Late Night Thoughts

I'm up late and the house is quiet. 

Seems odd that everything is so still. Usually I'm trying to crank out different household jobs whenever the boys are asleep. Tonight is different though, because I can't stop thinking. I keep thinking about my job. 

My mommy job.

Never before have I been entrusted with so much responsibility. I have been entrusted with two little lives. Two little boys that watch every move I make. Every action and reaction. My attitude. My relationship with their Daddy. My relationship with GOD. They see it all. It's scary what they see because I know that I am far from perfect. 

I want with all of my heart to be a good mommy to my boys. And I am reminded daily that I can't be a good mommy without help. As much as I hate it, I am insufficient. No matter how hard I try I can't meet all of their needs. I can't keep them from all the harm and hurt that comes with life. I don't respond correctly all of the time. I don't make right choices. I choose sin over God. I fail.

Which is why I pray that my boys see my desire for God, imperfect as it is. I pray that my boys see the choices that should be made. That's why I pray that God would protect them from harm and hurt. That's why I pray for grace in raising my boys. 

I'm an imperfect mommy trying to show them a perfect God. 

A God that is sufficient. A God that never fails.

Random Things

Several Recent (and random) Things

1.) I have been on a new recipe kick for the last week. The other day the temperature only got up to 88 degrees and so I was feeling rather "fall-ish". (Sad that 88 degrees is bringing out the "fall" in me.) Anyway, I decided to make a pumpkin pie. OH, MAN. It was SO, SO good. I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman. She has a recipe for the perfect pie crust...meaning anybody could make it. It's practically impossible to mess up. (Which is good because Everett was helping me at the time and he might have made me a little heavy handed with a couple of the ingredients.) Yeah. So we ate that pie in less than 3 days. Yum-o.

2.) I have started drinking Diet Mountain Dew...occasionally. This is a sad day in my life. I think diet Dew is an acquired taste. I'm working on acquiring it. My reasons for switching to the somewhat less tasty stuff can be summed up in one word. Zero. Yes. Zero calories my friends. Like I said- it's a sad day.

3.) Everett got picked on for the first time while we were at Arctic Circle. This was harder for Mommy to handle than it was for Everett. This kid- who is about a year older than Ev- decides to push Everett out of the way repeatedly because he wanted to play with the steering wheel that Everett had. That's not a big deal to me. I figure Everett needs to learn to be easy going about that type of thing. But then Everett was trying to go down some stairs backwards on his hands and knees to get away from this kid and the kid starts hitting Everett on the head. Ev starts saying "No" and puts his arm over his head. The little kid starts hitting him harder. Mommy starts to go into "beast mode." Daddy quickly diffuses both situations by making Mommy hold Easton while he goes to get Everett. Like I said, it was harder for me to deal with than it was for Everett. Good thing Tyler was there. :) Everett's version of the story: "Mommy- Boy. Hit head. Slide again." As you can tell he didn't really care. He wanted to slide again. Apparently the lesson was for me to learn. :)

4.)  Volleyball is starting up again soon! I cannot tell you how excited this makes me! I have been planning out a BUNCH of stuff for the past month. Every time I finish I think how much I wish it was starting NOW. But, now it's only a little more than a week away. Woohoo! Yeah, so if anybody is really excited about watching a fun loving 2 year old and a very happy 2 month old during a couple of volleyball games, let me know. :)

5.) Easton had his 2 month check-up recently. He is in the 18th percentile for weight (not a surprise since Everett was the same way at this age). And he was in the 61 percentile for height. Somehow, we have tall boys. (Ev is in the 96th percentile for height.)  I'm not sure how, but we do. :)

6.) I learned recently that my back is not completely healed. I tried my Insanity workout and ended up at the chiropractor. Lame-o! Apparently I need to still take it a bit slower than I would like. 

