Happy Halloween!

Careful it's hot!

So last night at dinner we told Josiah to "be careful, it's hot, blow on it!" and he did of course... and then Lydia started copying him. She keeps learning new things every day by things he is teaching her and it's just TOO cute. Today at lunch I told Lydia her lunch was hot and to blow on it... just so I could capture the cuteness on camera. She makes this serious little face and then holds the food up and blows on it- so funny. Enjoy!

Silly Time Together

I took these pictures a few weeks ago while we were just being silly with the kids in the living room...now tell me these don't make you smile!!! :) Enjoy!

Wedding Weekend

This past Saturday we celebrated Ken and Emily's beautiful wedding... congrats to the new bride and groom!

I stood in the back and gave Josiah a hug and sent him up the aisle to do his job as "town crier" so I didn't actually get to see him do it.. but from what I hear- he was "Awesome!" and did "such a great job!!" and "so cute- he was great!" :) I heard him saying his line... "the bride is coming! the bride is coming!" and ringing his bell... but oh boy I wish I could've been up front to see him! He did a wonderful job and we are so proud of him and happy he could help to make Emily and Ken's day just perfect.

I still find it kinda wild that my friend from HS is now my sister... and that our kids will be COUSINS... but it's so cool! They had a wonderful evening and we are so happy for them!

I don't have many pictures yet but here's a few courtesy of Nana! There's one of Emily with Josiah ("town crier") and the other little boy in their wedding, Dillan(they were the only kids) who was the ring bearer. And another of Ken and Emily entering the reception as "Mr. and Mrs. Walk!" (hey wait a minute... that's us!) :)

more pics to come as I get them! Congrats again to the wonderful couple!

Epic Fall of 2009

So tonight Daddy was going out with Uncle Ken for some guy time before the big day this weekend... very cool- fun fun!
So since it was Mommy home with kids time I decided we should order a pizza and Josiah said, "Let's have a movie night!!" When I said YES, he was thrilled!

Scene forward- we're sitting downstairs watching Disney's AristoCats and eating pizza... Lydia's cruisin' around the table happily eating her pizza pieces but at my lap currently trying to eat mine. I tell her "no, eat yours!" and point to the table where she turns to them... just as I think, "I'm going to pull that table closer to me so she can cruise safely to it... " she THOUGHT..."I'm going to try to take two steps by myself to that table" and BAM- that was that... the most EPIC crash I've seen yet. The poor girl... she is just starting to gain some confidence in walking and I'd noticed all afternoon she was trying, in fact just before this I'm pretty sure she took two steps by herself from the table to the couch to me! Anyway so she has her hand out to catch herself- but her little hand and arm go JUST UNDER the table's edge and WHACK --- she catches ALL her weight on her eye... just above her right eye, under her eyebrow, huge gash. I'm rushing to stop the (sudden and large amounts) of bleeding and her hero big-brother was helping me the next 20 minutes grabbing her juice cup... her paci.. her blankie... he was awesome. As usual :) I promised him a big bowl of ice cream as soon as "Grandma arrived"... poor Daddy never gets a night out, and I couldn't get a hold of him since he was out at a loud place with the guys. I DID get a hold of Uncle Ken, thank goodness and then told Michael we might be going for stitches really soon.

Scene forward... (Nurse) Grandma determines... it's a "toss up" but most likely if I did take her in I think they'd glue it instead of stitches because it's just not that deep... and we decided to bandage it up ourselves. I do agree, I think it'll heal okay by itself I'm just concerned on keeping it covered so it has time to heal and her pain with it all- and not picking off the bandages, etc...

Anyway she is sound asleep... doing fine... motrin and bandaids and bowl of ice cream later, she doesn't seem to care unless we are messing with it. The good news is she hasn't picked at the bandage (yet) but I'm betting it's due to the pain there.

Let's just say our little angel girl is going to look like Rocky Balboa for the next week or so... definitely a huge gash and a black eye.

Guess what Mom feels like the worst ever!?? :( I know it was "an accident" but UUUGHHH I was just ONE second behind her in thought and WHAM- that's that. It just happened SO fast! I hate when babies get hurt!!

Please please pray for Lydia's speedy recovery and for her pain during this process as well... she's bound to be miserable tomorrow :( I think we made the right choice not to take her to the hospital and put her through all that... but oh my this is one very BIG boo boo :( Please pray for her!

Cleaning... and Cleaning... and Juggling 3 kids...

