First Grade

Well my little girl is officially a big 6 year old first grader! She was so excited for a week before school started because she found out that her teacher would be Mrs. Srader.  She knows her from church and I think they talked some last year because Karleigh was just sure she would be her teacher even before Kindergarten was over! 

We visited the school and took a tour one Sunday evening when Mrs. Srader and her husband were working so that Karleigh would not be overwhelmed in the new building (it's huge)!  Then, we went again on "meet and greet" night where these pictures were taken.  

The theme in Mrs. Srader's room is "The Frog Prince"...I think she likes frogs!  The kids all got to wear a crown on the first day, and that was just GREAT for Karleigh!

The first full week of school Karleigh has "come out of her shell" so to speak.  She has been in trouble for talking several times.  Mrs. Srader had to move her desk one day to get her attention.  Karleigh came home and told us each time she got in trouble so I guess it's good that she hasn't tried to hide it!  She told me that when Mrs. Srader moved her desk she told her "One more time Miss Karleigh and you won't get reward on Friday!" Now THAT scared her!  She's not been BAD, her teacher says she's a "good girl", but I like that Mrs. Srader expects  a lot from her!  She wants the kids to learn NOW what is expected from them, and with 23 kids in the room she can't have talkers!  Karleigh seems to really be learning quickly!  She is studying living and non living things in science, and reads so well!  I think she's in for a great year!  

Watermellon

Paw Paw Mike brought us two watermelons straight from the patch...

Kole says, "tank ooo Paw Paw"...."mmmmm"!

Karleigh shared her watermelon with her buddy Evan...

                                  They said "This is goooooooood!"

We all enjoyed the watermelon very much, and Mom just LOVED cleaning us all up!

Evan Obsession

                                I don't think Kole is having much fun!

                                                       Don't tell Jason!

                                            I'm loving the shoes Evan!

                                           What a pair!

Well, the end of summer is here...school is starting, and we had to get in just a few more days with Evan.  Karleigh and Evan have been friends for as long as they have been alive.  They didn't know they were friends until a couple of years ago, but ever since they realized it they have been pretty much joined at the hip!  I should post past pics with Evan...that could be another entry.  Anyway, Kim and I joke all of the time about when the day comes that they can't lock themselves in a room together.  This summer Evan has learned that it's cute to tell everyone that he's going to marry Karleigh when they grow up.  He told his mom many times, but then on vacation he got quite a lot of attention (esp. from teenage girls) when he told about his love for Karleigh so he told EVERYONE that would listen. LOL!  Karleigh thinks Evan is pretty neat! She's always had a lot of boy friends at church, but I guess since Kim and I spend a lot of time together Evan has become one of the closest.  Jason made Evan mad this summer because he told him that before he could marry Karleigh he would have to ask him and his baseball bat (or something like that).  I think it hurt Evan's feelings that Jason would even think about coming after him with a bat... OH the things to come!  I think it's really funny to listen to Evan and Karleigh play.  Karleigh can get Evan to do things that he would NEVER do otherwise, and Evan keeps Karleigh's tomboy side from getting too dusty!  Some days they are inside playing house with the dolls and dress up clothes.  Other days they are knee deep in mud, sand, and rocks or climbing trees.  I think Kim has learned never to send Evan to my house expecting him to leave clean and dry...unless I wash his clothes while he's here!  She used to tell him he could come over if he didn't get muddy or wet...LOL...no more, we just change clothes now!  I know it's a mess when they get wet and nasty, but oh the memories they are making...and Evan always wants to stay longer!  Sometimes I think those two are kindred spirits...they were together the whole week of vacation and I don't remember one big fuss!  That's pretty rare for kids their age!  Anyway, these were some of the last days of summer before Evan started kindergarten and Karleigh started first grade...LOTS of fun!

5 months with Kaleb

This was Kaleb in March...Just a few months ago...
This is Kaleb NOW...how time flies, and WOW, isn't God good!

He is a very healthy 16 pounds, and growing more every day! He is laughing out loud, smiling, watching every move his sissy and brother make, reaching for things, staring at his hands and feet, babbling, and, thanks to sissy, lifting his head (especially in the car seat). I am NOT ready for him to start rolling over, sitting up, eating baby food...all of those things that mean he's not a "baby" anymore!

I LOVE the baby stage...I know I'm crazy, but it's so sweet...especially now when he smiles every time I walk into view! It's just something to feel like you are so loved and needed by someone so innocent and precious! Of course Karleigh and Kole need me too, but they just don't need me when I want them to! LOL! I haven't started Kaleb on cereal yet because he's not acting like he needs or wants to eat anything else...I had such a time with Kole that I decided to wait until I'm sure Kaleb's ready! I can't believe this is the same litte man that was at Children's just a few short months ago...what a great God we serve!

See, he's got all the little rolls and dimples that make you want to pinch him...which we all do quite often (not hard of course). This little man has brought us such joy and we are so grateful to have him in our family!

