Lenseigne Family

We will welcome another baby!

2011-10-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

So, some people may have heard that we are having another baby! I have not posted in so long, but I just have to say what's on my heart, which is that I am so excited and feel so blessed to have this new baby coming (it could be any day now too, because I am 37 weeks).

Why have I not posted about this already?
-I think news tends to get around on its own.
-I don't think that many people read my blog.
-I felt very sick and felt like not doing much for a long time.
-I had some problems during my 1st & 2nd trimester and was worried I might miscarry.
-I had so many emotions that are hard to express about many aspects of our situation.
-I admit a little part of me felt some people would be ashamed of us (because Matt was laid off when we got pregnant).

I just want to be straightforward with everybody that we planned this pregnancy. We tried for this baby.

Last August Matt and I both had similar experiences about a name for a daughter that we would one day have. Neither of us had been thinking of having another baby any time soon. When he told me about a specific name that had been put on his heart for another daughter, I was shocked because the exact same name had been clearly spoken to my heart, literally out of the blue, only a couple days earlier. Suddenly we felt very strongly that we needed to try for another baby soon. Of course, I was wondering if God would have a sense of humor and send us more boys to keep us trying until we finally at last got that baby girl who had been conceived in our hearts already.

So, we were feeling very eager to soon start trying for a baby, but we waited for 2 main reasons: first, because of my health (anemia), and then also because not much later Matt was laid off. Soon, Matt had a good job offer. He was all set to start on the date they told him. And I was no longer anemic! We immediately started trying to get pregnant. The day before he was to start working, he learned the job would not be his after all. I was already pregnant by that time, but I didn't know it yet. I had a positive pregnancy test on Feb 13. I felt both excited and worried at the same time. Because I was so happy to be pregnant and I felt that no matter what, this baby was a blessing, but in my gut was this awful worry that I would get bad reactions from some certain people that had been unsupportive of some of my previous pregnancies. I didn't want to deal with that. I hoped Matt would get another good job offer and that I could just share my news with the world at that point. I told Matt I was pregnant the next day after I took the test, Valentines Day. It was hard for me to wait even that one day to tell him but I wanted it to be a special memory. I made a Valentine from the Baby to Daddy. I know he was happy to hear the news, but I could also sense he was worried about finances, and probably about what a few certain people would think.

That same day when I told Matt the news, I began to have pregnancy complications (bleeding...sorry if that is more than some people may want to hear). I did not go to a doctor, because I did not have insurance anymore and I also knew that if I was going to miscarry (which I've had happen before) that there was nothing a doctor could do to stop miscarriage at that early stage. I basically put myself on bedrest and prayed my heart out. It was a scary time for me.

After 7 weeks of bleeding, from weeks 4 through week 11, I finally went to a doctor. My diagnosis was a large subchorionic tear. Nothing could be done except wait and see if the tear would eventually heal. Thankfully, it did stop when I was between 14-15 weeks pregnant. I began to share my news with some people. But I continued to worry and even had some awful nightmares about losing the baby. I also had awful 24 hour morning sickness that lingered long into my second trimester. And then I got a bad sinus infection! and when it got better I felt like for the first time in months I felt kinda like my normal self. After a few days of feeling okay, a sinus infection started up again and lasted a couple more weeks. It did not help that during much of that time of feeling various sickness, the sun did not shine through the clouds for literally weeks at a time. I felt very gloomy during what I wished to be a wonderful time in my life growing this little person inside me. I was so glad when the clouds finally parted and the grass and trees and flowers started sprouting.

There are some people, even family members, who have not and will not give congratulations to me. Perhaps it is partly because they think one more child is a bad idea right now because of financial or other reasons. (Matt has not had a well-paying job through this whole pregnancy) But we are happy to receive this baby and we know each baby is worth any hardships that may have to be overcome, whether it is financial or physical or emotional trials, all of which we have had through this pregnancy.

Last Saturday, I was able to meet an amazing woman, Gianna Jessen, an abortion survivor. She was born alive even though her mother had an abortion. A woman working at the abortion place called an ambulance and prevented the abortionist from having an opportunity to end her life outside the womb. The abortionist ended up having to sign the birth certificate. She weighed about 2 lbs and has had serious health problems from her mother's choice. She was adopted and has had many hardships but has been such an amazing influence for good. Listening to her speak made me realize even more the importance of what a mother does when she welcomes a baby into her body and into her life. I have always believed that anyway, but seeing Gianna was such an overwhelming confirmation that I do not need to feel apologetic in the least to those who might think I made a bad choice to have a baby in less than ideal circumstances.

I have avoided those people and tried to just feel peace in my life about what we are doing and what we will have to do. But you know what? It feels really sad when it seems some other person thinks my baby's life is not worth that much.

I love each of my children more than words can express. I already love this little baby inside me (and just so you know, the ultrasound tech said this baby is definitely a girl)! We loved her and longed for her even before she was conceived inside me. She may not be valued by some other people in the world, but she is valuable to us. And I'm so excited to hold her in my arms.

BUBBLE FUN

2010-09-12T06:08:00.000-07:00

Jacob experimented and figured out how to blow huge bubbles while washing his hands! This was the best picture I got, but he actually blew some that were way bigger.

Then WesLee was eager to learn also...

I thought it was pretty neat and they sure had a lot of fun doing it!

