One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

I'm having a garage sale tomorrow morning and Saturday morning.  There will be lots of junk that I'm sure will just be donated when it's all over, but there is some good stuff I thought I'd let you know about.  I'm cleaning out a lot of remnants of my craft show stuff, and I'm selling it all at cost.

Examples:

• Kalencom diaper bags $25 (was $50)
• Petti skirts $18 (was $40)
• All blank tees & tanks $2 
• Blank knit dresses $10
• White bloomers $3
• Ribbon socks $2 (was $5)

For any of you monogrammers especially, come grab up some of these blanks!

Most of you locals know where I live or can look me up in the church directory.  I don't want to post my address online, but email me if you need directions or something.

Now You See 'Em...Now You Don't

Sis had her tonsils and adenoids taken out on May 12.  

I hope this relieves several symptoms, not the least of which are her bird-like eating habits.  

When picking out her hospital attire, she couldn't choose between popsicle or ice cream socks because she knew she'd be eating a lot of both.

She loved the warm blanket.  Daddy held her all morning until it was time for them to take her back.

Holding your baby while they're coming out from anesthesia is gut-wrenching for a mama, and the first few days were hard.  She hardly spoke for over a week (under normal circumstances I wouldn't complain about this), but thankfully she's doing great now.  She spent a couple weeks at home with mom, but got to go back to finish her last week of pre-K.  

I Believe in Magic

Since I really didn't blog through the whole spring semester, I'll do a little catch up.  We did a cross-country trek over Spring Break.  We stopped in Nashville to visit Ben's sister and her family.  The kids got lots of great cousin time, including celebrating Avery's 2nd birthday.

Cianne was lucky enough to be on top of the dog pile with Uncle Brad.

Cohen slimed Aunt Rachel's shoulder.  She's officially a part of his inner circle now.

I "wore" this guy all over southeast America.  

Then we went here, and let me tell ya there really is something magic in the water at DisneyWorld.  We had so much fun!  I can't wait to go back. 

Then we spent a day at Universal's Islands of Adventure to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  This place would be super cool if it weren't for the 10 million people that Universal wasn't equipped to handle.  It was so crowded and definitely lacking the Disney magic.  But Corben still loved it, which was why we went. 

The kids ended up spending most of their time it the Seuss area.  They still had a great time despite the LONG lines.

Then we went to Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.  I spent most of my time in the shade with this guy.

Ben had a conference at the Sawgrass resort.  My kids can now say they've "golfed" at the Sawgrass.  (This may or may not mean anything to you.  It didn't to me until we went there.)

We checked out bikes at the resort, and Cohen went for his first ride.

 I didn't spend as much time on the beach as I would've liked, but it was a little overwhelming with all three kiddos by myself (...picture sand all over the baby's face while I'm trying to nurse, Corben wandering further into the ocean waters without an adult, and Cianne having an accident all at the same time...not my best motherhood moment).  But I did manage to get this priceless shot.

What I wouldn't give to be there today!

A Much Needed Break

May has been an awesome month...until this week.  Actually, it's still awesome, but my inability to be still is catching up with me after 2.5 weeks of no school or work.  I've tried multiple times to be a good stay-at-home mommy, but I HAVE to have something going...hence, teaching Sonshine School, working as a part-time real estate assistant, an online business, watching kids, leading Bible study, adjuncting at OC, and, last but not least, going to back to grad school.  These are all the "extras" I've resorted to at different times to keep me from going crazy in diapers, boogers, and mac-n-cheese.  All of them were helpful in one way or another at least for a time.  The first two weeks of no "extras" were really wonderful, but I'm starting to get that stir-crazy feeling today.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that two of my three are sick, and I haven't had a continuous block of sleep in a while.

I'm posting these as a reminder to myself that this is worth it.  Classes and teaching and I'm sure some new "extras" that I can't even foresee right now are waiting just around the corner.  I need to find contentment in each day, and these pictures take me beyond contentment to happiness.

