July 2010

July 1- went running with brian (in awesomely cool weather), had a large caffeine free diet coke from CFA..yummy!, taught kinsey how to ride a bike without training wheels, took the girls to get a yummy pretzel from the Amish market while brian took the boys to the air and space museum near dulles, watched the three oldest play soccer, watched baby birds in a nest down low (with the kiddos), listened to braden tell me all about the fun he had at the museum, got THE pictures ready to be hung for nonny, and watched ephram crawl around outside on the deck.

July 2- helped mom freeze 40 lbs of blueberries, had a "girl date" and went to see Toy Story 3, had chick fil a, and went to the library with the girls and nonny, came home and listened to the adventure the boys had on their 1 1/2 hour hike while we were gone, started reading an american girl mystery to cailey, was the banker for monopoly, listened to the braden tell me about bugs he found, played lots of "Sorry", watched kinsey show poppy how she could ride her bike, fed ephram LOTS of blueberries,, read kinsey her library books, and watched braden get VERY excited about his walking stick:).

July 3- my baby turned 13 months, went on a 3.2 mile hike with cailey and poppy, watched (and played) soccer in the yard with the kiddos, watched kinsey ride her bike and celebrated with ice cream, ran errands with nonny, watched cailey and nonny bake together, ate a yummy amish pretzel, watched more bike riding, played outside a LOT, played lots of games, saw the baby birds venture onto a branch, read books, was the banker for an ENTIRE game of monopoly from start to finish...it took 2 days and Cailey won, took pictures of poppy's projects for him, set up poppy's facebook page, and stayed up too late.

July 4- went on a run and had cailey join me on her bike for the end, went on a wagon 'hay' ride, went blueberry picking, went to CVS twice and got lots of great things, took lots of pictures, changed LOTS of diapers, saw baby birds leave the nest...by flipping out and falling..and hopping off, baked a smore's dessert with cailey, ate corn on the cob (YUM), and went to the castle park for fireworks without nonny and ephram.

July 5- said farewell to macy, nonny, and poppy, traveled home and had NO traffic for the first time in years, and unpacked.

July 6- had an 'at home' day with the kiddos- played lots of games, did puzzles, let them play, taught ephram new things, watched him turn his wave around (no more backwards wave:(, made a grocery store run and got great deals at FL, played more games, calmed cailey down when her tooth was ripped out from having a towel that was in her mouth pulled out..by braden, read more books, and chased four fun kiddos.

July 7- got a surprise at 8:30 when the piano teacher showed up (when we were expecting her yesterday), went running at the Y and it was HARD, took the kids to the pool, loved on the sleeping baby in my arms, did some math with the big kids, tried to do coupons, caught up with some friends, got my big girl ready for swim team practice, TRIED to get the baby to drink, and crashed from exhaustion.

July 8- spent hours celebrating carter's first birthday:), took the kids to the library, read lots of books (american girl mystery to cailey, picture books to the littles, novel to braden), played games, took cailey to summer fun at the library, came home to yummy smelling shrimp and linguine, played outside in the HEAT, pulled weeds, watched nakey ephram discover his belly button for the first time in the exersaucer, and ordered pictures.

July 9- celebrated cow appreciation day with lots of free chick fil a!, did some math, played some games, hung out with the klicks, and got stuff ready for the swim meet.

July 10- woke up to a scared 7 year old in my bed (storm), woke up again (early) for her swim meet which was amazingly short, got some "hot now" doughnuts on the way home, watched the kids 'wash' the van, heard ephram say "down" and "ow" for the second time, watched a show put on by the girls, played mancala with braden, did some math, got my blog books, and the best pool bag ever (four boys scout bag).

July 11-looked through blog books with the kids and laughed at funny memories, relaxed, listened to the kiddos play outside, and snuggled with my baby...who learned how to say two words together: "No, Mama".

July 12- had a very sensitive baby today (cried LOUD just when he heard the word no), took the three big kids to VBS, had a 'my baby is growing up' moment and missed kinsey, went to a class at the Y, ran a little, cleaned, had intentional moments with the kiddos, played with ephram, made fruit on a cloud several times, taught ABC play with me, got my swimmer ready, cooked dinner, and hugged on braden for a long time.

July 13- spent one on one time with my ever growing biggest girl, went to a muscle class and ran 3, got a great deal on capri sun, did crafts with the kiddos, listened to stories from vbs, discovered ephram knows how to point to his ear and nose...and waves forwards now, had our last post placement visit for e, loved on my biggest boy, and planned out tomorrow.

