Birthdays, Holidays and a baby

Joel has turned 30 this year and on his birthday we got the great news of 2 pink stripes on a pregnancy test. Which means some time next summer around early to mid July we will be welcoming baby Zehring #2 to our home. We are so excited for this new phase in our life but before that time life has gotten crazy.

It all started in Sept. with the weekend visit of my sister and two of her kids for my nephews baseball games. Then we took a trip to Sedona with Joel's family. Then the following weekend we celebrated Nathan turning 2. From there we celebrated Joel turning 30 with his family. Next came Thanksgiving and now we are headed into Christmas.

Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year but what has changed has been the onset of morning sickness. I have never had an ounce of this with Nathan and I didn't know what to expect. With this has meant that I don't get to eat some of my favorite things and all the scents that I love to have at this time of year make me sick so I can't make a bunch of stuff. And shopping wears me out. I am one of those crazy people that waits until everything is crowded. I love that time to shop. The hustle of people trying to get gifts for people and the salespeople trying hard just to be pleasant. And I love being the one customer that makes life a little easier. (I worked retail and Joel is in retail) This is super important to me.

So as much as I love this time of year, I am tired and sick all the time. But I am choosing to let the birth of our Savior reflect in our home as much as possible. I am working hard to be there for Nathan and let him know my love for him as not changed at all. But one of the things that I love about Nathan is his understandable compassion. Whenever I am sucking on a lollipop or lying of the couch, he always says that Mama has to do that because of the baby. And then he pets my belly and gives it a kiss. I am so proud of him.

My dream home

Some day I hope to decorate my home like the woman from this website and right now she is giving away items to help me do that... Check it out here...


http://theoldpaintedcottage.blogspot.com/

Nathan has turned 2

So the weekend came and the weekend went. It was Nathan's birthday. My boy is 2. My mom came into town and we went to Apple Annie's Orchard in Wilcox, which was a blast for Nathan. He loves being outside and he loves running. The two things he did the whole time we were there. My mom came out for the weekend and she came with us. It was perfect weather and we got a few apples and pears and had some lunch there. The best part is that its far enough away from our house that on the way home Nathan, Joel and my Mom slept the whole way home! Great nap time!

Then on Sunday we did a two in one party for Nathan. We invited some of Nathan's play friends to the park for a little birthday party. I loved seeing the kids actually play together. Even Nathan played with them (part of the time) my kid loves to explore and the play ground only lets him do some much of that, at one point I was looking for him and I see him across the park pushing his new toy truck on the side walk while Joel follows him! But for the most part all the kids were together. My favorite time was watching the kids actually sit at the table together and eat! It showed me that Nathan is hitting that new stage of wanting to be around other kids more! It warmed my heart.

Then after that, our family met back at our house and we had a dinner and ice cream and present opening. I would of had more pictures of that but my mother in law's camera battery died and my flash broke on my camera (later that night it started working again) Lame. The best part of that time was the present opening! Nathan's reaction to anything with wheels was "Woooooowwwww!" and then signing please for us to open it up so he could play with it. Then signing "Thank You" thinking this would prompt the opening of the toy, so we would quickly bring out the next gift to open and the same thing would happen all over again. Nathan ended up with about 20 new cars and trucks of all sizes! His 2nd birthday was so fun to be a part of and watch! We don't do parties often but I am so glad that we did it this year!

No Longer A Baby

I think its fair to say that Nathan is no longer a baby. He has always been in the 90% for height and the 75% for weight. But in 3 weeks he will be turn two. And that makes me sad. I think more sad than when he turned one. And I think its because he has learned so much this past year. Things that have made him a little person. He walked before he was one so the things that came the following year were things that made me so excited about the little boy that he is becoming.

Here are some of those things:

• Drinking from a straw
• using a fork and spoon
• sliding down slides all by himself
• climbing up ladders
• kicking a soccer ball and scoring in a goal
• talking (this took a while but we are finally getting words)
• learning techniques to swimming
• blowing 
• kissing with his mouth closed
• his first haircut
• driving his sit and push cars all by himself
• being an amazing cuddler
• taking gymnastics
• climbing stairs
• jumping up and jumping forward
• reading his ABCs aloud
• learning numbers
• doing the right dance moves to certain songs (If You're Happy and You Know It)
• praying at dinner with us
• eating without making a mess
• playing with other kids and making friends

And the list goes on and on. There were not that many things in his first year. So to show you all some of those things, I put together a video of the last 12 months of Nathan's life.

Joel's New Job

Ok, its been over a month and Joel has officially been done with his training for a couple of weeks now. So I thought I would update every one on how its going.

