Eding Family Blog

Assorted wool for sale....

2011-02-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

Ruscovilla soaker, I think a small.

I am selling a few pieces of wool, prefer local to GR. If you're interested just let me know which item. I will try and update prices and sizes tomorrow.

Aristocrats soaker size small.

Kenton in one of the Villa.

Disana green soaker, I think medium. I might have natural as well.

Savanna's 5th Birthday Party!

2010-07-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

Happy 5th Birthday Savanna Bananna!

2010-07-13T10:37:00.001-04:00

July 4th 2010

2010-07-13T09:19:00.000-04:00

How many shots does it take to get ONE good one. LOL

July 2010 updates

2010-07-13T08:08:00.000-04:00

Meet Lucas

2010-07-12T22:05:00.000-04:00

Today we added a new family member. We named him Lucas and call him Luke. The kids just love him- esp. Olivia. We have been wanting a dog for a long time and finally found a great one. He's a purebred German Short Hair.

Kenton's Stitches...

2010-06-03T00:27:00.002-04:00

March 2010 Updates.

2010-04-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

Baby Kenton is ONE!

2010-02-09T23:19:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it has been one year already! After eating my breakfast that morning, I stood up to walk into the living room and felt my water break. It was not a large amount but enough to know that it was not something else. Smile. I waited all day without one single contraction. We went in at about 6:30 PM and he was born at 4:34 AM. An easy, straight forward birth with no complications. He is such a joy and a super sweet baby. He wakes every morning with a big smile on his face. He loves to "dance" to music and give kisses to everyone.

Logan and Kenton's John Deere Tractor Party!

2010-02-06T22:03:00.006-05:00

We celebrated Logan's third birthday and Kenton's first birthday today with all of our families. Rick's family was kind enough to provide all of the food today. Everything was really nice. We had a great time visiting and enjoying the kids. Kenton got his own little cupcake to eat, which he enjoyed.

Logan turns three!

2010-01-30T23:49:00.000-05:00

I can't believe my Ogie is 3 today! From the minute he was born he has been a happy go lucky and smiling guy. Logan is such a mix of naughty and nice all in one. He is very independent yet his favorite saying is "Poopy Ass"!

Rick update

2010-01-10T10:48:00.007-05:00

By now most of you have heard about Rick's heart problems. He originally had an anaphylactic reaction to an antibiotic (one in more than a million chance of that happening) which left his heart with scarring in 2000. They are calling the original episode an MI (heart attack). He was told that the damage was minimal and he was young enough to go on living without problems.

In 2006 he was working in Canada for extended periods of time. He slowly became short of breath and extremely fatigued. I took him into the doctor who totally misdiagnosed him. Rick kept telling him he felt pressure in his upper abdomen. The doctor sent him home on Zantac. He totally missed the information in the chart about the original MI. Almost a week later he felt no better. I took him to the doctor again who thought he had mono. I insisted that it was something more and asked him to do an EKG. Once he ran one he realized how wrong he was and Rick was taken directly to the ER. Later he was moved downtown GR to the heart center where we were told he had congestive heart failure (CHF) and a large blood clot in his heart.

He has tried his best to keep up but his heart is just not cooperating. Now after two hospitalizations in Nov. and Dec. of 2009 we are finally getting some answers. They have enrolled him in the heart failure clinic which specializes in heart failure, VAD's and transplant. We will be finding out more next week about their plan for his care. They will be deciding on when and where to put an LVAD in Rick while he is placed on the heart transplant list. You can read more and watch a video about the VAD here.

One Year Anniversay!

2009-12-17T22:54:00.004-05:00

Here they are holding up their message for dad when he was sick. 11/09

Here is my post about how I felt the night that I KNEW the kids would be with us forever.

It's been one whole year since Isaac, Olivia and Savanna became "Eding's Forever". Every person in the court that day was able to tap the gavel and say "It's Official!" The kids had a great time. We will always remember that special day!

Three long years ago..........

2009-10-22T21:31:00.005-04:00

Katie and Isaac 2005

It's been three long years since you left us so suddenly. We miss you and love you. Life was changed forever that day in so many ways. Here are my thoughts from last year in the last picture and paragraph.

Why I Co-sleep...

2009-08-14T21:30:00.006-04:00

Logan and baby Kenton

Justin and baby Logan

Little racers!

