pictures

We were so excited to have Elizabeth Wiggs take some pictures of our family and some newborn pictures of Eliza yesterday.  She always makes things go so smoothly...which is not easy when you are trying to get a four year old and a two year to look at the camera and not squish their newborn sister.  Here is the link if you want to see some of the pictures:

http://elizabethwiggsphotography.com/blog/?p=4165

eliza's birth day

Eliza Grey was born at 3:32 pm on Thursday.  She weighed in at 8 pounds, 15 ounces.  She is such a joy already!  Here is her birthday in pictures:

almost there

My inservice exam (kind of like practice board exam) was on Thursday.  I breathed a sigh of relief, and then I was ready to have the baby.  I realized that I had been telling myself for months, really since I found out that I was pregnant, that I had to make it through the inservice before I could have the baby (as if I could control it).  So, as soon as it was actually over, I just assumed I would immediately go into labor.  You would think I would have learned my lesson by baby number three.

So, I'm still pregnant.  And, I have two little people to keep me very busy in the meantime.  I keep wanting to post on our wonderful potty training success with Hazel, but then she has an accident so I have to put it off.  She has actually done very well...she hates to be dirty or wet, so that helps.  I really think the key in potty training is just to go to underwear as quickly as possible (during the day that is)...it is just really difficult to be motivated to run to the potty (for me or for her) if I know she has a pull-up on.  The bad thing about potty training girls is the public restrooms...it is so much easier with a boy.  I think we touched every surface in the Target bathroom the first time we went to the potty there.  The last 6 weeks were our first 6 weeks without someone in diapers (I'm not counting pull-ups), since William was born.  And, now we are buying size 1's again.  I didn't even bother with the newborn size diapers this time...I'm not sure how accurate the ultrasound weight estimates are, but if they are at all close this baby is going to be big.  I embarrassed to even say how big the estimate was this week, so I'll just leave it at that.

I have had these lyrics from Sandra McCracken on my mind this week as we wait for another little one.  I think I may have posted them when we were waiting for Hazel, but they are such a good reminder to me to rest in God.

I was made in a hidden place

There from your love I could not escape 

If I tried 

In wonder and in a trembling state 

We wait to meet this child 

I can not see with human eyes 

The secret plans you have devised 

My heart is full as I contemplate 

The frailty and the fullness 

Oh I marvel at Your goodness to me 

How soon the fog will lift 

We will hold her like a gift 

But for now I rest in this in-between 

And the heavy clouds of this waiting season 

Knowing that you are as close as the clothes I wear. 

These hours I will savor 

You surround me as I waiver 

Whom am I to know such favor 

I was made in a hidden place 

There from your love I could not escape If I tried

weekend nesting

I have been really wanting to re-do our bathroom for a while now.  I've been working really hard on it by pinning a bunch of things on pinterest, and then showing them to HJ and telling him how easy it would be to do all the projects I have pinned.  We looked at a bunch of different options for a new vanity top, but basically everything was super expensive because the space is 1 inch smaller than all the standard vanity tops.  And, those standard vanity tops are pricey anyway.

So, I first decided that I wanted an epoxy resin countertop, a la high school chemistry lab.  Then we thought about concrete (HJ didn't really buy that it would be super easy to make our own concrete countertops).  So, we ended up settling on a wood countertop, stained black, and sealed.  Here are the before's of the bathroom, and then some after shots of the vanity top.  HJ made the whole thing and the mirror frame himself.  He's handy like that.

The shower, bathtub, lighting, floor, and toilet are next on the agenda.  I better get to pinning.

Before

After

I'm pretty proud of those sinks...they were $44 dollars each from Home Depot and we got $50 off for opening a Home Depot card (which we won't use, but it was worth the discount).  They were supposed to be wall mount, but we used them as vessel sinks.  All the square vessel sinks I looked at were at least $200, so $50 total was not bad.

