Here are some pics I said I'd post, oh, about a month ago.

So my FIL David sent me an email asking for an update. Sorry about the lapse. I've been in busy mode with more than a dollup of self-pity added in. The kids are home from full-day school for the summer. The boys are to start half-day summer school tomorrow. They go to school for 3 wks, then off 2, back for 3, and off 2 more before full-day school resumes. So the kids have been home and bored senseless. I share the senseless part, but I haven't been too bored. For example, a quick summary of a day, let's do Friday.. Jacob decides that if he can't play in the water in the backyard, then the water park will just have to come inside. SO he floods the kitchen (by swiveling the faucet over the coutertops instead of the sink). While I'm cleaning that up, he floods the bathroom (by holding his hands immediately under the faucet and spraying water everywhere). While he's flooding the house away, Joshua, Rachael, and Abby are terrorizing the Home Depot man who's installing a screen door to the backyard. And can I just say that screen doors do little to nothing in terms of keeping out the bugs when you have kids purposely hold the door wide open to get a reaction out of you!! I've lost count of the number of times Abby has stood there with a demon grin on her face. Oh, and let's not even mention the caulk incident. I told Deren that, in looking back, I should have had warning bells going off in my head when the girls were intently watching the install man caulk around the new door. Let's just say that cault does not come out of clothes easily and that small amounts are apparently okay to ingest. But the new door is sturdy. Joshua tested it by giving the glass several jumps after the guy took it out of the box.

So after the caulk incident, I spent the better part of 2 hrs coaxing and nagging at the kids to eat. After giving the caulk girls a bath, I sent them to bed. Jacob then started back up with the water park theme - this time in his pants. The boy peed on himself for about a half hour straight. Every time he got dry pants on, there he went again.

So by then I was about 1 hr late nursing Daniel. I decided to check on the girls. They had gone through every (and I mean EVERY) drawer in the their room and dumped the clothes in one big pile on Rachael's bed. I told them to start cleaning - they laughed at me. By now the county psych ward was starting to sound pretty darn good.

And we're down to one car now - that's BIG, BIG on the pity party list. The van reeks of gas. It's had the problem off/on for 2 yrs, and it's getting worse. I went to drive it for a quick errand yesterday, and made it a couple blocks before my stomach was turning. We don't want the kids in it. So the alternative is, well, house arrest. No summer camps, no library ventures - we're stuck. So I'm thinking zoloft about right now.. I know I need to do SOMETHING because I've had a horrible attitude and Deren's in misery. Anyway, pray for wheels for us, if you're inclined.

BTW, on a non-whining note, here are some of the latest happenings:
1) Deren's parents visited over the Memorial Day weekend. In keeping with our holiday tradition, the kids were all sick. And their flight down here was cancelled and they ended up driving all the way. And the weather was cool and stormy. And I thought I was going to stop with this whiney business!!! I'll post some pics.

2) Mr Daniel is saying "ma ma." He IS a mommy's boy! He's such a cute sweetie pie! He's doing better with his baby food, but having problems with his, ahh, movements, shall we say. He's not sitting up yet. He's following after Jacob and Abby, and is showing low muscle tone (hypotonia).

Daniel and Abby are sick with a cold right now. And why is it called a "cold" when their temper is hot, their foreheads are hot, and it's 100+ heat index outside?! I'm thinking the boys will get sick in the next couple days, just in time for summer school (sigh)

..I'll post pics later. Daniel's wailing for the momma.

Didn't take Joshua to the dr for the IV chelation last week. Daniel came down with a fever last Sunday, and Rachael followed. Abby has a bad cough at night, and some nasty diapers (let's leave it at that), and Joshua must be coming down with something, too, because his eating has been particularly bad. New routine: come to the table, vomit until he empties all his stomach, eat a couple bites of meat/protein, empty stomach again (about 50% of the time - sometimes he keeps it down). Mallory, who helped me with the kids last summer and here and there throughout the school year, was here yesterday. Joshua had just thrown up everything he drank since he got home from school. Mallory said "Are you done? Take a bite of meat now!" She's definitely a keeper. Many would have gone running from that scene. Joshua is apparently doing better with his eating (though not all that great) at school, so I am going to meet him for lunch this Monday and feed him there. Hopefully they'll be able to give me some new ideas/pointers.

So, with all the sickies, I cancelled Joshua's appt. And I don't know whether to take him in now, or wait until he's eating better. The told the dr about his eating, and he thought that the antifungals plus the chelation would get Joshua on a better track. And I forgot to call in and ask for a different antifungal. Oh well, start my "to do" list.

Rachael is excited about Mother's Day. My first child who sort of gets Mother's Day! As soon as she got off the bus yesterday she yelled "Happy Mother's Day!" Then she opened her backpack and gave me the present she made at school. It was a potholder with her handprint on it. And it says "This is the hand you used to hold when I was only 4 years old." Awwwww.. (sniff, sniff). She also brought home two red suckers (the kind that you make at home with the molds) - one was a butterfly and one a flower. I was standing there trying to figure out whether they were edible or not (they sure were pretty - maybe they were for decor?) when the girls ripped them open and started eating them. I asked them to let mommy take a bite. "No No No!!" Come on now, these are my suckers, right?! So I called Rachael's teacher and verified they were edible. Rachael's teacher said she got the sucker molds and candy at WalMart. They were sooo cute! I think I'm going to look into them, and see if I can try it out with chocolate (a major food group around this house).

