Train them young

every time we go to the school office Jake finds the broom and he loves to sweep the area. So the other day when we went to Lowe's i saw one and got it for him. as you can tell he couldn't be happier

he has been using it ALL weekend!

a fall day

I love fall it is beautiful and somewhat calm before the winter holiday's. one day last week i went to the cemetery to visit Matthew's grave.

when Matthew passed away John and I went to the cemetery to find a place to bury him (something a parent should never have to do) we immediately loved this location by the pond (which is really low at the moment) i liked it because it was right by a palm tree and off on its own space

see all alone no one trampling it

the 23rd of October marked the 6 year anniversary of Matthew's death and it was still pretty hard for me.

here is his headstone that we picked out. i Love that it has his picture on it. puts a face to the grave which is something i always wonder when i look at the other headstones....

it is a beautiful view from the cemetery and to many people they are so sad but i love the quiet calm of a cemetery especially on a cool fall day....

This could be a problem

just some of Lilly's bows. i need help....

Target Trip

this little lady, Jake and I made our favorite trip to target on Tuesday. Lilly was still in her jammies and she rode in the baby Bjorn which is her favorite way to ride.

We got some GREAT deals buy combining manufacture and store coupons.

I am really trying to get back into coupon shopping and saving my family some money because we all need to cut corners right?

I got all this loot for so cheap:

12 boxes of Kellogg's cereal

4 bottles of ocean spray cranberry juice

2 boxes of granola bars

and 2 jars of Skippy peanut butter

grand total

$12.85

HOLLA!!!

What my life looks like

Last weekend after church we went to breakfast/ lunch (i don't like to say brunch it sounds so not us) anyway i had recently asked John what he thought people thought of us we walked up with our 5 kids.

Jake was having a GREAT time singing VERY loudly at the top of his lungs

he didn't care who heard him or what people thought. singing carelessly and just having a fun time.

that meal included a dropped glass of water, my boys talking VERY loudly about what they wanted for Christmas etc. at one point during the singing John and i looked at one another and just laughed. our lives are so different than what i ever thought it would be but it is the best thing i can imagine... and who cares who is looking and watching

well i am sure she may care in a year or two! i sure hope not

Halloween Weekend

the kids were so excited about Halloween i mean what is not to love dressing up, and getting candy is COOL! Friday night we went to a carnival at the school it was a lot of fun and the kids got a ton of candy... so much we didn't have to buy any to hand out on Halloween night...

Lilly bean was so cute of course in her bows that Tara and a new lady i found who makes them since my friend Tara isn't going to be making them anymore waaaa...........

Jake was the CUTEST dinosaur i have ever seen, he would growl and it was so funny

David was frankin-vampire and Johnathan LOVED this spider man costume. so hopefully all the candy is gone in a few days so that it is not tempting me anymore

Finally

So i am finally starting to work on some project i have been wanting to get to. between these projects, the holidays, and my kids i should be covered with blogging material for the rest of the year.....

this post is all over the chart so just ignore my jumping around

Two years ago we bought our boys new beds, well we offered Liz a new bed if she wanted but she would have to go from a full size bed to a twin. Well of course she wanted a new one. That new bed was great she loved it, but since we moved and her room is bigger she hasn't been wanting her big bed back. Luckily we saved it and so i pulled it out of our pile of stuff we saved.
Obviously it needed a face lift because this color was not going to work.





So i bought some spray paint at Lowe's that would somewhat match her desk and did the first 2 coats and then i realized it was glossy not satin...

Our pool has turned green. GROSS! good thing we weren't swimming anytime soon

Looks like we are ready for Halloween with our swamp.

I went back to the store and got some more spray paint this time in a satin finish and got to work

&

After a few days of hard work for the pool guy the pool looked looked like this:

here is Ms. Lilly today she was awake for a few hours finally.
and here is Jake being silly. Poor boy i have got to take him for a haircut soon!

I will show a picture of the room makeover in about a week. I ordered a new bedding set and it should be here Monday or Tuesday then we can do the fun work!

Lilly 1 month old already

I can not believe it has been a month already. To say we love Lilly would be a understatement. She is such a sweet baby and is finally starting to be a little more alert.

