Luke's Birth Story

I have found that I really enjoy having birth stories written down because small details during labor are so easy to forget.  So here is baby #5's birth story.

This pregnancy I decided to deliver at St. Catherine's instead of St. Anthony's.  This was largely due to our recent move since St. Anthony's was now even farther away.  And, ever since I had Grace at home, I'm a bit apprehensive about needing to travel far when it's time to deliver.  I also wanted to have another water birth like I did with Anna, and St Anthony stopped doing them.  And finally, I'm rather picky about labor,  I like to be left alone without any unneeded intervention, so I usually use a midwife (why I didn't choose Community).  My midwife said she was going to be out of town the week before the baby was due and that there was another midwife I could use while she was away.  EXCEPT, Oct 20 was a day that neither midwife was available.  I was due Oct 26, tend to go a little early, so I requested a lot of prayer that the baby NOT be born on October 20.

So, on October 20 when I was having contractions all day, I started to panic that I would be having a baby on that day.  "Come on", I thought, "Not today... any day but today"!!

I get braxton hicks like crazy with my pregnancies and this was no different.  Oct 20 seemed to be a bit heavier than normal on the contraction front; but since I definitely didn't want to have a baby that day, I tried ignoring the possibility of labor.  Smart huh?  My friend and I had recently done a health challenge of some sort, (involving food and exercise) and that night we were going out to celebrate that we had done it!  We got to the restaurant, and I was using my contraction timer app (seriously an amazing invention) to time my contractions.  They were seeming closer than I liked, so I was poor company at Aurelios (a really great pizza place.) We were served our salad, and I started stuffing my face with it in a semi state of panic.  I was panicking that I was going to have a baby in Aurelios. I was panicking that I wasn't really in labor. I was panicking that it was October 20.  Basically, I was not having a nice time.  I started getting the crazy labor shakes and told Ben I wanted to go to the hospital.  We called my parents from the restaurant and they came to grab Drew since my friend didn't have room in her car for all four of my kids.  She sweetly ended up feeding 3 of them pizza and dropping them off at my parent's house.  What great family and friends I have eh? The table next to ours learned that I was going to the hospital to have the baby and bought all the kids ice cream after we left. How sweet is that?! THEN, Aurelios gave us a gift card for a future visit!

We starting heading to the hospital about 6:30 where, once again, I was not an awesome driving companion.  Ben seems to have learned it is best not to talk to me when I'm wondering if I'm in labor.  We arrived, and I walked up to the front desk and said "Hi, I think I'm in labor."  She raised her eyebrows and said, "And WHY do you think you're in labor?" And I said, "Because I'm having regular contractions."  She did not seem to believe me, but after I told her it was my 5th she sent me to a room where I could be checked.  The first nurse came in and checked me for nearly a half an hour... ok, slight exaggeration, but it was QUITE ridiculous the length of time it took her.  She said "She's a FIVE... or maybe even a SIX." Since I wasn't screaming or acting like a maniac I guess, the other nurse still didn't believe her, and checked me again verifying I was indeed 5-6 centimeters.  My contractions naturally slowed down when I got to the hospital as well, so I commented to Ben that I wish I had been able to chill out and wait for the pizza to arrive first.  I'm telling you, previously having a baby in the bathroom really messes with your mind.

The nurses said they would go call the midwife, and I said "IS THE MIDWIFE AVAILABLE?!?" You remember it is October 20 after all.  She said she certainly thought so.  Turns out, my midwife wasn't there, but the other midwife was in town after all.  I was given the wrong date.  *insert eye roll followed by praise hands*

I mentioned my desire for a water birth, and they tried crushing my dreams by saying "I don't think this midwife does that."  ........

So, I got into my room and they started the tub right away.  I met my midwife and decided it would be best NOT to ask her if she did water births.  Genius right? If you don't KNOW she won't, then you can probably do it.

I labored in the tub for a while, listening to the soothing sound of Ellie Holcomb.  Ben laid and slept on the couch in the room.  Remember, I prefer to labor alone.  The nurses kind of hung around, but they realized quickly that I actually didn't want them there. They were very sweet overall, and I understand I am a bit strange.

