Pumpkin carving

We carved our pumpkins a couple nights ago...the kids were SO excited to do it, and I think we did it in record time! The kids didn't want to scoop out any of the guts, but they did tell us what they wanted their pumpkins to look like. Mason found a picture of a scary jack-o-lantern in the newspaper, and Charlotte wanted hers to be a bat :)

babies, babies, babies

I'm at Julie's house with Isaac for a few days, and Sarah was able to come with Joseph too. So it's me, my sisters, and our babies for the weekend :)

We've had lots of fun, and we're really enjoying a nice long weekend with each other and our babies. It's a bit surreal having all three of us and our babies in the same house at the same time! Here's a few pictures...Josie is 5 months old, Isaac is almost 4 months old, and Joseph is 7 weeks old.

Here's a few new things Isaac has done since being at Auntie Julie & Uncle Brett's house:

• grabs objects (rattles, toys, etc)
• rolls over (back to tummy)
• takes a bottle (after three days of trying and going through three different kinds of bottles!)

Oh, and while I'm at Julie's, Matt took Mason & Charlotte to Grandma & Papa's house for a long weekend. They are having tons of fun and hopefully Matt's taking tons of pictures so I'll be able to post them in a few days :)

Movin' on up

Isaac traded up - we took the swing out of the living room and replaced it with the exersaucer. He loves it!! :)

What every mother likes to hear

Today, on the way home from preschool Mason was sitting in the back seat and said:

"Mommy, you're the best at taking care of me."

Can you guess I'm having a good day? :)

Latest happenings

I think we're all finally starting to feel healthy again. Here's a few things I've been meaning to blog about in the last couple weeks that I'm finally getting to!

Here is Charlotte with the apples from our tree this year. By the look on her face you can guess it's nothing like our plentiful harvest last year (reference last year's apple picking). Note the swimsuit she's wearing - this was taken October 6th which happened to be a beautiful 80 degree day!


This picture of Mason below isn't the best picture, but it's taken to document his latest. He loves to do 'tricks'. He kicks up with his feet while holding himself up on his arms. He also spins, jumps, and hops in all sorts of combinations to show us his latest tricks :)

Mason also amazes me with his choice of words lately. The other day after preschool he said to me "Mom, wait until you see the artwork I made, you'll be amazed." I had no idea he knew that word!

Also, after Sunday school one day he talked about Joseph's brothers and how they threw him into a pit. When I asked him why they did this he said "Because they were envious." I asked him if he knew what that meant and he said "Yes, it means they were jealous." - smart boy!


And last but not least, here is a picture of my little handsome man. Isaac is 3-1/2 months old now, and he ROLLED OVER yesterday for the first time! From belly to back, it was so cute. I can't believe my baby is having such milestones already. He is such a happy baby, so content and always has smiles to give.

Weight gain

It's not too often I get excited about weight GAIN, except when it comes to my baby - Isaac has gained 7 ounces in the last week! That's awesome and at the top end of the range he should have gained...schweew!! All the extra effort/feedings in the last week have paid off :)

So, I'm going to cut out the middle of the night feeding, it will be nice to get my sleep again. Then we'll be back to the doc in two weeks for his 4 month well check and see how he's gaining then. It's nice to know that I CAN do this...that WE can do this. Formula is just fine, but I'm hoping to breastfeed for a while yet. Isaac has also been sick with a cold (stuffy nose and a cough), but he's a tough little boy!

I've also been sick all week...a bad cold, achy, and really worn out. Too bad I don't get 'sick days' from my job. It's been a tough last couple of weeks with all the sicknesses going through the house. Hopefully we'll all be well soon!

On the mend

Charlotte had NO fever yesterday and no Motrin/Tylenol for the first day in a week!! The doc on Friday said it likely WAS bacterial since the fever lasted for so many days, and the antibiotic just took longer to work since the infection was so severe. Poor little girl! She's doing much better now, still a little wiped out and a horrible cough, but she's on the mend :)

Still sick

Back to the doctor today for a checkup for Charlotte. She's still had a fever on and off...104 degrees this morning. They did x-rays again today and the pneumonia seems to be getting a little better (area is smaller on the x-ray). She still isn't eating much, and is feeling pretty yucky - as measured by her crankiness. We're still monitoring her temperature around the clock, and she's still watching lots of Scooby-Doo. We're just happy to see the small incremental improvements we're seeing!

I had Isaac's weight checked this morning as well...and he's not gaining weight as he should. He only gained 3 ounces in 11 days, and he should have gained at least 5-6 ounces. So it's probably going to mean waking him up once at night and making sure he eats more often during the day. Back to the doc in a week for a weight check for him and hopefully he'll have gained more then!

God has blessed us with so much, and we know He's taking care of us now even when things aren't perfect. We still have so much to be thankful for!

107 degrees

What, you may ask, am I referring to with 107 degrees?? I'll tell you...Charlotte's temperature this morning when she woke up...107.6 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact. Off to the ER we went. After blood draws, x-rays, urine tests, etc, we found out she has pneumonia.

