Eight

Do you believe she is eight already? Where in the world has the time gone?

My Beloved and I have been walking down memory lane a bit with the recent birth of Ezekiel. For each child we have recalled their grand entrance into our lives. And even though Kiersten’s is the farthest back in our memories it is no less fresh.

How do you ever forget the birth of your first child? It is nigh impossible.

To be honest I was hoping this last little one would favor Kiersten in coloring. I was hoping for another fair skinned, red headed beauty – be it boy or girl. Alas it was not to be and so I will just have to cherish all the more the beauty that Kiersten is.

Eight years. So many memories.

Such a little lady she has become. So grown up and yet still so little, know what I mean?

As a side note I think she has gotten her first crush on a boy! It is really quite cute. This boy is from church as well as from the same dance studio. He is a one to two years older than her and they aren’t even in the same dance class or small group at church and yet he has caught her attention. How do I know, you ask. Well, when your little girl mentions this boy by name and then says ever so casually (as casually as an eight year old can) that we should have his family over for dinner. She has come to recognize that when we want to get to know a couple or family we have them over for a meal – or two. That is when you know it is serious. Oh to be eight again! : ) (Also noteworthy is the fact that her Dad is no where near ready for her to be taking a shine to any boy!)

Anyhow, back on topic.

We had our own little family party on the day of her actual birthday. She chose to grill out for dinner and then have a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and rainbow sherbet for dessert. The girl knows what she likes/wants and isn’t afraid to say so. : ) (She gets that from her Dad!)

We gave her a few little gifts as well as the promise of a date with Daddy to go see Nannie McPhee 2 once the weekend came- just her and Daddy, no one else. I am told they shared popcorn and had a lovely time. How can you not when you are on a date with your Dad? : ) Kiersten also got to spend the night with her cousin at their house and enjoyed herself immensely.

All in all it sounds as though she had a good birthday. It was more big girl this year…I fear little girl things are rapidly becoming a thing of the past for her.

She is growing up, too fast. Where does the time go? Eight years….and counting.

His First

Just last week the Biggest Man lost his very first lose tooth. Wow, his first tooth gone. Where has the time flown?

It was the most anticlimactic event compared to the fake cry/whine thing he does whenever someone (a sister) touches his toys when he’s not in the mood to share. Whenever one doesn’t do his bidding (like pushing him on the swing when he asks/whines for help even though he is more than able to pump his legs and push himself). Or whenever he sits down to dinner and decides he doesn’t want to eat it so he cries (even though last week it was his favorite dinner and he was finished in 5 minutes flat).

All these ordinary day to day things require much drama on his part and yet when the child is sick and throws up nary a sound or tear escapes him. Or like the case of losing his tooth and he says so matter of factly, “Dad! I think I just lost my tooth eating breakfast.” It just ‘came out’ and there were no tears or drama. (Can you tell he has been whining a lot of lot and that it is a trait that is severely working my patience bone?)

He is a quandary that one, a complete mystery. A true ‘big’ man is some ways and yet still such a ‘little’ man in others. I almost wish things were reversed and that the day to day was something he could brave with the shrug of a shoulder and those random, occurring only even so often events were the ones he fussed over. Ah well, there is a lesson in patience for me there!

Nevertheless Isaiah looks so sweet with his tooth missing and he talks in the funniest of ways. It is just like when you put a bandage on their hand when they are real little and they hold their whole hand funny because they are ‘hurt’. He does the same with how he is talking since his tooth came out. The brush of his tongue against that gap must feel weird for he compensates for it with this little lisp things he does now. To put it simply he doesn’t talk the same and thus doesn’t sound the same- all to avoid the feel of that space in his mouth. Cute, sweet and funny sounding my Biggest Man is now.

Oh, and unlike his sister he was willing to let the Tooth Fairy come and relinquish his beloved, or not so beloved, tooth. When asked what the Tooth Fairy should bring him he replied, “A musical toothbrush.” I had no idea where this idea came from since I have yet to see a musical toothbrush and then Kiersten piped up and said, “He wants the same thing Wyatt on Super Why (PBS program) got when he lost his tooth.”