Bounty

2010-09-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

I was so happy (and kinda surprised) when our garden grew ALOT of food!
I'm not trying to brag because I think maybe gardens just grow easier here than some other places. But we are definitely doing this again. We had lots of lettuce, spinach, cilantro and basil until the weather turned hot and they 'bolted', going to seed. We've had delicious tomatoes every day (and still getting more)! We have so many jalepenos, which I know we won't use all of. We got many loads of squash, cucumbers, and enough onions to last us for several more months at least... and the food from our garden has been so flavorful! We got about a dozen mouthwatering cantaloupes. The tomatoes are so sweet. And my eyes water so much when cutting these onions.

All the kids (except Preston) got very good at cutting veggies up for meals.

The kids love to go out and pick food from the garden, and for the most part they have been careful to only pick food that is ripe.
They wanted me to take a picture when 2 yellow squash were grown together:

The things that did not do as well as I'd like in the garden were:
-peas (just didn't get much of them for some reason)
-brocolli and cauliflower(I found out too late that I should have folded the leaves over the tops of the cauliflowers)
-carrots (we got lots of carrots, they just don't taste that sweet. I let them grow longer than required to see if they would get a "riper" taste but they didn't. Maybe my soil is not a carrot's favorite.

My little broccoli:

We were also able to get even more food from the CSA farm that we joined. It was so nice to become friends with them and I learned so much about organic gardening just from asking questions. (I didn't use any chemicals on my garden) We also got several foods that we'd never had before, such as white eggplant, husk tomatoes, mulberries. We went to various farms around here to pick food, such as PEAS, since we didn't get many of those from our garden...

APPLES!

CHERRIES!

BLUEBERRIES!

It was a lot of fun to get food from our own backyard garden and from these other farms. Its a good thing that each farm we went to had the policy that you can eat as much as you want while picking! That's all that Preston did!

SSSSnake!

2010-09-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

Jake found a snake. (In our backyard)

When they told me this I was a little worried,
until they showed me...

In case you can't tell, it was really little! It's head was around the size of a clover leaf! Upon closer inspection, I could tell it was injured (most likely one of our cats was playing with it), so we took it back to the ditch and tried to hide it where our 2 cats wouldn't see it. When we checked later and it had slithered away already. The kids were really glad that it was still able to move around after being hurt.

I'm sure they will always remember the day there was a snake in our backyard!
(I'm just glad it wasn't a big one!)

Zonkey

2010-09-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

...Petting a half/Zebra half Donkey!

Preston "reading" like the big kids...

2010-08-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

Preston has enjoyed walking around since he was 6 months old. I guess he was always so busy walking aroung that he didn't really think to sit down much.

He has recently discovered how easy it is to climb up on chairs and couches. I guess it had to happen sometime, despite my worry that he could fall off the side or the back.

Thank goodness he has actually been quite careful about it.

He finds a book and climbs up and then looks at it. I guess he figured he should be like Jacob, WesLee and Faith who he saw reading books all summer long for the summer reading program. He always climbs up to sit and look at a book now. Its very cute!

Just trying these on for size...

2010-08-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

MAYBE NOT...

Oh, hi Mom, I think I'll just cling to your legs instead~

First taste ever of a lollipop!

2010-08-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

We went to a Dr appointment, and they offered the kids suckers before we left. I was so fortunate to have my camera with me in the car to catch the reactions Preston made when he tasted his first sucker ever:

He just put it in like it was a toy,
not knowing it was anything special..

But then he realized it WAS something special--

WesLee is pretty smart. As we were driving away and they were all sucking on their lollipops, he said "Mom I think I know why they give us suckers. They think if they can get people addicted to sugar there will be more sick people, and they will make more money."

I'd never thought of it that way!

Did you ever want to know how to catch a dragonfly?

2010-08-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

I guess you'll have to ask Wes to try to teach you.
He hasn't succeeded in teaching me how he does this yet.

I guess he takes after his Dad who can catch flies in mid-air like Mr. Miyagi. (Seriously, not kidding)

First Day of School!

2010-08-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today the boys went back to school, and Faith had her very first day of Kindergarten! She is so happy to join her brothers. I couldn't stop myself from tearing up after she walked into the school. They have all grown so fast. My kids have grown faster than I ever imagined they would.

Here (!) are my 2nd and 3rd graders:

And now, my Kindergartener...

She was so excited, she couldn't stop dancing around when I was snapping her picture!

With barely a wave, off she went to greet Mrs Quimby...

I know she's going to love it and she's going to do SO great!

When we took Faith to Kindergarten registration a few months ago, they gave her a sunflower seed with a poem directing her to "plant this seed and watch it grow" and "when it's as tall as you, off to Kindergarten you will go!"

It grew very fast and she kept asking anxiously about it... when it was almost as tall as her, she asked if she would go to Kindergarten soon. I said yes, soon.

Not much later it was taller than her, so she figured Kindergarten might start the next day. Well she had to wait longer than she wanted, because it grew tall VERY fast. I told her it was because she took such good care of it! (which she did!)

So now a couple weeks after it bloomed she finally got to go off to Kindergarten. Boy was she happy!

SCRAPED KNEES

2010-08-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Preston scraped his knee for the first time a couple days ago.