Well, I am such a bad blogger lately!  I am always so excited to do creative things like blog, scrapbook, decorate my house... it just never gets past the "thinking about it" stage!  I just STAY TIRED!  I was saying this to my friend Kim the other day and she said..."Jana, I don't know why you would be tired?  When is the last time you slept for 8 hours straight?...3 years?"  Yep!  I think that may be true...at least 3 years since I really slept until I felt rested!  Not that it hasn't been worth it...just love my kiddos, but I would love to be a little more rested!  My mother in law says I'll sleep in 18 years!  (I hope it's a little sooner)

I was sitting out here on the porch watching the kids play and I thought that maybe I should use this time to blog a little!  It's pretty cool for an August day!  I bet it's probably 80 degrees, and it looks like it could rain.  Every once in awhile it thunders and a few sprinkles have fallen, but not anything enough to drive us indoors! 

 Kole is running around the yard in his pajama shirt and some little training pants (which have been wet since 2 minutes after he came outside).  He told me "poopie boody" when he got up from his nap, and he was actually telling me the truth! I guess that's a step in the right direction!  He's really young still, but he seems to like going to pee pee ...especially outside so why not!  If I set the timer and take him every 30 min. he stays pretty dry, but again...sometimes I don't get around to that!   He's just sooooo cute...his big blue eyes get him lots!!!  His vocabulary is expanding...sometimes it's a question of what language he's speaking though.  Milk is "mulch", juice is "ducey", "twain"is train, "aipwane" is airplane, and we've just figured out "dadoo" is blanket (where that comes from we have NO idea!)  

 Kaleb is sitting in the bouncy seat beside me watching his brother and sister play!  He's just started to notice his surroundings more!   He laughed out loud the other day...he's precious!  We have NOT mastered the sleeping all night yet!  I don't think he's done it once...well, maybe from 11-5 ONE TIME!  I am such an enabler!  LOL!  I let him nurse to sleep a lot because I'm tired and don't want to listen to crying... besides he's still in our room...where else could I put him?  He usually wakes up in the night and eats for 2 min. and is asleep...but sometimes it happens over and over and over...  LOL!  I am trying to keep him a baby for as long as I can!  He's already growing so fast!  I guess it will only get worse... Mama's baby's get away with everything!  Hopefully I won't be that bad!  I keep thinking when school starts we will have more of a schedule, but who am I kidding...it will be even worse! LOL!

Karleigh is going back and forth between riding her bicycle, (with no training wheels) and coloring the porch like a rainbow with her chalk!  She's quite the little artist.  She loves to color, draw, and create things!  She colors the concrete with her sidewalk chalk, and then uses this little brush to brush the dust into a "rainbow mountain".  Of course Kole LOVES to come along and destroy her mountains!  She's really quite patient with her little brothers most of the time.  She loves to "mother" them.  This summer she's even changed Kole's diaper and gotten him dressed!  Such a big help!  I try to give her at least some of her own space and time each day because she has to share a lot, but some days it just isn't realistic.  She's excited about starting 1st grade!  Her teacher is Mrs. Srader, who goes to our church!  We've been so blessed to have 2 great christian teachers so far!  Mrs. Srader told us that the first day of school they are doing "The Frog Prince" and everyone gets to wear a crown!  That's right up Karleigh's alley!

Well, it's gettin to be supper time and  my "free time" has ended.  It's back to the real world...MY WORLD...my kids!   

 

More about Kaleb...

Here we go again...I have not had time to sit and blog for weeks...imagine that! I did want to write some more and post some pictures about our time at Children's Hospital. Kaleb was born at 2:45 PM on March 19th, and about 10 PM he was aboard Angel 1 medflight on his way to Children's Hospital in Little Rock. I will say that I have never felt more helpless in my life than I did that night, and I hope I never feel that again! I was stuck in the labor and delivery room wondering, while all the "able bodied" people were able to watch what was happening from the nursery window. I have watched some video from that day, and I can't say that it would have made me feel better to watch what was being done because Kaleb was so pitiful. The nurses, doctor, and respiratory therapist worked with Kaleb and did tests and x rays for quite a while and I would occasionally hear that there was a 50% or 60% chance of him going to Children's, but when the final word came I was just so sad. I had never had a baby and not been able to hold it, feed it, comfort it, and be able to give it everything it needed to survive. It was strange to carry this little baby every second for 9 months and then have him taken from me without even a kiss.

