Saturday, March 31, 2012

We love you GG!

This afternoon, my grandma Helen passed away. After a tough battle with lung cancer, she is finally at peace. For the last two weeks (as you have seen in my posts), she has been in the hospital. I was lucky enough to be able to visit with her several times. I was able to tell her I loved her as were so many of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Although we knew this was coming, it is still sad to know that grams won't be around anymore. I know she is pain free now and celebrating in her reunion with my grandpa. We love you GG and will miss you terribly!


I am lucky that she was able to meet and spend time with Lily and Parker. Here she is at Lily and Ty's baptism.
Loving on Lily...

My grandma had 8 children (I always told her she was crazy for having this many. She agreed!). I believe that the grandchild/great grandchild count is over 80! What a legacy she started!


My dad and his siblings...
Here she is at Parker's baptism. She told me just a couple weeks ago how he reminded her of my dad. It was his eyes she told me!
I am so grateful that she was crazy enough to have so many children because I have been lucky to grow up in such a large, loving extended family. I know she will keep watch of all of us from heaven.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Child Geniuses

Everyone thinks that THEIR children are the most amazing, talented, and smartest children in the world. I am no different! I "ooo" and "ahh" over everything they do, no matter how silly or small it is. They are just too cute not to! That is one of the best parts of having kids.

Let's start with Lily. She is wild and crazy and imaginative. The last two days she has decided she wants to be an artist when she grows up. No longer are ballerina and princess at the top of her list. Artist is a better ambition (unless she marries a prince). So for two days she has created thousands of pieces of artwork. I HATE PAPER BEING EVERYWHERE but who am I to stifle creativity.

The girl is OBSESSED with Tom and Jerry. Here is Tom attacking Jerry :)
This next one is a cauliflower and the clock and candlestick from "Beauty and the Beast."
More Tom and Jerry shenanigans...
A creature with headphones.
A whale with a blowhole.
Writing "Mom"
She actually has a pretty good concept of parts of creatures and draws some funny stuff!


Then there is our little chunkster...
He is sitting up for small amounts of time the last couple days, and this makes him seem so big to me!


Gotta love kiddos! Now, if only they would become sleep geniuses!

Spring Break

This week is my spring break from school. It really hasn't felt like much of a "break," but I am enjoying my time at home nonetheless! Parker went to Prime Time on Tuesday night because he has been feeling bad. He had a slight ear infection, so he is on an antibiotic now. He has been very fussy and clingy, which makes getting anything done near impossible. I am hoping he gets to feeling like himself again soon.

Monday, Callie and Evan, my niece and nephew, visited for a bit. It was great to see them. Evan is all over the place! He is standing on everything. I can't believe he will be a year old in a few short months. Tuesday, we met my MIL and niece and nephew at the children's museum. We played a short time and went to McDonald's. Yesterday was story time in Yorktown. I was glad to get to go (makes me excited to have the whole summer off). Today, we are playing catch-up at home. Jeff stayed a little extra this morning to give me a couple hours of sleep (God bless him). I need to do laundry and pick-up. Tomorrow, we are planning to go to Monkey Joe's (a bounce house place), and then leave for Vevay tomorrow evening for a short trip. Let's hope Parker cooperates!

I will get pictures tomorrow and of our adventures in Southern Indiana :)

An update: My grams was doing much better the end of last week. I actually got to talk with her. She has taken a turn back down and is mostly sleeping and in and out of it again. I am continuing to pray for her peace.

Friday, March 23, 2012

6 Months

Today Parker is 6 months old! A half a year has come and gone. Our little man is growing and changing in the blink of an eye. He weighs just under 18 pounds. He eats every 3-4 hours, around 5 oz. He has had cereal for a few weeks and bananas this past week. Tonight, he had sweet potatoes for the first time and gobbled them up. No surprise because he tries to grab our food all the time! I am so proud of myself because I have been using the baby bullet to make his food at home. It is easy and pretty fun to do!

