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Hello

2011-11-17T15:41:00.001-08:00

Wow, it's been a long time since a post. That seems to be the norm these days. However, with these days turning dark so early, there seems to be more time for things like blogging. So, why not. Here's a little update on our happenings.

Pregnancy: So far it seems to be going well. I've been feeling the baby kick for a few weeks now. It is the best thing about pregnancy!! My official due date is April 7. I get an ultrasound this coming Tuesday and I think we're all looking forward to it, especially Sophie. She keeps asking when it is, and I think it will be fun for her to see the baby on the screen. She might be disappointed, or even scared when the image that she sees looks more like an alien than a baby. I mean, even I have a hard time following the ultrasound tech. I just nod and agree for lack of feeling dumb that I can't make out what exactly she is describing.

Regarding baby coming, I feel extremely at ease. I was worked up for a while about organizing baby stuff and do we need to get a new stroller, should we find out the gender and on and on...but that by God's grace has all worked out. Clothes are organized, room is ready (it's easy when everything was already there just being used by Claire), we're not going to find out the gender (my only exception to that is if I find out we're having twins!), and I'm keeping the same stroller. Ahh, that was easy.

The girls: They started sharing a room (Sophie's room) Halloween weekend. It's going pretty well. We did realize that Claire is probably done napping for the most part because the days she napped she wasn't falling asleep until 10pm! So, although it makes for a longer day, having her asleep 2 hours earlier is huge!! Sad, that it seems to be in both of my kids' DNA to give up naps early. Oh well. :) I do feel like we're in a new phase with 2 diaper less kids who don't nap - freedom!! We can leave the house at any time of day!

Claire remains full of energy, and full of danger. The girl finds so many ways to hurt herself, falling off of swings, stabbing herself in the nose with a pencil, those are just 2 I can think of off the top of my head. Sophie is still enjoying school, and learning so much! She loves practicing writing her letters, and coloring(in the lines) has been of utmost interest lately. I think it was about a year ago that I could not get her to color! What a difference a year makes. She's also been taking gymnastics for the past several weeks and seems to like it.

Bill and I are doing well. We seem to be getting into a good rhythm and schedule. I have spent a lot less time following facebook statuses, blogs, all that stuff. It's been good for me. I've been able to focus on being home, kids, house and I really think it's made a difference. I don't seem to be rushing around, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, feeling like things aren't getting done. Things are actually getting done in a consistent manner. And my attitude with it for the most part has shifted as well, praise God! Woohoo! And at night, we have time to sit together, read books, drink tea, actually relax! It's amazing. Oh, the little things. And I know this is probably the calm before the storm but I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest. And of course things are far from perfect, but by God's grace we're making strides in the right direction.

And here are some pictures from the last month or so...

Modeling winter accessories

Sophie with her fuzzy stick vase creation

Another modeling opp

One strawberry and one ladybug for Halloween

Who can resist a little dress up? I love having girls!

The girls at the American Girl store on our trip to Chicago in October

Excitement

2011-08-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Lots of exciting things are happening around here.

First, we celebrated Sophie's birthday. She is 4!! I say this every time she has a birthday, but seriously it is so fun to watch her grow into a little girl. We celebrated with a pink themed party. Pink treats, pink drinks, and the girls had to wear something pink. We had so much fun with her little party.

Then, we took a fun trip to Michigan. The highlight of the trip was having a surprise birthday party for my Grandma who turned 80. She is such a sweet and giving woman and for once it was so wonderful to give back a little, and celebrate her! Along with that, we spent time with my aunt and uncle from Poland who we only get to see every other year or so. We also did some other fun things, like the Detroit Zoo, Buddy's Pizza (which, if you know my love for Jets, well this is just a teency bit better). Ahh, mouth watering already! In the town that Bill and I went to high school, there is also a great spot to get ice cream, except that it reeks of cow manure. It's called Cooks Farm Dairy, and well, you guessed it - it is a dairy farm and it smells, but the ice cream is exceptional! Why are my posts always about food??? But really, it was fun to take the girls there. They loved seeing the cows and some pigs up close. Claire liked it so much she had no problem trying to pet them, smelly or not.

Lets move on to other news, Sophie started preschool last week. She loves it! When she came home the first day, she didn't seem overly thrilled. When asked, what was your favorite part? Her reply: leaving. Great, I thought. However, since then she has really really come to like it. Today she asked why she couldn't go every day and for full days? I guess being home with Claire and I is a lot less exciting than preschool!

And there is one last bit of excitement to share, one that involves some tiredness, waves of nausea, a popping belly...that's right, the blessing of pregnancy. We are excited and thankful for the opportunity to bring another life into the world, Lord willing, at the end of March 2012. If you think of us, please pray for the growing life and the growing family.

Summer

2011-07-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Ahh, summer...I love it. I am already thinking about how much I am not looking forward to cold weather. I should stop that and just focus on the here and now.

It really has been wonderful. We started our summer out with a tour of the East Coast...a little stop in Hershey, PA, a weekend in NYC, family in CT, more family in Boston, a wedding weekend in Maine (right on the harbor!), more time in Boston, a day trip to Cape Cod, and a final stop to Niagara Falls on the way home.

But the fun didn't stop there, folks. It just keeps on coming. :) I think the best part of our summer has been hanging out with our neighbors, staying up late, playing hide and seek outside, getting Kona Ice on monday nights, fireworks, chalk all over the driveway and on the kids' clothes, summery treats like frozen yogurt tubes or homemade keifer popsicles, oh and swimming of course! We are sooooo thankful that the ban on swim diaper children has been lifted. We've enjoyed the pool ever since and our girls are loving it.

I've totally let go of the fact that the kids won't be in bed by 8:30, that there might be a tantrum the next day because we stayed up late and had too much sugar the night before. It's cool. We go to bed later and sometimes even Sophie takes a nap during the day. Like today. A trip to the pool in the afternoon means a nap first, and so she goes, willingly.

Oh and did I mention a special anniversary getaway for us 2? No kids. We went to a bed and breakfast in Versailles, KY. The pronunciation of the town here in the midwest just kills me, but we still managed to have a lovely time. Picture a long back porch and patio, vines and branches growing into the awning, twinkling lights overlooking a perfectly landscaped garden with lightening bugs fluttering by (never mind the mosquitos that attacked my body and cut our time short on this lovely patio). But besides for that minor mosquito incident, it was quite charming, relaxing and picturesque! And we slept in till 8:15!!! That may have been one of the highlights of the trip, that and a visit to the mall in Lexington where I bought a few things, and went to different stores all in like 45 minutes. It's amazing what can be accomplished when you don't have to take potty breaks, feed little ones lunch, walk through the build-a-bear store, etc., at the mall.

And summer has also brought a fresh inspiration to do some cooking. Don't get me wrong, I usually like cooking but sometimes it seems so monotonous/boring/same old, same old. Of course it's not so boring when you can get your food from a farm, or a farmer's market, or even dare I say the grocery store when it provides something fresh and new! We have stocked up on some grass fed pork (I didn't even know that pork came grass fed, still need to look into that) but nonetheless it has been delicious as pulled pork in the crock pot. A couple of recipes worth sharing: chicken kebabs with the perfect salsa accompaniment, and a carrot soup recipe that is refreshing every time I make it! Thanks Jane, for that last one!

That's it for now, happy summer to you!

Hi Blog

2011-06-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

Truly, this has become a once a month event for me, but thats ok. Once a month is fun too. We went on vacation for 2 weeks and have been home for almost 2 weeks now and I am still trying to get my ducks in a row, or my kids in order. It seems like lately I have had a spiritual/child rearing amnesia. I seem to forget God's goodness, His control over my days, His presence and strength with me. And on the child side, I feel like I've forgotten how to do anything! I have so many good resources for help yet I feel like I've done nothing but get frustrated lately!! Part of it may be God stripping me of a feeling of reliance on those resources (because when things are going well and the resources are working, I can find in myself a self righteous pride) and part of it is just being on vacation for 2 weeks and...I think that explains everything! Resources are good, a right view of God is good. God is merciful and gracious, because even our best efforts are filthy rags.

So what are some of these frustrations?? Well there is a little potty training happening which means lots of time spent in the bathroom, a lot of bribery, a lot of talk about pee pee. We even have an app for that. Ha! Patty the potty calls and says "it's time to go potty!" I love it :) Too bad Claire has totally figured out how to check the box for "I went pee pee in the potty" and press continue which leads her to a celebration - whether she actually went or not. So as I mentioned we spend a lot of time in the bathroom and this really has me rethinking the color on the walls, I think it might be time for a fresh look! In the meantime I hope I can grow in my patience during this potty process and not worry if we can't go swimming this summer because of my diaper - laden child. And then there's an almost 4 year old who is scared to wash her hands by herself because the water is too loud, or "can you get me something else to eat because this peanut butter and jelly is gross (even though she ate 2/3 of it all ready). She didn't verbalize that last part though. Or a random tantrum for whatever reason,...ahhhh. But even as I write this I think, man, they are so worth it and all of small trials (light and momentary they REALLY are, even if it doesn't feel like it) are truly part of God's grace in our lives!!

There have been some joys too, which would be wrong not too mention because after all this is like my digital scrapbook. This is where I write down funny, cute and random things so don't mind me when you read it and think "guess you had to be there" because that is probably the case. But if I don't write it here I won't write it anywhere sadly! Claire has made quite an attachment to her yellow zebra blankie. She calls it her blank-blank. She has a lot of words she can't say correctly, so she takes the beginning and repeats it. Like flower is flow-flow, napkins are nap-nap, and yogurt is yope-yope. And yope-yope doubles for sour cream because the taste is quite similar...? Anyway the blank blank goes with her everywhere, including when she sits at the table for meals. She needs it behind her or wrapped around her. So needless to say last night she went to bed with a blank-blank that may have doubled as a nap-nap, some taco sauce, yope-yope, the nail polish she spilled...I'll wash it today! She also loves to say "she's so cute" about other kids. Regardless of age, gender, real cuteness or anything.

Sophie has been super interested in the human body. I think this stemmed from a visit with a friend who had a book about the human body, and now Sophie is hooked. She knows all about the lungs, the small intestines, taste buds on your tongue, etc. Today we are going to read about the heart. She went from wanting to be an animal trainer a year ago to a doctor now. I just love how she has such a desire to learn, and how she soaks up so much information, and how her interests change. I can't wait to tell her one day what she wanted to be at certain ages/what she loved to do. I will obviously need the help of the blog, lets pray I have it saved and printed somewhere because otherwise I will not remember.

And that is it for now. I leave you with a video of Claire playing the xylophone with a steak at a children's museum in NYC.

She's 2!

2011-05-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

I am still having a hard time believing that my baby is 2, I think I had the same problem when she turned 1 last year. I can't continue to be in denial every year, right? They're just so precious at each stage, I want to savor it - except for the less than precious moments, those I want to erase...mostly because I end up seeing my ugliness and sinful self in it!

But I press on, to celebrate Claire! She's 2 years old, 27lbs, and I can't quite remember her height but her pediatrician thinks she'll be anywhere from 5'4" to 5'6." Apparently, you can figure out how tall a person is going to be by doubling their height at age 2, plus or minus an inch. Didn't think you'd learn something here on my blog, did you? :) Or am I the only one who didn't already know that? Don't answer that.

She's a fun loving little lady. She continues her umbrella obsession. She got one for her birthday and don't you dare pick it up, or there will be a scream of "miiiiiiiiine" coming from those sweet little lungs. :) She is a little obsessive and possessive with her umbrella, clearly an idol of hers. She loves to dance, and will dance around the room saying "dance pawty, dance pawty"...it's kinda hilarious. She is a girl on the go go go. Really, she has a lot of energy. She can also be really sweet and tender hearted at moments but mostly she's just running around all the time! Can you see my yawns through your computer as I write? It's hard keeping up with an energetic 2 year old!! :)

Easter & Raindrops

2011-05-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

I know it was over a week ago, but I didn't want to forget the nice Easter we had! And since I don't blog often enough, I have to couple posts together :)

Amidst all the rain, we enjoyed quality time with Bill's parents who flew in to see us. As I mentioned there was a lot of rain, and accompanying the countless raindrops was a lot of chocolate. Man, we ate a lot of chocolate. Overall, it was a nicely paced weekend - we really enjoyed it all.

Why can't we get 1 picture where everyone is looking in the same direction??

And speaking of raindrops, Claire is currently obsessed with the song "if all the raindrops." And along with the song obsession, she likes to carry this little umbrella around, and when she is watching the raindrops video (it's a terribly made silly songs video) she puts the umbrella over her head. Isn't it a funny coincidence that she loves this song while we are enjoying so. much. rain?

Looking at the rain filled river from Eden Park

She calls her umbrella "my wain-dops"

The Junklesons & Our Little Latina

2011-04-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

You may remember me blogging about Sophie's imaginary brother, Andy. Well meet the next door neighbors, the Junklesons. I can't help but chuckle at this. Sophie made it up all by herself and she named them the Junklesons! I hope that's how you spell it :) Jasmine Junkleson is her friend, she's 9. Her brother, Aladdin is 2. He's just a baby she says, a baby who can't watch Veggie Tales or The Incredibles yet, only Baby Einstein. Wonder where she got the names...?

Anyway, I love her imagination. We are constantly playing something or being some characters from a show or story. I'm never just Mommy during the day, but rather a mouse, a princess, an evil step mother or an evil sea witch. What a fun age. I love the experiences with a first child...you really don't know what stage is coming next but it's such a joy to go through it with them for the first time.

Of course there is no less joy or surprise with the second child, either. Claire is becoming more and more of a little person. She is in a very "me, my, mine" stage. A little on the selfish side at the moment...What cracks me up is her line-up of sentences. The 3 basic sentences she has are: "I need...", "I want..." and "I like..." whatever the item is. The best part is when she doesn't actually like something instead of saying I don't like, she still says "I like" while shaking her head no.

She has a couple of words that she says backwards, and this is where the Latina part comes in. She can't say Yes, and instead says "si." It sounds like saying yes in Spanish. She is constantly saying "si mama." It's so a part of her vocabulary right now, we just laugh.

And I leave you with some pictures from our super sunny sunday!

We tried to have a picnic lunch in the backyard.

This picture just cracks me up. Clearly, she is re-fueling during our visit to the playground which she calls play-town.

Enjoying the playground, and no the Junklesons weren't at the neighborhood playground this time.

Non stop fun

Visitors, Visitors, Visitors!

2011-04-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

Since March 15th, we've had several sets of visitors - all that we thoroughly enjoyed being with!

We began with a visitor from Texas - the manager that Bill worked for while in TX was in town for a meeting so he graciously accepted our offer to have dinner with us. The girls charmed him with their sweetness, and it made him reminisce of the time when his kids were younger. We were glad to have a little Texas reunion!

