My Beautiful Day

Noises ...

2010-07-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

I have learned that noises truly annoy me. Not the little noises that go bump in the night ... not even the noises of my kids fighting with each other, or one of them crying. The noises that annoy me are the white noises - the ones that are a constant background. Even music, after awhile, becomes white noise that annoys me. I've learned this more and more about myself recently and I have discovered just how much I love the quiet. The problem? My husband is just the opposite. When he gets home from work the first thing he does (after he kisses me hello!) is to go and turn the radio on. He LOVES music .. and noise doesn't really bother him all that much. I'm one of those people who want the radio off in the car if we've been on the road for a long time and it's been going the entire time. Thankfully, though, I am not the control freak who turns it off and tells my husband to deal with it! He is respectful of me as well, so often when I'm feeling like the white noise is too much, we will just turn the volume down a bit and we both win.

So I'm wondering - am I truly a rarity in this situation or are there more people out there like me who don't appreciate white noise?

A First-Time Family Experience

2010-07-28T11:50:00.000-05:00

While it can be said that both Monte and I have gone camping in the past, and the boys (Iain and Ellis) have technically been camping (meaning they spent the night in a tent), our family as a whole had never been camping together - so that is what we did this past weekend! We packed our Suburban to the brim and woke up early enough to have our family out on the road by 7:00am. Destination: Itasca State Park. We made a few stops on the way, including one at my sister's house to pick up the things her family was loaning us for our camping trip (as they tend to camp quite frequently). When we got there, I knocked on their back door and let myself in. I was greeted by my brother-in-law, Martin, and my niece, Khloe, who ran up and gave me a huge hug the moment she saw me! It was all too sweet! :) So, Khloe in my arms, we headed outside to get the screen tent, grill basket, air pump and air mattress that we were borrowing from them (let's face it - while the thought of camping was great, the thought of sleeping on the ground when I am almost six months pregnant was NOT great!). We packed the stuff, said our goodbyes and were off yet again. We arrived at Itasca a little after 11:00am, stood in line at camping registration for about 15 minutes and were put on a waiting list and told to come back in an hour to see if they had a spot for us. So we drove to the picnic site, took out our cooler and made sandwiches for the crew to pass the time. Thankfully, when we drove back to check, they had a spot available for us. Thus began our weekend camping adventure!

We set up the tent .. and the boys played in the boxes that the tent came in!

The boys played catch with the baseball .. and water bottles .. to keep themselves busy.

We then hiked down to the fishing dock where the boys enjoyed some time together.

We then set up the screen tent (the one we borrowed from Tanya and Martin), which we later found we were SO grateful for, as it rained quite a bit that afternoon into the next day, so it was a good place to hang out and play cards while we waited for the weather to pass!

We took a hike in the pouring rain to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Iain and Ellis enjoyed playing in the water while the rest of us huddled under a nearby tree!

Though it must be said that Iain and Ellis were quick to join us when we pulled out the snacks!

The next day we did a lot more hiking around the park, including this stop at Peace Pipe Vista.

We stopped and saw the largest White Pine Tree .. though I don't know if it was world's largest or America's largest or ... ?!

We also went to the fire tower, though once we got there I was the only one brave enough to climb to the top ... everybody else waited for me on the ground!

See the little red dot in the middle of the picture? That's Claire waiting for me at ground level. The white dot to her left is Ellis sitting on the bench!

Ellis enjoyed the breeze of having the windows open while touring through the park (as there were some sites that were more than 10 miles from our campsite, so we decided it would be best to truck to those ones!).

The rest of the time was spent cooking food over the fire, playing catch with the neighboring campers, playing cards, eating, and just hanging out by the fire ...

... and with Colin telling us it was time to stop taking his picture!

Happy Birthday Monte!

2010-07-24T06:20:00.000-05:00

Today is a very special day, because today we celebrate this man:

This very handsome man who has stolen my heart and will forever keep it as his treasure. The father of our children, the lover of my heart, my very best friend. Today we celebrate you, my husband, and the fact that it is indeed your birthday. I love you baby! I hope you're enjoying our camping trip and are in complete bliss as today is all about YOU!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-21T06:20:00.002-05:00

He gives one-and-a-half thumbs up for pancakes at Grandma's house!

