still enjoying the 70 degree weather!

this is what Micaiah does if you put the camera in front of her, I didn't even say anything

cute kids

aren't they adorable? Elijah and Micaiah are in the stoller going to pick up Caleb from school. It has been 70 degrees here all week so we have been taking advantage of it! today is the last day!We found Caleb and decided to bring him home with us! Look, they are all holding hands!

Yes, I asked them to :o)

i'm back...believe it or not

referring to Gramma's comment: (I'm faster than you Gramma Tina, but I got to get a better picture of the tree, it didn't turn out)

so maybe this is the better time of day to blog these days!

last night we decorated our Christmas tree. the kids were so excited. we made hot chocolate, put on Christmas music and started tearing through the ornament boxes. Peter finished the lights and Elijah got to turn them on this year. Papa made us a really cool box wrapped like a Christmas present to put under our tree, it has a light switch on it and when you flip the switch the tree lights go on! Elijah thought it was soooo neat! Caleb remember a lot from last year, (where we put the advent calendar, where certain Christmas ornaments came from, our pickle tradition).

We have a tradition we began our first year of marriage. Someone gave us a pickle ornament for our wedding. Traditions says you hide the pickle and whoever finds it first gets a special present on Christmas morning. Well, we have always done things a little different. Whoever unwraps the pickle hides it. When the other person finds it, they don't say anything but instead find a new spot to hide it. On Christmas morning whoever hid the pickle the "best" wins rights to winning the pickle tradition. Last year Caleb joined in our fun. This year he unwrapped the pickle. He was so excited to find it and announced that he would be going to hide it. This morning I found it and started singing, I found the pickle, I found the pickle. Caleb has convinced Elijah to help hunt for the pickle. Caleb is off to school now, he hasn't found it yet!

After hot chocolate, ornaments, and Christmas music we were ready to set up our Nativity. An even more special event this year because my dad gave us our nativity set for Christmas quite a few years ago. Peter read the Christmas story while the boys placed the Nativity pieces in their spots as the story was told. It was a little crazy but so so special. Micaiah held onto one of the sheep during the story. We are so grateful to have her with us this year, Peter remembered only wanting her for Christmas last year. Here she is.

ok so I really stink at blogging these days!

so what's new?

we went to Peter's parents for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time. Art was still in the hospital up until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. it was good to bring him home. they seem to have the cancer under control (as much as you can). however, he has a compressed vertebrae (I not sure if it is 1 or more?) and this puts him in a lot of pain, regardless of the meds. He spent most of our time there laying in his recliner, only getting up to use the restroom. It was good to be with him, love on him, and serve him. We really enjoyed spending time with Peter's brother, Chris, sister, Amy and her family. We spent our days with Art and took the kids to play at Amy's for breaks. Caleb and Elijah love to play with their cousins and the weather was beautiful! We were so thankful to be together for Thanksgiving and to have Micaiah with us! our first holiday with her!

We went yesterday to get our Christmas tree! the kids were ecstatic, tonight we decorate it! Last night over dinner the kids brought up a funny story I would have blogged, had I been on here lately. and yes, inappropriately, they brought it up at the dinner table.

I was giving the three kids a bath when Micaiah was starting to grunt, like number 2 might be coming soon. I quick grabbed her out of the tub and set her on the potty. She pooped in the potty!!!!! yeah Micaiah! then I started to think maybe some came out in the tub so I told the boys to get out right away. I took Micaiah off the toilet wiped her bottom and set her on a towel in my lap. I got the boys out and put towels around them. Looked down and Micaiah had pooped in the towel and since I didn't notice right away I had wiped her with the towel and dropped some poop on the floor. So of course, she had to get back in the already emptied tub. I tried to stand her up on the bathroom floor while I quickly dried the boys so they could go upstairs, naked of course, and I could wash Micaiah, again. That's when she peed on the floor. I just started laughing! Caleb said, Mommy, why are you laughing. I said what else am I going to do? of course, Peter was not home.

so the dinner conversation started out good, remember when Micaiah pooped in the potty, and then Caleb and Elijah just kept adding more the perfect dinner conversation. Remember when she pooped in the toilet, remember when she pooped on the floor, remember when she peed on the floor!

