An Early Birthday Gift to Me

Last week I was able to have the best gift in the world. I was able to go see my family in Michigan.

Jake found tickets from Southwest Airlines just before Christmas for 1/2 off if we flew Wednesday to Wednesday so we did just that. I was able to (thankfully) get a couple days off so I didn't completely die by working 5 days before we left and 3 days after. The unfortunate thing is that I am still utterly exhausted. Why? Because I haven't seem to been able to get a full night's rest. Right before we left, Elijah woke up in the middle of the night with a terribly sore throat so I trekked out to Gilbert to go to the overnight urgent care. The initial strep test was negative but a few days later we got the call that it was indeed strep throat and he would need antibiotics. The day before we left I finally took the twins into the doctor because they had been battling a cold and it took a turn for the worse and Jonah was up ALL night long wheezing...not to mention he had nasty oozing pus from his ear (I know, you could have done without the visual right?). Turns out they both had tonsillitis and upper respiratory infections in addition to an infected eczema breakout (as a side note the twins are doomed to have asthma with their history...fun stuff to look forward to).  So we were condemned to taking 3 bottles of amoxicillin and a slew of albuterol and an SVN machine. Cool beans. I know....you don't even have to say how JEALOUS you are of us taking 3 kids, 3 and under on a plane across the country...with car seats too. I know. Next time you can come too.

Actually. It wasn't that bad. We got there in one piece and no one screamed bloody murder, nor did we get terrible side glances/glares from everyone on the plane. In fact, we actually got compliments on how well they did. But it took a lot of planning...and snacks...and candy. Yes. I broke. They got candy. But they were quiet.

We were SO glad to get to Michigan. To be quite honest, it still feels much more like home than AZ does. We were greeted by Aunt Annie and Uncle Marcel who put up with us for a night before we took a ride out to my parents. We were very blessed to have them there for us. Not only that, but Jake's Uncle Vic got us a really nice van so that we could get around town. We sure did appreciate that.

Once we were on our way northward to Grammy and Grampy's Elijah got excited. And guess what? We saw snow. Not oodles of it like normal for this time of year, but enough.

 Here Elijah is taking a walk in the backyard trying to find deer tracks. Unfortunately we didn't see any, but there were some bunny tracks to follow.

Yeah, I realized why I do like Arizona. It is cold! The sad part...it wasn't even THAT cold. I'm a wimp.

Not quite enough snow for a BIG snowman, but a little one will do.

So proud. Poor Elijah cried a few days later when it melted. 

 Elijah found out that Grampy has a cool keyboard that lets you make songs on the computer. He loved to play around with it.

 Jake and I had our first date in Frankenmuth 10 years ago this past October. They just so happened to have a snowfest while we were visiting so we had to go check it out. Here's Elijah walking down the street. Doesn't he look like such a cute little man?

 Here's the General Store where we always get penny candy and big barrel pickles. Nom Nom.

They had a petting farm there.

Noah LOVED it. He kept feeding the goats carrots and giggling.

Jonah still didn't feel the greatest but he liked sticking with mom in his Mei Tai carrier that I had made in preparation for the trip.

 This is my favorite photo. I rarely get pictures of my mom because she hides is conveniently busy during photo shoots.

 Remember how I said Noah loved the animals? Well, he found out he like puddles too. Only puddles aren't as fun when you fall in...especially when it is freezing out. Of course, bad mommy that I am, I had no extra clothes WITH me, they were in the car. I figured I could use a hand dryer...except that there weren't any. I had to be resourceful. I took off the fleece insert of the WAY cool jackets my parents found for them and put his legs in the arms and zipped him up. It probably looked ghetto, but hey, he was warm and I didn't have to walk ALL THE WAY BACK to the car. If you've been to Frankenmuth before you know why I say this. It's a trek. And like I said, it was cold...and I'm a wimp.

 Frankenmuth is famous for their German chicken dinners. YUMMY!

 I know, there are a lot of pictures, but bear with me. I wanted to be able to tell you the (somewhat) whole story. I am missing some pictures because they are on Mom and Dad's camera.

