First Sentence

Sis is talking up a storm. Some of it is baby-gibber-jabber but a lot is real words. Here's her first sentence.

The boys have a book called "Uh-oh, Kitten's In Trouble" and they love to hear it. It's all about a kitten who gets in lots of funny trouble. Each page utters the Uh-oh phrase. The boys have taken to saying the phrase lots of times during the day when something goes wrong.

So...Sis is sitting in her high chair at breakfast and she decides she's done and throws her pancakes about 15 feet across the kitchen. Everyone freezes and looks at me to see what I'm going to say. Before I can even speak to scold her, Sis folds her little hands up under her chin and with the cutest smile says, "Uh-oh, tittens in twubble!". The boys and I died laughing. Of course now she says it many times a day!

Photo Op

My nephews were visiting last weekend and I thought I'd finally try and get a group photo. Well...it's hard to get my 5 to sit still...smile and endure numerous shots. But...add two more kids and it's really hard. I don't know how you parents with 7+ kids get those great shots!
I couldn't persuade Tuba to come to the photo shoot. I could have forced him and then the photo would have included him in tears and all red faced. So he's missing. The others were pretty compliant...except Sis...of course;)


Here's the best of the group...hmmmm...not terrible but not great. They are sure cute though!


This is the one they really wanted to do. I have multiples of this one....I'm sure the grandparents are loving this one!


Sis gave up and ran away...so just the boys...pretty nice...maybe I could photo-shop Tuba into it?

Memorial Day

I'm trying to catch up on my blog. Keeping my house sparkly clean is taking ALL of my time. The good/bad news is that our house in no longer for sale. We lost the house in the country! Whaaaaa! Okay, that's all the complaining I'll do. I just keep telling myself..."It was God's plan..AND next year I'll find an even better and BIGGER house!".

We had a wonderful weekend and Memorial Day. In observance of the holiday I took the kids with Grandma Sue to a Memorial Day parade. After the parade we had a nice picnic in the park.

Busy Guy took his instructions very seriously! Here he is saluting the Veterans as they walk by. So precious! I told the boys why it's important to stand and remove your hat...Busy Guy added the salute on his own.

Grandma Sue with the kiddos.

Handsome Guy.

After the parade we went to the park for our picnic. Sis is loving those chips!

Baby George too...MMMM.

Sandwiches too....YUM!

Climbing up so high...Mom, help me!

Tuba loves to swing.

And...so do the babes.

Wheeeee!

On The Move

Baby George is on the move! He has adopted the scoot....just like Mr. P did. He won't crawl but stays on his toosh and pulls with hands and pushes with his feet like flippers. I blame myself;) I just never gave him tummy time. I feel bad when I lay a baby on their tummy and they cry so I quickly pick them up...and create non-crawlers! My babies who came home from Ethiopia were amazing crawlers....turbo crawlers. They had tummy time every day. Oh, well....at least he is getting around now...so he can find me and hang on my pant leg;)

Tired

I'm exhausted. Cam and I have cleaned...organized...de-cluttered and worked in the yard for the last 3 days straight. We are getting our home ready to sell. Now I want to rope off all the rooms...shellac everything so it can't be moved...OR move to a hotel for the next 30 days!
The realtor is impressed with our home and commented that he was amazed how clean and organized and clutter-free it was (this was BEFORE we did all the extra stuff). He's my new BFF! We hope to sell quickly. We've priced our home to be the best of show in it's price range.

"Man"cation

Yesterday after church Cam left for his annual Mancation. The guys with bikes were heading over the mountains to Leavenworth for the night. The trip would include a scenic tour on two different highways and lots of male camaraderie. Our priest came out and blessed their bikes (and the men) with holy water and a prayer. No calls from the jail...so they must be having fun and staying out of trouble;) Every minute he was gone I was planning my Girlcation...to a spa....Mmmmm. Who's with me?

For Nana

This pic's for Nana. How cute is Sis in this outfit? It finally fits her. I had to put her up on the dining room table to get her photo. She couldn't run too far. It still took about 10 shots to get one of her looking at the camera and holding still. She looks like an 80's Pop Princess!

City Girl Goes Country?

I was born in the same city where we currently live. I'm a city girl...you could probably tell by my latest snake story! I love the schools here and I have always loved living in this city. But....lately I've been dreaming of country life...farms...acres of grass...quiet (well, at least quiet from outside the house;).

