Peace & Quiet

In an effort to save money by not having to pay a sitter this summer, Dan and I decided that the boys would be little travelers and go back and forth between here and SC with him. At first I thought that it would be great! They get to spend more time with Dan and I would have a little break from having to do everything.....work, take care of the boys, keep the house clean (which never seems to happen except for the five minutes right after you get finished mopping the kitchen floor)!!, etc......Now that they have been gone for 3 days I realize that this wasn't such a good idea after all, at least not for me! They are having fun and don't seem to have any seperation anxiety, but I, on the other hand, am having a hard time! I miss them alot and wish they were here driving me crazy, pulling out every toy they own, spilling stuff on the freshly mopped floor and most of all wanting to cuddle at bedtime! I am sure that I will survive and they will be back this weekend to get my life back to "normal"! Oh, one good thing has happened as a result of them not being here....I cleaned out 2 boxes and a grocery bag full of toys along with a trash bag full of stuffed animals and gave them to the thrift store....Thus giving the "silver lining" to this temporary cloud!

Lunch with Friends

When I was home in SC this last weekend we were able to meet Joy, Nate and Henry for lunch at McDonald's (as all mom's know, your children get to dictate where you eat)! We had alot of fun....Zach was a wild man and Nate really hit it off with Joseph. I was so excited for Joseph and Zach to get to meet Nate and Henry. Hopefully we will get to do it again soon. Maybe next time Joy and I will have a chance to catch up with each other and not just catch our kids! By-the-way, Joy, we got the ginger bread man and he is the most annoying of the Shrek toys so far...just a warning in case you haven't gotten him, yet!

Potty Training 101

Well, I had hoped that Zach was going to be an easy potty trainee when at 18 months he knew how to stop pee-peeing mid stream and start again because he thought it was funny when we yelled for him to stop while changing his diaper! Any of you mom's with boys know the "shower" that I am talking about trying to avoid...HA!HA! But to my dismay he has been a challenge. We are now going through the "I don't want to wear a diaper stage" so every time I turn around Zach is running around naked (or with just a shirt) declaring that he is going to, has, or is in the process of going to the bathroom (#1 and #2 are both treated the same....we never know which we are getting until we hear him yell "poo"!). He also will bring me a diaper and wipes and lie down on the floor for me to change him. To this I declare that, "if you are able to bring this to me you are able to go potty", and this of course gets me a "NO"! He avoids the potty like some dreaded task! I have decided that this is one battle that I am not going to win (I'm wondering if I prayed for patience lately without thinking?!?!) so I will keep following him around the house picking up diapers and am considering buying stock in Pampers!!!

Two Year Old Words

I waited 7 years between having babies and I don't regret that at all, but I did forget alot of things about little ones....one thing that I didn't remember is how cute it is when they finally start to really talk! Zach is at the stage now where he repeats everything that we say. It is SO cute to hear him try and say words! Some of the things that we hear often are: bapple (apple), bape (grape), ue ruck (blue truck.....everything is a blue truck no matter what color it is), ace ar (race car), choo-choo ain (choo-choo train)...and the list goes on. It is so funny each time he attempts something new....we all stop and laugh and of course ask him to say it again! I will add that the one word that he definitely has down pat is NO! Actually, that and look (ook) I believe were his first words. He is so cute (even if I do say so myself) and we love watching him grow and learn....

God is our Healer

I know that I have emailed everyone but I just can't stop celebrating over God healing my (step)Dad! I had been so worried about him being diagnosed with lung cancer on top of all the other health problems! A couple of weeks ago during our Sunday church service I really prayed for him and God gave me peace that He is our healer no matter where (here on earth or in heaven) that He gives the healing. Yesterday it was so exciting to find out that God truly had healed Jimmy...so the name, Jehovah Rapha, is very real to me....God has proved Himself once again in His faithfulness and graciousness! He is without a doubt our Healer!

Who we are...

Our Pastor speaks alot about defining our "worth"ship thru worship and I must say that this is something that really speaks to my heart. I have often found myself not feeling adequate or out of place...maybe even inferior to everyone else.....most of my life I have defined who I was by what kind of things I had....what kind of house my family lived in, the kind of clothing I wore, what kind of cars we drove.....especially in JR high and high school, I always wanted to be someone else and went to great lengths to try and hide reality because I felt that me and my family were not "normal". I thought that we went thru things and struggles that no one else did. Even though I am a fairly successful adult, I still carried some of those same feelings and have struggled with it.....but now listening to our Pastor I have realized that I need to start listening to more of what God wants from me and less to the world that tells me that who I am is in how big my house is, what name brands I wear and how many friends I have. While there are some things that I would like to have, I realize that unless I learn to be thankful for what I have and enjoy the blessings that God has already given me, I will never be satisfied and my life will end up with alot of regret.....and that I want friends that like me for me and not for the things I have or neighborhood I live in.....So, I am very happy to say that the Lord is helping me define who I am and I am excitd about the places He wants to take me and my family! I know that he will deliver us from this little apartment soon!!! I also want to say thank you to all of my friends that let me share in their lives and show me that I am not so "abnormal" after all!

Burning the Midnight Oil

Well, it is 2AM and to my dismay and dissappointment (I had rather hoped to be in very deep stages of REM sleep at this moment) I am wide awake! The last two nights Zach has run a fever and it seems the Motrin that I gave him has given him a new found energy in the middle of the night! We have played for two hours now and he has finally decided to go to bed. Hopefully soon I will be able to follow. Hope everyone is having sweet dreams!