After reading my brother's comment, I felt the need to clarify.  My girls do not sleep for 3 hours..."if only" is right!  Those hours are simply a window for the 1 1/2 to 2 hour naptime that they do have most every day.  

Daniel has fallen asleep at naptime almost every day this week. He's had an ear infection in both ears and a hole in his left ear drum.  Bless his little heart!  I'll tell you what though...he can sleep anywhere!

I had such good intentions on my posting frequency... ahhh, well!

Happy Monday!

This week has gone by at lightning fast speed!  I can't believe it's already Friday, and we'll be enjoying the weekend...except Deron.  Bless his heart.  He has to work.  It's our annual meeting at church this weekend, too, so I'll be cooking, doing school, and grocery shopping today.

Last weekend, we traveled three and a half hours to visit family and had such a wonderful time!  We enjoyed ourselves, and the kids enjoyed playing with all of their eleven cousins! 

One cute little baby we all know and love has turned into quite the little climber...I think I had like fifteen mini-heart-attacks yesterday!

Today is the very last day of July, and then, we'll be into August.  August is when I yearn for September.  I almost start to drool when I think of fall.  I try hard to enjoy August, but it's so hot!  So hot!  I pretend that it's not so hot, and I usually prepare myself a nice hot mocha and sit inside and think about the leaves changing color...the feel of the mild breeze blowing as you take in the loveliness of the season... {sigh} It's still summer and hot and sticky...  I have to conciously enjoy this end of this season...

Daniel has painted himself to be a ninja.  You should have seen Grace after he painted her to be a ninja baby!  

I have to admit that this has probably been one of the best summers we've had.  The boys are older and their interests are a little more established.  We've played and read and goofed off and watched movies and have started catching bugs for a school study (fun, fun).  And the pool has been wonderful.  We've spent hours upon hours in it! It's been such a great summer!  More on that later in August! 

Maybe it's better because last summer was so nutso crazy...with us moving 300+ miles from our home and me so sick all the time after having had my little cutie pie.  It was just...I don't like to think about that part of our time in FL because we still love it so much.  Now I'm homesick for our family down there!

Have a great weekend, all!

Hannah the Scary Dinosaur is now playing on my video blog.

"Mommy, he locked the door!"

"Tell him I said to unlock that door, right now." I said with a hint of laziness since my poor legs are aching from finding new muscles jogging up and down the hills in our neighborhood.

Turning and running with resolve up the stairs, yelling, "Mommy said to open up that door or you're in trouble!"

Grace had her one year well check last week and is doing great! (I wish I could've left the others at home to fend for themselves...not really.  Their behavior was, uh, not, uh, good...)  She weighs 19 pounds 10 ounces!  We're enjoying her so much.  She's so sweet and pleasant, just precious!  She loves to climb the stairs every chance she gets...just to give her poor mama heart trouble!  Seriously, she's super-cute once she makes it to the top, and if I wasn't so concerned with getting to her, I'd video her "victory dance" at the top!

Do you see those sweet curls?

I'm so in love!  Ain't she cute as a button!

Hannah's potty training and doing really well...most of the time.  Except today, at Wal-Mart when she needed to go, took off in the men's room, and Ethan and Daniel had to drag her out! She didn't make it to the ladies' room, and that's as much as I'll say...  "It weren't purdy!"    Anyway, when she began to show real signs that she would potty train...not me being trained to take her, that is...we packed up her diapers and told them goodbye.  Then she took them and gave them to Grace. Literally.

We've spent the week...I've spent the week...putting up veggies for the first time in a long time.  It was nice, and now, I'm thinking I should've only gotten one box of peaches.  It sure is nice having freshly frozen produce in the freezer, though, despite the new found muscles in my shoulders!

We're starting school tomorrow.  How fun!  Daniel's psyched...Ethan's better about starting first grade than he was about kindergarten!  It's progress.  I'm more nervous this year than ever since I actually have to send in information this year.  It'll be a good year, though.