2009-08-09T23:33:00.008-04:00

I actually bought this race car toy when Isaac was a baby in 2001 because it had Rick's racing number "64" on it. I was hoping to have boys one day. Boy did I get my wish! I have pictures of Isaac in it but they are not digital so I have to scan them. Don't they look alike?!

Logan 2007

Justin 2005

Kenton 2009

Princess turns FOUR!

2009-07-17T23:14:00.007-04:00

Savanna turned 4 on Monday July 13th. She wanted a "Little Mermaid" birthday party. We had a fun party on Sunday with good food and she got a lot of nice presents. She had a little mermaid cake and got her new scooter that she has been wanting. Happy birthday little princess!

Rick's unconditional love....

2009-06-24T07:55:00.016-04:00

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my arms, welcomes me."
Matthew 18:5

Rick with Isaac, Olivia and Savanna

Rick with the first five kids.

I met my husband and soul mate Rick on New Years Eve 2001. We were engaged eight months later and married October 19, 2002. We had only been dating for three months when my sister had Isaac. Rick was right by my side waiting for him to be born. He was my first nephew and we were so excited. Olivia came along ten months and two days later. Things were rough for the kids and we became their legal guardians in February 2004. We had only been married for a year and a half, we were trying for our own children and Rick agreed to take the children as our own.

We had Isaac and Olivia for 2 1/2 years until they were able to go back to my sister Katie. During the time in between was a time of terrible turmoil. We were in the midst of going through infertility treatments and tons of drama with my sister. We were both working full time and juggling taking the kids to day care while I was on call 24 hours a day as Director of Nursing. It was a very stressful time and many men would have said "No, I quit- the kids need to go back to their mom" but Rick was too concerned about the kids to let them go back yet. The children went back with their mom in June of 2006 after she had made a lot of changes and we were home with only Justin.

In the fall of 2006 Rick was working a lot in Canada and was starting to feel run-down and tired all the time. We always chocked it up to traveling, eating out on the road etc. He finally got to the point where he felt short of breathe so I took him into Zeeland Hospital. They did an EKG and sent us directly to the ER for an echo. After transferring him upstairs, a cardiologist came to see him and told us that he was in complete heart failure and that he had a large blood clot in his heart. A few years earlier he had a reaction to an antibiotic that caused some scar tissue in his heart. He had just turned 30 a few weeks earlier. I was almost six months pregnant with Logan and I remember Rick just holding on to my stomach and saying he hoped he would get to see his second son born. We were so scared. They transferred him to Spectrum's Heart Center and he stayed for another week until they released him on a Friday to go home.

It was October 23, 3006, the Monday after Rick was released from the hospital when we got the call that Katie had died. We went to get the kids not knowing what was going to happen. CPS gave us all three kids. Some friends and family said to us "Maybe you should think about what you are doing since Rick is still recovering from heart failure"? Rick simply replied "Where else would they go but home?"

It took us until December 2008 to finally adopt all three children. It was another long hard road because we had to fight with each dad in court after they suddenly appeared to collect Social Security from Katie's death benefits. It was one court date after another until we finally made them our children forever.

The final thing that makes Rick such a wonderful dad to my children is not only the sacrifices he has made to have all of our children with us, but also the countless days he has spent directly by Olivia's side as she lay sick in the hospital. A lot times it has worked out better for Rick to take her in and he never leaves her side. It has been very stressful on us to have Olivia so sick and the daily demands of taking care of her, but he does it anyway when some men would have given up. I'm so grateful to have him! I know there are some wonderful dads out there but only a few can say they went through as much as we have.

First Smiles

2009-05-05T10:19:00.008-04:00

Kenton is a happy baby. He's full of smiles and only cries when he wants to eat. We enjoy having him so much!

Being Silly

2009-05-05T08:27:00.006-04:00

Some of the kids decided to put winter hats on last week to be silly because it was really warm outside.

Twins

2009-04-13T22:31:00.010-04:00

Sweet baby..

2009-03-29T12:17:00.005-04:00

Kenton is almost 7 weeks old already- where does the time go? Here are a few pics of him this weekend:

Olivia is Seven.

