A New Day...

As I have posted before, Eliott has been around the house at least twice in terms of where his bed is located.   Our room, the office, Madison's room, our room, office (which turned into his room), ...  A couple of weeks ago, after he decided that staying in his crib wasn't necessary and scaling his crib wasn't that big of a deal, we had to change his crib into a toddler bed.  I feared that, but it actually went incredibly smooth.  He has been a fantastic sleeper the last couple of weeks rarely getting up.  A couple days ago, my Dad brought over the bottom of the bunk bed that he made for my brother and I when we were little tikes.  We set it up and tonight, for the first time, my two kids are asleep in the same room in big boy/girl beds.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in the middle of many consecutive sleepless nights.  I remember asking Matt, how long can you survive without a single night of good sleep... 6 months, a year, ...  I'm not saying the night will be perfect but soon there will be no more transitions for these two... 'sigh'.  Madison was soooo excited for 'T' to sleep in her room.  She has been waiting this day for quite some time.  She also did not come our of her room for one more potty or drink... 'sigh' #2.  Praise God for those two crazy cats (and I now hear Madison saying to me, 'Mom, I'm not a cat!)...

ps... I played Hi Ho Cherry-o with Madison today at the kitchen table while TT napped.  After I had clearly explained the rules and told her why landing on the 'spilling bucket' was not a good thing we started to play.  She went and then grabbed the spinner as I was about to go.  When I told her that it was my turn she started to cry and yelled, "I don't want you to get all your cherries off your tree!"  A little competitive spirit in that little peanut.  If so, that will be quite a mix with her sensitive side that doesn't want anyone to feel bad... :)   Fyi, she won two games in a row.

Gone Fishin'

The kids and I prepared all day to head out for our evening fishing outing after Dad got off work.  'We' got the food ready and loaded up the car.  We seriously could have stayed for a couple of days if we would have packed a tent :).  Matt got home, we broke out the new 'Diego' pole, stopped and got some worms, and headed to George Wyth.  It was very fun.  Madison was very excited to get her pole in the water and once she did, she was impressively patient (even for her) as she stood very serious watching and waiting for her bobber to sink.  After a few 'false alarms', she reeled in the big one.  Soon after, they were headed up to a different spot... which is one of my favorite pictures.   You can see her and Matt trucking it up to the top... Matt several steps ahead.  Another favorite of mine is the look on Matt's face as he casts the Diego pole... his 'serious' look just like he is casting his pole into deep water.  I love that he tries just as hard (if not harder) to help Madison catch a 3 oz fish as he does when he's fishing for himself. So fun.  T-man didn't hold the pole although he was very entertained with the worms, dirt, touching fish, and the snacks.  He actually sat on my lap for quite some time at the beginning enjoying just watching... this doesn't often happen with this little man.

We caught a few little ones and grilled some burgers.  There was a guy (about our age) fishing up on a 'rock' beside us.  I felt a bit bad the whole time as we were a bit of a crazy crew for a guy who was probably just trying to have a quiet evening out with his pole.  Anyways, while we were eating, Madison says, "Mom, how come he's not eating?  We should give him a cheeseburger".  I loved this 'faith like a child' comment.  It's a great example of why God wants us to have faith like a child.  It was so simple and obvious to her... 'we are eating, he doesn't have any food, why don't we take him some food'.  I thought of the verse about Jesus saying, 'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in...".  Now obviously this guy isn't starving or homeless... but he may have been hungry... and that's all it says.  Anyways, us adults make things so complicated... it's actually pretty simple.  Never wanting this simplicity to leave her, Madison and I carried our extra cheeseburger up and offered it to this fisherman.  He happily accepted it and we were on our way.  Love it when my kids teach me more than I have taught them...

Sleepy and Sweet

Eliott has now discovered how easy it is to climb out of his crib.  Unless he is practically sleeping before you lay him down, he thinks it is quite the fun game to climb out, bust through the door with a dramatic entrance as if he is saying, "Here I am!".  With that said, we have tried some different sleeping arrangements... this is Madison's favorite.  She is always asking if TT can sleep with her and today, it was just too sweet to turn her down.

Happy Easter 2012!

Holidays are the BEST with little ones.   Here's a few moments of the big hunt at Aunt Karen's... and a comparison picture from last Easter.  So fun!

Who's the funniest?

Madison, Matt, and I were sitting in the living room...
Me - "Madison, who is the funniest person in our family?"
Madison - (as Dad points to himself) - "Daddy."
Me - "Is anyone funnier than Daddy" (implying myself of course)

Madison - Hits her belly a few times and says, "Me, but that is only because I make weeeeeeelly (really) funny faces."

I probably shouldn't post this one... oh well...

Eliott stands up in the bathtub and just as plain as day, Madison says, "TT, you standin' up so Mom can wash your buns... and your balls."  Then looks at me and says, "That's what Daddy says."

"When you reach a fork in the road, take it!"

I haven't blogged much at all, recently, mainly because I feel like life has been traveling so fast lately.  I'm not sure where to start but wanted to get down how much our life has completely changed over the last several weeks... here goes....

