Boy Scout Camp

Austin went to Boy Scout Camp last week for the entire week. He loved it and had a lot of fun! He got to participate in swimming, first aid, and Trail to Eagle, which is learning about basics for Boy Scouts and “tying knots” (according to Austin). We went for Parent’s Night on Wednesday night and had a very eventful dinner with him. While waiting to get into the dining hall, we noticed three (!!!) dead bats by the door. I HATE bats! Then, they served “Chicken on the Bone” (which if you know me, is just DISGUSTING, in my so humble opinion). I did TRY to eat a piece, but it quickly got the best of me and I handed it over to Steve…I just couldn’t do it. Then, halfway through dinner, a bat started flying around, right near our table. Ugh! I don’t know how he survived all week, but I wouldn’t have been able to! Then Austin took me to his campsite. He thought it would be a great idea to go across a swinging bridge (I also hate bridges and have an extreme fear of heights) and take the long way to his site. That took us a while. Then I noticed that a lot of people were meeting us when we were almost to camp, who left after us. Austin said they took the big hill and I probably wouldn’t want to do that. I told him I’d try on the way back. Needless to say, that took mere minutes compared to the other way. Now I know which way to go next year! But I did get a nice tour of the campgrounds, so it wasn’t all bad.Friday Steve heard someone’s pager at work (a volunteer firefighter/EMT) go off saying “the grass fire at Camp Ingawanis is under control.” So Steve thought it would be a good idea to tell me about this. My first concern was “is Austin OK??” Then, our next concern (and Steve’s first) was “did Austin start it??” He got home late Friday night (11:30) and didn’t even mention it! We had to ask him about it and he said someone’s rocket had started on fire while in air and started a fire in a nearby field. No big deal to him!The babies are still doing fantastic! Nathanial is REALLY trying to crawl…it’s making me VERY nervous! He can get almost anywhere he wants to be by pushing off of his feet and legs. I am sooo not ready for this! Ethan now has both his bottom teeth in and Nathanial woke up the other morning with TWO new teeth, both bottom, both appearing at the same time! He really did well with it. Poor Noah has been teething the longest and still has no teeth to show for it! Poor little fella! We also moved the babies into their own cribs last week. I expected Nathanial to have the hardest time out of all of them. I was wrong. Ethan has had the hardest time adjusting. He cries a little every time he goes down, but I have discovered that if I remember to turn his light and music on, he does OK. They all snuggle up to the side rails to comfort themselves, I think. It has gone better than I expected though!I took their “five” month pictures (just a little late!) and added them to www.dropshots.com/5boysmom, if you want to check them out! They didn't turn out terrific, but it is what it is! They are getting way too antsy to get good shots anymore! I added other pictures, also, of lots of different things!That’s it for now! They go for their SIX month visit August 6 (I think!). I cannot believe they are that old! Austin has fair and shows his rabbits August 3. He gets his photography and Consumer Savvy judged on July 31. So I will update for that, also.

