recapping april, 1-14

Okay, so I've been a bad blogger. I have been slacking on keeping my little journal, too. But I figure if I've made it to April, I better keep on chugging along with it!!

APRIL 1

Surgery day. I was SOOOOO nervous. But wow, it was a piece of cake. I don't remember any of it really. I like the whole being put under thing. Apparently I did tell the doctor that I wanted more babies and I hoped the next one was twins. And that she shouldn't tell Mike. But she did, haha : ) Oh and by the way--she found NOTHING wrong with my scar or anything else c-section related. So off to my regular doctor in a few weeks.

I slept all day at the hospital, and we didn't get home till around 7pm. The 3 older kids slept over by my Dad's, and little Sadie spent the day at my Grandma's. We picked her up on the way home. Our neighbor was kind enough to make us dinner and bring it over after the long day.

APRIL 2

I didn't feel great, but Mike went to work. We figured Sadie would nap, so I would nap. But she didn't, and was a little fussy on top of that! So Mike came home from work early, and of course, she was sleeping when he came home!!

My Dad brought the kids home and we went to church that evening. Cal slept over at a friend's, and the rest of us stopped for $1 sundaes at McDonalds.

APRIL 3

Cal went to another friend's house for a few hours. He had a great time! His friend lives on a lake and near some woods, so they had fun doing boy things.

Sadie isn't really enjoying the jenny jump up. She just kind of hangs around.

APRIL 4

Easter Sunday, we went to the late service at church, which I don't think we'll do again. Apparently everyone comes to the earlier services, because we recognized almost no one in church, which is very odd!

Maddie, in her beautiful new dress, said, "I'm the prettiest one in the family!!"

APRIL 5

Mike went to Opening Day, even though he wasn't feeling great. It was super nice outside so the kids and I were outside for quite a while. I can't believe the color in these photos. I am really really loving the new camera.

Sadie tried sweet potatoes...first veggie! She swallowed it, but didn't really seem to like them.

APRIL 6

Kaycey had her first sleepover at a friend's house.

APRIL 8

Kaycey had a blast at her friend's house. The kids and I went to my Great Grandma's/Aunt's house for dinner, the world famous grilled cheeses, haha! The kids love 'em!! We watched baseball, of course.

Aunt Lorie & kids

Great(great) Grandma B& Sadie

Kaycey's new room is pretty well finished. Mike built the loft bed. And I am really happy with the paint colors!! She wanted it to look like sky and grass, so we made "hills" of the green paint.

APRIL 9

My scrapbook night at church was a bust, as only a couple other women showed up. I guess I'll try again next month. But perhaps I'll just stick with scrapbooking with my store girls. I know they are a sure thing :)

Cal went to the Brewer game with Mike and witnessed a horrible performance by Trevor Hoffmann, and it was Cal's first experience at seeing Hoffmann pitch in person.

APRIL 10

Kaycey's first soccer game for Spring season...7-0. They lost.

Kaycey went to a friend's house for the afternoon. Mike and I went to a sock hop that night. We've gone to it before, but this year was awful. There weren't very many people, and on top of that, they didn't even play music you'd think to hear at a sock hop. We stopped at Paulie's after, and it was packed so we went to a little hole-in-the-wall place a block down and had some good laughs. The place was a total dive, but fun nonetheless.

APRIL 11

Kaycey had her birthday party with Mike's side of the family. We had a joint party for her and our niece. Their birthdays are 7 weeks apart (both 8 this year). With Mike's sister's wedding and other events surrounding it in April and May, there were very few open weekends for a birthday party for both girls, so we decided on a joint one this time around.

Kaycey&Julia

Kaycey got legos, a couple shirts (a Brewers one and a "soccer is my life" one), a gift card, a furreal cat, and this adorable bedding for her new room--perfect for her animal(and sports, of course) theme & love of cats and dogs!!

Maddie, Isabella, & Grace, all born within 18 months of each other

Norah & Sadie, 4 1/2 months apart

APRIL 12

Sadie grabs everything!!! Even reaches for our food and drinks. Cries when she sees her bottle and tries to reach it. And she is very close to holding it by herself. And, she LOVES green beans!!