My brother can always make me smile.

 I love it that Sister likes bugs & creatures more than her brother or any of the neighbor boys.

He thinks this hat is like Michael Jackson in "Smooth Criminal."

I hung Cohen's baby swing in the backyard this week.  

Baby swing + dopey hat = mommy and baby smiles

 The best big brother and sister showing him how to play with toys

Welcome back (me).

I know you haven't gone anywhere, but I've been out of touch.  So welcome back to me!  My online absence boils down to the fact that any 15 minutes to spare in the last few months has been relegated to power-napping rather than blogging.  I make no apologies for that.

Life with three kiddos is awesome.  My big kids are so wonderfully self-sufficient that the transition really has been great.  The lack of sleep was the hardest thing about adjusting to life with Cohen, but he is sleeping through the night now--hallelujah!  All three kids love each other and are growing so much.  They're certainly not perfect, but wonderfully normal.

There's been exciting developments in my life as well, for those of you who aren't in this area.  I'm now teaching two classes at OC--Parent-Child Relations and General Psychology.  I absolutely LOVE it!  And to hopefully prepare for more teaching in the future, I've started work on my Ph.D. at OSU in Stillwater.  I'm sure it will take a little longer than I would like with all of my "responsibilities" at home, but things are off to a great start.  My first class is in social and emotional development, which is totally relevant to what I do at home all day with young children.  I read for class and then watch it play out in real life right before my eyes.

Here are some pictures of my little darling since it's been a while:

See?  Power-nap.

Birthday Girl

Why bother catching up on the last four weeks?  I can sum it all up in two words--breastfeeding and poop. So there you have it.

As for this weekend, we celebrated Sister's 5th Birthday!  The actual day was on Thursday, and I took cupcakes up to her class at school.  Since it was her birthday, she also got to be the line leader and bring show and tell.  Cohen was her show and tell; it was so cute to see her sitting in the middle of the circle with her baby brother.  And of course, I don't have any pictures of such cuteness.  I took the camera and completely forgot to use it!  But with a four week old, let's be honest--I'm pretty impressed that I had showered, put on clothes AND makeup, made homemade treats, and actually made it up to her class before school let out for the day.  Here she is that morning before school though...

On Friday, her daddy took her out on a birthday date.  This was one of the neatest traditions that my dad started with all of us girls.  He took us out on a date for our birthday each year.  He would use the night to have special one-on-one time with us (a real treat with four kids in the fam), and he taught us about how we should expect to be treated by boys.  He was the perfect gentleman all evening, and I remember him telling me on our very first date when I turned five, "Now if you're ever on a date with a boy and he doesn't get your door for you, you come home and tell your daddy."  We got to order whatever we wanted at the restaurant.  On my first birthday date, I ordered popcorn shrimp and king crab legs at Red Lobster.  As we got older, he used our birthday dates to talk to us about important things.  We all looked forward to it every year, and I'm so glad Ben has chosen to continue the tradition.  

He and Cianne had a really special night.  He brought her roses when he came home from work.

They went to eat at Chelino's in Bricktown, where she loves to eat tortillas and queso.  Then they took a carriage ride around Bricktown.  She loved it!  She got to pet the horse, and she thought it was so cool that they had blankets in the carriage for you.

 Then on Saturday we had a spa party at our house.  Jo, Aunt Jala, and Aunt Addi came over to help paint fingernails.

Aunt Addi's gift was a hit--a real pink guitar!  Uncle Chris tuned it up and gave her a few pointers.

Happy birthday, Sister!

I'm in Love

I know it's been a while, but nesting was cutting into my blog time.  But it's all come to a screeching halt with the arrival of my new love.

Cohen Michael was born Sunday morning at 10:58am.  He weighed 8 pounds and measured 21 1/2 inches long.  I am absolutely smitten with this healthy little bundle, despite the unexpectedly difficult labor and current lack of sleep.