And here they are, in random order

So, I promised pics! Here they are, in random order! Enjoy!

Ethan lost his first tooth!

My sister, carrying Ruby in the Snuggli! She carried her halfway around IKEA like this!

Kibby, laughing at... Hm, I can't remember... (It was February - long time ago!)

Ruby enjoying her first homemade chocolate chip cookie (even though she looks a little unsure here!)

And I just thought this was a hoot. Cracks me up, so I had to share! :)

That's all Blogger would let me upload into one post, since I didn't take the time to re-size the photos! More coming sooooon!

Coming soon...

I finally found my USB cable for my camera! Pics coming soon! :)

You know, after I get Ethan off to school.

And get breakfast.

And start some laundry.

And take a nap. (Because that right there is enough to wear me out...)

And...

okay, okay... I guess I did say "soon", didn't I? :)

A few moments of peace... ahhhhh...

Seth took the two older kids to Sam's Club tonight, so it's just me an Ruby hangin' out. She's watching Signing Time and I'm attempting a blog post. We'll see if I can get it published before the rest of the family returns and chaos resumes!

Ruby has been acting strange lately. Clingy. Whiney. Not wanting to eat. Waking up at night screaming, but then falling back asleep, and then waking up an hour later with another shrill cry (the kind that makes your heart leap out of your chest, especially when you're sleeping and all's quiet!) Puzzling. No fever. No rash. No obvious, distressing symptoms. No teeth coming in. She's had a runny nose for a week or so, but its Spring, and all my kids seem to get that this time of year. (Seth too!) One thing that has puzzled me a little is that for the past 3 or 4 mornings her nose has been stuffy and a little bloody. This morning, after a good night's sleep, I noticed a spot of blood on her sheets (about the size of a lime.) It was where her face had been for the most part of the night. So... was it from her nose? From her mouth? Neither appeared to look bloody this morning. Then I remembered that yesterday she fell in the hall, where there is no carpeting, flat on her face, and when I picked her up I noticed some blood in her mouth. (Hm, could it still be from that?) She wouldn't let me look to see if it was coming from her lip, gums, or tongue. She absolutely hates it when someone tries to look in her mouth! Always has! So, it's still a mystery. She has eaten a little better today than she had been the past few days. She has her 18-month check up coming soon, so if any of this continues, I'll be bringing it up to her pediatrician...

Kibby has been her normal giggly self lately. Perhaps more giggly than usual, even. Ordinary little things I do make her collapse in a fit of giggles. And then of course she wants me to keep repeating whatever I did. Over and over and OVER. Must be the age... Her potty-training has been going well! She rarely has an accident - only when she can't get to the bathroom because someone else is in there. And overnight... still not quite there, but she wakes up dry about 50 - 75% of the time, though! Let's see... Not much else new to report on her.

Ethan has been getting back into the swing of school, after enjoying a week off last week for Spring Break. He is excited for Easter coming up and going to our church's musical, and of course for the Easter Bunny to come! He has been behaving well in school (since the St. Patrick's Day chocolate-snitching incident...) His teacher still checks his backpack and coat everyday at the end of the day, though, to make sure he hasn't swiped anything from the classroom. (Remember in the Fall he brought home some magnets from his class? So the chocolate was a 2nd offense, except he was caught right away and returned them. But yeah...) His teacher reports that he is doing well academically, is well-liked and has lots of friends and is behaving well in class, with the exception of all the kids needing reminders to not talk when it's listening / work time. Ethan is a chatterbox, that's true!

Today he got a pedometer from his school (the gym teacher, they all got them) and he's been runing around the house all night trying to get a really high number. He was on about 3,000 steps when they left for Sam's...

Me, I've probably taken about one-tenth that today?? :) Yes, the couch is still my friend!

One last thing. (Chaos is coming, I heard the garage door open!) Our strange knocking... Well, Seth must not have believed me that there was an animal up there... he NEVER checked! And I haven't heard anything since. Things that make you go hmm...

