Wednesday, October 10, 2012

#4

No, not #4 as in a fourth child. Fair guess. But wrong.


HAPPY 4th ANNIVERSARY to us!

I'm so thankful to look back and see where God has brought us. All that He's done. He is good!
I look back at pictures of us and could literally spend hours {days, if I'm honest} reminiscing about all the wonderful, crazy, challenging and amazing times we've had together. I love it.
I love you, babe:) 

Monday, September 17, 2012

Brushy Brush Brush

for all my mommy friends, here's a fun video that our kids love. makes teethbrushing (or just anytime) a little more fun. lately we watch this video just to have a dance party, regardless of whether there are any teeth being brushed or not:)    


Friday, September 14, 2012

then and now

may 2006



 




 

 august 2012



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

things he knows but you should too...

In my mind I've had a post about Seth ever since Amelia was born...3 months ago. It goes without saying that time is flying. But I'll say it anyways. Time is a flyin'!
Life with 3 kiddos is fun. Is challenging. Is stressful. Is comical. Is emotional. Is lots of things. But life with 3 kids is just plain A JOY when you have a husband like Seth. As we've been married for almost 4 years now, Seth has been consistent in his reminder to me that we are a team. The same team. It's honestly taken me awhile to really see that as truth. But it's true, and it's liberating. And he's an AMAZING TEAMMATE for all kinds of reasons. As God has blessed us with 3 babies to birth and raise, we've been learning and re-learning some of the same things for the past few years now. And God has been honing Seth's hubby/daddy skills quite well! From day one of finding out we were pregnant with Amelia, Seth has been excited and eagerly awaited her arrival. From day one of having her and bringing her home, he's been Mr. Spectacular. Not that he wasn't spectacular before that day, but I'm realizing it and seeing it play out more and more each day. I kid you not, the first week we were home I didn't change a single diaper for Lilly Jo or Jack.  Now that may seem silly and not-a-big-deal to you. But when you have 3 kids in diapers, you let me know if it's not a HUGE help to have to change only 10-12 diapers each day for a week, instead of 20-24 diapers each day for a week. He did everything around the house for the first week. And our house is still on the market, mind you. In all seriousness, all I did for the first 5-7days of life home with Amelia, was feed her, sleep when I could, eat when I could, and sit on the couch watching everyone play. Also, if I remember correctly, LJ and JL both had high fevers the first week Amelia was home. So Seth played Dr. Daddy in addition to his other roles. He did meals for the kiddos, playtime with the kiddos, put kids down for naps, went on walks, did bathtime by himself, the whole bedtime routine by himself...really, just about everything. And I know he did it because he loves me and loves our family. Since he's been back at work, he walks in the door after a long day ready to lay on the floor and rough-house with the older 2 while I'm either tending to Amelia or getting some kind of easy dinner together. (And I should add that for the first 6 wks of Amelia's life I cooked probably 3x. All other meals were provided for by our immediate family, our church and our friends - or we got Chinese:) Then he proceeds to clean the kitchen after dinner, help clean up the toys and wind down the night with the nightly bedtime routine.
Seth has his hands full, as does everyone else, but he's the one I get to brag on. He's the one I see day-in and day-out loving our family as Christ has called him to. Giving of himself as Christ did for us. And doing it WITH JOY! 
John 15:10-12 "10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Potty training LJ

So this weekend we finally got around to potty-training LJ. To be short and frank, I was still dreading it and thinking it would be just fine if she stayed in diapers a few more years. (Who really thinks that?!?) Anyways, thankfully Seth was not dreading it and was the ones to really take the reigns and help get the morning going. She woke up at 730am with a huge diaper so we put her in a fresh pull up and began the process of having her drink tons of fluids and constantly asking her if she needed to go peepee or poopoo. About 20oz and 4 hours later I was getting a little fed up (did I mention I wasn't super excited about this?) and said she could have 2 chocolate chips if she went pee, instead of just one. Woohoo! Her reply, "I want 4!" Didn't think this was supposed to be a barganing situation but I was desperate for her to go so I quickly said, "sure! 4! Go pee!!" And sure enough she did...quite a lot I might add:)
Overall the first day she had about 5 sucessful peepees in the potty, 2 accidents outside (bc she was too busy playing) and 1 accident during naptime (which I know is normal and will probably happen for awhile) and she only fell in the potty once:) (my bad, LJ. sorry:/)
Yesterday at church she went pee 2 or 3x, then went once at the restaurant after church, 1 or 2x at Kanki last night, then went poop for the first time at Nana's house! I should definitely add that all those times were with Seth. He was a huge blessing this weekend. Not just bc I was at sometimes preoccupied with Amelia, but because he took her whether I was free or not. He was lightnening my load and at the same time helping me to not dread this whole experience. What a husband:)
Here is LJ with her two new friends she received last night when she went poop for the first time after 48 hours!! Now we're back to chocoloate chips since we know she's not scared of it anymore:)
What a big girl LJ is becoming!!!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

boondock photos

just a few pics that i love...

