Stream of Consciousness

Today was one of those days that I felt the Lord pouring out blessings on me during my bible study. It was so good, one of those times you just keep going and going and looking and learning and feel really smart because you have so many "ah ha" moments but feel so minute at the same time comparing yourself to the greatness of God but then feeling so important again because you have confidence in your faith that you are one of his chosen and have an inheritance! It makes me feel like I am in an exclusive club to say that I am part of His family, and its so cool that I can tell everyone and invite them to be a part of the club to! ;o) I know I am being silly but those are my thoughts right now.
I was so encouraged by this verse when I read it and I am trying to memorize it
Malachi 3:10 Bring all your tithe to the storehouse, that there will be food in my house. Test me on this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it!
I wasn't thinking of money when I read this verse but I learned that in the OT the people were rewarded with riches when they were faithful to the Lord. We are promised in Mark to have blessings with christian brothers and sisters, people won over for the Lord and also in persecution... thats right, we are to consider it to be a blessing to be persecuted for the Lord! I have learned that not only does it grow me in my faith but also is a complement because Satan does not bother with surfacy/superficial Christians because they are of no threat.

Just so I don't forget soon I will blog about the blessings of being poor, I know you can't wait :o)

Amelia had her 4 month check up and was 12lb & 23in long. She is in the 20% and just slightly smaller than Annie was at her age at 12'13oz and 24"long! I know I need to stop comparing them, but its just so fun :o) Speaking of comparisons do you see any here other than their purple sweat suits?

I have been sorting little girly clothes for 2 weeks now and finally finished up Mia's room this morning, moving the newborn stuff out and bringing the 3-6 month stuff for her to grow into. Next is to box up Annies 9-12 month stuff from this past summer, we have the blessing of 2 chest of drawers (and matching bunk beds in storage) in Annies room, hand-me-downs from Joes Mom in anticipation of the girls sharing a room some day. They have come in handy with the slow season change and needing all the summer clothes and winter clothes out at one time!

Candy Land

I love a good competitive game in the sunshine. Annie's first try at Candy Land proved that she is still to young however she did match all the colored cards up perfectly and I was completely proud of her!

Romantic

My life is simply not romantic. I have been going through the motions of daily life lately feeling... annoyed for lack of a better word. I have been annoyed with the messiness of my house, annoyed with the constant laundry, annoyed with my desire to do things like decorate my house or bake wonderful Autumnal recipes but lack the heart and energy to do so. Therefore I would get the bare minimum done to make myself feel better and so that the dishes did not manage to create an infantry and seize the house for their very own!
I thought maybe imy mood could be classified as post partum depression but I didnt feel depressed just annoyed! So it may be post partum annoyance ;o)
I realized this past week that my problem didn't lie in my current situations, they were the same as they had always been, the problem laid in how I was looking at my life. Everything lost its romantic sparkle. Playing playdough with Annie wasn't the learning and bonding experiance it had been, it became just something to do to pass the time until Joe came home. Which, by the way, I don't know why I was looking forward to his homecoming because I hadn't made dinner and didn't talk to him other than "how was your day" when he did arrive. I managed to somehow get the fall decor out in the dining room and purchased the obligatory wonderful fall smelling candle tarts without appreciating them, I took the kids to the pumpkin patch and let Annie pick out a pumpkin and purchased a bushel of apples which I did actually really enjoy doing although keeping with the tune of annoyance I was unhappy because it didn't go the way I had planned with Karas kids and Mom accompanying us.
I made 2 batches of Applesauce and it filled the house with heavenly aromas, it was also VERY tasty, however it was just apples in a crock pot and didn't feel like it was anything special which annoyed me because I had been looking forward to making applesauce since the spring.
So maybe I am coming out the other end of my few weeks of hormonal annoyed depression but things are looking up! I thank God every morning for the wonderful Autumn sunshine and cool breeze coming in the bedroom window. I am also thankful that through my tough weeks I have been really enjoying the girls. I am working on my 3rd batch of boring old wonderful tasting applesauce as we speak and I am super excited about it. Its so easy I am thinking about purchasing another half bushel of apples so I can have some more to freeze. And this morning I cleaned the entire main floor of my house including mopping and scrubbing the cabinet doors which needed to happen so very badly. I am now going to sign off so that I can tackle the office which has 12 boxes of baby clothes and things I inherited from my Grandma when she moved! The clothes have actually been spread out for 2 weeks now so it is really high time I got them organized and put away! I will leave you with a selection of photos that captured what we have been up to lately (because honestly I know that's all some of you[aunt reg] stopped by for ;o)

Two

You may be seeing a lot of posts falling under this title. On Monday I will have a two year old. She is making herself known around here. After 1 year and 11 months of laying low, being our funny, obedient, sweet little girl and BAM! One month before her second birthday she has decided to scream no, throw herself on the ground, throw what she is holding, look away from me, walk away from me, the list goes on. A lot of you have 2 year olds so you know what I am talking about nothing out of the ordinary, just your run of the mill acting out to see if she can get away with stuff. Its frustrating feeling like I am constantly being so mean! Even when I try to make it a lesson and talk rationally instead of just whacking her (jk) I feel mean.
Please tell me you feel mean to and that your kids dont hate you!