So one of my FAVORITE books as a kid was The Monster At the End of This Book. My Dad does the voice of Grover and it was always something that was hilarious to me. Dad passed on the tradition and read the book to the boys. Of course it was a big hit.

 We were able to go to see a lot of Jake's family at his Nanna and Nannu's house on Sunday. Here MY twins are with his cousin Angela's twins (they are identical if you couldn't tell).

 Here Elijah and Hayden are dancing.

 More cousins and playtime.

 Awe, Noah cuddled with Eric.

 The boys and their Buz (sp?) Nanna.

 Elijah and Jake's Great Aunt Sharon.

 Eating spaghetti.

 Isn't he cute?

Aunt Janine 

 We went to see my Grandpa as well. It was a brief visit because the boys were antsy but I am thankful to have seen him. He suffers from Alzheimers Disease and it was very difficult to see him in this state. I know he didn't know who I was but at least maybe I made his day brighter for a bit.

 Even though it wasn't my birthday quite yet we celebrated thanks to one of Nannu and Nanna's cakes. Yum. I think Noah liked it. What do you think?

On our last day we drove through Fenton and saw our old apartment. We had so many good memories here...

 We saw some nice houses for sale...maybe one day we can move back. These houses have so much character.

 Just having some fun and taking pictures.

 Here's Elijah's best bud, Aunt Heather. He LOVED her to pieces. He cried so hard when we had to leave. He wanted her to go EVERYWHERE with us.

 Ha Ha. Try to get a picture with 3 munchkins. Good luck. Here's the attempt with my handsome brother, Bryan.

I wish I could say we got to see everyone we wanted to but sadly, we did not. There were SO MANY people that we didn't get to even say HI to, let alone spend any amount of time with. A week is just NOT long enough, especially contributing people working and traveling times. Boo. I am very thankful we got to go for any amount of time though. I never thought we would be able to with the children and flight.

Of course we miss everyone immensely. It is so easy to have the after vacation blues but at least we had fun while we were there.

Oh yeah, and remember the part about no sleep? Well, it continued when we got back. Why? Because when we went to get on the plane HOME Jonah ended up getting hurt. He pulled away from me and had a tantrum. When we got him on the plane he cried himself to sleep. When he woke up we realized he wasn't moving his arm. Fun stuff. So I had to take him to Urgent Care when we got home only to find out that his elbow was dislocated. Because of the long flight, it had become swollen and so despite the many painful attempts to relocate it, the doctor couldn't do it. So I had to take him home with a dislocated elbow. Of course, he sucks his thumb and of course it was the arm he hurt. He couldn't get comfortable so GUESS WHO DIDN'T SLEEP? As soon as our doctor opened we got him in. He didn't even want to attempt the job so he sent us to see a pediatric ortho. Thankfully they got us in at 2pm and got him all set. It wasn't fun and he is not too fond of doctors anymore. He still wasn't moving his arm right away but by night time he could suck his thumb and in the morning he had full range of motion.  Augh. Not fun. Unfortunately, he is more likely to have it happen again. Yippie. I can't wait. I guess I better go. I am tired and can sense my writing is getting a more sarcastic tone then normal.

this is what i find

I try to let the boys run loose for awhile everyday to let them start to learn what they can and can't touch and not be penned up so long. Well, sometimes it gets a little hectic. One runs this way, the other that way; one is climbing up a step stool, the other is splashing in the toilet. Okay. Maybe not really...but close to it. This is what I found the other day. I let Jonah have his tootbrush, and he promptly grabbed Noah's too. Then he found food on the floor because I hadn't yet swept for the day. Oooh. An orange he says.

Notice a piece of orange is gone. Wait. His toothbrush is in his mouth. Oh yeah. I forgot. This is the kid with the chipmunk cheeks.

And out comes the toothbrush. But he still has the orange. Why is food on the floor SO enticing. GROSS ME OUT!

i don't nap mama

My little goofball. Well, who am I kidding, he's not little anymore. He decided a couple months ago that he no longer needs a nap. For the past week and a half or so though, he has fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie during our "quiet" time while his brothers are napping. I don't know if it's that he's fighting a cold, or a growth spurt but this tired mama will gladly take three kiddos napping at the same time. I would like to say I run around the house getting things done, but to be quite honest I usually take a cat nap myself. I find night shift is not my favorite thing anymore and this sleep deprived girl is about on her last straw of working it. Oh to have a normal circadian rhythm again...

