while the little guys were napping...

 
 
 
 

 
Sometimes my day just sucks because my friend's day sucks. Today is one of those days. I feel like I can't get anything done, I am short with the kids, and seem to have no time. Praying for news tomorrow...

tonight's festivities...

Well, tonight Emily had riding lessons, and wanted dinner at the Chart House, and dessert at Dairy Queen. Who are we to deny the birthday girl here fare?
 
Her riding buddy, gave her this beautiful framed picture of them and the horses.
 

a little afternoon hail to remind us who's in charge

 

This morning

We let Emily open her gift from Steve and I this morning. I knew she would want to show it off on her actual birthday. A while back, she told me she wanted a "purity" ring. When I asked her what she meant by that, she said, it was a reminder, of a promise she was making to wait until she was married to have sex. YIKES. She is only 12! So, when discussing this with Steve, we came to the conclusion, that you can't really not get the ring. Uh, no honey, we don't think that's a good idea just doesn't fly. So, we spent a good part of our time off this weekend searching jewelry stores for the perfect ring for our beautiful girl. We decided on the emerald, as it is her birthstone. And judging from her face, I think we did good. :)
 
 
 
 

Last night's festivities...

 
 
 
 

Happy Birthday Emily!

 
It was 12 years ago to day that our dear little Emily came in to this world screaming! My first baby. We were so young, and so sure we would do something wrong. My regular midwife appointment showed that Emily wasn't quite ready to come out yet, according to her... and this was ten days after she was due. So, I went in for an ultrasound, and she had eaten up all of the fluid that surrounded her, so they wanted her out soon. We went home to pack, and head back to the hospital. It is a very strange feeling to know your baby WILL be born in the next 24 hours. When we got to the hospital, it was SO busy, that they didn't have a room for me, so we were pushed back a couple of hours... more waiting. I started having a few contractions, I thought, just from the stress. We finally got a room, and they gave me some nice gel insert to try and get things started. This was 4pm, they were going to come back at 6pm to start the pitocin drip. Emily must have heard all this, because by 4:45pm, I was in labor. Steve and my Mom were there, and I remember my Mom telling me that I would have a baby by midnight. It was then that I told her to shut up, she had no idea what she was talking about. Emily was born shortly after 8pm. Emily did not make it easy on me... she had her cord wrapped around her little neck two times, and it had a true knot right in the middle of it. To make things worse, she was face up, adding a ridiculous amount of back pain to the mix. Before she was even born, she was screaming. Seriously. The minute her mouth was born, screaming at the top of her lungs. Every one in the delivery room was laughing and saying they had never seen that before. Clearly they had never met anyone like Emily. She has the strongest will of anyone I have ever met. Emily has such an acute sense of right and wrong, and fights against all injustice. She was my most independent baby. She taught herself how to ride her bike without training wheels on her 4Th birthday. She is responsible, and kind, and loves quietly. Of all our children, I never worry about her, or who she will become, or about her getting mixed up with the wrong crowd, she is much too smart for all of that. Happy Birthday Emily! We love you!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

 
It was eight years ago today that our sweet little Hannah was born. It was the Friday before Mother's Day, and Steve was home. He decided to go with me to my regularly scheduled Midwife appointment. We dropped Emily and Isaiah off at my Mom's and headed there. When we arrived, the midwife asked if I had been having any contractions, and I said that I had, since morning, so she decided to put the monitor on. She seemed surprised when there were actual contractions on the monitor. She asked if I wanted her to "check" me, and I said sure. The look on her face, when she did, was one of complete shock. I was already at 7 cm. and hadn't even complained of the pain or contractions. Well, they told me I needed to get to the hospital ASAP. Steve didn't buy it, and we made a stop at the post office on the way there. I called my good friend who was going to attend the birth, and she was on the road to meet us at the hospital. When we got there, they were ready for us... waiting in the lobby, in fact. I put the gown on, jumped into bed, and she was born 20 minutes after our arrival, only one push. We weren't even checked in yet! By far the easiest delivery I have had. She followed that by being the best baby on the planet. So smiley, and she was very shy. NOTHING like her big sister and brother. She continues to be our easiest kid. She is not picky about stuff, or clothes, or where she sleeps, or when she sleeps, or when she wakes up. She just goes with the flow. We love this little girl something fierce. Happy Birthday Hannah! May this be your best year yet!

