Happy Birthday Lana

Lana turned 4 years old on Sunday! I have no idea how she got to be 4 already, seriously. But somehow it happened.

We started off the morning with Rene's good friend Adam coming over super early to help set up the swing set in the back yard. When Lana woke up and had breakfast it was all ready and we surprised her with it. She was thrilled.

Then we went to Paint Yourself Silly, a pottery painting place, and met with Lana and Kaya's friend there.

Daddy kept Zoe entertained

Lana painted a kitty bank

Then we went home and had a little party in the yard. The neighbour girls came and joined in too.

Lana opened presents

And we had food.

And a Wall-e cake.

Lana had lots of fun. She tells me she misses being 3, but I think being 4 is growing on her. I'm so proud of the little girl my baby is blossoming into.

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Scottish word of the week - week 1

I'm going to start teaching you all some of my favourite Scottish words. Your challenge is to try to use them in one sentence through the week. Hehe. (I know Matt and Christa will try if no-one else does!)

Week 1 - Scottish word is - SCUNNERED

To be scunnered is essentially to be miffed off, or disgusted, or annoyed or put off something. We generally used it also to mean "up the creek without a paddle". You're basically screwed, nothing you can do to help the situation - you're scunnered.

Example: I've blown all my money at the bookies, now I'm totally scunnered.

William Scott, you can probably provide me a better example. :)

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More photos

on smugmug. I finally had a chance to get them edited and uploaded. Here are a few highlights.

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Falling is fun

First I fall flat on my face and Daddy looks like he's going to sit on me, but really he's running for his life to save me.



He assesses the damage and regains his balance (it's a steep hill)



Then he scoops me up, all conserned like.



Until he notices how happy I am.



Woohooo falling is so much fun. Mum says I'm "mental". I'm just an adrenaline junky.

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Kaya's new do

She wasn't very happy about me taking the photo! But her hair is cute. She's had it this short before, but not with the bangs. I like it a lot.

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Mmm home grown tomatoes

taste SO much better than store bought

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Singing in the shower

I love to sing in the shower. I usually sing some sort of praise song, or maybe a bit of Counting Crows or some Nuno to get me energized and ready for the day.

Rene usually has his shower before the rest of us are out of bed. I always imagined him as the sort of guy to sing Nirvana in the shower, or maybe The Final Countdown - it's his theme song.

But all such illusions were thrown out of the window this morning. He had his shower after 9am and I heard him singing with much enthusiasm, and even a funny little accent - "I feel pretty, Oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and gay".

Whatever helps you feel good about yourself for the day I guess. Just not what I had expected.

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Lana's stent

The stent that Lana had inserted in her eye on Monday has dislodged itself and is sticking onto her eyeball now. Poor girl, it's really irritating her.

The Dr had warned us over and over not to let her rub her eye or nose and Lana was doing great at that. But she was in the wading pool, and I think she splashed it and rubbed it instinctively because it was wet.I hadn't realised it was quite that delicate.

So we're sitting back hoping it stays in as long as possible. It was supposed to be in for 3-4 months, then they'd remove it. It hasn't even lasted a week yet. The Dr said the longer it stays in the better, and he said if it sticks outside, they can tape it to her nose, which sounds awkward. The longer it stays in, the more chance of her tear duct staying open afterwards. So we just want to keep it in as long as we can. I sure don't want to have put her through all that for nothing.

Now if it does come out after Monday, we're no longer insured. Joy joy. We've submitted an application for medicaid so hopefully we can backdate things to cover this period if we're found eligible. They said it can take 45 days to process the application. Sometimes I do miss the NHS. Mind you, on the NHS we had to wait on a waiting list for months and months just to see an eye specialist, so I guess there are pros and cons.

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Beached Whale

I can't believe I'm already at the beached whale stage of pregnancy. I'm only 29 weeks pregnant, just started the third trimester but I'm already feeling huge and uncomfortable.

I guess it's partly because I'm older now than I was in my previous pregnancies...a few years closer to the big 3-0. (I'm still just 27 now though, still 3 years til I need to worry about that). And because this is the first time I've been pregnant and in Nebraska in the Summer at the same time!