I've been cleaning non-stop and my legs are starting to give out. Ken and Emily's wedding is this weekend (YAY! SO EXCITED!) but also just, well, okay REALLY stressed out. *sigh* At least I'm just about done... we have company coming and staying with us for the wedding weekend so I just wanted the house to be in somewhat decent order and clean before then. And even though I know our guests really wouldn't love us any less with a messy dirty house, what I love about having company is it forces me to have a DEADLINE to get the cleaning (that I otherwise wouldn't do and would push off...) completed! SO YAY for company and YAY that my house is... well, so "in order" right now that I can actually feel my sanity creeping back in :)

I feel safe to say that I'm also juggling THREE kids because honestly, I have more trouble with babies when they are inside me then when they come out! Once I get my "non-pregnant" body back I might be able to keep up with Josiah and Lydia as well as figure out a way to add the newborn to the mix... I'm thinking I'll just keep him/her in a sling for at least a couple weeks until we figure it out :) Don't get me wrong, I'm not very hopeful and definitely have my days where I think, "really? three? how am I ever...." but- there's got to be a way :) And when I'm not pregnant, it just all usually seems easier. I told Michael the other day, "So I've finally figured it out... when God said to Eve after she sinned that she'd have 'pain in childbearing' He meant all NINE MONTHS of BEARING the child- not just giving birth!" and Michael laughed out loud.

Totally on top of things... Christmas in October

So I am just so anxious to be on top of things lately... I think it's because I know that about mid-December on I'll be completely USELESS :) But- I really wanted to get the kids Christmas pictures taken... however Daddy does not like how expensive they are. I agree with him... but do love professional portraits. So anyway I told him we could at least set up our own little "portrait session" and try to get some pictures of the kids and ourselves that we could use for a holiday card. And that if they came out terrible- off to the studio we go :) Well... it was basically a disaster, how can you make two kids look up and smile at the same time? Ironically- I've done this before but apparently THIS was the time they chose to give us complete chaos. They'd both gotten up from naps and had a snack and everything- but hey, I guess they got the memo that we were trying to take cute pictures so DON'T cooperate! :)

I am not going to let you see a couple of our best shots of the kids here- because well- we ordered Christmas cards so you'll probably be getting one of those in the mail! But... here's a sneak peek.

I didn't use any of these for the card so you'll only be able to enjoy them here. There were a couple cute shots of us with the kids (Michael and Josiah, me and Lydia... etc) but we decided to use just the kids on the card because the layouts were giving us such a hard time when we tried to combine several photos. I'm also including some of the (HILARIOUS) "outtakes" to show you the choas involved!!

Merry Christmas in October!

Oh how I already miss this little red head...

How cute is this!? We love you Lucy!!!

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day...

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.
A special day... for us, and for so many Mom's and Dad's who have lost a child- in one way or another... there are so many children lost due to miscarriage, stillbirth, and other complications. There is absolutely nothing in the world like losing a child, even if that child wasn't on this earth for long...

A few weeks ago we celebrated the two year anniversary of our second baby, Alex Francis who we miscarried in Sept. 2007. There was a beautiful memorial at a nearby hospital where Alex's Grandpa even gave a moving talk and remembered him in a special way. That day I received a candle and a rose to remember our baby boy. I also heard many many other amazing and heart-wrenching stories from parents who've lost a child.

And unlike all those stupid people who told me things like, "Well it was probably better this way, something was probably wrong with the baby..." or "don't worry, you'll have another one"... All that doesn't matter. Because to us- this was our child. This IS our child, and even though we keep living life and moving forward, we'll always remember him and always love him, no matter what. And someday we will get to see him again! We know God's ways are perfect even when we don't understand them, but it doesn't mean that we don't grieve such a loss.

Tonight we'll light Alex's candle at 7pm and remember him as so many other parents will do... to have a continuous wave of light across the world for our children.

Alex, we love you and you'll always have a special place in our hearts.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy and
your big brother Josiah and little sister Lydia

Lydia's First Trip to the ER...

WELL... Last night was certainly eventful and pretty exhausting. It's kind of a long drawn out story, but I'll try to sum it up as best I can.

