Hello Again

Well we all know I am horrible at updating the blog but I will keep trying.

Since mid September, Michael has been working 100 miles away at a new job. He leaves Sunday night and returns late Thursday night. He found a great LDS roommate to rent a room from, such a blessing. So I am a single mom half the week. The experience is teaching me the importance of both a mother and father in the home. I am reminded of the scripture of knowing the good by experiencing the bad. I am appreciating my husband more and the time we spend together.

In other news, Michael and I have been working on eating healthy and exercising. This isn’t easy but worth it.

I will get pictures posted soon cause I know that is why y’all visit the blog!

A summer evening

We really wish my parents and Michael’s parents could come visit us this summer but is won’t happen. So I invite them and anyone else reading to take a summer evening walk with us.

The kids and I started our walk after dinner one night last week. It was a perfect evening, except Michael was at work. We head out through the backyard. Russell was being so cute, I thought I needed to capture this moment. I ran back to the house to get the camera. He was pushing the toy shopping cart. As you can see in the picture he doesn’t like sharing.

Audrey loves posing for pictures.

We admired our neighbors apple trees and look forward to picking from them in September.

Here the kids are running through our “big” backyard. (We have 2 backyards, a fenced little backyard right behind the house and a huge open field behind the pool/garage. Our property ends at a Plum creek. There is a walking/bike trail one lot south of us. The kids love running across the bridge while I work near the garage.) Gabe showing the pretty flower he picked for me.

We cross the bridge over the creek. Russell looking at the water and rocks below.

Audrey posing again.

Russell was quite curious. He found dog poop and brought it to me. He also kept his own speed and direction. He ended up in the stroller a quarter of the way on the walk.

Since we have lived here the city has expanded this trail. We crossed Perry creek that Plum creek feeds into a few lots south of us. There trail does a switchback down the hill and thens runs beside the creek under a bridge. I was really surprized to see these murals. I believe they were painted this last spring. I love the little birdies.

After going under the bridge we turned around to head home. By this time, everyone was thristy and sweaty. Once we arrive home we raided the freezer for popsicles. Thanks for joining us on our walk.

Hello Again

I love reading blogs but I don’t like to update mine, hence the months of silence. But I am going to overcome this challenge and post again.

We have had a busy winter and spring. Here is a highlight of the main events.

• Our 8th wedding anniversary.
• A lovey Valentines day.
• Russell turned 1 year old.
• Gabriel turned 4 years old.
• A hoppy Easter
• A family reunion in Wisconsin.
• An amazing Mother’s day.
• Open houses and showings of our house.

We have also stayed busy doing projects this spring.

• I painted the trim in Russell’s room.
• I scraped and painted the exterior trim.
• I have been spray painting thrify finds to use as home decor.
• Working on sewing projects – pillows, a skirt for Audrey, aprons, buntings and fabric flowers.
• Michael has spent a lot of time cleaning the pool and fixing the filter.
• He is always working on yardwork. (We both dread this chore.)
• He has just started the huge project of replacing the boards on the front porch.

We have lots of fun plans for this summer.

• Audrey and I will celebrating birthdays this month.
• A trip to visit good friends in Colorado.
• For five days I will be the head cook at our Church’s Girls Camp.
• The kids, I and my sister will be taking a trip to Nauvoo.
• The rest of the summer will be spent swimming in our pool, doing yard work, playing with friends, going on walks and eating yummy summer food.

Hooray for summer!!!

Christmas 2010

We were truly blessed to have such a spectacular Christmas this year.  The children got more gifts than they needed, so did their Mother, and I was just happy to surprise my wife on Christmas (or any holiday) for the first time!  Thank you to everyone that helped us to have such a blessed Christmas this year.  We love you all!

Change of plans . . .

Well folks, we are full of chages around here. We are NOT moving to Houston, Texas. We are staying here in Iowa. The job Michael got in Houston didn’t work out. He kept job searching (he was in Houston for 5 weeks) and crazily found one here. He is working for the city just south of us as the Technology Director. He has been working 2 weeks and really likes it. We are really sad to not be moving closer to family. But quite happy to not uproot our family and move 1200 miles away. We are so grateful for this job; an answer to countless prayers.

