Reading in the bathroom

Logan likes his privacy when he's doing his thing in the bathroom. Last night I walked past the bathroom and caught a glimpse of this....I just had to snap a picture of it. I don't know if you can make out the title of the magazine or not, but it's Bowhunting.

Toothless again!

Eli lost another tooth! This one is the top front tooth. He sure looks different now. Talks different too. After crying and hysterics after the tooth fairy took his last tooth and left him money, he specifically told me, "I WANT MY TOOTH!" so this time the tooth fairy left a nice note telling Eli he could keep his tooth and also the money. How nice. :)

Ten years!!!!

December 5th, 2008.....10 years that we have been married. Wow....a whole decade. I feel very blessed to have been married 10 years with four wonderful boys.
We intended to have a date night but halfway to the restaurant we received a call that Camden had been crying since we walked out the door....and he was getting pretty upset. I offered some suggestions to calm him down and said I'd call back in a little bit. I also turned the car around immediately and headed towards home. I figured it didn't pay to continue heading farther away if he didn't calm down. And if he did calm down, then we'd just eat somewhere closer to home. When we were closer, I called and he was still crying so I said I'd be home to get him. We were just going to go home, get him and head out again. Then I thought that was just silly as it was getting later and later and we were already starving. So we got some take-out Chinese food and headed home. Nice anniversay, hey?
I'm disappointed by it but that's life with kids. Camden was upset and although I think he really just wanted Mom, it even took Mom awhile to calm him down.
I guess maybe we'll try again later.....

Happy Camden

Just thought I'd share these pictures of Camden SMILING and being HAPPY!!!!
I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME!
HOORAY FOR CAMDEN!
And he's still sleeping through the night too....yes!

Cookie pizza

I've made a deal with the boys. Eat whatever I make during the week and then Friday night can be their night to choose whatever they want to eat. They are very excited about this and our supper a couple Fridays ago was waffles with whipped cream and then this terribly sweet cookie pizza. It was so sweet and sugary even Isaac and Eli couldn't eat it! It sure was fun to make though.

Soon-to-be toothless!

Eli is losing teeth!!! He has many that are lose (and has for a while), but he is one that REFUSES to wiggle them out! He lost one on the bottom on Tuesday night while eating some bread. I noticed it later on in the bathroom when he was going to brush his teeth. We started to look all over for his tooth. Then he said, "Mom, when I was eating my bread, I had something crunchy in my mouth."
I asked, "What did you do?"
Eli said, "I didn't know so I just chewed it up and swallowed it." Oops!
He lost his second tooth this morning while he was eating his pancakes. This time though he realized that his tooth had fallen out and spit it out.
Eli may be singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Slept through the night!!!

ALERT.....CAMDEN SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!

Can you believe it??? I can't! I didn't think this day would ever come. Camden has been sleeping so wonderfully during the day. He is now a finger sucker and can soothe himself with this. I woke up Thanksgiving morning to him fussing and I looked at the clock--it said 4:58 a.m.!!!! Woohoo! This morning he slept until 6 a.m. I fed him, put him back to bed and he slept until 9 a.m.!!!! Of course, Logan was up at 6:30 but that's life with kids, hey?
Camden will suck two or three fingers and as to which ones they are, it just depends on which ones he gets in his mouth. I'm happy about this as I was pushing for thumb or finger sucking. It's so much easier than the nuk. They can self-soothe themselves and they never loose their fingers!
He's really been doing good the past week. I'm almost afraid to say that for fear that we'll go back downhill but I truly BELIEVE he's getting better and going to stay better!
Hooray!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving.
We celebrated Thanksgiving early with the Harts. It was the Saturday before at our house. It was very nice, especially because Gramma and Grampa Hart were here for it.
On the actual Thanksgiving day we had two down with the flu bug. Logan started two days before Thanksgiving with throwing up. I started feeling sick the night before Thanksgiving and Isaac was up that night throwing up. We didn't so much feel like eating a big meal but we pulled ourselves together and went to "G" and Grandpa's. I think being there helped take my mind off feeling sick. We're all better today (the day after Thanksgiving), but I know it's just a matter of days, minutes, seconds before Josh or Eli says they don't feel good.
This Thankgiving the most important thing I'm thankful for is mine and my family's health. We hear all too often of so-and-so getting diagnosed with cancer (or something else) or so-and-so getting injured or so-and-so dying from this or that. I am so thankful God has blessed all my boys with HEALTH. I pray that He continues to keep us healthy. I'll take a lil' ol' flu bug any day over some more serious disease!!!

Pink eye

I have not been good about posting. I will blame it on my latest obsesstion, Facebook. I post more there than here. It's fun and consuming at the same time. I'll try to be better. I also started working again which makes it hard to find free time to blog.

Any way, last week wasn't too eventful anyways, besides the GI appointment for Camden. I woke up Sunday morning with pink eye. Nothing too bad so I went to church. It actually cleared up as the day went on and looked better. By Monday though it was back and bad. By Wednesday it had spread to both eyes. I looked like a scary mask for Halloween! My eyes were swollen, all red/pink, teary, and really just freaky looking. I stayed home all week. I wore sunglasses when I had to go into school to pick up the boys. I tried to hide out basically. It was bad.
Eli prayed for me for 16 minutes on Saturday night. Finally, Sunday morning I woke up and my eyes didn't hurt. By Monday the redness was starting to go away.
Thankfully, no one else has gotten it. I hope it stays that way!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

What Respect Is
"Respect means a lot of different things. On a practical level it seems to include taking someone's feelings, needs, thoughts, ideas, wishes and preferences into consideration. We might also say it means taking all of these seriously and giving them worth and value. In fact, giving someone respect seems similar to valuing them and their thoughts, feelings, etc. It also seems to include acknowledging them, listening to them, being truthful with them, and accepting their individuality and idiosyncrasies.
Respect can be shown through behavior and it can also be felt. We can act in ways which are considered respectful, yet we can also feel respect for someone and feel respected by someone. Because it is possible to act in ways that do not reflect how we really feel, the feeling of respect is more important than the behavior without the feeling. When the feeling is there, the behavior will naturally follow."



Why aren't kids respectful anymore???

Respect is something that I feel is very important to pass onto my kids. But I have learned through working with kids and now having my kids in school that kids today are not respectful of each other or their elders. This drives me nuts!!!!

I teach my boys to be respectful of others. Treat others as you would like to be treated, right?

But what do you do if others aren't this way? If being respectful and "nice" makes you lose out on things. It seems as if the bullies and mean, tough guys get first place. How is that fair?

Gastroenterologist appointment

Yesterday I took Camden to his GI appointment at Children's. First let me say that I didn't call until Monday at 3 p.m., after much urging from my two sisters, to get an appointment. I was able to get in the next morning at 9 a.m. due to a cancellation. The nurse on the phone stressed that that NEVER happens. I really felt that we were supposed to be at that appointment then. I had to race there after I dropped I and E off at school. Grandma H. came to stay with Logan--thank goodness!
We first met with a nurse practionier. She has been in the field of gastroenterology and nutrition for 28 years so I felt like she probably knew quite a bit. I was very disappointed within 20 minutes of talking with her though. She criticized me for not vaccinating until my babies are a year old and then told me that Logan was not allergic to dairy because boys do not get yeast infections! I said, well, that's what he had, the doctor diagnosed it. And he had ear infections. She said that's not an allergy symptoms. WHAT?!?!?!?! I felt almost like bursting into tears thinking we had made a senseless trip in. Things did get better though.
Basically, Camden does have gastroesphogal reflux disease. It peaks at four months of age, which may explain why Camden is struggling now (he'll be four months on the 20th of this month). He has many symptoms and all the choking, difficulty breathing is just that, a symptom of the disease. The fact that his "spit up" goes back down and he chokes on it and it could aspirate into his lungs and cause pheumonia is just a symptom and something you deal with. This was very frustrating for me to hear!!!! I wanted to cry for my lil' guy. I guess part of me was hoping for some miracle, which is crazy, I know. Reflux also gets worse whenever he's sick so he'll struggle more when he's got a virus .
Most babies are taken off of their reflux meds after two months. They highly suggested I not take Camden off of his Prevacid any time soon. It will be two months that he's been on it on the 25th. She actually increased his dosage to see if it helps with the amount of choking episodes he has.
We are also supposed to keep a log of all his choking/spit up episodes for a week and then report in to her every week for the next three weeks. If he is still having a considerable amount of "episodes" after the three weeks, then they may do a swallow study with a speech pathologist and radiologist to be sure nothing is physically wrong inside.
She suggested giving him a tablespoon of cereal at night to help calm his stomach and keep things down so he'll sleep better. We're also supposed to give him a bottle once a week. He shouldn't choke with a bottle, but the few times he's gotten one, he has. If that continues, I'll have to report that too.
They were more than willing to do a upper GI on him but didn't recommend it. It will show that he's refluxing and how often for an hour, but it wouldn't help us in our treatment of him. I opted not to do that. I didn't see the point of putting him through something miserable when it wouldn't help us out in the end.
So all in all, I was frustrated but I did learn some things. It seems there's conflicting information among some physicians regarding reflux and I think it's because much is unknown, like why it's caused.
I continue to pray for Camden and continue to do all I can naturally for him. I hate having him on meds but he really needs it. I know God is the ultimate physician and He can heal him. Until then, I keep Camden close and I am learning to enjoy it. Some day I will look back on all this and maybe actually miss it as Camden is running around me like crazy! :)

Chester's dead!

