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Nine Month Miracle

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 5th birthday to my little princess!! Where has the time gone???

5 short years ago, at 4:35 pm, I held a 5 pound 12 ounce baby girl for the first time in my life. I knew nothing about babies, nothing about motherhood, and in retrospect, pretty much nothing about life at all! LOL. I remember looking down at this tiny baby and thanking God that my own mom lived a couple of miles away so that she could help me out and guide me through this new and uncharted world of motherhood. I was both thrilled and terrified at the same time.....not to mention shocked that the hospital actually sent me home and trusted me to care for this little girl.

Katherine opened whole new world to me. The love I felt for her was instant and unconditional, and it was more powerful than anything I'd ever felt in my entire life. She has taught me more lessons in these five short years that in all my other years combined. As I look at her, I am constantly reminded how truly blessed I am, and thank God every day for bringing her into my life.

In the blink of an eye, a 5 year old has replaced the baby that was. In what seems like a brief moment, my baby girl who depended on me for everything, has turned into an incredibly funny, independent, sweet, preschooler who is on the verge of starting kindergarten. She went from being in the 3rd and 5th percentile (height and weight) to an incredibly athletic gymnast. She dances and sings her way though life, and brings a smile to all those whose life she touches. She may look like her Daddy, but her personality is all mine. She is my mini-me. When she speaks, I hear myself. When she laughs, I laugh too. We are truly connected at the heart, and I am so thankful of the bond we share.

So far, today has been jam packed with birthday celebrations. We brought push-ups and juice boxes to preschool and she was the uncontested star of the day. She got to wear the birthday crown and pass out treats. She was sung to and everyone in the class made her a picture which they put into a birthday book. When I picked her up, he face was still pink from the ice cream, and she was glowing. She had a permanent smile on her face -- which put a smile on my face.

When we got to the car, she burst out in song... "You say I'm a princess.... My mommy's the queen... and together we reign supreme"! Oh, that girl.... how can you just NOT fall head over heels in love with her?

After school, we were invited over to the Launderville's house for a little birthday celebration. I was amazed when we walked in their house. They had baked her an amazing cake -- chocolate which is her favorite, and the house was decorated with hot pink and lime green party ware, and helium balloons. I was shocked! It was so incredibly sweet of them. We are so blessed to have amazing friends.

Tonight Katherine is bringing treats to ballet and tap lessons and she's thrilled. When you're 5, there's nothing better than your birthday, and celebrating all day long (and in her case all WEEK long) really takes the cake. She's just walking a little taller and smiling a little brighter today. I love that!!

Speaking of all week celebrations -- we are having small celebrations all week with family and friends. Tomorrow night we are going out to dinner at the place of her choosing. She hasn't decided for sure yet where she wants to go, but one thing is definite -- they must have shakes! The celebrations will end on Saturday afternoon when we have her big party. I was expecting quite a few "regrets" since it's the week of spring break (I assumed people would be going out of town etc...), but the way things stand now, we're expecting somewhere around 30 kids. Yea -- should be chaos. But what fun would a 5 year birthday party be without chaos???? Bring it on!! After all -- you only turn 5 once!

Thursday randoms...

Just a couple of funnies from my kiddos from the past day or so.....

When Katherine and I are in the car, it's constant chatter. We're always talking about something, and Caleb loves to chime in with his two cents worth. Today, totally out of the blue, we have this conversation --

Katherine: Mommy, when you first saw Daddy did you run away?

Me: UUUUUHHH, what?

Katherine: You know, did you run as fast as you could when you first saw him?

Me: No -- why would you ask that?

Katherine: Well I thought you were supposed ta run as fast as you could when you saw your prince.

Me: ** OK at this point I can hardly contain my laughter. *** Katherine where did you hear such a thing?

Katherine: Well that's what Snow White did.

Me: AAAAHHH that explains a lot!

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With Katherine's birthday right around the corner, we've been talking a ton lately about her party next weekend and how fun it'll be. Caleb insists that "my birphday is coming up soon". I just agree with him -- there's no point in arguing with a two year old when his birthday is, even though he knows it's in September.... Anyway, guess what he wants? GREEN HAIR COLOR. That's right, my two year old thinks he needs green hair. Unfortunately this isn't just a passing thing either. It's all he's been talking about for two weeks now -- green hair color! Where does he come up with this stuff?

The funniest part of the green hair color obsession is that he made my mom write it down so that'd she remember to buy it for him. Now if only I can find a green wig or something.... After all -- how can I not indulge this phase?

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I had some serious Olive Garden needs the other night, so Matt and I took the kids there for dinner. It was getting pretty cold out, so Matt took Katherine to the car and was going to drive up for Caleb and I. It just so happened that the state basketball tourney was in town, and evidently, lots of small town folks, LOOOOVE the OG. Anyway, the lobby was PACKED!

While we were waiting for Matt and Katherine to pick us up, Caleb decided to put on a show for the crowd, and started performing a stirring rendition of "Shake your Booty". Yea, not sure where he learned this from either, but it's become a beloved part of his repertoire whenever a crowd gathers and he's the center of attention. As you can imagine, he got tons of laughs, which only made him want to perform more...

One of the women asked me how old he was, and before I could say anything, he turned around and said, "I seven!" (Again, not sure where he picked seven from, but ANY TIME he's asked his age, he says he's seven). Knowing they didn't believe him I said, "Actually, he's almost two and a half". He looks at me, laughs at me and says, "You're silly momma, I seven!" Allrighty then!

