while waiting...

Lori, how are you doing?

Well....

• I forgot my daughter's school lunch today.
• I put the sour cream in the freezer.
• I put the chips in the fridge.
• I dumped my entire cup of coffee on my lap at work.
• I can never remember the name for the seat Elijah sits in to eat.
• I scheduled a coffee get-together for 12:30pm b/c I didn't have a meeting at the church until 1pm... once I arrived I realized that wasn't an "hour and 1/2" for coffee and had to ditch my coffee date after 20 minutes to make my meeting (thank you Cora for being so understanding!)
• I put Zoey's shirt on backwards and inside-out.
• I locked my keys in my office at church.
• I forgot to put shoes on Elijah for church.

Should I go on?

July 1991

While we were organizing our office today, I came across a card my Nonne gave me with a baby afghan before she passed away. Needless to say, I was beside myself. 

{This is coming from a girl who still cannot bring herself to delete her phone number from my cell phone}

welcome

Welcome Vivienne Jeannine Bunk to this crazy world!

You are one loved little girl!

{Zoey is having a hard time saying her name... so right now it's "baby indian"}

finger peek-a-boo

So Zoey and Elijah play this game where they stick their fingers underneath the door of Zoey's bedroom and the other person tries to touch them before they disappear. There are boundless giggles coming from upstairs when this particular game is played. 

I love it. I love the fact that they are playing nicely together. I love the giggles. I love that they created their own game... and I love the fact that none of any of this had to do with me. 

jakey and li-jee

These 2 give me a run for my money.

Seeing that they are only 14 months apart, I don't see that changing any time soon.

ice rink

Chris made an ice rink in our backyard.

I think it's close to Olympic size.

The kids have been out there every day it has been cold enough.

Zoey is even getting comfortable on skates!

I LOVE MICHIGAN!
(sorry the pictures aren't very good... I was taking them from inside the warm house with the babies)

Family Fun Day: Around the Town

I love days when our family can just be together... the entire day. I know that seems very simple, but because of our lifestyle, this doesn't always just happen for us. Today the only things we had scheduled we could all be together, and I think I smiled the entire day (well, not when I was trying to find snow clothes for the 3 older kids... that was stressful). Our day ended at Cameron's 5th birthday party and Isaac couldn't have been happier... I mean, a night to jump around and be with friends... he was in heaven!

they'll learn soon enough....

My niece Alina and Zoey are best-friends. You know, the kind-of friends where you want to call them at nighttime to share that you found your lost strawberry shortcake doll in your brother's legos. The other day when they were together, I was cracking up at their interaction....I would constantly hear things like....

"You're mean."

"I don't want to do that!"

"I love you so much!"

"Your hair looks so pretty today."

"Stop looking at me!"

I had to step in and break up a few conversations that got a little out of control, but I couldn't help wonder.... what would my relationships be like if we were to talk to each other as candidly as preschool girls? Could you imagine?

there is always a glitch

{this picture was taken back when Elijah had his big fall out of the car}

Since Jacob has been born, I probably hear the phrase "You have your hands full!" at least once a day. It's a true statement. I definitely always have my hands full. I had a conversation at church the other night with another mom who was asking me how it's going. I told her it's going great... until there is a glitch... and with 4 kids 5 years and younger there is always glitch.... and by "glitch" I mean things going downhill fast.

I could give an example of how our Sunday mornings go, but instead I will just say that I'm learning some great character traits with this new family of 6 and all of our fun glitches:  

1}flexibility   2}patience   3}grace

I'll tell you one thing... I definitely couldn't do this alone. God knew me inside and out when he brought Chris into my life.  I mean, this guy watched all 4 kids yesterday (I had a youth activity at the church), fed them, changed them and still found time to clean the entire house!

time flies when you have 4 kids...

