Ok, I know I said I wasn't gonna...

I was just going to update my post from a few days ago by adding a picture to it. But last night, Brandon and I went to visit our new nephew Levi, and he is, quite possibly, one of the cutest "not mine" babies I've seen in a long time! I'm glad we went to see him - we had sick kids so we left them home w/ Jason and blitzed up for an hour. BIL is so busy and between their family's schedule and ours, it was last night or most likely Thanksgiving!

A little update - he is doing just great. He looked a little bit yellow, but nothing worth worrying about. Mom is doing great. Her older kids are giving her a hard time about being "loopy" on her pain killers. This delivery was a repeat c/s. They did stay with the name Levi Daniel. It was funny holding him and realizing that what he weighed at 38wks is the exact same thing Joseph weighed at 35wks. And, it was funny...well, not really...to see him next to Joseph. You don't realize how fast your own children are growing when you see it happen a little bit each day.

Ok, Ok, enough rambling. Here are a few pictures I snapped with my cell phone. His hair is so yellow-blonde! Just an adorable baby!

See the links...

For the next few weeks I'm going to keep slipping reminders in here about the WalkAmerica fundraiser we're doing!

Over to the right >>>>>> I have added the links to all of the kids' sites. They are so excited about doing this and they LOVE to see their little ticker guy moving toward their goal. And the LOVE LOVE LOVE to read the words of encouragement that supporters are leaving for them. As their mother, I am so touched at the kindness of our family and friends who are helping them to be successful at this!! Thank you all!

Do overs!

Do you ever have one of THOSE days?
Today is my THAT day!!!!!!

I was driving home from dropping the kids off at school and was approaching a yellow light. "Hmmmm..." I think to myself... "I could probably make it..." But THANKFULLY I decided to just stop. I was close to home, the 30 seconds I would win by running the yellow weren't really going to make a big difference, so I stopped. Less than 10 seconds after I stopped, a high-speed chase blasted through the intersection. A big SUV closely followed by about 8 police cars! We probably would have made it through ahead of them ... but what if...*shudder*...what a blessing!

THEN...yes, there's more...we're safely home and I'm happy-homemakerly making dinner. Cleaning up my mess, I pushed a pan over toward the fish tank on the counter. I hit the very corner of the tank and BLOOOOSSHHHHHHHH...10 GALLONS of water, and rocks, and algae, and flippity-flopping fish all over my kitchen floor. It happened SO FAST! I just stood there watching it like it was slow-motion saying "No, no, no, no..." and still the water continued to flow!!

So what do I do? Reach for the phone and call Brandon, duh! I've handled kids needing stitches, alone. I dealt with a bird flying into our house, by myself (ok, I called my neighbor.) But 10 GALLONS of water...oye! I just stood there in the water and couldn't even decide what to do first. Towels! Mop! Dust pan! UGH!

Brandon got home and I heard Malorie say, "Hurry dad, go to the kitchen, mom has made a big mess. This is serious (thank you Wonder Pets)."

This is a pic of the water and rocks all over the floor - you really can't tell how much water there is...trust me, there was a LOT!



Here's the front of the tank - the whole front just blew out when I hit the corner...kind of impressive, in a not-so-much sorta way!



And this is the very corner where I bumped it with the pan - seriously, I just slid the pan over. No way would I have ever thought I could shatter a fish tank!

WalkAmerica!!

I warned you that this was coming! Our family is signed up as a team to walk for the March of Dimes in April! Each of my school aged children has their own site. To earn a T-Shirt, they each have to raise $200. So if you're inclined to donate, please check out the kids' sites first and maybe help boost whomever is behind. Thank you all so much! How great would it be if there were no longer any such things as preemies - just happy, healthy, full-term babies!!

Shiela's page http://http://www.walkamerica.org/FamiLee
Jason's page http://http://www.walkamerica.org/JasonKendall
Madilyn's page http://http://www.walkamerica.org/MadilynJoy
Jacob's page http://http://www.walkamerica.org/JacobRiley
Megan's page http://http://www.walkamerica.org/MeganAnne
Jared's page http://http://www.walkamerica.org/JaredMontgomery

It's touching to read their sites. And then you get to Jared, who flat out says, "I want a T-shirt." No guessing what that kid's motives are! LOL

We have a new cousin!

