Sam serenades Miles....kinda.

Sam starting singing randomly while holding Miles on Sunday. Here is part of his musical stylings. (It's "Jesus loves the little children" in case you can't decifer it).

Some more for Grandpa...

Here ya go Gramps, here are some more pics for ya!
Leah's dad is back at work in California this week, while her mom has stayed to help with the kids and such. It's never known how God will work things out...but this week has surprised us a bit. We figured that Mom was staying to help me (Leah) recover from the c-section.....as it turns out, I'm fine. It's Eric we are trying to nurse back to health. He hit the ER Monday night with a kidney stone and is possibly following it up with a kidney infection chaser. Needless to say, it's been a tiring week, but not for the reasons we thought. This first pic is one of the few we have with Eric looking 'normal' this week. Mostly he's been feverish and fighting off some kind of massive attack of kidney pain. No fun I tell ya, no fun.

Matt Parker's parents sent us the CUTEST package for the kids. Miles got some adorable baby clothes that we can't wait to wash and toss on him...while Sam and Mags got these great 'painting' pads that use only water and when they dry you can start it all over again. They played with them for hours....literally....hours, this afternoon. Which was great, seeing as we were having another meltdown of an afternoon trying to get some answers out of someone regarding what is actually wrong with Eric. Thanks SO MUCH Dale and Laurette, you have no idea how God used that package this afternoon.

One week out.

Here are some pics of my oh-so-old 2 1/2+ year olds. We finally have sun here in Portland and the kids got a new sprinkler from G&G Viertell. Maggie attacked the flying water with the baseball bat, Sam ran the perimeter and stayed mostly dry. Fairly typical.

Miles will be one week old tomorrow, and is starting to wake up a bit. Here is a gem of a pic with one eye open. :-)

And another gem, with his angry face on.

I am somewhat scared to blog this tidbit, as I don't want the good feelings to end.....BUT, in our first three nights with Miles (night defined as 10pm to 6am) I have woken up once to him crying and had to WAKE HIM UP twice to feed him......that's total. I've been up a total of three times between 10pm and 6am with him in our first three nights home. (Ohh baby, how I love thee....let me count the ways.....!)

Hijacked.

My dad hijacked the blog for the duration of my stay in the hospital (thanks Dad!). Here are some pics and info on the newest Moffat addition:

Miles Oliver Moffat
Born: June 18th, 2008 at 12:35 PM.
Weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz & 20 inches long

Here is a before pic (I would say I look a bit less scared than last time, eh?!)

...and the after pic, just after discharge.

Some pics of Miles...and all his 'glory' and stork bites (those are the reddish marks on his face). His hair is a tweener between Sam and Maggie...more towards the red side, but we aren't too sure how much so yet.

Mama and baby. I think one of the kids took this one...they did a fairly decent job....!

Thanks for praying for and with us! We appreciate it so much and look forward to sharing some 'non-hospital' pics soon. Welcome home baby Miles!

(In case you are wondering: this c-section was a BREEZE compared to that with the twins. Praise God!!!)

Miles birthday

I hope this works for all who are anxious to see Miles pictures. Posted by grampa V.

Saying goodbye to the family of four.

I guess I probably should be, but I'm not too sentimental about the idea that this is the last bit of time with our family with a mere four members. But thanks to some encouragement from Mom Moffat we did some fun things with the kids over the last few days. Our kids are also learning that when you opt to go places with just Dad, you just might get a fun treat while you are out. Eric bought them their first Jamba Juice this week. They came in the house with those straws glued to their lips. No pics of that...but some other homemade treats were in order as well. This first pic we'll call, "Got Blended Chai?"

(if you double click, you can see the 'chai-staches')

Sam got moved to the back seat of the van. I thought we might have a battle over who gets to sit back there and then another battle over who gets to sit by Miles....surprising me totally, they both are super excited about their 'new' spots in the car.

We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese last night for the first time. As ghetto as the place is, they had a GREAT time using money (aka: tokens), collecting tickets, and generally pushing every button they could find. Sam was particularly giddy over this game and the toddler basketball game.

Yes, they both did some 2 Fast 2 Furious driving as well. One would drive while the other stuck their foot in to floor the gas.

(Hint: Sign up for emails from Chuck E. Cheese and get a great coupon that allows you take your kids without totally breaking the bank.)

School's Out!

Well, there is much rejoicing around this Moffat house today. Today is Eric's last day of work for this school year (the students were done yesterday). Today he will be home earlier than usual and tomorrow he won't leave. Yea!! Every month when the paycheck rolls in, I am reminded of the somewhat sad pay schedule that public school teachers live off of...but each June we are blessed by the glorious time known as summer!