I just can't get cold enough. I'm always hot and thirsty. My pelvis hurts so bad, I can hardly bend down to pick up all the toys and dirty laundry the girls (and Rene) keep dropping on the ground. I need one of those grabber things so I don't need to bend. I have to sit down to dress myself or else my pelvis feels like it's going to snap, and getting out of bed 5 times a night to pee hurts it so much. I'm not sleeping well, I'm getting headaches, I just want to lie in the air conditioning with a fan blowing on my face all day. I'm too old for this. And at least 11 more weeks to go, if not more.

I'm getting really broody now too. Looking forward to holding my Turtle and getting to know him or her. And taking photos of the little feet and giving them a bath and smelling their head and touching the folds and wrinkles. I'm so looking forward to it. Just gotta survive this Summer first.

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Update on the job hunt

Just to let you all know, the interview was cancelled. Supposedly postponed but they haven't contacted back yet. Bummer. But he has another one for a different company on Monday, and is still applying for more every day.

God's providing for our needs still. I always find these times really humbling and it's always a good opertunity to get closer to God and remember how much we depend on Him. And it's always wonderful when you see Him do the little things to help provide our daily bread.

Sorry for all the e-mails I haven't responded to. Rene's stealing the computer all the time these days so I don't have much chance to respond. The sooner he gets out to work the better! Plus the house is so much messier when he's here, for whatever reason. And it smells like man. So yeah keep the prayers coming, we want him out of here from 8-5. hehe.

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Lana's surgery today

Lana had her eye surgery today. She was fasting from last night and we woke her at 5.30 this morning to get ready to leave. She complained a little of being hungry but not too much.

When we got there, Kaya and Zoe were going crazy so Rene took them away to breakfast while I got settled in with Lana. She got in her gown right away and played with some toys, then switched on the TV and was mesmorized with playhouse Disney.

I wasn't overly impressed with the staff. It felt like someone new walked in every minute to give me conflicting information. And they seemed to expect me to sign consent forms without reading them! I had to practically pry one away from a nurse's hands at one point to read it first.

They wouldn't let me go through with Lana for her to have the gas to put her to sleep. So they wheeled her away in a wagon, which she enjoyed, and they brought her back to me after she had awoken from the anaesthesia. Her eye was swollen and she had blood pouring from her eye and left nostril. She had an IV in her hand and was crying that it hurt and she wanted it off. She was groggy from the medication and was begging me to take her home. It broke my heart. She said "I don't like this place anymore".

Then she started crying for her Daddy. She didn't want me anymore. She wouldn't let me touch her and she just said "I want my Daddy". I called him and he must have sped across town cause he was there in a heartbeat. She was much calmer after he arrived. She's such a Daddy's girl these days.

They took out the IV and we got her dressed and we went home at 9.30 am. As soon as she got home she went straight to bed and was out cold again. She woke up once at about 2pm to ask for medicine and take 2 sips of apple juice then she was straight back to sleep. At 4.30 we started to get concerned that she wasn't waking so we called the hospital again. While waiting for them to call back she woke up and felt much better! She ate a few bites of a bagel which she's kept down so far and she had a whole cup of apple juice.

She's even sitting outside in the wading pool, which is empty, playing with kaya. Her eye is still swollen and bleeding a little. She's on eye drops 3 times a day. And she has a follow up appointment tomorrow. Seems she's doing great though. She seems happy.


While Lana was sleeping it off, Rene took Zoe across to the hospital to get her EKG things strapped on. She's walking around now with the things stuck on ehr and the machine part on her back, like a backpack. She doesn't seem to mind it. Hopefully it will all come out normal. It's a 24 hour thing, so we'll return it tomorrow afternoon.



And while I've been typing this, Rene has been on the phone to a company he's applied for, who want him to come in for an interview tomorrow afternoon! Please pray it goes according to God's will. Man Rene's been quite the hero today.

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Grilling and killing bunnies

We had some of Rene's old collegues over for some grilling and playing killer bunnies last night. It was a lot of fun.



Rene's friend Adam made the burgers and grilled them. Since going veggie I don't like to handle meat if I don't have to. I always have an aversion to cooking it when I'm pregnant anyway. I grilled some Boca burgers for Lana and I, and it was scrummy with some grilled pineapple, pickle and Famous Dave's sauce on top, oh and a slice of pepper jack cheese. Mmmmmm





We sat out for a while, but it was looking stormy so we came in and finished our game inside.

'Twas an enjoyable evening.

Today we've been out at a swimming pool with some friends. The girls had a blast and I have sunburn on my shoulders. I use california baby lotion for the kids, which I love, but at $20 per bottle I don't use it on myself very much. But I should have today. Ouch.

