Thrilla in Manila

Excitment Around Here!

2012-01-24T18:30:00.003-06:00

Exciting...
The big news around here is that we just bought our tickets to the US! I can't believe how fast the last three years have gone! It seems like we were just on furlough last year. It's a weird feeling to be so excited about going to the US while loving life here in the PI.

Even more exciting...
The flight will be on Emirates, one of the nicest airlines around! My parents found us a really great rate. No more herding us into an airborne cave for 27 hours (cough) Delta (cough). I couldn't be more excited! Here are some highlights:

* ONLY one layover, and it's in Dubai! I feel fancy already!

*The first flight is 8 hours, 25 minutes to Dubai, then we hang out there for 4 hours, and then we tuck in for 13 hours 45 minutes to New York City.

*The length of those flights would have made me groan in the past, but I'm all excited about the 1200 channels to surf through on my personal TV, and more importantly, on the kids personal TV's!

*Mackenzie said, "I love flying on Emirates because you NEVER HAVE TO GO TO SLEEP!"

*When we were looking at the web site, Mackenzie and I of course went straight to the first-class pictures. They have their own personal suites with doors that close them in, beds, mini-bar, unlimited snacks, and access to the on-board shower! Mackenzie said, "Ok, we need to start selling stuff so that we can get those seats!"

*The kids get little backpacks full of activities, special children's meals that are delivered before the rest of the passengers, and even Caleb gets his own personal supply of baby food.

*Wi-fi and power outlets at my seat! Yeah, you know I'll be updating my status every few moments. "Now I'm stretching my legs out because I have room to do so!" "Now I'm watching Gone With the Wind." "Now I'm chatting with Josh from 6 miles above the ocean!"

Most exciting...
My mom found an almost unheard of price on Emirates for airline tickets to the PI, so she's coming for the last couple weeks of school and then she'll fly home with me and the kiddos!

Just like last furlough, Josh has to stay here for 6 extra weeks of basketball ministry trips. If I stayed here with him, I'd only see him for 2 of those weeks, so we decided that if we're going to be without him anyway, we should have Panera Bread access. Plus, we won't be able to travel quite as freely this furlough b/c the girls will be in school, so I want to get as much time in with my family as possible!

And just so my post isn't without pictures...

Yesterday, Bella was playing with a toy and accidentally hit Caleb in the face with it. She felt so badly about it that she drew two pictures for him and taped them to his crib so that it was the first thing he saw when he woke up.

Last weekend was the annual Talent Night at school. I love that Mackenzie loves fun headbands as much as I do! Mackenzie also borrowed my pashmina and wrapped it around her neck. She looked like quite the Parisian school girl with her little beret and scarf.

Back to the 6 of us

2012-01-19T23:31:00.004-06:00

Look what happens when Aunt Teresa isn't here to snuggle Caleb to sleep each night...

We sat him up on the couch with us and while we were all trying to solve [TV] crime, Caleb became overwhelmed with the Z's.

Speaking of Z's, I think I should sign off and go catch a couple before the girls sleepover tonight! If you hear hours upon hours of screaming and giggling coming from the general vicinity of Manila, it's probably coming from our place.

Reunited!

2012-01-14T20:14:00.003-06:00

There's nothing better than being woken up at 6:30 am by the kids excited squeals and giggles from their daddy just walking in the door! Josh arrived back in Manila at 5:30 am and showed up at our door an hour later. He came bearing lots of treats and gifts, but I think we're all thrilled to just have him back. ("Not us - we need the stuff!" - Chandler)

So I feel like the week kind of flew by! I think it was largely due to TNT being here. They took good care of us this week and we tell them regularly that they have "perfected the art of spoiling missionaries."

Here is an example...

They treated me and another missionary lady to mani/pedis and Starbucks, followed by lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. It was the most wonderful morning, just a taste of what heaven will be like. (How can there NOT be Cyma's chicken souvlaki in heaven?)

What's up

2012-01-12T06:41:00.004-06:00

Josh is in Australia...with the computer...which has my memory stick still in it. So no pictures this week! It hasn't been as challenging as it usually is when it's 4 kids/1 parent. That's probably because TNT have been taking great care of us!

* Teresa is more than happy to cuddle, change, rock, and love on Caleb. I really just step in when it's time for him to eat! Plus, that frees me up to get things done and to hang out with the older kids. We've been having lots of fun at the pool!

* They took me on date night last night! I was sans date, of course, but we still had lots of fun. We went to a restaurant that I've been wanting to try and then to a movie, via Starbucks. Tom is my Starbucks buddy. Josh and Teresa like it, but Tom and I both recognize and respect the magnificence of a caramel macchiato.

* They offer to stay with the kids so that I can get a run in. I definitely have more patience and energy for single parenthood when I get out by myself and let those endorphins loose. Very therapeutic!

* I've run a marathon! And it only took me 8 workouts. I guess I need to quicken the pace if I actually want to attempt a marathon.

* I downloaded a bunch of one-hit wonders from the 90's for running. "I love you always forever, near or far, closer together..."

* Teresa is taking me for the treat of all treats tomorrow! Mani/pedi followed by lunch at Cyma, one of our favorite restaurants here. It's Mediterranean, which is probably my favorite cuisine at the moment.

* Mackenzie update: She's happy to be back in school and SO excited for her bestie, Abby, to be back at the end of the month. She's become the little cruise director in coordinating an excursion to Enchanted Kingdom for all of her friends and their families.

* Bella update: She has a birthday party to go to tomorrow and is practically shaking with excitement. She said she wanted to go to bed immediately after supper so that the party would come sooner.

* Deacon update: We've been talking about Angry Bird undies. He's been back in diapers for a week and hasn't stepped up to the potty by himself. But the Angry Bird undies were a game changer. He wants them. He wants to buy them. He wants to wear them. But I keep telling him that he can't buy them until he's ready to wear them all the time. Hopefully, his desire will become overwhelming and he'll forget all about the power struggle!

* Caleb update: He might be potty trained before Deacon! He seems to treat his Bumbo seat as a toilet (which is funny, because Deacon has called it "Caleb's toilet" since he first got it). Almost every time he sits in it, he ends up with a dirty diaper or a blowout.

* We just started facilitating a Growing Kids God's Way class at our house! I'm really excited about it. It's our third time taking the class and I learn new things every time we study it. We tend to apply the material to our kids current age, so the info we're applying with a 7,5,3, and 5 month old might be a little different than when we had a 6,4, and 2 year old.

* I'm playing Words With Friends with Teresa, Skype-ing with Josh, and posting this blog, all at the same time. This is probably a good place to call it quits on this post.

What We Did Over Christmas Vacation

2012-01-05T20:45:00.007-06:00

I've blogged about the exciting things that we've done this Christmas break, but on the days we didn't have blog-worthy excitement, the kids found lots of things to keep them busy.

*Swimming
*Reading books
*Having tea parties together (sniff, love my girls!)

*Playing a LOT of Super Mario 3
*Barbies, Barbies, Barbies
*Shooting hoops
*Beados
*Watching movies
*Playing with Caleb
*Crafts (this was actually made in preschool, but isn't it cute with the little handprint angel wings?)

*Scooters
*Writing stories
*Etc etc etc

Big news in Deacons life...(and one day he'll understand that it was only fair that I post about it for all the grief it is causing!)

He's going back to diapers for at least two weeks! The boy will not stop withholding his poop! He just doesn't go...at all. He holds it and holds it, but of course, he can't hold it all in all the time, so he's been staining multiple pairs of underwear daily. Anyway, that's enough detail for the time being.

I feel like we've tried everything except this, so it's time. We've told him that we're not going to force him to poop on the potty, so when he's ready, he can just do it himself. Translation: We're getting steamrolled by a 3-year-old! At least that's what it feels like. It's driving me nuts that my 3-year-old is being given the freedom to call the shots around here. He's on the 3rd day of diapers and couldn't be happier with the situation. Now he doesn't have to stop what he's doing to sit on the toilet, even to pee! Needless to say, it's a big part of my prayer life these days.

Caleb went to the doctor for a check-up this week. He's a happy and healthy 4 mon/27 day old bouncing baby boy.

7.46 kg (16.4 lbs) - 50th percentile
63 cm (24.8") - 85th percentile

His tricks:
- roll over (tummy to back only)
- squeals in delight
- reach for an object
- smiles and giggles
- interacts
- "talks" to us
- loves to be tickled, at least I think. He hasn't said otherwise.

*He nurses 6x's a day, and I'm in no rush to start baby food.
*He sleeps about 8 hours a night from about 11:00pm to 7:00am.
*When he hears Aunt Teresa walk in, he immediately lets us know that he wants her to pick him up.

It's been a really fun vacation! Sleeping in, going to the beach, playing Mario 3 with Kenzie, holiday baking, going out with TNT, it's all been great. Mackenzie and Bella go back to school on Tuesday, and I'm ready for things to settle back down. Josh is still waiting to see if his plane ticket to Australia comes through. He's on a waiting list for Sunday's flight, so we're just waiting to find out if I'll be quadruple-teamed next week.

It's On!

2012-01-04T08:29:00.003-06:00

Hopefully I'll be in that crowd on November 4, 2012!

I just applied to run in the NYC Marathon, the world's largest marathon!!

The random drawing is in April, and I'm not sure how good my chances are of getting in, so I think in this case, it's ok to pray to win the lottery. There is a qualifying time of 3:23, but that ain't happening anytime soon, so like thousands of others, I'll take my chances.

Up until about a year ago, I thought a marathon was not a physical possibility for me. Then I ran a 5K and decided that I could actually run more than a mile at a time. Then I ran a 10K and that felt even better. Then I ran 21...oh, no wait, I got pregnant and had a baby, and have yet to run double-digit miles.

Anyway, this is now a goal of mine that I think would be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G to achieve and I'm excited to see what my mind and body can do. Kind of like natural childbirth. And (hopefully), after Nov. 4, 2012, I'll be able to tell you which was easier!

Here is the course. It starts on Staten Island and takes you through all five boroughs, ending in Central Park. Just to put things into perspective, Central Park is huge, right? Well, in this map, it's that teeny tiny green rectangle at the end of the course. That's a lot 'o running! Pretty intimidating...

Just in case that goal doesn't work out and I don't get selected, my other New Years goal, courtesy of Elisa, is to run 1000 miles in 2012. It'll be challenging, but I find that I'm better at lacing up my sneaks and getting out there if I have a goal.

Also, we have a shopping day with TNT planned for tomorrow, and as of now, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, and Chili's are on the docket, so that's pretty good motivation to burn some cals too.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:08:00.007-06:00

New Years Eve is fun in these here parts. First of all, hundreds of thousands of fireworks are shot off starting at about 7:00 pm. At around midnight, it is equivalent to every last firework shot off on July 4th combined into one city. Fireworks are cheap, so it seems as if all 28,617,577 (I just found out that there are more people in my city than in all of Australia!!!) people in Manila have purchased a firework or two. It's fun, but at 12:01 am I want to sleep in silence. However, the fireworks continue for another hour and a half or so.

The other reason New Years Eve is fun is that loads of Faithies come up to school to watch the fireworks (we're on a hill overlooking the city) and for the alumni vs. varsity volleyball, basketball, and soccer games. I love it because I get to see and play with a bunch of my former volleyball players. Also, it's fun to play against the basketball team that Josh coaches. Instead of a high five, he gets a "good game" kiss at the end of the game.

This is the volleyball group. I've played with or coached all but two of these girls!

And the basketball teams. It was so fun, except that every time I scored a basket, the annpincer would address me as Mrs. M----- instead of Valerie. I felt like I should be in mom jeans, passing out cupcakes on the bench, instead of playing! :)

We didn't get out of the gym until 11pm, and my kids were going until the very last minute! They had a blast. Josh and I are loving this phase in our family, because we can let the three older ones run around by themselves (at school) and Caleb is still happy to be held or in his car seat.

The kids watched the fireworks for a little while when we got home and then we put them to bed. Caleb was wide awake, so he, Teresa, and I sat on our porch and watched the fireworks until midnight.

Now it's bright and early 2012, and its quite obvious the party that went on around the city last night. The smoke is SO thick, we can't even see the skyscrapers that are 6 miles away!

I'm excited about the New Year! We got to ring it in with Tom and Teresa here. We're so excited that our besties, Dave, Michele and family return from furlough in a few weeks. However, then we turn around and go on our own furlough in the summer - super excited about that! Our Must-Do list for furlough is getting pretty long and I'm not sure how we'll cram it all in! 2011 will be hard to top, but we trust that God has some special things in mind for our 2012.

Not So Extreme Makeover: Chair Edition

2011-12-30T21:10:00.004-06:00

Back when my parents were here in August, my mom and I both found some great upholstery fabric for nice and cheap at the market. We both wanted to recover our dining room chairs: Hers so that they would coordinate with the room better. Mine because they get spilled on daily.