Some new things going on in the Bunk household:

• Jacob smiled for the first time this morning... the real kind of smile! The best part was it was when Isaac was holding him and we were all there to see it!
• Isaac lost his 2nd tooth. This one didn't just fall out, so our brave little man worked it until it came out. We were very proud of him.
• Zoey is learning so much and is now coloring inside the lines. I caught her doing it the other day and was shocked. She also beat both Chris and Isaac in a BeyBlades tournament they had and is now going around the house saying "GIRL POWER!"
• Elijah can pull himself up onto almost anything and is starting to say new words. His sign language is expanding as well. His favorite thing to do is wrestle and is tackling Zoey to the ground all day long. She is not amused. This kid keeps me on my toes!
• Chris and I still laugh all day long at the craziness of our house... but wouldn't have it any other way. We are constantly wiping up milk spills, breaking up Nerf sword wars, trying to find bottles and changing diapers.... we love it, just could use a little more sleep. We both moan when the alarm goes off in the morning (and by "alarm" I mean one of the kids yelling our name).
  

{phone photo dump}

i feel like i have cotton balls in my brain.

I used to feel semi-intelligent.

There was even a time where I could hold a decent conversation about something somewhat important... religion, politics, theology, etc.

Now I can barely tell you what day it is.

I guess that's what 3 hours of sleep a night does to a person.

On the other hand, I can tell you in detail the humming noise Jacob makes with his nose when he is happily eating.... and the sound Elijah makes when he runs across our hardwood floors with a flat foot ... and the details of the colic in my baby girl's hair and the way she squirms when I'm trying to unsuccessfully cover it up... and the mortified look Isaac gives me when I say something "girlie."

So please forgive me if I ask you to repeat the same sentence over to me for the 3rd time... or if I start to daze off in delirium while answering your question.

I have a brain.
One that has served me quite well in the past.

It's just working in a different capacity at the moment.

Our Airport Adventure.

My parents LOVE missions.

In fact, as long as I can remember, they have had a deep passion and longing for the world... especially 3rd world countries. We took short-term missions trips with them once a year when we were younger, but now that we are all grown, God has launched them out more and more and it seems like they are gone overseas as much as they are here. 

Last night they were coming back from a17-day trip to Sierra Leone, Africa. I was in charge of finding someone to pick them up. I knew before they left that I wanted to do it myself.... 17-days is a LONG time! Well, after talking to the rest of the family, we fought about decided that we would ALL go to get them from the airport. (and by ALL I mean 5 adults and 8 children). So we all hopped on the church bus and headed out to Metro Airport. It might seem crazy, but you get all the best stories on the way home from the airport!

I love my parents.

I am so proud of them for following the call of God.

I'm only slightly jealous of the places they get to go and people they get to meet.

Someday.....

Jakey @ 6 weeks

  Yesterday marked 6 weeks old for our Jakey-boy and I have to say that time is flying!!! Everyday I look at him and freak out because he is growing so fast. He is an incredible eater, a very good sleeper and is loved by his brothers and sisters more than he knows. He is staying awake during the day more and more and he LOVES being held by his sister, Zoey. To be completely honest, she is the one that can calm him down the best! He gets a lot of love each day, even if it comes in the form of a bop on the head or a slobbery kiss on the cheek. He is starting to follow objects and people with his eyes, and like all of our kids, has a very strong neck.... he is always picking his head up to see what's going on. Now we are just waiting for you to sleep through the night... well at least one of us is!

We love you Jake!

4 totally different babies

When we had Jacob, a lot of people made the comment "we already knew what he was going to look like before we saw him." I know all of our kids look similar, but I can tell each of them apart from their infant pictures.... can you?

just some unsolicited advice.

Keep it simple.

Don't expect life to be fair.

Compliment small improvements.

Look up at the stars.

Pay attention to the details.

Love the unnoticed.

 Play as hard as you work.

Make someone else comfortable.

Hold the hands of those you love.

Make this year count.

goodbye 2011

This past year has been INSANE!

In my first post of 2011, I said...

"I am expecting a lot of growth, some change,
and great things from the Lord!"  

 At that point, I wasn't pregnant, we weren't even thinking of moving out of our house and Elijah hadn't even rolled over yet. God had some GREAT things in store for 2011 and we were along for the ride. If last year taught me anything, it is that God's plans are much greater than our plans.... and His ways are so much higher. I am so grateful that the Lord didn't consult us for what we wanted to happen in 2011... and I'm hoping he does the same for 2012!

i wonder what he dreams about.