Updated Pictures

PAINTING!

MAKING DADDY'S BIRTHDAY CAKE!

BIRTHDAY PICTURE WITH DADDY!

Busy Eli

Cleaning my house with Eli around is like trying to polish my nails sitting in the middle of a hurricane.

Talkin Bree

Breena has large vocabulary for being only two and a half.  She is quite the talker!  Here are a couple of the latest things that have come out of her mouth.

***Bree was whining that Dave had more salt on his potatoes than her***
Dave: But Breena you have butter!  You are one lucky girl to have butter on your potatoes.  I wish I could have some butter!
Bree: Then why don't you just go get some?!?

***Randomly at dinner table***
Bree: You are driving me crazy.
Dave: Breena, it isn't very nice to say that.
Breena: Daddy, mommy says that a lot!
(Mommy turns beat red & remembers to turn on her vocal filter in the future)

***Shortly after Eli bit Breena in the back***
Bree: Eli, we don't bite people. We bite food. Say you are sorry.

Ice Cream with my Girl

It rained most of the day yesterday.  We didn't get to go outside to play.  Eli decided to take a crummy nap which ment he was cranky all afternoon.  He was frustrating me & picking on his sister.  He was out to get her.  She would lay her baby down for a nap & he would rip the blanket off.  She tried to "bake cookies" on her toy kitchen and he ripped the frosting off.  I could tell she was getting tired of being picked on.  Instead of fighting with him to give the blanket back she cried.  I was even sick of hearing my own voice harping on him to leave her alone.  After supper, Breena & I definately needed to take a time out.  And so we went shopping & left Dave to put Eli to bed early.  Breena loves to shop without Eli.  We let her walk in the store, she gets to hold things & hand the cashier the money.  When we finished running our errands we headed over to Culvers for a treat.  Breena ordered her ice cream all by herself. She asked for chocolate ice cream with sprinkles. Her eyes lit up as they handed her the bowl of ice cream piled high with blue & white sprinkles.  We sat outside together & she ate her ice cream.  We talked about our favorite part of the day.  And we called daddy to rub it in that he wasn't getting any ice cream ;).  It was nice way to end an exhausting day.  I think she thought so too.

Growing up isn't easy.  It's tough to have feelings of frustration and being unable to effectively communicate.  One on one time with a parent is essential to help our children know that they are important & loved for being the unique little people they are.  Dave started the ice cream dates with Bree a while back.  It means so much to her.  She randomly talks about ice cream with daddy.  We both agree to find time to take a child alone & spoil them a little.  It is good for both their hearts and ours.

Princess Mommy

We have this photo hanging in our living room.  Yesterday when I got home from work Breena pointed to it & asked, "Mommy, why do you look like a princess there?"

I sure do love that kid.

Two Months!

Two more months until baby gets here! I am SO ready! I am just past 30 weeks along now & somedays I sincerely wonder how I am going to hang on for another nine weeks. Breena was definately my hardest pregnancy,I was sick with her & I had high blood pressure. This baby is being much nicer to me but I am getting tired!

*I am larger than I was with the other two
*I am older, I have much less time to rest
*I've said goodbye to my ankles & hello to my new cankles
*Polishing my toes is exhausting
*I am running out of clothes that fit
*My appetite is decreasing but I am still packing on pounds(how is that fair?!?)
*I just hit my first round of nesting- which means I can't relax. I clean closets, organize cupboards, rearrange furniture, and buy ridiculous amounts of storage bins. My to-do list grows daily.
*I am hot. All. Of. The. Time. It feels like I have a little heater in my belly. The muggy air we've had lately makes me nauseous. I warned Dave last night that if he turns off our A/C he will wake up missing an eyebrow!
*My biggest complaint right now is that Bree & Eli are suffering because of my inability to chase them like I use too. I haven't taken them to the pool alone at all this summer because I struggle to carry everything we need. Park trips are shorter. Outside time is limited on muggy days. They don't seem to notice a difference in their lives right now, but I do. And that mommy guilt is always in the back of my head.

What's crazy about pregnancy is that as much as it really stinks the last few months - all is forgotten the minute that baby arrives. This is the third (& final!) time I've gotten to this point. Is it worth it? Absoultely. Every sleepless night & discomfort to worth it to hold that baby boy. There is nothing better than to hold your baby for the first time, to smell that fresh baby scent, and to kiss those tiny lips that have never been smooched before.

We are excited & ready for the little one to get here (when he is ready of course & no sooner!). We have finally agreed on a name. Breena helped me paint the letters of his name that we will put up on the wall. And NO we haven't told her his name yet so don't try to get it out of her! Mother, that means you!!!