I'm off to eat breakfast and get on with the day. Daniel's been up since 5 a.m with his congestion. So maybe I'll get a head start on the day and go walking. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Looks like the girls are working through the whole gender issue. Rachael still calls me "Ms. Mommy." And she calls Deren "Ms. Daddy." Abby, meanwhile, calls Deren "Mommy" all the time. "Daddy" was her favorite word for months on end. Now both me and Deren are "Mommy." Deren has been scolding me for not correcting them more - I'm always too busy laughing and calling for him - "Abby's calling for her Mommy!"

For those of you who may be familiar with Dora the Explorer, Abby has taken to saying "Swiper No Swiping!.. Oh Man!" Even Jacob is saying "Oh Man!" And if you're wanting more week-in-the-life-of-Abby moments, Deren came out of our room chuckling this morning. He asked Abby what she was doing. She said "Nothing!" hah! that'll be the day! This evening Deren came to me again chuckling. He said that Abby took the tiny baby that goes in the dollhouse, put it on the changing pad in the bathroom, got some wipes from the counter, and 'changed' the baby's diaper!

Joshua is on yet another hunger strike. This time he's forsaken his main source of calories, chips, along with the protein. So all he wants to eat is candy and popsicles. Oooooooooookay. I took him to his autism doc on Monday. The dr has seen Joshua since Joshua was just under 2 yrs old. The dr observed Joshua, who was acting rather psychotic from being up since 2:30a.m. He kept saying "we really need to DO something." He prescribed Joshua nizoral for his on-going yeast/gut issues. Unfortunately, Joshua will not take the crushed nizoral for anything. The dr also recommended IV chelation. Joshua has a IV challenge appt this coming Tuesday. The plan is to give him a challenge dose of DMPS and EDTA, then collect his urine for 6 hrs. If a lot of metals show up in the urine, then it may signify that Joshua has a lot of 'trapped' metals in his body that are not being eliminated like they should. Ugh! I hate to make these decisions, knowing full well that Joshua won't have a darn clue what is going on, and that IV chelation holds more of a risk. On the other hand, he's starving himself, he's not sleeping, he's withdrawing more and more. It's not looking good for the Joshua.

The following week Abby goes in to see her neurologist, who will decide if she needs to stay on the phenobarbital.

The boys & Rachael have 2 1/2 weeks of school left. Where has time gone?! Mentally, I feel like I'm still at the beginning of the year. And here I am staring down a summer with the crew! And Mr. Daniel is still VERY attached (emotionally & physically) to the milkmaid. We've tried him on applesauce - he shudders and spits it all out. I tried sweet potatoes yesterday - a bit better than the applesauce, but still not thrilled at all. So, if given his way, he would stay "hooked up" most the day, which is going to be a bit tricky, what with the other 4 running around on their own devices. So kinda worried about that. On the other hand, I'm happy with how things are. With the other kids I so often thought, "I wish they were old enough to do this or that." With Daniel, I'm really enjoying this time and loving on him.

For those of you wanting a Joshua picture - here it is. You may think "How cute! He's loving on a teddy bear." Remember now, he's autistic! He's been obsessed with stuffed animals lately because he likes to pluck off their "fur", throw it in the air, and watch it fall. At any given time our house looks like it's been invaded by dust bunnies (that's what the balls of faux fur resemble). You'd never find dust bunnies laying around my house (insert hysterical laughter).

*News Flash* Daniel rolled over from his back to his tummy this morning, and he has 2 bottom teeth!!! Keeping with tradition, I was clueless about the teeth up until the moment I was bitten. He was really fussy on Thursday, and was crying at the top of his lungs. I called Deren at work and he came home from work early when he heard Daniel screaming in the background. I was even going to take him to an urgent care clinic, but decided against it at the last minute. That would have been priceless - well, not actually - I would have spent $75 to have someone tell me he's teething. And I have how many kids???!! So for anyone out there inclined to think "Wow, she must be on top of her game with 5 kids" - think again, people! I'm as clueless as it gets!!!

Are you familiar with the skunk mating season?? We are now. Turns out, the little buggers go around repeatedly spraying to attract a mate. To make it even more personal, we had one doing it's mating ritual, I guess, right outside our house from about 1:30 - 4 am on Thursday. The smell was so strong it woke us up from sleep. My stomach was turning. Deren searched the backyard with a flashlight twice, looked under the cars, and searched the attic (yes, the smell was that strong). He figured if he did any more trolling around the house for the skunk a neighbor would either shoot him (this is Texas, you know) or call the police. So we all still smell a little skunky around here.. The smell woke Joshua up, too. So just about 4am when the smell started to abate, Joshua was in full manic giggle-screech-till the-whole-house-is-up mode. He went to sleep about 1/2 hour before the alarm was due to go off. I was talking to my neighbor later in the morning (she's the one who informed me of skunk mating season). She asked me if I kept him home to let him sleep. My response "Are you kidding?!" I was in quite a "skunky" mood myself, and took more than a little bit of glee waking him up for school. Needless to say, he slept 12+ hrs the following night.

