Happy Birthday First Born!

I wish I had a picture of my beautiful daughter to add to this post. But she is not with me :( This pic taken earlier at the zoo will have to do:

12 TWELVE years ago she entered our lives and changed them forever. I wanted to get married and have babies. That was pretty much it. I majored in choral music education, but I was never "career minded." I love my job and am grateful for it. But it is the cherry on top. I remember well the feeling of "completeness" I had after she was born. I was a mother. I remember thinking that if she were the only baby I ever had, she was enough.

I can't imagine a better daughter. She is the most helpful, most loving, best daughter/sister/friend. She has made much wiser choices than when I was her age. She seems to understand the importance of people over things. (even though she still likes to complain about her lack of things... the poor child doesn't have a cell phone and she loves to tell me she's THE ONLY ONE) But she is still incredibly giving and would always give away her most favorite thing if she thought it would make someone else happy. Even when she was little she would do that. She'd get a new toy and give it to a friend who had been wanting one just like it.

And now, she is just gorgeous. I know I am biased... but she just keeps getting prettier and prettier.

I love you Abigail and am sad you aren't with me today, but I know you will have a wonderful time with your grandmother :) You deserve to take a break from this crazy household!

Milestone

I have a lot I need to write down that will probably never happen... but the biggest thing that has happened that I've yet to blog about is....

Levi is sleeping in a crib. He is 18 months and most accomplish this long before now. But as most of you know, I don't do things like most people :) That's why I don't complain (very often) about the lack of sleep. I chose to parent this way, and with it comes many inconveniences. But, I'm not trying to raise a good baby. I'm trying to raise a good adult. And for me and mine, that means I miss out on a lot of things while they are babies. I could count the number of times I've been out at night without him on one hand... and I've been back by 10 in order to put him to bed. This during a time when David has been gone all the time. I could have gone with him to much of those things had I had a baby who would go to bed without me. But... that's ok. I chose to do it this way. And it didn't bother me til recently. I used to be able to lay down with him and then when he was out, I could have a couple of hours. But lately he wouldn't stay asleep. I'd have to lay down with him at 8 and I'd be trapped. Now, I lost weight because of it. I like to snack after the kids go to bed... and I couldn't :) I was reading a lot on my phone with the Kindle app trapped in my room. Naptime was awful too.
I had tried to put him in his crib starting at around a year. I don't give much solid food until then, so nursing round the clock means he sleeps with me or I don't get any sleep. And I like my babies near me. That's what I did with all the other boys and it worked fine with them. But Levi would have none of it. I'd try... he'd scream. And since I don't "let him cry it out" either... that didn't work for me. But all of a sudden, he was willing. Very quickly he even started preferring it. I would try to rock him for a bit, but he'd grunt and pull on my neck to put him in his crib! No tears, just a happy little guy going down for a nap or bed.
And now I can come downstairs and snack and gain back all the weight I lost.
If you are wondering, it has worked well for us thus far. I do not have overly attached older children. They are confident and independent. We'll see what happens with Levi :)

right after this I stepped all over a stranger trying to get myself and Levi away from the very long string of spit that had detached from her mouth.

Becca Sanders
forgive typos- sent from phone

And here is tomorrows smoked chicken

My first smoked roast

Becca Sanders
forgive typos- sent from phone

Becca Sanders
forgive typos- sent from phone

Kitten

The orphan kitty died :( Mia tried her best I believe but for whatever reason, this morning he was not doing well. He was fine last night. I don't really know what happened. I know Mia took him in immediately. I gave him back to the lady who found him but he died this afternoon. I'm grateful Elijah didn't have to see it dead. He sure liked the little thing.
The other three are doing great. They are so much fun to watch.

Arkansas Baptist Choir

When you were little, there was no Elijah

So cute when your kids "get" stuff. Elijah was playing under the dining room table. It was my grandmother's originally and in our living room when I was little. I told Elijah I used to play under that table when I was little. He said "yeah, and when you were little, there was no Elijah." Then he said "and when I was a baby, there was no Levi." I told him he was right and "so smart." He was on a roll. He said "when Noah was a baby, there was no Levi. When Abigail was a baby, there was no Noah. And when you were a baby, there was no Abigail. When Daddy was a baby, there was no Mama." I didn't explain to him that actually, Mama is older than Daddy." I'm sure he thinks since Daddy is bigger than Mama, he must be older. But, he does get it!
Mia has adopted a kitten. A friend from church found an abandoned kitten only a few days old. She was bottle feeding it, but found out we have a mama that just might take it in. And she did immediately. Poor thing had pooped on itself and right away Mia started cleaning it up. Ew I know, but I guess it is just instinct. She has been nursing him too. She pulled one of her kittens out of their big ol box (not an easy task since they aren't tiny anymore and she had quite a wall to jump over) and put it in with the kitten. I suppose to keep it company. I did feel sorry for the little guy being all alone. I *think* she chose the girl too (I have difficulty telling, the only one I am sure is a boy is the black one). But I don't know if she chose that one b/c of being female or for being more serene. Sweet though. She cuddles right up with it and stays in the box.
I think I have all the kittens adopted. Three people are interested. Two of them are interested in 2 kittens and one is interested in the black one. Hopefully with all that interest, they will all be taken. The lady who found the white one will take it back.
I have videos of Mia nursing the adopted kitten but they won't upload.
Well, the black one DOES have a home, she just called. So, I am down to the two striped and if the others just want one, then they are all gone.

Cuddling brothers, not head butting :)

Couple more good ones

Wednesday November 2, 2005
After riding silently in the back of my car for several minutes, Isaac asks, "Mommy? Am I a Christian?" How do you answer that in 3 yr old terms? I just said "Have you asked Jesus into your heart?" He said "yes." I left it at that... and thankfully he didn't ask anything else.

