Seven Years Old!

Today we have a 7 year old in our house!

Yikes! Where has the time gone? 

Our sweet Jonah would be celebrating his birthday on the road to Minneapolis.

We were planning on traveling to spend the weekend there as Richard is in a wedding of a good friend of ours from Iowa.  However, Miss Olivia is going to keep us home.

We just realized that Jonah has celebrated his birthday in a different place almost every year!

Jonah, I can't believe you are already 7!  

 It seems like just yesterday you were this fuzzy almost 9 lb bundle of joy that made me a momma for the first time and that we couldn't get enough of!

Or this BUSY, walking, talking, sweet 1 year old in Mexico!

 (we had cake in Grand Forks when we got back from Mexico)

Or this proud big brother turning 2 in Iowa City

Or this curious, loveable 3 year old (also in Iowa City)

Or this wonderful 4 year old in Grand Forks

Or this flexible, caring helper turning 5 in Grand Forks (I was on bedrest with Isaac so we had to modify the birthday celebration a bit and he was a trooper)

Or this kindergartener turning 6 in Arizona!

And now you will be turning 7 in Grand Forks again!

Jonah,

            I have been so amazed at how much you have grown over the years. You have a loving, caring, compassionate and sensitive heart.  You are a fantastic helper around the house and have really stepped up to the plate over the past 6 weeks as we have transitioned to life with Miss Olivia, Isaaczilla, and broken footed Elijah.  

          You are taking on more responsibility and  continue to excel in school and provide us with raving reports from your teacher, friends, and family about your great manners and desire to help others!  

         You LOVE to read and I often find you with your nose in a book ;0) You also love to discover how things work.  You are often not satisfied until you have explored something and are able to  get most of your questions answered.  You also love to be outside riding your bike and playing with your brothers.  You are in love with your sister Olivia and do a great job helping me out by holding her, reading to her, singing to her or walking with her a bit while I am helping your brothers. 

       You have transitioned to life in the basement in your "own" room very well!  You are enjoying your space and doing a great job keeping it picked up.  

        You have also recently become very interested in reading your bible more and learning about Jesus' life and teachings.  Your name means "declarer of Joy" and I pray God is able to use you to do just that as you grow through the years. 

       You enjoy playing legos, doing puzzles, reading, playing games (especially apples to apples and monopoly), playing with your brothers, or snuggling with us to watch a movie. 

      Happy Birthday Jonah!  We love you so much and pray you feel blessed and loved today as we celebrate the amazing gift we were given 7 years ago! 

     Love,

       Dad, Mom, Elijah, Isaac and Olivia

I will take R-S-V for $200

Today Miss Olivia is 2 months old!!!

I brought her in this morning as she has been struggling with a cold since Christmas Eve and it had progressively gotten worse. Last night she made me nervous enough to warrant a trip to the Dr who looked at her and sent us to be admitted.

So instead of getting ready for our trip to Minneapolis to celebrate a good friend's wedding...

We are celebrating it in the hospital with RSV.

Wishing this were Wheel of Fortune and I was buying those letters and not a virus for my little lady. 

She was pale, lethargic and struggling when we were first admitted...

Thankfully she perked up pretty quickly after IV fluids and some nebulizer treatments.

I am so THANKFUL that we are here and she is getting the treatment she needs.

It has sure been hard to be on the other side of things....as a momma and not a nurse.

I am also very thankful for my mom for taking the boys for the afternoon so Richard could spend time up here and get ready for the wedding.

I am also thankful for my sister sitting with Olivia so I could sneak home and eat supper, see the boys and pack a bag quickly.  

I am also thankful for a visit from a few friends and some ice cream and coffee ;0)

Please pray for a speedy recovery and for patience while we wait this out.

RSV is a virus and there is unfortunately no magical medicine we can give her, just treat the symptoms (IV fluids, oxygen if needed, and nebulizers).