Levi Daniel (tentative name) was born this morning. He weighed 6lb 14oz and scored well on his apgars. Blonde hair and brown eyes - dad says, "Nothing out of the ordinary for us." He's joining 11 other siblings at home. We're so glad he's here and that mom did well through the c/s!

(If my MIL sends me a picture, I'll post it later...you'll have to just watch for it I guess.)

Too cute to pass up...

This normally isn't the kind of picutre I'd even take, let alone share with others. But it was so cute - these little girls do EVERYTHING together. So I was careful and tried to get everything that was private cut out of the picture before I took it. Hope nobody is offended by a skinny little bare bottom! LOL



Jaynie is doing so well with potty training. She's had accidents, but far fewer than any of my other children had when they trained. She's a natural, lol!

Color...

You saw the black and white version a couple of weeks ago - here they are in color. I'm so happy to have my wall updated! Whew! I'm going to start taking them in one at a time, on their birthdays, for updates from now on. Filing all 8 of them in at one time is getting to be an ordeal! lol

A busy weekend!

Joseph has been "scooching" for a week now. He would get up on his hands and knees, he'd rock back and forth, he'd even get a few actual "crawls" in before he'd hit his belly and lunge for his target! Well, as of this weekend, he's an official crawler! Full-on hands and knees! I can't believe he's 9 months old (20th). My goodness this boy has grown up fast!



And in addition to the good news of Joseph crawling, we have also declared Melanie to be official Potty-Trained!! She is 2.5yr - maybe I should have been a little more on-the-ball and trained her sooner...but I must say, she was the EASIEST child ever to train! (Ok, I'm sure the fact that if I'd waited much longer, she'd be applying for colleges may have had something to do with it!) She just gets it! I'm sure it helps that she and Malorie are, 99% of the time, joined at the hip. Any time Malorie goes in to the bathroom - so does Jaynie...and now she uses the potty chair while she's there instead of just tormenting Malorie! We're still using the Pull-Ups at night, but she has been dry almost every night. (Sorry, no video of Melanie's accomplishment!!) This has been a great weekend!

LOL - my twisted sense of humor

I am pretty sure I've shared my other favorite AFV clip before (Dancing Machine). I think this one I'm going to show right now takes it's place. I have laughed so hard at this video I have cried! It's one you have to watch more than once. The second, third, etc time you watch, listen to the camera man laughing in the background! This is SO something I could see happening at one of our family get-togethers!



Adding Dancing Machine, simply b/c it's still a favorite!

Dancing Machine

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Sisters!

I love watching my three babies playing together during the day. Since it's just them, they don't get stuck playing what the older kids want to play.

Yesterday I found Malorie and Melanie sharing the joys of Littlest Pet Shop with Joseph. He was loving every minute of the attention. The girls were thrilled to have someone playing LPS with them who wouldn't take the panda away! (Apparently the panda is the favorite among my older kids!)

Our friend had her baby...

Ok, I realize this isn't about OUR family...but kind of it is! lol We've been swamped with so much good baby news lately, I just had to share!

First off, Benjamin Douglas B was born on Tuesday evening. He was 8 pounds 7 ounces, and was 20 inches long. Congratulations Lauren, Doug & Charlotte!



We also received news this week that our friends' daughter, who had be diagnosed with cancer this fall (at 18'ish months), was found to have ZERO cancer in or on her bones at her last scan. She does still have the tumor in her neck which they will operate to remove in another month...but the cancer being gone is a miracle. Things looked so grim just a few weeks ago. This dear family is so deserving of this miracle. We are praying that they will be able to remove the tumor without incident and this little girl will be able to lead a normal life!

And finally, my two sister's in law are doing well. L is scheduled for a c/s on the 24th (38wk). She's had to endure weekly NST, but her doctor says things look good. M's doctor told her to hold out one more week and then if she went in to labor he wouldn't stop her. Her EDD is a week after L's.

What a bunch of BABIES!!! We're so happy for all of these families!

This and that...

Here are a few pictures I took of the family last night at Malorie's party...just so you can see how fast my little family is growing up - darn it!

Four years ago, right now...

I've been saying that for 2 days now - it was four years ago that I went in to pre-term labor with Malorie. And "four years ago, right now, I was having my little girl via emergency c-section. I'd link you to my birthstory, but I think it's one of those things that only the mom enjoys year after year after year! lol

My little preemie, my first preemie (I never saw THAT coming), is 4 years old today! What a love for life she has! Happy Birthday Malorie Elizabeth!!

Then...


Now...