It all started...

The week after we found Jameson was a boy, James left for 2 weeks to Africa and Natalie and I laid in bed for nearly two weeks very sick with strep, and bronchitis. When we were finally better and James got home, I got a surge of energy and creativity. I stopped into the fabric store to find all the winter upholstery fabric on sale. I snagged several pieces I really liked in hopes of creating bedding for Jameson's baby room. That day I got some beautiful Sherpa fleece, in a brown tone that I just ADORED!

I used that color to paint two walls of his room in our old house, and then loved it so much that when I needed a color in my kitchen before it went on the market, I got the same color mixed at half the amount, to make it a little lighter. Oh and that kitchen project was a remodel job that I took on while James was out of town, he came home with all new kitchen walls (stripped wall paper, retextured entire kitchen, and painted)

Well, this past week James went to Washington DC and I went on a painting mission. We have a large dining area, and living room that are pretty connected... so I painted all of that area, what color, the same as that Sherpa fleece fabric in Jameson's baby bedding!

I had never really painted and did not know "how" until Jameson's room got painted. My dear friend came and did most of the painting while I sat and watched and while our children played...she taught me several tricks and so now I can paint a room, fairly well! I love being able to add color (the previous color was stark white, we have mostly white tile with brown grout, so it was very very stark in our house... it's so warm and cozy now!

Also while James was away our neighbor trimmed our palm tree for us...we've never had a palm tree in our yard and had no idea how to go about keeping it looking nice... so he did it for us... I made him some chocolate chip cookies tonight...the same friend that taught me to paint, gave me the best instructions on making cookies! they are truely yummy!

Natalie...

I'm pretty sure I could devote an entire novel to the conversations I've been having with my daughter lately... her imagination is blooming... She is a little shy about it, but still it's coming along. I don't feel I have much of one, so I try to encourage her small one as much as possible.

Lately she's been talking about her sister, "Abbasheper" (pronouced Abba shep er). She is typically doing whatever Natalie is doing at the moment and if we go out, she stays home with Nana.

The other day she started talking about working... she said she was going to work and I would take care of her babies and that if I wanted to work Nana could stay with her.

Not only work talk but death. She asks me if things can die...like her dolls, her books, the dog, the trees...she is not at all sad when talking about these things, it sort of throws me off..I'm not really certian where it has come from or why. I try to answer as matter of factly and briefly as possible, then attempt to change the conversation, thankfully three year olds are easily side tracked, I just ask her about her sister!

James has been gone this week, so I took the kids to Rubios for dinner... Oh their tropical wrap salad is amazing...mango, cranberries, grilled chicken, cabbage, almonds, mexican spices... all wrapped up in a green tortilla! And the kids quesadilla, is really great too...shhhh the kids don't know it comes with a Churro...James and I take turns distracting the kids while we split it!! they are none the wiser! Okay so we just sat down to eat, and took a few bites when Natalie excitedly said "oh no, we forgot to pray mommy" then proceeded to bring her mommy to tears with her prayer!!

"dear jesus, thank you for this food, my sweet mommy, and my brother, help daddy get to the hotel, and bring him home safely too us, in jesus name, amen" You see James had not been gone a full day yet, I had not prayed with her, or prompted any of this! She choose those words all on her own..

She is also a bit silly...she has been finishing sentences of mine with the phrase "in Jesus name Amen" totally at random... Me: Natalie buckle your straps (on your carseat) Nat: "In Jesus name amen" it's pretty funny to hear!

I don't typically give my children much juice at all. They are big water drinkers, and fruit eaters, so that equals lots of juice in my mind! So really it's a special treat... well, Natalie spotted some in the fridge and said "mommy can we have a party?" And party we did... Natalie, Jameson, and I...right away on the patio... we celebrated a beautiful day, even put tiny straws in our cups to sip with!

I'm sure this is typical with most all 3 year olds, but we have the exact same conversations every day... "mommy, is that a school or a park?"
"it's a school"
"why is it not a park?"
"because, it's a school"
"is it open"
"yes it looks to be open"
or
(a target near us got torn down and is being rebuilt...it's only like 3 blocks from our house, so this conversation we have almost every time we leave the house)
"is that the new Target or the old Target?"
"that's the new Target, baby"
"is it open"
"not yet"
"why not"
"because they are not ready for us to shop yet"
"why"
"they have to get it all ready on the inside for us"
"but there are cars there"
"yes they are working on it for us"
"did we shop at that target?"
"no baby, we have not been to that Target"

(typically by this time we are out of sight of the target, thankfully)
sometimes I mix it up, give her wrong answers, she corrects me, and then asks me why I said the wrong thing!

