Two thousand twelve, two thousand thirteen

Whew! I know its been a while. I apologize for lack of pictures of adorable babies. A lot has been going on. Let me fill you in....hmmm...where to start...

I guess, let's start by saying that Tom and I have always wanted to move back to the North East. We love California, but, man, we are far from family here. And having kids just makes the rest of family feel that much farther.  Many, many late night discussions ended with us praying that it could happen, although we never really knew how. And so we chugged along here in so cal. With palm trees and sunshine and whatnot.

Then two summers ago, after a long spring with a very fussy baby, I spent 5 weeks on the East Coast amoungst humidity and family. And California just felt stupid. And although I feel like I went back rested and ready for life with 2 bitty kids, I was not content. Things with our church weren't going great, and we were just struggling. And pregnant again. And so I prayed. And prayed. And listen to me when I say this - God answers prayers.

He brought us to a church two blocks from our house, full of young families, full of people excited to be there, excited that we were there. We jumped right in and quickly had a great community around us, and were being challenged and encouraged. He gave me a year with a great table at my mom's group. Gals that enjoyed being young moms and were there to encourage each other. Josie and I were able to do gymnastics together, despite the fact that by the end I was hugely pregnant. And although 10 days overdue, the baby was my easiest yet, very laid back and pleasant. And then our church family smothered us with meals while we moved into a bigger place, right next door.

We have been hugely blessed in the last year and I can honestly say I was content. And not just because so many wonderful things lined up, but because I really believe God did a work in my heart. He heard my prayers and he answered. I live in Orange County, I know contentment doesn't come by what you have, or do or who your friends are. It is a heart thing. And certainly not something I could have mustered up on my own.

So then lets fast forward to just a couple short months ago. Tom finished a big project with work over the summer and was aching for something, but couldn't quite figure out what. The late night chats happened again, "What if we did this....or went there...or did that...." And I told him this, "If you want me to move, doors are going to have to fly open and I am going to have to be pushed through them at this point."

And now to sum up a lot of details - door after door after door has flung open.

We are in the process of buying a house around the corner from my parents and siblings. We close and leave CA the end of January. Yes, about a week and a half from now.

And it sort of feels wrong, to leave our life here when so many things seem to be going so incredibly well. But at the same time, it feel so right; to go to the place we want to settle and dig in. And to consider this last year a huge gift and to arrive in NJ full and ready for whats ahead.

So there you have it. Part of the reason I have neglected my blog (this and laundry, holy cow).

Please feel free to pray for us. Pray that the transition will go smoothly, that Tom will have plenty of work, that we can find a church community that is a good fit for our little family.

My beautiful babies...

I am going to print some of these and send them to some ever-patient family members. And I promise to post some of our little kid hilarity soon, since it seems to be unending. In the meantime, here are some pictures Tom took in the yard last week...

Sweet Uri. 

Happy happy baby.

"Uri, go lay on the blanket."

 Three sweetest faces in the world.

 "Listen, I'm not sure about that other kid."

"Whatever do you mean, little brother?"

We live near the airport. Its very exciting. 

"I would never go through drawers."

"I would never draw on the wall."

"There's pizza sauce on your white comforter? I have no idea how that happened."

I don't have a great caption for this one because I just can't stop laughing.

"Guys, my brother is crazy."

"But my big sister is beautiful." 

"Vacation"

After telling my mom about our adventures, she wrote me this:  "Welcome to vacationing with a young family. The underlying thread is ---togetherness. :) "

And oh boy where we. 

Okay, so since Tom finally finished his big work project and we had gobs of people in and out of town all summer we thought it would be nice to get away as a little family. Start what will hopefully become a tradition of family vacations. Nothing huge or expensive, just a nice little get away. 

Now, I had definitely assumed that a vacation with small children would look a bit different than a vacation without small children, but at one point each night I was sleeping (or actually, not sleeping) with all three of them in my bed. 

We guessed who might get carsick on the way up the winding mountain road to Big Bear, and we were wrong. Uri slept right through it, Josie turned green. Thankfully she didn't actually throw up, but she did refuse her snack container the rest of the trip. I think she thought it had been her snack that made her feel awful. Poor thing. 

