On Monday, I took Korben to the doctor for a cough that has been lingering for over 6 weeks. It hasn't been terrible that whole time, but its never really gone away. Last weekend it got really bad again, and by Monday it was awful. Dr. Beene prescribed an inhaler, and said the cough was allergy related. I totally agreed. It doesn't sound anything like asthma. It is a very wet, productive sounding cough as opposed to a dry, wheezy cough. I was really expecting something to show up on the chest x-ray, and get a prescription for antibiotics. But to my surprise, the chest x-ray was clear. Sooooo, that means, the cough is the result of post-nasal drip. Which explains why it was the worst when he was sleeping. After two days of the inhaler, he was getting worse and not better. On Wednesday she prescribed a steroid to reduce the allergic reaction happening in his lungs. We are on day 4 of 5 of the steroid and he is just NOW better! She had me under the impression that he would be better by day 1 or 2, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. The steroid took my already hyper child and turned him into a circus act. He has been literally climbing the walls ever since he started the pills. He was already not sleeping well at night or napping before the steroid, so my exhaustion level was already sky high. Then, the steroids came and I thought I wasn't going to make it through the week. Not being able to leave the house is hard with a very, very energized 2 year old boy. He begged to go outside everyday, but since allergies are the culprit of this cough, that wasn't an option. Some days I thought that Korben felt like equivalent of 6 children. I used to say I wanted a dozen kids (It was those "cheaper by the dozen movies" Ha!), but now I'm thinking that if Klaire has anywhere near the energy of Korben, maybe two kids will just FEEL like 12 kids!
I was on the verge of breaking down yesterday afternoon. I hadn't left the house since Tuesday morning (I realize that is only 3.5 days, but these weren't normal days), and the lack of sleep was about to do me in. Thankfully, Aaron picked up on my desperation when he came home yesterday afternoon and swept Korben away for an afternoon/evening of indoor fun...chick fil a, the halloween store, the mall, and a movie! Not only was this a great time of rest for me, it was great memories for them! Aaron is officially the best husband and dad ever. Good thing he isn't anyone else's husband because I would covet him...Ha!
My morning was officially made this morning when Korben came in our room at 6:50 a.m.! I never would have dreamed I would be so thrilled to get up before 7 on a Saturday, but in context of our sleepless week, I was SO HAPPY to see that time on the clock! He was proud of himself too...He said "Its light outside! I feel all better! Go outside and play today?" That made my morning. Of course, we still shouldn't go outside, but he had a better day!
Aaron went to an early morning men's breakfast at church, then I went to a really fun baby shower luncheon (great fellowship for my soul...needed that!), then Aaron attended a funeral, and late in the afternoon we watched the Razorback game (recorded, so we could zip through the commercials)!
Aaron went for a run tonight and when he came back in he brought the mail. I guess the time has come in our lives again that we will receive TOY CATALOGS before Christmas! It was very nostalgic for Aaron and I to look through the toy catalogs with Korben. Is it just instinct for children to get how all this works? HOW MANY TIMES tonight did I hear "I need this one", "I like THIS one best", "Dad, get this for me?" Yes, he actually said "get this for me." Ahhh, the time has come ALREADY!
When it came time to read a book before bed, you'll never guess which "book" he requested...Oh yes, the "toy book!"
I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel! Korben is sleeping again, and his cough seems to be subsiding. However, we have got to get on a new allergy regimen. I'm pretty sure his body is immune to Zyrtec after a year of taking it. I'm praying for the right answers, even if that means we need to see an Allergist.
Everything with my little Klaire seems to be going well! Some days I feel more pregnant than others! Some days I feel like I could take on the world and tackle every errand and household chore, and some days I have aches and pains everywhere and feel like I am days away from labor! She kicks more and more all the time! It is hard to believe how big she is! From what I've read, she is probably already 15 inches long and 3 pounds. I just wish I could see her little face! I am DYING to meet her! Every day I try to picture what life is going to be like with her here. Sometimes it makes me really nervous and overwhelmed, and sometimes it makes me squeal because I'm so excited. The things I am most nervous about are: Being exhausted due to all night feedings, nursing (in general) with no help in that department, and most of all...not being the mom I want to be to Korben due to the first two things I've listed. In hindsight, the REALLY tough times with Korben didn't really last that long. By 4-6 months old he was on a GREAT schedule, and sleeping through the night. I will try to keep that in mind with Klaire, knowing that it won't last forever. My goal is to enjoy our middle of the night snuggle times, and realize this is just a short phase of her life. I pray God will give me the ability to thrive on even the littlest sleep, and still be a fun mommy to Korben.
