These are a few of my favorite things...

....
Here are a few of the things "trending" in my life right now,

1) Essential Oils.

I know I've been headed down the hippy path for quite some time, and this might just seal the deal, but it is what it is.   If there is an ailment or concern in my life I first turn to food...always.  Have a cold?  Make some soup (with homemade broth of course....see below).  Had a bad day?  Eat some chocolate.  Have ADHD/autism tendencies? Remove dairy.   There are some things that food can't fix, or that would be enhanced with other methods.  So next I am turning to essential oils (but they have to be food grade...things I and my kids can ingest).   So far, I put theives in Sam's diaper spray (Oh, you didn't know I don't use baby wipes?  Yep.  I'm a hippy.  AND a cheapskate.)   I also rub lavender on his feet before bed : )  I am not a 100% believer yet, but I am definitely giving it a try!  I have all the ingredients for homemade deodorant, body butter and lip balm so watch out at Christmas time ; )

2)   Sprouts. 

 
I almost love it as much as Trader Joes...almost.   Their produce prices are exceptional and I can find Eli everything he needs.   I made the mistake of taking him with me last week and he caused our grocery bill to go up at least $100, I'm sure, because he was so excited about all of his options.  

3) Emerson

Click on link above to see Todd's new digs.   They opened last month and it is beautiful!!   On top of that he is now only 2.6 miles from our house!!!  

I can think of so much more, but Sam (another one of my favorite things), needs his mama.  

Dear Son,

Eli, Age 6

It's official.  You are in Kindergarten.  As I walked you there on that first day of school, I didn't feel sad or anxious.  I didn't feel guilt or remorse.  Or relief. (all emotions I expected to feel) Instead,  I felt proud.  I felt peaceful. I felt content.  Not only are you smart, but you're confident. 

You're friendly, you're funny, and you turn even the most simple moments into something silly and fun.   

You're a "creator" (You told me that one time...) and you are a fantastic big brother.  

Most of all?  You are Elijah, "the Lord is My God", and you are His...not mine.  He is creating you everyday into something fantastic.  It's been great to watch the past 6 years.   Yes there are some things I mourn.  I wish I would have built your more train tracks.  I wish I would have read that book just one more time.  I wish I wouldn't have yelled when you weren't moving fast enough.   Will there still be regrets? Absolutely.  I'm not perfect.  One thing remains though.  I trust that He has you, and He will always be with you.   He knows how fantastic you are...he made you : )  I am so excited to see what this next chapter of your life brings for you and those around you.   And I am so very thankful that I get to be your mommy.   

143, 

Mom.  

Eaisms

A after cutting her own hair to look like a princess. 

A:

-"sharks are nice animals.   They put people in their mouth to protect them from the jellyfish."

-"dad why did you step on the sparkly thing" (her response when Todd ripped his foot on a sprinkler head)

-*possibly TMI*. "Mom, why is Sam is smelling you?" (In response to me breastfeeding and his heavy breathing)

-"my throat is my favorite skin"

-after completely melting down i asked her what was wrong and she said, "no one was downstairs to save me" (from nothing...she just needs 24 hour protection)

-"look its the Statue of Liberty" (after seeing an angel on gravestone) (secretly impressed she knew what the Statue of Liberty was...)

-"anna why are you opening the front door?" ...response... " I thought Cinderella was here"

-"I want the cheese with the trash on it"( aka string cheese)

- after telling us what everyones middle name was we asked what hers was...  "banana"

-"eli i know where they get the sand for the timer" (one of those hour glass ones) ... "at the red sand store "

-"The storm needs a timeout it's loud and unkind"

-"mom I hear Sam, he's sleeping."

Talented kid.

E  (he's really winding down)  :

-I'm almost 6 that's why I have growing pains

-Should I wear an Indian outfit today? (When he saw it was Ramadan on the calendar)

-After anna told him boys were mean to girls he responded.  "not all of them.  Jesus is nice to girls."

-When Sam turns 5 I will be a dad, right? (God help me if you are...) 

Celebrating 6 years with FORCE

ALL year, we have heard from our eldest child that he wants a Star Wars party.   So, come July 21st we were armed and ready!   Through many hours scouring pinterest (while feeding the little one) I was able to come up with the perfect gluten/dairy free party that was out of this world. : ) 

The first step was to get Sam settled so we could set up....check!