First, Joel is enjoying it. We both never thought retail would be his thing but he is really enjoying it. The reasons are that he is still leading and teaching and training people to be the best at what the job requires. And he gets to be a part of something that implements change. These are two things that Joel always wants to be a part of. No matter where it happens. And right now Target is the place for him to do this. He was able to do both of those things with teaching (which is why it was so hard for us to say goodbye to it) but the paycheck didn't allow him to do those two things to the best of his ability.

The cons so far to this job are the hours. We are getting use to them but they are taking quite awhile for us to adjust to them. To give you an idea why its so much harder now than when he was training is because of the store he has been placed at. He is at the only high risk store in Tucson. By high risk, we mean that it has the most potential for theft and asset loss. Also, this is the only store that stays open until 11 PM. So when he was at other stores and they closed at 10 he would be home by 11:30. But with the store closing an hour later and being a high risk store, there is more to do at closing. So Joel won't get home until 2-3 in the morning. Which also means he sleeps the morning away before he has to go to work again or on his day off. The other reason he comes home so late on his closing days is because the routine of having a manager and store manager at this store hasn't been in place for very long. Before Joel's store manager came on the scene the store had gone without a store team lead for a while and Joel's dept. had gone without a team lead for 10 months. So people slacked off and didn't get the job done. Now the bosses are here and its going to take some time to whip them into shape. So the light at the end of the tunnel is that Joel won't be staying that late forever. Hopefully 12:30/ 1 AM will be the norm.

The pros to the job besides the first stuff I mentioned are, first the paycheck. We are able to make the same amount of money in one job that we had with all five of our jobs combined. And there will be a raise. The whole time that Joel was teaching there were budget cuts every year, so there was never a pay raise. Also, days off. We have not known what that was like for 3 years. Joel worked every day and I did too. We now have 2 days off a week together. Its amazing that we are able to have a day where we hang out as a family either at the zoo, the children's museum, the park or at home. Its been a wonderful adjustment. Even with the hours that Joel is working now. I should say that he is not working any more hours than he did before but they are just at weird times.

Well there is the update. I am sure there will be more stories to come. But I wanted you to know that its going well and Joel is enjoying it. Even if Nathan wakes him up after 5 hrs of sleep, he just naps while Nathan naps and then goes to work.

This is one of the ways we spend a day off. Nathan loves to wear his life jacket so we just filled up our little pool and left him in a diaper. He had a blast!

I'm Not perfect and I am ok with that

So I have been thinking about what it means to be Supermom. And you know what, it doesn't mean anything unless Nathan sees me as that. I struggle with the fact that I don't get it all done. But then I sit back and realize that I don't need to.


Being Supermom doesn't mean the house is clean all the time, it doesn't mean that I wake up each morning bright and early with the best attitude, showered and ready to start my day. It means that each morning when Nathan wakes up, I am there with a kiss and a hug. It means that each day we are on the floor reading books, putting puzzles together, playing trains, getting wet and dirty outside. To me I am Supermom to Nathan because I am teaching him about life. And how to live life with Jesus as the leader. He may not say a lot or be able to recite songs, but he knows how to help, how to share, how to love. Nathan is learning these things because we are teaching him these things. I am Supermom to Nathan because he thinks I am.


I love that Nathan sees me as some one that is teaching him boundaries and showing him that life is fun and exciting and its centered around Christ. I love prayer time with Nathan, I love how he dances to children's Sunday School songs, and I love how he is ready and willing to love us back. I am not perfect and Nathan is not perfect. But I love that Nathan sees me as Supermom and I don't need to be seen as that by anyone else!

Belly Button Junk!

That's right! You heard me. How in the world do you clean out the build up in the belly button of a toddler that is super duper ticklish? Well I think I am figuring it out. And if you read this and have your own advise, I would love to know what it is!

Last night at bath time I figured out the best way I can clean Nathan's belly button to the best of my ability. About an hour after dinner is bath time. Just about every night. And Nathan usually has this huge belly that sticks far out. So much that his already outie belly button is pushed out even more.  And with that I can get a glimpse of the junk being pushed out! So I take a wash cloth and scrub as much as I can with soap and water until Nathan fights me off. I do that through out his whole bath and I am starting to see a cleaner looking belly button!

Hope this didn't gross you out too much!

Our new schedule of life is here...

Joel has officially started his job at Target. Although we are still waiting to hear about store placement. Rumor is that he may be getting the position at the store we have been praying for. He was told that the job will be opening up really soon and from what we know he is the only option for that slot right now. This store is about 15 min. away and we will be able to stop in and make that our new Target store to shop at. Unlike, the 40 min. drive right now. Still praying and hoping though. We won't know until the end of his training.

