Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!

Way back before we had kids, we would take little adventures to see friends from college and attend weddings in cities we had never been to before. We figured we better have fun traveling while we could, as having a family would tie us down. Well, it turns out that life is much more of an adventure now than we ever thought it would be. At times it is tough, but overall we are living life in a way that we never imagined. We usually have no idea what each day will bring with our motley crew. Even beyond that, so many of you continue to bless us all the time with things like inviting us over to your pool to hang out, or offering to watch the kids so that we can go on a date. Thank you so much! You make our lives fuller and richer than we ever thought possible.

One huge gift that our parents gave us this summer was to take care of everything (with the help of friends) so that we could take a trip out to NYC, just the two of us. We had a great time , and it was fun to be part of the adult world again. We enjoyed seeing the many historical sites, eating good food, and catching a show. We also took the whole family out to Virginia (are we crazy or what?) this summer. The kids surprised us with how well they did on the 13-hour trip. We were so glad we could be there to see Cousin Erin graduate, and to have a reunion with all the family that attended the fun event.

As for the kids, we'll start with Jack, the youngest. He keeps us on his toes like none other. Finding ways to outsmart him is challenging sometimes. He enjoys figuring out how things work, like doorknobs and cell phones. He is also very friendly and often says hi to strangers at the grocery store. Drew continues to be our little athlete in the making. Balls are his favorite thing in the world and he loves to dribble, throw and hit them with a bat. He also has become quite attached to his shark hat lately and wears it almost continuously, except for when he eats and sleeps. Lauren is still our spunky, little fearless 3rd mommy of the family. She loves to socialize, and it's so adorable to watch her follow her big sister around everywhere. Alyssa is in the middle of her last year of preschool. It's fun to watch her start to figure out how to put together letters and sounds and learn how to write and spell words. She continues to be as girly as can be and loves princesses and dancing.

Dave is enjoying teaching a great group of kids this year. He also coached tennis again for the first time in 3 years (yep, it's been a little hectic around here). He has been working out a lot and doing some 5K races and his 2nd mini marathon this year. Amanda has found it very therapeutic to write about the antics of our family on our new blog. She has also gotten to know some of the ladies in her triplets group better this year. Now that life has at least stabilized, she is trying to catch up on some of the chores around the house that have been neglected the last few years. We are hoping to make our house look like a home instead of a daycare center someday.

We have to admit we are hoping that 2009 brings nothing but good health to our family. Jack has been to the ER four times in the last 4 months, including an overnight stay. He has a lot of trouble breathing when he gets bad colds. We took him to a specialist this week, and we are undergoing more testing to make sure there isn't a more serious cause. We thank God that Amanda's follow up scan for thyroid cancer came back clean this spring! Amanda also had another surgery this summer (surgery #4 in just over 2 years) to repair an incision from a previous surgery. (Dave should get Father of the Year award for all he did during her 6-week recovery.) Lastly, she needs to finish up physical therapy for some back problems, then Humpty Dumpty should be back together again.

But despite it all, including billions of loads of laundry, wiping runny noses and breaking up constant fights, we still have to say that we are enjoying ourselves. For every frustrating thing, there are three more to laugh or smile at. Seeing our kids look out for each other, learn to share and give each other hugs and kisses all the time brings us so much joy. If you are ever bored, we invite you to come over and visit the zoo and see the dandelion bouquets, knock knock jokes, and kids falling over hugging each other for yourselves!

We wish you all the best this holiday season, and hope to see you very soon!

Love,  

Dave, Amanda, Alyssa, Lauren, Drew and Jack

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.    Eph 3:20

I've Got Chills - They're Multiplying......

We did a little, er, ah, family bonding last night. It was one of those nights you shudder to think about as a parent to 4, but it appears the storm has passed. Some kids will do anything to watch Finding Nemo at 2am! Alyssa and I are the lone ones standing, although I think we have both had a touch of the bug. She served her time with something similar 2 weeks ago, though.

It's never a good day when you start it by doing two loads of laundry at 12:30am. But despite all the people up and down the stairs, pulling cribs apart and wiping them down, and the laundry room churning at full throttle right across from Alyssa's bedroom, she slept through the whole thing!