The van...
About three weeks ago we had Matt's family over to our house to grill out.  Since we wanted the driveway to be open for play, we parked out 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan in the street.  We've had this van for a little over a year and rarely park it in the street.  Anyways, at 5:30 the following morning, Matt and I (and TT) were in our bed, awake since our little man was not interested in sleeping.  All of a sudden, we heard a noise outside that I originally thought was a small bomb exploding in our front yard (not sure why my mind went there, but I want you to know how loud it was!).  I told Matt that I was sure a bomb just exploded (and by this time I had convinced myself that I saw fire) and Matt needed to hurry and check it out.  He runs to the living room, runs back into our bedroom, grabs his phone and his coat, and runs outside.  I was now convinced of my original thought.  When I got to the living room, I realized that somone had ran smack into the back of our van, his air-bags had blown, and the driver was sitting still in his car.  To make a long story short, the 40+ year old man, who lives a block down the street, had been called into work that morning.  He dropped his cell phone on the floor and when he reached to grab it, ran straight into our van, never hitting the breaks.  He was okay... our van was not.  A week later we found out our van was considered totaled and Matt got online and looked for a new ride for our family.  We were tempted to get something a little pricier than what we had (since the insurance company gave us more than we thought they would) but we ended up finding a 2000 Sienna in Minnesota.  It's a bit older and has a few less perks, but we feel very blessed that we just erased the van debt that we originally had, making our monthly checks stretch farther... which we will continue to need as I just resigned from my job...

Matt's Career Change...
Matt was not looking to change where he worked.... He loves our church and so do I.  He was approached a couple of months ago by a friend of our, Sam Deines, who works at a company called CBE.  They were in the process of creating a new position at their company and she thought Matt would be a great candidate.  CBE is a debt collecting company, and Sam is head of the 'Organization Development' department.  CBE is very dedicated to developing the employees of the company to be better employees, but more importantly, better people.  The new hire would train the supervisors of the debt collectors according to these two values (I may or may not be explaining this perfectly).  At first, Matt and I both thought that there was no way he would make this jump, but he wanted to go through the interview process anyways.  After being 'in' the company a few times, Matt began to get excited about what they had to offer him, and potentially what he could offer them.  He wasn't quite sure what God would do with him there, but he new he would grow like crazy and be challenged in many ways.  To make another long story somewhat shorter, Matt and I stayed up many nights going back and forth between his two options.  If Matt stayed at Naz he would most likely step into more of a 'leadership development' role... something he has been wanting to do there for a very long time.  He was (and still very much is) excited about the direction our church is heading and felt he and the other leaders could compliment each other well.  One day Matt was so very excited about staying and Naz and then the next day he new he wanted a change in his life and was excited about his growth working for CBE.  His interviews at CBE went well and he was excited about the offers both places gave him.  He asked for an extension on time since he was having such a hard time deciding.  One day he wanted to stay at Naz... the next he wanted CBE... he was struggling.  Many people were praying for him and he continually prayed that he would make a decision with pure motives.  He said many times that he felt like God could use him both places and whichever decision he made, he could do great things for God's Kingdom.  He had to make a decision last Thursday and I got up and left for work before anyone else had gotten up.  He told CBE he would call them just after10:00 and I got home from work at 10:15.  I walked in the door and said, "Have you called anyone?"  He says, "I still don't know".  He had to make a decision and more time was only going to prolong this back and forth process.  I told him that I felt from everything he had told me, that I felt like he needed to make the move.  I hesitated to even say that, but I had felt that all morning.  I knew he was ready to grow and not that he wouldn't have grown like crazy at Naz, he was excited about what CBE could offer him and how they would push him.  Matt said he felt the same way... He has a hard time closing the chapter in his life at Naz and is very sad not to have the opportunity to work closely with the amazing people on staff at Naz, but he continually looks at me and says how excited he is to start at CBE and how at peace he is with his decision.  He has also felt very at peace leaving Naz in the place they are... strong and growing... and is excited to see how God will use him in his new role there.

My Career Change...
A high priority for Matt and I through this process has been to find a way for me to stay home with my kids full time.  Not that I don't enjoy my job, I just want to be the one raising my kids each day.  I want to eat breakfast with them, plan our day together, and just have a great focus on my family and my home.  Being part time has been a blessing, since I am often home by 10:30 each day, but there are many days where I feel like I am 'part-time-everything'... part time teacher, part time mom, part time house keeper, part time ....  I often felt like I wasn't doing anything 100% and if there's something I want to do 100%, it's raise my kids.  I often felt weird about figuring out where my kids are going and who will be watching them.  I just wanted that to be my job.  Although I'm sure some days will be long and I will have a desire to have a conversation above a 3-year-old level, I am so excited to be home.  With that said, I have tried to be sensitive to moms around me who don't have this opportunity or choose a different lifestyle for their family.  Matt and I have decided to give this a whirl and I have learned throughout my mom-hood that I make no judgement on any other mom.   We may have still been able to do this while Matt worked at the church, but it was a for sure deal if he took the job at CBE.  Therefore I turned in my letter of resignation last week and made it official.  Who knows what is in store for us in the future but we have recently had many months that have proven to us that God provides...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." pr 3:5-6   ... just praying for a straight path