Warning: For all you city folks out there, this is not a post you want to read!

Chester's dead. Today was "D-day" in Hart Country.....the killing of the cows. Chester was the second one to die. I'm a bit sad by this (and I know my boys are too). Logan is in bed and I'm refusing to get him up until I know they have Chester completely gone from the premises.
Isaac and Eli wanted to go out and see the whole process. I was a bit reluctant about this but Josh explained that this is life in the country and how we feed our family so it's important for them to experience it. I agree but it's still hard. They didn't get out there in time so they had to wait until the shooting was over with. They were watching from the window when here comes the tractor with a cow hanging from it. I didn't even think about Logan until it was too late. He saw it. I grabbed him right away and tried to direct his attention to something else, but no luck. He started crying and crying. There was no calming him down. "Cow...tractor...hanging down." Oh, boy. I'm so sorry, Logan.
Josh felt absolutely terrible too. He came in after the first one was "put away" and warned me they were doing the second cow, which was going to be Chester. I had already made sure that Logan was napping and I am refusing to get him up until Chester is gone.
Iknow he'll recognize right away the next time he goes out to see the cows and he'll ask about Chester. He LOVES those cows!!!
Eli was pretty sad too when he realized Chester was dead and kept asking why they had to do Chester next. I explained to him about this whole thing and he said he knows, it's just still sad. I totally agree!!! I'm in tears. :(

Hunting buddies

Although Josh hasn't said it, I know he's thrilled that Eli is obsessed with hunting now. He has been practicing his bow since Josh started practicing this summer for his elk hunting trip and it's literally stuck since. Eli will watch the hunting channel, look at hunting magazines. Josh even put up a tree stand in the yard for him to hunt birds in the hayfield. It's very funny.
Eli came home with a paper from school about what he was going to do this long weekend. "I mit (might) go huntin with Dad. I hop (hope) I see sonin (something)." Then there was a very detailed picture of Eli in a tree stand and a huge buck standing there. :0

Cousins

The three cousins, Will, Camden and Matthew. Will is 6 months old, Camden 2 months and Matthew is 1 month in this picture. Cute.

Camden

He's smiling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Packer fans!

Our Packer boys!

Hanging out with Auntie Kay

Auntie Kay and Camden

Logan being crazy

Just thought I'd share some pictures of the boys watching the last Packer game. Auntie Kay stopped by in her Packer gear too so we had to snap some shots.

Logan

I needed to post these pictures to remind myself how cute this little boy is. I've been up since 4 a.m. with him and it's easy to forget when you're soooo tired. :)

Book buddy

At Eagleville school every Friday they have what's called book buddy time. The 4th graders are paired up with a 1st grader and they read books together. Either the 4th grader reads to the 1st grader or vice versa.
Isaac's book buddy is Jack. Jack is so smart he says he should be in 6th grade. A couple Fridays ago Isaac was telling me about book buddy time. He said, "Mom, I don't like book buddy time." I said, "Why not?"
He said, "Because I have Jack and guess what book he had me read to him? The dictionary!"
I couldn't help but laugh. Poor Isaac.

Camden

Camden is doing better. He had a relapse a week ago but we just needed to refill his medicine sooner and he's doing better. It was very obvious to me when he was off his meds how severe his reflux is. He was choking, gaging, coughing, spitting up TONS, crying more. Just very uncomfortable. The trick is getting the medicine IN him. He doesn't take a bottle so I can't mix it in there (well, mom doesn't push the bottle). He has learned not to swallow and then it just pours out of his mouth. Frustrating when this medicine is $41.00 for a small bottle. My sister Tana gave me an infant feeding tube and syringe she had from Matthew. So far I've been using that but it's tricky. I have to tape the feeding tube to my breast and when Camden nurses, I insert it into his mouth and S-L-O-W-L-Y dispense the medicine. So he's drinking it along with the milk. Tricky but it seems to work and then he benefits.
I've also moved him to his crib and he actually slept in it two nights ago the whole night! He was still up at 3:30 to eat but went right back to sleep in his bed. Last night didn't go as well. He was up at 3:30 but didn't want to go back to sleep in his bed. It's hard to let him cry it out in the middle of the night. I'll have all three other boys up too! So I just brought him into our room and put him in his car seat. Off to sleep he went. That just still seems the most comfortable spot for him.
Otherwise, he's smiling so much and he even laughed out loud at us the other night. So cute! The giggles. He's such a cutie pie and I'm really happy he's more happier. I don't know how I made it through these past three months!

Parent-teacher conferences

Yes, it's that time of year. For some reason, I always got nervous when conferences came around. I'm really not sure why. I was a good student. Maybe I was nervous for those kids who weren't so good.

Anyways, I met with Mrs. Wilson (Isaac) and Mrs. Kujawa (Eli) last Tuesday night. It went very well and I was a bit choked up when I left. My first conference was with Mrs. Wilson, Isaac's teacher. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about Isaac. She congratulated me on teaching Isaac and said I had done a great job. Isaac is at or above where he should be in every subject. She was amazed at the things he knew and said some times. I attribute that to all the interesting books he reads. Apparently he offers "facts" to the class from time to time and they are all amazed. Kind of funny. His classmates enjoy him very much. She said he is somewhat quiet but everyone encourages him to join in. She watches him at recess and he's always laughing and having a good time. They don't receive report cards until the end of November, but as far as where he is now, he's a straight A student. She thanked me for sending Isaac there. And it only took the fourth time of her saying I did a good job at homeschooling him for me to finally say "thank you." :) She also brought up the student council election process. She knew how excited Isaac was for this and said he was very surprised when he was elected. When she announced his name, he stood up and said, ME?!?!?!? She said, "I wish you could have seen him the day he gave his speech. It was so neat. He was up here giving his speech and the kids all loved it and were cheering him on." How wonderful.

We also discussed his speech and decided he should be evaluated also. We don't know if he actually could benefit from speech or just slow down when he talks. I can't help but think both of our oldest kids need speech because of something I did or didn't do. I know that's not necessarily true but just the feelings I have. Hopefully Logan and Camden won't need speech because then I'll really get a complex. :)

Then I moved on to Mrs. Kujawa. This was the one I was really looking forward to. Eli has expressed to me that he feels "behind" and not where he should be. I didn't know if this was actually true or just Eli being hard on himself. Turns out Eli is just where he should be in all subjects. He struggles in language arts but it's largely because of his speech problem. He has trouble writing because what he hears and says is different than what's actually right. He has been "screened" for speech and will start taking it once all the paperwork is completed. Mrs. Kujawa said he is a quiet boy but is starting to come out of his shell and talk more. He is always respectful of others and kind. She was very sad that he felt he was behind and not doing well. We both realize we need to encourage Eli and let him know it's okay to make mistakes. I don't like that Eli feels this way. He hasn't had any "meltdowns" for her (like he did daily for me last year). But she does see the frustration when she corrects him on something. She also thanked me for sending him. Oh, and she said he really likes hunting. He told her, "I'm going hunting with my dad to kill a deer to feed our family." ha, ha! She got a kick out of that!

