Goodbye 2011, You were reasonably good to us :)

Hello. My name is Lauren and I am the worst blogger of all time. Phew, glad that is over.

Try as I may, I just cannot get into the blogging groove like so many of you! I'm not giving up blogging altogether, but I am giving up on being good at this. It's just not in me, just as I suspected when I sat down to write my very first post.

Mike just left with Eva for diving practice and I am listening to poor Sammer-bammer practically hack up a lung while trying to take a nap. My little fella is so exhausted, but so sick and rest is not coming easy. So, I am alone for the first time in what feels like FOREVER, and it is January 2nd, so this time was begging to be filled with a New Year's post...

But, I have no clue what this year will bring. None what-so-ever. So, instead, I will tell you a few things about 2011. I'll do my best to just sum up the year with whatever comes to mind. It won't be in chronological order because I don't have time to get out the calendar :) I'll miss a ton because I have a feeling Sam isn't going to be sleeping for long. Here goes...

I welcomed 3 nephews in 2011! Gashaw, Israel, and Denver came into our family and are an amazing blessing. That makes 9 nieces and nephews for Mike and I.

My Grammie died the day before Eva's birthday on February 17th. I miss her. I think of her constantly as my house now holds quite a few of her precious things. She was a talented and generous lady. I am blessed to have known her.

I was part of a big fundraising effort for No One In Need (my brother-in-law and sister's non-profit helping to raise funds for adopting families). A beef a beer with silent auction and raffle- CRAZY in terms of the amount of work and organization, but more so in the way God blessed it and made it fruitful. Lots of money was raised that helped families adopt. Kudos to Bryan and Sara for being the big guns behind it all.

I took my first Yoga class with Miss Ang. We scored a "20 classes for $20" deal on LivingSocial. I'm hooked. LOVE IT and have scooped up 2 more deals (at 2 different studios) to get me at least 2 more months worth.

Eva took swim lessons. CRAZY swim lessons that taught her how to swim independently at 3.5 years old. She's had plenty of practice and has really gotten amazingly good!

We got our wills done. The whole shebang. So depressing; so necessary. You need to do it, even though talking about who will get your kids when you die and how long you want to stay on life support is SUPER SUPER not fun, you really gotta do it. Georgia Stone of Stone & Stone did ours. She's awesome; consider her if you need them done.

Eva turned 3 and Sam turned 1 at the start of the year. That means I am about to have a 2 and 4 year old. WHAT?! Time has gone by much too fast. "Cherish the little moments, Lauren. Don't miss this!", I tell myself CONSTANTLY.

I started pinnig on Pinterest. This was the start of many a craft project and I am proud to say I have surprised myself at my crafty abilities. I went through a minor addiction for a few months, but I am back on track and only spending a few minutes a day on it. I actually DO many of the things that I PIN :) Here are a few of my projects.

E is for Eakin- Mike's littlest sister

H is for Harper, my friend Bethanie's baby girl

W is for Wells. duh.

I went to an insanely fun reunion with college girls in August. It makes me tear up just thinking about it and how much I miss all of them.

I think I made a record number of meals this year for friends who had babies or who were sick or going through some other difficulty. I am always happy to bless a family in this small way if possible.

I did the flowers for quite a few weddings last spring and summer. I'm lined up to do several more this year (June seems to be the month of choice- don't expect me to be available that month). Ordering and estimating and all that is very stressful, but once the flowers arrive and I start putting things together, it's very therapeutic (although not so much for my back).

Eva had a little foray into ballet. It didn't last long because she began to cry before classes, not wanting me to leave. She said, "It takes too long for the mommies to come back and the teacher holds my waist too tight." (the class was one hour and the teacher held her waist so she didn't fall on her head while doing a cartwheel). The reality is that the time is bad- she's too tired by early evening- and the teacher wasn't warm and fuzzy enough for her sensitivity level. We are looking for alternatives.

Eva's first 2 trips to the dentist were this year. She chipped her tooth- the same one- twice. $350 later, we have a smoothed down tooth and clean chompers.

In December, Sam was evaluated and qualified for Early Intervention services for Occupational and Speech Therapy. We are hopeful that these therapies will be helpful in terms of dealing with many of the struggles that we have encountered with him over the past year.

Record breaking number of sick days here this year, folks. I cannot even begin to calculate the amount of snot, poop, and vomit that occurred because we got what seemed like every single virus possible. Several times there was vomit at very inopportune times (a birthday party- sorry, Foster- and a play date- sorry Kesh and Julie). Twice, we were very worried about Sam as he had serious breathing trouble and more recently, a fever of 106 for several days, but we are blessed that none of us had to be hospitalized or had more serious complications. The Lord was gracious to us.

