First Christmas cutie

Just wanted to share 2 cute pictures of Cheyanne enjoying her first Christmas.
Love,
Amy

Shaving traditions for boys only?

No way, Jose! Rich has always taken the time to apply shaving cream on the boys when they were little and then let them use a closed razor to pretend to shave. It was so cute when I walked in the bathroom and found him and his girly, Isabella, shaving together. She thought it was so cool.

Slow to heal

It has been one week since the nasty little bug started circulating around our home. All of the children except Dante have gotten it and I am fighting it with everything I have. Elijah woke with an earache this morning. After about an hour of homeopathic drops and heat, he did start to feel better. WHEW! He has just had the hardest time getting better. As the day has gone on, he has said he feels A TON better. Rich and I are suppose to head out to all of our Christmas shopping tomorrow while Tom and Amber babysit, so I am praying that the kids are back to normal.
I wanted to post a couple of pictures of Izzie and Justus playing in "pretty water" this afternoon. They pour water back and forth and back and forth forever. It was a fantastic time for them and me as I read a few pages of my newest Beverly Lewis book The Preacher's Daughter. I love being able to responsibly steal a few me time minutes during the day.
Well, I am off to play a family game of Sorry.
Love,
Amy

Wiped Out!

What a week we have had. It started with Elijah not feeling well Sunday. I cannot believe that it is Friday already. We have only gotten out of the house once this week to go to the library. Thank goodness for extra books and movies on hand. My brain is fried from watching so many kids movies.
I think it may be some sort of respiratory infection. So far, Elijah, Justus and Isabella have had a touch of the bug. We have been using honey, some new herbs, hydrotherapy, and the ever wonderful Vicks dry vaporizer. They all seem to be doing quite a bit better today, but still a bit under the weather.
Their sicknesses and the gloomy weather have given us a great excuse to stay home and spend a lot of quiet time. I woke up this morning, exercised and then fell asleep on the couch for about an hour while the boys watched cartoons. I cannot get over how much of an emotional output of energy we expand when our babies are not feeling well. I surely could have slept all day.
I am anxious for Rich to be on a break from teaching for a couple of weeks to spend some great family time.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,
Amy

Master's Degrees and babies??

The thought alone gives me shivers.

The amount of time that has gone into Rich's Master's Degree is immense. I truly have to give him credit for sticking with it...not that he has a huge option, but I am sure that I would have driven to the nearest bridge regardless.

Since birth, Cheyanne has been a "hold me" baby. So,when Rich is home on the weekends, I call him my baby holder. He is often back at the computer doing schoolwork and so it works out perfectly. Cheyanne needs a good lap to sit on and Rich has one. She has gotten to the age where she is very interested in what Rich is doing. She loves to chew on paper and help him turn pages. I will have to say, he does a fabulous job of juggling the baby and his Master's Degree. Four more classes AND COUNTING. He should be done by the end of this coming summer...just in time for baby #6....YIPEE!

Love,
The wife of an incredibly hard working man.

Trouble makin'

I was feeding Cheyanne on the kitchen counter while I was getting dinner ready. I turned around to see her unraveling a roll of papertowels. UGH!...and I thought one 2 year old was hard enough.

If only...

She were REALLY cleaning up the kitchen. By the time she was done, Isabella had about 3 gallons of water all over the kitchen floor.

Starting Solids

Always a challenge to get breastfed babies to start eating food. We are working at getting Cheyanne to eat SOMETHING other than me. Rich had much more success than I did this past weekend, but she is still not convinced that there is anything better than breast milk.

Love,

Amy

Celebrate good times!

I have been on the look out for an exersaucer for Cheyanne. She loves to be upright, so I have been holding her it the upright position for like 4 months now. I am pretty sure I have arthritis in my left wrist. An exersaucer seemed like the best option. My friend, Barbara had an old one that she was no longer using and dropped it off the other night. Although Cheyanne is a bit overwhelmed by all of the colorful, noisy toys she has enjoyed it a bit today.

Thanks Barb!!

Winter organizing

I mentioned to Dante the other day that we should come up with a good system to organize the toys the children have been playing with in the living room. Well, he was on a mission. He did a super job and I wanted to share a picture of his creation. It is working out really well. The drawers are nice because they can take each drawer out and go play in another room if they want. The photo does not show the wonderful labels that name not only what goes in each drawer, but comes along with a picture for those too little to read.

Love,
Amy

Teething funny faces

At only 5 months, Cheyanne is well into her teething phase. YOWSERS! She is doing exactly what Elijah did when he teethed. She is sucking in her upper lip and making the most adorable teethy face EVER. I am trying to capture it the best I can, but it seems I am always holding her when she does it.

Love,

Amy

Why I love BOYS!!!