Rachael has been in a skunky mood, too. She comes home from school with all her crafts and worksheets. Abby wants to look at the stuff. One day Rachael literally came in the door and kicked Abby before she made it a couple steps. And needless to say, many an art project has landed in the trash because of it. I almost felt a little twinge of guilt when I threw her horsey in the trash today, but she really sent Abby flying when Abby got ahold of it (sigh). Yesterday it was almost like a scene from the twilight zone. She came in the door "Hi Abby. Want this?" (gave Abby her art project). She helped me pick up, gave Abby hugs, helped Abby with lunch and gave her other toys. She was calling me "Ms. Mommy", giving me hugs and saying "You're so sweet, Mommy!" You see, we got a copy of a kids' bedding magazine the afternoon before, and it had a horse quilt and pillows in it. Oh yeah, she was buttering me up! She's since lost the catalog and was back to throwing punches and kicks today..

Looking back, I have to admit it was cool being "buttered up." In the soon-to-be 7 yrs of being a mommy, I've never had a child say anything in the ballpark of "You're so sweet, Mommy!" And I'm feeling more twinges of guilt about the horsey in the trash right now, but seeing as I have raw chicken and hamburger on top of it, I'll just have to live with my guilt.

Abby is getting around much better. She still has a limp, but she is trying her best to run full speed ahead. A neighbor a couple houses down has a beautiful yard, and has wildflowers in the spring. I asked the wife's permission to take some pictures with the girls. Another neighbor met me there today and helped try to keep the girls from picking every flower in sight - it was looking iffy for awhile - I thought I was going to be in real trouble. And, of course, the girls wouldn't smile for the camera, so I took a bunch of candid shots. When Deren got home Rachael told him "Say cheese for the camera, daddy!"

Joshua has had a big splinter in his hand all week. Deren and I looked it over this evening. It doesn't look infected, so we agreed to put it off until tomorrow. Oh man, is it ever going to be a nightmare getting that thing out. He won't let us near it. It takes the two of us to just get a glance at it. That boy, for all his smallness from lack of eating, has superhuman strength when he's riled up.

Jacob's birthday is next Wednesday. He's going to be 7 yrs old!! Happy Birthday to Jacob, Happpy Birthday to you.. Have no clue what to get him. He has lots of dvd's. They're exciting until he watches them a couple times, and then he's back at the computer hacking his way onto motion picture sights and watching trailers for horror movies. We have one of those internest security/blocking programs. We apparently need a different one, or something, because he gets around it all the time. He's gotten to where he won't walk to the bathroom at night without someone with him.

And on the 28th Mr. Daniel (aka cutie pie, momma's baby sweet boy, flirtie bird) will be 6 mos. Time is flying!

Deren and I are doing Weight Watchers. Actually, I am, so Deren's eating what I'm cooking. The thing is - he still snacks on candy throughout the day, eats larger portions, doesn't exercise, and he's losing the weight easier. What a man thing to do!!!!

We've been sick with a cold bug for the past couple weeks. Gee, how many times have I said that phrase in the past couple months?! Anyway, the kids aren't up all night coughing anymore, so that's definitely an improvement. They just have junk coming from their noses the whole day long.

I'm trying to figure out if Abby has OCD about spilling things - I mean, REALLY spilling things. If she's not spilling and making messes she's asleep. I thought I was being overly crabby today. Then Deren got home. After about 10 mins he was saying "Did she take a nap?! What's gotten into her today?!" So it wasn't just me..

Daniel will be 6 mos old on the 28th. 6 mos old!!!!!! My little baby isn't such a little baby! He's not rolling over - just occassionally gets stuck on his side. He doesn't like to sit upright too much. Oh well, he is not in a family of overachievers in the gross motor department.

The boys are going on a field trip to the Wiggly Play (center?) on Wednesday. I'm hoping they'll be healthy. Jacob was going to go on a field trip to the Dallas Aquarium with the first grade class last Wed but he was way too sick.

Here are some pics. When I was out running errands yesterday Deren played in the backyard with the kids. Jacob and Rachael were making nests for the dinosaurs and their eggs (rocks Deren found), and were feeding the dinosaurs leaves. Deren said it was soooooooooo fun to watch Jacob playing.

Update from the ranch - well, not quite "the ranch" because we live in the burbs, and our lot is really small, but you get the idea..

Abby got her cast off last Friday. I wasn't thinking she would be off and running, but it's been disheartening to see how much trouble she's having. She rarely uses her leg, and if she does she holds on to something and limps. She mainly scoots, crawls, or cries and screams for help (she's been doing a lot of that lately). It hurts to see how much she's struggling. I called and spoke with our OT from ECI yesterday. She said what Abby is going through is totally normal, to give her another month or so to get up and moving.

