Sunday

Well, I'll try to jot a quick note here even though Avery is screaming her head off upstairs and the boys aren't sleeping either! This morning I had a very unusual experience. For the second time in my life I met a friend from the online world. Heather is here from Florida for treatment at Mayo for a brain tumor. Through a series of blog links that I cannot even remember I came across her blog and website. Anyway, I invited her to our church home for the time that she and her husband are here which could be days, weeks or longer. It was such a joy to meet her and her husband Mark. Please stop by her site and read her story. She obviously tells it much better than I!

Well, I tried to get a picture of the boys on here for today, but it didn't work. Oh well. I'm sorry and will try again later!

Not even trying

I'm not even trying to catch everyone up on my life in the past week. I've been a stinky blogger and I'm just jumping in where we are! We've had plenty of cute kid quotes, only one of which I remember off hand. Evan was in the midst of discipline a few nights ago (again). Jim quoted him a verse that was perfectly convicting in the area of the offense. Evan said, "I don't think I like that verse very much!" Toby and Aidan both do and say things that crack me up, but of course I can't remember them. Avery had her 2 month shots on Wednesday. She slept from noon to six today and went to bed peacefully just now at 8:00 pm. I hate to say it out loud, but we may have turned a corner. Earlier in the week we had two nights of 3-4 hours of blood curdling screaming her head off crying. Today, nothing. She's been on zantac since Jim's mom died over a week ago and it does seem to have helped.

As for the funeral, it was nice. We had to sit in the front row which with a 6 year old and a 3 year old isn't as fun as you might think. I finally bribed Aidan that he could have dessert after the dinner if he sat still and was quiet for the rest of the funeral. Yes, in MN we have a dinner after a funeral. A musical called "Church Basement Women" refers to it as the "dead spread". The Lutheran church basement women did not disappoint! I had over 5 dozen ham and turkey sandwiches and 5 tubs of different types of salad (two had jello as their main ingredient) left over. Schaeffer got a nice lunch the next day!

We have all been doing really well with the loss of Grandma. Evan has been extra sassy and squirrly. Toby has been extra clingy. Aidan has been extra good. He even mentioned that he misses Grandma. He says his favorite thing to do with Grandma was to play cards. I'll see if I can find the picture of them. It's really cute!

Anway, that's it from our end of things!

A new woman

Well, the Little Miss is amazing! Last night she cried on and off (mostly on) for 3 hours. Then proceeded to sleep for 9!!!!!!!!!! I actually was smart and went to bed at 10, then she woke up at 6, nursed, and is asleep even as I type this at 7:30! What on earth am I going to do with myself???

Baby in the Bathroom

Well, a while ago I posted about Toby sleeping in the closet. I'm proud to report that I now have another baby sleeping in a weird place! Yesterday I discovered that Avery sleeps well in the bathroom downstairs with the exhaust fan running. I think she has the dreaded "C" word...colic. She's on zantac when I can get it in her. Tastes nasty! I've spent hours holding a baby who is stiff and screaming in my ears only to have her puke cottage cheese on me, let a huge diaper area bomb loose and then fall sound asleep. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood.

Quick update

Just a quick update here. Jim's mom passed away this morning around 9:00 am.

Update

I thought I'd better jot down a quick update before anyone worries too much about last night's post. Avery had a much better night last night. She woke up at midnight for a quick feed. After that she curled up in that newborn curled up frog position on my chest complete with little bursts of milky newborn breath on my neck. Good thing she's cute. She was also up at 4:30, this time for about 45 minutes. Much better than 2 hours! Thanks for the prayers and notes of concern last night and this morning. We're doing fine. Thanks!

Prayer requested

We are really under stress around here. Little Miss Avery is really having a tough time right now in falling to and staying asleep. Crying on and off for hours is not uncommon, day and night. Last night I was up for two hours alternating between nursing and trying to transfer a sleeping baby to the crib. Co-sleeping isn't much better; believe me, I've tried! Anyway, the boys are getting stressed (and neglected I'm afraid), I'm stressed and of course Jim is stressed! With the lack of sleep I'm having difficulty maintaining myself as well (not the house, just emotionally keeping up with life). Add to this the fact that Jim's mom isn't doing well. They signed up for hospice care a few weeks ago. It's just a matter of "hurry up and wait" to see how long we have Grandma here making memories with her and the grandkids. Plus, we're looking to relocate (within the area) to gain some land, gain some breathing and running room for boys and lose a bad neighbor. Anyway, I'd appreciate prayers for our family in the coming weeks as we adjust to these three major life changes! Thanks.

Easter pics

Since it takes forever to load a picture on my computer I decided to make these smaller. Anyway, aren't they adorable?? How was your Easter?

Easter week

In honor of Easter week, I'd like to share the following site. No peeps were harmed in the making of this site.

