Chicago

We took the Metra downtown on friday with Jason's parents and the kids. The kids had a blast riding the train! They said it was cool. We got off and walked around downtown and went window shopping, since none of us had money after christmas! It was a gorgeous day weather wise and was perfect for walking!

Little Drummer Boy

This was Zach's favorite gift this year! (thank you Grandma and Papa Raitz!) He can now practice with his band "The Littles". Bobby, Bekah and Zach formed this group about a month ago. They decided Zach would play drums, Bobby the guitar and Bekah would sing and play keyboard. They definitely got the music gene from Jason, since I can't sing or play an instrument! They are now bugging Jason for a stage in the basement to practice on! Zach already has perfect drummer form down and as the neighbors would agree, the volume! He looks so cute sitting on the little stool drumming! I will keep you all posted on the future performances by "The Littles".

Big Boy Bed

Well we finally did it. We moved our baby from his crib to a big boy bed! He has been ready for awhile now, but I just couldn't admit my baby was a big boy! He looked so small last night as I tucked him in! When I went in to make sure the boys were all covered up before I went to bed He looked even smaller! He stayed in bed all night and woke up this morning very proud of himself! The crib is now empty and packed away in the garage. I am sad. Jason on the other hand is counting this as one step closer to us not having a baby anymore, but all "big" kids. Bekah is still praying for that little sister she insists she will have! We will just have to wait and see if the crib collects dust in the garage or if we use it again!

Here we are all settled in IL! This picture was taken in September at a apple orchard we found here to go to! We had fun and picked some really yummy apples too! Bekah is doing great in school! Her teacher said she was a delight to have in class and very eager to learn! Bobby and Zach have gotten to attend classes during the week at church a few times while I help out in Promise Towne(child care for willow volunteers & bible study moms). Bobby is always ready to go to class and Zach likes it as long as I am helping in his class! Zach will also soon be starting home speech therapy, so hopefully we will soon be able to hear what he is thinking...although at times I am afraid what he is thinking!! We have all adjusted well to living in a different state, which at times still seems like a dream! We still miss being close to family and friends, but are excited for what God has for us here!

We have been "home" for almost a month! It is still weird to say home is here in IL and not MI! Whenever I talk about MI I still say back home...! Everyone is adjusting well. Bekah has already made a good friend and has had a few play dates! The boys are adjusting to Bekah not being home during the day! They actually play really nice when it is just them! I don't know what it is about adding one more that makes it hard for them to all get along! Jason is really liking his new job, and I love our new house! We have most boxes unpacked and everything is looking really nice in our new home.

First Grade

Bekah is now a first grader! This is her locker! I don't remember first graders having lockers! She loves it though! She puts her backpack and lunch box in it all by herself and goes in to class! I think she did better on her first day than I did! She can even read simple books now with litle to no help! She continues to amaze me! She already has a group of friends and their favorite recesss activity is chasing or being chased by the boys! Don't tell her dad though! She has her first play date on wednesday of next week and will begin riding the bus on friday afternoon! So many changes have taken place for her in a short time and she has breezed through them! She is a sweetheart and I am blessed to have her for a daughter!

This picture was taken in Kalamazoo. The kids and I went camping with my parents. Bobby is a tad too short to properly reach the table( without spilling), so my mom made Bobby his own special table! He thought this was the coolest and insisted on eating every meal at "his" table. I think he got a little too comfortable though! =)

Are we there yet?

We are ending a very busy summer! This was actually taken at one of the early camps we did. We just finished up a week in Ohio at Kenyon College. Jason spoke to the Jr. high students and the kids were able to spend most of the day with Jay! They had not been with him for almost 2 weeks straight! He was in ohio at The University of Miami for a week then the kids and I went to Kalamazoo with my parents for a week! Jason is now in Il. He left this morning for his first staff meeting with the Elevate team and to spend the rest of the week in the office. He speaks this weekend to the Elevate students then he goes with them to camp from the 7-11. When he gets home we will have a few days ( sat-tues) to get the rest of the house packed and then he does his last camp and we leave for Il on the 19! Things have all of a sudden become crazy! At the beginning of summer August sounded so far away now I only have 3 weeks left to pack and finalize doctors and school stuff!! Our house is full of boxes and we are running out of room to put more! It amazes me how much one family can have! Jason commented last night that we have packed so much already and it is only stuff we never use! Yet we still packed it! Keep us in your prayers these next few months as we move and get settled in IL!

