7 months

We have a new habit of playing with Ruth after the other kids have gone to bed. It's like she knows it's her special time with mom & dad all to herself. I realized tonight when I was tickling her that TODAY she is 7 months old. Hold back the tears. Can I tell you enough how wonderful this little sweet girl is?

Ruth is sitting up like an old pro. Her new favorite trick is to sit up and play with her brothers and sister. The first time I came into the toy room and all four of them were playing together it took me back. She is not an infant any more. She is ready to make her own place in this family.

Two weeks ago Ruth discovered her tongue and LOVES to stick it out. It is so stinkin' cute!

She drools like crazy, is constantly rolling around & is starting to scoot backwards. Her legs always seem to be on turbo speed and never stop moving. She is happy, happy and so sweet.

Since school started Austin has been begging me to take Ruth in for his Show & Tell. Every week that is the only thing he wants to bring. There always seemed to be one conflict or another. But this week we finally made it to Austin's kindergarten classroom. Austin was beaming with pride. It was fun for me to see him in that role; as a student, a member of a group, contributing. He held Ruth on his lap and told a little bit about her. He said one of the thing is loves to do with Ruth is to make her laugh. Then I got to hold her while he tried to make it laugh. She humored him with a smile (I had to wake her up seconds before we went into the classroom so she would be awake for Show & Tell!) The kids thought she was adorable (rightly so) and were enamored by her (as we all are.)

I'm so happy and so very grateful you were meant to be ours for eternity!

Redemption

For those of you who have been faithful bloggers you will recall my July clogging performance where my shoe malfunctioned and completely fell apart & I lost composer and needless to say it was not my best performance to date.

I am happy to say redemption has been paid as far as my clogging world goes.

We had another performance last night. Same song, same partner, NEW shoes. I was destined for greatness. Okay that sounds a little extreme. I'm just happy to report that I danced well and had lots of fun.

It feels good to prove myself.

My Four Year Old Daughter

After church on Sunday Emma was changing out of her church clothes and looking for something modest to wear. All she could find in her drawer was sleeveless undershirts. (In telling this story I am admitting to the world that putting laundry away is one of my biggest weaknesses!) She comes out and tells Kurt, "Dad, I need something modest to wear." Kurt thought this was so funny. He didn't realize we had already had a talk about modesty. I'm just so happy that the concept was fully grasped.

And in the same breathe as I praise her modesty she continues to flirt with Colt in preschool. Yesterday we were painting cats and her friend said, "Your cat is so cute." Emma response, "Just like boys are so cute. Just like Colt is so cute." I seriously repressed the urge to throw up!

I'm praying for the stage when boys have cooties!

Party Week

Today my Emma Lynn is FOUR. Kinda crazy to believe. It's a celebration around here. We had family over last night for cake and ice cream. Since Emma loves to color I made her a crayon cake. It turned out well for the amount of time I put into it (not that much!) We were both pleased. Besides asking where she presents were when each guest arrived & then telling them when to go home she had good manners! Lots of hugs for everyone. The party will continue on today (of course) and then tomorrow for preschool. What a lucky girl. Actually we are the lucky ones! Happy Fourth my sweetheart, we love you!


Sporting the outfit from her dress-up box from Grandma & Grandpa Romans


The kids were camera happy last night - no complaints here!

The Others

Only the sick & wounded have made the blog lately. In efforts to curb the middle child syndrome I'd better start blogging about something besides our aliments.

We had our first field trip yesterday. To learn more about our BODIES (B week) we went to the Doctor's office. I have seen a different side of my daughter the past 2 classes. I'm not sure I like being my child's teacher! She is flirting in her child-like way & it's almost too much for me to handle. Of course it's innocent and harmless but still crazy! She raises her hand during circle time, "I want Colt to ride in my car with me." Okay. Then they were giggling, holding hands, making up songs there and back. I'm glad my daughter is making friends. We'll leave it at that.

Spencer is still the family tease. He is loads of fun & very social. We have the long standing "fight" on whose boy he is (mom's or dad's). He told me on Saturday that is was NOT mom or dad's boy but BRAXTON's boy. His other friend, Kade is at our house for a play date right now. They are in little boy heaven.

We all jumped in the hot tub last night after dinner. It was great fun and the kids love our "family pool."



And Ruth looked so cute in her swimming suit.


I know, I know there wasn't suppose to be anything about the sick & wounded but I couldn't help a picture up-date. By Monday night the swelling had gone down enough so he could see out of his eye. The colors are changing quickly. This picture is from Tuesday night (day 3 post trauma.) My favorite is his lip, cute Austin!

