life

We just got home from the hospital with baby #3! I'll get to that in a minute but first, here are a few pictures from the last week or so. There's not a lot I can do right now. I've been told to sit as much as possible. No cable so blog it is.

This was my sister's 40th birthday family get-together. There are several things I like about this picture. First, Mya is in Christmas PJs she wore to the party. I let them wear whatever they want most of the time. Winter is wearing a monkey suit my sister keeps in her toy box for the girls. It is for a 12 month old. The other little girl is a friend's two year old who is "helping" Wendy open presents along with my helpers. They kept grabbing cards and presents and opening them before Wendy could do anything. I laughed the whole time along with several others. Wendy kept looking around for help but no one came to her rescue. She just kept saying, "Wait! Hold on! What does that card go to? Who is this from?! Ahh, Amie! Get your kids" I just laughed and said, "You invited them!" =) Presents are way too magnetic for kids. To tell any child they can't help their auntie open them would just be cruel.


 

Dan has been REALLY into juicing lately. It's his new thing. I'm totally supportive. Although it is expensive, it's super healthy so juice on honey! I love that the girls are wearing their preschool Thanksgiving hats while watching him. It is rare that they are wearing normal clothes without accessories. That is so boring.

Mya took this at the carwash Monday. I look like batman.



 

Winter took this one. She jacked my phone again and of course I had no idea as usual. I just found the pictures later. But impressive picture. It's not blurry and it captures her 2-year-old ankles. It's the only time in ones life when chubby ankles are cute.

 

I often catch these two being loving. I told Mya how I love to see them like this. She said, "I'm feeling Winter's heart mommy." So sweet.

 

 

Winter and I went on a long walk to get the baby out Tuesday. She likes to hunt for sticks and leaves.

 

 

It worked!

 

Adelyn Marie Wagenbrenner.

7 lbs 3 oz. 20 inches long. Born Wednesday morning, 11/27/13 at 9:30AM at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital. Dan chose the name. I liked Adeline. He thought I said Adelyn. I liked that too. Marie is after his mom. We'll call her Addie.

 

Best labor experience yet. The contractions were pretty intense so I ordered the epidural around 5 centimeters. The whole labor was pain free, including the pushing. Didn't feel a thing. Now that's the way to do it. (That was my plan for the first two births but of course they rarely go according to plan. Pain city, both of them.) And we had the best team of nurses too. If everyone could have babies like that, I'm sure there would be more babies in the world. We prayed for a smooth, drama free labor and God answers prayer! I'm glad that was the one my sister was able to witness. Adelyn looks almost identical to Winter as a newborn. I'm kind of hoping their personalities are polar opposites. We only need one Winter in the world! :-)

 

One year ago on Thanksgiving we lost Dan's mom. It's only fitting that we are bringing our new baby home on Thanksgiving this year. We also say good-bye to an amazing lady, Dora Snow, as we welcome a new addition to the family. Life is so crazy like that.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dora

My grandma passed away yesterday, November 21st quietly in her sleep at the ripe old age of 89. I don't really know what she died of... My husband says it is called TMB (too many birthdays). I think I'll go with that =) I have so many funny stories and fond memories of my grandma. To most, she seemed serious, polite and lady like. But to close family, she was a practical jokester and had a silly side that came out at the most surprising times. She was definitely an individual, like no other.

I wish everyone could have a grandma in their life like mine. She has never been the sweet old lady most think of when they hear the word grandma. She was more of a princess =) But she loved her family. She loved her grandkids and she loved her great-grandkids. She and my grandpa have been major people in my life from the beginning. Grandpa passed away about 10 or 11 years ago and Grandma has wanted to join him ever since. That's how much she loved him. But we were blessed enough to keep her around for a while.

She used to call me on April fools several years in a row and tell me things that I would totally believe like her 12 year old spayed female shih-tzu being pregnant or that school was canceled because it was snowing in Southern California. She used to give me a $1 for every A I would get in school. She paid me to dust her room and clean her collection of spoons on the wall. There were hundreds from all over the world where she and my grandpa had traveled. Her house has always been home to me. It still will be. My siblings and I grew up there and spent so many summers in that pool and most days after school there.

My grandma has been more than just a grandma to me. She has been kind of an older mom who helped raise me and someone who cared about me and loved me the way a mom loves her children. I can't really put into words how special she is to me. She's my grandma.