Yes. It'll be a good year!

Last week in pictures

Grace is very impressed with the ability to clap her hands!  She's so cute I could just eat her up.  She's been my baby-est baby ever.  All my others were either walking or on the verge of walking when they were this close to one year old and didn't have time to be my baby anymore.  Grace is pulling up and standing with help, but she's not ready for walking yet.  I'm loving all the cuddle-time!

Hannah actually allowed the rubber band to stay in her hair for more than five seconds.  She wore it around the park for a good long while.  It was amazing.

Ethan was pushing Hannah in the swings on field day!  It was a very sweet thing to catch him doing.  He received his very first black star for leadership and I attached it to his karate jacket last night.

Daniel's talk to Grace, and do you see Grace's leg?  That's how she's crawling now...and she's not using her right arm anymore.  She crawls weird, and it worries me.  I would think it was funny if we didn't have trouble with strength issues regarding that arm.  But we do, so I kind of hope she'll walk soon so she won't be able to build up that left arm so much and so she won't be able to avoid using her right as much.

The two awake during naptime!

It was a very proud moment for Daniel.  He actually caught one of these fish, but it was still a very exciting moment for him.

It was a good week!

 We've switched to karate twice a week, and Ethan went into the older class.  The instructor let him assist with the younger class, so while Ethan enjoyed that, it overwhelmed him a little bit.  He tried so hard to help.

Daniel doesn't mind since their classes are back to back, and they get to watch each other.  It's still a beginner class, but the instructing methodology is different.

The excitement is pretty high.  Pediatricians often refer the karate facility we go to for children with concentration issues, and I can definitely tell a distinct improvement with schoolwork since we started class.  Focus and concentration wasn't even the point of us doing this, but it has definitely cast a positive light on both of my little guys.

With our karate classes, you go twice a week, but they offer the boys' classes five different times, so you choose which two work the best that week.  I'm loving it.  Watching them blossom and enjoy themselves.

It's been good for them.  Good for us.  Plus, it's paid for through August!

A little bit of random-ness... Grace started crawling four days after we started home therapy with her.  (Check out the video blog!)  I spoke with the PT about our current situation, and she thinks that since Grace has already made so much progress on her own that we could just continue at home and reevaluate if any intervention is needed when Deron gets a new job...since it was such a mild case to begin with.  I can still feel her shoulders and trunk kick in to turn her head, but there has been a lot of improvement since her right side has been strengthened through crawling.

And since all travel plans are on hold, I really am going to get to business with Hannah's potty training.  She seems ready, but I think we've been too busy to get her trained.  So this should be interesting...

"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."  Proverbs 27:10

Have a beautiful day!

Ethan: "Mommy, I think you need to get some more sleep." very matter-of-fact-ly spoken.

Me: "Why's that, Ethan?" wishing I hadn't asked.

Ethan: "Because you have really, really dark circles under your eyes."

Thanks, Ethan.  So kind of you to mention these things.

What have we been up to lately?  Mainly trying to get on a decent routine/schedule which is something that is constantly being changed and refined to fit our family.  So today, I'll update you on us.

Ethan and Daniel: They started karate lessons last week.  They're very excited and they got their uniforms yesterday, as well.  Most of the kids go twice a week, but we were able to get them to let us go once a week, instead.  It's not that I think they wouldn't like going twice a week.  We just don't want to "over-busy" ourselves at the expense of family time.  We may change our minds later if we see that we're not overly busy with it or if Deron decides to take with them.  They have a family lesson day which we've been discussing.  It would be fun for them, but we'll see.

Ethan:  We met Victoria Stilwell from It's Me or the Dog on Animal Planet, one of his favorite shows.  We waited for an hour to meet her and then, he was too shy to say anything.  It was still pretty neat though.  She seemed very nice and down to earth.  She is the reason Beau doesn't jump the way he used to.  Ethan used her advice to teach Beau not to jump.  And that takes a lot of courage for a child.  A full-grown German Shepherd to a five-year-old is like a horse to an adult.  Can you imagine how intimidating that would be?  But Beau doesn't jump anymore!

