Getting Closer...

Lillian's "New" toy

2009-08-07T01:26:00.003-05:00

When my mom was pregnant with me, my grandparents bought a wooden rocking horse for the 'new grand baby'. It was 1976, the bicentennial, so the horse was painted red, white and blue. I loved it. Since then, it has been repainted, the rockers have been replaced, the seat has been replaced and it has had several pairs of ears. All of my children have enjoyed it. Lillian just figured it out the other day, however, and can't seem to get enough of it. The only problem is that it doesn't have stoppers! So we have to be right there when she is rocking. Check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLIAN!

2009-04-24T10:19:00.006-05:00

Sunday was Lillian's first birthday! Lillian is such a sweet and happy baby. She has the cutest little wrinkle nose smile and beautiful blue eyes. Her Judisch curls are starting to form at the back of her blonde head, although she still doesn't have enough hair for a bow! She is our first thumb sucker, only when she is tired. She wants to do everything the big kids do and she adores them as they do her. She loves to dance and waves to her fans, which happen to be everyone we encounter. We had a joint party for her with her cousin Cambria when they were here for Easter. Lillian and Cambria are 5 days apart. Click on the picture below to view the birthday Album. It is best to view as a slide show.

She is also beginning to walk more and more! Here is a video of her going across the living room! She is unable to stand up independently, but she will pull herself up on anything and then she is off walking until she loses her balance!

We love you little Lilly!

B-day Pictures, Videos and Firsts...

2009-04-03T12:52:00.011-05:00

I finally got around to uploading all the pictures from Aidan and Evelyn's joint birthday party into picasa. So, click on the picture below to veiw them all.

The other night we took the kids bowling for the first time! We paid for an hour session, which was just perfect for us to finish an entire game. The kids had a blast and we did too. They were so fun to watch, so I've included a few videos of their bowling 'techniques'. Some of the shots are a little shaky since I was also holding Lillian, but you get the idea!

We also got out our homemade 'ball pit' for Lillian. She loves it, here is a video that Madeline took of her enjoying it.

Speaking of Lillian, she has started to take a few steps at a time and has even walked across the dining room from the kitchen! She is very excited about this new development and has been taking a few steps everyday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVELYN!!

2009-03-15T20:45:00.002-05:00

Our Evelyn Grace turned 5 on Friday! She is our little "Goldilocks", in more ways than just the hair. She is precocious and would give those 3 bears a run for their money - or their porridge, chair and bed as the story goes...Evelyn is our ham and the life of every party. She has no enemies and has no qualms asking anybody, anything...something we often have to address! She has us laughing everyday about something she says. She is also a sweetheart and can't get enough of snuggles, hugs and kisses. Everyday is bright and sunny in Evelyn's world and we are so glad to be a part of it! We love you Ev!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDAN!!

2009-03-10T22:50:00.003-05:00

Our sweet boy is 7 today! I cannot believe that 7 years have gone by with this wonderful child. Aidan is such a special boy and has taught us much about parenting, patience, and unconditional love. We are ever grateful for the lessons he has taught us. To our cuddle kid, lover of letters, giggler at spongebob, and our only son...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T12:51:00.003-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal yesterday! Mom and Dad Judisch are here for the rest of the week celebrating with us. We are very thankful for that!

Here are a few snapshots of our day...

The kids all enjoyed basting the turkey every 30 minutes!

Some of the spread...
Our feast consisted of:
Oven roasted turkey
Brown sugar glazed ham
Sweet potato casserole
Green Bean casserole
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
White bread sage dressing with cranberries and pecans
Yeast rolls
Jellied cranberries
Shiraz
Merlot
Thanksgiving blend coffee
Apple crisp
Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
(Honestly, we haven't even gotten to the dessert yet! We are planning on that tonight!)

Madeline claimed one of the turkey legs after eating some ham exclaiming "Well, I 've eaten my pig, now I need to eat my bird!"....I think we have been in Oklahoma a little too long!!!!!

We hope you all had a wonderful meal and time with friends and family as we celebrate all that we here in America have to be thankful for!

The Dalmatian Party

2008-11-10T20:48:00.010-06:00

Last year, Madeline wanted a "Little Mermaid-under-the-sea" party...the very next day, she told me, "Mom, next year I want a Dalmatian party!" I thought this might fizzle out over the year, but OH NO, she still very definitely wanted a Dalmatian party...Of course, there is NO Dalmatian themed party paraphernalia out there, so this one stretched my creative limits to the max, and this is what I came up with...

We decorated the house with black and white balloons and red streamers. Madeline and Evelyn helped me use sharpie markers on some of the white balloons to give them "spots".

We moved some furniture around, brought in the folding tables and set up craft stations. The first was called "Dalmatian Station". Each kid got to choose a spotted t-shirt to wear - and keep. (I picked up 3 pks of boys white under-shirts, 5 for $5, and the girls helped me paint black spots on all of them.) Then, they got to choose some ears (head bands with felt ears hot-glued to them). Next, they got to have their nose painted black with face paint. Finally, they made themselves collars using ribbons, scrap booking tags and jingle bells. I encouraged them to write their 'puppy' name on the tags. We had Penny, Boxer, Lucky, Broser, Pepper, and others I can't remember. They were so creative!

Dalmatian Station

Madeline AKA "Lucky"

The next station was "Make a Doggie-Bag". I picked up a pack of white lunch bags and set out markers for the puppies to decorate the bags. Then they got to choose from a variety of treats to fill their bags with. We had baggies of puppy chow (chex cereal coated in melted peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar), dog bones (rice crispy treats cut out with a bone cookie cutter), and lolli-pups (hand made chocolate lollipops in the shape of paws). Madeline and Evelyn helped me make all the treats for this one and we had a lot of fun in the kitchen.

Make a Doggie-Bag

The last station was "Paint-a-Pup". I picked up some cute wooden dog cut-outs from hobby-lobby and everyone got to paint one to take home.

Paint-a-Pup

We had a really good turn out for the party (13 total), so it was good to have several stations the kids could rotate to. It was also helpful to have them busy while I worked on lunch! I served mini-hamburgers, carrot sticks, celery sticks, apple slices, and potato chips. (No pictures of lunch, we were too busy eating!)

It was a beautiful day, so the kids ate outside and played in the backyard for a bit while the adults cleaned up and had a chance to regroup!

This is Ambrose, he is 2...he refused to wear "ears" because then he would have to take off his grandfather's hat, and that was NOT going to happen...isn't he too cute!

Apparently, puppies like to jump on trampolines...

...and climb trees.

Evelyn was "Pepper" and Christina was "Penny".

Here is the youngest little puppy at the party who just woke up from her nap...
...and then realized there was a camera pointed at her! (Again...her hair really isn't red...although it would be beautiful if it was...the light often makes it look that way!)

After a while we brought in the "litter" to play "pin the tail on the Dalmatian". The prize was a tin in the shape of a dog bone filled with white chocolate covered Oreos!

Here is Evelyn looking at her handiwork after the blind fold came off.

Aidan played too, but blind folds and spinning were not going to happen for him, so we didn't really count his attempt.

This is Robert...he was a great contender, very serious about the game. He came in second place.

Lydia ended up winning, unfortunately I did not snap a picture of her with the prize, but needless to say, she was thrilled!

We moved onto cake next. I went simple on this one, chocolate cake, white icing, chocolate disks for spots, with a red ribbon and tag wrapped around it.

Happy Birthday!

We ended the party with gift opening.

Madeline got some great loot! Lots of craft kits and books, a few toys and clothing! She had a blast! So far, she has not decided on a theme for next year, but Evelyn said she wants a dinosaur party! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Madeline!

2008-11-03T23:27:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we celebrated our sweet Madeline's 8th birthday! We had a waffle breakfast, during which we let her open a few of her gifts. Then we let her choose a lunch destination after church...she chose Chili's and got their Kraft macaroni and cheese with mandarin oranges. I know I could have made that for her for much less, but it was what she wanted, so we indulged. We will be having a 'friend' party on Saturday, so there will be more pictures to come.

Madeline is our sweetheart. Always thinking of others before herself, she makes a great big sister to our crew. She loves animals, crafts, and the color pink. She made us parents and made our parents grand-parents. We are so very blessed to have this little girl who is still in that sweet naive state that we too quickly grow out of. I hope she stays there for at least one more year. We love you bunches Madeline Lea!

Happy All Saints Day! AKA Halloween!

2008-11-01T11:25:00.004-05:00

So, every year on this day we have had a variety of activities to do. We have done dinners, parties, and festivals, but this year, we went trick-or-treating for the very first time. We all met with others at our friend Denise's house for a spaghetti dinner. Then, we separated the kids into groups - older and younger - and went off to the neighborhood to beg for candy. Of course the kids had a blast, and came home with pumpkin pails full of candy that probably won't last them through the week!
Here are a few pictures of our evening.

Our jack-o-lantern. (His eyes had pupils, but they seemed to dissapear by the end of the night!?)

The girls dressed up as kitty cats. They named themselves "jingle bell".

This is the group of "younger kids" minus one who was chasing a cat. Aidan, dressed up as "Dash" from the Incredibles. It happens to be his favorite t-shirt, so we could easily convince him to "dress-up".

Neal and I got in the spirit too! I dressed as an angel and Neal dressed as a scholar wearing his PhD regalia. He would not let me take a picture of him however, so you have to use your imagination.

And our little Lillian went as a flower - thanks to Aunt Janelle for the GORGEOUS hat she knitted!

Even more Lillian pictures!

2008-10-13T16:18:00.003-05:00

I did a photo session with Lillian at Target the other day. Follow this link to see the pictures.

http://www.thesmilestation.com/asp/tss_showlargephoto.asp?sbfn=E1&Page=0&tcount=29

Then, enter in the following:

Guest Name: JANICE JUDISCH
Access Code: LTTT0341103471TAR

Lillian Update

2008-09-17T15:23:00.008-05:00

Lillian is almost 5 months old now! I can't believe how quickly it has gone. As you can see, she still looks EXACTLY like Evelyn. The only difference is that she has blue eyes.