Jacob's ARD is this coming Monday. He's been doing well at school, and they are not going to recommend summer school. He's going to be soooooooo confused when Joshua gets on the bus. Rachael will be able to 'get it' after a week or two, Jacob.. I don't know..

Daniel is now a five monther! I took him to our favorite chiropractor/naturopath this past Tuesday. He recommended probiotics for his gut/reflux, and did some adjustments to help his ears drain. We've decided against the tubes for now. We're going to see how the alternative treatments work for awhile. The chiropractor was noting all the gas and reflux problems Daniel has, and said that the by-product of Daniel's immune system doing overtime in his gut is mucous, which could be aggravating the ear problem. Something to think about, isn't it.

Daniel is getting curious, and he is getting fast. The other day he grabbed off Rachael's glasses before she knew what hit her. Speaking of Rachael.. she finally got in to see the eye doctor. She's wearing a patch 2 hrs/day, and got her lenses changed AGAIN (we've spent several hundred dollars in lenses now - going from pre-surgery eyes to post-surgery back to more crossing/may need surgery again eyes). She's in bifocals again. Hopefully the new lenses and patching will head off surgery, along with praying - I haven't been good about praying lately. I've generally been feeling like a total failure at being a wife and a mom. But isn't that just what happens when you start getting lax with the Word and praying?? I need to kick by bottom into gear..

We got all the receipts mailed off to the IRS, and we're waiting to hear back. We haven't even thought of doing this year's taxes. Deren was comparing tax products online last night. He was looking into the audit assistance components, seeing how Uncle Sam has been coming after us every year about our medical bills.

Is that enough whining for you? My mom's probably clicked out of the blog by now - she hates it when I whine! Can you just tell we've had about 2 wks of cloudy/rainy weather?! I'm getting so moody!

..just took these pics

Oprah Smoothie Recipe

A month or so ago I actually got to watch some grown up tv. Oprah was on and doing a show with Bob Greene on eating fit. She was making a smoothie that I've since become addicted to.

Strawberries
Banana
Chocolate Soy Milk

Blend above. I add a small amount of stevia and 1 Tbsp of flax oil (my favorite brand is Barleans). I've used plain soy milk a lot, too. But the chocolate is the best.

Let me tell you about my day yesterday..

It started off with Deren leaving for work late, because he stayed home to help me get ready to take Daniel to the doctor. Now ordinarily, getting ready by 9:45 is not too big of an issue, but throw in spring break and everyone on different schedules.. let's just say I don't have my game on, okay?

Made it to the doctor. Daniel has joined the ranks of the wheezing. Jacob and Daniel have both been on breathing treatments for bronchiolitis. The other kids are working on it. Abby's cough is starting to sound pretty bad, but not in the chest yet. Joshua is bawling more than usual. My voice has gone south again. And it's funny. It may be me just being sick and in a bad mood and all, but it seems like Deren gets more chatty than usual when I lose my voice. All the sudden he's asking me questions left and right - questions that involve an in depth answer - not just "yes" or "no". Deren and I generally have a "talk to the hand" policy with each other when we get sick. One of us starts whining, and the other is walking out of the room whistling. "Oh, were you saying something?" Yes, it's something we need to work on. But with all the kids sick for what seems like FOREVER, a "Can I go take a long nap because I don't feel good?" comment falls on deaf ears. So, I'm whining here!

Anyway.. back to yesterday. Got to the doctor. Spent $25 more bucks confirming he's wheezing and we should continue breathing treatments (we already have the medicine at home). Nursed Daniel in the car. Side note: Daniel has decided the ONLY way he'll nurse is with a pillow and blanket over his head. So I loaded a nursing pillow in the car and he was in heaven nursing in the parking lot. He wouldn't nurse at all in the office. Finally finished nursing him. Called home to check on Mallory, our babysitter. She said all was fine. I then proceeded to back into the truck behind me in the parking lot. This is the second time I've run into another car in the same parking lot. I barely ran into the truck - the van has no marks on it whatsoever. But the owner of the car was pointing to a tiny dent and saying "oh, that's going to be very expensive to fix!" Gave the lady my information. Called Deren and told him about the dr appt and the fender bender. Conversation went something like this "*#&#^@ $@#&# %#!@" (Deren speaking).

Made it home. Saw Mallory off. As she was leaving Rachael came up to us and started talking about poop in the potty. Went and checked. Jacob had apparently stuffed half the container of toilet wipes in the toilet. Oh - and he had bad diarrhea - let's not forget that tidbit. When I flushed the toilet the diarrhea water went pouring over the toilet. I pulled up on the lever thingy inside the tank - did nothing. The diarrhea water went everywhere. I started crying. Jacob came in to check on me. He trailed through the water, walked down the hall, got onto our bed, and started rolling around on the bed - with diarrhea water on the bottom of his sweatpants (there was a good 2" on the floor in the bathroom before I got the water turned off) and on his feet. I cried more, and more, and more. Jacob started crying with me. He kept wiping my tears off my face and crying along. I called Deren. He's like "get a grip! You're having a breakdown!" I called my neighbor Monique (Mallory's mom). "Monique can you come over and help? I'm having a breakdown." Monique came over until Deren got home - yes, he's on the show up late leave early policy this past week. Monique directed clean up efforts and watched the kids while I cleaned up. We agreed that the bath towels used needed to be burned.
Deren got home a short time later. He finished clean up. Maybe that's why we're all doing worse today, come to think of it. He dumped enough bleach in that room - I could feel my lungs burning! He got the toilet plunged, and we're back on track (minus the tank lid that got knocked over and shattered during cleaning.)

