Take a look at how far she's come in only 6 short months!!
Here's some other pictures that we had made at Target today.
Could these get any cuter!!!!
**Newborn picture was taken by Caroline Jensen: http://www.carolinejphotography.com/
Quote
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
You've Come A Long Way, Baby E!!
Remember this newborn picture of Elizabeth?
Take a look at how far she's come in only 6 short months!!
Here's some other pictures that we had made at Target today.
Could these get any cuter!!!!
**Newborn picture was taken by Caroline Jensen: http://www.carolinejphotography.com/
Take a look at how far she's come in only 6 short months!!
Here's some other pictures that we had made at Target today.
Could these get any cuter!!!!
**Newborn picture was taken by Caroline Jensen: http://www.carolinejphotography.com/
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
What's Worse
Throwing up with strep throat
OR
throwing up with a broken rib ?
Could somebody just shoot me now and put me out of my misery!!
OR
throwing up with a broken rib ?
Could somebody just shoot me now and put me out of my misery!!
5 Months and 6 Months
OH, BROTHER!! **That's for you, Bridge!!** Keeping up with this blog has been so challenging lately. I'm too busy enjoying life! God has been doing great things, and I really, really am enjoying life. But, I'm so very, very busy!
Part of what keeps me SOOOOOOOOOO busy is this very, very active 6 month old!!!
I'm planning to make Elizabeth a first year book from my monthly blog reports, so I'm going to do my best to remember all that has happened since my last Elizabeth update.
So here goes:
Sweet, Fun-Loving Elizabeth, this is what you've been up to...
Your 5 month birthday fell on Valentine's Day. It was a jammed pack day!! Here's a picture of you on that day. It was your first time in a baby swing, and you LOVED it!!
Right about the time that you turned 5 months old, you began rolling in both directions with ease. In the past month, you've perfected this and now you roll with purpose and intention!! Just this week, you left the blanket I had you on in the floor and rolled all the way from the sofa to the rocking chair to get to me! TOO CUTE!!
Also around 5 months you began really playing with your toys. You love bright colored toys that crinkle, squeak, or rattle. You also LOVE toys that light up or play music! You get so excited and kick and smile when you we offer you a toy. You also LOVE paper! You just go wild trying to get your little hands on some paper. If you ever succeed, you instantly put it in your mouth and turn it into a slobbery, wet mess! As much as you enjoy these fun things, there's something you enjoy more...you LOVE to be talked to and played with. Nothing makes you smile or laugh bigger than a silly face from either me, Daddy, Luke, Grace, Mary Ruth, or Bella Peace. You are extremely social and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE for people to notice you!
You laugh out loud all the time now.
Fortunately, you've remained very healthy in spite of the fact that the rest of us have passed viruses and other crud around.
You really bonded with grandmother recently when just me and you traveled to see her and to attend a baby shower.
You don't travel as easy as your siblings did as babies. You prefer to be at home and are always the happiest when we are home and follow a structured routine. Sunday's are always hard days for you. We are away from home almost all day for church activities, and you don't do as well on those kind of days.
I haven't mentioned this in your earlier monthly reports, but until very recently, you always put up a fuss over getting buckled into your car seat. I think that you have started to accept this, and you are not fussing about it as much or as often.
As of just this week, you are starting to need size 3 diapers. We plan to finish our the size 2's that we have and move up to the next size. You have still been wearing 3-6 months clothes, but I'm planning up unpack your 6-9 month stuff this weekend. You are still little bitty, but you are long and skinny so you need to move up to the next size for the length. It works out really good though, because the weather is really starting to warm up and you need a different season of clothing also! I can't wait you dress you up in cute spring/summer dresses! I also can't wait to see your bare feet all the time!!
Speaking of bare feet, you discovered these a couple of days before turning 5 months old. You became obsessed with sucking your toes (especially your big toe) which made for quite an adventure when we changed your diaper or dressed you.
The biggest changes for you recently have been with your sleeping and eating routines. I reported in your 4 month update that you were not sleeping very well. That got a lot worse before it got better. By 5 months you were waking up all the through the night. Since you share a room with siblings, Daddy and I would just let you come to bed with us so we would not disturb anyone. We've always been pretty against this in the past, but because of the share room we felt like we didn't have a lot of options. Well apparently, you got spoiled to this really quick! It went from you waking up and coming to our room early in the morning to you waking up 5 minutes after we laid you down. It got to where you were not sleeping well unless someone was sleeping with you, and you woke up to nurse all night long. I knew that we had to deal with this and nip it quick!! So I waged war around 5 months and after 4 almost completely sleepless nights that included you crying and screaming practically all night long, the victory was mine!! OH, BOY it was a hard few days!! I should add that I decided to pick this battle while visiting one of my BFF in Kentucky. I had my reasons for choosing to make war in on foreign soil, but I will save that for my Kentucky post! I do believe that we created a lot of the sleep problems by letting you sleep with us, but I also believe there was more to the story. That brings me to the changes in your feeding routines...