ER Mom

I am a complete ER junkie. I own the first 5 seasons on DVD. I loved watching it with a passion when I was in nursing school. It was so gratifying to learn about something at school & know what they were talking when I watched the latest episode of ER. I love going TO school & talking about it with everyone. When we moved to Vale we didn't get TV so I stuck with the ER oldies. Some interesting factoids: I was watching ER when my water broke (2 months early) with Austin. In the hospital I watched ER right before I went into labor with Emma, Spencer AND Ruth. I always be a devoted fan. I hear rumor that this is the last season...sigh...I will be in mourning.

I didn't ever think about the possibility of being an ER mom. Being on the other side. Being a patient. Or even worse, having my child be a patient. It happened last night.

We were headed to a BBQ had Rachel's (Johnson) house. I was in the bathroom getting ready while the kids were starting to get in the car. Austin was running around in dinosaur mode. Then I heard a terrible thud followed by wails of pain. I could tell right away it was not the normal cry. Austin came to me - I will never forget the sight - with blood gushing down his face. I scooped him up & placed him on the bathroom counter. With a hand towel we clean up & applied pressure. I had Kurt find the butterfly band aids & after we got 2 on, the bleeding stopped considerably. My first thought when I saw him was that he was definitely going to need stitches but I was surprised we got it to stop so quickly. I asked Kurt to take him to Debbi's (family friend & nurse) to see what she thought. Meanwhile the rest of us headed to the BBQ. As soon as I pulled up Kurt called & said that we needed to go to the hospital. So I left Emma & Spencer with the Johnsons and the rest of us headed to Ontario. Both Austin & Ruth fell asleep so Kurt and I considered it our date for the week. So romantic. There was 2 heart attacks going on in the ER so we had a lot of waiting time. We arrived at the ER by 7:30 pm and it was midnight by the time we got back home. While we waited Austin & I snuggled up on the bed & watched TV while Kurt put Ruth to sleep. Since this mom is really missin' her kindergarten she was happy for the chance to snuggle (even though not the happiest of circumstances.) Austin got 6 stitches above his left eye.

Those are the facts. Here are the emotions.

Austin was so brave. I was really proud of him. And today as his eye turns black & blue and continues to swell he doesn't complain or fuss. It is now swollen shut (he's our pirate, aaaaarrrrr matey!) He has been so strong. I'm proud of the way he has handled a hard situation. On the way to Debbi's house he told Kurt, "I wish I was never born so I didn't have to feel this." Such a true statement about the trials we have to go through in this life.

As I placed Austin in the car so Kurt could drive him to Debbi's house Austin said, "Mom, don't leave me. Please stay with me." It broke my heart. You DO NOT separate a mother from her hurting child. Think about it, who do you want when you're sick or hurt or sad? Your mother. No one can replace a mother. And in the same respect that is exactly where a mother wants to be. Kurt was very anxious to go, go, go & help his hurting son NOW. Which I understand but it didn't give Austin and I a chance to work out a plan for us to be together since I had to find a place for the other kids to go. In the end it all worked out. But it had been a while since I had felt the mother-protect-&-comfort-your-child-at-all-costs bond so strongly. He was asleep when Ruth & I joined up with them so he didn't even know I was there until we got into the ER waiting room & he heard my voice. "MOM??!!!" The happiness, comfort & love I heard in his voice brought immediate joy to me. I held him for the rest of the night.

So I (privately) pride myself on a being tough. I don't get weak in the knees about blood, or guts. Nursing school, dissecting & other demands were not a problem. But seeing my baby bleeding all over the place was. I was shocked how it affected me physically. There was 3 distinct times when I was either going to puke or pass out. 1st Time: After we got him bandaged up and Kurt took him to the car & the reality of what had happened finally hit me. 2nd: When the Dr. was checking out the wound & opened it to it's severity. It was so deep, I could see at least an inch of muscle. I had to sit down & put my head in between my legs. 3rd: When they were stitching him up. I was holding onto him so I had to stick it out so he wouldn't know what a hard time I was having. So obviously I'm not as tough as I thought I was. And that's fine by me! I don't ever want to be okay with having my baby in pain.

Throughout the night he mentioned FIVE times, "I can't go to school until my eye is all better." Lucky for him I'm NOT sending him to school tomorrow. I want the swelling to go down before we send him back. But the good news, Tuesday is his show & tell day. He's gonna have something awesome to show. Personally I'm excited he gets to play hookie, I wonder what fun we can cook up!

Besides getting his stitches removed at the end of the week, I'm hoping for no more Dr/ER visits this week!

How Do You Know When To Go?

So my baby Ruth was still sick this morning. And I had to teach preschool. I didn't want to get the other kids sick so my super sister-in-laws (Marti & Kelli) each took a turn watching my 3 kids. Ruth was miserable the whole time. That was hard for me, I was very distracted cause I needed to be with my baby.

