Weekly Wednesday

A few pictures from today...

On Monday, at exactly 8 months old, almost right down to the hour, he was 16.2lbs. and 26" long. Since birth, he has gained 1oz short of 10lbs. and grown 7 inches! He is still quite the lil' fellow...

My wonderfully strange birthday...

Today was my birthday...and boy let me tell you, it was a rather strange one indeed.

My day...

Tutti-Frutti gets good night sleep after surgery...check

Sleep a little late...check

lazy early morning spent with my wonderful hubby and youngest 2 children...check

wonderful hubby and Boog head off to music...check

spend late morning through early afternoon with a friend and youngest child...check

spend early to mid afternoon with husband and a friend and 2 youngest children...check

spend late afternoon with wonderful husband and 3 boys...check

wonderful husband goes to grocery store to get items for wonderful birthday dinner...check

cook wonderful birthday dinner with wonderful husband...check

eat wonderful birthday dinner with wonderful husband and children...check

salad...grilled shrimp...steak...baked potato...corn on the cob...YUMMY!...check

Cheesecake decorated with lovely candles...check

Happy Birthday sang by wonderful family...check

feed Tutti-Frutti dinner...check

clean up puke from hallway and wall...check

put Tutti-Frutti in pajamas...check

nurse baby...check

write about my crazy birthday...check

Yep, that about sums up my day...

Oh wait! I took a shower at 5pm!...check

off to spend the rest of the evening with my wonderful husband!...check

Friendship, Christian love and help for Kayleigh

Please pray for precious Kayleigh and her family, it is not looking good for her. Her doctor's have said that there is "no hope" for recovery. We all know it is not up to the earthly physicians and are praying to God for a miracle. Meanwhile, a dear friend of the Freeman family has posted a Guest Post on their blog. He is asking anyone who is able, to please help this family monetarily. They are on the verge of losing everything. Please take a minute to read this post by Brent Riggs and help this family if you feel led to do so.

Surgery update

Surgery over...all went well. We are back home. They took him back right at 10am, wow they were on time. He was back with them for almost 1 1/2 hours, a few minutes shy of. They called us back to recovery before he was even awake. He slept for about 20-30 minutes once we were back with him. When he woke up, I fed him and he dozed for a few more minutes. After he ate, he seemed to perk up quite a bit. He was looking around, trying to pull the pulse ox lead off and trying to see what else he could get into.

When he was back there, they gave him some of the good stuff that they said would last 4-6 hours until we could get him home. We were discharged around 1:30. We ran by the pharmacy to get his prescription filled and he slept all the way home. He is really starting to get uncomfortable and fussy now for the first time.

He is doing well, thanks for the prayers! The picture is from my camera phone on the way home, sorry it is so fuzzy.

8 months old...and surgery :(

Our precious sweet baby boy is 8 months old today. I just do not believe it. Where has the time gone? He is the love of my life and the light in my world, such a sweet little soul. He is getting so big bigger. He is much smaller than Boog was at this age. He is my tiny little man. His personality is really shining through. He can say a few words, well...not to anyone in particular, but he says Mama, Dada, and Hi! I really think the hi has a purpose because he can wave and say hi at the same time. He claps and we have started the baby signing with him. He has not signed anything back but it is just a matter of time. Boog started signing to us when he was about 10 months old.

Today, we go into surgery with Tutti-Frutti at 10am cst. Please remember him in your prayers, we are nervous as can be expected. Nothing major, out patient, but surgery none the less. He is having a hernia repair. We have to be at the hospital downtown by 8am and not sure when we will be home. I will update tonight.

Thanks for your prayers. They are much appreciated! Have a great day.

Video

Ok...so I totally stole this great idea from a friend. Right along with her great song. Humm, should that make her feel good that she did something so great that I had to be like her or should she pull my head off for totally copying her? Me personally...I would take pride in knowing I was so wonderful that my friends wanted to be just like me, and besides...we have a totally different set of blogging friends so hopefully it is totally unlikely that anyone, other than her of course, will ever know...love ya Shannon!! :)

Anyway, without further ado...here is my not so shameful cloning (except for the kids of course) of a great video.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Weekly Wednesday

Hey, how about that? It is on time this week! Woo hoo! These are not actually from today but they are from Sunday. So technically I am not really cheating.

