Reflections

The littles are tucked in to bed, Papa is at work, Kaitlyn at her dad's and I'm sitting by a warm fire wishing that I had magically already fallen asleep. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am SO excited to wake up, make breakfast and watch the Macy's Parade. I'm exhausted from all the Thanksgiving prep, but I'm happy everyone will get to have a lovely day. This afternoon, while enjoying Bridget Jones Diary, While You Were Sleeping, and several other Christnas movies, I was able to make rolls, green bean casserole, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and gluten free snickerdoodles. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a wonderful day. I love you all! I'm so thankful to be your wife and mommy, 

Letter to Lucas

Tonight little man, we watched you play on your new red saucer with Baby Girl. It was your rocket, and baby girl wanted desperately off. You love her so much, and it makes my heart incredibly dull to witness it. I tucked you in to Kaitlyn's bed tonight, and read to you book after book. You love Olivia books right now. Childhood is but a moment, and your dad and I want to soak up all of it with you. 

...truth...

Learning to Trust

As we enter the holiday season and the end of 2013 is quickly approaching, I reflect back on all that God has blessed us with this year. I usually connect blessings with financial gain, but I am slowly learning, (at almost 30 years old) that God has more up his sleeves than money. I was once again blessed to be a teacher at our local Christian school, but as I showed up for the first week of school, I discovered that I would only be teaching part time. I was in a panic initially, frustrated with my schedule, my finances, childcare, etc. This is not a new concept for me, as I struggle with having completed so much schooling, only to receive so "little" in pay. My job for the last 8 years at our private school, has blessed me so much. I have received healing from my teen pregnancy, been with my daughter everyday, had the same schedule as her, been blessed over and over again by the families here, so much that I cannot imagine being anywhere else. Now, only working part time, I see that God orchestrated it all perfectly so that I can be at home with Lucas, and fulfill my duties as a wife and mother. As humbling, as this experience has been in dealing with my pride, and my feelings in regards to my paycheck, education, and self-esteem, I can see how God has provided financially for my family, with giving Richard more hours at work, and little side jobs to sustain us.

This journey has allowed me to trust in the Lord completely, and realize once again that I have no control over what is happening in my life. I still get frustrated with the situation, when I see others get teaching jobs that I know pay more, or I see my husband's desire to finish his bachelor's degree sidelined once again, but I have to enjoy the moments that I have at home with my son, the ability to workout with my girlfriends, have a lunch date or a play date. These precious moments with my children and husband are worth far more than any paycheck that I could receive for teaching other people's children. I just have to remember that in the moments that I feel jealousy or discontent. God certainly has a better plan, than I could ever imagine.

August Changes

Our summer flew by. Full of lazy days, swimming and friends. I can't believe that fall is finally upon us. School is quickly approaching and I am thankful for the help of my parents as I prep my classroom for my eighth year of teaching. Kaitlyn will be in sixth grade, and Lucas will be loved and cared for by Renee again. I am thankful that we have such wonderful people in our lives who care about our family. Richard is still looking for a new job, that would provide more family time. He is blessed to have steady and well paid work in a time when our economy is still recovering. I know that God has everything held in the palm of his hand, but I still struggle with the uncertainty of the unknown. It is hard to juggle the kids, house, work, school, church and all the other activities of life. I have found myself overwhelmed as of late, attempting to discern where God wants me to pour my energy into. I know he has Richard and I where we are supposed to be, because no other doors have opened, but I am running low on patience and peace, missing my husband. Praying that each day I will be stronger and find more trust in the Lord.

"Single-ish" Mom

Life lately has been hectic and busy. I feel like we just run from one thing to the next. That we live in our car between swim team, play dates and parties. We are over scheduled to say the least. Monday through Friday I am a "single-ish" mom. I have been changing the terminology that comes out of my mouth from "single mom" to "single-ish" mom, after reading this interview from our first lady, Michelle Obama. Single Mom  is a label that I have worn before, after my divorce, and prior to my remarriage. I know that being a "single mom" is a difficult job, but that any form of motherhood is rewarding. After reading the article, I decided I needed to change my current label to "single-ish mom" I know that Saturday and Sunday, I have the husband to help me tag team the kiddos. My husband is working nights, and due to our schedules overlapping we see each other only in passing, as he comes to school to pick up our daughter, Kaitlyn for swim practice. I am constantly frustrated with my present situation in life. I am attempting to be content and find joy in our life. In the fact that my children have their health, that we have more than enough food and a warm home to spend our days and nights in. I am blessed to be able to work in a wonderful environment, that encourages me and my students to have a loving relationship with God and each other. It helps that before I go to bed, that I count my blessings and believe that this current situation of time apart from my husband, is only strengthening our marriage and preparing him for something else in the future. In the meantime, my little man is loving his first car.

