Our 6th Anniversary!

Wow, I know that 6 years does not seem like a lot to those of you who may be married 26, 36, or 46 years right now, but it's so fabulous to me!

Being busy with two kids does not allow for a lot of "us" time these days, but tonight we were BLESSED with a night out as a couple! Trusted friends babysat our kids and we went to a movie...ya know, like in a movie theater?! And then we enjoyed dinner at The Blackhorse downtown...warm dinner. We actually got to eat our meal while it was warm because we didn't have our kids with us to feed and/or entertain! I was so excited about the occasion I even wore a DRESS! (If you don't know me well, that means nothing to you. Let me put it this way...I haven't worn a dress in 2 yrs! Yeah, I was really excited about my hot date!)

~~~Oh, the dinner & movie were Chris's gifts to me; Hubby got his gift of a brand new Wii a couple weeks early because I only had to pay 1/2 the retail price! ~~~

We had a temporary fix for our camera issue, so we have some pics from our special day.

First, a look back...

Our wedding day 8-23-2003

5th anniversary 8-23-2008
(Josiah just weeks old, I still had post-pregnancy puffiness!)

6th anniversary 8-23-2009

Me, wearing a dress & accessories!

At the movie theater (it was supposed to include
the poster of the movie we saw...oh well)

We enjoyed dinner @ The Blackhorse

My man and me!

My special guy makes me smile!

Broken Camera, Broken Heart

See the stick figure drawings above? ↑↑↑

Get used to 'em, it's the only way you'll recognize us.

A few months ago (December, actually--right before Josiah's first Christmas!), our old camera went to Camera Heaven. Since then we've been using an old one my brother and sister-in-law sent us. It had some issues so they'd replaced it with the one they're currently using, and it was handy they still had their older camera around and were so generous to let us use it. Well, we made it to August and as of last night that camera is dunzo.

I take lots of photos! I don't take really phenomenal photographs or anything, but if you know me, you know I take many pics. I don't really have many pics of my childhood, so I guess that's part of why I'm obsessed with capturing the kids' special/funny/sad/sweet moments!

Deep down I realize that it's just an object and that it's trivial in the overall scheme of things. But the timing of this is just terrible and my heart is broken because we can't afford to get a new camera right now. I really am devastated and so completely sad because tomorrow is, of all things, our 6th anniversary---an occasion I'd want to take pictures of!

Pizza & Pals!

Yesterday (Tues) our family was BLESSED to have a visit with the Guthrie family! We've known Chad and Nikki for a few years, since we met "back in the day" through a Sunday school class at FBCSB. We hadn't been married super long at the time, and they were brand-new newlyweds! Now, each of our families include two children. Crazy how time flies! The Army brought them to us, and the Army took them away to Colorado, but as of this year they're living the civilian life in KY, so hopefully these visits will be more frequent!

We're so thankful that this family made time to be with us on their day-trip to Clarksville. We originally thought they'd pop in for about an hour before leaving town, but since their intended lunch visit with another family got postponed until the evening, we got to have them for dinner and a 3-hour visit! We stay in touch via facebook and such, but it's always so nice to spend time with friends in person...and it's shocking to see how much their children have grown!
Little ones Jayden and Rilynne are soooooo precious! And outgoing! As soon as 3 yr old Jayden hopped out of the car she told me, "You haven't given me my hug yet"! Hahahaha! Awesome! This is a girl I hadn't seen in at least 2 years, so I loved getting to know her charming personality. My daughter is sooooo shy, she never says stuff like that, so it was a treat! Rilynne's a couple months younger than Kyleigh but is, of course, taller!

(Kyleigh snapped this photo...not bad!)

