A Distracted Mom's Lip Gloss

Wow! Things in our household have been a wee bit crazy the last few weeks. (Okay, 'crazier'.)
Benjamin had some tummy issues for a couple days, Nic was home feeling crappy for one day and Livi tested positive for having mono. Let's just say there have been LOTS of "stay home" days for me lately.

Most of you know that, for me, running to the store can be therapeutic as it allows me to step away from the monotony and gets me out of the constant need for household chores... just a long enough reprieve to once again be ready to conquer the loads of laundry, the piles of dishes and the strewn toys once again.

Having prefaced my story adequately, I'll tell you about my total "Mom" moment tonight. Tonight was my Women's Ministry "dinner group" that meets once a month. I wasn't able to attend last month b/c of sick kid's, so I was excited to have and hour and a half to eat sloooowly, chat and listen to the gals in my group tonight.... with NO kids. As I was driving myself there, thinking about a million things and praying a little too, a thought popped into my head... "I didn't even look in the mirror before leaving. I wonder if I look presentable." Not really being able to do that while driving, I thought I could at least put on a little lip gloss... that always seems to make me feel a wee bit fancified, even if my hair was sticking straight up... oh, wait, it aways sticks up now... or if there was snot and/or food staining the shoulders of my shirt. Yes, Mom's you know exactly what I mean. So, I reached for the lip gloss that I ALWAYS keep in the handle of my drivers side door. My fingers found it and my brain just went into "autopilot" .... seeing that Iv'e put lip gloss on a time or two. As I spread the lip gloss over my lips, in between the many thoughts racing through my mind, I thought, 'this lip gloss feels sort of grainy... wonder if it froze? ' Then I thought, ' wait, it taste sort of funny.... WHOA.... what is this?'. Wouldn't you know... I had somehow forgotten that I threw a special something, in that same little nook, for Livi... Orajel! My lips now felt about 10x the size they should be!  I was only about 2 mins from my meeting place and my lips were now completely NUMB! Lol....  A total distracted "Mom" moment.

I was able to laugh about my mishap and still enjoy time with some beautiful women... both inside and out.

On my way home, in the stillness of my van, I was even able to thank God that I had reason for the Orajel smothering my lips. I have 5 beautiful children... all unique and all precious to me. For them, I choose to open the door to many more "Mom" moments with joy and with a smile in my heart.

Today I am Thankful...

Today, I am thankful for my oldest who graciously offered to put Livi to bed. She has had a really rough day. :( Praying for a better night. I think that God knows that without the help of my other children, I might be totally insane.... b/c they already know I am slightly crazy! Lol

It's hard to believe that it is actually 2012..... Not only because Christmas and New Years has passed but because usually, the start of a new year is cold, wet and white. NONE of which has been the case this year. Yesterday, I think we hit a new record... 64 degrees on Jan 4th. CrAZy!

I will admit, as much as I would love to see a little white stuff on the ground and brighten the drab brown of the trees, I have loved being able to not bundle Livi up in a dozen layers in order to keep her warm as I run errands.

I thought in this post, I would share some of my anticipations for this year and also some of the challenges I pray to overcome. Let's start on a positive note....

1. I am so excited to see what God brings our way this next year. Often times, I think about what "I" want to see happen or what "I" am going to achieve, but in reality, it truly is ALL out of my control.... the end results, I mean. I can try my best to do what I desire or even what I think God is calling me to, but in the end, it is He alone that chooses the outcome. (Unless, its a sin issue in my life... then it the consequences of that sin that tend to play my outcome. But even in my sin, I pray God uses me to glorify Himself and keep my humble.)

2. I am excited to get away to Colorado for a long weekend at the end of January with some great friends. It's always such a blessing to have a little "recharge" time for Dave and I. Now, this year, the question will be whether or not we do that with or without Livi....

3. I am super excited to see how God works in my hubby's life as our church added a new pastor for "leadership develpoment".

4. I am so looking forward to our Spring Break trip to Florida this year as last year we skipped it because Livi had just been born.

5. I am really looking forward to using the awesome family Christmas gift my parents gave to our family this year.... SEASON passes to Adventure Land! Whohooooooo! Let's pray Livi likes it too.

6. I am blessed to look forward to my 17th wedding anniversary this next June. God is so amazing!

7. I am excited to anticipate all that God has in store for our family and how He will show Himself through the blessings and through the trials we face.

Now, onto the challenges I hope to overcome. Honestly, I can only speak of the ones that are currently in my life. My greatest challenges are...

1. Finding a way to help Livi peacefully sleep for more that 3 hrs at a time.

Did you know that Einstein only slept about 45 -60 mins each night and then took many 10 min naps throughout each day. That was the only amount of sleep he got!

