Still alive!

Wow, it has been a month since my last post. Man, I have been so bad about blogging between being on bedrest and now having a 4 month old. Time really does fly!!!

I realized during the last time I posted, that Josiah has turned 3 months and will be 4 months in 4 days and I never did the 3 month pictures or post. I think I will just combine 3/4 months next week. He is getting so big, so fast. I can't believe it. He is sleeping through the night continuously now, "talking" so much, on a great schedule, grabs at his toys and plays with those...I just can't believe how fast it goes! Again, time really does fly :)

On February 7, I started working part time in the evenings at Bank of the West. For a little over a month, my schedule is 6-11:30pm for training. That gets pretty late, but it isn't bad. It helps that Josiah is sleeping through the night, otherwise that would get really hard. In a couple weeks, my real schedule of 5-10pm will start and that will be a lot better. So far, I really enjoy the company and the people that work there. I like what I am learning, but I can't really say if I like the job or not, because we haven't been on the phones yet. With that being said, I took a Customer Service job for the contact center. Seems very interesting, but just learning all the systems is what scares me. I can do it though.

Not really much to share over the last month. I'm hoping warmer weather will get here and STAY here, so that we can start going outside to play. We are all getting a little stir crazy in this house. I am not going to complain though, I have greatly appreciated being home with the kids. I am trully blessed!!!

Time to go get Isaiah up from naptime. He just woke up and is currently yelling, "Mommy, come get me OUT!"

Kids are so fun! :)



Mommy/Daughter Scrapbooking Time

Julia and I have had a lot of fun together lately with our "scrapbooking." Julia will sit with me for hours while I do a page and she does her own little pages. I will give her some of the things I made on the Cricut and don't end up using, some buttons, ribbons, stickets, etc. I've finally decided, I need to get her some pictures and she can stick those on there as well.

I think when we get some extra money next month, I am going to get her a book that she can put all her projects in. She just absolutely loves crafting with me.

This was the very first "page" that she did with me. Since we've been doing more, the pages have also "grown."

Here is the back of page shown above! And for those of you with sick minds (this actually made me sad that somebody pointed this out, just because she's 4 and I just found the picture so sweet, but I forgive you, lol!!!) the little things connected to the heads are the little people's bodies....NO they are not all boys!

As I mentioned before, the simple pages above have "grown," into more creative pages

Above, she even used parts of sicker packages! :)

Below-One night, Julia felt like "making a page," as she calls it and I really wasn't in the mood. So I decided I would make her some things on the cricut machine. I let her pick what "monster" she wanted, "critter," and paperdoll. She chose the colors and all. The monster she chose from "Mini Monsters," is called Squirmy. From the "Create a Critter," cartridge she chose a simple butterfly and from "Paper Doll Dress Up," she chose a ballerina of course! :)

The little explaination point looking things, those are just scraps from another dicut that she decided to place like that. She was VERY proud of herself!!!

I have ENJOYED every single minute of craft time with Julia. It has been so fun. Watching her get so excited about the little things I decide to give her makes me so happy and makes it all worth it.

Here are just a couple pages I have done recently that I think are pretty cute.

She has been asking me all day to "make a page," so I am going to finish up the chores here quick, get dinner ready for when the hubby gets home and then after the grandparents leave tonight, Julia and I will have some more Mommy and Daughter Scrapbooking Time!!

I LOVE BEING A MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!

A Fun Blog and a Fun Giveaway!

Check out this blog! It is so cute and she has a fun little giveaway! I love giveaways! :)

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http://mavyboo09.blogspot.com/



I absolutely love my blog!!! I want to reach 100 followers, 150, 200, 300 would be great.. I am doing a giveaway a very nice Lia Sophia Bracelet, zebra of course, retails for 58.00.. so help me out girls.


Repost my Giveaway-20 entries

Add an entry about my blog-15 entries

My first 10 new followers will qualify for 10 entries :)

Spread the word.. here is a link as to what the bracelet looks like. (you will have to copy and paste to your browser!! :)

http://www.liasophia.us/sites/corporate/productcatalog?page=productdetail&sku=101208901&showCrumbs=true

Fun in the Sun....eh, I mean SNOW!!!!

Today we had the first big snow storm of the season! I have to say, I am VERY greatful it held off this long, January 10 and we're just getting a lot of snow...that seems unheard of anymore! Last year, we probably had 3 big snow storms by now! :)

Being home during the day, I was able to take the kiddos out so they could play for a bit in the snow. I was so excited. Last year at this time, I would have been trying to truck myself to work, freaking out while driving in the snow and probably saying some not nice things about having to "drive in this crap."

