A few more things

I meant to add a few things to the end of the last post and forgot, so here is a brief post script.

A) I'm getting a mother's ring! Greg and I had gone to a jeweler downtown early last fall and designed something but never followed through with it. Well, a few weeks ago Greg told me he had gone back and had all the stone ordered and it was now official. I guess it's more appropriately a family ring because I had all five of our stones put in it. It's a white gold split band with the stones set into the band. I also chose to have a blue topaz put into it instead of my typical ugly pee yellow stone. I'll take a picture and post it when it is finished next week.

B) New drapery! Five years in the making and we are finally replacing the hideous vertical blinds in our house. We ordered Roman shades for our front main windows, horizontal wooden blinds for the kitchen window, and simple curtains for both sliders. They are coming in piece by piece over the next couple of weeks. That will also be picture and post worthy.

C) Antiquities pictures are back! They are a photo company that my MOPS group has hosted in the past. They are the ones that take the cool old fashioned black and white pictures. MOPS took a year off from this particular fundraiser so Aubrey is the only one of my kids to have her pictures taken by them. Well, they are back this year so tomorrow I am taking all three kids to have their pictures done. PRAY that they smile beautifully and behave because I would love to have some good shots. Oh, and in case you think I'm completely crazy, my mom is coming with me to the photo shoot.

D) For those of you who don't know, my kids are getting cousins! Greg's sister Julie is due with a little boy in July and my sister KayLynn is expecting a baby the middle of August. HOORAY!

E) Last thing. Dane's feet are doing great. He had a lower club foot rating today, when not splinted he is already holding his foot in a better position, and the PT said he looked "GREAT!" That is wonderful news.

Parting kid quote: While I was nursing Dane, Aubrey asked me, in all seriousness, which side was milk and which was water.

Favorite thing Nathan says: He is such a talker these days and he will walk up to me, smile and lift up his little arms and say, "Mama, pickee me up." Yes sir!

Mini photo album

Brace yourself, this is a post of a million pictures. Honestly, when you have three perfectly darling children there are an abundance of pictures that others MUST see. As you scroll down you will see Dane smiling, Dane's cute foot brace, pictures of the kids being scholarly, making an unauthorized mess with oats, Nathan dozing at the piano and beaming in his daddy's attention, Aubrey helping me bathe Dane, and several pictures from Lianna's 24th birthday. Oh, and I had to include a picture of Hannah with her BOYFRIEND Brett. (Sorry Hannah for treating you like you're 12.) Oh, and there is also a picture of Aubrey sitting at the table and, well, you'll see why it was photo worthy. ENJOY!

Ahhh....so much better

Due to the phone calls I've received and emails I'm assuming I have sounded pretty overwhelmed. FINE, I was! BUT, this last week we turned a corner. The days had rhythm again, a routine, and it was wonderful. Still busy but manageable. I didn't wake up each morning thinking, how on earth will I get anything done? I have a rough (and obviously subject to change without notice) routine for the day of when I do Dane's exercises, get a shower, do chores around the house, get some one on one time with the kids, etc. Heck, I even made dinner! Let's not kid yourself, there are still insane moments but I finally feel like I can do this. Hooray! So, you can all stop worrying, we are going to survive. Thanks for thinking of us though, it's nice to know that I had so much help just a phone call away. Now, let's just see what happens the first time all three of them are sick.......

PICTURES!

Finally, some new pictures.

The gift of perspective.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that you are all enjoying a little extra lovin' from your loved ones today.

Greg gave me a gift certificate to a local spa for a manicure and a pedicure. It also was accompanied with the instructions that when it came time to use it I was to make a day of it: pair it up with a little shopping and a haircut. The idea that someday in my life I will be able to do something like that again was probably the best gift of all. Let's not kid around. Three kids in three and a half years is not for the faint of heart. I have had several moments, as I have with all our babies, where I have thought, is this really my life??? At it's best it's a moment of wonder, looking at the amazing family you helped create. At its worst it is despair that you will never sleep again, that your children will always be tantruming almost two year olds, and that you will never ever accomplish any task, start to finish, without interruption. Today was the latter for sure and it was nice to be reminded that in a few short months we will be able to get away for a date, that we will have evenings to ourselves again, and that Nathan, God willing, will have returned to being our sweet little boy and not the crazy bi-polar child he is right now.

I'm also hoping that life will fee more sane once we aren't at Shriners all the time. It is exhausting there all the time. Aubrey and Nathan have been troopers but everyday??? It's too much. The next two weeks we will be there twice a week and after that once a week for the rest of the year. It would be more efficient just to live out of our van, parked in the front space of the Shriner's parking garage.

Duty calls, my husband has been bouncing a hysterical baby long enough.

Dane's feet

Yeah, yeah yeah.  I know, you want pictures.  How about on the next post?

We had a follow up at Shriners today.  After over two weeks of stretches, Dane's feet, the right one in particular, were WORSE.  They look the same but they were stiffer and he got a worse club foot rating.  They still aren't calling his right foot a true club foot because it's the bones of his actual foot that are turning in, not the heel and leg bones that turn a club foot in.  This, for a number of confusing reasons, makes him not a great candidate for casting.  So, now we are doing a process of taping (think taping a sprained ankle all you former athletes) and splinting.  This process forces his foot in a correct position. 

This new development is a bit overwhelming.  I have an appointment everyday this week at Shriners to learn the taping process.  It's not just a matter of taping but also knowing how to hold the foot in the right position while doing it.  Once we know how to do it we will be responsible for not only doing the exercises but taping his leg every day.  We will do this until he walks independently. That feels like a LONG LONG time.  Once we get through this week it will be better.  For tonight, the idea of getting the whole family up and out the door by 7:15 for an 8 a.m. appointment actually seems impossible.  I'll let you know if it is.