Christmas is here... almost!

I love this time of year! We recently tried to take some pictures with the boys...not the easiest thing to get 2 boys looking and smiling at the camera at the same time! Here are a couple of the ones we took.

I had to edit Kian out because he wanted nothing to do with the camera.

LOVE this picture!

Merry Christmas!!

Salvation

Today (and everyday), I am so thankful for my salvation. I am in awe of the number of times God remains faithful and continues to love me, even though I continually fail Him.

Chad

Today, I am extremely thankful for Chad. 8 and 1/2 years ago we married and I guess I never knew how my life would change. Not only is he a wonderful father, he is the best husband I could ever ask for. Honestly, God has blessed me beyond words for giving me this gift. I love the fact that we have so much in common with each other and actually like doing the same things. It is interesting though how certain likes change based on who you marry. For example, I never watched golf before we got married, now I actually ENJOY watching it (well, I enjoy watching Phil Mickelson). I also now cheer for the Celtics (not as much as the Bulls), Giants (not as much as the Bears), and UNC mens basketball. I am so thankful I have a husband I thoroughly enjoy being with. He is a godly, loyal, trusting man and I love him so much!

Kian

Today I am thankful for Kian. He makes us laugh everyday with his larger than life personality. He is very different than his brother, but I love that about him! He is not intimidated by anyone and isn't afraid to go up to anyone. He is extremely tunnel visioned. He also is our snuggler. Kian often is more content to play by himself than Aiden and loves running around and having fun. He adores his big brother, but at the same time is mischevious and loves to push Aiden's buttons. I love cuddling and singing with this little boy. He loves his family, but is a bit more of a momma's boy than Aiden. Chad and I often laugh at how often he ends up falling on the floor, but he doesn't cry and he picks himself right up. He has a few favorite phrases that he loves to use: 1. "Dat's what I'm talkin' about." (so cute with his little lisp) 2. "Why, mom?" (He's probably said this hundreds if not thousands of times).

A few of his favorite things:
1. His blanket. Not just his blanket, Kian is obsessed with tags, such as the tag on his blanket. He will say, "where's my tag" when going to bed and will hold his blanket by the tag as he falls asleep. He also hold the tags on the inside of his pants and sides of his shirt. I don't know why, that's just Kian.
2. Trains, cars, and trucks...typical boy stuff
3. French fries, however, he doesn't like other potato items.
4. Pasta... I think he's part Italian.
5. Taking showers. I think he would prefer to take a shower with me over taking a bath. He loves to stomp in the water.
6. His family. This was already stated but Kian loves being with his family.
7. Kian asks to go to the mall. I love it! Of course, he really wants the playland which is in the center of the mall, but still, I'll take it!

I am so thankful for this little boy. I love both of my boys to death. Here are a few pictures of Kian since birth.

6 months old.
8 months old

1 year. His personality really started to come out when he turned 1.

18 months or so.

2 years old!

2 and a 1/2

a couple of days ago. Once again, time flies!

Aiden

Everyday this week I want to blog about someone I am thankful for. Today, it's Aiden. It's hard for me to believe that he is almost 5 years old! I am so thankful for this little boy. He has grown so much this year. He is polite, obedient, structured, and active. I could not ask for a better big brother. I'm not nearly as nervous to have another baby because I know he will be such a helper and will love this little girl with all his heart. He is close to reading and enjoys writing letter and numbers. He loves his family and is a bit of a daddy's boy.

A few of his favorite things:
1. He loves doing anything active. He loves punting the soccer ball, tackling with his brother and dad, riding his bike, and running. He actually golfs with Chad now too. Chad takes him to the golf course and he actually has had par putts on par 3's! It's kinda weird to think that my 4 year old is better than me at golf!
2. He loves playing games. His current favorite in Uno and Memory, but we got him the Game of Life for Christmas and I know he will love it. I think he would be obsessed with video games if we had an x-box or anything, so at this time, we don't have any of that.
3.He LOVES pasta. I think he would eat it for every meal if we let him.
4. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Rose and I think would run into the wall if she asked him to.
5. He loves singing.
6. He loves being with people.

