Old Pics

So life has been a little hectic with moving in and attempting to settle in before the baby arrives, so I know that I have been a blogger slacker. Anyhow, I had wanted to post these pictures we took the week before we moved. We went up to Dunsmuir with our friends to let the kids (or dads) do a little fishing and play at the park before the chaos of our busy week started. Kevin had warned me that he was going to have a "crazy busy week" and wouldn't be seeing us much. I know that we are hitting summer months when business seems to be at its peak, so I didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until the end of the week that he revealed that yes, he had been busy working a lot, but he also surprised the girls and I by painting their new room and setting up bunkbeds. He even snuck out one of the quilts that I had bought to take it to Home Depot to match paint, then shopped all over town to find the best deal on good mattresses, plus picking up the beds that we had discussed getting, but that he had told me to wait a month or so and then we would see where we were at. The girls are adjusting well to sharing a room and sleeping in their new beds. Some nights are easier than others, but all in all the transition has been much smoother than I had imagined. I will post some pictures of their room when it is a little more picked up ( I think every toy we have unpacked is currently on the floor!)

Kacia's not-so-hidden "talent"

So my oldest daughter has many gifts and talents! However, I fear that fashion design is not one of them! That is to say unless you are going for the look that is sure to scream- "I could careless what other people think, atleast I won't be caught wearing the same outfit as someone else." Here is another pic to display her creativity and independence when it comes to clothes...Rylin on the other hand, when asked if she wants to get dressed is most likely to respond, "No, nakey awile."

WHAT?-Bathtime is Fun?????

So Rylin has always hated baths! I don't know why, but from the time she was a baby in the small little infant bath until she moved into the tub with Kacia she has detested baths. This in turn means that I hate giving baths because they turn out to be so much more of a chore than they should be and I am disciplining the entire time instead of letting them play and enjoy themselves.

We have tried numerous things, letting her pick out the bubble bath, getting new bath toys, crayons in the tub, etc. But still my daughter would refuse to sit down in the tub, let alone relax and have fun. When we were on our snow vacation in January, she learned the word "slippery". The next time I tried to give her a bath, she through a fit, crying, "No, no, slipper, slippery!" Finally I thought I had solved the mystery- she was scared of slipping. So we put a towel down for her to sit on and the next few baths went slightly smoother. And then the poop came! Three times in a row Rylin pooped in the bath! Not only did this get a negative reaction from both me and Kacia, but she would get so upset! So then we had to face the next hurdle- her fear of pooping again! My solution- a swim diaper. For the last couple of weeks now Rylin has bathed in a swim diaper, she has not had any accidents and is actually liking her time in the bath! In fact, she often stays in longer than Kacia! This is quite the milestone in our family!

These are the Days of our Lives

So we have been doing a lot of staying at home lately. With my allergies and lack of energy, it just seems to be the best option- plus it's free! The girls are discovering all kinds of ways to stay busy and play together. Here they are "painting" the deck with water.

Since we weren't leaving the house this day, I allowed the girls to show some independence (and creativity) by dressing themselves. Rylin picked her very favorite pants- pink, shiny track pants and combined them with anything and everything pink (all varying shades!).

Kacia's outfit was really something. She put her gymnastic suit on over her underwear (which she often does) and then put her bathing suit bottoms on top of that, to hide the underwear of course. Earlier in the day, she was also sporting her pink leggings in between the gymnastic suit and bathing suit. Creative- yes, but fashionable, well... let's just say it was entertaining!

The girls are enjoying spring and are getting quite anxious for both Grandma's return and the arrival of baby brother. Speaking of whom, this baby better be one easy baby, sleeping and eating perfectly. I know that pregnancy is a huge blessing, so please don't get me wrong. I love feeling him move, and I thank God daily for the gift of allowing me to carry and grow him. But if my horrible, ugly, vein covered, aching legs weren't enough, I now must refrain from ice cream, cookies, coffee, and pretty much anything that tastes good thanks to gestational diabetes! My new, very strict diet is going to take some work, but the doctor is confident that if I am faithful in sticking to the diet both me and baby will be just fine, and in about 10 weeks +/-, I can return to my normal lifestyle.

Easter Fun!

So on Saturday our friends had set up an Egg Hunt at a local park, complete with games, way too many eggs full of candy, and a lot of our friends from church. The weather was beautiful and I'm pretty certain the adults enjoyed themselves as much as the kids! Then we did Easter dinner Sunday at Pete and Breanna's house with Kevin's dad as well. All in all, it was a great weekend. The girls looked so cute in their Easter dresses- thanks Aunt Bre and Uncle Pete! Now if I only knew what to do with all of the candy that is still laying around our house!