...Little Man...

Lucas, also known as "little man" is driving me crazy. He didn't sleep today for his babysitter and the result was absolute chaos tonight. I couldn't help but think of the book I'll Love You Forever, because my son was seriously driving me up the wall. I am thankful that I am finally in bed, and able to escape on the internet for a few minutes, before escaping into hopefully a good book. Most of all, I am thankful that my son who thinks he is a big boy, is finally sleeping.

Update on life...

The last few months have flown by! Lucas is now 7 months old! He was extremely colicky, so our life was a blur of sleepless days and nights. He is growing quite rapidly now and pretty soon will be mobile. Kaitlyn is currently playing soccer, doing guitar lessons, participating in American Girl doll club, and involved in multiple things at church. It goes without saying that we are busy. I love being Kaitlyn's fifth grade teacher and although I find myself drinking multiple cups of coffee throughout the day, our year is going well. Richard is all over the place, working his full time job, doing side work and being daddy & husband.

My favorite part of maternity leave was reading. I didn't get much else done, but I was able to read as much as I wanted. If only I could be paid to read...

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Three Weeks

I can't believe how time has flown by! Our baby boy is already three weeks old! Lucas Kaeo Battle was born February 19, at 9:03 AM. The last few weeks have been amazing! We are so blessed. God is so faithful to what he has promised us!

Thankful

I am so thankful this year, for time spent with family and friends. For all the good I know God has planned for us. For the surprises in my life, like getting to take my daughter to the Christmas parade in town with family, and for my husband getting of from work early enough, to go too. God plants these little seeds of joy in my life, to bless me, and probably to keep me from going crazy. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by, and how soon our little baby boy is going to be here! Last night, we splurged and bought him a cozy gray blankly from the local boutique, SunBeams. I can't wait to use it!

My Baby Boy

I cannot wait to meet my little boy! My best friend Becky, had her beautiful little girl yesterday, and getting to hold her in the hospital yesterday, was the best part of my week! I cannot believe that I am going to be blessed to be a mother again. I was excited this morning to find these adorable gift tags for my baby shower from the etsy shop SeptemberFaire!

Baby Battle

Well, we just found out that Baby Battle is a BOY!!! I absolutely cannot wait to meet him! I love him so much already, and now I feel like I am totally behind, in being ready for his arrival! We are coming up with a list of names, and Kaitlyn and Richard are so excited too! Baby Battle, what should your name be?

Life Flying By...

How can it be that I have not blogged since April??? Where has the time gone? Well we enjoyed a beautiful spring, and a wonderful 3 months of Summer vacation that included a trip to Oregon, time in Santa Cruz and many, many days at my mother's beautiful pool. We celebrated our 1 year anniversary, with a trip to San Francisco with friends, which was fun and we also found out in June that we are expecting Baby Battle #1. It amazes me how quickly our lives can change. Baby will be here sometime in late February and while this pregnancy has been much kinder on my body than Miss K's was, I am still amazed each morning when I wake up and realize that yes indeed I am pregnant and that I have to get prepared. Kaitlyn turned 9 this week, and yet she still seems like my little girl. Another school year began, and we continue to be busy with swim team, soccer practice, and events at church. While I love this time of year, I still look forward to the quiet evenings at home that will come with late fall and early winter weather. Time that hopefully I will be able to use to nest and get ready for baby...

My New Favorite Thing...

During a discussion about books my friend Vix, who grew up all over the world, but ended up in the South suggested a new author Sarah Addison Allen, and her book Garden Spells. I picked up the book from the library during Christmas break and ended up reading it in one sitting during a snowstorm. Her books sparkle with magic, yet her protagonists are realistically flawed and relatable. I could not help but be captivated and wanted the book to never end, but it always does ;-) Seeing another one of her books available at the library, The Sugar Queen, I convinced my husband to drive down to Sonora during a lull in the storm to pick it up. I woke up on Friday morning and huddled under a blanket with Miles and in 4 hours quickly devoured it as well. I love chick lit! I will not thumb my nose at it, despite being an English major :-) I cannot help myself, especially when it is Southern Romantic literature. I love the settings that Allen describes and the world that she creates for her characters, I escape to it and never want to leave. I picked up 2 more of her books and I am trying to restrain myself from reading them so that I have something exciting to look forward to reading when Summer vacation begins. I hope that my husband and I will be able to tour the South sometime soon so I can experience the world myself :-)

Want I Want From the Bunny...

