New Blog

If you are checking this blog for updates, I would like to redirect you to our new blog. Apparently blogger hates me. No matter what I delete or change I can no longer post pictures on this blog (unless I want to pay...and I don't). So, here is the link to the new blog:

http://thejoyofthislife.wordpress.com

Bookmark it!!! :)

Updates

For some reason, I cannot post pictures to my blog right now. Apparently my google account/picasa has reached its limit for pictures. I'm trying to get rid of some and free up some space, but I still can't seem to make it work. If anyone knows how to fix this, please inform me! This is really the wrong time for this to happen seeing as how this is where I post my e-Christmas cards, Luke and Ana both have birthdays coming up, Selah should be here soon, not to mention that I would like to share Christmas pictures on this blog!

Anyway, here is a brief pictureless post.

Ana got glasses. They are an indestructible kid kind. They are flexible, strap around the back of her head, and they are purple :) She looks adorable in them. I can't tell a difference in her vision, but she must be able to tell, because she likes having them on. She doesn't mess with them, and she gets very angry if Alex messes them up on her face (he sometimes likes to make her wear hats or put dress up clothes on her and it knocks her glasses off).

I am now 37 weeks pregnant. I have an induction on the books for December 20th if Selah doesn't make her appearance before then. So, no more than 19 days remaining. It is a strange feeling to have that date on the calendar. I have never been induced, so it is odd knowing I have a definite end date. I am slightly dilated and about 50% effaced, which is where I stayed with Luke for a brutal 3 weeks. I was so depressed for the last month I was pregnant with Luke. I don't feel that way this time. Yes, I am uncomfortable. Yes, I would like for my belly to not be so big that I can barely reach over my kitchen counter to turn on my garbage disposal. Yes, I would love it if I didn't wake up each night with pain shooting from my lower back all the way down to my feet. And yes, I will be very glad when I get to stop poking my fingers to check my blood sugar. But, I keep so busy throughout the days I don't have too much time to dwell on those things. (I am really just now dwelling on them and thinking I should be a lot more miserable ;) In truth, life is good. If Selah can wait until the 12th or after then we will have an extra set of hands to help, because Grandma will be here :) I know my kids will be so happy to see her, and they will be so busy having fun with her that they won't even miss me while I am in the hospital. So, there is a part of me that says, "any day now". And there is another part that says, "just hang on for another week and a half".

Everything else is pretty status quo around here. Just spending our days learning, playing, preparing for birthdays and Christmas, and making sure we are set for Selah's arrival.

Vote for Trey!

Trey got very into the elections this year. It started a few months back when he asked who we were voting for. After that he talked often about presidents and voting. And the day after the election he wanted to play "president" with me. He told me that people had to vote for us. Basically what he wanted us to do was have a debate where people could decide who they wanted to vote for. Trey's speech went something like this:

"If you vote for me I will make this world a more loving place. Everyone will love God. If anyone does not love God, we will send them to China. I will give everyone jobs."

He kept a tally of our votes on the easel. We were tied until I let my VP (Luke) speak up. Then Trey claimed that some people didn't like what Luke said, so he took some of my votes away. In the end, Trey won the election by one vote. He grabbed his map and sat down with his VP (Ana) and showed her where Washington DC was. He told her they were moving there to live in the white house.

34 weeks and counting

This picture is horrible on MANY levels, but I figure most people just want to see the size of my shamu-esq belly, and this does the job.

I think I have officially reached "that point". You know the point in pregnancy where the end is looming and you can actually feel it. I am exhausted! In fact as I type this at 8:17pm my body is screaming that I should be in bed. We have had a lot of commotion in our lives lately. We just bought a house, and we moved in 2 weeks ago. I have puffy dark circles under my eyes and I am feeling the 3rd trimester drag...only it seems a little worse this time. I recently had a conversation with my doctor that went something like this:

Me: "I just feel really yucky the last few days."
Her: "You have 4 kids, you just moved, and you are 33 weeks pregnant. How do you think you should feel?"

Oh yeah.

I should be realistic here. I keep reminding myself that I should start thinking about getting a bag packed for the hospital, sterilize my bottles, pacis, etc, and make sure I have all items on my "baby list" purchased, cleaned, and in good working order. But each night when it occurs to me to do those things I choose my bed instead.

But on a positive note, at least I can choose my bed. In a few short weeks I will have no choice but to be up in the wee hours of the night. Ah, the conundrum point: wishing this pregnancy were over (miserable with my swollen feet, aching back, and drooping eyelids. Not to mention eager to meet Selah ;) and wishing it would never end (knowing full well the sleepless nights, endless diapers, and constant feedings that await us).

Flag Football

In my life anymore there is no such thing as "all caught up". It's just the way it is, and I'm okay with it. As you read the majority of my future posts you will just have to be understanding of the fact that they are probably long overdue; like this post that should have been written and published about a month ago.

When Trey was 3, we thought it would be fun to sign him up for Sunday soccer. Boy were we wrong! Trey hated it. After that incident we decided that we would just let our kids ask us to be involved in things and we wouldn't waste our time or money pushing them into things they didn't want to do. This year Trey begged to play a sport. We laid out his choices and he decided on NFL Flag Football. His team had 7 kids on it and they played their games 5 on 5. They were originally slated to be the Green Bay Packers, but due to some NFL equipment/shipping glitch they ended up being the Redskins, and Gary was the coach.

