Amanda The Panda

I love that my kids enjoy sleeping with stuffed animals. Ga-Ga & Pa just got this cute little panda for Ella while they were on vacation. She's been touching and reaching for toys for a few days now. On Friday afternoon I gave her her panda and she fell asleep like this!

Dirt....Wonderful Dirt!

Thursday morning we got a wonderful call from a friend saying he was coming over with a truckload of dirt. Now normally this wouldn't be a reason to celebrate, but for someone that so desperately wants her backyard project to be finished this was really awesome news.

When we ordered dirt this time last year we only got 5 yards. Turns out we needed more...a lot more like 30 yards more. With Michael being laid off there was no way we could justify purchasing more dirt. But a friend of ours works for the city so we are getting the dirt for free! Sa-weet!!!

The boys were so excited...on Thursday's I go to a playdate at a local church, but I almost didn't take them since they'd miss out on seeing the dump truck.

When the truck showed up Ella was still in her sleeper so I just put her in the Bjorn and put a winter hat on her. By the time the truck left she had fallen asleep.

This is the first truck that came...it was certainly a tight squeeze down our easement.



One load down...three more to go!

The guys got a great view from up on the deck.

After the first trip they came in a different truck that still held the same amount of dirt, but it was skinnier so it wasn't so hard backing it down the easement.

While we were at playdate two more loads were delivered, but the boys got to see the last load being dumped.

That's a lot of dirt!!!

Party of Three For Tummy Time Please!

A Different Vantage Point!

Look who's seeing the world from a different vantage point!!!

Ella totally surprises me that she's only 3 1/2 months old and she's can to hold her head up well enough to sit in the Bumbo. When my Aunt Linda gave us the Bumbo Owen was 3 1/2 months old, but we had to put a pillow behind his head for support. Jack never really liked the Bumbo at all! I'm hoping Ella likes it.

She can stay in it for a few minutes, but after that her head starts getting lower and lower. That's when I know it's time to take her out. Then these little guys come over and have a turn sitting in it.

Can you believe Owen is still skinny enough to fit in it? Oh yeah and if you ask Owen what he's doing in this picture he'd say, "I'm workin' on my puter!"

Music To My Ears!

Lately Owen has been saying "I love you so very much!" just out of the blue all on his own. It's so awesome! So I just had to get it on video. He's so excited that I'm filming him that he yells it, but it's still sweet. In the video I ask Jack to say it, but he just shakes his head, laughs and says, "Nooo!" If you listen closely he does say, "much", right before I ask him to say, "love you so very much".

Peddle Away!

Two Saturdays ago I took the boys down to the Tacoma waterfront to hang out with my friend Stephanie. It was a beautiful morning...a little chilly, but still gorgeous.

Owen is so excited to be tall enough to peddle his bike. A few days before this I took it with us to the park and he had so much fun just peddling all over the place. On Saturday he peddled the whole way!

Jack enjoyed pushing his Buzz Lightyear and Woody characters in the baby stroller. I was so proud of him...he almost pushed it the whole way.

After we walked for a while we decided to climb down and get closer to the water so the boys could...what else...throw rocks!!!


After the long walk back to the car the boys had a super early lunch.


Jack is so in love he barely ever puts Buzz or Woody down.

It was so much fun spending time with Stephanie. We don't get to see each too often, but when we do we have such a good time talking.

Keepin' It Real...

Last week stunk for me...just plain stunk! I really feel like my hormones are still leveling out, but mainly now that I'm feeling better I feel that Satan was really attacking me. Let's be real...he is alive and well and working really hard at trying to get us to feel bad about ourselves or persuade us to do bad things. Last week I just felt so completely overwhelmed with my job as a homemaker and mother and the fact that Michael doesn't have a job and it's coming up on 7 months soon that I needed a break. So where do you go when you need a pick me up...Mom and Dad's house of course!!!

Michael was so wonderful about the whole thing...he told me to go and take the time I needed. After all he's home right now so it really was a perfect time for me to have a meltdown. HAHA!!!

My Mom and Dad were of course there will open arms and ears. My Mom is so good about not jumping right into what's bothering me, but just being there and waiting for me to be ready to open up and get my feelings out. The first night we talked a lot and then the next night we had some girl time/shopping therapy...so nice! As you can see my Dad was pretty smitten with having a sweet little girl at his house...she looks pretty smitten too!

Ella and I spent 2 whole days away and it was so rejuvenating. It was so fun having alone time with Ella and giving her some special one on one attention. It was also nice to take care of myself and frankly be a little selfish. I'm not going to lie and say that everything was perfect once I got home. Saturday was another bad day...I just feel like Satan is whispering in my ears, "You can't do this!"..."You're such an awful mother!"..."Just give up!". His words are piercing my heart, but I know they don't have power over me! I'm choosing to turn a deaf ear to his lies!!! I AM a good mother...do I have bad days, heck yeah!! But God's mercies are new EVERY MORNING!

