THE LENTZ'S

Momma's Takin' A Break!

2012-01-17T05:55:00.000-08:00

To say I haven't been feeling well is an understatement. The past few months have been tough and really taken a toll on my body and the immune system is shot. In August I had a c-section, recovery, and new baby. Since Thanksgiving I've experienced

sleep deprivation!
mono
two rounds of mastitis w/ awful flu symptoms
serious back problems leading to physical therapy and
two rounds of chest/back xrays
finding I have mild scoliosis (no biggie)
xray found a small kidney stone
lightheadness, headaches, and blurred vision leading to
one brain MRI to find a cyst in my nasal cavity
and finding I need glasses

on top of it all, I've had some serious stress and anxiety. Waiting for the brain MRI results was terrible, I just knew there was something seriously wrong and cried for days thinking of my kids without a mom. I'm crazy, but it is just a really scary thing for a doc to tell you there's reason to get your brain checked out.

and all while taking care of a 2.5 yr old and 5 month old.

AND some dude with tattoos on his face showed up at my door and knew my name. I had to call 911 when he left b/c I was so freaked out!

Again, to say I haven't been feeling well is an understatement. I'm so blessed to have a husband and parents who take care of my kids and I when I feel the ship going down.

So the blog is going on the back burner for awhile. We'll be back soon. I HOPE!

Stay well,

Pottytraining Is Not for the Weak of Heart

2011-12-21T07:32:00.000-08:00

I keep meaning to upload more Christmas pictures and updates on our Christmas activities... but I just can't catch a break around here!

Seriously, between the spit up, baby poop blowouts, and big boy poop problems... all three of us were in tears at some point yesterday. I was having one of those days that you never tell to people who don't have kids because then they may never have any of their own after hearing your story type of day.

Will is nearly completely potty trained! That is HUGE! He can wear underwear at night and naps without an accident. He made it through a trip to McDonald's and to the Mall without an accident either! I am so happy... HOWEVER- somehow he has become extremely constipated. (This will be poop talk- so if you'd rather not read about poop, go ahead and move on) Anyway- I don't know if he was holding it b/c he just didn't want to poop in the potty or if being on an antibiotic stopped him up or just a result of poor diet lately, but the boy can't poop. He keeps going little bits here and there, but nothing substantial. We tried to do this in underwear and were having to wash them constantly. Then a few times he's been naked and gotten the carpet and couch "dirty". It also ended up on my jeans and pjs. Oh, and in the bath. He can't hold it in, but can't go either. We started a bit of Miralax yesterday. PRAYING IT WORKS.

He keeps wanting to sit on the potty, but nothing happens and he says, "I can't poop! I don't know how!" Poor guy is so sore and walking funny. Pray for poop!

Anyone else's kids ever have this problem?

Then you add to that a 4 month old on antibiotics (ear infection) as well...

My house is a "stinking" mess. In all senses of the word.

Good thing Steven and I get a night out and grandparents get to deal with it! Pappasitos Christmas party!!!! If I weren't breastfeeding... margaritas....

I'm pooped!

4 Months!

2011-12-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

My Olivia is 4 months old!

Well, she turned 4 months on Dec.2. I'm a little behind.

Her stats were:

16 lb 15 oz - 90th%

26.5inches- 99th%

That's still two pounds lighter than Will was at this age, so to me she's small!

Actually, my back does not think she's small at all. Seriously.

This little girl is incredible! She is such a sweet, sweet little girl. She is so happy, laid back, and just so squeeze-able.

She does have her moments of being not happy- when she's hungry or just overtired. Or if I change her on a hard public restroom changing table- watch out- little sister does NOT like those!

She is so much easier than her brother ever was! She naps better, eats better, but spits just as much. This girl spits up high volume and high frequency, but it never really seems to bother her. We just have a whole lot of laundry- hers and ours! It's amazing that she's so fat b/c otherwise I wouldn't think she was keeping any milk down at all.

We moved to a four hour "schedule". Which means I just try to feed her every four hours or so, but no necessarily at the same time every day. Again, I'd like to be on a consistent schedule, maybe this is the month! We haven't started rice cereal. She seems content with what she's getting for now.

She has rolled a few times from tummy to back, but not much. Tummy time isn't hated as much and she is beginning to try to use her legs to move forward. That is very frustrating for her though. She is really good at grabbing toys and holding them in her mouth to gnaw on. She tries to chew and bite on everything- those little teeth aren't far away!

Standing up is her preferred position these days! Don't try to cradle hold her- she does not like it and will stiffen her body so that she can stand.

We are obviously done with the picture taking here...

This little elf has also stayed in the church nursery a couple times! She can thank my hurt back for that. I just can't hold her the whole time and if she' going to just go to sleep anyway she might as well be in a crib or someone's arms. I don't worry as much about leaving her like I did with Will b/c she's so much more easy going and is ok with other people holding her.

This month she started spending time in her exersaucer. She likes being up and looking around at what's going on, but her time in there doesn't last for really long periods b/c it tires her out a bit. She is really strong and big so sometimes I have to remind myself that she's only four months and her little body still needs rest from this kind of activity.

She made some new friends this month too!

Abby & Cooper Pennington

My little pumpkin head- her noggin is as big as theirs!!!

The great thing about babies is that they love you even when Momma's lookin' pretty rough!

She loves her daddy! I'm hoping she'll be a Daddy's girl for sure!

She had her first trip to Mimi & Pa's this month and did AWESOME in the car ride.

Every day she is more and more fun!

Will keeps telling me she's getting bigger. This morning I caught him offering her some of his tortilla! I had to remind him to NEVER put anything in her mouth and that she only get's Momma's milk. yikes!

She just continues to bless us more and more each day. We are so grateful God chose us to take care of her! This will be such a special Christmas because of our precious girl!

Oh, and her nicknames so far are:

Liv

Sister

Little Sister

Peanut

Muffet (Little Miss Muffet)

We love you Muffet!

Lentz Christmas Edition 2

2011-12-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

I am just not doing a good job posting all I'd like to about Christmas at the Lentz house!

I have the time, I just don't manage it well. For instance, right now the baby is sleeping and there is a MOUNTAIN demanding my attention and what am I doing? Updating the blog.

I'll add "time management" to my NY Resolution list.

Anyway, here are some Christmastime quick shots.

Me and my two little elves.

Daddy making trips into the attic for Christmas decor.

Will hanging ornaments on the tree.

Canvas in the kitchen.

A Christmas craft

Our fantastic Nutcracker collection! We pick out a new one each year and usually get one from my parents. It has been very difficult for Will to learn these are not toys.

We went to my Dad's work's children's Christmas party. Liv looked adorable in her little dress!

This pic is out of order... but here is our Conan Baby Jesus from our Nativity.

Will in his Christmas outfit waiting in line for the absolute biggest and best bounce house I've even seen in my entire life!

The "Wave of Fire" was huge, but not even the BIG ONE.

Cotton Candy of course!!

Dad works for Southwest, so they brought Santa in on an airplane!!! And I didn't even get to see it b/c I was sitting in a stairwell nursing the baby. It was extremely loud though!

Will was so excited!

Grandma and Liv

This isn't a great picture of my family, but you can see that giant bounce house in the back. That is all one big bounce house! It had all kinds of crazy tunnels, ladders, ropes, and a zip line inside of it. Needless to say Will wanted to go through a million times, but he couldn't by himself so the adults were super tired!

A photo opp station... Let me just ask... Who in the world are they thinking is going to be able to stick their face in the top hole!? My husband is 6'6" and it's too tall for him!

Ok, I've wasted enough time this morning. But there are still more pics to share, so check back soon to see what other fun things we've been up to!

Happy Wednesday!

Lentz Christmas Edition 1

2011-12-06T07:40:00.001-08:00

"...It's the most wonderful time of the year!..."

Yes, I was singing that in my head. We love Christmas here at our house! The spiritual and the secular aspects. Although we try very hard to make all of it meaningful, some of it is just plain fun. I was so lucky to marry someone who gets as giddy as I do about all of it. We listen to Christmas music, watch Christmas movies, and decorating of course is a family affair.

Last year we finally upgraded to a 9ft skinny pre-lit tree. Praise God for those! Our old one was gigantic, 5ft in diameter at the bottom, and took us like 3 hours to put lights on.

Our tree is beautiful and so meaningful to us. Since our honeymoon Steven and I have picked up ornaments everywhere we go. It's become a tradition to find Christmas ornaments when we go on trips, vacations, or just special places.

Here are some of our special ornaments:

1. Guitar- I bought it for Steven in Nashville
2. Elmo- the first ornament Will picked out himself
3. Mickey & Minnie Wedding- got on our honeymoon (cheesy.. or should i say "goofy")
4. Nutcracker- got at Nutcracker ballet at Bass Hall
5. Tricycle- Will's ornament pick this year (I already had to hot glue it back together)
6. Pooh Bear- Steven's special ornament from his childhood
7. Sonogram frame- our first picture of Will we put up when I was pregnant with him
8. Peas on Earth- just a favorite!
9. Fuzzy Santa- Steven made this when he was little.

*A funny note about Steven's ornaments- HE is the only one allowed to hang them and they must go right in front.

This is Reggae Santa.

He's huge.

My Dad bought it for us.

He always goes straight to the back of the tree.

Every time.

Sorry Dad.

This is Olivia's first ornament. I lights up and I picked it mostly b/c it's shatterproof.

There are just too many to share! We love our tree tradition & would love to know if any of you have cherished ornaments as well!

Merry Christmas!

Updated: 3 Months!!

2011-11-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is the updated full post on my baby girl who is

3 months old!

15 weeks

She actually turned 3 months on November 2nd, so she's really 3.5 mo now. Almost 4 months! It's hard to believe b/c it seems like she's still so young and I remember starting rice cereal with Will at 4 months. I can't even imagine doing that with her in just a couple weeks.

First of all, is that not the absolute sweetest little face ever?! She really is just such a little girl. She's so quiet and calm and sweet. She doesn't cry much at all, and even then it's usually a weak little "meh".

Can you imagine how hard it is to leave this little face in the crib? She's supposed to be sleeping, but flashes you this big grin in the middle of the night. It's impossible not to pick her up for a quick snuggle.

This doll baby is super smiley, observant, and very interested in the darn tv. She will basically do a back bend out of your arms to get a glimpse of it.

She's not real chatty. Most of the time she's quiet and just moving her mouth a lot like she wants to say something, but just can't figure out how to. If I squeeze her cheeks or pull her little chin down I can work some talking out of her. She was talking like crazy last night while looking at a book with my mom and will chat with the dangling animals on her activity mat.

She's a pretty big girl too! I'd bet she's around15.5-16 pounds by now and who knows how long. 6 month clothes fit the best. We have a few 3 month outfits that still work and even some 9 m Gerber onesies that are just right. (Gerber stuff always runs small on my kids though) At 5 months we moved Will from the carrier into a regular carseat, that's only 2 months away, but I think she'll still fit in the carrier for a little while longer

She is still nursing every 3-3.5 hours. Occasionally sooner, occasionally later. We're not really on a schedule. Things are stressful enough around here right now with some health/back problems I'm having so everyone is just surviving! Soon though, I'd love to have a set schedule.

She isn't sleeping through the night, but I'm not surprised. I've just accepted the fact that I don't make babies who will. She does go to sleep AWESOME!! I can just lay her down, let her fuss for a minute and then she'll sleep! I can't believe it and am amazed every time!

Seriously, any time someone else is around when it's nap time I'm like,"Can you believe she'll just fall asleep? No screaming? Isn't she incredible?!" Of course most other people have babies who do this so it's not really a big deal.

But when you've been through one baby who would scream himself sick for hours for months, THIS IS HEAVEN.

She's rolled over 3 times. It was an accident and completely surprised her. I think because she's so laid back it will take her awhile to roll. She's really content to just look around and watch everything. Of course if it meant she'd get a look at the tv she might!

Big brothers and flash lights don't really help with the picture taking.

Speaking of Big Brother... Will is interested off and on. He doesn't really pay a whole lot of attention to her. He loves to help her if she's crying by putting the paci in her mouth. I try to make sure he's gentle, but he always gives it an extra pat to make sure it's in there good.

Look at that chubby baby!!!