We'd appreciate your prayers for us during this rough time. In particular, we have had some concerns about Jack lately, and him not gaining weight. I took him last week to see a specialist (pediatric pulmonologist) about his breathing troubles, and she did give us some good tools to use to try to keep us out of the ER (4 times in 4 months is too much).

However, she also ordered some further testing to rule out other problems. We are awaiting the blood test results to see if he has celiac disease or if his immune system responded well to some shots he was given in the past. Most concerning, is that he will be taking a "sweat test" next Monday. This is to rule out Cystic Fibrosis. The doctor thinks that, most likely, his problems are due to childhood asthma, but we have to make sure these other issues aren't a problem. Please pray with us that all test results will come out well. We may not get the results for another month, so the waiting is tough, too.

Jack was also tested by an allergist. He took those 16 pricks in the back like a champ. We did confirm that he is officially allergic to peanuts, cashews, milk and eggs. There is a 20% chance he could outgrow the nut allergy and a 70% chance he will outgrow the milk and egg allergy. (Alyssa was allergic to milk and eggs and did outgrown them at age 3.) We also found out that he is allergic to a mold that is common in the fall. That was a very helpful piece of the puzzle. The last two autumns, we have had a lot of sickness. So next year, we will start Jack on an allergy medicine and hopefully avoid some of the past misery! Lauren has to go in next for allergy testing, as she has shown some problems with milk. There have been some serious reactions to milk in England recently, so we need to get on top of that, too.

The good news is that both of the boys seem to be over their last cold. I think that Jack enjoyed having the company during the breathing treatments, though. He's back to being the lone ranger (get it? He's wearing a mask.) with preventative breathing treatments twice a day now.

I'd also appreciate your prayers for me as I am still going through physical therapy for some back problems. I need prayers for good health in general! It's time to get on with life!

More fun stuff later!

God bless,

Amanda

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

To my precious little Sweet Pea-

I can't believe that you were born 5 years ago today. How did my sweet little baby grow up into a young lady so quickly? We've had so many good times - just the two of us. I remember thinking how fun it was to take you to work with me when I was pregnant with you. I would sit in meetings and play a little game with you where you would try to find my hand and hit it. You have enjoyed having fun and playing games ever since.

These last few years, we have thrown a lot of changes at you, but you have handled it all like a champ. I can't think of anyone who could be a better big sister to your babies. Even today, I was touched by how you gave Lauren a gift on your special day.

I love how God made you with such a tender, caring heart. When we told you that we were going to buy some Christmas gifts for people that couldn't afford them, you immediately volunteered the money from your piggy bank. And even today when we asked what dessert you would like to have to celebrate, you chose fruit snacks, so your siblings wouldn't feel left out with all of their food allergies.

But along with being sweet, you are lots of fun, too. You have a great sense of humor, and I laugh every time we play our "I love you more than...." game. I love to watch you make up your new dances and I never know when you are going to lay a new phrase on me, like "Oh no he di 'ent."

But most of all, I am so happy to see how much you love God. I love that you make presents for God and Jesus and how you can't wait to see them in heaven and give them a big hug. As hard as I try, I have to admit that I will fail you sometimes. But God will always be there for you, no matter what.

I thank God for the privilege of getting to be your mom. I wish I could fully explain to you how badly I wanted you in my life. You have been such a joy and blessing, and so worth the wait we went through to get to be your parents. You are more precious than I ever could have imagined. Thanks for being such a wonderful daughter. I'm so proud of you.

Love always,

Mama

 

Fall Fun

Technically it's still fall, so I'm not too late on this one, am I? The last few years we haven't gotten the chance to do much fall-ish, so we more than made up for it this year. The weather was absolutely beautiful most of October, too!

We started the month off with going to a birthday party at a gymnastics center. We are always excited when someone is brave enough to invite all of us over. To burn off a lot of energy at the same time is especially a bonus. The kids had fun climbing, bouncing, and playing with balls and parachutes. We almost lost a kid in the parking lot while loading up, and we left their jackets there, but it was a great time. It was one of those drives home where we had to make sure no one fell asleep, so we could get some good naps out them.Alyssa has been talking about HER birthday party ever since.