It didn't even really bleed but I had such strong feelings when I saw it...

a sort of reminder that I can't always control whether bad things happen to my children. I wish it was in my ability to prevent them from ever getting hurt, but I know it is an essential part of life for them to experience pain and sadness and that they may have major trials in their lives at times.

And then came the peaceful reminder that healing is possible... that even if we aren't always able to heal from physical ailments, God will always heal our hearts and spirits, if we stay close to Him.

Summer FUN~

2010-08-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

The last day of swimming lessons:

Jacob and WesLee KNOW HOW TO SWIM. (All over, even in the deep end). Faith can too, she just doesn't know it yet. The way I see it, if she can swim with her feet off the ground in the shallow end she can do it in the deep end too, she just isn't comfortable yet. They all did an awesome job!

Preston got a little time of his own in the baby pool:

And everyone loved the sprinkler hung over the swingset:

And of course, mud is always nice option too...

right place at the right time

2010-07-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Faith was playing outside and she just happened to notice something wiggling, she looked a little closer and saw a "leg sticking out of a cocoon". She called WesLee over too and they watched this Monarch butterfly come out of its cocoon! She said it happened all at once, very fast, when it came out. They came to get the rest of us. Wes carefully let it onto his finger. I wasn't sure if that was best but he insisted he would be careful so its wings could dry. He eventually put it on the yellow flowers where it continued slowly flapping its wings to dry and then flew away!

Faith showing me where the cocoon hung:

I thought that was awesome. God's creations are amazing.

Jacob lost 2 teeth in one day!

2010-07-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

The "tooth fairy" left him a little extra that time. He insisted on writing a note that said "please leave the money under my pillow" and to please write him back. Apparently, the tooth fairy (Matt) used to put the coins on the floor or between the bed and the wall, to prevent waking the boy (who sleeps with his eyelids half open, seriously). But this time a new tooth fairy did the job (me) and managed to get it under the pillow without waking the boy, even though she really thought he might be faking to be asleep, because his eyes were actually closed. Hmmmm... :)

My Jolly little 'Ranchers'

2010-06-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

How do I get my kiddos to be Jolly 'Ranchers' while helping in the garden?

Well, besides letting them help to put seeds in the ground and help with watering...

I found a great way to get them to help pull weeds! I asked Jacob, WesLee and Faith to come help me weed and I told them that whoever gets the biggest pile of weeds gets to have 3 Jolly Rancher candies. It might sound a little sad that they are so deprived of sugary stuff, but that really got them motivated to do a good job! I gave the others one at the end also. As a team we got most of the weeding done in 30minutes! (it was easy because the ground was nice and soft from rain the night before)

And another thing that's good about Jolly Rancher candy is that it lasts quite awhile so they can enjoy that little bit of candy for a very long time. Jacob was telling me how the same peice was in his mouth from 30 minutes before.

Now to make sure they brush their teeth really well!

HOW DID OUR GARDEN GROW?

2010-06-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

The day before we flew to AZ I thinned the spinach and the lettuce and cilantro and used it to make our first homegrown salad!

I also reluctantly transplanted our tiny little tomato seedlings that we had started inside, wishing I had started them earlier and also that I could give them more time to get bigger before planting them outside.

I was a bit worried about leaving all the baby plants, but my neighbor said she'd water our plants if it didn't rain enough.

SO sweet of her...

Yet never did I expect to come back to this:

In just 10 days my cucumbers and squash went from this:

to this:

Some of the tomato plants have blossoms

as well as the jalepenos

and bell peppers

I can now use the onion shoots in recipes (while waiting for them to get big under the ground)

and we can have salad as much as we want instead of forking out 3 bucks at the store for a little bag of salad.

Here's the carrots Faith planted:

And I am so looking forward to when the basil gets bigger so I can make some Pesto like the kind my sister Lisa made...this basil was about a third of an inch when we left 10 days before!

We planted a few more things that I didn't take pictures of and are so much looking forward enjoying them!

I am just utterly amazed at what a little seed can become. God's creations are amazing!

AZ trip

2010-06-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

Despite some unexpected 'bumps in the road' during our AZ trip, we're all back safe and sound, together at home. We were gone for only about 10 days, but it felt a lot longer!! Some pics from our trip:

Preston's first plane ride:

Watching the planes on the ground at the airport-

Swimming in the 100+ degree weather :

(Preston's first time in a real pool)

Another first was seeing Preston drink a bottle! It was so sweet to see Matt giving him the bottle! I had just recently began weaning him and if I was around he would refuse a bottle, because he thought he should just nurse, but at this particular time he didn't notice I was nearby:

I was so worried that Preston might have a hard time because he had never slept in a different bed before. We did have a couple rough nights, but finally realized he just sleeps better if no one shares a room with him, so Matt and I slept in the living room instead. I forgot one of his blankets one night at someone's house, so here he is sleeping with Jessica's baby blanket:

The kids got all excited about seeing pigeons in the parking lot (because they never see pigeons in Indiana) so we tossed out some crumbs to get them to come closer:

Another critter we don't see in Indiana, geckos, on Grandma's carport ceiling. I used to catch lots of these in this very spot when I was a kid:

Yet another desert critter... Grandma bought a scorpion sucker when we went to the Usery Pass Nature Center and the kids tried to trick everyone with it:

And this is the coyote dog that lives at Grandma's. She is one of the sweetest canines I have ever known. My mom let her live there after someone found her and brought her into the animal hospital I worked for 9 years ago. The kids felt very useful taking the dogs for walks.