Taking Time Away

2010-07-20T16:31:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt like your blog or even just your computer sometimes takes time away from your regular life? Or to put it even more bluntly, have you felt like it takes time away from your family? I'm starting to feel that way as of late, and when my husband expressed that he felt that his own time on the computer was taking away from time with our kids, we decided that we were going to do something about it! I have already began my first step of spending drastically less time on the computer (which, unfortunately, also means that I'm frequenting your blogs a little less often) and the next step comes tonight. You see, tonight starts our (Monte's and my) one-week computer fast. For a solid week, we are not going to use the computer for anything (with the exception of accessing some recipes that we will be making for dinner that are saved online). There will be no playing around on facebook, no writing blogs, no checking emails or anything of the like. Instead, my time will be spent playing more with the kids, spending more time in the Word and in quiet time with God, staying on top of cleaning the house and spending less time with my phone attached to my hip!

So, blogging buddies, if you don't hear much in response from me in the next week, you now know why. However, let it be known that I do have a couple of blog posts that I have scheduled to post later on this week, so you will still hear from me, but in a pre-planned manner! My prayer is that this week will be productive and will lead to a more pro-active way of running our household with far less reliance on our computer!

Cribs, Bibs and So Much More!

2010-07-16T14:15:00.000-05:00

I will admit that, while we don't necessarily need one yet, I have been perusing through Craigslist searching the ads for cribs for sale (preferring those that also include a matching dresser!). While I have thoroughly enjoyed going through these different ads, I find myself frustrated by the time I walk away from the computer. Why? Well, the ones that I want to check out are usually $600+ ... and there is no way on God's green earth that I will be spending that kind of money on furniture for the baby's room! The other thing that annoys me is when someone has their crib listed, and they show a picture of it completely taken apart and stacked against a wall, or they show a picture of just one side of it leaning against a wall. C'mon people! My thought is that, as a consumer, I would like to be able to see a full picture of what I may potentially be purchasing. It's those ads that make me click the back button in a hurry, because I'm very unlikely to inquire about something that clearly shows that very little effort was put into placing the ad. Is that mean of me? I don't know! I just feel like I've reached a point of frustration with the different Craigslist ads, and while I am certain I will continue to peruse through them, I do know that I will do so with a much different mindset. You see, we have yet to even paint Claire's new bedroom. We aren't planning on moving her into her bedroom until right before school starts. That being said, her current bedroom is the one that will end up being our baby's nursery, so I can't begin to think about purchasing right now anyway (unless I happen to come across a REALLY good deal!), because it would just have to be stored until the move happens.

Agh. The crazy that comes with planning for a baby!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-14T17:03:00.000-05:00

No matter how much my kids are fascinated by this, I still think it's gross!! :)

Baby Bump

2010-07-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

We are officially 21 weeks pregnant, and my bump is officially growing! Here are a couple of pictures taken this morning of our little guy growing inside of me.

I do have to say that I think it's funny that my belly looks bigger in the second photo. The only change is that I adjusted my shirt so it wasn't pulling down on me. Silly silly.

Lately I have been feeling more and more of the 'case of the tireds'. Afternoon naps are welcomed and being out-and-about exhausts me. I also am realizing that I am no longer comfortable just sitting on the floor or laying on the beach (*sniff, sniff*) .. I have to be supported by a chair or my back is extremely uncomfortable. However, on the upside, I still am feeling really great! I'm getting more housework done than usual (maybe because I've made the kids play outside so I can get it done?!) and am enjoying whatever form of chocolate comes my way! :)

Thus far, 21 weeks is proving to be great!

Accomplished

2010-07-12T14:41:00.000-05:00

Today I am feeling accomplished. You see, in the last two days I have managed to complete five loads of laundry. For those of you who don't have this task to do on a regular basis, that truly is quite a feat! On top of that, I finally got my garden weeded this morning. When we left for Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago the weeds were just growing in. When we arrived home three days later, they were taller than the plants. Suffice it to say that I hadn't found the time and/or the ambition to get out there and weed it until today. I was out there almost three hours, all three of my older kids were out there talking with me (and Colin was drawing in the house) and the daunting task was completed! On top of all of that, I managed to go through my clothes in my closet and my dresser last night and remove the things that just aren't going to fit me and replace them with freshly washed maternity clothes! The great thing is that Claire was able to borrow some of my shirts and tops (as we are almost the same size) for this coming school year, since I won't be able to wear them. We save money in a lot of ways by doing this, as she doesn't need quite as many school clothes, and the maternity clothes I replaced those clothes with are almost all donated from my sister-in-law or other friends.

Yes, today I am feeling very accomplished and life is good!

Goodbye Tweeter!

