Happy Father's Day

I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful father. I truly feel that my girls have one of the best dads on earth, I wouldn't trade him for anything! I am proud to have a family with this man. He's a FABULOUS father, a wonderful husband, and my best friend.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY HONEY.

Here is part of his gift, Tiramisu Ice Cream Parfaits and a card with the girls' handprints:

Annie Boo Boo

Ellie calls Ainsley, Annie Boo Boo. I sing a song with her name, Ainsley Ruth, and I think that where she get it. It started out as Annie RuRu, and now it's Annie Boo Boo. She might also get it from me since I call her that too sometimes. I make up a lot of names for the girls, and they never really are consistent. It's just whatever comes out of my mouth.

She's been sitting up for a few weeks now completely by herself until she reaches for something and falls over. She usually catches herself when she leans to the side and sometimes when she leans forward. I think most of the time she falls over because Ellie comes up and pushes her over, which is not happening anymore... we fixed that! She absolutely loves being able to sit up now by herself, she likes the new perspective on things.

Super Why

Ellie's favorite show on TV is Super Why. I have no idea why she likes the show so much, maybe because of the super flyers and the music? It's funny how kids have their favorites for no apparent reason. She's loved this show since she she started watching tv, and continues to ask for it. I found out a few months back that Super Why was coming to visit the Holly Springs Library, so I registered for the event and marked it on our calendar. We were all super excited to get to meet Super Why, actually Zach was bummed he was going to miss it because he was out of town.

The day and morning of, we got all pumped up and showed up early (which is very rare for us)! We ended up having to wait 10 minutes in line to get into the small theater and then wait 20 minutes (15 minutes more than scheduled because they started late) to see Super Why. Ellie was the most patient I have seen her EVER! She stayed right next to me in line and sat in her chair waiting patiently for Super Why. Then finally the came on stage:


I was very disappointed in the event, it was basically only the characters up on stage waving. No music, no action, just some older lady who talked a few minutes about some event for the summer and then sang a few songs (ABC's and hokey pokey). Terrible. Here is a picture of Ellie doing the hokey pokey in her seat:

This all took about 10 minutes and then it was time for pictures with Super Why. Since we arrived early, we were on the front row. They didn't let the people who got there first to take pictures first, no no they let the people who arrived late. Bummer, and Ainsley was done. Here is Ainsley once she saw those weird looking creatures on stage and some loud lady singing songs:

I put her in the car seat because I thought maybe they scared her or it would drown out that lady's voice. No so much. We left, no more waiting. So no picture with Super Why. I'm not sure if Ellie would have gone near him anyways, so not too much of a loss. Although I thought it was terrible, Ellie loved it. She continues to ask me to go to the library to see Super Why and after I tell her he's not there she asks, "where is he?". Glad she loved it, that was the point!

Why Have Kids?

Zach and I always understood that we were going to have kids, we never questioned it, it was expected. While we were engaged we had the conversation of how long will we wait to have kids. We knew we wanted to have them before 5 years of marriage, definitely not the first year of marriage, but we decided to take it year by year. As you know, planning didn't go our way and low and behold we had a baby before our first year of marriage and two before three years! Although we were thrown into parenthood, I find it beneficial to know why we have (wanted) kids.

This is something we never talked about. We both agreed that children were a blessing and that one reason for marriage is procreation, but we never went further than that. Not that we really needed to, but there is a lot more to it. We hear a lot of people talk about reasons why not to have kids, but never really why to have kids. Therefore, I want to explain why we have kids, why you should have kids, and encourage others who have kids.

The first reason we have children is that it rocks your world. Not in the way that it knocks your socks off amazing because let me tell you, it is very grueling... but in that it shapes your soul. I know I have talked about this before, but you change, for the better. You become more selfless and other-centered. Your view of life changes. You view culture, society, family, work, friends, pets, almost everything differently. There was an article recently that Al Mohler wrote titled Pornography-The Difference Being a Parent Makes. One of the head guys at Apple, Steve Jobs, was arguing why they do not sell pornography applications with a guy named Ryan Tate. Tate was arguing that there is no freedom when placing restrictions on what Apple sells, but Jobs argued there is freedom, freedom from bad things, such as porn. Tate wasn't buying it, so Jobs replied with "you might care more about porn when you have kids." He's completely right. Those that even think pornography isn't bad before kids, think differently once they have kids because they don't want their kids watching it. Personally I think that having kids shapes you into the person that God has designed us to be.

