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.

doctor's appt

Today Kian and I went to my dr's appt. I was a little nervous: 1. Kian was coming with me and I didn't know how he'd do sitting quietly in the chair. 2. For some reason, I was nervous something was wrong with the baby. Well, thankfully everything went great. The baby's heartrate is fast and consistent and Kian did great! I talked to the doctor about a few concerns (all of which are normal) and I'm excited that I'm almost done with the first trimester!
Aiden is still enjoying school. I talked to his teacher, Mrs. Rose, after school a couple of days ago. She gave me a great report. The biggest compliment she gave was that Aiden has such a heart for doing what's right. My heart swelled with pride. She told me she just loves him. She also said he is quite shy still. I didn't think he would be as shy as he is turning out to be. We are really trying to work with him on his people skills, trying to get him to ask people questions, talk when people talk to him, tell people hi, etc. I don't think enough people know how to talk and converse with people. People don't know how to ask other people questions anymore! Everything revolves around texting and e-mail. Not that I am saying those things are wrong, but I think people skills are highly important. The other thing his teacher said that we need to work on him with was how to hold his pencil. It's so weird when I think about him writing. It just seems so far away but he is already starting to write in preschool (at least trace). He learns a Bible verse every week. This weeks was Gen 1:1. He knows it pretty well.
The whole school is participating in a jogathon to raise money for the school. Aiden is supposed to try and raise as much as he can and jog laps. The rest of the day is a carnival. The more money he raises, the more free tickets he gets for the carnival.
Kian and I have had a great time together while Aiden's been at school. These next 6 months will be the last times for just him and I and I want to make sure I make the most out of it! He is such a joy. He loves to cuddle and look at I Spy books with me.
My volleyball team is off to a great start. We are 6-0 and have another tournament tomorrow.
Chad is doing well. He and I haven't had much time for the two of us recently and I am hoping we can get a date in soon!

Weekly events

Why is it that my least favorite part of blogging is coming up with a title for the blog? I'm not at all creative! Anyways, Aiden is LOVING preschool. He today had a ladybug picnic with his class where he at a ladybug cookie and then watched a movie on bugs. He had a great time. We are trying to encourage him to learn his classmates' names. He has a great memory with everything else, but names he struggles with. His class had show and tell and Aiden brought in his Batman to show the class. I've realized that my time with Aiden has to be more purposeful. I don't have all day with him anymore. After preschool he takes a nap and then about an hour later, I have volleyball. It makes me cherish the time I have with him that much more.
Kian is currently sick. Last night we were in the car and Kian cried the whole ride home saying his mouth hurt. When we arrived home, I held him for a while in the kitchen and realized that "his mouth" was his stomach. I told Chad that I thought he might vomit and sure enough not 1 minute later, it was all over me and the kitchen floor. Of course this was about an hour after Kian had a bath too, so he and I went back in the bath. Kian fell asleep on me in the bath about 5 min later. Today he has a fever and isn't eating much. Hopefully it's just a bug. It was my first time though having a sick child and having to take another one to school.
Chad's first week has gone well so far. He is pretty busy this year as he is also teaching middle school PE. Friday's are a bit of a killer for him. The only break he gets is for lunch.
Volleyball is in full swing. We won our first match against a team we had never beaten, so that was exciting. Tomorrow is our first tournament. I'm enjoying the girls very much and having a great time with them. They truly are a great group of girls.
Tomorrow I start my 13th week of pregnancy (which mean I will be 12 weeks and 1 day along). I just want the first trimester over! I am looking forward to feeling better and having more energy.
Chad and I are starting to keep our eyes open for a minivan. We are hoping and praying that by the time this baby comes, we will be able to save up enough to get one. It will be a lot easier travelling in a minivan than our chevy malibu with 2 car seats and 1 booster seat. If you come by any great deals, please let us know!

first day of school

Aiden had his first day of school today! He has been SO excited to go to school. This morning I had to wake him up because we got home so late from my volleyball game last night. Aiden's first comment to me this morning was, "I'd really like to sleep for a little bit longer." I thought, "and it begins. Waking up a child who doesn't want to get up." He confidently walked into his classroom, waved goodbye and that was it. Kian asked me on the way out, "Why does Aiden have to go to school?" I hugged him and told him that Aiden was old enough to go to school now. I went grocery shopping with just Kian and it was so quiet! I'm sure I will get used to not having him here, but I sorta miss him! I told him to try and remember everything he learned because I want to know everything. Here are a couple of pictures of this morning:Aiden loves his packpack.

