Why It's Better To Take Your Kids To An Open Field Instead Of A Playground

1) A 2 year old really just wants to run away instead of play on the equipment
2) A 3 year old really just wants to gather rocks, sticks, pine cones and leaves
3) You don't have to worry about running into that one child that tells you his name 8 million times and is in your kids faces the whole time so they can't even play and whose parents don't even notice because they're talking on their cell phone
4) You can run wild with your children and there's no one around to judge
5) You can enjoy a quiet outing with your kids in your pajamas without people staring at you

To Be Or Not To Be, That Is The Question

Preschool ...

1) Is it necessary?
2) Is it beneficial?
3) Public or Private or Home School?
4) 2 Days or 3 Days a Week?
5) Now or never?

My 3.5 year old son has been asking me for almost a year now if he could go to school. So next week, I am starting my preschool interviews. What do I do? What do I ask? What if their first impression of me is "psycho OCD parent"? Well, I do love a challenge, so ... preschool directors, watch out, here I come !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Pain, Pain, Go Away, Don't Come Back Another Day

This past month has been a challenging one for us. Our little family has been hit with one sickness after another. From Shingles, to Pink Eye, to a 2 week long Stomach Bug, to a potential Chicken Pox scare (thankfully not!), to Toddler Molars coming in and turning my Angel Baby into Miss Cranky Pants.

I normally like to see the glass as half full, and find the positive in all situations, and I don't complain very often, in fact, I don't even like to complain. But some days, like today for example, I wish that God would give me a new digestive system. What hope is there for a bathroom-bound wife and mother? What benefit is constant pain? I trust God in all things, but sometimes I have to ask him "why" ... "Why me?", "Why this?", "Why now?". I know that the testing of our faith produces numerous good things (especially Patience as it says in James 1:3), but I don't like being tested. I want to be free like everyone else. This condition is like chains holding me down. I'm restless inside, I want out.

It's been over a year now that I've been suffering (or for a better word, dealing) with this condition, and I'm done suffering. I want to eat a fresh salad again or even a bowl of cereal. What about ice cream or even a steak(don't tell my parents) ... I mean, hummus is good and all, but everyday for breakfast? :-)

Will I ever be able to volunteer in my kids' classrooms without having to run to the restroom like an unexpected bolt of lightening? Will I ever make it through an entire shopping trip to Target without having to ditch the cart, grab the kids, and run to the restroom which is always on the opposite side of the store? Will I be able to work my dream job again?

Alright, there ya go, I got it off my chest, now I can move on to better and brighter topics, such as ... PRESCHOOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terrific Twos

I am so blessed by my life. Granted, it has it's hardships and there are some days where I don't think I'll even survive past lunch due to sleep deprivation or sibling rivalry, but overall, it is a joy to be alive. I wake up every morning to my 3 year old's face 2 inches away from my face (between the wretched hour of 4am-5am), saying "Mommy, is it morning yet?" Despite my response to that question, or my best efforts to ignore such a sweet face and go back to sleep, it is time to get up. A few hours later, Little Miss Chubby Cheeks and the Handsomest Prince in the world awaken to the smell of Dunkin Donuts Coffee and then the day has officially begun. We send Drew off to work like an official "goodbye committee" with hugs and kisses and waves and "bye daddy" over and over until we not longer see his car anymore. Our days are filled with laughter and fun as we play the day away and await Drew's arrival home from work. Some of the days include Tristan's Karate Lessons, Park Playdates, Shopping Trips, Moms Group at Church, or even just pajama home days filled with puzzles, block towers and art projects. Well, now I am off to enjoy another day with my beautiful little family ...

Babies Always Grow Up

It's late and I've got a mild case of insomnia. Thanks to blogging, I have something better to do than lying in bed forcing my mind to shut down.

My mind races to the summer so far ... saying goodbye to my family as they left for Spain/Germany for a few months; our trip to the East Coast with Andrew's family; our Palm Springs weekend with my Dad's side of the family; frequent Skype dates with my parents and sisters; playdates; birthday parties; pool days; park days; backyard renovation days ... it's all a whirlwind in my mind ... then I look to the future: baby showers, company coming from Germany, more birthday parties, more playdates, weddings, family flying back in from Europe, and what is occupying my mind most of all, is Kira's upcoming birthday!

My baby girl is turning two years old! It is a milestone and such a joy to prepare for as I am excited to take a day and dedicate it to our Kira Belle (as she is currently nicknamed). As I plan out the order of events for her special day (this coming Sunday), I can picture her face as she smiles when the doorbell rings, and each family member walks in the door. I can hear her laughter as she opens her Elmo Radio gift from Drew's Grandma. I can feel her delight as she gets her first dress up Tinkerbell outfit from Auntie Chris. I can feel the stickiness of her hands as she devours her first homemade birthday cake (thanks to me, ha ha!). And I can picture her excitement as she runs up to my laptop when Yia Yia (my mama) calls via Skype. Just seeing her Yia Yia's face, brightens up Kira's whole countenance! She gets so excited, she doesn't know what to do with herself. Can't wait !!!

