Teeth Update

One kid is losing them, another one is getting them, and the middle one can't understand why he's not doing either. 

Luke has now lost a total of four teeth. Tooth #3 - top right- was pulled (by him with a little help from Daddy) on 09/11/2014. Tooth #4 - top left - was pulled (also by him) on 11/14/2014. He was a few more loose ones but nothing that should be coming out soon. He looks so different and older with those top two teeth gone!

Eli cut his first tooth - bottom left - officially on 12/01/2014. I first felt it on Thansgiving morning, showed Nate's mom and sisters when we got down there...then put him down for a nap and when he woke up it was gone. It was back through to stay that Monday. Tooth #2 is in as of today, 12/10/2014. Unless it goes away, too. But from the looks of it, the tooth is here to stay. Now Eli's precious toothless grin will slowly turn into a two-tooth grin. Which I'm sure will be just as precious. 

Then there's Caleb. Who has all his baby teeth and is years away from losing them. This causes lots of drama in his world. 

Caleb's 1st Day of School

This kid was beyond ready to get back to school on September 2, 2014.  He could not wait to play with all of his friends.  He could not wait to wear his new shoes, so he could be "rockin' in his school shoes" like Pete the Cat.  He could not wait to see his new teacher, Mrs. Lea Ann.  And thankfully, this year he was not sick on his first day of school! 

Luke's 1st Day of School

Luke's first day of second grade was August 25, 2015.

He was excited when we were still at home.  Excited and super nervous about going to a new school.  His mom was super nervous about the whole thing, too.  He kept a brave face on until we got to the door to his classroom, and then he lost it.  He cried in the hallway to us about how scared he was, and we had no choice other than giving him a hug, telling him he will be fine, and taking him into his class.  (He wasn't crying when we walked in the room, we aren't that evil).  But I didn't make it out of the school before I was a sobbing mess, too.  It was the hardest first day of school ever.

The good news...he had a great day!  

The Dots

The Dots

August 22, 2014

Rockin His School Shoes

We bought the boys new shoes for school yesterday.

Caleb Michael is obsessed.

The Victim and The Troublemaker

So this happened this weekend. 

The boys were playing in the backyard. Out by the fence is a bunch of loose dirt so they naturally gravitate there. I had gone inside for a second when I heard Luke crying. It was that "cry extra loud so Mom hears me" kind of cry. 

This is what he looked like when he walked in the house.  {the child rarely wears a shirt anymore}

I ask him what happened and get this answer...choked out through the sobs...

"Caleb threw dirt on me." Sob. "And he hit me in the eye with a rock." Sob. "And," ...pause for dramatic effect...sob..."he said he didn't like my dirt castle!"

It was traumatic. And dramatic. 

Then here comes the troublemaker. He comes in all innocent. I asked him if he did all those things to Luke. He said "yup!" very proudly. And then he did this. 

{he doesn't wear his shirt if big brother doesn't}

Lord help me when we throw Eli into the mix. Which is apparently happening sooner rather than later considering the baby isn't even four months old and he is rolling and scooting all over the place. 

Sweet Baby Face

He is finally starting to give Daddy some of his special looks.

Caleb

There are many words I could use to describe my middle child. Stubborn. Hard-headed. Independent. Smart. Adventurous. Friendly. Grumpy. Sweet. Just to name a few. 

Another word...one that keeps popping up...is funny.

Caleb makes us laugh many times in a day. One minute he will have me wanting to pull my hair out, wondering if I will survive raising him, and the next I will be laughing hysterically at something he has said. My mom says frequently that he will be the class clown. 

Just a few Caleb gems lately...you may not find them funny but at the time...

He is looking at our family pic from Christmas. 

"We at Mammie/Boppa's. There the Christmas tree. There Mommy, Daddy. There Luke and Caleb." GASP!!! "Mommy!! I can't find Eli!!!"

Driving to Dallas.