She also got a bit confused, I think, and thought we had moved there and our tiny little cabin was now our home. 

Oh, the cabin. Okay, I found a great deal, but like they say, you get what you pay for. It was clean and the staff were supernice, but it definitely had some character you might not get in a pricier place. Oh the fake landscaping was amazing. Every piece of art on the walls appeared to be handpicked from a yardsale. It was over the top! Also, the futon that Tom and a rotation of children slept on (not our original plan, but whatever works) was seriously falling apart. Like, "Uh, I guess just leave that piece underneath of it so they can fix it later." falling apart. Pretty sure he just undid months worth of chiropractic care in 2 nights. 

But whatever whatever. We really did have some fun. When we first arrived we checked out a little park walking distance from our cabin. Right on the lake - BEAUTIFUL. Then after a complete nap fail, we went "hiking" on a paved path along the lake. It was beautiful and the kids played in the water...they sort of just walked right into it. Haha. We have video of Uri repeatedly throwing rocks in the water. Pretty sure he would have been happy doing that all day.

The break from the heat was WONDERFUL (as I type this, sweat is running down me, no joke. I am sick of it.). 

The second day we attempted another "hike". This time on a path with Uri on Tom in the backpack, Asa on me and Josie "hiking". We had to park across the street from the trail head and after we got from the car to about, oh, I'd day 50 feet onto the path Josie said, "My legs...uh....my legs....hurt!" Apparently that had never happened to her before! We went a little further and it wasn't getting any better (look! a lizard! look a bird! check out the size of that pinecone!) so Tom found us a short cut and we headed back. It was hilariously short and three year old paced. And it guaranteed a 3 hour nap for 2 kids that desperately needed it. 

We picniced every lunch and ate breakfast as a whole family and the first night we BBQed and the second night we ate at a restaurant because the fish I had planned on us BBQing also got carsick on the way up the mountain. "Kath, something smells like its going bad in the food bag. You don't smell that??" 

"Oh honey." 

The restaurant was a cute little place and had come recommended by both Yelp and the gal behind the desk at the cabins. She did not appear to be in charge of decorating, so we trusted her. Everything was great, although I noticed that it was full of old people. Oh! I had forgotten that old people always eat out early in the week and early in the evening (right when a really young family might also eat out). And then the party of 3 was seated next to us. An old couple and their middle aged daughter. They were super nice, but HOLY COW. Old lady perfume. Like instant headache perfume. I could no longer smell (or taste) the yummy bread on the table. It was super gross. Blah. Someone needs to regulate that stuff. 

After our dinner of perfume flavored food (which really was good and then the waitress had Josie "help" her with the check, so sweet) we went for a drive all the way around the lake. SO PRETTY. And kind of gave us an idea of some things we might try next time. Like in 10 years. Just kidding.

Then we got back, built a fire in the fireplace and had smores. The kids deconstructed them first, which was pretty funny. I should have just given Uri the chocolate, haha. 

The kids went down really well and Tom and I just sat up and chatted for a while. So nice. 

The next morning I was about shot after another amazingly awful night sleep. The baby was also SUPER cranky. "Where's Asa? And who dropped off this miserable child??" 

So that was frustrating. So my husband sent me and the kids to the little lake park while he packed up the van and cleaned up, etc. Then he came and got us, we both took some advil and headed out to drive through the village, which was very cute. Then we went to a little playground (everything has a view of the lake! Love it!) and play and eat lunch before heading home. 

There were definitely some learnings I will take from this adventure. It really was good, just, well, our kids are YOUNG and so that makes things a bit more work. We skipped some things we had planned or thought about entirely. Like the pirate ship. And the zoo of injured animals. And the bikes. Heh. I am SO glad we went during the off season (summer and winter and big there, not so much during the week school starts) and maybe next time we will pick a different cabin place (like on the north shore....oooooh...pretty) And maybe take some Dramamine or something for Josie. Poor thing. 

Since we have been back I have done exactly 800 loads of laundry and folded about 2.

