April becomes May

It is May already.  It is hard to believe we are already into the fifth month of the year.

So many things are happening just this month.  There is the end of the school year. There will be parties and field trips and goodbyes. For our niece, the end of high school and her birthday.  For our "baby" girl, her second birthday.  For Michael, nights have become days again. And we can't forget that his birthday is coming quickly too. For friends, this is the beginning of transfer season.  Already we have seen the trucks in our neighborhood, estimating, packing, and loading.  Wednesday night is the last night for AWANA.  The girls have loved participating.  I have enjoyed having a semi regular date night with Michael and the Duchess.  And then of course, there is Mother's Day.  My girls keep asking about and reminding me that Mother's Day is coming soon.  Lady A and Miss E have both decided to make cards for me and that I need to have a scavenger hunt to find all of them.  Perhaps I will take a nap while they set it up... Michael works tomorrow so Princess N has offered to assist.  There is more, much more, going on, but what happened to April?

April was a blur.  It was a challenge.  When you have 6 people sharing germs, it generally takes 6 weeks for those germs to go away.  There was someone sick pretty much every week in April.  I'm not sure if it was all the same virus because we all had different symptoms and we were each out of commission for different lengths of time.  Princess N had fever for a day and was fine.  Miss E had fever for 5 days, but was back to normal otherwise after 3 days.  Michael was sick for three days while whatever got me knocked me out for almost two full weeks.  Lady A and the Duchess seemed to escape unscathed.

I am hoping May slows down a bit so we can enjoy it.

5 months

How on earth is it possible that our sweet little baby is now a chubby, though not according to Aunt Laura's definition of chubby, baby?

We are so blessed to have Duchess L as a part of our family.  Her big sisters adore her and Michael and I enjoy seeing all four of them interact.  A few nights ago, Duchess L looked over at Lady A and just broke out in giggles.  I hope this keeps up!

New pictures to come soon!

All the girls (but mostly the Duchess)

She still fits... mostly

Practicing standing with lots of help from Daddy

Playing outside

Helping big sister with her homework

Lounging around

Naptime.  Homework is exhausting.

At the park. I love their expressions because they didn't pose for the camera.

Our sweet Baby Red as a friend likes to call her.  

Nifty little app and website

One early morning, while feeding Duchess L and looking up something else on my phone, I stumbled across this neat app called Instructables.  They also have a website which is just as fun.

On this app, people post (occasionally) complete "How To's."  They include things like "How to maintain your lawnmower" and "How to easily use key rings."  The app has several categories including food... which is quickly becoming my favorite for new desserts to try for our Bible study group.

I have tried the Independence Day Surprise Cake, known here as the "Captain America" cake.  I made a few slight decor changes to these Rainbow Cupcakes for Miss E's birthday.  I made Slider Cakes for our group last week and this week I am trying the Summertime Cheesecake.

Here are a few pictures for you to drool over enjoy!

Slider Cakes

Rainbow Cupcakes (ready to bake)

Rainbow Cupcakes (finished - on left) and "Captain America Cake" (on right)

The girls

From the left (clockwise):
Lady A
Duchess L
Princess N
Miss E

A word to the wise and a Copy Cat

This is the result of placing the baby in the high chair next to the phone.

And this is the result of Chicken & Dumplings. And for those who do not read Rachel's blog... click here.

Dear Grammy,

Guess what? I have a new thing that I like to do. I pull my knees up like I'm going to sleep on my tummy, but I don't go to sleep. Instead I like to rock back and forth. It is really fun. I giggle a lot when I do it too.

I love you,
Miss E

Photo Roundup

A had her 1st soccer game this past Saturday. She did much better than we expected, but she still had her moments. Like this one...drawing in the sand while the rest of her team was off chasing the ball.

The windup.

Her 1st goal kick in the game.

1st corner kick

Before the 1st game. (they played 2 games on Saturday)

My birthday celebration was small considering all of the sick kiddos in the house.

N sat down one afternoon and read a book to Miss E.

Snow day! N was packing snow for their "snow princess" as A called it.

We don't usually see this much snow. Two years in a row was somewhat amazing.

A was ready for her 1st practice. All dressed up and ready to play some soccer!

Miss E didn't think too much of her first bite of cereal. But she has eaten well and very quickly figured out how to protest when she thinks I am not feeding her quickly enough.

Admiring her Daddy.

Hope you have enjoyed the photo round up from the past few weeks!

Just when I think we are on the mend

Miss E starts coughing...