Second reason, children are priceless. Nothing compares to the joy your kids bring to your life. They do have the fair share of stress, but their smiles, the laughs, the love... priceless. We tend to look at children as a major expense. They definitely are an expense, but through having to adjust your financial situation to fit these little bundles into your life, you learn to value other things. You learn that having "nice" things doesn't really matter, you get to share life, teach life, and love a person instead. This is a much greater reward than material things. Children are far more valuable than riches.

Third reason, children bring hope to a hopeless world. Let's be honest, this is not a happy place. There is so much evil in this world, it truly saddens me. I hear so many stories, and even after teaching in a public high school, I am saddened by what I see. I can't wait to leave this place, but I know more work needs to be done. I have definitely felt sad to bring children into this fallen world, but then I think of the purpose of having children. God calls us to "be fruitful and multiply." One reason being that we bring and raise children up in the Lord, and fill the world with children of God. This is what brings me hope. I hope that I will raise up children who love and glorify our Lord. Who will shout His name to those who do not know Him. Children that will count all thing loss compared to knowing our Savior, who will not look at this earth as their home. I have hope that my kids will bring Him glory and leave a legacy... making this world a better place because of them.

My final reason for having kids, they are just so darn cute!
It's awesome to look at another human being and say that they are part of you. They have my DNA, I taught them what they know, I've helped shaped them in who they are. Kids are pretty much amazing, that's why I have kids!

A Sweet Farewell to "Elmo"

Last Friday. Zach's mom, Wytonia Hanlon, unexpectedly died. (Hence the lack of posts). We got the news while having dinner with my twin sister, Ashlei, who was in town for a friend's funeral (Ashlei lives in Texas). We were shocked and couldn't quite take it in.

Zach's mom was known to us as "Elmo". Her name was supposed to be Me-maw, but that came out of Ellie's mouth as "Elmo" and has stuck since. We shared the same birthday, and this past February she just turned 48. She has had a tough past few years after her son, Zach's brother Justin, died tragically in June 2008. She not only suffered with some depression with the loss of her son, but was also diagnosed in January 2009 with a blood disease known as TTP. She was getting treatments (blood transfusions) almost everyday and chemo every week for 6 months, and then slowly she was getting better and the treatments were becoming farther apart. We had just gotten news the day before she died that she was only going to be having them once a month! So as she was getting better with her disease, she was taken from this earth. We think it might have been a heart attack, although we still have not gotten the results back.

We are sad to say goodbye, but are thankful and confident in the fact that we know she is in heaven with our Lord, praising His name without any pain or suffering. Zach and I both are overjoyed by this statement because his mom has lived a tough life with a bad past. We have seen her overcome her struggles and draw close to the Lord. We have seen her attitude, actions, and life completely changed by the gospel. The past six months of her life we have strongly admired, and are sad we will no longer experience her joy and love... which came completely from her love of her Savior, Jesus Christ. She was someone who accepted everyone, I mean EVERYONE. She never looked down on you, loved you, and cared for you to the extreme. She could make anyone laugh, she had a sense of humor which brought a smile no matter what the circumstance was. She called us almost everyday, just to hear the sound of our voices and tell us she loved us. Ellie absolutely ADORED talking to her, they had a very unique relationship. One that I will miss, just because of the type of love she had for my daughter.

I'm sad that Ellie will never get to call her, jump with her, or know her sweet love anymore. She's so young that I think she will only remember what Zach and I tell her. Ainsley will never remember her, but I can surely say to her how much her grandmother did love both of them. Ellie could light up her day when nobody else could. Elmo was always the one person Ellie wanted to call. I am so thankful for the love, the joy, and the memories we did get to share together. She will never be forgotten and will always be in our hearts.

Poison Control

Yesterday we called poison control for the second time in 3 months. The first time I never shared about was when I thought Ellie ate a tad bit of dog poop. This was at my parent's house. I was doing something with Ainsley when all of a sudden Ellie started screaming. She had some poop on her fingers and had put them in her mouth, she was screaming because she was completely disgusted by the taste. I at first thought it was her poop, but then realized it was the dog's moments later. She ended up being fine, but Zach insisted I call to make sure we shouldn't worry.

