God made Them Helpful

Today I felt myself getting frustrated with my two little boys because they wanted to help momma clean. I wanted them to leave me alone so that after cleaning my house actually looked clean. But Randy insisted, "I help, you! I help!" So he grabbed a rag and started "helping" me mop our kitchen floor. Robert immediately wanted to help as well, looking at me with his big beautiful eyes with a question,"i help?" He was looking for me to give him a rag as well. I melted with that question. Why was I getting frustrated with their desire to love me? Helpfulness is GOOD thing(when they are teenagers I am going to pray they maintain that willingness to help). I gave Robert a rag. We made a mess! We flooded my kitchen! But they had fun and they were proud that they "helped" me. And ultimately they floor was clean, a little more water then necessary and a little longer then normal, but it was clean. Who really cares how perfectly kept my home is, if my boys are being perfectly loved? They even helped with laundry today. Granted we only folded one load and didn't even get it all put away, but that was something. And they were proud of themselves. I am just learning that not everything has to be accomplished in the manner I think, I need to include my children, even in the pain-staking(ly) long chores(because of their help). My house could be better yes but my children would be less loved. I choose to love on my babies in all things. I want to enjoy everything about them from their helpfulness to their incredible loud borderline obnoxiousness that is two little boys! I do not want to feel agitated with my kids for being kids. I am supposed be Jesus to them and I am pretty sure Jesus would let them help mop and play drums as loud as their little hearts desire with out ever sending them away or yelling at them to stop. I am going to take their noisiness as joyful noises (unless they are being Rude to each other in which case they will either be placed in time out or receive spankings). I am sooooo grateful for such happy, fun-loving, thoughtful, helpful boys. I mean really how many two years olds and one year olds stop making intentional messes to ask their momma if they can help her clean? They weren't do it to make messes they wanted to help, they asked to help and too me that is God, that is God telling me he loves me and so do my boys! Thank-you God for them best boys a momma could want!

Christmas time Keller style

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I didn't feel the normal consumerism stress. I mean we spent a decent amount of money on gifts this year. But that wasn't the focus. The FOCUS was LOVING each other better. We celebrated Jesus' birth in a meaningful way. We loved our families well. And best of all my babies enjoyed it. They loved hanging out with their Uncles and grandparents and definitely enjoyed unwrapping gifts!

Christmas Eve was spent first at The Crossing, enjoy a great Christmas church service, then we went to grandma and grandpa LeBeau's house opening gifts, cooking food and visiting.

Christmas morning was spent at our house opening more gifts, and making huevos rancheros gringo style! They were soooo yummy. Not at all vegan and not very healthy, but there have been a lot of health exceptions during the holiday season. January goes back to a little more health strictness. Anyway we then went and spent some time with my husbands family and then we got to see the movie Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, with my brothers.

Health Conscience Mama

I love my two little boys more then I could have ever imagined. They are such a gift, seriously, they are my gift my wonderful, perfect gift. So naturally I want the very best for them in life , from the greatest toys, to the best adventures, to awesome health.

I want my sons growing up balanced: Spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically.

All of that starts with me! Whoa, now that is a responsibility, and you know what it's hard. But as a Christian I know that I am reflecting Christ and that is what I want for my boys. And yes Jesus calls us to be conscience of even what we put in our bodies as far as food.

I am learning to be less depended on fast food, processed foods, genetically modified foods(gross) and more dependent on what God created! I am learning so much about the foods he made for us to use! Its awesome how many nutrients are available at our finger tips, and its depressing how much we over process stuff and zap all the nutrients! I do not eat a lot of meat. I prefer a veggie diet. I am not saying my family will never indulge again in a meat filled entree. But what I am saying is that people think they "need" meat; wrong. People eat way more meat then necessary and their bodies have a very difficult time processing it. (which I think causes a whole host of other problems that people would never link to their meat filled diets, but that is a whole other issue) God did give us meat but people do not realize it isn't supposed to dominate your diets (seriously eat some spinach and kale without drenching veggies in butter and salt or cheese) I want a heathy lifestyle for my babies because I care about how long they live and the quality of their lives. Without your veggies( and a ton of them over the recommend amount on the food pyramid) you are more prone to sickness, disease, tiredness, depression, headaches, joint aches, pretty much all human aliments. I strongly believe that most of the common colds, flus, and even cancers can be prevented and in some cases treated and cured by educating yourself about all that God has given us, including plants! Nature has a lot to offer our fragile bodies we just have to get over McDonalds!