Just for record keeping purposes, I must record here about my dream this past week. I dreamed that Klaire was kicking me very high and very hard, which is totally normal. And all of a sudden, her little toe nails came right out of my skin under my ribcage! The weirdest thing about this dream is that it wasn't weird at all! It was a charming, "aww, Klaire" moment. Now that makes it weird!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Random Korben Stories
I've gotten really bad about blogging and really good about writing down a couple sentences a day on facebook when I have a funny story to tell. Here are a few things I've put on facebook lately about Korben.
Conversation between Korben and me:
Korben: Hey Mom, How are you?
Me: I'm Sleepy!
Korben: Don't be sad, be awesome like me!
Korben really loves to ask ANYONE "How are you?" these days! When they return the question, sometimes he says "I'm good!...but most of the he says,"I'm AWESOME!"
He woke up from his nap this past sunday and said "Hey Mom, Korben slept for two whole days!" I'm thinking, that was hardly an hour, and it felt like 2 whole minutes!
He still speaks 60% of the time in 3rd person! He is slowly, but steadily venturing into the world of saying "I." We are so used to it, but everyone who hears him talk thinks it is so funny.
The other day he was really struggling with staying in his bed for his nap. I said "Korben if you get up again, I'm going to spank you." Well, three minutes later he comes zooming out of his room with a "helicopter" he just made from his legos. I said, "Korben, now I'm going to have to spank you." He says "Okay...do it GENTLE, just pat my bottom like this" (*Motions a gentle tap-tap on his bottom*)
I could have died laughing.
There are multiple funny stories a day around here...I've got to start blogging more!
Conversation between Korben and me:
Korben: Hey Mom, How are you?
Me: I'm Sleepy!
Korben: Don't be sad, be awesome like me!
Korben really loves to ask ANYONE "How are you?" these days! When they return the question, sometimes he says "I'm good!...but most of the he says,"I'm AWESOME!"
He woke up from his nap this past sunday and said "Hey Mom, Korben slept for two whole days!" I'm thinking, that was hardly an hour, and it felt like 2 whole minutes!
He still speaks 60% of the time in 3rd person! He is slowly, but steadily venturing into the world of saying "I." We are so used to it, but everyone who hears him talk thinks it is so funny.
The other day he was really struggling with staying in his bed for his nap. I said "Korben if you get up again, I'm going to spank you." Well, three minutes later he comes zooming out of his room with a "helicopter" he just made from his legos. I said, "Korben, now I'm going to have to spank you." He says "Okay...do it GENTLE, just pat my bottom like this" (*Motions a gentle tap-tap on his bottom*)
I could have died laughing.
There are multiple funny stories a day around here...I've got to start blogging more!
Bullskie
I've been meaning to write a Korben post for...OH...7 months or so. Today is the day. Something pretty monumental happened this week, and I figured I better type it out, or I may possibly forget it!
The Korben I wrote about back in March said lots of words. I would have ventured to say that my two year old Korben said every word! I've always thought he had a great vocabulary for his age. However, it is amazing what 7 months can do. Now he speaks sentences and can have a full-blown conversation with anyone. This makes life super fun!
One of my favorite things to do on our way home from church (whether that be sunday morning, sunday night, wednesday night, or MOPS meetings) is ask Korben what he learned, who he played with, etc. Well, the past few weeks on Sunday morning he has been telling me about a Diggity Dog movie that he watches at church. "Diggity Dog" is a character who teaches them Bible Stories on a video. Well, Around the same time he started watching Diggity Dog, he also started talking about someone/something named "Bullskie." I just figured Bullskie was another character from that video. He began to tell me often how funny Bullskie was. So, this past Tuesday, I saw our Preschool Minister while I was at our MOPS meeting, and asked her if there was another character on the Diggity Dog videos named Bullskie. I told her that Korben had been talking about him a whole lot! She had no idea what I was talking about, but she said she would look into it. Well, on the way home, I thought I would ask some deeper questions about this Bullskie character. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: Hey Korben...Tell me about Bullskie
Korben: Bullskie is SOOOO FUNNY!!!
Me: Really? Thats great! Where IS Bullskie?
Korben: In our backyard
Me: OH, Korben! You're talking about our neighbor's little white dog that we call "Bolt", right?
Korben: NO...Bulskie! He's a black dog!
Me: (A little freaked out) Can you show me Bullskie when we get home?
