So much to be thankful for

So I have been trying to “wait” before I posted because I have been trying to soak up every minute of this Thanksgiving week with my family. I mean down to the second. I wanted to be able to remember every little moment of this week. It has been a very special week to me. Those of you who know me know that I am a VERY family oriented person. My brother and sisters are my best friends. Now that I have both of my sisters of at school and my brother and his family all in Arizona, you can see why I cherish moments like these. Although we haven’t done a whole lot besides sit around the house and just BE together, I have been in heaven. Some people don’t understand my excitedness (yes, I made up that word), but Adam and Jamie live in Arizona so we see them only a couple times a year, and Kris and Sarah are gone to school, so that just leaves me. Lucky mom and dad that they still have me!

Adam, Jamie, and Rori came in on Sunday afternoon, so as soon as our Open House was done we bolted towards my parents. We spent the evening trying to catch up on as much as we could while we stuffed ourselves with Olive Garden that my parents ordered and brought home.

Sarah came home on Monday and Kristen came home on Tuesday. Wednesday we were ALL together and my heart was happy. We just hung out and tried, yes, TRIED to watch Toy Story 3 and The Family Stone…but with 2 babies and a toddler, not much watching was happening. Wednesday night we had a smart idea that the kids and I would spend the night at my parents…probably the worst idea ever. I ended up with both kids in the same bed with me and was climbed all over all night long. No sleep for Tori. Thursday we got up and I took the kids and met Nic over at Nana’s house for the morning. Nic had to work until 2 so I went back to my parents for our huge meal and he met me there when he was done working. I tried taking everything in around me, the smells, the conversations, the company. We had over 20 people for dinner and I just wanted to sit and talk to everyone. Both sets of grandparents were there, my uncle, aunt, cousin and her family, my whole family, the Hams, and the Mastersons, which was AWESOME to see. It has been a couple of years since we have celebrated Thanksgiving with them, so it was great to have them there. Throughout the day, there were many visitors, which made the day exciting and I didn’t want it to end. The Clems came over in the evening since we won’t be able to celebrate Christmas Eve this year…thanks to someone having TWINS! The Spiveys also graced us with their presence! All-in all…FABULOUS day!

Throughout my meal, I started thinking about what I was thankful for. My brain kept rolling and rolling as I started making a list in my head of everything I had to be thankful for. Here are a few things that I am Thankful for this year:

I am thankful for:

*2 beautiful, healthy, growing children.

*a husband that works so hard to provide for his family.

*my siblings and sibling-in-law who love me as me despite my imperfections (which are many).

*the chance for my family to be whole for a week.

*a mom and dad who love each other

*my friends who I couldn’t live without.

*the blessing of being a mother and a wife

*my Savior Jesus Christs.

*a roof over my head.

*my beautiful niece.

*God’s protection over our family.

*forgiveness.

*a healthy family.

*the chance to stay home to raise my children.

*the love my family has and gives.

Of course there are MANY more things I am thankful for, but like I said before, I really want to spend as much time with my family as possible so I am gonna jet!

Bye Bye Pacifier?

So lately I have been processing my thoughts on how and when to take the "paci" away. I have been asking around and kind of delaying it for the fact that I am just plain scared of the results. I tried cold turkey the other day at nap time and I have never heard a child scream that hard and loud...not such a great day to be making changes. Several people have now told me to clip the end of her paci off a little bit at a time and then she will no longer want it thus ending the pacifier era. Well, I took this advice this morning and clipped just a tiny bit. After she was done with breakfast, she went to her paci, put it in her mouth. It took everything in me not to laugh as I watched her face turn to confused and then just plain disgust. After a few seconds she took it out, looked at it, turned to me and said, "it broke, mommy. It broke." She then threw it across the room, walked over to Bubby, pulled out his paci, and placed it into her mouth. Oh dear. She is smarter than I gave her credit for. This might be a long process. She cracks me up.

The Teething Monster

Well, as you can tell, it has been awhile since my last report…well for me it’s been awhile. The only reason why I have the time right now to blog is because my loving husband is tackling the 2 kiddos (and that is NOT an easy job!) while watching Toy Story 3. You know, it’s funny…you would think I would have the all the time in the world to sit down and right about what’s been going in the Minder household because I am at home with my kids all day long. HA…that is SO not the case. No, I do not go to work all day…but I DO work all day. If you are a mom, you know what I mean. Colt has me working overtime these past few weeks as his 2 bottom teeth have finally decided to merge from beneath the surface. I find it comical in a way how completely OPPOSITE my children are in every way possible. Hayden slept, Colton doesn’t. Hayden didn’t mind her teeth coming in, Colton does…a lot. Hayden didn’t like to snuggle at all, Colton wants to snuggle all the time. Both children are so unique and I love that about them. Anyways, it has been quite difficult emotionally and physically with these changes but somehow God continues to give me the strength to get through each day. I think Tuesday was my lowest point yet where I just wanted to crawl up in a ball and just cry just to cry. But, like I have said before, this is just a time. It won’t be like this for long.

