My Mother's Day Babies

Here it is almost half way through May.  Holy cow!  Where did that go?!

Our online auction raised close to $100.  The yard sale/boutique we did on May 9-10 brought in another $517.  Wahoo!  We still have lots of stuff left from the yard sale so we're gearing up to do it again about the second or so week of June.  Hope we can make more money for our Relay team!

Today is this beautiful boy's birthday!  I can't believe he is NINE today!  Nash is such a fun boy.  He is so thoughtful of everyone around him.  Really, the only person he tends to butt heads with is Caleb.  He still loves building things and taking things apart.  I see an engineering job in his future!  He has also recently discovered a love of reading.  I figured it would happen eventually, it just took finding the right series.  He's reading Conspiracy 365.  There are 13 books in the series.  Each book is roughly 182 pages and they are about a mid fifth grade reading level.  It takes him 3 days to finish a book and he gets 100% on the comprehension tests at school.  So glad his reading skills have finally caught up to his math skills!  This boy is like his father in the math department - numbers just make sense to him.  He is going to be baptized on May 24th by his dad.  We are all looking forward to that.  I hope we have some nice weather so we can have lunch outside!  Since he has started his ADHD meds this school year I have seen a huge improvement in Nash's performance and attitude.  He no longer comes home from school frustrated and near tears. He doesn't fight with his siblings nearly as often and he's much easier to spend long periods of time with!  He started tumbling in January and has loved it.  I'm looking forward to getting his class pictures this week and their review on Saturday.  He may not be too coordinated, but he sure has fun with it and that's really all that matters!  Sure do love this boy!

A few of my other favorites of his baptism pictures by Silver Stem Photography

This sassy little thing turned 3 on Friday!  Boy does she keep me on my toes!

This little girl LOVES to dance!  She wears tutus with every sort of outfit you can imagine.  Not only that, but she rarely leaves home without tap or ballet shoes on her feet.  She takes Grandma Terri by the hand each times she comes to our house and holds her hostage in her bedroom so she can dance for her.  But Grandma can't dance with her - no, only Brooke dances.  Everyone else must only watch!  She loves to dress up in any outfit she can find.  She got light up Minnie Mouse shoes for Christmas and more than once I've found them on her feet or nestled tight in her arms when I've gone in to tuck them in bed before I go to bed myself!  She has got an attitude a mile wide and ten feet tall this one.  She tells you like it is and doesn't hold anything back!  She sure loves each of her siblings though.  Nash is affectionately referred to as "my Nash".  Brooke and Caleb tend to butt heads but I think that's because they are so much alike.  Unfortunately for Caleb she weighs more and is only 3 inches shorter than him.  They wear the same size clothes and she's just as stubborn as he is!  Brooke will start summer dance in June this year and she can hardly wait.  Shes also officially potty trained!  She even gets mad about having to wear a pull up to bed rather than panties.  Wahoo!  No more diapers at this house!  Sure do love this sweet girl!

And speaking of that sweet girl above, we've got more medical issues with her.  I took her into the ENT last week because I knew that at least 3 if not all 4 of her tubes were blocked.  The audiologist did a pressure check and he said the same thing.  When the dr. walked in and asked how we were I said, "Well, pretty sure all four tubes are blocked, one ear is infected and we're looking at a new set of tubes."  She winced and said, "That's actually what I was going to tell you."  I promptly asked why she gets paid then instead of me!  She joking said, "I'll give you this one!"  We scheduled another surgery for May 29th.  When I talked to Travis about it he wasn't happy.  He feels like the tubes are a waste of time and money because they don't work - we got 6 months out of these and they should last 12-18 months.  So, I called back to ask what our other options are.  I was told that our only other option is to go to Primary Children's Hospital and see an immunologist.  When I had gone to the appointment the day before I had asked when we could do the prick test for allergies and was told now so we got that set up for May 21st.  The dr. asked if B had ever been tested for CF.  I told her no.  She said that she thinks it's like a million to one odds that she has it but that every time she sees B she has mucous in her lungs that we can't seem to get rid of no matter what we do.  We've done Singular 2 different times, benadryl, limit milk intake to little or none, chiropractor, and prescriptions all to no avail.  So, the dr.'s office called PCMC to set up an appointment with an immunologist and to have a CF test done.  Apparently all the immunologists were booked until August (big surprise there).  However, one of them has their own clinic so we'll be going there first and then over to PCMC for the CF test.  Should be a fun filled day for B and me on May 27th.  In the meantime the dr. wants to eliminate ALL dairy from her diet.  We know she has a milk allergy because of the blood test they ran for that.  They are wondering if perhaps she has a dairy allergy and that's part or all of what's causing the mucous in her lungs.  So, here we are about a week from our appointment - totally dairy free - and girl friend is super sad and bummed out every time she asks if she can have something in particular because I have to tell her no it has milk in it.  She's really been a very good sport but she sure tells me she's hungry all the time.  Poor girl!  I sure hope it isn't a long term deal - she loves her dairy products!