Things started picking up, and I knew that the baby would be coming soon, very soon.  But I also knew that I wanted to wait until the very last second to alert the staff because I wanted it to be too late to make me get out of the tub.  I wanted to alert Ben to wake up and come over, but he was on the other side of the room, and the nurses were lingering outside the door that was closer.  I knew if I called for him, they would come, and I didn't think it was QUITE time for that.

Well... soon, I was pushing alone in the tub and having actual thoughts of "Maybe I can just catch the baby myself?" The nurse just so happened to walk right in and say "ARE YOU PUSHING?!" And I said.."Uh, I think so." (it's good to act like you're dumb in certain situations LOL)  And then I felt the baby's head and told her so.  She starting yelling (ruining the mood I'd say ;)), and pulled the string that calls everybody in.... it even woke Ben up.  Unfortunately for her, I waited a little TOO long to sound the alarm, but in my defense, I got to the pushing stage WAY quicker than with the other kids (except for Grace).  Anyway, the midwife walked in as calm as can be and the nurse caught the baby.  She wasn't thrilled, but I'm sure she's over it now.  The midwife was super chill about the whole thing, an in hindsight I think she would have let me stay in the tub.  It was the best labor I've had. I just remember feeling like it had been so manageable.  I had so many people praying for me, and I was just so thankful to the Lord for his kindness.  Truly, he was so, so kind to me during that labor.  It was the perfect length.

They said "It's a boy!" and I seriously could not believe it.  I had been totally planning on a girl. I just had a "feeling." I had been right FOUR times before, so it really threw off my amazing record.

Ben got to see the very end, which I think is his preferred way anyway, and I told him "sorry" and why I didn't call him over sooner.  He smirked at me and called me a sly dog or something to that effect. AND because of the semi chaotic ending no one had bothered to note what time it was.  Ben looked at his watch at 9:45pm and assumed that we had had the baby 2 minutes prior.  So he was officially...maybe born at 9:43pm.

When we had Drew, we didn't name him for a day or so, and it was my least favorite ever.  So though we hadn't had a name picked out, I had REALLY been liking the name Luke.  Ben wasn't crazy about it, so I didn't think that would end up being his name.  Kind of out of nowhere he said, "How about Luke Elijah" I wasn't sure I thought Elijah had a nice ring to it, but I was so excited he was going for the name Luke, that I thought, why not!? And if you say Luke Elijah enough times in a row, you will find it actually does have a nice ring to it. Ben went home at midnight because he had to preach the next morning, which now I'm wondering if that's why we settled on a name so quickly?!  I remember nursing Luke for a crazy amount of hours before sending him to the nursery, so I could sleep for a little while.

I felt SO good immediately after his birth. And for some reason this hospital didn't do that horrible pushing on your stomach or take my blood pressure every 3 minutes.  It actually made me a bit anxious like, do they not care if I die? But finally I asked a nurse why no one was dominating my belly and she replied, "you're hardly bleeding and are really firm already." I'm telling you, the Lord was SO kind. Postpartum cramps weren't TOO bad, but I also am diligent to harass the nurses every 4 hours to make sure I get medicine for that. I have found that postpartum cramping pain is pain I HAVE to keep up with. (for those of you about to have your first, it wasn't bad until baby 2,3,4&5. It gets worse the more kids you have generally I think so do not fret.)  I'm willing to have pain during labor but afterwards is just too much for me. Whether or not that is reasonable, I don't know or care, it's just how I roll.

I lived it up in the hospital for 48 hours as I usually do, and then headed home where I sat on the front porch waiting for my other four to arrive.  My parents were heroes once again in helping with my kids. And I seem to remember my sweet neighbor Danae being especially wonderful during those first days being home.  As they say, it takes a village!

So, there's Luke Elijah's Birth story written over a year and a half after his birth.  The good news is I had a lot of the details on Marco polo with a friend that I could look back on, and I had started a blog post a while back that I never finished.

The Lord has surely been good to us.

Melanie

Anna's birthday, Salvation army, & Family fun nights!