Me: "Caleb, be watching for the treehouse. I don't know where it is."

Caleb looks at me like I'm really stupid. 

"Mommy. It's in the trees."

One thing I love about Caleb is he doesn't care what people think. I hope he never loses that. He's not afraid to wear boots with shorts, or even jammies in public. {that's the best example I got right now. Sigh.}

Three is a very challenging age, but it's also so fun. He lives his life with joy everyday, even on the days where he's more grumpy than happy. Things are still new enough and fun enough that he doesn't have these expectations of how things should be so he doesn't get disappointed. 

One thing about Caleb that comes as a surprise is he can be really, really sweet. When he gets a snack, he always asks for one for Luke. His Sunday school teacher, Ms. Hope, always gives him two starburst at the end of class. He always gives one to Luke. 

One thing I'm learning with Caleb is I have to keep him busy. Physically and mentally. When he has chilled for too long, he gets destructive.  It's exhausting.  I'm thankful he will be at school three days a week this year. He needs the extra stimulation that school provides because there are times when I just can't do it. 

I get emotional when I look at Caleb sometimes. He is a physical example of answered prayer. It wasn't that long ago that we thought Luke would end up being an only child. {it really blows my mind that he has two siblings.} Many prayers were prayed for a second child, and after his conception many prayers were prayed for his birth. I don't know why my other babies were taken straight to heaven and Caleb was chosen to live this life. I know he is here for a reason, and I can't wait to see what God has planned for him. I can't help but think it will be something amazing. 

July 2014

Last July wasn't full of events for us, more everyday things. We celebrated the 4th of July with friends and family. We watched the Mansfield fireworks from the golf course with the Speers (and everyone else) on the 3rd. We had some of our families and some friends over to eat and swim on the 4th.  We finished up the holiday at the Hadash house that night to play and set off fireworks of our own. It was a fun holiday!

 

 That next week Luke spent the whole week in Emmett with Nana and Daddy Matt for the Frost Baptist Church VBS. It was weird going back to having two kids for the week. Funny how that becomes easy once you are used to having three!  I tried to make that week super fun for Caleb since he was stuck home while Luke was having a blast in Emmett. He got to have a solo sleepover with Mammie and Boppa and then he rode the "train" (aka Dart Light Rail) to meet me in Plano since Eli and I went to see Bee and Joshua. We went to the trampoline park with some of his friends, too. It was his first time to do that and I think he was just a blur in every pic I tried to take of him. He was exhausted afterwards! And finally, he and his daddy got to go to a Rangers game just the two of them!  So Caleb had a great week while Luke was gone. 

Luke had a pretty great week as well. The coolest and best part of that week was at the end of VBS, Luke made the decision to ask Jesus into his heart. We had been talking about it for months before this, he had tons of questions and before he left we could tell he was close to making the decision. Nate's parents told us they talked with him a lot that week, too, and asked us if we were okay if he prayed down there. We said absolutely, if he feels led then let him go! The last night of VBS when the pastor gave the invitation, Luke was the first one down the aisle. We were so excited to get down there to pick him up and give him a hug!  

The rest of July was uneventful...lots of swimming and hanging out at home, which was fine with me considering we had a three month old!

Eli got to swim for the first time and loved being in the water. He started really smiling a lot this month, and I even scored a few of his first laughs. He also ditched the pacifier for good in favor of his thumb. That's a little weird to get used to, but oh well. The baby wants what he wants!  He was consistently sleeping through the night at this point - at least 12 hours in his own bed!

It's fuzzy and blurry but I love his smile.

Nate and I finally had a "date" to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We were going to try to go to dinner on the actual date (June 5) but we would have had to take all three kids (including our six week old). Then that night Daisy got bit by a copperhead in the backyard and Caleb fell onto a piece of plastic and busted his chin open while Nate was at the EAC with the dog. I almost took C for stitches but decided not to, which was the right call. Needless to say, we didn't get an anniversary dinner. So the night of 7/26/14 my parents watched the kids at our house so we could celebrate our anniversary. We had a glamorous dinner at On the Border and then walked around Target just the two of us. It was perfect. Maybe one day we will have a more fancy date, or even a vacation by ourselves. But for now, we are keepin it real and taking what we can get!