What with a new baby, volleyball season, and lack of know-how, I haven't got around to actually doing the project. Enter Tom! I told Tom about my idea and asked if he knew how to go about it. He hadn't ever done it before, but being a super handy guy anyway, he figured it out and did the entire project for me! Plus, he tightened everything and made the chairs feel a lot sturdier. Many many thanks, Tom!

Side note: I put this on facebook, but I want to make sure I document it so we can keep laughing about it for years to come.
Speaking of being handy....The other day, Josh asked Mackenzie to go get him a screwdriver. She replied, "What style? You want Phillipe or Turner?" We all laughed at her Handy Manny application.

Anyway, here is the before picture. I wanted to take a picture of the dirtiest chair (ahem, Deacon), but that one had already been covered. I had pre-treated the chairs when we bought the table, but even Scotchguard is no match for my kiddos!

After: Hip hip!

HOORAY!

All About Nicknames

2011-12-29T00:53:00.005-06:00

We had Caleb, (or as we like to call him, Mint Calep) in stitches last night. He was screaming and giggling and flailing about with delight.

So about the nickname...
We have a "when in Rome..." situation going on. Filipinos LOVE their nicknames! Sometimes it's an abbreviation of their given name (Mackenzie's friend at school is named "Alfonso" but he goes by "Fonzi" - how fun is that?), and sometimes its nowhere close (Hi, my name is Bubbles. Well, it's actually Jen, but I go by Bubbles.)

Anyway, here is the breakdown of our family's terms of endearment.

Bella says her brother's name with more of a "p" sound at the end, instead of a "b" sound. "Calep" sounds like "Julep" - bada-bing bada-boom, he is now (for some reason) "Mint Calep." Of course, we don't call him that officially, but you'd be surprised how often it gets said around here.

Bella has a similar ludicrous nickname. Here's the flow of thought... Bella is the first word of Bella Vista (as in Arkansas). Bella Vista made Josh think of Seinfeld and Del Boca Vista, so now Bella is called "Del Boca Vista" or "Del" or "Boca" or "Boca Vista." It's funny that Josh and I will text each other and totally know what the other is meaning when they say, "Are you picking up Boca?" Funnier than that, Bella responds to any of the names as if it's her given name, without thinking about how bizarre it is.

Mackenzie's nicknames are very normal. "Kenz" and "Kenzie" are pretty much it. I boycott "Mac," but I may lose out to her friends as she gets older. Oh! She does get called "MacRo" from time to time. That was how she said her full name (Mackenzie Rose) when she was 1.

Deacon gets called "Deac-a-leak" occasionally. I believe a friend from our church in KS called him this one day and it stuck. It's background is from the movie Old School, where Will Farrell sees Snoop Dogg and says, "Snoop! Snoop-a-loop!" We thought it was funny, which is how we make lots of decisions around here.

In fact, Deacon's given name is Josh's high-school/college/present nickname. The kids get a little confused when old friends call Josh, "Deacon." The only one without a nickname is l'il ol' me. Well, that's not true. Josh started calling me "Chappy" in college and that has stuck through the years. Recently though, "Chassy" has joined the ranks as that is what shows up in the phone when Josh texts "Chappy." With our adaptations, who knows what it'll be by the time we're 80!

You Should See the Other Guy!

2011-12-28T07:58:00.001-06:00

Bella had a little altercation with a swing, courtesy of Deacon. I meant to take a picture at the height of its black-and-blueness, but it was already healing up nicely by the time we got around to it. Well, I didn't get around to it, but Bella captured this nice self-portrait.

We've been calling her "Black-eyed Bella" for the last few days.

Look No Further For Chocolatey-Caramely-Pretzely Heaven

2011-12-27T06:30:00.008-06:00

I invented something! Well, I really just changed up the presentation. Remember how I wanted to make the chocolate covered caramel pretzel bites but didn't have the pretzel nuggets? Well, I improvised and I think it adds a nice variety to a Christmas cookie platter.

OK, so start with caramels. These were hand delivered from the US, so I wanted to do something special with them. I would've unwrapped them all at once, but the temptation for "1 for the recipe, and 1 for me" would've been too much to handle.

Place a caramel between two pieces of wax paper.

Take a rolling pin and turn that deletable cube into a nice, thin oval.

Then place three little pretzel sticks in the center of the caramel and wrap it around the sticks.

After you've prepared 15 or so, realize that you can actually roll out more than 1 caramel at a time! I switched to 4 at a time and then business started booming.

*(At this moment, a big glass of milk is nice to balance out all the sampling.)

Next up is to melt the chocolate. Everyone uses a double-broiler, but for those of us who aren't as fancy, we use a saucepan of hot water and a metal bowl. The trick is to not let the water boil. It's a test of patience and I failed the first time and aced it the second. I used the Ghiradelli candy-making chocolate and love it. I don't think you can go wrong with chocolate chips and milk though.

Then start dipping!

If you have little helpers nearby, they are perfect Christmas sprinkle sprinklers.

There you have it. Now what should I name these little bites of heaven???

Christmas!

2011-12-26T00:35:00.009-06:00

Christmas has been getting better each year since we started having kiddos and this year was no exception. Because it fell on a Sunday morning, it was a little busier than other Christmases, but we still crammed in all the fun.

I don't know when the kids got up, but the TV was already on when I woke up at 7:30. Based on their LONG naps later on, I'd guess that the sun was still down when they first got up. I remember those days...

We decided to do stocking gifts before church and under-the-tree gifts after. The kids stockings were bursting at the seams with fun gifts and candy from us, Tom and Teresa, and other friends.

Afterwards, we sat down to our traditional Christmas breakfast of overnight french toast and sausage. I don't know why I only bake it at Christmas! I love it and I'm in charge of menus around here...ok, new years resolution. More overnight french toast.

Then we quickly got ready for church. I wanted a family picture, but we were out of time, so I just quickly snapped one of Deacon on the way to the car. I thought he just looked so handsome. Unfortunately, he has a nasty virus right now and he feels crummy. His mouth is full of sores, so anything he eats reduces him to big crocodile tears.

Church was really nice and a perfect opportunity to worship the newborn King! After church, we came home and wanted to quickly snap a family photo before changing into more comfy clothing. (I don't think we've taken a family photo since Caleb was born!) Anyway, we didn't catch Mackenzie before she took off her shoes.

Thanks to so many wonderful friends and family, we had an abundance of presents under the tree! All of us were blessed with things that we love.

Mackenzie gave Deacon a Cars hat. She was so excited to give it to him.

He had just enough energy to enjoy opening presents, but couldn't quite muster a smile.

I didn't mean to upload this pic, but since it's here...Mackenzie gave Bella a cute little purse. Yes, she's wearing her Angry Birds soccer uniform. Christmas colors, you know.

I'm so thankful that Caleb got some great new toys! He mostly has his brother and sister's old toys and they are a little worse for wear, so I'm excited that he got some brand new things to himself.

My photos end there. After presents, the kids went down to nap and Teresa and I got busy in the kitchen, putting together a wonderful feast. It was all traditional yummy stuff and we made sure to have enough for a terrific leftover meal tonight. I'm trying to keep my mind off of it so I'd better stop writing about it.

Josh is going to Australia for basketball ministry in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to balance out a portion of all the food I've crammed into my body over the last few weeks, so we went running together for the first time ever! I thought I'd slow him down, but we stayed together nicely. I think I still prefer to run by my lonesome, but it was fun to have him with me!

Twas the night before Christmas

2011-12-24T07:34:00.018-06:00

It's a little overwhelming when I have too much to post about, but since tomorrow is Dec 25, it isn't going to slow down, so I'll just give it the ol' college try on this Christmas Eve night. The presents are wrapped, "Elf" has been watched, milk and cookies are out for the ants to party on, so I have some time to post before the littlest member of our family wants to eat again.

Speaking of Caleb, he is all about sitting up these days. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the muscles for that just yet, so we either need to hold him up or prop him. I keep saying, "Man, I wish we had a Bumbo! He'd love it and look so cute in it!" Well, Josh has a friend here who asked him what we would all like for Christmas. Josh thought he'd shoot for the moon and tell him that we'd love a Bumbo (even though we've never seen one for sale here.) Well, on Tuesday afternoon, a driver dropped off a whole bunch of gifts from this friend. Josh held up a hexagon shaped gift and said, "Could this be a Bumbo?" When I gave him an enthusiastic affirmation, we decided to open it so we could use it right away. The best part? It's made locally, so I believe it's quite a bit cheaper than a Bumbo!

That night, we decorated sugar cookies. Each year I get a little better at giving up control in the cookie-decorating department. This week, I just made the cookies and the icing and said, "Have at it!" I noticed that I have a lot more fun when I'm not stressed about mixing icing colors, using too many sprinkles, or sampling the goods.

I just bought that mitten cookie cutter this year. I love it, but all my cookie cutters are getting so big! In my childhood, the Christmas tree cookie was the biggest (therefore the best), but in my supply, the Christmas trees are the smallest and I think the mitten is now the reigning biggest and best.

Wednesday through Saturday is the reason that I'm behind on posting. Tom and Teresa and all of us drove up to Subic for a little getaway. It was a lot of fun! The weather was beautiful, the hotel was in a great location for beaches and eats, and we found Fritos!

On Thursday, we spent the day at a water park. It was so much fun! Josh, the kids, and I went from activity to activity while Tom and Teresa stayed in a bungalow with Caleb. It worked out perfectly!
My kayaking lulled Deacon to sleep.

He dozed in the hammock for a long time. He turned out to have a fever for the rest of the day, so rather than play in the wave pool, he just sat in my lap on an innertube while we rode the waves. I, of course, loved the cuddle time!

Any longtime readers of my blog will remember that Mackenzie does NOT like to have sand stuck to her. She loves playing in the ocean, but does not appreciate all that goes with it. Bella, on the other hand, can't get enough of playing in the sand.

Zonked out. This is how the kids slept each night. They did pretty well for being in such close quarters. Each night, they'd settle in for a movie and some Vienna Sausages (I don't know...ask Josh.)

The next day, our friend drove up with his three dogs. He has a Rottweiler named Mr. Darcy, a Doberman named Savage, and a Bull Mastiff named Maximus.

When we met them on the beach, Bella immediately ran into the water and played with them.

The kids all loved playing in the ocean. The water at this beach was a lot calmer and the ocean-bottom a lot smoother than the last beach we were at at Subic. Deacon would jump as high as he could over each wave.

Even Kenz had fun in the sand!

Tom showed us how to get a picture of the kids shimmying up a palm tree.

We went out for Indian food that night, but we couldn't convince TNT that they like Indian food as much as we do! However, we sure appreciate them sitting through it so that we could enjoy our favorites!

...and now we're home! Traffic was delightful and we got home in record time. I'm not sure we're all in tiptop shape. Deacon has some kind of virus and his mouth is full of sores, I'm starting to get a sore throat and swollen glands, and Caleb has been sneezing all evening. We're praying for a great night sleep to prepare us for all the Christmas celebration tomorrow!

Arm Candy

2011-12-19T21:37:00.003-06:00

This is what happens when the big sister gets to play with her baby brother and the camera. Caleb and his arm candy.

Enjoy it now Bellers, because things will change when Caleb becomes the BIG little brother!

"Calling All Angels"

2011-12-18T20:46:00.004-06:00

Friday was the last day of school until January 10 (have I mentioned how much I LOVE Faith's school calendar? It's going to be tough to only get one week next year!) Anyway, it started off with a presentation of bags that the elementary school had collected and stocked with food and other living necessaties. I think they made over 200 bags! Anyway, Mackenzie represented the 2nd grade (or so I'm told, since Josh and I were just a couple of minutes late to the program!) Thankfully, our trusty school photog caught some pictures of it all for me.

Next was the band, and with it all my memories of 5th grade band. I love hearing them play because 1) the songs are always short and 2) the woodwind squeaks and squawks make me smile.

Then the entire elementary came on stage for "Calling All Angels." Our pastor's son was Gabriel and he was INCREDIBLE! It choked me up a little how sweet his high-pitched little voice was.

Anyway, Kenzie was one of the multitude of heavenly hosts.

I love how much she gets into her choreography!

Bella was in the next row over with her preschool class. She loved watching the program and it made her even more excited to start kindergarten next year!

That night, Mackenzie was invited over to a sleepover. She was having a blast with her friends, but when I heard my phone go off at 6:30am the next morning, I knew what was coming. "Mackenzie woke up with a 103 fever, so I'll bring her home after breakfast." Poor girl, she had to come home instead of going to swim at the Faith pool with her friends. Anyway, she spent the day laying around and feeling yucky.

We had a Christmas party to go to that night, so Tom and Teresa stayed home with her while the rest of us went to the party. The hosts always have presents for the kids to play with during the party, so Bella went right to work with the play make-up that they gave her.

The finished product.

The next day, Josh had an all-day long flag football tournament. Well, it wasn't supposed to be all-day, but that's the way it worked out. Anyway, he took Deacon with him and apparently Deacon LOVED it. He loved the football, the mud, the crowd, everything. I wish I had taken a picture of him when they came home because every last inch of him was caked with mud. Instead, I marched him to the shower and didn't think about a picture until I could see his smooth pink skin again. Bummer. He ran through the house, naked as a jaybird, yelling, "Daddy, I'm clean!"

