Profoundly Seth - Fundraiser!

***UPDATE - Link fixed! Sorry about that! Thanks, Pam for bringing it to my attention! :) ***

Ok, I have to say right away, to avoid confusion for those who know me and my family in real life, that this post is NOT about my husband, Seth. :)

It's about a sweet little 6-month-old baby named Seth who is deaf and needs surgery. (Cochlear implants.) You may have noticed his picture on my sidebar for a few weeks now.


Please take time to visit Seth's website to read all about this cutie and his family. They are selling wristbands for Seth to help offset the cost of his surgery, and you can find out all about how to support them in the coming months!

And how to get your own wristband. :)

She has this... thing.... with bathrooms?

Three years ago today, this
cutie pie was born!



For the record, she was born at 8:40 PM, and was 7 lbs, 10.6 oz and... to be honest, I will have to check how long she was again - but the reason that is a bit hazy may be due to the fact that she had a slightly different birth than my other children had.



This girl has a thing with bathrooms, evidently.



She was not born in the hospital room. She was born in the bathroom attached to my hospital room. Nearly on the toilet. (About 5 inches in front of the toilet, in fact.)


When she was 4 weeks old, she rolled off the bathroom counter and cracked her skull on our bathroom floor.



She refuses to potty train. (I'm still hopeful on this one, though! Maybe I need to put a kid potty outside of the bathroom. But, then again... maybe not.)


All that aside, she is also: the demanding one, the high maintenance one, the Daddy's Girl, the cuddler, the screamer, the sensitive, tender-hearted one, the delayed-speaking one, the pony-tails and color pink obsesser, the CareBear and My Little Pony collector, and the most devoted thumb sucker.


She is our Kibby. And I can't imagine life without her.

Scary Ride

*Drama alert* :) However - true story, I promise.

Ever been driving a vehicle and suddenly have no control over it? No control over how fast it was going, and no brakes? Sound nerve-wracking?

Well, that is what happened to me last night on my way to work. I never did make it there. I didn't even make it to the end of my street. Well, I nearly did. I nearly made it to the pit at the end of our street.

Here's what happened.

I started the van, and it was running smoothly. Since it wasn't super cold like last week, and I was running a little late, I didn't let it sit and warm up at all, just backed out of the driveway. When I shifted into drive and tried to go forward, the gas pedal didn't work. At all. It wouldn't move. So I tapped it again. Nothing. I tapped it again.

Again, nothing happened.

I am just sitting in the middle of our street, no power. I tap the gas harder.

BIG MISTAKE.

The power suddenly kicks in. Really kicks in. Surges. The engine is racing as loud as a monster truck (keep in mind I drive a '99 honda odyssey - not exactly race car material here!)

And off I go. Like a shot. And I cannot stop. I pump the brakes.

No difference.

Our street is still covered in about 3 inches of half-frozen, kinda slushy, slippery snow. I am swerving slightly (I'm thankful that I could still steer somewhat!) There is a car coming up behind me, and I am in such a panic that I can only think, over and over, "Jesus PLEASE STOP MY CAR! STOP MY CAR! STOP MY CAR!!!!!!" I am going downhill, and I can't stop. I forget about pumping the brakes because it's slippery. Now I'm thinking about that pit at the end of my street. I don't want to see it up close and personal. So I press both feet down on the brake. Still going. Still not stopping. Still sliding. I momentarily consider applying the emergency brake (this was an "emergency", no?) I turn on my hazard flashers to warn the car coming up behind me that I am "having trouble".

I am almost to the end of the street, and I feel like I am slowing, but I cannot stop. The brakes are not able to stop me. The engine is racing very fast. I finally get the car over to the side of the street and notice that the car behind me is much closer. I decide to drive the passenger-side front corner into the snowbank to try to stop me. I stop, but the tires are spinning. The dumb van still wants to GO. I put it in park, and the engine races even higher and I seriously think it is going to blow up. I quickly shut off the ignition.

My heart is racing nearly as fast as the engine, and I am shaking so hard I almost mis-dialed Seth's cell number. I told him something was seriously wrong with the van and I was at the end of the street, and I was walking back up the hill. I called my work and told my supervisor that I was at the very least going to be late... if I could make it in at all. (Another lady ended up working for me, thankfully!)

