So Much...

Thanksgiving is a holiday which just overwhelms me. Not in the way some people get... gotta clean the house, fix a gourmet feast, have family in from all over. But I mean I really start thinking of everything for which I'm thankful and it just blows me away. There's not space or need for me to list everything here, but this last week I've probably said, "Thank you, Lord" hundreds of times. Knowing Jesus Christ as my own Lord and Savior and having a personal (I get to spend time daily with the Maker of the world!) relationship with Him is at the top of the list. Following that would be my awesome, awesome husband Matthew. He's my best friend. And next are the beautiful, precious gifts God has given us, Philip and Braewyn. I just want everyone to know their funny, caring little personalities because they are just too special for Matthew and I to keep to ourselves. Ok, enough gushing.

Our week went like this. Mike, Andrea and Holden arrived at Mom and Dad's house on Wednesday afternoon so the kids and I spent the afternoon there. Amazing... Mike and Andrea went to Walmart and Mom and I were there with ALL THREE KIDS asleep! Matthew and Dad arrived after getting off work and we all had dinner and played a boardgame before my four left for home.


Our new nephew Holden is even more precious than this in real life.




Thursday morning was lazy at my house however I did make waffles for breakfast. Around noon, we drove over to Mom and Dad's house where we were welcomed by... (are you ready?) Mom, Dad, Mike, Andrea, Holden, Ruth Ann, Grandma Mary, Elise, Arden, Mollie, Michael, Sarah Grace (Mary's younger sister), David (her husband) and Marie (their daughter). It was great. How many couples are blessed by having Thanksgiving with both sides of the family in one house!? We had a wonderful meal (provided by all) and then relaxed and flipped through the sales papers for "black Friday" (is that what they call it? I don't know. I didn't participate!).

Here's most of the table. Dad brought home a folding table from work so we could all be around one long table (like the Waltons!). Sorry, Matthew. Guess I should have told you I was taking a picture!



...and here's the rest of the table.


I wish this picture was clearer! Anyway, thanks Aunt Cindy for Braewyn's First Thanksgiving bib!


And here's her cousin in his Thanksgiving bib and shirt. He and Dad make a good looking pair, color-coordinating and everything.




Friday morning was another reason to give thanks... both Braewyn and Philip slept until 7:30am! Just to catch you up, Braewyn had been sleeping until 7:00am until she got sick. Yes, her cold got worse the weekend before Thanksgiving so one of those nights I nursed her at 4:00am as she was coughing in her bed. That led to a few nights of waking between 4:30am and 5:00am. Well, Wednesday night I told Matthew I would let her cry that next morning as he was not working on Thursday. It was a little rough as she cried from 4:45am until 5:30am (I did go in twice to comfort her and tell her to go back to sleep). Once she fell asleep I didn't hear a peep until 7:30am! That's all it took. The last three nights, Braewyn has slept peacefully (a few coughs now and then throughout the night) from 8:30/9:00pm until just before 7:00am! I'm so glad we're back on track.

Friday afternoon my longtime friend/college roommate/maid of honor (what a title!) Grace came over to visit for several hours. We live only 30 minutes apart but only see each other 3-4 times a year so it makes for great catching up when we are together. (Grace, it was great seeing you and we need to drag Kelly out to go shopping soon!)

Brother Toes

I don't think I've posted this story, but if so bear with me. It's just one I REALLY don't want to forget.

This morning I told Philip I really had to cut his toenails. He said, "Ok, the big ones but not the brothers." That made me laugh as I had forgotten about him naming his three middle toes on each foot "the brother toes".

The name came about when I had told him several months ago that the biggest toe was called the big toe and the smallest toe was called the baby toe. I then asked him if he knew what the other toes were called (do the other toes have names?). Without skipping a beat, Philip said, "The brothers." I guess he figured if there was a baby there should be a brother around as it is in our family with Braewyn being the baby and him being the brother. He's so funny!

Halloween Flashback

With Thanksgiving just next week, I thought it best to cover Halloween before the next holiday arrives. Here's a slide show from our evening at Harvest Fest, our church's "Halloween alternative". There are rides for the big kids, blow-up things for the smaller kids, trunk-or-treat (trick-or-treating between cars in the parking lot which our church members have decorated and pass out candy), train rides, hayrides, a flatbed truck stage, and lots of food vendors! It was great and really had a huge impact on the community. We had over 6000 people attend with over 100 asking for more info about our church and 22 people asking about how to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior (each person had to fill in a registration card upon entering)! I even helped man the MOPS Diaper Changing station. No, I didn't change the diapers of strangers' kids but stood by our table to provide parents a place to change their children and provide a free diaper if they needed one. The church doors are all locked for the evening and port-a-johns are brought in (i.e. last year diapers were changed on the sidewalk!).

