Adventures in Parenting...

...that's what it is. An adventure. Like a roller-coaster. Edyn (the same child who ate almost all the pieces to an operation game as an infant when her sisters left it out and the one who stuck macaroni all the way up her nose) decided to swallow a penny Thursday night. I was not home and did not witness this, but got confirmation from Jared, her sisters and 2 sets of neighbors that she swallowed it. She was fine all day yesterday, but no BM. She woke up this morning and kept saying she "had to go poopy" but she would just sit there and cry, saying her butt hurt. This was after giving her stool softener for 24 hours. After talking with my neighbor (whose children have swallowed coins and said swallowing a penny is the worst because the zinc can burn the esophagus), I panicked and off we went to urgent care, so guilt-stricken, thinking I was the worst mom for not taking her in sooner (and by the way, Jared is gone ALL day in a golf tourney and I can't get a hold of him on the golf course!) Thankfully urgent care wasn't busy. I paid our co-pay and once we got back to the room to see the doctor, Edyn said "I need go poopy REALLY bad". So she went...and went. The stool softener kicked in. After convincing Edyn that it was Okay to not flush this one time, I went and told the doctor. I'm sure you can guess what I got to do! Yep, I got to fish her poop out of the toilet...(once again, thankful for gloves!!) There I am in the urgent care bathroom WITH the doctor and Edyn, fishing it out! But good thing when I put the first pile in a little cup, we heard a clanking noise and sure enough, we looked and saw the infamous penny! Edyn was still dancing in circles, chanting, "I went poopy, I went poopy!!" I'm glad we gave the nurses and Dr. such a laugh and I'm so thankful she is fine and I was able to laugh at it as well. And the office was so great...they even refunded our co-pay! I was still willing to pay because I'm SURE if we would not have gone to urgent care, she wouldn't have passed this penny!
And so she continues to keep us on our toes...

Thank you Jodi and Victor for watching the girls for me! It was SO helpful...we are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors like you!

Fun at Wyandotte County Lake Park

We took the girls for ice cream then to the park on Saturday evening and the weather was perfect! They had a blast and we are looking forward to SO many fun times outside this spring/summer. They were excited to get to see a total of 8 deer throughout the park in the few hours we were there!

Growing up SO fast...

I got an e-mail from Emma's teacher last Wednesday that she lost her front tooth at the playground and after looking for it for 10 minutes, it was nowhere to be found. She also said there were tears. When I picked her up that day, she had the most adorable toothless grin (this is the fourth tooth she has lost!) Although, still a little upset about not finding her tooth and the trauma of losing it at recess, she perked up when she realized the tooth fairy would still be able to find it! She is just growing up SO fast and looking so much older every day!

Spring Fun...

Emma, being the little perfectionist she is would absolutely NOT attempt to ride her bike without training wheels...until this weekend. The mention of it last spring/summer would bring her to tears. She must have known she was ready because she was eager to give it a try when Jared brought it up, and sure enough, within a few minutes, she was off!!

Ready...


Set...


GO!!


And of course, Ellie was excited to be able to get her bike going and had to stop and pick dandelions. I told her I wanted a picture of her blowing on the dandelion and she stated, "It's NOT a dandelion, it's a WISHFLOWER!!"

Easter weekend...

We kicked off Easter weekend by throwing a surprise anniversary party for Jared's parents at his sisters house in Manhattan. It was a great time, with about 40 people that came to celebrate 40 years with them! Congrats on a wonderful marriage and to many more years of bliss :)
It was Emma's birthday the Friday before so we also celebrated her birthday with family and this girl does NOT like being the center of attention, so when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her, this was quite mortifying!! (as you can tell)





