Ell's half birthday

E is half a year old now.  November 16th marked her six-month-day.  Here are some facts about E.

She can army crawl around on the floor.  She's better on the wood floor compared to the carpet but can movie around either way.  She loves her toys and her favorite is a squeaky girrafe. A sweet gift from Aunt Mo, the giraffe is E's favorite chew toy for the time being.  E doesn't have any teeth but has to be close to getting some.  She rolls over both ways and can sit up for a while when we start her up.  If she falls over, she just moves around on her belly to get to her toys or anything to chew on. 

We started food 2 weeks ago and began with some oatmeal followed by peas.  We are currently adding in sweet potato for breakfast and then green beans will be the next veggie. 

At her doctor visit, E measured very small.  We knew it.  She is small, but is healthy for all the milestones.  Dr. S commented on how physically advanced she is as far as the crawling, sitting, and her personality.  She's just small and less than the 5th percentile.  He said he's not worried especially now that we are starting solids.  He said since she is so active, that is going to keep her smaller since she's burning so many calories.  We are not worried and are happy with our little petite girl! 

E was 13.5 lbs, 23 inches tall, and had a normal head circumference (I don't have that measurement).  She had the flu shot booster so she has to go back in a month to get the next part.  Dr. S wants to see a 1.5 - 2 lbs gain in the month. 

E is a happy baby girl and loves her siblings.  They are all so good with her and love to sing to her.  Her favorite song is 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.  If she's upset or crying for some reason, all they do is start singing that song and she stops crying.  When she's in the bouncer, she gets all excited and starts bouncing while they sing.
Sharing a room with R is going great and R looks forward to having bunk beds with E in 2 years.  Wow, I can hardly imagine. 

One thing B and I haven't done yet is pick godparents for E.  We go back and forth between some great couples we know and just haven't decided.  We need to for sure, but have a hard time.  Knowing that this is our last kid, makes the decision difficult.  I'd like to say that she will have godparents by Christmas, but I'm not sure that will happen.  Let's say by her first birthday.  6 more months:)

Craziest Busy Weekend Ever

We stay busy but this last weekend, I was more tired on Monday from the weekend.  It was the weekend of October 11-13.  Here's a recap of what all we did over the 3 days.

Friday night (the 11th) was our October date night hosted by the O'Janpas.  B and I went to Red Lobster for a nice dinner.  I wrote about it already.

Saturday (the 12th) started out in Cary (Morrisville actually) at the Green Acres pumpkin patch. We had to meet B's AJE friends there at 10:00 so that means leaving at 9 for us.  It was cold and damp that day, but we still had fun.  There were some little activities for the kids and a huge corn maze that we ventured out on.  We were pretty much there for 3 hours leaving a little after 1.  On our way home, we stopped for lunch, then headed to Wal-Mart for shopping.  Our list included Nathan's birthday gift and snack food for Abe's sleepover.  Nathan is a friend of R's from school and he was having his birthday party at 5:45.  Abe was having his sleepover for his 4th birthday also.  B and I had to divide and conquer to accomplish everything.  I took R & E to Nathan's birthday party and B stayed home to feed the boys at the sleepover.  A's guests included Grayson, Baylor, Logan, & Landon.  The boys made flubber together, ate pizza, then watched a movie and ate popcorn.  The boys did great! 

Sunday (the 13th) morning Justin was here early to pick up Grayson & Baylor for their church service at RCCC. We were off to CRF for our church service with a potluck lunch afterwards.  B and I facilitated a Parenting 201 class for 7 weeks and wanted to have a social with the parents from the class.  There were about 8 or 9 couples in the class and I believe 6 of them came over for the potluck. B cooked hotdogs and the other couples brought chips and fruit and drinks.  We had a good time and got to know Jason and Kellie better.  They are very sweet and Kellie is A's awana Cubbies teacher on Wednesday nights. Once all our company left, we took naps since it's the Sabbath and then headed to CRF Millbrook campus for our Families Core Team meeting.  B and I are on the Core team as a part of the Parenting Ministry and we have quarterly meetings.  We ate dinner at church and spent sometime in prayer with other couples passionate about parenting.  We were asked to lead the Parenting 101 class once the lessons are completed and of course we will.  B and I are very passionate about the early parenting years because we firmly believe that those first 2 years set the stage for Biblical parenting. 

I guess the main thing I want to take away from this weekend was the reality of our choices.  B and I wanted to have kids close together.  We have no doubt that it will be crazy at times, but this was the first time we really had to split up so our children could both do what they wanted to do.  We know that our kids won't always 'get to do what they want' due to financial reasons or just out of time/schedule conflicts.  But for R to attend her birthday party for a school friend and for A to have his sleepover, B and I had to divide up the tasks.  I'm not sure how we will do this when all four of our kids are being pulled in opposite directions, but we will manage.  God has blessed us with incredible friends that we will depend on in the coming years. 

Halloween 2013

Halloween was on a Thursday this year.  We normally go to the Caldwell's house for dinner and trick-or-treating, but this year we stayed at home.  Our first Halloween in our neighborhood and we were looking forward to it.  Since it was Thursday, we had gymnastics, but still had time to come home, change, and then head out for trick-or-treating.  The weather was great and Cimarron (Reynolds Mill) is a great place for trick-or-treating.

 A was Spiderman (birthday gift), R was Repunzel (from Disney) and W was Jake the Pirate (from Disney)

After an hour of trick-or-treating, we headed home so I could feed E and hand out candy ourselves.  The kids got really excited when someone came to the door for candy.  It was cute, when kids came to our door, A & W would open the door and say "Trick or Treat".  I liked being at home so this might be our new tradition every Halloween!