Later that same evening, we were anxiously waiting for Nana (Bill's mom) to arrive. She got here right before the girls' bedtime and they were thrilled to see her! We're thankful for Skype, but other than Skype we had not seen Nana in person since way back in August! We had a lot of fun. She brought clothes, games, St. Patty's "decor" and more. We took our first zoo trip of the season. We shopped a little, Sophie and Nana did puzzles, and we all played outside because the weather was amazing! As usual, we had a great visit and are already waiting for Nana to come back!

Sophie and Nana - don't they look pretty?

Here we are, all decked out in St. Patty's attire courtesy of the Christmas Tree Shops and Nana :)

Sophie modeling one of her new outfits

Claire and her "cheese" face - she looks more constipated than like she's smiling for the camera though

And Claire getting use out of our new accessories

In between visits we were able to visit a family here in Kentucky we had not seen since way before we moved to TX. I met Yukie (from Japan) at a library story time when both of our girls were 1. We realized that our husbands work together and have gotten together several times. Well it had been quite a while since our last visit, and it just so happened that Bill and her husband were on the same business trip so it was a perfect opportunity for the rest of us to get together. I introduced them to Jet's Pizza...only the best for my friends. :) Yes, this is a plug for Jets. We LOVE it. But more than the pizza, we loved spending time with Yukie and her kids. Her daughter and Sophie really enjoyed each other. We look forward to more playdates with our sweet Japanese friends!

The next day, my family - mom, dad, and 2 grandmas came in to town. Another great time. The kids definitely entertained everyone, they really loved playing with Dziadek (pronounced ja - dek, Polish for Grandpa). My grandmas especially were amazed at their energy level... :) As usual, we did a little shopping and took time to celebrate my mom's birthday, a couple days early. After they left, Bill came back from Mexico - perfect timing!

That is my mom playing dress up with the girls (you're probably thinking that she looks too young to be my mom, she gets that all the time, a problem I would like to have one day!)

Fast forward one week, and our last set of visitors. Our friends, Josh and Jessica, and their sweet baby Caroline came in a for a visit. It was our first time to meet Caroline. She was perfect and sweet, and the girls adored her, at times a little too much :) but Caroline was a good sport. We got out to the Levee, walked on the purple people bridge (though Sophie was not convinced that it was purple), had some Jet's for dinner (can you tell we like it?) watched basketball, and chatted about their jobs as Apple salesmen...hehe...we really had a great time!

Here are the girls with Caroline, Sophie had made a "bed" for her

We're thankful for family and friends to spend time with!! Who wants to come next??

Busy Times

2011-03-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

Last time I blogged we were sick. And a month later, we're just recovering from being sick, again. It has not been a pleasant winter for us in terms of health. Spring can't come fast enough!! But... I was so graciously reminded this morning what light and momentary troubles these are, and what more there is to live for! Let me share the scripture that has encouraged and refreshed me this morning:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:1-6

Besides for being sick, we have been busy and will continue to be. The girls and I took a trip to Michigan a couple of weeks ago. It was great to spend time with family and see some old friends. And a major highlight was reconnecting with my hair stylist from high school. She did my hair all the time...snowcoming dances to prom to my wedding! It was so great to see her, and I'm so glad she is still in the area. I am convinced she is the ONLY person on this side of heaven who knows how to cut my hair. :) Another major highlight was that my Babcia (grandma in Polish) made paczki while I was there. You might want to see this post to understand the full significance there.

As far as the girls go, we have signed Sophie up for pre-school. I'm still feeling bitter sweet about that. Excited for her, yet can't believe she's already there. She is really interested in the sounds of letters right now. She is always sounding out letters and trying to figure out what letters are in what words. She is NOT interested any longer in writing letters. She gets frustrated and gives up quickly. So I am trying not to push that too much.

Claire is saying more and more, in her own way of course. I'm sure the average person would have NO clue what she is saying most of the time, but we get her :) She continues to woo us with her sweetness, yet at times exhibits quite the little temper.

The funniest thing around here lately has been role playing. Sophie loves to pretend play books or movies. She also picks who gets to be who. Here is a little list of what characters she has picked for Claire:
- When we play beauty and the beast, Claire has gotten to be beast
- When we've played fancy nancy, Claire got to be Robert
- The incredibles, Claire got to be Buddy.
- Blue's clues - well she actually got a good part that time - she got to be Joe and I got to be side table drawer :)

You get the picture, Claire is usually the bad guy or the boy! Guess who gets to be the star???

That is about it from here. In march we are looking forward to lots of activities that should keep us quite busy, but they are all good things and Lord willing we will be able to stay focused on what is most important during all of the business.

You know you're sick...

2011-02-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

Us logozzo girls are sick. Have been sick. Continue to be sick. We are going on week 4 of sicknesses. If it's not one of us, it's all of us! Currently, it's all of us. And it has been sneaky - this virus/infection/cold -whatever it is. It brings you down for a couple of days, you think you feel better, then BAM! It hits you again. Boo, to all of it. So here's my little list of "you know you've been sick for too long when"...

- It's special movie time, again. And again.

- You choose tea in the morning over your beloved cup of coffee.

- A chai tea latte was a NEED today. No ifs or buts about it.

- There are medicine droppers and cups constantly in your sink.

- Your method for disciplining the kids goes no further than "a look."

- Your kids have a favorite room at the doctor's office.

- You walk out of the doctor's office disappointed that it's just a virus that has to work itself out because you really wanted antibiotics for them.

- Your daughter (who hasn't napped regularly since last spring) has been faithfully taking naps, sometimes even twice a day.

- Laundry day is always on Monday. On this Monday, I hope to get through one load. I'll count that as success.

The upside of it all is extra snuggles, time at home, and a really cute/clever 3 year old who will say things like "I think a movie will really cheer up my heart." And though we tell her happiness is NOT what we're after, I think it might be special movie time, again. :)

Oh. Deer.

2011-01-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

The buck stopped [slammed] here. Nice, eh?

As I was driving to the grocery store last night a deer ran into my car. It was dark, and a little freaky. It was so fast, and made quite the impact/sound as it happened... but thankfully I stayed on the road and just kept on to the store. What's a girl to do?

I guess it was bound to happen living around these parts. I'm just thankful it wasn't worse and that it was just me in the car.

It's the second time in my life I've had an accident that left the passenger door un-open-able. Hopefully the last :)

It's Only Thursday??

2011-01-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

It's been the shortest of weeks, it's been the longest of weeks. Time seems to be draaaaaging, but at the same time I feel like it's been a really full week.
Let's see, we started the week out getting ready for Bill's birthday which was on Tuesday. Running errands, looking for presents, baking bread, baking cheesecake - which seemed like the most amazing dessert at the time, with homemade whipped cream. We had some kiddos over for a playdate, more cooking, celebrating Bill's birthday, eating the cheesecake, opening presents. Throw in another playdate, and then not feeling quite right. Got home, yep - felt kind of like someone had beat me up. Also, was waiting for my mom to get into town as she had been planning on coming in for a few days. Thank the Lord, that she came, because I was out of commission with a stomach bug/flu thing...not sure exactly what it was. All I know is that same amazing cheesecake -- I don't want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. Today I am recovering, not feeling awesome but feeling better. It's snowing a lot, it feels really chilly, and time is just slowly crawling along. Definitely thankful for family, blankets, and laughs even in the midst of less than desirable circumstances.

At Last

2011-01-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a looong time since my last blog entry. I finally have a minute or 30, that I can guiltlessly spend on blogging. I can't explain what I have been doing, why I have been so busy....but this has just not been a top priority, until now and these nice free minutes.

We had a wonderful time celebrating all of the festivities of Christmas. We spent our time in Michigan visiting both friends and family. The kids got totally off schedule and ate too much candy - I guess that would be true for their parents too! Seriously, what is it about Christmas time that entitles us to eat cookie after cookie, throw in some fudge, Christmas candy, gingerbread this, gingerbread that...? I miss it. I'll be honest. My body certainly doesn't! Thankfully Jillian and I have reconnected for some much needed exercise time.

Bill was off of work for a total of 7 weeks since moving back from Texas. His first day back at work was last Monday and although we miss him we needed the routine and schedule of normal life again!

In his time off, he built these beautiful bookcases in our study!

We continue to delight in our sweet little children, and at other times stand speechless at how sinful the same cute little creatures can really be... clingy, crying, whining, screaming, flailing, outright defiant. Perfect for our sanctification, God working in us and our hearts. Those times of their sin tend to really expose so much of mine!! So humbling, and thankful that God is not speechless and surprised at my sin, only through the blood of Christ. Thank you Lord!

Lets go back to the sweet part: Claire is just a sweet little thing. Obsessed with Elmo. Her favorite phrases are: "I want that", "oh no", and "low-lu" (love you). Sophie is just growing up right along. She is learning how to write some letters. That is fun, I love watching her learn!! She also has a brother, ahem, a 16 year old imaginary brother. His name is Andy, thank you Toy Story 3. Andy sits between Claire and Sophie in the car (thankfully we haven't had to get a van since his addition to our family), he goes on playdates with them. He does NOT like Elmo, Sophie has made that clear. I hate to break it to her, but I am not old enough to have a 16 year old son!

And that is it for now! I'm hoping to make this blogging thing a little more regular again.

Time Flies

2010-11-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that the last time I posted we were getting ready to leave San Antonio, and now here I am sitting on my couch, looking out the window on this rainy Kentucky day! Our time in Texas is just a memory now, but I want to continually reminisce on the sweet moments God provided for us while we were there. Leaving was so difficult, somewhat heartbreaking, but it couldn't have been more of an answer to prayer. It meant that we had treasured our time and relationships there and that God's power in our lives had prevailed so mightily. Thank You Lord!

Leaving was emotional, our road trip was once again miraculous. We made amazing time and our kids did well. Many thanks to several books, Elmo and Beauty & the Beast dvds, leftover Halloween candy and other appeasing snacks. The Lord was really gracious to us. We even made it in less time than anticipated. We had 9 hours of driving each day and only stopped twice each day. I call that a successful road trip.

Upon arriving at our house...we found: a bouquet of flowers, a loaf of pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, a pasta meal to make, a crockpot dinner, and a pantry and refrigerator full of the essentials! We knew we had great friends here, but we were stunned by the love that was poured out on us in a such a practical way. Wow. Really, it was another amazing testimony of God's love and faithfulness. Thank you friends, you know who you are!!!

Since then, we have enjoyed/experienced: unpacking, runny noses, organizing, birthday parties, bowling, family in town, runny noses, thanksgiving, more family in town, shopping for furniture, Christmas decorating, and more runny noses. I think we have entered the land of perpetual runny noses!!! Besides for that, everything has been going well.

We are really thankful this Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1John 3:1

What I'm going to miss

2010-11-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

Holy cow, we are moving in 3 days.

I have to blog about the things I'm going to miss so I can remember it down the road. Otherwise I might forget the name of that amazing bbq restaurant or why I still have a few pounds to lose...(by the way don't judge me that almost all of what I'm going to miss is based around food and shopping, k?)

In no certain order, here goes:
-I'll just get this one over with - SeaWorld. That's an obvious one.

-La Cantera. The nicest outdoor shopping experience a girl can ask for.

-Cooper's, Rudy's. Excellent bbq restaurants. I have never been a huge bbq fan before living here. I mean I ate it, and I liked it, but it wasn't something I craved. That all changed with Texas bbq -- soooo darn delicious. Mmm my mouth is watering even now just thinking about it. They say in college you gain the freshman fifteen, here it's the Texas twenty. So just know it's the bbq (and the next point).

-Mexican food galore! To name a few - pappasito's, mi tierra, tink-a-tako, las palapas. What I love is that there is mexcian food everywhere, and it's pretty darn authentic. For example, homemade flour tortillas that are beyond anything you could ever find in a grocery store. Unless that grocery store is HEB, where they have sweet little ladies making and bagging tortillas right in front of you. It kind of reminds me of Santa's workshop, but instead of toys you get tortillas. Anyway, you can buy warm fresh tortillas that never make it home without first being ripped open in the car and munched on, by parent and children alike. But back to the restaurants, yes they are good. And when you order a chicken or beef taco at one of these places, don't expect anything else. A chicken taco is a taco with chicken in it. This I have learned. Personally I enjoy a few extra toppings so I have to remember to ask for them!

-Target here, Target there. They are everywhere! Seriously you can find a Target at every exit around here. My favorite has been shopping at the Super Target nearby. There is no shortage of shopping here. There are 14 targets and 20 walmarts around san antonio!

-Same goes for Starbucks. Where ever there is a Target, that means there is a Starbucks inside of the store. Every single Target I have been inside of here, there is always a Starbucks. And at every shopping plaza that has a Target (with a Starbucks in it) there is a Starbucks stand alone drive through store as well...just incase you've finished the latte you got in the store and need another while you're driving away. Happens all the time. There are a gazillion Starbucks', but the down side of that is that there are only starbucks. No caribou, no biggby's (which will always be beaners to this MSU girl).

-In all seriousness, San Antonio has been great. It has had a lot of perks, but I will miss the people the most. We have been so blessed to make sweet friends here, and have been loved by a welcoming and caring church body. The love of Christ has manifested itself to us through these people, they have been the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ to us, living it out so well. Sniff sniff. I'm so thankful that we don't have to move to a new place, having to start all over. Although it will be sad to leave, I'm glad we are going to back to something great too. That makes it easier!!

Halloween

2010-11-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Halloween has become so enjoyable since having kids. I really look forward to it, and to our mini tradition that goes with it. It's not a very special tradition, just making apple pie and ordering pizza, but a tradition nonetheless. And who doesn't look forward to homemade apple pie right? (and not having to cook dinner for that matter).

This year we did the whole dinner/dessert/trick or treating thing with our friends, Tom and Janelle, and their little boy Liam. Sophie and Claire adore him. Sophie calls him her little prince. And when I mention going to Liam's house Claire always gets excited! So needless to say, we all had a wonderful time.

The girls were Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Poor Sophie didn't get a say in her costume this year since she already had one hanging up in her closet from dress up play. And Claire's, I got for a $1 at a thrift store. Can't go wrong with that. Liam was a dragon, but a very kind dragon who said thank you after every piece of candy he received! Sophie loved trick or treating as expected. Afterwards she kept saying "i love halloween." She did get tired pretty fast though and once it got dark she was done. I think Claire could have kept going all night, she had a riot. She knew what to do (minus the talking part), though at one point we were at a house and I was holding her little bag, and she demanded her "beh" (bag) so she could move forward with getting candy.

Great time, and now it's over. Time to look forward to moving, Thanksgiving, Christmas, oh my.

Disneyworld

2010-10-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sophie has been asking if we can go to Disneyworld at least once a day lately. I don't even think she fully knows what disneyworld is but she sure wants to go there. Today our conversation went like this:

S: Can we go to disneyworld? I really want to go to disneyworld right now.

