Love you to the moon

When Mason was little, "Guess How Much I Love You" was our favorite book. Everytime we would leave each other or go to bed, we would say "Love you to the moon and back again!" Made my heart smile everytime he would say it. Well, we still own that very same book. It isn't in as great of shape as it used to be, but that only means it is used and used well, right?

Koryn is not quite so good at listening to a book being read to her. She lasts MAYBE 2 pages before she gets bored and either tries to turn the pages really fast by herself or she just starts rambling off about something different. As we were on our way home the other night, I simply said "Love you to the moon, Koryn" and that was all it took. She repeated it back to me and I said "And back again". Now she gets quite a kick out of saying this phrase to me. Not only does it make me smile because it is something that we are continuing from when her brother was little, but the way she says it is just so darn cute!! I had to video it last night just so I could share it!

And then there were 4....

Daddy playing with Jarrik while Koryn posses as soon as she sees the camera

It's that time of year again....fall. As much as I love this season, I dread it all the same because with it brings the harvest season. And, what does harvest season mean to us....that our family suddenly went from having 5 members to now having 4 (at least the majority of the time.) Craig informed me about a week ago that they would be starting chopping soon and all of sudden I started to panic. It was one thing when they started last year and I had a 7 year old and a 1 year old. That was doable. Now, though I have an 8 year old, an almost 2 year old, and a 4 month old. Drastic difference. Immediately my mind started thinking of everything that was going on. I think most mothers understand when I say that most of the time we take care of about everything ourselves anyway. But, just knowing that Craig is absolutely not there to rely on is a different story. As with everything else, this too shall pass.

On top of a full work day everyday this week, our agenda includes: football practice, meeting with boss for work, football practice, football game, and then it's the weekend! Enjoy your week everyone!

Daddy's little girl

When we got pregnant the second time, I was secretly hoping to have a little girl. Maybe I shouldn't say secretly since I'm pretty sure Craig was well aware of this. I cried when the ultrasound technician told us that it was a girl and I looked over at Craig and he just smiled and shook his head. This is funny to me since I believe the main reason that I wanted to have a girl was for him, and his reason for NOT wanting a girl were the exact same. All of you that know my husband know that he has always been a little rough around the edges. Well, I knew that the minute he met his little girl his heart would melt. I thought, "This is what is going to settle him down and he is just going to love this little girl to pieces!" Well, I'm not so sure that he has settled down much more, but he definately loves his little girl. They do just about everything together and as much as it breaks my heart when she stands by the window when he leaves, crying saying "Daddy wit you!", it also makes me smile! That moment when you see your little girl loving her daddy that much is just priceless.
One of the things that they do together (and quite well I might add) is lay on the couch. After bath time, Koryn goes right to the couch and lays down with daddy. She has this need to always be holding someones hand. One night I heard Craig as he was trying to scratch his nose saying to her "Koryn you have to let go of my hand for just a second, I need to scratch my nose!" So cute!

This picture is one I coudln't resist sharing. Craig reads his Journal like it is a religion. So, this particular night he had sat down on the couch to read the paper and Koryn sat down with him. He gave her the insert that was in the paper and they sat, just like this for a while. All of a sudden I heard Craig say "Huh" like he had read something interesting. Not too long after, I heard little Koryn repeat him "Huh" like her paper was interesting too. I peaked out our bedroom door and I saw Koryn looking at Craig for his reaction, but he didn't turn her way, so she just went on reading her paper as normal. They are two peas in a pod!

Sweet Corn

Mason doesn't always get too many appearances on the blog. This is mostly because when I decide to do a blog post we are sitting at home and the little ones have done something that is too cute not to take a picture of and share with everyone. While this is happening, Mason is usually out and about doing numerous other activities. So, today he is outside of my office with his best buddy selling some sweet corn. I couldn't resist taking a picture of them while they didn't have any customers out there.

I have to give this kid quite a bit of credit. He is such a trooper being the big brother. I'm fairly sure that no parent intentionally leaves their child out, but it seems that is what happens sometimes. With such a gap in age between him and the younger kids, it just happens that they are doing completely different things. Many days he goes to the farm with his dad and helps out or plays with his other buddy. Many of these days have ended with him spending the night at his friends' house sparatically. He has also had a couple of weekends that he has been invited to go camping. I feel like I don't get to talk to him for sometimes up to 2 to 3 days at a time...isn't this supposed to be when they are about 17?? But, everytime he comes home with a smile on his face and happy to be back home with us. Now, we (or maybe just I am) looking forward to the school year when we will dive straight into sports. First tackle football, then wrestling, and last soccer. Should be a constant busy straight through until May...would we know what to do if we weren't constantly busy?!

