My Daughter, The Spider Conqueror

My daughter is 4 1/2 and I think she's pretty awesome. She's friendly, vivacious and outgoing. She's also a scaredy-cat. Bigtime. But every once in  awhile she surprises me. Take the other day for example.
Henry, Lil and I were in Henry's room. They were playing and I was puttering around, trying to decorate his room. (little by little)

Lily pipes up, "Mom, there's a spider crawling on Henry!"

"No there's not, sweetie."

Putter, putter, wait a sec.....ond........

There was a black spider crawling up the side of Henry's face while he happily sat on the floor playing.
I know. I just threw up too. Just thinking about the tiny glimpse I got of our unwanted visitor makes me cringe.

Shudder.

In quick mom-like action I brushed the spider off his face. (I happened to be holding some sort of rolled up something in my hand.) I snatched up my little Boo and held him close. Of course, he had no idea of what had just happened. I just watched, slightly shaken, as the despicable little creature begin to crawl under his crib.

That's when Super Lily took matters into her own hands. No one messes with her little brother! (We had just found her old bike helmet in the garage the day before and she happened to be holding it when the spider attack went down.) Lily took her Dora the Explorer helmet and smashed it down on Spiderus. (I thought the little guy needed a name.) A smile of satisfaction spread across her lips. Then, wham! She finished the job with another mighty blow. Spiderus had met his demise.

I turned to look at my brave girl. "You are awesome, Lily Grace!"

That's the only time I've been thankful for Dora the Explorer.

I don't have a picture of the event unfortunately  but it's one of those memories that will be etched forever in my mind. Lily.....the Spider Conqueror.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!.....Lakeside

My goal is to write a "What I'm Loving Wednesday" post every Wednesday. It hasn't happened yet but; I'm not giving up on the idea. If any of my other blogging friends want to hop on the bandwagon and do "What I'm Loving Wednesday" posts (Wendy, Steph, Jamie....), I think it would be fun.
Anyway, I'm still thinking of my fabulous family vacation to the lake and wanted to list some things I loved about our trip. I'm wanting to write an actual full length post but alas, kids.... time....energy....trying not to fall asleep before 10 p.m...... you know the drill. I will though, eventually.
Until then, I'm Loving .....
1) The beauty and calm of the lake. The rippling water was so beautiful. Walking down to the dock and taking just a minute to sit and watch the blinking lights of the houses and cabins dotted around the lake as the sun set is one of my favorite memories from the week.

2.) The weather for the most part was perfect. We did have some warm nights. It was shorts and no shoes all week.
3.) Jet skis. I was terrified at first but ended up driving one and LOVING IT!!!
4.) Seeing Henry and Lily (especially) spending quality time with their Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. Henry won't remember anything from this trip but Lily bonded with her family. It was so neat to watch.

 It was so fun to see these two play together.

Auntie Clue and Cousin Erin

 5.) Time with the whole family. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Siblings. Eating meals, playing games, swimming and just talking.

6.) Revisiting childhood memories and visiting places Andy went to as a kid.

It was a special week and I'm looking forward to sharing some special times and pictures in posts to come.

Home, Sweet Home

Ahhh..... a week at the lake. What could be better? Not much, that's for sure.
Our fam just got back from a week at Lake Almanor where we vacationed with lots of family. It was an absolutely wonderful week. And while I'm missing the warm weather and jet skis, it sure was nice to come home. Here's a few of my favorite pictures from the week. A post (or two) is coming soon.

Happy Birthday, Boo Boo! The story of Henry Part 4.

