And the gold medal goes toooo...

mommy's summer just got easier

If I haven't already shared, we will be getting an AWESOME play set for the kids this summer. It is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday afternoon but before the "putting together" of it could begin, we had to clear a lot in our backyard. Thankfully, Poppy aka. My dad, is the tree cutter downer! He came with his chainsaws and gear this past week and did an awesome job at clearing things out. The kids LOVED to watch and it was quite the struggle to keep them indoors while he hacked away at trees. At one point, Cooper pulled his chair over to watch Poppy instead of the movie I was attempting to distract them with! During nap, Cooper jumped on his bed, looking out the window...yes I lost that battle for sure!



And the countdown begins (not that I haven't been counting since day one)! I am officially 30 weeks preggos...here is the rapidly growing belly!
I do realize this is pretty random, but I had to include this! Kylie dancing to Boston! Yes...this is for Poppy...lets say it's a reward for a job well done! In case you were wondering, I totally grew up listening to this song and I would have to say this may be my dad's trademark song...

are you kidding me???

The sniffles again! YES...again! I used to pride myself on my ability to ward of illnesses, but the year 2009 has brought about way to many germs. The kids were both sick for most of January and February with Zach and I sick on opposite weeks. We have had a total of MAYBE a week (not all at once) with no one being ill. That being said, I sit here with a hot cup of tea and tissues at 7:00 am because my little boy was up being nebulized 2 times last night and this mama has just given up on the whole sleep thing. Sleep is TOTALLY overrated!

On the topic of sleep, it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to get right back to sleep these days. Of course, I am not referring to having a cold, but to the growing smooshy faced little bean growing inside of me. I know you are probably all sick of hearing of my pregnancy growns, but TOO BAD. This is how it is people . It consumes me;o) Right now, pillows are my friend. Due to "hip separation" I cannot possibly lay flat so my daughters fun little princess beany pillow has served as a leg lift. On top of that to actually move, I have to rearrange the "leg lifter" and count to 10 so that the pain will go away! Okay...that being said, I CANNOT SLEEP! So when my sleep is interrupted, I am not a happy camper. Hence the tone of this blog this early morning!

Okay mommy's...what is a mom to do when illnesses raid her house like a bunch of fire ants? It's not like my kids are in school and I promise I don't let them lick shopping carts. We also carry a BIG bottle of hand sanitizer with us when trips are absolutely necessary! Of course, my children are only 2 and 4 so germs do make their ways into their little bodies through thumb sucking and licking (I am referring to my son who thinks he is a dog). I WILL and DO fight the whole battle of washing your hands after using the potty with my 4 year old. She SWEARS no germ what so ever was touched, but this mama cannot be fooled by those pesty little objects. I am thinking about doing the whole Sid the Science Kid episode where they "explore" germs and how they spread. The problem would be getting that much dirt in my house while the ground is still frozen. HUMMMMMM creative thinking here.

I know this blog is turning out to be rather random. Know that I have been interrupted at least 7 times since...oh wait...here comes 8 (Cooper just said, "mama...broke)! Don't worry nothing was actually broken, just a minor spill of raisin bran! Therefore, my brain has been reset 8 times and I don't have the energy to try and think back to were I was in writing.

lalalala...Oh I almost forgot to share with you all the new addition to the Riedl household. No, the baby is not here yet...we have 2 more months, but we did acquire an Apple Mini! This this is amazing. Seriously it is about 2 inches tall and 5 inches wide. It sits comfortably on our desktop and now I don't have to fight with the best that used to lay at my feet ( I am referring the the beast of a dell computer that used to sit under the desk leaving about 10 inches of leg room). It is super fast and the keyboard is actually quiet! Now when I am multitasking while talking on the phone and writing emails, no one will no. No clinkity clink of the keyboard... here is pic to show you how small it is:
On top of that...do you know it took me literally 5 seconds to download that...jealous yet?? Sorry...this thing is just amazing!

Alas, it is time for me to feed the children something other than dried cereal and extremely watered down juicy juice! Hopefully the colds will pass and the snow will melt (yes I said snow, only about a trace last night, but man is it depressing). Not sure I will be "exposing" the kids to multiple germs in the church nursery this morning so I am off to plan the day!

My very own product review

I just want to talk about this thing called the "Prenatal cradle".

Let me back up a minute. Baby #3 does not fit as comfortably as the previous two babies and is causing his/her mommy to whine and complain like a 4 year old. Honestly I cannot think of one area on my body that DOESN'T hurt or feel as though someone is twisting it into small knots. Wait...I take that back...right now my left big toe doesn't hurt. Does that count?

After describing these really pleasant pains to my doctors, she informed me that there is a reason for all my pain. It is called having 3 babies in 4 years! That can do some damage to your body and pretty much your uterus is held up by skin and skin alone! The doctor told me that there is a "fix" for this problem called the Prenatal Cradle!

