the negotiation

Isabel's negotiation skills have been getting even sharper. I have two examples...Joseph recently told her that she should not keep asking us to do things when we have already said no. He said if there were special circumstances she could explain them to us, but not keeping asking the same thing over and over. Well, we were going to deliver some cupcakes and when Isabel heard the word deliver she asked if she could sit in the front seat. (We let her sit in the front seat when we drive a few houses down to deliver things so she can get out and back in fast. I know, I guess we should probably just walk.) Anyway, he says no. She asks again, he says no because we are only making one stop two houses down and then driving far away. She said, "Ok, I'm sorry, I just really, really, really want to sit in front." My other example happened later that evening when we were eating cupcakes. Isabel had just finished her second cupcake for the day and asked for another one. I said no. She asked if she could just have half of a cupcake. We chuckled and I said no. Then she asked if she could have one bite of my cupcake. Joseph just about fell out of his chair laughing. She was just so persistent and I decided that was a pretty reasonable and creative idea so I let her have a bite of my cupcake.

the fort

My neighbor bought a bed and she suggested we use the boxes to build a fort for the kids. It's nice to have creative friends. So, while I was making us lunch she cut doors, windows, tunnels and watched the kids. They had a lot of fun and it held together reasonably well. It got real windy and the fort blew down and then it rained....so that was pretty much the end of the fort. But, we sure got some good use out of it!

sleeping ansel

Joseph let Ansel watch his movie the other day while Isabel and I were out. He looked over and saw Ansel on the arm of the couch. Now, Ansel likes to sometimes bite/zerbert the couch and he also likes to reach over and get the stuff we have on our end tables (which we keep within his reach so he CAN get it, but try to teach him not to). Joseph thought he was doing one of these things and went over to check on him and found him totally asleep! This is surprising since Ansel is a very well rested child: ALWAYS taking a daily 3-4 hour afternoon nap and sleeps for 12 hours at night and plays happily in his bed until we get him. I know, he is the best second child anyone could ever want. Actually, I have a funny story that happened today relating to our kids sleeping habits. Joseph has a 9:30am meeting every Sunday and he uses our children as his Sunday alarm clock. Well, today somehow they did not wake him up until 10:10am!! Isabel will sometimes come and sleep with us around 7:30am if she has woken up and is still a little tired. So, Joseph wakes up to find Isabel sleeping with us and Ansel playing happily in his bed. I sure got a good night's sleep! Don't worry, I'm sure my next kid will keep me up all night and day. But, for right now...man, I love our schedule.

the bug hunt

Isabel went on a bug hunt in our front yard. She came in and said she had found a snake. I thought maybe she thought she saw one, but told her to tell her dad. So, they went out and came back with a snake. I was really surprised!

It was pretty small, but it still made me a little nervous. We are all just recovering from being sick. I had already make three trips to the doctor in 4 days and didn't want to have to take anyone in because of a snake bite. Joseph tried to reassure me that these little gardener snakes don't bite. Well, when it started opening it's mouth and turning toward his fingers I thought, it's time to set him free; I've seen enough. It was a pretty exciting bug hunt for Isabel and maybe I better give a little more supervision on the next one!

the perfect climbing tree

We just discovered a new playground that is AWESOME! It has some really cool equipment that I've never seen before and it has this amazing climbing tree. Isabel LOVES to climb the trees in our backyard. This tree has so many branches coming out that she can climb quite easily. She climbed over twenty feet high. I made her stay a little lower, but she is very adventurous.

chuck e cheese

It's been so long since I've posted a photo! Sorry, I don't take enough pictures and I'm trying to do better. My friend (Katie-Beth) actually took this picture of Ansel on her phone and emailed it to me. This was from a recent trip to Chuck E Cheese. I remember loving this ride when I was little. Katie-Beth and I will save up coupons and then go get a large pizza and 80 free tokens. We don't ever spend all the tokens in one trip, but Isabel was more into playing the games that you win tickets (not just the rides). So, we ended up with over 100 tickets this time!! She decided to get a car for Ansel and a tatoo for herself. Ansel LOVED the basketball game. They have one for older kids and younger kids. He could hold the smaller sized balls pretty well. I had to hold him up and he would throw it over the glass. He didn't ever want to stop playing. We would go do something else and I would turn around and he was gone. I knew right where to look for him: the basketball game. He was there asking for another turn. It was pretty cute. I thought Joseph would be proud at how boyish he acts.

the news

So, some of you may already know, but I wanted to make the announcement official by putting it on the website: I'm pregnant. We are really excited and especially because we found the perfect provider for us. We have tried an OBGYN, CNM, and now we will see a Lay Midwife. We are very excited to deliver at a birthing center instead of a hospital. For those of you who don't know, I prefer to have babies naturally and don't share the attitudes about birth with the hospitals I've been to. Using hypnobirthing techniques (self-relaxation, positive thinking and visualization) makes it an enjoyable, powerful experience and not a horrible or painful experience. I know that most people dread the actual act of having a baby, but I am really looking forward to the miraculous event. (Having a baby is hard work, but it's MORE work once you bring them home, lol.) Anyway, I love talking about birth, so feel free to strike up the conversation with me if you haven't gotten enough yet. Well, I'll keep you posted. We should have an ultrasound next month and find out the gender.