Sick of the Sickness

It was a good thing I got away when I did and home when I did. After crawling into bed about 11:00 and having difficulty falling asleep, Maisie was fussing at 1:00. I went into her room to check on her and discovered what every parent hates discovering...vomit in the bed. I began the process of cleaning her up and stripping the bed. When I got new sheets out, I woke up Brandon. :) He was a big help and brought up some of his camping gear. I slept in his sleeping bag on a couple of air cushions, next to Maisie. I say "slept" loosely. Maisie was very good about telling me when she was going to be sick. I'd hear this, "Mommy, help." I'd grab the bucket, she'd do her thing, I'd rinse the bucket and crawl back into my sleeping back. For awhile I was up with her almost every ten minutes. As the night progressed, it became less frequent.
By morning she was doing much better! She ate small portions of things throughout the day, but she never got sick again. She even had most of her spunk!
Monday night I enjoyed a complete night in my bed.
Even though Maisie was doing better, I decided to pass on Bible Study. Instead, we went to Walmart. Taking both girls is never easy, but we managed. Maisie loves it because I let her get a gumball (from our little machine). She carries it in her pocket and chews it once we're at the store. So simple and effective with her.
After naps I noticed Sadie had diarrhea. I was a little concerned, but we had to go pick up Analise from school. My mind began that "What will I do if...." game. Well, it happened. We'd been parked in front of the school for less than two minutes, when I heard Sadie throwing up. Did I have things to be prepared? Yes. Did it help? Not really. She is facing backwards, and there was no way I could get to her in time. As quickly as I could, I grabbed our barf bags (which we got from a nurse when I was in the hospital. They are the best!) and hopped in the back just in time for round two. I opened the side door and began to "clean up." Of course I had to call Brandon at work and let him know of the misery I was going through. :) We had a chilly ride home with all the windows down. I told Analise we could either be cold or endure the stink. She wisely chose cold.
Straight to the tub she went, and the carseat sat outside. I don't remember the other two getting sick at this age, so I wasn't sure what to do with her. I ended up putting her in the highchair in the kitchen and stuck close by. I was able to learn her sick cues and got the bucket there in time. Poor girl was just worn out. She even fell sleep in the highchair!
After dinner, I began to feel sick. It hit me fast and hard. I spent the night on the couch and in the bathroom. By morning I felt better but very tired and weak. Brandon decided to stay home to help. However, by late morning it was his turn to be sick. Bummer! My dear mother in law took the girls at lunch time to feed them and let them nap at her house. Brandon and I were both able to relax. It took a couple of days for us to get our strength and appetites back, but now we are all doing well! It was simply no fun to go through it all!