So the 5 month mark was just a big turning point for you. You were becoming way more active, more interactive, more social, meeting new milestones all the time, but you were not sleeping well during the day or night, and you were also fussy more often. I soon realized that it was probably time to go ahead and start you on solids. You were showing all the readiness signs. SO, we made you a very, very happy girl by adding single grain rice cereal to your diet on February 25 just a couple days shy of 5 1/2 months old. You LOVE it!! You were so eager and excited!! You knew exactly what to do and had no trouble at all learning to take the food from a spoon, move it to the back of your mouth, and swallow it down. We quickly advanced adding green beans, sweet peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, and bananas to your menu. You now join us in 3 meals a day. I still nurse you before, after, and in between all these meals. You've also had a celery stick to gnaw on for fun and as a teether, and just yesterday you enjoyed your first strawberries served in a fresh food feeder. YUMMY!!! You are a very, very good eater!!
Here you are enjoying your very first bowl of cereal!
And here you are with your celery
I really believe that all the sleeping problems that we were having both during the day and the night were in part due to the fact that you were hungry and were needing something with a little more substance. My milk supply has always been a very delicate balance, and I believe we had reached a point where you were needing something more. So between breaking you of your habit of sleeping with us and getting your belly full, you are now sleeping beautifully once again! We now put you to bed at around 8:00 PM and you wake around 7:00 AM. You occasionally wake up once in the middle of the night, but I get up, nurse you in your room, and put you right back down.
OH, that's another change that I'm LOVING!! We've re-arranged furniture to move our rocker back into your shared room. It's so peaceful, calm, beautiful thing to be able to nurse you in your room rather than in the living room where all the action is always happening. I LOVE nursing you in peace and quiet. I feel like I get to appreciate my time with you. It's always a reflective time. A prayerful time. You've not had your own nursery, but I really enjoyed "borrowing" Jonas' nursery when we where in Kentucky and I was inspired to at least move the rocking chair back into your room where it should be.
Another first this past month was the introduction of your first bottle. I offered you your first bottle on one of those desperate sleepless nights when you and I were battling over whether or not you would sleep at night. You would have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with it. Back home several days later, you were still seeming so hungry after I nursed you so we offered you a bottle a couple more times. You were still not interested. Finally one night, I left you with Daddy for a couple of hours at night. I told him that I expected to be back in time for your final nursing, but it he needed to offer you a bottle that he could go ahead and give it a try. That night, you took your first bottle. Daddy was so pleased!! He LOVED getting to rock you and watch you fall asleep in his arms while drinking your bottle. You only drank about 2 ounces, but you seemed to enjoy it and then drifted off to sleep. Since then we've given you a couple other bottles at bedtime when it seemed like maybe you could still be hungry. I was really afraid that maybe nursing was coming to an end. I don't feel that way now, but I guess we are officially supplementing at least on occasion. I don't mind though, because it gives us a lot of options. And, I'm still getting to nurse you all day, every day which is such an honor and privilege!!
The final first for this post is that you apparently unintentionally said, "MaMa" twice on March 5th. You did it twice very loudly while "talking" to me and grandmother after your bath, but you've not done it since. Daddy doesn't believe that you ever did it, but I know you did! And I've got a witness!!
OH one other thing that I almost forgot, Lizzy, you hair has just now finally started to lay down every where but right on the top back. Your hair was still pretty crazy in these pictures taken March 28th. So adorable!!
Elizabeth, you are such a joy, such a delight!!! You are at such a fun age. You really are like our little sunshine, lighting up all of our days! Your brother and sisters are often arguing over who should hold or play with you next! You are SO loved!! We feel so blessed to have you in our family!!
I'll end with a couple other favorite pictures from the past couple of months.
My attempt at a 6 month picture. All you wanted to do was eat the paper!! Finally I called in one of my helpers for back-up!!
Part of what keeps me SOOOOOOOOOO busy is this very, very active 6 month old!!!
I'm planning to make Elizabeth a first year book from my monthly blog reports, so I'm going to do my best to remember all that has happened since my last Elizabeth update.
So here goes:
Sweet, Fun-Loving Elizabeth, this is what you've been up to...
Your 5 month birthday fell on Valentine's Day. It was a jammed pack day!! Here's a picture of you on that day. It was your first time in a baby swing, and you LOVED it!!
Right about the time that you turned 5 months old, you began rolling in both directions with ease. In the past month, you've perfected this and now you roll with purpose and intention!! Just this week, you left the blanket I had you on in the floor and rolled all the way from the sofa to the rocking chair to get to me! TOO CUTE!!
