From Bombs to Babies

I thought it would be fun to document, in pictures, an entire day of my life as it is at this moment. What incredible joy I have in raising our "mighty men" for the Lord. Someday, when the kids are all grown, when the house is silent, I will miss crazy, busy, stay-at-home days like today. Oh, there will be memories. But the precious little day-to-day details that sometimes go unnoticed may be forgotten. In all the business of raising little ones time seems to fly so quickly. So when I can actually hear my thoughts again in the absence of the noise of our crazy world, I will enjoy reminiscing through these photos.

Monday, March 10th, 2014.....a typical day in the Ives lives

7 am... up and making breakfast for Christian before he takes off for a double shift at work. Saying goodbye (both of us still half-asleep).

checking the dog food and water...looks like someone's been flavoring Milo's water again (Elijah!!!).

Getting dressed before the munchkins wake up...

and the first one up (as usual) is little Elijah...always with a sleepy smile on his face!

After changing him, he's off to see if brothers are up...

nope! so he's just going to play with their stuff while he has the chance.

a few minutes to snuggle while Elijah drinks his bottle and I use the computer..

and....my sweet Judah is up!

time for coffee in my reusable Starbucks cup! too much of a hassle and too expensive to drag 3 kiddos to Starbucks in the morning so I just make regular coffee, dump a bunch of sugar and flavored cream in it and pretend I got it at Starbucks lol!

time for the boys' breakfast. I've been having them exercise some independence and get their own breakfast...here's what Judah came up with...we may need to work on this....

especially after finding already-toasted bread put back into the bread bag....

finally...we start school. We always start with Bible time.

then on to other subjects!

sneaking in some laundry while the boys do their seatwork...looks like I've got some help!

found this in the laundry room...looks suspiciously like someone with an Elijah-sized mouth has been chewing on it...

getting fussy....time for a nap (nigh-nigh!)

sleep sweet, little man.

time for a break from schoolwork to check on their beloved worms

then back in for more school....time to make a George Washington hat..

preparing and feeding the big boys a lunch of mac and cheese with tuna, cucumbers, and applesauce.

and then....oh!...the sun is out! time for more play before finishing school.

baby's up from his nap...now time for his lunch!

then outside with the big boys to play with bubbles!

unfortunately time to come back in and do math...

while Elijah has piano practice. lol.

done with school....naptime for Elijah....

racing hot wheels down the stairs for Josiah and Judah...

cleaning for me (someone trying to get in?!)!

then folding a mountain (literally!) of clean laundry...

it wouldn't be a normal day of parenting without some sort of discipline....looks like some little boys will be headed to bed early tonight :(

watching Veggie Tales while I get dinner ready...

leftover chicken alfredo casserole with "butterfly"noodles..

and making snickerdoodles (I was craving something sweet!)

a treat for Christian to come home to after a double shift! :)

mmmm milk and cookies!

bath time for baby!

all clean...

Ending the day with a story (the boys knew the camera was on a timer...look at those faces!)

now it's my turn to snuggle up with a blanket, a pile of cookies, catch up on one of my "silly mommy shows".....(after I sweep the floor, clean up my room, and wash the kitchen counters!) and then, wait for my sweet hard-working husband to get home!

Well! Safe to say A LOT has happened since the last post. Here's a quick month-by-month rundown!

July was spent enjoying the fantastic Oregon weather, taking Christian's four wheeler out on some gorgeous trails.

Judah (and Ahh-ahh) broke his wrist in August while we were on a day camping trip. He was riding a bike downhill...a little to fast! But happy to say that his wrist is now perfectly healed, and daddy threw his bike in the garbage (lol!) we haven't gotten him a new one yet, but I think it's time he get one again!

Josiah began 1st grade in September, and we were blessed with a fantastic teacher! He had a great experience at Mulino Elementary and Judah and I (and eventually Elijah too) got to spend lots of time volunteering in his classroom.

In October the boys and I enjoyed our annual trip to the Wooden Shoe Pumpkin Fest, we always have so much fun there!

November brought our third little blessing! Elijah Luke was born and I'm proud to say, I did it med-free! There were a few possible complications and we were going to have to schedule for him to be induced, but then he decided to come on his own. Lots of hours of labor at home, a few quick hours at the hospital, and that was it! Perfectly healthy healthy and we went home the next morning, praise God!! We didn't know if he'd end up looking like Josiah (blonde hair, blue eyes!) or Judah (brown hair, brown/green eyes!) but Josiah was thrilled to discover that Elijah looks much like him! Blondie all the way :) Josiah and Judah were so excited for their brother. Just as I expected, Elijah has become Josiah's little buddy, and Judah is my little helper.

Aunt Kristy had a little fun with Elijah on Thanksgiving day! :)

December was a busy month with a newborn, Christmas, and Judah's 5th birthday!

Elijah taking a break in the Christmas aftermath!

Papa and Grandma got Judah his much-wanted remote control helicopter!

family of 5 now!

Judah woke up to a bed full of balloons!

5 years old already....wow!!

January was a rather calm month for us. (The calm before the storm!!) Nice to have a month like that once in a while! :)

celebrating 2013 (Madagascar time!)

February was a crazy, full of rather unexpected events! Christian was hired at a fantastic hospital in San Antonio, Texas. This meant quickly selling our house, finding a new one (rental), and relocating our family to an unfamiliar town. I spent 8 weeks in San Antonio for Air Force Basic Training...but that was on the OTHER side of the barb wired fence, lol. I hadn't gotten to experience San Antonio as a civilian! I have to say, I never thought I'd be back in San Antonio with a husband and three little boys! It's definitely bittersweet, because we've been praying and searching for the right job for Christian. But it is hard to leave all his family. Thankfully we will see them as often as we can and I have lots of Texas family just a few hours drive away!

We quickly put our house up for sale and prayed that it would sell quickly. And praise God, it did! We had a difficult time securing a home to live in in San Antonio since we couldn't view it first. But at the last minute we were able to get one with a nice quick commute to Christian's job, and in walking distance to Josiah's school.

It was a whirlwind trying to work out all the details, packing up our house, lots of house viewings (meaning keeping the house extremely clean and getting out with all the kids and dog whenever someone wanted to view it! whew!), getting Christian's Texas nursing license, working out job details, etc, etc, etc.

Of course, I don't have many pictures this month due to the craziness! But at least I have one of my lil valentine :)

In March we officially moved to San Antonio. Christian took a moving truck with our van on a trailer behind it. He also took our dog Milo. The boys and I stayed with Christian's parents for a few days before flying down. It was so nice for the boys to have that special time with their grandparents before we left.

Josiah also had to say goodbye to his first grade class. It was hard for him (and me too!). God had really blessed us with great teachers and classmates during our time at Mulino. Josiah made little "goodbye" bags for his classmates, complete with plastic bugs, candy, and he had drawn one particular bug for each classmate that he said would remind him of them every time he saw that bug. (so sweet!)

In the middle of the craziness, I got my braces off (hooray!) I probably would've had them on for a few more months if we hadn't moved, but we didn't want to have to find a new orthodontist and I was so close to being finished anyways. Freedom! :) I don't mind having to wear my clear plastic retainers each night.