EGGstravaganza

These are some pictures of the Easter EGGstravaganza that we had at our house yesterday. We had some friends over for dinner, a hunt and some easter egg dying. We had a fabulous time!

Caleb and Luke love their friend, Rayna!

All the kids eating. This was an odd event for our group. Normally the kids outnumber the adults, but this time there were only 6 kids. 5 of them are 3 or under.
The Daddy's hid the eggs while the Mama's kept the kids inside. Lovey got a little creative for Caleb!
Luke showing off all his eggs.

Another tricky one for Caleb to find!

Nate and Lauren!

The little Queen!

The Lee Family...another one is one the way!

The "best buddies" eating their loot!!

All the kids with their loot

This is what the girls did during the easter egg dying!

Ella is ever-so-lady-like!

I love the flirty eyes that Lily Kate is making Nate!

The Mad Family

Our Little Easter Beauties!

Conversations

LILY: Now, hold still so that I can get this back in your hair before Mommy see's what you've done.

ELLA: What are you doing? Put it in my hair, now!

LILY: I'm not putting it back in until you say, 'Lily Kate is the best sister ever.'

ELLA: Lily Kate is the best sister ever...(and then mutters while staring at shoe) and the meanest...
ELLA: Forget it! I don't care about no stinkin' bow! I have better things to do anyway. I'm outta' here!
LILY: What?! I was getting ready to put it in your hair! Come back here...I was just kidding!

Our Easter egg hunt at church

Here are some photo's from our Easter egg hunt at church.

I love the picture below! Check out all those eggs right in front of Caleb, yet he is intently staring at the ground looking for eggs...all morning both of the boys overlooked the obvious eggs in front of them!

Case in point...check out all the eggs within reach, yet Luke goes for the obscure egg in the bushes!


Caleb and the Easter bunny. He's so cute! After he got his picture taken with her I said, "Wasn't that a cute Easter Bunny?" Caleb's response was an enthusiastic, "Uhhh-HUH!"
And this was the pose that Luke did with the Easter Bunny...Oh yeah, he refused to have his picture taken with that cute bunny girl. This was the little fit he threw! So dramatic!

Easter

I know I said I wouldn't talk about it, but...

I lied. Well, it wasn't really a lie since I really hadn't planned on discussing my current situation, but really need some help. And sympathy. Lots of sympathy.

So my friend Kellie thinks I'm nuts-o (for many reasons) but I went cold turkey with the nursing drama. I mean, I had cut down to 2 nursings a day, for a couple of days, and then just quit. So I am very engorged and uncomfortable. This is the way that I did it with both the boys and don't remember it feeling this bad, but then again my memory is foggy on many things (by the way, I think that is God's grace on us as mamas so that we have more than 1 kid). Anyway, I am so uncomfortable. And I forget, how long will this last?

I'm just not sure that this was the best week to stop nursing. Luke got a fever yesterday. I didn't know that he was sick, but I had a feeling that something was up. What really tipped me off was when he got into a fight with his best buddy, Luke LaMar, at the park yesterday. Luke Mad loves his "best buddy" and they normally get along so great and almost never fight. Yeah, so when Luke Mad pushed his best buddy, I knew something was up with that kid. He was up at 3am and Daddy went to the guest bedroom while Luke got in bed with me. Poor thing, he was so uncomfortable, and burning up with fever, that he just tossed and turned until it was time to get up. If I was nursing I would feel much better about the girl's chances of not getting this, but now I am more concerned.

Anyway, I will be thrilled to report when this whole nursing drama is over... and I am sure you will be thrilled when you don't have to hear it anymore!

We're growing up

Well, it's done. Over. No more. Today is the first day in 10 months that I woke up and didn't nurse a baby (or two!). It was weird. And now it's official. The girls are weaned.

Yesterday, I awoke with the intent of not nursing the girls. Then I had a meltdown. In the closet at 7:15am. I had to call my bff to talk me through my drama.

I am overwhelmed by how fast my kids are growing up. And it's funny because for the past 5 years I have been hurrying them along. I couldn't wait for them to get older to get out of some phase that they were going through. And now that they are getting older, I want time to stop. And therein lies my drama.

