Saturday, November 16, 2013

For this child I have prayed.

Emerson Grace Ames was born on 11-12-13 at 12:26 weighing 6 lbs 11 ounces measuring 18.5 inches long.  She is a sweetheart and I love her more than words can express. I'm so grateful she is healthy and thriving....beyond grateful. 
I was so excited when I found out I was pregnant. I even told a few of my closest friends. A couple of weeks went by and I started showing signs of miscarriage. I was heartbroken. Lab numbers came back that in studies have shown to lead to miscarriage over 95% of the time. Only time would tell. I went in for an ultrasound fully expecting to hear the worst news. But, there was a heartbeat and a tiny fetal pole.   So we'd have to wait and see how things would go. Next couple visits/ultrasounds showed she was running out of room in her unusually small gestational sac.  Again studies showed that in over 95% of the cases like this a miscarriage followed. For the second time I found myself mourning the loss of my baby. This along with other bad signs had been there this whole pregnancy. It was an unbearable time. Then slowly week after week things started looking better. I had feared the worst but prayed continually that she would be my miracle. She is. I prayed that if this could just be my miracle....I would tell everyone about my faith in miracles and in a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and hears our prayers. So that's exactly what I'll do. Emerson...against all odds...is my miracle. I'm so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who gave her to me.  I don't know that I deserve her but I'll try hard to be worthy of this gift.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Opportune times

Today we are on our way to a St. Louis Cardinals game. It'll be a first for all the kids. So...I thought it'd be fun to make a few Cardinals shirts. I made a few for the boys, Daniel, and I. This was unacceptable to the girls. They whined their way into getting me to stop with all 5 kids at Target after Cub Scout pack meeting. It was going to be a quick run in, grab and buy 2 solid shirts, and run out. Within a minute of being in Target, all heck breaks loose. Everyone is yelling and wrestling. Then comes the "someone stabbed me" scream from Max. Apparently Henry pushed him down and he hit his forehead hard on the carpet. After making sure max was ok I sort of lost it and yelled "Can you all just behave for ONE minute?!!!" To which Henry calmly and seriously replied "No." That was followed by raucous laughter. Perfect timing as I was clearly in a jolly mood by this point. The kids got a good talking to on the way home after that. Here we are in our shirts on the way to the game.


Finally, Holly has a new habit which tends to drive me insane. It seems as though when things are extremely stressful in the van(they always are with 5 kids) Holly decides to ask this helpful question, "Mom, are you going the speed limit?!" I love her but this usually isn't what I need to hear when she asks it. I usually need to hear "Don't worry. This car ride won't last forever. They won't always try to kill each other in the van." I need something like that.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Nail biter

Although Henry and Max are identical twins they are quite different in some ways. The other day as I pulled up to their grandpa's house I looked back to see Max biting his toenails. He bites all his nails in fact...pretty much all the time. Henry, however, prefers more of a gothic sort of vampire look with longer nails. I have to threaten nap time to get him to let me clip them. I kind of wish he were a nail biter too. 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Quarter for your thoughts

It had been a long day and I had just gotten everyone tucked in bed. I started doing the daily cleanup when I heard a shrieking coming from the boys' room. It didn't startle me, however, since this can sometimes be a nightly ritual. I calmly took my winded pregnant self up the stairs and opened their door. "You need to stop screaming Henry", I said. Henry looked panicked and said "I lost my quarter! I swallowed it!" He kept coughing and spitting in between explanations of what happened. I hoped it had been a penny but knew that if there's one thing my boys know...it's the difference between a quarter and a penny. So I took him to the toilet since he was breathing and starting to throw up. I hurriedly called almost every member of my family to come over here and help me take him to the E.R. When we got to the E.R. they promptly took us back and after about 20 min. took Henry in for a chest X-ray. Below, you'll see a picture of Henry's chest which shows how the quarter was lodged sideways at the top of his esophagus. I felt so bad for Henry imagining how uncomfortable that would be. They then told us he would need an ambulance ride to the closest children's hospital which was in Peoria about 45 minutes away. The quickest ambulance we could get would be in 2 hours but it had to be an ambulance in case the quarter got jostled and blocked his airway. There's no way I wanted to risk that so we waited until midnight and then I hopped in the ambulance with Henry. He was such a trooper and was mostly distracted by the ipad thank goodness. After we go settled in a room in Peoria we hoped to hear that quarter removal would be quick. But of course it didn't happen that way. The surgical resident told us that since Henry was ok and breathing, etc, he would have to wait until 8 or possibly 10 am for surgery. Meanwhile, he could have nothing to eat or drink, though he did have an iv for fluids. In the morning they took an early xray which showed no quarter in his esophagus. Hooray! The doctor said that if had moved to his stomach then it wouldn't have to be surgically removed and could just take it's course, naturally. Gross I know. Anyway, we knew this meant that he could eat probably but had to wait to hear back officially. Around 8 Henry started asking for food and I told him he'd have to wait to hear what the doctor said. So, every time I left the room to find anything out or to go make a phone call, Henry would have one question for me when I got back, "What did he say?" :( It was such a sweet and heartbreaking question. He assumed I had been talking to the doctor to get permission for him to eat. Of course I would have loved to do that for him but as in most hospitals you spend a lot of time waiting for answers and approvals. Daniel and I were frustrated for poor Henry to say the least. Finally they took a 3rd xray and confirmed it was in his stomach and so we gave him bacon and juice and crackers and well anything we had that he wanted. He had certainly earned it. He got to go home around 12:45 and got a Chick-fil-a milkshake. He napped the rest of the way home since he hadn't gotten to bed the night before until 2. Needless to say I'm so glad to put this behind me and that it's over. It's brought to my attention just how fragile life is and how easily things can go very wrong. I know that I was truly blessed in this situation as it could have been so much worse. I'm grateful for that. It's made me hug my kids a little tighter and read them a few more stories even after I'm tired of it.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Bittersweet milestones