She is only about 2 feet tall but she can jump the 6 foot fence, shown here behind Jacob and Faith playing in the water.

WesLee spent a lot of time with Aunt Lisa learning about piano playing:

Making homemade ice cream! SOOOOOO Yummy...

My dad bought us dinner at Pizza Mart which is where I had my very first job!

Playing the arcade games there-

a snapshot with my dad:

We took turns pretending to 'hunt for food' at the Bass Pro Shop, and the kids actually had a pretty good aim!

The kids had a great time with their cousins!!

The last hug Preston got before returning to Indiana... :)

It was so good to see so many great friends and family! Thank you for all the hospitality we recieved.

Lucky!

2010-05-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

I remember searching for hours at a time when I was a kid, in hopes of finding a four-leaf clover.

I never found one.

I figured they were just mythical.

Wes told me he was going outside to look for a four leaf clover.

I was really surprised when he came back in a short time later with this:

I think it's pretty amazing!

Springtime pics, etc...

2010-05-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

Some of the pictures I put on here today are a month or more old, but better late than never...right?

the very first crocus:

the 2nd crocus:

Cute girl admiring the daffodils:

And finally the tulips bloomed! ~

Monkeying around...

Baby swinging,
on a beautiful spring day...

Faith pointing up to a nest discovered!
up in the corner of the fence~
(No eggs in it yet)

Speaking of eggs...
here's some interesting ones:

Nope, they aren't green Easter eggs, (but I'll put some Easter pics on here in a bit) We've started buying free-range (pastured) chicken eggs from some friends who are running a CSA farm. Ever eaten green eggs and ham before?
Here's a comparison next to regular store eggs.

Free range eggs are more nutrient dense, so the yolks are darker in color than the white ones. Can you see the difference in the yolk color (not to mention the size)? They also really taste way better than store eggs!

Here's a big one...

...it had a double yolk!

Visiting the chickens who lay our eggs:

Petting the new baby chicks:

...if you can catch one, that is..

Now on to the Easter eggs...
I decided to minimize the sugar content this Easter and use real eggs instead of plastic ones at our house. The kids didn't seem to care a bit and they enjoyed dyeing the eggs~

This year I tried more to keep the focus on Jesus, and to help the kids understand that Easter bunnies and games and treats are just for fun, and to not forget the true meaning of why we celebrate. (But we did still put a little bit of Easter candy and some toys in their Easter baskets.) I woke Faith up when it was still dark to let her have a turn playing Easter Bunny by helping to hide the eggs. I thought this would be the easiest way to gently solidify to her that there is not an actual Easter bunny. She loved it, especially because I let her wear bunny ears while hiding the eggs and she felt so sneaky! And she knew right where to go to get the eggs in the morning:
...while her brothers had to search a little harder...

I loved how the pictures turned out blurry because they were dashing around so fast looking for the eggs...reminds me of dashing around doing the same thing when I was a kid...good memories...

We also attended the annual egg hunt at the library, where they searched among the books for Easter treats...

Preston caught on to the idea:

We are enjoying spring!

Preston's 1st Birthday!

2010-05-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Preston turned 1 year old a few weeks ago! How did a year go by so fast?!!

Party time:

Opening a card~

and presents...

Eating CAKE...

(The cake happens to be a sugar-free, sucanat-sweetened, 100% whole wheat, carrot cake. You can see up above that I made it in the shape of a teddy bear in an attempt to make it more appealing, but I'm happy to say that my kids willingly devoured it!)

Watching how fast Preston grows constantly reminds me that my time with my children is NOW and that I need to make the most of it now before they are grown!

Preston has been such a blessing, and a constant reminder of what is really important in life. Babies are amazing that way. They are so fresh from Heaven that I can't help but feel closer to Heaven. They are so innocent and they lack the worldly influences that inevitibly change us over time. Preston is such a huggable, cuddly sweet little guy. I love his warm little arms squeezing me and hearing his cute little baby breath noises while he is right next to my ear. I love to see him cuddle up to Daddy, rest his head awhile, then go off and play again. Preston, you are so loved by your whole family.

Take a stand!

2010-03-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Apparently "for the people, by the people" is no longer applicable and our government's new mandate is to make the President look succesful! If you are opposed to the health care bill, sign the petition below.

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/repealthebill/Default.aspx

(Real) SNOW-CONES!

2010-02-26T05:45:00.000-08:00

I hadn't had snowcones since I was a kid, when we used a snoopy snowcone maker to make them! On Valentines Day, I told the kids we were going to make a special surprise treat! (they're generally deprived of sugary stuff) But first we'd need some clean snow from an untouched snow bank-

Form snowballs into cups-
Next, mix cool-aid with the amount of sugar called for, but only use a small amount of water (1-2 cups, depending on how sweet you'd like your snowcones) Then spoon it over the snow-
They turned out REALLY GREAT :
The kids loved eating them!
They decided it would be best to use baby spoons to eat them-
Their tongues turned bright RED, which they thought was so funny!
We're normally not supposed to eat yellow snow!
Matt mixed lemon juice, and a little sugar and water and yellow food coloring, to make a couple of lemonade flavored snowcones, and they turned out delicious as well!

Then and now...