I've spent many days over there in my adult life and have watched her age slowly. She hated getting old and constantly talked about how one should not live this long. After all, most of her friends had already passed, her husband was gone and all that were left were her offspring. But, what a blessed lady to always have family surrounding her. She was never alone. She feared we were going to put her in a home and talked about how horrible that would be. We reassured her again and again that we would not let that happen and thank God, it never did, thanks to my mom and aunt who took care of her instead.

It is weird to think that she will not be there anymore when I go to her house. I'm not sure I have mentally processed that yet. For me, death is something so hard to grasp for some reason. This woman has been such a huge part of my life and now my life will go on without her.

I am happy that she died the way she did. It is exactly what she wanted. I am happy that my mom and aunt can have relief from the extremely difficult caretaking they have had to do for the last few months or so. I am happy that she loved the Lord. I am happy that she no longer has to put up with neuropathy, going blind, going deaf and aching body parts. I am so happy that my girls were able to know her. They loved their grandma snow. She used to get down on the floor and play with them at 87 years old then crawl over to the couch and grunt and moan to get back up. When she was too weak to stand, she made them crawl up on to her lap so she could hold them and rock them. I am happy that she enjoyed 57 years of marriage to her sweetheart and never could even think of loving anyone else.

I am going to miss her funny comments that she didn't intent to be funny. I am going to miss my grandma. I love that in the end, she didn't have enough strength for physical therapy or even eating, but she did manage to go to get her hair done the day before she died  =)

Grandma and me - 1982

 

High School graduation

 

In my 20's...

 

 

and the recent years

 

 

4 generations

 

Her fav grandson-in-law ;-)

 

Turkey day

 

never too old for a rocking motorcycle

 



 

newest great-grandbaby

 

my favorite pic

 

mommy brain

So, here's my take on so called "mommy brain." I think that the brain adapts to it's current situation in life.

Mine no longer needs the skills it once required to write reports, enter invoices and memorize all kinds of formulas and codes needed for the world of antivirus software. I would have no clue what to tell a customer if they asked me for help registering, installing, uninstalling or using the software I used to know so well. It no longer needs to remember names of coworkers and business professionals I worked with just a short time ago. These days, if I try to remember a name of someone I worked with, half of the time I draw a blank. I only stopped working 4 years ago.

Things that used to be so easy like adding the tip to the total of a bill now require a double and sometimes triple check. No way am I doing that while talking. I used to go out to lunch all the time and found it no sweat to calculate 18% while giving a co-worker advice about her boyfriend. Now I just double the tax and pause for a few seconds before adding up the total.

I never used to miss my exit, lose my keys or misplace my phone. Now all three happen daily. I think this is because my brain has accepted the challenge of mastering new skills. Mommy skills are tricky and no one else can claim to refine the art like we moms have.

I can find a pink sock in a pile of a million toys, locate the ketchup in the fridge in .5 seconds and tell my husband exactly where his favorite sweatshirt is.
I can tell you the favorite color, cartoon character, sippy cup, fork and plate of both of my girls. 
I can multitask like nobody's business when it comes to laundry, dishes, sibling disputes and listening to hubby sum up his day at work.
I can eat a whole plate of food in under two minutes. If I don't I'll never get to eat.
I can carry a sleeping toddler, 5 bags of groceries and a pumpkin spice latte all while closing the car door.
I can manipulate a 4-year-old into doing something she doesn't want to do and even more impressive, a two-year-old too.
I can tell you exactly where every item at Target is located; eggs, scotch tape, doggie bones, socks, cereal, you name it.
I can get myself and my girls ready to leave the house in under 15 minutes including my shower.
I can create dinner out of seemingly nothing in the fridge or cupboard.  
I can hear a clicking noise in the other room and tell you exactly what my kid is doing.
I can hear my 4 year old cry and tell you what my 2 year old did to her.
I can predict a tantrum or a skinned knee minutes before it happens.
I have the superhuman mom sense that can prevent my 2 year old from falling off the monkey bars before she even thinks about climbing them. 
I have eyes in the back of my head.
I can wipe away tears and make it all better like no one else is able to do.

And we do this all on less sleep than the average person.

These tasks require much more brain power than one would think. Let us not take lightly the tremendous abilities we have developed in the short time we have been in charge of these difficult creatures. Our children are not sucking the smarts out of us; they are challenging us in more ways than anyone has ever challenged us before. If we look distracted and cloudy, it's because we are conquering a new skill, not losing brain cells.

preschool artwork

Winter has really been improving on her drawing skills. So much that she chose to tattoo her arms and legs during nap time. I knew it was too quiet...