Lastly, today we went to the Wild Animal Park... they had a cute little show on Africa... they had a man dressed as a very very large Gorilla... it made Jameson cry at first, then as the show ended Natalie was down shaking a rainmaker wtih the other kids and the Gorilla came back out...she ran away screaming for me...she was fine, but it really upset her... so tonight our conversation went like this as I put her to bed.
"mommy, I don't want that drilla to come here"
"no baby, it won't come here"
"oh, cuz it don't have a car"

Ring Sling, Baby Wearing, and working from home!

Just wanted to give a little plug for my very dear friend... She is a stay home mom of 3 small boys. Her oldest was not even 3 when number 3 came along! Yeah she is a very busy woman! She has some great sewing skills and is putting them to work to help her family. She makes really beautiful ring slings and some really practical ones too!

As a gift to me she made me this beautiful silk sling. Silk slings are not cheap, as silk is NOT cheap! But when comparing prices her prices are by far more affordable than the others on the internet. Here is a picture of Jameson in my sling featuring the "hip carry" position.

She also has water friendly slings. So you can carry your baby on you while you go into the pool. As a mom of 3 small boys she is able to have two hands free while still tending to the littlest one! She makes the in two different materials. One is a mesh, sports like material. I have this one...it is a great sturdy fabric that does not hold water so by the time we are all dried off ready to go from a day at the beach, the sling is too! She also has a new water sling material... it's made of solarweave, that has a UV rating so your small baby won't get burned while they are still too small to use sun screen on! BRILLIANT!

When my silk sling arrived in the mail, Natalie was so intrigued by it, she absolutely loved it, I even got her to get in it (it holds up to 40lbs) obviously most people won't be carrying around a 3 year old that much, they get heavy quickly and can walk! But we played with her in it for a while...of course she loved it. Natalie said "mommy maybe Miss Nikki can make one for my babies" So what did miss Nikki do...she made one for Natalie's babies! (she spoils us!) So she now makes "doll slings" so your little one can wear their babies too! And Natalie does too! We went to the wild animal park a few weeks back and Natalie had her baby in the sling, and was bouncing and shushing it! Here is a picture of the day we got Natalie's sling!

When we go to the zoo, I take the stroller, but also throw in the sling... Jameson grows weary of riding in the stroller and I would quickly tire of carrying him or letting him walk... so I pull out the sling and pop him in it... he really loves being close!

So if you are interested in slings check out Wrapped in Love and see some of Nikki's awesome slings.

We are not islands in this family!!!

This morning Natalie very graciously and sweetly declined the eggs I made for breakfast. She said she'd like to have them "later" I informed her that she is to eat when it is time and the rest of the family is eating and that "later" would be at lunch time, no snacks, no food and nothing until it was time for lunch. She again, graciously said "no thank you" to the eggs, even asked if she could get a baggy to put them in. One last time I offered her the eggs, telling her she would be hungry, and once again, she very sweetly declined my plea to get her to eat.

Well, we were in the grocery store at 930am and she was melting down for lack of food. (she did have a small glass of Kefir--her "coffee" she drinks every AM when she wakes up), We made it home and by this time she was really very hungry and begging to eat. I have to be a mommy of my word and she has to learn this life lesson the hard way...when it's time to eat, it's time to eat. I cannot and do not run an all day buffet.

So to my point... Jameson and I are enduring her horrible behavior, tantrums and general bad mood because she refused her breakfast. Thankfully, she has pulled herself together, I set a timer for lunch and we are waiting for it to go off, she has distracted herself with playing dress up.

It's amazing how God has woven us together as a "family unit" our decisions, good or bad have an effect on everyone else....it's so true and this little life lesson that Natalie is learning today is hard on all of us, but one she must learn. Too bad Jameson is still small and probably has no clue what is really going on to learn by watching his sister, that would be nice....but alas I'm sure we'll travel this same road with him soon enough!

Well, the timer is about to go off... I'm gonna make lunch and then make some chocolate chip cookies, we have dinner with friends planned for tonight, I've been looking for an excuse to make some!

Twitter...

If you look right you will see my "Twitter"... yeah, I know most of the readers of my blog might not know what it is... it's a way to send quick short messages that broadcast to anyone that really cares to follow you and what you might say randomly throughout the day... I started it sometime back, mostly because my husband does this and thought I would too... I got a new phone that makes it much easier to do from the phone so I linked mine up to this blog... so you don't have to sign up for a twitter account...

if you copy and paste the posts that have a web address that look like this one http://twitpic.com/bp9v into a browser then you will see a picture that I took of the kids and wanted to share immediately... usually of what we happen to be doing at the moment... If you sign up for a twitter account, you can follow me too...it's more like "watch me" or have a peak on my day...rather than follow me...cuz if you really were to follow me, you'd better watch out...I'm pretty sure you will get something icky on your shoe!

This is my effort to stay connected and share pictures more readily with everyone that wants to see them!

Several things...

Let's see...
Natalie has not ever been very creative when it comes to naming her babies... at first it was just "baby" then when we named Jameson, all of Natalie's babies became "Jameson" (even though they were all "girls")

So when we came back from Texas all of them were still Jameson accept one was now Ellie, the same name as her friends baby...

