Full Week

The latter part of the week went much faster than the first part, that's for sure. Of course, when you are factoring the weekend, it always goes much quicker.
My first week back to work is under my belt. It has been a full week with work and grandpa being in the hospital.

They are running a myriad of tests to try to figure out what is going on with grandpa health-wise. The other hospital's diagnosis of an aneurysm was inaccurate. They have found a tumor in his stomach. They believe it to be a carcinoid cancer tumor. Test results are pending from bloodwork and urinalysis. These are to see how far it has spread in his body. Obviosuly, the hope is that it has not spread everywhere so that they can remove the tumor. If it has spread, they will not remove it, but rather give him a drug to counteract the chemicals that it releases.

We (the girls and I) were finally able to visit this afternoon. He is in an area that is restricted to children. The hospital is pretty large and taking 3 children there alone is pretty daunting when they can't even see him. Well, they asked today and the nurse said we could visit. He was excited and they were excited and there were a few tears from him, but mostly lots of storytelling. The girls LOVE to hear grandpa's stories. The stories go on and on and on. It had been a week since we last saw him which is quite a bit considering they had usually been seeing them both quite often as we would stop over during our daily walks.

My mom has been going back and forth daily as has my uncle (to the hospital). My mom comes back and watches the girls while I work and then goes back to see grandpa and bring grandma home later in the evening each day.

Noelliah is 7 weeks old today. I have no idea where the time has gone! She is so bright eyed and alert and enjoying the world around her. The smiles are so beautiful and delightful and they really make my day! She is settling in nicely to the family and getting used to our go go go routine. She got a lot of attention at the hospital today from people wanting to see her. I saw a mother leaving the hospital leaving the hospital with a new baby and it brought back those emotions again...that thought of it seeming so long ago already and not wanting it to go by so fast. We have tried to savor each day for what it is and September and October were perfect for doing such! There have been endless walks, time enjoying the breezes, many bike rides (with us watching), and lots of snuggling.

Aliyah took a rough tumble on her bike today. They have put that "lovely" rock stuff down on various parts of our street. Some of it is still loose. She caught some of the loose gravel and spilled over completely and fell on her face. Her eye is black on the corner and on the eyelid along with a gash on the corner and scraping all along her cheek. Poor thing. It looks horrible.

Keirah is ever helpful. She enjoys school. She makes sure she does each and every thing in her work and is sure to bring whatever we have not completed yet to my attention so that we can get it done.

Josh just completed another project. He installed a new carriage house garage door. It looks beautiful! I'm really happy with how it dressed up and changed the appearance of the garage. Speaking of Josh, it was 11 years ago today 10/30, that we got engaged! I came home for a quick weekend from college. I flew in to Chicago on Friday night, we arrived home very late and then spent Saturday enjoying the fall weather and leaves (that is very non-existent in Florida--usually). On Saturday evening, we went to dinner and shopping and then to the park where we spent our summers working. It was on one of the docks that overlooks the water (I was worried that he would drop the ring through the spaces between the boards). The next day (Sunday) we showed off the ring to people at church and then left to go to Chicago to take me back for my flight. I remember it so well. It was Halloween so all of the flight attendants and airline workers were dressed up for Halloween. I'm going to imagine that with today's security and restrictions, they are no longer allowed to "dress up" for Halloween anymore. I think we had a Tinkerbell flight attendant. That was the best but quickest trip I ever took considering how far it was! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful husband!!

Well, my checkbook is calling to be balanced and I need to get the girls ready for bed.

It's Time

...to go back to work. This will be interesting to get settled into a bit of a different routine. The babysitting situation should be interesting for a bit as well as grandpa is in the hospital and grandma won't be watching the girls and mom will be taking grandma to the hospital while grandpa is there and whatever else. I'm sure it will work out, but it could get interesting on some days I'm sure since the girls can't sit up in a hospital all day.

There's a few things I'm "anxious" about...

-getting us all out of the door in the morning alone on a regular basis
-homeschooling (hoping it goes smoothly at night).
-the babysitting thing for Aliyah & Keirah
-grandpa and whatever is going on with him to get straightened around healthwise

Other than that, I feel out of the loop on work stuff as my brain has been on mommy/teacher/house brain switch.

