The past 6 months...

Well, I may not be the worlds worst blogger...but I'm not far behind. Yep, I'm back after half a year! Since Ethan came home just over a year ago (wow, can't believe it's been that long) life has been crazier then ever and is only getting worse.

We are expecting our forth child the beginning of March (I'm 6 months along). The pregnancy was complicated and very high risk in the beginning. I spent most of the summer with restricted activities and wondering if the baby would even make it. It was sweet the way Ellie would intently watch the ultrasounds, and the light in her eyes whenever we heard the heartbeat. God has watched over this little baby and everything is going well now. What a blessing to hear Ellie switch from saying "if the baby lives..." to "when the baby's born..." She and Evan are SO excited! Ethan...well Ethan is Ethan. He doesn't really get the whole pregnancy thing. But he LOVES babies so I'm sure he'll be excited when it gets here.

I also started kindergarten with Ellie at home this year. She misses the cut off date for school but was ready. She's doing very well. Teaching her has been the easy part...dealing with the boys has been a little more trying. Although Evan would sit or play quietly if it were just him, Ethan is not quite so calm. He is so energetic and wants to be right in the middle of what we are doing. It's been a challenge and discouraging at times. However, it has also really been a blessing to watch and be part of Ellie's learning.

Oh, speaking of learning. The boys are doing very well with talking. Ethan is still doing speech therapy once a week. He puts three words together routinely and is making progress every day. Evan speaks in 7 or 8 word sentences. Evan loves to talk and tries to compete with Ellie! It's also sweet to listen to him pray for a meal as he lists off every item at the table!

Today Ellie is sick and I'm home alone with all three kids. Poor Ellie threw up all night and can't even keep water down today. She's drinking a lot though and is slowly working on some turkey broth.

Well that is our past 6 months, or so, in a nutshell. I'll try to do better with blogging. I just got a small 10.5 inch laptop so I can work around the kids during the day. Our pictures are on the main computer still so it may be a while till I find an easy way of putting them on the blog from my computer. But I'll try to get some posted before another 6 months go by!

Life

Not sure why, but I always choose the most chaotic times in life to post on my blog. I've been so bad at posting I'm not sure anyone is even reading any more...except the few faithful family members who are so desperate to hear news from us considering the fact I write letters less then I blog!

We are doing well...I shouldn't say well...great, fine, happy, even fantastic...but not well. Actually, we are all sick, most of us for the second time. Two weeks most of the family was sick. Last week Evan was sick again with something else (more on that later) and this week we all have what Evan had last week.

We had VBS last week and Tyler, Ellie and Ethan loved it. I on the other hand was home with Evan. For an entire week Evan had diarrhea, would hardly eat, lost weight (he made Ethan look chubby!) and slept constantly. One night while Tyler and I were in the living room we heard him cry "mommy, I hurt". This week he finally began to eat again and sleep less, but he is still so lethargic and wants me to carry him if we go anywhere. He doesn't even play! He's also pale, even his lips have lost all color. I feel so sorry for him.

Did I mention the tornado warnings, or the brown recluses in our home...at least 9 in the past couple of months including the one on Tyler's head, or the large hairy spider almost the size of my palm that I found in the shower? How about the ants in my kitchen, mouse who made a huge nest in my silverware drawer or the rat the dog brought to the yard. The very dead rat with it's eye falling out was very lovingly touched by my kids and put down the slide by Evan! Aww, the joys!

Well, I'm going to hurry and post a few pictures. It looks like we have another big storm headed our way. I'm really hoping we don't have to join the snake and brown recluses in our cellar. I'm not to worried about our house however, Ellie just told Daddy that if the house gets swept up by a tornado she will ask God to put it back together! Although life has it's interesting moments that are sometimes less then pleasurable, God always brings a smile to my face...yep, life is good!






Sorry, I have to stop with the pictures now and turn the computor off...

