The birthday boy

I apologize for the lack of blogging as of late. Things have been busy around here as always, and I just don't get much time to sit down at the computer that I put pictures on. Here are the shots of Isaac's birthday. He had a great day!

Helping Mommy make his chocolate birthday cake
And of course, cleaning up is the best part
We woke up to several inches of snow that day. He was very excited, "It is snowing for my birthday!"
The cake. Tasted great, not so pretty. Not great at adjusting for the high altitude so everything rises quickly and falls. But Joe told me it the was the best chocolate cake I've ever made.
Puzzles! He has had a ton of fun with these, nice and big floor puzzles.

My hubby is cataloging all our pictures and I haven't figured out the program yet, even though there are pics I want to share. Will have to try to get him to explain it all to me!

My little boy turns 4 today

My not-so-tiny newborn, weighing in at 9 lbs and 5.8 oz.

Big yawns! (I love baby yawns)

The summer after he was born, hanging out at the zoo. What a handsome fella!

Isaac's life has been a journey. I am so thankful for my little unique fellow who has high-highs and low-lows. He is creative, imaginative, sweet and cuddly, and enthusiastic about life. Happy birthday, little boy!

Grammie's visit

A Mama's Body

When I became pregnant with Issy, I accepted that my body was no longer solely my own. I shared it with her for nine months, giving her a place to grow until she was strong enough to be out here. But it didn't really stop there. We went on to have a 13 month nursing relationship and by the time she weaned, I was three months pregnant with Isaac. Who went on to nurse for 16 months. And you guessed it, by the time he weaned, little Liam was growing. And my Liam, who really likes to nurse, is now 26 months and showing no sign of stopping.... and so my body is still not solely my own.

When I got married when I was 20, I had the body of a teenager. Three pregnancies and three nurslings later, I have the body of a mother. The weight fluctuations have been frustrating. It seems after my initial weight loss after I have my babes, I gain ten pounds. Yuck. It has happened with all three of them. It is like my body is saying, "Wait, you have to nurse this kid still, lets store a little more fat!" And given that I come a family of relatively thin people, this is kind of a kicker to my self-esteem. And I start longing for that teenager body.

But this Mama body rocks. Seriously, it has done some amazing things- building people, making enough milk to grow them to a generous size, recovered from one birth and two c-sections (which is no small feat!) . This body is a giving body... it takes care of small people needs at night- getting drinks, snuggling, singing - when it would prefer 8 consecutive hours of sleep, it does laundry to cloth a small army, cooks when it is tired. This Mama body has served me well and I shouldn't take it for granted.

Health is the goal. I wasn't healthy when I was a teenager, weighed 115 lbs and was drinking 6 cans of Pepsi a day. I just was gifted with a great metabolism. So I vow to not wish for the teenager body. I am pretty sure it doesn't exist anymore anyways, lol. I have lost 17 lbs over the last nine months and I am feeling good in my skin. But it isn't about the longing for the teenager body, it is about embracing the Mama body and loving it for what it is. I have been more active and have been eating healthier and I have had a windfall of weight loss. I wasn't really trying for it, just trying to take care of this body, this blessed Mama body, this giving body. So it can do more great things

Confessions of a 20-something wife and mother

1) I sincerely like to cloth diaper. Perhaps an odd amount. And I can't really pinpoint why. All the options? The way a little baby bum looks swaddled in cloth? The cheapness? The feel of a clean, fresh diaper straight out of the dryer? Sweet wool longies? Clean covers drying on the countertop? I am not sure... but I am addicted.

2) My kids are really awesome people. Seriously. They are highly entertaining. Like right now, Isaac is sitting next to me drawing food on the Magna Doodle for me to "eat". We have been doing this for a good ten minutes. Issy is playing dress-up (a white flower girl dress, Cinderella crown and shoes, a furry coat and she is holding her baby doll. And Liam just shut himself in their room and is probably getting into trouble ;)

3)And my children also drive me nuts. Each one of them at least once a day. There are times that I think that if they whine at me one more time I might spontaneously combust. It hasn't happened yet...

4)Before last December, I hadn't ever baked anything from scratch in my adult life. In my mind I had built up baking as this huge, tough thing. But I bit the bullet and it really wasn't so bad. Fun, even. Very tasty, definitely.