We then headed to Clay Center and on Sunday the cousins had a fun time celebrating Easter together. The Easter bunny came to Clay Center, we went to church, had a great lunch then a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids!
Easter was so much fun...Emma and Ellie are starting to fully grasp the Easter story and the significance of what happened on the cross. Emma often said it was hard for her to listen to the story, because it made her SO sad. She is the sensitive one and frequently had tears in her eyes, while Ellie, on the other hand would reassure her by saying, "Emma, he just had to die." (very matter-of-factly!) Ellie, also being the extremely curious one, would ask SO many questions and details DAILY. And in the background there was Edyn in a sad little voice saying, "Jesus died on the cross..." over and over. We had such a hard time getting through the RESURRECTION EGGS because it would turn into a 20 minute discussion about her wanting to know the details....
"But, I just want to know WHY Peter said he didn't know Jesus THREE times?!"
"Why didn't his mommy, Mary, stop those mean people that killed him?"
"Why didn't Jesus just run away?"
These are just a FEW of those questions...we are SO thankful she has them...it makes our hearts smile to see them "get it" and I'm pretty sure it has to make Jesus smile too.

Happy 6th Birthday Emma June...

We celebrated with a carnival this year and turned our backyard into a fairground! Emma's favorite part was the juggler who juggled fire and took a bite out of an apple while juggling! She said the worst part was when her friends starting chanting her name after she blew out the the juggler's torch. Over 25+ kids came and had a blast earning tickets to earn prizes while playing the Duck Pond, Ring Toss, Golf, a Sucker game, Fishing, Horseshoe Toss, and Baseball Toss. Thanks to all the "carnies" who helped with the games and for our neighbor Tina to arrange for her brother-in-law to come (the juggler Al along his wife Kim). Also thanks to my mom and dad for TONS of help! You all helped make her day so special!

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice...

...that's what little girls are made of and we are thrilled to be adding another healthy princess to our family! I'm convinced there isn't a daddy more perfect for 4 girls than Jared. He can paint little fingernails like a pro and he is MUCH more patient than I am.
I do however, think I need to make a T-shirt that says the following...
"Yes, I am old enough to have 4 kids...and yes, I know how it works :)
Yes, you heard right, FOUR GIRLS!
Ummm...why in the world would you feel sorry for my husband?, he considers himself very blessed.
No, we will not "try" for a boy...um...how exactly does THAT work?"


We feel SO incredibly blessed and just LOVE to look at the pictures of our healthy beautiful girl and know that she is such a miracle from above. It's just as incredible the fourth time around. Thank you God for this perfect gift!

If only I could just...

...get through this week. I have been saying that for SEVERAL weeks now. And I feel like there are so many days when I am SO unproductive in being a mom and wife, that I tell myself, "I am going to do better." Tomorrow I will wake up early and have some awesome and teachable time with God. Tomorrow I will work with Emma on her reading, Ellie on her letter sounds, Edyn on her colors and shapes. And I will eat healthy and get back on that dreaded treadmill or go for a walk. And tomorrow I will make sure to go through the resurrection eggs again because it is my responsibility to make sure the girls FULLY understand the Easter story and what Jesus did for them on the cross. And when Ellie asks me 20 more questions about Jesus dying on the cross, I will have all the answers. And I will have a clean, organized house. I will have updated our blog with all the pictures I took time to take of the girls in their Easter dresses. I will have Emma's party planned and ready to go. I will be all caught up on my responsibilities for MOPS. And have all my e-mails and phone calls responded to. I will have dinner on the table when Jared gets home (that isn't boxed chicken or frozen pizza). And laundry done. And I will get out of my pajamas, have showered and put make-up on. I won't yell at my girls when they spray canned cheese all over the carpet and I have to scrub carpet for over an hour and use an entire can of carpet cleaner. (But then again, what kind of mom would allow their children to get a hold of 2 cans of spray cheese??) And my kids won't be running around in mismatched clothes. Or naked.

Yes, that's the person I strive to be. To have it all together. Then I realize how much I can't stand that girl too. The one who ALWAYS has it all together.