So now for the second call which happened yesterday evening. I was cooking dinner and Zach was playing with Ellie. He was commenting on how bad her breath smelled, like rotten eggs. Well moments later she came up to him and her breath smelled like bathroom cleaner, she had sprayed disinfectant spray in her mouth! I had left it out on top of the sink because that's where I wash her dirty underwear and afterwards I disinfect. She somehow was able to reach it and decided she must put it in her mouth. What goes through a 2 year old head?? Why would she think that she needed to put that in her mouth?? I don't think she sprayed it because she normally can't figure out how to spray it, but you never know because neither one of us saw it. Never again will I leave any cleaner out, she just can't resist putting anything in her mouth! Hopefully this will change. We called poison control just to keep an eye out for any symptoms we should worry about. She ended up being fine and it didn't bother her. We gave her lots of water and some dinner which diluted the cleaner and drowned out the taste.

We'll see how many more times we will have to call... hopefully none but for some reason I'm thinking this will probably happen again.

Ainsley- 5 months

Ainsley is 5 months old! She is growing so fast and I can't get enough of her. She is just too precious and very lovable.

Some facts about my little munchkin:
-She is very aware of everything going around her now and absolutely adores her big sister. She smiles the biggest and laughs the hardest at little Ellie, I get jealous. However, she definitely is still the mommy's girl. She always lights up when I'm around and is most content in mommy's arms or lap. I don't mind at all :)-She is chewing on everything, grabbing everything she can reach, and drooling like crazy!
-She loves her exersaucer and stays in there for quite a while when mommy is tending to some business.
-She is starting to sit up on her own, but just for a few minutes at a time.

-She loves to stand on her legs and can put her full wait on them! She can even pull herself up from sitting when holding on to my hands, such a strong girl.
-She still is very happy, except in the car. She does not like her car seat too much and cries in the car a lot of times (does not make long trips fun at all, I try to avoid them unless I can sit back with her... if not, I lose my mind and start to cry).
-She still takes a paci, but loves her thumb.
-She still takes a bottle, but only certain ones.
-She is starting to eat solids, but we're still not very good at it.
-She still sleeps wonderfully at night. Will go 12 hours most nights, and even sleeps until 8-8:30a in the mornings, and even then Ellie will wake her up! Although recently she's been waking up first around 7-7:30.
-She nurses 5 times a day, every 3 hours.
-Naps around 3 times a day now. Once in the morning somewhere between 9-11a (while we are out and about) for about 30 minutes unless she can get more, poor thing. Second nap is usually when Ellie naps around 1p-3p. Third nap around 4:30-5p for about 30-45 minutes. I know she would sleep more if I stayed home in the morning and she didn't have a loud sister running around, but I guess that is just the way things go when you have two. She deals with it and still acts happy. She's learning selflessness at an early age!

I think that's about it, however I could go on and on about her. I am so blessed to have her in my life. There really isn't a day that I thank God for blessing us with her, I am so in love! To think that this love only grows more and more and doesn't even compare to our Father's love for us!

Ellie is Potty Trained!

At the end of April I did a post on how Ellie was very interested in the potty and how I was not interested at all in training her. Well that was Friday when I posted it, and the next day I decided to try underwear to see what happens. Well it was a disaster, I thought, since the whole day we had about 20 accidents and 2 accomplishments. I knew the next day she was definitely not ready since she was completely turned off the potty, she had no desire to sit on it. However, surprisingly on Monday she wanted to sit on the potty. I decided to go ahead and let her because I hated to teach her that the diaper is where you should go potty. So she sat on the potty, and then to my amazement she PEED! I was shocked, but was still thinking this was only a coincidence. However she kept asking and continued to pee on the potty and keep her diaper clean! Tuesday I decided to keep her in underwear around the house, but diapers while we were out or during naps/nighttime. This went well and we continued this until Saturday (May 1) when I decided to keep her in underwear all the time except nighttime. Sunday night she refused to wear a diaper, so I let her go without. We had one accident when she woke up the next morning. Monday night, the same thing but she had 2 accidents (in the middle of the night). I ended up putting her in a diaper. Tuesday night, she was convinced that a diaper would be okay to wear to bed.

