Somewhere Over the Rainbow

The version of this song is great! I love it! I wanted to share it because whenever I tell people about it, I get a goofy look from them. Someday, I'm going to make a slide show of my family from this song. It's a beautiful song! =)

Hockey Girl

For those of you who know my husband, he's a total Hockey fan.. Red Wings (get it right Andrea) fan. . Freak I say! Haha.. love ya honey! Pre-Season hockey already started. . . we haven't had to watch any games yet. Not sure if we just don't get them right now or if Kurt is just being nice. Plus the Cubs are on and we have to watch them... please, please make it to the playoffs so I still have October to hold on too. So anyway, hockey is like my death sentence. . Kurt says "Hockey is soon to start" Andrea says "please shoot me now". Haha! More on that stuff when it happens.. oh and believe me there will be stuff to say about it. The reason I share this little blurb is because I have a feeling Amelia is becoming a hockey fan, and she's what. . a little over two months old. We have these hockey figurines, Gretzky men, Starting Line Ups, whatever they're called =) in the computer room. Here I am on the computer, Amelia usually nursing a little bit and falls sleep while I'm on here, well not today. . she keeps looking up and totally laughing and smiling at them. I thought, okay, maybe once or twice it happens, but seriously - it KEEPS happening. I think she's in love with these guys. Uh oh, watch out. . girls LOVE dolls. She's not going to know the difference. Haha, finally a way to get these out of here, and it won't even be my fault. lol - KIDDING! Maybe I'll have to give in and buy the little pink Red Wing's onesie, after all she is daddy's little girl and if she likes hockey figures (which she does) I suppose she's going to like hockey. =) I guess I already have a "Daddy's Girl!"

Gi-Ant!

I did this quiz the other day. . it's supposed to tell you how old you are. It guessed I was 26. . I'm 25! Anyway, it reminded me of what happened to us this weekend when we went out to eat. I will leave out where this happened, I don't want to get in trouble for bashing some crazy restaurant chain. We went to have the buffet (I like then buffet!. . . to get off the subject, honey we should listen to that buffet comedian again.. skinny people shouldn't go to the buffet or something like that.. haha, it's funny). So we went to have the buffet okay... and Landen gets charged. This isn't that big of a deal, it's not like we were saving money to go to the 'buffet', but the point is he's 2, he ate some pudding and maybe a bread stick. So, Kurt sends me to the register to figure out the mistake. I politely (because I don't really like confrontation all that well) ask what the age is for the buffet. (I'm liking to say Buffet.. I keep saying it out loud every time I type it - geek, I know) well it's free until your 4, then you have to pay.. sounds find to me. I just say "well my son just turned 2," you know what happened.. the guy looks at him and says "he sure is big for 2" (like he totally thought I was lying). HELLO. . I said "he might be a little tall *goofy look on my face* but if you talked to him, you'd clearly see he's only 2". The guy took it off, no problem and it was all said and over with. But seriously people - who mistakes a just two year old for a four year old? I just had to laugh at the situation, but it really was quite strange. I guess I'm going to call Landen the Gi-Ant for now on. He's Gigantic to some and a little Ant to others. Haha! So I just saw that on a Word show today, this gi-ant thing... I had to use it. =D There's the picture of the Gi-Ant, what do you think!?!?!

Just a little Fun!

A little blurb about the fun Landen, Amelia and I had yesterday!

We met with a new/old friend Becca and her son, who is almost two. Landen had a good time and it's nice to find a little boy so close to the same age that has a high spirit just like Landen. I love to find other people that are so like minded about raising your children as well. It's very hard to find people that you agree on issues such as. . . home birth, breast feeding, co-sleeping, natural family planning, vaccines, and a heck of a lot more. =)
So we played and played. . . Landen decided that Becca's name was Momma and kept calling her that. I never thought my son would be calling someone else Momma, but it didn't bother me. He already has a Becca and her little guy kept calling her that, what else was he supposed to do!!?

Then we went to my parents house. Landen, spoiled to the core for sure (does that rhyme.. haha) got to ride on the "Big" tractor in his words from Grandma and Pa! He even got to drive (steer.) What kid gets to drive a tractor through the corn field at age two? He had a blast and was glowing when he came in to tell me.

