Countdown :: 1 week

Wednesday he teased me with four hours of relatively regular contractions and then he dropped down with lots of wriggling.  Now he's calmed back down to his normal laid back self.  The main difference is pelvic + lower back pressure, less pressure under my ribs.  Otherwise, plugging along quite normally and not anticipating too early of an arrival.
Korban Stanley, grow healthy and strong.  We daily grow to love you more and while big sister is growing more anxious and Mommy is slightly anxious, as well, we want you to grow as strong and healthy as possible before making your big debut.  We look forward to your snuggles and coos and know you'll be as sweet as ever.  Lots of prayers for you.  We know you are in the best hands--God's--so we don't worry about you.  We love you and know we'll see you in just the right time.

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them."  

--Psalm 139:16 (NASB)

Sunday Events

Sunday morning the kids sang in church.  Ivory danced for the first song but she actually did some motions for the second song when the older kids came on stage...when she wasn't distracted by them.  Gotta love the expressions being exchanged between Ivory and Izzy during the songs.  These girls were due on the same day and born only 4 days apart.  They are both very strong personalities and it's highly entertaining to watch them interact.
Love watching the kids sing.  Mrs. Robin does such a great job leading the kids in music!  Our kids are blessed to have many great teachers.  I'm especially grateful for Ivory + Micah's sweet teachers.
After church we had a lunch celebrating bringing in the talents.  It was very exciting when they annnounced that we made over $16,000 this weekend!  Great time of fellowship, food, and celebration. 

Because of the busy weekend at the church we took a break from Sunday evening service.  Jason and I took this opportunity to invite a few teens over for a mini bonfire in our backyard.  The kids had a blast!  Ivory thinks all the teens come just to see her. 

Ivory: "Want to go hide and I'll come find you?!" 
Cassie: "I don't play hide and seek in the dark by myself."
Ivory: "I'll hide with you and we can hold hands.  Ok?  Let's go hide!"
Cassie: "Who's going to come find us?"
Ivory: "John is.  Let's go."
Cassie: "Does he know this?  Maybe you should go tell him."
Ivory: "John, Ivory & Cassie are going to hide and you are going to come find us."
John: "I am?"

And he did.  She thinks she's the boss.  The teens often prove her right.

Bonfires are better with smores. Boys + fire.  Jason's excitement about the teens coming over raised like 10 levels when we decided to involve fire. 
Great day of fellowship, relaxation and fun.  Relaxation was the result of our children taking a 4 hour nap!  Rejoice!  The weekend events wore them out.  We didn't mind.  Now on to enjoying a rainy day at home.

Saturday Sale

Our church is trying to pay off the loan we took out to pay for the Family Life Center building (gym + classrooms) we built approximately five years ago.  A donation was made to the church and a few weeks ago they handed out $5 to each church member.  We are supposed to use our $5 "talent" and do something to multiply it and bring it back to the church to pay off the loan. 

Today there was a big yard sale at the church.  One lady made lovely candles, another lovely jewelry, kids baked brownies, cookies, and cupcakes, I made bags and Ivory made lemonade.  There was a delicious pancake breakfast and chili + chili dog lunch. 

The kids enjoying the pancake breakfast.

Yard Sale - Ivory and Micah did amazing.  I planned to only have them there an hour or so, but they lasted 4 HOURS.  They loved interacting with people, eating the food, watching the excitement, and taking part in it.  And, of course, they especially enjoyed visiting Cassie, Bobo, and MikeMike. I made a bunch of my L.A. Loft bags and was pleased with how many I sold and the profit made.  Thanks to the generous gift of fabric, zippers, and bias tape by a sweet friend I was able to make everything at a very low cost so therefore sell them at a reasonable rate and make a large profit to give to the church. Ivory + her daddy set up a lemonade stand.  She absolutely LOVED it.  She was quite the enthusiastic entrepenuer and made quite a profit.  If people didn't come to her stand to buy lemonade she would track them down and deliver it.  She also gave some away to some other kids--loved her generosity + enthusiasm. Ivory's first customers--Mrs. Donna + Mr. Fred.  She made the lemonade with her dad and served it all by herself. Micah wanted in on the action, but was content to watch and wander once his sippy cup was filled with sister's lemonade.  He also enjoyed playing with his wooden car + rubber band gun homemade by a man in our church and sold at a steal of a price.  So cute. 
Ivory supported another young entrepuener, 5-year-old Caleb, by buying a cupcake and took a hard earned break.