Daniel: We've finally convinced Daniel that he doesn't have to wear pants that look like he's preparing for a flood.  He wears normal clothing now, and I really need to conveniently lose those pants that are two sizes too short!

Hannah: I am working with her on keeping her clothes on.  Good golly, miss molly!  She wants to be nekkid all the time.  My mom said to tell her she can be naked all she wants in her room. BUT the doctor says she can't be naked all over the house!  HA!  She would prefer I give her chocolate chip cookies and milk for every meal, and would it be too much to ask if I'd let her tote her food everywhere she went.  And would it be alright if she didn't like her food if she just quietly tossed it under the table creating the illusion that she ate more than she did to gain the privilege of a chocolate chip cookie?  She's a smart little chocolate chip cookie!

Grace: She's doing well.  Last week, she gained back the 2.5 ounces she lost plus 5 extra ounces!  She's got a cold...imagine that!  And she's spitting up more than normal.  She's not vomitting though.  I'm wondering if she's trying to get some teeth in addition to all the drainage.  Her little tummy just can't handle the drainage.  Her drool seems to be slightly colored, too.  I don't know.  I can tell she's gaining weight though.  When they gain so quickly you can tell very easily.  The cold has slowed her down a bit, but that's normal.  We go back next week for a check.  No crawling.  She's not the least bit interested.

I can't get my camera to turn on...at all.  So I've got to consult the manual to see if there is any hope.

So the kids and I did a little conga line as we sang, "She's going to the pot-tay, she's going to the pot-tay!"  Hannah used the potty for the first time!  She's so interested, and I was going to wait until we got home from South GA in a couple of weeks to get down to business. 

But we're going ahead with it since I can't seem to keep her bottom half dressed. 

I've never experienced this before.  It was like pulling teeth with my boys!  They were sort of interested but not really. It was me who was interested. They never instigated the training. Ethan was well over three years old when he was fully trained, and Daniel was two and a half.  I thought they'd wear diapers til they got married! 

And on that note, Daniel asked me if he could live with me after he got married and did I think his wife would be okay with that.  HA!

Grace can't actually pull up on her own.  She won't even crawl!  But you can set her up and she'll stand for a few seconds.  Can you see her tilting to the left?

I think it's funny how everyone knows what you mean when you say, "I'ts been one of those days..." even when they don't really know what you mean.  We all have them...different as they may be, we all have those days.

Grace lost 2.5 ounces.  I was completely shocked and frustrated.  We haven't gotten the organic urine analysis back, but with everything else being normal, it'll probably be normal too.  The difference between the week she gained so much and this week, where she's gone backwards, is nursing.  And I know she gained a lot last week, but she still shouldn't lose especially when she hasn't been sick. Nursing is the only difference.  Our pediatrician is so kind.  We talked for quite a while as she answered various questions.  We decided that we need to do the bottle, primarily, for a month or so and see if she stops all this weight bouncing. 

(For the ladies:  She asked me if anything had changed since Hannah was born.  At first I didn't understand what she was asking.  Then, she made it a little clearer by telling me the story of one mother she knew that had had "some work done."  They cut your milk ducts most of the time when you get implants.  LOL...I assured her that wasn't the case with me!  We had quite a laugh over that!)

"Precious memories...how they linger..." J.B.F. Wright

Honestly, our old pediatrician wanted me to do this.  And maybe I should have then, and we wouldn't have had all this trouble. But the old doc didn't really care about answering my questions or concerns.  She would barely sit in there a speak with you at all.  She seemed like she was knowledgeable but that was the only good thing about her.

