Halloween Fun!

Halloween was a lot of work this year. Maybe Halloween is always alot of work and I just forget. Glad I don't have to put makeup on myself and 3 others everyday.

I haven't mentioned for a while that I really love my neighborhood. We really love getting together and don't do it enough. So I decided to have a little shindig. It was really low key but lots of fun. The kids and adults all had a good time.

I decided that this year we were going to dress up with a theme. We were all Supers. Lexi wasn't too sure about being a Super but in the end she liked it. It was really fun. I now want to have a theme every year.

Searching for the right Pumpkin

Whats Halloween without a pumpkin patch. I love love love pumpkins. I'm not quite sure why I love them so much. Almost all of my Halloween decor is pumpkins. I thoroughly enjoy walking around a pumpkin patch searching for the perfect pumpkin. This year we went to a patch in Lake Shore and they had the best pumpkins ever. They were the prettiest color of orange and ranged from all shapes and sizes. It was the perfect fall weather for pumpkin hunting.

I LOVE being a Witch

Instead of playing Bunco this month we decided to have a Witches party. It was fun seeing everyones attire. I really do have great friends!

Baby is ONE!

This is what I looked like many times a day
His Cake that he never ate

He was still happy even though he was sick

He loved this card, it plays music when you open it

He got this outfit a week later from Steph. He thought he looked so cute. I love him!

I know every mom says it, but how did this year go by soooo fast. My baby is 1 and it kindof makes me sad. He has been such a blessing in my life. He brings me so much happiness and joy pure and utter joy. He is so happy all the time and has each member of our family smitten. He is sweet as can be.

My poor little guy has had a run with sickness. First he had hand mouth and foot. None of my kids have ever had this and man it is a bad one. He had all these sores in his mouth that made eating and drinking so painful. He had a fever of 102 and was throwing up and had diarrhea. After that was over he got little blisters on his fingers. This lasted 10 days. We were healthy for less than a week and then the stomach flu hit. He literally threw up and had diarrhea for 8 days. I have never seen anyone be so sick. It was starting to scare me. I was so afraid he was going to die. My Dr. told me that the only reason he was not in the hospital was because I was still breastfeeding. Breast milk is easier to absorb and digest. He lost 2 lbs. He was even sick on his birfday and didn't get to eat any cake. Sad.

Finally he is better and is eating everything in sight. This boy can eat. He can eat a whole bowl of oatmeal and entire PB&J sandwich. He can out eat Savanna and MaKaya. If I am not careful he will stuff the entire sandwich in his mouth. When he sees food and wants to eat he says mmmm mmmm mmmm. He does this all the time. He always wants to eat. Maybe he is making up for lost time. He crawls all over the place and plays so good with his toys. He loves his blankie. He loves to sit and ride on his dads riding lawn mowers. Big tears are shed when he has to get off. I never knew how much I would love having a little boy. He is so fantastic it really makes me want to have another one. Help me please!!!

He is 60% in weight

He is off the charts for height

He is off the charts for head

Lexi turns 10!

My life was changed forever the day Lexi was born. I didn't know that I could love someone so much. I looked at everyone different because I realized that they were somebodies baby. I started to understand my own mom better. She loved me the same way that I loved Lexi. I cried, more like sobbed in my hospital room thinking about having to leave her in 8 weeks to go back to work. In just a few short hours I had fallen deeply in love with this black haired baby girl and I never wanted to let her go.

10 years have gone by, and not many things have changed. I love her more today than I did 10 years ago. My heart strings are tugged daily by other peoples misfortunes. My mom is the most fabulous mother/grandmother in the whole wide world. Lexi and her are very close. I still hate it when Lexi leaves. She is very dear to my heart.

One thing that I have loved watching is Lexi with Crew. For the first time in her life she has experienced what it feels like to love and take care of someone else. She is so good to him. You can see the joy in her face when she sees him. She is so responsible for someone so young. I can always count on her to help out with him. She really really loves him, and he loves her right back. A few months ago we were leaving the girls dance recital, it was dark Lexi was holding Crew and she tripped on the curb and fell flat on the sidewalk. She landed on her arms and braced the fall with her knees to avoid Crew from hitting the sidewalk. She was so scared and felt so bad. Her heart was torn to think she might have hurt him. She had scrapes and bruises but Crew had not a scratch. She put herself in danger to avoid Crew from being hurt. She is learning what it feels like to sacrifice for someone else.