2010-07-06T18:34:00.000-05:00

If you were to ask me how my opinion of Twitter has changed over time, the story would go something like this. When I first got a Twitter account, it was because a couple of my friends had one and I thought, "hey, cool, something new to try out". To be honest, I didn't really "get" it. It took a long time to get used to, and possibly because I have always used it through the computer and rarely through my cell phone (I don't appreciate getting all of those random text messages!), so it felt like a more difficult and MUCH less wordy way of communicating. Instead of saying what I wanted to, I was scrunching down my thoughts into itty bitty little sentences that might fit into the character count.

It took a few months, but slowly I began to love Twitter. I was enjoying getting the little updates from my friends and spent a lot of time in front of the computer communicating with them. The thing I realized more than anything, though, is that I was spending more time in front of the computer than I was spending anywhere else. It became addicting and thrilling all at once to be able to send quick little messages to my friends.

At that point, I decided I needed a Twitter break ... and I took one. The problem? I never went back. I realized that I don't really enjoy using Twitter all that much - it's no more convenient than Facebook or my regular old email. So, alas, I have come to the decision that I will be deleting my Twitter account (once I figure out how to do that). Gone will be the little messages from people, hopefully to be replaced with emails and phone calls .. you know, the kind of things that I do make time for in my life!

Goodbye Twitter ... you will not be missed!

Why Don't You Like Our Baby?!

2010-07-02T20:17:00.000-05:00

Today, my husband and I got a rare treat in the fact that we were able to run the many errands we had on our schedule together. Claire stayed home and watched the boys, so Monte and I headed out mid-morning and ventured out to Costco, then to our apartment complex to fill the soda machine and collect rents, then to my appointment with my OBGYN, then to the bank and finally back home.

On the drive home, Monte and I were discussing possible names for our baby and the ones he was coming up with were just driving me crazy! I'm uncertain if it was just my husband trying to push my buttons (which he does quite frequently!) or if we really are that far off on our opinions, but part of me thinks that my husband is under the impression that we're birthing an 80-year-old baby, because he kept suggesting names such as Roy, Jeff, Renaldo, Melvin or Albert. After taking it all in for awhile, my response to his suggestions could no longer be held in as I looked him in the face and loudly asked, "WHY don't you like our baby?!"

I think he won ... in the button pushing war, anyway.

And, just in case you didn't pick up the subtle hint in here, my hubby was suggesting names for our baby BOY that we will be welcoming home in November! We couldn't be more thrilled to add yet another boy to our clan, and I think Claire is secretly happy that she's still going to be the only girl. Colin wasn't happy with me at all, though, as he told me that he wants a boy AND a girl. I explained to him that I have just one baby in my tummy and I'm going to be bringing home a baby brother when he's ready to be born. Colin's response: "That's okay, you can have a sister for me at the next baby!"

Yikes!

She Disappeared AGAIN!

2010-07-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

Just when you thought I was back on a good run of blogging .. I go and disappear on you yet again. I'm sorry! Did I forget to mention that we were headed up north for a family reunion, then immediately headed to Wisconsin for a few days of relaxation at our friend's cabin?! If I forgot to tell you, then I am really sorry! We are home now, just getting back into the swing of the busy life and getting ready to see some of our family for the 4th. We celebrated Ellis's 9th birthday yesterday (June 30) and had a baseball and soccer game to head to shortly after we arrived back home. We have been SO busy, but I'm not complaining!

We go in for our ultrasound tomorrow and should know whether we are having a boy or a girl! I am so blessed that this appointment came when it did, as Monte has the day off tomorrow, so he will be able to attend this one with me. I don't know what it will be like to have him there, as it is usually Colin who comes with to these, but I'm excited to have my hubby there! I don't really feel like I've missed out on much not having him come to any of the previous appointments, just feeling excited that the news of boy or girl is going to be delivered to both of us at the same time. My appointment isn't until mid-afternoon, and I won't announce it until we've told our families, but I do promise that I will get the announcement up as soon as I can!

On top of all of that excitement, I got to meet my bloggy friend, Pennie, in real life today, along with her friend (who I will now claim as my friend, too!) Shelly. We met for lunch and it was such a wonderful time .. thank you ladies for the great company - I can't wait to make it happen again soon!

And with that, I'm out!

It All Happened When My Heart Got Lost ...