2009-03-21T19:13:00.007-04:00

Olivia had her birthday party today. We all had a lot of fun. She got really nice presents, especially a lot of new clothes which she adores. She was very tired at the end of the day. We are so thankful for another wonderful year!

Big Brother, Big Sister, litle brother!

2009-03-21T18:15:00.014-04:00

We had our "photo shoot" today before Olivia's birthday party. I made each kid a big brother or big sister shirt. This was the first time we had a chance to take the pictures. Kenton will be six weeks old on Tuesday. Great grandma DeKraker is holding him in the first pictures.

Very moving....

2009-03-20T21:34:00.002-04:00

While enjoying everyday snuggling with my new baby, I'm feeling the call more and more to be a louder advocate for life! Especially during this presidency where we are now paying for abortions around the world. Watch this video. It's moving and stirring.

One month old already.

2009-03-13T23:01:00.008-04:00

Olivia is home today and doing well. You can read her update here. Kenton turned one month old this past Tuesday. How fast it goes by! Here are some new pictures of him. He has gained a little over 2 pounds already and is getting a chubby little face. Here are his newborn wool longies- the first pair I purchased for him.

Guess which baby...

2009-03-10T21:06:00.016-04:00

Which boy is which? Kenton and Justin look so much alike that I better start labeling!
I put the answers at the bottom....

Which boy is asleep in the bassinette?

I love baby feet. Can you guess which ones are which?

Which boy is asleep in the car seat?

The sleeping babies are #1 Kenton and #2 Justin...I haven't found Logan's picture yet..

The baby feet are #1 Kenton, #2 Justin, #3 Logan

The babies in the car seat are #1 Justin and #2 Kenton

Kenton's first wool longies..

2009-02-28T18:59:00.010-05:00

Kenton is two weeks old already. He has a touch of jaundice still so he got some sun today. I thought it would make some nice pictures. The second set of pictures is his first wool longies and his organic onsie. Thanks to the Eding family for buying us a longie.

Kenton is one week old already!

2009-02-19T12:00:00.010-05:00

Baby Kenton is born!

2009-02-15T10:33:00.023-05:00

Introducing: Kenton Gregory Eding!
Born on February 10, 2009 at 2:44 AM
6lb. 5oz. and 18 inches long

Kenton

First check after birth.

Kenton

Rick surprised me and brought all of the kids up to the hospital. They were so anxious to see the new baby and couldn't wait! Isaac was in school. The kids jumped on the bed to see him.

Logan's 2nd Birthday

2009-02-01T22:36:00.007-05:00

Logan turned 2 on Saturday January 31st. We had a nice party for him with a sports theme. He got a lot of nice presents including more tractors which are his passion. He wouldn't smile for mom in any of the pictures as you can see, but he had a nice birthday.

Winter Fun

2009-02-01T22:21:00.013-05:00

Finally catching up with our blog...

2009-01-27T13:05:00.017-05:00

We have been without our computer for nearly two months now. Of course it had to happen right during the holidays. Well despite some nasty winter storms here in MI we survived and had a great Christmas with the kids. The first thing that happened on December 17, 2008 was the adoption of Isaac, Olivia and Savanna all at once. What a wonderful and long-awaited event. We are going to have an open house for them in the spring. We had three Christmas parties to attend. We also battled double ear infections and pneumonia, but we made it through. I am just going to post a bunch of pics to catch us up.....

Our Christmas History

2008-11-29T14:03:00.010-05:00

Christmas 2004

Christmas 2005

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2008

2008-11-29T13:14:00.007-05:00

Logan's new dipes....

2008-11-20T17:34:00.008-05:00

I used cloth diapers on Justin, but when I had three in diapers I got a little overwhelmed and went back to sposies. Now that Savanna and Justin are almost done potty training, we have gone back to cloth prefolds with a snappi. This time we added a wool soaker cover over top at night and he NEVER leaks any more.

We're almost there!

2008-11-14T22:03:00.013-05:00

We have some good news from Bethany. We have gotten the OK from the state to adopt and now we are just waiting for the date. It has been a long road for us and we are so happy to become a "forever family" with all of the children. One of the things that makes it extra special for me is that my sister chose me to be by her side when each child was born (the first by emergency c-section and the rest were planned c-sections) so now that she has died, I am the only person on Earth who was there when each child entered this world. I view that as a great privilege and it makes it just as special in my mind as my children that I gave birth to!

