school, pictures and fevers

Finn has been doing a Pre-K program and learning shapes, letters and numbers for 3 weeks now. He also has an ABCs Bible verses book that he's going through. He likes to memorize words and then look for them in his regular books that he looks through and then calls them out when he sees them. He's turned out to be quite the student and likes to memorize things. I've also found him practicing writing his letters and he sounds words out all the time. Sometimes it sounds like "f-f-Sunday" saying the 'F' sound and then saying Sunday, but at least he's trying. If something starts with an 'F' he automatically thinks it must say Finley. Do you know how many things have 'Fs' in them? =) 

Last Wednesday, Piper got a 103 degree fever for a couple of days after he got another cold a few days before. Poor guy seems to always have a cold and runny nose. He takes it in stride though and he'll come and let me know when he needs me to wipe it. He will either point to it or he will just start blowing it on anything he can reach. It's taken some time to teach him what he can blow his nose on and what he shouldn't. He's also started to let me know when he's peeing and pooping. He'll point to his diaper and then smile as he stands very still. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh at the look on his face as he's concentrating. He will then go and get me a diaper to change him. I'd say he's almost ready for potty training. I'll first work on having him get himself undressed and redressed alone and then we'll probably start in a couple of months. I really wish he could communicate more though. He still doesn't really say much at all and will absolutely not say anything if you ask him to say it. He's one stubborn kid! 

Ollie is growing like a weed. He now drinks anywhere from 17 to even 20 ounces in the evening alone cluster feeding for night time. This doesn't bother me at all as he's been sleeping straight through the night now for at least 2 weeks...and we're talking 11-1/2 to 12 hours straight! This little boy loves to sleep. He takes about a 2-hour nap in the morning, will be awake for about 1-1/2 hours and then will take a 4-hour nap in the afternoon. He then stays awake for anywhere from 3 to 4 hours while he just eats. He's still the happiest, most content baby. He loves to watch Finn now and when he sees him, will lock his eyes on him and watch his every move. Tonight, Finn got out of his line of vision and Ollie got frustrated looking around him waiting to see Finley again. I told Finley to go back over to Ollie so he could see him and he just stared. We also had Ollie's dedication service last Sunday. While we were up on stage and the pastor was talking, Ollie locked on the pastor the whole time, even through a yawn, he just watched Pastor Ray talk. 

Yesterday evening we had a friend from our church come out to the farm and take family pictures. Piper decided not to take a full nap so he was pretty crabby. We'll just say that we captured the real Piper. I think we got some good pictures done...we'll just have to see in a few weeks! I'm excited to get them back!

Late this afternoon, Finn got really whiny. He didn't take a nap this afternoon and after our photo shoot followed by a bonfire and a busy morning, he was tired! So, I asked him if he was falling apart after not taking a nap. He said, "Yes, I'm breaking" in a pitiful voice. About 10 minutes later he came to me and said that his head was breaking and he was rubbing it. I asked him if his head hurt and he said yes. So, I felt him and knew right away that he had a moderate fever. Within 10 minutes he was lying on the couch, shaking and shivering with fever and asking for a spoon. I had no clue why he would want a spoon, but I got one out of the silverware drawer and he said he showed me that he wanted it on his forehead. My guess is, that was the coldest thing he could think of to put on his aching head. So, as he went to sleep shaking, I rubbed his forehead with a silver spoon. I stopped once because I thought he was asleep and he opened his dazed eyes and said, "I think you better just stay here with me". Poor thing got hit hard, but as soon as it came on, it left. He slept for about 45 minutes and when he woke up he ate and then hit the floor playing with his tractors and trucks. The fever never came back...at least not yet!

Here's Matthew talking to Ollie. If you take the time, Ollie will talk your ear off and smile up a storm! 

The boys ready for bed and sitting for a picture tonight. 

 Ollie. He's almost into 6-month clothes. We've found too that he's most comfortable in his brace. I think the bottom of his legs and his feet are just too sensitive since they've been covered for 23 hours a day for weeks now. 

Piper pausing for a slight moment. 

 Of course, Finn chasing Piper. Thankfully, Piper loves it just as much as Finley does!