Hey! Basically I can't do a catch up, because it's just been way too long.  So I'm going to have to do some highlights from the last few months.

Let's start with August.  We moved in August closer to our church.  Best idea ever. I love the location, the house... everything.  Although I hate moving with all that I am, I am so glad we did it.  

Then... November.  Anna Sue turned three and although it's my least favorite age so far (with all the kids), she really is the sweetest/snuggliest/coziest kid there is.  By the way, this picture is in our new house. Which I love.

Let's move on to the Christmas Season, shall we?  I was at Penny's for something, and as I walked out, I noticed a Salvation Army person.  So, I quickly scrambled into my purse to see what I had on hand since I generally do not carry cash. I reached in and pulled out four quarters (nice!), and went to drop them in the red bucket.  As I put my hand to the bucket, the Salvation Army worker put his hand out, grabbed the change and PUT IT IN HIS POCKET.
So I asked him....

Me:  Did you just put that in your pocket?!?!
SA guy:  Yes, they're not going to count it at the end of the day.  They only count the cash.
Me: So you're just keeping it??
SAguy: Yes, I'm going to go buy a pop with it.

I put my hand out to get my money back, which he was very willing to return.  You know, I wasn't really interested in buying this guy an overpriced drink for his lunch break. Although his honesty was quite hilarious and did cause me to consider just letting him have it (though I think he was a lunatic).  You know, I can find a lot better things to spend a buck on than a pop though, seriously.  Like, dollar store sunglasses? I may have let him keep it for that.

It came out after more discussion that he had a certain goal he was supposed to reach for the day and apparently coins don't count toward his total. However, it sounded like Salvation Army does count the change but the person who raises it doesn't get the credit. Honestly to me that makes no sense, so I think he was confused. Oh and then I asked him if he got paid to do that because I've been under the impression they were all volunteer workers (anyone else think that?) and he told me he got 8 bucks an hour. Once again, very honest. ;)

It was pretty much ridiculous, and I walked away laughing, like seriously? The Salvation army man just tried to swipe my change?! How much change is in his pockets by the end of his shift?

 December: We did some family decorating of the tree. It really gets more fun each year with the kids getting bigger.  I cannot believe how huge my children are.

And lately, I've started (maybe monthly?) A FAMILY FUN NIGHT!  I was feeling like it's so easy to just get stuck in to a rut in the evenings, just waiting around for bedtime and not being intentional about spending time together.  I think my motivation came from reading Sally Clarkson's book "The Lifegiving Table" because it talked a lot about making home a nice place for your family and making fun memories with your kids etc. So, I decided one day that we would have family fun night which would include make your own pizzas, family hide and go seek, a boys vs. girls scavenger hunt, and a movie from the library with popcorn.  I talked it up ALL week long and even got Ben excited about it.  It was a total blast.  Mostly because the girls won the scavenger hunt... just kidding! (We did win though.... and me making the scavenger hunt is totally irrelevant, don't let Ben tell you otherwise.) And now we've had two more since then.  I plan family fun night at the beginning of the month and say it's on the calendar and cannot be changed-- because it's so easy to just push things like that aside.  Anyway, Ben's family ended up being in town for the second one, and yes, Ben's entire family played hide and go seek with us, and we made Gingerbread houses before watching the old fashioned version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".  You can tell Grace is pretty excited about it.  And Uncle Jim who I'm just noticing also made it into the picture.

Lastly, I'm so grateful that didn't get strep this fall and have escaped it so far this Winter.  Praise the Lord.  Being healthy is such a blessing.  

I'm going to end it there because it's past my bedtime. Thanks for reading!

Good night!

Melanie

Some catch up.

So what's new since April?! Yikes!

