Talking to God

Nat, Jules and I were supposed to go to a picnic on Saturday. However, I told the kids that we wouldn't leave until they had picked up their toys. Now I didn't spring this on them immediately before we had to go, I was requesting their help for hours. After being ignored, there were eventually heated words and spankings. Finally we were able to get everything straightened up and we headed to the picnic. Coming home at the end of the night our conversation went like this:
Nat: "Mom, when I pray, I mean when I am in bed tonight, when I am praying to God tonight" (it took her quite a while to get it out) "I am going to pray to God to help me be a better helper. I'm going to pray he helps me clean up and be a good girl."
There is a break in the conversation as I am contemplating how wonderful my daughter is.... and then....
"What are YOU going to pray for mom?" pausing a moment "Are you going to pray to be a good mom?"
I burst out laughing. "Well first I am going to thank God for my wonderful children. Then, I will pray for patience and that we do a better job helping each other."
Priceless.

Good-Bye

This is an unbelievable post for me right now. Yesterday, John got a phone call. Just seeing his face I knew it couldn't be good. "You don't want to know.", he said in response to my concerned countenance quizzing him as he hung up the phone. "Czerwien." His eyes became glassy.
What shocking and devastating news. Mike Czerwien passed away at the age of 24. Read or watch about him here, here, or here.

We met Czerwien in 2001 when John started as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at North Hills high school. Czerwien was going into the 10th grade. He was a short and stalky kid playing DE for the storied North Hills football team. He was joined at the hip with another Mike, Mike Schmidt. (Hence their "handles" Czerwien and Schmidt or Schmitty.) They shared first names, a birthday, and just about everything in high school.
Anyway, John quickly took a liking to both boys, and I think the feeling was mutual. It wasn't hard though, everyone liked Czerwien and Schmidt. People were drawn to their funny, forever jovial, good natured, sweet, but all-boy personalities.
There were of course, kids that were bigger and much taller than the squat 5'8" defensive end, a relative midget for the position in elite Quad A football schools. But Czerwien had ridiculous speed, crazy strength a giant heart and a love of the game. Moreove, Czerwien did it all with humor and enthusiasm and just plain joy.
His joy was infectious. His beaming smile would light up his entire face, a room, and the faces of those around him. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
While John saw him nearly 5 days a week for 3 years, I also had the privilege of spending time with him. He was around quite a bit during those early years of our marriage. He helped us move in to our first house. He helped load literally tons of rock into our old Toyota pick-up to build our ponds. He and the boys took John and I out to gorge on wings and ice cream after John's body building competition in 2004. And he was at the house the evening I got home late from work and found John had killed his big Pittsburgh deer. He and Schmidt were over checking it out as John used our basement as a butcher shop - the head literally chillin' in our downstairs fridge. It was the boys who convinced John that it was a buck nice enough to mount. It was and he did.
I know Czerwien made an impression on us and I think John made a difference in his life too. I know John encouraged him to consider going to college which, at the time, wasn't on his radar. He encouraged him to see that his football skills could help him to get a quality education which would change his future. I remember being told the story of how Czerwien and his mom went to visit Waynesburg. They were all ready to head home and Czerwien said, "mom, wait! I've got to go back!" His mom wondered, "why? what? Did you forget something?" "No," he said, "I've got to go back and get John a shirt!" They were already in the parking lot and his mom said, "you can get him one next time." Truthfully, he was going to be there a lot in just a short amount of time. No, he wouldn't wait. He went right back and got that shirt. =)

Czerwien went on to receive his degree and was working on a Master's at the time of his death. He was an assistant football coach at Waynesburg and holds many collegiate football records as a player including the NCAA All-division record for sacks.
Working at North Hills was such a great experience. Not just for John, but for me as well. After 5 years of seeing kids come and go, we were used to having to say good-bye as they graduated NH and moved on to bigger and better things. There were certain kids, however, that will never leave my heart - Steve, Turk, Corey, The Longs,... Czerwien was one of those special kids and although I never dreamed I would be saying good-bye like this, and a lot more than miles separate us, I know he will never leave my heart. I can only imagine how John feels.

