We're on a roll...

Unfortunately, it's not a good roll.  This morning Caleb crawled into bed with us and proceeded to throw up.  I do recall mentioning that our bed seems to be a magnet for sick children.  So, Kiersten's birthday started off with a bang.  She did enjoy pulling the tissue paper out of her presents though:)  The camera is at the church, so we'll take pictures of her with her presents and cake when Scott gets home.  With Caleb sick, we decided that it would be best for me to keep the younger two and Scott would take the others with him.  Praying that they behaved themselves!  I think that the funniest thing that happened this morning was when Kiersten was opening her gifts from Elyssia and Garrison.  Garrison gave her a pet shop(that was his:) and I praised him for being such a nice brother.  He replied, "That's okay, I thought it was ugly, so she can have it."  Many of you may be thinking that it's not a very nice thing to do and say, but his honesty was refreshing and gave us some much needed laughter.  After Scott left I put Kiersten down for her nap and put Caleb in the bath.  He's been sleeping ever since I took him out and Kiersten just woke up.  Unfortunately she's VERY hot, which is what Garrison and Caleb's flu started out with.  I'm REALLY hoping that Kiersten doesn't have it, but if she does that it passes quickly.  What a day.  Oh, it's only half over:)  Lots left to do and still lots to be thankful for! Kiersten is very happy, even though she feels like she's got a pretty good fever going on.  Praying it stays that way!  She's having a memorable first birthday though.  I should write some of this down in her baby book:) I'll post pics of the birthday girl, presents and the ice cream cake later. I'm thinking God knew we'd be needing a cold cake to soothe the little ones.

One more day of babyhood...

I shouldn't put post titles that sound so sad!  We're excited that our little Kiersty(as Garrison calls her) is turning 1 tomorrow:)  It has been a very full year, even if it did seem to pass quickly.  She has accomplished a great deal in that first year.  Smiling, rolling, crawling, charming everyone, waving, talking, walking, climbing and feeding self.  A pretty good year, if I do say so myself.  She's currently walking around looking for something to get into.  She's big on exploring everything in the house, including the trash can!  Can anybody say, "yuck"? So, today will be a flurry of activity and errands, once Scott gets back from studying at the church.  There is an ice cream cake to make, a present to be purchased and wrapped.  Balloons to blow up, for the older ones benefit.  So, before we know it the day will have passed by and the morrow will be upon us.  It's also a church day, so it'll be one full of blessings for this little girl.  I remember thinking that it wasn't a very good day to celebrate when I was younger, but it's the day that we look forward to seeing all our friends and hearing from the Lord, so it's become a good day to have a birthday.  Sometimes we have the party the day before or the day after, so that we can go someplace special, if that's what the kids request.  It'll be pretty low key for Kiersten though, because she's totally unaware of what's going on and we, her parents, are going to take full advantage of that.  One year, where those no wish list.  Ahhh, wish we'd learned this one earlier.  All kidding aside, we're thankful for this wonderful first year with Kiersten.  The Lord has blessed us so much and she has brought lots of laughter and joy into all our lives.  Hopefully I remember to take pictures tomorrow:)  If not, I'll tell her that I know how it feels because I was a 4th child and there are less pictures and info in the baby book about me than about the brothers.  Not upset about it, just an observation-Mothers with 4 children are busy trying to enjoy life with the kids and don't have time to take pictures of it all:).

God's mercies are new every morning.

  The last two mornings have been a bit unusual.  The kids have been waking up early and both mornings our awakening was less than ideal.  Yesterday it was to Elyssia proclaiming loudly that the toilet was overflowing.  Great Day in The Morning!  I can totally hear my Dad saying that:)  Thankfully only came out a little bit past the bathroom door.  Like I said, It must be God's way of telling me that it's time to clean my bathroom floor.
  Well, this morning Garrison didn't seem to be feeling well.  Scott was trying to get him back to sleep when he made a loud vomiting sound.  So thankful he wasn't in our bed.  Seems like the kids favorite place to throw up is in our bed.  Scott rushed him to the bathroom and he spit up a bit.  When I checked his bed and blankets, there wasn't anything there.  That was a very loud noise for no mess.  Praise the Lord! Cleaning up that stuff is definitely not on my list of favorite things:)  So, God was merciful with both messes, eh?  The rest of the day was pretty productive.  Garrison wanted me to stay with him for most of it and was running a fever, but with him sleeping a lot I was able to get a lot done. Elyssia helped with laundry, which freed me up to bake pies.  During this time I was reading an article online and discovered an eating plan that I'm going to try to implement a little at a time.  Totally not going to be easy, but with so many around me being diagnosed with Celiac's and other food allergies, plus several extreme health focused people, I think God might be trying to tell me something.  Our lives these days revolve so much around food, but the results of all the processed foods are taking a toll on many of us.  I haven't had too many problems, other than a bit of fatigue, but I could probably attribute that to having four kids and all the activities associated with their care:).  Part of this eating change involves eliminating sugar and certain kinds of flours.  Foods with wheat preservatives, etc.... I'm really not looking forward to doing this, but will try it for at least a month to see if I can notice any changes. Now that I've posted about it I'll really have to do it too:).  I'm hoping that combining it with a bit of exercise I can lose the extra weight from the last pregnancy.  If I notice that I have more energy and less craving for sugar, it'll be worth it though. Although I try to limit the amount of bread I eat, it will be a challenge to eliminate it completely.  I'll try to find some of the recommended kind at the health food stores in town, but I'm not really expecting there to be much of a variety.  Maybe I'll try to find a meter to keep track of the benefits and loss.  The good thing is that I can still have meat, fruit, veggies, eggs and most other foods that I make from scratch, without sugar, wheat and enriched flour.  I won't discuss it a lot on here, since I really haven't liked being bombarded with all the negative effects of our foods by the other health nuts around me, but if anyone asks questions I'll try to answer them.  The hardest thing will be not eating the pies that I baked today.  I'll probably freeze a couple to take to potlucks this winter and let Scott take the others in his lunch.  Looking forward to seeing how God's mercies and help are new every morning.  Hoping to help the others in my family eat healthier too.  Will have to do it gradually and see if they notice a change in my cooking:))). I don't think the kids will, but I'm guessing that Scott will notice pretty quickly. So, I'm off to put the little ones to bed.  Til next time...