Korben: YES!!! Bullskie is SO FUNNY!
We get home, and I can not walk to the back door fast enough.
Me: Do you see him?
Korben: YES, THERE HE IS!
I'm REALLY freaking out at this point. There is NO dog to be found! Korben walks to the middle of the backyard and says
Korben: Bullskie, where are you? (pats his legs) Bullskie is not here anymore.
It hit me right then and there that Korben has an imaginary dog. Wow, I thought the day might come that Korben would have an imaginary friend, but I sure never pictured an imaginary dog at the age of two and a half!
I have tried to not "dig" about the Bullskie issue, as much as I would like to. I just let him tell me things when he wants to. In the past two days he has told me that he was building a Bullskie with his legos, and that Bullskie is a black dog, with white dots (i love that...dots, not spots), and has a long tail! But most of all, He just tells me how funny Bullskie is and dies laughing!
I couldn't wait to call Aaron and both of the Grandmas that day and tell them about this!
The Korben I wrote about back in March said lots of words. I would have ventured to say that my two year old Korben said every word! I've always thought he had a great vocabulary for his age. However, it is amazing what 7 months can do. Now he speaks sentences and can have a full-blown conversation with anyone. This makes life super fun!
One of my favorite things to do on our way home from church (whether that be sunday morning, sunday night, wednesday night, or MOPS meetings) is ask Korben what he learned, who he played with, etc. Well, the past few weeks on Sunday morning he has been telling me about a Diggity Dog movie that he watches at church. "Diggity Dog" is a character who teaches them Bible Stories on a video. Well, Around the same time he started watching Diggity Dog, he also started talking about someone/something named "Bullskie." I just figured Bullskie was another character from that video. He began to tell me often how funny Bullskie was. So, this past Tuesday, I saw our Preschool Minister while I was at our MOPS meeting, and asked her if there was another character on the Diggity Dog videos named Bullskie. I told her that Korben had been talking about him a whole lot! She had no idea what I was talking about, but she said she would look into it. Well, on the way home, I thought I would ask some deeper questions about this Bullskie character. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: Hey Korben...Tell me about Bullskie
Korben: Bullskie is SOOOO FUNNY!!!
Me: Really? Thats great! Where IS Bullskie?
Korben: In our backyard
Me: OH, Korben! You're talking about our neighbor's little white dog that we call "Bolt", right?
Korben: NO...Bulskie! He's a black dog!
Me: (A little freaked out) Can you show me Bullskie when we get home?
Korben: YES!!! Bullskie is SO FUNNY!
We get home, and I can not walk to the back door fast enough.
Me: Do you see him?
Korben: YES, THERE HE IS!
I'm REALLY freaking out at this point. There is NO dog to be found! Korben walks to the middle of the backyard and says
Korben: Bullskie, where are you? (pats his legs) Bullskie is not here anymore.
It hit me right then and there that Korben has an imaginary dog. Wow, I thought the day might come that Korben would have an imaginary friend, but I sure never pictured an imaginary dog at the age of two and a half!
I have tried to not "dig" about the Bullskie issue, as much as I would like to. I just let him tell me things when he wants to. In the past two days he has told me that he was building a Bullskie with his legos, and that Bullskie is a black dog, with white dots (i love that...dots, not spots), and has a long tail! But most of all, He just tells me how funny Bullskie is and dies laughing!
I couldn't wait to call Aaron and both of the Grandmas that day and tell them about this!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Playing catch up- The story of Klaire
Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged in over 6 months. To say "so much has happened" would be such an understatement! I'm going to do my best to do a "catch-up" blog on one BIG aspect of our life.
The big news is that we found out we were pregnant with baby #2 on May 2nd (The night before my 26th birthday)! We were absolutely thrilled! Aaron had just given me my birthday present (A new camera! How appropriate with a new baby on the way!), and then I decided to take a pregnancy test. It was a digital test that just said "YES." It was the greatest feeling in the world, and that made for a birthday celebration I will never forget. We didn't get pregnant with baby #2 right off the bat, and I was nervous it may take us a long time. I am so grateful that God didn't make us wait too long. I guess he knew the suspense could have killed me! Ha! Even though in the grand scheme of things, it didn't take us very long to get pregnant, that time really taught me a lot about what my friends who deal with infertility face. I can see how easily it could captivate your every thought. I have a new compassion for my friends who struggle with infertility, while, I would never say I fully understand how hard it is.