One thing Olivia loves is her hands!!! Oh my goodness, I should have a pic of this easy b/c that's all she does- chew those hands. She will watch them come together and then put them in her mouth and chow down.

These are pics of her watching her feet kick. She must have done that for half an hour during dinner one night. It was so funny how intensely she watched her foot go up and down.

Overall we are having so much fun with her. Weeks 11,12, & 13 were pretty rough. We experienced a witching hour where around the same times every night, 5-8pm, she'd be really sensitive and have a crying spell where she was just inconsolable. It always freaked me out and I would just walk the house with her for about 10 minutes while she screamed.

12 weeks was a "wonder week"- a big mental leap was supposed to be taking place and I read we would see the 3 C's- clinginess, crankiness, and crying. We did. Not fun.

Then week 13 seemed to be when she hit her 3 month growth spurt and wanted to eat all the time and just wasn't as content.

I'm so glad we're through that and have our happy baby back!

My heart is full.

SWAGBUCKS!!!

2011-11-14T07:04:00.001-08:00

I cannot tell you enough how much Swagbucks has helped the Lentz's out! We have used our earnings to buy diapers, wipes, and last month we bought a new garbage disposal b/c ours went out. What a blessing! Between Steven and I, we have earned about $130 in Amazon gift cards. That is a lot of free money!

For tips on how to use Swagbucks, see this post.

Below are screen snapshots of both mine and Steven's gift card balances! I'm tellin' ya- it's legit!

Here is my referral link:
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/klentz1

Sign up and let me know if you get some sweet stuff besides stinky ol' diapers!

My Babywise Beef...

2011-11-04T05:15:00.000-07:00

So I figured out what my beef is with Babywise. For two and a half years now something about it has really rubbed me the wrong way. And I know lots of good moms who swear by it, so I felt like I was insulting them by saying it bothers me. But I couldn't figure out what really bothered me exactly. Well, a big part was that I had a baby who I just couldn't get on a schedule to save my life. It really stressed me out. And he didn't sleep. So I kept going back looking for answers and feeling more and more like a failure every day.

I did the same thing the other day (since I have a three month old who isn't STTN) and found this on their website:

On Becoming Babywise is not a book of luck but of principle. Luck has nothing to do with the benefits described above – right parenting does. What you do in the first days, weeks, and months of your baby’s life will impact the rest of your parenting years.

The "benefits" described were a happy baby who sleeps through the night. THAT's IT!! I figured out what keeps rubbing me the wrong way. The phrase "right parenting".

Yikes.

That's bad.

It's basically saying everything else is wrong parenting. And that may not be exactly what they mean (although I believe it is). It's how it makes you feel anyway if you aren't successful getting your baby to sleep through the night by a certain age. I'm not against the principles of parent directed feeding or the Eat Awake Sleep cycle. Those are reasonable and apparently work for thousands of moms. And I'm still trying to do it.

You just can't claim that your way is the right way to parent. I mean how did the world even make it to this point without Babywise? It's amazing we're not all ax murderers who never sleep. THANK YOU BABYWISE FOR SAVING US.

sorry, just a little rant.

but guess what? I'll still look at the Babywise Mom's site for info b/c there's a lot there. It's a good source of advice and information.

And you're probably thinking, (especially if you're a BW mom) "c'mon Kristie, it's just their opinion." Well it's not just the authors' opinion. Most BW moms that I've read subscribe to the same idea. I've read it multiple times on Chronicles of a BW mom and from comments by her followers. Lots of back patting. Which is fine! Please pat your own back, bc you won't get it from many other places. But don't make other moms feel like their way is wrong.

Here is a link to a really great article. It basically says that we give ourselves way too much credit for how kids turn out and don't give God enough. He says that we should not be asking ourselves " Am I parenting successfully?", but "Am I parenting faithfully?".

THat I can do! I can't promise I'll be successful. There is no way I can guarantee my son or daughter is going to be happy, sleep, make straight A's, or make all the right choices. I just have to be faithful in teaching them what I can and pray God will take care of the rest.

There. I feel better.

Now, to get that baby to sleep....

My Lil' Pumpkins

2011-10-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

My Cooking Blog!

2011-10-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

So a friend of mine that I cook with occasionally, plan once a month cooking meals with every now and then, and daily discuss recipes with decided that we should start a cooking blog together.

So please visit, read and follow! It will make me happy! Thanks

http://causeigottafeedthemsomething.blogspot.com/

Cry It Out- Take 2

2011-10-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

So with Will I really stressed about how to get him to sleep. I tried EVERYTHING. We tried crying it out, but probably started too late. Who knows.. I do know that boy is determined. He would cry for hours. He would sweat, turn red, spit up, scream, and seem to be on the verge of hyperventilating. I just couldn't take it. We gave up. I probably didn't do it right. I just know that he was tired, I was tired, and when I put him in my bed we both slept.

Now we have a 2.5 year old who doesn't sleep. He never slept from the very beginning so maybe it's just him. But then again maybe it's b/c I've done it all wrong. I'll be the first to admit I'm just doing what I can to survive. We haven't had many nights of uninterrupted sleep in 2.5 years. He doesn't fall asleep until after 9, gets up a couple times a night (occasionally not), and then wakes up at 6ish. Sometimes he does sleep until 7, but not lately. This morning it was 5:30. 5:30. That means when the time change comes it will be 4:30. Those are not healthy sleep habits. I should be more tired than I am, but somehow I've adjusted. I do miss the sleep though.

So now we have another chance with baby number two. She is beginning to not sleep during the day. She's just not napping or staying asleep and becoming very fussy b/c she's so tired. The first two months were so easy, she just laid there and then fell asleep. Will never did that. Things are changing with her and I can't have a crying baby who doesn't sleep and a cranky toddler who doesn't sleep. I will lose my mind.

Therefore...

I am trying CIO again. Pray for my heart. I am way too sensitive for this business and it really kills me to hear her cry at all. I know this plan is supposed to work so I need to give it a shot. For her future sleep habits and the possibility of me getting some sleep someday too.

Her eyes are closed. Paci is in. .... ooooh no... eyes cracked open... please go to sleep.... please go to sleep.... crying. arrggg

Pray for sleep!!!

2 Months!

2011-10-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

I am about a week behind, but my sweet girl turned two months old on October 2nd! And again like every time I post about my kids' age, I'm thinking- How in the world has it been two months already and how in the world has it only been two months. Time seems fast and slow all at once.

"The days are long, but the years are short."

Anyway, we took her to her two month appt. Here are the stats:

Weight: 13lb 6oz 91st percentile

Height: 25inches 99th percentile

What a big girl! Somehow I make some big babies! And that's just on breastmilk! She is just a tad smaller than Will at this age, he was all 100th %. Our doctor said she looks perfect. Although we weren't sure if she was feeling well or not b/c I thought she seemed fussy and more sleepy than usual. So we didn't do the sad vaccines in case she had a stomach bug or something. I have to get those done this week and am NOT looking forward to it!

She is still a very good baby. She sleeps so much better than Will ever did. She is doing great at sleeping on her back without complaining and most of the time falls asleep on her own without too much fuss. We are not crying it out yet, b/c she is just way too young for that, but I do let her fuss just a bit longer than I ever did with Will. She sleeps well at night, but of course we aren't sleeping through the night yet. She has had a couple 5-6 hour stretches!

We are on a 3-3.5 hr "schedule". I use the word schedule lightly b/c it's just almost impossible sometimes to make sure she eats at the same times everyday. Plus, it really stresses me out. I know some baby experts would consider me a failure who is doing it all wrong, but I just have to do what I can. She is a hungry girl and sometimes wants to eat sooner and sometimes she's a sleepy girl and needs a bit more sleep. I'm doing best and know God will take care of her where I fall short.

Everyone that sees her says one of two things:

"Look at all that hair!!"

"She looks just like her brother."

Here is a newborn pic of each. We transferred all our old pictures to an external hard drive, so I don't have many pics of Will on hand right now, but this will do. You can see they both had the same little black beady eyes.

As far as right now, I do see similarities, but think they look very different. SHe is much prettier! ;)

What a funny looking little guy he was! My sweet baby love!

And here's my other baby love! I'm a lucky momma!

I'd better get off this thing now. Today is Pottytraining Bootcamp Day1.

Wish me luck!

Tell Me You Do This Too....

2011-10-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

Please tell me I'm not the only one who watches a squirmy baby on the video monitor saying, "Please stay asleep... staaay asleep.... whew".

I mean our girl is precious, but I do need a few moments to get some things done.

This little face makes it hard though!

Quick Pics

2011-10-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't been great about blogging lately. I'm really behind on posting pics and updates on my two tots. I'll just share a few from the last couple weeks and then consider myself caught up.

Will decided he needed to really watch the baby for me. (This may have also been the day that he decided he needed to poke her in the eye. Curious I guess. Needless to say he learned the consequences on that one)

He really is as sweet as he looks here.

First Sunday to church!

Watching (or listening) to big brother play in his room.

We took a Labor Day trip to Granbury beach. Daddy and Will spent lots of time in the water and Mommy and Olivia spend lots of time in the hotel room.

I spent 3 days cleaning out and organizing my closet. To me it's worth posting about!

Reading to little sister in her crib. So sweet.

Popcorn kernels. Fun. He also accidently called 911 this day

(old phones can still do that even though they no longer have service!!!).

A visit from Mimi and Pa!!

Weird lunch, but he had a lot fun making it.

And one last romp in the sprinkler before Fall. Those diapers can hold like a gallon of water!

Ok, I feel better and not so behind. Maybe later today I'll find time to update some more. But then again by the look of my house at only 7:30 am I think I'm going to be quite busy today.

Happy Saturday!

My Memories Giveaway

2011-09-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

I promise I'll do a Lentz family post with adorable pics of my pumpkins soon... but for now...

I'm posting to tell you about a digital scrapbook giveaway to My Memories. Melodie over at Our Growing Family is hosting a giveaway and of course AH WANNA WEEN! I've been wanting to give digital scrapbooking a try for awhile and really love the kits at My Memories. Visit Melodie's blog to see the giveaway details and then visit My Memories to see the cute kits.

And.. wish me some luck!

Swagbucks Tips!

2011-09-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

I earned another gift card yesterday! It took me 8 days to earn it. That's really exciting to me. I am really considering using the money to buy some sewing supplies and not diapers... I'm a rebel.

Anyway, I thought I'd give a little more explanation on how you will start to rack up some points.

1. Searches- Visit the site, look up anything that comes to your mind. Seriously, sometimes I type "sesame street", "8 week old baby", or "two year old is driving me bananas"... anything that comes to my brain. Usually it takes no more than 10 searches to win a few bucks. You can do this 2-3 a day, just wait a few hours in between searches. I do it when I get up and then again before I go to bed.

2. Daily Poll- just gives you one, but it's better than 0.

3. NOSO- No Obligation Special Offers- Just click through these, skip through each offer, and you'll get 2 bucks.

4. Swag Codes- these are special little codes worth around 10 bucks that TSG (The Swag Guy/Gal) hides on the site or blog or facebook page. I glance at this site every now and then to see if there's a code out there. Usually people will be talking about it on the facebook page if there is one.

5. REFERRALS!- This is the best way. Get your spouse, children, friends, relatives... anyone to sign up under you. You will receive points every time they do for searches. So when Steven wins 10, I get 10. For intstance, if 5 people under me get 10 each day, that equals 50 a day. At least. That means it will only take me 9 days to get a $5 Amazon gift card. If I did that every 9 days for a year, that would be $200 on Amazon! Some people pay for Christmas with this money. You can find your referral link under "Promote" and then "Banners".

There are great tips and explanations on the facebook discussions page.

And... again... here is my referral link:

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/klentz1

Good luck swagging!

Free Diapers!

2011-09-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've either heard of or have signed up for Swagbucks. If not, listen to me- it is LEGIT. The Lentz's have gone swagbucks crazy. I started a couple months ago and tried to talk to Steven about it. He wasn't interested at all. UNTIL a huge box of baby wipes arrived at our house. When he asked where they came from I told him I bought them on Amazon with gift cards from Swagbucks. He was like, "What? You really got free gift cards?" And I was like, "Dude, I've been telling you!"