7.) Everett is starting to finally make it back to where he was in his potty training since Easton was born. He regressed quite a bit (like all of the books and other moms warn you about :)) and now is getting the hang of it again. He never fully had #2 down before Easton was born but had #1 pretty much under control. Once Easton was born he starting just going all the time...anywhere and everywhere. It was great. But now he has gotten so much better. He hasn't had a problem with #1 in about 2.5 weeks and he hasn't had trouble with #2 in about 9 days. YAY. 
Okay, I'm done talking about bodily functions. 

8.) Easton has been such a GOOD sleeper! He is generally a very happy baby. He only starts to get mildly fussy when he is getting tired. Other than that he is very content. He has gone 8 or more hours straight the last 6 nights. I. Am. Spoiled. 

9.) Tyler's lawn business has been EXPLODING. It's so neat. In the last two weeks he has gotten about 5-6 more lawns. That's a big deal when your previous total was around 12. He is now mowing 4 days a week and also has a couple of lawn "projects" that several customers have given him. Everett asks every time Tyler leaves to go mow if he can go too. (I keep telling him, "Just wait- in several years you WILL be going along and I'm not sure you'll want to then." :))

 10.) I can't help but share a picture of my sweet boys...well, at least 2 of the 3. :)

Those eyes. They get me every time. Love, love, love.
 
 Hope you all enjoy the last days of summer vacation!
 

Some of Easton's One Month Pictures

I thought I would share a couple of pictures I've taken recently of my sweet little Easton. 
I have had a lot of fun with my super duper camera that my parents got for me for Christmas last year. This camera makes a terrible picture taker like me look pretty good. :) Haha!
Here are just a couple of Easton's 1 month pictures. 

I can't even begin to describe how much I love my boys...all 3 of them! :)

Life With My Two Little Guys

I am SO BLESSED. 

There are no words to describe how loving my heavenly Father is to give me such a sweet family. I certainly don't deserve them, but I am so grateful. 

I have been having so much fun with my two boys. Yes, we are busier. Yes, there is more laundry. Yes, there is more noise. Yes, there is a need to change diapers again. Yes, there is less sleep. But it is so worth it! 

My sweet littlest "minion" at 4 weeks old

My sweet oldest "minion" helping me bake cookies

To bring you up to date, I thought I would share just a little bit about how Easton made his way into the world. 

Mommy and Easton just a few minutes after he was born

He was born on June 1st weighing 7lbs. 7oz. and measuring 21 inches long. (He was smaller than Everett who weighed 8lbs. 3oz. and was 20 inches long.) Everything went so smoothly and relatively quickly- AMEN! We were released from the hospital not even 24 hours after Easton was born. He was born at 10:48pm and we were out of the hospital by 3 o'clock the next day. It was really nice to be able to go home so soon!

See how glad we are to go home- haha!

It took me quite a while to recover from being pregnant and from having Easton. Apparently I did something to my back 2 weeks before Easton was born. I thought it was just the way that Easton was positioned that was making me so terribly uncomfortable. You should have seen me trying to walk around. It was pathetic. I had the most exaggerated waddle that any pregnant lady has ever had. (And that was with me trying to disguise it as much as possible.) I was in a significant amount of pain, which I thought would go away as soon as Easton was born. But as it turned out I still waddled just as much as before Easton was born. Apparently my back wasn't bothering me because of how Easton was positioned. Anyway, one month and 1 week later (plus 6 visits to the chiropractor) and I am able to walk like normal, sleep comfortably, and can (almost) run! Yay! (You don't realize how wonderful it is to feel normal until you don't feel normal for a while!) :)

Everett has been such a good big brother to Easton. He gives Easton hugs and kisses and he LOVES to hold Easton on his lap. However, at times Everett decides he needs to yell at the top of his lungs when Easton is crying. He usually yells things like: "STOP!" and "BABY LOUD!!"  Yeah...it's funny the first couple of times, but then it gets a bit overwhelming. Haha. :) Everett has also officially named the baby: "MY baby." He's already pretty possessive of his new little brother. It definitely warms my mommy heart. :)

So far our family has fallen into a new normal with a new routine. I've survived my first several outings to the grocery store with both boys by myself, and I've gotten both boys into a good napping routine that allows me about 2 hours in the afternoon to get stuff done...or just nap.