On my birthday, many of my friends and family called me. It was SO HARD to hold in my exciting secret. We wanted to wait to be able to tell our families in person. The evening of my birthday I had stayed home from a church event because I was having really bad allergy problems. I went to the bathroom and noticed a lot of bleeding. I was devastated. I'd had 24 hours to believe I was pregnant, and now I was convinced I wasn't anymore. I thought I was having a miscarriage, and called Aaron in the middle of the church program to please come home. I talked to a doctor, talked with a few special prayer warrior friends, and prayed with Aaron. We tried to just leave it up to God. The next day I went in for blood work, and the doctor said the numbers still showed that I was pregnant. Two days later I went in for more blood work, and the numbers had almost tripled. That was a GREAT sign! I ended up having several more terrifying episodes of bleeding during my first trimester, and there was never a valid explanation from a doctor on why it was happening. Every time it happened though, I got to see my sweet little baby's heart beating on the ultrasound, and it was the greatest feeling in the world to know that God was still allowing that baby's heart to beat.
I am now 24...almost 25 weeks along, and I'm here to tell you that we have a growing, wonderful, healthy little GIRL! She will continue to be a miracle baby to me. All babies are miracles, but there were so many times I was convinced I was losing this baby and I begged God to save her. I know God is the reason for her every heart beat. I am so grateful.
We found out when I was 20 weeks pregnant that we were having a girl! It was SO hard to wait that long! We told our families that we were going for our big ultrasound on Monday, August 23rd, but we secretly moved up our appointment until Friday, August 20th. We wanted to be able to catch them off guard with the big news!
I was 99.9% sure we were going to have another boy. The funny thing about that is that the only name I felt like God had laid on my heart was for a girl. We knew we wanted to call her Klaire, and we probably wanted Klaire to be her middle name, just like Korben's. We never had a peace about a boy name. So we spent that entire week searching boy names so we could have a name picked out for him by the time of our ultrasound. We found a hand full of names that we liked that started with "N" and we shared them with Korben. Names like Noah, Noble, and Nolan. Korben instantly said "Korben likes Noble." No matter what name we told him after that he would just say over and over, "Korben likes Noble." We thought that was so cute...little did we know how much it would play into our God-story.
We took Korben with us for the ultrasound. Thankfully our ultrasound tech was kind enough to try to tell us the sex of the baby first. She seemed to search for what seemed like 5 full minutes, and after a lot of silence, she said "Well, I can't say that I am 100% sure if you are having a girl or not, but I don't see ANY boy parts." And I said, "I DON'T EITHER!" And Aaron said, "I DON'T EITHER." We had all just sat there in silence until that moment and then we all exploded in disbelief that this could possibly be a GIRL. Then we went through a 40 minute extensive ultrasound making sure everything about the baby looked healthy. Praise the Lord, everything looked great. That whole time, I was scared to get my mind set that it was a girl since she never was able to get a perfect look. Finally, right before we left, the baby had settled down a little and she got several clear shots. She said "I'm 100% sure now, you can buy pink!" My very favorite part of the ultrasound was when the tech was able to zoom in on her face. We got the clearest view of her little nose and big lips! She was beautiful! Aaron told me later on in the car that he had 100% peace after seeing her face that her name needed to be "Klaire." I wish we had a picture of the face we were able to see that day, but in 3 months we will get to see it in person! We do actually have a very short video clip of her clapping her hands! Is that not amazing? What a blessing to have a clip of her clapping her hands in the womb!
As soon as we got home we let Korben call all of the grandparents and tell them over the phone. Of course, they were completely caught off guard because they didn't think we were actually going for the ultrasound for 3 more days! He got on the phone and kept saying "Little Sister" over and over. They eventually got it!
Then, that night, we got to searching for a first name for little Klaire! After seriously considering about 10 names we found the name "Adalyn" on a list online. I read it to Aaron and said, "What do you think about Adalyn Klaire." He said that he loved it. He asked me what it meant, so I looked down at the meaning and about fell off the couch. The meaning of the name Adalyn is NOBLE. All I could hear was "Korben likes Noble, Korben likes Noble" in my head. We had total peace that God had helped us decide our daughter's first name with the help of our little boy! We also thought, what better thing to wish upon our daughter than to be noble and wise! Oh, how we need more noble women in this world! I would honestly pray for wisdom upon my daughter over any other quality. It was set. We called all our family members again the next day to announce the name! Then we shared our good news with our Grand Family at church the next day! What an exciting weekend!