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with an incredible husband and two precious children.

And to quote from the soundtrack from "Message In A Bottle" based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks,

"These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
These are the moments I'll remember all my life
I've got all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more"

We're Back!

After two weeks, vacationing it up on the east coast, we are back home and ready to rock and roll!

We had a marvelous time, with dear friends and family and this is what we did: We stayed in an adorably old 4 story beach house, one block from the beach. We rode surreys on the boardwalk, enjoyed water ice (almost daily!) in 111 degree weather, rode lots of rides at the Wonderland and Playland theme parks on the boardwalk, including the Ferris wheel and Carousel, we had warm pretzels, curly fries, funnel cake, monkey bread, and Mack and Manco Pizza (an Ocean City favorite!), but not all in one day, of course.

We also spent several days at the beach, building sand castles and digging giant holes and working on our tans. The kids loves the water and enjoyed gathering sea shells and rocks, etc. We discovered a nice playground in the area and went there twice. The kids got to experience a water park for the first time, and that was a ton of fun!

Drew went fishing and experienced a feast of crabs, and of course had a famous Philly Cheese Steak. We went to WaWa several times for coffee and tasty cakes and Hoagies. The east coast is so weird, but so cool all at the same time! We got to experience the culture of not being allowed to pump your own gas at the local gas stations. That was fun staying in the car and having a gas attendant take care of it all!

We drove through the neighborhoods where Drew grew up and saw the homes he lived in and school and church he went to. It was fun going down memory lane ...

We celebrated the 4th of July with all of Drew's family and friends and watched the fireworks from the beach. It was one of the best firework shows we've ever seen!

2 weeks of fun and craziness, 4 airplane rides later, 10 lbs heavier, skin alot darker, we are glad to be home, and are hoping to rest up (diet again!) and enjoy the routine of our life back here in San Diego.

T - 3 Days ...

We leave for our New Jersey vacation in 3 days ...

Preparation for a trip like this is nearly impossible. I don't really know how to prepare since I have no idea what it's going to be like. Our first 2 week vacation, with both children, out of state, out of their (and mine!) comfort zone. We will be staying for the first couple of days with friends of Andrew's parents, that live right on the outskirts of Ocean City, NJ (I think). Then when the beach house becomes available, we will be staying there for the remainder of the time with Andrew's parents, grandma, sister and her husband and three kids. 12 people sharing a beach house. I can only imagine the noise level and entertainment involved.

Tristan is really excited to fly on an airplane and find seashells on the beach and Kira, well, I've tried to prepare her, but she really has no idea what's happening. She's such a little delight and I'm sure she will light up the airplane with her big eyes, gorgeous smile, and high pitched squeal! I figure if we just feed her trail mix the whole flight, she should keep relatively quiet. Tristan, on the other hand, will probably press the "Call Flight Attendant" button over and over and then take frequent trips to the potty just to make sure it's still there and not broken.

What I am looking forward to most is, time with my husband (2 whole weeks of no work, woohoo!), making memories with the kids, and getting to know Andrew's family better.

Oh and for those of you readers who only know my husband as "Drew" and are wondering why I am calling him "Andrew", well, ya know, it just seems fitting. Andrew means "strong, manly, and warrior", and I am really seeing that side of him as he works in the yard every day and fixes things around the house!

Healing

It has been an amazing week of preparation for our 1st Housewarming Party (which was this past Saturday) and little God-moments sprinkled throughout.

A dear friend and sister in the Lord came over last Thursday to pray for healing for my condition of Ulcerative Colitis. I was beginning to get anxious as our East Coast Vacation drew near, and we'd be sharing a beach house (and bathrooms!) with Drew's extended family for 2 weeks. Our time of prayer was so powerful and even the kids felt God's presence. When she left, I was so encouraged and at complete peace with my current and upcoming circumstances. The rest of the afternoon, I felt this strange pressure on my colon, almost like a physical presence, which I can only give credit to God's healing hand, wrapping around my colon and giving it a rest, as He begins His healing process for me. Since then, I have had more energy than I've had this entire year, I haven't been worried or fearful for the future, and I keep hearing God whispering to me, "Be at peace, child, I have begin the process of healing". Love it! Already I've been healed of my fears and for the first time, I am at peace.