busy days and nights

this weekend steve, isaiah, and i took a road trip to des moines, iowa, for a baseball tournament. we stayed all weekend, and the boys played more in the pool, than they played on the field... but they had a great time, and so did i. i love these boys, i love this team, i love these coaches. we are blessed, really blessed, to live this life, the way we live it. and i am so, so honored to be a part of raising little people. sometimes i think mother's day is more of a reminder to us mom's, a reminder of how incredibly blessed we are to be here, where we have food, and shelter, and kids who are respectably healthy. i get it. it is an honor. and i will try not to forget that so much this year.

fun at the pool!

it was our friend's 21st birthday, so the team all sang her happy birthday by the pool!
 
 
 
and this one is rare. one kid, in a hotel bed, by himself. for two whole nights. he said he has never slept so good in a hotel in his life.
 

baseball, baseball, baseball....

 
 
 
 

a happy mother's day it was...

 

the auction is in full swing!

 

freaking out

okay, so we are here in des moines for a baseball tournament. a few of us parents are sitting out by the pool... and i decide to take out the camera and take a few shots of us having a few beers. my battery is dead. and i have no spare. and my charger is plugged in back in muscatine. i don't know what i am going to do without it. i may be making a trip to target in the morning.

M & M's

Micah: How much do you love me Mom?
Me: More than the stars in the sky. How much do you love me?
Micah: I love you so much, that when I grow up, I am going to buy you toothpaste with my own money.

SOLD OUT!

 
As of this morning, the individual Africa Bags, to help bring Zeke and Kora Landers home, are sold out! We finished them up this morning at Cassie's, and Jody sent them off in the mail! Now, if you didn't get one yet, or know of ANYONE who might be remotely interested... we have some good news. We are going to be auctioning off several bags over the next week, on Jody's blog. These bags will be FULL of goodies. All sorts of different things will be in them, starting with a Flip camera! So, even if you know people who don't usually look at the blogs, and think this would be something they would be interested in, please let them know. You can find all the info you need over at Jody's.
And, on a final note, thank you so much to everyone who helped, purchased, prayed, and loves these two little people. They are so close...

 
enough said.

going, going, gone.

this is the last picture we have of isaiah with long hair. he got most of it cut off on sunday afternoon. and no, i don't have a picture of his new do yet, but rest assured, he looks a whole lot older. ugh. where did the time go?
 

micah...

Micah: Mom, wouldn't it be cool if Oswald could climb out of the T.V. and be in our house? You know what I would say to him? I would say, Welcome to the real world!

You can tell a lot about people by their hands.
When it comes to our hands, we have a choice. We can either go through life with them closed: tightfisted, fearful, angry, reluctant, withholding, comparative, and empty.
Or we can go through life with or hands open: generous, expressive, grateful, helping, and full.
The way we hold our hands reveals a lot about our heart.
-- Nancy Ortberg (LOOKINGFORGOD)

Busy Weekend

This was one of those crazy weekends where two kids have games at the same time in different locations. Our solution? Divide and conquer!
Hannah had three soccer games on Saturday, and one on Sunday. They lost three and tied one. She had fun... and NEVER complained about the cold start to the day!
 
So, who exactly is she supposed to listen to?
 
Isaiah had a tournament in Rock Island (WBSA), They won both games on Saturday, and won the first one on Sunday, but lost the second, to the State champions. They ended up with fourth place. This was a really big tournament, and their first playing at the AAA level.
 
Isaiah had a great weekend pitching, with several strike-outs, and NO walks.
 

Anyone can slay a dragon, he told me, but try waking up every morning & loving the world all over again. That's what takes a real hero.


-- Story People

potty talk

It's not going well at our house. Brody will not even entertain the idea of using the toilet. No joke. So today I caught myself having a conversation with him, about all the wonderful things about peeing in the toilet. Seriously. What has my daily life been reduced to, that I would have to say things like, "It is SO cool, boys are REALLY special because they don't even have to sit down to pee! They just whip it out, go, and pull their pants up! It is WAY faster than peeing in your diaper, for real, you can even ask Isaiah."