Jamboree!

Last week Andrea and I set out on a trip to Walcott to visit Papa Carey and take the kids to see the trucks at the Jamboree. Here are a few pictures from our fun day with Papa. Leila was so excited to go she started asking me as soon as she woke up, "when do we get to go to Papa's work?!"

Now Andrea and Sawyer can both say that they have sat in a racecar!





We all had a good time checking out the trucks...and ourselves!




And of course enjoyed a cool treat on a hot day!



Thanks Dad for slipping away to spend time with us last week!!!

America's Birthday

We had a great weekend, and I hope you all did too! Now that Leila is getting a little older, we are working at helping her understand things, like what it means to be an American. When we were at the Ski show last week the moment came when they played the national anthem and everyone stood quietly, except for Leila. We decided then that we needed to take the opportunity to teach our little lady a lesson.

On the way home we talked about what it means to be an American. I want Leila to feel pride in her country and appreciation for the sacrifices that others have made, and continue to make for our freedom. The problem is, I am generally not a patriotic person. That is not to say that I am not grateful to live in a free country where I have had many privileges, but I do my best to think of myself, and everyone else as equals. There is a fine line between pride and arrogance, and I want to be sure that my daughter appreciates the privileged life that she leads, without believing that she is better than anyone else, or more deserving.

As I tried to explain to her what makes America a special place to live, I was torn. I wanted to point out the nice houses we have lived in, the wide open spaces we have to play in, the abundance of food and the comforts of the western world that we experience every day. But I can't help but think of all of the Americans who don't have those luxuries that we have come to expect.

I spent a lot of time pondering this, and my own feelings about America in the days leading up to the 4th of July, and on that day I was reminded of my patriotism as I watched the 4th of July parade and later as I sat at home with Leila, playing patriotic songs on youtube. Lee Greenwood singing God Bless the USA brings tears to my eyes every time.

The National Anthem now nearly always reminds me of the first football game I attended at Kinnick Stadium after the September 11th attacks. I had stood in that stadium for the anthem countless times before, without giving it much thought. That day I know I had tears in eyes as the 70,000 fans in Kinnick stood in stoic silence during the singing of the national anthem, all of our hearts and minds were in the same place. Independence day takes me back to that place, that feeling of pride. I am so thankful for the privilege to call myself an American. Having lived in a time when our country was attacked has changed the way that I feel about a lot of things, but most notably: I am so proud of the American's who put their country first, and grateful for their sacrifices. 2. I hope that as I age I continue to see American moving towards respect and understanding of those that are different than us.

God Bless America!

America's Birthday, Take 2

On to the fun stuff!

We had a great time at the parade. Leila picked up more candy then she could ever eat on her own. (I personally am very happy that tootsie rolls are such a popular parade treat...my favorite!)
We made a birthday cake for America, and we shared it with our dear friends the Weber's.
I have a couple of pictures from the parade that I stole from Cory's Facebook page...I have been so exhausted I haven't uploaded any pictures myself...not to mention that it is very difficult to take pictures with my new fancy camera while also keeping at least 1 child under control. I have much higher hopes for my photography ability than I probably should. I think I am going to see about signing up for a class somewhere...I could use the help.




After the birthday cake we were able to check out Coralville's fireworks show. I had been looking forward to taking some fireworks pictures but with the view of the fireworks slightly obstructed by hyvee's parking lot lights, I decided to just sit and enjoy the show with our kids. Thea slept through the whole thing, and Leila, Bryce and Eli went back and forth between enjoying the show, and terrorizing each other. I think there were some tired kids out that night!

Sisters

The older they get, the better the playing gets.  Even though Leila is so often guilty of making her sister cry, that this evening when Thea fell and hit her face on the floor, a whole room away from Leila, Leila yelled out, "I didn't mean for her to fall!"  Thea loves her big sister, and is always quick to follow her lead, and Leila is happy to oblige!

