I can not get enough of this kid!

Maddison Rose

My little Maddison is 7 today! It seems like yesterday she was the little one in the house making the mess and being the monster. Now, she is 7. It makes me sad. This has been a tremendous year for her. She went from crying EVERY morning while I pushed her into her classroom to running into school when she gets dropped off with a big smile on her face. She HATED anything that had to do with school last year. This year, she reads books to Chloe, is getting straight A's, and i think she may be a little sad it is summer time. Last year, she was pitching fits at bedtime, sleeping in my bed. Maddie is wonderful with Reid. She loves to read to him and sing with him. The two of them share a special bond. She still has her moments, but for the most part, she has turned into this amazing little girl with such a spunky personality! Happy Birthday little Rose Petal!

Mother's Day

Once again, this Mother's Day was amazing. It was the first day after my sugery that I had felt REALLY good. Nothing out of the ordinary happened....we woke up, went to church, came home and Bryan took the kids while I napped (ok, so THAT is unusual). The girls gave me some candles and a really nice sports watch. And, then Bryan cooked us AMAZING filet mignons. I have not been able to eat red meat for a long time and this was wonderful! I am just so greatful to be able to be a mother to these amazing children.

Maddison's attemp at taking a picture....

busy boy

I am constantly saying how busy Reid is. He has developed this amazing personality in the past few months and we are constantly laughing. He loves being the center of attention. But, he is one busy boy. I am constantly cleaning up after him. It is pointless. I have come to the point where I can not even clean the house anymore until he goes to bed at night. He can have it destroyed in minutes. The rooms all have to have the doors shut. So, we live in a messy house, full of laughter, and I wouldnt have it any other way...

Here are just a couple snapshots of what he gets into on a daily basis...Yes, he took a rest after all of the mess he made of my aprons!I walked in the kitchen the other day and surprised him, so he was showing me what he was doing and trying to hand me one of the baggies

Mother's Day Tea Parties

I am so glad that every year, the school makes a big deal about mother's day. Because, we know that with young children, it does not get recognized very well at home.

And, this year, I got the chance to go to THREE of them! Lucky me!

First, we started with Chloe. Interestingly enough, that morning, she BEGGED to wear this dress that was hanging in the back of her closet. It just so happens that it was MY dress when I was 4!

Chloe is a shy one at school. Performances, she cries. Picture days, she cries. So, I was NOT expecting a happy Chloe at the party. I was SHOCKED to walk in the class and see her up front AND she sang her little heart out!

We had treats, lots of lemonade, and shed some tears for my baby girl. She has been BLESSED with the most amazing teachers this year and I am a little sad that it is coming to an end!

Maddison was next. And, a girl who again, cried for pictures in pre-k, cried in performances, and cried at pre-k grad...she was front and center in her 1st grade performance saying her "part".

More treats and goodies to eat.

Maddison and her 2 best friends. These girls get into all sorts of shenanigans!

And then Hana. Of course, hers was at the END of the day. After PE. After Recess. A whole class full of ragamuffin stinky 2nd graders! But it was fun. We played some games, like "Guess which picture is you" where the students drew pictures of their moms and we had to guess which one was us! Singing, poems, and lemonade! And, another realization that my little girl is growing up.

So, another Mother's day. Another day that I am so thankful to have been blessed with 4 great kids. And, to have been blessed with a wonderful mother, myself!

Oh my dear Chloe

I just had to write this down so that I will remember it when she is older.

Chloe is a rough one. She cries. A lot.

She was born crying and has not stopped since.

So, when the times come when she is not crying, I make note of it to keep me sane.

Last night was one of those times.

First, at dinner, this was our conversation. It all started because she was hanging upside-down in her chair, andI am trying to teach some kind of table manners, whatever those are.

"Chloe, please sit up in your chair."

Chloe, "No, YOU sit up in your chair"

me "Chloe, please dont talk back to me."

Chloe "No, YOU dont talk back" followed by 5 very large, and impressive for her age, belches.

me "Chloe, that was rude. Please say excuse me."

Chloe "No, YOU was rude. THAT was awesome."

Needless to say, I had to leave the room so she wouldn't see me laughing.

Later on that night the girls were playing and I hear her singing "I'm a little teapot". Only thing was that her version went like this....

"I'm a little teapot short and FAT

here is my handle, here is my FAT

When I get all steamed up I get FAT

so tip me over because I am FAT"

Spring is here

Which means babies all around (animals, that is)

First, we HAD 12 little barred rock chicks. They WERE so beautiful. The girls LOVED holding them. And they actually let them.

All this in the past tense. I put them in the coop and went out one morning to find them GONE. I thought maybe they got out somewhere, but there was no sign of them. We had problems with this pesky fox before, getting all but one hen. He dug a hole under the coop and got every last one of them...all in one night. I realized this after I looked down and found myself standing on one of the heads.

Next up, we got some ducks. 4. 1 for each child. I had ducks when I was a little girl so we thought it would be fun for the girls. They WERE so cute and so little. Once again, the girls LOVED playing with them and holding them.

Until one night, I forgot to put them away. I woke up in a panick knowing what had happened.

At least there was one left!

Where has the time gone?

Another big gap in posts here. I will catch up. Promise.

In the mean time, here are some pictures of my little man who is not so little anymore....and a few things I love and adore about him...