Of course my hormones were on overtime so tears fell from my eyes constantly whether I wanted them to or not. I tried to be strong and not just fall apart, but really I just wanted to throw a big huge 6 year old Karleigh fit! LOL! I wanted to tell them that they would NOT take my baby and put him in a huge, loud, dangerous,...machine and take him away from me...over my dead body! BUT I didn't! I knew that Children's was where he should be, and that they were wonderful, and that I could do NOTHING while they could do EVERYTHING he needed at that point, but oh that was so hard! Two nurses, Beverly, and a really sweet Tech nurse, came and cleaned me up (like a baby) and lifted me from the bed into a wheel chair. I was wheeled to the nursery where I could touch Kaleb's little foot and tell him goodbye. I couldn't stand or even reach his bed. Again, everything in me wanted to stand up and grab him in my arms. Word came that the helicopter had landed, and everyone had to leave so that the medical team could evaluate Kaleb for the flight. I was wheeled to a room where I could see the huge blades of Angel One from my window...it wasn't something I wanted to see at that time though. I tried to turn the other way and pretend that my baby was on his way to my room. Jason came in and one look at him told me that I better get it together! He was a mess! He had watched it all, and heard everything they were saying about Kaleb, and he was about to fall apart! This really made me worry because there was only one other time in our lives together that I have seen him like that...my mom's funeral. We waited and talked with the people who were in our room...I can't even remember who it was. Finally, the team wheeled Kaleb's little isolet into the room so we could say goodbye. He was so pitiful...tubes were everywhere, and he looked so fragile! A couple of minutes were all we had and they rushed our baby away. The room felt so empty, so quiet, so WRONG! I thought of my friend Kim, and wondered how she could stand to sit in the hospital room after knowing that she would never have the hope of watching her baby get better. How did she stay sane when they took that precious little girl from her arms for the last time? It was then that I started trying to be grateful. I kept telling Jason as he was preparing to leave for Little Rock that we would be OK. I knew we would get through this horrible time, and Kaleb would be home with us eventually! We would have some really tough days and nights, and think that it would never end, but it would! I knew we were about to learn a lot of things from this experience! I also felt the prayers of everyone who loved us. There is no way I could have been able to get through that night without them because I couldn't pray myself. I can say I know the peace that passes all understanding because as Jason left I really didn't know how I was not begging him to take me with him...but I didn't. I KNOW it was God!

March 19th

I have wanted to be able to have time to sit down and blog since the night Kaleb was born, but there is always a choice to be made between sleep and blogging... I guess you can guess what has won out! On March 18th we went to the doctor and my blood pressure was OK, but it had been up for several days before that. I had been on bed rest since Monday (if you can call it bed rest when you have 2 kids to take care of). I had so much help from family and friends, but it's hard to totally relax and let someone else take over your job as Mom. My doctor decided (after consulting with other doctors and thinking about it for awhile) to send us to the hospital and induce labor at 36 weeks and 4 days. My good friend Kim lost her little girl to an abruption at 36 weeks, and she had the same problems with her blood pressure going up and down. My doctor was also Kim's doctor and I felt that she knew what was best so we went home...after running some errands, and got to the hospital around 4:30. The nurses got my IV started (and Trudy did such a GREAT job!), my blood pressure was around 114 over 73, and I was so relaxed so they didn't have to start me on any Magnesium (which is AWFUL stuff). They gave me a Cervadil to start thinning my cervix and a sleeping pill to help me rest...and rest I did! The next morning the Pitosin was started to get my labor going, and I was cramping some when DR Henderson got there to break my water. I was only dilated to 2. About 9 or so I was hurting to the point that I was having to breathe through contractions, not too bad, but I was feeling it. The nurse came in and offered to ask for my epidural, and I said "sure, why not!" I got my epidural, and let me just say that I was GOOD! I slept until I started pushing. I felt like they had given me another sleeping pill, but I think it was just that for the first time in a long time I felt like I could relax and just sleep! (I think I would have another baby just to get that few hours of total RELAXING SLEEP again. It was WONDERFUL!) My epidural was pretty strong because when the nurses came in to get me to start pushing they had to hold my legs in the stirrups...I kept thinking "whose legs are those?" I couldn't feel a thing! From the time I had my epidural to the time I had Kaleb I went pretty fast I think. They put a monitor on Kaleb's head and I do remember sometimes waking up and wondering why his heartbeat kept slowing down. Apparently, they were concerned because they had me start pushing at 8 and I went to 10 pretty fast. DR Henderson got there and suited up in 4 minutes, and I pushed constantly for the next few minutes, even when I wasn't having contractions...they just kept saying "let's get him out". I just remember wishing that someone would come help me by holding my shoulders up. I was so exhausted I felt like I was riding a bicycle up a HUGE hill. I could just see a big glass of ice water and I wanted it "right now". I kept looking at Jason and Kim and wishing I could get their attention to help me, but apparently the "show" was too good to pay attention to me. They were totally absorbed in the excitement and the nurses couldn't leave my legs for fear I'd fall off the bed! I'm sure it would have been hillarious if it hadn't been so urgent. When Kaleb was finally born I heard a nurse say the cord was around his neck...I couldn't hear a lot b/c I just kept waiting to hear my baby cry... It seemed like forever, but finally he did start crying. It was a screeching cry...unlike an of my other babies...and he was BLUE. They worked on him for a few minutes, and then handed him to me for about 2 minutes. Jason wanted to get a picture of the DR with Kaleb so he took him and handed him to her, and that was the last time I held my baby for many days!