Me: Well, we can't go right now because we have to take an airplane to get there.

S: Oh. Can we take an airplane tonight?

Me: No, we can't. Going to disneyworld takes time and planning. It takes money. We have to save up for something like that.

S: Oh...then maybe tomorrow we can go.

Obviously the words time, planning, and money don't register in the mind of a 3 year old very well.

Respectable Sins

2010-10-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

Those of you who read my blog might remember that I set out to read 6, that's right, a whopping 6 books this year. :) I just finished #4. (I do really want to get all 6 in and realize time is running low but I hope I can still pull it off). Anyway, back to book #4. Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges. It is awesome. Not awesome in a nail biting, can't put it down kind of way. Rather, awesome in a heart examining, dead on, life changing kind of way.

This book takes our daily, more acceptable, subtle sins that we experience and puts them under the microscope. It is in no way condemning or harsh. It is merely written to help expose these in our own lives and make us think about how we accept them, justify them, or overlook them.

I have always hated the saying "Do as I say, not as I do." It completely turns me off and immediately I think hypocrite. I think as Christians, we can tend to do that without realizing it. We are fervently opposed to such things as abortion, murder, stealing, adultery, etc., but when it comes to our own hearts we are filthy and don't think twice about it. I think that really taints our witnessing opportunities. Because what is so different about us, besides the fact that we go to church on sundays and maybe a small group or bible study during the week, when the rest of the time, we look the same as everyone else. We watch the same shows, we spend our money the same way, on and on.

So I love this book because it breaks down the more common acceptable/respectable sins we commit. Things like impatience, irritability, anger and weeds of anger, anxiety, worldliness, judgmentalism, envy and jealousy (he even differentiates between the 2), and sins of the tongue among others.

I certainly don't love the fact that I find my heart and attitude in many of these categories of sin, but I do love that God has pierced my little bubble and allowed me to recognize the depth to which I live out some of these, how truly accepted and common they have been in my life. I'm thankful to have read this book. It has made me more aware of my sin, and allowed me to see myself more accurately, according to God's standard, not this world. I am even MORE thankful that God gives his Holy Spirit, His word, and the power of Christ to transform us! So thankful that we don't have to remain in sin, but that we can overcome it. That is freedom in Christ. He gives grace to recognize, repent, and live as a new creations.

Obviously, I am no book critic but I do get excited about great books like this one and can't help but share. So...because I love it so much I would love to get a copy in your hands! Consider this my first ever blog giveaway!! You'll just need to leave a comment to this post and a scripture that God is currently teaching you about/using in your life. I'll pick a winner by Saturday (Oct. 23rd).

Everyday fun

2010-10-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

I think it's fair to say that the old cliche "never a dull moment" is true around here. These girls keeps us laughing all the time.

First, there is Sophie rocking out to Chris Tomlin:

Then, there is Claire and her shoe obsession. She also loves her own shoes, but the obsession comes with BIG shoes. She must like the challenge. By the way, this girl from the age of like 10 months has loved purses and shoes, and already has moments of drama that pale in comparison to what her sister did at that age. Are we in for it or what?

And of course, some storage bin fun because what would a day be without climbing into something that is not meant for that?

Infraction

2010-10-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, my first ever. This morning, on my way to bible study no less, I got pulled over. It stings a little.

For disregarding a stop sign, though in my defense I didn't disregard it, I saw it! I did more of a rolling-stop...a more natural approach to stopping in my opinion. I guess according to the law that is considered slowing down. Apparently you are supposed to cease all movement of the vehicle?? Who knew! Ok, I am being a little sarcastic here.

But really, $265???? That is the same fine that one would pay for going 26-30 miles over the speed limit! I know what I did was wrong, but to put my offense in the same category as going 26-30 miles over the speed limit is a little absurd. Clearly, I am trying to justify here, and gain some sympathy. Any is welcome by the way :) Did I mention this was my first time ever being pulled over, first time getting a ticket???

Life, lately.

2010-10-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, time is going by quickly. We are officially 6 weeks away from departing San Antonio. Remember the song from Mariah Carey..."you've got me feeling emotions...?" That pretty much sums up how I feel right now. I honestly did not expect moving away from here to be in any way difficult or emotional. From the get go I really just wanted to go back to Kentucky. But now... now that we know people, we have relationships here, we're seeing God at work here, we're involved in our church, have a small group, our kids have friends they adore, oh it's hard! But, there is also soooo much excitement to coming back. See what I mean? The 2 pinnacles of emotions - the high and the low are happening at the same time. I guess it was kind of like that when we left last January to come here, but for some reason it seems tougher this time. When we came we didn't know who are friends would be, how we would be spending weekends, at what church we would be worshipping God, etc. and now we have to leave all of that. So bear with me as I am on this little emotional roller coaster. :)

Where was I? Oh yeah, on with life lately...

We are full swing in to our fall routine and thriving. Sophie is still doing ballet, enjoying it and learning more. I really just LOVE watching her and the other girls try to dance. They are precious. Sophie seems to be growing up so much right now. She now refers to us as Mom and Dad (which by the way, I am not the biggest fan of. What happened to endearing terms like mommy & daddy??)

Claire is a toddler. Did you hear that? She is a toddler!!! Sniff sniff...my baby is not really a baby any more. How did she go from being a little roly poly on the carpet to saying "bye dada"? She loves doing sign language, she loves to climb, play with her sister, and snuggle with us. Claire is big on kisses. Who can resist? And then she has her less desirable side, like when she holds her breath while crying and turns blue, screams for now reason every now and then, throws her food...but we love her!

As for us, the adults...we are enjoying teaching the 3 year olds sunday school class together. We are enjoying doing our last outings in San Antonio. Tonight we are going to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Pappasito's, with one of our favorite couples from here! We're also trying to get a little taste of fall. We went to a "pumpkin patch" yesterday. Ummm, yeah. It's not quite real fall here, but that's ok. It has gotten cooler here. It gets down to about 60 degrees at night. It is very refreshing. This morning as I went for a run I was actually cold!!! Imagine that!

Anyway, that sums things up around here!

The SIV

2010-09-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

Here is Sophie saying a few of her memory verses, don't mind the pumpkin muffin that is smeared all over her face. I had a video of her saying 5 of her memory verses with a clean face even, but silly blogger wouldn't have it!

Better than Ballet

2010-09-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

With just over 2 months left in San Antonio, there are a lot of things that I am going to miss, (all of which I will be sure to blog about for my memory's sake). Nearing the top of that list though, is something that I just learned about last week. It is called Ballet Gloria. It is a ministry for children that incorporates dance and worshiping God and their theme is dancing for an audience of one. It is held at Oak Hills Church which is Max Lucado's church. It is just a precious ministry, and on top of that it is FREE. Awesome. Who doesn't appreciate that?
Today was Sophie's first class. It was super cute and her teacher was so sweet. I was not sure how she would do at all ...but she hung in there and tried to follow along as best as a short attention spanned 3 year old can. She enjoyed most of it but a couple of times fell and was not happy about that. Poor thing, I think she has inherited my physical skills, or better said - limitations. Afterwards she told me that her legs were sore because she did a lot of exercise. When we got home she was happy to show her daddy a demi plie and before bed tonight she asked if we could go back tomorrow. So even though her legs were sore and she got some boo-boo's, I think overall she had a great time. I know I did just watching her! And let me tell you - they don't mess around with memory verses! This was their memory verse for the 3 & 4 year olds today:
Matthew 28: 1-2
"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it."
Sophie couldn't get over the earthquake part, she kept asking about earthquakes for the rest of the night! Anyway, here is a little picture of our ballerina!

More Photos!

2010-09-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we had our family pictures taken. It was mostly fun, minus Sophie inappropriately throwing a fit during the middle of it, not wanting her picture taken, getting bribed with ice cream and still really did not cooperate. Although we were NOT laughing while she was being completely defiant, it will be a good story to tell her when she's older and the pictures of her crying are priceless. Here are some of our favorites. Oh and all of these are courtesy of Kate L Photography - I highly recommend her for anyone in the San Antonio area - she is awesome!

Body & Food

2010-09-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

I can't exactly pin point when it happened, but somewhere in these last few years my body has decided to strike against the food freedoms I so once loved. You know, a cookie every day, a donut, a latte, chocolate, cheesecake, you name it I ate it - without shame or feeling like it was going to settle anywhere.
Well, those days have bid me farewell. Maybe it had something to do with having kids. I just realized that for the past 4 years since November of 2006 I have either been pregnant or nursing every fall. Anyway, somewhere between 2 pregnancies, lots of indulging and feasting on any food at any time, 2 c-sections and 1 year later - things just aren't the same! I actually have to watch what I eat. I have to practice self-control. I exercise more regularly now than before but I still have a flabby belly, and I'm NOT pregnant. I weigh the same as I used to, but things just did not settle where they should have. Really they shouldn't have settled at all! And I so crave dessert. I love sweet things. I hate sweet things for the same reason. I love to bake, but I hate that whatever dessert I bake tempts me like satan to eat it. Just a bite, just another little bite, and by the time dinner rolls around it's half gone and I was the only one who ate it!
Of course there is a balance, I want to be healthy but I also want to enjoy the flavors of this life. I just need to halt and control how much enjoying I do. One piece is probably ok, half a cake is probably not. And I am completely jealous of those beautiful ladies that bounce back from having babies in like 2 months and look like nothing ever happened to their bodies. Grrr.
And not only I am concerned about how MUCH I am eating, but also what I am eating and feeding my family. It is so scary to think how manipulative and political our food has become. Well probably not the food itself, but the industry behind it. All of the GMO's, bad industry practices, pesticides, etc., We are definitely trying to use wisdom here with how much to pay attention to all of that and how much to oversee. But in all this...I cling to:
"It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Matthew 15:11
I should definitely be spending more of my time contemplating that and applying it in my life and heart.

august in pictures

2010-09-02T05:21:00.000-07:00

enjoying our time in michigan

some family fun and of course yummy food to enjoy

princess sophie - she is totally into princesses these days!

she just likes to smile, climb & sit in places that aren't meant for it

the girls with nana & papa at seaworld

how do you like claire's double chin? we call her our garbage disposal, the girl does not stop eating! :)
the girls really love each other and have been playing together really well lately...so much so that sophie won't go to her room, or go to sleep without claire.

Ramble On

2010-08-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

In Led Zeppelin fashion, here i go:

Tonight I made seared rainbow trout, roasted asparagus, quinoa tabouleh, and sweet potato fries for dinner. And then I made tapioca pudding, and ate it. It goes against everything I believe...dessert/dairy/fat. It ruined my healthy dinner. Now I feel bloated and disgusted thinking about Proverbs 23:2 "and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony"....but I press on.

It goes without saying, but I can't believe it is the end of August. That means t-less than 3 months until we are back in Kentucky. I am trying not to get too excited but thoughts of going back take over sometime. I picture us playing in the backyard, out front chatting with neighbors, wearing coats, listening to our wildly enthusiastic pastor, using my kitchenaid mixer (AHH the excitement is boiling), getting out the crock pot, having more than one cookie sheet....oh I could go on but I will stop. Really, we are enjoying our time here.

So back to it being the end of August. August was a busy and fun month. I traveled with the girls to Michigan for a week to visit my family. One of my cousins who lives in Poland was in town so it was great to see him as it had been 6 years since I last saw him. It was a great family visit, it seemed like most days we were hanging out with family here or there. We returned on a Tuesday and on Wednesday morning Bill's mom arrived to spend a week with us here. Bill's dad joined us for the weekend. Props to my in-laws for wanting to come to Texas in late August! It was HOT.

We spent 2 days doing some short road trips to visit a couple of unique towns. One was Fredericksburg, and the other Bandera. Bandera is the self proclaimed cowboy capital of texas, or maybe the world? I don't know. The lunches we had were great, the towns were ok...kind of rustic/ghost town-ish/cowboy-esque...but overall it was good to see something other than a walmart or target at every exit on the highway. The nicest parts of our trips were the drives. We took some scenic routes and they did not disappoint! Beautiful hills, a sparkling bright blue lake, and more really surprising scenic hills. Who knew that Texas had such beautiful natural landscapes? Sophie also got to have her first "sleep over" with Nana and Papa in their hotel. She got to sleep on the sofa bed and boy was she excited about that. So excited, she wanted to go the following night. And every time we drive by that hotel - she fondly reminisces, half excited and half sad "Look, Nana & Papa's hotel!" We also took them to SeaWorld. Will I ever write a post that doesn't include seaworld in it? It was fun, but it was hot. And quite honestly I've had my fill. The crowds are insane, people flock that place like it is a gold mine. I say that though knowing we will probably go just one more time before the water park closes for good.

So anyway, that was August. We're now moving on into our fall schedule. I love how a new season can bring a fresh schedule and some new structure into our weeks. I am looking forward to it, and hoping not to get jealous of places that will actually have a real fall season.

3 Years

2010-07-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

Bill and I were reminiscing just the other night about the arrival of our first baby. And in the spirit of sharing birth stories, here goes a summary of the first one:

Waiting, seemed like most of what I was doing, along with walking, spicy food, etc., to get this party started. I think it was the night before I went into labor that Bill and I were out for a walk. A man was watering his lawn, stopped, looked at us and yelled out: you must be having twins! No, but thanks for inquiring. This could get me going on a whole other topic about what not to say to emotionally unstable, overdue pregnant women, but I'll save that for another time perhaps. Anyway, later that night I did end up feeling some regular contractions, and by 3am they were actually somewhat painful. Later in the morning there were definite signs that this could be it (which for the sake of not being gross - I'll leave out). One of my favorite memories from that morning was telling Bill around 7am that I thought I was in labor. His response was a calm ok, well I'll go to work and you call me if something happens. Hello!?!?!? I just told you I was in labor!!!!! And you're going to work???? I didn't say any of that, I just thought it. So he went to work, I called almost immediately and within an hour and a half of leaving he was home. :)

I had an appointment scheduled that day for a non-stress test , so I called the doctor and told them I thought I was in labor and asked if I still needed to come in for the test. They told me yes so they could check me just to make sure it was labor. Why was no one believing me???

I was so excited to get to the doctor's office to see just how much progress I had made. Up until this point I had been pretty much 0 cm dilated, and like 50% effaced. I was just positively sure that after almost 12 hours of contractions, them getting closer together and becoming really painful, that I would have been at least 4 cm by the time we got to the doc's office. On our way there we even dropped off a meal at a friend's house - i remember being extremely uncomfortable in the car! Anyway, we got there, they hooked me up to the contraction machine (?) to confirm, that yes I was having painful contractions. Then came the moment of finding out how much progress I had made (drum roll please)... = 1cm. I was not a happy mama to be with that news. 1cm??