Another struggle we have been having since Colt was born was him taking a bottle. He has taken a few since he has been born but recently just won’t take one. We have tried every bottle we can find, every different shape and size of bottle nipples. Nothing. He just would NOT take a bottle. Last night mom and I went to Babies R Us. I thought maybe we were just wasting our time but we came across and Playtex bottle that had a tan nipple. It was a different shape than the rest. We thought we would give it a try. I got back to my parents and stuck it into his mouth. To my surprise he started sucking. I was almost in shock! Praise the Lord. I tried a couple times today after pumping and he ate a little…but still not a lot. But hey, I will take that. He will get used to it.

So, to recap the last week…sleep has been little, crying has been a lot, prayers have been lifted overtime, patience has been lost, tears have been plenty. This is only a time. God will get us through this time.

Randomness

So…life here has been crazy busy…I have come to finally realize that the house will never be “clean” with four kids occupying it most days, 2 of which are running around like crazy, getting into drawers, getting out every single toy and bringing it from the playroom to the family room because heaven forbid they play with the toys in the actual toy room, changing diaper after diaper after diaper, and the list goes on…but the truth is, I would have it no other way. So many times I start to get so frustrated with all the crying, screaming, throwing fits, no sleep, but then I think, this is only for a little while. I can do it…right?

Nic and I have also been meeting with a lot of different people that want to know more about what we are doing and what Shaklee is all about, which has been so awesome to see. I think the thing I love most about it is we get to do it together. It isn’t just something I do, it is something WE BOTH do. I have loved watching Nic get so excited about it. We know that it won’t always be this busy, so we don’t mind it at all.

This week Colton has mastered sitting up! It is so awesome to watch! It was just like all of a sudden he was sitting…by himself! He has also been rolling from one side of the room to the other, which makes me laugh. He is also grabbing for EVERYTHING IN SIGHT, which then goes into his mouth. I just can’t believe how much he is growing. Well…not physically. We had his 6-month appointment last week and he is 14 pounds…which is the 4^th percentile…he hasn’t gained ANYTHING from his appointment 2 months ago. He has started on food, so hopefully that will help. He still won’t take a bottle so I am wondering if that has anything to do with it. Probably not.

Hayden has been keeping the house in excitement. She is such a funny little person. Seriously, she is such a crack up. Sometimes I don’t think so at the time…ha. In the last week I have seen her start to talk even more…putting a couple of words together at a time. Sometimes I get worried about her not talking when I see others her age that are talking in full sentences and counting. I just think she is too busy. She doesn’t have time to talk! She just runs constantly room to room, clearing out drawers, packing them up again, climbing on everything, falling, getting back up to do it again, torturing her brother by sitting on him, you get the picture. Hayden and Kinsley did get to have a play date with Bella Cramer, which was fun for them. It was extra fun for me to get caught up with Jaymie. We grew up together and have always had a special friendship. Even though we haven’t gotten to see each other in like a year, it felt like no time had passed. It was also just a great time to sit and visit with an adult!

This is a very random post, but this is our life….and I love it. Oh, and in a couple of short weeks my WHOLE family will be together. That’s right…Adam, Jamie, Rori, Kris, Sarah, Mom, Dad, Grandmas and Grandpas, Toni, CoCo, Mark, Nancy, Tom, Nic, Hayden, Colt, and me in the SAME place!!!!!!! I have to charge my camera! Hehe! Life is good! God is GREAT!

Here is Colton sitting up:

And I forgot to post some pics of Hayden's Halloween costume, so here you go! We did not go Trick-or-Treating, but we still dressed her up!

Hide and Seek

Me searching around the house for Hayden:

"Hayden??? Where are you???"

I check her room...nope.

I check the playroom...nada.

I check the bathroom...nothing.

I check Bubby's room...hmmm.

I see our door shut.

I open our door.

I start hearing giggling.

I see our bathroom door shut.

I open the door.