We are moving again!

This is our new place! I know some of you are thinking not again, my address book can't handle another Raitz family address!! We are trying to create a address lable this time so you don't have to do any extra writing! Anyway...Last month Jason accepted a job at at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. We are planning on moving the beginning of August. We went down to the Chicago area last week to do some house hunting and God provided a perfect little house for us! It has 3 bedrooms and a basement! The kids are excited about turning the basement into a play room, and Jason has plans for an office own there as well! We will see who wins, the kids or Jason! We are both excited and sad about the move! We are looking forward to the new position for Jay but are sad to be leaving friends and family! Please keep us all in your prayers as we adjust to the biggest move we have ever made! Bekah is sad to be leaving her school and friends. Bobby just wants to make sure his toys come and Zach has no clue what is happening!

Boys party Pictures

We had a joint party for the boys since their birthdays are only a month apart. We had fun visiting with family and friends. the kids had a blast playing in the pool and with the hose! it was a beautiful hot sunny day!

My baby is 2!

Zachary turned 2 this morning at 1:15am! I think he must have remembered the time cause at around that time this morning he was actually up! I didn't realize till much later (like 10ish) how weird it was that he was up at the same time he was born 2 years ago! We celebrated by having dinner with Grandma and Papa Raitz and going to the local fair for some fun! We are having a big party in July for both boys with the whole family! I think Zach had fun! He is cuddled up in bed now with his new soft Thomas blanket from Grandma and Papa!


Picture 1...Zachs new tiger phone, picture 2...Zach enjoying his cupcake, picture 3...Zach clapping after he blew out his candles all by himself!, picture 4...Zach waiting for mom to hurry up and give him his cupcake he has been watching for too long!

Can anyone tell me the shipping charges?

Just joking! I would never ship them away! We got an order of Zachs food today ($75 for 6 items!!) and the boys decided the box made a perfect boat! I just wish they were always this happy with each other! They can be the best of friends one minute and the worst enemies the next! For the most part though they are happy to play with one another! I hope they remain good friends as they get older!

My little man

I love this boy! He is one of the sweetest boys I know! He is always ready to give his mom a hug! He will run up to me with arms open and just squeeze me! I love it! I can't call him my boy though as he is quick to correct me that he is daddys boy! So I call him my little man! He has the best smile and the greatest laugh!

My Princess!

Tonite is the princesses recital! She is in two numbers, one for tap and one for ballett. Her rehersal on saturday went great! The girls all remembered their routines and looked very cute! I think Bekahs favorite part is she gets to wear makeup! I can't blieve how big she has gotten since the start of this year! She will be a kindergarten graduate tomorrow! Yesterday was her end of school party and I was looking at all the kids and was amazed at how much they have changed since school started in august! My baby girl will soon be in school all day everyday! I want to know where the time went? What happened to the little bundle I was handed in the hospital? When I asked the very question to Bekah she said "I grew up mom!" When I asked her who gave her permission to grow up so fast she was quick to reply "Jesus". She has gotten too smart for her own good sometimes!

His first shiner!

This is what happens when 30lbs of toddler chases a bouncy ball down a driveway! Ouch! I was not there at the time of the fall, but I am told he was very brave and only cried for a few minutes! It looks much better now almost a week later! It has scabbed up (and been picked and rescabbed) and the bruise is almost gone! He now has a bruise on the other cheek though from a run in with a table at church! Zach is all boy and he has two speeds...fast and faster! Sadly for him he got my clutzy genes! He loves any adventure and his recent scrapes have not slowed him down!