A Day at Home

Well despite the beautiful blue sky, today is freezing and windy, and with Rylin and I both struggling with allergeries, we are taking a lazy day and staying home. So what better to do than post some pictures for you and avoid doing housework! Here are some pictures of my girls a couple of weeks ago. We are still living in our "temporary" house (thank you Jesus!) and so I have unpacked very little, but we decided to get out the dress-up box and literally within 5 minutes they had tried on all of the clothes, ripped them off and thrown others on, over and over again! Sometimes it is a good thing to separate them from some of their toys because then when you get them back out, it's like they are new all over again! I was able to get more pics of Rylin then Kacia because Rylin needed to stay nearby for assistance!

Oh, and just for those of you wondering how I am doing on my coffee addiction, in the last month and a half, I can count on one hand (not even using all of the fingers!) how many "good" coffees I have had, 2 of which were brought to me by my very dear sister! I also realized that I was quite wrong on my Starbucks count, missing at least 5 - bringing the total to 12 - in our "small" town!!!

(We miss you Grandma! And we know you are missing Starbucks too (though not as much as you are missing us!), we'll have to go together when you get back!

At the Cross on Good Friday

At the Cross

I know a place

A wonderful place

Where accused and condemned

Find mercy and grace

Where the wrongs we have done

And the wrongs done to us

Were nailed there with Him

There on the cross

At the cross, He died for my sins

At the cross, He gave His life again

At the cross, He died for my sins

At the cross, He gave His life again

This song has been in my head since Bible Study yesterday, and though it seems so short and somewhat simple, its words have brought me healing and hope and gratitude as it continues to replay in my head. Oh how thankful I am for the cross and for my Christ who gave His life for me!

Today we have been attempting to focus on Good Friday- I'm trying to help my kids understand that Easter is not just a Sunday thing where you get candy and have egg hunts, but there is so, so much more to it than that. I got a really great kids book "What is Easter?" and we have been doing all of the fun activities- yes, but while doing so we have been discussing the true reason we can celebrate. We have made crosses out of play-dough, than this morning we had Breanna, Allie, Micheal, Alex and our friends Tiffany and Aden over to color eggs and make jelly bean bracelets. (However, the pack of 28 needles of varying sizes that I bought, didn't have an eye big enough for our bracelet thread, so we just ate a bunch and Rylin made a picture of the 3 crosses with jelly beans and glue.) It has been a good day so far. I really wanted Kacia to understand that although today is the day we honor Christ for dying on the cross it is still most definitely a day to celebrate and not to mourn, because what happened 3 days later? He rose again! We celebrate because Good Friday is not the end of the story! What an amazing Savior we serve!!

Keeping a 2 year old busy

So I know that I have said before that I love age 2, and I do, but it is not without it's challenges! It is so much fun to be able to really communicate with this little person who is so curious about everything. And everyone talks about the "terrible twos" but with our experience at least, age 3 is much more difficult as the "sinner" side emerges more- defiant, self-willed, and the list goes on. But I must say, that Rylin is so busy! By this age, Kacia would sit and watch a cartoon, or even part of a movie, but Rylin does not stop, from the minute she wakes up "All done night night Mom!" repeat, repeat, repeat... until the moment she goes to bed. So with the weather rainy last week, here are a few things we did to "try" to keep her entertained! I got out a bowl of beans for her to play with (they are cleaner than rice), and we did alot of play dough. But you have to understand, that I never had Kacia mix the play dough colors, I don't really know why, but now my perfectionist of a 4 year old does not allow Rylin to mix either, so instead, I just have to get her out a new color every 90 seconds! "All done dis one! Diffent one please!" She is my shadow all day, insisting that she "see" whatever I am doing in the kitchen. If I don't put up on the counter, she goes and scoots her small Cinderella folding chair over to stand on. She has to push every button I use, whether it is on the microwave or DVD remote, or simply the handle to flush to the toilet. She is almost ready to start potty training, and asks, "potty chair" often, but we are going to wait for this one until we move into our more permenant house. I'm shooting for April. She asks "why" constantly, at which I just respond, "you say ok mommy." But yesterday, she said, "no okay, WHY!" very, very loudly, and will also ask, "why no why?" She also told me, very genuinely as she was holding her tummy, "I sick, baby in tummy." I think she is also convinced that she can see the baby if she peers deep enough into my belly button. See why I love age 2, they are so much fun, and she makes me laugh constantly as she tries to do everything that Kacia does, but at the same time, she wears me out!