Today and tomorrow will be spent wrapping presents and grocery shopping for Christmas. We're going away for a few days and will be back on Christmas Eve. Maligayang Pasko!

It's The Most Wonderful Season of All

2011-12-13T07:37:00.010-06:00

It's Christmas time and with it comes the excuse, if not obligation, to make (and eat) all kinds of decadent and festive goodies.

We have a cookie party at our Mom 2 Mom group on Thursday so I wanted to make something fun and different. I saw these on Pinterest, and I am all about the salty-sweet combo, so they went straight to the top of my must-try list. I made them tonight and they had me at "hello!"

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies

Right along the same lines are these Caramel Pretzel Bites. I can't find the pretzel nuggets at the moment, so I might have to improvise, but one way or another, these will be made in my kitchen this year!

These aren't very Christmas-y, but I found them while I was browsing and thought they were the perfect little snack for our tropical Christmas. They are way to easy to reach in and grab as you are passing the freezer!
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Along with the craze that is the oh-so-good salted caramel these days, I thought these sounded divine. They call for caramel Hershey's kisses, which I can't get here, so I might have to tweak that recipe too. Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bars

There has never been a dough that I didn't like, and I have to say that chocolate chip cookie dough tops the list. Add the word "truffle," and I'm a smitten kitten.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Mind you, all of these are in addition to our house regulars. Topping that list are Nanaimo Bars. They have a secret Canuck ingredient (that's not so secret now that I'm posting the link). They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. When I'm done making them, the pan weighs about 5 lbs, mostly because I Josh'd them up by doubling the filling and Val'd them up by doubling the chocolate topping.

Mark my words, if this is what I can expect of December posts, you know January's posts will be filled with brilliant weight-loss plans.

Totally!

2011-12-13T07:33:00.003-06:00

When I saw this on Pinterest, I burst out laughing and pinned it to my "Totally!" file. I still laugh every time I think about it.

TNT

2011-12-12T06:11:00.004-06:00

Tom and Teresa have been here for a few weeks now and it's been a terrific few weeks! Teresa has the spiritual gift of organization. Well, it's a spiritual gift to me because it's been a huge blessing! She organized (and cleaned out) my fridge, my pantry and my scrapbooking table, as well as Josh's office up at school.

I was sort of in the habit of just shoving things in places as I got them. Now all of a sudden, I can find things and there is a ton more space. Tom has been working up at school because it just so happens they have some serious phone work to be done and Tom just happens to be a phone pro!

Caleb sure likes having them around. He spends most of his evenings like this. I think he's getting a little too used to being snuggled to sleep, but that's what special substitute grandmas are for!

Whenever he isn't being snuggled, he's usually in this position. It cracks me up.

Christmas ?'s

2011-12-08T19:41:00.008-06:00

CHRISTMAS INTERVIEWS
Deacon 3
Mackenzie 7
Bella 5

Colored lights or white lights?

White lights.
Colored
Colored

Real tree or fake tree?

REAL!
Real
Real

What is your least favorite thing about the holidays?

No way
Traffic
Christmas and birthday

What is one thing you'd like to see under the tree this year?

Monkey Christmas
Hula Hoop
A Ribbon? A Barbie?

What is your favorite thing to do/build in the snow?
Play balls in the snow!
Snow fort
Throw snow balls!

What is your favorite holiday drink?
Milkshake
What's in a New Years drink? (forget it girlfriend)
Milkshake

What is your favorite holiday smell?
Bad poopy Bo.
Thanksgiving turkey!
Cookies!

Who is your favorite reindeer?
Playing in the rain.
Rudolph
Reindeer? Pink!

What is your favorite Christmas Eve tradition?
Playing in the Christmas Eve (do you see a pattern here?)
I don't know
Play in the snow

Are you a Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopper?
Yeah
No
What? No
What is your favorite holiday food?
Supper!
Christmas cookies
Gingerbread cookies

Who do you want to be under the mistletoe with?
Bo
Caleb. This Caleb (pointing to her baby brother)
Bo

Have you bought all of your presents yet?
Yeah. No.
No
What? No.

Do you spend Christmas with a lot of family?
Yeah.
No and yes
Um...yep

Do you still make snow angels?
Yeah.
Not in the Philippines, but in states
Yeah

What is your favorite Christmas movie?
Race Cars. Lightening McQueen!
What are the Christmas movies again? The Grinch!
Gingerbread movie

What do you plan to do on New Years Eve?
Play Christmas basketball.
Fireworks!
What's an Eef?

What is the most expensive thing you have ever received for Christmas?
Church.
I have no idea.
Yaki Mix

How early do you wake up on Christmas morning?
Yeah, early.
Super duper early!
8:00

What do you usually get in your stocking?
Car presents. Basketball. Trains.
Playdoh, candy, cash....ok, backspace cash...
Candies and cookies and milk

What is your favorite Christmas song about Jesus?
Church.
Away in a Manger
In a Manger

What is your favorite Christmas song that isn't about Jesus?
Presents.
Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells

And since Caleb can't answer any questions himself, I'll just post some pictures of him.

He has discovered that he can consciously make noise come out of his mouth. I have to capture a video of him shouting at his brother and sisters. They laugh SO HARD when he blurts out a loud noise. It fills our entire house with giggles. He has also started blowing bubbles (and drool).

It's hard to remember back that far, but I think he's like Kenzie in that it's so easy to make him smile. I know that as a baby, Bella maintained a poker face better than anyone (although now she's the easiest to bring a smile out of) and Deacon would smile a lot but not as much on command like Mackenzie. Anyway, there are a few foolproof moves that always bring a smile out of Caleb. It's fun.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9lBnUQY2RQ0/TuF0PmyN9KI/AAAAAAAAGc4/st-v-V4wGu4/s1600/Picture%2B658.jpg

He's found his toes! How can these yoga moves be so effortless for a baby?

Mackenzie's TV Debut!

2011-12-04T07:52:00.003-06:00

Last night we were at the FA staff banquet when we both got texts from friends saying that they just saw Mackenzie on TV! It was from the pre-game broadcast of the LA Galaxy vs. Azkals game. So fun!

Mackenzie shows up at :33.

Hanging with Becks

2011-12-02T21:06:00.006-06:00

Earlier this week, we got an offer from a friend who had tickets to an LA Galaxy clinic for kids. We weren't sure if it would work out for Mackenzie to go, but at the last minute, it all worked out! Josh got her out of school early (gasp) and our friend (who took these pictures) drove her and 3 other girls from the children's home to the clinic.

The tickets for this clinic were P15,000 ($350)!!! But it's true what they say, "It's who you know!" Her dad had 4 complimentary tickets, and Mackenzie got to be part of the blessing.

She didn't know who David Beckham is, but based on the reactions from people, she's figuring out that he's a big deal and it's pretty special that she got some up close and personal coaching from him!

All the girls on Josh's basketball team went nuts when they heard she got to hang out with Becks.

Josh had a basketball game to coach that day, so that's where the rest of us were while Kenz was rubbing elbows with the LA Galaxy. When she got dropped off where we were, I was peppering her with questions. "What did he say to you?" "Did he give you a high five?" "What was his accent like?" "How was his hair?" ...and more.

Later on at dinner, she was staring off into space and just started giggling. I asked her what she was thinking about and she laughed as she said, "David Beckham poured water into my mouth and then splashed me in the face with it."

I'm so glad Cristina took so many great pics!

I have yet to ask her what she learned at the clinic!

So fun, right?

Parties!

2011-12-01T07:24:00.007-06:00

Josh returned from Hong Kong bearing gifts! Since we have ENOUGH stuff in this condo, I texted him, "No gifts. Just ginger beer." It's yummy, like ginger ale, and is pretty popular in HK. Anyway, he brought the kids (really just the girls) home a beautiful tea set in it's own decorative storage box. When I got home from a run, I saw that they were already having their first tea party. What does Daddy give them for tea? Tea and pixie stick powder.

The next day, I made sure to grab my camera for the morning "tea pot party," as Bella calls it.

Here are Deacon and Bella doing "cheers." Or as Deacon says, "Pares." I don't know why....I also don't know why he calls "meatballs - micols" or "waffles - wacols." I also don't know why the rest of us now call "meatballs - micols" or "waffles - wacols."

Wednesday was a holiday here, so some of those gone to Hong Kong during Thanksgiving hosted a Thanksgiving brunch. It was so fun and complete with lots of terrific eating! I made a sausage egg brunch dish and pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake. (PS: the entire time I was making it, I was dancing around the kitchen singing, "I like big bundts and I cannot lie...") We also had turkey breast, turkey and sweet potato hash, cranberry sauce, pumpkin cheesecake, coffee cake, fancy little bruschetta, fruit, and I think that's it. Anyway, it was a fun twist to Thanksgiving feasts!

While the adults binged, the kiddos ran around the yard and jumped on the trampoline (Deacon calls it "the bouncer".) One of the gracious dads decided he could jump with them without seeing his meal in reverse.

Meanwhile, Caleb hung out with the grown-ups. My friend Jen gave this onesie to our baby before we knew boy or girl. It says, "Wonderfully Made" on it. So cute, right?

We've Got a Finger Sucker!

2011-11-27T22:51:00.002-06:00

Out comes the Nuk, in go the fingers...

A Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T07:21:00.005-06:00

I almost signed off of facebook this week because everyone's posts about family, food, and fall weather was making me homesick! Plus, just as I was making a conscious decision to be thankful, Deacon peed all over my bed!

Thankfully, God's perfect timing flew two dear friends over to the Philippines and into my condo just in time for Thanksgiving! TNT, as we lovingly call them, have arrived for a couple of months to encourage us and other missionaries, as well as serve in their areas of expertise. They also came bearing so. many. gifts. !!!

Anyway, Josh is still in Hong Kong, so I've loved having them here to keep me company. They brought over a turkey breast, so we cooked that bad boy up last night, along with all the fixins'. Food - check. Fun - check. Family - might as well be!

Mackenzie had a Thanksgiving celebration at school. Last year she was a Pilgrim. This year she was a Native American. At dinner that night, she quizzed us on all the different kinds of indians and where they live and what they eat. It turns out, I don't know a whole lot about Native Americans!

Teresa is a hairdresser, so she gave both the girls nice new cuts today.

The biggest blessing of our year!

The purpose of this post was to list all the things I'm thankful for, but I'm overwhelmed with all the blessings to write down. That's a good problem to have right?

Seriously, I know where to start....I'm thankful for Jesus Christ, His love for me and His gift of salvation. From there, I don't know where to stop!!! Well, I know I'm not thankful that I had to wash urine out of my bedspread this week, but I sure am thankful for the little guy that caused it!

Finally!

2011-11-22T19:32:00.008-06:00

Bella has waited a LONG time for her birthday. After celebrating the rest of the family's birthdays every few weeks beginning in June, she felt like her birthday was never going to happen! Then, because I was in Korea on her official birthday, she had to wait 10 more days for the party.

Her swim party day dawned rainy and cool. I hear it was down to 78 degrees, but I was under a blanket with a hot cup of coffee in the morning! The tropical weather does weird things to one's body. Anyway, it was a very comfortable morning spent decorating her My Little Pony cake. However, I didn't have any cornstarch for my "high humidity icing" recipe and with extra humidity in the weather, the cake didn't stand a chance. The frosting was actually sweating! I kept it in the fridge until the moment before candle-time.

Bella wanted to have a swim party with water balloons, so she invited all the little girls from her preschool class over. It was quite the diverse little group. We had a Korean, a Swiss girl, a Filipina, a half-Filipina, and of course, my little Americans (with a touch of Canadian).

After swimming for a little while, we had a water balloon toss. I thought the kids would love it, and they did, until their balloon burst, and then they were all grumps. I had to lay down the no-pouting-at-the-party law!

Deacon was the most funny contestant. He looked like the balloon was going to explode every time it came near him.

After all the kids were freezing (which took 20 minutes or so), we headed back upstairs for some cake and presents. Bella looked thrilled that it was finally her turn to blow out the candles!

The birthday group with all their My Little Pony party gear, courtesy of Grandma!

There weren't enough seats around the table, so Deacon sat at the bar. I just thought he looked so cute eating his cake with his pony hat on. I meant to get a picture of Caleb with the party hat, but I forgot!

Bella got all kinds of fun presents from friends and family and has been playing with them non-stop since the party. We let her choose supper last night, and she chose Terriaki Boy. No McNuggets for these kids. They like their California Maki and Gyozas! Their kids tray always comes with a dessert, and it's usually a chocolate gelatin, but last night they were giving coffee jelly. It tasted like straight brewed coffee, and of course, none of them liked it. Duh.

I can't believe sweet li'l Bellers is 5! She is such a doll and so sweet. I rarely have to remind her about manners and she's so thoughtful of others. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I think she'd make a terrific nurse. She is always quick to grab an ice-pack or a band-aid if someone gets hurt. Plus, if she ever sees anyone cry, she runs and gets them a glass of water to help them feel better.