And totally unrelated but so cute, and so Leila...She was dancing along to the music at the ski show, loving her new dress from Aunt Cassie! :)

Daddy

I try not to gush (really!) Because nobody likes a sap, but Daddy Coobs is a true gem.  This man is adored by the ladies in his life, as you can probably tell.  Love you Daddy!

And of course there are some other special Daddies that get lots of love from the Coobs' girls....

Even though Uncle Steve is helping Sawyer squirt Leila in this picture, he is still on the good list! :)

And a couple other favorites of mine! : )

Summer Fun!

This will be my last summer of part-time employment, and I am trying to make the best of it.  Starting in October it will be back to the grind full time, and in the mean time I am working on finding as much fun, cheap or free activities that I can enjoy with the girls as possible.  My goal is to load up on memories (though I am probably the only one who will remember them) and tire my kids out so I can manage to get them to sleep even though Leila says, "I don't want to go to sleep when the sun is still awake!"

So far we have made a couple of trips to a splash pad, we are working on earning a T-shirt through the library summer reading program and we have explored several area parks (Free!).  I am on the look out for out of the ordinary and so I was excited to see that after seeing the Richmond's post about the ski show in Cedar Rapids, that there was another performance that we could hit.  My kids love to boat, and watching Daddy ski is always a high light.  Hopefully after seeing the barefoot skiers, and the skiing pyramids, they will still be impressed by Cory!

Here are some pictures of the Coobs' (And Smith! :) Family summer so far!

Splash pad!!

Sawyer the gunner!

Dinner Wars

Leila is a picky eater. If I am being totally honest, she comes by it naturally. Last night as I listened to her cry and whine like I had taken her birthday away at the prospect of having to eat *one* bite of dinner before she would be allowed to go for ice cream, I realized that my mother's wish had come true. All of those times she told me that some day I would have a kid just like me...yep.

I made Zucchini cakes. They were tasty, and not to be confused with anything healthy that I may have tried to make my kids eat. Picture cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs and shredded zucchini fried in a skillet. Like I said, not health food. Leila went on and on before finally, in a last second effort to earn a trip to DQ she choked down a single bite. As she stood there chewing as fast as she could, with one hand plugging her nose to avoid the taste, I was thrown back in time. Sitting at our kitchen table in the farm house in Tabor at the table all alone after everyone else had finished dinner, with a plate full of corn that I did not want to eat, or a plate of spaghetti with "gravy" on it.

This evening I was tempted to take a picture, but then I thought better of it when I imagined my own mother posting a picture of my dinnertime drama-fest from a couple of decades ago.

Tonight it was meatloaf. A dish that I have been making for Cory for several years, and he has always raved about. As Leila whined and cried and choked down her one bite, I had to remind myself that most of the time she thinks I am awesome, so I shouldn't take it too personally that at dinner time she looks at me like I am the evil lunch lady with a ladle full of slop. My daughters are beginning to shake the confidence that I had built up about my cooking abilities.

Motherhood, one day you are on the top of the world from the chants of "Mommy! You are the best!I Love you!" And the next, you are greeted at the dinner table after preparing a thoughtful, wholesome meal with whining, tears and the occasional gag from across the table.

S'more!

Thea's first s'more, do you think she liked it?


I think she did...

Babies

Some days, most days lately, I look at my daughters and I just want to drink in their youth; their carefree little spirits, their beautiful sweet soft skin, fluffy cheeks and uninhibited joy. Children are amazing, and their perspective is priceless.
In the car on the way to school yesterday Leila says to me, "Mommy, I am not going to grow up anymore, I am going to stay this size forever!"

I didn't respond right away, because I was thinking to myself right now, when there are no tantrums in sight, that doesn't sound so bad to me. Every day I wake up missing my girls, and every night when they go to bed I am torn between wanting to bask in my freedom from their constant needs, and the sometimes overwhelming desire to sit by their beds all night memorizing their sweet faces and verifying every breath they take. The other night when I woke in the middle of the night to see Leila's scared little face looking at us, I can't say that it bothered me to see Cory lift her up and place her between us in our bed, where our very presence was enough to calm her back to sleep.