Ever since that day he's been a machine at earning swagbucks and has earned $25 in 6 weeks. We are just going to be boring and use them for diaper and wipes, but you can use them for anything on Amazon.com. Let me just tell you what a blessing this is to our family b/c of our budget right now. Things are really tight and not paying for diapers each month helps a lot.

Basically it's just a search engine. Use it to look up anything you'd normally look up on Google and get points. There are surveys, promotions, and videos you can watch to earn more, but you don't have to.

The key to really racking up the points is to get people to sign up under you. So I'm honestly writing this to share this awesome site and to ask you to sign up using my referral link if you decide to. WHICH YOU SHOULD! Who doesn't like free money?

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/klentz1

That's my link. Sign up. Do it.

IMPORTANT: Note to Parents

2011-09-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

When it's in the wee hours of the morning and you're attempting to keep your baby asleep- it's not a good idea to drop the pacifier on your baby's face while reaching to put it back in her mouth. Just sayin.

Hello 4am.

One Month Old!

2011-09-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

"Yay! I'm one month old! I made it! These people have kept me alive for a whole month! Woo hoo!"

Yes, our baby girl is a month old. I used to say this for Will, but it seems like just yesterday we brought her home and at the same time it seems like she's been here forever.

She is such a good baby. She eats well, sleeps well (for a one month old), and is very content & alert when awake. She is really starting to notice the world around her and looks all over when she's awake. We are starting to see some smiles and most of these are for her Daddy. It's looking like she's going to be a Daddy's girl already.

The poor thing has already gotten a cold! This weekend she came down with some nasal congestion, most likely passed on from big brother. She is not liking the saline drops or nose sucker! They are seeming to help though. Will didn't get sick for a long time, but I guess this is what happens when you have siblings.

This month she's had pretty bad baby acne and her skin is still pretty peely. I'm so vain that I've been retouching the red spots on the pics. Hopefully this will all clear up this month.

She's also gained a good amount of weight- I don't know how much b/c we haven't been to the ped since two weeks, but I can tell she's chunkin' up! I'm sure we'll have another chubby baby!

We don't have her on a real schedule yet. The first couple of weeks were filled with nights where she wanted to cluster feed a lot and then we hit the three week growth spurt and she basically wanted to eat around the clock. Maybe I'll try to get her on one as soon as her cold is all better. I'm letting her eat as much as she'd like right now so she can absorb as many antibodies from me as possible!

Anyway, we are in love-love-love with our sweet Olivia! I can't wait to see how she's going to grow and change in the coming weeks. We are one blessed family to be given the privilege of raising this little angel!

4 Weeks & Big Brother

2011-08-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of our little four week old photo shoot. Today Olivia is four weeks old and on the 19th Will became 28 months. They are both changing so much right before my eyes.

These are the best shots I could get. Big Brother didn't last long and Little sister was sleepy and wouldn't keep those hands out of her mouth. And I should have picked a different color bow...

She wasn't sure about it...

He's pulling her hands, not her face.

Look how those cheeks are filling out! I have a feeling we have another chunk on our hands

"Oh brother..."

I have some other ones to post too, but will do that later. Will is asking for fruit snack and baby girl just dirtied her diaper AGAIN.

Love these babies!

What's Cookin'

2011-08-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

I really like to cook. I used to cook way more.. before kid #1 and kid #2 of course. But I do have to say I've been proud of myself for cooking for my family each night again. I'm only proud b/c I took a long vacation from it. My wonderful husband took care of meals during my last couple weeks being pregnant and then our super friends from church brought meals for the two weeks after the baby arrived. It was nice to have a break from the kitchen, but I did miss it. I'm strange.

Here is what I'm not proud of: the items I have been cooking. I have an excuse though- I JUST HAD A BABY. If that doesn't give me justification to be a temporary glutton then I don't know what does. I have been eating whatever I want... and it shows. Yikes, this baby weight is not falling off quite like it did with Will. I was hoping the breastfeeding would do the trick immediately again, however I'm still a bit chunky and poofy. I figured I'd give myself six weeks before I really start being more disciplined. That means I've got two more weeks.

I have made this twice. We had leftover french bread, am I expected to let it go to waste. I think not.

Emeril's food processor pizza dough! It's the easiest recipe and is really good. I just add some honey b/c I like my dough a little sweet. That means we have homemade pizza way too often.

Then I tried my hand at homemade soft pretzels Saturday. INCREDIBLE. They are too easy and taste just like a pretzel you'd get at a carnival or Target or something.

So I'm noticing a pattern here... carbs anyone?

I have been cooking real meals too. Two nights ago I made my favorite tomato basil roast chicken. Last night we had these Asian Lettuce Wraps. Tonight I'm making chicken piccata- one of my faves! See I'm not completely lost.

Ok, one last confession. I may or may not have finished off the last bit of icing from a can in the fridge. I'll eat an extra serving of broccoli tonight to make up for it.

Dinner tonight

2011-08-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

I don't think it's a coincidence that there are 8 biscuits in a can and 8 hot dogs in a pack. Pigs in warm little blankets for dinner. Yes, I know this makes me Mom of the Year.

Two Weeks Old

2011-08-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Two weeks yesterday!

Appointment stats:

8lbs 4oz

22.5 inches

perfect

I did try to take a pic of my firstborn today, but he did not want his picture taken. We're doing puzzles right now, but I'll pin him down soon.

Update

2011-08-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

Things are going well...
nursing good
sleeping good... for a newborn
lots of wets and dirties
not much spitting
content and alert during wake times
big brother is happy
daddy is happy
momma is very happy

I even roasted a chicken and baked cupcakes last night!
Look who's on her way back to being herself!

taken this past Tuesday, now we're almost 2 weeks!

Thank you Lord for this blessed life!

LOOK! Our new baby!

2011-08-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Olivia Elise Lentz

5 days old

More pictures and details of her arrival to come soon.

For now though this will have to do...

we are just too busy cuddling and staring into the face of this little angel!

She is too precious and we are loving every minute!

Baby Lentz #2 On The Way!

2011-08-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well... better late than never I guess.

I am 39 weeks and 3 days. And... we are having a baby IN THE MORNING. IN ABOUT 14 HOURS. I'm not freaking out yet. We are scheduled for a c-section at 7:30 am. I'm actually trying not to think about it much b/c I'm too anxious of a person to handle this level of excitement.

I'm pretty surprised we made this far. I was dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced at 35 weeks and then a little more than a three last Thursday. My doc thought I'd go into labor over the weekend. I really took it easy and have done my best to keep this baby in! I know most normal pregnant women would be walking like crazy to get this baby out, but I don't like surprises and love the idea of staying on schedule.

Tomorrow morning I will be meeting my daughter, Olivia Elise Lentz, in person.

Her birthday will be August 2, 2011.

I can't wait to see what she's going to look like. Long like her brother? Dark hair? We know she's going to have lots of it from the sono pics. I just want to hold that little angel and see who's been doing jumping jacks in my belly for the past few months.

Please pray for a safe delivery into this world and for a healthy baby girl.

Pictures will be posted soon!

2011-04-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

Geez, I know it's been a long, long time since I've blogged. Life is so busy during the day and at night I just usually crash. I'm pregnant, have an almost two year old to plan a party for, a big boy room to get read, a nursery to set up, we've had a house flood, and my dog ate rat poison- most of the craziest things happened in about a week's time. Blogging has been way down on the list. I also don't like posting with pics, but our camera for some reason isn't connecting with the computer... anyway, here is the update on what's up with the Lentz's lately.

MY BOY
Will is going to be 2 in just 8 days! Sometimes I can't believe it's been two years and sometimes I can't believe it's only been two years. I can hardly remember when he wasn't here. He is such a funny little guy and keeps us very busy. I don't really like the phrase "he's all boy", what does that really mean? That some little boys are partially girls? It's hard though to find another phrase to describe him, he is your typical rough and tumble boy. He likes rocks, sticks, dirt, getting dirty, wrestling, jumping off of everything, climbing, playing basketball and soccer. He is AWESOME at basketball by the way. I took him to Peter Piper pizza and played a kids size bball game. He was shooting and making more than me! He plays all the time on his little goals and always wants to shoot on Daddy's goal.

He is very sweet though too. He gives us hugs and kisses all day. It's my favorite- even at 4 am. I love that he gets excited to see us when we come home from somewhere or wake up in the morning. I hear "Mama woke up!" followed by a hug when Steven lets me sleep in. He's also very polite, saying "pease Momma" or thank you without being prompted most of the time.

He is starting to become a pickier eater and will tell us "don't like it" if he's not in the mood. He is extremely stubborn (that's from Momma). I've known from the time he was tiny that he'd be a fit thrower and he is proving me right. He learned the word 'now". At first it was cute- "it's working now" or "we're home now".. but then turned into "Red juice, NOW!". I'll say, "No Will, we don't say now" and he'll say, "Red juice, pease Momma". We're working on it.

He knows all his colors, but gets pink and purple confused. Shapes are all down- even crescent and hexagon most of the time. He only knows a few letters and will only count to 2 - occasionally 3. We'll ask him a hundred times a day to count something and he'll say, "12121222112" and smile. We are working hard to move to three and then he'll just say "one three". I'm not stressing or worried about it and am surprised by that considering I was a teacher, but I know boys are different and learn those things slower. He is just NOT interested in ABC's 123's or POTTY TRAINING. He refuses and I'm not going to force it. Yet. It does stress me a little considering he's two and a new baby is coming.

One thing I have to praise God for is the success we've had at church. He started screaming in the nursery when I left him starting at 8 months old. He would scream the WHOLE time and I'd have to get him. It got to where I dreaded even going. The past three or four months have incredible. He gets excited to go and chants "Let's go, church, church, church!" in the car on the way! It makes my heart so happy. He loves getting to see his little friends and play. THank you Lord!

I'll have to do another post soon about my boy, because honestly I could go on forever. Love isn't even a strong enough word, but it's all I've got- LOVE HIM.

BABY
I am 23 weeks now! My tummy is getting bigger every day. This is a very active little girl. I've only purchased ONE baby girl item. Can you believe that? My mom has gotten a few things and Steven's mom too, but I just haven't yet. I'm not a big shopper anyway and plan on working on those things more this summer after my job is done. At 20 week sono, baby girl was measuring 2 weeks ahead and about 14 oz. Maybe she'll be a big girl like Will. It still amazes me everyday that a baby is in my tummy. I'M MAKING A PERSON! So crazy. It's a little overwhelming to think I only have about 4 months left before she's here, but we cant' wait to meet her. I love her so much already and am ready to add to our family.

HOUSE
Things are a mess around here right now. Our washing machine broke and flooded the house. All bedrooms and the living room need new flooring. They boxed up a bunch of stuff and moved it to the garage. Our things are everywhere and in crazy places. It's like moving and remodeling at the same time. We were displaced from our house for about 5 days. All the carpet is gone from the bedrooms, leaving concrete, and Steven is working on ripping out the old wood floors. It's a really hard task. It's glued down pretty well and doesn't want to come up. Everything is covered in white powdery stuff and saw dust. We had been planning on painting and now need to do it before we put the new floors in. So this week my husband is going to be super busy priming, painting, demolition, and learning to install new flooring.

This was last night. Our living room. Thankfully Will stayed with my Mom last night so Steven could work the night away ripping the floor out. What a mess!

It's a huge inconvenience, but a huge blessing. We hated all our flooring anyway and now we get money to replace it. I've just had to relax a bit and not get stressed about living in a construction zone with a toddler. And being pregnant. And trying to plan a party. And set up Will's big boy room so we can get him out of the nursery and then change that nursery into a girl's nursery. Just a few minor projects. :)

This is way too long already so I will wrap up. Hopefully I'll be able to make myself be more consistent about updating. If you're still reading, thanks! Soon I'll have pics of a two year old and a remodeled home!

It's A GIRL!

2011-02-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

We are having a GIRL!

I am in shock. Very excited of course, but completely bewildered. I had a feeling it was a girl and only voiced it once, but thought for sure we'd have another boy. There are lots of boys on Steven's side, girls are rare.

I'll get the sono pics up soon. They are adorable!

On Saturday I'll be 17 weeks. It's still pretty early to know for sure, but the sono tech was fairly sure and looked from a few different angles. We'll get the big 20 week sono soon and be able to confirm the gender then too.

Will is going to have a little sister! Can't wait!

Lentz Family News!