2010-02-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

I think all babies love to play with NEWSPAPERS

Glenda left, Lucinda right^ (lonnnnnnng time ago)

Preston 2010 ^

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle!

2010-01-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Our town doesn't have recycling! Can you believe it?

Well, we found at least one way to recycle in our own way...the kids have had fun using these cereal box walls that we taped together with packing tape:

PUPPET SHOWS

HIDEOUTS (during nerf wars w/Dad)

2009 Lenseigne Family Letter

2009-12-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

We didn’t send any cards out this year but we wanted to let you all know that we love you and are thinking of you during this Christmas time. We decided to stay in Indiana for the Holidays this year (and are hoping for a white Christmas) We will enjoy our friends here, but we will miss distant family and friends so very much…

For those who'd like a little update on what we've been up to in 2009~

Well, for starters, in April we got our new little baby, Preston! He is a very happy, sweet little guy, and I guess I might brag here a little to tell you that he started walking at 6 ½ months! He is only 8 months old now and he is walking all over the place like a pro! Funny, he doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal though. We are so happy to have him in our family and we cannot imagine life without him.

Faith turned 5 years old this month so she is really looking forward to starting Kindergarten and going to school with her brothers! She is such a smart little girl and she keeps busy helping Mommy with so many things, including taking good care of her baby brother. She also loves spending as much time as possible making fun little crafts and recipes.

Wes is 7 and in first grade. His teacher raves about how smart and nice he is. He's testing at 4th and 5th grade reading levels, he's so interested in learning about many things. He's also a great friend to all his schoolmates, never wanting anyone to feel left out. He helps us all feel cheerful at home, he often hums happily as he goes about his business.

Jacob turned 8 last month and was baptized, which was a very special thing for him. I have noticed he has been more deliberate in trying to choose the right ever since he was baptized. He was already an awesome kid, but I can tell he has been trying extra hard to be his very best self. Like his brother, Jacob is also doing extremely well at school.

We feel very blessed in so many ways, and we know that all our blessings come from above. We have enjoyed good health and a safe home and many happy memories in 2009.

May you feel the Spirit of Christ in your hearts this Christmas and throughout the coming new year.

With much Love,
Matt, Glenda, Jacob, Wes, Faith & Preston

HAPPY FALL to all!

2009-10-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-10-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-10-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-06-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

Catch fireflies...

and play pooh sticks, of course!

Big Boy!

2009-06-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-21T23:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-06-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

Good Times

2009-06-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-06-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-05-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2009-04-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

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:

2009-04-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-20T11:21:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-02-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

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, it was so silly, 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!

2009-02-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-31T12:20:00.000-08:00

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 ..............

2009-01-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-01-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-12-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

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!

Jacob is SEVEN!

2008-11-30T05:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-03T02:43:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-03T02:24:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-09-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

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-

2008-09-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-15T12:53:00.001-07:00

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!

A [very, very, very] Unexpected Blessing...

2008-08-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

We recently got
quite a surprise,
I truly could not
believe my eyes...

I stared and stared
til I thought I'd go blind.
Was I really seeing
TWO little lines?

Yes, it is true-
a baby so new,
a child so precious,
Is coming to bless us!

We hadn't felt prepared
for another child yet,
but we know God is aware
of what will be best.

So, Baby, we say:
Come our way,
our family
Welcomes You!

Wow! We have not had a baby in almost 4 years, that's a long time compared to how close together all our other babies were. From my best calculations, I'm due in the end of March. We were planning on waiting a little longer to make it public, but I can't hide it anymore, because I'm already showing! I'm defineatly no more than 7 weeks along but already people are not shy noticing I'm pregnant, even though I try to suck it in! (I guess I just have wimpy ab muscles!)

We are very excited to have another person in our family!

Making room...

2008-08-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Now that he has a reason, Matt has been eager to turn some unused space upstairs into more bedrooms, which we'd been planning since we moved in, but hadn't gotten around to it. Now he has already framed the walls and done the electrical wiring. He is so good at that stuff!

The kids had fun helping out... Jacob and WesLee felt so tough carrying the lumber upstairs and they are both actually really good at driving nails now. They can say they helped build these walls!

I am so proud of my guys!

Kindergartener!

2008-08-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

WesLee on his first day of Kindergarten:

It is CRAZY how time flies by so fast! Watching WesLee run down the street to the bus stop, I can't help but still see my little tiny preemie baby. Strangely, It wasn't this hard to let go when Jacob went to kindergarten last year. I guess I will just always remember WesLee as that tiny, tiny baby.

On the 2nd day of school, WesLee seriously thought a gingerbread man hid on the bus and ran into our house after school. He searched our house high and low for this real live gingerbread man. Jacob helped him because he said the same thing happened when he was in Kindergarten..no luck though... until WesLee's class found it the next day hiding in the principal's office. The teacher quickly cut it up so it couldn't run away again! That made me laugh!

The 2 wheeler CLUB

2008-08-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

WesLee just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! Jacob taught him by pushing the back of the bike. They are having a blast and it's great because now when they get restless I know I can just let them go wear themselves out by riding their bikes! I'm glad we live on a street that has culdesacs on both ends, so not many cars come through here. Here's the newest member of the 2 wheeler club:

Also within the same few days, Wes taught himself how to do the monkey bars, what a srong kid you're getting to be Wes!

Self Portrait...