He is such a joy to our family! Here are a few photos of him through the last 4 years:

This was a couple of days ago in our backyard.
Aiden was 3 1/2 here. I love his natural smile!

Just turned 3.

I think he is about a year and a half here. I loved those curls! He still has curly hair, but it's so thick now!

7-8 months old.

A week old

Time flies!

sickness

When any of you were pregnant did you struggle with being sick? It seems as though I catch everything right now! I was not like that when I was pregnant with the boys. I have had a lingering cough for 5 weeks now! That has been a source of frustration as of late. Other than that, the pregnancy has been pretty typical to my other ones. She doesn't seem to move around near as much as her brothers did. I had an ultrasound about a week and a half ago and she is already 1 1/2 pounds! I have been asked already if it's about time for me to deliver. Not so much fun when I am only starting my 25th week! YIKES! I am trying not to worry about that. I get pretty big with my babies. Most people just think that if there's a pregnany lady around, they can say whatever they want and it won't affect me. I do think I've heard it all. I'm just trying to focus on the fact that Lord willing, there will be a healthy baby girl at the end to make it all worth it! We are trying to think of names for the baby. Right now our frontrunner is Eden and we'd probably call her Edie (or Edy). The only issue is it sounds a lot like Aiden. With Chad being a teacher he has some sort of association with lots of names. I may like a name, but if he has a bad student with that name, it's out.
Basketball has starting and Chad is enjoying coaching again. He looks to have a pretty skilled team this year and is very excited about the season. Aiden and Kian are doing great. Last week was quite rough in terms of behavior. We are really trying to crack down on discipline and be super consistent. As my mom says, "Deal with it now, before they become teenagers." When one child is struggling, it's one thing. When both are consistently struggling, it's a whole different thing! I was praying for a lot of patience last week! I can't wait to see how a little girl will change the dynamics of our family. Aiden especially is sooooo excited for this baby to come! He will be a great big brother. Kian is warming up to the idea too. He kisses my belly to kiss the baby, but still seems pretty clueless as to what's going on. I'm super excited needless to say!

chicago trip

Once a year, my sister is able to come to Indiana for a few days (thanks Russ!). We try to go to Chicago for the weekend just the 3 of us. We had a great time! It's been forever it seems since we have gotten together and we generally laugh quite a bit when we are around each other. The picture above is Shannon and my mom (and I) in Panera right before going to Nordstrom's Rack. We spent Saturday going to the Schaumburg mall, Ikea, eating at Cheesecake factory, and watching a movie back in our hotel room. Sunday was spent in downtown, walking from store to store. I am so thankful for the time we were able to spend together and I am thankful for our husbands for allowing it to happen!

trick or treat!

What a great night trick or treating was for our family! In Auburn, all of the stores in the downtown open up an hour or so earlier than trick or treating hours and the kids go from store to store getting candy. It was PACKED! Chad's mom had the opportunity to be with us. It was great weather and boys boys were stoked to get candy! Aiden was a Star Wars character and Kian was Captain Hook. Kian most of the night kept all of us laughing by the looks and one liners to said. He is hysterical. Aiden never stopped going. We probably walked over 4 miles and Aiden was ahead of us most of the time. He loved going up to houses and saying "trick or treat". Aiden also loved looking and commenting on everyone else's costumes. Kian ran up to each house too, but in the meantime, was in the stroller or on dad's shoulder. It was such a fun night!

One of Kian's looks. He LOVED the mini sword we got him and he tried to stab everything with it.
One of the boys favorite things to do: sword fighting. I'm still waiting for that trip to the ER.

Aiden's outfit. Such a good boy!

Our little Captain Hook. His costume was a hit with many of our neighbors.

