The Steele's Visit!

Unfortunately, I don't have any fabulous pictures to share, however I still wanted to keep the memory alive by documenting it! 
Today we had a great day with some really good friends.  Micah and Jamie Steele's family were in CF because Micah had some business meetings to attend.  It was a good opportunity to see them so I took her up on the idea to meet.  The girls and I came to mom and dad's and stayed the night and then met up with Jamie, Isaiah, Naomi and Levi at their hotel for an early swim.  The water water was a bit chilly but the kids didn't mind.  I wasn't a huge fan of getting all the way in the water so Adah mostly played on the stairs but Kezzie does a great job swimming without assistance as long as she is wearing her life jacket/floaties.  After it had been a while and we knew we were close to being done swimming we all piled in the hot tub to warm up.  Once we were all done swimming we got all cleaned up and dressed and went out to lunch together.  The kids were showing signs of really needing naps so we headed back to mom and dad's to hang out and give the kids a chance for some down time.  Jamie and the kids had to leave around 3:30 to meet Micah.
I cherish Jamie's friendship so much and the sweet advice she gives me.  She is a stay at home mom who homeschools her two oldest children and most importantly she is a wonderful Godly women.  She always has something to say that makes everything in my life make more sense!  I love you Jamie and can't wait to hang out again soon!

Austin is a TEENAGER!!!

Here he is on his actual birthday.  It was a thursday so there wasn't much we could do to celebrate until the weekend.  We did however have Brian's parents over for some Poor Richards Pizza and a nice Hawkeye cake that just happened to be already designed and sitting at the Charles City Hy-Vee bakery!  Funny story: I was carefully loading all my groceries into the van and keeping the cake safely off to the side when a bag I was loading bumped it and sent it rolling across the parking lot.  To make it even worse someone was watching the whole thing and promptly let me know that I dropped something.  Luckily it was a round cake with a football on top to keep it from hitting the top and a tray on the bottom to keep it fairly centered and from hitting the sides too badly!  I laugh now but at the time was not in any hurry to pick it up off the pavement and see the damage which is why that person who saw it all happen felt the need to tell me I had dropped something.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was still edible!

It is so hard to believe that I have been a mom to this boy for 13 years.  So many of those years are such a blur as I worked to get through college and meet the man of my dreams along with trying to play out some of the last of my teenage days (thanks mom and dad for helping us get through those years)!  I am so incredibly thankful for Austin in my life and wouldn't have it any other way.  He brings so much joy to my every day.  I love to hear his stories (most of them fish stories) and love watching his innovative-ness.  He is so creative and sweet and has such a loving heart.  Even when he isn't at his kindest to me he always feels regret and apologizes without being asked.  I am also impressed by how great of a big brother he is. I knew he would be, but as a boy who has always wanted a brother he does a great job of making the best of it!  I am always amazed at the games he makes up to play with Kezzie.  He loves his sisters and I don't think he would trade them for anything!   

Actually, for Austin's birthday, he celebrated by having a friend come to the river with us.  This is a huge responsibility for me so it was definitely a treat for him to get to do that.  I haven't ever allowed it before!  Here is the post about that weekend.  I felt bad when the weekend was all over and I realized that we didn't really do anything the whole weekend to acknowledge it was his birthday.  Although, I did say a couple times, "well, since this is your birthday celebration we can do that" (get McD's, get ice cream, we let him get fireworks, etc.)  I think he had a great weekend and I learned that really it wasn't any trouble at all to have a friend along (I just worry about the safety of a kid other than my own)!  They were responsible and safe at all times and listened quite well.  I was thankful for the friend he brought along.  He is a good kid!

Here we are on the Sunday after his birthday.  We celebrated at my mom and dad's with all the family there.  Aunt Emi made Austin's favorite dessert (m&ms and marshmallows drizzled with chocolate over a peanut butter crust).  Everyone took some time to watch him ride his mini bike (Keith even took a ride), and we all enjoyed the last of the air show taking place in Waterloo (what we could see was awesome).  It was a great day!  Austin mostly received money/gift cards for his birthday but he also got an awesome RC boat to drive around at Garnett Pond or the river and a car that he can take apart and put together with different wheels etc. along with a couple new lures to go fishing with!

