Three Babies

Visit from St. Nic

Last Monday (December 6) was the feast day of St. Nicholas. (I know I'm behind on my blogging!) We'd been talking a lot about who St. Nicholas was, and about how he secretly shared his gifts. We told Beth that we'd leave our shoes out that night and he might leave some goodies for us in the morning! Being the polite girl she is, Beth wrote St. Nic a preemptive thank you note, in anticipation for all the candy she thought she'd be getting! She also drew him a picture of a fish.
The next morning...St. Nic has left us all some oranges, chocolate gold coins, candy cains, and a play nativity set! Jackson got two jars of baby food which we'll use in a month or so. :-)
Beth was psyched! She was so excited about the gold coins whereas Luke went crazy over the oranges! They both played with the nativity, Beth loves it but Luke's still a little too young for this particular set.The rest of the day was filled with excitement, coloring pages about St. Nicholas, stories, and songs. I love that we were celebrating a real person who points us to Jesus, and their little gifts had nothing to do with being good or bad. Yes, I admit, I still feel a twinge of guilt for telling them that St. Nic filled their shoes. But I think I'm okay with it for now. I don't plan on intentionally misleading them as they get older- if they ask I'll tell- but for now the "magic" is alive and well in our household!

The hunt for the perfect tree

Almost three weeks ago...

We found the perfect Christmas tree this year! We visited a new tree farm this year, one that's closer to our new house and less commercial, and it was a lot nicer than the place we've visited in the past. We really enjoyed ourselves, not to mention the great company we had! Ryan's brother, sister-in-law, and nephew were in town an accompanied us to pick out our tree. Christopher had a ton of fun following around his older cousins!

I should also warn you I received an early Christmas present- an upgraded membership to picnik.com. I'm going a little crazy on my pictures, but I like it. ;-)

We rode out to the Christmas trees on a hay ride pulled by a tractor. Luke was in heaven and completely enamored with the tractor.
We didn't immediately start the search for trees, we let Beth and Luke run up and down the aisles for a bit before we got serious. We were also waiting for Josh, Ramona, and Christopher to arrive, so we let them have some fun!

Josh and Ryan really got into the search for the perfect tree, speedwalking up and down the aisles checking out the colored tags (indicating price) and examining every angle to check for bare areas, broken branches, and holes. Ramona and I corralled the kids and I enjoyed the smell of all that pine!


Once we found the perfect tree, Ryan instructed the kids about what was about to happen. They all took turns "helping" cut down the tree and drag it back to the tractor.



We got home pretty late and by the time dinner was over it was time for bed. The tree actually remained undecorated for quite some time, which I know is a tradition for some families. Beth and I made a paper chain with purple and pink to decorate the tree with (Liturgical colors for this time of year) so it wouldn't be so bare, but we finally got around to decorating it last week! Pics to come...

A TOOTH!

Jackson has cut a tooth! It's there, in all its glory, on his lower gum. I absolutely cannot believe it. I was soooo relieved to see it (feel it first!) because he has been so grumpy lately, and it gives justification to his grumpy mood. Now I don't feel so bad offering him some pain killer (his first ever!), though earlier today it didn't seem to help him sleep. :-( Poor guy. Throughout the ordeal he's also found his voice, and his cry has turned from a sad whimper to a full-blown scream. As a mom, it's one of the worst sounds in the world. I wonder if he'll cut more right now or if it'll be a few more months until the next one pops through? I selfishly wish that he'd just cut several right now, so we can get this over with!

Daddy

Who is this cutie? Look like anyone you know??? (You probably don't recognize him without the spiky hair!)
The back says the date is August 1984, he was almost or had just turned 4!

Sickies

We've had a bunch of sickness going around over here, that's the reason for my absence! It started with Luke's ear infection the Friday before Thanksgiving, moved to a fever for Beth for a whole week (a "virus"), then to a cough for her, then Luke got the fever and grumpiness... I'm sure you know the drill. Jack hasn't been sick- thank you Jesus- but he's going through some sleep issues that probably most 5-month-olds go through. Like, as in he won't go to sleep and he won't stay asleep. Booo!

Random pics:

What happens with an older sis.

One day I had a hankering for some good, crusty bread to go with my homemade chicken noodle soup. I haven't had "real" bread in almost two months! I didn't have the time or means to make anything so I just made some drop biscuits. Pretty bland. :-(

Matchy Matchy :-)
And cute Beth!

Every day I wake up to new drawing on her magna doodle. She loves this toy, I'd say it's probably her most-used toy we own!

Deep thoughts

One of the things I've learned in my (almost) four years as a mom is the feelings of inadequacy and apathy are fleeting. Just a phase. How many times have I compared myself to other moms only to feel like a total bum? Like a total failure? How many times have I compared myself to other moms and felt like I've figured parenting all out and thought myself better than them? I'm usually humbled sooner than later (a child is bound to teach you that everything you thought true is actually the opposite, and that you in fact don't know everything!).