Edit: I couldn't get this photo to upload last night.  Here is Bree helping me paint.  Any guesses?

Kiddie Parade & Fourth of July

Eli & Breena participated in the kiddie parade last night with their cousins!  The theme was "Hooray for the Red, White & Blue"!  It was HOT out but all the kids (& mommies) did great!  They ran out of candy to hand out within the first block so next year we will need to remember to pack more candy!

Here are some pictures of our Fourth of July weekend as well.  We DID finally make it up to visit Dave's parent's house on Saturday morning (in the car, not the van!).  We enjoyed visiting & had perfect weather!  Thank you to Grandma & Papa Luiken for having us up!!!

Fourth Of July Casualty...window is as good as new now :)

Eli

Breena is often the topic of my blog posts because she can talk & the things she says are funny.  But there is another little man in my house with a giant personality.  This post is devoted entirely to my Eli...

Eli is growing into quite the character.  He loves to climb. He can climb up on the dining room table in the blink of an eye. He is fearless. He runs down steps without stopping. He grabs at animals big & small without a fear of being nipped at. He loves the water. He steps foot into a pool, lake or puddle as soon as he sees it. He loves to be naked . He loves to hug our dog. He admires & adores his big sister. He has to copy her every move. If she falls down & lets out a cry he fake falls in the same spot as soon as she moves. He has to have seconds of whatever she is eating at the dinner table. If she needs a band-aid so does he. He loves playing with Breena & listens to her when she puts him “to bed” in the dog bed. He is learning to talk but can’t say the letter “L”. His favorites words are “Hewo (hello) & Awie (Allie). Giving Allie treats makes him giggle. So does tickling his belly. He folds his hands when we pray & claps when we say “Amen”. He loves to sing! He knows the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider & the Bumble Bee song. He recently developed a love for swinging at the playground. He will get down from the swing only long enough to switch to another swing. He sleeps from 7pm-6am without a peep. He rarely sits down during the day but every once in a while will bring over his blankie for a quick cuddle. He has three blankets he loves & sleeps with a stuffed, musical puppy. He likes to comb his hair. He loves to pretend to put on spray sunscreen. He likes to play outside & especially enjoys eating sand. He also likes to eat color crayons & play doh. He loves to brush his teeth. He loves drinking juice & eating fruit. He is learning to use a spoon. He demands ketchup with his French fries. He is a good helper with laundry & helps me switch the wet clothes to the dryer. He is very resilient. He has taken a few bad falls & walked away with just a nasty bruise. He can sense sadness & brings Breena her blanket when she is upset. He gives us huge hugs & kisses before bed. And says “wuv oooo” before going to sleep. This little boy keeps me SO busy during the day. He is curious, lovable, & sweet. He makes our daily lives so fun and we love him so very much!