If Grace continues to cliff dive...which is what her growth chart looks like...they'll refer her to a GI specialist to see if her digestive system is developed in a way that could make it hard for her to gain.  So there's nothing traumatic going on with her.  It's a difficulty in our little family but she's ultimately fine.  Even if she does have to go to a GI specialist, it's ultimately not that big of a deal.  I doubt she'll have to do that since she did so well on the bottle that week when I had to be on the antibiotic. 

So that's that.

And the rest of the day was a little more of the same emotionally.  Hannah went down for a nap, and when we went to get her, she was naked.  She'd had a bad diaper, so she took it off.  How do I know it was bad?  Her rocking horse lion.  And the rocking chair cover.  I shall not say anymore... Nice, eh?

We did get more memory for the computer, sort of... so pictures...old as they may be...are here.  And some videos are on the video blog.

Most of Grace's test results were normal.  Liver, kidney, thyroid functions were all fine.  No celiac disease.  No cystic fibrosis.

However, something odd popped up on her urinalysis.  She has an indicator for some sort of genetic metabolic disorder.  Specifically, it falls under the category of something that means she's unable to process carbohydrates properly.  The indicator rarely shows itself with infants, so I took her in for a repeat testing.  We should find out the results of that by midweek next week. 

If the indicator comes up positive again, then she'll go for further testing in that specific arena.  It's funny how many questions pop in your head after you leave the doctor's office...  I'm bubbling over with them now, but we'll see if it shows up positive again next week.

We're having trouble with her vomitting at least once a day after she eats, which isn't helping anything.  She has a cold, and it seems directly related to all the drainage.  This is, officially, her third week of this cold, and I've always heard colds last two weeks.  Well...two weeks is over and it's still here rotating and mutating within each of us. Yuck!

Please continue to pray for her and for the doctors and nurses who are working with us. 

Daniel went with us today after complaining about his ear again.  I knew his wax build up was probably back.  It was, but he, also, has an infection in his left ear.  Once she got out enough wax, she could see the infection.  The drops he'll be using are actually stool softeners in liquid form.  Nice, eh?

So...that's what we've been up to today.  I'm off to the pharmacy.

Grace had her doctor's appointment yesterday.  We went ahead and had her six-month well check with our new doctor, who is WAY better than her old one!  I am so pleased with this physician.  She sat and talked and talked and addressed my concerns and fears and answered the many questions I had.

Conclusion:  Grace is small.  She needs extra calories.  However, her weight gain was phenomenal!  Twelve ounces in less than two weeks, not counting the ounces her clothing weigh.  My new doctor was appalled that our old office weighs the infants fully clothed because when you're weighing for ounces, the clothing can make a difference.  And when weight gain is the focus of your visit, you need to be completely aware of the true weight.  Grace has slowed down her growth in relation to her length, as well, which isn't good but not necessarily bad either.  We'll go back in a couple weeks to see if she continues to gain with all that we're adding to her diet. 

Hewwo?

She's getting a good bit of formula and cereal mixed with her food.  And she's still nursing five to six times a day.  We can't measure her actual intake of breastmilk, but our physician said it's roughly forty calories per ounce.  And generally, babies take four ounces or so per feeding.  So...when we're calculating her daily calorie intake, we can keep that in mind.  If that is indeed how much she's getting, we're giving her far more than she actually needs.  If she continues to gain well with that, there will be no further testing.

However, if she stalls out or fails to gain adequately again, they'll do some labwork to see if there is possibly some reason, other than calorie-intake, that could be contributing to her weight issues.  Is she failing to absorb the nutrients?  Is there something that is interfering with that process?  She mentioned celiac disease as a possibility, but since she is gaining with all the extra calories, she doesn't want to jump the gun regarding labwork. 

Grace has become very interested in Hannah.  Can you tell?

Developmentally, she's doing fine.  She's not "ahead" by any means, but she's not behind.  She can roll over, and she will almost immediately roll over when you place her on her tummy.  She's getting more and more interested in getting to the toys I place on the floor for her.  She can sit up with some help, and Deron's been able to get her to balance for a bit on the bed.  She babbles and is extremely socially interactive. 