Lilly's first month has been so fun:
* she sleeps about 7-8 hours at night
* wears 0-3 month clothing still (but not for long she is growing!)
* weighs 9 pounds 11 ounces (uh that is what Jake weighed at birth holy moly!) 50th percentile
* 22 3/4 inches long 95 percentile
* socks finally stay on your feet
* doesn't mind the big bows on her head
* went on a women's retreat and to the movies- you were SO good!
* likes laying on her belly (and mom is a nervous wreck!!), oh never at night
* so far pretty easy going


As you can tell i LOOOOOOOOOOOVE this girl she is beautiful!

Rambling

i keep thinking i am going to update the blog at night while everyone sleeps but then at night i end up watching TV or sleeping myself so i figured i would try during nap time and see if that works, i hope so because then i may have some more regular posts then i have been doing. so some rambling....

this past weekend i went to our church's women's retreat. my mother in law and sister in law and i roomed together, well Lilly went too. Lilly was so well behaved and slept really well. i even took her into a movie theater and she slept the whole time. We went and saw couples retreat it was really funny but had some crude parts too so beware if ya go, i love going to the movies it used to be one of my favorite things to do but my hubby hates the movies so i never go anymore. the retreat speaker was good and the worship was great!

here is Lilly in our pretty room. which the AC was broken, and it was SO hot and humid in Los Angeles that weekend

here is a picture of my beautiful filet topped with blue cheese and a side of mashed potatoes i had to dinner. oh. my. it was delicious!!!

on another subject. we have been watching baseball (GO Dodgers!!!) cleaning up (does it ever end?!) and i finally went grocery shopping! PTL we have some food to eat.

i am in a weight loss challenge with my good friend Tara and there is $$ on the line so i am hoping i do well, it is a couples challenge and there are 11 teams total....

i also have been trying to find my boys pants, why is it that i can not seem to find decent priced cute pants for my boys? today i hit the jackpot at kohl's with some great deals including pants PTL! i also got Jake a pair of shoes at stride rite, poor baby has the fattest feet and i bought him a size 7 wide shoe well i took him today and turns out he wears a 9 wide! no wonder he kept telling me he has ouies on his feet. he is all set for winter now thank God, he has pants, shirts, and shoes, he could use a jacket too but not quite yet...

here is my boy with his sisters headband on

oh my friend Rossie came over and took some pics of Lilly here is a sneak peek. i LOVE them! thanks Rossie!!!

i have a bunch of projects i am wanting to start like redoing Liz's room, my boys rooms and some furniture redo's so stay tuned.....

DIY day!

I keep thinking i am going to participate in this event every week and i still have yet to do it. SO i figured this is the week to go for it. Since Lilly is 3 weeks old tomorrow and i still have not showed her nursery on the ol' blog i thought this would be a good start and hopefully i will get a post all about her room up soon too.

I wanted to make some letter canvas wall hanging thingies (yes i know very technical) to hang up in Lilly's room so i bought 5 canvas's at Michaels for 50% off i think they were less than $3 each, and then i got some wooden letters and spray painted them black

yes i just spray painted them directly on my table because that is where i do all my spray painting and it is funny because all the paint comes off...

 

 

 

I took a pack of tissue paper in different print and decoupaged it on to the canvas and i printed out some cute shapes i liked off the computer and decoupaged those too and then added the letter on with some gorilla glue

 

 

 

 

here is all the letter done. i think they are cute and girly

 

 

 

 

 

although i still haven't hung them up yet. not sure if i want them straight, or one up one down , with ribbon, without etc... so got any ideas?!

for tons of great DIY projects go here

Baby Faces!

sorry it has been a week since i posted but i have been looking at this cute girl and all her crazy baby faces.....

i love a sleeping baby so precious!

"ok mom, take these pictures quick!"

"oh wait i wanna tell you something...."

"hmmm maybe i will wait until later to share it with you"

"ok ok i will tell you"

 

"I am sick of all the picture taking"

"no i refuse i will not take another"

"there, perfect right where i want to be... with my mommy"

in case you wanted to see the other cutie in the house (well i have 3 other cuties they are just not into posing for the camera)

he makes this face every time i want a picture, it is his smile i guess...

Crazy Week

The week started off with John heading back to work. i was bummed i wish he could take several weeks off but someone has got to bring home the bacon =) i decided to go to MOPS that day because i wanted Jake to go to the nursery and exert all his energy there and come home for a nice nap. my plan worked perfectly and MOPS was great! 

