That didn't go as planned....

On Thursday afternoon, we are leaving to start our trip up to Wichita. Two years ago, we spent the 4th of July in Wichita with my family and with Matt and Megan. We had a blast!! This year, we decided to do it again. Matt, Megan and Jeremiah are flying into Wichita, and we're loading up our crew and driving. Since this is our first big car trip with Timothy, we're going to take it nice and easy, and stop in OKC on Thursday night, then head to Wichita Friday morning.

We're looking forward to spending some fun time with family over the weekend, then Curtis, Timothy and I will be leaving on Monday. Yep! Just Curtis and I and Timothy!!! The three big kids will be staying for a week in Wichita at Grandma Camp! I know that they will have a wonderful time with their grandparents and Aunt Shannon. And Curtis and I are looking forward to a few things too. We're planning on redoing the kids' bathroom (tile the floor, paint the ceiling, texturize the walls, paint, put up new light fixture)! And when I'm not painting the bathroom, I'm looking forward to taking a nap or two, something that hasn't happened since Valentine's Day!

Since we had so many big plans, our goal was to spend this past weekend working on getting things ready for all the craziness. Instead, I spent it horribly sick. I was diagnosed with herpes zoster (no, this is NOT the STD herpes :-)). Basically, it's the chicken pox virus, which had been dormant, flaring up again and attacking the nerves in the left part of my face. I had a rash, blisters, lips the size of TX, and so much pain. It was excruciating!!!

Now that I'm feeling better, we're in a flurry of activity, trying to get ready for our trip. Doing laundry, making piles, making lists, trying to remember the little things that I'm libel to forget..... that about sums up my day.

Oh, and did I mention that Timothy broke my camera? sigh. Never a dull moment!

What in the world???

What in the world could hold the attention of this baby so well?? He's a big boy who like to roll. What could he be so fixated on?Of course!!!
The Rangers!
Sigh. And so it begins.....

Flashback Friday

So that's what all your grunting was about.....

Dad Life

Baby Noises

Gone are the sweet baby coos. Here's what Timothy does now to make his presence known.

Guess which boy.....

Guess which boy did this.

Elizabeth's birthday party

Today we had Elizabeth's Ballerina birthday party! In my opinion, it was a huge success!

After Elizabeth picked the theme, I started trying to figure out what the birthday girl would wear. I loved the tutu skirts, but after looking at etsy, decided they were out of my price range. But my mom is amazing, and decided a tutu skirt was just what Elizabeth needed. She and my Grandma made this adorable pink skirt for her. Then some friends of mine made her the shirt (check out the button on the side bar to see their business). I love how sweet Elizabeth looks!We had the party at Elizabeth's dance school. We had the use of a studio and an instructor. She taught the girls a dance, played freeze dance with them, let them dress up, and they even got to play with the parachute.
After all the dancing, we headed to the snack room. I was really please with the decorations! My mom found the adorable ballerina place settings on line and also got the party favors (lip gloss, body glitter, a bendy ballerina.....) and I put ribbon around a little pail. I also made a centerpiece.


Rather than doing a cake, we did cupcakes. I made the cupcake toppers. And my genius husband bought candles that spelled out "sweet sixteen" and we spelled out six for her cupcake. So cute!
I think Elizabeth and all her friends had a really fun time!

Flashback Friday

One of those afternoons

Whew! I am so glad that Curtis will be home in the next 30 minutes. It's been a whirlwind afternoon, where nothing went as it should. I truly think my kids were conspiring against me and my sanity. I would rejoice in one kid falling asleep, only to have one kids wake up from their nap. There was whining, crying, spanking, poop, more crying, some more spanking and more poop.

But I made it!

These afternoons drain me. I feel tired, unproductive, discouraged, and unprepared to face the evening.

So why blog about it? Why put it out there to always remember?

