Why Blog? - Follow-up

I guess our lives are a little more interesting than I thought!

Makayla Breaks Her Leg

Well, Makayla is the first one in our family to break a bone (I broke a toe a couple times but it was really kinda insignificant so I don't count it). Yesterday she fell partway down the stairs. After a little while of crying she fell asleep in my arms and I laid her in bed an hour before her usual naptime. After an hour I woke her up to take her to the Dr's. I was more concerned about a concussion. So during the kid's naptimes we headed out to the Pediatrician, then to an Orthopedic Dr., then had x-rays and then she was casted. All to drive home at 5pm and have both kids fall asleep in the car. But, I do have to say that we know God was with us because for as grumpy Makayla could have been she only was to a small degree. Also, Ethan for the most part was very cooperative and entertained himself some when the Dr's were caring for her. I am also so grateful that from one appt. to the next everything moved right along and we got it taken care of.

We are so sorry to have our little girl break her leg but so far she is adjusting OK. She has been standing against things some and resorting back to crawling and rolling around to get to things. So much for finally getting her to walk recently! We are praying that all goes well with the healing so that in 3 weeks she can get her cast off and get walking again. The Orthopedic Dr. was very confident that would be the case and that it shouldn't cause any further problems or be a weak area in her leg. So, if you think of her say a prayer that all goes well.

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

Just off hand I figured out how many friends/family are having babies in the near future. So many babies! I guess my baby will have lots of playmates.

2 - May
2 - June
4 - July
1 - August
2 - September
2 - October

Each child is a blessing and a gift from God!

Maple Sugaring - continued

Update - We've gotten lots of sap the last few days! About 4.5 gallons each day which yields approximately 2 1/4 cups of syrup each day. And, there's more coming! With it being a little warmer it's been coming faster. So, we're seeing the fruits (or sugar) of our labor!

Some Exciting News!

We have some exciting news to share....we are expecting another baby on Makayla's 2nd birthday - September 22! I am 12 weeks pregnant. We went to the OB today and they didn't hear the heartbeat so we had to go for an ultrasound. The baby was actually so active for the ultrasound it was hard for the tech. to get a picture! The kids are very excited (we told them on Valentine's Day but it just set in recently). Ethan likes to rub my belly and talk to the baby. He's also been caring for Makayla's baby doll like a newborn. Makayla points to my belly and says baby but it must be confusing for her. For a long time she's loved babies and dolls so I think it will really be fun when she see's the baby.

For much of the 1st trimester though, I was extremely nauseous. It got pretty bad but it has calmed down some so we're praying that it ends completely soon. We'll keep you updated on our progress along the way.

Maple Sugaring 101

Kert keeps surprising us with ways to use our property. It started last summer with planting our first garden as a family, then picking apples from our trees, buying facecords of wood to help heat the house with our fireplace, and now maple sugaring! It has been fun especially for the new experiences for the kids but the maple sugaring is the yummiest! A week ago we tapped 6 trees and in the 1st 15 hours we got 3-4 gallons of sap (which doesn't make very much syrup after boiled down) but does make enough for a couple meals for the family. We had it on waffles this past weekend. Then with the weather cooling down a little it slowed down but we were able to make another batch yesterday. So, hopefully by the end of the month we'll be able to make enough to store up for a little while...we'll see!

Ethan Writes His Name

Ethan has been doing all sorts of fun stuff this winter (only when he's in the mood though) - dressing himself, putting on his shoes, going to the potty without us being there for moral support (he still has some work to do in the potty training area though), washing himself in the bath, playing independently while daddy takes a shower and mommy gets a few more winks in the AM. Maybe other kids had these mastered before him but he hasn't cared too much about taking care of himself when he could have us do it for him! Intellectually though he keeps surprising us. He is always ahead of where we think he's supposed to be so he's always leading us. He likes to draw on his doodle and we realized he could write his name by himself. We did have to explain keeping all the letters in a row and a similar size but he's doing great! He enjoys having us tell him letters to write and then he gets to see how the word is put together when he's finished writing them. He's 3 1/2. Will he be ready for kindergarten at 4 almost 5 (since he turns 5 on November 9, 2010)? We think it's likely.

She's Walking - Finally!

Makayla - the cute little girl who is very verbal and social decides when it's her time to do anything physical - like crawling, pulling herself up, and walking... After months of her taking a few steps only when prodded and walking behind toys she could push she finally began walking without any assistance just a few weeks short of the deadline they gave us (where they would send her for an evaluation). The funny thing was that she was more than ready because when she took off on her own she walked circles around the house for 15 minutes without stopping! We are very proud of her. Now that she's got the hang of it, it's just trying to get her to walk the direction we need her to go!