I came to my senses, and I reminded Leila that if she stayed this size forever, she wouldn't get to go to kindergarten. Leila has been looking forward to kindergarten for about year now, and with one year left to go to get there, She quickly realized that she couldn't stop growing right now. Instead she told me she would stop growing up as soon as she went to kindergarten.

I responded with, "But what about 1st grade? Do you think that might be fun someday?"
Leila had to think about that for a minute. "Ok, I will go to first grade, and then I am gonna stop growing up!"

I thought I better bring her back down to earth so I replied, "Well Leila, what about being 7, 8, 9??? You never know, maybe 10 is the best age!"

Her face turned sad and she looked down at her lap, that was covered by the special baby blanket that she has loved for the last 4 years. "But Momma, if I keep growing, I am going to outgrow my Nigh Night."

"Leila, even if you get big, you can always keep your nigh night."

Leila looked up at me, a little more hopefully now that I had reassured her that nigh night wasn't going anywhere and she said, "Mommy, no matter how big I get, even when I am 10, I will still be your baby!"

No doubt about it!

I love photography.  Why? The details.  I never want to forget these sweet faces.

Daddy

Happy Daddy's day! As a woman who grew up with an awesome dad, and pats herself on the back all the time for choosing such an awesome dad to make a family with, I love fathers day!

Here is a little father's day love for my baby daddy from the girls....Thea didn't have any answers to the questions below, aside from "da da," so we added a little picture to show how Thea feels about her Daddy.

What is something that Daddy always says to you?
He tells me not to spit at or hit Thea.

What makes Daddy happy?
That I follow his rules.

What makes Daddy sad?
When I don't follow his rules.

How does Daddy make you laugh?
He tickles me.

What was Daddy like as a little boy?
I think he liked new books.

How old is Daddy?
29 (smart girl!)

How tall is Daddy?
about as big as Steve.

What is Daddy's favorite thing to do?
Play with me!

What does Daddy do when you are not around?
He works.

What is Daddy really good at?
Playing hide and seek.

What is Daddy not very good at?
tricking me...He can't trick me!

What does Daddy do for his job?
he types.

What makes you proud of your Daddy?
That he can stay here with me all day as much as he can.

What do you and Daddy do together?
We play together a lot.

If Daddy was in a cartoon, who would he be?
Prince Naveen!

How are you and Daddy the same?
How we will stay together forever.

How are you and Daddy different?
I am the smallest and he is the biggest.

How do you know that Daddy loves you?
Because I love him and I am his sweetest 4 year old girl.

What is Daddy's favorite place to go?
The museum



What is Daddy's favorite food?
I think Daddy's favorite food is meat.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
I like to play games with Daddy, like baseball and soccer.

Summer in Iowa

Summer in Iowa has potential for all kinds of crazy weather, and for beautiful, majestic and powerful skies...I have to share some of the pictures that we took today.  Keep in mind, we are brand new to the DSLR game and so far, all of our pictures are straight out of the camera, no editing and I am playing with settings so we aren't the most clear and consistent, but the learning curve is fun!

Wow, what a beautiful night to watch the sky!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

While I wait for Cory to finish playing with the camera so I can upload some new ones for the blog, I will tell you a little bit about my new love.  My new love hides under the mask of "healthy" by containing fruit, and not containing oil.  The downfall, or the highlight, depending on how you look at it, is the chocolate chips.  I was skeptical at first, but trust me...this one is a keeper.

And bonus...there is lots of kid assistance potential, hence my personal banana smasher, and her apprentice:

Chocolate Chip Brown Sugar Banana Bread

• 1 cup Mashed Bananas (2-3 Whole Bananas)
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• ¼ cups Apple Butter Or Applesauce
• 2 whole Eggs
• 2 Tablespoons Milk
• ¾ cups Lightly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1-¾ cup Flour (sneak Some Wheat Flour In, Nobody Will Know)
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¾ cups Chocolate Chips
• ¼ cups Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Smash the bananas until they’re broken up but not completely smooth. Some lumps are OK.
Add in the butter, apple butter, eggs, milk, and brown sugar. Blend with a hand mixer until everything is incorporated. Again, small lumps are OK.
In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix gently with a spoon. When all the flour is mixed in, add your chocolate chips and walnuts.
Spray your loaf pan with cooking spray, and pour in the batter. Bake until golden and a toothpick/piece of dry spaghetti comes out clean, about 60 minutes.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool to room temperature.
I used half semi sweet and half milk chocolate chips.  Heaven.