Computer problems fixed

I am sorry for no updates but I had some computer problems. I am back up and running now though. I had various viruses and spyware embedded in my hard drive, destroying it. Lovely. And just so you know, you can still get a virus when you have anti-virus software installed. I spent an hour with a computer guy and learned lots and lots.
I have lots to share on each of the kiddos. Now I just have to find the time to write on each one. Logan just happened to wake up early so I'm up with him. He's eating, I'm typing. :)

Student council

There once was a shy, little redheaded boy who clung to his mom any time she left him. He had been this way since he was just a little baby....never wanting to leave his mom's side. As he grew into a toddler, things didn't change too much. Mom was always called out of church to come pick up her screaming child. Sometimes she didn't even bother taking him to Sunday School. This little boy started preschool. Although he didn't scream for his mom anymore, he was very quiet in school. Definitely not the outgoing kid of the class. He had some friends but was always reserved in his actions. Mom was always encouraging him to step out, step up, speak up. He would still have some crying episodes when leaving Mom.

Fast forward to now, years later. That little boy is nine years old. He is in the fourth grade. It is his first year in the public school system after being homeschooled for three years. And what does this nine-year-old want to do???? Run for student council!!!!
I, being the mom who knows how shy he is, explain that he must give a speech to his class, be voted in and then once he's voted in, he must go to the meetings and report to his class. It's a lot of speaking in front of people, taking charge, outgoing tasks. Certainly not something for my shy little boy.

No, no, he WANTS to give the speeches. He looks forward to the speeches and speaking in front of his class and teachers. (WHAT?!?!?!?!?)

Yes, it's true. Isaac ran for student council in his fourth grade class. He gave a wonderful speech about how he wants to be in student council and why. And he found out yesterday that he was voted in by his classmates.

CONGRATULATIONS, ISAAC!!!!
I am so proud of you. You certainly have grown up and definitely come out of your shell. I know you'll do your best job. :)

Camden

Update on Camden...again.

Our doctor called the gi doctor at Children's. She had a consult with him over the phone telling him all of Camden's symtoms and what we've tried so far with him. She also told him, "This is one of my mild moms....when she says it's bad, I know it's bad." (big smile here for me....good to know I'm "mild" because I don't always think so.)
This gi doctor recommended a different medicine before seeing him. He said this is what he would recommend if we went to see him (good to know we saved some money there without the office appointment). It takes up to two weeks for this medicine to work, which is Prevacid. We have an appointment scheduled in three weeks to see the gi doctor IF this medicine is not working by then. I really pray it works for Camden! I can't bear to see him in pain and crying anymore! It's awful. He'll literally be sleeping away peacefully and then all of a sudden get this painful look on his face and let out a cry. Sleeping isn't usually longer than 20 minutes. He's hoarse some days from crying. And I really don't want to have to run a bunch of tests on the poor guy...torturing him more.
I just ordered a sleep machine for him. It plays over 30 different natural noises including rain, ocean, womb, etc. It's guaranteed to work! Ha! We'll see. I'll be REALLY surprised if it works for Camden.
In fact, I need to go. He's awake and screaming.

Some day I'll be able to get more done, right????

Busy week

Whew, what a week it was! Some days I feel like I'm barely staying afloat. I'm just thankful I'm not drowning yet!

Isaac had a week of tests.....math test, science test, spelling test, music test. I am happy to say that he did great on all of them. We studied hard for the science test, even cramping it in on the way to school. It really paid off. He came home Friday and showed me his test....100%!!!!! Hooray! Isaac also has been working on his handwriting. It is awful. His teacher and I are brainstorming ways to get him to write neater. Handwriting has always been Isaac's downfall. BUT....his teacher did pull me aside on Friday and say his spelling test had great improvement in it after he took his time to write the words so there may be hope.

Eli did not have a week of tests, but his teacher did talk to me about speech for him. I have noticed Eli does pronounce some things wrong and can't say certain sounds (r, th). His teacher said it is affecting his writing because they sound things out phonetically. I had noticed this too after he brought home some writing work. It's somewhat cute, but I know that cuteness can't last forever. So he's being referred to a speech pathologist for an evaluation.

Logan is doing absolutely wonderful with the potty training. Although I may not be constantly changing diapers anymore, I do feel like now I am constantly running into the bathroom with him. :)

Wednesday was the Walk-A-Thon at school for Isaac and Eli. The maximum number of laps was 20. They both completed 20 laps and then went on for more! Just for fun though. Isaac said he did 33 laps and Eli said he lost count. Eli was disappointed when his teacher told the students not to run but only walking. She said they would tire themselves out then. Eli looked at me like his teacher had lost her mind when he told me this. "Why would I get tired out, Mom?" I had to remind him that not everyone likes to run as much as he does. He still didn't get it. :)

Camden is still having a hard time. After another week of inconsolable crying, I finally called the doctor....AGAIN! I am very thankful that this doctor has been our doctor for all four kids and knows us. She knows that I don't call the doctor or bring my kids in to the doctor for little things. She also knows that when I call to say my baby is crying and in pain, I mean it! She is referring us to a gastro doctor at Children's Hospital. She feels we have tried everything and gotten no results. She hopes to get us a better answer at Children's. She will be calling Children's tomorrow for us in the hope that she can get us in faster versus us calling ourselves for an appointment.

Walk-A-Thon

Isaac and Eli have their Walk-A-Thon at school today. It's a fundraiser (the primary one) that their school does (thanks to everyone who supported them). They're walking laps in a certain time frame with a maximum of 20 laps.

We were talking at breakfast this morning about their Walk-A-Thon and the amount of laps they can do. Eli thinks 20 laps is too easy. He's also not planning on walking it. He's planning on running it. This did not come as a surprise to me. This is a boy who will run around the house 10 times just for fun or who isn't able to go to sleep at night if he hasn't gotten all his energy out.

If I could only bottle up some of his energy.....

Welcome to our world, Matthew Steven

Just had to say:

Welcome to the world, Matthew Steven.
We're so happy you're here. You were born on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008, 8 lbs, 21 inches.
You missed sharing a birthday with your Auntie Stephie by a couple hours. Bummer. (Maybe we can share a party together someday.)

Your cousins are so excited to meet you. You are loved by many!
Congratulations to Tana and Steve. He's beautiful!

(it's here that I should post pictures but I dropped the ball and didn't take any while visiting Matthew in the hospital. sorry. I was too excited just to hold him. I promise to take some once he's home (and maybe even awake) and then post them.)

Smile nice

Today was picture day at school for Eli. Isaac had his picture day on Tuesday.

Riding in the car on the way to school, I say to Eli, "Smile nice for your pictures, Eli."

Eli replies, "Mom, I always smile nice. Isaac is the one who doesn't. He always closes his eyes, has a goofy face or does this (smiles with no teeth showing)."

Mom thinks, Okay, enough said.

Potty training

This week I took on the task of potty training Logan. I was so sick of changing diapers all the time! It went very well. Logan is now officially potty-trained. He actually picked it up very fast. I'm always nervous after potty training at home and then having to go somewhere. Are they going to make it? Are we going to have an accident? I usually put a Pull-Up on just to be safe. When we went to the hospital yesterday to see Logan's new cousin, I put a Pull-Up on him. I figured it was a good idea. The big toilet may scare him considering he's only been going on his horsey potty at home. We were gone for approximately 3 1/2 hours. When we came home, I immediately said, "Let's go potty." He pulled down his pants and his Pull-Up was dry! He sat right down and went potty--and a lot of it! I couldn't believe he held "it" that whole time! He was even dry this morning.
I'm not looking forward to the potty screams in the middle of the grocery store, but I am looking forward to only buying diapers for one now. :)

Congratulations, Logan.

Happy Birthday to Mom

Yesterday was my birthday. I didn't really do a whole lot of anything most of the day. My morning was gone before I knew it. I did go visit my new NEPHEW in the afternoon. Josh, Logan and Camden came with. He is so cute! I can't believe we have another boy added to our extended family. After our visit at the hospital we went to get some quick lunch (at Culver's...could I have picked a worse place to eat while I'm avoiding dairy???). Then we went to get the boys from school. The evening was what I was looking forward to the most--dinner with just my husband, no kids. I love my kids, but I was desperately in need of a night out without them. This is the first time I have also left Camden. My mom came over to babysit (thank you, Mom!).
We went to Fleming's Steakhouse. It was very nice, very expensive but so worth it. I was able to talk to Josh without any interruptions--well, that's if you don't count the waitress. :) I loved how everyone at the restaurant was out to please us. Hehehe--can you tell I don't get out much??? They were very accomodating to making my meal dairy-free. I didn't get any cake or dessert because it all had dairy in it. That's a tough one. We went to Starbucks afterwards and I got a chai with soy milk.
And that's really all I wanted to do on my birthday....have a night out with Josh. And that's what I got. Thanks!
Happy Birthday to me.....31 years old!!!

