HAPPY FALL to all!

I think the last leaf has fallen off of our little trees. Jacob suggested we go to the park and bring the rake to make big piles to jump in... good idea!

WALKING ALREADY...Preston has set the record....

Starting this week, he is actually taking steps all by himself without holding onto anyone or anything!

At only 6 1/2 months old!!!

Wow Preston, you are one determined little baby, or I guess I could call you a toddler now. But I don't want to, you are defineatly still a little baby!

It just AMAZES me~

Here is a video for proof! He takes about 4 steps at the beginning of the video but the rest of the time he is just crawling or standing. (I don't know how to edit video yet to only show the little part where he is walking, so you don't need to watch the whole thing) And yes, I need to sweep my floor, because he is like a little vacuum!

What's been going on in Faith's mouth...

Faith lost her very first tooth!

Believe me, this was a VERY BIG DEAL to her!

She had been waiting patiently for a long time for her little wiggly tooth to fall out...everyday she would talk about it excitedly.

She has been talking since then about how she needs to eat lots of vegetables and healthy foods to take care of her new tooth. Not that she didn't do a good job with her teeth already, she has never had any cavities. (I can't say the same for her brothers)

Also, (GROSS WARNING) the last time she was at the dentist, she got a ring from the vending machine with her token she earned there. Well just a little later after we came home, I went up to feed the baby and Jacob and WesLee burst in suddenly saying Faith had swallowed her ring. I was really worried because it was a C-shaped adjustable ring, and I didn't know if it might get hooked somewhere inside her and stuck. I didn't know if I should try to induce vomiting or even how to. After calling a toll-free nurse line and after the on-call family doctor called us back, the only thing to do by that time was wait and see if it came out. I had Faith use the little training potty we have so that I could check her poop easier for the ring. We were SO glad that it came out only 18 hours after she swallowed it, thanks to her extra effort in eating lots of salad and veggies which I had told her would help her. Gross, I know, but it really did help!

On a more pleasant note~ Preston got his first tooth the day before Faith's tooth fell out! Just a couple days later he got another one, and that whole time,he never once was fussy, I would never have guessed that he was teething, he was such a good, happy baby.

Busy~ness

Ah, I finally find a little time for some blogging. It's been awhile! Life is busy, I wish I was faster at computers, typing, etc, so I could blog about everything we get busy with, but I'll at least blog about some of it. For now I mostly just have photos saved on the hard drive and little dates scrawled here and there on pieces of paper when something happens that I want to remember.

Time seems to go by faster and faster each year for me, I wish it didn't seem so fast... it did not seem this fast when I was a kid. I feel like I blink and my kids are bigger. I don't want them to grow up so fast.

Preston is 6 months old! I know he's happy to be growing, learning and doing new things, but I'm sad because I know he won't be a baby for long, and I miss all my kids as babies. He has been crawling fast all over the house for some time. He learned how sit up by himself at 4 1/2 months, he learned to pull himself up at less than 5 months, and then to stand without holding onto anything soon after that. I know it won't be long before he is walking. Sigh..

Here's a funny quick little video, if your volume is up, you can hear how giddy he is about trying out the walker:



I think he is going to break the record among our kids for being the earliest to walk... we'll see!

This is all the time I have for now, I really want to find time to blog about my other wonderful children soon! I love my little family! Wait, we aren't little anymore, are we? I love my big family!

Beautiful blue eyes...

Preston is getting up to crawl on his knees now!
(at less than 4 months, too soon for me!)

And I tried to get a close up so you can see his beautiful eyes better. He is my only blue-eyed child!!!

An old friend...

Matt was reunited with an 'old friend' recently - one that he had missed very much and talked about quite often in hopes of one day being together again, ha ha!

This is the Subaru he bought way back when we were pregnant with Jacob, we actually brought our baby Jacob home from the hospital in this car!! (sweet memories)

Happy Independence Day!

We had a great day celebrating our nation's birthday today! Faith thought we should have a birthday cake for our country's birthday, but we didn't have time for that due to other activities! Maybe next time.

This was the first year that we bought sparklers for the kids, and they had fun holding them, but I was a little nervous that someone might get hurt. Thankfully no one did!







It is so fun living in Indiana since fireworks are legal here. We just stay home and for at least a couple hours people all over the neighborhood shoot off hundreds of fireworks that we can see from our yard:














Everyone stayed out way past bedtime, the kids had fun riding up and down the street to get a closer look when neighbors would lauch fireworks from their driveways. Matt thought he'd join them riding one of the tiny kid-size bikes for awhile, he looked so silly!



GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!

Oh What to do in the Summertime?

Catch fireflies...



and play pooh sticks, of course!

Big Boy!

Preston is getting too big too fast for me! Why do kids have to grow so fast? He has advanced to the kitchen sink for his baths now. He's about 12 lbs now, just too big for the bathroom sink anymore!



Here he is in his bumbo seat, I love this thing, and so does he!



And now for some big news....he is creeping and rolling! He actually first rolled over on his 2 month mark, and now he has been doing it all the time. And he is getting too good at creeping, he can go a few feet before getting tired of it. What a tough kid!



I was actually kind of hoping that he wouldn't be mobile so soon. All my kids have walked between 7 1/2 -9 months, so I thought it would be kinda nice to have this baby walk around the average 12 months or so, but, it doesn't seem likely. I'm still holding out hope though, but I am just very thankful that he is strong and healthy!

Snakes and Toads

Toads have been hopping up from the ditch in our backyard lately. I remember the day we moved into this house, WesLee found a teeny tiny little one who was a lucky little toad and got to take a swim in our brand new 'garden tub' even before we did!

This was a very interesting ugly fellow that Jacob found...






At the library the other day we went to see a "Snakes Alive" program, where Snakehead Ed brought dozens of snakes to teach all the kids about. They thought it was pretty cool!

Happy Father's Day to the father of my children...

Thank-you for all you do for our family each and every day. Thank you for playing with our children and loving them and reading to them and tucking them in at night. Thankyou for when you show them wrong from right. I love you so much.

And so do all our babies!

