A few Pics from our busy summer :o) We got to go on a couple fun trips to the beach and camping but mostly we just stayed busy moving into our new house! I will try to post pics of that soon. I'm hoping to start blogging more often as school gets started. I hope everyone had an amazing summer! 

Life is not always easy...

The last 7 months have been an emotional roller coaster. I have thought about blogging a few times but still didn't feel ready to deal with my emotions enough to figure out what to say. A little over 7 months ago my mom had an appointment with her doctor to go over her results from the latest mri and everything still looked the same. So we all started to get very hopeful that she would be able to meet her newest grandson. But within a week everything changed. The day of my baby shower my dad took her to the hospital because what we thought was maybe an ear infection had become a lot worse. While in the hospital they could not figure out what the infection was but it was clear very quickly that there was nothing that could be done, so my mom and dad decided to take her home with hospice. Thankfully my doctor allowed me to still go down and spend a little time with her. It was the hardest thing in the world to see her like that but it was worth it to still see her be able to smile a little and let us know she loved us. She couldn't really talk at all but it was so apparent that she was ready to say goodbye and go home. We prayed for a peaceful and quick ending and God answered our prayers. She went to be with the Lord on August 18th with a house full of people who loved her dearly. I miss her so much every day but I know she is in such a better place. No more being trapped in a body that wasn't working, now singing with words that work, and I'm sure playing with her grandbaby in heaven.
Then on September 21st we had our precious baby, Greyson Kristopher Mykel. He was born a few weeks early because my fluid levels were low but he was perfectly healthy and wonderful. It was so hard to not have my mom there to celebrate with us but my dad raced up to be there with us, he even got to spend time with him before I did :o) Greyson is one of the happiest babies ever. He loves to just sit and watch his brother and sister play. He is now already 5 months old so he is rolling all over the place and laughing at everyone and everything.
I had a very hard time recovering from the c-section again, so multiple trips to the hospital and another surgery. Greyson has had bronchiolitis 3 times in the last 5 months so he has been in the emergency room more than my other two kiddos combined. He even ended up being admitted last week for a few days because his oxygen levels would not stay up. Other than than that we have just been sick constantly this year. All of this has been really hard to deal with on top of missing my mom so much and all the wonderful postpartum emotions, but God has kept us going. I have clung to the song by Plumb that talks about crying out to God for strength to just keep breathing. I don't expect life to become perfect but I know that He will sustain us and show us daily how our new life will be. He has given me three amazing children to give me so much joy through the pain. So even though life has been so hard and exhausting, it has also been wonderful and eye opening.
Our new journey is learning about allergies and eczema because Greyson is our first baby to deal with that. So be expecting a lot of blogs related to that! Thanks everyone for reading!

Cleaning List

Here is what I put on the cleaning list I shared earlier this week. I just typed it up in Microsoft works and tried to make it look as cute as I could. Then I cut it out and used cute scrapbooking paper behind it. For everything other than daily I will use the dry erase marker to write which day or what date I did it so I will know when it needs to be done again :o) 


This is on the daily group: Dishes/dishwasher, wipe down kitchen counters, vacuum, bathroom counters, do laundry and put it away, full house pick up, make beds, tidy up seating area, water garden, sweep kitchen and dining room, pick up toys, clear off dining table.


Weekly: Clean glass, dust wood, clean toilets, clean bathtubs, mop floors, empty all trashcans & recycling, clean fridge & microwave, wash all sheets and towels, organize paperwork, vacuum under furniture, mow lawn/weed, wash table linens, 10 min shredding paperwork, bathroom floors


Monthly: Clean out garbage cans, vacuum corners/ceiling, vacuum inside couches, deep clean stovetop burners, clean dishwasher, clean washing machine, vacuum vents, clean switch plates, dust ceiling fans, sweep garage, launder bath rugs, dust cabinets, wipe down baseboards


Quarterly: Change out airfilters, clean couch cushions, vacuum computer, clean oven, wash bed comforters, vacuum mattresses, vacuum/clean window coverings, descale coffee maker, clean fridge/freezer, clean out pantry, launder shower curtains, clean out drawers/cabinets, go through kids clothes, organize all closets. 

Motivation for the home

So I have always struggled with keeping my house clean, even before I had kiddos or a hubby! I always have clothes and paperwork everywhere and feel like I can barely keep up with the daily chores. But now that I am going to have three kiddos soon and be homeschooling plus other random things I have decided that I really need to get a schedule going that will help me stay on top of the house work. So I was inspired by pinterest of course to make a to do list. I put it in a frame so I can use a dry erase marker to check it all off as I do it. This will help me not have paper to do lists all over the place. But of course because I was inspired by pinterest I couldn't just make a list, I had to try to make the list look cute! So I typed up my list which has things to do daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly and then tried to make it cute. So here it is:

Update as usual

Well as usual I have not kept up with this blog so I need to update you before I can attempt yet again to start blogging on a normal basis :o) I am now 30 weeks pregnant with baby boy Greyson Kristopher Mykel. So only 9 weeks to go at the most! Its finally feeling close. I have so much to do before he gets here, I am hoping the nesting energy comes soon. This pregnancy has been the smoothest so far compared to the others. I truly believe that is because so many people are praying for my mom and our whole family as we go through all this craziness. I haven't been on bedrest at all which is a huge blessing. My blood pressure has stayed stable thanks to meds and the chiropractor. I did find out I have gestational diabetes again which is not good, but I am not as worried about it this time. It just gives me motivation to be way more careful about what I eat for the next few months, and hopefully beyond that. I have definitely been more exhausted during this pregnancy, but that is probably because I am always chasing around a 4 year old and a 2 year old.

We have had such a great summer! We got to go camping as a family twice, which is quite an adventure when you are prego but it was so fun. We love spending time with our life group and other friends from church out in the wild where we can let our kids run free(kinda). I am always amazed at how relaxing camping is even with the munchkins. Its so refreshing to have quality time with other like minded adults and just get to enjoy life. Other than the camping trips we have just been trying to stay cool by swimming or hiding in the house during the afternoons. My mom and dad even came up to visit us a few weeks ago which was sooo exciting!

So now as summer is rapidly coming to an end we are getting ready for a new adventure, homeschooling kindergarten. Timmy is so excited to start, almost as excited as me and Curty are! We decided to mainly go with the Sonlight curriculum because it seemed like subject matter that Timmy would really be interested in. So we are going to be busy adjusting to a new schedule but I know both the kiddos will love it, and it will make the time till Greyson gets here go super fast. Here are some maternity pics we just got done by the very talented Michele Valerie:

So there is the update, hope you enjoyed it!

Update on our busy life

So a few months ago I had my aunt help me redesign this blog and I was really excited to start blogging more often, but then.... surprise, we got prego! I have been completely exhausted the last few months which is why I haven't blogged at all. I am now 13 weeks prego though and have a tiny bit more energy so hopefully I can start writing more. I really enjoy blogging, it helps me process everything that is going on in my life at the time. Everything from the huge things like how my pregnancy is going and how I am dealing with my moms tumors, to the smaller things like if I have kept the kiddos entertained enough, if I am involved enough or too much with social groups and church ect. Its just a great way to review all of my thoughts and share what is important. So with that said maybe I will become more consistent for a couple months.

The last few months have been pretty crazy. In the midst of it, it felt like time was going so slow, this pregnancy is going to last forever! Now that I look back though I realize the time has gone by so fast! This is my first pregnancy that I am high risk from the beginning because of my high blood pressure so its already been busy. Plus the blood pressure meds seem to make me even more tired that what is normal for pregnancy. The medicine is working so far though which is very exciting! We have already gotten to see baby 3 times and of course its already adorable! Its also very active, I started feeling it move around 8 weeks and Curtis has already felt it once too. So we might be super busy when this baby gets here :o)

Other than that life has been about the same. My mom is still doing chemo which is exhausting and hard on her body but she is still being super strong and going through it to spend some more time with all of us. We try to go see her every 4 to 6 weeks, this weekend is one of those weeks so I am super excited to see her! Curtis is still working hard as ever and being an amazing hubby and daddy at the same time. He has had to be superdad the last few months with me barely functioning. He is pretty much the best hubby ever, I am so blessed by him.

The kids have been keeping me busy. They seem to go through phases where for a month or so they are really good and life goes pretty smoothly and I love every minute of being a mom... and then the next month they switch. So right now we are in the month where they are pushing every limit and challenging our parenting skills basically every minute. I definitely need prayer for wisdom in how to deal with them and how to point them to Christ through the discipline. Its all pretty overwhelming but then at the same time they can be so stinking cute and funny that it makes it all worth it(I just dont remember that every second of the day).

So that is a little update and hopefully I will posting a lot more soon!

The kids starting to enjoy each other, 

 Timmy can always make her laugh!

Beena enjoying Just dance,
this ended up being the best Christmas present from Papa ever!

So here are a few random pictures of 2011. The year went so fast so I wanted to highlight a few of our favorite moments. I also wanted to show of my new blog design. My amazing Aunt Liz made the most awesome header for it! If you ever need any design work done you can find her at www.ejcdesigns.com. Hope you enjoy the pics. I am gonna try once again to get more consistent with blogging so be on the look out for more! Happy New Year everybody!

Christmas with Beena and Papa before we knew Beena was sick

Another Dancing one! SO much fun!

They love their Beena & Papa

Allanna enjoying her first cupcake

Her pretty birthday outfit

Timmy learned how to make silly faces

And Allanna became a goofball

Camping!

We moved into a house!

Days at the water park

Timmy turned 4!

Timmy's 4th birthday was a monster party

Boat trips with life group

Camping with our life group

Snifferface at the water park

Timmy's first time tubing!

I ran my first half marathon!!!