It has been awhile since I last wrote. Things have been good, crazy but good. Bekah is nearing her kindergarten graduation. I can't believe her first year of school is over! Soon she will be a big first grader! Bobby is still Bobby! He is the sweetest one minute and the next he is using some of his fancy power ranger moves on his siblings! Oh well I guess boys will be boys, right? Zachary continues to keep me on my toes! He has now figured out how to open most doors in our house, including the ones designed to keep him inside! We have installed childproof locks/doorknob covers on all the ones leading to danger. Now the only problem is we are all locked out of those doors! Pretty soon Zach will teach the rest of the family how they work so don't feel to bad! We are getting ready for a busy summer and we can't wait!

Yeah!

This is how happy the kids were today! After a week of having their toys trapped in Bekah's room while we were painting the boys room and living/dining room, they were so happy to be able to play with them again! Our house has been torn apart since last weekend when the kids and I went to my parents and Jason decided to surprise me and refinish our hardwood floors! While he was waiting for the varnish to dry he decided to finally paint the boys room and tear up their carpet to put in the laminate wood floor. After tearing up the floor he found a huge spot of black mold under Bobby's bed! He traced the mold to the shower which is on the other side of the wall from the boys room! Bobby has been complaining forthe last month or so of headaches and they get worse when he goes to bed! Hopefully now he will be better and the headaches will no longer be a problem! Jason is almost finished painting! The house is looking great! It almost feels like new! I think now that the floors are finished and the boys room and bathroom are mold free we will finally be able to keep everyone healthy for more than week at a time!

monkey see monkey do

We went to the Zoo (the one with live animals, not my house!) with a friend yesterday. I think it was bring your neighbor to the Zoo day cause it was the busiest I have ever seen it! We had to wait in line for almost 10 minutes just to get into the parking lot! Then when we got in they directed us to the back parking lot and told us to park on the sidewalk! I was tired from walking before we even got into see any animals! The kids had fun though! I took this picture in front of the lions. My friend, Karyn, and I looked over at the kids and noticed they had gathered at the fence in order by age! I thought it was too cute to pass up! We stayed for a few hours and left when the kids started to fall apart from being too tired to walk anymore! I think they all had a good day! It was fun just to hang out ith friends!

My boys

My Boys are the coolest! In the top picture they are showing off their cool sunglasses. They can be so sweet with each other at times. They can be the best of friends, then someone does something the other dosn't like and we come to picture #2. That is Zachary pinning Bobby down just in case you were wondering! Zach has discovered that he can pin Bobby and Bobby can't move! It is funny to watch! Bobby usually is laughing the whole time and Zach has this evil little grin/laugh he does! It is fun now but I think it is a prview for rougher times to come!!! I better start wrestle proofing things now! I hope they will always be able to play around like this with one another and not end up sending each other to the hospital!!

Hurricaine Zach strikes again!

I know I mentioned before that my youngest, Zach, was a catagorey 5 hurricaine, but just listen to how our morning went....
This morning sarted like any other school day, I got up, got Zach up, started waking Bekah up, poured Zach a cup of his "milk" and gave him a cereal bar, called for Bekah again, poured Bobby Choclate milk, made Bekahs lunch, called for Her again and this time she emerged still half asleep asking for her fruity pebbles in milk, filled her breakfast order, filled her water bottle, hear Zach following behind Jason "helping" him ready for work, give Zach 10g lucky charms in little bowl, packed Bekahs backpack, hear lucky charms spill decide to find out where later, put in a load of laundry, locate clothes for Bekah, hear Zach being told to leave stuff (computer cats, Jasons books all ready to take to work, alarm clock...) alone and go eat his cereal, find cereal spill on my bedroom floor, pick up cereal and make sure Zach still has some left, fill out Zachs diet record to mail later, say good bye to Bekah and Jason, make a cinnamon toast for Bobby, mix todays supply of milk for Zach, refill Zachs cup, switch over laundry from earlier, make myself a bagel and pour a glass of grape juice, give Zach a graham cracker and we sit down and eat together, Zach flings rest o lucky charms off the table one by one with his cracker (Brownie our dog happily eats!), gets down and eats rest of cracker while watching power rangers with Bobby, I get dressed, pick up and have to stop when Zach comes to me with a bloody hand, wash it and find a scrape by his thumb?, put a band aid on and try to disover where he got it (boys aren't telling), find a broken glass on living room floor (no idea where Zach found it), pick up glass and vaccuum floor, add a few diaper changes, dishes, letting dog in and out and you have my morning from
7:15am-10am! I love Zach and I love his love of life, I just wish i had half his energy so I could keep up!

