Just Call Me Soccer Mom

We've gone from this...

...to this!

Yes, after nine years and 140,000 miles we've traded in our little car for a minivan.  They were good years; lots of memories in that Alero.  But two kids and two tubas do not fit in your average four-door sedan, let alone an extra kiddo or two that we hope we'll be blessed with someday.  So we've been saving for a few years, knowing this day would come, and here it is, our new ride.  It is a 2010 Kia Sedona with about 19000 miles on it.  We were pleased to find a relatively "young" used car in our budget; we even get the balance of the original warranty.  We have several trips planned for the summer and this van will be a real blessing with so much extra room.  I'm excited for all the memories we'll make in our new vehicle as we travel down life's road, literally and metaphorically.

Something to Check Out

I won an internet giveaway this week!  Winning something is always fun, right?  I won a book from Real Hope for Haiti, so I wanted to invite you to check out their website.  They didn't ask me to link to them; I just want to share what they're doing with you.  God has really given me a heart for the Haitian people through their work.  They truly serve the "least of these."  I had heard that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere but now I understand what that means: fathers who can't feed their newborns after a mother dies in childbirth, children burned by cooking fires, hundreds suffering from cholera (the epidemic is still going on, even though it's no longer news in the U.S.)...Charles, Lori, Licia, Enoch and their staff help with all these problems and so much more.  They are heroes of the faith in my eyes.  So check them out!

Taking Advantage of Grandma (or her nice camera, at least)

Esther's first barrette

Austin's birthday cake.  I am rather proud of this.  The idea was mine, but I have my mom to thank (Thanks, Mom!) for the execution of my vision.  She is way better with frosting than me.

Birthday presents from his best buddies Noah and Micah, who picked out the recorder and the truck themselves.  Yep, music and vehicles, that's my boy.

Attempting to get a nice picture of both kiddos...I like how they have similar expressions here

Sidewalk chalk from Grandma.  You can't see much because he didn't actually draw much, but the idea of it sure excited him.

Attempting to get a family picture.  They were all some variation of this: Austin looking anywhere but the camera, Esther looking at Austin to see what in the world he was doing.

Have I mentioned how amazed I am to have this daughter?  Still amazed, after nine months.  Esther is just pure joy poured into my life on a daily basis.

She looks all cute and girly here, but what you can't see is Lofty the crane (one of "Bob's fends," as Austin would say) that she's playing with.

 

After Dinner Playtime

Tonight was one of those nights where the whole family played upstairs after dinner and the kids were just adorable.  Happy, busy, and adorable.

Esther was honing her basketball skills.

She loves the lights that come on when you make a basket...don't think she's figured out yet that you have to make a basket to get the lights, though.

Austin, on the other hand, was feeling more of a culinary bent tonight.  He and Daddy, aka Buzz and Woody, were cooking up a pineapple souffle.  (We've been reading Babar Learns to Cook recently, in which Queen Celeste cooks a strawberry souffle.)  Woody asked Buzz what they needed to add besides pineapple.  Buzz promptly replied "gahlic" and "salt and peppeh."  Woody suggested they might need some wet ingredients, too.  "Milk and eggs," replied Buzz.  So of course then it was time to mix it all up.

What a nice night. So thankful for my little family.

Clapping

Esther hasn't figured out how to clap her hands yet.  She can, however, clap mine.

She is doing all the work here.  So fun.

Three!

Three Things We Love to Hear Austin Say
1. yizard (lizard)
2. Can we fick-it? (Can we fix it, from Bob the Builder)
3. oyive oil (olive oil)

Three Books Austin Loves to Read
1. Busy Day, Busy People
2. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
3. Click, Clack, Moo

Three Foods Austin Loves to Eat
1. fruit
2. yogurt
3. frozen custard from the Meadows (we're raising him on the good stuff)

Three Songs Austin Loves to Sing
1. The "A-B-C-D Song"
2. Be Thou My Vision
3. She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain

Three Activities Austin Loves
1. playing with trucks
2. watching videos
3. wrestling with Daddy

Three Ways Austin is Like Mommy and Daddy
1. he has good pitch
2. he can be a bit obsessive about cleaning up messes
3. he loves Esther

Three Ways Austin is NOT Like Mommy and Daddy
1. he still has some potty training accidents
2. he likes to chew on non-food items (like his toy yizard)
3. he shows his love for Esther by "patting" (banging) on her head and "giving her a hug" (pushing her to the floor)

Three Prayers for His Future
1. that potty training would come to an end...soon!
2. that he would continue to learn obedience and his place in God's world
3. that he would grow to know and love Jesus

Three Amazing Years, as Shown in Four Pictures

Happy Birthday, sweet boy.  I can't believe you're three already!  I love you so much.