His training is going well and its nice for him to have days off. Even though his 1st two weeks have been super busy with us going to Phoenix and then Nathan and me really sick the 2nd week. But the hours are good and so is the consistency!

We have done a lot in the month of June already. We took Nathan to his first water park experience! It was a ton of fun. Nathan lasted longer than we thought he would and was splashing in the kiddie pool and wave pool the whole time. Even after he face planted a few times in the water, he got right back up and went down the water slides!

Gymnastics is going really well too. Nathan is getting more brave with each week. We thought he would be the fearless Nathan we see daily but he is warming up to all the new things and is having a blast. Joel told me that this week he finally made it onto the trampoline! Its the highlight of our week.

The other fun thing is that Nathan is becoming my little helper! He loves to carry the house keys from the car to the front door, he likes to load clothes into the dryer, and he loves helping me water the flowers in the backyard then the grass (even though we have a sprinkler system). New words are coming out of him weekly and he is signing words and also saying old words that we haven't heard in a while. He can also read letters. If we ask him what letter it is, he will tell us. But mostly he loves being quizzed on comprehension stuff!

How to entertain your toddler in AZ during the summer...

So as of today, I am officially a stay at home mom! I never thought this day would come. Over the past year, we worked hard so that I could stay home as much as possible. And God has provided because of our faithfulness to raising Nathan to become all that God has created him to be. I know we still have a long way to go, but I love being around my kid! I love that we could be outside at a park and he will randomly just run up to me and give a big hug before going off to play again. Or he comes home from and outing with Joel and he runs up to me and rubs my leg to tell me he loves me. If you haven't figured it out my son's love language is touch. Not sure if you really can know at the age of 1 but I can tell that's how Nathan expresses it and that's how he likes to receive it! And I cherish it daily!

So now that I am at home full time, I am thinking of trying to find ways to entertain my very active little boy in 100 degree weather. So I am looking at a ton of indoor, either free or very inexpensive ways, to do something with him everyday. If you are in AZ and thinking the same thing for this summer, let me tell you what I have found!

Starting next week, Nathan and I will be joining a parent/tot gymnastics class. I found a wonderful Christian place for $6 a class! Very nice. A friend of mine and her son are joining with me. I am so excited for this one.

If you can invest in an annual pass to your local zoo, you should. We pay $50 for the whole year for a family pass. And if you go before 11 am you can still be outside in reasonable temperatures. We go at least once a week in the morning for about an hour. About 30 min. after the zoo opens the animals are at their most active! Nathan loves it. And for members, during the summer, the zoo opens at 7 am. Its great to just walk around and enjoy even though some animals aren't awake and out yet.

Lastly, look online for a schedule of story time at your local library. Every Weds. Nathan and I go to the toddler story time. Totally free! the nice thing is that its right next to an awesome park, so Nathan and I go their first, walk over to the library, then come home and eat really fast or take a nap depending on how worn out he is!



The other two days, when Joel is not home, we have grocery shopping and our local neighborhood pool that has a toddler pool in it! We also have our backyard with a sand box and a lawn and swing. So as you can see there is plenty to do in AZ.

We will also be making special trips to the indoor inflatable play zone and free play time at the gymnastics studio that we are going to start attending. The best thing, is that theses are all offered in the morning. Perfectly timed right before lunch and nap time! And the added bonus, Nathan takes super long naps on days like these! I think I spend a total of $8 a week on all the activities. Its going to make the summer go by extra fast and for that I am grateful! I hate how hot it gets here. Let me know if you need more info. I would be glad to help.

The Long Awaited Update....

I have been waiting for months to write this blog because of a few things. One, I wanted to write about our kitchen remodel (still not done), I wanted to write about Nathan and our family, and I wanted to write about the big change coming to the Zehring household.

So the kitchen isn't done yet, so that is for another blog...

Moving on.

Nathan is huge! He is 19 months and growing like a weed! My mom just came to visit and she bought some clothes that she thought would fit in a couple of months but he had to wear them now! He is in the 75% for weight and the 90% for height. He is learning new words every week. Right now his favorite words are outside, bus, truck, and banana. He can't say hi or bye bye but we get these words daily. Such a boy!



I am good. I have been watching another little boy for the past few months two days a week and now that has finished up for the year too. Nathan and the other boy had so much fun together. They are only 3 months a part and really brought out the best in each other! I loved it. I was also subbing about once a week but now the school year is wrapping up and with that so is subbing.



