34 good things

august and september rushed by.

there were good things and bad things.

things that have weighed my heart and mind down.

however there was so much good.

and the good things were not lost on me.

those little moments in daily life. those bigger things.

they were good.

i don't want to lose sight of those things.

those are the things i am oh so thankful for.

kelsey over at snappy casual makes a list of thankful things. i love doing it too. it helps keep perspective.

it helps me not to miss all the good.

so in honor of my recent 34th birthday, here are 34 good things from august and september.....

1. summer hanging on to the end and even into fall.
2. softball nights

3. rain
4. my crockpot
5. getting into the school groove

6. friends who let our girls come over on wednesday mornings before school.
7. fresh air
8. a crawling baby.
9. a confident middle schooler

10. cece with her nose in a book.
11. my birthday. and feeling blessed to have another year.
12. halloween costumes
13. sams club.
14. leaves starting to turn
15. a cool down
16. coffee creamer
17. new episodes of tim and i's shows.
18. watching "our shows" with tim
19. maggie feeling so much better.
20. overnight diapers. they work and help keep mr. jake dry at night.
21. so many hand me downs for jakey. his closet overflows.
22. family
23. so many september birthdays
24. sleep. for everyone.
25. a j.o.b. that i enjoy. that provides for our family.
26. groceries.
27. our health.
28. family gatherings.
29. a thumb sucker.
30. sunshine.
31. meeting mr max
32. cameras
33. freezing apples picked from our own apple trees
34. clean laundry

God is good.

jake james 8 months old

jake is eight months old. 

he is just the most happy and patient and content and sweet baby boy.

we all just love him so.

honestly, sometimes people even fight over him. they love him so much.

mr. jake at eight months you....

• crawl all over the place. 
• sleep from 8:00 pm til 6:30 am.
• have two teeth.
• are wearing 6-12 month clothes. 
• love to eat.
• sleep through the night. 
• enjoy daycare. 
• play the role of robin for your batman loving friend at daycare.
• take two awesome naps during the day.
• are so tough.
• enjoy eating dinner at the ball park. you have been to so many softball games. 
• like to take baths. 
• love pears, apples, bananas and any combination with those in it. 
• are wearing size 3 diapers.
• have been fighting some chest congestion. but it doesn't seem to affect your good mood. 
• like to chew on shoes. we had to enact a no shoe policy. 
• are saying "aba-aba-aba."
• handle even the roughest of hugs :)
• nurse four times per day. 
• like to cuddle your blanky. 
• squeal and grunt and make all kinds of noise. 
• laugh at your sisters. especially cece. she gets the best laughs.
• love to swing and be outside.
• are trying to pull yourself up. 
• enjoy finding cheerios (and captain crunch) on the floor to eat. 
• have the best smile. 

jake you are the best boy.

we love you too much.

tonsils out!

late spring was a bit rough for maggie.

we just thought it was a combination a new brother, having mommy back at school, going here and there for big sister's stuff.

a phase.

we thought summer was the cure she needed.

but relief did not come. in fact she got worse.

grumpy, tired, whinny, meltdowns, falling asleep a weird times, fighting naps, throwing fits, so needy, disrupted sleep, late nights, early mornings.

then we started to notice the snoring.

we noticed snoring when she was asleep AND when she was awake.

i slept with her at my parents for a few nights and a realized this wasn't right.

she wasn't just going through a three year old phase.

she wasn't getting enough sleep and she wasn't eating.

her tonsils were so big they were causing her to obstruct or have trouble breathing when she was relaxed or laying down which was disrupting her sleep.

her tonsils were so big they were making it hard for her to swallow which was causing her to avoid eating.

we had experienced this before with miss ellie. we quickly put the puzzle together. she had obstructive sleep apnea.

luckily we were able to get her in to the ENT and get the surgery scheduled within a couple months.

but it still made for a bit of a long summer.


she was a champ for her pre op appointment.

surgery day came and she handled it well.

she did not want to put on the hospital jammies. so she had surgery in her minnie pjs. and she was not excited to go back for surgery.

she was excited to see us after surgery.

she just wanted to go home.


when we got home all she wanted was jake and pepperonis and for the air mattress NOT to be put up in the living room.

she bounced back very quickly.

four weeks later and she is like a whole new kid.

sleeping so peacefully, eating again, patient and easy going.

just fun to be around.

we are so happy to have our maggie back.

i can't say enough about what a different kiddo she is now.

sleep is so important.

it impacts everything.

everything.

i am not kidding when i say miss maggie was a grumpy rotten mess. it was so bad. even worse than we would let ourselves admit. she wasn't sleeping which made her feel awful. within a few days of her surgery she was so much better. now that she is sleeping soundly again everything is better.

everything.

if your child isn't sleeping well. do whatever it takes to get them sleep. read about it. talk to your doctor about it. try new things. just get them sleep. they need it. 

hello tuesday AND a meal plan.

#selfiesunday

oh man.

our weekend was fantastic. birthday celebrations, church, naps, time together.

our monday was full. softball games for both girls at the same time on fields right next to each other. ellie smashed a double. cece went 3 for 3. and extra cheerleaders-- nana and emily and gabers and max and becca and josh and lola--were all on hand to cheer.

today. today was interesting. ellie and i survived a two hour power outage at school. and if you think survived is a bit over dramatic....have you ever spent a few hours in a classroom with no AC and 30 7th graders with questionable hygiene practices?

ok survived is way over dramatic.

but. it. was. stinky.

and then we rushed to ellie's softball game only to have it canceled due to weather.

bed time came early tonight and no one questioned it one bit. we have a tired crew around here.


so here is our meal plan.

monday: we had freaky fast jimmy johns with nana.

tuesday: slow cooker cream cheese chicken chili 

wednesday: pork chops and green beans

thursday: tuna and noodles

friday: homemade pizza



one more thing.

if you don't read amanda goodman's blog..... you should.

this {post} was so good.

especially the line about the questionably edible food cooking away in the crock pot....

yep. been there.



happy tuesday.

back to school

we hit the ground running this school year. 

between maggie's surgery, softball, starting middle school, new principals for me...it was very...full.

it feels like we are just now catching our breath. 

so let's review. 

miss cecilia kate started second grade. 

miss ellie jolynn started sixth grade.

everyone is doing well.

books are getting read.

homework is getting done.

quizzes are being studied for.

lunches packed.

teeth brushed.

school year 2015-16 we got this.