Abe turns 4

Over a month after Abe's birthday and I'm just now sitting down to write about it.  Poor guy!  Abe had a great 4th birthday and he was the center of attention for the entire day.

Kristen picked A up for preschool around 8:30 am and while at her house, she got him a cupcake a gift.  Socks were part of his present and they were ninja turtle socks.  He was so excited and they have surpassed his spider-man socks now.  Abe came home around 4 from K's house and then we got a chance to make a big deal about him.  He opened his gifts from the grandparents and then his gift from us.  The highlight was a Spiderman costume from Gran and Papaw.  Abe was very excited about his dress up.  We got him a ninja turtle shirt and hat with eye-mask that was red for Raphael. 

Since it was Monday, we let Abe pick the breakfast meal for the evening and he picked pancakes with bacon and sausage.  B made cc pancakes and both meats for the boy.  Keith and the girls were over to help us celebrate A.  After dinner, J/N picked up A for a special godparent outing for dessert.  They took him to sweet Cici's for frozen yogurt.  N said that he got to pick whatever mix-ins he wanted and he picked mostly candy.  I'm not surprised.  He has a sweet tooth like his momma:)  J/N gave A a hotwheels track for his bday and when he got home, J opened it and put it together for him.  I'm pretty sure we skipped baths that night but before A could go to sleep, he had a tummy ache from all the sweets/sugar/candy he had had during the day.  After some time in the bathroom, he was ready for bed and coming off his sugar high.  It didn't take him long to fall asleep from such an exciting day.

B took A to his 4 year wellness check up later that week.  Here were A's stats:
height 40.75
Weight 30.8
good vision and hearing
got 4 shots and took the first 2 like a champ and then cried

I'm so glad he was 40 inches tall since the Disney trip was quickly approaching.  Some of the rides required 40 inches and we were afraid he wasn't going to meet that.  He did, Praise God. Here are a few things I want to remember about my four year old...
Abe loves super heroes.  He will watch anything of that nature with his daddy and loves to pretend to 'save' his kids/friends as a superhero.  His favorite at the moment is Spiderman.  A also loves puzzles.  He's worked his way up to 48 piece puzzles with ease.  There's a big jump from 48 to 100 pieces but he will be ready for those soon.  Abe has recently gotten into Ninja Warrior (thanks B) and likes to go in the back yard and flip on the dome.  He's pretty good about trying new things physically.  His cartwheel is developing and much better than his sisters.

I'm most impressed with A and his memory.  Since starting Awana this year at CRF, he has memorized so many Bible verses.  He's memorized his and R's so far and we've had 2 verses per week for almost 10 weeks.  The other day, he was just rattling off all his verses and I was so proud.  The Lord is working on him and Jesus is in his mind.  I pray daily that A will become the young man that God has planned for him.  A is tender but still very much boy.  He loves on E all the time and couldn't be any sweeter to her.
 

October Date Night

Kristen and Vic hosted the October date night for small group.  Everyone except the Daniel boys were in attendance so they had 12.  I believe the night started with some backyard play, swing, chalk & then moved inside.  K is so good because she had a craft for them to do (little owls that were so cute).  I tried nothing like that.
 This date night was of significance because it was the first time I did not nurse E at her 7 feeding.  I pumped and left a bottle for her and while I was happy to be out with B, I was a bit sad that I wasn't getting to feed her.  Since she's been born, I have never missed a 7 feeding and now that I'm at school, the 7 pm feeding is the only time I get to nurse her.  It was fine though and Vic said she took her bottle like a champ. 
B and I went to Red Lobster for dinner and didn't have to wait this time.  We had a yummy meal and good conversation.  It was very nice timing because B had just taken his comprehensive exams and had been very busy with school and studying.  We had just had a very few busy and stressful days so this date night was much needed.  When we picked up the kids, they had had a great time and their owl ornaments were very cute.  Rin was still doing crafts which didn't surprise me.  Here's a picture from their dinner time.  Ell is in her carrier on the floor on the side but you can't see her.

Ro, Baylor, Abe, Wes, Grayson, Ryan, Emilie, Julia, AK, Bella & Rin

September Date Night

We hosted our small group September date night to start the second year of date nights.  Our group has changed a bit since last September when we started.  We have a new couple (the Prices)  and 2 new babies (AK and E) totaling 5 couples with 14 kids.  B and I knew it would be crazy but worth it.
Parents started dropping their kids off a little after 5 and everyone was picked up by 8:30.  Our guests included Logan, Landon, Bella, Julia, Anna Kate, Emily, Ryan, Grayson, Baylor, Rowan, plus our 4 to make 14.  Once everyone arrived, we walked up to the park for some outside time.  I had E in the carrier, Ryan & AK in the double stroller and Ro in the single stroller.  The big kids all walked and we looks like a site for sure.  The kids had fun playing then we came home for dinner.  Dinner wasn't as smooth because I wasn't pre-prepared and had to cook the nuggets and cut the apples.  Next time, I'll have the fruit already cut and I think juice boxes would be easier than trying to fill up everyone's cups with milk.  But food was served in the living room for easier clean up and we started a movie.  It was quiet and calm for most of the movie and then kids started to lose interest so after eating, kids were allowed to go back and play in the rooms.  The time seemed to fly by rather quickly probably because it was so busy, but still fun.  The hardest part was the babies because E needed to eat at 7:00 and around the same time, AK and Ryan needed their food/bottle so I ended up nursing E and giving AK her bottle at the same time (very weird).  When doing it again, I'll just pump for E instead of nursing her to make things easier.  The kids were very well behaved and we didn't have any problems with behavior and we didn't have any tears so I could that as a success!

Baylor, Grayson, Ro, Ryan, logan, Landon, Wes, Julia, AK, Bella, Emily, Rin, Ell, Abe