Jaris' Actual Birthday

This is how I found Jaris this morning around 10:30 am. I was getting clothes for the kids so we could go outside and play and Jaris decided it was nap time! This little boy can sleep any where!

Ice Cream Birthday cake with Daddy on his actual birthday! It was yummy and we have some left over! I think dessert for tonight!

Happy older sister enjoying her piece of cake!

Playing outside with daddy! Jaris and Kenzie love being outside with the snow all gone now! There are days when I think we need to move somewhere without a lot of snow during winter so they will play outdoors year round. Then I remember that they will eventually grow to love the snow!

Happy Father and son on Jaris' 2nd Birthday!

Not sure what you are doing mommy! Yet I sure do look cute even when gazing off into outter space!

Seriously she has the most amazing smile! Jaris is lucky to have her as an older sister!

I love some of the moments we catch on camera. Future wedding picture indeed!

I love his hair!

Riding the new birthday tricycles they both got! There little legs do not reach the pedals yet, however they just push them around with their feet!

I asked Kenzie to help Jeral put them together and she took that to mean she was supervising daddy while stepping on his leg!

Ohhhhh, Ahhhhh we both get toys on Jaris' birthday!

And the little boy who can sleep anywhere on his birthday snuggled in with the stuffies and had his afternoon nap, until his older sister woke him up.

The morning of Jaris' birthday the kids and I went over and had tea with Auntie Jodi, and some wonderful ladies! Both Kenzie and Jaris were looking around for their older cousins. Still to young to understand the concept of school! Auntie Jodi made a love apple cinnamon cake for us to munch on, and then after tea was over we came home and the kids played outside with Jeral while I made lunch. After lunch it was play, play, play. What a great way to spend a little kids birthday!

My son is 2! Wow that seems so crazy and so wonderful all at once to write! This year has been a year where he met some pretty big milestones. The biggest one was starting to walk on his own. When I look at Jaris now the days of us being afraid that he would never walk are but a faint memory. I love my sons deep laugh and chuckle! I love how he has the cutest dimples when he smiles. And while his head butts often hurt due to the size of his head, there is nothing like his head nuzzled into my neck for a wonderful (that is after my nose recovers from being bashed!!!).

His favorite thing to do outside of playing with his trains is to turn the lights in the house on and off. He loves taking things apart and putting them back together again. Jaris also loves going to the shop and hanging out with daddy as he works on a car he is restoring. Jaris and Kenzie have also stared going into the bans with Jeral every now and then. The rule is if the chicks ate 3weeks and younger the kids can join daddy. If the birds are older than 3 weeks than no barns, due to the build up of ammonia. I love watching Jaris jump on the trampoline and topple over and then start laughing his deep throat laugh, and look at us and smile. I honestly could not imagine having a cuter little boy.

Jaris our prayer for you is that as you grow up you will be a kind, caring, empathic, little boy and young man. We also pray you will grow up to choose to follow Jesus. As your parents we will do our best to always point you to God, and we know in the end the choice is yours.

My Boy is 2 Family Birthday Party!

The Barn Cake my mom made! Thanks mom!

My happy, rosy cheeked boy on his the day of his party!

Father and son! I love how proud Jeral looks. He is an amazing father to two, 2 year olds!

Kenzie getting in on the gift opening action. Such a great little helper to her younger brother!

Opening a gift from I believe Uncle Mark, Aunty Jodi and Krew. As he opened every gift he said, "Oh Wow, oh Wow!"

Blowing out the candles on the cake!

Older sister helping out! After all she is a pro at this!

And the perfect little kids sinking their face into the cake before the rest of us get any!

Setting up the new train tracks with Uncle Chris!

On Saturday March 24th we did a family birthday party for Jaris. We had a lot of fun. Uncle Mark, and James brought over some entertainment and both Jaris and Kenzie loved watching all the older kids and adults (minus me) take turns racing on our drive way with the little motor bikes. Then we came in and opend up gifts, and had cake! Jaris at one point was a little over whelmed and Jeral being the great daddy he is took Jaris outside for some quality alone time. My so likes his space and there are times we have noticed he will just disappear and go play in his room or anyother room that there are no people in! Kenzie is so the opposite, wherever there are people Kenzie will be there! All in all it was a good day! I have way more to write about my little boy however that will have to wait until the kids are sleeping as Kenzie is climbing all over me and want to go outside! More pictures of his actual birthday and more about my amazing little boy to come!

Yesterday as I was putting Kenzie in the van to go to church said the funniest thing and yet it is so very true!

Kenzie: Mommy, I pretty!

Me: Yes you are Kenzie

Kenzie: Mommy, I pretty gorgeous!

I started laughing and was stunned that she even knew the word gorgeous. The things kids pick up!