Well all of the kids started school this week. Andrew started 4th grade. Ashley started 2nd. Holly went to Kindergarten and Max and Henry started preK. It's been an emotional week with all these new beginnings. So far no one has cried about school starting....except me so I'd consider that a victory. Correction...the boys cried when the oldest 3 went to school without them...but quickly got over it. I apparently have a hard time each time I'm faced with the fact that my kids are growing up and things are changing. They won't always be my babies and while I know that's a good thing, it's hard to accept sometimes.

Friday, July 12, 2013

The kids are excited

Since I told the kids we are expecting a baby they have been really excited. Andrew, Ashley, and Holly have been wondering where the baby will sleep. Each hoping for a crib set up in their room. I asked them what nights they'd be getting up with the baby. Andrew quickly volunteered for at least 3 nights of the week. While I doubt he knows what he's signing up for it was still sweet of him.
Henry and Max still have no idea what I'm talking about when I say we are having a baby. My conversation with Henry today went as follows:
Me:Henry there's a baby in there(pointing to my belly)
Henry: did you eat a baby?!
Me: no!!
Henry: did you eat Alden?!
Me: no!!
So pretty sure they have no idea what's coming.

Holly kisses

Holly is my cuddliest kid. It's a quality I adore. I know I can always get hugs from her. Today she came up to me and said "After I eat my apple I'm going to give you a kiss!" I love her.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Crazy cute kids

Every night Daniel and/or I read a story to our kids before bedtime. Two nights ago as I was reading I look over and find that Holly has a new hobby...and she seems quite good at. She now likes to scale her doorway and then jump onto the floor in her room and go back and repeat. This girl never stops making me smile.
As is tradition in elementary schools around the US...Andrew's class got to participate in the Chick it Out program at school. Drew was so excited. He loves animals just like his mom did...I still do but don't want them all as my pets anymore.
I love my kids...and how they find joy in such seemingly little things.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Happy 10th anniversary to us.

We're heading home from a surprise trip to St. Louis that Daniel planned for us to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We got to go to a Cubs vs. Cardinals game and to a play at the Muny(an outdoor theater). Both were awesome. We've accomplished a lot over the last 10 years. We have 5 amazing children and 1 on the way. We've graduated from BYU together and Daniel successfully finished his PhD. We live in a lovely house and have met many wonderful life-long friends. We are blessed.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

What a deal?

Saw this cute shirt idea and decided to make a shirt for both of the twins. It sort of goes against everything I've been saying about the twins since they've been born but it's certainly a cute idea. You do not get two for the price of one with twins. We more than paid double for them.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Hey that's MY....

Most kids start out with some of their first words including mine or my or anything possessive like that. I'm usually annoyed by this and constantly telling them it's not YOURS and we share. One thing I'll never grow tired of though is when Max says "hey that's MY Henry!"...or when Henry says "Don't hurt MY Max!"...to come to his defense when someone is fighting with him. They love each other and it is so sweet. :)

St. Louis

Here are a few pictures from our recent adventures in St. Louis.

When Daddy comes home

Recently Daniel went out of town for a conference so the kids had to suffer through life with only me. As you can imagine that was pretty tough. Needless to say when Daniel got home they were thrilled to see him.

Let them wear hats!

A quick post to express how grateful I am that Henry and Max like wearing hats. Not all of my kids have been eager to wear hats. They must not know how cute they are. But, somehow I think the twins are more aware than most.

They grow up so fast

This year a few friends and I did joy school together for Holly and her friends. Holly loved it and always looked forward to it. The only time I less than loved it was during my week to teach. The twins were always eager to "help" and participate....mostly by screaming, fighting, and distracting from the lessons. But we made it through with the help of my friends and had a little graduation party for the kids. Holly will start kindergarten in the fall and I am going to miss her. I don't have a favorite child but if I did it'd probably be her since she's so even keeled. Here's hoping I can restrain myself from showing up to her school the first day of kindergarten and crying in the office like a crazy woman. What kind of lunatic would do that? This kind apparently(flashbacks from Ashley's first day :)). The twins will start preschool as well since they have a few delays to work on. What does this mean. It means I'll have about 2 months where half the day I am kid free. Going from 3 kids home to none for a while will be weird. Somehow I think I'll manage. :)

Summer fun

It's June and it's finally warm here. Each day that it's over 60 and not pouring down rain, my kids beg me to get out our water slide. It's quite fun. While setting it up though I wondered if it maybe had a hole in it...as it seemed to have trouble holding my weight. Ashley kindly reminded me that I AM getting bigger being preggo and all. Just like the wii fit telling me there's no possible way I could have gained the amount of weight I did in that short amount of time...the slide was there to remind me of my ever increasing waistline.

Getting crafty

Daniel got me a silhouette for Mother's Day and while I was excited to get it....I wondered how many years would go by before I'd get it out and really use it. With baby number 6 on the way, however, I felt motivated to get it out. Why? Because I knew I wanted to make a shirt to answer all of the questions I'd be getting this summer when going in public with all 5 kids and a baby on the way. Here are my creations. The pink one has an answer for the inevitable questions I get multiple times during every outing with the kids. The white shirt is just for fun. I'm excited to make onesies and cute shirts for my kids.