Fields Full Quiver

Coming Home!

2012-01-30T05:25:00.000-08:00

We were very excited to get home to all our kids! The time couldn't come soon enough. Although Miley had some jaundice they let us go home early and bring her back for a recheck within 2 days.

All ready to go! Nana and Papa and all the kiddos came back to the hospital to help bring Baby Miley home. The kids were so excited!

Daddy carrying the baby and Taylor leading the way!

In the car... let's go home!

Once we were home Taylor was ready to hold Miley.

Addison loves all over Miley....

Miley meeting her Sisters and Brother and more family!

2012-01-29T13:23:00.000-08:00

After having Miley at 3 in the morning, I think things settled down around 5 or 6 in the morning and we could finally get some sleep. I woke up at about 9 am and made Nathan get up to go get our other babies! I just knew that they were at home waiting for our phone call and so excited to meet their sister. So Nathan went back home to get them and bring them to the hospital. When they walked in the door all I can remember is Payton's eyes as wide as saucers and so excited to meet her baby sister! It was so precious and I hope I can remember that look on her face forever! Taylor was a little timid and didn't want to hold her at first, she was just checking her out and wanted to snuggle with me. Addison was equally as excited and was smothering her with love and has continued to do so. Jackson was so sweet... he reached for Miley and said "bebe" and touched her gently.

I made shirts for all of them that said BIG SIS, BIG BRO and LIL SIS for Miley. They were so cute! :)

Miley all dressed in her LIL SIS onesie and waiting to meet her big sisters and big brother.

Payton so excited to meet Miley.

Jackson with Gramma

Jackson pointing and saying "bebe"

Taylor excited to see Mommy

Payton couldn't wait to hold Miley.

Then we had more visitors. Nana and Papa came with the kiddos and see their 9th grandchild!

My Aunt Cindy, cousin Tina and her son Joshy came to meet Miley.

Tina and Miley

Aunt Cindy holding Miley

Aunt Nora couldn't wait to hold Miley

Another visit from Miley's big sisters and brother! :) FUN!

Miley will not lack in the kisses and love department.

Addy being sweet :)

Papa and Jackson playing

Miley Paige Fields

2012-01-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

I went to my regular OB appointment on 1/10/2012, this week I was measuring 4 weeks behind. My OB was a little worried about that but we had been doing weekly ultrasounds to check the amniotic fluid levels (since the levels were low and I needed to be induced with Jackson at 38 weeks) so she was just keeping an eye on things. I could tell almost immediately in the ultrasound that the levels were smaller than the previous week. I said to my DR... the pockets look smaller than last week! She said YES! Let's have a baby! Since I was 39 weeks there was no alarm just time to have the baby! My DR said it was ok to go home... I'm so glad! My mom came to be with the kids and we left for the hospital. We got there around 7 and they got the pitocin going at about 7:45. Once hooked up to the monitors they showed that I was having some contractions, so I probably would of gone into labor that night anyway. The contractions were about 3 minutes apart but weren't very strong, I could still talk through them. The nurse upped the pitocin twice cause I looked to happy she said! LOL! Things were only intense and I had to focus on breathing for about 40 minutes and it was time to push! I pushed for about 5 minutes and Miley was here! She was born at 3:05 am. weighing 6 lbs. 6 oz and 18 inches long.

I tell you what having a baby in the wee hours of the morning messed us up! LOL we had no clue what day or time it was... and was pretty darn tired! That night I think I slept 3 hours. But it was all worth it and it always amazes me how you can function on such little sleep.

So here is our beautiful girl...

Daddy holding Miley for the first time

Daddy about to hand Miley to Mommy.

Can I please hold my baby!?

I can not remember what in the world he was telling me.

Me holding Miley for the first time.

You would look rough at 4 am too! LOL

Gramma and Baby Miley

Beautiful girl!

Nurse giving Miley her first bath.

Miley didn't cry at all during her bath!

Baby Shower

2012-01-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

I am so blessed with amazing friends and family. My friend Sarah threw a beautiful baby shower for me! I felt so loved and special :) and it was really nice to celebrate the arrival of our sweet baby.

Sarah thought of everything for the shower. She had a kids table with activities set up for them. There was plenty of room and it was beautifully decorated!

Aunt Cindy and Jackson

Me and Addy

The girls were very excited about the presents for Baby Sister

Family and Friends

Donnae made Miley a beautiful baby blanket.

Jackson hamming it up!

We are so blessed and appreciate each and everyone of our friends and family. Thank you for a great time and the wonderful presents!

36 weeks Pregnant!

2012-01-04T18:06:00.000-08:00

I turned 38 weeks pregnant on Tuesday... this is me at 36 weeks.

I'm due mid January. This pregnancy has gone by very fast! We feel so blessed to have another sweet girl in our family. I'm excited to hold her. I'm ready for labor and delivery to be over with! But I would also be perfectly happy if she were a week late! Never thought those words would come out of my mouth!

Little Miley could join us any day or wait another 3 weeks! The time clock is ticking.

Addy Update

2012-01-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

We have had 4 appointments for Addison in December. So I am putting them all in 1 post. We had followed up with the pediatrician and she agreed with me that we should go to another allergist and to also go back to the GI doctor. We also had our follow up with Urology coming up at the end of December.

So mid December we had our appointment with the allergist. He thought that we should test her cause it could be allergy related and he also wants to talk to the GI doctor. They tested her for the common food allergies. She showed a small reaction to Soy and Chicken. We don't have to take her off these foods right now. We have to keep a food diary and keep track of when she is sick. The allergist is hoping that she has 3 reactions during this time and see if we notice a pattern. We go back in February and go over things.

Here is her back from the testing :( Addy is a trooper! She cried a little more because she had to have her shirt off. Afterwards we got an ice cream cone! :)

The following week we went to a follow up appointment with GI. After talking with them and some of Addison's symptoms have changed since our last visit. She has more vomit each time she is sick than she has before. So she is now being treated for Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) . CVS is hard to diagnose. The only way a doctor can diagnose CVS is by looking at symptoms and medical history to rule out any other possible causes for the nausea and vomiting. Then the doctor must identify a pattern or cycle to the symptoms. There isn't a certain medicine that makes this go away. But they have found that an antihistimine can help with the symptoms. So Addison is taking that twice a day. If we don't notice a change in about 6 weeks there is another medicine that we can try. With that medicine you take when you can tell a sickness is coming on and it will help lessen it or make it go away. So far her last attack was December 6th. And it usally comes on between every 2-4 weeks....

UPDATE: She is sick tonight 1/1/12 woke up this morning feeling sick. She laid around all day, slept. Didn't eat a thing or barely drink. (the sickness usually comes on just before lunch so this time it was a little different) She started throwing up around 8 pm. She has only had a little bit of water and has probably gotten sick about 6 or 7 times in 2 1/2 hours. So now I'm really concerned about dehydration. We're deciding if we should take her to the ER or not. I don't see any signs of dehydration at the moment.

It's funny to me that she is now being treated for CVS because a friend brought this syndrome to my attention months ago. I did some research on it and asked her drs but they didn't feel it was it because she didn't always throw up... well I guess since the vomit has increased it's a good time to try that route. SIGH....

The following week we had her 6 month follow up sonogram to check her kidney and her ureter to make sure that it hasn't gotten larger. After the sonogram we had an appointment with the urologist to get the results. Her kidney and ureter have gotten larger. This is not a good thing. It was enlarged before at 9mm and has grown to 13mm in about 7 months. The doctor says it's a miracle that she isn't having any complications from this and that everything is functioning properly. However over time this could cause damage to her kidney and some other issues. He wants to see her again in April and have another sonogram and the DR said seeing that they are growing they will continue to grow and she is going to need surgery probably in the spring. This is something that we found in the first sonogram that she had done because of the vomit and diaherra. They are in no way related to each other.

We serve a BIG GOD and we know that He has amazing plans for Addison's life. We very much believe in healing and are praying for her with both of these issues going on. Please pray for her too. We know that this will be a testimony!

Christmas Traditions Part 4 - Christmas Day

2012-01-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning is pretty low key for us. We wake up (or I wake everyone up! :) and we open gifts play with them and just enjoy the time together. I woke up at 6 am, wide awake! I couldn't sleep I was so excited to see the kids faces. I waited until 7:30 to wake everyone up :) Papa and Nana were in town and we were blessed to have them spend Christmas morning with us.

Before Christmas we asked the girls (Jackson is to young to care) What is the one thing that you want for Christmas... so that we could make sure to try and get that special item for them. Taylor and Payton's special item changed a few times... :) but Addison's did NOT waver... at all. She talked about this certain Princess Belle doll (Beauty and the Beast) everyday... in extreme detail. We happen to see this doll at Burlington Coat Factory back in September! She hadn't forgotten about it. I got it and it was the last one! :)

Jackson said alot of Ooooh's and Wow!

Each kid got a piggy bank and they lined them up.

Jackson loves this toy.

Taylor and her Hello Kitty headband.

Payton got a bracelet from Papa and Nana.

Jackson loves this car ramp thing... he loves all his "boy toys!"

Addy got her Princess Belle doll!!!

She loves her!

Payton loves Cinderella

We made this scrabble art for Boo. I don't have a close up pic. But it's made out of scrabble tiles and it's everyone in the Fields family names.... She loved it!

WOW! That's a mess! Here is the after math of Christmas...

Daddy showing Jackson how to golf.

Last year I cooked Christmas dinner for our entire family, my mom's side and Nathan's side. It was our first Christmas living back in Jacksonville and I guess I was super excited about it or something. As much as I enjoyed doing it... it was a ton of work! Whether it's being 9 months pregnant or I grew some sense this year.... we invited everyone over for desserts this year. I love seeing our extended family!!!

My brother Adam...

The girls got new shoes and pajamas

And a princess mirror! It tells them how beautiful they are :)

I feel so blessed to be back in Jacksonville and spend this special holiday with our family!

Christmas Traditions Part 3 - Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was a big day for me growing up as Christmas was. Christmas Eve was always spent with my dad at my gramma's house. To be living back in Jacksonville and able to attend the annual Christmas Eve means a lot to me. Not to mention to have 4 children to make this tradition with :).

We spent the day getting ready for Christmas... cooking, baking, playing, we let the kids open up 1 present each. This year they really didn't bug us to open up presents everyday... which really surprised me. Then we go to my gramma's for Christmas Eve dinner. This year (and last year) we had pizza. As my gramma is getting older this has been easier for her and everyone loves pizza!

The kids opening their Christmas Eve present.