The thought of weaning the girls has been a difficult one for me. Listen people, I'm not a le leche league spokesperson and to be honest have never loved nursing children. But, there is something different about knowing that this is the last time that you will ever nurse a baby. It seems so final. And brings a reality that this, also, is the last time that I will ever have 10 month old babies. And that's the thought that makes me want to make the clock stand still for a while.

So yesterday morning, I decided to nurse for the last time. And I listened, with a heart full of love and adoration, to those adorable grunting and gulping noises that they make when nursing. I talked to them, watched them and enjoyed every last minute of my time with them.

And now it is over. Well, the nursing part is over. The engorged, painful boobies have just begun. But I will spare you having to hear all that drama!

Three Words...

FREEZER MEALS BABY!!! When I was first introduced to this idea 4 or 5 years ago, the thought of eating casseroles out of the freezer was totally unappealing. First of all, I'm not really a casserole girl and secondly, I always do Weight Watchers after I have a baby (and in the last 5 years it seems like all I've done is have babies, but that my friends is another story!) and I didn't think that freezer meals would be conducive to WW. Thirdly, the whole concept seemed too time consuming and possibly not worth the effort.



Oh, but how I was wrong on all accounts. Now that I have done some freezer cooking, I'm not sure I could ever go back. I'm addicted. And how it has changed my afternoons!

For those of you that have never done it before, I have a few pieces of advice. There are a couple of ways to freezer cook; you can cook with a friend (or friends) or you can cook by yourself. There are pros and cons to both.

1. Cooking with a friend. PROS: It's a fun way to spend the morning/day/afternoon. Time goes by faster. You are able to cook larger quantities, faster. Cheaper up front. Someone to divide and conquer with. CONS: You have to work around each other's schedules. If you both have kids at home, you have to figure out what to do with the kids. You also have to get together a lot to get a variety.
2. Cooking on your own. PROS: You can cook at your own pace. You can make whatever you want. CONS: It's more expensive and not as fun.

I have done both. Cooking with a friend has been documented here and here. I have been cooking on my own and find it to be pretty easy. Here's what I have been doing: I buy a ton of chicken (since, aside from fish, that is really the only meat we eat) and then when I get home divide it into meals that require uncooked chicken breasts and meals that require cooked chicken. Over the next couple of days I make the chicken breast meals. And then over the next 2 weeks I make 2 meals from my freezer cookbooks and quadruple the recipe, then freeze it. Easy-peasy and lots of variety.

Two books that I have been using and LOVE! are Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer and Holly Klegg's Trim and Tasty Freezer meals. They both have ton of variety and I don't know that I have made a casserole yet! And Holly Klegg's book has all the nutritional facts, so that I can figure out the points.

Works for me!! For more Works for Me ideas check out Rocks in my Dryer.

Calm before the storm...

Caleb has been de-lish-us the past couple of days! Just delightful. And boy, has it made this house so peaceful and my mothering job much easier. So much easier. It's not just his behavior that has changed, it's his heart. He's not just obedient, but also has a desire to obey. I love the behavior change, but the heart change is so much sweeter and brings such joy to my heart.

I wish that I could say that this was going to be a permanent change but I know, from experience, that it's not. He will at some point and for some length of time go back to being more challenging, but for now I will bask in this cool shower of God's grace. This weary mom needs it. And I love how Father knows that.

I have been reading this book about the Spirited Child and so far have really liked it. It's a new perspective on my sweet boy's personality. It's funny, I have lots of friends who have these young children who are under three and they have already labeled them "strong-willed". I always find that humorous because they are 2 or 3...that is there job. To figure out their boundaries, test the rules and learn who's boss. Those things don't define strong-will, they define the trying-two's and teachable-three's. Labels at that age bother me. I like how this book labels my boy as "spirited". And now that he's about to be six, I feel like it's safe to give him a label. I'm just not planning on telling him he has one!

I have been thinking about how the exhausting part of the "spirited" child isn't behavior, but attitude. It's not that he's "bad" or even "naughty". Those things can be trained out of a child. It's that he's defiant and challenges my authority on everything. He's intense, intelligent, and perceptive. It is our job to channel these things and teach sweet boy how to handle them. And once we have - the sky is the limit on what this child will be able to accomplish. He's an amazing little boy.



And that is why I believe that during these exhausting times, in this journey called motherhood, that God is faithful and knows that there are moments when I could use a shower of grace to give me hope and push me forward. As mother's, we don't always get to see the fruit of our labor. In fact, very little we do ever feels complete or finished. Especially as the mother of young children, we don't often get to feel the satisfaction of a finished product...a job well done. We have to rely on faith and prayer. And what a great place to be.



