And this, is my TIMID daughter...

Lauren and Parker danced all night together, Lauren didn't care where we were, she was just having fun. 

Here she is with some groomsman she made good friends with!

Love this look!

I'm just saying...

If you didn't spend Saturday night, 

watching this GORGEOUS girl TWIST,

Or these two swing dance, 

Or these two swinging,

Or watching the Future Troy Bulton dance to EVERY SONG!

Mostly with Great Aunt Pam who was SUCH a great sport all night long,

Still jammin,

Or watching this precious girl in pink bob up and down to every song...

Or this group having the time of their lives,

(Avery, Parker, Lauren, Sully, Alexa)

Well, then, you missed out like you will never believe!!!! 

Self portraits

There are fewer things I like better than pictures that I take myself by stretching my arm WAY out to fit in the subject and my own face...I swear they always turn out with good smiles. (It could be that I normally do a little tickling with my other hand!)

My Loves

The Love...

Just smellin' the roses....

Or picking the geraniums if you are Sully....

I wanted a nice picture of the kids in front of the church. We were getting them situated and wouldn't you know it, someone had to pull up a flower...with lots of witnesses. Nice. Jordan replanted it ... come on!

Daddy's Girl!

Oh. My. Heart. 

Sweet!

We made it home from the wedding at about midnight last night. The kids danced for like 3 straight hours and had the time of their lives! It was a lot of fun. I will be posting lots of pictures later so beware! 

My birthday girls...and randomness

This little birthday girl will be ONE next week. And suddenly she is starting to act VERY old. I hate it, I wont lie. STAY LITTLE! 

But she wont, she climbs on everything, cruises around everything and wants us to hold her hands and walk with her a lot. Yesterday Jordan found her in her walker...she got in by herself! And this is how I found her today...um, seriously? 

And this birthday girls loves being FIVE! Next week she gets to have some friends over for her party and as we were getting the invites ready she said, "Well, some of my friends are boys, and I want them to come. Is that ok?" Cute. And yes, you can, for a couple more years and then the answer is no. 

We had a kind of rough morning with disobedient, whiny kids and a short tempered, agitated mommy. We had early naps and then hit the pool for two hours and they did GREAT! Everyone did exactly how they were told and I think it was our best trip yet. And Tess is really warming up to the pool now. She was having a total blast after she got used to it a bit again. 

Tonight we're heading to the Hawk's for supper, tomorrow is Jordan's cousin's wedding and then Sunday we need to get some yard work done in anticipation of our BIG 4TH OF JULY BIRTHDAY PARTY next weekend...we are so excited about next weekend. 

Happy Friday! 

Brave

Today marks one week since our first trip to the pool...we have gone every day except Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The 3 older kids are 10 times braver than they were on day one. 

I cant decide if that's good or bad. 

I think its both:

Good because I can actually sit on the edge of the pool and talk with all the mom's and not be soaking wet lugging 4 kids around. 

Bad because while I'm sitting there I'm wondering which of my kids is endanger of drowning and doing repeated head checks, making sure Sully stays as close as I can bribe him to stay and that the girls stay together AND CONSTANTLY counting to 4. (I'm REALLY good at counting to 4.)

So really I don't get to chat that much anyway and why is it that I'm the only mother there who seems concerned that her kids might drown? 

Making sense

A lot going on in our hearts and minds tonight as we try to make sense out of what has happened in Parkersburg. Praying hard for the community, the Thomas family and more specifically for those close to us who are affected, namely Kelly and his family. 

In trying to make sense we've realized that its not our job to make sense. Its our job to trust. To trust that this is God's plan. 

When I lost my dad I became acutely aware that God's plans are not always going to be ones that I understand, or...like! I clung to something Beth Moore said in one of her bible studies. I can't quote it word for word but basically she was saying that when tragedy strikes our lives we need to remember that above us, God is pleading with us to rely on Him, to understand that He is there saying, "If you only you could see it from my view! If only you knew MY plan, if you only you'd trust in that!"

I do know this, God's plan is perfect. He knew that Ed Thomas was going to die today and He has a great plan for that tragedy. As He always does. 

Kelly, when my dad died you called me with two verses for me to read...one of which I read countless times and it calmed me so much... I Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."

Praying...

TMI

Alrightie, many people have emailed me and asked what do I mean when I say that Sully has had diarrhea for a long time. So here you get it...sorry for those that don't want to know, and sorry to Sullivan who will someday read this and be mortified.

• Its been going on for approx. 6 months. He's always had somewhat soft poop(wow, now Ive blogged everything!) but since January its been diarrhea. I thought he had some really bad luck with rotovirus. About 2 months ago I realized he'd been vaccinated for that...
• typically two weeks of bad diapers and then a few days where its better and then bad again.
• when I say bad I mean 4-6 large bouts per day. better means 1-2 per day. I couldn't tell you the last time he went an entire day without at least one diarrhea diaper. 
• the daycare told us if we were OK with him having all these loose diapers we needed a doctors note! (embarrassing)
• we've tried taking away dairy. That is not it. No change...after almost 6 weeks of little to no dairy. I was actually kind of hoping that was it, comparatively. 
• he complains of tummy aches frequently
• it doesn't seem to harm his appetite
• he has not lost any weight, actually he has gained weight since his 3 year appointment and now weighs the exact same as Avery. But really, Sully eats a lot, he is a great eater and is not picky so I'm sure that has helped out the weight. 
• And I'm pretty sure if this weren't an issue, he would be fully potty trained by now. But its fairly impossible to train when this is going on.

