LIFE

7 months ago, we almost lost our third child to an anaphylactic reaction to a scorpion sting and now in about 3 months we will be having our 4th child. I'm so glad that our little boy's life was spared, and I'm thankful that we have this sweet baby girl coming to our family... I am reminded again and again just how delicate and precious life is. For the Lord giveth and He also taketh away.

catherine caught a bug...

catherine has been really wanting to catch a bug over the last couple of days...

she had some pieces of food yesterday in a cup trying to catch a fly outside... this morning she found a poor little helpless bug in our house...

Ethan came in awhile after they had caught it and were carrying it around outside in the cup...

"Mom, can I have a watermelon?"

What for, Ethan?

For the bug... it died, but if we give it some watermelon, it can come back to life...

well, the watermelon isn't going to bring it back to life...

Well, can i just have some watermelon for it?

Catherine... it's not dead mom, it's just sleeping. It's just that it's little poky things popped off when I pinched it to pick it up...

poor bug

big boy talking!

Noah's vocabulary has boomed since turing 2!

when I asked him if he'd like some milk this morning, rather than his usual "no" that really means "yes" he actually answered "Ya."

This morning when he ran into me with the vacuum I asked him to say "sorry mama." and he did! "Sorry Mama!"

When I suggested, "Let's go to the park." He echoed, "go park!"

When I told the kids it was time to go, and everyone started cheering YAY! Noah chimed in, "YAY!"

He just walked in from the garage and said, "Let's GO!"

Do you love the way kids' minds work?

Catherine, "I love healthy food, mom. I like vegetables, but not the slimy ones like squash or zucchini...but I like all the plants and animals we eat... and milk that comes from the cows... and all the vitamins in there... but they must be tiny pieces because I can't see them, and they must be white..."

hide and seek

Catherine, Ethan and Noah are playing hide and go seek... Catherine and Noah hid first... Ethan was counting...

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX...

WHEREVER YOU'RE NOT, HERE I COME!

germs

Ever since my microbiology class, my hubby has said I've never been the same....thank you, Dr. Goodwill.

Well, my new awareness of bacteria and it's amazing replicating abilities weren't life-changing until the birth of my first daughter. It's funny how we are as humans... I'm not sure if it would be considered selflessness, laziness or just plain weakness... but I am a lot more lax and unconcerned when it comes to germs invading my own personal space. On the contrary, if they even come within a mile of my beloved child, there's no amount of soap and hot water, Clorox or other disinfecting/sanitizing agent that will satisfy my nerves.

Sometimes I relax a little bit, trying not to "over-react" and I don't make my child wash their hands if they touched the public bathroom wall, and I actually let them turn off their own water, touch the inside of the sink (gasp, I know.) or open the door themselves (all speaking of public restrooms of course) without making them wash again. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who worries about these types of things... I'm really baring all here.)

Then, I have moments like the other night when my son starts vomiting at my sister-in-law's wedding reception, and scooping him and as much of his vomit up as possible, I take him into the nice little public restroom down the hall, plop him and his germs all over the counter and proceed to retrieve paper towels from the dispenser... vomit still on my hands... yes...now contaminating the paper towel dispenser... strip him down piling his vomit covered suit into the sink... now contaminating the inside of the sink... and when all is said and done... I did wipe up my mess, but just paper towels and water... you know? and I thought, looking at the counter, sinks, paper towel dispenser, this is EXACTLY why I am careful about everything any of us touch in a public restroom... and yes, these same disgusting germs could be anywhere outside of the restroom as well, but that IS the most common place to encounter them.

SO, sorry, babe. back to strict hygiene. :)