So little Miss Ellie is potty trained except for at night! I'm waiting until her diaper is basically dry until I switch to completely diaper free. I'm completely shocked, but she totally was ready. She really did most of it on her own. She goes by herself most of the time, I rarely ask her if she needs to potty because she usually always tells me. She has been doing great being accident free most days. She still has problems pooping in the potty, she can never catch it in time. This is not so fun since we have to clean up the poo in the underwear, but hopefully soon she'll learn. It's not as bad as I thought it would be, and it's nice knowing I don't have to buy diapers for her anymore! So proud of our little Ellie!

So here are some tips to any of you who are thinking of potty training (these are some things I learned and were told from others, a great help):
-for training girls: a dress is a major plus because you usually don't have to change the dress, just the underwear!
-hand sanitizer is your best friend especially if your child doesn't reach the sink. Going to the bathroom about 20 times a day, you do not want to wash your hands every time, but yet you need to teach them that you should. So sanitizer comes in very handy because it's a major pain to try to wash her hands when you have to hold her up while washing.
-potty training 1-2-3 was a great approach! Instead of approaching it as let's go pee and poo on the potty, you approach it as let's stay dry and clean. This way they learn that being dry and clean is the goal, so diaper or no diaper in order to stay dry and clean I need to go on the potty! Definitely check out the video
-treats really encourages them to go, and even now we still try to give her lots of praise. I think this helps keep her going.

We only are having troubles with poo and at night. I think time will help, she is really young. She does great out and even on car rides. I'm very impressed by her! Yay for Ellie! She's a big girl now :)

Ainsley Rolls on Video!

Finally got it!

In Honor of Mother's Day

This is just hilarious, hope it makes you laugh.

Swagger Wagon

I want one just because this video is so awesome.

Laughing Girls

It's hard to tell who is laughing in the video because they have identical laughs. Ainsley is laughing when you might think it is Ellie. Super cute :)

Carson and Ellie

Last Friday we had a little play date with Carson (and his little sister, Mary Grace). It was a beautiful day, and the two of them played so well together! I didn't have my camera, but Catherine (Carson's mommy) did. She took some pictures. You can check them out here: Ellie and Carson sitting in a tree...

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

I actually relate to this more with Ellie than with Ainsley. Most of the time I feel like this when they both are crying...

Swinging

Ainsley seems to love swinging. Ellie hated it until she was about 18 months old. I guess it makes sense since Ainsley also likes to be rocked/swayed and they are very similar motions. The other night (the night Ellie bit her tongue), we pulled out the swing because Ainsley was fussing during dinner. After dinner, Ellie decided to have a little fun with Ainsley:



They sure do love each other, it brings me so much joy :)

Tongue Boo Boo

Last night while I was cooking dinner, Zach was watching the girls. Ellie decided to do what she does best, mess with Kayla. She thinks that standing on Kayla while holding onto the couch is tons of fun (along with jumping on Kayla, riding Kayla, hitting Kayla, kissing Kayla, and some good things such as playing ball with Kayla, laying next to Kayla). Zach warned her and told her not to stand on Kayla (mostly because we feel bad for the dog, not that we were concerned with her getting hurt). Welp, Kayla stood up because it wasn't feeling too good and Ellie was on her back, so she wacked herself onto the couch. She was crying really hard and was bleeding in her mouth, but we thought maybe she busted her lip or bit her gum. During dinner we discovered, when she stuck her tongue out, that she bit her tongue (on both sides)! It must have really hurt and I definitely can feel her pain with this one:
I took many pictures trying to get her to stick out her tongue. Here are some of the outtakes that were cute (Zach was trying to help, so I thought I needed to include him in some of the pics):

Precious Ainsley

She is just too cute. I love it when she smiles and giggles. She absolutely loves this thing (the exersaucer). When I sit on the couch and she looks over at it, she gets the biggest smile on her face. However, she does not like being in it when we are out of the room.

Oh a few more tid bits about growing Ainsley. I'm not sure what it is, but she is never content for more than 15 minutes anywhere but in my arms. This means I am almost always holding her, which is hard to give Ellie some one on one attention. It is also hard to get much of anything done without a fussy baby in the background. I do feel extra special though, and it really has made me learn to give up on some things just to spend time with both my girls. Ainsley also is starting to suck her thumb a lot more. I'll be able to get a paci in her mouth occasionally in the car or when going to sleep, but most of the time she ends up knocking it out and sticking her thumb in. Oh well, it unavoidable I think. At least I try.

