What's this?! A blog post?! Yep it is!!

I've been relating to a quote that I hard at a marriage conference recently.  A friend was speaking and related the different phases of marriage something like this...

When you first get married life is like a slow dance.  As you start to have kids it turns into a waltz and as they get older and more involved in things it's more like a fast dance....and then there is the time when life is like an all out mud wrestle!

I feel like we are in the "mud wrestle" phase of life right now!   Our daily schedule is one that hectic, to say the least.  I can sum it up though.  Ethan, Luke and Owen are all in football.  Jessalyn is playing softball.  I am playing in a womens flag football league.  Josh has youth group.  Josh leads worship at least once a month and I play drums usually at least twice in a month.  He is teaching a class at LCS and Sunday School...as well as preaching more often.  Oh..and I am in the middle of p90x..a workout that takes just over an hour 6 days per week!  Nevermind the daily chores of keeping up with this household and school related activities...piano lessons, a 9 month old and a 5 year old (at home) etc.  It just seems like we never stop!  

I saw a little saying today..."I'm too blessed to be stressed".  I thought that was a good one...one to remind myself of daily, or even hourly!  This is a GOOD busy.  We are happy and enjoying all of the blessings that God has given us...as well as just our overall health to be able to keep up with this type of lifestyle.  

I'll give a quick little update on everyone..with pics:)

Jessalyn (11) is seriously an awesome kid!  I've heard all of the possible horror stories of the "tweens" and honestly, I've sort of been dreading it because of these stories.  So far, Jessalyn has been a joy.  Of course, she comes with her fair share of hormones but with patience and understanding of this and mostly her fatigue level, we have learned to expect her rare outbursts and inability to handle certain situations.  Really though, more often than not she has a great handle on her emotions and this phase of her life.  She is thriving in school and sports and her music and is just keeping active and busy as much as she can.  She's maturing quickly...but still hanging onto her giggly, silly and funny self, which I hope she does forever!  She recently passed the babysitters course..which is a big deal for me!  She's already a pro...and the best big sister ever! Right now her main activity is softball and she is doing very well.  We figured out that it was catching that was causing her foot problems...so she is sticking right at 1st base and not having any issues.  One of her coaches put it this way "Jessalyn could catch an ice cream cone in the dark"...as he is very confident in her stretching/catching skills at first base.  The season has just started and she's already had her fair share of awesome catches.  Here are some pics....

Ethan (9) is growing quickly.  I feel like we JUST bought him new jeans and they are already starting to look short for him.  Of course, he's not growing wider at all..just taller and skinnier!  Hes in the middle of flag football and loves it.  It seems that his physical ability is finally starting to catch up to him and he is surprising us with new skills each day.  He loves to play outside with friends and brothers...riding his bike, making forts etc.  He's still very much a 'gamer' and loves his video games too!  He loves to read and is currently enjoying the Series of Unfortunate events.  I believe he's on the fourth book.  He also is quite intrigued by learning about the Titanic.  He is a GREAT big brother, often putting his little brothers first (although, not ALL the time:).  Although most wouldn't know this about him, he LOVES to talk and at home it seems like he is talking nonstop.  He's very funny and is the one that is guaranteed to get the biggest laughs out of Truett.  I don't have any football pics yet..but will soon!

Ethan also LOVES to be the first to experience new things with Truett....

Luke (7) is still as crazy as ever.  He loves to climb and attempts to get as 'high' as possible anywhere he can.  He is very strong for his little body.  The boy has some serious guns...and a 6 pack too:)  He loves to work out and I find him lifting my weights and doing push ups and pull ups whenever possible.  He is a hard worker.  He also LOVES to read and is in the middle of reading the 'wimpy kid' series (I know..I know..).  He is showing some interesting characteristics....where he sometimes just likes to do his own thing.  He has lots of friends and can get along with other kids, but sometimes just chooses to play on his own.  He seems to need his alone time more than the other kids do.  Luke is also enjoying football, this year on a team of his own (rather than being on a team with Ethan).  Luke is the one that likes to snuggle with Truett and hold him when he's fussy or feed him when he's hungry.  He seems to be more of a comforter to Tru...rather than a comedian (like Ethan).  It is just interesting to see how they each develop different relationships with each other!  He recently got his hair cut...a spike, which perfectly suits his personality!  