Also, since I made muffins (along with a loaf, I told you I love this stuff) the muffins only took about 30 minutes, and more like 45 for the loaf.

To my girls

A couple of items have been weighing heavy on my mind lately.  One of those I will save for another, more inspired day, but the other was dancing through my mind tonight as I walked Zoey in sweet silence just before darkness set in.  I was watching the reflection of my imperfect body and humidity stricken frizz head as I went back and forth pulling and being pulled by the dog, who has never gotten the hang of submission.  I noticed a can laying in the grass and reached down to pick it up.  In one hand I held the leash and in the other, a bag of rather unpleasant smelling dog poo and as many cans and other garbage pieces that I could manage to hold.  Zoey and I were both ready to leave the moist summer air and turn in to our cool apartment.  I dropped the waste into the dumpster by our summer home and took off for the door of our building where you were both sound asleep.
Why does picking up trash make me think of you, my sweet little girls?  One time when I was in college Cory and I were walking back across the Iowa River to our apartments after a football game.  I had been drinking and was feeling good after a fun day at Kinnick.  As we walked along with the rest of the tired mob across the river I saw a beer can sitting on the railing over the river.  I carelessly gave the can a push and it fell down through the railing.  I didn't watch it land, but one of two things happened: 1. It landed in the river and was carried away, joining the many other pieces of carelessly discarded trash items in the river, or 2. It landed on a bank, and someone went to the effort to climb down the bank and pluck it out of the soggy riverbed.
A man walking behind me said something to me about my action.  I don't remember what he said, and it really doesn't matter.  The point is, I did something I should not have done, and he called me out on it.  I started to cry (I had been drinking, plus, I am me, so the crying shouldn't be a surprise.)  Your dad was mad at the man for making me cry, and I told him to let it go. He didn't do anything wrong, I was the one who had something to be ashamed of.  This wasn't the first time in my life that I had felt regretful and ashamed of my actions, and it wasn't the last either.
I don't tell you this story to point out that as much as you currently place me on that pedestal of honor, I am in fact not perfect because I rather enjoy feeling like a celebrity when I walk into the room that you inhabit and am greeted by hugs, kisses and the excited exclamation, "MOMMY!"  I tell you this because someday you are going to find yourself having done something that you know isn't right.  You may feel embarrassed or regretful about your decision.  If you happened to pick up your mom's over sensitive genes, it is ok to cry.  The important thing is that years down the road when you have moved on from that mistake, no matter how big, small or far removed it was, you honor the lesson you learned.  Turn your regret and embarrassment into something you can be proud of, and I will be proud of you.

Most of the time I am not a fun mom. Its ok, I can admit it. I yell at my big kid a lot. Not because I like to yell, but because for some reason my normal speaking voice is inaudible to her 4 year old ears. I can talk and talk and talk, but until I yell, she simply can't hear me. I spend a lot of time counting, or threatening to count, (1-2-3 Magic, if you get to 3, you dole out a time out). Leila hears a lot of "be quiet" "stop that" "be nice to your sister" "put that down" "its time to go now!" You get the picture. I don't like it, I wish we could be buddies, and have fun together all of the time, but the fact is, she is a bit out of control, and I owe it to her and the rest of the world to keep things under wraps in the hopes that when she leaves my home without me, I won't get a call to come and get the beast.