5)I have known my husband for 12 years, we have been together for 8 years and married for 6 years and he is still my best friend and there isn't anyone I would rather spend time with. He is an amazing Dad (I have never seen a man that is so at ease and patient with teeny tiny babies) and he puts up with my idiosyncrasies with minimal complaints. Amazing guy, he is.

6) Bodily fluids no longer bother me. I have cleaned up enough accidents, changed enough diapers and been with enough sick kids that very little grosses me out anymore. Dog poo is still yucky.

7) I really want to get a tattoo, but haven't found the "right one" (and am a bit chicken) so it hasn't happened yet. I don't want to get one just to get one and don't want to be hasty, so I suppose it will probably wait a few more years.

8) I had no idea 6 years ago when I was pregnant with Issy that being a parent would change me so drastically. Things that I didn't have any opinion about are some of my strongest held beliefs now. Becoming a mother has made me realize things about myself that I would not have learned in 50 years without my children.

Had a great week!

For the last week, Joe's Mom came to visit us. It was such a great week! It was pretty relaxed (well, as relaxed as you can ever get with my three kiddos around) and we invited Grammie to join in our life for a week. We did school in the mornings, did our afternoon "rests" and then took Grammie all sorts of fun places we go- the library, the hardware store, the pet store, the Emporium (where you can get the best Huckleberry ice cream ever!) the park. Then we would come home and play outside. It is so gorgeous here, the leaves are falling, it is in the 70's, just lovely. We loved having her come visit us and sharing what our days are like!

My dear husband replaced my camera, so I have some pictures of Mom's visit on there. In response to how he broke it.... good question ;) We aren't really sure. He took a very short overnight business trip to California a couple of weeks ago. He didn't want to take his camera (its a bit bulky) so I told him he could take mine. He didn't use it, it was wrapped in his clothes in this bag, but when I pulled it out, the casing was dented and was coming apart. I think it was someone at the airport having a bad day! But I (tentatively) like my new camera and it is good to have one again!

Had a great birthday! We all went to Idaho Falls (which is the "big city" compared to here!) and did a little shopping and went out to lunch. Had to get Issy some new jeans, she is getting so big and running out of hand-me-downs from her girl cousins. Size 6 (slim) jeans! I can't believe my little girl is starting to wear "big girl" clothes. As with most things about my children growing up, I can't quite articulate why this is strange for me. Perhaps because I remember my own mom buying my size 6 jeans? When did my little girl get so big? I digress! My birthday- we came home, Joe grilled some hotdogs, and we had the most delicious pie from Village Inn. It was really just a joyful day. 27 is looking good!

So now that my birthday has come and gone, we are looking forward to Isaac's birthday in a couple of weeks. He is really getting to be a big boy! He just gets sweeter and funnier every day. Such an imaginative little fellow. He was such a tricky infant, very intense, but those qualities are quite endearing now. His highs are very high and his lows are low. He is a bit of a spacey guy, unless he has something to focus on, then he is quite intent on what he is working on.

Alright, I am going for now, but I will try to update later with pictures!

Life is good! (and other stuff)

So my wonderful husband somehow broke my camera (which he has apologized profusely for and promised to rectify the situation) and so for right now, it is just going to be me. And any old pictures I can dredge up.

Things are going really well here! Compared to this time last year, when I was homesick, Joe was working a ton for Crazy Boss, Liam was ill every couple of weeks and very high- maintenance, and things were generally kinda miserable, life is about 100% better. I love the autumn! The crisp fall air is here, the leaves are turning all shades of yellowy orangey redish gold. In a couple of weeks, I think we will have enough leaves to rake and jump in the piles (which is pretty exciting since we didn't ever have enough leaves to do this in our Kansas house).

I am working at the yarn shop on Saturdays which is super relaxing, a chance to sit and knit, to talk to people about yarn and all the beautiful things they could make with it, and a chance to put aside some money for Christmas. Which is good since Issy has decided she really really really would like an American Girl doll (one of the little neighbor girl's has one) from Santa. She brings it up at least once a day, often more.

