Mar 3 ~ Katelyn laughed for the first time today!
Wow, I forgot how much I loved hearing that back when Nat was little! We had put Katie in the excersaucer for the first
time and rattled a toy that was on there...and she just laughed and laughed.
In the evening we all went over to the Brezinski's home for Gabe's third birthday.
All the Family Game Night families were invited over for a little celebration.
Mar 6 ~ Tonight our whole family had a little "field
trip"...to the laundromat! The motor in our washing machine gave out the other night, so we lugged some clothes over
to Laundromania in North Liberty. We spent a couple hours there. Natalie thought it was so cool to watch her clothes
spin around and around! She said it was just like the Corduroy book we had read recently called A Pocket for Corduroy.
Thankfully, our washing machine was still under warranty and was soon fixed.
Mar 7 ~ "How Many Days are Left Until Our Trip to
Grandma and Grandpa's House?" - that was the question Nattie kept asking me over and over again for days! I probably
shouldn't have told her so far in advance that we were planning a trip soon! So to try to help her understand (and help
my sanity) she and I made a little sign to put on the refrigerator that had a paper chain hanging from it...each link
represented one day...every morning we removed a link from the chain...when they were all gone it meant the day of the trip
had come!
I have been reading Callie Branch's blog lately...this quote is from her
writings and I love it: "Our pastor said something in a
sermon that I cling to during this time of year. "Sometimes we choose to believe because of what we see, other times we choose
to believe in spite of what we see."
Mar 9 ~ The Essington, Schafbuch, and Caylor families
decided we need to get together more frequently. Everyone has been just so busy - we figured if we scheduled some dates
on the calendar it would guaranty that this would happen :) So we decided to begin slow and get our families together
once every two months to start. We decided we'd take turns hosting at our homes and make it easy by just ordering take-out
food and letting the kids play while the adults converse. We call it "TGIF Nights". So, Laura and Bob kicked off
our first official TGIF Night at their house. We ordered food from Bob's Your Uncle. It was great to catch up
with everyone!
Mar 11 ~ We had Katelyn's three month pictures taken
at JCPenney today. Also had a photo taken of the two sisters together! The girls looked so cute and did fairly
well during the session. Since we were already in Cedar Rapids, we had lunch at the new pizza buffet over there called
CiCi's Pizza.
Mar 12-17 ~ Natalie didn't have preschool this week due
to spring break, so I decided that the girls and I would head out to Illinois for the week! On the way there we stopped
in Wilton, Iowa and had lunch at Wilton Candy Kitchen. It is one of the oldest soda fountain restaurants in the nation.
The girls and I sat down in one of the old booths there and had sandwiches as well as homemade ice cream and cherry coke.
So
what fun things did we do in Illinois?? Well, I don't have all the exact dates written down, but I can recall a few
events and good times. We got to spend a lot of wonderful time with Craig's parents and also Mike who was visiting for
a few days. Natalie loves Uncle Mike! Katie spent an afternoon with Grandpa while Natalie and I enjoyed the beautiful
weather at Miller Park. We met Sara Emberton and son Tyler at the zoo and then had lunch and play time in the park.
After the park we met Grandma at the mall to pick out some Easter dresses...the girls have matching "sailor" dresses!!
Too cute to pass up! Nat, Kate, and I had dinner one evening at my Aunt Diana's house. We were able to see my
grandparents, Uncle Jerry, and my cousins. Natalie got to color with her Great Grandma "GiGi" Fleming. Natalie
played out in the backyard quite a bit with her Grandpa Essington - they fed and counted birds (she now talks about cardinals,
and robins, and turtle doves), ate oranges and peanuts, and set up "picnics" with her stuffed elephant. We all had dinner
one night at Chuck E Cheese. Natalie, Grandma Essington, and I also spent an afternoon at the Children's Museum.
I had lots of fun with my beloved girls, but was also happy to have a few moments to myself here and there. Though my
alone time was sort of limited due to Katelyn still being so young and high-needs...she can be a little particular sometimes.