I see Hayden with chapstick in her hand smearing it all over her face. I see deodorant all over her shirt. I see her huge smile plastered on her face. Then I see...a WHOLE ROLL OF TOILET PAPER laying in the toilet. Really? The whole thing? How do you get that out? Hayden is so pleased with herself she starts jumping up and down. awesome. All of this while nursing Bubby.

I need a morning re-start

After a restless night with Colton, my alarm went off at 8:00 this morning right when he was starting to get hungry and right as I was starting to fall asleep again. So, I thought I would feed him as I drifted off to sleep for 15 more minutes of sleep. As I waited for the alarm go off for the second time, it started to feel like these 15 minutes were taking forever...and then it hit me, I had drifted off into that state of sleep where I had a fuzzy dream about my best friends, Tara and Steve were being very mean and decided not to be my friend anymore. I immediately woke up, almost in tears wondering if that dream was really true (don't worry, I called Steve and texted Tara and it wasn't real) and glanced at my phone...8:45...Sweet Jesus, I had Colt's appointment in 15 minutes in downtown Elkhart. I am telling you, I have NEVER gotten ready so fast, and what I mean about ready, I mean I: rushed in Hayden's room, scaring her to death, throwing a shirt and pants on her and then had to take the pants back off to put on a dry diaper (oops), shoved shoes on her feet, then had to take them off and put them on the RIGHT feet, ran and changed Bubby as he was screaming his face off, put on tennis shoes without socks, ran Colt out the door and strapped him in his seat, ran inside to get Hayden, well...search for Hayden, found her playing in the canister of sugar (great), strapped her in her seat to find that her hair was a crazy rat's nest and her face was covered with dried drool, figured I should maybe put on a coat to hide my pajamas (that's right..didn't even put on real clothes), ran inside to grab the first coat I saw, ran out to the garage for the 15 millionth time, glanced at the fridge on my out, looked at the card with the appointment time on it, stopped dead in my tracks, realized it said 9:50....took a breath, WALKED to the garage, unstrapped Hayden, bring her inside with her eyes in wonderment, walked to the garage, unstrapped Colton, bring him inside...still crying...and took another breath, realized I wasn't late and that I am a retard...SOOO...I walk to the bathroom because now I know I have time to actually get to looking decent, so I look in the mirror...hellooooooo white trash...I couldn't believe I was actually going to go out in public looking the way I did, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, put REAL clothes on with the proper under garments, brushed Hayden's hair, put socks on Colt after realizing he had nothing on his feet (my poor children), fed Hayden, wiped her face, change Colt, headed back out the door...this time feeling like an actual human being, got to the appointment right on time, carried both kids inside because heaven forbid Hayden use her legs, held Colt while he got his shots, watched Hayden's face in complete terror, watched Hayden hold her legs all the way out to the car (even though she isn't the one who got the shots), put the kids back in the car and headed home....now it is 10:30 and I can breathe again. Hmmm...maybe next time I will make sure I have the right time the night before.

Hello November

Helloooooo November! Is it me or are the months going by too fast?? I believe so. Well, this weekend was sure full of excitement!

Hayden had her 2 year appointment on Friday. I took the kids over to Mishawaka early so my mom and I could take Hayden to Toys R Us to pick out a toy with her birthday money from Aunt Maureen and Great-grandma Corten. Let me tell you, mom and I were laughing so hard watching Hayden parade around the store and stack up her own shopping cart with random toys that sparked her interest. We did, however, end up with a toy shopping cart and a baby doll….go figure. After naps, my mom offered to support me and go to the appointment with me. I can usually handle both of the kids on my own and am not afraid to tackle appointments on my own…but I was happy she offered to go! And let me tell ya, I am so THANKFUL that she did come…2 hours of waiting and only 5 minutes with the actual doctor kind of made for a crazy afternoon from a 2 year old and a 6 month old. They both did well, but it was still crazy. Hayden is now 26 pounds and 35 inches long. She is in the 52^% ile for weight and 92%ile for height. Nic is quite proud. The doctor said she looked perfect. I am excited to see Bubby’s growth this coming Friday…let’s hope and pray that it doesn’t take another 2 hours!

Friday night Nic had to work so I took the kiddies to my friends’, Jason and Whit’s, church for their little fall festival event. I forget what it was actually called! Anyways, Hayden had a blast. They had these huge blow up things for the kids to jump in and then different games. They also had face painting and of course Hayden just had to pick out the basketball…ha! I wish this church were a tad bit closer…I really like the people there! All-in-all…GREAT NIGHT.

Saturday Nic got off work early and went to the Notre Dame football game with his dad while I took the kids to the mall with Tara and Hannah. Tara and I always get in trouble when we go to the mall together…oops! Hayden ended up with some CUTE black boots though! We then ventured over to the Carlock’s where we spent most of the afternoon before dinner.

