Soccer Season come and gone

      Oliver has finished his first soccer season and it was another reminder of how quickly my little ones are growing. It's inevitable, I get that, but sometimes I want it to slow down just a little bit or at least grant me more hours. I know there are days when I want the days to pass more quickly but when I reflect back in my day sometimes I wish I wasn't so quick to declare bedtime. Anyhow, back to soccer. It was a co-ed team and Oliver got to have cousin Will on the team. Oliver could be a little shy and timid so having a buddy helped him ease in to it. The soccer season was six weeks long with two games a week the last half of the season. In the beginning they were practicing their dribbles and it's quite entertaining to watch 6-7 year old tackle foot-eye coordination. Some were better than others but I loved that the number one rule was to have fun. The soccer games were exhilarating. The Beck crowd was loud and proud and I am proud to say were able to withhold sideline coaching. We cheered as they attempted to score goals and applauded the rare passes. At this point kids tend to huddle around the ball and follow it around the field and occasionally, with some coaching, spread out and actually pass the ball. Oliver enjoyed it and Madeline says she'd like to try it when she's five. We had fun supporting him. At the end of the season they all got a medal and had a parent versus kids exhibition match. Kids had some snazzy moves they pulled on the old fogies and showed them a thing or too. It's a lot easier to coach on the sidelines than actually doing it. HA!

    Oliver said that his favorite part of soccer was blocking the ball from a kid that was bigger than him or just saving the ball from a goal (there were no goalies).  He wasn't the fastest or very coordinated but he had a smile on his face (most of the time) and had a blast with his teammates. He's an awkward kid but he's kind and awesome and definitely follows the beat to his own drum. He has to add his own flair to everything he does. He can't simply do something, he has to dance, screech, or sing some backstory song to his life. It's not always amusing but its him and I love every bit of his weirdness.

Right before they whooped the adults. 

Oliver's first day of soccer practice. He's in the bright orange shorts.

almost 9 months

  No it's not an announcement. A lot has happened between my last post and now and maybe I'll get around to filling in the gaps but for now I'll just do what's fresh in my memory.
     It will be 9 months since our move to Moses Lake, WA and it has been an experience, from buying our first house to our first child in his first organized sport. It's been a roller coaster of emotions but we are adapting and learning that it has its own beauties.
    When we first got here I knew we needed to have a library card because, well, if you have a good library  the kids are happy. A good story can make any day a happy day. I'm satisfied with our library. It may not have the largest selection on hand but its part of the regional library so we can request books from other branches and they have a pretty good selection of online books! We go almost every week. Growing up we didn't have access to a library so I've been making up for lost times.
     Madeline is in preschool now too. She goes twice a week at a gymnastics building soshe gets to play on some of the equipment and the foam pit, which she loves, for recess. I also love to see how Mads and Oliver are so different as students. Oliver takes his time remembering his classmates' names, but Mads can tell you their first and last names! Oliver may not remember their names very well but he gets along and plays with all of them. Surprisingly, Mads is more introverted than I thought and has found one or two friends to play otherwise plays by herself. They're different but they're both thriving and adapting well. Their quirky personalities make for some difficult parenting moments that either end successfully or a great desire for a do-over. Good thing kids are quite forgiving. I'm figuring it out one day at a time and thankfully, I have Weston to tag team it with.
    Oliver is finally making friends and coming out of his shell. It was a little rough in the beginning of the school year but is much improved now. It delights me so much to see him happy. Every now and then Mads and Oliver talk about how they miss NC and our "first house" but it has become few and far between. It definitely helps that cousins are just an 8 minute drive away and they all just adore each other. Oliver and cousin Will are on the same soccer team and they are a couple of goofballs. Their eye foot coordination are clumsy at best but they are having a "ball" (ahaha) so I'm happy.

This was Oliver's first practice. He's in the bright orange shorts. 

 Eleanor is such a spaz and I love her to death. We all adore her and could just squeeze her till her eyes pop out! She wants to be where ever Mads and Oliver are. She will sit by them and do her own thing contentedly as long as they are by her side, otherwise she screeches till you come back or take her with you. She's got the sweetest smile and is a daddy's girl. Her eyes brightens and gets excited when she can hear Weston coming through the doors. We have successfully trained her to sleep in her crib now for maybe about a month. We both needed our own space after a year of co-sleeping. She was ready for her crib! And she walks now! Baby phase goes by too slow and too fast. Sleep deprivation I'm sure doesn't help either. I feel like all the old ladies at the grocery store, but CHERISH them! They grow up so fast! 

