10...er 12 Smile Tuesday

It's that time again.  How quickly the week flies by!  We have been busy collecting boxes and packing things we won't need for the next month.  It's been 100 degrees or more outside, so we haven't been doing much outdoors!

1.  sharing "ice cream."  liberty's toy castle has this little torch attached to one of the walls, and libbs thinks it looks like an ice cream cone (i can see that!)....so she likes to pretend to take it off the wall and share "ice cream" with all of us.  such an imagination!

2.  making progress in packing.  we've actually gotten quite a bit packed already and it feels really good.  by the time the girls and i fly out, there shouldn't be much left to pack up at all! 

3.  waking up saturday morning before the girls and laying in bed chatting with my hubby.  i love those times!

4.  the veggie tales theme song, which liberty loves to listen to over and over...the best part is that she sings along with it every time!

5.  these super cute hair bows i found online for the girls.  they are homemade and they don't fall out!  (although liberty keeps taking hers out, so i have to think of something there!).  i got them from Uniquely U Boutique.  they are very reasonably priced, too!

6.  leila's "dancing."  she gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth when music is playing.  so cute!!

7.  this passage from watchman nee's book "the normal christian life," which i think says a lot!  he said, "the normal christian life must begin with a very definite "knowing," which is not just knowing something about the truth, nor understanding some important doctrine.  it is not intellectual knowledge at all, but an opening of the eyes of the heart to see what we have in Christ."  i love that!  check out my hubby's blog for more great thoughts on this topic.

8.  homemade laundry soap.  it's easy to make and cleans great!  and it saves money!  if you want a nice scent to your clothes, be sure to use a fabric softener.  here's how to make the stuff i use (i'm sorry i can't remember what website i found this at!).  1 C super washing soda.  1/2 C borox.  1 bar plain ivory soap grated (i use a small cheese grater).  shake all ingredients together in an airtight container.  use 1-2 Tbsp per load.  enjoy!

9.  folding 4 loads of laundry just out of the dryer. 

10.  the girls and the jumper.  both girls get lots of great playtime out of this.  liberty loves to swing leila in it....or bury her in blankets.  love the giggles that come as a result of playing with this toy!

11.  saturday night the girls went to bed great and jonathan and i decided to go to bed early, too....so we could have some extra reading time.  every night (or at least most nights), jonathan and i read to each other.  he picks a fiction book to read to me, and i pick one to read to him...then we take turns reading chapters to each other.  i really love this time...we've been doing it since we were dating (when we were dating we read to each to each other over the phone). 

12.  i have begun the potty training gig with liberty.  today is day two.  so far she hasn't actually gone in the potty, but she will sit on it every time i ask her to.  she just has to figure out what exactly she's supposed to be doing on the potty.  i'm just happy she's wanting to sit on the potty at this point!

and here are some extra pics just for fun!

12 weeks 3 days

liberty's work :)

more vacuum cleaner fun!

my girlies and i

doesn't daddy's shirt look great on her?!

right at this moment liberty is watching "pooh's heffalump movie," and she's telling each of the characters she sees on the screen "hi!"  oh how i love this girl...and my leila-bear, too!  and last but not least...check out this bloggy giveaway site for some fun giveaways this week!!! 

10 Smile Tuesday

1.  surprise flowers from my hubby this week.  even delivered to the door!  it was totally unexpected and much appreciated!

2.  libbs is sleeping better at night, napping most days, and going to bed better.  yea!!

3.  playing "castle" with my libbs.  we got this toy castle for liberty at a yard sale a while back and she loves it!  lately she has been asking me to play castle with her.  of course i oblige!  and she just  giggles and giggles.  love it!

4.  mcdonald's playplace.  what a lifesaver on these 100+ degree days! 

5.  getting a package from my gram in the mail.  in it was some cookbooks and homemade outfits for the girls.  oh so cute!

6.  liberty's newfound love for singing.  she loves to sing the bible songs we teach her, and the songs on all her favorite shows.  fun!

7.  liberty's new big girl bed.  enough said there!  i even made her a special little pillow to put on her bed...princess of course!