Ever since she was born, she has struggled to sleep restfully and for extended lengths of time. I remember Kaelyn being very similar, as an infant, so I have pushed through the months, getting up 3-4 times a night, with the hope that her pattern would change over time. Unfortunately, things have only seem to get more challenging. I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of that hasn't included medicines and nothing seems to have worked. Yesterday, I finally took her to our doctor - who I completely trust and who is amazingly open to options outside medicine - and found out that she has a very similar condition to "restless leg syndrome". Except, she has it all over her body. :( The biggest reason she doesn't sleep for long lengths of time is simply because her body is so restless and her brain is sort of "mis-firing" causing her to never settle enough to allow her to get into the REM level of sleep. SHE has adapted and learned to live - pretty happily- on very little sleep.... I have not. Lol. I am at the point where I NEED to find a solution. So, for now... for the next month... despite my not wanting to use meds... we have decided to try a med every night before bed to help force her into a deeper sleep. Last night was our first night.... it didn't go so well. I praying that each day might get a little better as her body adjusts to being forced to sleep. At the same time, our doctor is reaching out to his friends who specialize in pediatric sleep disorders to see if we can maybe find some other long term options. For now, I would like sleep... NOT an Einstein!

2. I would find a way to get my house organized and uncluttered... SOON!

I have always kept a family motto : "If you want to come see me, come anytime. If you want to come see my house, please make an appointment". Over the last 10 months, my house seems to be growing it's own identity. Stuff in corners with no home, piles of unclean clothes - begging to be cleaned, "stuff" just calling out to be put away. This year, I am hoping to find the time I need to simply un-clutter and simplify our household.

I pray that each of you who reads this have had an amazing start to your New Year and that you are also looking forward to what God has in store for you!

Baby is calling... gotta close for now. :)

The biggest kid in our family

No, I'm not talking about my 6 ft son! So, today, as I was almost taken out by this male in the household as he ran for someone at the door. I thought maybe it would be good for me to show a few pics our dog Ryker.... One of Livi's favorite meal time buddies. So, this morning, as I was trying to get kids out the door for school, Livi was a bit demanding - surprise, surprise- so I put her in her highchair and handed her 1/2 a pretzel rod. Let's just say, she was happy and so was Ryker. When Ben saw what was occurring between the two of them he completely grossed out. You would have thought he was the one with Rykers saliva in his mouth as he "bleh" and "pwah" and "yuck!" all the way to the door. Let's just hope that Livi and Ryker become the best of friends and that Ryker is patient with her... especially as she is so close to walking! I love my kids and yes, I do love my dog... even though he sometimes makes me crazy!

Okay, kids are tucked into bed.. whoa, it's before 9pm - that might be a record for this month! 
So, unless I have lost count, which on some days isn't hard for me to do, we are on to kido number 3...


Anna - She is about one inch shy of 5' (about 2 inches taller than Kaelyn) and has a personality that explodes in every direction! She looooves anything "artsy", loves to dance to music, loves to laugh and to make others laugh, she loves dramatic interrpretation (if you know what I mean) and absolutely loves to hang out with her friends. She hasn't really decided whether or not she wants to play a musical instrument but she loves music and sings her little heart out as she lays in bed trying to go to sleep. This summer, she and Nic decided to attend a rock climbing camp at which Anna - being the lightweight that she is - just excelled very quickly. (Why can't our kids pick inexpensive hobbies???  Is there such a thing anymore?) 
Anna loves to run upstairs and grab Livi (her baby sister) from her crib the second she hears her make any noise... and then quickly says, "here Mom".  I love that our girls are such great friends! There are many days they are at odds about something but, even on those days, they usually quickly make things right and get on with playing together... most days. Lol


Benjamin - Where to start with my little man... He is about 4'6" tall and has about the same size shoe as his sisters. He absolutely LOVES crocs. He wears them so much that he has worn through 2 pair in this past year.... if you know anything about crocs - that's saying something! His new favorite "game", "thing", "toy".... not even sure what to call it, is playing "bayblades ". He and his buddies all huddle around his plastic bay blade stadium and then on the count of 3 they pull their rip sticks. They all cheer - rather loudly of course - waiting to see whose bayblade is the last one spinning. Somehow, this keeps him and his friends relatively occupied for several hours at a time. He still loves to play Lego's, loves listening to music, reading, making cookies with me - as long as his hands don't get messy - and loves leaving early on those special mornings to go grab donuts with Daddy before anyone else is up and ready to eat breakfast. He is super tenderhearted and absolutely loves to sing and read to Livi.