Because my contractions were in fact so strong, they sent us to the hospital. My goal had been to do this thing naturally. I even had a birth plan. We read the Bradley book. HA! That was all thrown out the window. After laboring naturally for most of the day and still making NOOOO progress (at one point the nurse told me I was at "1 and a wiggle" I cried. All of this hard work and nothing was happening! So it was time for the epidural and breaking my water. This happened at night, and by the next morning I had fully dilated! Other highlights from that evening - having a vein popped on my hand by a nurse trying to get the IV needle in, having an epidural was much less painful than contractions, and shaking all night from the IV flowing through me. Not to mention zero sleep since 3am on Monday, and now it was Tuesday morning at 8am. I felt good though. I was ready to push! 2 hours of pushing and again no progress. The doc told me I had to have a c-section. Cried again. 50 minutes later Sophie was born via c-section. The doctor then took out my uterus and said it was abnormal, showed it to other doctors there, said I would NEVER have delivered naturally. I was very thankful to have had a c-section. (Side note though - when I had my c-section with Claire I asked a different dr to check out my uterus to see if it was abnormal, and she said that it was perfectly normal, and the rest of the staff confirmed that it was the doctor who had delivered Sophie, who was in fact, abnormal). :)

So there she was, this bloody, wrinkly, scrunched face, long fingered baby in my arms. Mixed emotions. I knew my life would be changed forever. Having this child exposed so much of my sinful heart. Selfishness, impatience, anger...I could go on. Having this child also brought so much joy, grace, and grew me in my love for God who gave up His precious, perfect son for me. I had a friend whose sweet baby had died when she was just 18 days old, earlier that summer. I remember when Sophie was 18 days, just holding her, crying and weeping, so thankful to have had her for that long. Oh how I treasured having her for 18 days. And now how I treasure having her for 3 years. Happy birthday to my princess!

Bag Lady

2010-07-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

The bag lady loves her bags, especially this little denim tote. The bag lady is also known as Danger C, Mad Woman, C-bear, and sometimes we refer to her as Claire. :) She is developing quite a little personality. It has been so fun to watch. Soooo different from her big sis. She can be quite feisty at times, a little firecracker. She does not say many words. She blabs in her own language, says Hi & Bye well, attempts other words but they are attempts at best. She is signing well - finally! She is a very very busy little lady, always on the go. Happy most of the time. She LOVES to eat. Sometimes she prefers her food off of the floor (the food she has thrown there). We don't encourage that of course but it does happen. She is done with her paci. Some of you may remember my struggle with Sophie and the paci. Well, this time it was extremely different! I was not looking forward to taking it away from her because of my past experience, BUT it was so easy with Claire! She didn't even cry the first few times it was gone. Of course, a few days later she did have some stretches of crying herself to sleep which I guess could have been because she was missing her paci, but she is so over it now. Hurray! We love her, the sweet little joy that she is!

Eventful

2010-07-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

Per typical weekend, it was eventful. Saturday morning we went to the Natural Wildlife Ranch Safari. We took the kids out of their car seats, let them come to the front seat, rolled down the windows and drove at dashing speeds of 5mph through 4 miles of a "safari." We fed animals, had zebras stick their heads into our car, enjoyed (sort of) a petting zoo at the end. We mostly loved it, except Sophie who got a little freaked out by the zebras' heads and threw herself into the back seat and demanded we head home right away. Nor was she a fan of the petting zoo. She was holding a white paper bag of feed, and a certain goat was determined to get it. All of the little goats wanted nothing to do with the actual food, just the white paper bags we were holding. Anyway, Sophie did not enjoy the goat approaching her therefore making her want to head home all the more! Today she did say she liked the safari, so hopefully the bad memories have faded!

Upon coming home, we were called by our bank to notify us that someone had gotten my debit card info and charged oodles of mula to our account. Thankfully, the bank caught site of it as irregular activity and it should all work out fine, but scary none the less. Oh this world we live in!

And lastly, I had a great revelation about the foods our family consumes. I've always been interested in eating healthy but somewhere between moving, having babies, raising babies, moving again -- it never really sprung up as urgent to my mind and we've never had a total food makeover. I try to buy some organic items, make "healthy" meals, be mindful of the budget, and aware of God's sovereignty over our bodies and lives. I put a ban on high fructose corn syrup in our house (that means even ritz whole wheat crackers are a gonner.) And, I continue to read some undeniable things about dairy, meat, conventional produce and can't help but think that maybe we are consuming way too much bad stuff. So, we are just going to buy a farm, make everything ourselves and eat berries, nuts and seeds. Maybe in heaven. For now, rather than obsessing over it, I am first going to trust God, and second try to weed out as much bad stuff as can be managed. For example, my kids love dairy. In all forms - cheese, milk, yogurt, ice cream. But I have girls, and the studies that are out there on girls reaching puberty faster and sooner scare the padoodles out of me. That is just one reason we are going to decrease our dairy intake. It's going to be easy for Bill and I but the girls are going to have a cow (heehee) because they are such lovers of the stuff! We'll see how it goes.

That's all the ranting for now. Surely there will be more to come.

dancin' fool

2010-07-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

family adventures

2010-07-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

We have had many adventures lately; big and small, some fun some not, some right here in our home and some a road trip away. In pictures:

Rockport for the 4th! Salt water and fireworks:

the perfect way to road trip

hotel bed all to herself! she was thrilled

we called her the fearless beach babe - she LOVED it!

waiting for the fireworks - we all loved that!

Our baking adventures: cobblers, muffins galore, summer is sweet!

fresh blueberries and peaches=delicious cobbler

sophie always does the dry mixing and spoon licking when we bake :)

Other adventures have included driving around exploring parts of San Antonio we haven't seen yet, a saturday afternoon spent at a family fun center - picture lots of bouncy blow up things, rock walls, arcade, etc. they even had lazy boys for the parents :)

and what would our adventures be without trips to seaworld?

Good News

2010-06-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

Like most people, I like to make a list of goals/resolutions at the beginning of each year. It's always nice...err...it's interesting to look back and see your progress, or lack there of. One of my goals was to read more. And I don't mean more blogs, news pages or cooking magazines. I'm already "good" at that. I mean books. The kind you have to commit more than 5 minutes to. I have to confess, I've never been much of a reader. In high school I was always in the advanced or AP English classes, but I'm pretty certain that I never actually read an entire book. Literature is not my thing. I'm what you call, a good skimmer. BUT, being a skimmer has no permanent value. I'm also very very good at starting books, and... that's it.

And cozying up with a good book? Usually my idea of cozying up with a good book turns into a cozy nap. Even if the book I am reading is good I still have a hard time staying awake during all of it! Terrible I know. And would you believe that I married someone who LOVES to read? In the words of Lloyd Christmas, I am one pathetic loser. So back to my goal. My goal was to read 6 books this year. To some of you that sounds pathetic. For me, a big deal! I can now say I have successfully finished 1 book. Never mind that the year is half over. One. Unless you count the Growing Kids God's Way workbook? No. Ok. I do devoutly read the bible, but I can't say I've finished that this year, nor will I likely.

So the book I just finished (which has taken me a couple of months as I left it on an airplane and had to reorder - I do hope it blessed someone!)....is called Good News for Those Trying Harder by Alan Kraft. I loved it and will likely read it again! It was so insightful and awakening to why we just don't feel like we're living the Christian life right...because most of the time we are focused on ourselves and what we can do, not on Jesus. The picture on the front is perfect too - a hamster in a spinning wheel working hard and getting nowhere. I think every page was filled with Godly wisdom & excellent examples. It was an easy read, and really just an honest and sincere book, gently convicting the wayward heart. If you are looking for something worthwhile to read, read this!

Although I didn't specify what type of genre my 6 books had to be, I do want to read all Christian books, at least while my goal is only 6. If I am going to take the time to read (which is a big deal for me) then I want them to enrich my life in a way that grows me in my relationship with the Lord. I already have so many distractions or should i say- am easily distracted. My attention span is just barely more than that of my almost 3 year old. I think solid times of reading will help in that area too!

On to my next book, the Unexpected Journey. Oh, and I have been summoned to read Total Money Makeover...thanks Bill! :)

a night out

2010-06-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're probably thinking, oh how wonderful - a night out for them. But oh noooo, no, no. A good learning experience though.

Let's start out by saying that there are some good restaurants around here. GREAT barbeque. The best is almost an hour away from where we live. Coopers, it's called Coopers and it is amazing TX BBQ. They even have a catchy jingle.

Bill had called me around 4pm and had mentioned that his boss was going to Coopers. Ooh I thought and said, can we go? Half joking because it was a wednesday night after all, and it was far away, but half salivating over the tastiest beef ribs and the creamiest of potato salads I had ever tasted. Mmm. At about 4:30pm Bill called back and said, do you really want go? Why yes, I do want to go. Oh did I mention that a trip to Coopers also means a trip to the Prime Outlets where one of my favorite retailers, Jcrew, rents space?

Me: Do you think it's wisdom to go? I mean it is wednesday, you have to work tomorrow...but it's not like the girls and I have any plans for tomorrow, we're practically on vacation. Plus we're the parents, the kids can be flexible around our plans! Yeah.

Bill: Yeah, I think it will be fine.

So as you can tell, so far we have been persuaded by the lusts of gluttony & shopping. While we were driving we should have known it was going to be a bad night because Claire spent most of the car ride practicing her high pitched squeals. The kind that actually pain your ear drums and make you cringe. She proceeded to do exactly that while we were in the restaurant eating. We tried all sorts of things to distract her; food, toys, cell phones, water, etc.. Nothing worked. We left in a hurry. We got looks, all sorts of looks on the way out. I tried my best to half-smile and walk out with some dignity and had wished I was wearing a t-shirt that read: I'm not a bad parent, really.

For some reason we still thought it was a good idea to head to the outlet shops. And I had fun. We bought some pj's for the girls (on clearance!) and I managed to find a couple of things. I thought it was time well spent :)

The drive home proved to be a disaster. We thought Claire would just conk out but rather she took turns between screaming and crying. She was so over exhausted that she couldn't even fall asleep! An hour later we arrived at home at 10pm, and that is when Sophie took her turn at whining before bed. It was a full night. We were all exhausted.

Thankfully we made it home, all alive. The girls went to bed & slept in the next morning. Even I got to sleep in some. Poor Bill actually had to get up and go to work. Lesson learned here. We are crazy, our kids are crazier. Don't take them out to a restaurant an hour away (just because you're salivating over the food) on a Wednesday night!!!

The Last Few Weeks

2010-06-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

It has been busy around here! A week after returning from Boston, we had some good friends make a stop in San Antonio to see us. We had such a great visit with them. Sophie and Claire adored their son Brody!

Claire really wanted to hold Brody's hand :)

The week following included a 5 nights of VBS at our church here. I must confess I was a little reluctant to go through an entire week of it (especially because it was at night time) and wondering if I had made a mistake by signing up to volunteer. Claire screamed the entire first night in the nursery, most of the second as well...but by God's great grace, we all adjusted to the schedule. Not only did we adjust, but it was a true blessing to be a part of it, to even have the opportunity to plant seeds in the lives of little ones. Sophie has still been asking this week if we're going to VBS :).

Other than VBS, friends in town, the only other news is that it's hot here! For real, hot. So in honor of hotness, we've spent a lot of time at...you guessed it - SeaWorld! Their water park is awesome!! We even spent some time there on Father's Day. Sophie and Claire have such a great daddy! Although he could have gone off to play golf or something - he chose to spend the afternoon splashing around a toddler pool with his family. That's is just one reason he's great, there are countless others!

East Coast Trip

2010-06-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

May was a busy month for us! Our last week of May was spent on the east coast visiting Bill's family. We were fortunate enough to see almost all of his extended family which also meant a lot of time spent in the car. From Boston we drove to Connecticut to visit Bill's grandparents & aunt, the girls had a great time there. We spent Friday relaxing in Boston which was also my 29th (eeek) birthday. It was a beautiful day that included starbucks, a walk, girls playing at a pretty park, pedicure, dinner with more family, and an amazing chocolate cake! Not to mention a really great birthday present from Bill's parents that won't be used until we return to Ky, but I am anxiously waiting to use my new sewing machine when I get back there!!!

For the weekend we went to Cape Cod. Ahhh, Cape Cod. I loved it. Not to sound like a travel magazine but it just has such a nice feel to it. You're on the coast, yet there are luscious trees everywhere, beautiful flowers, beaches, quaint shops, clam chowdah, oysters, lobsters -- it's just so... east-coasty. (I know, I have a way with words right?) I had been there once before but only for a day visit, so this was such a nice way to spend the weekend. Especially because we were there to celebrate Bill's grandmother's 95th birthday. It was a wonderful celebration, and the rest of the weekend was just as nice. It is always great to spend time with family that we don't see often.

We spent the last couple of days back at Bill's parents home in Boston. It was a really wonderful trip. Great people, great place to visit - when do we go back??? Just kidding. Texas is great. It has been uber hot since we've been back but I have to say I'm adjusting well to the increase in heat. That's probably because I've been inside most of the time though so it may not count.

Little Hottie's First Birthday

2010-05-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'll just go ahead and spare you all of the sappiness that comes with realizing your baby is now 1...most of you probably know the feeling :)

So let's just move on to Claire and her birthday. She woke up at 1 am with a 104.3 fever (hence the little hottie)...now there's a way to ring in your first birthday, and scare your mommy! After a nice bath, milk and some tylenol, she went back to sleep and slept until 7:30. We had planned to have a party for her that morning which needless to say got canceled! Instead we partied on over to the urgent care clinic where she was diagnosed with an ear infection. She was a trooper through it all and still managed to smile most of the day. We took a little rendezvous to SeaWorld that evening, just the 4 of us, and saw Claire's favorite show, Azul. She loves it -probably because she sounds just like the beluga whales in the show. Maybe that's how she learned, and how she justifies her high pitched screaming :) She slept perfectly through the night the next night and woke up feeling great. Praise God for that.

Some stats/fun notes on our 1 year old:

-She's a little over 21 lbs, hovering around the 50th percentile for most things.

-She been walking for a while now! Bill and I are always amazed at her balance - for such a little thing...

-She says mama, dada, does a lot of other babbling but has no real desire to say any other words yet.

-She's a foodie! She loves to eat (which I am so thankful for and hope it continues). She joyfully ate tilapia and asparagus last night, need I say more?

-She has 7 teeth, 4 less than her sister had at this age!

-We love her and are so blessed to have her in our family!