Anyway I have to get off the computer, Rene had to give back his company laptop and he needs online to do some more job applications etc since he won't have time to work tomorrow. Lana has her eye surgery tomorrow, then Zoe has a pediatric cardiology appointment (gotta squeeze them in while we're still insured!). So I have to let Rene get on the machine (which is also the company's and we'll have to give back soon! Thankfully we have one my dad gave us still, we just need to set it up with these hard drives).

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Zoe in the sand

I met at the park with a moms and babies playgroup the other day. Zoe was playing in the sand. I thought she looked cute with her hat and shades.

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Job - less

We had a late night last night and were being lazy this morning. At 9am I hadn't given the girls breakfast yet, we were just lying around in bed, being silly. When suddenly Rene walks through the door! I hadn't expected it and got a bit of a start.


He had gone in early this morning, as he's been doing recently. But at 8.10am his boss called him in to tell him he no longer had a job.


Things had been getting nasty around there recently anyway. They have a vote coming up next month which decides whether the company is getting shut down or not, and everyone's running around like headless chickens. Rene has been putting in 14 hour shifts, working at night on his laptop, living, eating and breathing his job trying to hard to get this project finished. He's put his all into it. But supposedly it has not been enough and they still gave him the boot. I think they needed someone to blame for the out-of-control feelings they have going on right now and Rene fit that position. He was the last of the IT department to go, they only have contracters now, so I guess we should feel happy he lasted thus long!

It's not great timing for losing a job with Lana's surgery this month and us having a baby in September. We have insurance through the end of June, which will cover the surgery, but not her follow up visits or when she needs to have the stent removed. Zoe's getting a 24 hour ekg done too, which hopefully will be covered, but not any follow up that needs done on that.

Anyway God will take care of us, He always does. Rene's on the phone with a recruiter as I type. Something will come up and we'll be ok. And I guess for now we just enjoy the ride. We'll look back and laugh I guess. Any prayers would be appreciated though!

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I feel gross

Lana just left the bathroom door open and I walked in to see Zoe standing dipping her cracker in the toilet water and eating it. Oh my gosh. No wonder she gets sick so often!

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Loads of new photos

Just uploaded to smugmug. Check them out.

Here are a couple previews.

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Yummy couscous

I got the recipe here and added quorn fake chicken breasts to it. It was scrummy. Even the carnivores in the family enjoyed it.

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Earth friendly cleaning

This is not my photo, I grabbed it from the web cause I couldn't be bothered taking my own.

Ever since finding out that breastmilk contains toxins, because of all the chemicals in our environment , I've been trying to slowly reduce the amount of chemicals I'm exposing myself to. Zoe's not showing signs of giving up nursing, at 15 months old, plus I'm growing a baby in there, so that's double reason to try to keep the toxins at a low level.

I bought these laundry magnets and though I'm not 100% convinced they work...I am at least able to reduce the amount of detergent I'm using. The clothes are getting clean with just the magnets but they still smell bad sometimes. I only need about 1tbsp detergent per load and its working out pretty well.

And I've started making my own cleaning solution for cleaning kitchen/bathroom etc. It's made of vinegar, water, lavendar essential oil and tea tree oil. The vinegar cleans, the lavendar helps with the stink of the vinegar and the tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant.

It works fantastically well, I especially am pleased with how it cleans the floor. Instead of a big bucket of soapy water which ends up filthy, I'm just spraying the floor with the cleaning spray, then moping it with a damp sponge. The floor is shiny and not sticky. And I don't have to worry about nasty chemicals which are often more dangerous than the germs we're trying to clean with them!

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Lana's prayer

I heard Lana praying in the back seat of the car last night. I didn't catch it all but the parts I heard were,

"Dear God, thank you for the sunshine. Please make the sun keep shining. Please give me my own cat if I stop twisting my hair. Oh and God, Happy Father's Day"

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Hey monkey

I made a music video of my monkey.

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What a cute face

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Belly Shot

I don't usually like taking or seeing or posting belly shots during my pregnancies, cause I mostly just look like I ate some more pizzas and don't really look pregnant. But Kaya took this one and I thought it was sweet.