Car starts honking in a parking lot, lights flashing. Abigail said "what is that?" I said "That's a car alarm going off." She said, "Why is it called going OFF? Shouldn't it be called going ON?" Good point.

And my sweetheart Noah...for no reason whatsoever, comes up to me and says, "I love you mommy. You're the best mommy in the whole world." That is a regular thing for him... but still melts my heart every time. This is the child who will thank me a dozen times in a day just for getting him new socks.


Friday November 4, 2005
The mind of a three year old:

"I need to go potty... I'll take off my pants.... I really want some candy on top of the fridge... I need to go potty.... candy... potty.... candy... I'll climb on top of the counter..... I gotta go potty... I WANT candy.... mmmmmmmmmmm candy..... uh oh....."

At which point Abigail says "Mommy! Isaac just peed all over the counter." Naked pee= everywhere. And all over my Senseo. Grrrrrrrr

Awww, and just now one of those good moments... Abigail is in here copying a turkey (on the printer... takes a while) that Noah got from his teacher. He just came up and said "I'm glad you are copying the turkey Abigail b/c I love you (he wanted her to have one too)." And Abigail says "I love you too." And they hug.

When you have young children the days are long, but the years are short.

Joyfulnoyz

Anyone know of a site that would make a blog book from my old xanga? In trying to figure that out, I read some funny stuff from those days...

Monday December 5, 2005
Had this conversation on the way home from school. I had the kids in the car and thought I had David on the phone.
Me: I'm losing you.... Are you there?...it can't be my phone.... I have all my biscuits. (((meaning those lines on the phone that tell you how good your reception is)))
Abigail: Hey! We're not biscuits!
Me: I'm talking about the antenna icon on my phone.
Abigail: Oh.

Thursday December 1, 2005
Abigail: What state is that building that looks like a person in?
Me: You mean the Statue of Liberty?
Abigail: No, its not like a whole person... just the legs.
Me: A building that looks like legs. I have no idea.
Abigail: Well, its not really a building, its open. It doesn't have walls.
Me: A building without walls that looks like legs.............. you mean the Eiffel Tower?
Abigail: Yeah, the Eiffel tower.
Me: Its in France.

Friday December 9, 2005
I love my choirs. Seriously. I got tickled today while they were singing. I hadn't paid attention to what they looked like with all those silly Santa hats on... but once I did I couldn't stop laughing. But to think they actually wore them... and no one even complained about it... yeah, I love them.

Noah got mad at me tonight. I stupidly tried to get him to let Isaac keep the football by saying "hey, you wanna be my favorite little boy... let Isaac keep the ball." Dumb move mom... b/c not only did it not work, Isaac happily handed over the ball to Noah so he could be my favorite little boy. I thought Isaac wouldn't pay attention to what I just said and I thought being my favorite little boy would be all Noah needed to hear to forget about that stupid ball. So what does Noah do? He bawls. "YOU LOVE ISAAC MORE THAN ME!" Smoothe move mom. I tried to cover it up by saying Isaac was my favorite 3 year old and Noah was my favorite 5 year old... but it was too late. So then he says "I'm gonna crush you dead." Yes, sounds scary coming from a 5 year old... you gotta remember this is my overly emotional kid who has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. There is no middle ground. But, when we got home we went back in the playroom and I got him to think thru the events and how silly it would be to think I really cared about a ball and who had it... he understood I was just trying to re-establish peace in the back of the PT cruiser... and then he realized what he said, started bawling and told me I couldn't be dead b/c then I couldn't feed him or buy him toys. Thanks little man. I told him I wouldn't be able to hug him either. He cried, "you wouldn't be able to come to my party you'd just be dead ON THE FLOOR!" Crazy little head of his... he calmed down and he knows I love all my kiddos. Lesson learned.

Levi vacuums

Savvy Kids March Family

Here is the link to the March issue of Savvy Kids. We're on page 6. Not the best picture, but fabulous considering how hard it was to get Levi to cooperate. I love the small one on the left. Where is Levi? He's running away. All he wanted to do was climb the marble (scare me) steps. I was chasing him and trying to find SOMETHING to make him happy. Found Abigail's small pop up ipod speakers in her purse. Gave him one of those that he was holding in his right hand, cracker in the other.

Had Choral Performance Assessment yesterday. We did 3 songs instead of 2. Probably would have scored a bit better had we not done 3, but I really wanted the comments to prepare for state. There weren't many negative comments, but they were about the piece I considered not doing (Praising Song). It wasn't *quite* ready, but we still did it. I was very happy. They received a 97, 95, and a 92. I was hoping for not just straight ones, but above 95. So sure, wish the 92 had been higher... but I'm still pleased as punch :)

They also got a superior in sight reading. First time for us to attempt solfege at CPA. I've been trying to make the switch from numbers to solfege but since *I* am more comfortable on numbers, it has been tough. They did great though. They are much more malleable than I.

Today we are going to the zoo. It is a bit chilly, but the penguin exhibit opens and we got invitations for the grand opening and free passes. There aren't many legislative perks that excite the kids... so those that do, I want to take advantage of.

Went skating last night. Or rather, took the kids. I curled up on the couch in the CFLC and read a book. I developed a pretty bad cold right after CPA (funny how that happens... happened right after the Madrigal Dinner too). David kept the little guys at home thank goodness. I was in no mood for chasing. Went to bed at 9:30. Don't much feel like the zoo... but as I said, there aren't many legislative perks that benefit the kids.

Off we go.