Wordless Wednesday

Knock Knock!

I love how she knocks on doors with her little fist. This was during Christmas when the kids were building a big train layout and she kept wrecking it so they closed the door. Papa was helping them and she could hear him in there. So funny.

P.S. I'm getting the birthday pictures organized and will get them up in a few days!

Hernias - Repaired!

She did it! The hernia surgery was successful and is behind us! First of all, thank you so much for all the prayers! We could definitely feel them! Normally something like this would put my worry-prone personality into a downward spiral, but I felt such peace in the weeks leading up to it and all through the surgery. If I did feel worry creeping in I would pray and then remind myself that all we could do is drive her there, wait, and drive her home. :P 

Peanut was very peaceful and matter of face about the whole thing too. She had no fear, and the little bit of nervousness that morning was wiped away by all the kind and helpful people we dealt with at the hospital. I think she actually enjoyed all the attention. :)

We had to wake up at 5:30 to be there on time and her wish was fulfilled...a Popsicle for breakfast! Daddy had let her pick out some fun Frozen Popscicles and she ate one while watching PBS kids on the computer so I could fix her hair. We drove to the hospital and she chatted happily the whole way. She walked into the surgery center and did everything the nurses asked her. 

There was quite a bit of waiting and answering questions.

She got some fun tiger jammies to wear.

She loved the warm blanket they brought her and was happy to wait in the bed and talk to all the nurses.

Aunt Karen had sent a special book called It Will Be Okay about trusting God in hard times. I would highly recommend it! We read it both the night before and at the hospital. It is such a cute book! The Family Care Coordinator was super nice and brought her a brand new pack of crayons and some pictures to color.

Auntie Nae was so thoughtful and came to the hospital to wait with us during the surgery! She made this adorable, "You are one tough cookie" card and brought chocolate chip cookies, paper dolls, new markers, and a new shirt with a message about being brave! So sweet!

The only thing she didn't want to do was take the Versaid medicine. We had to coerce her to drink it, and she spit about a third of it out. It would have been interesting to see how she acted with the full does because the 2/3's made her SILLY! Seriously goofy. When her doctor came in and was asking her preliminary questions she suddenly interrupted, pulled her leg out from under the blankets, stuck her foot high in the air and said, "My socks are WERID!". Haha!!!

The hospital staff has their routine down great with little tricks to make things easier. They let her pick her "scent" of breathing mask (she chose strawberry) and color of the balloon (she chose blue), and let her play with it while waiting. 

We met with the Dr., assisting nurse, and anesthetist and then it was time for her to go. We said goodbye and her main nurse had her play a game called, "Cave Kitty".  It was perfect because she was busy playing, and had her head under the blanket so she didn't have to watch herself being wheeled away from us. They told us later she was playing silly games and making them all laugh on the way back to the OR. 

The surgery was expected to take up to 2 hours so we were surprised when Dr. C came out after only 45 minutes. We'd gone down to the hospital cafeteria and had breakfast with Auntie Nae and had only been back about ten minutes when he came out. He had put a scope down through her belly button and she was one of the 10% who had the start of a "matching" hernia on the other side. He repaired all three and had her out of there in no time flat. 

A short while later we were able to see her. She looked so sweet and little.

The recovery ward was a little stressful because it's a big open room with lots of kids and babies all coming out of surgery. Peanut was the second oldest one there and it was really hard to watch the little babies and toddlers hurting. :( One poor little baby had some sort of throat surgery and it wouldn't stop bleeding. They were suctioning her the whole hour and half we were back there and were about to take her back into surgery since it wasn't clotting. I felt so bad for those parents and so thankful that Peanut did so well. I prayed for them the whole time we were back there. 

Peanut woke up a little too early, and was in quite a bit of pain. They had given her 2mg of morphine in the operating room and when she wouldn't stop crying in recovery the nurse gave her 1mg more. For what seemed like a long time she kept crying, "My tummy's getting WORSER!" and the nurse gave her another mg saying it had been a long time since she'd given one so little that much. She thought it might be gas pain from them putting air in (along with the scope) because apparently the morphine doesn't help with that.  

Poor Peanut was crying this super high pitched gaspy/cry and saying, "Ma-ma! Ma-ma!" over and over. I felt so bad for her. :( They put her on my lap and we tried reading a book, showing her a video on my phone, giving her a Popsicle, then juice, then crackers...she kept squirming around, trying to change positions. I was trying to keep her still. She finally got into a kneeling position on my lap and smashed her face into mine really hard and crashed. I tried three times to move her and she came right back. It doesn't look that bad here, but her face was totally smashing me. Haha!