Why I don't blog

It's 7 o'clock in the evening. Dinner is supposed to be on between 5 and 6. Bedtime for the kids is at 8. It's Saturday night...meaning I have to bathe the kids and iron the clothes for tomorrow. Oh, and I just remembered the sheets for our bed our in the washing machine and need to be dried before I can go to bed. Dinner is getting cold...well part of dinner. Actually the green beans, biscuits and spaghetti sauce are getting cold while the water boils for the noodles. Yes, I admit, I was almost done cooking when I remembered pasta is a necessary ingredient when it comes to spaghetti. The kids have been screaming and fighting and I turned off the stove I don't know how many times in order to be consistent in discipline...that, and save the children from certain self inflicted death. I sent Ellie to the bathroom for 15 minutes of time out. I had so many timers going in the kitchen I almost forgot about her. When I did remember her I realized I had 1.5 minutes left on her timer in which to remind myself why she was in there in the first place. I then went to deal with her. After I'd talked to her she asked me "what did I do again?" She didn't even remember it when I reminded her! Then, back in the kitchen in the midst of chaos I heard a little voice below me. It was Ethan mumbling his first full sentence which was muffled by the thumb in his mouth. "I love you". Ah, how sweet. Well, Tyler's at the office and has been hungry for over an hour. The noodles are still not done. For some reason in the midst of it all I thought of all of you. I really do think of you every day but haven't found the time to write. Most days aren't this calm.

Someday I'll post pictures...

First Family Photo of Five

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. It's nice to know I still have faithful readers after my long absents. :)

Yesterday we had our very first family photo! It's terrible, but I don't think we'd even had a snap shot with all five of us. Anyway, Walmart did a great job and we actually got all three kids to smile at the camera at the same time. Ethan did really well for the family photo and his individual one. Those were the only two we really wanted so it worked out. However, for the rest of the session Ethan decided to throw one of those terrible fits he's so good at. At least we got the pictures we wanted and the other two kids were perfect angels!

I should probably get off. My boys have now been fighting over my lap for about 5 minutes and have now passed the screaming and hitting stage and moved on the the biting stage (well, Ethan bites and Evan screams louder...)

Ok, never mind. I now have peace (as much as I can with Ethan strangling me with a hug from behind). Poor little Evan finally gave up and got his own chair. It's just one of those days...

In Ellie's Words: "Better Late Than Never"

Sorry to every one who has been begging for updates! Thanks to all of you who have thought about, prayed for, or emailed us. I'm going to try to do a better job of keeping up now. I've been amazed at how busy it's been around here! There is no way I can catch up on all the details of the past two months and have been dreading getting back on here for that reason. So instead I'm going to give a few of the high lights...and there are a lot!

Ethan: The transformation in this kid is amazing. He now understands almost everything and has many words. His temper is beginning to improve. We have even seen a change in the way he plays and his ability to play "imaginary" games with things such as dishes. He now LOVES his mommy and will cuddle with me even when he has the option of daddy. He enjoys going to Sunday School with Evan and will go without us taking him. We had been hoping to get out on a date sometime and leave him for just a few hours the first time. However, we had an emergency last night (more details in a minute) and he and Evan ended up staying with a friend overnight. He didn't even cry!! When I came to pick him up he had one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen and nearly jumped out of the person's arms to get to me. :)

One of the biggest praises we have is that, for now, he won't be needing surgery! The Neurosurgeon said he has a very large cyst between the two hemispheres of the brain but seems to be unaffected by it at this time. Although things could change in the future. So for now we wait and take him back for another MRI in 6 months.

Ethan has so many crazy expressions! Here are a few of the common ones. His actions are often very jerky and stiff as you can see in the picture to the right.

Evan: Poor little guy had a very hard time adjusting to a new brother. Suddenly most of his things became "their" things. For a while he rode around on this little car (that he hardly noticed before) and wouldn't get off even to eat without a fit. One day I opened the seat of the car and found all Evan's "precious" toys hidden inside. He just needed something that was his and only his. However, now the two are getting along very well and copy each other on everything. Evan's latest copied behavior is thumb sucking!

Evan is our little coffee drinker (decaf of course!).

Ellie (or "Elise" as she now wishes to be called): Last night's emergency that I mentioned earlier was Ellie. While running around our living room with the boys she slipped on a play cup and broke her arm! Because of the timing with dinner they weren't able to give her anesthetics until morning so we had to spend the night in the hospital and wait to set her arm till at 7am today. She was so brave! She cried when it first happened but was fine and moving it around at the hospital. The Dr. said he's seen football players cry more than her! She is now sporting a cute little pink cast!