We took the kids to the church Sunday afternoon and shot some pics of the 4 of them together and separately. They turned out pretty good for the most part, considering...1) They are my children. 2) Boog did not have a nap. 3) I was practicing with lighting and locations so we were there for a while. 4) Tutti-Frutti was so tired he fell asleep in my arms on the way back to the car.

I am working on proofing them so as soon as I pick out my favorites, I will put them up. Promise to try to work fast. Meanwhile, enjoy the little man.
Also, on another note...he (Tutti-Frutti) is having hernia repair surgery Monday morning. Not sure what time yet, will keep you posted. Remember us in prayers, please?

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Wow! I do not even really know where or how to begin this post. Honestly, I have been dreading this day for quite some time and I am really not even totally sure why it bothers me this much. On this day, at 7:30am, 4 years ago, my life changed forever...for the better, of course. That was the day my little Boog came out to face the world, all whopping 6lbs. 14oz. and 19" of him. Let me tell you, he was a little booger indeed. I knew on that day that there was something very special about this child. The child that would totally bring our little family together. He is a part of all of us, what holds us together in a sense. It was love at first sight for sure. He had me from the beginning.


All of you who "know" us, know he didn't stay tiny for long. By the time he was a few months old, he was quite the little chunk. Such a sweet baby boy with a budding personality.

At 2, he was such a joy to be around. He was my blonde haired beauty. We loved his hair and could not bring ourselves to go near it with scissors. He was really starting to become "Daddy's Boy" by now, still clinging to Mommy though too.
By 3, Daddy could do no wrong. He wanted to be with Daddy no matter what. He was Daddy's main helper, his shadow and his best friend. Where has the blonde baby boy gone? This year would change his life forever. This is the year he would become a big brother. I will not lie, I had my doubts. He would talk about the baby when he wanted to. He said no, he did not want to be a big brother and that the baby could live with someone else. I was fearful that my baby would be forever changed, scarred in some way, his childhood ruined. This year, his personality really started to shine through. He became more outspoken, not as shy...more outgoing, funnier, quite the character. He became the life of the party.My, look how he has changed this year...3 was a big year. He lost his baby of the house status, becoming a big brother, started going into his music classes alone, started going into (and enjoying) kid's church on his own. Daddy is his best friend but over the last month, Mommy has moved back into his favorite person list, not really that I ever left, I think I just had to share the spotlight for a while. He really loves his friends and cannot wait to see them. He loves play dates but still really enjoys playing alone. Wow, he has grown up so much this last year. He is the most fantastic big brother ever. We could not have asked for that transition to go more smoothly. He absolutely LOVES his baby brother. This child is sweet, loving, caring, gentle and you just would not believe how funny he is. He is super smart too. Do I even need to add that he is absolutely gorgeous to boot?! Yea, I didn't think so...
His personality really shines through in everything he does. You cannot look at him without smiling and you cannot know him without loving him. He is quite the people pleaser too. Mr. Funnyman, always putting on a show.

He adores (most of the time) his older brother...

and his sister too. He has such a different relationship with each of them.

My beautiful little boy told me just last night that he still did not want to turn 4 years old. In a way, it just breaks my heart because I do not want him to turn 4 years old either. So much changes when they turn 4, somehow they seem more grown up and I think he knows that. Soon, he will be off to pre-school, then kindergarten and....I just do not know if my heart can take it. Of course deep down these are really happy feelings and a happy time. There is just something about this child...maybe it has to do with the losses we had before, maybe it is because he is ours. I do not know, I just know I cannot explain it. I mean do not get me wrong, I love all of my children with all of my heart, with everything I am, but there is just something about this little boy that I cannot explain. I sit here in tears writing this, my baby is 4.
He is such a clown.

But he has a serious side as well. How did we get so lucky?

He is a deep thinker...

a free spirit...

he is full of love and passion...

he loves all people...
and the boy LOVES TO BREAKDANCE! He has got some moves...

This child is my heart and soul and I am just torn up that he is growing up so fast. Geez, kindergarten is really going to kill me. I am such a sappy baby. But...in my defense, there is just something about a child turning 4. I think it is the end of baby/toddler hood and the beginning of childhood. It has been all I could do to look at him for the past several weeks without just breaking down. Even his looks have changed in the last month or so, he looks so grown up to me. My baby is growing up and I do not know if I am going to be able to handle it. So, if you see me on the street and it looks as if I am about to lose it, now you know why...because my baby turned 4!

More prayers for Stellan, please?