Is it really possible? No and that is NOT the kind of girl God called me to be.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Thank you Jesus for reminding me of this truth. Help me to rest in your grace as I experience my share of daily mess-ups and mishaps and just plain terrible parenting moments. And remind me that YOUR power is MADE PERFECT in MY WEAKNESS. Because as much as I try to do this mommy-thing alone, I can't. And I shouldn't. It's not good for my kids. Or for my relationship with you, Jesus.

Never a dull moment...

Edyn was sitting on the couch eating some uncooked macaroni and I heard her tell Jared, "I just put macaroni in my nose...I try to get it out". I came out of the bedroom and Edyn had her finger up her nose, laughing, telling me in her sing-song little voice, "I put macaroni in my nose, I try to get it out".
So...I lay her down, get a flashlight and sure enough there is a piece of macaroni ALL the way up her nose. We were pretty sure an ER visit was in store for us, however I remembered hearing a story at work where a little boy put something in his nose and the Dr. pinched the other nostril while the mom blew air into the child's mouth and it brought it right out. So...I gave it a try. It must have tickled because Edyn just giggled and giggled. And it didn't come out right away because it was hollow, but thank goodness this dislodged it enough that I was able to grab it with Tweezers while Edyn continued to giggle and exclaim, "I put macaroni in my nose, now try to get it". This little one keeps us on our toes.

Out of the mouth of babes...

...just some more things they say that I never want to forget...

Ellie was feeding and rocking her baby for about 20 minutes and she was being so quiet I went and checked on her and she told me, "Mom, I'm pretending I'm Mary and this is my baby Jesus. He is just perfect." I of course thought, "What a sweet child"...it just melted my heart. THEN....
I was in the bedroom putting clothes away and about 20 minutes later she locked the door to my room, shut it and told me she was locking me out (when really she was locking herself out) and said that she was going to watch SpongeBob because it came on the television (they are not allowed to watch SpongeBob and she knows it!) I then asked her what Jesus would think about her not obeying me and she responded, "First of all, I'm Mary and Jesus is taking a nap and he doesn't care right now."

I was clipping coupons and Emma wanted to know why I was doing this and so I explained how coupons worked. She hesitated, "Well, you aren't really saving THAT much money if you go out and buy all that stuff and have to pay for it anyway. She is SO much like her dad. And of course, he is so proud.

Edyn was playing with her babies and put them in her pack -n- play. A few minutes later she took off running toward her pack -n- play saying, "oh my gosh, oh my gosh. You little stinkers, you little stinkers." It was just so cute out of her 2 year old mouth!

Sometimes we need a little reminder...

I have been a big fan of the David Crowder Band for a while and absolutely LOVE the way God can use such talented people to speak to others through their music. I love this song and was so excited when we sang it at church a few weeks ago...such a perfect reminder of God's perfect love for us.
One of my friends posted this link on her blog...such a neat video...had to share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FxaUYjRtkc

Embracing "2"

Edyn has done a great job welcoming us back home from our little get-away. Jared got them some heart-shaped suckers and as I was opening hers, I dropped it and it broke. She didn't want a broken one. So...she proceeded to throw herself on the floor and scream and cry for 20 minutes BEFORE I put her up in her room where she cried another 45 minutes before falling asleep. It was just one of those extremely frustrating parenting moments that I either had to take a picture or lose it...

While we were away....

.....we got to ENJOY a little bit of 75-80 degree weather and this...



and my poor mom was ENDURING this...


My birthday present from Jared was a trip to Florida so my mom came to watch the girls...and apparently we picked the right time to get away. We left on a Thursday afternoon and during the night Emma came down with the stomach flu. Then on Saturday afternoon, Ellie and Edyn started getting sick. I'm glad my mom is such a good nurse...she just texted me that she was on duty again. Thanks so much mom for taking such good care of them and so sorry we got you sick too! (She got home Monday afternoon and started getting sick...no fun!!)