Also around 5 months you began really playing with your toys. You love bright colored toys that crinkle, squeak, or rattle. You also LOVE toys that light up or play music! You get so excited and kick and smile when you we offer you a toy. You also LOVE paper! You just go wild trying to get your little hands on some paper. If you ever succeed, you instantly put it in your mouth and turn it into a slobbery, wet mess! As much as you enjoy these fun things, there's something you enjoy more...you LOVE to be talked to and played with. Nothing makes you smile or laugh bigger than a silly face from either me, Daddy, Luke, Grace, Mary Ruth, or Bella Peace. You are extremely social and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE for people to notice you!
You laugh out loud all the time now.
Fortunately, you've remained very healthy in spite of the fact that the rest of us have passed viruses and other crud around.
You really bonded with grandmother recently when just me and you traveled to see her and to attend a baby shower.
You don't travel as easy as your siblings did as babies. You prefer to be at home and are always the happiest when we are home and follow a structured routine. Sunday's are always hard days for you. We are away from home almost all day for church activities, and you don't do as well on those kind of days.
I haven't mentioned this in your earlier monthly reports, but until very recently, you always put up a fuss over getting buckled into your car seat. I think that you have started to accept this, and you are not fussing about it as much or as often.
As of just this week, you are starting to need size 3 diapers. We plan to finish our the size 2's that we have and move up to the next size. You have still been wearing 3-6 months clothes, but I'm planning up unpack your 6-9 month stuff this weekend. You are still little bitty, but you are long and skinny so you need to move up to the next size for the length. It works out really good though, because the weather is really starting to warm up and you need a different season of clothing also! I can't wait you dress you up in cute spring/summer dresses! I also can't wait to see your bare feet all the time!!
Speaking of bare feet, you discovered these a couple of days before turning 5 months old. You became obsessed with sucking your toes (especially your big toe) which made for quite an adventure when we changed your diaper or dressed you.
The biggest changes for you recently have been with your sleeping and eating routines. I reported in your 4 month update that you were not sleeping very well. That got a lot worse before it got better. By 5 months you were waking up all the through the night. Since you share a room with siblings, Daddy and I would just let you come to bed with us so we would not disturb anyone. We've always been pretty against this in the past, but because of the share room we felt like we didn't have a lot of options. Well apparently, you got spoiled to this really quick! It went from you waking up and coming to our room early in the morning to you waking up 5 minutes after we laid you down. It got to where you were not sleeping well unless someone was sleeping with you, and you woke up to nurse all night long. I knew that we had to deal with this and nip it quick!! So I waged war around 5 months and after 4 almost completely sleepless nights that included you crying and screaming practically all night long, the victory was mine!! OH, BOY it was a hard few days!! I should add that I decided to pick this battle while visiting one of my BFF in Kentucky. I had my reasons for choosing to make war in on foreign soil, but I will save that for my Kentucky post! I do believe that we created a lot of the sleep problems by letting you sleep with us, but I also believe there was more to the story. That brings me to the changes in your feeding routines...
So the 5 month mark was just a big turning point for you. You were becoming way more active, more interactive, more social, meeting new milestones all the time, but you were not sleeping well during the day or night, and you were also fussy more often. I soon realized that it was probably time to go ahead and start you on solids. You were showing all the readiness signs. SO, we made you a very, very happy girl by adding single grain rice cereal to your diet on February 25 just a couple days shy of 5 1/2 months old. You LOVE it!! You were so eager and excited!! You knew exactly what to do and had no trouble at all learning to take the food from a spoon, move it to the back of your mouth, and swallow it down. We quickly advanced adding green beans, sweet peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, and bananas to your menu. You now join us in 3 meals a day. I still nurse you before, after, and in between all these meals. You've also had a celery stick to gnaw on for fun and as a teether, and just yesterday you enjoyed your first strawberries served in a fresh food feeder. YUMMY!!! You are a very, very good eater!!
Here you are enjoying your very first bowl of cereal!
And here you are with your celery
I really believe that all the sleeping problems that we were having both during the day and the night were in part due to the fact that you were hungry and were needing something with a little more substance. My milk supply has always been a very delicate balance, and I believe we had reached a point where you were needing something more. So between breaking you of your habit of sleeping with us and getting your belly full, you are now sleeping beautifully once again! We now put you to bed at around 8:00 PM and you wake around 7:00 AM. You occasionally wake up once in the middle of the night, but I get up, nurse you in your room, and put you right back down.
OH, that's another change that I'm LOVING!! We've re-arranged furniture to move our rocker back into your shared room. It's so peaceful, calm, beautiful thing to be able to nurse you in your room rather than in the living room where all the action is always happening. I LOVE nursing you in peace and quiet. I feel like I get to appreciate my time with you. It's always a reflective time. A prayerful time. You've not had your own nursery, but I really enjoyed "borrowing" Jonas' nursery when we where in Kentucky and I was inspired to at least move the rocking chair back into your room where it should be.
