Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a wonderful Christmas, despite the snow and the delay in Christmas packages. The kids created gingerbread houses for the first year. They eat more than they decorate but it was fun and kept them busy for a day.

Issie is a nut. She is obsessed with accessories, she loves to have hats on and uses her links as bracelets and finds all kinds of things for purses and necklaces. She spent all kinds of time around the Christmas tree with new little outfit creations.

Sweet Kadie, happy with her my little pony and her new webkins.

The big gift....the Wii. As you can see, once it was set up they were consumed by it all. We have had lots of fun learning all the things it will do. Jack loves it and smokes us all but we are really enjoying playing as a family. Unfortunately many of our extra things like extra controllers and games did not make thru the snow yet. It will be fun when we can play against each other.

Brad with Lucy, talking to his sister.

Yes, I let them eat (or try to eat) their houses. We are lucky they didn't break a tooth.

Isabella's gift was a new slide. She is a total daredevil and stands and dances on the top, goes down backward and head first and is just plain crazy. We are bound to have some crashes but so far she has loved it.

My favorite gift was finally getting my Nativity Set. It is beautiful and I am so grateful.

Always looking beautiful on Christmas morning. My favorite thing is my hubby. Merry Christmas everyone, we hope you were blessed this year.

Snowy Days!

Well I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of all the snow we have been getting. These pictures do not even show how amazing it has been. Yesterday it was up to my hips when I was walking! We have definitely had record snowfall! We are super grateful for our truck and the chains and have not felt too stranded. The pipes have stayed unfrozen and the power has remained on most of the time so it has been nice and cozy inside. The kids loved it at first and now it is just too cold most of the time. We have done a bunch of sledding which has been fun. Today we woke up to rain and lots of melting snow! I kept thinking we would bundle Issie up and take her out to show how deep the snow was compared to her but we never did and now it is melting and wet. I am sure this is not the last of it though. It has been so beautiful and very Christmasy (not sure if that is a word).

the house

the picnic table

the gang

the 3 foot icicle from our roof

me and the kiddo's

Look closely and you can see a deer in the trees.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ok this is how our yard looked 2 days ago, the snow has since blown off the trees and the ice has formed on the roads. It was a welcome thing, at the time. I do love the snow, I don't mind being stranded at times, I love the kids playing outside and the toasty fire, it really feels like Christmas time. However, my patience has been pushed to the edge. With the super cold temps our pipes froze on Sunday night and we went without water for 48 hours. It is amazing how many dishes can pile up in that amount of time. If I had known about this situation in advance I would not have let my kids skip baths for the 3 nights prior so they were at 5 days without being clean, yuck! To add to the situation my mother in law and her husband are due to arrive tomorrow, although she would not care, our house is disgusting. After hours of wrapping heating coils and insulation and using the hair drying by extension cord on the pipes and the well pump, I finally packed the kids up to take showers at a friends. Right at this point we lost power! Really starting to stress now. I just want to take a shower, clean my house and mail my Christmas packages and card! None of this is happening and none of this really seems important any more. Thank God, Brad was working from home and could help manage the situations. I left the house, stressed and not gracefully loving my kids, to try to get clean and get some food and some disposable dishes. Praise God before I got home we had power, heat and water! And now I realize it will be even colder for the next 3 days or more. Pray for us.

It's a Miracle!!!

So, after soliciting input from anyone who would listen about my screaming, screeching, totally out of character Issie, my wonderful friend Michelle (aka miracle worker) helped me solve my problem. Apparently her little girl did the same thing around the same age and it turned out to be an intolerance to dairy. The behaviors were almost exactly the same and I was giving her more and more milk to calm her and basically shut her up and it was just getting worse, duh. We decided to do a 3 day trial with no dairy. Instantly, I am not kidding here, she was different. She woke up from her nap yesterday afternoon and I gave her rice milk instead of milk and the screaming has stopped. She babbled and squealed some but it was her normal range, she slept without waking up screaming, just a little fussing. And best of all today, she just toddled around the house, playing quietly with books and her little people and giggling about her hat and pouncing on her new leather chair. It was precious, it was Issie, she is back!

I know people deal with much bigger life issues than a screaming baby and I know I am blessed with pretty easy kiddo's and very grateful but this was so sudden, so different, so difficult that I could not imagine it being a long term situation. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Michelle. We have our Issie back! Praise God for girlfriends.

