Lainey's First Day/Smart Little Girl

Baby dolls and guns! This girl cracks me up!

Lainey started preschool today!  She had a great time!  She walked into her class confident and acted happy to be there, despite the large swarm of howling 3 year old kids! Haha!

There were lots of tears from other kids.  Carson seemed overwhelmed by that and joined them in the howling!  Poor guy.  It was very funny!

I have to take a moment to "brag" about little Lainey.  She has learned SO much during the past six months, it is amazing to me!

Things she can do at 38 months of age....

-Recognizes all upper and lower case letters
-Knows almost all her letter sounds
-Can often tell me what letter a word starts with if I ask her
-Can count to 14 correctly, and 20 with minimal help (gets tangled up at 14-15)
-Write her name
-Loves to color
-Recognizes numbers 1-10 (probably more but haven't checked)

The most amazing this to me is that I have spent little to no time teaching her these things.  She just picks it up on her own it seems.  Amazing!  I am fairly confident she will be reading by her 4th birthday.  We'll see!  

Lainey is so excited for school!  I am excited for her and hope she has a fabulous year!

Dump truck

I am having Carson evaluated for speech.  He has made improvements but still only says 4-5 words (including mama, dada, Erik).  He also doesn't know his body parts yet.  I am overall not worried about him regarding long term development but I am concerned that he is feeling frustrated so if he qualifies for speech we'll take it.

Here is a video today of him super excited about a dump truck....

First Day of Pre-K/Preschool Photos

Erik is at pre-k for the first time today!  He got on the bus without any trouble! Yay!  Walked onto the bus like he'd been doing it forever.  Haha!  I was taking pictures and found the big moment surprisingly unemotional.  I am happy he is so excited.

Lainey has her first day of preschool today too.  I will be there with her this morning and the first real day is Thursday.

I shot some photos of my big kids on there first days of school this morning!  Enjoy!

The light! I think?

I am very hopeful that Erik has turned the corner.  He woke up with a small fever (99.6) but it has not gotten any higher and he has much more energy today that he has had for the past 8-9 days.

If he stays fever free (or under 100) today this will be the first day since August 17th.  It's been a long 10 days.  He was never in any acute distress but watching your 4 year old fight fevers ranging from 101.6 - 103.2 for a solid 9 days is distressing for the mother!

He started new antibiotics yesterday morning and is now on Levaquin (a fairly small dose of a very potent and somewhat risky antibiotic).  The peds infectious disease (ID) doctor our pediatrician worked with during her residency used Levaquin in outpatient pediatric patients that didn't respond well to Amoxicillin/Augmentin.  It is also recommended by the ID society of America for pediatric patients not responding to Amoxicillin/Augmentin within 72 hours.

He had rapid viral tests done this morning which came back negative.  Most likely this is just a crappy case of community acquired pneumonia but part of me wonders if he didn't aspirate a little piece of meat as Erik is my super "choky" kid and I know he choked on a piece of meat 48 hour before this pneumonia showed up out of nowhere.  (Erik was in OT when he was two because of weak oral muscles/drooling/choking.) Aspiration pneumonia is less likely but the etiology doesn't make a difference at this point as long as he continues to improve.

We will likely repeat the chest xray in 4-6 weeks to confirm that everything has resolved.   I don't know if he just needed time or if it is the Levaquin kicking in after 24 hours but he does seem to have turned the corner today.  I am hoping to send him to school for the first time tomorrow!

Thanks for checking in with us!

If you don't mind keeping these prayers in mind...

1) Erik's fever stays away!!
2) Chest xray is completely clear when we repeat it in 4-6 weeks
3) That Erik's asthma/reactive airway disease doesn't get worse after having pneumonia (again)

For those of you curious about the x-ray here is a picture of it....

Look at all the air Erik had in his tummy/bowel!

If he happens to spike another temp tonight (lets hope not!!) we will still just wait it out another day or two before doing anything more aggressive.

Erik update

Erik is still has a fever of 101.6 this morning (day #9).  His pediatrician called in a new prescription which we will start ASAP.  We will see her early tomorrow morning.  He is still more stable than his mother.

Pneumonia Stress

My sweet Erik has pneumonia.  He has been struggling with high fevers and cough since Saturday August 18th.  I knew by Monday that things weren't great as he has had pneumonia before and it started the same way.