I love my kids, I love to please them, and I really love to surprise them. Today we went to visit a friend of mine and her babies for a while after lunch. Leila REALLY didn't want to leave, but I made her. We had the talk that we frequently have these days when she is being forced to leave somewhere that she wants to stay. The talk goes something like this, "Leila, you know that Mommy wants to take you to fun places, but if you want to get to come back you need to be a big girl and leave when I say it is time to go." After a couple of rounds she usually gets it, and today was one of those times. On the way home she said to me, "Mommy, I really didn't want to go home." So as we turned off towards our summer home and approached the elementary school that we drive past nearly everyday, I pulled into the parking lot and said to Leila, "How about we don't go home? Wanna get out and play?" And so we did. I followed my girls around the playground trying to snap pictures and also keep Thea from taking off and out of my reach. Leila wasn't interested in slowing down for a photo op, and I can't blame her, this was stolen playground time. This wasn't a typical planned trip to the park, this was an out of left field, pull into a parking lot and explore a playground she had never seen before kind of afternoon.

The babes

I really like this picture that Cory took of Thea. She loves this toy and has gotten to the point where she can open and close the doors herself, and then she claps to celebrate. So stinkin cute!



We went to a summer festival in Cedar Rapids last weekend and we had a fun time. Leila got to play on inflatables, which she LOVES and we all got to hang out and enjoy the nice weather before the rain set it.



This is another picture of Thea that shows her little personality. She has started to carry around this purse and stick treasures in it. I just love seeing how much she is picking up from other people. She is doing lots of sign language these days, including "all done," "more," "drink," "milk," and "bath." I can't get enough of my little princesses and they both seem to really like each other and seek each other out to play together during our days together. Life is good!

Progress!

Last Friday night when we drove by our lot, we saw a sight that I never imagined myself being so excited about....

Port Johnny is in place!

Even with some rain early this week, we have seen a bit more progress to report...we now have a hole! :)

Fun in the sun!

I am loving the new camera, but I am also incredibly frustrated by it. I want to take great pictures. I have no aspirations of being a professional photographer, but I want to be able to take pictures I want hung on my own wall. So far, using the standard settings on my Nikon produces far supperior results to anything I attempt on manual, and it doesn't seem to me like my adjustments create the kind of results that the internet tells me they will. I am thinking a class of some kind is in order. Now just to find the time!

Woohoo!!!

My new camera is here!!! I know you have missed these faces...

Lift

Have you ever read a book that resonated so closely with your own experience that you are simultaneously enthralled by the beautiful way that *your* experience was presented to you in prose while also feeling a nagging sense of failure for not beating them to it? Afterall, this is exactly how you feel!

Lift, By Kelly Corrigan was a Mother's Day present from my dear husband and children. I opened it up on Mother's Day morning and set it aside to go about the busy life that is waiting on children, cleaning up after a family and hustling out the door to make it to Grandma Lori's house in time to prepare a holiday lunch for the family. You know, mom stuff.

The other morning I found myself with a sleeping baby, occupied pre-schooler and no internet access so I reached for the book. Leila noticed me reading it right away and she said, "Mommy! that is the book we gave you about being a mom!" I was immediately glad that I had picked it up when I could see how proud Leila was to see me using the gift that she gave to me, wrapped up in paper that she and her baby sister had lovingly decorated with crayon.

The book is a quick read, and one that made me wish that I could write. It is the kind of book that I think any mother, any parent, any person who views their life in terms of a risk/reward matrix can relate to. Beautifully written, even if you don't enjoy regular reading, if you have a spare couple of hours give it a try!

Zoey

I remember very clearly the day that Cory and I brought Zoey home with us. We were in the Alero, Cory and I up front and little puppy Zoey in the back seat, running from window to window trying to peak out and get a look at what was going on. She was unsure, and so were we. I think we made two or three stops on the hour long trip, just in case she had to go potty.

Sitting in the car, looking from my husband in the drivers seat to our new puppy in the back I remember thinking, this is it, the beginning of our family, and the last day of just Cory and I.

We brought our puppy home to our new house that we had just moved into the day prior to her arrival.

From the beginning Zoey was mischievous, a definite alpha dog and full of energy but we loved her Shiba spirit.

