jumping jumperoo

can you believe she's big enough for this??? my neighbor Kristine was so kind to let us borrow the jumperoo! Addison is gonna have a lot of fun in this, i can tell! she's just ready for it much sooner than i expected! she's SO STRONG!!! :) i lover her little foot in the picture to the right and the giggle on her face!!

i'm playin' in the rain, just playin' in the rain...

it was raining outside when we got home from taking harrison to school. the PLAN was to go for a run with my neighbor and borrow her double jogging stroller. i felt it wouldn't be kind to the kids to insist on running while they get soaked!

however, jackson was begging to play in the rain and since there was no thunder or lightening it seemed like a fun idea. taylor and jack who live across the street had the same idea. she and jackson looked so cute in their rain boots and had a blast splashing in the street!

i captured a bit of it on video....

play day with the penner's

We had the privilege of watching 3 of the Penner children on Monday. My dear friend Megan had her baby girl, Bella Joy, on September 2. There were a few complications with Bella's breathing and she suffered a collapsed lung. She was in the NICU for the week. It was a very scary time for them and for us as we prayed for sweet Bella. God has healed her and she is doing well now and was able to go home on Tuesday!!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Monday, Kostja needed to get a few things done and get things ready for Megan and Bella to come home so I offered to watch Josiah, Mila, and Camden. It was a FUN day and the kids played so well together. I told Megan, Camden is the BEST little guy I have ever watched in my life. My mom and Nanny were amazed at him as well! He is SO GOOD!!! My boys were too mischievous, a lot of fun, but a lot to keep up with too. Camden is so well behaved and happy too! He doesn't have a mischievous bone in his body! :) Jackson enjoyed his friends being over and just had a ball! It was a GREAT day!

boys vs. girls - my latest observation

i'm always comparing Addison to the boys. i can't help myself. she's a girl and they are boys and i've never had a girl and there ARE differences! one of those is her communication style. the boys made noises. a lot of noises. but noises, just to makes sounds mostly.

Addison TALKS. i'm guessing this is a girl thing. at least in my experience. she doesn't make noise just to make a sound. no real ahhhs, or uhhhs, etc... she is really trying to say something. to tell us what she's thinking. to be heard and tell her story. she does it ALL day long and does it specifically to get your attention. she wants to make sure you know she is there. she's hilarious and i can't get enough of her talking so here is another video! :) she's figured out a new sound too, sort of a gurgling sound, see if you can pick it out! :) my nanny is holding her in the video.

a lot of jack's

we are about to leave for the "jumping" place with a neighbor and i asked jackson if he thinks little jack will have fun.

he say's, "what jack?"

i say, "taylor's brother, jack"

he says, "us got a lot of jack's"

i laughed and said, i know honey, we do know a lot of jack's. :)

he says, "a taylor's jack, a pool jack, and my friend jack at church."

he is SO CUTE!!! he's right, there are a lot of jack's out there and we know some of the BEST! :)

remember the potty prayer?

do y'all remember Jackson's potty prayer?

this morning he had another rough poop day. three times before noon. he comes out from the third time and says to me,

"me don't believe God."

shocked and thinking quickly in my mind about what i should say, i ask him why? he says it again and i ask him again, "Jackson, why don't you believe God?"

he says, "me not want to go poop anymore."

at that moment i remembered his prayer. he had asked God to let him not have to go poop anymore and he REMEMBERED!

i tried my best to explain to him that God would never allow him not to go poop anymore because it was something his body needed to do. but that we need to trust God even when we ask for Him to do something for us and it doesn't turn out as we had asked. God knows what is best for us and He loves us so much.

how do you explain something like this to a three year old??? he said, "OK". and went off happily.

it was a reminder to me that these children are picking up on things. he's picking up on prayer and God being a part of his daily life. i am convicted thinking about how many times i say that in my heart. without even thinking about it, just not trusting God and questioning his answer for me. it was a great lesson for me this morning and He used this sweet little boy to speak to my heart this morning. i'm just praying i can point these precious children in the right direction, not only with my words and telling them what they "should" do, but with my life. being an example of trusting and BELIEVING my God when i get the answer i want, when i don't get the answer i want, and when i don't know His answer quite yet. thank you for speaking to me this morning Lord! and thank you for giving me the blessing of being home...to be here when these questions are asked. to be the one they ask!

accountability - update #3

***again, this is for my own personal record and accountability...knowing it's out there and visible. it's up to you to read and comment.***

i didn't update last week. i should have but i'll update two in one now.