My sick little boy, not so sick anymore. 

man-girl

According to Finn, this is now what I am. He can't seem to get a handle on men, women, boys, girls. For now, everyone is a man and then either a boy or a girl. Matthew is a man-boy, so I'm a man-girl. If Finn is ever talking about me, he calls me 'he'. I sure hope that some day soon he starts to understand this. I'm starting to get offended...especially since this morning he made a point to come up to me and tell me that I'm a BIG (arm motions for big) man-girl.

finn's 4 year appointment

Finn had his 4-year appointment this morning. He knew going in that he was getting a shot and was very upset by this...has been upset about this for 3 weeks. We got there and he saw Dr. Bell and went through his exam just fine. He has stayed at 50th percentile for height and weight his whole life and nothing had changed this visit. He has great fine motor skills and we are going to watch his auditory recognition skills for the next 6 months. It has to do with giving 3 separate instructions and him following them. He had trouble with this in the office, but I'm not really worried. He's able to follow instructions at home just fine. After his exam, he had his hearing and vision checked. He did great with these. Then it was time. He asked the nurse who was performing the tests on him if he was going to get a shot. She looked at me like "what should I tell him?". I told her that he knew he was getting one and that she should tell him exactly what was going to happen. After she told him, she left the room to go get the syringe. Finn then asked if he could get it in his leg instead of his arm. I told him he could have it in his foot if he was willing! He said, "No, just my leg". So, I asked him which leg and he pointed to his left. He pulled his pants down, I set him on the table and the nurse walked in to find him ready and patiently waiting. He showed her where he wanted it and she cleaned it, put the needle in and gave him the injection. He did cry a little when she was giving him the shot, but it was very short lived and all in all a good experience. She told him that he could have 2 stickers for being so good. He picked one out and said, "This one is for Piper". The nurse looked like she was going to cry and said that was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard. He picked his sticker out and we started to leave. Finn then turned around to the nurse and called out, "thanks for my shot"!

Here is our sweet 4 year old

a substitute for the substitute for the substitute

It's never a good sign when you're in the middle of baking something and have to break out the substitution chart. The recipe called for 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. I didn't have have chocolate chips. Enter substitution chart. All I needed was 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate plus 2 tablespoons shortening and 1/2 cup of sugar. Enter the substitution chart again since I didn't have 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate. So, now all I needed was 6 tablespoons cocoa plus 6 tablespoons shortening. Yes, these I had; however, I didn't have the 1/2 cup of sugar. Enter substitution chart again. All I needed was 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Yes, that I had. And the recipe would have turned out great had Piper not dumped 9 cups of Corn Chex on the floor requiring me to leave the stove and help him clean it up. One forgotten, burned mess on the stove.

Started all over, got it made and then forgot to take it to Bible study.

one little cutie

Oliver is being dedicated this Sunday and the church wanted a picture to put up on the screen before the service, so this is what they got. 

to catch you up

Ollie is now almost 12 weeks old and gets up at 8, eats, plays for about 1 hour and then takes a 2-1/2 hour nap. When he wakes up at 11:30 he eats, plays for a little over an hour and then goes down for a nap until about 4:30. He's then awake until 7:30 or 8. During this 3 hours or so time, all he does is eat. He will eat about 12 ounces in that time and then go to bed. I usually have to wake him around 5:30 a.m. to eat and then he goes right back to sleep. He's such a happy and content baby. He doesn't have a fussy time during the day or evening and he already loves to watch the boys play and run. Maybe he'll be the peacemaker for the two of them!

Our two wild boys! 

Piper is almost 21 months old and loves electronics, any kind of buttons, lights, noise and his Praise Baby videos. He will say "Mama", "Dada", "I do!", "Side-o" (outside), "Da-do" (thank-you) and "cheese" when he's holding anything that looks remotely like a camera. He has a very deep voice and I can't wait for him to learn more words so that I can hear it all the time. Oliver just got his Ponseti shoes and brace, so Piper is very interested in them since they are just like his except several sizes smaller. He's fascinated with unbuckling them and trying to buckle them back so we have to watch and make sure that Ollie still has his shoes on all day. He loves any pacifier, but has his favorite blue one for nap and bedtimes. He also has his favorite blanket that he loves. Both of these have to stay in his bed though during the day and he is compliant with it. When I go to get him up in the morning he takes his pacifier out of his mouth, shows it to me and then throws it on his bed next to his blanket. Today, he got upstairs by himself and brought both downstairs and laid on the floor. I took that as a subtle hint to put him down for his nap. 

