Polka Dots (24 hours later)

  

Ah, the poor, suffering child. :)

Favorite natural remedies:
(not all at once, of course!)

• vitamin D3
• vitamin A
• vitamin C
• herbal remedy every 2 hours
• green juice with probiotics mixed in
• bath with oatmeal in a sock; don't rinse
• bath with a few drops peppermint oil and tea tree oil; don't rinse
• bath with epsom salt & baking soda; don't rinse
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda in 1 c. water; dab mixture on spots and let dry
• organic raw apple cider vinegar; dab on spots, let dry
• olive oil and vitamin E oil as an 'everywhere' moisturizer (optional: add 1 drop tea tree oil)
• chaparral healing salve on spots
• mixture of raw honey, cinnamon, & vitamin E on spots

We decided a long time ago, for a variety of reasons, that we did not want our children to have the chicken pox vaccine.  When a friend's children came down with chicken pox, we exposed all the kids and prepared ourselves for self-imposed quarantine and a good case of the itchies.  Two weeks later, Lucas & Destany had a little fever and a couple spots.  We exposed everyone again, and Keandre got a mild case (12 spots/all the classic symptoms).  What gives?

Finally, we figured it out.  Although I had told her we didn't want the vaccine, our former pediatrician (SO glad I can say 'former') gave the older three children an MMR/Varicella combination.  I didn't know such a thing existed, and I was not happy when I figured this out a few days ago.  Grrrr....  We decided that at least this was a good booster and will hopefully bring good immunity regardless.

Brooklyn was the last to get them, possibly because she is still nursing.  She is handling it wonderfully!

We know 9 or 10 families who have been taking this polka dotted journey with us, so we've had no lack of playtime with them.  But we are glad it is almost over, too!  We are ready to head back out to the park, the grocery store, and for playdates with friends who didn't feel like sharing the polka dots with us. :)

Our Day in Pictures

 

Andy has started biking Destany to school some days.

She loves it!

Brooklyn has the chicken pox.  Not too many spots so far.  We're doing lots of baths, which she loves!

While I was busy giving baths, Lucas decided to take the morning off school and dig a big hole in the backyard.

Before B's morning nap, we put a raw honey, cinnamon, and vitamin E mixture on her spots.  She was a sweet and sticky mess, but she slept great, and woke up happy!  Then into another oatmeal bath she went. :)

First Day in First Grade

  

On our way to the first grade Open House.

It's official.  Destany is in first grade!  Ultimately, we hope to have both Lucas and Destany at a local Montessori school, but while we wait to see if there is a little movement on the waiting list, Destany is at the local school, and Lucas chose to continue home schooling.  Yes, I have mixed feelings about it.  But we are quite content to try out public school for a time, knowing we can return to home schooling at any time. 

At the end of the day, we were presented with a little keepsake.  You may notice that she wrote Nichole instead of Destany.  Yes, at school our sweetie is going by her middle name, Nichole.  At home, too, if she can get us to remember!  We have always liked the name Nichole, and it is her birthmother's name, too.  So when she decided that starting at a new school was a good time to try out a new name, we agreed.  So far, so good!

ps - She looks so cute in her uniform. :)

my love

   

I was just out of high school when we met, and a year and a half later we were engaged.

Friends asked me how I knew Andy was 'the one'. 

How could I know I wanted to spend the rest of my life

with him? 

At 19 years old it was hard to imagine the rest of my life at all, much less married to someone I was still getting to know.

But this I could say this with confidence:

"I can't imagine what it would be like to NOT have Andy in my life.  That is how I know he is the one." 

I am so very thankful God brought us together.  What a journey it has been!

Happy Anniversary, my love!  Thirteen years and counting.

It just keeps getting better. :)

*A big thank you to Heather for the beautiful pictures! 

9 months old

    

 

Pajama girl escapes again!

Our Little Rockstar

  

Around here, Brooklyn is a rockstar.  Everyone loves Brooklyn.  At any given time, there is a line of siblings waiting for a turn to hold her.  Each of them takes great pride in their special relationship with her, and their ability to make her laugh and squeal.  It is so sweet to watch their relationships grow. 

Right now, Brooklyn is especially high on my list of favorite little people.  You see, Destany had this tooth that was driving me crazy.  You know the kind.  The one hanging crooked, right smack in the middle of her smile, just begging to be pulled.  But Destany was not interested in having it pulled.  I begged for the privilege, but she was not to be swayed.  And stories of tying a string around it and slamming a door to yank it did not help any.  (Nice try, honey.) 

To my great delight, Brooklyn took care of that tooth tonight.  Destany was playing with her when she suddenly shouted out that Brooklyn had knocked her tooth out.  And sure enough....as she explained what had happened, that stubborn little tooth fell out of her mouth and onto the carpet in front of her.  Wooohooo!  That's my baby. 