Add caption

Next we set up the spread (the most important part in my opinion...)   All are gluten and dairy free for my favorite Jedi! 

 Next we hung some pictures that I had printed at Staples for a whomping total of $3!!!   All you need for a poster size print is to pick your image and select "engineering print" when you upload the image to their website.   It only prints in black and white, which was fine by me!!!   

Eli chose Darth Maul  

I downloaded a special Jedi font for this one and uploaded a document from Word.   Thank you, Rachel and princess Leia for posing.  

You too, Anna.   (In case you cant tell she has Princess Padme hair...we left our costume at home) 

We also brought some of our favorite star wars toys and placed them all around on the tables.  

The birthday boy and one of his buds.   Each kid received a badge with their name, height and weight before they went into Jedi training.  

Let Jedi training begin with Obe Wan!  (aka as my hot jedi husband) 

Each jr. jedi received their own saber, aka a pool noodle cut in half. 

Let the training begin!   While he was a natural, we did have some training sessions at home (while watching you tube video) before the big event.  Best workout I've had since Sam was born.  

Training ground. 

Trying to take Todd (err....Obe) down.  

Awesome. 

The cookie cake.  Thank you immacualte baking company for making an AWESOME gluten/dairy free cookie dough...sold everywhere (even Walmart!)   You should've seen my first draft...pinterest.worthy.  (Ok, maybe pinterest fail)   Thank you Obe Todd for saving the day! 

1 month down...

This past month (and a few weeks) have been precious and exhausting all at the same time. We've laughed, we've cried. We've yelled, we've whispered. We've played, we've snuggled. We've grown.

2 weeks after we brought Sam home we realized he wasn't gaining weight : (. Through various drs appointments, lactation consultants and lots and lots of time feeding, pumping and bottle feeding I can finally say we (he) is good. On Friday he was finally up to his birth weight! In the midst of that "set back", Todd cut (or should I say ripped) his foot open while running on top of a cracked sprinkler head. Five stitches and two crutches later we had yet another "set back" on our hands. At that point we waved the flag of humility and realized we needed to slow down and just spend time at home as a family. Friends and family jumped in and cooked for us, played with our kids and even cleaned for us. It was such a blessing to have so many willing to care for our family!

Anna and Eli are amazing brothers and sisters and their excitement for Sam has yet to fade (although Anna did ask what time Sam was going back in my tummy). Eli seems to want to know when every milestone will occur so he can mark it on his calendar (when will he walk? When can I pick him up? When can he make fart noises?). Sam thinks they both hang the moon and lights up (and has even started "talking") when they get near.

All in all this past month has gone as expected ! "Can't wait" to see what this next month brings : )

Introducing Samuel Isaac

Samuel Isaac Warren

May 26, 2013, 6:57 pm

9 lb 11 oz 21''

Depending on how you look at it my labor was really long or really short.   I have technically been contracting since week 35 (and by that I mean 3-5 min apart for hours) but since there was never any cervical change they did not count as active labor.   Speed ahead to Sunday, May 26.   I felt similar contractions around 11am but wanted to be sure they were the real deal (already been to the hospital 4 times).   So I waited until they were 2-3 minutes  apart and painful for 2 hours.  We get to the hospital @ 2 pm and they said there had been no change (once again) but that i had "really good contractions".  At this point I was annoyed, in pain, etc just like the previous 5 weeks.   They encouraged me to walk for a bit to see if that did anything.   They definitely grew in intensity.   At 4 pm they checked me and said I had "only changed a cm" which wasn't enough to admit me yet.   I said, "are you kidding me?   If you've been me the last 5 weeks 1cm is like a boulder being moved!"   She said I was most likely in active labor but it will be awhile so I could either continue to walk there or go home, have dinner and come back more than likely early the next morning.   

Based upon what I was feeling I chose to walk more.   1 hour later I could barely stand through the contractions so I went back to the room to have her check me and beg for an epidural at the same time.   She said "Oh... you've already gone another cm, we can admit you."   I think my water broke as soon as she made that statement.   By the time she had me signing papers I was in intense pain and begging for the epidural.  She said she had to get an IV in me first.   I truly didn't know how I could wait, but I did.   What seemed like an eternity later they got the epidural in (actually 30 min after admitting me, so fairly quick) and she said it would take 15 minutes to experience the full effect.   They checked me again and the baby was crowning.  Three pushes later Sam was born.   So from true time of admitting me to birth it was less than 1 hour.  Id like to say at this time that I birthed an almost 10 pound baby without drugs nor child bearing classes (I always meant to take one).  Dont recommend it.  