So my 27th birthday is coming up. Whoa, 27. I am not quite sure why 27 seems like a big deal, compared to say 25 or 26. Perhaps it is because it is all that much closer to 30. Hmmm, I don't feel quite like I should be pushing 30. In my mind, I am still this 21 year old newlywed. But I have lived a lot of life in the last few years. Since 2000, I graduated,went off to college for a year, decided that wasn't my thing and to come back, my mother passed away, got married, had a baby, had another baby, had yet another baby, moved 1,100 miles.... hardly time to breathe! It has been good, very good, though. And I don't mind getting older, sometimes I just forget it is happening. Time goes by so quickly now!

Alright, it is almost time for "school". Until next time!

A visit from Uncle Matt

We got the chance to have Joe's brother out here for almost a whole week with us recently! It was lovely to get to spend time with him since we haven't really been able to- we moved shortly after he got ordained. The kids loved spending time with their Uncle :) Here are some pictures from his visit:

I took him to the other side of the mountain one day (and bless his heart, he endured the car ride with our three littles!) These are a couple of shots of the Tetons from the Jackson side.

The kiddos helped him put his things away after he said Mass for us. How special!



Just a little stroll in the woods

So yeah....

The ants are gone. Thank goodness!

Edited to Add: In all my searching I never figured out where they came from. There were several dead ones under the bed, but after I started cleaning up, I didn't see any more alive. And there was no apparent "line of marching ants" from anywhere. Our best guess was that they came in on the dogs (I had seen a lot of the ants under the tree where the dogs like to sit), since the pups sleep on the floor in our room at night.

I did super cleaning in the room that day: washed all the bedding, lifted up the bedframe and vacuumed under the bed and did the little vacuum around all the floorboards. It was so weird, but we are grateful to have our bed to ourselves again. Oh wait, except for that pesky little toddler we share it with for a few hours each night :P He is such a bed hog!

If you hang in here with me, you get some randomness from time to time

Joe and I went to bed together last night, to do some reading and get to sleep early. As we were sitting there, an ant with wings was crawling across Joe's shoulder. I brushed it off and didn't think much of it. I had been seeing them around lately- a few around the house, but a lot outside.

Couple minutes later, we saw another. Then another. In the span of about 20 minutes, we must have seen 8 or 10, including one that bit Joe. Deeply perplexing. Window wasn't open. There are no visible cracks to the outside of the house. So why our bedroom? Very weird.

Decide to go to sleep, after killing a few more. As I am trying to fall asleep, one crawls up my neck (heebie-jeebies, seriously) and when I turn over, one crawled in my ear. I can't handle things that are crawling into my crevices, so I decide to sleep on the couch. Not bothered by a single one out there.

I came in at 5:30 to nurse Liam and when I wake up again one is crawling across my forehead. Joe got bit again last night. WHAT IS UP WITH THE FLYING, BITING ANTS!?

So after my shower, I stripped the bed, looking for any evidence of a place they were coming from. I am going to wash the blankets today. I turn over the mattress, lift up the box springs and look inside, nothing. I have nothing. There were a few dead ones under the bed, but no trail of live ones coming from someplace. Extremely vexing. I am going to do a good vacuuming and washing the bedding and pray that they go away. Darned ants.

So now that I have gotten that disturbing, yucky story out of the way, I'll tell you about the happy in our lives. I love homeschooling :) We started homeschooling out of necessity, but three weeks into it, I am surprised by how much I enjoy it. It gives a nice rhythm to our day, and I love seeing Issy learn new things, I love watching them play together and build community in a way I hadn't noticed before. They are each other's best playmates and friends and I am able to see the domestic church in action. It does this Mama's heart good.

I realize that there are struggles to be had and things won't always be peaches and roses, but for now I am basking in our "homeschooling honeymoon" :)

Busy Busy September

It has been crazy over here. Good crazy. At the end of August, my sister, her kids and my Dad visited. We began homeschooling the week after they left then Joe's brother, came to visit and now we are in a down week again before Joe's Mom visits. Hooray for visitors!

So here are some pictures from Michelle and Dad's visit:

First day of Homeschool!

I have a ton of updates I need to make, but I thought I would start here. Just a few pictures from our first day of school. We have some kinks to work out (mainly how to keep Liam occupied without distracting Issy) but it went fairly well. It is going to be an exciting year!

Terrific Two!

