Well, so much for my blog...

Okay, it's officially been a YEAR since I last blogged.  A lot has happened in this last year.  I'll try to recap, but I'll probably forget half of what has happened.

First, and most importantly, last August we found out we were going to have another BABY.  Yes, you read that right, another baby.  This from the girl who said over and over that she was done.  I actually had several friends laugh when they found out.  I completely deserved it:)  Anyway, around the same time we found out, three of my other friends also found out that they were expecting.  Then, a most exciting thing happened.  All four of us found out we were having girls!  As my friend stated on her blog, "we thought we were boy-breeders", so we were stunned at this wonderful news.

On March 21, 2012, (three weeks early - usually I go late, so we were stunned by this too) I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with tons of dark curly hair.  (whose child is this anyway?)  We named her Naomi Noelle.  We brought her home and proceeded to fall more in love with her every day.  Her brothers have been so sweet with her.  It's been four months, and they still fawn over her constantly.

We also celebrated Micah's second birthday and Caleb's sixth birthday.  Mark and I celebrated our ninth anniversary. (kind of, I mean we had a new baby at the time)  The boys have been growing like weeds.  Caleb recently lost his two bottom front teeth, and Micah's vocabulary has been exploding.  He has been counting, identifying colors, and speaking in complete sentences.

Well, Naomi's crying to be fed, so I must go.  I'll try to come back and blog a bit more about our summer some other time.  Thanks for reading!

camping out

Mark and Caleb had a guys' night out last night.  Mark took Caleb to a local baseball game, and then they camped out in our tent in the backyard.  Caleb has been so excited he can barely stand it.  They had quite a successful evening.  Caleb asked to play baseball outside with Daddy this morning.  So, they are out taking down the tent, and then they will play baseball for a little while.  I'm so glad Mark wants to do special things like this with the boys.  I'm so thankful for him.
Meanwhile, Micah and I had a night in.  I thought it would be low-key, but Micah tried getting into everything about 500 times and was very naughty.  Oh well.  I had a little me-time when he went to bed and that was really nice.
So, here we are on a Saturday morning trying to figure out what to do with the day.  I'm looking forward to a girls' cooking night at the lovely Jenelle's house tonight.  I suppose I should go round up some ingredients for a peach galette.  Is it wrong to bake something when I'm not sure how to pronounce it?  I hope not.  Anyway, that's all for now.  Thanks for reading!

letting go

I took Caleb to a friend's birthday party this morning and had the hardest time leaving him there.  Don't get me wrong - the birthday boy's parents are wonderful and just about as conservative as I am:)  Oh, and did I mention that they live next door?  I just have such a hard time letting other people watch my kids, even people I trust.  He is my precious gift from God, and I treasure every day with him.  I hate that he is growing up.  What I am going to do when kindergarten rolls around?  It's enough to make me want to homeschool him just to keep him home with me.  I am struggling right now with my parenting skills and feeling inadequate anyway.  I just keep worrying about him and the future. 
Anyway, these are probably the rantings of a crazy woman.  I'm sure he's fine.  At least if I want to check up on him, I can just peek out the window...

Caleb's birthday

A couple weeks ago, we celebrated Caleb's birthday.  He wanted a Cars theme, so he got a cake with a racetrack on it and some Cars themed games.  The party went pretty well, considering they had been predicting rain and our house is under 1,000 sq. feet.  It was a beautiful, sunshine-y day.  Here are a few photos:  (Yes, that is Caleb in his Buzz Lightyear costume)

Happy Birthday to my sweet little guy!  He's a big 5-year-old now!

greatly amused

It's time for yet another peek into what I am thinking today.  I am greatly amused by several things at the moment.  Here are a few:

• Caleb just asked me if he could watch The Backyardigans:  Mission to "Menards"  (It's really Mission to Mars)
• I went to a playdate this morning where Micah sat down in a drawer of Legos and played.
• At this very playdate, a friend shared an amusing anecdote about a squirrel.
• Caleb keeps telling me that with each birthday celebration he has, he turns a year older.  He'll be 10 instead of 5 within a few days.

I guess you could say that right now I love my life, and with two little boys, it will probably only get more amusing by the minute.

what's new?

I can't quite get the hang of this whole blog thing.  I think about posting often, but I feel bad not always having pictures to go with my posts.  Oh well.  Today I'll just share what's on my mind (again).

My baby, Micah, has a double ear infection.  He was crabby and feverish all of last week, and this week he is just crabby - and clingy.  I'm trying to enjoy snuggling with him, but this also means I get nothing done around the house.  There are dirty dishes in the sink, and a floor that needs to be mopped, AND a bathroom that desperately needs cleaning. 

Caleb has been a joy lately.  He has been saying the funniest things (for example, "Mom, are spiders afraid of lava?").  Plus, we have gotten lots of positive feedback from his teachers at school.  Recently, he was very kind and helpful to a new student at school.  At home, he has been really helpful with his baby brother.  He is such a blessing.

Mark and I are going to celebrate our eighth anniversary next week.  Wow!  Eight years?!  I can't believe it's been this long.  I love when landmarks roll around and I just sit back and take stock of my life and my many blessings.  For the most part, I am exactly where I thought I would be at this point in my life.  That's a pretty good feeling.

All this to say I am definitely counting my blessings today.

contemplating

And what am I contemplating, you ask?  Well, I think in lists, so here's one of what's currently going through my brain:

• I'm so thankful that Micah took a nap, even after falling asleep in the car this morning.  He just woke up, and he sounds really happy.
• Caleb is enjoying playing a Winnie the Pooh game.  I love Winnie the Pooh.  He is so sweet.
• I'm catching up on FB and e-mail.  I'm trying to think of a cool status for my FB account, but nothing is coming to me.
• We went to a nice playdate this morning, and the boys were really well behaved.  Yay!
• I'm contemplating coming up with a list of 31 things I want to accomplish in my 31st year.  I have until December to come up with a list and cross things off of it.
• I'm really buckling down and thinking of ways to save money.  Mark's salary is going to get cut, and it won't be pretty.  I hate going back to having little to no money.
• Okay.  I have left the baby long enough.  Time for me to go get him.  I wonder if I could fit in some scrapbooking today?

Thanks for reading!