Later that afternoon there was a kids night to raise money for the church.  Five hours of child care at five dollars a kid--a steal.  There was food, games, and lots of fun.  The kids had such a good time and we thoroughly enjoyed a night out.  I love being a part of our church.  Working, fellowshiping, sharing, and giving together was so fun today.  Tomorrow we celebrate with a worship service + lunch.

Preschool :: Week 2

This week's theme is BABIES--preparing the kids for baby Korban's arrival.  Lots of great library books about babies and a daily Bible story about a baby.


MONDAY
We learned about baby Isaac and how God promised to give Abraham as many babies as the stars in the sky and that one day the most special baby ever would be born--Jesus.   We talked about how God makes all babies special and read some books from the library about babies.  For snack we cut an apple in half to see the star in the middle.

We also made a trip to the Post Office (the kids find this exciting), the library (where Ivory spent a while on the computer for the first time operating it all by herself), and did a little visiting.  The kids love getting out of the house even if it's simple trips and it helps us maintain a higher level of sanity the rest of the day.

TUESDAY
We focused on baby Moses--one of their favorite and most familiar stories. Snack--we made baby moses in baskets...that didn't really turn out.  So, no pictures.  But, Micah loved the taste! =)


Thursday
Wednesday was crazy with a doctor's visit and a long morning of errand running, no naps for the kids (Micah has a habit of 10 minute power naps in the car and then no napping when he gets home...which means sister doesn't nap either, fun times!), exhausted momma and church made for no story today.  So, we did Wednesday's story Thursday...night.  Also another crazy day with a busy morning, park play date, and lots of chores/projects, so story time was postponed and only Ivory enjoyed craft + snack time as little man was crashing.  Ivory loved her little popsicle people and enjoyed when we re-enacted the story with them.


Friday
Today's plan: Baby Jesus...instead we caught up on yesterday and read the story of Zechariah & Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist.  We didn't make it past Bible reading time because of a morning appointment, chores, and Mom's exhaustion.  Oh well, at least the most important part took place!

Here's Ivory quoting this week's verse.  Had to show you the first part so you could capture a little picture of reality.

Late in the evening Ivory worked with daddy on her sign for her lemonade stand.  Anticipate a post on that soon...

The Weekend

FRIDAY
The weather has been gorgeous lately--perfect time to grill out.  My studly grill master.

Where the kids played while daddy grilled--love the sand/water table.

Acorns still providing great entertainment for my little squirrels.
The delish result. He inherited his dad's grill skill.
It was SO nice to have daddy home all day Friday and to enjoy some quality family time.  Life has been crazy at the church lately and while we love our church, it's nice for a little down time together.

SATURDAY
We hosted a kids event so parents could go see the new movie, Courageous  (which is AWESOME by the way). 
We enjoyed some time outside and gym play.
We have some teens that are just great with kids!

Gearing up for some bocci ball.
The weekend was very full.  Sunday was a visitation Sunday.  We got to visit with a really sweet family who spoiled our kids with roasted marshmallows & fresh sugar cane and sent us home with a bag full of fresh produce!  We are blessed to know so many generous people who love on us, especially doting on our children.

All About Micah

Some adorable video I captured the other morning of Micah signing & talking at breakfast.

Micah is communicating more these days.  Obviously, his new obsession: baby.

List of spoken words/sounds I can currently recall:

• baby (currently his favorite word)
• ball
• crackers
• shoes
• eat
• please
• thank you
• mama
• dada
• Ivory
• Micah
• moo
• quack
• happy bowl
• all done
• up
• open it
• this
• Bobo
• MyMy (MikeMike)
• uh-oh
• yes
• no (it has begun...shakes his head and says, "No!")

