Home Coming...how sweet it is. Both the girls seemed a little taller, hair a little longer, a little thicker. My ever expressive Jericho seemed even more expressive. And Blythe, completely unprompted, continued to tell me how much she loved me and how she missed me SOO much, but didn't cry while I was away. We cheated the 2 books before bed system, read books together a little longer, sang a few more songs, lingered during our good night hugs and kisses. Oh how I missed them. And it continued today with Jericho in my arms, now fully able to sit on my every growing belly and hold me tight around my neck and lay her sweet little head on my shoulder. Blythe was eager to show me all the 'very special' things she made for me and was very ready for a craft-filled day with Mommy.
So we have cut, and colored, and played memory, and lego's, and never worried once about picking up after ourselves, and despite the fact that the house looks like a tornado came through it, I love it, and I missed this, and its exactly what I needed. Eight days without my littles is a LONG time. Eight days without Jason is a LONG time, the fact that he had to turn around today and head to Austin for a conference is super sucktastic, but I will make up for it with lots of time with my girls.
The eight days away, my oh my, how they were intense. I knew what I was going to get trained for, but I had no idea of the depth and knowledge I would gain and be expected to perform. The training had a mid-term and a final and WOW I knew God was amazing in how he designed the human body, but then his amazing creation, those super smart scientists, and lots of research, and our cognitive ability make an awesome combination. We obviously knew the system worked as we have used it with 100% success both to achieve and avoid pregnancy for the entire 7 years of our marriage, but all of the gynecological insights one can gain from charting is awesome. The way these Creighton NaPRO technology doctors have been trained to treat women for various things by just treating the symptoms and not putting a band-aid over it (like the pill) is also incredible. For any of you that have been looking for a natural method (NOT the calendar rhythm method) or are un-happy with their current method (artificial hormone or not) look into it, ask me questions, pick my brain, ask me to give you an introductory session, I dare you, you will be amazed :)
9/30/12
9/20/12
She loves it
My girl, she L.O.V.E.S school. I had prepared myself that she might not have a lot to say after a school day and that I would have to be o.k. with not knowing exactly what she was doing every second of the day, but preparation was not needed. My girl loves to tell me all about her school day. From the simple things like the marker rules (always put the lids back on because we don't want to be left with just brown and black), crayon rules (don't twist them up too high because they will break), and playdoh rules (don't mix colors), to all the little details of who she played with and what they played on the playground. She tells me all about the centers and how her favorite center is the playdoh center, which honestly I was surprised because I just knew she spent all her center time in the baby zone.
Her teachers tell me "she is SO sweet," which I am guessing is a compliment neither Jason's mom nor my Mom was given. We're just not the "sweet," type. When I picked her up from Spanish on Tuesday her Spanish teacher told me, "She is such a great kid, she just loves to learn." Talk about a proud Mommy moment!
As long as the Tuesdays and Thursday can be without my first born I am happy to hear she is doing so well and how much she loves going to school. I have to stay focused on that because when I think about the reality that this is just the beginning of school days and all that time spent away from mom, it makes me sad. It's hard to go from four years of constant time with someone to 11 less hours per week. I try to enjoy the one on one time Jericho and I have on Tuesday and Thursday's before #3 arrives, but it seems like we barely get Blythe dropped off, volunteer or attend book club before it is time to eat lunch have a rest and collect Blythe again. I am beginning to think that I needed this preschool transition before the big Kindergarten year more then Blythe did.
Give your babies an extra kiss and squeeze tonight, they grow up TOO fast, but I guess that's one reason to keep having more :)
Her teachers tell me "she is SO sweet," which I am guessing is a compliment neither Jason's mom nor my Mom was given. We're just not the "sweet," type. When I picked her up from Spanish on Tuesday her Spanish teacher told me, "She is such a great kid, she just loves to learn." Talk about a proud Mommy moment!
As long as the Tuesdays and Thursday can be without my first born I am happy to hear she is doing so well and how much she loves going to school. I have to stay focused on that because when I think about the reality that this is just the beginning of school days and all that time spent away from mom, it makes me sad. It's hard to go from four years of constant time with someone to 11 less hours per week. I try to enjoy the one on one time Jericho and I have on Tuesday and Thursday's before #3 arrives, but it seems like we barely get Blythe dropped off, volunteer or attend book club before it is time to eat lunch have a rest and collect Blythe again. I am beginning to think that I needed this preschool transition before the big Kindergarten year more then Blythe did.