The Craziness of Parenting

My cutie pie just before we took the tent down so we could put the trampoline up! I still need to take pictures of them on the trampoline. I will get to it at some point!
A few weeks back my friend and her husband were in town and while they were away on a little get away my friends sister was watching there daughter so they come over for a play date! It was super fun. Here are Kenzie and Joelle jumping in the exercise trampoline and Emily holding Joelle for support!

I love this face. I wish the lighting for the picture was a little better, yet wow is he adorable or what!

Kenzie's new favorite place to bath. The kitchen sink! We are having a tough time getting the dishes done around here simply because every time we go to do the dishes Kenzie pushes a chair over and starts stripping with telling us she wants a baff (her way of saying bath). We also have spell the word shower around here because if we say it she is running for the stairs while trying to get her clothes off so she can join one of us! This little miracle sure cracks me up!

All smiles while dancing with daddy! I love watch Jeral dance with our kids in the kitchen, and I get a kick out of the disco moves he tries to show off! I think he is doing that just for me to show me how studly he is. Watching Kenzie and Jaris dance to the music is also very entertaining as they both have their own ways of dancing. I love watching their personalities develop and shine.

We are so blessed to have our kids even on the days when timeouts and time in are every 20 minutes or so, and I want to rip my hair out because I am at a loss with what to do, we know they are a blessing. This afternoon was one of those afternoons. All day they played well together and listened pretty good. The allowed me to get things done around the house while also stopping every now and then to just focus on them. Then the cranky hour hit at 4 pm and wow! Supper we had food thrown all over in a fit of unhappiness. I got covered in Kenzie's drink because she was flinging her fork around and hit me in the face and then knocked over her cup. I was so happy that the grocery shopping needed to be done and I was going out to do that my self! While I am madly in love with my kids, I also some days feel as though I am going to go mad (crazy)by the end of the day. I guess that is all part of parenting. The thing is though at the end of the day when they kiss me good night those cute very genuine kisses wipe away the frustrations and the wanting to rip my hair out moments. Sneaking into their room after they are asleep just to watch them sleep so peacefully as I pray for them bring a calm to my heart that nothing else can come close to. I think God purposely wired us to feel this way because He knew parenting would be hard a lot of the time! Well with that I am going to so quietly slip into their rooms to give them one last good night kiss and the go to bed myself so I am rested for another new day with my miracles!

It is still a little strange knowing I have a tiny little baby growing inside of me right now. Honestly if it were not for having a Doppler at home I would not even know these days. Yes my left leg goes numb when I sleep on my back, and yes I stuff up at night a bit more than normal (however I tend to stuff up on the best of nights). Yes I am really tired yet that can be credited to have 2, two year olds and one who crawls into bed at night with us and nuzzles her head into me for the entire rest of the night! Maybe it is because I am not really showing yet, and it just looks like I am my normal curvy self. The down side to being a curvy and pregnant is not having that cute baby bump to show in the beginning. While friends who are not as far long have cute baby bumps. I have my curves! This pregnancy is just different in many ways from my pregnancy with Jaris. Which I hope over all is a good thing. I do look forward to the end when I am clearly showing a gloriously tummy. In the mean time I will enjoy the small movements I feel here and there right now. I know in the weeks to come those movements will get stronger and more often and that is exciting. So many thing to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead as we anticipate the the arrival of another child.

Lately Kenzie and Jaris have been playing together and it is so funny watching and listening to them chat and giggle as they play together. It is a sight to behold as they chase each other around the house and tackle each other. Knowing that they are starting to play with each other more gives me some hope that when the next baby comes they will be able to play together as I do the things I need too with the baby.

Jaris is slowly picking up more words and starting to say them. He mumbles a lot more than Kenzie does, yet part of his charm is his cute mumble. We were in the mall on Thursday and Jaris saw two little kids play tackling each other on the floor and well he wiggled away from Jeral and went running to join the action. Luckily we caught him In time because as he was running and laughing he lowered his head as he was about to connect with the head of another kid. His head connecting with any part of the body hurts. He has a big wonderful head. He will make a great football or rugby player some day!

Kenzie is in love with hockey. She asks to watch or play hockey everyday! She is definitely a mama's girl. She was sleeping in her own bed at night. However recently she started coming back to our room at night and snuggling with me. We will see how that goes when the baby comes. She loves picking out her own clothes and for the most part I encourage her creativity. Even on Sundays when getting ready for church however there may be some compromise so she does not freeze. Kenzie likes summer clothes! Kenzie also loves Scooby Doo. We are very intentional to point out the monsters are funny or silly looking, and not scary! Really she is in love with Scooby since he is a puppy!