He wasn't diagnosed until Wednesday (see vent letter for more info) but has been on Augmentin since then.  Despite the Augmentin he can not seem to shake the fevers.  So stressful.

Causing additional stress is the fact that his x-ray looks crappy.  The urgent care doctor was alarmed and stressed that is was very important we get a follow up xray in 3-4 weeks.  He suggested the possibility of an underlying tumor causing the pneumonia.

The radiologist report read: large middle lobe consolidation likely secondary to pneumonia but needs follow up.  Not real great.

The ER doctor was actually reassuring but agreed that the Xray looked quite awful and he would expect Erik to appear much sicker (I have a copy of the xray that I brought with me on our ER visit). He said he would expect it to clear and reassured us.

I have finally been in contact with our real pediatrician.  She has been so kind to help me out today despite being on vacation still (a friend gave me her cell phone number).

Erik's temp tonight was still 102.6 despite being on appropriate antibiotics since Wednesday. It is possible that he has some type of viral infection in addition to bacterial pneumonia, it's possible that the bacteria is resistant to the antibiotic, it's possible that something worse is going on, or it's possible that the drugs just haven't had enough time to work.

Our doctor is going to call in new a new prescription for Erik tomorrow if (assuming) he still has a fever and we will see her Monday morning at 7:30 AM.  Of course, if he appears to be in any sort of distress before then we will go to the ER.

Feifei and Daron have been helping me through this crap this week since the doctor covering for our pediatrician refused to provide care.  They've helped my racing mind stay calm a few times although I tell you when your brother has cancer and now my baby has a large consolidation on his Xray with super high fevers going on 9 days not responding quickly to antibiotics it is very difficult to keep my mind calm.

So, I am still fully assuming at this point that this is just a crappy case of pneumonia and you should too.

 But we could use some prayers....

1)Please pray for Erik!  Specifically that his fever will break and the pneumonia will resolve completely (and quickly) and most importantly that this consolidation is nothing more than pneumonia!!!

2) For myself and Victor: that I can sleep and that we stay calm and get Erik the help that he needs

Thanks!

I'll keep you updated on Erik's progress!

Visit from Grandma Sandy (and Roger)

Grandma Sandy and her friend Roger stopped in for a short visit this weekend.  They were in town delivering a trailer to the base near our house (they were paid to make the delivery).  We were out of town when they got here so they spent the week traveling through Virginia - Williamsburg, Norfolk, Blue Ridge Mountains.

They spent time with us today on their "way" back to Ohio to visit Roger's parents before heading back home.  It was our first time meeting Roger. We enjoyed meeting him!  It was a nice visit.

Grandma Sandy wasn't sure she wanted her picture on the blog but it's such a nice photo of both of them it needs to make the blog/family memory book! 

Roger, you lucked out this time, even though the photo with you in it was equally nice! :)

Road Race

Between the years of 2001 and 2005 I ran quite a bit.  A marathon, 5 or 6 half marathons plus a few smaller races.  In 2006 I did a couple of small triathlons.  Since December of 2006 though I have been either pregnant or nursing a small baby and just too tired to run plus I was pretty sick of it.  I've still spent a large portion of my life exercising since then just not in the form of running.

In June my neighbor and exercise instructor challenged our class to participate in an Ironman triathlon, completing the distance over a period of 5 weeks.  This required running 26.2 miles.  Once I finished those miles I decided I kind of liked running and have been trying to run 2-3 times a week since the beginning of July.

On a whim I signed up for a 10 mile race in October.  One of my friends from the gym (Laura) is running that too.  I asked her this week Tuesday if she wanted to run with me this weekend.  She invited me to join her on a 10K race.  I said sure!

Well, guess what!  We had a great race.  We ran together the whole time until she sprinted the last 100 yards and I kind of limped in (not quite that bad!).  She placed first in our age category and I placed third.  We had been ahead of the women who placed second the whole time until the last 100 yards but never did I ever think I'd place so it didn't bother me when we got passed at the end.

Laura, an old cross country runner was not about to be passed during the very last leg though!  So she took first place and I took third in our age category (aging has some perks).

The women who placed first in the race overall came in at 37:58.  Amazing!!!  The women in their twenties that placed had times around 45 minutes.  Laura came in at 52:16 and I came in at 52:33.   Our  split time was about 8:28/mile for 6.2 miles.  I actually think I impress myself! Haha!  