Camden and Logan...so big

Yesterday was Camden's two-month check up and Logan's two-year check up. Logan is still a lil' guy for his age weighing only 25 pounds. Following after his stick skinny brother Eli in that department. He is way ahead however in his skill department. I blame that on his older brothers showing him the ropes of life. He received three shots and just cried for so long--all the way home!!! A sucker didn't even help him to stop! Poor guy.
Camden weighed 14 lbs, 2 oz. He is in the 90th percentile for weight and height. No surprise with our babies though. They all were in that category the first year of life. Isaac weighed in at over 15 lbs at two months; Eli, 14 lbs, 9 oz.; and Logan 13 lbs, 4 oz. Camden isn't our biggest baby. I think Isaac will always hold that title. And he's proud of it too!
The doctor confirmed that Camden most likely has a dairy allergy/sensitivity. She said the green, mucousy poops were a telltale sign. Something I did not know. I just went on his behaviour. He will stay on medicine for reflux/stomach spasms until we notice it's not working anymore. Not looking forward to that. He still sleeps in his car seat as it's where he sleeps the best. Still next to my bed at night as he still chokes, gags, coughs a lot and I'm not comfortable with him being in a different room.
Oh, and our thrush is back. Lovely. So we're both on medicine for that again. I hate thrush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And boy, Camden sure has "chunked" out. It's only at this age that it's cute to be chunky. :)

Happy Birthday, Logan!

I can't believe this lil' guy is two already! Where did those two years go? Wow! It honestly seems like just yesterday that he was the baby of the family.
I know I'm late in posting a birthday message for Logan, but Josh came home last Thursday and it's been a busy time and a time of just enjoying each other. I am so relieved he's home. He actually got laid off so he's off of work this whole week. And he did get an elk, which makes the trip more worthwhile. Meat for our family!
Logan.....you are two! I woke you up on your birthday singing "Happy Birthday to You." You were covering my mouth and saying, "No, Mom, No." Boy, you are so two! I love you to pieces. You are such a cute lil' guy resembling Eli so much. You are repeating EVERYTHING we say and it's so cute. I am starting to see the "terrible twos" emerging though. Isaac said he can't wait to see a terrible two tantrum and I told him you've already thrown some. Luckily, they're short-lived. You've always been fairly easygoing but I think the age of two may change that a little bit. You are still a thumbsucker and hair twirler. I can't even count how many haircuts I've given you already. You are constantly twirling your hair into knots! A couple weeks ago I cut it pretty short in the back so you couldn't create knots in your hair. Just yesterday though I saw you were doing the knots again because your hair has grown already.
You love your brothers so much. You always want to do what Isaac and Eli are doing, including school. Yesterday I took you with to take them to school and you were very upset when you couldn't get out of the car and go with. You are such a lover to Camden always smothering him with kisses and hugs. He is smiling at you now and you think that's the greatest. You are wonderful at sharing your toys with him, even though he doesn't play with them yet!
Your second birthday wasn't the greatest for you. You love going to Grandma's house ("Beema's"). That's what you wanted to do on your birthday. We were going to go there for a bit and then the park. While at Beema's playing outside you stumbled onto a bee's nest and were attacked by bees. I heard you crying and ran to find you being swarmed by bees and also up your shirt/on your shirt. It was so scary! You suffered six stings, mostly on your arms. I am so thankful God was watching over you. You didn't swell up hardly at all!
We had a party for you the following Saturday. It was a "train-train" party. You love trains so we went with a Thomas the Train party. We also got out the ol' train table and trains, track from when Isaac was little. You are thrilled with your new yet old present.
I love you, Logan. I am so excited to see what God has in store for you your second year.

Crabby Camden once again

Just after I was telling everyone that Camden was doing better. He actually seemed like a happy, content baby--but it only lasted a few days (thanks to Mom.)

And I only changed one thing. I added dairy back into my diet. First the crying after eating started.....then more crying.....then no sleeping for longer than 30 minutes (at night, two hours)...then the congestion.....and the spitting up/projectile vomiting. Once again, I'm feeling frazzled because he's never happy. But it's my own fault. I didn't believe that it was the dairy too. So I slowly started adding it back into my diet.

I will now be eliminating it COMPLETELY in the hopes that I will have that happy, content baby back again. I really hope this is something he outgrows just as fast as Logan did.
He SMILED at Eli the other night. Eli was sooooo happy! Then he smiled at me the next morning. It was very brief, but there was a smile.
I'm sorry, Camden, for making you uncomfortable. I see the pain on his face and feel terrible.

School day went too fast.

"School went too fast today. I wanted it to be longer."
Eli Hart

Yes, I know you don't believe that Eli Hart actually said those words when I picked him up on Friday, but it's true. Gosh, he may just like this school thing after all.

First week of school....and more

Well, here we are...it's Friday and we've made it through our first week of school. I meant to post on Tuesday after the first day but my computer has been giving me nothing but problems lately. It's like it has a mind of its own....kind of scary. Some days it's like someone else is running my computer.



Anyways, the first day of school went well. Actually the first week went well. I am very surprised at how Isaac has adjusted. He seems to really enjoy it and told me "I think I made a bunch of friends" on the first day. He is very talkative when I pick him up, telling me what he did. His teacher gives the students challenges to earn extra points, kind of like extra credit, and Isaac is all over that. He loves the challenge! If I'm a few minutes late picking him up, I can find him writing something down or burying his nose in a book to find the answer to something. It's great.



Eli has also adjusted well, but it's a little harder for him. The first day went well. He didn't have too many negative things to say and he told me he made one friend. I said, hey, one friend is better than none! I noticed after the second day that he was very tired. He's exhausted at night and has a hard time getting up in the morning. Last night he even asked to go to bed at 7:30 and look at books until bedtime. Yikes! I was in a state of shock. He is also very talkative after school telling me what he did. He wasn't very happy to hear that there were 180 days of school though. I think he thought this whole school thing was like a week-long gig and then he was done. I have noticed he benefits greatly if left alone in his room for an hour to play. He needs that downtime by himself.



As for me, I'm still getting used to the house being so quiet. I noticed I had the TV on more during the day lately--something I never did before. I wasn't even watching it. I just needed the noise to make the house not so quiet. Sad, I know. My mornings seem to go pretty fast. Between Logan and Camden, there's always one who needs me. But it's those afternoons where they're both napping at the same time that it's way too quiet. I know that time will eventually be filled with my work and I should try to enjoy it now. I'm usually running around cleaning or trying to get some laundry done and put away.



Logan seems kind of sad without his brothers all day. My mom has been coming over in the mornings to stay with him and Camden while I run I and E to school. Logan doesn't seem to like this at all. He would much rather go with us. Every time we get in the car he says, "Where's Isaac....where's Eli?" Today I found him laying in Eli's bed before naptime. I can't even imagine what is going through his little mind. First his dad leaves and now his brothers. At least his brothers come home at some point.



Camden has no clue that his brothers are gone. He has taken a downward turn after he seemed to be better. Just lots of crying again and not sleeping good. I'm hoping it will turn around soon. It's awfully hard to get things done at night with him screaming.



Here is a link to the first day of school pictures... http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?UV=616499904651_875053970211&mode=fromsite&collid=88876889111.528272970211.1220638439856&conn_speed=1

The goofy look on Isaac's face is not because he wasn't excited about the first day of school. It's because he was so excited to get to school he didn't want to stop for pictures.

Josh is gone :(

Josh left today. I'm very sad. I know somehow we'll make it through these two weeks but right now it seems impossible. Isaac and Eli were very helpful tonight, although Josh didn't leave until almost 6 and gave them strict instructions to "help Mom out." It's still fresh in their heads. Give it a couple days and they may forget. :)

We're going to try to keep busy, although being too busy isn't good for Camden. Laying low isn't good for I and E. Never a win-win situation. Tomorrow we're going to the county fair. Probably for just half the day. I'll have to deal with it later with Camden. Isaac and Eli are going to sleepover later with their cousin. Otherwise we're prepping ourselves for Tuesday's big first day of school. They had their open house last night. Man, it made me sad. Terribly sad. I'm sure going to miss those two while they're gone all day.

Round three!

Camden was switched to another medicine today. This one is for controlling spams in intestines, stomach, gastro, etc. I'm not so sure I agree with it but willing to try to see if it gets better. The other medicine did nothing for him. He's very hoarse which makes me think esophageal, but what do I know. I'm no doctor. We're still dealing with the thrush too.

