Rainy Days and Games

Today was a rainy day in the morning and the boys were so anxious to get outside and play. Brian pulled the VMotion games out and they all had so much fun playing..

Jacob is so serious about counting his Mickey Mouse Playhouse Tires...

Chloe enjoyed watching the boys and telling them what to do...hehe...a sign of times to come I am sure...hhe Ethan gets excited when he wins a point!!

After the rains, the sun came out and dried everything up in no time and they got to go outside after all....

A semester comes to an end...

Today was Ethan's last day of Speech classes for the Spring semester. He is 'out of school' for the next 3 weeks. We can't wait to see what all he learns this summer, but right now I am so happy for the break. A little down time at home is just what we all need after all the adventures of the past few months. Ethan continues to make tremendous strides in speaking and no one can really keep track of all the new words he says.. everyday.. more new words. We will forever be so grateful that God brought our fabulous Ms Laura into our lives... she is a miracle worker. We are so very proud of Ethan. He has worked so hard and the pay off.. is HUGE!!

Here, Ethan & Jacob are ready to party all night...hehe

Just a glimpse into our day...

Chloe is really rolling all over.. she is always wiggling around and we suspect she will take off scooching here before we know it.. here, she & Ethan and hanging out.. Chloe has always loved to "sit up" - G'ma Janet bought her this Bumbo chair awhile back and we decided tonight that she was finally ready to get in it... she is figuring it out here, but she did like it! Thank you G'ma!
I bet she feels so much better with them hovering all around when she is in this little chair! We used to hold our breath whenever she was on the floor & the boys started running around, but you know something? They are both VERY cautious and aware of not only where Chloe is but HOW she is ... such sweet older brothers..
Ethan & Jacob just love hugging & kissing on Chloe... it's just so sweet.. I love it! Ethan has loved holding Chloe since the day she was born!

1 Trip.... 2 Doctors..

Today, Chloe & Jacob both saw a Doctor. Chloe went back to the ENT, for a scope of her airways but that Dr wasn't in ( grr ) and we are returning next month for the scope ( on my birthday as a matter of fact ).. she did check out well in every other way. Her ears are almost healed from that dreadful infection . She weighed in at 12.79 lbs and a whopping 25 1/2", she has lost a few ounces due to being so sick lately.. the nurses all ooohhedd.. and aaahheeddd. over how terribly cute she is, of course... hehe
Here is our little Princess right out of the tub...hehe..Ethans duck towel...

Jacob's blood work from the G.I. Dr last week came back normal ( Thank God ) but they wanted to run some additonal labs on him. Checking for Zinc and B3 levels, among other things... so, more blood was needed. Luckily, his G.I. Dr and Chloe's ENT are in the same building , so I was able to do both, in 1 trip...( that almost NEVER happens...hehe )...

Jacob was very brave while they were drawing the blood. The funniest thing about our little Pea is that he absolutely HATES band aids. If you try to put one on him, he literally starts freakign out, crying and carrying on until you take it off... so funny....he was all better before we even got on the elevator.

Chloe & Jacob are both getting so big...

Chloe is getting so big...her little legs are so cute... Jacob is a big boy, eating at the table now with Ethan... down to 1 highchair... hehe

Chloe still loves her swings and check out those sweet dimples!

Mommy's Day Pictures ~ at a glance...

Mommy and all her "Peeps" on Mommy's Day...

Jacob...still one of the most huggable little ones ever!
Sharing a sweet moment with my Ethan...
My first Mommy's Day with Princess Chloe... how sweet it is!
This is me with Jacob & Brandon...I really wish we had thought to take our glasses off for this one, but I still love it!1

Thank you Brian, for taking the time this morining, to make sure I had lots of pictures with all my Peeps for Mommy's Day!!

Mothers Day 2009

On this Mothers Day.. My first, as a mother to a daughter... I did not go out to eat, I did not get a bunch of flowers, I did not get fancy gifts of any store bought kind...( it should be noted that if he could have my husband would have loved to have done any of these for me ) I DID get to spend the entire day with all my children... I watched American Idol reruns with Brandon during the little ones naptime.. it's fun...we do it every Saturday. I did have alot of hugs & kisses thru the day. I did get to watch my 2 little boys run and play... I danced around the living room, singing to Chloe - and she loved it! I did NOT do laundy.. I did not clean a floor or a bathroom.. I just had a nice, quiet day with my kiddos.. that's what this day is all about. It's not the "stuff".. it's the memories that are made.....