Oooohhh- so that is where that idea came from. Not really feeling bad about it we told him that there would be no musical toothbrush showing up under his pillow the next morning (Walmart doesn’t carry musical toothbrushes. Anyone ever seen such a thing?) and pray tell what else might the Tooth Fairy leave you under your pillow? This time he replied, “A gold piece and a sucker.” The child doesn’t want much. : )

Lucky for him we have some of those one dollar coins. You know, those very 'gold' looking one dollar coins? So the next morning my child awoke to find a ‘gold’ piece and a Dum Dum sucker under his pillow. (The sucker was consumed before he came down to breakfast.) He was very easy to please in this regard, for which we were/are thankful. Since Kiersten has never been willing to part with a tooth this whole Tooth Fairy gig was a bit new to us. But alas all's well that ends well. : ) At least until next time!

Zeke

Well, the littlest man is coming along. I was a little worried Zeke was going to be a repeat of his brother...the first year, that is. And I confess I was a bit scared/worried. I love my Isaiah boy but his first year of life was the roughest ever for me and for my marriage. Oh, he wasn’t the cause of the marriage issues but I have to say I don’t ever want to relive a year like that one again. So when it looked like Ezekiel was thinking of following just a little too closely in his brother’s footsteps I got awful worried. (Here is the family of four.)

How was he following in Isaiah’s footsteps? You ask. Well, just like his brother he lost 1 pound by the 48 hour doctor visit. Then for his 2 week appointment he had gained no weight (Isaiah had at least gained some- although not back up to his birth weight of 9 pounds 9 ounces). It took Zeke about a month to get back up and past his birth weight.

Oh, but the scare of nursing issues and the possibility of a year of pumping like I did with Isaiah- I wish I could tell you what the last month of mind games has been like.

Thankfully Zeke is nursing fine…slowly and every 3 hours (which translates to 2 hour increments of time between feedings for me) even through the night. At his appointment earlier this week my strapping boy weighed in at 9 pounds 14 ounces making his mother ever so happy! : )

Other than nursing, trying to keep up with laundry, giving the other kids outside time and making sure we all eat I have not much time to spare. You could say I am in pure survival mode, the mode where it is a bit hard to think much beyond today or the end of this week. Do you think 2 hour intervals of sleep factor in there? Hmmm….

Anyhow, this is the littlest man not too long ago. He definitely favors Isaiah and Katie with his dark hair and darker skin. All in all his is a sweet and fairly calm baby which is a true blessing. He smiles in his sleep and is quite the little noisemaker when doing his business- all boy in that department!

More on all the family later…I am cutting into my 2 hours of sack time so I’ll bid you adieu for now!

Was it a Prince or a Princess?

My Beloved has felt all along that #4 would be a princess. He just knew. I was right there with him until the last week. As I was gathering baby clothes from bins to get washed and take to the hospital I just felt that I really should grab more boy things. I started doubting we were having a girl.

Well, the long and short of it is that Monday, July 5th we welcomed a prince into the family.  Little Ezekiel John weighed in at 9lbs 6 1/2 oz and 22 inches long. He looks a bit like the 2 before him...lots of dark hair and dark skin. Kiersten will be our only fair skinned beauty with her copper hair.

I don't have pictures up yet...just haven't had the time to get them on the computer, but I'll get there, promise.

K, just a quick update to say that the littlest man has arrived! : ) Take care and hopefully I'll update with pictures sooner than later.

Prayer Request

Just wanting to ask prayer for this dear family. Their young son, Jake, will be undergoing brain surgery sometime today to help drain some fluid from an abcess that formed as a result of an infection a little over 2 weeks ago. Mom and Dad (Ali & Mitch) are struggling and just crying out for prayers...and thus I am crying out as well.

Jake has a heart condition, has since the womb, and that has added to some of the distress, some of the worry. These parents aren't new to hospital stays and plenty of doctors, however, they are new to brain issues. The brain was just not something they thought would need tending to and it scares them in ways they hadn't thought possible.

They just need prayers. Here Jake is with his sweet sisters, Olivia and Grace. If you want to stay connected and updated with Jake's family they do have a caringbridge site.