Puppy: Yes, you read correctly. When we met a lady at the mall giving away free puppies I decided that a 4 year old girl who I'm trying to teach preschool to, and 2 rambunctious 2 year old boys, one of whom we were still trying to get to know, along with a ton of house work just wasn't enough to keep me busy! So I got my very first puppy! I have since learned that they require more work then scooping food into a bowl each day! Anyone want a FREE puppy? Just kidding.

Pictures: Here are just a few of the many pictures from the past 2 months.

Monkey Kisses

Cinnamon and Sugar Doughnuts!

This is what happened in the kitchen last time I tried to blog. The boys are great at getting into trouble together. They were so proud of themselves for eating the entire bag of left overs.

Ethan loves the snow and doesn't seem to mind the cold at all

Brotherly Love

Family Night--Baking Cookies

Ethan's idea of "helping"

Mommy's helpers...I'm running out of room in my kitchen!

Ellie teaching Ethan to play with dishes

Just looking beautiful!

Daddy Time

Pumpkins, Birthdays, Costumes and More...

I've been so busy with the adoption that all my post have been on that lately. So much so that my mom suggested I start a blog for family...and she was serious! For those who may not realize this, this IS my family blog! I talk about everything and more often then not I end up talking about the adoption because that's what is on my mind. But, once again I have gotten behind in pictures and thought I'd catch up for the month. My problem is that my camera holds so many pictures I never upload them so they are never ready for blogging...but I know, I should do better.

COSTUME NIGHT AT AWANA

On October 31st we had a Bible costume night at Awana. Ellie was Mary and brought he doll, Kaylee, dressed up like baby Jesus. Evan was a monkey from Noah's Ark. Since the animals came be two he brought his other monkey with him! Evan LOVES his monkey outfit! :)

THE PUMPKIN PATCH

We went to a friends house last week and got to pick pumpkins. We had a lot of fun and the kids loved it.

This is Ellie on the way there...sound asleep!

EVAN'S SECOND BIRTHDAY

I was very sick that night so my mom made the cake. It wasn't till late in the evening that my fever came down enough for me to join the party...hence the PJ's on the kids!

Evan loved his dinosaur cake and kept pointing and growling at it!

Eating Cake!

Unwrapping gifts with Nannie A (My mom)

Evan signing "Thank you".

When we first taught him this sign he thought we were blowing kisses. So now he blows kisses for thank you...it's so sweet!

This is my grandma jump roping!

She gave Ellie a jump rope as an early birthday present and is demonstrating.

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES I THOUGHT WERE CUTE

It's tea party in the tent!

Bath Time!I can't believe how much they look alike!

I love this look. This is a very common look on Evan's face. It's the side glance he gives to see what his big sister is doing so he can do it too!

I love the expressions on their faces in this picture as well...the a affectionate big sister and the crazy little brother just wanting to impress her!

This was taken the week Ellie was gone and we had time alone with Evan. Since I pneumonia I couldn't do much, but I sat on the porch with a blanket and watched him kick the ball around. He's growing up so fast!

How sweet! This is Ellie asleep in the car with the neck pillow I made her. I'm hoping this is what she will look like the whole way to Vietnam!

Pneumonia

Well, for those who have been concerned for me...I went to the doctor today. It started off with flu, but then, after a little over a week with a fever of 102-103, the noticeable loss of weight (very bad when you start off under 100), and a cough that was only getting worse, I decided it was time to go. Yep, I have pneumonia! She gave me a strong antibiotic and an inhaler, so hopefully I'll be feeling better in a week or two. I look really bad in the mirror...sort of like a skeleton covered in skin! But I actually felt much better today.

So there is an update on my health. My dear mother and grandmother took care of me all of last week and this week Ellie went home with them. Evan has been so easy to take care of. I sometimes forget how fun that kid is. Ellie is so dominating (mainly because she can talk and doesn't stop) that sometimes I hardly notice Evan during the day.

My Sweet Evan!

I meant to write a post about Evan on his birthday but all I really did that day was lay around with a fever. So, Evan is now 2 and I thought I'd share a few things that make him such a special little guy!

