a quick hello :)

man, i haven't blogged in forever!

we got back last night around midnight from minnesota

i have lots to unpack!

i have 2 sick kids who are going to the doctor today

i'll be back soon with some stories & pictures (we got a new camera!!! now we just need a new exernal hard drive so i can download the pictures.)

but i'll leave you with one lesson learned from my travels...
you know a pot hole is bad when it wakes sleeping children.

we learned that lesson several times on hwy 94 :)

we're very happy that we won't be driving back to minnesota until next fall :)

oh and if i could figure out a way to get groceries delivered today that would be swell...i think i've forgotten how to take care of 4 kids all by myself!!! everyone here is either naked, half dressed, still in pjs...and all are in need of breakfast/snack/drink...

you know there's a lot of snow when...

you see someone x-country skiing down the street.

wordless wednesday

click on the picture to see why i've recently been saying "ouch" when josie falls asleep while nursing...

salty

as you can see from her face, the green beans had been eaten

the boys were still playing in the playland

josie was getting restless

clearly it was time for josie to try her first mcdonald's french fry!

'tis the season, part II

'tis the season for holiday baking with the kids :)

and 'tis the season for ryan to be...well, just ryan

a charlie brown christmas & polka dots

~ with kindergarteners, 1st graders & 2nd graders ~

our little tree

a little pre-show fun

doesn't her dress look christmas-y?
ha ha
it's a long story that involves a tired girl, tears & lots of drama
the phrase "my friends are going to laugh at me" was heard several times
man, and this is just at age 6!!!

of course she'll smile for grampie & grammie!!

repressed anger

garrett says the most random things. it must make sense in his head, but to the rest of the world it's odd.

take this morning, for example...

this past june we went to disney world. there's a fairly new monsters inc. show in the magic kingdom. basically you go in and sit down and they tell a bunch of jokes and use the audience. it's not the most exciting show ever, but it's a nice cool spot to take a break.

so, when we were there, they used olivia and put her face up on the big screen. she had to answer a few questions. that was the end of it. it was 6 whole months ago.

so today we're in the car listening to christmas music and talking about stopping at mcdonalds for lunch. just a regular old day in the car.

out of the blue, in a very upset & serious voice garrett says "mom, i'm soooo mad! next time we go to monsters inc i'm using the microphone, NOT olivia!!"

that's garrett. totally random. i can only imagine the repressed memories he'll come up with for his therapist in 20 years. and until then, we'll keep laughing at him and wondering what goes on in his little head :)


i should add that as soon as he said that ryan started saying "monsters? monsters?" ...to which garrett replied "be quiet ryan, i'm taking a nap."

the only solution...

the other day i asked ryan if he was going to be so crazy when he went to pre-school next year.

his answer: yup!

then olivia said very matter of factly, "well mom, i think you'll have to homeschool him then."

favorite time of day

bedtime at our house is a tad crazy

the short version is that at least 1 kid ends up sleeping in our bed

so before we go to bed, we have at least 1 kid to transfer back to their room

that's my favorite time of day {or should i say night}
before we move the kids, i crawl in bed next to them
they are so warm and cuddly
they look so sweet
and they are so quiet!!!
i forget about all the craziness {i mean naughtiness} they accomplished during the day

i love having those little moments to regain my sanity and remember why i like being a mom :)

now if only they would all agree to take afternoon naps...
talk about regaining my sanity!!

wanna hear a story?

just a little background... ryan is not a huge talker. he can say lots of words, but he prefers to let olivia & garrett talk for him. when he does talk, it's just little words here & there - not really any sentences.

yesterday while taking olivia into school, both boys fell on the only patch of ice in the parking lot. garrett fell first, then ryan proceeded to fall on purpose. classic ryan.

as i was buckling ryan back up in the car i jokingly asked him what happened on the ice. he looked right at me and immediately said in a very serious voice, "mom, a car hit me."