It's my little brother Eli's birthday today. He turns 7. . . yes, I am 25 and my little brother is 7 (Ten Total Children!) He's so loving to Landen, carrying him around (which is difficult, Landen is not small), putting him in his place. They always have so much fun. Eli truly is a little sweetie - he always asks to hold Amelia too. Being the baby he hasn't had his chance to hold babies all the time, so he has to take at least a few holds whenever we're there.

Off to get my work done around here. . . we've been busy people around here lately, house work is getting neglected. =D

Contest

D&E Reviews are giving away the cutest onesies from SATees. Oh my goodness, you have to check these out. It's Big words for little kids on t-shirts or onsies.

I picked out three that I actually liked the best... one for Amelia and Landen, then one that suites them both.

~Blithesome (cheerful) - I think both my babies are cheerful. Amelia is always just sitting aroud being so happy. Landen, just look at the kid - when he's not hitting. Ugh!

~Gregarious (sociable) - This is right up Landen's alley. Talking to EVERYONE he see's wherever he goes. "Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi!"

~Pulchritudinous (Beautiful) - I know everyone thinks they have the most beautiful little girls, but I'm pretty sure I do! =) She's flawless.

Head on over to D&E's Reviews to Enter to win! Good Luck!

Fall Is Here!

Today is the first day of fall! I've actually been waiting for today. . . this season actually. It is unseasonably warm though, high 80's - but still beautiful. I love the tree's when they start turning color and the crisp mornings. I'm going to suck in as much fall as possible, before the dreaded winter comes. Yuck! So, I think outside is calling me to take a walk through the cemetery. I'm off to spend sometime with the babes who are just now waking up.

!Welcome Fall!

Ecological Breast Feeding

I've been asked by several people lately what Ecological Breast Feeding is. I use this term because I don't just exclusively breastfeed, I ecologically breast feed my children (also known as natural mothering.) Since I've been asked this so much - I thought I would post what it is! =)

"Full ecological breast feeding excludes bottles, mother substitutes, pacifiers, strict schedules, and abrupt weaning. The keys to ecological breast feeding are mother-baby togetherness and frequent suckling. " Taken from The Art of natural Family Planning, by Sheila Kippley & John Kippley.

We truly do all these things, not just to prevent early fertility return (lol - we're in that 2% of early return) but for our children. =) We co-sleep, breast feed, baby-wear, take our babies with us, no pacifiers, bottles, breast feed on demand, suckling for comfort (lets just say I'm a human pacifier - haha), and I love doing all of this. It may not work for everyone, but it works for us! =)

I also found this bit of information very interesting. This is not meant to tell anyone not to breastfeed or that pumping isn't okay if that's what your need to do. I just put this out there because I thought it was interesting.

"When you express your milk for later bottlefeeding, it's not the same as breastfeeding. Proteins, enzymes, hormones, and live cells may be destroyed during handling, freezing or heating. The timing between foremilk and hindmilk is lost. Also lost are the daily changes in composition in response to the baby's changing needs and the external secretions of the areolar Montgomery glands . Therefore, bottlefeeding breastmilk is not the emotional or nutritional equivalent of breastfeeding." - Joy Kondash, M.D.

New Dr. Sears Book

I am a huge fan of Dr. Bill Sears, his wife Martha, and the entire Sears family for that matter. I highly recommend all the books and I use their website all the time... Ask Dr Sears.com


The reason I am posting this is because I'm really excited about Dr. Robert Sears new book that will be released October 22, 2007. I'm having a hard time waiting actually, especially with all the reading and research I have been doing lately on Vaccinating now that Landen is two. The book is - The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child. If you read the Introduction of this book, I don't know how anyone could not want to read it. It clearly states it is not an anti-vaccine book, but a book to help you make a well informed decision. I thought just reading the introduction was good, so I'm really looking forward to reading it when it's released. You can also pre-order here through Amazon.com.

Thanks to Sharon from The Birds Nest, where I found that a new book was coming out. She's a wealth of information. =)

Tv Shows

Kurt and I are totally into the show Survivor Man on Discovery Channel! I don't know why we started watching it... I think it was one of those marathon days and we (Kurt) just happened to turn it on. Well we've pretty much been hooked ever since. It shows the new episodes on Friday nights, and if your like us... who rarely go out on a Friday night anymore, and are in bed when your children are, it's good! It's about Les going to these different places and having to survive for a week on his own, he even records it himself. A show that children can see as well. I hate all these shows that you turn on because you want something a little adult and they're not appropriate for your children. Just yesterday we were flipping through the channels, stopped on something and they said "shut up". Sure enough, Landen kept saying "shut up," I didn't even know he was paying attention. I recommend checking this show out.