Now I'll have see if I can keep up with Laura for the 10 mile race!

 The kids and Victor came to cheer me on!

 Post race photo.

 (I'll have to remember to take a pre-race on next time!)

Us with some of our kids, her 5 year old is missing!

Grumpy Shark

My little shark has spent much of this week in tears.  He has been a grump.  I don't think he is sick and know he is cutting 3 teeth so I am hopeful that's the cause of his (and my) misery rather than a more prolonged toddler phase.

He's been quite unenjoyable truthfully and when not crying seems to be climbing chairs and getting onto the counters, doing flips off of the couches, or biting his siblings.  To describe this week as exhausting would be an understatement.

 Little Shark Timeout for biting Lainey

 So much trouble!

Carson the shark

Making Erik's week even better, Carson decided to take a big chomp out of Erik's arm today.

Little stinker!

Carson was the easiest, most laid back and happy little baby but I am guessing he is going to provide more than his fair share of parenting challenges during the next 18 years!  We'll see! 

 He is a such a joy but comes with quite a bit of spirit!

Meet the Teachers

Despite being ill I took Erik into his open house this week so he could at least see his classroom and meet his teacher before getting on the bus and being dropped off with complete strangers greeting him.

Erik is very excited about school.  If you ask him what he is most excited about he will tell you the bus but I am guessing he will NOT actually be excited to ride it when the time comes.  We'll see!  This is my kid who refuses to step foot inside fire trucks or other large vehicles at fairs/parades because he is scared.

Once school starts we will walk two-three days a week but I want him to be used to the bus as he will be taking it about 1/2 the time.  ( Our bus ride is 1 mile and only kids from our neighborhood ride his bus.)

Here are some photos from the meet and greet...

 Classic Camera Shy and Nervous Erik

He does warm up quickly, thankfully!

Mr. Carson - Not shy at all

Lainey was off playing in the kitchen, too busy for the photo ops

The teacher thought she was the student at first!

 So handsome and cute!

He biked to school for the 45 minute session this morning.

He sure is a trooper given what his x-ray looked like tonight.

(He has been on the couch since Monday afternoon aside from 

the 2 hours we spent at school during the past two days.)

I sure hope he has a fabulous year of school despite the rocky start.

I will post photos of his first real day and his first bus ride once he actually goes to school!

First Day of School Blues

Poor little Erik has been sick since Saturday.  When I put him to bed Saturday night I noticed that he felt warm (100.5).  The next morning we got up early and left for a quick family vacation.  He was a trooper the whole time we were gone (more on that in a different post) but had a high fever the whole time.  As long as I kept him dosed with Ibuprofen he acted pretty normal but had a very tight chest/cough which was concerning me.

When we got back Monday afternoon I called our pediatricians office to see if he could be seen on Tuesday.  Our pediatrician is out of town.  She just joined a new practice (used to be on her own with just her mom who is her NP) and the new practice refused to see Erik anytime Tuesday stating they were too busy and suggested I take him to the Urgent Care.  I wasn't sure he needed a trip to the Urgent care but school was starting this week so I wanted to make sure he didn't have strep or pneumonia.  The strep test was negative and the PA thought his lungs were just kind of congested but didn't warrant an x-ray (I didn't contest it as they weren't terrible sounding then).

Tuesday he seemed a bit better but still had a low grade temp all day.

Today his temp spiked back up to 102 degrees.  When I listened to his lungs this afternoon it was clear they were worse and he definitely needed an xray.  I called the pediatrician's office again and asked to be seen sometime this afternoon or Thursday and they again refused and told me to go to the urgent care.

In an act of defiance I called her old office and asked to see if the new pediatrician in that office could see us Thursday (long story about the practice switch that can't be written about on the blog).  She of course has lots of available times but doesn't work on Thursdays.  Of course.

So back to the Urgent Care we went (a different one this time that costs us $50 per visit instead of $20 but provides much better care).  The doctor seemed kind of dismissive but as soon as he listened to Erik's chest he was like, "Well, I almost never say this but he does need an X-ray!".

So little Erik has an crappy looking x-ray with definite right sided pneumonia.  He is on Augmentin and will need to lay low for the next few days.  Hopefully, the fever will break in the next 24-48 hours or we will be back in the urgent care/ER.

