Fun in the Sun!

Today we met some friends at Airport Lake and did a little swimming.  The water was super chilly and there was a pretty strong wind but we just couldn't wait to get outside and get in some water.  The public pool opened this last Saturday so we went yesterday but the water was super super chilly there too.  I'm sure all it will take is some warmer weather for a few days in a row and we will be set!  The kids didn't care one bit that the water was so cold and had a blast playing!  Adah was a little timid at first not wanting to leave my side and unsure of the moving ground beneath her feet, but it didn't take long and I was the one that didn't want to let go of her!  We will definitely be going back here really soon! 

Adah is 18 MONTHS!

UPDATE:  We went to Adah's 18 month check-up on the 6/14/11. We decided to see a local doctor instead of driving to Waterloo since they recently started doing well-child visits in the office now. We saw Dr. John Epperly and he did an excellent job.  I felt like he was thorough and asked all the right question.  She had to have one shot which she of course cried through but did great!  We also got the ok to stop her Fer-n-sol (iron drops) since her iron has been low in the past.  She weighed in at 25.2 lbs. and was 31 5/8 inches.  Her head was 18.75".  She is growing nicely and seems to be ahead on the developmental charts.  The doctor asked things like, can she walk backwards, can she stack things, can she go down stairs holding onto the railing, etc.  Yes to all of the above!!  She is starting to talk more but still has a limited vocab and he thought that was just fine! Overall it was a great apt. 

Adah is amazing.  I love watching her learn and do new things!  Her smiles and giggles are so contagious!  I love this stage of life (I think I say that with every age).  Here are some things about Adah this month: 
Adah dropped the feeding before nap on 5/17/11 leaving her nursing in the morning and right before bed.  I say Adah dropped it but really I made her do it because I feel like I can't keep up anymore with trying to chase a three year old, keep up with a twelve year old and create life inside of me!  She still asks for it every day and I just tell her no and offer her a drink of water.  She will give me a pouty lip for a second and then take a drink of water and then I lay her in her crib!  I feel bad but I have no desire to give it to her at that time anymore.  I am very content with the two times a day because, although I haven't taken advantage of it, I could potentially feed Adah in the morning and not return until bedtime if I wanted!  Of course, that would require me to find a qualified and willing babysitter!  Any takers?  Just kidding!!
Adah got a new tooth (bottom right eye tooth) on 5/26/11.  This has not been an easy process and I fear what the other three are going to bring.  Adah continues to use sign language very well.  I wish she were talking a little more but she will get there and if she's anything like her sister we will one day wish she would forget how (just for a little bit)!!  She is talking more and more though and I am getting really good at figuring out what she is talking about!  Almost everything she says resembles what she is trying to say it's just hard to understand it.  And she is very willing to try to repeat after you when you ask her to!  Here is a picture of her getting ready to take a bath but she is asking me where the water is because I haven't started it yet!  She LOVES her bath, by the way!  I'm not sure if I have talked about this before but Adah lives for her bath!  We all take turns getting to tell her when it's bath night because we get such a rise out of her!  Have I mentioned how totally awesome Adah is at potty training?  She is staying dry ALL the time (more than her older sister)!  She wakes from her nap dry and wakes from a 12-13 hour night's sleep dry!  I am so impressed with her!  And even though she can't express that she has to pee/poop with the actual words, she does a really good job of letting me know she needs to go!  I am just never really sure what's going to come out! 
Adah has a lot of favorite things to do.  She loves to put things in and out of compartments, she loves playing with her babies and feeding them and taking their diapers off, she loves coloring, she loves to cuddle her mommy and big brother, and loves seeing her daddy in the morning and gets so excited when he comes home at lunch time, but I would have to say Adah's biggest thing she loves to do is ANYTHING her big sis likes to do.  She will follow her anywhere, let Kezzie beat her up/drag her around by her arm, do whatever Kezzie asks her to, pester Kezzie (because she likes to make her scream), give her hugs and kisses, and share her food and drinks with her.  She also really likes to read books with Kezzie!  She rarely complains through any of this, I guess for the mere fact that Adah just loves her big sister!  I realize this is the month that Adah should be getting her 18 month shots and a check up but unfortunately I will have to post an update because I couldn't get her in to the doctor until the middle of June.  We are giving our local doctor's office a try since we usually travel to Waterloo for all her check ups!  I guess it was a little harder to get into when I needed to!  We will also be getting her 18 month pictures taken soon so I will post on that in the near future also!