Once we arrived home David came home sick from school throwing up... lovely! John came home early to take me to my appointment to have my staples removed. so we went to the doctor and then i went to the lactition to get some assistance with nursing because Lilly had been nursing often but was not peeing or pooping hardly at all. Well the lady said she looked pretty jaundice, and awfully sleepy and she had lost more weight and was a 7 pounds 14 ounces (from 9 pounds) i called the ped and they said bring her in, so rented a pump and we headed across town to her doctor. the doctor took one look at her and told me to take her to the lab to have her levels tested and he would call me in a couple of hours once he got the results, by this time it was close to 5 and we got there and went home to wait for the call

When we arrived home John started feeling yucky. The doctor called about 7 and told me i need to take Lilly to the hospital, he had already set up a room and called in all orders for her. Praise the lord he did that and we didn't have to go to the ER where everyone with the flu and junk were. by this time John was feeling VERY bad obviously he had what David had. I took Lilly down and they started her on phototherapy it was so sad at first because she is used to being swaddled and held alot and she had to be in there in just her diaper, with those funny glasses and i could not hold her at all, couldn't even take her out to feed her.

it was so sad, they had to put a iv in her foot after blowing her veins in both hands. to top it off i had to share a room with another lady who had a baby with jaundice and her son cried the whole night, which she never heard because it she was SNORING the entire night! i felt so bad for her baby....

Well God sure did heal Ms. Lilly and so quickly, the nurse told me the numbers Lilly had generally meant a 2-3 night stay minimum and by that next morning when our doctor came in her levels had dropped so much he said she could leave in the afternoon. A pastor from our church was there seeing some other patients so he stopped in with 2 other people and prayed over Lilly then they were able to pray with the neighbor and her baby, that was a blessing and i hope a seed was planted.

God is SOOOO good!

we got discharged that afternoon and on the way home we got a call from school that now Johnathan was sick. JOY! luckily all the sicknesses only lasted a day each.

Everyone is home and healthy now. And Lilly is finally starting to eat and pee and poop PTL! isn't it funny as mom what we get so excited over?!!! i am not able to nurse her, her doctor wants me to know exactly what she is taking in. i cant handle pumping ( i just don't produce that much pumping) so i am just giving her formula, as long as my baby is healthy and happy i am not going to feel guilty over giving her formula.....

That has been our fun week. getting Lilly eating and praise the Lord we have been able to just stay home and rest and recoup.

Baby Products

how funny that i wrote this post and then Kelly's show us your life this week is all about baby gear. having had 6 babies i think i am pretty much a old pro at this but i always seem to find something new that i love for each baby. here is a picture of Lilly just this week in our cute boppy bouncy seat

 

Since i am obviously in the midst of everything baby i thought i would share a few of my favorite products and a few of the things that i think are not worth the $$$. i think i will do my top 10 favorites and then 5 least favorites sound good?, good:

my angel care baby monitor! i got this when i was pregnant with Jake and i have actually been able to sleep. When Matthew died i was SO worried about Johnathan i don't think i slept a good solid night until he was like 2! then when i was pregnant with Jake i saw this and had to have it, it is a baby monitor but has a little sensor board that you put under the crib mattress (or cradle, bassinet ,etc) if there is no breathing for so many seconds (i believe 20) it will sound a alarm. thankfully it has never went off for us (well except for when we take our babies out and forget to turn it off lol). 

Aveeno bath products- i LOVE the smell of this stuff! the lotion is great for dry skin. i like the traditional Johnson's products but i LOVE these so much more!

 

 

Avent bottles- i have used these bottles since i had David and i love them. i think you get used to one bottle and that is what you end up using. Why are bottles so expensive any way?! i think they are like $18.99 for 2 bottles now! that is crazy! anyway i think these are so nice and don't have a million parts to clean like a lot of new ones, although some of the new bottles are so cute i thought about switching but i decided that was silly since i still had some bottles left from when Jake was a baby.

Baby Bjorn the main reason i got one of these was because i was having twins and had a 1 year old and i refused to get a triple stroller so i invested in one of these babies and i loved it. i found one that had extra long straps (i don't think they make them anymore) but it was awesome because i am 5 foot 11 and i never bought another kind because the baby would be resting on my head ha! there are some really cool wraps and carriers now but i haven't tried any so i am not sure how much i would love them.

