Take Me Out To The Ballgame

It's started again..Lucas had his first ballgame last night and things are starting to get crazy again. It's always exciting and I'm looking forward to watching the kids develop again this season. David's coaching both Jacob and Lucas' teams again this year so of course that means working double time with all the legwork for me. They won their first game last night 9-6 and it was so nice to feel the adrenaline rush again! We had a 7 pm game last night so I fixed dinner before we left..honestly sometimes it gets the best of me....I really don't know how people with more kids do it..I bust my ass all day and I still go to bed with a ton left to do. These people that are organized and get everything done in a day and have a clean house with extra kids just amaze me...you are my idol!!! Anyhow...enough of my griping about being behind....here's the much awaited baseball pictures...for me that is :-)


Warming Up


Lucas is catcher again this year...it's funny to watch him throw that mask off :)


Here's my baby...David says I can't even go to the ballfield without taking a picture of her..what can I say..she begs me too :)


After they won...Go A's!!!!!

First Bath Kinda

Allie is 10 months old now and last week for the VERY first time she experienced bath time with her Daddy. She thoroughly enjoyed it. I tried to keep my mouth shut while he was washing her and doing things differently but of course I couldn't :) I loved it though...I was in shock when he said he was going to do it and even more shock when he actually did it but I finally got some pics of her in the bathtub so it was worth it.


This was when I couldn't keep my mouth shut. He was taking the washcloth and just wringing the water out over her head and it was going all down her face and in her eyes. I had to tell him that I always lean her back and do it so that the water doesn't get in her eyes.




You can see that he listened :) that made me a very happy mommy!

10 Months and Still Blue

Ten months ago today right at this very moment I was sitting in a hospital room finishing up spaghetti from Capris and drinking cup after cup of a gallon of sweet tea. David and I were arguing over whether or not we were going to send Allie to the nursery for the first night. I didn't want to but he did and after keeping her until about midnight I sent her for a few hours so I could get some sleep.

It's hard to believe it's been ten months since I first saw her face....held her in my arms and kissed her sweet little face. I remember every single detail about that day! It makes me sad to know that in two short months we'll be celebrating her first birthday...sad because she's growing up so quickly but happy because of everything we are going to get to experience with her throughout the years. I wish time would just slow down alittle so she could stay right where she's at for awhile longer.


(David took this picture today...I think it's my favorite of all so far)
Allie Cat:

These last ten months have been the best of my life. I've absolutely enjoyed every single second of them..from the times when you're laughing and smiling from ear to ear to when we're sitting up in the middle of the night because you refuse to sleep in your bed. Right now you're much happier right smack in the middle of your Daddy and I and honestly when it comes down to it we really couldn't care less. You have brought so much to our lives and I honestly can't look back and remember life without you in it. You've started pulling yourself up and can now stand up all by yourself...before we know it you'll be cruising around holding onto the couch and tables. You don't stay in one place at all anymore..wherever I go I know that you're going to be right behind me. Secretly...I love it! I love you! You still love bananas,applesauce and fruit medley. You're still not very excited by veggies though...we'll eventually work on it but for now I'll take what I can get. You will eat carrots from time to time but absolutely hate anything that has peas or green beans in it. You discovered the sippy cup this month and love to get your hands on Caleb's..I've started giving you one with alittle bit of water and you love it. Your top two teeth have broken through also and in the past three days one of your top side ones has come through..your other is right there. I belive you're going to have a mouthful for your first birthday..I really think you're just gearing up for that cake! You've started waving and it's the cutest thing I've ever seen!!! Oh and the most important thing is you started saying Mama this past month. You said what sounded like Dada a couple months back but broke out with Mama just recently. You LOVE to sit in the kitchen and play with the magnets on the refrigerator each and everyday..you'll sit there for the longest time and entertain yourself. I'm amazed at watching you and love to see everything you are discovering. You love bathtime..each night you splash away and never ever fuss. Each and every morning I walk in to find you laying with your eyes open...most of the time in Mommy and Daddy's bed and as soon as you see me you get the biggest grin on your face. I think that it is absolutely the most amazing thing in the world that you think so much of me...you are my everything little girl. I want you to know that I will always ALWAYS be there for you no matter what. I love and adore you my pretty girl! You're getting more hair each and everyday though you don't have enough for the clippies that are waiting for you yet..we're still in the headband stage right now. For a while your hair was darker but it's beginning to lighten up a bit I believe...and last but not least...after 10 months your eyes are still the most gorgeous blue I have ever seen in my entire life..knock on wood....I'm praying that they stay that way!