apparently my non-talker can talk in full sentences...and make up stories as well!

at a loss for words - garrett style

garrett: mom put your grossies away.

me: what? what are you talking about?

garrett: mom, you're gross. you stink. {with a total smirk on his face}

me: that is not a nice way to talk to me. why did you say that?

garrett: well... i just didn't know what i should talk about.

tis the season

10 months!!

that's right!

i'm 10 months!!
and i can almost sit up :)
life is getting lots more interesting!!

thankful

i was going to make a list of all the thing i am thankful for in 2008. it was going to include stuff like tivo, dark chocolate, new running shoes, etc. but then i realized what i am really thankful for from this past year revolves around a chubby little girl named josie.

• i am thankful for the car accident that sent me to my doctor's office
• i am thankful for the doctors that realized something looked "off"
• i am thankful that they decided to take my baby early, even though they weren't sure what was wrong
  

• i am thankful for the nicu team that cared for josie - they were awesome!
• i am thankful for the experience of having a baby in the hospital for an extended period of time - the things i saw made me VERY VERY thankful for the kids & family i have

• i am thankful for everyone who's prayed for josie this past year
• i am thankful for new blogging friends who check in and see how's she doing
• i am thankful for family & friends who have helped out so much these past 10 months... from bring us food, visiting us in the hospital, taking my kids to school, babysitting my kids, the list could go on & on - we couldn't have done it without you!

but most of all, i am thankful that God was with us every step of the way. had i not had my minor car accident {why didn't the repair bill seem so minor?} josie would probably not be with us today. that's truly a miracle. so on this thankgiving weekend, i'm thankful for lots of things...but i am most thankful for God and the miracle he worked for our family.

the miracle of josie is easy to see. there are countless other things God does in our lives that don't make sense or we don't even notice them. i hope that in this next year, i can take time to see and appreciate more of those miracles whether they are big or little :)

what's cool about the 21 century?

the fact that i can order dominoes pizza with my tivo remote.

now that is progress!!!


{granted it might help if there was a dominoes near me...but the fact that i have the ability to order makes me laugh}

should i tell her?

olivia is our logical child.

our logical child has learned about real & make-believe at school. well, at least i think she has because it's been the topic of conversation all fall whenever we read a story or see something on tv.

and our logical child just talked to santa at the mall yesterday.


so from the backseat today, as her brothers sit innocently in the "way back"...

olivia: {in a know-it-all 6yr old voice} mom, i KNOW that santa is NOT real.

me: why? who told you that?

olivia: {even more know-it-all-ish} i just KNOW. he's just a guy who wears a costume.

do i tell her??? do i want her to blab it to her brothers & unsuspecting friends?

me: well then who brings your presents?

olivia: {totally annoyed at the prospect of being wrong} ugh. ok. ugh. {huge sigh}

sorry olivia.
i know you hate being wrong...and actually you aren't wrong about santa.
but you are only 6.
slow down... don't grow up so fast!

chef garrett

when the kids came in from playing outside this morning, i asked if they wanted some hot cocoa.

garrett's response..."nah, how about some warm ice cream or warm candy."

let's hope garrett never becomes a chef!

our big girl!

at nearly 10 months, josie has finally graduated to the high chair. up until now she's been chillin' on our counter in the bumbo. but now she's a big girl! and just like her brothers before her, she's discovered she can gnaw on the edge of the nice wood tray :) yum yum!

lately josie's had lots & lots of doctor visits...

• so far her eyes are looking good - no preemie relate problems (yet).

• developmentally she's getting close to what 7 month olds (her adjusted age) should be doing like sitting up. she needs to work on "talking" more and i am supposed to listen for consonant sounds (as opposed to just cooing). so if ryan would ever stop yelling about hi-5 and playing his guitar with murray i might just hear something.
  