The girls have been instructed that we are going to have to work like a "well oiled machine" so that things run smoothly. Aliyah really misses spending time at great grandma's. We visit there often, but she asked the other day when grandma will watch them again. I told her that I don't know (and this was before grandpa was sick this weekend). She never gets tired of hearing the stories that grandpa tells and visiting.

Well, I'm off to get them ready for bed and get stuff ready!! Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go...

NEW Picture!

WOW...she's fast! My neighbor and our family picture taker squeezed us into her busy weekend of shoots after my realization that we should take pics before the leaves are gone. Not a moment too soon as the scenery is GOR GE OUS! I told her we didn't need them and if she reads this...I totally meant that we didn't need them right away. Apparently, to her that meant that we didn't need them within 3 hours...because she's already done!

I don't know how she managed to pull out any photos from that being as we had a 4 year old that had just awakened and was not agreeable and a newborn to work around. But...she did! So, after almost a whole year, I have a new photo on my blog!!!

Thanks, Mila!!

Family Friday

It is a very RARE thing that we all get to spend ALL of Friday altogether. It maybe happens 2 times a year if that. Today was one such day! It started early because of my dr. appt and getting everyone up and ready to go.

The dr. appt was kind of bittersweet as it is the last doctor visit for this pregnancy. It's like it closes that chapter now. It was weird being at the doctor's office NOT pregnant. The last time I was there, it was 8 days before Noelliah made her grand entrance and it was at the end of the day on Friday so nobody was there. This time the waiting area was FULL! The midwife came in and was happy to see Noelliah and told us that it was a fun delivery (I'm assuming since she was Josh's former classmate it was probably memorable). Actually, it was the best delivery for me of the three. She is great and not that "out there" midwife that wouldn't be for me.

We made our way to a nearby store to get some boots for me. I have been wanting some, but didn't want to wait too late (sold out like last year). I had looked at Nordstrom in Chicago where every pair of boots that I liked was in the $400-500 price range. Great boots...just really not necessary for where we live as they don't even sell that brand here (that I have seen). So, I got a pair for much less...much much less. We then went upstairs to see what shoes they had for Josh. He always finds great shoe deals there. Today...no exception. We purchased 3 pairs of shoes for LESS than what my one pair of boots cost. He got some Puma's, Born, and then a pair of Skechers for my brother.

We came home for a bit and then finished getting ready for our family photoshoot. Our neighbor graciously squeezed us into her busy schedule this weekend! Hopefully, there's something good she can get out of it. Noelliah had her moments as did I'm sure all of us. Beautiful location and perfect with fall in full glory!

Josh is putting the finishing touches on our new garage door. It looks really great I think! I will post a pic soon.

Now, we are scratching our heads figuring out how to best spend our weekend. It's back to regular routine on Monday and I'm sure that will take some getting used to with adding a little baby to the mix! Yesterday and today have been the first days of all of the time I have been off, to take it easy and not do any household chores or schoolwork. We did extra work on Wednesday so we could be off the last two days. If anything, I didn't want to be behind on school especially while off work since it will be more challenging to do school in the evening with a baby. We will figure it out, it will just take some organization and time!

One thing is for sure...spending a Friday together as a family of five for the first time is delightful! We love being together!!!!!!!!!!!

Ticking away

...time of course. We went to the park today after we finished school. I don't usually take the girls there because it is normally loaded with children, teenagers from all over. We like more of the "laid back" empty playground to play. It wouldn't be that way if the children that are typically there were obedient and talked nicely, but that's how it is.

Today was a wonderful day to go as that dry October breeze made its way through. The leaves were flying off the trees making their own confetti. I couldn't help be sentimental while we were there as I have spent thousands of hours at that park. Why? It was my (our) summer job during the end of high school and college. Even more special, it is where Josh and I met 15 years ago. Just saying that kind of makes me feel old. Granted, we didn't start dating until we had worked together for 5 summers. So, I snapped a few photographs today of where it all began. Three little girls later, it was a nice visit. Oh yeah, and I can't forget, we got engaged there as well.