last week up to this week:
had a slight setback with my knee. pushed myself a little too hard and too fast and payed the price.

last fri. - ran 14 out of 30min.
last sat. - ran 16 out of 30 min.
last sun. - ran 18 out of 30 min.
mon. - woke up with a hurting right knee. ran 12 out of 30 min. and thought my leg was going to just give out. called coach katy and she reminded me i needed to slow down and take it easy for a couple of day, had pushed too hard.
tues. - off
wed. - off
thurs. - did the treadmill and couldn't run very much, only got in about 3 2min. runs. leg still hurting but tried to push through.
fri. - ran 10 out of 30 min. in SO MUCH PAIN, thought i would never be able to run again and was completely and utterly discouraged. called coach katy and couldn't get her. called joe and he talked me through everything. cautioned me to stay off of it 2 more days, ibuprofen, ice, and check into my shoes.
sat. off
sun. off
mon. night - ran 10 out of 30 min. walk 4/run 2, felt good, iced and took ibuprofen that night.
tues. night - ran 12 out of 30 min. continued to try and pace myself and not push too hard. felt good, iced it.

today i'm sore but i think it's because i had to take so many days off last week. knee is feeling ok. feel a little tiny something but today is my day off so that's good. hopefully i'll start building up to this and i won't try to go to quickly. take my time and i'll get to the goal eventually.

it was very discouraging last week. i didn't want to lose momentum. i didn't want to gain all kinds of weight. even though i haven't worked out in years, i was convinced in one week i was going to get huge! i know it's silly but i so want to lose this weight so badly and keep it off forever! and the setback did a number with my head! i even ate worse than i should. you would think i would eat less or better to make up for the fact that i was having to stay off of my knee and yet i think i ate worse. i was in a funk about it. my mind is in a better place now and i'm trying to take it slow and easy and one day at a time. i think i feel like i have to will myself to be able to do this and it's hard for me to believe that i'll ever be able or capable of running a full 30 minutes without stopping when right now it feels like i'm taking such baby steps. i just am going to keep believing it will happen and just be as consistent as possible and hopefully by some miracle it will all come together.

first tummy sleep

as she was stirring i ran and grabbed the camera but she was asleep like this.

after i fed her yesterday morning, i put her in the bassinet by my bed and we both feel back to sleep. when i woke up, she was asleep on her tummy sucking away on those fingers she loves so much. she had rolled over onto her tummy and drifted off to sleep. it was a FIRST so i had to get a picture! :)

playtime on the play mat

Addison's been enjoying her play mat lately. She just wiggles and coos and has a grand time. Surprisingly a play mat is very entertaining to a 6 and 3 year old as well. We should have just kept the baby toys all this time. They don't need the toys for "big" kids i guess. These boys sure do love this girl!

In honor of Labor Day

playing along with a friend. you should play too...

How long were your Labors?
#1. 12 hours at the hospital - pushed 1 1/2 hours
#2. 2 hours at home, 3hrs 35min. at the hospital - pushed 10 minutes
#3. 1 1/2 at home, 4hrs. 39 min. at the hospital - pushed 20 minutes

How did you know you were in Labor?
#1. seeing spots, called doctor and he said go to the hospital, got settled and they told me my contractions were 5 min. apart and i was 5 centimeters. hummmm..... i had no idea.
#2. had terrible butt pain, was supposed to be induced that morning so they said come on in, started having contractions while getting ready, got settled in a room and they said i was 8 centimeters. ahhhh!!!
#3. woke up at 3:30am having contractions and left for the hospital at 4:3oam. was in a room at 5am and was 6 centimeters.

Where did you deliver?
#1. Southwest General Hospital, Cleveland Ohio - 7 days early
#2. Chesapeake General Hospital, Chesapeake VA - 7 days early
#3. Rex Hospital, Raleigh NC - 3 days late

Drugs?
#1, #2, #3 - YES, YES, YES!!!

PTL for epidurals!!!

C-Section?

No

Who Delivered?
#1. Dr. Shirley Bennett
#2. Dr. Gregorio Uy
#3. Supposed to be Dr. Henderson but actually ended up being a nurse named Lydia.

It's always amazing to me that we have had our children in 3 different states, 3 different hospitals, and by 3 different Dr.'s; well, actually one nurse. It's all worked out though and each practice was great! :) They'll all be able to claim a different birth place!!! :)