Because it's days like this that I clearly see God's overflowing of grace in my life. It would be so VERY easy for me to flip out, and totally lose any bit of mommy calm that I posess. I could let the stress overwhelm and frustrate me. But somehow, not by my own doing, I don't lose it. Okay, sometimes I lose. On those days where I try to make it on my own, without relying on the grace given to me, I lose it.

But today wasn't one of those days. Today I'm tired, drained, feeling unproductive, discouraged and feeling unprepared for the evening. And there's no guarantee that tomorrow won't be just as bad. But I know that God has given me the grace to make it through these rough Mommy days.

If you're having one of those days, hang in there! And remember that God gives grace generously.

Love Story

Louie

Meet Louie

This turtle has been a member of our family for several years. But just today he received the name Louie, thanks to Benjamin. After Benjamin went to the bathroom, he came back with his pants around his knees. I told him to pull his pants up, and he said, "I can't when I'm holding Louie!" So I took a turn holding Louie.

Sometimes, Louie is a naughty turtle. This afternoon, he bit the baby!

I love the phase of childhood Benjamin is in right now. He's using his imagination more and more, he love playing pretend, and even the littlest things make him smile.

Happy birthday Elizabeth (a day early :-))

Six years ago today, at about 5:30pm, Curtis and I arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital. I had been having contraction for 12 hours, and since they were only getting worse, we thought maybe we should get things cheeked out.. My due date was still two weeks away, and we were fully anticipating a late arrival, since that's what everyone had told us. First babies always arrive late!

When the nurse informed us that I was contracting every three minutes, and was 5cm, Curtis looked at the nurse and said, "So, we can stay?" She smiled, chuckled, and informed us, "You will be parents in a few hours." We looked at each other and cried.

We were so looking forward to meeting our first child! We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, and couldn't wait to see if Collin or Elizabeth would be joining our family. We had a waiting room of people, all anxious to hear the news (if I remember correctly, there were seven people waiting for the news). We had family driving in. It was such an exciting time!

I remember when she was born, they placed her on my stomach, and Curtis and I looked at each other, somewhat shocked by the events that had just transpired. We were parents! We had a little girl with tons of dark hair. She was beautiful, she was healthy, and she was ours.

Elizabeth, 6th birthday

Elizabeth's 5th birthday
Elizabeth's 4th birthday
Elizabeth, shortly after her 3rd birthday
Elizabeth's 2nd birthday
Elizabeth's first birthday
Our sweet baby girl, the night she was born

Happy 6th birthday, my sweet Elizabeth! What a blessing you are in my life. I am so thankful that God chose to bless our family with you! My prayer for you is that this coming year you will continue to grow in grace, love and beauty in the Lord. You, my little girl, have taught me so much about life, motherhood, and love. Because of you, I have grown as a person. I couldn't be more thankful for the little girl you are. I love you!

Happy birthday to me!

Curtis asked me well before my birthday what I was hoping for. He told me he had two ideas; a Remembrance ring from James Avery or a pink laptop. I decided I wanted the rings, since it would last longer than a pink laptop.I went to James Avery to get sized, and make sure I like the rings. What you do with the Remembrance rings is get one for each month you want to remember (I was going to get one ring for each of my kids with their birthstones in it). As I was talking with the consultant, she told me that it was going to be pretty large once I stacked all four rings up. I tried four rings on, and sure enough, she was right! I didn't like it.

Once I got home, I told Curtis that I had changed my mind. He gave me the, "Really? Two weeks before your birthday?"

Curtis suggested that we still get a ring, but rather than getting four rings, get a mother's ring with a stone for each kid. Kinda like this:
I liked it, but wasn't crazy about it. Plus we have some expensive birthstone months in our family!

I checked out James Avery again, and decided that I wanted just a pretty ring from there. I picked out several that I liked, and Curtis picked out several that he liked. It was between these two:

This morning, we went to James Avery and I got the pearl ring. I love it!! It's such a special gift, something that I can hang onto. I told Curtis I imagined sitting around with my grand-kids telling showing them my ring that their Granddad got me for my 30th birthday.