Now, I need to do some things that really need to get done like study for my inservice exam and wash some baby clothes.

thoughts to make your heart sing

                                              

In December, we went to the "Behold the Lamb of God" concert at the Ryman in Nashville for the second year in a row.  Sally Lloyd-Jones opened up by reading from her new book, "Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing".  We have been reading this to the kids every night, and last night we got to the section she used to open the concert.  I love the way she explains things in kid-friendly language without sacrificing the meaning.  As you can imagine, the kids always sit perfectly still and listen to the whole thing and then have a long meaningful discussion on it afterwards.  Just kidding...William does actually listen pretty well, but then he will come out with some question about transformers or some other unrelated thing right when you think you have made some poignant point.  And Hazel is doing good to sit still for even the first paragraph.

But, we keep on trying.  And, sometimes they say something that lets us know it is sinking in.

Here is the section we read last night:

God's Title

When someone important is being introduced, the announcer usually says, "Mr. So-And-So- Founder of This Extra-Important Company!" or, "Miss Something Else- Nobel Prize-Winning Inventor of This Brilliant Thing!"

Do you know how God likes to be introduced?

Our Almighty God, who sifted stars through his fingers, stands not with kings and princes, but with the weak, the powerless, the poor.

Because the people no one else thinks are important have a special place in God's heart. He hears their cries. He fights for them and defends them.

And one night long ago, in Bethlehem, he stepped out of heaven and became one of them

good eats

Among the many things I love about Memphis, the food is definitely high on the list.  We have a lot of it and it is tasty.  So, when we found this list of the top 100 best things to eat in Memphis on the I Love Memphis blog, we decided to try and eat them all.  We've only made it through 27 of them so far, but we knocked out a few more this weekend.  We've been trying to Instagram them all...just to document the process of us eating a ton of delicious foods.

Republic Coffee Cheese Grits

Soul Fish Pickled Green Tomatoes

Here's what we've had so far:

Fried chicken breast	Gus's
Guacamole	Las Delicias
Sushi	Gas Station
San Diegan	Brother Juniper's
Barbecue pizza	Coletta's
Capote cupcake	Muddy's Bakeshop
Joyce roll	Sakura
Twice-baked potato salad	One and Only BBQ
Barbecue nachos	Central BBQ
Chicken salad sandwich	Young Ave
French fries / sweet potato fries	Young Ave
Spicy crab soup	Ryu
Cheese grits	Republic Coffee
Pickled green tomatoes	Soul Fish
Ribs	Central Barbecue
Goat taco	La Guadalupana
Wings	Molly's La Casita
Burger	Huey's
All-in-one	Las Delicias
Pronto Pup
Lobster roll	Slider Inn
Self-serve frozen yogurt	Yolo
Reuben	Trolley Stop Market
Chili pineapple paleta	La Michoacana
Rib tips	Tom's Barbecue
Turkey leg	a vendor outside of a Melrose High football game
Blueberry donuts	Gibson's

My favorites are Las Delicias guacamole (we eat this about once a week), Muddy's (wish I could eat this once a week), and the Joyce Roll at Sakura.  We've added a few regulars thanks to trying these new places...La Guadalupana and Ryu Sushi.

We're hoping to finish the list in 2013.  Anyone want to join us?

birthday boy

This guy is now four years old.  It hard to believe he's gone from this...

to this in four short years.  

 This has been big year for him.  He started pre-school and soccer, and we went from wanting a Wiggles party last year to wanting Transformers.  That is quite the leap.  He is all boy, but also all oldest child.  He reminds me a lot of HJ...even his playing is usually pretty serious (unlike Hazel).  He loves for us to read to him and to tell him stories.  He has such a wonderful imagination, and he loves to dress-up.  He wears a costume at some point almost every day.  We did manage to talk him out of wearing his Optimus Prime costume to his birthday party.  

