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