Sweet moments with our kiddos...

Isn't it funny how the most simple things can make your kiddos so happy? Today was such a quiet day at home and they loved it! We went to my nieces birthday party this morning, and then spent the rest of the day at home. We all took naps, which was FABULOUS!!! After naps, we let the kiddos play the Wii, because it was storming outside, and that is the only time we really let them play it! Emory and I made dinner together, it was just spaghetti, but our kids were thrilled! Michael kept saying, "how did you know this is just what I wanted?" Love making them happy, especially when I wasn't even trying!

Next we made dessert together!! We made puppy chow, which is the first time the kiddos and I have made it together, and we made rice krispies!! We had a blast, the kitchen was a DISASTER afterward, but we had a blast!!

Excited about tomorrow! We are going to hang out at my parents pool for Michael's birthday bash, and then over to Emory's parents to have cake and treats with everyone, including Emory's grandparents!! Excited that they get to share our kiddos birthdays with us!

Pictures to come tomorrow of our newest 5 year old! :)

Welcome to Holland...

by Emily Perl Kingsley Print Version I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland". "Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy" But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned". And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland. **I just really loved this! I just wanted to share it!

Couch Potato...

So, I had my 21 week check-up today! Loads of fun! I was hoping to be told that I could either continue coming every other week, or maybe even start coming once monthly!! They did a very detailed ultrasound, and Praise the Lord, baby Collier looks great. They had some trouble seeing his spine, so we will recheck that in a week, but other than that, I am carrying a healthy baby! WhooHoo!! No DOWNS, no anything that they can tell! They said he is growing better, still small, but he may definitely catch up, which is what we have been praying for!! God is sooo good!

So, that part of the appointment went fantastic. THen they measured my cervix, which is truly why I am seen every week or every week this far, my cervix is on the shorter side, and I already have a border-line incompetent cervix, so they follow the cervical measurements very close, in order to make sure I do not have a 2nd trimester miscarriage. Well, this week my cervix has shortened a lot, and the baby has dropped, and my placenta is on bottom, underneath the baby! I guess there are many troubles with this particular scenario, so they have put me on "couch potato" status as my Dr. called it. She said with 5 kids, she doesn't expect me to never get out of bed, but no lifting, no grocery shopping, no up and down stairs, etc. She said I can drive the kiddos to their activities and back and forth to school when we start back, but other than that, I need to be on the sofa! UGH!!! How am I going to stay on the sofa with just one kid at home, even with just Emmy! I did bedrest for 10 weeks when I was preggo with Aidan, it was horrible. I am the worst person in the world about movement, I am constantly going, so it will be really hard for me to slow down! Praise the Lord I work from home, or this could be even worse!

Anyway, for now it seems that this is the plan, so if you could...please pray specifically that my cervix will not shorten anymore, pray that I do not dilate, pray that Collier will stay where he is, pray that I do not have or get placenta previa, pray that Collier will stay in the womb as long as possible. At 21 weeks, there is nothing they can do, so we wait, and we pray that he stays where he is!!

Thanks for all the prayers, I will keep you updated!!

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday

A little more personal...

Wow! Thanks for following me, even though I am making it a little more difficult to do so!! I apologize for the inconvenience of having to log in to read this blog, and I realize that many of you will not check it as often! However, it has been made very evident to me in the past few weeks, that as a business owner, my personal life is a little too exposed. SO, with that information in hand, and some advice from one of my favorite adoption agencies, I have decided to make my blog private. My only other option was to start from scratch and I really don't have time for all that!! Anyway, I just wanted to post a little note as to why I went private!! Thanks for sticking with me!

3 weeks and 2 days until school is back in session...

Oh MY!!! I just realized that school starts in almost 3 weeks. That means we have 2 weeks to get everything together and ready to start back. UGH!!! We are headed to the beach the week before school starts to see my best friend Stace and her family!! I better get busy! My 2 boys will start kindergarten and Mina is headed to the 2nd grade. I cannot believe that I will have 3 kiddos in elementary school! They grow up way to fast! Pray for me as I try to get prepared quick, all while trying to work and keep 5 kiddos under control!! YIKES!

Emmy's in the hospital AGAIN...

Well, once again, here we sit at our local children's hospital. Miss Emmy had her 6 month shots last Thursday, and by Saturday her fever had gotten up to 102.6, and as you have probably learned along with us, fever and sickle cell are not friends! AT ALL!!! So, we headed over to the ER, and packed for at least a 48 hour admission.

We are really hoping to be discharged this morning. Yesterday her hemoglobin was lower than her average, her retic counts were low and platelets were low, all of those combined can indicate that her blood cells are all getting caught in her spleen, which could be a life threatening emergency if not treated quickly. Her spleen was a little enlarged on physical exam, but after seeing how happy and active she was yesterday, they were definitely less worried that she was about to have a spleen sequestration.

Her counts this morning had all improved, thanks to all of her IV fluids and antibiotics, it's amazing how fast medicine and fluids work! She is feeling good, and we are both ready to go home!! Here are some pics of her latest trip to the hopsital!!

PS- I took these with my phone, so I apologize for the quality!!