Wow, ok....

So the latest and greatest from our family is.....we are expecting baby no.3!!!!! No it was not an accident but it was certainly a surprise. We just found out a few days ago and I can't keep things like this a secret so here it is :) Our due date is March 24, 2010. We found out the gender of our first two, but we are going to let this be a surprise. Also the most exciting thing for me is that we are hoping for a homebirth, with a midwife, for this one. We have two consultations with two different midwives on July 30. Having a homebirth has always been dream for me. I will def keep everyone posted on that awesome process. We have always talked about a big family so this is really crossing the line to head in that direction. AHHH I am kinda in shock, 3 kids!! We are so blessed and so happy.

That Kind of Love.....

My granny is dying. There I have said it, well written it, out loud. I hate that. I hate that I even have this topic to "blog" about. For as long as I can remember my granny has been full of life, laughter, and fun. She took me, when I was 3, to get my ears pierced while she was babysitting me one day, with out my mothers knowledge. She bought me baby chicks for Easter one year. She let me pretend to be a puppy and eat frosted shredded wheat cereal out of a bowl (like a puppy) while walking like a puppy up and down her stairs without getting annoyed (I was making a big mess). My grandpa has been a little more subtle but lets just say my addiction to coffee started at a very young age thanks to him :) My granny opened her home to me to live when I needed a place. She told me about love, and loss. She listened to me when I cried to her about love, and loss. She never judged, never "disapproved" of me, she helped me feel that what I felt, what I was going through was real and true and I had the right to feel how I did. We talked for hours and hours about life and adventure. She showed me that in this life, even when you don't have much, just make sure you have love. Appreciate and cherish those closest to you, and it will create a bond so deep that nothing can shake it. We have an amazing and unique family. All 30+ and more of us :) I believe that to the bottom of my soul. We have learned that even when life is hard, love remains. Watching my granny and grandpa go through this, through this hell on earth. She, trying to be strong and stoic for him, who desperately needs her to live. Him trying to be optimistic, nearly to the point of denial for her, who needs him to let her go. Its a beautiful love. It has taken a lifetime to build, but the legacy it leaves will last for generations. I pray and hope that someday my marriage and family can be a glimmer of what they built. When people think or talk about "That kind of love" it is their picture I see.

Mel xoxo

Toilet Paper and Cupcakes

Addison about 4 seconds after she woke up this morn :)

Loves this horse, and Baby Einsteins that she is watching

Today was GREAT :) Addison seems to be feeling better, still snotty but not so bad, I think we are nearing the end of this yuckiness. I finally got to go to the gym, after 7 days of not going, I know to some that is not a big deal, but over the past year I have really become a "gym bunny", I go at LEAST 4 times a week. SO the fact that it has been 7 days I was beginning to feel insane. Got that out of my system, came home and started making cupcakes. I had already planned on making them, G has a new boss starting tomorrow and I thought it would be nice to make some cupcakes to say welcome. No not trying to suck up, just being nice :)

G has had two already, Ethan is dying for his second, but will not get it until after dinner, as long as he eats his broccoli...literally :)

On another note, I find it amusing that you can create two beings and they can both be so different, case in point, when Ethan was a toddler he never found things in the bathroom amusing, i.e. the toilet paper roll or the toilet water. Addison, on the other hand, is quite obsessed with these things, the photos below demonstrate two seperate occasions (over the course of 3 days) where someone in the house failed to shut the bathroom door and also failed to keep an eye on what she was doing obviously :)

First find

Second find last night, what is not as visible, the soaking wet streaks of TP on the walls :)

Mel xoxo

Today was a Lesson

Ethan and Jade running from the waves

Today started good, well Addison is sick so thats not good, but the morning was nice and leisurely. We headed to the beach about 930 with some friends and stayed for about an hour and a half. I love going to the beach and I love taking the kids. I find it amazing still to know that they are getting to experience their childhood here. There is something so refreshing and soul renewing about going to the beach, I don't know if its this great expanse of water, the sound of the waves crashing, the sunshine, its probably a combination but its just fantastic. I hope that someday our kids can appreciate it like I do.

We got home and did lunch, then all three of us went down for a nap :) When I woke up, cause I heard Addison crying, I had a monster headache and so that never helps a day. I started thinking about the afternoon and was feeling pretty sorry for myself because I decided I was going to be bored out of my mind. I couldn't go anywhere, my bike trailer does not get here until friday, and I have not been able to go to the gym all week, because of said trailer and Addison is sick, and so all in all I was kind of grumpy about the impending afternoon.

I decided to fill up the kids pool so there would at least be that to do. Addison went BACK to bed for about half an hour, in the meantime Ethan had got up, spotted the filled pool and was ready to play. I took an Excedrin, and just made a decision to just ENJOY the afternoon, slow and all.

My beautiful boy

She poses now when she sees the camera :)

And you know what, I DID :) I just fell in love with my kids all over again. I took pics of them, and listening to Ethan tell his stories in the language and way that only a 5 yr old can, I forgot how awesome it is to just listen. When Addison got up she obviously wanted in on the action, snotty nose and all. So they played together, it was so wonderful. He was throwing buckets of water on her, she was laughing hysterically about it :) She will have her day when she can get him back, I keep trying to explain this to him, he doesn't seem to get it.

I am always trying to plan things for my days, be busy, run here and there and everywhere. I don't really like just sitting at home. I think today though was a lesson for me. A lesson to just STOP and enjoy. I don't need to be so busy, so busy that the precious moments that happen in the slow nothingness pass me by or I don't notice them.

Ethan making his "water glove"

He was being all pensive talking to me

Kisses for Brother

Enjoy the moment, enjoy the simplicity of my children's youth, enjoy the slow nothingness. Today I did :)

Mel xoxo

Finally

I am doing it, I am starting our family blog. Hopefully there will be some contribution from the other adult Mattey of the house, but it will mostly be from me. We have finally found a place that we both call home. Huntington Beach, CA USA. We believe we will be here for the rest of our lives and we look forward to the adventure and life ahead. Ethan and Addison will never really know any different than this being their home, and for that I am glad. I have the old fashioned ideals that you basically grow up in the same house, go to the same school, church, ball field, etc. It gives a sense of home and to me that is a wonderful gift to give to our children. I will get this blog rolling and get it more interesting with pictures, videos and things, but for now I just had to get the first post done! So here it is. I hope you enjoy experiencing our life through my point of view :)

Mel xoxo