As for now, I'm enjoying being pregnant! The first trimester I was really sick. I definitely felt worse this time around, but I feel great now. We have a scheduled c-section for December 31st (new years eve), bright and early in the morning. But who knows, Klaire could make her debut before that. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out...especially with the Christmas just the week before!
We are all so excited about this little girl! We just put her crib together this weekend. Her bedding is on it, and her curtains are hung. There is so much left to do in the room, but it definitely feels like a little girl's room when you walk in. Korben loves to go in there and say "It's SOOOO pretty." It melts my heart. When people ask Korben what he is going to do with Baby Klaire he says "Be nice and play toys." He also has deemed ANYTHING that he finds that is the color pink to be Baby Klaire's. For instance, one day he brought me the heavy gallon jug of skim milk and told me it was Baby Klaire's milk (just because the cap on it was pink)! If he sees a shape that is pink on a game, It is "Baby Klaire's rectangle, triangle, etc." He is just so sweet. I know he will be the best big brother.
Here are a few pictures leading up to this point:
The night we found out! We re-enacted our pictures from the night we found out we were pregnant with Korben!
We told our mom's on Mother's day! All we had to do was get Korben out of the car with his "I'm a big brother" t-shirt on!
This is the sweet little boy I had to wake up from a nap on August 20th, because it was time to see whether he was going to have a little brother or a little sister!
Here were are, in the waiting room before the ultrasound.
This picture is almost 5 weeks old, but it was the first belly shot I did, which was at the midway point (20 weeks).
The big news is that we found out we were pregnant with baby #2 on May 2nd (The night before my 26th birthday)! We were absolutely thrilled! Aaron had just given me my birthday present (A new camera! How appropriate with a new baby on the way!), and then I decided to take a pregnancy test. It was a digital test that just said "YES." It was the greatest feeling in the world, and that made for a birthday celebration I will never forget. We didn't get pregnant with baby #2 right off the bat, and I was nervous it may take us a long time. I am so grateful that God didn't make us wait too long. I guess he knew the suspense could have killed me! Ha! Even though in the grand scheme of things, it didn't take us very long to get pregnant, that time really taught me a lot about what my friends who deal with infertility face. I can see how easily it could captivate your every thought. I have a new compassion for my friends who struggle with infertility, while, I would never say I fully understand how hard it is.
On my birthday, many of my friends and family called me. It was SO HARD to hold in my exciting secret. We wanted to wait to be able to tell our families in person. The evening of my birthday I had stayed home from a church event because I was having really bad allergy problems. I went to the bathroom and noticed a lot of bleeding. I was devastated. I'd had 24 hours to believe I was pregnant, and now I was convinced I wasn't anymore. I thought I was having a miscarriage, and called Aaron in the middle of the church program to please come home. I talked to a doctor, talked with a few special prayer warrior friends, and prayed with Aaron. We tried to just leave it up to God. The next day I went in for blood work, and the doctor said the numbers still showed that I was pregnant. Two days later I went in for more blood work, and the numbers had almost tripled. That was a GREAT sign! I ended up having several more terrifying episodes of bleeding during my first trimester, and there was never a valid explanation from a doctor on why it was happening. Every time it happened though, I got to see my sweet little baby's heart beating on the ultrasound, and it was the greatest feeling in the world to know that God was still allowing that baby's heart to beat.
I am now 24...almost 25 weeks along, and I'm here to tell you that we have a growing, wonderful, healthy little GIRL! She will continue to be a miracle baby to me. All babies are miracles, but there were so many times I was convinced I was losing this baby and I begged God to save her. I know God is the reason for her every heart beat. I am so grateful.
We found out when I was 20 weeks pregnant that we were having a girl! It was SO hard to wait that long! We told our families that we were going for our big ultrasound on Monday, August 23rd, but we secretly moved up our appointment until Friday, August 20th. We wanted to be able to catch them off guard with the big news!
I was 99.9% sure we were going to have another boy. The funny thing about that is that the only name I felt like God had laid on my heart was for a girl. We knew we wanted to call her Klaire, and we probably wanted Klaire to be her middle name, just like Korben's. We never had a peace about a boy name. So we spent that entire week searching boy names so we could have a name picked out for him by the time of our ultrasound. We found a hand full of names that we liked that started with "N" and we shared them with Korben. Names like Noah, Noble, and Nolan. Korben instantly said "Korben likes Noble." No matter what name we told him after that he would just say over and over, "Korben likes Noble." We thought that was so cute...little did we know how much it would play into our God-story.