I can't believe I've let so much time pass without continuing Henry's story. I was  determined to do it before his first birthday but................ Well, today is his birthday and as has become his custom, he woke up at 6 a.m. He screams and screams until you pick him up from his crib, grabs his bottle and drinks like it's been days since he's been fed; but once he chugs about half the bottle down, he whips his little head around (because he does nothing slowly or calmly) and gives me this smile. Ooh that smile. It melts me every morning. Even at 6. He laughs and does this little bopping up and down thing. From that moment on, it's go time for Mr. Henry.
Though I'm just now picking up Henry's story,  it's rather appropriate that as I celebrate the anniversary of that momentous day, I think back to all that happened. I am kicking myself, that I didn't finish the story earlier, because my memory will be fuzzy. But let me tell you, the emotions are still there.
A couple of weeks ago was Father's Day and I added pages (as I do each year) to Andy's Father's Day Scrapbook. Since Lil was 1, I add a couple of pages each year of pics with Lily and her Daddy and a picture she's drawn for him. I cannot lay claim to this clever idea. I stole/got it from my good friend, Steph. Of course, last year's pages were blank. I was busy sitting in a hospital bed doing nothing in a very unflattering, ill-fitting gown. So, I had two years of catch up to do.
This year, I got to add Little H. (or Boo Boo as we call him at home. Don't think I've ever mentioned that on this blog.) As I was scrolling through an insane amount of pics on the computer, I also stopped to watch a few videos we took of him in the hospital.
I didn't realize which video I was clicking on but there it was.......the day he was born. ( I have to mention, I looked like I had been hit by a semi truck. I was taken aback a little, actually. But this is really about Henry.) So tiny, with so many tubes and wires sticking out from him. I'm holding his tiny hand and his chest is visibly beating hard. He had to really work for each breath. I had forgotten about that.
 The same little spit-fire that now climbs the furniture, falls, cries, gets back up and tries it again was a spit-fire from his first breath. I have tears right now because it's all just so amazing.
For being so early, we were told he was a good weight.  Yes, 3 pounds, 10 ounces was a good size! Of course to us, he was so tiny. The preemie diaper looked two sizes too big.
Thus began the next part of our journey. Being two hours from home, friends and family was hard. Living in the NICU basically was surreal.  My life consisted of sleeping, eating, talking the elevator down to the basement floor NICU (while I was still in the hospital) to watch Henry, hold his tiny hand (and eventually hold him) and pump.
I hate pumping! Hate, hate, hate it. I can't put into words how much I do not like pumping. Didn't like it when I had Lil and dreaded doing it again. Without going into unnecessary details, I don't make a lot of milk. It was so discouraging to watch the other moms come into the NICU with two bottles full of breast milk while I sheepishly shuffled in with my few milliliters of milk.
The nurses were amazing, though, and always reassured me that whatever I could give him was like giving him liquid gold. So I kept on pumping, every three hours. I know new moms usually breast feed their babies every three hours. But they can do it in the comfort of their home on the couch, not in a room with 6 other babies. I was determined to try. There really was no option to give up.
At this point we hadn't chosen a name for Henry. His isolet was labeled "Baby Boy Bauer". We had tried several months before to agree on a boy's name (we had already agreed on a girl's). Each discussion came to a halting impass, where I was usually irritated with Andy. I finally said that I did not want to talk about it anymore until I was eight months pregnant. Then we would decide.
Henry, who had been named Pickles Bean by his sister, was 6 days old and still did not have a name. Andy had always liked Henry and I had always hated it. I mean, I really didn't like it. I thought it was an old man's name and I didn't want people to call him Hank, which would be inevitable. There were two big problems besides the obvious. One: I had no boy's name I was in love with. Two: Andy was not to be deterred. My husband can be awfully stubborn. So the name I liked, not loved, was William.
I was being discharged the next day from the hospital and the woman from the birth certificate office had come to my room or called every day since H's birth to ask if we had picked a name. My fever had bought me a few days but a decision had to be made. Andy had finally left the decision in my hands. These were horrible moments for me. I have never been so torn over a situation before. If I gave in and named him Henry, I would be stuck with a name I hated forever. (I know this sounds dramatic. I was very hormonal at the time.) If I went with William, Andy would be disappointed. He didn't hate William. He just loved Henry. In the end, I took one for the team.
I have to laugh a year later. He is such a Henry!! How could he be anything else?
A weeks after Henry was born, I was discharged from the hospital. I stayed in another room in the hospital as a boarder. There were no nurses because I wasn't a patient any longer; but I could be close to Henry. It was super lonely though, and after a couple days, went to "the empty house" with Lil and Andy. The traveling back and forth to the hospital made it a little more challenging. But sleeping in a real bed with my family around me (and an awesome pool) made a hard situation mush easier.
Now it was a waiting game. Henry's breathing was better and would eventually be able to breath completely on his own. We were waiting for him to "wake up' basically. Gain weight and be able to feed on his own. This was hard for us because there was no "end date". Every baby was different. We didn't know if we'd be there for 5 weeks or 10 weeks.
I'm pausing the story for now and will celebrate this day with my family. A year has gone by and so much has changed. My little peanut who started off with breathing tubes and was being fed by a tube, started walking this week!!
He's made our family better and more complete in so many ways.  He has taught us so much about God's grace and God's goodness. If you ever doubt that God is good, just look at his little face. That's is God's undeniable goodness right there.
Happy Birthday, Henry! I'm so glad I didn't name you William.