  As for the house, it's up and down, literally. Stairs are not my friend or Eleanor's either. Okay, it hasn't been that bad and I don't really mind it but its danger zone for little people who want to dance on it. I do love the kitchen! It's spacious with ample amount of counter space and I love cooking in it. One week I was having a good run of meals and I felt like "Hey, I'm not too shabby." Nothing like a mediocre meal to spoil your mojo. HA! Kids were nice enough to eat it. Luckily my love for eating food and trying new recipes trumps any failed attempts. Just keep cooking, just keep baking! ^_^ Oooo Baking! I wish calories didn't exist!

Overall Moses Lake has been good to us and will be making it home for at least another 3 years and 3 months. 

Eek!

Our Moses Lake trip was a lot of fun. We didn't take as many pictures with cousins as we would have liked alas we got some interesting ones. 

These were from the museum. The deer head is not a real one but is created out of what looks like burlap. There were various other animals too like an elephant head and a sea turtle. The kids thought it was pretty cool. They really wanted to touch it, alas it was not allowed. 

This last picture was probably Oliver's favorite. The mammoth skeleton was created out of scraps of metal. It's sheer size and the use of metal fascinated him. This museum also has free art days once a month.

Now you may wonder why were we at Moses Lake, WA? Well I'll tell you.  Weston had a job interview there and they flew out the whole family so we can see what it's like. They paid for a rental car and would have done so for a hotel but we have family there so didn't need too. It was a lot of fun. If we end up there Weston gets to work in the same health clinic has his brother Cameron.  Weston also has an offer here in Winston-Salem, so there's a chance we could stay. I guess we'll find out in a few days. Eek!

Happy Late St. Patty's Day

      Since Eleanor has been home we've had a lot of help from Lolo and Lola. Lola came first for about a week and it was wonderful. I was still pumping at the time so Lola took care of her for the entire night so all I had to do was pump and go to sleep. Honestly, I don't think I fully realized how helpful it was until Weston and I had to tackle it completely on our own. It's a process to pump, feed, change diapers, rock then finally go to sleep only to repeat it in an hour or two later. My parents are awesome! When Lolo came he took Oliver to school in the morning so I didn't have to worry about it. He took the whole responsibility for two weeks which even benefited our neighbors too because we alternate carpool. Then we he came back, he took Eleanor so I can sleep. I LOVE my parents! 

    And with some tough love from wonderful breastfeeding mentors(?) I had my pump confiscated and dove into exclusive breastfeeding. It was tough, especially since the beginning of that nose dive was during travels on a plane. Nevertheless, if these wonderful women didn't encourage me and have faith in Eleanor and me, I would still be strapped to that awesomely awful pump. My new and improved pump is adorable and squishy and is doing fabulous. She's gaining weight and has had plenty of poopy diapers which gets me excited because then I know she's getting something. Knowing how much she was getting in a bottle has its comforts but I'm so glad that I don't have to deal with it anymore. Now I get to cuddle her while she feeds! 

Now I know I'm a little late with St. Patrick's Day pictures but here she is:

     Oliver and Madeline are the best big brother and big sister this girl could ask for. They constantly watch over her and want to hold her. When Eleanor cries Madeline is always the first to tell me that she's making noise and may need me. Oliver walks into our bedroom in the middle of the night after his potty break and comes in to check on her. He asks sleepily where she is, then rubs her head and cuddles her for a minute then goes back to bed. 

     It was quite an adventure this pregnancy and post delivery; NICU and all. We had a very small glimpse of what some parents go through with premature babies. I admire the strength and sacrifice it takes to go through that journey with your child, whatever the outcome. It is hard to see such a small child fighting for life. I don't always know why things have to happen the way they do but I do know that if we allow our Savior to join us in our life's journey, not only will we be stronger during difficult times, we can also have peace when it feels unbearable. 

Baby Nor Nor

No the baby's name is not Nor Nor, it's her nickname given by the kiddos. Her name is Eleanor. So I guess I should write her birth story. Here we go.