Bailey - Week 8

Well, I know I've missed a few weeks here. Things have been rather hectic since John got home from being out of town for 25 days. Please forgive me.

On the sleeping front, we are doing well. Sunday night she actually slept for over 8 hours! Woo hoo! However, she fell victim to the stuffy nose that had plagued Nat the week prior and struck Julsie on Saturday evening/Sunday morning. Monday was a rough night, but we have been getting back on track now. She has cleared up some and the cool mist humidifier is helping too. Poor thing, she makes little snorting piggy sounds while trying to breathe sometimes. =(

Developmentally she is looking around at things more and I've really noticed her being interested in things with patterns (stripes, dots, etc) She seems to be focusing better and looking at faces more. Her days are still dominated by sleep but we've had some more waking time including some screaming time the last couple days (don't bother calling between 8 and 10.) I hope it is due to the stuffiness and goes away quickly.

Here is the little stinker posing with some peonies from our garden. (They are my favorite flower and are in full bloom here so they had to make an appearance.)

Lil Tidbits from Jules

Like Nat says, I think we all wish we could fall asleep like Julsie. She can fall asleep anywhere in a matter of moments. She can fall asleep at 6:00pm and sleep until morning. Her dad and I think she may have his narcolepsy. Take these pics for example. We had a long couple days last weekend and 2 nights in a row she didn't even make it to her bed. Someone would notice Jules was missing and say "where's Julsie?" This is what we found.

John and I were outside bringing the baby and bags, etc. into the house. The girls were already inside. I thought I may have heard the phone ring, but then nothing. When John opened the front door, he pointed to Julsie who was on the steps with the phone to her ear. We looked at each other, puzzled. It took me a minute to realize she really was talking to someone. Apparently she knows how to answer the phone and take messages too. "Yeah. No. Outside. Uh-huh. Ok, bye bye."
"Julsie, who was that?" "I don't know. A girl."
"Was it Nana?" "No"
"Was it Gramma?" "No"
"Who was it?" "I don't know. Her said her call back later."

Everytime Julsie gets on the phone: "Hi. This is Julsie-Baby." It's just about the cutest thing ever.

Jules rarely says "her." For example, as she did before Bailey's birth and the revelation of her sex, Jules refers to Bailey as "him."
ie. "awe, him so cute." or "did him lose him sock?"

Jules is a great story teller. I first realized this when she was trying to go potty a few months ago. She asked me to tell her a story while we were waiting for her system to oblige. I asked her to tell one instead, not actually thinking she would. Immediately she said, "Oooonce pona tiiiiime..." She continued to tell me a story about 2 "nakes," 2 mouses, and a wolf. These characters remain among her favorite heroes and villians in tales she weaves. Typically, there is a lot of "getting" accompanied by clawing motions, someone being eaten, the villian becoming nice, and everyone eventually becoming friends.

Julsie is officially potty-trained! I now feel confident in saying that and thank the Lord. She still wears a diaper at night for safety, but rarely needs it. It has been a struggle but we have prevailed. As a reward, she had a special shopping trip with Nana to pick out her very own big girl undies. (It was supposed to be Julsie and Nana only, but she graciously allowed Nat to come too.) Then they went to DQ for a treat. Way to go big girl!

Yeah, she's now becoming a big girl - like Nat says, "we have a big girl, a toddler and a baby" - but we still call her Baby Jules. She still loves it and wouldn't have it any other way. I think she may be Baby Jules (or Julsie Baby) her whole life and I'm ok with that =)

Lil' Tidbits from Nat

Nat (frustrated): Mom, sometimes I really don't want to have a little sist... I mean, I wish I didn't have to have a, I mean, not a little sister, but a...
Jules: Meeeeeeee?!!!
We all just burst out laughing. I said, "I know, sometimes she just drives you" and in unison, we say, "crazy." "But you love her." "Yeah," said Nat, "who would do my plans" (read schemes) "with me?"
Oh, the mystery and intricacies of sisterhood.