Friday, August 10, 2012

back from bolivia

and boy do we miss it! vacation was a blast and i've got about 1000 pictures to sort through...maybe i'll get around to posting some before vacation next year. maybe:)
rainbow sherbert and chocolate covered oreos with sprinkles.
with cute kids to top it off.
who could resist?

Friday, August 3, 2012

oh toddler naptimes

While doing various things around the house, I'm hearing LJ on the monitor chatting it up with all her friends in the crib. Nap-protests are the norm these days. All of a sudden I hear her saying loudly, "I NEED SOME WIPES! I GO POOPIES!!" All of a sudden I'm having flashbacks of the time she pooped in her diaper during naptime, went digging and got it on her hands. So let me be clear that I'm all ears when the "P" word pops up during naptime. I take a glance on our spiffy new video monitor and see her sitting down in the crib, with her hands on her diaper, as if she's peering in to see what's in there. I bolt from the desk and go in her room asking if she went poopies. Nonchalantly she replies, "No. Minnie went poopies. I need some wipes and diapers."
sneaky sneaky.  

Lilly Jo says

As I'm clearly struggling to get the crib sheet on her mattress, "Mom, that's amazing!"

And a minute later as I'm putting Jack's sheet on his mattresses, "You're doing a great job!"

What a little encourager she is:)

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Lilly Jo says

During naptime while in her crib I hear her repeatedly saying: "mommy, come here. 1. 2. 3. Come here."



Man she cracks me up these days:)

Lilly Jo says

LJ: "Amelia stop. Whining is for babies."

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Never thought I'd say that...twice.

"Lilly Jo! Don't blow your nose on Amelia's arm."


What in the world???

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Lilly Jo says...

Seth: "somebody stinks."
LJ: "It's me! Me stink!"

Saturday, July 28, 2012

new territory

Recently we've entered the 'Land of Repeating Phrases' and the 'Land of 10,000 Questions' with Lilly Jo. These new lands are quite close to one another and often overlap. Together the lands are quite expansive and as far as I can see, we'll be here for awhile. Guess I need to get used to it and learn the land:)

Sunday, July 22, 2012

helpful reminders...


coming soon...

more amazing pictures from our mother's day gift to mom...a photo session by Boondocks Photography...love it:)

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Lilly Jo says

Me: "what's my name?"
Lj: "wabecca"
Me: "good! What's daddy's name?"
Lj: "uncle sef"

True.

one month ago

{photo taken by the lovely and talented meredith railey}

Saturday, July 14, 2012

july birthday party with the apple family

dern. uploaded these backwards:( well, you can see by the start of these pictures how much fun the kids had at the apple birthday party last saturday! they wore themselves out and were asleep 3 minutes down the road!
last saturday we went to granny apple's house to celebrate lots of cousins' birthdays - cory, christopher, cody, brayden and amelia. we missed seeing uncle robert, victoria, brayden and aubree lyn, but we had such a wonderful time being together! granny apple fixed a wonderful array of delicious food and had some fun decorations for the birthday kiddos! it was quite toasty outside, but everyone kept hydrated and we enjoyed cooling off at the pool after eating lunch and opening presents.

















looking forward to september's birthday celebration! maybe it won't be 100 degrees...maybe:)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

daddy's girls




lilly jo and amelia katelyn

clarification

amelia is the baby.
 thank you jackman.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

they're probably thinking...

LJ: "My poor mother. She thinks she's going to get a picture of all of us smiling at 930pm."
Jackman: "MOM. Stop taking pictures. You're making me pull my hair out!"
Mattmers: "I'm a big happy boy...take my picture!"
Omelia: "Oooo. Look at that fan up there!"
Sugar Beans: "I WANNA GO TO BED!"

Monday, June 25, 2012

Lilly Jo says

On more than one occasion Lilly Jo's response to the question "LJ, did you go poopies?" is simply "maybe baby."