Ladie's Getaway

For the past 18 months, the women in the family have tried to get a nice weekend away. You see, our husbands hunt. We encourage their hunting knowing that it's a needed man time...get out in the wilderness and shoot a gun. However, since we've seen them slip away several weekends, we decided it was time for us to leave town. Unfortunately the last two times we have been scheduled to go, something catastrophic has come up. (mainly on my end). So here we are, a year and a half later, holding our breath hoping the weekend will go as planned. Praise the Lord it did!
Last Friday morning my mom in law and sis in law picked me up in the minivan, and away we went. Ahhh....we enjoyed the 6 hour drive to the mountains to meet up with the other sis in law. First thing scheduled for all four of us - hour long massages! Ahhh...relaxation. It was simply the best. My gal did a wonderful job. She informed me that I get tension headaches. Who knew I was tense? :) She also said, "I can tell you've been carrying babies on your left side for the last five years." Bingo...she could tell just by looking and working my back. Crazy! After we all were finished and very relaxed (almost to the point of woozy) we went out for dinner. We landed at the Elephant Bar. Delicious! While waiting for my meal I called the girls and chatted with them quick before they went to bed. Brandon got on as my food arrived, and my sweet self simply said, "I'm going to go now since I'm determined to eat my meal while it's hot." He's so gracious. :) We then went to some great stores for a little shopping and a lot of laughing
We went home to my sis in law's house and stayed up while and chatted.
Saturday morning we "slept in". For me these days that means 8:00. I got up and relaxed by reading. We then spent the day shopping, shopping shopping. Between shopping was a yummy lunch at Panera. I decided to surprise Brandon and bought a dozen bagels to take home.
While shopping, I was really looking for some long sleeve shirts. Nothing fancy, just every day normal shirts. I was counting on Kohl's, but it let me down. I left with a sweater for myself and clothes for the girls.
We ate dinner at Chick-fil-A and went to see "Love Happens." I highly recommend it! There are a couple of lines they could have done without, but otherwise it was quite clean and very good. I laughed, I cried. After the movie was dessert and then another night staying up late while chatting with the girls.
We went to church on Sunday morning and really appreciated the worship time and sermon. We ate lunch at Jason's Deli and began the drive home. As much as I wanted to see my girls before bedtime, I knew the likelihood of that happening was slim. Brandon was fine with that. I got home at 10:45 and immediately went to give each of my girls a kiss.
I truly loved and appreciated the time away. I got to do things as an adult, a friend, a sister in law. Shopping without keeping someone happy with snacks;not telling a daughter over and over to "not touch";answering a 1000 questions; eating hot meals, getting things done at my own pace. I came home refreshed. A big thanks to a mother in law who knew all this was needed and took upon herself to make it happen!
On the home front...Brandon and the girls did awesome! (almost too well...). I tried to help Brandon out as much as possible. I figured if he was going to take a day off work and be a single dad all weekend, then I would chip in. I left all the girls' outfits out for each day. One less thing for him to worry about. My mom in law and sis in law and myself all made one big meal so each of the men and families could get together each night for company and a good meal. It worked well!
Now my hubby went beyond the call of duty. He not only took care of the girls, had fun with the girls, but he also did some major house cleaning! I had cleaned the bathrooms and floors before I left, but he took care of things I never seem to do. He cleaned all the baseboards, washed benches, cleaned all the windows (inside, outside and inbetween!). My fridge was all wiped down on the inside! He pulled it out and cleaned behind it, too! He cleaned the basement! Vacuumed the stairs in the basement, and the list goes on. When he is away hunting, I find myself relaxing in the evenings. :) The girls did great with him and had lots of fun. They didn't mention me much nor ask about me much. I think that's a good thing...
I loved my time away, but I was ready to be home with my family. What I wasn't ready for was the week ahead...

Completely Random

It's been so long since I have posted, so these thoughts will be random. Labor Day weekend we tried something new with the girls. In a small town about an hour away, they have an annual kite flight. Since it was a nice day, we decided to take the girls. It turned out to be something all the girls enjoyed. Some kites were huge, and there were about 200 in the sky. We enjoyed a picnic on the hill while the girls enjoyed the kites. Another blessing on that day was seeing a family from our church there. The parents were there with their two older daughters (17-19ish). I asked them what the secret was to having theirs girls with them. Not many kids that age choose to hang out with their parents. Both parents shared that they started doing family things when they were young. They did simple things, started traditions, shared stories together, encouraged time together, went camping, and the parents said they didn't grow old. Brandon and I have talked many times on how to keep our family close and having the girls want to spend time with us. I really enjoyed hearing tips from a family that I would call successful in this area.

I didn't plant as many things in my garden this year. Green beans, three tomato plants, a green pepper plant and basil. Analise loves to help, and Maisie enjoyed picking as well. My favorite thing is the fresh tomatoes. Analise is standing in front of one of them. I've had enough tomatoes to make 3 large batches of salsa, pasta sauce and pizza sauce. We can enjoy all winter long!

Sadie is loving life at the big table and makes herself rather comfy when she is finished eating.

Grandma Luke always takes the girls pumpkin shopping each year. This year they came home with pumpkins and decorations. It was like creating a real Mr. Potato Head. My kind of craft - simple, not messy and the girls loved it!

A couple of Saturdays ago, we took the girls mini golfing. Analise had asked all summer to go, so we decided it was a good day. The weather was perfect, and we had the course to ourselves. It was Maisie's first time to play, so she enjoyed it. Analise and Maisie played the holes (Analise called each hole a "course") so Brandon and I enjoyed playing together. Sadie hung out in the stroller and enjoyed. It was a great family time!