Boppy pillow- first of all they make the cutest covers for these now!!! i love the one in the picture i have never seen a cover like that but i love it! anyway i love these to just lay my babies in and let them look around. Jake "sat" in his all the time, i never really used it for nursing since i do not nurse my babies but i still love this product!

Bumpkins bibs! these are so awesome when the kids start eating, they are not stiff like plastic-y bibs but they don't absorb everything like the big terry ones. they are still soft to the touch but you can run them under your sink and they dry really quickly. they come in cute colors and patterns too! oh and they have the little food catcher which i think is kind of gross but at least all the stuff doesn't land on the floor

now i have just had my 6th baby (wow that sounds like a lot!) and i still have not found a sippy cup that is better than the same one i used when Liz was little. the Playtex sippy cups! i think the drinks stay cooler, and they are easy to clean. i currently have like 3 different brands of cups in my cabinets and i always chose these. they don't spill and Jake can not bang them on the table and the valve fall out (please tell me you know what i am talking about right?!)

I am a diaper snob! When my babies are first born i use the pampers swaddlers because that is that they give you in the hospital and i like them alright but is it me and the outside looks dingy or like the material is fuzzy once you touch them? anyway once i run out of those i buy huggies, and i purchase them until they are done with diapers. i have tried several brands over the years and always go back to huggies. i love the supreme ones in this picture but i usually just get the regular ones cause i am just as pleased and the price is better. the hold great and i don't get many wet clothes or blowouts with huggies.

Mam pacifiers- they are just so much cuter then all the rest =) i love pacifiers i think they are so cute and i don't care if my kids use them, i know most people have a opinion either way but i think they are great. i used to stress out when Liz was little that she would look goofy having one once she talked but really who cares, they are not going to get married with a pacifier in there mouth....

and last but not least is the miracle blanket, you can only purchase them here and they are a bit pricey ($30 for 1) but believe me when i say these little swaddle blankets are SO worth the money. i have thought of making these my standard baby shower gift but some people are not believers until they try it and once they do they will never buy another brand. the great thing is the are really long so you get a great wrap around the baby, and the material is not too heavy so the babies don't get over heated. and they love to feel all wrapped up like this. my friend Liz told me about them when she had her daughter, because a friend of hers used them well when i babysat for Liz for a little bit i got to see what a great product so i ordered one for Jake before he was born. he slept literally from the first night he was born. same thing with Lilly she sleeps fabulous in these blankets! John even thinks they are amazing!!! since then i have made a few friends try them and we all agree they are a miracle! if you have a baby who will not sleep order one it works!!!

 

So i wont post pictures of my least favorites just list them for you. you may LOVE these items and i am sorry if i don't, they just don't work for me....

• diaper genie, diaper pails etc... there is just something disgusting to me about diapers sitting in my baby's room for days. i like to put stinky diapers in a quart size Ziploc bag and walk it to the trash can (well actually i send a kid out to do it now) but i used to always do it myself....
• umbrella strollers i am just to tall for these short strollers and they have no place to store anything.
• onesies- i know sounds crazy but i don't like onesies, you know the plain ones you are supposed to put under outfits? the weather here is so mild that i don't think they are needed and tend to just take 12 hours to change a diaper.  i do however like ones that they can wear as clothes with cute saying and prints on them. my BF  made me some cute onesies that have bows attached to them SO cute!
• potty chairs- although i have tried these for my first 2 kids i think they are so gross! i like to by the little cushioned seat that sits on tip of the regular toilet seat.
• all that stuff in the corner of the baby store where the gift wrap is. you know the calendars where you record everything, the baby books that stare at you because you are to busy with your baby to fill out and by the time you have your 6th baby you don't even take out of the package etc.... silver baby gifts do you all know what i am talking about?! just too much pressure for me lol...

so what are your favorites? have a great product i didn't mention that you think i should know about??? i love baby talk if you haven't noticed!!!

An Update

We have been home a few days and everyone seems to be adjusting well. Lilly is such a sweet girl we can all just sit and stare at her for hours. i love her little feet!

The kids are loving having a new sister, even Jake! he is so gentle and loving so far =)

i have had a much harder recovery this time, and barely today started feeling like myself. kind of.

just thought i would give a quick hello and say everything is going well and the baby is so sweet.