The women then asked if he went to preschool, and I said something to the effect that "Nope! preschool can't handle him!". Caleb wasn't satisfied with my answer, and felt it necessary to clarify. He said, "I can't go to preschool, 'cause I still wear diapers. I'm waiting for my big boy Thomas (the train) undies and then I can go to preschool and gymnastics". Thankfully Matt pulled up in the car as I'm sure they didn't want to hear about his potty training escapades...

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Poor Matt...

Strep throat and the flu. The poor guy is in BAD shape! So, needless to say, the kiddos and I stayed out until nap time and then I came home and put them to bed. Tonight will be another "no daddy" kind of night, and he's already decided to stay at home again tomorrow. This will be the first time since I've known him that he's been home sick for 2.5 days for himself.

Hopefully he's better (and the kids don't catch it) so that we can head back to LeMars this weekend.

Will it ever end????

Matt is still sick -- really sick. He's been banished to the basement and the kids didn't see him at all yesterday -- not even to say goodnight. I can't chance either one of them getting sick again ... especially since we are heading to LeMars this weekend.

So for dinner, I made up a plate for him and brought it down. When I went to check on him, he had already decided that going to work today wasn't an option. Soooo not like him. Typically, if he's breathing, he's at work. He takes a sick day for me or the kids, but for himself -- NEVER!

After I gave the kiddos a bath last night and put them to bed, I went back down to check on him, and I literally had to shake him awake. He was burning up and chilled at the same time. Poor guy. And yes ... he slept downstairs. A whole two floors away from the kids and I!

This morning after I dropped Katherine off at school, Caleb and I came home to check on him again. I put Caleb upstairs in front of the TV, so he wouldn't get too close. When I asked Matt how he was feeling, he told me that he needed to go to the doctor. Great! It takes a lot for Matt to go to the doctor, and going willingly -- out of the question. He must be really sick. He thinks that he has either a (i) strep throat; or (ii) sinus infection. Both of which are wonderfully contagious! Guess who will be spending another day in the basement???

Back to normal...

I love, love, LOVE Tuesdays. It's the one day of the week that we have absolutely NOTHING planned. No preschool, no dance, no gymnastics, no story time, no kindermusic, no obligations of any kind. It's our cherished day together, and we always spend it playing HARD!

Today the kids wanted to ride the Easter train, so we took off for the mall. They had such a good time, playing in the play pit, riding the train, talking to the Easter bunny, and having lunch. I can't tell you how great it was to have everyone healthy and energetic again. It was such a nice return to "normal", and let me tell you -- I LOVE NORMAL!

I should have known it wouldn't last.....

While I was sitting in the play pit, my phone rang. It was Matt calling from his blackberry wondering where I was and about when we'd be home. When I told him, he sounded relieved.... He was on his way home from work -- running a fever, his sinuses plugged beyond voice recognition, and feeling "really rough". Oh. My. Goodness. You have got to be kidding me. I should have guessed something was up. When I woke up this morning he had extra blankets piled on his side of the bed. He must have gotten chilled in the middle of the night. I swear.... How long can someone in this family be sick????

Sooooo, tomorrow after preschool and kindermusic, I'm opening up the house and using an entire bottle of Lysol and giving this house one massive scrub down. I can't handle anymore of this!

Update...

In a nutshell, all is well -- or at least it will be. I've never felt such relief and been so thankful to find out that there was nothing seriously wrong with my little girl. It made me truly appreciate the blessing of having a healthy child.

Our time at the hospital on Saturday seemed to drag on forever. Katherine was poked, prodded, forced to drink Barium (which would make *anyone* gag), and have countless x-rays. I must say... she such a trooper through out it all. She was scared to death at times and shed more than a couple of tears, but all in all, she was amazing.

She had an upper GI test to rule out a blockage in her small intestine, which thankfully she didn't have. The radiologist did find some reflux that will need to be treated, but that's minor considering the alternative... I guess what she has "is not normal, but not totally uncommon in small kids" and we're all hopeful that she'll out grow it in time.

The exam room that she was in, was divided in two parts -- Katherine and the x-ray tech on one side, and the radiologist and I on the other side. The x-ray tech that we had was amazing. She was so great with kids and really helped Katherine to stay relaxed. She was asking her all sorts of questions to keep her mind occupied -- all about her favorite foods, our Disney trip, and her little brother. Katherine perked up when she started talking about Caleb and all the stuff they do together. The x--ray tech then said, "Wow. You really like your little brother, huh???" Katherine replied, "Oh yea... I love him. He and my mommy are my two best friends". Tears started flowing down my face. It was such a humbling and poignant moment. Here is this little girl being put through the ringer and forced to drink tons of this thick chalky stuff that's making her gag and she talks about her love for others. How did I get so blessed?

We ended up spending the entire morning at the hospital. They had to take x-rays every 15 minutes so that they could see how quickly the barium was moving through her stomach and intestines. Thankfully, they didn't find a blockage.

As insane as this sounds, we think the problem was constipation. Evidently, she was so backed up that nothing could empty out of her little tummy and she'd throw it all up. So, she's been on heavy laxatives and since then, we haven't had any problems --THANK GOODNESS!!

We're off to LeMars this weekend to get our taxes done, and I'm so relieved that this is all behind us and she won't be sick while we're there!