Give your babies an extra kiss and squeeze tonight, they grow up TOO fast, but I guess that's one reason to keep having more :)
9/17/12
Let the Guessing Begin!
It's that time again. Will we be keeping our girl tradition or will we change it up this time and see what a baby boy Wilkes looks like? Will this baby be three days 'early' like Blythe or will the baby be happy to hang around until evicted like Jericho?
Click on the link below and it will take you to a spreadsheet with dates two weeks before the "due date," and two weeks after the "due date." Pick the date you want to guess, then the gender, then the time of day the baby will be born, and then the weight. So far the Hartl family has won the guessing game for Blythe and Jericho so let's see if we can get a new winner! The prize is TBA. Happy Guessing :)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArmcZCo7oGELdGV4cVJ2YTFBQi1VbTFjbjZmVlpvUFE
A little rainy day fun:
Happy Monday!
Click on the link below and it will take you to a spreadsheet with dates two weeks before the "due date," and two weeks after the "due date." Pick the date you want to guess, then the gender, then the time of day the baby will be born, and then the weight. So far the Hartl family has won the guessing game for Blythe and Jericho so let's see if we can get a new winner! The prize is TBA. Happy Guessing :)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArmcZCo7oGELdGV4cVJ2YTFBQi1VbTFjbjZmVlpvUFE
A little rainy day fun:
Happy Monday!
9/15/12
9/6/12
The First Day of Preschool
It started on Tuesday with a one hour meet the teacher and hang out in the room with your mom. Despite the fact that I had prepped Blythe on several occasions that today we would all be going to her classroom together to meet her teacher and it would be really short Blythe did not want to leave and she asked me when I was leaving so she could be at school by herself. Can we say someone was ready for this day?
Not knowing what the first 'real' day of preschool would be like we arrived early to get some pictures, but Blythe was far more interested in getting to her classroom and getting this school thing underway than taking pictures.
When we arrived she looked around the table and found her name tag. We didn't think that we knew anyone in her class, but come to find out that family that just moved in down the street, the one I baked the cherry pie for, their youngest Hayden is not only in Blythe's class, but sits right next to her!
She found her name and her hook and practiced hanging up her bag.
Fast Forward to today, the real FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL, Blythe woke up ready to go. I printed off a sign for her to color to give her something to do seeing as it was only 7:30 and we didn't need to leave till 9:00 at the earliest.
The 9:00 hour, o.k. 8:57 finally arrived and we loaded up. As soon as we arrived Blythe grabbed her bag and was ready to go.
Someone else thought they were ready too
She needed no reminder to hang her bag or where it went
She promptly went to her seat and was excited to find a coloring page
Then something came that I wasn't expecting. I started to tell Blythe goodbye and I could feel my eyes getting red and tearing up.... Jericho and I said our goodbye's, Blythe couldn't get rid of us fast enough, and I didn't make it one cm further than stepping into the parking lot before a little tear ran down my cheek. I didn't make it to the car, but I don't think anyone saw me, and besides it was just a few. I got Jericho buckled in and sat in the parking lot for a few minutes reflecting on those tears. The tears of happiness and a little sadness. The happiness of knowing that my girl is right where she needs and wants to be. She has been so ready for this, so ready to go to school and I know she is having a great time. Sadness that I have had her all to myself for the last four years and the amount of time she spends away from me will only grow from here. But most of all I reflected on the word grow. The way that she will grow and blossom this year and me too. That letting go and experiencing these emotions is all part of motherhood. BUT I would be lying if I didn't say that I keep checking the clock to see if it's time to go get her and hear all about her first day. I am confident that I will be greeted with a giant smile and each day I drop her off will be a little easier.
As for little sister she made-up for Blythe being so ready to be at school by crying almost the entire time I was at the church book club. The last few times I put her in the nursery for church events she has been find and she was even excited about going to the nursery like Blythe was going to school, she marched right in all ready to go, I said goodbye and I guess that is where the happiness stopped. When I picked her up she did that really big whale of a cry to let me know she was NOT happy that I left her and continued to do that deep sniffling for about 20 minutes after we left the church. I don't know what all that was about, perhaps because Blythe wasn't there with her or just an off day, but either way Jericho wanted me to know that she was NOT ready for that.
Not knowing what the first 'real' day of preschool would be like we arrived early to get some pictures, but Blythe was far more interested in getting to her classroom and getting this school thing underway than taking pictures.