We have had a lovely fall, very warm. It reminds me of the fall Michael and I were dating and engaged 8 years ago. We spent a lot of time going on walks in October and November,  enjoying the beautiful weather outside. Most of October was warm and it has turned chilly in November.  I was are really looking forward to a warm winter in Texas. Maybe I will hibernate for 4 or 5 months!

(We were enjoying a warm October afternoon in our front yard. It warms my heart seeing my sweet children play together.)

More changes around here include Russell (8 months) crawling, sitting up, 3 teeth and eating food.  He is my earliest baby to crawl at 7 and a half months. Oh! The crawling drives me nuts! He acts like a little vacuum cleaner. He is adorable and quite happy exploring the house. I just have to keep the floors spotless.

(The pictures were taken after a bath. I did the crazy hair to show how long it is. In the first picture, you can see Russell’s dimple on his right cheek, adorable! The second picture shows how Russell crawls. He pulls himself along with his left arm, balancing with his right hand and pushing with his feet. The little man is fast! I sure do love my sweet boys.)

Audrey’s eye surgery went well. She had a 6 week check-up and her right eye now crosses a little, which is normal after surgery. The doctor has her wearing an eye patch for a hour a day until she sees the opthamologist in 6 months. Audrey is a great help with Russell. She loves to hold him and play with him. Audrey loves school and is continually improving, especially in reading. I am amazed she that she is reading books and broading her vocabulary.

Gabriel is talking up a storm. It is crazy how much his verbal skills have changed in a year. He talks a lot but it is hard to understand him half the time. He is going to be evalutated for speech thereapy this week. I can’t wait when I will understand everything he says without having him repeat himself. Gabriel is my shadow during the day being my helper. He especially likes to help cook in the kitchen. Currently his favorite saying is “Mom you make it the best.” He is learning the power of compliments.

Well this ends the news update. Farewell until next post.

Life is full of changes. . .

After 8 1/2 months of being unemployed, Michael got a job . . . . in Houston Texas. We were really hoping to stay here in Iowa but we feel that the Lord has pushed us in the southern direction. We will be living 45 minutes from my parents, 2 sisters, 1 brother and their families. We will also be 15 minutes from another brother and his family. We are excited to be so close to family but really sad to leave our good friends here. Selling our house is also adding to the stress of the move. We are praying for a quick sale.

On top of all this moving Audrey will be having eye surgery to correct muscles in her left eye. To say the least our life will be crazy for the next few weeks to month. Just for an over veiw here is our schedule for the next few weeks.

Wed. August 18 – House goes on the market, 1 showing scheduled

Thurs. August 19 – School starts for Audrey

Tues. August 24 – Audrey’s eye surgery

Fri August 27 – Michael flies to Houston

End of September – Hopefully the kids and I will move to Houston.

Despite the stress of moving I am incredibly grateful for Michael getting a job. He is very excited about this opportunity. We know the Lord is mindful of our family. Every thing has fallen into place so smoothly with this job, a place to rent in Houston and transportation for Michael until I get there with our van.

Oh why does life have to be full of change?

5 months has flown by

This post has taken me a while to finish. I forget how to blog and have to relearn every time I post. Luckily I have a VERY patient husband! Russell is now 5 1/2 months. Good thing my motto is “better late than never”.

My little Russell is 5 months old! He is the sweetest, smilest baby. In the last month he has discovered his feet and plays with them constantly. He has also started playing with his tongue. If I stick my tongue out at him he concentrates on it and mimics me. So cute! He has so many rolls. Grandma Enszer gave him the nickname of Ruffles when we visited in May and it has stuck. Ruffles do have ridges(rolly ones)!

At the doctor’s appointment two weeks ago, he weighed in at 20 pounds and is 26 1/2 inches tall. That puts him in the 95% for weight and 80ish% for height. Now that I have two boys I am interested to see who will be  taller in 18 years.

There is his cute little tongue. I started him on baby food sweet potatoes. The first time he sucked it off the spoon then spit it out. He seemed to like it but didn’t know how to swallow it. After a few more feedings he has gotten the hang of it. His favorite is rice cereal rather than the veggies.

He loves to chew on his hands and suck his thumbs. Sometimes he is so excited he tries to suck his thumb and drink his bottle at the same time.

Audrey was playing around one day and got the idea to make a crown for Russell. I helped her cut it, she added the trianges and decorated it. She also made one for herself and Gabe found a Burger King one laying around the house. I forgot to get a picture of them all wearing crowns.

