Happy Birthday Micah!

Micah's big birthday smile:)

Micah and Daddy opening his new truck

A look back. Baby Micah and Mommy at the zoo

Another look back. Micah around 1 1/2 helping with home improvements

Bald Baby Micah

Micah and PePaw at Micah's 1st Birthday Party

Micah turned 3 last week! I can't believe he's 3 already..he tells me everyday he's bigger now. He tries so hard to keep up with and do the things the 3 older kids do and when we tell him he's not big enough or old enough sometimes he tells us he's bigger or older now!

Micah was born just over 3 years ago and came into the world with an opinion about almost everything. From the day we brought him home from the hospital I knew he was going to be a character. He was our first colicky baby and often hard to please. But we survived and even enjoyed (some of) his spirited infant stage. He was such a cute little bald headed blue eyed baby and has grown into a cute little blonde haired blue eyed preschooler.

He loves to be right even when he knows he's wrong:) Along with being opinionated and strong willed he's also our little comedian. He has always had a way of bringing out a smile or laugh. And he brings much joy, laughter, and love into our home. I can't wait to see what the years ahead bring for Micah. The Lord has truly blessed us with our Micah man.

Tired

The end of a crazy weekend (yes that's a wii controller at the bottom on the picture:)

The last few days have been crazy around here. Not that homeschooling, being pregnant, and raising 5 kids isn't crazy enough.
I'll start with Thursday...around 9:00 am I got a call from my mother in law telling me Matt's aunt was hit by a truck and in serious condition..I called her daughter and offered to take her 3 little girls so she could go be with her mom. So I add a 4year, a 3 year old and a 7 month old to the mix of the day. Thankfully her kids are really good and they had a good time but they kept me busy all day. I wound up keeping the 2 older girls overnight (they picked up the baby that evening) and into the next day. Nothing too crazy just busy.
Friday....Get all the kids (remember there are 7 of them) ready and go to our old house to meet a glass repair man who fixed a broken basement window. We are trying to put the house on the market so I've been there a lot the last 2 weeks getting it ready to sell. After we leave there, I take the kids to the bank and Kroger (both pretty quick trips). We head down to the children's museum for the day. We stayed and played a good while then left after the 3 year old wandered off (we found her first of course!) and headed to Costco and Meijer. I know what am I thinking right? I did get a lot of stares and comments, more than usual, running errands with 7 kids and obviously pregnant. When we get home, Matt's cousin and her hubby come to pick up the girls, we have dinner, put the kids to bed. By this time, I'm exhausted. (By the way, his aunt is doing okay all things considered)
Saturday...the plan was to go to the old house to lay new floor in the kitchen and dining room in the morning but Matt wound up having to work a half day. I packed the kids up and headed to the house to start the job around 2 expecting Matt would be finished soon and over to help. The kids had fun playing with the old neighbor's while Adah slept and I started the floors. By 5:00 I was getting sore and tired and Matt was still working. It turns out he didn't get off until later and brought dinner over. He had evening plans so I finished the floors and packed the kids back up. We headed home barely able to move and exhausted around 10 pm.
Sunday...I did chapel both services at church, still pretty sore from yesterday's flooring installation. We went to lunch with the kids then headed home. Matt went to the old house to finish a couple odd jobs and I stayed home to rest a bit and get ready for our co-op tomorrow. I laid down for about 15 minutes and the phone rings..I wasn't going to answer but Anna did for me so I had to go in the kitchen and chat a few minutes. I hang the phone up and hear the sound of breaking glass then crying..oh no! I rush into the living room to find a wii controller has just gone through the window in the living room and a very upset and scared 4 year old who didn't put the wrist band on. By the grace of God, I did not yell or yell or get angry. I somehow stayed calm, cleaned up the broken glass and taped some plastic to the window (it was about to storm). I guess we'll be replacing those windows sooner than later:)
All in all the end of the week and weekend was a little exhausting..okay a lot exhausting. But I'm glad to start a new week, hopefully this one's not quite as exciting!

Sprinkles

I love when kids don't know a word for something and they insert either a made up word or a real word that isn't accurate to describe it. If Matt hasn't shaved his face in a day or two Micah will come up to him, feel his face, and declare that Daddy has sprinkles on his face. I'm not sure how his little brain came up with that one but I absolutely LOVE that he calls Matt's stubble his sprinkles! It's so cute.
Well Micah has tubes in his ears and when they are infected the puss drains out of his ear, so sometimes in the mornings if his ears are draining, he'll have some dried puss in his ear and the other day he woke up and announced that he had sprinkles in his ear (the dried drainage) and wanted me to get them out. After we cleaned his ear I asked him how he got sprinkles in his ear? He told me that Daddy put them there last night. Too cute! I know 2's (almost 3!) can be challenging but when they say the sweetest, cutest, or funniest thing, it makes it easier.

It's a boy!