One evening I ventured out shopping by myself for a couple hours...which I actually ended up feeling "out of place" - kind
of not knowing what to do with myself and the free time. So what eventually ended up happening was that I found myself
shopping for my daughters instead of for myself (that happens a lot). Found out when I returned to my in-laws' house
that Katelyn had a not-so-fun time and had been crying hard for the past hour. So I held her close, and after about
twenty minutes she threw up everywhere. Not sure if she had been crying because she needed to throw up or if the crying
made her throw up...I am betting on the latter. I did do some shopping for myself one afternoon - I took Katelyn with
me to the mall this time while Nat stayed with her Grandpa. It was very peaceful...Kate slept in the stroller for hours
while I wheeled her around to different stores. Our last night in town I was able to meet some girlfriends at Logan's
Roadhouse Restaurant for dinner. It was me, Sara Emberton, Melissa Weinzierl, and Jen Kinder. We gabbed on and
on about our lives and such...stuff like how Melissa is getting married next summer and also how our friend, Christi Rock,
up and moved to Florida recently without even letting us know! (Christi, if you are reading this - shame on you and give me
a call!...haha!) After dinner we stopped at Shooters for a bit...Sara and Melissa decided to get up and dance to a few
80's tunes. Good times!
Mar 18 ~ This was taken from a Beth Moore book and taken
from a blog that I frequently read. I liked it and thought I'd put it here:
My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
I cheat you of
your God-given destiny...because you demand your own way.
I cheat you of contentment...because you "deserve
better than this."
I cheat you of knowledge...because you already know it all.
I cheat you of healing...because
you're too full of me to forgive.
I cheat you of holiness...because you refuse to admit when you're wrong.
I cheat
you of vision...because you'd rather look in the mirror than out a window.
I cheat you of genuine friendship...because
nobody's going to know the real you.
I cheat you of love...because real romance demands sacrifice.
I cheat you of greatness
in heaven...because you refuse to wash another's feet on earth.
I cheat you of God's glory...because I convince
you to seek your own.
My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
You like me because you think I'm always looking
out for you. Untrue.
I'm looking to make a fool of you.
God has so much for you, i admit, but don't
worry...
If you stick with me
You'll never know
Mar 23 ~ Craig, the kids, and I went out to Applebee's
for dinner tonight. It has been quite the challenge lately bringing Natalie to restaurants. Her attention span
is way shorter than it used to be. Also, there are those times when she just doesn't want to eat her dinner, but yet
has room for dessert (maybe she takes after her mom!). Tonight was one of those nights. And we've been sticking
to the rule that if you don't eat your meal you don't get dessert...now, she doesn't have to finish the entire meal, but must
eat more than just a bite or two. Well, tonight was the first night we've eaten a very yummy restaurant dessert without
her and in front of her. It hurt a little, but it had to be done. Parenting can be hard.
Mar 24 ~ Tonight would have been our monthly Family Game
Night. But when us wives gathered for coffee and made the schedule way back when, we purposely marked tonight as more
of a Moms Night Out / Dads Night In (with the kids) night! So the Essingtons, Andersons, Brezinskis, and Kroegers all
met up at Matt and Steffany's house. The men ordered pizza and played with the children while the ladies piled into
one car and went out to eat. We went to Taste on Melrose - it was fabulous to go to more of an adult type of restaurant,
take our time eating, and talk without interruption. After dinner we went back to the house and we all hung out for
a little while longer.
Mar 26 ~ I received an email not too long ago from Parkview
Church. To my surprise (and delight), someone nominated me to be a deaconess! After much thought and prayer, I
have decided to go ahead and follow through with the steps needed to hopefully be selected for this leadership role.
I just filled out a spiritual maturity assessment form...lots and lots of questions that I had to answer about my past and
present ways of life, characteristics of my personality, how I handle certain situations, etc. Then someone from the
deaconess committee will interview me and answers any questions I may have before it is decided whether or not I am ready
for this role and where they can best use me within the church.
Mar 29 ~ After dropping Nattie off at preschool, Kate
and I spent our morning over at House of Aromas visiting with Sally Wolinsky. We spent a good two hours catching up.
After naptime the kids and I met up with Ashley, Steffany, and their children at
Par-Tee Zone over at Sycamore Mall. Never been there before...it is really fun! It's mainly a huge indoor play
structure. Kind of like what you'd find at Chuck E Cheese - but way bigger and better quality (it's a little less harsh
on the knees). There is also a miniature golf course and some arcade games - more for the bigger kids so we didn't participate
in those activities. We spent a couple hours there and will be sure to do it again in the future!
Mar 30 ~ Craig did a really nice thing for me today.
He knew he was planning to be out of the house most of the night - playing some computer games over at Mark Flanders' house.
So he left work a little early and came home to give me some time to myself. He took the kids to the mall for some play
time and dinner and also was thoughtful enough to bring some dinner home for me as well :)