Delicious!

Matt did this for me the other day, I don't know if any of you have ever tried it, because I had never heard of doing this before, but it is SO delicious! He dipped strawberries into 'hard-shell' chocolate coating and put them on wax paper in the fridge for a few minutes, and voila: mess-free chocolate covered strawberries!



Yes we had dipped strawberries into chocolate before, but it gets quite messy that way (fondue). With this, it is so easy to eat without anything dripping! I think it could be done with lots of different kinds of fruits, I hope to try some other ones soon.

You should try it!

What will I find next time?

While sorting laundry, I often find very funny things in the kids' pockets, as I'm sure lots of moms do.

CONTENTS:

*the butt of a pencil after the eraser was gone
*a popsicle stick
*a tiny green ball
*a bag of crushed snack crackers(Wes started saving these from school lunches to share with me when I had morning sickness, how cute, huh?)
*a piece of a brown crayon
*an almost flat rock (I think he was saving this to try to skip it the next time we go to the river)
*a dried up weed, with root intact! (When the kids were helping me weed a little garden spot, I told them to try to get the root out, and they kept saying "Oh darn, I missed that root!" So maybe he saved this in his pocket so he could show me that he got the root that time.

I thought I'd take a picture to remember the silliness of it!

Expressions!

I can almost hear his sweet sounds in my mind
just from looking at these pictures!

Good Times

We had the pleasure of having Matt's parents come to visit us, and to meet Preston. It was great to be with them. The kids had a blast, Meme and Pepe sure bring out the fun and silliness in them!

They read, colored, did crafts, baked cupcakes, planted seeds, rode bikes, played a ton, even had a water fight in the backyard with the kids. They took Jacob, WesLee and Faith to a movie, and also got to see the boys play soccer and go to Faith's dance class. Faith was a bit out of practice because she had missed a couple weeks but it is still always fun to go watch. Also, they got to come to WesLee's kindergarten graduation, which I wanted to post pictures of, but unfortunetly those pictures are stuck on the cell phone for now. Way to go Wes and Jacob! They both had awesome report cards throughout the entire year.

We went to the zoo, this picture was taken before the Dolphin Show-


Faith convinced Pepe to sit in the Splash Zone with her while Matt and I sat with Preston out of range of any water and Meme sat with Jacob and WesLee at the very, very top of the stadium, per WesLee's request. Matt said he didn't remember his dad ever being willing to sit in splash areas with Matt and his sister, so I thought that was pretty cute that he was willing to do that for Faith!


One of the guys who sometimes narrates the Dolphin Show offered to take our picture with Preston, so this is our picture of Preston's first time at a zoo, sleeping at that moment:)


Some of the highlights for the kids at the zoo were-
Getting to show Meme her favorite animal in the whole world, penguins:


Riding the horses-


The Butterfly Garden, very cool place, even though there weren't as many butterflies out as usual. This is the case where the butterlies emerge from their cocoons-


I had to sneak a picture at the park when Meme and Pepe got on the teeter-totter with Faith!


They bought Preston a swing, when they heard we haven't been able to find all the parts for our other baby swing. He really likes it!



The kids are hoping, hoping, hoping that Meme and Pepe will come back and visit again in the winter when it snows!

A Mess in the Kitchen...

We got this play kitchen for free a couple weeks ago from someone who didn't need it anymore and it has been outside waiting for me to hose off and scrub down. Well as you can see, a little cook has found it to be useful for her mud pies as well as some other original recipes.

Here she is with even her face and arms all covered in 'flour' from being so busy in her kitchen.



A makeshift stirrer in a makeshift mixing bowl:



I'm sure all the cooking practice will pay off in the long run!

Green Dragons

We signed Jacob and WesLee up for soccer this year! This is their first year, and Matt volunteered to be the assistant to the coach. The team named themselves the 'Green Dragons'! For the most part, they've enjoyed it, they feel good when they do their best. The team was SO happy when they played the second game against the Blackhawks, a team that is considered the best in their league, and the Green Dragons won! They went to Dairy Queen to celebrate afterwards!

Here's some pictures of the boys in uniform:

I thought I'd include this funny picture down below- this is Matt's VERY OLD soccer ball, which he just can't bring himself to throw away, even though it gets flat after it's pumped up everytime. He played soccer for many years and he's had this ball since he was a teenager! Makes me laugh!

Faith being herself

Sometime since Preston was born, Faith started trying to get attention in ways that she never did before, she hasn't been bad, I would just say she has been 'feisty'. A little bossy, with a touch of obnoxiousness here and there.
These pictures are to remind me that she is still the same fun, sweet, cute girl that makes me laugh and smile. Right now she is just trying to adjust to some big changes. I hope she'll be back to her old self for good soon!

This picture is when Matt got some tools at Lowes for fixing something, and while he was doing that, instead of me being able to read stories and tuck the kids in like usual, I had to feed Preston, but being so close to bedtime, we wouldn't let the kids get any toys out. Instead of sulking, Faith decided to have a fashion show with the plastic Lowes bags. (I know, I know, bags aren't supposed to be used as toys, sorry!)

The other morning, I told Faith she needed to change out of her jammies and into some clothes, which I used to always help her with. She says "Oh, I already got dressed" but all I see is her jammies. Then she proceeds to unzip her jammies to reveal that she had on her clothes from the day before still. Funny girl! The clothes were clean enough, so she kept them on!


Today, I was walking past Faith's door and saw that she'd made a little bed on the floor for her and a teddy. I had to take a picture because I thought it was so cute that she even put one of her own nightgowns on the teddy bear!

I love this little girl!

Love Note

Jacob gave our family a message yesterday.
It was so sweet when he came to show it to me and left me with a kiss!
I love when he's like that!

It may be kind of hard to see on one side, so I'll type out the interpretation:

"To: The family
from: Jacob
The family is great.
I love the family.
It is the love family.
This home is so fun.
It is a good family.
Jacob loves
me [referring to himself]
Faith
Wes
and Dad
and Mom
and Preston [he wrote Preston's name in yellow really big on the bottom, because he was running out of room]
Dad can work hard.
Mom is sweet.
Wes is nice.
Faith has fun.
Preston is cute.
I love everybody!
Love
Love"


We love you too Jacob!