At my Gramma's house. I love the look on Taylor's face at all the presents... especially that BIG one! :)

My Gramma and Addison. Addison loves my gramma. She calls her the "old Gramma" and says "she's so cute!" I've told them they can't call her Old Gramma but just Gramma. :)

This was so cute... We gave my stepmom, Mary a collage picture of our family and Jackson LOVED it! He literally sat there for like 5 minutes pointing talking and laughing at the pictures.

We were given a huge gift as a family and we are loving it! Especially the kids! :) My aunt got them a Princess Power Wheels. They were so surprised and cute! It was all put together underneath the box so we lifted the box up and seriously before the box was all the way lifted up Addison had jumped into the drivers seat! It was hilarious! I guess she knew how to get first dibs!

Addy claiming her spot! :) LOL

The girls outside test driving it! They caught on really quick. We have to go over some safety rules ;) or they will run someone over!

Jackson getting a ride.

We got home late and didn't get the kids down until about 10:30. They didn't have a nap that day either and seriously their heads hit the pillow and they were OUT!

Taylor and Jackson ready for bed in their Christmas jammies.

Taylor snug in her bed fast asleep.

Payton passed out. She is in Taylor and Addy's room. When Papa and Nana are in town she gets to sleep over in their room... and she loves it! :)

My Sweet Pea... sweetly sleeping. :)

I didn't dare try to get a pic of Jackson out of fear of him waking up! LOL

And here is our tree with all the gifts set up and ready for the morning!

Christmas Traditions Part 2 - Ginger Bread House and Winter Wonderland

2011-12-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

So this is the second year that we've made a ginger bread house. It's a lot of fun and the girls love it (and Nathan) This is totally Nathan's thing... he puts it all together. And helps the girls decorate. I help to and take pictures. :) We used all our leftover candy from Halloween (and probably Easter!) It was great to clean all that out and I had almost thrown it out a couple days before we did this.

Addy taking some candy :) Here is the house all done complete with a laffy taffy and tootsie roll walk way!

We went to St. Augustine's Winter Wonderland. It was really cute and pretty reasonably priced. Admission is free and so are some of the activities and other things depending on what you wanted to do cost something. We went with Nana and Papa and Lily and Nicholas came too.

The girls in the Elf Village. This was a cute set up of a ton of little play houses.

Taylor and Daddy

Daddy and all 3 girls

Jack Jack

They had "sleigh rides"

Papa and Addy

Daddy and Payton

Taylor

Jackson giving Daddy pounds

The "snow" fall.... it was bubbles! Guess that's what you get when it's 70 degrees in FL on Christmas!

Can you see the "snow" in Addy's hair?

Daddy and the kids at the tree

Me and the kids at the tree

Ballet Performance

2011-12-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

The girls have been in ballet since August. We go once a week. They love(d) it! Payton stopped doing it after about 4 lessons. I wasn't sure how she would do since she is only 3 but wanted to include her if she wanted to. So she hasn't been doing ballet for a while but to her she is doing ballet she loves to dress in her outfit. So... Taylor and Addy have been practicing for this performance since October. They love it! And for some reason Taylor decides to not do ballet anymore... 3 weeks before this performance... SIGH.... not sure why. She just says she doesn't want to do it anymore. We tried talking to her about fullfilling her commitment and after this performance she didn't have to do ballet anymore. But we needed to give the teacher notice. Everything went great and Taylor agreed. However she didn't do it. But its a learning curve for her. So Addison is in ballet now and she is the only one who did the performance and she was sooo cute!!!!

Taylor doing stretches before hand "trying" to do ballet. :)

Time for the performance they line up.

Is Payton really going to do it.... :)

Here is where she changes her mind and comes running to me...

Addy did great. Here she does her turn.

At the end the girls blow kisses to the audience. Addison blows 4 kisses :) It was hilariously cute!

I was so proud of Addison I seriously had tears in my eyes!

So we now only have 1 daughter in ballet. We've asked Taylor if she would like to do another activity and right now that answer is no. So we'll see what the future holds! :)

Christmas Traditions Part 1 - Tree and Bethlehem

2011-12-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year... I love Christmas! We love to decorate for Christmas... I think Nathan enjoys it as much (if not more than I do) Nathan started decorating the outside of the house the week before Thanksgiving. Mainly because of his work schedule and we would be out of town for Thanksgiving so we wanted to get a jump start on it.

We also have a few traditions each year that we like to do. I'm hoping going to the Live Bethlehem will become a yearly tradition... it was pretty crowded so I don't know if I can talk Nathan into it again LOL!

So anywho... gotta have a tree to decorate!

and here is my mantel all decorated... I love having so many stocking hanging from there :)

At Ponte Vedre Beach a church puts on a wonderful very life like Live Nativity. It is a whole city to recreate what Bethlehem was like when Jesus was born. It is very life like, real animals, markets and at the end is Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.

Petting a donkey

Taylor was taken back with how "real" everything was....

Showing us how they dyed clothes back then...

Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus

Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Fort Mill, SC with Boo and Carl (Nana and Papa) We had a great time and alot of fun and relaxing! The weather was great! It was really cold last year and it was perfect this year. Light jacket weather. We spent an afternoon at a playground and the kiddos loved it!

Addy and Daddy.... She cracks me up!

This is my attempt at a family photo... hoping for a Christmas card... not sure if any will get used yet.

The one below is my fav... just wish you could see Taylor and Payton's face...

All the kiddos climbing on Daddy which is just classic and quite normal for us. :)

The one below would be good if you could see Jackson and Payton's face....

Which one???

We helped Papa and Nana decorate for Christmas. Addy hung up all of Nana's stockings for her on the bar - it was very cute and she was proud of herself! Cause quite an argument too b/c Payton thought it was hilarous to knock them all off... sigh...

Nathan outside decorating

Thankful

2011-12-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful for many things in our life. God's grace, Jesus, 4 soon to be 5 healthy children, an amazing husband who supports us and loves us.

About a month ago at my normal OB appt I was measuring 3 weeks behind but the baby's heartbeat was perfect. I had to have an ultrasound to see what was going on. This could mean several things.... that the baby is genetically small, or something more like low fluid and couple other scary things. Having gone through what we did with Jackson this really freaked me out. (at 38 weeks with Jackson I was measuring a cm small, all his vitals were fine so the midwife assured me that everything was fine 2 days later I had an ultrasound to find that there was NO amniotic fluid and had to be induced right away, I was full term so things should be ok but the DR couldn't be sure until Jackson was here... everything was perfect and I count that as a miracle) So I kept my cool about this baby... really I did. I was told to take it easy as much as I could and to eat more calories.... and I did. I was waiting for the ultrasound appt (they had to call me) and got the appt a few days later, it was scheduled for 10 days later! I had a COW! Seriously I lost it.... After alot of phone calls and crying there was nothing that I could do but wait.... and I am NOT good at that. I still think it's ridiculous! And the OB office has heard that from me more than once! Anywho... The ultrasound showed that our sweet baby girl (is still a girl :) and PERFECT! She is measuring at 58 percentile and there is no sign or reason why I am measuring behind... besides me :) I am so thankful for this and happy! :) I had really prepared myself to hear bad news... not sure what I was expecting... but it took me a few hours to digest that everything is ok. I had my OB appt the next day and am measuring 2 weeks behind now. So the countless prayers and me taking it easy worked! I'm still trying to take it easy... and it's actually really easy to do cause for some reason my back hurts so bad this pregnancy! I'm 34 weeks and trying to get ready for her debut... We still have a few things to do but I can't wait to hold my baby! :) There is nothing like it in the world!

Things kids say....

2011-11-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

Kids sometimes say the funniest, craziest and sweetest things... I want to be able to remember this forever so I'm writing it down!

Payton has showed more of an interest in school recently. So we've been sitting down together more. One day in the van Payton says "Mommy I know what Cinderella starts with! PAH-PAH P!!!" She went through several words all NOT starting with P but to her right now everything starts with P. :)

Addison is obsessed with the number 100! Everything is 100! She says is with a ton of enthusiasm too. Addy has also been talking alot about Mommy and Daddy being married.... She says "Mommy I want you and Daddy to get married again! So that you can be together forever! For like 100!!!!"

Taylor one day while we were driving in the van was talking to her sisters... She says "I close my eyes real tight, girls, and I use my imagination and that is how I can color the most beautiful rainbow! I see pink with my imagination when I close my eyes!"

Jackson is talking more... at 18 months old, he says... all done, thank you, I stink (for a poopy diaper), Mama and Dada although he calls Nathan Mama, more, uh-oh. And he will do baby sign language for eat, more, please, thank you. That's all that I've taught him b/c those are the most important to me... I need to know when he's hungry! LOL

October Festivities... Fall Festivals

2011-11-15T05:27:00.000-08:00

We went to 3 fall festivals this year. They were alot of fun! The first was at Evangel (which is the church that we got married in) Nathan had to work this day so it was me and the kiddos. It was alot of fun and worth taking them by myself.

The girls played games... and there were a ton of jumpy things. I have to say it was very organized and well put together and they had a TON of people there.

So I kept seeing a whole bunch of kids throwing hay around and I had no idea what they were doing... At first I was thinking maybe they were making scarecrows??? I said something about it and Taylor said "they are looking for candy mommy!" LOL Ohhh... and all these kids loved this! How simple! Digging for candy in hay!

The girls, mainly Taylor kept begging me to go on this HUGE slide. I kept distracting them with other activities because they line was really long the whole time. I was afraid that they wouldn't go up it by themselves and I couldn't go with them. There was no way being pregnant that I could carry Jackson up that thing and I definately couldn't leave him alone. So at the end the line was short enough and they had asked me a 100 times. But to my surprise their scaled that thing with no problem and LOVED it! That is our girls climbing up the slide and I had to show how big this thing is.... it's one of the biggest blow up slides I've seen.

The next fall festival was at our church on Sunday and that was alot of fun! We are still getting to know people and this was a great way to do that. Our church meets on Sunday evening because they are using another churches building. They bought some property and the fall festival was at the new church property. It is a really pretty piece of land. They had a ton of games and activities for the kids.

Girls getting their hand or face painted... this was the first time Taylor would do this. :)

Decorating cookies... all the kids loved this!

On Halloween we went to a local church festival. I do have to say that they weren't as organized as Evangel but it was nice and they had a HUGE turn out. The girls wore their princess dresses and I did their hair and makeup. They loved it, we called it their princess make over!