Enjoy the video. Warning: it's a long video.



(This video was taken a few weeks ago, she has a blanket in the exersaucer to help her balance since she still can't sit up completely by herself.)

Why I Choose Not to Take the Pill

Since this is almost the 50th Anniversary of the Pill I've been reading a lot about birth control and it has struck me that I never really have shared my opinion on this subject. I know that this blog is mostly about my kids, but it is also a place I can share my views. I like to look back and see not only how my kids have grown, but also how I have grown. So here it is, my view of the pill:

Way back in 2007, when Zach and I were engaged, I decided to address the issue or what we will use for birth control. I had been on the pill since high school for cramping and assumed that I would probably remain on the pill, however I wanted to see all the options. I'm not sure if I heard it somewhere or I just read how the pill works, but I found something that alarmed me.

The pill works in three ways:
1) prevents ovulation preventing any possibility of pregnancy
2) thickens the cervical mucus preventing sperm from reaching the egg
3) thins the lining of the uterus preventing a fertilized egg from implanting

The third is what alarmed me because I would consider this abortion. I believe life begins at conception, when the DNA is formed. Now if you believe life begins at any different point (such as implantation), then you would disagree. But I think a majority of my audience probably agrees. No one knows how often the third step actually happens while taking the pill, but we do know that sometimes even all three methods don't work (since women get pregnant on the pill all the time). I understand how women might find this alarming or question if this is really wrong since their intention is not to abort a child. I can't describe it any better than Al Mohler on why I choose not to take the pill because of the fact it can work as an abortifacient. Here is his blog post about it: Can Christians Use Birth Control?

After discussing with Zach about my concerns, we agreed to use another method (condoms). He didn't really share my view on this matter, but is up in the air. Tonight I actually told him he needed to do more research on the subject. You might be thinking, well they didn't use the pill and they ended up getting pregnant one month later. Yea we messed up (twice, even with Ainsley), but I'm kinda glad we did. We might have gotten carried away with the views that we needed this or that before having kids, or needed to do this before having kids, or even the typical I'm not ready yet. Now don't get me wrong, I definitely feel that there are good reasons for waiting to have kids, but we probably wouldn't have had any. I'm the first to say that having kids is definitely hard work, with tremendous sacrifice. However the blessings they are to me and all that I have learned from them are incomparable to the "burdens". Our society views kids more as burdens than blessings, which has led many astray.

From a biblical stand point, I think God intended sex not just for pleasure but for procreation. Therefore if you are having sex (which should be done within marriage), you should always be open to having kids. So even though we have not only one, but two surprises... they were both planned by God. However this does lead me to question how open I should be to having kids? Should I completely surrender all forms of birth control, surrender everything but Natural Family Planning since there is nothing to stop procreation except abstinence, or are non hormonal contraceptives (i.e. condoms) okay? I still have yet to conclude that any birth control that is merely a contraceptive and not an abortifacient would be theologically inconsistent.

Feel free to share your opinions.

Ellie Rolls

Look at what Ellie has learned to do:



Just a note: this video is from a few weeks ago. I have taken the birthday banner down, although it did take me another week after Ellie's bday.

Double Date- Minute to Win It

Last Thursday we had a double date with our friends, Laura and John Baumeister. We had a yummy dinner, put the kids to bed, then played Minute to Win It (stole this idea from the Shelton's).

We played a total of 8 games. How you play: you have to do the activity provided in one minute or you loose. Zach won with the most points, which we made up how to score. A few of the games: sorting candies in order, rolling a ping pong ball on a tape measurer into a shot glass, spinning around 5 times then tossing a ball into a hole, make 3 golf balls stand on top of each other (no one was able to accomplish this, however John did do it while we were just hanging out afterward), keep 3 non-helium balloons off the ground (extremely difficult), toss a ping pong off a wall and catch it in a bowl on your head 5 times, and more...

We did play a game where you have to make a candy elevator. Here are some picture from that:
John went first, had a hard time. I'm pretty sure he never got them in his mouth. Next, Laura B:
She got the candies in her mouth, took a little fixing of the elevator first. Up next, Zach:
Zach won this game, he got the candies immediately. Last, me:
Yea, I lost. Never could get them into my mouth. Oh well.

We had a lot of fun! Thanks to the Shelton's for the idea, and then to the Baumeister's for a great time!