I've let my blog slip by the way side

Wow, ok so we are in our house!!!! We moved in the end of July. We have done some major updating! It truly becoming my dream home!! Pictures don't even do all the work and effort we have put into this place any justice!

Both my boys have had their birthday parties here, which I feel were pretty big successes. Randy is now 2 and Robert is 1. If you ask me they are too old. They both have just done so much changing this past year it is totally surreal. Randy has so many words now. He just gets shy so he doesn't use them around very many people yet but he is starting to come out of his shell more each day. Robert believe it our not at age 1, has pretty many words of his own, : me, bye-bye, ball, d0g, doggie, da-da, da-ee( daddy), more, mama, and i ooo u ( i love you). Most of Robert's words are mimics of what his big brother is saying but who cares, he is talking!!! That is just crazy to me! Daddy reigns supreme with my little guys, but thats ok, I think its cute. Boys need their dads and Jason loves his boys so I am happy its mutual :)

Lately I have been really wanting to get healthier, bottom line is I'm lazy and I go the conventional meat and processed gross foods way too often. Today is officially my last day eating meat and gluten. In addition to that two things I'm going to attempt is the giving up of cheese and dairy. I honestly rarely eat dairy as it stands, the hard part is going to be the cheese. I am hoping these lifestyle changes will help my over all health. I have done the vegetarian thing before but this time I am going to try and take it a step further and I am going to look at it as a whole life change not a just " no meat thing". The funny thing about the fact that right now I occasionally eat meat is I will crave it but then it ultimately ends up hurting my stomach and making me feel sick! Why do I do that to my self when there are so many meatless/healthier options out there?! And man I have been eating some very delicious vegan meals here lately! I just need someone to hold me accountable until I make it a habit. I would also love to take a vegan cooking clase. I went to this foodie place today, VegaDeli, and loved it. I saw on their business card they offer cooking classes, I am definitely looking into those. What I put in my body affects my children, i.e. if I eat healthy they will learn to eat healthy and lead a healthy life. I just cant say "oh you have to eat your veggies" and I am not eating enough of mine. So all in all this decision is going to effect my whole family for the better. I am so over the way "America" eats. I do not want to be a mcdonald's eating soda/milk/juice drinking family, gross! So bring on the kale, almond milk, water, and organic apple juice; healthy living here comes the Kellers!

Closing

Ahhh, today was supposed to be my closing date but it is postponed until friday! The is a rusted vent "t" pipe by the furnace so the gas company would not turn the gas on and it is the sellers responsibility to complete the repair so we wait, until friday so that I have hot water and a working stove! I mean in my opinion hot water and a stove are over rated commodities. Who needs warm water to shower and microwaves work just fine for cooking right? Just kidding but this side step is putting a little damper on my attitude this week. It is making me a tad dare I say crabby? Which is actually ironic because yesterday church was about attitudes and how Joy and behaving with joy was an active choice and that despite circumstances being bad that people can still be joyous. So starting right now, as I write this, I am choosing JOY! There crabbiness averted. Regardless wether it is today or friday, I HAVE A HOUSE! And that is a HUGE blessing and God is really making provisions for our family! Wow, God, you are pretty AWESOME!

Now on to the most important matters: Updates on my beautiful, wonderful baby boys.

Robert is 9 months old, he thinks he is 2 years old. He stands independently and walks around the house while holding on to furniture. He can walk between two very closely placed pieces of furniture. He always wants to play with bigger children and he always wants to play with the older toys. He refuses to be a baby. I mean even his attitude and the way he interacts these past few weeks has been so mature...way beyond 9 months. I think Robert is so used to being around Randy and playing with his big brother and watching all the cool things he can do and the fact that they are almost the same size makes Robert think he is older then he is lol! Robert is still toothless much to his dismay because he wants to eat apples and such and can't with out teeth!

