Rule-Follower / Rule-Breaker

I've got one of each. Levi is by far my rule-follower. He's the kid that knows what you are supposed to be doing, when, and why. He always plays it safe and has lots of questions. If something is out of place, he will try to fix it or tell someone. There is an order for everything. Now, I'm not saying that he does everything he is told or that he is a perfect child, because that is just not true :).

I can relate to Levi a lot. I've tended to be a rule-follower my whole life, but there are many opportunities I've passed up by playing it safe which leads to regrets for not "taking the plunge". Levi will be really good at what he does and will be very dedicated.

Kara on the other hand, is my rule-breaker. She likes to do the opposite of the norm all with this little grin on her face. She knows she's different and spunky and has got the biggest attitude to go with that little walk of hers. She jumps off tables with no fear and rarely meets a stranger. A true free-spirit. Therefore, she has been quite the challenge for the rule-following momma of hers.

However, I have to admit that I am envious of her personality. She is going to try a million things in her life and while she might fail 999,999 times, I have no doubt that she will do something amazing at least once (if not more). Her life will not be slow-paced and will certainly be an adventure!

Parenting Levi has been easy. Although he needs guidance, he thinks through his plans, weighs his options and goes from there. My challenge will be with Kara. How do I encourage her to be creative and follow her heart without giving her too much freedom?

It is going to be a wild ride, but so much fun to participate in. I wonder what baby #3 will be? My rule-maker? Oh my. They always say the youngest gets whatever they want, right Garet? lu

Levi Quote

"I need some help with my head, mom. It's too big"

(Note: he was trying to get his head through his shirt opening)

Levisms

Levi's comments continue to keep us on our toes. He asks a lot of questions and is so matter-of-fact about everything.

Tonight while he was getting ready for bed, he said "Maybe when I'm 4-years-old, I can get big people toys". I asked him what he meant by that and he said, "You know, like basketballs and skee ball. But, you don't get the balls back in skee ball". Where does he get this stuff? I didn't even know he knew what skee ball was!

I twittered this earlier, but a couple of nights ago Levi was listing everything he was thankful for in his prayers. The list of course included his walls, surfboard and glow-in-the-dark stars. He also included his light sabers on this particular night. Anyway, right in the middle he says "Take me out to the ballgame" and kept right on listing the things he was thankful for. I learned later that a little girl at school had said this over and over during the day, but it was quite funny in the moment.

Levi is also apparently toning up. I found him the other morning on Garet's work bench with some two pound weights. I thought he had pretty good form for a 3-year-old!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So, this is roughly how far behind I am at this blog thing - Embarrassing, but that's life when you are sick, sick, sick and then your husband is out of town for two weeks. Things are on the upswing now and I'm feeling great! I had my first non-sick day yesterday - woo hoo!! 14 weeks tomorrow!

I've often said that travel is my love language - I still don't know why this wasn't one of the five. So, what better gift for me on Valentine's Day than a trip! The only downside to this trip was that Kara & I were flying to Maryland and Garet & Levi were driving to Nashville.

After hugs & kisses good-bye, Kara and I boarded our plane to Baltimore. I was so nervous about the flight because I had been so sick, easily get motion sick and had Kara by myself in my lap. Visions of me getting sick on take-off or landing (when you can't get up), made it even worse. Keep in mind that we had not announced the pregnancy at this point. Thankfully (and with a lot of prayer), the flight up was seamless. I didn't get sick and Kara was amazingly good. I did get sick on the flight home, but my mom was with us - whew :)!

It was such a treat to get to Maryland and see my brother, sister-in-law, cousins and their families. We don't get to see each other often, so these trips are extra special. My mom had flown up earlier, so we had a full house of family! Love it! Our first stop that night was Uno's - yum!!! It is not good to start a pregnant girl off on pizza like that - I have been craving it everyday since!!

Other highlights of the trip were, of course, IKEA (which I discovered is not nearly as exciting when you are flying and only have a little suitcase to bring things home in), The Melting Pot (I had never been - wow!), watching Brian & Kristen minister to the homeless (very humbling), spending time with my cousins, good home-cooking, watching the kids play and just hanging out - I had a great, great time and wish they all lived closer. I guess it is just another reason to travel though :)!

Here are a bunch of pictures from our weekend. Thanks to mom & Kelly for providing some of the pictures!!

