September

Luke's rhyme from kindergarten: We will always remember all of the fun that we had in the month of September.

Near completion of the kitchen (painted, flooring, cabinets, granite, lighting)

Getaway weekend to Door County to celebrate Matt's 40th birthday and our 15th anniversary. Stayed in a room next door to porn stars.

Julia's second sinus surgery for September 27 cancelled (clear sinus CT in early September got her off the hook for now)

Decided to keep Julia out of school for a while to see if we can give her a chance to avoid some illnesses and stay healthier

Alex's sets up spy network to make sure Luke gets away with nothing at school

Alex is very independent with school. Usually does his homework first thing when he gets home from school. Reads at bedtime. Seems to be developing a liking for reading. No complaints about his teacher (Mrs. Wierzbicki). Overall seems to be a good school year so far.

Alex rides his bike to school for the first time (with Austin and Sam).

Best friends still Jacob Amidon and Matthew Benedum, but spending lots of time with Austin after school.

Alex took Cooper to the dog park with Matthew and his family.

Luke shows us he is quite an artist, taking time to make all of his coloring superneat

At the start of the second full week of school, Luke said, "I can't wait for Christmas vacation. I need a break that is longer than two days."

Erica successfully becomes a "Kool Kid" - the night before her first day in Kool Kids, she said, "I am a little scared to be a Kool Kid because one of the girls going to Kool Kids was crying today. But, I won't cry." She hasn't had any problems.

Her first 4K friend - Kyle Slavik. Nearly every day she comes home on the 4K bus, she is in the front seat behind the driver sitting with Kyle and Heather. Even with a nearly empty bus, they sit three in a seat, and Erica is usually by the window or in the middle even though she's the first one off.

Added Julie to Julia's nursing team.

Did I Really Just Hear That?

Tonight we went to Appleby's for dinner since it's Matt's birthday. The kids were really wired. Seems Grandpa and Grandma withheld food today, and they were starved and acting crazy. Just before our food arrived, the waiter brought us all some water. Alex said we had more volume of water on the table than we would have food. Luke then spits out one of his famous and hilarious one-liners..."That's okay, we'll just load our penises and jet-pack home."

Where does that kid come up with this stuff???

It's Not Fair

I know it's not healthy to be in the 'It's not fair' line, but this week I've been throwing a little pity party for myself. It almost seems backwards since Julia's been having a really good string of days, but I have been in a foul mood. At this moment in time, I am just plain fed up. I don't want Julia to have to do extra nebulizer treatments each day, be on a heavy duty oral antibiotic and have another sinus surgery - all to resolve a problem we thought we fixed with the sinus surgery in May. Enough already. Especially since each of these treatment options comes at a price. The topical antibiotic/nebulizer treatments are difficult to administer and expensive. The Zyvox was hard to find and the dosage was wrong - pharmacist Mommy figured it out after two pharmacists and the doctor missed the dosing error. And we have to do bloodwork to make sure her platelets are okay. Another sinus surgery...ugh. Not to mention, we need to do another CT scan prior to surgery. Lately it seems I spend most days that I am not working either at Children's or on the phone with Children's. It is exhausting to keep up with all of the medical stuff. And, if truth be told, I am tired of having a nurse in our home every weekday. We completely appreciate all of the help they give us, but some days I just want to hang out in my jammies or act silly with my kids or read a book without feeling weird. Privacy. Down time. Family time. I miss those things.

Okay, I know it's time for the pity party to come to an end. Because as we've learned during these last eight and a half years, the 'It's not fair' line doesn't move. So, it's best to just move on. After all, I don't see Julia complaining, and she's the one who is most entitled to it. I guess it's time to go back to doing a gratitude journal again. Counting my blessings is sure to get me in a better mood, isn't it?

Peaceful Shower...NOT

This morning while I was in the shower, Erica came in crying and upset because Luke had locked her out of the other bathroom. Two minutes later, she came back even more upset because Luke was going to put her in the toilet. Compassionate mommy that I am, I told her to stop being upset since Luke was obviously just teasing her since she wouldn't even fit in the toilet. Then, she asked for a hug, which is always her request when she's really distraught - even if she's mad at me, she still requests a hug. I guess it's a really good thing that a hug can usually fix the problem. But, every so often, a little privacy and peace while I'm in the shower would be refreshing.