Owen.  (5) Oh...Owen:)  Owen is trying to find his new 'place' in the family!  He LOVES Truett and has adjusted to not being the baby nicely, but not without some hitches along the way.  He finds that he has a hard time keeping up with the older boys, but doesn't have that "baby" card to fall back on.  He has great ideas (in his mind) that Ethan and Luke just don't want to hear.  Owen is SUPER excited for kindergarten, which I think will be great for him to find his own friends and place.  He's a smart little guy who also likes to talk NONstop!  He cracks us up on a daily basis with his comments and randomness.  He really comes out with the most random things...and follows them up with hysterical contagious laughter!  He has the BEST laugh.  He is also loving his first year of football and doing really well!  He's got some natural talent as he jukes and runs through defenders.  I think it has to do with all the practice running from his brothers!  He really loves his big sister and finds himself wandering to her room in the middle of the night to snuggle:)  She's great about making him feel welcomed there:)  Owen is a GREAT help with my photography...he's the 'go to' for standing behind me to make people laugh:)

Truett.  My sweet little Truett.  I honestly, could hardly imagine life with another baby and yet he has fit in so naturally and is just a plain awesome kid!  He's 9 months old and went from strictly nursing (every 3 hours and more at night), sleeping in my bed, immobile....to fully weaned, sleeping all night in his own bed, crawling and pulling up in like 2 seconds.  It's crazy.  He's a super happy guy who is quite easy to manage.  He's learning boundries now that he's on the go but is so far an OK listener.  He LOVES his siblings and especially his "dada".  He doesn't seem to have quite as much fearlessness as Luke, but I do see a lot of Luke in him.  I could be wrong, but my bet is he will be walking by 10 months.  We'll see:)  

I have been LOVING the flag football league that I'm in.  I am on a team with a group of other super fun ladies and we call ourselves the "stingers".  I look forward to our game night and practice night and could play football every day if I could.  I managed to land a pretty sweet QB role and am having fun learning the 'ins and outs' of that position.   I'm also half way through the 90 day p90x program.  Definitely seeing some crazy progress in strength and toning.  I'm starting to doubt that I'll ever lose all of that extra baby belly....but there's definite improvement!  Overall it's a great program and I just feel healthy...which is an absolute blessing!  

Oh..and our family bought a cottage at Mechanic Falls....maybe I'll write a post about that on it's own...but until then, here's a pic of our 'home away from home'.  Otherwise known as "cottage sweet cottage":)

Other random pics...

Wow.  That took a long time.  So long that I've run out of time to actually edit this post..so I'm posting it as is.  Here goes....

Happy 6 Months Truett!

I can't believe how fast these first 6 months have flown by.  I can't get over how much we have been blessed by getting to have Truett in our family!  He is truly a happy happy boy and is so loved by everyone in the family.  

At 6 months he is still nursing every 3 hours and a few times during the night...because he's spoiled!  He is eating pureed carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, apples, pears, peaches, bananas and yogurt.  He LOVES all of these things and is pretty much eating 3 meals a day of solid foods.  Thanks to the Baby Bullet I am able to save tons of money by making all of his food.  

He's sitting up like a pro, rolling over and starting to push up on his arms and knees, clapping like crazy and starting to catching on to signing the word "more".  He repeats "dadadada" over and over and appears like he waves when someone walks in the door and says "hi" to him.  He loves to sit and play with his toys and is OK with the jumperoo...but most of all loves to sit and play with his siblings.  

He is used to lots of attention and is not fond of being left alone in a room for any moment of time.  He also loves to nap with mama...which is proving to be a little bit of a problem as he doesn't sleep long when he's by himself.  Like I said, he's spoiled:)  (napping in my lap as I type this!).  I KNOW he's not going to nap in my arms forever and I also KNOW how fast this time goes so I'm eating it up and he seems to be just fine with that!  