2008-08-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

I thought this was so cute, Faith came and showed me this picture she drew. I could tell she really tried so hard to make it look just like her! Do you see the resemblance?

Ignorance is BLISS (sometimes!)

2008-08-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

OK, so I've decided to learn more about what functions blogger has...the other day I learned how to do slideshows, for example. Well, today I was surprised to learn people can subscribe and get automatic feeds of my blog each time I post on my blog. I've only been blogging for less than 2 months, and even if only a few people ever check my blog, I really love that it serves as a sort of scrapbook/journal for me. And I love reading lots of other people's blogs, even if I don't know them that well.

I don't know how to find out who subscribes to my blog, but to tell the truth, I don't think I want to, because if I found out that hardly anybody subscribes, I know I'd feel a bit sad. At least I can comfort myself knowing there are people who view my blog who don't comment on it, perhaps they aren't computer savvy?... there are some people who email or call and mention something from my blog, and it feels nice to know they thought of me. Maybe I'm a bit insecure... but please don't pity me! (I know this post is probably sounding ridiculous.)

However, I got to thinking, does this mean if someone subscribes to my blog they'd be notified everytime I ever edit anything? Several times I have gone through my posts and edited things like mispellings or changed weird sounding phrases to sound better, or added in little details. So, I do wonder if anyone subscribing to my blog would be notified each time I made a little change here or there. That would probably bug them to get that many notifications. I wonder if they can see what times I made a change? That's a little embarrassing if I was doing that in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep or something. Maybe it would be best if I never found out!

I'm done with my silly rambling :)

I don't think I want to become any more computer knowledgeable than I already am, for now. For me, in this case, ingnorance is bliss!

What we've been up to lately

2008-08-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

It been awhile since I posted, so be forewarned this is going to be a bit long! We've been enjoying the last days of summer break, and here's some of what we've been up to lately...

We went to an organic farm not too far from here, the kids enjoyed the farm atmosphere and we got to taste lots of organic yummies.

Walking around the farm there were chickens everywhere, the kids had fun trying to get as close as they could...

WesLee discovered a hen in a dark barn who we thought must be sitting on eggs...because she didn't get up and run away even with us right next to her.

We checked back a little later, sure enough there were 3 eggs...she must have been taking a little break.

We saw a mama cow with her new baby calf...

We were allowed in the fields where the cows eat (they're truly free-range, grass fed) When it was milking time, the cows just sort of lined up and herded in, eager to be milked. They wandered around everywhere til milking began. As you can see, this made the kids a little nervous, but the cows were very gentle and the kids later ended up petting them.

While watching the yogurt being bottled, one worker thought he'd surprise the kids by spraying water at the window we were looking through, it was pretty funny and made us all jump.

One of the best parts was eating my delicious smoothie. They used honey to sweeten it, no sugar, but it was sooooooo good. Gotta do that at home!

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We drove to Fort Wayne to hang out with Matt. He's been spending time there training for Verizon's anticipated field strike. He normally works in an office managing business accounts for Verizon, but if the strike happens, it's a good opportunity for him to make extra money, since they pay really well to those who cover for the strikers. But the down side would be that he'd be gone to New Jersey and New York, and only come home every third weekend. We’re waiting to find out if the strike will happen or not.

Someone took this picture of Matt learning how to climb poles for strike duty. He's now doing it without the ladder, I’d like to see a picture of that! It definitely builds the muscles! :)

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In Fort Wayne, we went to a place called Science Central, the kids had a blast there with tons of cool things to see and do! They got to launch rockets, inflate and lift a hot air balloon, lift and drop parachutes, build all sorts of stuff, make huge bubbles, play the foot piano, see and play the inside of a piano, design water damns, have a dry “water fight”, funny mirrors, moon bounce simulator, create a mini-tornado, give a pretend tv weather forecast and lots more. We are definitely going back to do the rest sometime. Here is a slideshow of some of the pics:

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We went to Fort Wayne Historical Railroad Society where we got to ride on a REAL full sized train! (A first, even for me) The awesome staff let the kids explore the engines and coaches… Jacob and WesLee have always loved to play with trains, so this was a huge hit for them, I think especially for Jacob.

This huge train engine reminded us of the Polar Express!

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We went to the Firefighter Museum and got to learn about the history and development of different kinds of firetrucks...the sign said not to climb on the trucks, but the museum guide told the kids to go right up and test it out!

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We went to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, our kids always love any zoo. The funniest part was when Faith happily started to wander past the rope in the aviary, because she wanted to get a closer look at a big, white, exotic bird...I got her to come back, but she kept crying about the bird. Well, the bird must have felt the bond too, because all of a sudden it flew up, swooped down and landed right next to her on the fence, she was absolutely delighted! We also thought it was interesting how there were many peacocks chasing eachother around the whole zoo. Those pictures are in here along with a few others from the zoo:

Well, I'm sure that is too much for one post, but I wanted to catch up a bit, guess that'll do it for now.

1st Place Winner!

2008-07-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

FORBES MAGAZINE has just rated Hamilton County, Indiana as the #1 best place to raise a family out of the whole United States! Yay! We feel so smart and lucky that we happen to live here! The article basically says that with low home prices, great schools, low crime and an easy commute, Hamilton County is the best! No wonder we LOVE it here! (Not to mention the cooler weather). Anyone want to join us and move here? There are still lots available in our neighborhood at great prices, hint, hint! We miss you all!

