Ode to Aunt Kendra

Caution: HONESTY HERE...not to offend anybody or anyone in any situation.

when I found out that we were pregnant w/ Ike, it was hard to swallow. God put so many different people in my life to assist w/ the transistion of two independent children to 2 independent children and one baby. The person who was at my side the entire way was my Aunt Kendra. She is much more than just an Aunt, but a big sister, best friend, counselor. I know have seen the MANY reasons why God allowed us to have somewhat of a miracle child. W/ Ike I am able to share raising a baby w/ SO many of our family members, including my Aunt Kendra. Although Ike and Kenna are 6 months apart, it has been so helpful to have her around. You wouldn't have guessed that I already raised two other babies...crazy how 4 years changes things. I just want to personally thank Kendra and Trevor for all their support, guidance, and love you have given me and my family! Love you two!

Kenna and Ike...only about 4 pounds apart but 6 months age difference.

Happy Valentine's Day

not sure what happened w/ Valentine's day creaping up on us, so sorry if you were forgotten this valentine's day. The only ones receiving valentine's were our best friends at daycare. We handmade them Sunday night before Vday. The boys enjoyed writing all the kids' names, as they have learned how to write so well (thanks to sARAH!)
Look at that concentration! Look at that handwriting!

Our work area

Someone wasn't a fan of Valentine's day this year...as he had to sit in his own seat while mommy helped the big brothers.

One Month Old (a little late)

This posting is about a month late...but look who is one month old.
Weighs about 11 pounds. Growing out of newborn diapers. Growing out of 0-3 month clothing. Eating every 3 hours unless he rides in the car...then he waits to wake up until the car stops, then is hungry. He can go 5 hours at his longest to eat. He "goes" to bed around 11 and wakes up at 4:30. He also can a great nap from 5:30 to 8:00 am:)
gotta love the wrinkle on his forehead. When snuggling w/ him, you can tell if he is awake, because he wrinkles his head to let you know he is still up. LOVe it!

stranded pics

I was able to pick up my camera because we went back to our house...so these are some pics of my reflection of the day.
first THE rest areaOur rescuers after rescue and towing was complete

Trip to Aurora

Oh boy do I wish that I didn't leave my camera at home for our momentous trip to Aurora last week. So unfortunately you will have to create your own picture of this story.

Thursday
10:00 am - Ring, ring - "Hey Kelly, just thought I would let you know that the boys and I are on our way. We need to go to Target to get a few things, take Casey a sleeping bag and then we will be there."

Weather: 70 degree day...record breaking weather in Mid February.

10:30 am - Entering Target w/ three boys, two of which are mobile; one is not. Dollar section gets me everytime especially when it is 50% off. I told the boys they could get 2, yes 2 things from that section...but it had to have a purple dot. So they found their two things, but continued to search the entire store for more purple dots. It was great to keep their attention and to keep it w/ me as we went throughout the store. Mission done at Target.

11:00 am - Arby's run to bring Daddy lunch. Our orignal plan was to wait to eat at Kelly and Dennis'...but I thought it would be nice to eat w/ Daddy. good thing we did...
Not sure why I allowed the boys to get kids meals...but answered below. Mission lunch finished

11:30 am - Eat lunch w/ Daddy. Ike gets fed. Boys play w/ their kids meal toys (airplanes).

12:35 pm - Depart from Lincoln Airport for Aurora in our newly purchased van. Although it was newly purchased doesn't mean it didn't have 185,000 miles on it:). I was on the phone (yes I know I shouldn't) w/ my mom and I noticed my cruise control go off. I casually said, "Mom something is wrong w/ my van. I better go." I looked in my rearview mirror only to see a Semi, I glanced ahead and there was the exit ramp for a rest area. w/out time to think, I took the exit and coasted into a parking spot right in front of the brick building w/out power steering or power.

1:00 pm - We stopped and I quickly called Casey. I tried to talk him through the problems, as he is quite good with hearing a sound and knowing what it was. No luck and the van was not running very well. It sounded very sick (this was my description to Casey...hmm I wonder why he couldn't figure it out:)) I am not a mechanic. So w/out telling the boys the details, I told them we were going to get to play at the park by the interstate (yes 50 feet away from many vehicles going 75 or over).