However, now that the weather is warming... if I start to smell any nasty dead-animal odor coming from ANYWHERE in the house... you can bet your britches it will NOT be me taking care of it!!! :)

A Strange Knocking

This morning I was trying to get my kids settled back into bed around 8AM, after changing Ruby's diaper and cuddling Kibby a bit. I was really hoping I could get another hour of sleep because I didn't sleep well at work last night.

When I was about to crawl into my bed I heard a quiet knocking coming from somewhere near my closet. I went over to investigate, thinking Ethan was trying to play a trick on Mommy. Nobody in the closet. I checked on Ethan. Sleeping in his bed. No knocking coming from him!

I kept hearing it, so I went out into the living room and listened, then back to my room to listen... and still, I heard the soft but insistent knocking. What the heck?

I was beginning to get really puzzled (and a little scared!) I went downstairs, below where my closet was and listened. The sound was definitely coming from up, not down... so I headed back to my room. (By this time the girls were sitting up, looking at me and wondering what in the world I was doing.) I still heard the noise, so I called Seth at work.

I think he thought I was bonkers.

I described what I was hearing and where it seemed to be coming from. I said, "maybe it's an animal in our attic or something? At least I hope it's an animal.... and not a person!" He kinda laughed at that. The only way in or out of our attic (that is big enough for a person to fit) is through the door in the ceiling in our hallway.

Okay, so yes, it makes sense that its NOT a person. But it sure SOUNDS like one.

Or an animal. What do I know?

I took a hanger and hit the ceiling in my closet. More thumping. I hit the wall next to the ceiling, this time a bit harder. I heard sort of a scurry / hopping noise. Whatever it was was moving away from my closet area.

So after Seth says he's not worried about it, I said what any logical woman would say.

"I'm calling (the neighbor)!"

So I called our neighbors, and the husband was nice enough to take a look around the outside of our house, and offered to look up in our attic, even. (I said, "no, that's ok..." I'd hate for him to be bit by some crazed, scared-out-of-it's-mind squirrel!)

So, finally, at 9:00, I settled my girls once again, and crawled into bed. And I heard it again. Irritating. I laid awake wondering what kind of animal it could be. Probably a squirrel... hopefully not a rat... yes, probably a squirrel...

So now what? I decided to just forget it and try to nap... and eventually I did.

Later, I called my parents and got some ideas from them about how to get the animal out of the attic. My dad suggested a trap. My mom and I laughed about the scene from the Great Outdoors movie where John Candy and Dan Akroyd tried to capture a bat in their vacation lodge... ahh, funny movie... but we're not going try their method. :)

So what did we end up doing?

Absolutely nothing! (yet!)

When Seth got home from work, I took off and spent the evening at the mall with a friend of mine who was giddy with some exciting news and I forgot all about it! Until getting home and getting the kids to bed...

Now I wonder how well we'll all sleep tonight... But I'm off to bed, so I guess I'll find out!

Life These Days...

I'm hoping to eventually get back into the swing of blogging at least a few times a week. Lately it seems I have enough energy to meet my kids' basic needs, check my email, go to work, and... well, that's about as far as it goes.

Oh, and sprawl on the couch while my kids run wild, screaming and jumping on each other - and me.

If it wasn't for Seth coming home at night and taking charge of the house, things would be really... really... well, not good around here. He's cooked, picked up toys, played with the kids, washed clothes, hauled laundry up and down the stairs, given baths, washed dishes, cleaned up after dinner... and various other tasks that have been largely neglected by me lately. I can't tell you how I appreciate it. What a guy.

I'm sure he is looking forward to the second trimester about as much as I am.

And I am looking forward to posting more upbeat stuff on here, instead of the same old "I'm nauseated, blah blah blah" posts... I still haven't found my USB cable for my camera, or I'd post some pictures. (Of course I realize it helps if I actually LOOK for the cable. It'll happen. One of these days...)