She's also an encourager. Yesterday, her friend was able to get through the intense obstacle course of getting a toy out of its packaging. I could hear Bella across the house, "I'm SO proud of you. You did such a great job!"

She is starting to recognize some sight words and always tells whoever's listening what rhymes with what.

I tell Bella pretty regularly how cute she is and that I want her to stay little forever. I've had to stop saying that because then she started telling me that she didn't want to grow up because I wanted her to stay little. So now we talk about all the fun things that will happen when she gets older. She's excited to get snacks whenever she wants (seriously, that's the best!), she can get soda without asking, she and I can share shoes, she can go with Mommy to Korea, etc. Each age really is so fun and I'm thrilled that she's growing up so wonderfully and beautifully, but I'll forever cherish the memories of Bella as a baby, toddler, and preschooler!! ....Except for the oh-so-many potty accidents.

*************
Josh left early this morning for a basketball tournament in Hong Kong. My kids keep commenting on how only one of us is ever here. It's been true for most of November! But I keep reminding them that once Daddy gets home on Sunday, things will be back to normal.

*************

I haven't posted pics of Caleb in a long time and the boy has CHANGED! I took him to his 3 month check-up and he put on a whopping 2 kilos in one month! I noticed when I got back from Korea that he was putting on some chub. It's pretty cute.

Here are his stats:
6.23kg (13.7lbs)
59 cm (23.2")
42 cm (16.5")

I never updated about his return to nursing. After a week of about 60 bottles, he was a little weirded out about nursing. After a few scowls, a gag or two, he happily latched on and we haven't looked back. I'm so thankful! I was SICK of pumping that entire week. On the plus side, I brought home about half of what I pumped, so my Val-time schedule just blew wide open!

He's a great little boy. Never disobeys. Never sasses back. Never steps on my toes. Always eats what he's given. What a guy!

Seriously, he's such a joy! He and I just sit and talk in the evenings after the others are asleep. He discovered how to gurgle, so we just go back and forth gurgling and giggling. It's easy to make him smile and he smiles with his entire body. You know what I'm talking about. He'll be looking elsewhere, and as soon as his eyes meet mine, his mouth opens wide with a grin, his eyes light up, and his arms and legs start flailing. It's the best!

I'm in no rush for him to grow up.

Go Angry Birds!

2011-11-19T00:06:00.006-06:00

Volleyball season just finished up, not only for me but also for Kenz. Josh wanted his middle school girls team to have one more game, but he was having trouble finding a team to play. One of my former players now has a home for abused school-aged girls, so Josh asked if they could come up to school and play. They were so excited and played a great game! It was a fun game, and since it was just a friendly game, Mackenzie got to play!

Josh asked the officials to let the other team serve from anywhere on the court since he wasn't sure who could get it over, but he made his own team all serve from behind the line. He made no exception for Mackenzie, so she gave it her all and served as hard as she could. It never made it over the net, but she came pretty close!

Bella took this picture.

As soon as one sport is over, the next one starts up! Mackenzie and the Angry Birds play soccer every Saturday morning. Today was the first day that I got to watch. (We could have actually watched two weeks ago, but we both forgot all about it!)

Mackenzie is a lot more aggressive this year, which is fun.

AND....she scored a fantastic goal today! I wasn't sure she'd do it because of the angle she was at, but she gave it a swift, strong kick and in it went! I was so excited. I may have cheered a lot. Another mom came over and asked, "You're Mackenzie's mom?" I answered, "How'd you guess?"

I had my camera out, but missed the photo op. It would have been blurry anyway, what with all the jumping up and down. I told Mackenzie to reenact her reaction and this is what I got.

Home!

2011-11-13T18:22:00.015-06:00

Life is headed back to normal! I just got home from Korea yesterday. As expected, it was a fantastically fun week with the girls! We didn't finish as well as we had hoped (or expected!), but we learned a valuable life lesson. After being frustrated with back-to-back 2nd places finishes in the last two years, we would have LOVED to be 2nd this year. Or 3rd. Or 4th. Or 5th. Or 6th. That's right, we finished at a bummer of a 7th place! It was unexpected and unfortunate, but I think I learned some things as a coach that I can help my future teams with (or whatever... =)

I didn't take many pictures at all. I think I just took the opportunity to relax, sleep, and enjoy the break from mommydom.

Since our flight was at 1:30am, the girls decided to spice up the night by traveling as superheroes.

We flew on the most basic of airlines, which is fine, unless it's still almost as expensive as the nicer airlines! This is the airline we fly domestically and it's fine for an hour flight somewhere, but when you're cramped like this in the middle of the night for 4 hours, it's a little tough on the ol' bod.

I slept with my legs out in the aisle, because I really couldn't fit them in the seat allowance! I woke up every time someone had to use the bathroom or when the flight attendant was wheeling their cart.

Anyway, we arrived in Seoul at 4:30 am to wonderful fall weather. I just love the weather there! We headed straight to the hotel, but couldn't check in until 3:00 pm, so we just hung out in the lobby, went to the base chapel at 10 am (NOT in super hero costumes), ate at the mess hall, sat in the jacuzzi, practiced in the gym, and finally checked in. I was so excited to go for a run in my new sneakers and in the fall weather. It was a delicious run. I barely even sweat!

The tournament started the next morning. During the opening ceremonies, the local high school did this cool Korean drum show. It was pretty amazing. Personally, I loved the second kid from the right in the front with the bowl-cut.

Then the games began! Almost every match we played last week, we started out flat and finished strong. But of course, sometimes we had dug a hole too deep, so by the time we came around and started playing great, the point deficit was too large to close. That resulted in the 7th place finish.

On the second day of tournament play, we saw that one team has misread the schedule and missed their game, resulting in their forfeit. We felt bad for them (but still kinda made fun of them.) You're here for one reason. Make sure you know your game schedule!

Well, that all came around to bite us, because we almost found ourselves in the same boat on the last day! We thought we played the 7th/8th place game at 11, so we let the girls sleep in. The other coach and I were enjoying books and morning coffee when we got a phone call at 8:45 am. "Did you know you play at 9?" Dee slammed down the phone and we busted down the doors of the girls, telling them to wake up, get their uniform on and sprint to the gym. I threw on whatever clothes I could find and I sprinted right along with them. We felt so bad, but the girls were laughing and screaming, "This is fun!" all the way to the gym. I arrived with the starters at 8:57, ready to take the court. The officials, bless their hearts, didn't want the girls to risk injury, so they allowed 15 minutes of warm up. It made for a fun morning, especially since we won!

The day that we lost the chance for a championship was a hard day, and I don't need to re-live it, so I'll just leave it at that!

Bella's birthday was Friday, 11/11. We just happened to be playing a game during her birth moment, 11:11. The other coach called a time-out and the girls said, "Look! It's 11:11!" So instead of the "Vanguards" or "Fight" that we usually shout at the end of a time-out, we all shouted, "Bella!"

The teams from Guam always exchange gifts with other teams before the start of the game. We started doing that a few years ago, but this year we decided to write special Bible verses and hand those out to our opponents. We had a lot of laughs brainstorming potential verses to give to the person you want to beat, but in the end, we all chose verses that would encourage someone, saved or unsaved.

I always gotta take my mid-air pose. This was outside the US base, where we got to spend an afternoon shopping in Korea. I had 10,000 won burning a hole in my pocket. Sounds like a lot right? I bought Angry Bird socks for the kids, a pair of Korean flag boxers, and a dumpling.

I was afraid that with our 7th place finish, we wouldn't get two All-Tournament players. Two of my seniors have been on the team since their freshman year and IMO, were the best setter and the best hitter of the tournament. I know I know, how do you finish 7th with the best setter and hitter in the tournament?? Just one of life's great mysteries, I suppose. Anyway, thankfully the other coaches appreciated their awesomeness and voted them both to the All-Tournament team!

I stocked up on Reese's Fast Breaks for Josh, which would have been great, except that it's Reese's Nutrageous that he loves. Bummer!

Can you tell that I'm just writing thoughts as they come to me?

Here was the view from my hotel room. I know I sound like an old lady appreciating the foliage, but isn't it beautiful? You really learn to appreciate something when you don't have it!

Every Far East, it doesn't matter which sport, we always meet Filipinos who love that we're from the Philippines and spend the week cheering for us. This was no exception. A sweet lady named Eloiza came up to us and said, "I'd love to go to the Commissary and buy you guys a few snacks." We were so excited since we're not allowed to shop there without a military ID. Little did we know that "a few snacks" meant 10+ bags of groceries!!! We were shocked and SO GRATEFUL! Eloiza and her kids were so sweet and came to all of our games (except for the 9:00 one, since we told her it was at 11:00!)

Here we are checking in for our return flight at 5:00 am.

And now that I'm home, I need to get to the grocery store. The fridge is empty and Caleb is wearing a sanitary pad with some ribbon. (just kidding).

Vanguards Out

2011-11-04T19:41:00.010-05:00

Tonight, or rather super early tomorrow morning, we're flying to Seoul, South Korea for the DoDDs Far East Tournament. I can't believe how fast this season has flown by! I'm sure having a newborn in the midst of it has something to do with it.

Speaking of the little man...our original plan was to bring Caleb as the team mascot. Alas, his passport was not ready in time so he's staying home with the others. I've been pumping like a machine over the last few days, but I only have about 2.5 days worth of milk, so Caleb will get some formula too. He's the first of our kids to get formula, so you know if/when he makes unique mistakes or developments in the future, I'm faulting the formula (and not parenting techniques or lack thereof!) I'm just hoping and praying that he'll want to nurse again after a week straight of bottles!

I'm going to miss my little buster!

Deacon loves to cuddle with Caleb, but at the moment he doesn't have the soft touch that his sisters have.

Yesterday, Mackenzie's class performed in chapel. They signed three verses and sang three songs. Kenz did a great job with the sign language! She gets her graceful, flowing movements from her [great] Grammy. I have video of it, but I don't have time to upload it right now, so just a picture will have to suffice.

Deacon loved watching his big sister.

Bella's preschool class got to watch chapel too. When Mackenzie's class was singing, "Pharoah Pharoah," Bella and the other 4-year-olds would giggle uncontrollably during the "HUH!"

So I'm off to Korea! It's always great to experience another culture, especially with the help of the Korean on my team! But I'm also so excited that the tournament is at a US military base, so we'll be using USD, eating US food, drinking Dr. Pepper and chocolate milk, and even enjoying US weather. It's perfect fall weather right now and I can't wait! Josh brought me back new running shoes, so I'm excited that my first run will be in cool weather.

But I'll really miss my 4 little ones and my hubs, who I only got to enjoy for a couple of days since his return. I guess I'll just be drowning my sorrows in some Dr. Pepper...

Team Bonding

2011-11-01T21:49:00.003-05:00

November 1 is a holiday over here, so there was no school yesterday. Since we're leaving for the Far East tournament in Korea on Saturday, we decided to have some last minute team bonding.

Our senior captains thought that the best way to unify our team would be to have a ginormous, disgusting, dry-heave inducing food fight!

The contents of the food fight were straight out of a Shel Silverstein poem!
"Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese...

...With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans and tangerines,
Crusts of black burned buttered toast,
Gristly bits of beefy roasts. . ."

You get the idea. So throw all that together in 90 degree heat, and you got yourself quite an indescribable smell! I wish I could find the words. I don't know that I'll be able to eat salad dressing or tomato sauce again.

I was supposed to just be capturing photos of the girls food fighting, but someone fired the shot heard around the world, and it. was. on. Five minutes later I was covered in juice, powdered sugar, ranch dressing, shortening, oil, tomato sauce, and who knows what else. At one point, I was tearing into a packet of tomato sauce with my teeth (yeah, that's how I food fight apparently) when someone poured something all over me. i don't know what it was, but the combination dripped into my mouth, causing a Fear Factor moment.

Then someone had the great idea of dog-piling on top of the coaches. I thought it was a fun idea until they started piling on top of me. I felt something in my rib pop, so this picture captures everyone's fun while I have my head down, trying to determine if my vital organs were still intact. I wish I was looking up because that would have made for a really fun photo!

After that, we tried to shower off the smell that we were all sporting, but I'm not sure that we'll ever fully get rid of it! We headed out to lunch, not that any of us had much of an appetite, and then headed back to school for a 4 on 4 fund raising volleyball tournament. It was a lot of fun, although my rib was not so comfortable. (It's TOTALLY why I hit the ball out-of-bounds!)

Well, Caleb is hungry and as Kenzie so accurately describes, "This computer is making me crazy," so I'm going to sign off.

Josh gets home tonight!!!

Mom 2 Mom

2011-10-26T23:30:00.007-05:00

Right around the time Caleb was born, a Mom 2 Mom group started here. I haven't gone yet because I just felt like I couldn't add another activity to my life just yet. However, after having gone this morning, I'm wishing I'd been going all along! I loved it.