I guess that about sums it up. I got a grip, mopped the house, started tackling the mountains of laundry.

Gotta go. Daniel is doing worse today, and poor little guy is crying.

Happy Birthday to you.. Happy Birthday Dearest Rachael! Rachael turned 4 on the 6th. Deren made an awesome chocolate cake for her (and for me, I guess, because I ate more than everyone else!).

Jacob can write his name. Hooray for Jacob!!!

Our little big guy!!

I guess I'm on the once-a-month post schedule.
Abby had an accident, and broke her leg just above her ankle. She's in a full leg cast until the end of this month.
We've had one kid or another throwing up every weekend since the first of January.
We're passing around another (who-knows-how-many-now) cold.
Joshua is on another hunger strike, albeit more sever than some of the others. All I have to say is "Time to eat!" and he runs and gets his barf bucket. Yesterday evening I was feeling a bit sadistic. I kept saying "Joshua, time to eat!" ..Poor guy gagged I don't know how many times. I suspect that he got a bit of a tummy bug, then that prompted his most recent hunger strike. So I'm not pushing him to hard. If he wants to go outside and play or watch a movie, he has to take a bit of soy yogurt. After crying for minute or two, he often does. OR he throws up. And does anyone know if you can selectively throw up things. A couple days he ate some pretzels, followed by some hamburger. He threw up only the hamburger - no pretzels (and "yes", we've cleaned up enough pretzel puke that we can tell the difference.)

Needless to say, we're celebrating our spring break in usual fashion. It's also been raining this week, so Joshua is positively stir crazy. The sun peaked out a bit ago. I was talking with Deren on the phone. I told him I was thinking about taking the kids for a walk. His response was something along the lines of "Do you have a death wish?!"

Took Daniel to an ENT specialist this a.m. Looks like he's going to get tubes. Daniel has his third ear infection at the tender age of 4 mos. He also has the respiratory yuck that the others are passing around, and has a bad cough. The doctor said that research shows that kiddos who get their first ear infection when they're under 4 mos usually have many to follow. Seeing how Daniel is on #3, it's not looking good. And since we don't like to give antibiotics to the kids in general, let alone every other month, Daniel's getting tubes. Poor baby.

In other Daniel news, he's growing - he's 17 lbs, 12 oz now. He's also taking prevacid for reflux. It was so weird. The other kids started having reflux problems when they were a couple weeks old. We thought Daniel was going to beat it. But he started having all his problems late last month. Finally, he's lifting his head up like a pro. I will post a pic later. Abby has a swiffer and it sounds like she's pounding the dickens out of something in the bathroom. And she's squealing and laughing to boot, so I'd better go check!

Took Abby to the neurologist on Monday. The doctor was pleased with how she's doing. Her MRI was normal. He recommended keeping her on phenobarbital for at least another 3 mos - until the main cold and flu season is over, reasoning that she may have additional seizures with all the bugs she's having otherwise. And speaking of bugs, we're passing around another cold, and Joshua was throwing up this past Saturday. I think we've had about 5 days since the first of January when we've had the kids semi healthy! I'm sooooooooooooo ready for spring!

And speaking of spring, it was close to 80 degrees here today. We kept Rachael home from school because she was coughing so much last night. I planned that we would stay outside most the day - we would do some more work in the garden, break out a seed starting kit with Rachael (and let Abby 'plant' beans from the kitchen, go for a walk, nurse Daniel in the sun.. have a blissful day in the sunshine. Bwaa haa haa! You'd think I would learn by now. Rachael pooped in her underwear while I was nursing Daniel in the living room. Instead of telling me, she hid under the covers in her bedroom. Abby wanted to play with sissy Rachael, so she followed her back there. I thought the girls were playing nicely - Abby was (sort of), if you count treading through poop on the floor in the category of 'playing nicely.' In her defense, I don't think she did it on purpose. It kind of camouflages into the flooring. While I cleaned up Rachael, Abby attacked the humidifier in her room, dumping about 1/2 gallon of water on her floor. And while I mopped the house the girls traveled from one toy box to another, dumping all the contents out.

So we stepped outside about 1 pm, and by that time it was pretty warm. Abby had tired herself out, between her cold and her a.m. exploits. I sat down to nurse Daniel, and she threw a whopper fit because I wouldn't push her in the swing. I hauled her inside, still screaming (Abby, that is). She passed out on the floor in the hallway while I nursed Daniel. After I nursed Daniel, I put her and Rachael in the stroller. Rachael fell asleep. Abby woke up, took all the toys Rachael had in her hands and threw them out of the stroller, and poked and prodded her unconscious sister the rest of the walk.