And a year in pictures:

Way Behind

2010-05-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

I enjoy blogging, and I enjoy blogging breaks as can be seen by my most recent blogging hiatus. But here I am - ready to blog again!
And here it is, the middle of May. I cannot believe this month is already more than half over. This also means that our time in San Antonio is half over. Wow. It has been a good 5.5 months here, I feel a lot more settled now than I did a few months ago, and am really enjoying day to day life. We've had a lot of wonderful family moments together, taking the time to do things we wouldn't likely have done back home...at least not as often as we are here. I do look forward to going back to Kentucky, to our friends there, our church there, and can I mention my dishwasher? I really hate this one in the apartment! :) And having a house again will be nice. A lot of things will be nice! Though I have certainly learned that I can get by on a lot less here...like a set of 6 plates/cups/forks/etc., 2 frying pans, I could go on but pretty much minimal everything. Don't get me wrong, we haven't exactly been kicked to the curb living out of a tent or anything... BUT it has been a change going from a house to an apartment.
Onward. The girls are great. Claire seems to be transitioning to 1 nap now which is MUCH earlier than it was with Sophie. However, she makes up for it at night, sleeping over 12 hours! She's walking like a pro. And Sophie...oh Sophie, she is quite the character. Funny at times, thinking she's 25 at times, and a little scoundrel at times. She consistently talks about being married to a specific boy, has babies, her babies have an Auntie, Auntie Claire. Her imagination is quite... umm...imaginative! She told me her kids were 2 years old so I asked her when their birthdays were and she said, "I don't remember." Although it is cute I think we might have to do some reigning in on the imagination as it's obvious she is confusing imaginative play with not telling the truth.

She has a few funny words I have to record here so that I remember down the road. Hamburger is hangabuh, hospital is hostibul, chapstick is chapskick. Love it. She is pretty much done with napping. :( Some days I try to put her down but she just plays in there for a while and that's it! Just earlier today I went to check on the girls during nap time and found Sophie with all of her "kids" lined up on her bed doing self control time. I chuckled.

A couple of weeks ago the girls and I went to Michigan to visit my family. It was a great time. My brother and I went to a Red Wings playoff game. It happened to be the only game in that series that they won, and it was the BEST game. We had so much fun. The girls enjoyed the visit with family too. We even had a little early birthday party for Claire. It was great! Now we look forward to traveling again and heading to see Bill's family on the East Coast

Sophie with cousin Nick

. and the little bear

First steps & Mommy's Little Helper

2010-04-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of quick videos of Claire and her new skill of walking! She took her first steps on Saturday, 5 days shy of 11 months. At her age Sophie was just beginning to crawl. Isn't that funny? That just reminds that all babies really ARE different, no need to fret. I wish I would have listened when I got that advice about 2 years ago....it would have saved me from too much wasted time worrying. :)

Anyway, here's the little lady.

Our other wonderful little lady is growing, absorbing so much, loving and serving us! Get this, she puts groceries away without me asking her to. She just picks up a bag that is almost her size, trudges it over to the kitchen, and off she goes putting things away where every they belong. She loves it and gets excited to do it too! I never expected my 2.75 year old to put groceries away but I sure am thankful for such great help.
Also, yesterday I was folding laundry and heard a kitchen drawer open. I figured Sophie was taking kitchen towels out so without looking I told her not to take them out. Then I glanced over only to find her putting freshly folded kitchen towels away. I said: "Wow, Sophie thank you." She replied: "You're welcome, that makes you happy." I almost started crying. It was so sweet.
She seems to be growing and maturing so much lately. She has had less tantrums, has been more patient, kinder, and more obedient. Bill and I have been taking a parenting class (Growing Kids God's Way) and we have definitely seen fruit from implementing godly concepts into our parenting, but I'm more confident that God has been tremendously gracious to us.

Strawberries Galore

2010-04-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent the day in Poteet, TX. Poteet is famous for their strawberries. Well, famous around here anyway. And once a year they celebrate their strawberry-ness by having a huge festival. They call it the Poteet Strawberry Festival. Fitting, right?

It was quite the celebration full of fun, food, and no shortage of carnival...umm...carnival related things and people. We had fun. Sophie went on what she called roller coasters - mind you they were the "baby rides." Boy, she had fun. She went from one to the next, asking if she could go again, jumping up and down in lines asking if it was her turn. Completely beside herself with excitement! She didn't want to leave. Thankfully there was no tantrum upon our departure because we told her that when we got home she could see all of the pictures from the festival of her riding the "roller coasters." As soon as we got home she did just that. She looked at them over and over and over again. She giggled with excitement as she reminisced on the fun she had. And she did it again this morning. Needless to say, a great time!

Oh, and did I mention we came home with like 20 lbs of strawberries? Feel free to send me your favorite strawberry recipes :) especially for jam!

Happy Easter 2010

2010-04-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

Basket O' Fun

2010-04-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

Who needs toys, really?

A walk in the park

2010-04-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, seriously as I am getting to write this blog - I have spent 45 minutes trying to get used to the new blogger templates and all of that. They're great, but I am slow so now I am going to spend the last of my free minutes actually typing a blog! Did anyone catch in there me running out of patience, one child whining and another waking up? Just checking.... :)

Last week we went to a park near our home, where we often go to play, but this time it was extra special because we took a walk around the duck pond and saw so many wonderful things:

Turtles:

Ducks:

Cute kids & playtime fun:

That One

2010-03-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

At least once each day I think about whether or not we will have more kids...so the other day I decided to ask Sophie her opinion.

Me: "Sophie, would you like to have more brothers or sisters?"

Sophie's very matter of fact response: "No, I just want that one." (as she points to Claire like she's picking out a piece of meat at the deli counter)

9 Months and Then Some

2010-03-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

I had all intentions of blogging about Claire's 9 month milestone when she actually turned 9 months, but somewhere between sicknesses, family visits, and every day life we are now a few short days from her turning 10 months. Go figure. Praise God that she is a healthy and growing baby. And I say that with full gratitude to God because lately it seems like I have seen or heard of a lot of suffering. Whether it is listening to a sermon on suffering, hearing about someone suffering, following the blog of a family in the midst of losing a baby or a mother - it is inevitably everywhere as we live in this sin cursed world. So I am thankful for God's grace of health in our lives at this time because it will not likely always be so.

So Claire, almost 10 months, went from little peanut to little chubbers. She weighed 18.5 lbs at her last visit and is now even in the 50th percentile for height! She has been crawling for a while now, pulls herself up, will even walk from her little activity table to a chair (holding on of course). She loves to crawl in spaces that are not all that conducive for crawling - like the exersaucer, under a coffee table, or under the seat of a kitchen chair which she always gets stuck in but always goes back for more. So much for the "if they do it once they won't do it again" theory. She continues to put everything in her mouth. Everything. She loves her table foods and I'm pretty certain she could just eat all day long. I am going to enjoy this phase of her eating well. I pray it lasts so that we won't have 2 picky eaters! She really is our sweet, precious blue eyed baby!

Speaking of our picky eater, she is funny as ever, dramatic as ever, growing little girl. The other week I asked her how old she would be on her next birthday and she told me "seventeen". I almost started crying. That will all come too soon! Tonight she told me that she just wanted to make farts on the toilet. Oh... dear... That comes from the Logozzo side by the way. :) There are some positive things to tell too of course - like her drawing skills. I may be a little biased here, but she can draw people!!! People with hair, and eyes, a mouth, and sometimes even an ear or 2. I'm impressed! She is also currently obsessed with sea animals. I think going to Sea World has something to do with that. Her current favorite song is Baby Beluga and if you ask her what her favorite whale is she will tell you very enthusiastically -- A KILLER WHALE!!!
Sophie's art:

A couple of weeks ago, Bill got Sophie flowers. It was super sweet and she loved them! Getting her to take a picture with them was another story - she HATES getting her picture taken, but we managed one.

Bill and I are doing well too. We've really been enjoying getting to know people at our new church here in San Antonio. God has blessed us with some new friendships, a parenting class & more. Bill's job is busy and he loves the work he is doing. And yes, we still love Toyota even with all of the craziness lately! I have been really enjoying routine lately. I like...well...normal things - cooking, shopping, play dates, working out, consistent times of Bible reading and prayer. Good things. Blessings. Thank you Lord.

Family Visit

2010-03-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

Last week my mom and brother flew in to enjoy a long weekend with us. We had a great time and did a lot of fun things!

Saturday: Corpus Christi
We rented a van for the weekend (which was waaaay convenient I admit) and drove about 2.5 hours south to visit the Gulf of Mexico. It turned out to be a gorgeous day - we all enjoyed dipping our feet in the sand & water, delicious ice cream, and a good dose of vitamin D!

Sunday: SeaWorld
We live really close to SeaWorld so I have been anticipating its opening day. Sophie has been talking about SeaWorld and Shamu for a while now too...to the point where each day she would ask things like: Is Seaworld open yet? When is Shamu's birthday? And even "does shamu wear underwear?" Needless to say, she was excited about going to SeaWorld!
So we went, and we all surprisingly had a great time! I was actually a little shocked at how entertaining it had turned out to be. The shows were great, there was a play area for younger kids, and Sophie went on her first roller coaster -- the shamu express! She was excited to go on it, but lets just say that she wasn't interested in going again afterwards. We ended up purchasing a season pass to SeaWorld and I am excited to make frequent visits there. I hear that they have a great water play area for kids once it gets hot....and here it will be hot before we know it!

Bill and Sophie waiting in line for the Shamu Express :)

Monday: River Walk
Monday we spent a relaxing afternoon in downtown San Antonio...sipping coffee at starbucks, strolling along the paths of the riverwalk, and enjoying some good mexican cuisine! And Tuesday they left :(

Here's a random pic of Sophie sporting my mom's curlers - cute eh?

Now don't you want to come visit? ? :)

Little Helper

2010-03-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

Claire was sick last week, and I mean sick! 104 degree fevers, cranky, snotty, you name it. It was a bit rough for all of us (not to mention mommy was sick too). I certainly feel more compassion for families who deal with sick kiddos. Who knew a simple ear infection or virus could be so debilitating? Not to mention cutting some new teeth too :) Sophie never really got too sick as a baby so this was my first go at it. I pray it won't happen again for a while!

Thankfully I had a little help from Sophie. Look at her mommy-like skills in feeding her sister!

The All Encompassing

2010-02-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

Even ordinary days have their excitement. Here is some of ours:

First Wave:
Claire started waving the other week. She also started full out moving. Now her favorite activity is eyeing something on the carpet that doesn't look like it should be there (aka crumbs, fuzz, what have you), booking for it and tasting it. Last night I found a piece of carpet fuzz in her mouth, it was so gross!

This week she has been sick, and not a trooper about it either. I think she is on the mend thankfully. Now it looks like it is Mommy and Daddy's turn to be sick. Oh well, at least it is a weekend and we can be sick together!

The Rodeo:
After almost an entire week of rain last week, we ventured to the San Antonio Stock and Rodeo Show on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was...a glorified 4-H fair. We had fun. It was a great day to be outside, Sophie loved all the animals. Did I mention that I've never seen so many pick up trucks in one place before? Never. Also my favorite reptile was on display with an exhibit called "Snakes, Snakes, and More Snakes"! If you know me, you can imagine my excitement... Can you believe my disgust when Sophie actually asked to see them, twice? Even though moments earlier when I was taking her to the potty she had just finished telling me how she thought snakes were yucky. Bill was the lucky one to take her to them. I was just freaked out enough by being in the same building as them.

This is what Claire thought of the whole thing:

Sophie at the petting zoo

When I asked Sophie what her favorite part of the rodeo was, she told me her favorite part was getting a sticker. Never mind the animals, or ice cream....kids!

Paczki:
And who could forget Paczki Day earlier this week? Some of you may know it as Fat Tuesday. Incase you are unfamiliar with beautiful paczki tradition, here is a little blurb. It is my favorite day to celebrate my heritage, or at least Polish food. Anyway, the excitement brewed on Paczki Day Eve. I started googling bakeries in the area that I could call or go to in the morning. And the morning came, and so did a lot of phone calls in which I heard things like "what?", "no, we don't even make those", "huh?". Yep, I didn't expect such rejection! I think I forgot that I was in San Antonio, a city not exactly heavily populated with Poles. So, what's a Polish girl to do? Well, a really motivated girl would have made those. I took the road more traveled, and made an easier Polish fried treat to get me through the day. Chrusciki (angel wings)- basically a crispy fried dough with powdered sugar sprinkled atop. Delicious. Not quite paczki, but I will save that project for another day! By the way, I can say that even the paczki in Hamtramck do not comapre to a homemade one. My grandma makes the BEST paczki.

my chrusciki

Sun where are you?

2010-02-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

I'd like to say that lately we've been soaking up beautiful weather and playing outside - but since it's been raining on and on and on...i'll just share some indoor randomness from the last couple of weeks:

First story: I'll start out by saying that since Sophie has been sleeping in a big girl bed she has gotten out of it one time. And it was the very first time I put her in it, and she has not done it since. That was back in April. On to the story. Right after Bill left for work this morning I decided to jump in the shower before the girls woke up. I took my shower, and almost immediately after I turned the shower off, the door knob to the bathroom door started to slowly turn. That gave me just enough time to stop breathing and start playing the horror music in my head. Then I saw a little arm poke through and was greeted by a nonchalant Hi Mommy. I don't think she realized that she had almost killed me on the spot! I think I will be sleeping with a monitor next to my ear as long as there are kids in the house so that I won't have any surprises like that in the middle of the night!

Potty Training=check! Finally, finally, we have made potty progress! Hurray. #1 that is, as #2 has been tackled for months now. Sophie is doing great so far and I hope it keeps up. It is sooooo nice not to have to change enormous & bulky diapers all day long. Of course she is still in them at night, but 1 diaper sure beats a lot :) Speaking of potty things...it reminds me of a question I have -- Sophie insists on having all of her clothes off for going #2 - any thoughts/advice/anything? I just don't get it.

Claire is rocking on all fours. And although not quite crawling she is very good at doing side planks, and mysteriously getting herself to wherever she shouldn't be. It is amazing the difference in these 2 children of ours. At this age Sophie hadn't even rolled over yet (she did the day she turned 9 months). She just sat, a lot. Claire used to sit, but now she just wants to get places - like to the sharp edge of the coffee table, or the computer cord...

How is the sleeping you ask? Currently they are napping in separate rooms so you can only imagine how good it is! All sarcasm aside, night time sleeping is not bad. The naps seem to be worse.

Getting to know the area: We have been regularly attending a storytime at the library where we've met some new people and sophie has enjoyed the stories. That has been nice. I also succumbed to letting Sophie play at the mall play area since the weather has been icky. I say succumbed because I think mall play areas (really any indoor play areas) are disgusting. And this one that we went to was no exception. It smelled like a combination of dog pee and rotten eggs. Along with a smelly play area, the mall offered interesting small talk like a lady who shared with me that she still couldn't get her 2 year old off the boob...(2 things I wanted to tell her were: aren't you the mom? and do you realize that you just made me throw up in my mouth a little?) but anyways.... to each their own I guess.

On a happier note - we seem healthy and we really have sooooo much to be thankful for. I am trying to focus on having a grateful heart and attitude since being here because the Lord has truly been gracious. Even though we may not be surrounded by all the comforts of "home" we still have food to eat, a roof over our heads, bibles that we can freely read, a church that we can worship at, along with a gazillion of other things that we don't even deserve!

