02-20-15 Selfie Silliness

Goofy selfies with Baby E!... So much slobber!

02-19-15 Little Prince

It is hard to believe that in exactly one month, this little guy will be three years old. If you were to ask him yourself, however, he would proudly proclaim that he is six. 

Having a son is nothing like I imagined... And I certainly never imagined myself with two of them! I see the fragile pride in my little boy's eyes, and I know I have to handle him gently. For as tough and big as he pretends to be, he is also small and easily overwhelmed by his world. Dark rooms and loud noises send him clamboring back to my arms as he buries his head in my neck. One day he will be embarrassed to come running to Mommy. But for now, I'm one of the strongest, bravest people he knows and when he is with me he is safe.

02-18-15 Another Doctor's Appointment

Baby E took another trip to the pediatrician. (It seems we are obligated to make an appearance every few weeks!) for the past few weeks, he has been dealing with some pretty serious eczema on his temples and over the past few days it has moved to his cheeks. Despite putting every fragrance free cream, lotion, or oil that I could put my hands on on his rash, it never improved. And as the weather has gotten colder, it has only gotten worse. To top things off, he keeps gauging his scalp and leaving bloody cuts and scrapes. This poor child looks a mess! 

On top of that, while changing his clothes last week, we noticed a lump on his ribcage and the doctor wanted to take a look at it. He said it is definitely attached to the bone. We suspect calcium deposits (they run in my family, but no one I know has gotten them this early), but he wants to do more research before sending him off for an x-Ray. He said there are a few versions of pediatric calcium deposits that can cause concern, but it doesn't look like baby E has any of the other symptoms that would indicate those. Plus there were no red flags during the cardioechogram a couple of weeks ago.  He asked me to do some digging into my family history and see if we can uncover any specific diagnosis that any of us have ever gotten, meanwhile he will be doing research on his own. Baby E goes back in a few weeks for a well visit, so at that time we can put our heads together and determine our next step. It is encouraging to know we have a doctor that is so attentive to our children and goes out of his way to make sure they are getting the care that they need. 

Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. For being my easiest baby, he sure does drag me to the doctor's office an awful lot! 

On the plus side, he gets weighed everytime he goes. At today's weigh-in, he was a whopping 10lbs 10oz!! Wahoo!

02-17-16 Snow Day

With 6-8 inches of snow on the ground this morning, my children were chomping at the bit to get outside and play, especially once they saw the neighborhood kids playing. After digging through about every single box that is still packed we were able to scrounge up enough snow suits, gloves, and boots for an outdoor adventure.

It seemed everyone was out at the same time shoveling the sidewalks and cleaning off their cars. We got to meet most of our new neighbors and it was a great chance for the kids to play with some of the other kids in the neighborhood. 

I didn't want baby E to miss out on the snow fun, so I dressed him up nice and warm and brought him out... For about ten minutes. That was enough for him... He just wanted to nap!

We would appreciate your prayers for baby E. The other day we found a lump on his ribcage. He is going to the doctor tomorrow to have them take a look at it. Praying for a non eventful visit. 

02-16-15 Our Favorite Neighbors

Due to the impending snow storm, we were let out of work early today. What a wonderful surprise! And this evening, we took the kids to visit our favorite neighbors three doors down and they got to meet their new cousin, Rebekah. 

None of my kids were ever born close enough to their cousins to do any comparison shots... Until now! Here is baby E at 13 weeks and baby Rebekah at 5 days. All of a sudden baby E seems HUGE!

C says her new baby cousin is beautiful... And I would have to agree!

Tonight as we settle in for bed...

We are holding out hope for a snow day tomorrow! 

And it sure looks like we will get one!

02-15-15 My Littlest Sweetheart

Cuddling with my littlest sweetheart! 

02-14-15 A Night Out

Tim and I went out with his brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Jenn for a Valentine's double date. His parents watched all six kids while we went to the movies to see Old Fashioned. Yup, the same movie I saw last weekend, except this time I got to see it with my sweetheart! Again, I highly recommend this film, especially if you are looking for an alternative to 50 Shades. (Seriously, who wants to watch that trash?)

After the movie we grabbed dinner and headed on our way home... Right into the middle of a snow/ ice storm! 

The walk back to the van was blinding with stinging winds and snow pelting us in the face. Once in the car, it took us over an hour to travel two miles and several times the van slipped around on the roads. We barely made it up one particular hill as we inched past stuck cars, we ourselves slipping and sliding. It took two and a half hours to get home. 

But other than the dicey ride home, it was a wonderful evening! The kids were glad to see us, but hard to separate from their cousins. They fell asleep the moment we put them in the car. 

My littlest Valentines :)

02-13-15 The Phone Call

I've been getting phone calls recently from a number I didn't recognize. I never answered, but today I listened to the voicemail. It was CVS calling to tell me that my prescription was ready for pick up...

In North Carolina. 