I am loving my sweet little family and all of the sweet memories that we've already made together. 

My Favorite Memories of the Last 5 Years

Tyler's and my 5 year anniversary is today and I started reminiscing a little bit. So here are a few of the high points (5 actually :)) from our last 5 years of marriage together...in pictures. :)

1.) We got married! 

2.) We moved out to Twin Falls, Idaho to begin teaching at TFCA.

3.) We had sweet, little Everett.

4.) We bought our dream house!

5.) We became a family of four when we had sweet, little Easton. 

I am so thankful for the marriage and the family that God has given to me. I am so undeserving of such a wonderful gift. 
I can't wait to see what God will do in our lives in the years to come. :)

Family Name Wall Hanging

So here is another DIY project that I completed a while ago and am just now getting on my blog. :) Typical, I know.

I have a little window in our living room that connects directly with the kitchen. I wanted something hanging directly over the window, but I didn't want to hang curtains there because you would still be able to see the backside of the curtains when you were standing in the kitchen. I know I'm not explaining this very well, but just trust me when I say it probably would have looked weird. :) So I decided make a wall hanging using our last name.
Here's what I did:

I got a bunch of different colors of scrapbooking paper. I made sure that it matched my other living room decor and I also made sure to choose a variety of colors, but few enough that I could repeat the same color on a couple of the letters. (This was easy to do since SCHAFFER is somewhat of a long name.)

 Then I took the letters of our last name (I got some cheap-o ones from Michael's) and traced around them. (Make sure you do it with the paper right side up and the letters right side up.) Then I cut out the traced letters.

 TADA!  Then I coated the top of the Michael's letter with Mod Podge and stuck the scrapbooking paper cut-out on top. I let that dry under something heavy...like a book. Then I coated the top of the scrapbooking paper with another layer of Mod Podge. I let that dry, but I kept a careful eye on it just incase the paper started to bubble up anywhere.

   Time consuming part DONE!  Next I cut ribbon to hang the letters with. I just cut the ribbon in strands that were the same length. Then I hot glued them to the backs of the letters. 
Then using another length of ribbon I threaded the ribbon through the ribbon attached to the letters and tied it to a curtain rod that my hubs then hung on the wall for me! Piece of cake!
 Thanks for reading! (Below are pictures of the finished product.)

Moments of Merriness- Pregnancy Style

I couldn't help myself. There just needs to be some sort of humor involved when you hit 32.5 weeks pregnant. So I have compiled a list of things that remind me I'm nearing the end! :)

 

You know you are nearing the end of your pregnancy when…

When asked how far along you are you can respond in many different ways. Do you want to know how many months, weeks, days, or hours I have left? A pie chart with percentages, perhaps? (FYI- I am 80% of the way there.) :)

When your child comes to show you something while you are standing up and he suddenly disappears underneath your belly. Poor kid...I can at least HEAR what he is saying, just not see him...

When you get into the car and realize that you can’t reach the pedals very well because you have to scoot your seat so far back to allow room for your belly. (That clutch can get a little tricky...)

When you start debating in the middle of the night about the pros and cons of attempting to roll over onto your other side. Pro- I will be more comfortable on my other side. Con- I may get stuck half way over and need assistance.

When you start getting SUPER excited about the warmer weather simply because that means you won’t have to struggle to reach all the way down over your belly to put your socks on in the morning. No, REALLY.

When climbing one flight of stairs feels like you’ve accomplished the equivalent of running a marathon.

When your 2 year old starts to finally realize that you are shaped rather strangely these days...and is unsure what to do about sitting comfortably on your lap.

When your belly starts to take on the shape of a torpedo instead of a beach ball.

When you begin using only the handicapped stalls in public restrooms for fear of getting wedged in between the door and the toilet in an ordinary sized stall. (This is a true story, I am ashamed to admit…who made bathroom doors open IN instead of OUT I’d like to know!)

When you start focusing on only your hair and your feet when accessorizing or primping in the morning because those are the only parts of you that you feel have remained relatively “untouched” by the effects of your pregnancy.