2010-06-24T10:37:00.003-05:00

It's no secret that, for about as long as I can remember, my heart's desire has been to be a wife and a mom. I used to dream about the day that I would walk down the aisle, the day that my husband and I would welcome our babies into the world, and the days that would follow in my life of complete bliss! However, I have to admit that, if it had gone according to my own plan, I would have married the wrong man. I was so determined that my destiny in life was to be a wife and a mom; it was that determination that lead me in the direction of taking control of my life out of God's hands and putting it into my own, seeking first the fulfillment of my plan and ignoring God. You see, I was engaged to be married when I was 18 years old. The man I was engaged to was very nice and I truly cared for him, but the more time that went by the more I realized that, had we been married, my life would have gone in a direction that I really didn't want it to. I had the idealistic perception that marriage would change things - that we would focus more on going to church and sharing a relationship with God, and that we would focus less on everything else. Can I tell you that I am incredibly thankful that God got a hold on me when He did? It was during this engagement that I realized my life was not headed in a direction that would be pleasing to God, and it was time to give up control back to Him. Though the decision was not easy, we agreed that it would be best for us to end our engagement and go our separate ways. He remained in my hometown, and I moved a few hours away to live with my sister and her family and begin my fresh start on life.

I began attending church regularly and even joined a couple of small groups within the church. I allowed God to heal my heart from the pain of this lost relationship and turned my attention to Him. Unfortunately, in doing so, not only did I turn my attention to Him, but I turned my attention on the guys in my small group. You see, I was still determined that becoming a wife and a mom was my life calling and I was still trying to maintain control of the "when" and the "with whom" this would be fulfilled. Now, looking back over those years, it amazes me how much time I wasted focusing on the wrong things in life.

It wasn't until a couple of years, a few jobs and a lot of houses later that my priorities changed in the right direction. At this point, I was living with my brother and his family (after having moved four times within the course of a year, I decided that move number five needed to be a bit more permanent, so when my brother and sister-in-law offered to let me live with them, I took them up on it pretty quickly). I wish I could say that my priorities immediately changed and God had complete control of my life, but that is not the case. I still spent the course of about a year still hanging out with the wrong crowds, dating the wrong guys and doing things that I knew weren't the way I wanted my life to be. It amazes me so much how easily I let myself continue doing these things, even while knowing that they were not good for me, but not caring because it was instant gratification. Guess what? Instant gratification pretty instantly leads to long-term pain. When I took the time to reevaluate my life and my priorities, it was very quickly that I knew I was not where I wanted to be and not where God called me to be. I made the decision that it was time to stop focusing on what I thought I was supposed to be and to turn my focus entirely on my relationship with God.

I found a new group of friends, a couple of them having been friends from the first church I attended in the cities, and began spending time with them. We made it a priority to get to church together every week and to really lift each other up in our relationships with God. Through time, I began to find that my heart was so happily lost in God that my cares about being a wife and a mom were minimal and I rarely thought about them. If single life is what God was calling me to, then so be it! I truly had finally come to a point where I had a healthy attitude and outlook about where my life was going. It was amazing to finally know the love of God to such a capacity that it consumed me!

I can't really tell you how long it was between the time that my heart transformed to being lost in God and when Monte and I went out on our first "non-date", but I can tell you that I was so focused on my relationship with God and where my life was going, lead completely by Him, that I never suspected that I could ever have feelings develop for any man. To read about our (Monte and my) love story, click here. All I can say about it is that, as I am reflecting on my relationship with God and my relationship with Monte, two things have proven to be very true, and they are two of my most favorite sayings: Love comes when you stop looking for it / Love comes when you least expect it and possibly my favorite: A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man needs to seek God to find her.

My prayer is that, if you are walking in the shoes of seeking a future spouse, seek first a relationship with God and let Him take care of the rest. His designs are far better than what we are capable of drawing, anyway!

18 Weeks!

2010-06-23T10:13:00.002-05:00

Today we are 18 weeks pregnant. According to the weekly pregnancy calendar, that means that my baby is the size of a pickle. Sound odd to you? It does to me, too! However, since I have been receiving so many requests for a picture of my "bump" (which has just began to show, by the way), I decided to put one up here just for you. In order to get that done, however, I had to do it right away, as I had already been procrastinating from doing this for awhile! I was all set to do it last night, but the battery died on my point-and-shoot camera (and I forgot my DSLR camera at my in-laws' house this past weekend!), so I had to wait until this morning. So without further adieu (and without any makeup, teeth brushing or hair styling), I give you me and baby at 18 weeks:

For those of you who didn't want to see my bare belly .. you have my apologies. It's just ... you can't really see the bump any other way! :)

Hope you are all fabulous!

Early in the Morning ...

2010-06-15T07:02:00.000-05:00

What an odd morning it has been for me. You see, my eyes popped open just before 5:00am, and they haven't closed since! I knew that I needed to get up early today, as my kids are going to the zoo with two of their aunts and they are leaving shortly after 8:00am ... and I need to finish the boys' laundry before they leave. Maybe that's what caused me to wake up on my own at the crack of dawn, maybe not, who knows. Regardless, it is now 6:57am, I have already showered, done two loads of laundry, made breakfast for my husband, ate my own breakfast and now I am just sitting here amazed at the fact that I'm awake. You see, normally I don't get up until about 7:30am (well, at least when the kids are on summer vacation), so to be awake this early is just crazy!

