We're still here!

Yes, it's been over six months since an update, so I wanted to stop in and say, "We're still here!" Don't worry little corner of the internet, we haven't forgotten you. You are still special. You are still our little space for me to ramble on and on about my life.

So, an update.

#1- We are pregnant! Yes, again! No, we are neither Mormon nor Catholic, just still learning "what causes that" apparently. A friend said that to me ("Don't you know what causes that?"), to which I replied, "Yes and we're good at it!"

#2- This baby is a BOY! We are super excited! Although, now that Wesley is potty trained and very aware that he also is a boy, I'm a little nervous about the conversations I will have in a few years when this new boy is 3 and Wesley is 7, just encouraging that "bathroom talk."

#3- No, we don't have a name yet. We don't make those kinds of decisions until absolutely necessary, in our other kid's case, WHILE we are driving to the hospital or waiting between contractions. So far Wesley's back-up names are not on the table: Titan, Titus, Stagcock, Dallas. Can you tell it was football season when Wesley was in utero? That and my brother-in-law Adam was living with us and constantly suggesting football team names.

#4- Amelia turned 6 in August and Della will turn 2 in about 3 weeks. WHERE does the time go? How can they be so big?

#5- We did another garden this year, and it was fabulous and a lot easier than in year's past. We mainly grew spinach, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes and peas. A few other crops too, but those were the big ones. Bill did a lot of work in the backyard too, mainly moving the playhouse. YES, like an Egyptian pyramid was moved. He also built a deck for the playhouse and it's B-E-A-UTIFUL.

I hope to update more often, now that I know the passwords to this blog so I can actually log in. Whoops!

 Wesley was really excited about finishing the school year.

 Moving the house!

 Baby Boy at about 12 weeks, I'm 25 weeks now

 Della has such an adorable personality!

 Amelia's special 6 year old breakfast.

 We went to Seaside for an afternoon with the big girls and won a ton of tickets at the arcade! Ya know, just teaching the kids about gambling. No big deal.

 Proof. I'm about 15 weeks here.

When you go to Seaside you HAVE to do the hat pictures at the hat store.

Della Mischief

Geez, having a toddler is hard! She gets into everything! One of Della's favorite things to do is empty the cup drawer. I have all the plastic cups in an accessible drawer so the kids can help themselves to water, but it's also right at Della's level. She likes to throw all the cups out and then pretend to drink from them. The other day she got into the breakfast/snack drawer and dumped out the entire box of Rice Krispies!

Having an older brother who's three doesn't help minimize the mischief. Yesterday he drew all over her with a pen! A pen that is also a rocket, might I add.

I share this last picture because Wesley took it when I let him take pictures at Caley's birthday party. In a weird way, I like it.

She's walking!! and other updates

Welp, a lot has happened in our house since my last blog update. But here is a peek at what's been going on around the Gerlachs.

First, the baby is walking! Della is 15.5 months. She's been crawling and cruising for quite a while, and I was starting to get worried that she wasn't interested in walking. But she decided to do it! She's still a little shaky and prefers to crawl if she needs to get somewhere fast, but each day she's been practicing more and more and is getting pretty good at it!

We've had two birthdays recently, Caley and Wesley! Caley turned eight and Wes turned three. It's hard to believe people are growing up so fast around here. We had birthday parties for each of them, and last week was quite exhausting because of it. Having separate birthday parties won't be a yearly occurrence. Caley also went skating with two friends (an Amelia) as a special present from me and Bill.

 I made Wesley some Buzz Lightyear gloves to match his costume.

 Rice Krispie aliens

 It was Magnus' birthday too!

 Sweet little smile

 Caley asked for a rainbow cake, and here's what I came up with. It was six layers, each a different color, and the frosting didn't work out so well. It ended up looking like the cake on Sleeping Beauty that the fairies had to make without magic and had to prop up with a broom. But the kids still liked it, so that's what you call a success.

If I'm feeling schmoopy maybe I'll post a real entry soon.

