A typical day....

Here are a few highlights from our day yesterday. I thought I would capture some of the normal happenings in the average day of this stay-at-home mommy.









**Please note that I did intentionally leave out any evidence of brotherly battles, diaper changes and potty trips!! Speaking of potty training (as usual) Noah is officially done. I am so proud of my little Bug!! He has even woken up the last 7 nights with no accidents. It is wonderful!! It also give us a nice break in the budget. One down.. one to go.

Family fun night...

Yesterday was just another Friday, well not exactly. Aaron and I have decide to try to have a once a month family fun night where we go do something extra special. For this night we decide to have a costume party, invited our parents and Josh and Megan (only my parents could make it) and order pizza, eat in front of the tv and then have some cuddle time on the floor and watch the rest of the dvd.
Here are some pics...


Noah was Buzz (of course), Collin was a spider, Aaron was a clown and I was a bunny.


Maw Maw was a nurse (shock!!) and Paw Paw was a train Engineer.




YUMMY!!



Time to rest!!


I highly recommend instituting a family fun night if you don't do something like it already!! It is fun for everyone!!!
:)

God????

Lately I have really felt close to God. I think it is because I have been truly trying to get to know Him on a deeper level. I know that those who are close to me already know this, but for some this may be a new insight into me. I am terrible at making friends. I enjoy good conversation and I enjoy visiting with people, but I find that I won't let people get to know the real me. I have always struggled with this and I am trying to find out why as well as make changes. I think it probably stems from my youth. I was the kind of kid on the playground that would make a new best friend within minutes of playing with new kids. I remember vividly some things that happened to me in 6Th grade, a time at my school when clicks were formed and invisible label's were placed on every one's back that determined where you fit in. I remember as I worked my way through Jr high and high school that I seemed to have 2 different personalities. At school I was quiet and SHY and at church I was confident and well-liked. I was mortified when my world's would collide and I had to figure out who to be in that particular environment. I remember in the early days of my college experience, the same pattern of compartmentalizing my friendships. I lived one life with the people I hung out with from school, another with friends from my high school years and I added a third lifestyle with my friends from work. I was desperate to keep the ball rolling in many parts of my life, but I felt very disconnected. I think this is when I felt most vulnerable and would let people take advantage of me. In late 1997/ early 1998 I began to form the most sincere friendships of my life. I met my husband and thankfully surrounded myself with people who truly cared for me. These are my lifelong friends - you know who you are!! I still struggle to let people in and I wonder if I will ever be able to grow new branches on the tree of my life. I hope so. I wonder if I will ever get to the place in my walk with God where I fully trust Him to carry me through times of drought with friends and be willing to jump into new friendships and make true deep connections. I am trying, but I struggle with it daily. I often start the day out with good intentions of reaching out to people, but I find many excuses along the way. For instance, this morning I got up and decided to take the kids to playgroup, yet here I sit. I don't know what my problem is!! I do actually! I don't trust that God will help me in this area. I am holding on to old hurts and embracing the fears of other's and the things I witnessed while I was growing up. I am afraid to take the leap and invest in a relationship that, I assume, will hurt me. I know,in my head, that some people are brought into your life for a season, but my heart doesn't understand the loss that will come. I pray to give this issue over to God, but as I am getting older I understand that old habits truly do die hard.
Now, as for the title of this entry, "God?"...
Last night as we were driving home from Bible study, Noah asked Aaron and I WHO God was. We looked at each other and I said "God is love". Aaron further explained some of the characteristics of God to our little inquisitive almost 3 year old. Noah seemed a bit more settled on the issue and then asked WHERE God was. Aaron and I both answered, (in unison), "God is everywhere". Noah, making the connection, said "God????" In a voice similar to the one he uses to find out if Aaron or I saw him do something that he did knowing full well that he was not allowed to do.
Please pray for little Noah as he is trying to seek out answer's to many things in life, spiritual and otherwise. Also, please pray for Aaron and I as we try to give the best answer's to Noah.

"To infinity and beyond!!"

For Noah's first birthday Aaron and I got him a Buzz Lightyear Megablock set. He wanted nothing to do with the blocks, but would carry around the Buzz character saying "Buzz Buzz". That was the beginning of his love affair with Buzz Lighyear. He loves "Toy Story 1 & 2" and was beside himself with joy when my parents came over last night and presented him with his very own Buzz costume. He proudly paraded around in his new garb exclaiming "to infinity and beyond" coupled with him pressing different "button's" on his costume saying "Buzz to Star Command". He was in heaven. It is hard for me to believe that in less than 7 weeks my baby will be 3 already. I have had a lot of challenges with this little "bug", but I wouldn't trade him for the world. He teaches me so much everyday and I am thankful for my healthy, independent little man that seems to be able to outsmart his old mom already. What a blessing he is!!