I think it kind of gives her look an edge.



serious magic

I wrote a post called Adventures in 2 Land back in April venting about Winter's latest shenanigans. Someone told me I should use Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser to get permanent marker off the wall... I was totally skeptical. It's permanent marker and it's been there since April. Well, I tried it. IT WORKED. I even bought the Target up & up brand. I didn't try hard at all. It came right off. I'm a fan. I went on to clean more stubborn stains all over the house. So worth the couple bucks.

before

 

after

 

Amazing.

 

sweet moments

People who don't have kids have a hard time understanding why anyone would keep having these little monsters when all they do is drive you nuts.

They have a crazy way of being angels one minute and devils the next. It's the angel moments that make the devil moments worth it... and that's why I keep having them :)

Mya feeling baby's hiccups

 



home perks

Before I met my husband, I always figured I would hopefully meet someone and have one or two kids and have to work like the rest of the world. I never really expected to be able to have the luxury of staying at home with my kids. It sounded like so much fun. What a perfect life! Make breakfast for my family, do some light housecleaning, play with the baby, go to the park with the toddler, hang with other moms at Starbucks as our babies slept in the their strollers of course and just do whatever I felt like doing.

Okay, obviously I did not have a clue what it meant to be a mom. I was in for a huge shock when I figured out that being a stay-at-home mom was the hardest job I would ever do. And maybe that is why I've complained so much about it. I've done way more complaining than I have counting my blessings that I actually do get to stay at home and raise my kids. Sometimes I act like I deserve to just stay at home and do nothing while my husband works his tail off to provide for us. Maybe I want to work hard, just not this hard.

Today, I had a thought. What would I be doing if I was not at home with my girls? I would be working. I HATED my job when I worked. I really did. It was not worth the pay. And I did not feel like I contributed anything to make the world a better place. I just listened to people complain about computer software. What if I did not have a choice but to work? Would I have gone out and gotten myself a new job? Probably not. Even if I did, I would rather be at home with my girls.

This thought has really never sunk in. This is what I WANT to be doing. Yes I am kind of slow to be figuring this out now, 4 years later. But it gives me a whole new perspective. God has given me the gift of doing exactly what I want to be doing. Yes it's hard. And sometimes, I want to throw in the towel (or my children) but I really want to be here. How freeing!

 

This gets me excited. It gives me a whole new attitude. Below is a list of my favorite things about being a stay-at-home mom instead of my normal lists of what makes staying at home crazy hard.

(Now before I read my list, I realize not everyone is a stay-at-home mom. Some work full or part time. So maybe hearing some of these will remind you of why you like to be home with your kids when you aren’t at work)

 

· 1. I am my own boss. I answer to no one. Not a fan of bosses. Never really had any good ones.

· 2. I can wear whatever I want. I have given away all of my work clothes. I can dress up or dress down, however my mood strikes me.

· 3. I have no alarm clock. I don't have to wake up at a certain time if I don't want to. If my girls sleep in, so do I! Or if I want to get up early before the girls and enjoy a quiet morning with coffee and a devotional I can.

· 4. I make my own schedule each day. No deadlines, no reports, no stress.

· 5. I get to be outside as much as I want. I used to sit at a desk all day. All I wanted was to go for a walk. Now I can be outside at the park, at the beach, walking around my neighborhood or anywhere that sounds good.

· 6. I get to spend time with my husband. He has a weird schedule so he's off for 4 days at a time sometimes and we get to hang out and spend time with the family. If I was working, I wouldn't see him until night time.

· 7. I am so much more active with my girls than I was when I was working. It's much easier to keep weight off these days then it was when I was answering phones all day. I used to count calories and go to the gym every day for at least an hour.

· 8. I don't have knots in my neck. For as long as I can remember, since I was a teenager, I've always had stress knots of tension by my neck and shoulders. Whenever someone would massage my shoulders they would comment on my knots. They are gone now. Since I stopped working, the stress in my life has disappeared. People always talk about how stressful kids are and maybe they will be one day but the kind of stress I deal with on a day to day basis must not be the kind of stress that builds up in my shoulders. It's just physically exhausting. But with each new day, whatever happened the day before is gone and the new day starts with a clean slate. I don't have worries I carry around with me for weeks and months at a time.