Now, 6 years later, I look at Zoey and I see my first parental failure. She never got the kind of strict training that a puppy, particularly a Shiba Inu should have. She never got the socialization that would make her a dog that can be around other dogs. She was spayed too early and now has a permanent bladder control issue that requires medication. All of these things make her a challenging pet, but never the less, a member of our family.

Zoey and I have a very complicated relationship.

After Zoey bit my nephew last summer, I have not thought of her in the same way. No longer was she just another member of our family, who just doesn't play well with other dogs, now she was a threat to the children in our lives, and a liability. Yesterday Thea touched Zoey's tail while she was lounging on the floor and Zoey repaid her by biting her face. She bled a little bit, and the two little spots where her teeth broke the skin are now scabbed over and accompanied by a scrape.

I can't even explain how I feel about this situation, and the turmoil it is causing in my family. It is very upsetting. The most upsetting part is that Cory and I don't agree about what to do, and neither of us trusts the others motivation for the stance that we have taken.

No matter how you look at it, I have failed my dog, my first baby. And I have failed my child.

Just another item to add to the list of things that are troubling my heart these days.

Bowling

This weekend we fulfilled our birthday promise to Leila and we took her bowling, along with lots of our friends. In our bowling group was 8 adults 7 children and 2 fetuses, and we all had a blast. I wish I had pictures to prove it! We played two games, and each of the children had their very own distinct bowling style. There is Bryce who runs up to the lane and throws his ball with all of his strength. Bryce is a competitive and clever little guy, who mentioned to me when I had a couple of consecutive gutter balls that maybe I should bowl in the lane with bumpers next time.

Then you have Lilly, who is more of a leisurely bowler...she strolls up to the end of the lane, sits down and gives her ball a gentle backhand, sending it so slowly down the lane that when it makes contact with the pins, you don't know who is going to be left standing...the pin or the ball.

In typical Leila fashion, she choose a ball that was way too heavy for her, but it was purple, her favorite color. Every turn she would drag that heavy purple ball up to the line and give it a good shove, taking the ball's travel time as a perfect break to have a dance with her buddy Lilly while she was still the center of attention standing out on the wooden floor of the bowling alley.

Sawyer and Eli split a game and neither of them was so engaged in the activity to notice that their attempt to throw the ball down the lane was nearly always met with a follow up push from their grown up assistant, they were happy to see the ball go over the end of the lane and into the bowling alley black hole whether or not the pins had fallen! YeongHo and Thea did all of their bowling from their Daddy's arms, but you could tell they had fun. YeongHo's little face would light up in excitement as he rested his hand on the shiny red ball before Bryan heaved it down the lane.

If you can't tell from my descriptions, we had a wonderful time. It was magical watching the kids play together, encouraging and celebrating for each other after each throw. Very little attention was paid to how many many pins fell, but a glimpse into the carefree fun of children was the focus of the evening. My friends have great kids, and so do I. I love them all dearly!

Something else that is awesome

When you are having a bad day, and you reread a blog post about a special event that reminds you of how happy some other days have been. I am sure glad that I have this place to paste my thoughts about my good days.

Awesome

I stumbled upon this blog today and I couldn't help but smile as I skimmed through the entries, so I wanted to post it here. Though it is kind of annoying that every other post is an advertisement for the book, a lot of these "Awesome things" were really awesome things that I never given much thought to. Check this out if you need a little pick me up: http://1000awesomethings.com/

In the spirit of awesome things I will add a couple of my own...

#1 Sweet Soft Baby Skin! It doesn't matter to me if my baby is freshly bathed or post dinner sporting the distinct smell of baked beans, there is nothing that compares to the feel of a baby's sweet mushy skin up against mine. When I was pregnant with Leila I remember thinking about baby skin and feeling giddy at the very idea that I would soon have my own baby skin to snuggle!

I am clenching my jaw right now just thinking about the adorably mush and smooth baby body I have sleeping in the next room. I kinda wanna go pick her up and mush her cheeks. Oh sweet baby skin.