1) Deacon got to go play and have a Bible story with other kids his age, and he loved it!
2) Great snacks - always makes for a good get together.
3) A wonderful sharing time from one of my favorite mom's here. (Those mentor moms know their stuff!)
4) A diaper bag activity to keep the kiddos busy when we're out. I can have my iPad back!
5) A new recipe!
6) So much encouragement about being a mother and a missionary and a missionary mother!

Another mom shared an amazing testimony. I mentioned her back on 8/8 when she gave birth to her little girl at 32 weeks. Remember? On that day, I was trying to have my baby and she was trying NOT to have hers!

It's been fun to see our babies around school together in the last couple of months. She's already come to my rescue when I had forgotten a diaper for Caleb!
Anyway, here are the little August babies in their matchy-matchy car seats. Cutie-patooties!

I'm already excited for the next meeting!

Festival!

2011-10-22T08:41:00.006-05:00

Josh headed out early this morning for his trip to the US, via a night in Singapore. For the next 10 days, it's the four kids and yours truly! Thankfully, day 1 came and went quickly because of the festival we had at school today.

There are vendors who sell anything from chinzy Angry Bird toys to elegant handicrafts. There were bouncy houses. All the classes and clubs were doing fundraisers, so there was a dunk tank, face painting, and all kinds of food for sale. We did it all! The kids favorite, I think, was the petting zoo. (I think the bouncy slide would have been their favorite, except that they all came home with burns on their elbows and knees.)

Our little animal lover jumped right in, getting her hands on everything she could.

And I do mean, EVERYTHING. I was shocked when she marched right up to this 15' python as if they were long lost friends! (Anyone have this bizarre experience of your 4-year-old being braver than you? It's a weird feeling!)

Even Kenzie got in on the serpentine fun.

These kids were pretty much just tossing parts of the snake around, and finally I asked the handler, "Um...isn't there going to be a point where the snake has just had enough and he'll snap?" He just chuckled and said, "no." Didn't convince me.

There was also a fun monkey that Josh would've loved, a huge lizard, and a bunch of house-pet animals. The kids loved being down there. Deacon isn't in the pics because he kept escaping to the nearby playground.

After sno-cones and kimbab (a yummy Korean food - and yes, I do sing "MmmBop" every time I say "kimbab"), we hit the face painting station.

I guess I didn't take any pics after that. We watched the dunk tank for a little while and finished at the bouncy houses. Like I said, the kids all got burns from the slide, so we were all ready to go home after that. The fun-filled morning made for nice long afternoon naps by all. I plan for a similar day tomorrow. Fun-filled church time followed by another nice long afternoon nap! Josh has wheels up early tomorrow morning and will touch down in Kansas on Sunday evening.

I'm thrilled that he get to go to the US and see family and friends, but between you and me, he'd better bring home some major make-it-up-to-you presents! =)

The Girl Loves Pie!

2011-10-18T21:04:00.002-05:00

Hi. I'm a pie fairy! I can turn Miss Lock into a pie! I say "Pie pie I am Hungry! turn Miss Lock into a pie!" Poof! I didn't turn Miss Lock into a pie, but I turned everything into pie! Wow Cherry pie, banana cream pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie everywhere! My spell didn't work on Miss Lock but this pie sure is tasty. I love this pie. bye my storys done!

Hear This!

2011-10-16T19:52:00.004-05:00

Here's another picture-less post, but stay with me. There's a good story in here. We're still recovering from our busy busy volleyball weekend. Josh and the athletic department put on a fabulous tournament! It was so fun to have international teams and guests in addition to the local teams.

We didn't finish as well as we hoped and planned, but it was a fun ride. After pool play, we were seeded 2nd, as expected. When the elimination rounds began, we played a tough semi-final against a big rival school here in Manila. They took the first two sets and were about to take the third when the athletic, competitive spirit awoke in our girls. We took the third set and easily won the 4th with huge momentum going into the 5th. We were up 10-3, and - I don't even want to type it - point by point, they caught up, tied, and took the match 15-11. I think we just figured those last 4 points would take care of themselves. It was really disappointing, especially for the seniors, but hopefully we can learn some great lessons from it to implement at Far East in Seoul next month.

Ok, here's the fun story. We decided that before each match, we would ask the other team to pray with us at center court. Besides us, there was one other MK school, 2 religious schools, and the others not religious at all. Aside from a super awkward "No thanks" from one of the international schools, it was a wonderful experience to have the freedom to fellowship with the other teams and boldly talk to God in front of so many people who need Him in their heart.

So after our rival school beat us in the semi's, we went on to play for 3rd place and they went on to the championship. They are one of the schools that was started on evangelical principles, but there are a lot of different religions represented there, so you never know who you might be witnessing to at any given time. Anyway, before their championship game, the entire team sought out our team captain and asked her to pray with them again. They could have seen it as a "good luck charm" (since it appeared to work fabulously for them in our game!), but allowing Grace to invite the Lord into this circle of volleyball players may have brought hearts closer to salvation! And if you know Grace, you'd know that she makes friends with EVERYONE, so that wasn't her last chance to reach these girls. Exciting, huh?

Plus, it took some of the sting out of a 3rd place finish!

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." - Matthew 18:20

**** PRAYER REQUEST ****
Last week, just down the road from us, two children ages 4 and 6 were just snatched up off the side of the road into a van. Rachelle was part of Faith Academy's outreach program for children called A4J (All 4 Jesus) in the last two years. Please please pray for their return and for their family, whose heartache I can't even begin to imagine right now!

UPDATE!
Ok, just a few hours after I posted that prayer request, the two children were found!!! 7 days after their abduction, Their grandmother was on a jeepney in the next town over and just saw a man walking down the street, holding the two kids hands. I'm not sure of all the details, but not only did these children get rescued, there were others that he had kidnapped as well who are now safe at home with their families.

In this huge city, and with the high child trafficking rate, I knew it would be a miracle for these kids to be found. A huge miracle. Honestly, when I heard about the abduction, my first thought wasn't to pray for their safe return. I immediately just felt awful for their family because I knew they would never come back. But I joined the thousands of people around the world in asking God for a miracle and He's shown me that nothing is too big for Him. When my faith begins to waver, I can look back to this story and know that I love the God of miracles!

Please continue to pray for Rachelle and her family, as she appears to have been abused during her time in captivity. Pray for her healing and pray that God will use her and this situation for something great! Thanks so so much for praying.

Catching Up

2011-10-13T18:45:00.004-05:00

We're right in the middle of the big volleyball tournament that our school hosts every year, but I have a few minutes on this fine quiet morning, so I thought I should catch up a little.

I'm always busy during the tournament, but with Josh being the Athletic Director this year, he's even busier than me! Thankfully, the three older kids know their way around the gym and there's always someone willing to snuggle Caleb. Also, it's convenient when the coach is married to the AD because he schedules our games around the baby's feeding schedule!

We don't play until 7pm tonight, so we're going to watch a go-get-'em movie like "Miracle" or "Remember the Titans" together after school. Actually, I might sneak to the back of the room and take a nap. Shhhhh...

This year we have two players from a school in Thailand staying with us. The kids love having high school girls staying in their house! We're trying to make sure we get goodies that they can't get in Chang Mai. Josh brought them Krispy Kremes yesterday, but one girl hadn't ever had them, so all we did was set her up for falling in love with something she can't ever get!

Caleb was due for his 2-month check-up this week, and Josh was headed to the hospital anyway, so he took him in and I got to hang out with Deacon at home. Josh had an overall check-up and all systems looked good. However, the doctor said that for his height, Josh shouldn't weigh over 200 lbs! When Josh was in the best shape of his life during college basketball, he weighed 220 lbs. Sometimes I think they just don't know what to do with us big Americans over here.

Anyway, unlike his Daddy, Caleb is still on the small side of things. He weighed in at 4.58 kg (10 lbs), and measured 57cm (22.5"). I'm not used to having a baby under the 95 percentile, so I was a little concerned about his teeny-ness (he's in the 10-25%), but he put on an entire kilo in one month, so he's doing great! It's crazy that at 9 weeks, he's still not as big or long as Deacon was at birth! It'll be fun to see where they both end up in size.

I included these pics because I just love how they definitely look like brothers!

It Looks!

2011-10-08T03:06:00.003-05:00

While I was doing the dishes this afternoon, Mackenzie comes in and says, "Mommy, you'd better come see this." Uh-oh. Those words usually lead to the discovery of something bad! Then she said, "Daddy is shaving Deacon's head!"

I went running into the bathroom, with the camera of course, to see where they were at. This is what I saw...

Josh had just shaved the top, so the sides were long, making Deacon look like a sweet little old man. Deacon was very unsure of the whole process, as the picture above shows. When Josh picked him up and put him in front of the mirror, he burst into tears. Poor little guy. We should have given him some warning!

See, we've been fighting a nasty patch of cradle cap on his scalp for a few months and it's just not going away. So, we thought if we removed the hair barrier, we could really go after it with a medicated cream.

Deacon keeps going back and forth whether he likes it or not. During the "not" times, he says, "Mommy, it doesn't look!" That means, "it doesn't look good." (When something is yummy to him, he says, "Mommy, it tastes!" Likewise, "It doesn't taste" means it's no good. Adjectives are overrated in his book.)

This was during one of the "like" moments.

In other news, Mackenzie made me this awesome anklet! I love it and haven't taken it off since she put it on. (I hope there is a camera angle that doesn't make my leg look like a tree trunk, but I couldn't find it!)

Fall Break

2011-10-06T00:13:00.006-05:00

We're just over the halfway mark of our Fall Break. It has been wonderful and relaxing, which are two words that should always be used to describe vacations.

Like this...

We tend to stay close to home during school breaks so we can claim those two words - wonderful and relaxing. There's time for beach getaways when the kids are older, can maintain personal hygiene on their own, can feed themselves, and can carry their own luggage.

It's a good thing we stayed home because sweet little Caleb fought a little virus for about a day and a half. The poor little guy was lethargic, cranky, and fought a 101 fever. But he was all smiles again when he woke up the next day.

Anyway, we still want the kids to make memories and have fun, so we've planned a couple of day trips this week. Before I get to that, I need to post a shout-out to Mackenzie. She is super helpful with Caleb! We were trying to get out the door by 9:15 and I still needed to pack for the day and feed Caleb. So I quickly pumped a bottle and Mackenzie fed him while I packed. She knows to hold the bottle so he doesn't get air bubbles, she knows when and how to burp him, and she even changes diapers!

Ok, back to the story...

Yesterday, we woke up and the sun was shining so we thought it would be the perfect day to head out to Splash Island. I looked on their web site and in big bold letters it say, "Now Open Daily!" Yeah, you see where this is going.

After an hour of driving, we pulled up to the ghost town of a water park. We were so disappointed! Josh went in to talk to the manager who clarified, "Well, yes, we ARE open daily....for bookings of 300 people or more." Ugh. But he apologized for the inconvenience, said he'd look into the web site, and offered us a 50% discount if we can come back on Friday. That sounded terrific to us, but of course, the kids don't want to wait two whole days! Thankfully, there is an amusement park just 4 miles down the highway, so we headed there.

For the first hour or so, it was like National Lampoon's Vacation at Wallyworld! We were the only ones there and just ran from ride to ride without any wait.

Mackenzie did really, really awesome! She's tall enough to ride all the rides, but we thought she'd be too nervous to get on the thrill rides. And she did have that exciting nervous feeling that comes with those rides, but she didn't let that keep her away like she may have in the past. She rode the ship that sways really high back and forth, she rode the tower that climbs really high and then just suddenly drops, those swings in the picture above, the log ride, etc. She saved the big roller coaster until next time, which I kept telling her, was way less scary than the tower drop!

There was a section of just rides for the little ones, so all three kids loved that area.

All three kids were tall enough for the log ride so I took the girls and Josh took Deacon. It had two big drops, so when Bella was terrified after the first (smaller) drop, I knew we were in for a full-scale flip-out on the second. Before we dropped she just screamed at the top of her lungs and cried a little at the end, but it wasn't until we saw the photo at the end of the ride did we realize how terrified she actually was. Shoot, now I wish we had bought it! Her face was indescribably horrified. Even she laughed when she saw her reaction.

Deacon was equally scared of the drops (and had a similar facial expression as Bella) but when it was time to get off, he said, "I wanna ride that again!" He did the same thing with the little roller coaster that they were all big enough to ride.
After a drop, he'd say, "No, I don't like that!" But when it was over, he'd tell us that he wanted to ride again. (It's no surprise that he knows that poop goes in the toilet, but doesn't put it there!)

One thing that made the day so fantastic was bringing our friend, Virginia, with us! She babysits for us so Josh and I can go on a date each week. When we originally planned to go to Splash Island, we thought we could bring her along to care for Caleb while we took the older kids on the slides. She was an equal blessing to have with us at Enchanted Kingdom! Since she was there, Josh and I could ride the roller coaster together, and we could both take kids on rides instead of one of us on stoller duty. She even rode some rides with the kids, which was fun since she hadn't ever been to an amusement park before.