She finally flipped over and fell into a deep sleep. I rocked her while Daddy went upstairs to the pharmacy, got her meds, and handled everything for checking out. 

The monitored her vitals and said she just needed to sleep for a while and then would pop awake. We weren't too sure about that! They were happy with her vitals and said we were welcome to take her home. We got her dressed and ready to go in her half state of consciousness and waited for the wheel chair.

I sat in the wheelchair with her in my lap and we made it to the car. We buckled her up and she fell back to sleep. I ran into Walmart while T waited with her and about ten minutes from home she did indeed just pop awake. She rubbed her eyes and said, "Mommy! My surgery didn't hurt at all!" I am so glad she doesn't remember that it did!

 She felt great (the morphine still lasting I guess) and wanted to stop for a butterscotch milkshake before going home. She stayed put on the couch for the next 24 hours with shuffling trips to the bathroom. She was a great little patient and was happy to watch movies, play on the iPad, and do all the little activities we had gotten for her.

They told us to keep on top of her pain meds since she apparently had a low pain tolerance, so we pushed the Tylenol and Ibuprofen for the first 24 hours, but then she refused to take it and insisted she didn't hurt at all. She never even took the prescription pain meds.

 Oh I forgot...at the hospital everyone saw that she had a thing for "te's" since she had brought Te and the new Te blankie Grandma had given her for Christmas so before discharging her the nurse brought her a new Te that someone had donated. So sweet!

***Warning, the picture after this one is the belly....sorry to those like Buggy who are squeamish. :)

 

I thought they did a great job with their cuts, and it was so nice they used glue instead of stitches on the outside so we wouldn't have to go back and get anything removed. You can see he had written on her where to cut, including a question mark for if she needed the left side repaired as well. She thought it was funny that she had a question mark on her belly. :)

She actually stayed awake the whole first afternoon. At about 5:30 she took a two hour nap. I thought we would read some books and maybe watch a show before she was ready for bed, but after one book she said, "I'm sleepy. I want to go to bed." She slept on the couch the first night and I slept on the one next to her. She stirred just a little bit at 12:45 but otherwise slept a solid twelve hours. 

The other girls had been at Noni's since the night before the surgery, and Noni and Papa brought them home the day after surgery.  Noni and Papa also brought her a little present of craft/activities she could do on the couch. Her sisters were so sweet and hung around talking with her, crafting, and watching TV with her.

 

Everybody was SO sweet to us. One of T's co-workers brought us dinner the first night, and another the second. Miss J (Peanut and Boo's Sunday school teacher) gave her a little stuffed animal. Her bestie came over and brought a painting craft that she was able to get up and do at the counter.

  

"Grandma S" from church brought her flowers and a card. I forgot to get a picture of the flowers. :( They were really pretty red and white carnations.

Her dance teachers came over with a poster signed by her friends and a batch of rolo-brownies! 

And so many people called, texted, and checked in with how she was doing. We are so thankful for the loving support of our family and friends! And we are SO thankful that God took care of our precious girl every step of the way and she is now all healed up and ready to get back to her busy life! As Genesis 28:15 says, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. Praise the Lord!

Happy Birthday Boo!

Eight. Years. Old.

I say it every year, but it's true just the same. I can't believe how fast these little years are going. Everyone tells you that they do, but there is nothing do be done but try to cherish every moment and make many special memories together. 

Our Boo Bear is such an amazing little lady. She is so sweet and thoughtful. She loves to help, and is always asking me what she can do for me. She is also super responsible. I love the way she reads her bible on her own without prompting and often reminds me to do the daily devotion at breakfast. Her room is almost always clean which is a far cry from the other rooms upstairs. Haha! 

Rare is the day when she does not wake up early and go straight for her schoolwork. She gets done with everything she can do on her own before playing quietly until every else is up and going. She is so smart. This past summer she was playing a computer game and said, "So Mommy, multiplication is just adding up the same number over and over?" She then proceeded to learn a bunch multiplication facts without prompting. She just did winter testing with her school and once again was in the 98-99% in everything!

 This past year Boo has spent countless hours working at the Farmhouse. She is always the first to volunteer to work and is a huge help! She is learning a lot as she works alongside Daddy, and it's amazing how much she can actually do!

Boo has so much joy. One of my favorite things in the world is watching her dance. So much spunk and joy. It just shoots out of her like beams of light. Love it. I also love to watch her interact at church and Awana. She is always the quickest to invite someone to Awana, at dance or other events. Her light shines bright for Jesus, and she does an amazing job spreading His love to others.