I just wanted to let you all know that little Stellan will indeed be having his heart surgery tomorrow morning. Please remember him and his family in your prayers. This is a very risky surgery for an infant and there are not many of these done. There are still a lot of uncertainties going into this so please pray for everyone involved, Stellan, his family, and his doctors.

For the latest post, run on over to MckMama's to get all of the details.

Holding my breath...

Sheew...glad that is over. One of the last times I gave myself a "blog-a-licious" overhaul, I really messed things up around here. Sooo...as you can really imagine, I was holding my breath this time. But, I am very pleased to say...I did it! I now have a 3 column blog. No mess ups this time either. Miracle...

Now, on to the rest of my day. I am sure you were all just dying to know that bit of information so you could get on with your day as well!

Oh, and I will attempt to fix the size of the header later. We are off to Gander Mountain now, finally. I have been waiting on the children to get dressed so we could leave.

Old broad

Either hearing loss does indeed run in our family, or I have the funniest kid around. Either way...

Me to Daddy: You do realize that in less than one week, our baby will be 4 years old, right?

Boog: What baby?

Daddy: You.

Boog: I'm not a baby. I'm big. I'm not little.

Daddy: You are Daddy's baby.

Me: You will always be my baby.

Boog: Umm

Me: You will always be Mommy's baby. When you are 42, 52 and 62. Are you still going to sit in my lap when you are 62?

Boog: Yes.

Me: Wooo, Mommy will be an old broad when you are 62.

Boog: Uh-uh. I'm a kid. Kid's don't wear bras!

****************************************

On to the subject of painting rooms...

Boog: Daddy when you paint my room, you paint Batman, I will paint Robin. And I will paint Catwoman and Joker

Daddy: Ok. You want Batman, Catwoman and Joker.

Boog: After you paint my room, we'll paint Sour Apple's room Sponge-a-bob and we'll paint Lemon Drop's room Sponge-a-bob too. (Oh boy, won't they love that?)

Me: Well, what will we paint Tutti-Frutti's room?

Boog: We already painted Tutti-Frutti's room.

Me: Then what about Mommy and Daddy's room?

Boog: You mean the ceiling?

Me: Yea sure, the ceiling.

Boog: How we gonna paint the ceiling? It is tall.

Me: We'll use a ladder.

Boog: Uh-uh, ladders are for outside, it is too tall.

Me: They have smaller ladders, or we could use a chair. We will just stand in a chair. (Way to go Mommy, teach safety first!)

Boog: Uh-uh...

Me: Well, what are we going to paint Mommy and Daddy's room?

Boog: Dancin' with the stars!

Well, do you think just maybe we watch a little too much Dancing With The Stars?!?

Now I don't care who you are...that was just funny!

It's late again...Weekly Wednesday. Maybe I should call it A Day Late Thursday!

Sorry for the lateness once again. It just seems like Wednesdays slip away and before I know it, they are gone.
Poor guy feels crummy today, actually he has felt crummy for a few days. I took him to the doctor yesterday (part of why I did not get around to the post) and as it turns out, he has an ear infection again and bronchiolitis. They put him on a nebulizer treatment. Oh boy, that is like trying to wrestle down an angry octopus, you have never seen a kid with so many hands until you try to give them a breathing treatment. He is also on a new antibiotic and oral steroids. Yay me! Those tend to turn my children into fit throwing little (or not so little) monsters. You would think I might have had some sort of reprieve from nasty children since Sour Apple was on a steroid last week for poison oak that covered the lower half of his body. He was nasty and I use that word because I cannot think of a better (or worse) word to use for how he acted while on it.

Anyway, back to Tutti-Frutti. Just after one dose of the steroid, his personality started changing. He has been hollering at me (yes, hollering) throwing fits and demanding lots of attention. It makes it so hard for him to fall and stay asleep. It had the same effect on Boog too. Anytime the doctor writes that out, I always joke (or maybe not) about him taking the kid home with him until the course of medication is over. Well, needless to say I always get to come home with the little monsters.

Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for them because I know it has to make them jittery and feel horrible, but I feel bad for me too! You know, like today for example. Tutti-Frutti was awake off and on all last night, got up early this morning and at nearly noon today has still not had a nap, and boy let me tell you...he is not a very fun child to be around right now. He does not want anything, he wants everything, he does not want to be held but you had better hold him. He does not want to eat, but you should try, he does not want his pappi, but it better be in his mouth, he does not want to be messed with, but you had better be trying to entertain him. Sheesh...I am worn out already and the day is nowhere near even half over! Oh I love kids though! Bring 'em on, I can handle the long haul.