Since the last time I was in North Caronlina was in 2006, I was a bit perplexed, so I called them back. They informed me that a new prescription had just been filled and I could come and get it. I explained that I didn't live in North Carolina and never requested any medicine. The pharmacist confirmed my birthday and asked me if I had ever been to a particular doctor, to which I said no. He gave me the doctors phone number.

When the doctors office picked up, I explained that they had called in a prescription under my name and I wanted to know why. I gave them my name and the receptionist seemed a bit confused. She told me that they DO have a patient with that name. She asked me for my birthday, and sure enough, this other woman (with my exact name) and I share a birthday. 

So, when they called the prescription for her into CVS, somehow her name got linked with my phone number. While I was getting (and ignoring) all these calls to pick up a prescription, this poor woman was probably wondering what was taking so long! The doctor's office contacted her so that she could call CVS and straighten out the situation. Meanwhile it leaves me wondering if something like this will happen again. 

It was quite easily the strangest set of phone calls I have ever had! So to my name and birthday twin in NC, I wish you a good night and I hope you were finally able to get the medication that you need! 

02-12-15 Perfect

I am a very blessed woman. This evening I got to hold my newest niece. In total I have thirteen nieces and nephews ranging from 36 hours to 20 years old. 

There is truly nothing more joyful than holding a brand new baby and tonight was no exception. Baby Bekah is perfect!

Perfect, indeed!

02-11-15 Baby Bekah

This morning, our niece was born. 

Welcome to the world, Baby Bekah! We can't wait to hold you and cuddle you and spoil you! You were born into a pretty special family with two big brothers that are going to adore you! We love you, little girl!

02-10-15 Relax

Some people drink wine to relax. Some people watch tv. Me? I take baths. 

Today was a rough day, so I welcomed the idea of thirty minutes of quiet time immersed in hot water while the rest of my family slept. So all evening, the only thing I could think about was a bath

I cooked dinner...

Fed the baby...

Helped get the kids to bed...

Did dishes...

Started laundry...

And finally lit a candle and gathered everything I needed for my bath. And then this happened...

Yup! Wide awake and fussing everytime I got out of sight.) No comment that my second son is not only wrapped in a pink swaddling blanket but he is also laying on a pink princess blanket. (In all fairness, the purple butterfly blanket he usually lays on went AWOL.) 

So, naturally, this happened... 

I guess the days of solo bathing have come to an end! 

I also wanted to give a huge shout out to my awesome neighbor (and brother-in-law) who scraped off the ice from my windshield this morning before he went to work. This time tomorrow he will be holding his new baby daughter in his arms and I can't wait to meet my new niece! The first five grandchildren for my husband's parents were girls. And then came eight boys. It will be exciting to have another girl around! Maybe Baby E will even share his princess blanket with her!

02-09-15 This fellow

This fellow makes it awfully difficult to get out of the house in the morning... Not because he is a difficult baby, but because he is just so stinkin cute and I don't want to leave him!

I don't think he is nearly as amused by his bug outfit as I am! 

02-08-15 Old Fashioned

A friend of mine from back in the day wrote/directed/starred in a film that is getting released on Valentines weekend. In a few select markets, the film opened early and fortunately one of those markets was the DC area. So, today I went with a group of friends from my MOPS group to go and see it. It's called Old Fashioned. 

It was a great chance to see a wonderful movie with a group of women that I see at our MOPS meetings, but rarely get a chance to spend time with. I had a lot of fun. I highly recommend the movie if you get a chance to see it. It is unapologetically faith based and gave a very refreshing look on dating and courtship. 

Here's the synopsis from the film's website...

A romantic-drama, OLD FASHIONED centers on Clay Walsh, a former frat boy who gives up his reckless carousing and now runs an antique shop in a small Midwestern college town. There, he has become notorious for his lofty and outdated theories on love and romance as well as for his devout belief in God. When Amber Hewson, a free-spirited young woman with a restless soul, drifts into the area and rents the apartment above his shop, she finds herself surprisingly drawn to his strong faith and noble ideas, which are new and intriguing to her. And Clay, though he tries to fight and deny it, simply cannot resist being attracted to her spontaneous and passionate embrace of life. Ultimately, Clay must step out from behind his relational theories and Amber must overcome her own fears and deep wounds as the two of them, together, attempt the impossible: an "old-fashioned" and God-honoring courtship in contemporary America. - See more at: http://www.oldfashionedmovie.com/synopsis#sthash.F48Yxy4w.dpuf

02-07-15 Tiny Dancer

Today was parents' day at C's ballet school, so we were excited to get to watch her dance. 

She's one of the youngest in her class that ranges from four to six year olds. Each week I wait in the lobby as she is in class and this was the first time I actually got to see her dancing. She was so excited this morning as she got ready and when class started she was beaming. Throughout the class if she noticed that our attention was not completely on her she would wave her fingers in front of her eyes to signal to us that we needed to be focused on her. 

After class I asked her to pose for me so I could take a nice picture of her. This is what I got...