We found more kittens!

Today, I was at the park sitting in my truck and this beautiful black cat came over and started meowing and she hopped up in! I held her up and noticed that she was obviously a nursing mama. I glanced around but couldn't see any kittens in sight. After awhile, she came back with a cute little black kitten. I didn't know what to do! It was like she was asking for help. I got out of the truck and she actually led me way over to this spot under a tree that was surrounded by vines on the ground where all her kittens were hiding. She meowed and her kittens started coming out! 5 in all. I made sure there were no more around and looked to see how many teets were lactating, it was 5. We have taken in cat litters before and I couldn't just leave them there. I carried them back to the truck and she got in and we drove home. She is such a calm cat, she wasn't even scared to be in a moving vehicle.

The kids were so thrilled when I brought them home! And all the kittens are calm when being held. I wonder if someone dropped them off at the park, because they don't seem like feral cats. I'm keeping them in a bathroom and they are all using the litter box and eating dry food. So, like the other times we had kittens, we will try to find homes for them.


UPDATE: As of May 26, all the kittens are in new homes; now to try to find a home for the mama cat after her spay next Tuesday.

Preston sure likes taking a bath in the sink, here he is relaxing away, little cutie-

All clean and time to dry off...

S.W.A.K.

When Faith prayed yesterday she asked that she could please get a letter in the mail soon. Anyone want to send one and be the answer to that sweet little prayer?

Showered with love!

My friend at church, Amy, wanted to throw me a baby shower, but I told her that I really didn't NEED one, because I already have 2 boys and lots of baby stuff. Well, I thought that just her offering to plan a shower was sweet enough, she is such a sweet person, but she wouldn't take no for an answer, she is so sneaky, she threw me a "quiet shower". I had never heard of that idea before! I was so surprised when she had come to my house one weekend to bring me a meal, then she went outside saying she'd be right back, and she came back carrying a beautiful cake, which was made by another friend at church, who is also named Amy. I thought "oh that's so nice, it's dessert to go along with the meal!" But then she goes outside again and comes back with another friend, Nikki, both with their arms full of presents saying they decided to bring the baby shower to me! SO sweet! All the gifts were so wonderful, it was so unexpected, and I felt so loved! I am so thankful to all those sweet gals who pitched in and spoiled me with gifts for Preston.

I took a picture of the cake with my phone camera, before we devoured it. My regular camera's batteries were dead. The only problem is I can't figure out how to get pictures off my phone yet! The cake was SO pretty and yummy, I felt bad cutting it up! Amy G. is a professional cakemaker. Whenever I figure my phone camera out then I'll put the picture on this post.


Also, here's a picture (taken with my regular camera) of Preston on this beautiful blanket that Amy S. made. She embroidered his name, date and time of birth, and his birth weight and length on it. You can at least see his name in the picture. I absolutely love this blanket!



I defineatly felt showered with love! Thank-you!

Mmm, Yummy!

Faith: PLEEEEEEEASE may I have some broccoli?
Whose kids ask for that? She practically BEGS me for it!

Later in the day… “Mmmmm, yummy! Split pea soup, my favorite!”

At storytime at the library when they serve punch to all the kids… “Please, may I have water instead?”

Don’t let me fool you, she is not a complete health nut. We found an ice cream carton hiding under the couch with a metal spoon in it. It was almost eaten up, and the remainder inside had melted and started drying up. I don’t know how she manages to be so sneaky!

Well, at least she balances it out with healthy stuff too, right?

Just wanted to send out some MOTHERS DAY WISHES!

When I called my mom to tell her Preston was born, she told me she already had a plane ticket to come out that Friday. While she was here, I think if it was up to her, no one else would have done ANY dishes! I kept trying to explain to her that one of the jobs I have the kids do is empty the dishwasher at least!

She found so many things to do for me... she did laundry, cleaned all 3 bathrooms, she sanded the dresser that I’m going to paint for Preston to use, she even cleaned my fridge (YUCK) and my oven! The kids were so happy when she came, she got to go to soccer practice with the boys and took Faith to dance class and the library. I love so much that she wanted to be there for me.



As for my 2nd mom, my Mother-In-Law, we look forward to seeing her soon! (sometime next month)! Thank-you to the woman who gave birth to my husband! And who loved him first, before I ever knew him.

I have to say that this woman amazes me, because she always seems to have an enormous amount of energy! She is always busy doing something good. Whenever she is around my kids, she does nothing but entertain them the whole time! They love her to pieces, they are so excited to have their Meme and Pepe come visit!



And I thank my Father above that he entrusted me to take care of these 4 precious children. I feel so inadequate at times, but am honored to be a mother.

There are so many moms out there who I have learned so much from, by their amazing examples. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL OF YOU WONDERFUL MOMS!

ENJOY :)

SWEET feet

Daddy's built-in pacifier ^


imo... NOTHING's cuter than a BARE BABY









Happy to be cord-less

This was about a day after Preston's cord fell off. The doctor cut the cord in a hurry since the amniotic fluid was meconium tinged and the cord was left almost 2 inches long, so it really got in the way trying to nurse, burp and cuddle. We were all glad to see it gone.


It was SO nice for me to be able to hold him in this position after his cord was off. I couldn't hold him that way before, because it put too much pressure on the cord and it would bleed a little at the base.

Since Matt usually avoids cameras like the plague, I took the opportunity to sneak a picture while he and Preston were fast asleep on the couch. LOVE it!

New baby effect

It's interesting to see the effect a new baby has on older siblings...Jacob has been very protective and soft-hearted to his new baby brother, and wants to help with things like changing diapers and dressing the baby (THAT surprised me).

WesLee has also been very good and sweet around the baby. He jokes around and acts silly for Preston, but I can tell he's is a little disappointed that Preston can't do more things, like play and talk and walk, or at least crawl. He didn't realize how long it takes for babies to learn those things.

