Jastef

You know how people often say "its that time of the year again!" ? Well, for me, its that time of life... already!

I cannot believe we'll be starting Kindergarten with Ethan in just a little over one month! Amazing... We've gone back and forth... and back again on the subject of school; our options or lack thereof. We're both at a place where, at this point in life, we're taking the home school rout. I can't point out any other reasons than our own fabulous experiences with home schooling and then our lack of enthusiasm for the public school system. I'm not going to get into great detail here, because I know this subject is either for or against and I don't intend for this post to be on whether its right to home school or not. Along with many life decision, I put this one in the category of "to each his own." What works for one family, may not work for another and that's fine. Its our freedom to decide what's best for us, thank God.

My own experience with homeschooling (K-12th grade) was great and I look back and can see the amazing benefits it gave to me, personally and I hope it ends up being just as much of a blessing for our family. Since it is Kindergarten, lets face it, we'll be mostly just having fun for the next year. I'm not intending to prep Ethan for college by the age of 10 :)
We're looking forward to field trips, learning to add and subtract by playing store, cooking in the kitchen and being creative on our long car rides. I'm excited to be able to teach the kids fun things I learned when I was little. I think Ethan will be a great student, but I am well aware of his, sometimes difficult personality and so I'm preparing myself for "those" days. He is a very smart boy and loves to learn, so with patience and guidance from God, I'm convinced the two of us will get along with it just fine.

The other day he shocked me with his understanding of mathematics. We were in the car (where we do a ton of our talking) and he asked me "How many brothers does Caedmon have?" So I said "he has two brothers." He followed with "And how many sisters does he have?" So I answered with "he has two sisters." He sat there looking out the window for about a minute and then he said "So... he has two brothers... and two sisters... and then there's Caedmon... (long pause) ..... so there's 5 kids!" I was blown away. Ethan totally gets logic, just like his Daddy. It makes sense to him. He is a visual learner, but he's been blessed by being able to also retain information he's given, even when its just verbal.

I am also so thankful for a great support system, not only from Jase, but from so many of my family and friends. I'm definitely not going at this alone and that in-and-of-itself is so comforting!

When I feel discouraged, ill qualified or just plan selfish with my time... I stop and remember the verse "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"

When did you first realize you were a grown-up?

I saw this question in a magazine and had to stop and think what my answer would be. I love questions that make me stop, close my eyes tight and really give it some thought. For me, going back more than 5 years in my memory seems to get harder and harder, the older I get.
So for this question, I really had to think hard. When did I first feel grown-up?

I want to say it was when I had my first taste of alcohol on my 21st birthday... but that didn't really do it. I actually remember feeling really let down at how dull sipping an alcoholic drink was. I think I thought something magical was going to happen, but I felt the same and was quickly disappointed.
Then I thought getting married would make me feel grown-up, but that didn't really work in my favor either. Instead, I felt like a little kid again, learning all the new, exciting and confusing ways of my new world. I think, for me, becoming a Mom was the first time I truly stopped and realized, "Wow! I've grown up!" I laid there in the hospital bed, looking at my beautiful son (even with his funny cone shaped head) and realized for the first time in my life, I was in charge of another human being. I was the caregiver and provider for this tiny, little being. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the sudden responsibility and in some ways, wanting to give it back, for fear that I'd mess-up. When Ethan was 2 days old and we were first home from the hospital, I was changing his first real poopy diaper, starting to leak milk (yay for milk coming in!), the phone was ringing like mad, and he was screaming out of hunger. I got him into a new diaper, grabbed a blanket, gladly let the phone go to the machine and started to nurse him. I remember looking at him (while he ate like there was no tomorrow) and saying to him "We're a team now, buddy." Seems like silly words, but it was in that moment I realized the weight of my responsibility, but also the joy that came along with it.

Then I think the next time was hearing Ethan call me "Mama". I remember crying the first time he said it. I walked into his room one morning and there he was, sitting in his crib, playing happily with some toys. He looked up, our eyes met, he smiled and yelled "Mama!!" ... and I melted.