Will this ever end???

Eli's plan for school

Eli: Mom, is it possible to get kicked out of school?

Mom: Yes, it is. So you have to be good.

Eli (smile spread across his face): Good, then I'm going to get kicked out of school and then I can stay home.

Mom: Well, then you'll just get sent to a different school.

Eli: Well, then I'll get kicked out of that school too!

The thought process of a 7-year-old boy......who doesn't want school to interfere with his playing days. :)

Round two!

Back to doctor.....another diagnosis: THRUSH!

Argh! I am in soooo much pain. I am now pumping and giving Camden a bottle because I cannot nurse him due to pain. Only nursing at night. We're both on prescription medicine to try to clear it up. Doctor is waiting until tomorrow to increase reflux medicine to see if thrush medicine clears up some of his symptoms. Some of his fussiness/crying could be due to thrush discomfort.
Unforunately, the thrush has spread to my milk ducts. The pain has spread to my arm pits. It's terrible pain and I can honestly say I'd almost rather have a baby again than be in this much pain!

This too shall pass......right??????

Diagnosis on Camden

Well, I finally took Camden to the doctor on Friday. I couldn't take it anymore. I knew something was wrong. After talking to a friend who went through something similar with her son, I decided to call.



Diagnosis: GERD, or acid reflux. And a pretty good case of it!



The doctor prescribed Zantac twice a day. She started him off on a low dosage of it to see how that goes. I am also using a homeopathic remedy called Colic Calm. It is awesome! I notice a difference in Camden within minutes. It's been a lifesaver! I ran out this weekend and immediately ordered more of it. I may stock up on a few more bottles too. I highly recommend it. Coliccalm.com is the only place you can get it. Read all about it.



Back to Camden. Yes, he has acid reflux. He has just about every symptom of it too. Fussy/crying after eating, sudden bursts of painful crying, poor sleeping habits, persistent hiccups, sour breath, chokes/gags, spits up, hoarseness, congestion, always wants to be held, prefers to be upright/inclined position, nursing a lot or refusing to nurse, excessive crying, crying, CRYING!!!!! The doctor said he could have another sort of reflux because of his hoarseness and congestion. The congestion could also be due to an allergy to something, most likely food allergy. Only time will tell us that. I will still be eliminating dairy in my diet. I'm seriously considering supplementing with formula though.

Doctor also recommended he sleep in his car seat so he's more upright. Seems funny to have such a nice crib and bassinet, yet he prefers his car seat. He sleeps so much more better in there! She also suggested sleeping on his belly as this helps put pressure on something that helps alleviate his pain. (Sorry, I can't remember all the medical terms.)

If there's no improvement in him today, then doctor will increase his medication. I thought we had some improvement yesterday morning but then it all went downhill in the afternoon. We'll see what today brings.

Keep praying for him and me too, that I can remain sane, especially with Josh leaving on his elk hunt in three days.

Second school playgroup

Well, we had the second (our second attending, their third hosting) school playgroup yesterday. This is simply a playgroup for the first graders (and their siblings) to get to know one another before the first day of school. Isaac and Eli both were much more welcoming of this event. There were a few more people there than last time, but still a lot missing. About seven kids total and there are 22 in Eli's class. Once again though, Eli fit right in. Isaac too. The big "thing" this time was the acorns. This school is not really in a town, but it does have huge trees covering the playground and a nature trail nearby and a creek. Lots of frogs in the creek we hear. All the kids were collecting acorns to see who could get the most. That soon turned into an acorn throwing contest, or battle might be a better way to put i. I was a little concerned, but everyone seemed to enjoy it so I went with the flow. :) The boys even let the girls throw at them without throwing back for a while.
I was very pleased because Eli's teacher came out to meet all the kids. Her name is Mrs. Kujawa (ka-jaw-wa). I had to say the name over and over again in my head to remember how to pronounce it. Eli still can't remember it. Maybe she'll let the kids call her Mrs. K. She seems very nice.
Less than two weeks and school starts. Isaac seems excited-somewhat. Eli, not so much, but he just doesn't want his playing days to end.
All the moms seemed very nice. They also seemed to know each other very well, and I did feel like the oddball or newcomer on board. I guess it shows how close they all become over the school year.
I've received lots of e-mails about volunteering for this and that. Yikes! Where do I fit that in????

Update to "What a whizzer!"

I will have you know that I spent Friday morning cleaning, scrubbing and disinfecting the walls, toys and toy box, buffet and picture frames on it, curtains and basically everything around Camden's changing table in the living room. Why??? Because at his early morning feeding he BLASTED everything with poop! Yes, he waited until the exact moment I was lifting up his legs to put a new diaper on and then whammo! out it came!

Oh, and I should mention he nailed me too. Pretty much my whole right side of my body was covered in poo. Lovely. I know many are jealous of my life at this moment.

Great memory though. :)

Watch out, gophers!

If you have a gopher, squirrel, chipmunk, bird, big bug, whatever that you want removed from your yard, call Eli!

He is officially obsessed with his bow and arrow! He has practiced for many hours. Grandma even told him he could kill her rooster with his bow and arrow. That sent Eli into nonstop practicing. And guess what? He actually shot the rooster with the arrow! A big shock to everyone, including Dad.

Since then, he's also shot a bird, which was a complete accident (kind of). He was out practicing one day and saw a little Chickadee bird perched on the birdhouse. He aimed, thinking he would never hit a little target such as this bird. Whammo! He hit the bird dead on and the bird went down. That was his second "kill."

Grandma also let him try again with two other roosters. These were a bit trickier and Dad had to step in to help with these ones. And by the way, yes, this is Grandma (or "G") who is the VEGETARIAN and raises nothing on her little farm for meat--just for little boys practicing bow and arrow skills, I guess. :)

(In all fairness to "G", these roosters were not nice to the grandchildren and needed to be "taken care of.")

So don't hesitate to call on Eli to take care of those pesky creatures in your yard. You'll find him outside stalking our gophers with what? you guessed it! his bow and arrow!

Best friends

Eli has two new best friends. And they're both girls.

You may be thinking I'm worried about this, but I'm not. It's totally innocent. They're really his friends that he has so much fun with. I love that he doesn't care that they're girls. He's impressed that they have a snake for a pet and one of them is even the "frog catcher champion."

I know this phase will not last long. Soon he will be influenced by others and his best friend won't be a girl because girls are "icky." But for now, it's sweet and I'll enjoy it. :)

Crabby, Colicky Camden!!!!

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
I never experienced "colic" until I had you, Camden. Wow, God, grant me patience.
It all started last week sometime. Crying, crying, crying. With the first three, they did have their fussy time. Every baby does. You learn when it is and you can prepare yourself for that time. It's somewhat shortlived. With Camden, he just cries what seems like all the time but definitely after eating, which is every three hours.
I've done A LOT of research on what's causing this and why. Years ago when babies acted like this, doctors just labeled it as "colicky," deal with it, it will eventually go away--in three to four months! Nowadays, doctors have realized that colicky babies are related to a couple different things. One is GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), another can be mother's diet (gassy foods, dairy, etc.) or sensory overload. Babies just can't handle certain things due to their small systems.
Camden is spitting up a lot, hiccuping all the time, very discontent, extremely fussy after eating. A very dear friend (whom I am soooo thankful for) suggested I eliminate dairy and see if that helps Camden. Food allergies do run in the family. Logan started showing these symptoms to dairy at four months of age. He outgrew it somewhat but still can't handle cow's milk straightup. Even in reading things the doctor gave me, it says that some babies just cannot handle the protein in cow's milk. Their bodies can't break it down. And eliminating dairy can also help with GERD so that your little one doesn't have to be on a prescribed medication at such a young age.
So....I have eliminated ALL dairy from my diet. ALL dairy. This is very hard for me. I did this for a time with Logan and it wasn't fun. Today marks the fourth day of being dairy-free and Camden does seem less fussy. I am also using Gripe Water, which is a natural remedy for babies with upset tummies, hiccups and gas. It is basically just fennel, chamomile and ginger. I think the combo of both of these two things is making a difference. We actually had a morning with no nonstop screaming. He is sleeping peacefully now.
God says He doesn't give us more than we can handle, but I have really questioned Him this past week. I've been in tears every day not knowing how I'm going to handle another minute . I want to "fix" Camden and make it all better. I see his distress and it makes me feel so helpless. If eliminating dairy is going to help him, I'm willing to try it. If not, then I'm back to my cheeses, sour cream, cream cheese, Oreos and ice cream!!!!