8.  Leila's first two teeth are finally through!  yea!!!  and of course they are cute as can be!

9.  libbs and the vacuum.  for some reason she loves to make her dolls play on the vacuum.  she'll giggle and make them climb and fall and sit and whatever else little dolls do.  she's got a great imagination!

10.  last, but certainly not least....we are moving again.  this may come as a surprise to you, but it's really in the best interest of our family.  we've been very unhappy here so we've made plans to move back to crescent city, ca (where jonathan is from and where most of his family is).  jonathan

is planning to get a job with the state, and while getting that process started he'll work a job or two to keep us going.  this is something we feel so great about...it's a stable, great paying job with benefits, vacation and retirement.  we cannot wait to live near some family again and to be more financially stable.  plus, it's one of the most beautiful areas of the country i've ever seen...can't wait to live there again!

Here are a few extra pictures:

Libbs wearing her doll's shoes

apple time!

 

after i trimmed her bangs

Ideas, please?

anyone have any ideas on how i can legitimately make some extra money from home??

10 Smile Tuesday

happy tuesday, everyone!  not much new going on with us.  we're going to try to get liberty's new bed tomorrow.  we'd go today, but jonathan has to work late and the store will be closed.  yesterday i lost leila's binky on the way to the park, so when we got home i put her down for a nap without it, and she only cried for a few minutes!  we decided not to buy a new binky...maybe taking it away earlier will work out better.  she went to bed just fine without it last night, too.  she's never been as into her binky as liberty was, so that's good.  i guess that's all...now onto the smiles from the week!

1.  lately when liberty points out something (like the fan, or a train), she'll tell herself, "you're right, so smart!"  i just thought that was cute :)

2.  leila's smile.  especially on some of those hard mama days...that smile just makes everything ok.

3.  liberty's sweetness whenever i cry (which i do a lot of when i'm pregnant!).  she'll come over to me and ask what's wrong and give me a kiss and tell me "you're ok."  then she'll say, "i be right back," and she'll come back with something to wipe my tears.  so so sweet.

4.  i love that liberty is always asking for leila to play toys with her.  super cute!  i love when they play together.

5.  talking with jonathan about the things we are learning before we go to sleep.  i treasure those talks...that time together.

6.  liberty's sunglasses.  the other i took liberty to the store with me and i put my sunglasses on before leaving the house.  she immediately ran to get hers and wore them all the way to the store and all throughout the shopping trip.  so cute that she wanted to be like mommy (although i didn't wear mine during the shopping trip!).

7.  sisters.  oh how i love watching my girls play together, love on each other, giggle together...i love that they have each other.

8.  liberty and daddy watching the train together.  i think the pictures say it all.

9.  a trip to the park. 

 

10.  knitting.  i finally broke out my knitting this week.  i haven't worked on any crafts since before we moved, and i was itching to do something.  part of the reason i hadn't been knitting on my current project was b/c it just wasn't looking right.  well, i finally figured out what i was doing wrong, took it out, and picked it back up.  everything is looking much better now!

11.  i just have to add one more smile here...and that is SLEEP!  i think we have finally figured out a system for sleep times with liberty.  it has worked for the past few days, so i'm quite hopeful it will continue to work.  so, she's been going to bed a at decent hour and sleeping through the night.  yea!!!!  check out this pic of libbs crashed on the floor...on one of those "not getting much sleep days."

The move, the apartment, etc...

A good idea, nausea, smiles, etc...

last night around 11, liberty was still awake!  i even took her for a drive and that did not work (in the day time if we just drive down the street to the store, she's out!).  she was begging to go to bed, but when we put her down she would scream and cry and come running out again.  we went through some rounds of this when suddenly i thought, what if i put couch cushions in her bed?  so we did.  and it worked.  she cried for like 5 seconds and then slept.  all night.  well, at least until 6:45am.  it was beautiful.  i'm hoping it will work for nap time today.  and bed time tonight, of course!  and all the way until the 15th, when we can most likely finally buy her big girl bed! 

some people have been asking how i've been feeling with this pregnancy.  well, i'm really tired...but i'm sure that has to do with liberty's sleep problems, too.  i feel nauseous all throughout the day (although i am not actually getting sick).  nothing really sounds good to me anymore, even my favorites.  when i do crave something and get that item, it generally disgusts me soon after.  weird!  this pregnancy has been a lot different than the others.  also, my sciatic nerve in my left leg is being pinched quite frequently.  it happened a few times with liberty and leila's pregnancies, but it happens almost daily already this time around. 

