Hip Hop A-dog and Micah's "Blue Steel" look

Amelia has been listening to my Ipod a lot lately and recently put on a hat I use when working in the yard and some broken sunglasses. It was quite the look and then Micah jumped into this photo with with Zoolander-esque look of "Blue Steel."

So clean I could cry

Amelia was looking a bit teary-eyed when I came downstairs at one point this afternoon. I asked her if something was wrong. With words that sounded like they were full of emotion, she shared that she was just so happy that someone had cleaned up her room.

4 is tough

Amelia: "Brody, do you want me to tell you all about being 4?"
Brody: silence
Amelia: "It is hard - you have to fight a lot."

Electropied

Last night at swim lessons, Micah had a nasty case of the hic-cups. The kind that hurt in your chest. He kept telling me his hic-cups hurt his heart. On the way home from swimming, he said that it felt like a cord inside him came unplugged and that he felt like he was electropied. I thought I might have heard him wrong, but he clarified that it felt like it would if you were holding a metal bar and unplugged something (he thinks you will receive an electric shock if this happens because of an old story involving his grandma who received an electric shock a long time ago although that wasn't the exact circumstance). "You know.....like getting electropied." I didn't correct him because it is just too cute!

Christmas

Cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer

Brody serves breakfast

Brody has taken to helping himself to cereal and anything else in these cupboards. Although he is eating off the floor, at least he had the self-respect to find a spoon to use. We're not animals here!

An old moustache

In the van today -
Amelia: Dad, how old will Brody be when I'm thirty a thousand?
Me: People usually don't live long enough to be a thousand.
Amelia: How old will Brody be when I'm 100?
Me: He'll be 97.
Amelia: I bet he'll have a moustache then because that is old.

Happy New Year

There is little point in trying to catch up after 6 months without blogging - I'm sure we created many wonderful memories, achieved milestones and had a generally merry time, but we must move forward. You've gotta go forward to go back.

We celebrated New Years Eve in Clackamas with a rousing family game of Trouble and some Martinelli's sparking apple cider and fresh cookies from New Seasons. The kids were all in bed by 8 and Kandi and I were asleep by 10. I did awaken briefly to hear fireworks at what I presume was midnight. I continue to stand by my long-standing belief that I need not stay up til midnight to greet the new year as it should still be the new year when I wake up.

After a breakfast at McDonalds (so much for that healthy eating resolution - glad it lasted almost 8 hours into the new year), we headed to OMSI. I've never been to OMSI with so few visitors - it was a great time and we spent awhile playing with all the different active options. For Salem friends with Gilbert House membership - your membership gets you in to OMSI for free - a great deal if you head to Portland.

Brody has started standing up all by himself tonight for seconds at a time. Hopefully we'll catch some photos or video soon to post. Blessings to all for a memorable 2011!

Tooth!

Brody just turned seven months and his bottom two teeth are pushing through! He's getting big and is so sweet!

Easter, Birthday and hospital stay

For Palm Sunday, Micah sang with the kids' choir at church. He did great. They sang at 2 services on Saturday night and 3 services on Sunday morning. I was singing on the worship team the same weekend, so it was fun to be able to sing together.

We love this picture of cousin Justin.

A rare moment with all three kids sitting still.

One evening I needed to get homework done so I rigged up this little system and decided to see if Brody liked "baby einstein." He sure did.

Amelia turned 4 on April 15th. Our week was so packed with different activities that we decided to have a little party for Amelia on Sunday night the 11th. This was my attempt to make a princess cake. Ryan made the cake and frosted it and I plopped a princess on top. Genius, huh?

Last Wednesday (April 14th) Brody started vomiting after he ate his bottle. We thought maybe his tummy was upset or something, but didn't think much of it. The next day he vomited a few more times. And started eating less. By Friday he was about the same. You see, Brody is so smiley and happy that he rarely looks sick. We had planned to visit my parents' new house in Black Butte and I was determined to go... even with a sick baby. Ryan had stayed home in the morning and wasn't so sure that we should go. He had been in contact with a triage nurse throughout the morning who wasn't too concerned, but wanted us to watch his intake. While we were debating, Ryan picked up the kids from school and I stayed home with Brody. I noticed that he seemed a bit lethargic and when they came home, we decided that we wanted him to be seen. Meanwhile we called my parents and arranged to meet half-way for them to spend the weekend with the two older kids. It was a pure God-thing that it all worked out like this.