So there's July...

A Vacation!

This year we actually WENT ON VACATION.  It was a big deal.

We went with Nate's entire family, which was awesome and so fun.  Everyone was there, too; all 23 of us - in one big house in Port Aransas.  We left on a Friday (8/1) and came back on Monday (8/4).  It was not enough time.  But it was better than nothing!

We ended up meeting up with Rebekah and Heath in Waco for the drive down, which worked out perfectly because we swapped kids.  Garrett rode with us and Luke rode with them.  That meant the two troubles in our backseat...a little scary...but we made it work!  My favorite anecdote from the drive down was when we pulled over in a parking lot so I could get something (maybe fix a bottle for Eli? I can't remember) Garrett asked, "Is this the beach?"

They were not excited at all.  Ha!

Things got sillier the longer we were in the car.

We came down the way that made us have to take the ferry across to Port A.  The kids got a huge kick out of it.  

Luke waving to us.

We met up with the Andersons and headed straight for the beach! We had time to kill before we could get into the house.

First step into the Gulf of Mexico

After we "moved in" to our ah-MAZ-ing house, the girls headed into Corpus for groceries.  For 23 people (actually 22 because one is a baby).  For three days.  We almost didn't all fit into my car afterwards.  

That night we hunted sand crabs with the big kids, which is always great fun.  Of course we ended up at the beach with nothing to pick the crabs up with so we had to use our fingers.  And by we, I mean everyone else.  There was no way I was going to do that.  It was hilarious, and we caught a bunch of crabs!

The next morning we got to the beach as fast as we could.  Thankfully Nana wanted to stay back at the house so she kept an eye on Eli so Nate and I could go down together with Luke and Caleb.  As predicted, they both LOVED the beach.  (Luke's first time at the beach as a two year old was not a great experience for him.  I knew he'd be over it by now - five years later - and I figured Caleb wouldn't be scared at all.)  When we went to the store I bought some boogie boards for the boys and that was a huge hit!  They loved it.

 These two were quite the entertainment.

Playing in the sand was also super fun, and the kids loved to take breaks from the ocean to make a sandcastle or dig a hole.

Tuff came out the beach that afternoon, too!

The next day we took a lot more candid and posed pics while we were out playing.  We were all sad it was our last day on the beach...

That evening we tried really hard to get a big family picture and other group pictures.  It was interesting since we did not have anyone to actually take the pictures.  So we rigged up the camera by setting it on Jake's skateboard which was set over the back of two chairs.  Then we used the self timer.  To make matters more stressful (for me) is then I had to pose everyone.  Have I mentioned before that there are 23 of us?  Oh, then add it the fact that Caleb got sand in his eyes (despite the fact that 1. he was told not to play in the sand and 2. he was told not to touch his face) and my husband did not like the fact that I had a few poses for us to try out.  It was not a good night for our marriage, let me just leave it at that.

So this is the best that we got...

(this was my favorite)

 The grandkids 

The grandkids with Nana and Daddy Matt

I can look back on this now and laugh.  I'm stressing, Caleb's screaming, Luke's cheesing, Eli's chilling, and Nate is grumping.  Like I said, not a great night for us.  Keeping it real here.

But my sweet Luke didn't hesitate to take a picture with his mommy.

Of course, the best picture I get of my family (without me) is them with their backs turned.  

The next day we all drove home, not ready to get back to reality after such a short but fun trip to the beach.  And in case anyone is wondering, Nate and I got over the whole picture fiasco.  It's all good.

Feeding a baby is hard.