Another first this past month was the introduction of your first bottle. I offered you your first bottle on one of those desperate sleepless nights when you and I were battling over whether or not you would sleep at night. You would have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with it. Back home several days later, you were still seeming so hungry after I nursed you so we offered you a bottle a couple more times. You were still not interested. Finally one night, I left you with Daddy for a couple of hours at night. I told him that I expected to be back in time for your final nursing, but it he needed to offer you a bottle that he could go ahead and give it a try. That night, you took your first bottle. Daddy was so pleased!! He LOVED getting to rock you and watch you fall asleep in his arms while drinking your bottle. You only drank about 2 ounces, but you seemed to enjoy it and then drifted off to sleep. Since then we've given you a couple other bottles at bedtime when it seemed like maybe you could still be hungry. I was really afraid that maybe nursing was coming to an end. I don't feel that way now, but I guess we are officially supplementing at least on occasion. I don't mind though, because it gives us a lot of options. And, I'm still getting to nurse you all day, every day which is such an honor and privilege!!
The final first for this post is that you apparently unintentionally said, "MaMa" twice on March 5th. You did it twice very loudly while "talking" to me and grandmother after your bath, but you've not done it since. Daddy doesn't believe that you ever did it, but I know you did! And I've got a witness!!
OH one other thing that I almost forgot, Lizzy, you hair has just now finally started to lay down every where but right on the top back. Your hair was still pretty crazy in these pictures taken March 28th. So adorable!!
Elizabeth, you are such a joy, such a delight!!! You are at such a fun age. You really are like our little sunshine, lighting up all of our days! Your brother and sisters are often arguing over who should hold or play with you next! You are SO loved!! We feel so blessed to have you in our family!!
I'll end with a couple other favorite pictures from the past couple of months.
My attempt at a 6 month picture. All you wanted to do was eat the paper!! Finally I called in one of my helpers for back-up!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Terrifical Monday
Well, "today" is actually now tomorrow or yesterday as it is after midnight. I should be getting to bed, but I'm giddy over the super "terrifical" day that I've had so I'm going to write about it instead of going to bed. This post is all about the things that I LOVED about Today!
Sometimes I strongly dislike (because I don't like to use the word "hate") Mondays. Other times I'm really excited because Monday is like a new chance to get it right. It's like a new beginning. The 1st day of a new week. I LOVE structure and LOVE getting back into a routine. It's so hard to have structure and routine with 5 young ones.
Today I woke up ready to take on the new week and make it a great one!! We had a pretty good school day in a totally "Charlotte Mason" kind of way. (I LOVE that I now really understand what a true "Charlotte Mason" day looks like!! Thanks, Heather!!) We did a little reading, a little math, had 2 nature walks, and worked on character through a variety of important and necessary tasks!
I LOVED that today was the first full day of Spring! I LOVE Spring!! We spent quite a bit of time outside today, and it was a perfect day for it!
(Grandparents, hide your eyes and do not look at the next picture!!)
Look at how Luke is in this tree today. OH.MY.GOODNESS!!! And he wasn't even done climbing yet! This does scare me, but Wesley insist it's all part of being a boy, and for thousands of years millions of boys across the whole world have done this same thing so I have to just let him be a boy. Weakly I say, "oh, well OK then, if you say so..." And for those of you who know Wesley, you know that he is a super protective and safety conscience kind of guy!
OK, Grandparents, no phone calls, please! I told you not to look!
I LOVE my wonderful and AMAZING husband, and LOVED that we all took a family walk tonight at 7:30 PM and did our family devotion while we "walked along the way" (Deut. 6:7) It was almost completely dark, and I left dishes in the sink to go walking but it was totally worth it!!
I LOVE that 5 precious kiddos call ME Mommy!! Here's just a recent cute picture of the Grace, Mary Ruth, and Bella Peace playing dress up.
I LOVE watching Elizabeth explore every new thing with such zeal, excitement, and awe!! She's the most precious 6 month old since, well since Bella Peace was 6 months old!! Just look at how this little girly has her foot kicked out in these next couple of pictures.
I have GOT to get this girl a new baby swing! I had hoped to pick up another used one at the recent consignment sales, but I did not get to go until the public sale started and by then there were no more. We had one that we got used when Luke was little, but last summer the rope cable actually broke because of all the years of wear and tear and the elements. She's been in a baby swing a couple of times and of course just LOVE it!!
Elizabeth's personality is already shining through so boldly! She's not scared of anything. She's determined. She's social. She LOVES being outside. All of this is adorable in a 6 month old, but experience tells me that she's gonna be a hand full when she gets big enough to start getting into trouble!
