Mommy-daughter rest time

Abigail just isn't feeling very well, and when we came inside this afternoon, she asked me to sit on the couch and hold her. Before I knew it, she was sound asleep! (Besides the enjoyment of snuggling her, I must admit to enjoying the unexpected time with a new library book, as well!) When she finally woke up, she looked around all bright-eyed and announced "I want more banana!" First things first, after all. :-)

(Although her eyes are partially open in the picture, she really was asleep -- she was just rustling around in her sleep due to the camera flash!)

Playing in the rain

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The kids spent an hour outside in the rain today and had lots of fun; then they came in for a warm bath and some hot chocolate.

This was the first time Abigail has really played in the rain, which is a special moment in our house -- we love rain-play!

My apologies for the seasick nature of the recording...Baker kept trying to climb over me to see out of the window...!

Just two "ninutes"

Abigail was negotiating some outside time today and told me she wanted to go outside for "one ninute". When she saw that the outlook was favorable, she quickly amended to "I want go outside for TWO ninutes!" Besides the fact that kids' mispronunciations are just plain cute, we love that her vocabulary is such that she can express the time concept, even if it's a little off. :-) The fluid in her ear, by the way, has now progressed to an ear infection...so she's on antibiotic. Hopefully it will all clear up before we fly next month...besides the fact that we are anxious to have her back to two hearing aids. She and Bruce stayed home from church tonight, but David and I went. We played pirate ship all the way home -- i.e. our car was the pirate ship and we had to escape the bad guys -- we had a blast! Who knew a twenty-minute drive could be so much fun?! One of the things we love about parenting young kids is that, if you take the time to slow down to their pace, it keeps you fun and reminds you how exciting the little things in life can be!

A few observations from daily life

A five year old and a three year old can make a royal mess in the short time it takes their mother to switch laundry loads.

A five year old can spend three times as long explaining why he can't pick up the mess as it actually takes him to just do it.

A white dog will find (and roll in) EVERY patch of wet gray paint left in the yard, and it takes an as-yet-unknown amount of time for it to wear off.

When the freezer dies, the food inside starts to smell funny in a very short amount of time.

When a quiet moment of escape is needed, but there is no "good" chocolate in the house, a square of baker's chocolate will suffice!

(Graphics courtesy of www.patswebgraphics.com )

Happy birthday, Amanda!

Happy 12th birthday, Amanda!

We love you lots!

Our house's new look...

Our house had a makeover!

Before...

...AFTER!

Our previously pinkish-beigish-neutral colored house is now a medium gray with white trim and deep plum accents (front door and shutters). After much deliberation, hours spent poring over our Sherwin-Williams color deck, dozens of phone calls to my brother Matthew (our resident SW guy), two visits to SW stores, one visit for color-matching purposes to another store (that shall remain unnamed), eight SW color-to-go samples painted on boards and moved around the house many times, and hundreds of reminders to myself that I was NOT going to stress over the decision, we have EXACTLY what I pictured when we started this venture!

I am SO happy with the results.

Thanks for all of your help and patience, Matthew...!

...more pictures in our photo gallery.

Abigail moments

...kiss from a princess

...all tuckered out

David's party etc...

David's 5th birthday...

Happy 5th birthday, David!

David had lots of fun on his fifth birthday -- but Mommy fell asleep last night before posting a birthday blog!

He got lots of neat presents and had fun playing with his friends at his party...enjoyed pizza for his birthday dinner and liked having Grandpa and Grandma here to share the fun.

More pictures in our photo gallery...

Five years ago...

At midnight it will be exactly five years since my water broke and David began his unexpectedly-early entrance into the world...it seems so long ago, and yet at the same time, it amazes me that our little guy is going to be five!

Side note: Bruce is home safe and sound and I am very glad to have him back!

