26 Nov 2009, 5:56pm | Comments: 3+

This is what I'm thankful for!!

From back to front: Ford; Finn, Hailie, Freeman; Heather, Forrest, Mama, Daddy, Fred, Heidi; Hilary, Holly, Hannah




All 30 of us!!

23 Nov 2009, 9:54am | Comments: 5+

Praise to Christ!

Our daughter was baptized this morning. She is now our daughter and our sister. God is good!

4 Nov 2009, 7:31pm | Comments: 7+

In which I post for the first time in over two weeks

There are only five days until we leave. So of course I planned on spending today sick. Thankfully I wasn't sick sick, like Bryan was last week. I think it was just my body saying, enough. You will spend the day in bed. So I did. And I plan to go to bed early tonight and hopefully the kids will sleep well.

Verity still isn't sleeping through the night, but she's doing loads better. I stopped her middle of the night feeds cold turkey, and after the first couple nights, she's gone back to sleep pretty easily, and also hasn't woken as many times. So even if she does have a bad night, it's not as draining on me physically because I'm not feeding her every two hours.

Man, it's times like these when I wish either Bryan or I (or both of us) were more organized. Ah well, we'll get there in the end. I am determined to get the house clean before we leave so that I don't come back to a depressingly untidy house.

Verity is talking already! She says Mama for me, bye-bye when someone is leaving (with a sweet wave) and uh-oh when she drops something. When I call "Da-ddy!", she responds with "uh-uh!" She also raises her little arms for an "Amen!" It was so thrilling to see my kids at Church on Sunday respond to the congregational amen with an Amen (in Symeon's case) and their arms raised to heaven. ♥

Symeon has begun the fun stage of putting thoughts to words. We passed someone on our walk the other day, and as they were going to cross the street, they went out into the road. Symeon calls back to them, "Watch for cars, somebody else!" People he doesn't know are nearly always 'somebody else', probably because they're not daddy, mama, etc. Tonight he went to bed with two armloads of cars, trains, diggers, trucks... you get the picture ;) He'd been in there for less than five minutes, and I hear a 'knock, knock, knock' on his door. He had forgotten his ute. As he was running out to the living room, he called out, "Be back in a moment!" :)

I'd better get some things done so I can go to bed again :)

19 Oct 2009, 10:11am | Comments: 1+

We ♥ Jessica!

Happy Birthday, moredetails! I hope your birthday is full of fun and great surprises!

17 Oct 2009, 11:26am | Comments: 1+

Phooey.

I've just discovered that lilac and privet are related. Anyone out there have allergies to privet and or lilac? Bryan's allergic to privet, and I wanted to plant some lilac, now I don't know if it's such a great idea.

12 Oct 2009, 12:55pm | Comments: +

Our trip to Whangarei

Here's looking at you!

Can't see through the windscreen!

Discovering slides ♥

12 Oct 2009, 8:51am | Comments: 1+

I love my in-laws!

Yesterday while we were off gallivanting in Whangarei, some fairies came and tidied my house!

In other news, I have Riverdance playing right now, and it's a singing number. The singers all have candles and when he saw that, Symeon said, "Have happy birthday candles?" I told him yes, and he watches for a couple minutes longer and says, "blow them out!"

We were visiting a friend named Hannah yesterday, and Symeon kept calling her Auntie Hilary. :)

8 Oct 2009, 10:08pm | Comments: 7+

*sigh*

I think the last eight months of sleep deprivation are really starting to catch up with me. Sleep deprivation meaning that in the last eight months I've probably slept longer than three hours less than a dozen times. Verity is still waking on average about four times at night. And she doesn't always go right back to sleep either. If you'd like to get an idea of what one of my nights is like, set your alarm to go off at 9:00, 11:30, 2:00, 5:00 and 6:30. Each time, get out of bed and stay up (as in, just sitting on the edge of your bed and not falling asleep) for 5-15 minutes. One or two of the times, set your alarm for five minutes later and then hit the snooze button until you realize it's an hour later and you still haven't been allowed to go back to sleep.

I have lost count of how many baby sleep books I've read, and how many different things I have tried. I know that possibly there is a way to get her to sleep longer, and so I grab at straws and hope that they don't break.

Anyway, all that to explain why I'm tired. Exhausted, really. I nearly dozed off driving home yesterday, and it was only a five minute drive! That really freaked me out. I'm finding it quite difficult to really get anything done between the kids and exhaustion, which adds frustration to the mix.

I'm not complaining really, just posting a 'this is me' thing. I'm resigned to the fact that 1. she's going to wake up a lot or 2. if she does sleep well, it will be either early on before I get to bed or on a night that Symeon decides to wake up. I know it won't last forever, and I'm looking forward to eager in-house babysitters in December to allow some naps.

Anyway, if you do wake up in the night, say a quick prayer that Verity would sleep, would you?

7 Oct 2009, 11:25pm | Comments: 4+

I so wanted to be in bed asleep by now, but my daughter has willed it otherwise. So you get to share some of what makes my life happy.


Notice that the singular of 'box' is 'bock'. :)

5 Oct 2009, 9:30pm | Comments: 1+

Symeon antics.

We have a high energy child. Who on earth did he get it from? Oh right, he must have gotten it from us, that's why we don't have any!

2 Oct 2009, 11:02am | Comments: 3+

Soooo excited!

We're leaving next month! I am so excited for this trip! I'm trying not to think about the fact that Bryan is coming home a month before the kids and me, and focusing on the fact that I get to spend the Christmas season in the northern hemisphere. Cold at Christmastime! Christmas lights! Christmas planning and preparation with my family! That usually helps if I think too much about our month long separation.

