As we undertake to keep up with the rest of the world and technology... we will attempt to keep our thoughts penned regularly for you here on our blog. Most importantly, we would like this to be a reflection of the love of our Faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Our children in a nutshell

When I picked up my three little ones at BSF today, their teachers summarized each child quite succinctly. 

David-- they have quiet time (a time of about 10 minutes to lie quietly on blankets and talk to Jesus silently).  D noticed that another child had forgotten his blanket.  The other child was upset.  D offered sweetly to share his blanket with that child.  What a generous, sweet spirit D has!

Elizabeth-- I was told by her teachers that she is the class leader and takes charge of everything.  Why does this not surprise me? :)

Abigail-- "What a sweet, easy baby she was the whole time!"  Little A summed up quite well!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Daily sustenance

I am so thankful to have had a mom who modeled taking anything and everything to the Lord. I hope I pass this habit on to my children. Just one of the many little ways we have seen God work in the past couple of hours...

Yesterday our main email address quit working. I am pretty computer savvy and could narrow down where the issue was but could not fix it. ( even after restarting the computer :). Isn't that always the answer?). I called AT&T and reached a tier 2 support tech (supposedly their experts). He knew even less than myself so after 1 1/2 hour on the phone, nothing had been fixed. I got to bed way too late (especially for someone who still has to wake up in the wee hours to feed a baby). I was very concerned about this and had a hard time getting to sleep-no matter how tired and how often I prayed for the Lord to just take the issue to hand. This morning, I awoke to the same problem. Again, I prayed. This time that God would guide me to the right person to fix the problem. I came home from church ready to have to spend hours sorting out the issue (but in faith, expecting God to ultimately resolve the major irritation), but He did far better. Just as mysteriously as the problem arose, it disappeared again. Thank you, Lord!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

3 well-babies

So, rather unthoughtfully, I scheduled my three little ones dr. appts. on three different days despite the fact that they were within a 3 week time span.  We went to D's last week.  Saw a different doctor than normal and will avoid him at all costs again--the appointment took 2 HOURS and we waited about 1 3/4 hour just for the doctor!!!  (and this at a pedi's office where they should know better, especially with one 2 month old and another screaming 18 month old; I almost cried!) 
They did not give us D's stats (nor do the requested hearing test they were supposed to do) so we had to get them all today at A's visit.

First, despite the selective hearing, apparently, D's hearing is just fine!  He now weighs 39 lbs. (75%ile) and is 3' 5" (66%ile...and wow! we are now talking height in feet!)  All looks good!



Today, we had A's 2 month visit.  Despite it being a well-baby, she does have a bit of a first cold that she picked up from her sister.  A did very well (far better than the other two at the same age).  She was not too thrilled about the 3 shots, but after about 1 minute of screaming, she calmed down again. 

A is 23" long (71%ile) and weighs 10 lbs. 10 oz. (only 40%ile) with a head circumference of 37 cm (surprise! 8%ile--all my babies have small heads! although even as I write this, I think maybe that must be a bit off--the nurse was having trouble getting it in the right location)



I mentioned to the doctor that we were coming back next week for an appointment with E and she agreed to fit her in today so I don't have to come back!  Yeah!  E also currently has the residue of a cold and so it was not a surprise to learn that she also has an ear infection.  Can we blame her crankiness 2 weeks ago on that?  Amoxicillin prescribed.

E is now 32.5" (79%ile) and weighs 23 lbs (still only 33%ile) with a head circumference of 46 cm (37%ile). 


Thank you, Lord, for proper growth for all my three little ones! 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Our little joy

Abigail at two months old is still proving to be a little joy!  Thank you, Lord!