Almost Three

For months I have been hearing from friends that the terrible twos are a myth, three is the really challenging age.  And now I see what they were talking about!  In the last month my sweet, usually compliant boy has turned into a still-sweet-yet-tantrum-throwing-at-the-drop-of-a-hat boy.  Gone are the days of quick obedience!  The littlest things lead to ten minutes of yelling.  Example: We put the kiddos to bed in two layers of pjs for warmth, but after the morning trip to the potty it makes sense (to me) to just put one layer of pants back on before breakfast.  Two mornings this week that unpopular decision on my part has led to all-out wailing, and twenty minutes later at the breakfast table, while suppressing a sob, the murmured comment "I just 'kyin' cause I not wearing two pants."  In fact, "I just 'kyin' because..." is probably the most oft-heard phrase in our house right now.  Sheesh.

My pastor Stephen posted something on his blog a while back that has been really helpful to me as we face these new challenges.  He says that when he was growing up, his dad Mark (who is our senior pastor) expected him to be a sinner, so he never acted surprised when Stephen messed up.  Instead, he (Mark) reacted with grace and patience, knowing that he, too, was a sinner.  It is so easy for me to became frustrated and impatient with Austin these days (there's my sin coming out) but I am trying to remember that this phase is completely natural and to be expected, really.  The Bible is so clear that we are all sinful creatures by nature so of course my little ones will act like it sooner or later.  The more tantrums we go through, the more chances I have to point him to the One who has provided the only solution for our sin.  If you mention Jesus, Austin will tell you that "Jesus died on da coss to be punished for all da bad tings we done." : )  That's a big truth that I pray he will understand more and more.

Baseball According to Austin

So baseball season has started.  Not a big deal to me so much, but quite important to certain members of my household.  Well, one member in particular, plus the little ones he's attempting to indoctrinate.

So anyway, Zach has been trying to explain baseball to Austin this afternoon as they watch the Rangers season opener.  Here's Austin's recap of a play they saw: "the man with the ball threw it to the bat man."  It was a "home wun."  And Zach says he's cheering for the guys in red shirts, but Austin likes the guys in black shirts.  It's about time the umpires got some love, don't you think?

Some Thoughts on Toys

My mom saved TONS of books and toys from when my sister and I were little.  At one time I might have thought this was a bit excessive but now, as a parent, I'm pretty grateful.  When you watch my kiddos play with stuff that's a few decades old you have to realize that they just don't make toys like they used to.  Sounds pretty cliche but it's true.

Check out the toy Esther has below.  I don't even know what to call it--a little spinning activity center, I guess.  There's a dial to turn, buttons to slide back and forth, a little bunny on a spring...and (gasp!) no lights or electronic sounds.  And yet my baby (and my preschooler) like to play with it.

Sometimes simpler is better, you know?  Mom and I browsed the toy store this week looking for birthday gifts for Austin and I was a bit frustrated with how few non-battery-operated choices you have these days.  Not that lights and sounds are always bad on a toy, but I think flashy toys should be the exception, not the rule.

Gotta add one thing...has anybody else read the Sesame Street books?  My mom must have two or three dozen of them; we were part of one of those clubs where you got a book or two each month.  Well, they're great!  At least, we think so.  Austin sure loves them.  It's funny, we have only watched Sesame Street on TV once or twice but he knows all the characters...the old ones, anyway.

Thanks, Mom, for maintaining a full basement so my kids could have such great stuff when we visit. :)

