Alyssa and Mady

Last weekend AJ, Mady and I went to Canton to see my mom, sister, neice and nephew. We went shopping and got some outfits for Mady and Alyssa that matched so we could take some pictures of them together. Unfortunately, Mady only has so much patience! The photo shoot did not last as long as some would have wanted, but we got some cute ones. Lyssa was SOOOOOO excited to meet her "sister" cousin!

The Princess

Caleb likes to comment on how spoiled Madeleine is. Look at this picture....who do you think is the one spoiling her?

She likes to sit on her throne (or highchair) and be pushed around. Caleb said he was her horse. NOONE else is crawling on their hands and knees to put a smile on her face!

Jake's Last Vet Visit

We got back a while ago from taking Jake to the vet. The younger kids did not really understand what was going on. I explained it to all of them, and Isaac and Bryce kept asking when we were bringing him home, etc. I felt it was disrespectful to take all of the kids back with Jake when they were bouncing around and playing, so I did not go back with him. Caleb, however, did not want Jake by himself, so he went back with the vet. The vet came back out and said it was all done and Caleb was spending a few minutes with him.

When I put Jake in the car this morning, Bella kept trying to get in with him. She is usually very obedient, but I could not get her to go to the dog area outside. I could not even drag her away from the car. I had to pick her up and carry her. When we got home she was out and muddy. She dug out under the gate while we were gone. When I parked she went and sat at the back of the car and she is still there.

After I give her a bath she will be coming in. Although she has always been an outside dog, when she has been in the house for bad weather or whatever she has always done great and never has accidents. I don't think she will do well out there alone and Caleb could use the therapy of having her around.

Goodbye Jake

At 7:30 this morning I will be calling the vet and taking Jake in for the last time. For a while now he has been declining. He has had a hard time holding his own weight and does not walk around much. Two nights ago, we kept being awakened to what we thought was Bella barking. We told her to go to bed which she usually will do. From 11:30pm to 4:30am this went on. Finally, at 4:30 I went and got Bella and brought her in the house. Shortly after I got back in bed we heard a bark outside our window followed by Bella barking.

Turns out Jake had laid down in a hole in the flowerbed that Trip had dug. He had his chin on the side of the hole and ended up with his nose in the air all night. He could not get out of the hole. Paul picked him up and moved him onto a dog bed and we did not hear from him again.

I went out several times and checked on him yesterday. He moved locations of where he was laying twice on his own, but the second time he could not make it where he was trying to go so he ended up lying in the sun. I tried to help him get up and move him to the garage, but he could not get up. And however he went down is how he stayed. It started raining (huge downpour) and I did not want him just laying in the storm, so I picked him up and carried him to the garage. He has not gotten up since and that was at 4 yesterday evening.

We have decided there is no reason to prolong the inevitable. He is not eating or drinking which is REALLY bad in this heat and humidity. He is not even getting up to potty.

We are VERY sad about losing him. He has been with us since we became an us. Paul got him right after we started dating. He has tolerated all of the kids abuse. He has been an awesome dog! But, he has lived 16 years which is a long life for a Lab.

Obviously, this has been a hard year on the kids and pets! We lost Trip (our cocker spaniel) the week after Mady was born, then Grace (our cat) ran away. We have been amazed how long this dog has kept going. We have been expecting it, but it is still sad.

Bella, our Australian Shepard that has lived with Jake since she was a puppy is taking it hard. She is staying at his side. I went to feed her last night and there was still half a bowl of food. She ran in the house, sniffed the food and ran to Jake. She has always followed him around and stuck by him. Hopefully she will do okay.

Catching Up

My internet has not been working properly lately, it goes in and out as it pleases. That makes loading pictures or videos very frustrating! We have also been really busy lately, so there are all my excuses for the lack of blogging!

I spent the weekend redoing our bedroom. The bedrooms and a bathroom were all I had left to paint (from when I was pregnant and went on a painting spree). We had seen a picture of a bedroom that was painted orange and had burgundy colored bedding and surprisingly liked it. So, I VERY skeptically painted my bedroom walls a yellowish orange color. I found burgundy bedding and curtains and have some deep red accents throughout. It ended up having kind of a spanish theme, even though I was not necessarily going for that. I finally finished it all Monday and I really like it.

