First lost tooth--LOTS more to lose

After lots of wiggling, crying, bleeding, wiggling, flossing, crying, bleeding, and more flossing, Nate lost his first tooth today!!! He is very excited! Don't you LOVE the gum in the picture?!

The root of the tooth was as long as the tooth itself...crazy! I tried to get a picture but couldn't get my camera to focus on something so small!

I'm off to leave some money under his pillow!

poop and blood

Today was just one of those days that I don't like very much...as the title suggests, it involved poop and blood.

Nate had a well-child check-up today. It's kind of funny that it is called that because actually I had to talk to the kids' awesome doctor about Nate's stomach problems...so, he wasn't exactly "well." Anyway, Dr. Brian decided that we should get a fecal culture to check for possible bacteria or lactose intolerance or a few other things. Also, he decided that he wanted to check for celiac disease, which is gluten intolerance. This was blood work (I thought it would be from fecal culture but I guess not).

The doctor's visit ended with an unexpected immunization that involved me having to physically restrain Nate. Fun times.

Emotionally and physically drained, I left the doctor's office equipped with rubber gloves, tongue depressors, a poop bucket that conveniently fits into the toilet, three little specimen collection jars, and instructions to fill the jars to the marked line (hence the gloves and tongue depressors.) We then needed to take the filled jars within ONE HOUR of collection.

You know, pretty much EVERY time I ever say I have done the grossest mommy job ever, it is topped by something even grosser...today's task WAS PRETTY GROSS.

So, within an hour of the collection and after dropping the boys off at a dear friend's house, we arrived at the hospital lab to drop off the sample and to have blood drawn. Mike met us there because there was no way I was doing this alone. This was definitely a two parent job!!

All the way there I talked to Nate about David and how scared he must have been to fight Goliath but how God gave him LOTS of courage and strength. We prayed in the hallway before going into the lab. But, I must confess, I was still scared to death that he was going to freak out.

Nate was incredible! God sure gave him some courage. He sat there while the wonderful phlebotomist Debbie did her magic...Nate didn't even know the needle was going in! It was amazing!

My 7-year-old is a pretty amazing kid!

Let's CELEBRATE NATE!!!

My Nate is 7 today...seriously, I can't believe it! We started today with making him a 7-shaped pancake!

God is growing him into such a sweet, loving, kind, helpful, intelligent, athletic, hard-working kid. He is SUCH a great big brother, especially to Caden. Caden just adores Nate.

I am blessed beyond belief by Nate! Thank You, Father for my sweet Nathanael David!!

as a newborn

1st birthday

2nd birthday...DID NOT want to blow out the candles :)

3rd birthday

4th birthday as BATMAN!

shortly after he turned 5 (we had just moved to Oklahoma)

6th birthday

Happy birthday Nate!!!

awesome-ness

So, I was just being silly by making up silly songs using the boys' full names...like Nathanael David, Nathanael David, Nathanael David is AWESOME...then I'd go tickle him.

Then, at the very end I added, "but no one is as awesome as GOD..."

To which Nate replies, "But mom, I am awesome. I can TAP DANCE." (He is building with Legos while he is saying this.)

me: huhhhuhnhuhhh???? *smile* thinking: Where in the world did that some from???


One day, this kid is going to grow up to be a tap-dancing, football-throwing, guitar-playing, Christian song-singing follower of Jesus!! (Please read here if you need further explanation.)

I know God has awesome plans for this little guy!

a good Monday, for the most part

Today was a good day! Except for some crazy mommy moments that involved me and my screaming Ian, it was good. Oh, and Kyle fell off his top bunk TWICE; that wasn't good. Actually, he was JUMPING down both times and his pants (the first time) and his shorts (the second time) got caught on the protective railing on the side, and he tumbled to the floor. The second time his head caught the shelf of the bottom bunk's headboard. OUCH! He's okay...he says his head just hurts.

We did have school today! I talked to them about Martin Luther King, Jr. and what he did for our country. It's amazing what empathy little kids can have! Anyway, I was going to print off some coloring sheets for them to color while I talked about MLK, but I forgot to get our black ink cartridge refilled. No ink = no coloring sheets!

Here are some pictures of Nate's castle that he made using his Math U See blocks. I got the blocks out to start math time and then got side tracked because of the screaming 3-year-old. When I got back, he was in the middle of building this. Pretty creative!