Who can resist this cuteness?

Oh how I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this, but little princess would not let me (probably wise for the sake of any dignity). She is wearing one of my work out head bands, her heart shaped sunglasses, sesame street pajamas and white flip flops. It would be perfect as a tabloid cover.

taking turns with our ladies

Life in the South

2010-01-22T12:10:00.000-08:00

We've had a good couple of weeks adjusting to life in San Antonio. 70 degree weather sure helps that too. Bill's parents came for a visit which kept us entertained and running around exploring our new area. We celebrated Bill's birthday. We ventured to the zoo. We've also started attending a church down here and have enjoyed the 2 weeks of that. Sophie has even been learning some new bible stories.

Here are some pictures and Sophie's version of Samuel listening to God. (You will also get a little tour of our new apartment)

Claire-bear turned 8 months yesterday. She has been a bit of a crank pot lately. I'm going to blame it on teething. She is still a sweet thing though, and quite the little mover. Although not crawling - she started an army crawl which usually gets her to what she wants.

Sophie and Bill blowing out his cannoli ice cream cake (he turned 3 according to Sophie)

Yes, these are palm trees my friend. I'm not sure if they are native to this area, because it seems that they are mostly growing outside of stores and restaurants, but still so nice to see!

Zoo fun

A week ago...

2010-01-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

A week ago today we said goodbye to our friends, neighbors & home and set out on our 2 day drive to San Antonio. After 2 full days of driving, we made is safely to San Antonio. Here is a little recap of our journey from the past couple of weeks:

We spent Christmas in Boston and enjoyed it greatly. It was wonderful to spend time with family we don't get to see often. Christmas Eve day was spent with all of the Logozzos, and Christmas day took us to Connecticut to spend time with the Lockerts. All of it was so nice. Bill and I really enjoyed getting a "mental" vacation from all of the thoughts & stresses about moving & preparing for life in San Antonio.

We came home on Tuesday, and spent our time packing, sorting, cleaning, putting away - you name it! In the midst of this we took time to be with friends. So many were gracious to have us over for meals. It was nice not to have to worry about cooking during that time, and to enjoy quality time with amazing friends!

We had one last Sunday at Grace and were both balling like babies at times when we had to say goodbye to friends. You'd think we were moving away forever... and even though we don't plan on that happening, it was still hard because we are surrounded by such a loving church body. They exude godliness, extend grace, and love so well! Thank You Lord!

The next morning we stood in the kitchen of our almost empty house, took some time to let the emotions flow :) & prayed for our journey ahead. Sophie was funny that morning. She woke up cranky and I think she was a little sad too. However, she took it to an extreme and found it necessary to whine, a lot! At one point I asked her - "sophie, where is your happy attitude?" and she said "it's upstairs." That was a perfect answer for that morning!

Our drive was amazing. God seriously poured out his grace. The girls did fabulous in the car. I was a little nervous about Claire being in the car for so long because she has never been a huge fan of car rides, especially at night time. BUT, she did great. Maybe the switch to a convertible car seat did the trick! The most eventful part of our time on the road had to have been in Waco, TX. We were enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant. I went to the bathroom to clean out Claire's bottle and a lady at the sink next to me said: "You're cleaning a bottle and I'm going to clean my teeth." Hmm, before I could even form a thought she plopped out her dentures and rinsed them off. It was pretty disgusting, but I had to laugh.

We arrived at our apartment on Tuesday night, and it was a bit hard. It really sunk it that we were NOT home. But with time, rest, & prayer - it is getting a little better each day. It has been a good reminder for me that this world is truly not our home -- whether TX or KY - it is all a temporary dwelling place.

The girls have been adjusting pretty well minus the sleeping thing. We are attempting to make them share a room. It hasn't been too terrible. The worst parts have been getting Claire to fall asleep quietly, and getting Sophie to sleep past 5:30am! Thankfully this morning she slept to 6:15am. Sad, but that is actually good for her since we've moved here! Claire on the other hand wouldn't dream of waking up before 8am. Maybe in few months they will get used to each other. :) Other than sleeping, Sophie seems to be enjoying her new apartment and is anxiously awaiting the day we get to visit Shamu. Seaworld is literally up the street from us. Claire has been enjoying her new found talent of rolling around everywhere.

A couple pics from the last week:
One last pic in Claire's room

Hotel fun in Little Rock

Sophie in her big hotel bed

The girls in Sophie's bed here in our apartment.

Although we eagerly anticipate returning to life in Kentucky next year - we don't want to miss out on what God has in store for us this year in San Antonio. We recognize his sovereignty over our lives and his placing us here. Our prayer is that we would live life to the fullest, for his glory where ever we are.

What Have I Done???

2009-12-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

The other day I was doing my very routine grocery shopping at the local Kroger (that I already don't like for many reasons...) and stumbled upon the large banner hanging outside of the front of the store. It read: "Holiday Evergreens." I looked below the sign and noticed Christmas trees. Then I got ticked. Holiday evergreens? Really? They are CHRISTMAS TREES!!! Surely, if you are buying a tree then it must be for Christmas, not Thanksgiving, New Years, or any other "holiday." Grrr.

So I came home and wrote a lovely note to Kroger saying that I am officially resigning my grocery shopping at all Kroger stores until they do something about this sign. I even gave them my Kroger Customer # and told them they can consider it inactive. BOLD, I know. This means I can't show my face at Kroger, any Kroger, even the nice Kroger stores until they give Christmas the credit it is due.

I realize that I have completely inconvenienced myself (hence the title "What Have I Done?") and now may have to resort to shopping at Walmart since it is second closest, or driving far to Meijer or Whole Foods, but I think it is for a good purpose. I am sick of retailers taking Christmas out of Christmas! This is a purposeful time of year celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Enough is enough. And though I realize that there are MANY more retailers out there doing the same thing, and that I may not tackle all of them, I thought one was a start...especially a grocery store that gets a lot of our business. So there. :)

I will let the blogger world know if I hear back from Kroger. I hope I do.

In the meantime, enjoy some pics of this Christmas season at our house.

they grow so fast

2009-11-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

Claire had her 6 month check up today. Oh how time flies. I remember when Sophie was a baby, I couldn't wait to get to the "next" stage. With Claire, I've been reminding myself to slow down and enjoy each stage. But it seems to be going by so fast! She has 2 teeth, she's eating solids, pretty soon she'll be walking off to school. Maybe I have become sappier...but I just don't want her to grow up too fast. So I am going to relish this sweet baby time! I want all of the coos, oohs, and cuddles I can get because before I know it she will be motoring around - not wanting anything to do with being held. Is anyone else crying? Ok, it might just be me :)

This little lady is a peanut. She only weighs 15lbs - at 6 months Sophie was 17lbs! And she continues to be short, only 24.75". The one thing she has been is consistent. Such a sweetie!

My Sweets

2009-11-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

There is always so much happening around here that I would like to capture in a blog, but I usually don't! :( So here is my feeble attempt to do that and play catch up at the same time. If nothing else, it will be written record of how beautiful, hilarious, and enjoyable these little ladies are -for when I need the reminder, or just simply can't remember.

Sophie is a plain riot. She has us laughing all of the time. Let me see if I can do any of it justice here.

The Zoo Train: She came up with the idea to play "zoo train" on the landing of our staircase. It started out as us just sitting on the landing, pretending to look out at animals.

"Look Mommy - look at the bear lions!" (huh?)
"Ooh, look at the lion, he has big tooshie" (this came from us being at the real zoo and seeing a gorilla and his very big tooshie, but I don't think she knows that lions don't really have them)
So it went from checking out animals (and their behinds) to eating elephants and zebras. She would get off the train to eat an elephant. And then she invited all of her stuffed animals from her bed to join her on the zoo train (seen here). Creative I guess.

How Bout Something Else:
Each night, before we begin to pray with Sophie, we ask her what she wants to thank God for. Usually she will say: I fank God fo....going to the potty. I fank God fo watching sesame street. (It's all very spiritual). I will typically ask her "ok, how about something else?" Now, she has started saying 1 thing she is thankful for, and then she'll say "how bout something else?" and look at us and laugh knowing that we get a kick out of her just saying "how bout something else." She thinks she is so funny when she does that.

The cutest things she has been doing lately:
When Bill comes home from work, Sophie greets him with "How was your day, Daddy?" Melts my heart. She has also been very kind and polite lately. Saying thank you & you're welcome & please. She's been loving on her sister and giving her kisses and hugs galore. Before bed she likes to give us "big kisses" by grabbing a hold of our faces and placing a smoochie right smack dab on the lip.

Little Claire has been growing lately. Growing teeth that is. 2 of them. Makes me sad. I'm not ready for her to have teeth. She's probably been the crankiest she's ever been (minus the whole witching hour of newborn stage) during this teething time. She's also not taking a bottle, at all. Ahh, oh well I guess the time will pass fast enough. She is still a sweet little thing. Pure sugar these two.

Name that song

2009-11-09T11:45:00.001-08:00

Sophie loves to sing songs. Thankfully I can make out most of them because I already know them. However, she comes home from church on Sundays singing this particular song that I just cannot figure out.

And it sounds like "Jesus or bust" or "Jesus a bus" or what I think makes the most sense "Jesus is best"....but I don't know really what it is and it is driving me nuts! Any thoughts on what this song could be? For those from Grace, she is usually in the first service. If I can't figure it out before the week is over, I'll have to catch the workers in her room next Sunday and ask them what they are singing!

Our Bugs

2009-10-31T18:38:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled Halloween day! This morning began with a haircut for mommy, carving pumpkins (while listening to Christmas music -who can resist?), pizza for dinner, and of course passing out candy and trick or treating. Sophie was a ladybug again. The costume from last year still fit, so why not right? Claire was a bumble bee. They were our cute little bugs.

Sophie really enjoyed Halloween this year. We had prepped her for what to say when she went up to the doors, and what to say once she received her candy. Bill walked around with her while Claire and I stayed back and passed out the candy. Bill said she did well. She sometimes said thank you first, got her candy and then said trick or treat. But at least she said something! I was amazed at how many kids just came up to receive their candy without saying a word, like it was owed to them. What is our world coming to when kids can't even say thank you!?!?! One little girl actually told me (in a very rude tone) "I don't like peanut butter" after I gave her a reese's candy bar. Hmm, I told her that maybe her mommy or daddy would like it, and Happy Halloween. Stunned. Anyways, it was fun to see Sophie enjoy the day, and a lot of candy. Now lets just hope she sleeps well.

Our "pumpkin family"

5 Months Old

2009-10-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

Little Claire Bear is 5 months old today! Her latest activities include rolling over, blowing raspberries, playing in the exersaucer, wearing cloth diapers, paci talk (seen below in the video), and continuing to sleep well. I finally understand when people use the phrase "sleeping like a baby." Now it makes sense! It didn't so much with Sophie, still doesn't! :) One thing Claire isn't doing well is eating baby cereal. Since she is down to 4 feedings most days, I thought she might need that extra fill me up food. However, I don't think she is quite there yet. The faces she makes when I try to feed her, you'd think I was giving her anchovies or something! The last time I tried to give her cereal, she gagged so hard she actually threw up a little. Yuck.

Her big sister has also gotten a kick out of the exersaucer. To think, all this time it was just sitting in the basement it could have been entertaining a 2 year old!

Fall is here

2009-10-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to be amazing, the changing colors of the season. Here are a few pics from our backyard. I can't believe we get to look out and see the beauty of God's creation like this every day! Well, at least for a few weeks....

This last one is on the road to our neighborhood, not quite our backyard :)

2 year olds are funny!

2009-10-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day to spend inside, but I needed to get out just for a little bit. I told Sophie that we could get some french fries on our way to drop something off at someone's house. On the way there we were talking about Texas. I told Sophie that daddy was in Texas. I asked her if she wanted to go to Texas. Her reply: "I'd rather get french fries."

Our Girls

2009-10-05T07:32:00.001-07:00

Can you believe this little peanut is already 4 months old? Where has the time gone? By God's grace she continues to do really well: sleeping and eating like a champ, smiling, cooing and giggling happily along. What a blessing & what delight she brings to our family. At her 4 month check up she was still in at 50th % for weight at 13 lbs, 9 oz. And, 25th% for height at a whopping 24 inches.

Her big sister has been quite the joy too. And quite the challenge. I've come face to face with the terrible two's. But amidst those challenges, how many laughs and fun moments we've had.

Butter

2009-09-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

How do you keep a two year old happy at a nice dinner out?
Just give her the butter dish. As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Oh, Happy Day!

2009-08-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sophie learned a new song at church yesterday. She woke up from her nap singing this:

Oh, happy day, happy day!
I washed my sins away.
I'll never be the safe.

The song really, goes: You washed my sins away, I'll never be the same.
So her version has some doctrinal issues, but it was still really cute to hear her singing this!

Dairy Free

2009-08-31T05:57:00.000-07:00

Oh, the difference a dairy free diet makes. I decided (with the help of some lactation consultants) to take pretty much all dairy out of my diet a few weeks ago since Claire had been having some nursing/fussing issues and had bad eczema on her face.
here is a before pic (though it is a little hard to tell in this small pic):
and ta-da, the silky smooth after:

I must say the dairy has made a huge difference. The eczema has pretty much disappeared and she almost immediately started sleeping 9-11 hours at night. So, even though my diet now consists of a dairy free coffee creamer, no ice cream, no cheese, no yogurt, no milk, no whipped cream, and did I mention no ice cream :) - I am at least happily sleeping at night and have a good nursing baby again!

birthday girl

2009-08-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

I was so busy blogging about my baby's bowel movements the other day that I forgot to share about Sophie's birthday! She turned 2 on July 31st. Our big girl. We laugh because we call her our big girl and think that she is so old, and our neighbors across the street who have 3 kids refer to their 2 and a half year old son (their youngest) as "the baby". It's a matter of perspective I guess!

Even though the terrible two's are in full swing, we were graciously reminded at church yesterday through Psalm 127 what a blessing and gift children really are. And Sophie is - she makes our hearts melt & makes us laugh til we cry on a daily basis. It is so amazing to watch her grow, talk more, learn more, to see her imagination and creativity flourish. We praise God for the blessing that she is to us! We love you sweet Soph!

The hard life of a 2 month old

2009-08-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

Our poor Claire-bear has had some rough days lately. Well, at first it was rough for Mommy, because for 3 nights in a row she slept around 4 hours and was waking up to eat. I assumed that it was a growth spurt. If all else fails, just assume it's a growth spurt, right? She was then getting up 3 hours later which is so not like her. I am happy to say that part has ended. Unfortunately, her latest issue is pooping. She was doing great - having plenty of poos all day long. Then all of a sudden, she had one. That was Friday. And now it is Tuesday and she's barely pooed. Just a tiny squirt on Sunday and a tiny squirt earlier today. The nurse at the pediatrician's office said not to worry until around 5 days which will be tomorrow. She also said to try some prune juice. I thought that wouldn't be so hard but so far no luck, not a fan of prune juice. I even tried giving it to her before a feeding thinking that if she was really hungry she'd suck it down. Nope. So, as funny as this sounds - please pray for this girl to poop soon! And of course if you have any good suggestions on how to get her bowels moving - please send them my way! Oh, the topics of interest in a mother's life!