October Festivities... Painting Pumpkins

2011-11-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

Nathan didn't celebrate Halloween growing up. I did. We decided that we would do church festivals and trick or treat to our neighbors if we have time. ( the ones that we know )

So with Nathan not celebrating Halloween growing up and we have never bought a pumpkin to carve until this year. This was the first time that Nathan had ever carved a pumpkin! And he did a good job! :) I can't help clean it out ;) because I am allergic... seriously though. I did it as a kid and broke out in hives... haven't done it since. DARN! ;)

Painting the pumpkins was alot of fun... but hard to keep Jackson out of the paint!

There we go! Strap him into something! :)

Our mess... I mean pumpkins...

October Festivities... The Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

So it is fall in Florida which means it's not dreadfully hot outside. I miss fall in Georgia this year... that was my favorite. I really love all the fall traditions that we do. We play outside a ton, collect the pretty leaves, go to the pumpkin patch (that is my all time fav!) and Halloween. The pumpkin patch in Georgia was gorgeous we drove almost an hour to Burts Farm and it was well worth it... even for the drive. We had talked about that before moving because of how much we love it. We were going to try and go back to Ga or SC (where my in-laws live) BUT that didn't work out this year... Oh well. We still went to a pumpkin patch it wasn't as pretty but the most important thing is we created memories.

I actually found a pumpkin patch at a farm in Hilliard (about an hour away) We were going to go there... until we found out it cost a ton of money. It would of cost our family $60 to go! It sounded like there was alot to do but we couldn't justify spending that amount of money. Then I found another pumpkin patch at a church that had "walk through the woods" so we loaded up and went.... BUT it hadn't opened yet. I miss read the dates... :( LOL The kids were all excited for the pumpkin patch and Mama had miss read the dates... UGH! So we stopped at churches pumpkin patch. (which is perfectly fine and you don't know what you are missing if you didn't go to the one that we did in GA) We were always suppose to make it back to the other one... but with Nathan's work schedule I knew that was a long shot. We didn't make it...

So here we are at the Pumpkin Patch... It was fun. I had them kids all dressed up in their Halloween shirts and the girls in their matching bows... CUTE!!! Until Payton peed on the way there so she is in a random too small of a dress for her, that I had in the diaper bag. Oh well! I tried...

Jackson - picture is blurry, but too cute!

Payton helping Daddy pick out our pumpkin.

Taylor she is so cute! She was into taking pics on this day. :)

Payton

Addison

I love Addy's face in the pic... not sure what was going on... but well it's funny!

Daddy pulling his load of cute Pumpkins :)

One more pic of Taylor.... when did she get to be so big?

My Heart Aches...

2011-10-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight my heart aches. Addison is sick again... Today was a completly normal day and it just hits... I still see no pattern in this thing that she has. I knew it was coming because we were getting ready to leave for the Fall Festival at our church and she wanted a towel to sit on in her carseat. She doesn't like to sit directly on her bottom when her "tushy hurts." This has been going on for well over a year and we have no answer and no idea what is causing this. We are scheduled to see the Urologist again for her 6 month follow up to make sure that her kidney isn't getting any larger. We decided to go see another allergist and go from there. I don't really think she is allergic to anything. From what I've heard and researched you can pretty much pinpoint an allergy... like an immediate reaction. And I haven't noticed that with Addy. I could be wrong... we'll see. I really wasn't pleased with the allergist that we saw... AHHH!!! I just really have no clue....

It's painful to see your child sick with anything and to not know what is going on.... is just heart wrenching. :(

Homeschool Update...

2011-10-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

So we have been homeschooling for a little over 2 months and for the most part I LOVE it! I'm not saying that its perfect or even easy because its NOT! Somedays its absolute mayham! As in anything you do in life whether you work, stay home, homeschool, public school there are good days and bad days with it all! I remind myself of that on the rough days. I love having all our children with me and us creating a close knit family. Somedays I think wow... today would be so different if Addison and Taylor were in school. Nathan works almost every Saturday (its a miracle if he has one off) and when he is working 5 days a week he usually has a random day off mid week. (for almost 1/2 of the year he usually works 6 days a week) If the girls were in school they wouldn't get to see much of him.

I knew this year would be an adjustment, it's a lifestyle adjustment I am responsible to get something very important done... and I'm kind of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl and knew that I would have to adjust my desires. Having 1 vehicle has helped that! LOL Most days/weeks go great with schooling it all depends on the "extras" that I have decided to do within a week. And I am still learning to not commit to do to much. We have joined a MOPS group, a homeschool group and a bible study that I am trying to connect with at the church we are going to. I love all 3 groups... But some weeks I have to say no... because we have to focus on school and that is new for me.

The virtual school I think was a good choice for our first year for the accoutability purpose... but I don't think I am going to do that next year. Mainly I do NOT like reporting to someone... LOL who knew! Like right now I have to turn in a book log... Huh?? What??? Why??? I've known about this but have I kept record of what books we've read NO! Because I know that we are reading... and I think its ridiculous and one more thing for me to do and I don't want to! Ok I'm done with that! LOL I mainly signed up for the virtual school because I had no idea what I was doing, I liked the curriculumn and it was FREE! We are going to have to budget for next school year to purchase 2 curriculumns but the good thing is I can pass most of it down to the next kid. There is always the HERI library (part of the HS group that we joined) and you can check out curriculumns.

Taylor is doing very good. She wasn't being challenged in the beginning and most of it is still easy for her so I added a sight word program from HERE it's called You Can Read and we are moving right along with it. Taylor is catching on very quickly and even Addy is with some of the words. :) I am also using her Raising Rockstar Preschool mixed with the Kindergarten one so that it's on Addy and Taylor's age level. You can find those here Raising Rockstars Preschool and here Raising Rockstars Kindergarten this blog has a TON of info and resources on it if you are thinking of homeschooling... I really like it. Addy has been amazing me as well... she will definately be ready for Kindergarten! Payton has actually wanted to sit down with me to. We do very little together... but that is all that she needs right now. Since the first day of school she hasn't wanted to do much with me. I think she likes playing with the toys by herself.

Taylor does this often... she writes, colors or draws with both hands... meaning uses both hands at the same time! Here I caught a picture of it with her coloring a pattern. She has even written her name this way. She mostly favors her left hand and always has... but uses her right hand a good bit too. If she is writting on the left side of a work book or page and makes her way to the right side of the page or book she sometimes switches hands. This cracks me up!

I showed pics of our clean and orderly school room before... well that is NOT REAL at all for us...

Just keeping it real... because most of the time it looks like this....

This would be Jackson knocking all the books off the bookcase.

The playroom side and this is mild compared to some days :) SIGH.... (But I am very thankful to have a space for all this junk to live)

This little man causes alot of distraction :) but a cute one. Here he got a hold of the crayons again but it kept him entertained he kept putting them in the box and dump them out over and over again. He may have eaten 1 crayon... Don't judge me their non toxic ;)

Here is my cutie pie! We worked on a coloring sheet together now that she is finally showing interest and you can see in her face how proud she is :)

The HS group that we joined has 2 field trips a month the first one we went to the Tree Hill Nature place, that was kinda cool. And I was definately unprepared for a walk through the woods with an umbrella stroller. The 2nd field trip we've done, the girls painted these pots and we met with the group and planted pansies in them and took them to a local assisted living home. I knew my girls would be shy but I still think it's important for them to experience this. Addison LOVED it. She really like handing them out to the elderly and telling them to have a blessed day. Payton handed some out too. Taylor did not... :)

God is good!

2011-10-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

So you may have noticed my absense in blogging... a very good reason... our computer died! Literally to the grave. I was on the computer one day and literally it froze and never came back. :( Nathan looked at the computer, talked to some friends that know more about computers and we ended up at Geek Squad. They were pretty pricey and no guarantee that it could be fixed. AHHH!!! What to do! Can we afford these repairs, can we afford a new computer... at the moment... NO. :(

So ok... I can live without the internet... I could learn anyways. You really don't realize how much you use something until you can't! So I could come to terms with it. BUT with homeschooling... there is NO WAY! I print ALOT of stuff for homeschool and Taylor's virtual school I have to do stuff online. So we visited the library once so Taylor could do her portion that needed to be done on the computer (so thankful I only had to do that once) Now the 4 kids in tow weren't the problem. Jackson got a little antsy but nothing to bad. It was the library that was so rude! Anywho... I'll get over that one day. But seriously I told this guy what to do! anywho... really will get over that one day.

So I was pretty stressed about the upcoming expense. We have some other big needs that we are praying about and this takes away from that... That day I spoke with my mother in law and she encouraged and prayed with me. Later that day I read this status update from a dear friend on FB

The person who really understands the grace of God will not worry. Worrying is trying to figure out what to do to save yourself rather than trusting in God for deliverance... (from Joyce Meyer)

This seriously spoke to my heart and I prayed and gave all my worry to God. Wasn't sure how it would work out but it will. God knows what we NEED. So a week later I purchase a new computer (with cash!) and God is to the glory! Nathan's paycheck was higher than usual and we (I) am so thankful!

So we've caught up on homeschooling and now I've gotta catch up on blogging... :)

Orlando 2011

2011-10-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post... we were able to stay a couple days in Orlando. It was a very nice mini vacation. We were there for 2 1/2 days. Besides Sea World we relaxed by the pool and enjoyed Nana (Boo) taking care of us and cooking! (my fav part) The kids were so excited to go to the pool and the splash ground at the resort. They really warmed up to "swimming" more and we had a ton of fun! Jackson LOVES the water he goes straight for it with no fear at all! The splash ground was probably his favorite and he is just hilarious... he will put his face straight into the water sprays and laugh!

All of us ready and doing a A-Z scavenger hunt that the resort had for little kids... :)

It's a little cold....

Payton loved the pool and jumping to us! She didn't want to wear her wings or float!

Taylor learned some "swimming" things too...

Water balloon toss that the resort had on the 2nd day... FUN!

Sea World 2011

2011-10-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

We have been planning this trip for a while to go to Sea World. Instead of having 3 birthday parties for the girls we decided to take them to Sea World to celebrate their special day. The girls birthdays are barely a month apart... for all 3 girls. :) So this seemed simpler... for some reason. LOL

The day finally came and we went to Sea World the last weekend in August... the girls had been counting down the days and were so excited! Papa and Nana joined us to help out and actually used their timeshare so we stayed in Orlando and extra 2 days than what we were planning on. That was really nice! The weather was great too!

So this deserves a blog post all in its own... My sweet cautious Taylor... says to me while we are near the "kiddie rides" I want to go on that with you Mommy! I literally looked at her and said Seriously... You want to go on that!? She said YEAH! :) So of course I couldn't go b/c I'm pregnant... but it's this ride that goes up and down kinda high for a kid.... it doesn't free drop but still... So Nathan took her and we really expected her to scream in terror or something instead we got all smiles and laughter.... she LOVED it!