I got strep FIVE times from Feb-June.  Caleb also got strep 4-5 times during that time also and ended up getting his tonsils out in late July.  After 3 health professionals (including one naturally minded) told me that it was time for them to go, I had confidence that it was the best thing for him.  My mom had taken Caleb to the ENT the final time he was sick. (I was sick and at the doctor myself, so I couldn't go), and she booked an appt for the first date they were available to do surgery.  I was antsy to get it over with, so I was glad. BUT, that meant that Ben was out of town for it.  So, I brought my BABY to the surgery center alone, and when they took him away on the rolling bed, I bawled my eyes out.  The nurse hugged me and told me I was "normal". She also told me to go get something to eat and drink in the waiting room.  I felt like an idiot for bawling especially since the other mothers seemed to be managing just fine...AND because she was telling me to eat/drink as if I was the patient. HA! Here's Caleb before they gave him the loopy drugs. I'd say he was handling it like a total CHAMP! 

and here's after the loopy drugs (before surgery just to calm him down)..... 

The surgery went well.  Surgery was at 7am and we were HOME by 9:30am.  It was crazy.  In the car Caleb was talking to me, and later that morning I had to yell "STOOOOOOOOOP" when I caught him eating pretzels. AHHHH! We were having a garage sale at the same time (I know, brilliant), and another kid was over watching a movie with Caleb...and he was generous in sharing his snack.  

Anyway, this whole strep thing has really given me more compassion and adoration? for families who have children with medical problems.  I was SO WEARY from all of this, and the constant medical bills is/was INSANE.  So, I can't even imagine what it would be like to have more serious surgeries, more doctor's appointments, and more medical bills.  Hats off to you parents where this is normal for you.  God was very kind to me during this whole strep saga (also affectionally called the Kappers' family health disaster), and I'm very grateful for that.  Also, there's really no reason why the crazy strep cycle stopped, so I'm just praising God for ending it!! And, I'm so thankful for sweet friends/church people/parents who helped me during all of our sickness etc.  

Caleb's job is to unload the dishwasher.  Grace helps too, but it's mainly Caleb's job. A few times this summer he had friends over when the dishwasher needed unloading.  The first time I asked him to do it, he asked his friend if he would like to help him.  The friend agreed and together they unloaded the dishwasher while chatting about where things went and how tall the other kid was because he could actually reach the place where the plates went.  A few days passed, and it happened again.  This time when I said the dishwasher needed to be unloaded, they both jumped up to help.  The boy had a sister who was also over, and she said it was time to go home.  He said "OK, but let me finish unloading first" I heard later that when his sister got home his parents asked where her brother was.  She said "He's unloading the dishwasher at Caleb's house" HAHAHHAHHAHA.  Apparently his dad said "He's doing WHAT?!"  Anyway, I talked to his mom about it because I didn't want her to think I was forcing him to work at my house, but she was perfectly pleased that he was helping around our house. His friends have also helped him sweep, and every time I have little children happily cleaning, my heart sings, and I start laughing.  

Caleb never seems to have a shirt on.  I'm not sure why, and I usually don't even notice until company comes over, or I post a picture on my blog.  Oops..... 

We went to the zoo a couple times this summer, and here's an awesome photo.  I'll call this one "Crabby mom telling children to smile and move from behind the stroller while mother-in-law takes a picture of her fingers" 

A goal in life for me is to wake early before the kids do and spend time in the Word and in prayer.  I also want to be the parent who is awake before the kids, so my kids don't remember their lazy mom always being in bed when they wake up. Silly? Maybe.  Anyway, I've been waking early, but not early enough BECAUSE lately, I almost always have an Anna joining me...  And while the rule is that the kids don't get out of bed until 7:00 (seven dot dot zero zero.) Anna is still lacking in the self control department, and I'd rather have her reading by me than waking up her siblings.  We'll work on that.  So here she is visiting me, a common occurrence.  And sometimes Caleb gets up early, and we'll pray together, which is basically the sweetest thing in the entire world.... except that my read through the Bible in a year schedule suffers.  

Caleb was invited to our neighbor's birthday party at Munster pool, but it was two days after his surgery and he couldn't go.  They gave him a goody bag anyway, which was really sweet.  It had cherry pepsi "chapstick" in it...... it looks like he got into my make up bag, but rest assured, he didn't. 

That's a picture of him at the Railcats game the kid's earned tickets to at the library, and it was very fun!