So far he is still toothless although I expect his first one to pop through in the next month or so.  All of the other kids got their first tooth somewhere in the 7th month or so.  He is chewing things like crazy and drooling too so I think there is one working its way out.  

Unfortunately, Truett battled his first real sickness in his 5th month.  He ended up with RSV...which was not a fun week.  We managed to stay clear of being hospitalized, although it was close.  My doc trusted that we would take precautions and do what we needed to do (humidifiers etc) at home and he got better slowly.  He also had a double ear infection at the same time.  He is MUCH better now though and back to his happy self!  

We are just eating him up!  

Here are a few 6 month pics that I took between yesterday and today.  I've been diligent about a mini photoshoot on the first of each month so far!  I'd like to keep that up for his first year.  

Gearing up for the Superbowl!!  

As an interesting comparison, there is a blog post HERE for Owen's 6 month half birthday:)  Similarities for sure but definitely different:)  

Who's bright idea was it?

Although after all is said and done, I do understand why these precautions had to be made, but I am frustrated with the fact that "they" pulled infant tylenol off the shelves.  I realize that there was confusion between the infant concentrated stuff (with a dropper), the infant liquid (with a syringe), and childrens liquid (with a cup)...and that people were giving the wrong dosages not realizing that some of those options are more or less concentrated than the next.  I can't tell you how much childrens tylenol I have used in my 11 years of parenting, and I STILL have to check the label to be sure I'm giving the correct amount.  I've never gotten to the point where I just remember.  Unfortunately, there are people who think they DO remember and have been overdosing, not realizing which concentrate they have.

So, with that issue, they are trying to minimize confusion by taking the infant stuff completely off the shelves.  The only problem with this, is that there are still times when an infant is in need of some pain relief.  Teething comes to mind first, shots all also come to mind and as of the last day or so, a general fever associated with a croupy baby.  I would love to have a little dropper of tylenol so that I can quickly give him a little relief, but that just can't happen because it doesn't exist!

Instead, I am found trying to scour the internet for proper dosage charts for the childrens tylenol that I DO have in the cabinet while I'm sleep deprived at 3 am,  holding a crying baby that sounds like a barking seal and is having trouble catching his breath...without my contacts in.  I am relatively educated and can manage simple math....but I'm pretty sure that even a physics major given this same scenario might find themselves a little overwhelmed and frustrated!  In my personal opinion, it seems that by taking the infant stuff off the shelves...the kind that has the dosage written on it and the measuring dropper attached to the cap...might cause even more of an issue with giving the wrong dosage!  If there are parents out there who can't get the dose correct when it is so plainly written out for them, what makes people think that they are going to do the math correctly in a situation similar to what I explained above?

I did, however, find some great information that now (the next day, with a little sleep under my belt and a sleeping baby in my lap) makes much more sense as I read it.  I know...it's really not THAT complicated...but still.  I figured I would share the dosage charts that I found for both acetaminophen and ibuprofen.  Those charts can be found if you click the following links...

Tylenol

Ibuprofen

It also looks like they are trying to remedy this confusion and are going to release a new version of infant Tylenol eventually...there is a great article about how to know the difference between the two....

How to recognize and use old and new infant tylenol.

Maybe this issue isn't an issue for anyone else and maybe I'm just over-reacting...but when you're dealing with a baby who looks like this:

you might be a little overwhelmed too!  

Benefit Dinner for Jenn Taylor

 Jenn is the mother of one of Jessalyn's best friends. Jenn and her entire family are dear to us. Please consider donating to this cause.

 I do have a limited amount of tickets. If you'd like me to put your name on one (or more) please let me know. The bracelets are being sold for $5. I have a handful of those as well. Let me know if you'd like one. 