Taylor and her sisters could go on the tea cups... (Addy and Payton were to small for the other rides)

Taylor then says she wants to go on the kid roller coaster... HUH? Who is this child? ( if you know her well this would shock you too!) Here they are ready to go!

I took a pic of the incline they went up just b/c I still can't believe it! LOL!

Sea World was great! We really enjoyed it and loved doing this with our kids! And a special Thanks to Papa and Nana for all their help! :)

3 Ballerinas

2011-09-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

Ever since we found out we were having our first daughter I was so excited for this day to come! I couldn't wait to put her in a ballet class or gymnastics! Little did I know that I would have 3 little girls to sign up! I think why I was so excited for this is because as a child I always wanted to do something like this and was never able to. After some research I found a christian studio that is very reasonably priced (especially considering we are putting 3 girls in the class) reasonable with the leotards and other requirements. I love that b/c you don't know how kids will do until they are in class and I would hate to invest a ton of money into something they wouldn't enjoy. Anywho... that's my soapbox! The girls go once a week and LOVE it! :) The class has 4 girls in it. (3 of those girls are mine! LOL) I like the small class though. The teacher opens up in prayer and closes in prayer and it's all praise music that they are learning to dance to! So sweet! All 3 girls did surprisingly great with the poses and learning the different positions. Addy surprised me the most she looked like a formal ballerina! Of course I had my camera for their first class... :)

WARNING! PICTURE OVERLOAD! (they are too cute to not post!)

Girls all ready for class

Taylor

Addison

Payton

Opening up in prayer before class starts

Doing stretches... The 3rd little girl (not my daughter) can literally do a split! Look at that! Crazy!

Addy stretching

Mama distracting Taylor and Payton from doing their stretches :) Oops!

Taylor doing First Position

Addy the Ballerina (can't spell what this is called!)

Taylor the Ballerina

My 3 Ballerinas! :)

Payton the Ballerina

Taylor showing her teacher what she learned in her first class. She learned First Position and how to "sit pretty"

Payton turns 3!

2011-09-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby girl turned 3 on September 4th! I can't believe how fast time flies! Payton wanted everything Dora for her Birthday dinner so that is what we did. This dinner was more low key as our kiddos have been fighting this awful cold so their cousins couldn't come over b/c they didn't want to get the nastiness! But that was ok we enjoyed our "quiet" house and Nana and Papa joined us and Gramma!

Payton was super excited after seeing Taylor's B-day and Addison's she was ready and knew what to do. The day started with a shopping trip with mommy. We enjoyed some one on one time together and I let her pick out a balloon. Then girls made cupcakes with Nana.

Their "Dora" cupcakes! LOL but Payton was happy! :)

Presents and decorations

Payton with her picture table. I enjoyed pulling out all these pictures! :)

Payton and Dora!

Sweet Birthday Girl

Yum!

Taylor being silly

Presents! This pig is hilarious! It says a ton of sayings and you feed him and put her to sleep... she also has an OFF switch! : P

Payton got a Rapunzle dress!

This is what Payton asked for a Cinderella baby :)

Taylor drew Payton a sweet Birthday picture as a gift. :)

Our first day of Homeschooling 2011-2012

2011-08-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well... to say that our first day was eventful is an understatement! But it was a good day... a very good day... I was up all night with Addison she was sick with her weird thing that we have no idea what it is or what to about it at this point.. we were up every hour with her vomiting. But life goes on and I told myself a shower and a BIG cup of COFFEE and we are good to go!

The curriculumn for the virtual school was due to arrive on our first day. Nice... a little frustrating cause I like to be prepared but it's free and well there wasn't much else I could do about it. Instead of waiting I still wanted to start on Aug 22nd for the routine purpose and the fact that we had been counting down the days with the girls to when school started and they were excited. So we did some work that we had left over from PreK with Taylor and worked on those sheets. We are doing a bible story a week and we read our story... which was Creation. Why not start at the beginning!

Taylor on her first day wanted to wear the most beautiful dress! :) That's what she said.

Addison on her first day of PreK still a little under the weather but very excited to do school!

Addison working hard...

Addy did this on her own... which really impressed me. She circled all the Uppercase and Lowercase Ff!

The girls worked on some fun activities too...

I got out the shape sorter to entertain Jackson and it did for a little bit...

Then he proceeded to take ALL the books off the shelf...

Payton was working on her colors but she got upset with me over a crayon and peed on the chair and pouted and was done with school. (which was perfectly fine by me!) she played with the Dora house. Which was nice for her b/c there is usually 3 girls playing at the same time. So she could enjoy it all by herself.

We did a color mixing experiment and this was ALOT of fun! I added food coloring to water and each girl had an empty bottle and we mixed the colors to see what other colors we could make! I had a brain fart and for some crazy reason thought it was a good idea to save some glass jars... yeah I have NO IDEA what I was thinking... so Jackson grabbed one dropped it and it broke... no one was hurt but still glass everywhere to clean up. I won't do that again!

Addy made organge

Taylor made blue/green

Payton ended up with black... but here she is with blue

Jackson kept trying to drink them all :)

Then while cleaning up the color experiment and taking all the bottles to the recycle bin, Jackson did a face plant into the driveway and scraped his forehead really good :(

Taylor's Calvert curriculumn was delivered early in the day and she was so excited to open it! This curriculumn would normally cost $380 but signing up for the Virtual School it's free! I see why it cost so much there is alot of material!

Here is the big Kindergartener with all her lessons and books! We did Lesson 1 during naptime. So our first day was definatly FULL but FUN! :)

Homeschool...part 2... getting ready!

2011-08-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

I want to first say that homeschooling is not for every family. In my opinion it has to be a God thing. I think alot of Christian moms feel pressure to homeschool and if they don't that they aren't a good mom. And that is so NOT the case. If all christian moms homeschooled or sent their kids to private christian schools then we would not have christians in public schools! We NEED christians in public schools. It's a calling to homeschool... it's a calling to go to public school (to minister)... now that is said... :)

I finally had my answer it was time to get the ball rolling! I learned alot homeschooling Pre-K and that is organization is a MUST! We moved last year in November and that kind of put a kink in our schooling... in the organizational department. I had papers everywhere! And it drove me nuts! But I had no idea what to do with them... and honestly cleaning up our school rooom for this new year I took all those papers and they now sit on the window seat in my craft room :(... gotta do something with them! But I have a plan for this new year.... I hadn't heard of this until after starting Pre-K a Portfolio... who knew! Sometimes the answer is so simple. Once they are done with their work we'll put it in a big binder. :) Nice and neat... hopefully... Now with Virtual School for Taylor I am going to have to scan her work and send it in... but I'm sure I have to keep the original copy and it will be nice to have as a keepsake too. The other problem that we had was work space. We have a big "backroom" and it is used half as a playroom and half as a school room. After moving we were still trying to figure out furniture arrangments and such. The girls were sitting at a coffee table to do work which worked fine, UNTIL Jackson became mobile. :) He would grab their work and mess it up and the girls would get very frustrated. I also couldn't sit with the girls comfortably to help them I was more hovering over them. So a bigger table was in order. Craigslist to the rescue! We found a deal! I love it! So with some rearrangements and organizing... we are ready to start!

Here is our school room.

Our table! I love it!

Other view of room...

Bookshelf full of goodies! :) Books, games, curriculumn. Notice the bottom 2 shelves are empty... that's b/c of Jackson :)

I hung up cork board squares to display the weeks work and so the girls can show Daddy what they did for the day. The cubby organizer another Craiglist find and it's a great thing to have!

Chalkboard and drawers full of manipulatives and such...

I did get this idea for Pre K HERE and for teaching multiple children it's a great idea. All the girls wanted to help with the big calendar and we would take turns. But this seemed like it would work better. I made some adjustments for us and it has worked great. The girls have their own binders and like the ownership of it. I added a pocket thing to keep a pencil, scissors and glue stick. So we're not hunting for anything and they each have their own and know where it is.

So here is Taylor's School notebook. Instead of using this just for calendar time we made it a School Notebook. It holds their Calendar, supplies and folders to organize their work.

So here is Taylor's School notebook. Instead of using this just for calendar time we made it a School Notebook. It holds their Calendar, supplies and folders to organize their work.

I actually really like the idea for the calendar cause it gives them extra practice at writing numbers :)

I added folders with numbers inside them so they know what order to go in. For now it's usually something that they can do on their own. So this way when they are done with one worksheet they aren't asking me what's next Mommy and I'm looking around for their work. It's all organized and laid out the night before and they know when they are done with folder they move to the next. They love their folder work! It also helps for them to see how much work is expected for the day.

The folders is my spin of doing the WORKBOXES. If you haven't heard of them check it out! I think it's such a great idea! I did not read the book I get the concept and came up with the folders to make it work for us. I love the way it's done in the blog that I linked to and will probably change it up and do it that way eventually but for now this was a simple and cheap fix. Google workboxes for more ideas... there are all sorts of ways to do them :)

Homeschool... Part 1... the decision

2011-08-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

So I always thought that I would homeschool our kids... I really didn't think it would be a hard decision. And then I got a taste of homeschooling with PreK. Most of it was fun and I/we really enjoyed it. But there were alot of struggles... having 4 kids 4 and under. Trying to get school done AND spend time with all the kids AND house work AND laundry AND cook dinner (well on the nights that Nathan was lucky otherwise we had sandwiches) ... you get the drift. And then I found out I was pregnant with #5! Come January we will have 5 kids 5 and under... ??? WHAT! How am I going to get homeschooling done!? It was overwhelming... and then I started to freak out... if I feel like this now how am I going to feel next year and the year after! I talked to alot of people... The advice varied some people thought we should send our kids to school... no questions asked. How on earth could we teach them everything that they needed to know... and it's good for them socially...etc. All these are good points and would make me quetion myself. I would talk to some homeschool moms and they would (obviously) make me feel so much better about the homeschool life. This was NOT helping me... I was on the fence so much and had NO IDEA of what to do. Then a friend gave me great advice. She said... STOP talking... and START praying!!! DUH! Sometimes I need reminders.... :) It doesn't matter what people think and people who don't homeschool don't get it... and thats fine... They don't have to. So I really started praying... I really wanted to get to the root of the problem... why was this stressing me out so much. I realized its the planning of the school... the curriculumn... and another great friend of mine said to me... you are doing way to much! Just enjoy the simplicity of PreK. I was planning on schooling through the summer... that same friend told me to take the summer off and ENJOY! So I did! :) Thanks! Sometimes we moms need permission to stop and enjoy... well atleast I do. So now I had my answer of what stressed me out so much and I had to find a solution. After lots of prayer and research and talks with Nathan we decided that for now homeschooling is the answer. Homeschooling was still important to Nathan and I for a number of different reasons. I had to find a solution to being overwhelmed... we talked about hiring someone to clean... or do laundry! I then heard there are curriculumns that you basically open a book up and its all there... so I started to research those. That sounded great! Well to make a long story short we decided to give Virtual School a try. I've heard great things about it. Everything (including art supplies) is sent to your door for free because you are technically enrolled in public school. It's basically a 7 day school week. You have a certain number of assignments to turn in each week by Sunday evening. So we can go at our pace but still be accountable to get it done! They offer field trips. Your child has a teacher that helps and grades the work. I TEACH! Sounds like fun to me and less stress. I really like to plan the fun craft projects. We are going to add a bible curriculumn so I will be planning that... but I can handle that. If at any point it's not working for us we can opt out of the program. So that is what we are doing... Virtual School for Kindergarten! Our house may lack alot in the cleanliness department and we'll deal with that... but this feels right for our family!

