Sleep

Sorry I haven't posted any pictures for a while. We spent the 4th at my parents' and then decided to stay this week so Anna could go to VBS at their church (which she had a BLAST going!). And for some reason I always forget to bring my USB cord to download pictures from my camera!!
Anyway, since I don't have any pictures, I'll just talk about Jacob's sleep. :D Yikes, it's been wacky! I don't even remember how long ago it started, but it's been a while (like well over a month). He just started waking up at least 2 times every night. Normally when he would start to do that, it meant a growth spurt. So he would eat at least 6 oz. (usually 8 oz.) and go right back to sleep. Usually the growth spurt only lasted a few days, a week max. But this just kept going and going. I didn't know what else to do b/c he had to be hungry since he was eating every time, right? Then he started acting like he was teething (which I still think he was/is, the tooth just hasn't made an appearance yet). Dad suggested that he wasn't actually hungry, he was just in the habit of waking up and eating in the middle of the night. Completely plausible (weird, but plausible) b/c the boy has no issues with eating enough food during the day! So we started just rocking him back to sleep instead of automatically feeding him a bottle, and whaddya know the kid would go back to sleep. There was one night when he was actually hungry, but all the other nights, he didn't need a bottle. So we figured out that he didn't need a bottle, but the problem was that he was still waking up. We couldn't let him cry it out b/c the kids share a room and we didn't want him to wake up Anna. Since we've been at my parents' this week, I put the kids in separate rooms. The first couple nights, he woke up once around 1 or 2am and I had to rock him back to sleep. He still woke up around 6am, but would take a bottle and go back to bed for an hour or so. By the 3rd night, he would only cry for a couple of minutes and then go back to sleep on his own (still eating a bottle between 6 and 6:30am and going back to sleep for an hour or so). By now I had a nasty cold/cough so Dad made me sleep upstairs and he slept downstairs with the kids. He said the 1st night he cried a couple times and when he tried a bottle at 6am, Jacob was asleep before he got 3 swallows down. And he's been sleeping all night (meaning no one has to rock him back to sleep, he might whimper or cry a bit, but I don't think he fully wakes up like he was before). This morning he didn't wake up for the day until 8:30 (granted, he didn't get to bed until 10pm b/c of Anna's VBS program)!! So I'm really hoping that our sleep problems with him are done! We'll find out when we get home, I guess. I know that I won't have the monitor on...I think that was part of the problem, too. I could hear him too well, so as soon as he started crying (which maybe was just a small cry, not fully awake), one of us would go in there so he wouldn't wake up Anna. I also found that she won't wake up to him crying for quite a while. So.......we shall see :) He's also given up his morning naps :( I don't remember when Anna did that, but it seems like it was later than 10 months! It's just amazing to me how easily these little ones can get into the habit of something like this. For those who don't know Jacob, trust me when I tell you the boy is not lacking in nourishment! And now that he's actually slept through the night (like he had for so long before) without eating, I know that he really didn't need to eat in the middle of the night.
Sorry to bore you with all of that. But that's about all I've got without pictures! :)

Talk about determination

So I know this guy...went to school with him and his siblings. His mom taught me how to sew in Home Ec. We were excited to learn that he'd made the US team for the Olympics (we missed seeing the final race), but we couldn't believe the footage we saw of the race! That was one determined guy. Way to go Christian! (he's the one with the beard that came in 3rd)

The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcVN5PjmaDs

An article: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=120726&sid=61&fid=9

One of those days

It's just been one of those days today. Both kids were grumpy...Jacob's getting more teeth in, which means he's fussy, clingy, and his nose runs like a faucet. I have to put Vaseline on it b/c it gets red and sore and has even gotten so bad it bleeds. Poor baby. I think he might be getting some back teeth in the way he sticks his finger (or anything for that matter!) clear back in his mouth. So it's long days and long nights, too. Anna's allergies are getting bad again, so she can't breathe very well through her nose. I told her to blow her nose and she got mad (at her nose) and said "It won't cub out!!!" ha. I know the feeling. Luckily the OTC allergy medicine works for her.

"Don't take my piture!!"

WHIIIIIINE :(

Ohhh, he got so mad when I shut the bathroom door! He sat there for a good 5 min. and whined and pushed at the door! Nevermind that he had a gazillion toys to play with and all the other rooms in the house to explore...he wanted the bathroom!