I tell ya, the things us mothers do for our kids!

If anyone has any other "tips" or "pointers," please do share in the comments.

so big! To Isaac:

Today I spent the day with my oldest son Isaac. It's been a while since it's just been me and him together for most of the day (well, Camden too but does he count when he's so little???). I had to take him to the dentist bright and early this morning, 9:30 a.m. And when you have a 3 week old, 9:30 a.m. is bright and early!
We had some other errands to do too. I'm not up to taking all four out on big outings so I dropped Eli and Logan off with Grandma.
It wasn't until our day was almost through and we were in the grocery store that I actually saw Isaac through different eyes than I do every other day. I realized that he has really grown up. I know he's only nine, but those nine years have gone really fast. It was so good to actually talk with him one on one. I realized how respectful he is, how helpful he is, how loving he is.
I am sorry, Isaac, if I don't tell you this every day. I appreciate all you do, being the oldest, to help Mom out. I appreciate how you do what I ask, even if it seems that I ask a little more out of you because you are the oldest. You are a wonderful example to your younger brothers and I hope they follow in your footsteps.
I hope the next nine years don't go so fast because that puts you at 18 and that's just way too scary for this mom. :)

What a whizzer!

You would think with Camden being my fourth boy that I would have the diapering down to a T. At least I would think so.

Not so! I have never been peed or pooped on with my first three more than I have with Camden. Last night we gave him his first official bath in his little tub. The lil' guy peed on me not once but twice. Yes, we caught it all on videotape. All the boys were gathered around and got such a good laugh at this! "Way to go, Camden," they cheered.

I can also honestly say that I never knew poo could actually fly. It's amazing how it can fly out when you're midway through changing a diaper.

Every one is a different, unique learning experience (even if it is with pee and poop)!

Skin color

Eli: Mom, what color skin will Camden have?

Mom: What do you mean?

Eli: Dark or light skin?

Mom: Dark, like Zach from Africa?

Eli: Yes.

Mom: Light skin.

Eli: Well, how do you know that?

Camden's birth story

Camden James Hart was born on July 20th, 2008 at 6:29 p.m. He was 8 lbs, 11 oz, 20 inches long.

I had written a LLLOOONNNGGGG detailed description of Camden's birth starting at the day before he was born until the day after. I started this on July 29th and was just finishing up when something jumped on my computer screen and erased everything I had written. Darn computer! I'm not sure what happened or if I can get back what I had written (I'm thinking no), so I guess a short summary will have to do. Maybe someday I'll have the time to try to rewrite what I had written previously.

Camden was born six days early--thank God! My water broke at 1:58 a.m. We arrived at hospital at 4:15 a.m. My body did not start going into labor with contractions so they started me on Pitocin at 6 a.m. That did nothing for me either! It wasn't until 3 p.m. when they backed off the Pitocin that my body kicked in and started labor. At about 5 p.m. I started finally feeling some contractions and at 5:15 p.m. they were bad enough for me to want an epidural. I had wanted so badly to do this delivery naturally, but I was exhausted from not eating all day and I had no energy as I hadn't slept but three hours the night before. They checked me after the epidural was in place and sure enough, I was at 10 and ready to push! I literally pushed maybe three times total (pretty wimpy pushes too considering I felt so weak) and he kind of plopped out.

He was beautiful! It doesn't matter whether it's your first or fourth pregnancy, every delivery is a miracle and so amazing. I am always in awe at God's creation. We are blessed beyond measure with Camden! And so thankful he's here with us.

Click on the link below to view pictures of Camden:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=14tv06jb.b45mn7xv&x=0&h=1&y=pit6rr&localeid=en_US

Oatmeal and boogers.....

Recently Logan had a cold and lots of big, gooey, green snotty boogers coming out of his nose. A couple of times when I tried to wipe his nose and get a booger out, he would look at me like "what are you doing" and push me away. I showed him one time a booger on my finger and said, "See, booger, that's what Mom was getting." I didn't want him to think I was just torturing him for nothing! :)

He picked up on this. He loves oatmeal and has it a couple times a week. The other day he was eating his oatmeal and had a small piece on his finger. "Mom, Mom, booger, booger," he said as he pointed to the oatmeal.

Hmmmm.....yes, it does look similar. :)

School playgroup

Eli had his playgroup at his new school on Wednesday. He was very unsure of what it was going to be like. He just didn't seem to get that they were actually just going to play, nothing more. "Mom, are we going to have to do schoolwork?"

Neither Eli nor Isaac really wanted to go to this. I could have easily forgotten about it and they would not have been disappointed. However, I felt it was important for them to go. The playgroup was for the first graders but also for siblings so I thought Isaac could have a chance to also meet potential 4th graders. It was also at the school's playground so I figured this would be a good thing for them to be more comfortable with the whole school thing. Mom included!

They ended up having lots of fun. Eli walked right up and fit in right away with the boys. It was kind of a disappointment because only four other moms were there. I think it had something to do with the hot, humid 90-degree weather. The other moms thought I was a saint for coming despite being 9 months pregnant. I was literally sweating like a pig just sitting in the shade. Ugh! Isaac played just with Logan for a while, but soon joined Eli's group and they all played together. One nice thing that the moms told me is that it isn't uncommon to see 1st graders playing with 4th graders or 6th graders playing with 2nd graders or whatever. Everyone plays with each other regardless of grade level. I like that.

It also gave me a chance to talk with a few of the other moms and learn more about the school. I was happy with everything that I heard. It was almost like I was waiting for this playgroup to happen so I could feel more comfortable or less comfortable with the whole school thing. I felt we HAD to be there and was praying baby didn't make an appearance until we went to this. I feel better about school for them. I know they'll have their bad days, as everyone does. I plan on being very involved with what's going on at school too. That's the nice thing about this particular school....there's no principal, the parents help run the school. Lots of parental involvement and family activities! Isaac and Eli both seem to be better about going too. I'm sure the first day will be hard on all of us though! :(


Meanwhile, I'm just enjoying every second I can with them until September 2nd.

38 weeks, 4 days pregnant...

First, I have to share this:

The Vagina Dialogues
by The Sarcastic Journalist
In case those weekly doctor’s visits aren’t enough, you can expect to have family members start calling to ask about the state of your girly bits.

From your mother-in-law to your grandma, every woman that you have ever met will call to ask “how you are feeling?”

Sure, they just want to see what’s going on…everyday.

The deal is that these women can get creative with the reasons they need to call. Have you seen that new cooking show? Do you need any more clothes for the baby? What’s the weather like where you are?

No matter what you do, no matter how much you threaten to never let “grandma” visit her first grandchild, these people will still call. It’s like they think they should get certain privileges when it comes to the state of your vagina.

Are you dilated? Has the baby dropped? Did she do an exam?

I don’t know why, but having to explain to my mom that yes, the midwife did put her hand down there and measured the opening in my cervix with her fingers wasn’t something I enjoyed doing.

I think that the worst part of the whole “waiting for baby” thing was the vagina talk. It’s like, how many ways can we discuss a vagina without actually saying “vagina?”

Personally, I think it is best to scare them with a little “TMI,” if you catch my drift.


Now, having shared that....if you still want to read on further, please be my guest. It is amazing what people are willing to hear when one's pregnant. :)

I had my doctor appointment on Wednesday. I am 3 cm dilated, soft and thin, and baby's down. OH, and the doctor stripped my membranes to try to get things going. So far, it has done nothing. I have had TONS of contractions and false labor, but nothing that stays. Just a big tease this baby is! I was convinced it would come early, but now I'm thinking probably not. I've never been this far into the labor process and not been in actual labor. This last baby just has to tease me.

No, we still don't have a name. We have some that we like, but nothing that we've settled on. Part of me feels like I want to see this baby first. I've never had that feeling before.

37 weeks, 3 days pregnant.....

I had yet another doctor's appointment today. Thankfully my blood pressure was back to normal. I was happy about this as I really didn't want to be on bedrest the last few weeks, even a week would be bad! Who can do that with three kids and a house to run????

I am also happy to report that baby has dropped and I am 2 cm dilated! Woohoo!! Now, I know women can walk around for weeks at 2-3 cm, but I have never been one of those women. Even with Logan I wasn't at a 1 until a day before my due date and then was at a 2 six days PAST my due date. I'm hoping this means SOMETHING sooner than later.

