Seven Months!!

I cannot believe that Hannah is seven months old! I'm actually a tad late in this one, because she was seven months old a couple of weeks ago. I was trying to get the perfect picture of her, and it wasn't working, so I'm going with this one. I actually love this picture of her - just don't particularly care for the background! Oh, well...

Hannah now sits up all on her own and talks, talks, talks nonstop (hmmmm....wonder where she got that from???). She adores her brothers and cannot get enough of them. I believe if she would stay on her tummy for any period of time (she hates it), she would be crawling. She can get up on all fours and she scoots around in circles and scoots backwards. She is starting to inch forward - army style - also. Wow - not too sure I really want her mobile just yet!!

She is a very happy baby. She loves to smile at people, be held, and she loves to giggle. She is so much fun and adds so much joy to our family!

Hannah is now on Prevacid and is on a slightly higher dose right now to help her, but will go back down to regular dose next week. We have also put her crib mattress at a 30 degree incline. This seems to be helping a bit in the beginning of the night and she if finally sleeping a tad better. She now goes down for the night around 8:00 - 8:30 and stays there until about 12:30 - 1. Then she's up every two hours, but I'm happy she has one longer stretch. She absolutely refuses to take a nap during the day still. I wish she would sleep just a little more.

Her weight gain is still slow. She was weighed again on Monday and she weighed 12 pounds, 5 ounces. So she gained five ounces in a month. She seems like she gained much more than that, but she didn't. Dr. B said that she needed to weigh 13 1/2 pounds to be at the 3rd percentile and she is nowhere near that. I am supposed to take her in again in two weeks for another weight check and then I guess we go from there...I don't really know. With her labs all being well within normal ranges and doing well developmentally, I honestly am not at all concerned. She is petite and I really think she's just going to remain tiny. Some children just simply are smaller.

Hannah and I are going away this weekend for the whole weekend. We are going to Women of Faith. I am so excited!! I haven't been since I was pregnant with the triplets and it will be so nice for a break from everything at home. Please keep Steve in prayer for a smooth weekend - poor guy even has to brave church alone on Sunday! He will do great - he is an awesome dad and already spends a lot of time with them alone. I just know that by 5 (and sometimes sooner!), I am soooo ready for a break I cannot wait for him to get home. I am so thankful he recognizes how much I need this time to "recharge" and that he is willing and brave enough to do this for me!!

Random Picture Challenge

2002 July

or

8th folder - closest to July

25th picture

This is July, but definitely not 2002 (Aidan, Emma, and Cael would be missing!). My pictures don't go back that far, so I went back to the farthest July, which is 2007. We were at the Madison Zoo with Chris, Shawna, and their kids, and Dad and Pam. It was a great day and a lot of fun! This was taken near the end of the day, so everyone was tired.

Praying for Stellan

Today we are wearing orange for Stellan as we remember him in our prayers. Please remember to say many prayers for Stellan today as he endures heart surgery for SVT.

Random Picture Challenge

April 2008

42nd Picture

This is why I love these challenges. I had almost completely forgotten about this - already! (Another reason why I even keep this blog in the first place...) I think this is Nathanial. I studied the pictures around it and I am pretty sure it is, but not 100% positive. In other pictures, it sure looks like his expressions. But in this picture, it looks a lot like Ethan. I'm assuming it's Nathanial, though. They were so funny. They had a love/hate relationship with the pickles. They wanted to love them, but they really didn't. All three continued to suck on them, but not a single one ate it!

Baptism, Easter, Everything

On Good Friday, I was baptized. It was the most amazing experience of my life and I would highly recommend all believers do it. I was baptized at a week old and confirmed at 16, but it was not by my "choice," it was more about something that you did because it was expected of you. When I was born again eight years ago, it was something I gave a passing thought to but not much more than that. The church we were in didn't really encourage it and didn't do them often. As the years have gone by, I have felt a stronger and stronger desire to do so. Our pastor offered to do them on Good Friday and so I did.

I have been attacked by Satan before, but this was a whole new level. When I was going to the meeting on the Sunday before, I literally passed the church and said to myself "I really don't need to do this." Thankfully, by the time I turned the corner, I realized what was going on and went in the other entrance. Then for the next five days, I doubted my decision and became increasingly more nervous with each passing day. Of course Satan was on the attack - and I was letting him!