Josiah was complaining of a stomache ache all day, and then he was pale and running a fever. After nap (and motrin) he was acting fine again until the evening when he was looking very pale and complaining again that his tummy hurt and saying he might even throw up. He didn't eat much, couldn't, for dinner, but otherwise seemed okay. We gave him tylenol and put him to bed... while this was happening... around a little before 7pm, Michael was helping Josiah in the bathroom and Lydia was crying in the hallway. I was finishing up putting dinner on the table and I heard Lydia, and she was crying in a way I'd never heard before, to be more specific, acting like she couldn't quite breathe, or at least not as deep as usual. I was concerned immediately but checked her nose, mouth, saw nothing that she could have swallowed. I knew she was REALLY hungry and getting very tired so I put her in the high chair to eat dinner... she ate a few diced apples, drank some juice, and then by the time we were all sitting down she was screaming and clearly aggitated and breathing funny still. Anyway I held her and she wouldn't eat any more and was really upset. She didn't feel like she had a fever but was passing gas, so I thought, maybe it's just gas pain. We gave her mylicon and Michael ended up immediately rocking her around the room with her blanket and pacifier and she fell asleep in his arms around 7:20. She slept for maybe half an hour and then woke up still aggitated and breathing "strangely" or not like I'd ever heard. I tried to give her a bottle and snuggle her back to sleep but she was clearly upset and something was wrong. I paged our pediatrician who talked to me at length about what was going on, listened briefly over the phone to her breathing and asked me all sorts of questions about her breathing. She decided (it'd been at least 2 hours of this breathing by now) that I'd better take her in.

The Howard Co. Hospital has a pediatric ER wing and they were amazing. Poor little thing was examined by the nurses who didn't find much, one took her temperature (under the arm) and said she was 99.1. (I was thinking... what? really?) They checked her O2 levels, and listened of course to her heart, chest/lungs etc. Everyone still heard her panting type breathing and were looking at her just as confused as I was. The doctor fully examined her and said he didn't think it was constipation, and that he'd heard some children recently making these grunting/panting sounds when they came in with a UTI. So the poor little angel had to undergo a catheter for a urine sample and getting her blood drawn. The nurse mentioned how hot she felt (which I said I completely agreed, she never had felt this hot before and it was really REALLY hot...) so she took her temperature while she was down there... and sure enough, it was slightly over 102. They gave her some motrin for her fever. Poor thing was pretty miserable. After all the tests we calmed her down as best we could, singing and rocking to her, and then Daddy took her for a chest and neck x-ray which the doctor had ordered just to be sure nothing was "lodged in there" or anything. By the time she came back from her x-rays with Daddy, she was fully awake (of course!) and suddenly seemed more herself. Then within 10 minutes we noticed her breathing was going back to normal, she was calm, and happy, and looking up at the fish border on the wall making a "bubble bubble" fish sound and seemed totally okay. Just a half hour before she was completely miserable and aggitated. So... needless to say, the doctor came back in, said ALL her tests and her x-rays were fine and that she probably has some kind of virus, or like some other children they have seen recently, she may have a flu which starts in a high fever.

Of course it always feels silly to walk out with discharge papers that say, "diagnosis: fever" and be told to alternate tylenol and motrin and keep an eye on her... BUT we are so happy it was nothing more and she is okay! I'm still so glad I took her in, the difficulty breathing thing was very scary and it must've seemed so to the hospital because they made her top priority and took very good care of her. The only thing Michael and I could think of was that her breathing was like that due to the fever and the pain and discomfort she was in, as well as probably some gas (which she definitely had!) and tiredness on top of it all.

Anyway... after sleeping well the rest of the night at home, both kids are up and looking kinda "off" still this morning (little pale) but so far they seem fever-free. Guess we'll just be keeping an eye on them today.

Thank you for your prayers, and please do say a little prayer for them both today so they can get back to "normal" and feel healthy again asap!

Weddings, Baptisms, and Baby-Making, Oh my!

Our weekend was so busy that I felt like I needed a weekend from the weekend! Luckily for us, Monday was Columbus Day so Daddy got to stay home which was NICE! On Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner for my brother's wedding, which was lovely and fun. Then on Saturday we had a babysitter for the kids and went off to THE BIG DAY and enjoyed a most beautiful wedding and a fun reception with all our family. Kevin and Christine had a beautiful and very special day! We are so happy for them! And I'm totally jealous that they are off enjoying a week in Hawaii ;) haha.

Unfortunately Michael and I had to bid farewell that evening to Andrew and Laura who are now off livin' the dream in Texas! They flew out that Sunday and I think they are happy to finally be getting settled in their new home. We are excited for their new journey but already miss them like crazy. :(

So we got home LATE on Saturday, went to bed right away, and got up early on Sunday to go to mass and head straight to Bowie to visit our friends Anne and Will and see their baby girl (also number three!) be baptized into the Catholic faith. She is BEAUTIFUL and it was so wonderful, as always, to welcome a new little one to the church. Congratulations Nora! We love you already!