Nine Month Old Esther

• At nine months and a few days, Esther weighs 16 pounds 9 ounces (9th percentile) and is 27 3/4 inches long (49th percentile).  She is our long, skinny girl.
• I have been trying to introduce Esther to more finger foods.  (I think I have a tendency to be too cautious about this.)  She has had Ritz crackers, bits of banana and watermelon, pasta, rolls...my goal is to expand this list greatly in the next month.
• Esther is down to four nursing sessions a day.
• This was another rough month, sleep-wise.  Lots of night waking, sometimes for brief periods and sometimes for hours.  Esther just likes to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy in the middle of the night, I think.  And we have tolerated that much more than we ever did with Austin.
• Esther proved herself to be an awesome car traveler this month when we drove to my parents' house in Missouri.  She amused herself for hours just playing with toys in her carseat.  Hardly fussed at all.
• Esther also proved herself to be kind of a clingy Mommy's girl on that trip.  It took her half a day to warm up to my mom and at least another day to allow my dad to hold her without crying.  My parents remind me that I was totally the same way.
• When strangers talk to Esther (while I am holding her), she lays her head against me and holds on to my shirt.  She'll look at the people, but it is clear she wants to feel secure with me.  Sweet baby.
• Esther loves loves loves her brother.  He talks baby talk to her, and they sit and laugh at each other.  The pure love they have for each other amazes me.
• Esther loves necklaces.  On other people, I mean.  She likes to play with them and chew on them, if allowed.  It occurs to me that this is not new this month; I've just never thought of it before as I wrote my monthly post.  Plus, I hardly ever wear jewelry so I only notice it when we're around people wearing necklaces.
• Esther still doesn't like being on her tummy much so crawling seems a long way off.
• I think my baby girl is the sweetest in the whole world.  I am one blessed mommy.

Crafts

As I think I've mentioned before, Austin has not historically been into crafts.  He's agreeably done a few projects lately, though, and I think they're awfully cute.  I like this new phase.

He made this at MOPS and was soooooo proud of it.  I think the teacher presented it as an alien but Austin calls it his "man."

We made this at home.  I got the idea from the Totally Tots blog, which I found recently and love.

He made this windsock at the library today.  It may be the first time he's ever wanted to make the storytime craft.

Upside Down

Practically guarantees a smile

Regression

You might remember me posting waaaay back in January that we were potty training Austin, and I reported that on day 3 things seemed to click.  And I wasn't making it up, he really seemed to get it and for a few days I went around (proudly) thinking that we had a potty trained two year old.

HA!  Pride goes before a fall, as they say.  It wasn't very long afterward that Austin started having a lot of little accidents: he would run to the bathroom but not until his underwear were a little wet.  This happened once or twice a day and as you can imagine it was pretty frustrating for me.  It was especially irritating that it didn't seem to bother Austin at all.  He pretty much stopped ever telling me he needed to go potty, although he would go if I told him to.  So I got pretty good at telling him to go at the appropriate times and some days we managed to stay dry.  I didn't like it but I thought things could only get better.

HA!  Little did I know.  About a week ago Austin started making puddles of the kind not seen since day 1 of potty training.  The I-didn't-even-try-to-make-it-to-the-bathroom kind of puddles, and to top it off he doesn't tell me afterward, I just get to discover him with soaked pants.  This has happened once a day nearly every day in the past week.  And again, he doesn't seem the least bit bothered by this.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Okay, since I can't scream out loud I just had to get that out.  I AM SO FRUSTRATED!  I feel like we are doing all the right things but it's gone from bad to worse.  After two months, we're definitely not going back to diapers but life feels pretty ridiculous.  Based on what happened the first week we were training, I really do think he can recognize his body's signals; I guess it's just not that important to him.

When will this end?

Dinner

I should probably feel some guilt about what I fed Austin for dinner tonight.  If you can even call it dinner, which is debatable.  Our town's new convention center/athletic complex (the KCAC) opened this afternoon with a public event, and this being a smallish town it was THE place to be.  Seriously, I probably saw 40 or 50 people I know including my dentist, numerous friends from church, and the friend who brought her kids to my house for a playdate this morning.

Anyway, this event included free food.  Food such as giant muffins from our brand new Giant Eagle grocery store, all kinds of Utz brand chips (a regional brand that is the official snack food of the KCAC), and cake.  Austin and I shared a bit of everything.  But that's not all.  The Meadows Frozen Custard opened for the season today and, well, we just had to go--it's been four months.  If you've tasted it you understand.  And since it was BOGO free, I figured the simplest and cheapest thing was to just get two kid-sized cups and give Austin his own.  Which he nearly finished.

So that was Austin's "dinner."  Like I said, I should probably feel guilty about it...but I don't.  I think having a second child is definitely mellowing me out a bit.

Little Bookworm

This is what I found when I went in to wake Austin up from his nap this afternoon.  He is not supposed to get out of bed but how can I not be endeared by this scene?  I don't know if he actually looked at the books or if they just served as comfort objects but I love it in any case.  Austin has enjoyed being read to for quite some time but lately he has started looking at books on his own.  This warms my heart so much because if there is one worldly thing I desire for my children, it is for them to love books.  (Insert contented sigh here.)