Payton

2011-08-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't done an update on Payton in a long time... The last time was that she was "ALMOST" potty trained... well I jinxed myself... Not sure why she regressed so many times... maybe for attention I'm not sure. But we are officially there. She is a big girl (except at nights she wears a pull up) we have very few accidents and I am so proud of her! Not sure what happened other than it just "clicked." People say kids do it in their own time and I believe that is so true! Payton is talking up a storm and is very funny. She will say something so silly and then slap her thigh and crack up at herself. She plays very good with Jackson... in fact it has become very normal for Taylor and Addy to be playing in one room and Payton and Jackson playing in another. I can see Payton and Jackson being so close. :) She is a very caring and sweet big (and little) sister. She is still a Mama's and Daddy's girl. She hangs with me alot and loves to cuddle.

Our Silly Girl

Daddy and Payton at the Zoo

And as sweet as she can be... She can be just as cranky to the flip of a switch.

She simply didn't want to take a picture... so this is the shot that I get most of the time... Oh well... We still love you! You will probably hate me for this pic... but you should of been happier! :P

Addison is 4!!!!

2011-08-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

It happens in a blink of an eye... really it does. One day you have a sweet newborn baby and the next you have a 4 year old! The summer is really crazy for us we have a birthday in each month and my girls grow a year old basically at the same time. I am enjoying this new stage and Addison is a big helper (when she wants to be :P) She is very sweet and loving. We call her Sweet Pea for a reason. She is full of energy and loves life. We had a special family dinner for her and she knew that day was reserved for her and she really tried my patience! 2 days before her actual birthday we took her to Build a Bear... which is a first for us! It was so cute and fun and ridiculously overpriced! But she loved it! :)

Nathan and Addison is front of Build a Bear

Addison named her bear Princess Belle

Making cupcakes for Addy's Birthday... FUN and a HUGE mess!

Addy may or may not have tasted all the cupcakes... :P

Yummy and full of sprinkles!

Addy in front of her picture table

Sisters... Best Friends

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Addy is excited for presents!

A Rapunzzle dress

What every girl needs!

Taylor drew this picture all on her own and wrapped it for Addy for her birthday. Addison loved it and gave Taylor a huge hug! :)

So Sweet! :) Brought tears to my eyes...

Jackson...

2011-08-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

I have dropped the Mama ball... I feel bad... There has been so much going on with Addy that I blogged about all her issues, we have been busy with birthdays, well checks, being pregnant and tired and getting ready for homeschool and haven't updated anything on Jackson since his birthday! :( Poor guy... I also haven't updated on Payton... (will do that soon!) But it's never to late!

Jackson is almost 16 months old... He is hilarious and he thinks it too! He loves to laugh, scream, squeal and chase his sisters. It's so cute. All of them are close and have their sweet moments of playing but lately he and Payton have been playing very sweetly together. :)

Jackson started walking at 13 months old and just took off running! If the door is left open for a split second... he is gone! He loves to get outside. He love crayons... :) He loves to play with his cars. Jackson actually sits on the floor and pushes them around - it is so cute! He is a big eater and his weight/height issues aren't as big of a concern. Thank you Jesus! He gained over 2lbs and grew 2 inches in 2 months. :) He is still small but there isn't much concern about it now. Jackson is a very sweet boy and loves to cuddle with his Mama and Dada. He is going to be a Daddy's boy just like the girls are Daddy's girls. Very sweet. He may be a loan ranger in this family of girls but he is a blessing and will be a great brother!

It's A....

2011-08-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

So, we are expecting our 5th child and are just as excited as we were when we were expecting our first baby! With each baby I can't wait to find out what we're having... I've never really had a preference as long as the baby is healthy... then I'm happy! :) This is our first baby living close to family and its been a joy for me to be able to share this with my mom! :) I wanted to do something fun this time... sooo A Gender Reveal Party sounded like a great idea to me! We didn't want anything crazy b/c well we have a HUGE family and wanted to keep it simple. Our parents came and our siblings.... which is still 12 people not counting us! lol

We had our sonogram yesterday and we ask the Ultrasound Tech to please not let us see what the baby is or tell us and to write it in a card that we brought and seal it closed... cause I will look! She did as we asked and its did drive me nuts!!! I asked my SIL if she would do the honors and make a cake for us. So Teresa got the sealed envelope and kept our secret! She baked a cute cake and on the inside the icing would either be pink or blue to reveal the answer when we cut into the cake... CUTE HUH!!!!??? I loved this idea! We asked everyone to wear either Blue or Pink to represent what their guess was to what we were having. So... now to good part... pictures...

Gender Reveal Party

Of course I had to make a banner... :)

Boy or Girl?

Father and Son routing for a boy...

The BLUE team

The PINK team
(my SIL wore both colors since she knew what the answer really was...)

The Cake!

We know... what it is.... :) Yes I'm making you wait...

PINK! Its a GIRL!!!!

Baby Girl Fields

We are so blessed! :)

A list...

2011-07-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

Early morning thoughts running through my head... It's 8:00 and yes that's early to me!

1. I've gotta finish the laundry today and clean this awful house!

2. My closet organization is almost done... I had to break out the maternity clothes... yes I pack them up after each baby.. thinking that is not such a good idea anymore.. :) so I bought more hangers. I need to buy more.

3. Next I need to start organizing our school room. I need to buy a dining room table for it. It will be much easier to work with the girls that way. Craigslist.. please be good to me!

4. I'm tired. When you have 4 kids chances of sleeping in are slim... very slim. Everyone is still sleeping EXCEPT 1 cutie pie that decided I needed to be up at 7:30. She said "mommy I want you to wake up!" So I'm up...

5. Coffee Oh how I missed you! (I don't drink coffee during my 1st trimester)

6. I have to many projects that are almost done. I guess that's how I work... Oh well!

7. I'm excited to see a good friend tomorrow... She is due in 4 weeks with a baby girl. I'm going to make her some headbands. That makes me so happy!

8. Oh wow another sweet girl just woke up! :)

9. Now I've gotta get breakfast going...

10. I'm tired

11. I don't think the house is that dirty today... Let's play instead of clean! :)

Happy Friday!

Taylor's 5th Birthday

2011-07-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

So we are doing the girls birthdays a little different this year. First of all Taylor's B-day is in July, Addy's is in August and Payton's is in September all not quite a month apart. So its alot of work to have that many parties close together. I have done a big party and a birthday dinner (on their actual B-day) for them every year. This year... we decided on just the birthday dinner and we're taking them to Sea World at the end of August! :) This started because I'm pregnant and tired... LOL and I thought it would be the same cost from doing 1 party to take our family to Sea World... Boy was I wrong! Its more expensive than I thought... So it turned into all 3 girls Birthdays! The girls love the idea of Sea World so they are happy with this change!

So now to focus on Taylor after my explanation... Taylor turned 5 on July 13... it seems like yesterday we had our first baby. I know every mom says this and they truly mean it. Because the time that we have with our children is just to short! I absolutely LOVE the baby stage! (in case you couldn't guess that!) I LOVE the toddler stage of exploring and figuring things out (not the defiance... I could live w/o that!) I am LOVING this stage that Taylor is in. She is learning so much everyday with almost reading... writes very well, she gets concept of addition and subtraction and her memory just amazes me. She says the most hilarious things to us like she is a little adult. She is very sweet to her sisters and brother and gets the orderly method that I "try" for. I am excited for this next year of homeschooling her and watching her blossom even more!

Here are some pics from her birthday dinner. She wanted Gramma, Nana and Papa to be there and we invited her cousins. Lily, Nicholas, Abigail and Alex. Taylor's dinner request was mac n cheese and desert (she does not like cake!) was sugar cookies.

The Birthday Girl - 5 years old!

Nathan brought her flowers for her birthday

Addison

Jackson

No words... He's goofy! LOL

Taylor enjoying her cookie

Addison and Nora

The desert spread - Cookies and Lollipops Taylor's favs! And why bake when they are 2 for $5 at Publix!

Jacob

Payton

Taylor excited for presents!

She loves Rapunzel

and she really wanted this babydoll

Her most wanted gift of all a Rapunzel dress up dress

All decked out in her Rapunzel stuff!

I think Taylor felt very special and really enjoyed herself. I loved seeing that sparkle in her eye "this is my special day!"

Atlanta Bound, Swimming, Parties and The 4th of July

2011-07-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Long Post.... and TONS of pics!

So this trip came up very unexpectedly but also planned.... HUH?? So for July 4th weekend we had a trip planned to Atlanta to see our friends the Brownd's. It was Anna's 1st Birthday and Aaron's 2nd Birthday party. Almost 2 weeks before this trip Nathan's boss informed him that he was being loaned out to Atlanta for work and you leave in 2 days... What??? They usually do things like this on a volunteer basis... but I guess they didn't have enough volunteers. Nathan asked if the kids and I would pack up and go with him. So we did! We weren't sure how hotel arrangements would be and since all of this was on AT&T we thought it was worth a shot. Nathan called ahead of time and the hotel upgraded us to a suite for FREE! If we didn't have a suite I don't think we could of made it for 9 days in a hotel. Not so much for small space but because of bedtime. The kids need to go to bed a certain time and Nathan and I don't want to go to bed 8! So it all worked and God blessed me and the kids with a relaxing week and a half. Nathan had to work and worked long hours. It was some extra money in overtime and they covered food up to $40 a day. So our whole family ate for free! Breakfast was included with the hotel... which they were so nice to extend to me and the kids for free too! Like I said it was a FREE break from all the "house chores." We were able to visit alot of friends and the kids and I enjoyed 2 days at the pool. Very relaxing and I enjoyed every minute! I LOVED that a maid came in everyday and brough fresh linens and cleaned. It was probably my fav part!!!! After Nathan's work time it literally backed into our vacation that was planned and we stayed with the Brownd's.