Sadie is officially walking! I still see her crawl every now and then, but her main mode of transportation these days are her own two legs. I even find her carrying things across the room. We are so excited! In the last couple of weeks, she split open her chin 3 more times. Goodness...I think that brings the total to about six times! I think she will be better off walking. :)

Brandon and I are leading Awana games together this year. We are enjoying the time with the kids each week and love serving together. It's been since pre-kid days that we served together. We seem to make a good team. Analise loves having us there with her age group!

The clothes switcharoo is completely finished! Out with the summer and in with the fall/winter. I've learned the best way to do this is to be in the house by myself for about three hours. However, I have yet to learn this by experience. :) I didn't have much to do for Analise since we already had her things out. Maisie moved up to size three and Sadie is still in some 12-18 month, but I also pulled out 18 month clothing. I think she may need suspenders to keep her pants up!

I had a great getaway weekend, but I am going to save that post for another time. Thanks for checking in!

Soaring in School

We are officially in the school routine. Each day starts with me waking up Analise at 7:20. Thankfully she gets up without complaining. She gets to see daddy for a couple of minutes, and then begins the countdown until we leave for school. I don't know if it's just Analise or all kids this age, but she has one pace in the morning. It seems I am frequently telling her to hustle; she keeps the same pace regardless. She needs to learn how to multi-task...at least learn to talk and do something at the same time. :) We usually leave for school 3 minutes later than I want to. However, I have tried a little different route, and that has saved us those precious three minutes. At our school we have the zone out front labeled the "Kiss and Go" area. Analise seems to take her sweet little time giving each of her sisters a kiss on the head, gives me a kiss and then has to squeeze out of the van. If you read the previous post, Miss Sadie is still facing backwards in the car seat since she is under 20 lbs. It makes getting out of the van a little tricky. Usually after she gets out, she stands on the sidewalk, waves and yells goodbye. I love it. So sweet and yet grown up enough for school.

She looks higher than she really is. :)

Analise is loving each part of school. You name it, she enjoys it. She is making friends (actually she is one of those girls that is friends with everyone) but I don't see her attached to any one friend. She just plays at recess with whomever may be doing what she wants to do.

She brings home little books each week and loves to read them to us. I hope she loves reading as much as I do.

We had parent/teacher conferences this week. It was a nice time visiting with her teacher and finding out how Analise is doing. No big surprises for us. She had a packet of things Analise has drawn or answered. These things always crack me up. Here goes:

Analise's favorite thing about kdg: recess

Least favorite part: blowing her nose

What she wants to learn in kdg: how to read (One kid wrote "How to mow") lol

What she likes to do with her family: watch football. She had a picture of her, Maisie and me watching football. We had just watched the MI game last weekend.

If she had a million dollars: she would buy more fish

What she wants to be when she grows up: a race car driver

Right now she is testing out awesome on her letters/sounds area so that is great.

We also visited with her music teacher, and we learned that Analise already has perfect pitch and rhythm. I can't wait to see how God is going to use that!

When Analise gets home from school, she is hungry! Most days she doesn't seem overly tired, but some afternoons I see her having a more difficult time adjusting from school age friends to younger sisters. Thankfully it doesn't take too long, and she and Maisie are off playing.

Each night we try and get the girls to bed by 8:00, and each night we walk out of their room at 8:30.

In addition to school, Awana started back up this week. She was so excited to see her friends and officially be a Sparkie. Also one night a week, I take her to a children's music class. It's a parent/child class, and we are both enjoying it. I love being with her, and she loves learning about music.

We have a short week this week, so I am looking forward to having her around more. (and sleeping in. :))

18 Months

My baby is 18 months already! (16 months corrected age) She is doing great! We went a couple of weeks ago to see her pulmonolgist. Her lungs "sounded like a symphony." However, she isn't gaining the weight like she should be. She only weighed 19-8...a few ounces more than a few weeks ago. Thankfully, the doctor said it would do him no good to worry about it. I am just supposed to double butter everything, and try and squeeze in as many calories as possible. She is a good eater, so I am thankful for that.
Sadie has been bottle free for 5-6 weeks. After our long day of traveling home from IN, I realized she had gone all day drinking from her sippy. So the next day we went cold turkey and didn't offer any bottle. She did awesome! She now loves her sippy cups and drinks a lot of whole milk. I will admit I was a little sad as I washed the bottles for the last time and put them away. Another reminder of a season passed and a sign Sadie is growing up.
Sadie is where she likes to mimic, and she has some great sisters to learn from...most of the time. :) She will even "spit" like the girls after she is finished brushing her teeth.
Sadie loves to look at books, and she is beginning to make some animal sounds. She has puppy down for sure.
Sadie has her own fun language she uses. I don't remember the other two ever doing this. Analise seemed to talk from the womb, and Maisie just didn't talk. So I love to listen to Sadie babble. I can't even replicate the sounds.

