Thursday, October 29, 2009

finally 4 ~ better late than never

I can only hope that since he can't read yet and thinks that the best use of a computer is to play his bunny game, maybe my youngest son will forgive me for being more than a week late announcing his birthday.

On October 20, 2005, a tiny Hurricane was born via a scheduled c-section. He was the biggest of my babies and had by far given me the hardest time while I was expecting him. In his defense though, much of what made my pregnancy with D so difficult had little to do with him ... 2005 was a turbulent year for our family all around, but all mommies know that once you hold that tiny baby in your arms, any difficulties seem to fade to a distant memory rather quickly.

This little guy was welcomed by his two older siblings with great eagerness. His sister saw a live doll to play with and his brother was excited because everyone else was excited, so surely his arrival must be a good thing.

With the exception of only having a one kidney, D was a healthy baby ... at least until he was about 24 hours old and the nurses began to notice that his breathing was labored and some other issues that I honestly can't remember. They began to run tests and discovered an elevated c-reactive protein (at least I think that was what it was called) which could indicate the presence of some sort of infection. Before I could really grasp what was happening, the nurses removed my child from my care and whisked him off to the NICU. I'll spare you the gory details of how incredibly upset I was. Suffice it to say that I was inconsolable. While I am sure that he received adequate care in the NICU, I hated every moment he was there. Fortunately, his stay was relatively short lived and by the time he was a week old he was home with us.

If I wasn't too lazy to find them, I could show you his newborn pictures, but instead here are some from when he was about 18 months (when we got our 1st digital camera!).


D was our only child to use a pacifier. I tried with LB, but she wouldn't take one. He got hooked on the vanilla scented ones they used in the NICU, but these were the only ones he would take after we came home. Unfortunately, they were bulb shaped ~ I feel sure that there will be orthodontic work in his future because of these.

This child was born a dare-devil. He pulled up to the ottoman before he could crawl and was climbing on and off of furniture before he was 9 months old. His daddy had to lower the mattress on his crib very early because he would climb out of it. By his first birthday, I had a hard time corralling him anywhere. It was around this time that my mom gave him the nickname The Hurricane, I think because it was so hard to stop him when he put his mind to doing something. I am sure that this will be a very useful trait ... someday!



Did I mention that he isn't afraid of anything? This was D somewhere close to 18 months standing on the top bunk, looking for all the world like he was thinking about jumping ... and by the time he was 2 he had done just that!



Now this little guy is leaving behind the toddler years and is heading full speed into preschool. He told me this week that he wants to learn to read ... wow! I wasn't quite ready for that, but here we go. His favorite things include cars, construction vehicles and trains ... specifically, Thomas the train ... mostly he loves anything he can make go! He also likes Curious George ... which is pretty fitting. So now, without further ado ...

Welcome to 4 years old, my little man ... you finally made it!
D and his best friend S (aka: Poptart) at his party

This is how he spent his birthday ... a hayride, seeing animals, a maze of hay bales, and getting to choose his own pumpkin, all followed by a picnic. I'd say that's a pretty good day, if your 4!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Daybook for October 12, 2009

Outside my window ...
it is cloudy and much cooler and supposed to rain all week. Fall must be floating in this year!

I am wearing ...
sweats and a t-shirt.

I am hearing ...
music coming from JW's CD player ...
I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.

I am going ...
hopefully to pick up JW's new glasses.

I am thinking that ...
I really should have carved out some time for school planning this weekend. I'll have to work it in while the kids are doing chores.

I am hoping ...
that the rain will end soon so the kids can get outside and play. We all get a little crazy when they are cooped up in the house.

I am reading ...
Song of the Silent Harp by B.J. Hoff. The first of the Emerald Ballad series about the Irish immigration to America during the potato famine. I've read the series before, but am enjoying reading them again. I love to read historical fiction

I am remembering ...
the very challenging sermon we heard at church last night.

I am thankful for ...
the arrival of fall weather ... even with the rain.

On my mind ...
a friend who is having surgery this week and my daddy who will be starting physical therapy for his shoulder.

Words that I am pondering ...
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. Luke 11:33


From the learning rooms ...
today we will review last week's science lesson do the note booking for it. We will also begin Tree in the Trail ... the new geography book for co-op.

From the kitchen ...
I need to make English muffins and bread today. Baked fish is on the menu for tonight and I'm planning on making soup at least once this week since the weather is turning cooler.

Around the house ...
lots of cleaning and laundry. It is also time to find the kids' clothes I put up from last winter and see what still fits and what we will need to replace.

A few plans for the rest of the week ...
the usual stuff, plus picking up JW's glasses, a trip to the library and two birthday parties this weekend ~ one for LB's friend and one for my Mom.

One of my favorite things ...
FALL!!


A picture to share with you ...
these pictures were taken several years apart ... the ones of JW were taken either just before D was born, or while he was still in a crib, since it is before the boys began sharing the bunk beds. We took the ones of D just the other night. I thought they were cute and wanted to share them today. I had completely forgotten about the ones of JW until I was browsing my pictures this morning ... amazing that the boys both played this little game and that they both chose the yellow drawer to do it in. And yes, D is really asleep in the last picture. I took the pic just before Ronnie took him out of the box for the night.



























Please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman for more daybooks or to join in the fun!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Afternoon Tea

Thanks to my friend, Stacey, I finally have pictures to share from LB's tea party. Not only did my girl have a great time at her party, she now has a new hobby. She fell in love with her paper dolls and has spent hours playing with them since the party.



To get ready for the party, LB and I, with the help of my mom and sister-in-law, cut out a paper doll for each girl and tons of outfits for the girls to use as templates for their own designs. LB and I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out bunches of scrap booking paper for the girls to use for their doll's clothes. All the girls seemed to like the idea and worked hard to get just the right look for their dolls. We had doll hair for the girls to use, though it was pretty hard for them to work with, they still thought it was fun.



Of course, what would a tea party be without tea? Well, still a party apparently. We did serve tea, but it was just good old sweet iced tea. We are southern girls after all. Besides the tea, we also had pink lemonade, fruit, finger sandwiches, Danish wedding cookies (LB's favorite!) and some beautiful petit fours.


It is fortunate that we don't do big, themed parties every year for our kids, because I don't know what I could do to top this one for LB. I guess I have a couple of years to come up with a plan for the next big milestone ... of course, then she'll be a teenager, hmmm, I don't think I'll dwell on that today!