Also, I'm totally excited Survivor! is back on CBS on Thursday nights. Woohoo! Survivor is one show Kurt and I never miss. I guess you could say we get into it. I like American Idol, but Kurt isn't all into it that much so it's kind of a hit and miss. Plus I hate how many commercials there are so I get irritated at it easily. =) Back to Survivor. . . I kind of picked my favorite person (as of this week). . . James (the grave digger). Kurt said he knew I'd like him - he's quiet and seems like he'd be nice. I could totally change by next week. It seems like I never know who I'm going for, or it changes because they did something dumb. Maybe, I'll post about this more often. Our Survivor Watching! =D

Contest

Another Contest! This is to win Protect-A-Bed bedding protectors for all your children's beds. They look comfortable and something to try out. Enter Here at Stephanie's Adventures in Baby-Wearing blog site.

My Baby Girl

Amelia

(I always have lots of photo's of Landen to post, but hardly any of Amelia. She needs the spot light once in awhile. I think she looks so peaceful here, sleeping.)

Could it be potty time!?!?

I am so proud of Landen, he's gone on the toilet twice this week. Whoopee! We decided that we weren't going to push potty training, I didn't want to deal with the constant messes and when we did try with him, he showed absolutely no interest and acted as if he just didn't get it. Monday (I think) he pooped in his diaper so I showed him how poopy can go down the toilet. Well he decided he wanted to go on the potty (not his potty), I put him up there and sure enough he went. It was pretty exciting stuff! However, he thought he constantly had to go and didn't want to get off. That's a lot of holding up to do on my part. Haha! The part that is supposed to fit on top of your toilet from the training potty doesn't fit right. =( So anyway, today he said he wanted to use the potty so I put him on his little boy potty in the living room and after peeing on the floor once (yuck) he actually peed in it. I was off doing something else and he comes running to me "mama.. water, potty!" I'm sure that this is the beginning of a long process but I'm just going to let him do his thing. I just wanted to share our excitement of potty time! =)

Fun at the Orchard

Tuesday Kurt was able to take half day off of work and we went to Tanners Orchard! I have been craving the sweet apple cider and was probably more excited to go than the rest of the family. It was an absolute gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun. Landen got to play on all the play equipment with daddy and feed some goats. I had fun taking pictures and carrying Amelia in her sling while she slept (the entire time). We drove right through the windmills. . . and being the nerd I am, I took lots of pictures. Haha! We got to stop at my parents house and have dinner. It was really nice because it's not often that Kurt is with us during the week when we come to visit. Then stopped at Kurt's parents house to check out the garage siding and see great-grandpa. It was a fun day. . . here are a few pictures!

Landen and Daddy being goofy

Landen and Daddy


Landen on the tractor Driving into a windmill (these are near my parents house) More windmills

Crafty Girlie Shoes

For all you crafty people, or wanna be crafty people (myself)... I was checking out April's blog the other day, Salt for the Spirit and she posted about these adorable girlie shoes you can make. Here's the link, you have to check it out. Salt for the Spirit's being crafty. I am not one that can sew very well, but I would really like to try to make these. Especially if Amelia ends up having gigantic feet like Landen. I just have to go get me some cute material and leather. Anyway, I think they look a lot like the robeeze shoes. Check out April's site because she has a lot of other links to tutorials to make cute things.
This is a picture of the shoes I liked the best on their site.

Contest

I love giveaways and Drea is giving away an adorable Gauze wrap. Shown here!



You can also purchase these at Hug a Bug Baby. I would like to try one of the free hand mei tei carriers. They look great! Enter soon and good luck.

A New Look . . . For Awhile!

*I had to just change it back... nothing was working. Ugh!*

I hope this isn't too confusing. I had to change the template on my blog. Something about the pink was getting on my nerves and I needed a change. Strange considering I really like pink. It maybe back someday, but for now I needed something different.

Remembering The Old Times...