Much like David, she is most definitely a morning person!  She awakes to play between 6-7 every morning whether it is chow time or not.  She is loads of smiles first thing in the morning.  (and often throughout the day)  And come 7 pm, she consistently gets a bit fussy until you put her to bed.  Yes, she is sleeping quite well for a two month old.  Always between 7 or 8 pm and 2-3 am (occasionally 4 am).  If only we could move the hours a bit later, but waking her to feed her at 10 pm does no good.  She still awakes at 2 or 3.  What a treat to know that she will go back to sleep after a quick feeding at 2 or 3 though.  No midnight crying for this little one! :)








Midway through this month, we took off the bassinet and moved her to just the pack and play.  She had outgrown the bassinet part. 

What a strong little girl!  She can hold her head up quite well and regularly holds both head and legs up (as if she is exercising) while on her tummy in her crib.  She has flipped herself over several times from tummy to back. 
 

She has definitely put on some weight--although we will not see how much officially until next week when she goes to the dr. again.  Her 3 month clothing all fits quite well now and she has a few dimples in her legs now.  Still wearing size 1 diapers.

Abigail likes her pacifier but since she is far more content than my other two babies, she is perfectly happy without it most of the time too...I have noticed that she has begun trying to soothe herself when her paci falls out by sucking her hand.  Will we have another thumb sucker eventually?

She is still eating every 3 hours during the day unless she is especially tired and then she might even nap 4-5 hours.  She has drunk out of a bottle a couple of times this month but recently when tried "topping off" with it, she has been decidedly against it.  A lesson she will have to learn...

Elizabeth and David adore Abigail.  They fight over who gets to hold her (often resulting in a bit of an unhappy baby).  However, they are also quite sweet to her too.  David tells me he will "keep and eye on" her and Elizabeth is always trying to kiss her.  Elizabeth also tries to force the pacifier back in her mouth whenever it has fallen out (wanted or not).  I have also seen her take out the paci of a happy baby, only so she can put it back in again. 










 
Abigail is textbook with regard to car rides.  She does not like being buckled into her carseat much, but once she is in the car and it is moving, she tends to calm down.  If there is any fussing to be done, it is always occurs when the car has stopped moving. 


Gdaddy came to visit this month and he got to meet to his youngest granddaughter, Abigail. 



 
We love you, Abigail Katherine!  What a joy you are!  Can't wait to see what the upcoming months hold. 

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Deals

M watched the kids (minus my helper D) last week while I went to Krogers to take advantage of some good sales.  I made one mistake when trying to add up items so I spent $1 more than should have and also splurged on the fries (since we really like OreIda) making my total out of pocket about $7 more than it would have been otherwise.  All in all I still only spent about $28.  Not too bad for all this stuff (including lots of meat and a huge block of cheese).


True, my CVS shopping trip this week was even better...I got paid $3 to purchase 1 refillable razor, a package of 200+ Pampers wipes, 6 bottles of Similac formula, 1 candy bar, and a large jar of Kraft mayo.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Catching a few minutes to read

Somewhere in the past 3 months, I have caught a few minutes at a time to read.  (thanks FLC!)  The last three reads have been quite varied. 

The first: (the most interesting of several of the genre I checked out of our library) Preparedness Now by Aton Edwards.  It was an interesting resource for every type of emergency you might come up against.  Tried to tuck as much information into my head as possible...everything from how to cook without a stove to what plants are poisonous etc...


Another book was one I have had on my shelf for a long time, always meaning to read.  John McNab by John Buchan.  (my Grandma calls this one of her "pet" books)  I enjoy John Buchan's other adventure books immensely (the old movie The 39 Steps is based on one of his books).  This book is another adventure story that takes place in the countryside of Great Britain.  Three respected business men dare three local estate owners that they can poach without being caught--all under the unknown name of John McNab.  What happens afterward is cunningness mixed with romance. 



Lastly, I just finished Coach Mom by Brenna Stull.  This was a book that we studied this summer in a ladies Bible study at church.  Brenna gives lots of practical application on how to make life easier and better organized.  Many of these tips are things I have learned either by trial and error or my mom did growing up, but even for the few nuggets of new stuff, the book was worth a fast read.