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White Oak Adventures
Sep. 2, 2009
There's room at the Inn!
Elijah has a place to lay his head! We finished clearing out the extra room and painted it. It was my craft room, so it took a while to move everything out. I finished sewing the crib bedding several weeks ago, so now we were ready to borrow a crib from my sister-in-law and set it up. I love the final result!!!
BTW, we are not keeping the crib under the window...it's just there for the picture!! I don't want to needlessly worry anyone.
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Aug. 29, 2009
It's a Boy!
I had my 20 week ultrasound on Thursday and we were thrilled to discover that I'm carrying a baby boy! Everything looks normal and his growth is right on track. His name will be Elijah Joel.
Elijah is laying on his back, facing up. Head is on the left.
Five little toes!
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Jul. 11, 2009
Noah at Night...an update
Noah has been dry for the last 5 weeks. It's finally happened! We started this journey with Rebekah back in mid-March and it's just now mid-July. I'm so thrilled with all that's been accomplished in four months. No more wet sheets! YEAH!!!
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Jul. 9, 2009
Celebrating the Fourth
 Happy Fourth of July!!!
And I thought the weather was perfect on Memorial Day. It was so pretty on the fourth...75 degrees and sunny. It was the perfect temperature to spend the day lounging with family at the park, which is exactly what we did. Each Fourth of July we get together with two of Ryan's brother's (and families) to celebrate and hang out. This year was especially nice because one of his brother/sister-in-law recently adopted the cutest little girl from Russia. We've only seen her a few times before today, so it was nice to get to spend the whole afternoon getting to know her. Rebekah, as the youngest of the Michigan cousins, is so glad to have a cousin near her age. Liza is 3 and Rebekah is 5...so pretty close! After eating, the ladies hung out with the little kids at the playground and the men-folk played softball with the older kids. Noah had a particularly good time this year because his cousin Cara taught him how to write some letters in cursive! That made a big impression on him. Here are some pictures.
 The whole bunch of cousins...ages 3-13.
 The littlest cousins
 Ryan and I enjoying Liza.
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Jul. 3, 2009
Jesse turns 10!
It sure doesn't seem long for my little ones to grow up. Jesse turned 10 on July 1st and that's a big deal in our house. For most birthdays we don't do "parties" in the usual sense, instead we let the birthday child pick out a birthday cereal (that's a big deal because Shredded Wheat and Raisin Bran is a staple here), plan a "theme", and pick out the birthday dinner. Chores are off-limits for the birthday kid, which is always a good thing. Grandma and Grandpa come over and help us celebrate with cake and presents.
However, turning 10 means having a party...with friends! Jesse really surprised me and just wanted one friend to come and spend the night. He's such a social guy I really thought he'd go for the "big party" scene. So, in the end, it was a small bash...but a fun one.
Ryan came home early and took Josiah, Jesse, & John bowling. While they were gone Noah, Rebekah, and I decorated for the party. Jesse thought he was going to have an Olympic themed party, but Josiah and I decided to completely surprise him with a Harry Potter party. Both boys have been reading the series since we left for our Texas trip. In less than 8 weeks, Jesse has read 5 of the 6 books. Keep in mind, several of these books are 600 pages. Jesse's come along way with his reading in a very short time.
Thus, the Harry Potter theme. And, yes, he was very surprised when he saw the decorations.
 The birthday boy making a wish!
 Ryan did a great job reproducing the font from the books.
 I hung the book covers on the window as a banner.
 Jesse wanted Subway for dinner.
 Jesse's friend John (on the left) and Josiah on the right.
 Grandma and Grandpa gave Jesse a card that plays the Harry Potter theme.
 Gift time!
 Some kind of game controller. I never did figure out what it's for.
Happy Birthday Jesse. You're a fantastic son and Dad and I love you so much!
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Jul. 3, 2009
Memorial Day 2009
We had a really wonderful Memorial Day. The weather was absolutely perfect...which always is a plus.
Our children plus several of the neighborhood kids did their own parade. They'd been planning it for the last few days and even had "meetings" to get ready. It was really cute and all of the neighbors came out on their porches to watch.
 Here they come!
 Our little patriots.