Saturday we finally went and got new living room furniture. We have been talking about doing it for a long time, but the thought of trying to shop for furniture has made us put it off. We have done it before and all the boys think they need to try out EVERY. PIECE. OF. FURNITURE. We picked out what we wanted for the living room, and also picked out a new bunkbed for AJ and Bryce. The one they have we bought from someone when we first moved to Arkansas and it has been through to many boys jumping, moves, etc. It has gotten pretty wobbly and I have a fear of it collapsing on Andrew. The new one is solid pine and also shorter than the old one, which I like.

We listed our furniture on Craigslist (we LOVE Craigslist....we have sold so much on there!) Monday evening. We had a ton of emails for it and had it was picked up Tuesday morning. So, we have had NO furniture in the living room since yesterday morning and the new furniture comes tomorrow sometime. The boys are really enjoying no furniture. Lots of space to run and lots of echoing voices! Mom is ready to have a seat to sit in and to get the tv and all the games, DVD players, cable box, etc off the floor. Andrew has had a blast getting into all of that!

This weekend the older boys are meeting my Dad and and three oldest nephews at Caddo Lake for a weekend of kayaking. Andrew, Mady and I are going to Canton to visit Mom, Aunt Heather and my neice and nephew. We can't wait. Alyssa is SO excited to meet the only other little girl in the family.

My computer died on me this past weekend. Died dead!!! I rebooted it to try and get internet to work and when I turned it back on a black screen came up that said "Operation system not found". Paul read online trying to fix it and found out that Dell has had a lot of hard drive failures on their netbooks. ARGHHHH!! I have only had it for six months, so hopefully whatever the problem is is covered under warranty.

I have lots of pictures to get on here and also a few videos. I will try to do it tonight or tomorrow.

MAN!!!

Andrew has learned how to open the doors on his own :(

This has been what the last hour has been like here. Andrew is at the back door...

open

close

open

close

open

open

open

open (yes all the cold air is escaping from the house)

close

open

etc

I locked the door....he is determined to figure out the lock. He has been standing at the door messing with it since I locked it.

Mommy Messed Up!!!

I just had a heart attack courtesy of Andrew, but totally my fault!! I set Mady in her swing for just a minute while I grabbed the clothes out of the dryer. I heard Andrew (who was not in the room when I set her down) saying "My baby! My baby" and came out to see him CARRYING MADELEINE ACROSS THE KITCHEN!!

Luckily I was able to stay calm as to not spook him and make him drop her. She never made a sound and when I got her from him she was laughing. Mommy.....had a heart attack!! He was very proud of himself for bringing her to me.

For some reason today he has been very possesive of her. He has not wanted his brothers messing with her and he has been calling her either "my baby" or "My Mady".

Shame on Mommy for not buckling Mady in the swing all the way! I can guarantee you Mom has just learned her lesson!!

My queation....how did the two year old walk by his three older brothers (who tell on each other for EVERYTHING) carrying his two month old sister and NOONE NOTICED?

New Puppy

We have been back and forth for a few months on wanting to get a small dog. Paul wants one he can kayak with and I have wanted a small cute housedog. Today we went and picked one out. He is only 5 weeks old, so we can't get him for about three weeks, but he is SOOOOO cute.

We have done a lot of research on what kind of dog to get that would fit our family well. We are very active and on the go alot, so we wanted something somewhat small (but not too small with four crazy boys), but that could keep up with us. We were looking at Scotties and Westies, but from what we have read, they are not overly great with kids.

We chose a Havarnese. We had not heard of them before yesterday, but after lots of googling and talking to a breeder, we decided it sounded like the perfect breed for us. They are supposed to be fairly easy to train and they like to be family dogs.

Our little guy is adorable. We don't have a name for him yet, but we have some time to choose one. At five weeks old he is already active and attentive. When you call him he stops and looks for you. He was away from him mom for the first time while we were there today, for about 30 minutes. He was given a small rope toy for the first time to play with. Not only was he fine away from his mom, but he actually picked up the toy as soon as it was put down at him and started playing with it and growling at it.