We are so grateful for the last four years!  William is such a sweet big brother to Hazel, and I know he will be to Eliza, too! 

Happy Birthday, Sweet William!

Things that are hard to do when your belly is huge...

1. Pee in a cup...this is a cruel joke they play on you at your every other week check-ups.  I'm convinced they have a camera in there just to give the nurses some daily entertainment.

2. Study...my inservice exam (practice board exam) is coming up next month, so I'v been trying to log some extra study time.  My textbook is too huge to put on top of my belly and awkward to put in my lap.  I try sitting at the table but then my back hurts...

3. Roll over in bed...I feel like I have to pull my belly across with my hands.

4. Get an almost four-year-old into a shopping cart...some of the carts are too big for him to climb in himself, but I have a contraction every time I pick him up.  Good thing my 2-year-old weighs about the same as a six-month-old, so she's still easy to pick up.  And, good thing my 4-year-old doesn't have to be picked up that often.  I had to pick him up from school with a fever one day, and he wanted me to carry him in Walgreens while we were picking up some tylenol.  I had to keep putting him down to rest and he would lie on the floor in Walgreens until I could pick him up again.  I'm sure it provided some entertainment to some midtowners.

5. Put on compression stockings...yes, I wear those.  Yes, I wear them with dansko's.  I look like Mrs. Doubtfire.

6. Shave your legs.

7. Park in small parking spots.  I may or may not have had to back out of a spot and find another one at the doctor's office when I realized I could not fit out of the door in the first spot.

8. Look in a microscope...not sure how my mom and sister did this but when I lean up far enough to see in the microscope I can't breath.

9.  Read to children in your lap...especially two at one time.  But, I still do it all the time, and hopefully they don't mind sharing space with their little sister.

10.  Sleep...so sad.  I'm just hitting the difficult sleeping time.  I usually end up sitting on the couch eating ice cream for about an hour every night around 2 am for the last week of pregnancy.  

Having said all that, I am thankful for two previous healthy pregnancies, and that this one has gone smoothly so far.  William said today that when Eliza comes, he will "read books to her all the time and hold her in his hands."  There are no small pregnancy inconveniences that can outweigh the joy of these hilarious and sweet kiddos.  I am overwhelmed sometimes, but it is a good kind of overwhelmed.  

weekend update

I am thankful for cousins who live close by and the children's museum on cold Saturday mornings!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

potty training, admitting defeat, and a new year

1. Potty Training, Day 3

Potty Training commenced on New Year's Eve at our house.  I thought since I had a day off it would be a good time to start.  Doesn't potty training a 2 year old while home by yourself with the 2 year old and a 3 year old while 31 weeks pregnant sound like a good idea?  It was pretty much exhausting.  The day started off with me showing Hazel all the wonderful treats she would receive if she stayed "dry and clean" and pee-peed in the potty...which lead to her lying on the kitchen floor crying because she wanted the treats right then.  Great start to the day.  But, she has actually done very well...she hates to be wet or dirty in any way (she cries if she even spills her drink on her pants), so that has helped.  We have eaten a lot of M&M's and had a lot of chocolate milk.  Her first steps were for a brownie, so chocolate seems to do the trick for her...every girl can be bribed with a little chocolate, right?

2.  Admitting Defeat

On the other hand, I am admitting defeat in the sleeping department for Hazel.  We have tried, for months now, to get her to sleep in a bed in the room with William.  It has become almost comically bad, and we are giving up.  We have read books on the subject, blogs on the subject, gotten advice on the subject...I really don't know what else to do.  She will not stay in her bed when William is in the room.  She is fine as long as he's not there, but if he's in the room she immediately takes all of her stuff (pillow, blankets, animals, books, water) and runs to his bed.  After Thanksgiving, we started putting her in the pack n' play in their room if she got out of her bed, but this hasn't helped either.  She also tries to take all of her clothes off and we have found her in the pack 'n play completely naked several times...she doesn't like to leave her diaper on if it's wet so she just takes it off after she tee-tee's...thus the need to potty train ASAP.  So, we are moving her crib into their room and buying a new one for the baby.  Maybe she will just sleep in her crib til she's in kindergarten.