Seth went down to get the van 10 minutes later and drove it home just fine.

What the heck?

He told me I needed to warm it up.

Huh?

Okay, I can do that, but don't you think something is seriously wrong with this van? I have NEVER had that happen, or even heard of that happening to anyone before.

We are looking into trading it in.

It can't happen soon enough, I say.

I am now going to go warm up the van and try again, work is at 10PM.

Yes, I'm terrified.

Prayers appreciated! :)

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Alright, I'm a little embarrassed that I have not posted anything since last Monday's "Not Me's" but oh well. What can I say? I've been spending more time with my kiddos! (Oh, okay... and reading other's blogs instead of writing my own! You got me.)

So here is my list of what I did "not" do this week... No matter what you may have heard! ;)

I did not have a headache this weekend that would not go away no matter how much tylenol or caffeine I ingested. And I was not at all cranky with the kids while said headache did not rage on and on...

I did not contemplate whether I may have lost any weight due to not eating any lunch or dinner that day...

I most certainly did not nearly put chili powder in my 14-month-old's oatmeal this past week. I did not have it in my hand before I realized it was not cinnamon. I absolutely did not chuckle over it as I imagined the look on my daughter's face if I had not caught my mistake in time... that would be something a not-so-very-nice-mom would do. Which I am definitely not.

I did not ask my hubby to get Glazer doughnuts last night with the full intention of giving some to my kids for breakfast today just so I wouldn't have to cook / make anything myself. How lazy do you think I am? Don't answer that!

And... I did NOT leave a dirty diaper - open, no less - on my living room floor all night one night this past week. Yeah. I have no idea how it crawled back out of the trash, opened back up from it's tightly wound-up and taped together self and magically found it's way back to the very spot I had hurriedly changed my daughter the night before... There is no way that could happen in my house!! Gross!

Ah... and now that I have shared my proud mommy moments with all of you, won't you join in? What did you "not" do this week? C'mon, it's great therapy to "confess" all of our not-so-great moments we all have, and to see that we're not alone in our little (or not so little!) imperfections. :) Please head over to MckMama's to play along, and see her complete (and oh-so-easy) rules! :)

Have a super week!

Not Me! Monday

It's Not Me! Monday time! What did you not do this week? Read all about Not Me! Monday at MckMama's, then join in!

This week I did not let my kids watch their favorite movies about 4 times a day... I know that watching that much television is not healthy for their development, especially since they are just 1 & 2 years old!

When doing laundry from my giant laundry pile downstairs this week I did not for a few moments consider just stuffing the outgrown / seldom worn / seasonally inappropriate clothing into a plastic tub and snapping a lid on it and hiding it in the spare room just so I could feel like I accomplished something...

I am not thinking this same thought again right now... hmmm.....

I also did not nearly let out a huge whoop of joy and dance a little jig when I finally found my regular (NON-NURSING) bras this week. After all, my daughter has been weaned for 2 months now and I most certainly had not still been wearing my raggedy nursing bras pointlessly all this time...

I did not find myself singing songs from my kids' shows / movies throughout the week, even when away from my house. That would be silly... I take time to listen to my own style of music and of course get my own music stuck in my head...

I am not, not, NOT in Survivor withdrawal... nope, not a bit. I have a life, thankyouverymuch!

I have not lived mainly on spring rolls, chips and salsa and chocolate this past week... I always eat a healthy variety of food. (Because what "Not Me" post of mine would be complete without a mention of chocolate, fudge, or some other sad, sorry indulgence...)

I have not given in to my husband's strange way of preventing my girls from sucking their thumbs by allowing him to put socks on their hands nearly 24/7... that would be absurd, and certainly raise some eyebrows... Wouldn't it?

Christmas in WI

Finally, the post you've all been waiting for...

Ok, maybe not. :)

We were planning to go to my parents for Christmas on December 26th, but due to the weather we decided to pack quickly (ha) and leave Christmas afternoon. It was dark, cold and gusty when we hit the road and the snow was blowing across the interstate, making it hard to see. Once we crossed over into Wisconsin it was much better and we made it to Mom and Dad's without trouble.