Erik has been impressively chipper during all of this.  I feel so bad that he is missing his first few days of school though!  Poor little guy!

Notable Quotes: Lainey

 1)  This morning Lainey and Carson were playing with blocks.  This quickly turned to fighting because Carson kept grabbing more blocks then Lainey thought appropriate.  Carson, never one to back down from a good fight persisted and then came running as fast as he could into the kitchen where I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes.  When he got there I noticed he had two big scratches on his upper back (he was naked).   Lainey came charging after him yelling about the blocks.  I asked her if she knew what happened to Carson's back and suggested that if she had grabbed him she should tell him sorry.  Her response, " I didn't do anything!"  She might not have, in fact I would guess some toy scratched him.  Wondering aloud to myself I said, " I wonder how Carson got those marks??"  Lainey's immediate response, " He drew them himself!"  "How did he do that?" I asked.  " With a crayon!"  Haha!  Sure, honey!  I am still not sure how he got the big scratches but found her creativity quite amusing.

2) Last week at gymnastics a little boy (around 4) vomited all over the tiny, overcrowded waiting room.  Lainey has been talking about this for a week!  She has been quite concerned about get a sick tummy and catching his germs. Thankfully, no one caught his bug.  Poor Erik has been under the weather since Saturday with a fever and cough.  He seems a little better today but this morning Lainey was asking about germs again.  I explained to her that Erik does not have a sick tummy and he is not going to throw up but he does have a cough and he can spread those germs by coughing on someone or coughing on something that you later pick up and put in your mouth or put your hands in your mouth.  She seemed okay with that explanation and went about her morning.  Later when I was in the shower she came running in completely panicked, " Mommy!!  Erik coughed and then touched my knee and gave me his germs!"  Poor, poor girl.  I have been somewhat of a germophobe since I was about 5 I think.  Apparently she is headed down the same path.

Food Rules!

Most of you know I am kind of nutty when it comes to nutrition.  I don't really think "everything in moderation" is good way to approach food as a lot of the "food" in the grocery store is just a pile of chemicals and food dyes.   So instead I try to offer my kids a large variety of real foods, some sweets are included but 95% of the time they are homemade.  

Certainly, our diets are better than most Americans but lately I have felt like we've been getting a little lazy.  Buying more processed foods and relying on simple staples like PB and J more often than I think appropriate.

That, combined with the discovery that my body fat level is almost 28% despite almost daily exercise and fairly healthy eating (BMI of 21.4).   28% is considered normal but I would prefer to be considered "athletic" which means you need a body fat of less than 25%.   I also have just recently weaned Carson which sometimes leads to weight gain for woman which I do not want.  (The other two times I weaned babies I was pregnant so didn't worry about gaining weight.) 

Anyway, that sent me back to reading about healthy eating again.  As an experiment I put Victor and I on a strict Paleo diet (no grains, legumes, dairy, or sugar/sweeteners).  If you choose to live by the Paleo diet  there is room for cheat meals, but 8 days of that was enough for me.  I also read the book "Bringing Up Bebe" which talks about child-rearing, including eating, in France.  

Combining ideas from the books on Real Food, Paleo diet, and French ideals I have come up with the following Food Rules for our house....

1) Start every meal with fruits and vegetables.  Offer this first before the rest of the meal for fruits/veggies are viewed as more than a side or optional item.

2) Offer a source of protein at every meal. I do think the emphasis on lean proteins in the Paleo diet regarding weight maintenance is fairly accurate. 

3) Limit snacks to fruits, vegetables, nuts (Erik is allergic), plain yogurt, and cheese. 

4) Get picky about grains.   I will not be buying any cereals, tortillas, crackers, chips, or bread (limited).  We will stick to brown rice, quinoa, couscous, and whole grain noodles.**

5) Limit sugar to occasional home-baked desserts (1-2 batches of cookies or muffins or a cake per month).  No artificial sweeteners.

6) Eat organic dairy products/produce, free-range eggs, and grass fed meat when practical and affordable. 

7)  Limit alcohol to 1-2 servings a week.  

8) Allow flexibility when at school (will send lunches with Erik next year), social gatherings,  and vacations. 

 I am planning to print these Food Rules out and hang them up in our kitchen reminding us not to get lazy!

