It's been awhile...

I know, I know... You thought I had abandoned my blog. Nope, I'm back and I fully intend to continue capturing the ordinary memories that our family makes every day.

The last few, actually many, months have been tough for me and blogging, well, I was just trying to get out of bed, be a wife and mom and get back to bed at 9 every night. Starting shortly after school let out in June, my MS reared its ugly little head and caused me a world of trouble and anxiety. To make a long story short, I had numbness in my feet and lower legs and was treated with the dreaded IV steroids twice. I had 8 days of steroid infusions, one trip to the ER and countless appointments with doctors. I spent a good portion of my summer just trying to keep moving forward. Here is where I will tell you that my family and friends are SAINTS. They distracted me, cared for my kids, and reassured me that everything would work out. If you know me, you know that patience is not a quality that I posess and the idea that I should slow down, wait patiently and allow my body time to heal - well that seemed foreign to me. But, with tons of support and loving kindness, I made it through those really tough months and things seem to have stabilized for now. I'm better, I'm grateful and I'm back. So just get ready for all the adorable videos and pictures that I am going to post of the three little Lesyks - three really BIG reasons to love my life.

Happy Mommy's Day

Loves of my life... you bring me unimaginable joy!

Earth Day

Isaac had to do a school project for Earth Day and he chose wildlife conservation as his topic. Over spring break we visited Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon and Isaac and I took lots of pictures of animals and then together we put together this video. It turned out awesome. I did the video work, but Isaac did all of the creative work. He chose the pictures, music, the information to present and he even took some of the pictures with a camera that he borrowed from Mimi and Grandpa.

Check out his video here.

Funny Face!

Love the funny faces I am getting lately when I ask Jackson to look at the camera!

School Fun.

Our elementary school holds a fair every spring and we had a great time this year!

A picture of daddy's girl sinking her first putt!

Donut eating contest!

A boy and his dog.

Wine tasting.

We went wine tasting a couple of weeks ago with great friends. We visited Chehalem (awesome best white of the day, Inox Chardonnay), Argyle (kind of a disappointment), Vista Hills (amazing wine and spectacular view) and Dobbes (my fave pinot of the day - Skippers something). We had dinner at Farm to Fork and then stopped at The Allison before heading home. So cool to have Oregon's wine country just a few miles down the road!

Jackson has moves!

Check out the link below to see Jackson's dance moves...

Jackson dance.

Happy Day!

Happy birthday to Isaac! Our oldest turned 9 last week and I have seen on many other blogs where people are writing a birthday letter each year to their kids... so here goes. I am 9 years behind, but better late than never. :) At the end is a link to the birthday video that I created for his party - check it out.

1

9

Dear Isaac,

Happy birthday to our first son. You were the first, the baby that made me a mom, the baby that changed us from a couple to a family, the baby that turned our world upside down and then made us realize that it was upside down before and now was exactly as it was supposed to be. I have enjoyed the last 9 years with you so much, and I am so looking forward to the next 100 years with you ...well maybe not 100 but you get the idea! You are a fantastic kid. You are kind and loving and you have a heart so big, your small body cannot contain it. It spills out of you in acts of kindness and in your contagious smile and your silly sense of humor. Sometimes you take life a little too seriously, but you always seem to return to a place of contentment and joy. I love your observations and questions and I especially love that you are already asking me questions that I have to google to answer. Your intelligence and inquisitiveness is balanced perfectly with your faith that God is taking care of you and everything around you. You love to do a lot of very different things like flag football, reading, golf, chess, video games and baseball. You are a great big brother to Reiley and Jackson. You and Jackson have a really special bond and, as a mom, I love to see how sweet and comforting you are to him and how you love to play chase and wrestle with him too! You probably don't notice, but when you get into the car after school, Jackson lights up. He is so excited to see you! Really, what I am trying to say is I am amazed by you and I love you so much that it really isn't possible to describe it. Your 9th year was fantastic and I bet the next one is even better! Here is a link to the birthday video that I make for you each year, I hope you like it.