In Famila we discussed a saint quote that went something like, "We can never compare ourselves to humans because we can always find ourselves better than them, instead we must compare ourselves only to God and only then we can truly be humbled." (Anyone know who said that?) On those days I'm feeling mightily better than another person, I try to remember this quote or unfortunately remember it too late. Then I have to be humbled by offering an apology for being an egotistical fool. I would say that, in typical fashion of a type A personality, most days I feel like I fall short. Very short. My house isn't clean enough, my children aren't well-behaved enough, I don't spend enough time with my kids, I don't spend enough time doing housework, I don't call my friends and family to catch up, I don't invite friends over because of one reason or another. I don't pray enough. Excuses, all excuses. I have a tendency to be over-scrupulous, I think it has something to do with my involvement in a Catholic lay movement that, while leading me on a path to holiness, also made me feel worse for my faults than I probably should have felt.

More excuses. I'm the only one who can account for my actions. I am the way I am, strengths and weaknesses, unapologetically. I have faults and flaws, have a short temper and need to learn to bite my tongue, have a desire for perfection but lack the fortitude to actually get things done, and am viciously hard on myself. But on the flipside, I am convicted to my beliefs till death if necessary (but please Lord, don't test me!), and feel strongly that God has a really strong purpose for my life. Like he's calling me to something Great that I just haven't figure out yet.

Pray for me. Pray for all mothers who struggle with feelings of inadequacy, low self-worth, mindless apathy, or who are unmotivated. Pray that their husbands truly cling to their spouses and never cease to support their wives through prayer and selfless servitude. Pray for their children, who have to witness the ups and downs of their parent's lives, and see them at their best and their worst. And lastly, pray for men and women who want nothing more than to have the chance to actually be parents.

Advent and Christmas

This year I'll be trying something new, something I've wanted to do in the past but haven't really had the chance. We'll be celebrating the feast day of St. Nicholas on December 6th (next Monday). I've been reading up online of several people's traditions, talked to my sister-in-law about their Romanian traditions, and trying to decipher for our family what the right balance is. In years past I've been torn about whether to do the whole "Santa" thing or not, so we haven't made a big deal out of it and it hasn't been an issue. I finally feel that Beth is old enough to really get everything that's going on though, so we've got to get our act together!

As much as I want to emphasize Jesus, I also don't want to "steal" away their childhood by not including fantasy characters like Santa. I know that sounds silly but it's ridiculous how torn I am about this one!

Beth has been asked what she wants for Christmas from Santa, so now that the seed has been planted in her mind I've got to figure out how to keep the emphasis on Christ and not on wanting gifts. The past three years the children have received gifts from Mommy and Daddy, and one from the siblings, and one from Santa. This year I want it to be the same I think, except they'll also get some goodies on St. Nick's day.

As Catholic Christians, right now we're celebrating Advent and not Christmas. I have grand ideas of a larger-than-life Jesse tree, not decorating the Christmas tree until the December 24, singing "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel" every day instead of songs about Santa, and having my children line up perfectly for holiday photos. Ha, I'll keep dreaming about that last one! My house is still decorated for fall, in my fantasy world I would have switched out my decor on the first Sunday of Advent (last Sunday). Instead, I think we'll switch things out on Friday when we go get our tree!

So for now, I think the plan is that every night we'll continue to read from out little Advent prayer book at dinner time. We'll decorate the house, continue talking about Jesus' upcoming birthday, and if it comes up, talk about how Santa's origins are in St. Nicholas. I have some coloring pages and maybe some crafts planned for St. Nick's day, we'll be polishing our shoes and leaving them out the night before for some goodies! This website has a ton of great information and craft ideas if you're interested.

5 months

Jackson was 5 months old a few days ago, my update was lost in the holiday weekend! This past month has been filled with changes; this guy has become my little monkey baby! To me, this is part of the passage from infancy to babyhood. I no longer have to carry him like an infant, instead I can steadily carry him around in one arm while he clings to me! He absolutely adores my hair, Beth did too. :-) He grabs the hair on the back of my neck, usually pulling it out of a pony tail, and holds tight as if it's going to keep him from falling off of me! He clings to my clothing and even my face if he can grab it, though his preference right now biting and sucking on my chin. He bites hard! I wonder if he'll cut teeth earlier than Beth and Luke did? He looks huge in his little blue baby bath tub, it almost makes me laugh out loud at how big he is! He's really outgrown it but we're going to stick with it for a little longer until he can at least sit up on his own! I'm guessing he'll be sitting up around Christmas- can you even imagine? Wasn't he just born?!

Cousins

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are the turkeys we've been working on all month. Every night at the dinner table we talk about what we're thankful for, and I write it down on the turkeys we made from their hands and feet. Every night Luke first says he's thankful for "DaDa!" They came up with all of these things totally on their own, the only time I asked them for another answer is if they'd already given me their answer on a previous night. We have some very thankful kids this year. :-)

Mommy! Take a picture of me!