This is what we had to stop Kian from doing most of the night. Stabbing cars, hitting houses, etc.

Aiden getting candy from one of the stores in town.

So funny.

About 2 weeks before Halloween, we decided to try our hand at carving pumpkins with the kids. Chad had actually never carved a pumpkin before. It was a messy, but fun process! The boys enjoyed pulling out the nasty inside of the pumpkin. Kian enjoyed it I think a little more than Aiden (Aid generally doesn't like to get all dirty). I guess I never realized that carving a pumpkin is hard work!! I also didn't realize that the pumpkins wouldn't last more than a week. By the next week our beautiful pumpkins were rotten and moldy! Oh well, it was a learning experience.

The end result! Happy trick or treating! (our other pumpkin was a cat, but I forgot to take a picture of that one!)

tender hearted

Like I've written before, Aiden just loves school. Normally when I pick him up, he runs to me with a big smile on his face and gives me a hug. Today I knew something was wrong when he walked quietly with his head down. I talked to him asking him what was wrong. His teacher, Mrs Rose, saw us and motioned for us to come over. During school, one of Aiden's classmates celebrated her birthday by bringing in M&M's for the class. Mrs Rose told everyone to not open their packet until they were out in the playground. Well, Aiden didn't obey and opened it early. Mrs. Rose talked to him and his response was " I just really like candy." He felt bad and said he was sorry, but then was sad the rest of class. Mrs Rose told me that Aiden has such a tender heart that it was hard for him to get past it. Aiden and I then talked about it at the car and he just BURST into tears. I held him for a little while and as he sobbed he told me he felt so bad for disobeying Mrs Rose. His brokeness almost had me close to tears. I told him that he did make a bad decision and he shouldn't have disobeyed, but that it did not change the love that daddy and I have for him, or the love that Mrs Rose has for him. I asked him if he thought that God would forgive him for it. Aiden said yes. The next hardest thing he had to do though was tell his daddy what he did. Once again, he sobbed as he told Chad he disobeyed.
As much as I hate it when Aiden sins, I love that God has given this little boy such a tender heart. He is such a delight to Chad and I. Kian was next to Aiden in the car as he was crying. Kian asked Aiden what was wrong and then said he wanted to give Aiden a hug. Once again, I about cried as I watched my oldest crying in the arms of his 2 year old little brother. It was a sweet, sweet picture. Man do I love these 2 boys!
On a different note, Kian has been so funny recently with some of the comments he has said. A couple of days ago, as I was putting on my makeup, Kian wanted to know what I was doing, I told him. His reply was, "that's what I'm talkin' bout mommy." I started laughing. Later that day, Aiden was in a bad mood in the car and Kian looked at him and said, "what's wrong Aiden? Aiden, what's wrong? Talk to me Aiden! Talk to me! What wrong?" It was so precious!
Last night was our first sectional game for volleyball. We won in 5 games against Bethany. We play tomorrow Blackhawk and then ECA for the championship. Little nervous!
I have been pretty sick this week. I went to OB this morning and he gave me an antibiotic for my cough. The baby's heartbeat is great and I scheduled my ultrasound for 2 weeks from today! Please pray that I could sleep these next couple of days, I have hardly slept the last 4 nights due to the cold (and probably sectionals).

update

Not a whole lot to say right now! Our volleyball season is about over. We start sectionals next week. We drew Bethany for our first round of sectionals. If we win that game, we will play Blackhawk and if we win that one, we will most likely face Elkhart for the sectional championship. We definitely have to play the 3 hardest teams in order to win, but to be perfectly honest, I love our draw! I want to beat the best to show we are the best. We have already played all three of these teams in the regular season and won, but as we know, sectional play is totally different! Elkhart has won the last 3 years, and anyone beating them would be an upset. I am excited for this next week! Our team has done a great job this year. We currently 25-3, which is the best record the school has ever had for volleyball. Tomorrow night is senior night. Our sectional game is next Thursday at 6 at Canterbury in Fort Wayne. Anyone is welcome to come!