Shortly after the parade, we drove to my aunt's house in Charlotte. We had three new babies this year, Isaac, Kira, & Matthew AND two pregnant mama's...my cousin Marianne & myself. It wouldn't be Memorial Day without cuddling a new baby!
 This is just some of the gang.
 Rebekah's annual "patriotic" dress. I've been making her one since her first Memorial Day (she was 6 months old).
 Jesse's literally STUFFED with food. He had no choice but to rest.
 The gang: Jesse (almost 10), Noah (7), Rebekah (5.5), & Josiah (11)
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Jul. 3, 2009
Check out our vacation Souvenir!
The day before Mother's day I got this gift:
Ryan and I are thrilled! Baby #5 is on the way and we couldn't be happier. This is a baby we've wanted for a long time, but seemed out of our reach. I have a history of lots of miscarriages, so we're praying that this little one is healthy and strong.
I'm due January 15th, so it'll be my first winter baby.
Pretty cool Mother's Day gift, huh?
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Jul. 3, 2009
TEXAS 2009
May 5th we left for a two-week trip to Texas. It's a two day drive, so we broke it up with a stop to Nashville, TN to visit the Parthenon. We just finished studying it in History, so it was neat to see it close-up.
While we were in Texas we visited 3 of Ryan's siblings...two in Dallas and one just outside of Houston. It was so nice to visit and get to know all of our nieces and nephews that we rarely get to see. We also drove to Galveston to play in the Gulf, toured NASA, drove to Austin to see the State Capital Building and take a boat tour to see about a half-million bats fly out of the Congress Ave. Bridge. We visited two Houston museums and enjoyed the Dallas Zoo. On the way home, we went to Mammoth Cave. The kids were not exactly looking forward to it, but after the tour they decided it was in the top 3 greatest parts of our trip.
Ryan and I loved spending so much time "playing" with the kids. We weren't in a hurry and made our schedule day-by-day. We did a lot of swimming, putt-putt golfing, archery, & board games at the condo we stayed in. It was a great trip.
 Capital Building
 Children's Museum of Houston
 Inside the Health Museum
 Noah biking with his skeleton at the Health Museum.
 NASA tour
 Galveston
 The ocean water was as warm as bath water. FANTASTIC!
 The typical mom-forced pose.
 Rebekah lost her very first tooth at a Burger King somewhere in Arkansas.
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Jul. 3, 2009
Happy Birthday Josiah
As you can tell, I've gotten behind on my blog. Let me catch you up.
I left off on April 29th, which also was Josiah's 11th birthday. We gave him a "Mario" party which delighted him. The cake design is almost entirely his idea. This was our first attempt at a 3-D cake and I think it turned out pretty well. His favorite gift was a giant Nerf gun and a huge case of Nerf bullets.
Eleven years old! I can't believe time is going so fast. Happy Birthday Josiah....We're crazy about you!!!
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Apr. 29, 2009
Noah at Night...Week 3
Night 15...Sunday night....YEAH!! Another dry night! Noah's so proud of himself.
Night 16...Dry again! Four nights in a row. That's the most he's gone in a row.
Night 17...Five nights in a row!
Night 18...Six nights in a row!
Night 19...Seven nights in a row!
Night 20...Noah wet a tiny bit, not enough to set off the alarm though. I'm not sure which direction this is going to go. Hopefully this won't be a set-back.
Night 21...I think it was a set-back. Noah was soaking wet tonight. I don't know why these last two nights were problems for him. Try, try, try again!
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Apr. 21, 2009
Noah at Night...Week 2
The Saga continues...
Night 8...Sunday night and Noah stayed dry! Two nights in a row!!!!
Night 9...Noah stayed dry again! He told me he has a "cheat" (that means strategy) to stay dry and that is "getting all the pee out before bed". We'll see if the "cheat" keeps working. Wouldn't that be nice???
Night 10...Well, his "cheat" didn't work. The alarm went off once during the night and he was pretty wet.
Night 11...Wet again. Sigh.