I know I've been away from the blogging world for a few days, but life has once again become extremely busy! The kids are now officially on summer break from school, sports are keeping us insanely busy during the week, and this cloudy weather is just keeping us insane!

However, in the midst of all that crazy comes a great deal of joy, as my brother and sister-in-law are due to have their baby via C-section at 7:30 this morning ... so very shortly I will have a new niece or nephew! This is Jeremy and Missy's third child and, considering that Missy is already well beyond her due date, the arrival couldn't be happier! Congrats to the fabulous family about to welcome child number three!! :)

That's all I have for you this morning. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures in here soon!

16 Weeks

2010-06-10T08:16:00.000-05:00

I had my check-up with my OBGYN this past week Monday. It came as a bit of a surprise to me to find out that I'm currently 16 weeks pregnant. I imagine if I went back and correctly calculated, it would have come out right, but somehow my head got confused (I want to blame my husband for this one because he's always playing tricks on me regarding how far along I am!) and I thought I was only 14 weeks. Crazy crazy crazy!

So, Colin and I went to the appointment together and he sat nicely and played with the toys we brought along, tying them all up with a rubber band (it's amazing how simple things like that will amuse a child!). The nurse came in and asked the usual questions and then asked me to lay back so she could listen to the baby's heartbeat. She put the little sound machine on my belly and moved it around. We heard only my heartbeat. She moved it again .. and again .. and again .. and again. After about two minutes of searching with no success, she decided to just let the doctor find the heartbeat. At this point, my own heart began to race as I was wondering why on Earth she was having a difficult time finding it. Every other appointment I have had resulted in the baby's heartbeat being found without an issue. Naturally, this mama's heart began to beat wildly and with a bit of fear and anticipation. I had about five minutes to wait before my doctor came into the room. I think I'm good at hiding it when I'm nervous, but evidently I'm not because Colin looked at my face and asked, "what's wrong, Kami?" I was honest with him and explained that the nurse couldn't hear baby's heart and so we were going to have the doctor try and see if he could hear it, and that mama's just need to hear their baby's heart beating to know that everything is okay. He asked if that's why, when we're cuddling, I sometimes lay my head on his chest and just be quiet. I smiled and said, "yes, baby, that's why."

A couple more minutes went by where I silently pleaded with God to let our baby be okay ... to let it be healthy and growing as it should. Then the doctor came in. He asked me how I'm feeling and I told him I was nervous because the nurse couldn't find the baby's heartbeat. He immediately told me that we would do what we could to find it. It still took about a minute, but the moment that baby's heartbeat was heard, my heart soared with joy! It was such a relief to know that our baby is okay and that mama was getting nervous over nothing!!

We discussed some small questions and simple things and then I was free to go. I'm incredibly excited for our next appointment, though, as we are having an ultrasound and will be able to tell whether we are having a boy or a girl. Monte and I both have our heart set on one, but we also know that, if it turns out to be the other, that we will be just as fully blessed and just as happy to have this new baby in our lives!

God is good ... ALL the time!

A Bummer of a Morning ...

2010-06-03T09:01:00.000-05:00

Awww man, my little guy (a.k.a. Colin) woke up this morning not feeling so well. This was evidenced in the fact that his cereal came back up about a half hour after he ate it (and I was thanking God that he managed to get to the bathroom before it happened, because he almost never does!). So I laid him down in his bed and he fell fast asleep. Poor baby. Due to this fact, I had to reschedule my OB appointment that I had for today (as Colin usually comes with me, but I can't bring a sick kid to my appointment and I don't feel right asking a neighbor to watch my child who is throwing-up) to next week. It bums me out a little bit, as I was really excited to hear our peanut's heartbeat again and see how things are progressing ... but I will wait it out a few days longer!

So, instead, today I will do some laundry and dusting around the house (because my house is still pretty darn CLEAN from the barbeque we hosted this past Monday) and probably take a nap in there somewhere. I'm really trying to change my attitude and be a bit happier about my day at home ... but I think I was really ready for a day away from home!

Oh well ... I can only pray that Colin is feeling well again soon. Guess I shouldn't be feeling bad about missing my appointment when my little guy really is feeling awfully bad.

What a Weekend!