She is up to some fun things lately...

She has found her feet...

She can "tripod sit"- but when she realizes that she is sitting- she gets so excited that she falls over...
And she really enjoys her excersaucer...(FYI: Her hair isn't really that red)She is so happy and squeals with delight living up to her in utero name "Squeakles". She rolls around everywhere often getting stuck under tables and chairs and things. She cut her first tooth on Labor Day and her second tooth the next day. (That is the earliest we have had for teeth around here.) She has just started sleeping through the night. And she is our first thumb sucker; however, she only sucks her left thumb...does that indicate a lefty???

Neal was out of town a few weekends ago, so I took that opportunity to paint and set up Lillian's room. We use to have a midnight blue office, now Lillian has this...

It is a small room, so I had to take the pictures in small panoramic sections, but I think you can get the idea. The girls helped me paint the green and set up the toys. I am very happy with how it turned out. Everyone is enjoying the new room. Neal and I are glad to have our room back to ourselves and the big kids have been playing in there more than their own rooms!

Finally, we will leave you with a short video of Lillian playing!

New stuff

2008-09-17T14:45:00.005-05:00

OK, as promised, here are some pictures of the new things in our house and yard...

This is our "new" piano that we bought off of Craig's list. It is about 80 to 100 years old. It is called a saloon style-piano because of the mirror across the top. I guess if it was once in a saloon, the piano player would want to know if someone was coming up behind them with a pistol or something...Neal had it tuned for me for my birthday and it sounds great! The tuner said it is a "sawed off piano". Apparently it was originally a player piano that was converted to a saloon-style piano. He was impressed with the good condition on the inside despite its beat up condition on the outside. We have all really enjoyed having a piano in our house!

These are our new dining room chairs. I have been saving money for several months and I used my birthday money to purchase these new off of e-bay. I have been wanting chocolate leather parson chairs for years! Now I don't have to sit on a metal folding chair at dinner time!
I purchased eight, but only six are shown.

This is a freezer that Neal's secretary at work gave us. We are so excited about it! We are spliting a cow with some friends next month, so we were needing one of these!

I picked up another bookshelf for our school room.

Here is the zinnia garden in full bloom as well as the potato ivy growing across the top of the porch.

The girls are so proud of the zinnias they helped plant.

I planted a lantana garden on either side of the driveway. Here is one up close. I still need to add a second layer of stones for the border and they have to fill in, but I think it will add a lot to our entrance once they are established.

This is the driveway showing both gardens.

I mentioned making a path from the driveway to the back gate while I was pregnant with Lillian...well, I finally finished it and put in a garden on that side of the house. I also made a place for the trash can that is out of the mud and convenient and not so ugly now that it has a garden around it. I got the purple jew and the airplane plants from my mom's house when we were there in June...they have filled in nicely with all the rain we have been getting!

Finally, I got a pair of clothesline T-posts! I also got these off of Craig's list. I put up a wanted post offering to take away some old T-posts from anyone who did not want theirs anymore. A guy called up and offered to bring them to us in his truck for $20! We have been using them regularly and have enjoyed the fresh smelling clothes and money/energy savings.

Hanging on the line in this picture are the other new things in our lives...cloth diapers! I am using cloth for Lillian and am saving money there too!

Life Lessons...

2008-09-10T12:05:00.005-05:00

Number 1:

I try to sleep in on Saturday mornings (until 8 o'clock) if the kids let me. This Saturday, however, I was woken up by Madeline at 7:15ish exclaiming, "MOM! I heard a bang and another bang and there is a firetruck and an ambulance and all the people in the neighborhood are running around in the street!" I immediately jump out of bed and pull aside the drapes to see the scene Madeline had just described to me. I quickly change clothes, slip on some flip flops and tell Madeline to stay in the house while I join the entire neighborhood in the street. What I couldn't see from my window was the reason all the neighborhood was in chaos. The house one door over was completely engulfed in flames! I walked over to the neighbors' house who were still in their robes standing on their front porch and asked them what happened. They didn't know anything. They didn't hear anything either until the fireman came knocking on their door telling them to get out of their house just in case they couldn't stop the fire from spreading. I did find out however, that the people were out of town - but their 15 cats were not! Shortly after I spoke to them, I hear "Mommy, it's a fire!" I turned around to see my Aidan wide eyed staring at the fire. I picked him up as he said "Mommy, it's alot of water! Mommy it's a firetruck! Mommy, it's a fireman!" in rapid succession. That is a lot of complete sentences for Aidan! Slowly, the rest of my family trickled out Madeline, then Neal, then I went back for Evelyn and Lillian. We could feel the heat from the blaze and soot was coming our way, but we couldn't move. We were captivated by the inferno. The whole neighborhood was. We just stood there helplessly watching the house go up in flames. I talked to the kids about what the firemen were doing. I talked to them about their uniforms and their masks and their oxygen tanks. I wanted them to take note of what they looked like just in case we ever need their help. Once the fire was out, the firemen went through the house ripping apart walls and large pieces of furniture to ensure nothing was left to be rekindled. At one point I saw the top of a grand piano being thrown out of the window. It was sickening. I still don't know what started the fire or what became of the cats. The owners were contacted immediately and have been back along with inspectors and insurance agents. I hope to find out more information soon. We have to be glad that no one was harmed. The kids have had many questions about fire and it has been a good opportunity to talk to them about fire safety. It has also led to thinking about fire escape routes in our house and purchasing a couple of ladders for the kids' rooms and getting a fire box. You never know what could happen.

Number 2:

This summer Madeline went to Vacation Bible school. There, she met a sweet girl named Christina. We got to know the rest of Christina's family and have been friends ever since. Her mother's name is Denise, her father is David. This is the second marriage for both of them. Altogether they have 7 children. Their three younger daughters (which are from their current marriage) are the only ones left at home (Christina 7, Nia 9, Elizabeth 11). This summer we went to their house several times for dinner, we went with them a couple of times to lake Arbunkle, we attended their daughters' violin concert and have had many play dates. Denise is another homeschooler and we have been working on doing some school together. They are a wonderful, generous family and we have been blessed so much by them. On Friday morning Denise called me. She informed me that David had died. He had a brain aneurysm rupture and died on the way to the hospital. He was 61 and very healthy. This was completely unexpected. We are still in shock.

We did our best to explain what happened to Madeline and Evelyn. They had many questions. We attended the wake and the funeral service. There were many tears from my girls. They hurt so much for their friends. We do too. I am glad that we were there for them. Many people came, but very few children. It was good for Christina to have her best friend Madeline there for her. Denise was glad that we brought the kids too. It was good for them to share this experience with their friends. The girls learned a lot through this. They saw a family grieve for the loss of their husband/father. They saw a person they once knew dead and lying in a casket. They saw that casket being put into the ground and covered with dirt. They heard the words of family, friends and priests telling funny stories about David, and assuring us of his salvation and his current state in the presence of God. We will continue to help this family as we can and that too will be a good lesson for our children. We are told by Christ to take care of the widows and orphans. That is what our friends are now. Thankfully, David was quite the entrepreneur and they will be able to maintain the status of living that they already have. However, we can help in other ways. I will be schooling Christina for awhile while Denise ties up loose ends at David's company. We will be bringing over meals and helping in taking the girls to their lessons. Finally, we will be a listening ear and a warm embrace when they need us to be.

Please pray for our friends, the Personette's, during this time.

First Week of School!

2008-08-30T10:04:00.002-05:00

We have completed a successful first week of school around here and although it is sad that our "lazy days of summer" have gone, it feels good to get back into the swing of things.

Aidan went to summer school again this year which was every Tuesday and Thursday for two 6 week periods with a two week break in between. He started back on August 20th at a new school this year. Now that he is 6, he has graduated from the Developmental Delay program into a full-time Autism Program. The one at his old school, Roosevelt, was full, so he is going to a school near the University called Monroe. They will be slowly trying to include him into a general ed kindergarten class, so we will see how that goes. Aidan is adjusting well to his new school and teachers. He is going all day this year from 7:50am to 2:40pm. That is very hard for me, especially on the nights that I work because I don't get to see him much on those days. However, we still agree that this is the best thing for him at this time and will see how he does with this new school and program. He no longer gets the one-on-one tutoring with ABA, however he still receives speech therapy and has his own assistant that goes with him to kindergarten.

I started school with the "big girls" on August 25th. Madeline is doing 2nd grade and Evelyn is doing PreK. For Madeline, we are doing the following:
Spelling - ABeka Spelling and Poetry 2
Phonics - The Parents Ordinary Guide to Teaching Reading
Grammar - English for the Thoughtful Child
Math - ABeka Arithmetic 2 and speed drill/tests Arithmetic 2
History - the Story of the World Volume 1
Science - Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 2 (for now)
Madeline will be going to "homeschool PE" in 2 weeks. It will be every Monday from 9:45 to 11 for all the 1st and 2nd grade homeschoolers in Norman. Afterward, she will be going to another homeschooling mom's house for poetry and literature class. In October, I will be teaching a Science class on Fridays and another mom will be doing Geography.

Evelyn is very enthusiastic about her school this year. I took her to the store to pick out her own school supplies. She picked out a binder that she has filled with notebook paper and has covered in letters and numbers all on her own. I have some workbooks for her to practice writing her alphabet, upper and lowercase, and writing numbers and she is flying through them. This year she is more keen on following the directions and is doing a great job. If she continues at this speed, I may begin her on reading this year.

Lillian is content to sit in my lap or rotate from her swing, to her exersaucer, to her quilt on the floor during school. This is helpful and I am cherishing this time while she is not too mobile. It will be a whole new experience in the next couple of months though!