Russell and Daddy playing at Daddy’s desk. Baby fingers are so tasty. My life is filled with handsome men. I am truly grateful for this little boy in my life. I can’t help but be happy around him. Russell is a ray of sunshine and I pray he will be for the rest of his life.

A Father’s Day Birthday Combo

It was Michael’s birthday on Father’s day this year. This also happened six years ago on his first Father’s day.  Luckily Michael is not a breakfast eater so I was off the hook for preparing that. (He eats breakfast about half the time. I have to eat breakfast every day but I digress.) We got up and went to church. I taught Relief Society. Then we came home and had egg rolls for lunch. The night before we went grocery shopping so Michael could pick out his birthday dinner. He choose his favorite pasta dish, a bottle of alfredo mixed with spaghetti sauce and mushrooms served over bowtie noodles. He also picked French bread and Jell-o no bake peanut butter dessert. I was glad it was a simple menu. While I made dinner, Michael napped and the kids wrapped his presents. Audrey did a fabulous job of wrapping the presents all by herself! Audrey had picked out a present the night before to give to Daddy. But I had forgotten to have Gabriel pick one out too. I suggested he go get a can of soda from Daddy’s office and wrap it up to give him. (This idea came from my mom or dad, gifting someone their own posession. Kind of a familly joke.) So fast forward to present time. Gabriel proudly gives Michael his present and helps him open it.   Then Gabriel asks to drink  the soda. Michael thought it was hilarious. Gabriel takes his soda, gifts it to him, then drinks it. Crazy kid!

Happy birthday and Father’s day honey! I appreciate everything you do for our family! Thank you for being a wonderful Daddy. I love you most!

A smiley boy

I took Russel to get his 2 month pictures and he was all smiles. He is such a happy boy. He brightens my days.

8 weeks later . . .

I can’t believe I gave birth to a sweet baby boy 8 weeks ago. Russell is such a sweet little guy. He is so content. We have finally gotten on a loose schedule. Last night he slept over 7 hours straight, ate and slept another 3 hours. I will give a brief overview of his life.

Birth – 1 week: Grandma Enszer, Aunt Kaylyn and Aunt Deyonna came to visit. Grandma and Kaylyn were lifesavers. They cooked, played with the kids and cuddled the baby so I could rest. We wish they could have stayed longer.

Week 1: We started really adjusting to being a family of 5. Russell also became constipated. Poor baby. After a few days I called the Dr and was told to give him 1/2 ounce of prunce juice in his morning bottle. That did the trick! Thank goodness for natural laxatives. (After a few days I only gave Russell prune juice every 2-3 days.)

Week 2: Michael flew to Louisiana for job training. I was single mom for 6 days. I made it through but not with out a bit of crying. A wonderful babysitter came to watch the kids a few times so I could get much needed sleep. That was the hardest part of Michael being gone, not getting enough sleep.

I love this sweet boy!

Week 3-5: Were kind of a blur. At 3 weeks Russell started sleeping in his own room, right next to ours. The weather got warmer, the kids enjoyed playing outside and Russell went on his first walk.

Russell is so strong for being three weeks old.

My handsome four week old.

Please no pictures, I’m sleeeeeeeeeping!

Finally, I can rest in peace.

Week 6: We celebrated Easter and Gabriel’s 3rd birthday. I started babysitting again, 2 days a week.

His cheeks are getting so kissably chubby!!!

Week 7: Russell had his 2 month check up and is quite a big boy. He weighed 13 pounds 7 ounces, a 5 pound gain since birth. That puts him in the 92% for weight, 70% for length and head circumference. He started cooing and smiling. I am excited for more interaction with my sweet boy. Russell loves taking a bath, especially getting his hair washed. If he is crying and I start to give bathe him, he calms down instanly.

The following pictures were taken today.

Audrey and Gabriel have adjusted well to the new baby. Gabe doesn’t like the crying. He says “Hush baby Russell” and sometimes tries to find a bottle to quiet Russell. Audrey loves to hold Russell and showers him with hugs and kisses.

Many people comment, ”Your hands are full.” A wise friend taught me the reply, ”Better full than empty.” I truly am blessed to have my hands full. I am amazed, humbled and overwhelmed at being a mother of three. I have a short time to be the center of their universe, to spend hours with them daily. I hope to always be an example and strength for them through out their lives. I love being Mama.