All About This Mama

A good friend of mine sent me this questionnaire that is circulating, and I couldn't help but participate. I asked for answers from both Sierra and Makenna ~ some of the answers I expected, others were quite a surprise. Here goes:

1. What is something mommy always says to you?

Makenna: “I love you” Sierra: “I love you”

2. What makes mommy happy?

M: “When we clean our messes” S: “When Kenners and I are nice to each other”

3. What makes mommy sad?

M: “When we don’t obey” S: “When we have to leave Disneyland” (So true!)

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?

M: “Giving Piggy-backs” S: “When you say ‘What in tarnation?!’”

5. What was your mommy like as a child?

M: “Good” S: “Nice to your sisters”

6. How old is your mommy?

M: “22” S: “28”

7. How tall is your mommy?

M: “10 feet” S: “60 inches”

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

M: “to take care of baby Kameryn” S: “To take care of us”

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?

M: “clean house” S: “clean up the house” (Yep)

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?

M: “Being Miss America” S: “Cause you’re pretty” (What kind of values are my children learning?!)

11. What is your mommy really good at?

M: “making dinner” S: “being a mommy”

12. What is your mommy not very good at?

M: “working outside” S:“I don't know"

13. What does your mommy do for a job?

M: “feed Kameryn” S: “Have an Etsy shop”

14.What is your mommy's favorite food?

M: “salad” S:“chicken”

15.What makes your mommy proud of you?

M: “being a good girl” S: “Cleaning up our own messes”

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?

M: “ I don’t know” S: “Angel Cake from Strawberry Shortcake”

17. What do you and your mommy do together?

M: “go nigh-night together” S: “Play games”

18. How are you and your mommy the same?

M: “we have blue eyes” S: “We both like to read books”

19. How are you and your mommy different?

M: “we don’t wear the same clothes” S: “I have brown eyes, you have blue”

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?

M: “Because you always say it to me” S:“Because you say it”

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?

M: “That he’s nice” S: “That he’s handsome”

22. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?

M: “Grandma’s house” S: “Disneyland”

Confessions Of A Not-So-Fabulous Mom

Last night I was on the phone to my mom. We were deep in conversation so Sierra, of course, sees this as an opportunity to start asking a million questions. "Who're you talkin' to? What does Nana want? When's Daddy going to be home? Can I paint my fingernails?" Sneaky how she fits that last question in, so nonchalantly. So I nod and wave her off to the bathroom. I mean, she's six years old, surely she can handle such a task without me hovering over her, right? Fifteen minutes later I was in the bathroom running water for Kenners bath, and I notice three bottles of nail polish on the counter. Two of them had their tops on, one did not. The top for the third was nowhere to be found, actually. "Um, Sierra, where's the top to this nail polish bottle?" (Looking down at the floor) "Uh, it fell" (Me searching the floor for splattered nail polish) "Where?" "In the nail polish remover." . . .

Sure enough, floating in the bottle of now-pink nail polish remover was the top to the polish. Well, it could've been worse. Moral of the story: Don't get so lost in a phone conversation that you can't keep an eye on a six year old with nail polish.

Can I Get A Shout-Out For My Girl, Denise?!

No one makes aerobics fun quite like Denise Austin. I love her, I really do. So you can imagine how crushed I was when Lifetime took her Daily Work-Outs off the air. Good thing I recorded two whole VHS tapes worth of Denise ~ score! (And yes, I do still own a VCR).

Let's Get HEALTHY

Okay, after reading my last post (which I've recently deleted), I realized that I came across as more concerned about weight loss vs. actually getting healthy. Since this is not true, I figured it'd be best just to start over, that way there is no confusion. So here it goes . . .

Folks, I want to get healthy. Am I hoping that I lose a few pounds because of it? YES! Am I okay if I don't? YES. I am, of course, nursing my 2 month old, and her health is of utmost importance to me.

My sincerest THANKS! goes out to Amber for initiating the Extreme Makeover: Me Edition, Challenge. No more trips to the kitchen for Oreos in the middle of the night, no more finding excuses for not exercising. Nope, it's time to get healthy and in shape. Won't you join me?

Waaaay Back Wednesday

Okay, so it's not centuries old or anything, but it does seem like an eternity ago. This picture was taken on our trip to Hawaii, October 2006. Sierra was 4 years old, and Makenna was 19 months. Good times, good times.

Life Is A Dance

Last night was the final night of the Oregon High School Dance and Drill State Competition. Having been a member of dance team throughout high school, and having coached after high school, I naturally love to attend each year. But even more important, my sister, Annie, still coaches high school dance team, so we love to go to support her and her girls. Geri and I loaded up the girlies (if you think we're getting Kam started early, you should know that Makenna attended her first competition at the ripe ol' age of 2 weeks!) and headed into Portland.

We all had a fabulous time. Kam slept through the majority of the competition, Sierra and Makenna were content snacking on popcorn and admiring all of the costumes, and I got my dance team "fix" for the year. We also got to visit with old friends, and of course see Annie and her daughter, Sonoma.