Night 12....The alarm went off THREE times last night. Ryan said the third time it seemed to go off for no apparent reason because Noah was not wet. It could have been sweat or possibly it wasn't attached right. But, the first two times it went off he was wet. The first time he was soaking, but we couldn't fully wake him up. He went to change his PJ's and he came back with dry pj's on top of wet pj's. The second time it went off, he was only slightly wet. I'll admit, I'm disappointed. Ryan isn't though, he thinks he's on the right track. I knew going into this that Noah was going to be much tougher to train, but after Rebekah's quick success, I was really hoping it would work as quickly for him.
Night 13...Noah woke up around 3:30 a.m. and went potty!!! He remained dry the rest of the night.
Night 14...Saturday Night....he stayed dry again.
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Apr. 17, 2009
Noah at Night...Week 1
We got ambitious and decided to start using the bedtime alarm with Noah now rather than waiting until May. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out "A Potty Training Diary".
We hooked Noah up Sunday night (Easter) and explained how it works. He was very agreeable, largely because he'd already watched Rebekah use it and knew it would be coming his way.
Night 1-- Alarm went off around 12:30 am. He was soaking wet, including the pad. On a bright note, the alarm actually woke him up! We were concerned that he would sleep through it, but that wasn't a problem.
Night 2--Alarm went off at 11:30 p.m. Once again he was extremely wet, but fully awake and able to do the "process" (pee, change, hook up alarm, go back to sleep).
Night 3--Alarm went off at 10:30 p.m. and he slept through it. I had to pull him to the side of the bed and put the sounding alarm near his ear to actually wake him up. I didn't turn it off until he could tell me why it was sounding.
Night 4--Alarm went off at 4 a.m. Ryan told me that he was not very wet and the pad was not wet at all. Hopefully, he'll be heading into stage 2 soon. I notice that Noah is not going to sleep quickly at night and I wonder if there is some anxiety about the alarm sounding. We put him to bed at 8 p.m. tonight, but it was after 10 before he fell asleep.
Night 5-- Noah wet about 11 p.m. tonight.
Night 6-- We're not positive what time it was, but Noah wet sometime during the middle of the night. Pretty wet.
Night 7-- Noah stayed dry all night. I'm not sure if it's a fluke though, because we had to wake him up at 11 pm to switch rooms (we were babysitting) and he went potty then. We'll see.
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Apr. 13, 2009
Easter 2009
Easter morning greeted us with sunshine and brisk temperatures. It was only 34 degrees when we left for church, but warmed up into the mid 40's by afternoon. Noah put on his white shorts and said, "Did you mean for me to wear this?" I think he thought his mama lost her mind. Rebekah's dress was sleeveless, but at the last second I gave her a white cardigan to put on over it.
 Top Row: Jesse...9.5, Josiah...almost 11
Front Row: Rebekah...5.5, Noah...7
Josiah and Jesse's friend John went to church with us, so that made the day extra special. John's parents sent an Easter basket over for the kids. My kids have never had a traditional Easter basket, so it was a novelty. The basket contained candy, chalk, puzzle games, & yo--yo's. They were delighted!
I got my annual "Easter Lily" picture. We wanted to be sure to get a seat, so I didn't have time to get creative. I took two shots, here's the one that turned out okay.
After church we went to Bob Evan's for lunch. Jesse got an adult dinner of Strawberry Banana Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hot Cakes. (Yes, that's the whole name). He was stuffed after only eating half, so the rest went home. I think this is the first meal that Jesse COULDN'T finish.
Later in the day Ryan and I gave the kids the Resurrection Basket and watched a movie together. Ryan and the kids played The Un-Game in the evening.
Happy Easter!
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Apr. 13, 2009
A Potty Training Diary...summary
Rebekah finished using the alarm on Day 28. Technically, we were supposed to go another week doing the every-other-day cycle, but Ryan and I both felt that would be overkill. She's got it down, another week won't change that. She hasn't used the alarm since April 7th and hasn't had an accident yet.
So, here's my summary: the Malem alarm did in 8 DAYS what I haven't been able to accomplish in a year. Love the alarm!
Since Rebekah finished a week sooner than we expected, we decided to start Noah now rather than waiting until we get back from Texas. I'm expecting his experience to be very different from Rebekah's. He just turned seven last week so it'll be interesting to see if the age difference helps or not. Also, Noah is a very deep sleeper, so I think that may slow things down.