Grandpa Mike was shoveling our drive-way and porch when Julia asked if she could go outside and play. At first, I said no because I didn't think we had a snow suit for her. I quickly remembered we found this one that she is wearing at I believe TJ Max or Marshalls for $10-$14!! I was really happy to be able to pull it out of the closet and get her dressed!!! Thank God for good deals last spring!!!

Julia enjoyed eating the snow....A LOT!!! I think I could have fed her dinner of snow and she would have been happy!

See how happy she was after eating a lot of snow?! I really do love that smile!

She had a TON of fun in the snow!!

It was now time to let Isaiah come out! Again, I didn't think we had any snow gear for him, but no fears, I FOUND SOME!!! To be honest, I'm not sure where this snow outfit came from. I'm thinking my sister Michelle brought it for him one year. It was 18 months, but my little guy fit into it, minus the head! :) Ohh poor Isaiah! He doesn't have a pair of boots, so again, poor Isaiah had to wear Sissy's old snow boots, yup PINK! But, I pulled the pants over them and you could only see the black part on his foot! I think he looks so cute all bundled up!

Isaiah too, liked eating the snow!!! I think I will start making dinners of chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, pizza, and snow...those are the meals he will mostly eat :)

He decided he wanted to throw his snow balls at Mommy!! Thankfully he isn't very strong and I didn't get hit!!!

He thought he was OH SO FUNNY!!!

Isaiah and Sissy had SUCH a fun time playing together in the snow! Look at that smile!!!

BUT THEN...OH NO...Isaiah fell in the snow! 1) Isaiah HATES his hands dirty! 2) Isaiah HATES the cold!

It was time to go in the house! Poor little guy was SOOOO upset and COLD!

I think Julia could have stayed out all day if we would have let her. She loved it out there!!!

Oh but we can't forget the little guy....Josiah!

Here are his thoughts on the snow.....

Ahhh....Just like his Mommy!!!

We HATE the snow! :)

Random Thoughts

This blog post is just going to be about my random thoughts or about random things that happened this past week!

• We all go through things that we may not understand why God would allow us to, but we have to trust in him. There were a few situations this week, that didn't directly happen to me, but to people I am close to or my community, that I caught myself asking God, "Why??" I know He has a reason for everything, but sometimes it is hard to remember that and to see the bright side of things. I will just do my part and trust and PRAY! YOU are in my prayers!

• On January 5, 2011 there was a shooting at one of our local high schools. A student who was suspended from school earlier in the day for 19 days for driving his car on the football field, returned to the school around lunch time, walked in the office and fired shots at the vice principal who had suspended him. The principal of the school happened to run in once he heard the gunshots and he too was shot. The shooter ended up killing himself in his car at his apartment complex later that day. Unfortunetly, the vice principal passed away later that evening, the day before her 59th birthday. It is soooo sad that schools today have to go through these things, practice lockdowns throughout the year, and fear for their safety in place that should feel very safe. I know we are not supposed to live in fear, but this makes me so nervous to send my kids to school. Again, I will have to trust in the Lord and pray that he protects my children.

• We had to take Nick's car to the shop this last week! UGH!!! We FINALLY get some money put away in savings and what happens?! His car wont start!!! I guess we just have to be thankful we had the money for one, it didn't go over what we had put away, and it wasn't something major where we needed a new car. Thank You Lord for that!! 

• We ended up having to take Isaiah to the ER last weekend with 105.4 temp!!! It was so sad to just see my little guy like that. He just wanted to cuddle. He has been fighting something this week since. The fever has passed, but he has a runny nose, goopy eyes, and just still so whiney. I hope next week he feels better. I hate when my kiddos are sick.
  
  
• 
  Well ended up switching Josiah from nursing to formula due to tummy problems. The doctor labeled him MSPI, so now we have to be on special formula. We currently use Ela-Care, but I'm wondering lately if we need to switch to Neocate. He just doesn't seem as happy as the other ones did when they were on Ela-Care. He will have a REALLY good day, but the next couple days it is like it gets worse and worse, has a BAD day, then REALLY good day after that and the cycle continues. I really think it's about time we tried something new. I love my kiddos to death, but man are they expensive. Next time around, I think along with buying a pack of diapers while I'm pregnant, I'm going to stock up on formula :).

GOOD NEWS NOW!!!!!

I really do have some amazing friends! I am SOOO thankful for each and every one of them. This past week my good friend Rachel decided she was going to cook enough meals for her family to last the month. While doing so, she made me a bunch of meals!!! She sent home with me, probably 2 weeks worth of food! THANK YOU RACHEL!!!!! I really do appreciate it a ton!!!!!

Well heres to hopefully having a good weekend without any bad news!!!

Josiah David is 2 Months Old!!