Recker Baby Born!

IT'S A GIRL!!!  Miss Arianna (Aria) Lynn Recker was born on Thursday May 26th!  She was 7 lbs. 1.6 oz.  20.25".  She is such a doll!  What a blessing she is to join our family!  Big brother Rylan doesn't know what's coming to him!!

Stool and Lights!

This is pretty much where you can find Adah quite often!  She loves to move the stool around to different light switches!  She say, 'dool, dool' and 'ight, ight'.  I can't believe she is getting big enough to do independent things like this!

 

Sleepy-head!

 

 

 

 
Adah seemed more tired than usual today but we were getting along just fine. I just figured I would lay her down a little early for her afternoon nap! Kezzie was watching her TV show for the day and Adah unusually sat and watched it too. I was working on a post for the blog and Adah was just sitting next to me. All the sudden I saw her paci fall and when I looked at her, she was sleeping! This has never happened before so it was a super big deal and really sweet! I had Kezzie take a couple pictures! After a little while my arm was cramping up so I moved her into a more comfortable position and she stayed asleep. I let her sleep for close to an hour and she still went down for her afternoon nap just great! I cherished this time that I got to really cuddle with my sweet baby!

Mother's Day with a Twist!!

I have been anxiously waiting to share about my Mother's Day until a later date...I think the time is here!  I can't keep it a secret any longer!  We are having ANOTHER baby!  We are always a little skeptical about announcing such excitement because we aren't very far along, but the truth is it's just too hard to keep it a secret!!  Baby Uglum will arrive sometime between the end of Dec/beginning of Jan.  We are so thrilled!  I had a WONDERFUL mother's day.  We went to church and then went to mom and dad's like usual.  We had Famous Dave's for lunch so mom didn't have to do any cooking/cleaning.  I made a cake that looked like a sunflower (delicious)!  And mom opened her gift!  Kezzie loves presents so she was so excited to have grandma open her gift (even though she didn't know what was in there)!  We decorated a plain white bib and on the back side wrote Grand-baby #11 on it!  Everyone was VERY surprised!  So we took a picture of mom and dad holding the bib and holding 11 fingers up!  We also got some time outside.  Austin has a huge kite that he likes to fly out in the nearby field.  We all went out and watched him fly it.  It was the perfect day for it and he always does such a good job of keeping it in the air!  Later in the afternoon we headed to Brian's parents for some more excitement!  Kezzie was again very excited to watch grandma open her gift and couldn't understand what the big deal was about some random bib!  Kathy's bib had Grand-baby #6 written on the back!  So we took a picture of Riley and Kathy holding up 6 fingers with the bib!  I think they were pretty shocked but excited as well!  Adah always enjoys playing on the piano when we are there and I couldn't resist taking a picture of her!  She is such a doll!  The fun wasn't over because when we finally got home to our own house I still had my gift to open from Brian and the kids.  I collect Willow Tree Angels and so they got me a husband and wife holding the pregnant wife's tummy!  So beautiful!  I am so incredibly blessed to be called 'Mom'.  There is no better name!  I only wish I could have gotten a picture with my three favorite kiddos!   Thank-you God for the kids you have given me!  I love you guys!

New Hideout!

I have had these boxes stored away for a long time in hopes to get this done for the girls...a few days ago they found a small box and were trying to use it as a house so I decided it was time. We cut an opening on one side of each of the boxes so we could tape them together and make it a 'two bedroom'. We cut a couple windows and a main entrance and it was done! The girls (and Austin too) went to work decorating it with markers and crayons! It takes up quite a bit of space in our living room but the girls have a lot of fun hiding in there. I can even fit! Sometimes we put it up on the coffee table (which it fits perfectly on all sides) just to get it out of the way and Adah loves it up there!  She doesn't ever do much in there except just sit and look out the windows!  Kezzie likes to run in there when she is being chased by Austin but doesn't really just hang out in there.  And we have definitely found out that it is just too confining of a space for Kezzie and Adah to be at the same time!  Maybe someday they will love each other that much!!

