The Replogle's: June 2007

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Welcome to my view

So far subdivision living hasn't been real good to us. The house to the left of us has four little dogs that bark all the time! On Sunday they had them outside for about five hours and they barked the entire time, this unfortunately is a very common thing (and yes, this is the house of the teenager that spent the night at our house).

Then across the street a couple moved in about a month ago. A very nice couple, but I guess I'm just picky. First because they have three vechicles and this wonderful blazer is the one they sit in front of my house that they never drive, so I am forced to look at it all day long. Seriously? Seriously. Then last weekend the guy came out to wash his car for three hours in a speedo. That's right, three hours watching a guy in a speedo bending over to wash his car. Seriously...are you kidding me!

But, as I'm complaining, I am once again reminded of what the Lord has really been speaking to me about. One day as I was getting really annoyed about all these things, I felt like God was asking me to step out of my little sinful, worldly, complaining box and ask myself, "does it really matter"? Who cares that I look at a ugly truck all day, who cares if I hear some dogs bark for a couple of hours a day (okay, that is a tad annoying)...anyway...then I realized that maybe the Lord had put them there for a reason. By talking to the neighbors on all different sides of us, we believe that they don't have a relationship with the Lord. Which saddens me and makes me realize that maybe that is why our house is in the middle of all of them. So I decided that instead of complaining and getting annoyed with these things, when I see or hear them, it is the Lord (constantly) reminding me to pray for these neighbors. Actually today, the neighbor across the street came over and hung out at the house for a couple hours and we might start taking walks in the morning together. What a great way to start a relationship. See, even God can work through a stay-at-home, non showered, extremely tired, mom. With God, all things are possible!

The Great Outdoors

Jarrett is totally loving the outdoors, and it's quite nice for Mom and Dad, too:) He loves his sandbox and last month we were given this very cute hand-me-down tug boat from the Cripe family for some water fun. It's actually supposed to be a sandbox, but since we have the mother of all sandboxes, me made it into a swimming pool/boat. He doesn't so much swim, but loves to take the water out and poor it over the grass, in the sandbox or all over Samson (if he can catch him). We had Wesley over the other day for some water fun. They had a blast. That is, until Wes poored a whole bucket over Jett's head...it's all fun and games until someone poors water over your head. Jett loves water, just not on him:)
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Just a little f.y.i...Brayden laughed for the first time a few weeks ago. Jett wanted to push him on his airplane (no worries, I helped). Anyway, Bray just thought it was hilarious and had many spurts of laughter throughout his little ride. Now he is laughing quite easily and smiles all the time.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

My better half

Happy Father's Day, Greg! It has been so great to watch Greg with the boys. He is such a loving and fun Dad. I was telling my sister-in-law the other day after she had twins, how wonderful it is to see your husband with kids. With Greg I loved him so much, but after seeing him with the boys, how he interacts with them, how sweet and compasionate he is, that love grows so much more. With Jarrett, he is strict, but his love shows through his discipline. He is so good at making Jarrett his little helper and makes him feel very special. Jett loves airplanes, so quite often Greg will take time out of his day and take him to the airport to look at planes. Even though he is very busy with work, his family is still first priority. An example of this is when he gave up playing in his band because it was taking him away from his family too much. He loved being in the band, but his family was more important. With Brayden, he is so cute. He always wants to hold him, talks so sweet with him and does everything just to see him smile. Another thing I have noticed about Greg since the boys, is how he has such a servants heart. He is so good at helping me with the boys and around the house, thanks honey, your selfless works do not go unnoticed and I am very grateful! As I checked on the boys before bed last night, I stood over them, just looking at them with tears in my eyes. They are so blessed to have such a wonderful Father and I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband and two little boys that look just like their Daddy. And so I dedicate this blog to Greg, my husband, my best friend, my better half!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Are you kidding me...

These are my famous words for when things are not going so well at the Replogle household. On Sunday I thought Jett was down for a nap and a little later I walked by his room and I thought I heard something. I walked in and was greeted my a cloud of dust (a.k.a - baby powder). And of course I utter the words, "Jarrett, are you kidding me." It was everywhere. This picture does not do his room justice. I seriously think that he went over to his bed, but the bottle upside down and then started jumping. As you can see to the left, he got some in his fan. So for a few days after when we turned it on some white dust came out and his room was once again overpowered by the smell. And the car you see behind him, will never be the same. It was one of those moments that you knew in a few days you would laugh, but at the moment, really ticked you off. Especially because it was a Sunday and all I wanted was a nap, not get out all my cleaning supplies and clean.

Then there was the other night I was getting ready to give the boys a bath. I was changing Jett's diaper on the bathroom floor and realized that I needed more wipes...that should tell you how things were going. So I quick ran to his room to get more and on my way back I hear Jett laughing (usually cute, unless you know that they don't have a diaper on). As I run in I see pee shooting staight up into the air falling all over my rugs, Jett, Brayden and the floor. Not good...and I say, "Jarrett, are you kidding me.". So I get him in the tub and go to get Brayden ready and as I take off his diaper I realize that he left me a nice little gift all up his back and into my other rug. Really not good...and I say, "Brayden, are you kidding me." Needless to say, this phrase is used quite often. So this picture has nothing to do with the situation, it was just really cute and I wanted to use it:)

They are here!