Until next week....

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! We spent the morning at home, then went to Grandma and Grandpa's to go swimming and eat. After that it was on to Schultz's for another cookout, games and family time. It was a nice day, not too hot, not too cold. Isaac and Eli couldn't play basketball, so they tried their hand at catch with a softball. They really enjoyed it! They also practiced shooting an air rifle at targets.
Saturday we were home and then at night had a quick bonfire and later headed up to the fireworks. The mosquitoes were awful, but we were able to find a close up spot in a field and watched the fireworks from our car. The boys were fine with this. Logan was very unsure of the fireworks at first. He kept climbing from the back seat to Dad to the front seat to Mom. Isaac and Eli were in awe of the show in the sky. And I'm glad we went, if just to see their reactions.
Sunday we headed into town for the parade. It was a hot day with the sun blazing, but thankfully there was a breeze. We met up with Grandpa and Grandma, Auntie Tana and Uncle Steve, Auntie Becky, Will and Ellie. After the parade we headed to Grandpa and Grandma's to go swimming and eat supper. We had planned on watching a movie that night, but everyone was just too exhausted.
Happy 4th of July to all!!!!

36 weeks, 4 days pregnant....

Well, went to doctor this morning. Nothing too significant to report. Apparently all my contractions I've been having are doing NOTHING. I thought for sure SOMETHING would have changed. Some days my contractions are every couple minutes consisently throughout the day whether I'm sitting, standing, walking... low back ache, cramping around to my abdomen, hardening of my tummy. But nope, nothing, just almost-like-real-but-false-contractions that are doing nothing to progress my body. Wonderful.

My blood pressure was high again. They checked my urine and were running some other lab cultures to check things out and find out what's going on with that. I've NEVER had high blood pressure with my pregnancies. This one sure is a stinker....maybe that name that means "fiery" is a good name for this baby. Either that or my body is just saying ENOUGH! Probably the latter one.

Other than that, I'll be back next week for my appointment. Stay tuned to see what 37 weeks, 4 days pregnant brings....

I'm like a penguin!

I decided today that I am like a penguin! I have the pregnancy wobble when I walk, but some days it seems so bad that I'm actually wobbling like a penguin does. I'm sure you can just picture this in your head.

You know you're looking really uncomfortably pregnant when the cart guy at Wal-Mart offers to put your groceries in your car for you and take the cart back for you. It was a very sweet guesture that I did very much appreciate. I really didn't feel like lifting that watermelon and kitty litter out of the cart and into the car. I had also just gotten a massage and didn't want to wreck my relaxed body. :)

Of course, he just had to make a comment about the watermelon looking just like my belly though. :)

Zoo trip

We went to the zoo on Friday. I had been promising the boys for about a month, if not more, that we would go the next nice day. Then it was the next time we go to dentist because the dentist is real close to the zoo. Then it was okay, we'll go by the end of June. I figured I really didn't want to be walking around the zoo in the heat 9 months preggo. Well, Friday, June 27th (just about the last day to go) we went. It was supposed to be 80-something and humid....lovely. I told the boys we would go first thing in the morning and we'd probably be done by the time it got real hot. Packed a lunch, snacks and drinks. In all honesty, I really wasn't looking forward to walking around the zoo. I'm so uncomfortable walking around the house. I didn't know how long I would make it. What kept me motivated was, obviously, my promise to the boys, but also how excited Isaac and Eli were for Logan to go see the animals. He has an animal book with all different kinds of animals. Isaac and Eli were teaching him all the different names of animals and the sounds. Logan was repeating everything they told him to and Isaac and Eli thought it was so funny. The night before we were going, Isaac said to me, "Mom, you know why I'm so excited to go to the zoo......it's just to see Logan's reaction to all the animals, I think he'll really like the zoo." I was thinking the same thing.

When Josh found out we were going, he wanted to know who was going to go with us. I said just us. He didn't really want me walking around the zoo with just me and the boys so he immediately called his mom to see if she could go. I thought that was very sweet of him. So Grandma Hart ended up going with us, which made the boys even more excited about the trip.

The boys had a good time. Logan enjoyed all the animals, but you should have seen his face light up when we rode the choo-choo train. He had the biggest smile on his face. He kept leaning out to see the engine and saying "choo-choo." I wish I could say I had taken a picture, but I didn't. I did bring my camera but had no energy to actually take a picture. I know I'll regret this.

It was a good day. I was literally pooped by the end of it. We stayed until about 2:15 so it was about 5 hours of walking. I came home and just laid down for the rest of the afternoon.

I also have to comment on my two oldest boys. They were truly gentlemen at the zoo. They knew how uncomfortable I was and how hard it is to do some things. They were always offering to push the stroller for me, hold open doors, help take care of Logan, hold his hand, no arguing. I really didn't have to do too much. I was so proud of them. Thank you, Isaac and Eli!!!!!

Black fox

Eli came running into the house yesterday.

Eli: "Mom, MOM, I saw an animal in the hay field. I think it was a black fox. It had a black head and two black ears."

Mom: "Ummm...Eli, I think that might be the skunk you saw."

Eli: "It might be, Mom, because it had TWO black ears sticking up."

Mom: "Yes, skunks do have two ears. Please stay FAR away from it."

I haven't seen too many black foxes around these parts.

Our baby?

Well, I've finally decided to drag out the baby stuff and get ready. Logan has been "helping" me do this, especially because it's changing his room the most. We recently had Auntie Tana's baby shower here. Logan quickly caught on to "Tana's baby." Yesterday I set up the bassinet and Logan was in there saying "Baby, baby." I told him, "Yes, this is where the baby is going to sleep." "Sleep," he says. Then he points to the bassinet and says, "Tana's baby."

He's convinced that every baby item in our home is for "Tana's baby." He will point to either the clothes, bouncy chair, etc. and say "Tana's baby." We've tried to say "No, OUR baby" or "Mom's baby." Logan gets a not-very-nice look on his face then. I told Josh last night that I don't think he's going to like this whole new baby in our house. He's going through an attachment to Mom stage too. I'm hoping it's shortlived.

He loves his cousin, Baby Will, and loves to talk about Auntie Tana's baby and other babies, but I don't know how he'll feel about Mom's baby taking up Mom's time.

Colds in the summer?

This isn't supposed to happen! Colds, sore throats, coughs are for the winter! Or so I thought. All three of my boys now have colds. Eli started last week, Isaac a couple days ago and Logan this morning. It's only a matter of time before I get sick and Josh too. Josh is a big baby when he's sick. I'm not so bad, but being pregnant there's nothing to take to relieve my symptoms so it's just awful. Hopefully none of these colds turn into something worse.

On a side note....we were enjoying a nice summer evening outside last night. I finally convinced Logan to come outside and ride his bike, that the cow was really nice and not going to "get" him. Actually, in all honesty, it was more like dragging him outside. He eventually came around and was playing. I was taking some much needed relaxation (sitting time) in the chair. Josh was mowing the grass. Isaac and Eli were riding their bikes all around. Very enjoyable. Well, Josh goes down to mow the grass in the driveway and by the road. Isaac and Eli ask to go with and I say yes. Before long I hear screaming. Isaac is first running around holding his stomach (kind of bent over), I see Josh jump off the tractor and run to him. Then Isaac is down on the ground and Josh is inspecting him. Yep, you guessed it, the first wipe out of the summer! Apparently, Eli lost control of his bike coming around the corner and tried to stop. Isaac ran into him with his bike. Crash! He flew into the handlebars and the handlebars rammed into his stomach and chest. He has a nice bruise and scrape up on his belly. Luckily though, that's it.
His bike is called "The Wipe Out: Totally Out of Control." Isaac did just that! :)

Skunk anyone?

We have a skunk friend living in our "cereal bowl." It's been spotted a couple times by others roaming around. I assumed this little creature was here but would move on eventually. Last night we had all the windows open in the house. Josh and I were sitting at the table talking, enjoying the cool breeze coming in. All of a sudden I caught a faint smell of skunk. "Ummm...honey, do you smell that?" He was deep in conversation and didn't answer me right away. The smell continued to get stronger. "Ummm....honey, that smells like a skunk."
I ran over and shut the windows in the great room where it seemed to be coming in. Josh thought the skunk was over by Spud probably. Well, it didn't take long before the back of the house started smelling like skunk. Bedrooms and bathrooms were very strong. Ugh! We shut everything up and I prayed that the smell would be gone in the morning. I recently heard about a family who was renting a house and a skunk was living underneath the house. It sprayed and the whole house smelled like skunk and this family had to live with this awful smell. I was afraid (and I still am) that was going to be us!
In talking with a friend today, I found out that she has the same problem. Only her skunk has been living there for months. Wonderful. So our skunk has probably made a nice little home down in the cereal bowl. It's only a matter of time before the dogs or kids get sprayed. I bet it will happen right when I'm in labor and have no time to deal with it.
I don't like to kill animals senselessly, but I'll have to convince Josh to shoot the thing.....

