Goals

Ok, so I am not the greatest at being a consistent blogger, but Levi did eventually enter the word via c-section on July 8^th, 2011.  That for me was a big blow to my pride, but I have given it to God.  Life keeps on getting more and more busy, but I am determined to keep my focus on what matters:  growing with God, raising my children, loving my husband and finding time to recharge myself (I am still trying to figure out how to do this).  Being the flawed human that I am I realize that in all the things that matter to me I can greatly improve.  I’d like to create some goals for myself in each area.

Goals:

Growing with God:

 1)   Find a weekly bible/Christian book study .  (I’d like to find one on parenting.)

       2)   Read the bible in the morning.  

       3)   Pray for my children.

 4)   Read the bible with my children.

Raising my children:

      1)  Finish the book The Strong Willed Child.  Last night I read about 50 pages before bed.

2)  Join a mother’s playgroup for support.

Loving my husband:

      1)  Schedule a once a month date night.  Currently we go on a date once every 3-6 months.  I recently dropped two of my three children at Wanna Play for a dentist appointment.  I felt guilty about leaving them at this kind of place, but they were alright.  (I think.)  With three very active boys it is hard to find a babysitter that can handle the amount of energy and will it takes to keep our boys alive and safe.  On another side note I feel like date night is more for me than for my husband.  I am always saying “we need to go on a date” and my husband doesn’t seem to desperately need it as much as me. 

2)  Pray for my husband.

Finding time to recharge myself: 

With everything else that is needed this one gets neglected the most.  I’ve always wanted to learn to knit and sew.  Well, my husband bought me a sewing machine for my birthday last June, but honestly it doesn’t seem fun t o me to try and figure it out myself.  In fact, it seems very daunting.  I prefer to be around other people, not by myself.  So to make the learning to sew happen I want to:

      1)  Take an intro to sewing class.  Maybe as my next Birthday present. 

2)  Run three times a week.  I struggle with this one constantly mainly because it only happens if I get up 30 minutes before everyone else to run on the treadmill.  Sounds easy enough, but most nights Levi wakes up at least once to nurse (Yes, he is still comfort nursing.) and he still nurses before his bedtime (now down to 20-30 minutes a night.)  Well, I need to toughen up and just get up and run, no matter if I have had a good night’s sleep or not.   My goal was to wean Levi by now and maybe I will start trying harder or maybe not.  It is just so much easier to nurse him when he wakes at 3 in the morning crying.  Many nights I try to let him cry, but after about 20 minutes I give in and just do what I need to do to get him to sleep.

3)    Spend time with friends and make new ones.  I hardly ever do this, but when I do it makes me immensely happy for weeks on end.  Considering how much happiness this brings me I need to work on this one more, but I am not sure exactly how.  I have even been dorky enough to google “how to make friends,” because some days I just wish that I had a friend that I could call and talk to about normal everyday things that I need someone’s input on.  Not to sound completely pathetic.  I do have some friends.  I just wish that I felt more a part of a community or had someone besides my mom to call and talk about personal issues. 

4)  Learn to knit.  It is on the list, but I think that I will focus on sewing first.  I kinda need to be a nice wife and at least open the sewing machine box from my birthday over 6 months ago. 

Baby Levi is coming in 8 weeks or less.

The last post was about Charlie the dog. (He even looked a little like Charlie from All Dogs Go To Heaven.) Wow, was that one night with Charlie an interesting one. Sadly, I quickly decided that I was not ready for the responsibility of training an out of control puppy. Just like any puppy would (I think) he chewed holes in two different pairs of my pants, while I was wearing them. He also devoured half a kitchen rug. We have safety gates to our kitchen, so the kitchen was basically his cage during his short stay. I am so happy that he did not chew on kitchen cabinets or something a little harder to replace. A few weeks later we found out that I was pregnant with baby Levi. Maybe the Lord knew that we should wait on the dog adventure until I have more energy and time for basically, what seems to me like having another child.

When thinking about family dogs that I loved I realized that all were over the age of four or more when we got them. My favorite, an old English Sheep dog was actually an old man dog. Prince was his name and he would sleep on the floor beside my bed. I tried placing him on my bed to sleep with me, but he probably needed more leg room. In high school my mother remarried my stepfather Donald Steensma. Prince was truly Don’s dog, but we all loved him and considered him our own.

Now, instead of a new dog, we are going to be the proud parents of three boys. Levi Jacob Perry is due on June 30th, 2011. Each family member is excited and is showing it in his or her own way.