I am so glad we waited for Trey to decide on his own to play, because he had so much more motivation  for the season. He loved all of it! For one game they even got to play in the big stadium in our city (on a real football field!). Trey's last 2 games were double headers, and it was pouring down rain. Despite the  cold, the rain, and playing for twice as long Trey never complained. In fact, he scored 2 touchdowns as the running back in the last game. He never asked to come out of a game one time. He practiced so hard during the week working on his three-step drop, running fake hand-offs with Gary, and practicing pulling flags. He became a different kid once on the football field. He always played fair, but he was also aggressive (much more so than I anticipated). We are very proud of his quiet leadership: working hard, never complaining, and continuing to be optimistic even after several losses.

Practice before a scrimmage. Trey is waiting in line to complete a drill.

"Redskins on 3"

We were treated to a special visit from the Barki family just in time for Trey's first game. Trey and Brandon were first best friends. We are so glad they could come!

Trey's turn at QB. With only 7 players, every kid got a lot of playing time and several chances at each position.

Playing around while we watch the game 

My little Maya! Back when I thought I would never have any girls I considered Maya my adopted daughter. Isn't she so adorable?!?!?!?

Soaking up the sunshine while we can

I also have several video clips from Flag Football, and if I ever get around to it I will post them one day as well (although maybe you shouldn't count on it).  I always seemed to miss getting the videos of Trey's big plays, so don't be too distraught if it never happens :)

Random things that amuse me

Trey and Luke like to pretend that some of the kids in our neighborhood are "bad guys". As the kids ride by on bikes Trey and Luke scheme to trap them or put them in jail. Of course they never actually do any of these things. It's just a fun time for my boys to utilize some of that brotherly teamwork. One day they were talking about trapping some kids. They were going to ride after them on their bikes and get them. They were planning all of this during the school day when no kids were actually around. While they waited for school to be out and some kids to come by they asked if they could wash their bikes.

Luke: "Yeah, then we will have really clean bikes to get them with. And they will say, 'you have nice bikes'".
Trey: "Yeah, and then one of us can trap them while the other one says thank you".

I laughed so hard thinking how nice it is to know that even when my boys are plotting and scheming to "trap" people at least they are still using their manners :)

***

On my birthday my sister called. Trey answered my phone and my sister asked him if there was anything special about today. "Yes. Two things," he replied. "I taught myself how to ride my bike without training wheels, and I made a solar system". Isn't it funny how in a child's mind everything revolves around them?

My mom also called to wish me happy birthday and Luke talked to her first. While on the phone with her he asked me, "is it your birthday?". I told him it was and the next two questions were, "how many presents are there," and "why aren't we eating anything?" (as in cake).

***

Trey is at the age where he reads everything! As we were brushing teeth one night he pointed at a bottle of lotion on the counter and said, "Wow, now that's something you don't see everyday". Failing to see anything interesting about the lotion I asked him what he was referring to. He pointed near the bottom of the bottle and read, "Made in the USA". 

Ok, while that may be funny. It's also sad to think that my 6 year old knows that everything is "made in China".

***

One day I yelled at Ana for doing something she was not supposed to, or maybe for something she should be doing and wasn't (at this point in time I forget the details). Trey asked me how I knew what Ana was (or was not) doing when I wasn't even looking. I told him that I had eyes in the back of my head. I explained that all moms do. He said he couldn't see them. I jokingly told him it was because my hair was covering them up. 

Fast forward a week and a half.

I am sitting in the rocking chair in the evening watching TV and Trey jumps up behind me and yells, "BOO!". The next thing he says is, "you know why I could scare you? Because your eyes are against the rocking chair, so you couldn't see me sneak up". Poor kid really thinks I have eyes in the back of my head :)

***

A sweet sister in Christ gave me some roses. Trey looked at them and instead of telling me they were pretty or asking to smell them (or some other juvenile thing ;) instead asked, "are those dicots? Because I think they are". "Well, why don't you tell me," I responded. After carefully examining the leaves Trey asserted that they were in fact dicots. And he is right. 

For those who are all confused by this don't feel bad. I would be too if I wasn't learning right along with Trey. We are currently studying angiosperms (flowering plants) in botany. We are learning to tell the difference between monocots and dicots (this refers to the seeds of a plant and whether they have one or two cotelydons) by looking at their leaves and/or petals. Pretty soon I'll be able to go on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader :) 

The tooth fairy saga

While at the park one day swinging on the swings Trey says, "mom, I don't think the tooth fairy is real". He must have been thinking about his 3rd loose tooth.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Well, I know that cartoons aren't real, and I saw the tooth fairy on a cartoon once. Plus, I just think it has to be somebody."
"Oh. Who do you think it is?"
"I don't know, but when this tooth falls out I'm going to stay awake and find out."

***

A few weeks later Trey's tooth was barely hanging on. He was too nervous to let anyone pull it, but one night well past his bedtime he was finally convinced that maybe we could try. At first he said no and cried. Gary offered to pay him $2 if he would let us pull it (that's double the tooth fairy's going rate in our house). Trey wanted the money, but couldn't decide if it was worth it. Then Gary offered $3! Trey was still hesitating, so Gary pulled out his wallet and handed Trey the $3 to hold onto while I pulled it out. Trey relented. The tooth came out easily, and we sent him to bed $3 richer. Moments later Trey was in our room asking for his tooth. He wanted it in a baggie so he could put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy. That's my future venture capitalists! Trying to max out his earning potential.  We explained that the money we gave him was in lieu of tooth fairy money, and overtired he almost started crying. I asked why he was so upset, and he said, "I just really want to see the tooth fairy".

We sort of left things there and never really addressed the tooth fairy issue, but as tooth number 4 begins to wiggle I imagine we will have to do so soon.

What would you do?