Sleeping is still not so good and this week I have allowed myself to eat things with dairy again (in moderation). Since I gave it a try for nearly three weeks and things weren't much different, I figured that, if I wasn't going to be sleeping, I would at least enjoy what I am eating! If he starts acting horribly again, I will lay off the foods again. We will just keep fighting through :)

Parker is very ticklish, and it makes me smile when his laugh gets going. He is rolling over easily now from back to belly-although belly to back is still hard for him. He isn't sitting on his own yet. When I try, he locks his legs and wants to stand. I look for him to get better at sitting as the month goes on. He is playing in his exersaucer and likes all the new toys.

He wears mostly 9 month clothes now (6-9 month in a few things). The poor little guy seems so short to me but very broad up top (he gets that from his dad). Hopefully he grows in height a little. He has the chubbiest legs, and I love it!

In just six short months, he has changed our lives for the better! We are so lucky that he is ours.

one month

3 months

6 months






HAHA! These huge eyes crack me up-happens every time with the flash! Looks a little scary. Especially with those crazy eyebrows :)

And the person PJ adores the most-his big sister! She is a wild woman!
Lily at 6 months

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Spring

It is officially spring (although it has been feeling more like summer)! It has been so beautiful. Yesterday, Sarah and the boys were up to visit my grandma. It was fun having them here!! Today, Lily wanted to plant some flowers. She had more fun watering them.





I love looking out at our backyard!
Jeff has been planting trees along the edge of our property. These are his newest babies!
Here is Lily-being silly of course!

Happy little man in the swing!


**Despite the great weather, this week has been hard because my grandma is not doing well at all. They are keeping her at the hospital, but she probably won't be with us much longer. I saw her on Monday and again tonight. She is struggling to breathe and is so frail. I told her I loved her and she was able to say the words back, which felt good. I am praying that she is at peace soon because I know she is scared. Send prayers her way. Seeing her like this has made me realize how fast life is. She has eight children and over 80 grand and great-grand children. What a legacy! She has been talking about seeing my grandpa again (he passed away over 20 years ago) these past couple days, and I know the thought of being with him again makes her happy. I love you grams!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Updates

Happy Sunday! We have been so spoiled with sunshine and beautiful weather the past couple weeks. I actually had to go buy the kids a few new outfits because all they had were sweats. We have been enjoying walks, time at the park, and our big backyard as much as we can. Yesterday, I was sick :( I think it was God's way of giving me a day off. The lack of sleep and crazy diet finally got the best of me. Thankfully, Jeff and his mom and sister handled the kids so I could rest and today I feel much better.

Speaking of crazy diets-I didn't see much difference in Parker in giving up milk for a couple weeks. This past Monday, I took him back to the doctor after a few more HORRIBLE nights and he said I could try to take out eggs and soy from my diet. I have been doing that for over a week. He also put him on acid reflux meds. I have seen slight improvement-no he isn't sleeping all night but he seems less restless and uncomfortable. I am not sure if it is the no eggs and soy or meds. I have basically been eating salad, peanut butter, and fruits and veggies. Since I haven't seen a dramatic improvement, I think I am going to start adding back in dairy products slowly and see what happens. Maybe he is just a terrible sleeper with no medical issues at all. We have been letting him cry more but he still cries every 2 hours or so. I may try the special formula soon to see how he reacts to it. In the meantime, I am driving myself sick (literally) trying to figure out what to eat and think that is just as bad on us as anything. I love my son but I would LOVE a milkshake!

I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day. I have no pictures from yesterday because I never made it out of bed. Hopefully I will have some of the kids to post soon (Parker will be 6 months old this week!). Also, please pray for my third graders tomorrow. They take the IREAD test. If they do not pass it, they are held back automatically. I know that testing is just as stressful for them as it is for me.

One last prayer request is for my grams. My dad's mom has been battling skin and lung cancer for about a year and a half. The past few months have been really hard. Her lung now has to be drained every other day. My aunts have been taking such good care of her and family from out of town have been in to visit. Yesterday, she ended up going back to the hospital for respiratory problems. She is in a lot of pain and may end of going to a nursing home for round the clock care. I am praying for some peace for her and my dad and his siblings.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

A bright, sunshiny day!








WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY! Both kids got a little vitamin d from the sun this afternoon. Lily has been loving the fact that she can run free. Parker is a little under the weather, so he only lasted a little bit. It is making me excited about warmer months ahead!