Loving--Evan is very sweet and is never short on kisses. He comes with his arms spread saying "hu, hu" when he wants a hug and is never content kissing just one cheek.

Gentle--Even though he's a boy he loves to cuddle his baby. He rocks it gently and will "sing". If he finds Tyler or I trying to take a nap he will bring us the baby as well as a blanket and tuck us in.

Crazy--That kid loves to do this funny walk with his hands up and growl. Other times he runs in wild circles making loud unrecognizable sounds while wiggling his head, arms and body.

Mimic--He loves Ellie so much and wants to do everything she does. At the table he'll side glance at her then copy the position of her hands. He'll look again and copy the position of her fork. And then he'll check a final time and copy the rude behavior we were just correcting!

Smart--Although he took a while to talk compared to others, I'm still very proud of him! At 18 months he only had a handful of words, almost all of which sounded like "da". But then, almost overnight, he began to copy everything and now has a vocabulary of over 40 words. He also knows many signs.

Imaginative--This is good for a kid who just turned 2! He pretends he's eating out of an imaginary dish, or will run from invisible bad guys then point and whisper when I ask what he's doing.

Fun--This word probably describes him best. He is full of energy, smiles, laughter, and is just a lot of fun!

I love that kid so much and can't imagine life without him! Happy Birthday kiddo! I wish you could always stay this age...

Where to begin...

I have had the flu since Sunday. I'm now over the worst of it (except for a nagging cough and inability to talk with out hurting my throat). However, now I'm very weak because, with my 103 degree fever, I have only eaten a cup of yogurt, a few small items a fruit and a very small milk shack since Sunday afternoon (today is Thursday). Now I'm having a hard time adjusting my body back to eating. Eating has never been a favorite thing of mine so I'm trying to take it slow.

My family (Mom, Dad and Grandma T) came to visit Monday. Dad left on Wednesday and left my mom and grandma here until next weekend so they could "nurse" me. This was decided once Tyler began to show flu symptoms as well (poor Tyler has very bad aches, among other things, today). It has been wonderful to have them here. We have been able to rest and let my mommy take care of the kids and the house!

THEN, today is my sweet little Evan's 2nd birthday!! I have this post I was working on for him but now that I have been out of it all week it will have to wait till later. But Evan is such a wonderful cheerful little guy and I want to wish him a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We celebrated on Tuesday and he loved the cake with dinosaurs.

Today is also the first anniversary of my Grandpa death. I think Grandma is having a hard time with it but she seems so strong. My Grandpa was a wonderful and Godly man who is greatly missed.

And finally, I got new pictures of Ethan! However, my stamina is quickly disappearing so I'll post them to Ethan's Story later. Sorry.

I'm going to bed...

Video at last!

Hey! I've been messing around and I just figured out how to upload video...I know, it took me long enough. Well this was taken a long time ago but I love it. Evan went through a period of time in which he was terrified of feathers (I have an old feather pillow that produces many of these terrifying objects). He acted like they were spiders, which is probably what he thought they were. Well, I'm proud to say he finally conquered that fear and now chases other people with feathers. Yes, I know I'm being mean and teasing my poor little boy in the video...but he's just so cute!

Finally...pictures and a NON-adoption post

Alright, after my last post (if you haven't read it scroll down and catch up. Your behind...almost a full day!) I realized that not only do I have a blog specifically for the adoption...but I have filled up my family blog with the adoption as well...yep, I'm adoption addicted!

SO...with that said, here are some pictures of the kids (yes, the kids I already have).

The Water Park

We recently discovered this wonderful little water place in a park near us ("near" being an hour away in the closest real city). At first they weren't sure but once they were totally wet they loved it!

Evan's Smile!

Ellie's Smile!

(Kids never seem to work together)

Mommy's BIG Eater!

When I took these pictures we had had Totino Pizza's for dinner. Evan ate a whole one by himself! PLUS, salad and a root beer float. Afterwards his stomach was hard...and huge. He lifted up his shirt for me, patted his tummy and acted so proud of himself!

The Sprinkler

It wasn't very warm, but Ellie still wanted to play in the water.

I just love that grin!

At first she wouldn't touch the water, but she had lots of fun running in circles!