I'm trying to get various things accomplished at home before going back to work. I am happy at the large amount of progress made!! It's not that I cannot accomplish anything at home because I work, but I'm still getting used to having a 3rd child--a newborn and doing homeschooling and everything else. Today, it occurred to me that it would be nice to have fall pictures taken before the beauty of the leaves on the trees is gone. We are trying to squeeze that in on Friday afternoon. Got the car taken in for service yesterday--check. I'm trying to get yoga in every night (or almost). Last night, I was exhausted and did not. This is a 6 week program. I'm GONNA DO IT! The closets have all been cleaned out and organized, and the basement has been purged of what I can purge it of now, the blinds have been cleaned, and a host of other things that I won't bore anyone with.

Well, the girls want to ride bikes, Noelliah needs fed, and we need to go on our walk...all before it gets dark.

Yesterday...

...in the midst of me having several "projects" going while taking care of Noelliah, Aliyah is in the living room with a dust rag dusting the furniture. Since I hadn't asked her to do anything, I asked her what she was doing. She told me that since it seemed to be my house cleaning day and I was really busy with a lot of things, she was trying to help me. She continued around the whole living room dusting.

She later picked up Noelliah and was holding and entertaining her to help me out. I must say, it was really sweet of her to be so thoughtful and try to look out for me! She also asked if the mail was in yet. It may seem small, but it was big to me because she was so thoughtful and sweet! I love these 3 little blessings we have!!

We did get several things organized and stuff as well as some bike riding for the girls, a birthday dinner with grandma H. and then plenty of reading time and Playmobil time for the girls also.

October Sunday

It is another beautiful day today. Temp is high 60's I would imagine. We didn't go to church today. Keirah has a drippy faucet for a nose. My SS class is helping with various duties around the new building so we didn't have class today so that would have meant an hour with me having no place to attend while the girls were in SS. I wouldn't have been much help while caring for a newborn =).

We did spend some time outside--on a walk and then the girls rode their bikes. The sun felt very nice.

The girls have a new cousin as of today (a new boy cousin). He weighs 8 lbs. 10 oz. and is 20 inches--already bigger than Noelliah is currently...lol.

Well, there is a laundry basket sitting in my LR that I can't quit looking at because it is nagging to be folded.

Can't wait for Josh to get home as always!

I can't even believe this one...

haha! I have purchased a Beaba babyfood maker. I never saw myself as one to make my own baby food until I saw this device in the Williams Sonoma catalog. It appears incredibly easy and the reviews also state as such. Since we do buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, I think this will work great this time around. You see, babyfood making before was cook something on the stove (steam it or whatever) and then move over to the blender and finish it off there. This little device does it all!!

The other advantage...babyfood has gone way up in price since Aliyah and Keirah were born and portions have gotten smaller. That's no surprise right? Well, I look forward to using this in a few months when Noelliah is ready for solids. I'm not rushing it along I promise! She is five weeks today and I want it to slow down--way down! Have a great weekend all!

Journaling

Since I have had time sitting feeding Noelliah, I decided to keep a daily journal of little things about our day. I did this with Aliyah, but somehow not with Keirah. Maybe I was more overwhelmed with things at our house when Keirah was born since we were in the midst of our upstairs addition then.

Yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to write down all of the nice comments on Facebook and text message from the day of and a couple days after Noelliah was born. I am almost finished with that and then it will be placed into her baby book. Who knows if Facebook will be around down the road when she is older...I'm gonna guess something else will have replaced it by then =).

Being at home a lot more these past weeks also makes me "crazy" with things that I come up with that need done. They aren't pressing things by any means and most haven't probably been done since I was at home when Keirah was born. It is weird stuff like washing the curtains (I guess that isn't overly weird), but my clothes rack downstairs got to me last week. I purged it down to hardly anything and had a trunkload for Goodwill. I still can't wait for that new wardrobe and it isn't coming soon enough! There have been endless things that I have come up with and completed. I think the windows need washed almost constantly. Once they are washed, it rains (not much lately) or they get some kind of nasty junk from birds, cats, fingerprints or whatever...I digress.