Finley is, of course, 4 now and loves trucks, tractors, playing outside and his new love is books. He has a quiet time when Piper and Oliver are taking their naps and he can sit and look at books for a long time and be perfectly content. He rarely naps anymore, but is happy to sit quietly during this time. He likes funny noises and if I hear something weird or unusual during the day, it is usually Finn making some kind of noise. He will laugh at himself and if someone else laughs, he will laugh too just for the sake of laughing at the same time. He has very good manners and uses them every time he needs something. He has trouble saying the 'L' sound and says a 'W' sound instead so it sounds like, "Finwee" and "Owiver". He has most recently started PreK and seems to be ready for it. He likes drawing and writing, but mostly loves to cut up construction paper when I've drawn straight or wavy lines for him to cut on. He's also learning a Bible verse a week and we have plenty of practice time throughout the day to explain and recite. Last week Piper yelled at Finn and Finn said, "No, no, Piper! A soft answer turns away wrath." This week we are learning Matthew 5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. He can say it, but we are just getting into the explanation. I can't wait to use this on them when they're wrestling! 

Finley holding Oliver. Oliver usually just hangs out and is content with however you want to hold him. This makes it easy for the boys to hold him as they love to do. 

Oldest and youngest. I hope all three boys get to be great pals as they grow. 

finley turns 4!

Finley turned 4 on September 2 and boy was he excited! This was the most excited I had ever seen him. He knew that people were coming over on September 1 for his party and all week he talked about them and would look out the window for everyone. Happy birthday, Finley! We are so blessed to have you as our son!

In this picture I had asked how old he was and he was saying "Four!!!" 

His monster truck cake that he picked out. I was so thankful he picked a relatively easy one since I am not a cake decorator at all! It turned out pretty good though and he loved it! I did learn though that you should never, EVER put a cake in the freezer after you have added food coloring to the icing. I took it out of the freezer the day of his party and as it thawed, the green coloring started coming out of the icing and it pooled on the pan. So, right before everyone got there, I wiped up the green from around the pan and added a little more 'dirt' around the bottom. I don't think anyone noticed...and the only thing I notice was the lighter shade of green than I was wanting. 

Grandma and Ollie waiting for pizza!

So, this is not a good picture of Piper, but it shows exactly what he did all night long. If anyone got up from their chair and there was food left on their plate, he would steal it and eat it. I tried giving him his own pizza two separate times, but he only wanted other people's. 

Getting ready to blow out his candles! 

brothers

At times during the day, I'm amazed at how much these boys seem to love each other when at other times they almost beat each other to a pulp. They both ask to hold Oliver whenever he's awake and they like to lie down on the floor next to him. Piper doesn't understand what being quiet means so he will yell 'Ha!' in Oliver's face whenever he wants to talk to him. That's Piper's word for 'Hi'. Finley will sometimes read books to Oliver and Oliver talks right back. 

Both Finley and Piper love to give Oliver a bottle, and even if I'm nursing him they will want to give him a bottle or a pacifier. Of course, Piper knows that Oliver won't want anything else at that time so that means he gets to keep them for himself. 

finn's photography

More practice from Finn. He loves taking pictures and then looking at them on the computer later. He will point to the pictures that he likes best and then we delete the ones that don't turn out. 

We picked a whole bunch of beans from the garden on this morning and we were outside cleaning and cutting them up. Not sure what setting the camera was on, but I look like I'm glowing and you can't even see he bean that I'm holding up, but Finley liked it so we're using it. 

Piper helping with the beans. He loves to run around the garden and will pick up a ripe tomato and eat it raw. 

sharing

Piper decided to share his Leapfrog game with Ollie. 

Piper thought Ollie should show a little more enthusiasm for it, so he started yelling and pushing the buttons for Ollie. Ollie still didn't care. 

Finn practicing with the camera again. He's getting pretty good at it. When he first started taking pictures, all we got were blurry feet. 

nothin' could be finer than to be in carolina...

Matthew and the youth group went on a 10-day missions trip to Romania and we decided that it probably wouldn't be the best idea for me to stay home alone with a 3 week old along with Finn and Piper. So, we packed up and after church on Sunday, July 24, we left for NC. We drove straight through only stopping  for about 2-1/2 hours total and got to Charlotte exactly 24 hours after we left. We were surprised again at how well the boys traveled. 

