringing lots of apples to preschool on Thursday to share with co-teachers. Anyone nearby - you are welcome to them! Come over and pick as many as you want!

Preschool is going SO WELL this year. I get to teach with two great ladies - one I've known for years through church and one is new - both are easy to work with and attentive to the kiddos and it is very enjoyable. I am in a room with slightly older kids this time and they are great kids. Also it helps to have been there for a year and a half. I started out actually knowing how to teach the kids from day one about sitting in a circle and listening for their name to be called. I am much more relaxed and have not yet had a headache yet this year! That is really saying something compared to last year. However the two rooms next to me are filled with cryers - separation anxiety through the roof. You can hear them screaming and carrying on literally the whole four hours. I so feel for those poor teachers. When you leave a room like that you have no reserve left for your own kids, you have no energy, you just feel helpless and depleted. I am so thankful for each of my many boys and my few little girls this year! I realize it is possible that God gave my boss an insight to me - knowing how much I can (and can't) handle, and that there are other teachers more CAPABLE to handle those crazy rooms - and that is OKAY with me. I just want these little ones to at least hear their Bible story and to know how much God loves them by how I interact with them, and if I am at my wits end all day this is much less likely to happen! This year I think those things will be communicated every day and I am really happy about that.

Well I have a non-napper boy upstairs so I might as well take advantage and go to the grocery store. If only you could get a public service announcement of the days when a nap is going to fail miserably. Then I wouldn't even try. I'd just not even bother coming home after preschool and get the other errands done and look forward to putting him to bed early at night. Oh well. Such is the life of a mother to an almost-three year old! One week from today to be exact! I am really hoping that turning three will be a big motivation for him to get back into the swing of things with the potty - he was doing so great for a couple of months and he seems to be falling off the bandwagon a bit. I think there's a growth spurt in process but even so the amount of pee I'm cleaning up is a bit... ridiculous. The worst is the shoes. Oh the shoes!!! I suppose I should just get him another pair of crocs that fit for his birthday - they were so easy to clean. Anyway... off to the store...

apple harvest

Bounty from our tree:

Oh, and every seed I sow
Will grow into a tree.
And someday there'll be apples there
For everyone in the world to share.
Oh, the Lord is good to me.

Oh, here I am 'neath the blue, blue sky
Doing as I please.
Singing with my feathered friends
Humming with the bees.

I wake up every day,
As happy as can be,
Because I know that with His care
My apple trees, they will still be there.
The Lord's been good to me.

Making applesauce with grandma (about 10-12 quarts so far?):

POWER

Ahhhhh.... we have electricity here finally. It went out Sunday about 2 p.m. in the windstorm, and is just now back on. It was kind of fun the first night. Other than the boys adjusting to finding potties in the dark (they both missed at first). They like to make shadow puppets with the flashlights, and they love to be read to by flashlight also. We have a crankable emergency radio and found some Pink Floyd to dance around to. Flashlights can create a nice disco effect! The second night was not so fun. By then we were out of hot water and had thrown out tons of groceries. I HATE to waste food. I had just gotten a new refrigerator too and stocked it up Saturday. Argh. We'd also taken some food over to Matt's parents' and did some laundry (remember the missing the potty thing). Today we started out going to the emergency ice place and to buy batteries for the waning flashlights. Home Depot was out of the batteries we needed. We came home and ate the same turkey and cheese sandwiches we've been having for days out of the cooler. Then yard work, then a trek back to the in-laws for hot showers. The third night (tonight) was really starting to get to us but then - praise God - I heard the little blips of noise from everything and we are back up and running.

Thankfully we did not have any real damage to speak of at our house. We had several neighbors dealing with trees in their roofs and things flying around the yard but we only lost a few medium size branches. Also the weather is perfect. Even without power for so long we were still comfortable - not too hot or cold. I think I even slept better than usual with it being so very dark.

I am so happy to be able to put away the coolers and to COOK real food tomorrow and to have hot water and showers and clean dishes. Let the laundry and vacuuming begin! Didn't think I'd ever say that but I will be appreciating it tomorrow anyway.

100th post

Woo hoo - I've blabbed online 100 times. That is kind of hard to believe. I feel like I'm never on here. But presently I have a new workspace (IKEA rocks) and I am enjoying getting things done in it!

We started preschool this morning. My class of 10 has 8 boys. Previously it's always been 2 or 3 boys and the rest girls. Maybe I am destined to be surrounded by boys. It sure is fun. There is never lacking in the areas of adventure, fun, noise, and general wildness. Did I mention noise? I think I am preemptively taking Tylenol before I go in next Tuesday (this week is our open house time, next week the parents will actually drop these little men off and entrust them to us.) I may even employ the use of my magical orange earplugs. Just kidding. I think.

So, since I mentioned IKEA, I might as well give you the rundown for those who've never been. It was unlike any store I've ever been in. My husband couldn't stand it. It is a store for people who enjoy shopping - also smart shoppers - you have to be pretty on your game and self-sufficient in there because there is SO MUCH to see and it's mostly all self serve. We were there for four hours. (Matt's idea of fun shopping is a bit different - he'd prefer less maze, fewer people, and about 3.5 hours less. But he was a trooper. I felt loved.) We started in the very inexpensive and kid friendly restaurant. Then Matt and the boys trailed along with me looking at things for as long as they were having fun - which was about an hour maybe. Then they went to get balloons made by the clown on stilts and went to the car and fell asleep. I ended up with pretty much everything I needed for the workspace I have been wanting to set up, for less than $400. I have a new desk, chair, filing cabinet, accessories, lighting, and a couple of random cutting boards for that amount. Great prices! I also found it was pleasantly geared toward women. I was able to get all the boxes off the shelves on my own (smart packaging) and set everything up on my own as well once we got it home. Tips for other families (I had a friend who gave me some of these and I found it very helpful):

- go online ahead of time and get an idea of what you're after.
- eat first. you need to start out energized!
- it helped me to focus on one room at a time. I saw a ton of things that gave me ideas for other rooms, but was able to keep from being overwhelmed by just sticking with the one room. Maybe that's because I had so much I needed to get for that one room though.
- if you have kids, take them with you through the showrooms for a while, then utilize the kidspace because you can only drop them off for a limited time (we didn't do this, but I could see how it would be the only way if there wasn't a second adult to care for the kids) Then they might have some reserve left for you to finish up your shopping and get through the line.
- follow the arrows.
- write down the item numbers and info on everything you like and take the papers with each display you like - you may never find it again! And you can go online and order some things later.

Hope this helps someone, I personally can't wait to go back.