Randy is now 21 months old he is saying more and more words everyday! "Mine" is the currant favorite but he also says, "Chanch-choo", "peez", "bay-bay", "bro-dur", "pee-pee", " I no wan", "Dora", "Dego"(which is the show Diego) "bug", "ball", "boo-bie". He loves watching cartoons now too. He sits intently on his chair and watches Diego, Dora, sesame street, word world and some other PBS shows. He wakes up and asks " DOra?" We really have to limit his TV time because he likes it so much. Which is funny to me because a few months ago he couldn't even sit through one show without getting really bored. Randy got to try out the pre-school room at church on Sunday. Which I thought he would love. He didn't, he wanted his brother. So the nursery workers had to rearrange their staff so that they had the proper adult/baby ratio just so Randy could go to the baby room with his baby brother. Maybe he will be Ready after he turns 2! But he really does love being around his baby brother Robert. Randy is very protective of bro-dure.

There is so much that has changed in such a short amount of time it is hard to keep up with all the growth spurts my boys are going through!

HOME

At last the Keller's have found their home! We close on July 25th, the day before my anniversary! What a wonderful gift, to have a place to call your own, to call home! I am so excited to begin making the house my home! Oh the ideas I have for this place, some long term, some immediate! I just want to sink my teeth into some projects! This house is wonderful though because it is move-in ready so there is nothing that HAS to be done, just stuff I want to do. Which is nice because repairs=money and its nice spending money because you want to not because you have to to make some place livable!

Here are some pictures I have taken of our wonderful little home. I think its perfect! It is 1386 sq feet of wonderful living space with a nice back yard and walk across the street and you are at McNair park! What more could I want??!!

Life is Hectic

We have been going through some crazy changes here lately, as a family. It is a very challenging season for us financially, emotionally, and well mentally. Right now we are without any medical benefits for the first time since we have been married. And my son Robert is supposed to have his 9mo check up next week. My boys pediatrician said I can call their business office this tuesday to see what my options are! Im sure the options are expensive and more expensive! Agh, I am a little stressed.

My sweet husband works so hard to take care of our family but right now it feels like we are spinning our wheels.

Jason has some really good job opportunities though so we are just praying they come through sooner then later. Regardless I am so blessed to have a husband who is so willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that his wife and sons are well provided for. I know that God knows what is going on and He will provide what our family needs. SO I'm trying not to get too concerned with the present challenges.

On much more positive notes. Our boys are growing by leaps and bounds and they are learnig and exploring new things everyday. Our baby, Robert, is crawling and standing now! I feel like I just had him and he is already so big! Our man, Randy, is starting to develop his vocabulary. Amongst his new favorite words now is, "Uh-Oh", "NO", "I don't know", and "outside?". "Uh-oh" is primarily used when he intentionally does something wrong, like hit his brother and he knows he is going to get in trouble or if he throws something on the ground that he shouldn't...like his dinner :). He says "I don't know" when we ask him a question about why he did something wrong. Example, "why did you push your brother?", looks at us with a completely innocent bewildered face and says" I dont know." and " NO" is of course when you does not feel like listening, typical toddler lol. And he loves to go outside...or bye-bye.

Robert, being only nine months has a very limited verbal capability. So he pretty much only says "Da-da" because dada is his FAVORITE. I swear since Robert, Randy, and I had rsv awhile back and Jason stayed up for 2weeks with Robert at night, taking care of him, those to have been inseparable. Nothing like an awesome daddy!

We are on round 3 with the house hunting. It's this house our bust as far as I am concerned! No more foreclosures for us, this one is seller owned and is coming with a home warranty! We are just waiting for an updated preapprovel! I really hate waiting. But if we qualify for the larger loan amount we should be moving in a few short weeks!! Yeah!! A back yard, more space and living across from an awesome park would be wonderful. SO here is to "3rd times a charm"!