Love,

Mommy

Don't Understand!

Updated: I just read MckMama's twitter and they are going in to try and get some sort of permanent iv access on Stellan...she doesn't know if it'll be a central/j/picc line but keep him in your prayers!!!!!!





I'm having a hard time thinking about posting a regular blog post this morning with all that's going on. My mind is on other things. Stellan is still in the hospital and as of last night he'd been in SVT for the last 26 hours. I also heard this morning that Veiyah is back in the hospital also. I posted about her a while back on my blog when she was in for heart surgery and became very critical. They put her back in yesterday for severe dehydration. I suppose I'm having a difficult time thinking and writing about my kids right now when there are babies out there that are suffering...I don't get it. I've had major issues with my faith for the last 5 years or so and it is times like these that it is hardest on me. I don't understand why a loving God would do this to tiny innocent children. Why not to the convicts that have murdered heinously in prison or to the sexual predators out there that had hurt innocent little boys and girls...why innocent babies that can't fight on their own and have done nothing wrong in their entire lives. I don't get it. Anyhow...I really wasn't intending to go that in depth but for now I just ask that everyone pray for Stellan and Veiyah. I've put both their links on here for those of you that don't know them.

Caleb

Caleb is going through a bit of a stage right now. He's starting with the "terrible 2's" to a degree..nothing drastic but he's definitely pushing his limits. There are many instances throughout the day that I will tell him no and he'll proceed to continue whatever he was doing while looking at me so as to say "See me..I'm going to do it anyway." He's into everything...I mean no matter where something is at if he wants it then he is going to figure out how to get to it. I can't put things out of his reach-it's impossible becuase he will find a way.


I was busy with Allie the other morning and realized that I hadn't heard him in a couple of minutes so I started looking for him. He was in the bathroom playing in her soap by the tub and he'd decided to rub it all over his head. Seriously..he may drive me insane :)


I love this picture. It's rare right now that I can get two of my kids to sit still at the same moment so when I their faces together at the same time it was priceless!




It aka The Carefully Planned Attack right at dinner time every single night came back again and let me tell you Caleb doesn't miss it. We were outside the other night when it came and he literally climbed the fence to see it..I think he thought the higher he climbed the closer he would be. Seriously though..why do they come right at dinner time? They never miss...it amazes me...surely these people should be smart enough to come later on...and since when do ice cream trucks come during the week on a daily basis? What happened to weekends and summer day..geez...it's relentless!

Caleb is beginning to get alittle jealous of Allie lately. He isn't mean to her or trying to hurt her but it's obvious that there's some jealousy there now. He repeatedly comes up to me and tell me "mama I don't feel good" and wants me to hold him. At the beginning I was trying to find out what was wrong but then I quickly realized that he did it when he wanted me to hold him and give him attention. I'm trying to make sure that I give him individual attention everyday and that it doesn't get out of hand..the last thing I want is for him to start taking it out on Allie. My two year old is quickly growing up and beginning to get a mind of his own..I'll never be able to stop him now :)

Prayer Vigil for Stellan

I'm sure everyone has heard that Stellan is in the hospital and needs all the prayers he can get right now. There is a prayer vigil going on for him so please go and join in. MckMama is posting updates on her blog so you can find more out there. Stellan has beaten all odds before and I'm praying that he continues to do so.

