David & a few funny things

During the sacrament prayer

David whispered loudly, "let your light shine!" After the prayer he falls on the floor crying/screaming saying, "they didn't say let your light shine."

(Background...Eden had a lesson in primary titled 'let your light shine'. Her teachers gave her a little light that she proudly displayed on her dresser. She informed everyone that we should pray to 'let our light shine'. David has obviously caught on...)
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On a family walk

Paul: "David, why aren't there leaves on the sidewalk?"

David: "umm...Jesus. He loves us. Don't smoke. That's bad."

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Offically Sworn

Paul flew to Utah last week and was sworn in at the State Captial as an offical Lawyer.

All legal advice is now subject to a charge :)

Conference weekend

Grandpa & Grandma Ordyna came to Indiana the first weekend in October. We have been looking forward to their visit since we waved good bye in August. It was a wonderful weekend. We were able to go and visit some special places from their past. Grandma had her 50 year High School reunion in Hammond, Indiana. Purdue is Grandpa's old stomping grounds. He briefly went here and played basketball but soon followed Grandma to BYU and convinced her to marry him. Grandpa returned and earned his Masters degree here. After the birth of their third child, they packed up and moved to Mountain Green, Utah.

So...even though Pete the Boilermaker is a ridiculous mascot and the Krannert School of business has captured Paul...I still hold a special place in my heart for you Purdue. This is where Grandma Ordyna grew up. Grandpa Ordyna saw her for the very first time here. She poked her head out the window to inform him her brother was coming out. From that moment...he was interested. He loves her so.

We met up and went to lunch with Uncle Marty (Grandma's brother) who lives in Merriville, IN. He is such a nice man. He was especially tolerant of our kids who are chaotic at restaurants.

One of the most special places we visited was the St. Michaels National Polish Catholic Church cemetery. Where Grandpa's parents are buried. Grandpa has many memories of attending funerals in this cemetery. Grandpa Ordyna has gathered hundreds (maybe thousands) of names for genealogy purposes. He is a man who appreciates and loves his heritage.This is the house that Grandpa Ordyna grew up in. Great Grandpa Joe built it. Grandpa painted that stair railing every summer.

Once we were back in Lafayette we enjoyed a relaxing conference weekend. Grandpa brought little projects for the kids.

Eden & Grandma working on a puzzle.In between sessions we walked to the Frozen Custard shop...but it was closed. Later, I found out it was robbed and a fire started...hopefully they open back up soon!

Ruth walking

One years old

The day came. You turned one. You woke up and decided to walk. You took five little baby steps, fell forward and tried again. You had pancakes with blueberries and whipped cream for breakfast. David blew out your candle three times before we finished singing to you. We went to Hammond, Indiana to see Grandma and Grandpa Ordyna's old stomping ground. You ate two suckers. We smothered you with kisses and said Happy Birthday a dozen times. It has been a long year (I mean that in a good way). A lot has happened in our family.

We love you sack of sugar!

Third child

Conversation at the gym

Girl: "How old is your daughter?"

Me: "Turning one on Friday."

Girl: "Oh, are you going to have a big party?"

Me: "No."

Girl: "Oh...because she's your third and you don't care anymore."

Me (laugh): "umm...no because I don't want to celebrate. I don't want her to turn one. I don't want her to grow up. Plus, I don't see the point. If I want to throw myself a party I will do it on my birthday."

Then I change the subject and compliment her shirt.

Dear Ruth,

I do not approve of you trying to walk. I don't want you to drink out of a sippy. I don't want to bake you a cake. I really despise those top teeth growing in, making you look so grown up.


Sincerely,

Your mother

P.S. Don't listen to people who think that I have given up on motherhood because you are my third child. It is simply not true.

So is life

*Dinner

Half of me wants to have a toddler tantrum and throw Paul's notebook out the window. Kicking and yelling the words "I hate this". He is never here. Even when he's here...he's not really here.

The other half of me sighs, takes a deep breath and wonders if I really will miss these years? Will I really miss living the college life? I believe people when they tell me this. I know I will.

I will miss the simplicity of life. Life is simple now.

For now, the second half of me is winning. There is peace and joy in my heart.

Although I do fight against the toddler tantrum part of myself regularly.

Bear blanket

Let it be said that I love my David. He is MY child. The child people say looks like me. His angelic face on a skinny little neck melts my heart. I think he is the cutest boy I have ever seen. He has grown attached to this red blanket. It was made my Grandma Ordyna for Paul many years ago. I first saw this blanket on Paul's bed when we were dating (it has blue teddy bears on the other side). David calls it his bear blanket and sleeps with it everyday. This morning at 4am I found him curled up on the kitchen floor in his bear blanket...I guess he didn't make it to my bed. He has been scared of ghosts lately.