Faith dotes on her baby brother and is proud to finally be a big sister. But she has been moved out of her position as baby of the family, which I know must be very hard in some ways. She hasn't gotten as much attention as before. It must seem to her that I am always with Preston. This early, it seems like that to me sometimes too. I have realized I need to specifically make special time just for her more often.

We'll figure it all out yet! In the meantime, we are enjoying these special first days with Preston.

Our baby is finally here!

Born April 11, 2009

11:29 am

8 lbs, 1 0z

19 1/2 inches long

PRESTON MATTHEW LENSEIGNE

What a sweet little baby he is! He makes the cutest sounds as he stares straight into your eyes. I know lots of people say newborn babies don't really smile, they think it's just gas, but Preston REALLY does smile!

When I was in labor, there was a very distinct moment when my pain and fear was replaced by comfort. The only way I can describe it is in that very instant, God put such an overwhelming love for this child deep into my heart. This baby is so precious and is such a blessing from Heaven.

This was his first picture, taken while he was on the scale:

CUDDLE time~Proud Mommy-

BIG yawn-

Preston is such a joy to have in our home. The kids have been great with their new baby brother! It's so cute to hear their reactions as they watch Preston wiggle and squirm or when they hear him make a random 'squeak' while he's sleeping. It's "Awwwwwwww......"(goes on a long time) and "He's soooooooooo... cute!" They are good helpers bringing things that I need. Faith makes up little songs to sing to him, it is SO adorable.

Watching my husband with this baby has made me fall in love all over again. He is such a natural now and it warms my heart so much to see him talking and playing with Preston and taking such good care of him.

More pictures coming soon!

Come Out Little Baby!

No surprise, I'm 3 days overdue. Things must be very comfy in there. We will see how long this baby decides to stay inside. Two weeks ago, I was already dilated 3 cm, the doctor said 'Are you sure you're not in labor?' Nope, strangely, for me active labor seems to start when I am between 5-6 cm. With Faith I stayed at 5 cm for many days before going into labor. I'm not sure how many cm I'm at now, I will find out tomorrow. Well, as long as baby is healthy then I will just wait it out and try to be patient!

Dress Up

Faith can spend so much time playing dress-up, even all by herself, which is a good thing, because we haven't had too many friends over lately and the boys don't play dress-up except with the Halloween costumes, so it's something she enjoys doing by herself. She likes to dress up her stuffed animals too. It's just better when she uses things from her dress-up box, rather than taking ALL the clothes off ALL the hangers and out of ALL the drawers so she can try on various combinations! (This happened twice in one week) Matt hinted that she picked up the habit from me because she's seen me change several times before going to church or wherever. (Hey I can't help it if what fit me 2 weeks ago doesn't fit now.) Here's a picture of Faith after getting dressed-up:

You can tell she feels so grand! Reminds me of a story Matt's mom told me about how once when Matt was decorating their Christmas tree as a kid, he wrapped some tinsel garland around his shoulders and he said "I feel RICH!"

Book Worm

Did you know that a dolphin is a type of whale? Or that a great white shark is approximately the length of 2 cars? Did you know that horns and antlers are very different things: antlers fall off, horns don't. These are just a few of the things WesLee has shared with me lately from one of his favorite books:

My First Book of Animals by Monica Harris


He received this encyclopedic book for Christmas when he was 3, from his Grandpa Wagenman. A few months back, he noticed his name in the front cover and asked me to read the message to him. His face just lit up, he was SO thrilled and proud that this cool book was his very own! He has since spent a ton of spare time reading through this book. It is very special to him for some reason. Even at church in Sacrament Meetings he brings this book with him. I wasn't really ok with that at first, but when he said it helps him think about how Jesus created all the amazing creatures on this Earth, how could I say no to that?

He can seriously read pretty much anything now, and this book which is now tattered and dog-eared has been a big part of that!

Dance, Dance, Dance...

Faith has going to a ballet/tap class on Friday mornings for a while now and I've been wanting to post some pictures. Only problem is that they keep the parents out of the room so the girls don't get distracted. We view them through windows that are mirrors on the girls' side but that we can see through to keep an eye on them. So, I finally decided to try to take a picture through the window. I posted the clearest one, you can see Faith on the left side. They are doing a little dance about rain, holding their little umbrellas. They are all very cute to watch, all trying their hardest!

One day the instructor said all the parents could come in right at the end of class so I got this picture of her then:

Before my birthday, the kids overheard Matt asking what I would like for my birthday. I told him all I wanted was to have a peaceful day and lots of hugs and kisses. Matt kept pushing for something "Well, if I were to BUY you something, what would you like?" I am not good at anwering that sort of question-- I told him that even though I do appreciate thoughtful gifts, I really don't care about getting anything and would feel awkward requesting gifts. So, I left it at that. As I was walking out, I heard the kids starting to talk about it.

Jacob decided that like his Dad, he wanted to BUY me something. He doesn't have much money, so what did he do? He gathered up his Blackhawk Bills (he earns them for good behavior at school) and he went to the Blackhawk Store at school to 'buy' me a gift for my birthday! I thought that was SO sweet.

He got me a GLOWSTICK NECKLACE in pink and purple! I found out it was worth 20 Blackhawk Bills. That's alot of good behavior! And he knows I love pink. It was fun to wear when all the lights were out when it was time to blow out the candles. It was hard to get a picture though:

All the kids were very thoughtful on my birthday, throughout the day they brought me lots of little pictures and messages that they had made, and just kept telling me they loved me, they were glad I was born, etc... They enjoyed looking at my baby pictures. It reminded them that I was born, and that I haven't always been a grown-up.

Also Matt took me out to eat that evening, and I did not feel sick on my birthday or much at all since then! It was a great day!

Happy Birthday to my TWIN!

Today is my twin sister's birthday! I just felt like posting some pics on here of me and Lucinda. I have been thinking of her all day.

I am SO thankful that we had eachother growing up, I honestly don't know what I would have done without her along with me in my life. I needed her to lean on through hard times. So many times I have felt like Heavenly Father sent her along with me just because he knew I would need her!

