Alexa cracks me up!

This morning Alexa was reading a book about a “new baby” and she brings it over to me. She shows me the page where the three new mommies are holding their new babies and points at one baby. She then asks me, “Mommy can I have a new baby like this, a real one, a tiny one, not a dolly but a baby, make it a baby sister okay? Can I please?” Oh me oh my!!!

So I gave her some generic answer and told her that eventually we’d talk about bringing home a tiny little baby but not for a long time. She then turns to me and says “make it like this (pointing to the mommy with twins) one baby brother and one baby sister with bows in their hair okay?” I said “Oh you want 2 little babies at once? You want mommy to have twins?” and she replies “Yeah I want you to get twins for me. Can you try and win them both for me okay? You have to try hard and see if you can win them!” LOL  -- I about fell off my seat! Win them for her? Wow where did that come from???

Accountability…

I will openly vent my thoughts (at least most of them) and opinions and certainly life experiences (I’ve unfortunately had too many I’d like to “unhave” if that were possible!) with anyone who wants to know them and with those of you willing to read my rants on here. However, I’m not very willing to be “open” about me personally - at least not when it comes to my actual physical self or true vulnerability. Maybe that comes from growing up in a family that was always “in the public eye” and scrutinized constantly. I don’t really know. What I do know is I don’t like people to see my vulnerability. My close friends will constantly here me complain or point out my flaws :) but that’s about it! Well with tonight’s post I guess that’s going to change a bit…don’t worry - only in one small way! :)

My sister-in-law, Kiley, is getting married this fall. I know what you’re thinking - what does one have to do with the other right? Well, she has so kindly included me with her sisters as one of her bridesmaids. When she asked I was THRILLED and HONORED. Now that reality has sunk in and we girls have been combing the internet for dress possibilities … I’m PETRIFIED! I am no longer the size I was when I was 17. The body of a 17 year old has come and gone and all but disappeared completely over the last 10+ years! I’ve had 2 kids (one of which I carried to almost full-term in the HEAT of summer with my preeclampsia swelling EVERY inch of me.

My husband’s family is what you would call blessed(he has 5 sisters)! They are all pencil thin and gorgeous! I would kill (okay maybe not literally) for their arms & waists! And now I’m going to be photographed with them in matching or at least similar dresses…meaning its time to WORK OUT baby! So that’s exactly what we’re going/or have begun to do. Micah & I have both committed to helping each other get “fit” and lose weight! (Yep I know I’m crazy--he’ll lose it & I’ll gain it & that’s about all I expect to happen!)

So we’ve been doing exercises together & have started running/walking every other night for the past week. This is the part that kills me! I can do sit ups, push ups, stretches, etc like about anyone else. Running on the other hand…not so much. I can walk. That’s easy. But run? I’d rather be pregnant! (and I throw up for 20 of the 24 hrs in a day for the first 20 some weeks or so when I’m pregnant) But so far every other night I get my lazy butt up and run a short distance and I feel like my lungs are collapsing as we attempt to run down our road! Each time we make it to a certain mailbox & then walk the rest of the way and trust me, its not very far.

Tonight however, I made it all the way to the stop sign. For you runners out there you may start laughing right now, I won’t feel too bad! :) I realize that’s not far. But for me -- lets just say I’m lucky there are 35mph winds right now with gusts up to 50mph…I was able to “blow” to the stop sign -- even if it felt like I should have had an ambulance stretcher pick me up when I reached the highway! :) Now my only question is: “Does this mean I can take the rest of this week off?” :)

Since I’ve shared this now, I guess this means you can all be held responsible to help me with my accountability! Just don’t be surprised if you don’t notice any physical changes to me -- most likely the only change will be the number of hospital visits I make this year!

Loving this stage of life!

I am absolutely LOVING the stages my kids are in! At this very moment they are both upstairs playing nicely in their rooms (taking turns going from Logan’s to Alexa’s together to play with the toys) and the best part…they are doing it on their own AND I trust them!