That's not where the rough stuff ends though. Now the mean stuff. I felt like such a horrible mommy because the other night as we were putting Sophie to bed I was holding Claire, and as I was about to shut the door one of her little fingers got caught. Thankfully, it was just a little pinch and I didn't completely close it on her. Ouch, I bet you're just squirming reading this! I still feel awful. She screamed like she's never screamed before. I iced it and tried to give her as much comfort as possible. And again, thankfully by the grace of God it was just a little red and nothing else happened to it.

Now Sophie's turn to be the mean one. This morning I had Claire in the pack n' play with a little sea horse toy who's tummy glows and plays music. The sea horse is mostly soft but a little heavy b/c of the music compartment. I saw Sophie take it out, and I told her to please give it back to Claire since she was "playing" with it. Well, to Sophie's credit she obeyed and put it back in the pack n' play, just not so gracefully. She basically threw it back into the pack n' play and hit Claire in the face with it. Claire started screaming, and of course I panicked a little. Sophie saw this and got a huge pouty look on her face and started whaling too. It was actually kind of sweet, because the expression on her face clearly showed that she was so sorry and sad for what had happened to her baby sister. I told her to say I'm sorry to Claire and she did right away. Claire was fine, and I found myself consoling Sophie more than Claire because Sophie was so distraught by this whole event. As I was holding Claire and walking around with her for the next few minutes, everywhere I went Sophie made sure to bring me the sea horse so Claire could have it. Even though Claire getting hit with the toy wasn't something I would have wanted to happen, It was so neat to see such care and compassion in a 2 year old through the whole event.

With all of that being said, Claire is still really happy and sweet. Praise God for his mercy.

Playing Catchup

2009-07-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, so this will be the super bring you up to speed blog.

First, our finished patio: It's lovely, we are really enjoying spending evenings sitting out on the patio.

Next, the little one:
Claire is doing well. She has been sleeping about 5-6 hours on average at night, and then she does another stretch of 4-5 hours. I am hoping that this will translate into a child who likes to sleep, and sleep in for that matter! She had her 2 month check - up last week, and although a little shy of 2 months she weighed 11 lbs putting her at about the 60th percentile. But she is a little shorty - only 21" putting her in the 25th percentile. (I find this kind of funny, giving stats on my baby). She is sweet and content most of the time, and it seems like her fussy evenings are dwindling down...woo-hoo!

And what would this blog be without a Sophie video? Lately she has been a little mommy imitator. When I clean, she wants to clean. When I am feeding and changing Claire, she does the same thing to her baby dolls -- though apparently she has chosen to bottle feed :) at least for now. And my favorite: shopping. She's picked up a thing or two. One day she found a baby gap bag and decided to put it on her arm and take her stroller for a walk. When I asked her what she was doing she told me she was shopping. And it's not on this video, but a little later in the day, she also added talking on a cell phone while shopping. Where could she have gotten all of that from???

Week of Fun

2009-06-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

Nana (Bill's mom) came to visit for the week. We had a great time with her! We miss her already. Here are some highlights from our week together:
Sophie in her new bathing suit from Nana:

Swimming with Nana!

I'm a little partial, but isn't she a doll?

Interrupting a delicious dinner on Father's day to play doctor :)

Best attempt at a family photo

Sophie enjoying an early birthday present: Table and chairs! (Thanks Nana, Papa & Aunt Joyce!)

Miss Claire - the little peanut is turning into a little chubs! She already weighs over 10lbs

Chocolate goodness! Nana treated us by making an amazing chocolate cake and tiramisu, neither of which we took any pictures :(

More fun at the pool

Last but not least, our new patio in the making! This was day 1, I will post some pics once it is complete and looking pretty :)

Crazy Girl

2009-06-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, Sophie has been watching more TV lately...sigh. A new show that she has come to love is Wonder Pets. More than the show though -- I think she likes to sing the Wonder Pets song. And dance to it while she sings. She learned everything she knows about dancing and singing from her daddy :)
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Here also is a picture of Sophie "sharing" her toys with Claire. Really, this entailed Sophie just toppling her toys on top of Claire, but she was very happy to give her toys to her little sister.

And last but not least, Sophie and her beloved friend Josiah after they finished puddle jumping in our backyard.

2009-06-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

A little bit of what our lives have been like the past couple of weeks:

~ A lot more Elmo, Dora, Little People, Blue's Clues...you name it. Sophie has gotten to watch a LOT more tv lately. This is what I call parenting lite. I hope it doesn't last too long!

~ A lot less sleep. Claire has been a pretty good sleeper, but lets be honest- sleep in 2.5 - 3 hour spurts just isn't the same as a full night's sleep. This has led to phrases like "Sophie come sit down for dinner" when it is really breakfast that is being served...along with mixing up names of people and places consistently.

~ No makeup. Sweats. Hair back. Hair greasy...but that is ok when you hang out in your house all day. The c-section recovery is going slower than hoped so I think we'll be at home for a while. This will be hard for me. Hoping not to go stir crazy.

~ Hiccups, spit up, lots of diaper changes. I forgot how frequently newborns poop. And how much laundry the little one brings.

~ And I think a phrase expected by the mom of newborn - - "we're done having kids". Maybe that will change when the newborn fog wears off....maybe.

~ Sisters. Sophie has been so sweet with Claire. She calls her "Caire" and wants to kiss her and pull on her little fingers. (Not sure what the fetish is with that). It has been a joy to have these 2 precious girls in our lives. Well, Elmo's world is almost over. I better finish blogging for now.

Sleeping Beauty and her happy Big Sister

2009-05-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Claire is currently a bit more of a night owl (though not terrible by any means) but during the day we spend a lot of time sleeping! Yes, that includes me! I love napping opportunities :) If it wasn't for the pain of the c-section, I'd feel great! I was way more exhausted the first time around during this stage, but not in as much pain. Ouch for repeat c-sections!

And don't you just love her smiling big sister?

Our newest addition

2009-05-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Claire Elizabeth Logozzo made her entrance into the world yesterday morning (May 22nd) at 8:43am. She weighed 7lbs, 1oz and was 19" long. We are so blessed to have this little beauty and so excited for Sophie to have a little sister!

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that

2009-05-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Stinker! Sophie thought it was so funny that I was calling her a stinker, she was cracking super hard so I had to take a little video.

Before I forget about them, I wanted to share some funny things that Sophie did last week:

One morning I went to get her out of bed, and her diaper had leaked. So I changed her diaper, left it rolled up on the floor, and moved on to changing her sheets. She noticed the diaper laying there, picked it up and said "yucky." She headed to the bathroom with the diaper and I really thought she was going to throw it way without me having to ask her!!! And then I hear a big splash. Oops, it landed in the toilet rather than the trash. I couldn't help but laugh, and then kindly explained that only toilet paper goes into the toilet.

When we came back from our walk today, Sophie was in the garage pointing to the cars. She pointed to Bill's car and said "daddy car." She pointed to my car and said "Sissy's car." Sissy is what she calls herself. Apparently it is her car, not mine. :)

I was getting her ready for bed one night and yelled downstairs for Bill. Bill came up and nonchalantly Sophie said "hi bill" several times. Funny little girl. She has been chatting up a storm lately and I imagine things will only get funnier with her!

Also, here is the latest belly pic: only 5 days to go!

Snow Storm

2009-05-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

So I recognize that a snow storm is probably not quite the same as having another baby, but somehow it seems right to equate the two. I don't think I experienced this when I was pregnant with Sophie, but I have this major sense of urgency to be prepared! This is where the snow storm analogy comes in: usually when there is word of a big storm coming, people go nuts! The grocery stores become packed with panicked people and all of the staples vanish quickly! They feel the need to stock up because they think they will be stuck in their homes for months... I've always laughed at these panicky people. Until I became one. Yes, I now feel the urgency to buy everything in 2's, I need to have at least a couple of months supply of essential paper products, laundry detergent, diapers, wipes, frozen goodies, etc. However, I unlike the snow storm people, really won't be getting out of the house for months! Scary thought, but I am trying to prepare myself for the fact that it will be close to impossible to leave the house for a while with a newborn and a toddler. So I might as well do it while I can, right?

Hmm...second wind or nesting?

2009-05-08T14:01:00.001-07:00

Ok, I wasn't lying in my last post about all of my prego feelings and tiredness. However, this week I have had a terrific week of feeling great and tons of energy! Where did this come from? The super natural strength and grace of God, could be my only answer. We trekked through the zoo on Tuesday, had a big grocery trip on Wednesday, baked amazing chocolate chip cookies, did all of my laundry, washed, folded, and organized the baby's clothes, and stayed up til 11:30pm that night waiting for Bill to get home. Yesterday we had a nice play date with some friends in the morning, did some ironing (I loathe ironing), and today we went to see butterflies at the Krohn Conservatory, had lunch with friends, and I made a little side trip to the Gap. That was big. Praise God for all that he allowed me to do this week, it was such a blessing! Here are a few pics from the conservatory. Sophie wasn't really all that into the butteflies. Maybe next year. Oh, and the pic of the orchid on my header - I took that with my new camera, I was very excited!!

href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PvcXX0AO3lk/SgSffr08gzI/AAAAAAAABwo/H6hq645_NK0/s1600-h/DSCN0042.jpg">

Happy Birthday Nana!

2009-05-06T06:12:00.001-07:00

Hope you have a great day!

You know it's close!

2009-05-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will mark the glorious 36 weeks for me, and man am I feeling it. I don't recall feeling so done with Sophie at this stage, but that is probably because I just can't remember very well! Let me tell you, all of that stuff about feeling good, that is out the door. I am now the cranky prego lady! A few reasons why this pregnancy is nearing its end:

- Forget bending over. That is no longer an option. If I miss putting something in the garbage can or something falls on the floor, I just hope it will find its way into proper storage someway somehow. Thankfully Sophie is helpful and can pick things up for her Mama.

- My "power" naps have now become "at least an hour" naps. I shamelessly admit this and will milk it while I can - which only amounts to about 18 days.

- I feel like I am constantly wearing the tightest pair of jeans, but really it's just my huge belly. Sitting doesn't feel good. Standing relieves this pressure but I can only stand so long before my lower back starts to ache. Lying down is ok...that is until my hip starts to burn from all of the pressure it receives. And so goes the story.

- I made a to do list this week. It had 3 things on it and I don't plan on expanding it.

- I now strut a nice waddle.

- I gained 4 lbs in 13 days.

- I randomly declare myself on bed rest for those overly exhausting moments.

- I don't want to go shopping anymore. At first, with moving and everything going on, I really wanted to get out and get stuff for the house and what not (which is still a fun idea) but the thought of going to the mall or making a "special" trip for things that I just want but aren't a dire need, it ain't happenin.

Still, all in all, I can't complain. God has been gracious to me! I could truly be on bed rest, or have ridiculously high blood pressure, or a million of other things and I am fine. So I'll just grin and bear it for a couple more weeks!

Zoo & Tree

2009-04-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

These are not related, but both are worth noting!

We ventured to the zoo on Thursday, it was a perfect day. The tulips still looked beautiful and the weather was just right. Sophie loves the zoo! She loved saying the animals' names, and making their appropriate noises.

Here is daddy working out in the backyard cutting up a dead tree that has been taking up about a quarter of our backyard. He did a great job!

House, Life, etc.

2009-04-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

We are finally moved in to our new house! It has been about 2 and a half weeks and each day we feel a little more settled. No more painters, plumbers, carpet installers coming and going. Just us. That has been nice. We are far from done with all that needs to be done, but I'm sure we'll feel that way for some time to come! Like I said, each day brings a little more progress towards making it feel like home.

Some highlights from the move:

~So far our neighbors seem wonderful! We have received cinnamon streusel cake, banana bread & warm greetings all around! Ok, it's not all about food but I am pregnant :) There are so many kids here too - which is going to be great for our growing family! A couple of our neighbors go to our church, another neighbor is a co-worker of Bill's - so we already feel "in" with the neighborhood. We're also looking forward to the use of the pool this summer!

~Sophie has made a fantastic transition, praise God! She loves her playroom and is now sleeping in a big girl bed! I was a little worried about transitioning her to the bigger bed, but she is really doing great so far. Hopefully it will remain that way... now if we could only get potty training to be that easy!

~I really love my kitchen. It's spacious, and open, and I have a gas range - woohoo!

Now for some things that will take getting used to:

~Being farther from church and many friends.

~Not having a good place to grocery shop nearby. The Kroger here is worthless so I have to make the trek to Meijer. Meijer is mostly great, minus the drive, randomly weird clientele and no organic lettuce.

~ No good ice cream places nearby! Is it just that I'm pregnant and it's that time of the year? But a little ice cream shack somewhere close would be nice. If I am unaware of some secret gem please let me know those of you who reside nearby.

Ok onto some pics:
Here are a couple "before" shots:

"After" -- decorating/organizing/putting things away is still in progress :)

Onto other news, my c-section has been scheduled for May 22nd, exactly a month away from today. Exactly 4 weeks from this Friday. Scary and exciting all at the same time. Thankfully, the Lord has really been good to me - sustaining me physically and giving me strength to do all that needs to be done. Some of the things I am freaking out about currently are:
- I will be 38.5 weeks along and I worry on and off if it is too early. I am praying that if it is the right day that God will allow it to go smoothly and provide peace.
- Leaving Sophie. It will be my first time spending a night(s) away from her. I'm sure she will do fine but I'm not sure I will :)
- I am also feeling like I'm going to abandon her because she won't have all of my attention anymore! It breaks my heart to even think about it but I am praying that God will really give me grace (and control my hormones) to be able to handle that without too much trouble. Please pray too!

Happy Sitter

2009-04-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

She means Happy Easter, but apparently is a little dyslexic!

craziness

2009-03-30T11:59:00.001-07:00

Today is a special day, because I actually have time for something like blogging! Woo-hoo! Our lives have truly been crazy and busy these past couple of weeks, and will probably continue to be so for a little while longer. We moved out of our condo last Sunday, and have been residing in a hotel ever since. We've made it a week so far in our cozy little hotel. :) Sleeping has been a bit of an adventure as Sophie's pack n' play is right up against my side of the bed. We call her our little gopher because she likes to pop her head up and say hi to us - even at random times in the middle of the night when she might wake up. She also likes to ask for "col milk" and "neat" (which means eat) and "ice wa wa" and "watch elmo." Last night she even asked for "ice elmo." We couldn't stop laughing and clearly see our child continues to be obsessed with the furry red monster. She also had the flu last week which brought about a whole new level of crying and whining that was not that fun to deal with. Thankfully there was a reason for her acting the way she had been though. She has been a trooper throughout all of the confusion and likes going to our new home or new house as she calls it.