We continued the birthday celebrations for Hayden throughout the weekend as we celebrated with her Grandpa Jack at Bonefish. It was a nice time even though Colton blew out his pants and ended up in just his little jacket…even his shoes suffered. Hayden LOVED her presents and had to wear her new pink fleece yesterday. She cracks me up.

Sunday the kids and I got to spend the WHOLE day with Nic. We had a training meeting at the Flemmings…which was so great. Nic and I are so pumped to see that our dreams can actually be reality if we work for it. We are so thankful for all the support we have with our team and that our “work” is actually fun and filled with time with our friends. It was so fun to sit around and talk about how we will be going on free vacations with our friends and cruising around town in our free vans (hahaha!). This is our answer to prayer that we have been praying for for over a year. This is something we can do as a family, together. Yesterday was also a big accomplishment for Nic and I because we reached DIRECTOR!!!!!!!! We are so stoked and couldn’t sleep last night from all the excitement. We are so thankful for Kara and Kyle for sharing the Dream Plan with us and thankful for the Rahns for busting their you-know-whats until 11:30 last night.

After our meeting we took the kids over to Papi and Grammy’s. Although we kind of missed Trick or Treating, we still dressed Hayden up as a bumble bee. We were going to dress Colt up as a giraffe, but because of his fever, we thought that wasn’t the best idea.

Colton came down with a fever Saturday and was just not quite himself. Yesterday it spiked to 103.7…which scared me to death. We have been faithful in giving him Tylenol but he is just not himself. My dad tried giving him a cool bath in an attempt to cool him down. Tara even said that he didn’t seem to be his smiling self on Saturday. I just thought it was teething. He is still warm today but he is back to smiling and playing. The only good thing about all this is he is so cuddly. I absolutely love to cuddle with my babies.

Now that I read through all of this I have realized I am just all over the place, but oh well.

Happy November everyone!!!

Also, because Nic and I became DIRECTORS in FastTRACK, we were asked to write “Our Why” story. Kara always tells us that we have to have a why that makes us cry. This is our why:

New Shaklee Directors- October 2010

When Nic and I found out I was pregnant with my first child, we knew that there was no other option but for me to continue to work. I have always dreamed of being able to stay at home and raising my children and go to all the class parties and field trips. I dreamed of being able to be there for my children. Unfortunately we knew this wasn’t a choice that we had at this time in our lives. I continued to teach after my daughter was born and all through my second pregnancy. I cried most days, wishing to be at home with my daughter. It was the hardest thing to get her up in the mornings, get her ready, take her to school with me, and then release her to my mom for the rest of the day. Although I knew she was in the best of hands with my mom, I still wanted to be the one to be with her. I was so afraid I was going to miss all her firsts. The first time she rolled over, the first time she sat up, the first time she stood alone, the first time she walked. By the time I came home from any meetings, late afternoons of grading/planning, or conferences, I was totally exhausted and felt like I had no energy.

Not only did I have no energy for my daughter, but I had no energy for my husband. I felt like I couldn’t be a good mom, wife, or teacher. My heart was at home. We prayed and we prayed. We kept thinking there were doors opening for different opportunities, but they ended up shutting. There were many nights I stayed awake in tears knowing I had to work the next morning instead of being with my family. After my son was born we decided I would not return to teaching. I finally thought my prayers had been answered.

However, after a couple of months of worrying about finances and finding that our money was running out, my husband and I knew the only way to fix this was me going back to work. Again, I was in tears almost every day thinking about it. I sent in applications to different schools and daycares. I heard nothing and I still didn’t know what we were going to do. Many times I would call Kara Sears because I knew we were all in the same boat. Our passion is to be a mom and a wife.

While I was in Tennessee on a family trip, Kara called me and told me she knew a way that I could live out my passion. As soon as I returned home, I called Kara and met with her and her mom. It was then she presented the Dream Plan to me. I kept thinking, “this sounds way too good to be true. Is it?” I talked to Nic when I got home and we thought maybe this is our answer that we have been praying for. We continued to meet with Kara and Kyle and learn more about this business opportunity. This could give us the life that we want for our family, for our kids. Not only could be change the way we are living for the better, but we could share our passion with others and help them achieve their dreams as well.

Shaklee has provided a life for us that we could be healthier and wealthier. We have fallen in love with the products and see that they always work, always green, and always safe for our WHOLE family. This has become our passion, as a family. It is something that, together, we can share with others.