So we'll go back in two weeks to a doctor who seems much more interested in my concerns as a mother!  I'm so thankful we found her!

In other news, Daniel's speech appointment went great yesterday.  We'll only do a few appointments to show him...and me...how to do the exercises at home.  He only has a couple of mild articulation errors that aren't directly related to the fact that he is four years old.

So scary, don't you think?

And our sing Saturday was wonderful!  Completely worth the effort!  We had a wonderful time!  The food and fellowhip was such a breath of fresh air!  (We're still eating the food, actually!  We had waaaay more than we needed, but wow, it was good!) 

...I slipped a video onto my other blog if you need a laugh!  And I'm off to grab a cup of coffee in the quietness before the peanut gallery wakes up!

The appointments went very well yesterday.

Daniel is going to go once a week to speech therapy.  Most of his issues are developmental and will probably correct themselves on their own, but there are a few things I'd like for him to have extra help with, and honestly, those things (which involve spitting on people by accident) are more about carelessness and habit than lack of "know-how."

Since Grace didn't have a fever and was no longer vomitting, they said she could wait until her weight check next week to be seen.

Hannah did really well for her appointment, and they didn't have to papoose her.  Honestly, not papoosing her wasn't any better!  They gave us instructions on scar minimizing which included the phrase, "Don't pull the scabs off.  Let them come off on their own.  She's a long way from being all healed up.  One good bump and it'll pop right open!" (common sense!)  So what has Hannah done by the time we pulled into our driveway? Yes...she's pulled every last scab off.  It was smeared looking blood not active bleeding, so I still called the clinic to make sure we didn't need to turn around and go back!  Nah.  She just needs to go ahead with the Vitamin E treatment and sunscreen for a year.

(Before the accident!)

Today, all we have going on is your "average, every day" type of day plus storytime at the library.  It'll be nice.

Today will be a busy day.  We have two, maybe three, appointments to head off to.  Daniel's speech therapy evaluation is this morning at 10:30 in Athens, and I'll take Hannah this afternoon to have her stitches removed at 3:30 a little over an hour's ride in the opposite direction.  We had a mild version of the virus last week, and Grace got sick Friday.

Now, some of you already know she's having a bit of difficulty gaining weight, and she's even begun to lose a little bit.  I even got the nurse to weigh her again, and she had, indeed, abandoned the growth chart page, entirely.  She's below 0% on the curve.  She's long, though, so it's hard to tell how tiny she is.  I had a complete stranger (who was trying to make polite conversation) ask me how old Grace was.  And when I told her, she exclaimed, "Well, she must've been a preemie!"  I thought I was gonna cry right there in the check-out line. 

She's very alert and healthy in every other way.  She's just tiny!  We'd been working very hard to get her to gain, and then, she started throwing up Friday.  Luckily, it only lasted until Friday evening, but she only weighs eleven pounds and a few little ounces.  She doesn't have much weight to work with when it comes to getting a virus.  I'm going to call the pediatrician this morning and make sure they don't want to take a peek at her.  She's shown no signs of dehydration which is what I've been worried about.

Please say a little prayer for my Grace and Hannah too...She'll have to be papoosed...again...to get the stitches removed!  And Daniel too.  He's a little nervous about his appointment. 

(I tried hard to get a cute picture, but Hannah was too busy hugging everyone to get one that included her face!)

"Mommy, what if money really did grow on trees?"

"Mommy, how many days til my birthday?" Daniel asked me.

"39."

"Two days? Wow!"  A very big smile erupted on his face!

"No, 39 days." I tried to explain again before he ran off to tell Ethan.

"Ethan, my birthday is gonna be in two days!"

Normally, I would try and put a picture of Daniel here, but alas, I have no new ones on the computer.  This is Grace, and yes she sucks her thumb, and yes, I pull her thumb out of her mouth every time she puts it in there!  I do not want to tackle that later on...at all!