When we arrived she looked around the table and found her name tag. We didn't think that we knew anyone in her class, but come to find out that family that just moved in down the street, the one I baked the cherry pie for, their youngest Hayden is not only in Blythe's class, but sits right next to her!
She found her name and her hook and practiced hanging up her bag.
Fast Forward to today, the real FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL, Blythe woke up ready to go. I printed off a sign for her to color to give her something to do seeing as it was only 7:30 and we didn't need to leave till 9:00 at the earliest.
The 9:00 hour, o.k. 8:57 finally arrived and we loaded up. As soon as we arrived Blythe grabbed her bag and was ready to go.
Someone else thought they were ready too
She needed no reminder to hang her bag or where it went
She promptly went to her seat and was excited to find a coloring page
Then something came that I wasn't expecting. I started to tell Blythe goodbye and I could feel my eyes getting red and tearing up.... Jericho and I said our goodbye's, Blythe couldn't get rid of us fast enough, and I didn't make it one cm further than stepping into the parking lot before a little tear ran down my cheek. I didn't make it to the car, but I don't think anyone saw me, and besides it was just a few. I got Jericho buckled in and sat in the parking lot for a few minutes reflecting on those tears. The tears of happiness and a little sadness. The happiness of knowing that my girl is right where she needs and wants to be. She has been so ready for this, so ready to go to school and I know she is having a great time. Sadness that I have had her all to myself for the last four years and the amount of time she spends away from me will only grow from here. But most of all I reflected on the word grow. The way that she will grow and blossom this year and me too. That letting go and experiencing these emotions is all part of motherhood. BUT I would be lying if I didn't say that I keep checking the clock to see if it's time to go get her and hear all about her first day. I am confident that I will be greeted with a giant smile and each day I drop her off will be a little easier.
As for little sister she made-up for Blythe being so ready to be at school by crying almost the entire time I was at the church book club. The last few times I put her in the nursery for church events she has been find and she was even excited about going to the nursery like Blythe was going to school, she marched right in all ready to go, I said goodbye and I guess that is where the happiness stopped. When I picked her up she did that really big whale of a cry to let me know she was NOT happy that I left her and continued to do that deep sniffling for about 20 minutes after we left the church. I don't know what all that was about, perhaps because Blythe wasn't there with her or just an off day, but either way Jericho wanted me to know that she was NOT ready for that.
9/4/12
Labor Day
As of August 27, 2008 the meaning of labor forever changed in my eyes and I still can't help to think about the laboring women when I first hear the word labor. Clearly it wasn't THAT bad since I signed up for it again in July of 2010 and have signed up for a third round come November, but it is certainly a different kind of labor than what our nation celebrates on labor day. BUT the gift that comes from that labor is SO much better than any other kind of gift. Thanks to my iphone pictures, I am reminded of all the little things we did this week.
We turned a bag of cherries into a homemade cherry pie and took it down the street to the new neighbors. Blythe and Jericho got stellar scores at their 2 and 4 year check-ups, they scored the visit pretty low after the shots :(. Blythe helped me make dinner, I finished painting the ceiling of the newly renovated bathroom, and have a hat and one sock finished for the boy set, just in case God decides to change it up on us this time. It is never a question of who has stolen the phone because regardless of which little fingers swipe it they can't resist taking pictures and leaving indisputable evidence.
We spent labor day in Austin with Uncle Gregg, Aunt Lori, Ladi, Papa, Aunt Melinda, Nay Nay, and Caitlin. It was so un-laborious that I didn't manage to pull the camera out once, but I did think to grab a quick video of our little fish!
We turned a bag of cherries into a homemade cherry pie and took it down the street to the new neighbors. Blythe and Jericho got stellar scores at their 2 and 4 year check-ups, they scored the visit pretty low after the shots :(. Blythe helped me make dinner, I finished painting the ceiling of the newly renovated bathroom, and have a hat and one sock finished for the boy set, just in case God decides to change it up on us this time. It is never a question of who has stolen the phone because regardless of which little fingers swipe it they can't resist taking pictures and leaving indisputable evidence.
We spent labor day in Austin with Uncle Gregg, Aunt Lori, Ladi, Papa, Aunt Melinda, Nay Nay, and Caitlin. It was so un-laborious that I didn't manage to pull the camera out once, but I did think to grab a quick video of our little fish!
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