Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Top reasons why I love my wife


Not to be out done and also recognizing that it is a good thing to do from time to time, here are the top reasons why I love my wife.

1) She has worked full-time for five years supporting our family while I attend more school

2) She cares very much about her own health and the physical health of our family. She is always conscious about the things we eat and helps me not overdue it.

3) She knows how to do the little things to make a house a home, like baking cookies, decorating for the seasons, and cherishing and displaying pictures of our family.

4) She loves to host people in our home. She is always looking forward to the next time to prepare a special meal for our friends to come over.

5) I love how she interacts now with Bekah as our oldest grows up. It's neat to see the two of them baking cookies, reading books, and doing laundry together.

6) I love how she puts up with my bad manners, (like saying words when I burp, and leaving the toilet seat up.)

7) I love how she tolerates my endless and boring stories from work.

8) She cares very much about the emotional health of our family. She is always looking for ways for us to get away as a family and spend time together and bond.

9) I love how she keeps me humble when I judge other people and reminds me to remove the plank from my own eye before trying to remove the speck from someone else's eye.

All for now. I love you Paula.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Bekah Update


Bekah is finally feeling better. Not 100%, but getting there. For a while there last night we were really worried. She wasn't even keeping liquids down. Last time she got a stomach bug, we had to take her to the ER to get an IV because she was so dehydrated, and they ended up giving her 2x as much liquid as they would normally give a toddler.
She hasn't thrown up since 9 pm last night and is still going to the bathroom. Yeah!!
This picture is not from the last couple days. It's from earlier this week when I was taking a picture because I was so proud of her for getting all her peep and poop in the potty for the last several days. We are getting close to FINALLY being completely potty trained.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Sarah, 10 MONTHS OLD!!!



Sarah is growing up before our eyes!! She now has 6 teeth. I don't know how much she weighs or anything cause we don't go back till her 1 year appointment, but after her little stomach bug, I doubt she's gained any weight.
She is really starting to move; mostly on her rear end, but still moving. She is becoming more comfortable up on her hands and knees, and if she falls to her belly, she is able to scoot herself backwards to a seated position again.
Yesterday, she actually got up on her hands and knees and moved her knees forward 1 "step" before she fell to her belly. This morning, while Bobby was at the store getting us Powerade, crackers, and chicken noodle soup, Bekah and I were sitting on the couch watching "Max and Ruby". Sarah was play on the floor, trying to get Horton (from Kohl's, Dr. Seuss character). She couldn't reach him so she went to her belly. While trying to grab him she rolled to her back, and for the FIRST TIME (she's hated being on her belly for so long that she refused to even try) she rolled very deliberately from her back to her front and then scooted back to a seated position. I was a very proud mama!!
At this point, Bekah was rolling around everywhere and starting to "Army" crawl, so I was beginning to wonder when Sarah would attempt.
All in all, a very happy baby that we love having around the house. It's killing Bekah right now that we're not let them play together too much because we don't want Sarah to get sick again.

Post written from my couch, home sick

Bekah standing by her snowman

Bekah and I (in the middle of the night last night) were struck with the stomach bug that Sarah had on Monday and Tuesday. Because of this, I have the time to update you on our week this week. On Tuesday, after a long MLK Jr. weekend, I was supposed to go back to school, but we got snow early that morning and didn't have school. Bobby and Bekah were able to go out and enjoy the snow before it melted. (So, because I'm home sick today, I only went to work outside the home 2 days this week)Outside at about 10 am.

Bekah and Daddy starting the snowman.
Same day, around 5 pm.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I Love My Husband


Top 10 reasons why I love my husband:

1) He is a stay at home dad during the day (when he's not in class a few hours per week) and has established a wonderful relationship with both of our daughters. I hope this continues when they are teenagers.

2) He puts up with my rants. Certain things are very important to me (like keeping the toliet seat and lid down completely when it is not in use) and even though they may not seem very important to him, he tries to make me happy by doing them.

3) He lets me sleep (most of the time) when the girls are up in the middle of the night. He knows I have to go to school and deal with 190+ middle schoolers and need all the sleep/patience I can get. (Don't get me wrong, I usually I wake up, but if it looks as though they're not going to go back to sleep easily, he takes them somewhere else so I can sleep)

4) He usually knows what I'm going to say before I say. I don't have to have lengthy conversations about how I'm feeling and why. He usually already, at least partly, understands.

5) He makes my lunch every morning. This may seem small, but it saves me a good 5-10 minutes every day. There are instances where he forgets something and I'm usually annoyed. My coworkers then remind me that I am very lucky that he gets up and makes it for me.

6) He does the dishes. Now, he doesn't do them every day like I would like, but I rarely do dishes around here. I have others things to do that he doesn't get to do, like laundry.

7) He unloads the dishwasher. Similar to doing the dishes, but must be done every day. I don't mind loading the dishwasher, I actually think of it as a challenge to get as much in as possible, but for some reason I don't like to unload it. If I come home and he's done the dishes, unloaded the dishwasher, and folded the clothes so I can put them away, I am very, very happy!!!

8) He thinks about our finances and how they can be better. We don't live extravagantly at all, but he's always thinking about how we can save more money to pay off our 1 car and our school loans faster.