Last Jewelry Show before Christmas!

If any of you live in the Vancouver/Portland area, I have my last Christmas sale for kd designs this Wed night, Dec 10th from 4p-9p in SW Portland.

This is a super fun event with several vendors including a CAbi Trunk Sale! I am doing all kinds of Christmas Sale Pricing and gift wrapping. Check out my jewelry web site for more details.

www.jewelrybykddesigns.com

I would love to see you there!

What has happened to my sweet little Issie?

I can not figure out how this happened. It seems like overnight my sweet little content and quiet baby has turned into a schreeching, yelling, throwing herself on the floor in frustration little crazy girl. At first I thought she was just exploring her vocal range, but now it seems like almost a constant scream and squeal and screech that is seriously like nails on the chalkboard to me. She started hitting her sister and throwing toys when they don't do what she wants them to do. I thought this happened closer to 18 months or 2 but not at 14 months! I have been trying the sign language as I think the frustration is partly lack of communication skills but she refuses to do any signs but the sign for milk. It has been this way for a few days now and it is not good. Any suggestions to save my sanity?

Isabella's New Chair.

Grandma Tutu (Brad's mom) sent us this chair at Thanksgiving after they redecorated. Well, Isabella thinks this is the greatest thing ever! It is just low enough for her to get on to it all by herself and it is a little squishy and a little slippery and she just loves it. I have about 20 pictures of her flopping and laughing and dancing all over this chair. It has been so funny to watch. Simple things of life can bring such joy. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Crazy girl.

Kadie Update

Praise God, she is doing so much better! Thank you for your prayers. Instead of a few months of this (with the antibiotics) or a few weeks without, it looks like she could be thru it in less than 2 weeks! I really cannot believe the improvement in her since we asked for prayer. God is good. We are waiting for test results to see if the Salmonella is out of her system, we hope to hear on Saturday, and although there is a good chance there is still some in there, we are praying for a clean report so we can get back to life. We love and appreciate you all. Thank you for having Kadie girl in your prayers.

Prayer for Kadie

Ugh!!! We have been fighting a bug that has been horrible for Kadie and just found out today it is Salmonella!!! She has been sick for 4 and a half days and although I am grateful for the diagnosis it does not help much. She finally broke her fever yesterday and actually slept some last night. Apparently, the new antibiotics for the disease only make it take longer for her to fully recover, like 2-3 months! Her body seems to be fighting it so hopefully she will be through this in a week or two with out the drugs (at least that is the hope from the pediatrician). Our family is in a time warp and now I realize I need to shut down most of our family plans for the next 2 weeks. Our biggest prayer request is for her to stay hydrated and stay out of the hospital. Our second is for no one else to get infected, it would be especially rough on Issie. Our third would be that she would test clear of the disease on the earlier side of normal, hopefully the end of this week. She has been a trouper but it has been rough to say the least. Please pray for Kadie and our family as we battle this ugly bug.

Birthday Party for Kadie

We had a small little friend party last week for Kadie's 5th Birthday. It was simple and fun. Kadie helped decorate the table and did her famous picture pose for the camera. She cracks me up.

Of course Tinker Bell continues to be the favorite and she was thrilled to have Tinker Bell decorations for the 3rd year in a row.

For most of the party the kids played wildly with the play house. All the girls would climb in side then the one boy at the party, Landon, would attack the house with the light saber until it tipped over and all the girls screamed and laughed and started it all over again. It was fun to watch them having such a good time together all by them selves.

Best buddies... Kadie and Landon.
Double chocolate cupcakes and a sparkle pink and purple 5 candle! Kadie was so excited.
Lots of wonderful gifts but these Fairy Wings stole the show. Good job Grandma Mary, she loves them and has been wearing them everywhere since she unwrapped them.

Later in the week, we had a family celebration with ice cream Sundays and Kadies favorite dinner (ginger chicken, rice and tomatoes). She then opened her doll house from Grandma Tutu. She was so excited..... until she realized it did not come with Barbies. Apparently my hairdressers little girl has the same doll house and has a bunch of Barbies she plays with in it. I guess I am one of those rotten moms that does not have Barbies for my little girl. I am not deathly against them but just feel there are lots of other dolls she could play with that maybe don't send such a vanity, body image, materialistic slant on the play. I am sure it will be one of those things that I thought was important and turns out to not really matter, but until I figure that out she was happy to play with her other princess and fairy dolls in the doll house.