2011-02-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

Finally a post! I promise that I've had a good excuse!

Will is going to be a big brother!

I have been horribly sick since the beginning of December. I could barely summon the energy to make a piece of toast, much less update the blog. I am 14 (almost 15) weeks now. I know it's still early to announce to the world, but the tummy is getting impossible to hide. This week I've finally felt better- thank you Lord. I don't know if I can go through this again, so two babies may be it for the Lentz's.

Not a great pic. I was looking a little run down after work and didn't want to look at the camera. I didn't even start to show with will until 17 weeks and already at 14 I am getting pretty big. We've heard the heartbeat twice now and will find out the sex in two weeks! Our doctor does a gender sono at 16 weeks- crazy, but I'm so excited about it.

Anyway, more to come soon. Now that my energy is coming back I'll hopefully get back in the blogging routine.

Still here

2011-01-31T05:34:00.000-08:00

I promise this blog is not abandoned, only severely neglected. A blog is coming soon. and you will not blame me at all for slacking... I promise!

"Pie-oneer Woman"

2010-11-17T05:14:00.000-08:00

I love the Pioneer Woman. I have used many of her recipes and used hers to create some of my own. I love to cook, so I follow quite a few cooking blogs, but hers is my favorite.

Today she is going to be on the Food Network at 8pm- doing Throwdown with Bobby Flay! My DVR is set!

Anyway, right now she is doing a series on holiday pies. I am a pie person and prefer it to cake almost any day. (Except my birthday when I get a white cake with pink cream filling and cream cheese frosting from Costco!) I had been talking with my mom about inventing a new pumpkin pie. I like pumpkin pie, but it's not my favorite. My husband on the other hand is in LOVE with pumpkin pie and could finish a whole one himself- and has. More specifically, he loves his mom's pumpkin pie. I've tried to make it from her family recipe, he says it's good, but not like his Mama's. I hope I have a pie that Will is going to say that about someday!

Back to my pie idea. I think what I don't like about a pumpkin pie boils down to 2 things: the crust and the absence of something crunchy on top. I'm more of a graham cracker crust kind of gal. So my idea was to do a ginger snap crust with some kind of candied nut topping. Apparently I'm not that original in my thinking because when I Googled it there were many examples. Oh well. I still plan on making this and will let you know how it goes!

One of the pies the PW made lately was this Pumpkin Creme Pie. It looks amazing and I will be making that one soon too. Also, there is talk among her followers of a mysterious chocolate bourbon pecan pie. I will be waiting to see what that looks like!

Let the pie making begin!

A Much Awaited Death

2010-11-13T05:56:00.000-08:00

If you know me at all you know how cheap I am. Not just pinching pennies cheap either. I'm the kind of person who sacrifices quality for a low price. I'll get the large bag of frozen chicken breasts at Wal-Mart over the All Natural Name Brand ones. I'd love to get the free range organic chicken, but I'm not working full time right now. So it's bag chicken for the Lentz's. Go ahead and judge me.

Anyway, for the longest time I've been holding off my husband from buying a new tv. We have been the last family on earth to get a flat screen. (So dramatic) We had one of those tv's that is as deep as it is wide and mockingly referred to it as a "round screen". Everytime I suggested to Steven he ask the guys over to watch a game at our house he'd say no way- that no one wants to watch a game on a crappy round screen.

A few months ago the color went out on the tv. My husband was so excited. I know I heard him chanting, "C'mon baby, c'mon baby". Thankfully the color came back and we kept the tv.

Well last week it happened. The tv. died. Like completely died. Black screen and all. We waited it out for about a day and then declared the time of death. I knew the day was coming, but I honestly thought we'd have a little more time together.

That's when Steven starting talking tv lingo- HD, 1080p, LD, LED, plasma,... I stopped him right there- explaining that Black Friday sales were just around the corner... you get the picture. And in the meantime we moved our 19 inch bedroom tv into the living room and the little 13" into the bedroom. It was awesome. You know my husband was so happy. He has bad vision to begin with, you know he loved trying to watch a 13" tv from the bed at night.

Long (unnecessary) story short- he couldn't wait any longer and came home last night with a tv.
It's only a 37", which I am happy about for many reasons- it's modest, under $500, and still fits in our tv cabinet.

World, please welcome the Lentz's to the year 2010.

Dinnertime

2010-11-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

I'm a working mom again! It's just three hours a day and perfect for us. I'm tutoring at the school I used to work at. I go in from 11:50 to 2:50 everyday. The church has been so great to work with Steven. He works from 7-11, comes home while I go to work, and then goes back from about 3:15 to 6:15. It really is ideal.

Anyway, even though I'm just working three hours a day, it does change how I manage the day quite a bit. I need to be more planned and efficient with my time. One of the things I'm going to try to be better about is meal planning. Again. I did it for a little while this summer and then fell away from it. Well, I'm going to try it again.

Tonight we are having salmon, broccoli, and pesto pasta.
The other meals I've planned are:
Chicken Piccata
Taco Soup
Grilled Cheese & Soup
Pigs in a Blanket (for the busy nights!)
Chicken Cacciatore (Pioneer Woman's of course!)
Roast Chicken
Eggplant Parmesan (thank you Amy McAdams for reminding me!)

Sidenote- Will just fell on the floor. He actually pretended to trip and fall and then looked at me. Then he started fake crying. Heaven help me.

Anyway, for budget sake I need to really stick to these meals and make sure we aren't running for fast food b/c I haven't planned well. I'll let you know how it goes.

And here's a picture just because it feels like a waste to post without a picture.

Will decided to skate across the floor on two DVD covers. Fun!

Getting better..

2010-11-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

... but still not where I'd like to be. Since Sunday - THANK YOU TIME CHANGE- Will has been getting up at 4:00 am. Yes, 4. Before time change it was like 6:30 ish, so for sure I was dreading that becoming 5:30. Needless to say, we've been less than thrilled about our angel's new hours.

Praise the Lord- seriously, we prayed about that last night during the bedtime prayer- Will slept until 5:15 today! I'll take it.

Who knows, tomorrow he may sleep really late. Like 5:30.

I'm sleepy.

Trick or Treating in the Park

2010-11-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

One of our fun Halloween activities this year was trick or treating in the park with our Mommies group. Will looked adorable in his puppy costume and had so much fun getting plenty of candy. Once he had a few pieces, all he wanted to do was sit next to his bucket and look through it at all the goodies inside. He'll give me a piece of candy and say, "Ome" which means "open".

We had a really good time! It was the first of 5 trick or treating events this year! We definitely got some good use out of this little costume!

More Halloween pics to come!

Mainstay Farm

2010-11-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

So this is post number one in my series of catch up posts. It's been a busy month!

Here are our pics from our visit to Mainstay Farm in Cleburne. It was such a great place, we'll definitely have to return next year. (Sadly, there was "an incident" downloading the pictures and most of them were lost. I did shed tears of frustration over this)

The farm had a huge hay barn to play on, a gigantic air jumping thing, 3 mazes, pumpkin patch, hay ride, petting zoo, 3 story tree house, play ground, super slide, pedal cars, ... and more! It was so much fun!

Looking down from the top of a slide

My little farmer in the hay barn

This place is really awesome! Having kids makes even minor holidays such fun again!

Be back soon...

2010-10-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just taking a brief blogging hiatus to recover from our visit from the Stomach Bug and our visit to the ER. We're having such a wonderful time here at the Lentz house!

Blogs I Read

2010-10-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

I'm still debating the car seat quandary, but in the meantime...

Here are some of the blogs I check daily. Sometimes more than once a day in case there wasn't a new post when I first checked.

1. Dooce

She is hilarious and everytime Steven hears me laughing from the other room he asks, "Are you reading Dooce?"

2. Pioneer Woman

Who doesn't check this daily? Funny lady and great recipes!

3. Momversation

I love debates and conversations and hearing the different opinions that people have. This site is about the different opinions that moms have concerning lots of issues we moms deal with everyday. I really enjoy it!

4. Bakerella

Who doesn't love an adorable and delicious cake pop? I have to check often to see what new creations she's come up with.

5. The Purl Bee

This is just one of a million craft sites I like to visit. I love stalking other people's creativity & ideas.

And of course I frequently read the blogs of all my friends listed to the left. Reading blogs has become a new hobby of mine and I probably waste a little too much time doing it.

I love finding new blogs to read, so let me know if there is one you think I'd like!

My Car Seat Dilemma

2010-10-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

I am in a quandary about what to do with Will's car seat. He is still rear facing. On Tuesday the 19th he will be 18 months. He weighs about 29 pounds and is like 34 inches tall. (maybe, I'm estimating, it's been awhile since I've actually measured).

At his 12 month appt our pediatrician told me that the new standard is to keep kids rear facing until age 2. I have yet to meet one person who still has a baby older than Will rear facing. But I've kept him rear facing b/c I know it's the safest thing. My only reasons for wanting to turn him around are that I think he would like seeing us and might enjoy the car more. Not based on safety.

I've tried to read up on this as much as possible. Scandinavian countries keep their kids rear facing until age 4 or about 55 lbs. They have super low rates of vehicular infant mortality as a result.

So to turn or not to turn...

Reasons Not To
1. Safety

Reasons To Turn
1. He will be able to see us
2. May enjoy the car more (he really doesn't like it much)
3. I can see him better
4. My blind spot will no longer be blocked.

I'm making this more dramatic than it needs to be. It's what I do. It feels like a mom test.

I'll let you know what I decide

Egg Disaster & a Bath

2010-10-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

It really was too good to be true... yesterday Will slept until 6:56 (I was in HEAVEN)... today- 5:34. Excellent.

Anyway, I rolled myself out of bed, turned on Elmo for Will, and went into the kitchen to figure out breakfast. I decided to make him some scrambled eggs. I put two eggs on the counter and thought they were going to be good little eggs and sit still. They did not.

Good morning to me! I actually laughed instead of cried. I'm turning over a new leaf ya know- "too blessed to be depressed"- corny, but so true!

I started over on the eggs and he loved them. The fork wasn't getting the job done fast enough so he relied on the old faithful method. Shoving them into his mouth with his hands as quickly as possible.

After playing outside for awhile I gave Will a bath. Here he is sitting on my bed afterwards.

This afternoon we have our first trick or treating venture with our Mommies' group. Thankfully it doesn't look like it's going to rain, so it should be a good time. I'll have pictures of that soon!

Happy Monday!

Just Wednesday

2010-10-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

It's just a Wednesday.

We went to Will's Music Together class in Arlington this morning at 10. He cried quite a bit and was overwhelmed by the situation for the first 15 minutes, but he eventually warmed up and had fun playing instruments and dancing. It's so frustrating when he's clinging to me, but I have to try to understand it from his point of view and just be patient with him. As much as I want him to adapt to new places quickly, I have to accept who he is and where he is in his development right now. We are working on being comfortable in new situations and around new people. Stranger anxiety is at an all time high, but we'll work through it. I'm sure someday he'll want nothing to do with me and I'll miss the days of having him hanging on my leg, so I try not to get to worked up about it.

Afterwards we picked up lunch from Chick Fil A and went to Warren Park. We had a super fun time playing and running and climbing. He loves climbing all the way to the top of the spiral slide by himself and says, "Did it!" everytime. I love when he is proud of himself.

He can be quite a stinker sometimes (I hear "No" about a million times a day now), but I can't help being so love with this little face!

I mean, who could resist that?!

I'm soaking up every moment with my little lovebug! He's just the best!

Welcome Luke Lain!

2010-10-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Elizabeth and Cody on the birth of their new baby boy- Luke!

He was born yesterday at 2:41pm.

8 lbs 12 oz

21 inches long

and in the words of his mama, "perfect"

Can't wait to get to know you sweet Luke! We are so happy you're here!

Sexist Shakers

2010-09-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

I love a good garage sale find. The other day I found a priceless set of salt and pepper shakers.

"Mother, you are the pepper upper"

(Mom taking care of children)

(Mom washing dishes)

(Mom ironing)

"Dad, you are the salt of the Earth"

(Dad reading the paper while smoking a pipe)

(Dad grilling a huge steak)

(Dad paying bills)

I had a couple other good finds, but these are my favorite. If you come to dinner at my house we will use these.