The snacks at the park were fantastic! This was our favorite - frozen bananas dipped in chocolate. Well, mine was chocolate. Mackenzie has her banana dipped in strawberry, Bella with strawberry and sprinkles, and Deacon has a frozen mango dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. Yeah, I'll be making those at home! The best part is that the snacks aren't way overpriced the way they are at amusement parks in the US.

(Keep in mind that the reason we all look like ragamuffins is because we were planning on being in swimsuits all day, so we didn't put much thought into what we wore on top.)

So, yeah, it was a really fun family day! We were all exhausted by the end of it. Bella slept in until 8:00 this morning! So we have today to recover and then we might try Splash Island again on Friday.

First comes love

2011-10-02T08:25:00.002-05:00

I got this idea from a picture I saw on Pinterest. I thought it was so cute!

It's our little version of "Josh and Valerie, sittin' in a tree..."

More Camera Fun

2011-09-30T06:50:00.005-05:00

While I went for a run last night, the kids (and Josh) had some more camera fun. Thankfully, they managed to snap a photo that I've been wanting to take for months now!

Uncle Joe, Aunt Michelle, Joey, Kylah, and Norah sent these Pillow Pets to our kids this summer. We all love them and the kids don't go to bed without them.

Mackenzie was the hit of a sleepover a few weeks ago when she showed up with BuzzBuzz.

Bella's is called RuffRuff. We don't mess around when naming our pals.

In addition to these photos were about sixty others. Of lamps. Of pillows. Of hands. And best of all, pictures of pictures.

I think that this was a "jump off the top bunk onto the trundle and then onto the floor" stunt. I just thought it was a cute one of Bella.

Just a few kid quotes:

* While Mackenzie was dressing for the senior play, she took a look at one dress and hung it back in the closet, saying, "This dress is really more for Broadway." I love her!

* We had pumpkin pie for dessert tonight. As I was cutting the first piece, Mackenzie said, "Oooh, can I have that one?" I answered her, "Well, since you weren't considering the rest of the family, you'll have to wait for the last piece." Then Bella piped in, "I will be grateful for whatever piece Mommy gives me." This seems to be her MO - Let someone else botch it up, then swoop in as the moral superhero. I love her too!

* Deacon has the best prayers these days! I don't catch all of it, but it always includes basketball, trains, Spiderman, Special Agent Oso. Then he adds about 10 other things that just pop into his head that day. I love him too!

Letters and Stories

2011-09-26T01:01:00.004-05:00

We are in the middle of a typhoon right now, so volleyball practice got cancelled. I decided to use the extra time to catch up on some scrapbooking, but while I was getting my stuff out, I came across a story Mackenzie wrote and decided to post some of the girls creations so that I can rid the house of the millions of papers floating around.

Here is the story written on a notecard: Once upon a time. There was a kingdom full of wonders. And there was a castle. In the castle lived a king and a queen and a servent named Anna. Anna was a good servent. She did everything she was told to do. The End.

Here's a note she wrote to us for Back-To-School day. "Dear Mom and Dad, Welcome to our classroom. It is awesome in 2nd grade. Miss Lock is great. I'm excited to here about more Bible Heros. Love Mackenzie."

This is the note from Mackenzie delivered to me in bed with a delicious breakfast.
"Dear Mommy, I love you very much and I am exsited that there is a baby in the house. I love you. hugs and kisses, Mackenzie."

This is Bella's breakfast tray note, penned by Mackenzie. "Dear Mom, I love you so much. Thank you. Your my spaecal mom. Love Bella."

Now Caleb needs to eat, so scrapbooking will be put on the back-burner again.

Volleyball Weekend

2011-09-24T06:03:00.006-05:00

We're spending about as much time in the gym as we are at home these days! Between Josh and Mackenzie's team and my team, there are lots of hours logged in the gym, getting to the gym, and talking about what happened in that gym.

Last night we had another exciting match against a rival school. We've played 9 games so far this season and 8 of them have been 5-setters! It's exciting (by that I mean exhausting) and doesn't really work with Caleb's feeding schedule. I always pump a bottle before the game, but by that 5th set, he's ready for more. Thankfully, I have a bunch of player moms who are more than happy to step in and take good care of him while he waits for me. Oh, and keep it between us, but I have a secret weapon up my sleeve (literally) that I'll bring out when we're getting beat. I'll just grab Caleb and start nursing him while I coach. I'm thinking the other team will lose a little focus (as well as the refs and everyone else in the gym) and my girls can take advantage. =) Of course I'm kidding!

Anyway, that game last night was a long drive away, so the kids stayed entertained with my camera. Here are some of the bazillion photos on my camera.

This morning was Josh and Mackenzie's game. They won and Mackenzie got to play at the end of the match!

I know, so dark!

So after the game, I got an up-close-and-personal of Kenzie in her ready position.

The post game huddle. Their team played terrific today! I was proud of them and look forward to having them on my team in a few years.

Meanwhile, Bella and Deacon ran around, getting sweaty and dirty with friends. At one point, Deacon ran up to the concessions table and swiped a cookie faster than I could stop him.

And...Caleb slept through it all. I do believe he finds whistles, buzzers, and cheering to be soothing.

Guy Smiley

2011-09-20T20:41:00.003-05:00

I finally captured a smile from Caleb! He's been giving us little smiles for a couple of weeks, but I never seemed to have the camera with me. Or, if I did have the camera with me, it didn't have the memory stick in it. So I would get up to grab the stick out of the computer, but would realize that the computer was with Josh at work. (It's my own little "If You Give A Moose A Muffin" story.)

Long (and dreadfully boring) story short, I haven't been taking many pictures.

But yesterday, while I was heading out the door, Caleb was all smiles. So I dropped everything and sat with him until I captured this grin. It made me late, but how can it not be worth it???

Here is his first response to Mommy's smile-inducing antics.

Here's that (blurry) game-show-host-worthy grin!

Am I seeing a little dimplege action on his right cheek?

Caleb hasn't rolled over since that one evening a couple of weeks ago. He's content to just lay on his stomach. Content....or lazy. =) Actually, I'd have to say he's a very content little 6-week-old and has been pretty easy to care for thus far. I've been thanking the Lord multiple times a day for His graciousness (and mercy!)

Caleb is ready to go up on the wall with his diaper-clad brother and sisters!

So, I used the same wonderful Avent On-The-Go Manual pump for the first three kids. It got used thousands of times, especially on furlough when we were traveling so much. It comes in a nice black bag and everything I would need to quickly pump a bottle and go. I donated it to our prenatal clinic last year and decided to buy a new one for this baby. I bought the same exact one and was using it and loving it daily.

On Saturday, we had a volleyball game at another school. Sometime during or after our exciting 5-setter, Josh's MS game, getting Caleb fed, and keeping Deacon from running onto the courts, it got swiped! I was so bummed! Whatever, someone took it, hoping that bag was loaded with cash, credit cards, and some diamond shoes. But when they opened it and saw that it was a pump, needed to feed a cute little newborn, I would hope and pray they would have a little kindness and put it back. No deal.

If only I could run out to a Walmart and buy a new one. Again, no deal. I went to a couple of stores to see if they had the same pump. They did! My little On-The-Go case that cost me $60 in the US was on CLEARANCE for $170!! (Regular price over $200!) Even if I sacrificed the fun bag, spare parts, and other accessories, the pump alone that is $30 is the US was $100 here. Isn't that insanity? I understand import costs etc, but 3x more expensive? Crazy and frustrating!

Fortunately, I went to the Philippine Ebay and found a new one at a much more reasonable price. It's just the pump, so I'll miss my little black bag and accessories, but I'm thrilled and thankful to have the convenience and freedom back!

Shoot, I can just go find an even cuter bag. "Louis Vuitton" or "Hermes" if I want. *Note the importance of the quotation marks.

Party/Potty Time!

2011-09-14T20:15:00.009-05:00

We celebrated our big 3-year-olds birthday on Tuesday evening. With our lives being so busy these days, we just decided to celebrate as a family. We went to a favorite indoor playground, supper at Wendy's, and then headed home for birthday cake and presents.

Deacon is into cars and trains in a big, big way these days. I asked my mom and Mackenzie to bring back birthday party stuff for all three kids and they did great picking out Thomas decor for Deacon!

Deacon was so excited about his Thomas party. He was talking about it all morning while I was decorating the cake. I couldn't get him to accept that the party wouldn't be until after supper. Poor little guy. I remember how long a day can be when you're anticipating something exciting! We watched Cars, his birthday gift from Nana and Grandpa, in the morning to help the time pass. I love how he knows all the Cars names better than I do!

After all the excitement of Caleb's birth and then Mackenzie's birthday, I think Deacon was thrilled that it was finally his day!

We had let Deacon open Josh's parents presents on his actual birthday and they gave him the Cars movie and a bunch of the Cars characters. He has been playing with them non-stop since Friday. It's fun watching him create his own little screenplay with them.

At the party, he opened presents from us and from my parents. He got a hiking backpack with all kinds of fun accessories from my parents. Since he sees his sisters leave for school with their backpacks, he says he's ready for school now!

Deacon got a Thomas train set from us and then some extra accessories from his sibs. I wish I was videoing his reaction when he opened it. He fist pumped the air and yelled, "Yesth!" (he's got a cute little lisp)

Here he is saying "Thank you" to his sisters. It's funny to see the three of them together because Mackenzie is a head taller than Deacon...

...but Bella is only a couple of inches taller than Deacon. They almost look like twins when they're walking together.

Even though it was way past their bedtime, and much to their excitement, Josh went right to work setting up the train set.

SIDE NOTE:

Well, I have the results back on exercising during pregnancy (and how it supposedly helps you bounce back to pre-pregnancy form more quickly...)
*After not really regularly working out with the first three pregnancies, I was 10 lbs. over pre-pregnancy weight at 6 weeks post-partum.

*After running and walking 3-4 times a week for the entire 4th pregnancy, I'm 12 lbs over pre-pregnancy weight at 5 weeks post-partum and have been for the last month!

My clothes all fit mostly normal, so it looks like there are 3 lbs on each cheek, and another 6 on my chin.

I still haven't started running again! I really want to, but I'm finding it hard to schedule it in. Between volleyball practices and games, having a newborn latched onto me for like 5 hours a day, keeping up with 3 other kids, the thought of starting back at square one....oh...and falling asleep sitting up, I just can't seem to get those running shoes tied! One of these days I'll get out there. Maybe since I'm putting it out there on the world wide web, I'll feel more accountable.

Here's the littlest party animal.

Deacon's Potty Progress:

He is doing remarkably well with potty training! We're on day 4 of working on it, and he has stayed dry and in underpants during awake hours since day 2! I don't think I mentioned how this all started. Last Thursday night, Josh was fed up with smelling and changing the nasty toddler-sized dirty diapers and told Deacon that couldn't play on the iPad again until he went on the potty. I was thinking, "Great. He's setting this standard, but then he'll leave for work, and I'll be stuck enforcing it!" But Deacon climbed right up on the toilet and went!

We still didn't put any effort into it until Josh received a, "He's not potty trained yet?" comment on Saturday night. His competitive edge kicked in and he got Deacon going on Sunday night. When I realized that Deacon was on board, I jumped on too.

I'm really quite in shock about it. The girls were trained at a younger age, but they took a LONG time getting there. Since Josh and I aren't known to be patient people, this has been quite a pleasant experience compared to the girls training! Deacon still wakes up from nap and nightime with a loaded diaper, and we haven't ventured out of the house diaper-less yet, so complete potty training might be in the distant future, but I'm definitely OK with that (for a while anyway).

Three cheers!

One Month of Caleb

2011-09-11T06:53:00.004-05:00

Back in May, I posted a pic of this little sleep sack that I made for my yet-to-be-identified baby. I remember thinking, "I can't wait until there's a baby in there!"

Yay, that time has come!

He's given us a smile here and there, but I have yet to get a picture of it!

Mackenzie is dying to get a laugh out of him. I can't wait until he gives her a big belly laugh.

Caleb isn't a fan of tummy time, but I'm a big fan of his limbs tucked in tight and his booty in the air!

I took Caleb for a check-up on Friday, his one month birthday. He had his BCG, a vaccine for TB, and he really cried hard. I was surprised that it was difficult for me to witness it! I've been through quite a few immunizations by now, but this was the hardest for me. Weird, huh?

So here are his stats:
3.64 kg (8+ lbs)
52 cm (20.5")
HC 37 cm (14.5)

He didn't put on much weight, but is showing all the signs of a growing, healthy little guy.

****************
Deacon's 3rd birthday was also on Friday!!! I had a volleyball game that night, so we'll celebrate on Tuesday I think. We gave him some presents to open, but he gave us our own present.

HE WENT POTTY ON THE TOILET!! Hip hip hooray! AND, he just went again tonight!
I couldn't be more thrilled that he's one step closer to being diaper-less. We won't force it, because goodness knows I don't need anything more on my plate at the moment, but it's just nice to see him get a little closer to big boyhood. I have the cutest pic of him in his Cars underpants, but I think we'll just keep that on the family computer. He's a cutie though!