So, what else has Elijah been doing. Well. He sure is a sweetie. He always says "Mama, I love you so much in my heart." Melt my heart! The other day Jake said that he thought Elijah had my nose. Elijah's reply, "I don't think so Daddy, I have an Elijah nose." Smart kid. He is always kissing and hugging on his little brothers too. They are so blessed to have him as a big brother.

we don't need no stinkn' bowls

At any given time in my house you can find pretty random things. Here is an example. My boys love popcorn and we happen to have one of those popcorn makers like the movie theater (small of course) so I made some for them and so here they are maowing down on it, spilling it all over...eventually all over the floor. Of course, then they are eating it from the floor. Gross. I know...but..hey.

New Years Resolutions

It is only the 9th of January and already I have done a lot of thinking on this new year that we have been blessed with. I never have really made a New Years Resolution...but I was thinking that maybe this year I should change this. Maybe I should hold myself accountable for reaching at least one personal goal. I actually have decided on several that I would like to strive towards.

First of all, I would like to "TRY" to get my house in order. This will be a HUGE thing. I am not kidding. Sometimes I feel like a crazed lunatic running abound like a chicken with 3 heads cut off so if I can do anything to slightly make things better I think my life would be amazing. How I can do this I don't know is a mystery as of yet, but I am working on it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Right now I have thought of the following:

Make a meal plan. Freezer meals and easy fixes would be especially desirable.

Have daily "chores" that need to be done before bed EVERY day ie: clean table, sweep, all laundry in baskets

Do one load of laundry (including folding and putting away GASP!) each day.

Make a chore sheet for Elijah that is age appropriate to allow him to be a responsible party in the house as well.

I'm not quite sure what else to put here but I'm sure something will come to me.

Secondly, I would like to plan some sort of family outing each month. We always seem to just be "surviving" and never really get to have fun together as a family, even if it is just getting out to the park and throwing the football around. I would love to be able to feel like we have fun together more often. I would really like to be able to add a date night into this..but that is probably pushing it.

Thirdly, I would like to make more time for myself. I feel like this past 2 years lately I have not been taking enough time for myself. I feel as if I live off of bits of leftover food from childrens' plates and caffeine. Oh wait, I am. I have recently realized that my hands look like I am an old lady...dry with ragged nails and hanging bits of skin from the hang nails and torn cuticles. Looking at my face in the mirror makes me shudder to see that I look every bit of my almost 32 years...and then some. I am not quite sure why I have been cursed with the wretched skin that I have (I do not think that it is fair to be able to have both wrinkles AND acne) but I would really like to be able to do something about it. I also would like to feel a little more proactive about my physical health and would like to start working out. In fact Jake bought me the Wii e-active so I could actually do something about this. My only problem is that when I attempt to do it, I have 3 munchkins around...and at least one has to try to hang on me at any given time. I also would like to do a little something for my personal appearance and start doing my makeup a little nicer. Jake actually found a 19year old model with TERRIBLE acne that has a bunch of you tube videos that give amazing tips.

To see what I am talking about click here for a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex33wtqnNz8&feature=player_profilepage

I also would like to make more time for my husband and kids. I feel like there always is something going on and somehow they get put on the backburner. I want more dates and more playing...

And lastly, and probably most importantly, I would like to make more time to encourage my spiritual growth. More Bible time for me...and for Elijah and the twins. I REALLY want to be able to help them (and me) focus on memorizing some verses and reading Bible stories together. I want to focus on being a better follower of Christ and hopefully through that be a better person and a better mommy.

And as an off resolution that will probably not happen, I would like to have a little bit of time every now and again to do something that I like to do. Last weekend I actually did that...sort of. I sewed a few things. They were not for me and actually had a purpose, but I kinda had fun making them between stopping and telling children to stop doing this and that.

I made these. Inside are a Mei Tai carrier and two travel seat/high chairs.

 

Here is the example of the Mei Tai carrier. I think it turned out pretty good.

I also made three scarves and two pairs of slippers for the little boys.