Havarnese dogs were the original circus dogs (partially because of the ease of training them). You can get toy or minis that top out at around 3 pounds...obviously a little to fragile for our brood, or you can get them where they top out around 10 pounds, which is what we got.

Here are some pictures of ours at three weeks old. I will definently post more when we bring him home.

My Baby Doll

About as often as I get the questions about 5 kids, four boys and finally getting a girl, etc, lately I am getting comments about Madeleine looking like a doll. When I am carrying her people frequently tell me they had to do a double-take because it looked like I was carrying a baby doll.

Maybe people see me with four boys and think I have lost my mind and have decided to carry a doll with me everywhere I go.

Still HOT!!

Tomorrow will be a week without ac. It is bearable with what we have as long as we are not moving around much! That means LITTLE housework is getting done. Especially laundry. I can't get excited about running the dryer when it is 100+ degrees outside.

Do you remember that commercial where everytime the babies foot touches the floor he cries, but as soon as he is picked up off the floor he stops? That is Mady lately. Except, it is not her foot and the floor - it is her butt and her carseat. She has basically lived in her carseat the past week while we are running around trying to stay cool out of the house. Today, other than grocery shopping, we have decided to stay home and brave the heat. We ALL need a break from running around.

I talked to the VP of the warranty company today. Our AC unit was SUPPOSED to be delivered yesterday, now they are saying "sometime tomorrow", which means the earliest it can be installed is Thursday.

I will believe it when I see it!

Happy Father's Day!

(This was the best picture I could get...Noone (and I mean NOONE) in the picture wanted to cooperate and I gave up.

This is Daddy's first Father's Day with a little girl!!

Daddy got cards from all the kids. Then we got breakfast on the go and went to the first showing of Up in 3D. It was a good movie. They only have 3D glasses in one size, which was way too big for all the kids (really even big on Paul and I). We ended up using one of Madeleine's headbands around his head to hold the glasses on Andrew. It looked like he had a head injury and was wrapped from under his chin all the way over the top of his head and back around.

After the movie we went to a sporting goods store across the street. Paul is trying to get kayaks for the older three boys, but we can't find one small enough for Bryce. So, we decided to get another one that fits Paul (a sit on top this time), but that Bryce can sit in too. The one Paul already has the hole is too small for he and Bryce to both sit in.

Trying to Keep Cool

Someone Paul works with let us borrow an ac window unit. We have been moving the two around to try and cool where we are most in the house. In the mornings we have the two units in the living room, then at bedtime we move one to our room and one to one of the boys rooms.

Last night we decided to go to Home Depot and get another ac window unit and a big utility fan. Now we have two units in the living room with the big fan and one in our bedroom with a small fan. AJ and Mady are sleeping in our room and the other three are sleeping in the living room.

As you would expect, a utility fan is pretty loud. It is even louder inside the living room! However, it does an amazing job of spreading the cool air around the house. At this point we will take the extra noise for the extra coolness!

Mady's room and Caleb and Isaac's room are on the west side of the house (as is the living room). Mady's monitor in her room has a thermometer built in. Every evening it reads between 95 and 97 degrees in there. Caleb and Isaac's room actually feels hotter than hers. Those rooms are basically taped off at this point, no one goes in unless it is early morning or an emergency and the doors stayed closed!!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY BRYCE!!!

(he ended up choosing a smoothie instead of banana split or birthday cake...this picture was AFTER he enjoyed his Smoothie King smoothie)

Bryce decided to do things differently this year for his birthday. Earlier this week I was at Starbucks and he asked if he could have coffee on his birthday. I said he could. He tasted it, said it was good and then asked if they had smoothies. So, this morning we went to Starbucks. He got an orange mango banana smoothie. He was very grown up with his Starbucks drink!!

After Starbucks we took a drive. We have been in need of a small trailer (5x8 or 5x10) since we stopped owning trucks. Paul got a third kayak and is going to be getting a fourth (he has figured out he has a better chance of getting to go kayaking if he takes kids with him!!!). He cannot fit all of the kayaks on his Jeep anymore, so he needed a trailer to carry them in. Not to mention all of the other projects we buy lumber for and rig it on top of and inside vehicles, and the times we have to take two vehicles to get things (people in one and whatever in the second). He found a place about an hour and half away, but they close at one on Saturdays. We got a trailer and headed back home.

