9-1-1

I often have really random, life-altering (ha!) thoughts in the middle of the night when I'm up feeding the baby. It could be running lists of all the things I have to do or worries that are crowding my mind. It could be thoughts about the day or something I'm looking foward to.

It can also be totally random, where-did-that-come-from thoughts! For instance, in the wee hours of this morning (and I know there was a thought process here but I can't remember how I got there...) I suddenly thought, "What if something happened to Ben or I, would the boys know how to get help? I need to teach them to call 911!"

Told you it was random. I have waaaaay too much time on my hands in the middle of the night:)

So fast forward to breakfast time. I had a few extra minutes to chat with the boys while waiting for E to wake up. I sat down with them and told them I wanted to talk to them about something. I told them there was a special number that they could call if there was an emergency (and I stressed emergency esp to Z, whom I can totally picture calling 911 for the fun of it!). I went through a couple of scenarios:

"Like...if mommy fell and broke her leg and needed help, you could get the phone and (bring it to me!:) call 911 and they would say, '911, What's your emergency?' And you would say, 'My mommy broke her leg and needs help.' And they would ask for your address and you would say___ (make boys repeat address)."

So, Samuel thought it was kind of fun to role play a little and Z was doing whatever it is that he does when I'm talking and then a few minutes later Z said, "But when did you break your leg?" I laughed and said, "I didn't break my leg, Zakkai, I was just making that up to teach you about 911." He laughed and said, "But when did you break it?" goose.

So I told them they could also run upstairs and get the neighbors, too. Which let to a discussion on opening the door and where the neighbors were, etc. (Z likes to ask questions!) And then he randomly says, "And if you died and Samuel didn't want to call on the phone then I would call!" I tried to change the topic after that...

Samuel started to get upset about us talking about getting hurt and told me he didn't want to talk about it anymore and covered his ears! I explained that I was just trying to teach them about calling 911 so they would know what to do but hopefully they never will have to use it!

Anyone watch Rescue 911 when they were younger? There were always little kids calling and saving their parents lives! And now, hopefully mine are prepared:)

Blast from the Past: When I was younger, my sister and I were babysitting our young cousins at my grandparent's house. Little did I know that my aunt had just taught them how to dial 911 in case of an emergency. Unbeknownst to me, as we were playing with them, my cousin, who was 3 at the time, snuck off to the other room and called 911.

I didn't realize this until the door rang and I looked out the peephole and saw police men standing there and several police cars pulled up haphazardly outside! The best part? My sister and I ran and hid with all the kids for a few minutes before I got the gumption to open the door. I was scared out of my mind! The policemen were understanding but gave a stern lecture to my cousin about not calling for fun!

I am sincerely hoping that Zakkai does not recreate that scenario for me!

But this time, I won't run and hide;)
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My silly baby girl making faces:) She thinks it's really funny when we stick our tongues out!

The Flu bites again.

 We had a random day today. Z woke up crying in the middle of the night but he wouldn't talk to us and tell us what was wrong.  We figured it out when he woke up with an upset tummy and almost threw up on me!

The weird part? We kept him home from school to be safe and he was perfectly fine the rest of the day! But then I got sick and spent the morning dozing on the couch (in between feeding the baby and making sure Z wasn't up to mischief, of course!) At one point, I was dozing, trying to sleep away the pounding headache and churning stomach, and Zakkai was reading books on the floor by the couch and kept holding up pages to show me and talk about. I kept trying to muster up the energy to mumble responses to him....not that he needed any! My little chatterbox:)

Miss Eliana had a wonderful day of sleeping...probably because she got to snuggle with me a lot! And what I thought was a nap at 5:15pm, has turned into bedtime as she is still asleep! We will see what the night holds...

And my loving husband blessed me with some homemade chicken noodle soup tonight. What a lovin' husband! It was pretty good, too, except for the red pepper flakes he snuck in it. Have I ever mentioned his new red pepper obsession? Well, he has one. He adds red pepper to EVERY single dinner I make! As long as he's happy...

I am feeling better now, thankfully, because when the mama is down, the whole house is down. Isn't that the truth?! But I'd better get to bed early so I can be 100% for the busy day tomorrow!

Back to School!