When the power went out for a week, last month, I had to get creative with our shower arrangements as they were not readily available. Richard was content with cold showers, but Kaitlyn and I prefer to heat water on the stove and to have sponge baths. Our saving grace during this time was Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. The All-One Hemp Peppermint bar left us clean and tingly and I absolutely love the smell. I'm addicted to it now, and it has multiple uses throughout the house and is gentle enough for babies :-) Maybe the Easter Bunny will get the hint and bring me a basket full!

Soap

As my family and many of my friends know, I do not like Wal-Mart with a passion! I dislike going in to the store, because I always spend way too much money on junk that I do not need, as well as the fact that I strongly dislike the fact that we have only one place in our small town to purchase items such as toilet paper or laundry soap at low prices. So with the ever rising prices of gas, I have been avoiding going to Modesto as often as I would like. My thrifty and creative sister-in-law, April told me about this website soap.com, which offers free 1-2 day shipping and no sales tax on all the household items you can dream of wanting, many of which Wal-Mart does not offer! I decided to give it a try, since I love online shopping and can do it from the comfort of my own home, versus wasting precious time out shopping. I found everything that I needed at a very comparable price, plus no tax! My order was placed at 4pm Tuesday and arrived at 2pm Wednesday! I couldn't believe it! My life is definitely changed for the better :-) A huge thank you to my sister-in-law April for helping me discover this wonderful website...

P.S. I tried not to say "hate" in this post, although I really wanted to, because a good friend of mine reminded me last night that it is wrong... :-) Thanks Keturah!

Candida

The snow storms of the last few weeks, have really thrown a loop into our normally extremely over-scheduled lives! It has been nice to be at home, (although I am working non-stop on the school yearbook), to spend time just being in our home, forced to be here :-) I have neglected many things, like cleaning and laundry, do to the lack of power, but it is time to begin Spring cleaning! The sun is out today, and will hopefully begin to melt the snow away. Another development in our lives, is Kaitlyn's diagnosis of Candida. Candida is in simple, understandable terms an overgrowth of "bad" yeast in the digestive tract, and must be treated through diet, probiotics, and initially anti-fungal treatment. The diet changes, that are occurring are a wheat free, dairy free, sugar free, fruit free diet for the first stage, and then we shall see what other changes are necessary as we progress. This calls for a major life change in our home, as I can no longer feed Kaitlyn anything that falls in those food groups. Along with my mom, and best friend, I have been spending hours on the internet finding resources, recipes and tips on how to adjust to this change in our lives. It seems initially overwhelming and difficult to comprehend, but the alternative is to continue to see my child in constant pain and embarrassment, when I know that I can help. On a positive note, I am looking forward to the changes it will signal in our lives and how it will finally force me into action, in areas such as a garden, and a diet overhaul that I have been procrastinating on due to sheer laziness. I just pray that this will truly help her and give her body the full health it deserves. On a side note, there is a ton of wonderful information on Candida on the internet through blogs, websites, etc.

Snow Fun

Due to my husband's new work schedule, working from 2 am to 11:30 am, Mon-Fri. we have had a very limited amount of time together. We are blessed enough to have opportunities to be together during the day, for example on a school ski trip. Richard was able to drive up to join Kaitlyn and I on the slopes, and despite the slushy snow, it made for a wonderful day together :-)

Best Friends

I will attempt to catch up on my blogging, as I am behind according to a conversation with my father :-)

Every girl needs her friends, and my daughter is blessed with many, but her best friends these days are: Madalyn, Britton and Sarah. We were blessed enough to have all three spend the night, on January 17, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, (and no school :-) My poor husband put up with all of their escapades, which included nail polish, snacks, girl movies and even getting stuck in the creek :-) I endured it all, and even was able to create a yummy cobbler for them, out of my new favorite cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks... I am so thankful for my daughters BFF's!