9) His family very obviously comes first. I am having a stressful year at school and am basically at the point that I will not teach next year. I am going to stay home. It's better for me mentally, emotionally and physically (I've been putting on weight for no reason, Bobby thinks it's stress), and better for our girls. He is willing to do whatever it takes for me to be home. Work three part time jobs, move in with my parents for a year to save to buy a house while searching for a church to work at, work at a church only volunteer and get another job, etc. He sees that I need to stay home and wants to make that happen!

10) He loves (and the girls) me unconditionally!! I can snap at him on the phone after a stressful class, apologize and he forgives immediately. No matter how bad a day I have, he knows that he loves me despite everything. He plays with the girls, gives time outs, deals with potty-training, etc, all in love and never lets how he's feeling affect how he is as a father and husband.

I love you, Bobby!!! Thank you for being my husband and the wonderful husband and father you are!!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Sunday: nice, long weekend

On Sunday, after first service, we head up to the Newport Aquarium. We took Bekah there when she was not even 1 and a half, so it was good to return. She loved it!!

Nice, Long Weekend

Saturday: We took a trip to Old Navy to return a couple pair of shoes I bought for Sarah that didn't fit. After returning the shoes, purchasing a hat, scarf, socks, and slippers for Bekah, along with a shirt for Sarah, the bill was $4.52. Yeah!!


Bekah's new slippers. Don't they look like the frog king on Shrek 2? The Shrek movies are Bekah's latest obsession. We've had 1 for a while, but have recently purchased 2 and 3. She watches at least one of them every day.

Daddy trying on Bekah's hat and scarf.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Sarah Standing





Sarah is trying to pull herself up, but we don't really have anything out for her to successfully pull-up on. (the coffee table is in the shed) When we stand her up, she stands up for a long time!!

Bekah


This beautiful girl got all her pee-pee (6x) and all her poo-poo (3x) in the potty today. 100% She is getting there!! No, she is still not completely potty trained. I haven't blogged about it for a while because she regressed a lot after she turned three. We went from using 1 pull-up in 1 or 2 days (depending on if she stayed dry all night) to 3-4 pull-ups per day because she wasn't taking herself to the bathroom. We tried to just use panties, but this one would pee herself 3 times in a row and not even care, and we got tired of cleaning up pee!! It finally looks like we're making progress. This makes Bobby feel really good because the potty training was really starting to stress him out!! Good job today Bekah!!

Bekah helping Mommy make cookies

Snow Day pictures from January 1


This is what it looked liked outside our house the evening before I had a snow day. We didn't get too much more than this, but it was really, really cold!!

One of Sarah's Christmas presents

Paula in 1983


This is me at church in 1983, when I was three. Do you think my kids look my me??

Friday, January 11, 2008

A Long Week

It has been a long week!!! Several stressful things at work along with deadlines. I have some pictures to upload, but haven't done it yet.
Christmas is still partially up at our house, but hopefully we can get it done tomorrow.

Second semester is officially underway. The months are going to fly by until festival!!! And, hopefully, before we know it we will be moving to Columbus.

Have a great weekend!!

Friday, January 04, 2008

Sledding in NY



Ethan and Bekah sledding together


Bekah sledding by herself


Dylan after being dared by his dad and Uncle Bobby

Bowling with the cousins



While the girls shopped and ate lunch at Mimi's, the boys (minus my dad cause he had to work on New Year's Eve Day) tookthe kiddos bowling and to McDonald's.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

9 month checkup

I did have a snow day today, so I was able to go with Bobby and the girls to Sarah's 9 month check-up.

Stats-

20 pounds exactly
28 inches exactly
17.5 inch head

10 ounces more than Bekah at this time
Same height as Bekah
1/2 inch bigger head than Bekah

I will post pictures of the big beautiful girl later.


(Bobby took one of his vacation weeks last week so we could travel, but since it included 2 paid holidays at UPS, he gets two extra personal days. Usually they give them at the end of the vacation, but because that would mean he would be off for nearly 2 weeks, because New Year's Eve and New Year's day are also paid days, they told him he could have them other days. Well, they must be slow at UPS today, because his boss sent him a text message telling him to take the 2 days today and tomorrow. He doesn't have to go back to work till Friday. 2 weeks since he worked last!! Yeah!! I'm excited to have him home tonight and tomorrow night!!)

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Snow Day???

We are getting snow. We have a winter weather advisory. We are supposed to get 1 or 2 inches. There are accidents all over Nicholasville and Lexington. They are telling us to stay home unless we have to go out. Welcome to Kentucky.

Christmas in Ohio (December 29 and 30)

Christmas in West Virginia (Dec. 26, Bobby's dad's family)

Christmas at Bobby's parents' in Indiana (December 22 and 23)




We were a bit late to arrive on Saturday because Bekah hurt her arm at the mall the day before, and we needed to go to the Urgent Care to get her checked out. She ended up only popping her elbow out of place and back in, but it took her a full 48 hours before she started moving her arm again.

Christmas in Cincinatti (Bobby's mom's side of the family), Dec. 24

Christmas Day at Home in Kentucky


Christmas day stroll after lunch/dinner

"The" Ham, yummy, yummy


Bobby's attempt at taking a picture of the three of us with the new double jogging stroller. He cut my head off!!

Opening presents