We saw the Brownds just about everyday and had dinner with them when they got home from work. This is our first night we saw them... All the kiddos minus the babies on the couch :)

Aaron and Payton

Taylor

Aaron's birthday is June 26th and Anna's is June 29th. They are a year apart! On Aaron's birthday we celebrated at Adventure Kids and all of them LOVED it! Very cool place! Here is Addy riding one of their cars.

Jackson was all over that place!

Sandy and Anna

Birthday Girl and Birthday Boy

Jackson in the HUGE sandbox

Charlie

Payton

Addy

Taylor

Anna

Aaron's Birthday cake

It rained alot while we were there... we saw a double rainbow one evening... very cool!

Daddy, Payton and Taylor looking at rainbow.

So I was very brave one day (we did this twice!) and I took the kiddos to the pool! By myself... with 4 kids that cannot swim... kind of nerve racking. But it went great! They LOVED it and did very well and listened to the rules. :) It was fun!!!

Here are the girls all decked out ready for the pool!

They didn't leave the stairs! LOL Except with me (which was the rule) to many kids to keep my eye on! They each took turns "swimming" with me and it was alot of fun!

Jackson's first time in the pool! I bought this float but it was awful it didn't keep him up! So that is why he is tilted.

We worked on some school stuff too while we were there....

This is what happens when you wear your kids out! LOL She passed out!

I tried so hard... but well it just didn't work out as planned... LOL I was trying to get a good pic of how we had things set up. The hotel basically had two rooms. A living room and a bedroom. The bedroom had two double beds in it. One for Nathan and I and the other we put two girls in and the other on a palet on the floor and they rotated. Jackson was in a pack n play in the room too. So anywho this is the kids on the girls bed, and they didn't want to take a picture...

Fireworks! On July 3rd we went to downtown Cumming to see the fireworks! We haven't done this with the kids before. I've always wanted to but they start after their bedtime and the crowds... etc. So since we were on vaca we went for it! We met a group of our friends from our church there too... :)

Nathan and the kiddos

Group of great friends!

Jackson checking things out...

Sisterly love

Doing some sparklers

Elijah and Jackson

Watching the fireworks!

Addison's reaction was priceless... here is how she looks watching the fireworks and when they started she said "OMG!!!!"

Got Dirt?

2011-07-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

So this is what happens when you talk to your neighrbor outside a little to long and your kids have to entertain themselves....

Nathan says this picture of Payton belongs on a "Feed the Children" poster...

And straight to the tub they went! LOL

Addy and her closet...

2011-06-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

So you can read more about Addy's closet HERE and how Nathan wasn't helping the situation HERE (its at the bottom of the post)

So this is an on going issue.... and lately I've thrown in the towel because I'm tired and pregnant! LOL and I don't want to clean up their closet overflowed to their room again! OK! Well seriously you couldn't walk in their room without stepping on something. I did NOT take a before picture on purpose because it was way to embarrassing. I'm sure all of us go through days like this where it looks like a tornado hit the toys... well atleast in my house it does and just say it does in yours to make me feel better. :)

So to control the clutter/chaos/hoarding... A good friend of mine (Thank you Jamie!!!) had a suggestion that I give Addy a basket or something to keep her "special items" in. What a good idea! DUH! Why didn't I think of that... so... we'll see how this goes. I'm sure it will overflow (with Addison) But the purpose is to give her a spot something that is all hers, which is important in a big family.

So I cleaned out her closet (and room because it was that bad) AGAIN... sigh.... and told her we can play in our room but we have to return the toys to the playroom. And if she had something special to her she can keep that in this basket in her closet. I gave a basket to Taylor too. Addy looked at me with her big blue eyes and said... "WOW that's a great idea Mommy!" and gave me the biggest hug! :) So that made her day! LOL and mine! :)

Addy excited with her basket for her special stuff!

And Payton was there too so I had to get a pic of this cutie pie!

We'll see how long this last :) Here's to hoping!

Addison's endoscopy

2011-06-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Wrote this the day of her procedure 6/15/11 but waited to post until we had "answers"

WOW! What a day... Nathan and I were so emotionally and mentally exhausted after the procedure! I took a good nap that day! Addison did great! She is such a trooper! She did get nervous some but she never cried. Nathan was able to go back with her until she was asleep. (I can't because I'm pregnant but I'm glad that it was Nathan) That is hard seeing your child be put to sleep. The procedure took about 30 minutes. She woke up well and was alert and drank a ton! With that and her vitals were great we could leave after 30 minutes. Addy did great the rest of the day. She slept alot and ate, besides being really tired she was back to her old self!

The DR didn't expect to see anything while he was in there because everything that could be the issue is microscopic. Which the DR didn't see any damage and now we wait for the biopsy results and we should get those on Tuesday.

UPDATE: Well the biopsy showed everythis is NORMAL!!!! Praise God! We are so thankful that there is nothing serious the matter with Addison. She is still have her symptoms and we are waiting to hear from the DR as to what the next step should be. Thank you EVERYONE for your prayers!

Nathan's 30th Birthday!

2011-06-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Nathan turned 30 on June 7th! I had planned on doing a big surprise party for him even though I knew he wouldn't want that. Nathan doesn't like to be the center of attention... for a party like that. But I was going to do it anyway! :) Until.... the opportunity for a new guitar came up. Nathan has wanted a new guitar for YEARS! Has shopped and looked but would never buy one... even when we had the money. He has a hard time buying something big like that for himself. So when this opportunity came up I said GET IT! Or I will... so I did... I told him I was planning on doing a party and instead I knew he would prefer this guitar... he said "YEAH!" LOL So that was his big treat for his big birthday. Nathan's parents came in town and his dad took him golfing. I made him his favorite meal for dinner, Mexican lasagna and invited his bro and their fam over to celebrate. Nathan LOVES icecream. He eat a big bowl evernight... (he will argue that fact but its true!) So instead of cake we had ice cream sundaes! YUM-O!!!

The Birthday Boy

Everyone enjoying their sundaes

Payton LOVES icecream!

I couldn't get Addy to stop eating to take a pic!

Taylor eating a sugar cookie cause that is the only sweet that she will eat!

Nicholas lovin some icecream

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

I am so blessed that God gave me Nathan for my husband. Nathan is amazing! He is very patient (with me), caring, loving and he never complains. We have been together for 10 1/2 years and married for 8 years. It has been wonderful watching him grow into a father... a great daddy! I always knew that he would be! Nathan has always desired a big family which is an amazing quality to me... he is the first one to encourage me when I'm overwhelmed. He is very proactive with the kids... from diapers to baths and especially playing! We love our daddy very, very MUCH! Everyday when Nathan gets home from work.... the girls scream with delight and jump all over him and Jackson crawls and squeals to him... so very cute!

WE ARE BLESSED!

WE LOVE YOU! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

UPDATE: 6/20/2011 A perfect example of how awesome my husband is... on his day, Father's Day, I was having a "pregnancy day" feeling very nascious and light headed... he took care of me and kiddos without ever complaining. He was just happy us all being together and no "work" needing to be done! LOL He is so caring to all of our needs and I appreciate him more and more everyday!

We went to church in the evening. (the church that we are visiting only has evening services) and the kids did some cute crafts for Father's Day. Here is Taylor's

So CUTE! It cracked us up! Then on the way home from church... completely out of the blue... Addy speaks up and says "Daddy, You are the best Father!" That was so sweet and really blessed Nathan (and me!) These kids are so precious! :)

Addy Update

2011-06-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

So I finally got Addison's blood test results back. She shows a stage 1, minimal allergic reaction to egg whites and wheat. WHEAT! I said abruptly to the nurse that called me I said do you realize that is in everything! She said Yes mam' of course she knows.... The GI DR definately wants to go through with the endoscopy which is scheduled for this Wednesday the 15th. He will be able to see if there are alot of white blood cells that could be due to an allergy and if there is then we will have to go to an allergist. They will also be doing biopsies and testing for other things, like Chrones and Celiac. Through out all of this I really haven't had any idea of what could be going on.... nothing. I just pray for her. Hoping for an answer and for nothing like Chrones disease. So I was kind of in shock that something showed in her blood work. (which by the way this blood test was suppose to be done during the first set of blood work back in March! It got left out for some reason!) anywho... The shock has kind of wore off and we will do whatever we have to in our lives to adjust if needed and I'm sure we will learn a TON. We are believeing for healing for her. And she actually hasn't gotten sick in about 2 weeks!

Just an update as to where we are at. Please pray for her leading up to this procedure and on Wednesday! We really appreciate it!

A cute thing that happen today. I know people have been praying for Addy and we feel the prayers. It blesses me so much when someone asks how she is doing. Well today I learned that she is on a prayer list of one of Nathans Aunt's. I saw her today and she immediately asked me about her and gave us a beautiful prayer blanket that was made specifically for her and prayed for her. (something they do in the catholic church) Now we are not catholic but this still blessed me. I gave it to Addy and told her that this was her special blanket that some ladies made and prayed for her healing for her tushy (Addy says her tushy hurts when she is having a flare up) Addy loved it and looked at it we talked about whats on it... its very cute with ballerinas and flowers on it. We talked about how Jesus was healing her and then she looked at me with her big blue eyes and said "my tushy feels better!" I said it does! She said "yes so I don't need this anymore here...." and walked off! So cute and to see the faith in the eyes of a child! I love it! :)

Baby Oh Baby!

2011-06-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

That's right Baby #5 is on the way! Some people think its wonderful and others think we're crazy... sometimes I think we're crazy! But I know that God is the Creator of LIFE and He is the Giver and we worship Him and praise Him for this new life He blessed us with! We are so very excited and feel incredible blessed! We don't take this opportunity lightly and know that our sweet little one was created with a purpose a... destiny.

So I'm about 8 weeks and due January 17th 2012. Wow.... that is different for us all the girls birthdays are in the summer and Jackson's is in April. So this will be different having a newborn in the winter.

Here's our first sonogram picture....

Now I REALLY have to get caught up on my scrapbooks... or there is just no hope! lol I do a 1 year albulm for each baby... and I'm working on Addison's still. One day... right! ?

Just Because...

2011-06-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Just because my kids are so darn cute! :) Here they are from a day that we were playing outside...

Rapunzel, Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair!