APRIL 13

The Target by us must think I'm insane. Not only are we there 3-4 times a week to begin with, on this day I had forgotten my credit card at home, so after all that shopping, had to leave the bags and go home to get my card, and come back to pay for it. Thank goodness Sadie and Maddie were so good!!

APRIL 14

Kaycey had her 6 month oncology appointment. She has now graduated to the "Next Steps" program for cancer survivors. We were there for almost 4 hours as we had to meet with various practitioners--a school teacher, a psychologist, a dietician, a nurse practitioner, doctor. Everything went pretty well. I have a list of unanswered questions for the nurse that I am waiting to hear back about. And also next appt. is in 6 months...see her picture on the board? Right in the middle w/the white hat on?? This board is just photos of surviving kids who have received bone marrow/stem cell transplants. There is also a board being made of kids who are part of the "next steps" clinic.

It was also mismatched day for the preschoolers. Maddie went all out, even wore two different shoes!!

mar 23-mar 31

March 23

I had another dentist appointment. This time I brought my mp3 player and it went pretty well. I had one filling done and got my teeth cleaned. Hooray for good music to serve as a distraction!

March 24

My Grandma and Grandpa showed up at our house unexpectedly and joined us for church.

March 25

Maddie played for a while after gymnastics with her friend, Samantha. My Dad & Maria were over for dinner. After dinner, Mike took Cal to a Model Rocketry meeting for 4H, while the rest of us stopped by school to see the Bible History projects on display. Cal and Kaycey each got a first place ribbon!

Kaycey loves reading to Sadie!

March 26

Maddie, Sadie, and I spent lunch and the afternoon at our neighbor's house. They belong to our church, and relatively recently discovered they live in walking distance. They have 4 kids, including a set of twins that were the due the same time I was due with Sadie (but they were born 3 months early...but they are okay!) The 3 of them will be in class together once they begin school. Their older two are 6 & 4, perfect playmates for Maddie, and also will be classmates with Maddie. And it's official, every woman out here is a nurse or nurse practitioner (including this neighbor!) I am the only stay at home mom in this town, I swear.

I went to work thinking I really need to DO something. I keep saying I want to go back to school, and I talk about it. But I have to DO it.

After work, I went to eat with my Mom. Had some tasty veggie burgers at Ruby Tuesdays!

March 27

I shopped all day. For what? I don't know. I'm so indecisive, and I'm tired of buying stuff just to return it.

For dinner we had spaghetti tacos. Yes, you read that right. The kids got the brilliant idea from iCarly.

The house is a wreck. A total disaster. Oh well. Not feeling great, so the last thing on my to-do list is cleaning it from top to bottom.

March 28

I decided to try to start a scrap night at church. I've heard of quite a few women being scrapbookers, so I thought a good opportunity for a night out. I hope we get a good turnout.

Cal's Sunday school teacher gave all the kids little vials of water from the Jordan River. Cal is really excited about it.

Maddie had a practice for her Spring Fling performance, and afterwards she went to sleep--for hours! All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, she had a fever (103+). The kids have been coughing all week, except for Kaycey. A trip to the doctor seems to be in the near future!

March 29

Cal (and I) was up literally all night, after 10:30pm. His ears were in alot of pain (kind of out of nowhere). He finally fell asleep around 4am after a dose of tylenol with codeine (he had the prescription last year for a bad cough).

As soon as the doctor's office opened, I called. Made appointments for the 3 kids (Kaycey was at school, perfectly fine!) Cal, as suspected, had a double ear infection. Maddie had pneumonia again. Sadie had an upper resp. infection. And it's supposed to be spring?!?!?

March 30

My poor baby is coughing so hard and loud :(

We colored eggs, too. Nothing fancy, just good ole fashioned egg dye. Next year I would like to try something a little more exciting with them, though.

March 31

I went for a walk with Sadie and the neighbor. It's such a nice day...wish it would stay!

It's also the night before surgery...I'm super nervous!! I had a doctor appointment to discuss some things about the surgery.

Kaycey had her first soccer practice for the spring rec season. How pathetic. One-she is the only second grader on the team. The rest are first graders, most of whom have never played soccer before. Two-she is one of two girls. The boys run around and don't listen to the coach. Three-she doesn't know a single person, even though on the form we fill out the school name and friend's names. We are looking for a new team to put her on. Our rec. program is terrible out here. Besides the fact the price isn't rec department price either. I remember in Milwaukee county, rec department activities/sports were often around $35. Ours out here is $70. I'd rather pay a bit more and put her on a club team where she'll actually learn something from coaches who want to coach and enjoy it.