And of course the traditional Happy Birthday song!!

Adah is 21 MONTHS!!

Here's my Adah!  She is getting so big!  She's goofy, lovable, cuddly and very opinionated!  And her curls are to die for!  Not much has changed since last month.  Adah is a big talker, although you wouldn't know it unless you hung out in her environment and were around her for a longer period of time.  She is also shy in some ways so you may not see that side of her until she gets to know you!  It might be that she feels a little overshadowed by Kezzie's talking!  She is putting together a couple words to get her point across and will even mimic a whole sentence after someone.  She copies everything Keziah does.  She just thinks she is the coolest person on the planet.  I have noticed her try to get Kezzie's goat a few times too though (ie: putting her foot in Kezzie's way to irritate her). 

Adah is such a sleeper.  She typically sleeps until 8 and takes about a 2.5/3 hour nap around 1ish.  She goes to bed by 8 most nights too!  Most days Adah wakes up from her nap dry, but there is never a night she doesn't wet her diaper.  She is doing great going potty and hasn't had an accident in a long long time (knock on wood).

Adah is finally getting into reading books.  It used to be that she would pick out a book for 'you to read' and then she would sit up on your lap and refuse to let you touch the book.  She would just want to flip through the pages or find her favorite page to look at it.

Adah loves waking up in the morning and says 'mo-ning' when you walk into her room.  She gives her paci and blankie a kiss and nicely places them on her pillow.  As we pass Keziah's room she always asks, in her own way, where Kezzie is.  We get down stairs and she says "Hi Ziah" about a hundred times!  The girls play while I get their juice/breakfast.  Adah loves to eat cereal and bagels.  But she really doesn't care much for her juice right away in the morning like Kezzie does.  She typically doesn't drink it until snack time.  She just isn't that ready for liquids in the morning.

Adah loves to sing "Happy Birthday."  She is so cute when she sings it!  We have a little cake that has candles that light up on it and you can blow them out and it sings happy birthday to you so she has come to know the song well.  Of course, you only catch a few words here and there, but it is adorable!  She also loves the clean up song!  Here is a video of her singing while she picks up some beads she purposely threw on the floor!

That's our sweet Adah!  I can't believe we are so close to celebrating her 2nd birthday!

Keziah is 45 MONTHS!

Keziah is so much fun to be around.  I have to be careful to not treat her too much like my friend because I feel so lucky to get to hang out with her every day.  She makes me laugh with her silliness, she amazes me with her opinionated-ness, she makes me look at her in awe with how awesomely blessed I am.  I am so thankful every day that God blessed me with her. 
Some of the things she says/does that make me laugh:
Adah made a frustrated grunting noise/sigh and Keziah goes, "I feel the same way Adah!"
She always requires 2 hugs, a regular kiss, an eskimo kiss and a butterfly kiss before nap and bed.
While at the river she had a few funny comments:
Keziah really wanted to go on the dock by herself (with a life jacket on) and I told her she couldn't be down there alone because nobody would know it if she fell in even with a life jacket on.  In a very irritated and 'duh mom' kind of voice she replied, "I won't be by myself, mom, because Jesus is always with me."  I honestly didn't know what else to say after that, except that the answer was still no!  She continued on to say something about him being in her heart and going wherever she goes.  So sweet and totally caught me off guard.
One of the days at the river I took Keziah on the dock to catch some fish.  We baited her hook and she cast it in.  She caught a keeper within just a few minutes and was very excited.  Later in the day she was down on the dock fishing with my cousin and she caught a little fish (not a keeper) and brought it to me to take off the hook.  When I got it off I didn't even give it any thought before throwing it back in the river without an explanation.  She immediately responded saying, "Hey, I was going to eat that."  I told her something about how it wasn't big enough to eat and that she should try for a bigger one.  She said, "yeah, you are right.  Someday it will grow into a mom or a dad so he needs to grow some more."

I can't even remember all the things she says that crack me up.  Most of the time she isn't even trying to be silly it's just the way her brain thinks!