Anyway here goes...

Last year, Matthew found a really cool pumpkin carving kit at Kohl's and so this year again, we had some great evenings of family fun working on our pumpkins. Read through this section, scrolling slowly down to create a pumpkin-guessing game for yourself! (It will make sense when you get to Matthew's pumpkins!)


What is Philip's pumpkin?


A little pumpkin he named Bob.


What is my pumpkin?


It's a cat (yes, I got lazy and didn't carve out the bottom whiskers. Now I wish I had but I got this much done by Nov. 1 and thought I had missed the window by then.)

This is where it gets fun...

Here's Matthew's first pumpkin. Any guesses?


It's Shrek!


Matthew's second pumpkin is?


Fred Flintstone!

And here's just one more cute photo...

of Philip wearing his 3D glasses for the "Live with Regis and Kelly" special 3D Halloween show! My mom picked us up some free glasses at Walgreens but Philip didn't really get the 3D special effects not that they were really the best anyway. Still too cute not to share with you.

Sick Boys

This week has been hard as Philip has been sick since Sunday. He woke up with a cough and barely any voice. After his nap that day, he had a fever of 101F. Tylenol that night before bed. Monday he played most of the day, but by 5pm was sluggish and had those tired, watery, red eyes which make me just want to stop everything and cuddle with him on the couch. He went to bed at 9pm, but woke up crying at 10pm because his throat was painfully dry (dumb me left the space heater on in their room without running the humidifier). Matthew held him in our bathroom while the shower filled the room with hot steam. Philip felt better after a few minutes and we put him back to bed, this time with the humidifier pumping out cool, moist air.

Yesterday, he was a little more run down and seemed to cough more throughout the day. His fever returned slightly (around 99F) and then late afternoon, he again looked all worn out. He did perk up as the "jewelry lady" arrived. I hosted a Premier Designs jewelry party and it was funny yet a tad frustrating as to how bad Philip wanted to touch all the jewelry displayed over my dining room table. Overall, he was very well-behaved and I thank you, Matthew, for taking care of our two in the bedroom once the party started. Great job, sweetie!

Today, I called our pediatrician early this morning to ask if I should bring Philip in. Once they finally returned my call at noon, I was told to just give him extra love and support, saline drops for congestion and to elevate his head. I suppose we just tough it out (unless his fever returns and gets much higher). At 4:20pm today, he woke up crying from his nap with that stinging throat again. Back to the steamy bathroom we went where he ate a popsicle! He and Braewyn are now asleep in their room, but I've heard him cough off and on and took some warm tea in for him to drink after a bad little spell. My poor sweet Philip.

Oh, I titled this as "Sick Boys" because Matthew came home from work today with a sore throat, headache and cough. I pray he'll get better soon too, but at least he doesn't do the heartmelting cry when his throat is hurting.

My Nephew Holden

After a much anticipated wait (at least for our family members), here are finally some photos of my new nephew Holden and of our day together.


Here's little Holden looking so cute. Yeah, open eyes in a picture at only three days old!



Philip and Braewyn already love their new cousin. Aunt Andrea is glad to introduce Holden.


I love this picture as it shows how big Braewyn is getting, but also how very tired Mike was on Saturday. Not much sleep, huh, Daddy?


Back asleep. I love my nephew Holden and will thankfully get to see him again next week for Thanksgiving. It will be exciting to see how he has changed in just two weeks. Sweet dreams, Holden. Sleep a lot at night for Mommy and Daddy.

Holden Christopher Allen is here!

On Tuesday, my sister-in-law Andrea went for another baby appointment. As I last said, her OB said if she was at 2 cm. on Tuesday, she would be induced on Friday. She wasn't there so they were going to hold off until Monday. Well, God and her baby had other plans as her water broke around 9:00pm that night.

My brother Mike called Mom at 11:00pm Tuesday night telling her they were at the hospital. Andrea progressed through the night and received an epidural around 6:00am when she was close to 5 cm. Mom heard from Mike that she was at 8 cm at 9:30am on Wednesday morning. Finally at 12:45pm, Mom called saying her second grandson had been born just before that.

Holden Christopher Allen was born at 12:26pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2007! He weighed 7 lbs. and was 19 inches long. Mom told me his weight and length, but I told her not to tell me his name as I wanted Mike to tell me himself as they had kept the name a secret until the baby's birth like we did with our kids. Mike told me that they picked their son's name to be Holden as Mike has always liked "The Catcher in the Rye" and that's the name of the main character and Christopher to represent their faith as it is derived from Christ. Another awesome thing is that after Andrea's OB delivered Holden's head and shoulders, he let Mike pull the baby out the rest of the way! Go Mike in being a hands-on daddy!