Today when we were outside, Buddy (our dog) licked Elizabeth's leg and feet. That's something that would have made Luke hysterical when he was a baby, but Elizabeth just kicked and laughed and reached out to get hold of Buddy!
As the day was winding down tonight I got a great idea to do something special with my big girls. Grace has had a few rough days, and it occurred to me that some special "girl time" might be beneficial. So after Wesley and I had tucked all the kiddos into bed, I went back into the big girls room, got Grace and Mary Ruth up, and we had a girls night tonight!! I took the girls in their PJ's to a new family video store close to our house and we picked up a movie that I've been wanting them to see..."Ramona and Beezus". Then we picked up a couple of snacks and headed back home. I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie, had read some good reviews, and decided that it would be OK for us to all watch together. We LOVED the movie!! In fact, it could be a new favorite for us!! If you don't know anything about this movie, it's a movie all about family and 2 sisters are the main characters. It was just perfect for us to watch together!! I think that quality girl time did us all good. I'm hoping that it doesn't back fire on me tomorrow when they are super tired from being up too late! No pictures from tonight... :-(
Another thing that I have LOVED about today are the beautiful flowers that are gracing my mantle. I'm not much of a flower person, but once a year Wesley and I have the altar flowers at church placed in memory of the three baby boys that we never got to know outside of the womb...Samuel, Isaiah, and Joshua. It's not much, but then again there's not much you can do. After the Sunday services, you get to take your flowers home. So yesterday they graced the altar at our beautiful church, and today they have served as a beautiful reminder of my babies. There are many dates that we could chose that would hold special meaning, but we always chose a Sunday in March. March 25 was my due date for Samuel. March 18 was the date that we delivered Isaiah. A lot of times these anniversaries can be so very hard, but this year it's not been too bad. I think it's just because I've been enjoying and appreciating my family so much. I know that God had a purpose for giving and for taking 3 of our precious baby boys, and this year that's given me great peace. I also know that He's grown me so much through these losses. They have help shape me into the person I am today. So anyway, I had these beautiful flowers on my mantle today and probably for at least a week (if I can stand the smell - they look pretty, but I don't love the smell!).
So there you have it...my "terrifical" (a word from tonight's movie) Monday! Hope yours was super "terricical" too!!
Sometimes I strongly dislike (because I don't like to use the word "hate") Mondays. Other times I'm really excited because Monday is like a new chance to get it right. It's like a new beginning. The 1st day of a new week. I LOVE structure and LOVE getting back into a routine. It's so hard to have structure and routine with 5 young ones.
Today I woke up ready to take on the new week and make it a great one!! We had a pretty good school day in a totally "Charlotte Mason" kind of way. (I LOVE that I now really understand what a true "Charlotte Mason" day looks like!! Thanks, Heather!!) We did a little reading, a little math, had 2 nature walks, and worked on character through a variety of important and necessary tasks!
I LOVED that today was the first full day of Spring! I LOVE Spring!! We spent quite a bit of time outside today, and it was a perfect day for it!
(Grandparents, hide your eyes and do not look at the next picture!!)
Look at how Luke is in this tree today. OH.MY.GOODNESS!!! And he wasn't even done climbing yet! This does scare me, but Wesley insist it's all part of being a boy, and for thousands of years millions of boys across the whole world have done this same thing so I have to just let him be a boy. Weakly I say, "oh, well OK then, if you say so..." And for those of you who know Wesley, you know that he is a super protective and safety conscience kind of guy!
OK, Grandparents, no phone calls, please! I told you not to look!
I LOVE my wonderful and AMAZING husband, and LOVED that we all took a family walk tonight at 7:30 PM and did our family devotion while we "walked along the way" (Deut. 6:7) It was almost completely dark, and I left dishes in the sink to go walking but it was totally worth it!!
I LOVE that 5 precious kiddos call ME Mommy!! Here's just a recent cute picture of the Grace, Mary Ruth, and Bella Peace playing dress up.
I LOVE watching Elizabeth explore every new thing with such zeal, excitement, and awe!! She's the most precious 6 month old since, well since Bella Peace was 6 months old!! Just look at how this little girly has her foot kicked out in these next couple of pictures.
I have GOT to get this girl a new baby swing! I had hoped to pick up another used one at the recent consignment sales, but I did not get to go until the public sale started and by then there were no more. We had one that we got used when Luke was little, but last summer the rope cable actually broke because of all the years of wear and tear and the elements. She's been in a baby swing a couple of times and of course just LOVE it!!
Elizabeth's personality is already shining through so boldly! She's not scared of anything. She's determined. She's social. She LOVES being outside. All of this is adorable in a 6 month old, but experience tells me that she's gonna be a hand full when she gets big enough to start getting into trouble!
