Merry Christmas

Growing up Madalyn

Madalyn has added two more words to her vocabulary. She says Mama, Dada, hi, and out. She also says b to call her brothers. Not bad for a 10 week old baby. Some people are blown away by this. I have had a couple of the other kids talk early so it doesn't shock me. She is also starting to sit up, grabbing things and blowing bubbles. After yesterday I can see why she is developing so fast. We went to the Springs Preserve yesterday. We do this quite a bit as we have a pass for the place. ( An amazing Christmas present from a family member.) This baby was shown everything from the floors to the ceilings. Her brothers held her over the glass floors to see the exhibits in them. Wind chimes were held up and played for her. She was allowed to feel things, and smell all kinds of things. She even noticed, and let rip a blood curdling scream, the bats on the ceiling in the bat exhibit. She is stimulated like this daily.I am looking forward to seeing what she will be like at 5.

Out of the mouth of babes

Out of the mouth of babes. I have heard this saying most of my life. I now frequently experience this in my own life. This last week seems to be filled with them.

The other day we were driving and passed a police car with someone pulled over. Emma said "BUSTED" and laughed. I asked her what she would do if she got pulled over. She told her dad and I that she would hand over her license and reputation. Emma will not be driving anytime soon. At least not until she understands that it is license and registration.

Today I asked Evan to get me two ibuprofen. He went upstairs and must have forgotten what I wanted and asked Kate to check with me. Kate came downstairs and called, "Hey mom! Did you want Prozac?" I informed her as much fun as that might be we didn't have any Prozac so ibuprofen would have to do.

I think this will become a weekly blog just so I can remember some of these things.

Birthdays

We have had several birthdays over the summer. Evan turned 13 July 7th. Mark had a birthday in August and Maddie was born August 12th. Caleb turned 11 September 2nd and Andrew turned 16 September 5th. I can not believe my first born is already 16. Happy Birthday to all of them.

Madalyn Faith

Madalyn Faith came into the world August 12th at 6:30 P.M.. She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 ounces and was 18 inches long. I am finally awake enough to post the wonderful news. This is a photo taken with a cell phone as I can not find the cable to upload photos from our digital camera.

First lost tooth

Katie lost her first tooth today. This has been a two week process. Katie is all about the drama. At the first sign of it being loose she developed "the shakes". The daily updates were detailed and horror filled. This is Katie. Tonight I tied a string around this very loose tooth. I have found this works great, as I am tightening string the tooth normally comes out. Not this tooth. She walked around the house being very dramatic driving everyone up the wall. Andrew reached over and pulled the string, this was followed by high pitch screaming and the sound of feet up and down the stairs. Then came the wailing, "there's blood, there's blood". I thought we could do the tooth fairy thing and be done but oh no not with Katie. She came into the computer room and asked me if I would give her a dollar for her tooth. I tried to explain the Tooth Fairy would do that. She looked at me rolled her eyes and said, "oh come on mom we both know you and dad do that". She doesn't buy the Santa thing either. Oh well I still have Maddie to play Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause for.

This Week

The week is almost over. We have had homeschool day camp all week. The kids have had a blast and are worn out. The girls and I have Girl Scouts tonight and the girls have a Girl Scout sleep over tomorrow. I am thinking by Sunday this entire house will be out.

My dads legs are worse, he starts back to wound care Monday. He insists on staying at his house to guard it. So he sleeps in a chair, doesn't eat well and is just a mess on his legs. I need to get him to find a new doctor too. He is great on so many levels except his care. This is a very frustrating thing to watch someone that has always been so independent move to needing care. We deal with this as we do all things, knowledge, patience and faith.

Madelynn has grown very active the last two days. She kicks and moves almost all the time. She is already showing signs of a night owl.

IT'S A GIRL

This was screamed throughout my house today. We found out our newest family member will be a girl. She is due August 18th. Everything looks great.

Seeded vs Seedless

Kate is my youngest, at least until August. She is six years old. The other morning she was up early and chattering about things.

Kate: Mom, do all men have seeds?

Mom: Well I guess if they want to garden the go out and buy them.

Kate: No mom seeds, you know for making babies.

Mom: Ohh seeds. Umm yes they do. (mom is now wondering where this is coming from and if maybe a cup of coffee would be in order)

Kate: Can a man be seedless?