Update on Eli's torture at VBS

I'm sorry I never updated you on the torture situation Eli received on Monday at Vacation Bible School. The rest of the week went much better. Eli did wear his themed VBS shirt the rest of the week and his bandana. We loosened it up so he was being "choked." He also wore his cowboy hat. It did help that his cousin Collin was there and rode with us two days. Got his mind off of the torture. That and he was just extremely tired on Monday and everything brought him to tears....even a video game!

The week went good. They had lots of fun and lots of good snacks (smoothies, strawberry shortcake, watermelon, dirt cake). I have decided I will help out next year if I get the snacks too. :) I stayed down there all week because it wasn't worth driving back home with the gas prices. It was nice to casually walk around Lake Geneva, go out to breakfast with a friend and actually go grocery shopping with one kid! They ended VBS with a fair complete with animals of all sorts, corn dogs, watermelon, cotton candy and hay rides.

The kids are singing at this morning's church service. They told the kids this on Thursday and said it was an "opportunity" for them to come to church and sing these songs. It was more for the kids that don't regularly go to church there. Isaac says to Eli on the way home, "Hey, Eli, do you think you're going to sing in church on Sunday?"
"I don't know," says Eli.
I told Isaac that he would sing. "WHAT??!!! MOM, they said it was up to us to decide."
I said, "Oh, no, you go to church there regularly so you WILL go up and sing. Other kids who don't go there regularly have the option to go to our church this Sunday and sing the songs for their parents." Isaac was not too happy about this. So, we'll see, maybe Isaac will be the one that's tortured this morning. :)

Other than that, we also ended the week with an injury. Eli pulled his groin muscle days ago. He only complained about it a couple times. We reminded him that he needed to rest it. Well, Friday morning he was up at 5 a.m. because he tried to roll over in bed and the pain woke him up. He couldn't barely walk, couldn't climb up stairs or into the car. He stayed for some of VBS but we left when they got into the games and stuff. He was too hard for him to even walk, let alone try to keep up with the other kids. He came home and I made him lay on the couch and watch a movie. After the movie though, he had had it. He was so sick of doing nothing. It's really hard for this boy to do nothing. He went in his room and played Legos, but refused to sit down in there. Josh told him that night that it's a good thing he's not in the NBA yet because when they get an injury like that, they have to rest it for 30 days. Eli woke up Saturday morning much better. Still sore but able to walk a bit better. He said, "Well, only 29 more days to go." We were a little confused at first but then remembered what Josh had said. We told Eli he doesn't have to rest it for the full 30 days, but he wasn't so sure. (if they do it in the NBA, then maybe he should do it...) By the afternoon he was begging to go outside and play basketball. We told him he could shoot hoops but no jumping, running, jogging, etc. I literally had to sit in a chair and watch him so he didn't try to do something he shouldn't.
We'll see how he is today. Hopefully even better. We took Isaac and Eli to see Kung Fu Panda last night. It was cute. Logan stayed with Grandpa. And I'm sure certainly wondered where his family went. :)

Spud

Spud arrived on Wednesday. Spud is our new baby calf. He's adorable (yes, I am saying that about a COW!). He is now our second cow that we are raising for meat. Our first cow, Chester, came when I was near the end of my pregnancy with Logan. Spud arrived near the end of my pregnancy with Baby #4. Sense a theme here? Get a new baby, get a new calf. :)

Logan has been very interested in animals lately and all the noises that animals make. However, when this calf arrived kicking and running around at his own house, he was not so sure. He spent all day Thursday and most of Friday in tears. He was terrified of Spud--no exaggeration. He could be in the house and hear Spud "moo" and he would scream bloody murder and go running. I had to hold him a lot on Thursday and be in the same room with him. Spud was making a lot of noise because I think he was a bit unsure of where he was. By Friday though, I thought "Oh, this is just ridiculous, he has got to get used to this calf." Logan is a very happy-go-lucky little boy and this little calf was turning his world upside down. He wouldn't even go outside to play. If we had to go somewhere and he could tell we were getting our shoes on and going to open the door, he'd start panicking and crying.

So yesterday Josh took Logan out and actually took him into Spud's pen. He kept reassuring Logan that Spud was nice and it was okay. Logan actually even pet Spud! Which Spud tried to return with a lick. Worthy of a picture that I didn't get.

Logan was better yesterday. He was actually playing outside, but going nowhere near the calf. He would stay on the total opposite side of the house. He will point to Spud and say "nice" but it's only because we keep telling him over and over that Spud is "nice." Last night we were leaving to go out and I said to Logan, "Okay, let's go bye-bye." He didn't freak out like he would have before, but did say "Hand, hand" and want to hold my hand for comfort. He still runs like crazy to get to the safety of the car, but no screaming. It probably helps that Spud is no longer "mooing" like crazy. That's what scared Logan the most, I think.

Isaac and Eli are obviously not scared. We, once again, reminded them that Spud is not a pet. He will be raised for meat. They're okay with this. Eli, my big animal lover, likes Chester quite a bit. He gets excited when Chester comes over and lets him pet him. I have decided I do NOT want Eli home when Chester is "sent to market."

Trap shoot!

Yesterday was Father's Day. The big thing this year for Father's Day was a trap shoot with the Harts. Terry (Josh's dad) was actually here this year and that's what he wanted to do so the family gathered together for this event. Although the question never came up beforehand, I knew my boys were dying to shoot the gun themselves. I also knew they thought they were too young to do this so I never brought up the issue.

Well, it happened. They are officially "shooters." Both Isaac and Eli took their turn at shooting the gun. Eli hit the clay disk on, I think, his second try. Isaac didn't have luck hitting the target, but certainly shot the gun. They both did well and neither of them have bruises today on their arms or shoulders. Whew! However, Dad does. :)

Eli tortured at VBS!!!

Just in: Eli tortured at vacation bible school this morning. He was in tears on the way home! They actually MADE him wear the themed VBS T-shirt AND the bandana that he made. He had to wear the bandana around his neck and he thought he was going to choke. Plus, they're making him wear the T-shirt and bandana the rest of the week!! Then he had to remember which animal he was given for the games the rest of the week. He just can't remember it!!!!

Goodness, I felt so sorry for him! He doesn't want to go back there after the torture he went through today.

We'll see what tomorrow brings....

Logan and babies

Logan is now 21 months old. His brothers sang "Happy Birthday" to him yesterday. Hehehe! He loves cars and trucks ("vroom-vrooms"), but he also loves something else my other two boys never did.....babies! We're talking live babies or doll babies. I have a doll from when I was little. It's supposed to be a close replica of a newborn. The baby is a boy (with proper "parts" even) and I named him Matthew. Logan loves this doll and will carry it around with him, which isn't easy because Matthew is not the smallest or lightest doll. Logan puts Matthew to bed and tells everyone "shhhh." He pushes Matthew around in his shopping cart. "Baby, baby, baby." And he certainly doesn't like when anyone is mean to Matthew. I've had to remind Isaac and Eli many times to be nice to Matthew because Logan does what they do. If they're mean to Matthew, Logan may be mean to his new baby brother when he arrives. Not on purpose, just following example.
We were at a friend's house the other day who has a little girl the same age as Logan. This little girl had many of her own numerous baby dolls. Logan was thrilled with all the babies. She even had a stroller, car seat and high chair for the dolls (some things we do not have).
Am I worried that my little boy likes to play with dolls? Absolutely not! It shows his loving and caring side and I think he'll be great when his new LIVE baby brother arrives. Maybe a little too helpful trying to take care of baby brother, but no negative impact on him.

***I can just see Logan reading this when he's older and being embarassed by it, but I had to share. This is where he is at this point in his life and what he enjoys. Another thing he enjoys....shoes! He walked around in Eli's old tennis shoes (which are like three sizes too big) yesterday. He rode his bike, ran around, all with these big shoes on. :)