Some scary parts (from Todds persective ... I was in too much pain to notice, thankfully).  

* I had meconium in my amniotic fluid so they needed to bring the NICU team in. Read about why here.    

*I tested positive for Group B and they didnt have time to give me the antibiotic to pass to Sam.  read about why here.

*His heart rate dropped to 80

So, there was a team of 11 doctors in there.  I feel very grateful for that kind of care when so many dont have that available to them.   Turns out all they could talk about was his size... I heard "he's a toddler" before "It's a boy".  Its a fairly new hospital so they dont have much of a spectrum ; )   He received a 9.9 Apgar score, didnt show any signs of Strep B (they kept us in hospital for 48 hours, but I still need to keep a look out for symptoms), passed his 12 hour glucose test  (a blood prick every hour for 12 hours, because he was so big), and is my first baby Ive taken home WITHOUT jaundice (and I had them check 100 times).   So you can say Sam is a strong and healthy lil' guy!   

Meet Samuel Isaac! 

9 lb 11 oz

Meeting Mommy

Meeting big brother

Meeting big sister

Meeting Grandaddy. 

Out of labor and delivery and safe and sound in our room. 

Meeting Grandma

Meeting Grandpa

Eli explaining to us how many days it would be until he felt comfortable holding you (7...but it only took 2)

Snoozing on Mommy

Snoozing on Daddy

Letting Mommy take her first shower at home.  : ) 

We LOVE YOU Samuel Isaac!  

EAisms

Some of these are so old I already forget the context : (   Anna is at that age where EVERYTHING that comes out of her mouth is an "ism"...I love it. 

Anna:

* In the above picture, she's wearing a swimsuit top under her shirt, "just like Mommy".   Glad that phase is over (for now)
*Ever since the Superbowl she has been going on and on about how she wants to be a "Turbie" (???)  We had no idea what she was talking about, but knew she always wanted to 1)wear a skirt 2) go topless and 3) walk provocatively.    I finally showed her a Beyonce video (who performed at half time on Superbowl) and she SQUEALED with delight saying "Look MOM!  There are lots of Turbies!!)   (So basically Turbie = something we aren't encouraging.) (I did point out that they were wearing tops, although slight, before shutting it down) 

Before you think we are HORRIBLE PARENTS, here are some more innocent 3 year old ones (but we are aware we need to keep our eyes on her!!)

*Anna sings... a lot.   Sometimes it's more than we can handle.  One time we asked if she could "sing in her head".   She was quiet for 30 or so seconds and then whined, "It's not wooooorkinggg...."
*When moving her rooms in Feb, she headed for the hills one night (aka as her old room) and said "I want to go to sleep in my non bad dream room".   : (
*"Look Dad I'm gerbel-ing".   (aka dribbling; a basketball)
*"I hear my echo....where is he?"
*When Dad was growing out his facial hair, she asked, "Do you have ants on your face Daddy?"
*She's really starting to read into songs...I never do.  I just like to sing them without thinking.   She wants to know they why on every single lyric or just make it up.   For example the Mumford and Sons song, "I will wait for you" she said "awwwwwwe.  That's nice.  He's waiting for his friend to go potty.  "



 or the Christina Perri, "Jar of Hearts" song... she asked, "Why did she forget her name?"  



*The other day she looked at me and said, "I have 2 problems mom.   My Hello Kitty cup is broken, and my picture I made is falling apart.   That's it.  2 problems."   (Well that's a relief.) 

Eli on the other hand is becoming much more thoughtful and less "ism" ish.   There are still some great lines he come up with. 

* "Mom I think you are 'neeker' "  (Unique)
*"I can't wait until the baby is 16...I will be 36 and have my own phone.
*"The Devil is tricky.   He will call the police on you when you've done nothing wrong." (can't wait until he tries that line on the police)
*I like using my vampire teeth. 
*He called something we did (don't remember!) "so homeschool".   I think he meant "old school".
*While his Dad was reading and highlighting in his book Eli asked, "are you circling your sight words Daddy?"

Have a great day!!!!