At least it was just the five of us at home having dinner!

CALEB!

the grandma who likes everything to be equal noticed that there has not been pictures of Caleb lately. well, she just jumped the gun because here is a whole blog about Caleb!

Here is the ROBOT!!!! He was so excited about Halloween! He came up with the idea of being a robot all on his own, and daddy made his costume, a friend loaned us the head!Caleb helped daddy rake leaves, jumped on the tarp and daddy dragged him to the front yard for leaf pick up! they had fun together!

So why the blog about Caleb? well, yesterday we had the privaledge of attending our first ever parent teacher conference! Here are the results:

Mrs. Rider used these words to describe Caleb, kind, inquisitive, musical, social, fun/silly. She mentioned he likes music, friends, art, and the special activities they have each day. She did an academic assessment: he recognizes the letters in his name, all the uppercase letters (he missed V), counted up to 29, recognized all the numbers (0-9), demonstrated 1:1 correspondence, named all his shapes, sorted objects, recognized his colors, plays in a variety of areas. He enjoys blocks, music, art, and books the most. She described his play as 1) associative: shares common activity with other children;however, no specific roles are defined nor is there a shared goal and 2)cooperative: cooperates with others on common projects, assumes roles and/or playes games with rules. there is an exchange of ideas and a shared goal within a chosen activity. Mrs. Rider said he plays at both levels.

Mrs. Rider said, after we inquired, that the one thing he could work on is settling down after silly time. She said he is so much fun to have in class and is always excited to be there. He is very helpful. Mrs. Rider said he transitions very well. Early on in the school year he was much more attached to his friend Ethan, whom he knew before the school year started. Mrs. Rider said, Caleb is not attached to Ethan and is very good and making new friends and playing without Ethan.

Mrs. Rider asks up what are thoughts were on sending Caleb to kindergarten next year, having a summer birthday and all. We shared with her we were thinking about waiting a year because he will be so young, mostly likely the youngest in his class. I want him to be a leader, not a follower because he is with kids who are all older than him. However, he is firstborn, making him more of a natural leader. She recommended sending him. I was surprised. Our school district tends to hold kids until they are 6. I asked if she would let me know in January if she felt we would be hindering Caleb to hold him back another year. Lots to pray about.

We are sooooo proud of our little guy! What an amazing kid!

only a few pics would publish at a time...here's more

After a long day at school, grandma finally got to hold Micaiah, she fed her a bottle most nights before bed. They both enjoyed their cuddle time. Micaiah was drawn to Art! She would cuddle with him a few times a day! I think she brightened his days a bit!

more pics (I figured I owe you a few)

Micaiah meets Uncle Chris! they had a great time together! She sat on his lap and didn't even cry when I left the room! This was a first!
Micaiah meets Auntie Amy! They had a great time playing together, all of her kids were so excited to meet Micaiah. Amy picked out Micaiah's first Cabbage Patch Newborn, a hispanic doll with the name Jada, a name we considered for Micaiah!

trying to be distracted

well, this probaby won't be the most uplifting blogs...

Micaiah did sleep well last night, or at least we did. Neither of us heard any long spouts of crying. Unfortunately she refuses to sleep during the day. yesterday she napped for 20 minutes one nap and 10 another, and not another wink. today she is in her crib crying, I am hoping she falls asleep soon, this is more difficult than when the boys cried it out, but they were younger, and caught on quicker. This seems to be the best thing for her though, like I said, she actually got some good sleep last night and is learning to put herself back to sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night.

on a better note, Peter's dad should be coming home from the hospital today!

maybe a few pictures will brighten up this blog. we went to visit Peter's family a few weeks ago and Elijah gets a very stiff neck when he sleeps in the car, so this was my latest solution. I open for any other suggestions, we have tried to different types of travel pillows.