List of sign words:

• please
• more
• eat
• drink
• all done
• shoes
• Cassie (his own created sign name for her =)
• dada
• thank you

Micah LOVES imitating his sister.  Definitely monkey see, monkey do.  Ivory & Mommy are having lots of talks about good behavior and setting a good example for little brother.  He loves to dance, attempts hand motions, and tries to imitate more of what we say, though it usually takes mommy, daddy or sister to interpret for him.

Micah is enertained with a set of keys for nearly 20 minutes every day.  Door hinges, small holes, etc. make great "locks" to unlock.  Games of fetch with himself or others are played daily and is thrilling each time.  He likes pushing Ivory's stroller around and feeding her babies.  He loves wearing her shiny beads.  He throws anything he can get away with and loves wrestling with sister.  He enjoys screaming with Ivory, dancing & bobbing his head to music, doing hand motions for songs, making silly faces at meal time, and loves to laugh.  He loves it when he makes us laugh and will do things over and over just to entertain.  He enjoys sword fighting, hitting games, splashing in the tub, and noisy games.  He likes playing in the dirt and sand, but isn't too sure about actually being dirty.  He loves brushing his teeth.

Micah is slowly becoming braver in nursery/class at church and loves doing whatever the big kids are doing.  He is extremely proud of himself when he can sit in a chair like a big boy and has learned how to climb up in the recliner all by himself.  He has actually started reaching for more girls/women in the church (very rare before, he def prefers chilling with the guys) instead of just flirting with them and then clinging to mommy.  His patience and long attention span amazes me, though his temper and stubborness has started to shine through more lately.  He still loves cuddling, especially with mommy and knows how to say "pssse (please)" ever so sweetly when he wants something.  He cries for the first 5 seconds of blanket time and then is usally as contented as ever as long as sister is in the same room. 

He has become a rather picky eater and it has been a challenging to get him to eat well balanced meals.  His favorite foods all contain gluten and we have noticed a gluten sensitivity that produces a exzcema like rash and sinus congestion. 

Grandma recently made some cinnamon bread with spelt and he is wolfing it down and begging for more--he has really missed bread. 
Guess Grandma will have to teach me her secret to making bread with spelt.

Micah just brought me Ivory's princess flip-flops to put on him (shhhh....don't tell daddy ;).  He has finally decided to like shoes and instead of crying every time I put them on him he actually asks to wear shoes some times.  Our little Florida boy.  He also likes putting shoes on mommy and trying to put them on himself.  And wow, he just came up to me and said, "flip-flops!" 

He weighs 25lbs at 16.5 months.

2' 7" at 16.5 months.

I realize this post is long and possibly over-detailed for most readers, but this is our online scrapbook and these are things I want to remember about our sweet little man in the future.

Countdown :: 2 weeks

Packed the hospital bag--mostly.  Reviewed my birth plan + comfort measures.  Reminiscing about Ivory + Micah's birth.  Praying away my dread of labor...

Recent Projects

My "nesting mode" has been focused mostly on projects lately, sewing mostly.

Ivory & Micah also have coordinating big sister + big brother outfits to wear to welcome Korban into the world.  Michael, Nina's son, will also have a paige boy cap since he's considered a cousin and always on Ivory's mind. =)  She has decided if Michael doesn't want her to hold him (he's coming to visit soon) she'll just switch and hold baby Korban.  She can just take turns holding them!

Knit fabric scraps make great accessories.  I've made quite a few more, but just haven't photographed them.  I love how excited Ivory gets when she sees something new I've made her--she's such a delightfully girly girl.

With my birthday money I purchased some dye.

So far I've used half the wine colored dye on leftover wedding lace people have generously given me.

I have some ideas up my sleeve--we'll see what comes together before Korban's exit from the womb.

Preschool Plans

We started something new this week.  It was a great first week--now we'll just see how long I can keep it up.  It's really added some much needed structure to our day and has provided great improvement in the general attitude of our home.

First Week Plans

Monday
In the morning, after blanket time, we focus on the story of Creation from Ivory's Bible.  Ivory sits on the toy chest looking at a picture Bible while I read straight from the Bible.  Micah practices sitting still on my lap...key word--practices.  It's not a very quite story time.