#2 The evening after a long anticipated day. I am talking a family wedding, a big birthday party, or a Holiday celebration. The awesomeness of being done with the work, the party preparations and the socializing. I do like to entertain, but I am an introvert through and through so every big event leaves me exhausted.

Bonus to the evening after a long day would be a husband provided foot rub. Double awesomeness.

#3 Getting the piece of food that was once stuck between your teeth free!

Bedtime

Tonight I was rocking baby Thea in a failed attempt to get her to sleep. Over the course of her lifetime, the bedtime routine has been fairly consistent. I will nurse her, and sometimes that is enough to send her to dreamland but if not, Daddy would step in and take Thea down to his man room to rock her to sleep while he plays NCAA football on his Xbox. Now that we have the apartment and no second living room, I have had the duty of rocking baby girl to bed on occasion, while Cory keeps Leila occupied (and quiet) in her room.

If you have ever done any reading about getting babies to sleep then you know that one of the rules of thumb is to avoid eye contact with your baby when you want them to sleep. Maybe that is why I am a fairly consistent failure at rocking to sleep...I can not resist those sweet little eyes and every time I look down at her, she reaches up, touches my face and giggles in delight. Rocking baby duty, even if not successful is definitely a rewarding job.

The summer home

We are all moved in to the apartment, and life is good. The apartment has three bedrooms that are all pretty large, along with a big deck, 2 car garage and a closet that puts the closet in our old house to shame. I am in awe of the fact that there is room for all of our clothes to be clean at the same time! Oh the simple pleasures...

The biggest drawback is that we are on the second floor, so taking Zoey out, bringing groceries in and carting kids both ways is a bit of a struggle. The benefit is that Zoey can lounge on the deck and sun herself, something she always has enjoyed about our fenced yard. She is probably having the toughest adjustment but is still doing well with everything.

As nice as it is here, we are looking forward to September and our new house. I am ready to feel settled! We met with our builder this week and were able to see a 3D rendering of our new kitchen, and I am even more excited about everything now. The next step in our process is to get an appraisal done of the plan to ensure that our lender will approve the mortgage for what we are contracted to pay. We don't expect this to be an issue, but as soon as that is done, the contract will be signed and we can get started on construction! Once I have my camera and work gets underway, you can expect lots of progress pictures! I can tell you now that the house is 2 story, with 3 bedrooms, a large bonus room and the laundry all upstairs. Downstairs will be the huge kitchen, dining room, living room and a half bath. The back will have a big deck and our lot borders on a corn field. I know that I will have green siding, and probably a tan stone front on the front of the garage. Very exciting stuff! :)

Birthday

Leila had a birthday, and she got a new set of wheels from Mommy and Daddy! I think she likes the bike, what do you think?

This year we tried something new and had a joint party for the birthday buddies Leila and Sawyer. I was thankful to have the party at Andrea's, since we had moved into the apartment only a week before and we closed on the house the day before the party. It went really well, the kids had a great time and I can't even describe to you how I felt seeing Leila arrive at Andrea's for the party, in her special new outfit that she picked out. She was so excited and happy, my cup run-nth over!

All week she asked who would be at her party and she told us that she was going to invite all of her aunts and uncles, the girl loves her family.

We are planning to take her bowling as a birthday bonus with a few of her friends, but things have been pretty hectic lately so we will see when that happens.

Back in Business...kind of

Today was the closing on our old house and it is officially sold!  We are settling into our summer home on the other side of North Liberty and we gave in and set up internet and cable TV, so in that respect...I'M BACK!  The bad news is, that in our move, we seem to have misplaced the camera.

Leila celebrated a birthday yesterday, her fourth, and we gave her a new bike with princess's on it and pink tassels on the handlebars...she is a happy girl!

Tomorrow is her party, as well as Cory and I's 6th wedding anniversary.

Hiatus

This isn't exactly a planned absence, but we shut off our internet at home a few weeks ago, and we are moving this week, so I promise I will be back as soon as we get a bit more settled into our "summer home."

