Doggone Shoes!

I have oh so much to accomplish today, but when I found Rusten today, I knew it was a call to blog!

I found him with a pair of dress shoes (of all my shoes!). He was eagerly trying to put them on, got very frustrated (as all of us do when wearing shoes like that), and finally got them on. I think he walks better in them than I do! I actually got him to smile in the last picture by telling him to say "Hi Daddy!". I believe daddy will probably not like this so much......

You tell me...

Here's the proof of the infamous question...... Does Reed look like Rusten did as a baby?

Here they are in the same outfit...just two years apart! I actually think Rusten is four months old in his picture, and Reed is almost three months now. He's just bigger than Rusten was at this age!

Buh-Bye 2007!

I just finished boxing up all of my 2007 filing and moved it down to the church!!! And there was much rejoicing! My saint of a husband stayed up late with me last night helping me type up new labels for '08 files while I boxed up the old ones. I feel so much lighter now!

Now begins the task of setting everything up for 2008. This won't be so bad though, because I can do it however I want! Selfish, huh?! Last year I took over from someone, and didn't want to change-horses-mid-stream, so to speak.

I just took a lunch break and put the boys down. I have another 1/2 hour before Mr. Reed's next feeding. Better get to work!

In signing off, I'll share some pics from all of our birthday parties this weekend. Rusten had a party for his buddy Xander at My Gym, and then last night, we had Nathaniel's birthday party....enjoy!

Rusten in the balls - I think he threw most of them out at some point during the party!Bubbles!!!Uncle excited about our gift....can't have enough legos!More money! That'll go perfect with the other money that Rich has mischievously hidden...

The birthday cake!

Proverbs 31ish

If becoming the Proverbs 31 woman consisted merely of being the first one up and the last one to bed, I would have achieved it today! Everyone has been sleeping since about 8 this evening. It's amazing how much work you can get done when nobody needs juice, needs to go potty, needs a diaper change, etc. (I think you get it!)

After a busy weekend of house hunting (still nothing - keep praying), church, and a myriad of other events, I am ready to turn in. We are getting up early tomorrow to do the Walmart and Grocery shopping for the pay period - yeah! Shopping isn't the same with two rascals. At least they're adorable rascals!

With this short update, I leave you with this...

Fashionably Early

Without being repetative, I wanted to introduce my audience, small as it may be, to my new little nephew. He is doing better as of today. He has started drinking from a bottle. Momma Sherah got to go home today, yeah!! She's still down at the hospital all the time feeding Ryker and spending time with him. I will keep ya'll updated on his progress. We pray he comes home soon!!

Daddy and Baby Ryker.

Baby Ryker with his feeding tube - all gone now!!!

Put me back down!!!!

Sweet, Peaceful Baby Ryker!

All Grow'd Up

Yesterday was Rusten's 2nd Birthday. (Tears) I remember his birth as though it were yesterday.....but I won't bore you with the details.

Rich got off early today and we went to see our new Ryker. (We'll cover him later, that way they each get their own time! Hee, hee) While we were at the hospital, Grammy gave us the new Tickle-Me-Elmo. That thing's hilarious!! Then we went to eat at Johnny Rockets and had burgers. After dinner, we went to drive by the house we are wanting to buy. Then we went to Mimi and Grandpa's house to see Uncle and Jake, and to get our birthday gift. Rusten got some clothes and a game, Wac-a-Mole. What game company thinks it's a good idea to give a small child four mallets and call it a game?! Poor Reed has it coming, I can just see it now!

After you take a moment of silence for the safety of our family, take a look at these birthday pics...

Rusten and Rich waiting to order at Johnny Rockets.

Rusten snapping his fingers to the music in the restaurant and handing it off to Dad.

The infamous Wac-A-Mole.

Twice A Mother, Never an Aunt....Until Now!

My first nephew was born at 1:47am. How exciting! Ryker Root Essman finally made his appearance weighing in at 4 lbs. and 6 oz. and 17 inches tall. We will go see him later today. We'll let the birthday boys meet and celebrate together! We are so proud and excited for Uncle Nate and Aunty Sherah! God bless their new family!

With all the commotion in the night, it ended up being a long, long, long night. Grammy was so gracious to call us with all the updates. It made us feel like we were a part of the whole experience! However, it did make for a long night.

After such a long night, brothers just gotta hug.........