Because boys think it is swell to pick flowering marigolds (the entire plant) out of the neighbor's flower garden and bring it to you with the biggest smile on their faces sure they have done a wonderful and heroic deed. This marigold has been blossoming in my kitchen for over a week now. It is like late summer right in my kitchen. That's one of MANY things I love about raising 3 boys.

Love,

Amy

Fall Bouquet

Rich took the boys for a nice long walk in the woods Sunday afternoon. They brought me back this really pretty bouquet. The picture is a little fuzzy, but you can still see how lovely it is.

Love,

A mama who LOVES receiving flowers.

Yes, that makes me nervous,

but I couldn't help snapping a picture. Cheyanne thought this was GREAT! It will be so neat to look back when she is older and see how daddy could hold her up with the palm of his hand.

Love,
Amy

Daddies = FUN

Just a bit of proof that Daddies get to have all of the fun. A picture of Rich feeding icecream to Cheyanne (5months old) from his finger. My kids are thoroughly and totally convinced that Rich loves them more because he lets them eat pizza, drink soda, lick on endless lollipops, and takes them on scooter rides to buy more candy. All mama does is make us eat our veggies, go to bed on time just after brushing our teeth for the second time in one day, and READ books. Can you imagine?

Love,

Amy

Isabella is TWO !!!!!

We decided to celebrate Izzie's birthday a day early because Rich has a ton to do tomorrow and will not be able to be home early. We had a very busy morning, but a nice relaxing afternoon. We are so thankful for the 2 years that we have been able to be with Isabella. She is such a super girl. I love the picture of her frowning on her new pink, princess bike. It was just summed up the two year old stereotype perfectly.

Love,

Amy

Elijah turns 5

Okay, so where have the last 5 years of my life gone anyway?? I remember Elijah's arrival into this world like it was yesterday. We celebrated Eli's life by spending the entire day doing what he wanted to do. Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, Burger King Playplace for lunch, cowboy hat shopping with Nana and Poppy, cake making, pizza for dinner and a great time being thankful that he is part of our family.

Love,
Amy

What else can you say, but...

BEAUTIFUL GROWING BABY GIRLS????

Just Justus

Could not pass up the chance to post a few photos of this little firecracker. A beautiful angel disguised as an adorable 3 year old. He was "performing" for my camera yesterday. What is missing from the still photos is Justus spinning around the kitchen like a top.
Love,

Amy

Sisters

Oh, the fun times that await for these 2 beauties. It's hard to believe that less than 2 years ago the idea of having "sisters" was not even something we had imagined. I love how God keeps my life in the palm of His Hands.

Love,
Amy

Whoever said nursing was easy?

I always love when women say that nursing should not hurt if you are doing it correctly. Funny. Four times nursing in 5 years and it has ALWAYS hurt. (For at least a few weeks.) Anyway, I just wanted to post a quick photo that Dante snapped while I was nursing Cheyanne this evening before dinner. This is a common sight when I sit to nurse. Often it is the only time that I actually sit still for more than 5 minutes during the day and this gives the littles a chance to take advantage of some mommy time.

Love,

Amy

Much needed update

SOOOOOOOOOO much has been going on in our lives that there is literally no time to write about it.

Cheyanne is FINALLY at the tail end of her "fussy" stage, although she truly is a snuggly wuggly little thing. She is content on her own for approximately 7.5 seconds (not that I have timed it) and prefers to be held at all other times. She is breathtakingly beautiful and is evidence of a good and giving GOD.

Isabella is now about 90% potty trained. She still wears diapers at night, but does her business on the potty (most of the time) during the day. She thinks the candy dispenser on the bathroom shelf where she gets her "potty rewards" is the best invention EVER. That dispenser was purchased by nanny and poppy at an Amish festival for Dante about 9 years ago. We have used it to potty train 4 kids now.

Justus is AWESOME. My Aunt Bo, who I have not seen in like 7 or 8 years came to visit for a few days and for some reason, Justus started calling her Grama. It was especially funny because when Dante was about Justus' age, he called her Elbow. So we have nick named my beautiful Aunt Roberta, Grama Elbow. Anyway, Justus is just so easy to love. At only 3 he is insightful and intelligent. Often times there is no better entertainment than a conversation with Justus. The other day Elijah decided that it was time for Justus to have the training wheels off of his bike. I walked outside and the 2 of them were working together at teaching Justy to ride his bike. AAHHHH, the sweet sound of cooperation.

Elijah is as sharp as a tack. He is doing an amazing job with his first experience with "school." He is already reading little words and is counting by 2's and 10's. He enjoys a ton of time on the trampoline, shooting his older brother's bow and arrow, and mastering the game of foosball.

