I a mom...

This has been the argument in our house for quite a while between Joshua and Lauren. When they play "kitchen" Lauren always starts out by saying "I a mom." She repeats it with such tenacity that Josh automatically becomes her challenger saying, "I mom." This infuriates Lauren as she believes she IS the mom (literally) and causes her to argue with him and this is how the conversation goes:

L: I a mom

J: I mom (in his deep voice)

L: NOOOOO, I a mom. You not a mom.

J: I mom (repeat deep voice)

L: NOOOOOOOOOO. I a mom and you not a mom. You a sister.
J: I mom (see previous)

L: Mama, Joshy said he a mom, but he not a mom. You a mom and I a mom.

And so on.....I hope to be able to repeat this to both of them when they are in high school, especially to Josh : )

We managed to make it to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. We picked out our pumpkins and then we went to the apple orchard and got some apples. We're going to carve our pumpkins tonight - just in time for Halloween!

Here is the family update for week 4 of being a family of 5 :

LOGAN - is doing great. He is sleeping in his own crib, waking about once a night depending on whether he is going through one of his 24-48 hour feeding binges. During these feeding binges this little guy will eat every 2-3 hours and will drink 4-5 ounces at a time. Sometimes he can only make it an hour. We try to hold him off, but he gets, as Brian says 'mad as a hornet.' But then he will sleep for 5-6 hours at a time for the next couple of days. He is growing and changing. He is fascinated with the ceiling fan in our family room. He could stare at it for hours, I think, as long as someone is holding him! He is still a cuddle-bug : )

JOSH - is good. It was my birthday on Tuesday and as a present, Josh went potty in the potty at school that day!! YAY!!! Big step forward for him. Still holding back on starting the potty-training at home, though, as mommy just doesn't have the energy for that battle at the moment! Josh is going to be a bumblebee for Halloween, so that should be fun!

LAUREN - is good, too. She continues to challenge me in every way and the whole "I a mom" concept has leaked over into how she interacts with me. She thinks she's the boss.....we had to have a little chat about that earlier this week. Did anyone take my 3-year-old manual?! I cannot find it anywhere and I need to look up how do handle a back-talking, little smarty-pants. No manual? Then could SOMEONE, ANYONE please just tell me that it's going to get better? Because right now, boarding schools are looking like a genius idea : ) Okay, it's not that bad, but she sure knows which buttons to push. And I have a feeling that I was just like her when I was three. Sorry, mom! I guess what they say about payback is true. If only I would've known that when I was three, I would've behaved better......... hindsight. Lauren started gymnastics class which she seems to like. And she's going to be a witch for Halloween, although she said she wants to stay and pass out the candy instead of going out to get candy (hence the "I a mom" thing). She is being a good helper with Logan and with Josh and is getting smarter and smarter everyday.

Brian and I are doing good. Brian and Dixie got their first pheasant of the season, which was exciting! I'm trying to get back into working and learning to juggle all of the kids, the house, the businesses and life. Oh, and trying to catch a nap here and there. My earth-shattering question of the day? WHY when there are two Nickelodeon channels do BOTH of them have to show what seems like a marathon of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the middle of the night, every night? This makes no sense to me and is just plain wrong. Whatever happened to Mr. Ed and Car 54 Where Are You?? At least throw in some Who's the Boss, Growing Pains or Cosby Show. There's only so much Will Smith pre-Jada, pre-Independence Day silliness one person can take. And although that Carlton can sure dance, that's just not as entertaining as it used to be......

The "cleaning" of the first pheasant with Josh supervising...

Our annual family pumpkin patch picture. Someday I will put all the pictures up on here so you can all see, in pictures, the rapid growth of our family in the last 4 years!!!!

Jesus' Coins

I took Lauren to Sunday school yesterday and before we left we put three quarters in her offering envelope. We talked about how these are Jesus' coins and she has to give them in the offering in her Sunday school class. When I went to pick her up from her class, she had the coins in her hand but no envelope. I asked her why she had the coins and she told me those were HER coins. I told her that they were Jesus' coins and she had other coins at home and that she needed to put the coins in the offering basket. We went back into her Sunday school room and two of her teachers told me how they tried to get her to leave the coins and that she had no problem leaving the envelope in the offering basket! She put the coins in the basket and as we were getting into the car she looked me square in the eye and said, "But Mommy, I love Jesus' coins." : )

One Week Later......