WANTED: full nights sleep!

I haven't been getting much sleep lately, so I am really tired! I am either up with the kids or they are in bed with us which makes for some very restless nights! We only have a double bed so there is not a whole lot of extra room for kids! I don't know what their deal is lately? I think Zach is teething...again! Bekah and Bobby I have no idea! Bekah is very sneaky about crawling in our bed too, she will just all of a sudden be there! I will try to roll over and can't because she is on my arm or leg! Bobby is not as sneaky but he will all of a sudden be there right in my face! Scary!! I hate the feeling that someone is staring at me and to wake up with someone 2 inches from your nose is not a fun way to wake up! Zach just stands in bed and cries till i come get him, he is still in a crib! he knows how o climb out but for the time being has forgot and we don't rmind him!! I was lulled into a false sense of reality when all three of my kids were sleeping through the night by 2mos! Somewhere around 9mos they all forgot how! Once in awhile they will sleep through the night..just not all the same night! Well its bed time and I think I might try to get the kids to bed as well!

My PKUer

This is Zach, my PKUer. What that means is Zach has a metabolic condition called Phenylketonuria (PKU). Having PKU means he is missing an enzyme that breaks down Phenylalanine (PHE) a building block of protein. So every day I have to count/weigh everything he eats! He is allowed 250mg-270mg of PHE a day right now. Just to give you an idea of what that means is for every gram of protein in a serving of food there are approx 50mg of PHE! It adds up really fast! He is not allowed to have meat, fish, eggs, milk or dairy products. his main source of nutrition comes in the form of a formula, Phenex 2, or his "milk". He needs to drink around 24-28 ounces a day to help keep his blood PHE levels between 2-6. To monitor that we do bi-weekly blood draws from his finger and send them to the lab and his dietition calls us later in the week with the results. If his levels are too high or too low we will adjust his daily PHE intake. To supplement his diet with food we purchase lo-protein products from a few different companies that make them (all based outside of MI). I am able to order him bread, cheese, noodles and flour that are all lo-protein. These products are expensive compared to the high protein versions at the local grocery store..ex..our bread $1.29 a loaf vs Zachs bread $9.99 a loaf + s&h. Why am I telling you all of this you may ask? I am telling you first to spread the awarness of this condition, which is tested for on all babies born in the US by a simple heel poke, and its treatment ( strict lo-pro diet for life) and second to let you all know that May is National PKU awarness month! People all across the US will be having special events throughout the month to raise money for PKU research. Michigan is having a walk on May 13, 2006. I will keep you all posted on the event details and information on how to give to PKU research as the month goes on. Please consider giving to reserch in the hope that they will soon find a cure for PKU! Please check out my PKU link or for another good site go to www.michigan-pku.org.

My Guys

I love my guys! They are so special to me! The little guys love to follow their dad around and do everything he does! They have even learned the art of spitting! Last week we were t the park and Bobby had climbed up the play structure and looked down and started to spit! When I told him it was gross he just smiled and spit again! Boys! they are so different than girls! I love to watch Jason with the boys,especially when they are doing "guy" things. I can still remember the day he found out he had a son...my whole pregency he was convinced we were having another girl then the doctor said "its a boy". i think he was in shock all day, he kept saying.."we hae a boy"., "I have a son"! He was so proud, especialy when he got to introduce Bobby to his Dad whom Bobby is named after! The boys love to hang out with their dad! bobby told me on friday I had to pick Bekah up from school so he could hand out with daddy! They are always wrestling or practicing their throwing! I love my guys, plain and simple!