We saw a Toys R Us where we stopped to eat, so we let Bryce go pick out his present. We have found that for birthdays it is easier to take them to get their gifts than for us to try and pick something for them. After looking at EVERYTHING a couple of times, he chose an airplane lego set and a cargo truck lego set. He and Daddy will be putting that together this evening.

He chose Burger King for lunch, tacos for dinner and opted not to have a cake this year. Instead he wants banana splits for everyone. This is a GREAT option considering how hot it is (inside and out).

Tomorrow we are going to all go to the movies to see Up. We were going to go today, but did the trailer thing because they are not open on Sundays. I guess the movie can be a birthday/Father's Day outing.

2 Month Appointment

Mady had her two month drs appt today. She weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces (25th percentile) and was 23 inches long (just above average). She checked out great on everything. He told us we could start her on cereal if she is not sleeping well and we could also give her some water with a little juice (for flavor) if she seems to be eating extra frequently during the day or if she seems to be getting dehydrated. That might be a good think to keep in mind with no air. I am not ready to start her on cereal and overall she is doing great at night. We occasionally have nights when she doesn't sleep well, but she is still normally waking up once or twice, eating and going right back to sleep.

She got three shots and is not handling them well. She did great when she got the shot. Screamed when the shots went in, but stopped as soon as I picked her up. I had given her some Tylenol before the shots. She ate at 10 and went to sleep. She slept until 1:45 when I woke her up to feed her. She ate a little, but has mainly screamed and does not want her legs touched (which is kinda hard when she nurses :)

We go back in a month.

I forsee a LONG night!!

Still No AC

We still have no AC. A contractor for the warranty company came out this morning and diagnosed the problem (again). I called the warranty company this afternoon and they said they have had it since this morning, but they are waiting for approval. From what she said, it is as easy as someone pushing the "approved" button, but noone has done it.

Meanwhile, we spent the day at Target and the mall. Yes, we made a day of it - they have air conditioning at both places. Nice, cool, air!!!

The warranty company SAYS the ac company will do work on weekend (it will probably take at least a day to get the compressor when it gets ordered, but they can't order it until the work is approved). They also SAY that as soon as their contractor submits the work order it will be approved so the work can be done. Day two...no approval. I am guessing no air this weekend!

On the up-side....no fires so far today :)

Update: Just got off the phone with the warranty company....they are now saying we SHOULD have an answer sometime tomorrow...which is a FRIDAY....have to order a new compressor, which takes at least a day!

Bad Behavior and Jail

The boys asked me what noise pollution was the other day. I explained what it was and they asked what happens if the police have to come because of noise pollution. I told them they would get arrested. Caleb said his teacher complained one day because some kids outside kept her up late with their noise and she said next time she was calling the police..

Now, when the boys start getting loud, I can frequently just say "noise pollution" and they all get quiet!

I was reminded of this today while at Target (basically wasting time because it is air conditioned...unlike my house!). There was a group of teenagers (I would guess 16-18 years old) running around, throwing toys, bowls, books, games, etc. Basically acting like a toddler having a temper tantrum, except they were laughing about it. The employees were trying to get security to get the guys. The guys heard and took off.

They had almost hit one of my kids with a ball they were throwing, so I was already irritated at them. They were one aisle over and I loudly said "Boys, this is exactly how you should NEVER act in public." Caleb says "yeah, they look like foolish idiots". They did!!

A bit later, the guys took off running and almost ran the boys over (who were staying right with me like they are supposed to). I saw one of the employees that had been looking for them and pointed her to where they were. Her and a guy employee went to talk to them, but the guys took off out the door.

When the employees came back in, they saw me and came to apologize. I told them it was not their fault. She said these kids have been coming several times a week for the last several weeks and they always do this. There has been as many as 7 guys at one time. She said her manager said to call the police as soon as they are seen next time and have them arrested.

Now, my boys think if they don't behave in a store they will get arrested!

I am not telling them differently.