In the afternoon, after nap time, we read picture books.

Source: qed-publishing.co.uk via Lee Ann on Pinterest

Source: amazon.com via Lee Ann on Pinterest

Then we do a very simple activity on our theme.

And make/eat a snack around our theme.

Inspired by this, just easier and more on Ivory's ability level.

Source: craftymoods.com via Lee Ann on Pinterest

Tuesday
Today's theme was summer so we focused on the ocean and read the story of Jonah for Bible time.  We listened to Mary Margaret's telling (SO cute) and I then summarized the main points for Ivory & I to discuss.  In the afternoon we talked about summer and how we go to the beach in the summer because it's warm.

We made our own version of this simple project:

Source: tenkidsandadog.blogspot.com via Lee Ann on Pinterest

We added a little Jonah and some sea creatures made from a margarine lid--you know you're jealous of my artistic abilities.


Ivory explains our Jonah ocean bottle.

It makes a great shaker when singing Who Did Swallow Jonah.


Wednesday
We focused on Autumn today and so we read the story about the man who had such a great harvest that he tore down his barns and built bigger ones to store the harvest.  We talked about how this was selfish and we should share with other people.  Jason asked Ivory, "So if you have too many toys should you buy a bigger toy box to put them in?"  Ivory, "Why, yes!"  Jason, "Or, should you give some away to little boys and girls who don't have any?"  Ivory, somewhat reluctantly, "Oh, give them away to little boys and girls."  We asked her if she wanted to go through her toys right now and pick some out to give away and she said sure.  It took her a while at first, but then she really got into it and wanted to go through every box/drawer of toys we have.  She came up with a bag full of toys, random cards, ribbons, and other such "treasures." =)  She also told me the next day that we should go through our books to give some to boys and girls who don't have any books.  So proud of her!



In the afternoon we read about harvesting apples and ate apples to celebrate this current season of fall!  We also ate a fall gluten-free trail mix made from cinnamon & honey chex and marshmallows.

Then we went outside and preteneded to be squirrels collecting acorns for winter.  We hid them away for winter and then dug them up.  They *loved* it.  I love how easily excited children are at this age.


Thursday
Today's focus: winter.  We read about how God made us each uniquely in Psalm 139.  Then, later in the day we talked about how each snowflake that falls in winter is unique.  We also sang and danced to lots of songs about being wonderfully made & doing good things.  These kids *love* to dance.


On the first take of this movie Micah decided to turn the stereo off...

So far Micah has thoroughly enjoyed our activites and getting to be apart of making/doing them.  Well, today was somewhat of a fail.  You might notice that crocodile tear in the bottom picture.  He was VERY distressed that big sister got to use scissors and he did not.  Crayons did NOT cut it as long as she had scissors.  But, he was very excited when allowed to glue the snowflakes to his paper and then color.  I thought Ivory would love this craft as she adores making tiny cuts in paper, but her scissors wouldn't quite cut through four layers of paper so she too was frustrated.  Oh well, it wasn't a complete fail--she loved folding and watching Mommy cut.

Now the winter ice pops?  Complete success.

Friday
I had grand plans of summarzing the four seasons today, reviewing the books read this week and making a very cute tree craft.  With daddy's exciting return coupled with my complete exhuastion today, we only got through the Bible time of reading Psalm 1 (healthy tree).  Oh well, the most important part happened today and 4 out of 5 days isn't bad.

Source: servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com via Lee Ann on Pinterest

And Ivory has *almost* mastered her memory verse for the week.  Love how cute and dramatic she is when quoting it.



I think the key to success for me will be planning ahead and keeping it super simple.  It might lay by the wayside for a while when we welcome baby, but I'm hoping it might be something that resembles some structure and a certain level of normalcy for the kids once baby does come.  Of course, just when I was "priding" myself in doing a good job of being strong and orderly this week I had a physical/emotional breakdown this morning.  Love how God keeps me humble. =)  Ultimately, I'm reminded I am nothing without Christ and must rely completely on Him.