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Lilly Jo says

Conversation with LJ this morning at breakfast:

LJ: "Noise?"
me: "What noise did you hear?"
LJ: "People talking."
me: "Who's talking?"
LJ: "Daddy!"
me: "What's daddy saying?!"
LJ: "What in the wooooooold!" (world)

Monday, June 11, 2012

staying cool

let the record show that seth, on his own initiative, put a bow in lilly jo's hair when he got her ready for the pool. what a dad:)




Thursday, June 7, 2012

big boy

when did our son become such a big [fun] boy? i must have blinked because i missed it...

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

quick birth story

let's be realistic here. i've got 3 small kids napping right now so there are about 10 things i could be doing. one of which is napping. but i got some dunkin donuts coffee after lunch today so i'm good to go right now. and the other 9 things will just have to wait. but bottom line. i dont have much time. so here's a quick birth story recap (mostly for my records).
i'll just start off by saying it was NOT as quick as jack's...thankfully. because that one was super painful:) amazing. but painFUL.
let's backup a few days though. sunday may 13th was mother's day. church was great that day and the Lord really impressed on my heart during worship the words "trust and obey". i had a feeling it was going to be some kind of week. didn't really know what kind, but just some kind. vague, i know. but i was excited to see what the week would hold. i really can't describe how much the Lord was working on my heart during worship, but i'll just say it was a lot.
so monday rolls around and it was the anniversary of my dad's death. i had the opportunity to go to the cemetery by myself (thanks granny apple for watching the kids!) so i did and had a good time reminiscing about what an amazing father God gave me and natalie. i so wish he could have seen and met my husband and children, but i continue to have to trust that God's ways are higher than mine. monday afternoon i had an OB appt, which went a little differently than i thought. basically they contemplated admitting me because my BP was so high and they were concerned about preeclampsia. i begged them to let me go because i had my only baby shower that night. the dr eventually let me go after some lab work and giving me a nice big jug for collecting a 24 hr urine sample in. fuuun. but i got to go to the shower!!! and it was so nice. my mom and sister threw it for me and it was so fun and relaxing! it's been awhile since i got to see so many of my favorite ladies all at one time!
well after such a nice time, the evening was over...and before we knew it, my mom was sick. just came on her all of a sudden. nat and i felt so bad for her but she seemed ok after awhile so we both went home and checked on her before bed and first thing the next day. thankfully it was a quick bug.
fastforward to wednesday evening and we end up having a late day showing on the house that got rescheduled so we ended up having to be out of the house for 2 hours instead of one. seth was golfing with my brother in law and nat and i were holding down the fort with 4 small kiddos. we went to dinner at chickfila and on the way home jack throws up in the van. poor kid. thankfully, God had nat there with me so i didn't freak out. she watched lj while i tended to jack when we got home. not too much later seth and john get home and seth starts feeling iffy...and ends up getting sick off and on throughout the night. again, thankfully, God was gracious and he and jack are ok by the next morning. recovering, but ok. our great friends the walters (who watched lj when i went back to work after having her) took lj for the day so i could help seth and jack and clean some, and rest some if i was able to. i prayed a lot and sent an email to closest friends to pray for us. this same thing happend to seth and lj the week prior to jack's arrival. it was like de-ja-vu. i had lots going on in my mind but i wanted to respond well and not worry. easier said than done. but with so many friends praying, and God speaking to me on sunday to 'trust and obey', i felt much more prepared for this trial (small as it may seem to some). i read the Bible a lot and prayed a lot, and God helped me to keep my focus on him and not worry nearly as much as i had the year before.
so thurs morning (morning after jack and seth were sick) i get a call from my dr saying there was protein in my urine and they wanted to induce me the next day...whoa buddy.  i was scared that lj or i would get it, that i might get it during labor, that the house would still have germs when we got home from the hospital and amelia would somehow get it. and on, and on and on. but again, 'trust and obey'. so i discussed the situation with the dr and she agreed to let me wait for induction until monday.
saturday lj and i feel pretty crappy. thankfully we weren't sick like seth and jack but it was obvious we did not feel well. i started to get upset thinking i'd feel this way until monday and have to push a baby out of me. i think i started to cry and then seth read to me some of 2 chronicles 20 which talks about how a man named jehosephat responded in a time of trouble by immediately seeking God even though he was afraid. he and God's people bowed down and worshipped God before they were even delivered from their trial, because they trusted in God and his faithfulness to them. this was the passage our pastor would preach on the next day so i was encouraged and excited to hear the sermon and hoped we would be able to go to church. 