July 14- went to an early morning cardio muscle class, came home so e could nap, got the big kids from VBS and went to the William's pool for a picnic and swimming...for hours:), made a quick dinner, and took them to swim team practice.

July 15- did speed work (SO hard) with beth, got a 911 call (while at the Y) from VBS for cailey's breathing so rushed her to the dr. (found out there was no stroller for e and i was a sweaty mess) and it turned out to be nothing, cleaned, did crafts, did math with braden, and spent great time with the kiddos!

July 16- slept late, listened to piano lessons, watched the kids' VBS show (and beamed to see kinsey SO excited for her first vbs week!), played games, listened to cailey play with ephram (on the monitor) for a LONG time, had two LATE nappers, looked through blog books and spent some great time with cailey, went to a going away party for the martin's, had a great time catching up, kept the kids out late, and had a tickle party!

July 17- overslept for a far away swim meet but made it on time (it was still EARLY in the am), cheered on my girl, hung out with beth, went shopping with cailey and had a 3 musketeers date, got the kids matching suits and clothes for the beach:), listened to braden share his testimony with me...and decide he wanted to share it on sunday, went with the fam to get triathlon packets and carb up the kiddos for the race, had early bedtimes, spent great time in the bible with braden, and got ready for our big day!

July 18- woke up SUPER early again to cheer on cailey and braden at their triathlon, cheered VERY loudly, was SUPER proud of both of them, gave baths, went to the kids exchange, hosed off the baby in the driveway from a nasty diaper...literally, rested, had napping kiddos, went to braden's baptism, was SO proud of him for sharing in front of everyone, gave lots of hugs, watched ephram FINALLY hold his cup!!:), had lots of friends there, took lots of pictures, had kinsey come in my room at 9:45 pm and say, "i thinks i should sleep in your room so i don't has bad dreams. weally. i do. i promise.", and crashed.

July 19- ran 2 miles before taking a great cardio muscle class, took the kiddos swimming and had a GREAT day at the pool (which was empty b/c all the kids are back in school), taught a class, took braden and kinsey to the mall for a cookie and sale shopping, got great deals on swimsuits for the kiddos next year, and tried to catch up on blogging.

July 20- ran 1 mile before an awesome cardio box class, took the kids to the pool, helped kinsey learn freestyle, cleaned for hours, took ephram to the doctor for his 1 year visit (we are off schedule b/c of the adoption)...worried because he didn't gain any weight since the last one, snuggled him after he got 3 shots, had a great family dinner, watched a CRAZY thunder/lightning/downpour storm with the family, cleaned more while the power was out, had a heart to heart with cailey, was SUPER proud of the kiddos for helping clean, and had super sore feet and quads.

July 21- went shopping with the kids, cleaned, listened to the baby breathing on the monitor during his nap (PRECIOUS), played games, talked with laura, hugged LOTS of littles (and a few biggies), did a kickboxing class with laura, talked some more at night...and started my one month until the beach challenge with kelly.

July 22- went to a muscle class with laura, spent 3 hours of FUN at the pool with the kiddos and laura and her kiddos, played games, enjoyed rest during 'nap/quiet' time, watched ephram stand up and immediately sit down when we saw him, felt really sore from all the classes, and got a year's worth of cheese!

July 23- had an 'at home' day with the kiddos and re grouped, played games, did crafts, taught the baby how to put shapes in his shape sorter, really reflected on how proud i am of the way cailey truly loves and adores her baby brother...always putting his needs above hers, and realized we REALLY need to all work on loving each other more.

July 24- went to cheer on cailey at her swim meet (and was SO excited for her for getting her best times ever..so was she!), went shopping with braden and spent some great time talking with him for hours, rested, went to the mall with the family for more shopping and family time, and went on a late 3 mile walk with susan.

July 25- went to church to find it all redecorated, went to the mall for lunch and shopping with the fam, went walking at 4:30 with susan in 101 degree heat, went to ice cream sundae sunday and bingo at church, watched cailey in her first cupcake eating contest, ate lots of red skittles, fed ephram lots of ice cream, and got lots of sticky hugs.

July 26- went to a not very good muscle class, hung out with kelly and the littles while the big kids were at basketball camp, came up with a new positive reinforcement system for the kiddos (hope it works!), taught abc play with me, went walking with joanne, ate a super late dinner, hugged my kiddos, and went to bed sore.