..not the day I had planned, but who am I to think that I call the shots?

Well our little giggle boy is now also a raspberry boy! He's been blowing raspberries left and right this week - too cute! The OT from ECI was here today. She said "Just wait until he does raspberries with a mouth full of baby food!" That brings back memories of Miss Abby. Speaking of which.. her stomach is still upset off and on - don't know why - maybe the seizure medication is causing a more or less constant low grade nausea?? She will eat, then sound like she's going to throw up. She says "Bucket!" and runs and gets her barf bucket. Poor peanut.

Activity wise, she's full speed ahead. She's driving Deren crazy. When he gets home from work she wants all his attention, so she gets into one scrap after another so he'll come rescue her. Last night she danced on top of the boys' dressers, the back of the couch, the high chair.. all within about 1/2 hr time span. I thought Deren was going to have a nervous breakdown. I'm thinking we should put her in her crib for a bit while we eat dinner (she can climb out of her high chair), then get her out and play. It's that or have Deren go nuts every night.

While Rachael was at school today, Abby walked around the house, saying "Where's sissy?"

Abby had her MRI Tuesday morning. Still haven't heard about the results. I guess no news is good news.

It's official - he's a giggler! Daniel giggled at me today during a flirt session. He is such a sweet baby. He has had a temperature for days now with his ear infection, but he still has a smile for all.

Abby had another rough week last week. Last Sunday (Jan 28th) she started throwing up in the evening. She threw up off and on all week long, until she got some phenergan at the dr's office on Friday. She spent a couple days crying the whole day long. Deren took off 2 days (that he didn't have) to help at home. My neighbor Monique - God Bless her - also came and helped. Abby's doing better now. She's still not eating a lot, and all her pants are sliding to her hips because she's lost weight. Providing tonight goes well, she has an MRI tomorrow morning. Please keep our baby girl in your prayers.

Joshua got sick with the current stomach bug last Friday. He seems to be doing better today. Although I'm a bit nervous about the variety he's eaten. I'm hoping it won't come up tonight - ugh!

We see little of Jacob since he's learned to surf the net. He will stay at the computer until he pees on himself. He doesn't want to leave the computer and have a sibling take over. He loves to watch movie trailers online, and he's quite industrious at finding them. Deren said he was scary himself silly watching a trailer for Snakes on a Plane. But he'd come right back to it and watch it again! We've blocked many sites, but as I said, he's quite industrious. He'll see me coming around the corner, quickly exit the site he's on, and pull up the Disney website.

Miss Rachael is halfway potty trained. She refuses to poop on the potty. Although she did poop on the potty twice for Grandpa David when he was babysitting her in January. We decided that, on some level, she knew that Grandpa wasn't up for the job of changing out poopy underwear! All bets are off for mommy and daddy, though. She goes and hides and does her business. No amount of bribery thus far has worked. David plied her with so many chocolates yesterday she looked positively green.

..better go. Miss Abby is feeling better today and sowing her oats. She's running around the house with a ballpoint pen.

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Pics of the boys sick & Abby on the mend

January, Oh January..

It's been a bit crazy around here. We were surprised when the kids stayed healthy over the 2 week Christmas break. Jacob, Joshua, and Rachael returned to school on Thursday, January 4th. Over the next day all the kids, including Daniel, came down with what seemed to be a cold. Rachael started throwing up over the weekend, so we were thinking maybe a bug with respiratory and stomach symptoms. I took Rachael and Daniel to the doctor Monday, Jan 8th - Rachael because she still wasn't keeping things down, and Daniel to have his ears and chest checked. The doctor said it was probably viral for both, so nothing much to be done (Daniel's ears were okay). That evening Deren started throwing up, so we knew it was probably a separate cold and stomach bug being passed around. On Wednesday evening, Abby, and later Jacob, started throwing up. On Thursday, I felt bad, but I didn't throw up (Thanks be to God!). Because later that evening Joshua got sick, and Abby was doing pretty bad. She had thrown up more than anyone, and was still having dry heaves. Around 11pm that night I took Abby to an after-hours pediatric urgent care clinic, Acute Kids. They gave Abby an anti-nausea suppository, and sent us home, saying that if she threw up anymore take her into the ER. She woke up around 4am with more heaves, so I left Daniel sleeping and took her into the ER at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano. They gave her IV fluids for a couple hours. My neighbor Monique brought Daniel to the hospital later in the morning for his breakfast. I nursed him and napped with him in my arms. I was coming down with a respiratory bug by this time, and had lost my voice - Deren didn't recognize my voice when he called. After a couple hours of sleeping Abby seemed better, so they sent us home around 11am.