Speaking of our new house, this week it is getting painted - yay! Right now it looks kind of like McDonald's inside, with interesting shades of yellow and maroon throughout the place. I can't wait for new paint - I think it will do wonders. I will post pics once we have it done. We hope to get ourselves and our stuff moved in this Saturday!

here are some random pics from the last couple of weeks:
Sophie amidst all of the packing that was going on

She has really enjoyed sitting in laundry baskets and reading books in them - her play grocery cart was a little tight but apparently it did the trick too!

our last hours at the condo

last belly pic in the condo - 29 wks

hair cut

2009-03-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

My mom graciously came this weekend to help us out in the midst of our sicknesses. She was so so sweet and willing to come. I called her at 7:30 on Friday morning and she was here by 2pm. She made the 5 hour drive in 4.5 hours without ever stopping! We were very thankful to have her around. On sunday when we went to church, she stayed home with Sophie and did all of our laundry! Amazing!!! And while she was here she decided that Sophie really could use a hair cut, or at least have her bangs cut. So I obliged, somewhat reluctantly, but we did it and here is our new little pumpkin:

We think she grew up over the weekend!

Funny Girl

2009-03-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

Sophie has enjoyed wearing my Uggs lately. They're a little big on her, but comfy I'm sure!

This morning I asked Sophie to throw her dirty diaper in the trash, but this is where I found it hours later.

And last but not least, Sophie sitting in her doll's stroller. Who needs a Maclaren when you have can have your doll's stroller?

Our week in Park City

2009-03-01T05:37:00.000-08:00

We spent last week in Park City, Utah with Bill's family. We had a great time being with them! Sophie loved her Nana & Papa. At the beginning of the trip she didn't really have a name for her Grandma, simply because she couldn't say "grandma." She would just point to her and say nothing. We decided Nana was an easy way Sophie could identify her, and that stuck. Unfortunately for Grandma, she shares the name "nana" with a banana because that is what Sophie calls a banana too!

Here is a little re-cap on all of the excitement that happened during the week! And I use the word excitement in all of its forms.

1. Sophie decided she would remain on the Eastern time zone throughout the entire trip. Her naps were pretty short and the latest she ever slept in was 6am...once. Who needs rest anyway? It didn't end up affecting me too much because I have become an insomniac. Can't sleep. Awake from 3-5am pretty regularly. Yes, it stinks. This may have something to do with pregnancy and point #5. See below.

2. Prenatal Massage. Ahh. I spent a glorious hour getting pampered at the spa thanks to a Christmas present I had received from Aunt Joyce. It was fabulous.

3. Sickness. Sophie and Bill both got sick. Bill had to miss a day of skiing because he was down and out. Thankfully it only lasted about a day and a half for him. Sophie on the other hand is still recovering. She had an eye infection, a cough and lots of green boogies everywhere! She has been a trooper through it though and has been in a great mood.

4. Auntie Susie (Bill's sister) came to visit us for the last couple days of the trip. We enjoyed spending time with her and celebrating her birthday a week late. It was quite the event too. We went to eat at Loco Lizard, a great little mexian spot, and right after we ordered dessert, the power went out. And it didn't come back on. Sophie was a little scared, she kept saying "dahk, dahk." So we enjoyed our ice cream chimichangas in cell phone light :) It definitely made for a memorable occasion!

5. So what else happened on the trip you ask? Well sunday afternoon we received a call from our realtor telling us that
someone was interested in buying our condo. Sure enough, on Monday morning we had an offer. We were very excited! We have been praying about this for a while now. Selling of course, also meant that we needed to buy something. So we put an offer in on a house on Monday night. Now we are pretty much waiting and waiting to find out what may come from that. There has been a lot of back and forth, uncertainty, date changes, you name it! It is keeping us on our toes and keeping us praying for God's will to be done, regardless of the outcome. So please be praying for us too. We will be homeless in a few short weeks so we would love to know where we are going next!

And finally, some pics from the trip:
Nana & Papa

Bill & his sister Susan

Sophie hanging out on the couch. She spent A LOT of time watching Elmo last week. She needs an Elmo detox this week.

Sophie loved sitting with Papa and reading her book!

Momentous Firsts

2009-02-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

There are are some special moments in your children's lives that you can never forget - first teeth, first word, first steps....and then there's the first VOMIT. Yes, that's right I said vomit. Don't worry, there will be no pictures!
It happened tonight for the first time to Sophie while she was packing in some avocado during dinner. A few gags, then out comes the avocado, snack, & some lunch. We had no idea it was coming and after it was over she sat very still. I've been dreading this moment (knowing that one of these days she was going to throw up) because I cannot handle vomit. I've known this for some time now, and have warned Bill that he is the one who is going to have to take care of our kiddos when this type of thing happens. I tried my best tonight to approach her all yucked up, and then myself proceeded to gag, and that was the end of my help. My amazing hubby humbly took over and did all of the cleaning. All I had to do was bathe Sophie which was fun and easy. Thankfully, she bounced back very well and was very happy and energetic after the fact. I pray that her health and good spirits continue and that we don't have any more bouts with nastiness....we are leaving for Utah this Saturday so it would be a bummer to be ill for that!

Colors

2009-02-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

So she may have been a little tipsy in nursery (COMPLETELY KIDDING) but she sure knows her colors!

Our Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

We've had a lovely low key day. It started with pancakes (and no they weren't heart shaped) but we did have a couple ingredient combinations which is always a treat! My favorite being blueberry, and Bill's being banana-chocolate chip-coconut. Sophie, thankfully, will eat either one...as long as there is plenty of maple syrup for dipping.

After breakfast I headed to the Aveda salon for a haircut, and then grabbed some coffee and pastries to eat later in the day from Servatti. It wouldn't be Valentine's day without some sweet treats!!! Then I went to the grocery store. This normally would not be an exciting thing to mention, however here are a few reasons as to why it's worth sharing: 1) I was by myself 2) It was a quick trip 3) I got a box of graham crackers, a block of mozzarella cheese, and a can of mixed nuts for FREE, and multi-grain cheerios for 92 cents! The free items I must thank Crystal for - the deal queen herself let me in on this little deal (which is over now, sorry!)

Here are a few pics from our day:

Sophie enjoying her sweet treat for the day

Need I say more?

Relaxing after dinner

Randomness

2009-02-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

Sophie has not enjoyed getting her picture taken in the last few weeks. Everytime I go to get the camera out she has started to cry! This past weekend was a little better. Here are a couple of smiley (or just non-crying) pics to enjoy!
This is how she likes to kick back and watch Elmo or Pooh.

We are also enjoying her new found discovery of the letter B. She can distinctly pick out a B in a set of letters! So impressive, and this is all thanks to Cookie Monster. On one of the Sesame Street episodes we have that she watches frequently, Cookie Monster presents the letter B. Somehow she picked it up, and it is good to know that she has actually learned something useful from her TV watching!

We also had her 18 month check up this past week. She is in the 75th percentile for weight, and 85th for height. She has actually dropped from the 90th percentile where she used to be for both! Everything else seems fine too, praise the Lord for these blessings!

On a bragging note, I have to blog about my fantastic hubby! Bill surprised me with a romantic dinner at the Waterfront, where we both enjoyed amazing steaks! He even had babysitting planned out and everything! It was just so nice for the two of us to get away for a couple of hours! On a slightly humbling note on my part, lets just say that I threw a hissy fit before hand because he wanted me to dress up and I couldn't understand why in the world I needed to dress up when all we were going to do was eat at a friends house (or so I thought)....however it all worked out and he still took me out :)

Fun in the Snow, sort of.

2009-01-25T15:28:00.000-08:00

It actually snowed a little today here! We enjoyed watching the big, thick flakes come down and thought it would be a good time to take Sophie outside to play in the snow as a primer for our upcoming trip to Park City. It wasn't all sunshine and roses though, actually no sunshine or roses for that matter. Sophie was not a big fan of putting on her snowpants or snow boots which led to a bit of fussing. And when we actually got outside to play in the snow, there really wasn't very much snow at all! She did like the actual snow though, but was probably more intrigued by an airplane that flew by. She asked for more airplane. Here a a couple of pics of our little penguin and her daddy.

Birthday, Belly, and more

2009-01-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

So many things to catch up on! I guess that is what happens when you don't blog as often! :)

First, yesterday was Bill's 27th Birthday! We had a nice sunday of going to church, watching a little football and having dinner with friends! My favorite part had to be his birthday cake. It was a lovely creation by an amazing baker from our church. Desserts of Distinction is the name of her company if you ever need a fabulous cake, or fabulous cookies, pretty much everything she makes is fabulous!

Next, here is a 20 week belly pic of me and baby #2. I can't believe how big I am getting already!!! We had our ultrasound a few weeks ago and again decided not to find out the gender. We are excited for the big surprise. Sophie likes to say hi to the baby and give it kisses when prompted.

And thirdly, what is new with our little Sophie?
A few highlights:
- She is officially down to one nap and has adjusted pretty well. She typically will sleep 2-3 hours which is nice for me. I try to sneak a nap in there too :)
- She is starting to put words together like, "Hi Dada" or "Help Mama" instead of just one word. Very exciting to hear her talk more!
- Last week she managed to dial 911 with my cell phone while the key pad was locked! Amazing what kids can do! It was pretty funny when she realized that she had actually dialed someone and heard a voice on the other end, she said "uh-oh." Thankfully the 911 operator was very forgiving.
- She is obsessed, I repeat obsessed, with Elmo and Pooh. She wants to watch them all of the time and asks for Elmo or Pooh about a 100 times a day. She often starts crying and whining when she doesn't get her way. That has been less than fun to deal with!
- She is also really into sitting. Either on the stairs, a stool, or a little chair. She loves to sit down! So funny.
- She loves to read! Her current interests include Five Little Monkeys and Curious George that Gramma bought her for Christmas. She likes to jump along with the monkeys. :)

The Big Dipper

2009-01-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

First, can I just say that I like titling blogs and making them a little extra cheesy? It's the little things in life.

Anyway, the big dipper in this story is not the striking arrangement of stars in the heavens, but it is in fact our daughter. She is totally into dipping. Give her a sauce and she will dip just about anything in it. If it weren't for dips (particularly ketchup) she would eat incredibly less which means she would eat practically nothing. Here are a couple of interesting items that have been dipped in ketchup:

1. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which she ate willingly with the ketchup on it.
2. A kernel of corn. The best part is, though, that at first she dipped the kernel of corn, licked off the ketchup, and used the single kernel of corn to be dipped again.

All I have to say is: thank you Heinz.

Other dips she enjoys but is not limited are: ranch dressing, caesar dressing, maple syrup, jam, salsa, bbq sauce, etc.

Now you may be thinking that she is a festive little eater, but do not be fooled, she does mostly dipping and licking and forgoes the food with substance! How do I get this child to eat??? As much fun as dipping is, it would be nice if she actually ate. Help. She has become so picky, but hopefully this is just a phase....?

Bad Blogger

2009-01-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hi, I am a bad blogger. I've really had no motivation to blog, but here is my first attempt for 2009. I of course want to share all of our wonderful happenings from the holiday season, but it will have to be mostly in words because I left our camera at home as we went to Michigan. I hate when that happens.

One of our sweetest gifts was having Bill's mom here for several days before we left for Michigan. It was her Christmas present from Bill's dad but it was a gift to us to have her here! Sophie enjoyed her time with Gramma (or Bapa as she liked to call her). We had fun shopping, eating, celebrating and enjoying the Krohn conservatory. We do have some pictures of our time together because unlike me, Gramma remembers to bring her camera along!

We also had a great time in Michigan being with my family. It was nice to see all of my grandmas, cousins and other extended family. We had the traditional meatless Polish Christmas Eve dinner full of fried everything (minus the soup). I believe Sophie enjoyed ketchup that evening with some french fries. She seemed very overwhelmed by the chaos of opening gifts, and just wanted to play with one thing at a time, typically wrapping paper or a box, go figure.

We also enjoyed seeing many friends on this trip. It was wonderful to see good friends that we rarely get to spend time with. We were in Michigan for a total of one week, and when we returned we were not done with the festivities! We headed to the festival of lights at the zoo and enjoyed time with friends there, and the funnel cakes too! We also made our second attempt at the Live Nativity at the Creation Museum and it was much better this time. The first time we went we did not read our schedule very well and there was nothing to see! Oops. This time made up for it though. We did nothing for New Year's Eve for the first time in who knows how long, and it felt great! Sleep is a gem when you have a young child. Why stay up when you don't have to?

That sums up our fun! It was all so great, but we are ready to get things rolling in this new year.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

2008-12-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

Following Rachel's lead, I took the "What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?" quiz and came out with a Charlie Brown Christmas. I'd have to say that is pretty accurate. Funny too, because we just watched it a couple of weeks ago. Bill and I were more into it than Sophie was.

I love Christmas time, but I, like Charlie Brown, gripe at all of the commercialism. Since I am not a creative gift giver, I get more stressed out than anything about gifts. I'm always up for not exchanging gifts! And how annoying that Santa just takes over the whole thing. I don't know how the birth of our Savior got coupled with a fat man who slips down the chimney and brings us everything we want...or does he? I can honestly say growing up I remember one Christmas morning where I was just overjoyed and awed by all of the gifts that were under the tree. Most of the time I was just disappointed. The magic ended one Christmas when all I really wanted was Santa to clean my room (how lame). I figured if he was real he would clean my room, but as it turns out my room was in the same condition on Christmas morning as it had been the night before. :)

Thankfully now I can celebrate and understand the real reason for Christmas! And don't get me wrong, I do enjoy decorating the house, baking Christmas cookies, listening to oodles of Christmas music, and of course spending time watching things like A Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf, and Christmas Vacation. I am just glad I have a refreshed perspective on this wonderful time of year!

Finally...

2008-12-03T04:53:00.000-08:00

I think it was about six months ago or so that I initially blogged about wanting to wean Sophie off of the paci. Well, it has finally come to fruition. After having to get up on 2 separate occasions Sunday night to find her paci for her, I had enough (not to mention we have been talking about doing it for quite some time now). Monday was the big day. For her nap that day I told her paci went bye bye. She was very upset. She screamed like I haven't heard her scream in ages. So again I cut the tip off and gave it back to her, but this time she tried it out and gave it back to me. Apparently, it did not suit her needs. She has been without it ever since, has slept pretty well, but still has trouble going down without it. I think that part will work itself out, but overall we are happy our big girl is surviving without her beloved paci.

More Cuteness

2008-11-26T12:45:00.000-08:00