But first is visiting siblings and grandparents! Introducing my children to their other cousins and uncles and aunts and great grandparents!

Then... Thanksgiving! With the whole clan! Daddy, Mama and all their progeny! There will be 30 of us. Crazy fun!

38 days until we leave!!

25 Sep 2009, 11:22pm | Comments: 1+

Three more videos!

Aunty Kathryn blows bubbles for the kids:



Symeon splashes in the rain:



Broccoli revisited! I forgot that I took this video. She's hilarious!

24 Sep 2009, 8:22am | Comments: +

Yay!

The video on last night's post is working now!

23 Sep 2009, 9:43pm | Comments: 4+

hehe

In Which Verity Discovers Broccoli

23 Sep 2009, 9:20pm | Comments: 5+

Practicin'

Bryan is playing the organ on Sunday for Church, so he sat down to play through a few songs to see what he would choose. Symeon thought Bryan needed some vocal input, and Verity is wondering why everyone else is having such a good time without her! This'll be fun, he hasn't played for Church since before we got married!



P.S. I just found out that video embedding isn't working right now (except for a couple sites), so I guess you'll have to check back in the next couple days to see the video (unless, of course, you watch it on Facebook).

19 Sep 2009, 10:21pm | Comments: 2+

Wow!

www.roomurdock.com/

These are amazing!

And he's only 17!

19 Sep 2009, 1:08pm | Comments: 14+

I love this face.

12 Sep 2009, 1:05pm | Comments: 2+

Man, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry! My time just isn't my own anymore. Well, that and the fact that the time I get is sometimes so fragmented it's hard to keep up. So I shall update you on us:

Verity (nearly 8 months)
~ She is not only scooting, she is crawling now! It is so adorable to see the little hand/knee action. I told Bryan that if our kids continue at this rate (Symeon crawled at 6 months, Verity at 7), our seventh child won't crawl until his is 12 months old! Ha.
~ Those teeth finally came through! Yes, that is plural, both of her bottom front teeth emerged on the same day.
~ She is into everything! It's a lot harder to keep the floor tidy for a baby when there's a toddler in the house. We have already had several gagging episodes :P
~ She loves to be where her brother is. His toys are more fun, and he always seems to have food that looks good...
~ To add to her clapping accomplishment, she now waves bye-bye! It sometimes takes her a bit to get going, but it's so cute and sweet!
~ She likes to shout in hallways. It's funny because she learned it from her brother. When we're in an echo-y hallway, they'll shout back and forth to each other.

Symeon (25 months)
~ He's really growing in his vocabulary by leaps and bounds. It's amazing to us to see this development and hear the new ways he puts words to his thoughts. For example, yesterday he went to Bryan, holding his arm, and said, "Daddy, arm hurts!" Daddy, of course, kissed it all better ;)
~ He also has new teeth! Two of his two-year molars have come through, with apparent ease, as we didn't know about them until I saw them.
~ Still is a little picky eater, but he occasionally tries new things, and surprises us when he wants something that he usually doesn't like. I've been trying to have him in the kitchen with me when I cook and let him taste ingredients. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.
~ Got confused about his name when I introduced him to cinnamon. ;)
~ Had his first overnight without Daddy and Mama experience, and passed with flying colors.
~ Loves airplanes, trains and diggers. Hmmm. I think he's a boy :)

Bryan and Me (old enough to know better!)
~ We just celebrated our third wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe it's been that long, but then it also seems like a lot longer than that. God has been so good to us, and blessed us with a wonderful relationship. We took a drive up north on our anniversary, leaving Symeon with his grandparents. I hadn't been north of Auckland before, so it was fun to see some new country. We stopped at a beach near Marsden Point, and Verity got to dip her toes in the ocean for the first time. We then drove back to town and checked into a nice hotel for the night. We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant with a view over the harbor, and then after putting Verity to bed Bryan brought dessert to our room which also had a harbor view. We were able to get a late check out, so we didn't have to rush in the morning, which was wonderful. I got a long soak in the tub (noteworthy because we don't have one!), and Verity joined me at the end of it after the water had cooled. She loves water! We went on a ferry ride for no other reason than to be out on the water. It was very windy, but lovely too. All in all, it made for a very wonderful and relaxing 26 hours.
~ I'm still trying to get to the point where I feel like I'm on top of things, housework wise. It's a bit frustrating at times, but what can you do. My kids are a higher priority, and Verity is a little Mama's girl. While I could do things after they've gone to bed at night, or during naps, the emotional support is physically draining. Once a month we get the house almost completely tidy, so I get a fresh start, but I just wish it was easier to maintain! My hat is off to all of you with kids that keep your house clean!
~ Bryan has gotten more work than he expected, so our finances are not looking as grim as they could have. Since he is freelance, he has to rely on his contacts 'remembering' him. There's a new freelance Vision Mixer in the mix now, and people have been trying her out lately so he's missed out on some things that he may have gotten otherwise. Having said that though, he is well liked wherever he goes because he has such a great professional attitude. He's easy to work with, knowledgeable, willing to help and learn if needed, and goes the extra mile. And this isn't just me bragging either. :)

And I know it's been eons since I posted photos, and I'm sorry! Hopefully next week.

5 Sep 2009, 4:14pm | Comments: 6+

Finally sharing this!

24 Aug 2009, 10:46am | Comments: 2+

She's so smart!!!