Today when we were outside, Buddy (our dog) licked Elizabeth's leg and feet. That's something that would have made Luke hysterical when he was a baby, but Elizabeth just kicked and laughed and reached out to get hold of Buddy!
As the day was winding down tonight I got a great idea to do something special with my big girls. Grace has had a few rough days, and it occurred to me that some special "girl time" might be beneficial. So after Wesley and I had tucked all the kiddos into bed, I went back into the big girls room, got Grace and Mary Ruth up, and we had a girls night tonight!! I took the girls in their PJ's to a new family video store close to our house and we picked up a movie that I've been wanting them to see..."Ramona and Beezus". Then we picked up a couple of snacks and headed back home. I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie, had read some good reviews, and decided that it would be OK for us to all watch together. We LOVED the movie!! In fact, it could be a new favorite for us!! If you don't know anything about this movie, it's a movie all about family and 2 sisters are the main characters. It was just perfect for us to watch together!! I think that quality girl time did us all good. I'm hoping that it doesn't back fire on me tomorrow when they are super tired from being up too late! No pictures from tonight... :-(
Another thing that I have LOVED about today are the beautiful flowers that are gracing my mantle. I'm not much of a flower person, but once a year Wesley and I have the altar flowers at church placed in memory of the three baby boys that we never got to know outside of the womb...Samuel, Isaiah, and Joshua. It's not much, but then again there's not much you can do. After the Sunday services, you get to take your flowers home. So yesterday they graced the altar at our beautiful church, and today they have served as a beautiful reminder of my babies. There are many dates that we could chose that would hold special meaning, but we always chose a Sunday in March. March 25 was my due date for Samuel. March 18 was the date that we delivered Isaiah. A lot of times these anniversaries can be so very hard, but this year it's not been too bad. I think it's just because I've been enjoying and appreciating my family so much. I know that God had a purpose for giving and for taking 3 of our precious baby boys, and this year that's given me great peace. I also know that He's grown me so much through these losses. They have help shape me into the person I am today. So anyway, I had these beautiful flowers on my mantle today and probably for at least a week (if I can stand the smell - they look pretty, but I don't love the smell!).
So there you have it...my "terrifical" (a word from tonight's movie) Monday! Hope yours was super "terricical" too!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
NEW POST BELOW!!!
Yay, me!! I'm beginning to find my groove again! There's several new post below!!!
What Just Happened?
So did someone out there start praying for me this afternoon? I have had a miserable couple of days. Last night was BAD! I was convinced I was continually getting worse, not better. Today I woke up feeling much the same...BAD!
I had SOOOOO much I needed to get done at nap time, but nap time was not going well. I can't rock Bella Peace to sleep and carry her to her bed like I normally do, and she did not end up taking a nap. I did rock Elizabeth, but the not so smooth transfer to her crib woke her up. I was feeling a bit discouraged about how my day was turning out, and then it all seemed to change!! Even my attitude changed!! Maybe that's why everything else changed.
I gave Bella Peace books to read on her bed. The big kiddos also had reading time, and I gave Elizabeth a couple toys in her bed. I was able to accomplish almost everything I needed to. Elizabeth drifted off to sleep on her own. AND, I just realized that my ribs are feeling pretty good even though I haven't taken any pain medication since morning!!
Not sure what just happened, but it sure is nice!! So if you've been praying for me, thanks!! Keep it up!!
I had SOOOOO much I needed to get done at nap time, but nap time was not going well. I can't rock Bella Peace to sleep and carry her to her bed like I normally do, and she did not end up taking a nap. I did rock Elizabeth, but the not so smooth transfer to her crib woke her up. I was feeling a bit discouraged about how my day was turning out, and then it all seemed to change!! Even my attitude changed!! Maybe that's why everything else changed.
I gave Bella Peace books to read on her bed. The big kiddos also had reading time, and I gave Elizabeth a couple toys in her bed. I was able to accomplish almost everything I needed to. Elizabeth drifted off to sleep on her own. AND, I just realized that my ribs are feeling pretty good even though I haven't taken any pain medication since morning!!
Not sure what just happened, but it sure is nice!! So if you've been praying for me, thanks!! Keep it up!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Camo for Luke
Remember this tease?
We were all dressed in camo for Luke. Here's a picture of Luke and my Mom. Mom made the birthday poster that Luke has hanging around his neck.
Luke wanted a hunting themed birthday party and requested that we all wear camo. So we did! Can you believe that between Luke and Wesley we had enough camo to dress every one of us! I wore one of Wesley's shirts and the girls all were shirts of Luke's except Elizabeth. She actually had her on camo onesie that someone gave us as a baby gift. Hahaha
We were actually celebrating Luke's birthday rather late, because we were all terribly sick around his actual birthday.