Baby girl seems to be doing well! I am feeling decently well and go to the doctor in another week. Then I will schedule my official ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing well etc. I am looking forward to having a little more time to exercise. I basically haven't in weeks with volleyball etc.

The boys are doing pretty well. Both have colds, but are functioning fine with them. Kian for the last couple weeks has not been sleeping well and has been getting up several times a night. We have been having the boys share a room for the past week and now I am questioning that decision. Although, I put Kian in his own room for a couple of nights and he still slept poorly. He is going to bed fine, but is waking up wide awake in the middle of the night and not wanting to go back to sleep. That in return effects the way he behaves during the day. I am praying that maybe he is just going through a growth spurt or something. Aiden is writing his name and numbers and is loving school still. He is starting to really enjoy us reading to him as well and he pays attention too. I had the boys pictures taken at picture people. A couple turned out really well, as it's difficult to get them to smile at the same time!

Chad is busy as usual and is looking forward to the start of basketball. He has been getting up at 5:30 3 days a week for the last couple of months to help the basketball boys lift weights and shoot. I am so thankful for a hard working husband! He is such a huge help and blessing!

ultrasound

October 2nd, we were unexpectedly able to get an ultrasound. With both Aiden and Kian, we were surprised by their gender. This time we decided to find out. I was a little nervous as the tech started the ultrasound. I was shocked to hear her say, "you are having a little girl!". I started to cry, not because I was I didn't want a boy. I was just so excited to be having a little girl! We feel so blessed that God is entrusting another little life to us and we can't wait to meet her! On the way home, Chad asked me if I wanted her to have red, curly hair. I told him that I really don't care. That's true, but I sorta would like the baby to have curly hair. :) As I walked through the baby girl section in babier r us, I felt like I was in a dream, but it was fun none the less! Chad and I have a few names that we are throwing back and forth, but feel free to leave your imput!

jogathon

This past Friday, Aiden participated in his very first jogathon for Lakewood. All of the students try to raise money for the school and jog 20-30 min. There are lots of fun incentives for the kids to raise money and Aiden had a BLAST! The pre-k class ran 20 minutes. Aiden almost ran the entire time. I was SHOCKED. I could not believe how well he did. He ran 17 laps which was the equivilent to a little over 2 miles. Chad ran with him the entire time as well and we were just so proud of him! He was so excited. I was actually asking him to walk because I thought he was overdoing it, but he thought the whole purpose was to run, so well...he ran! After the running, the kids ate lunch with all parents and then there was a carnival in the gym. Aiden and Kian played lots of games, jumped in inflatables, and got their face painted. Aiden when we were on the way home, asked me how many days until the next jogathon, I told him, "um, 365". It was a great day.

Aiden's class ready to run!
Aiden and Chad running

Aiden running!

Right after the race, Aiden was so proud of himself! His face was so red and also very sweaty!

Aiden after gettin his face painted. Aiden chose to get a basketball. Kian on the otherhand wanted a green heart. I don't know why, he just did.

Kian sat there so well as she painted his face. By the way, his favorite color is green, but as for the heart... that's another story. He is so independent! It looked cute though!

the final product!