Unlike many kids her age, Kezzie isn't starting pre-school this year.  Personally, I think it's a waste of money and frankly I'm not ready for her to be that involved in the school system yet!  She's got many years of school ahead of her and she isn't old enough to go to Kindergarten next year so why not wait at least one more year!  I wanted to have some sort of structure though for her age and so I went on my quest to see what a stay-at-home mom should do with a pre-schooler.  I learned that ever since she was born she has basically been in pre-school.  There isn't anything we don't do on a daily basis that doesn't teach her something.  Keziah is incredibly smart and could actually do very well in kindergarten right now according to the things she needs to know to be ready!  Keziah can easily count to 39 without any help and beyond that as long as I say 40, 50, etc. to get her started.  Kezzie knows her ABCs and can easily recognize each letter and the sound they make.  Keziah can say her first, middle and last name and can spell her first without even thinking about it!
Since I learned there isn't much 'structural' pre-school type teaching I need to do, I decided to work on just daily skills.  So this month we went a bit further with her listening chart and made it a reward chart also.  She has five chores that need to be done throughout the day.  I took a picture of each chore and printed it, laminated it and put it in an envelope labeled 'to do'.  There is another envelope labeled 'done'.  At the end of the day if she has all five pictures in the 'done' envelope then she gets a sticker on her chart.  She still earns stickers for listening, helping when asked, being kind to Adah in tough situations, etc.  And when she earns 10 stickers then she gets to pick a new book (I bought several books from the bargain store on B&N).  She can also still lose stickers though too.  I have a marker that I put an X over one of her stickers and she has to place another sticker on top of it before continuing on toward her 10 stickers.  So far, this has immensely improved her actions.  I still need to work on remembering to reward her and making sure to pay attention when she deserves to be rewarded.  I also need to be more diligent to catch her when she is whining and give her an X right away if needed (she gets one warning before the X goes on)!
Another thing we are starting to work on is Bible verse memorization.  I found a list of good verses on the internet for pre-school age children and Kezzie is doing great.  She is such a whip at memorizing things, she is going to continue to do well at this!  The bible says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11.   Another bible verse I like about verse memorization is, "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 2:14-17.  I feel this really strongly on my heart for Keziah and am excited to see how God uses this in her life.  Another reason why I am so blessed to be home with my kids!
One thing I am hoping to get going sometime this next month is a calendar for Keziah.  One of the biggest challenges/annoyances I face with Kezzie is her always wanting to know what is coming next.  The next hour, the next morning, the next whatever.  I get frustrated because she asks it so frequently throughout the day.  I think if I had a daily/weekly calendar for her to look at she could see what is coming and maybe be more settled.  I think it's normal for her age but I also think it is a big part of her personality to need to always know what to expect...so this is a goal of mine and you can hold me to it in her next month post!
Until next time...

Adah, Austin and a little Kez!

I got these pictures taken in July.   I wanted to do something for when Adah turned 18 months (in May) because we don't get many chances to do outdoor summer pictures since the girls' birthdays are in November.  Austin turns into a teenager this month so I really wanted to get pictures of him too.  July seemed like a good compromise time-wise and the weather was beautiful!  I couldn't resist her snapping a few shots of Kezzie too while we were at it!  They are all so good!  How will I ever choose?!!

Fun with the Coyle Cousins!

Brian's sister's family came for a visit this weekend.  We  had so much fun playing all day Saturday!  We went over to his parents' house around 9:30, had lunch, played outside and then came home for naps.  After naps we met at the middle school playground.  It started sprinkling when we got there but we got a good half hour in before it came down harder causing us to leave.  We went back to Brian's parents' for supper and some more playtime with the boys.  The kids are at such a good age and almost never fight.  Grandma had a couple riding toys hidden and she brought those out for some great entertainment!  We brought Kezzie's plastic golf club set and she had a lot of fun hitting the ball around the yard with Brady!  It may be a while now before we get to see them again so it was precious time spent with them!  I love the picture with all the kids on the couch...priceless!

Jumping Place!