Here he's waving goodbye to me. (sniff, sniff) I did get teary when I left. It's a little bittersweet.
His snack for the morning.

grad school update

Thanks so much for those of you who are praying for Chad as he's trying to finish his grad school work. I know I haven't updated much, because not a whole lot has changed from the last post. Chad is almost finished though! He has one final project he is trying to get done. The deadline is Sunday. So if you could continue to pray until Sunday, we would really appreciate it!
The pregnancy is going as expected I guess. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but I just keep thinking...about 2 more weeks and I should start feeling better! I think I can, I think I can... The perk of being in my first trimester is that I've lost 4 pounds this past 2 weeks! Apparently I need to write a book called "The Pregnancy Diet". :) I have several friends who are pregnant that have it much worse the first trimester, so I am thankful for only having bad nausea.
One HUGE answer to prayer... Kian developed molluscum about a year and a half ago. It looks like warts all over his body. Aiden had it, but Kian's is MUCH worse. Aid was treated by a dermatologist and had them removed. Over summer, Kian's starting getting infected. I mean BAD. I went to another pediatrician in Rochester and she told me that we needed to go to Riley's Children Hospital to get them treated. By the way, if you know Kian, you know he HATES doctors. Literally, he screams almost the entire time for a routine visit. Going to a specialist who wanted to touch his "ouchies" (he had over 50), would be just horrible for him. We also were having lots of issues with the boys' insurance at the time and couldn't get him in to the dermatologist. Anyways, someone asked me if I was praying for Kian's molluscum. I started praying for its healing. Within 2 weeks, ALL of his spots are GONE! Praise God! He still has scars from all of them, which I think will eventually go away with time. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for this! God is SO GOOD! Regardless if He healed Kian, He would still be so good, but I am so thankful He chose to heal him!

craziness!

What a crazy week! Volleyball started for me this week. Practice were from 8-12 everyday, which meant it was actually 7:30-12:30 for me. Practice went really well, however, it was a hard week for me. I really struggled sleeping this week. I think my mind was on volleyball a lot and how to best schedule practice, who to have on varsity etc. Being pregnant and coaching volleyball is definitely difficult too. My allergies have been bad and I've tried to not take much, I've also been pretty nauseous this week too. The hardest thing though is being very tired. I get home and all I want to do is sleep. Only problem is, that's when my job actually starts! I am finding it difficult to get housework, laundry, etc done. Chad also is extremely tired with trying to finish grad school assignments. He has had multiple 2am nights and can't really sleep in because he has to watch the boys. His deadlines are in 9 days, so pray for us these next 9 days! He is working so hard! I am not in anyway trying to complain, that is just our life right now. God is giving us what we need and we realize we just need to get through the next 2 weeks.
Kian yesterday gave himself a nice black eye from falling off the couch and hitting our floor lamp. Oh, did I mention that I was sitting next to him, was letting him sit on the arm of the couch and then wasn't fast enought to catch him? I didn't feel like a great mom after that one! Aiden is basically counting down the days until school starts. I asked him what he was looking forward to the most and his reply was, "writing my own name" and "playing on the playground". We went back to school shopping for the first time (I sorta have a lump in my throat writing that). He was most excited to buy his very own pair of scissors. He is such a boy! It's hard to believe that he is starting this journey and will be on it for about 17 years (if he continues with college). All moms tell me how quickly it goes and that is SO TRUE! Pretty soon he will be reading and playing sports (if he wants). I am so thankful for my little man and am excited to what this next chapter holds for him.