Joel is finishing up his school year, tutoring on the side and still working at Target. This is actually the news that I have been waiting to tell you. There is no shock that all the school districts in the US are experiencing financial hardships. We are among those here in AZ. Because of this, Joel has yet to experience a year without a pay cut and also has yet to experience a pay raise! So after A LOT of prayer and guidance and seeing that our budget just can't be cut any more and working full time myself with Nathan in full time day care was just not an option for us, Joel decided to pursue management at Target.

This started back in March. Joel talked with his store manager to see if he was a possible candidate, and he jumped on it and recruited Joel right away. The timing seemed to be all God. His store manager told Joel that he was perfect for the job and with his experience he would probably get paid way more than starting salary. So we started the process. Joel shadowed another manager for the day, then submitted an application, and got a call for an interview within a couple of days. His store manager also put in a good word for Joel too. Joel went through a series of four interviews. All of them went really fast and we were sort of spoiled by the quick turn around.

However, the waiting began after that. Whether or not they would offer Joel the job. Finally a couple of weeks ago, Joel got a call from his store manager with an offer. It was the exact amount we needed to hear! And the added blessing, a possible pay increase in 6-9 months with an annual bonus in April of next year! Wow! Going from 4 years without a pay increase because of budgets to all of sudden 2 pay increases in one year of working! What a blessing. Oh and the most important blessing of all, Joel will have 2 days off a week! He hasn't had that consistently since we moved to Tucson! I get to stay home full time with Nathan (however, I will sub when Joel is home so we don't need to pay for childcare).

So that is our news for now. June 7th is Joel's first day as an Executive Team Leader at Target. However, we are still waiting to hear where he will be located. Hopefully close!

Thank you for those who knew and prayed for us during this time! Its been one of trusting God in how he will provide. Our motto through it all and continues to be it is, " we know God will provide, its all a matter of how."

Being a new mom and not knowing the signs

Its the future president. Doesn't it look like a picture a president would take. What a goofball!

I am a first time mom. Yes, I have been around babies from the time I was a baby. I was still in the single digits when my siblings started having babies. But no one, and I mean NO ONE, tells you about all the things toddlers who can't talk are trying to tell you.

Let's just say, mom's mess up some times. And boy howdy, did I today. I watch another little boy who is a little older than Nathan. And they are different developmentally as any two boys could be. Nathan was the walker and the runner and the eater and the ball kicker and the loud one! Logan, is the talker and the fine motor skills one and the calm one! They are teaching each other so many things and its fun to watch. With Logan, he tells me what he wants and shows it to me. Nathan can't talk so his actions and volume do most of the telling.

Well, today I messed up and I am so thankful that Nathan will not remember this day unless I tell him about it. All day today, Nathan was a fussbucket. He screamed and pulled on my shirt, he would cried and throw his water bottle. He wouldn't share or play. The frustration of not being able to communicate to me was awful for him. However, I know he understands a lot. And when these actions happen, time outs come with it! He got more time outs today than I can even remember. Probably the most he has ever gotten since we started doing time outs! That is how bad it was.

This is the start. The chewing on fingers and the drool. I knew the molars were coming!

This shows him about to fall asleep and how miserable he was today.

Finally, about an hour after nap time he seemed to be in a good mood. So I was able to play with him. He is liking it when we let him hang upside down on our laps. That's when I saw it. A MOLAR. We knew they were coming we thought it would be as easy as his first teeth. Drool everywhere and a lot of chewing on things but nothing prepared me for today. I saw the first molar and then I looked all around his mouth. Molars coming from every direction and getting ready to break through at any moment. I can't believe it took me all day to figure out that Nathan was trying to tell me how miserable he was. He was acting that way because he was in pain. Finally some tylenol, daddy time and good bath helped him fall right to sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day! Oh and lots of I'm sorries from me.

If you look closely you can see how swollen his gums are. This is right after snack time and he let me play with his hair.

Keeping in Touch

My missionary friend Kelly home for a couple of weeks in Dec. (we happen to be in the same place at the same time)!

One of the hardest things that has happen to me since moving out of California, resigning from my position as youth pastor and moving away from all family, has been keeping in touch. Motherhood and Wifehood has become my life. People say that the older you get the harder it is to make friends, well its true. Especially when you uproot your life right in the middle of making new friends. Since all of my close friends are either in another state or country or even continent it has been extremely hard to stay connected to them. Even with the wonders of email, cell phones, facebook, and blogs it is still extremely hard to feel like you are still apart of their lives.


Not having the face to face time with these dear people to me has been a true test to faithfully remember them in my prayers. I can post all the pictures and comments I want and email all I want but not seeing their faces daily or even weekly has given me a new sense of truly giving these people up to God. So every night Nathan, Joel and myself pray for all those people that are in our lives but not living near us. It has given us such a peace knowing that we can still keep in touch through our heavenly Father!