It is Friday night and it is all of us girls. I love half of the Fridays (when Josh is off and we go do something). The other half (when he works) are pretty much boring. There isn't anything on the box as we don't have cable and now it is dark before we blink. We have ridden bicycles (the older 2 while I supervised and held Noelliah), we have taken our walk, the girls have been on their swings, and now we have all said at least once that we are bored---or stir crazy. We can't think up anything overly cool to do in the house. My creative fun ideas are gone I suppose. Maybe we will go for a drive. Noelliah usually sleeps so that would be fine by me.

Well, I hope your Friday evening is more fun than our boring one.

Love them!

It is amazing what some time off with Josh (daddy) can do! We had an amazing time with him (all 4 of us girls). I realized that Josh and I haven't had that much time (both off work) together in probably close to a year!!
Update on our lovely girls:
Noelliah- gained 10 oz this past week and is up to 7 lbs 14oz so no more weight checks-yay! She is very alert which they always comment on at the dr's. She is strong and holding her head up well...one month old already!
Her awake/asleep patterns are still the same as they were in the womb. She naps typically in the morning (usually her best nap of the day). She starts being more wakeful in the evening starting around 9-9:30 and may have crying spells. Most of the time she is definitely awake for a couple of hours around 11-1am. She takes a bottle, but prefers the "liquid gold" without a doubt. We love her to pieces!!

Keirah--is a great helper and great at running around the house to get stuff we need. She always informes me when Noelliah is crying (as if I can't hear it) and tells me that Noelliah must want me. She has had the cutest 4 year old mispronunciations lately that I love!

Playbil stuff--Playmobil people and toys
Handtizer--Hand sanitizer (she has her very own bottle that she picked out)
FO-or--her age (apparently four has two syllables)
"Mom, I want to see how many miles I am today"...said when stepping on the scale in our bathroom.
"who is this Hanna Andersson person and what does she do?"...said when I told her to go get her Hanna Andersson pajamas.
Andresta--the name she called "Iridessa" the yellow fairy in the new Tinkerbell movie. She called her this for months until she saw the fairy movie and realized it was Iridessa (even though Aliyah had told her the correct name over and over)
Love these words and those enchanting eyes she has!

Aliyah - quite the handy helper. She has been working hard on school. They learn a lot in 3rd grade!! Pretty tough spelling words like "innumerable" and "subtrahend" and such not to mention long division and all kinds of big kid math stuff. She still devours books and can't get enough of them. Since Keirah won't go to sleep without Aliyah in their bedroom, we have given Aliyah a flashlight. Mind you, she would get up and read by the nightlight all of the time before so we thought the flashlight would be easier.
She is an awesome "babysitter" and Noelliah really seems to enjoy her. She is great at holding her and even getting her to sleep (amazingly). She will rock her and changes her diaper. I didn't even ask her to do either of those! That extra pair of arms are wonderful when daddy is gone. When she isn't doing school or watching baby or reading, Keirah and her play in their closet with their Playmobil stuff.

Next week, I go to the doctor on Friday. I'm ready to start yoga and finish off this belly (I hope). After that, it is back to work! These weeks have flown by faster than I could have imagined. I have tried to enjoy being with all of the girls and let them enjoy being outside and doing the things they love. Time to get back into the work routine in addition to the stuff at home. At this moment, I think one of the hardest things will be getting all of us out the door in the morning!

I love my family and I feel blessed! I have no idea what I would do without them! I am so thankful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessed

This past week has been our "roughest" so far since little baby joined our family. Not rough at all when I think of what others go through. We just had some bumps along the way...bumps like little girl meltdowns of a sweet 4 year old and a newborn. By the time Friday afternoon arrived, I was spent as Josh works long hours on certain days. Tending to schoolwork, laundry, a baby, and the meltdowns, and having been sick...you get the idea.

I was so glad to have him get off work!! Everything almost instantly fixed when he walked through the door! We ate dinner at none other than Chili's and that fixed it too!

