Our Climber...

I don't know if you can see Adah there climbing the outside of our stairway railing...she climbs everything!  She is such a monkey. And although she gets a time out for doing this, she insists on doing it (and I just had to let her so I could snap a picture).  And if you look carefully she is even practicing safety...the medical kit bag is serving as her helmet!!

Sleepy time...

I always love pictures of a daddy and his baby sleepin' together...how sweet!  These are the best naps!

Big Girl Bed!!

Here is Adah in her big girl bed getting ready to take a nap!  She is so big!

Here is their new bunk bed.  Keziah LOVES the top!  I hung a blanket from the side so that Adah can't see Kez coming out if she wakes up before Adah or if Keziah gets up in the night to use the bathroom, etc.  Adah really likes having it there and actually we have since this picture hung a twin sheet and it makes it like a little hideout for her!  She begs to have it closed even though she wakes up in a pool of sweat because it doesn't get any of the fan blowing in there!  Silly girl!

When did she get so big?!

First night they were up until 9, second night it was 10...we are going to have to do something about this...suggestions welcomed!!

Adah is 2 years + 3 MONTHS!!

Adah, Adah, Adah!  My sweet and very curious little girl!  Adah is talking so much now.  She uses complete sentences and is using words to express herself a lot more. In the morning I will ask her what she wants for breakfast and she says, "Cinnamon Coast Trunch" (yes, she eats that occasionally!)  When Adah is "eating" something she doesn't like (or thinks she doesn't like) she will purposely hold it in her mouth for a long long time.  We have a really hard time getting her to eat like a normal two year old (what is normal?) and struggle from meal to meal to know the best way to handle it.  We have started sending her in time out for sitting with food in her mouth.  She will seriously go sit in time out and make herself gag and then eventually puke so she doesn't have to swallow her food.  This has happened on a few occasions!  Any advice?  The kid just wouldn't eat for a lot of meals if we never made her or she would just wait until it was something she likes.  So frustrating! 

Adah has taken a little reverse on her pottying (#2) since Eden has been born.  I am sure that is what did it and we are working hard to correct the problem.  Another frustration we have!!

Adah is officially in her big girl bed (2-26-12).  We gave this a try when we were all just starting to get sick and ended up putting her back in her crib, but as of last night she is sleeping in her big girl bed, no turning back.  This is a bottom bunk set up in Keziah's room so this also means they are sharing a room.  The first night they were up until 9 and then in the middle of the night Adah woke kind of scared like she didn't know where she was at. The same happened at nap time today.  I just go in and put my hand on her back and shush her and she goes back to sleep.  We will see how late they will be up tonight...it's already later then last night!!

We are soooo blessed by this girl.  I can't get enough of her sweet smile, cute little laugh, scrunched nose and most of all her tender hugs and kisses (she is my cuddler)!  God is so good to me!

A visit to Great Grandma!

Oh how I love my grandma!  I'm not sure how old she is but she is into her 80s and still going strong.  I am so thankful to have her around for my kids to get to know.  They always look forward to a visit to great grandma!  She enjoys all my sweet girls because she had 5 boys.  She is a tough and sweet lady, I love you grandma!

Bouncy House!

Today I met a friend that moved away to southern Iowa.  I finally got to meet her second born and she finally got to meet my fourth!  I really enjoy time talking to her and it was great to let the kids play while we talked.  My mom wanted to do something special with my sister's boys so they came too!  I had to take that picture of Bennett and those sunglasses because the kid takes them EVERYWHERE with him.  Thank goodness he hasn't lost them yet...it would be tragic!  Emily said they are a permanent fixture of his wardrobe!  I just love these kids!

We all got it...

Kez was first to get it starting on the 12th, then Adah and Eden, then mommy and Austin and lastly Brian on the 17th...We had to take Eden into the ER on the 18th because her breathing was so labored.  Her lungs sounded clear but they could tell there was inflammation so they prescribed a steroid.  We gave her that for only two days and she dramatically improved!  We are going stir crazy not able to leave our house.  Hopefully we will be able to go back to church tomorrow.  It's been two weeks since the start of it all and WE ARE NUTS!!!  I think the doctor in the ER called it acute bronchitis but a different doctor called it RSV.  Whatever it is/was, I hope we never get it again!  My poor babies...I have never seen them this sick!  Austin didn't get it very bad at all so I am thankful one of us was spared!

Eyes for her mamma!!!

Better late than never!!

Since we were all super sick last Tuesday when we really wanted to be celebrating Valentine's Day...we decided to still do our cookies a week later!  The kids loved getting to roll out the dough, cut out the cookies, watch it bake and then decorate it all by themselves!  Delicious!!

Pals

These two just love each other!  I don't think Keziah ever treated either of our dogs as well as Adah does and as a result Adah and Bella are pals!

All wrapped up!!

Here's my Eden all wraped up and ready for bed!  She loves the confinement of this swaddler!

Smiles and silliness...

Love this sweet smile and silly tongue!  She is always doing one or the other!  LOVE IT!!!

From Ethan:

Ethan made this for Eden...it was so sweet!  Emily said he came up with it all on his own!  How thoughtful!  Love you Ethan!  I am so glad Eden has someone so sweet to look up to!

Eden is 2 months old!

Eden turned 2 months old today...wow how time flies!  Eden had to get shots today (on Valentine's day!) at her check up.  She weighed in at 9 lbs. 8oz., and was 21.75" long.  Her head measured at 39cm and her chest was at 38cm.  She is growing wonderfully and proportionately!  We are always worried about what her head size is as we don't want it growing too fast!  Eden started smiling right about one month old and started cooing about one and a half months old.  She is so sweet!  I can't get enough of her and could just kiss her all the time (and I do)!  We are praising God for such a blessing!