Our housewarming party was a huge success, and an incredible blessing. We had all of Drew's extended family here, my Grandpa came, our friends from our old neighborhood, and our dear friends from church. The house was full of good food, conversation, laughter and little kids running about. We did a toast and prayer for the house and gave tour after tour, showing all the guests the hard work Drew put in to make this place beautiful. We had a "before" picture album of how this house looked when we bought it, and that was very amusing to everyone. It doesn't even look like the same house! A dear couple from our church prayed over our house as the party came to a close (10pm!), and it was so wonderful to hear their words of encouragement and to be reminded that this is where God has placed us.

I had my Grandpa over for dinner Tuesday night and we had such a great time talking and eating and hanging out with the kids. He even sat down at Tristan's little table and played PlayDoh with him! Tristan was elated.

Now we are preparing for our Ocean City, NJ vacation next week. That must explain my sleepless nights. This will be the first airplane ride with both kids, and the first time our little Kira will be sleeping in a different bed. She's very secure in her room and her crib and it will be interesting to see how she does in a new environment.

"In The Morning, When I Rise ... Give Me Jesus"

We've been in our new home for two and half months now! We got the keys on Drew's birthday, March 6th, and we moved in on March 27th! God has been so faithful in providing the finances for the repairs the house needed and the time needed to get it all done! It's been a whirlwind of events, including ripping out the old carpet on our own, painting the interior ourselves (with the help of our dear friends!), and dealing with critter infestations and fixing broken things like the heater, sliding glass doors, etc.

We were warmly welcomed into the neighborhood and met all our neighbors within the first week living here! Incredible neighborhood with such sweet people!

We've been blessed by our friends and family's generosity in helping us furnish the place, with new couches, a playhouse for the kids, bookshelves, dressers, a room size rug, lamps, patio furniture, a palm tree, and most recently a train table for the kids.

We're all unpacked and feeling more and more settled each day, as we prepare for our house warming party! The kids are in love with the house, because of all the space they have to run wild and they each get their own rooms for the first time! The first couple of days we were here, they simply ran from one end of the house to the other end over and over and over. Hilarious.

Looking back, the best way to describe the whole process is, "We came, we saw, we conquered"! For those of you that saw this house in it's original state, and persevered with us as we waited 6 months to get our offer accepted, you understand what I'm talking about! But also looking back, and most importantly, none of this could have been accomplished without God giving us the strength and the outpouring of His blessings.

Daily I am reminded how much I need Jesus, that even in the midst of so much good and blessing, there is a spiritual battle going on, as the devil is trying to grab hold of us from every angle. From Tristan's nightmares, to Kira getting wounded around the house regularly, to stress and busyness and sleepless nights. But, as the Bible says in Ephesians, "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil". Daily that is my goal to put on God's armor and fight the spiritual battle for family. It's amazing how peaceful and reassuring being in God's word all day long actually is! When I am immersed in the Bible, Tristan's nightmares are gone, Kira doesn't get hurt as much, the stress and busyness burden is lifted, and I sleep like a baby. Thank you God!

Days at the Park

It was so beautiful yesterday that we walked to Discovery Lake Park up the hill by our house and the kids had such a great time! As excited as I am to move into our own home, I will miss our walks to the park. Tristan loves being in nature (picking pinecones, flowers, and rocks on the way), and Kira as happy as a lark, singing and dancing in the stroller. Kira is fascinated with sand (finally, has learned NOT to eat it, thank goodness!), and she just rolls around in it and crawls through it like she owns the place - so much fun! Tristan is finding many new ways to go up and down the slide, and spends most of his time in an imaginary world in the trees and bushes next to the park. He still doesn't understand why the other kids take his sand toys. He's too nice to ask for it back and will follow the kids around waiting for them to drop his shovel, so he can secretly pick it up and run back to me to hold it for safekeeping.

Today we met Auntie Shyra down at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach for a picnic. Both kids love that park. Tristan likes the "tunnel slide" and Kira likes to chase the seagulls that come looking her snacks. It was so awesome to see Kira walking everywhere! She's still wobbly, but doing really good, considering how long it took her to finally try walking on her own! Tristan spent most of his time climbing over the walls and running through the huge grassy lawn, keeping an eye on the "pottys" in the distance and Kira just wobbled around and ended up wherever her feet took her.

We are still waiting to sign our loan docs on our house. It sure is hard to wait! The close of escrow keeps getting delayed, and it is frustrating! We should have closed and had the keys last week, but little obstacles such as the termite work not scheduled yet, and the interest rates dropping that we had to redo all the loan docs. I can't wait to get in and clean the place and witness the transformation my husband has planned for the place. He's been working so hard with estimates of repairs, picking out appliances, etc, scheduling each worker, planning painting parties for him and his friends, and so much more. I couldn't ask for a more diligent and wonderful husband! He has handled everything for this house, and I can't wait to see the product of his labor! If all goes according to schedule, we should be signing the docs Friday and getting the keys Tuesday! Oh please oh please I do hope so!

Firestation, Chuck E Cheese, and the UTC Mall ...