When I was pregnant with Luke, I was hopeful that I would be able to breastfeed him. I just wanted that experience, and I didn't want to have to spend money on formula. It wasn't easy at first in the beginning, but we got through the first six weeks {and painful, cracked, bleeding nipples and engorgement} and after that things were good. I nursed him until the day before his first birthday, which was awesome. While I didn't really enjoy it that much, I was glad I was able to do it for his first year. 

When I finally had my second baby, I just assumed things would go like they did with Luke. After all, my body had done it once before, why wouldn't it again?  Ha. It ended up being a first of many experiences with Caleb that ended up opposite of the way I thought it would go. At first things seemed easy, but at 2.5 months we started struggling with feedings. After a couple weeks of fighting with him and all feedings ending up with both of us in tears, I switched to bottles. I pumped and supplemented with formula. That worked for about a month until I was over pumping and he went to only formula. And he thrived on formula. I realized afterwards that I must have been starving the poor kid since he was only 11.5 pounds at 2 months and by 4 months he was up to 15. 

When I was pregnant with Eli, I was hopeful that I would have another experience similar to Luke. I really wanted to breastfeed him for a year. And things started out great - he latched on perfectly right away, I had no pain, he nursed every 2.5-3 hours during the day and only woke up a couple times a night. He was gaining about an ounce a day in the beginning. The only issue was that he would have periods of colic/gas/fussiness, to the point that I decided I needed to cut dairy out of my diet. 

Once I went completely dairy free, his disposition changed. He was such a happy, easy going baby! He rarely had painful gas and fussy times. I thought we were golden. Sure I missed cheese and butter, but going without was worth it to me. But then the kid stopped gaining weight. 

At an appt on 5/30 he weighed 9 pounds 4 ounces. 13 days later he weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces. His doctor wanted me to pump and give him bottles to make sure he was getting enough milk. Turns out my supply had tanked due to the fact that I kept forgetting to refill my thyroid medicine.  I had to supplement with some formula that weekend. I was so upset that weekend because I wasn't producing enough to feed him. But thankfully we live in an age where there are other options to feed babies when there's not enough breastmilk. Giving him some formula gave me the time to relax and build my supply back up. After a few days I was able resume nursing him. I kept pumping at night and giving him a bottle before bed. I thought that we were on track. I was supposed to take him for a weight check but ended up just waiting until his 2 month appointment. 

When his pediatrician gave me the formula sample, I guess he didn't believe me when I told him Eli couldn't handle dairy. He gave me regular formula. I tried it with Eli because I thought maybe I was just crazy. Well, I wasn't. The poor baby was MISERABLE. I ended up at Kroger that Saturday night to get nutramigen formula. That helped him so much. Seeing that showed me that I really needed to keep being dairy free.

So I worked hard to remain dairy free.  I kept nursing him and pumping and adding in bottles where I needed to.  I was determined to get to a place where I was just nursing him...until his two month appointment.  He only weighed 10 pounds.  It was a big kick in the pants.

So I stopped nursing and was only giving him bottles.  The doctor said we needed to be giving him bottles at that point to monitor exactly how many ounces he was taking in each day.  I started mixing my milk with 2 ounces of Nutramigen to keep myself from stressing out about how much I was pumping.  This way he was at least getting some breastmilk.  Until the day where we ate at Dickey's and I didn't check the dairy content beforehand.  My entire meal consisted of dairy.  And he had blood in his stools afterwards.

That did it.  From then on, I was done nursing.  I was done pumping.  I didn't have what it took to remain 100% away from dairy...and I couldn't be responsible for wreaking havoc on my baby's digestive system.  So I quit nursing and pumping.  And by the end of July, Eli was on 100% formula.

It was an emotional thing for me.  I was so convinced that nursing would work for us this time.  And it would have, if Eli hadn't had a milk protein allergy as an infant.  Just proof that things happen that you don't anticipate.  But you just have to roll with it and do what is best for your baby.  In Eli's case, that was NOT nursing.