We went to the splash pad the other day, and Drewbie loved it!! He got soaking wet and had no trouble!!! YESSS!!! Doesn't he look tiny crawling through there!? He's WALKING by the way.  Still crawls more than walks, but he's definitely choosing to walk more.  Yay! I love when kids walk because then my poor back doesn't need to suffer hauling them around everywhere! 

And here's a random picture to leave you with.  They were standing there snuggling like this, and I just thought it was the sweetest. 

Oh actually, go read "Hiding Place". I just finished it (haven't read it in years), and it's SO GOOD!!!

Over and out,

Melanie

Vacation, dentist, illness & super Ben

Lately I haven't felt like I have had any time to write here.  But, thanks to strep, I have nothing better to do!  Strep is a beast.  I don't want to ever ever ever get it again. I wish you could become immune to it once you had it.  Wouldn't that be SO great?! Then you wouldn't get it a month after you already had it...

Let's not talk about sickness anymore, it makes me crazy.  We should talk about vacation instead!!!  We went on a trip to Florida.  But we took the long way by stopping overnight at Ben's parent's house in NC and then to Augusta, GA for a few days to visit friends we met in seminary, and on the way home stopping in Mississippi to see friends from when we lived there and Ben's sister.  We had a BLAST.

Here are some highlights...  I painted Grace's toenails for the first time EVER on the trip! It was super fun... but in the last 10 minutes a friend posted THIS on facebook and took all the fun out of it. Ignorance is bliss!! Wah.

I love Grace's smile in the picture below. She was trying SO hard.  She loves wearing dresses. I think I have two girly-girls on my hands.  

Anna Sue was getting pretty brave jumping in the pool.  Grace got brave too.  So brave, in fact, that she went in without her puddle jumper. Since she was just on the stairs, I thought it was no big deal.  You know, my firstborn would NEVER ever consider doing anything remotely dangerous.  But Gracie kept on walking down until her head was underwater, and she was struggling.   I had to jump in and rescue her.  You know, I was basically a day saver.  It was about 60 degrees out, and I had been in the hot tub.  The good news is that the pool was heated to 87 degrees.  I'd like to say she won't do that again, but who knows with that silly girl. 

Here we are, all 6 of us heading to the pool.  Notice the park behind me, that was basically in our backyard!! 

We let the kids watch a movie one night, and you can see they were REALLY into it.... must.stop.sucking.fingers.

Naturally there was a cold spell in Florida for a number of the days we were there. And, the day we went to the beach it was reeeeaaaallly cold and windy.  The bigger kids made the best of it and still enjoyed playing in the sand.  

Mom, Ben and I traded off holding Drew and tried to rescue him from the fierce winds. Since Drewbie thrives on being touched, he was basically in heaven while being smothered.

Grace loooooved wearing her shades.

We left the beach after not too long, and went to the park that was nearby.  It warmed up a bit as the sun came out more, and the kids had a lot of fun! 

   We HAD to have them get a picture in their matching outfits.  

I just thought this picture was hilarious.  This is what you get when you try to take a picture of 4 kids 5 and under.... 

We had so much fun swimming together!! And we were SO thankful for the heated pool because it allowed us to swim even when the weather wasn't warm!

So, overall we had a GREAT trip.  It was super fun to be together for two weeks straight and to have no one sick!!! We really enjoyed seeing old friends too.  It was a very, very refreshing time for both Ben and me. 

A while back I posted a picture on facebook of the four kids, but I thought I'd share this one now because Andrew looks so cute here even though Anna isn't smiling.. or sitting up.. and her diaper is hanging out.  But seriously, how amazing would this picture have been if Anna had been looking!?! Dah! 

A couple weeks ago we were sick with some 24 hr stomach bug (which I would take ANY day over strep).  We are getting REALLY good at getting sick.  I'm thinking our finger sucking addiction is causing some of this... it's certainly not helping, that's for sure! Anyway, we think Drew may have started it but aren't sure.  It went through Anna, then Grace, then me, then Caleb.  And we were all better thinking it was over, and then it hit Ben.  I had told Ben I wanted him to take the kids to the dentist because I thought it'd be a fairly traumatic experience, and I have this amazing ability to handicap our children with my very presence.  Unfortunately, he was ill, so I had to take them.  Grace was a CHAMPION! 