Then the hospital where Jack likes to go to the ER also held a great fall festival. The best part was it was all free (although donations were accepted for a local children's hospital). The kids got to pet all kinds of animals (Dave's favorites were the "afro chickens"), climb on firetrucks, see a helicopter land, and pick out a pumpkin (turns out, those were the only pumpkins we got the whole month). Alyssa also got to take her picture with a real princess! While standing in line for lunch, we had a little mishap where Lauren got lost. Someone was carrying her off to the microphone stand to announce they had a lost child when I caught up to her. Well, it wouldn't be an event for us if something didn't happen, right?

Next, we went to a local farm for Alyssa's preschool field trip. The fun thing was the I went there way back when I was in preschool. They are known for their apple cider, so they got to tour the orchard and take a wagon ride out to pick the class pumpkin. Then, we ended the day with a walk through the corn maze. Unfortunately, my mom, Lauren, Drew, Jack and I got separated from Alyssa and her class. Then we got lost in the corn maze. Then I started to panic as I wanted to get to my oldest baby NOW. So then we started to cut through the maze to get to the outside of it. My mom and Lauren fell in the process, and they got cuts all over, including one on my mom's eye. By the time we made it out of the maze, we could see the preschool teacher walking around looking for us at the other end of the field (they had called the preschool looking for us, too). My mom went ahead (bleeding and all) with one of the kids to explain what happened. Meanwhile, I was trying to drag the other two tired and whining two year olds through the field. I was so worried that Alyssa would be crying on a bench somewhere wondering where her mommy was. But, I was glad to see that she was playing happily on the playground instead. That was my first time to ever go into a corn maze. It just may be my last. I'm scarred!

The following week, we headed to another farm that is becoming a tradition for our family to visit every fall (except for the years that we happen to give birth to triplets). It was a beautiful day and it was fun to have an excursion of just the 6 of us. So far we haven't attempted anything like that without help. We took a fun hayride out to the pumpkin patch/pine tree field. The boys didn't think it was so fun, though, as they were crying the whole way out. Then the kids had fun picking out pumpkins and playing with them. I also enjoyed showing them the sap on the pine trees and what it smelled like. It was funny to watch them keep smelling their hands the rest of the morning. Then we ate some lunch, and afterwards, we decided to splurge and split an elephant ear. Dave went to buy it, and Alyssa asked where Daddy went. When I told her he was buying an elephant ear, she said, "An elephant ear? Why would he want to buy the ear of an elephant??" When I explained it was to eat, she seemed even more confused. Then I told it really wasn't from an elephant, but was made from dough and sugar and cinnamon and lots of butter. She still thought we were nuts for eating it, but once she tried it, she couldn't get enough of it. After that, we hit the haystack, the petting zoo, and last but not least, the Cinderella pumpkin carriage. Alyssa assigned Drew as her prince and Jack as Lauren's. If only she knew! Then it was naptime by then so we headed on home.

We finished off our fall festivities with a ride on the pumpkin train. My mom had talked about wanting to go months before, so we had our tickets and a deadline to get there on time so the train literally didn't leave without us. Meanwhile, we had ordered some food from Angel Food Ministries that had to be picked up as we were getting ready. We thought Dave should go, since I would probably stand around and talk and make us all late. After he left, Jack decided to start throwing up. Like it wasn't enough to be running around trying to get the 5 of us ready to go! After his first time, I was hoping maybe it was a fluke. But just as I got the first mess cleaned up, he threw up a second time. So we decided taking Jack wasn't such a good idea. Dave offered to stay home with him (the fact that college football games were on didn't have anything do with that, did it?). Meanwhile, the weather had turned incredibly cold, and I hadn't gotten the kids mittens and winter coats out of the basement yet. So I was running around trying to get everything ready, and found out that Jack got into a bottle of cleaner that had bleach in it (It was laying out from when the toilet overflowed the night before). Dave was home by then, so he called Poison Control. It appeared that he hadn't consumed much, so we just had to watch him. Meanwhile, I dug through the box in the basement, got out coats, dumped a bag of mittens and hats on the floor and asked Dave to find something as I ran off to finish getting ready. We made it to the train with about 5 minutes to spare, but I felt badly about the 2 wasted tickets that couldn't be resold.