I'm going to start a new "diary" to track Noah's progress soon.
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Apr. 6, 2009
A Potty Training Diary...nights 22-28 (Week 4)
Nights 22-23
No changes. Rebekah is continuing to stay dry. She almost never gets up at night to go, she's able to hold it all night.
Night 24
Starting tonight Rebekah wears the alarm every other night. Tonight is her first night without it. Occasionally once the "pressure" of wearing the alarm is gone, the child may revert to wetting. I'm happy to report that was not the case with Bekah. Another dry night.
Night 25
Bekah wore the alarm to bed tonight. I'm thinking about only going one week with the "every-other-day" thing rather than going the full two weeks. I hope I'm not getting overly confident, but she is consistently doing great.
Night 26
No alarm and another dry night.
Night 27
Alarm night...dry night
Night 28
No alarm
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Apr. 6, 2009
Noah's birthday
Apr. 1, 2009
A Potty Training Diary...nights 15-21 (Week 3)
Nights 15-21 (Week 3)
Rebekah has completely stopped wetting the bed as of night 10. The routine is the same, go potty, hook up the alarm, go to bed. She sometimes tells me that she got up during the night and went potty, but most of the time she holds it all night. I'm following the manufacturer's directions because I'm worried about her relapsing. Therefore, she'll continue to wear the alarm each night through Friday night. Starting on Saturday night she'll wear it every other night for 2 weeks. If she continues to stay dry, she'll discontinue it permanently after that two-week period. Personally, I want to stop now and start training Noah. I can't help but think how great it would be for them both to be trained before our Texas trip, but I don't want to do anything to wreck what Rebekah has accomplished. So, I will be a good girl and follow the directions.
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Mar. 23, 2009
A Potty Training Diary...nights 8-14 (Week 2)
Week 2
Nights 8-9
Rebekah wet just enough to set off the alarm, but not enough to get her pj pants wet. She seems to be very excited about her progress and is more than willing to wear her alarm.
Night 10
Rebekah woke up on her own around 2:30 a.m. and went potty!!!!!! Ryan was on his way down to the kitchen to get a snack when he found her standing in her doorway. He said she seemed confused, like she didn't know WHY she was up. He asked her if she needed to go to the bathroom and she nodded yes. She went, went back to bed, and that was that. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high! Regardless, she's made very good progress in only 10 nights. Yeah Rebekah!
Night 11
Another dry night! Rebekah told us that she woke up during the night and went potty. I asked her how she knew to wake up and she replied, "My brain told me." A breakthrough? Do I dare hope?
Night 12
YEAH! She woke up and went potty sometime during the night. This is the third night in a row the alarm did not go off.
Night 13
Still dry!
Night 14
I was very curious to see what would happen tonight. Rebekah has a fever and is feeling pretty rotten. She fell asleep on the couch around 7 p.m. and I just left her there until 9 p.m. It was difficult to get her awake and into her pj's/alarm...let alone trying to get her to go to the bathroom. Once in bed she fell right back to sleep. I was pretty sure she would not wake up to go during the night, but she stayed dry all night. 5 nights in a row. What a record!
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Mar. 13, 2009
A Potty Training Diary...nights 1-7 (Week 1)
Rebekah (5.5) and Noah (almost 7) are bed-wetters. My first two boys were potty-trained (day and night) by three years old, yet, I've had NO luck with my youngest two. Noah is an extremely deep sleeper and I do think that's most of his problem. Rebekah has me stumped. She not a deep sleeper and she's not taking any medications. Anyway, I'm at my wits end! I keep them in underwear rather than pull-ups in hopes that the "I don't like being wet when I wake up" message will eventually sink in. It's been a few months and the message has not been received by either child. So, in the meantime, I'm doing a lot of laundry.
I read really good reviews about a bedtime alarm called the Malem Ultimate Bedwetting Alarm and Ryan and I decided to give it a try, It's a nifty little device that detects the tiniest drop of wetness and immediately vibrates, lights, and sounds an alarm. The idea is that the brain will learn (very quickly according to other parents) to stop and hold the flow right away. Then, within another short period of time, will hold it all night. Most parents report a 2-4 week training period before their children stayed dry all night.