Alright so we were listening to music this morning and the song "Macarena" came on. LOL. I had to teach Landen how to do the dance, I actually remembered. This one goes out to my sisters and whoever else did this stange ridiculous dance. 4-H Dance Here We Come! LOL

Uh Saturday

What's this, a Saturday post! Okay, so I don't have anything else to do right now. Kurt is resealing the deck and Landen is sleeping, so it's just Amelia and I. We can't do our nails or anything yet either because she's too young. lol.

Sooo. . . I guess I'm ready to take the plunge and ask Kurt to bring up the elliptical from the basement. I've been avoiding it the past few weeks (even though it's been on my mind) because once you say "bring it up" that is basically committing to trying to exercise once a day. *blah* I'm not exactly good about exercising. Anyway, I'll feel guilty if I see it sitting there not being used when I asked him to bring the heavy thing up. I just don't know if I really want to do it. You know when you know you should do something, but you just can't bring yourself to doing it? That's me with the idea of trying to lose the rest of the baby weight. =/ I really wouldn't care about it but I have no clothes to wear. I've been wearing maternity clothes still and they're about hanging off of me. Ugh! So I've been squeezing into some hand me downs (and I only have a few of them). Plus I don't want to go buy a new wardrobe if I could possibly lose the weight and they won't fit me after awhile. With Landen it took me not quite a year to get the weight off. . . but I'm ready to be back to normal. I'm sick of looking un-kept (if that's the word to use) because I don't have anything that actually fits me. Kurt keeps saying . . . "Go buy something" but I can't bring myself to spending the money when I know I'll eventually be a different size. So now that I've wrote this, I have to have him bring it up because he'll read this Monday *hi sweetie* and say "why didn't you have me bring it up?" LoL I'm thankful though that he hasn't said a thing about getting on the ball. He's cool with whatever I do.

Off to check out a little You Tube Video! I may have to remind you all of it. Hahaha!

Just remember, To Everything There. . .

As I'm feeling overwhelmed today. I remember this Bible verse, and I'm not very good at remembering Bible verses.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1

Remembering the good times! Here are a few pictures from yesterday that I like.

Daddy and Landen Reading

Landen being goofy with daddy being ornery

Amelia doing "Chubby" cheeks

Amelia Smiling!

Landen the eeewok!

Landen in his overalls!

Shut ya Mouth

Okay so I'm kind of ticked off after reading my friend Teri's Blog. Not at you Teri *waves* at the people that can't keep their mouth shut when it comes to spacing children and how many you want to have. Why is it any one's business how many children you want to have, or how close you want to have them? We got this when we were pregnant with Amelia and even after Amelia was born. Actually we even heard it a bit when we were pregnant with Landen, because we got pregnant so soon. It makes me mad, irritated, angry, whatever. Our children are healthy, happy, thriving, and well taken care of. Big families are wonderful and I wish that people would realize that some of us are trying to follow God's Will, and maybe we want A LOT OF KIDS! So that's enough, I already had to vent my irritation to Kurt last night about this subject. Sorry sweetie and thanks for always listening to me! ;-) Okay so on a lighter note. Here's a funny website of funny things to say to people that can't mind their own business. Take a look at this, it's great! Large Family Comebacks.

Goofy Smooshy Mommy and Landen!

TV During The Day

I finally got slapped in the face Monday after reading Drea's blog post How much TV Do you kids watch. I've been saying for a very long time to myself, and to Kurt that I wasn't going to let Landen watch as much television during the day. I just hadn't done it, it's so easy to just turn on PBS, Little Bear (his favorite), or a DVD and let him watch while I get things done, or take a time out for some me time. I knew it wasn't what I wanted to be doing as a mother, but it was just so easy.

After reading Drea's post I said to myself - "Today is the end, I'm not going to do this anymore." I got off the computer, went into the living room and turned the TV off. I thought he'd throw a fit or something, but that didn't happen. He didn't care a bit, he was off to playing with one of his many toys that were down stairs, strewed about the living room, ready to be tripped over for the hundredth time by his mother. That all happened Monday, today is Thursday. It's actually been going really well, but we have been busier than usual this week, all of our activities are starting up again and it's been so fall like we've been spending more time outdoors as well. I'm going to be honest here though. . . we had the TV on constantly. I kept making the excuse of, "I need a little noise." What the heck, I have a two year old running around, that is noise.