Neal started teaching August 26th. He is teaching two courses this semester, Contemporary Philosophy of Religion and Metaphysics. He has quite a following at the University and has several students taking his classes that have had him before and several who were recommended to take him by other students. He always has great reviews from students. We all know that God has blessed him with the gift of teaching and I am so glad he can use this gift for his career.

Well, more posts to come...next ones with pictures! Our desktop computer got a terrible virus and is still out of commission, so we have been using the laptop. However, it did not like "talking" to the camera. Neal figured out the glitch and now they are "talking", so I will put up a post soon with all the new things around here! But now, I am off to work.

Our trip to San Antonio

2008-06-23T09:40:00.013-05:00

Last week we returned home from a great 2 week trip to see family and a few friends in San Antonio.
The kids did beautifully in the car. We left at 6:30 in the morning and arrived at the Judisch household at 2:30 in the afternoon. Lillian only cried for a total of 15 minutes!

Grammie and Grandpa meeting Lillian for the first time

This was our first time meeting Cambria; who is only 5 days younger than Lillian.
They are being called the "twin cousins". (Cambria is the one on the left with all the hair!)

Checking each other out.

We went to the zoo with Mom and Dad J. and the May family.
Big kids on the lions.

Aidan on the big lion.

Flamingos.

Bears?

It was very hot and we did not get to see many animals. So, we went back to the Judisch house for dinner and swimming.

Evelyn and her bangs...that she cut herself...AGAIN!

Madeline jumping in.

We had a nice time just hanging out around the house relaxing and enjoying each other's company.
Grandpa coloring with the girls.

Grammie pushing Aidan and Evelyn on the swing.

All 10 grankids!
Top Left: Grandpa, Carson, Valie, Grammie
Bottom Left: Avery holding Cambria, Ian, Aidan, Moira, Evelyn, Madeline holding Lillian.

We also had the opportunity to go out to the Macaroni Grill with just the adults and the two babies. Grammie and Grandpa holding their two new grand babies at the resturant.

While we were there, Valie turned 3!

We got to go to her party at Inflatable World where the kids had a blast bouncing...

and sliding, for hours!

The second week there we moved over to the Hawthorn house. We started off that week by throwing my mom a surprise retirement party at Mamma's Cafe.
Some of her friends throughout her years of teaching came.

Of course, family was there too!

My mom has had an amazing career as a special education teacher for 31 years. We were thrilled to honor her with this party.

Over with the Hawthorn clan, we had the joy of meeting another cousin for the first time.
This is Melissa and Jonathan's baby Avery (yes another Avery!) with Lillian. She is 3 months older than Lillian.

Head to head.

It was fun to catch up with everyone.
Gran with the girls.

Grandaddy with Lillian and the play gym that every Hawthorn grandchild has played with.

One night Elizabeth and Jonathan stayed over for a slumber party.
Here are the kids watching "Enchanted".

They became inspired by the movie and danced along.
Madeline and Jonathan.

Elizabeth and Evelyn.

Bedtime.

We got to go to Lucia's first birthday party while we were there too!
I think we had more fun than she did...it was a bit much for her...
but Julie did an awesome job on the cake!
We were also able to meet up with our friends the Greens!
We went to their house for a delicious dinner and the next day, Stephanie brought the kids over to swim.
Evelyn, Madeline, and Emma.

Garfield, Stephanie, and Elizabeth.

We did a lot of swimming at the Hawthorn's.
Elizabeth and Madeline.

The group...Lillian did not like the water...

Aidan and Neal.

Lillian decided it was time to impress everyone with her great skills and started supporting her head up very, very well for a 6 week old baby.

She continued to amaze up by rolling over from her tummy to her back...again, at 6 weeks old!
In addition, she won everybody's hearts with her winning, dimply smile.

The trip back home also went very well. We again left at 6:30 in the morning and arrived in Norman at 2:30 in the afternoon. Lillian did not cry once! It was hard to leave our friends and family in San Antonio...in fact we extended our stay an extra day, and would've stayed longer if we could! However, we are thankful for our parents' graciousness in opening up their homes and feeding 6 more people.
We had a blast!

10 Years!

2008-06-21T17:04:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Neal and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! I can't believe it has been so long. We were reminiscing over our marriage last night, the good, the bad, and the ugly times. Through it all, God has preserved us and blessed us more than we ever imagined He would. Most of all, I have been blessed with a man who fears God and who loves me unconditionally.

To celebrate we went to an art exhibit opening, "Tradition in Transition, Russian Icons in the age of the Romanovs" located at the University art museum. It was very interesting and quite fancy with wine and cheese offered in the gallery before entering. Afterwards, we went out for dinner. We had a wonderful time together. For pictures go to Neal's blog.

We had a WONDERFUL weekend!

2008-05-26T15:33:00.010-05:00

School was over for Aidan on Friday, so our summer is beginning!

The Rey family came for a visit Friday evening and left Monday morning. We were thrilled to show off our new little addition, and we had a fun and eventful visit with our family.

Meeting Lillian

On Saturday, we all went to the Natural History Museum here in town. It is really quite fascinating and one of our favorite places to go.

They have a very large prehistoric exhibit with dinosaur skeletons of all eras and sizes.

Here is Aidan being squished by a Mammoth foot...he came up with this pose all on his own!

After wandering around the museum for a couple of hours, we took a picnic lunch to OU, let the kids run around on the lawns, and showed Michael and Julie where Neal works.

Picnicking kids

On Sunday morning, we all headed off to church to celebrate Lillian's baptism!

Isn't she beautiful...

And now it is time for an announcement...for those of you who may not know yet, we have found a church home! We are very excited and thrilled that God has brought us to this church. Two Saturdays ago, at the Vigil of Pentecost, we joined the congregation of St. Thomas More Catholic Church...yes, I wrote CATHOLIC! For a couple of years, Neal has been struggling with some theological issues. After much, much prayer and study, he has found the answers in the Catholic Church. He broached the subject with me about 6 months ago and although I was COMPLETELY shocked, I heard him out, listened to his arguments and did a lot of study on my own. ( I trust my husband as the head of our home in EVERY WAY and I know that he would not lead us into apostasy.) Together we have gone through a transformation that can only come from God. We have learned a lot about the Catholic Church and have learned that we had many misconceptions concerning it. Neal has set up a blog to explain our journey. In his words, "for those who'd like to know why, [his] blog is dedicated to explaining, bit by bit, how a couple of card-carrying Calvinists who at least looked as though they had their wits more or less about them managed to migrate their way across the long and arduous path from Geneva to Rome." I have added the link to the blog role on this site. I am going to keep this blog as an update on our family doings, so if anyone wants to discuss our conversion then please, call, e-mail, or comment on Neal's blog. We will be more than happy to talk to everyone about this change in our lives!

So, to continue on with our weekend...Lillian was baptized by our priest Father Ray...

...and Julie and Michael are her proud Godparents!

After the baptism, we went out to lunch at BJ's, a nice pizza joint, then back to our house to relax. We all had a wonderful time catching up and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins Turner and Lucia.

After they left Monday morning, we had a family day together relaxing and grilling burgers.

Hope you all had a great long weekend too!

Aren't Babies Wonderful?

2008-05-22T09:10:00.002-05:00

This morning while folding laundry, Lillian was happy in her cradle. She started fussing, so I looked over to see mustard-poop oozing out of her gown. I take her to her changing station and begin the tedious process of removing the gown without getting any more poop smeared on the baby. (I have found that rolling the garment to trap in the poop works best.) Once the garment is off, I begin wiping her down and she decides it is a good time to spit-up the rest of what was left in her tummy. I take a break from wiping down one end to wipe down the other - so she doesn't get puke in her nose. Once that is cleaned up, I finish wiping up the yellow stuff. As I am reaching for a new diaper, a large grin appears on her face as she pees all over her legs and changing pad. Needless to say, the laundry is in the machine now and the baby has had a nice morning bath...Good times!

Happy Birthday Neal!

2008-05-13T08:47:00.003-05:00

Eleven years ago today, Neal asked me to marry him. I had planned a fun birthday date for him and he ruined it all by proposing to me! How could I top that!? I guess my saying "yes" was a good enough present...

Neal is an amazing husband. He has loved me through all things, at my worst and at my best - which still isn't all that great. He is also a wonderful daddy. His kids adore him!

We are so blessed by this man!

Happy Birthday my love!

At Home with Lillian

2008-05-03T20:19:00.006-05:00

Our first 2 weeks with Lillian have been great. The kids just adore her and the only arguments around here have been "who gets to hold her next". Lillian continues to be a sweet baby - she is content most of the time, nursing has been going very well, her sleep pattern has been quite newborn-ish, some nights have been great, some not so great, but that is OK.

Last week I started back on my daily routines, trying to get things back to normal around here and fitting Lillian into our daily lives. I also started school with Madeline again and we are wrapping up the school year.

Here are some more pictures of Lillian and her adoring fans.

All four kids

Bath time pictures...

...everyone wants to help!

Lillian's birth

2008-04-25T13:00:00.003-05:00

So, for those of you who want all the details...here you go. Warning! This is a long one...