Switching gears, little Stellan is still in the hospital, and could really use your continued prayers. Please click here to get the latest information and new updates from MckMama herself. Stellan's heart continues to go in and out of SVT and the poor baby is just so very miserable. I can't imagine, as a mom, watching your little one go through so much and not be able to fix it... please, please pray for this family! Thanks to those of you already praying.

Baby Stellan is Back in the Hospital

Remember around Christmas I posted about a little baby named Stellan who was hospitalized with RSV? Well, he's sick again and needs your prayers. Please visit his mommy's blog here for all the details and for updates.

Here is a quote from MckMama herself, "Stellan's heart is in Supra Ventricular Tachycardia, the same state he was in when he nearly died in my womb. Today, we find ourselves in the same hospital he was in when he had RSV, but treating his heart now instead."

Stellan is now almost 5 months old, and had been diagnosed with a few different heart conditions while still in the womb, but none were present at birth, and until a couple of days ago, he had no heart problems whatsoever. Now his little heart is beating very fast and the doctors are trying and trying to get it back to a normal rate and rhythm.

Please be in prayer for this little guy and his family. I know they appreciate it!
Thanks everyone!

I'm Still Alive! I Promise!

Hey there everyone! I'm back!

Ok, so I didn't really go anywhere. I only took a looooong blogging break without really meaning to. It just happened. There have been plenty of times over the past couple of weeks where I have sat down to write a post only to be interrupted by some urgent request that *can't wait*.


You know, like dirty diapers.


And then yesterday I had every intention of writing a new post and really wanted to add pictures, but I wasted all my time looking for the USB cable for my camera to upload the latest... I still haven't found the cable. That's what happens when you clean your house, you know.


So, this post really SHOULD be about two things. (The two things that I meant to post about in the last few weeks but didn't.) They are:


Ethan lost his first tooth. Finally. He will be 7 in three months, and I think he was starting to believe he would never lose any! His adult tooth had already broke the surface behind his baby tooth, and so we told him to just keep wiggling the baby tooth to get it out! He finally resorted to using dental floss to hook under it and pry it out. I couldn't watch. I told him that my dad used to tie a string to my loose tooth and the other end of the string was tied to a doorknob. Then he would slam the door and out popped the tooth. (Very quickly but not always painlessly.) Ethan decided to NOT try that way. Can't imagine why...


He now has a second tooth that is loose, right next to the other one that just came out (bottom middle) and of course when I looked this morning I saw the adult tooth already through behind this one, too. So he is wiggling again. The tooth fairy brought him a dollar for his first tooth, and he was so excited that he wanted to take it to school to show his friends. I said no. I told him they've all seen a dollar before and I didn't want it stolen.


We'll see what the tooth fairy gives for a second tooth. It won't be long now!


The second thing I wanted to post was pictures of the girls eating my homemade chocolate chip cookies. I realized that both girls had their very first one at 16 months each, and I wanted to post pictures of each of them eating their first cookie! But I cannot find the picture of Kibby, and I cannot find my cable to upload the pic of Ruby. But I WILL find them! And post them at a later time. Along with the picture of Ethan's lost tooth. And by then I'll have another pic of him with his second tooth out. :)

Of course both of these things really should have been posted a long time ago. So that today, I could just post about the main reason I've been largely absent on the blogger / facebook / twitter scene lately... I've been spending a lot of time lying on the couch. Bone tired. Fighting nausea. Yes, morning sickness to be more precise. Yes, the kind of sickness that accompanies a pregnancy.


Surprised? I sure was! We were certainly happy with our three blessings we already had, and decided that we were done... Well, it would seem that God has other plans for our family. (I'll share more on this later. My couch is calling me again.) However, I wanted to tell you all that we are expecting another little addition to our family in October.


Ethan is hoping for a baby brother this time. :)