Dante is just growing and changing right before my eyes. He is an irreplaceable helper and the best big brother we could have ever hoped for. His little brothers and sister adore him and our lives are so much more blessed because he is here. He is doing a great job with school this year, too. He has actually started reading on his own for enjoyment. WOW...that is huge! He loves scooter rides with daddy and shooting his bb gun. His bike is his horse (for now) and he does wear a cowboy hat EVERY day.

Rich is busy busy busy. He is gone a lot and that is a bummer for us, but it is all for good reasons. He will be receiving his Master's in Education by the end of next summer. YIPEE! I did attach a photo to prove that he does still have fun. This is his NEW to him scooter helmet that he got a yard sale for $5.00. Yes, we both love bargains.

Baby is ready to be held again, so I must end.

Love,

Amy

Pushing along on the potty training trail

Just wanted to post a quick update on Izzie's potty training success. She is just an amazing little girl. I really thought she was going to struggle a bit more, but she has proven me wrong. She LOVES the fact that she gets a bit of candy each time she uses the potty like a big girl. We have even been brave enough to take her out of the house in her big girl underpants. As long as we bring her little pink potty, she does great.

Love,

Amy

Serving up some smiles

Cheyanne has by far been the fussiest of all 5 babies. So, her smiles are super duper priceless. She has a really sweet spell each morning for a bit and I just stop our day and spend time enjoying her cuteness. I know this will only last for a time and we are enjoying Cheyanne, fussies or no fussies. I know the picture is not the best (red eyes, and all), but her cheeks just speak for themselves.

Love,

Amy

Can I help?

I have really enjoyed working on improving my homemaking skills, including cooking during the 3 years that we have lived in our home. It has been a great adventure navigating my way through an enourmous amount recipes available online. I have found a recipe for a homemade apple pie that is AWESOME. I had never made a homemade pie before this recipe, so I was excited that it was a winner the first time around. I had purchased some cheap bulk apples from the Farmer's Market and prepared the filling a few months ago and froze them.

As soon as I start trying to put together ANYTHING in the kitchen, Elijah and Justus are at my side, "Can I help?" ,"No, I want to help." , "No, it's my turn." so on and so on. I have been trying to allow them turns at helping with different things. I would NEVER want to discourage help in the kitchen and it is such great one on one time.

Well, it was Elijah's turn to help. He was so proud at dinner when everyone thanked him for the fabulous pie.

Love,

Amy

One photo saying sooo much

Makes each fussy day worth it. Cheyanne's BEAUTIFUL smile.

Love,

A mommy with warm fuzzies inside after capturing this picture.

So what does a hillbilly look like exactly?

When asked why he proceeded to cut his own beautifully blonde, curly hair, Elijah replied,"I don't know...do I look like a hillbilly now?" I will say no more.

Love,

Amy

Little Sister Blues

There is no doubt about the fact that at only a sweet six weeks old, Cheyanne is a total mama's girl. She is just not content unless I am holding, snuggling, rocking, or carrying her. This leaves five sets of arms that are just reaching and pleading, "Can I hold Cheyanne?" This is a sure fire way to upset Cheyanne...allowing someone else to hold her. WAAAAAAAAAAAH! My children are the best mommy's helpers and Cheyanne does not agree. I am sure she will calm down a bit over the next few weeks once she settles into our crazy routine, but until the picture above is a common sight around the Ferguson home.

Love,

Amy

Big Jobs for Little People

Rich has been working with the boys at gaining more responsibility helping out around the home. Dante has been an awesome helper for quite some time now. I think it is a relief to him to see that his brothers are tackling some "bigger people" chores, too. They do a great job of encouraging one another to be better helpers. Last night Rich was training Elijah how to clean the kitchen floor after supper. Because our kitchen is pretty small, it gets really messy and sticky each day. This is one household duty that I do make an effort to keep up with. It never dawned on me that one of the children could tackle this chore. Isn't it wonderful that God has wired our husbands to offer such a unique perspective on things even as "trivial" as clean kitchen floors? So, Rich give Elijah a rag and a squirt bottle filled with cleaner and sets him on a "cleaning path." As I walk past the kitchen I make a remark to Elijah about what a super job he is doing and he says, "Mommy, I am cleaning patch by patch (tile to tile) because this is a mighty big job for a 4 year old. " After a full 30 minutes, I am absolutely sure that my kitchen floor has never looked better.

My boys are going to make such wonderful husbands some day.

Love,
Amy

Big green Soothie

So we look at these little ones as they are fussing and fussing and fussing and fussing and fussing and we wonder, "What can I do for you?" "What can I give you?" "What am I doing wrong?" Well, Cheyanne looked at me this afternoon and she said, "Mommy, I do not like the Nuk brand of pacifier that you keep shoving in my mouth. Actually, I would prefer a big green soothie pacifier." Ahhhhh, I feel an odd sense of relief having 2 of these artificial nipples floating around my home. hmmmm??

Love,

Amy