Our Pre-Birthday Weekend

We've been so busy this weekend, it's crazy! Aunty Sherah (Rich's brother's wife) has been in the hospital since Friday afternoon. She is pre-eclamptic and they have been trying to induce her. She is now 4 cm along and we are eagerly anticipating little Ryker's entrance into the world. It looks like Ryker and Rusten will be sharing a birthday.

We also got a much-needed haircut on Friday. It was our first haircut with clippers. Mommy is very sad because Rusten looks so grown up now!

In addition, we were prequalified for a home loan. We have selected a repo home that was built in 2006 and is in amazing condition. Please pray for us that we can get that home!!!

On Saturday, Great Aunt Carol came for a visit. She met Rusten and Reed for the first time. It's wonderful to visit with her again!

Sunday we were going to have Rusten's bday party, but since Ryker is holding things up at the hospital, we decided to postpone the party. Instead, we went over to Mimi and Grandpa's house to play with the puppy (Jake) and watch the Packers lose horribly.

Today Rich got off early and we went and looked at a couple more houses, as we are trying to buy a home. Then we had a big birthday dinner for me, Rusten, my brother Nathaniel, and Aunt Carol. It was delicious!

Well, I'm exhausted! Reed is officially in the room with big brother and mommy and daddy have their room back! Now maybe we can get some sleep!!!!

What a Day!

My day started at 5:45 with Mr. Reed who is starting to sleep through the night. Next came our upstairs friend's alarm radio, which she most proudly blares! The next layering sound was her daughter running and screaming while she blares her little keyboard. The final touch was my son knocking on his door (because he thankfully has not learned how to open doors yet) and completing the symphony of noise around 6:50!

My life has lately been consumed by folding giving statements for the church. I believe it came in at just about a ream of paper - yikes! With that and other end-of-the-year work being my focus lately, my desk has been neglected. Just so you would understand my grief, I thought I would capture the moment before I dug in...

Somewhere under there is my desk. I found most of the desk by about 4pm. The rest is left for tomorrow.

In all my searching for more organizational techniques, God gave me an idea recently about my menu planning. I've shared it with a few of you, and I thought I'd post it so you could see. I love to plan my menus up to a month ahead of time and have my shopping lists ready to go. With everything happening around here, I was lagging in my planning and God gave a fabulous idea! I planned 5 pay periods worth of menus with their corresponding shopping lists and now I can just rotate. Here's what it looks like:

See I can mark off what I already have before I leave and I have all my staples that I'll need already on my list so I don't forget! I know....I'm a dork! At least my family will continue to eat!

Lastly, my amazing husband gave me my birthday gift tonight. It's about 3 weeks early, but he bought me a new digital camera and he wanted me to have it this weekend for Rusten's birthday party. I'm so excited! What a wonderful guy!!! In honor of this new addition, here's a closing picture of each kid from tonight!

Potty Training

We officially crossed into the frontier of potty training. What a hoot! Rusten walked past me yesterday and the smell of his diaper about killed me. I decided then and there that it's high time he use the potty!! He is actually doing very well. This is now day two and since yesterday, we've only had three accidents, two of them being adult induced. I'm working hard at keeping up on him by asking if he has to go, but when you get confused between "yes" and "no" so easily, it's hard to really get a straight answer. Let me illustrate a conversation....

"Are you still dry?"
"No"
"Yes you are"
"Yes" (accompanied by a big smile)

Oy! I really am enjoying it. But if any of you have any potty training advice....I'm open!

Milk in the Cupboard

I chose this title because it best explains my life! Are you ever so busy that you're not even paying attention to what you're doing anymore...you're already moving on to the next 7 tasks when you're not through with the one at hand? This happens to me often, and has most recently led to me attempting to put the milk away in the cupboard.

Anyway...I am a mother of two handsome boys, Rusten (2 next week) and Reed (10 weeks), and the wife of one handsome man!

I do bookkeeping from my home for our church (just started a few weeks ago), the church we branched off from, the preschool our church runs, my grandfather, and for a trust run by an attorney I used to work for up north in Susanville, CA. I like to think of myself as a stay-at-home-full-time-working mom.

Needless to say, our lives are busy! I love every minute of it, and by the grace of God I survive it!

My goal is to blog regularly so that I can express my built up emotions from the day in a safe manner. Then I can also let family far and near get a glimpse into our home.