• in terms of size, josie has caught up to other 9 month old babies. she's almost 18#. i don't know exactly how big my other kids were at 9 months, but i remember that both olivia & garrett were not even 20# at their 1st birthday. so i think she'll have them beat. not to shabby for a 2lb 14 ouncer!
  

• the only health concern we're still working on is josie's lungs. ever since she had pneumonia in may she's had noisy breathing and she has a very hard time when she gets a cold from the kids. lots & lots of neubulizing going on here! so far they've ruled out cystic fibrosis, her trachea looks good and today they scoped her vocal cords and they look good too. so we're still investigating...and are very thankful we have insurance :) the doctor today told me there's probably a good chance that she'll end up with asthma, they just don't diagnosis it in kids this young. but preemies are at a higher risk for it. asthma is totally manageable, so if that's the worst "side effect" she has of being a preemie, well then i think we're pretty lucky!

overall, she's one happy camper. so happy, that i didn't even notice she had an ear infection. now if i could just get her to smile in a picture for our christmas card. {i also need a warm sunny day for said picture. maybe i'm asking for too much!}

wordless wednesday

taken a few weeks ago before winter arrived :)

1 story, 2 endings

the other morning it was snowy, cold & gray outside so i thought it was the perfect morning to make some of my kids favorite muffins {healthy & vegan... that's all my kids eat!!}.

i got all the stuff out and boys helped me. they had lots of fun mixing. no one fought over who got the BIG wisk. no one spilled flour all over my counter.

it was the perfect baking morning!!!

OR maybe it went something like this...

the other morning it was snowy, cold & gray outside -- too cold to send my boys outside cuz they are getting over yet another cold.

so i thought it was the perfect morning to make some of my kids favorite muffins {healthy & vegan...not the norm for my kids!}.

i got all the stuff out and boys helped me. plenty of whining about who got the big wisk, who got to put what in, etc. and lots of flour all over the place.

so that's when i asked ryan if he'd rather watch hi-5.
that's when garrett & i baked in peace :)

the gang (and a warning)

we took this picture last weekend at my sister's house. i think it's our first picture as a family of 6. trust me, it's no easy feat getting a picture taken with all of us. this is the best one i had... lots of nose picking, lots of eyes closed, and josie had no plans to look at the camera. {and i'm not sure why garrett is the size of josie in this picture!}

so this begs the question... what will our christmas photo look like this year?

this weekend i tried to get a decent one. slim pickings thus far.

i'm thinking about getting some professional done, but i'm not quite sure this gang is ready for that!!


so i'm warning you now... if you get a christmas card from me and it's not so cute, well think about what i have to choose from. and if you get a nose picking card...well, then i just gave up hope!!

i don't want to play!!

it's "the game that ties you up in knots"

i'm talking about twister, of course!

but i don't want to play it anymore... at least not at 3am

guess i better explain... josie has finally started sleeping through the night. ahhh, finally a good night's sleep :) but no. ryan has decided he needs to join us in bed. it's quite odd. we'll wake up and he's in our bed. we never notice him coming in. {perhaps that skill will serve him well when he's 16 and sneaking in late.} he just appears right in the middle of the bed. but he doesn't just lay there. oh, no. he's ALL OVER THE PLACE. sometime i wake up with his feet on my head. other times his whole body is draped over me. i feel like i'm trapped in some late night game of twister.

ryan, as much fun as twister could be during the daytime -- i don't want to play it at night!!

now i've heard it all

last night, after olivia should have been asleep...

mom, i really need some of those little pills they talk about on tv.
you know, the ones that make you fall alseep fast.

when did you get so big??

1 day old

just home from the hospital
8 weeks old

9 months old

i ask you...