I overhear Maddie say, "I'm so happy I have a boyfriend. We're married!!"

March 15-March 22

March 15

Kaycey had a huge bruise on her belly. I freaked, but didn't let her know that. I sent her to school, but immediately called the doctor, who got us in later that afternoon. When we got to the doctor, the bruise was barely there. It was the weirdest thing. Kaycey said that the day before she got hit with a basketball, but still...if you could've seen the bruise, you would've thought it would take a fast pitch softball to leave a mark like that. Anyhow, so another false alarm, thankfully.

After coming home from the doctor, Maddie said,"Well I'm not even sick at all, but I have sins and that is super duper bad."

We went for a walk...one of Sadie's first.

March 16

I love how Maddie still calls people/grown ups "humans". We aren't entirely sure where she got it from, but she's been calling them that for some time. I get such a kick out of it. She also says, "You gotta be kidding me." What a clown.

Sadie officially rolled over...from back to tummy, which apparently is more difficult. She still doesn't do the belly to back. Oh well.

sleeping peacefully

March 17

Happy St. Patty's Day! What a nice warm day. I forgot it was St. Patty's Day. I usually dress the kids in green or something. Well, Sadie is the only one who was dressed for the holiday. Maddie went to play by her friend's house for the day. Sadie and I hung out and ran some errands.

March 18

We stopped at Emma & Papa's today. I have been frame and curtain happy, too, as in buying way too many, mostly because I just don't know what I want. I'll be returning an awful lot of it, though!

Sadie is into grabbing everything. Loves grabbing hair, noses, ears, and anything else she can get her tiny hand around!

little bathing beauty

March 19

Who took the cookie from the cookie package????!?!?!

All I know is I've had a couple from this whole package. Someone's been sneakin'. Package is now located a couple shelves higher in the pantry.

I am so losing in the NCAA pool I'm in. I don't think I've ever done so badly.

So I am planning on letting Kaycey have a birthday party with her friends from school. Something small and low key for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. Any good ideas for games? There will be 8 girls. I am also trying to come up with a classy way to word the invite...let me explain. Kaycey will have 3 family birthday get togethers. She will get plenty of gifts. I'd like to suggest that her friends consider something small or a donation for Make a Wish or something...I just haven't come up with a good way to word it. I don't want anyone to think I expect any gift at all for her, nor do I expect people to donate something. But it's just so silly for all the gifts she'll get, why not instead give to someone else. And she is loving this idea.

My doctor called today and I have decided to go ahead with the laparoscopy. The nurse will call Monday to schedule the surgery. Hoping for some relief soon!!

March 20

Hard to believe, but today it snowed. Not much, it melted right away. But still...I wonder if we'll get more before it's gone till next winter????

We did alot of cleaning today. ALthough you probably wouldn't notice.

Today was the Pinewood Derby. Kaycey, Cal, Maddie, and I went to school for the Derby. Wow, it was so cool!! I had no idea how "all out" some people would go for this. There were some really cool cars. Next year, Cal, Kaycey, and Maddie all would like to do it...but next year we'll buy the kits when they go on sale, not a couple days before!! Kaycey didn't win anything, but the people who put this together do an amazing job with it. There's a concession stand, intermissions, a lit up race track set up with photo finish, and more!!

March 21

Sadie is loving cereal. She's been on a good sleep pattern the past couple nights.

Kaycey had a birthday party today for a girl from her old school. I find it a little odd the only time the girls from the old school bother to contact us is for birthday parties (we have called for play dates, but nothing ever has come of it). I am really glad Kaycey is finally really connecting with girls at the new school. She gets along with everyone, but now she has a couple "best friends".

We were all in bed by 8:45pm. Guess we were tired!!

March 22

Sadie and I visited Beth, a gal from the scrap. store, this morning. She hadn't met Sadie before. It was a nice little outing!