I took Brody in to the Dr. at 4:30PM. The doctor took one look at him and was immediately concerned. He checked his pulse/oxygen levels and Brody was at 86% oxygen saturation (should be at 100). He told me that Brody needed to be admitted to the hospital. He typed it all in to the computer and told me how to check in at the hospital. I think at one point I said, "I'm going to drive him?" I had never been so scared in my life. By the grace of God alone, we made it to the hospital without getting in an accident. I waited at the admitting desk with my legs shaking. Ryan arrived. Brody was admitted and we were taken up to pediatrics. They checked his oxygen again and then sent us down for a chest x-ray (Ever seen one of those? That is a whole post in itself). We returned and got settled in his room. He tested negative for RSV and the Flu and his chest xray came back saying he had bronchiolitis. Basically, throughout the weekend, they monitored his oxygen levels, gave him more when he needed it. He had 3 doses of sterroids and many nebulizer treatments. On Monday morning he was cleared to be discharged. His levels were back up, we were sent home with two inhalers and antibiotics since he developed an ear infection while there.

We were home a total of 3 hours when Ryan asked me to look at Brody's chest and listen to him. He was clearly struggling to breathe and was making a funny grunting sound with each breath. We took the kids to my sister's house and headed back to the doctor's office. His oxygen was back down to the high 80s and he was retracting (ribs were showing while he was trying to breathe) more than I had ever seen him. So, we headed back to the hospital and back into our same room. They took another chest xray and this time they could see that he had pnemonia.

Long story longer, it is day 5 of our hospital stay and Brody seems 100% better. He's still on oxygen, but he had a lot of awake time and seemed so much more like himself. The doctor felt horrible that he sent us home before Brody was ready.

While the kids were at my parents' house, Micah developed a fever and a cough. I took him into the clinic yesterday and found out he has strep throat again (he just finished antibiotics for strep less than two weeks ago).

Throughout this process, so many people have been praying for us and i have felt supernatural strength. Ryan and I have averaged about 4 hours of sleep in each 24 hour period. If you know me, you know that I don't function with less than 8 hours of sleep. Ideally I need about 10. The only reason I am still sane is because of God's grace.

As of Wednesday morning at 4:55AM we are still in the hospital. I will update the blog when we know more. (At least, I'll think about blogging, I'll feel guilty that I didn't and then maybe I'll blog to clear my consience.)

It's been awhile

Wow, it's been awhile. Brody is growing so quickly, although he is pretty small for his age. At his 4 month appointment, his weight and height were in the 3rd and 5th percentile while his head circumferance was in the 75th. The kids spend all their time loving on him. Micah has recently been allowed to hold Brody while he's standing and is very proud to walk around with his little brother. Watch the video at the end to hear Brody's belly laugh.

Missing mommy

Kandi is away at our church's women's retreat this weekend. This morning at breakfast, Amelia told me "Dad, I was talking about mom last night (after I had tucked her in) and I missed her so much that I got a little tears, but I'm okay now." We all miss mommy when she's gone!

We look uninsured

Brody had his 2 month well-child check yesterday. He is doing well although the doctor was surprised that he had dropped from the 75th percentile for weight down to the 25th and so he wants us to continue high-calorie formula. It wasn't until after the appointment that we realized the weight showing 75th percentile had to be an error because he has always been very small. We had one weight check with a substitute person and it was while Brody had casts, so we think she forgot to adjust the weight for the casts.

Anyway, we had the appointment and the doctor said he would send in the nurse for immunizations. Amelia, Kandi, Brody and I were all crammed in the little exam room. The nurse came in and started to go over the immunization paperwork and said something about being out of the VFC vaccines for the uninsured so we would have to come back. I stopped her and said, "oh, we have insurance. We just had a change in insurance providers on January 1, but I gave them the new card out front." She looked at us and sounding surprised said, "oh, you do?"

So she went out to check some things and then came back in and said that she would have to redraw all the vaccines which makes one wonder if they give the good vaccines to those of us with insurance or to those without since they have to be kept clearly separate. As we were leaving, I told Kandi that her surprise about us having insurance wasn't too extraordinary being that here practically the whole family was sitting in the doctor's office in the middle of the day for a routine appointment. Additionally, Amelia had dressed herself (she gets to pick her own clothes on Wednesdays when she doesn't have school) so she was wearing spiderman pants (with smooshed graham crackers all over them), a non-matching shirt and her hair was crazy looking. I was wearing jeans (which I noticed after leaving the house had a big food stain on them) and a t-shirt. We certainly didn't look like the type of people who might have insurance or be employed.

