Cleaning and scrubbing will wait ’till tomorrow, but children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs! Dust go to sleep! I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep. – Ruth Hamilton

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Halloween and a Worlds Series

We were VERY lucky to attend a World Series game on Saturday night!
 
We loaded the kids up in the afternoon and headed to my parent's house. When we got there we were greeted by 2 aunts, 2 uncles, my 90 year old grandpa, baby Owen, and my cousin (that I haven't seen in a long time)! My kids were shy as usual, but I loved catching up with everyone. 
We ate SO much food!
 
Papa 2 loves to trick Avery-since she's so shy-it takes her a while and then she doesn't leave him alone!


 My brother and sister-in-law offered to take my kids for the night (such a treat).  When we heard Owen was coming, we got our favorite babysitter in St. Louis to watch the two "not so babies".  Lincoln wanted to take care of Owen!  I left my camera so Ms. Kristina could take pictures.  These are the cute pictures we got to come home to:





 
We headed to the stadium early.  It was a must with the Clydesdales trotting around the stadium!

 
 

My parents have had these seats since the new stadium opened 7 years ago, so we know all the people around us...and yes they photo bomb every picture!
We had too much fun!!!
 

 
From the pictures I got on my phone the kids had fun trick or treating and having a sleep over!


This is the BEST picture!  I LOVE Mack's smile. 
It was a night to remember. I am so thankful for my kids getting a sleepover and my parents letting Lincoln sleep in their room. This was the first night away from Mack in a long time!  It's healthy to have nights like this with your husband!


Sunday, October 27, 2013

One Year Ago

Today is a day which changed our lives forever. 

One year ago today I was waking up early with a tired little 2 year old 
and then we were here:


 
Looking back at what has happened this year, I'm not sure how we did it, but we did.  This day (and every day) is a day to take the time to thank God for everything he has blessed us with.  He has held us together and gave us the strength to overcome our obstacles.  Today, October, 29th, will be a day that has turned into a celebration because it was a day that can't be forgotten. A day we will celebrate where we are and what we have overcome.



I added this picture to remember how little Lincoln was when we started!  He was such a baby!

 From everything we have gone through we have learned more than any experience in our lives.  This experience has brought us closer, it has shown us who is important in our lives, it has taught us to embrace the craziness, and most of all it has let us take the time as a family to be together. 
Before this happened I was the mom who had a schedule, made baby food, used cloth diapers, and only gave my kids milk and water...now I realize non of that crap matters!!! Yes, I'm still cautious of what they eat and what ingredients are in products, but having quiet time instead of nap time has made a huge difference. Having juice boxes has become a favorite and if they have ice cream for dinner, so be it! Nothing I did made a difference in what happened to Mack! What matters is everyone is safe, happy, and loving towards each other. This experience has taught us to throw a lot of rules out the door:)
 
 
Today is a celebration of MACK.  My big plan was to have a party-this changed when life got in the way.  Now we plan to spend the time being a family and praying our next year will be a success in Mack's treatment. 
October 29th

Friday, October 25, 2013

Halloween Part 1

Thursday marked our first night of the Halloween festivities. Avery woke up so excited! After work we got them dressed up, went to dinner with friends and headed to Stephens College (my current place of work and my old stomping grounds). Every year they have a Safe Trick Or Treating event in the dorms. This year it was different. They had games, snacks and lots of college girls giving them attention in the big ball room. Then, outside there were girls ready with their trunks open for Trunk Or Treating.
This whole event was one I wished we could have shared with more friends-it was awesome!!!! We stayed until 8:00 (so late in the kid world) needless to say they had to miss school the next day! Partly because we have a busy weekend and they needed to rest up.
I never liked Halloween, but oh my I do now! It was a blast getting them ready. I sprayed Avery's hair with glitter, put blush on her cheeks and lipstick! So fun!!
There were ladies from the education program so the kids liked seeing friendly faces!
The boy's outfits were a little easier, Mack was a race car driver and Lincoln got to be the sheep dog they have all been! He hated it, but once he got all the girls giving him attention, he was happy. And he learned to find candy EVERYWHERE!

Meme showed up to see them!
Buddies from the preschool class!


Miss Amelia-a LONG time family friend was there! We were so glad to see her before she graduates and moves away to New York!
This is when my phone died...

Tomorrow they are going to another event with their cousins and a sleep over! Tonight we are resting so everyone is ready!











Monday, October 21, 2013

At Home and Nothing Planned

I have so many emotions I want to record with my little ones.  This week was a hard week.  Even though last weekend was a "little bump", I wasn't as strong as normal.  Normally we have a day to recover, but this time we had to jump right back into a normal routine.  I was very emotional.  Here I am planning a one year mark celebration and then we are back in the hospital.  I probably could have used a day at home with my three babies, but reality was work.  I love my job-I say it a lot-I get to see my kids all the time.  This week we tried to bring Avery one day and she was feeding off my emotions and was back to crying again.  So, we made the choice to keep them all home together and recover.  Even though it was a short stay at the hospital, it takes a toll on us as a family.  It was hard knowing they were all at home and not feeling better and I wasn't with them. 
 
Mark and I made a promise to our kids this weekend we weren't going anywhere with friends and we weren't having any friends over.  It was all about them.  It was what we needed after our hard week.
Lincoln at the doctors office :)
On Friday I met them at the doctors office to get Flu shots and have Mack checked out.  He has an ear infection, but otherwise is doing great! 
 
When I got home from work, we make these cute snacks.  We had a dietitian come into our class as a guest speaker and made these. 

Clementine with a celery stalk=a little pumpkin and chocolate chips in a banana=a ghost
Then, it was homemade pizzas and a movie-and some extra sibling snuggles.
The Cardinal game was on, so they got to stay up a little late and have pedicures...yes, even Mack!

Saturday morning we stayed in our PJ's (again) made an apple pie, cooked up a batch of white chicken chili and did some crafts.
If you have any wine corks-we save them for crafts-hey worked perfect for painting.
 They added leaves to their trees!




After the pumpkin patch, we came home and laid around.  Avery put on a nice show for us and everyone was asleep by 7:45!



Hopefully this week brings a new outlook.  Going to a World Series game on Saturday will help:)!