Reflections

A new blog address, and a first post of the year! So we are 3 weeks into 2010 and life is returning back to normal as much as it was in November. Rob's back in school, so is Chandler. Major difference between November and January is, the amount of toys in the family room and the fact that Lincoln is walking. But with a new year (thank God 2009 is OVER, what an awful year!) reflection is a part of the tradition... Instead of reflecting on 2009, I look forward.

For 2010, I have a few goals, not resolutions, but goals.
1. Stick to the diet & gym.
They won't hurt you, only make you stronger, literally.
2. Keep working on reading the Bible, daily!
It will make you stronger, but in faith and love for God.

I have kept it simple. Those are the goals. We'll see where we are in 49 weeks, on how I did. :)

Who is the Random Mommy?

I am Melissa. I am in my early 30's and live in the Pacific Northwest with my dear husband, Rob, and two cute boys, Chandler (6) and Lincoln (2.5).

I love to knit, crochet, sew, take photos, watch sports (hate soccer), read books (Twilight, Harry Potter and Millennium Series are the recent favorites), politics (hard core Republican/a "crazy" Tea Party Member).

I love to sing, and I do semi-professionally in Portland's Singing Christmas Tree. I've done it 9 years and in 2011, it will be my 10th season! I love it and the fellowship it brings. I've met some amazing people in the TREE choir. They have helped me through many trials in my life (especially when my Dad passed away in 2006). I also love to teach Sunday School for Chandler's age at our Church (Lutheran), and am active there.

Rob is in his 3rd year of school for Electronic Engineering Technology/Electrical Engineering. He goes to school at night and also works full time for my family's natural food brokerage. I work as a Webmaster and work with Retail level promotions. It's fun and works well with the mommy schedule.

Chandler had surgery on June 7, 2010 for a Tethered Spinal Cord at Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital. His surgeon, Dr. Monica Wheby, was able to cut the tether and he was able to go home the next day. As a form of physical therapy he is in Taekwondo at Family Kicks Martial Arts. When he began in July, about 1 month post-op, he had awful balance, his gait was akward, he couldn't bunny hop. Now 6+months later, his range of motion in his legs has improved dramatically, he can bunny hop and jump, he can balance on 1 leg for 5+seconds, and his run is faster and less spastic looking. Master Null has really been a true blessing for Chandler and our family!

Lincoln is very different from Chandler (don't they always say that?), and is very active. He climbs up things, is much more rougher, has a thick skull (yes, we do know this), and is a lover! He's a late talker, just like big brother, and is in speech therapy as well. He's not nearly as severe as Chandler (who has Apraxia of Speech), but we started ST early with Linc, just in case.

For Me, this blog began as random musings, and such of the family, but it will take a new meaning as a way for me to loose the 150 lb that I need to loose. Doing Weight Watchers and exercising are the ways I am tackling the goal. Starting weight: 331.2 on January 3, 2011. First goal is to loose 60 by Lincoln's 3rd birthday at the end of June. It's aggressive, but it needs to happen.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, please follow my journey, it will help keep me accountable! :)

A summer catch up...

Life has been pretty busy. With Rob finishing school for the summer (yay) and enjoying the summer time, it's been fun and busy.

We've made a couple trips to the lake, which has been nice. The one trip we took, it was 100 degrees with ZERO wind. It sucked! The boys were hot, Lincoln was too hot he was getting sick. The only way for him to sleep was driving around to cool him down then sleep with Rob. Poor bug. Chandler slept on the floor of the living room, doing it old skool like his mom and TT! :) Lot of fun. Then he had one of his BFF's come up with his family to play. It was great. And even Kevin and Mary came too. It was a great weekend at the cabin and I know Dad would be proud to see such fun being had by all.

Lincoln is a movin' fool. Not walking but moving in every other which way! It's so cute. We just found out that he loves Blue's Clues! He's sitting in his high chair and dances when they sing! It's a riot. Chandler's been on this BC band wagon for a week or so and it's so cute!

Chandler also is now addicted to Dad's Xbox. He's got the Batman Lego game and is in love with the game. It's all he asks about day and night! It's cute, but annoying! He has to clean up his toys and do his 30 minutes of homework, which is working on ABC's and 123's. He loves it and asks to do his home work. I am so thrilled he loves it so much.

Which brings us to Preschool! He's starting St. Andrew Lutheran Preschool in a few weeks. It will be nice to get back into that routine. He's so excited to see Bryan at school, he's been asking to see him for a while. Even when we'd go to story time at church, he'd wonder if he'd be there. Too cute!

I am actually working on super hero capes for the boys to play with at school. They have plenty of dress up stuff for girls, just not enough boys, so a bit of Batman, Superman, Flash & Green Lantern will man it up a bit! :)

I'll post some pics of that soon. In the mean time, here are a couple from our professional shots in August (that we won at a school auction).