July 27- went to an endocrinologist appointment, hung out with kelly and the littles, picked up the kiddos from basketball camp and watched them both get awards, did crafts with the big kids, checked math review work, sang lots of songs, heard ephram say "cracker, daddy, doggie, ma ma, no, and go" A LOT today, went to a cardio circuit class with kelly, went on a walk with susan and tricia (and chatted with T afterwards) lost 7 lbs my first week of the 'challenge' kelly and i have going and put my extra sore body to bed.

July 28- played with the klick's, was excited to hear cailey got three shots in a row and won basketball cards, was not excited to hear cailey drank RED kool aid...hello red 40!, was happy she didn't get a headache, went to chick fil a with lots of a kelly's friends, hung out with the big kids while the little's napped, went to the Y for kickboxing (with a horrible instructor) and muscle, came home and fed the kids while cailey was still at swim team practice with brian, went on a walk with susan (only 2 miles) , and crashed...feeling VERY exhausted tonight.

July 29- listened to piano lessons, took the kids to bball camp, ran two miles on a treadmill with no air conditioning with kelly, rested, ate an early dinner, took the kids to play at the mall, and went on a walk with susan (felt much better today).

July 30- played with kinsey and ephram while the older two were at bball camp, baked a cake for susan's (our neighbor) birthday with help from the kids who decorated it, tried sunset slush and didn't like it, fretted over my baby boy REFUSING to eat anything today, snuggled and prayed for that same baby boy...that his teeth would stop hurting him:(, took an AWESOME muscle class with kelly and thought parts of my body were on fire at different points, and didn't walk...day off!

July 31- woke up tired, went for a walk/run, cleaned, did laundry, played hi ho cherry-o with the three oldest, read books with ephram, listened to brian play with ephram, went on a road trip to get school desks with brian while susan and jon watched the kiddos for 5 hours, shopped a little, was missed:), missed my babies, got lots of hugs, and polished nails.

Son Quest Rainforest VBS

the stage set up was AMAZING..and yes..there was a waterfall! this was the only picture i could get of braden because he was in the very back behind by hundreds of kids. poor guy couldn't see a thing!

i LOVE the 'i just found mommy in the
audience' smile:)

kinsey was BEYOND thrilled to participate up on stage! both the girls were in the front so i was able to get pics of them.

great job, guys!

The kids did VBS at Mount Vernon again this year and LOVED it! It's an amazing program complete with giant water slides outside and this year had a waterfall inside the sanctuary. Everyday they got in the van all talking at once to tell me about how much fun they had, what games they played, what kind of snack they had and what crafts they made. At the end of the week they put on a short program of four songs and the kids were just so excited to perform on stage. They all learned and practiced the motions and sweet kinsey girl was just thrilled. Great job my sweet babies!

Cailey's 3rd triathlon...and braden!

all ready at her transition spot
(yep..it's sunrise. they had to be there
SUPER early!)

they were excited to be beside each other!

taking him to the pool

kinsey was with me cheering while brian was volunteering on the bike
course and had ephram in the stroller. cailey and braden had to wait quite
a while for their turns because the youngest ones went last. they were the first
two to go in their age group.

almost time to get in!

and she's off! then out! then to transition where she was really
slowed down because of her tie shoes and HUGE shirt on her wet body.
next time we'll be getting a belt and tie shoes!

GO CAILEY!!! I always run to where ever the kiddos are and cheer for them SO loudly! I'm one proud mama bear!

almost to the finish line!

YAY!

way to go, guys! cailey NEVER quit...never walked...
neither one of them did. they both tried their very best!

apparently whenever a biker would
ride by ephram said, "no no!" we worked
on "go" and he knows how to say it but he thought
"no" was more appropriate:)

proud of our kiddos!

way to go, Cailey!

ms. kinsey is no longer afraid of bok bok moo cows, or any other costumed
characters and now runs right up to them (some would say attacks) and hugs
them. she hung out with Y guy for a LONG time while awards were being
given out.

Cailey participated in her third triathlon this summer and did a great job! She did her best and had a great time. Swimming is her favorite and biking was her least favorite. (Biking was also almost ALL uphill and super hard). She's come a LONG way with her swimming and it was neat to think that last year she could barely swim two laps and now can do that very easily. She loved having Braden there with her too!

