Move Over Angeline Jolie

This morning Ella woke up at 7am in a very whiney state and was complaining that her stomach hurt. Five minutes later she said she was going to spit up so I told her to run to the toilet. She proceeded with a very convincing dry heave. I truly believed she was going to be sick. The verdict was that she would stay home from school. Jameson had his 6 month appointment scheduled at 9am and by the time we were leaving for that I was starting to question whether or not her stomach really hurt. She promised she was telling the truth and I told her that God would know if she was lying. When we were at the doctor appointment Ella proceeded to tell the doctor, "I stayed home from school today because I miss my mommy when I 'm there." So, my not so sick Ella is now taking a nap to get rid of that not so really there stomach ache. I mean every actress does need her beauty rest!

On the other hand, Jameson's doctor appointment went well. He is looking better from all of his illnesses this past month and is one happy little fellow. The doctor couldn't believe how happy he was. He measured 28 inches (95th percentile) and was 15.5 pounds (10th percentile). He sure is a string bean, but his height makes him look so much older.

Bradley is always busy and up to new things. This week he has decided to spend his time inspecting every piece of fruit I put on his plate and will only eat the ones without any imperfections. He also has decided that during nap time he should sleep with a stuffed animal up his shirt. Who knows what that is about! AllI can say is Bradley is perfectly Bradley!

2010...what a long journey!

I played with the kids all days yesterday and Ella really wanted to play "Mary and Joseph". So, she put on some dress up, stuck a baby in her dress, sat side saddle on Bradley's rocking horse and asked me to pull her to the town of Bethlehem. I would drag her on the rocking horse across the room (she was pretending it was a donkey) and she would repeat over and over, "Oh Joseph, this is such a long journey.........or.......I think tonight is the night Joseph". Bradley was the inn keeper and Jameson was the little drummer boy! It was a lot of fun. This morning when we went to school she told me that she was tired still from the long journey! In my head I was thinking..."at least you weren't pulling the donkey all day", but I didn't say it! Instead I kissed her goodbye and thought about how nice it was to have her home with me for 2 weeks over Christmas break. It was kind of sad to take her back to school today.

Bradley received some camping gear for Christmas from grandpa and grandma, so yesterday I took them out to play with his little explorere kit he got and we set up the tent. Scott and I got the kids little sleeping bags this year so I could camp out with them sometimes in the toy room, so we brought it all out and played. We even ate our dinner outside in the tent together. Bradley is also very much into his new construction gear and toys.

Jameson has been sick a lot lately with colds and viruses, so he has been like an attachment in my arms. It's the first time I think I have ever heard the kid fuss and it is so cute because he tries to be happy and smile even when he's not feeling well.

Ella said it right...2010 was a "Long journey". The year was filled with some big events like a few big health scares, moving into a new home, the birth of our third son, etc. I feel like the year just passed us by again! However, even with all of the challenges and stresses that we were faced with this year, I still feel overwhelmingly blessed by God. I can't wait to continue this journey through 2011 and pray that we may all find ourselves closer to God and his unconditional love! Here are a few recent pics of the kids!

Happy New Year!

Oh My Dearest Bradleypoo

As most of you know, Bradley is still struggling after his tubes and adenoids surgery. In fact, Bradley got an ear infection 10 days after the procedure. They tried giving hima new medicine to treat it, but he had an allergic reaction to it that cause his whole body to break out in awful hives and attacked his respiratory system. Anyway, they put him on steroids to help his respiratory system until the medicine is out of his system. I wish theywould have prescribed me some as well so I could keep up with him. The kid goes through 3 continuous phases all day....1. "eat, eat, eat" (I can't fit enough snacks in my bag for a dsay).........2. "mommy up, mommy hold me" (he follows me around clinging to my legs or propels himsef at me in an effort to be held"...............and the 3. exremely frustrated "NO" phase (this phase is just really Iam mad and nothing you do makes it better". This last one is definitely my least favorite.

Anyway, Ella hast 3 really good girlfriends at school and today one of them invited us over for a play date. The girls had a blast playing dress up as Bradley combined phases 1 and 3 and stood in front of their pantry screaming to eat everything in sight. By the time we left my son had finished off their juice, had half a brick of cheese and some crackers...this is extremely odd for Bradley since he is n't that good of a na eater right now, but the steroids have turned him into a ravenous snacker. After finally filling his belly he went to play with the girls. I went to check tot he room to make sure there was nothing he could break or damage and then I came back out with the other moms and bagan feeding Jameson. A few minutes later Bradley comes running out with no pants or diaper on yeliing "poop" over and over. I automatically started sweating because I knew he had taken off a poopy diaper and put it somewhere in there house. This is a new phase Bradley is in. The mother went to check and found his poopy diaper on the floor and poop on the bathroom floor. How mortified was I? Ugh!

As we're leaving the playdate, Ella was sobbing to leave her new friends and they were all hugging and kissing like a high school click and Ella dramatically says, "I want to stay here my entire life". I noticed when the mother answered her that she said "Ella" you are welcome anytime......I'm not sure if Bradley and I will be invited back after today. Ella then continued to cry the whole way home because she "NEEDS" her friends Sophia, Olivia and Ava from school. She just "NEEDS" to see them today. It was like a preview of what it will be like in high school with Ella and her friends. Every day when the 4 girls show up at school they all scream and do this great big group hug and kiss, so it really is great to see that they are so excited about each other and such good friends already, but seriously.......let the drama begin.

Hope you all have a great poop free day!

Ella, Bradley and Jameson.....Oh my!

Today was Ella's first day of VPK. She will be going to preschool Monday through Friday from 8:10 to 11:10. She has been very excited about school and even woke up early this morning to go. However, afterward it was like pulling teeth to get her to tell me about her day. During their playground time Ella fell and hurt her leg in 3 spots and her arm in 2 , so that put a huge damper on the day for her. Of course I cried when I got in the car this morning after dropping her off and Bradley sat in the back seat saying "Ella". he must have said it a million times in the 3 hour span. We went to the YMCA and it was Bradley's first time to be at daycare without her. They said he walked around saying her name the whole 45 minutes. However, he did well and went in without crying. Anyway, when we picked Ella up from school she said, "Did you cry when you left me?". I told her I did and she said, "I cried too because I wanted you when I got hurt and you weren't here." Ughh! That made me feel so bad. Ella didn't seem as excited as I expected her to be afterward, but I think she was distracted by the playground accident...we'll see what she says after this week when she has had some time to adjust.

Bradley had his adenoids removed 1.5 weeks ago and got tubes in his ears. Hopefully this will help the little guy from all fo those ear infections and asthma attacks, but we'll see. He is currently semi-potty training. I say semi because it is very difficult for me to keep up with my part of it with the arrival of Jameson. I think I could have him potty trained quickly, but I can't always get to him to take him when I need to. Besides, when the little man has to poop it literally takes 25 minutes and that is difficult to accomodate. The other day I heard water running in the kitchen and thought something started leaking, when I looked around I found Bradley standing over the dog's water bowl urinating in it. Who knows how many times he has done that before. I bet the dogs are really feeling lucky since they have moved to the end of the priority list behind 3 children and even have to drink pee water. Bradley had recently learned to ride his bike almost completelt by himself, so it is one of his favorite things to do right now!

Jameson is doing well. He is about 10 pounds now and is very long. He will be 7 weeks on Thursday. He will sleep anywhere from 4 to 7 hours at a time for his first stretch at night. He's a good little boy, but he does like to be held a lot when he is awake. I guess he is already starting to battle for attention!!! He has heard how loud Ella and Bradley are and knows he must work his way into the commotion somehow!