Communion

Lord willing John and I will be taking communion this week, our first time together since we got married, and my first time in two and a half years. We decided to go through this little book on our own during the week since our church doesn't do any prep stuff like GPC. For someone like me who loves clear instructions, it is perfect. It has a short (perfect for a mom of toddlers!) reading for every day, and instead of ambiguously saying, 'examine yourself', it has a list of simple questions, and things to pray for each day. I love it, and am only two days in, but so far would highly recommend!

Memorial Day

Shopping a meat sale.

I asked the kids to husk the corn.

They love being given a project.

When a toddler husks corn they might taste it too :-)

Dinner. John grilled ribs, I made potato salad and cole slaw, and the kids contributed the corn :-). It was delicious!

Luke talks

"I want my ball."
That was Luke's first sentence yesterday. Sadly we weren't able to fulfill his wish. He had been playing with some hard ball which simply was not safe for playing catch. The ball mysteriously disappeared and a softer one took his place, and for a little while Dukie's world seemed to end.
Anyways I just can't believe how much he has started talking in the last couple weeks. He repeats everything I say, he already understands boy and girl. All of Caroline's dolls are girls, haha. Communication makes life a lot easier.
Today I was scrolling through toddler haircuts on pinterest and he looked over my shoulder, "Oh it's Caroline!"

One really funny thing he does is that he almost always calls John, Mama too. I'm not sure if it is just laziness using the same title for both of us, or he honestly forgets, but it can be hilarious :-)

Landscaping part 4

Dukie helping Daddy build a new shed. All the outside projects have been a little hard with John being busier. When he is home I just want help parenting! But on the other hand they have involved a couple trips where John has loaded all the kids and taken them to Menards or Fleet  Farm to pick up supplies. And sometimes it works out for the kids to help :-)

All done. I forgot to take pics of the other steps.

Yes

I wish everyone understood this.

Why?

Yesterday Luke was trying to get into the pantry.
"Luke, what are you doing?"
"Ahhh bip."
"No, honey we're not having chips right now."
"Why?"

It was nap time and Luke took off to Grandma's.
"Luke we're not visiting Grandma right now, it's nap time."
"Why?"

And so it has begun. I have two kids that say why to EVERYTHING I say.

Dark and twisty

I have appreciated this phrase from Grey's Anatomy since I first heard it. To my mind it perfectly describes how I feel sometimes, especially during migraine weeks. I don't know if it is the hormones, or the drugs, or being stressed and worn out by the pain, but feeling depressed seems to be another symptom that comes with the migraines.

18 months old

Our Dukie is 18 months old! He's getting so big. I shared an update on everything he has been saying here a couple days ago so I won't post all that again. We're still on a 2 nap a day schedule, but his morning one is pretty short. He nurses twice a day. Duke is definitely our accident child, for one thing he is a "tank" and tries to go through, instead of around, things. For another thing, he is kind of clumsy. So life includes a lot of tears, kisses, and owies these days.

He's still our little thumb sucker. Whenever he relaxes in goes the thumb. When we read books, or he hugs me, or he is tired.....time for the thumb!

Best brother and sister one I could get. And yes, that is a gummy bear. I totally bribe my kids to pose nicely for pictures, lol.

See, they love each other sometimes!

And a throwback to Caroline at 18 months.

Headache update

So yesterday I had an appointment here to hopefully get some help with my migraines. I was impressed by how much time they took on me (tho I can't imagine how much they are probably billing insurance for that!), I didn't feel at all rushed. However it seems like this is just a condition that I will have to learn to manage with medication, not something that can be gotten rid of. Basically we tweaked medications, I'm adding in magnesium lotion daily, and I'm going to be keeping a log, and we'll see what happens. I will have more preventative medication options when I wean Luke. But for now we are hoping a larger dose of immitrex, plus more magnesium will help. I'm due to get one tomorrow or the next day so we'll see.

And since the kids were good during my appointment we got ice cream cones after dinner as a reward :-) They are staring at the big fish tank at Dairy Queen here. Watching the fish is a highlight of going there for them!

