A busy December....

I hate that I haven't posted in so long. I don't like to forget things that are going on, but this month has been so busy. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of illness. Benjamin had a horrible cold that turned into an ear infection. We had a stomach virus. The rest of us had colds. It has been the worst winter for us in years. I am ready for spring. But in between all the yuck we have had fun. We went to the Fayetteville square to see Christmas lights with the family. We saw Santa at the mall. We watched Christmas movies, made sure our kids knew the real meaning of christmas, made christmas trees out of gumdrops, sang christmas songs, went to our girls first gymnastics meet, rode the train and saw the lights in Creekmore park, spent many nights with GG and Papa, saw a movie, had a planning conference, and put up and took down christmas decorations. We have enjoyed many days of daddy being home and Benji boy growing up. It has been a fast and furious December.

Guess Who's A Big Boy?

He is sitting up and waving bye-bye! We are so excited about his new accomplishments, but sad that he is growing up so fast.
Avery says, "Ben, you are amazing!"

Sooo much to say....

soooo little time.

I will catch up soon. In the meantime, I have to remember what Abby said last night.

We were eating at Blazing Burrito, our favorite spot on Monday nights, and I told Abby to stop getting in Benjamin's face and sit down.

Abby: I just want to kiss him.
Me: Well, hurry up and give him a kiss and sit down.
Abby: (kissing all over Benjamin and hugging him)
Me: Abby you've kissed him, now sit down.
Abby: just one more kiss (takes Benjamin's face and kisses one cheek then the other and then the other and then the other)
Me: (sarcastically ) What are you, Italian? Go sit down.
Abby: (comes and sits in my lap, leans back) I'm not Italian! I'm RANCH!
Me: (crying and laughing so hard)
Abby; Avery's Italian!

More info: Abby is our ranch eater and Avery is the Italian dressing eater. just in case this story was not enough clarification on how Abby's brain works.

You just have to love kids!

Post Op

Abby is recovering well after her surgery this morning. I, however, am not! We were up this morning at 5am. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30am. Her surgery began at 8:30. Watching her fight the "happy juice" was fun. She wanted to resist it so bad. When it first started to kick in she started saying, "I don't want to have surgery... I just don't want to." Which is what she has been saying since we found out about it Thursday. It massively breaks my heart. Who WANTS their kid to have surgery? Just like, who WANTS to listen to their baby cry it out? Which, btw, is what we are having to do with Benji boy. Ugh! Right this minute, he is screaming his head off. That is why I decided to blog. I need distraction from his, "please come pick me up!" cries. So back to Abby... my wonderful mother than began to distract her by seeing if Abby could keep her eyes closed until 100. It worked. She finally let herself relax. The nurses were great and were calling her Dr. Abigail because she wanted to wear hospital gloves. She kept one on through the whole surgery. : ) The nurse said, "If that's what she wants, that is what she gets." I thought that was really sweet and made me feel good, knowing about how it probably went down in there even though she had "happy juice." If I know Abby, once she got in the actual surgery suite probably started freaking out a little. Then some scrub tech said, "let's take off your gloves." And Abby's claws came out, "I want my mommy. I don't want to have surgery. I just don't want to." Then the tears come. And the other nurse says, "oh no, this is Dr. Abigail, she has to have her gloves on." Abby calms down a little and the nurse anesthetist says, "Hey Abby, can you show me how big you can blow up my balloon?" Abby inhales "happy air" and night night. She was crying in recovery as I expected. Our family always cries when we come out of anesthesia. Some of us are really sweet and crying and some of us are really mean and crying. But we all cry. I wonder if Benjamin got a whiff of some anesthesia while we were at the hospital? Oh well, we are all really tired and cranky and ready for bed. Well... me and Scot are. Thank you mom for ALL your help today. I know you are so tired and I really couldn't have done it without you. Love you.

One of "those" days!