This is the ultrasound picture of me and Lucinda in utero. My mom either gave it to me or else I borrowed it and forgot to give it back (sorry if that's what happened, let me know!)

I love to see these pictures of when we were babies, it just looks like we were

always talking to eachother!...

Our baptism day:

Living so far away from eachother, sometimes I feel bad that I don't talk more often with her. She has seriously been the best friend I could ever ask for in my life and I am so honored to have her as my twin!

For anyone who is wondering, no it is not my birthday today. Even though we are twins, we were born on different days because I was born after midnight, so my birthday is the next day.

It's your day Lucinda! Happy Birthday, I love ya!

COUNTING DOWN

Looking at the baby counter on the side of my blog, I can't believe it says only 16 days left! It's strange, because I want it to be longer, but yet I want it to be now! I don't feel prepared yet, but I want to hold this little baby! I can just tell already he is such a fun, little guy!

I guess the main reason I don't feel prepared yet is that I have been sick with the longest cold/cough ever in my life. It spread from my nose to my chest then to my ears and sinuses! (AWFUL) And I have these nesting urges, but when I try to do stuff, with being so sick I just don't have the energy to get it all done, I look at everything that has been piling up, and I just feel like crying sometimes. But, I guess it's not really important to have it all done, but yet it's such a strong urge that it is unbearable at times! Especially when I think of the things that I can only do myself, that no one can really help with. (By the way, don't get me wrong, throughout this whole pregnancy, Matt has been such a great help that I feel so spoiled at times!)


Yesterday, I was like, OK, I HAVE TO GET STUFF DONE! Matt could tell how urgent I felt, so he came home early and started helping and even got Faith in on it, and then when the boys came home from school, they joined in too! It was such a nice time, it was so enjoyable to clean together as a family. There is still so much to do, but I am so grateful that everyone was willing to help, it really has taken such a load off my shoulders. Then also, out of the blue, a friend brought over a homemade meal that just made my day! I don't even think anyone told her that I was sick! That was SO nice.

Ah, if only I could have energy like I did at the end of my last pregancy, but maybe I'll get lucky and go overdue with this one too, long enough that I get over my sickness at least! It sure sounds better than going into labor right now, with this hacking cough that has made my muscles and ribs so sore. Ha, ha! Isn't that funny that anyone would HOPE to go overdue!? But I really sort of do...but I don't...but I do....whatever... I guess it's out of my hands anyway, so I'll just be happy whenever it happens!

Valentine Fun!

For whatever reason,Valentines Day was highly anticipated in our house this year...

Or shall I say Valentine Season? There were numerous little parties and get-togethers leading up to the day.

I remember the excitement of Valentine's Day when I was in Elementary school, how I would carefully read all the cards to see which boys might be in love with me. (haha)

As far as I remember, we didn't have any rules back then about giving a Valentine to every student in class, and I remember how some kids who were less-liked didn't get very many, and I felt truly bad for them. This year the school sent home a reminder about this very topic, and both Jacob and WesLee said they wanted to give a Valentine to everyone because they wanted to be friends with everyone anyway. Thank goodness.

Faith remembered how we decorated by hanging hearts up last year and asked if she could help decorate this year, so we cut out hearts and she strung them together after I showed her how. (She said she was sewing them.)




Later that same day, we went to story time (which we do every Wednesday) and she was lucky to find out that they would be having stories in the igloo that was recently built out of milk jugs. Of course they celebrated Valentines at the library too with all sorts of treats and goodies.

Yay for Valentines!

Lucky me

I've been so spoiled lately...A list of some things that I want to remember

that Matt did for me lately:

He massaged my back almost everyday this week

He juiced oranges for fresh orange juice

He massaged my feet too

He steam cleaned the carpet after WesLee threw up so that I wouldn't have to deal with it.

He wakes and goes downstairs (willingly) in the middle of night to get me water if I'm thirsty.

I've been a bit sick and he made breakfast 2 days in a row and dinner 2 nights in a row

and it was delicious

and he did the dishes

And he got the kids to bed 2 nights in a row also.

He sang out loud, which I love!

He stole Faith's nose and didn't give it back for at least 10 minutes, no he didn't actually do this FOR ME, but I got to watch the whole thing and just seeing it really cheered me up- but Faith knows it's only pretend.

He didn't watch any tv for days, this was definitely FOR ME.

He went grocery shopping and got everything on my list, plus strawberries and spinach for my salad which he knows is my favorite about as much as chocolate is, which he happens to know I don't want to get readdicted to.

He tells me I'm beautiful, even when he sees those darn stretch marks on my belly.

He's been eating a ton of food because he knows I don't want to get heavier than him while I'm pregnant.

He filled up the gas tank just like he always does without me ever asking.

He gives zerberts to this baby already, SO funny

He made cinnamon rolls for me on Valentines Day.

But lately every day has been feeling like Valentines Day :)

Happy That His Teeth are Falling Out!

Jacob lost his top front tooth and was soooooooooooooo happy about that! Faith keeps insisting that she has some loose teeth, she really wants them to fall out so she can be visited by the tooth fairy. Wes thought it would be amazing if all his teeth fell out so that he could get alot of money....until I asked him how he would eat anything.

Profound

Ok, I got this in my email, it's a very profound ad that really touched my heart. (It's only about 40 seconds) and I wanted to share it with as many people as I can. This video says so much in such a simple way...please take a minute to look at it. I pray that Obama changes his stance on abortion.

WE'RE HAVING A ..............

Yesterday, (Jan 20th) we finally got to have another ultrasound... I've had several ultrasounds already, but the baby was always hiding certain areas from our view! We had decided after some previous consideration that we wanted to find out the gender of this baby, but it just never happened...


until yesterday...



...We found out that we are definitely having a...

BOY!

NO doubt after the pictures we got. We would've been happy with either a boy or girl, but it is so exciting to finally know! And, oh, his little face is sooooooooo sweet. I'm so excited to welcome another little boy into the world. I can't wait to find some time to go through all the boy clothes and things that I still have and get everything in place before this baby is born! Now, we really need to start thinking of names.