In the afternoon, Maddie watched a movie. It had been a really long time since we stuck in a movie during the day. Shockingly, Sadie napped, so I rested, too, while Maddie watched the movie.

would love to post my week...

but I'm going to eat something (I can't have anything after midnight!) and then go to bed instead. It will be a very long day tomorrow; I am having surgery for the side pain I've been having. So I am having a laparoscopy done...I'm freaking out!! My doctor seems to think the problem is possibly scar tissue or something called adhesions, which she can repair with 2-3 tiny incisions. But there is a small chance the sutures from my c-section healed improperly and she'll have to basically cut my entire incision and resuture. Yes, I am totally freaking out. Hoping it's something simple...dreading what tomorrow will bring.

mar8-mar14

March 8
The kids had spring school pictures at school. I thought it was a little strange, school photos twice a year, but whatever... Maddie asked to have her hair curled with the curling iron. Yikes, I thought. What will I need to do to her hair when she's a few years older??? We only leave about 3 minutes in the morning for fixing hair, so Maddie got to school right before the bell today.

Sadie is trying SO hard to roll over from her back to tummy. She doesn't do the belly to back, mostly because she really can't stand being on her belly for very long.

Kaycey was such a big helper today. Well, she is most days. I don't even have to ask her for help. She will walk into the kitchen, empty the dishwasher and fold laundry, wash the bottles, without asking. She has such a big heart, too. I see her joining something like the peace corps or something along those lines!

March 9

Just because she's cute

I went to Archiver's and Hannah's with Katherine, a much needed little day trip to get me in the creative spirit.

Kaycey had a Pioneers meeting at school. They made the cutest little birds and got the kitchen ready at school for the spaghetti dinner they are hosting on March 10.

Emma and Papa got subs for dinner for the kids and they slept over. Mike was at the Bucks game with some guys from work, so it was nice to have the extra sets of hands around. Especially because I had a terrible headache. Pretty sure everyone, including adults, was in bed by 9:30!

Maddie told us that she loves Jack (a boy in her class) and he is her boyfriend and she's really gonna marry him. How cute!

March 10

In the morning I got a phone call from the oncology social worker at Children's Hospital. She put me through to Jennifer, a mom of a newly diagnosed stage 4 NB boy (January). We talked for a while and I am going to meet her next time her little guy is in for chemo, which should be the week of St. Pat's Day. They are from about 2 hours away, and drive down every time he needs treatment or has to be inpatient for chemo, low counts, or fevers. She is also 7 months pregnant with their second baby. Please keep this family in your prayers.

This little one has become the biggest thumb sucker!! It's really nice though that she already puts herself to sleep.

Kaycey and I worked in the kitchen (along with alot of other people) for the spaghetti dinner before church. It was really nice, there was a huge turnout, and we went through almost all the meatballs. There were ALOT of meatballs! I had fun getting to know some of the other moms who I hadn't talked to much before. The girls had a lot of fun, too, helping out in the kitchen. On the way home from church, it was so foggy, we couldn't even see a few feet in front of us. I was so glad to pull in the garage and call it a night! We came home and watched the end of American Idol, which was even enjoyed by the littlest member of the family. I am disappointed Lilly got cut... I thought she'd be around for a while.

March 11

After gymnastics, we met with our neighbor friend and her daughter (Maddie's age). We went to a scrapbook store out close to my house. It was really nice! Stocked full of all sorts of fun stuff, and 3 different rooms for scrapbooking/sitting. I bought a really cool Christmas kit (a tree shaped chipboard book). I rarely buy big book kits, since they are usually pricey, but this one was worth it. Can't wait to do it! I plan on going to some of the late night crops there with Cal's best friend's mom one of these days.

Spring is certainly around the corner, it was pouring rain today!

Grandpa Bo and Grandma Ria brought dinner over, and we ended the night with a game of yahtzee (Cal's latest craze!).

March 12

Poor little baby, had to get shots today. She was very brave, though, and only cried for a little bit. She has nearly doubled her birthweight, and she is very long for her age. Oh, and she is in 90th percentile for her head. Guess she has a big brain.

We picked up a pinewood car kit from a couple who run the derby at school. Kaycey really wanted to do one last minute. Cal wasn't interested, which I was kind of surprised. Maybe next year he'll change his mind.

Maddie had a friend over for a while, and boy she is so bossy. I sure hope that Maddie isn't so bossy when she is at other people's houses. I always hear that she was so sweet, etc...but I wonder sometimes. I kept hearing her friend say, "Well, I'm the guest..." Haha.