HAPPY MOMMY'S DAY TO ALL THE OTHER MOMMY'S OUT THERE ~ MAY YOUR DAYS AND MEMORIES BE BLESSED ♥

This Weekend... 2 years ago...

On this mothers day, I thought it would be fun to remember the special day when we had Jacob Baptised.... 2 years ago, almost to the day!! So much has changed, but all in a good way. Jacob is still just the most huggable little boy ever.... What a beautiful memory that is. We have never had very many people there when we do these things and it's nice to remember how sweet and quiet those days were. For those of you that have been looking at the recent pictures of our precious chloe, I think you will notice how Jacob is holding his little hand...just like she does, though he didn't do it nearly as much as she does... funny, the things you see in each of them.... so mauch alike, and at the same time so different.

All the little ones have handmade goodies from their god mother, and Jacob is pictured on top of the blanket that she made him... those are some treasures....

To all of my fellow Mommy's ~ Happy Mommy Day!!

This is the hardest job I have ever had...my kids are the greatest kids in the world. I love them all so much. They are all the neatest people who have ever driven me completely nuttz (LOL)..the arguing, too much PBS Sprout...always with the sticky fingers and crumbs everywhere..dirty dishes, laundry, too many trips to the Peditrician's office and don't forget to the store for milk, and Huggies... sigh... A To Do List 10 miles long...Brandon brings notes from teachers and all that teenage angst... diapers...too many diapers... I am so tired but I am so lucky to have such fabulous children and I wouldn't trade this for the world!!


♥I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A FABULOUS AND BLESSED MOMMY DAY ♥

A little note..

This is Ethan,showing off his limberness...hehe...all that time at WOGA ( world olympic gymnastic academy ) must have really paid off....LOL

Through the camera lens...

Yes, you have seen this picture before, just yesterday as a matter of fact. I am playing around with a new photo editing technique and I just wanted to show you a different "take" on this picture. I just love the look on Chloe's face and the delicate little way she is holding her hand out.. she holds her hand like this all the time... This little dress looks even sweeter up against all the black & white... there are a few other pictures recently that I have edited like this. I am really loving to ability to only have the color where I actually want it. There is something "timeless" about Black & White pictures. I find that just a bit of color.. is so sweet.
This is a picture of Jacob that I took last night when the boys were playing around.. he's such a funny little man!

Jacob being Silly

Earlier tonight Jacob decided to try and "ride" the sofa cushions, you can tell he was in a giggly mood....so cute!

Prayer Tags

As most of you know, Brian & I have been having a very hard time and we look to Christ to guide us thru everysingle day. God has truly blessed us and works miracles in our lives every day. We wanted to share these little prayer tags with you. Each one was made for a specific child and they each have a prayer, just for that childs unique needs. These are so special to us and we just wanted to share them with you all and thank you also, for all of your prayers.

If you click on the image, it should enlarge so you can see it better. { L click once } I think you will be amazed at how each prayer literally talks about that person... If you notice as well, The Peach for Ethan, the Pea Pod for Jacob, the butterfly for Chloe and the IPOD for Brandon... these are just so unique.. just like our children..

T.G.I.F.

We wanted to give you a glimpse into our day. Chloe enjoyed playing around outside a little. She loves to go out with the boys and really watches them. She got in a little Daddy time here.



She is so terribly cute, isn't she? She looks more and more like a mini - jacob everyday! Even her adorable legs are mini jacob legs...but they are also long like Ethan's...she loves being held up to stand....she is such a little Pixie..hehe when you watch Chloe for a little bit, you realize how terribly petite she really is. Everything about her is so dainty and sweet. Chloe always holds her hands a bit like they are in this pic. She moves them around all day, holding them up and watching her fingers in facination. She reminds me a bit of a Ballet Dancer, they way she moves her hands.. { my mom wanted me to dance ballet sooo badly, but NO... I wanted to read books and climb trees.. hehe.. after all the boys, it seems fitting that I, the ultimate tomboy has a petite princess who will likely LOVE ballet..LOL}

One of my favorite times of the day is right after baths. The boys are all in pj's and smell so clean ( the special soap we have to use for Jacob's allergies smells divine ).. everything has calmed down and they are just so much fun at that time. Watching "Schhoo Shoo's" ( that's how Jacob says "choo choo" ) ... palying around. They take all the sofa cushions into the tent... they read books and lately they carry their books from one room to the other and back again..something that is hilarious to watch.. it's just such a fun time. Tonight, the boys wanted to get the AquaDoodle out and here they are having fun...