This is a picture of how little Isaac and Olivia were when they first came to live with us. She is about 22 months old and he is about 32 months old. They look so young here.

Here is Isaac, Olivia and Justin Christmas of 2005.

Here is the night when I first realized that our lives had changed forever. Katie had passed away on this day October 23, 2006. It was such a terrible day. At the end of the day I realized that I no longer just had one baby to put to sleep but two. It was very bittersweet. I was about 6 1/2 months pregnant with Logan in this picture as well. This was two days before Justin's 1st birthday and Savanna was 15 months old. I will never ever forget this day.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T08:55:00.010-04:00

Halloween 2008

We had a lot of fun trick or treating. We only went to about 10 houses because Olivia was tired and Justin didn't feel good. His picture about sums up how he felt all night.

October 2008 updates...

2008-10-27T21:37:00.012-04:00

Justin's 3rd Birthday cake. He wanted a "John Deere party" because he and Logan are obsessed with tractors. Mom made his cake which is nothing fancy, but it was a tasty carrot cake.

Justin

Justin got a lot of really nice presents and lots of TRACTORS!

The girls have a "girls only" day with mom. We went shopping in late September and had a lot of fun. The girls were so happy, they sat in the back seat singing to the Dixie Chicks the whole way.

Pumpkin picking in our garden.

July Pictures

2008-08-11T16:27:00.004-04:00

Logan and Savanna putting gloves on their hands and feet.

Savanna and Olivia at the birthday party.

Justin and Logan sleeping together on the couch.

Justin and Logan at Savanna's Hawaiian birthday party.

Olivia goofing around with rubber gloves.

Savanna's 3rd Birthday!

2008-07-13T22:30:00.006-04:00

Savanna with her coconut cream cake.

Savanna and Olivia. Savanna with her new baby and sling "Like Momma's"

Grandma Shane told her to show us the back of her dress
and she posed like this. Isn't she beautiful!

Savanna wearing her Hawaiian dress.

Savanna turned 3 today. We had a great time and she had a fun day. We decided to have a Hawaiian theme since it's summer. We had chicken and beef kabobs with rice pilaf. We also had a giant fresh fruit salad with a pineapple and coconut creamy dip. For her cake I made a coconut cream cake. She got a lot of nice presents and a ton of Dora stuff.

July 4th

2008-07-13T22:18:00.003-04:00

We had a great time on vacation. I had major camera problems though. Bummer. First my media card was full at 417 pictures and Walgreen's couldn't seem to handle that many pics at once. I bought a new card, but when I went to use it on Saturday the batteries went dead. Ugh. We only got one picture before my camera died and the kids ran off to play in the sand. Isaac was still sleeping at 10AM from being up to late and that's why he's not in the picture- plus he wouldn't wake up.

Logan's Leg

2008-06-22T22:26:00.003-04:00

Logan had his first mishap this week. He has been limping since Thursday after falling in the garage. By Saturday night he would hardly put any pressure on the foot. Sunday morning I took him in for X-rays. It doesn't show any breaks that they could see, but kids his age don't have all of their bones fused yet. Also they have a large amount of cartilage in their foot. He clearly has a bad sprain at the least, so they decided to put a "soft cast" on it. We have to see the pediatrician this week to see if he needs a hard cast.

Yucky Face

2008-06-10T09:09:00.009-04:00

Justin after his feast of chocolate cake.

The other morning Justin came to my bedroom door that was open slightly and stood there yelling "Momma come out." When I said to him "Come in Justin" he hollered back "No- come out, I'm dirty". We went back in forth a few times with the same conversation since Logan was sleeping still; then I got up to see what he was talking about. It seems he got up, went into the kitchen, took the lid off the chocolate cake, helped himself to as much cake as he could eat; then he got a dish rag out of the drawer to bring to me to clean him up.

Logan after playing in the mud puddle.

The bicycle handle is blocking Logan- but look at his clothes!

Random pictures....

2008-05-27T23:21:00.007-04:00

The day we took Logan home. Kids have their big sister/brother shirts on.

Olivia's Latest Catastrophe.......