I had already blogged about my day on Friday and it continued pretty much the same. There were some contractions that seemed productive, but no pattern and no increase in intensity. It was driving me crazy! I was so frustrated and antsy, so I went outside and pulled some weeds. After a while, I told Neal that I had to get out of the house, so we went to Wal-mart and walked all around the store. We let the kids look at every single toy isle, Neal looked at TVs, we looked at baby stuff, and finally picked up a few extra groceries for my parents arrival. Walking was good, and in the store I had a few contractions that made me stop and need to breathe through. However, I still did not notice a pattern. We got home, put stuff away, got the kids to bed and I did my night-time cleaning routine. Then I called Melissa and we talked for awhile just catching up. During that time, I started to notice the contractions coming at regular intervals, but I did not get my hopes up or say anything just in case...After we hung up, Neal and I sat on the couch watching TV on-line and I started keeping track of contractions. This was 10pm, they were coming every 6 minutes. Neal asked if I was in labor, and I just told him "maybe". I am always hesitant to commit because my labors are so long and I worry about getting hopes up. By 11pm, I knew I was definitely in labor, the contractions continued and were getting stronger...finally! I walked around the house for an hour and my parents arrived at midnight. They were very excited to find me in labor and forgave me for being such a terrible hostess. (I did not help them with any of their luggage!) I knew it was going to be a long night, so I encouraged everyone to go on to bed. I tried to relax in bed, but the contractions were too strong, so I took a long shower. After that, I paced around in my bathroom and labored in different positions there trying not to wake anybody up. Around 4am, I guessed I was probably progressed to a 5 or so and I decided to labor a little longer in a warm bath. (My labors are very long, yet follow the same pattern. So, I have been able to become very well aware of when each progression occurs.) The warm bath was a great idea. I was so relaxed and really able to focus during contractions. At this point I was progressing from a 5 to a 6, the contractions were about every 3 minutes. Yet I remember thinking to myself that although they were very intense, I would not categorize them as being painful. I stayed in the tub until 5:15 and decided to time contractions for a bit before waking Neal up. At 5:40, I woke up Neal and told him it was time. He immediately got dressed, woke up my mom, packed the car and got it warm for me, helped me get my shoes on and off we went. This was 6am.

I have learned that if you are going to have a baby in the hospital with an OB and you want a completely drug-free experience, then timing is everything. For me, I want to be at the point where I am in active labor, but able to talk and walk between contractions. That way I am not too terribly uncomfortable with all the stuff they do to you in the hospital when you first get there - check your progression, put in the IV, get your thumb prints, ask 1000 questions you already answered in pre-registration, put on the monitors, etc. I have learned that progressing from a 6 to a 7 is the perfect time for me to deal with the hospital stuff. It is even somewhat of a distraction. However, when I reach a 7, they better be finished and leave me alone!

So, we arrived at the hospital at 6:05 (Norman is great! I love small towns!) We got to the nurse's station and told them I was in labor. Neal made me laugh because he was sure to tell them that this was our 4th baby and I had been in labor since 10pm. I know he said this because so many times you get the, "are you sure you are in labor" question. They immediately took me to a triage room where I was determined to be at a 6. (Just like I thought, perfect timing!) We then walked 2 doors down to a very nice labor/delivery/postpartum suite. I climbed into the bed, which is where I was ready to be, and they started all the hospital stuff. When they finished, they checked me and I was at a 7, again, perfect timing! At this point I told the nurse that with my other labors, the doctor has broken my water at a 7 to 8 allowing the baby to move on down and deliver in about an hour and a half later. She found the doctor and let him know. I did not get my doctor because she was not on-call. Instead, I got a gruff and grumpy old guy who came in, introduced himself, broke my water, and said, "call me when it is time to push". Ugh! Anyway, I had a WONDERFUL labor and delivery nurse who was with me almost the whole time. She was very encouraging and helpful and I am so thankful for her. Well, I knew that the contractions were going to be stronger, but I also knew that we would have a baby in about an hour and a half or so, so I was mentally ready to go through the hard part. This was at 8am. With every contraction I kept waiting for that change when the baby is moving down, but it wasn't coming. My labor and delivery nurse, Tori, was great and kept changing my position every 20 minutes or so trying to get the baby moving. The contractions were really strong at this point and I would definitely say they were painful now. I had to focus on relaxing really hard even between contractions. After 2 and a half hours of this, I was still at a 7! That is when I lost my focus. I told Neal I was done, I didn't want to hurt anymore and I wanted an epidural. The nurse very gently said, "give me 20 more minutes in this position, I think this will do it." I said, "no, I'm done". So, she went out to find an anesthesiologist. The second she left the room, I felt the urge to push. I remember having very mixed feelings. I thought, "great, now I have to do this" and I thought "OK let's do this and be done!" I tried to focus on the more positive of the two feelings. The nurse came back in and said there was a C-section taking place and I would have to wait for the epidural. I answered by saying, "I have to push." Tori was ecstatic. She checked and sure enough I was complete and ready to go.

The next couple of minutes were a blur. I could feel the baby moving down, my body taking over, being told not to push and just breathe, a slew of people entering the room, the bed being broken down, being moved into the annoying "hospital birthing position", and having Mr. Grumpy doctor "prep" me - he was really rough. Once everything was ready, the doctor said, "we have a lot of pushing ahead of us ladies", insinuating that the nurses called him too early and I was not ready. I remember saying, "Oh great." But the nurses were very encouraging and telling me I could do it. So I focused on the task ahead and figured I would just show that doctor that I was ready and went for it. In two contractions the head was out and I pushed the shoulders out with the third. As always, my first thought was, "ah, its out!" and then I heard them say, "It's a girl!" Lillian entered the world at 10:56am. Neal cut the cord and she was laid on my belly.

Lillian was 8 lbs. 2 oz. - my biggest baby yet
20 1/4 inches
9 days "late" and 13 hours of labor.

She is a very sweet baby and is enjoying all the attention from her older siblings. More pictures of her to come!

Lillian Pictures

2008-04-21T14:21:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures of Lillian in the hospital. Sorry it took a bit, blogger was hanging up on me big time yesterday! Everything went well overall with the labor and delivery. We were able to go home Sunday afternoon. Thank you all for your prayers and congratulations. We are so thrilled and are enjoying these first days. I will post more details, pictures, and birth story soon.

Just born!

Aidan is not quite sure yet...

Such a proud daddy!

Evelyn and Lillian

Madeline and Lillian

Madeline made these sweet letters for Lillian to Welcome her home.

Lillian's First Day

2008-04-19T19:40:00.002-05:00

Here is an annoyingly brief and not especially detailed birth announcement (from me -- Neal -- acting in persona Janice, who will be writing a more substantive post later on).

Today, at 10:56a.m. we welcomed into the world our third baby girl, Lillian Jeanette. The birth experience was very simple and mostly painless for me. It was somewhat more involved for Janice. But we're both doing fine, and that's the main thing.

Lillian, like her mother and sisters, is stunningly gorgeous. She weighs 8.2 pounds and measures at 20.25 inches. She has very little hair to speak of, but the hair that she does have and which can be spoken of is very nice hair indeed. It's light, not dark. Overall, she looks a lot like Evelyn.

That's all I've got for now. Pictures will come later. I'm off to the hospital.

Neal

PS: Thanks Mom and Dad for sending flowers. And thank you all for your earnest and faithful prayers. For those we remain happily in your debt.

An Update...

2008-04-18T12:38:00.003-05:00

I woke up this morning at 5:30 having stronger contractions than I have been having all week. They were coming every 10 minutes, so I decided to get up around 6:45 and walk around, get breakfast started and get the kids up and going. Unfortunately, they started fizzling out a bit. I have still been getting some of the stronger ones throughout the day, but there is no consistency or pattern forming yet.
However, I did have another OB appointment today. I did a non-stress test and a vitality test with an ultrasound. The baby passed both tests "allowing" me to remain pregnant. The only concern is that the amniotic fluid is a little lower than optimum at this point indicating that the placenta is slowing down. So, I have agreed to be scheduled for an induction on Monday, if the baby doesn't come this weekend. (That will be 11 days over-due and I have never gone past 10.)
On an exciting and very positive note...I have already progressed to a 3 and am 75% effaced!!! YEAH!!! This is a first for me, and tells me that I probably will not make it past the weekend. Of course, everyone at the doctor's office was commenting on the full moon Sunday which just might force things along too. So, we will definitely have a baby by Monday - hopefully sooner than that though!
My parents are driving in tonight from SA to be here and I am so glad that they are coming!
I will post more as things happen, so stay tuned, the end is in sight!

Bunk Beds!

2008-04-16T18:05:00.004-05:00

We FINALLY got the girls bunk beds! Since Evelyn climbed out of her crib at 16 months old, she has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor next to Madeline's daybed. We kept saying we needed to get them bunk beds, but we never acted on it or had the extra money. So, last year, I started saving a little every month from my tips to put in a "bunk bed" fund. After looking around and talking to Stephanie Green, who is also in the bunk bed market, we found this set on e-bay. Even after shipping it was under the amount I had saved (thanks Steph)! That was good because we did end up buying two sheets of plywood to place on top of the slats and under the mattresses. It arrived via FedEx today and we just put it together, the kids are thrilled! I think getting them to go to bed tonight won't take much convincing!

The girls model "their" bunk. We will switch who gets which bunk each month to avoid arguments.

Aidan is not going to be pleased when he has to go back to his own bunk-less bed tonight.

Neal and I are so excited to get these for them. They have tons more space in their room and Evelyn is not on the floor!

In baby news... I have been having more contractions accompanied with nausea, cramping, and sciatic nerve pain. They have been coming more often since last night after dinner, but nothing regular and no increase in pressure. Last night, I swept and mopped the kitchen floor, did more laundry and some vacuuming, but there was no change in the contractions. So, I went to sleep hoping they might increase throughout the night. I woke up several times last night feeling sick to my stomach, but still no change in contractions. Today they are continuing, but again no pattern is emerging and I just feel sick. I am doing my normal daily stuff and trying to keep my mind off of how my body feels right now so I don't get frustrated. I will update if anything exciting happens...

Happy Birthday Cassie and Chloe!

2008-04-14T14:01:00.008-05:00

I hope the title of this post did not confuse anyone or get your hopes up...I did NOT have the baby yet...
You see, today is the cats' birthday.
The only reason we know this is because we know the person that we got the cats from. We e-mailed her and she sent us the exact date and pictures of the day they were born. The girls have been talking about their birthday for several months and have been very excited to give them a birthday party. I think that this is a bit excessive for an animal, but I just could not burst the girls' excitement, so today we had a birthday party for Cassie and Chloe. They each got two new balls and "special" food.

I am sure they were very happy. You can tell by their expressions in the pictures...

Cassie "opening" presents.