So, this is what a Daddy with big hands can do. The kids are always asking Josh to make Caleb dance and they just giggle the entire time. It's so cute on all accounts.

Rainy Day Post

2011-09-06T18:59:00.004-05:00

No pictures today. Just a little update so I have a reference to go back to when I get around to scrapbooking again. On Monday, I scrapbooked the I-just-found-out-that-I'm-pregnant! page of Caleb's scrapbook, so I'm already way behind!

So, Caleb turned 4 weeks old yesterday and will be a month old on Deacon's 3rd birthday this Friday. It's hard to believe that he's already one month old, and at the same time, it's hard to believe that he's only been in our family for a month. He fits right in and it just feels like he should have always been around.

Last night, I put him on his tummy for a little neck workout, and I guess he didn't like it because he just rolled himself over to his back! I was surprised but figured it was just a fluke, until he did it two more times. He's a strong little guy! That brings me to my next thought. He's still so little! I'm a little concerned about his weight gain. I'm pretty sure he hasn't put on as much weight as he should've by now. It might be that I'm just not used to having a baby under the 95th percentile! I'm not concerned enough to wake him up to eat at night, but I am waking myself up to pump and then giving him an extra feeding during the day. He has his one month check up on Friday, so hopefully all is well!

The other kids are doing great! Mackenzie loves being on the volleyball team with the big girls. Josh put her in the game on Saturday at game point. The other team had an 8th grader with a wicked server on the line. Our middle schoolers were having trouble returning her serve, so the chance of a 2nd grader passing it was pretty slim. Do you know that 8th grader served right at Kenzie? (as she should have, but still! :) Fortunately, she served into the net. Mackenzie looked so cute in her little "ready" position. I'll have to try and video her another time. She won't get to play much because it is a middle school team in a middle school league. The only reason she even gets to be there is because daddy is coach. She's happy to just be part of the team and go to McDonalds after the game, so it's all fun!

Bella loves going to school and comes home with funny stories every day. Josh has started packing the girls lunches in the morning, and I just found out that he's been giving Bella at least three snacks for her mid-morning snack! And I don't mean carrot sticks and apples. We're talking chips, pudding, cookies, etc. It wasn't until I packed her one snack that she spoke up and asked where was all the rest. Josh loves to buy treats for the kids, so I'm pretty sure he's just showing Bella how much he loves her....or he's trying to be the favorite. (Game on!)

I love my time with my boys when the girls are at school. When Caleb is eating, Deacon climbs up next to me and we look for trains and trucks in his big story book. He also loves watching tv and playing on the iPad, so that comes in handy when I need it! He loves pointing out colors of things these days. I'm trying to teach him different colors just because it's funny to hear him describe something as mother-of-pearl, turquoise, and fuchsia. Don't worry, I'll make sure he sticks to the basic names when he's with the guys on the playground!

So Cute/So Gross

2011-09-01T18:22:00.004-05:00

I've always loved watching Josh hold our kids, but it's especially precious when they are still tiny.

The burping hold is another of my favorite newborn things that I wanted to make sure I took a picture of. The milk-buzz, the hunched over spine, the complete essence of contentment all add up to 8 lbs of adorable.

When I say, "Hey Josh, can you hand the baby to me," this is how he does it. One of the kids' favorite things is when Josh holds Caleb like this and makes him dance. The house shakes with laughter!

Poor kid. It's too much! This is right before his sibs go to bed. We've all 6 been piling on our bed to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates and it can get a little crazy.

Caleb was playing with Josh's 5:00 shadow. He'd better get used to it 'cause I'm sure he's inherited that gene!

Ok, have you noticed the sores on the outer corners of his eyes? A week ago, he woke up with it on one eye and I thought he had just scratched himself. Then the next morning he woke up with the same thing on the other eye, so I started getting concerned. A nurse at school said it's just kind of chapped from the moisture from his eyes, so that relaxed me. So this was happening every night. Sores in the morning that would mostly heal throughout the day, and then we'd start all over the next night.

Anyway, this next part is disgusting and disturbing! Two mornings ago it was especially red and scabbed in one eye. Josh went to get him up for the day and found 5 little ants all crowded in the sore, doing who knows what! We were both thoroughly disgusted!!

The ants have been especially awful this summer. I'm talking millions and millions of the little vermin everywhere! Like, you drop a little crumb and in two shakes of a lambs tail there is an entire population of ants devouring it. Apparently, it's one of those periodic outbreaks and should go away soon. I feel like I'm already seeing a decrease in them, but doesn't matter. I'd rather deal with millions in my house than 5 little ones creeping along the eye of my 3-week-old! Ew ew ew!!

I try to cute up the whole deal by saying that Caleb is so sweet, even his eye moisture attracts ants. Nope. The heebie-jeebies are still there.

ANYWAY, Josh sprayed all along the pack n play and I've been putting ointment on the corners of his eyes before he goes to bed, and voila! No more sores.

He's gonna be a good little MK!

Aren't you glad I told this story?

Life With Caleb

2011-08-28T04:24:00.002-05:00

I'm not doing so well with pictures these days! It's mostly because I've been fighting mastitis for 3 miserable days. Just when I think I'm getting better, I find myself under 3 blankets in a hoodie in 85 degree weather, shivering. Anyway, I think the antibiotics are kicking in and (cross your fingers) I'm on the mend.

But I dragged myself out of bed for a few adorable pics. When I heard Deacon and Bella singing Patty Cake (I guess it's Pat-A-Cake?) I looked over and saw that they were playing it with Caleb and giggling up a storm, mostly because they are playing it with feet. Laughter is pretty good medicine!

After playing with him, Bella tucked him in for a nap in his swing. Blanket, Nuk, and Barbie - check.

While Josh was tucking Deacon in, I brought Caleb in for a little brotherly cuddle. Deacon loved having the baby in his bed with him. Almost 3 weeks after meeting him, Deacon still pulls up next to the bed during Caleb's first morning nurse and says "Awwwww...so cute!"

Back to Reality

2011-08-22T06:04:00.006-05:00

Can you tell that my parents have left? I haven't posted in almost a week because I'm back to doing all my old responsibilities instead of sitting on the couch having staring contests with Caleb while Mom and Dad handled everything else!

Well, Mom had some cuddle-time too!

They flew out on Thursday night, headed for Europe where they'll attend their mission's conference. Before they left, I grabbed all their pics off their camera. Here are a few from the girls/boys day out.

This pic cracks me up because Mackenzie looks like a mani/pedi is just another day in the life of a 7-year-old.

Bella fell asleep during her pedicure. Can you blame her? Look how that chair just swallows her up.

Meanwhile, the boys were at the barber shop getting cuts/massages. Little kids always look so cute with the cape around their tiny shoulders!

The night my parents left, we took them to a hotel buffet that was near the airport. It was delicious and I know we ate our money's worth! The kids all ate a plate of real food, and a LOT of dessert. Needless to say, they were a little squirrely after the 3rd bowl or so of ice cream. (Yes, Josh was also making hats out of the cloth napkins. I guess he was a little squirrely too)

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.

I was SO EXCITED when August 20 rolled around! Instead of being frustrated and impatient on my due date, I got to enjoy my baby all day. What a different feeling than I've had on my past due dates!

Caleb is doing great! Inheriting his daddy's love of sleeping, he has slept for 8 hours the last four nights! We're very, very, so very thankful. So I'm working like a crazy woman trying to get in a sufficient amount of feeding during the day so neither of us has to wake up at night. At his one week appointment last Friday, he wasn't quite up to his birth weight, but he was gaining, so the doc just said keep it up!

My volleyball team is 2-0, with both wins coming in 5 sets. We have lots of potential, so hopefully we'll reach it by the end of the season. Josh has started coaching the middle school girls volleyball team! He doesn't know all the ins and outs of volleyball, but he has them all serving over the net, so I'd say that's a success! They are 1-1 right now. He takes Mackenzie to practice with him, and she loves it. I'm so excited because until now, she's said, "No volleyball. I'm playing soccer!" It's fine, she can play whatever she wants, but I'd much rather watch volleyball than soccer. Anyway, she's totally into it now and it's so fun to watch her bump the ball around. (Maybe she can get some pro setting lessons from Aunt Michelle when we're on furlough. 6' setters are pretty sweet!)

One Week In

2011-08-16T21:57:00.010-05:00

* Caleb's umbilical cord came off yesterday on his 1-week birthday.

* For 3 nights in a row, he's slept for 6 hours straight! Hopefully he's gaining weight, because Deacon was sleeping at night early too, but he wasn't gaining weight so I had to start waking him up to feed him at night and that's a terrible terrible plan.

* I'm soaking up every wonderful newborn feature while I can, because before we know it, he'll be onto the next phase. That's fun too, but I really love the newborns!

*Kenzie would love to stay home and dote on Caleb all the live long day.

* The Ipad is a great way to keep an eye on the kids while I feed Caleb. So...we just need to buy 2 more...

* Deacon finally got a haircut. Yesterday, Josh, my dad, and Deacon had a boys day to the barber shop. For just over $2, they get a haircut and scalp & shoulder massage. Deacon even got the massage, although I hear he was a little weirded out. The pics of him are on my parents camera, so I'll have to transfer them before they leave.

Deacon no longer looks like, as my brother puts it, Ralph Wiggum.

* Caleb still tucks into a little ball for a snuggle every chance he gets. Grandma and I are more than happy to oblige!

*He had his first bath last week, but he slept through the entire thing. He had another bath over the weekend and Bella got to help. She talked to him and was so gentle with him the entire time. It was really sweet. I should have videoed it!

Mackenzie's 7th Birthday Party

2011-08-13T05:43:00.005-05:00

Since the kids are playing with Mackenzie's birthday presents and Caleb is asleep, I have some time to post her birthday blog!

Today we had 4 little girls over to swim and celebrate Mackenzie's 7th birthday.

While the kids and Josh swam, Caleb and I did this.

I am ridiculously in love with this little guy. His favorite thing to do 5 days into his life is snuggle and I couldn't be more thankful! While we were in the hospital, I was up in the middle of the night for 4 hours straight because he wouldn't sleep unless he was snuggled on me. Honestly, even though I had check-out, volleyball practice, and three other kids to care for at home, I really didn't care that I wasn't sleeping. How important is sleep when there is a little person who wants nothing but to be next to your heart???

I'm trying to take pics of all my favorite newborn things and this is definitely high on that list.

Back to Mackenzie's party. After swimming, the girls (and Deacon) came up for rootbeer floats and a chocolate-chip-cookie cake. I told Mackenzie up front that I couldn't do a fancy cake this year, and she was fine with a giant chocolate chip cookie. I formed it into a heart-shape and added extra chocolate chips. It was yummy!

The birthday crew.

After the floats and cookie, the girls all piled onto the bean bag for presents. Deacon was pretty bummed that he didn't get any presents, but I told him his birthday was coming up next. That made him pretty excited, but I'm afraid he's expecting it in the next day or two, instead of next month.

Now Josh is playing in a basketball game, my parents are visiting friends, and I'm on duty with the 4 kids for the first time. It's crazy to think that last Saturday, Josh was at a basketball game, my parents were visiting friends again, I was pregnant with an unknown gendered baby, Mackenzie was 6, and we were getting ready to head to the hospital to turn our family into a party of 6!

Caleb's Birth Story

2011-08-12T09:12:00.011-05:00

Ok, so I left off with the "blessed epidural," right? Well, as labor progressed, I started to feel each contraction on my lower left abdomen. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, but c'mon...if I sign up for "no pain," I'd like "no pain."

A resident came in and gave me more medicine, but that didn't work. So she adjusted the epidural a little. That lessened the area of the pain, but I still had a 3" diameter spot where I felt everything. Somewhere in all that, my doctor broke my water, and of course, then labor really took off.

Eventually, I was 80% effaced and 7 cm and feeling everything in that ONE SMALL SPOT! It seems like it wouldn't be a big deal, right? Well, if someone stabbed you with a red-hot fire poker, that'd be a small spot too! The anesthesiologist came in and kept giving me more medicine. I was really concerned that I'd get so numb I wouldn't be able to feel my pushing. My legs were really, really, heavy and floppy. It was SO different than my epidural with Deacon! Back then, I had complete control of my legs, but very little discomfort from contractions and I felt exactly when I needed to push.

Well, I found myself in transition and feeling all those transition contractions! It was pretty hard because I wasn't at all prepared to feel so much pain. I tried to remember all the techniques I used to get through Mackenzie and Bella's labors, but I was so numb, it was difficult.

Anyway, at last I was at 10 cm, but not feeling the urge to push. It was either because of the epidural or because the baby was still high up. Pay attention, this is where the fun begins! The doctor told me to push and I said, "Oh hold on. I need the dish! I'm gonna throw up!" (This is SOP for my labors and deliveries. No surprises there.) Someone shoved the kidney-bean shaped dish in front me and I took over from there.

