Really?

Yes, it has officially been over 5 months since I did a real post, but this also won't be a real post - sorry! I just wanted to put up some pics from the last five months, some even from August, so you could see what the kids look like these days. They go in chronological order. The video is from the beginning of August. I will post during Christmas break if not before with life details.

âgé de quatre mois (4 Months Old)

This is the shortest post in my posting history, but I just have zero time to write much. At Gabe's 4-month appt 8/27, he weighed 17 lbs, 13 oz (90th percentile), his height was the 90th percentile, and his head circumference was 75th-90th percentile. He's very symmetrical, which is always good. We'll be starting cereal very soon for him so he learns how to eat before 6 months, when he actually needs other nutrition besides breast milk. I'll try to post soon with a thorough update of the start of school and such.

âgé de trois mois (3 Months Old)

Once again, overdue. Gabe is now about 3 months, 2 weeks old. BUT, much has been happening prohibiting me from uploading pics and blogging. Let me try to summarize the last month. 7/5 Joel and I celebrated our 6 yr anniversary. That weekend we did a lot of family activities including taking Stella to her first movie as a toddler. We saw Up, and she sat on Joel's lap focused the entire movie. She even got to have some sour patch kids and swedish fish. Then we all went to Monical's to use her free pizza certificate from completing the reading program at the Normal Public Library. It was a lot of fun! The following weekend we went to the Sugar Creek Arts Festival, bought Stella a head and foot board, frame, and armoire at a consignment shop, and Joel and I were able to go to Biaggi's and Starbucks (and a car show spur of the moment - that wasn't that cool).

The day Gabe turned 3 months, Wed. 7/22, we closed on our house. That night we started painting Gabe's and Stella's rooms and cleaning. Thanks to Dean and Elena for all their help. Thurs. we drove up to WI and dismantled furniture to prepare for loading. Fri. we loaded, and it somehow only took 5 hrs. and drove back to IL. Sat. we unloaded - Thanks everyone who came to help! Sun. we spent our first night in our new home. We love our house so much. I said I wasn't moving again for 15 yrs, and Joel says we're never moving again period. I think we'll stay here a really long time. We have gotten the important stuff unpacked and organized, but there are many boxes of decor left. Painting the rest of the house and decorating are my last priority. I want to really think about what themes and colors I want. I'm not in a rush. We also will have no money for awhile, so I'm not trying to buy a lot of stuff. Gabe's and Stella's rooms look great so far. Elena is working on Stella's quilt and will redo her window treatments and create treatments for Gabe's room. She is so talented and generous!

Stella and Gabe are doing great. On the way to WI, she started singing "Jesus Loves Me." It was the cutest thing ever. All my work has finally paid off. I just assumed she wouldn't be musical since she never sang. She is now singing, "Jesus Loves Me," "Jesus Loves the Little Children," "The B-I-B-L-E," "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and "The ABC Song." She is 1 sharp cookie. Her memory is outstanding, her language keeps rapidly improving, and she is starting to get more creative by making up stories and with imaginary play with her dolls/animals. She is so sweet with Gabe. She is always looking out for him and giving him tons of love. No real improvement with potty training yet, but we're not pushing it.

Gabe is the sweetest little man. I included 1 video to show his barrel chest. We always wanted little baseball playing boys, but he sure looks like he'll be a football player. He has such a calm, laid-back personality, and he is addicted to his mama. He is doing really well with his newly-forming sleep routine. He goes to bed easily around 8pm and usually wakes once b/w 2 and 4am to eat. He slept until 6:20am 2 nights ago, but I'm not holding my breath that that will continue. He should technically be able to make it through the night now based on his weight, but 4 months is widely-known as when they're developmentally able to go w/o a feeding. I think Stella was 5.5 months before she slept through the entire night. He has been taking 3 naps a day, which is spot on according to sleep books - they aren't completely by the clock, but he tends to nap around 9am, 12pm, and 3pm. He is smiling, mimicking, laughing, doing mini-push ups, standing well, batting at objects, holding on to objects, sucking his hand, and he rolled over from back to front today in his crib. He goes back to the Dr. for his 4-month appt 8/27. I am so in love with this boy!

My back to school freak-outs started several weeks ago. We were told 7/17 (1 month before school starts) that the sitter we had lined up could no longer watch the kids. I was really upset and anxious about that. We did find someone right away (Becky) that my friend Carolyn told us about (thanks!!). She has been babysitting for 30 yrs and will have 6 kids with the oldest being 3. I like that there won't be older kids there (I don't trust them all), but I don't think I could handle that many young kids. We know Gabe and Stella will have fun and be safe in a nurturing, Christian environment. I've never been apart from Gabe for more than a few hrs, so that will be a big deal. I know I'll be distracted and busy, but I know that I'll be super sad when I think about it. I have 2 professional development classes all day next week, so that will be a good trial run for pumping and being away from them. Thankfully at this pt, my schedule looks conducive to pumping 3x a day. I'm not really looking forward to having to do that again until May.