So it's been one of those days. The kind that need no explanation when you've seen my face! But so I can remember that you do survive, I am recounting the events for personal reflection. Bear with me blog stalkers. : )

The morning started out okay. I had to jump up and get the day going quickly since we had a dr. appt for Abby. I fed the baby and Avery watched him while I showered. We did breakfast and our devotional. I am having the kids memorize 1 Cor. 13. Yep, the whole chapter. Then we started school and I laid the baby down for his morning nap. Well, I put him to bed a little prematurely trying to rush things. I still have wet hair at this point. So I get him back up and put him in the jumperoo and we do more school. 30 min later I lay him down again and he goes to sleep. Then I have Abby do school in the bathroom while I dry and flat iron my hair. I got so distracted helping her with phonics that I burned a section of my hair off with the hair dryer! O my gosh! I felt sick to my stomach. I lost at least 2 or 3 inches of hair on that section. I have never done that before. Time is ticking away and the baby wakes up. But I'm not done getting ready. So Avery holds him while he cries for me.... then blah, blah, blah. Fast forward to the dr. We go in for a follow up to her hearing test. She had tested for mild hearing loss in her right ear. The dr. thinks that it is the result of occasional fluid build up. So on a whim I asked him to check her tonsils and adenoids since the orthodontist is concerned about the bone changes in her mouth from her non-stop mouth breathing. The dr feels it's allergies like I do. Her tonsils turn out to be tiny. He comments that means her adenoids should be very small. He scopes her and he says, "well it looks like I'm wrong. She is almost 100% obstructed!" He lets me look and I can't believe it. How long has my baby suffered from something a doctor can fix? I feel awful. So we schedule surgery for Monday. Abby has to have a finger stick in the lab. I am holding Ben, he's asleep. She gets her finger stuck. Doesn't like it and afterwards throws up in the lab trash can and I have to carry her out to the car because she is going to faint. Needless to say, it's been one of those days. I need chocolate. : )

Fall fun with GG

Thank you GG for all the fun... pumpkin patch, bobbing for apples, and yummy food. You are the best.

Marval Camping Trip

We love camping! We recently sold our trailer.... sad, but we took one more trip in it with lots of friends camping too. We love going to Bull Shoals and camping by the river, but our 2nd favorite spot is Marval. It's only 45 minutes from home and perfect for the whole family. Lots of things to do. We enjoyed a hayride, trick or treating, painting pumpkins, campfires, huge meals together, and tons of playing in the park.

5 months...

Where does the time go??? Ahhhh! My baby is 5 months old today. Pictures of the cutie pie will have to be added later.

Here is what you can do:
mimics sounds; da da, daddy, gg, ma ma, and screaming (your fav)
roll over
jump back and forth very well in your jumperoo (my fav part is watching your chubby legs)
hold your head up
sit in my lap with only a little help
recognize your family
grab and get anything your short little arms desire
your legs are even stronger and you can stand while I hold you for longer periods
suck your thumb WELL!

Here is your routine:
7 am wake up and eat
9 am nap
12pm wake up and eat
2 pm nap
3:30 to 4pm wake up and eat
6pm eat
6:30pm catnap
8pm bath and eat
8:30pm out like a light!
Your routine varies some on church days and gymnastic days. But even when we are out and about you stick to this routine. What a good baby you are.

Family pictures

A sampling of our pictures are up! Yeah!

Go here to see them.

Grace and mercy

This week feels as hectic as the last and I don't like it. I don't mind so much the things that have us busy. For example, I am thrilled that my sister is getting married. What I don't like is that I haven't had the time, even though there is no excuse, to just sit at the feet of Jesus. That is where I need to be desperately. My soul is thirsty. Somehow I have time to eat, take a bath, brush my teeth, write this post.... see where I am going with this? Time is an excuse. Because I make time for the things I HAVE to do. When did spending time with my Father become optional? My Father, who knows me so well, extends His grace and mercy to me. Knowing I do not deserve even the air that I breathe. He is there. Waiting for me.

"For He gives food to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever."

"His grace is sufficient for me."

a poet

What a crazy busy weekend this has been. Friday was the craft fair. Saturday we had pictures with Raye. Sunday was church. Things are getting back in order tonight and this week we look forward to my sister's wedding.