Wordless Wednesday

Please Pray

I know that it's all over the place now but I haven't had a chance to post until tonight. I read MckMama's blog this morning and heard about Stellan and immediately started praying for him but I just haven't been able to sit down and blog until about five minutes ago. Stellan is back in the hospital with SVT and they can't get his heartrate down right now. He really needs all the prayers he can get right now!!!!! You can read all about his story on MckMama's blog. Please head over and let her know that you're thinking of her and Stellan tonight.

I HEART Faces Kids Week 11

I HEART Faces is a photography blog that showcases everyones talent out there. I entered a lot at the beginning but have slacked off and haven't entered for a few weeks now. I decided to join back in on the fun this week. This weeks theme is no flash and that's isn't very difficult for me..I love to take pictures without the flash and enjoy the natural lighting.

This picture is of Allie at one of her favorite spots..the sliding glass door. She loves to sit and watch her brothers play outside and I love to take pictures of her while she's there..the light is great!!!!

She Loves It

Allie goes for Caleb's sippy cup everytime it's within her reach. I'm don't like to introduce juice until well after the first birthday so I've put alittle water in a cup and gave it to her. It's become an everyday thing now. She loves it!! She still gets her bottles but she loves to get her cup once during the day also. I'm so not ready for her to be growing up!!


See her chompers :) Those top two are in but you really can't see them yet.

I Scream,You Scream,We all Scream for Ice Cream

Lucas had baseball practice Tuesday night and Jacob went with him and David to the field. Caleb was very upset that he couldn't go and David and I felt horrible. I walked outside with him so he could see the car driving down the street and I heard the ice cream truck. I thought that would be a special treat for him since he didn't get to go to the field so I ran inside got some money and grabbed my camera thinking that they were right down the street and I had little time to get back outside before we missed the truck. So we got out there and

we waited

and waited

and waited some more. They went all over our neighborhood except for coming down our street.

So we came inside and had one of our own :)

Then yesterday we heard the all too familar jingling of ice cream bells in our near distant future and looky what we found right in front of our house

So of course we had to make up for the day before and Lucas happened to get lucky too since he was home.

Wordless Wednesday

Allie

Last week before the rain started I took Allie outside to get some pictures of her. It was the last pretty day for a while and was in the 70s outside..I didn't realize how windy it was until we got outside but it still went pretty well. I got lots of pics although I haven't edited any of them yet. Bunches of them are sideways and I've got to edit and turn but here's a few for now. I have to find a new editing program so that when I turn the pics and post them on my blog they will stay upright. With my new camera you have to load directly from what was put on the computer before edited so they always stayed turned the wrong way. I'm going to try the picnik that I've heard about...hopefully that'll do the trick. Here's my baby girl...she's growing WAY TOO fast!!!!

Not Me Monday

It's obviously Monday so it's time for what the blogging world refers to as free therapy..Not Me Monday. Head over to MckMama's and see what everyone else did not do this past week!

Now as for me:

I have not used 4 boxes of Kleenex in the past 6 days on two..that's right I said 2 children. Imagine what it would have been like with 4.

After my plans on Friday for such a relaxing and productive weekend my husband did not come home Friday early and spent the entire weekend sick.

I did not say I was going to work on cleaning out my bedroom this weekend because that would have been a lie since I didn't get to touch it!

I did not have to move Caleb's room around so that he would stop playing with the blinds when it was time to go to bed.

And I am absolutely not rushing out to the store to buy childproof door knob covers so that when it's beditme Caleb can not repeatedly come out of his room into the hallway for two hours. That's right I did not just admit that Caleb(my perfect sleeper after taking 18 mths to sleep through the night)has started not wanting to go to bed. UGH!!!