Shield of Armor

Dave & I had planned to take the kids up to visit their grandparent’s lake home over the Fourth of July weekend. With two little kids and me working Saturdays we don’t make it up there very often. We were excited to go & so were the kids. We left here around 3:15pm on Friday afternoon. We were in a Thunderstorm Watch & so we glanced at the radar before we left town. It was clear so we preceded on our way. As we neared the town of Hutchinson (just over a hour from our house) the skies were looking pretty gloomy. I called my mom & Dave called his dad. We asked them both to keep an eye on things for us. We also listened intently to the radio. There were storms in the area but no additional warnings had been issued. We felt safe to continue on our trip because it sounded like the most severe storms were going to South & we were driving away from them. The clouds were looking rather green & the winds rapidly picked up. We debated on whether or not to turn back so we wouldn’t be caught in the middle of nowhere in a storm- but decided if we did we’d be driving right back into it. We made it about 15 minutes out of Hutchinson and a massive downpour of rain started. There were cars pulled over to the side of the highway. Dave couldn’t see a thing & so we pulled over too. We weren’t there more than a minute when it started to hail. Probably about quarter sized hail. The hail didn’t last long & the rain let up a bit so we started driving. We made it another few minutes & hit a downpour more massive than the first. Dave quickly pulled off onto a driveway. Just then we heard the loud crash of hail slamming against our van. I saw golf ball sized hail bouncing on the highway in front of us. Then came a huge CRASH & a blood curdling scream from Breena. I turned around to find a big hole in the corner of her window. She was holding her the side of her head crying hysterically. I jumped back in the van, unhooked her from her seatbelt & threw her over the bench to the back of the van where all of our luggage was. I hopped back as well & started to check her out. She had three small cuts her head- one on each side & one in the back. It was hard to tell how deep they were because she has blonde hair which makes a tiny drop of blood look like a gallon. I felt pieces of glass entwined in her hair. At this point Dave had gotten Eli out & handed him back to get everyone away from the shattering window. He had gotten a cut on his forehead near his hairline. The blood was starting to drip down his nose. I covered both of my screaming babies with blankets and hovered over them in an effort to protect them in case any other hail chunks came flying through. Thankfully it wasn’t long before the hail stopped and the rain lightened immensely. Breena’s carseat was covered in glass but Eli’s was safe. We strapped Eli back in. Breena & I stayed in the back of the van as we turned around to head back into Hutchinson. I called my mom to tell her what had happened. Despite my husband’s instance that “we were okay & didn’t need help” she & my dad jumped into their car & started on the hour long drive to help us. It took us twenty minutes to get back to Hutchinson. I spent the time holding a very shook up little girl tightly with one arm all while trying to get the pieces of glass out of her hair with the other. My hands were literally trembling as I poked through her hair. I have never been terrified to the point of physically shaking before. We had originally planned that Dave would drop the kids & I off at a restaurant to feed them supper & wait for my parents while he went a crossed the street to Menards to pick up some thing to clean up the van. But the skies were turning ugly again. The winds had started to whip. We decided it was best to stick together. We pulled up to the parking lot, each grabbed a kid and ran like heck into the store. We put the kids in a cart and pushed them to a center isle away from the glass doors which at this point had begun shaking due to the wind. We checked them over for injuries once again. Thank God they only had a few cuts. We weren't at Menards more than 5 minutes and the power went out. And then the tornado sirens blew. We were all ushered into the middle of the store where there was more coverage in the ceiling area. We were locked in Menards for almost a hour. Eli was barefoot. They were both starving because it was their normal suppertime. Breena was terrified. We went to the toy isle & let the kids bounce balls around to try to take her mind off of things. When the latest storm had passed we battled some strong winds to load the kids back into the van & drove across the parking lot to Culvers. Dave & I had NO appetite. But we needed to feed the kids. My parents made it just a couple of minutes after we arrived at Culvers. They told us more nasty weather was on it’s way and we needed to head home quickly. The kids barely ate anything, I don’t think they had much of an appetite anymore either. Dave & my dad swapped car seats & tried to cover up the open window. It didn’t work. And we needed to leave asap. I jumped into the car with my parents & kids. Dave drove the van alone in front of us. We started driving South. We saw lots of downed branches & a power line. Maybe twenty minutes in to our drive the skies started to look even nastier than the first two storms. My sister kept an eye on the rader for us and before long we knew we were about to get nailed. We had passed through the tiny town of Brownton just a few minutes before. We made the decision to turn around and look for some shelter. Anything was going to be safer than our vehicles. Dave led the way & we followed. At one point I saw the speedometer reach 75 mph in a 55 mph zone. We were flying! We made it to Brownton in the nick of time. The fire station was open as the emergency crews prepared for the imending storm. We ran up to the building and they welcomed us in to safety. It was maybe 7pm or so but looked like midnight. The fire house had lost power. We were standing against the wall with several huge & very loud fire trucks waiting to be called out. It down poured. The winds whipped. But no hail this time. Eli was in a daze- he laid his head on everyone’s shoulder as he was passed around. Breena was terrified. She pleaded with me to take her home. I sang songs to her to try to keep her calm but she was still scared. I am honestly not sure how long we were at the fire station. I am sure it was under a half hour but it felt like an eternity. Just as quickly as it came the storm had passed. We loaded back up into our vehicles and headed for home. This time was thankfully uneventful. We made it safe and sound.

In hindsight I am able to see how lucky we are. This should have been so much worse. I truly believe there was an Angel next to Breena on Friday night holding up a shield of armor. Dave later told me he saw two very large pieces of hail on the floor next the Breena’s carseat. They should have hit her. It was almost like the hail split into two and went around my two year old’s head. She told my mom on our final drive home that “the lady said I was okay”. She told me that a few different times later that night. I am not sure who “the lady” is. It could have been an acquaintance we ran into at the restaurant or some people we chatted with at Menards. Or it could be someone that maybe just Breena saw. We will never know. But I do know with every bit of my being that we were not alone in our trip. Someone was definitely looking out for my family & protecting my children. I used to be so quick at getting mad at God when things go wrong. It would be so easy to scream “Where were you!?! You deserted us when we needed you!”. I have definitely started to learn to look at the big picture. I have indeed NEVER been left alone. This experience reminded me of that. We SHOULD have spent Friday night in the ER having my daughter checked out for head injuries & possibly getting her head stitched. Instead I spent the rest of Friday night by her bedside stroking her freshly washed hair as she fell asleep. Thank you to my parents for coming to our rescue. And to my sister for being our weather lady. To my husband for remaining calm. And to the Angel who shielded my Breena.