Keziah is 42 months!

Keziah is an amazing little girl.  She is so sweet and learning so much about how to be a better daughter, sister and person!  She is learning to listen and be kind on a daily basis and challenges these things quite often. 

Some things about Kezzie:
-She is starting to get into organizing.  If I ask her what she is doing sometimes she will tell me "I'm orcanizing!"  It's so cute!
-I love how she analyzes things.  Today (5/8/11)  She was watching Nemo on the way to church.  The mom got eaten by a shark and she asked as series of questions: What happens when she gets in his teeth?  What happens when she gets in his throat?  What happens when she gets into his belly?  What happens after she is in his belly?  She is such a thinker and analyzer!
-Kezzie likes to read books she is familiar with to Adah.  Adah loves it and adores her big sister and her smartness!
-After recently seeing Leora (my cousin, Kezzie's second cousin) she has become a master at story-telling!  The day they were together Leora was teaching her how to write her story out on paper (only they were using napkins) and then presented their stories to the rest of us!  Kezzie's story on her napkin was only readable by her and consisted of many drawings only she could explain!
-We instilled a listening chart to help with listening and a couple different one on one times with mommy each day to cut down on whining.  The listening chart is an idea I got from my sister.  If Kezzie listens to our words on the first try then she gets a sticker.  When she gets 10 stickers she gets 1/2 hour on the computer.  This might seem kind of easy but truthfully she rarely earns one sticker in a day.  I think I need to find more instances where she is listening (maybe I am just used to it and not realizing it) so that she will get the concept a little more.  It's a training process for me too!  The other thing is she can lose stickers for certain things.  I don't like to do this too often but I have done it a couple times for when I am at a loss for anything else.  As for the one on one time, I have been putting Adah down for a nap at least a half hour before Kezzie so she and I can have time to do something together and I put Adah to bed a half hour early at night so Kezzie and I can read books or play something on the iPad together.  I do think this is helping eliminate some whining and complaining about being bored, etc.
-A recent conversation between Kezzie and I (as Adah is flipping off the top of the couch).  Me: Kezzie did you just show Adah how to do that? (this is a problem and Kezzie has been told umpteen times not to flip off the couch) Kezzie: slowly shaking her head no.  Me: Keziah, I am going to give you one more chance to tell me the truth, did you just flip off the couch?  Kezzie: slowly shaking her head yes she says, 'if I tell you the truth I will be set free, but if I lie it will trap me'.  We have a bookmark that we use in her devotional and it is Larryboy from the Veggietales and on the back it quotes, "A lie will trap you but the truth will set you free." (from the verse John 8:32).  Kezzie has a bit of trouble with telling the truth so this is something we talk about frequently!
We love you Kezzie and can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Surprise!!!

Adam had the brilliant idea to throw Emily a surprise party to celebrate a few things that are happening in her life! First of all she completely finished college-never going back! She went back to school to get her endorsement in school counseling. So on top of that she started a new job as a student counselor for the Denver school system, working with kids k-8th grade. Lastly, it's her birthday on Monday and she turns a young 32 years old! Emily has come a long way. Being pregnant with Alanna and getting through school wasn't easy along with being a mom, working a full time job and worrying about where life was taking her next consumed her everyday for the last couple years! I am so incredibly proud of her. I have no idea how she survived it and I'm sure she is wondering the same thing. I know there were days she was barely getting through! But it has all been worth it and best of all God's plan is all coming together for her with the new job that she has and LOVES! We wanted her to have something new for her desk at work so we got her a willow tree angle that's holding an apple. She is making such a difference in the lives of all of those kids and it's exciting to know what an impact she is having on them (as all teachers are).  The angel says 'You are the best.  Thank you for making a difference.'  I thought that was pretty fitting!  We also gave her a little birthday money so she can get herself something to enjoy!  Happy Birthday, graduation, new job Day, Emily!  We love you!
Emily says she was very surprised and had no idea anything was even planned!  We all hid upstairs at Peppers in Cedar Falls and when the waitress pretended to seat them up there we all yelled, 'surprise!'

Potty Training!!

(Sorry if you don't want to look at poop and pee pictures!) 

