Loving Life

Happy Birthday to my sweet one year old girl, Keilah Rose! What a delight you are, my little girl! You adore your dog and bark incessantly for him when you want him or see him. You bark at all dogs or animals that are perceived to be dogs. You can walk on your feet when you want to, but prefer to walk on your knees. You giggle and laugh and love a good game of chase or "I'm gonna get you!" You are very ticklish. I hide bananas in my shopping cart when we get groceries, or you will see them and cry because you want one NOW. You adore your big brother and big sisters - probably just as much as they all adore you. Lately you've been demanding Daddy time too - even to the point of going to Dad before you come to me. :) You say hi and bye, dog and bottle, but not mama or dada. You hiss when we ask you what a snake says. Bath time is a time of great hilarity in your life, until you dunk yourself during your wild play - then it's not so much fun anymore. I feel like...

A year ago today, at 7:30am, I woke up and had a delightful breakfast date with my husband at our local diner. Due to a few pre-labor signs, I was feeling about 85% sure that I would go into labor sometime later that day. A year ago today, at 11am, I went to the elementary as the special guest of my kindergarten friend Grace. We had lunch together. I was quite the sensation with all of her kindergarten classmates who eyed and touched my very large belly with wonder and awe. A year ago today, at 11:45am, I was the object of much pity from the teachers as I waddled after my elementary aged friends at recess. A year ago today, I just felt kind of blah and yucky in my stomach for most of the day. A year ago today, at 4pm, I realized as I was beginning to make supper that I had been having mild contractions for the last several hours that were somewhat regular. I started timing them to see if they were regulating at all. A year ago today, at 6pm, I made a simple supper and then ha...

It's been one of those days. Sigh. There is sewage gunk backing up in my basement. Yuck. The house smells. Keilah is sick and throwing up and pooping everywhere, soiling many outfits, exacerbating the sewage problem downstairs as much laundry is necessary to take care of the upstairs sickness smell. The sewage company is hoping to make it out today to help, but can't guarantee that they will be here today. Sigh. Since there's nothing much I can do to change my circumstances, I will spend my time looking at these beautiful children who make my life so much fuller and richer and happier. All pictures were taken by my dear talented big sister. If you wish to have her take your pictures, she will happily do it for 4 million dollars. She is busy enough - I just got lucky enough to be related to her. :) Enjoy my awesome kids!

A week and a half ago, we packed up the kids and took a quick trip out to Indiana for the weekend. Our purpose was to have a small reunion with some very dear friends from when we lived in Indiana after we got married. These two beautiful ladies were two of my very best friends as a newly married and lonely young girl. Their friendships are those rare ones where everything just gels perfectly, and even though you haven't all been together for over 11 years, when you see each other, it's as if time has not passed. We spent the weekend talking, catching up, hanging out, laughing, and relaxing. The weekend flew by all too quickly. I was sad to say good-bye, but maybe next time we won't wait 11 years to all get together again! Jenny (on the right), has all sorts of nail polish stuff and did our nails late one night while we talked the night away. I never wear fingernail polish as it only lasts until I do dishes, which unfortunately is a daily occurrence. Here they are shor...

Keilah refuses to hold her own bottle. She feels entitled to having someone else do her dirty work for her. If I hand her a bottle, she will put it on the floor (standing straight up) and lean over with her hands spread out to the sides making sure not to touch the bottle and try in vain to get her milk out. So the other day, after she refused to hold her bottle, I stuck it on a chair to see if she would drink that way. Now she can drink without having to dirty her delicate hands.  Halloween came and went. Abby was a bunny. I didn't get a picture of her. I snapped a quick picture of Ana dressed as a tree. I had a number of little ones impatient to get going and we were already late, so I didn't get a picture of Ana fully dressed and carrying her stuffed cat that she dressed up in a homemade cardinal outfit. It was precious. I love this creative girl!  While not walking yet, Keilah is also enjoying learning to climb up on things.  Sitting on her little str...

Last week, we made one of the best decisions we've made in a long time. We banished Keilah from our bedroom. With our other kids, they spent the first year or more living in our room until we disassembled the crib and moved it elsewhere (our bedroom doorway is narrower than most, so the crib does not fit through the door and we never feel like taking it apart to move it). This has never been a problem before with having a kid in our room as they have all been such sound sleepers. We  were able to go in and turn on our light, talk in normal voices, move about freely and they wouldn't even stir. I had even vacuumed a few times beside them, changed them into jammies, changed their diapers with little more than a slight opening of the eyes. Not so with Keilah. Aaron and I were prisoners in our own room. She would wake up at the slightest of noises and pop up looking to play with us (at least she was happy about it). She was also waking up numerous times throughout the night needin...

I've mentioned before how much Keilah is attached to her stuffed dog. Only Dog can bring about the comfort necessary when tired and sad. Mom brings a measure of comfort, but nothing can compare to the love of Dog. Chewing on his ears are the preferred method of self-comfort. However, this behavior causes Dog to stink and get crispy ears. Dog takes a weekly bath in the washing machine. Unfortunately, sometimes Dog's bath overlaps with tired and cranky times. When this calamity occurs, nothing but Dog will bring comfort. Not even her favorite big brother. Nor the promise of helping David with school work - which is usually a happy occasion.  Keilah also owns an elephant. But having Elephant near her in her times of distress is an affront to decency. At night time when Dog gets lost in the vast confines of her crib and she's crying out for him, she throws Elephant away from her as I mistakenly think he will be a fine substitute in the darkness. Notice she won'...