sunday morning i wake up at 5am to contractions. they were every 7 to 17 minutes, with some being more painful than others (from a 2 to a 6 on a pain scale). i knew if my water broke my labor would probably progress quickly like it did with jack, so that was my only worry in waiting to go to the hospital. at this time i knew i was 4cm dilated and 90% effaced. seth was on the worship team that morning at church and we decided to all go together and if we had to leave church early to go to rex then that would be fine. so we went and the contractions were pretty decent up until 930ish so i called the dr and she said to come on in. i asked her if it was ok if i waited until the end of the sermon, as long as i could handle the pain and she said yes. so we were able to stay through the whole sermon, praise God, and it was very encouraging. we left right after because i didn't want to wait too long and have my water break and not have the chance to get an epidural. i called my mom as we left and we met her at crabtree valley mall to give her jack and lilly jo. seth and i went in to grab a quick lunch and by this time my contractions seem to be slowing down just a tad and there aren't as many painful ones. i'm starting to wonder now if i'm even in labor. bummmmmer. we decide to still go to the hospital because if i'm going to be induced the next day they'll probably just induce me today, right?! boy i sure hoped so!
we get to rex around 130ish and are in the triage room for about an hour with the nurse while she's monitoring my contractions and amelia's heartbeat, and doing paperwork. i think that i have about 4 contractions the entire hour we're in triage. talk about embarrassing moment here. it's my 3rd delivery in 3 years and you'd think i could tell when i was in labor. contractions should be longer, stronger and closer together. NOT farther and less painful. at one point i asked the nurse if she had ever heard of the "3rd child false labor syndrome"? she looks at us and says, "the third child is always the stubborn one." i take that as a yes and try to not feel too embarrassed. then comes moment of truth. time to check my cervix. she looks at me and says, "wow! you're not 4 cm!" i'm thinking...well i hope i'm not closing up. she says i'm 6cm and 100% effaced!!! yaaaaaaaaay. not going home!
so up we go to our labor and delivery room. the dr comes in not too long after and says once my IV gets put in she'll break my water and we'll have a baby in no time. i stop her right there and ask her if i can PULEEESE get an epidural first. yes, i've gone without it before and no i don't want to do it again if i am not 100% sure it will be super quick. she says 'sure thing' and so we wait about 30 min for me to get a bag of fluid and then comes the epidural. this time, as opposed to when i had one with lj, i'm nervous. why? because i'm not really in any pain, i'm having very few contractions, and yet i'm about to have a big needle stuck in my back. i have nothing to distract me from that fact. but i knew once my water broke it would be major pain time. the anesthisiologist was awesome, once again, as was our nurse fyi. the epidural didn't hurt one bit. it felt weird, but didn't hurt. God was gracious, yet again.
not too much time passed and my water started to break. the nurse checked me and i was 8cm and after the dr fully broke my water, i immediately started to feel amelia moving down and there was lots of pressure i could feel even with the epidural. boy was i so thankful i had the chance to get that epidural! within 30 min of my water breaking, just about like it was with jack, i was 10 cm and ready to push. the dr was called in, i did about 4 sets of pushing and miss amelia katelyn apple was here! 4:58, 2 minutes before shift change, and she was here! it was by far the most painfree and controlled of all 3 deliveries. looking back, which i've done many times since she was born, i see so clearly how God orchestrated my delivery such that i was able to be encouraged from his Word and reminded of how to respond in times of trouble. i mean, he made my contractions basically non-existent, and yet they still dilated my cervix. helloooo. that's not normal, right? some people say i must have a high pain tolerance. while i do think God has given me that to some degree, i think this delivery was something of a miracle and an extra special gift. anyone can do what i did...because i didn't do anything and didn't have much pain. i'm pretty sure i read in the Bible that God said he made childbirthing painful because of the fall of man. so i'm not crazy when i say it was a gift that amelia's delivery was not very painful at all.
anyways...the first two weeks have not been without their challenges. but God has been so faithful to prepare me and equip me to handle to these challenges. his grace has truly been sufficient for my every need. seth has been a huge source of God's grace these past 15 days and that's a whole other post for another day, another naptime.
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye...


.

answer: what is "all day long"

question: "how long can you stare at this beautiful munchkin?"



Monday, June 4, 2012

who's who?



i think it's pretty obvious who is who...do you?
sometimes we see similarities between lj and aka but then sometimes i think they look completely different...we'll see how amelia changes as she grows!