A trip to the Grand Canyon ain't so grand

Well, just a hodge-podge of info tonight -- first, the title of this blog is referring to Bruce's doomed trip to the Canyon...he has never seen it, so he planned to take advantage of a free afternoon today to drive out there. Not very far into the four-hour trip, however, his rental car got a flat tire. By the time he finished monkeying around with it, he wouldn't have had much daylight at the Canyon, so he scrapped it and went back to his hotel. I am disappointed for him, although if one segment of his travel had to be canceled, I'm glad it was today's trip to the Canyon and not tomorrow's trip back home!

My cardiologist appt went well today. A nice surprise was that the timing worked out for my parents to meet us at the hospital, where we all parked on the top level of the parking garage and they played with the kids while I had a (peaceful!) appt. To summarize the appt, the arrythmia and abnormal EKG do not appear to be caused by anything that requires further intervention -- it's just 'one of those things'. I have to finish out my month with the heart monitor and then I will see the cardiologist annually to make sure nothing untoward develops.

Grandma 'Nota made John Deere quilts for each of the kids, and they were so excited! I'm sure they'll sleep better than ever before underneath their own yellow and green!

Abigail's first three years

Every year around the kids' birthdays, I like to look at how they've grown from year to year -- I figured I'd better finish Abigail's post before we get to David's birthday!

2004

2005

2006

2007

This is not a job for the faint of heart...

Today was one of those days when I look at my children and wonder where my darlings went, and what monsters are inhabiting their bodies?! They spent the whole day being grouchy and naughty and not very sorry about it! I am glad I started off my day by asking the Lord to help all that I did in the day ahead to be done in love...little did I know then how much my resolve was going to be tested!!! One funny story from the day, though...we were grocery shopping and had to walk in front of an older gentleman to get the item we needed. On the way back through, David (Bill's grandson through and through!) had to stop and talk to the guy, and tell him about the big plane we're going to take to Uncle Jared's wedding, etc etc. About that time, apparently the gentlemen needed to...ahem...break wind, which resulted in David promptly plugging his nose and declaring, "Peeee-yew! Something smells stinky!" I was left to try to usher him quickly out of the aisle, all the while trying to hush him, while he kept trying to explain to me (rather loudly, of course) that something smelled bad. The look on his face was complete innocence -- he was not trying to be precocious, he just wanted me to know what was going on...! Motherhood...definitely not a job for the faint of heart!

Happy 30th birthday, Sarah!

Happy birthday to the second of our childhood trio to hit 30!

I've always been happy when we hit your birthday because it meant mine was next. :-)

Happy 30th birthday, Sarah!

Missing Daddy

Bruce left this morning for a business conference in Arizona and we are all keenly feeling his absence...

I printed out a small US map for each of the kids so that they can see where Daddy is (David is really into knowing which state everybody is in), and this picture is of him taking his nap this afternoon, with his "Daddy-map" tucked in close!

I always assumed that the longer Bruce and I were married, the more matter-of-fact any separation would be, but I am finding the opposite to be true...I feel any separation more deeply the longer we are together. Guess it's all part of "the two shall become one"...regardless, I miss him like crazy and it's only been thirteen hours...and three nights until we get him back...sigh!

Snuggling my babies...

"Cleaning and dusting can wait 'til tomorrow,

For babies grow up, I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs, and dust, go to sleep...

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."

~Author unknown, at least to me!

I just had the exquisite pleasure of snuggling both of my kids to sleep for naptime -- they don't usually nap anymore, but we've all been dragging this week (understandably) and so to nap they went. David cuddled against me and fell asleep after we read a couple of books, and then Abigail (who does not usually like to be cuddled when she's tired) didn't want to let go of me, so I rocked her to sleep...and then rocked her for quite a while after she fell asleep, just for the sheer joy of my littlest one tucked into my lap.

This is a pleasure that I wish I had indulged in more often from the very beginning, but it took a few years of motherhood to begin to get some insight into just how fast our babies grow up. It seems that the days just fly by and if I don't make the time to have "moments" with the kids, those moments aren't likely to happen on their own.