It was a good birthday for Kadie. I am ready for a little break before the holidays kick in. All this celebration and preparation wears a mom out.

Happy Birthday Kadie!!!

Our Kadie Girl turned 5 yesterday! Some days I cannot believe she is 5 and other days it seems like she is turning 13. She definitely knows what she thinks, knows what she wants and knows how things should be. I don't think we will ever have to worry about her being swayed by the pressure of peers. I love these pictures, that Michelle took when we did our family pictures. Kadie is in a stage where she will not smile her normal smile and it makes group pictures a challenge. It was funny when I saw these shots. It seems like her most natural smiles are when we are holding her close. She is a little love bug so that could explain it.

I am just recently realizing how much she is growing up and no longer a toddler. She can articulate her words and thoughts pretty incredibly. She likes to play with only 1 or 2 people at a time but always wants to be where the action is at, even if she is just watching from a far. She has an obsessive relationship with Jack. She loves him sooooo much. He is the ultimate big brother, playing with her all of the time. But she also tends to get a bit overly attached and tends to struggle with a demanding spirit. This age has certainly had its challenges trying to balance every ones reactions to Kadies demands.

But she is super sweet and loving. She loves her family. Loves her little sister. Loves Lucy. She is the care taker and little puppy, she is the fairy and the mommy, she is the lost tiger and the invisible girl, she is always playing and imagining.

She loves school and seems to be able to learn best from someone that is not mom. She knows her letters and all her sounds and is learning to read but thinks she already knows how. It is hard to teach someone who believes she knows everything but we believe she will figure it out.

We love you Kadie. You keep us smiling, you keep us playing , you keep us laughing and you keep us guessing. You are a joy and a perfect fit in our family. We thank God for all you show us everyday. Happy Birthday Big Girl.

Blessed to be raising these gifts from God.

Praise God for His Provision!!

Thank you all for your prayers. Brad will be starting a new job on November 10th! He will be returning to Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield as a System Administrator. We are excited about the job. Brad worked there as a contractor and as an employee when we were first married. It is a stable and growing company. Our family has been blessed by the time Brad has had to be the stay at home dad but we are so happy for this job and grateful for God's provision in many ways. Yipee!

Isabella's Turns One!!!

Today is our baby's first birthday. What a blessing she is to us all. It has been a precious year, savoring every stage and age and knowing too well how fast it all slips by. We had a lovely family birthday party yesterday but I do not have the pictures yet. I have been dying to post these pictures that my friend Michelle took for Isabella's first year picture. I know there are a lot, but there were so many good shots it was difficult to narrow it down to even these ones. I know the grandmas will appreciate the number but the rest of you will have to bear through them.

So Isabella is walking and talking (sort of) and changing every day. She is quickly moving from a cautious walk to a little run. Still falling every once and a while but no crawling anymore. She loves the steps and we now have to keep the gate up at all times or she is up them before you know it. She is talking. She says "mama" but it is mostly when she wants to eat and now that I don't have the milk and she is with daddy more while I work the "mama" days seem to be fading out of the picture. She say "dada" a lot! She loves to say "dada" every time I say "mama" and she seems to say it with some attitude almost like she knows that I want her to say "mama" and she is messing with me. She just started saying "uh-oh" which sounds more like "uh-uh" but works like magic when she falls or crashes, she almost cries but then someones says "uh-oh" and she pushes back the tears and says "uh-uh" and picks herself up and moves on. She just started to say "no" but it is mostly after we say it, she has yet to figure out she can tell us no. She says "hi-ya" when she picks up the telephone or remote and carries it around the house on her ear, pretty cute. She continues to be fascinated by Kadie and Jack and totally loves Lucy (the dog). She is eating all kinds of finger foods and drinking whole milk and loving it. The 2 signs she does are dog and milk, she refuses to do any other sign language and stares at us like we are idiots when we try to get her to. She remains petite and super light. She does not like to cuddle much, as she always has things to be doing. She loves to carry her blanket around and wrap it around her head. She absolutely hates getting her diaper changed and it sucks for anyone who has to tackle her to do it. She is a crazy child in the bathtub, just crazy. She loves the water and is out of control in the bath. She loves to wrestle with Daddy on the bed. She loves to chase Lucy around the house with her toys. She loves her crib. And we love her. She has a sweet smile, brilliant blue eyes and a happy little personality. Happy Birthday Issie. We thank God every day for the blessing you are in each of our lives.