Nat to Bailey: Who's the cutest baby on the planet?


Nat: "Where's Pop-pop?" Nana: "I don't know, he should be here soon." Nat: "He's probably eatin' chocolate somewhere."


You know how Jules was using an Italian accent? Well, around January Nat started saying her "r"s differently. It wasn't the "w" sound children typically say instead of "r." I just couldn't figure it out. Then it hit me. It was FRENCH! She is totally using the back of her tongue. The "r" is the only letter with the accent, but we love it and frequently ask her to say words containing "r" over again just to hear it.


Nat: "I wish I could fall asleep like Julsie."

Daddy had a bag of cough drops on his bed.
Nat: "What are these?"
Dad: "They are cough drops. You take them when you are sick and they help you not to cough."
Nat: "Well that's silly, they shouldn't be called cough drops, they should be called Not Coughs."

Nat to Mommy: "Can we go to Nana's house?"
Mom: "Are you missing her?"
Nat: "Well YOU haven't seen her in weeks and weeks!"
In actuality, we had all seen her just a few days before. Glad to know Nat is looking out for me, though. ;)

We stopped over to her cousins' house to drop off some plants before we went in town to visit Gramma and Grandpa. Her cousins were swimming in the pool.
Nat: "Are the boys swimming?"
Mom: "Yep"
Nat: "Why didn't we come over to swim today?"
Mom: "Well, we're on our way to Gramma's right now."
Nat: "But I wanted to go swimming today."
Mom: "We will one day. They just opened their pool this week. We'll go soon. The boys just got home from school today and jumped in."
Nat: "What? They just got home from school?"
Mom: "Yes."
Nat, now almost frantic as I start the truck: "Well why are they swimming? because they're hot?"
Mom: "Yes, I guess, because they're hot."
Nat at a fever pitch: "Well I'm hot!!"

Week 5

Bailey had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and weighed 7 lbs 15 ounces!!! Almost 8 lbs! That's nearly a 2 lb increase since birth!!! I knew she was eating like a little champ, but I had no idea, even when John mentioned how her cheeks were filling out.

This past week she has really started to improve her sleeping at night. Her best night was last night when she managed a 5 hour stint followed by a 4 hour one. Woo hoo!

Big sisters love her tons and love helping, but Jules does NOT like it when she cries. "Mom!!! Get him some food!" Yesterday Jules was in tears over Bailey's crying, talk about stressful moments for mama. Nat loves to be as close as she can get. Sometimes it makes me claustrophobic - give me some breathing room girl! =)

PS, that funky shirt is an old one of my gram's I was wearing while gardening. =)

Tough as Nails? Who'd Have Guessed

Well, we know that Nat is not allergic to bees. She got her first bee sting a couple weeks ago. She was upstairs in her bedroom with Jules when I heard a LOUD scream and then some yelling. I ran to the bottom of the stairs as she ran out of her room.
"It was on me! The bee was on me!" and she was holding her arm.
"Did it sting you?"
"It was on me!"
"Yes, I know. Are you mad because it was on you or did it sting you?"
"I don't know! I didn't see it." (she didn't actually SEE the stinger enter her)
"Did you feel a pinch or a poke?"
"I don't know, it was on me."
I looked at her arm and could only see a large red area where her hand had been holding it tight. I still couldn't tell if she had been stung. She was not crying, but was a little frantic. When she asked for something cold, I was thinking she really did get stung. Finally she showed me her arm, and I saw the little raised area. She had been stung and never cried, what a trouper.
_______________________________
Last week, we were at my sister-in-law's house when Nat walked into the kitchen and smiled. Her teeth were all bloody! I said, "what happened!?" but I tried not to overreact and upset her. I thought she may not have know that she was bleeding. She informed me that she and Jules collided. Then, I saw her shirt. She had been using it to wipe up the blood. She just smiled, grabbed her shirt and continued to blot her lip which turned out to be offended body part. Again, she never cried.

Apparently my sensitive little girls is a quite a bit tougher than I thought! Daddy said she must have my pain tolerance. ;)