Here is her birthday interview
1. Favorite color: yellow
2. Favorite toy: This elephant
3. Favorite fruit: grapes
4. Favorite TV show: Odd Squad
5. Favorite lunch: PB&J
6. Favorite outfit: The one I wore for my school pictures. That says, "Beautiful"
7. Favorite game: Clue
8. Favorite snack: Granola Bars
9. Favorite animal: Kangaroo
10. Favorite song: This Little Light of Mine
11. Favorite book: Berenstein Bears 
12. Your best friend: Jesus! (love this!) 
13. Favorite Cereal: Strawberry frosted Mini-Wheats
14. Favorite thing to do outside: Swings
15. Favorite drink: Lemonade
16. Favorite holiday: My birthday
17. Favorite breakfast:  Cereal, no blueberry bread
18. What do you like to take to bed: Ruff Ruff
19. What do you want to be when you grow up: a Mommy like you
20. What do you want for your birthday dinner? Lasagna

Happy Birthday my Sweet Boo Bear,

It seems so crazy to me that you are eight years old today! At the same time I can't seem to remember my life without you in it. You are so special. I love your sweet and thoughtful spirit. You fill our family with joy and love. 

I so appreciate how responsible you are. I know I can always count on you to do the right thing. You are always the first one to jump in and help out whether it's at home, or at the Farmhouse. You are a mother's joy.

I am so incredibly proud of you. Seven was an amazing year. Dance recitals, Soccer, a starring role in The Sound of Music...in each and every event you shone bright for Jesus. You are such a joy to watch, and you bounce through life with your big grin lighting your face. 

I love you more than I could ever tell you. I pray that God will continue to bless your life mightily. I pray that most of all, He would continue to bless you with a heart for Him, a desire to serve Him, and that each and every day you would bring honor and glory to His name. 

You are amazing my sweet girl. Thank you for being you. I can't wait to see what eight brings!!!

Love, Mommy

TWO!

Oh my goodness. This girl.  

 

She is the busiest, craziest, happiest, grumpiest, loudest, destructive-est, silliest, moodiest, dancing-est, funniest two year old I've ever met. And we couldn't be more in love with her.

  

She still doesn't have a lot of words, but her vocabulary is increasing daily. She is getting to the point where she can repeat most words we say. Some of her most frequently used words are:

No

Mine!

Ma-ma

Da-da

Noni

Papa

Mama

Gra-ma

Gurl (girl)

Ches (yes)

Bible

 Cocoa (any animal)

Cow

Too (me too!)

Teeth

Ow

Bye

Dis (this)

Dat (that)

Baby

One

Two

TA DA!

Cookie 

Cack-er

Teat (treat)

Nana (banana)

Cheese

Pay (pray)

Done

Bup (up)

Peas (please)

Cakes (pancakes)

"Do-do" (her monkey, sounds like the bird)

Ummm (one of my favorites. I give her a choice of something and she looks it over while saying, "Umm")

Things she loves at two:

Family

"Beeping" noses

Animals

Presents

Being chased

Cardboard boxes

Baths - w/measuring cups

Climbing - on anything and everything

Her Babies (dolls)

Music/Dancing

Bouncing (on a mattress in the basement)

Stickers

Markers (especially used on walls, chairs, floors, herself)

 Legos

Daddy coming home from work

PlayDoh - playing and eating :{

the iPad

Singing
Cocoa
"Do-do"

Mommy and Daddy's phones

Sisters!

She doesn't like being strapped into her highchair (which we have to do or she stands up while eating). She is finally getting used to her car seat. We had everyone else moved up to the toddler carseat by 18-20 months, but Peaches stayed in until 23 months. I don't know if that's why, but she did NOT like the forward facing. For weeks she cried and fussed and said, "Bup!" in her car seat. It was like she no longer understood it to be a car seat and didn't understand why she was forced to sit still in it. Thankfully she is now fine and has made her peace with the car seat. 

She is not potty trained yet. I have never been this late before, but because of the holidays and visitors, Peanut's surgery, and a trip for Mommy and Daddy I haven't been able to find a three day weekend to do it. I'm planning to potty train her over President's Day weekend and we've started prepping her. 

She loves to read 3-4 short books at a time, but is too busy for more than that. There is no way she would sit and read with me for 30-45 minutes like her sisters would at this age. She pretty much only has the patience for board books where she can flip the pages quickly as I read. We can't read anything that takes more than ten seconds per page. 

