got it!

No sooner did I finish the last posting, than my little girl announced she had to go potty. The kind I was on the hunt for!

The afternoon on Wednesday was full of driving to labs, getting blood tests and handing over my daughter's poop in a little jar to someone in scrubs. (got to be the least favorite part of their job!)


Now we are just waiting for test results. I don't know what is going on, but I do know this: we have had to keep a food diary of all she puts in her mouth since Monday. We mark down every food, and every time she says her tummy hurts. We also started the Zantac on Monday. Since then, and maybe it is coincidence, but she hasn't had too many tummy aches, and one of the ones she did have, was because I had just asked her to clean up her shoes. hmmmm... good timing.


Have a great weekend! Go out and enjoy nature - before it all freezes over this winter!

Number 2 for Number 3

So, we took Avalon to the doctor's on Monday. They ran a urine test there - and found clumps of white blood cells in it. Hmmmm... I asked if this alone is alarming, and they said no, but were gonna send it out to the lab for further testing.

As for further testing.....

uhhhh.... how do I say this.... I have to.... get.... poop.

I know, I know.. the official term is a 'stool sample'. Phrase it any which way you want people, but I still have to gather and seal off a portion of some other human's poop.

Yes, yes, I change diapers every single day. But somehow this is totally different and certainly disgusting. But no worries, because apparently I have scared her 'poopless' with all my asking "Avalon, do you have to poop now??", "Are you going poo-poo???", "Tell me if you have to poop!!".

I think I missed one yesterday. Other than that I'm still on the hunt. Did I mention that she is three and this is tricky??

Once we have that piece of *&%$ bagged and bottled, we take it to the lab and also have to get blood tests on the poor dear. ugh. I'm not looking forward to that at all. But, it will only take a minute and once it's done, it's done.

Her extended urine test came back and it is negative. yea! I don't know what exactly they were looking for - but they didn't find it. Good enough for this mom.

She is also on Zantac. This whole thing could be as simple as an inflammation in her digestive system. She was on Zantac as a baby, so you never know. Anyway... off to give her the dose of medicine and hoping my number 3 child produces a number 2 really soon!

Update on the house

I will update you on Avalon later as I have very little info as of yet.

The house however is keeping me on my feet. We have been on the market for two weeks and a day. Yesterday was our two week mark and we had our first real showing. (the open house doesn't count right now)

We had asked upon listing our house that Realtors give us at least one hour - or to make that more clear - a whole 60 minutes of warning before seeing our house. Easy enough right? I mean, if they drive by, just go to grab a bite to eat and come back and see it....

...but NOOOOO.... yesterday we had... a whole 10 minutes of warning. And I said yes. I said yes because it was our first showing and I didn't want to say no and go back to zero showings. And you know what... I mean, I practically sweated through my shirt cleaning, but I did it. I had the house ready in 10 minutes even with three kids here.

I made it through. I figured that was the worst that could happen.

I was wrong.

I woke up almost a half hour late this morning. Had to get the kids to school and run errands. NO ONE was helping out mommy. EERRRRR. I get home finally and decide after a month of ignoring it I should pay some bills and work on the budget. The ransacked house from the crazy morning stayed as it was. I didn't care, we wouldn't be having a showing this morning. The baby napped, the pre-schooler watched a movie and I made phone calls and crunched numbers.

We left to get the kindergartner from school. I left the house with the kitchen in shambles, underwear on the master bedroom floor (from both of us, eek!), just messy a little everywhere. We were at the school and I get a call that there is an agent standing outside my house and they want to see it.

I didn't even have a chance to pick up the underwear or shut the dishwasher - I wasn't there!!! So anyway, they came.

It's just a wild guess... but I'm thinking that they won't be making an offer.

now what???

Avalon is our three year old. For the last few months she has had a tummy-ache. Yes, I said months.

but it is hard to take her seriously. Sometimes she says, "I mean... never mind. I don't." Other times she says "actually, I'm just hungry". or thirsty, or... once she complained and complained and then told my husband she was just joking. She's three, so the self diagnostic descriptions are lacking something.....

Anyway, The "my tummy hurts" and the "I'm huuunnngry" comments are coming so frequently at this point I figure we better see a doctor sometime soon. Only two things come to mind. Either the child has a food intolerance or she has a tape worm. I'm not actually kidding.

So... fast forward to this weekend and she woke up in the middle of the night for the past two nights complaining of her tummy ache. Uh-oh. This is new. And not good. Calling the doctor this morning.

So here I am about an hour away from going to the doctor and .... I'm a little nervous. I mean... now what??? My parenting life is already soo full of ..."adventure". I don't need any more. I'm hoping it is nothing... but I know it is something. I guess I just hope it is something tiny, easy, inexpensive, and painless (for all of us). Here's hoping!

Seven - I'm in heaven!

Seven years ago today I had my baby boy. My only boy. :)

It was after a very intense 36 hours and 19 minutes of labor. It started on a Saturday and didn't end until Monday. (Hey, don't I as the mom get to drag you through a labor story just once more??)

The first year we had a sick baby. He was constantly throwing up. After many tests and mommy-heartache, we realized that he was VERY allergic to some very common foods. I mean, off the medical charts allergic. And the praying for his healing began.


I knew I had a very amazing kid in my hands to raise though. He clearly spoke and correctly used over 100 words by the time he was 18 months. I have them recorded somewhere.... I know this is unusual because my other three kids haven't had anywhere near that kind of vocabulary at that age!

Year two and three and four and.... have been very transportation and vehicle obsessed. He LOVES, adores and reads about all things man-made that move. Tractors and dump trucks were one of the first loves. Currently trains are the attraction. By the time he was two he taught me what a skid-loader was and the difference between a front-loader and a back-hoe.