The runny nose has to be the worst part though.

I wore her today in the wrap.
Facing my chest.
With a runny nose.
And she kept giving me "kisses".
With a runny nose.

EEEWWWWW!!!!!

Please continue to pray for my family as we try to recover from everything that seems to be floating around our house. I am so glad that tomorrow will be sunny. Gray skies and illness do not make a happy mommy!

helping with the laundry

Pretty girl helping with the laundry.

Christmas

Making the Gingerbread House Set. By our very own Theatre Designer.

Storytime with Grammy and a beat up copy of The Polar Express.

Fighting over the baby. Round One.

Love at first sight.

Sunset on the drive into Texas.

Lesson learned...

Don't leave the hospital.

When Miss E was born, I was very glad to have paramedics available to help with her birth. I figured there would be some difficulties because of her birth being on the side of the road, but I wasn't sure what they would be.

Little did I know it would be in the form of her birth certificate. It took 6 days to finally get the correct information on the form I had to sign at the hospital.

Last week, I spent 2 days trying to figure out if E's Social Security number had been issued since we had not received anything in the mail regarding it. In the midst of all of that, I had to get her birth certificate as part of the documents needed to issue a new card.

And sure enough, as I looked at the certificate the information, which I had the hospital correct twice, was incorrect. Again. Though I do have to admit that they did not try to show that she was born at the hospital this time.

Friday, I will be filling out the request form to receive the EMS report and I will hopefully receive that next week. From there I take the information to the Vital Records office and apply for an amended birth certificate. I am praying that since it was their mistake that I will not be charged for the amended certificate. If I am though, it will be a small price for accuracy.

So, the lesson learned... don't leave the hospital. Things get complicated when you do.

Update to the update

Michael and A seem to be just fine. We are tapering back on A's breathing treatment and her cough is almost completely gone. Michael was sent home on Monday to rest and it seems to have been good for him. I don't remember him coughing at all last night, but I could be wrong.

N is still having a bit of trouble getting over the cough. I am hoping that in the next few days that she will be much better. She has already improved from last week.

I am still miserable. I think the cough will be with me for a little while longer since I was the last to start. I was able to breathe through my nose this morning. We are taking each day at a time and being thankful for the small things.

And now for Miss E...

I spoke with E's doctor yesterday and he told me to keep doing what we are doing. Breathing treatements every 4 hours and pushing fluids. She has been coughing a lot over the last couple of days and spitting up a lot of mucous. When she first came home from the hospital after she was born, Michael made the observation that she seemed to have a few different levels of crying. The first being a soft cry that gradually became more insistent and loud. When she got sick, her cry was at about Level point 5. Now she is up to about Level 5 at her loudest. We think her previous high level was Level 11. The increase in her volume combined with the increase in her appetite has been quite encouraging.

Thank you for all of your prayers over the last week.

More pics!

The littlest one. She would smile really big and then stop just as soon as I took her picture. But these were the best 3.

Sleeping Beauty at her finest.

Note to Mom: I am going to try to get some good pictures of N & A for you this weekend. We've had some good weather and I think we can get some really good shots if they will cooperate.

More girls...

Enjoy!

Randomness

Our little Miss Piggy weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 12 ounces this morning. She has grown 3 and a half inches as well. Her doctor was quite impressed. (so was I!)

Something I've been meaning to share for about 19 days or so...

Overheard:
A: Daddy, I love when you pray. In cars, in vans, in trucks, on motorcycles, in houses. Everywhere! It makes me happy. And I LOVE JESUS!!!

We are starting a 4 Praise Club. The 4 is for Michael, N, A & me. We will add E when she is old enough. Each night we will share with each other one thing we want to thank God for.

Tonight's praises were family, friends, a new Webkinz (when A turns 5), and Miss Cari. A actually had several things she is thankful for, but I can't remember all of them.

We will be buying a piece of poster board that we will hang on the wall to write our praises on. I have been impressed that at this point I need to be teaching my children thankfulness. We may not have the latest and greatest toys or the coolest fashions, but we have more than enough. And we need to be thankful for what we do have. The poster will be a visible reminder of how we have been richly blessed. I will be posting our praises on occasion so if you want to join us with our Praise Club, please feel free to chime in.

Baby girl!

Nothing beats a satisfying meal!

Drying off after her 1st bath at home. Taking a bath is such hard work. She slept for about 4 hours after this one.

I don't think she liked it very much though.

Daddy kisses are the best!