My mother made Luke his super big, super great cake!! She is extremely talented!! If you look closely you will find a hunter ready to take down a giant buck with his bow and arrow! This cake had it all. A hunting lodge. A gator. Guns. A cave that the deer could retreat to. And it really looked like the deer wore walking in snow. There was a second cake too. I didn't get a really good picture of it, but it had some of the same things on it. Super cake! Great job, Grandmother!!! You made Luke's day!!
I didn't take a lot of pictures that day. I was busy taking care of Lizzy Bug, but here's a few others that I did get.
We LOVE you, Luke!! Hope this is a great year for you!!!
We were all dressed in camo for Luke. Here's a picture of Luke and my Mom. Mom made the birthday poster that Luke has hanging around his neck.
Luke wanted a hunting themed birthday party and requested that we all wear camo. So we did! Can you believe that between Luke and Wesley we had enough camo to dress every one of us! I wore one of Wesley's shirts and the girls all were shirts of Luke's except Elizabeth. She actually had her on camo onesie that someone gave us as a baby gift. Hahaha
We were actually celebrating Luke's birthday rather late, because we were all terribly sick around his actual birthday.
My mother made Luke his super big, super great cake!! She is extremely talented!! If you look closely you will find a hunter ready to take down a giant buck with his bow and arrow! This cake had it all. A hunting lodge. A gator. Guns. A cave that the deer could retreat to. And it really looked like the deer wore walking in snow. There was a second cake too. I didn't get a really good picture of it, but it had some of the same things on it. Super cake! Great job, Grandmother!!! You made Luke's day!!
I didn't take a lot of pictures that day. I was busy taking care of Lizzy Bug, but here's a few others that I did get.
We LOVE you, Luke!! Hope this is a great year for you!!!
Clumsy Me
So I have a cracked rib. Yep! That explains why it's been giving me so much grief since I fell on Wednesday and injured it!!
Here's the story...last Wednesday while it was wet and rainy I was standing on the running boards that go around our Suburban and stretching into the middle seat to buckle up Elizabeth. My foot slipped and down I went...on my ribs. It totally knocked the wind out of me, and I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. I started looking around in the parking lot for someone to help me in case I actually did pass out. Then I just kind of sat there for a while and tried to compose myself. After I got myself together, I called Wesley and he said just give it a little time and see how it felt after a few minutes. So I've been giving it time, hoping every day it would feel better. But it hasn't really been feeling better.
Wesley set me up with one of his orthopedic doctors today who confirmed what I had become to suspect. After I saw the doctor, he called Wesley (they are friends and enjoy talking about these kinds of things) and said he was a little surprised because most patients who come in suspecting a broken rib don't actually have one. But, lucky me! I defy the odds. Once again! It sure would be nice to deny the odds in something really positive sometimes!! :)
Wesley has been extremely supportive and helpful since we had a little talk several days ago when I explained that no part of this situation was at all funny. He was laughing at me for the first day or so. In fact, I was sometimes laughing too. But the laughing got old. And it hurt. And it just wasn't funny anymore!! You see, Wesley and I met when I was still a teenager. I will admit that at that time in my life I would cry over a stumped toe. I would over exaggerate my pain and limp around like I was dying. He tends to remember that little girl from way back then and not take me so seriously sometimes when I say that something hurts. At times it aggravates me when he's not taking me very seriously, but at times at laugh because he's laughing. Also Wesley thinks that Grace is my clone and she can be a little dramatic at times so I think that when he sees me being dramatic he thinks about Grace. Now that girl, totally cracks us up when her drama sometimes!! Anyway last Wednesday when I first hurt myself, I would almost cry and hold my ribs at the slightest thing. He could not help himself and would start to laugh and even though I felt like hitting him I would laugh too, because he's just so stinkin' cute when he laughs. I also think that he's very use to seeing injuries and so he's a little numb to it. I have asked him if he treats all his patients this way and he assures me that it's only the "one" that he's flirting with that he laughs at and teases. I kept going back and forth on whether or not I thought it was broke, because I was still able to function pretty well. But other times, the pain was so intense I felt sure it was broke. Ultimately I did not think I was going to go to the doctor, because there's not much to do for a broken rib. BUT, this weekend it got to feeling worse and I felt like I could feel the bone slipping around. Turns out that I could feel the bone slipping around a little! Crazy, huh!?! Well like I said at some point it just wasn't funny anymore and we had a little talk about the fact that I am a big girl now. I've given birth 8 times. I have far too much to do than to cry over a stumped too. I mean, I am actually really tough now. I prove that all day everyday when I stay at home with 5 children and homeschool them!! So now, he's not laughing anymore. Well at least not to my face anyway! Y'all let me know if he's laughing behind my back, OK!