Andrea's parents were at the hospital most of yesterday during her labor and delivery and for a few hours with Holden afterwards. My parents are on their way now to spend the afternoon with their new grandson and his parents. And my family will finally meet our new nephew and cousin on Saturday as we'll drive to Mike and Andrea's house to spend a few hours.

Andrea did tell me that Holden has long dark hair so it will be cute seeing him with his blonde cousin Philip. And also cute to see how big Braewyn looks compared to Holden as she always looks so small compared to Philip. Can't wait to post a photo of my kids with their newest cousin!!

Visiting Grandma Mary

Last Saturday, Matthew, Philip, Braewyn, Ruth Ann and I traveled 45 minutes to spend the day with Matthew's grandma who we call Grandma Mary. She lives in a retirement community but still has an apartment of her own. We got there in time for me to nurse Braewyn before heading over to the dining hall for lunch. They are served cafeteria-style and Braewyn sat in a high chair for the first time while we ate. After lunch, we took a short walk down to a large pond. Philip fed some bread to the fish. We even saw a beaver! We visited in her apartment for an hour more and then drove home. It was a nice time together and had been over a year since I had been down to visit her. She has many doctors appointments here in town so she stops by after those, but it was nice to take the kids down to see her so some of her friends could see how Philip has grown and to meet Braewyn.



Standing on the dock feeding the fish.



Braewyn was a sleepy girl during the walk.



Grandma Mary enjoyed getting to know Braewyn. They had been together at the beach in June, but Braewyn was only 6 weeks old and not very alert.



Matthew stands by as Philip takes a seat on Grandma Mary's back deck.

We finally made it!

To having Philip and Braewyn sleep all night in the same room that is. It was a grueling process but now that we're all sleeping well, well worth it. When Philip was four months old and we were told by the pediatrician that he no longer needed to eat at night, we moved him from the bassinet in our room to his crib in his room. He did cry for a good while each night for three nights but then silence for most of the night. With Braewyn it's been a little different.

She was in our room in the bassinet for three months. At that time, we thought we'd try to get her to sleep through the night but her crying was so loud in our room. Next step, move her and the bassinet to the office. I could still hear her crying but Matthew slept through it usually. Being more tired overall from having to care for both her and Philip during the day, my willpower was not as strong at night and so I'd usually end up letting her cry for 15 or so minutes and then feeding her so we could all just go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

That went on for about a month with a few weekend visits to family which threw us all off schedule for a while. When she was around 4 1/2 months, we tried her in her crib in the same room with Philip. I was still caving in and feeding her at night because it seemed like the easiest option and the fastest back to getting everyone to sleep. At 5 months old, I knew we had to get her to the point of going back to sleep on her own so it was time to start crying it out for longer periods. There was one key difference in her doing this than when Philip did... Philip! One night I remember her crying for some time and I went in their room to check on her. Philip whispered to me, "Take her out!" I never want to play favorites between kids but it seemed like a good idea to move Braewyn to the bassinet (which is still in the office) so they could both sleep. A few more night's like that and I knew the solution wasn't to move her as she'd never learn to sleep like that. It was to move Philip.

Last week, Philip slept at night on his toddler air mattress at the foot of our bed and Braewyn had her three nights of crying it out. It was hard for all of us. Not only did I hear her crying, but we also heard Philip's bed crinkling all night as he tossed and turned. After a week of that (Braewyn was sleeping through but I wanted to make sure it would last), Philip moved back into his bed. They've been doing well for over a week now. Braewyn does wake up occasionally to cry for about 5 minutes but I'm the only one to wake up. I do get her up for the day between 6:00am and 6:30am. She'll start to cry and I try to get in there to get her out before Philip wakes up as he normally sleeps until 7:30am.

I love to look in on each of them before I go to sleep. Each is so precious as they sleep. As always, thank you Lord for my babies!

He's almost here!

My nephew will be making his arrival sometime this week and I am SO EXCITED! He will be my brother Mike's and sister-in-law Andrea's first baby. I'm trying my hardest not to call everyday to ask Andrea how she's feeling but we did talk this evening. The baby is due Thursday and last week at her appt., Andrea said her doctor said she was 1 1/2 centimeters. She will have another appt. this Tuesday and if she's at least 2 centimeters, she'll be induced on Friday unless Baby Cousin (that's what Philip calls him) comes before then. We just cannot wait to meet him! And find out what his name is. Now I know firsthand what everyone else felt like when we kept Philip and Braewyn's names to ourselves until their births!