My children are a blessing from God and I'm not going to waste this short time in their lives beating myself up about the mistakes I do make. I'm going pick myself up, brush myself off and do the best that I can with the strength God has given me. I'm going to learn from my mistakes and try to do better. And most of all I'm going to love my babies no matter what!

Speaking of strength...this sweet 3 month old is getting pretty strong. She loves to stand up when we hold her and she's doing great with keeping her head off the ground during tummy time.

Now That's What I Call A Good Treat!

Frosties & Fries just go together!

There's A First Time For Everything

When I picked up Owen at MOPS last Tuesday he had a craft project for me. It was a paper plate with his hand print on it and the hand print was made from paint. My first thought was hey that's the first time he's gotten to finger paint and then I thought oh that's sweet!

So I decided it was high time I got over my freakishness about messes and let my kids get messy and paint at home.

So we took out the finger paints (washable I might add) that I bought about a year ago and put them to good use.

Daddy even got in on the creative activity.


Owen got to make more hand prints.

As you can see even though they are washable I made them strip down into their undies/diaper. I know I'm a freak!

Jack wasn't too interested in the paints. He still likes the markers better. Of course most of the markers are all dried out now because the lids don't get put on properly. I hate that!

Love this mischievous look on his face!

It's fun to see the focus in Owen's eyes. It's good for mama to lighten up and let them have this creative time.

I think our next fun, creative, messy project will be going out on the deck with rice, bowls, funnels and measuring cups and having all sorts of fun scooping and pouring rice.

My Angel Baby

Sweet sleepy girl!

Love these chubby legs!


Stretching feels so good!

She definitely knows how to get her beauty sleep!

Sunkissed

This was Ella's first real experience out in the sun. She's been outside lots of time, but she's always in the Bjorn or in her car seat. She was so cute squinting. This is one of the outfits I found at Value Village when we went out for our anniversary. I love all the bright colors!

What's For Dinner?

I made this yummy dish the other night. Another great find from Allrecipes...Mushroom Chicken Piccata. The only thing I changed was I added capers. Next time I'll probably add less capers...it was a little too salty. With Michael being home so much lately he had been cooking most of the meals, but since he's been doing some side work the last few days I've been cooking more and it feels nice and relaxing.

Mother's Day

A few days before Mother's Day Michael asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate. At first I told him that I wanted the afternoon to myself. I wanted to nurse Ella and then I wanted him to take her and the boys and give me some alone time to read, surf the net, watch a movie or nap. Just be alone! But then Mother's Day came and I realized that that was the last thing I wanted. I love being a mother and I love being around my babies.

So after church we headed to a park, had a picnic lunch and played with the boys.

The last time we were at this park Jack was only 6 months old so he couldn't go in this cool car.

Jack was a little nervous walking over this bridge.

Of course Owen challenged himself with more climbing. He's really getting good at it.

As for that alone time I was wanting...nah this was WAY better!

Family Day / Anniversary

Saturday May 8th was me and Michael's 11 year wedding anniversary. It was pretty understated this year. We've done tons of fun things in years past for our anniversary such as a cruise to Alaska, trip to Hawaii for our honeymoon and even a trip to Disney world. This year was a little different, but still memorable. First we took all the kids out garage saling and I found a few brand new outfits for Ella and a shirt for Owen. After that we stopped at The Commons in Federal Way for the opening of the farmers market.

The boys got free Popsicles and Michael and I got free ice cream sandwiches.

At the BECU booth the boys got to put stickers on pots that we can take home and plant with the seeds they gave us. It was a metaphor for watching your money grow..hahaha! ;) They were free too!

Around dinner time our friend Micah and Kim came over with their son Andy to watch the boys so we could go out on a date. We were going to go to Salty's or Anthony's, but we opted for a noisier restaurant instead. Sometimes evening can be a really rough time for Ella so I didn't want to be all stressed out if she started crying.

So we headed to Famous Dave's...I love that place. The food rocks and we had lots of leftovers. YUMMY! I hate the way my new glasses reflect the flash all the time now...super annoying!

Oh yeah and Ella was a gem! She slept the whole time until our food came and then she just looked around until I was finished eating. Then I took her out to the car to nurse her and then we got to do a little shopping at the Burien Value Village. I love that place! Found 3 pairs of shoes for the kids and some clothes for Ella and Owen.

It was so nice to get out for a little while almost alone! It's hard to imagine we've been married 11 years already. We feel so blessed by what God has done in our lives so far and can't wait to see what else he has in store for us.