Initially I took Ike out (in his car seat) so we could travel the different paths and do a sight word search on all the nice signs around the rest area. Did I mention that this was a rest area only for semi's...so my abduction alert was the only paranoia I had at this point. We learned that they Pawnee Indians lived around this area. The boys then proceeded to play Indian at the playground that really looked like a giant cat play ground. It had three cement cylinders w/ holes all around them. I really did have to go over to it to make sure there wasn't kitty do do all over it...but there was sand and the boys were all excited in their fort. It was too windy for Ike, even in his little car seat. So I took Ike (who was sleeping this entire time AMEN!) back to the van. I could see the boys from my van, so I got out my office in a bag (from fly lady...all magazines I have, so that when I have some down time I can actually read them and not have them collect dust at home). I was able to get through all the magazines in my bag, while waiting for our rescue crew (Kelly and Dennis) to come get us. I now know why we ate lunch and I allowed the boys to get kids meals w/ toys. It would have been a long wait, but actually the wait went quickly. At one point, Patton climbed in to the van and said, "Uh Mom, Can't we go to Gwamma's house YET?" This was when I realized they didn't know that the van was broken.

I had a HUGE box of fruit snacks that were to go to Aunt Kendra's house, but hadn't been delivered yet to help snack on. I allowed the boys to get a pop from the vending machine for a fun activity as well. There were so many events that transpired this day to know that God is always in our lives...really he was there and is there every step of the way. I was reminded how good he is too!

You may be asking...why can't Casey come to get you? Well he was leaving for a ski trip w/ a group of men from our Church. He did politely honk on his way by after Dennis slaved to get the van on his trailer w/ the help of friendly truck drivers, Kelly and I.

After loading up the van, the roadside assistance van rolled up. good timing, I thought. Where were you 5 hours before. They were really nice and helped us get turned around in the one way truck stop. Did you know that they have a person staffed at the rest areas? This gentleman was very nice but didn't speak much English. when I asked him if he could move his van so that Dennis could get in front of it, he replied, "Yes babies watch out." He was very concerned for my two boys and all the big semi's. Again, can I tell you how calm and relaxed I was. Now if this scenerio had played out about 1 mile before or after this glorious rest area it would have been a COMPLETELY different story. I am worried traveling on the interstate when someone zooms by me...I would not even begin to tell you how crazied I had been if I would have been stranded ON the interstate w/ the 3 boys. God is good:)
We traveled back to Sprague to unload the van w/ the help of our good friend, Bob.

5:30 pm I fed Ike, then headed back to Aurora.

7:30/8ish: We arrived at our orignal destination. I really really wish I had my camera as it was a beautiful day and we were really playing in the middle of a corn field w/ natural colors. It would have been a great photo shoot day...but you will have to take my word for it.

It was a day for all the baby books. I like what one person said as I got of the van initially. "Hi Sir...do you know anything about cars?" He replied, "I don't, but I do know enough to tell you that you can't go anywhere."

Meal Plan

So as much as I would like to believe I am a stay at home mom of one...my life will drastically change in 4 hours and in 2 weeks. I do LOVE working and being a mom, so I just need to help my mentality by gradually getting back into the swing of things. The boys will be returning home from a week at Grandma's house, so I need to be prepared for hungry mouths:)

We are going to have an other short week here at home, as the boys and I get to travel to Aurora for a few days. Casey is going on a ski trip w/ a group of men, which will be a blast for him. So we are traveling to Aurora to have a blast ourselves:)

Sunday:
L: Crockpot Pork Loin w/ mashed potatoes
D: Chicken Pot Pie *

Monday:
D: Lasagna w/ corn and Garlic Bread

Tuesday:
D: Taco Soup w/ fritos

Wednesday:
D: Hearty Ham Casserole (Anyone watch the Food Network show "Chopped"? I am doing my own version of a mystery basket w/ cleaning out my freezer...we will see how this recipe works w/ the mystery ingredients being cubed ham and potatoes.)

Thursday to Monday
Off to Aurora and/or Colorado

Last year I participated in the Eat from your Pantry Challenge in January. I didn't see any challenges out there this year in the blogosphere...but I am making my own challenge for the month of March. For the exception of freezer cooking, I will be attempting to make meals out of what I have here at home versus buying new ingredients for food here. W/ my sister and her husband having a new baby and me going back to work, I am sure my freezer will be emptied quickly (which is the entire goal).

have a great week!
Rhi

note from Grandma Carlece's house

I told the boys to go upstairs and pick out their clothes for the day and to be sure to pick out a shirt w/ long sleeves. Kenner came down stairs w/ a long sleeved shirt and said, "Gwamma, is this a long tree shirt?"