We mainly spent the weekend hanging around at Mom's, but on Friday night we got to see my friends Jamie and Camee. I hadn't seen either of them since their wedding, and I'm guessing that was about 10 years ago. It was great to reconnect and get to know Camee a little better. (I miss them already! Ack!) Jamie and I go way back to High School. We didn't go to school together, but I saw him nearly every Sunday at church. Jamie, his two brothers, my best friend and her sister sat together just about every Sunday, and often passed notes back and forth. Seems like there was always somebody having a crush on someone else, too. Never a dull moment there...

We met up at Pizza Hut in my hometown and had some good laughs at the waitress who messed up our order. Some things never change even after 15 or so years. It worked out okay because Camee got her plain pepperoni and we ended up with two free pizzas due to their error...

We went back to Mom and Dad's and played some pool (word of the night - "scratch!") for another hour before they decided it was time for them to head home. It was a very foggy night, so I'm glad they made it home safely. I'm kicking myself because I didn't even get a single picture! How could I have let that happen?!?! Well, there is always next time. And hopefully it won't take 15 more years. ;)

We spent the remainder of the weekend hanging out at Mom and Dad's, shooting pool and taking pictures and playing games. Not all of the pictures were blog-worthy, but I'll post a few. Ethan really enjoyed playing pool with his cousin,

and was beginning to be a pretty good shot!

My sister and I got in a few games, too. When the boys let us. :)

Ruby playing peek-a-boo with her new blankie from my parents:

The guys didn't get to go out as they had planned, but that didn't stop Seth from acting like they had...



Kibby loves her new tea set from Nana and Bumpa...



...and Ruby loves the old shag carpeting on my parents' basement stairs!

We had a good trip, and uneventful travel home, too. Plus, I got to sleep in my own bed when we arrived home since I had asked for the night off work!

I hope all of you had a nice, peaceful Christmas season. I know that some of my bloggy friends had a rough Christmas this year, and if you're reading this, please know you've been in my thoughts and prayers!

Ethan-ism

Alright, so the Christmas pictures will have to wait... We went to Sprint to get new phones tonight and decided on Culver's (drive-thru) for a late dinner. Yum. Ruby was eating some of Bumpa's venison sausage instead of Culver's, and we found a mustard seed in it. I used the opportunity to tell Ethan about the scripture comparing one's faith to the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20 "²⁰He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." ~English Standard Version.)

I set the mustard seed down in front of him on the table. I asked him, "Is your faith as big as this mustard seed?"

Ethan giggled and said, "No, it's bigger than that!!!"

I looked at him and wondered why he was giggling. When he repeated my question, I realized why immediately.

"If your face is as big as a mustard seed?" (more giggles.)

Oh boy...

I just couldn't stop laughing at that one.

And the thought of moving a mountain with your face is more than a little humorous to me as well. No wonder he was giggling. And giggling.

Christmas and end-of-the-year stuff

It's January 2nd already, and I haven't posted any Christmas pictures! Hopefully the "busyness" is behind us now. I have been meaning to post for about a week and there has always been something else to do, it seems.

I tried to take pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits this year... No small feat! I didn't notice that I had my camera set on the wrong setting until about half-way through because I was trying to hurry. So, half of the pictures turned out a bit blurry, and by the time I noticed and changed the setting, the kids were not very cooperative! Here is the best of what I got:






"Pleeeeeease, Santa????" :)





We spent Christmas Eve at Seth's brother's house. Yummy food and many excited kids! :)



Again, my kids were SO cooperative! They love the camera!
Here is us, with Seth's brother and his wife's family. You can see a better picture on the blog Confessions of an Oxymoron, which is Seth's brother's wife's brother's wife's blog!!! Say that five times fast!!! :D

Also, the Pumpkin Fairy made an appearance... (Kibby had to change into this as soon as she unwrapped it!)


When we got home, we set out cookies and milk and tried - for about an hour - to get the kids to bed. Finally, around midnight they went...But at least they were nice and let us sleep in until 9:15!!

Here is a picture of the gift opening on Christmas morning:


I think I have reached the limit for pictures in this post... next post will be our trip to Wisconsin for Christmas with my family! :)