About 1/2 hour after we got home, Abby had her first grand mal seizure. The paramedics came and took her back to Presby Plano. She didn't have any more seizures that afternoon, so they sent her home. About 1/2 hour after she was home - another seizure, another paramedic visit. We talked with the firemen (there were about a dozen in the house, and we were getting friendly by this point). They said they could take her in, but we would probably go through the same scenario. This was exactly what happened with Jacob in January 2003. He wasn't running a fever (ruling out infantile seizures); they would hydrate him, get ready to discharge him, and he would have another seizure in the ER. We decided to wait until the next morning (Sat, Jan 13th) and take her to the pediatrician. She had another seizure early in the morning. Deren bundled up Abby - by that time a nasty cold front was coming through the area - and got a couple blocks before she had another seizure in the car. He pulled over, then started off again. I called the office when it opened, and they said to go to the hospital. The doctor called ahead and asked them to admit her. I stayed at home. By this time, Jacob was come down with the respiratory bug I had, and Joshua was still recovering from the stomach bug. So between the weather and the nasty viruses we were passing around, no one could come and help.

Abby was in the ER until late afternoon, when she had another seizure. She was admitted into the pediatric ward. The cycle became - a seizure, several hours of sleep recovering from the seizure, awake for about another 1/2 hours, then another seizure (with each increasing in intensity). They started her on phenobarbital Sunday morning, and she has been seizure free since the 14th. They kept her until Tuesday, because she started a fever Monday evening (she was coming down with the respiratory bug that Deren, Jacob, Joshua, and I all had at that point).

Deren's father made it into town Monday afternoon. The trip had taken him several hours longer because of the bad conditions on the road with all the freezing rain. He helped Deren out of the hospital with Abby. When she got home she was really weak, and sick with the new bug. They also diagnosed her with a UTI at the hospital, and she started on antibiotics for that. On Wednesday, she looked awful - cried all day long, didn't want to eat or drink, and was totally weak and listless. We took her, Daniel, and Joshua to the pediatrician the next day. Daniel was having diarrhea and bloody stools (from the antibiotics I was taking), Joshua sounded like he was going to keel over from coughing. Joshua's exam went fine - he was doing better, and we should have just kept him at home because he was so excited to be out of the house he was a wild man. Daniel was doing okay. Abby had a breathing treatment at the office and a chest x-ray - she had pneumonia. We took her home, continued on the breathing treatments and antibiotics.

I'm so grateful to say she's doing much better. She's still taking the phenobarbital. She has an MRI this Tuesday (the 30th); an ultrasound and dye test on her urinary tract and kidneys this Wed. But she's just been full of herself at home. She's back to being a total daredevil. I have to tell myself "I'm grateful, I'm grateful!" as she launches herself from the couch or bed or kitchen table. She's so full of life - it was horrible seeing her so sick. She will see the neurologist after the MRI. We're hoping she can be weaned off the seizure medication. Her eeg at the hospital was abnormal. They did it after a strong seizure, and it showed slower than normal activity. The neurologist said that wasn't surprising. She'll have another eeg before they decide about the meds.

Daniel, meanwhile, has the respiratory bug. Good news - he doesn't have pneumonia. Bad news - he has an ear infection and needs breathing treatments because of the inflammation in his lungs. AND I've come down with another cold bug, which means the kids will probably be getting sick in the next week. I'm praying for Daniel and Abby's health. I'm taking Daniel to the chiropractor tomorrow. I really don't want him to be on one round of antibiotics after another. I've been putting breastmilk in his ear, and taking herbs myself, hoping some of it will make it to him.

And if we don't have enough appts scheduled for next week, on Thursday ECI comes to the house to assess Abby for further services, esp. after her seizures. And on Friday (Happy Birthday to You, Deren!) Rachael has an appt with the eye specialist. She's been crossing a lot, so I'm kind of nervous.

So now you know what we've been up to. Today is a special day - Daniel is 3 mos old. He's fussing at me as I type. He really filled his diaper, and now that daddy changed him he's ready to nurse again.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your concerns be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6 - I typed it from memory, so please forgive me if I didn't get it exactly right)

A picture extravaganza. Featuring Abby sitting on sissy's potty, painting outside with brother Joshua; Our budding socialite, Daniel; Miss Rachael before church a couple weeks ago

It's been pretty hectic this week, so I'll catch everyone up on our Christmas. We had a pretty low -keyed holiday. We didn't have any family come, so it was all quiet with just us (and if you believe the 'quiet' part, I've got a bridge to sell you!). I guess I'll back up to the week before Christmas, when the kids were out of school and Deren was at work. We had a traffic jam of boxes in our front hallway, so I started opening (doing away with Rachael & Abby's playground in the process!). Rachael just loved the dress-up clothes she got from Grandma and Grandpa. Her favorite is a purple princess dress and matching hat. Jacob and Abby joined in on the fun. Jacob picked out a pair of heels that he is quite partial to. I'll say "Get your shoes so you can go outside, Jacob," and he'll come running with his pink & purple heels in hand! And for the record, I think it's really cute! If he was 20 yrs old and still partial to heels, I would be worried. But he's my big cutie for now.

We also finished putting together our "geo-dome" for the kids in the backyard, with Deren doing most the work. Jacob really enjoys climbing, so he likes it. The girls are still a bit little for it, but with daddy's boosting hand they are right there with big brother.