Another reason I'm freaking out is that I'll be teaching a new course and teaching an old course for twice the amt of time with no added content to teach. I'll have to teach some German and Spanish in this new course, and I really haven't done much to prepare. Joel says that I should just view it as I'm learning it all with the students for the first time I do it. I'll end up teaching the course 12 x by the end of the year, so I'm sure I'll be a pro by the end of it all. On top of that, I am starting an online Master's in Curriculum and Instruction through the American College of Education. Carolyn proposed the idea to me. It's all online and lasts for 18 months, so I'll finish Feb 2011. Each course lasts 5 wks, and there are no textbooks. Unfortunately I have to pay for it all, but I just need to get a Master's done so I can move up on the salary schedule. I have 1/3 of a Master's in French done at ISU, but I wasn't enjoying it, and it did NOT cater to a mom and teacher working full-time. I'll still get credit for those classes on the salary schedule, but they will start expiring and won't count toward a degree after 6 yrs.

So, we need a lot of prayer. My goal is balance this yr. It's a necessity or I will go crazy or get sick or both. I really want to try to enjoy all parts of my life - Joel (he turned 29 8/1), my kids, my job, church, and my friends. I want to do a good job at everything, but I'm going to keep my priorities straight- 1. God 2. Joel 3. kids 4. job 5. grad school - you get the picture. This will be a constant battle for me and will take consistent prayer and self-talk;) Please pray for us! We love you all tons.

âgé de deux mois (2 Months Old)

Gabe will be 10 wks old Wed, but we went to his 2-month appt today. He is 15 lbs, 3 oz. (just above 95th percentile), 24.25 in. (b/w 75th-90th percentile), and his head circumference is 41.5 cm (b/w 75th-90th percentile). He is thriving for sure, and everything looked great. His Dr. did comment that he has a big pee pee;) Gabe obviously isn't on a set schedule yet. He does usually put himself to sleep b/w 8:30-9pm every night and wakes 1-2 times to eat. He takes a couple longer naps during the day. I'm also still demand feeding. We won't start sleep training until it's developmentally appropriate at 4 months, which will be really hard as far as naps go b/c I'll already be back in school. I'm trying to start establishing a simple bedtime routine for him around the same time every night and soothing him to sleep then and during the day when he gives sleepy cues. I'm trying to follow the basic rules to healthy sleep: motionless sleep, put him down drowsy but awake before he becomes overtired, etc...

So here is what has been happening in our lives - Thurs 6/11, Gabe and I drove with my grandparents to WI for Rachel's graduation weekend. My other grandparents, aunt, cousins, and Renee also arrived Thurs. Joel came Fri evening w/ Stella. Rachel's graduation was really pretty. They do things differently in Manty. Everyone wears formal wear, corsages/boutiniers, it's outside, they have flower girls, etc...It was very nice, except we were in direct sunlight the whole time sweating, and we all got burnt except Gabe:) That doesn't generally happen in Manitowoc in June. Her party was a lot of fun, and a lot of people came. We had some campfires, went on gator rides, which Stella specifically asks for, and went running along the lakeshore. Joel drove back Sun afternoon. Mon we all went to the zoo, which Stella loved. It's basically all outside and probably better than Bloomington's zoo, which is sad since BN has about 100,000 more people. For Father's Day, my sisters and I drove my dad to Sheboygan for dinner and a movie while my mom watched the kids (thanks!). It was really nice to have girl/dad time. I think he enjoyed the present. I love being with my family. I can just be me, and I know that Joel, my children, and I are loved.

Renee, the kids, and I drove back to IL Tues, and she stayed there until Sat am. Sonya also joined us for a few days. Some of the things we did while they were here were: go to story time/library, visit our friend Anne and her baby Grace (born on the same day as Gabe) in Champaign, go to the park and a "water park," make some fun dinners, go out to dinner, drink some margueritas and wine, and watch a couple movies. Sonya even came back through town Mon and watched Stella so that Joel and I could go see I Love You Man. That was what Joel wanted for his Father's Day present. I think it's fitting that that was Gabe's first movie as well. It was so great spending time with Renee. I hadn't seen her since Christmas, which is ridiculous. She helped me with the kids and loved on them as a fantastic aunt would. She listened to my craziness, although she refused to do a counseling session w/ me since that would be "unethical and a conflict of interest" - whatev. She just always affirms and encourages me, and helps me to see truth. I'm so ready for her to be back here and not in LA. Who knows if that will ever happen.