But, I still have some wonderfully good kids :) Anna with her matching doll (again, thanks Uncle Windell!!)

They love to play on Anna's Dora couch. Jacob really likes Dora--he takes off really fast for that thing and gets his face right up there to look at her. It's quite funny!

Is it just my kids?? Anna would play forever on the dishwasher...of course, she wasn't as big as Jacob so she could actually crawl up ON the door and play. Jacob just stretches and tries so hard to get something. Usually he'll settle for a spoon and sit down and chew on it.

My TV junkies ;) I didn't figure Jacob would like TV as much as Anna does, but there are some shows he gets absolutely mesmerized with!

I have to admit, he did have his happy moments (however brief they were!) today. He loves playing with the handles on the dressers.

My Garden

I know some of you already know about my garden, so just skip this post if you do :). For those who don't, here's the story. I am by no means a "green" "organic" person. I've wanted a garden for a long time...I guess just b/c I like the idea of growing my own food and I figured it would save a fairly good amount of money since my husband (and the rest of us, but he eats more than we do) likes to eat a lot of veggies. And maybe I just have fond memories of Grandma's garden and eating the yummy food she got from it. Anyway, I asked her and my aunt (who also has a great garden and makes amazing pickles) about it, what it would take, how big it should be, when I should plant, what I should plant, etc etc etc. My garden is about 16' x 8'. That seemed HUGE when I started, now I wish it was bigger! Our yard slopes down, since it floods. So we had to build a "box" for it so it would be on level ground, which meant we had to get a lot of dirt to fill it up. We got some fill dirt from a friend and then used about 10 40lb. bags of garden soil to top it off. We also put chicken wire about 2' up around it to keep rabbits out. We also found that birds like to eat carrots and strawberries. So we put a little chicken wire netting over the strawberries (haven't decided what to do w/ the carrots yet). I also found out not too long ago that if you want your peas to grow very well, they have to have a lattice to grow up on. So I just got that built today. Late April is the best time to plant here. Basically, it's whenever the danger for frost is gone. Although, some vegetables (lettuce, I know for sure) have to be planted later in July. If you can buy the plant instead of seeds, do it. That means you'll get produce quicker. I planted broccoli, peas, peppers (should have been plant, but I forgot), carrots, green onions, green beans, red onions (bulbs), strawberries (plants), cucumber (plant), zucchini (plant), and tomatoes (plants, one Roma, one regular). Some of the packages of seeds said you could start them inside several weeks before you planted them, but of course I didn't plan ahead, so I just planted them outside. I got everything in the ground in mid-May and it was about 2-3 weeks later that we got our first strawberries (there were minuscule!). This week we've gotten a Roma tomato, strawberries, and beans. The peas won't be much longer before some will be ready to pick. The cucumber and tomato plants have taken off and are HUGE. The zucchini isn't far behind. So I wish I had more space for them. And I wish I had more room for the strawberries. Cucumbers and strawberries are planted up on little hills, so I probably should have made more room than I did for them. Oh well! Anyway, that's enough about all that :) My mom never had a garden (she kind of has a black thumb, eh Mom?!), so it's not like I grew up gardening. It's really not too difficult. I water it every day that it doesn't rain, but I've got a sprinkler that reaches all of it w/out having to be moved and I usually only water it for about 15min. Now that I need to check for picking every day or two, it's easier to keep up on the weeds. The only thing that hasn't grown is the broccoli. Not sure why that is.

This is the garden before anything was planted (or the chicken wire put up)

This is early June, about a month after I'd planted everything.

This is today :)

Here you can see just a bit of the red onions (bottom), the strawberries, cucumber (back), zucchini (front) and the 2 gigantic tomato plants (which kind of look like one--not sure why I didn't plant them farther apart...)

Here are the red onions (going from the bottom of pic to top), green beans, green onions, the few carrots remaining, the 2 pepper plants sprouted, and the peas (right in front of Anna). The broccoli is planted on the other side of the peas, but nothing has grown.

Garden sucess!