What do you think about our Food Rules?!  I am curious what "rules" you have in your house? If any? 

** I don't think a limited amount grains are bad for you BUT I think it is SO easy to replace fruits, veggies, and proteins with grains.  If the grains in the USA weren't fortified with nutrients there would be many, many people with serious vitamin deficiencies (Beri Beri and other diseases) because grains don't have vitamins in them.   So many Americans get the majority of their calories from grains, and not always whole grains.  Think how easy it would be...  cereal for breakfast,  chips for a snack, sandwich for lunch, crackers for a snack, pizza for dinner, cake for dessert.  Probably a pretty common menu for a lot of my neighbors.   I will supplement the kids diets with a daily vitamin in case they don't get everything from their fruits and veggies but I am guessing the vitamins they get in their diets will be much higher than most, even without a lot of fortified cereal grains.  If you decide to read more you will find a lot of info about "anti-nutrients" in grain products.  I think eating them in moderation is fine but don't want grains to be the foundation to our diet.

Slay the Giant

Erik and a sparring match at Tae Kwon Do tonight!

Hahaha!  Made me laugh! 

He didn't seem intimidated though and kicked and punched like 

he was David taking out Goliath.  (Just missing a stone)

Carson - 17 Months!

Sweet Carson!  

It's hard to believe you are almost 1 1/2.  Erik and Lainey frequently

 remind me that you are "almost a big kid!"

It's been a busy month!

We spent almost a week in Wisconsin visiting Grandma and Papa.

You slept quite well away from home for the first time ever.

We were so thankful!!

Victor was gone for 8-10 days this month which is more than normal.

You are always excited to see your daddy come home.

You had hand, foot, and mouth a couple weeks ago.

Poor pitiful little guy!

It mainly affected your mouth but boy was your tongue

and throat full of sores.  You gums were bloody red and your 

cervical lymph nodes were really, really swollen! 

Thankfully, you are pretty much back to normal now.

This month we went to the zoo, rode the metro, spent a day in Baltimore

at the Aquarium and Children's museum with Aunt Sonja and Jamison, went to a small

water park, and played!

I also just weaned you, 95% of the way there (still clinging to the morning session which I plan to eliminate this weekend).  

Your personality is starting to become quite clear. Here are some things we love about you....

1) Mr. Personality! 

You do not shy away from attention!

You say "Hi" and wave to anyone who passes you.

You are a big tease, particularily to Lainey.

Frequently, you will steal her blanket or baby doll and run as fast as you can, obviously for the thrill of a reaction.  Haha!  Poor, poor girl is in trouble.

2) Rough and Tumble!

You are so, so busy but you love to be held and touched.

Since weaning you this has become so much more obvious to me.

You are constantly climbing up on my lap, jumping on my back, begging to be held,

wrestling with Erik and Lainey, climbing, climbing and climbing. 

3) Learning Lots!

Your vocabulary is slowly picking up.

You now say/sign... airplane (sign), fish (sign), please (sign), hi (haaa), truck, tractor, Ididit, all done (usually accompanied by food being thrown on the ground), where (dere),  I don't know (sign), Erik (I think you use this for both Erik and Lainey) , Mama, Dada.

You recognize some body parts (feet, butt, tognue).

You love to be outside, trucks, playing chase, wrestling, and reading truck books.

You have a smile on your face almost constantly, unless you are shrieking or whining about something.

We love everything about you!

Super Soup -- Kale Sausage

Sausage Kale Soup --

Ingredients:

One Large Sweet Potato
Yellow Onion
Garlic
Bag of Kale
Spicy Sausage
Chicken Broth (6 cups)
One Can of Crushed Tomatoes
Oregano, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Saute' sausage.  When cooked, use small amount of sausage grease to sauté kale.  Set sausage and kale aside.

Saute' diced onions and garlic.  After 2-3 minutes add sweet potato.  Saute' 5 minutes.  Add can of crushed tomatoes and oregano, salt, and pepper.  Add chicken broth (I used 4 cups of chicken broth and 2-3 cups of water).   Bring to a boil and cook until sweet potatoes are tender.  Add kale and sausage back into the soup and cook until warm again.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

My kids are very adventurous eaters but I didn't even attempt to serve this too them - green leafy things always get rejected and the sausage was quite spicy.  Victor and I sure enjoyed this soup though.