The next thing I hear is Josh exclaiming, "Oh! Oh Val, it's a boy!!!" I needn't have worried about not feeling my pushes. A few heaves, and that baby slid right out without any voluntary pushing! Isn't that crazy?

So everyone was oohing and ahhing over our handsome little guy, and I was still spilling my guts into the dish. Finally, I heard my mom say, "Oh, Val's still throwing up!" A few days later, Josh told me he just about threw up when he saw me throwing up. I just think that would have been the cherry on top of that story.

Of course, once I opened my eyes and saw the little guy on my chest, all was forgotten and forgiven (mostly).

So the next few days were spent relaxing and getting know Caleb. I just remembered today that I was planning to avail of the $6 in-room foot massages that the hospital spa was offering. Josh and I totally forgot about it while we were there! We were so furious when we realized that we were there for 3 days and forgot all about hour long foot massages! Bummer, huh?

Mackenzie's birthday was on the 10th and since we were still in the hospital, we sent doughnuts to school for her to celebrate with her classmates. Her birthday party will be tomorrow, so we'll see how long it takes me to post about that!

The hospital policy is that mom rides a wheelchair, baby rides in the crib, and dad gets all the stuff.

Here I am waiting in my wheelchair.

I snapped this picture while I was waiting in my wheelchair. It's the room that Caleb and Bella were both born in. I got all emotional the day we left the hospital because I was leaving behind my era of pregnancies and delivering babies! It's making me sad as I type it, so I'll just stop typing and squash it. But seriously, it really makes me sad! I've thoroughly loved this time in my life, treasure it, and will really miss it. (The thought of transition contractions helps me not miss it as much...)

Josh with the stuff.

This is what we saw when we got home. It looks like the girls made the sign doesn't it? The girls helped, but this handiwork belongs to someone else (cough) Grandma (cough).

The kids LOVE their little brother! Deacon still calls him "baby." Kenzie wants to hold him all the time, and Bella always wants to give him toys and blankets.

Have I mentioned how much we love his teeny-tinyness?

Well, it's time for him to eat again, so I'll sign off until next time.

Heading Home!

2011-08-10T21:55:00.009-05:00

We only have one more hour here! Boo, I love being in the hospital with a newborn. I don't feel like I have to do anything but lay around, eat what I want, and enjoy my husband and baby! Oh well. I'm super excited to bring him home and enjoy the other 3 munchkins in my house.

Mackenzie and Bella came up to visit us in the hospital last night. They just love their little brother so much. It's going to be fun watching us all get to know him better.

Here he is during one of our middle-of-the-night snacks. My boys like to eat! Caleb got some milk and Josh ran across the street for a Big Mac at 2 am. It was fun. That first night when Caleb woke and started fussing, Josh picked him up and snuggled with him for a long time before giving him to me (and heading out to McDonalds). They hadn't had much snuggle time yet, so it was really sweet to see them together. I love how teeny tiny Caleb looks in Josh's big hands!

Alright, I'd better finish packing up. We still have to pay our bill. Birth story to come...let's just say that anesthesiologist has some guts if she charges me full price for that epidural!

HE's Here!

2011-08-09T08:34:00.002-05:00

Our little guy is here! We're so excited to introduce Caleb as our newest and littlest addition. I have all kinds of stories related to his delivery, but they just took out my IV, so I'm headed to the shower. I love getting all cleaned up after a delivery!

Anyway, here are his stats:

7 lbs. 7 oz - Josh and I can't believe how tiny he is. We love it!
20.5"
4:23 pm

My dad brought all three sibs with their big brother/big sister t-shirts on! They were so excited to meet Caleb. Deacon must have said 54 times in a high-pitched voice, "Ohhhhh. He's so cute!"

After I said, "Josh put all four on the couch," I looked at him with wide eyes and said, "Woh. We have 4 kids!" He looked back at me with the same wide-eyes and a big smile.

We're really really fantastically blessed with this little family!

8/9 - 12:00pm

2011-08-08T22:57:00.003-05:00

Today has been MUCH more productive!! I'm so happy. At 7:00am, Dra. put in a dose of Cerviprime. Almost immediately I started in with uncomfortable contractions that I had to breathe through and focus. At 10:20, they started my blessed epidural. So so SO wonderful!!!
Dra. just broke my water and contractions have increased in duration, frequency, and intensity....all without pitocin!! I'm a happy girl today!

Hopefully we'll have great news really soon!!!

Second Wind!

2011-08-08T18:06:00.003-05:00

OK, so the 8/8 birth day didn't happen. Bummer! After a frustrating day of regular but painless contractions, we threw in the towel for the night and got a good night's sleep. Now it's 7 am and Dra. is going to shoot me with another dose of Cervaprime. I think this baby is being stubborn, but I also think the docs are being really (too) conservative. There's nothing I can do about that and I know God is in control, so I'll just stay in His hands. I'm just anxious to meet the sweet little thing, you know? I keep hearing other newborns crying and I can't wait to hear ours!

There was another missionary friend who isn't due for 9 more weeks. Guess what? She delivered yesterday! I think the baby is just over 3 lbs. How bizarre that I'm trying to get labor going and she couldn't get it to stop! Thankfully, she was in the hospital a few days ago and was able to give the baby the lung steroid shot, so I think her baby is in NICU, but doing well.

I think that's all I have for now. I'll keep updating if/when anything happens!!

As of 8/8 12:00pm

2011-08-07T22:56:00.006-05:00

9:00pm 8/7 - arrived at the prelabor room for analysis.

11:00pm 8/7 - Dr. puts in the Cerviprime, which my sister says sounds like a Transformer.

11:30pm - 4:30am - A resident sat next to me with her hand on my tummy, on what she called Labor Watch. I was shocked! I thought they'd put in the Cerviprime, and tuck me in for a good night's sleep. Not so much! I was supposed to sleep with the BP cuff on, a fetal monitor, and an IV. I managed to doze a little, but didn't nearly get a nice slumber.

1:00 am - my first experience with a bed pan. Kinda interesting. They won't let me out of bed.

8:20 am - Start Pitocin. I'm 2 cm and 50% effaced. I immediately start regular contractions, but they don't hurt!!! I've asked them to increase the drip, but they're really conservative about it. The Dr. says that since it's my 4th delivery, I'm at an increased risk for uterine rupture. I feel like we could really get this show on the road if they upped the Pitocin and broke my water (like they did with Deacon in the US), but I don't think that's gonna happen! It's fine. I'm happy to be the patient and let the doc be the doc.

But I've heard at least 3 other women getting to deliver their babies. I can hear the nurses counting. I remember this from when I had Bella here. You know how you're supposed to push for 10 seconds? These nurses go, "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 annnndddddd 10." It's really like 12 seconds. I didn't have an epidural with Bella, so those 2 extra seconds were a little torturous!

Anyway, it's noon now. Josh just left to get me some Starbucks. There is a resident sitting next to me, writing down every detail of every contractions!!! I asked why they didn't just use the printout. She said, "Oh, they want to just use that for 20 minutes every 4 hours!" So this chick is just hanging out all day, jotting down each contraction. Crazy!

They let me get up for a bit, thank goodness! This is what labor looks like at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if this babe comes on 8/9!

Which One????

2011-08-07T06:37:00.002-05:00

"Little Brother"

OR

"Little Sister"

Josh and I are headed to the hospital for the beginnings of D-day bright and early tomorrow morning! I'm all kinds of emotions right now.

Please pray with us for a quick and safe delivery.
(and that we'll get around to naming the little one soon!)

First Day of School!

2011-08-04T17:53:00.003-05:00

Wow, since I blogged last, Mackenzie arrived back home with my parents and everyone hit the ground running! It's been wonderful having them here. Their jet lag behavior is cracking us up, but that should be mostly done by now. You NJ peeps are in for some fun when they start the process all over again!

My parents have been reconnecting with all their old friends here, which is always fun. They have a friend from NJ who is a Delta pilot and just happened to be flying over here, so Mom and Dad showed him and his wife around Manila and then we all met up for dinner. We ate Indian and I was hoping the spicy food would jump start labor, but it just resulted in severe heartburn that neither Zantac nor Tums could touch.

Deacon, Josh, and my Dad all went to an Ateneo basketball game yesterday while us girls all went to volleyball tryouts. We've had some fun surprise players try out this year, which is wonderful, but now I'm all stressed out about making cuts! It's the worst.

The highlight of the week is the start of school. Mackenzie is in 2nd grade! I can hardly believe it.
Mackenzie loves having Grandpa and Grandma here to take her to school.

At the elevator, showing off her shiny new stuff.

Walking to her classroom with Bella. I've heard rumors that a parent is going to fill in for preschool until the teacher arrives! We're so thankful and so excited for Bella.

Here is Mackenzie at her classroom. I think I've mentioned it before, but Mackenzie's teacher is from South Africa and has THE coolest accent. She's also super sweet and loving, and is an accomplished pianist. I'm so happy that she's teaching Kenz this year!

After dropping Mackenzie off, I took Bella up to the library to read some books. She loved the elementary library! She couldn't stop talking about all the wonderful books they had. I have to remember to take her up there more often throughout the year!

So I think that updates things until today. I had a Dr. appointment, but unfortunately there is nothing to update there. Zero progression since last week! Bummer. So the plan is to head into the hospital on Sunday night, have a wonderful and comfortable labor, deliver the baby nice and easily on Monday, relax on Tuesday with my eating, sleeping, and snuggling newborn, come home on Wednesday, go to volleyball practice on Thursday, and win our first game on Friday.

Sound perfectly planned out? I think so too. (I'm also realistic enough to know that things don't always go as planned, and that's ok too.)

Just in time for Mackenzie's return

2011-07-30T01:11:00.004-05:00

While Mackenzie has been gone, Deacon and Bella have become the best of playmates! Bella is excited to have her favorite Barbie/My Little Pony/Strawberry Shortcake playmate back, but in her absence, she and Deacon have been ripping through the house on their scooters, playing airplane, making train tracks, and shooting hoops.

Here are the two of them working a little Ring Around the Rosie into their day.

I wish I had a picture from our walk yesterday! (Yes, everyone is tagging along on Operation Dilation.) Bella was wearing the black leotard/leggings ensemble from the above pic, with pink gladiator sandals, red rhinestone glasses, braided pigtails, and a mess of jewelry. She looked adorable and funny and I kept laughing throughout our walk.

Thankfully, the pelvic pain that I was complaining about is mostly gone! It must just come and go. I had done a lot of stairs that day, so maybe that's why I was so uncomfortable. Either way, I'm so grateful that I no longer look like a 95-year-old pregnant lady!

8/8/11 is a GO!

2011-07-28T01:20:00.005-05:00

I just returned from my second-to-last doctor's appointment! How exciting to have an actual day to count down to. Due date, schmue date. My other three kids laughed at the thought of arriving prior to or on their expected due date.

The first thing I had to do was meet with the anesthesiologist department. They were giving me the run down of what to expect. There were a couple of strange things, in my opinion:

1) "As soon as you start to feel any contractions at all, (this was before I let her know we were inducing) you shouldn't eat or drink anything."

Ummm...all of my babies tease me with contractions for days leading up to the real thing. I won't be letting go of any cookies until I'm hee-hee-hoo-ing.

2) "After the baby is delivered, we will put you into a deep sleep."

Wha-at? After I jumped in with, "No! I don't want that," she said, "It's to relieve you of any anxiety." I'd say the giving birth part would cause the most anxiety, not the few hours after when you get to snuggle with your sweet, new, sleeping baby! Now, if you want to talk about that deep sleep for the duration of this next week, I'm all ears.

I think, other than that, everything seemed great and my magical epidural has been signed up for. In fact, I wish I could have it right now! I think my big boy Deacon did a number on my bones and ligaments during his arrival. If I thought I was sore in the weeks following his delivery, I'm at least twice as uncomfortable now! All of a sudden, I can barely walk without wincing. I've never felt like this before, but I know lots of women do, so I really shouldn't complain. I just need to adjust my life to allow at least 10 extra minutes to waddle anywhere.

After the anesthesiologist, I had my weekly check-up. 2 cm!!! Hooray, only 8 to go! There is still some effacement that needs to happen for a smooth induction, so she told me to do some more walking. Right. Walking. Ouch.

Finally, I went to have a biophysical ultrasound. I asked for this just to make sure everything was a "go" for induction. She gave babes and me a thumbs-up! She estimated the baby's weight to be 6 lbs. 11 oz and measured me at 37 weeks and 2 days.

So, even though I'm not officially 37 weeks for two more days, I went ahead and took the pic.

Just to compare, here's the old gal at 37 weeks pregnant with Deacon. I'm thinking this one won't try to outweigh his or her big brother.

So there's lots to countdown to these days!

* 3 days until my mom, dad, and Mackenzie arrive!
* 7 days until school starts!
* 7 days until volleyball tryouts!
* 11 days until we meet our new little pipsqueak!
* 13 days until Mackenzie's 7th birthday!