Withdrawals

My name is Jenny. I am a coffeeholic. It has been 15 days since my last Starbucks (or any good, $4 coffee!).

So Kevin and I are trying something new. We are trying to live on a budget. This may be surprising but in our nearly 9 years of marriage, this is something we have never done, at least not successfully. But it is time. With Kevin being self employed, living on a typical budget, based on percentages and what not does not work for us. There is no predictable, dependable income, so this has been the excuse we have used. But we know that it is time we get smart, value money, and make wise choices with what God gives us. So, for now that means cutting out unnecessary purchases so we can determine how much money we need to spend each month vs. how much money we actually spend. So since I have both coffee and creamer in my house, getting myself a "treat" when I am out running around would fall into the unnecessary category. However, for those of you who do not live in Redding, you need to understand that in our "small" town there are atleast 7 Starbucks, 4 maybe 5 Dutch Bros., and numerous other coffee drive thrus that are constantly calling my name. So although my withdrawals are strong today, my desire to really glorify God in this aspect of our lives is even stronger. I am really excited to see how God is going to change us as we learn this new and difficult discipline. But have patience with me, and I am warning you that if you bring a white cup with a little green circle logo on it around me not to turn your back, because you may end up with an empty cup!

Baby Number 3

So with having 2 girls I get asked everywhere I go what I am having. When I reply that I don't know yet, everyone always says, "Are you hoping for a boy?" I politely reply that we would love to have a boy, but I have 2 very adorable girls, and so if I have a third girl, that will be just fine for us. It is amazing the pressure you can feel over something you have absolutely no control over! But perhaps the most difficult individual to deal with has been Kacia. She has been praying for well over a year for a baby brother. I have told her that God always hears our prayers, but sometimes He answers them differently than how we want. I told her that God can see more than we can, and always does what is best for our family. She will nod her head, and then say, "okay, but if this one is not a boy, you can just have another baby, right?!" So, yesterday we went to the dr., and after doing all the measuring, and looking around, finally she starts pointing at the screen, "So this is a leg, this is the bottom, and right there, that is a boy part!" Kevin and I were so excited! We are going to have a son!!! Kacia is absolutely thrilled, and had to add, "See mom, I was right and you were wrong, huh. Now we can have two sisters and two brothers!" To which Kevin and I both quickly added, no only one brother. And she says, "Well maybe after this baby, you can have just one more!" Nope! I told when she is the mom she can decide how many kids to have, but for Daddy and me, 3 is the perfect number. So we are all very excited and praise God that He does hear our prayers, and yes, He does always know what is best for our family (and fortunately this time that happened to be in agreement with what we wanted as well)!

Our Snow Vacation!

Well, I have been waiting to blog about our trip to Mt. Bachelor because Kevin has pictures of Kacia skiing on his laptop that I keep forgetting to put on my computer. But, since I had a few minutes, I decided I would post about the rest of our trip. We had a great time! The house was awesome, the weather was really good at the beginning. The day Kacia went skiing was perfect, which also meant great days for sledding as well. But by the last part of our trip it just snowed and snowed and snowed! I have included a picture of the outside of the house because I love the snow in the trees. We got a little bit of cabin fever the last two days since it was really snowing too hard to be outside, but it was so pretty to watch from the inside! It did make me think of how different life was before kids. On snowy days like that I would have cuddled up next to the fireplace with my book and cup of coffee, instead of cleaning play dough up off the ground, breaking up arguments, etc. But I also realized the trip would have been so different if it was just us adults. We wouldn't have bothered sledding or ice skating, and it is so much fun to watch your kids have so much fun! Rylin loved sledding! (Which was really the only activity she was old enough for.) She kept wanting to go "again" and "faster"! Kacia enjoyed it all! She is eager to go up skiing again, and I am so thrilled that my kids get to learn this sport as children rather than as an adult! I am sure that by the time baby number 3 masters the bunny slope I too might be ready to try some different runs. But I have already prepared myself for the fact that they will master this skill much faster than I have! All in all a great time for our family and a wonderful time with our best friends! (I will post Kacia on the slopes later!)

So We're Moving!

Most of you know that Kevin and I have been praying about a way to move closer into town. We would love to be close to his office and the school we want Kacia to start kindergarten in, plus just everything else. We have enjoyed our home, but the 20 minute drive to everything, and 30 min to church is getting old! So, after our house didn't sell in 5 months, we decided to pray about renting it out, and just finding something in the area we desire to be in to rent for now. Well, God answered our prayers! On Saturday, someone came to look at our home for someone who is moving here next week from out of state. So, now I am packing because we are moving this weekend!! Life is a little crazy right now, I don't know how many boxes I have packed today, but there are still many more to go! So, by Monday we will be out and cleaned, and on Tuesday we leave for our ski week in Bend Oregon! God's timing is unique, but we are just praising Him for answering our prayers, and for the much needed, but oddly timed vacation that we will greatly appreciate once we get there!