Normal?

Well I guess we are back to what we can call normal...although I don't know that it's the same normal anymore. With so much loss recently, it is hard to not feel a sort of emptiness every day. It's almost as if we go through the motions, but don't really live the day like we would "normally" do.

Even so, when you have 3 kids running around you have to try to live for the moment. I have been saying that I might be partially ready for school to start so that we get back to some routine. I would like to think that our whole family runs better when we have a routine (maybe it is just me that is happier when there is a routine so then the whole family runs better :). However, the start of school is a week and a half signals the end of summer. This is something I am not ready for. It seems as though we have tried to cram as much lake time as we could into this summer, but I still feel like we haven't had enough! As if we weren't trying to pack enough into the summer with baseball, swimming lessons, Lake City softball, and just enjoying the nice weather, I have been doing quite a few pictures. As I type, I am cropping images....this only seems to add to the craziness. I told someone the other day that I think I do all of this just to prove that I can (although I really don't know why that is needed!)

I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my mini-me and the little man sitting in the bumbo seat. He should not be big enough to do this yet at 3 months should he?!

Back to the real world

Well, our lives the past couple of weeks have been in a sort of turmoil. To say the least, I feel like a train has hit me and then backed up and ran over me again!
Almost 2 weeks ago, we had a pretty big scare with little our little man. He had been congested since after we went camping on the 4th of July. I had taken him in to a local clinic since his regular doctor was gone for about a week and a half. They gave him an antibiotic and nebulizer and said that the tightness in his lungs should get better. Well, he had his 2 month appointment (that was late anyway) scheduled and the night before we went to the appointment he had one of his coughing fits. I got a little scared and said to Craig that he looked like he was turning purple from coughing so much. When we got to our appointment I could see the look in the doctors' eyes when she took a look at him; he was not well. I felt as though I were in a dream. I don't tend to take my kids to the doctor that often for a couple of reasons. First of all because they are rarely sick and secondly because everytime I do, the doctor seems to tell me that they can't give them anything for that and it just needs to run its course. This appointment went a little differently. First of all, little miss Peanut was in the worst mood. So, as the doctor and nurses were trying to get Jarrik's O2 levels, x-ray his chest, and many more things, I was mostly trying to console Koryn so she would stop making such a ruckess. In the end, we found out he had Croupe, his oxygen level was at 80% (normally should be over 90%) and he had thrush. After much anxiety from myself, he has almost made a complete recovery. I keep telling myself that we are so lucky that our kids do not have serious health issues, because I don't know if I could handle it!

To end a very long and stressful weekend with Jarrik being sick, we got the news that my godfather had passed away. It is kind of hard to describe my relationship with him, but one of my best friends put it the best (he was an uncle to me too.) I didn't expect it to hit me that hard, but it really was a difficult time. My prayers are with the best godmother I could ask for, and 2 of the greatest friends/cousins/men I know!!

To top off this awful news, Koryn got the flu on our way to visit with the family. Nothing worse than seeing a little girl throwing up and not knowing what to do. On top of that, a 104 temp!! Very scarry again! Mom had to stay home from work for a day with her. By the end of this last week, everything was back to some sort of normal again. It won't be the same world as before, but back to the real world for this family!

Peanut

I think every parent (even though most dads won't admit it) secretly hopes that they will have a little girl. When we got pregnant the second time, this was my hope. Of course, I would have been happy with a little boy and as long as the baby was healthy, it really didn't matter. But, when we found out we would be blessed with a girl, I had tears in my eyes!

And what a joy she has been the past 22 months! She definately has spunk in her (hense, the reason why I am glad we only have one!), but she is just so sweet! Obviously a daddy's girl, she has him wrapped around her little finger! Part of my secret hope for a girl was this very reason. I knew that Craig would melt when he met and got to know his little girl. Their relationship is a very unique one. They have their own little things that they do together...I.E. share candy, play in the mud, and lay on the couch together. But, they definately get on each others' nerves too! Our little peanut knows how to push every button there is (this may be the reason that I sometimes say that she is my pay back child!) She for sure knows how to push her daddy's buttons and even after she gets yelled at, she will go and snuggle on the couch again with him :)

Daddy and her brothers are going to be awfully protective of her as she gets older, I have a feeling. Much to her father's dismay, she is developing a love for clothing and shoes. I brought home some clothes the other day and she proceeded to take them out of the bag and hold them up to herself saying "CUTE!!" Her dad would much rather she wear jeans or work clothes everyday (and for that matter be dirty and unattractive her whole life so that no boys will like her!) Even so, we can't wait to see what the future holds and who she grows up to be, attitude and all!!