So fun to dress alike for Valentine's Day!The Joslin cousins:

All of us (minus Garet & Levi plus 2 on the way!) Have we changed much since this time last year?:

Kara & Dante loved getting in this cube:

Kara LOVED Aunt Sarah. Probably because she did things like this with her:

Kara & Dante chillin:

This is what Art & Allan did most of the time. At least when I call Art now, my facebook picture shows up! I also renamed their band to Cowboy Chaos:

Colorful IKEA:

Very Kara:

We all had no problems finishing off the chocolate fondue at The Melting Pot!

As I mentioned before, Garet & Levi headed up to Nashville for Kaitlyn's baptism. On Saturday, they went to Caleb's basketball game. I just love this picture of Levi and Kaitlyn in the "stands":

Continuing the game at home:

PS: Some of these pictures were some of my first to take on my new camera. I don't know what I was thinking in that I would have time to figure out a fancy new camera and photoshop with two kids and one on the way. It took me 6 weeks to open the camera and another 6 weeks just to download the pictures!! Needless to say, none of them have been touched up. Maybe in 5 years I'll get better.

lol and ALL CAPS

These are my two biggest pet peeves in the computer world. I hate seeing them and I hate reading them. Why? I have no idea. For some reason, I have seen them a lot today and felt the need to share with you all. Does this bug anyone else or am I the only one?

In other news, I'm finally starting to feel a little better, so I'm hoping that I can emerge from my month-long sabbatical shortly and get back to regular posting. My blogiversary/birthday is coming up after all :). (Someone out there probably hates those side smiley faces).

A little history on the mini van

If you have been around Garet or I in the past few years, you would know that Garet has a saying that "We won't buy a mini van until we have 3 children", thus the reason for the initial post on buying a mini van.

After going on a few long road trips in some of the newer mini vans, I was hooked - these babies are not the mini vans we grew up with - far from it!

I did a post about "30 things I hope to see in my next 30 years" and guess what was number 1? Own a mini van! That's right, I became slightly obsessed.

My friend, Mary Ann, knew this about me and sent me the following video:

Too funny.

In all practicality, I don't know of any other vehicle that has a third row seat that you don't have to lower the second row to get to the back. If you can point me towards one, I will make a consideration, but with 2 car seats in the middle, we'll need an aisle to get Levi in the back.

I come from Toyota and Honda families, so my guess is that we will see a Sienna or an Odyssey in our near future!

The rest of the story

At the risk of losing friends for lack of information, yes, it is true that we are pregnant with #3! Wow. That is a lot to think about.

Let me start by saying that this was not planned at all - in fact, I am technically still in denial. While we really wanted 3 children, we had planned to wait several more months. After a long year with Kara, I was ready for a break and to regain some sanity before we plunged into the baby phase all over again. There have been many tears over this development and to be quite honest, a lot of anger, fear and exhaustion. We were not trying at all and I still don't understand how this all happened - I am a planner for goodness sakes!

However.

This child is a miracle.

While I knew God gave us Levi and Kara, they were both very planned. When things happen that you don't plan, you realize just how much God is in control of the situation. God wanted us to have this baby now regardless of what I wanted and that has been very humbling to me.

This is my comfort:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:11-13

I know the coming months will give me ample opportunities to be on my knees and "call upon Him", because I know of no other way that I will get through those first few months.

Please hear my heart in that we are truly blessed to have been given this child. I do not want anyone to read this and think I do not want this child - far, far from it. It is just overwhelming. We'll get through the next few years and I know I will be abundantly blessed times 3!

For those of you interested in the details, I am due somewhere around 9/27/09. This will most likely change, but it is what we are going with now. That puts me around 9 weeks which is where I would humbly ask for your prayers. I had a miscarriage between Levi & Kara and so there have been a lot of fears during this first trimester. Please pray for peace and a healthy baby throughout. Thanks!

PS: If you see me crying in a corner or pulled over on the side of the road with the door open, you'll now know what is going on :). Good times!

Announcement

We are buying a mini van. Yes, it's true. This purchase is coming SEVERAL months before planned and is VERY unexpected. I have had to go to bed early every night and have been quite sick about this purchase. In fact, I think I need to go take a nap just thinking about it. Levi, on the other hand, is thrilled about getting a "fancy car" (his words) and Kara is oblivious. More details tomorrow.