Christmas Recap

Well we had such a great Christmas this year! I think every year the girls get older, Christmas morning becomes so much more fun! On Christmas Eve, we went with Breanna's family to their church service, then continued with the Hetland family tradition by getting all dressed up and going out to dinner together. After that we headed over to their house, exchanged gifts, made hot chocolate and went out to walk around their neighborhood and look at their light displays. However, it was a little colder than typical, and after hitting one street, we headed back to the heated house! Christmas morning we opened up gifts and let the girls explore and play with all their new things before heading over to Grandma and Grandpa's. Most of Kevin's extended family had all traveled to Redding which was so great, so we spent the rest of our day there, enjoying each other, eating and cooking and eating some more, and of course, opening more gifts. Last year Kacia would open one and want to take it out of its package and play with it before moving on. This year, she could look under the tree and see how many more had her name, and couldn't wait to just keep opening! The girls were so much fun, and even though Kevin and I spoiled each other before we had kids, we have both decided that Christmas is so much more fun when we can watch our kids enjoy it all!

On Christmas day, Kaitlin and her fiance, Ian drove down in the snow from Washington to spend almost a week with us! We had a lot of fun together, didn't really do much, saw a movie, played in the snow (only the second time in my 8+ years in Redding that it snowed in my yard!), went wedding dress shopping, but mostly just hung out! Thanks to both of you for coming! We love you and had a great time being with you! (Obviously I can't post the pics of Kaitlin in the wedding dress, but she looked soooo beautiful!!)

Loving Christmas

So my girls and I are loving Christmas time! Kevin is not a scrooge or anything, but I kind of get a little too into the holiday, with only listening to Christmas music and watching all of the cheesy Christmas movies and all. And it seems that the girls have joined forces with me. They have learned numerous songs, love to go looking at Christmas lights, insist that the tree lights be on at all times, and they don't complain too much about all the baking, hot chocolate and candy canes either. I am pretty sure we have every Christmas themed movie/cartoon saved on DVR, and that is all the Kacia watches. The season is moving fast, but here a few photos of us enjoying our town's Christmas parade, Kacia's church Christmas concert and a cookie decorating playgroup we had. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and enjoy it to the fullest!

My Baby Turned 2!

Well Rylin turned two on Thanksgiving this year. We had ice cream cake instead of pie that evening, and all of our family members called to wish her a Happy Birthday, but we decided to really celebrate it on Friday. Since so many family members were in town it made for a great party! Rylin had been talking for months about an Elmo party, so she got to wear her halloween costume twice! She was a lot of fun to watch and truly enjoyed her birthday!

I love age 2! Yes, along with it come the occasional fits and what not, but she is so much fun! She is talking up a storm, has quite the sense of humor, and really enjoys life! There is so much to be learned from a 2 year old! She loves to follow Kacia around, and constantly narrarates life for us. If Kacia coughs, she says, "mom, Kacia agh, agh" (cough noise). If Kevin blows his nose, "mom, Daddy _____ " (I don't know how to even attempt writing that sound). Kacia is very into spelling out everything right now, so we sound out words together, and Rylin is somewhat picking up on that. She just thinks everything starts with the letter B. She will say, "mom, b-b-b-b-car! b-b-b-house! b-b-b-b-grandma!" And the more I laugh, the more "words" she comes up. She also enjoys playing baby dolls, "watching" Baby Einstein, playing dress up, singing, books and just being silly! She thinks that she is quite independent. She insists on putting on her own pants (today they are backwards!), she wants to buckle everything (car seat, grocery carts, etc) by her self. One of her favorite words right now, aside from Hungry! is Self! She constantly yells "Self! Self" when she wants to open up the yogurt or string cheese, or zip up her jacket, etc. Many of these she can't really do by herself yet, so then the occassional "Help!" comes out, but I say hey, if she wants to learn to do these things by herself it is only going to make my life easier in the long run!

I can't believe my baby is 2, I guess it's good she won't be "the baby" for much longer, she is quite excited about the new baby coming in June!

Fall Festival

I have been a lazy blogger lately, but I wanted to pass on some of our recent pics. We had a great time at our church's fall festival. I failed to get any good pictures, but Kacia was princess Jasmine and Rylin was, of course, Elmo. The girls had a lot of fun, and so did we!