I am not so far behind once again in commenting on blogs that I need to just sit down for a few hours and browse! Seriously..I promise guys I'm coming :)

She's a Sunbather

Baseball has started around our house and it's constant chaos right now. Lucas and Jacob are both playing and of course David's coaching both teams again. We were out at the park last weekend on Saturday morning for their practices..Lucas' starts at 9 and Jacob follows at 10. It was early and honestly I really didn't think about the sun. I can't use the excuse that it's been so long since I've had a baby that I haven't had to worry about it but it has been a VERY long time since I've had one with fair skin. Lucas was the last and that was 8 years ago. Jacob and Caleb took after David and they were blessed with darker skin tones so any sun they get immediately tans. One of my dear friends thought she noticed Allie's head was alittle red at the park so I moved her out of the sun but it quickly left my mind after that. Later on that night David brought her out of the bedroom and we noticed taht her face had gotten burnt. I about had a heartattack!!! I mean I felt horrible..she never acted like it bothered her and I loaded her up with lotion that night. The next day it was 90% soaked in and she was happy as could be. Needless to say I learned my lesson and will make sure she's always covered from now on. My precious little girl with her first sunburn.

It's Finally Friday

It's been a stressful week so I'm so relieved that it's Friday!!!! We're supposed to have cold weather and rain all weekend long..hard believe that just 2 days ago it was 80 degrees outside. I'm happy though and hoping to finish cleaning out closets around here this weekend. I've gotten the kids closets done so I've gotta tackle ours next. Caleb and Allie are still sick so I'm hoping that they'll improve and allow me to get alittle done. I bet you I've wiped their noses at least 200 times in the last 24 hours. I had to suction Allie this morning and she wasn't happy with me at all to say the least. That has got to be one of the worst things..I hate having to do that..they act like it is the worst thing on earth. So honestly I'm tired..I have a headache and I really just don't have a big post in me today. I've got some great pics of Allie that I'm going to share this weekend and she's done alot this week so I'm excited about that but for today it is what it is.

They're Here

She's got em..her two front teeth that is. They have officially broken through and let me tell you we she and I earned each one of those multiplied by five. She's sleeping much better although still not completely normal. I put her to bed last night about 930 and she woke at 230. I put her in the bed with us and she fell back asleep until 645 this morning. I fed her a bottle and she's in her bed now asleep. So not perfect but compared to two weeks ago this time it's heaven! Now last night when I was on six inches of bed I wasn't saying that but it is improving. I'm glad that they have broken through so she isn't hurting but on the other hand I'm sad because she's growing too fast. So here's my baby girl growing way too fast!! I haven't been able to get a picture of her teeth yet..you really can't see them unless you look really close and you really have to feel it more than anything but here's a pic of her about a week ago when she was still trying teething and fussy as ever.

Wordless Wednesday(or not so much)

My first busted lip :( My brother hit me in the mouth with a bat :(

I'm Back...Well Kinda

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. Allie is still sick...she's improving though I think. She still has a cough that I'm not real fond of. Her two top teeth are about to bust through and her gums are incredibly swollen..I know that's not helping much in the feel good department.

Lucas has greatly improved. His cough is almost gone and his ear is much better. He's griped everytime that he's had to take his medicine and oh how I'm so ready for it to be gone. He enjoys it so much that I forgot to give it to him yesterday and he conveniently forgot to remind me in the morning and at bedtime.

Jacob is miraculously better! I took him back to the doctor today and for now we're calling it a virus. About a year or alittle more ago he woke up one morning and couldn't move...every joint on his body hurt him. He couldn't walk at all and when he moved he cried. They did a ton of tests and xrays and thought it was a form of arthritis that occured after a virus..within a week or so it was gone. The doctor has said that if it happens again she is going to send us to a rheumatologist.

Caleb seems to have improved too. He's been playing outside in the summerlike weather that we've had and has only had a runny nose for two days now.

As far as stuff around the house it's crazy. I've got boxes of old clothes in the living room that I'm going through to figure out what I've got to get for this spring/summer and what I've already got. I have tons of laundry and cleaning to do. I did happen to squeeze in getting the sheets all washed and bathrooms cleaned this weekend but not much further. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone in the next couple of days. So get ready..I'm back...at least I'm coming around the corner!