Suite 1101

It has been a long week. Preceded by a long winter. This winter has been a long, hard learning experience for us. Julia has had back-to-back-to-back sinus infections. We've been working with an ENT for the last couple of months (Dr. Sulman, who is an AWESOME addition to Julia's team). She started us with 4 weeks of antibiotics. Followed by a CT scan. Followed by 4 more weeks of antibiotics. Followed by a week of clarythromycin. Followed by an ambulance ride. Followed by six days at Children's. Followed by a 3-hour sinus surgery. Followed by at least two weeks of Vancomycin IV antibiotics.

The nearly week-long stay at the hospital was spent in the penthouse suite - the largest room on the top floor of patient rooms. Beautiful room, huge bathroom, and just not home. Bad bed, no sleep, lots of stress, beeping machines. Quiet time, great views, no cooking, reading books. Not-so-great nurses, PICC line, CT scan, postponed surgery. Healthier, happier Julia. And, it is so good to be on the other side of this challenge. Even though the last couple of weeks have been filled with stress and roadblocks, we are so hopeful that the payoff is going to be huge - we're getting our happy, spunky, sassy girl back again, and it is so nice.

So, even though life doesn't always seem fair, right now it feels so good. We have so much to be grateful for. Seems to me I got the best birthday gift I could have hoped for this year. And, the long road getting here makes it so much sweeter.

Luke Says the Darndest Things

About 3 weeks ago, Luke had to have a talk with the principal. On the bus ride to school, he called one of his 4K buddies a jackass. He seemed to think that was okay since his buddy called him a fat shark. To really top things off, the bus driver asked Alex to take Luke to the principal's office. Alex, who has never had to visit the principal himself, thought this was the best thing to ever happen at school. Should we be worried that Luke had his first trip to the principal's office while still in 4K?

Luke also has some girlfriends already. A few days ago, he told me he wanted to kiss Kina. I told him he was too young to be thinking about kissing girls. He responded that he would have to kiss her when they got married. I told him that wouldn't be for a long time. He said, "You mean like 50 years?" I'm not sure he will be able to wait that long since Ethan also wants to marry Kina. Luke seems to think he has the advantage over Ethan since: 1 - he's older than Ethan and 2 - he sits closer to Kina on the carpet (at least until they got new spots). But, Kina's not the only girl that boy has on his list. He also likes Kayla (he made sure to buy her a candy bar for her birthday with his own money), Hana (much older woman at age 12) - and, of course, Mom and Grandma!

27 Things I've Learned as a Mother

1. It is possible to have toys creep into every single nook and cranny of your house.
2. You can never take too many pictures.
3. Time goes by faster as your kids get older.
4. Some of the best memories come from the silly everyday moments.
5. It is possible to love your kids so much that it hurts.
6. Little things, like a Dora toothbrush or a trip to the library, can make a big difference.
7. Your kids appreciate you even if they don't always tell you so.
8. It's not always easy to get your kids to eat healthy food, but it is completely possible.
9. Sometimes it's nice to buy a friend a chocolate bar for their birthday...and get one for yourself.
10. Boring is not always a bad thing.
11. Belly kisses are hysterical.
12. It is possible to love all of your kids equally, yet completely differently.
13. Boys and girls are wired differently.
14. The best knock knock jokes have a punchline that makes absolutely no sense.
15. Simple is often better.
16. Ice cream is always a good thing.
17. Little kids are really smart if you just pay attention.
18. I have lots more patience than I ever would have guessed.
19. It is possible to lose your mind on a daily basis and still function.
20. It doesn't pay to worry about things that might not ever happen.
21. Play Doh is a lot of fun, but makes a big mess.
22. Naps make the day go better.
23. A fart by any other name is still a fart, and it will make kids laugh.
24. You can't live vicariously through your kids, but it's great to look at life through the eyes of a child every once in a while.
25. Love will give you the strength to do things you never would have guessed you would be able to do.
26. Grocery shopping can count as a date - even as a fun date, especially if you thrown in lunch at Noodles or Panera Bread.
27. Dirty laundry will multiply if it's left alone in a dark room.

Crazy Girls? I Like Crazy Girls!

Two weeks ago, Erica was just starting to get really sick with viral bronchitis. It was eight o'clock on a Monday night, and Matt and I were just getting ready to watch some grown-up TV. Erica was upset and coughing so hard she threw up. After she started to settle down, I told her she could snuggle with me while we watched The Bachelor. To explain, I said "The Bachelor is a show where a bunch of crazy girls are all after the same guy." She paused for a split second and said, "Crazy girls? I like crazy girls."