I know...I am taking advantage of the innocence of my children, but if it makes them behave better in the store....

The guy employee said he would expect and accept behavior like that from kids the boys ages. I told him there was NO WAY they would get away with an inkling of what those teenagers were doing!

Fire

Well, to top off our great day, our grill caught on fire while Paul was cooking our hamburger patties! The boys came in and told me they thought Daddy's grill was on fire because it was smoking big time. I asked if he was out there and they said he was. I figured it was just smoking from the grease, until I walked by the kitchen window and saw orange flames coming from it.

Paul was standing there the whole time and really thought the house was going to catch on fire. The ironic thing is that Saturday we were at Home Depot getting supplies to organize our storage closet outside. Paul insisted we buy a fire extinguisher. I said I didn't want to spend the $70 on it, but didn't fight too much about it. Guess what was used tonight?! Glad I didn't argue too much, otherwise our house could be burned down right now and no ac would be the least of our concerns!

On that note, Paul got down our small ac window unit. All seven of us are sleeping in our bedroom. That will be nice when the alarm goes off at 5 am and Daddy has to get ready for work! But, at 9:30 pm it is 88 degrees in the house! As Caleb put it "it feels like a bakin' oven in here!"

No AC

I always do all of my running around first thing in the morning, before nap times, lunch, kids get a chance to get in bad moods, etc. I did it as normal this morning. When I got home though, I found that our air conditioner had stopped working. This is one time I wish I had NOT done my running around early!

As I type this I am sitting outside under the fan on our back porch. I am SO thankful we have our patio furniture!! The temperature INSIDE the house is 88 degrees (I think it is 97 outside). We have a window ac from the hurricane last year, but it was in the attic and I could not get it down.

I spent most of the day going in circles with the ac company and home warranty people. When we first called the ac people to have them come out I had forgotten we had gotten a home warranty when we bought the house. Of course, the people we had come out to see what the problem was are not contracted with the warranty company. So, we now know what the problem is, but unless we want to pay $1500 out of pocket instead of $50 we have to get someone else to do the work (and pay the diagnostic fee for the company that already came out).

The piston in the compressor seizes everytime it trys to move. When it seizes it trips the breaker. Basically, they will have to replace the compressor. We have someone coming out in the morning from the warranty company. We have no idea if they will have to order the part (the first company said they had to order it).

I have figured out that Mady did not have acne. I sat here and watched her face break out and her neck has basically stayed broken out. She is getting heat rashes. Little girl (and all the boys) will have to stay in just a diaper tonight!!

Momma is VERY cranky this evening. After dealing with the oh so nice people (that are sitting in the air conditioning not caring that we don't have ac) and being hot and dealing with cranky kids....I think it might have to be an early bedtime for EVERYONE!!

30th Birthday

Tonight my hubby took me to dinner at Not Your Mama's Cafe and Tavern. YUMMY!!! I had a huge steak, loaded baked potato and salad. With fried mushrooms as an appetizer.

The funniest thing was that my boys HATE mushrooms. It has always been a big deal if they see it in food we make. Tonight, we told them they all had to taste the mushrooms to get cake. Who knew that a taste would turn into mushroom after mushroom. All four of the boys ate all of the mushrooms. It was a huge plate and they did all but lick it clean.

Paul made me a pink cake (strawberry) with pink icing (strawberry) and pink and red candy hearts. It was yummy and very pink (YAY).

As far as being 30....I am very happy with where I am in my life. I have a great husband, and beautiful family and we are all healthy. Everything else is just icing on the cake. My only wish is that my kids would stop having birthdays!

I hope I am as okay with 40 as I am with 30!

Pretty Girl

I had my follow-up appointment today. Paul picked up the boys and I took Madeleine with me. Madeleine loved all the attention she received! It was sweet though because the nurses and doctor also asked about how the boys were doing with a little sister.

Mady was awake the whole time we were there and in a very good mood. She laughed and smiled at everyone. I always call her pretty girl when I am talking to her. She smiles when she hears it. Seems like today EVERYONE was calling her pretty girl - and she smiled everytime it was said. I told them she was going to think that was her name because she hears that more than Mady or Madeleine.

But...she IS a pretty girl!