Caleb refused to leave the waiting room with me and Grace, so I had to leave him there by himself while Grace and I went ahead in.  I didn't want to have to perform some crazy dragging screaming kid maneuver to get him in the room. Of course when he went with Ben 6 months ago, he had no trouble (Remember, I handicap them with my presence?).  Anyway, after Grace was settled in, I made my way back to the waiting room and convinced Caleb it was a brilliant idea to see the dentist.  He chilled out pretty quickly. Both kids were a bit freaked out about the chair moving every which way. 

So, Drewbie loves me.  The most.  In fact, I think he loves me more than any other kid has ever loved me at this age.  He will be fine until I walk in a room, and then he will be immediately fussy until I hold him.  Sometimes his love for me gets out of hand though.... Like when he is attacking my face with kisses and pulling my hair and glasses off.  Although slightly uncomfortable, it's pretty stinking sweet to get Drewbie kisses.

 Caleb and I are still plugging away with school.  We are doing "Peter and the Wolf" for music, and it's SO fun!! We have cut outs of all the characters and what instruments the different characters are.  When we went to the Seven Last Words performance last Sunday, Caleb recognized the flute playing and immediately told me it was the bird from Peter and the Wolf.  I loved that!

This little guy has been crawling for a little under a month now, and he's getting pretty fast.  He's only fallen down the stairs once so far (well really like one and a half times.).....oops.  Thankfully just the stairs by the front door.  And he hardly cried.  Stop judging me. 

I'll end with this.  I took this today while I was laying in bed.. you know, since that's all I've been doing the past couple of days.  I think they were discussing how they were going to make it through another day of mom being down. ;) They've been bonding the last few days.

Over and out!

Melanie 

Clean kitchen, thrush, sickness, wipes, math, prayers & a video

First things first.  I made 6 goals for the new year, and so far, it's going quite well.  My new handy dandy planner helps me keep track of what my goals are and if I'm staying on track.  Otherwise, I'm sure I would have forgotten by now. Did you make any goals?  One of my goals this year is to go to bed with a clean kitchen.  It's been life changing.  Oh, you always go to bed with a clean kitchen?? Don't steal my joy ;).  For those of you who don't know, when you wake up to a clean kitchen every morning, it's an AMAZING start to the day.  So at night, when the last thing I feel like doing is cleaning the kitchen--aka clearing the counters that seem to always pile up with STUFF, I do. And I'm always, always, always glad the next day. And so is Ben. I've been quite surprised at how easy it's been too.  It's so nice to have little victories like that, you know, small things that make a big difference.

I've been battling thrush for a while now.  And let me tell you, its been horrible.  It's excruciatingly painful.  I was completely dreading nursing Drew for TWO weeks, and that's so sad!  Thanks to Dr. google, I was able to self-diagnose.  The problem though, is when your child doesn't have symptoms, no one believes you have thrush.  So there I sat, eating raw garlic, applying coconut oil, writhing in pain on my bed, and reading stories of other women with my same issue whose child showed no symptoms.  And I smelled.  Although--side note-- I did google the health benefits of eating raw garlic, and I'm pretty convinced we all should be doing it.  We'd be way healthier, AND, if everyone is eating garlic, I bet we wouldn't smell it. ;) Anyway, I eventually threatened my pediatrician and was able to get Drew medicated along with myself.  The last few days I've been experiencing relief, and it's AMAZING.  My life for a few weeks has been constantly boiling pacifiers and washing sheets and clothes in hot water.

I made wipes the other day because I thought they'd be easier on Drewbie's toosh.  It was QUITE easy, and they work just like regular wipes! It's thrilling, really.  See how they're attached?! They just rip apart. Isn't that cool!?

We've been confined to our house for a while now with sickness.  There must be some nasty cold viruses going around.  Anna had it first, now Drew, and Grace has a mild version.  Praise God for podcasts. It makes being stuck home a bit easier. (Although missing church two weeks in a row is the worst!! =( ) If your kids are also sick, and you want some encouragement as a mother, I've been really enjoying THESE podcasts while I clean out my basement.. and kitchen cabinets, and every other space in my home.  Anyone else have the clean-out itch?! And, if you want to hear some killer sermons, I've been loving my husband's James series, which you can find HERE.  And I'm not just saying that because it's Valentine's Day. 