Sick eyes :(

Super sick eyes :(

One of many breathing treatments for both kids

Mike had real success with Beachbody coaching this past year. He is making a steady income that has helped us to stay afloat financially. I am so grateful and blessed beyond measure to be married to the hardest working man I know. He is also coaching diving for Rustin again- his 4th job. He often takes Eva to practice and she gets to swim and go off the board. It's her favorite thing in the world right now because she gets to be with her daddy. (He also plowed last year and probably will again this year- BOO for my husband being up over 24 hours at a time in the winter.)

4th vacation to the Outerbanks with the Wells side of the family was tons of fun, as usual.

We had lots of fun outings this year- countless trips to the playground, moon bounce festival, long wood gardens, the railroad, the orchard, the farm, Cherry Crest farms, Disney on Ice, etc. The list goes on and on.

Eva ended her first year of preschool and started her second. She LOVES it.

Closing program in May

Someone knew ALL the motions and performed them with gusto

Someone else had trouble with his pants

First day this September

I took a photography class with my sister in law and bought a new lens for my camera. This means I have actually taken a few half decent pictures of my kids this year, which was the goal when I took the class. I'm not artsy or creative, so my mind doesn't even remotely get how to take a really good, aesthetically-pleasing picture, but I'm at peace with that :)

I dyed a white rug that was 11 FEET by 9 FEET in my bathtub. I dyed it navy. I don't want to discuss this experience further. I haven't recovered.

More seriously, I have watched some friends walk through some horrifically painful trials, and have wondered about God's plan and purpose in all the sadness. I am reminded, as I have been over and over again throughout my life, that He is good in all of it and my questioning of Him doesn't change a thing, nor His love for me (a good friend once said, "God isn't offended by your questioning- He is aware that you are only human"). He is still deserving of my praise and my life. I will continue to surrender to Him, knowing that I will see how His plan all fit together someday. I know I will have to wait until I join Him in heaven for most of it to make any sense.


HELLO 2012. Please be kind to us :)

(Pics of 2011 coming soon. No really, I promise. SOON.)

Blogs you should be reading

I'm over-choosey about what blogs I read. I don't have time to follow very many, so I want to read only those that edify me in some way. Here are two blogs that you should be reading. I promise

1- Under the Sycamore by Ashley Ann Campbell. I've been following her for about 2 years now, I think. Her most recent post sums up my feelings about what I strive to teach my kids perfectly. She is amazing and inspiring. At the very least, read this post.

2- Forever a Family by Alison Lake. She is an amazing young mom and I know her because she was in my small group Bible Study a few years ago. She is walking through one of the most difficult situations I could ever imagine. It makes my "infertility story" seem like a cake walk. You MUST read her story because it is the most amazing picture of what it looks like to give God all the glory, to rely on Him completely, and to have mountain-moving faith all while traveling through an immensely painful journey. You will be challenged and you will be blessed. Start at the bottom. There are only 5 posts- it's a brand new blog, so it won't take very long.

An ordinary doctor's appointment

This is what Tuesday meant for us. I'll just give you the basic run-down.

Picked Eva up from school a few minutes early for her doctor's appointment. She was to get her "spots" re-treated since they didn't go away completely after the last treatment. It isn't painful and she was totally ok and prepared for it.

She asked if she had to get a shot on our way. I thought the doctor had the flu mist immunization, so I told her that I didn't think so.

Arrived at doctor's office.

Taken back to the exam/treatment room and saw the nurse. Asked about flu-mist and was given the TERRIBLE NEWS that they did not have it. Of course, at this point Eva didn't know what I was talking about. And, side note, she has never been awful with shots- never one of those kids that freaks out and has to be held down. She even had to have blood drawn twice over the summer and was scared, but not terrible.

The doctor comes in (who she loves) and I decide that I should probably give her some time to let it sink in that she does have to get a shot. I say in my sweetest, calmest voice, "Eva, I have to tell you something. I was wrong about the shot today. You do have to get a shot and I am so sorry. You are going to be just fine, I promise. I am so sorry that I told you you didn't have to and I was wrong."

Cue wailing. Cue meltdown. Cue complete refusal to let the doctor treat her "spots" (weird bumps on her arm).

Doctor said we will do the treatment another time. If she rubs her arm and doesn't let the acid dry, it will be a problem. I agree and we just decide to do shots (including a flu shot for sam and I).

Then he looks at her chart and says, "Oh, and we need to do her 2nd Hep A, too". Fabulous.