2010-06-01T11:14:00.000-05:00

Of all the things I could think of doing on a weekend, this past weekend encompassed the best of the best! We had such an amazing holiday weekend and absolutely none of us were ready to start the week again this morning.

Our weekend started off on a high note with Friday. This is the day that I got to drop Colin off at my neighbor's house (as she was watching him for me for the afternoon) and head to the airport to pick up my sister and her family of FIVE. In case you haven't been following my blog for long, or in case you just weren't aware, my sister's family just got back from their trip to China where they picked up their adopted two-year-old daughter, Khloe. Their journey is amazing; if you haven't checked it out, definitely take some time and visit her blog here.

I arrived at the airport nice and early and ended up sitting to wait for them, as international arrivals do not come into the regular baggage claim area as national flights. I waited about an hour for them to arrive, deplane, go through Customs (as this is where Khloe officially became a US Citizen) and get their luggage. As I waited, I chatted with a very nice guy who's wife and son were coming home from Chicago (and you could tell he was missing them dearly!). It made the waiting go by much faster than it was, which was a blessing. When Tanya and her family finally walked through the doors of international arrivals and into the baggage claim where I was waiting, I jumped up to hug them all! This was a moment I had been waiting for for over two weeks. I realized just how much my sister's family means to me when I had two weeks with only minimal email communication with them ... I missed them dearly!

They loaded their luggage into my Suburban, we all piled in and off we went to face Memorial Day weekend traffic back to their home. I sat next to Khloe in the backseat on the way to their house and I'm certain that I fell in love with my new niece in those couple of hours! We played games and she giggled and we had such a great time passing the time in the car. What would normally be a little over an hour drive took almost two and a half hours, so I think Tanya's family were all feeling completely relieved when we pulled into their driveway! My mom, brother, niece and nephew were waiting there to greet the family (as we were having a small "welcome home" barbeque for them that evening). We were later joined by my sister-in-law, my dad, my husband and kids and Tanya's neighbor and family from across the street. We had the barbeque, cleaned up and chatted for awhile before everybody headed out to give their family the rest they so desperately needed. On the way home, Claire, Iain and I stopped through the McDonald's drive-thru to order some shakes as a sweet treat for their great attitudes about their drive up to my sister's house in that crazy traffic!

Saturday started off to be a fabulous day as well! Monte, Iain and Ellis woke up at the crack of dawn to head out fishing (as this is becoming an annual tradition for the fishing opener!). I got up around 7:30am and started getting ready for my breakfast "date" with some of the moms in my MOPs group. I got Colin ready and gave him breakfast and drove him out to the dock at Surfside beach where Monte and the boys met us in the boat (as Colin was going fishing with them, but is too cranky when he gets up early in the morning). After dropping him off and kissing Monte goodbye, I headed to Eden Prairie to have breakfast! Though only three of us were able to make it that morning, it was such a wonderful time to get to spend time with and give undivided attention to these fabulous ladies! The food was good, the conversation was great and I can't wait to do another breakfast with them!

After breakfast, I did some quick shopping at Target and then headed back home to spend the rest of the day with my family. The kids and Monte were all home, so after a quick lunch, we decided to walk down to Surfside (the local beach) and spend some of that blistering hot day in the water. We had a lot of fun while we were there, though our outing ended when Iain was hit with a dead fish that some kids were throwing back and forth (he didn't mind so much, but we were getting close to snack time for everyone and the other people at the beach were being too crazy to manage a family of six alongside!). So we packed up and headed home to enjoy the remainder of a relaxing day.

Sunday we went to church and enjoyed a great sermon by our Student Ministries Pastor, Brian Suter. He spoke about the importance of praying for and blessing your enemies. While the series they are on is speaking more directly toward your work life, I really love how this specific sermon applied to our entire lives. Monte and I both came out of it feeling very refreshed, which was a blessing in and of itself! Sunday was kind of a cloudy and chillier day, so we spend a majority of it inside doing some unpacking of the things we had just retrieved from our storage locker (which we no longer have to rent ... YAY!!).

Monday consisted of the most fabulous way to end a weekend. We spent the start of the day cleaning our house in preparation for our Memorial Day BBQ. This has become an annual tradition for us, though this year's barbeque was the best one we've had so far! We invited family members and close friends and spent the afternoon through the evening laughing and sharing stories, food and drinks with these fabulous people. The food was great, the kids were great, our guests were the best! We both agreed that this is something we need to do more than once a year, as we enjoy it so thoroughly!

So that was my weekend in nowhere-near-a-nutshell ... man was it amazing! :)

Hi Lisa, it's me, Kami!