This Mom's Nightmare

2010-09-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

The hardest part of being a mom is one that I didn't expect at all. Worry. It's one of my most recurrent prayer requests now. I hate it because I understand that worry stems from fear and fear stems from doubt. Doubt means I don't trust God enough. That's a problem. I'm tellin ya, this boy has rocked my world.

So, back to worry. It all started when Will was a baby. I noticed his little legs turned in a bit & mentioned it to someone. "All babies are like that for a little while". I moved on, but of course filed that little concern away to take back out later. Fast forward a few months- to around 11 months- the beginning walking months, his feet are super pigeon-toed. I chalk it up to being a baby, still growing, etc. THen at his one year appt. the doctor (a new ped we switched to) asked if Will was walking yet. I told her yes, but that his feet really turn inward when he walks and he seems a little bowlegged too. She told me that she had been looking at his legs during our visit and was concerned. It wasn't just the turning in, it was the deep crease on the inside of each of his calves. I thought they were just more fat rolls. (I mean she wasn't our doc then, so she had no idea how fat my kid was!) She wasn't exactly sure what the problem might be, but wanted to research it and get back to me. But "don't worry". Right. Does she know who she's talking to?

That is like the worst thing you can say to a person like me. Of course I went home and cried. I cried for a couple days. Obsessed over it and had many pep talks from my husband- whose faith and trust in the Lord is amazing.

After a few days, I moved on. But of course occasionally obsessed over in my mind and cried often. I only told a couple of people. I just really didn't even want to talk about it out loud. If you don't talk about it, it doesn't seem as real. Also, from that point on I stared at every other kid's legs I see. All perfect. All perfectly straight- brace-free little legs belonging to kids whose mothers don't know how thankful they should be that their kids have perfect legs. (I've been a bit neurotic. I'm working on it)

What didn't help was that during this time I got on the internet. Bad. I didn't know exactly what to look up and so my search was pretty broad. I read about things that could be really terrible and things that would go away on their own. Worst case scenario- it's something that gets worse and cripples him without some major surgery. Best case scenario- it's just something he'll have to grow out of. Everything in between included corrective shoes to leg braces. In all cases- not something I want for my baby.

So it was time for our 15 month appt. (Yes, Cooks Ped does a 15 month. weird) I actually put pants on him hoping the doctor wouldn't even see his legs and we could just not talk about it yet. Talk about putting my head in the sand. I just thought he needed more time. I needed more time & wasn't ready to deal with it. We had to take his clothes off, so there went that idea. At the end of the visit, she brought it up again. Again, it was the creases. They were so deep that she wondered if he had amniotic bands. But they were so symmetrical that that theory almost didn't make sense.) She said that she'd been paying attention to other kids' legs and had never seen this before. So she was referring us to an Orthopedic Specialist at Cooks downtown.

At least we'd have an answer.

It was time for our appt with the orthopedist. We got to Cooks and I was overwhelmed. I am the mom with the perfect child who doesn't know how good she has it and how thankful she should be! I was completely humbled. There are so many kids who deal with awful things every day. Cancer, disease, deformity, etc. I was immediately put in my place. But of course, it's still me so I continued to worry. I watched many kids in wheel chairs, walkers, and leg braces in the waiting room. That's my future I kept telling myself. Let me tell you, picturing your baby's future in leg braces is a terrible thing.

He's never going to run, play sports, and kids are going to make fun of him.

Will's name was called and we went in. The doctor came shortly and had a look at his legs. I watched his face for any telling signs, but this guy probably sees crazy things all the time so I couldn't read anything in his expression. He sent us for x-rays to see what we were dealing with. That experience was AWFUL. Will freaked out. I mean FREAKED OUT. That's kind of his thing. Both Steven and I held him down and took our hands off his legs at the last minute. It was quick and the x-rays were available almost immediately. We just had to wait for the doctor to come in and tell us his prognosis.

I literally held my breath.

"I think he's going to be fine." He didn't see any curvature in the bone, his measurements were all good, and there was no evidence that the creases were anything at all. Just extra fat. (of course!) "REALLY?!" was my response. I did not expect that. I hoped for it, but didn't expect it. Steven did. (of course, hadn't he been telling me that all along...) He told us he is just pigeon toed and it should straighten out over time. Other than that, he's fine.

No surgery. No leg braces. No degenerative leg disease. JUST PIGEON TOED! and of course crazy extra fat on the inside of his legs that make creases that no other kids have.

I can deal with that. What a huge burden lifted of my shoulders! I felt a billion times better and was just so happy for Will. He's going to be fine. ;)

Now for the rude lady that I mentioned the other day:

We were at the park last Wednesday. Will was playing on the playground and this mom that was there- who I had not been talking to at all- just piped up, "Is there something wrong with his legs?" My head literally snapped around to look at her and she had this confused look on her face -furrowed brow, squinting eyes,... My mouth was hanging open. She continued- "I mean, his feet are turned in... and he looks bowlegged... and he's got those creases..." She rattled off each of our issues and laid it right out there in the open. I quickly replied, "NO." ;) "He's fine. We actually just saw a specialist who said he's fine. Just pigeon toed and basically chubby." With that I turned my back and completely ignored her presence. Don't get me wrong, I was shocked and wanted to put this woman in her place. I wanted to comment on her lack of social tact and throw a rock at her. You just don't do that!

My Mom and Dad showed up a little while later and I was still in shock at that lady's rudeness when I told them what she said. I'm pretty sure Mom probably would have said something a bit more "loaded"- she is from New Jersey after all.

All day I couldn't get her comment out of my head. I know it's noticeable. I see people looking, but no one ever shoves it in my face like that. But guess what I had to hold onto- XRAYS! "He is fine!" So he doesn't look like every other kid. It's ok. He's healthy. That's the most I could want.

Rude woman- if you're out there, I forgive you. You don't know better.

So in conclusion, I'm thankful! It was the best possible outcome of this situation. For now, my worries are gone and my husband can have break from my crazies.

Thank you Father for your perfect faithfulness!

Really?!

2010-09-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

This will be short and incomplete and will be finished at a later date when I have more time, but for now...

Have you ever had a complete stranger say something incredibly rude to you? Except she probably didn't even realize it was rude, it's just who she is. So rude that my jaw about dropped and still does in my mind when I replay it. Which I keep doing- replaying it. Wishing I hadn't seen this woman at the park at all. Because now she's in my brain and making me angry.

I'll explain later. Grrrrr

Will's First Chore

2010-09-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

I guess it's not really a chore. He loves it and asks to do it. Laundry. Specifically putting clothes into the washing machine. He loves throwing the clothes in while the water is pouring in. I try to get him to take the clothes out of the dryer, but he just takes them out and then wants to put them right back in the washing machine. He will even take the clothes out of his drawers and carry them to the laundry room.

So yesterday I moved a stool over and his basket of dirty clothes and let the boy go to town. He did it for awhile and kept saying, "Boom!" when he threw things in. It was great!

I hope this boy continues his love for laundry, because his Mama sure doesn't have it and would love to have someone share the duty.

I had a great video, but who knows why it won't load. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

Now if I could just teach him to mop, load the dishwasher, vacuum, dust, ...

Bath Time!

2010-09-11T19:20:00.001-07:00

What happened to Toodles?

2010-09-11T05:41:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know what happened to Toodles? (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) Steven and I are watching it with Will right now and are very unhappy with the apparent change for Toodles. He has a face and talks.

Oh Toodles! Please come back!

Weird Phobias.. start laughing now

2010-09-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, start laughing now. Of course if one of these phobias is yours, then you're probably just seriously nodding your head in agreement thinking, "Yep. Scary. Don't even want to think about it." And if you are, please let me know so I can laugh at with you. (I decided to look up phobias yesterday after Will freaked out about my robe)

Here are some of the strange phobias I found on this site:

Fear of going back in time, getting a disease that is curable now, but not then

Fear of large bodies of water because there might be shopping carts down there

Fear of gravity reversing itself

Fear of the Chubby Bunny Game

Fear of dying in a car crash with the radio stuck on a country station

Fear of the number 211 (Read here)

Fear of cannibal siamese twins

Fear of being mentally ill, but no one has told you yet

Fear of dying and having your pet blame itself

Yes, those are apparently real. I'm sure there are some strange ones I could identify with. I know that cannibal siamese twins do sound awful, but I'm not afraid of running into one. I bet the chance of that are pretty low. But I guess you never know.

I know I'm afraid of my toddler deciding he doesn't want to nap again. Now THAT is scary.

Please share your weird fears!

Our Labor Day Vacation Collage

2010-09-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

This past Labor Day weekend we traveled to Eureka Springs, AK for a little getaway. My aunt and uncle, Kathy and Steven, have a lake house there that we went to stay at. It was gorgeous! I have never been to Arkansas before. The lake was so amazing, as was the weather. Just perfect!

We had the best time resting, eating, playing, swimming, boating, kayaking, grilling, reading, sightseeing, and just spending time outdoors. We left on Friday morning around 5 am, it is quite a drive with a toddler. Will did really well b/c he got to watch videos the whole time. We stayed until Monday, but I really wish we could have stayed longer. Hopefully we'll get to go back soon. If you haven't visited the town of Eureka Springs you definitely should. It's a very unique and quaint little place.

Clicking on the collages should enlarge them. I won't know until I publish this and try it for myself though.

I can't believe we're already so far into September! October is right around the corner & I need to start thinking about Halloween costumes. Fun! I'm excited Fall is here. I foresee and camping trip in the Lentz Family's future....

My Weird Kid

2010-09-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

We have been gone since THursday for a long Labor Day weekend trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas! I will post about that soon, but can't find the cord for my camera... hopefully it didn't get left in ES.

Anyway, back to the weirdness... This morning, while Will went to play in his room, I went and put on my white fluffy robe b/c it felt a bit chilly in the house. Then I went into Will's room to check on him. When he looked up at me, he got really upset- at me. He started pulling on me and I squatted down, thinking he was cranky from getting up too early and wanted to be held or something. Nope. Not it. He hated my robe. Seriously, he started pulling on it and on the belt, trying to get it off. He did not stop yelling at me until I took it off. THen he went back to playing. (For the record, I didn't take it off so he could have his way, I just really wanted to see if it was the robe or not)

Isn't that strange? I put it back on and walked out.

Is there such thing as a fear of robes?

Incredible Zoo Trip

2010-09-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Will and I met my Mom at the zoo. The zoo pass was a birthday gift for Will from her and my Dad and they haven't been able to go with us yet. So I was really excited to get to share this with her.

I don't know if it was the time of day we went or the weather or what, but it was great b/c all of the animals were perfect! Sometimes when we go a lot of them are just laying around, sleeping, hiding, just not really interested in getting in a good spot for my one year old to see. But yesterday most of them were very active and close to the glass where we could get a really good look at them.

Of course, I think Will noticed. He's never ever been scared of the animals before, but today (maybe b/c he's getting older?) he was acting scared. It was hilarious though b/c he noticed a gigantic python behind the glass and then started backing away, shaking his head no. I got it on video, but who knows if I'll be able to upload it... ok, I think it uploaded, hopefully it works

Here's Will kissing a tortoise

Riding the tortoise

The gharial letting us have a close look

"Mama says alligators are hornery b/c they have all those teeth and no toothbrush.." anyone?

Will screamed and ran from the turtle when it turned towards him!

Baby Layla! There is almost nothing cuter in the world than a baby monkey! They hung out by the glass all day so we could admire the little one. A lady there told me that last week the mom was holding the baby on her feet last week- playing airplane with it while the baby laughed! Are you kidding? I would love to have seen that. I could have sat there all day next to that glass.

Even the elusive gorilla let us have a close look.

Will didn't like this either. He was adamantly shaking his head "no" with a very serious look on his face. Of course it made Mom and I laugh.

A chimp playing hide and seek. I'm tellin ya... the animals were very entertaining.

A rockhopper penguin saying "hello".

And this guy! He was freaking me out. He kept running into the candy store. The guy that works there said he comes in all the time and steals candy.

Will saw this glowing sign and thought it was a tv. He sat down in front of it twice... probably waiting for Yo Gabba Gabba. He cracks me up!

A mountain lion.. I do not want to ever see one of those outside of the zoo.

Mr. Squirrel making a run for some more candy. It did make me nervous b/c Will was walking around in there too.