Update

Another busy week down! My volleyball team has been having a great season so far. We are 15-1. We had a tournament this past Saturday and we won for the first time in school history. This is the third tournament that we have won this year! It's been an interesting season too. As you can imagine, having 18 very different teenage girls on the team bring lots of personality for sure! God is definitely teaching me alot through coaching them! We lost our first game this last Thursday to Bellmont High School. They are a 3A school that won the state championship 2 years ago. They were one of the best high school teams I have ever seen.
I am over 15 weeks pregnant now too! I was hoping to be over my nausea by this point, but apparently this baby had other thoughts. It hasn't been all day however, which helps. I am definitely showing already. Yikes! I guess that's normal, especially with baby #3. Aiden said at dinner yesterday, "Maybe the next baby...". Woah! I had to stop him right there. I told him that this will be the last baby for mommy and daddy unless God intervenes. He would love 5 more siblings if it were up to him! He and Kian are starting to argue more. It is over such stupid stuff too...like they were arguing in the car this morning over who saw the tractor in the field first. Really? I suppose I did that too when I was that age. Aiden is LOVING school. He is starting to write his numbers and some letters. He is really enjoying it all. Kian is...well, Kian! We laugh at his mischevious and adventurous spirit. Yesterday he tried to take one of Aiden's toys and it didn't work. I watched as he looked at one of his shoes on the floor, then looked at Aiden's head. I could see the wheels in his little brain turning. Kian picked up his shoe and threw it at Aiden, hitting him in the head, all the while with a smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile a little bit (Aiden was fine by the way). That's just Kian. He needs very consistent discipline, but he is such a fun kid! Here are a couple of recent pics.


Chad took this one yesterday. Not the greatest of me, but I love snuggling with my boys!

Yesterday for some reason, I felt like dressing the boys the same for church. They looked so cute I had to take a couple pictures.

Weird to think this is how old Aiden was when Kian was born!

Such a good boy! He told me this morning that he was not going to be mean to Kian again...that lasted about 15 min, but he generally is so kind hearted! When he woke up this morning, he told me, "mom, you're the best. God, You're the best. And daddy, he's the best and Kian's the best too." Thinking a little more, he said, "I'm also the best." So cute.

Well, we tried to get a good picture!

Kian was watching "Little Einsteins" on the computer. He was just sitting contently with his hands folded. I'm pretty sure he has my legs too. Look at those calves! :)

Mark Schultz

There are a couple of Christian artists that I really enjoy. Not necessarily, their voices, but the words of the songs they sing and write are so rich with wisdom and truth. One of those artists for me is Mark Schultz. To me, he doesn't have the greatest voice, but his songs are so meaningful. Last night Chad and I looked up several of his songs on youtube and I literally balled through a few of them. Funny thing was I told Chad that I just needed a good cry a couple of weeks earlier. One of the songs was "He was walking her home". It is a great song about marriage and commitment. Another one was "I am". He writes such diverse lyrics, such as he writes a song in tribute to soldiers called "Letters from war" and one to her biological mother called "everything to me". If you have a chance to listen to them, I highly recommend them. I have been struggling with a situation and need much wisdom in how I effectively deal with it. I feel confused with the best course of action and am not sure what to do. Anyway, last night I really wanted to hear Mark's song, "He will carry me" and I couldn't find the one I was looking for. Today as I was driving the boys home, it played on the radio. I haven't heard this song on the radio for months. I thought it was so neat that God would allow it to be played at the exact time I needed it. It was such a reminder that God hasn't forgotten me and is there to "carry me". What a GREAT God we serve.

flowers

This has been the first year that I have ever attempted gardening. I'm not very good at it yet, but some of the flowers have just done beautifully. My mom and I at the end of spring/ beginning of summer visited an amish farm and bought several geraniums for the house. They are beautiful. Shockingly, they survived us being gone for 5 weeks (some high school boys watered them when we were away). Anyway, I have actually enjoyed keeping the house pretty with flowers and plants and love that I can pick some of the roses for bouquets for the dining room table! The next thing that Chad and I desperately need to done is line the landscaping to keep out the weeds. Our weeds are terrible!! Hopefully by next summer, we can have this done. Here are some of the flowers from outside our house (taken this afternoon). One of the pots of geraniums.
One of the rose bushes in the front of our house.

Another pot of geraniums. These are worth the investment. Even though I have to buy them every year...it's well worth it for the beauty they bring!

I actually don't know what these are, but they are behind our house

Another rose bush on the side of our house.