I read this quote today and thought it amazing...

"I have held many things in my hands

and have lost them all; but whatever

I have placed in God's hands,

that I still possess."

~ Martin Luther

Happy 10 month Birthday!

*SIGH*

The girlie's turn 10 months old today. Look at them. Are they stinkin' adorable or what?!?!? Sometimes I look at them and I think my heart will explode with love! Don't get me wrong, I love my boys. They are smart, funny, charming, wild, adventurous, loud, imaginative, and all boy. My girls on the other hand are my little dolls. My sweet, precious, little girlie doll babies!! And my baby dolls are 10 months old today. And I seriously want the clock to stop because they are growing too fast.
Here is a little update on their little lives:

• Neither are crawling...yet. Ella is super close, but Lily Kate has no desire. Although Ella can't crawl yet, she finds a way to get into naughtiness! I have been quite blessed to be able to put them down with their toys and then go off to work on something else. When I came back, they would be sitting there playing quietly. Now I have to come back and check more often to make sure that Ella hasn't gotten into any trouble!
• We haven't had the girls weighed yet (they go at the end of the month) but I think they are getting bigger.
• When I kiss them I make loud smacking noises. Well, now they click their tongues when I make the smacking noise. It sounds just like my smacking. And they both do it. Isn't that strange? (Gi-Gi thinks that's how they talk to each other..)
• Ella is particular about the bottle she drinks from, but Lily will drink from any bottle.
• Lily is still weary of strangers (especially men).
• Ella makes the cutest growling noise. I started calling her "grrr-ella" which kinda sounds like "gorilla"! Gi-Gi thinks that is a terrible nickname!
• The weaning is going good. They don't really care at all, I am really taking it slow for my sake!
• The boys are quite definitive about which baby belongs to which boy. Luke claims Ella and Caleb claims Lily. Always. They never switch. The odd part about it, is that Ella is more like Luke and Lily more like Caleb.
• They both have their 2 bottom teeth. They aren't all the way in and I think that's when they are the cutest!
• There have been many tiffs over toys lately. I have a feeling there will be many, many, many more to come in their future. Today it's toys, tomorrow it's...boys!
• They love to be outside. Yep, they are Mad kids!
• They really are good, delightful babies.

News Flash

Here is a bit of exciting news...2 months from today is Lovey's graduation from medical school!!!! The end is so close and that is amazing to me! Absolutely amazing. I remember when we started medical school and 4 years seemed sooo long. We laughed about how Caleb would be almost six! when Joseph would graduate. Time has flown by.

In other exciting news...I am weaning the girlfriends this week!!!! The time has finally come. It really is so bittersweet. I was reminiscing with my bff today about the first couple of months of nursing the twinkies. I honestly wasn't sure how long I would last after mastitis, thrush and then there was the 45 min. nursing drama! I am so thankful that I stuck with it and pushed through the pain. And now that it is almost over, there is a tiny part of me that will miss it! Just a tiny part of me! The rest of me is thrilled that it is over. They are getting harder to nurse - crawling off, playing with each other's hair and face, being easily distracted by anything (especially Daddy and Caleb's voices) and then the final straw...Ella has been biting me with her razor sharp teeth. Last night I yelped in pain and scared her. I made her cry and scared her so much, that she wouldn't nurse anymore. I felt bad, but it REALLY hurt! Really bad!

I went to the gym for the first time in a while today and am currently sitting in a very quiet house. The girls are napping and Gi-Gi has the boys at Chuck E Cheese. She and Aunt Amy spent the morning doing crafts with the kids. Last night Gi-Gi made dinner and helped me make freezer meals. And read to the kids and ran to the store for me and...I wish she could move in! It is a great treat for me this week since the kids are out of school and Joseph's hours are terrible this week! God's timing is fab!!

Well, I guess that is all for today. Tomorrow is the big 10 month birthday and I, as usual, will have my update on their little lives.

Dedicated to Raising Oaks of Righteousness

Today was a special day in the Mad house...Lily Kate and Ella Grace got dedicated! It was pretty sweet. I wasn't quite sure what the girls would do up there since they went to bed late last night, got up early this morning and don't like strangers looking at them. That last one is problematic when you are standing in front of the entire church!