So here I am at 27 weeks along with Turtle. And 27 weeks brought the third trimester with it big time. I'm feeling it for sure. My pelvis is sore, I get heartburn all night and can't get comfortable in bed. I'm crying at stupid things for no big reason (man I bawl at the Land Before Time, when his mother dies...oh my gosh! Floodgates).

But it's all good. I do enjoy the process of making life. And I'm very excited to meet this little Turtle.

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Conversation with Lana

Lying in bed this morning, snuggling with the girls and trying to put off having to actually get up and face the day, Lana asks me,

"why do mummies have big scratchy elbows?"

I told her all mummies don't. Mine are just scratchy because I have dry skin.

"Oh. Daddy is very hairy"

Then Kaya pipes in, "Mummy has hair on her face too, all over. It's just so small you hardly see it"


While we were strawberry picking last weekend, I was bending over to pick and Lana tripped over my butt and told me "You're my BIG mummy, and BIG mummies have big butts".

Ah nothing like having kids to boost ones confidence.

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Tornado Warning

Rene was on the phone cancelling band practise because a thunder storm with heavy rain just hit us last night. he had just finished telling them "I'm confident it won't turn into a tornado, the sky is just the wrong color for that", as though he's an expert. He hung up the phone and we sat there watching the storm out the window. A minute later the tornado sirens went off! So much for Rene's confidence.

So we spend from about 7.30 til 9pm in the basement while the sirens went off. They stopped a couple of times and we rushed up to use the bathroom, but then they started up again so we stayed down. At one point, the radio said the most dangerous part of the storm had been spotted 14 miles south west of us, heading north east at thirty something miles per hour, and it has a history of producing violent tornados. They said "this is a very dangerous and life threatening situation". It was kind of scary. So we headed under the stairs at that point. But then we heard them report that it passed, so we got out and stayed in the less spiderwebby part of the basement.

We don't seem to have had any damage around here, other than our recycling stuff blowing all over the neighbours yard. All else seems ok.

Zoe did poop in her diaper while we were in the basement and we didn't want to head upstairs for another just incase. So we made a make shift diaper out of curtains and clothing we found downstairs. Quite creative if I may say so myself.

Anyway, thanks God for keeping us safe through the storm and keeping the tornados away!

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Zoe's vocabulary

At 15 months old, Zoe's vocabulary has become explosive. She's learning new words every day and saying things we didn't know she knew. She has a few phrases too.

Here are some of the words she says:

mama, dada, Kaya, banana, out, bed, hat, teeth, cheese, balloon, cracker, want, sad, sore, bath, wet, splash, stuck, ow, poop, diaper, head, bump, baby, bear, puppy, cat (although her word for cat sounds more like she's saying dog!), uncle doug, duck, quack, bird, tweet, dressed, feet, peekaboo, please, messy

And some of the phrases:
"where go mama?"
"where's your face?"
"what's that?"
"want it banana" (or want it, whatever else)
"to the sky" (when I ask "how much do I love you?")
"I did it"
"there it is"
"up the stairs"
"oops-a-daisy"


There are loads more, I just can't remember them all just now. She talks and babbles all the time.

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Strawberry picking

Sorry I haven't posted to this in a while.

We're back from Texas, all went well and we had loads of fun. The wedding was lots of fun and the bride was pretty. I'll post more about our trip to Texas later, when I've got the photos of the girls edited and ready to post!

I didn't post right away because as soon as we got home, we came down with a tummy bug which wiped out the whole family. Nasty stuff. But we are all better now thankfully.

And today we had lots of fun going strawberry picking! I forgot to brign my camera which was probably for the best - I wasn't conserned with lugging the camera around, instead I just got stuck in and had fun.

I do wish I could have photographed Zoe's face though! She was walking around saying "mmmmm" with strawberry juice smashed all over her face and clothes, and mud everywhere too from falling and climbing through it all to get to the juiciest strawberries.

We were out in the field for two hours and I didn't notice the time pass. I was munching the occasional strawberry that accidentily smashed in my hands, and they tasted DIVINE! Oh man, so warm and sweet and juicy and fresh. We got three big cases full.




And I made strawberry shortcake, which was so yummy.





After strawberry picking we went to some yard sales too. Bought some clothes, a lamp, and the girls got some toys. Problem was, I accidentily left the sunscreen at home! Oops. And it was in the 90s. We were SO over sunned, over hot, thirsty and tired.

Here's my pink face to prove it.



And its time to get the aloe vera out!

Fun day.

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