Sleep deprivation

I think baby may be going through a growth spurt, cuz she IS capable of sleeping for 6 hour stretches, but she doesn't anymore! I am so tired!!!

My children

Things I am proud of my kids for:

Joshua:
His Lego-building abilities - he was putting together big Star Wars ships by himself before he even turned 4, and soon after, he built Toy Story robots or Star Wars sets, just from picturing them and using pieces we already had.

His math skills - he can do math in his head that most of us counted on our fingers for many years after Kindergarten. Also, math games are his favorite thing at school.

His imagination - he comes up with very complex plots for movies and just while playing, and I believe he just may make a movie some day like he says he plans to.

His singing and musical understanding - before he could even talk, he could hum on key. He has very close to perfect, if not perfect, pitch, and has picked up quickly all the lessons that are taught in song form at school.

Henry:
His cuddliness and sweetness to his baby sister. Henry is very sensitive and loving, and always wants to give hugs and kisses. He also tells me he loves me many times a day.

His throwing and catching ability - he has been great at those skills from a very early age.

His ability to navigate through technological things like games on the iPhone - being patient with trial and error since he can't read the options yet.

His coordination with games on the wii fit and willingness to learn and try to master difficult things on there.

His deep thinking about theological or similarly complicated existential questions.

His amazing imagination - for many months he spent each day as one or more real or fictional characters or animals - taking on their mannerisms and unique attitudes. When he became a big brother, though, he stopped doing that nearly as often.

Katherine:
Her strength and courage through all the difficult stuff.

Her charmingness and how she makes everyone she meets adore her.

Her happiness and sense of humor - how she laughs at us and her brothers and everyone else.

Up-coming activities!

I am really looking forward to this coming weekend! Friday morning, we will drive to McMinnville, Oregon, and stay until Tuesday morning! We are going down to celebrate Clarissa and Jason's wedding, and it will be a lot of fun. Eric, Tawnia, Emily, Mindy, and baby Aria will also be there, so it will be a fun reunion! On Monday, we will go hiking to Silver Creek Falls, which should be a lot of fun, too. I really miss Oregon, and while the long car trip won't be super fun, I am definitely excited about the destination!!

My next 30 years

So some early thoughts about my next 30 years...
I would like to be more confident...not letting fear of the unknown stall me or possible negative circumstances stop me. By this, I mean things like adventures with the kids, mostly...not getting caught up in what stressful stuff could happen.

I would like to be more active - getting outdoors, getting in shape, learning a new skill perhaps...but being active.

I want to prepare my three precious critters for real life - help them to know how to do the things they will need to know when they move out.

I would like to be smart with our finances, and think carefully about the decisions we make.

In 30 years, my baby girl will be 30. I want to enjoy the time after the kids move out...to travel and have fun, so I want to keep myself healthy so that will happen easily.

I want to not complain so much or be so negative. I want to count my many blessings so much more often than i complain about my routine challenges.

Well that is all for now!

Baby Katie-pie's first months

Before sweet baby Katherine was born, we were very worried about her having a cleft lip and palate. My biggest worry, which every parent with experience told me NOT to worry about, was that I would look at my baby with some degree of disgust or discomfort. While of course her lip was quite noticeable, she was and is still my precious beautiful cuddly warm baby. You just can't quite help but feel that way about your own child!!

The first 6 weeks were rough cuz she had a very hard time gaining weight, and then from 2 months until now (close to 5 months), she has had to wear the NAM appliance. She will have it for a little less than one more month. Lip surgery will be on May 22nd!

Short posts

These posts are short because one of my daily goals now is to post on here, but my time to do it is kind of random...

30!

Wow...30 years old today!! I have no problem with turning 30...I have accomplished so much in my first 30 years- especially my precious boys, girl, and a great marriage. I want to write an "In my next 30 years..." post similar to the Tim McGraw song. Now headed up to Spokane!

My sweet new baby

In July of 2012, we were excited to find out our third little critter would be a girl! In the same ultrasound appointment, we found out she had a cleft lip and cleft palate. This news was pretty emotional and we had a lot to do to prepare for her arrival!

Starting again!

I plan to get started posting on here again, to check in about goals and things. I did end up finishing the felt playhouse, for Christmas 2012. Evelyn helped a LOT to get it finished. Our family of four is now a family of five! Baby Katherine McKenzie came along on December 2nd, 2012. So much more to say, but I will say that for now.