The garden is growing like CRAZY! The tomato plants are gigantic, so is the cucumber plant and the zucchini plant is catching up. I need to build a little trellis thing for the peas, b/c they're kind of looking bad. I need to take another picture of it and post the progress. It's insane how fast some of them are growing. Still no broccoli sprouts, though. We've already had several strawberries (they're getting bigger!) and just got a Roma tomato the other day. There are a bunch of tomatoes, a couple that will be ripe enough in another day or two. Today, I went out and picked green beans. We had them for lunch...not too shabby! :) Anna never has liked green beans, and she still doesn't.

And Jacob, well he just likes food. I think spaghetti might be among his most favoritest :) He sure does make a mess with it though!!

So proud of himself.

Mom's Mayo Update

Not a lot to report, really. Rough day today :( It will probably be another couple days before they really start finding stuff out, I'm sure.

From Dad:
Not a lot to report. Setting up tests and appointments. Yesterday saw the GI (gastro-intestinal) dr and she setup a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy (she wants biopsies) but couldn't do it until Aug. It is because the last time she had one done the sedative was not effective (they gave her as much as they safely could) and could not finish because of the pain. So they have to do one with putting her under and those are harder to schedule.

Today she saw Hematologist about the lymph nodes and he wanted to see the slides. (Ok we brought a 30lb box of documents and cd's and didn't have what he wanted.....) So he ordered them from the hosptial to look at. So next was CT scan. You know what you have to drink to do that and you know how nauseated she is. Well only 2 or 3 swallows and up it came. Dr decided to let her drink water and do it anyway. Then the GI office called when we were back at hotel and wanted her to see lung specialist and since didn't have an appointment you just have to go and wait to see if they can see you. They wanted a more recent scan of the chest so down we go to get that done. At least didn't have to drink anything (ended up just getting an x-ray). By then too late to see anyone so we go back in the morning to wait and see, plus she wants her to see Endocrinologist and that will also be a wait and see tomorrow and then a return visit to GI doc.

She is in bed now with nausea. Walked alot today, probably the most she has walked since out of hospital. Most of the buildings are tied together by either skywalks or underground subways they call them. So that is nice but wore her out. More later I am sure... Cecil

Happy Birthday Princess :)

Well, today is officially the day you came into the world 3 years (wow) ago. I guess the fact that you were so stubborn about being born should have given us a clue as to the amount of stubbornness you posses! :)

But you are our sweet Anna Rose. I love this stage you're in now--the princess/doll/girly girly stage. It's so fun to see you be a little Mama to all your babies and stuffed animals...and especially to your little brother! You have a very sweet, tender spirit. You LOVE to help and I can already trust you to look after your brother. Any baby you see, you just get so excited!

You need your sleep and you need your food--if you're lacking on either, look out world!! You don't like big crowds--you get overwhelmed and very shy. You really don't like cars--when you hear one close by, it usually startles you and you run in the opposite direction of the noise! That's a good thing, I guess...being afraid of cars. You also do NOT like loud noises (like Papa's mower!). You don't like to be cold, so winter time baths aren't always fun--you like to stay wrapped up in your towel for a long time before you're ready to get dressed!

You love to cuddle (have since the day you were born). And you love having your back tickled before you go to sleep (you get that from Daddy). You love books and will sit and read book after book after book (you get that from me). You even enjoy reading them to Jacob...and some of them you get almost word for word! You love being outside and going to your favorite park. You have a wonderful imagination and are so good about playing by yourself and keeping yourself entertained. You also like to make Jacob laugh. He adores you. You love strawberries, blueberries, Iowa sweet corn, spaghetti, pizza, macaroni and cheese, green trees (broccoli)...come to think of it, you're not a very picky eater!

Your Daddy and I pray that you will one day come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Raising kids is no easy task and we don't take it lightly. God has blessed us tenfold through you and the way you see things. Every day brings a new joy, a new frustration (or sometimes just the same one again!), and more love for you.

We love you Anna Rose!!!

A smile that lights up a room :)

Your sad face...how can anyone resist that?! ;)


And your silly face. You make us laugh all the time.

I'm sorry--but the tongue thing truly is genetic! We just can't help it!!!

Princess Cinderella--thank you Uncle Windell!

Aunt Cara's beautiful princess dress she made you.

You just couldn't stay awake--the party was so tiring, even the next day you crashed!