Here is one more picture, (this one is in 3D, the tech kept switching back and forth from regular to 3D) if you look right in the middle you can see his cute little footprint!

I can hardly wait to hold him in my arms!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

Wow, it has sure been cold here the last couple days! An arctic air mass blew over from Alaska and brought our temps to -16 with a wind chill of -27. School was cancelled Thursday and Friday, because it's too dangerous to have kids walking and waiting for buses in those temps. So, we get a 5 day weekend since we also have Martin Luther King Day off on Monday! I've been relaxing here at home with the kids, just playing games and having fun together. I am looking forward to the 'warmer' weather that we are supposed to have tomorrow (up in the 20's) so that the kids can play outside in the snow like they have been asking. At least then I can just bundle them up and won't have to worry about them getting frostbitten!

Our 2 cats are crazy, we made them stay in all last night and today, and they kept meowing at the door to go outside! They do have a cozy box with a heating pad under a wool blanket in the garage and also a heated water bowl so that they can drink water when they're out there, without it turning to ice. We lock the garage open about 4 inches so they can go in and out. We need to get a cat door, I think. It finally warmed up to a whole 2 degrees above zero tonight, so we let them go out. (To me, it seems weird that it is much warmer at night sometimes than it is during the day.)

Despite the cold weather, our hearts are warm and happy! We all appreciate the beauty of winter very much.

I know this is a bit late, we've been so busy with holiday stuff that it's been hard finding time to blog. But, I wanted to get a post on here for sweet little Faith. She just turned 4 years old! It makes me a bit sad that she has to grow up, I've had images of her as a teenager going through my head and it scares me a bit to think about that! I know, I know, she's only FOUR years old. But for so long she still seemed like a baby to me, but not anymore.

When I was pregnant with her, my due date was in November... well, as lots of people know, since I wanted to do a VBAC delivery, I refused a C-section and refused induction. (Believe me, if at any point there was a risk that I was aware of I would not have gone so far overdue. I was going in every 2-3 days for monitoring and Non-Stress Tests, and each time, the amniotic fluid levels were great and her heart rate was perfect, etc...) I walked around for over a week dilated to 5 cm without actually going into labor and then I finally went into labor almost 3 weeks overdue, but I know the time was right for her. Her lungs were so fully developed, and she was such a good eater, and she never had any problems spitting up, not once. She was so healthy and content.

So, instead of being a November baby like her 2 brothers, she was a December baby, just in time for Christmas.

Matt was a bit stressed out about me going so long overdue, with the doctors trying to pressure us into a c-section. But, I felt very strongly that I was doing the right thing to wait, despite what the doctors were recommending. I think Matt was living on a prayer at that point, because he couldn't make me change my mind. Of course, I prayed everyday about whether I should continue to wait, and I never had a different answer, and it did all turn out great. I finally delivered her naturally, but we still weren't sure what her name was! Of course we had tried to think of a name for her before she was born, but just couldn't decide.

It came time to take her home from the hospital. I was in the middle of packing up to go home while Matt was driving to pick us up from the hospital, and he called me to tell me that he really felt like we should name her Faith. We hadn't even considered that name before, but after all the faith we had used during those last few weeks, I knew the name was perfect...a reminder of all we'd been through, and of what a blessing she was!

Then, on the drive home from the hospital, we were listening to 99.9 KEZ, the Christmas music station in AZ. The First Noel began playing, and immediately the thought came to my mind to use Noel as her middle name. So that is how she got her middle name!

And here she is now, Faith Noel Lenseigne, 4 years old:

I threw a little party for her and her little princess friends. They were all so cute in their dress-up clothes! They made crowns and mixed up their own glitter lip/cheek gel, we put glitter spray in their hair to make them sparkle all over! Faith gave each girl some of her stick-on-earrings to wear (which Jacob had given her for her birthday) and they played 'Kiss the Frog' (sort of like pin the tail on the donkey).

And a prince in a far off island heard there was a gathering of princesses, so he scooped some of the sand off the beach which is just covered in jewels there, and he sent it as a gift! I could tell some girls really believed that when I told them. They had fun sifting through the sand to find treasures!

Some of the girls went a little overboard with their little miniture lipsticks, they thought the more the better! So funny, I had to get a picture!

Well, now all three of my kids birthdays are over. It sure makes the holiday months extra busy! WesLee's birthday is 3 days after Halloween, Jacob's is always around Thanksgiving and Faith's is in December before Christmas. I'm considering celebrating on their half-birthdays instead to make the holidays a little less busy. (maybe) And also to spread out the gifts and sugary stuff a little more for all of us. Thankfully this next baby is due in April, but then again, that is around Easter...

Well, happy holidays, everyone!

Snow!

Having a blast in the snow!

Making snow angels:


enjoying the natural frozen treat:


Sliding down backwards:


taking turns sledding:

(we should probably invest in a couple more sleds.)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Sunny Arizona

Our trip to AZ went by way too fast! We thought a week would be long enough, but it felt like we hardly got a chance to really sit and chat with some of the people we were visiting. We stayed in Scottsdale with Matt's parents some of the time, and in Mesa with my mom some of the time. We got to visit with lots of people who we haven't seen for over a year! The kids had fun with friends and cousins, and we got to finally meet our newest neice, Shae! She is so adorable.

We enjoyed being able to wear flip-flops a little while in Arizona, since when we left Indiana, it was only 19 degrees outside.

We enjoyed going places together that we missed from when we used to live there. We drove through our old neighborhood, and past our old home. That was a strange feeling. I still miss that place.

Matt had to make sure we went to Jamba Juice and Taco Time, 2 of his all time favorite restaurants. I was sad to discover that my favorite thrift store had closed down. The kids requested that we go to the train park in Scottsdale, where they enjoyed riding the train and the carousel just like old times.

Here is Jacob riding in the jail car,

and begging for mercy at the jailhouse.

Meme and Pepe treated us to a night at Amazing Jakes, full of lots of good food and fun games.