The kids were napping when the Guthries arrived, but Josiah soon woke to eat and Chris woke Kyleigh for dinner from a very short nap (it started late & ended early, so we knew there was potential for crankiness). Then out of nowhere, our friends gifted our kids with precious backpacks! Jayden is starting Preschool this week, and I am nowhere near ready for that stage, but Kyleigh loves anything that's "big kid" style...like backpacks. (In fact, Kyleigh wore her new backpack to the grocery store with her dad today!) What a perfect gift...random, completely unexpected, and so totally fun! Josiah thought he was Mr. Cool with his backpack on--
for a minute, then he sat down with his sleepy-time pacifier & pig, reminding me for sure that he's still my little baby!It was kinda like old times (except with all the distractions of kids!). In between all four kids requesting food, drinks, and potty time (oh, and a cranky moment from Kyleigh *gasp*), we chatted about little life tidbits and watched the kids try somersaults, horsey riding, and refrigerator toys! The time sailed by quickly, but we are thankful for that evening with friends. Can't wait to do it again!

Kids Say The Darndest Things!

Here's a video of Kyleigh letting you know about commonly used phrases of each of our family members.

Apparently Siah cries and KyKy just laughs a lot--which are very accurate assessments! But it's her conclusions of Mommy and Daddy's common phrases that made my hubby BUST OUT LAUGHING when I showed him this video!

A Good Mom

Being a mom is hard. Trying to be a good mom is extra hard! At least for me it is, as I didn't have a great example of one in my day-to-day childhood with my biological mom and didn't appreciate my stepmom's Christlike example 'til I was grown.

I adore motherhood. It's precious. It's complicated. It's fun. It's tiring. And it's rewarding.

It's sooooo much responsibility! And I don't mean the day-to-day diapers and meals...I mean the deeper stuff, like training and preparing my kids for the future and guiding them in the behaviors and decisions they'll make.

I love being a mom, but I don't always get it right. And some of you other moms may notice the pressure we feel to impress other moms--like having an always well-behaved toddler at every moment in every given situation. Or dealing with those nosy people who have no kids but seem to have an opinion on how we should raise ours--hoping the less "cause" we give them, the less advice they'll disperse our way! (Or is that just me?)

Who decides if a particular woman is a "good mom"? I try to remember first to honor the Lord in my part of raising our children. And I also strongly desire to please my husband and make him proud of the wife and mother I believe I can be. But today I was surprised to find out that someone else had an opinion of my parenting abilities...

This morning my 2 1/2 yr old daughter told my husband,
"I loves Mommy. She is a good mommy."
(Just like that, with the 's' on 'loves'!)

Wow. That was awesome! I honestly had no idea she felt that way. I'm a strict mom. I don't think I'm cruel, I just don't give in to my childrens' every whim. I run a tight ship. I say "No" more often than most parents I've been around and I stick to it. On the flip side, when I make a promise--big like a special surprise or small like refilling a sippy cup once my hands are no longer full in a moment--I give 100% effort into fulfilling it. It's important to me to keep my word with my children in order to maintain their trust and respect, and to teach them to honor their commitments as well. I have LOTS of fun with my kids and love on them continuously throughout the day, so I have no doubt they know I care about them. But I kinda assumed that most kids think a "good mom" is one who gives them whatever they want whenever they want it---just the nature of a child. This was a beautiful sign that I'm not messing up completely!

I know that over the years to come my daughter won't always like my rules and decisions, but just hearing that as a toddler she knows I care for her and try my best for her gives me hope for the teenage years! Haha!

My kid thinks I'm a good mommy. Amazing!

Poor Baby

*This morning:

Yesterday Josiah seemed back to his normal self. Full appetite, good naps, big ol' poopy diapers---the norm! Last night, though, he had trouble getting into a deep sleep. He went to bed at his normal time, but woke every couple hours trying to find his pacifier or lil' pig friend in his crib (can't sleep w/out it!). Then he finally slept hard from 1-8:15am. He's typically up by 7am at the latest, so I just chalked it up to him catching up on rest.

But I don't think that's it. Kyleigh woke around 8am and her playfulness woke her brother soon afterward. He woke up screaming, resisting the morning and its call to "GET UP!". Since then, he's barely eaten, only drank a couple ounces, and has simply wanted to sit on someone's lap. Anytime we've put him down, Josiah's just cried!