Everybody

Every single child in my house is sick right now. Honestly it's absolutely insane around here. My hopes for a nice and relaxing weekend to enjoy the beautiful almost summerlike weather and get caught up on things is looking like a dream that I concocted one night during my couple of hours of sleep.

Rewind to Wednesday:Lucas had a two hour delay for school from the snow that we got Sunday night. He went to school perfectly fine but when he got home he was crying with his ear. He'd had a cough for the last two days but I thought it was just a cold. I took him to the urgent care as soon as he got home because there was no way I was going to be able to get him into the doctors office that late in the day. He had an ear infection...so three hours and $200 later we were back home. This is also the last of two days that Jacob stayed in bed with a headache.

Thursday: Jacob started with a cough although his head was apparently feeling better. Allie started getting fussy during the day and was running a low grade fever. She wasn't sleeping very much and only took one nap during the day. When it was time for her to eat dinner I got two bites down her before everything in her stomach came up. Of course all of this was right after her bath. I actually got her down for bedtime pretty easily and she slept relatively well for the night.

Friday: Lucas is improving although he still has a cough. Allie is still running a fever when we get up,has a cough and a runny nose. Caleb got up very sluggish and only wanting to lay around for a few hours...he wasn't interested at all in eating asn as you all know Caleb ALWAYS eats! Jacob was laying around on the couch and started complaining that his legs hurt. He couldn't walk...I mean literally couldn't walk. When I tried to get him to stand up he trembled,cried and fell to the ground. So off we head to the doctor at lunchtime. We think that Allie has a virus along with teething. They gave Jacob a strep test although the automatic one that they get back in the office came up negative..they're still sending it to the lab. He has a rash on his tummy and our doctor said she was shocked that his strep test didn't come back positive. She gave motrin and we sat in the office for almost an hour. We have to go back Monday for a recheck..if the strep comes back positive then we have to talk meds(you all know the story with Jacob and meds) and if it comes back negative..then we're off for bloodwork,auto immune disease panel and xrays. This is the second time that Jacob has had muscle/joint problems. The first time the doctor said that he had a type of arthritis that is associated with a virus...every single one of his joints hurt and was swollen. Now Caleb still isn't eating like he normally does so he's in and out as far as playing goes. I'm almost wondering if he might have strep too so if he hasn't improved by Monday I might have them do a swab of his throat also. Right now Jacob is on Motrin around the clock..Caleb's on it to keep a fever down and him feeling halfway normal,Allie's on it to keep her fever manageable and happy and of course Lucas is on antibiotic and cough medicine.

Geez!!!! So much for a relaxing weekend! Honestly I just want to sit and catch up with everyone but it's not looking promising right now. I'll get to it though..I promise!

When it Rains it Pours

Do you ever wonder when you're going to catch a break. A day when things go normal-whatever that is around your house. This week has been crazy..of course it started off with 2 snow days so our house was chaos. Jacob's headaches came back on Tuesday morning and continued until last(Wednesday)night. Everytime I turned around and thought that we had it under control and it was gone he'd be crying that it hurt again...he's spent much of the last two days in bed. Honestly I have no idea where it came from..I'm so confused with these headaches. We initially stopped everything on the list that the doctor gave us and the headaches stopped. I initially added stuff off the list back and he did fine. I couldn't find anything on there that was causing the headaches..he's had pretty much everything that we took away and done fine with it. Out of the blue Tuesday he gets another one and I am so perplexed now. He didn't have anything that he hadn't been eating and I honestly have no idea how to go about controlling these things now.

On top of that Allie isn't sleeping well..honestly that's an understatement. She is sleeping VERY little. She wakes up within 2-3 hours of me putting her down and I try to get her back to sleep and put her in her bed but when I put her down she wakes up most of the time immediately. When it isn't immediate it is within the hour. She ends up in bed with us and she still wakes up constantly..I'm talking 4-5 times a night and when she does sleep she's tossing and turning which is keeping me awake. I was up until 2 last night..slept from 2 until 4 and got David up with her and gave her a bottle. She went back to sleep and woke up within 30 minutes so I rocked her back to sleep and put her in her bed which didn't last more than an hour. She then ended up in our bed where she tossed and turned. Of course it's 8 here now and she's in the bed asleep..this is actually rare for her lately. She used to sleep late but the past few days she's been getting up at 7 or shortly after.