Well, the other day she was bringing some babies to us, and she said "that's Ellie's sister" James said "oh what is her name?" to which Natalie replied
"Futon Girl"

This is Futon and her mommy!

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Jameson has had a cold, and is getting 2 more teeth...this boy is really pushing to get all of his teeth in before 18 months! He is currently working on his "eye" teeth, which I think are contributing to his runny nose! Today he was saying "mommy said no no" he's been talking up a storm saying lots of new words every day, and repeating almost everything he hears...

He's being selfish with the kisses...if you ask for one, he will say "NO" and shake his head while walking the other way... but today he started this frankenstein like walk with his arms out, shoulders shrugged coming at ya, wanting a hug... of course we ALWAYS oblige, and snag a kiss while were at it!

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We have been exploring San Diego, yesterday James found out there is a "Scenic Route" here that is 59 miles long... we drove a section of it, and landed on the most Southwestern Point of the US... it's on Point Loma, which is an area of San Diego... A beautiful cliffside view of both the Pacific Ocean as well as the San Diego Bay, and Coronado Island... They say in the winter you can see whales migrating through the pacific waters from up there....we'll be headed back for some whale watching this winter!

here's some pics we snapped while up there!

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I finished my book "Feminine Appeal" this is literally the first book I've read cover to cover in a very long time... I'm hoping to get more reading in...but we'll see!
Speaking of... I've been pondering quit a few things lately...really thinking about how quickly my small children have already grown... it often takes my breath away...

I got out for a little while today with out kids...so I listened to the radio really loud...and of course it was some Country Music... I landed on the song "Sud in the Bucket" by Sara Evans. While I really hope my daughter does not "up and run away" at 18 with some guy, leaving me wtih a note...some of the lines of the song really hammered home to me how quickly it will be and my girl will grown..

I am always looking to get past phases, stages... I really don't stop to listen and enjoy my kids near often enough... take time to just have some simple fun...nothing elaborate or exciting and most of all, putting aside all the "to do's" you know the things that occupy the mothers mind, dishes, dinner, lunch, laundry, diapers, baths...seems my brain is always occupied with something that needs to be done... not that I'm really all that on top of all of this, it's just cluttering up my brain interfering with me enjoying and treasuring these moments... I won't ever get them back... in a little while Natalie won't dance through the grocery store singing silly songs, Jameson won't always adore peek-a-boo with his mommy. My attitude and cheerfulness drive so much of our home... I really pray that my 'tude' is one of joy and excitement about the life God has blessed us with. I pray that we are able to make fun memories of simple every day life and that I can be in the moment fully with a cheeful heart and a mind that is present to enjoy the fun, not dazed with a list of to do's cuz you "CAN'T FENCE TIME" (words to the song "sud in the bucket" if you did not know)

"The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song. " Psalm 28:7

Girl Talk and my new Manual!

I have always longed for mentors in my life... Godly women that have traveled this road before me. Women to look to for wisdom, straight talk, counsel and encouragement in being a Godly wife and mother.... I know most other Christian women seek the exact same thing. Many of us feel ill equipped and realize quickly after getting married and particularly after having children just how much we don't know.

Well, a friend of mine posted a blog reference to Girl Talk. It's a blog written by Carolyn Mahaney and her three Adult, Married Daughters. While browsing this amazing information I stumbled up on the book Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney and immediately ordered it. The first few days I read over half of it... now I really don't like to read books and quite honestly I am very slow at it as well...

I have since deemed this book, my Christian wife/mother's handbook... Carolyn outlines Titus 2:3-5, Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

She unpacks all that is in this, says it straight and even clarifies the kind of "love" this passage refers to.

So if you are like me, longing to have that female Godly counsel, get this book, read it...I guaranty you will be challanged, in need of serious repentance, instructed and encouraged!

This is not photo shopped!

Well, James got me a cool bike for my birthday...but having a bike for just me would be, well...not very fun if I had to bike all by myself all the time...

Some friends loaned us their "chariot" to tote the kids around in behind my bike and James got a cool bike too...

Last Saturday AM we loaded up the bikes, kids, snacks, blankets and went to Balboa Park (a really groovy place here that has a boat load of museums and neat buildings, huge park, much to Natalie's dismay did not have readily available slides/swings, the trappings of a normal kid park)...

We had so much fun that morning, we headed home for naps and my hair cut appointment, then after much needed rest and a hair cut for me we picked up some burritos and quesadillas and trecked back to Balboa for an afternoon of more biking fun.

We stumbled upon a great little grassy area...it was tucked behind one of the furthest buildings in the park. It overlooked downtown SD and all of the planes headed for a landing at San Diego airport flew right over our heads! We laid on the blanket and looked up at every airplane that went by as Jameson stood and pointed at...he was filled with glee as if each "eh-pee" came by for his personal enjoyment!