We had a lovely Friday evening all together and we even got some things accomplished at our house--like that nagging laundry. Having a sweet little one spit up in mom and dad's bed makes more laundry too =).

Anyway, it was a gorgeous day today! We ran a few errands and were able to pick up the newly re-released Beauty and the Beast movie for the girls. Keirah hasn't ever seen it and Aliyah hasn't seen it since she was much younger since we had it on VHS and we haven't had a VCR in YEARS! Anyway, they were excited. The weird thing for Josh & I is that came out when we were like 13 or 14 years old!!

If you have heard about the Similac formula recall, we had formula that fell into the recalled items. Fortunately, Noelliah hadn't eaten any of the possibly tainted stuff (for which I'm so glad). Well, the recalled cans we had were all samples that were sent to us by Similac or given to us by the dr's. office. With that being the case, we had to send them back to Similac in a box sent to us and pre-paid for Fed Ex. Again, I kind of figured they would send us new cans or something to replace our 4 recalled cans. They have the words "sample" "not to be sold" right on them. Similac has since sent us two $15.00 coupons for any formula purchase which we used today. It made our formula like $2.00 per can (awesome deal)! Oh yeah, I might add that the "reimbursement" wasn't supposed to take place for 6-8 weeks.

I got the mail in today and noticed an envelope from Similac--although they have corresponded with me almost every day this week with information about the recall. I opened it and read that they were giving us a free Shutterfly book--makes me happy and then...I unfolded the bottom of the letter which thanked us for returning the cans of formula. At the bottom was my check at which my mouth kind of dropped open. Yours will too...

The check was for $168.00! I looked at it 2-3 times. Remember, there were 4 cans and they were samples. WOW! For me, they have righted their problem obviously. That will go toward our deductible for Noelliah's dr. bill.

Tonight, when we were eating dinner, a lady at the table next to us asked us if we finally had our boy (referring to the baby in the seat). She couldn't see Noelliah, only the back of the baby seat. We told her "no" it was a girl. She said that they had all boy grandkids (9). She then told us we had a lovely family and I couldn't help but be thankful for God's blessings! Some days have those rough spots, but I know we are blessed beyond my imagination. He provides things I wouldn't ever have imagined!

I've seen better days...

I would call today the roughest day home so far since Noelliah was born. It started last night. I got a headache and even felt dizzy when getting out of the tub. My body started to ache and well...I was visiting the bathroom way more than I would like.

I figured it was just because I was worn out and sleep would take care of it...NOPE!
I woke up around 1 or 2 and it was worse. I couldn't get warm and was shivering. My body ached even worse. Josh got me some water and ibuprofen and that helped some of the symptoms for awhile. It was all I could do to feed Noelliah. By morning, it hadn't subsided. The aches were worse and the visits to the bathroom were more frequent I think.

Josh took care of the girls all morning while I tried to sleep and get better. He called my mom before he had to go to work. She came over a bit later after finishing taking grandpa to an appointment. She got Aliyah & Keirah their lunch and then they played with their Playmobil for the afternoon. I slept a lot of the afternoon. I think that the first time I went down to the main floor today was after 5 pm.

Still not 100%, but the aches have subsided and I hope they stay away. The girls have been great and helpful. Just hoping no one else in the family gets this flu thing. I would call it my worst day home since Noelliah was born.

Tomorrow, Noelliah goes to get weighed at the doctor to see if she has gained weight. Hoping so and I would think so!

Sunday

It was a pretty fall day, albeit a bit chilly. I had my first big outing today. By that I mean, getting up and getting all 4 of us girls ready to be somewhere solely by myself in the morning. I get us ready almost every day by myself, however this was the first time to do it and be somewhere in the morning. Josh was working and we went to church. This was a bit of an adventure since our church just moved to a brand new building. It is massive! Fortunately, they have thought of some great details to make things easier for people. The parking lot rivals a shopping mall (no joke), but at least there are spaces now for everyone. The awesome detail is that they have an entrance on the side that goes right into where the smallest children have their classes. There is family and handicapped parking right by this entrance. It is much closer and much easier.