I have been hearing about this place for a while now and actually have attempted to find time while in CF to go before but it never worked out.  So today we got to go!  As we were driving by the building Kezzie said, "do we have time today? are we going to do our special thing?"  The last time we were in CF I drove by the building and looked at the hours and she asked me what I was doing and I told her it was a special place but I wasn't sure we were going to have time to go there.  After running our other errands, we didn't have time that day and apparently she remembered exactly what that building looked like!  I was kind of surprised!  It was so much fun!  I was even more surprised to find out that Austin (almost 13) enjoyed it the most out of the three of them.  You pay to jump for 2 hours but we only had 1.5 before they had to close.  I thought that would be plenty of time but he wasn't ready to go home!  Keziah and Austin had a really good time together and Adah and I did our own thing.  They have an area for 3 and under and that is pretty much where we stayed.  They also had a bunch of beach balls laying around and Adah had a lot of fun with them.  It wasn't until the end that she actually got into one of the jumping castles and started enjoying it!  I guess we will just have to go back again sometime!  Austin is already asking when we can go back!

My big 7th grader!

Austin started and made it through his first day of school today.  Here he is all ready to walk out the door!  I think he is ready for a little structure and ready to see his friends more!  I don't know if he's thought about all the homework Jr. high brings though!  He also made it through his first football practice.  He will practice every day after school for 2 hours.  He runs to the high school with his team, practices and then runs back to the school.  He was pretty tired tonight not to mention HUNGRY!!!  He is really going to eat me out of house and home now!  I am super excited to see him play in his first game!  I just pray his Osgood-Schlatter's won't be a problem for him as he continues to have some ankle and knee pain.  And I really pray he can keep up with school work and adjust to a much busier schedule.  Here's to another year!  Bring it on!!!

One last Hoorah!

School is scheduled to start tomorrow :(  We thought we better celebrate good and hard one last time! After a good time in the pool we went inside for quick baths and jammies and then headed out for a fire. The girls had a long nap so I let them stay up and enjoy a 'shmarshmallow' (as Kezzie says).  I think Kezzie had a s'moore and Austin enjoyed one too! Adah just had a plain marshmallow!  I love these kids to pieces!  They are so much fun to watch play and hang out with.  The top left picture Austin is helping Adah jump in the pool, the next one Austin is making it into a wave pool, next he is helping her jump again.  The second one in from the left on the bottom is of Adah trying to make a basket into the pool.  Each kid took their turn at this and she had to try too.  She was getting so frustrated because she couldn't get her arms just right to throw it far enough.  The rest are pretty self explanatory!   So long summer break!  It was nice knowing ya!

A BIG boo boo!

On Tuesday, August 9th Keziah had an accident with the fireplace.  I didn't take the top pictures of her lip until Wednesday night more then 24 hours later.  It was much worse when it first happened.  We iced her lip a few times an hour for the first 24 hours and a couple times a day for the next 48 (more for her comfort).  So I think the swelling was down a lot more after the first day.  She only wanted Tylenol for the first day also.  She was a tough little girl after we got through the first hour or two.  She cried really hard for a good half hour to an hour.  I sat with her in the recliner and just comforted her for a long time.  We didn't make her take a bath and even let her watch a Disney movie instead of going to bed!  I just really wanted to keep my eye on her for a while.
Here's the story:  Brian had just gotten done mowing the lawn so he was in the shower.  Supper was over so playtime had resumed.  I was in the kitchen doing clean up and Adah and Austin were off playing somewhere else.  There is a sleeping wedge that Brian keeps under his side of the bed for his acid reflux and the girls like to get it out and pretend it is a slide, etc.  They often prop it up against the fireplace or coffee table and then slide down it so it was laying over by the fireplace (not propped up).  Keziah ran into the living room and jumped full force on it and face planted into the fireplace.  I will never forget the sound I heard from the kitchen.  Brian thought that what he was hearing from the shower was her just getting into trouble and being sent to her room...he was in for a shock when he came out to the kitchen.  I was trying to stay calm and not throw up (remember, I'm pregnant) and get all the blood out of the way so I could see if we needed to go to the ER.  I gave her a dose of Tylenol and then once I could tell the bleeding wasn't going to continue, I investigated as to what all was damaged.  I had quite a few shards of stone from the fireplace that I picked off her tongue so I'm not exactly sure how she hit but her two front teeth definitely took a hit.  The left front tooth looks like it got pulled out and up and the right one looks like it got bumped up.  Her upper lip swelled and turned black right away.  It looked like there were teeth marks on it but the bottom teeth didn't seem to be involved at all.  Her upper gum area was really bad, I couldn't see up there for several days because it was too painful for her to have her lip pulled out far enough.  We didn't take her to the ER since we figured there wasn't anything they could do for her.  I called her pediatric dentist the next day and she said she didn't feel like there would be anything she would do for her no matter what was going on.  She just said to look for infection in the gumline and to watch for her tooth to die.  If either happened she would want to see her.  I was more concerned about Kezzie's nose because she got a reddening across the bridge of her nose but it never bruised and when I asked her if she could feel me scratching her nose, she said she couldn't.  I thought for sure something wasn't right but we just continued to give it time.  The reddening went away by the next day but she still claimed she couldn't feel me touching her nose.  It never bruised or looked swollen so we just kept giving it more time.  After icing it and just babying it all for a few days, it started looking really good.  I was shocked how fast she got back to normal.  Her two front teeth are still a little wiggly but they are almost back to their normal spot (the dentist said this is possible because if the gumline was swollen and went down then the teeth could go down too).  She still isn't eating with her teeth up front (pizza, corn on the cob) but maybe she will eventually.  I'm not sure they will ever be the same.
I know one thing for sure though...I'm not letting her out of my sight for a long time!!  I never thought I would have so many emotions and feel so much anxiety.  I am so thankful that I have God to lean on.  I don't think I have prayed so much through the night in my life!  And God gave me peace.  And He healed Keziah.  Now, if I can just keep anything like that from ever happening again, that would be GREAT!!