PBS Kids Day At the Park:

2008-07-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

We recently drove into Indianapolis for PBS Kids Day At the Park; we don't suscribe to cable, so PBS characters are really the only ones our kids are familiar with. They were so excited for this!

The boys got to hug Clifford...
I have to tell you that whenever we see a dressed-up animated character, WesLee gives them his biggest, most sweet, loving, sincere hugs...he just sinks in and doesn't want to let go... whether we're at the Children's Museum or with the Easter Bunny at the library, or even with the O.C.Bee when we're out to eat...It makes me laugh inside so hard when this happens, because you can just see how much love and happiness he seems to be feeling everytime he does this.

They got some 'hands on training' about being doctors, here Faith examines the Panda's ear, but you see she is doing this with the reflex tool, o-well!

They enjoyed playing some board games about health care:

They got to feed some goats and hear a bit about how to take care of them,

We ran in to some friends there too, here is Faith with Chloe, her friend from Sunbeams:

The boys had fun climbing and bouncing, Jacob was not ashamed to hold Faith's pink balloon for her :)

We also ran in to some more friends, the Neys, here is Wes being so sweet to their little boy!

Fun times!

Jacob is SUCH a helper!

2008-07-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

He'll see me doing some chore and he'll come and actually ask me, "Can I do that?" He seems to get great satisfaction out of doing a good job on something and just being able to do stuff on his own. Just a few pictures I took of him lately-

He asked if he could put the dishes away:

He asked if he could help make spaghetti:

He wants to help in the garden...

I think one of his favorite things to do is cracking the eggs!

I could go on and on... he LIKES to vacuum! He helps feed the pets, he helps set the table, he wants to be the one to check the mail everyday...also he absolutely loves to help his Dad fix stuff!

Not only is he a good helper, but also a great example for his brother and sister... when they see him so willing to help, they want to help too! That can sometimes get crazy if everyone wants to help all at once, it sometimes is harder than by myself, but I'm just glad to know they are willing.

Tagged!

2008-07-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

My friend Suzanne tagged me recently, I guess I've sorta been putting it off because I'm not sure who to tag, since I think most of my fellow bloggers have been tagged recently as well! Well I decided to go ahead and post my answers, but haven't decided who to tag yet, so watch out!

How To Play This Game of Tag:
-Post these rules on your blog.
-Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog.
-List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random/surprising facts
-Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.
-Leave a comment on their blog to let them know.

Joys-
1. My family, I love falling asleep thinking about all our sweet memories, especially when the kids were born!
2. Going to church... it gives me that boost that I need so often.
3. Hearing the sounds of nature and seeing the beauty of nature reminds me how great God is!

Fears-
1.I've always been afraid that someone might kidnap or hurt my children.
2.There's a dangerous ledge/dropoff that I have to drive past often in my town that has no barrier.
3.I'm afraid of being unhealthy.

Goals-
1.Wake up earlier... my body still feels like I'm on AZ time!
2.Get more organized! It seems to never end!
3.Keep in touch with people better, have closer relationships.

Current obsessions/collections-
1.I've been collecting wood furniture in the garage to sand and paint.
2.We've been collecting wildflowers from our backyard:

(For a long time I would only let Matt mow the front yard so I could keep the pretty wildflowers growing in the back!)
3.I've been obsessed with using self-tanning lotion lately (Only on my legs to try to make them the same shade as my arms. Hey, it really works!)

Random/surprising facts-
1. I broke my left wrist in 3rd grade.
2.My son WesLee had a pre-K evaluation, & scored at 1st grade level already! Him at his preschool graduation in May:

3.Last but not least, I like to listen to Christmas music all year round!

Who will be tagged next? ...to be determined...

Wet and WILD!

2008-07-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official that we have acclimated to Indiana's climate... when we are willing to go out and play in the water when the high temperature is only between 80 to 85 degrees! (And to us it feels HOT) There are some awesome free sprinkler parks around here! I hope they have more of those in AZ by now, because we had to drive all the way over by Tempe Town Lake to go to the splash park there.

Anyway, yesterday, Matt decided to let the kids have a water fight with water balloons and bowls... I wish I'd thought to get my camera out earlier, but I was getting chores done while they played so I didn't think of it. But when I looked out the window and saw THIS going on, I knew I had to take some pictures!

(I know, it's kinda blurry, because I took the pics through the window so the camera wouldn't get wet.)

We've always let the kids use bowls for pouring water over eachother, but now they're getting real smart and using them as shields!

Faith was so funny, getting right in the middle of it, but so seriously trying to protect herself!

...Speaking of water play, WesLee cracked me up the other day when he was pretending to be Santa Claus in the bath tub!

Puppy Love...

2008-06-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, when Faith was probably about 8-9 months old, I took her along when I went to a thrift store one day to look for something. About 5 seconds after I carried her through the door, she was pointing at a stuffed dog and saying ‘Doggy! Doggy!’ which was one of her first words which she had been saying a lot lately at that age. I let her hold this doggy and she hugged it so lovingly. For such a small price, I wasn’t going to pass it up. I didn’t find the thing I was looking for at the store, so that dog was the only thing I bought there that day. She has slept with ‘Doggy’ ever since and she carries it around all over!