I just have to do a little comparing...here is Keziah at 1 months old.  I pulled this photo up on the computer on a day that Eden happened to be wearing this same shirt and Brian said, "oh, you put that on the blog today?"  I said, "no honey, this is Keziah, not Eden".  He was pretty surprised!

And here is Eden at 2 months old (same shirt)...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!  The kids had an ok time...we have been getting the start of a nasty cold going around here!  We got each of the kids a bag of goodies (except Eden).  Austin got a remote helicopter, the girls each got a new cup and a new matching outfit.  And Adah got window markers and a singing light-up frog for in her new big girl bed.  And Keziah got a drawing book and Nickelodeon exercise Wii game.  We ended the day with breakfast for supper: heart pancakes and heart eggs.  And my hubby got me some very beautiful flowers!  I love valentine's day!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom and dad got a hotel room for the night before Mom's birthday (today).  Our entire family was able to make it.  Casey had to work but was able to come later for pizza, but Nate and the kids even came to swim!  It was so much fun.  The kids all had such a good time.  It was fun to see where Kez and Adah are at now that they are a little older and haven't swam in a few months.  Adah was a little hesitant to leave my side at first but by the end I had to watch her very close since all she wanted to do was swim without a life jacket and jump in without me 'in the way' to catch her.  Keziah was happy to just swim around with her life jacket on (or floaties).  She would ask someone to catch her every once in a while.  When we were done swimming in the big area we got into the hot tub area to warm up.  When we were all done swimming we went up to their hotel room for pizza and presents.  It was pretty hilarious to see all of us in this one little room.  We ate picnic style!  It was one of the best times I have had in a long time and I can't even tell you how incredibly blessed I felt to have my entire family there with me (and it wasn't even my birthday!)

Happy Birthday, MOM!  (She thinks she should get to celebrate all year since she was born in 1956 and turned 56! I think she deserves that!)  We love you so much and thank-you for all that you are to us and all that you do for us! 

Another Iowa City day!

Today we had another check up in Iowa City.  We didn't have to leave our house until shortly after 10 this time.  My mom came to watch the kids.  It was nice to have her here for when Austin got out of school (as opposed to us taking the girls to her house).  We first had an apt. with neonatology (high risk pediatrics).  They pretty much did everything that we have been seeing AEA do...check her reflexes, how she kicks her legs, how she follows things with her eyes, etc.  They also took a weight (9lbs. 9.8oz.) and height (22").  She is moving along perfectly with her developments so we are really happy there.  They said they don't need to see her back until June when we go to see genetics.  I am kind of wondering how necessary it is to continue to see them since we go to our regular doctor check ups and also have AEA coming in once a month to work with her and watch her development, but we'll just wait and see, maybe we will end up canceling our next apt.  Our next apt. was with urology.  Eden was so tired and just laid calm sleeping on the table while the tech did her ultrasound.  It didn't take very long and then we had to go to our apt. to talk with the doctor about what they found.  The first thing the nurse did was take her temp and then had us put a bag on her to catch a sample of pee.  Then the resident came in from urology and was asking all these questions like, "have you ever noticed her in pain when she pees?" and "are you sure she is peeing consistently?" etc.  We were getting really worried until he told us her bladder was no longer distended (enlarged).  He said he really had no explanation for why it was distended both times it was checked when she was born, but that it isn't now!!  He said we never  have to come back to him again!  GREAT NEWS!  That's one doctor checked off the list!!  We are continually amazed at God's grace!  Eden is such a miracle to us and we couldn't be happier to have had another smooth day in Iowa City!

Dressing up!

Adah is currently wearing two tutus and a princess dress all right there around her waist!

I am pretty sure I have mentioned before that this is their little hangout.  When they are in the mood to dress up, they wear it all day long!  Such sweet sisters!

Sundays...

Sundays are still pretty special for me as it is a day to see my family and my trip out of the house for the week!  It's been extra wonderful to go having Eden now because it is so much fun for my family to be able to see her grow and change every week!  And it's so much fun for us to get to show her off!  With all the snow we have been getting we pack up the kids' snow gear and Austin takes the two older kids (Kez and Ethan) out for fun sledding on mom and dad's great hills.  Keziah is really enjoying this time outside with her brother and cousin!  And Aria (Jamie's youngest) is already 8 months old.  She is pulling herself up to stuff as you can see...I can't believe how big she is!

Bowling

We had the privilege of going bowling with the McQuillens today!  Keziah  and Adah always have a good time with Abbi and who doesn't love a good game of bowling?!  Austin had Logan stay the night last night and so he got to go with us.  The two boys got their own lane, then Adah, Kez and Abbi got their own lane with bumpers and us adults got our own lane.  Brian whooped us all and Adah was right up there with him!  I definitely need a little practice!  It was fun anyway and we hope to get to do this more often!

Friends...

I have been blessed with a great group of friends.  Here I am with my friend Jill and her daughter Olivia Erin who was born just 12 days after Eden.  Although, Olivia was due a week before Eden.  I never would have guessed Eden would be born that much sooner then Olivia!  Jill is one of three of my friends that have had a baby within three months of me!  Playdates are going to be interesting!!

Sweet Olivia...she is such a pretty baby!  Olivia has three very excited and helpful siblings at home.

Here we are at another friends' house.  The McQuillens just had a baby 3 months ago and have a daughter that is about Kezzie's age.  Both Adah and Kez love playing with her!  Here they are all dressed up like the princesses they are!!

The face of an angel...

First real big smile captured on camera!!  ADORABLE!