WHEW - four down and one more to go! I know, some of you are probably thrown for a bit of a loop! Yes, after being taken on a crazy wild journey - it would take quite some time to explain - we added a 5 child to craziness of our household. Someday, I might try to revisit that journey and bask in the perfect timing and graces given by our amazing God. 


Olivia - She usually goes by the nickname "Livi" but we alternate enough that she probably thinks she has two names. She turned 9 months Dec 5th, weighs about 19.5 lbs and is 28.5 in long. She is crawling everywhere, actually she is not far from walking! She already transfers herself from one thing to another - sort of in that "leap of faith" way. She has decided that she is big enough to forgo any and all baby foods and very much prefers to simply eat what we are all eating. Seeing that she still has yet to start teething, this sometimes makes for quite a scenario. Let's just say we do lots of cutting into little pieces these days! Livi loves to be social. Whenever we are out running errands she loves to get the attention of any/all strangers simply to get them to respond to her.... let's pray that changes in the near future! When we head to the nursing home to visit Grandpa, she makes her rounds to each person in his "neighborhood" and lights up the room with smiles. It's sort of humbling to stand there and see life in the beginning stage all the way to almost its end.... all in one room. I wouldn't say that Livi has been an easy baby in any way, but the older she gets and the more the good Lord lets us peek into her little personality, the easier those hard moments become to handle. 


Okay... ready for number 6????  Lol... just kidding. I have no idea what God has in store for us all in the future, but for now, I am one content Mama and am learning to love each and every tired moment I have with the blessing I have been given.


I would, however, like to take a second to brag about my hubby. It has been so incredibly amazing to see a man who hated to smell of any baby's poopy diaper - sing while changing one now; to see a guy who insisted (years ago) that he needed at least 8 hours of sleep to function - get up every morning at 6:30 am to take one of our kids to Jazz practice by 6:55 am and then come all the way home to get the other one, who doesn't have to be at school until 8am, simply to let them sleep a little longer; and lastly, to see a man, who once needed TONS of "alone" time to unwind and be sane - give up most of every alone moment to serve and love his family. He works tirelessly, loves people, and loves me... I am a blessed woman. 

Welcome to our Family blog! 


 I figured that after 16 years of marriage and 5 kids later that a blog was something I should consider. I find it really hard to re-tell all the events that might occur, on any given day, to one person - namely my husband - more less the many friends and family who might want to know. Sooooo, here it is! A place where you all can take a peek into our crazy household and see each weeks events as they unfold.  I will do my best to post at least once a week and if I get crazy I might post more... 


For this week, I thought I might start out by simply sharing about what each of my kids are doing in life... Since I have 5, it might take a bit, so hold onto your hats... here it goes...


Nicolas - He likes to go by "Nic" is now 13 (almost 14) and is taller that both Dave and I. He is 6'2", wears a size 13.5 shoe and eats us out of every good thing in the house. He plays the Bari-sax, loves video games, movies, computers - okay, just about anything that might have a screen attached to it. He loves to ride his bike to Kum and Go and grab the most nutritious drink in town - "Green Machine" - and sometimes surprises me by bringing me a much needed Diet Dew or Pepsi... he becomes my favorite kid for just a few seconds when he does that.  Nic loves to attend Youth Group, hanging out with his friends, listening to his music - LOUD- and hanging out with his baby sister. Did I mention that he is an AMAZING babysitter... especially when it comes to watching his baby sister who simply adores him. 
I am told that, in the state of Iowa, one is allowed to get their learners permit at the age of 14. 14???!!!!!  Guess who is making sure I am reminded of that on just about a daily basis?


Kaelyn - She normally goes by "K" but still loves to go by "Kaelyn" too. She turned 12 in August and still continues to lag a bit in the height department.... something she has come to take a little pride in... being a bit short. Kaelyn loves to read, hang out with friends, take really long baths, keep her room clean, bake and shop... when Mommy has time to take her and is an extremely talented writer. She will often take a leap of faith by using her writing assignments as a way to share her heart and her love for Jesus with both her teacher and her classmates. I often wish I would have had the same courage as she does when I was her  age. She loves to dace to music with her sister Anna and watch sad movies. She loves to sit and play with her baby sister but also loves to give her back! Lol. Kaelyn plays trumpet and  is in both advanced math (algebra) and english and was asked to join the 7th grade Jazz band. She starred in her first play this year and looks forward to maybe getting more involved in drama next year. 


Okay, so that is 2 out of 5 kids.... Since my kido's are just getting home from school, I will need to finish the other 3 later today or later this week! 


I am excited to share with you all the events of our family as they unfold!