The princess of the Zoo

Bekah has been bugging us for a sister for about 3 years now! It all started with Bobby being more interested in cars than playing dolls with her! Everytime we are in the store she will point out all the cute clothes for her sister. When I remind her that she has 2 brothers and no sister she says " well someday I'll have a sister!" I think as princess she thinks because she spoke it it will happen! I have asked her what she would do if God decided she was supposed to have another brother and she said " I prayed for a sister and heard Gods answer and he said Yes!" Her other answer to this question was " I prayed for twins, we will have another brother and a sister!" Now I am scared! I have gone back and forth about having another baby (my decesion depens on how well they are behaving!), and I think having another has won out ,but twins?! I just hope God answers the first prayer instead! I have 3 sisters and even though we have not always gotten along, I have loved having sisters and hope some day Bekah will enjoy having one as well! Oh well we will see if some day in the future God decides to bless us with another! For now though she is stuck with two brothers who love to play with her as much as they love to torment her!

My Monkeys

Today was such a beautiful day that the boys and I packed up after breakfast and went to the park! We loaded the wagon with fruit snacks, water bottles, a ball, my camera, and two whistles (my neighbors really love me!) then set off! We had a blast! my boys are so fun to play with! We went down the slides (that were not wet), kicked the ball around, and went on the swings. We even had a lesson on not littering (Bobby threw his wrapper out of the wagon). I am so glad sping is finally here! I really do not like playing in the snow, its so wet and cold! I like sweatshirt weather so much more! When e got back from the park we played out front for a little bit with the bikes and little tykes cars. We were having fun until I went into the garage to help Bobby look for something and Zach decided to walk oit into the street with a push toy! i had my back to him for a second! Thankfully no cars were coming down the street! I don't know who was more scared me or Zach after I yelled and ran to him like a wild woman! He is safe and I was able to calm down and explain in a calmer voice why we don't play in the street! Aside from my boys littering and playing in the street it was a fun morning!

Meet the Zoo

Here are my kids! They are the the best! Bobby (upper left) is my little man! He loves Superheros, Power Rangers, bugging his brother and sister, and doing anything Daddy does! I love it when he runs up to me arms open for a hug and says "I love you mom!" Bekah (center) is the princess, and she knows it! Last night she wanted to cuddle after she had already been put to bed, so she decided her tummy hurt. She came out with tears and everything saying how bad it hurt! Jay and I were almost ready to take her to the ER when by some miracle it didn't hurt as much curled up in my lap under a comfy blanket! She fell asleep shortly afterward and Jay and I realized we had been had by our 6 year old! I still don't know how she got so big (and smart)!! Zach (right) is my catagory 5 hurricane! He loves life! He is always finding ways to explore his world...jumping off the arm of the couch (onto the dog), testing his strength (to date 2 drawers in kitchen are broken off their hinges), fur collecting (cats don't really like Zach too much), running (usually away from whichever sibling he just stole a toy from). Those are just a few of his everyday activities! He has more energy that the other two combined! I love how different they all are and have been from day 1! It still amazes me some days that they are mine! I wonder why God chose to bless me with such amazing wonderful kids! I thank him everday for the wonderful privilage of being their mom!

welcome to the zoo

The zoo today is fairly quiet. The kids are finally all feeling better and we are back to a "normal" schedule! Bekah is back to school after 2 sick days last week and the boys are both napping after eating lunch! The cats are prowling around me, I think Bekah forgot to feed them his morning, and Brownie is napping with her boy(Bobby). The weather today is gorgeous and I can't wait till the boys wake up to play outside! I think I am going to open all my windows and let fresh air in in hopes of getting all the leftover sick germs out! Well I am going to enjoy these few rare moments of quiet with the boys napping!