We do have it on for noise once in awhile, but it's the music channels (not music video's because I'd start watching) but that gives us a little bit of a tune around the house and we like to stop and do some dancing every once in awhile as well. =) Haha!

I also want to throw in that I'm not trying to say that we aren't going to watch TV during the day anymore. I just don't want him to be staring at it all the time. He has many toys to play with, books to read and a mom who is here to play with him. My vocation is to be a mother, not a lazy mom who ignores her children. =D I do still turn on a DVD for a little down time, and Landen has been falling asleep within twenty minutes of starting it. I haven't quite figured out how to get him to take a nap without watching something together. Any suggestions?

So that's been our project, experiment, whatever for this week. I'm pretty proud of Landen and I that we are accomplishing this so well. Hopefully the weeks to follow will go as well.

Spazzo Momma

Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like a total spazzo (is that even a word?) because things keep happening before you can even catch your breath!? That is our day today and it's just a little past one. I'm not complaining, it's my life and you just got to laugh at it. Today Landen decides to have a fun time with some lipstick he found. . . to my knowledge I didn't even have lipstick around here anymore. Well this particular kind even had a handy two year old child's dream... a stick to apply with. So of course being the toddler he is... he decided to paint himself up ever so nicely and to top it off, I couldn't get it off! He looked quite nice. . . I should have taken a picture but at the moment that was not on my mind. As we were ready to head out the door I needed to make a quick phone call. The little bugger got into my purse, got the cell phone out. Why do kids love our cell phones? He has our old ones that if charged even display a screen like ours do, but no he has to get ours. Somehow he turned on an Emergency Download Mode, the entire screen was Blue. I had no idea what to do about that... so off to La Leche League we go. That was good... Landen was a bit chaotic, which I don't know if it's his age, being a boy, or if I have no control over my son at all. =( Then we have to head to the US Cellular because my phone.. Amelia decides to poop through her outfit while we're there, Landen is trying to take apart anything he can get close to and there is a huge line. We made it to the front and all the lady did was pop my battery off. Why didn't I think of that!?!? Must have been my fog brain kicking it into high gear... I thought that went away after pregnancy? Guess not! As we make it home, Landen thinks he's STARVING and Amelia is crying because she has a poopy butt. We get in the house, I get her changed, Landen gets changed, we eat a little meal and settle onto the couch for a little recharging. As I do so Amelia decides to poop again. I lay her down, run upstairs to get a new outfit.. by now we have no pants for her to wear because I desperately need to do laundry and she hardly has any pants as it is. I didn't think this cool weather was going to be here this soon. She hasn't even got to wear all her sun dresses yet. =( By the time I get upstairs and bring down a pair of jammies for her, she has gotten the poop all the way up her back and into her hair. Poor girl! She had a quick bath, which was on a towel laid on the floor of the tub. I haven't brought up her little bathtub yet. Got her cleaned up and Landen thankfully fell asleep. Now after getting the laundry started, getting something out for dinner and finally going pee. . . which I had been holding for entirely too long, I'm blogging. What a day in the life of a spazzo momma! Or my new nick name (according to Kurt) MamaSaurus. LOL I have no idea where he got this, but he thinks it's kind of funny. Haha!

Breastfeeding Video

Today we had La Leche League, and our leader shared this website with us. . . Ameda and a great video they have on Latching On. It's very informative, shows the structure of the babies mouth and how to properly latch on without having discomfort. How babies instinctively know how to breastfeed and more. There is quite a bit you can read on as well, how to hold your baby, holding your breast, breastfeeding laying down, etc. I encourage anyone to watch this video, even if you are an experienced breast feeder, it's very good. Click here Babies Are Born To Breastfeed to see the video

Contest

Apples'n'Oranges is having another contest! They're giving away one adorable hat that Gramma' makes. I'd like to have one for each of the kids. Click here Baby It's Cold Outside to read their post and enter. Good luck!

Quiz

I came across What color should your Blog or journal be quiz and decided to see what this crazy thing would say about me. Not sure if this is completely accurate, but here are my results...

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere.You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant.From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

I'm not changing my blog to blue as this suggest. I like the color pink as my husband and family knows. "Why don't you buy something other than pink?" Haha! If you want to take the Blog Color Quiz for a little entertainment, or if your bored and don't feel like doing things you should be doing. . . click on what color should my blog or journal be.