The night before the triathlon we went to pick up their race packets and they were able to 'carb up' on baked ziti and garlic bread from Milton's. We LOVE supporting our racers and cheering them on! Cailey's bummed about not being able to do the next one in August (it's actually on her birthday) but we'll be on vacation and she'll be having a blast at the water park that day.

kinsey

My name is Kinsey. K-I-N-S-E-Y. I like to play games. I love mommy. I love daddy. I love Cailey. I love Braden. I love Ephram. I love Macy girl. I miss Macy girl. I like to hug Ephram and play with him. I like to eat ice cream. Ice cream is yummy. ssert (dessert) is my favorite. I really like to sing on stage and dance too. I liked going to VBS and singing like a big girl. I'm a big girl. I'm 4 and 3 quarters. That means my birthday is soon. My birthday is in 3 more months. Then I'm going to be 5. I'm a big girl. I know how to write my name and say my letter sounds now. I want to do school like kindergarten. I can ride my big girl bike now. I don't need the little girl bike no more. I love you mommy. I like to do crafts and color and draw.

i walked in to find kinsey up here...and she didn't even
need to use a stool. silly girl has ALWAYS been a climber and VERY
resourceful!

summer sprayground fun

we met the papa's there and stayed for dinner:)!

cailey LOVES playing with Lucas and Ephram
in the water

They played ring around the rosie and the babies loved it! Braeden always includes sweet Ephram too and loved playing peek a boo with him. (We were only there for a little while in the water before going to eat dinner so I didn't get E out to go in the fountains that time...and he didn't care because he had plenty of people to play with.

after dinner they always like 'hitching' a ride on the
train, walking around, and throwing a penny in the fountain.

we went to the sprayground with the klicks too...and had a
picnic lunch outside.

the 'are you looking?' face before doing
something he knows it naughty:)

I wasn't sure the older kiddos would still like the sprayground this summer but we've actually been there several times and they always had a blast! We always bring toys along with us for them to play with in the water (and non toys like cups, bowls, etc. to make rise with the water). Cailey has a great time bringing Ephram in it and playing with him too.

We went on a few playdates there so far too and had fun playing with different friends. This is always a great FREE activity to do on hot summer days when there's not enough time to go to the pool!

ephram's stats

Last week ephram went to the doctor for his one year check up. We're a month off because of the adoption so it was technically his 13 month check up. I knew he had grown longer but felt like he hadn't gotten heavier and unfortunately I was right. Ephram actually lost some weight since his last visit (april 22..exactly 3 months ago). He weighs 18 lbs (lost a few oz) and is 29 inches (grew and inch). ALL my babies were 19 lbs at a year and i assumed he would be a little heavier. He's gone through some phases of not wanting to eat or drink when he's teething but seems to MORE than make up for it the next day.

He is eating great and isn't too picky...as a fourth he also gets LOTS of 'junky' things my other kids NEVER had at his age (ice cream, chick fil a, crackers, etc.) His typical day of meals is- breakfast: HUGE (like bigger than an adult serving) bowl of oatmeal with bananas milk (when he'll drink it), lunch: yogurt, 1/2 pb sandwich, fruit, milk, dinner: whatever we eat which is usually a meat or pasta and veggies.

The doctor was a little concerned about it and wondered if he isn't absorbing calories (because he's poops in his diaper 4-7 times a day) but she's going to bring him for a weight check in two months (and his MMR).

For now we're ALL having fun trying to stuff him like a turkey and literally following him around with his cup of milk. The kids are trying to earn things by getting him to drink a whole cup of milk. I love that they want to get involved! The doctor said most kids drink TOO much milk but if we can get two cups a day in him we'll be THRILLED.

Braden's Baptism Video

Braden was baptized before he gave his testimony because of looming thunder storms. We are SO proud of you, braden!

talk time

Back in June, Cailey had to ride in the front seat of the van for a couple days and I couldn't get over how big (or old) she seemed. We will definitely hold off on riding in the front for safety reasons but it's amazing how many good...no...great conversations we were able to have while she was up there. Even with a car full of kids it seemed like just the two of us. Sometimes she'd read..but most of the time we chatted. I cherish the times when I get to talk just with one of the kids and really get to their hearts.

what's cuter than minnie mouse?

minnie mouse eating a bomb pop!

minnie mouse (aka kinsey) LOVES popsicles. i think every kid loves popsicles but kinsey LOVES popsicles! she came to me dressed as minnie mouse and i just couldn't resist granting her request of a bomb pop. then the other kiddos came for one. then the neighbor kids came. they had a popsicle party with an appearance of minnie mouse:).