Liquid Gold!

Sean got his first bottle today! Thankfully after nursing three kids for a year each- pumping comes pretty easy for me. (Though I am not a fan of it- and will not be missing it a year from now...) There are many reasons why I choose to give this liquid gold to my babe. #1. It's FREE! And I am as cheap as they come!!! #2. It's so healthy and I'm giving Sean my immunity- which will hopefully keep him healthy through this scary flu season. #3. I'm very lucky that it's easy for me. I've learned that it isn't for everyone so have really come to appreciate this lately. While in the hospital one of the nurses suggest I supplement with formula because of Sean's size.

For some reason I almost had a fit- and had he not been the fourth baby I'd nursed, I may have given in and given him the supplement- but I'd gone down this road before- stuck to my guns and he's doing great and didn't have to have a supplement of formula!!! Ali Jane and Zach were excited to give their little brother his first bottle. (Joe was too busy reading his new books from school...) Maybe now that Ali has given Sean a bottle she'll stop nursing her baby dolls and feed them a bottle too. Kinda funny to see her lift her shirt to feed her little Libby- but SO 'Ali Jane'.

Halloween (the story)

I was very excited to go to Jonasen's school party this year. It is probably the ONLY time I will ever go to any of my children's Halloween school parties since, as a teacher, I am usually having a party myself. I was REALLY sore for standing for two hours but it was worth it seeing Joey with all of his friends. At the bottom is a video of the song we've been hearing for the last week...

We were happy to have my parents' best friends, the Allens in town this year for Halloween. The kids have taken a particular liking to 'Papa Dave' who actually got the name 'Papa Dave' because the kids were calling him Davis (a little friend they have) and couldn't get his name right until we put a 'Papa' in front of it. Being a new Papa himself, I don't think he minded one bit.

I wasn't able to go trick-or-treating with the kids this year because of all the walking so the boys took the kids while the ladies stayed back to hand out candy. Thankfully, Jeff snapped some pics so we could see how things went.

My Nan (Great-Nan to the kids) lives at the end of our street and all of the people in her Independent Living apartments come down to their lobby to hand out candy to the kids. What a great idea!!! It is warm- and the kids get a ton of candy in two seconds. That is my Nan on the left of that picture after giving some candy to that super cute Merlin...

Zach didn't get a good nap in during the day so of course fell asleep an hour before it was time to go out. It was hard, but I was able to wake him up and he actually did put on his costume (see the blog below about his feelings about his costume). He was excited about his candy and wanted everything opened, though he didn't finish half of the candy after it was opened. It was funny because if I said 'No', he went to the next person in the room in hopes that he'd have some better luck getting more candy... he didn't...

Poor Ali Jane hadn't been feeling well most of the day but did make it out to trick-or-treat with the fellas. She did come home early though and curled right up on the couch without thoughts of trying a bite of candy. Before bed, I took her temperature and it was 102! Poor thing! Never a dull moment around these parts.

Happy Halloween!

Costume Time!

Jonasen was by far the most excited for Halloween this year. He wanted to be Merlin from Sword in the Stone so my mom made him a fabulous costume. You can't see in this picture but his hat is all bent at the top like the Merlin in the movie and he has on some great glasses that he loved to compliment his long white beard... (A beard that had stretched out from all the days leading up where he had to try it on...)
Ali Jane knew from the beginning that she wanted to be a princess... (BORING!) Ali Jane literally dresses as a princess almost every day and she even wears her princess dresses to church. We didn't have to do much to make a special costume- in fact she was still debating on which princess dress to wear days before Trick-or-Treating...

Zach was an adorable little tiger (another creation by my talented mother) which was an old costume of Joey's. We tried it on the night before Halloween and when we put the head piece on he kept saying, "No thanks, No thanks, NO THANKS!" Is was quite funny and I wondered if he'd make it in costume but he did... (This picture was taken when he got in the door after trick of treating- and he was saying, "Off, off, OFF!" until Papa got him out of his costume.
Sean of course is a little on the small side- but had some cute Halloween outfits from his Nana and Grandma to wear... unfortunately both got dirty before I had time to snap any pics...

Pumpkin Gutting...

I don't have a ton of energy lately- my house looks like a tornado hit it, I haven't finished thank you cards that I made a few days ago, and though we went to the pumpkin patch three days ago, I have not carved the pumpkins... I was thankful that my kids didn't give me too much grief while their pumpkins waited to be carved. (Notice I said, "too" much grief...)
With my lack of energy I only did PART of the job when it came to carving the pumpkins... So we started with the 'pumpkin gutting'. Joe and Zach weren't quite sure about the feel of the the pumpkin guts- so I cleaned out their pumpkins, along with the one that we got for Sean. Ali Jane on the other hand was a trooper and cleaned most of her pumpkin all by herself! She was anxious to cook up some pumpkin seeds! (Our favorite!!)
Joe was creative though- Even though I didn't carve faces into their pumpkins, he stacked them and made "scare-crows" which gave us a great idea! Instead of Jack-o-Lanterns- we're going to make "Pumpkin People." The best part about all of this is four more pumpkins equals more seeds for us!!! (Even Jeff suddenly thinks that pumpkin seeds are yummy!) So we'll see how my energy holds out- and if you're curious as to why I'm tired... just click on the videos below... (The Pumpkin People may just be an idea that has to wait until next Halloween... we shall see!)
(Warning- you may want to turn down your volume!)