Now let's just hope the 'Tooth Fairy' remembers to follow up on this tooth!  A few nights ago Destany received $1.25 and an apology note from said fairy.  That tooth had been under her pillow for a couple nights, so she accrued a little interest!

first swim

We were at an adoption playgroup this morning (16 kiddos, one little Chick-fil-A playground, and lots of fun and chaos!), and afterward we went to a friend's mom & dad's house to hang out.  That led to an impromptu swim in a salt water pool (my favorite!).  It was pretty hot out, so I decided to let Brooklyn enjoy the water.  She was missing a naptime, so she was quieter than usual, but she kicked her feet a bit and was very relaxed.  In a pinch, cloth diapers make a great swimsuit!

First Day of Preschool

The time has come for our sweet, busy boy to have a day to run, play, and be as noisy as he wants without me reminding him to play quietly while we home school.  My sister and I were blessed to find a Christian preschool that is very reasonably priced, and willing to split a Tuesday/Thursday program for two students.  Cousin Devin signed up for Tuesdays, and Keandre for Thursdays.  They both had their first days this week, and had a great time!   

Keandre picked out a Toy Story "pack pack", and if I would have let him, he'd have packed up half his bedroom to take along.  As it was, he settled for a special blanket, his water bottle, and spare shoes.  (I noticed at the last minute that his shoes were too small, but he didn't want to change.)

As much as we were looking forward to Keandre's big day, I was also a little anxious about dropping off my sweetie and trusting the teachers to understand his life-threatening food allergies and keep him safe.  I took several steps to increase the likelihood that even busy, distracted teachers would hopefully never forget his allergies. 

A great allergy bracelet.

A sign for the classroom door ensures that any teacher or adult in the room can see at a glance WHO has food allergies, what allergies, and what to do in case of a reaction.

An allergy-alert lunch bag.  I put a reminder of his allergies
in the front pocket, and I will be sending allergy-safe
snacks and lunches for him.

Matching neon green bag for his emergency medications. 

I attached a dog tag with his name, allergy info, and our

cell phone numbers.

Keandre cried a little when I dropped him off, but had a good morning after he settled in.  And of course he was doing great when I picked him up, and told me all about his day. 

I'm very thankful that Keandre's teachers were glad I was taking precautions and going out of my way to teach them how to deal with Keandre's allergies (this all makes it less stressful for them, after all), and they seem to be taking his allergies seriously. 

Keandre is proud of himself for attending preschool for the first time, and is already looking forward to next week.  That's my boy! :)

Guess Who

Guess who...

...is one month old?

...is on the verge of smiling?  (that one was accidental)

...already weighs 9 pounds, 13 ounces?

...is breaking free from the hospital today?

...is contemplating wearing makeup for the first time in days?    (oh, wait...that's Mama)

Yeah, Brooklyn!  I love you, sweetie!  And I can't wait to take you home to your Daddy, big brothers, and big sister.  They sure have missed you. 

Perfect timing, too.  Now I don't have to buy a big bow to hide that awful IV!

3 weeks today

Look who's three weeks old today!

(We are loving that strawberry blonde hair!)

big boy bed

Our kiddos sleep in their cribs until they are 3 years old.  Moving Keandre out at 35 months was early, in our minds!  I guess we've been blessed with kiddos who aren't into climbing out of their beds since he was the first to do that, and we pretty easily convinced him that wasn't a good idea.  Ultimately, though, we wanted to give him plenty of time to transition to his new bed before his baby sister made her arrival. 

Not surprisingly, he loved his big boy bed!  But we soon decided it would save space if he moved to the bottom of the bunk bed.  So just one month later the toddler bed was taken apart, and Keandre joined the big boy world of twin-size beds.  He even has his own little shelf to keep his books on.  

This one, too, Daddy!

Destany enjoyed the adventure of losing her first tooth so much that she immediately set to work on her other barely loose tooth.  Just days later, it was ready to go, too!  We can already see the new grown-up teeth in the window left in her mouth.  My baby is growing up! 

Her first excited phone call was to Nichole, her birthmother, to inform her that she has lost TWO teeth in the past week. :)

Please pull it out, Daddy!

A long-awaited 'first' happened for Destany this morning.  She lost a tooth!  Or, to be more accurate, her Daddy yanked it out for her. :)

Afterward, Lucas helped her put her tooth into an envelope for the Tooth Fairy. 

Just to set the record straight, our kiddos already know we are the tooth fairy, and that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, etc. are just stories that some people like to pretend are real.  And believe me -- they are fine with this.  Those stories made them nervous!  So beware...you'll need to listen in on conversations between our kids and yours and cut them off if they try to 'set your kids straight'. :)

Video coming -- as soon as I figure out how to upload one on here!  Anyone want to help me?