Of course, while I rocked my babies this afternoon, the cobwebs didn't quiet down, nor did the dust go to sleep, so both kids are in bed now so that I can tackle the laundry...but I am warm and fuzzy with the joy of the last hour!

We've made it to Thursday!

Well, we made it through the dentist, the hematologist, the hearing checks, the pediatrician, and now we are to Thursday. This morning someone is coming to repair (hopefully he won't have to replace) the windshield in my van, because on the way home Monday, a rock flew into it and crushed a small circle and made a pretty little starburst around it. Just in case we were bored. :-) Abigail got a good report overall at her 3 year old checkup yesterday. She is 27 lbs and 35 1/2 inches tall and cute as a button! We are just waiting for that fluid in her ear to dissipate so that she can wear the HA in that ear again. Off I go to get ready -- the repair guy is scheduled to show up between 8-12, which probably means 11:55...but if I don't get dressed and ready, he's guaranteed to be here at 8:01!!!

David's hearing surprises all of us

At yesterday's hearing check, we were flabbergasted to find that the hearing in one of David's ears showed huge improvement -- the loss is now mild/moderate (no longer severe)! The other ear was pretty much stable.

On the one hand, we always have rather mixed feelings with a report like this, because until we get their implants, we are riding the roller coaster of the unknown. At the same time, we know that the longer they have their natural hearing, the better/easier it is for them, so we are grateful for this report. Besides, with their uncle's wedding only a month away, now is not the time that we want them to be implanted!

This improvement may just last for a week or two, or it may be semi-permanent -- there's no way to know -- that's the joy of LVAS.

We were unable to test Abigail's hearing due to fluid in her ear, so she is re-scheduled for April 26th.

Crazy week!

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

~AA Milne

~

This quote made me smile this morning because I used to be very organized...and these days I try to be organized...but it seems that I am always running at full speed just to stay even and can't manage to get a step or two ahead!

~

But is that a surprise with a week like this one?! Yesterday was dentist in the morning, hematologist in the afternoon, today is RaDora, tomorrow is the pediatrician, Friday is the psych evaluation for Abigail (CI process). Somewhere in there I have to squeeze groceries, library, some birthday shopping, and getting Bruce ready to leave on a business trip, not to mention regular housework and admin stuff.

~

I think I need a WonderWoman suit.

I wonder if I could find one on eBay. :-)

Our Easter beauties

He is risen...
He is risen indeed!

We had a pleasant Easter together -- albeit much colder than the Easters we are used to down here! The girls all had sweaters and tights instead of bare arms and ruffly ankle socks; none of the boys wore their Easter-outfit shorts...but they were all adorable nonetheless!

I curled Abigail's hair into ringlets -- she has always been freaked out by the curling iron but yesterday her daddy told her Mommy was going to give her princess hair -- it did the trick! She has pretty hair anyway, but it was beautiful in "boings" (as a girl, that's what I called ringlets)...

Hope you all had a blessed Easter...

Jared and Krystle

Thanks, Shannon, for suggesting a picture -- I hadn't thought of that. I don't have a digital copy of the engagement picture they included in their invitation, but here are a couple from their visit in NY this past summer. Jared's hair is much shorter now, but at least these are somewhat recent!

...and for those of you who knew Jared as a kid and wonder if he's changed much:

...but he sure knows how to pick out jewelry! :-) (it's hard to see in the picture, but the center diamond is a square turned on its corner)

Dyeing Easter eggs

A wedding...and my little brother's the groom?!

Yesterday we got the invitation to Jared and Krystle's wedding...it was so strange to see it in print -- my brother getting married! The invitations are lovely...I know this isn't a great rendering of it, but we don't have a scanner hooked up to the computer, so I just took a picture of it.

We have our plane tickets, rental car, hotel room, etc...now we're just anxious to go for this special day...and I know they are more anxious than we are. Jared proposed on April 1st of last year and they are both sick to death of the preparation and waiting -- all of us who have gotten married know that feeling from the last month before the wedding!