Jacob is SEVEN!

Jacob, my first little baby... you are growing up way too fast for me, I miss when you were so little and I could just hold you! When you were born I literally could not sleep for days, because I just couldn't stop holding you and looking at you (and that was after being up for almost 24 hours already, since I couldn't sleep during labor and delivery, of course). You have always amazed me.


I miss those days when you were my baby, but I know there will be many more wonderful days to come.

You have given me the awesome joy of watching you, my firstborn, learn to do so many things... from seeing your first smile, seeing you learn to walk alone (at only 7 1/2 months old!) ...to seeing you now, how fast you can run, seeing how happy and proud you were to win the race at school and get that t-shirt for being the fastest boy in first grade!

You have always made us laugh and smile...




...I remember you giving me that little rose you picked on our porch, and when you saw how much I loved it you went back to get all of them!
I treasured and kept some of them for years until they eventually completely crumbled. I knew from then that you possessed a very sharing heart.

You even used to share with your stuffed animals!

I am so glad you came into my life, and I have learned so much from being your mom. You were a blessing straight from heaven. Your birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, and I am indeed very thankful for you, Jacob.

***

Many people probably know that Jacob and Wes are the same age for about a month out of each year, since they were born only 11 months apart. WesLee's birthday is at the beginning of November and Jacob's is at the end of November. They both have alot of fun being the same age for that month; they like to call themselves twins! Well, this year, we were all ready to have a combined birthday party for them, and they were so excited to have friends over. We had everything set, but the day before the party, Jacob came down with a very sudden case of Scarlet Fever. Yes, you read that right- Scarlet Fever! We didn't know it before, but he had strep throat (he doesn't complain much). Then it caused a sudden high fever with a red rash on his face, chest and back. He recovered quickly, but he lost alot of weight those first couple of days, because he had no appetite. So now I'm trying to fatten him up! Everyone was bummed that we had to cancel the party, but some people still brought presents anyway, which cheered the boys up. It didn't work out to reschedule the party with Thanksgiving coming up, because we'd be gone to AZ for a week anyway. But we did celebrate their birthdays here at home, before we went to AZ, and while we were there, they unexpectedly received even more gifts! Lucky kiddos!

Fall Harvest

I love the seasons here in Indiana, it is just so beautiful. This summer we had maybe 2 or 3 days that it got over 90 degrees. Now it is autumn, and the fall colors are SO pretty! Our little maple tree in the front of our house has turned bright orange-red. Last fall when it was planted, it had no leaves, so we didn't know what color it would turn out to be. I love it:


Everywhere we go, there are so many huge, colorful trees. I wonder how long it will take for our little tree to grow that big or if we will still be here that far down the road? Here are some pictures I took on the way to the store the other day, a little glimpse of how colorful it is around here lately:




The kids got a kick out of watching this tractor harvesting the soybeans from the field behind our house:


Also, I know it's not winter yet, but we did already have a little snow one morning! It was just enough that the rooftops looked like they'd been sprinkled with powdered sugar, but it melted later that morning, and I didn't get a picture of it. Oh well, I know there should be plenty more to come soon enough!

Smart little girl!

Faith is SUCH a smart little gal! I have felt a little guilty for a long time that I have not spent much time working with her to teach her educational stuff like I did with the boys at that age. But so many times, she just figures things out on her own. I also think her brothers help to teach her alot of things when I don't even see it happening. A few days ago, she surprised me because she wrote her name correctly all by herself! I saw it on the table as she was doing her little projects. Usually she would write all the letters from her name, but they would be in the wrong order and usually be very askew. I am so proud of her that she is figuring things out like this all on her own!


Faith has also been my little helper while the boys are at school each day. A few days ago, I let her try to fold socks and she caught on so fast! She was very excited that she figured it out, because she had tried it before and couldn't do it. Now that she knows how, she is adamant that I let her fold all the pairs of socks by herself. Pretty good for a three year old!

Happy Birthday WesLee!

Six years ago…you were born, my little tiny preemie baby…you were so small compared to your big brother who had been born overdue! It was love at first sight as soon as I saw you.

You weren’t all squished looking like most newborns and you had that perfectly shaped c-section head. They brought you over by my head and I remember kissing you before they took you away to the NICU. Everyone seemed so scared for you, but I knew the whole time you would be fine and taken care of.

Each year when your birthday comes around, the memories flood my heart. You have had such an influence on this family. The circumstances surrounding your birth and the lessons learned from that time have changed our hearts so much.

I distinctly remember how it felt when I was carrying you, feeling you move inside of me. I remember the doctors being so worried about us, but the whole time, for some reason, I knew everything would be all right, I can truly say I never worried at all. You sure showed them, you were able to go home less than a week after you were born, rather than stay for at least a month like they thought you would. At one point while you were in the hospital, you had 3 IVs: one in your belly button, one in your right arm and one on the top of your head…as well as that tube down your throat and also the heart rate and breathing monitors hooked up to you. They had you on pain meds so that you wouldn’t have to feel the pain of it all. You had so many things hooked up to you that it was impossible to hold you for the first few days. They finally removed the tube, and I got to hold you for the first time. What a very special moment that was. They kept you on oxygen for a couple more days, and you spent a good deal of time under the biliruben lights. I know this sounds silly, but I remember that you were so small when you were born that you had no butt cheeks! You grew so fast, you quickly got very chubby! Whenever I trim your perfectly formed nails I remember that when you were born those nails were not completely developed yet. But then you surprised us by walking at 8 ½ months! You have always been a very strong kid!

To me, you are still the same, just bigger. Your face looks exactly the same to me, how your eyes sparkle when you smile...


We are so glad you are a part of our family. I feel so blessed to have you in my life. We love you!

I feel better now!

I'm about 18 weeks along and I have been feeling so much better! After being sick for so long, I hope I never again take for granted what it is like to not feel like throwing up everyday! I thought it would never end. Then one day I woke up and didn't feel sick... Throughout the day, to my pleasant surprise, I did not get sick at all! It has been like night and day. I have gained such a respect for women who go through being even more sick than I was, for even longer periods of time.

I love feeling the baby move, it is very reassuring. I have heard over and over that having alot of morning sickness means a very healthy pregnancy, but I have been so paranoid this pregnancy, always worried that something might go wrong. So, feeling the baby move is the best thing in the world.

Halloween X 3!

As a kid I would have been thrilled to be able to go trick-or-treating 3 times in a week. My kids were lucky enough to do that this year. (Too much candy, I know!)

Here's the kids in their costumes:

Faith would hop in between houses so people would know a little bunny was coming! Thomas and James started to run out of steam after so much trick-or-treating though.

First we had the trunk-or-treat early in the week at the church, and didn't want to miss that.

Second, since Halloween was on a Friday this year, it fell on the same day as the high school football game. Well, I should tell you that in our little town, almost everyone goes to the games, because the team is always really good (they've only lost one game so far this year!) So, the town just rescheduled Halloween for Thursday night. So the kids went that night here in our town. There was more kids than I have ever seen trick-or-treating in my life!

Then, the third time was on Friday, Halloween night. There was a birthday party for a little girl in a nearby town, and for the party, they were all supposed to wear their costumes and go trick-or treating together in her neighborhood.

They all had fun, but I don't think we are going to plan on trick-or-treating so much in the future!