Chloe "opening" presents. (Madeline likes to make them little "nests" around the house.)

Yummy, "special" food...(it stinks!)

On a side note, we recently discovered something quite funny about our cats...they are NOT girls...how did we miss this, you ask? The girl we got them from took them to the vet when they were 6 weeks old to make sure they were healthy. After that, we were told that the entire litter was female. So, we never bothered to check! I took them to the vet a few months ago to be "fixed" and the vet laughed at me telling me that we have the "butchest looking girl cats he has ever come across"...The kids think this is hilarious and have gotten use to the fact that their kitties are male. However, we haven't changed the names and probably won't. We have shortened them a bit to Cas and Chloe (not pronouncing the "e") in an attempt to be a bit more androgynous, but as the vet said, "It really doesn't matter after I take care of them, they'll be 'it' cats after today!"

If you are bored out of your mind, or you just love little kittens, you can follow this link to an on-line photo album sent to us from Charity, the owner of Cas and Chloe's mom, Monday. These are their baby pictures.

http://charitysmith.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album01

Another Due Date Come and Gone...

2008-04-11T12:21:00.002-05:00

It should be no surprise to all that I did NOT have the baby yesterday. I gear up each time telling myself and others that the baby will be late. My cycle is longer than average and my babies just like a few extra days to ripen. However, it is still difficult to not be somewhat disappointed. I am ready to meet this new little one squirming around inside my belly!

I had a doctor appointment today and surprisingly I have progressed to 1 cm! For those of you who walk around at a 3 for your last month of pregnancy, this probably means nothing...but I have never dilated or effaced with any of my babies until I was in labor, so this is progress for me! I think that this is why I have such long labors, so I am telling myself that I just cut 2 hours off my labor time!

Anyway, we discussed "options" today about being induced and all and I was happy with her willingness to work with me. We have planned to have another ultrasound next Friday to check the fluid and placenta. At that time the technician will also do a vital check watching the baby's movement and checking organs just to make sure all is well and healthy. Then, I will go in for a non-stress test the following Monday, and following Friday provided I am still pregnant. At that point we will probably end up scheduling an induction. Hopefully I will not go that long! Madeline was 5 days late, Aidan was 10 days late and Evelyn was 8 days late, so we shall see!

In the meantime, I have been keeping busy, so that I am not feeling antsy! I have been feeling much better physically since I started my maternity leave, and I am experiencing more energy as well. So I have been putting it to good use and trying to get a few non-regular cleaning chores done that way I don't have to worry about them for awhile. I have washed and ironed all the curtains in the house, cleaning the windows and sills while they were down, I have helped the children reorganize their toy bins putting things in the correct ones, I have cleaned all the fans and light fixtures, and today I am going to work on baseboards and trim, and then I will work on detail cleaning the kitchen appliances. I have also been able to do some yard work, however our weather has not been very cooperative. On the nice days I have raked most of the front yard - the ice storm left a devastating mess of debris, I have put in a garden for our zinnias, and I have started a stone path from our driveway to our side back gate. I have a small list of other chores I can do if I need more things to fill up my time, but if I don't get them done, I will be just fine with that! I have also been maintaining Madeline's school, so that there won't be too much of a disruption with the new baby. I plan to take a week or two off and then get back to it so we should still finish by the end of May.

Well, that's all the news I have for now...I will keep you all updated as things happen...or don't!

Baby Shower!

2008-04-01T14:57:00.006-05:00

On Sunday, two of the girls at the Outback threw a baby shower for me. It was very sweet of them and they did a wonderful job - especially since this was their first baby shower ever! The biggest surprise of all, however, was when our doorbell rang on Saturday around 5:30pm and on our front porch was Jeannie and Janelle! They drove up just for the shower! I couldn't believe it...I even cried! Neal had cleaned the entire house from top to bottom on Friday night and Saturday morning under the guise of it being my "baby shower gift from him". Of course, he knew his mom and sister were coming, but it doesn't really matter, my house is clean and I didn't have to clean it! So that was definitely a good gift regardless of the reason!

Saturday night we had a great visit with our surprise guests, Sunday morning we all went to church, then the girls and I headed to the baby shower.

This is the giant card from the group of Outback employees who could not attend the shower because they were working. They took up a collection and bought us great practical stuff...4 packages of diapers, 3 boxes of 300 wipes each, baby shampoo, wash, lotion, and some nursing supplies, and several little rattles, teethers and cute new toys.

These are the two hostesses, Mallory is on my right and Diane is on my left.

This is the yummy spread the girls put together.

Here is a close up of the cake...Diane did this herself, she is very talented with baking and is always bringing in stuff to work for everyone.

Here I am with my girls, they had so much fun being little ladies.

There were several games - SIX to be exact!
One was guessing the number of M&Ms in the jar...Madeline got the closest with a guess of 448 and won the jar of M&Ms, we were so proud of her and she was beaming with joy!

Another game was guessing the melted candy in the diaper, it was pretty gross, but remember that my shower was being given by high school and college kids...This picture is one of the only guy(Dirk) brave enough to attend the shower and participating in the diaper game. (He is the only other parent that I work with other than my manager, so showers aren't too weird to him.) He brought his son Parker who is looking on with great confusion particularly since he is toilet training right now! I hope this didn't mess him up!
They didn't stay long, but it was very thoughtful for them to stop by.

The girls helped with the present opening while Jeannie recorded the gifts for me. Janelle was our photographer and we realized too late that we did not get any pictures of her! I am hoping one of the other girls did...
Here is the group of girls that attended.

After the shower we went home to rest and change then Jeannie took us all out to BJs for dinner.
Afterwards we walked around the OU campus, then headed home for more rest and visiting. Jeannie and Janelle left in the pouring rain Monday morning. I am so thankful that they came!

Monday evening was my last night to work at the Outback for the next 12 weeks! I am so excited to have this time with my family and our new baby.

Here is a picture of me in my lovely Outback uniform last night after work...yes, they make maternity tops!

I think I made a valiant effort working as long as possible with this type of job. I continued to work 4 nights a week, 6 to 10 hour shifts depending on the day, on my feet the entire time, no breaks, no sitting down, no food all the way to 38 weeks and 4 days into this pregnancy, now it is time to take a break!

I have spent today pulling out baby stuff - the car seat, swing, bouncy, gender neutral clothing, etc., setting up our room with a changing station, and getting everything washed. My mom is bringing our cradle when she comes since Melissa borrowed it for Avery, so that is the only thing we will need right away that I don't have yet.

The pregnancy ticker at the top says 9 more days, but I am expecting that to be extended a bit since the other kids have been 5 to 10 days late...Anyway, most of the projects and preparation are finished and we are very ready to meet this little one whenever he or she arrives. We will keep you all updated as things progress!

Happy Easter

2008-03-26T10:41:00.007-05:00

We have been enjoying a wonderful Easter season this year by celebrating the entire liturgy of Easter in the church calender. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, through 40 days of lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, and continuing all the way through Pentecost, we have been celebrating the death and resurrection of our King!

Easter Morning, ready for church

Decorating eggs the day before, Aidan wanted to sample...

Attempting to NOT let him drink vinegar water, while Neal snaps the camera...

That was gross, but fun!

Easter morning, checking out the baskets

Indoor egg hunt before breakfast and church

After church, we were invited to a friend's family ranch to participate in a large outdoor egg hunt, an egg toss, sack race, and general play time! We had a great day!

We hope you all are enjoying this time of remembrance and celebration that He is Risen!

Party Time!

2008-03-23T00:19:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday we did a joint birthday party for Aidan and Evelyn. We decided on doing a "spring" themed party. The kids painted clay pots when they arrived and all planted sunflowers before they left. (No pictures of that activity since I was needed to help do to the use of "real" paint!) Then we went to a field near our house to fly kites, play with bubble wands and throw around frisbees.

Aidan and his bubble wand

The group flying kites...don't worry the electrical lines were WAY farther than they look!
The dads had a blast flying kites!

Evelyn got her kite up in the air on her first try!

The girls and their kites

Afterwards we went back to the house for cake and presents.

Everyone had a great time and left with their own kite, bubble wand, frisbee and sunflower pot!

Happy Birthday Evelyn!

2008-03-13T20:51:00.003-05:00

Evelyn turned 4 today!

We gave her baby pinkie pie...which is "what she always wanted"...

Evelyn continues to be a source of great joy to us. She is full of life and spunk! She isn't afraid to try anything new, she knows no stranger and is just down right cute! She loves ponies, my little pet shop, strawberry shortcake, and anything big sister Madeline likes. Her favorite color is pink. She loves to play outside and has been a great "help" to me lately by digging in the gardens. She is a great cuddler, giver of hugs and sweet kisses. She has also become a bit pious lately, reminding us regularly that we must obey God by not hitting anyone, not stinging anyone and by smiling. She asked Neal to "write a prayer to God on the computer". This is what she dictated...
"I love you God. Thank you for our day, and thank you for our sister named Madeline, and Aidan, and Mom and Daddy. And I love Mommy and Daddy. And I love you all. And we have a message for both of us. And we do the same thing as our family and our cats and we love our cats and thank you for this day. And thank you for our Mom and Dad. And thank you for the beautiful sky and the birds and thank you for the sun and the moon, and thank you for the books we have, and thank you for our family. This is one for Aidan and this is one for both of Mommy and Daddy, and I love you Daddy. And I only love you, because I only love you. And I love you and this is the most family, and I love you."
As you can tell, she makes us laugh all of the time and is our family entertainer.

Happy Birthday Aidan!

2008-03-10T22:26:00.004-05:00

Aidan turned 6 today! He is such a big boy!

We are very encouraged by so many of the things he is doing. We have talked to some of you about the treatments we have been trying and the progress he is making. I thought I would take this opportunity to get everyone on the same page.

