First water slide

This summer has been a summer of firsts. Elizabeth went down her first water slide. She learned how to be less fearful of the water. She jumps from the side and swims under the water to me.

Today she went to her very first ballet lesson. Of course pictures will follow. I still think I was way more excited about it than she was. I sometimes wish that I chose dance over other things. Dance is so popular these days, I would be way a way cool mom if I could dance well. Oh well. I can play soccer well and sing farely well, or so I have been told.

My son is 5 months old and getting long. He is chunkish but is really long. Onesies are too short but too wide. He can sit up for almost a minute without falling over and has 2 teeth. We have been letting him cry through the night for quite some time. For some reason he has not caught on as easily.Ooh, that is him now. Time for dinner.

The sounds of silence

Yesterday afternoon after we all had a nice lunch of french toast and bacon, nap time began. Let me start by saying my 3 year old is getting to the point where naps don't always come.

In one room, my littlest one listening to quiet music and sleeping away. My hubby who would have skipped lunch to sleep, was in the family room on the couch with nothing but the birds chirping outside. My daughter was attempting to sleep with sounds of hymns and then toddler favorites. Then myself in the master bedroom with the door closed, a ceiling fan and a window fan to block out any noise. Within an hour everyone was asleep. Listening to whatever their hearts desired to help them sleep. Oh, weekends are great.

OOPS.

It has been way too long since my last post over a month and a half. My apologies. The house is going well. I love being a homeowner. I tend to clean more often than when we were renting.

Our bedroom is the first "makeover" room. We painted it "clear blue." We have brown furniture and bed linens. Looking good. Props off to my husband. It took him quite a few tries to get the ceiling fan installed. He even took a class at Home Depot. But needless to say, He did it. No help from anyone. YES!

I took a break from typing to take a nap while the kids were "napping." One slept for maybe 20 minutes and the other not at all. I wonder what the night has in store. Oh Lord please give me patience.

On a more deeper note, how do you forgive someone when the wrong wasn't against me but a principle I believe in? My heart has gone through ups and downs trying to find peace. But is that what God wants? For me to be at peace with this difference in principle?I am not too sure is this where I need to stand and be that one?

New home, lots to do

This is us before we moved into our new home. Adam's face says it all. Crazy times. Thankfully his parents were here to help. Let's just say I would not have been this far along with moving in if it was not for them.

This is Elizabeth celebrating her good friend Brooke's 3rd birthday. They are 3 days apart. We celebrated Elizabeth's birthday this past Sat. It was supposed to be a pool party but of course it was pouring. So we had it at our new home last minute which means there was not a lot of planning which equaled a lot of tears. But she had fun. Our good friends the Clyne's came to visit us from Michigan. We had a great time. More to follow.

Summer

Yes the lazy days of summer.

Actually so far my have not been. Enjoyable, yes. Relaxing, no. On Memorial day the kids and I headed out to Brighton, Il to spend time with Adam's family. We spent time with grandparents and aunts and uncles. We went to the St. Louis zoo which kills the Nashville zoo. One reason is it is free.

We got back to Nashville to a broken car. Did I mention we only have the one? Thankfully Adam has a friend/client who lent us his. My sis flew in from Phoenix. And we hit the ground running from there. Friday possible renters wanted to see our home. Our landlord set the time for 2. Doesn't he realize I have 2 kids who both still take naps? I asked for it to be later.. 2:15 was all he could do. Gee Thanks. We went my bro in laws for nap time. Rushed to the grocery store and then home for a quick dinner before we went and watched a friend's dance recital.

Right now, nothing or at least for another hour.

New House

We did it! We are one step shy of being homeowners. Closing date. June 18th. Our little fam will be busy until then. The kids and I are off to Brighton.Il for a week and then back to Nashville because Aunt Jen is coming for a week. Then we all go to Chicago for a week. Adam will only stay a long weekend. By the time we get back, it will be a day before closing.

Once we close, we have almost 10 days to transition. We have some painting,pulling up carpet and hardware for light fixtures to do and then we should be ready. We are super excited to have this home. If any of you know that before we moved here to TN, we were one day away from house hunting in the suburbs. However my wise hubby decided that we needed to be DEBT FREE!! WE were/are huge fans of Dave Ramsey, even before we moved to Nashville. Once we buy the house we will continue to be debt free minus the mortgage. It has been difficult at times but most rewarding knowing we are not slave to the lender.

I will try and post pictures of our June happenings.

One day when I am BIG.......

One day when I am big..... I will be a snake.

One day when I am big... I will be a whale.

Cute things my daughter has said this past week. My favorite by far was"Mommy I love your frinkles. One day when I am BIG I am going to buy them at the grocery store." (Frinkles meaning freckles). How sweet.

We are very close to fulfilling my One day when I am BIG.... I will own a home. We are waiting to hear if the seller accepts our counteroffer.

Seth is getting bigger but is not sleeping as long as I would like. Oh well. There will come a time where I miss him being so small.



Obviously this picture is posed but cute.

Ok, I figured it out.

I figured it out. Thanks for anyone who offered suggestions.

So what is new in the life of the Lee's? Seth is almost 10 pounds, a great sleeper and rarely fusses. Elizabeth is a great big sis. We are still looking for a house and saving for a bigger car. We are looking forward to warmer and longer days.

My cousin got engaged and his proposal was pretty cool. My friend Heather had her baby, Hunter and we are super excited for them. I long to workout again and to fit into non maternity clothes. (which by the way, all my non-maternity clothes were stolen in Dec.)Therefore we are saving to buy me a new wardrobe.

Nothing else. Oh, Adam is running in a marathon next weekend and will try to make Boston. Pray he does because this would be his last year then training for marathons and I would have him back on Sat mornings.

Help!!

I can't seem to get the widget off my blog. Any suggestions?