The Choice

I sat down to write a post about Eli and his eating and the struggles we have had. But this came to me instead. 

I'm not a good "talker". Words don't come to me easily. A classic introvert, I cringe at the idea of small talk. I need to think about my words, process my thoughts, before I put them out there. I've always been much better at writing. To this day, if I need to have a serious conversation with someone, I write it out first before talking to them. 

Tonight there are words eating at me, words that I have to believe are from God, and He wants me to put them out there. 

As I was feeding Eli his bedtime bottle, I was browsing Facebook on my iPad. And I was overwhelmed with the amount of sadness shared on there. Stories of people's family members passing away, kids killed in tragic accidents, stillborn babies getting photographed with their grieving families. There's so much sadness in this world. It reminded me that life is fleeting and precious. The only guarantee we have is that we will die one day. 

But then God reminds me...there is another guarantee. 

One day, we will be with Him in heaven. 

Let me tell you this. I believe, with my whole heart, that there is a heaven. That there is only one God. And one day I will stand before Him in my heavenly body. All the pain and sadness from this world will be gone. All the material possessions and status we strive for won't matter. You may not believe there is a heaven. You may not believe there is a God. And that's fine.  That's your decision. But let me ask you this...what if you are wrong? 

Do you know where you are going after you die? That's something everyone needs to think about and answer for themselves. Some may answer that they hope they will be in heaven.  Friends, I want you to know that you don't have to hope. There is a way to know for sure, and there is only one way. 

You need to acknowledge the fact that you are a sinner. And you are. We ALL are. When Eve that darn apple, sin entered the world and humans became separated from God.  See God created humans to have a relationship with Him. He used to walk with and interact with Adam and Eve. But once sin was introduced into the world, it was over. A righteous God can not interact with sin.  And we can't help it. Our sinful nature is there from the very beginning. It's why babies don't have to be taught how to throw tantrums and say no.  There has only been one perfect person who never sinned a day in his life, and that person was Jesus. 

Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our bridge to God. {John 14:6}

Before Jesus, people had to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to God to make up for their sin. When Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross, He became our sacrifice. We don't have to do that anymore. We just have to believe that he died to take away our sin. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. {Ephesians 1:7}

It's a choice you must make for yourself.  Your parents can't decide it for you when you are a baby. Your friends or your spouse can't make it for you. Your children can't make it for you. God gave us free will in this case. It's up to you. 

Some are adamantly against making such a choice. And I used to be one of them. Growing up I had no interest in church or having anything to do with God.  I didn't understand it, and I had no interest in trying. Until I met my husband and listened to his dad preach at their small country church. My father in law was the first person to preach a sermon that I a)listened to the whole thing; and b)understood what he was saying. 

Here's what I didn't know, that I want you to know...

1. God loves you. God is a God of love. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. {John 3:16-17}.  See, He didn't have to save us. He could have washed His hands of us a long time ago, wiped us all out like he did with Sodom and Gamorrah, like he did with the flood. But like I said before, He wants a relationship with us. He loves us. 

2. God is not a God of rules. The rules that different religions put into place were put there by man. Not God. God's only commandment is to love The Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself. {Matthew 22:37-39}.  

3. Your sins will be forgiven. We don't have to live with regret! We don't have to live with all the mistakes of our past hanging over our heads. God takes that from us when we accept Jesus! He FORGIVES all of it. It's over! Done with! Isn't that amazing? It's taken me a long time to begin to understand the magnitude of it. And I still don't all the way get it. He asks us to give Him our burdens, our worries, our mistakes, our sin. He takes it from us! He doesn't hold it against us. Once we ask for forgiveness, when we ask Him to take it...it's gone! 

4. You can't change yourself. So quit trying. Stop buying into all the self help nonsense. It will not happen. Take it from me. I've been trying to change me for years. It hasn't worked. But you know what I realized? God has been changing me. He's the only one who can. And you have to be open to it. For years I wouldn't let go of me, I'm still not all the way yet, but when you start giving Him a window, what He can and will do will amaze you. 