On Mother's Day we went to eat breakfast at a little country place near our church. Half the kids were asleep so Cam dropped me off with a couple kids to get a table and then took a little drive to let the little ones have a bit of a nap before eating. When he returned he said he had found a great house for sale. Well, we are not in the market for a house...he's in grad school for another year. But, we went and looked at it after eating.

It was empty so that meant we could peep in all the windows and get a good look! Wow! 5 bedrooms, family room, living room, nice remodeled kitchen, big deck, huge yard, quiet and gorgeous views!!! It's in the country near our church and many of our friends' homes. Also, I hear good things about the school district and my good friend teaches at the elementary where Mr. P would start next year.

So, now we are making some big decisions. We have an agent coming today to look at our house and see if we can list it and make an offer on the other. I'm very conflicted...I know...what else is new? Decisions aren't my best! But, I really have been praying about this and have the attitude of if it's God's will then it will work out.

I already listed all the positives of the new house. The things on the con list are: It's in a flood zone. Yah, that's a big con. But, the house has been there for 35 years and the flood waters have never gotten into the home. This last year's flood was worse than just about any recorded flood and it was fine for the house...so that's good...but you never know! We would of course have flood insurance. The only other con is that it not my absolute dream house but I do like enough things about it to make it work. The kitchen is a bit small although it's all brand new! And the dining area needs some re-working and they put laminate flooring in the living room...yuck! But overall it's nice and fits our growing family.

The boys are thrilled and all want their own room...a dog...a trampoline...a garden...a dog...to ride the bus...a dog...to build a fort in the huge tree....and a dog.

I'll keep you posted on our progress. The offer would be contingent upon our house selling. So, if you think we should make a move to the country...pray for us:)


Front of house.


Front Yard

View from kitchen window

View from back deck and living room.

Living room. I'd have built in book cases built around the fireplace and paint the brick....and remove the old wood stove.

Family room on lower level with patio and view.

Busy...Busy

The weather has been nice quite a few days...which means...OUTDOOR lunch! My favorite...no mess...no crumbs...and so fun. On this day Busy Guy was NOT interested in sharing his lunch with his Sis.

Have you ever had a week where you didn't get anything done yet you were super busy? That has been this week. Lots of Doctor appointments...phone calls...paperwork...etc.

2 Dr. visits for Tuba-This week's check on his VNS shows that there may be something wrong with the device. The Dr. is putting a call into the manufacture...we'll see the Dr. again in one month. Hello! I don't really want him seizing away for a month while they figure this out...so frustrating.

1 Dr. visit for Baby George-He is really sick with a high fever, runny nose and cough. No, not swine flu! His ears are clear and it's just a virus. He is actually a bit better today.

I hope to have something more interesting to share on my blog soon. Got to get my camera out and stop being so busy...I don't want to be too busy to blog...even if I have to do it holding both babies;0

Outdoor Girl

Little Miss Sunshine can be a bit of a pickle from time to time. But...if you want her to be happy, happy just open the door and let her go out to play! She loves the yard and playing outside. The other day it was nice and warm out and I put the pool slide in the grass for the boys to slide. Sis was thrilled. She mastered the ladder in about 2 seconds and even obeyed my rule of "down the slide and up the ladder". She waited in line and went up and down about a zillion times. Long after the other kids wanted to go in she was still going strong!

World AIDS Orphans Day

Head over to Erin Henderson's wonderful blog today. It's World AIDS Orphans Day today May 7th.

Here are some of the staggering facts. Please read them... please really stop and think a minute about these statistics.
There are over 15 million children orphaned by AIDS living around the world RIGHT NOW. 15 million is the equivalent to the number of all of the people living in New York, Paris, and Bangkok combined. That is an awful lot of children.
Well over 12 million AIDS orphans live in Sub-Saharan Africa, alone.
Experts believe that millions more orphans remain unaccounted for in India, China and Russia.
At least 10 million more children will be orphans by AIDS by 2010.

Erin lists ways to help and things to do. Take action and remember these precious children in your prayers today.

Appointment Update

Tuba had his appointment today. The news is good....sort of. As I was telling his neurologist how his seizures have been really bad she was connecting to his VNS. They put a wand sort of instrument over his VNS (which is under the skin in his upper chest). It's a computer that tells them the ampage, frequency, etc. They are able to program and make changes to the VNS this way. Anyway...she looks up and says...it's not even barely on! HMMMM! I KNEW it hasn't been working right.