Thanks for the prayers in advance!

Delicious Treats

Just this week I was looking for a little something sweet to make and came across this recipe. It will work well for you ladies that are a bit more health conscience than I am and still be tasty enough for the rest of us! : )


Without further ado here is the recipe for health honey cookies (I did grab this recipe from a Penzeys One (fabulous spice company) catalog)

1 ½ cups flour                              ½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup ground flax seed                 ½ cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda                          2 eggs
½ tsp salt                                      2 TB milk
1 tsp cinnamon                              2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup applesauce                           2 ½ cups oatmeal (old fashioned or quick)
2 TB butter, softened                     2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup honey                                  1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In large bowl beat the applesauce, butter, honey and sugars together until well blended. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Add flour, flax seed, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (I used a bit more than a tsp) and mix. Fold in or mix the oatmeal and then the chocolate chips. The dough will be moist. Drop by tablespoon onto lightly greased (yes, you really should grease the cookie sheets, promise) cookie sheets and bake 10-11 minutes for chewy cookies or 12-14 minutes for crispier cookies. These cookies firm up very nicely after a day if you can restrain yourself from eating them all fresh out of the oven. : )

These cookies truly are delicious. I cooked them 14-16 minutes and they were quite brown- not burnt, just brown. However, crispy is not a term I would use for this cookie. It is more the texture of a cupcake and since we don’t live in a drier area I wasn’t able to try to leave them out so they could ‘firm’ up. It is just a forewarning that these don’t have the texture or ‘bite’ to them that a hard cookie would but they lack absolutely nothing in flavor- really and truly. Healthy or not your kids will gobble these up just as they would any other chocolate chip cookie. Just had to share since the recipe was fresh on my mind! Have a blessed afternoon. : )

Goings On

A lot and a little has been going on at our house these last few weeks. We’ve had dance recitals, birthday’s to celebrate, Father’s day and of course getting ready for B-day…that is Baby’s birth day.

Let’s start with the recital. Kiersten was in her first ever dance recital the middle of this month. We missed last year’s due to a family commitment we decided to honor. Well, this year was something new for me. Wow! What a production for a small town! We had rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday afternoon with the full show Wednesday and Thursday nights. Thankfully, and I mean thankfully, Kiersten was in the opening number and the one just after. So for each rehearsal and for the first night of the show we only needed to stay for less than an hour getting her ready and having her perform before being able to head back home. This was key for me because I had all 3 of the kids with me and the show started at the time we are normally getting ready for bed. (Beloved had a later working week and just wasn’t able to be home before 7pm each evening.)

She did fabulously. Really and truly she did wonderful. I was thankful for the bright, bright lights that didn’t allow my sweet girl to see how big the audience was and thus get more nervous than she needed to be.

I was also thankful for getting to watch the rest of the show with her the second night. After she performed she changed clothes and we became audience members enjoying seeing all that she might some day learn and be as a dancer. (Should she choose to remain one!)

During recital week it was my Dad’s birthday and the weekend following was Katie’s 2nd birthday along with Father’s Day. We celebrated with a little family party the day before and had leftover cake the day of. What a spoiled little girl she is- chocolate cake two days in a row!!! : )

One of my favorite things about little ones is how honestly easy they are to please and thrill. The night before the party I picked up a foil Dora balloon for her. (Dora is all the rage.) When we arrived home that night she played and played with the balloon, talking up a storm all the while. During all of this she turns to me, talking about her balloon, and loudly says, “Mama! I like it!” So funny and feisty that one is.

Other than celebrating accomplishments in dancing, age or being a Dad I have been doing things here and there to get ready for Baby. I still don’t have my bag packed just yet, a chore I will tackle this very evening. However, I do have the bed set up, the car seat in the car and I have purchased the littlest diapers known to man. Time will tell when he/she will make their grand debut. Honestly though, if another person makes some comment about the largeness of my belly or says to me, “When are you going to pop that kid out?” (Yes, Beloved, I am speaking to you!) I just might feel inclined to take physical action!

Don’t people know that it isn’t wise to contend with a woman at the end of her pregnancy? : )