Also: Please note I did not mention bath time or even brushing kids' teeth on our trip...not a mistake. Never happened. Haha. 

Baby gets his own post.

Asa is 10 weeks old now and doing great. He is very pleasant most of the time. 

This picture is blurry, but I think it still gets the point across.

(Asa's hair just does that. I've tried to tame it. There is no use.)

Summertime!

Its been hot here for the a few weeks now and we have been busy enjoying summer...

New pool!

Planting some flowers in the yard. I have avid flower pickers. Its almost hard to keep up. 

Grammie sent some fun things in the mail, including a magnifine glass plastic and some "noculars." It was kind of perfect timing. We had recently discovered that one of our bushes was covered in aphids. So we got ourselves a carton of ladybugs. If you've never done it, I highly suggest it. Super fun and our bush is now aphid-free and thriving. 

Not sure what he is looking at, since obviously a bird would never land that close to him. 

War paint.

Chatting with little brother.

Pasta sauce + Ice cream + Uri

We are not here to waste icecream.

We recently went to a nearby park with a splashpad. Great park, warm day. My kids did a lot of hydrating. 

Josie really liked the water. Uri and his buddy Jack enjoyed it from a distance. Good thing I got Uri water shoes just before this...heh. 

 Uri did take good care of Asa while we were there. He would even occasionally stop playing on the playground to check on him. So sweet. 

Obviously, I need to take more pictures of the baby. What can I say? Its not easy to wield a camera and manage 3 kids. I need that extra hand. 

Sometimes I bug my husband at work

me: Remember when we used to get bored sometimes?

11:21 AM haha

 Tom: hahahahaa

  oh man

  that's funny

 me: I know, right.

 Tom: i wanna be bored

 me: Me too!!

11:23 AM Josie is building something with all the toy bins in the living room...

  which means all the toy bins are now empty.

11:24 AM Tom: :)

11:25 AM me: oh, and I just dicovered what the beeping sound was earlier today....the microwave.

  stepstool is going outside

11:26 AM Tom: hahahaha

  oh dear

WHAT. A. MONTH. (and a half)

My last post was a week and a half before our due date. Totally assumed birth would happen any day, THEN. Sweet baby hung in another 10 after he was due. There was fetal monitoring and crankiness involved, but in the end I was glad we stuck to our guns and let him go as long as he needed.

June 8th we had our sweet Asa Benjamin. 9 lbs 1oz. Right on time. :)

He is wonderful. His birth was quick and uncomplicated. So far, he is pretty pleasant. At his 6 week checkup he weighted 11 lbs 4oz. :)


My parents arrived 13 hours after his birth to take care of us for 10 days. They're presence was a huge blessing to us and we were very well cared for.


Laced in and amongst all the overdue-birth-newborn events, we moved. To the house right next door, thankfully, but still. Phew. Exhausting. Word of advice: If given the choice, don't move 2 weeks after giving birth. They tell you to "take it easy" for a reason. Heh.


Then there was unpacking, putting away, adjusting. Then we all came down with a nasty summer cold.


Tom's Mom and Marty came into town and helped with the last bit of unpacking, shelf-hanging, etc. That and grandbaby snuggling and playing and letting me get some much needed naps. They jumped right into our craziness and were such a huge help. I am so thankful.


The older two kids have done really well, all things considered. They are loving their new house and yard especially. (we are now in a 3 bedroom with a bigger yard ). Uri had a little bit of adjustment, but now both kids seem to really like the baby, which is awesome.

Tom's Dad and Norma were also in town this last week. We were able to get out to the beach one day, which was really fun. Aside from that we mostly just relaxed, hung out and ate at a couple favorite restaurants.

This week we are laying low again. I am finding that sometimes its best to just take it easy and do normal stuff, like play. Unlike when I went from one kid to two, I haven't hesitated to take all three kids places on my own. In that way, this phase has been nice, although there have been a couple times when I've stepped back and said, "What was I thinking?!? We should have stayed home!" Ha.

Oh, and Tom is working a lot right now. He is on the final leg of a very big project. Its extremely exciting (more later) but very time consuming. Thankfully he doesn't work far and is home for dinner most nights.