Christmas Eve

We had a very relaxing Christmas Eve that started bright (well actually it was still dark) and early!

Isaac was up well before 7 and Jonah joined us shortly after for Jungle book 2

We enjoyed the tree and presents...

Played a few Christmas tunes...

Skyped with Grandma Irene in California so she could watch the boys open their presents and we could wish her a Merry Christmas

Opening presents from Grandma 'Renie

Olivia rested while we celebrated!

Playing a new game from Grandma! 

More skyping with Grandma

Reading a new book from Grandma

Olivia relaxing with Mom

We made a birthday cake for Jesus (that didn't turn out quite as good as it usually does...might be from my 3 extra helpers...hard to say)

We enjoyed appetizers with our friend Becky who was working over the holiday and home alone

Then we opened some more presents...

The boys modeling their new pjs and robes

This picture is from 3 years ago when we gave them the robes that they have been wearing as a shirt for quite some time...

Olivia was snug as a bug in her "My First Christmas Pjs"

Poor Elijah thought this was the worst Christmas he had ever had when he opened books, pjs and clothes before opening his toy from us.  After opening the toy, it became the best Christmas ever!

Here are our 4 blessings in their new pjs

Our Family of 6 on Christmas Eve

Me and my 2 smallest kiddos

Isaac got a new dump truck from us and was sooooo excited.  He also used it as a cup holder for his chocolate milk when reading stories before bed.  He gladly accepted Elijah's old robe as a hand me down and looked pretty cute in it, despite it being a few sizes too big!

Miss Olivia stayed up and partied until 11, but then gave me the best Christmas present ever...she slept until 6:30 Christmas morning!  Wow, amazing how you feel like a new person when you get to sleep.

It was also the first time in the past 6 weeks that we hadn't been up with any kids in the night!

Merry Christmas to us!

Merry Christmas

We pray you all had a blessed Christmas celebrating Christ's birth!

We enjoyed a few days filled with rest, celebration, family, food and fun!

We wish you a

From our home to yours!

What did I just say????

In my continuous sleep deprived state I have noticed words don't always come as easily as they used to.

I also have heard myself saying things that are quite strange.

I started writing them down and here are a few of my favorites...

• There is NO good reason for you to be naked right now...get dressed please. 

• Why do you have 3 pairs of underwear on?

• That isn't a place your fingers should ever be...thank you.

• Your sister isn't a doll...she is real and could get hurt if you do that to her.

• I am sorry you feel that way, but the truth is your brother will always be in the same "world" as you.

• Nope, Olivia isn't missing her penis...she just never had one.....well it's not sad honey because she wasn't ever supposed to have one....so it's actually a good thing.

• Please leave the toilet alone.

• What is that? Wait...I think I don't want to know anymore so please don't tell me!

• I realize that technically isn't a weapon, but when you use it to hurt your brother it becomes one...put it away or it's mine...whatever it is.

• Isaac please stop eating off the floor it's yucky...if you are hungry I can get you some food.

• No you are NOT being quiet....grunting and making swooshing sounds with your sword count as making noise....okay so no TALKING and NO swooshing!

• Well you need to be a quieter pooper...your sister and brother are sleeping and all this noise just might wake them up.

• Nope. I am in timeout right now, mommy timeout. You'll have to figure it out for yourself until I am done drinking this coffee...that's how I know my timeout is over.

Praying that I will be able to catch up on a little sleep over Christmas break 

and some of the mommy brain fog will clear out!

Pretty Purple Princess

Miss Olivia today you were awake almost all day and were quite the social butterfly
cooing and smiling and hanging out with Mom. 

You are almost 2 months old and this was one of the first times
we have had a mother/daughter day sans any boys

You are fairly tolerable of my efforts to dress you up in fun outfits with matching accessories...

Today you were a Pretty Purple Princess

Perhaps, the most adorable princess ever!

 Today was one of the first times we have had most of the day together and it sure was fun!