Our family is doing a 30 day paleo type food challenge (with some exceptions made for the kids) so I have been forced to expand my vegetable and meat recipes.  This is a keeper!

Weekly Wrap

We had a fun week.  The kids are all feeling better so we've been busy.  Thursday I took them to the DC Zoo for the day.  Lainey had requested a zoo trip for 2-3 weeks and Erik had been asking to ride the metro so we did both.    Unfortunately, I left the stroller at home accidentally so Lainey had to walk 4+ blocks uphill in 95+ degree heat to get to the zoo.  She doesn't enjoy being hot or walking so I was a bit nervous about this but she did great.  Once, we got into the zoo I rented a zoo stroller.  We had a fun day.  Our favorite animals are the Meerkats.  They are always fun to watch.

Lainey was SCARED of the train going fast!

Carson just joined in to show her some support.

Haha!

They both loved it on our way home, and calmed down within a 

minute or two on our first ride. :)

Friday I took the kids to a mini-water park.  Erik was brave enough to go on the 2 water slides he was tall enough for and was able to do the "lead pad" walk.  The other two just utilized it as a normal pool.  I couldn't find Lainey's life jacket (and Carson screams like a banshee with his on) so it was kind of a risky endeavour taking all 3 to the pool/water park on my own without lifesaving gear.  They all survived and had fun, thankfully!

Another adventure this week was losing my keys.  Somehow, while I was putting Carson in his carseat my keys got lodged in the inner workings of his carseat, impossible to see until I took the carseat out later that evening.  Thankfully, Victor was in town so he brought me the other set of keys after my friends and I failed to find despite 20-30 minutes of searching.

As you can tell, I was losing my mind a bit this week.  Thankfully, the grumpy grumps did NOT appear, yay, but I was surely an absent minded professor.

Girls just need a little pampering sometimes. 

Thankfully, I was able to get out on my own yesterday.  I am weaning Carson cold turkey this weekend (sad baby, sore mommy) so I needed to be able to get away from my boy some as he is in tears most of the time his is by me.  Poor thing!  Sandy had sent us/me $100 last week and I spent it on a massage (thank you).  I was also able to meet a friend for lunch and do some fall shopping for Erik and Lainey (Carson has a TON of hand-me-downs from Erik for this fall/winter).

So, we all made it through the past two weeks of illness and travel!  So thankful for the weekend though!

Smile

I am tired.  Victor was gone for 7 days and has worked really long hours since getting back.  Throw in a couple of sick kids and that leaves me a pretty tired mom.

Thankfully, I seem to be beating the grumpy grumps so far (just have to make it until Saturday)!

Today I seem to be reminded about all the sweet little things that make me smile.

1.  Lainey and her babies!  She loves, loves, loves babies.  It's so cute.  She sings to and rocks her baby dolls, sleeps next to them, brings them in the car everywhere, pushes them in their stroller, etc.  She has such  sweet and tender heart.  I just love my little girl!

2.  Sweet voices.  Erik and Lainey both love the CD from VBS.  Today as we drove from from home to target, to preschool # 1, to preschool #2, to gymnastics, to home, and later to Tae kwon do I was serenaded by sweet little voices singing praise music (even slipping in a few hand motions).  Carson even claps along.  I love it and am so blessed.

3.  Erik can have a terrible attitude but overall he's a wonderful, sweet boy.  Today I was making soup when Carson got up from his nap so I asked him to go and play with him for a few minutes so I could finish what I was doing.  Over the monitor I could here him "reading" Carson his favorite truck book, playing peek-a-boo, and giggling with each other.  Awesome!

4.  Dress up.  Lainey has been wearing her tinker bell costume all day.  She couldn't be any cuter!

Tinkerbell cheering on Erik at Tae Kwon Do

5.  Hard workers. Erik and Lainey both love to learn and are usually eager to spend time practicing math of some sort or their letters.

Above: Lainey practicing her name

Below: Erik working on proper penmanship

6.  Uno.  Erik and I played a fierce game of Uno today while the other two were sleeping.  Not everyday is fun being a stay at home mom but I am thankful to have the time to play Uno with my boy in the middle of the afternoon.


There are lots of unpleasant moments each day with 3 kids 4 and under but today I am determined to focus on my many blessings.

What a difference!

Late July 2011

Early August 2012

Stop growing my sweet babies!