Quotable kids

Here are a few quotes/kiddo stories from tonight:

On our way in to Target tonight, it was raining in the parking lot. Amelia excitedly exclaimed, "the rain tickles my snout!" The rest of us try to keep our snouts covered.

At home, Micah came to tell me that he had a secret and whispered in my ear, "Dad, I love you to Pluto and back." He then ran to Kandi to tell her a secret and said, "Mom, I love you to....what's the planet right before Pluto?"

Lastly Micah and Amelia were working on their bed time routine and Micah was in the bathroom preparing to brush his teeth when he announced, "I'm going to brush my teeth while I go poop!" That's a real time-saver!

Brody - 2 months

Brody turned 2 months old yesterday. He is very sweet, loves to be held and smiles quite a bit. Micah and Amelia both like to hold him and Amelia is allowing him a bit of breathing room these days rather than kissing him full-time all day.

Recent quote from Amelia, "Dad, when I'm 21, I'm going to have a beard." I'm not sure if that is some sort of wishful thinking or a prophecy about the need for electrolysis, but I wish her the best either way.

How old?

Micah was playing candyland with Grandpa West at our house today. Micah declared that the rules say the youngest person gets to go first. Grandpa asked, "how do we know who the youngest is?" Micah replied, "well, I'm 6 and you're 300 and something, right?" My dad looks great for over 300!

Zoo trips

Our family took a trip to the Oregon Zoo at the end of November on a chilly Saturday. Auntie Kristen joined us too. It was a great day for the zoo as very few people were willing to bundle up and come out so it was easy to navigate. Although we are zoo members, we hadn't been to the zoo since the new Africa exhibits were unveiled so we finally got to see the beautiful lions. The new zoo exhibits are really well done!
We warmed up in the Africafe with some hot chocolate and snacks while we fed Brody and then headed out for another couple of hours at the zoo. It was so fun and so nice that we actually came back to the zoo two days later for the Zoo lights. We were joined by Kandi's parents for zoo lights. We all enjoyed the beautiful lights and the train ride. Micah especially enjoyed the contest to locate 6 peacocks made in lights. However, he couldn't remember that they were peacocks and when he saw each one he declared, "Look - another turkey!"
The zoo orangutans are some of our family favorite creatures. Here one of the 3 friends put her face right up to the window and had a sad look on her face that Micah and Amelia were imitating. The Red Ape Reserve is under significant remodeling at the zoo right now and we're hopeful that these beautiful animals will have an enhanced habitat once the construction is done.

The casts come off

Brody had his appointment today with the orthopedist and his casts are off....at least for now. We'll go back in two weeks and see what we should do next. There is a possibility of another set of casts, the ponsetti-type brace or nothing at this point. We're thrilled to have his legs back to normal for a couple of weeks at the very least!

Is "Christmas Miracle" too dramatic?

There are few words that I like to hear less than "let's get a family picture." It doesn't matter the time of year or number of participants or their age, I find the whole process often torturous. It really doesn't make it much better when I'm the one who wants the family picture of the kids for the Christmas cards. However, the other night, we had a modern Christmas miracle in our own living room. Kandi had bathed the kids and gotten them dressed for our Thanksgiving eve service at church. In another miracle, our living room was cleaned up and we had already set up our Christmas tree. We asked the kids to sit together and hold Brody and.....they did it!
We got several good pictures of them in about 2 minutes and the whole thing was over before I really knew it had even started. I guess I received my Christmas gift early!

Aquarium

This is Ryan trying my hand at writing on this blog to see if we can keep it a bit more updated for our thousands, err, hundreds, uhmm, tens of fans (I don't know what less than tens would be called). Anyway, we made a day trip to the Newport Aquarium this past week. We went last summer and found that if we just purchased a family membership and came at least 2 times, it would pay for itself (the aquarium seems a bit pricey). Anyway, it was a nice drive and the kids had fun. We happened to be there while a worker was feeding many of the animals so we followed him around as he moved from tank to tank. There are certainly some interesting sea creatures out there.
The oddwater exhibit that is there right now has many jellyfish, anemones, sea horses, eels and fish of many varieties. A big hit for the kids are the tanks where you can pet an eel, small shark, starfish and sea anemone. It was a great day long activity!