Despite my best efforts to stop him from growing and to keep him my baby forever, little Liam turned 2 yesterday. It has been a wonderful, challenging year. He has grown and changed so much! When he turned one, he wasn't even walking, now he is a running, climbing, talking, adventurous little boy. Every day is an exciting journey with Liam!

From this (at two days old, laying in the sun for his jaundice)

To this (on our last hike)

Cleaning up after I made his cake yesterday.

Playing outside with the neighbor kids yesterday afternoon. He really likes wearing Issy's bike helmet.

The Cake

Book and CD from Grammie and Grandpa (we read one of the books before bed and he actually sat still and loved it!)

Eating some of the delicious Chocolate Truffle Cake that Mommy made.

Playing with his stacking buckets and choo choo train from Mommy and Daddy.

All is quiet on the home front

The last couple of weeks have been relatively uneventful, but I thought I would update anyways :)

We are currently getting the house ready to welcome my sister Michelle, her two little ones and my Dad next weekend. We are very excited! Lots of cleaning- I thought I should clean the windows since almost all of them have grimy little handprints and it would be nice if our guests could see out the windows toward the mountain views. It has started to feel a little more fall-ish here, which puts me in a cleaning, fresh beginnings mood.

Unforunuately, our cleaning has been hampered by the fact that Liam is going on Day 4 of having a fever. He is pretty pathetic, mostly because he has been begging (seriously, begging) to go outside since Thursday. I broke down yesterday, but have steeled myself against his pleas since then until his fever breaks. No other visible symptoms, except the outside of his ears are red. I suspect an ear infection, because this is how they usually manifest themselves. I can't complain too much, though, since this is only the second ear infection he has had since the beginnning of the ear. We are just waiting it out, his body seems to be healing itself just fine with lots of nursing, water and quasi-rest.

Now he just needs to get all better in time for his birthday on Tuesday! I told Joe that since he took a long time to come out from start to finish that his birthday should be a three-day celebration, starting today. Little did I know, two years ago today at this time, that it would be another 39 hours until I got to hold my Liam. It was totally worth it :D

I am starting our homeschooling year after Labor Day and Issy and Isaac are very excited! I ordered most of their books last week and will be finishing up this week. As reluctant as I was last year to take this on, I am feeling good about it now. I feel much less overwhelmed than I did last fall, and I have had a pep talk from a good friend of mine who is a veteran homeschooling Mom (thanks, Kathleen!) Onward into our education adventure!

Speaking of education, after much thought and prayer and some more thought and prayer, I have decided to go ahead and start my midwifery education this upcoming Spring. If you don't keep up with my other blog, I have decided on Ancient Art Midwifery Institute. It is supposed to be a very challenging, intensive course. It is a 39 month program, self-study, although many people file extensions. I want to get the bulk of it done befort I seek an apprenticeship, so I can have the book knowledge under my belt. And so that we can further settle into life here, get to know the area better and the kids can grow up a little more. It will be good to have something to work on though!

Sorry no pictures this time :) Joe has been keeping up his blog though, so if you want pictures, the link is on the right of this page.

Our Sunday

It has been a while since we got the chance to go hiking as a family, but we ventured out in a different part of the forest than we usually hike in and it was an adventure!

While everyone was still clean and dry.

Very beautiful little spot. Shortly after this, things got interesting.

As Joe was taking the picture of this very interesting tree, the dogs ran ahead of us, as they usually do. I saw Kolbe run off the path and flop down in some dirt and start rolling around. As we walked by his spot, we discovered that it wasn't dirt he was rolling around in. Apparently, one of the cows that they have in the forest ate something that disagreed with her and she got, um.... loose stools. And Kolbe rolled thoroughly in her loose stool :P

Well, then we came to a little creek crossed our path. Isaac insisted that he wanted to walk across the logs by himself and it was maybe 8 inches deep at it's deepest, so we thought we'd let him go ahead. Well, you might imagine what happened next. He slipped off the log, and fell in. As he was trying to get his grip to get up, he dunked his head in the water. Mind you, Joe was holding his hand the whole time. He was sopping wet. And the path had really loose dirt, so then his shoes got all muddy.

Before we went home, we found larger creek to get the poo off of Kolbe (Joe got that unsavory job) and then we returned home. We all got showers and baths before Church!