On our first full day in NC, we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a fun day of catching up and chasing after the boys. 

Grandpa and Grandma (Bama and Paka) with Ollie. 

Grandma holding Ollie.  

Grandpa and Matthew made a big swing for the kids. It was definitely their favorite thing to play with! 

Finn on the swing.  

Daddy helping Piper on the swing. 

Matthew getting ready to give Finn a big push. 

Daddy and Piper.  

On the 28th, Matthew flew home to get ready for his missions trip. It was sad saying good-bye to him knowing that Finn and Piper would miss him a ton and Ollie would be 6 weeks old when we saw him again. 

On the 29th, Mom, Dad and the boys and I met Becky and her kids, Chloe (3) and Michael (1) at the Dan Nicholas Park. They had a lot of fun on the train, the carousel, and at the splash pad. \

On the train waiting to go. 

At the splash pad. Finn was all over the place running through the water, but Piper was a lot more strategic and would stand on the circles waiting for the water to fly up. 

Piper patiently waiting for the water. 

Finn running through the whole pad. 

Introducing: Finn as cow and Chloe as sheep. They really had no idea what they were supposed to do in there as you can seen in the pictures below. 

While in Charlotte, Ollie still had to have cast change appointments set up, so Piper and Ollie's doctor, Dr. Haasbeek referred us to Dr. Steven Frick. At the last minute, I decided to bring Piper along and just see if Dr. Frick could take a quick look at his clubfoot and see if he had any recommendations for us. The minute Dr. Frick walked in, he started asking about Piper as he had read the family history. He did a total examination on Piper and watched him walk, etc. He said he has a rocker-bottom foot, which explains the look of Piper's foot and he explained about Piper's empty heel pad and what treatments were available to attempt to bring it down again. (Piper's heel cord has tightened up a little and is bringing his heel up higher and is not in his heel.) I really appreciated him taking twice the time with us than he was supposed to and answering my many questions. Dr. Frick also gave us some information on some genetic testing that we can go through to try and figure out this clubfoot thing in our family. We are trying to get it through Dr. Haasbeek. 

Dr. Haasbeek had told us that he'd let Dr. Frick decide if Ollie was ready for his heel tenotomy procedure. When Piper had his done, he was 10 weeks old, couldn't eat after midnight the night before his surgery (ended up being 9 hours straight that Piper couldn't eat), had to go into the hospital and be under general anesthesia. Matthew and I had decided that we would wait to do this at home since it's a rather big ordeal, even though it's a simple procedure. However, Dr. Frick said his foot was ready for the procedure and that it would take about 2 minutes in office. SIGN ME UP! No hungry and crying baby, no hospital admission, no general anesthesia, no recovery! There was really nothing to think about. Of course, I couldn't call Matthew to talk it over with him, but this was the best thing for Ollie, so I signed the papers. 

Holly holding Ollie after his cast was removed. He ended up having 2 less casts than Piper did. 

This is all the 'equipment' needed for his heel tenotomy. I gave him his bottle, they gave him an injection of local anesthetic, waited about 30 seconds, pinched his ankle skin to make sure he wasn't feeling it and then put the scalpel in right behind the heel cord, turned it posterior and cut through. He didn't even need a stitch. They put gauze around his ankle, wrapped it and then put his final cast on. He wore it for 3 weeks and Dr. Haasbeek removed it a couple of weeks ago. 

Nana reading to Finn

Nana and Ollie

Our second trip to Grandma and Grandpa's was just for part of the morning. We stayed outside and the kids played on the swing for hours. 

Becky and Michael. He is such a photogenic baby. I think every picture of him turns out great. 

Finn

Piper

Chloe on the swing

Chloe right off the swing. I think she had a good time. 

Finn swinging

Chloe giving Piper a hug. 

A big hug!

Holly, our photographer

Oh my, this picture was pretty tough to get. In this first one, Piper and Michael are looking at the camera. 

In this second one, Finn and Chloe are looking. I supposed we could just photo shop them together...

Finn was thirsty so Grandma took him into the house to get a drink. I love the next few pictures. It's a perfect example of sweet Grandma helping Finn. 