Calvin, my first born, continues his quest for the perfect baby name. His first love was Jack-Jack, which I considered in the form of Levi Jack. If Daddy would have liked it then this could have been the new name. Daily he comes up with a new creation. A few minutes ago he said, “Do you want to name our baby Levi Edward?” I said, “I will think about it.” One day he looked at my belly and with his hand on me he started saying, “Levi, is this your foot or your knee?” I need to remember some of the other cute conversations he is already having with Levi.

Elliot informs us that he has a baby in his tummy too. He also likes to kiss my belly and say “I love you baby Levi.” I asked Elliot where baby Levi was one day and he lifted my shirt and tried looking through my belly button, saying, “in here.” We have a few books that Elliot really likes and I suggest for explaining the baby in mommy’s tummy idea to children. Hello Baby is Elliot’s very favorite and Before You Were Born is also a good one. Thanks to Grandma Steensma, we own both of them.

Dave and I are anxiously awaiting the birth of our sweet little babe. We want to know who he looks like and what his temperament will be. Of course, it is easier to see these characteristics a few months or more after the birth. It is fun to wonder what color of eyes and hair he will be given.

Since we are having a third boy I really do not need to buy much. I did treat myself and bought an upholstered, reclining, glider chair and a maternity/nursing pillow off of craigslist. The Theraline pillow is amazing and helping me sleep so much better. I hope it will be just as helpful with nursing. The kids also love my pillow and use it kind of like a beanbag chair to comfortably read books. The new chair is already my favorite in the house. It is so cozy, even to touch, since the fabric is a velvet type.

I made a list of things I want done before Levi comes. The best thing about a list is that I can choose to add and delete new “to do” items anytime I want. I am a crazy list person and love a list for everything, which is part of my OCD personality. I feel so “in control” of my life when I have a list. I do admit that the Lord has worked on me and has more work to do, since I have a hard time giving up “the control” to Him. Almost everything on my list is practical, but some things require a small amount of creativity. For example I want to get our photo albums caught up…very practical. I also want to make curtain hold backs for our master bedroom bay window, practical but I will need some creativity for this task. I bought the orange swirly fabric and ribbon and I do not own a sewing machine, so I am not sure how it will turn out. I know that sewing “by hand” can be very time consuming, but I also find it relaxing.

I wish that I could find more time for writing on my blog, I really enjoy it, even though I am not much of a writer. I usually end up feeling guilty for it, like I am ignoring my children, and I probably am, but I am always drawn back.

Dave and I both want a dog and tonight we might make our wish come true. As with everything Dave is calm and collected and I am nervous and indecisive. Sometimes dreaming is better than reality...I am hoping not in this case. I finally came to the conclusion that if even if we bring the dog home it is not permanent like becoming a parent. We can bring the dog back if it absolutely doesn't work, although I am not the type of person that likes giving up too easily. I know owning a dog takes time and energy. I just hope I have enough to give to this little puppy.



Growing up I had three dogs, two of which we had for 6 years or more. Daisy was a my first experience with a dog. She was a Spaniel mix. I loved her very much and I was only 6 or 7 when she passed away. My next dog was Puppy and was a Pekingese. We had him for a very short time and I never had a good bond with this dog. It was this experince that made me realize that I am not a small dog kind of person. My mother remarried when I was a freshman in highschool and into my life came Prince, a sweet and loving Old English Sheep Dog. Prince, by far was my favorite dog, even though he was actually my stepfather's pet. At first I might have been more excited about getting a new dog than my mom remarrying. Don, my stepfather was a sweet man, I was just more interested in animals. I gave Prince many baths. He would not step in and out of the bathtub, so I remember lifting this horse of a dog in and out of dirty dog water many times. He often slept at the foot of my bed. Prince knew when to be calm, but also loved playing fetch in our backyard...a perfect dog.



In the next few hours we will decide between Charile and Benjamin, since both dogs are on hold until 6 p.m. tonight. Both seem like they will be medium sized adult dogs, but Charlie does seem bigger. Charlie seemed calmer, but also more nervous. Benjamin interacted more with Calvin and Elliot and was happy to have attention from anyone, even our kids. After Elliot wakes up from his nap the kids and I are going to visit Charlie again to see if we can get him to open up a little more. I hope to bring him outside and see him play and loosen up a bit.

Why do I always feel overwhelmed?