5. Bad things will happen. And He will give you more than you can handle. But you will have peace. You will know that all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who were called according to His purpose. {Romans 8:28} When you are crying over the sadness on Facebook like I was tonight, you will know that He has a reason for everything and one day we will understand it. When you think about how one day you will be gone from this earth and all those you will leave behind, you will rest knowing that they know where you are. They won't have to wonder and hope you're in heaven. They will know. 

6. Good people don't go to heaven. Don't go through life hoping you will get there. Make the choice to know you will be there. 

It's a choice. It may seem like an impossible one. But I promise you, it will be the best choice you make. Don't let anything cloud your judgment. Don't make it too complicated. It is the simplest, best thing you will ever do in your life.  If this has impacted you in anyway, talk to someone. Talk to me. I don't know everything, but I will do my best to help you. Just remember that until I was 20 years old I had no interest in this. But God got ahold of me. Let Him get ahold of you, too. You will never regret it. 

Differences...

This was my status update on March 4th...


Differences in my boys...
Luke's favorite sea animal is a dolphin.
Caleb's favorite sea animal is a shark.

At 2.5, Luke was interested in the symphony, different types of butterflies, baseball and basketball.
At 2.5, Caleb is interested in volcanoes, dinosaurs, baseball, soccer and football.

What I want to remember today...

Eli's scrunchy face and pitiful cry when his bottle is done, before he burps and realizes that he is, in fact, full.  It's pretty funny. 

The way he looks when he sees me for the first time in awhile. I get the best looks, smiles, conversation, snuggles, and so far the only laughs. I love having a baby who adores his mama. His big brothers adored their daddy at this age. 

How sweet Caleb is with the baby. And the way his voive gets high pitched and sing-songy when he says "Hi, Eli!" the moment he sees him.  Caleb can be so gentle and loving with him. Not his normal, everyday personality at all!

On our way to the Hadash's we pass a place with camels. Caleb asked, "mommy, we in the desert?"

Caleb's phrases..."I be so bigger"..."we do that next year"...or when he states a fact and then asks, "right?" 

How Luke has pulled both of the teeth he lost! Tooth #1 on 6/14/14 and tooth #2 on 7/24/14. He's a rock star!

How hard Luke tries to "create" things with random objects. He made Mammie a flower out of paper towels when we drove to Dallas. 

That Luke is obsessed with "doing gymnastics". He has figured out a handstand on his own. He also does a pretty decent cartwheel.  Caleb loves to do somersaults. "Watch my flips."

How it blows my mind to look at these three boys and know that they came from me. It's a miracle. 

Reunion Tower & Fuel City Tacos

We wrapped up June with a visit to Reunion Tower (aka The Ball in Downtown Dallas) and lunch at Fuel City Tacos.  The Ball is one of the kids' favorite landmarks on their way to Mammie and Boppa's, so going up inside it was a BIG DEAL.  They loved the elevator ride up and being able to look all around Dallas.

Lunch was good, even though I was in the midst of my dairy free adventure and couldn't enjoy it to its fullest extent.  The best part about that whole day, though, was that the big boys got to go home and spend the night with Mammie and Boppa!

Weird Animal VBS

WRBC had their Weird Animal VBS during the week of June 23rd. I served in the preschool area this year so Caleb could go, too.  Since I had a baby I got to stay with the babies so I could keep Eli with me the whole time.  It worked for what I needed, because I didn't want to leave him that long, but it also made for a looooong three hours everyday because we didn't leave the room!

The boys loved it!  They would sing the songs and do the motions for hours, and I had no idea what they were doing.  Luke ended up getting the Christ-like award for the second year in a row, so his head was nice and inflated all week.  

"Iggy" was their favorite of the Weird Animals...so they had to get a pic with him!

Luke and Caleb weren't the only Stroder boys who had fun at VBS!  Can't believe how big he is getting.