Here is sweet boy Logan! He is such a good baby boy. He sleeps so soundly, wakes to be fed, could usually care less about his diapers and doesn't flinch at all when the screaming/fighting/playing of his sister and brother start or the barking of the dog. He has his awake times when he is busy exploring his world and loves to cuddle (especially with his mommy).

As for the rest of the family, here is the update:

LAUREN is having a little bit of a hard time adjusting. She absolutely adores Logan and wants to feed him, hold him, lay with him, and cuddle him. At the same time she is extra defiant, rude, wild, overly-silly and just plain naughty. I think that she is confused about Logan's arrival and about how her life has and will change. But I also think that she is vying for attention from visitors and the grandparents that we have been so lucky to have help us out. I know she'll be fine once we find our groove, but it will be challenging until then. Our neighbors have been so fantastic about taking Lauren over to play and last week she even got to go to the grocery store and to Wednesday night Sunday School with her favorite friends!

JOSH has really no idea what's going on. He acknowledges baby Logan and gives him attention, but really, he's just in his own toddler world. That's what is so great about having them close together - they really have no idea! Lauren was the same way when we brought Josh home. So, Josh is just Josh. He looks for Logan whenever he has not paid attention to him for a while, but give him some Mickey Mouse and a Matchbox car and he is good to go!

DIXIE SUE is crazy. Seriously. She has an attachment to Logan that we do not understand. She searches for him all over and gets very wild if she cannot find him. I took Logan outside on one of the warmer days this week for some fresh air and Dixie was right on my heels looking at me as if I were stealing from her! Then I came inside while my neighbor was holding Logan and Dixie ran from Logan's changing table to his swing to his car seat frantically looking for him - it was crazy! She's very protective of him. She was not this crazy with either of the other two kids.

As for MOM AND DAD, we are doing good. We feel overwhelmed at times as to what the future may hold, but we are trying to take it one day at a time and enjoy being in the moment with our beautiful children. And now to answer the question that we have been asked several times in the last week - when's the next one coming? The answer is we do not know. We wanted to have four children, but three kids in three year, two months is a lot to handle. We do not know if we will make it to four, but we are keeping our options open. Like I said, we are living in the moment for right now.

We so appreciate all of your congrats and well-wishes! Thank you to all for your kind thoughts. I will keep you updated as our sweet new boy grows along with our other two "babies" who look like giants now!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!

On Saturday October 4th, 2008 at 12:24 p.m. we welcomed Logan Nicholas Kraby into the world! He is a beautiful baby boy and we are so proud! He is doing very well, eating and sleeping like a champ - just not when we want him to.

He surprised us in many ways, but mainly because we had been thinking he was a she for quite a while. We chose not to find out the gender of any of our babies because we think it is really fun to guess and we really thought I was acting more like I did when I was pregnant with Lauren, so were assuming that the baby would probably be a girl. WRONG!!

The second way he surprised us was with his quick arrival. I was scheduled to be induced on Saturday and went in on Friday night for some preliminary preparations. This would up throwing me into early labor with contractions every 2-4 minutes apart consistently. I was up all night with contractions, got back to the hospital around 8am, and BEGGED for an epidural around 10am. My nurse checked me at 11:55 am and I was dialated to 4 cm, so my nurse and Brian both went to grab some lunch. At 12:10 pm, I asked for a nurse to come to my room because I was feeling SO uncomfortable. That nurse checked me and I was completely dialated and ready to deliver. My husband, bless his heart, was at Subway across the street and hurried back, making a scene dropping all his stuff at the counter! One push and Logan Nicholas was born!

We are all recovering nicely and glad to be home. Lauren, otherwise known as "little mother," is in LOVE with her new brother. Josh has started this stomping thing where he stomps around the room and points at Logan saying "baby Logan." It's cute - we're just not sure what it means! All in all it is going to take some time to adjust to this new family of ours, being outnumbered and all. Thankfully, my mom is here this week and Brian's mom will be here next week to give us some help!

On a very different and sad note, I would like to ask for some prayers for the loved ones of a great man who passed away yesterday morning. My godfather, John Krull, has been fighting leukemia for quite a number of years and was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and unfortunately lost his battle with both. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. It is very hard for my parents, especially my dad, to experience the ultimate high of the birth of their grandson, and the death of a truly great friend all within 24 hours....... please keep them and John's family in your thoughts.