We took Korben with us for the ultrasound. Thankfully our ultrasound tech was kind enough to try to tell us the sex of the baby first. She seemed to search for what seemed like 5 full minutes, and after a lot of silence, she said "Well, I can't say that I am 100% sure if you are having a girl or not, but I don't see ANY boy parts." And I said, "I DON'T EITHER!" And Aaron said, "I DON'T EITHER." We had all just sat there in silence until that moment and then we all exploded in disbelief that this could possibly be a GIRL. Then we went through a 40 minute extensive ultrasound making sure everything about the baby looked healthy. Praise the Lord, everything looked great. That whole time, I was scared to get my mind set that it was a girl since she never was able to get a perfect look. Finally, right before we left, the baby had settled down a little and she got several clear shots. She said "I'm 100% sure now, you can buy pink!" My very favorite part of the ultrasound was when the tech was able to zoom in on her face. We got the clearest view of her little nose and big lips! She was beautiful! Aaron told me later on in the car that he had 100% peace after seeing her face that her name needed to be "Klaire." I wish we had a picture of the face we were able to see that day, but in 3 months we will get to see it in person! We do actually have a very short video clip of her clapping her hands! Is that not amazing? What a blessing to have a clip of her clapping her hands in the womb!
As soon as we got home we let Korben call all of the grandparents and tell them over the phone. Of course, they were completely caught off guard because they didn't think we were actually going for the ultrasound for 3 more days! He got on the phone and kept saying "Little Sister" over and over. They eventually got it!
Then, that night, we got to searching for a first name for little Klaire! After seriously considering about 10 names we found the name "Adalyn" on a list online. I read it to Aaron and said, "What do you think about Adalyn Klaire." He said that he loved it. He asked me what it meant, so I looked down at the meaning and about fell off the couch. The meaning of the name Adalyn is NOBLE. All I could hear was "Korben likes Noble, Korben likes Noble" in my head. We had total peace that God had helped us decide our daughter's first name with the help of our little boy! We also thought, what better thing to wish upon our daughter than to be noble and wise! Oh, how we need more noble women in this world! I would honestly pray for wisdom upon my daughter over any other quality. It was set. We called all our family members again the next day to announce the name! Then we shared our good news with our Grand Family at church the next day! What an exciting weekend!
As for now, I'm enjoying being pregnant! The first trimester I was really sick. I definitely felt worse this time around, but I feel great now. We have a scheduled c-section for December 31st (new years eve), bright and early in the morning. But who knows, Klaire could make her debut before that. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out...especially with the Christmas just the week before!
We are all so excited about this little girl! We just put her crib together this weekend. Her bedding is on it, and her curtains are hung. There is so much left to do in the room, but it definitely feels like a little girl's room when you walk in. Korben loves to go in there and say "It's SOOOO pretty." It melts my heart. When people ask Korben what he is going to do with Baby Klaire he says "Be nice and play toys." He also has deemed ANYTHING that he finds that is the color pink to be Baby Klaire's. For instance, one day he brought me the heavy gallon jug of skim milk and told me it was Baby Klaire's milk (just because the cap on it was pink)! If he sees a shape that is pink on a game, It is "Baby Klaire's rectangle, triangle, etc." He is just so sweet. I know he will be the best big brother.
Here are a few pictures leading up to this point:
The night we found out! We re-enacted our pictures from the night we found out we were pregnant with Korben!
We told our mom's on Mother's day! All we had to do was get Korben out of the car with his "I'm a big brother" t-shirt on!
This is the sweet little boy I had to wake up from a nap on August 20th, because it was time to see whether he was going to have a little brother or a little sister!
Here were are, in the waiting room before the ultrasound.
This picture is almost 5 weeks old, but it was the first belly shot I did, which was at the midway point (20 weeks).
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Dear Blog.
Dear Blog,
Please bear with me. I promise I will visit you soon. You are in my constant thoughts and prayers (okay, maybe not my prayers).
Yours truly,
Kristen
Please bear with me. I promise I will visit you soon. You are in my constant thoughts and prayers (okay, maybe not my prayers).