3. A New Year

I'm keeping my New Year's resolutions simple this year.  There are lots of things I would like to get done, and I am definitely in full out nesting mode right now, but what I really want is to change what I do on a daily basis.  I even made myself a little list and put it by my bed to remind myself of these daily goals.  I want to get up earlier...HJ and I are both serious night owls, and we tend to stay up to midnight most nights.  We rarely go to bed before eleven.  But, I can study the Bible and pray with so much more focus in the morning. And, it really makes a difference to be up before the kids instead of rushing around like crazy to get ready for school and work once they wake up.  I also feel like my Bible reading has just gotten very routine...I want to read to learn and grow and pray trusting that God is good and has good plans for me.  As for being present, I am committing to putting the phone away when I get home...I'm embarrassed to admit how many times I am distracted during the short time I have home with the kids in the evening.  I want to love and serve them (and HJ) more selflessly. I know those are all things I should already be doing, but I am hoping putting them in writing will help me commit to doing them. Happy 2013!

naming babies and other thoughts

We are not good at naming babies.  I can't remember exactly when we settled on Hazel's name, but I think I was around 36 or 37 weeks.  I set a deadline for deciding on a name this time around because I wanted to tell our families over Christmas.  We get our moms a charm with the baby's initial for each grandchild, and I really wanted that to be part of the Christmas present.  And, now that the gift has been given and the name has been told...I can share it on the blog.

We have a list of about 15 girls names on my computer that I would add to every once in a while before we had Hazel.  (By the way, William is a fourth, so he was easy to name.)  Anyway, we have this list that we always try to pick a name from, but we can never decide on any from the list.  We narrow it down to about three names, and then we can't pick one.  Then, one day we hear another name (such as Hazel), and we just decided we like it and go with it.  So, that's what happened again.  We had it narrowed down to two names, but then we decided on a completely different one:

Eliza Grey

There are lots of reasons why we like it, but basically we like the meaning (pledged to God), it has a "Z" like Hazel, it has an "L" (which is a weird requirement that I have for all our kids' names...dont' know why), together the names represent two of our favorite books (Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice and Gandalf the Grey from Lord of the Rings).  I realize that I am showing what a nerd I am with these reasons, but oh well.

Here are a few pics...me at 30 weeks.  I'm not sure why my belly is such a weird shape in this picture...

Here are some kiddo shots.  This is just so typical...William making gun noises with his transformers, Hazel with her necklace, putting on my chapstick like lipstick.  Boys and girls (at least my boy and girl) are such different creatures.  I love their differences.

merry christmas

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross"

Colossians 1: 15-20

O Bright Morning Star, shine in our hearts this Christmas.

Awake our souls and break our chains, that we may fly to you.

O Age Old Gift sent down to earth, wrap us in your wings.

Gather up your scattered children, in comfort and in peace.

O Image of the Invisible God, firstborn from the dead,

Reconcile our hearts to you, and let us love you still.

done and done

The Green Arrow is ready to go.  After one last attempt to find a green arrow costume online (in a kid size), I just dove in and made it.  Okay, really I ordered a bunch of stuff off amazon and made a few little things to go with it.  I ordered a peter pan costume, a bow and arrow set, and a black super hero mask.  And yes, that is my pregnant belly in the bottom of the first picture...oops.

Here's the stuff I ordered:

 

I made a little belt and sash with a quiver attached for the arrows and a littler holster for the Green Arrow's knife.  I have no idea if Green Arrow has a knife, but it came with the bow and arrow, and I thought it would be cute to have a place to put it. I managed to get my belly out of the shot this time.