Big news! Benjamin rolled over Saturday night for the first time. He was laying between Scot and I on the bed and he leaned to look at me. A little more effort and he rolled. Scot and I started cheering and he was scared. So we cheered a little quieter and gave him hugs and kisses. He is a doll baby.

Tonight, as I was kissing the girls goodnight, Avery whispered, "Mommy, I love you more than anything. If the oceans were ink and the world was paper I couldn't write enough how much I love you."

We have a precious little poet on our hands. We are blessed.

Thankful

We are thankful here today and BLESSED beyond measure.

Abby said today that she is blessed because she has, "a Benjamin and a sister to play with." So precious that sweet little Abby of mine.

Avery and Abby both cried with me today as we did a devotional about not fearing suffering or pain. And cried as we talked about the wonderful testimony of a precious family that we know from a distance. Their story is here.

Benjamin is recovering from another bout with allergies as I take dairy out of MY diet. NO fun. BUT I AM BLESSED by every moment I have with him and my sweet girls.

I am off tomorrow to the big craft fair at the John Q. Hammons center to sell bows. My friend Sandy and I have been neck deep in ribbon and hot glue for a week. You can see our cuteness here and my super, talented, crafty sister-in-law's cuteness here.

Daddy is watching all the kiddos tomorrow and HE is a good man. The best. The love of my life. I love you babe.

Each day is a GIFT!!

"Teach us to measure our days O Lord, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Hotel Living

After several days of thinking the lice issue was taken care of, I found a nit in my hair! O MY GOSH! I was crying so hard when I called my mom that she probably thought someone died. I couldn't even talk, just cry. I was so overwhelmed and couldn't even put my thoughts in order. If I had it then how did I get it if IT was supposed to be gone. I had religiously checked everyone's hair, washed EVERYTHING, vacuumed EVERYTHING...I just did not even know what to do. I treated my hair and my loving, long-suffering husband combed though my hair. It was awful to have a guy comb through your hair no matter how sweet and loving they are. Unless of course it's a male stylist. : ) Then I might have not have had a bunch of my hair ripped out. My head is SO tender right now from all the washing and combing and checking. My sweet friend who does my hair came and checked my hair again and gave me the all clear on the whole family, but since we didn't know how someone else in the family could have gotten it that many days later we decided to move out of the house. If we aren't there than all the lice will die! So here we are in a hotel. It's not fun, but there are no more lice (that we know of : ). If we get lice from the hotel than we are in deep trouble. This is our last night and then we are going to stay in our RV and leave for our camping trip on Friday. By the time we get home on Sunday we will have been gone for 5 days. The carpet cleaners are coming while we are gone and ALL the laundry has been washed for a second time. If they are not gone after ALL that EVERYONE is getting their head shaved and we will become the BALD family. I am serious. I do not want to go through this ever again. AND if I hear another horrible story about people having it for MONTHS, Scot will have to put me in the looney bin. Go get the "bodka." I pray that my next post will be about the wonderful camping trip we had and I can put the lice story to bed. Just not our bed. Like a bed far away in another country...better yet another planet where no one lives and can pass it on to anyone else.

Bailout, Barak, and Head Lice!

What a week. I'm am sick of all three. And yes, I am comparing Obama to head lice because that is how low the dems are. I can hardly watch tv anymore. Mainly, because I don't have expanded cable and I only get the MSM (mainstream media). They are all liberals!! Doesn't everyone know what is going to happen to them if Obama is elected??? I guess they don't because his polling numbers are positive. McCain is giving up on Michigan. Can he win? I just don't know. It will be very interesting to see Sarah Palin in the debates tonight. I hope she doesn't give SNL anymore ammunition. Although, they will make fun of anything. So now to the head lice...yes, head lice. My kids have never had it. I had it as a child and I know it's out there, but I just never imagined anyone getting it. I don't know where it came from and I guess it doesn't matter. So I spent 5 HOURS, count them, 1,2,3,4,5! 5 hours coming through her hair to remove any trace of it. I had to have my neck and arm adjusted today from the bending over and the repetitive nature of the combing. My wonderful, awesome, beautiful, sweet, generous mother came to the rescue today. She helped to inspect everyone again and helped me clean! Thank you mom. So there is still lots to do and I am patiently waiting for my all natural lice treatment to come in the mail so I can spray my entire house. And wash everyone's hair again. Pray for me. I didn't want to know where the term "nit picking" came from.

