I'm still here....

O.k. so I started this post awhile ago and never finished. What a crazy, busy life!!!!!

So this is Alyssa and Loren's room. It was painted while I was away at women's retreat. We haven't hung anything up yet but I will post pictures after we do.

So how is life going?
Obviously busier or I would have written before now.

Let's just do a quick report.
Emma - weight today is 11 lb. 5 oz. She sure is a slow gainer but we'll take it. In the past two weeks she has taken off. She is now sitting up without help. She is rolling clear across the floor. She is talking a lot more. We meet with the speech and physical therapists this Thursday. She will be seeing all her doctors this month and next. She will be having a Cat Scan done on her brain/head June 1st. She will see the endocrinologist and urologist this month. She will have her year check up also. So I will be able to update you on everything at some point within the month. She is even smiling bigger now and I LOVE it!!!!!

Me - My kidneys....I'm in the process of switching urologists. It's like pulling teeth. I have two cysts. One is .8 cm. and one is 6.8 cm. One on each kidney. Along with kidney stones and calcification. I'm meeting with him to talk about our plan. If they are growing, how long do we wait before surgery. What should I be looking for, etc.

Olivia - doing great! Crawling like a race car. She is standing up on everything. She'll be walking before I want her to - let's just put it that way. She doesn't have a volume control - I wish she did. She is the equivalent to an alarm clock in the morning. When she goes off, everyone is up. Thank you Livy!!!

Alyssa - Graduates from preschool May 19th. Yea!!! I'm so ready from the break of taking all 4 kids 3 days a week to preschool and picking them up too. Thank you summer! But she has had a great year and we will really miss everyone!

Loren - had her 2 year check up today. She is 28 pounds and doing well. There are some things I need to work on. Mostly with her speech - getting her to talk more. It's been hard since her older sister tends to do all the talking. I know...hard to imagine.

So today at Loren's appointment, I asked for a schedule of this month's immunizations for the health department (since insurance doesn't cover any shots). Yep, the only date they are in Washington is TODAY!!! So I'm taking all FOUR to get their shots. Thankfully my babysitter can go with me to help. This is one I don't think I can do by myself. Alyssa has been telling for a year and a half that she doesn't want to go to Kindergarten because she has to get shots first. So this should be fun!!!! : )

Well, I'm off to talk Alyssa to preschool. Oh yea, and I just found out that we live to close to the school next year for a school bus that I have to load all FOUR of my kiddos up to take Alyssa to Kindergarten FIVE days a week. Lovely!!!!!
At least I won't be carrying oxygen, pulsox, apnea machines, etc.

More waterpark pictures

A BIG Thank you...

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of those who have reached out to us over the last year. Some I don't even know. We have received help without even knowing who it has come from. Thank you to my awesome Aunt and Uncle for helping with Emma's formula. Thank you to our church family for helping with Emma's formula. Beside our refridgerator is a tall stack of high calorie formula to get us through the next couple of months to try and get some meat on this girl's bones. Thank you to my mommy and me group for being there for me spiritually, mentally and physically. Thank you mom for practically living with us and taking care of our two day in and day out. Thank you for all the meals during the time we were in the hospital and on bedrest. Thank you for helping watch our children while we visited our other children in the hospital. Thank you to the ladies that cleaned my house while I was on bedrest. Thank you to my neighbor who has been my angel that knows exactly when I need someone to give me a break and watching all four of my kids (even when they were on oxygen and on all the machines) - You are very brave. :) Thank you ladies from our church for giving Mike and I the day to go Christmas shopping for our children. Thank you for praying for us continually - especially when our strength was drained. You all have ministered to us tremendously. You have been such a blessing!!! It is hard to sit back and let others take care of you. But in a way, I felt God's love through you. We try to do so much on our own and try to control things that sometimes I don't think we let God give to us - to receive all the blessings and joys that He has for us. I know I haven't named everyone individually but thank you ALL!!!!! I love each and every one of you!!! God Bless each and every one of you!!!!
Love,
Mike, Bethany, Alyssa, Loren, Emma and Olivia

Awesome Family Time!!

We had a great time this weekend at the Carribean Cove. The kids loved every minute of it! Loren's 2nd birthday was Saturday. It was a really good time. I'll write more when I get a second - Emma and Livy are both crying. Enjoy the pictures!!!

Fever...

Loren spiked with a high fever last night. No other symptoms so I'm not sure where that came from. She is sleeping now since she was up all night so I don't know if she still has a fever. Emma is getting over her cold/cough. That keeps her up - especially when she coughs and her pacifier goes flying out of her mouth. Olivia is still cutting teeth so she is up a lot at night. I feel like I'm in the NICU because the girls room is across from each other. They all cry at once and I'm having to hand sanitize as I enter and leave a room. I do not want the twins sick if I can help it. It is such a high fever I would probably have to hospitalize the twins if they got that high. Please pray this ends and we all start sleeping again. I have not slept through the night in over two weeks and it's getting old. I'm pretty much up midnight to 5 a.m. every night.

Other than that, we are looking forward to a getaway in Indy with my family!!! I'm soooooooooooooooo excited!!! Another reason I need the kids to be healthy.
Well, I need to get back to mothering.

Hopefully I will get a weight on Emma today. She has had a cold so she might have lost another half pound. We'll see....