Her taste buds are evidently changing as well, last week she asked me every day for for pizza and yogurt this week she wants salad and soy nuts, no lie! The girl wants spinach salad!

206

That's the number that determined my fate this morning. That was the number that was assigned to Mia in the nursery. I was expecting it, she was due to eat during church. Off I went making jokes along the way with the ladies in the hall... you know the milk wagon, mooing that sort of thing. As I was feeding her she decided to poop... All Over Me! It was down my (kelly's actually :o) shirt onto my skirt and it was awful! I went out into the foyer just to share laughs with the other 4 moms standing out there. My wonderful fearless dear ladies bible study leader Ann Hornblower actually pointed at me and doubled over in laughter! So I made Ann hold her while I cleaned myself up! I then hung out at the nursery desk for the last 15 min of church not being able to muster up the courage to go back to church with the front of me soaking wet and smelling like poo!

Same Ol' Stuff

• I type to you wearing a hoodie for the first time of the season!
  

• This has been one crazy week. Sunday was a successful 5th annual labor day weekend party at the (new) Zuerner house. 57 adults 24 children and 10 babies under 1yr! I think its safe to say that people don't mind not being able to see the fireworks at our new house!

• Monday was a day of clean-up from the rockin' party. The floors got mopped, kitchen scrubbed. It the perfect feeling long weekend kind of day. Up early with a happy baby, windows open with a cool breeze moving in, husband home, no real plans. My parents came by for a grilled hot dog left-overs lunch and to load up all the tables and chairs. Annie went to play at Gram and Gramps for the morning which was a first... its funny to have a kid old enough to want to go somewhere to play just because, I felt guilty because I didn't need her to be there for any reason!
  

• I finally made a decision after hemming and hawing over it to buy a sit and stand stroller. It was one of those instances where it just all came together. I found one on Craigslist, the lady contacted me back, it was affordable (although not cheap) in really super good condition. Joe was with me to go pick it up so no one killed me :o) After all the reviews that I read it seemed to me that the people who didn't like it were those with large children (either tall or heavy) and my children fall into neither of those categories!

• I woke up at 2am with buyers remorse but I had a totally unrealistic first time using the stroller. Joe was with me and 2 parents is always easier than one! Annie had no nap and has all the sudden decided that she is going to act like a 2 year old (that's a whole different post... how do you spank a child every 10 min and not feel like a big fat meanie?) So Joe was chasing Annie who didn't want to sit or stand and Mia was hungry and wanting to be held so I was pushing an empty stroller around the outlet mall! Grrr. Don't worry we have taken quite few walks since then and Annie LOVES it and asks for it all day. The maneuverability is good although nothing will ever compare to my jogging stroller.

• We were at the outlets to buy Annie some fall/winter clothes. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the carters outlet! Their clothes are so cute and so inexpensive! I got her a pair of khaki pants for $8 and the tag said $24! I realize that you could buy second hand even cheaper but I am not good at second hand shopping for some reason so I go for the next best thing. I was annoyed that I had to buy her 12 month pants and they still fall off her waist! I felt like I was wasting my money because she will have to grow at some point right? Oh well such is life with children, constantly trying to keep up with them!
  

• We are trying to decide what to buy Annie for her birthday. She is so much fun right now I just feel like she would LOVE anything we got her and I want it to be something fun for her to have. We don't ever buy her toys throughout the year so birthdays and Christmas are fun! I guess whatever I don't get her for her birthday can be put on her Christmas list.
  

• I have tried to blog about 5 times in the past 2 weeks but felt so uninspired and whiny about potty training and life with a 2 year old that they sit unpublished in my draft folder just to spare you all the boring selfish prideful rambling! Bullet points are so much more fun and keep me from rambling... kind of.

You're Welcome :o)

To Market, To Market

I didn't buy a fat hog but I could have! I love Findlay Market! I realized today that it will never be the same as it was the first time I went. It had a special glow to it that first time I went. It was all so new and exciting to me! This time it was exciting but there was no glow, the stands were all the same, the wares were all the same but the nice part was that the smells were all the same too! I love love love the smell of Basil. I stopped my dad in mid sentence to ask "Do you smell that basil?"

Joe had an early morning man breakfast date so I scheduled a OTR with my parents and Kelly.
I had no grocery list with me only my camera and an request from my husband to bring something fun home for dinner.

We ended up meeting Dick and Peggy there and had breakfast then meandered through the market until Dad and Peg found the proper fishmonger for me to purchase my shark from! Thats right I will report back to you later but the menu for tonight is Shark steaks, Pineapple, Corn & Roasted Red Peppers... I might even make the garlic cheese biscuits like Red Lobster has... yummy!

Annie eating whatever she wanted thanks to Grammy

I failed to notice the amazing flower boxes above our heads last time

Love the old man street performer on the bongos

Introducing Annie to the Lobster

She picked out what she wanted for breakfast and Grammy delivered :o)

No one had these little guys for breakfast... can you imagine, it would take a whole dozen to fill you up!

Peg bought one of these Belgian Waffles! AMAZING!

Ol Squishy Squish Face with her headband on... don't tell her daddy ;o)