The bottom pictures are taken today, just a week later.

20 weeks Prego!

 

I had a doctor apt. today! The baby's HR was between 150 and 160. The girls always enjoy hearing the baby in mommy's belly. I am measuring at 19 weeks but that is still considered normal. Due to the fact that we had an ultrasound at 12 weeks, there is a slight chance we may not be having another official one. I say 'official' because my doctor was trying to do me a favor by giving me an 'ultrasound' at my apt. but isn't exactly specialized in determining the sex so we don't have a 100% sure sex to report. I think we are going to go with 'we don't know' when people ask, because we technically don't know. If we get another ultrasound then we will announce it but for now we don't know!! Baby looked healthy from what I could tell, but I'm definitely not specialized either! I am still feeling pretty good with the occasional back/hip pain. I feel excessively tired so they did do some blood work to test my iron, but otherwise I can't complain! I will see the doc again in another 4 weeks!  I also wanted to make note that I felt the baby with my hand for the first time on August 10th (about 19 weeks)!  I can't wait until the kids and Brian get to experience this too!

River Fun Take 2!

We (me, Austin, the girls, and Logan) drove to the river on Wednesday after Austin got done with his last day of football camp.  We swung around the block to pick up Austin's friend Logan and we were off to the river for a nice long weekend!  We didn't get there until about 7:30, but I let the girls play for a bit before going to bed.  Austin and Logan immediately got their poles in the water and caught a small fish.  We put it in the kiddie pool so the girls could enjoy it and try their best to catch it too.  Kezzie caught it with her hands and was pretty proud!
One of the days (you kind of lose track when you are there) Austin and Logan were out fishing in the canoe and some guy came up to them in his boat and asked if they wanted a carp.  They said sure and this guy threw a 15-20 lb. carp into their canoe.  They were a little shocked!  My Uncle Gary had just heard of a carp recipe he wanted to try so he said he would clean it and cook it up.  Everyone tried it that night for supper (not me...yuck!) and said it was amazing. 
We had so much fun being there.  The girls sleep so well in the camper even though we are all in the same room (one morning we all slept until 8:45).  Although...I have to say after the first night of having the boys in the camper with us, I called my sister and had her bring her tent and air mattress since she was coming the next day anyway!  After we got that set up, it was much better in the camper!! They weren't that loud, but they were wispering and moving around so much that I thought we were rolling down the road!
 Mom and dad took the two boys to the fireworks store and that kept them very busy.  Logan had some money so he bought the brunt of the fireworks.  And that's just what they did.  They were either always fishing or always lighting fireworks.  I swear they hardly ate all weekend unless we forced them to come in!  Dad took the boys out in the boat to fish a few times and didn't catch much but the boys had fun anyway.  I guess a lot of what they caught weren't big enough so they had to throw them back.  One of the last days we were there Dad took the girls and I out in the boat for a ride.  Keziah wouldn't stop begging me and grandpa for a ride in the boat so he couldn't resist!  Leora (my youngest cousin that gets along with Kez well) came along for the ride.  Adah loved it too but didn't leave my lap for more than a second.  I think Leora and Keziah were pretty wet from hanging over the side of the boat and dragging their hands in the water!  Dad might have gotten some of that too as he looked pretty wet when we got back!  That picture out on the water is from our boat ride...it was so beautiful!  There is something about being on a boat and completely surrounded by water that just amazes me!  On saturday the weather was really weird.  It rained early in the day and made it feel really muggy.  It got sunny and then all the sudden another storm rolled in.  It poured rain for a bit and then got really cool and comfortable and the sun came back out.  A couple hours later, it poured again.  The kids had a blast playing in the rain and jumping in the puddles.  I took some video of Adah just being plain giddy and goofy, jumping in the puddles but will probably never get it posted (I will try)!!