Thank you Curtis for knowing me so well, putting thought and effort into my gift, and getting my something that I really love!

Flashback Friday

My kids are continually cracking me up. On occasion, I get these hilarious moments on video. Every Friday during the summer, I'm going to have Flashback Friday, a day to look back at videos and pictures of my kids that have made me smile.

Today's video is of Elizabeth. She was about 22 months old and cute as a button! After our neighborhood egg hunt, we went to McDonald's. I have no idea why, but as kids would climb into the tower, she would smack them on the butt and say, "Get in there!"

A morning to blog

I've been blogging all morning! I didn't realize how much we had happen in the month of May that I forgot to blog about. Birthdays, baptisms, family coming into town..... it was quite a month! And so you don't miss anything, here's what I blogged about:
Matching Cousins
Benjamin Turns 3!
Baptism Gown
Baptism Bloopers
Timothy's Baptism
Turning 30

Now that I'm caught up, I should probably go take care of my kiddos. :-) It feels good to be caught up before Elizabeth's birthday, which is next week. Whew! The spring sure is busy!

Matching Cousins

I love putting my kids in matching outfits! When I found these sweet yellow and blue outfits for the boys at Sams, I quickly bought them. When I found out that Megan and her son, Jeremiah, would be in town for Timothy's baptism, my Mom found him a matching outfit too!! If there's anything that I love more than siblings matching, it's matching cousins!My beautiful mom with her brood of grandchildren. I wish we'd had enough time to get a picture of her and my dad with the grand-kids, as well as my Grandma with all her great-grandchildren.
We tried so hard to get a picture of all the cousins together. The sun was in their faces, we were right outside the Children's Museum, and there was lots going on around us. So this is the best shot that we got.

This picture makes me smile. I'm not sure what, but those three boys are very interested in something that's happening on the ground. Doesn't Elizabeth look sweet?

Benjamin turns 3!

To celebrate Benjamin's third birthday, we had a dinosaur party at our local splash pad.
The plan was to have Benjamin's friends meet us at the splash pad for cupcakes, ice-cream and popsicles. However, when we got to the park to start setting up, here's what the sky looked like.
Shortly after I took this picture, there was a lot of lightning. We decided to move the party across the street to the wooden pavilion, rather than the metal pavilion we were under.

Thankfully, Benjamin didn't seem too upset by the change of plans. The cupcakes still tasted wonderful and we all enjoyed the treats and the time with friends.


Something my mom has done for the kids this year, as part of their birthday present, is to get them things for their parties. Usually, it's cool party favor. And though she did get some pretty fun party favors for Benjamin to give to his guests, the coolest thing by far was this HUGE blow up dinosaur.
Even though it didn't rain till we got home, the lightning continued, and the wind picked up and almost blew our big dino away!

Despite our change in plans, it was a wonderful party! Benjamin had fun playing with his friends, and I enjoyed celebrating the three wonderful yeas that Benjamin has been in our lives.

Baptism Gown

All of our children have been baptized in this gown. I love the tradition! I also love the thought of seeing my grandchildren baptized in the same gown. For me, having my baby dressed in something special, like a gown, helps mark the occasion as something special.

Baptism bloopers

What would a Krajca baptism be without a few bloopers?

As we were walking up to the front for the baptism, Elizabeth and Micah were waving at all our friends. Need to work on humility! And sign Elizabeth up for a beauty pageant. She's got a killer Miss America wave!

While we were being reminded of the importance of baptism and taking our vows, Benjamin noticed the cord to the microphone. He looked up at Curtis, Curtis shook his head, but Benjamin just couldn't contain himself. He just HAD to jump over it. Once he did, he quickly realized that he could make a pretty cool noise. So the jumping continued. I decided that in the grand scheme of things, it was pretty harmless, and tried to not stress out about it too much.

After the baptism, and Alex's payer for us, we started heading back to our seats. For some reason, Elizabeth and Micah decided it was the perfect moment for a huge embrace! It was really sweet, but rather odd timing.