5 weeks

Here is a fresh picture of the Little Miss. She's doing pretty well. Sometimes I'm awake with her once or twice in the night. Sometimes when it's only once, it is for two hours, but hey, it's only once! Last night she slept from around 10:30 to 5:45, so I'm counting that as sleeping through the night! (Don't tell my friends, they'll lynch me!)

Denial

I have a huge stack of jeans in my closet. What in the world makes me think that a mere 5 weeks (today!) after having a baby that I can even have half a hope of getting any of them on my body??? Well, hooray for me! I have a pair on! Of course, when I sit down I can no longer breathe, but hey, breathing is overrated, right??? Forget it, back to the maternity jeans today. Life is too short to wear uncomfortable clothes. :)

Works For Me Wednesday

With four kids in the house, we have a lot of toys. Many of those toys have TONS of little pieces. Legos, FP Little People, puzzles, Veggie Tales sets, the list goes on. Instead of having one big toy box for our toy collection, we have multiple little toy boxes. I buy shoe or sweater sized clear boxes with lids and keep each category of toys in a separate box. All the pieces stay together which makes playing with the toys much easier. I also store some of these boxes in the basement and rotate the toys which keeps them fresh and interesting! Works for me! Many more helpful hints can be found at Rocks in my Dryer. Shannon does an amazing job on her blog, so stay and read a bit there, too!

I have a two year old!

And a few other kids, but since yesterday was Toby's birthday, I thought I'd share that! We had a nice little party with Zane and his parents. Jim's parents were also able to make it which was extra special.

Today I had a heck of a morning.
Avery slept in which was great.
Toby slept in too, also great.
Aidan didn't, but hey, two out of four ain't bad!
Aidan made a mess out of Toby's new birthday toys. Which of course included toys with small parts.
Avery and Toby woke up. Avery of course wanted to nurse. Toby of course had a majorly messy diaper.
Avery nursed while I lived in denial about how messy Toby's diaper was.
Toby got a bath.
Once the kids were all fed, changed, dressed, changed and dressed again (Avery isn't a very lady like lady yet) we loaded up and went to Java Detour! I figured after that morning I needed it!

At 9:30 a friend and her two kids came over. At 9:45 another friend brought her 3 year old over so she could go to the doctor. So, from 9:45-1:30 we had: 2-3 adults, 3 3 year olds, 1 two year old, an almost 1 year old and a 4 week old. How many does that make???? And we were crazy enough to let the kids play outside, so needless to say I've gotten in my workout for the day!!! :) Phew! Now to try to get in a little rest while Avery and Toby are sleeping!

I did it!!!

I am so pleased and proud of myself and my boys (and girl, though she didn't really have much to do with it!). Tonight Jim and I took the kids to Dos Amigos for dinner before his a meeting at church. As I was getting up to gather my chicks around me to leave, an older woman tapped me on the back. "I just wanted to tell you that you have beautiful children. And they were so well behaved here at dinner! I have a four year old great grandson who cannot sit still to eat at a restaurant." :) Well, I was so pumped from that grand pat on the back that I took the kids to Goodwill after. I figured I couldn't be scared to take all four out by myself (I hadn't done it yet, and Avery turned 4 weeks old today). Well, not only did I find a new exercise ball and dvd for only $7, but I also found the cutest Carters dress for the little Avery. It's hot pink with Eric Carle's "Very Hungry Caterpillar" butterfly on it. It says something about being a beautiful butterfly. Its brand new, with the tags on it and I got it for only $5!!! Yeah for me! Downer? I only had $5 cash on me, and no checks in the checkbook. So, I only got the dress. Dang, now those rock hard abs will just have to wait...

Just for fun!

This you have got to see! http://www.pasa.ch/ASA/Pages/PoPo/fun.htm My boys had so much fun watching this over and over again!

Two Toby Tales

The other day I was nursing Avery with a very interested Toby audience. As Avery was latching on, Toby started cracking up. He was just laughing and laughing. Finally, when he was able to take a breath, he said, "she ate it!!! She ate it!!!" Apparently he thought that was pretty hilarious!

This morning we had the possibility of a much more serious story. In the rush to get all of us ready and out the door to church, I left a fresh cup of hot coffee on the edge of the counter. Toby was puttering around and pulled it down on top of himself. Jim and I heard a sudden howling cry and rushed to the kitchen to find Toby covered in hot coffee and screaming. Thankfully, he had only a mild red patch of burn on his chest in a ribbed pattern from the sweater he was wearing. We got him cleaned up and into fresh clothes. He was pretty traumatized by the experience, or maybe it was trauma from the kitchen sprayer we sprayed cold water on him with. He kept saying, "Coffee burn Toby. Aidan no burn coffee." Usually his sentences are pretty put together, so with this sort of wording we knew he was pretty scared. During church I was in the nursery and checked on his chest. The only remnant of his morning was a patch of sticky carmel hazelnut creamer dried into his hair. Well, at least he smells good now. And we figure he won't be much of a coffee drinker...