After almost 6 wks of living with Joel's parents and searching high and low for the perfect house for us, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! Although I always try to make sense of things and look for God's intervention, I don't claim that God does things unless I'm pretty darn sure of it. Well, this surely had to be God. Joel and I had become weary and frustrated with not having a home and not finding anything. Well, last Wed Joel and I had taken his parents to look at a house in Hedgewood that we were pretty sure we wanted to buy. It's humongous, but the entire house was wallpapered, and it needed other updating. We got home having decided to put in an offer on that house, when we listened to a message left for me from my friend. She was urging me probably for the 3rd time to go look at her parents' house, which is 3 houses down from Joel's parents. Her parents had moved to another state last summer, so the house had been on the market for awhile. However, we never looked at it because we knew we couldn't afford it. My friend, her mom, and their new realtor all called me about looking at this house. So we looked at it Sat and loved it. We knew immediately that we wanted to buy it but thought it was a long shot that we could make an offer they would accept. We didn't even have to make an offer because they made one to us. To make a long story short, they made an amazing deal with us, and we're getting the house for a drastically cheaper price than it's worth. We'll really be stretched for awhile financially, but we could live there forever. It is a 4 br, 2.5 bath house with a 3-car garage and unfinished basement. The house is really big and the lot is HUGE. It backs up to hole 1 of Ironwood Golf Course. It also has a screened-in porch in the back, which I will enjoy. The house is vacant and we won't have to do ANYTHING to it before we move in. That is a far cry from the other house, which would have taken countless hrs and dollars to make it what we wanted. It is funny that with our first house, we lived right by Joel's sister and brother-in-law, and with our second house, we're living right down the st from Joel's parents. We're really excited and can now see what all the waiting was for. We haven't decided when we'll close or when we'll move yet.

Let me be one of the few that I've ever heard admit this, but going from 1 to 2 children is hard. Stella and Gabe are such blessings, and I can't imagine life now or in the future without them. I do admit though that I sometimes feel stressed and challenged by having both of them and 2.5 dogs by myself during the day, especially when we're trying to get out the door. Stella is in her 2's for sure. She is a sweetheart, but she still tries to get into everything and wreak havoc. Lately, she has been taking her poop out of her diaper at naptime and smearing it on her bedding and sometimes the floor. She even threw a piece at Joel when he peeked around the corner and asked her what she's doing. She told me today that she did it, "cause the poopy is icky." This is showing more readyness for potty training, but she still hardly ever wants to try. Cleaning all of that up adds frustration to my day. I seem to be getting better at handling both of them with each week. We've been going out and doing more during the week, which has made me feel a lot better. It helps me not feel like I'm trapped at home, and I feel like Stella's getting to experience fun things. I've been fighting the fear that doing a certain activity will be difficult with 2 of them and I've just tried it. It is all worth it.

This weekend is Joel and my 6th yr anniversary. We're planning to do some fun family activities, 4th of July festivities, and hang out with my extended family on the 5th, but we'd also like to fit in a couple small Joel and Rebecca things. Happy 4th everyone!

âgé d'un mois (1 Month Old)

This post is so overdue, but during the day it is a little hard to find time between the 2 kids and to find all of my stuff that is scattered about while living in someone else's house.

Gabe had his 1 month appt 5/22. Remember that he was 8 lbs, 9 oz. and 21.5 in. at birth. He weighed in at 11 lbs, 13 oz. and supposedly 22.3 in. I asked his Dr. if that was a big weight gain. He said, "It's not abnormal, but I'd say it was robust. He's definitely thriving." So, that's good. Things have been going fairly well. If I just had to worry about Gabe or Stella by themselves, that would be a piece of cake. I just feel bad a lot that I'm not giving either of them all of my attention. I can't focus the entire day on stimulating and holding Gabe. Sometimes he has to cry a little bit while I cater to Stella's needs. And I can't take Stella all over the place to the library, park, shopping, etc...mainly b/c I don't have a double stroller. Mine will be arriving soon. Sometimes Stella wants a hug, and I'm feeding Gabe. It makes me feel guilty. I guess those are the breaks.

Memorial Day weekend, we went to WI (Elena came, too) and basically packed up the entire house. All we will have to do is load everything and deal with disassembling and wrapping furniture. It wasn't horrible. My Aunt Carol came up 1 day, and we ate dinner and had campfires at my parents' house 2 nights. Memorial Day we went fishing in my parents' back lake before we drove home. WI really is so beautiful in the late Spring and Summer. As far as househunting goes - We have been seriously researching homes. It has been disappointing trying to find the near-perfect combination of everything we want. We're considering making an offer on a home now, but there are contingencies. It's not as clean cut as we'd like it to be because we'd like to put up a fence for safety reasons but must get that approved by the subdivision's board, and there are a few repairs we'd like taken care of. We'll let you know how that pans out. I would really like for us to get into a house sooner than later. We would like to have time to establish ourselves as a family of 4 and establish routines. I would like time to get comfortable in a home before the craziness of the school year begins.