So on Christmas day we still had 2 boxes full of wrapped presents from Grandma and Grandpa, as well boxes from Mamaw and Papaw. Rachael got some more horses - about 15 in all. And, of course, she horded them all in a corner, and snarled at Abby every time she got in the vicinity. Deren & I got some neat electronic presents from his parents. I got a digital photo frame, which in theory is really nifty. But, so far Mr. Jacob refuses to let it cycle through the pictures and keeps turning it off. Deren got an ipod and a play station portable, so he's good to watch movies anytime anywhere. Just yesterday Jacob figured out that the small little ipod can play movies. Needless to say, it's currently hidden in my underwear drawer! That child would take it out for sure.

Soooooo, after all the unwrapping, Jacob figured out he didn't have any dvd's under the tree, and he started bawling and throwing fits. A pretty typical Christmas, all-in-all, wouldn't you say? With the kids tearing through their gifts and then crying because they didn't have more?! At least that's what I did when I was younger, and it's apparently coming back to haunt me!

Mr. Daniel update. Our little/big man turned 2 mos old 2 days ago!! Time sure is flying. He is turning into such a little cutie pie socialite. He smiles and cues quite a bit now. His other love (besides nursing) is his baby swing. The swing we have swings side to side or back and forth. He likes going side to side, with the music on and the mobile going - he's an all out kind of guy. The more noise the better, in fact. The other kids will be making such a ruckus, and Daniel will be asleep - happy as a clam. When the noise is gone and the swing stops, he is not happy. Speaking of which, the girls are down for a nap right now, and the boys are off watching movies, so it's quiet and Mr. Daniel is fussing at me, so that's all for now!

Presents?! Who wants presents?! The boxes will do!

I haven't been able to post pics in the past couple days. Maybe after Christmas.

We went to Christmas Eve services at the church this morning at 9:45. I had assumed that the nurseries would be closed, so we kept the girls with us. They had volunteers to watch the boys at the service, so they were fine. Can't say we got much out of the service. Abby was a wild woman. She wanted to run up and down the aisles. Deren finally took her out of the sanctuary, leaving me with Daniel and Rachael. Rachael collected all the pencils from the pew. I spent the rest of the services quieting Daniel and praying that Rachael wouldn't stab one of us with a sharp pencil. I nursed Daniel, and have a cover-up for when I'm in public. He's already getting fed up with it (no pun intended!). He will fling it off, or wiggle out of it. In another month or two I'm going to have to come up with another plan. Maybe he'll be the first to take a bottle, who knows.

I ran into a friend after the service. She was saying that her 4 yr old was acting up, so they left her in the nursery this a.m. What?? You mean the nursery was open? Whoops! Deren wasn't so thrilled with me. He was looking like he was going to pop and vessel trying to rein in Abby earlier. Again - "whoops!" Maybe next Christmas we'll get to pay attention - a lofty goal for parents with multiple toddlers, don't you think?

I'm supposed to be cooking dinner now, so I'll post more later. I'm roasting a chicken in the oven. Deren's mother taught me how to when she was here 2 mos ago. I was going to crock-pot it, but I forgot 3 mornings in a row! I have no attention span as of late. I put a bottle of ketchup in the cabinet with the dinner plates a couple days ago, and about lost my mind trying to find it. A bottle of ketchup is not something you can leave out and about with Abby and Joshua on the prowl!

The boys and Rachael are officially on Christmas break, until Jan 4th, so let the games begin. Deren called today about 3:30 to see how I was doing. He usually avoids calling me when the kids are all off school. He'll call and say "How's it going?" Response, "HOW DO YOU THINK IT'S GOING?!" So far today, though, I haven't hidden in the closet with some oreos yet (partly because we don't have any oreos in the house!). Besides, aren't they made with trans fats?? ..gotta go.. Little man is sooo intolerant of my computer time!

..just popping in to add a picture. Daniel is now 6 wks old. He has been colicky at night, so my computer time is limited. Well, come to think of it, he gets fussy whenever I'm on the computer. I think he and daddy got together and made a deal.. fuss whenever mommy tries to shop online.. Deren is quite pleased! I'm so in shock that Christmas is less than 2 wks away. I think I'm going to use the 'have a newborn' excuse, because I don't have anything done!

If you look close enough, Daniel has a little sleep grin on his face - precious boy!

We are passing around our next round of colds. We've had someone sick with a cold since mid October! ugh!

I'm trying to take off those pregnancy pounds. It looks like I have exercise buddies. The girls liked doing push ups, jumping jacks, and (pretend) jumping rope with me. Now if they could just swear off potato chips with me!

I'll end my Friday ramblings with a "Kids say the funniest things" segment, featuring Rachael Mae.

(yelling at the top of her lungs from her room) "MOMMY, I HAVE A POOPY. A STINKY, MOMMMY! GROSS! CHANGE MY POOPY DIAPER, MOMMY!"

(after putting up the Christmas tree) "Look Daniel, it's Christmas!"

(Wednesday and Thursday morning) "No school today, Mommy. Bus go to bed. Rachael stay home and watch movies!"