Good -Bye 4th Street, Hello Peresozo Calle

So, it's been 3 1/2 weeks since the big move. 3 1/2 weeks ago Andy and I looked at each other and said in horrible excitement, "We have 10 days to pack our house, move and clean out the old house! Yikes!" And while we've accomplished so much, as I look around and see so  many things that need to be done. There are just a couple of boxes in the dining room,  a couple of boxes holding pictures that need to be hung and a couple more in Henry's room. (Poor guy barely has any furniture, so a lot of his things are in boxes still.)

Despite our lack of boxes, there's much that needs to be organized and set up. Knick knacks have yet to find their proper place, not a single curtain has been hung and the garage is a little scary right now (There's a nifty obstacle course to the washer and dryer.).

My most awesome friend, Sarah, who helped me pack informed me that when they moved (many moons ago) she unpacked in one day! Wowzers! I'm a little behind! If my memory serves correctly though,  her and her hubby didn't have kids yet. If she were to move today, I'm sure it would take her 2 maybe 3 days tops. I'm not being sarcastic. She's that awesome.

I have two kids. One of which takes out whatever I've just put away. The other is really into "crafting" right now. I have a lot of paper plate wreaths laying around. Most of my days consist of cleaning up other people's messes, rarely getting to tackle a project or even start one for that matter.

Besides the kiddos, the problem with me is......I'm slow. Oh, I've learned to get things done in a jiffy over the years; but I'm naturally slow, always have been.

I'm also a bit of a perfectionist. A slow perfectionist. Sounds excruciating, doesn't it?

And let me just throw in indecisive while we're at it. I'm a slow, indecisive perfectionist. Not so great for when you're moving.

Now in my defense, I must say that I am a hard worker. I'll work into the wee hours of the night to get something done and get it done right. So I think it's funny that in english our street translates into Lazy Street!

At this point, I wish I could just I Dream Of Jeanie my house to the finished project I see in my mind. Until then, I'm enjoying my new house with it's extra room to move around and play in, our yard to relax in on these warm summer evenings, and our very quiet "lazy" street where we will hopefully one day teach Lily and Henry how to ride their bikes.

 Saying good-bye to our 4th Street House.

And those boxes......................I'm thankful for them, too.