Love,

Mom

To be fair...

It was brought to my attention that in all the busy-ness of last summer, I forgot to put Reiley's and Jackson's birthday videos on my blog..... so here they are!

Reiley's 6th birthday

and

Jackson's 1st birthday

Park

No time for a long post tonight, but we went to the park today and I took some pics. It was Jackson's first time to run and play at the park. After being sick all week, Reiley was a blur running around the park, so there are no pictures of her.

Fun on the swing!

My handsome husband...

Isaac was so sweet playing with his little brother.

Check out those baby blues!

Reiley's surgery.

Reiley (and Sarah) after surgery. This is after a good dose of pain medication and three popsicles.

So, Reiley had surgery last Tuesday. A few months ago we found that she had a hernia and when we saw the doctor, they recommended that we see a surgeon and have it repaired. Apparently she was born with a weakness in her abdominal muscles which eventually resulted in this rather large hernia on her right side and a smaller one on her left side.

We prepared for the surgery by purchasing new purple slippers, a Kit Kat bar and a hospital gown for Sarah, Reiley's American Girl. We also talked endlessly about what would happen at the hospital and during the surgery. We thought that all the questions that we were answering were going to make the actual day of the surgery easier (as she would know what to expect). Reiley was extremely brave... right up until we arrived in our hospital room and then she totally freaked out. I could sugar coat it, but in the interest of preserving accurate memories in this blog, I will say that she had an epic fit. Mind you, it was totally justified, she was afraid - terrified really. She's a feisty little thing when she is stressed and refused to even put on the "ugly" hospital jammies, let alone participate in any of the pre-op routine. She just stood in the corner of the hospital room, shredding tissues into a little pile and yelling, "I want to go home NOW. Get the car. I am leaving...." for about 20 minutes. We finally creatively persuaded her to drink the medicine that would help her relax (actually after failing miserably to convince her, we finally told her there would be a shot if she didn't) . It worked FAST and Alex and I were really relieved. It is painful to see your child so afraid and we were totally helpless to make it better. After about 5 minutes, she got a goofy look on her face, quit screaming at everybody and started cooperating. She was sweet and relaxed and the rest of the morning was much more manageable. (Note to self, if we ever have to do this again, get the medicine for the car.) The surgery went well and took only about an hour - but it was the LONGEST hour of my life to date. It's no fun to feel so completely helpless. Our only comfort was that Jesus accompanied our sweet girl right into that operating room and was with those surgeons as they did their work. He is faithful indeed and we were so happy when they wheeled her out of recovery. She woke up a little sad but was cheered quickly when they started bringing her popsicles as fast as she could eat them. We were discharged quickly, maybe a little too quickly, and brought our sweet girl home. We had a little trouble getting on top of the pain, but once the codeine kicked in, she was comfortable and spent the next 4 days on the couch watching every episode of Hannah Montana ever made, drinking grape gatorade and eating mac and cheese and chocolate. Recovery at Saint Lesyk Hospital is pretty cushy!

Today as I sit here, she is back to her happy self and at school with all her friends. I think this experience will likely be mostly forgotten by Reiley, but never forgotten by this mama. Everyday life is so extremely busy these days, but this experience caused me to slow down and be grateful for the health of my children, the amazing talent of the doctors and nurses that care for children when they need medical attention, my husband who is generally amazing and works hard to provide health insurance for us, all of our family and friends that supported us, and most of all for God who wisely and lovingly shepherds us through life.

Goodbye, kitty.

After 16 years, we said goodbye to our sweet kitty Tucker. Alex and I purchased him together when we were dating in college and he has been our constant companion ever since. He saw 2 apartments, 3 homes, 1 other cat, 2 dogs and 3 kids. He cost $19.99 and came with a free bag of food. We always joke that he was the best 20 bucks we ever spent.