Still haven't gotten my hair done, but the gray has become so obvious that I've decided to just dye it myself. On the to do list.

Sadie had cereal for the first time. She rather enjoyed it.

That night we had Olympic Night at school. Apparently every year in March, there is a themed night with games and snacks and fun. Well, it was a huge success. Which I'm guessing it is every year. We are so amazed at how involved the teachers are. They are at every single function, usually running it. And they look happy to be there! 90 kids out of 110 in the school were at Olympic Night. They had games, they were divided into teams (Canada, USA, Norway, and Germany), they had music, snacks, and even a guest--an Olympian from the 1976/1980 winter games, Leah Mueller.

Mike brought home flowers today, too. I generally get them when the flower vendor is at corporate. Mike gets a good deal on them, so they're totally worth it. I have to say these were the best ones...they still smell beautiful a week later!!

And uh oh, major sink leak in the kitchen. Mike only noticed because there was a puddle in the basement by his tools! Argh. Part of the wood floor in the kitchen is warped from standing water. Eek. This house isn't so new anymore.

March 13

I dyed my hair, by myself. It cost approx. $6, as opposed to $100. I do still need a haircut!!

Mike and Kaycey started working on the car. They decided to keep it simple since the weigh in is the next day.

We went to my cousin's daughter's birthday party that afternoon. She made the YUMMIEST cake!!

When we came home we played bible hangman on Maddie's wipe off board. But she was mad we erased her picture to play...

March 14

Planned on going to early church. Except that I was up with Sadie at 4am watching CNN and realized it was 5am already. Totally forgot about the time change! Yeah, needless to say, we had a rough time making it to Sunday School at 9:15. After church, Mike and Kaycey went to weigh in her car, which was a few tenths shy of the limit. Mike was surprised at how "all out" some people went for these cars. He's thinking at least Kaycey did hers by herself. It was rather obvious some were the parents' doing!

We went to our niece and nephew's birthday party in the afternoon. There were 20 kids there, 5 under the age of 6 months. It was craziness to say the least. Kaycey played babysitter for a couple of the little babes and their moms asked if they could take Kaycey home. It was a pizza party theme, and they gave the kids hats and had the kids make their own little pizzas. How cute is this pic of Sadie & Grandpa David (Mike's Dad)???

The kids had a great time, but were really mad when we left just as they were about to play a game of basketball outside. Mike has this thing about not wanting to be the last people at a party. Oh well. We started talking vacations, in general places we'd like to go eventually with the kids. New York City & DC (I said I'd only go to DC if I can go to the Smithsonian though), Grand Canyon, some other spots on the East Coast--Boston, Baltimore, etc (did I ever tell you I love the East Coast??? haha : ) California, FL/Disney (we joke that it's a trip for Maddie--we want to go when the older two will still want to be seen with their parents & Maddie will think it's totally magical. And I suppose we'd take Sadie again in 10 years by herself!) When we got home he was online looking up deals for Disney vacations. He says it was out of curiosity (which was sparked by watching Extreme Home Makeover). So perhaps in a year or two we'll go somewhere. Which brings up another issue, he's thinking of driving. Okay, fine. But with what vehicle? We'd have to rent something big enough to hold all our stuff, the minivan wouldn't hold much. Well, HE has been the one joking about getting a new vehicle. He often talks about trading in his truck so I could get a Suburban or Yukon, and he'd use the minivan as his junker/to haul stuff. But I won't let him do that; he still gives me crap for trading in his Mustang (and crashing it up...) when we had Kaycey (by the way, HE traded in his Mustang for the Silverado, I told him he should've kept the Mustang and got the truck!). Anyhow, he constantly jokes that in eight more years, I can get a new vehicle, which I know he is being sarcastic, because in the same sentence he tells me first I have to crash up all the corners of it so they at least match. I laugh, of course. I say at the very least 6 years, because Cal can drive then and he can have the minivan. Hopefully a new vehicle is in our near future???

Cal finished "The Lightning Theif" today...in record time! Boy, this kid can read. It's 376 pages, and he had it done in less than 12 days. He can't wait to read the rest of them, but geez, I can't keep up! Someone better keep writing good books...he reads them faster than the authors can keep up with.

Little Sadie likes her exersaucer (and the TV!), too. And she grabbed her toes today, all by herself!!