Movember

Yup, it's Movember. Dan and his cousin Corey are growing a mustache.

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month. The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men. Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.


This is what Movember looks like near the end of the month. A good cause, but I'll be happy to have my normally shaven husband back!

**Oh and Corey's darling daughter Kaia too!**

Tagged

I got tagged by the Butterfield blog.

RULE #1 : People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.




RULE #2 : Tag 4 people to do this quiz and they cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.



1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?

No pets, 4 young kids and a husband are enough for now.
2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

To have more time in a single day!
3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

People who drive slow intentionally in front of me on the one day I have four crying children.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

Travel, pay off debt, and 'live like no one else!'
5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Watching all four kids play together, getting hugs and kisses by little ones, and watching them when daddy walks through the front door.
6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

Equally as important
7. What is your bedtime routine?

Mine? Stay up till midnight catching up on life, the house, and my shows, go to bed.
8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?

He was hired at the place I was working.
9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

No idea
10. What kinds of books do you buy?

I don't know the last time I bought a book. I'm a library fiend!
11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

In 10 years we will be debt free and living the good life. We will be able to travel more, the boys AND girls will be playing sports, and we will be in a whole new phase of life with teenagers!
12. What's your fear?

something serious happening to one of the kids. Or Dan.

13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?

Nope.


14. Would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?

I am married and poor and that's the way I like it!
15. What's the first thing you do when you wake up?

Make breakfast for kids and start unloading and reloading the dishwasher as well as switching over laundry!
16. If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?

He'd be able to read my mind.
17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

Awesomeness. That's all I need. You say that, and you know it's me. ;)
18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

I can forgive. I can give those feelings of anger up to God. But I do not forget. I just move on.
19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?

Dominos Pizza. Thanks Jenn for getting pizza in my head!




I"m going to tag: Jolene, Kait, Carissa, and Jeanette. :)

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010. What a great day. I really feel as though we had the perfect day. The boys and I went outside and built a snow ramp to sled down. We shoveled and played. Molly even came out for a moment! The girls played inside with daddy. We made several trips to the store, had doughnuts for breakfast, and I got to read the paper!

After naptime we went to the Richards house for Thanksgiving dinner. Yum!

The kids were well-behaved. They played outside and rode the four-wheeler with Uncle Adam.

Greatma with some of her great grandchildren

Snowy Days Continue

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....so so cold! Of course, right when I make a deal with myself to get outside with the kids every single day, the highs don't go above 10 degrees. Of course! Luckily, I have two hard-core five-year olds that love to go outside and force the issue! It's a lot of work getting everyone dressed, ready, and happily outside. Especially since Molly and Katie hate the cold, wearing clothes, and snow in general. Here are some pictures of our snow days!

Snow!

Snow is here! Ask the boys and they'll tell you how excited they are. Sunday looked like this. We didn't yet have snowboots or gloves, so we improvised. The boys played outside for a bit and had a great time.

Molly hates the snow and is scared of it. She did allow me to put her snowsuit on (which is more than Katie would let me do) and went out with daddy for a moment.

Today, Monday, we woke up to even more snow! The boys were beside themselves. After preschool we found some boots and gloves and the boys imediately went outside. Then they spent the afternoon outside with the neighbor boys and had a blast.

Here's the fort they built with the neighbor kiddos. And I say that loosely, I'm sure it was more that the neighbor boys put up with them...but they did it nicely!

After Dan and grandma Patti arrived, the boys and I ran to the 'bread store' (Franz Outlet) down the street to get some garlic bread. Our mode of transportation? Sled. They were so happy to be pulled in the sled. I got my workout in and we made good time!

We are currently in a 'blizzard' so the conditions outside are a little nuts. The wind is biting and the snow is coming down. Three to six more inches expected. I'd love to see if I can get all the kids outside tomorrow provided it's not too cold!!!!

Red Lobster

Today in the car we  passed Red Lobster. The boys began with their usual questions. The most intriguing idea was how they kill the lobsters for people to eat. I gave them a guess that they either placed the live lobsters in boiling water or chopped their heads off. The boys responded in unison:

Thomas- So cool, I'm going to work there!
Joshua- I'm never going in there!

19 Months

Well, we're about a month off in timing so we just had our 18-month appointment for the girls. Guess that's what happens when you have four kids! Here are the stats for the girls...big changes!

Katie-
Weight- 22.1 pounds (25%)
Height- 32 3/4" (75%)

Molly-

Weight- 20 pounds (5%)

Height- 32 3/4" (75%)

So, Molly is now in "danger" because of her weight. I'm not worried. If she could stop nursing long enough to eat real food, she'd do better. In time, this will change. She's sure caught up in height though!