{and could someone please wash my face?}

olivia & garrett get political

this morning i was watching some post election coverage.
suddenly garrett got all frantic.
our conversation went something like this...

garrett: "mom! mom!! there's something in my backpack from school"

me: "what is it, garrett?"

garrett: "mom!! we have to go bowling!!"

me: "bowling? we did that a few weeks ago."

garrett: "no. we have to go again. we have to go bowling for the president!!"

me: "do you mean voting?"

garrett: "NO MOM. BOWLING!!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

november 1980

i vividly remember being in kindergarten, in the portable. {remember when schools used portables?} i remember getting my weekly reader and on the back we could vote for the president. ronald reagan or jimmy carter. i remember i felt like such an adult. unfortunately i can't remember who i voted for!

november 2008

olivia: "mom, guess what?? i voted in school today. i voted for barack obama."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

well whatever your take on the candidates and the outcome, yesterday was one election that will stand out in america's history. i think it's pretty cool that kids can feel apart of it...even if they think it involves a bowling alley and even if they voted for the wrong guy :)

thankful

i'm thankful that we all have the right to vote

but

i'm also VERY thankful that ryan can't open a can of play dough by himself

and

i'd be even MORE thankful if ryan started taking afternoon naps again



what are you thankful for?

our halloween

name those babies pumpkins

can you guess who we are?
aren't we cute?

want a closer look?

don't you think our hats are awesome??
whoever made them is the best!!

totally charming

this picture pretty much sums up olivia's morning. {taken pre-procedure}

this morning olivia had tubes put in her ears. it went really well, in fact they said she was "totally charming" in the or. ha ha. i knew the shirt would help :)

they gave her some "sleepy juice" before the procedure which totally chilled her out so it wasn't an issue when they wheeled her away. the procedure was super quick so she never even changed out of her street clothes. she was kind of crazy when she was coming out of the anesthetic. a few nurses had to come help calm her down. one nurse brought her a red slurpie which she knocked out of the nurses hand and all over the floor.

half coherent kid + red slurpie--not a good idea!
{but how cool for or recovery to have a slurpie machine!!}

well i'm off to enjoy a quite afternoon while she sleeps it off.

a little catching up

i've been slacking on posting pictures up on my blog this month. so here's me catching up...

when nana & papa came to visit from minnesota, we went to chuck e cheese to celebrate the kids' birthdays along with cousin matilyn. it was pretty much the worst pizza i've ever eaten, but the kids had fun and i got skee ball out of my system for the time being.

a few hours later we went bowling with garrett's preschool class/church. lots of fun :) unfortunately we thought we lost our camera at cec, so i couldn't take any pictures - but seriously bowling pictures are always of butts, i don't feel too bad. thankfully we found the camera in the back of the car the next day :)

perhaps next year we'll do the hsm party the kids actually wanted. oh well...they had fun at eating pizza, collecting tickets and getting lots of attention from their nana & papa :)

a little attitude

apparently with turning 4 comes lots of wisdom, or should i say attitude.

lately when i ask garrett not to do something (like running around the house yelling when josie is napping) his response is "mom, that's just life." in a very matter of fact, i'm so smart kind of way.

and here i thought only girls give attitude. yeish.

i have to admit...

that i went to meijer today for the sole purpose of buying hair product for ryan.

but when we left the hair salon yesterday, he looked so darn cute with his spikey hair.
don't ya think?

i wonder if this hair product phase will mess up our we're-too-busy-to-take-a-bath-every-night routine.
i certainly hope not.
mmm... i wonder if ryan owns any hats?

2 things

this picture is not the greatest, but it really shows 2 things:

1. why the last 2 hats i've almost finished are already too small

AND

2. why we have to send in search parties when we want to see her neck

my little student

while cuddling in bed with garrett the other night...

mom, did you know that watermelon is compound word?

can you hear spiders?

olivia is not a fan of pain. the moment she gets a scrape she runs frantically runs inside looking for a barbie bandaid. when she got her 5 yr old shots, she screamed until our car pulled out of the parking lot. when she gets knocked over in soccer, it's a traumatic experience.

so today she got some crushing news.