At the end of the day, both of these nuts were exhausted. They took a rest on the bench while I went to get the car. It really was such a fun day. Will was easy and happy and seemed to have a lot of fun, besides the fact of being scared sometimes.

Of course he fell asleep immediately when we got in the car. Usually I can get him in his bed and he'll sleep for 2-3 hours after the zoo. After getting him down, I went to start getting dinner ready when I heard him saying, "Mama, Mama". I was so confused b/c he was OUT not thirty seconds earlier. So I went in and he was standing there. When I asked what was wrong, he said, "I pooped". And he did. He has started telling me about poop. I guess we need to buy a potty. And that was it for the nap. Thanks poop.

I'm so thankful for a wonderful day, wonderful son, wonderful mom... I am so blessed and grateful.

My Old School Baby

2010-08-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

Will is in that great stage where he mimics all kinds of things he sees Steven and me do. I love seeing him try to act like Mom and Dad. We have an old school Nintendo hooked up in our guest bedroom. Yes, we still play it every now and then. (Steven and I stayed up until like 3am playing on our first date by the way)

Anyway, I walked in the bedroom to see what he was up to- b/c he was way too quiet- and found him blowing into the games and pushing buttons on the remote.

Now I don't plan on letting my kid play video games all day, but every now and then will be ok. Especially if we can instill a love in him for the "classics".

And yes, my hubby still tries to punch out Tyson about once a week.

My Summer Reading

2010-08-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

I love reading. I L.O.V.E. to read. It's kind of ridiculous. When I get a new book my husband sighs or grumbles and basically knows that I won't hear two thirds of what he says to me. (Which is a good way for him to see what it's like for me once football season starts, but anyway...)

I'm a fast reader too. I don't like to leave a book unfinished. A story just sitting there waiting for me.. the characters frozen until I pick it up again. I can finish a huge book in two or three days, much to the dismay of my poor neglected home. Once Will goes to sleep for naps or bedtime- it's book time. And I can hardly wait. It's a problem really. I admit it.

The past few months I have read some really great books. Here is the stack that's on my nightstand right now. I need to return a few of these to friends.

Did you notice there is a book in there called Duel of Passion? I ran out of books and a friend passed it on to me. A Harlequin. Of course I read it. It's a book.

My latest finished book was The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. It was good, but hard to get started. I was committed though and look forward to reading the other two that follow.

Before that I read THe Help. AMAZING! If you haven't read this- do. So, so great. I've recommended this book about a hundred times to anyone that is literate.

This is the one I'm on right now for a book club I've joined. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. It's a memoir. I've read about two chapters and laughed out loud- seriously- many times. It's hilarious. I actually just almost aborted this blog post to go pick up the book. But no, I will post. Then I'm cleaning up toys and the bathroom.

Also, I found THIS last night at Half Price Books on the clearance shelf- a hardback Nicholas Sparks book for $2! It has a little tear in the jacket so it was marked down. Merry Christmas to me.

I also just finished Eat Pray Love. It was a book club choice, otherwise I probably wouldn't have read it. I was happily surprised and really loved this book. It was more of the author's writing style, humor, and fantastic imagery that I loved so much. Some book club girls and I saw the movie too. Not so great. If I hadn't read the book I would have been both confused and bored. Instead I was just bored.

Well, that's it for now. I have two books lined up and should be satisfied for the next two weeks. After that, I'm open to suggestions!

All I've Got

2010-08-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

This is all I've got. I have no blogging motivation. I babysat for a friend of mine all last week and today. Her name is Kendall, she's 5. We had a great week & Will has a super new friend. Here are some pics from when we went to the zoo and sweated our faces off last Monday.

Just because they're cute (both the penguins and shirts), here are some new shirts I got Will this week.

Will loves to play tug of war with Dex.

My hub. We had a small family reunion in Garland on Sunday.

My cousin Barbara's baby girl- Laney. So adorable!

Post banana pudding.

Sorry, that's all I got right now. I've been so busy and am a little pooped. Hopefully this little bit will relieve some of the pressure to blog.

Getting ready for a nap,

Bravery

2010-08-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: It turned out ok. It's actually kind of strawberry-ish. I can live with it. It's just nice to be able to pull my hair into a ponytail and not have such dark hair underneath. Maybe next time I'll be more bold.

I can't take the dark roots anymore.

Blonde hair is a pain in the butt.

I had a darker brownish color box in my hands, but chickened out.

I went with this one.. Dark Golden Brown.

I'm too cheap to go get it professionally done right now.

I'll let you know how it turns out....

You'll still be friend if I look like an oompa loompa won't you?

Holding my breath,

15 month Stats

2010-08-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

Will turned 15 months on July 19th and I never posted his stats. He is almost 16 months now, but I'll do it anyway.

He is still a big boy, but is definitely slowing down. Remember, I have the kid who was 15 pounds at 2 months old. It was crazy. Anyway, here are his weight and height for 15 months:

Weight: 27 pounds (82nd percentile)
Height: 33 inches (92nd percentile)

It's nice that he's on the charts now. I actually think he'll be able to wear his clothes from last winter b/c he was in 12-18 months then and still his. He has thinned out A LOT.

He is saying so many new words and is trying to say a lot too. I love to see him watch my mouth as I sound out a new word and then he tries and it's pretty much just jibber jabber, but so cute. He just jabbers nonsense at me all day with a look on his face like, "Of course you know what I'm saying. I just told you, lady."

He has said his first 2-3 word phrase too! "I did it" or "did it"

Current Loves

watching Yo Gabba Gabba - he screams and dances when it comes on

playing outside, in the dirt, with sticks and rocks- awesome

playing in the car

playing with keys (which we've tried to outlaw, but sometimes he snags them)

playing catch (he can catch now!)

"slamming" the basketball in the hoop outside (wants to do it every time he sees a goal)

bubbles - outside & in the tub

water- drinking & playing

coloring

climbing steps

laundry basket racing

raisins

shaking his head no

Pop Pop (sorry all other grandparents, not to mention ME)

throwing food on the floor ;(

fruit

Current Dislikes

going to bed, laying in bed

church nursery

time out

being told no

having his diaper changed

getting in his car seat

having sunblock put on

Our Good Habits

signing please

saying and signing more

hugs

kisses

sitting in booster seat for all meals and most snacks

drinking lots of water

Bad Habits we need to break

using a paci (not sure when we'll stop, it just helps so much)

not going to bed alone (we've been sitting in his room, but he's not going to sleep with us anymore!)

putting his hand down Mommy's shirt for comfort (a really bad habit)

temper tantrums

Having a toddler is challenging and tiring, but everyday is definitely an adventure. I love my little maniac so much more every day it's overwhelming. He is adventurous and playful and a little comedian. We are having so much fun seeing the little person he's turning into & can't wait to see how he develops each new day.

Thank you Lord for our little boy!

We made a tent in his room the other day.

Grits & Sleep!

2010-08-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

1. HE DID IT! My kid slept through the night! I can't even tell you when the last time that happened was. Thank you Lord. (He knew I'd need to be rested for the day it looks like I'm going to have. It's only 8:20 and we've already had a time out) I know my son is 15 months old and most moms already have this happen nightly. We don't. Yes, it's probably my fault and I'm currently being judged by every Babywise mom out there. Oh well.

2. I'm not sure we'll do grits for breakfast again soon. He really liked them and ate most of it all by himself with his spoon. Then he decided to spray paint the dog, the floor, his chair, and himself with his breakfast. Nice.

3. We acquired our weekly black eye last night. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I know he fell off a step at a friend's house last night. You can hardly tell in the picture, but it's blue and purple and already darker as I look at it now. At least he didn't fall on a chop stick and have it stick in his eye and need stitches. (Yes, that happened to the two year old son of a friend of mine recently. Thank God he still has his eye! Note: Don't let your kids play with chop sticks.)

It's underneath the right eye.

Happy Tuesday,

First Day of School Teacher Gift

2010-08-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

So this will be my second year not teaching, staying home with Will. I probably should have gone back this year. It would have helped out a lot financially, but I will just have to do my part with quite a bit of subbing. This time of year was always very exciting to me as a teacher. The stores are putting the school supplies front and center, parents and kids are walking the aisles with their supply lists, and teachers are getting their rooms ready for another long year. Of course it's sad too b/c summer is ending, but a fresh start is always good.

Anyway, I've caught wind of a few conversations lately of parents thinking about a teacher gift for the first day of school. Since I'm not teaching this year, I don't feel like it would be super tacky for me to offer some suggestions... and some "don'ts" for beginning of year teacher gifts.

Here are my thoughts

Great Ideas:
-gift cards: even just $5 to Sonic or Target is much appreciated
-gift card to a teacher supply! I got this once & loved it!
-a sonic drink, Starbucks drink, bottled soda- so simple and inexpensive
-cheap flowers
-school supplies: fun pens or notepad
-candy: again, much needed after a long day
-food: I've had a mom make me a strudel once and another made me a pie.
-Donuts! This past year a student brought me a little bag of donut holes & it totally made my week!

Thoughtful, but Please Save Your Money-Items teachers get ALL the time and don't know what to do with
(This is actually quite a touchy subject, as I could very well end up looking like an unappreciative jerk. Please know I appreciate all thoughtfulness from my students and parents.)
-Coffee mugs: I know it's super cute to fill it with candy and that it says "World's Best Teacher" on it, but I am being serious here- your teacher probably already has a cabinet full of mugs
-Stuffed animals: again, it's just not very practical or useful. Cute and the kids will like though.
-Apples, plaques, signs, calendars,... that say "World's Best Teacher"- We get so many of these

These previous items are sweet gifts, but the problem comes we get so many year after year and don't know what to do with them. I hate the thought that someone spent money on something that is going to end up in a cabinet somewhere. I'd really rather you just save your money and write me a note.

Anyway, I hope this will be helpful to at least one parent out there. I also hope I didn't come across as horrible rude. I've seen so many families on the back to school aisle discussing what to get the teacher. Don't stress about it. We're easy. We like drinks, snacks, and mostly just smiles.

Good luck this year,

The End of Speidi!

2010-07-31T06:53:00.000-07:00

So I try, though not hard enough, to stay away from entertainment tv. I'm sure most of you know the notorious duo known as "Speidi"- separately known as Spencer and Heidi. I think they are ridiculous and phony and obsessed with getting media attention. That being said, when I am somewhere and see them on tv I stop to watch- it's that whole train wreck theory- it's so terrible you just can't take your eyes off it.

Anyway, I was glad to see on my Yahoo homepage this morning that Speidi will be no more. Although I'm sure it's not the last we'll see from either of those individuals.

Sorry for such a useless post.

Heart Broken Neck

2010-07-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

This title is meant to be read like one of those "before and after" phrases you see on Wheel of Fortune- Heart Broken- Broken Neck. Strange I know, but this little story is a bit strange.

To begin, Will has been having lots of trouble again falling asleep in his crib (not to mention staying asleep). Today he has done great, he fell asleep without crying in his crib. Not alone though, I was sitting in the glider so he could keep an eye on me and know that I wasn't going to leave him. Once he fell asleep, I left to shower and dry my hair and then had a thought: Will is probably going to wake soon. Wouldn't it be nice for him to wake up and see me there? Still waiting, and have him think that I didn't leave him. Wouldn't that be so comforting for him to wake up to?

I thought so. So I got my book that I'm reading, Eat Pray Love, and returned to the glider. I'm reading about the author's struggle with the idea of mortality and how deeply affected she is by the idea of how fast time passes and how short our time here is. As I read this, I begin feeling the same way. My Grandma just passed, my Grandfather just passed (well a few months ago), and I'm looking at my beautiful sleeping son thinking, "God, please let me live in the moment today and appreciate all I have been given. Help me to realize how precious today is and the time is that I have with my son and husband and not take a minute for granted."

That's when "BANG!" - something nails the window hard. Really loud too. My first reaction was, "What the heck was that!?" followed by, "Oh please don't have ruined this nap & and have woken up my kid". Amazingly he didn't even twitch, which is crazy considering sometimes just the pop of my ankle as I walk down the hall will wake him.

Anyway, I look out the window to see who threw something and see a dove on the ground, struggling to move. I run to grab some gloves and a towel, because if you know me at all, you know that I love animals so much that I would try to save a dirty pigeon on the side of the road- oh wait, I have done that. so ANYWAY again, I go out and the poor thing is already dead. Blood on its beak & a broken neck.