2011-05-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

The girls are obsessed with the movie Tangled. Its Taylor's new favorite princess. She no longer wants to be Aurora she wants to be Rapunzel. That is a defining moment in this little girls life! :) The girls role play alot and play very well together (most of the time) Sometimes their creativity trips me out. I was changing sheets and they decided that the fited sheets would be the perfect thing for really long hair. So the put the fitted sheet on their head and were instantly Rapunzel! It was so cute. They twirled together and sang the song from the movie. Their hair got all tangled together (the sheets got twisted together from the twirling) and they fell down laughing! This was so cute!

Taylor with her Rapunzel long hair

Taylor and Addy dancing together

Twirling

Tangled!

** UPDATE on Addy's hoarding and her closet.... so its still an issue. We (I) clean it out ever few days or sometimes I just shut the door. So the other night we're putting the kids to bed. I usually lay Jackson down while Nathan is starting our bedtime routine with the girls. He helps them clean up their room. So I hear him say "just put it in your closet, Addy" WHAT!?! So I found out that he is encouraging this as I am trying to keep it clean! We just laughed b/c its been a cycle of craziness for sometime and he isn't helping!!!!

Jackson's 1st Birthday Party

2011-05-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

WARNING: A TON OF PICTURES!

Ok... So I think I had a to much fun planning Jackson's party! (just a little bit) I really enjoy making decorations and making our kids birthdays special. So Jackson being our first boy and Nathan's love for sports... what do you think the theme was.... An Allstar party! You got it! Complete with an obstacle course, sports set up in the backyard... and cracker jacks! :)

Table set up in the foyer

Birthday banners and cupcakes - Thanks Rebecca for making the cupcakes! :)

more banners

Wouldn't be complete without an ESPeN banner

Obstacle course set up

Some of the sports set up... we had soccer, baseball, basketball and football

Me and my cuz Tina

There's the birthday boy!

Baby Anna. Jackson and Anna are exactly 2 months apart :) The Brownds came from GA for his party! What great BF we have!

Babies playing

Kiddos playing

Aaron playing football

Batters Up!

Aaron playing basketball

Taylor enjoying the food

Jackson cracks me up! He lifts his legs off the grown b/c of the feeling of the grass

Blake doing the obstacle course

Jackson did the obstacle course too.

Addy

Robbie (her boyfriend) and Rebecca my cuz

Jackson opening his presents

My cuz Amy and Aunt Cindy

Jackson's ready for cake

maybe NOT!

We had a blast! We greatly appreciate everyone who came out and made this day extra special! We love you!

I've been MIA...

2011-05-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

So I need to catch up.... life has been crazy full of DR appts, painting the house and planning Jackson's 1st Birthday party. So I haven't posted Jackson's monthly pictures.... So I'm going to catch up in one post! Makes it easier for me!!! :)

Jackson 11 months old

He is as cute as ever... Jackson started to cruise the furniture the day that he turned 11 months old. Still NO TEETH!!! LOL He loves table food and loves to eat. Very happy natured... loves to eat crayons! Jackson is getting into more stuff... specifically the girls homeschool stuff, that is very frustrating! I knew it would be hard to homeschool with a baby but GEEZE! Still a ton of fun and loves to cuddle!

Jackson 12 months!!!! He is ONE!!!!

Cruising the furniture really good now, will stand alone. Hasn't tempted walking yet and STILL NO TEETH!!! Says "mama" and "dada" shakes his head no. Screams when he wants to eat. Hasn't attempted the baby sign language yet... LOL Loves his toy cars that we got him for his birthday. We had Jackson's well check and he is below 0 percentile for his weight and height... he's actually been loosing weight. They sent us for blood work and we did that. Everything came back normal. We are having to give him pediasure 2-3 a day. Increase his calories. We go back in about 2 weeks for a weight check and will probably have to see a nutritionist. But he is a happy go lucky baby! Just tiny! :)

More on Addy

2011-05-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

So we had the urologist appointment last week. No real answers... I think we're more frustrated actually. We go back to Children's on the 23rd for more test. They are doing a renal scan and a VCUG. Basically her kidney and her ureter are both enlarged. They are doing these test to see if there is a blockage. The renal scan is to check her bladder. They have to place a catheter and put die in her bladder and see what is going on there. The VCUG is an IV that they will also put die and watch it travel to the kidney and this way they can see how it is fuctioning and if there is a blockage and how bad. This could be as simple as something that fixes itself over time or something that could require surgery if there is a bad blockage. The DR did say this is a common thing that kids are born with. We are praying and believeing it fixes itself!!!! AMEN!!!

Now the frustrating part... the Urologist DR said that her diarrhea and vomitting is NOT from this kidney thing.... HUH???? Thats why we are here!!! He said that is why we were going to the GI DR. Although the GI DR told me that we found out the problem and no need to follow up with him! WHAT!? URGH!!! So back at square one??? I guess.... I need to call the GI and ask a whole bunch of questions. The Urologist said that we had a sonogram b/c of her issues and just happen to find this with her kidney. OK???

Addy Update

2011-04-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

If you missed what is going on with our Sweet Pea you can read here and here

So... I forgot to tell you that we had the Upper GI appointment and the Ultrasound for Addison. It was last week on the 12th.. my birthday. :) We spent 6 hours at the childrens hospital. It was nice to have just Addison all to myself... does that count as quality time at the hospital??? :) Make the best with what we got, right! So Addison did great.. I didn't expect much less. These sort of things don't seem to bother her at all. Like filling 6 vials of blood without a peep. For the ultrasound she laid still and did great, which lasted about 20 minutes. The upper GI took the rest of the time. I had no idea what to expect. She did great for each procedure. Basically she had to drink a special drink that she didn't like... but drank it anyway. And they do a series of x-rays to watch how the drink goes from your throat to your stomach and they had to see it reach her large intestine. Everyone is different so there is no telling how long it could take. They would take an x-ray and say we've gotta wait. Each wait time was about 30 minutes and they did 5 sets of x-rays. Yeah that was a fun day! LOL So anywho... I had to wait atleast 4 business days to get the results. I just got them this morning. The result is the blood work is normal, the upper GI is normal. The ultrasound showed that there is a problem with her kidney, her right kidney. The tube that is connected to the kidney, the ureter isn't draining urine properly. So we have to go see a urologist. I've already made the appointment and it is May 10. Why on earth do we have to wait so long to see specialist? That is all the information that I have. I'm sure we will learn a whole lot more from the urologist. I'll keep you updated!

Oh and Addy got an icecream for being so good at the hospital!

Getting Your Heart Right

2011-04-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today my sweet Taylor asked Jesus to be her Savior. It was so precious and sweet. We have been praying since Taylor was born that our children would know the Lord at a young age. I am so thankful to God!!! This made my day!!!

Let me back up a little. When Taylor was 2 years old during Christmas I was reading a book to her about how the candy cane stands for Jesus. I told her then that Jesus could live in her heart she just had to ask. She immediately responded with "Jesus in my heart, Amen" It was so sweet and precious. I was beyond excited! When I told Nathan about it he didn't feel like she really was saved b/c she was to young to know anything different. I felt differently because I was there and heard her heart and saw her when she prayed on her own. Maybe she was to young I don't know... after today I feel like she really was saved then. But we will probably tell her both stories b/c they are equally important. So now back to today... we've been talking about Easter and reading stories in our homschool and Taylor has been asking me sooo many questions and really trying to understand Jesus dying on the cross and His resurrection. Well as I was explaining it all to her... She asked if we would go to heaven when we die and said Yes if Jesus is in your heart. She responded with Oh Good cause I have Jesus in my heart! I told her that we have to pray and ask Jesus and she insisted that she had already prayed and had Jesus living in her heart. But then told me that she would pray with my anyway. It was so cute and sweet! She seemed to really know what we were talking about and was very matter of fact about it. She was very proud of herself and told her Nana on the phone and her Daddy when he came home from work. I'm so proud of her and so thankful to God that He sent His Son to die for us so that we are saved by His grace!

Almost...

2011-04-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

We are almost there... so close I hope I don't jinx it by talking about it... Payton has shown progress in potty training!!! YAY!!!! Its been a long road for her too. I tried before Christmas and she didn't really show any interest. Tried again for 2 weeks and she didn't progress... any! Its so frustrating. Payton would literally tell me... no I want a Pull-Up! So anywho... trying I leave the girls bottomless. So she has been bottomless and yesterday she did pretty good. She pooped twice in the potty, she has done this before and then go back to not going in the potty. So I didn't get to excited... but of course we did the Big Girl Potty Dance (I'll show you one day :) and gave her some M&M's and go about our day. Well today she did great! No accidents at all!!!! And she peed in the potty on her own. ALOT! I am so excited and proud of her. I knew one day she would just decide to go... just wasn't sure when that day was going to show up! Well.... I think it was today.

Big Girl Payton

Side note: I have to write this b/c it cracks me up... so potty training Payton and her earning rewards... Addison thinks she deserves one too... after all she pees and poops in the potty to right? LOL So anytime Addy hears me starting to praise Payton... (she can even be in the other room) Addy SWOOSHES to her bathroom and goes and comes out I want M&M's!!! It is hilarious! She cracks me up! Oh and her closet is full... again... sigh

Socks...

2011-04-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

Yes I am blogging about socks... Laundry is a daunting task with 4 kids... I think on average I do 12 loads a week. It's alot... and to have to match socks.... Socks I hate SOCKS! With 3 girls very close in age... this is a very hard task to match all the socks. Socks don't have tags with sizes in them and it was hard to figure out who's was who's without having the girls try them on. Actually its mainly in the winter that we use socks (& this way I only have to worry about this for a few months) I prefer sandles and crocs on the girls b/c well they are easy and they can put them on themselves. Sooo... I have avoided this issue for a very long time. When Taylor or Addy would out grow a pair I would just move them to the next kids drawer.. that was easy... but I can't give Jackson pink socks... so it was time to clean them out. Payton who is 2 1/2 years old still had baby socks... yes infant socks still in her drawer! It was awful! So infant up to a 4 year old worth of socks! I could figure out the sock madness but if Nathan ever put socks on the girls he would always grab a pair that was to small! LOL I cleaned it all out and bought my girls some new socks that actually fit! Addison and Payton are the same size which is easy now b/c I don't have to seperate the sizes for them and that was the main issue.

