Recents

On Sunday, our family television stopped working, but luckily Stu's dad had an extra one laying around. It can be a useful tool--especially when one wants to take a shower! Then, less than 24 hours later, my oven pooped out on me... I was making fish sticks for the kids for lunch. That's kind of hard to do when you open the door to cook them and it's cool as a cucumber! Luckily, we only needed a new baking element which was $40. Hubby picked one up. Yay! Celeste is having issues with one of her grades from college. We're trying to get that ironed out. Jamie has been sick with a cough and had a fever all weekend. He is a bit better with no fever, but Dan, Max, & Tommy now have fevers. Oh well! That's our week, so far! I know it will get better.

Also, Stu's mother, Sara, is still in ICU. She may move to Hospice soon. Please pray for her. Thank you!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thess. 5:16-18

Baby Update

Here is Joshua 2 weeks old with the sweet blanket made by Mom's friend, Teri.

A little update on things here: I got an infection of some sort around my incision site, so I'm on antibiotics. This started last Sunday evening. We started out taking meds and had to double them on Wednesday because things weren't getting better. So recovery is slow going here. 2000 mg of Keflex is kicking my butt right now. Joshua is still very slow to gain weight and nursing isn't going the best. I am taking fenugreek--3 capsules, 3 times per day and that boosted my supply a little. Joshua is still sleepy and doesn't remove milk very well. He looks good and weighs 8 pounds today. All the other children are doing quite well with the new baby. Eden likes to poke him... Dan and Max are at their last baseball game right now (most likely). They have had a winning season this year 6-4. In playoffs they lost the 1st game, won the 2nd, and if they lose tonight then they're out of the tournament. We'll see! God is good! I'm still praying I don't get too discouraged about nursing. I'm seeing my lactation consultant on Monday again. Just keep praying for success and healing for the momma. Thanks!

The Past Few Days

The past few days have found me busy...as usual! On Friday, we attended my brother's (Ed) retirement party from the local police department. My younger brother, Jamie, showed up and we had a great time. We had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant; just our immediate family which included myself, Stu, my Jamie, Celeste, my Dad, Lainie, Ed, Tanya, JT, Justin, and Jamie. We NEVER get to do that. Ed is leaving in less than a month. That will be a sad time for us.

Also, Friday night we had a severe thunderstorm that woke up the entire house around 2 AM. Well, Eden never woke up, thank the Lord! We had 3 little boys on the floor in our room and even had a visit from both of the teens. It was quite windy with 60 mph winds and lots of thunder and lightning. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. Tommy kept kicking me in the back until I made Stu move him out of our bed and onto the couch in our room. I am very fortunate. My kids never come into our room at night and wake us up. This was a very rare occurrence. We were all quite tired on Saturday!

I have another OB appointment this week. We'll see just how big I am now. (I say with trembling.) I feel almost full term and am getting very slow. I am taking insulin twice a day now. The good news is that I have needed less over the past few days than was originally prescribed, so I'm excited about that. I'm finally able to stomach the Juice Plus and I think that has made a world of difference! I'll update you on baby when I have more info.

I'm Still Here

Yes, I'm still around...literally, ha! We actually had a pretty packed weekend. It started with Max's 7th birthday (on Friday, February 1st!), then we had dinner at my brother's yesterday, and we went to church today for service and a Superbowl/fellowship night. Tonight I dropped off my truck for new brakes--gotta have those! I'm hoping it will be done quickly and I can get it back by early tomorrow afternoon.

We're doing school tomorrow, of course. I'm adding a writing program for Jamie. We decided on Jensen's Format Writing. Check out the link for more info and a review. Also, Celeste is doing American Government from A Beka. We'll see how we like that. It's a senior course, but we'll start it now and maybe finish it early next year. It's only a semester, but we're getting a late start. In addition, we'll do an Economics course next year.

Dan and Max start baseball very soon. This was a very busy time for us last year. I'm hoping the season is over before baby comes. Max didn't play last year, but his Daddy wanted him to this year. They wil be on the same team together with a wonderful coach we know. I think it will be lots of fun! I enjoy watching the games and all the practices are close to home.

We're still really working with Tommy on potty training. He is wearing pull-ups. He is now 3 1/2 and I am quite frustrated with his lack of interest. All of my other boys were trained by now and wearing big boy underwear. I'll keep on it, though. I don't relish the thought of 3 in diapers! Eden is growing by leaps and bounds. She is such a cutie. Her newest word is "Guys!" She yells it at the boys sometimes from her crib. I must say it a lot. She got a new stroller and rolls it around the house constantly with her dolly in it.

A Taste of Fall

Ahh, today it is absolutely beautiful here! The low last night was 51 degrees...Woo Hoo! All my children are proudly wearing jeans today. The high is 81. I can live with that. I really love the fall weather. It puts a new spring in my step. I got out for a little while to get Jamie's hair cut (we couldn't tell who he was anymore) and to run some errands. The birds will be happy because I bought a 20 pound bag of seed from my favorite specialty bird store. I just love the feeders we have in the backyard. There's always an interesting group of birds stopping by. If you don't have a feeder, then I suggest you get one. I really enjoyed the hummingbirds this year, too. Evidently, they flew south for the winter and will be back in spring...boo hoo.

Tonight we go over to Grandma and Grandpa Palmers for dinner. It's been forever since we have done that! I look forward to a family evening. They will be moving into a new condo soon, so we will enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas in their new digs. I posted a pic of Eden who fell asleep in her high chair this morning. So cute!

Okay, you can call me a slacker! I am just so caught up in life that I haven't been blogging. What's going on? Well, we decided to sit Celeste out of dual enrollment at the community college for this semester. She had a horrible first day. We'll do better choosing teachers with advice for the spring semester. Jamie just started guitar lessons with a young lady from church and is really enjoying it. He just bought a new amp for his electric guitar and has been jamming out in his room constantly. Dan is now such an avid reader that he is reading several chapter books per week. He even lays in bed at night and reads with his little $2 book light I bought at Books-A-Million. (Celeste is that way, too!) Max's reading is improving. If we do nothing else in a day for home school, we have to read together. Of course, he's ahead in math and he's doing very well with his handwriting, too. Tommy is more verbal every day. He loves to watch/play with Thomas the Tank Engine. He celebrated his 3rd birthday about 10 days ago. I'll try to get some pics up of that. Eden is now pulling up on the furniture and walking along it a bit. She has discovered the remote for the TV and loves to steal it. She is learning to eat some table food and is liking that, also. I'm 2 weeks away from 1 year old and still nursing her. I don't see her giving it up any time soon.

Please pray for the real estate business for my hubby. We have a home that has considerable interest and we're hoping it goes to contract soon. It's a bumpy ride living on commission when you have 6 children. I am trusting God to provide for us.