School is going well with Caleb.  I am super thrilled with his ability to read and his love for reading.  The other day I started feeling like I was making school not nearly as fun as I should be, so I decided that we would play Monopoly Jr. for math.  I think it's brilliant because he has to make change and figure out how much to pay etc. PLUS, learn the skill of being a good loser.  We're working on that.... 

The other day I got this GREAT idea from another mom.  She said she put names on craft sticks and put them in a jar and she and her kids pick them out and pray for those whose names are picked.  UM, yes please!! I had Caleb help me write, as you can probably tell below, and we all named people we thought we should pray for. (Caleb can write better than it appears, don't panic)

 Our routine is every morning after breakfast the kids and I read out of whatever story Bible we're reading, (THIS one is our favorite), do our memory work  (currently Psalm 145) and then often have prayer requests before we close in prayer and sing a song.  The prayer requests were getting a bit....... repetitive (For example, Grace only wants to pray for a certain 3 little girls from church). So I thought this would be a GREAT way to pray for other people and to help my kids be familiar with and love praying for others! I have them choose a stick and then they each pray for the person who is named (even Anna!).  So far they love it and usually ask to do two rounds-- they get so excited to see who they will pick, and I honestly think Grace would pray all day until she chose the stick with her favorite 3 girls on it. Yesterday we used our prayer jar at lunch with Ben, and those are all the sticks we picked!  I'm looking to add more missionaries and names, but we have a good start. 

Andrew started real food!  So far we've tried avacado and butternut squash. I love him in the high chair.  How cute is he?!?! He's the sweetest.  And crabbiest ;) And, I actually loathe feeding baby food to babies.  They just don't seem to get it for a while, and I have to wipe their mouths over and over and over and over. 

I'll go ahead and leave you with that sweet picture, plus I have to exercise while the kids nap or I'll lose a bet to Ben.  And that would be horrible.

Melanie

Recap NC, Birthday, Christmas, cookies,

Ah! It's been so long.  I better recap.

We took a trip to North Carolina to visit Ben's parents mid-November and celebrated a very early Christmas. Caleb got Catan Jr. and loves it.  Ben and I like playing it too, which is a huge bonus! 

My sweet Anna turned TWO!

This year I decided me and the kids should bake Christmas cookies and bring them to some senior saints.  The picture below looks like we were having an awesome time, and it WAS fun overall. However, baking cookies with 4 little children isn't that great.  ALSO, I forgot to put in... oh, over half the flour, so the cookies were RIDICULOUSLY sticky.  The good news is I figured it out before it was too late.  Phew.  Next year will go better.  It was my first stab at Christmas sugar cookies. 

Caleb, Grace and I took the cookies to the Holland Home with my parent's church while we caroled.  And then we also took some to people from our church at Village Woods.  It was awesome.  We were so blessed.  Gracie handed out the cookies and Caleb followed with the napkins.  How precious is this picture?!  I love that Caleb is visiting with that lady in the background.  I so desperately want to teach my children to love serving others!!!

Then we had the Christmas program where Caleb and Grace BOTH participated.  No tears!!! WOO HOO!!!  

My whole family was out for Christmas, so that was nice.  My sister moves to India soon, so we were glad to spend some time with her! Not a bad picture for using a tri-pod eh?!?

My mom got the girl's this play kitchen, and a friend gave me those awesome aprons and hats!  The kids LOOOOOVE it.  How adorable are they!??! I can't even stand it.  They play with this kitchen all the time.

Gracie came in my room like this and proclaimed "I'm Mary." And then she ran off calling for Joseph. 

She's so sweet.

I'll end it there for now, just wanted to catch up a bit!!
-Melanie

Smother, smiles, park, school, Cubs & Bible

I am a child smotherer.  That means, I smother children. When a child has cheeks like this, it compels me to smother them.  AHHHHHHHH. Wouldn't you?