I love spending time with her. She understands things way beyond her years. She can sense when she is needed even before she is asked. She is so kind to everyone. She looks out for the underdog. I am so very lucky to have her as my own. She is priceless!

For her birthday party we had a spa.

The girls did facials had their nails painted and made bracelets. We had lots of yummy food to eat and a chocolate fountain to enjoy. It was a really fun day.

First Day of School

MaKaya changed her first day of school outfit 13 times.

Had to have a picture of baby.

Oh my gosh they look grown up

So Pretty

Boo loves her sparkly pants

Oh how I dread this day. All summer long it haunts me. I really love having my kids home. I love taking them places, we really have a lot of fun together. Yes there are days that they drive me crazy but for the most part we have a lot of fun. The Friday before school started I had my emotional break down. I was stopped on the freeway for over an over. I just started crying and couldn't get a hold of myself. I was kind of a Debbie Downer all day long. I couldn't figure out what my problem was. Then it hit me.... I was deeply broken hearted that my kids would be returning to school. Our fun carefree sleep in days were over. I was not ready for a schedule and real life to begin. I want my kids around me.

I don't know what to do with myself while they are gone. Crew takes a long nap in the afternoon. I haven't figured out what to do with my time. I read Mockingjay yesterday. It takes me a while to get in my new groove. Change always takes some adjustment.

Lexi is in 4th grade. She is so grown-up. Everyone thinks she is in 6th grade. She is as tall or taller than them. She is going to be able to wear my shoes within the year. She is still such a sweet girl. She is so nice to everyone. She melts my heart.

MaKaya is in 2nd grade. She can now see over the counter in the school office. She has finally grown out of her size 6 pants. She is so excited to get dressed everyday. What outfit should she choose? She has a very tender heart. She radiates happiness. She brings me Joy!!!

Savanna gets to go to Miss Julie. She is our most favorite pre-school teacher. She really is the bomb.com! They have all agreed that she is the very best! Boo is really tall for her age. The size 6 that MaKaya just grew out of Boo can wear. She has more energy than any girl I know, one of her best friends is a boy. She loves loves loves to play with Crew and can be super sweet... when she wants to. She is super animated when she talks. I love watching her tell a story. She makes me laugh, a lot.

Can you see why its hard for me to let my girlies go. They are such a huge part of who I am. I guess that is why I keep having more. I just love it way too much!

When I dropped them off at school Sadie our dog started crying. So was I.

Big Boy

This little guy has stolen the hearts of many girls all ready. He is the sweetest happiest smiliest easy going little dude ever born. I can not get enough of him.

His 10 month appointment told us this

Length- 31 inches off the chart for his age.

He is the average length of an 18 month old

Weight- 24 lbs 70th percentile

Head- Really big not on the charts

He still loves to nurse and wants nothing to do with a bottle, sippy, binki. The only other thing he will suck on is a straw. Breaking him from nursing is going to be fun. He is really close to crawling, but with all his sisters, (and his mom) he is held a lot. What can we say we LOVE him! He is starting to mimic face expressions. We think he is so funny.

Having a baby around makes me so content. I wonder if I will ever loose the desire to have more babies. They are just so special. They scream yumminess!

I have loved and cherished every single moment with him. I know we all say this, but I wish I could freeze time right now.

SoftBall

Lexi and some team mates
The whole team happy as can be

Lexi getting her first place medal

Hanging out on first base

All of Lexi's fans

Finally I get to watch a real game of softball. T-Ball and Coach pitch is great for learning but at times painful to watch. Lexi is on the Cougars this season, and what a season we had. We tied for first place. I loved going to each and every one of her games. It was so fun to watch Lexis confidence grow and watch her team improve. She loves everything about it. Before each game she was filled with excitement. The more she practiced, the more she improved, the more she improved, the more confidence she got. It was great!