We got to see Matt's dad's new office/warehouse building:

Jacob got to attend Meme's first grade class. Since he is a first grader anyway, the principal was alright with it. In the meantime, Faith went to a movie with Pepe while WesLee was at Grandma's house helping to bake bread and make pies and also he used the hand-grinder to make orange-apple-cranberry relish, all on his own, tough kid.


The evening before Thanksgiving, Matt's parents babysat all the kids overnight and Matt took me to a very fancy hotel after we ate at PeiWei's. It was so nice! I loved just relaxing in the tub. It had all these jets on the sides. Matt put in a tiny squirt of soap and it kept making more and more and more bubbles! It was pretty funny how high the bubbles got. At first I tried to pop them, but I eventually had to turn off the water jets. Later on, it was so nice to just fall asleep listening to the rain. The next day we slept in awhile, had breakfast in our hotel room and then went over to Matt's parents and enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving feast. That evening, we went over to my mom's house to get together with my side of the family for desserts and leftovers. Everything was so yummy... I ate so much that day that my sides ached!

It was sure great to visit Arizona, I just hope next time to be able to spend more time with people, instead of going so many places.

Jacob is SEVEN!

Jacob, my first little baby... you are growing up way too fast for me, I miss when you were so little and I could just hold you! When you were born I literally could not sleep for days, because I just couldn't stop holding you and looking at you (and that was after being up for almost 24 hours already, since I couldn't sleep during labor and delivery, of course). You have always amazed me.


I miss those days when you were my baby, but I know there will be many more wonderful days to come.

You have given me the awesome joy of watching you, my firstborn, learn to do so many things... from seeing your first smile, seeing you learn to walk alone (at only 7 1/2 months old!) ...to seeing you now, how fast you can run, seeing how happy and proud you were to win the race at school and get that t-shirt for being the fastest boy in first grade!

You have always made us laugh and smile...




...I remember you giving me that little rose you picked on our porch, and when you saw how much I loved it you went back to get all of them!
I treasured and kept some of them for years until they eventually completely crumbled. I knew from then that you possessed a very sharing heart.

You even used to share with your stuffed animals!

I am so glad you came into my life, and I have learned so much from being your mom. You were a blessing straight from heaven. Your birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, and I am indeed very thankful for you, Jacob.

***

Many people probably know that Jacob and Wes are the same age for about a month out of each year, since they were born only 11 months apart. WesLee's birthday is at the beginning of November and Jacob's is at the end of November. They both have alot of fun being the same age for that month; they like to call themselves twins! Well, this year, we were all ready to have a combined birthday party for them, and they were so excited to have friends over. We had everything set, but the day before the party, Jacob came down with a very sudden case of Scarlet Fever. Yes, you read that right- Scarlet Fever! We didn't know it before, but he had strep throat (he doesn't complain much). Then it caused a sudden high fever with a red rash on his face, chest and back. He recovered quickly, but he lost alot of weight those first couple of days, because he had no appetite. So now I'm trying to fatten him up! Everyone was bummed that we had to cancel the party, but some people still brought presents anyway, which cheered the boys up. It didn't work out to reschedule the party with Thanksgiving coming up, because we'd be gone to AZ for a week anyway. But we did celebrate their birthdays here at home, before we went to AZ, and while we were there, they unexpectedly received even more gifts! Lucky kiddos!

Fall Harvest

I love the seasons here in Indiana, it is just so beautiful. This summer we had maybe 2 or 3 days that it got over 90 degrees. Now it is autumn, and the fall colors are SO pretty! Our little maple tree in the front of our house has turned bright orange-red. Last fall when it was planted, it had no leaves, so we didn't know what color it would turn out to be. I love it:


Everywhere we go, there are so many huge, colorful trees. I wonder how long it will take for our little tree to grow that big or if we will still be here that far down the road? Here are some pictures I took on the way to the store the other day, a little glimpse of how colorful it is around here lately:




The kids got a kick out of watching this tractor harvesting the soybeans from the field behind our house:


Also, I know it's not winter yet, but we did already have a little snow one morning! It was just enough that the rooftops looked like they'd been sprinkled with powdered sugar, but it melted later that morning, and I didn't get a picture of it. Oh well, I know there should be plenty more to come soon enough!

Smart little girl!

Faith is SUCH a smart little gal! I have felt a little guilty for a long time that I have not spent much time working with her to teach her educational stuff like I did with the boys at that age. But so many times, she just figures things out on her own. I also think her brothers help to teach her alot of things when I don't even see it happening. A few days ago, she surprised me because she wrote her name correctly all by herself! I saw it on the table as she was doing her little projects. Usually she would write all the letters from her name, but they would be in the wrong order and usually be very askew. I am so proud of her that she is figuring things out like this all on her own!


Faith has also been my little helper while the boys are at school each day. A few days ago, I let her try to fold socks and she caught on so fast! She was very excited that she figured it out, because she had tried it before and couldn't do it. Now that she knows how, she is adamant that I let her fold all the pairs of socks by herself. Pretty good for a three year old!

Happy Birthday WesLee!

Six years ago…you were born, my little tiny preemie baby…you were so small compared to your big brother who had been born overdue! It was love at first sight as soon as I saw you.

You weren’t all squished looking like most newborns and you had that perfectly shaped c-section head. They brought you over by my head and I remember kissing you before they took you away to the NICU. Everyone seemed so scared for you, but I knew the whole time you would be fine and taken care of.

Each year when your birthday comes around, the memories flood my heart. You have had such an influence on this family. The circumstances surrounding your birth and the lessons learned from that time have changed our hearts so much.

