Christmas is Coming Soon!

I have been looking for something cute to put on the kids to get pictures for Christmas. My mom happened upon these outfits this weekend. Yesterday we got them dressed up and snapped away. They are so cute! A friend of ours took the pictures. She is editing some for prints, but these are a few of the originals. She took 466 pictures in all. With five babies she just had to snap continuously. These are a few of the pictures that show the level of difficulty and fun we had with them. Landon didn't want to sit on his butt yet, but he is getting there. By the end they were done with the picture taking. I am so excited about Christmas. They won't care much about unwrapping presents, but I can't wait for them to play with what we got them. We decided to get them one present each this year. Holiday's have taken on a new meaning now. Our kids don't know what is going on, but this will be our first Christmas as a family. This is what we always wanted. We worked so hard to have kids. We never thought in a million years we would be blesses with such an amazing gift from God. They are great. It's harder than anything we have ever done, but we can't describe the joy we get from seeing them healthy and happy.

Peyton Is So Silly!

We just got done eating our dinner when Peyton was suddenly struck with the giggles. I have no idea what is so funny here. It is time like these that I wonder if they are somehow communicating. He is so cute in this clip. He really gets going at the end.

Before I Was A Mom

Before I was a Mom
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom –
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn’t want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small

could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom –
I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom –
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,

the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Thanksgiving!

We made it through our first Thanksgiving as a family. It was great. Since the kids can't get out we spent the day at home. We cooked in the afternoon and ate at around 6:00pm. My sister and her husband from Kansas City, MO was home and they got to see the kids too. Little sis Jacie, Big sis Mandy, Little sis Katie

We had a good time cooking and goofing around. We decided we aren't going to keep our close family away for the holidays, so we broke the no kid rule for the weekend. Lee was so excited to get to see the kids. He hasn't seen them since before school started. That is him with me and Jacie below.

My grandma and pappaw came by and continued the tradition we have been doing forever. She got all the kids ornaments. It was so fun to see how they would react to the presents. They like them. Mostly, they wanted to eat the paper and bow.

Jenna decided to take an extra long nap that day and wasn't up when everyone else got to open their ornaments. We decided to wake her up so gram and pap could see her open her gift. These pictures give you a glimpse of the funny goofy faces she makes all the time. She is so funny to watch. Jenna is always making faces and being dramatic.

More Pictures!

It was so Cute! Peyton had his arm around Ethan today. I couldn't resist. Hopefully they will always feel that way about each other. Ethan was a ham as usual too today. Landon was his usual sad self. Two more days! He doesn't know what it is to be without pain. The poor little guy!

Daddy Time!

A week ago Saturday we had to keep the kids up an extra hour because of the time change. Rob had the kids on the floor and was playing with them. This was the first time they all were laughing. All except for Jenna. She was minding her business in the blue exersaucer you see in the background. This is a funny video. Sydney couldn't take it with all her brothers playing too. She was the party pooper.

Landon Is Crawling!

Well, we knew it was going to happen soon. Landon has realized that he can move on his knees. It was so cute. the video below was on Saturday. He wanted the toy Rob had and was trying to get to it. He sometimes forgets to move his arms and does a face plant as you will see. He is so cute!

Milestones

Well, things have been getting crazy around here. God is certainly taking care of us. I left yesterday with Landon and my mom to take him to St. Louis to a plastic surgeon. We were there for one hour and we were on our way home. Everything went smooth. Rob and I will be going to take him back on Wednesday for surgery. The surgeon said we can have it taken off no problem. He said it won't hurt nearly as bad right after the surgery as it does right now. Landon will finally not hurt anymore. Jenna woke up yesterday in a funny mood. She was making this face like a turtle. It was so cute. This is a picture similar to what she was doing. Ethan and Syd love their baby food still. They do so good most of the time. Landon has officially crawled. He can't sit up because his butt hurts too much. So, he gets up on his knees and is crawling somewhat. He sometimes forgets to move his hands and falls on his face. It is so cute. Ethan has started to purposefully say Ga Ga Ga. Peyton knows how to play Pat-A-Cake. He is stubborn and won't do it very often. He usually will do it when Veggie Tales is on. They are changing so much. Everyday they are doing something new.

Big Blue Eyes!

Bath Time!

We gave baths the other day. The kids like getting baths. They are usually really tired after their baths. It is close to nap time when we give them. Everyone is doing fine. Landon is still having a very hard time with his hemangioma. I am still looking for a way to help him. We are trying everything to help ease the pain. It is terrible that he has to live with this unending pain everyday. It is really hard to deal with day-in and day-out. If he would get better I don't know what we would do. We could have all five kids happy and healthy. As soon as we knew Jenna was out of the woods we have to deal with Landon. If it's not one thing it is another. Everyone gets RSV shots tomorrow. They have to get them every month. Ethan has to get two because he weighs so much. A nurse came and weighed them yesterday. Ethan weighed 19lbs 4oz. Peyton came in second at 15lbs 4oz. Landon was next at 14lbs 10oz. Syd was 14lbs 2oz, and Jenna brought up the rear at 11lbs 14oz. They are getting big. Everyone is sitting up but Landon. He can't do much right now. Jenna is still being stubborn and won't roll over. She is so bull headed. I don't know where she got that from. We all go back to the doctor on Monday. We will get weighed again and get a general check up and flu shots. I will try to update you sooner this time. The kids are taking naps now and hopefully I can get everything done so I can do more with the blog. By the way, who made the comment about getting Rob's digits? Just wondering.

Family Pictures

So Busy!

It has been unbelievably busy lately. I haven't had any time to update the blog. Lots has been going on. Jenna is doing better as of Saturday. She seems to be eating more. We go to the doctor tomorrow and will see how she is doing. We didn't do the feeding tube yet. I postponed it. Tomorrow will tell us a lot. Everyone is rolling around and talking like crazy. We now have a nap-time everyday. They all go down for a nap around 11:30-12:00. They sleep from 30min. to 4 hours. We never know how much time we will have. I got some laundry done today. It is nice to have a little time to try to catch up on everything. About two weeks ago Rob and I got really sick. Thanks to everyone who stepped in and helped us out. The kids are getting so big. We took a trip to Eldorado last Friday. My great grandpa, the kids great great grandpa, was there and moving up north. We went and got our five generation picture. I'm so glad we got to do that before he left. The kids did great. We went a week and a half ago and got family pictures taken at Sears. As you can see, the kids did great. I can't wait to pick them up. We bought the CD so we can make copies.

Peyton with grandpa's hat on

Grandpa, Peyton, and Ethan

Top: My mom with Sydney and Peyton

Left: Grandma Bette with Jenna

Grandpa Brown with Landon

Me with Ethan