2008-05-27T23:04:00.003-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. Olivia has kept me quite busy. Almost two weeks ago Olivia had her biopsy done on her left thigh. Her neurologist felt like it was time to finally do it since we were putting it off for the past few years. Up until the stroke she was fairly controlled with meds alone. The surgery day was terrible for Olivia and for me! There was no real way to prepare her for surgery since she really doesn't understand any of it, but she knew something was going on when we got to the hospital and she was scared. Because she was so scared, she was acting out TERRIBLE. She was screaming and kicking at anyone who came near her and when no one was in the room but me, she would cry that she wanted to go home. We arrived at the hospital at 9:00 AM for a 10:30 surgery which she never got until 3:30 because of legal complications. Because she is in limbo in the courts and we have not adopted yet, they would not let me sign the paperwork for the surgery. The whole process was hell for me. I have raised her since she was two years old, we have spent literally over 30 days in the hospital with her but I CAN'T sign a paper for a biopsy. UGH! Anyway, surgery went well and we were home that night.

Fast forward two weeks to Memorial Day. Olivia has been healing well and the stitches are still in place. The steri strips fell off after a week which was our first hurdle because she tried to pick at them all the time. Yesterday I went to the store and Rick was home with all the kids. He called me in a panic that Olivia fell and ripped out ALL of her sutures! He was really upset because he couldn't get the bleeding to stop at first. I rushed home and he took her to Zeeland Hospital ER. They really didn't do anything because the wound was so bad. They put a dressing on it and told us to see our pediatrician in the morning. We went to see her and she took one look and wanted to call the surgeon for advice. Now we are going to see the surgeon tomorrow to see what to do with it. Luckily she has not complained of pain.

Happy Birthday Isaac!

2008-05-14T22:42:00.004-04:00

Isaac turned 7 on Sunday and we had his party on Saturday. It was a nice sunny day. Luckily for everyone who attended that Rick was cooking meat for the Blessing Of the Bikes. We were going to have Italian sausages and sloppy joes, but instead we ate pulled pork, ribs and prime rib. I made baked beans and coleslaw as well. Everyone had a great time. Isaac got a lot of nice gifts, including two new nintendo ds games and money for a third new one.

A new blog.

2008-04-30T22:31:00.001-04:00

I am starting a new blog about adoption. There's not much there yet, but I will be working on it. I wanted a place to celebrate our adoption this summer (hopefully) of the kids. You can see it when you click on "view my complete profile".

Picture Day

2008-04-29T20:59:00.005-04:00

Two weeks ago we made the trip to Sears to have pictures taken of all the kids. We are so long overdue that it's embarrassing. This summer I hope to have Nicole take pics of the whole family. So here is the story of what happened BEFORE the pics were taken: I was pushing Olivia in the single stroller because she couldn't walk very good yet after the stroke, Isaac had Savanna by the hand and they were walking in between us. Rick was last with Justin and Logan in the double stroller. Isaac was in such a rush to get in the door that he decided it would be faster to push Savanna rather than drag her by the hand. She fell of course and he fell on top of her. We were LITERALLY entering the building to get the pics done. Poor Savanna was hurt, her face was all cut up and she had blood on her shirt. Poor Isaac felt really bad and he skinned his elbow plus put a hole in his jeans. Rick and I were upset at the time because why couldn't it have happened on the way out; but we laugh now because we will always remember that day. Here is Savanna with her "owee chin" and the final picture.

Enjoying Spring

2008-04-24T17:29:00.005-04:00

We had some fun this weekend enjoying the nice weather. Dad and Dannette gave us this nice picnic table that used to belong to them and then Ma Brown. The kids are loving having the ice cream shop closest to us open for the season. Each night they are dirty, dirty, dirty after playing outside. Just look at Justin's face.

We have two new daughters today.....

2008-04-21T20:38:00.012-04:00

What great news today! Savanna and Olivia will be ours! Both biological dads have signed off their parental rights so that we can adopt them. It has been such a long process with months and months of sleepless nights and worrying. Now we only have Isaac left to deal with in court. After talking to the prosecuting attorney, we really feel like everything will work out in our favor. Praise God for his blessings on us today. Rick and I want to thank everyone for coming to court for us. We have a special group of family and friends for sure.

Is my cooking that bad??