I rarely hear Beth say these words to me (I think I've worn her out by taking too many pictures of her!) so I gladly snapped these pictures of her climbing in the backyard. She narrated as she climbed:

"first i put my hands on top."

"then my leg goes up like this."

"and just slide..." (grunt grunt)

"ta da!"

She was very proud of herself. :-)


Yes, these were taken a few days ago. In fact, it's been in the 80s here for a few days now, not really holiday weather! Today I absolutely had to turn on the a/c and dig out a pair of shorts, it's just too stinkin' hot. The kids all want to wear their warm fleece pajamas at night and I keep having to explain to them that they'll get to wear them when it' cold outside. Then Beth asks about snowmen and snow, and then I have to explain that while it gets cold, they won't be seeing a "white Christmas" like she sees in her library books! "Then why are there snowmen on my pajamas, Mommy?"

My children, the supermodels

Could they be any cuter?

Goodbye swing

I'm pretty sure it's time to put away Jack's swing. I'm not sure what the weight limit is, but give the fact that he's trying to sit up makes it feel a little less safe! (And yes, that's an outfit Luke was wearing this time last year! Size 12 months!)


We're going to be doing a car seat switcharoo coming up soon. Jack is going to move into Beth's car seat (we'll be buying him a new manly cover!) and Beth will be getting a Graco Nautilus, most likely. This seat comes highly recommended by car seat technician friends and will take her to a backless booster 100 lbs. Can you imagine Beth weighing 100 lbs in 6 years? I can't.

We're also going to be bringing out the high chair soon! I can't even believe it. We're not planning on feeding him solids anytime soon, but I think it'll be nice to have the high chair in the kitchen for him to sit up in and play while we eat. He reaches for everything now so holding him while eating is becoming more of a game for him. It's not so much fun for the ravished parent. ;-)

I've recently read a study about introducing wheat to babies who have celiac disease in their family, and studies suggest the best time to introduce wheat is between 5-7 months. We didn't start Beth and Luke on solids until about 7 months, but we might start Jack on cream of wheat just a little earlier.

Putting up the swing means we're bringing out this... Big brother likes it more than little brother at this point!

Ridiculous

I thought this was all hype, but the more I read and watch I'm really just astounded. There's no way I'm flying with my children until these machine are gone, so looks like we'll be vacationing locally for awhile! Sorry friends (and cousins)!

A week of gluten-free food

In case you're wondering what our week in food looks like, here it is:

Monday: Rotisserie chicken from Sams (yes it's GF!), salad with peppers, tomatoes and red onions
Tuesday: Taco Tuesdays! Hard tacos, beans, homemade Spanish rice
Wednesday: Meatball soup, making a double batch to split with a friend!
Thursday: Grandma N.'s crockpot pinto beans, cornbread, and probably another veggie
Friday: Stuffed chicken rolls from our new GF cookbook from our friends K&M <3 and sweet potato fries
Saturday: homemade pizza!
Sunday: Red beans and rice

Adjusting to a gluten-free lifestyle hasn't been as hard as I initially thought. I do have to prepare a little more, but once I cleaned out my pantry I know that I can use everything I have in my kitchen to prepare a gluten-free meal. I'm still hammering out the details (I can't find gluten-free chicken or beef bouillon anywhere locally) but for the most part things are falling into place. Our first attempt at homemade pizza last Friday was a big fat failure, hardly edible but everyone humored me and ate it anyways! The hardest thing for me so far has been needing quick meals on nights when I reaalllly don't feel like cooking. Hopefully I'll soon make an edible pizza crust and can freeze some for a quick freezer pizza!

my first GF pizza crust. It didn't brown or bubble up, it was supposed to be like a thin-crust pizza.

I keep meaning to see if Alton Brown has a show where he's focused on gluten-free cooking. He does such a wonderful job of explaining the mechanics behind why food does what it does, how different ingredients react, and when it's okay to substitute items and when it's not. I'm learning about the chemistry of baking with gluten-free flours, and if you don't know I absolutely hate chemistry. It's not as easy as taking your favorite cookie recipe and replacing regular flour with a type of gluten-free flour, because different flours have different protien contents, absorb water at different rates, and need an addition like xanthan gum to keep the cookie together. It's real science! Oh no!

Pics of the Third Roll

Here are pictures from when Jackson rolled over for the very third time! In one night he managed to roll several times, all in a row, and I got the third roll in pictures. Wouldn't you know my video camera was out of battery!!! He's rolled every day since then, so we know it wasn't just a fluke. I'm not positive but I think this is the earliest any of ours have rolled over consistently. This boy is no doubt going to be sitting up by Christmas!

starting on his tummy (the result of his second roll)

rolled to his back

back onto his tummy, almost there!

yay jackson!

Brudders

The boys looked too cute after mass today! And have I mentioned how hard it is to get a good picture of multiple children? These are the best we could do today!

Individual portraits. Beth didn't want to participate, so again we just have the boys.

Stinker

Lumber-Jack Jack