Peaches believes in the old adage "Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince, and dinner like a pauper". The other day she ate 1.5 fried eggs, 6 big strawberries, and 5 pancakes! She usually eats a decent but small lunch, and rarely eats more than two bites of dinner. I think she makes it through the night only because she still drinks 6 ounces of milk before bed.

We had to take a picture with her "E". Most of the time she can identify it (in books and things) and says, "EEEE!" She loves counting but only knows one and two. :)

 Dear Peaches,

That sounds funny because Mommy hardly ever calls you Peaches. I sometimes call you "Trouble" because of all the mischief you make! You are always on the lookout for something to get into and you sure do keep us on our toes! Nothing is safe now that you know how to open doors and push chairs to wherever you might need a boost to get into something you aren't supposed to have. I'm hoping you're just getting all your terrible two's out of the way early and it will be smooth sailing from here on out. Is that a deal? :) 

Even though you spend most of your days destroying anything you can get your hands on we wouldn't trade you for the world. You are the funniest little girl and make us laugh a hundred times a day! You give the best hugs! I love the way your little arms squeeze around my neck, and I love your sweet little kisses on my cheek. There is so much joy and laughter wrapped up in your tiny, rambunctious frame. You dearly love to laugh and giggle all the time just for the fun of it. 

Thank you for all the joy and laughter you bring to this family. I don't know what we would do without you. God truly blessed us the day He put you in our lives. I pray that you will come to know and understand what He did for you. I love that you already love to pray, go to church, and go to AWANA. I know God has great things in store for your life and I pray that He will help us teach you to use all that strength, persistence, and determination for His good. He will do amazing things through you if you let Him! 

I can't wait to see what two brings! You are learning more and more each day, and I think the best is yet to come! Happy birthday my sweet baby girl! You keep on taking the world by storm, we'll keep on loving you, and with God's help we'll grow you up into a girl after His own heart!

I love you more than I could ever say.

Love, Mommy

Goodbyes

After such a fun visit with the cousins it was hard to say goodbye! Here are a few leftover pictures. Noni took the bed out of the guest room closest to the living room and turned it into a fun playroom for the kids! They spent a lot of time playing in there!

The kids bundled up and braved the cold one day to do a little sledding.

Uncle M went out with them and spent quite a while pushing them down the hill. So nice!

Whee!

Peanut and Cousin S had fun "shoveling" the driveway. :)

And Boo did a little pulling. :)

 

Peaches really took to Uncle M which surprised me because she is usually really shy with anyone outside our family, Noni, Papa, Mama, Grandma, and Grandpa. I think she warmed up quickly because he played with the kids a lot, building forts, playing trains, and tossing the ball around. Multiple times I saw her take a book over to him or just go sit with him. So sweet!

We had one last dinner all together and had to say our goodbyes. Hopefully it won't be too long before we get to see these sweet cousins again!

Thanks so much for coming and spending your Christmas break with us, N, M, S, and B!

Leftover Thursday

The other day we had a small snow and the girls went outside for nearly two hours and used up almost all of it building a snowman family. :) I was pretty impressed with their finished product. Mommy, Daddy, four girls, and a dog. :)

Here's a close of up of Mommy holding our not-so-much-a-baby-anymore. :)

And our Cocoa the red nose dachshund. :)

One morning I was tidying up. Peaches was following me around and saw me put Daddy's shoes like this in our room. Later I came back and saw that she had gone and gotten her new shoes and put them next to his. So sweet.

And something not so sweet. One of her new faces. Lol!

 

We have had to start buckling her into the highchair because she won't stop climbing out. First kid we've ever had to do that to! Stinker bear!

Happy Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday

New Year's - Bingo!

Noni came up with the fun idea of playing Bingo on New Year's with prizes and everything! We used the Bingo game the girls had one at the Halloween costume contest.

After church T took Bug and Boo to town and did some errands while I let the little ones nap at home. Then we headed in and met them at Noni and Papa's. Peaches was excited to see Baby B and wanted to help feed her.

:)

After dinner we got the Bingo game rolling! 

Peaches loved the beans! She literally sat here transferring beans from one spot to another for half an hour!

 

Peanut did great and just  needed a little help.

  

Which Noni was there to provide.

 

BINGO!

Check out the prize table! Pretty sweet!

Cousin S got some Bingos too with a little help from his Dad!

Whoever got the first Bingo (of the card) got to be the caller for the next round.

We played for quite a while. I put Peaches in bed, and we let everyone else stay up till 10 o'clock. We celebrated "New York New Year" and then the kids got to watch old Bugs Bunny cartoons with Papa while the other adults played a card game. 

Happy New Year! :)