Strange that as I'm reading about death and mortality, a bird makes a fatal error in judgement and dies in front of my eyes. My little animal loving heart is hurt and I actually shed a tear for this thing. I mean it's a dove- a Love Bird.

I then thank the Lord for reminding me how short this life is and how quickly it can end. How important it is to let others know how much you love them and show it as often as possible. I am blessed and loved and not willing to let the opportunity pass on sharing how God opened my heart today.

Say I love you today. Lots. With lots of kisses.

San Diego Trip- A Thousand Pictures!

2010-07-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

We are finally home! We started out the busy-ness on the 16th with the Thrive Marriage Conference, made our trip to San Diego, and then had my Grandma's memorial service and lunch when we got home on Sunday. We have company staying tonight so I've got to spend my day cleaning and unpacking, but I'll take a few minutes to share about the trip. I wish I could share every great pic we took, but I promise you- there were over 5oo! (This post should be broken up into multiple posts do really do the trip justice, but I just don't have the time. Ok, I probably do, but I just got a new book & am going to retreat into a reading coma for awhile. One of my favorite things to do.)

We left the house at 4:30 am on the morning of Monday, the 19th. Will stayed asleep while we moved him to the car & all the way to the airport- Love Field- not close to us AT ALL. We had absolutely no problems getting parked, checked in, boarding, etc. It was wonderful. Speaking of wonderful... Let me just tell you that my son was the PERFECT child on the planes. ( We had layovers each way which = 4 flights) He snacked, colored, watched his video, and fell asleep. He did not whine, cry, or try to wrestle away from me once! On four flights! AMAZING! Answered prayer is what that is.

Don't worry though, he's making up for it now. Thank you very much.

We stayed with my brother and his wife, Jason and Johanna. They have a great apartment and I really like their neighborhood. Very different from where we live! (That sounds bad, we love where we live- it's just very different)

The first afternoon we went to Balboa park, which was amazing! I must have taken 12 pictures of just trees. As you can see, Will took a spill on the sidewalk the day before we left and had a scab on the side of his face. Of course. The scab was joined by a bruise on his cheekbone our first night there b/c he was spinning in the living room and knocked his face on the coffee table. Of course.

Taking the grand tour

The car seat my brother picked up for us from a rental place b/c we didn't realize until boarding the plane that we forgot the seat in the car.

There were lots of these flags. We had just missed the LBGT festival and parade. Darn!

Some time at the beach. It was just our luck that we had NO sun the whole week we were there. It came out the day we left.

Loading up on sunblock. When you're the whitest family in America you can't be too protected.

He did not want anything to do with the water this day. It was ICE!

Will's cousin Charles.

My first pinkberry. I will be doing a post on all the amazing food we had that week.

Will really warmed up to Aunt Jo once she tamed her morning hair. I'm not kidding at all when I say this- every morning when Johanna came out with crazy hair, Will would scream at the top of his lungs and try to get away!

They had a good time.

Visiting the seals.

We went to a boardwalk area where Steven and I rode this little roller coaster. I haven't rode one in a long time and laughed the whole way.

Riding some little boats.

Are these two trying to buy his affections or what?! Bubble gum ice cream and cotton candy! I was very laid back that week to say the least.

cotton candy fingers

Alcohol, Smoking, Bottles

Just taking a walk with Uncle Jason.

Hi there blue eyes!

Arggh!

A great view of downtown SD

The "holding pen" that Jason and Steven built for Will. Of course it didn't hold him for long.

Sir William having a seat customized for his little bottom.

I never thought we'd get all this sand off.

Ack! A mouthful of sand

Amazing view & a shot of the only hour of sunshine we had.

We were there during the opening day of Comic Con. We drove by and saw lots of incredible people dressed up. Here are some guys dressed like Storm Troopers or something.

Cousin Charles again.

That's my yacht in the back.

Relaxing

Right before going to the airport we stopped for lunch at the Top Gun Kansas City BBQ place. It was good good good.

Will was so exhausted he slept the whole two block walk there and until I woke him when the food came.

We got back Friday night around 11:00. It was such a great week. I loved getting to spend lots of quality time with Jason and Johanna and letting Will get to know them.

*Sidenote* I showed Will a pic of him and Jason and asked, "Will, who is that?" to which he replied, "BOBBO!" Who knows what that means

We definitely look forward to visiting again. Thanks J&J for letting us cramp your style for a week!

Happy Wednesday,

Ah Wanna Ween

2010-07-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Nacho Libre quotes anyone? No?

Anyway, I follow the blog for Gourmet Mom On the Go & she is have panini party pack giveaway. I've entered to win, although I'm not usually a winner, but would love to get this!

Moms should check out her site, love it!

Evelyn Marie Rose

2010-07-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

My Grandma passed away today.

She had been battling cancer for awhile now and is finally pain free.

Life without her will definitely be less colorful. We miss you so much Grandma!

Love you forever!

Yer Killin' Me Kid

2010-07-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

Those words have been my sentiments to my son the past two nights. We have our first molars coming in. And by we, I mean Will. That would be weird if my molars were just now coming in. Weird and sad. I couldn't have eaten steak, and I love steak. mmm.

Anyway, back to molars. Teething=pain= crying= no sleep for baby= no sleep for momma= cranky for everyone (and also= weird blog posts like this one). Hopefully these things will pop on through and we can get back to normal. Until the next set decides to push through anyway. Can't wait! Until then we will stumble through the day on a few hours of sleep and steal naps whenever possible.

We have a crazy busy week ahead. Today I'm babysitting a 2 year old and a 5 year old for a friend. It's quite funny. Will is learning the consequences of taking a friend's toy or snack and that if you push someone, you get pushed back. Good lessons to learn.

I'm meeting with some college friends this week. I've got church stuff, kid stuff, a marriage conference (which will be great & we are staying in a hotel- I LOVE staying in hotels!), and a week of vacation to plan and pack for.

Plus, we have been making more trips to Keller and Grapevine to visit my Grandma, who's not doing too good.

Here are a few pics of my kid from the past couple of days. Just because I like to look at him and want others to too!

Have a restful Tuesday, (wait it's only Monday, I need a nap)

Videos- Funky Chicken Dance

2010-07-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Pop Pop and Grandma picked up this little gem the other day at Cracker Barrel. We have had quite the time with our new little rooster friend. (and that's my mom singing along with it, not me. Plus, if you watch carefully you will see my Dad start to dance. Always a good thing to see)

Our Dancing Chicken Boy! This little chicken boogies down to "Who Let the Hens Out?" (and really his dancing has turned from bobbing his head to marching in place)

To be honest, many days we all break it down with the funky chicken.

crazy big head

2010-07-08T17:09:00.001-07:00

Not only does my husband have a huge head, but our blog does too. Hopefully I can fix this tonight.

Nevermind, fixed it!

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

I've been quite the blogging slacker lately. We've been a little busy, but mostly just enjoying life. The blog can be very time consuming for me sometimes, but blogger seems to have made uploading pics much faster. So maybe I'll be better. Or maybe I won't.

Either way, here is a quick recap of our wonderful Fourth of July weekend. These pics loaded completely backwards, which drives me crazy! The first pics happened first and the first ones happened last... you get the idea.

We watched fireworks Sunday night in Burleson on the Hidden Creek golf course. Our view was great! Before hand some kids were running around with sparklers and Will was really bright eyed about it all. He kept saying, "hot, hot". That's why he's not smiling in any of these pics, he is in complete awe.

A lady down the street from my parents sold them this play gym. I have been looking for one of these & am so excited Will can play on one in our own backyard now.

We spent Friday and Saturday in Belton with Steven's parents and Brother & his fam. Will got to play on this amazing water slide and really loved it. We were lucky that it stopped raining for a little bit so the kids could swim.

Will was really brave & rode down the slide with his cousin Kaden. (I've got a great video of him going down the slide alone, but I'll have to load that later)

Look at that belly!

His eyes are closed here, but it's the best pic I got of his great Toy Story pj's. We call him Sheriff Woody when he wears these.

Being silly. He must have closed this door and opened it like 20 times.

Steven and our sweet nephew Brandon.

This pic took some work. This is actually the "finished product".

Here's how it started. Not a happy boy. It was nap time. I think it's always nap time.

This is the secret baby holder we had for the final shot. Such a nerd.

All tuckered out.

Later today I will try to upload some videos I have. I've got loads of laundry to fold and am trying my hand at making homemade Naan bread today. Wish me luck! (For my family's sake- Naan pizzas are for dinner!)

Thankful Thursday

2010-07-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

My friend April does this and found the idea here. I love the idea and am following suit.

Today. This morning at only 7:24 am. I am thankful for the following:

1. The way my son takes a bite of his jelly toast from the middle of the slice, covering his chubby cheeks in grape jelly. Makes me smile every time.

2. Rain! It has rained for three days now. I haven't had to water the lawn, our new grass sprouts, the plants, or the 10 squares of sod in the yard.

3. My husband. He just woke up calling out for our, "Baby Boy!" (- who answered back by running to the bedroom, "Dada, Dada, Dada, Dada, DADA!")

4. Staying home. I may not have fully taken advantage and used every day to it's fullest, but I have tried to not take for granted the fact that I have been able to be a stay at home mom for one year. I am beyond thankful to have had a million hours at home watching my lovebug grow and learn. I didn't think I would have this time and the Lord provided that desire of my heart. My husband supported my dream. I don't know what the future holds, most likely returning to work, but I did have this year.

5. The Racetrack Freefill cup! I don't own one, but my friend Haley does and I got to use hers twice yesterday to get two free Root Beers!

Have a thankful Thursday,

14 Month Milestones

2010-06-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Will turned 14 months! It's funny because I seriously think he changed overnight. It's like he woke up one morning and decided he was going to be a big boy. He started so many new things and just seems more like a toddler. All of a sudden he understands so much more. When I ask him to bring me his shoes, toys, etc. he knows what I'm saying and will do it. Here are some updates:

Sleeping
This area has not been good lately. When he was sick a couple of weeks ago I didn't let him cry to sleep at all. I laid down with him for every nap and bedtime and then most nights let him sleep with me (on me) because of his coughing. Anyway, he began waking up every night at like 1:00 am and just screaming his head off. He would point to the door and want out of the room. We had to let him cry and it's going better, but I still hear him wake up a couple of times. Most mornings he still gets up around 6:00.

Eating
Still great! He's such a good eater- maybe too good of an eater. He will try anything and eats a lot. Last night he wanted all of the olives off my pizza. He still asks for crackers and cook-cooks (cookies) ALL of the time. He's learned to get into the pantry and bring me whatever he can get his hands on- a box of pasta, bag of rice, etc. He rubs his little chest (please) and nods his head while saying, "Yeah, yeah." He shoves the food in so frantically though that sometimes I worry he's going to eat his fingers off.
One of his favorites is peanut butter! He's definitely my boy!

Signing
Mostly he just signs please. Sometimes he'll do 'all done'. He never does more anymore. He'll just let us know he wants more by saying "yeah" and signing 'please'. Pointing isn't really happening, not with just the pointer finger anyway. He puts his pointer and thumb together and gestures toward what he wants. I try to not worry about it, but it does bother me. We're working on that one!

Talking
He says about 10-15 words. Some are very understandable and a couple I only know what he's saying because of what he's doing. For instance when he says "ta" he's throwing something in the trash, so I know he's saying ''trash". I'm counting it! He does a few animal sounds, but not many- cow, duck, puppy, and sometimes a monkey sound
His words: mama, dada or daddy, Pop Pop, car, ball, cracker, cookie, hi, bye, trash, quack-quack (for duck), moo, boo (which is peek-a-boo or boom!), yeah, and uh oh... I can't think of any more, hopefully we'll get a new one today!