~The REAL thing~
Faith also loves real dogs of course… Short story: One day not too long ago, Matt took Faith to a pet store after running errands in another town and he called to tell me Faith absolutely adored a puppy that was there, and asked if it might be alright with me if they brought it home. I didn’t feel like the time was right for a puppy because we don’t even have a fence and I would probably end up having to do most of the work. (It's kinda like taking care of another kid! Although, I do hope to get a dog someday after we can afford a fence and a dog door.) A little while later, Matt was sending me pictures over the phone of Faith with this little puppy. (GUILT TRIP!) ...A couple days later, we saw our next door neighbors outside with a new puppy on a leash… I looked at the pictures from the phone and asked them where they got the dog and sure enough it was the very same puppy! I thought it must have been meant to be!

We go over several times a week to the neighbors' to let their dogs out while they are gone at work all day, so Faith gets to play with that puppy right next door! It worked out just right! His name is Peyton.

And, since we can’t get our own REAL dog yet, the other day we bought this huge stuffed dog for $2.50, brand new with tags at another thrift store. (In case some of you don’t know by now, I am a longtime fan of thrift stores!) It's that really soft, squishy, huggable kind of stuffed animal, and they love it!

Metamorphosis

2008-06-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Last fall, WesLee found several caterpillars and we decided to keep them. We poked holes in plastic jars and put grass and sticks and milkweed in the jars with them. He named them. This particular jar had 2 caterpillars and you can see he wrote their names on the lid: SPECKLY & ANA.

The caterpillars would eat SO much in their jars and then make their cocoons usually overnight. We kept them in the garage, but after such a cold winter, I was afraid none of them might ever come out. I would check on them every other day or so once the weather started to warm up. Finally, recently, each one came out all within a matter of days! Speckly was the first one. We weren't sure if it was a butterfly or a moth, but the kids were all very amazed at the metamorphasis!

Wes is so interested in nature and critters! Here he's holding the jar after Speckly came out. He went out and picked some pretty flowers to put in the jar with a little bit of water & after Ana came out, he freed them.

Good job Wes!

Father's Day!

2008-06-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to a dad who didn't sleep in this morning long enough to let anyone bring him breakfast in bed, but who instead decided to treat his whole family by making some delicious Danish Apple Oven Pancakes! .....and who even shared his huge King size Snickers bar with his 3 kids (and his wife) after treats were passed out at church to all the Dads .....and who also insisted on making dinner for us outside on the grill AND who even wanted to do the dishes after! Matt has been so cheerful and helpful lately. Thanks for all the good things you do for our family Matt! This T-shirt we gave him in the above photo says it all!

WesLee made a very simple, sweet card for his Dad. He did this without any suggestion from me. I think it makes it so special when kids think to do things like this on their own! Matt showed it to me after WesLee gave it to him. Wes is such a thoughful kid!

Here is "Daddy's Cup Cake"! I thought it was perfect for Faith to wear this shirt today! She really is such a little love muffin!

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Jacob was feeling kinda lousy after church today, because his ear was hurting...Well, he told us he had stuck a shoelace in his ear during primary. I'm not sure if his ear was buggin him already and maybe that's why he thought to stick something in there, which he's never done before (as far as I know) or if his ear started hurting only after he had poked the shoelace in it? Either way, it's not a good thing. I really hope it improves by tomorrow, or I'll have to take him to a doctor. He did get some good cuddle time on the couch later with Daddy though.

Having fun together!

2008-06-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

Jacob is such a sweetie to his little sis!

Wes loves to catch bugs and frogs (notice his jar)!

Faith on top of the world! (on Daddy's shoulders)

Our first blog

2008-06-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be a fun to have a family blog so all of our family and friends out there can get a little peek as to what we are up to now and then, and hopefully to get back in touch with people that we have lost touch with over the years. After we were married, we lived in AZ for about 6 years, and just last year we moved to Indiana. We have been awful at keeping in touch with everybody, and we want to try somehow to get back in touch and let you all know how much we love and miss you!

I hope I can figure this blogging thing out alright!

For any of you who we haven't been in touch with for a very long time, I should tell you that we (Glenda and Matthew) have 3 beautiful children: Jacob (6), WesLee (5), and Faith (3). We are so blessed to have these kids in our lives, they probably teach us more than we teach them. I have learned so much from being their mom. What great kids!

There are so many things about Indiana that we love! It is so beautiful here with the 4 seasons. After living in the desert most of my life, we were probably the only ones in our town who wished our snowy Indiana winter would last longer...but, each season has been so amazing. Seeing the leaves turn bright orange, yellow or red in the fall, seeing SO much green and so many beautiful flowers in the spring and summer. We live in a small town a little north of Indianapolis, sort of 'out in the country'.

I still get homesick for AZ after living there for more than 20 years, but there are lots of great people here too, and if we ever move again, I will miss these people too!

We've had our share of trials in life, but my hope is that our trials will only make us stronger in the long run. The other day when we were planting sunflower seeds, the wind became super strong and Jacob started to say he wanted to go inside because he didn't want to get blown over. It was really that strong! We were in the middle of planting the seeds, and I told him that if he can withstand the wind this time, he would get stronger and it would be easier for him to face the wind the next time. And that we would get beautiful flowers for facing the wind this time. He decided to stay and now we're waiting for our sunflowers to come up!