Sadie has officially joined the family at the dinner table. So long high chair! She just beamed the first time she sat with us. I know she loves feeling grown up like the other two. We rearranged where everyone sat at the table, and I like the set up. It's working well. Sadie is now also coloring with Color Wonder markers whenever the other two color. She loves it!
I gave Sadie a spoon and yogurt the other day, and she did really well. Honestly, she wasn't much messier than Maisie is when she eats a yogurt. :)

The most exciting thing to see is Sadie walking around the house! I would say she is 60% crawling and 40% walking, but each day I see her choosing to walk more. I was at a church meeting last week with her, and she stood up in the middle of the room and began walking. I was so excited that I have no idea what anyone was talking about. The girls cheer her on and love it when Sadie walks towards them.

I am reminded that this "16 month" age has always been a challenging time. Oh, I love all the ages, I just find this age a little more frustrating. She knows what she wants, but she can't usually tell me. She does a lot of pointing, which helps. However, it's the "I am mad" attitude she expresses with a loud squeal the gets on my nerves. Maisie did the same thing, and we broke it with her. I know there is hope. It just doesn't help when the selfish 3 year old takes something from Sadie, making her scream. Then I am upset with two daughters. Thankfully they do have their moments where they laugh and play. I know it's just a stage we are going through.

Sadie is becoming quite the ham...playing the last child role really well. She will look at me and give me the cheesiest grin, just for a reaction. I love it! In fact, not too long ago I aimed the camera at her, she grinned and said, "Cheese."

I have Sadie in a Kindermusik class once a week with Maisie. It's a good time for the three of us. Maisie is one of the oldest in the class, and Sadie is the youngest. She seems to enjoy it, and I think she learns more from the class than I realize. Sadie loves to listen to songs and join in on the actions.

So all things considered, not gaining weight quickly is a minor thing. She might be little, but she makes up for it in spunk!

Maisie is three

Actually, Maisie has been three for three weeks. Her mama is just behind again in the blogging world.
Maisie is excited to be three, and she does a great job of telling others. She even includes three fingers in her answer. :)
Maisie loved celebrating, and she got several opportunities. I felt like we celebrated all month long. We finally got to do her real birthday party with the family here in town a couple of weeks ago. I made dinner - rotisserie chicken on the grill (kudos to dad there!), baked potatoes with topping, fruit (served in a watermelon that I made look like a truck) and homemade bread (kudos to grandma on this one.) I also decided to make Maisie some monkey cupcakes, because she loves monkeys right now. She refers to them as "hee haw haws." She was so excited when she saw her cupcakes. I call it a success when the 3 year old knows what you've created! :)
Maisie, Maisie, keeps me on my toes during the day and makes me crash at night. Oh, I love her dearly. Not too long ago, she said hi to a stranger. (A nice lady). The lady said hi back and then said to me, "I bet she's your little firecracker." This lady hit the nail on the head.
She can make me laugh and smile like no other, but she can also make me shake my head in wonder...how did I get such a busy girl? I don't have to wonder long...I am married to her daddy. :) She is such a hands on learner. She touches everything! Telling her not to touch something is like telling the sun not to shine. It just can't happen. I really do try and work with that, but more often than not, her little hands get her into trouble. I have felt lead to pray for her a little differently. I pray that her little hands can bring HIM lots of glory!
At the birthday dinner, we asked Maisie questions and family members tried to guess her answers. Let's see what I remember:
Favorite toy: Markers. She loves to color, and I love it when she chooses Color Wonder markers.
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite food: Fruit, fruit, fruit...with cheese a close second.
Maisie is a good middle sister. She loves to follow and mimic Analise, and yet she will lead the fun with Sadie. She still loves schedules and routine. She still listens to her Boz cds every day at nap time. Maisie is my night owl. She gets all goofy around bed time. She does better if she can sleep later and wake up on her own in the mornings. However, most mornings she gets up when I have to wake up Analise.
She is speaking more, and her sentences are getting longer. She still mixes or misses beginning sounds, but it's cute. Her owies are still howies. Gum is bung. Thomas - matas. Fruit snacks: new nacks. Movie: Moonie. Sorry: Rorry. Analise is still "Me." and Sadie is still "Baby." She calls her bottom, "Button." :) Every time we are in the van running errands, she will always ask "Home, home?" after every stop. And I mean every.
She loves to help. Give her a simple task, and most of the time she is thrilled. She loves to help me in the kitchen. I enjoy it, but it is a real test of the "no touching." :)
She knows all her colors; she can name several letters, and she can put together a wooden puzzle amazingly fast. It's almost scary when she just knows exactly where every piece goes. No thinking or figuring out pieces. It's simply memorized.
She is beginning to pray at bedtime, and I love it. Precious time. She also knows most of her Bible verse which we have said with her almost every night since she was home. Zeph. 3:17 - "The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He takes great delight in you. He quiets you with His love. He rejoices over you with singing."
Maisie, we love you dearly! Keep sharing your love with others.