So, we arrived (early) and unloaded out of the car. First stop was Keirah since she is on the main floor. We dropped her off at her class. Noelliah is also on the main floor, however I am not putting her into the nursery yet since she is so little and young. Next stop was upstairs for Aliyah--check. Talked to a few people along the way and then had to find my class. Went from upstairs to the main floor to the basement to the very end of a long hallway and found my class. I'm amazed I found everything and still made it on time to class (with time to spare). Noelliah stayed all cozy with me during class. After class, we (Noelliah and I) went up to the main floor and then upstairs to retrieve Aliyah from class. We got her and decided to go into the sanctuary on the side of the balcony to go to worship. We sat there because I figured it would be easiest if we needed to make a quick exit if Noelliah needed to leave. We only stayed for singing because I knew it was time for her to eat soon and we had a drive home. We picked up Keirah, loaded up into the car and I breathed a sigh of relief as I made it on my first solo outing like that. Why did we go?? Well, the girls have both been asking about going several times yesterday.

We made it home just in time for Noelliah's very filled diaper and in time for her to eat. We took a nap (much needed yet again). We spent the rest of the afternoon by enjoying the outdoors. We took our walk and then the girls rode their bikes. What a difference a few days makes in the bike riding progress for Aliyah. She is so much more confident now. She absolutely is enjoying herself. Keirah likes riding as well. Noelliah (cuddled in the sling) and I watered the grass patch spots. I will be glad when it is past the watering daily stage and growing. We came inside to straighten up the typical Sunday mess and remake Kiki's bed. That is now finished and I'm trying to catch up on such things as bills and feeding the baby of course (she seemingly ate all afternoon). She needs to gain weight anyway. I will gladly give her some pounds =).

So, not much overly exciting...a taking it easy kind of day. We needed a break this weekend. Now it is time for the Amazing Race on tv while Noelliah...eats =).

October Already??

Hard to believe...she is 3 weeks old today! She grew an inch, but she needs to gain some weight. We go back next week for a weight check. Noelliah is enamored with her sisters. In fact, Aliyah plays a little game with her where she sticks out her tongue and Noelliah often does it back. Keirah also had her smiling (with those dimples).

The weather has chilled (a lot) today and it is quite breezy. I'm not quite ready for that weather yet. What we had been having was perfect to me. I like fall, I just don't like what comes behind it. We "slept in" this morning for us. After Josh went to work we (Noelliah and I) had some snuggle time. I then followed that advice of sleeping when baby does and took a nap. It's a rare event that I get a nap as usually we have schoolwork going on and things that need done around the house. When daddy isn't home, I'm the go-to lol! So, we took it easy this Saturday.

Grandma called and invited us over for fried chicken. The girls love her fried chicken. We got ready and ate the healthiest meal...she fries in olive oil and everything else was vegetables and fruit. The girls ate up and got ice cream for dessert. It was good. Grandma was back in her element of cooking/serving food, waiting on everyone, and begging you to eat more. They don't like to have leftovers. She wasn't using her walker or cane or anything. It was funny, every time anything got low on anyone's plate she was ready to go get more or serve up more. Keirah was Miss Healthy Eater downing two servings of beets and a large serving of peas. Oh yeah, speaking of eating...we all weighed ourselves after lunch. I had no idea how much the girls weighed. Aliyah is 43.5 and Keirah 29.5...after full lunch and dessert. I won't tell you what I was, but I've lost 16 lbs. since Noelliah was born...maybe more considering we weighed right after lunch lol.

Aliyah has improved so much in just a few days on the bike riding. She doesn't need any help anymore and she starts and does everything on her own. She asks to ride daily now. The girls have been playing with their Playmobil toys, reading, and playing with their horses. This keeps them entertained for hours! They are great helpers with Noelliah as well. I'm so thankful for them. Each and every day, I realize how blessed we are to have the family that we do. I can't imagine life without my lovely girls and my husband.

Well, this week starts our flurry of October birthdays. It seems each family has "birthday months". Ours would be probably August and October and September is quickly catching right up =).

Have a great weekend and cover or bring in your plants as it may frost.