Micaiah got her very first Cabbage Patch Newborn from Auntie Amy, Brandon, Megan, and Timothy. Elijah really enjoys taking care of Micaiah's baby for her.This is the two girl cousins on Peter's side. Megan (6) is sooo excited to finally have a girl cousin!

something to write home (or in my blog) about...

okay, so I deeply apologize to those of you who have been left hanging because of my lack of commitment to this blog. I'll just say, three kids keeps me VERY BUSY, exhausted at the end of the day, and I LOVE IT!!!

so what's to write home about, well, to start one of the big reasons I have been not blogging is because I have been very very tired. It's been almost 2 months of waking up somewhere between 2 and 10+ times per night for the Guatemalan princess who likes to wake up often and sometimes stays awake for HOURS! so we have tried numerous things to get this little girl to sleep through the night or even just wake up 1 or 2 times a night, but 10+ times was really getting out of hand. When we visited Peter's parents we slept her on a futon mattress on the floor, she woke up only 2 times per night the entire week and took 2 hour naps every day without waking up in the middle. We thought it was the crib. We came home and put the crib mattress on the floor and she woke up a gazillion times! so we figured the crib mattress was too firm! so, we found a 1 3/4 inch thick wool crib pad and tried that with a super cushy soft blankie to lay on. this seemed to help a little, but it was not the miracle solution. so we decided time to let her cry it out again, maybe it would work this time. well last night she was up screaming for up to an hour at a time at least 3 times. todays naps were short lived and she had an exhausting day. I spent lots of time cuddling with her and loving her when she was out of bed, to reassure her of my love and consistency in her life. so tonight I laid her down, the boys were being noisy and I never got her asleep before I left the room. I put the boys down and she cried for less than 10 minutes and it wasn't even constant screaming! Oh, I hope tonight is better!

and as for Peter's dad. He is in the hospital with an intestinal infection. At first it seemed to require antibiotics and then he could go home. the radiation is working and his pain from the cancer was lessening. Then the antibiotics didn't seem to be working, they anticipated a very risky surgery and miraculously overnight the antibiotics kicked in and he is feeling better and they have since regulated the pain. the news is up and down. Peter talks to his family at least once or twice a day. some days are better and others not so good. we continue to pray for Art's comfort and for peace in their home. The cancer has not spread to any of his major organs and the radiation has reduced the tumors and pain.

what else? Caleb is doing very well! He was a robot for Halloween and is loving preschool! He has made new friends and loves his teacher. One of his new friends lives just down the street from us! We went to play at their house on Friday when it was 70 degrees out here! Caleb is practicing for the Christmas musical at church, he is soooooo excited. He loves to practice the song at home and can't wait to perform on stage!

Elijah is sooooo sweet. We have eliminated his naps, he was staying up till 10 or 11 when he got a nap. He seems to finally be adjusting to sleeping later in the morining and is getting used to his new place with Micaiah in our family. He was Superman for Halloween. He is a great big brother and loves to be the big boy and the big brother, but not enough to want to go in the potty! oh well. He is sick, he seems to always be sick. Just as he gets over one thing he comes on with another. He takes vitamins, washes his hands as much as I remember and eat really well. I guess it is from the RSV when he was a baby, it is very frustrating. I feel bad for him.

Micaiah was a dog during the day in the warm house and a bunny at night when it got cool (we had two cute costumes for her to wear)

let me see if I can get some pics up before I sign off...

Caleb (robot), Elijah (Superman), Henry (Curious George), Allie (ladybug), Micaiah (poodle)

hope to be back soon! (I really am going to try to keep up again)

oh yeah, Micaiah took her first steps Oct 30 and is progressing every day, she had gone about 10 feet and learned to climb up the stairs a few days ago!