Children's Adoration

Today we finally got back to Children's Adoration. We skipped last month because I didn't know if I could handle crazy boy Landen and Amelia during a quiet time. We made it today and it was so wonderful to get back. Landen was a little crazy, but he did his prayers and sang for a little while. I can't expect much more from him at his age. For you Catholic Mommy's if you have a Children's Adoration at your church I highly recommend taking your children. They get more out of it than you'll ever know and it's just another great way to bring your children closer to God. If you don't have a Children's Adoration time, maybe you want to start one up. Visit Children of Hope if your interested in starting one at your Church or just learning more about it. This is a great site.

Bad Day Turned Great

Yesterday was one of those days I seriously wanted to scream, run away, bawl, or even just hide under the table the way Landen does sometimes. I had to get up earlier than I wanted too - well this happens all the time, but yesterday I really wanted to just stay in bed. I had to make some phone calls and they certainly didn't go as planned. Sometimes I wish I could just keep my big mouth shut. Then I finally decide on a Doctor I want to start going to and I get a "Great" from the receptionist (like we're the most horrible patients on the planet because we had a home birth, choose not to vaccinate, and don't regularly have a crisis we need to be seen for,) and now I have to go in and have a dumb appointment when I'm not even sick. Enough on that, it's not that big of a deal and I know that's how that system works. I'm just glad I'm not working in it anymore and I wanted to vent a bit! =D After that it seemed like things just kind of started caving in from all sides of the house, stupid things that shouldn't even bother me (that tends to happen when I'm "overly tired"). On with the day.. here's a little Haha for you to read. So, the phone rings and I have to run and get it because I had just sat down with Amelia to let her nurse. I really should just belt the phone to my hip or just let the machine get it because it's usually just some stupid telemarketer anyway, but I don't. I'm getting the phone and as I turn around there is my sweet little boy (not so sweet at that moment) carrying his very full, sticky, clay looking, DISGUSTING, poopy diaper. His butt is covered in poop, his legs and yes, there are little droppings in odd places on the floor. I quickly say "I'm sorry I have to go right now," I didn't even here her say goodbye. Amelia gets tossed to the couch and I'm running Landen to the bathroom where a good scrub in the tub got him shining again. Icky! Finally my sister called to say she was on her way and without crying I grumbled up the words "Beck, I don't think you want to come, we're having a bad day." Thankfully she said "No, I'm coming anyway." Thank you Rebecca, you totally calmed me! Becca got here and we ventured to Wal-Mart where finally after several months of saying I'm going to get my hair cut off, I was able too. =) I have to say it looks a lot better. Becca and I had some great conversation's yesterday (as we usually do when we see each other). I'm truly amazed at her and wish I was as intelligent and spiritual as she is at sixteen. As the night went on Kurt and I got to go out for dinner (to celebrate our anniversary). I felt very awkward without my first born. I would have been fine if he wasn't whining for his momma and daddy when we left. I never want him to be sad for his parents. Kurt cured that though... "he always whine's a bit when one of us leaves". We had a wonderful time, even though I felt a bit naked and like I had an only child, but it was a much needed night out. I'm thinking we might have to make this a regular thing, or at least every couple months go out. So my bad day turned into a wonderful night out with my husband - and Amelia. I didn't get to check out my movie, but I wasn't in the mood for a movie anyway. I came home, I was refreshed and today has been wonderful so far. Not much to this post really.. just a blah, blah for you to read.

Vaccinating

While checking out Sharon's Blog Page today I came up on a link she had to All Natural Mommies page. She has a great post on vaccinating - delaying, exemptions and more. Check this blog out of hers Vaccinating.
The past few weeks I've been reading a lot more on the vaccination issue. My sister was asking me a lot of questions about it and I started second guessing myself. I knew why we decided against vaccinating the babes when they're so young, but what about now, Landen is two years old. I've been finding a lot of great sites, and reading some great articles on the issue. Lets just say, right now I'm still against quite a few he would be getting. Then yesterday I had an interesting run in with the help at the Doctor's Office. They weren't to happy we've decided to not vaccinate. Grr! Anyway some other interesting reads you can find at Jen's Blog and they are also worth reading.

