Goodbye 2012

This has been a really good year for our family. Can't wait to see what the New Year will bring.

In January we Found out we were expecting baby #4 Boots Baby #4  
In March our offer was accepted on our house! We are buying a House

In April we found out we were having a girl 20 Week Prenatal visit

In May we had the Final walk through of our house Our House

In June we Moved into our House All Moved in!

In June we Also took a Trip Indiana Trip

 In July we went blueberry picking

In August Kevin Went to The Watkin's Glen Race

In September Kendall was born

In October we Survived a Hurricane

In December Nathan turned Two

Nathan Update

Nathan has had Diarrhea for close to 2 Months now. He has been tested for Giardia, Cryptosporidium, C.Diff and a few other things and everything has come back negative. At his 2 year check up he had lost weight. He is going to be seeing a Pediatric GI Specialist in Binghamton on Jan.8. Hopefully they can figure out what is going on with him. Some days he has it up to 15 times a day. Otherwise he seems pretty healthy and happy. He has a good appetitie and drinks a ton of water. I started him on probiotics on Dec. 23rd and I think that they are helping a little because he is going less often since starting it.

Nathan's 2 year check up

Nathan is doing good. He was so cute at his appointment. All the nurse's got a kick out of him being his usual cute self. He kept talking to them and was very cooperative. He had 2 shots and barely even made a sound when they gave them to him. He knew it was coming though because as soon as the nurse's walked in he said "Mommy hold me". So I held him on the table and he did great! He is a Tiny little boy! He weighed 23 pounds 8 ounces. In November he was 24 pounds 14 ounces but he has been sick a lot this fall and I think that is why he lost over a pound. His weight percentile is 4th%. He is also a little shorty. He is 32 1/2 inches which is the 7th%. The Nurse Practitioner said that by her calculations he will probably only be 5 ft 5 in as an adult. I don't think so though. Kevin is 6ft 3in and all my male cousins are tall. I think he will eventually hit a growth spurt.

Here he is playing in the waiting room

Here he is coloring a picture of his favorite character Diego.

Thank God for the mess!

Normally I get stressed out when the kids make a mess. I can't stand clutter. I usually even get frustrated when the play room is messy. Today I am just Thankful that I have this mess in my living room. Thankful for my silly kids. The girls are going through this silly phase where they like to wear mismatched Pajamas. They are so innocent, so cute, so sweet. Thank You Jesus for giving me these wonderful gifts.

There are no words

Gabby stayed home from school today because she was sick. I think it was a blessing in disguise really. If she had been at school today I probably would have had a panic attack and gone to get her early. Avalynn did go to school but she is done at 11:00. I am so heart broken for the families who will not have their Children home with them tonight. I am praying for the families of all affected by the school shooting. God Bless the Children.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10   

         New International Version (©1984)
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  

Star Wars Day: Showing Support of anti-bullying

Gabby is sick today so she didn't get to do this. Avalynn is wearing Star Wars today to support Katie and any other child who has ever been bullied.

Katie Goldman is a little girl who was bullied because she liked Star Wars. You can read her story HERE.

Her Mother wrote a book about Bullying too Bullied: What Every Parent, Teacher, and kid needs to Know

Memories

The other day I was up in the attic and opened a tote. Wow were there some memories in there! It was like a blast from the past. Thing I had forgotten about or thought I had thrown out. I think they must have been packed away for years and we just kept moving the tote.

Growing up we never had TV and no one had computers yet let alone cell phones. So we had a lot of time on our hands. I used to write in diaries. Some of them are in this picture.

 I also used to write to lots of celebrities and they would send autograph pictures. Also one time My sister and I wrote to Tia and Tamera Mowry right before their show "Sister, Sister" first aired.  They hand wrote us a letter back and from what they wrote it sounds like we were their first ever fan letter! I still have the letter and autographed picture. But the neatest thing was when we wrote to Raven Symone and she called us! That was so cool! At the time she was on "Hanging with Mr. Cooper."

I also used to write poems a lot and short stories. It was neat reading through those again. I thought I had gotten rid of them Long ago!

I also found some notes from my high school days.  Lots of fun memories. :)

3 Months

Wow I can't  believe my baby is 3 months old! That is 1/4 of a year already! She just keeps getting more fun every day. She loves to be held and talked to. She will "talk" back to you. She has just lately started taking a pacifier. She wants it a lot. None of my other kids ever really took one. She is still pretty laid back but is starting to want to be held more. Today she rolled over for the first time and Kevin and I both missed it. She was sleeping on my bed on her back while I was wrapping presents. When I was done I took some garbage down stairs. I heard her start fussing so I went back upstairs and she was on her belly!

Celebrating Nathan's Birthday

Poor Nathan spent his actual birthday (Dec. 3rd) pretty sick. He has had a bad stomach virus. He seems to be feeling a little bit better today. He is eating well and I have been trying to push fluids.He was playing more today then yesterday and sleeping less so I think he is on the mend.

Anyway we had a little party for him 12/6. My parents came and so did my Twin sister Shelly with her kids Zack and Natalee. I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate cupcakes with Vanilla frosting.  Nathan doesn't really like cake much but he did eat some ice cream.

It took us about 10 minutes to find a lighter to light the candles.

Nathan got a lot of "Boy" toys. Poor kid has had nothing but baby dolls and baby toys to play with up until this point. So I know he is going to love playing with all his new toys. My Mother in law and Father in law also sent gifts for Nathan.

Happy 2nd Birthday Nathan

I can't believe 2 years has gone by since Nathan was born.You can read Nathan's Birth story  Here .The time has gone so fast. Seems like we were just celebrating his First Birthday.  He is a Mama's boy for sure. He is always asking me to cuddle him. At random times during the day he will come up to me and kiss me on the arm or leg. Wherever he can reach me.

He is talking so well. He can say just about anything and says 5 to 6 word sentences. His favorite tv shows are Dora and Diego. I think he has memorized about every episode of diego because he will say word for word what Diego is saying right before Diego says it, lol.

He likes to rough house with his sisters. He likes to play with lightsabers. Nathan and Avalynn will go around "Hitting" with the lightsabers saying "Shehaaa". Not sure why but that is what they do, lol. Nathan and Avalynn have a love/hate relationship. They love playing together but they also are jealous of each other and fight quite a bit. Gabby and Nathan get along for the most part unless he tries to take her favorite stuffed animals. He gives her a big hug when we pick her up from school. Sometimes he will just go up to her and kiss her. She loves when he does that. Nathan really loves his baby sister Kendall. He is always saying "That is my baby sissy". He wants to hold and kiss her a lot. Sometimes he is a little jealous of her. If I am holding her and he wants me to hold him he will say "Daddy hold baby sissy".

Nathan has this fluffy pink fleece blanket that must have been one of the girl's or was given to us. I don't really even know where it came from. It is his favorite blanket though. He sleeps with it every night and wants it at nap. He also has a red one with his name on it but he prefers the pink one. When he wakes up from nap he carries it all around with him. One day I wrapped Kendall up in it and I think I broke his heart. Won't do that again!

Nathan's favorite foods are Chicken Nuggets, Pizza, Cheese, cereal, oranges, apples and Bananas. He loves drinking chocolate milk and water.

I can't wait to see what this year will bring for Nathan and watch how he changes through the year. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Last night as a 1 year old with his favorite Blanket.