 Back to school, back to routine, back to non-lazy life again! Good-bye lazy wii days and movies, lounging around in pjs and having Christmas treats. Good-bye Christmas trees, lights and ornaments and wrapped presents under the tree.

Hello, long snowy days and bitter wind. Hello long months before we see our Ohio families again. Hello boots, gloves, scarves and lost mittens. Hello hot chocolate, oranges and Snuggies! Hello, January.

Samuel is back to kindergarten with his buddies. He brought home the dreaded "lice letter" today and I am freaked out!! It  has always been one of my worst nightmares that one of my children would get lice. Please, oh please, don't let Samuel get it!

Back to school for my preschooler! Z was so stimulated by school today that he couldn't settle down for a nap. I laid down with him for a few minutes and of course, this sleep-deprived mama fell asleep in 2.4 seconds. I kept being half-woken up by fingers poking my eyes and Rays rubbing my cheeks. I finally left his room, telling him to go to sleep, only to have him crack the door open 11 minutes later to tell me, "I've been sleeping so many minutes!" sigh.

And this little lady, sporting her very pretty new outfit from her Auntie G, had a half good sleeping day and a half bad sleeping day. I cannot for the life of me figure out why I was able to train the boys to sleep so well by 2 months old (13 hrs a night, great naps!) and this little one wants to fight. She took a 3 1/2 hour nap this morning in her carseat (adores her carseat) and then cried and cried all afternoon, fighting a nap. B and I are trying to figure out new strategies to help her since letting her cry for a bit before sleeping doesn't seem to be working (as in, hysterical baby=brokenhearted crying mommy!) I think we've come up with a new plan and hopefully it will work.

But even if her sleeping drives me crazy, I sure do love staring into her beautiful dark blue eyes!!

She's a keeper:)

Jillian

Remember this? Well, I'm still a fool! But a good one, I think:) I may have been strutting past the mirror in those good old days, but not anymore. It's more of a sidle past the mirror, long enough to make sure I'm matching but short enough to avoid seeing the extras that having a baby has left me with.

Muffin Top, if you will.

I don't need to lose anymore weight but I do need to....firm up things. Ahem. So last night, in a spurt of insanity (insanity that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a month) at 11pm (told you I was crazy!) I decided to dust off the 30 Day Shred and whip myself back into shape!

And I'm paying for it. I may have wobbled to bed on jelly-like legs and barely had the strength to lift the baby out of her cradle with my 40 lb arms but it was worth every excruciating moment! It was. Right?

 I am determined to be looking svelte and glamorous (or at least presentable:) by my 30th birthday in the summer. Before everything goes downhill.

Literally.

Welcome back to my life, Jillian. I think.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Happy New Year!

This past year:

Samuel

*Turned from a 4 year old into a very independent 5 year old.

*Finished his first year of preschool

*Started kindergarten

*Has (and is) learned to read

*Made his first best friend, Peter:)

*Has learned to play a lot of new games (ex. Go Fish)

*Met and fell in love with his baby sister

January 2010

 December 2010

Zakkai:

*Turned 3 years old

*Got potty-trained (still struggle with the pooping part though.)

*Started pre-school and is thriving!

*Continued(s) with his light/plug obsession.
*Started memorizing songs and books!
*Starting pretend playing and using his imagination more.
*Got more independent and insists on doing things HIMSELF. But still likes to hold our hands:)

January 2010

November 2010

Eliana:

*Was born!
*Has learned to smile and coo
*Is really aware of where we are.
*Loves to watch her brothers
*Is now regularly sleeping 6-8 hours a night and we are hoping for more soon!
*Has rejected all bottle attempts.
*Is sweet, kissable and beautiful!

We had a busy year with lots of sickness last winter, my mouth surgery, being pregnant, moving, buying a "new" van, both boys starting school, having Eliana, Ben traveling for his conference....

We are very curious and excited to know what this new year holds for us. Will we move again? Will Ben get a job and finish his dissertation? My big kindergartner will turn 6 (wiping tears now..), Z will be 4 at the end of next month (what??!!) and Eliana will turn....no. I can't say it yet. Forget that for now.

We are looking forward to new beginnings, creating new routines as a family and most of all, focusing more on God together as a family and learning how to live for Him, creating a good example for our kiddos and having a peaceful home full of love.

Welcome 2011!