I really think that Rebekah is going to be the easiest to train, so I'm starting with her.
Night 1
It came in the mail yesterday afternoon and she wore it to bed last night (March 12). I tossed and turned all night worrying that I wouldn't hear the alarm and she wouldn't know what to do. Well, night one turned out to be a dry night. Rebekah does, every now and then, stay dry. So we don't know if that was a fluke or if her brain was just acutely aware of the alarm system. It's almost midnight on day 2 and so far, no alarm. We'll see.
Night 2
The alarm went off around 2:30 a.m. It didn't scare her like I thought it might. We got her changed, hooked back up and back in bed pretty quickly. She stayed dry the rest of the night. She doesn't seem to mind wearing the alarm, so that's helping the "hooking-up" process to go smoothly.
Night 3
The alarm went off at 1:30 a.m. I was pleased to see that she was not very wet. I had her go potty and she went a lot INTO THE TOILET!!! That's exactly what's supposed to happen. Evidently, the alarm is supposed to remind the brain to stop the flow. I really like how easily she goes back to bed. I made everything as easy as I could: I have a bin in her room with underwear, extra pj's, and blankets. I'm keeping a waterproof pad on her bed (on top of the sheets) so that all we have to do is pull off the wet pad and blanket and then grab a dry blanket from the bin. Quick and easy.
She seems very pleased with herself. She was smiling when I tucked her back in.
Night 4
Tonight the alarm went off at 11:30 p.m...much earlier than the last three nights. So, now I'm wondering if she'll remain dry the rest of the night. Also, tonight she wet a lot. I see that I need to tone down my excitement and settle in for the long haul. I also learned that nightgowns and alarms don't mix. All good to know!
Rebekah wet again sometime after 2 a.m. Moving on.
Night 5
The alarm went off at midnight and I did have a harder time getting Rebekah back to bed. She was annoyed and told me she didn't want to wear the alarm anymore. We talked about it and I attempted to encourage her for a bit. She went back to sleep pretty quickly. On a good note, she wasn't terribly wet.
Nights 6-7
I'm going to summarize these two nights because they were all identical. Rebekah seems to be waking between 2-4 a.m. and wetting a small amount. It's enough to sound the alarm, but not enough to make pajama pants wet. I no longer have to change the pad on her bed because she's stopping the flow immediately. She has completely accepted the alarm and it's become a matter-of-fact part of getting ready for bed. I notice she is taking complete responsibility for going to the bathroom before bed because SHE doesn't want the alarm to go off. Before the alarm, I would always have to remind her to go. The only drawback I'm finding is that she is having some difficulty going back to sleep. It hasn't been a huge problem especially since she doesn't have to get up at a certain time in the morning. Overall, we're happy with her progress. Most importantly, Rebekah is happy with her progress.
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Mar. 13, 2009
Fancy Nancy Night
We do a "Family Night" once a week, usually on Mondays. We already spend a lot of time together, but each week this is our special night to focus on each other and not get distracted by everyday busyness. Usually Ryan and I decide what we're going to do, but from time to time we let the children take a turn at making all the decisions.
This particular night was extra memorable. Rebekah planned it all and was extremely excited to have our first ever, Fancy Nancy night. If you don't have little girls, you might not be familiar with the book series by Jane O'Connor.
Rebekah LOVES Fancy Nancy! Nancy and Rebekah are truly kindred spirits. So, family night was going to be extra fancy! I wore my wedding dress and Rebekah wore her "fancy" dress that Grandma bought her. She informed the boys that they had to wear church clothes. Surprisingly, no one complained. In fact, Jesse went all out and wore Ryan's tie! It was a grand evening for all.
Here are some pictures of our Fancy evening.
 Fancy Girls
 Fancy Guys
 Fancy table (no plastic cups!)
 And a very fancy waiter!
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Noah turned 7 today. Yesterday I took him to Target to get some party supplies and as we were crossing the parking lot he said, "Today is the last day you can hold my 6-year-old hand. Tomorrow you'll have to hold my 7 year-old hand." Such a sweetie, my little Noah. 
Dinosaur-dig cake