Two shots of rocephin (antibiotic), a long talk with the doc on exactly how to manage her temp, and we went home. She's cranky, and HOT...her fever doesn't seem to go down much even with all the meds...usually down to only 103 degrees or so. We've got a prescription antibiotic for her, even though they speculate it's viral...it can't hurt to try and see if it helps.

There are a couple of things that help her feel better...her blanket and watching Scooby-Doo. We just hope and pray her little body stays strong and fights this off soon!

Oh yeah, have I mentioned I'm sick of Scooby-Doo????

Just for fun

Why oh why can't ONE of my kids look more like me than their Daddy?? :)

Isaac @ 3 months

Here's my handsome baby boy at three months old already!! He's starting to think about rolling over, tries desperately to suck his thumb, and loves to babble and blow raspberries. He's finally mastered falling asleep in his crib and takes all his naps there now. He loves to watch Mason and Charlotte and always smiles when he sees them, which just melts my heart. He sleeps about 9-10 hours at night, and is generally a very happy boy.

He's 15-1/2 pounds and 26 inches long. Time is just going by so fast!

If you give a Mom a muffin

A friend sent this to me...I've no idea who wrote it, but it's so perfect :)

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin
She'll want a strong cup of coffee to go with it,
She'll make herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up.
While wiping the floor she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the box of Goodwill items.
Bumping into the Goodwill items will remind her that she has to get these boxes out of her basement and into the car.
When she puts the boxes in the car, she'll find a bag of groceries and this will remind her she has to cook dinner.
She will get out the chicken defrosting in the fridge.
She'll look for her cookbook, "101 Things To Do With Chicken"
The cookbook will be sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the Netflix movie she's meant to send back and the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
The checkbook will be in her purse that is being dumped out by her one-year-old.
As she bends down to rescue her purse, she'll smell something funny. She'll change the baby's diaper.
While she is throwing away the diaper and searching for the hand sanitizer,the phone will ring.
Her three-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to call a friend - not for coffee, but for a very strong drink.
Thinking of drinking will remind her that she was going to have a cup of coffee in order to stay awake for the rest of the day. And chances are....If she finds her cup of coffee (which she has to reheat by now),

Her children will have eaten the muffin that goes with it.

Cute cousins

Here's a pic of Joseph and Isaac...maybe we should have named them David and Goliath?

Actually, I'm sure in a year's time Joseph will probably tower over Isaac :)

Apple orchard fun

Here's some pics of our trip to the apple orchard. It was nice to go early this year...the last couple years we went late and it was freezing cold and there were no pumpkins left! This year we had our choice of pumpkins and went on a wagon ride. The kids got to pet animals, climb the hay bales, and taste apples. Fun stuff! :)

Grandma & Grandpa Z's visit :)

Grandma and Grandpa Z. visited a couple weekends ago and we're so glad they came! The kids had a lot of fun with them. Mason and Charlotte loved to climb up on the couch and snuggle with Grandma and Grandpa, and Isaac loved to snuggle with Grandma and smile at her!

We went to the apple orchard with them too...see the post above :)

Grandma & Grandpa, we're thrilled you came to visit and we can't wait to see you again soon!

Motherhood

Motherhood Is a Life of Commitment and Fulfillment

As a child grows, a mother does, too.

She discovers that motherhood is not the
whole of who she is, but it is an integral
part. She will never be who she was
before her child was born, and she
wouldn't want to be.

She learns that love requires not only hugs
and smiles, but also firmness and
discipline. It means saying "no" and
keeping to it, even though a part of her
always longs to say "yes."

She learns that this little being who is part
of her is also separate from her, as well.
A daughter has a will of her own. A son
can say "no" as firmly as his mother
can -- and mean it!

And through the ebb and flow of life, as
years pass by, both parent and child
draw near and pull away, laugh and
cry, remember and dream.

Motherhood is a willing sacrifice, a
fulfillment, a never-ending task, and a
limitless love.

- Pamela Koehlinger

First day of school

Yesterday Charlotte had her very first day of preschool, and Mason is starting his second year of preschool! They were SO excited to go to school together, even though they, of course, aren't in the same class. They had so much fun - my babies are getting so BIG!

Here's a couple pictures of them, the first one in front of their 'big red bus' :)

My boys

Mason LOVES to hold Isaac...and apparently, Isaac likes it too :)

Grandma and Papa

Grandma and Papa were here visiting last week. It's always nice to have them here, and their visit went by way too fast!

Papa helped us get the new diswasher and microwave installed (not as easy as it sounds!), fixed the leak under the kitchen sink, as well as a few other odd projects around the house. Matt and Mark also had an interesting fishing excursion on the Mississippi :)

Barb and I were able to get out shopping a couple of times and I managed to get the kids all the new clothes/shoes they'll need for fall. It's amazing how much they grew over the summer!

Thanks for coming to visit, Grandma and Papa...come again soon!

Quarry Hill

We went to the Quarry Hill Nature Center on Saturday with the kids. We went on a LONG hike, and the kids did pretty good! Here's some of what we saw on the way, and you can see Charlotte Rose was pretty tired by the time we finished (yes...she's sucking her thumb while on Daddy's shoulders!) and Mason took a 4 hour nap that afternoon.

Mason loved the cave, and it was pretty neat. We'll have to go back sometime when it's open and we can get a tour!