Colorado Weekend

Back in March, I began planning for Brandon's birthday in April. I wanted to surprise him with something fun and different. I knew that he loved Lincoln Brewster (who wouldn't?) and thought it would be so much fun if I could take him to a concert. I looked online, and the closest city was Denver. Denver was definitely doable! I called his sister Sarena and asked if we could crash with her, and if she wanted to babysit. She was thrilled, so I got the tickets. Several months later, and away we went!
The first week of school, and I ruined Analise's chance for perfect attendance. Her teacher was very gracious in letting me pick her up early. Brandon's boss was also gracious and let Brandon leave at lunch. We packed up and hit the road at 1:30. Let the long drive begin...I drove the first half so Brandon could get some work done in the van. After a couple of quick stops, and feeding the girls dinner in the van, we made it 7:30 our time. Sarena and her friend D had dinner ready for us. The girls unwound while we ate. It was great to be there!
Saturday morning was Maisie's 3rd birthday! Sarena had decorated things so nicely and had a fun gift for her:

Brandon and I wanted to take the girls for donuts (Maisie calls them nunuts), since that's always a favorite. Being in CO, those donut shops are kind of scarce. We finally settled for some from a grocery store. We then went to Focus on the Family to play down in Whit's End. Here is Analise with Whit:

They also have a really fun, tall slide that Analise loved:

The girls enjoyed playing around....all for free! :)

Maisie with her decorations:

After we left FOTF we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch...one of my faves! The girls ate and played. We went back to Sarena's house for a few more gifts and cake. It was definitely nap time, but the girls pulled through and enjoyed it.

Brandon and I helped put the girls down for naps, and then we took off. We were meeting friends in Denver for supper. We decided to take a more scenic route through the mountains. It was a beautiful drive, and nice and quiet in the van. Ahhh...

We met N and J at their place for a yummy, adult meal. Then it was concert time! I went in expecting a big mega church with a big concert feel. We got to the church, and I knew that my mindset was going to have to change. It was a smaller church (with no AC!). We were in pews and only nine rows back. I bet there was only ~400 people there. Once I got over the fact it wasn't what I expected, I loved every minute of it! He was so down to earth and real with the audience. And what a great worship time. LOVED IT! When he finished the concert, he hadn't sang my two favorite songs: God You Reign and Everlasting God. I figured one would be the encore. Sure enough Lincoln came back out. A lady from the audience yelled out, "God You Reign!" Lincoln, "Really? I haven't done that song in a long time. But sure, I'll take a request." So, he ended up singing both songs! :) I will admit I got teary eyed singing Everlasting God. We sung that at Rachel's funeral, and the basis of that song is from Isaiah, one of Rachel's favorite verses. I remember the pain of singing that at her funeral, but I also got hope when I imagined her worshiping her Savior in Heaven. Thank you, Jesus...

Sunday morning came too quickly, but we were able to go to church with Sarena. We really enjoyed it! We went back to her place for lunch, packed up and hit the road for the long drive home. We got home at 10:20. We enjoyed the whole weekend and crammed as much as we could in such a short time. Just being near the mountains was wonderful. Add the family, friends and worship times, and it was extra wonderful.