Alyssa was so sweet as the train started up, she said, "I wish Jack could have come; he would have loved this." We missed him, but we all had a pretty good time, except for the cold making the kids a bit fussy. The train took us to a field in the middle of nowhere. (I was so thankful that Jack started throwing up when he did. If he would have waited even an hour later, we would be trying to deal with it out in the cold, with nothing but a port-a-potty to clean up in.) The kids got balloons and we headed over to a little scarecrow. Drew's face was priceless as he tried to figure out if it was real or not, especially when Grandpa went behind it and started making it talk. It's a good thing we didn't need pumpkins, because the patch was pretty muddy and we skipped that part. So we headed over to the petting zoo, tractors and face painting. The girls loved it, and Lauren got her face painted for the first time. (It later made a perfect sunshine imprint on her crib sheet.) They also had a hay maze for the kids, but I am happy to report it wasn't traumatic for us at all. After that, we headed back into the train and back on home. Luckily, it was almost Halloween by then, because we were getting all pumpkined out!

Here's a slideshow of pictures for you to enjoy from our fall.

 

Click here if you can't see the slideshow.

God bless,

Amanda

http://four-and-no-more.blogspot.com/

Thanksgiving Festivities

I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was fun, relaxing and almost went too smoothly. The food was great, the kids were really well behaved and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The grandparents were very gracious and split up most of the cooking and came to our house, so we probably did less work than usual that day! Our only incident was having to borrow some raw potatoes from next door (thanks Linda!) to soak up some extra salt from the gravy. (That trick works pretty well, by the way.) In our house, that doesn't even qualify for a crisis.

We actually started our celebrating the week before with a Thanksgiving Feast at Alyssa's preschool. You know you are getting older when an event like that starts seeming like a high school reunion. They did this cute little song about Mr. Turkey. The main words are: Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you? (repeat) With a gobble, gobble, gobble and a wobble, wobble, wobble. Hello Mr. Turkey how are you? Here's a clip for you (with an abrupt ending, as we can take 30 second videos on our camera).  Alyssa hasn't put her turkey hat on since the making of this video. I hope it wasn't a scarring experience for her.

 

 

Here are some pictures for posterity's sake of our nice relaxing day.

 

Remember how I said things almost went too smoothly? Well, then came Friday. We decided to get a jump on our Christmas to do list, and get all the Christmas decorations out of the attic and put all the clothes that I mentioned before back up in the attic. Well, when I went to move the van (so that we could get to the attic) it wouldn't start. I came inside and asked Dave if he was in a good mood or not. He asked me if he was in trouble. When I told him the van wouldn't start, he thought I was kidding at first. Remember the last time that he had to jump a car? It wasn't that long ago. This time the kids left on the lights. It's always the lights!

So after a few hours, we finally got the attic all loaded and unloaded, and Alyssa was excited to play with the nativity set FINALLY! Then, we tried to put the van back in the garage, and it wouldn't start again. Dave jumped it again, and we let it run a LONG time this time. By this point, we realized we shouldn't have promised to put up Christmas lights today (never promise anything to a child until the minute before when you can follow through!). But, life went on with it's usual screaming and tantrums (did I mention the triplets are cutting their last set of molars on top of having colds?).

Jack also had a rough night sleeping Thanksgiving night. I heard him crying at 11pm, but then he went back to sleep. Then he woke up at 3am, and Dave got up and gave him a breathing treatment (what a man)! He was wheezing again in the morning, so we gave him another breathing treatment. After his nap, we gave him yet another one. About an hour later, Jack himself asked for another breathing treatment. He was getting really breathless while he was talking, so we fed him some dinner and off to the ER we went. It's pretty bad when you see the doctor and they recognize you and remember which parent came last time. This was Jack's 4th ER visit in 4 months. But, they gave him some meds and a breathing treatment (that we can't do at home), and he seemed to be doing much better.

On Monday, we went back to our pediatrician for a follow up. By that time, Drew was worse and he needed a breathing treatment for wheezing, so he got an appointment, too. The only problem was that I had a physical therapy appointment at the same time. Dave bravely and chivalrously offered to take all 4 kids by himself after I offered to cancel my appointment or round up some more help. I thought it would be a long wait, as it was the day after a holiday weekend. It actually went pretty well and he beat me home. So Jack now has an appointment with a pediatric pulmunologist, and he and Drew are breathing treatment buddies. We had a second nebulizer delivered yesterday, and it's great to do both treatments simultaneously.

Never a dull moment at our house, I tell you! Some days I wish for one.

I hope that you all had a blessed time this holiday weekend.

God bless,

Amanda

http://four-and-no-more.blogspot.com/