Contest

Here's a great contest for you Baby Wearers out there. It's to win a Rockin' Baby Sling. To enter click here Adventures In Babywearing. It's so cute, I'd love to have this one. Good luck!

A typical Wednesday

Are all the second children tougher than snot!?!? Poor Amelia, she doesn't have the option of being a dainty little pris... she's getting tougher by the day. Today Landen decided to take the pack-n-play apart (without me knowing) and when I put Amelia in the diaper changer she flipped right out into the bassinet part. Thank goodness she didn't get hurt, but it definitely scared the poop out of me. For those of you who do not know - this is just one of many of the little accidents that have happened in her eight weeks out of the womb. I'm not the kind of mother who does not watch over her children either, these freak things happen in an instant or while I'm standing right there. Her first accident was getting pulled out of our bed, how it happened I'm still not exactly sure. Kurt says I must have forgotten and put her on the floor, but I know that is not the case. She was laying on a blanket and Landen pulled her right off. . . she didn't cry or anything, but when I asked him how she got there he kindly said "I pulled her maaaa". Second... I was changing her and out of nowhere a ball comes flying at her face . . . she was not happy about that. Landen quickly said "sorry". So obviously these things are not on purpose, but the poor girl has no choice but to toughen up fast. =) On a brighter note... Today, Landen decided it was time for Amelia to say The Holy Spirit. He was playing with his rosary and he's been doing the sign of the cross (as well as he can) with it. Well he comes into the kitchen and says "Maaa.. beb, Spirit." Of course I practically run into the other room not knowing what I was going to find, I see this adorable little girl with a rosary around her body. Yes it was displayed on her just as you see in this picture. It's around her head because that is how Landen wears his rosary. She looks a bit stunned, doesn't she? That's our adventure with Landen and Amelia today.

As for other things...
Teri and Liesie came over today! Landen and "T.C." had a good time, as they usually do. I'm so glad that Landen has a buddy, even though he's a bit rough they still have a good time.

Oooh. . . I must share this. . . my poor daughter has officially been called a "boy" by more than one person, on the same day. It all started at, of course, Wal-Mart. I bought Amelia this cute little black and pink Zebra outfit at Old Navy. Kurt doesn't think it's that cute, but I do. Well as I'm in getting our groceries these people around there kept referring to her as a boy. This one lady even said - "she has a leopard outfit on though". Ahhh! Do boys ever get called girls? Landen never did, but maybe he was really boy. I think Amelia is pretty girlie though. Hmmm. That's it for this Wednesday. I will end with my girl in her zebra outfit!

Poems

I love these two poems. They came from my Above Rubies Magazine. Thank you Kate for telling me about this. It is a great magazine and I enjoy getting it. I hope you all can enjoy these poems as well.

My Baby

I look down at your tiny feet, tiny hands, and into your eyes. You are a precious gift from God, a ray of sunshine sent down to make me smile. You are so small right now, but it will be fun to watch you grow and learn each new thing. Then I will close my eyes and when I wake up and open them again I will realize how fast the time has gone by and wonder what happened to my tiny baby! Someday, when you're older you may be taller than me; I will look at you, grown-up across the room from me with love shining through the smile in my eyes and remember the tiny baby I held in my arms!

By: Ellen Wyman

My Precious Gift

You wake in the night I pull you close. My hand covers your whole back. You are tiny and warm. It is dark. You find my breast by the light of the moon and your sensitive mouth. The milk flow, filling your hungry belly. The house is quiet, except for your contended sucking noises. You fall asleep with a sigh. I touch your hair. I marvel at how you were fearfully and wonderfully made. Before God formed you in the womb He knew you. You are a precious Gift. My pillow is wet with tears. Each one praises Him I drift back to sleep. Nursing by the moonlight.

By: Kim Mills

Holiday Weekend

What a busy weekend we had here, especially for nothing being planned until Thursday. Here's a bit of a recap...

Saturday

Traveled down to Kurt's parents house for lunch time. Rides aren't getting any harder with Amelia yet. She squawked for awhile but no real screaming/crying that Landen used to do once he got into the car. I'm so thankful for a baby that actually likes car rides (for the most part). Landen fell asleep in the car watching Toy story. This was a good thing because he never wants to nap when we're at someones house. He's too excited, he can be completely dragging and will still be going. Exhausted, crabby, aggressive and still going. =) Ken and Lauri took some great video of Alaska and we definitely enjoyed that. The glacier falling was the highlight (in my opinion). Still, I don't think I would want to visit there anytime soon. Kurt definitely wants too, but I'm still wanting to head anywhere South. I don't like cold one bit. It was good to hear about their trip though and I'm sure it's always fun to tell people about it. =) Kurt and Landen got to fly a kite, Landen's first time and I think he really liked it.