We do not have a baptistery in our church, so we went to the Baptist church to use theirs. (It's a little chilly in Iowa in April to be doing them outside.) When we arrived, we went upstairs and our Pastor came up to talk to us. I admitted how nervous I had been all week - and was relieved to hear him say he was also. There were three of us being baptized and we were all ready for it.

I had the most indescribable feeling when being submerged...it is something I wish I could explain but I really can't put it into words. I could literally feel the Holy Spirit enter in a way I had never in my life felt before. I have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit often - sometimes more than others - and I know that He is always there. But I actually felt a breath come from somewhere breaths do not come from...especially under water! And the peace I have felt since has been unbelievable. I am so thankful now that I did it. [In case you are wondering, I forgot my camera - so no pictures, sorry!]

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We took the kids on the Easter Basket hunt downtown on Saturday. That was an experience that I wish I wouldn't have to do again, but I know I will do it all over again next year. In our town, you receive your ticket with your number and then "search" the businesses for your basket. Noah was pitching a fit and he got the first basket. Ethan's was the second basket and Nathanial was still OK. Aidan found the third basket and about that time, Nathanial had had enough. He was honked off that he didn't have one and didn't understand we were still searching for it. Finally, we found his and then Ethan was upset because he didn't get to go in with us (I took each child in individually to get their baskets). We came home, they ate almost all their candy, and then we went to an Easter Egg hunt. We had much more fun there. The boys kind of looked for eggs, but had more fun playing than anything. We all had a good time!

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On Sunday, we got up early for Sunrise Service at church. The youth group did a few skits and they were all great. They did the most powerful presentation of the "Everything" skit (by Lifehouse - this is not our church's skit). I believe it was better than anything I have ever seen online - they did awesome. We then had a fantastic breakfast and Sunday School and then our regular service. Which was also so very moving. It was an awesome, awesome day filled with thanksgiving to the One who saved me from the pits of hell. I absolutely love Easter - it is my favorite holiday. I feel it gets way too commercialized (like every other holiday), but it really doesn't have to. We had a wonderful morning in church and our kids didn't even miss looking for eggs. I was glad we had done the activities on Saturday, because it meant we could totally focus on Jesus' sacrifice and His resurrection 100% on Sunday. I am so very thankful for Jesus and what He did - for ME. And for YOU. He did it for ALL of His children. I cannot even begin to imagine allowing my child to suffer so brutally and be convicted so wrongly for someone else's wrong. I go to bat for Austin all the time and am infuriated when he is wrongly accused. And, yet, this is exactly what God has done through Jesus Christ for each and every one of His children - so that he can have a relationship with you and I. I just cannot put the gratitude I feel into words. I read a fantastic blog about Easter and I cannot even begin to be as eloquent as she was, I highly recommend all read this post.

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I hope that you all had a very blessed lent, Holy Week, and Easter!

Players Back

Somehow, when I gave the blog a facelift, my music player got removed. Hmmm....

I didn't have time until just recently to redo the code, so I just got to it. It's back. As usual, I update it often just to keep it "fresh" and depending on my mood. Also, if you don't want to listen to it, you can pause it (it is set to just start when you get to the page). It's at the bottom and you just push the little pause button. Or, if you're like me, you will purposely jack up your volume and jam out while going about your day! Either way....

Hannah Update

Hannah had her labs drawn on Friday and she was a trooper. She is so nosy and that paid off big time - she was so fascinated by what he was doing, that she forgot or didn't notice that it was "supposed" to hurt, she didn't even cry. Of course, she had the very best drawing her labs, so that helped immensely, also. He improvised a little baby tourniquet because the regular one was way huge, found a tiny vein, and went for it.

We had the results by Friday afternoon and everything looks fantastic. Even her iron is at a really good level. Now, I would just like to point something out here. The triplets were on iron fortified formula by the time we drew their iron - and their iron was low enough to warrant being on an iron supplement. Hannah is not receiving any vitamins and is only getting breastmilk and her iron was perfect. A few are concerned she is malnourished why??? Actually, I don't think that he thinks she is malnourished at all - I just think he's looking for an underlying cause to her petite-ness (is that a word?) and I really believe it's just genetics. It just felt really good to hear that even her iron was well within normal ranges - I totally expected that to be low.
When the nurse called me to let me know that her labs were fine, I said 'Yes' (because I expected that) and she repeated it. Like I might not totally grasp that I was supposed to be so very relieved. I don't think she understood I was never worried about it and knew they were going to be fine.