My son

A week has gone by since I had my son,Seth. When I had Elizabeth, a week seemed like an eternity and that I would never survive on my own. Would you believe that time has flown by? Each day I look forward to how my son and daughter will interact. I actually don't mind some of the late night feedings. He is just so cute. I never had these feelings with my daughter because of post partem depression. YUCK@! Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter and look forward to things with her as well. I just did not feel that way because of the chemical imbalance that sometimes occurs in women after child birth. This time around I started taking zoloft as soon as he was born. I know some people are about not medicating, but I am and I praise God for them.

This past Sunday we went to church. All of us. I wanted to go but only if I slept well the night before. And I did. Seth slept well, had a few 3-4 hour stretches of sleep. So we went. Many people stopped us and said that I was a super mom for coming. Maybe I am, but I doubt it. The reason why I went was because I hate missing out on anything, even church. I like things that happen on schedule and if it doesn't, it throws me off. Always has. When I was a kid, if a soccer game got cancelled, I was incredibly bummed. Don't know why, just was.

Happy Birthday Seth!

Checking in at the hospital.





9 hours later


Welcome Seth Benjamin. Weighing in at 7.8 lbs and 20.5 inches. We are doing well and figuring out life as a family of 4.

Yes, the prego counter says 9 days!

WOW! Where has the time gone? I still can't believe this will happen. I have not even packed a bag. Some friends say I am in denial that this little boy will grace us with his presence. Adam wants me to pack it just in case I go into serious labor in the middle of the night. I did buy over night shampoo and conditioner and stuff. That's a step.

For those of you who don't know but I am going to be induced on the 24th so my parents' can be here to love on Elizabeth. It stressed me out switching from one friend to another over 2-3 day period. I already know this transition can and will be difficult for her. I am feeling bittersweet about it all. First, that Elizabeth will no longer be the only "love" in the house or family. Second, I am super excited to see what Seth looks like and to have him join our family. I will post pics as soon as possible.

Less than we think!!

Adam and I came to the decision that my parents need to be here before I go to the hospital. Meaning I am going to be induced. I have heard numerous bad experience stories but still feel this is the best route. I was speaking with a friend at church who is due in May and also has no family in town. And she is going to be induced and did not understand why I wasn't. So I am. Now I have to figure out the date. The doc and I will chat tomorrow about days after he checks me out. We are getting closer than we think.

Other big news is we did find some more houses we like that are not as far as some others and in safe neighborhoods and zoned for good schools. As we were looking I had to remind myself I live in a city. Not a suburb with suburban schools. All of the schools with Nashville in its address is part of the public school system which does not have a good reputation. I should say only has a fair reputation. Most families send their kids to private schools. There are private schools for every denomination and the some. However it does not make it cheap or free. I have not taken pics in awhile. Will post some soon.

Almost a month ago

Sorry folks it has been awhile. Trying to love on and care for a toddler, find a new home and prepare for an infant,my time is tight.

We have narrowed down the home search to a top 2. At least for now. As well as a name for our son due in 43 days. Well at least it is almost chosen. Seth Benjamin.

We went for a tour of the hospital where Seth will be born and so Elizabeth could see where I would be. It was very emotional for me for a lot of reasons. One is recoginizing that yes I will have an infant around. The feeling tied to that is anxiety in regards to lack of sleep and feeling a disconnect from the rest of the world. At least this time I know it will end. The second feeling was realizing that Elizabeth's life will be flipped upside down and it will no longer be the three of us. And just the idea of rebellion in her short life makes me nervous. We have done really well with potty training and I don't even carry diapers around for her anymore. Needless to say anxiety I never experienced before Elizabeth was born I am now experiencing. And wishing family lived nearby. Knowing someone who has already seen you at your worst is available is something to be missed.

Big decisions!

As many of you can tell because of the baby floating on the main page of this blog, that I am having a baby in 70 days. Crazy. The most crazy thing about it is, I can't decide what to call him. I should say we can't decide what to call him. Decision #1

Decision #2 Decide on how much we want to spend on a van. We are going to pay in full. We have no debt and would like to keep it that way until we buy a house. (see decision #3)Having 2 kids with bigger strollers and another car seat, really puts a four door out of a job.

Decision #3. Buy a house. In a good school zone and good neighborhood. This one isn't bad just a lot of stray dogs.

Thankfully, I have a God who is a constant God. Not one who is there when I am doing acts that are good. But One who is there because He loves me. That's it. NO matter how much I screw up, He is there. Awesome.

Christmas and New Year's!

Our Christmas season started earlier than we first anticipated. I persuaded Adam that we needed to learn 6 hours before we wanted. Chicago had already had enough snow and was going to be getting ice. We had no problems until we got Indianapolis. (of course when I took over)We crawled a measely 5 mph. It was pretty crazy watching semi's fishtailing.

Once we got to Chicago, my 80 year old grandmother's orginial flight was cancelled and then rescheduled for the next day. She did not get in until almost Christmas Eve. On the 27th my brother got to take his relationship with his girlfriend even deeper. Her flight got grounded in Chicago and then she missed her connection. She came over for dinner and a warm place to stay. We had a blast!!

We got to see some missed friends of ours Clynes. They have a daughter close to Elizabeth's age and then the wife is having a boy a month before me. We had a fun catching up.
We took them to Fox Valley Mall currently known as Westfield?We were able to ride the double decker merry-go-round.

Our New Year's was spent at home with my in laws. We had a good time,good food and more presents. I got a much needed bathrobe and slippers. We don't have a lot of carpet and our home does not warm up fast. I was wearing wool socks a lot. We had a great Christmas and New Year's.

I am not one to complain or joke about spending time with family on either side. I wish I could see more of either side. Ok, I would love it if my parents were closer.