My own Extreme Makeover... In progress!

Well, I am excited to report that the lasik surgery was one of the best things I have ever decided to do for myself!! I keep joking that I am undergoing an extreme makeover!! Oh how I would love to have my teeth whitened, but unless ABC knocks at my front door with a limo ready to sweep me off to the dentist I think I will have to wait.:) I am so excited about the results of my eye surgery that I can't seem to stop talking about it. The lazer treatment itself only lasted about 5 minutes total for both eyes. The only medication I was given was 2 Tyelnol PM's for pain and to help me sleep post op. The procedure was seemless and by 7:50 the very next morning I had 20/20 vision with the expectation (per the doc) to have even better vision w/i the next few weeks. The procedure is not cheap, but will pay for itself w/i the next 8 years or so. I choose Lasik Plus off of Clyo road in Centerville and I highly reccommend them to anyone. I also had a consultation with Dr. Stahl and the same procedure there ran about $2,000 more (yes, I did mean to put 3 zero's there). I know some people who have gone with Stahl vision and they have had great success as well. So I guess my advice would be - for those of you considering the procedure- go for a consultation. Ask for a FREE consultation and shop around. The technology is the same everywhere, but apparently the price can vary. For those of you who read my blog and live south of the Dayton area, Lasik plus also has an office in Cincy. Anyway, if anyone wants to know what the procedure is like I would be happy to go more in depth with detail, but I will abstain for now, because some people just don't want to know. If you want to know even more, ask Aaron. He watched the entire procedure on a monitor that projected exactly what the doctor saw. He can truely say that he has now looked deep into my eyes ;)
Thanks for all of your prayer and support.
By the way, as soon as I got off of the table I was able to see, albeit blurry, like opening your eyes under water.

Lasik Surgery...

Hello all! I just wanted to ask for prayers for my lasik eye surgery tomorrow.
Thanks,
Becky

The door chain...

I thought I would address the door chain hanging down in one of the pics from my previous blog. That was apparently the room the elderly previous owner of our home used to sleep in. When we first looked at our house that rrom was really funny. The room was only furnished by a double bed sporting a 1960's style bedspread and a tv tray holdin a rather new computer. I guess she must have locked her door shut at night. Well, have no fear, whenever we actually use the door in the boys room (now it is attached to the baseboard by a hook & eye type lock) we will remove it so Aaron and I will not have to climb in through the window when the boys lock us out someday! :)
I just thought I'd clarify.

Building blocks make me remember....

I thought I would share a few pics from the most common activity you will find going on at my house, followed closely by building puzzle's. During my shower I give the boys their megablocks and they go to town. This has been an answer to prayer because for several months now my shower time ( even though the average shower for me is about 5 minutes ) = mischief time for the Dell boys. If you look closely at the picture of Noah lining his blocks up to make a "snake" (of course) you will notice something missing on the doorframe. The lighter stained area used to house the thingie on the frame of the door that accepted the part of the door itself that holds the door shut. (You know, the thing that goes into the door when you turn the handle.) :) Well, about 7 months ago - give or take - Noah unscrewed that plate with his bare hands so bye bye door knob pooker outer receiving aparatus. Not only does he take apart the door frame stuff, he also takes out doorpins and doorknob covers (ie child-proofing things) which explains the lack of doorknob on his closet door. Now onto the bed, or should I say lack thereof. One day while in the shower, shortly after merging the two boys together into one room, I came out of the shower to find Noah chasing Collin around the room with one end of his former bed. Let me further explain... Noah was sleeping in the crib that was converted into a toddler bed. This design allows for the end rails to be up as well as one of the side rails. It is equal to a toddler daybed. Well, during my shower he had not only removed the mattress and crib board, (standard operating procedure), but he had discovered how to remove the running board as well as lower one side of the side rail to detach the end portion. Long story short, the bed was removed by the time Aaron got home from work that day. Noah loves his sleeping arrangement because he says he is camping.
I knew when the Lord gave me two boys I would be in for few challenges along the way, but I never considered that they would begin to outsmart their mom before they were 3.
Who knew?!?!

Ready to tie the knot...

This morning I decided to dress the boys up for church sporting their brand new hand-me-down bowtie's. Noah was very excited because he had never worn a tie like this. So I put the tie in place and pressed the clips down to properly secure it and then asked Noah what he thought. He looked at me with a confused half smile and said, "Mom, I gonna get married now?" He must have seen a wedding and noticed that the tuxedo's usually have bowtie's. He never fails to make me laugh!! After church this afternoon Aaron and I were working on getting lunch together when Noah starting singing a new song that he must have learned during church. What a big boy!!