I'm drowning...

...in a sea of insurance referrals and doctors appointments and tests for my kids.

Here's the latest on each:
1. Lauren - she goes to the U of I ENT's on July 9th for her consultation. I guess that is when they will say, 'yes surgery', or 'no surgery'.

2. Contessa - her appointment at the U of Urology is not until August 31st. If we couldn't take that date we had to wait till JANUARY! So I took it. The lady told me she squeezed us in then...She continues on her low-dose antibiotic.
Oh, and her chest x-ray last week came back negative. No pnemonia. But she still sounds horrid. She coughs a lot during the night especially. And she's less content than normal, I dont know if that's teeth or not?!

3. Sully - his stool sample tests all came back negative - so there is no infection or parasite causing the diareha.
So we do blood work tomorrow and then we have to have a 'sweat' test done. This has to be done at a hospital which is out of network for us so we have to get a referral and of course that takes a bit so its scheduled for July 10th.
The more people and health professionals I talk to about this the more I'm thinking it is a gluten allergy or something like it. For one thing, along with the diarhea, his ezcema is as bad as it has ever been...I've had people ask me what is wrong with his legs more times in the last month than I can count. They are ON FIRE. There is no white to his skin, it is flame red.
And most healthcare people are telling me that the skin and the diarhea are probably related and its probably that allergy.
I need prayer on this one. I'm uptight and nervous about it. I'm not a creative cook. I live by 'easy'. So if this is what turns up, I am going to have my world rearranged - at least my kitchen world!

So that is how Summer 2009 looks for us at this point...yeah, I'm Debbie Downer today.

My free spirit...

These pictures epitomize Avery. She just goes and goes, kind of like the Energizer Bunny, only with a huge smile on her face and a giggle that is completely infectious. She attracts a lot of attention due to that way she has about her. Which both fills me with joy and terrifies me at the same time!

Sheer joy!

Almost done? 

Nope, GONE AGAIN!

Happy 5th Birthday, Avery Elizabeth!!

Five. Five years. 

The fifth birthday is a momentous one to me. 

A big deal. 

And to have Avery turning five seems even bigger. My tiny little peanut of an infant is becoming a 5 year old? Where does the time go?

With Avery it shouldn't be a surprise to me really, with her everything has been fast. She crawled and did just about everything else, early and fast. She's always in fast motion, she talks fast, and doesn't walk. She is either running or dancing to her destination. 

The thing about Avery that always floors me is her eyes. When she is happy they literally dance and sparkle. When she is mad they seem to change to the deepest darkest blue - like an angry ocean color...and when she cries, the tears seem bubble up in huge drops that just keep spilling over. I tell you she could water a garden with those tears they are so big. Jordan calls them cartoon tears because its like a cartoon character!

Much of Avery reminds me of myself. She is my all or nothing child. And you always know what she is thinking. With Lauren I often have to ask what she is thinking, feeling. But with Avery, its always there, right on her face, there is no guessing. She gets mad easy, but it rolls off easy too...thank goodness! She laughs easy and seems to keep a twinkle in her eye long after the laughter dies down. Avery is the spark in our family. She keeps us on our toes. 

What scares me about Avery is that I know in life when she is faced with either walking through a nice safe, flat meadow with plenty of light, no trees and no surprises; or a mountain, with difficult terrain and dangerous animals and lots of trees and rocks to avoid; she is always going to chose the mountain. Whether for the adventure that might await her, or the view that might be at the top, or just simply for the chance that there could be something new on the other side...I see some heartache and struggles in her future. Because it is her nature to take the difficult way...the challenging course. 

Avery my sweet girl, I would never try to talk you out of that challenge, because I know that it is what makes you, Avery. But I do pray that when those trials come you will get your strength to keep moving on from 2 things, one from the love that pours out of your dad and I for you, we truly believe you can be and do anything that you set your mind and heart towards. We are always here for you. But also, and more importantly, I pray that you learn to get your strength from you Heavenly Father. He created you exactly as He wanted and I have no doubt that He wants to use that adventurous nature in your for something great. He will always be there for you and He will always hold the answers. 

Avery we are so blessed that you are in our family. You bring us so much joy. It may be your birthday, but we got the gift...

All our love. 

These pictures are SO Avery. Fully of fun, killer smile and arms wide open, ready to embrace just about everything, full of sweetness and sun!

For Trina...

Trina's missing the kids so here are some shots of Aaron and Adele at the park tonight. 

How great is this of Dennis and Adele, I 'caught' them. If you look close you can see Adele's tiny feet kicking in excitement at Papa. 

He was so proud of going down that slide.