Frustration

I FINALLY remembered to take a bag of carrots back to Bi-Lo this evening that were slimy when I first got them home. It was rather frustrating though, because the receipt I pulled out was over a month old, so they wouldn't take it back. First of all, it is awfully hard for me to get to Bi-Lo with three little kids in tow, so I can't just run over there to return stuff that's bad -- it's hard enough for me to go grocery shopping in the first place! Secondly, I could've sworn I bought them just a couple weeks ago. I don't know for sure that that was the right receipt, but it probably was. The cashier came at me like I was a liar trying to pull something over on her. I hate it that she though that, but I guess I understand. It's just frustrating trying to get things like that taken care of when you have the rest of life to worry about too, and I don't like throwing three dollars in the trash can! I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was a bag of carrots that my kids can't eat now. God's money, right? Is that the answer I'm looking for here?

I love being able to vent on my blog, to no one in particular!

Elsi's newest tricks

Elsi has really been coming alive and active these past couple weeks. She's started to be very interested in toys, staring at them, touching them, holding them, putting them in her mouth. Another first occurred last night. I tried to feed her in the women's class I was sitting in. She couldn't eat for being distracted. While it was frustrating, I'm glad she's learning new things!

AWANA

We went to AWANA tonight for the first time since I was a little girl. I remember loving it, so I wanted my kids to get to have the experience too. Plus, it will help them memorize Bible verses and the books of the Bible among other things. They had a great time. Lukey even got a special balloon because he was one of the best behaved kids. Granted, it was his first time, and he was among people he doesn't know. He's bound to behave worse in the future. Luke was in Cubbies and Ben was in Puggles, and they're really looking forward to next week now!

a different night

We went up the mountain to help a friend of mine from work start a blog. She lost her husband in October and the Lord has shown up for her in miraculous ways. Friends keep asking her to put her journal in a blog. She was telling me about the different feelings she was having about it that she believes were attacks from Satan to try to discourage her from sharing with others. Guess what happened tonight? Her internet was down! We'll just try again next week.

I believe the Lord brought us together because I almost missed meeting her.She came to work at my office last year on the same day that I left on maternity leave, so I only met her briefly and a few times later as I've gone back to visit. We were fast friends because we found out that we go to churches in the same denomination (a pretty small one) and she has a daughter at Covenant. And I don't even work at that office anymore, but she e-mailed me to ask me to help.

Katie was wonderful to us tonight. She bought us pizza at Mr. T's, gave my kids juicy juice to drink and me coke, and helped me take them to the playground when her internet proved not to be working. It was a great evening. Can't wait to try again next week!

Doggie Blues

So, I let Kaiser run away and drove around for an hour looking for him to no avail. I let them out to go to the bathroom, went to put Elsi down and came back and he was gone =(. I thank the Lord for Becky living downstairs to let me drive around with my kids still sleeping here at home. Greg had just given him a bath and haircut too and he's been in the house and being SOOO good, not chewing on stuff like he usually does. Pray that he comes back or we get a phone call from somebody that finds him and gets our number off his collar.

Sunday Dre:ss

My kids were all dressed up for church today for one reason only: Luke was determined to wear his shoes with "high heels." He likes his black dress shoes because they have heels that click when he steps. So, I told him if he was going to wear the shoes he had to wear nice clothes and he was fine with that. Benny then wanted to dress like his older brother, so they were wearing preppy little sweater vests over collared shirts with nice khakhis. They looked so handsome. If only my camera wasn't broken . . .

Growing girl

I took Elsi to the pediatrician today for her four month well visit. She got shots, of course =(. She weighed eleven-and-a-half pounds and was twenty-four-and-three-quarter inches long. That is 10th and 50th-75th percentiles respectively. It's crazy that she's so tall compared to her weight and compared to her brothers at that age!

Elsi is 4 months old

Elsi turned four months on Thursday. Can't believe it. She's so sweet and precious! Didnt' sleep through the night last night, however!

Baby Faces

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Luke's foot update

Luke, Elsi, and I visited the pediatric orthopedist yesterday. Good news! Luke has a buckle fracture of his first metatarsal, which is supposedly a very "stable" break. He doesn't have to wear a cast; he just has to wear a shoe (his own), and go back to the orthopedist in four weeks for a new x-ray to make sure it's healed up. It hurts if he walks barefoot, but he is allowed to go swimming, which is a major relief.

Grown up Ben

My little Benny is growing up. He's started calling me MOM (instead of
Mommy). Not sure I was ready for that!

Luke's foot

Luke got his cast cut off today, but then put right back on! He still
couldn't walk on his foot and it appeared to still be hurting. He said it
wasn't, but he pulled his foot away every time the doc pushed on that spot
where they thought it might be broken. Luke was excited about going
swimming, but still can't =(. We have to go see an orthopedist now, and most
likely get a real cast -- maybe he'll be able to get that one wet.

