Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Me @ work

Karen Russell came to teach again at the store where I work (The Scrap Yard). It was fun to hang out with her, and be there during her class. I'm glad to have gotten to know her in the past few months, which made having her here, even more fun this time!

I am so lucky to be able to work where I do. I meet the nicest people, and get to be a bigger part of this incredible hobby which I LOVE! I enjoy it when people share their stories with me. Some are sad and tragic, but most are just wonderful bits of their lives, which I think is so important to preserve. That's why I do what I do...Scrapbook!

latest photos

Trying scrambled eggs for the very first time. Katyelyn (above) woofed them down.

Ian tying on Jacob's new belt at his testing.

Mady loves the rocking horse. She's able to hold on all by herself now. She even tries to rock back and forth.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Thought I'd post a list of what the kids are up to...

Jacob: He just passed his test in taekwondo to become a comoflauge belt. It is his 6th belt! Daddy thinks he'll be earning his black belt by the end of the year. Jacob's been back into martial arts for the past 2 months after taking a year off when I had the twins. He is loving being back in it. I think he enjoys it more and gets more out of it now that he's a little older. It's really helped improve his self confidence by 1000%. Which is what we were hoping for. He's been playing outside a ton lately (we've had great weather), and going to play at his friend's houses that are nearby. School is going o.k. He is still struggling with his reading, so Ian and I are going to buy a hooked on phonics program to help him along. He's really great at math, and problem solving, and he is one of the best behaved kids in his class!

Aaron: He's been cracking us up lately! He's been saying the funniest things. The other day I asked him which baby was sitting next to him, and his reply "ours" I asked him what her name was he said "baby girl" Then he looked at her real good and said "which Mady is that?, Oh that's cable butt" (aka Mady May McMabel Butt). He also still tells us Merry Christmas every night when we tuck him in. And his nightly prayers HAVE to include "and please God help me to remember to go peepee and poopoo in the potty amen" Aaron is still in love with his trains and plays with them daily. His favorite movie right now is The Polar Express, which is a welcome change from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And the biggest news of all is that he is almost fully potty trained!!! Still has an occassional accident, and needs to wear a pull up to bed. Man is this a wonderful thing! He just told me he was ready, and he's been doing fantastic!!!

Katelyn: Katy has turned into a little charachter. She's been very social lately, and loves to have conversations. She will point and then look at us very seriously and say something in baby gibberish and wait for our reply. She has also picked up the "more" sign. And will do it over and over while she's eating. She also does the sign for "eat" but usually does it when she wants her binky not food. She loves her taggy blanket and carries it around and snuggles it to her face. She's also started cruising around the furniture, and is getting more and more adventurous in her mobility. She's also cutting her upper eye teeth right now, which is gonna look a little funny since she doesn't even have the top front teeth yet. She's doing very well with the introduction of some table foods and loves to eat cheerios, scrambled eggs, rice with veggies mixed in and icecream.

Madelyn: She's filling out quite a bit and is actually fuller looking in the face than Katy is now. Her eating habits have improved, though she is still texture sensitive and doesn't like any lumps in her food. She hasn't quite mastered cheerios yet, but will play with them and throw them from her tray, occassionally putting one her mouth to explore. She is also beginning to cruise around the furniture and takes little side steps while holding on to the couch. She crawls at lightening speed when she sees something that she wants. She continues to make progress with her voice and speech. Her vocabulary consists of dada baba and sometimes mama. Her voice can go from very soft to very raspy tones. She really likes making sounds and LOVES clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. We imitate her sounds back to her, so that she learns the foundation of having a conversation. Her therapies have been slowed down a little and she is not receiving any physical therapy anymore. She sees two therapists bi-weekly now instead of one or two people per week. Mady is a little sweetie and is always happy and smiling!

I've got some recent photos that are still in my camera, so hopefully I'll get them uploaded soon to share! I've been sick the past 5 days with the same cold everyone else had. We've all been taking extra vitamins to help boost our immune systems. After a full month of sickness, I am really hoping that we all get and stay well.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Prayer request

Please say a prayer for some friends of ours... Jen & Nick (my brother's best friends) just found out yesterday that the baby girl she was pregnant with died in utero. Jen was about 6.5 months pregnant and went in for a routine ultrasound where they discovered something was wrong with the baby.

They tried to give the baby a blood transfusion in utero (their only hope of saving her), and it failed. Jen will be delivering the baby this evening via c-section. Please pray for them during this extremely difficult time.