Benjamin is 4 months old!

You are my sweetie pie! It is a yucky kind of day for you. You are battling a cold and it has moved to you right eye. It's so sad. We see the doctor today, although I don't think there is anything she can do. You have no fever, just a yucky cough and lots of congestion. Last night I had to give you a breathing treatment. We are all praying you get better soon.

Here' what you can do at 4 months:
babble....your new babble word is "ah-g-g"
scream!
blow raspberries
stand in my lap (with me holding you of course)
pull toys to your mouth
shake a rattle
jump in your jumparoo
play with the toys on it
suck your thumb
grab things in front of you (the speed at which you do this is getting faster everyday)
push up your chest with your arms and look around
and ALMOST roll over

Update: At his dr. appt today....weight 17lbs, height 27in
AND although I haven't gotten to witness it I found that he had rolled over this evening in his bed!!! I can't wait to catch him in the act. : )

Musings from a mom of thumb suckers...part 2

So back to the subject at hand. No pun intended. Abby was our first thumb sucker. She caught on much quicker. She was sucking her thumb almost instantly, but really got the hang of it at 3 months. At the same time she adopted the silky as part of her soothing process. She would gather the silky in her left hand and put her left thumb in her mouth. With her first finger she would rub the silky back and forth under her nose. Here's the downside to the thumb...she still does this at bedtime when she's really tired. Any other time of the day she never thinks about it. But if she is sick or really tired she falls back on the object of her comfort since she was born. I guess it's like the hot bath I rely on when I'm tired or sick. It just works for me. The pros about the thumb....it never falls on the floor or out of the crib. It's easily cleaned and sanitized...no boiling required! And it's FREE! So I am relieved he has finally found his comfort. He is happy. I'm happy he's not crying as much at nap time. And I can quit trying to find a pacifier he likes. : )

Musings from a mom of thumb suckers

It's official. We have added another member to the club and his name is Benjamin. I've known since he was a week old that he was going to join the ranks, but he waited until he was 4 months to sign up. We introduced him to the pacifier. Benjamin meet paci. Paci meet Benjamin. But when they met it didn't go well. There was a lot of gagging and yucky faces on Benjamin's part. So we introduced him to another paci...and another. Each meeting ended with a sour face and more gagging. So I gave up. And a couple of months later I tried again. Same results. Why keep pushing the issue? Well, I kept pushing because in between birth and the thumb discovery there is a lot of fussing. But FINALLY he found it. What he had wanted all along. With his thumb it makes sense. He never understood that a paci was meant to soothe and suck on, but his thumb...well there is no teaching there. He pops it in his mouth, his eyes roll back in his head, and he gives a sigh of relief. I have a lot more to say on the issue, but the new recruit is crying. Be back later.

This week in our life...

daddy working late 3 times
gymnastics
house cleaning (flylady.net)
Awanas
Financial Peace University
Bible study
Study about homeschooling with babies
Mom's Renew....AT MY HOUSE... YIKES!!!
bow making business with Sandy
gymnastics again
Homeschool COOP
pack and leave for Shreveport


tired yet???

YOU BET.

Labor Day Weekend

What a great weekend we had. After celebrating Abby's birthday it was time to celebrate Scot's 36th birthday. On Sunday we went to the Natural's game with mom and dad. After the game there were fireworks. Scot has started going to the gym so unfortunately he didn't want any cake for his birthday. : ( On his birthday we went to eat at Marketplace and we did get to share a chocolate mess. We bought daddy 2 nice Polo shirts, which he really loved.