Our daddy is a lawyer

Congratulations on passing the Bar.

Ballet class

Today was Eden's first ballet class. I have NEVER seen her so excited. She even let me comb her tangled hair and put it in a bun (usually she screams at me and pulls it out right after I finish). She bounced into the dance studio. Not shy, all smiles.


Eden was in her element. She was consumed by the teacher, the music and looking at herself in the mirror.


I cried. I was so embarrassed (and I didn't want to embarrass Eden...can I do that yet?).



I cried because I was so happy to see HER happy.


It's a mother thing.

*dancing like a flower

11 1/2 months

21 lbs

29 inches

and standing

First and Last day of Preschool

Eden went to preschool today. Dressed herself and did her own hair!

I have felt like I can't teach my daughter as well as other people. She seems to listen & learn better when she is away from me. When she is around me I seem to melt her independence. She gets stubborn and whiny.

I felt like preschool was the best option. She is ready to go...but that doesn't mean she HAS to go. Right?

I want to pause life and read a stack of parenting books before moving on. My immediate reaction to her rebellion is anger....which only sends me on a whirlwind of guilt and eating cookies! Ah. Why won't she obey?! Why do I find myself making threats to produce good behavior? I don't like it.

Good parenting is hard.

It is easier to send Eden to preschool to have someone else teach her the alphabet.

But I don't want that.

The spirit whispered to my mind this week: I CAN teach my children. This WILL bring me great happiness. I am a teacher. I will do this.

I cancealed her enrollment this afternoon.

The inside

Welcome

My pictures are so terrible...I would make the worst real estate agent. I will attempt to take you on a full circle tour, hopefully you can make sense of the space. Here we go...

Opening the front door you enter an enclosed porch...our playroom (hello David) Standing at the door frame looking straight ahead leaving the porch...looking at the living & dinner room.
Standing a few steps into the house from the porch (turning left), a den...which is my sewing and craft place. Family room closer. My amazing mother & her parents made those frames for me. I took the pictures of the kids this summer. I plan on hanging them in the kids room. I know they don't match the decor of this room...but until I figure out what I want to do with this wall I love looking at them all the time. Actually, I do love the frames there...I just need to change the color of them if I want them in this room. Maybe black? A dark stain would also be nice? What do you think?
Looking from the couch back at the front door.Moving on... archway leading into the bathroom and our bedroom.

Bathroom (nothing exciting...no counters)

Our bedroom. See that door? That leads to the den...we have made one circle.

Kitchen

I should apologize for all the dishes drying on the counter and the junk on top of the fridge...but I am not going to. This is the life of a kitchen with no dishwasher and kids who get into the bread

45, 043 times a day.

Off the kitchen is the backdoor where everyone enters, the kids room, bathroom, laundry area and creepy basement. Let's see if I can explain this in pictures. Kids room.

I know you love the empty picture frames. I am just glad they are hung. I will figure out what to put in them later.

*Ruth & Eden are sleeping, so I didn't dare get a better photo.And let's not forget about the creepy basement.

* Thank you for visiting our home on 26th.

2nd tooth

Goodness gracious, this girl needs to learn her lesson about biting things. This afternoon she was pretending to be a dog and bit my shirt. As I walked away the pull of my shirt popped that little tooth right out!

She ran in her closet and screamed. It scared her and she was crying because she didn't want her tooth to come in crooked (so...I might have told her last week that if she pulls her teeth out too soon the new ones will grow in crooked...oops).

After hugs and reassurance she was ok and so proud of her new lost tooth.

*Our conversation before bed:

Me: "Eden, you should pick up your room so the tooth fairy doesn't trip on anything."

Eden: "No mom, she flies."

11 months

Ruth has grown up so much this past month. She is now one of the Amigos. These 3 are always together, mainly because Ruth follows them everywhere. She can crawl fast and pulls her self up on things. The kids love her so much. They get excited when she "talks" and they translate for her. Currently Ruthie is battling a stuffy nose and cough. She screams loud when she is trying to communicate. A loud scream at the dinner table either means..."give me more food now" or "get me down". A loud scream with her head leaning back means she wants a bottle and is ready for bed. A loud scream along with a pinch on the neck means she is tired but she doesn't want to go to sleep. She knows all of our names because she will look at the person.