2008-04-14T22:24:00.005-04:00

Logan has fallen asleep today during lunch for the second time in two weeks. Is my food so bad that he'd rather sleep? Just kidding. Logan is my little eater, he eats everything on his plate and then some. Olivia is doing really well. Today her teacher stopped by to see her and said that she could return to school tomorrow. Yeah- she's so excited. She is nearly back to her normal baseline. She only complains of pain in her hand once in a while when she wakes up. Hopefully she will be worn out from school and sleep better at night. The kids had fun playing outside with dad today.

Monday...

2008-04-07T16:49:00.004-04:00

Olivia continues to improve and is finally sleeping through the night at least until 5 AM. Her pain seems to be decreasing and she is getting bolder in what she is trying to do. Today I found her in the half bath by herself trying to get her diaper off while I was changing the kids pants in their bathroom. I just hope she doesn't get hurt. Holland Hospital never returned my call today so no news to report on therapy. Justin is pretending to take Logan's picture with his toy. Isaac is up north with Austin having a great time with grandma and pa.

Saturday ....

2008-04-05T22:32:00.003-04:00

Olivia is improving each day. She is able to walk with assistance and can walk for a few feet by herself before falling. She is not safe to be walking but you know Olivia. At least her determination (read stubbornness) will help her to walk again. LOL. She is on neurontin now for nerve pain. Her biggest problem after getting home was that as the right side regenerates or returns to normal feeling she has had a lot of pain. She also feels like her arm is cold and that she is wet all the time. I have had a hard time convincing her sometimes that her clothes are not all wet because her brain is telling her that they are wet. Each day gets a little better for her. She continues to have small seizures and is quite twitchy still.

Thursday afternoon..

2008-04-03T12:57:00.002-04:00

Here is the latest update: yesterday we were told that she did not have a stroke. Now after all of the neurologists got together and looked at her MRI, they have determined that she did have a metabolic stroke. Whatever mitochondrial disorder she has is causing a reaction in her brain. They think that the continued seizures may be residual from the stroke. The plan is to increase her seizure meds and send us home tonight. She will need out-patient therapy because she cannot walk and can hardly move her right hand. We have a lot of hard days ahead of us.

Thursday AM update...

2008-04-03T10:33:00.002-04:00

The good news is that they do not feel she has had a stroke. The bad news is that she has continued to have seizures and vomiting. Olivia has been very agitated and restless. We're all ready to go home. I am not sure what the plan is going to be or how they plan to stop the seizures. We'll keep you updated.

Wednesday morning update...

2008-04-02T08:07:00.002-04:00

We don't have any great news. The MRI showed an area of swelling in her brain. It may have been caused by the influenza we had or from dehydration from her vomiting. They told us yesterday morning after the MRI about the swelling and infection in the brain. The plan was to get a dose of steroids through the IV then go home with oral steroids. The neurologist came back while we were waiting for the IV med and told us even worse news which is that the radiologist felt like he could not rule out a stroke. They wanted to do another MRI that only takes 10 minutes to check the veins and arteries to determine if it really was a stroke and if so what type.

Improving

2008-03-31T10:12:00.002-04:00

Olivia is doing a lot better this morning. She is moving her right side a lot better. She is still weak, but starting to smile and kick with her legs. Unfortunately her MRI got pushed off until Tuesday because of emergencies that pushed her off. The speech therapist is going to evaluate her today so she can start eating, drinking and get the NG tube out of her nose. They are talking about letting us go home tomorrow after the MRI. Keep our fingers crossed. I will post a new pic tonight.

Seizures.......

2008-03-28T10:45:00.004-04:00

Olivia is still at Devos Children's Hospital. Her brain is still having seizures which they haven't stopped. Her body is not seizing but her brain waves continue to show seizure patterns. Please pray for Olivia's recovery. Rick is in Mexico working and the stress on everyone is really high. Grandpa and grandma Wood are staying with the kids and doing a great job. Grandpa and grandma Shane are coming up to the hospital so that I can go and visit with the other kids. Olivia still can't move the the right side of her body due to the seizures on the left side of her brain. She had a CT scan so they know it's not a stroke or bleeding in the brain.

The girls first shower

2008-03-24T21:19:00.003-04:00

Savanna and Olivia got to attend their first bridal shower. They spent most of their time playing in the nursery area with their cousin, but they were excited to go. Nicole had everything so nice and we had a great time.