Way back when he first had the battery replaced they had told us it was turned all the way up...to the same ampage as before the battery died. Then at the next appointment they said it wasn't all the way up and they turned it up. I thought maybe someone had just messed up...or I had been confused. We have been in a couple of times since and had adjustments made...none having any good effect. At the last appointment they turned it to 2.5 and today it was at 0.5! NOT GOOD. So, there could be a couple of things happening here. The VNS comes with a magnet that you can use to swipe across the chest over the VNS during a prolonged seizure....or it can be used to turn off the VNS in cases of malfunction...by taping it over the VNS. From the readings taken today it appears that the VNS has been magnetically effected...and we haven't used the magnet on him except once.

The plan is to look for places in his environment where he could have come into contact with a strong magnet...anything within arm's reach of his chest. We did have the VNS magnet hanging on the front of the fridge. We are going back to Children's next week and at least once a week to see if the settings remain or if they change. We are also keeping Tuba out of the laundry room and away from the washer he loves so much. The door has a magnet closure...and he does spend a lot of time watching the bubbles go round. Bummer for him...as he loves to watch it.

I'll post later as we find out more....keep praying...I know that God was speaking to me about the VNS...I just knew it wasn't working right. For now it's turned back up to 2.0 and will hopefully decrease these seizures.

Just to make you laugh:

As Tuba and I were waiting for the appointment I was thinking how over all the years of visiting Children's Hospital I have met so many kind and happy employees. Only once have I ever encountered a crabby or rude person working there. That is amazing considering the hundreds and hundreds of people we have met and worked with over 12 years.

I started to giggle remembering the one cranky person! Tuba was being admitted for a 24 hour EEG. They were hooking the electrodes to his head and then to the EEG machine and we had to stay in one room the whole time with him being video taped and the EEG recording the seizures together. The gal who was hooking him up was REALLY crabby and short with us and Tuba. After she left the room Cam called her a name and commented on how rude she was. I agreed and then flinched as I realized we were being recorded and she was the one who would be viewing the tape!!! Oooops! :0

All About Tuba

Tuba has an appointment tomorrow with his pediatric neurologist. He and I will go together and have a nice one-on-one afternoon together. The seizures have been terrible...50+ a day. The only good thing is that he isn't too bothered by them. They come and go and he goes about his day. Mr. P and Busy Guy both alert us when they see a seizure. So great...little guys watching over their big brother. They will stop and put an arm around him or rub him.

The Make A Wish people are coming on Saturday to meet our family. I'm really excited. It's hard for Tuba to understand the concept. We have talked A LOT about what Tuba would like to wish for. Cam and I listed all of Tuba's favorite things:

Water

Fire

Things that spin

Rides

Beach/Ocean

Swimming

We talked about the possibility of his wish being a trip either to Disney World...or a Beach trip...Hawaii. I want to help Tuba make the right choice. I want the trip to be perfect for Tuba. After MUCH talking...mostly by me...trying to sort out my own brain...I think we know that Tuba would most enjoy the Hawaii trip. He would LOVE to see the Fire Dancers perform!!!!! Those of you who know Tuba know how much he LOVES fire....."FIIIIRE"...as he would yell it. The beach....the swimming pool...a boat ride are all things he LOVES. We will see what the volunteers say on Saturday. We are so thankful for this opportunity for Tuba...and our family. Make A Wish is a GREAT organization. Check out their website and read some of the stories of wishes granted.

One person suggested that he wish for another Holy Week! LOL...our priest is probably cracking up reading that one!

Blogger Function

Check out at the bottom of each post. There is a new function...little boxes that you can check...just like Facebook! I love this. Only, don't stop leaving comments...I love those more:) Also, I finally figured out how everyone got the cute wallpaper designs for the borders of the blog page...love it!

Chillin'

Baby George hanging out with Papa. He was tickling his tummy and BG couldn't have been more relaxed....drool...drool.

Pancakes

I used to make pancakes almost every morning for breakfast. This year has been a little busy so I've not made them as much. We do have them on Saturday mornings. The kids count down the days...till pancake day. They all want to be my helper too.

On this morning Mr. P did the wet ingredients and Busy Guy did the dry. Everyone got to stir and everyone got to EAT!

Mr. P can now crack an egg perfectly...no shells in the bowl.


Everyone gets a chance to stir.

You can see a bit of sibling rivalry in play here...."ugh....my turn".

Mmmmm good. Everyone eats them with different toppings....butter/syrup, butter/syrup/peanut butter, NO butter/syrup.

Sis is learning to use the fork really well.

Baby George eats more pancake than Sis or Busy Guy!!!