I snapped a few pictures, though none are great (I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with my camera ~ any suggestions on a good camera are welcome!).

Sweet Sayings

The other day Makenna and I were on the floor admiring Kam and how she's grown and changed so much in the last few weeks. The following is one of the sweetest conversations I've had with my daughter who is no longer the baby of our little family.

Makenna: She's so tiny, Mama
Me: Yes, she's a tiny little pumpkin, isn't she?
Makenna: Does Kameryn have Jesus in her little heart too?
Me: Yes sweetheart, she does.

Always deep in thought, my sweet Makenna. I could tell she was happy to hear that even tiny little Kam has Jesus in her heart. What a treasured moment for this Mama.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder?

So, Miss Kameryn likes to be right next to Mama at all times. We catch our Zzzzs together, we eat together, we clean house together (and I use the words clean and house VERY loosely), etc. If I try to put her down even for a moment, I'll get an earful (thank goodness for my best pal, sling). Anyway, this morning she sacked out on my lap during homeschool with Sierra and Makenna, and she seemed unusually content, so I carefully moved her to our bed so that I could get a quick load of laundry switched over and clean up the breakfast dishes. She wound up sleeping for almost an hour . . . without me . . . and I'll tell ya, I missed her.

Tell me you wouldn't miss this little pumpkin if she weren't permanently attached to you, I dare ya.

Splish Splash!

The sweet smell of a freshly bathed babe is just too much for me!
Kam likes the bath too, though it often results in
Sierra and Makenna joining in on the fun.
4 of us in one bath tub . . . it's a bit snug.
But I love it!

Of course a good, long nap is in order

once the bath festivities have ended.

It's the law.

Headin' Out West

Last week my dear friend and fellow homeschooling mom, Amanda, informed me that the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center was closing this week. Though we had planned on making this field trip a little later in the year, we decided we didn't want to miss the opportunity, so away we went on Friday afternoon. We enjoyed a short film, and the many displays. It was the perfect addition to our pioneer studies.

A Little Getaway!

Four weeks ago life pretty much consisted of growing our newest little addition. It was feeding (or preparation for feedings) around the clock, daily hour-long drives to the doctor for weigh-ins, hospital visits, tests. When I say there was no sleep, I really mean NO sleep. Not broken sleep, or a little sleep here and there, I mean not a wink. She required feeding every two hours, no exceptions. Breastfeeding wasn't an option because I had to quantify everything she was taking in. That meant feeding her through a syringe. By the time I would pump, mix the breastmilk with preemie formula (not my choice, but, hey, you'll do anything to grow your little pumpkin!), wake her enough to get her to eat (this was often the hardest chore), get her to actually take an ounce or so, mark it all down in my book (oh yes, there was documentation of every feeding, every diaper) then clean out all the pump parts . . . well, we were back to it being time to pump again. It was an exhausting couple of weeks, to say the least. But even among the worry and sleep deprivation, we felt so blessed to have our precious daughter at home with us instead of in the NICU.

Today life is so different. Only a few short weeks later our precious Kameryn is growing like a weed ~ well, a little weed. Daily weigh-ins are a thing of the past. Syringe feedings? No way! She is now breastfeeding like a champ. We're still up at night, of course. She's only 5 weeks old, people. But now our night time feedings are a special time for the two of us, not a time filled with worry and feeding calculations (how much math can one be expected to do at 3am?). Every day is such a joy.

So, my point (yeah, I'm actually getting there), is that had someone told me a few weeks ago that we'd be able to leave the house as a family, and actually take a mini vacation . . . well, I would've laughed out loud! But it has happened, and I'm so happy. Big sisters, Sierra and Makenna, have been through so much in the last couple of months. Having Mama hospitalized for two weeks was rough, and the couple of weeks following Kameryn's birth were equally hard. The girls really deserved a little fun. And I'm happy to say that we found it at the Great Wolf Lodge!

We made the trip to Grand Mound, Washington (about a 2 1/2 hour drive) on Wednesday. All the while the girls knew nothing of our plan. We picked up Nana and Grandpa to come along, and after about an hour in the car Sierra started getting suspicious. Imagine the looks on their faces when we pulled up to the Lodge. They were so excited! And rightly so, the water park was amazing! 84 degrees, water slides, wave pool, rafting, forts . . . it was just what we needed! Kam enjoyed herself too ~ come to find out, 84 degrees is just the right temperature for a little sugarplum to kick back and take a snooze!

Sierra and Makenna had Daddy and Grandpa running and playing all day, while Mama and Nana got to watch and take care of Kam. I did sport a bathing suit for a short while (which was brave of me considering I am in no shape to be wearing one at this point!), so that I could go on the raft ride with Jeremy and Sierra, and a few slides with the girls, and I must say it was too much fun! We will definitely be going back in the near future!

Five Weeks Old!

Our precious Kameryn Faith is five weeks old today. This day is special in another way too; as it happens to be her due date. What a blessing she is to our family, our sweet and tiny Kam. Now that she's gaining weight steadily, we can breathe a sigh of relief, and truly appreciate each and every moment we have with her. She is most certainly our little miracle.