Olivia's 6th Birthday!

2008-03-17T20:22:00.007-04:00

Olivia had her birthday party on Sunday. We had a great time. She wanted to have a "flowers and butterflies" theme. We had shredded beef on buns with BBQ sauce, cheesey potatoes, oriental noodle salad, coleslaw and chips. Everyone said the cake tasted good. Olivia got a lot of new DVD's and clothes.

Flu..AGAIN....

2008-03-09T18:16:00.003-04:00

We're on our second round of the flu and this one was terrible! All of the small kids have ear infections again. Here's Logan getting a breathing treatment from daddy.

We're recovering..........

2008-02-29T14:05:00.004-05:00

We're finally recovering from the flu. Rick was suppose to be gone for a few days to Mexico for work and it turned into 10 days. Ugh. During that time Gloria went into the hospital for the flu and four of the kids had double ear infections with bronchitis. I had to give them all breathing treatments. It has been a looooonggg 10 days. Rick's back home and the kids are happy. Here's praying for spring!

Justin's "Owee show-der"!

2008-02-07T08:51:00.000-05:00

Well it's finally happened. The first broken bone for all of our kids. Justin broke his clavicle bone on the right side. He was jumping from the recliner in the living room and fell on his shoulder. We weren't sure whether to bring him in or not because he could move his arm ok but wouldn't lift it. He also had a little bump on the shoulder that just didn't seem right. Rick took him in to the new Metro Hospital and they really didn't think it was broken either. Justin was really fussy and Rick said they kind of acted like he was just a pain for crying. Once they found out it was broken; then they all came in to say "Oh- you poor thing" etc. and they gave him a popsicle. He has to wear the sling for 4-6 weeks. Can you imagine how much he likes it? He calls it his "owee show-der" if anyone asks what's wrong.

Dave Ramsey Live!

2008-01-30T22:05:00.000-05:00

Last week we saw Dave Ramsey (DR for short) live in Grand Rapids. It was our first time seeing him live and we had a blast. Our only Christmas present to each other last year was platinum tickets to the event that included a catered meal. So here's what they served: prime rib, red skin mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans with onion, hummus with veggies and pita bread, rolls with chive butter, salad and chocolate cake. We both got gift bags with 5 or 6 six books, two of which were signed copies, insulated coffee cup, mints and pens. The best part of the night was getting to meet DR. He came around to each table and made some small talk. He answered questions for a few minutes while we ate. They had a catered snack too which looked good, but by the time we got back to the food, they gave us less than 5 minutes to eat and booted us out. I still can't figure that one out. The night was so positive and motivating for us. Our goal is to be debt free including our house in 10 years. Can we do it? Only time will tell.

Logan's 1st birthday party!

2008-01-27T15:43:00.001-05:00

Logan's birthday party was a lot of fun. Pa and grandma Shane gave him his own cake. He loved it and kept putting just his thumb in it. He finally dug in as you can see.

Toddler Talk!

2008-01-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

This week my house has been taken over by giggling toddlers. They're driving me crazy! Every other sentence has poop, potty, wee wee or pee pee in it. One kid will say it and they will all laugh like it's the funniest thing they have ever heard. Rescue us someone! Someday I will look back on it and we'll laugh. The kids also like to tease Isaac that he "LOVES Hannah Montana". He gets really mad so this just encourages the others. I told Rick to remember this when Isaac is 16 and no longer "Hates girls!" LOL

Logan is turning one!

2008-01-14T21:17:00.001-05:00

Logan is turning one in two weeks. I won't have a little baby anymore. He already thinks he's two any how. Here's our first picture together and his first time nursing.

Weekly Update

2008-01-11T17:49:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy week for us. We met with the neurologist (Dr. O'Donnell) today. We decided not to make any med changes since #1 Olivia is doing well right now and #2 we're going to the myoclonus clinic on Valentine's day in Illinois. Savanna is doing better. Almost done with her antibiotic.
We're starting to think about the next BBQ season. We want to work on getting a website going for the catering. I came across some pictures of last year. We already have one catering job in August and lots of orders for Rick's famous BBQ sauce.

First Entry

2008-01-08T22:28:00.000-05:00

Hello- welcome to our blog. I'm going to keep everyone updated on the life and craziness that is our household. Welcome to our world!