Nate in the van

a conversation between Nate and me in the van (we were the only ones in the van):

Nate: Mom, I just can't decide if I want to play football on TV when I grow up or sing on the radio like Steven Curtis Chapman. (imagine the most indecisive, life-changing-decision voice)

me with a smile: Wow, Nate...I don't know. But, what I do know is that God has some AWESOME plans for you, and I can't wait to see what those plans are! Why don't you play football this fall, and we'll get you going on piano lessons! Then, we'll just see what you really like to do! (he has to start with piano before he can move to guitar, which is what he really wants to do!)

Nate: that sounds good.


I love this kid! I love that I can tell him with confidence that God loves him and has huge plans for him. I love that I can tell him that God will work all things together for what is best for Nate because he loves God. I love that I can teach him scripture even now at such a young age! I pray that he knows God loves him and will never forget that!

2 funnies

Nate came out of the bathroom crying last week after we got back from getting his hair cut. His hair was getting WAY long and desperately needed cut. Anyway, he said through tears, "MMOOOOMMMMM, I don't like my hair. It looks TOO CHURCHY!!" This made me chuckle.

I was playing a game with the boys when I said something like, "Kyle, I mean Nate, I mean IAN. (I never seem to get their names right!) To which Kyle replied, "Mom, maybe we need to wear NAMETAGS." Hahahaha

Funny kids.

Saturday

Nate's fall soccer league started today and I am happy to report that he scored 2 of his team's 4 goals!! Go, Nate, go! Although, I am unhappy to report that I didn't get to watch the game very closely because of two very unhappy, making-my-life-miserable children...my usually sweet Caden was whining and crying pretty much the whole time while Ian was just being his usual impossible-to-please-and-very-miserable 3-year-old self. Urgghhh! Needless to say, besides forgetting water for my awesome soccer stud to drink, I also forgot my camera. I, however, probably would not have had any good pictures because of all the crying and whining. So, maybe next week, I will have some pictures to post! Maybe, I'll get a baby-sitter!

conversation today

me to Kyle because he was being VERY disrespectful: Do you think Jesus is pleased with your behavior??

Kyle doesn't answer, but Nate speaks up: NO, but I bet SATAN is pleased.

me: WOW! I bet you're right!!

boost of confidence, not

Today in the van we were listening to some Hillsong worship music. Darlene Zschech was belting out ever so awesomely "Shout to the Lord," when I hear these words from the back of the van:

Kyle: Is that mom singing?
Nate: No, mom's just a little good, but this lady is REALLY good.
Kyle: Well, I've heard mom sing this song before. (Just a side note since I know I have some newer readers...I used to lead worship at our church in Maine. I am humbled that God could ever use little me in that capacity.)

Wow! Thanks for the boost of confidence, Nate, hahaha! Of course, Kyle even thinking it could possibly be me singing was very sweet of him. However, I totally should have switched the music because this conversation happened again almost word-for-word when the NEXT song played. Nate just continued to say that I was "just a little good." Awesome.

I am a kid

While pushing Ian and Caden on the swings in our backyard, this is the conversation that took place:

me: I want to swing.
Ian: You can't swing; you're too big. You're not a kid.
Nate: You are too a kid.
me: Well, I don't think I'm a kid anymore. I'll be THIRTY on Monday.
Nate: Moommmmm, yes, you ARE a kid. You are God's kid.
me: Oh, I guess you're right. (Duh.)

Well, put that way, I guess I'll always be a kid, no matter how OLD I am!!!

John 1:12
Yet to all who received Him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Nate's randomness

Totally random at breakfast yesterday, Nate said, "What color is a pickled pepper?" I just started laughing! I mean this seriously came out of nowhere. We haven't been saying any tongue twisters lately or anything. He definitely is my favorite six-year-old! And I guess the answer is that it depends on what color the pepper is!

Flashback Friday

My father-in-law has been visiting us this week, and we have had a great time! The boys sure love him!! He really blessed us this week by helping Mike stain our fence, which was quite a project!! Here is a picture of them bleaching and scrubbing the yucky, gray fence so they could actually stain it. It was a very DIRTY job!! They are working left to right...
Here is Grandpa Bob reading to the boys...
And, since it is Flashback Friday, here is a picture of Bob holding Nathanael in the hospital on February 25, 2002. He was there for the long haul (my labor lasted 30 hours); I'm pretty sure Bob stayed the night in the waiting room. Nate finally made his debut at 7am....
It has been a great visit!

Flashback Friday

These pictures were taken in September 2003. I think Kyle is just a couple of months old in the pictures, and Nate is about 18 months old.

Kyle was seriously all lips as a baby!

Handsome boys!

