Eden--3 Months

     

Eden hit the 3 month mark last Thursday.  I can honestly say that she is our best baby.  She is practically perfect in every way.  Maybe we should have called her Mary Poppins Coffey!  She weighs about 11 lbs and is about 23 inches long.

She has a sweet smile and she is such a mellow baby.  She won't even take a pacifier because she isn't  grumpy long enough to get the hang of it.  She rarely cries and when she does it is her tired cry. This is the first time I have been able to distinguish what her cries means from one another, but the cry she makes 90% of the time is a tired cry. She is an excellent sleeper.  She first slept through the night on January 3rd.  When I say she slept through the night she went down at 8:00 p.m. and I finally had Rebecah wake her at 7:45 a.m. because I needed to feed her.  She slept through the night 3 nights in a row and then she caught the cold that was going around the family and went back to getting up once a night--which is still pretty amazing.  Last night she slept through the night again so I hope now that her cold is better she might continue with her sleeping trend.  I have no idea what I did "right" this time because I always have to make my babies "cry it out" between 8-9 months.

Edie loves to snuggle and be held, but she is also content to have tummy time and hang out on the play mat, swing or bouncer.  One thing she doesn't like is taking a bath.  She will shriek until she is wrapped in a towel. Rebecah called her a "shrieking eel"!  She seriously cries more for a bath than she did when she had her 2 months shots.

Rebecah is a great big sister.  She is very good about holding Eden when she cries and I can't attend to her right away.  Usually, it only takes Rebecah walking around with Edie for a few minutes before Edie is asleep in Rebecah's arms.  Rebecah also likes to get her out of bed in the morning and help undress Eden.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last month:

Kimball reading Eden a football book.  She was quiet and attentive!

Best Buds!

     

    

This last picture is Edie sleeping in Annika's crib.  I put her in the crib for safe keeping while I changed diapers and she fell asleep.  

First ER trip

Most of us in our family came down with a cold last week.  The symptoms were pretty much run of the mill...sniffles and coughs. Lincoln started sleeping poorly and I just thought it was part of his cold.  I finally decided to take him to the doctor when he stopped eating and drinking normally.  He and Annika both are much pickier than Kimball and Rebecah ever were, but Lincoln was refusing milk and water which he normally drinks well.  When I called the doctor's office to schedule an appointment I made the mistake of saying that he wasn't eating and drinking well and not filling his diapers like normal.  Well, they panicked at the office and said that he was dehydrated and I had to take him to the ER because they couldn't help him at their office.  I was NOT thrilled to be told to take him to the ER.  That day there was a 2 hour delayed start to school so I had all 5 kids at home.  In hind sight I should have been more assertive to the nurse and asked her if she was refusing to see us.  It would have been SO much quicker and less stressful.

I called a good friend of mine, Grandma Bev, and she came to stay with the big kids and Annika while I took Lincoln and Edie to the Children's Hospital ER.  I don't like driving to this hospital complex, but I'm getting pretty good at it.

Thankfully, prayers were answered and we didn't have to wait long at all.  Lincoln appeared perfectly healthy aside from a case of Otitis media--an ear infection.  This was Lincoln's first sick visit which landed us in the ER for an ear infection.  I apologized to the ER staff for coming in for an ear infection, but I just kept telling them that my doctor's office refused to see me.

I guess this experience was one for the books since it was the first time taking one of my kids to the ER AND the first time one of my kids has had an ear infection.  I hope we can avoid both for years to come.  I am just grateful that it wasn't anything serious.

Waiting for the discharge papers so we could go home.

Rebecah's "Golden" Birthday

Rebecah turned 7 on the 7th of January.  When your age and birth date are the same we call it a "golden birthday".  It was also special because it was Rebecah's year to have a birthday party.  I'm just not a party planning person so my kids get a party when they turn 7 and then another in their early teen years.  Don't ask me what I'll do when Lincoln and Annika turn 7.  I'm already dreading it!!

Anyway, Rebecah requested her usual breakfast, cheese danish.  For her dinner she wanted spinach burgers--now before you completely gross out, they are actually really good, but not your typical meal request from a 7 year old.

Rebecah's main gift this year was a desk for her room.  Kimball has my mom's old desk and Rebecah has been using a storage tub for her desk.  Since Rebecah has a big new room of her own we decided she needed a real desk.

As you can see, she was excited!

All set and ready to work!

For Rebecah's party we did a "Frozen" theme since it IS wintertime in Syracuse.  Instead of playing a bunch of party games we came up with some snowflake crafts to make.  We made two different snowflake ornaments and then we made bracelets with blue, light green, and white beads.  The bracelets were a huge hit.  All of the girls loved making them.  Rebecah was even thoughtful enough to make bracelets for the girls in her school class that couldn't attend the party.  

Rebecah had fun at her party and was SO excited about it.  By the end of the party she wasn't feeling great but she still managed to keep a smile on her face.  

     

I forgot in the excitement of the party to take pictures of the girls making crafts.  Oh well.  

Of all the things Rebecah received for her birthday she said her Lego Friends Encyclopedia was her favorite gift.  I'm glad she likes it so much.

     

Rebecah is such a good big sister.  She plays so well with Lincoln and Annika and she can put Edie to sleep when she holds her and walks around.  She is a good student and kind to everyone at school.  She has become a good reader as well.  It is fun to see her enthusiasm for life and her carefree way she plays and sings at the top of her lungs.  It makes me sad to think that one day she may become self-conscious of what others think of her and not be so spunky. I hope that day never comes.