Vacation Updates

Well, we are home from our trip to my sister’s. We all had a great time and are so glad we did it. We can’t wait to do it again! As always, there are pictures on www.dropshots.com/5boysmom.We arrived last Saturday afternoon. We had lunch with a friend on Saturday. It was nice to catch up and visit. We hadn’t seen each other in a while. It’s amazing how busy lives can get! Then we arrived at Shawna’s later in the day. We spent the rest of the time relaxing. Sunday we relaxed and didn’t do a whole lot either, although the kids had a lot of fun! We had mom and Granny and Grandpa Charlie over for supper and got to visit with them. Ethan bit Granny on the shoulder and she yelped and said he had a tooth. I didn’t believe it, but on closer inspection, he does! He got the first tooth!! On his left bottom. So cute! It also explained why he was so owly at bedtime the night before and wouldn't take his nap that day!Monday we went to the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque with my mom. Our kids love going there. The kids loved all the fish, the otters, the boats they got to control, and the William M Black. It’s neat for my kids to be able to tour the Black. When I was growing up, it was only open for school tours. We went every year, but that was pretty much the only way on. Now it is open year round as part of the museum. They also all got to touch a stingray. That was fascinating. Then they felt all sorts of odd little shelled fish things. If Austin was here, he could tell me what they were, but he’s not and I can’t remember. Even Noah and Ethan got a chance. Noah stared at it and found it fascinating. Ethan looked at it, but didn’t get too close to it. Emma was hesitant at first, but then touched them. Cael also touched them. Then in the afternoon, we went to the pool in Dubuque. That was very refreshing, as it was really hot!Tuesday we went to the Madison Zoo with my dad. That was really nice. The kids had a great time. We didn’t get through the whole thing…I think it was my first time ever not getting through it all in one day!! We kept getting stopped for everyone to see the babies. I felt like we should set up a side attraction, one day only! Oh, well…I don’t really mind and people love to see them. It just forces me out of my comfort zone a tad, but Steve and I are starting to believe that was God’s ultimate plan in giving us triplets! Aidan LOVED the goats. I could not get him away! He has always loved goats and he wasn’t about to leave them before he absolutely had to. Austin, as always, was the perfect tour guide and could tell us almost anything about any animal. We then headed home to grill out and Dad was going to stay longer, but there was a thunderstorm warning and he had his Harley, so he had to get going while the going was good!Wednesday (the Fourth) we went to Steve’s sister’s for Troy and Shane’s birthday. Aidan loves to see Shane, so he was excited. They played a really neat game and had fun with that. Aidan searched for the fish and figured out how to turn off Sue’s fountain so he could see them. We were ALL happy to see Daddy that day. Then we went to my mom’s for supper and got to visit with Granny and Grandpa Charlie again, plus my brother.Thursday we had a relaxing day again, which was nice. We made necklaces and just had fun. Friday we went to get pictures done for my mom and my dad, plus our grandparents. It was quite an undertaking, with seven kids (six of whom are under the age of 4!!), but it was nice to get everyone’s picture taken together. We ended up with some cute pictures. I hope they like them! Then we went to the pool again that afternoon for a while. My mom and brother and his friend came up to visit that night also. Saturday was my step-mom’s family reunion so we went to that for a while. It was another hot, hot day, so they kids had fun in the fountain. It used to be an actual little wading pool, till there was a little e-coli scare. Now it is just a faint spray fountain. It doesn’t matter to the kids, though! Then we headed home after a long week and we were so excited to be home again and see Daddy! The babies started solid food!! They were really ready, so we did it. I started them on sweet potatoes because our grocery store was out of avacados. But, today I got some avacados, squash, and more sweet potatoes. I made two huge sweet potatoes yesterday, but they are eating way more than I realized! So I am back to making a ton of baby food. They appeared to like it! We also separated them into their own cribs. While at Shawna’s, Noah was in his own pack and play and he did awesome. We thought we would continue when we got home and try Nathanial and Ethan separate, also. I really thought I would have the most trouble with Nathanial, but that was not the case. Ethan has had the hardest time and has been crying at night for a couple of minutes when he is first put in, then he stops and all is well and he sleeps good the rest of the night. Austin headed to Boy Scout Camp yesterday after church for a week. He comes home Saturday. I hope he is having fun! I know he was really excited to go. I’m just nervous for him! We get to go to parent’s night on Wednesday, so we do get to see him a little. I’m sure he’ll be so busy and have so much fun he won’t even miss us!Tomorrow, Austin, Troy, and Shane show, so we are going to the Delaware county fair. So Steve won’t work then, either. I survived my first trip with all five boys alone and actually enjoyed myself! It was great to get away and not have to worry about what time Steve would be home. And I am sure it was nice for him to not have to feel guilty about working late. He even took off yesterday for us! He brought home work, but he was here!

We have been trying for another baby with medical help since November 2005 and since Aidan was born on our own. In November, my doctor didn’t seem very positive. He did a suppression cycle and then we began medication in January. We had six IUI’s prior to returning back to Iowa City’s infertility clinic in the end of May. Since we know what worked with Aidan, we started the same protocol immediately. Then began the nightmare of injections, ultrasounds, and blood tests. On June 14, we went in for our IUI. Everything looked great, except one number. The nurse who did it said that with that one number being a little low, the pregnancy rate dropped drastically, so this cycle would not count towards our total of four. So we tried not to get our hopes up, but she still gave us some hope.We went about our “normal” lives for the next two weeks and went on vacation. I was exhausted and moody, but figured it was just PMS.On June 28, I went to Allen in Waterloo at 8:30 a.m. to get our hCG blood draw, so I could go off the progesterone and start everything all over again…so convinced was I that it did not work. I waited and waited and waited, and finally, at 5:30, the nurse from the clinic called. The number was 196…an excellent number that meant I was, indeed, pregnant!!! I was so excited and couldn’t believe it. I asked her three times if she was sure she had the right person and even took a home test at 3:15 a.m. to be positive it was correct. We are now waiting to go in for our first ultrasound on July 20, which will be seven weeks. That will check to make sure the baby has a heartbeat, and with a number like 196, to see if there is possibly more than one! There were three really nice follicles, so technically, there could be three babies, but we highly doubt it. They don’t think my one side works very well and on the side that does work, it only had one follicle. I guess only time will tell.Please keep me and this baby and our family in prayers these next few weeks and months. We can use every prayer we get…it has worked several times and it will work again! God is Great!!!