He tested in the middle of first grade while he was still in kindergarten - and we started him in school 'early' instead of holding him back. He was more than ready. I know even though he is one of the younger ones in the class, he is tall physically and quite sharp mentally. He will have no problem keeping up with his classmates.

The last seven years have been a joy raising my boy. I'm so glad I have one! I like having someone in the house make 'vrooming' noises as they drive semi-trucks on the floor. I like giving Lego's and Geo Trax as gifts. I like having a blue kid's bedroom. I like having my 'little man' around. God has a very special calling on this kid's life. Alex will (and already is) become a mighty man of God.

I look forward to the next year, the next seven years, the next seventeen and so many more years to come!! I love you Alex! Happy birthday!

First Day of School

Sometimes I feel like maybe I am the most cold-hearted person.

I mean, I'm not. But ... what's wrong with me??

My oldest girl started kindergarten today. I was soooo excited for her! Yea! Kindergarten... do you remember it? It is called 'school', but it is three hours a day of fun. Painting, coloring, library books, recess - all this for the very first time. Then you come home for lunch. It doesn't get better than that folks.

There were moms crying at school today. Snapping sad, teary photos. Then there's me. I'm smiling and waving her off with a joyous goodbye.

It's not summer camp people. It is just for the morning. 2.5 hours. I mean really.

The tough gal suddenly becomes not so tough. One of the moms there has nose piercings, bleachy white hair (all spiked), body tattoos all over and 'tough lady' clothes. She was freaking out about her kid going to school. Seriously?? Lady - I beg you dress the part. Or act the part. Pick one. Seeing you dressed like that and freaking about a 3 hour separation from your kid is scaring me. You will see her again at lunch. Lunch. It is coming really soon!

Now, if you are one of those (as I'm sure at this point I am sounding cold-hearted) that have teared up, I admit, leaving Alex last year for all day school felt really long. But you'll make it through. And seeing their new excitement and joy and wonder really makes the separation worth it.

It's like the second Father of the Bride movie when Steve Martin lets his daughter move across country even though he hated the thought of that. He said it "was one of those things that fell under the category of 'I did it for their own good'." Just look at school like that too. It makes it just a little easier. Sorta. :)

Anyway, to sum up. I'm excited for her. Not excited for all the 'stuff' that school sends home my way. I'm sad to see summer go, but since I don't have a choice in the matter, I'm hoping for the best this year. We've got two really great teachers, so we're off to a good start!

Now go get yourself a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils and a brand new eraser to get in the spirit of school!

Bye Bye Birdie

Patrick (my DH) was on stay-cation last week as we prepped our house for sale. One day, as we were tearing through all the rooms - we kept the front door open for air. We have no screen door.

Before you know it, two adults, four kids and a bird were in the living room! A bird flew into the house!! AAAGH!

My thoughts:
Holy cow!
Hope it doesn't die flying into something. (kids are watching)
Hope we don't kill it trying to get it out of here. (kids are still watching)
Holy crap - there's a bird in my living room!

Let me tell you this. I love the movie Cinderella. She wakes up to birds coming in her window, singing to her sweetly to wake up, they chirp, they are cute, they are calm.

Now, real life. The bird acts CRAZY due to feeling trapped. It doesn't help when you are chasing them with a broom. No it does not. Needless to say, the bird left quickly, and all was well... except for a little bit of bird poopie (from fright I'm sure) left on one of our windowsills.

I bet Cinderella never had bird poop in her house!

more pics from the house

These wouldn't upload the other day. Not sure why.

This is my office, the family room downstairs, the kids crafting/school corner and the baby's room.





I am loving this nursery. Makes it hard to think of moving when your house is all sparkling clean! ;)

So Far, So Good...

Well, I know I haven't written in a week, but that is because my husband has been working me to the bone. Seriously. (Still love you though dear...) :)

We have been slaving over our house to get it ready to sell. As of yesterday it went on the MLS. We are live people! (tiny little panicky screams...) eek

The pics for the house (on the website) showed up this morning. Now we are what I consider 'fully listed'. Five hours in, and so far, so good. Ask me five days or five weeks from now, and we will see. Keeping the house immaculately clean with four kids 6 and under and still keeping up on food and dishes and laundry is already interesting. (but I knew it would be...)

Here are a few pics of the house that are on the website:

Just call me Ginger... (think movie star on a short cruise)

The whole point and purpose of going to Chicago was for Patrick's aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary... not to run to Josh Duhamel as you may have guessed since it was my first post on the trip.

Dick and Lindsey celebrated by taking us all on a three hour dinner cruise on Lake Michigan. We had the top two decks of the boat for our use - one of which was reserved just for our party. There was dancing, a DJ (always helps to dance to music), the city skyline at dusk and night, wonderful food and desserts, people all dressed in cocktail clothes, renewal of vows and fireworks over the water! Whoosh! A very filled and wonderful evening.

A three hour cruise made me think of Gilligan, but we all made it back to shore safely and on time. :) Here are a just a couple highlights of the evening ~

Star Light, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight...

SO! heehee.... on my Chicago weekend trip that I just took with my hubby, we did a TON of stuff... stuff that I'll tell you about soon. But, it was also the first time in my life that I have been this close to a 'big star'. Fun fun....

Here is Josh Duhamel on the set of Transformers III. The set was right there as you stepped foot out of our hotel downtown Chicago on the river. Sweet!

The lady in grey is one happy lady!



This post is dedicated to Sarah and Sabrina and anyone else that has Josh as their 'celebrity boyfriend'! :)