But, if we're being totally honest here, I'd have to say the first (and not so exciting) time I realized I had become a grown-up, was when the thought of an afternoon nap seemed so deliciously wonderful to me.

What about you?

Our Rachel-Kate is 3 today. THREE! I keep saying it to myself and still cannot believe it. Her birth day feels like it was maybe a year ago. I remember her pregnancy very vividly and even her baby days. I asked her last night if she'd just stay 2 years old forever and she replied with "No... I'm supposed to turn 3 so I can turn 4."
Her party was Saturday (total blast) and so today we're just having a low key day. Starting the morning off with donuts with Daddy and then a treasure hunt to find her gifts from us.

I can't say enough about Rachel and how much we love her. She's a girlie girl for sure (SO not like her Mommy was!) and enjoys all things pink, babies, dress-ups, and even legos and cars with Ethan. She has become very dramatic these past few months and we're working through it each day. I'm very thankful for her tender conscience and her desire to make things right when she's done wrong. She responds so well to discipline and loves to know people are pleased with her. At the same time, she is her own person and we're learning to help our kids be able to express themselves as individuals and to only care about their standing before God and not before others. I hope to help them avoid those hang-ups we had, as much as possible. :-)

Rachel is very smart. She amazes Jason and I with her quick learning abilities. She's 17 months younger than Ethan and yet has sat next to him and learned everything he has, at the speed he's learned it. When he learned his alphabet, she learned it too, when he learned his numbers, she learned them too, when he learned what sounds the letters make, so did Rachel! And now, as Ethan learns how to put letters together to make sounds and then words... she has too! She sat next to him during his AWANA memorization last year and had the verses memorized before he did.
She's a sponge! I love her little voice and her sweet disposition. I love that she says she's gonna marry her brother and her Daddy, I love that she tells us "I need to go to bed now" when we've kept her up too late and I love that she's girlie. I really do! I thought I'd hate it (and really thought that parents had to force that on their kids) but its fun to see her get into all that stuff on her own.
I cannot believe she's 3. Thank You, Lord for our beautiful little girl!

Happy 3rd birthday, Rachel!

This has been quite an eventful day for me! And, it started around 3am!!

My very good friend Gina (also our Bradley Instructor) graciously invited me to be present at the birth of her daughter and little Sonja made her entrance this morning at 3:07! Other than my 3 kid's births, I've only seen one other birth and that was my nephew Sam, 9 years ago. Sonja's birth was very different because it was at her home and in the water, but both were equally amazing and miraculous. I am in total bewilderment that there are OB's and midwives out there that deliver babies every day (several times a day) witnessing one of God's most amazing miracles and yet they still don't believe in Him as the Eternal Creator God. It completely mind boggling!

When I arrived at Gina's house, I figured we'd wait a bit for her to hit transition and then get to see her push the baby out. To my amazement, I was there less than 10 minutes when Sonja made her arrival! She has the sweetest and healthiest cry and made me cry just hearing it. I love getting to watch Mommy and baby meet and bond for the first time. Its so sweet to see the two look at each other in the outside world and get to see the face to match the voice and kicks. Gina did awesome. I wasn't there long, but I was there at that crucial point, when most women fall apart and make you want to leave the room (believe me, I've heard some women that have made me want to run from the hospital I'm in!) Gina was obviously in pain, but handled it all like a champ! I found myself holding MY breath while she was pushing and kept thinking "Oh boy... I know that look and those sounds all too well". I think only another Mommy can fully sympathize with a woman in labor. ;-)