We were able to go to the state tournament and amazingly enough her team won the whole tournament. It was double elimination, they ended up not loosing one game. Each game I was sick with nerves. So sick with nerves that I couldn't even eat, and I had the runs. (ewww gross I know) I kept telling myself that it was only my 9 year old playing city league and its not that big of a deal but I just couldn't get myself to calm down. I had so much fun watching her play and was sad that it ended. Maybe if we would have had a few more weeks of games I could loose the last baby pounds I am still carrying around.

Eclipse Drama

This is me Happy waiting for the movie
Angry Face

We are not a happy group of ladies.

Like most of you, I purchased my ticket for Eclipse months ago, and have been impatiently waiting for the blasted movie. Finally the night has arrived. My girlfriends and I went to dinner first and then off to the theater to wait in line for FOUR hours. When the time came to enter the theater my adrenalin kicked in and I was so excited I wanted to shout. I calmly sat in my chair and waited. Shortly after my popcorn was buttered and my Pepsi was filled the previews started. My seat was good I wasn't too close to the front and no one tall was sitting in front of me. I could see the screen just fine, I just couldn't hear anything, not a sound was coming from the movie. Now we specifically picked theater 3 because a worker told us it had the best sound. So you can understand my confusion when I could hear nothing. The movie stopped, and then started again still with no sound. I wasn't too concerned yet we were still watching previews. Then all of a sudden the movie starts and THERE IS STILL NO SOUND!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I close my eyes tight I don't want to see without hearing. Then the lights fade on. The owner of the theater proceeds to explain that they cannot get the sound to work and therefore I will not be able to watch the movie. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!! I was so mad I wanted to throw my freshly buttered popcorn and my ice cold Pepsi all over everything. It wasn't just the fact I was missing the movie(although that was a huge part) it was all the planning that it took to get there. Juggling the kids, staying up late, being tired the next morning for no reason at all, the months of anticipation, finding someone to watch the kids tomorrow so I could watch the movie. I was defeated, and I never like feeling that way. I left the movie theater very very angry. One of the worst parts of all is my sister who could really care less about the damn movie got a sneak peek and watched it at 8:00 and hours ago sent me a text telling me how great it was. So sluggishly I went home got into bed and laid there for an hour. My steam had to simmer before I could fall asleep.

I am happy to report that fabulous sister of mine took all 4 kids of mine plus one of her own to the pool by herself so I could go watch the blasted movie. And it was magnificent. I LOVED every moment of it!

Sorry lady friends for the bad behavior.

Bulging soft spot= Hospital stay

This is Crew at the end of a very long day.
Gettng blood pressure taken


Getting ready for bed

Everytime the hospital staff came in Crews roon, they had to gown up.

Playing with some toys

Tuesday night Crew had a really rough time. He cried and moaned and wiggled around. He just couldn't get comfy. He had a fever and was fussy. While trying to soothe him, I was rubbing his sweet round head. I noticed that his soft spot was bulging rather than sunk in like always. I was worried, and anxious for morning so I could call the Dr. He didn't get any worse throughout the night but he didn't get any better. There was little sleep and lots of crying, poor guy. When we got to the Dr. he was concerned about his soft spot. Because Crew has a "Big Head" he thought he might have fluid around his brain. If there was no fluid then we would proceed with a spinal tap. He was showing some signs of meningitis. So we went and got an ultrasound of his head. It showed no fluid. While I was waiting for the Dr. to perform his spinal tap I was walking around outside with my fussy baby. I was trying to soothe him, and myself. For just a brief minute I allowed myself to think the worst. What if my baby has spinal meningitis, what if he is really really sick. What if something really bad happens. I hugged him tight and then tighter and tighter. I walked into the Drs. Office with a prayer in my heart, I was scared to death.

It was going on 3:00 and poor baby had slept horrid and really had no nap, he was exhausted. While he was lying on the table having fluid taken out of his back my heart was breaking. You just feel so helpless. His cry for help was not being answered. I just rubbed his leg and sang Take me out the Ballgame. After he was done I wrapped him up in his blanket and cradled him to sleep. I kissed him over and over and over again.