The kids were sick for 2 weeks, so we've pretty much been home bound, as all my creative juices were used up trying to find fun things to do with the kids indoors. They are troopers, and as soon as they were feeling better, we went to parks every morning and fun activities in the afternoon. You couldn't keep us in the house if you tried! They were so happy to be feeling better that Kira actually started walking on her own, for real! We were all very excited for her, and she figured it out fast, because every time she walked across the room, she would stop, and clap her hands. Sooo cute!

Tuesday we went to the Escondido Fire Station, and got a personal tour from a fireman friend of ours. We gathered up all of our toddler friends and had a blast. The kids got to see firetrucks take off with their sirens, a fireman suit up into his fire suit and mask, walk through an ambulance, and see the fireman slide down a fire pole. It was pretty awesome!

Wednesday we went to Chuck E Cheese with a bunch of friends from church, and the kids had a blast on the rides and in the play zone. At one point, some big kid scared Tristan and on the drive home, he tells me, "Mommy, I don't like to be scared. That big kid scared me". Poor guy! It was so precious, but so sad at the same time. I consoled him, that the big kid was probably just wanting to play with him and didn't mean to scare him. That seemed to make it a little bit better.

Thursday we went to the UTC Mall to see Auntie Shyra, who just got back from 2 weeks in Germany. That was fun and Tristan got to ride up and down the escalator so he was happy about that. It was great to see Shyra again and soak in some sunshine together! Such a beautiful day!

Friday the kids and I went to my mom's house (also just got back from 2 weeks in Germany) and Kira got to show off her walking to her Yia Yia as Tristan talked her ear off about everything he could think of. He's a big talker now, and there's so much on his mind, he just has to tell you every single bit of it! So awesome.

Today, Grandma Meef came over to watch the kids while Drew and I met with our interior designer at Loews. We picked out carpet and paint and got lots of great ideas for our new house! We should be closing escrow next week and then we can get in and start the repairs! We are all very excited. Especially Tristan who is looking forward to "new potties". Our future plumber is still obsessed with toilets and it seems they are more important than him having his own room. Kira is the one ecstatic about her own room. She loves to sleep, and Tristan is the opposite. So she gets very mad when he wakes her up early in the morning. Also, she prefers to nap during the day without every toy and blanket and stuffed animal in the room thrown into her crib by her big brother. I think she will love her own space so she can be our sleeping beauty once again.

Tristan is looking forward to spending 2 days in Big Bear with his Grandparents all to himself next week. Such a big dude now! And it looks like we'll be celebrating Drew's 28th birthday weekend painting our new house (Lord willing - if all goes well with the final steps and getting our keys!). Fun fun!

Rainy Days

It's a new year and Drew and I have been married 4 years this month, with 2 beautiful children, living in a lovely home in San Marcos, involved in an amazing church, blessed by an incredible job at Sony, and healthy and happy and loving God and loving eachother!

How else do I recap the past 3 months since I updated my blog? I gotta get better at this ... Maybe it should rain more often and my kids should take longer naps ... those are the only times I get things done around the house!

Let's see ... we've had a lot of celebrations recently: Thanksgiving ... Christmas ... My 28th Birthday ... New Years ... Our 4th Wedding Anniversary ... (all in 7 weeks' time!). That's a lot of festivities in the Lawton household! Not to mention that we all had the flu and were out of commission for about 2 weeks after Christmas ... along with a continued search for a home to buy in San Marcos ... along with Drew working long hours at his job ... a last minute incredible trip to Big Bear ... and next weekend an anniversary getaway, just Drew and I! Woohoo!

We are so blessed. God is so faithful and continues to provide for us and bless us even when we are so undeserving! We have both our families nearby and wonderful neighbors and a church full of friends that are such an encouragement and a glimpse into what Heaven will be like!

Tristan and I have started morning devotions together this year. It is unbelievable. We are only 2 weeks into it, but he loves the Bible now and asks to read certain portions of it (his favorite being the "no no tree and Adam and Eve"). Tristan prays and reads the Bible and it is such a precious time for the 2 of us in the morning, before Kira and Drew wake up ...

Kira is starting to take steps of her own (finally!) and saying a few words! She is the happiest baby in the world and such an angel to be around. Her smile lights up the room, and when she laughs at Tristan being silly, it's so contagious that it brightens up our whole day! She eats more than the rest of us, and sleeps more than the rest of us, too! Maybe that's why she's so happy?

I know the kids are more interesting than I ... but just for kicks, and for those interested, I am doing MUCH better now that I am on my medication. My Ulcerative Colitis is under control at the moment and I am able to resume my motherly duties around the house. I am no longer fatigued all the time or running to the bathroom every 5 minutes. I am healthier and happier and filled with much more energy to once again be a good wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter and friend!

That's it for now ... thanks again for taking the time to read my blog!