By the time it came to blow out her candles she really wasn't feeling well.  

Happy Birthday, Rebecah!

   

    

Medicine Cabinet

For Christmas Santa gave me a medicine cabinet.  Lincoln and Annika frequently go around getting into mischief and my make-up and beauty bottles are frequent victims.  It can be rather frustrating, so Joseph ordered me a medicine cabinet so I could keep my things out of reach.  I think he did a great job painting and installing it.  It is amazing the skills Joseph has developed over the last few years.  YouTube is a great teacher!!

I know Joseph thinks it looks a little plain on the outside, but I really like the simpleness of the cabinet.  He actually bought a small decorative piece to go around the inner rectangle of the cabinet door.  The cabinet came with "fancy" hinges, if I close the door halfway it closes the rest of the way slowly on it's own!

Christmas 2016

We had a great Christmas this year!  I really enjoyed having Christmas on a Sunday.  It felt more Christ centered and He is the reason we celebrate Christmas.  The kids didn't like having to go to church on Christmas, but they didn't get any movies or outdoor presents this year so it wasn't as if they missed out on trying out some of the their Christmas presents that day.  

On Christmas Eve we had our usual evening program.  We watched Mormon Messages while we ate dinner.  After that we read the Christmas story out of the bible while we acted it out.  For the 4th year in a row, Rebecah was Mary.  She will be so disappointed when Annika expresses a desire to be Mary.  Joseph is the one who really scores big though.  I think he played 4 different roles this year...donkey, angel, shepherd and Wise Man.  Lincoln and Annika were a lion and giraffe because they didn't want to be sheep.  After our Nativity we ate treats while we watched It's a Wonderful Life.  That really IS a great movie.  I love the feeling I have when I watch it.  

Christmas morning!!  We went down stairs about 7:00 after Joseph and I were ready for church.  We always try to be ready for the day before the kids get up so we don't have to make them wait too long.

Lincoln and Annika were both very excited about their present from Santa and the one that their twin got too.  There have been many fights and power struggles over the Marble run and stroller!

I think Rebecah looks so pretty in the above pictures!  She made the above ornament at school and was very proud of it.

Joseph ordered this cute pillow for me and I love it.  Now the challenge is to keep it nice.  Eden sure is a happy girl.  She didn't have a care in the world on Christmas.

I gave Joseph this cute little Mexican Nutcracker that he wanted.   We both love it!

Lincoln got this monster school bus and he LOVES it.  It's so fun to see the excitement of the kids when they get something they really want.

I wanted a colorful Christmas dinner so I planned one.  I get really tired of all of the carbs for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The kale and squash were fantastic additions to our dinner.  Joseph said he thinks we should have kale every year for Christmas dinner.  Good thing we all love it!

Christmas Happenings

The Christmas season seemed to fly by this year.  Every time we add a child to our family time seems to go faster.  We are now moving along at break-neck speed.
This December Kimball was able to participate in the Student Council Salvation Army bell ringing at Walmart.  He really wanted to wear shorts, but it was a bit cold, 30 degrees, so we insisted that he wear pants.  We explained that standing outside Walmart ringing a bell was very different than running around outside playing football.  I think he was glad he wore pants.

Our church congregation had a Christmas party and our kids participated in the annual Nativity and Elf songs.  Lincoln and Annika were elves.  They were NOT happy about wearing elf hats.  It took a lot of coaxing to get Annika to wear a hat, but she finally did.  Lincoln never did.  When the little elves went up to sing their songs he wouldn't sit there even with Joseph holding him.  Lincoln just ran off the stage to find me!

Elf Annika

Kimball and Rebecah were in the Nativity.  Kimball played the part of a Wise Man and Rebecah was an angel in the Heavenly Host.

We also participated in the #lighttheworld Christmas service initiative.  It was fun seeing all of the ways we serve on a daily basis without thinking about it and how others serve us.  It really is the little acts of kindness that can bring a smile to our faces.

One of my favorite things we started this year was singing Christmas songs on the way to church.  It brought the spirit into our hearts as we sang and singing helped to keep the fighting at bay.

The Gift of the Magi

I introduced the big kids to The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry this year.  While I read it to them I realized that the language was pretty hard for them to understand.  Joseph kept stopping me so he could explain what was happening.  I love this story though and I think it will become a yearly tradition to read it as a family.  I have always liked this story as I contemplate the sacrifice the young married couple made for each other out of love.

I came to fully appreciate the sacrifice Della and Jim made for each other when Joseph and I were newly married.  We didn't have much money when we were first married.  We lived on Joseph's student loans and what I could make as a substitute teacher.  Our first Christmas we didn't buy presents for each other.  We went to St. Louis for Christmas and in the excitement of the morning no one noticed that we didn't give each other gifts.

Growing up my family didn't have a lot of money so I learned from a fairly young age to have a modest wish list.  To this day I can think of expensive things I would like--new carpet in my house-- but never put them on my list because I just can't justify the expense.  Now that Joseph and I are better off financially I still have a modest list.  Joseph sometimes gets frustrated with me when I have a short list.  I just tell him that I'm content with what I have and I don't need a lot of expensive things.  I would rather choose to spend our surplus money on those around me that might need it more.  Every so often we have been able to give to someone else and I am happy knowing that I made someone else happy. Those are the gifts that matter to me.

It truly IS better to give than to receive.  I hope I can teach that lesson to our kids as they grow up.