What a fantastic weekend going on many walks (sometimes coordinating all the people who wanted to join us was harder then actually going on the walk), eating a lot of good food, sitting around talking and watching the kids make memories, and eating s'moores around the campfire.  One of my favorite memories was letting Kezzie stay up late on our last night so she could go with me and Austin and Logan to get ice cream at Dairy Queen.  She just kept hugging my leg and telling me thank-you and I love you, mommy!  It was so sweet!  And the three of them had a lot of fun goofing off in the van on the way there. I think I finally got her to bed around 10:30!   It was a lot of fun watching Austin come out of his shell a little more with a friend (a boy his own age) around.  He was goofy and more outgoing and just a lot of fun to be around.  The boys and I had a trip of our own too...we got to go to wal-mart and get school supplies!!  Yippee!  Let's not forget that with all the fun we are having, school starts really soon!  Now we have to wait until labor day weekend to come back!  And we are already looking forward to it!

Ethan turns 5 and Alanna turns 1!!

We hurried home from the river this morning so we could get home in time to make it to Chuck-E-Cheese's in CF to celebrate two very important birthdays!  Ethan is the big FIVE years old and sweet little Alanna turned 1!  The kids had so much fun!  It was nice to have Austin there too.  I think we figured out that he has been to very few parties for Ethan because he always just happens to be with his dad.  Ethan was too nervous to go in the ticket blaster and Alanna was too little so Kezzie and Bennett went in their place.  Kezzie ended up earning an extra 54 tickets and having a lot of fun in the process!  Austin kept getting really lucky on the chance games and even spun a 125 ticket mark at one time.  He ended up with almost 450 tickets!  That got him a pretty cool mini basketball!  And when it was time for us to leave Bennett gave Kezzie a hug and they nearly tackled each other.  Actually, Bennett did end up on his back on the floor with an ouch on his head before the hug was over but it was just too sweet to stop!  It was a great time celebrating two of my favorite kids!  Happy Birthday Ethan and Alanna!  We love you to pieces!

River Fun Take 1!

We came to the river early on Friday to get a good start.  This is the first weekend we have been able to pull the camper in and enjoy it all.  It was sooooo good to be back.  It was pretty hot though and to top it off, when I arrived just shortly before nap time was to take place on Friday (in 99 degree weather) I discovered we had no electricity because my uncle was in the process of switching some things around.  This meant that I couldn't run any fans, obviously so no naps were taking place!  Instead I let Austin and Kezzie get their suits on and go swimming.  They had a really good time!  I required them to be tied to a rope since the water was still up a bit!  Mom and dad showed up sometime in the afternoon and by about 7:30/8, the electricity had been figured out (phew)!  The rest of the weekend was a blast.  Keith and Jamie came too and Keith's brother Jim and his wife came and stayed in a tent!  We enjoyed riding trikes/walking, playing with cousins, swimming in the river, playing in the kiddie pool and watching the water from the dock.  Sunday early morning I was woke to the sound of rain.  It ended up pouring rain and causing us all to pack up a little earlier then expected.  It was still a lot of fun despite the rain!!  It is such a blessing to have a place like this to go and enjoy the outdoors with family!  I can't wait to go back next weekend (when it is supposed to be much cooler)!