· 9. Having kids and being with them day in and day out has drastically improved my relationship with God. I have had to lean on Him like never before. I rely on Him for patience, strength, wisdom, companionship, and so much more.

· 10. I get to connect with other moms and build relationships I never would have been able to build if I was at work all week. I am so thankful for the other moms I have come to know through GUM and my church. I think having a community of moms who are going through what I am has really helped my attitude, my perspective and my sanity. It has been such a huge blessing.

· 11. No more sitting in traffic!! I used to commute from Azusa to Glendale, a relatively short drive if no one was on the freeway... It took me AN HOUR. There and back. Ugh, how I don't miss that.

· 12. I get to see my girls as much as I want. Yeah I know that's not always a bonus but I know parents that rarely get to see their kids. I get to be with mine all the time. I get to see all the major milestones, hear every funny word they say and be there when they accomplish something and want to show mommy what they've done. And I get to kiss their owies and comfort them when they are sad. I get the memories that come with BEING there during these little years. 

Now I know staying at home is not for everyone. Obviously, we do what is best for our families. I really admire moms who work all day then come home to do all the tasks that wait for them there. And I do believe that some moms should work because that is where GOD has placed them.

 

I'm mostly sharing these things because I forget them sometimes, well a lot of the time. I like to really take advantage of my thankful moods while they are here. That is the reason for this post.

 

So to all of you moms, I hope God has blessed you with what you WANT to be doing. And I hope you will make your own list.

modesty

"Mommy we're so cute! Take our picture. Cheeeeeese!" -Winter

mya the angel

This morning, I put a movie on for Winter so I could take a shower without having to worry about her getting into the medicine cabinet or drawing on walls with sharpies. She's almost 3. I'm hoping I can start trusting her by herself soon... wishful thinking? So I come out of the shower and Mya comes up to me and says, "Mommy, come look at my room!" So we go in there and it is totally spotless. What used to be covered in toys, clothes, crayons and miscellaneous kid stuff is now totally picked up. Then she says, "Mommy, come and see Winter's room!" She cleaned hers too! Is this kid serious? I give her 20 minutes alone and she choses to clean two rooms. I nearly cried. THEN, she says, "You know why I cleaned? Because I love you."

 

picture frame craft

Craft #6 - Yes I'm still crafting! And I will 'till the baby comes.

This is hardly a "craft" considering how little work there is involved. I made them for the craft fundraiser we are having for Growing Up Mom next week. These are picture frames with bible verses inside. Here are the finished products:

 

 

 

 

I have a ton of picture frames I won't use because I think they kind of clutter the house. I like big pictures on the wall, not little ones everywhere. So, I used them for this craft. I printed the verses onto scrapbook paper. I had to cut them to fit the printer, then again to fit the frames. Then I decorated the frames with flowers I made out of scrapbook paper. I used a quarter to trace circles then glued them on the frame then painted them with mod podge to make them a little stiffer. I decorated the green frame with some paper flowers I bought a while ago from Michael's.

Here's another one I made today. It's a little more crafty :)
It's a Christmas frame with a Christmas verse inside. I painted the frame with primer, sprayed with spray glue and sprinkled Epsom salts and glitter on it to make it look snowy. Then I glued on a snowflake ornament I got from the dollar tree.

good hell

I've mentioned my grandma Dora a few times already. I can't help it. She's just so much fun to talk about. Plus, she's a big part of my life. I took the girls over there Saturday. Grandma is pretty out of it these days caused mostly by meds but we think she also has slight dementia. She's also going blind so that doesn't help things. She thought I was my sister and couldn't tell the girls apart. But that's pretty normal. My brother was over there visiting as well. He usually brings his 2 month old with him but not this time.

He was carrying my nearly 3-year-old, Winter, and decided to take her over to say hello to Grandma. Grandma smiled and said, "Is that my boy?!" talking about Mike's 2 month old. He smiled and said, "yeah!" and set Winter in her lap. With a gasp she said, "Good hell he's gotten big!" Yeah, I would say Winter is pretty big for a 2 month old boy haha. She's so funny.

The girls also got to take a spin in Grandma's electric wheelchair with my mom. It's pretty old so mom drives it around to keep it from dying. They liked it almost as much as the ponies at the festival last week.

 

Mom, you really should drive with your eyes OPEN. :-)