Sunday Stella and Gabe will be dedicated to Christ at our church, Eastview. That will be neat. We're looking forward to getting involved in at least a small group there, and eventually I (and maybe Joel) would like to do worship team again. We don't want to commit to too much right now since I can't be apart from Gabe for long. Rachel's graduation is 6/12, so we'll be heading to WI for that. Renee's also going and will come here to BN for the rest of the week. We haven't seen her since Christmas, and she has never seen Gabe obviously. Very exciting!!

Les premières semaines (The First Weeks)

I've been wanting to post like crazy since Gabe was 1 week old, but it has been extremely difficult to find the time considering our circumstances. Finally I get to take the time to do it on Mother's Day. That's fitting. Here's the turn of events. Gabe was born early morning Wed, and we came home Thurs afternoon. Joel's parents stayed with us until Sunday and helped us mainly with Stella. We had Mon-Fri by ourselves, although my mom came several times to play with Stella, visit, and watch Gabe so I could take Stella places. It was nice to see and feel what it was like to be a family of 4. It definitely takes even more teamwork between Joel and me to meet the needs of both children, and it can be crazy busy, but I felt such a sense of satisfaction and joy. I really felt like our family was complete now that we have a girl and a boy. We've always said that we would have 3 kids, but I'm not sure of that at this pt. We've received many comments about us being "the perfect little family," and it does feel perfect to me. I guess you other mothers can understand that feeling.

Gabe is such a great baby. After coming home from the hospital, he usually only wakes once a night to eat and be changed. He slept 8 hrs one night, but I think that was a fluke. He was 8 lbs, 9 oz. at birth, dropped to 8 lbs, 3 oz. in the hospital, and at his 5-day weight check was up to 8 lbs, 7 oz. According to my What to Expect the First Year growth charts, Gabe was in the 95th percentile for height and 73rd percentile for weight at birth. His pediatrician said he was perfect and gaining like a champ. She said I did NOT have to wake him to eat, that he'll wake when he's hungry. That was awesome b/c I had been setting my alarm so that he didn't go past 5 hrs, which I also did for weeks with Stella until a friend advised me to just let her sleep. I still feel tired when I wake up, but waking once is doable and so much better than with Stella. Stella loves Gabe. She loves to give him kisses and hugs, help me take care of him, and tries to comfort him and distract him when he cries. Unfortunately, we have to always be on guard with her since she doesn't know that she can hurt him. We did already have an incident with Stella throwing a hard rubber dog toy to me, which bounced off Gabe's forehead while I was holding him. He screamed, I cried, and Stella was upset knowing she upset us both. I guess those things are inevitable.

We had already sent some things with my parents and Joel's parents to BN, and we packed up the rest of our essentials and drove down on my birthday Sat. 5/2 - yuck! It was one of the least cool bdays of my 28 yrs, but we wanted to give Joel 1 day to get organized before starting his new job Mon. We're staying with his parents until we buy a house, which is incredibly generous of them. They help a ton with Stella and Gabe, especially as we're trying to get major things done. We saw our first house the day after arriving and have looked at many already. We're not in love with anything yet but have plans to look at some more that have potential. It's much harder this time around to find something we're happy with now that we have 2 kids and have been home owners. I'm for sure the pickier one, but we both want a good location with walking access to parks/trails, an open floor plan so I can easily see where the kids are and what they're doing, space for us and all our kid junk, and a nice, big yard to play in. I hope the house is out there somewhere, and I hope we both just know when we set foot in it. All of the things we need to do can be overwhelming, especially since we have a 2 y/o and a newborn who I can't be away from for more than 2 hrs. Once we find a house, we'll have to move and set up shop. Joel will be working all day, and I don't know how I'll be able to get anything accomplished with both kids. We still need to find a sitter for the Fall. I've asked many people for contacts but haven't had any luck. Let me know if you have ideas!

With the exception of the obvious repercussions of having a baby and breastfeeding, my body seemed to recuperate 3x as fast this time. We went for a long walk 2 days after Gabe was born, and I felt totally normal. It's pretty amazing. My Dr. said I can start intense exercise 3 wks postpartum (this Wed), which I'm way excited about doing, yet am wondering when I'll be able to fit that in. I'll have both kids during the day, so we could go on walks, but it will be hard to find time for real exercise in the evening with Gabe's feeding schedule, looking for houses, and all of the other every day family things we have to do. I'll just have to make it work at least a few times a week.

Again, I thank you all for the well wishes and bday wishes. Friends and fam - I'm looking forward to seeing you all now that we're back in town. Love you!