Candyland felt board project

This is simply so I can pin it on Pinterest and document my craft for a friend's birthday.
I also put a pocket on the back for the figures, which are just the Candyland characters cut out of the box and covered with contact paper and then felt on the back for stability on the board.

Heavy Heart

My heart is heavy. My spirit is weak. Lord, I know you are good, you have a purpose, you are in control. But it's so easy to forget sometimes. In the midst of suffering, both personal and corporate, I can do nothing but feel thankful for the blessing I do have, while trusting that though people I love are hurting, someday they will not hurt anymore.
In the midst of this weight, I can worship Jesus and see him working through things. Please Jesus, point me back to you.

6 months

Della is 6 months! The time has flown by! She is such a sweet baby. She does everything a 6-month baby should do and she's the perfect fit for our family. She rolls over front to back and back to front, sits with help, sleeps pretty well (goes down easily and wakes every 4-6 hrs to nurse) and has even pulled a few 8 hr night time sleeps! I am starting to get into a routine with her naps during the day and prioritizing what I do while she's napping. Usually during her morning nap, about 2 hrs after she wakes for the day, we get started with school. She'll sleep for 1-2 hrs and then it'll be time for lunch. Then I try to put her back down for an afternoon nap when Wesley naps, around 1pm. Wes is in a big-boy-bed and Della's now in the crib. It's going great having them share a room! I was really skeptical and anxious about it. She doesn't seem bothered by him being noisy and vice versa. Although the first week of the switch Wes did climb into the crib with her and played with her crib music toy. That was a surprise! I remember Caley doing the exact same thing with Amelia! Needless to say the next few days I had to station myself outside their room until I was sure Wesley would obey and stay in his bed. Now the kinks are mostly worked out.

Della loves to laugh and play with her siblings and loves to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy. She's confident in the Bumbo and regularly joins us at the dinner table while sitting in the Bumbo. We tried rice cereal last week and she liked it okay, but I think I will wait until I feed her every evening. It just keep slipping my mind.

I can't believe it's already been 6 months. I have been replaying the labor and delivery and first days over in my mind, mostly because many new baby girls have been born in my circle of friends. Such sweeties. The way it all worked out and how Della came in her own time was just magical.

Here are some recent pictures of our little babe.

What Mom Says

"Save the white hairs" (while playing Guess Who with Caley)

"Come get your balls" (giving Caley her fish oil supplement)

"Caley, let Amelia honk" (at the grocery store in the car cart with the steering wheel)

"Stop showing your pee-hole!"

"We don't touch butts."

Weight is just a number

I recently weighed myself and I am exactly the weight I was 13 years ago when I first went to Weight Watchers. I remember that day well. I was 17 and finally facing my unhealthy eating and living habits. Over the course of about 6 months, I lost more than 50 pounds (and ended up at an unhealthily low weight). However, in that time my eating and living habits didn't really end, they just changed. My pant size was smaller, but I still had the same issues. My problem was idolatry, not my weight. Now, 13 years and 4 babies later, I am the "same" size but I feel, and am, completely different. It has taken gaining and losing 40+ pounds going on four times to start actually feeling comfortable in my body, whatever the size.

I have warred with my body my whole life. No matter the size, I have picked it apart and critiqued it ruthlessly. Even when I was at my lowest weight, I was obsessively worried about "chin fat." I have hurt my body because it wasn't doing the "right" thing. I was trying to attain my worth through my appearance, not through my actual worth through Jesus. I both hated and loved food, and ate because of my feelings (good or bad) or because of some "points" on my chart for the day. It's taken me a long time to learn to eat because I'm hungry.

It's so easy to get caught up in the numbers and feel down on myself because of what the scale says. But it's about much more than a number. That number doesn't have to mean what it meant in high school. Instead it means that I've borne a beautiful baby and now I get to learn how to love food and treat my body well. Maybe (hopefully) that number will go down, but for now I don't have to obsess about it like I once did. I am worth more than a number. I am worthy because of Jesus.