You were awake almost all day and spent most of it cooing, smiling and melting my heart.

I had big plans to wrap presents, clean the house, and get a few things checked off my list...

However, you had bigger plans that involved just hanging out with me this afternoon "talking" and taking time to just enjoy this moment before it passed us by.

So thanks for helping me relax and enjoy today instead of worrying about tomorrow. 

Hi 'Livia

Isaac is pretty infatuated with Olivia still. 

He spends most of the day keeping tabs on her and is always in her face saying "Hi 'Livia, Hi 'Livia" and kissing her constantly!

I always smile when I find remnants of lunch or snack on her forehead from his kisses!

His relationship with her seems to be growing stronger, while the other two definitely love her but the novelty is wearing off a bit and they aren't quite as interested as Isaac. 

It makes me excited to watch their relationship grow as they are only 20 months apart and will be playmates for a few years while the older 2 are in school.

I have tried to catch Isaac talking to her a few times and he has been distracted by the video camera each time...I was able to catch a little clip on my camera the other day and wanted to share it. 

It made me teary eyed...until the very end when I remembered why I had to turn it off so quickly.

(Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page so you can hear it better)

Isaac was so sweet and innocent during this video,

 and when I turned the camera on Olivia at the end you can hear Jonah crying....

It was because my sweet 22 month old stuck a toothpick in Jonah's eye.

Fortunately, his aim was poor and he missed Jonah's eyeball by a few millimeters.

Whew!  Oh, Isaac you never cease to amaze me!

Meet Charlie

Meet the newest member of our family...

Our Christmas Tree "Charlie"

We went to Menards last weekend and picked it out.

I voted for one with a little more to it, but I was outnumbered by these cuties...

So we brought Charlie home and hoped he would open up a bit more after warming up, but I am afraid this tree looks just as pathetic after a good night in our house as it did before. 

Richard and Elijah decorated the tree with lights...

And it was Elijah's turn to put the star on top...

Then we all helped put on the ornaments.

A couple years ago I separated all our ornaments so it would be easier to decorate the tree. 

I have one box of breakable/special ones that we probably won't be able to put up until everyone is a bit older...or gone.

Another box of some that are keepsakes and I may never let leave the box, and a third box of kid friendly and favorites that get placed up high. 

The big boys did a great job this year and were very excited to pull out their ornaments

Isaac was indifferent about the process and was more excited about the popcorn Richard made for us to enjoy while we decorated than the actual process of putting on the ornaments I think

Richard and Olivia watched safely from the side...

With Ornaments and lights I think Charlie looks much better than he did when he came to our house. 

It sure is a cozy and festive addition to the house and comforting when Olivia and I are up in the night.

Unfortunately Charlie won't get to experience the excitement of having gifts placed under him for very long.  I don't trust any of the boys with them and will probably place them under the tree only a few moments before we open them!

Charlie is starting to grow on me and I am going to have a hard time taking him down after Christmas is over.  Good thing we are notorious for leaving our tree up into January and (gasp) Februrary even!

We lived in Iowa City and had purchased a very large tree to sit in front of a second story window with vaulted ceilings.  It was real and we took it down Valentine's Day.

That year we had to just shake the tree, let all the needles fall off, shovel them into garbage bags and throw the bare tree out the window of our town house.

If I remember correctly, that was the same GIANT tree that didn't fit in our tree stand, only we didn't know it until we had gotten home and Richard had already cut the bottom off. 

Jonah was almost 2, Elijah was 4 months old and we had fortunately strapped him into his bouncy chair before attempting to get it up. Because Richard had to drive to Menards and get a new tree stand while I stood in the living room holding the 8 foot tree up.

While he was gone, Elijah started screaming and Jonah fell into 

the bucket of water we had out to dump in the tree stand.

Good memories. 

Well, I guess if we leave Charlie up until Valentine's Day

 it won't take long to clean up because he is so small! 

And it is a short walk from where he is standing to the front door :0)