Wow! Where does the time go??

sunburn

Today it was confirmed that Nate definitely inherited my skin type and will indeed burn in the spots where sunblock has not been applied. Let's just say that I obviously didn't apply his sunblock evenly.
Poor guy. He looks like someone socked him in the eye! Kyle and Ian, on the other hand, have beautiful brown skin at this time of year. It's so funny how God can create such different kids from the same parents! Caden, in case you're wondering, is like Nate and me and doesn't tan well.
(Nate, Kyle, Caden and I had a wonderful time swimming at a friend's house with a whole bunch of church friends! Ian has been at my parents' house since Sunday, and he says he doesn't miss us! I'm not sure when he's coming back, the little stinker!! Kyle sure misses him, though, which is so funny since they fight so much normally!)

Words of my boys

A few weeks ago, we went to a McDonald's in Broken Arrow with my parents and grandmother. It has a HUGE play area which the boys loved. When we left, the is the conversation I had with Nate:
Nate: Mom, I made a new friend.
me: What was his name? (We have been working on him trying to introduce himself and remember names.)
Nate: I don't know. I just called him dude.
me: Really
Nate: Yeah, I asked him if I could call him dude and he said okay.
me: laughing and smiling and thinking...what a character!
(I wrote this down immediately in the van and put the paper in my purse, so it is word for word!)

Yesterday, Nate was talking to Ian in the back of the van. I'm not sure what they were talking about, but Nate said something VERY MORBID. He told Ian, "We are going to die in a car accident in 15 years." In a freaking-out kind of voice, I said, "WHAT???? What in the world are you talking about? What makes you think that??" Then, Nate just said something about us dying when we are really old instead. Wow! That just kind of gave me the creeps. Where in the world does he come up with things like that??

On a much lighter note, during breakfast this morning we were listening to Spirit 102.3. This is a local Christian radio station that we listen to all the time when we're home and in the car. They have a little jingle and they sing "Spirit 102.3" and hold out "THREEEEEE." We hear this a zillion times a day. Well, this morning, my sweet Caden, sings, "threeeee" right on time and right on pitch. Oh, what a sweetie! He is just growing right up!!

Also, this morning Nate said, "Mom, come here." I came into the kitchen and he was wobbling a part of the table. He said, "This baby has a loose tooth!" It just cracked me up!!

thoughts of a baby

Today I went to see my dear friend Alyson and her precious newborn baby girl Alayna at the hospital. What a treat it was!! I just love little babies...their tiny hands and feet...so sweet! Lately, the boys have really been asking me for a little sister. Almost every day one of them talks about it. I must confess, that even though my life is SO CRAZY with my four little guys and I often seriously feel insane and overwhelmed, I still would love to have another baby. Yes, that would mean I would have 5 children, 5 CHILDREN. That is craziness!! Maybe it's just because Caden is really not a baby anymore. He is almost 21 months old, which is the same as the gap between Caden and Ian. So, this is the first time that I haven't already had another baby when the next older one is 21 months old...did that make sense?? Mike and I talked about it last night. He asked me if I have been praying about it...I said, no, actually I haven't been. Well, duh! That is exactly what I need to be doing!! Oh, and we would have to adopt which is very near and dear to our hearts since Mike's little sister Marissa is adopted. Oh, the craziness! Here are pictures of each of the boys the day they were born.

Nate

Kyle

Ian

Caden

Hmmm....what do you think? Am I crazy? Will I ever have a "we are done for sure" feeling?? For those of you who definitely aren't having any more, did you have that feeling??

We have noticed that Nate is a HORRIBLE listener and just speaks right over us instead of listening and then speaking. Most of the time, if you ask him to repeat what was just said, he won't have a clue. So, I have started making him repeat what I say word for word when I don't think he has listened well. Today, I said to him, "When I say NO, it means NO! Now, what did I just say?" To which he replied, "When you say no, it means no. Psalm 18:6" And then he started LAUGHING and I started laughing. He totally made that up! I have no idea what that verse is and neither does he; he just thought that adding a scripture reference would make it seem more commandment-like, I guess. What a character!! Okay, so now I am wondering what that verse really is...let's see...
Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

It's a good verse. I'll have to teach it to him for real! Too funny.

the only one

On my playlist on this blog, I have the song Only One For Me. I was just listening to it and folding laundry. When the song was over, Nate said, "He is the only one. I love God more than anyone else. He is an awesome God." Wow! I didn't even realize he was listening. Wow! I love that kid. I walked right to the computer and typed this so I wouldn't forget what he said!

a typical van ride

Today, in the van Nate says, "Yesterday was SOOOO hot; it was like the desert." (It was 85...so, yes it was hot; he is just SO dramatic)

Then, a few minutes later, Ian says, "Why did God make trucks?" I just thought this was so cute. I love the way these boys think and how God made them each unique!