The boys and I

Grandpa talking to Piper

Bama and Paka with their great-grandchildren. 

Finn and Chloe swinging together. I think it was a fun idea, but Chloe ended up getting really scared. 

My turn! This was right before Holly pushed me into the tree.

Papa and Finn 'watching' a movie. 

Piper, Finn and Papa.

Finn practicing taking pictures. He did a pretty good job. 

Well, an okay job.

  

I think the blocks were Piper's favorite toy that Nana and Papa had. 

Ollie got a bad cold while we were there and I took him in because he was having such a hard time breathing at night. We took him to Urgent Care and they referred him to the ER for breathing treatments. In the ER he had the nicest nurse and doctor. 

Waiting for the ER doctor to come in. Holly and Ollie. 

His sweet doctor. He was very kind and explained everything that was going on very well and made sure I knew exactly what to do when we got home. 

After his examination, he swaddled him. I've never had a doctor do that and thought it was pretty special. 

Chloe turns 3!  Chloe had her 3rd birthday party at a park and for the first time the boys were able to go to her birthday party! She wanted a pirate party so Nana got the boys pirate hats, patches and swords. They got to decorate their treasure chests, dig for treasure in a sandbox, get tattoos and walk the plank (a board over a kiddie pool with water in it. 

Pirate Finn before walking the plank. 

Pirate Piper and Papa. Piper's favorite thing for the day was running away. I was very unimpressed, but he loved the game.

Holly, Ollie and I. 

Pirate Sumner. When we pulled into the parking lot of the park, my mom saw Sumner walking around and thought to herself, "what kind of people are going to be at this park?". Turned out to be her son-in-law. 

Chloe and Finn after he walked the plank and fell in the water. And he didn't just fall in, he teetered on the plank, fell on his back in the water and then the plank fell on top of him. It was very dramatic and he was soaking wet for the rest of the party. Everyone else was envious of him since we were so hot, but didn't have the nerve to jump in the kiddie pool of water. 

Grandma and Grandpa at the party. 

I love how they still sit and talk and care for each other. 

The pirate with Piper, Finn, Ollie and I. 

Since Finn was soaking wet, we took his clothes off of him and left him in his underwear for the ride home. As you can see, he didn't mind at all. 

Piper fell right to sleep after all the running away that he did. 

Ollie sleeping, as always. 

While we were in Charlotte, my best friend from school, Christy and I got to meet up with the kids in the afternoon and then later that night we went out for dessert. It was so much fun having the kids together and then going out for an adult night (something we both don't get to do a whole lot). I miss you, Christy!

Back to Grandma and Grandpa's house! We set the record for the most visits to G&G's house in one trip. It was great seeing them that much. This time we went for the morning and lunch. The kids played on the swing and in the sprinkler and then we had picnic lunches that we had brought and we ate under the pecan tree. It was perfect and the kids had a lot of fun. 

Piper hanging out in the shade. It was pretty warm out. 

Grandma feeding Ollie

Chloe in the cutest bathing suit I've ever seen. 

Piper squirming to get down. This was about the best picture we got. 

Michael, Chloe and Piper playing in the water. Michael was sitting on a riding toy that just happened to be in the line of water spraying on him. He didn't want to get off of his toy though so he just sat there in the sprinkler and cried until Becky saved him. 

Soaking wet Piper on the back deck. 

Finn with pudding on his face. 

Finn loves pudding or anything else messy. He reminds me of Sarah when she used to eat an ice cream cone. She COULD NOT eat one without it getting all over her face! Even though I'm 2 years younger than Sarah, I knew she was a messy ice cream eater. 

Piper eating fruit snacks. 

Ollie drinking milk. 

Chloe eating her lunch

Another great picture of Michael. 

Ollie

A good picture of Grandma and Grandpa. 

Nana and Ollie. 

Back at Nana and Papa's house playing with the train. 

Piper found Matthew's peanut M&Ms from his trip and then proceeded to stuff them all into his mouth. What a cute mess he was!

We left Mom and Dad's house that afternoon and had family pictures taken. While we were there and having individual family pictures taken, Grandma and Grandpa were sitting on a bench together. The four of us girls noticed that they were holding hands...just sitting together holding hands. They've been married for over 61 years. I appreciate their great example of marriage and love for each other.