2010-05-27T09:34:00.001-05:00

Remember the brother who's birthday I featured this past Sunday? Well, there is nobody in the world that I can imagine who is more perfect and completely compatible to his quirky personality than his amazing wife, Lisa. I mean, come on, check out how well she rocks the ugly Christmas sweater:

So today, dear Lisa, enjoy your birthday! Sit back and relax. Make Tory wait on you hand and foot (and that includes getting up in the middle of the night when this adorable little girl wakes up!):

Have a great day and just know that we love you! Happy Birthday sister-in-law! :)

P.S. I'm a slacker and have yet to mail both your and Tory's presents. I will get to that as soon as I feel the motivation to do so! :)

Sometimes my Blog Frustrates Me ...

2010-05-26T07:00:00.005-05:00

Do you ever feel like you have something you really want to talk about, and you want to do so on your blog, but yet you just can't because you're uncertain of the feedback that you're going to receive? For me, this incident comes up quite a bit regarding an acquaintance of mine and their family (if you're reading this and you think it's you, there's a 99.9% chance that it's not ... I'm almost completely certain they don't read my blog). My issue with this problem is the fact that I have put myself on the line in voicing my opinion on certain situations, and that opinion was one that was in agreement with them. The problem comes with the fact that my opinion regarding these situations has changed dramatically. It's almost like there's a whole 'nother aspect of this person that had never been shown to me that has now opened up. I'm frustrated that I am out there, that people associate me as someone who agrees with this person, when in reality, I'm feeling more and more like they've gone off the deep end and taken a lot of people with them.

And I can't talk about it. At least not on here.

Know what else I can't talk about on here? I can't talk about the friend who walks into our home as if they own it (I realize I'm just talking about one person, but I'm not even going to determine if it's a he or a she!) .. and I can't talk about it when my family is just driving me dang crazy (because most of them read my blog, too)!!

However, to look at the flip side, I do appreciate that I can use my blog to share the happiness of my life with all of you! I love that I can share photos (I promise that there will be a belly photo soon .. it's just hard to take one when I am 14 weeks and still don't look pregnant!!) and share stories of the fun things my kids are doing. I love that I can tell you about the projects going on in our home (Jolaine, you would be so proud, I'm weeding those darn flower gardens!) and the great accomplishments my children have ... well, accomplished!

I suppose my blog is not such a terrible thing, after all. :)

The Bride?

2010-05-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

I recently began reading the book "crazy love" (intentionally uncapitalized) by Francis Chan. To say that this book made me think is an understatement. Though I haven't gotten very far in the book, the one thing that I can say it has pointed out to me is the fact that my relationship with God is not anything like it is intended to be. It amazes me that what God desires of me and what I give to God in return are so completely different that it's surreal. I've often heard ministers describe our relationship with God as that of being the bride of Christ. When I think about being a bride, it makes me wonder where I've gone wrong in my relationship with God. The thing about this book that struck me is that Francis talks about how, for so long, he believed Christianity was just not doing the "really" bad stuff, i.e. swearing, premarital sex, drinking too much, etc., almost as if being a Christian meant that there is a list of bad stuff that we have to avoid doing, and we'll make God happy.

Translate that to the marriage I'm in and realize that having that perception is WAY off kilter. You know what? Sometimes I do treat my relationship with God just like that - almost as if I just have to make sure to do all the right things and He's happy. If I really look deep into being the bride of Christ, I have to admit that I am really not upholding my end of the relationship. I guarantee you that, if I were to have a list of do's and don'ts that I followed in my marriage, but rarely had communication with my husband beyond that, it would drive Monte crazy! That's not a relationship!!

Monte and I have a loving, passionate and caring relationship. We are extremely communicative ... in fact, we probably talk on the phone at least a handful of times during the day while he's at work (though it's not always deep communication because, come on, he's at work and he's working .. but we are still communicating all day long). We have a set bedtime of 8:30pm for all of our children, even if the older kids aren't going right to sleep, they have to be in their rooms and having down-time by then, entirely so that Monte and I have time to unwind and spend time together.

What if I devoted that kind of time and energy to my relationship with God? What if I truly poured all of my heart and soul into knowing Him on a more intimate level? My prayer is that this book will help me open the doors in my heart and in my life to doing just that, and that my husband and I can grow closer together as we go through this book together.

I'll keep you updated on the progress. :)

Happy Birthday Brother!

