Love

I love the craziness that is my life right now. I love that from 6am until 11pm I'm running around with hardly any time to eat or sleep or do anything except wipe runny noses or change dirty diapers. I love watching my boys play soccer and football and losing my voice cheering for them. I love being responsible for teaching each of my children almost everything they will learn about how to be good, ethical, hard-working people. I love walking by my refrigerator and seeing the chore charts covered up with stickers. I love that my house is always cluttered with toys and cleats, backpacks and baseball hats, baby dolls and dirty laundry. I love watching my little girl finally start really walking and then laugh at herself because she's having so much fun in something so simple. I love the way our house doesn't really feel like home until Aaron walks in at the end of the day. I love that I have so many pictures from the last few months that I never have time to download them and update this blog! I love that Heavenly Father has given me this amazing family and the energy to keep up with them. Love, love, love.

I want one!

This looks absolutely FABULOUS! I definitely want one ASAP!

http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6344

A Rough Start...

Ellie's first month as a one-year old has been a rough one to say the least. It got started with a bit of a tumble at Mom's house. She's pulling up on everything and one of her favorite places to do it is on the window ledges at Mom's. They're really low to the ground and allow her to see out the window, which she loves. So, Aaron and I were out for the night and all three kids were at Mom's and from what we can figure (Sam was the only one that actually saw her fall), she slipped, caught her cheek on the window ledge on the way down, and then smacked down on her hand, REALLY hard. She ended up with a lovely bruise on her cheek and by the next morning, a really swollen hand. We were so worried about her hand that I took her in for x-rays the next day. No breaks - just really bruised, but since her bones are completely formed yet and much of her hand is cartilage, the entire thing was bruised and looked terrible. We wrapped it up for a few days to help with the swelling and to keep her from hitting it again and while it looks much better now, more than two weeks later, you can still see the bruising across her knuckles and it's still a little sensitive to the touch.

Our next trip to the doctor was early Saturday morning when Ellie woke up covered in red welps - yep, it's chicken pox. She was scheduled to get her first dose of the vaccine in two months, but she was evidently exposed at some point in the last week. We're really not sure where she got them because she doesn't come in actual physical contact with many other kids, but nonetheless, she's covered. I think it's a pretty mild case, hardly any on her arms and legs, but it's still no fun. She had a few that looked infected, so the doctor put her on an antibiotic just in case, some eye drops for her left eye that also looked really red, and a prescription-strength antihistamine to help with the itching. Thankfully, the antihistamine seems to be working really well because she's not scratching at all. She's such a trooper, but it's so hard to see her pretty little face covered up with those nasty bumps. Poor little thing! Let's hope the other 11 months of her first year turn out a little better!

Let's Go Strawberry Pickin'!

At the end of April, Ellie and I got to go with Jack on his very first field trip. We went to Brown's Farm and picked strawberries. We had so much fun and the strawberries were delicious! Jack even managed to talk me into checking him out and bringing him home after the trip was over - the little rascal! I'm not sure if he had more fun picking the strawberries or one his very first bus ride, but nonetheless, it was a great day!

My Little Artist

In March, Sam was chosen as one of about 20 kids from New Market to display a piece of artwork in the Huntsville Museum of Art Children's Gallery. He completed this piece when they were studying Picasso. He's always loved to draw and paint and it's amazing to watch his talent grow as well as his excitement to show us his work at the museum. We are truly proud of our little man!

One!

My little angel is one! It is completely unbelievable how fast this past year flew by and while I can't help but be a little sad that my "baby" is quickly becoming anything but a baby, I'm so excited for all the days, weeks, and years ahead that she can grow into a beautiful young lady. Aside from the nasty little case of separation anxiety we've been going through, Ellie has a wonderful personality and is the light of our little home. She absolutely adores her brothers and can't stop grinning when they enter the room or even when she sees a picture of them. They always return the favor with a quick hug or tickle - makes a mommy smile! At one year, Ellie:

• weighs in at 18 lbs, 1 oz (5 - 10th%) and 28 3/4 inches long (40th%)
• is crawling all over the place and is pulling up, but doesn't really act that interested in walking - she doesn't really need to when she has two big brothers to get her anything she could possibly want!
• is quite a momma's girl - this is kinda new to me - I wasn't home the entire first year with either of the boys, so a longer-than-seems-normal separation anxiety phase is new, but we're working on it! If anyone wants to volunteer to keep a sweet, adorable little girl that might potentially fuss the entire time I'm gone, let me know! In all actuality, I think she's fine when I leave, she just fusses if I'm in the room and she's not with me - ugh!
• is still learning to love new foods, and while she digs crunchy stuff - cheerios, goldfish, any kind of cracker - she's a little more apprehensive about things like chunk meat and veggies. She doesn't seem to be very picky though - a plus!
• has an expanding vocabulary - she's started repeating things that we say and even said "my birthday?" on her birthday itself - so cute!
• loves, loves, loves chocolate - that's my girl!
• adores music of any kind - she dances when a good beat comes on, sings along with me when I sing to her, tries to play the piano ALL the time, and bops her head if she's in her car seat and can't shake her little hiney. I love this about her!
• squeals, smiles, and crawls as fast as she can to her daddy as soon as he walks in the door - I tear up every time.
• truly completes our family - you know that feeling where it's just right - yep, that's us.

I can never express how grateful I am for all of my children and for the most amazing husband that chose to create them with me. I am one proud mommy.

10 months!

It's hard to believe my little angel is so quickly approaching the one-year mark. She hit 10 months on Monday and is doing so well! At her nine-month check-up she weighed in at 17lbs, 13oz (30th%) and 27 1/2 inches long (50th%). Unfortunately, shortly after her check-up she had a nasty fight with RSV, but after lots of nebulizer treatments and a tremendous amount of prayer from all our family and friends, she is fully recovered and is once again this smiling little girl. Right now, Ellie:

• Is all about Daddy - she started saying Dada a few weeks ago and can't stop smiling whenever Daddy is near (I love this!)
• Loves play time and will sit in the floor for hours playing with whatever she can get her hands on
• Continues to adore her brothers - she especially loves pulling their hair
• She isn't quite "crawling" yet, but manages to scoot herself all around the floor - when she gets up on all fours, she tends to go backward and ends up stuck underneath the couch!
• Is still the easiest, best baby in the history of the world - everyday we say prayers of thanksgiving for this little angel that we have been entrusted with and that she is healthy and happy!

Time to start the party planning!!!

Yet Again...

So here I am playing catch-up again...I'm beginning to think one of life's tests of patience is understanding that I will NEVER really get caught up on everything! So this is a collage of all of our family Christmas gatherings. We started the festivities in Decatur with the Hammons clan, spent time on Christmas day with the King side of the family, took a big trek to Colorado to visit the Lyons, and then wrapped it up on the 4th of January with the Coons/Gurley side. Thankfully, our Papa Don was feeling better after being in the hospital on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day and we had a fantastic time. It was a wonderful first Christmas for Ellie and she had the most fun playing with the bows her brothers took off their presents. Overall, we are so extremely blessed and a good bit spoiled too!