At Two Months Old:

Height-23.5in 72.06 Percentile

Weight-12 lbs 15.6 oz 79.45 Percentile

Head-40.5cm 63.49 Percentile

Josiah received 4 vaccinations at his 2 months appointment:

3 shots and 1 liquid

He did NOT like those shots and either did Mommy! :(

At One Month Old:

Sleep-Josiah normally sleeps from 9:30-3:45 or from 10-4. He is up for a quick bottle and back to sleep until about 8:30 or 9am.

Feeding-Unfortunately, we had to quit nursing and move to EleCare formula, which is what Julia and Isaiah were both on. When Josiah hit about 4 weeks until 6 weeks when we switched him, it seemed like each night got worse and worse with the crying, arching of the back because he was in so much pain, not going #2, etc. We ended up in the ER one night because it was so bad and it just wouldn't eat. Poor little man was FULL of gas they said. That night, we decided we better make the switch to formula. Since switching him, it has been like night and day. He does SO much better on the formula.

In addition to switching to the very expensive formula, Josiah was also put on medicine for acid reflux. Not only was the milk bothering his little tummy, he was also in a lot of pain from the acid.

Personality-Since switching him to formula and giving him meds for his acid reflux, Josiah has been SOO happy! He smiles and coo's a lot! We will go back and forth "talking" to each other. I love it!!! He now will just sit in his swing (on or off) and just watch the world around him. He smiles and enjoys when his siblings talk to him. He also loves to just lay on the couch and floor and look around. He is a very content little guy.

Between one month and two months Josiah experianced his 1st Christmas!!!

Has REALLY started to smile a lot and make cute faces!

These past 2 months have been months of a lot of change. I finally feel that we are settling down and we have all adjusted to our big family. I am less stressed, less exhausted, the kids are less crabby, Josiah is feeling better...all around, just a lot of positive changes. With me being less stressed and tired, I now have more patience with the kids and they have a lot more patience with  me when it comes to having to wait for something while I take care of Josiah. We are doing pretty well on a routine, but hope to get on a better one here VERY shortly! I can't believe how much our life has changed, but it has been GOOD changes. I can't wait to see where the next months take us!!! Josiah, I am SO blessed to call you my son and I am so glad you have joined our family and made these past 2 months even brighter!!!

I love you!

Happy New Year!!!

It is officially 2011!

Another year has come and gone...AND VERY QUICKLY if you ask me!!!

2010 was a year of many ups and downs for us Tostensons!!!  Some of the downs consisted of Nick not working from January until July, our old van breaking down and being way too much to fix, BILLS BILLS BILLS, losing some friends/family, and almost losing a surprise pregnancy due to some issues with my placenta! But with the downs, comes some ups!!!! Nick started working in July and has been employed since (even through other lay offs,) we got a new van, bills are getting back on track, our relationship has grown tremendously, Nick was baptized at church, our relationship with the Lord has grown soooo much, we have also really gotten closer to our true friends, and the best up was welcoming Josiah David into our lives.

As much as I did not like 2010 due to a lot of stressors, I would go through it all over again. I feel like 2010 was full of a lot of lessons to be learned and really taught me to Trust in the Lord!!! I know that God will get us through anything and provide for us as long as we trust in him and we do all that we can on our part. He is such an amazing Father who really took care of us, his children. Thank you Lord for that!!!

When it comes to trust in the Lord, we made a very big decision in the last month of 2010, one that takes a lot of trusting in the Lord....I am now a stay at home mom. I will probably have to work some part time hours, but after losing child care due to school responsibilities, we realized we just could not justify me working full time to only pay for 3 children in child care, plus preschool for Julia. It would be financially smarter for me to stay home with them and work part time. We are going to try our hardest to find ways to cut expenses in order for me to only work very little or not at all.

I am excited to see where 2011 leads us! We are going to be doing things a lot differently this year from being better at budgeting, using coupons, price matching, making as much as we can home-made (laundry soap, dish washer soap, etc,) more devotional time with the Lord, better at attending church on a weekly basis, more family time and less tv time, better at organizing our house and our lives at a whole. I can't wait to start our new journey!!!

One thing I can't wait to start and hope to keep up on so much better than I have the past few years is SCRAPBOOKING!!! I got a cricut for my birthday and can't wait to start using it!!!



There are so many cool things you can do with this little machine and I am sooooo thrilled to start being more crafty with it. I will be toting it with me to my good friend Rachel's house to her crafting cave :) (You better be ready for me Rach!)

Here are just a few things you can do with it!!!

Well, one last thing I hope to be better about is this blogging business. I really slacked during pregnancy! Now that Josiah is here, on a better routine and I have more time to sit and do things, I hope to be better about it again!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!!!!

2011