I’m not worried about Logan falling down the stairs. I’m not worried about them hitting or fighting or breaking things. I’m just able to relax and get a few things done! This is such a blessing I can’t begin to express it fully! Normally (just ask Micah) we have days where they are constantly whining about wanting to play with what the other one has, fighting about playing with the same toy or about the other one taking away whatever they were playing with, and usually one of them is giving the other too much affection for their liking! All these things combined with a house full of chores for mom to get done leaves this mama rather exhausted. I typically have to wait until Logan’s nap time & then I can find time to distract Alexa with something while I get my tasks for the day done. (or at least partially done) :)

Yesterday (and MANY days over the last 3 weeks) was a beautiful day. Absolutely perfect temps and NO wind! The kids BEGGED to play outside. Our neighbor boy came over & asked Alexa to play with him & she was thrilled to do so…but Logan was NOT happy about the idea of being stuck inside while Alexa ran off to have fun. I was busy in the middle of switching and folding laundry amongst several other things and I hadn’t had a chance to shower & change out of my PJ’s yet for the day. There was NO way I was going to be able to take him outside & let him play while I watched him. It was NOT going to happen & he very loudly vocalized his unhappiness at my decision! So what did I do? I gave in! I opened the door & let him go. SCARY for this somewhat “worst-case” scenario minded mama.

**Side note: I’m not an overprotective mom in ANY regards…trust me I make other moms cringe by what I let my kids eat/wear/play with/or have hanging from their noses & faces! But I am a worry-wart, drama-queen minded mama who always assumes the worst can happen to you/your family. I always assume those sirens I hear are for my husband being in an accident (or someone else I know & love). I always assume my children will be abducted, fall into a sink hole or get stuck in some other life-threatening way. Its just who I am. **Another side note: MICAH IS THE EXACT opposite of me in this regard -- he assumes nothing bad will ever happen to him/us/etc -- nah that stuff only happens to other people!!!

Back to yesterday though. I was very proud of myself & yet sure I was going to get the worst-mom of the year award. After all I was letting my almost 18 month old play outside by himself!!! But I reasoned it in my mind by the fact that Logan is the perfect child to allow on his own. He’s incredibly cautious and HATES change (the 1st part from me and the 2nd part exactly like his daddy) and by HATE I mean despises it! Don’t get me wrong he’s adventurous and loves to explore. But he needs a safety net or hand-held to try anything the least bit unknown! He was awesome to let outside once he learned to walk because he would not go on the rock part of our driveway and he wouldn’t think about trying to walk on the grass, so he was confined to play on the cement section and in the garage. FABULOUS! :) (he has since explored walking on rocks and grass while holding someone else’s hand and will do so when its suits him on his own)

I kept looking out the windows every few minutes to check but he was always there! He was happy and content to hold both golf clubs in his hands & just wander around hitting his ball or simply checking things out! I didn’t once have to worry about him running to the road, disappearing to our neighbors or going into the field behind our house. He just happily did his own thing! If this keeps up (and I realize it likely won’t) I will be having a fabulous summer enjoying my freedom! :)

So here’s a topic for discussion: At what age can you trust your child to play outdoors on their own? Alexa constantly plays on her own outside for hours and she’s almost 4. I, for the life of me, can not remember when that started/happened!?!

People constantly ask me (since I am known to LOVE new babies) why I don’t have another or when we’re going to have a 3rd. And part of me has always answered “not yet” because I know my husband does NOT want to be out-numbered and part of me has no desire to go through 18+ weeks of throwing up every hour (or more) for every day of those 18+ weeks! Yes, I do love new babies,…and so far I’ve been blessed with awesome sleepers…but there’s also this selfish part of me…the part that hates not being able to have my house perfectly cleaned & organized at all times of the day…the part of me that would love my filing system and record keeping to be completely up-to-date and perfect…the part of me that realizes that children take TIME -- and lots of it!

We can’t jump in the car at the spur of the moment…we need to have the diaper bag packed, make sure its not nap time, have showered & gotten dressed in appropriate clothes, know when we’ll be home, and on & on -- we can’t just play wiffle-ball or kick-ball or softball or volleyball or go to bible study or classes or to a movie or out to eat with friends or whatever else our heart desires without figuring out if one of us will be home, or finding a babysitter, or being willing to pay them, or making sure all the stuff the kids need is set out and their routines are explained and all that jazz. We can’t just go and exercise after day of work or stop for a time with friends or get groceries on our own and about a million other things. They take nurturing, love, attention! They take spending time playing and interacting, reading to them, working on their alphabet and letters and sense and understanding of the world. They are a real, time-eating commitment. One I wouldn’t trade for the world by the way!