Abby's 6th Birthday

I'm a little behind in posting. Okay, a lot behind. We just recently celebrated Abberdoodles 6th Birthday! She asked everyday how much longer. I remember at one point we were 93 days away. It got kind of exhausting but we made it. She had her party at Chuck E Cheese and loved it. Here are a few pictures.

Have A Safe Trip Daddy!

Daddy is off to Hot Springs for work. We will miss you daddy! We love you....xoxo

We can't stop ourselves!

Here are more pictures of Benjamin because....well... we just think he is so cute! I can't believe how much he looks like my baby pictures in the second photo of him smiling. There is some of me in there somewhere!!

Benjamin is 3 months!

Wow! How the time flies....our little man...I mean big man, is 12 weeks old tomorrow. Here are the pictures I promised GG and Papa. We love you. Oh yes, and Ben gave me a huge laugh out loud giggle tonight while I was changing his diaper. So cute. And....he has almost found his thumb. We will be glad when he does because he is sure giving himself a workout. He getting lots of his fingers in his eyes, nose, and down his throat. Lots of gagging. Any day now and he will have it all figured out. ON the home front....my new attempts at being frugal are paying off. I got 2 big boxes of Cherrios for FREE today and a coupon in the mail for free organic yogurt! I only owed tax at checkout today. That was fun. : )

Back to life...

I have been wanting to finish up vacation pictures, but this week has been so busy. We started back to school this week and I am still catching up on laundry and unpacking. Today I tackled the school room. It looks really good now but was an all day project. Wow...I'm exhausted. It hasn't helped that we have been staying up late every night watching the Olympics. Again tonight. I just couldn't miss the Olympic history being made as Michael Phelps won his 8th gold medal. Amazing! The girls and I stayed up late Thursday night for the women's individual gymnastics competition. They now both want to be olympians. In olympic fashion, Benjamin broke his sleeping record last night by sleeping 11 hours. I pray he keeps this up. Now if I can get some other people breaking sleeping records we will all be in good shape.

Benjadoodle

Before I get back to vacation...





Benjamin is holding his head up so well. He has decided that he prefers to be sitting up instead of laying down. Whenever I try to recline him on my legs he spends all of his time trying to get back up. He has started holding himself up with his arms while on his tummy so he can look around. He is just soooooooo cute. And that is not enough so for how cute he is. I have also noticed that he has this tiny round patch of red, blonde hair on the right side of his head. It is a perfect round circle of hair that is lighter and more red than all the hair around it. I don't know if it would show up in a picture, but it is a defining feature. And boy, does he love being talked to. Avery and Scot have both gotten him to giggle. Abby talks to him in a way that his whole body gets excited and his grin is HUGE. He is really starting to interact with us so much. Now when I'm feeding him, he has decided that he would rather look up and smile and coo and talk...than to eat. So feeding him is taking much longer. But it is just adorable. Oh yes, and did I mention he is a CHUNK!

A little setback...

We are home and I can't wait to talk more about the trip, but I have had a little setback and I am EXHAUSTED. I will be back soon.

Pictures!

What are egger deggers?

We are having so much fun here!! On Sunday we went to church, ate lunch at Marina's, played at a softball game, and ate Rosatti's pizza for dinner. A yummy day. Monday we got ready and went to Matt and Erica's. She whipped up a healthy, delicious dinner. The kids had so much fun playing Pretty, Pretty Princess and watching Ella Enchanted. Tuesday was Erica's birthday. Happy birthday Erica! Matt cooked a birthday breakfast of waffles and egger deggers. "What are egger deggers?" Avery asked. Eggs. : ) We took the girls to see Kit Kittridge. They loved it!! It was an awesome movie. We went out to dinner and had Portillo's chocolate cake for dessert. Erica said she had a great birthday. I will post pictures soon. Hi Mila!! We told everyone you said Hi. : )

Chicago!!

We are here! We decided at the last minute to change our vacation plans and go see my family in Chicago. I'm so glad we did. Hi mom and Marie! Wish you were here too....especially since we've been to see fireworks, laying in the grass all together, and today we ate Italian beefs. So I am sad you are missing this.

Our cute cousins...