He then left and I was left to try to calm her for 25 freaking minutes (it has never taken so long- no idea what the problem was). Nothing I said, no reward I offered, would even remotely calm her.  She was totally hysterical for 30 minutes by the time the nurse came.

Nurse enters. Cue even more hysteria. I am first and Eva watches. She gets so upset she starts gagging. I know what is coming, so I say to her, "Evangeline. Take a deep breath. You are going to throw up if you don't calm down. See, mommy is fine. It didn't even hurt. See? I'm fine. Breath. Stop gagging."

Then I am holding Sam. She is crying and watching. More gagging as the needle goes in his leg and he starts to whine. Sam is done and I look over at her and know it's there- it's coming out at any second. I throw Sam at the nurse and get Eva to the trash can. She vomits and she hasn't even gone yet.

Sam cried for about 3 seconds. She is still hysterical and now even more so since she threw up. IT'S HER TURN!

It took both the nurse and my full strength to hold her down. She is fighting and screaming and like I have never seen her before. Nurse gives the 2 shots and she is gasping for air. I scoop her up and notice she is soaking wet. She stops crying, and looks up at me with a terrified look on her face. "Mommy, I PEED!" she wails.

My child who practically potty trained herself in a day and was dry overnight since her first day of potty training and has had only a handful of accidents was so terrified of a shot that she peed herself.

Off with the undies. Off with the leggings. Off with the shoes that were full of pee. Clean up the exam table that had pee dripping off of it and down into the cracks where you pull out the drawers and foot stool.

During "operation clean-up", Eva looks up at me and says, "Mommy, the shots didn't even hurt really bad". Cue internal rage, which quickly dissipated and turned into a laugh, "See, Eva, that's what I told you. You didn't trust me. Mommy never lies to you. You can believe what I say. You didn't trust that I was telling you the truth and you didn't trust that Jesus would help you."

I wrapped the clothes up in paper towels, put them in the bag, and had to hold Eva (so that she didn't completely flash the waiting room). Sam would have to hold my hand.

Walking out the door Sam falls and nails his head on the wall. Cue wailing. Cue instant massive goose-egg accompanied by a scrape that starts bleeding.

I scoop him up. Run by reception yelling at them to "bill me" and run through the waiting room with 2 screaming kids- one almost naked and the other with a huge bleeding bump on his head.

It was awesome, and we didn't even accomplish what we went there for. Isn't that totally rad?

On a more positive note, that has turned into an ongoing conversation about trust and bravery that has been very challenging for her. She now recognizes that she didn't trust me and that she allowed herself to become overcome with fear instead of asking God to help her to be brave. It has been eye- opening for her and that has been so neat to watch.

Also, I share this store mostly just to amuse people. I do know that there are many people who have an ordinary doctor's appointment that becomes something so much worse when they get bad news or something is seriously wrong. I am grateful that despite a lousy appointment, I have healthy kids. God is good!

Eva's (2nd) first day of Preschool

Last Thursday was Eva's first day of preschool. She LOVED last year. I mean, really really LOVED it. Her teachers were so amazing and they adored her; it was obvious that she had hit teacher jackpot because they truly loved each other.
I was a little nervous that this year she wouldn't have the same connection and wouldn't be as excited about school. I was wrong. Yes! She is having a ball and wishes that school was every single day, just like last year. Here are a few pictures of her first day last year and this year. I cannot believe how much she has changed and grown. She is such a joy, I actually miss her even though she is only gone for 2.5 hours a few days a week. This little munchkin has a big piece of my heart...

Last year

This year

Notice, once again, the size of that back-pack. All the kids have the same one provided by the school.

Last year

 This year
(Love this one- her cousin, Caleb, has his back-pack on upside down)

Update on the home front :)

Well, once again, I have neglected the blog. I am really the world's worst blogger, but I just can't bear to shut it down because it's such a nifty little place where I have documented a lot of what has gone on in the past couple of years.

So anyhow, I have also been doing some more projects around here. Here are a few pics of the latest :)

FAMILY PRAYER BOARD

 RUG

before 

(Ikea 6x9 Erslev rug, white)

after* 

(I dyed it navy blue in the bath tub- trust me, it was not a fun process)

**there will also be another after because I am also painting it, because it has not been enough of a pain in the A** yet.

JEWELRY FRAME w/lace and hooks

before

(lovely heart print with pink frame, Goodwill)

 print removed, with the lace

after

(this all came out of my jewelry box- 

now there is actually room for the other stuff in there, which is finer chains, pendants and bracelets)

What can I say? I am a sucker for a cheap, fun, useful project, which all of these are :)