First I should start in November since that's when this pregnancy got interesting. After all the fun with family adventuring in Florida and Thanksgiving, the night before Weston had to drop off his parents to the airport I started to bleed. I was in the bathroom, looked down and first thought was "hmmmm, that can't be good." It actually wasn't a lot at first but it got worse so we went to the hospital and I was contracting every 2-3 minutes BUT it wasn't preterm labor. I had a placental abruption. So after few days of observations and a cancelled flight I got to go home. Gramma and Grampa stayed until they knew when I would be discharged and that everything was okay. Then Lolo (means Grandpa in Tagalog) came to help around the house when I came home and Gramma and Grampa left. It was perfect because it all happened that same day so it was a smooth transition. Lolo stayed about a week and after my follow up appointment he left because I got the green light for normal activity with the obvious precautionary things like don't carry heavy loads like my kids and no, you know.  So this was during November and December uneventful pregnancy wise, but January was proven to be much more interesting. Stephen and Deneka offered to come and stay with me and the kids while Weston was in Washington doing a rotation where Cameron works. Everything was going great. A little over two weeks I decided to be cautious and called the triage nurse, because I had a couple of concerns that I thought warranted a doctor's visit. Poor Madeline came with me and heard that I needed to go to the hospital because I was in preterm labor and 2 cm dilated. When I went to talk to Mads she was teary-eyed with worry and wanted to come with me. She's so sweet but it was best to bring her home. I dropped her off at home and grabbed the essentials; laptop, phone, ipad, a couple of books and the chargers for the electronics. I drove myself and went through the hospital valet. Told him I was in labor and he asked if I would like to be in a wheelchair. I declined, said I was okay and that I would just walk. After saying that I think he was a little bit skeptical about my labor comment. I went up to the L&D floor told them I was in  preterm labor but of course I didn't look like I was in pain so I was sent to the waiting room until a nurse came and got me. Waited a while but when I finally got into a room and hooked up to the monitors I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes. I was back on the magnesium sulfate and other lovely drugs, got my steroid shots for Baby Nori's lungs and was able to prolong deliver for 5 days. They thought I was in the clear and got transferred to the high risk floor, but I didn't last even 24 hours before I had to go back to the L&D floor and had baby Nori. Thank goodness Deneka could at least be there for the delivery. She was there as a support and Ipad holder so Weston could "be there" for the delivery, via facetime, as well.

Within those 5 days at the hospital I got a blessing from Stephen and a friend, Austin. It had brought me strength, peace, and acceptance to God's will and plan for me. When I had relented control over something I had no control over anyway, I was able to be calm and feel that God was aware of me and my fears. I felt His love and a reassurance that everything would be okay. As things continue to unfold after her birth it was clear that He had the bigger picture that I couldn't have known or the doctors. He also knows how to reach out to me through family and friends and I couldn't have done it without support and love shown to me. I also had the best nurses and doctors that were compassionate, funny, and very patient.

Family of 5

    I originally started this post to share our pregnancy news, but sometimes life gets in the way and we don't get to update as quickly as we should. Sometimes it's also due to some laziness on my part. In this case it has been a little bit of both. Yesterday our family has officially grown from four to five! Our little baby girl arrived yesterday at 1:57 pm at 31 weeks and 2 days. A few weeks short of her due date but we will take her with all her eagerness to join the family. I wish I could describe my feelings of all the happened in that moment of inevitability that she would come in spite of our best efforts to keep her baking a little longer. What I do know is that without my knowledge of my Savior and His love for me, and trusting in His plan I would have been a more complete and utter mess. He brought me peace and with all the added prayers from family and friends, I couldn't have been in a better place, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.
    Since her debut, I have watched her in the NICU awestruck with her calm even with all the prodding and poking. I was watching her get a feeding tube in through her nose and it bothered her a little bit, but didn't cry once. She was so calm! A calm warrior, if that makes any sense. It's only been day two of her arrival and we have many days ahead in the NICU and I know I will learn a lot from her and about myself.

Why not here?

Another late post that has been sitting under my draft section. Preschool has been done since May and we're now in July but preschool has been a blessing so here were my thoughts when it was in session:


Oliver has been in preschool for a few months now and it has been so great for him, and myself truthfully.Not in the way I had imagined but it has been great. I have made such great friends with the moms and the kids' wonderful teacher.  The preschool has also been MOVED. It originally was held in the teacher's home, unfortunately, she had to stop hosting it. So I tell myself "well, why not here in my home." Now every morning when I ask Oliver get ready for school he says, "but it's already here!" He's such a funny kid. Mads just loves having it at home and the kids are all so sweet to her. During circle time the girls love to sit next to her. Melt my heart. Anyhow, I am so grateful for this preschool because I feel that it really is preparing Oliver for kindergarten, even if it is at home. I see him growing more and more each day and I am one proud Mama. He's kind and considerate, and a little spacey at times, but he's a good boy. I wish growing up didn't have to happen so quickly but it is what it is. The friends I have made with these moms shows me that my Heavenly Father is truly aware of me. Being so far from family makes it hard some days and these wonderful ladies help me feel a little closer to home with their silly humor and kindness. I really appreciate them and thank God that we've met.