Mom: Well, yes they can I suppose.

Kate: I am going to have any man I marry checked for seeds.

Mom: Kate, I thought you said you weren't going to "have" a baby but adopt.

Kate: I am but I don't want a seedless husband.

Mom: Kate they aren't watermelons. (totally wondering why I got up this morning)

Kids come up with the wildest things. This seemed to have been on her mind for a while. I never even thought about a "seedless" husband. Obviously as we are going on our sixth child he isn't but I never thought about it before.

Spring

With Spring comes eczema for Caleb. The rest get a bit of sniffles, easily handled. The eczema is a different matter. We now must lotion the boy. This involves catching him as he streaks past, one parent holding him while the other greases him up. Caleb's asperger's brings with it the certainty that lotion, creams or any oils will cause great harm to him. I used to sneak in his room and lotion his hands while he was asleep. Now that I am pregnant I never seem to be awake longer than him. I know that must be an easier way but we haven't found it.

Evan on the other hand has slipped back to his previous ocd about traveling. He is doing much better with his homeschooling group but getting to events is an event in itself. First it is several trips to the bathroom, then the please not the freeway speech. We may also have to stop midway for another bathroom stop. I will put up with this as long as he is doing better at reading social cues and getting along with others.

Pregnancy and Puberty

Pregnancy and puberty should not live in a home at the same time. I have come to realize this as I am pregnant and my 12 year old is entering the wonderful world of puberty. It has become a contest to see how many mood swings we can cover in a day.

I am now in my second trimester, yea. The morning sickness, that stuff that lasts 24/7 is now mostly in the evenings. I feel more human and have more energy. The energy part does no bode well for my children. I have the urge to clean the entire house and then do it again. I have gathered no baby stuff, we got rid of all of our baby stuff as we were done with babies. I will probably get to that by the end of my third trimester.

Evan is in his early puberty. The hair and skin still look good but the mood is dark and dreary. He is not the least bit interested in chores and school work. Talking back and girls however have become a new hobby. I thought Andrew was a joy in puberty, no Evan has topped that. Andrew has settled into himself and calmed down. Evan doesn't seem to be comfortable with himself or anyone. I am not sure about a child in puberty with asperger's but oh boy this is no fun. Old worries have come back, fears I thought were gone are back also. We had come so far in traveling and socializing now he prefers to have nothing to do with both.

I have Caleb to look forward to next. His asperger's is a bit harder than Evans. Maybe a cure for puberty will be discovered by then. Hey, I can dream.

Room for one more

We made it through Christmas and New Years. Kids got their gifts and were happy. My dad was pleasant and the husband and I still have our sanity, well most of it. New Years was uneventful. Emma spent New Years at her friends Zoe's. The rest of us stayed up until 11:00 then we gave up and went to bed. I was awakened by kids running in to ask if we had heard the gun shots at midnight, well yea those and fireworks. The boys still fear gun shots due to one New Years when a bullet came through our roof and landed next to our oldest son. That then involved a lot of crying, on the kids part, and screaming.

So for 2008 is looking better. Last year was a hard year on us a lot happened. My dad became ill and was hospitalized and then had to come live with us. My youngest daughter had a close call with a woman in a park trying to take her with her. Never assume your 5 year old will not bolt from you at the first chance and will not then go with a stranger. Our youngest son had the end of his finger removed and reattached in a rather bizarre accident. We had other small but annoying things happen. This lasted up to December 23 when my newly repaired washer proceeded to fill itself for two straight hours. We were bailing water at midnight in a very cold basement. No corner of the downstairs was left dry.

One good thing from last year that will happen this year. We are going to be parents again. Yes a new addition, another rug rat, curtain climber whatever you wish to call them. This is why I have been away from the computer for so long. 24 hour a day sickness has kept me down more. This will make number 6 for us. This made Christmas dinner rather hard, I am not much into meat. We had a wonderful prime rib roast and I could not even look at it. This baby seems to be fine with smoked salmon and some chicken but otherwise meat is a no go.

Now to the name game. My wonderful husband, this was typed sarcastically, thinks we should name the baby with the middle name six. Our last child has the middle name Quinn meaning five. That is not why she got that middle name. I can not for the life of me figure out why he thinks he is funny when I am pregnant. By this time you would think he would have learned to be quiet and avoid eye contact.