In January, we met Dr. Eli Camp. She is a homeopathic doctor who specializes in Autism Spectrum Disorders. She just moved back to Norman from New Hampshire, where she had a thriving clinic, and is setting one up here. I heard about her from another mom at Aidan's school. She does not prescribe ANY pharmaceuticals, using only natural and gentle remedies AND she ONLY makes house visits! We called her for a free consultation and then set up our first home visit after feeling that she is EXACTLY what we have been looking for. Her ideas and treatments are just what we have been wanting to do for Aidan, but have not found anyone to guide us.

In an attempt to not make this post too long...here is a basic overview of what we are doing.

Step One: Make his body healthy.
We know that Aidan's immune pathways have been damaged and we suspect it was due to his vaccinations. Mercury has been a suspicion in many vaccinations, but it is also becoming clear that simply bombarding an immature immune system with several diseases at a time is reeking havoc on many children's immune systems. The body's immune system tries to fight off the diseases so that the child is immune, but if it is overloaded, it just can't handle the attack. Aidan had his 15 month shots which included MMR, Hib, and DTaP. If you count up all those diseases you come up with the number 7! It is appalling to me now that I allowed my 15 month old little boy to be given 7 diseases in one fell swoop! (In our state, if you follow the recommended vaccination schedule, a child is supposed to receive 33 vaccinations by the time they turn 5.) This was the beginning of our long journey. It was very shortly after this that he began his "autistic-like behaviors" and his dietary problems began. (Note: The brain has its own immune system and is also affected by these diseases.)
In order to get him healthy, we are maintaining his gluten free casein free diet, switching to all organic fruits, veggies, eggs, and meats, giving him a probiotic to boost his immune system, doubling his multi-vitamin dosage, and adding omega 3/fatty acids to buffer his immune system in the form of strawberry flavored cod fish oil...yummy!

Step Two: Find a homeopathic remedy.
This step is REALLY interesting to us. Obviously, Aidan's body is lacking in certain elemental areas and has WAY too much in others. So, we need to balance him out chemically. After observing Aidan and talking to us for three hours about all things Aidan, and doing research for several days on all of his specifics, Dr. Camp came up with using homeopathic zinc as a balancing element. We are trying to find the right dosage amount by giving it to him in increments. When we see a good change in behavior, we know it is working. When he starts to crash, we know it is time to go up to the next increment. He started with 30C of zinc. It took a couple of weeks to kick in. We really were not sure what we were supposed to be looking for. Dr. Camp just told us that "we would KNOW it was working". We were a little skeptical until one day it happened, we KNEW it was working. For 2 full days Aidan did NOT have a running dialog of movie lines. He did a few here and there, but it was not constant by any means. He was attentive to us, our conversations, his sisters, everything around him. He started talking to us more clearly and directly, asking for things in more complete sentences. That is also when his hand-writing changed. It was really amazing. Then after 2 days he started to slip. It took about 2 more days and then he was back to how he usually is. The movie lines are back, the stimming and non-focusing are also back. However, his writing is still good and some of his requests are still good. We were very discouraged, but we found out in talking to Dr. Camp that this is the cycle we are supposed to be looking for. We have bumped him up to 200C of zinc and we will wait to see the next "high". She said that as we get closer to the right dosage for him, the good times will become increasingly longer than the bad until eventually there will be no more bad times and all good, then we will not have to give him zinc anymore because his body will have what it needed. Also, she said that it may turn out that he does not need zinc, but another element in the same family. (Looking at the periodic table, the other elements around zinc are copper, and nickel.) She said as we bump up his dose it will be obvious if he does need zinc or if we need to change to something very close to it. The way we will know is if he develops any new "bad" or "odd" autistic like symptoms. We know that we are at least in the right element family because of the good things we have seen already.

Below are writing samples for you to see the difference. The "F.H.E." (Family Home Entertainment) was one he was doing in January and is a good example of his typical writing. The "Baby Einstein" was one he started doing in February after we started his "remedy".

If you can imagine this jump in development in just his handwriting and use that as an analogy of his development in other areas, then you can imagine how excited we are.

Step 3: Get the "bad stuff" out.
This is the next step we are going to be starting in about 2 weeks. We did another urine test for heavy metals and found that his levels are elevated in Mercury, which we already knew, but they are literally off the charts in lead. The reason being that Aidan's immune system is not working properly. We are all exposed to toxins every single day, but normal/healthy immune systems flush them out. Aidan's body has been trapping these harmful heavy metals for years. So in order to get them out of there, we opted for a treatment similar to chelation, but much more gentle on his system. It can take anywhere from 3 months to a year to get him cleaned out depending on how "stuck" these elements are. So, we will keep you all posted through this process.

Step 4: Food Allergy Panel. Once we balance out his homeopathic remedy and clean out the bad metals, we will do a blood test to determine what other foods may be bothering his system. It is our hope that once his immune system is working properly, he will not have any dietary restrictions, but we have to wait for that.

Step 5: Develop a specific multi-vitamin. This is the last step in which we will do another blood test and determine what EXACTLY Aidan's body needs. There is a lab that designs multi-vitamins based on a person's specific metabolic deficiencies so we can fine tune his chemistry.

It is our hope and Dr. Camp's goal to get to a point of healing for Aidan. He should not need treatment forever. Once we heal his immune pathways in his body and his brain there is a great chance that we will have our Aidan back permanently, not just in the short glimpses we get now.

If you want more info on homeopathic medicine and/or Dr. Camp you can check out her site at http://www.normannaturalhealth.com/servicespresentation.html.

Quick Update

2007-12-21T14:38:00.001-06:00

Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers during this time.

We were grateful to have an electrician fix all of our electrical damage on Wednesday. So now all of our power is in working order and we have hot water again!

We still have a crew of guys here everyday tending to the tree demolition and clean up. They are making great progress, hopefully they will be finished soon.

We still need to have the phone company come out to reattach our box and lines, but thankfully they all work, they are just hanging from the house and in the yard.

To answer a question many of you have had, no, our home insurance company is not covering this damage. They cover damage done to the home, not the trees. If the home had been damaged by the trees, then they would cover that, but we are responsible for everything in the yard. I have been working very hard at the Outback to try to pay for all this damage and we have had to juggle other funds and savings around to make ends meet and pay the workers. However, once again we are grateful that the damage was not any worse than it was and that we are all safe.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ice Storm

2007-12-14T13:34:00.001-06:00

Many of you have been concerned for us during our recent ice storm. Thank you for your prayers and concerns. We are all safe, and for now, we still have heat and some electricity. The phone company got our LAN lines up and running today, so I thought I would send you all pictures and updates on our latest natural disaster.

Sunday evening it began sleeting heavily here in OK and continued through the night. We did not sleep well because of all the noise of crashing trees. The trees here were so frozen and heavy laden with ice that they were snapping and splitting. When we woke up Monday morning, the entire outdoor world had been transformed to an ice sculpture. Some of it was quite beautiful:

The front of our house glistening with silvery icicles...

The tree limbs preserved in ice.....

However, with the beauty comes great devastation:

Here are our Bradford pear trees blooming in the spring time.

Here is the Outback Steakhouse's signature appetizer, the Bloomin' Onion.

Here are the Bradford pear trees Monday morning....note the similarity to the Bloomin' Onion...

We are grateful that none of the limbs hit our vehicles or the house itself. There are several people around town who cannot say the same. Our greatest damage was this tree in the back yard.

It snapped...

Landed on the power line...

And ripped the electrical box from the house.

We are currently awaiting an electrician to come out and reattach the box. It caused our major, 220 appliances to stop working, the back wall of the kitchen's wiring is messed up, the upstairs bathrooms have partial power and the worse part is that our hot water heater is not working. Thankfully, we have some good friends nearby who have been letting us bathe and shower at their house.

We are needing to have 5 trees removed completely due to the amount of damage they suffered. Thankfully, we have had a crew out here the past two days working on that. Also, because of the major damage all around town, the city is sending out trucks to haul off the debris, so we don't have to pay for hauling. We are also thankful that we did not suffer as much damage as others in our small town. There are several people who still do not have any electricity, many have moved into hotels during this time.

We are expecting it to snow about 6 inches tonight which will slow done the repairs around here, so it may be awhile before we have hot water again and for all of our electricity to work.

I will continue to update as things occur. For now, we are back online and our phones are in working order, so call or e-mail if you like!

We are Elves!

2007-11-27T08:19:00.000-06:00

Check this out!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9616519998

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELINE!!!

2007-11-09T10:47:00.000-06:00

Madeline turned 7 last Friday, November 2nd. Here are some pictures of that day and her "Little Mermaid" party.

The Birthday girl dressed up as "the Little Mermaid with fins".
(This was a present from Grammie and Grandpa Judisch!)

Here is Evelyn dressed up as "the Little Mermaid with legs".
She is modeling the face painting that we did for all the girls at the party.
Neal did the mermaid, and I did the "Flounder"...yes I know his is better!

We had a fish pinata.
Note: Evelyn is now "Cinderella"...she has multiple princess personalities
(FYI: It takes four little girls a while to break one of these!)

Birthday Girl blowing out her candle.
Madeline has a thing for "birthday hats"...You MUST wear one if it is your birthday and you MUST wear it as you are blowing out your candles...

Present time!

On Halloween night we took the kids to a Fall Festival at a local mega-non-denominational-very rich church called Journey Church. They have over 4000 members! This place is HUGE! All night long from 5pm to 9pm they had Papa John's pizza, sodas, and cookies. They had 5 different inflatables all indoors-3 moon bounces, 1 obstacle course, and 1 giant slide. They had games, face painting, nail painting, candy, etc. Outdoors, there was a hay ride, a petting zoo and pony rides! Everything was absolutely free! Here are a few pictures:

Here is "The Little Mermaid with Legs", "Aurora" AKA "Sleeping Beauty",
and "Mr. Incredible" (that is as "dressed-up" as Aidan gets!)

Sliding down the moon bounce...

My camera died after these pictures, but the kids had a BLAST!