Another Chapter Comes to an End

And another chapter of our lives comes to an end. Our journey of infertility is officially over (except for baby payments, those still have 2 more years).

When we did our second round of In-Vitro Fertilization, we were blessed with 6 fertilized eggs, embryos. 2 became Thomas and Joshua, the rest were frozen. 3-ish years later, two more were thawed and Katie and Molly were born. Dan and I then had a huge decision in front of us. What to do with the remaining embryos (in my mind...babies)? We could a) adopt them out or b) expand our family. We were more than certain that our family was complete. That left the adoption route.

It seemed an easy option. Give the babies a home that had yearned for children the way we yearned for children. Dan and I struggled with how to go about this option. God blessed us and sent us a messenger. A friend from high school had some friends (her children's Godparents) that had struggled through infertility like us. I broached the subject of us donating our embryos to them. It was a great match! We went through my friend and did all the necessary paperwork, etc.

Now, while we were totally and completely done with our family. And this decision was by far the right one, it was still difficult. Signing the adoption papers, signing away our rights, writing down all our likes/dislikes/traits/qualities...it was hard! There were some very hard moments of praying and knowing that we were making the right decision.

After several months of paperwork and discussion, the time has come that the embryos were hers. We received news this week that the embryos did not survive thawing. While this news is sad for us and we work our way through that, we are devastated for the adopting family. We know that feeling (our first cycle ever was a loss). They DID have backup embryos just in case, so there is still hope. But, at this point, our prayers go out to that family as those embryos were in fact, their babies too.

So, we end this chapter of our lives. We end the journey of infertilty. With our heads held high. We have four beautiful children. And we made our attempt to help someone else build a beautiful family. God has been good to us and we couldn't feel more blessed. And I can easily say GOOD-BYE to that chapter and hello to the idea of raising these wonderful children.

Update--- Did You Ever Want This Much Potty Knowledge?!

Day 3 of potty-training and I have to admit I'm really impressed with our little girl! Katie has had maybe three accidents in the last three days. The accidents are generally due to her being put down for a nap and her refusing to take one. She then pees all over in anger. She's even attempting to #2 on the potty too! She has made it halfway successful so far, but I am hoping she's learning those cues.

We even went out to dinner tonight and she went potty three times! Ok ok, so she ran to the bathroom with her pants around her ankles, but it's still cute when you're under 2! ;) Molly even ran for a potty stop at the restaurant (unsuccessfully, but hey, she's trying!).

I'm crossing my fingers that this sticks. It would be so great! Although my predictions would come true that they are potty-trained before they are weaned and that would make me look bad.

Here are a few photos just to make you happy!

Yup, I Caved...

I finally gave in. That girl wore me down. Little Katie (now officially 18 months old) has been showing signs of wanting to potty train for months now. I have absolutely no interest in potty training a little one that can't even say the word 'potty' yet. She can't even verbally tell me she has to go!!!

However, for the past week if I put her down for a nap and she's not that tired, she'll take off her diaper and pee in resistance. Thanks Katie. But, if I put her to bed tired, she will immediately take off her diaper and will 90% of the time wake up dry. Amazing!

So today, I went in to do laundry and while I was switching out loads, she was stripping down. She came to me and I could see her legs were wet. I asked her if she peed and asked her to show me where (meanwhile grabbing my bag of cleaning supplies). She led me directly to her little potty. She had taken the initiative to pee in her own little potty. This was huge! She was sooooo proud. We celebrated and had potty treats.

Throughout the day she continued to NOT have accidents, although she didn't really pee on the potty either. Maybe she's holding it? She went one more time on the potty, once in her crib (darn rebellion) and once in her diaper (I forced her to wear one while picking up the boys from preschool).

So...here we go. We're likely to waver back and forth as I'm not willing to push her. But with a long weekend ahead, why not give her the chance, right? We'll see!

Finch in the Fall

We love Finch in the fall. Finch Arboretum that is. Today was absolutely beautiful so we took a little detour in our day and stopped by for a quick visit. The pictures obviously weren't the greatest since it was me and four kids and incomplete without daddy, but we snapped a few good ones. Hopefully we can get back before the snow and get a family one, but if not, here's a glimpse at our past and present Finch experiences!

2006

 2007

 2008

 2009

2010

Deep Thoughts

Thank goodness my children can vocalize their thoughts now. Joshua was really upset on the way home from preschool. Finally he asked me, "What happened to the other cars? Why don't they have car seats?" Before I could respond he added, "Their kids must have died." I quickly helped him discover the real reasons why some people don't have car seats. Yikes!