I don't know if it is my personality or how I deal with stress, but I always feel overwhelmed. Sometimes Dave says "Rochelle, calm down," as he hugs me and rubs my back. Of course I could never be as calm as him. I usually feel as if my life is a hurricane and once in a while I can calm it down to a heavy rain storm. I do have those quiet moments to read a book or draw a picture but it seems too rare. I am not sure why I expect my life to be calm and quiet, since I have two exhurberant boys. Maybe that is what needs to change, my expectations. The Lord gave me two healthy boys. I should be grateful and try to embrace what I have. Prayer for today: "Lord, instead of murmuring swear words when I am frustrated with my children or my life, instead help me turn to you for peace and remember that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."

picture boards and super hero mask

I now have have the boards on the wall of our office displaying pictures of our family and friends. It makes me happy to look at them.

Calvin wears his mask daily. It makes him happy to be a super hero with cool garb.

Sick Day

Sometimes sick days are good, because we are forced to stay home and figure out something fun to do (for the non sick children). I must say that I do not enjoy being vomited on twice in one day, but weirdly enough I have almost gotton used to having some form of child dirt on my shirt. Yesterday I was lucky to have my tie die shirt on when Elliot decided to reject his carrots by spitting them in a five foot radius around him. I thought, yes, the orange carrot color blends nicely into the tie die orange. I don't have to change my shirt. Today the vomit was not the same color as my shirts, so I am wearing the third shirt of the day.

We have left over rolls of brown paper used for keeping the floors clean when our house was remodeled. The left over paper comes in handy for large pieces of drawing paper, wrapping paper and other craft projects. One day we traced Calvin's body and he drew in some of the detail, but I ended up getting more into than him. I am always trying to get Calvin into art and drawing, but really what he likes best are activities that involve moving. (Although, when it comes to a good book he becomes very focused and into the story.) Today we took a five foot piece of paper and placed it on the ground in the back yard. Calvin, Elliot and I all had a good time lying in the grass and drawing on our giant piece of paper. I ended up drawing a tree in our backyard, Calvin asked me to draw a rocket and Elliot got his daily fiber from the crayon wrappers and a little crayon wax to help it go down smoothly.

For the first time in months both of my children were napping at the same time. Calvin does not take naps anymore. (He sleeps in until 9 or 10 am fairly frequently though.) I chose to fix some fabric picture boards that I had made previously and wanted to make some changes to give them a more clean look. It was fun to start and complete a project without any interuptions. Yippy, I just love it when that happens.

Another recent fun project I did was make Calvin a super hero mask. It was quick and easy, but still, I had so much fun doing it. Now Calvin has a mask to wear along with whatever becomes his cape. He recently watched The Incredibles and is now very into super heroes.

Later I will post pictures of the fabric picture boards I made and of the "SUPER CALVIN" mask.

Texas vs South Dakota Snow

Last December was a bittersweet time for me I loved being in "real" winter without all the obligations of shoveling and scraping car windshields. It was like I was a kid again and had a chance to enjoy the best part of winter-sledding. I also had mixed feelings because my stepfather had just passed away and I was out sledding with my child. I just could not help it though, since I had not experinced the wonderful winter pleasures in seven years. Elliot had such a great time being pulled around in that infant sled, which by the way is so neat, because it has a belt to keep the child in place. Breathing in that cold air and getting my feet stuck in drifts of snow was just what I needed to relieve some stress and do some reminiscing both of my stepfather and of my childhood in a cold climate.

When I arrived back in Texas I was feeling almost spoiled that I had a chance to have fun in the snow and then come back to a warm Austin, TX winter. Just last week we had snow here in Austin and oh boy, did Cavlin and Elliot love it. A whole two inches that came and went in one day. It was fun, but nothing like the 25 inches Sioux Falls, SD piled up and will still be collecting for maybe a few more months.

This weeks fun kid activity.

My three year old started receiving the magazine Little Kids National Explorer. He enjoyed the first issue which included a science experiment with raisins. He loved measuring and pouring the correct amounts of water, vineager and baking soda into a cup. After adding a few raisins we waited for the raisins to "dance." Calvin and I watched those raisins very closely for what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes. I was surprised to find that after ten minutes only 4 raisins slowly rose and then dropped to the bottom. He almost fell of his seat when the first raisin gave us a show. It was cute to see him say the word carbon dioxide. After the experiment he made truck shaped art by gluing raisin onto dots I made on paper. I think it turned out to be adorable and it kept my wiggly three year old sitting for a whole glorious half hour.