New Accomplishments or Tricks as I call them
-Throwing things in the trash for Mama. I have to be careful with this b/c he likes it so much that he's thrown away things that are not trash. (my make-up for instance).
-Helping with laundry. If I give him the clothes, he will throw them in the washer or dryer for me.
- Stacking blocks. We have some of those big cardboard ones and he's getting better and more interested in it everyday.
-Playing chase. He likes to chase and loves to be chased.
-Combing his hair. He actually needs a cut right now, but will comb his hair or at least try to.
-Using a spoon. We started this a couple months ago and he still prefers his fingers, but he's getting much better.
-Climbing. He can't get on the couch all by himself yet, but if there is something close he can step on then he'll be up there.
-Pulling, dragging, and lifting. He is trying to lift and drag all kinds of things are a way too heavy for him. He gets very frustrated and it's hard not to laugh at him.
-Running. He's still kind of a clumsy kid sometimes, but he's getting pretty fast.
-Being a comedian. He's learned to do things that he knows will make us laugh. At dinner he shakes his head back and forth and then waits for the laughter.

Not-so-goods
This month also brought some attitude changes. He's been getting frustrated very easily when he can't do something. He's also been disobedient at times, doing things we've told him not to do- repeatedly. We've started doing time out for a minute at a time. He HATES it. Impatient- he can hardly wait for his snack, drink, meal without crying and yelling at us. And testing limits- it's actually funny b/c when we tell him "no touch" he will immediately go find five other things to touch and look at us each time. He's such a stinker.

It's hard not to share every little thing he's doing. (You're thinking, I'm pretty sure you just did) We just love him so much and are so proud of him.

Have a good weekend! The Lentz's will be very busy!

Fun Day with a friend!

2010-06-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Will and I got to spend the day with our little friend Cooper. They had so much fun together and cracked me up all day. Cooper is 18 months and Will is 14 months. They really got along pretty great and even their fighting over toys was super cute. Here are a few pictures from the day. (I'm actually missing a few pictures though- the boys had edible playdough in the morning- Will played & Coop just ate it! Hilarious! Later in the day the boys painted a picture. They are adorable!)

"Seriously Cooper, you'll get used to the water faster this way!"

My love

I love this little guy quite a bit too, such a sweet boy!

This video is great! Both of the boys liked going down the slide into the pool. Adorable!

"Just a minute, I missed a spot."

Then it was time for a nap. I thought I'd see if they'd lay down in the same crib. I know, I know- I'm an idiot- but let me tell you- this was HILARIOUS! I was seriously cracking up the whole time and snapping away with the camera. First of all, let me just say that Cooper is amazing. He just laid down- no crying, no whining, or pulling on my shirt, or throwing his paci- the kid just laid down. But NO, Will was not having that. He was bound and determined to keep the kid awake.

"C'mon buddy. You can't let her win. This is not how we do things around here!"

"Okay, I'll just step on your back."

Honestly, I thought we were about to have a wrestling match.

Will finally resigned to trying to pick Cooper up! I'm telling you, it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. THat's when I decided to give our friend a break and put him in the pack and play. Both of the boys slept for over two hours!

Hopefully we'll get to do it all again soon! These two are destined to be great pals!

As long as Will stops spraying his buddy in the face with the water hose, stepping on him, and trying to manhandle him. Boys!

The Bachelorette Review

2010-06-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

So I've missed a couple weeks of my Bachelorette review. I have been watching of course. Of course. Anyway, I thought last night was a good episode. Ali seems to be making good decisions. I'm happy with the guys she has left.

THANK YOU to Ali for sending home Kacey. He became too creepy and if I felt my eyes automatically roll every time he mentioned wanting to wear his heart on his sleeve, wanting to be a man for her, or wanting to "protect and guard her heart". Heeby jeebies.

Justin needs to go next. It's just a competition for him and he's super cheesy. Also, the previews for next week showed Ali getting a call about one of the guys having a girlfriend- I'm pretty sure it's him.

The other guy she sent home was a good choice too. I only know him as "the other guy" b/c he was not even really on the show. Too quiet and timid. Probably a sweet guy, but not much of a personality. If someone asks you how you like to be silly and crazy and you reply, "I like Mexican food"- you need to get out more.

To go home next: Chris L and Craig.

My prediction for the final four: Frank, Kirk, Roberto, and Ty.

Final three: Frank, Kirk, Roberto

Final two: Frank & Roberto or Kirk or Roberto... Can't make up my mind.

I know this post solidifies my standing as a complete nerd. I okay with that.

Today

2010-06-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

The lack of recent posting is due to a variety of reasons.
1. I didn't have access to our computer because it died and because my husband snapped the cable we couldn't charge it. (Cable is replaced now, thank goodness!)
2. I stayed at my parents' house for a couple of days because my Grandma was in the hospital. She fell and broke three ribs. (Now she has stage 4 lung cancer, tumors on her spine, a detached chest muscle, and three broken ribs) Last night she was discharged and moved into a nursing home. This is very sad and a difficult transition for my family.
3. I don't feel well. Probably a sinus infection.
4. I'm tired. My kid has decided to start waking up around 12:30am to talk and play and then once he's gone back to sleep he only sleeps until like 5:30! I'll get him for this some day.

On the upside we had an awesome lunch. Grilled flank steak, steamed spinach, roasted squash, & a strawberry walnut salad. MMMMMM!

Also, we have like three birthday parties this weekend and on Sunday I'm going to see Wicked! I can't even tell you how excited I am. If you haven't read the book, do it now. So good. The wicked witch is completely misunderstood. Poor gal.

The only bad part of that is that Sunday is Father's Day. So Steven gets to spend it being a father.

Ok, I'd better get off the computer and play with my boy. He's grabbing my hands and trying to shut the computer. He's been playing wrestling, chase, and hide and seek with Steven, but is now aware that I'm not paying attention to him.

Happy Friday,

San Diego in our future

2010-06-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

In July Steven and I are taking a trip to San Diego to visit my brother Jason and his wife Johanna. Steven and I are super excited b/c neither of us has been to California before. We've booked flights- I can't back out again. The only thing that makes me nervous about the trip is the tiny gremlin tearing up tissue paper in my living room right now. How are we going to survive a three hour flight with this kid? I know we'll be fine, he will be fine, but I'm sorry for the peeps around us.

Oh, now he's kicking blocks and shaking a maraca.

picture stolen from www.steelberryclones.wordpress.com

If any of you moms out there in blog land have tips for flying with rambunctious toddlers I'd be happy to hear them!

... rolling on the floor... no, running into the kitchen putting magnet letters on the fridge... back to the living room... did he sit in grape jelly?

Also- is anyone else seeing all the amazing updates blogger has added?! Love this! The new picture uploading system is so much better! Now, if they'd get some better fonts and let us arrange the pictures it will be even better!

We're alive!

2010-06-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm coming out of my very short blogging hiatus. Will got sick and that makes us all very tired around here. A lot of kids sleep more when they're tired- not necessarily mine. He is tired, but he fights it harder when he's sick. I noticed him not feeling well on Tuesday morning and ended up taking him in on Wednesday. He had an ear infection, a slight sinus infection, and croup. Yuck! He was such a miserable little guy for a few days. That croup cough just kept waking him up every time he finally fell asleep. So for three nights I let him sleep with me. I also wanted to keep an I eye on him. I don't get much sleep at all when he sleeps with me- he rolls, tugs, grabs, and then every time he'd cough & wake up he would then immediately try to stand up and fight me to get off the bed. Needless to say I'm glad he's back in his own bed again.

I've been trying to keep him a bit sequestered b/c I doubt other moms would appreciate us spreading croup! He's doing much better, so we may try to meet some friends this week. We're going a bit stir crazy in here.

Anyway, here's a sad little video of my pitiful little guy the other day. You can just see it in his red eyes how miserable he was.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

2010-06-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend! Here are a few pics from the weekend. These are not in any particular order, which drives me a bit crazy, but with a toddler I don't have time to devote to chronologically organizing the pics.

On Monday we went with a few other families to the Granbury City Beach. It is awesome! It's beautiful and clean and you really almost feel like you're at the beach. Luckily it wasn't too crowded. Will had such a good time playing the sand.

We tried to get a picture of all the kids together at the end of the day...

Cooper is done...

Will is done...

..and Abby is done. Maybe we should have tried this earlier in the day.

Kisses for Daddy

Kisses for Mama too!

Lunch break- Will kept dipping his sandwich in the pasta salad. Goofy kid.

We need a bigger umbrella.

He had a really good time playing in the sand and patting it into the bucket.

My boys

View of the beach

He was so tuckered out! I am really happy b/c he didn't burn. I try to be good about coating him in a blanket of sunblock!

Another view of the beach. There was a blow up slide and a splash park too. I'm tellin ya, it's a great place!

On Saturday we went to a housewarming/retirement party for some relatives of mine. They have a pool, so Will did some more swimming. This is his pink raft. I thought it would be red. It was the only one left. Sorry buddy.

My Grandma, she loves sitting outside!

On Friday night we had dinner with some friends and then took a walk around the block. We put the littles in the wagon. I love the expression on Will's face, "Are you kidding me?"

The girls were swimming, that's where the adorable crazy hair is from!

I love summer.

My Baby

2010-05-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

I barely remember him being this tiny.

Almost makes me miss it.... almost.

Breakfast is served...

2010-05-28T19:44:00.001-07:00

...on the floor. So maybe I was wrong in thinking he'd just hold the bag, reach in, and get a bite. And no, I don't usually do breakfast this way. I thought it would be a nice treat for us to share some dry cereal and watch cartoons. (Mostly b/c I was so stinking tired- at 6am- and wanted to lay on the floor) Anyway, it did turn out to be a nice treat... for Dex (our dog).

Does the fact that they're multigrain Cheerios make up for it being eaten off the floor?

Menu Monday Makeup

2010-05-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this Monday, but I didn't have the computer available that day. Then yesterday I went to my parents' house... the excuses could go on and on. Anyhoo, here is my menu for this week:

Monday- Pork Chops w/ Mango Salsa, Cilantro Lime Rice, Corn on the Cob

Tuesday- Coconut/ Panko Chicken Fingers, carrots, green beans

Wed- Dinner @ Church

Thursday- Cod, Roasted potatoes, salad

Friday- Grilled shrimp, grilled summer squash, egg noodles

Saturday- BBQ chicken, pasta salad

Sunday- Some type of crock pot chicken for lunch & brown bag dinner for life group fellowship

I've been researching the net looking for some new summer recipes. I love to cook & try new things. I get bored sometimes with the same old meals. If any of you (my three loyal followers) come across anything good, let me know!

Have a great Wednesday!

Huggies Jeans

2010-05-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

Has everyone else already seen these? Diapers that look like jeans? Really? We got a mailout yesterday with some coupons & pictures of these & I have to say they are kind of creepy. They are the same size as a diaper, so it looks like the kid is wearing "hot pants". Are kids supposed to wear these as pants? I'm confused. I think we'll pass.

Friends, don't do this to your kids.

The Bachelorette

2010-05-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is embarrassing, but I have to confess that I am a sucker for the Bachelor/ Bachelorette shows. I know! Ridiculous! Anyway, I just finished watching last night's show. I wrote down names and notes (I'm weird) when the guys were getting out of the limo.

First of all, let me just say I was NOT a fan of Ali on the Bachelor. I thought she was petty and caddy. That said, I still like to predict who'll she'll end up with.

Here are the names of guys I picked from the beginning:

Chris H (the first one out)

Casey (I think he's hearing impaired, and if not I'm sorry)

Roberto (spoke Spanish to her & salsa danced)

Jonathan (he's funny & I'm a sucker for a comedian, although he's a bit much)

I'm proud (well maybe not proud) to say all of my picks received roses and Roberto got the first impression rose.

These guys were ding-a-lings: Tyler (boots), Scrapbook Kirk, "Shooter", Hair Craig

I definitely think one of my top four will make it to end. We'll see.

Anyone else out there brave enough to admit you watch?

Steven's 30th Birthday Dinner

2010-05-22T06:06:00.001-07:00

Today is my sweet hubby's 30th birthday! Hopefully I'll do a better job at taking pictures today than I did last night. We went to eat at Rio Mambo's with some friends from church. That place really does have the BEST quesadillas! We love going there and meeting friends makes it even better. I didn't get pictures of all the friends who joined us or the fun we afterwards at Main Event. We played shuffleboard, Boys vs. Girls, and it was so much fun! I have never played before, am not very good, but hope we get to go play again soon. Then we went to the arcade and watched Laura and Steven play Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. HILARIOUS!

Why didn't I have my camera?!

Anyway, here are some of our friends who joined us.

The Skippers

Huffmans

Martins

Thanks friends for helping Steven bring in the big 3-0!