As soon as the last kid was safely in the arms of their parents I called our Dr. and rushed her over to Ontario. They quickly ruled out all the normal causes of fever in a baby. Since she had no other symptoms & a high fever over a course of time the Dr. thought it was a bladder infection. So they inserted a catheter in order to take a urine sample. Within seconds it came back positive. Treatment: 3 days of antibiotics via shots followed by 10 days of oral antibiotics. After all antibiotics have been completed we will take her to Boise for an ultrasound of her kidneys & bladder to make sure there is no lasting damage or physiological problems (will she be prone to bladder infections?) They will have to sedate her for the ultrasound. Apparently it is standard procedure to do the ultrasound if a infant gets a bladder infection due to their age (or lack thereof!)

You know how when your kid gets sick & the virus/infection/germs take over & your child is completely consumed by the sickness, it swallows them up. I always miss my kids terribly when that happens. For one thing it's so stinkin' sad that they are so miserable & can't be their cute, lovable, sweet, normal-sometimes-whinny self. They can't even smile. It's pathetically sad. Second, it's just no fun to have sick kids. I'd much rather have fun with them! Well Ruth was swallowed up in this fever since Monday & I missed my sunshine girl. The shots of antibiotics were amazing because her fever actually broke & SHE SMILED AT ME! There is a ray of sunshine through the darkness of sickness.

I always battle the exact time when I should take the kids into the Doctor. I absolutely HATE taking them in & having them declare "it's viral, there's nothing we can do." They all look at you like you're a complete moron, wussie mommy & pathetic care taker. I HATE feeling so belittled. I do know my kids & they really were sick! Maybe it's time to get off my high horse because it's really not about me & some silly feelings of belittlement from the Dr. staff. So ever since I've gotten home I keep wondering if I should have taken her in sooner. I noticed last week that her urine was starting to smell different. I kept thinking she had a 24 hour fever bug (it's going around - Emma even has it) but she couldn't ever seem to shake it. And then you have their father who has been appropriately dubbed as having fever phobia. The minute any child's temperature goes higher than 100 degrees he wants me to take them into the doctor. And I seem to delay until I know for certain...So what IS the right answer? How do you know when to go?

All things virus & nasty

Fall must be here. I have 2 sick girls right now. For the past 2 days Ruth has had a high fever (104) & has pretty much slept straight. She doesn't want much for nursing & is pretty glazed over. It just makes you so sad to look at her. Poor baby.

Emma had her first ballet class today. She has been so excited (which is such a good sign considering she is a previous ballet-drop out!) She wanted to wear her leotard all day so she was ready to GO at 3 pm when she had class. At 8:20 am she wanted to load up the other kids to go to class! Not yet, sweetheart. But then this after noon she fell asleep which is really unusual for her (warning lights should be going off in my head by now!) So she woke up right before class & was very groggy & dazed. Maybe a tad warm (I wanted to be dreaming it.) I thought she'd shake it off. No such luck. But she did stay for all of her class without making a peep or moving a muscle for that matter. Who said you have to move in dance class? She was definitely feverish by that time.

Both girls are sleeping now.

I always dreaded my kids going to school because the free sharing of ALL thing virus & nasty. And here we are just a few weeks into school (it's actually the 4th week of school but that sounds so depressing to admit out loud) & I have sick kids. Never mind the fact that the actual school child is as healthy a horse. Being a preschool teacher is bound to have its perks in the area of all things virus & nasty. Every time I see a snotty nose I want to run for cover, grab my face mask & fight the urge to fumigate the room with bleach. It all just boils down to the fact that I'm still having a hard time dealing with the fact that I have a child in school.

My kids say...

Spencer & Emma were playing with Emma dolls this morning (this always makes Kurt so proud.) Somehow Spencer managed to find a male doll (who knew we even had one!) Emma was giving specific instructions on the scene they were enacting.

"You are to pick me up for the ball. Now we are driving to the ball. Now we're here. Will you dance with me? Now we have to kiss."

Spencer's response: "NO WAY!"

"Why not?"

Because I'm too young to kiss!"

Of course I had to laugh. How sweet & I hope that thinking continues until he's 21!

~~~

Last night during scripture study we were reading about the 4 sons of King Mosiah & how they wanted to serve mission instead of becoming king. I explained that today missionaries (like Karen) always work in pairs.

Emma had good insight "But the Lord is with them."

Austin: "So actually they work in 3. Karen, the other missionary & the Lord."

So true. I love the simple understanding of doctrine from the mouth of babes. Angels.

Another blog

I just wanted to let you know about my preschool blog. If you'd like to see what we're up to or check out Emma's progress stop on by. We LOVE to have visitors.

http://kinderbloom.blogspot.com

Kinder Bloom OFFICIALLY in session

Here is the preschool room in all it's glory. I'm so pleased with how everything turned out. And another shout out to my awesome husband for all his hard work, & support for yet another crazy idea!

A view of the room from the outside door.


The "stage" where we have circle time, show& tell, & review time.


A view of the room from the door in our house.


"Centers" area & cubby storage


Teacher's desk & book case


Emma Lynn's first day of preschool