When you fear taking more than one sip of your beverage at a time because multiple gulps might send your bladder suddenly "past the point of no return."

When your husband is contemplating sleeping in the guest bedroom because you snore like a bear at night. My poor Tyler. He is such a trooper!

When you go to hug someone and you feel like all you’ve done is put your hands on their shoulders because that’s as close as your belly would let you get…yeah, awkward.

When sitting in a chair requires more faith than usual…as in, “I have no control past a certain point...so I’m going to just plop down and hope the chair is still there and that it can handle this sudden amount of downward force.”

When staring at raw hamburger meat suddenly brings you to tears…yeah, try and explain that one to a concerned hubby…(It happened when I was pregnant with Everett, and it happened again with this baby...I have no explanation...)

When you repeatedly bump into people or objects with your belly because you don’t realize how much you really are sticking out there.  (Just ask Everett how many times I’ve accidentally knocked him over recently.)

When all you can think about is holding your sweet new baby…and knowing that ALL of the pregnancy "woes" are only temporary, and baby was SO WORTH IT.

Everett- 3 days old

 

My Little Everett is TWO!

It seems hard to believe, but my little Everett is TWO years old! I can't figure out where the time has gone! (Isn't that what every mom says? :))  Really though, it's true. I feel like just yesterday he was a tiny little newborn.
It's also hard to believe that in just 81 short days (or so the doctors tell me) Ev will officially be a big brother! Man. I must be getting old.  

This last weekend we had a party for Everett's birthday. We had a lot of fun and Ev was totally spoiled! My little man LOVES to shoot hoops. For Christmas Tyler's parents got Ev a basketball hoop and Ev spends A LOT of time shooting. So, we decided to have a basketball themed party for him. As far as we could tell, he really liked it! We had basketball cut outs on the walls, orange balloons with blue streamers, we moved his basketball hoop out into the living room, and I made (or attempted to make) a basketball court/basketball cake. I had so much fun getting stuff ready for his party. The whole time Ev could tell something different was going on, but he didn't understand that it was all for him. (If asked his age, he still tells us that he's "un" (one)- it hasn't quite sunk in for him yet. Haha)
Anyway, we had a lot of fun at his party. Ev even managed to blow out his candles all by himself! I was just getting ready to help him do it after his 3 failed attempts, but he got it on the fourth try! (We had been practicing.) :)

So now, because Ev is two, he sits with us in church during the song service and then gets dismissed during the last hymn to go to his 2-3 year old class. So Sunday was his first time in the church service. (Or "big church" as we call it at our house.) He did really well! He did give rousing round of applause to the choir after they finished their song, but other than that he did really well! (It was pretty hilarious, actually!)

Ev also had his two year check-up a couple of days ago. The doctor came in and immediately said: "You know you have a giant of a son, right?" (Haha- I took that in a good way.) Apparently, Ev is in the 96th percentile for length (36 and 3/4 inches), and in the 69th percentile for weight (28.7 pounds). According to the doctor he also has large feet and hands. (We have told Everett repeatedly not to get used to being tall because...well...have you seen his Mom and Dad?) :) 

I also had a doctors appointment recently and everything is looking great! Baby is growing great and his heartbeat is strong and healthy. He is VERY active- I don't remember Everett moving around as much as this little guy does. :) But nothing warms a mommy's heart has much as feeling your little baby move!  I also survived my glucose test. (That orange drink is SO NASTY.) Thankfully, I don't have gestational diabetes. That's always nice...

Tyler is still busy with school, though things have slowed down considerably for him. Sports are over as well as RMACS. It's really nice to have everyone at home in time for dinner at 5! It's heavenly! :)

So there you have it. You are updated on the lives of the Schaffers!
I thought I would include some pictures of Everett's party as well. Hope you all have a great week!      

Some of our decor

Daddy helping Ev open presents

The cake- the basketballs were chocolate and the court was vanilla

Haha- too much birthday?

Getting ready to blow out the candle!

He asked for chocolate- it was a hit!

"You're done with pictures now, right Mom?"