The Cornfield Maze

2007-10-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we went to the cornfield maze in Shawnee (about 45 min. NE from Norman). We went with our friends Scott and Michelle Grawe and their children Lydia (6), Caleb(4), Julia(2), and Alyssa(5 mos.). We had a great time together and then went out for pizza afterwards!
Here are some pictures:

Our Friends

Petting and feeding the farm animals

Inside the Maze

On top of the hay. As you can see, we had beautiful weather.

Riding in the barrell cars

Picking the "perfect" pumpkin. She has named it "Pumpy"!

If I were one of the seven dwarfs...

2007-10-10T13:09:00.000-05:00

I had forgotten just how tiring early pregnancy can be. I remembered that I was very tired with the other kiddos, but I don't remember being THIS tired. Of course, I am waiting tables 4 nights a week, I have 3 other kids to care for and I am just a tiny bit older - ahem...Anyway, I was doing a phonics lesson with Madeline earlier. She is at the point in her reading where we go over a new rule for the day, then she reads her word list and her daily story. In the middle of the story, I feel a nudge as Madeline says, "Mom, you are listening with your eyes closed again." OOPS!

Normanites are CRAZY!

2007-10-08T17:34:00.000-05:00

So, while everyone is off from work and school today, we Okies here in Norman are not...why, one might ask?...It is Columbus Day and all... Ya, but on Saturday OU played TEXAS, so schools and various places of employment closed on Friday so everyone could get ready for the "BIG GAME"! They are really nuts around here. Neal had forgotten that the game was Saturday, so last Wednesday he began assigning the reading for one of his classes on Friday. Several students immediately raised their hands, panic on their faces, reminding him that the university was going to be closed and hoping desperately that he was not going to make them be there. A graduate teaching assistant was telling me the other day that she had assigned a paper due that day and her students refused to do it. Can you imagine? Telling your college professor or teacher "no" to their assignments because of a football game?! And what is even crazier is that the dean of the university would back them up!
All year long you can find "BEAT TEXAS" paraphernalia anywhere around here. People wear hats, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. all year long, just for one game! It is pretty pathetic too because it is such a one-sided rivalry. For UT, OU is just another team to beat. You will not find any "BEAT OU" paraphernalia anywhere in Austin.
This is quite indicative of the overall attitude that Okies have about Texans. Okies don't like Texans. They make fun of us, our sports teams, and anything they can think of. They claim that Texans are stuck up and proud. I think it is sad really. We Texans are proud. We are proud of being Texan. But, I have learned that other people, especially those in Oklahoma, are not proud of where they are from, so they have to put down those who are.
Oh well...
This year, the OU Sooners beat the Longhorns. Neal and I are some of the very few people disappointed by this, but at least the attitude around here is good. People are happy and they are happy to go to work and school on a holiday because their college football team won.

Spilling the Beans

2007-10-05T10:43:00.000-05:00

So, my uniform pants are getting VERY uncomfortable. I have to wear an "Outbacker" shirt tucked in to black slacks with a belt. Not good for a pregnant woman with an expanding belly. I have been waiting for this uncomfortable point to let my boss/manager/proprietor guy know about the pregnancy. Some of you have asked why I have been waiting. The reason is I did not want them to think that I want or expect any type of special treatment while pregnant. I did not want people to get any kind of preconceived notion of "pregnant women" and have that reflected upon me. I wanted my managers and co-workers to see that I have been pregnant for 3 months and there has been no change in my work performance. So, as I was about to leave work on Tuesday, I found the manager in the back making "from scratch" whipping cream - he let me lick the spatula - and I told him I had something to tell him. He stopped making whipped cream scoops and gave me his full attention, and I told him, "I am three months pregnant." I could not have asked for a better reaction. He was absolutely beaming and bubbling over with excitement. He gave me a hug, told me (and to pass on to Neal) congratulations and wanted to know how I was feeling, and the due date, and if we are going to find out if it is a boy or a girl, etc. He and his wife are Christians and they have four kids. It turns out that she worked through each of her pregnancies at the Outback as a server/bartender. So, he is VERY supportive. After his giddiness wore off a bit, I asked him about my clothing situation. I was relieved to find out that they have maternity shirts and I don't have to tuck them in with a belt! I go into work tonight and I will order a couple of shirts. I have not told anyone else yet, but I am sure it won't take long for the news to spread.
It is such a nice thing, and in this case a relief, to tell someone you are pregnant who is genuinely supportive and happy for you. In this society, after you have your 1 girl and 1 boy, you are expected to be "done". Isn't it odd how people impose their views about children on others, making comments like "Was that planned?" "Don't you know what causes that?" (I know I am preaching to the choir here since my family is one of the "small" ones in my circle of friends.) However, I am very blessed to work for a man who will be supportive and not give me a hard time during this less than ideal situation of waiting tables while pregnant. I know that I will have to modify some of my job related activities such as lifting extremely large and heavy trays of steaks over my head as I get bigger, but I know that I will have a group of helpful people around me.
I am thankful to all of you reading our blog who have sent along your sincere congratulations, good wishes and support of our growing family. What a blessing you all are in our lives!

BJ#4

2007-09-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

Neal and I have "named" all of our babies BJ (Baby Judisch) before they are born since we don't like to find out the sex. We have been referring to this baby as BJ, but the girls have come up with their own name, Squeakles. This is just really funny to us and we are just going with it, so here is a blog post on Squeakles. I have put a pregnancy ticker at the top so everyone can keep up, currently I am in week 12. So far everything is going well. We heard the heart beat last week and it was very strong. Oh, and for those of you who know about my desire for twins...there is just one this time...I really think God should give twins to those of us that want them...anyway...maybe next time...All of my blood work and labs came back normal. Morning sickness has been very minimal, and I am just experiencing sleepiness more than anything. I have had some strange cravings this time around. I am again, like with Aidan, not wanting sweets.....could be another boy? But I am wanting things that I typically don't like, and not just wanting them, but NEEDING them. The other day I had the strongest desire for a double meat cheeseburger from McD's. I have never even eaten one of those in my entire life! The craving got so bad and I gave in and I have to tell you that was the best burger ever! Of course now the very thought of it makes my stomach churn. Another strange one was an intense desire for sour apple punch straws. (Another thing that I don't like.) I had been craving them all day and finally at 11:30 pm I went to the corner 7-11 and bought 2 pkgs. I came back home, Neal laughing at me, and ate them both before going to bed. I haven't wanted them since... I still haven't told my work about the pregnancy, I am waiting until I have to do something about my uniform. That will probably be soon though because I am in the in-between stage where most of my clothes are getting uncomfortable, but maternity clothes are WAY too big. I have been wearing stretchy workout pants and big t-shirts around the house. Last night Neal surprised me with 2 new maternity tops, 1 dress and a set of really comfy PJ's. He is so thoughtful! We are very glad that everything is going completely normal this time around and we are all very excited to meet Squeakles.

EVELYN

2007-09-21T08:55:00.000-05:00

Oh my, where to begin with this one?
Evelyn is 3, VERY 3! She gave herself the nickname Ev-Ev when she was two and we often shorten it to just Ev. She responds to all three of her names in addition to whoever she may be at the moment. Right now, she is Todd. Yep, it doesn't matter if she is a male or female character, but we must call her by her current name or she will correct us. She has been Peter Pan, a pink pig, Mickey, a girl fox, and Sunshine Bear in a single hour. It is hard to keep up. Needless to say, Evelyn is extremely creative and our spunky little kid. She is definitely the "ham", taking her soon-to-be-replaced role of the "baby" very seriously. She is very outgoing and makes friends wherever we go. She makes us laugh continuously with her overall "cuteness". She is just absolutely adorable.
Evelyn is also very bright and eager to try anything. During school time with Madeline, she wants to do school too. (She doesn't seem to understand that she is 3 years younger than Madeline.) I have to have a lesson of some sort planned for her also. She has already whipped through 2 pre-school workbooks! I am teaching her letters, numbers, and shapes with flashcards and having her trace them. She is doing quite well with that and of course feels very important and "big".
Evelyn is also our daredevil. She was the one who walked at 8 months old and hasn't slowed down since. She will climb anything, jump off of anything, and be the first to try any physical activity. Not only will she try, but she always succeeds, making us just shrug and say, "Of course Evelyn can do it!"
She is very excited about having a new baby in the house and I know that she will be a wonderful big sister!
We love you Ev-Ev!

MADELINE

2007-09-18T13:24:00.000-05:00

Madeline is 6, but will be 7 in November! I think it is the oldest child, no matter how old they are, that continues to surprise you by their age. Madeline continues to be a sweet, sensitive, and very helpful young girl. She is quite the pleaser and never wants to do anything to disappoint us. She does not have a mean or deceptive bone in her body and in fact is completely at a loss when she sees others being unkind. She simply does not comprehend it. A classic example of this is a time when I was in the checkout line in HEB. Madeline was just over 2 years old. The boy in the basket in front of us, picked up the popsicles from the cart and said in a taunting little kid tone, "I have ice cream ha, ha, ha, ha." Madeline beamed at him and holding up a block of cheese, responded, "We have cheese!" The child looked so confused by this response, and I could not help but laugh at the situation. Now that she is older, she understands when a child is being mean, but doesn't understand why, so it just hurts her feelings. We have had many discussions with her about other's attitudes and sinful responses. Her response to these discussions is always the same, "But why do people want to be mean? Why don't they just be nice?" If anyone has a good answer to that one, please let me know! The other day, I was talking, perhaps a little too openly, about a co-worker of mine that is not very easy to work with. I was telling Neal about some of the specific things I have had to deal with this person and just venting some frustration. Madeline was listening in and made a comment that had me quite surprised by her innocence. She said, "Mommy, I know that sometimes children can be mean because they need to learn to obey God and their parents, but I did not know that grown ups could be mean too. Why are grown ups mean sometimes? Don't they know how to be nice?" So that began a whole different conversation about sin in adults and selfishness and pride, etc.......Madeline has wonderful personality traits, but they can be dangerous. We don't want her to trust everyone, or please everyone. At the same time it is almost sad to have to explain sin and disobedience crushing her idealistic view that people are nice and kind and would never do anything to hurt each other. However, I am grateful that I have to teach her about the "bad" things and that the "good" things are natural to her.
Madeline is in 1st grade this year. I am homeschooling her and she is doing quite well. She is beginning to read many books on her own, we do journal writing several times a week, we have science and history readers, and of course there is the daily math lesson. She struggles a bit with some math concepts, but we are getting through. This has certainly been a learning experience to me being that math always came fairly easy to me. So, I have had to be very creative in finding different ways of explaining the same concept, hoping that one of those will make sense to her. Counting by 5's has been a HUGE struggle, but I think with daily practice and TONS of encouragement, we will get there.
Madeline loves to play with baby dolls, my little ponies, and anything "princess". She is a great little artist and is constantly coloring/drawing for us. She is a wonderful big sister and enjoys playing with her siblings. We are so blessed by our special Madeline Lea.