Baby's Profile

Baby sucking thumb

Baby's arm

Baby's bottom, legs, & boy parts

We had our ultrasound last week and were anxious to find out if we were expecting another boy or girl. Matt and I both thought it was a boy and we were right..another boy! We are very excited to welcome our newest little guy this summer. The kids are all very excited (although Anna was a little upset the first day at the thought of another brother). Micah has been telling me the baby in his belly is kicking a lot lately even though we explain daily that only girls can have babies in their belly..it's so cute to hear him talk about the baby.
The whole ultrasound process still amazes me..you would think after the 6th baby it might get old but it doesn't. It is such an amazing thing to watch a little life moving and growing inside. It's still just as exciting if not more than the first time. What a great God to bless us again with a sweet little boy, we are so thankful and can't wait to meet our new son.

Poor Baby

Poor little Adah had a nasty fall this morning, she fell out of her booster seat onto the tile floor..it was not a pretty site. Her two front bottom teeth were knocked forward and were bleeding pretty badly. I called her pediatrician since Elijah and Anna had check ups already scheduled for 8:30 they told me to bring her in too, so we all packed up and headed to the dr. Her gums were still bleeding when we got to the dr. at 8:30. They looked like they were going to fall out and after checking them out the dr. told me thankfully she hadn't messed up her jaw but likely broke the bones of her teeth and needed to see the dentist...so after an hour and a half at the doctor for checkups and her visit we all went to the dentist. Thankfully the dentist is minutes away from the doctor. They took her right back and the dentist came right in. He said her teeth were fractured and since they can't cast her mouth, it's now a waiting game. It's very likely she'll loose both teeth, either they'll fall out (especially if she falls or bumps them in the next several days) or they'll die and then likely fall out. There is a chance they'll heal but it didn't sound like a good chance of that. He did try to manually move her teeth back into position as much as she could tolerate, again not a pretty thing. But they do look a little better now that he moved them back into place a little more. She's supposed to eat soft foods and liquids for while so she happily ate a frosty from Wendy's for lunch:) I came home and removed all toys that she can climb on or hard toys she puts in her mouth, I'm trying to keep her from reinjuring them. She goes back in 2 weeks for a recheck.
I have had a huge knot in my stomach since the fall. Teeth injuries are one of my biggest fears ever since Elijah had a fall when he was 4 and lost his top front tooth-he was toothless for 4 years. And now it's happened again! I'm considering getting mouthguards for all my kids that they wear from when they wake till bedtime, seriously! I just can't take the thought of my sweet little baby going through the next 7 or 8 years with no bottom front teeth. I have been praying for complete restoration and healing since it happened, I really don't want her to loose her teeth!
Here are two pictures from this morning, these are from after the dentist moved the teeth back into position, but they are still sticking forward a little but not nearly so bad.

My Micah Man

Micah is a very strong willed little boy, we battle EVERYDAY over his nap, which he still needs. Everyday I tell him it's nap time and everyday he throws a fit, he never wins, but still does it everyday. And everyday after he gets in bed for nap he falls asleep right away and sleeps for 3-4 hours. I think he just likes to disagree with me.
Yesterday he was paticularuly grumpy before his nap and after going potty and when he was washing his hands he told me "mommy you wash my hands for me, I'm too grumpy".
His famous line around here is "because I said yes", that's his reason for everything. I think he really believes he is the authority of everything.
If he's crying, he announces "mommy I'm crying", as if I didn't know it already.
I love Micah beyond words and even though he's a challenge I am up to the challenge. And while he can be a challenge he is also a great joy. He is hilarious and makes us smile and laugh all the time.
I pray everday the Lord will shape Micah's will to do His will. And the Lord is using Micah to refine me too. He is teaching me patience and unconditional love among many other things.

Micah wanted to play football or golf in the snow, we opted for football

Levi playing in the back

Anna catching a snow flake on her tongue

Trying to build a snow castle

The kids were anxious to get outside this morning and play in the snow, I however would rather be at the beach and hate going out in the snow. Which might explain why we rarely build snowmen instead we get out shovels and pails and make snow castles, I guess it reminds me of sand castles at the beach?

This morning I dug out all the snow gear which took a while, Elijah was out the door first, which explains why I have no pictures of him..he was already inside by the time I was ready to go out.

I wanted to take Adah out for the first time in the snow..but after taking an hour to get everyone ready she was screaming, so she got a nap instead:) Maybe later she'll go out, when Matt gets home, he does much better with this weather than I do.

It took forever to get them ready and even longer to clean up after they came inside.

Took a while to find Micah's boots, but they didn't fit so he went out in his shoes..that was fun..his feet were freezing after about 15 minutes.

I did get half the driveway dug out with the snow blower though it didn't stay clear long as it's snowed a bit since then.

The few things I like about the snow..it's an excuse to stay home...my kids love it which makes me happy...I like taking pictures of the kids playing in it although I try to take the picts from the doorways instead of going out in it.

I know most of it sounds like complaining..and well it kinda is..and I know it's still winter so I should accept that it will snow but I am so ready for spring.