I also seem to have the last burst of pregnancy energy, finally. Today I not only took the kids out to two different stores, but I did the dishes before noon, finished getting the baby books caught up, got Father's Day squared away, sorted out a messy bag of hair ribbons that I have ignored for months and months, prepared some bulbs to be planted as soon as my hubby has the energy/desire to do it for me, and even played with the kids and let them paint too....! I know many of these things are not too out of the ordinary for many of you...but at this stage of my life, they are all small miracles for me. :-) (Oh, and I did three loads of laundry...but what mom didn't do at least some laundry today??)

We also have less than one week before the horror known as the c-section becomes reality again, and I couldn't be happier-! Miles had officially worn out his welcome in my womb and I am ready to give him a breath of fresh air....and plus, we are really curious as to the coloring of this one...will be be red like his sis and pops?....or a tweener like Sam? Or will he be a really crazy one and have dark hair like me?.....Hhmm...only time will tell.

We are scheduled for Wednesday the 18th at noon for his arrival. Please join us in praying for safe travel for my parents from California, a safe arrival for Miles (and Mommy), and no huge toddler meltdowns from S&M (primarily M) while mommy is in the hospital.

Thanks all!

Goofy ones.

My kids are a wee bit goofy right now....I suppose it's just the age, eh? Anyhow, Sam has historically cried his way through any haircut we have given him. He HATES the feeling of the hair on him when it falls off. So this last week I started prepping him (on Wednesday) for his haircut that would take place on Saturday. He informed me that he needed a smock. (We've already tried leaving his clothes on for the cut as well as using a half-smock style thing...still he cries his way thru.) Being the forgetful one that I am right now, I was at Walmart twice this last week and forgot to pick up a cheap smock both times. So Saturday morning came and he still needed a smock. So we grabbed one of Eric's rotting t-shirts and using a hair clip of mine, we made him a smock that he was REALLY proud of. AND the best part? Not one tear during the haircut. Cut pic, huh?

My kids are watching Cars right now and therefore have hauled every cars item they can carry out into the living room (most of which are 'sleeping' under that pile of pillows and blankets). They were awfully quiet so I peeked around the corner to see what they were up to. As it turns out, no a whole lot. I snapped a pic and noticed when I uploaded it that Maggie's feet are up Sam's shorts....Hhmmm....only in the mind of a two year old would this seem like a logical place to put your feet. I think I'll go encourage her to put some socks on instead.

Okay, Eric's turn

I thought I'd give this a go, and see who else is holding out...

Four jobs I've had:
1) Dish Washer
2) Greens keeper for a camp for the blind
3) Baggage handler for Delta Airlines (thanks John Stump)
4) Work crew for a summer camp

Movies I've seen more than once:
1) Back to the Future
2) The Muppet Movie
3) Meet the Parents (can you milk me Focker!?)
4) Star Wars

Four places I've lived:
1) Portland, OR
2) Gresham, OR
3) Spokane, WA
4) Rockwood, OR

Four TV shows I watch:
1) The Office
2) The Big Bang Theory (some great dorky science references)
3) Antiques Roadshow
4) So you think you can dance?

Four places I've been:
1) Yellowstone Park
2) Mt. Rushmore (great vacation Mom & Dad!)
3) Victoria, B.C.
4) Calgary, Alberta

Four people who e-mail me regularly:
1) Bible study guys
2) My wife
3) The school secretary
4) The Oprah Winfrey show (at one point I subscribed to find out info about a book)

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Speghetti
2) Rocky Road Ice Cream from Baskin Robbins
3) Skiier's French toast (thanks Michelle!)
4) My mom's crescent rolls along with a Traeger smoked ham

Four Places I would like to visit:
1) Washington D.C.
2) Hawaii with Leah
3) Europe (either England, France, or Spain)
4) New England tour

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1) The birth of Miles Oliver
2) Teaching the same subjects again (without any new ones)
3) Sam and Maggie finishing their potty training
4) Running Hood to coast this summer with the guys from Cornerstone Church

Can we pact-iss our cutting?

With less than 2 weeks to go before Miles arrives, this mama is letting almost all things fly. For example, today while making lunch, I left my 2 1/2 year olds alone in the living room with scissors (only the second time they have been allowed to touch them...ever.). I was constantly yelling from the kitchen the reminder to "cut far far away from your fingers!!!" - while fearing that blood was just right around the corner. Somehow they didn't cut themselves, but did manage to get bits of paper all over the living room. Whatever. It's an easy clean up.