 Here it is all ready to be wrapped...except for the red gloves which finally came in the mail today and some red boots (which are actually just red socks, but hopefully they'll work).

On two completely unrelated notes, William was a shepherd in his Christmas play today.  I may have been taking a video with my phone while also taking pictures with my camera in true crazy mom style.  No shame here.  I couldn't resist his cute shepherd outfit.

And, please wish me luck as we attempt to potty train this little lady right after Christmas.  I put her in a pull-up for the first time last weekend, and she proceeded to tee-tee in the pull-up, take it off, throw it in the garbage, and put on a new pull-up.  Then she said, "I get a new diaper".  Besides having both legs in one leg of the pull-up, she pretty much did the whole thing herself.  So, we may not be any closer to using the potty, but at least she can change her own diapers now.  We used the "3-Day Method" with William, and it worked really well.  We'll see how round two goes in a few weeks.

the green arrow

We haven't made a big deal of Santa, but somehow William knows all about him.  And, he asked him for three very specific things when he went to see him.  The first two were things he had seen at target- the bat cave and the bat wing.  The third was a green arrow costume.  Apparently, the green arrow is one of batman's friends.  I'm new to this superhero stuff, so I had to google him.  Unfortunately, there does not seem to be anyone else in the world who wants to dress up like the green arrow, and you can't just order a costume on amazon.

At first I thought maybe he was confused, and actually wanted a green lantern costume...which is available pretty much anywhere.  I asked him what the green arrow's uniform looked like and he said, "he wears a green hat with a red feather and a green shirt and red gloves and red boots and a bow and arrow".


Here he is, courtesy of google:




Last week at church, they asked the kids what their favorite Christmas present ever was, and William said his green arrow costume.  So, I guess I'll be making a green arrow costume.  I'll try to post some pictures when it's finished.

instasaturday

Here are a few Instagrams from this week. We had to have a bubble bath one night- instant cure for grumpies! Haz thinks boots and a diaper are all you need to wear and she's trying to instill the same values in her doll. Both kids love mexican food...I asked Haz if she wanted a soft or crunchy taco on the way to the restaurant, and she said, "I want rice". I'm pretty sure she could eat her weight in rice, chips, and salsa. Have a happy weekend!

get your crafty on

I really like to make things, but I basically have no time in which to do it.  Unless you count cutting out skin cancers and changing diapers as making things.  I think it drives HJ crazy that I'm always working on some crafting project when we have a thousand other things going on, but it is so relaxing to me to work on a project.  So, I make some time to craft here and there despite the craziness of our schedules.  My latest little project was a hat for Hazel.  I used the pattern linked at the bottom for the hat, and I just freestyled her "h" onto the side.  For those who are interested, I made 2 short strings by chaining what looked like a good amount for the "h" and then I sewed it onto the hat with matching green thread...very complicated.

I showed it to Hazel, and she said, "don't want it".  Oh well, she prefers to wear her bicycle helmet around the house instead of her cute new hat.

 

Earflap pattern source (I used the child size instead of toddler because my kids have big heads):
http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/09/crochet-owl-hat-pattern-in-newborn.html

weekend update

We attempted some family pictures this weekend at Shelby Farms.  I can't say it was a great success, as we did not get any of the whole family with us all looking at the camera, but we go some cute ones of the kids.  Thanks to the Kempes for their awesome photography skills:)  Hazel was amazed by Ingrid's gold shoes...I think she is giving her some pointers on fashion in the cousins picture.  Williams and Shepherd were more interested in fruit snacks and pine needles than their apparel.

InstaFriday

Since I'm on a roll here, I thought I'd post again...twice in one week! I'm trying out blogger on my phone while I wait at the doctor's office, so we'll see how it goes. Despite the fact that I've neglected the old blog, I have actually caught on to Instagram. You can find me @emijoned, where I do actually post pictures of the kiddos pretty regularly. I'm also on pinterest...which is an immense waste of time but super addicting!