Suitcases

The store owner of one of the little consignment shops here in Battle Ground gave me these suitcases and asked for some photos of how they would be used. Here was our first attempt.



Halley picked out her outfit and posed herself. She's becoming quite the photogenic little lady.
Our girls
We have another ONE year old in the house. What a sweet little boy he it. He has so much fun being carried around that he really doesn't want to walk. Soon tho, very soon.

Playing Catch-UP

What to DO when you are sick on the couch most of the past 2 months or so now and you are BORED to death but can't get up and really get anything done around the house.

You can make little girl ballerina skirts, SUPER easy, and you don't really have to move much (except your arms)...





Read lots of books to the kids. We really have not read much at all as I am usually running around all day. So we let the house go (because we had to. Some things I like to make my idea because they are easier to handle:) and read Homer Price, Charlottes Web, and a few others. The kids have just now started to appreciate books that don't have mostly pictures to keep them entertained.

We've officially finished 7 weeks of school (well tomorrow will be 7).

Oh, and something really fun is we have two bobcats that we've seen one of them twice now, right in our backyard. I called the fish and wildlife department and got some information on them and chances are they will relocate themselves. The reason for the visit is that we probably built our house on/near their territory and the construction part died down some so they were trying to see if they could live here again. NO, we don't really want them living here so if they DON'T relocate them then I'll 'relocate' them to a 'new' world.

Pictureless post!

BIRTH ORDER OF CHILDREN


1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as
your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

_____________________________________________________

preparing for the Birth:

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.

2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last
time, breathing didn't do a thing.

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

__________________________________________ ____________

The Layette:

1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and
discard only the ones with the darkest stains.

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

______________________________________________________

Worries:

1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper,
a frown--you pick up the baby

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten
to wake your firstborn.

3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to
rewind the mechanical swing.
______________________________________________________

Pacifier:

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until
you can go home and wash and boil it.

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it
off with some juice from the baby's bottle.

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

______________________________________________________

Diapering:

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour,
whether they need it or not..

2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to
complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

_______________________________________________________

Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing,
Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour.

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastic s.

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.

_____________________________ _________________________

Going Out:

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter,
you call home five times.

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to
leave a number where you can be reached.

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

______________________________________________________

At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children

______________________________________________________

Swallowing Coins (a favorite):

1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays

2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.

3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

______________________________________________________

Of big kids, beavers, and babies!

GO BEAVES, it's that season again. WE're READY!!!!


Nate is our lawn mower now. What a worker he is to take on the entire back lawn three times, unloads the bag...

Darbi and Todd successfully chopped up an entire deal of strawberries all alone. Todd using a knife (YES, a sharp object, which he did a very careful job I might add) and Darbi using the egg slicer to get them the rest of the way chopped.


Halley, is my biggest helper, folding laundry all alone, putting them all away, getting the little kids dressed and hair combed, all her school done very precisely and well...

Andi has grown about 6 inches in the last year or so, everything is so short for her (however, she has stayed the same weight so she's our cute string bean).

Trae has gotten 6 teeth in the last month (if not less time than that). Poor little guy, it has NOT been fun but he's sure a cheerful little guy when the gums are numb.

And baby ???? is growing, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. It's hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under the gums, and some of his/her bones are beginning to harden.

He (for the sake of writing he/she all the time) already busy kicking and stretching, and his tiny movements are so effortless they look like water karate. These movements will become more frequent as his body grows and becomes more developed and functional.

As for Me (mom) I'm sick, it's not fun, but it does end soon. I usually only have about 5 weeks maximum of sickness and then it's home free from there :).

Dad, well he's working two jobs now. His day job all day and then comes right in, starts the rest of what I didn't get done on dinner, gets the laundry going, cleans up from our day and then falls into bed after helping the kids get cleaned a bit, working on his speech for toastmasters, doing all the bills and paperwork still leftover from the house project, helps me get clean and something to eat and drink before a fitfull night of sleep. I didn't know a man could become more impressive and valuable than Nate already was.

So, here we are, a ReaL post on our LiFe:

Pregnant to Baby

Remember back with me to August of last year (click on 2008-august-marriage on the right of your screen)

Luke and Allison have been troopers about letting me try some pregnancy/baby photo shoots with them. There is a long term ministry I'd like to be involved in (when there is more time to do so) and it involves babies, pregnant mommies and hopefully daddy's too.
Allison spent the last few months of her pregnancy pretty much on bed rest. I've done that with one of mine and man is it no fun.
Baby Ezekeel Strait (not sure on the spelling). We put him on some towels in the tub and he zonked out while we moved him around to different places snapping photos. What a perfect little guy.



Pretty mom and her smiley son.

The Hal and Traeman

Halley has felt slightly under the weather, no fever, no yucky stomach.... Just slow time. During quiet time in my studio/school room we were laying on the floor talking while Trae was playing with the window. I reached over and grabbed my camera and the following photos were what we came up with.

Halley, six years old now. She mopped almost the entire downstairs (which is a really huge job). She helps me all the time with the little kids and is super fun to take shopping. Us girls went out for 5 hours the other day and she was all "Oh How ADORABLE, that is SOOO cute Mom!!!!" Just precious.

Our Traeman is just that, no more a little baby, but a little MAN. He's teething something terrible like I've never had before. Poor little bleeding gums finally have a few teeth in them.
Here's my little huggies photo:

We are in our home and getting settled more and more each day. It feels like home. PLEASE come by for a visit, give a call first so we can make sure to be home.

MOVED IN!!!

We have officially moved in. We are in ONE house now and TOGETHER. Half of the boxes have been unpacked but nothing has been decorated. We are just THRILLED to be in our new house and to be making it a home to share with all. Below are a few photos for those hungry eyes. Many of you have asked and been patient so here you go.

The look from our front door

Our eating area from the kitchen. Front door on the left.
Our dream kitchen.