 

and speaking of the pregnancy...let me give you an insurance update.  i talked to the health department here and they have a sliding fee program we qualify for, so i have signed up for that.  it will definitely help with the costs of prenatal care.  however, i won't be able to have an ultrasound unless we pay for it ourselves (can we say expensive?!), or unless it is medically necessary....so that's a bummer.  i guess we'll be having a surprise baby this time around :). 

starting next week i'm going to jump on amanda's "10 smile tuesday" bandwagon (mind if i join in, amanda?), so watch for that.  i know with how negative i've been about everything lately, i am in definite need of looking at the positives of life. 

ok...guess i'll sign off for now...hope you're all having a wonderful end to your week!

9 Months

*this post was actually written yesterday, July 8, 2008.*

It hardly seems possible that Leila could be 9 months old today, but it's true!  And of course she did something new today to mark it.  She had pulled herself into a standing position at this basket of toys we have in the living room, and then she let go with both hands and stood for a few seconds on her own and slowly sat down on her bottom!  She's finally getting those bottom two teeth in.  She's smiley almost all the time!  She loves to giggle with her Daddy.  She thinks her big sister is so neat (except when Liberty is torturing her).  Here are a few pictures to mark the day:

The lovely bruise underneath her eye is courtesy of Liberty.  This is what happens when we try to put the girls to bed at the same time (Liberty climbs into Leila's bed over and over and buries her in things and jumps on her, etc...any tips on squelching that are welcome!)

Here is a picture of Liberty's handywork:

I cannot figure out how to do a slideshow and put it on blogger.  I would love to share our "big move" pictures that way, but I'm lost!  Sorry about that!  Also, I wanted to update on the pregnancy insurance thing and say that I called the health department and I may qualify for a program they have there. 

Giveaway

I stumbled across a fun giveaway at http://carriescraftycottage.blogspot.com Be sure to check it out!!

Irritated

Hello there. It's been a week since the phone/cable people came and we still have no phone and our interent is not working. It's quite irritating. And, the cell phone we have been borrowing is out of minutes for a few days. UGH!!!

I can honestly say that I am not a fan of Liberal, KS. The people here are not very friendly. We still haven't met any friends. I miss living near family and friends big time. I don't mean to be so negative in my blogs lately, but I appreciate that I can vent here. Another big thing...I was denied pregnancy coverage for insurance, so I have no idea what we are going to do about that. If any knows of anything, please please let me know.

Liberty is doing alright. Still having trouble sleeping, but slowly (very slowly) getting better...maybe?? She's so desparate for friends. Any time we see kids she gets excited and gets upset if she can't play with them. Leila is her normal happy self.

Ok, I'm at the library so time is limited. I'll try to post later!

The Unknown

i wish i could read liberty's mind. i wish i could ease whatever it is that is going on there. i wish i knew. libbs is having an extremely hard time sleeping lately. i mean that she hardly sleeps. it's 1am right now and she's still awake. when we try to put her to bed she freaks out...i'm not exaggerating...it's like she's having panic attacks or something. nothing we have tried is helping. she can't tell us what is wrong. and when we try doing what she asks during these times, she still freaks out. i can honestly say i am worried and a big scared. really. tonight has been one of the worst nights. she was freaking out so bad earlier we were afraid she would make herself sick. i decided to try taking her on a drive...drove around for about 20 minutes and still no sleep. i don't know what to do. i want to help her, but i don't know what is going on. is it just from the move? is she having bad dreams? is it something about her bedroom? is she scared about something? i don't know...and that unknown is so hard for me. well...off to try to get her to sleep again. thanks for listening!

**it is now the next morning...libbs asked to be put down in her bed some time after 1am. a little after 6am this morning she came bursting into our bedroom...not to lay down with us and sleep...just to be up. she's had breakfast and is still awake. you can tell she is so tired....just not sleeping.

Back online!

We're back online today. Hooray! I am going to attempt to make a slide show and post it here as there are so many pics I want to post. And I have much to say...but later.