Another cute kid gem

Last night we were doing something which I can't remember now. It was a fun family time and we were joking around together. Jim commented on some point of my mothering and I commented back, "well, nobody ever accused me of being a good Mommy!" Evan piped up and said, "yes, somebody did". Thinking I was about to have something sweet and sentimental to write in today, I asked Evan who had said I was a good mommy. "You say it!" He responded. Well, at least I have one cheerleader!

Baby News

Well, the news is that there is now news! Avery Rose Kluth was born at 7:17 pm on Friday, Feb 23rd. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz (my smallest one) and measured 20 inches long.

I started having contractions on Wednesday. They kept up on Thursday and on Friday changed from a strong ache to a sharper pain. I called, drove myself in and was dialated to a 3. They decided not to send me home (because I probably wouldn't make it to Monday, nevermind that there was a blizzard!) so they did the c-section a few days early!

Avery is just a joy. She has a little dimple on her right cheek just like her Gramma Ginny. I'm healing up better than I have for any of the c-sections. The boys are doing fine. Evan is taking his role as biggest brother like a champ. Aidan as usual is rolling with it and Toby is a little melancholy but with me home now will probably perk up in a day or two.

Humm, she's sleeping now, nobody else is in the house. What am I doing on the computer??? ;) Night night!

Baby news

Well, the baby news is that there isn't any. I've been having lots of contractions, pretty strong ones compared to what I remember having with the boys. They aren't doing anything like getting themselves in a pattern, so the birthcenter doesn't want to see me yet. Boo. But, it was pointed out to my by our pediatrician (Toby's well child today) that with the huge winter storm we're expecting the barametric pressure could trigger labor. We'll see. If nothing else, Monday is the light at the end of the tunnel! I just keep reminding myself that Baby Sister is easier to take care of inside than out! :)

And Toby's well child today went fine. The doc gets such a kick out of my kids. They had a nice little chat before she even said hello to me!

Update at last

Well, I've been unable to get on blogger for a few days because it decided it didn't like me. Here's what we've beeen doing lately.

Jim has been working like crazy on a paperwork blizzard that rivals the snow storm we had a few weeks ago. This morning he participated in a staff variety show at school. He played a Roman soldier complete with one of the fuzzy "mohawk" helmets and a business suit. Naturally, part of his character was to correct a guard's Latin grammar! Notice his fuzzy "cuddle wrap" blanket. I got this for him for Christmas this year. After a lot of teasing himself he's come to love it! :)

I am still huge and still pregnant. I have managed to get a respiratory thing and am coughing. With someone sitting in your pelvis, coughing isn't nearly quite as comfortable as one might think. I also can't just take some nyquil and be done with it. The eviction notice is officially signed February 26, so that means I'm 11 days from a "vacation" in the hospital! :) When I had Toby they came in to tell me that if I wanted to go home early I could since it was Easter. I told the nurse no way, this was the only break I was going to get in a while and that she ought not tell my husband that she offered! :) I also recently finished 4 baby quilts (three are for friends) and am working on 9 burp rags since I cannot find the boxes of them that I have already! If it didn't take FOREVER to upload pictures on dial up internet I'd show them off.

Evan has been invited to participate in a chess tournament on Monday. He will be travelling to a neighboring town with a homeschool group from our church. Since he doesn't have school tomorrow he'll be able to attend the tournament practice session. Should be interesting! He's excited about it and at the same time realistic enough to realize that he probably won't win first place. "But maybe second or third."

A gem from Aidan this week. The lil'uns and I were listening to Focus on the Family in the van on Valentine's Day. They were, shall we say, discussing a topic that is appropriate for married people to discuss on Valentine's Day. One of the women mentioned how "spicy" it was to see a man clean something, extra so if he cleans the toilet. Well, I guess Aidan was listening a little more than I'd thought. He piped in from the back, "Mom, I think I'll clean the toilet for you. It's getting really gross!" I declined on that offer, but let him clear off and wipe down the sink in the bathroom instead.

Toby is being really clingy, but really cute these days. My friend Mel and her son Zane were coming over one day earlier in the week. Toby saw them on the deck, came running over to me saying, "My mommy, my mommy" and clinging like crazy to my leg! Which is dangerous because these days I'm mostly in elastic waisted workout pants which when tugged on by an almost two year old could have disasterous results. Fortunately I've always de-Toby-ed my leg before anything has happened! He's the only one with a really cute recent picture, so that's why he's the only one who got one in this post!

Well, that's about it from our end. Grandma and Grandpa continue to do well and go about their daily activities. We continue to try to survive life with three little boys (and one of us, as was so kindly noted by someone, 200 months pregnant...I DO feel like an elephant!!!) The nursery is ready and waiting for someone to move in. Wait a couple weeks, I'll be sure to post pictures!