A week later, we were loading up to take Julia to yet another doctor appointment. Erica sat in the back, Julia and Christa sat in the middle and I was driving. Then, Erica informs us that we are just like the crazy girls all riding on that bus. Um, yeah, it kind of was just like that - the bachelorettes were all riding in an RV in the episode we watched together, and our strange seating arrangement was sort of like that. And, in case you were wondering, she also remembered that the bachelor's name is Jake - seems we were watching quality adult TV with a three-year-old that was really paying attention.

January Round-Up

- Making eggnog pound cake and eggnog muffins in an attempt to use up lots and lots of leftover eggnog.
- Alex brought home a C on his Social Studies test (first C I can remember him getting), and was quite upset about it.
- Julia had some sporatic attendance at school. Although she has been relatively healthy, she has lots and lots of sinus congestion. It takes the whole morning to get things moving and cleared out. She saw a new pediatrician who said she is not contagious. Nice thought, but everyone but Luke has the same sinus junk and cough, so if it's not contagious, how did we all get it at the same time??
- Cooper is still chewing - latest casualty is the Super Mario Brothers DS game.

December Round-Up

All in all, not a bad month:

- Julia returned to school on December 23, just in time for some holiday celebrations. She had a great day. She had been absent for just over two months.
- We took two trips to the Enchantment in the Park light display at Fair Park. The outdoor courtyard with the light display sychronized to music was my favorite part. I even found a new holiday song I LOVE - Snowflake.
- Lots and lots of gifts for the kids - highlight was Luke's new Nintendo DS. In his words, he got the grand prize.
- Tubing at Sunburst with my boys. It was packed, but we had a good time.
- A very white Christmas - I'm not sure what the stats say, but it seems like we're getting a lot of snow this season. It did make for an eventful drive to and from Matt's parents on the 26th.
- After waiting until nearly the last minute, we pulled off another year of cookie trays.
- Going with Erica, Luke and Alex to see "The Squeakquel" - after dinner at Noodles, we still had room for soda, popcorn and M'n'Ms at the movie. Yummy. The movie was good, but I did like the first one a little bit better.

The Easter/Christmas Mix-Up

We arrived for Christmas eve mass about 40 minutes before the services started and we sat closer to the front than we usually do. Those two changes set up a situation that was sweet, frustrating, cute and a bit heartbreaking all in one. Here's what happened - once we were seated and settled, I took Erica and Luke up to the Nativity scene so they could get a close look at Baby Jesus. Then, we settled back into our pew. The kids looked at books for a little while (we usually don't bring books to church, but we knew there would be extra time to fill). After she was done with the books, she started studying the pictures on the wall of the Stations of the Cross. That led to many, many questions - "Why is Jesus on the cross? Who put Jesus there? Do you see how sad his mommy is? How did they get Jesus down? Why did the soldiers think Jesus was a bad guy? Why did they take his clothes? Why did they make him carry the heavy cross?" Once she understood that Jesus died on the cross, she was heartbroken. She started crying and saying, "I miss Jesus." By this time, Mass has started, but she wasn't finished figuring things out. We kept telling her that she needed to be quiet, but she said, "I have lots of questions!" Finally Luke said, "Erica, Jesus died for our sins, but he rose again. I will show you in my Bible when we get home." She finally settled down, but she wanted to see the Bible story for herself as soon as we got home. So, that's how Erica learned about the Easter miracle...on Christmas eve. On a side note, when we went to Sunday mass, she was still studying the art on the walls, and Father Rick asked what she was looking at. She told him, "Pictures of Jesus." He explained that there were fourteen pictures, with seven on each side. She spent a good part of mass confirming his count.

Wardrobe Management

I have spent the last three days doing laundry. But, it's really more than just doing laundry - it's more wardrobe management. Sorting, washing, folding, hanging and putting away clothes for six people is a huge job. On top of that, I have a complete system for processing hand-me-downs and advance-purchase clothes. The system is pretty straighforward for the boys - Alex outgrows his clothes, they go into storage tubs in the basement,they come out when they fit Luke. The system for girls is a little more complicated, but in a good way. We are lucky to get lots and lots of hand-me-downs. Sources include: the Hoxworth girls, the McLaughlin girls, and now the Christiansen girls. Some of the hand-me-downs fit Julia, some fit Erica, and some are in-between. By the time all of the clothes get to Erica, she has about three complete wardrobes, complete with shoes and accessories. A perfect situation for my little style diva.