Thea at one year

Thea had her 1 year appointment this week.  I had already made plans to visit my friend and her twin babies in the NICU so Cory had the task of taking Thea to the Doctor.  She weighed in at 26 lbs, 9 ounces, and she is 30 and 3/4 inches tall.  She is a big girl.

She isn't walking yet, but she stands unassisted and will give you the, "look at me, aren't I hot stuff?" face while she does it.  She has taken one step and fallen quite a few times, but she is in way too much of a hurry to try to slow down and balance herself walking, she would much prefer to turbo crawl.  This is really fine with me, she is already growing up too fast.

She is a great baby girl, she loves to eat bananas.  Her boppy pillow is a big hit, she is so cute lounging in it like it is a recliner. Blankets are a big hit with Thea too.  She has a favorite pink blanket that Grandpa Warren got for her, but she will smoosh her face in and roll around on the floor with just about any blanket she can find.  She loves toys that play music she can dance too and she has a couple of words.  She says Mama, Dada, LaLa (Leila), Dog, all done and yeah.  I haven't heard her say no yet, but I am sure that one will come soon.

Leila and Thea still get along pretty well, but for some reason they both always want the same toy.  That gets really frustrating for all of us!

Cory and I are trying to get moving on the packing business...next week we close on our lot and then two weeks after that we get our apartment so we can move out of here and get it cleaned up before our house closing.   I am anxious to get to a slightly more settled point in this transition so I am looking forward to May!  Not only will we be settled into our new temporary home, but we will be welcoming a new baby girl into the Howard family when Andrea and Steve's daughter arrives.  We can't wait!

The underdogs

Sometimes I will flip on a football or basketball game, even though the Hawkeyes aren't competing, just to watch a game (especially in tourney/bowl season!). I will watch the game, and as time ticks away on the game clock, I inevitably pick a team to root for. My heart generally does the picking, and I am sucker for the underdog. I love to see hard work pay off over prestige, it's in my nature.

I try to look at politics from this light as well. I don't want to be a narrow minded party line voter, and I am disgusted by divisive and misleading techniques used by both political parties. I used to enjoy politics. Not anymore. So I guess it is more like being forced to watch a hockey game than choosing to watch football or basketball, but anyway, you get the point.

The hotly contested health care bill was signed by President Obama today, and I have been doing a lot of reading. Reading to help me understand what the bill means, and mostly to calm some of my fears. The uncertainty and inevitable change that it will bring to all Americans is definitely unsettling, but I couldn't help but root for the underdog, and I was happy to see it pass, and the more I read about the bill, the less I worry about the future, and the the happier I am for those who are immediately and positively effected. Like the 5 year old cancer survivor who has now beat cancer twice, and no longer will have to worry about not qualifying for health insurance because at 5, she has already nearly exhausted her lifetime limit imposed by the insurance company, not to mention that ugly diagnosis that works against her as a pre-existing condition.

Everything comes at a cost, and some things are just worth it, in my mind. I am praying for America now, because I know there are a lot of scared and unhappy people here now, but I am hopeful that good things are to come, and I have to believe that we are doing God's work by taking care of each other. It isn't perfect, but it is a start.

Thea girl

Andrea and I took Thea with us today while the big kids went to daycare.  From the moment that I loaded her into Sawyer's big kid, forward facing car seat, you could see in her face that she felt like hot stuff!  Every time I looked back at her in the back seat she would give me a big grin and a giggle, and I loved that she felt special. After a morning of shopping we went to lunch at the Olive Garden, just the three of us.  I watched my big girl sitting in her high chair and I realized how much this day meant to me.  I now know that I need to take more time with Thea alone, and not let her position as second child mean that she is just an add on to what we have already built, but also a really special little girl who needs attention all on her own too.  Or maybe it is Mommy that needs to focus more on my individual children, but either way, I had a great day with my little girl, and I look forward to more days like this, and some big girls days as well! :)  Life is good and I am going to pretend it isn't snowing tonight and my bank account isn't empty.