Jonasen loves to create new songs and dances to whatever it is we're doing...

One of the best part about Jack-o-Lanterns and gutting pumpkins is the pumpkin seeds- and for some reason this little girl likes all my favorite foods and treats (even the 'unpopular' with kids stuff...)

In our house we do 'loud' very well... Are you surprised really???

Happy Fall All!

Fall is by far my favorite season! I love the cool crisp air, the colors, the smells, the tastes... (pumpkin pies... pumpkin seeds... all things pumpkin!)

When Jonasen was one month old we went to this locally owned orchard/pumpkin patch/farm and took some cute pics of our new family. We got some great pictures and so going each year and getting 'that picture' became our tradition! (Along with feeding goats, choosing pumpkins and enjoying warm donuts and cider!)

It was a beautiful day and so we took advantage of the weather. It was hard but I managed to pop in the contacts, put on a little make-up and even get into some jeans- (no where near my regular size... don't worry!) I haven't been feeling great but I was anxious to get that picture and with such a new little guy, and living in Michigan, I knew that when a 'good-weather' day comes, you need to take advantage of it!

My folks came and so did my six-month-old niece, Maddy. We tried for the picture but unfortunately both Ali Jane and Zach did not take good naps on this particular day. Ali Jane started out great, but when we suggested Zach come over by Daddy for the family pic to be closer to Sean, Ali Jane flipped out a bit and so the drama began- surprisingly we did get some smiling pictures of her and of course Jonasen was a dream and it was easy to snap pictures with him. Perhaps next year Ali Jane will do better.

I really wanted a picture of our children in this big chair but at first Al wanted nothing to do with it- and then when Joe hopped out, of course she wanted in- and with Zach's mood the way it was... well we didn't even try to get him in the chair!

But we did have a good time! I survived (with the help of some c-section prescribed happy pills) and we did get our beloved donuts, cider, apples and YES pumpkins! And to top it off- all pumpkins were only five bucks! What a deal!!! I can't wait to cook up some pumpkin seeds- perhaps we should go back and get some more pumpkins! Happy Fall All!

(Oh- and enjoy the mini- tantrum by my darling...

this was mild!)

A Change of Heart

When Jeff told our family that the baby was a boy, Ali Jane was devastated! She "didn't want three brothers" and as much as I tried to prepare her for the fact that she may not have a sister, that was a lot for a little girl to take. She didn't try to hide her feelings, but things started to turn around when Sean Asher bought her a doll (named Libby- which would have been Sean's name had he been a she) and suddenly Al realized that this little guy really isn't so bad. The transformation in Ali Jane has been such fun to watch. I have watched her in quiet moments staring at her new brother, singing to him, "Jesus loves you this I know..." while rubbing his little head and reading him stories. She is such a huge help to me- getting me something if I need it and her change of heart has meant the world to me as I did feel sad for her and how she was feeling.

But now I know she loves her little brother with all her heart. He is the first person she looks for in the morning and makes sure she kisses him each night before bed. I am so proud of my little girl. I said it before that I couldn't really imagine another little girl in our family. Ali Jane is the sweetest child and the most challenging all in one. She and I are so much alike sometimes it scares me a bit. I can close my eyes though and see her as a grown woman surrounded by three men who adore her and put her on the pedestal that it seemed came with her when she was born. That place in the family is what always has been it seems, and when I watch her with all of her brothers, with her daddy and when I listen to her praying (when she doesn't think I'm listening) I know that she is such a very special girl that my heart just bursts with pride to be her mommy. So yes little girl- it's just the two of us- but secretly I'm a little happy that one day we will be the best of friends- my beautiful little girl!

The Source of My Pain

You never realize how much you use your abdominal muscles until you have them cut!! I've had four c-sections now, but somehow have forgotten the pain of recovering from one. Every move, sneeze, cough has me burning in pain!
I also never really realized how much I laugh- how much we laugh as a family!!!

Tonight it was Jonasen who had my scar burning!

He is raising money for his school's PTA's "Fun Run" and because I've been a bit busy, I forgot about the pledges until today... (pledges are due TOMORROW!) So I had him call up local people, his Nana, his Papa and his Uncle Dan. He got in touch with his Nana and did a wonderful sales pitch... (Though my folks are happily married, I had him call my dad's cell too- just because he did such a good job calling my mom.) My dad and brother were at a football game so both of their phones went to voicemail. During the call Joe listened to my dad's voicemail and whispered, "It's Bob?" I reminded him that that is just Papa's other name and he could leave him a message, so he did.

"Hi Bob, This is Joe and I would like some of your money. Thank you very much."

HA HA HA HA HA!

The good news is, I have a loving family that laughs a lot.

The bad news is, I just had a c-section and have a loving family that laughs a lot!