Here they are looking up at the Kite. They are so cute together. I also like this photo because of the corn. You don't appreciate corn until you live in the middle of town and you never see it except when you drive back home. I think it looks so beautiful, big, tall and green. I can't wait until we move out into the country. Someday, someday!

Here they are again, you can actually see the kite this time though. The sky is beautiful and there is my corn. I never would have thought I'd think corn was pretty. Just like the sky out in the country, all the stars. It's amazing, you take it for granted when you live out there. Someday, Someday I'll be out there again. lol We ended up heading home a little before dinner and ended up turning ourselves into Cartoons the rest of the night. =)

Sunday

Church was pretty good, I ended up in the back the majority of the time with Amelia. It must have been a bad day for children because everyone seemed to be back there. I wish we had a mothers room with speakers so we can hear. If you need to nurse you have to go into the section that doesn't have speakers and you miss so much. Oh well. After Mass ... I told Kurt we were either going shopping or starting the project of taking the wallpaper off of our bedroom wall. Let me tell you, we have the most awful wallpaper in our bedroom and I'm sick of looking at it. Kurt decided he'd rather go shopping. Haha! We got Landen his new shoes, poor kid. Will he ever have regular feet!?! I got a bunch of clothes at Old Navy for Amelia next year. Can't beat the Clearance Rack! Other than that, we just got things here and there. Amelia was a doll in her Moby Wrap. As we walked around the mall we got a lot of stares and a few comments here or there. I'm not one to like to be spectacle so that was strange. It was a fun trip... we told ourselves that we weren't going to get crabby (shopping with the little ones can make you crabby) and we didn't hardly at all.

Monday

Labor day we went to my parents house. Overall it was a lot of fun, the night ended later than it should have and on somewhat of a sour note. Sometimes things need to be said, and that's how I'm going to leave that. We had a family picture taken, I'm anxious to see how that turns out. Landen was not cooperating at all - but hopefully the one of my entire family turned out well. Kurt and I had our first match of Tether ball. LOL - It was a lot of fun, even though I lost. Landen had the time of his life as always. Grandpa "Pa" got the tractor out for him - crazy kid! I didn't get a picture of him this time because I was nursing Amelia. He also got to ride the four wheeler - always a lot of fun! Mom made some great food. Sara - sorry I didn't get to try your egg rolls... maybe we can make them sometime!!? It was really great to have everyone together at one time, not often does everyone come home at the same time and I know it means a lot to some of us to get to see everyone at once. It's a big commotion, but it's only going to get bigger as our family grows! And to end this - I have far to many mosquito bites to count and I was only outside for maybe ten minutes. I HATE MOSQUITO'S!

My dad, Landen, Savannah, Eli and Mikyla

Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

I can't believe Kurt and I have been married 3 years today, time sure does fly by. Not much is planned for today, we had such a busy weekend I thought it would be better to just hang out at home and go out for dinner another day. My sister said she would come up and watch Landen, of course I won't leave Amelia yet, but she's still so little that she's not a big deal. It'd be nice to have a little date night out for a change. Maybe check out a movie, I haven't been to a movie since before Landen was born. Actually Kurt and I have only been out together once since we had Landen. I think it's time for some Husband and Wife time - with a little girl who will hardly be noticed. =) I thought I would post this picture of us on our wedding day. It's one of the few we actually have on the computer. When I look at our wedding pictures it always reminds me of how happy I was that day and still am. I wouldn't change anything - we were truly made for each other and I thank God everyday for sending me the most wonderful husband and father.

Kurt and Andrea, September 4, 2004

How we spent Saturday night

Tonight Kurt and I decided to Simpsonize our family. Despite the fact that I hate this show, it was a lot of fun making these characters. Haha, I guess that tells you how nerdy we really are - spending a Saturday night turning ourselves into cartoons! If you want to Simpsonize your family, go to Simpsonize Me. Do you think this resembles our family?