So when I think about having another baby (one who for at least 18 months will be completely and totally dependant on me for their every need during their “waking” hours) I find myself saying that no, I’m content right now with the 2 blessings that I have who are more and more being self-sufficient in some many ways! :) Don’t worry though -- my baby fever is always right there tugging away at me! :)

Alexa’s latest injury

Alexa LOVES band-aids. What child doesn’t right? She will find any & every excuse to need one. We have even had to make a “must be bleeding” rule in order to receive band-aids in our house. Last night she was running (not fast or anything) on a friend’s driveway and she completely biffed it! I’m not even sure if there was an actual reason for her to fall but she wiped out majorly. Her leg had road rash on it and her knees and legs were sort of torn up. Nothing major or anything but she felt she needed to limp, whine, and put her feet up and cuddle the rest of the night. When we got home this is what she felt she needed:

We had to wash it GENTLY, put cream on it, and then she required gauze and wanted it secured on before her PJ’s could be over it so we found some old & cheap bandage wrapping and gave in to her wishes! :) Oh our little drama queen! :)

Logan…

There’s a million reasons why I miss my Dad, but one of the most often reminders that he’s gone happens when I look at my son. Its not that he resembles him or anything physically. Logan is a total mini-me of his father, that is for certain! Even his personality matches his daddy in SO many ways! Yet daily I find myself looking at him & wishing MY Dad could have met him and could spend time with him as he plays and grows. They would have had SO much fun together! My Dad was amazing with his grandkids and he LOVED spending time goofing around and playing and teaching them things. When Logan laughs and giggles (which he does at almost EVERYTHING) I am constantly reminded of how much fun my Dad had playing with his grandkids & I know he and Logan would have laughed together for hours!

My Dad would have also loved to see Logan enjoying his favorite activity - which lately happens to be golfing! Every day Logan runs to the shoe bin, finds his shoes & brings the me to me, making it clear despite his lack of words that he intends for me to put them on him. I oblige and he instantly runs to the door and will grunt, screech and bang until I let him outside. He then spends hours walking around our lawn with his golf clubs in hand trying desperately to hit his golf balls (or rocks, or other balls, or anything he can swing his club at & successfully hit) :) if he swings and misses too many times he comes to me and drags me back to the ball until I help him swing & he makes contact. He gets so excited and proud of himself when he hits it - its adorable! :)

Here’s a few pictures I managed to snap in-between helping him swing:

March 2012 -- or is it June?

We’ve been having AMAZING weather in March…much like you’d find in June or something! Its been in the high 60’s & 70’s for well over a week now & we’ve even had a few days of 80’s! Which means we’ve been spending a lot of time outside. :)

We even tried to take family pictures a week ago…but it was a major flop! Logan had absolutely NO interest in looking at the camera & you could pretty much forget about him smiling for a picture! Alexa was even being temperamental and would NOT cooperate with our wishes! We got a few “cute” shots here or there but nothing like an entirely good family picture that I could print & hang on the wall :( so I guess we’ll try and find another time to make it happen! Oh well! Here’s a few of my favorite shots:

February 2012

Logan loves spending time playing with toys…here’s a couple of Luke & Logan playing together:

Here’s a pretty typical activity for Logan, especially when Daddy’s watching him :)

Aunt Coby, Uncle Kris and Koen came out to visit (and so Uncle Kris could play in the Dordt Alumni game) :)
      

 
Alexa (the oldest grandchild on the Schouten side) holding her two newest cousins, Emma and Koen:

All the Schouten grandchildren trying to take a picture together…Logan kept laughing hysterically :)                        and pictures with Grandpa and Grandma Schouten

Logan made it very clear he wanted to hold Koen…it was pretty adorable watching him get all excited! :)

Eating at Pizza Ranch with some of the Schouten family, Uncle Randy & Aunt Sharon even joined us!

Logan insisted on playing out in the snow with Alexa…he’s getting too old & grown up!