Yay! The twins have finally arrived...um, over a week and a half ago - I'm so bad. They were born June 4th at 1:30 p.m. Drew (left) was born at 6.8 and Gavin was 5.15 (right - which was also my birth weight, how fun)! I would tell you middle names, but I'm not sure what they are yet and I keep forgetting to ask. Oh, they are so cute. I can't wait to hold them. Everyone is doing well, so that is nice to hear. I'm just chopping at the bit to go down to TN to see them. I thought we would go at the end of June, but I forgot I'm watching little miss Adelyn while Darcy goes back to work (I can't pass up spending full days with her). So then we thought about going the second week in July, but Greg checked his schedule and we decided that the third week would be the best. Oh, I'm so excited for a vacation and to see the boys (oh, Andrew and Denise, too...welcome to the world of being overseen:)

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While I'm being the bragging Aunt, I can't forget to give you an updated picture of Adie. Isn't she so pretty. At the beginning they were struggling with her losing a lot of weight and finally had to start giving her formula along with nursing. Good news. At her appointment on Monday she was 9.4, she has gained over three pounds, yay! She is even starting to get a double chin...Brayden is quite proud!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

What I am worth

One night I was watching the news and they had a special on about stay-at-home moms. So of course my ears perk up and they have my full attention. It was about what we supermoms are worth....they didn't say supermoms, I added that:)...but I think it sounds quite nice! They say that we average about 90 hours a week, so with that overtime we are worth $138,500 a year. At first I was like sweet, that's what I'm talking about. Then last week happened and I realized that I work way over that amount. I figured about 105 hours a week and that didn't even count the three nights in a row I was up during the night for hours with sick boys. THEN, I realized that the amont they say I'm worth does not include sick days (which I really could have used when my sick boys passed it on to me) OR lunch breaks. I don't remember the last time I sat down for a meal (besides a wonderful date night with my hunky man) in peace, without having to scarf my meals down, discipline while eating, playing airplane so Jett will eat and then going into battle to clean him up. DON'T even get me started about vacation days or having no privacy in the bathroom for heaven sake. I told Greg about my new discovery in wealth and what I'm worth. He look at me and said..."How about everything I make, is yours. I said, okay, but I'm worth much more than that"!:):):) Seriously though, I would do this job in a heartbeat for nothing...oh wait, I do:)! Actually I have something much more valuable than money, I have the chance to see my boys grow up and spend many, many hours of quality time with them. It is definitely the hardest job I have ever had, but it is also the most rewarding.

Jarrett Gregory Replogle. He is still as spunky as that red hair. We are still in awe about how quickly he learns and how well he communicates. He talks all the time. I'm already looking forward to the "how long can we be quiet" game. He is still quite the handful at times and it has been interesting trying to find what discipline works best for him. He loves being a big brother and he and Brayden are so cute together. Whenever Jett plays he always wants to interact with Brayden or at least try and make him smile.

Brayden Michael Replogle. My sweet, sweet baby...if only they were all this easy. I can't believe he is 3 1/2 months already. He has started to really play under his jungle gym now and he is really keeping his head up while on his tummy. Sleeping is going better at night, we are regressing a bit right now, but I have hope that it's a growth spurt and soon we will be sleeping through the night again. A quick update on Brayden's health. Last week we took him to a cardiologist for an ultrasound of his heart. We had a concern with blueness, but everything came back normal and his heart looks great! Then today we took him for his hearing test and we got some good news. His eardrums are fine, he can hear - praise the Lord! The one concern that we have is that he might have fluid behind his eardrums, which if that is the case, they will probably have to put in tubes. Which is very common now a days. The doctor was so good at explaining everything and we realized that it is probably why he has been so congested since birth. So all we need to do for now is just have him see an ear, nose and throat doctor every couple of months just to keep checking on it and go from there. So thanks for all your prayers, we have felt them!

Catching up

Okay, so life has been a bit hectic for us lately. We have been running for about two weeks now, and finally this week, we are starting to slow down. Just to let you know what we have been doing. Memorial weekend was a blast, but oh, so busy. Saturday we spent the day up at the cottage getting things re

ady for the summer. This is my lean-mean cooking machine of a husband grilling our chicken for dinner. Jarrett, of course, loved every second of the day. He's a huge fan of the outdoors. On Sunday we had a family dinner for lunch on my side. Then that evening we went to Alyssa's b-day party at my Uncle Reed and Aunt Sue's lake cottage. We (minus myself...timing with my children's needs did not coincide) played cornhole, had a great dinner and then took a nice ride on the boat around the lake. Picture of Megan and Jett enjoying the evening. Fun, Fun, Fun! Th

en on Monday we had the famous Milford parade. Jett was in awe and he was quite content to just sit on Grandma Susie's lap the entire time. His favorite were the tractors. The last two were internationals and when they passed by he said, "red?". He's really only known and liked the green ones...that's right, baby, John Deere all the way! Greg had to work in the afternoon so after naps I took the boys to my parents for dinner. Jett really wanted a tractor ride, so my Dad took him on home on the tractor. He was in toddler heaven. I'm sure the people in my subdivison were like, "who are these rednecks driving a tractor down the road, for fun", it's the Cripes...and proud of it!

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Then all last week we were on the go with doctor appointments and getting ready for our anual garage sale. I have pictures, but I'm too lazy and tired to download them, so just imagine with me. This year it was huge and we weren't messing around...imagine tables everywhere inside and out with so much stuff on them, that you couldn't see the top of the tables. All day Thursday we set up everything, talk about stressful. The weather was great for the weekend and we sold almost all of our stuff. There were seven of us with stuff in it, so it was nice to hang out with everyone during the day...and I so appreciate everyone's help with the boys. It was fun, but I'm so glad it's only once a year. Especially when I had to tell Greg that we only made $140...I got the look that said..."we did all that work and rushed around all week for $140"...yes, dear - have I told you how much I love you:)