Once we were back in our seats, Micah leaned over and asked, "Can I smell Timothy's head?" After smelling it, he declared, "Mmmmm! Smells like baptized!" I guess that's a good thing.

It was such a special day, and had some memorable moments. I was so very thankful that Timothy's baptism wasn't quite as memorable (or loud) as Benjamin's!

Timothy's baptism

On May 24th, we had the joy of baptizing Timothy. Even though this is the fourth baptism that we've celebrated in our family, the significance wasn't lost for Curtis and I. We were again reminded of the huge responsibility that is ours as parents. The sign of baptism is applied not as a means of salvation, or as a sign that we believe that Timothy is already saved. Rather, it's a sign of the commitment that Curtis and I are making as believing parents. It is also a sign that Timothy, as a child of believers, is set apart by God, just as Issac was set apart by God with the sign of circumcision.

Pastor Jon reading Curtis and I the vows we took to raise Timothy in the fear of the Lord.
Applying the sign of baptism.


This picture makes me laugh! What an accurate depiction of our life.
We were blessed by the presence of my parents, who are a blessing in our lives.
We were also joined by both my sister, my nephew and my grandma. What a blessing to have family share this joyous occasion with us.

Pastor Jon, after baptizing another Krajca boy.
Alex stood with Curtis and I as a representative of the session. He has been an encouragement to Curtis and I through the past few months.
Normally after a baptism, we have a huge party celebrating the addition of another covenant child into our church family. As part of the baptism, church members take a vow to support and help parents as they their children. Our church has been an amazing support, encouragement and blessing to our family and we always enjoy a time of celebration with them. This time was a little different. We had Covenant Kids that evening, it was a holiday weekend, our family was only in town for a short time, and it was a pretty crazy month with the birthdays and Timothy's surgery. So rather than having a big party at our house, we brought a cake to Covenant Kids to celebrate.

I anticipated Timothy's baptism being bittersweet, since he's our last baby. But instead, it was a beautiful time to rejoice in God's blessings, God's promises and ultimately God's faithfulness to us as parents. It's hard to be sad that we won't have any more children when we feel God's abundant blessings.

Turning 30

I can't believe I forgot to blog about turning 30! So almost a month late, here's my blog about turning 30.

Since I was born in 1980, Curtis threw me a 80's themed party. It was totally rad! I had an amazing chocolate cake, tons of 80's candy, pac man cupcakes, 80's music and a few friends dressed in their 80's finest.

Do you see any of your favorite 80's candy?

Since we had so much going on that month, we chose to have a small party, rather than the normal HUGE Krajca party. It was nice to have just a few friends over and a lot less stressful than preparing for a huge party.

Tom Cruise aka Michael and Curtis

Curtis and I

Christi and I rocking our blue eye shadow

The Ackermans. Even sweet Elliot had on leggings and Strawberry Shortcake.

Tom Cruise again, aka Josh and Hannah.

One awesome dude and one awesome dudette.

Erin and I with our wide necked shirts and side pony tails.

I was not an all anxious about turning 30. And having a few of my close friends around me to celebrate made the day even more memorable.

The weekend after my birthday, my parents and sisters were in town and I got to celebrate again! We had a yummy dinner and cheese cake and I got to open presents. A winning combination.

I've had many people tell me that their 30's were some of the best times in their lives. There are days when 30 doesn't feel so fabulous, but I suspect that has more to do with the four young kiddos in my life and less to do with my actual age.

Looking back on my 20's, I see a lot of growth and change. The year I turned 20 was the year Curtis and I got married. In the past decade I've gotten married, built a marriage, gone through the death of Curtis' mom, graduated from college, been a teacher, made friends, lost friendships, moved five times, bought a house, had four children, been through the loss of a job, and most significantly grown closer to my Savior. I feel like my 20's were a learning decade. I'm hoping my 30's will be a time for me to apply what I've learned and grow.