Friday, June 29

Watching

Yesterday morning, the kids and I were upstairs just playing around, having fun. It was very pleasant. The two of them have moments when they play so well together and it brings such joy to our hearts. Then there are times that they are content to just be alone. I decided to just watch them, playing separately and it was so neat. As I sat in Adie's room, she set up her little princesses and had a tea-party with them. She looked up at me and said, "Mommy I cooking for the princesses!" She spent the time to cook them a few things then had fun eating with them! A few minutes later, Jo came in and they had fun playing together. He had some of the food that she made and then they played in her house.
I know it's not much of a story, but I just wanted to share a moment of our days that just warms my heart. Right now, Jo is upstairs playing his music - having alone time. Adie and I are cuddled up together on the couch enjoying mommy/daughter time. It is hard to believe that this summer is almost over, already. In just over a month, we will be sending our first baby off to kindergarten. It will be nice, but I sure am going to miss my baby. It will be so wierd not having him around! But not long after that, we will be welcoming our new bundle of joy home. In fact, right now, I feel the baby moving slightly. What a feeling, a life growing inside. Amazing.
Jeff is doing alright. After tomorrow, work will slow down slightly. This is a time that has been much anticipated the entire time that he has been with the company. And this morning, he told me that he's got jitters trying not to concentrate on the fact that today might be the most important day in his career! I know he is going to shine. I told him to just be himself, not to think about that part too much; and that he's already been told he's a star, so I'm sure this weekend he's going to give them fireworks! Next Wednesday will be a welcome day off (4th of July!) after so much hard work. Jeff - I am so proud of you!
Well, it's time to hug my babies! Have a wonderful weekend and if I don't make it back to write anything soon, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Monday, June 18

Garage Sales!

We usually don't take the time to go out searching garage sales, most of the time, I find myself thinking, we don't need anymore toys and we have several things that could use a day at the garage sale too! So, I usually leave them alone. However, this past Saturday, we were out test-driving a mini-van (that story to come in just a minute) and we passed a couple of garage sales. I've been wanting to get a little table for the kids to have to write, color, and do puzzles or other things on. So, after seeing how expensive they are in the stores ($50+ for something so small!), I decided to just keep an eye on any garage or yard sales I pass. This one had it. Nothing fancy, but a small table that caught my eye in a split second. So after we were done, we headed back over there to check it out. We came across quite a find! This little table was very sturdy, needs a good scrubbing, but nice and works great for them. She also had two little chairs that were perfect and at the perfect price! $6 for the set! Another thing that I just couldn't pass up, that didn't catch my eye before, but did while we were there - an antique high chair! I've wanted us to have a wooden high chair since before Jonathan was born but would not pay over $100 for it, and I've never seen one at a garage sale. Saturday we did and it was only $15. Jeff knew that had been a desire for so long and said that since I hadn't given in to the stores, we could go for it! Thank you, dear! Next door to this one was another sale. We didn't want to keep shopping, but a baby bathtub caught my eye. We don't have one, and obviously we will need one very soon, it was only $2 so Jeff couldn't pass that one! So, in one day and for less than $25 we stocked up on some great things for the kids! Woo-hoo!
Now for the mini-van. We hadn't planned on moving up to a minivan, we figured out that our car would do just fine for the three kids. Well, to make a long story short, we have had this car for about 3.5 years. Just a few months after getting it, the starter burned out and had to be replaced. The next year, an unexplained problem popped up and the mechanics never could duplicate the problem. Thankfully, a friend of ours had a good handle on vehicles and so he gave us some pointers. Jeff replaced the fuel filter. The problem came back a few months later and was unexplainable, unduplicatable again and since Jeff enjoys researching, he figured out that the car might have needed a fuel injector flush or something (I don't remember) and so they did it, problem solved (maybe). On our recent trip to Albuquerque, I was somewhere between Western Kansas and Col. Springs. The car really started showing problems. This road we were on (I'm never doing this again), extremely desolate. No services, or civilization, for 70 miles. Not only that, the cell phone had NO service! Well, this problem has shown to be very tempermental and the next morning, the car was just fine. So, after putting some injector cleaner in, the car was fine the rest of the way to Albuquerque. I thought we were in the clear. Not so, a week later, problem shows up again so we took it in to the mechanic and, you guessed it - they could not duplicate it! I was very frustrated. This problem really scares me traveling with the kids and for such long distances. Jeff and I had had enough. Jeff told me that this summer we would work and save and when things look right, we would trade in and get, a minivan! We figured that since we are thinking about having four children (no more than that), we might as well have the space for it now! Besides, it will be nice to give the kids the space now. They have thoroughly enjoyed our days checking out these fun vehicles! So, that is why we were test-driving a mini-van Saturday. We will see what happens! Oh, and just to reassure those of you worry worts out there ;), after much praying, the trip home was very smooth and uneventful. But the problem has popped in and out since we got home. Good bye car! :)

Updates

Wow, it's been a long time since I've been online, updating blogs. Jeff commented the other day that I haven't been blogging that much, and that it would be good to let all of you out there know what's going on!

Well, the bun is still in the oven! We are about 18 weeks now. We've had three apts. now and they have all been normal. The first one was awesome, we had an ultrasound and it was so great to see that heart beat. We've been hearing it now and it has been running about 158-162 bpm. Isn't that amazing! This is really exciting for all of us.

Adelaide is a bit more aware of a baby inside mommy now, she seems excited about it. Jonathan has been such a sweetie. The morning sickness started at about 6 weeks and I'm still feeling some things, but for a while, it was very tough. We are doing much better now and a couple weeks ago, I was finally able to make it through a trip to wal-mart without getting nautious! That was nice, now our shopping trips can be more complete! Jonathan has been a big helper for me and has done several things because he wants to help me feel better. He really wants to make sure this baby is healthy. He's really been a big kid! We are so proud of him!

We are scheduled for an ultrasound in three weeks and we will find out if this baby is a boy or a girl! Jonathan cannot wait to find out. He is still wishing for a brother. Several weeks ago, during a conversation we were having about the baby, Jonathan just came out and told me, "Mom, it just won't make sense if it's a girl!" What a silly boy! I think it had something to do with the room arrangement we will have. He seems to accept the fact that this just might be a girl. It is just that if we have a girl, he will have to switch rooms with Adie. He's told us that he wants his cars room. So, we've assured him that if he switches rooms, he will have all his cars and boy things go with him. Funny boy! We love his mind!

Our summer has been fun so far. After our trip to Albuquerque, we've had a great time as a family. Jeff's been very busy with a dead-line coming up at work. When he's been able to be with us we've made trips to the zoo, several parks, and had some cook-outs on the grill.

Okay, it's time to sign off! More to come later.
Love to you all.

~Sendy