Moving Impossible

Wow, where did May go? I've barely blogged this past month. Let's just blame it on the "Big Move" shall we? Yes, the Bauers have moved!! I couldn't be more excited. It was quite the whirlwind of the move, though. I love to watch the show Restaurant Impossible on the Food Network with Chef Robert Irvine. If there was a show titled "Moving Impossible" we totally would have been cast.
We had been looking to move into a bigger place but knew we would lose money if we tried to sell our house right now. So we decided to rent a bigger place and rent out our two bedroom, two bath bungalow. To sum things up quickly. A renter was very interested but wanted to move in in a mere 10 days! We had already found a house that was perfect for our family of four, empty and just waiting for us.
How do you pack and move an entire house in less than 10 days? We were about to find out. I'm sure at some point I said, "Let's do this thing!' And we did.
Thankfully, we had friends and family come by to help pack. The kids basically lived with my parents for 3 days so we could accomplish "Moving Impossible." Without their help it simply would not have gotten done or I would not have slept. The Body of Christ is pretty awesome.
So here's the timeline..... Monday through Wednesday: Pack, pack, and pack some more. Thursday: Pick up the moving truck and move most of our belongings. Thursday night: sleep in our new house. Friday through Monday: Clean the 4th Street house to get ready for our renter, slowly bring over things that didn't make it in the truck and begin to unpack our new house.
Why did it take longer to clean an empty house than to pack an entire house? If you could have seen what was under my fridge, you would understand. Trust me, it was not pretty.
But for all the craziness, stress and lack of sleep, I must say, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We went from a two bedroom, two bath (one of which was basically the size of a coat closet) cottage with a very small kitchen and a yard that was pretty but not very practical for kids and was right off the highway to a three bedroom, two bath house with a lovely yard on a VERY QUIET street.
We've waited and prayed about this possibility for a very long time. And as always, God's timing is just perfect.

 My friend, Sarah, was one of several helpers; but if you ever need someone to help you move, she's the one to call.

 H wasn't very helpful in the whole process; but he's so darn cute!

 My neighbor and friend, Kim. I have neighbors now!!!!!

 My Mother - in - Law, Lorri, is holding some bolts and screws. The story about those is another post in itself!

 In her new room on the first night. In a fancy hat, of course. We only packed the essentials!

 My first accomplishment: clearing off a kitchen counter.

 My futile attempt at barricading him in. I swear, he's part baby, part spider man!

Again, not very helpful; but awfully cute:)

Mother's Day Musings

I'm sitting quietly in my living room, in jeans and bare feet. Still feeling the warmth of the warm spring day even though it's already ten at night. Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Henry just gave a little cry from his crib; but thankfully he's learning how to soothe himself back to sleep.
We've just survived a couple of sleepless months in the Bauer house. Thanks to two tiny bottom teeth that have finally appeared, Henry, Andy and I have spent many a night right here in the recliner I'm sitting in at this moment.  Rocking, crying, rocking, crying. I don't dare think of the teeth that are yet to come. I'm pretty sure I've added a few crows feet and a third bag under each eye. What will my face look like by the time he gets all his teeth? Will I even be recognizable?
I had Andy take a picture of me and the kids today since it's Mother's Day and all. As I was downloading it onto the computer tonight, immediately, I was taken back to just a year ago. I was winding up the school year and packing up my classroom. I was HUGE! Little did I know that in just a couple of weeks I was going to be put on bed rest. And that a couple of weeks after that I was going to take my first, and hopefully, only ambulance ride to Roseville.
Year Ago Jen had no way of knowing that in just a little over a month she was going to have Henry. Tiny and strong. Year Ago Jen was holding a baby that fit entirely from under her chin to her breastbone. Year Ago Jen held a baby but did not feel like she was his mother. It was too surreal and out of body.

 It just hadn't sunk in.

Blink your eyes and 10 months have flown by. Henry is still tiny but he's healthy and a wiry little thing! His huge eyes literally melt me. He's cruising on the furniture and has even stood on his own for a few seconds. Take that Prematurity!! And his laugh....... love his laugh.

I have this amazing daughter who makes me laugh each day. She's the funniest, quirkiest person I know. She loves her little brother and helps me in so many ways. She's my sleeping buddy many nights while Andy is at work.

Yes, I'm tired. Yes, Henry has kept me up more nights in the last 2 months than Lily has her entire life. Yes, I wear jeans and formula stained shirts most day. Yes, I've watched Tangled about 17 hundred times because Lily loves it. Yes, my stomach very well may never return to it's former glory. But gosh darnet I'm incredibly blessed!!  I have two beautiful, HEALTHY, and loving kids and a kick butt husband.

I think the reason why I like the picture Andy took today so much was I saw something in my face that I don't always feel (because I'm selfish sometimes!)  but I did today and do most days. 

I looked content.

 So there's my Mother's Day musings. I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day with your kids, your mother or with someone you love.