I distinctly remember how it felt when I was carrying you, feeling you move inside of me. I remember the doctors being so worried about us, but the whole time, for some reason, I knew everything would be all right, I can truly say I never worried at all. You sure showed them, you were able to go home less than a week after you were born, rather than stay for at least a month like they thought you would. At one point while you were in the hospital, you had 3 IVs: one in your belly button, one in your right arm and one on the top of your head…as well as that tube down your throat and also the heart rate and breathing monitors hooked up to you. They had you on pain meds so that you wouldn’t have to feel the pain of it all. You had so many things hooked up to you that it was impossible to hold you for the first few days. They finally removed the tube, and I got to hold you for the first time. What a very special moment that was. They kept you on oxygen for a couple more days, and you spent a good deal of time under the biliruben lights. I know this sounds silly, but I remember that you were so small when you were born that you had no butt cheeks! You grew so fast, you quickly got very chubby! Whenever I trim your perfectly formed nails I remember that when you were born those nails were not completely developed yet. But then you surprised us by walking at 8 ½ months! You have always been a very strong kid!

To me, you are still the same, just bigger. Your face looks exactly the same to me, how your eyes sparkle when you smile...


...and how your face scrunches up when you cry...


We are so glad you are a part of our family. I feel so blessed to have you in my life. We love you!

I feel better now!

I'm about 18 weeks along and I have been feeling so much better! After being sick for so long, I hope I never again take for granted what it is like to not feel like throwing up everyday! I thought it would never end. Then one day I woke up and didn't feel sick... Throughout the day, to my pleasant surprise, I did not get sick at all! It has been like night and day. I have gained such a respect for women who go through being even more sick than I was, for even longer periods of time.

I love feeling the baby move, it is very reassuring. I have heard over and over that having alot of morning sickness means a very healthy pregnancy, but I have been so paranoid this pregnancy, always worried that something might go wrong. So, feeling the baby move is the best thing in the world.

Halloween X 3!

As a kid I would have been thrilled to be able to go trick-or-treating 3 times in a week. My kids were lucky enough to do that this year. (Too much candy, I know!)

Here's the kids in their costumes:

Faith would hop in between houses so people would know a little bunny was coming! Thomas and James started to run out of steam after so much trick-or-treating though.

First we had the trunk-or-treat early in the week at the church, and didn't want to miss that.

Second, since Halloween was on a Friday this year, it fell on the same day as the high school football game. Well, I should tell you that in our little town, almost everyone goes to the games, because the team is always really good (they've only lost one game so far this year!) So, the town just rescheduled Halloween for Thursday night. So the kids went that night here in our town. There was more kids than I have ever seen trick-or-treating in my life!

Then, the third time was on Friday, Halloween night. There was a birthday party for a little girl in a nearby town, and for the party, they were all supposed to wear their costumes and go trick-or treating together in her neighborhood.

They all had fun, but I don't think we are going to plan on trick-or-treating so much in the future!

Yikes, Ike!

On Sunday, after hurricane Ike had already given it's worst to folks down South, we heard that the forecast for us was lots of rain and strong winds. It didn't sound like anything out of the ordinary from what we're used to, but when we saw the storm system on the radar and saw how huge it still was, even though it hadn't quite reached us yet, we felt like we should stay home from church instead of being out driving in any sudden strong winds. (It takes 20-30 minutes to drive to church) Well, I'm glad we did, because sure enough, our area got hit by some pretty strong wind gusts. Our house is fine, no damage, but look what happened in our backyard- our trampoline was lifted up and flipped over onto the other side of our yard, right on top of our tomato patch!




I'm just glad that it did not get flipped into our house! Good thing we had it far away from the house. The trampoline is now bent into a slight curve, because it landed hard on the edge of the ditch that runs through our property. Our kids and the neighborhood kids were sad when they saw what happened, because everyone loves to jump on it, but hopefully Matt can figure out how to get it usable again!

I'm sad about losing several tomato plants, because fresh, salted tomatoes actually have been the #1 food I have craved this pregnancy, but luckily, at least half of the tomato plants survived, along with the jalapeno plant, so Matt can keep making his delicious homemade salsa!

Update-

Well, I have not done much blogging as of late and... I haven't done much of anything to be honest. I have had THE worst morning sickness for quite awhile. I will spare the details. I am feeling better than I was before, but still not great. This is totally different than any other pregnancy was. I did not know I could feel so sick for so long! Matt has taken over doing dishes and sorting the laundry because those smells are unbearable for me. Poor guy, this is the most of those chores he has ever done since I've known him. And we have been using lots of paper plates, plastic cups and spoons, etc... and he is doing most of the cooking lately...

He did have a small grease fire that got out of hand when I was resting upstairs. He now knows (and I'm sure he will never forget this) that a little baking soda will put that right out, rather than running to get the fire extinguisher and coming back to a much larger fire that chars the cabinets above the stove. I had a rude awakening by the smoke alarms. All I can say is, what an adventure! I'm just thankful that it wasn't any worse. Our next door neighbors were so kind, they just came right over and helped clean up that same night. I felt so bad because I was so sick I really couldn't help with it.

I am now 11-12 weeks pregnant. The kids are very exited and are always asking about their baby brother or sister... How big is the baby today? Is it a boy or a girl? Can I name the baby? Is there really a baby in there?... I'm glad they haven't asked any questions about how the baby got in there or about how the baby will get out!

Three Little Kittens

2 days ago, we were very surprised to find 3 kittens in our garage! Their mama had moved them in there because the garage was left open about 5 inches and the weather has been getting colder with more rain lately, so she must have thought it seemed like a safe place. We found out later that day that our next door neighbors had seen her take them under their deck a few days before. We got the mama cat and we are keeping them in a bathroom for now. We had seen her around our cats food dish in the back sneaking food before, and now we know why she was so hungry!
I took her to the vet today because she had a wound on her back, and I had her tested for feline HIV and Leukemia. She is negative, so we know she won't be spreading diseases to our 2 other cats. We think we already found homes for the kittens to go to when they're big enough, because the vet knows a farmer who's been looking for some mouser cats since his very old cat died, and another lady there said she'd take one also. We are going to get the mama spayed and maybe keep her, unless she'd rather stay outside. She sure is a pretty cat with 3 very cute kittens! But, with me being pregnant, Matt has litter box duty, so it is really up to him to decide if he's up to keeping her. The vet said the kittens look around a month old! Poor cat, she has been taking care of them outside all this time. She is now very relaxed and content.

And of course, the kids adore them and are so happy that we have kittens!