Also today, Ethan did get his stitches out. It was rough, but he was very brave and we are all glad it's over. We will need to watch that area for a few days as it continues to heal, but it should be fine. All the kids went to the Dr and everyone looks good! Chloe's ears look "Perfect".. I can not tell you good that sounds!

Chloe Eats Cereal

As most of you know I nurse my children exculsively. In fact, Brandon and Jacob never had a bottle. Ethan had 1-2 per week, after he was 5 months old. Chloe isn't fond of them either. They have all hated pacifiers as well. Chloe used one for the first few weeks but not since. I also wait until they are about 6 months old to start food. Well, today was Chloe's big day...CEREAL... yummo!! Gerber Organic Whole Grain Brown Rice...( now, doesn't that sound tasty..LOL ).

She knew just what to do and grabbed the spoon ( for those of you that remember, Jacob did the same thing )... Chloe enjoyed quite a few bites of cereal with Ethan & Jacob looking on, excited to finally see Chloe eating too... I suspect it will be an adventure...

I also have made all of my childrens baby food...I have never bought baby food in a jar.... I have a stock of peas & carrots just waiting for Chloe....she has a few more weeks to go and then the veggies...yea...hehe..

How are we?

We wanted to give you all a little update on the kids that is from today. They all saw the Pediatrician this morning. Chloe's ears are looking alot better but one is still a little infected. We are giving her a 3rd antibiotic now in the hopes of finally getting this infection to be gone. She is a little fussy which is likely the ears and fatigue.

Ethan's stitches look good and she will recheck on Friday, maybe even remove them then as well. He still has a fever virus and swollen tonsils but no infections.

Jacob is perfect. He See's the GI Dr on Thursday and we will keep you posted on that front. For all of you who thought of this and called, no he does not have Kawasaki syndrome but thank you so much for your thinking of that and calling. It tells me that so many of you truly care for these beautiful children. We are all anxious to solve the riddle of Jacobs rashes..

In the meantime, we will be home for a day ( gratefully ) and Ethan is not in Speech this week ( sadly ) . we hope to get everyone on the upswing in the next few days.

Thank you all for all of your kind words and prayers.

Peach's Stitches

On Monday evening, after bath time the boys were playing as I chatted with Brandon on the phone. Chloe had used a pacifier in her first weeks and although she gave it up literally months ago, the little keeper cord that held it ( which was a large pink plastic flower ) was still hanging out in the bins where all her little things are stored downstairs. Jacob got it out and was goofing off. All of the sudden he starts to swing the little flower and it just nailed, and I do mean, nailed Ethan right below the lip. Blood was everywhere. I immediately hung up on Brandon ( sorry munchkin, I did call him from the hospital ) and tried to calm Ethan. After getting him all cleaned up I realized that this was a very deep gash. I called Brian, who came home from work and we took Ethan to the hospital. The process of stitching him up wasn't fun but he was very brave.
He got 3 stitches in right below the lip. Jacob was very sweet and of course, Chloe was a trooper thru all the chaos. She always is. We soon took our little tired brood home and tucked them all in. Now hours after bedtime. In the morning, they were all tired and Ethan is very proud of his little blue stitches.

if you look close in the right side of his mouth, there they are...the little blue stitches...amazing how something so little...yes, you know...LOL

Just hangin' out...

The Boys love to be outside

Before the rain settled in, I was able to take the boys on their favorite walk. I was carrying Chloe in her sling, so there aren't any pictures of her but she loves to look around and of course, watch the boys





LOOK AT OUR LITTLE TREE HUGGER!

On the mend

We are happy to pass on the word that our little Pea is doing a litle better. He ran a little fever today and wasn't quite up to speed, but he did play and eat. You could tell he was rallying. We are taking extra precautions with the kids right now in light of the recent Pig Flu outbreak. We are not going anywhere this weekend and we are having no visitors. Trying to stay within our own "unit" so to speak. I just don't think I could deal with another Flu outbreak this year ( Feburary, as you may recall was harsh ). Chloe is doing well. She is teething with no teeth in sight. She plays and laughs and loves to watch the boys. They shower her with hugs & kisses all day long. She is still on the breathing treatments, and they are really helping. When we don't do them, she starts to sound like a mac truck again! We hope you are all well and stay well!



For those of you that recall Ethan at this age....always with those two
fingers in his mouth!! This is what Chloe usually looks like alot of the time. Hehhee...she really is a blend of everyone...