Yours truly,
Kristen
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Simply Youth Ministry Conference- Chicago
I had the opportunity to go with Aaron to his youth ministry conference this year. Aaron LOVES to soak in new information at these conferences, and always comes home from telling me all the fresh ideas he has learned. It was SUCH a joy to get to attend this conference with him, and talk about everything God was teaching us at the same time. Aaron and I went to some sessions together, but for some smaller sessions we went to different seminars that interested us. For instance, I went to a 2.5 hour seminar one day called "Raising your kids while in youth ministry." Oh my word, I was in a room with 100 women in my exact life situation. It was awesome. We had lots of small group discussions around our table, and it was so cool to see what all we had in common. We all had husbands in youth ministry and small children. We had SO much to talk about. I learned a WHOLE lot from some older women who were at my table. They will never know just how much they encouraged me! I really feel like God used them to speak some BIG words of truth to me that I needed to hear that week. I also went to a seminar on "Girls ministry and mentoring." I sometimes feel inadequate as a youth worker now that I'm so busy being a mom, but I was very encouraged through that seminar that even though I may be chasing Korben around at youth events, I can still mentor girls by taking advantage of every small moment to try to be a loving, godly influence on their lives. I could write a small book about everything God taught me and reminded me while at the Simply Youth Ministry conference in Chicago.
It wasn't just the conference that was awesome. Just getting away with my man was awesome! It was truly QUALITY time together! The sight-seeing in Chicago wasn't so bad either! It is actually one of the coolest places I have ever been. I love all "downtown" areas, but I have never been in a downtown that was quite this enormous and busy as well as beautiful, clean, and safe! If you go, you have to have Giordano's pizza. Of course, Chicago is known for their deep dish pizza. We tried the three biggest competitors, but Giordano s was so good that we had it two more times. Best pizza I have ever had!
We actually skipped out on our Sunday morning conference session and drove to visit Willow Creek church in Northern Chicago. Willow Creek is one of the largest churches in the nation, and it was educational in its own right to see how they operate there. We learned a lot from attending their worship service as well as the youth service that morning. Unforgettable experience.
And some more added perks for me were going to the gym in the morning, having unlimited hot water, and maid service. These are all silly things that I would have never cared about a few years ago, but I consider them all luxuries now. Ah, seasons of life!
Here are a few pictures!
Whether you agree with anything Oprah has to say or not, there is no denying that she is an American Icon. Her studio was in a convenient location, so I had to get a picture in front of the Harpo sign. Her show has been on the air as long as I've been alive. Crazy.
The "magnificent mile" at night. Truly magnificent. Endless stores that are several stories high. Christmas lights in the trees. Just magical!
Yes, we did attend the conference! :) There just weren't very many things to take pictures of while we were there!
Gotta be careful!
The coolest thing about downtown are the waterways that just go all through the middle of the city. I wish my pictures captured how beautiful all of this really was!
In Millenium Park
This is called "the cloud gate." It is an amazing architectural structure that is basically a big mirror of the city. I think I could have walked around it and stared at it for hours...maybe if it wasn't ridiculously cold!
Pretty little skating rink. Didn't skate. Too cold. Gotta keep on moving!
Millenium Park Amphitheater. Obama gave his acceptance speech somewhere out here.
The Field Museum. I've been a dinosaur lover (nerd) since I was a kid. This is "Sue" the largest, most complete, T-Rex in the world!
Me with my very favorite type of Dinosaur. The Brachiosaurus. They eat plants, not people!
On the steps of the Field Museum with part of the sky line behind us! So pretty!
Aaron insisted on taking this picture outside after we saw the Diamond exhibit at the Field Museum. Y'all, this was a very cold moment. I have never been so excited to get in the car away from the cold wind!
The trip was perfect. I got to enjoy being with the man God made for me, while enjoying His beautiful creation. In the meantime, the Lord taught us how to better minister to His people. Awesome.
It wasn't just the conference that was awesome. Just getting away with my man was awesome! It was truly QUALITY time together! The sight-seeing in Chicago wasn't so bad either! It is actually one of the coolest places I have ever been. I love all "downtown" areas, but I have never been in a downtown that was quite this enormous and busy as well as beautiful, clean, and safe! If you go, you have to have Giordano's pizza. Of course, Chicago is known for their deep dish pizza. We tried the three biggest competitors, but Giordano s was so good that we had it two more times. Best pizza I have ever had!
We actually skipped out on our Sunday morning conference session and drove to visit Willow Creek church in Northern Chicago. Willow Creek is one of the largest churches in the nation, and it was educational in its own right to see how they operate there. We learned a lot from attending their worship service as well as the youth service that morning. Unforgettable experience.
And some more added perks for me were going to the gym in the morning, having unlimited hot water, and maid service. These are all silly things that I would have never cared about a few years ago, but I consider them all luxuries now. Ah, seasons of life!
Here are a few pictures!