I enjoy looking, but can I keep up with writing?

Ok, I love looking at people's blogs for recipes, fun DIY projects, parenting, and being a part of a community. I am not sure that I want to add more work to my life, but I admit that I have become a bit obsessed with at least the receiving end of blogging. Maybe I will take the plunge and see if maybe I can do a little giving back. I started a blog a few years ago, but I decided to take a 3 year break, due to my very active life with two boys.

My goals for blogging are :
1-document fun projects I do with my children and see what others do
2-show ways I organize my home in a beautiful, yet practical way
3-stay connected with friends
4-remember the small things in life that matter to me personally and help me smile

Dave and Calvin

Rochelle and Calvin

Rochelle's B-day celebration at The Cheesecake Factory

Dave and Rochelle

Little Things

Today I did not get much done, especially since I am sitting here typing on my blog. Calvin has his first cold. :-( He has had it since Monday. The runny/congested nose is a lot better, but the cough is still strong. Last Thursday he had his 6 month shots and that is when I believe he caught the cold. It is ironic that one takes his or her child to the doctor to be healthy, just to find that it is where he gets exposed to germs and sickness.

Calvin woke up at 8 a.m. today, which is very late for him. In the last week I've started Calvin on a schedule. His wake up time varies, but he has a nap at 9 a.m., 3 p.m. and goes to bed at 8:30 p.m. Since Calvin's cold started he's been waking up more at night to nurse and started refusing to eat his solids. Today I finally got him to eat a little rice cereal.

I was disappointed that I could not go to Cara's for the sister's fellowship, since Calvin is sick and the other babes cannot be exposed. This is the first Wednesday they've gotton together since before the break. I hope to go next week. It is good to get out and pray and talk with other mamas.

He started on solids about a month ago. So far he has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, bananas, and peas. He is definitely allergic to peas like his Daddy, so we will now know to stay away from those for a while. It took about 3 days of eating peas for him to develop a severe rash on his bottom. It is strange how one night there was nothing and then the next morning he had bleeding, peeling skin on his bottom.

Since Calvin woke up late our whole day has been a bit goofy. I did get to go on a 3-4 mile run today around 12:30. It was great to get outside and see the beautiful trees and feel the wind blowing in my face. Calvin must have enjoyed it too, because it lulled him to sleep. After we got home I made myself a green pepper, ham, tomato and cheese omlette and an english muffin, fed Calvin, took a shower, and now Calvin is napping, so here I am writing on my blog site.

Yesterday our schedule was thrown off too. We went to the UT campus, since I had an appointment with a graduate advisor. I need to take only one more class to get my Masters degree. It can be any 2 or more credit graduate level class in the education department. I am interested in taking a class called Literacy Aquisition. I've totally missed all the deadlines, but I know that if it is meant to be for me to take this class than the Lord will work out the details.

Calvin could wake up any minute now, so I better catch up on some important emails.

Wed Dec 27th

Well, here it is my first entry on my blog. Today I awoke at 5 am to travel back from Abilene. Dave went to work and Dad brought Calvin and I home. The car ride back was filled with coffee/muffin breaks and illegal nursing. We stopped at Starbucks twice. The second stop we added muffins and orange juice to our order. Aren't we adventurous. Dave gave me a sweet surprise to go along with the muffin. He gave me the soundtrack to the Charlie Brown Christmas. How sweet! The things that you can buy at a coffee shop are sometimes unexpected and even bizarre.
After Dad dropped us off and unloaded our luggage Calvie and I had the house to ourselves. I really wanted to have everything unpacked, but that did not happen. Instead I spent the afternoon reading blogs, listening to some church message tapes, putting a few things away and nursing and playing with my dear baby boy during those activities.
Dave came home early (around 4) and he has been in the garage working on his bikes. He did go to buy a tool and was kind to pick up some things at the grocery store for us. We had a frozen pepperoni pizza for dinner. Calvin actually went to bed at 9. Hooray! The earliest he has gone to bed in a few months.
While we were in Abilene he had some firsts. He slept in a laundry basket three nights in a row and he slept for 10 hours straight one night. The longest he has ever slept during the night. I think it is all because of my mom's wonderful advice about feeding him solids. I started feeding Cal cereal at breakfast and cereal and a vegetable at supper time. He had sweet potatoes for the first time on Sunday.
I better go do some unpacking. Bye for now.