We got home around 3:30 on Sunday afternoon- I think- and I just took a minute to "sit on the couch". Apparently I didn't realize how completely fatigued I was, since that minute of rest turned into a 2 hour nap :) I woke up around 6pm and Michael had been caring for the kids downstairs and now getting dinner ready. I was totally wiped! I was still playing catch up on Monday and we enjoyed a (mostly) restful day which was great. Then we went to meet Ken and Emily and her family for Ken's birthday dinner at CiCi's Pizza- fun fun!

So this past weekend, fun was had by all... and Mommy is pretty exhausted and I think will need to focus on growing this baby and taking it easy for a few days... well, while I manage a 3 yr old, a 1 yr old, and cleaning the house. You know, my life is very RESTFUL... ;o) HA HA HA! Until next time...

Here She Comes!

Lydia just stood up... on her own... in the middle of the rug. And I turned to her - trying not to shriek and stay calm - I saw her standing and said, "There you go Lyddie, now just walk!" and she took TWO steps forward and then plopped to the ground while Josiah and I clapped and cheered. She's making her way... and will probably be walking by next week! :) Go Lydia!

The Home of Brotherly Love

Sometimes... after a temper tantrum... a hug and comfort and "shhhh, it's okay now" from Mommy... is just not good enough...

But a hug from big brother? ... yes well, that's much better :)

Cruisin'...

Well... Lydia is 13 months now and we have her ONE YEAR well baby check tomorrow morning! (We postponed it so she wasn't getting all those immunizations at the same time as her flu shot a couple weeks ago)
Anyway, she's not quite walking yet, although she has taken her first steps (barely!) two little steps by herself sometime last week. She is, however, getting really good at cruising- and is now cruising around rooms just kinda "leaning" on the walls. Knowing Lydia, I think she's waiting until she's got this walking and balance thing mostly figured out and then one day she'll just walk across the room without holding on! She's so funny. I caught her in the act in the kitchen today...

Update on Three-Bee!

For all you who have been asking (and yes this post is a week over-due- sorry!) baby number three, or "Three-Bee" as affectionately nicknamed by Daddy, is doing wonderfully! We had our 20 wk sonogram last week and the baby is looking good and growing well and weighs about 12 oz they believe. He/She was "fighting back" as he/she was poked and wiggled about and is already apparently pretty strong! We were surprised to see a cute picture of this little leg and then hear, "wow- look at that calf muscle, no wonder you're feeling this baby!" And feel it I am... more and more every day it seems like, and it's nice, because it's like the baby is saying, "Don't worry Mom, here I am, fine and dandy!" Daddy is just beginning to feel the baby here and there which is exciting and yesterday his/her godmother (Aunt Laura!) felt the baby kick as well! yay! We are getting really excited about having our new little peanut around here, and I'm just hoping I can wait patiently allllll the way until February! Hopefully the next 19 wks or so will go by QUICKLY :) Just as quick as the first 20 did. And NO, we didn't find out if the baby is a boy or a girl- sorry folks! You'll just have to wait and have a wonderful Valentine's Day present. Don't complain, you know you'll love it. ;o) It'll be a great surprise!
Well... and on that note, here's a sneak peak at our newest little angel...Enjoy!

picture 1- Daddy's favorite! profile shot of head and face, cute little button nose!
picture 2- Baby's right leg... strong bones, and big calf muscle sticking out on top!
picture 3- Cool 4D shot, baby's face covered up with his/her arms/hands
picture 4- Baby's face peeking out from under hands
picture 5- Baby's face with little hand up top- "hi Mom!"

Pumpkin Time!

We went out today and picked pumpkins at a pumpkin patch. We took the hayride out to the field and enjoyed walking around and playing with the kids and finding our "perfect" pumpkins. It was unseasonably warm though so we were all wishing we hadn't worn long sleeves, but oh well! Josiah went scouting with Daddy and finally found one he liked that he could hold and said, "This one is just my size!" Then he was very protective of his little pumpkin all the way home. Lydia was kinda grumpy the whole time and I'm not sure why... I think she's cutting more teeth- and maybe she just didn't get the memo- hey Lydia, we're going to pick pumpkins and it's going to be FUN so you should smile for some pictures!! haha. Oh well!
We had a great time and also got to meet up with some friends we haven't seen in a long time as well as my parents. We were briefly neighbors with this couple and she had her baby boy about 6 wks (I think?) before Lydia was born so they are very close in age. It's been a long time since we've seen them so it was so nice to just hang out and catch up with them. And we were very happy my parents could come because, well, what good is pumpkin picking if you don't have Grandma and Grandpa? ;o) Somehow it just makes the day more magical :) After we picked pumpkins we played a little and had lunch and some ice cream before heading home and taking naps. Gotta love these fall days full of fun!