2010-05-23T13:42:00.000-05:00

Remember the story I told about the brother who put me inside a refrigerator box in our garage, stood it upright and walked away? Well, that brother is the same one who put me in the dryer and turned it on, as well as sent me down our laundry chute when we were kids. The brother who beat me up, tortured me and scared me half to death with the crazy way he drove his car .. that's the brother that I'm celebrating today. You see, today, this stud muffin (and yes, it is appropriate to call your sibling a stud muffin) turns 30!

I am happy to say, though, that we've both grown up quite a bit. Now that he's 30 (and I'm 26), we get along like mature adults ... we drink coffee, we have nice chats and we enjoy each other's company. It's on a very rare occasion that he would feel the need to still torture me ... yep, very rare indeed!

(FYI: I had just picked a booger out of Colin's nose and was on my way to wipe it on a tissue when Tory decided to try and make me eat it instead).

Happy Birthday Tory!

We love you lots :)

What to NOT Expect ...

2010-05-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

Being an expectant mother who has never gone through pregnancy before, I figured it was a good idea to do a little reading to get myself up-to-speed on the goings on of my baby. So, naturally, when I saw the book, "What to Expect When You're Expecting" at a garage sale for 50 cents, I snatched it up. I skimmed through the first parts of the book, as I am already starting my second trimester and kind of believe that the first-trimester information doesn't so strongly apply anymore. However, as I began skimming the subtitles in the book, I realized that this book, in fact, is likely NOT the one I want to read. The beginning was telling me all about how I am worried about the fact that my baby will have a deformity or that my baby will be born with a handicap (physical or mental) or that I'm not growing like I should or ..... the list went on and on!

After spending about 30 minutes skimming through the subjects in the beginning of the book, I couldn't help but feel that I had paid a fair price and likely would not invest more than 50 cents into this book. You see, I truly am not worried about my baby's growth, about whether or not (s)he will be healthy or the different things that will happen as (s)he grows. I truly am not concerned even one bit! I'm eating right, I am still doing light exercise and I take care of myself ... why worry over things that are beyond my control?

Is it just me, or does this book seem to take a spin that others felt didn't really apply to them? I think I need to search out a faith-based pregnancy book to take a look at the facts I need to know along the way, without filling my mind with the garbage that I'm "supposed to be worrying about".

Any recommendations would be helpful!

P.S. Anybody who is following my sister and her family on their journey to China to pick up their adopted daughter, Khloe - unfortunately I have no new news! I haven't heard from Tanya since the first update, but the second she emails another update to me, I will be sure to get it posted on her blog ASAP. You can follow her journey here.

All Things Considered ...

2010-05-18T10:28:00.000-05:00

I think my son may be right ... at least a little bit right. You see, earlier today, my four-year-old Colin was having the millionth fit he's had since Sunday, and I was at my wit's end. So, I look at him and ask, "Just where did you get such a bad attitude from, little man?!" His response:

"From YOU, Kami!"

Oh boy .. maybe we need to work on our attitudes together! :)

A Change in the Schedule

2010-05-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Or shall I say, "Happy greasy Friday morning!"?! Confused by that? Let me explain. You see, we've been having issues with our water heater all week long. We've gone from having fluctuating temperatures (see the meaning of freezing cold to scalding hot) when we shower to having a water heater that randomly shuts off all the time. What does this mean? Well, for one, it means that we just have enough hot water to warm it up before it shuts off. For two, it means that I haven't showered in four days. Gross, I know! So, this morning, Colin and I will be traveling up to my sister's house (about an hour away) to give him a bath and for me to take a shower! Crazy to travel that far, I know ... but when you've gone so long without a shower, you'll go anywhere to get one! At some time today, we will have our plumber out as he is replacing our water heater with a new unit (due to the fact that we purchased this tankless water heater less than a year ago and it has never worked properly, the company that manufactures them is replacing it for us) ... but due to the fact that I don't know what time he will be here, I don't think I can sit all greased up and wait for him to get here and complete the job! So it's off to Tanya's house we go (and, considering her family is in China, it's a good time to stop by and check on the house, anyway!).

Many of you have asked how I'm feeling and how this pregnancy is going ... and I'm more than happy to update you! I am 12 weeks along right now, finally feel like I'm escaping the sickness part of it (I'm still a little nauseous in the morning, but it's very mild). I'm still tired a lot and feel like I could nap twice a day and still have no problem sleeping at night .. but hopefully that wears down soon as well! I don't have much of a bump .. just a tiny little one, but I will do my best to get a picture of it soon (you know, after I shower and get cleaned up!). Overall, everything is going great!

Beyond that, we have been wrapped up in the kids' sports, in trying to have family dinners together (sports interferes with this quite a bit!), spending time with extended family and just having fun. Life is good and we are not complaining even a little bit!