Well that is all for now. Jeral took the kids outside so I have the house to myself! I think I will journal and read for a bit!

Annabelle

Tomorrow is the day that was my due date with Annabelle Marie. As I thought about her and her sister Hope, the tears flowed as I asked Jesus to hold them especially close and tell them we love them so very much. I especially want them to know that just because we have been given another miracle, one that we will most likely get to hold, that does not mean we will forget them. I will never forget the babes I so wish I could have held on this side of heaven. Mommy and Daddy Love you both so very much, and want you to know you girls will never be replaced in our hearts.

14 & 1/2 Weeks

On a slushy day we took the kids out for a bit and Kenzie loved the puddles!
Our Annabelle tree - March 5th would have been my due date with her. I am so thankful that on her due date I get to know there is another miracle growing inside of me. That knowledge does not make us miss her any less. And I do look forward to the day I get to hold her and her sister Hope in my arms and never let go. However in the mean time I needed here on earth to snuggle and cuddle the ones God has blessed us with.

Love his excited face!

Holding Daddy's Hand

Sleeping Handsome Boy

My sister and her kids came out for a night and these two were the best of buds. It was so fun watching them play.

Jeral playing with the kids!

Snuggles with Auntie Jocelyn

Well I am officially out of the danger zone with this pregnancy. I walked into my OBGYN's office with a big smile on my face. In part because I had cheated and listened to our little ones heart beat in the morning with the kiddos. All in all I feel pretty good these days. Just tired and really emotional (aka - I cry a lot). I never expected to miss the person I have been missing a lot lately. However it makes sense since she walked the fertility journey with me for the years we struggled. Yet oh well life is as it is for a reason and we are going to have another baby! Girl name is picked. Boy name still up in the air. Five weeks from now we have our half way ultrasound and I am looking forward to that, we just need to find a babysitter to watch the kids so Jeral can come too! I am so in love with this little one already. IN the beginning I tried not to attach simply because we were so afraid that God would hold this miracle before us. Yet it is so hard not to go to sleep at night holding my stomach dreaming about this little one and how he or she will fit into this family just right! I know Kenzie is going to be a great older sister. I may have to make sure she is not crawling in to the play pen with the baby or trying to put the baby in the toy strollers and then pushing him or her around. Jaris I think will be a little stand offish at first simply because he likes his space, however I can already picture how he will gently give the baby some of the best slobbery kisses!

I look forward to Monday's these days. Monday is my day! I have a pretty fantastic husband who every Monday takes the kids for me so I can have the afternoon to myself. Most Mondays entail some shopping at my favorite store HomeSense (however for lent I am intentionally giving up going there. I think our pocket book will appreciate that). Followed by sitting in a coffee shop with a decafe drink of some sort, a book and journal. Ahhhhh love that time. Then last but not least my Ellen time. She is a royal pain in the rear end some days, yet I would not have it any other way. If need be then I get some groceries and head home to my amazing family! This day out in all honestly helps me be a better mom, and I am so thankful for a husband who makes this possible!

Well I think I shall retire for the night, maybe tidy up a bit first. I am looking forward to our family morning out tomorrow!

His favorite place to nap! My chair that I used to spend hours sitting in while journaling and talking to God!
Smiling watching Curious George

So one morning after bath time I ran down stairs to get a few things and can up stair to find my naked son covered in lotion and having a grand time!

If the bath room door is ever left open I can guarantee this is how i will find Kenzie!

Jaris and his favorite stuffy! He goes no where without it and will not settle for the night with out it!

The last few days have been filled with a huge amount of laughter, and maybe some pulling my hair out as well! There is rarely a dull moment with our children. Just last night we were sitting at the dinner table and I asked Jaris to show me his nose. He promptly took his finger and shoved it up his nose. Then he waited for a response and when we started to laugh Jaris broke out into full laughter with the biggest grin on his face. Needless to say this went on for at least half an hour since he was so adorable.

After supper was followed by dancing like crazy and drive tackling mommy (me) who was on the floor! Jaris' big head coming at you full tilt is a sight to behold. Then hearing him laugh and throw his head back while he said, "this is fun!", was well pretty sweet!

Nights this week have gone fairly well. Kenzie has slept through the night for 4 nights out of 7 this week. Yes she is getting up at 7 am instead of 9 am however that is okay, at least she is starting to sleep through the night again and that makes me very happy!

In Baby Krahn #3 news I can't believe that I am almost 13 weeks along now. Our little gaffer is a mover that is for sure. When we lay in bed at night trying to listen the the heart beat we will get it for a few seconds and then whoosh the baby moves, and we find it again only to have the baby move yet again! Oh well an active baby is a good thing! We will see if I am saying that at 37 weeks and just want to sleep!