after failing numerous hearing tests and having her ears checked and rechecked at an ent, she is having tubes put in on 10/28. {funny thing is, in our opinion she hears everything! it's impossible to have an adult conversation in the car. even with the radio blasting and her sitting in the "way back" she can hear everything.}

once the doctor started explaining the procedure (hospital, put to sleep, etc.) she got all hot & bothered. she looked right at the doctor and said "i can hear just fine! i hear the spiders crawling around in my basement!!" {see freaking hearing skills!}

after a tear-filled ride home and me promising her a toy at meijer after the procedure is over, she calmed down. it helped that once we got home her grandparents from minnesota (who are out visiting) gave the kids their birthday presents. hooray for distractions!

so we'll have to see if she can still hear the spiders once she has her tubes in :)

but on a parental note... it's not fun thinking about her getting put to sleep. it's a super common & fast procedure, so i'm not going to spend too much time worrying (in theory, of course). she's not having it done at children's like garrett did so the nurse today didn't think i'd be able to carry her to the or and hold her until she's out like i did with garrett :( well they'll be sorry about that. when she's upset & hysterical she is one fiesty little kid! i have no doubt that she'll give them a run for their money.

wordless wednesday

7 things...

i've been tagged...

1. i saw new kids on the block in concert {the first time they were cool}

2. i own 6 pairs of olawahu tevas

3. i was once an awesome sas programmer {missy & jill, don't laugh too hard}

4. i have biked 700 miles across southern australia

5. i took german lessons as a child {not sure why}

6. i hate getting into an unmade bed

7. as a child, my brother & i made a "house" in a thorn bush {compete with hallways and rooms}

i guess i'm supposed to tag a 7 people
but i'm just going to tag 1... my "new to blogging" friend kristi

happy birthday, g-man

what i want to remember about garrett...

you crack us up all the time
you LOVE school
your best friend is caroline
you adore josie and are such a sweet big brother
you love chillin' on the couch with the tv on
you don't mind that ryan shares your twin bed with you
you love all things super hero-ish
you can't wait to play soccer this spring - now that you're 4
you think every snack time should be ice cream time

garrett, we love you!!
you are one awesome kid :)

poor timing

the other day i took josie to see a pulmonary specialist. long story, but she's been wheezing pretty much since her bout with pneumonia back in may/june. of course, her wheezing was totally non-existent when we got to the office. so they are going to do a bunch of tests in the next few weeks to figure out what's going on. but that's a different story...

her doctor is housed in a women & children's health building. as i was filling out the paperwork, the fire alarm went off. i pick up josie (all 16 lbs of her and her heavy carseat), grab ryan's hand and head for the stairs. lots of patients & staff are going down the stairs. we pretty much brought the exodus to a standstill as ryan went down the stairs. step by step with his little 2 yr old legs.

we get outside and i'm standing next to 2 women. they have their backs to me. i notice they are dressed in business casual from the waist down and they are both wearing matching hospital type tops. at first i thought they must be nurses or something and their tops were scrubs. then i realized their tops had that familiar look of hospital wear. next thing you know, they turn around and start chatting with ryan and making josie smile. that's when i realized the had nothing on underneath their hospital looking tops. one of the women made a little joke that she was glad they had upgraded from the paper gowns so thy didn't have to flash the parking lot. yup, these ladies were having mammograms done when the alarm went off. talk about poor timing!!

why i'm not too keen on winter

i don't like winter--

the freezing cold

the slushy junk that gets tracked in my car and house

the time it takes to get everyone ready

the mess of hats, mittens & boats that takes over my back door area

the list could go on & on

but the main reason why i'm not keen on winter is... SOCKS

it was so easy all summer. laundry baskets without socks. what a lovely concept.
now my laundry folding includes figuring out what socks match up, whose socks they are, which ones are missing or in another laundry basket, keeping the singles somewhere so i can match them up later, blah blah blah.

i don't like socks. i need to move somewhere where my entire family can wear sandals all year long. my tevas, keens & crocs...i miss you. spring come soon!!

i wonder...