Soooooo....Miss Kara drove herself downtown to pick up this very expensive "harness" (which insurance covered only 50% of). The line was about 30 minutes long and then I waited and waited and waited for them to contact my insurance company. The kiddos had ants in their pants while the woman at the counter asked me if I wanted to waddle my little self and the stroller and the whiny 4 year old into a small bathroom to undress and try on this "harness". I opted out of the situation and said I would just take this lovely apparatus home and try it on! While guess what!!! IT DOESN'T fit! Even if it did fit, it would do nothing! For the $40 out of pocket expense, I would assume it would at least stay on the bottom of the belly and "lift", but it pretty much slips up to my neck without warning!

So...I believe doctors prescribe this contraption for the sole purpose of getting mom's like me to SHUT UP! Don't be fooled pregnant mamas!

Food food food...

I know some people think I am a little crazy for making my own yogurt, but it is way to easy and cheap to pass up. I thought I would give a little tutorial for you all in case you too are interested in making your own yogurt.

First you heat milk to between 170 and 180 degrees. Make sure you stir it so that it doesn't "stick" to the bottom.

Remove from heat and let cool until 110 degrees.

Add a cup of yogurt and stir well.
Then...if you have a yogurt maker...place it in there for about 8 hours.
(Sorry about the sideways pic...too lazy to fix it today)

If you don't have a yogurt maker, you can place the "yogurt" in mason jars with warm packs in a cooler for 8 hours.

Put it in the fridge and enjoy!!

On another note, the kids and I tried out a recipe from Whimsy Love for molasses cookies .
Let me just say these are the BEST cookies I have ever had. They are so moist and yummy....oh and with a glass of milk, you are totally in heaven! So go grab this recipe and enjoy!

Cooper loved the batter! I don't blame him...

You want me to do what??!!??

As I have said before, I am currently taking a class by Beth Moore on Esther. Today, the lesson spoke DIRECTLY to me. Have you ever had that happen? It's like the speaker is having a one on one conversation with you. I seriously cannot recall a point in her message that DIDN'T apply to me.

The title of today's lesson was called "The Human Dilemma of Destiny". Who here hasn't had a dilemma with direction at some point? Let me see your blogging hands?? As you will read later, I too was recently having a dilemma with direction! She made 4 points as to why we as humans tend to reject the direction God is trying to pull us in....

1. It always seems like the WORSE possible time. Isn't that true! We always have way to much on our plate to take one more thing on!! But she did add the following quote, " It may seem like the worse time, but it is God's perfect timing!".
   
2. The unreasonable expectation. Don't you feel like everyone is saying only YOU are the person who could possibly take on such a responsibility!
3. The risky identification. She added, "Remeber, destiny appoints one but affects many."
4. The unanswered questions. Ummm why now, why do we really have to accomplish this right now? Don't you know I have things to do!!

This is all based on Esther 4: 1-14. Read up on it for a GREAT example of how God can come in when we think it is the worse possible time!

Now for the application in my own life:

Some of you know that I am involved with MOPS. I LOVE MOPS! It is such a great outreach ministry to mothers of preschoolers. Recently, I have been given the opportunity to start a new MOPS at my church*. The idea of this scared me at first and although I pursued it, I quickly backed out when things didn't look so bright. Even so, God was insistent that I start this. After my initial decision to NOT start it this year, I just didn't feel right. I knew God was calling me, but was under the impression he just wanted me to wait some time. A few short weeks after my decision another member of the church leadership team approached me about starting it again. Although I was completely ready to turn this opportunity down (at least for this fall), she (and GOD) made things possible for it to start this fall!! WOW.

I had every excuse in the book to NOT start it...um hello, I am having a baby this summer and why would I want to leave the existing MOPS I am involved with...do you know how much work goes into planning this??!! There was also the feeling of disappointing my present MOPS team! But let me just say, that God is good! It looks as though the MOPS I am presently at will have a new coordinator next year, I already have a steering team of 6 for the new MOPS, and the details just keep working themselves out!

There are so many other times in my life where I have questioned God's plans. What was I thinking? Now that I look back at situations, I can see how God worked through me to reach another. Isn't that why we are here?



*Presently I am coordinating a MOPS at a sister church.

our little ice skater

Miss Kylie started figure skating today. She thought she woudl just go out on the ice and be able to jump and spin and boy was she surprised when this didn't happen. Even so, she really did do a good job. At one point she came off the ice, crying, because she was so cold. After some persuading from her teacher and myself, she went back out and stayed until her little legs just couldn't skate anymore. She really did a fine job at staying balanced and was VERY cautious, only taking little baby steps on the ice. No problems here with that. This mommy's heart was POUNDING the whole time. Just watching those little kids fall with their heads bouncing off the ice was enough for me. As we left, Kylie told another mom that she was going to sleep in the car because she was way to sleepy. Sure enough, she fell asleep as soon as we started driving.

After the ice skating experience we headed off to my nephews 4th b-day party. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, but I did manage to get a pic of the pillow I made for him. I got the idea from one pretty thing and it was super easy to make. A few more may be made soon for two little ones living under this roof! I love how they can move the letters around to spell anything they want!