Trick or Treat!

The cutest dinosaur and kitty cat I've ever seen :)

The older boys ran off before I could snap their picture, but they painted their faces in various ways. None of which were really explainable. Boys!

Loads of candy later...

Monday Montage

Yes, I know that I haven't blogged since last Monday. And yes, I know that I said last Monday that I would be doing 'Not Me' Mondays. Well, this week I'm not. Deal with it. Blame it on the hormones. Or not.

Instead, since I finally unearthed my computer/photo card reader, I thought I'd innundate this blog with pictures. Some are waaaay dated--just a fair warning.

Moving Day

Josh hangin' out. Where else would he be?


The New House (and cute little Sam)


Our Cello Player


Sam's First Haircut


A bit traumatized, you think?

Yup, I think so!

Feeling a little better about things...and looking SO handsome!

A Little Silliness From Gracie

How'd she DO that, anyway?

Little Bug-Eyed Cuteness

Happy 8th Birthday Josh!

What a Look!

Ummm, There Are No Words for This One
Poor, poor Abbey...

Okay, a little blogging out of my system and a few pictures off of my memory card.

I'm turning in...the pregnancy stuff is tiring!

G'night!

Who Me?

I've decided to jump on the 'Not Me Monday' bandwagon. A fabulous blogger over at www.mycharmingkids.net has shared her idea and asked her readers to join in too.

Jumpin' in!

Oh, but where, oh where, do I begin? There are SO many things that I have NOT done. For example, I did not let my 12 year old have a cookie for breakfast this morning because he lost all self control over the --gasp--store brand waffles that were on the table. I also did not let him have a cup of coffee on the way to school.

Speaking of school, I did NOT utter out loud THANK YOU GOD(!) when I pulled away after dropping all the boys off at school. They have NOT been out of school the last two weeks on Fall Break.

Yesterday, I did not lay down on Gracie's bed for a long time while the littles played around me. I did not fall asleep either. I was not tired after not throwing up in the kitchen sink and not scaring all the kids in the room.

I most certainly did not stress out for nearly 15 minutes while trying to find the baby's heartbeat on my doppler. I also did not lock my bedroom and bathroom doors to prevent any little people from barging in while I soaked in my tub. Oh, and I did not eat miniature chocolate bars while in the tub either. Nope, no way!

Okay, enough Not Me's for today.

I'm not tired. (okay, one more!)

Can You Hear Me Now?

Ongoing saga with Eli's hearing. Not good news from the specialist. Eli's latest hearing test shows that he has some nerve damage, called a 'Sensorineural' hearing loss. That pretty much means that the loss is permanent and he needs a hearing aid in his left ear. Bummer :(

Anyway, just as I thought I was beginning to feel partially human again, some relentless nausea has resurfaced and I found myself losing my lunch. Ewww. And something else really weird is I seem to have come down with a some affliction termed 'Horribly-Terribly-Cranky-For-No-Apparent-Reason-itis'. I've Googled it, looked it up in my pregnancy books and have almost called the OB about it. Believe me, it's no fun. Hopefully, with the ringing in of my second trimester, that will go away, along with the nausea.

I haven't updated on my boss lately. He's doing incredible! He was taken off the ventilator quite a while ago and he's now up and walking around the Rehab-Unit of the hospital. He's expected to be there through this next week, and then discharged HOME! Wow. Granted, he's got a long way to go in terms of recovery from his TBI (traumatic brain injury) but things are looking up...especially considering his accident was just three weeks ago.

I'm going to run and make myself a decaf-sugar free mocha latte...I need to kick my puffy ankles up and watch some tv.

Later!

Foot Loose and Fancy Free

Thanks to some daring wonderful friends, hubby and I were afforded 15 whole hours alone this past Saturday night. At first, even just thinking about it, I was pretty nervous. I mean, anyone that knows us, knows that we've had our share of struggles and troubles over the last few years. We're still in deep with some of those struggles now.

I had visions of sitting across the table from hubby totally not knowing what to say to him, nor him to me. An uncomfortable silence, if you will.

Thankfully, as we shared tortilla chips and ranchero sauce, we found plenty to talk about. And I think we even enjoyed it.

And let me tell you how AWESOME it was to be able to sleep through the night(without counting my hourly trips to the bathroom) without having a little one knock on the door wanting to climb into bed. I felt a twinge of guilt when I walked by the kids bedrooms seeing their empty beds, but it passed quickly. Really. And for the record, the kids had a great time away from us too.