The girls did great and looked a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e! Our church made it a short, meaningful ceremony where we acknowledged our desire to raise our girls in a family of faith and the church professed their desire to do their part in teaching our girls that Jesus died on the cross so that they can spend eternity in the presence of the one who loves them and created them.


The day was also made special because the girls aunt, grandma and some of our special friends came to church for their meaningful day!

The not-so-special-part was in the car after church where the kids and I had a melt down. Luckily Gi-Gi (grandma) came to the rescue and kept the kids at home while Joseph and I got to go to lunch with our friends. The girls were more excited about being home, then they were about going to California Pizza Kitchen, anyway!

My friend, Kellie, got these pictures for us. And because of the meltdown, we don't have any of the 6 of us. We really need to get some family pictures taken. If only the thought of doing so didn't leave me full of anxiety...

TAG, I'm it!

Miriam has tagged me! These are the rules!
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six non-important things about me:

1. I am so confused about freezer burn. And because of that if anything in my freezer has frost on it - I throw it out! I don't know that I have actually tasted food that has been subject to freezer burn, but I'm convinced that it will somehow harm me. Convinced!

2. Almost every single night for the past 6 1/2 years, I have asked Lovey the same question: "Did you lock the doors?"

3. I believe that I am an introvert stuck in an extroverts body. I really do consider myself shy.

4. There are 3 things that I have no idea how to do, but want desperately to learn...play tennis, understand HTML and have a veggie garden that I don't kill in the first week.

5. I draw the line at listening to kiddie music in the car. And because of that my kids have some odd favorite songs! Right now the boys are in to Burlap to Cashmere.

6. I love, love, love, love, love 80's music! It takes me back to my roller rink days. *big sigh* Now I must go off to daydream about my glory days...


I tag:
Julie
Stacy
Kellie
Anna
Amy
Susan

The day has finally come!

THAT WAS THEN...
THIS IS NOW...



Our little girlies are in their own cribs! (We did this a couple of weeks ago, but I am just now getting around to blogging about it.) I wasn't sure how they would handle being seperated, but they did great! Sometimes I still find them trying to reach one another through the slats of the crib...it is so precious! Now that they are in their own cribs, Ella has started moving around wildly in her crib. Lily Kate can be found in the same position that she was put down in. My sweet little girls!

Right of passage for Caleb and his mama!

The day that I had been dreading for 5 years came a month ago. I knew that it would come, but I just kept telling myself that I still had plenty of time and would deal with it when it came. And I have. But not in the way that I thought I would

When Caleb was a baby, I always said that I would never allow my boys to have guns. Real, fake or pretend, I was not interested in my boys having guns. They hurt people, kill and have no place in the Mad house.

And then Caleb turned 18mo. old and was saying, "bang" and shooting me with french fries. I ignored and admonished, but that didn't stop him. By the time he was 2 1/2 he was turning everything into guns...broom handles, wooden horse sticks, green beans... all became weapons. Now he has every pretend gun known to man. Obviously I gave up. But not without rules! Clear rules. There will be no shooting mama, no pointing guns at friends who aren't playing the game or don't want to be shot, and no guns at the dinner table.

Well, now the day has come where joseph asked me if I was okay with him getting Caleb a BB gun. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. pause. silence. Hmmmmmmmmm. pause. silence. (BIG SIGH.) And then I had questions. What does that mean? What kind of BB gun? What would the rules be? How would this work? Do you really think this is a good idea? And he had some really good answers.

Joseph grew up in Alaska. Born and raised. He shot his first rabbit at like 5 or something like that. He was taught gun safety from day one. He grew up understanding the power of guns and proper use of guns. And he wants to teach that to our boys and someday go back home to Alaska and hunt with our boys. And while I don't understand that (afterall I am a city slicker!!) I completely respect it and respect him for wanting to teach our boys.

When Caleb got the news he was THRILLED!!! And that is an understatement. Here are some picture of my handsome boys.

This is what Caleb does even when he doesn't have a gun in his hands.

Daddy teaching Caleb the proper way to hold a gun. He didn't need much teaching.
Joseph made a target for shooting practice.

Of course, now Daddy wants a turn! There are some things that make men digress...playing with guns in one of those things.

Pure joy on my baby boys face!

And the sniper pose...Caleb's favorite!