I think one of the sweetest parts of watching her birth, was getting to see how excited her 3 brothers were to welcome her into God's world. Her oldest brother, Jozsef (9) has been praying for a sister for many years and so to him, this was God's direct gift to him; an answer to his faithful prayers all those years. When I saw the smile on Jozsef's face when Sonja was first born, it made me cry like a baby. Such a tender moment! Nikolas (6) was beaming ear to ear and then follows Connor, just turned 2 and yet totally understood what was going on. I would ask him "is that YOUR baby sister?" and without any hesitation he would answer "Dah!" (which means "yeah") So cute! I got home around 5am to Ethan crying with an earache. He told me he could feel water in his ear and it hurt down to his neck and in the back of his head. Being quite familiar with my own ear issues as a child, I knew exactly what was wrong with him - swimmers ear! :( I took him to Kaiser and that was the exact diagnosis. He's getting ear drops twice a day for 10 days and can't go swimming for the duration of July, which he's very sad about. We had to go buy some ear plugs for him to wear in the shower or when he runs through sprinklers. Poor guy - he had this same thing happen last summer because he had just had surgery. While I was there with Ethan, I told our Dr. that Kara had been up with a high fever around 1am that morning and that she seems to still be pulling on her ear a lot during the day. He was concerned that her Antibiotics aren't working (since she's had so many since being born) so he asked me to bring her in later on that day (she was at home sleeping when I was there with Ethan). So Kara and I ventured back around 3pm and sure enough, her ear has not completely healed yet. He thinks it didn't heal up due to all the swimming we've been doing. The water and moisture around an already sick ear probably just made it worse. So he put Kara on a heavier antibiotic and we're going to try and kill this thing once and for all. Now we're home and getting ready for the party tomorrow! I'm exhausted. I think I slept a grand total of 1.5 hours last night, so I'm running off of some freaky amount of adrenaline right now. :) I want to give a welcome to the 3 babies that our friends have welcomed over the past few weeks!

Peter Leonheart Jacob Handel "Leo" -- June 27th

Parker Robert Green -- July 2nd

Sonja Brianne Bartok -- July 10th

Welcome to God's world, sweet ones! 

I don't know about you moms out there, but I get so into to holidays for my kids, its not even funny. Christmas morning for me is more fun than it ever was; just watching the looks on their faces and watching them experience the joy I remember as a child. I get super duper into their birthdays. Its nuts. I'm having the hardest time NOT showing Rachel all the gifts we got her. Jason can testify to that - I have the hardest time not telling someone what I bought them, before they open it. When we were younger and would exchange gifts at Christmas and birthdays, I was the one who had already given him 5 million hints during the weeks leading up to the holiday, while he was the one who would make me close my eyes while opening the gifts, so that the shape wouldn't give it away. Exact opposites :)

Rachel is turning 3 on July 14th, but we're celebrating with a birthday party this weekend! She is so excited about her birthday. She told me today that this is the first birthday she ever remembers. I showed her pictures of her 2nd birthday and she said "Oh, I do remember that one... but I was just SO little back then." Made me laugh. Her party will be water themed, since its in the middle of July and she got to pick her guest list for the first time, which was fun. Always interesting to see who our kids pick, as apposed to us picking. Interestingly enough, Rachel's list almost perfectly matched mine.

Ethan bought her a bike helmet (my parents bought her a new, big girl bike!) I cannot wait to see the expression on her face. She's been talking about getting a big girl bike for the past 6 months. Jason and I bought her a cute little girl sized apron from the store Anthropology. I was more excited about finding something under $50.00 in that store :) I've been looking all over for a small apron for her and haven't been happy at all with what I've found. This one is perfect! It has very sweet details on it and the pattern has cupcakes all over it. Brown and pink are the main colors - so cute! I can't wait to see it on her. She loves to help me cook in the kitchen so this is pretty much the perfect gift for her. Kara bought her a princess activity book for the car. Lots of fun things to do in the car, besides watch a movie or stare out the window.

I'm wrapping the gifts tonight and seriously can't wait for her to open them! She's already seen two of the gifts, but she's so funny and has no idea they're for her. She kept asking today "are we giving the bike helmet to Ellie or Delaney?" (two girls at church) I kept saying "you'll have to wait and see!" ... clueless...

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