Here's the story...last Wednesday while it was wet and rainy I was standing on the running boards that go around our Suburban and stretching into the middle seat to buckle up Elizabeth. My foot slipped and down I went...on my ribs. It totally knocked the wind out of me, and I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. I started looking around in the parking lot for someone to help me in case I actually did pass out. Then I just kind of sat there for a while and tried to compose myself. After I got myself together, I called Wesley and he said just give it a little time and see how it felt after a few minutes. So I've been giving it time, hoping every day it would feel better. But it hasn't really been feeling better.
Wesley set me up with one of his orthopedic doctors today who confirmed what I had become to suspect. After I saw the doctor, he called Wesley (they are friends and enjoy talking about these kinds of things) and said he was a little surprised because most patients who come in suspecting a broken rib don't actually have one. But, lucky me! I defy the odds. Once again! It sure would be nice to deny the odds in something really positive sometimes!! :)
Wesley has been extremely supportive and helpful since we had a little talk several days ago when I explained that no part of this situation was at all funny. He was laughing at me for the first day or so. In fact, I was sometimes laughing too. But the laughing got old. And it hurt. And it just wasn't funny anymore!! You see, Wesley and I met when I was still a teenager. I will admit that at that time in my life I would cry over a stumped toe. I would over exaggerate my pain and limp around like I was dying. He tends to remember that little girl from way back then and not take me so seriously sometimes when I say that something hurts. At times it aggravates me when he's not taking me very seriously, but at times at laugh because he's laughing. Also Wesley thinks that Grace is my clone and she can be a little dramatic at times so I think that when he sees me being dramatic he thinks about Grace. Now that girl, totally cracks us up when her drama sometimes!! Anyway last Wednesday when I first hurt myself, I would almost cry and hold my ribs at the slightest thing. He could not help himself and would start to laugh and even though I felt like hitting him I would laugh too, because he's just so stinkin' cute when he laughs. I also think that he's very use to seeing injuries and so he's a little numb to it. I have asked him if he treats all his patients this way and he assures me that it's only the "one" that he's flirting with that he laughs at and teases. I kept going back and forth on whether or not I thought it was broke, because I was still able to function pretty well. But other times, the pain was so intense I felt sure it was broke. Ultimately I did not think I was going to go to the doctor, because there's not much to do for a broken rib. BUT, this weekend it got to feeling worse and I felt like I could feel the bone slipping around. Turns out that I could feel the bone slipping around a little! Crazy, huh!?! Well like I said at some point it just wasn't funny anymore and we had a little talk about the fact that I am a big girl now. I've given birth 8 times. I have far too much to do than to cry over a stumped too. I mean, I am actually really tough now. I prove that all day everyday when I stay at home with 5 children and homeschool them!! So now, he's not laughing anymore. Well at least not to my face anyway! Y'all let me know if he's laughing behind my back, OK!
Grace Rides A Bike
Grace has a new post up on her blog. It's pretty cute!! Please be sure to check it out, and please leave her a comment. She's LOVES to get comments.
Seek and You Shall Find
Oh, My!! Where do I even begin to catch up? The other day I was thinking at how behind I was on nearly everything in my life, and I started to think about taking that thought captive and speaking truth. So I asked myself if I truly was behind on everything. The answer was no. The truth was I could think of 2 things that I was not behind on: feeding the kids and laundry. Hahaha!! I was very thankful for those two. The bad news is that since that time, I have fallen behind on one of those two things. Poor kids. Hahaha. Just kidding. It's the laundry not feeding the kids.
I am working on a post about that camo picture, a 5 month post for Elizabeth (she turns 6 months old tomorrow, no wait it is tomorrow already since it's after midnight, guess I mean today!), our trip to Kentucky, and much more. I've got it all saved in my drafts and hope to find time to finish them. I'll tell you the truth, it's one crazy life that I'm living!!
It's getting late tonight so I must stop, but I wanted to go ahead and share a quick praise while it's on my mind. In my last post I asked for prayer in finding Grace's Bible. Would it surprise you to know that we found it less than three days later?!! I love how God works!! Ask and you shall receive!! Seek and you shall find!!
OK, so soon. More soon! I promise!
I am working on a post about that camo picture, a 5 month post for Elizabeth (she turns 6 months old tomorrow, no wait it is tomorrow already since it's after midnight, guess I mean today!), our trip to Kentucky, and much more. I've got it all saved in my drafts and hope to find time to finish them. I'll tell you the truth, it's one crazy life that I'm living!!
It's getting late tonight so I must stop, but I wanted to go ahead and share a quick praise while it's on my mind. In my last post I asked for prayer in finding Grace's Bible. Would it surprise you to know that we found it less than three days later?!! I love how God works!! Ask and you shall receive!! Seek and you shall find!!
OK, so soon. More soon! I promise!
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