~Please pardon all the low-quality cell-phone pics!~

*This afternoon:

I took JoJo to the doc today, and found out his temperature was up to 103.4*! We had already given him Tyelnol, so he was given a dose of Motrin, and that helped lower his fever before we headed home. He wasn't fussy the whole time...actually, he just wanted to lay on me and share some cuddles. I adore that sweet creature! His blood draw indicated normal white blood cell count, and the strep test results should come back by tomorrow. Doc thinks it's most likely just a virus w/ sore throat (hence a lack of appetite).

Thankfully, since we got home Siah's been eating a bit and drinking some liquids as well. He's also been playing w/ his sister, which turned into some sort of dress-up situation, ending in JoJo wearing a pink headband (his own doing!).

Niiiiiiice!

It's Icky to Feel Sicky

*UpDaTe*
Josiah slept later than usual (which was a-ok!), and was feeling fine this morning. Mostly he's tired, but otherwise back to normal. We're concluding this was perhaps just a stomach ache, as it appears not to be viral or serious. We were able to attend church as a family this morning, and we're glad everyone's doing well today. If you prayed for Siah, thanks!


*Original Post*

Josiah woke from his lengthy Saturday afternoon nap with what seemed to be an ordinary fuss for food, as it was his typical mealtime. So I lifted him from his crib, loved on him, set him in his high chair, and fed him--'cuz that's what Mommies do, right?!

He ate a normal amount, but at a fast rate. Then after his meal he continued to fuss. I thought maybe his tummy bothered him from gulping down his food so quickly. So he was free to run around the house and play with his sister and/or toys--you know, the usual. But instead of playing, he just moaned and cried and chose to lay out on the floor, mostly on his belly. I took this as a sign of stomach ache, as compression to the belly usually helps the tummy feel better.

He refused sippy cups of milk but was interested in a couple ounces of juice later in the evening. His stomach was not hard or distended. He's been urinating and having bowel movements. He wasn't constipated or having diarrhea, nor was he vomiting or dehydrated. He had no rash or typical indication of an allergic reaction.

He just seemed miserable, though!

For a while he'd lay on me, then for a while he'd lay on his Daddy. But ultimately he fell asleep in Daddy's arms and was placed into his crib where he's since slept better. So what's wrong with him??? We have no idea. He did have a slight temperature increase in the evening, so we gave him a dose of Tylenol around 8pm before he went to bed for (what we hope is) the rest of the night.

Oh, how I wish JoJo spoke full sentences so he could describe what's going on! Poor miserable baby boy!

It's now 1am, and I'm keeping a watchful eye on my little man. Aside from Kyleigh's food allergy scares, she's never had more than a sniffle-ish cold. Never issues w/ teething, never an ear infection, never the flu or croup or bronchitis or any such major sicknesses. *KNOCK ON WOOD* So, crazy as this sounds, we've never really had a miserably sick baby in the house. We don't want to go to the ER for no reason, especially since JoJo's able to get comfy enough to rest on his own (my personal feeling is that rest is best, and that's hard to come by in the ER). But if tomorrow's full of fever and crying, we're certainly going to seek our pediatrician's input.

Please be praying for Josiah's healing. And for Chris and me. As parents we want to do what's best w/out over-reacting, but also without over-looking a need. Is it weird that we're unsure what to do with a sick baby? Haha, I think so since most parents gain that experience with their first kid! Hey, when it comes to food allergy caution, I'm the mommy with a plan!!! But our sweet Josiah likes to take his parents on adventures into uncharted territories and keep us on our toes!

We do know that, if needed, we can give Tylenol every 4 hrs + Motrin every 4 hrs, with two hours between the two meds (like Tylenol @ 8pm & Midnight, Motrin @ 10pm & 2am)...but we've only given the one dose of Tylenol @ 8pm and Josiah's been sleeping since. Any suggestions or recommendations? I sure hope our tiny Buckeye feels better by breakfast!

I Have A Fever

I have a fever...



Baby Fever!



Just kidding (...sorta!)

Seriously, with kids as sweet and cute as this,

it's impossible not to think about having more!
If that ever does happen for us in the future,
I hope all our children get along this well:

I love the way they love each other.