We were being admitted to the hospital. Dr. Johnson was taking early precaution. If we were dealing with spinal meningitis he wanted to get antibiotics in him immediately. He had just barley fallen asleep and now it was time for his IV. Seriously is there anything worse? Couldn't find the vein on the first try. His hands have a little too much fat. For the second poke they got the cool little light that shows his veins. IV was in, and Crew was spent. He was done being tortured, and so was I!!! Once again as he lay on the bed having needles being poked into his skin I rubbed sweet little head, and sang to him his song.

Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks,
I don't care if I ever get back.
For its root root root for the home team
If they don't win it's a shame,
For its 1 2 3 strikes you're out
at the old ballgame

As the tears rolled from my cheeks to his I wanted more than ANYTHING to take his place. Let me get poked and hurt. Just leave my boy alone. It hurts so much inside. But because I love him so much of course I let the tests be done, and the IV be placed, I will do ANYTHING to make him better. So off to the next procedure, which was the catheter and last but not least the snot test. They stick a tube up your nose and down your throat and suck out snot. Out of all the tests he hated this one the most, or maybe it was by this point he was done. His little chin quivered and he screamed bloody murder. Heartache to the core. What really broke my heart was that after all this, my little guy would still try and smile. His eyes were swollen and puffy and his little body was so worn out, but he still tried so hard to be happy. He would flap his arms a time or two and then fall into my chest. He really needed some sleep.

With all the monitors, vital checks, unfamiliar surroundings, and feeling crappy there was very little sleep taking place. We kept moving from chair to bed to rocking chair just trying to find some comfort. Morning came with some good news. No viral meningitis. We were still waiting for the snot test (which can tell what kind of virus you have) and the bacterial meningitis. If we got a positive on the snot test then we could go home. Dr. Johnson wanted a name to what was causing him to be sick. We all know that viral infections can't be treated, so no use staying at the hospital. Around 8:00pm we got the results that he had a virus. I was so relieved and so happy that we were going home. I am so grateful that my little guy is okay. My heart goes out to parents that have children that are really sick. It has to take years off your life. When stuff like this happens it makes you realize how valuable life really is.

Cabin Fun!

Have I mentioned how mcuh I love this little guy
Strike a pose

Don't forget Sadie. We LOVE this dog!!!

Is he giving me attitude?

Boo front and center

I know this will be a shock, but I am kindof a girly girl. Camping, dirt, bugs all that stuff just really isn't my cup of tea, but...... Shauns family has a cabin and on occassion I really enjoy going there. We had a fun day riding four wheelers, roasting hot dogs, making smores, and enjoying our time away from the business of life.

Memory Day

This day is always bittersweet for me. I had a brother and a sister die at the age of six months. It absolutely positively breaks my heart that my mom and dad had to endure the loss of two babies. I can't even try to pretend what that would be like. Each time I go to their graves my heart feels sadness. I ache to have a relationship with them. My soul mourns what would have been. The years that I have a baby are even harder for me. I really just want to sit by their graves and cry my eyes out. It makes me grateful for the relationships that I have, and it makes me love my mom and dad more. What two very incredible parents I have.

I am so grateful for knowledge that I have, one day I will get to meet my Jason and Shelly, I will get to have a relationship with them, and that makes my heart feel joy!

School Days

I want my mom!!!
Boo and Davis really good buddies

Boo and Mrs. Wall

MaKaya and Mrs. Nixon

Lexi and Mrs. Beyal a tearful goodbye!

What a fantastic year we had! All the girls LOVED school this year.

Lexi was in multiage with Mrs. Beyal. Can I just say that we both adored Mrs. Beyal. She taught Lexi some life long lessons and I love her for that.

MaKaya had Mrs. Nixon and said many times through out the year that Mrs. Nixon was just so nice. I helped out with MaKayas class on a regular basis and boy do I have respect for first grade teachers.

Boo had Mrs. Wall for pre-school. She would ask everyday if it was a school day. As a punishment I would say you can't go to school. I loved Boo going to pre-school, and she loved it too.

Lexi and MaKaya had more than perfect report cards all year long. The only thing they needed to work on was being tardy. Come on now don't they realize that when kids are young they are tardy because of their parents. I hope they continue to love school and excel!