...what it means when you don't care that your child just drank out of the bowl of water they had been using with their watercolors?

i won't name any names, but the perp might look something like this little fellow


well, that'll teach me for turning off hi-5!!


i also wonder if i'm watching too much law & order since i just used the word "perp"

happy birthday to my baby girl!!

olivia you are...

an awesome daughter
a pretty cool sister
so loving
funny
full of energy
a night owl
a sleep in queen
a lover of pepperoni, hamburger buns & shredded cheese
a fan of hannah montana & hsm
so into "fashion"
a huge helper at home
a huge fan of kindergarten
wii bowling champion
growing up so fast!!!

i can't believe my baby girl is 6 today!

chomp chomp

guess who got her 1st tooth?

olivia - my fashion critic

while watching what not to wear --

"mom, you really should be on that show. you always wear your pjs around the house."

"mom, you look just like that girl {the woman getting the makeover, not the ohh so put together stacy}. you always wear your hair in a ponytail."

in my defense... it was after 8pm, i had gone for a run, showered and was in my pjs. it's not like it was 2pm and i was still wearing a bathrobe!!



ok--seriously, feel free to nominate me. i totally hate my wardrobe. i'm not quite sure how to start fixing it. let's face it - i'm not going to fix it anytime soon. i'm buying clothes for 4 kids-- i'm not complaing, just explaining why you don't see me walking around in fun "mom-on-the-go" clothes :) oh and if i get on the show, i promise not to have a silly tear filled breakdown over shoes or a-line skirts.

but then again, if they gave me some "mom-on-the-go" outfits, i bet i'd have to get up a lot earlier in the morning to get ready. not to mention style the cute haircut i'd get.

nevermind. hold off on nominating me until josie sleeps through the night. i need my morning sleep in time :)

my "special" helper

olivia's birthday is coming up in a few days.

i've got her present all set-- a pink yoga mat...she's been asking for one for ages!

i'm going to make bacon & her favorite muffins for breakfast. (seriously, check out the link - they are awesome! she eats at least 3 muffins for breakfast. don't get me started on how much she LOVES bacon.)

i have her school treat all planned -- cookies cut out in the number 6 with pink & purple icing.

birthday supper is going to be spaghetti (no sauce for her, just plain noodles & parmesan cheese).

and we have plans to go to chuck e cheese in a few weeks with her grandparents.

so as you can see, i'm all set. and i feel martha would be sufficiently proud. {kidding!!}

but my wii fit thinks differently. the other night when i logged on, i gave me the following message...

"did you know olivia's birthday is coming up? have you gotten her a present yet? might i suggest a surprise party."

clearly, wii knows no bounds. i guess i need to work on harnessing its power. i wonder if it can fold laundry, vacuum my house and pick kids up from school. now that would be useful.


(i guess i should add that when you set up your profile in wii, you enter your birthdate. that's how it knew about olivia's birthday. otherwise that would be extremely creepy. ha ha.)

wordless wednesday

what do you get when you combine s'mores & ryan?

apples galore

this weekend we went to the apple orchard. the kids had lots of fun. i think their favorite part was "sampling" the apples at each spot the wagon stopped at.

yum yum!

no we didn't intend to get this many apples, but...
when you have to pay for 5 admissions, you get 5 bags of apples :)

josie was wishing her mom had finished her apple hat.
her mom wished she could fit into the one that caryn made for olivia :)
someday i'll get it done!

olivia's main goal was to get the most apples in her bags.

i think ryan could live in an orchard. the kid was so happy there.
his favorite thing - picking up apples off the ground and eating them.
oh, and throwing them off the moving wagon.
yup, he's the middle child!

what family outing is complete without an "i need to use the bathroom!!" moment?
click on the picture and see tim helping olivia find a spot.
and of course, the brothers are curious what all the drama is about.