Yep, you read that heading right! We are at it again!  We started bright and early Monday morning May 2nd. As many of you already know, I am a huge fan of the naked method.  I don't know who originally came up with the idea but John Rosemond is an advocate and I like a lot of his parenting ideas.  I have seen a couple articles by him on this particular method of training.  It also became a part of my life way back when Austin was in an in-home daycare and training at 18 months.  Nancy (the provider) just decided he was ready.  She taught me all I needed to know and between the two of us (and probably with the help of my parents) Austin was trained quickly!  I still can't believe she was willing to deal with all that.  God definitely blessed me in many ways having her in my life! 
 Here is a summary of how the last two weeks have gone:
Day 1: Three successes before 10AM!  The rest of the day was hit and miss.  The biggest issue was her crying and not wanting to sit when I knew and she knew she needed to go.  She was very afraid of the feeling and letting it go.  I partially feel at fault for this because we got so excited when she peed her first pee of the day that maybe it scared her in some way.  I would have to sit in front of her on the potty (facing her) and just hold her legs down until it started to come out.  She would start to cry when it started coming and squirm even more so I would have to hold her down.  I wasn't sure if I was going to continue but she wasn't having many accidents and when she did it was just little dribbles and then off to the potty.  I knew she was getting it so I decided to give it the week. 
Day 2: There was a lot of crying!  She was still very afraid and acted almost like it was hurting to release it.  The same story continued with her crying and squirming when her pee started coming out.  I was worried I was jeopardizing getting her trained EVER by forcing her to sit there and decided to see how the evening went.  I can't tell you how much prayer went into my every moment of the day and I really feel like God was giving me peace with what happened next.  I was making supper and had the potty seat next to me in the kitchen.  Adah literally walked into the kitchen, opened the potty lid and sat down.  I sat down in front of her and positioned her correctly (she couldn't quite get herself on there all the way).  I started holding her legs and like every time before she started crying and squirming when she started going.  BUT this time while her pee was coming out she was clapping and smiling while she was crying.  This was a huge improvement!  The rest of the evening was the same.  I was so HAPPY!  This was my ticket to go on to the next day.
Day 3: I had to leave the house for a hour in the morning so she wet in her diaper.  She had two successes before lunch though and even had a successful poop right after lunch!  She woke from her 2.5 hour nap DRY!  She told me she had to pee and went!  There was very little crying when the pee would come (still squirming and I would lightly hold her legs) and much excitement!
So here we are on Day 15 and she is doing great.  Last Monday (day 8) we left the house for a short time with training undies on.  She has since then gone just about everywhere in undies.  Even day 7 (the first Sunday after starting training) we had to pull over on our way to church so she could pee in the little potty.  She had a diaper on but she really had to go and didn't want to release it in her diaper.  I still wasn't comfortable putting her in undies for church yesterday (day 14) because for one we have an hour drive (don't need pee on the car seat!) and for two I didn't want the nursery to worry about her peeing in her pants.  She stayed DRY the whole day yesterday.  We did have to pull over again just a couple miles from church so she could pee but she did excellent all day even staying dry for her almost 3 hour nap!  Now here we are today (two weeks to the day of starting) and she is amazing.  She has taken herself to the potty twice already after waking up with a barely wet diaper.  Now if I could just teach her how to say a word for pee and poop.  ANY word would be nice.  Right now all I'm getting is a panicked look and she points to her butt (for poop and pee).  She does kind of say a noise with the back of her throat that resembles the word poop, I guess.  What a smart little girl!  And to think I almost gave up on the second day!  Thank-you Jesus for the peace to keep going!

It's Golden!

Most years Adam and I celebrate our birthdays together since we are just a couple weeks apart in April, however, this one was extra special for him...he turned 30 on the 30th! We were supposed to celebrate with a party at Pizza Ranch last night but he threw his back out and had to cancel since he was pretty much destined to his couch! I guess that's what happens when you start getting old!! He was feeling a little better today so he made it over to mom and dad's for steaks on the grill, presents and cake. I tapped thirty $1 bills together to spell out the word thirty!  I love the picture of Alanna and I!  Such a doll!  Happy 30th Adam!  I hope that back gets straightened out!