On another fun note though...

Last night we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a birthday dinner for Daddy, YUMMY! Wonderful lasagna and lemon bars! Thanks you guys, it was great!

It's my blog, I can say boob if I want to...

Ok...so you know you are tired when you nurse your baby while sleeping, right? So you must be really tired when you wake up thinking you are holding everything where it needs to be, being very careful and accurate with your aim and positioning everything perfectly and you open your eyes to find your boob in your baby's ear!

Yep, it happened. A few mornings ago I woke up to find my boob in Tutti-Frutti's ear! Ah well, at least we both got some shut eye.

It's my blog...I can say boob if I want to!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday to the most important man in my life. Happy Birthday to my children's hero. Happy Birthday to Boog's very best friend. Happy Birthday to my best friend. Happy Birthday to my soul mate, the man of my dreams, the light of my life, the man I would do anything for, the father of my children.

We just hope you know how very special you are to us. We appreciate you more than you know, more than we ever tell you, more than we could ever show you. You are our hero. You make me want to get up each morning. You are the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think of before I go to sleep each night. After all of these years, I am still madly in love with you, you make my heart skip beats. When I think about you, it makes me happy. I miss you when you are gone.

I love you more each day. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you, to watch our babies grow up. (and have a few more ;-) )

I just want the world to know how much we love and adore you and what better day than your birthday. I hope you have a wonderful day.

We love you more than you will ever know!
Momma, Sour Apple, Lemon Drop, Boog and Tutti-Frutti (and Linky Dog too)

Songs on the radio...

Songs on the radio, don't they just take you back to childhood sometimes? The other night, I volunteered in the nursery for one of the many wonderful Easter services at our church. We had been at the zoo all day so the kids were really tired, well...actually, so was I. Anyway...back on track now. I decided to leave everyone at home with Daddy, except for Tutti-Frutti, you know since Daddy cannot exactly feed him. After church was over, we met Daddy and the other kids for dinner at Chipotle. When we headed to the parking lot, Boog decided he wanted to ride with me and Tutti-Frutti so we were having a good ole time singing along to one of my favorite radio stations. I just love the 80's and it is a rare opportunity for me to actually get to listen to something I like when there are kids in the car. So...back to the story, once again. We were pulling into the neighborhood when Centerfold came on and I was singing along.

Boog shouted from the back, "Mommy, this is my favorite song, I love this song!"

Me: I like this song too. I used to roller skate to this song when I was a little girl. (Ok, so maybe not a little girl.)

Boog: When you were a little girl 'fore I was in your tummy?

Me: Yes.

Boog: Oh. Did Daddy used to roller coaster to this song when he was a little boy without holding on to those thangs?

Me: (stifling back the laughter) Oh, I don't know. You will have to ask him.

Boog: Oh, I used to ice skate to this song.

Welcome to my world! If you can't translate, you had better not visit. Kids are just too funny!

Easter Fun

Checkin' out the Easter basket...this is our new camera face! A basket of eggs for me?The face I usually get from this one when the camera comes out!Havin' an egg huntin' good time!Bubble fun with Daddy and the dog.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from our family to yours. Hope you have a wonderful RESURRECTION Day! These first few pictures, with the cross, were taken last night after Church, and what a wonderful service it was, very powerful. We were blessed to have some special friends join us as well.

These bluebonnet pictures were taken by my good friend, Shannon. Didn't she do an awesome job? Of course it does not hurt that the subjects are such gorgeous children either, now does it? And no, I am not one bit biased!

I have nothing profound to say, but if you would like some great Easter reading material, check out MckMama's or Brent's blog for some awesome stuff!

Coloring children Easter eggs

This is what happens when we color children Easter eggs!








Concentration




I think nearly every egg he colored was green! His new favorite color.

The mighty pink masterpiece in the making.

Aww, can you read the egg? Mom {hearts} Dad...isn't that sweet? Said in eggs.

Ahh, another green one...

The mighty pink masterpiece, I think I might have an egg artist on my hands.

This is what happens to eggs being colored by almost 4 3 year olds!

How did you guess? Yep, another green egg!

And another multicolored egg.

Our lovely eggs.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Egg! Our deformed egg.