Whether you agree with anything Oprah has to say or not, there is no denying that she is an American Icon. Her studio was in a convenient location, so I had to get a picture in front of the Harpo sign. Her show has been on the air as long as I've been alive. Crazy.
The "magnificent mile" at night. Truly magnificent. Endless stores that are several stories high. Christmas lights in the trees. Just magical!
Yes, we did attend the conference! :) There just weren't very many things to take pictures of while we were there!
Gotta be careful!
The coolest thing about downtown are the waterways that just go all through the middle of the city. I wish my pictures captured how beautiful all of this really was!
In Millenium Park
This is called "the cloud gate." It is an amazing architectural structure that is basically a big mirror of the city. I think I could have walked around it and stared at it for hours...maybe if it wasn't ridiculously cold!
Pretty little skating rink. Didn't skate. Too cold. Gotta keep on moving!
Millenium Park Amphitheater. Obama gave his acceptance speech somewhere out here.
The Field Museum. I've been a dinosaur lover (nerd) since I was a kid. This is "Sue" the largest, most complete, T-Rex in the world!
Me with my very favorite type of Dinosaur. The Brachiosaurus. They eat plants, not people!
On the steps of the Field Museum with part of the sky line behind us! So pretty!
Aaron insisted on taking this picture outside after we saw the Diamond exhibit at the Field Museum. Y'all, this was a very cold moment. I have never been so excited to get in the car away from the cold wind!
The trip was perfect. I got to enjoy being with the man God made for me, while enjoying His beautiful creation. In the meantime, the Lord taught us how to better minister to His people. Awesome.
The Birthday Boy's Big Day!
My baby boy turned 2 last Wednesday! I have a zillion new stories I need to share, but for now I only have time to post pictures of his very special day. I will also post pictures soon of the birthday party he had last weekend when I can, but these are just pictures of "A day in the life with the birthday boy."
8:00 a.m. Woke up and played the drums (from Poppy) until Mom got breakfast ready!
8:30 Big breakfast and Birthday Cupcake #1
9:00 Played with tool set from Uncle Dustin and tent from Uncle John and Aunt Tommie Sue
9:30 Outside in the gorgeous weather! Played in the swing, wagon, and then went on a 1 hour stroll to see the horses down the street!
Compare the next two pictures! The first was taken on Korben's birthday last year when his friend Brayden came over.
12:30 Completed lunch and Birthday Cupcake #2
5:00 After a 3 hour nap (must be a myth that sugar keeps you from sleeping), had dinner and the FINAL birthday cupcake!
5:30- All ready for church. Have to get our yearly (okay, well, I've only done it twice) picture with Geoffrey. Compare with the picture below. I don't know why the picture below is so small, but you can still tell just how much he has grown since his last birthday!
Check out Korben's awesome shirt from Mopppy. SO him!
He had the special privilege of practicing the drums with Adam at church! SO much fun for him!
Korben with "Binda" (Linda Cain), one of his favorite people in the whole world. She might as well be family!
Since he turned 2 that day, he promoted to the "play room" at church, and happily kissed "the baby room" good bye! You can see what a ball he had in there!
So, that concludes a day in the life of a 2 year old! Pictures from his birthday party to come!
8:00 a.m. Woke up and played the drums (from Poppy) until Mom got breakfast ready!
8:30 Big breakfast and Birthday Cupcake #1
9:00 Played with tool set from Uncle Dustin and tent from Uncle John and Aunt Tommie Sue
9:30 Outside in the gorgeous weather! Played in the swing, wagon, and then went on a 1 hour stroll to see the horses down the street!
Compare the next two pictures! The first was taken on Korben's birthday last year when his friend Brayden came over.
12:30 Completed lunch and Birthday Cupcake #2
5:00 After a 3 hour nap (must be a myth that sugar keeps you from sleeping), had dinner and the FINAL birthday cupcake!
5:30- All ready for church. Have to get our yearly (okay, well, I've only done it twice) picture with Geoffrey. Compare with the picture below. I don't know why the picture below is so small, but you can still tell just how much he has grown since his last birthday!
Check out Korben's awesome shirt from Mopppy. SO him!
He had the special privilege of practicing the drums with Adam at church! SO much fun for him!
Korben with "Binda" (Linda Cain), one of his favorite people in the whole world. She might as well be family!
Since he turned 2 that day, he promoted to the "play room" at church, and happily kissed "the baby room" good bye! You can see what a ball he had in there!
So, that concludes a day in the life of a 2 year old! Pictures from his birthday party to come!
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