They are having fun at Grandma's house and I am having fun at home w/ Ike. I have cleaned all prego clothes out of my closet to never be put in there again (ALLELUIA!), cleaned the boys' closets and shoes out, completing laundry, and making a list of errands to run after Mr. Ike eats.

I don't remember the last time I had not left our house for 4 days and didn't desire to RUN like a mad women to get out. I do think I may be mature enough this time around w/ ike...that I want to be home. I worked like a mad woman to get our house in order so that I could just stay home for the short time I am home w/ Ike. If only the kitchen walls painted themselves and I had a web cam...I wouldn't be going out.

Have a great Thursday...I know I am:)

Ike and our crazy Friend Kenna

For those of you who haven't gotten to see the little guy for a while...here are some pics of our growing little boy. (I am attempting to not have a forgotten child. Many times the younger siblings are forgotten in single pictures because everyone is so busy w/ the older ones, which I can attest to, but here is our little guy). Ike w/ his new friend, the seahorse that glows and sings.

Look how big and serious I am

Here is our friend and cousin Kenna. Look how entralled she is w/ her mommy's cell phone. Watch out...she is a social one!

Ike in Great Grandma's Cradle

Go HERE to see Patton in the same cradle at the same age...crazy how much they look alike asleep.

Craziness in our house - documented here!

This is an odd picture, but one I had to take to actually document the story to follow so that you don't think that I come up w/ these stories on my own in the middle of the night feeding IKE:)
Setting the stage: Note chairs in the dining room blocking anyone from entering the "Movie theater" which was showing a Football movie. I found out later the movie was starring Kenner as the football player and Patton the band. Patton was in charge of the movie theater. You will also note the SMATCH game in Kenner's hand which prompted this creative movement of a movie theater.

Story starts here: The boys and I (yes all of us...as we were snowed in for the 2nd day in a row) were playing a game of follow Mommy's direction and get a coin for your money jar if they listened the first time. It was going SMOOTHLY and believe it or not BOTH boys (Annie Jr... I a mean Patton) were joining in. The last item was to be put away, SMATCH game. Kenner proceeded to take it into the other room when he dropped it and it spilled all over. No big deal, Patton and I went over to help Kenner. Then Patton says, "Hey Kenner ARE THOSE MOVIE TICKETS?" "What?" I was thinking...where did that come from. I quickly said, "No they aren't movie tickets, but game pieces. If you play w/ them outside of the game you will lose the pieces therefore losing the purpose of the game. No you may not use them as game pieces, but you can have a movie theater.

Patton had the biggest smile on his face. Note: no talk of movies or movie theathers had come up this day...just an example of creativity at it's finest. "That's okay mom, I will use this." holding up a marker. "Uhm, what are you going to do w/ it Patton?" I will just mark everyone's hand w/ an F that pays for the movie. (This is where the picture came into play). Patton is marking Kenner's hand w/ an F (a pretty good F, if I might say). Genius, I thought :)

Well Kenner entered the movie theater and started to play football (remember he was starring in the movie). Patton proceeded to stay at the gate for anyother movie goers. Well the movie was not well attended, so Patton decided to use his marker and write all over my brown chairs.

End of story and movie theater. this is just one example of how nice and creative Patton can be one minute and the next he is being the biggest pistol of all.

Cooking w/ Daddy

Casey has been into making caramels lately and the boys and I have been into eating them. Patton is always up to something and this something was helping Dad make caramels. Patton and Kenner are also into playing Restarnot. Patton suggested to dad that they needed the Chef hats when making things. I knew Patton was helping Dad, but when I looked into the kitchen I found this. SO FUNNY!

Hanging w/ Ike

Adding another addition to the family has been such a blessing. As you can see the boys LOVE their new brother. They LOVE feeding him a bottle, burping him, holding him and giving him lots of toys that they think he needs. Big Brother Kenner feeding Ike.

Big Brother burping him. I wish this wasn't in still time as this was really cute to see him attempt to burp him.

Ike hanging out w/ Daddy

not the best picture of me nor Ike, but I had to be in the post about all of us hanging w/ Ike.

Cheese ball Patton w/ Ike. Most of the pictures I have of Patton and Ike are of him kissing or talking w/ him...so it is nice to get a smiling pic of Patton. If this smile doesn't scream...CRAZY child I am not sure what does. He is definitely testing his boundaries since Ike has moved in on his baby spot. Patton is into dancing to nursery rhymes and singing them. I am amazed at his tone and how he knows all the songs. he LOVES music!