And seriously??? Where do the socks go? Why do we ALL always lose one sock? It's crazy! So yes socks... simple but madness! And thats my life! And I love it! :)

Never to young to be a Hoarder

2011-03-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok... I am really at a loss. I don't know what to think about this or do. Is it just a phase? Will she stop on her own? Will she be on the TV show Hoarders? Let me back up a little bit. Addy loves her "stuff" as she calls it. It started out small (at least now I think that) she "collected" things and put them in her back pack. She would fill this thing so full and heavy that she literally would fall over wearing it on her back or couldn't get up! Nathan and I would laugh about it and she actually had the biggest back pack out of all 3 girls and how ironic that was. There is now rhyme or reason to what she collects that day... at least to me. It seems whatever toy or book strikes her fancy that day she would hold onto it... in her back pack. Well... I guess that back pack got to small for her... It grew to where she would put her stuff in her bed. We would remove it every night for obvious reasons... talk about a temper tantrum! She hated this... Well I guess she thought she was getting smart or something... cause its no longer her bed that held her treasures it turned in to her closet.

Please keep in mind that this is VERY MILD to what she has collected before... I've cleaned out her closet 4 times now.

It has grown to not only toys or books or blankets that she likes... but she is taking DVDs, my books, shoes and even food! And putting them in her hoarding temple! Laugh... I know its funny! So... we have cleaned up gold fish from her closet and the most recent... popcorn. She had taken bags of unopened popcorn out of the pantry and wrapped them in a dishtowel and placed it in her closet! REALLY??? I get why she might take my stuff. She likes it because I like it. But food!? Funny thing... she knows EXACTLY where everything is and when we are looking for an item... she'll say "Oh... its in my closet!" So we clean it out every couple of days.

Here is the booger with her stuff!

So again... She is a smart cookie, I guess she thinks we're not going to catch on... Once we cleaned out her closet a couple of times... or maybe it was because she thought the closet was too small and she needed more room, because she still puts her stuff in the closet... Well she started putting stuff at the end of their bed. So not only do we have a collection constantly growing in her closet it is at the end of her bed as well.

So I made her help me clean it up today. I guess it's not that big of a deal... The main thing that bothers me about this is the toys are hidden and not available for Taylor or Payton to play with too. I really, really hope this is a phase!!!!

Pulling himself up...

2011-03-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Big boy! Jackson pulled himself up to his feet! (on 3/2/11) With being side tracked with sick kids I didn't post about it... but I still got a picture!

Payton was excited for brother and showed him how the toy worked. This was actually right before I cut his hair

Jackson 10 months old

2011-03-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

10 months old!??? I think I say this every month... but really? Seriously??? Where does the time go. Jackson will be 1 in two months. Wow... I've been planning his party and having a blast doing it. I love making the kiddos B-day parties special :) Jackson is all over the place and gets in to everything! His favorite places to crawl are the pantry and knock over all the juice or soda bottles that are on the floor in there. The door to the pantry was off for a while to be painted... which is when Jackson discovered what a fun room it is! His other favorite places to navigate to are Taylor & Addison's room or my bathroom. Silly boy! Jackson is alot of fun and laughs at his sisters. No teeth yet... (Addy was a late teether too) FINALLY sleeping through the night! :) He might wake up once or at 6 am. I finally had it and let him cry it out... literally took like 2 nights and he didn't really cry... Hmmm why did I wait so long??? As Nathan would say.. "b/c he's your precious baby boy!" He is more interested in table food than baby food now. Jackson is such a blessing and my sweet boy!

Update on Addy

2011-03-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Wow... I've been MIA... We've had alot going on... I think this is the first time I sat down in 3 weeks! LOL not really! Just life has been going on... The biggest thing is an update on our Sweet Pea, Addison. I collected the 3 samples (and that was a TON of fun!) I was secretly hoping that "it" would happen when I wasn't home and Nathan would have to do it! No such luck for me! In fact all 3 times "it" happened Nathan wasn't home at all so I had to go at it solo! Thats what I get! LOL Anywho... her test came back normal! Which I was happy to hear but that also worried me because she was sick the day that I got the results! So I waited so patiently for 3 days for the DR to call me back and they refered us to a GI dr. I called yesterday to schedule an appointment and I could wait until April 6 or they had a cancelation for today. So after some thought... hmmm if I go tomorrow then I go with 4 kids??? But I did it anyway! I was to anxious and ready to get the ball rolling on this thing! So we went! The DR seemed a bit puzzled b/c each sickness usually last for 24 hours - maybe 48 hours. If was something of the obvious (like IBS) it would last longer. He has somethings that he wants to rule out first. So we have some test that we have to do ... which I knew that was coming. We have to get blood work done to check her white blood cells and food sensitivity. She also has to get a upper GI and a sonogram on her abdomen. Then those results will give us the answers to what we have to do next. There was a lab at Nemours (the Children's hospital) so we already did the blood work today after her appointment and let me just tell you what a trooper Addy was! She didn't cry at all! She just sat there and watched as they filled 6 vials of blood! :) All the kiddos did really good today I was so proud of them (I was very prepared too with snacks and quiet activites for them) They all got rewarded with a ring pop as a surprise!!! So I will keep updating as we know more... Thank you everyone for your prayers for our baby girl!

Here is the cutie... This is her on any given normal day... being silly! :)

Jackson's First Haircut

2011-03-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

Nathan and I have been putting off cutting Jackson's hair. We wanted him to have long "boyish" hair... but truth is his hair was a mess!!!! It was all different lenths and mostly looked like this...

BEFORE:

So we figure we have to cut it and get it even then we can let it grow to a "boyish" long hair look.

AFTER:

He is sooo cute! Now I can really see those baby blues! I wonder now why we waited so long. Nathan hasn't seen it yet :) I cut it while he was at work.

Hilton Head Part 2

2011-03-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

We spent most of the day at the lighthouse so here are more pics from that... These rocking chairs were so cute and fun. They looked out to the harbour and lighthouse.

Addison loves the beach. She talks about going all the time. So she was excited to be there. She just stared out at the water and was taking it all in. She told her Nana (Boo) that she wanted to go to the other side of the beach and Boo asked her well how would you get there and Addy pointed to some canoes that were nearby and said we just take one of those boats and paddle to get there! Smart Cookie!!! LOL Very cute!

This is the view that Addy was so intently looking and and wanting to cross the water to the other side in a canoe :)

Nathan and Taylor - Canoes in the background

Papa, Nana & Addy

US :)

Ben, Teresa, Lily, Abigail and Nicholas

The day we left we visited the beach. It was a gorgeous day and we built sand castles!

I love this picture!

We had a wonderful time! We played tons of games, saw some of Hilton Head, relaxed and enjoyed our family!!!! Best Vacation!! Wanna go back when its warm!!! In May Carl!!! :) Gotta LOVE ME!!!

Hilton Head Part 1

2011-03-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting to post about our Hilton Head trip... Jeeesh! You 'd think I had a house full of sick kids for over a week at how I have gotten NOTHING done! ;) So... I mentioned that we were going out of town for 4 days and everything it took to pack for our family... but its all worth it!!!

WARNING.... TONS OF CUTE PICS!!!!

My in-laws invited us and m BIL and his fam to Hilton head for the week. HECK YEAH!!!! Let me say that I fell in love with Hilton Head. It is beautiful!!! If you ever get a chance to go - GO!!! Absolutely gorgeous!!! Even in February. I would recommend that you go when its warmer... (we want to go back in May and trying to convince Carl... Boo is on board ;) So... Carl!!!!! ;)

Here is Nathan with his parents and our cute kiddos :)
A pic of Nathan with each of our girls...

There was this cute HUGE chess set at this resort that we looked at (we didn't stay there) the girls loved it... that was fun and cute!

We "looked" at the beach on our first day there... literally stood there at the edge and didn't touch the sand! LOL it was very cold, windy and rainy our first day there.

The girls really enjoyed this piano at the resort that we looked at but didn't stay at!!! LOL

Seriously??? Can they be any cuter??? A day spent looking at the shops.

When Ben and Teresa and their family came we had fun at a park complete with a picnic, valentines party and looking at the light house and some of the big boats. This was Jackson's first time in the swing. He didn't like it. I was shocked all 3 girls LOVE the swing... Look at his face...LOL Silly boy!

Swings and kisses with Daddy

Addy is so hard to photograph cause she is always on the go!

My sweet Doodle Bug

I really enjoyed taking these pictures of Jackson with the beautiful background...

Ugh...

2011-03-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

Today... I am so mentally tired. With the kids getting over the flu. Thank you Jesus that is over with! Payton and Jackson still have bad coughs but no more fevers! Today is the 3rd day with no fever. Well yesterday.... Addy wakes up from her nap and starts to have diaherra she threw up 6 times. FUN! She is actually a really good sick kid. So during one of her trips to the bathroom she passed what looked like blood clots and when I wiped her there was nothing but bright red blood! Scare me!!! So I did some research online and ended up calling the DR, who of course told me to go to the ER. I had to wait until Nathan got home from work, he had to work late last night. I was really worried and scared. You see Addy has had this diaherra thing about every 3-5 weeks it seems, for the last 6 months???? Nathan and I had decided if it happens again that we should take her to the DR. Well it happened again and much worse. So I take Addy to the ER and we get there at 9 pm. It is crowded! And I mean not enough seats crowded... awful. Why does the ER have to be so awful??? So we waited and waited... people are getting antsy and rude. I'm getting antsy and feel like being rude. But I wasn't. So after waiting for about 3 hours and contemplating leaving.... I was surronded by PEACE a feeling that can only come from God. Alot of people were praying for us. So I left! I really felt like she could wait until the morning ( I made sure that the bleeding had stopped before we left and it had ) I also didn't think we would be seen for like another 12 hours and by then her DRs would be open so why not go home and sleep and see the DR in the morning... so we did just that! We saw the DR this morning and she seemed concerned and wants me to get 3 different stool samples (meaning a sample from three different poops) and then they will do lab work. She thinks its more than constipation since there is vomitting with it. So for now I have to be on top of and make sure I know when she "goes" and get it in time! FUN!

Painting the Kitchen Red

2011-02-28T18:15:00.000-08:00

I have been a painting machine!!!! Its alot of work but the kitchen is DONE! I still have to continue and finish the dining room area (its all 1 room) but lets not focus on the undone area... lets focus on what is done!!!! I will get there eventually.

But first you have to see the BEFORE pics....

and now the AFTER pics...

(ignore the messy pantry... we haven't put the door back up its in the garage drying... I painted it white and bought the CUTEST doorknob for it :)

Its amazing what paint can do! I LOVE IT!!!!! We have several things that we want to do, it all takes time and finding bargains! I am in love with my kitchen!!! It feels so warm and cozy, make me want to have a bunch of friends over and drink some coffee and talk! :) I guess it should make me feel like cooking... HA!