Lucas has had a horrible cough and stuffy nose for the past 3 or 4 days. Yesterday he came home from school complaining that his ear was hurting. I took him to urgent care because I couldn't get into our doctor that late in the day and he has an ear infection. I went to the drug store to get 3 prescriptions filled. They only had 2 of the 3 and were going to fax the 3rd to another drugstore. We waited 30 minutes to get 2 filled and then proceeded to the other drugstore alittle further down the street. I got there and they hadn't even taken the prescription off the fax machine and then told me it would be another 30-45 mins. By this time it was after 6..David had already missed his meeting and I hadn't even started dinner. So 3 hours and $200 later I headed home extremely tired and mad to finish dinner for everyone. David had to go back out later on to pick medicine up.

Caleb is getting alittle jealous lately. He's handling it well but I can see it coming out. He'll walk up to me out of the blue and put his head on my shoulder and just want to be held. He's still not acting out towards Allie which I am thankful for but I can see alittle bit of jealousy in him. I'm just glad he's handling it with only wanting to be held and not trying to hurt her!!!! He recently started saying "Oh My God" ...as cute as it was I about fell on the floor when I heard it the first time. Everytime he says it now I automatically repeat "Oh My Goodness" or "Oh My Gosh" right after him hoping he'll pick up on one of those. Most of the time he'll say the same thing that I do right after me but he's still letting the other slip every now and then.

So I'm here....have lots of reading and commenting to catch up on but just haven't had the time. I'm trying to shop for new health insurance right now and that's a pain in the ass pure and simple! Hoping for a relaxing weekend!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Covered with Snow

Incredibly rare for SC we got about 6 inches of snow at our house. Our cable and internet went down and I am WAY behind on blogging right now. I got some great pics of the kids and they had a blast. I always say that I wish we lived up north someplace that it snows all the time and it's nearly as hot in the summer as it is in the south. Let me say that after dressing and undressing kid after kid yesterday I'll keep my southern weather and snow once every five years anyday. I don't know how you all do it..I'd had enough of it by 10 am. I haven't edited pics yet but here are a few straight from my camera. I've got tons of work to do on pics if I ever find the time..I was going to work on it and blogs last night but I got sucked into the last miserable episode of the Bachelor!

Caleb actually only went outside once first thing yesterday morning. He played for a while and then was ready to come in and never asked to go out again. It was fun to watch him though..he loved the sled!

Everytime I turned around Jacob had snow in his mouth. He picked up huge pieces of snow and shoved them in his mouth repeatedly. Seriously I thought he was going to wet the bed last night he ate so much snow! He went back out yesterday afternoon while Caleb was sleeping and when he came in he was soaking wet from head to toe...he had an absolute ball in the snow!

Lucas decided to try and go down the slide on the swingset..you can see the outcome :) He wanted to learn how to run and jump on the sled most of all..his daddy tried to show him but he never quite caught on. They all had a blast on it when daddy was pushing them though.

This is my little sumo wrestler..when she was bundled up I joked that was what she looked like. She only stood the snow for as long as it took for me to get pics at the beginning and then she was done. She wasn't out more than 10 minutes and she was inside the rest of the day..she did get to experience it though..she actually tried to crawl when we first put her down..so cute!

I'm seeing white

We have snow in South Carolina. It's just started really coming down within the last hour or so but it's coming and they're calling for more. The house is WIRED. The kids are WILD. My dad owns his own truck and he travels...he just left to go to Alabama...I'm petrified so please keep him in your prayers. Otherwise the kids are excited and we're getting ready to eat a pot of soup!