The kids are all still home on Fall Break. 6 more days and counting...

Signing off to hit the hay. Even though I am heading into my second trimester, I am still fighting major fatigue.

Later!

Passage from Baby to Boyhood

As much as I have fought it for the longest time, I caved today and took Sam for a haircut. His very first haircut. Yes, I know he's almost 3.

Sam has beautiful, curly hair and I have not wanted to cut it because I was afraid all of his curls would be cut off. However, since he's starting to look a bit like Bozo the Clown on the sides of his head, I gave in.

As I sat and watched some of his golden curls fall to the floor, I serioulsy had to hold back tears. I mean, I didn't want the poor girl cutting his hair to think I was some kind of a weirdo or anything. It probably wouldn't have been a good idea to add my tears to Sam's already flowing ones either. That would've just been bad.

Now that it's all said and done, thankfully, he still has MANY curls. And I kept one of the cut ones in an envelope for myself.

My baby boy is growing up on me. (as soon as I find my camera cord, I'll post pics as proof)


Not too much news on the horizon with my boss, although he did have his arterial line removed today, and he is being looked at to begin weaning off of the ventilator, with the possibility of a trach being placed instead. Keep the prayers coming!

Hubby took the older three boys to the movies tonight, leaving me with just the little ones. That's okay, because having all 5 of them home all day was a wee bit trying on my patience today.

I'm going to go and run my fingers through Sam's hair and smell his baby head :)

Such a Sore Spot

My princess is still under the weather. It's strange, as her fever comes and goes. She feels fine one moment, and is shaking with the chills the next. She's not eating much because she's complaining that it 'hurts to eat'. I pried open her mouth and found that it's covered in sores...under her tongue and on her bottom inner lip. Weird. My first thought was the dreaded 'Hand Foot and Mouth' disease (which funny enough, none of my kids has ever had, I've only read about) but she doesn't have any blisters or sores on her hands or feet, just in her mouth.

I think a trip to the pediatrician is in order for tomorrow if she's still punky.

Thankfully, my boss is still holding his own. He is getting 'sedation vacations' more frequently and he is responsive to those around him while he's awake. He is still breathing with the help of a ventilator because the swelling is still so much that it's too difficult for him to breathe on his own. He is however, improving day by day. His wife said "It's a marathon, not a sprint" in terms of his recovery. Thank you for praying for him and his family.

Hubby, Caleb and Josh are down at the 'old' house today taking apart the trampoline so they can bring it to the 'new' house finally. I keep trying to get the kids to go and play outside in our 1/2 acre backyard, but they are waiting for their beloved trampoline. Go figure.

Not much else noteworthy today...signing off to make my grocery list for the week.

Later!

Burning Down the House

As soon as I saw the glossy eyes and the rosy flushed cheeks, I knew it...sickness in the house! My little Gracie is all aglow with fever. I'm not sure how high her temperature is as my thermometer is still in a box somewhere, but just by the touch she is sizzling. She's not complaining of any other symptoms, but when she gets a fever I worry that her kidney is infected again. Please, tell me this time it's just a quick passing virus. You'd better bet that if she exibits any signs of a uti or pylenephritis again, we'll be burning rubber to the ER.

I worked a half day today and then rushed up to school for parent-teacher conferences. Seems the kids are all doing quite well, with each having an issue or two, but for the most part, I'm happy with their reports.

We hung out at 'Auntie's' house tonight. It was nice to catch up and let the kids play with their cousins. We ate way too much pizza and strawberry pie. Mmmmm mmmmm good.

Not much to report on my boss, but he is finally having his sedation reduced, so he is able to open his eyes and look around. Still on a ventilator, but things are looking positive for him!

Anyway, we're officially on Fall break. Help me, Lord.

Signing off to watch 'Made of Honor' if I can stay awake for longer than the first 5 minutes.

Later!

Short Update

I'm too tired to be long winded, so I just wanted to give a quick update. My boss is still in critical condition--not much change unfortunately. The fact that he has survived this far is great news I think though.

My ultrasound went well...I don't have the full report from the doctor, but I do know that I saw a wiggling baby kicking little legs and waving little arms. I'm satisfied with that!

Signing off now...I'm hosting breakfast for 7 moms and a gaggle of kids in the morning.

Later!