I love the way he has to make noise. All the time. Its like he is making it known he is in the house among all the other commotion.

I love the way he "talks" in a high voice when playing with stuffed animals. And growls in a low voice when playing with his little animals.

I love that he screams (sometimes) as loud as he can to get my attention.

I love that I put him to bed and 2 hours later, he wakes up and wants to cuddle for a few minutes.

I love how he sleeps...on his belly, knees tucked in, booty up, arms under his tummy.

I love how when he is tired, or just wants to cuddle, he sucks his 2 middle fingers and with the other hand, plays with his collar bone...just like he used to do to mine when I used to nurse him.

I love his big grin when I walk in the room in the morning.

I love how every time he takes a bite of food, he says "mmmmmmmmm" real loud.

I love the look on his face when Bryan comes home. Or when we are out and Bryan shows up. It is priceless.

Love how he can find a toy, pot, pan, chair, or any other object, and try to push it around the house. The louder it is, the better.

I love that there is a big distinction between boys and girls, even at this age. He throws, hits, bangs, growls, slaps faces, pushes cars around, throws baby dolls on the floor and laughs....with the girls, it was COMPLETE opposite. And I LOVE that.

I could go on and on....

And then there is everything I love about my girls....

I am IN LOVE

With THIS.

Go HERE to read more.

8 Months

Can you believe this little munchkin is 8 months already? I can't.

A few of his "things"..

He loves to wave "hi" to his sisters, and daddy, followed by "hhhhhhhhh" for Hi.

There are 8 teeth in that little mouth of his!

He is a crawling machine...and in to everything (see post below).

Along with sounding out the letter H, he growls...a lot. Clicks his tongue along with you. Blows raspberries...everywhere. Today, he found the sound "sssssss".

He loves to take toys and hit things with them. Loudly. Someone mentioned to me maybe he is hammering, like Bryan.

All I know is, after 3 girls, he is COMPLETELY opposite of them. He is ALL BOY!

Recipe Blog

For all of you who have been asking for more recipe posts, I have the blog up and running again. I didn't think anyone really read it or enjoyed it, so I had stopped for a while, but it is back. And, I promise lots of recipes...easy, delicious, fun recipes. Like I have said, I'm not gourmet, just kid and crowd friendly. So, go check it out HERE! And check back often. "Follow" it so that you can be notified when new posts come in. And, feel free to email me with suggestions, favorite recipes, or if you have something specific you want to see.

Much better

I guess Reid is feeling much better (except for the double ear infection I found out he had at his check-up yesterday.) He is back to getting in trouble. In to EVERYTHING. And, I love it. It is so much more fun taking pictures of him like this, rather than the pictures of my last post. (and yes, he is standing up here. He thinks he is a big boy now and stands up any chance he can get.)

I have never had to use a playpen before but this seems to be the only way for me to get anything done in the house. Crazy kid.This is how he crawls. One foot, one knee. He is fast.

What a week. It all started when Reid, who typically sleeps like an angel, started waking up hourly screaming and crying. For about a week this happened. Since he had no other symptoms, I never did anything about it. Then, his congestion came back. And then a fever. So, I brought him in on Wednesday. The doctor told me it looked like he was getting an ear infection and the fact that he was exposed to H1N1 (Bryan's little sister) they went ahead and treated him for it. We went home, did the antibiotics and Tamiflu and he was good. Until that night. He broke out in a rash and spiked a fever of 103. I called the doctor and he said to bring him in in the morning. We figured out that the rash was an allergic reaction to his antibiotic. And, it was a blessing in disguise that he broke out. When I brought him in Thursday morning, he had been vomitting for over 24 hours, not eating well, and his eyes looked like someone punched him. Initially, the doctor was just going to send him to the lab for bloodwork, but after closer examination, he sent him to the hospital. It all happened so fast, that I had no time to process it. Thankfully. We got there, they started the IV, did lots of bloodwork, x-rays, and other various tests. And, he was such a trooper. He cried just a little, but for the most part, just watched everyone as they poked and prodded. He even had to have his IV changed out in the middle of the night, and just layed there and watched the nurses! He was severly dehydrated, but after 12 hours on the IV, he looked and acted so much better. All of the tests for everything you could imagine came back negative. The doctor said, given his exposure to H1N1, and that he had EVERY symptom, they went ahead and treated him for it. He told me that the test they do is only 40% accurate. That means out of every 10 cases, 6 will go undiagnosed! No wonder is was spread so fast! Thank you to everyone for the prayers. They were felt. The nurse he has was amazing. She left us alone most of the time. If he was sleeping, she would wait until he woke up to do what needed to be done. We just spent our time in bed playing with toys, looking out the window, reading, singing...anything to keep him occupied. It was hard, since he is used to crawling all over the place, but we managed. This 2 day hospital stay really gave me a new found appreciation to what we have. I have a new respect for those parents whose children are in the hospital long term. Oh, and the girls had fun with Daddy. Chloe went to work with him while the others were in school. She told me all about the hard work she did (watching daddy dig holes, cut wood, and be a strong daddy). "It was hard work." I think she was a little upset when she couldnt go with him today!

Our Christmas break

I love this smilebox thing! So much easier than posting hundreds of photos. We really enjoyed our Christmas break. It was great to have the girls home from school and Bryan around a lot. We truely are blessed with such wonderful children. I can not express enough how much I love them and Bryan.

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