Pumpkin Patch

We did our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend. Brad was out of town at a retreat so I had another crazy mom moment and thought we should go anyway. It was fun, until it wasn't. Isn't that the story of my life. We got up early, skipped church and thought we will be the first ones there, go through the whole thing, get pumpkins and be home by lunch. Apparently we were not the only people thinking this was a good plan. The line to get in was wrapped around the parking lot. I had Issie in the backpack (too muddy for the stroller) and I thought we were all dressed warm enough as it was supposed to be in the 60's . It never got about 45 while we were there. Jack and Kadie did great, played on the hay stacks and the hay maze, went through the petting zoo, got yummy hot chocolate and fresh squeezed cider and even reluctantly agreed to not do the corn maze (Issie was starting to loose it and my back was aching at this point). So this is when we jump on the tracker and head out to find the best (or easiest to carry) pumpkins. Issie is freezing, starving and sleepy by now. We get to the field and find that most of the pumpkins (at least the close ones) are rotten. I finally figure out we will need a wheelbarrow and find one, we head at least 500yards into the patch with the baby on the back and the wheel barrow. The kids finally find 2 for themselves (they are well trained and pick small ones, since they know they will have to carry them but also have learned it is easier to clean small ones when it comes time to carve). I however, find this funky shaped gigantic weird looking pumpkin that I have to have. I find some other dad to put it in our wheel barrow, I can barely push the thing back up the hill to the tracker. At this point Issie is passed out in the backpack and leaning over the edge. I irritate the entire group at the hill by just by passing the line and asking the tracker driver to help me. It takes several men to get my pumpkin on and off the hay ride and then we need to find another wheel barrow and another man to get this thing in the car. The kids are DONE, I am exhausted and aching and we still have a huge somewhat ugly pumpkin in the back of the minivan that I have yet to convince Brad to get and bring into the house. I really think I have moments of temporary insanity. It was however a good day, I love pumpkins, I love fall, I love watching my kids run around having fun.

This picture does not do justice to my pumpkin. When I get it out of my van I will post a proper picture.

Grandma Mary and Grandpa Al

My new schedule has left me a bit behind on posting the happenings of our family but I still want to document it all so I may just have to do it in little bursts of energy. My mom and Al came to visit in September and had a wonderful time at the coast, Mt St Helen's, the zoo, and visiting with the kids. It is always fun to have them come and stay for a while.A beautiful day for the viewing of the volcano!
The kids took every opportunity to perform for a new audience and we had several concerts and dance performances. Jack sings song after song and Kadie plays along on the drum or occasionally does some extra dance moves. It is very entertaining and Grandma and Grandpa were a great audience.

Jack just belting it out.

Precious moments captured of sisterly love.

My favorite moment of my moms visit was when we did a bomb fire in the fire pit and Jack sang to us. Kadie was so hilarious. She stood behind him up on the hill and danced the most precious and funny dance. We would laugh and Jack would whip his head around to see what she was doing, she would then promptly stop and then he would continue and so would she. It was beyond hysterical. I have rarely laughed as hard as I did that night. The pure innocence of these kids catches me by surprise sometimes. Love you mom.

Back to Work??

It is a crazy time in our family but we know God is faithful and we are feeling blessed in many ways. Brad unfortunately lost his job this week. I will be temporarily heading back to work 3 days a week this week. We are totally blessed by the flexibility and demand of my work and know that God is always providing for us. We feel secure in knowing that all the things that really matter, money cannot buy and lack of money cannot take away. We would cherish your prayers for opportunities for Brad as his desire is to work and our desire is for me to be able to stay home as much as possible with the kids. Also prayers for peace and faith in this time of transition. We are grateful for all of our friends and family who continue to support and encourage us as we know many of you are in similar situations. God is good, we have grateful hearts. We will keep you posted.

Last day at the Beach

These pictures are a little bit late but I just recieved them from my friend and I could not resist posting them as we head into fall. We went to the beach the last week before school started for one last day of fun. The weather was rotten but the skies opened up with beautiful sunshine for about 90 minutes while we were at the beach. It was perfect. The kids had a great time, and me and my friend Mel had a great time too. I love that the coast is only a few hours away. We live in a beautiful part of the country. There are a lot of pictures but I could not just pick a few.