Luke's foot

Little Luke may have fractured something in his foot a week ago. Our last night @ the beach with Greg's fam, he jumped off the bunk bed like his cool bigger cousins. Monday morning, when it was still hurting, I took Luke to the pediatrician and he sent us to get an xray of Luke’s foot but couldn’t see anything, but since Luke still could’t walk on it, he put a partial cast on it for a week. At the end of the 7 days, they’ll remove it and see if he can walk and bear weight on it. If not, they’ll send him on to an Orthopedist. The foot has a reddened bump and bruise on the top, on that bone above his insole. He was not to walk on it or swim this week which was hard with his cousins TC and Josiah here – at the same time, they were a big help in entertaining him. While at the hospital for the x-ray, Ben fell off a chair and got a good knot on the back of his head J. It was a challenge managing 4 boys and an infant at the doctor’s office and the hospital all morning, since Luke had to ride in stroller which meant Elsi was being "carried" (worn, actually) so I couldn't deal with Ben bonking his head very easily, but we survived!

Camp T-siah Day 2

We went to see Igor today, me and five kids. The movie wasn't that great, but at least we had something to do for a while. I forgot to take pictures though. TC and Josiah were very helpful with the younger guys, especially Luke, since he has to be carried or pushed in a stroller everywhere he goes. TC took Luke and Ben to get drinks out of the water fountain and Josiah pushed him in and out of the theater. TC has also taken up the role of Elsi's guardian. He puts her paci back in her mouth or picks her up anytime she cries. So sweet! I think the big boys were probably bored this afternoon, but they say they're not homesick, so I guess they're okay.

Camp T-Siah Day One

Today was a little chaotic. Probably tried to pack too much into one day. TC and Josiah, our nephews from Atlanta (Greg's sister's kids) are visiting. TC made up the nickname Camp T-Siah as a combination of both of their names, saying they are running summer camp this week for Luke and Ben. We had to take Luke to the dr. this morning to get his foot checked out, which then required a visit to hospital for x-ray, then back to dr.'s office for a lightweight cast. Dr. says it may or may not be broken -- hard to tell with little kids -- but it still hurts obviously. We'll go back in a week and they'll cut the cast off. If it doesn't hurt anymore, we'll assume it was sprained/strained(?) and move on, but if it still hurts, we'll have to take him to an orthopedist. TC and Jojo were so good and so helpful that I wanted to do something fun. So, we went to the aquarium. Ben however, melted down about halfway through, desperately needing a nap and knowing that Mommy was a little tied up because I was holding Elsi. Not sure if they had fun or not, but at least we're home now and they can play video games uninterrupted since the little boys are FINALLY napping!

Our trip home from Family Vacation

Last week we were with Greg's family at Seagrove Beach near Panama City Beach in FL. Our trip back was awful because we sat in mostly stopped traffic for a couple hours about halfway through our trip. We should've been home about 5:30 but it was after 8:30 by the time we finally got there. TC and Jojo, our 9 and 8-yr-old nephews are with us for the week. We stopped at a gas station near the end of the trip and let all the boys out in a grassy area to run around while I fed Elsi. They started dancing around and singing silly songs to try to get cars to come into the gas station we were at. I managed to snap a pic of Jojo dancing while my boys tried to throw stuff down the covered drain.

Joker

Elsi had oral thrush and since we couldn't get her doc to call in a
prescription after hours we had to resort to the gentian violet.

We're on vacation with Greg's family, having a great time. They boys are pretty much occupied playing with their cousins. We're all swimming in the pool a lot and going to the beach. I've been talking lots of naps too. I am very content just to stay around here and not go out and do anything. Not really sure why, but it probably has something to do with how much more work it takes to get three kids out the door to go somewhere than just me and Greg -- like I can even remember that! ;-)

Sleeping until 8

Elsi slept until 8 this morning, with minimal intermittent moaning starting at about 7. I fed her at midnight, then we both went to bed by 1. 7 hours in one stretch! How 'bout that?!?!?

Fun weekend

We had a fun and tiring weekend. We went to Atlanta to hang out with Greg's fam. His brother Roger got a speedy boat and the boys spent the day riding on it. I swam to it and got on and off, but Elsi couldn't ride because we didn't have a life jacket for her, so I just enjoyed swimming and relaxing. Lyd and Gabe came down too for the afternoon, which was awesome! Greg's probably more exhausted than when we left, but he had a good time. Luke rode on the tube behind the boat. We also spent more time than usual hanging out with Greg's siblings and their families, which was really fun. Sadly, I didn't take a SINGLE picture!