Haha

Landscaping part 3

Random kid updates

Chalk
Ball
Cow
Book
Crocs
Socks
Nana
Hotdog
Pbubber
Snickerdoodle
Snuggle
Cooking
Quack, quack
Guy
All clean
Guk (milk)
Cock (cake)
Bearabine (Caroline)
gunker (Hunter)
church

Fleet farm

Mon (come on, when he wants you to follow him somewhere)

Music (up please)

Please

thank you

yes.
These are some of the many words Dukie says now. He's really taken off and is talking and communicating a lot better than before. He also can point out his head, hands, tummy, legs, and feet, and will shake his head, no. He climbs up the steps to go down the slide by himself now. Dukie's favorite things are broom, brooms (we can be in the living room and he'll hear one go dow the road and get excited!), and cows. He knows where the cows are along the highway and will watch for them and get excited. He still loves to read books. He even had a favorite Daniel tiger episode now. "Daniel quack quack" about when Ducky goes home. 

And a few Caroline-isms to end this post.

Caroline, "I like when Dukie sleeps in my room. It's fun to bother him."
Reason 4,372 why I am a tired mom

Caroline's favorite word is "why?" right now.
She says it to EVERYTHING I say. 

Caroline was dressed up one of her princess dresses today, but I had to put pants on underneath it. Why? Because I can't have legs, Mama!

Caroline now has learned Psalms 100, 117, and 133 by heart, and the first 3 shorter catechism questions! She's great at memorizing things. She can also count to 10, and knows the abc song.

When I chose an outfit she didn't really want to wear,  "Whatever, Mama. "

She always wants her hair in a ponytail now, "Mama, Daddy is not good at fixing hair."
wink emoticon

Mother's day thoughts

As I see all the posts on motherhood and a mother's love on facebook it makes me think about something I heard an older midwife say to a scared young mom on an episode of Call the Midwife.
She made the comment that a lot of people see love as a magical moment when your baby  is first placed in your arms. But that real love is doing the right thing for your child even when you are scared to death.
I wish someone had been there to tell me that when I had my babies. My moments right after birth were far from magic as I was out of it with pain, getting stitches, and throwing up. I used to feel bad that I never experienced the miraculous, magic moment of love that is described. 

Now years later,  I realize that love is not always a feeling.  Love is taking care of that baby, providing its needs, doing what is best for it, day in and day out, even when you are exhausted, afraid, or going through postpartum depression. Simply trusting God and doing the next right thing. Day after day of hopefully showing that child the love of Christ through our actions. The feelings of love come, but the pushing through, deciding to love no matter how we feel, and God's grace is what keeps us going every day in the journey of being a mom. Well, and maybe a little coffee, wine, and chocolate too :-). I'm so thankful for God's goodness in blessing me with the job of being mom to our littles, and I love them very much!

My mother's day gift from John :-)

Current project

My current reading project. It looks like the Lord has answered prayers in providing us with a local church to join. Lord willing, next month John and I will take communion together for the first time since got married. God is good!

A Date

John Cunnington eating lunch at Chef Chu's Chinese Cuisine.

April 30 at 1:38pm · Waupaca · 

Stefanie Cunnington and I

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Chef Chu's Chinese Cuisine

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On Saturday John and I went on our first date alone since we had kids! Believe it or not, when John suggested it I really didn't want to go, because this (I could have written that post). It had been a long week with John being busy with landscaping, hence me doing more solo parenting which can be hard. I really look forward to evenings and weekends when I have some help! Plus I hadn't been feeling well, and it hadn't worked out for me to have my weekly alone time shopping. So when nap time rolled around on Saturday, John had just got home, and I hadn't eaten yet (as I said things had been busy!) John suggested putting the kids down, leaving Grandma in charge, and going out for lunch. Even though at the moment I wasn't excited about it, it turned out very nice. We shared appetizers, a bowl of soup, a slice of cheesecake, and just enjoyed getting to eat and talk with no interruptions! I'm thankful we had the time together and hope we can do it again sometime. I'm glad God gives us what we need even if not what we think we want at the time!

Landscaping part 2

April days

April 2nd. We got so many snowfalls in the beginning of April. Everyone was very tired of it and the kids were sick, had cabin fever, and took it out by fighting with each other. So ready for warm sunshine!

Since it was cold and snowy outside I added a touch of spring to my toenails. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Making birthday cake.

Making birthday cake.

Broom brooms.

Driving to church.

Rabbit.

Breakfast for dinner.

A good way to start the day.

Greek pizza.

Making jello.

My attempt at Chick Fil A at home.

Sunny and 70s!!!!!

Dukie loves the sandbox.

Hanging out while Daddy worked on landscaping.

A surprise Daddy brought home!

A package from Aunt Cindy.

My church outfit.

Phonics Farm.

Not fighting!

Little leaves.

Dukie's favorite book.

Hugs.

Still wearing a coat and boots on April 28th.