AIDAN

2007-09-17T11:42:00.001-05:00

I thought I would write a few entries on each of the kids, to update everyone on a few specifics since I have been so negligent in blogging. I also thought I would start with the one people ask about the most, my dear sweet boy Aidan. Aidan turned 5 in March, and continues to be a BIG kid. He is taller than Madeline now and weighs somewhere between 55 and 60 pounds. He is still solid, but has thinned out quite a bit and is stretching. As most of you know, Aidan has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). This disorder is quite varied and includes ADHD, ADD, PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified), Asperger's, Autism, Fragile X, and Ret's Syndrome. (The last three are genetic, the last two are chromosomal and some debate weather they should be included or not.....) Aidan does not have the classic genetic Autism, but something more like PDD-NOS, which is very broad in itself, but presents many of the same signs and symptoms. The major issues we deal with have to do with communication and processing. For example, Aidan can tell us if he needs something or wants something, but he is not going to have a back and forth conversation with us about anything. He does not answer questions unless the answer is yes or no or unless we are asking him to name or label an object or picture. He cannot tell you how he feels, emotionally or physically. Most of the time Aidan has a running monologue of a movie that he is reciting, lately it has been Peter Pan 2. His vocabulary is very large, but he does not always understand what he is saying. However, he will often use the lines he has memorized from movies to communicate with us. If he sees an action or a response in a movie and sees a real-life situation that is similar or desires that response, he will use the dialog in the movie associated with it. For example, in one of their Little People videos, Michael asks Farmer Jed for his straw by saying, "Farmer Jed, may I have your drinking straw?" The other day, I bought the kids icees and had not grabbed the straws yet and Aidan turned to me and said, "Farmer Jed, may I have your drinking straw?". Aidan saw that in the movie, Farmer Jed handed Michael a straw, so Aidan, wanting a straw used the same dialog. We notice this with him often, and although it is a "strange" way of communicating, we are encouraged that he is trying and making those connections. We use those opportunities to correct him and teach him that he can rephrase the dialog and use it for the appropriate person. So, that day I just repeated after him, "Mommy, may I have a drinking straw please?" I had him repeat that before I gave him a straw.
We also see processing gaps. For example, Aidan recognizes all numbers from 0 to 100. However, if I ask him to hand me 3 balls, he does not know what to do. There seem to be gaps between recognizing symbols, numbers, letters, etc. and correlating them with their meaning.
Last year we decided to send Aidan to a local public elementary school with a special education program that focuses on children with ASD. We are so pleased with that decision. Aidan LOVES school. He asks to go everyday, and runs to his classroom each morning when we drop him off. From 8 to 10am he is in a developmentally delayed class with other 3 to 6 year olds. There are 7 students and 3 teachers. (The class will not get larger than 10 students.) They work with the kids on basic skills appropriate to their age, numbers, letters, colors, shapes, etc. He also gets to go to music, art, and PE. In addition, he gets group speech therapy, individual speech therapy, and occupational therapy. Afterwards, Aidan stays until 12:30 for the ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) program. This program is wonderful. There are several tutors who rotate daily working individually with the children on specific needs. We work with them to set very specific goals for Aidan in the areas we see he needs help with. For example, one of his goals right now is "Aidan will group pictures of objects with other like objects; shirts, hats, socks together; bananas, apples, oranges together." We meet with the school psychologist as needed to update Aidan's goals. He heads up the ABA program and observes the students and tutors several times a week. We have seen a lot of improvement in Aidan and are very encouraged by the possibilities.
Aidan is still on the gluten free/ casein free diet and we are doing a chelation treatment to flush out heavy metals. (Last year, we tested his urine for mercury. A "normal" mercury level is no more than 0.025ppm. Aidan showed 0.4 ppm! YIKES!)
Aidan continues to be a blessing to us. He is very sweet tempered, he is very cuddly, he laughs often and is a happy little boy. He is beginning to play more appropriately with his toys - he loves Rescue Heroes. He has also become much more compliant and manageable. When we go to a store, he walks with us instead of running down the aisle needing constant holding on to. He follows directions pretty well, "clean up your room", "clear your dinner dishes", "put on your shoes". He is completely toilet trained, he can dress himself, brush his own teeth, buckle his seat belt and do many other self-help type of activities. We still have a long way to go with Aidan, we don't know what the future will hold for him or us, but we praise God for him and all that He is teaching us through Aidan.

"Aidan you're young
But Aidan you're growing fast
Me and your mom
And all the love we have
We can only take you so far
As far as we can
But you'll need something more to guide your heart
As you grow into a man

Let mercy lead
Let love be the strength in your legs
And in every footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace
If we can reach
Beyond the wisdom of this age
Into the foolishness of God
That foolishness will save
Those who believe
Although their foolish hearts may break
They will find peace
And I'll meet you in that place
Where mercy leads

Aidan the day
Aidan the day will come
You'll run the race
That takes us way beyond
All our trials and all our failures
And all the good we dream of
But you can't see yet where it is you're heading
But one day you'll see the face of love"

I DID IT!

2007-09-12T18:07:00.000-05:00

After a year of putting it off, I have finally created our new blog.......is everybody happy now?

To update all those who may check this out, here is a quick overview of our lives since last September........
In October I had a partial-molar-ectopic pregnancy that ruptured. I did not know I was pregnant or that anything was wrong until I continued to pass out one morning with very severe abdominal pains. I was rushed to the ER where they figured out what was going on ASAP, I had emergency surgery, much like a C-section to stop the internal bleeding and repair the rupture. I had lost an entire liter of blood and ended up needing two blood transfusions. Thank God for His providence and timing that I am very well and recovered pretty quickly all things considered. We were very sad to lose a baby, but we know that God's will is perfect and His plan for our lives has a reason.
In November, Madeline turned 6! We had a party for her with some friends and my parents and sister and her kiddos came from SA to celebrate.
In December, we went to SA for Christmas and Neal and I were blessed with a trip to DC. We are so thankful to our families for helping in the funding and watching the kids for us. Neal had to attend a conference and job interviews, but we got a lot of site seeing done and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I got a phone call while there from my co-manager at Curves telling me that due to bad money management, the owner of our facility was declaring bankruptcy and I no longer had a job......
In January, we returned home and I immediately went job hunting. I got a job with the Outback steakhouse waiting tables, which again proved to be providential because I am able to get insurance for me and the kids at a great rate, one fifth the price of what we were paying through OU, only working part time. I have found that although the work is very physically demanding, it is fun to interact with so many different people. Besides, I get half off my meals and you can't beat getting a prime steak at half the price!
In March, Aidan turned 5 and Evelyn turned 3! We had a small party at the house for them with our dear friends the Johnsons. I also FINALLY toilet trained Evelyn, who was more than ready. She had one day of defiance refusing to wear "big-girl panties" claiming that she was the baby and she needed a diaper. The whole day was a struggle to keep her dressed since she would pull off her panties in offence that I even put them on her. She had one accident after another never having a successful time. I was very frustrated by bed time and thought this would take a long time. However, the next day, she decided to obey and has been trained ever since. She is now "not a baby, but a big girl like Maden (her name for Madeline)". If you ask her how old she is, she says, "I six like Maden."
In April, we got the TERRIFIC news that OU wanted to keep Neal permanently! House hunting began almost immediately as well as packing.........I HATE PACKING!
In May, we bought our house. It is 1860 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms, 2 and 1/2 bath, 2 car garage, laundry room, kitchen, dining room, living room, fireplace, corner lot, huge yard with privacy fence and lots and lots of trees. We love it. Also, Neal turned the big "3" "0"......
In June, we spent the entire month cleaning, painting and re-carpeting the new house. We painted every room, all trim, and all cabinetry (except for the kitchen cabinets which will be done asap). We moved in at the end of the month.
In July, we got our two little kittens. One of Neal's student's cats had kittens and we ended up taking the two orange ones. They are both female named Cassie and Chloe. They are VERY sweet cats and wonderful with the kids.
In August, I turned 30 and the same week we found out we are pregnant with baby number 4! I had a sonogram and everything looks great! Praise God! I am due April 10th, which probably means April 17th or so. Then we got hit by hurricane Erin.......yes, I said hurricane. It is very strange to have a hurricane in OK. We have tornadoes pretty often, but not hurricanes. Apparently it came from the gulf, petered out over TX, then reformed here in Norman, OK on top of our house! We have severe roof damage, interior leaks, large sections of fence broken down, and several of our trees split. We are working on cleaning it all up and getting the insurance company to give us money!
Now we are back to September. Neal's parents and sister (Kim) and her kids came over labor day to visit, we had a blast with them, and Kim is expecting a new baby too! She is due in late April/early May.
So, that is my overview of this past year.........I will be posting more later this week getting into some specifics, but I think that this is all I can do for now. Laundry and bills await!

One quick question though........does anyone know how to make your profile picture larger? Ours is teeny!