The Natty

So, I am done wiping Alex's tears and finally have a few minutes to reflect on "The Natty." We had an amazing trip to Arizona to watch our beloved Ducks play for the National Championship. Needless to say, they didn't win...but the Ducks played a good game and we had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I mean a most-amazing, scream-until-you-have-no-voice, party-like-you're-25 experience. Check out the pictures. There are a lot of them, sorry. :)

Me and the Duck's #1 Fan

Pep Rally

Here is a pic of the crowd... I heard there were more than 30,000 fans at the pep rally.

Us girls watched the pep rally from this parking garage. We had a great view!

This is what happens when Alex is in charge of the camera...who is that guy in the middle?

Dinner out after the pep rally with friends (Takeuchis, Hassmanns, Lesyks and Reeds.) Hass was standing on the bar leading Duck cheers.

Chef Jeff setting up the tailgate party.

Alex with the Kirks.

Our group of die-hard Duck fans. Check out our t-shirts. Hass made them for us, they said "It's Natty Time" on the front and "In Chip We Trust" on the back.

Good times.

Hassmanns, Lesyks and Takeuchis

Stacy, me and Mac.

Reeds and Lesyks

Gladheims and Lesyks

Our end zone.

Are we really here?

Win The Day

O

Coin toss

Game on.

More game.

We sat in the 4th level, but check out the new zoom lens!

Sweet Benjamin

A little over a week ago, my new nephew Benjamin was born! I was lucky enough to be invited to his birth and it was one of the most magical moments... My sis and her awesome husband Aaron invited me to the birth of all four of their precious babies and with the exception of one (no sisters allowed at the c-section) I was there to witness their first breath, their first cry and all the joy and tears that go along with those! I am trying, but can't seem to put into words how profound the experience was and how blessed I am to have this sister and her family and all the love and joy that my niece and nephews bring. Here are a couple of pics that my sister took. You can see more if you check out her blog at www.onedayatatime5.blogspot.com.

The whole family meeting Benjamin for the first time.

Sweet Benjamin

My new camera..

Sometime this fall, I mentioned that I needed a hobby (other than my children :) ), so as an early Christmas present, Alex bought me a new DSLR camera. I am now shooting with a Nikon 3100 and I love it. The way it handles light is amazing, and the guide function actually teaches you how to set up your camera to shoot in different situations. He also gave me Photoshop Elements 9.0 to edit my photos. I have A LOT to learn, but I am having fun with it all and one of my resolutions for 2011 is to attend some classes! Plus, I am lucky to have my sister who is an excellent amateur photographer and has a great understanding of photoshop. It is like having my own personal photography tutor. Anyway, here are a couple of photos that I took and then edited in PSE...

Okay, so this photo was not good, the light was dim and cold and her hands were blurry... I cropped it and ran an action to "antique" the picture and make it appear old and grainy... Still not a great picture, but now it looks like an old photo and I think it is charming.

Here is a shot taken with my new camera and the new lens that my mom and dad-in-law gave me for Christmas. Lizzy and Jackson are adorable and I love the Christmas lights in the background.

So in this pic, I warmed it up a little, edited out some food on his face, and ran a 70's action in PSE. He is so yummy...

Christmas #3

This Christmas, the Stewarts couldn't come to Portland to celebrate because they are eagerly awaiting the birth of baby #4, so we packed up Christmas and went to them! On the morning of the 26th we hopped in the car and went to Aunti Pup's for Christmas #3. Our kids were soooooo excited to see their cousins and they had a great time.

Here is a pic of the cousins minus Jackson (he was napping)

Here is another one that I snapped... it is hard to get all these kids happy and looking at the camera at the same time.

The Stewarts gave Reiley a wheelchair for her American Girl...she has been wanting one forever.

A picture of my sweet niece Natalie escaping some of the chaos and looking at a book.