We are having some major difficulties getting the urine sample. I have been through three bags - which do not have near enough sticky on them for little girls. It was a task getting it for Austin when he was that age, but at least it was a little easier. Plus, I am learning, girls do not piddle when the cold air hits them. They actually need to go in order to do so. I have also tried letting her hang out with no diaper, cup at the ready, to just try to "catch" it and that's not working. She sits really well for about an hour and a half and then she has had it and wants to be covered up again. Unfortunately, on the occasions I have tried this, I must have just missed a piddle opportunity because we are now on day five and I still have no sample. I was starting to fret, but Dr. B said yesterday to keep trying, but if I can't get it, that's fine. Whew!

She has been taking the Prevacid since Friday. She does not like it. She makes a little noise and shakes from head to toe whenever she is given it. She doesn't spit it out, thankfully. The triplets loved it, so this is surprising to me. So far, it hasn't made a huge difference, but she did sleep for about three hours at night, so maybe it is. I just wish she would sleep more....

Hannah goes back in at the end of the month to be weighed again and then we will see where to go from there, I guess. Hopefully, she'll gain more weight! She still isn't getting food on a regular basis - only about two or three times a week - but Dr. B said that was fine. She loves avocados and sweet potatoes!

Random Picture Challenge

This week's challenge:

February 2008

33rd picture

I knew this one was going to be fun. I took tons of pictures of the triplets 1st birthday, which happened to be February 3. This one is of Noah enjoying his very first cake. Wow...did he ever LOVE that cake and make a HUGE mess! He was hilarious. He is in the middle of it here. You can see many more pictures of the monumental event here. It was an awesome day for the three of them. I still cannot believe they are two years old already!

Aidan

I feel like Aidan sometimes gets missed on the blog between Hannah's baby-ness, the triplets threesome-ness, and Austin's Asperger-ness so today's post is all about Aidan. I think he is also easy to overlook because I spend the most amount of time with him and he is always with me - my little shadow - so I really don't think about posting about him often. Sure, I hit the big milestones, but not the every day with him. For that, I am truly sorry, and I hope I can make it up to him with today's post.

Aidan is so funny. He loves to tell jokes and laughs and laughs at himself. He is so very loving. He loves to cuddle with me. He's very happy and easy. He is by far our easiest child. He can be challenging at times, like any five year old, but we have been very blessed by how easy going he is and how agreeable he is. And when he does get in trouble, he takes his punishment and gets over it very quickly. Whenever I need help, he is right there, ready and willing. Even when he is not willing, he still does what is asked of him - with no complaints. He is so patient and sensitive with those around him it's awesome to watch.

Aidan is an awesome big brother. He was only three and a half when the triplets were born. That is a big adjustment for anyone, but for a three year old to comprehend, it was almost impossible. Yet, he was so excited and he loved them from the first second. He plays with them and adores them and has done the same with Hannah. Watching him with his siblings is amazing to me. I can only imagine the awesome father he will someday make.

Aidan loves to be outside - it's his favorite place. He is so good at riding a scooter and does awesome on his big boy bike.

Aidan adores Austin - absolutely 100% wants to be Austin. Austin can be mean to him, but Aidan just gets right over it and still adores him. That kind of love is something that I believe can only exist between a big and little brother.

Aidan loves chicken nuggets and chocolate milk (he doesn't get it very often, though). He loves yogurt - he eats so much yogurt it's amazing!

Aidan does not like to wear clothes at all. He much prefers a pair of ratty old pajama bottoms. He has three pairs of them - they were all Austin's - and he wears them constantly. About the only time you see Aidan dressed is when we have to go somewhere. He also hates wearing shoes and much prefers being barefoot.

Aidan is a miracle. We prayed to be blessed by him for years and he has been such a blessing ever since I found out I was pregnant and when we got to see his tiny heart blip, blip, blipping away at seven weeks.

I pray Aidan will be known to you a little better by this post. He is such a complex and wonderful little boy - a blessing to everyone who knows him. We adore him.

"For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him."
1 Samuel 1:27