Mr. Freak-out-cry-pants aka Andrew, has been a bit better lately! Although usually once a day he has some sort of meltdown where he cannot be soothed, it is for a much shorter period of time than it was. He's been sleeping like a champ, so I'm thrilled with the progress we've made.  He's three months by the way. (Say what!??!)  Someone asked me today, and I basically was scrambling to figure out how old he was.  I'm an awesome mom, and I'm sure they thought so too. 

Here he is! His smiles are the sweetest. 

And here's Kedzie.  I know, he's huge.  I think Grace loves him the most now of the kids.

Lately it seems like Ben is rarely home.  We were going a little stir crazy one day by ourselves, and I decided that after nap and a really quick supper, we would go to the park since it was WARM.  I invited my mom.  By the time we were ready to leave and all packed up in the car, it started raining.  We went anyway because you don't go through all that trouble of packing up the kids and rushing for nothing. And guess what?! We were the only moms there! Can you believe it? ...  We weren't the only people there though, there were some unruly pre-teens shouting like wild maniacs about how one of them "freaking lied" (at least that's the phrase I heard 3,000 times).  Caleb and Grace watched intently... of course.  We were laughing hysterically at the ridiculous situation.   

We decided to leave after not too long, and we told the kids we were going somewhere for a surprise.  (Mom offered to take us for ice cream).  After we told them about it, I had second thoughts.  Like, "Oh, we forgot the baby's car seat...." and... "Oh, it will take forever, and it's almost bed time" and.. "Oh, then we have to get them all out and back in while it's raining again."  Anyway, due to the trauma of canceling the surprise, I made a one-of-a-kind scavenger hunt.  Trust me, it was stellar.  Ok it wasn't, but Caleb was pleased and requested to do it again and again and "every day".  I highly recommend making scavenger hunts.  I'll do it again when we're going crazy in the Winter.  

This little kiddo becomes more of a stinker all the time: Like when I was busy making dinner, and she was stealing bread off the table.  She was so proud of herself. 

I LOVE having a child who can read! A big reason is, he can read to his little sisters! YES! How sweet is this?!

Speaking of reading reminds me of homeschooling. Although I will admit again that I had no part in Caleb's learning to read. If you ask him, he says "Preschool Prep" taught him to read. The dvds are awesome.  Here's my little boy working hard at Kappers' Academy though I'm still not set on the name.

The Cubs.  You know, the World Series Champs?  Well, we had some kids from the youth group over to watch.  The highs were high, an the lows were low.  See below... 

This was a very serious part. 

 There was pure joy.

I smile looking at these., and it's not just because Aaron is in the background wrapped in a blanket.  It was an insane game, and watching these hooligans was pretty funny.  After the game, someone set off fireworks in our back yard.  Thankfully it rained because when they were shooting them into my tree, and I remembered I have no hose, I was glad for the wet branches.  I was also glad for my enormous husband who shielded me from flying firework sparks and took one for the team on his arm.  Thanks Ben, my valiant protector. 

This bad boy is my favorite Bible story book I think.  We're not quite finished with it, but the kids and I both love it.  We read a story each morning after breakfast, and the kids are usually asking for it because they look forward to it. 

The bad news is that the picture is sideways.  The good news is that I bet you can still see it.  

The neighbor kids have been coming over to play in our mulch pile in the back lately.  Isn't that cute? For the most part I like it. BUT, the one girl is what some might refer to as a "toxic friend".  You know, the kind that ride their motorized scooters and run around in the middle of the road, are constantly screaming at you when you're playing, and tell everyone that you used to be monkeys..

I'm trying to figure out how to handle that situation because the ole' Proverb, "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm" may be ringing true here.  The good news is that they played inside my house today, and I was able to make some rules since it's my house. For example: In my house, I don't allow people to yell at each other.

Unless of course it's me, and I'm screaming at my dog.... HAHHAHAHHA. Not funny.  But sometimes.. he makes me CRAZY.  

Anyway, I think I'll go plan out my day tomorrow.  I've recently found that's key to maintaining some order, staying productive, and having reasonable goals each day. But... maybe I'll just go to bed. ;) 

Over and out,

--Melanie