For more information, this is the letter that was written by the family:

 Dear Neighbor,

 Jen and Chris live in Meredith with their 12 year old son and 11 year old daughter. Jen is a native of Meredith and Chris has lived in the Lakes Region since he was 3 years old. Chris has worked at American Eyecare in the Belknap mall for the past five years. Until Jen was diagnosed with extremely aggressive Multiple Sclerosis in March 2010, she worked at the memory support unit at Meredith Bay Colony Club in addition to a private care giver for area residents. At the time she was diagnosed Jen lost the ability to drive, work and many other things a 38 year old wife and mother usually do. Jen has deteriorated at an astounding pace with no end in sight. They have tried several very aggressive treatments, yet Jen continues to show rapid progression. Jen spent most of the summer in LRGH and Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Concord, with occasional stays at Concord Hospital. While in Concord she developed a blood clot in her leg that required bed rest for several weeks. She has continued to weaken since then. At Various times she can’t move her arms or legs, open her eyes or speak. Fatigue really affects her condition so even the easiest of tasks, like getting out of the car or showering, cause her issues.

 Jen goes to the Doctor often and has many therapies outside of the home in an effort to regain her strength. She was able to borrow a scooter from the wife of a former patient and her church helped purchase a used handicap accessible van. The van worked great and Chris put $3000.00 into the van so it would last for some time. As Jen’s condition worsened she needed a custom power chair that offered her more comfort and mobility. In August 2011 she received her new chair which was a blessing, unfortunately the new chair is taller and heavier and does not work with the van they have. The chair lift is not substantial enough to safely lift Jen in the chair and the roof is not tall enough so Jen must tilt the chair back and ride with her face 5 inches from the ceiling. This has made their current van useless for comfortable, reasonable transportation.

 Jen’s mom, Sharyn Childs, has left her position at the Laconia Clinic after 30 years to be Jen’s caregiver when Chris is at work. Jen’s father Irv was a local police officer for more than 20 years and now works part time for 911. Chris’ father passed away in April 2011 and his mother has been disabled since 1985. Jen thankfully receives Social Security Disability but it is only a portion of what she made when she was working.

 A 1999 Ford handicap accessible van has been offered to Jen and Chris for $8500.00. This van has a stronger lift, custom raised roof and many other features which would be perfect for Jen. This is a great opportunity for them and would allow Jen a fraction of the independence and normalcy she has lost.

 She is also in need of various modifications around her home. A kitchen that she could use while in her chair, a bathroom she could use independently and a bedroom she can have privacy and easy access too. These would allow her to do some of the daily tasks we take for granted.

 Please consider a monetary, tax deductible donation for Jen, any amount would be appreciated.

 We will also be holding a fund raiser dinner at Camp restaurant in Meredith from 4-8 pm on January 29th. Tickets for the event can be purchased from any family member or just show up the night of the event. The $20 pp ticket price, half will go to Jen, includes salad, bread, choice of 3 entrées, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage. A raffle will also be held that night, so any product or gift certificate donations are greatly appreciated.

 Thank you from the bottom of our heart.

For any questions or to send your donation please contact,
 JENNFUND@HOTMAIL.COM

A catch up photo post

Just a quick catch up post with a few of my favorite pics from a bunch of photo shoots I did over the last couple of months.

A Christmas card for the Carrolls
The Snyder family



The Jameson family







The Keniston Family

The Haskins Family



My Owen:)



My Truett:)





Zach!



Emma!

Just thinking

It is crazy to me how different raising the fifth kid is compared to the first few.  I mean this with all honesty, that I LOVE each of my kids equally as much and have treated them all with the same amount of love and attention.  (I'm not just saying that because I know Jessalyn reads this blog either....Hi Jessalyn:)   I think all parents of more than one child can understand what I'm saying.  I suppose I will just explain the difference between the first and the fifth as far as my perspective.

Jessalyn was the one that taught me this love...the kind of love that only a mother has for her children.  This is something that can not be explained but is completely understood the second (well..maybe not right that second) you have a baby.  My love for her was new to me and I was 'in her face' as much as I am with Truett and am equally in love with her as I am with Truett.

With your firstborn you tend to look forward to milestones more.  I remember always wondering what it will be like to have a baby that can sit up, or crawl, or eat breakfast by herself, or pull up on stuff...or walk, talk, learn to read, lose teeth, go to school, play sports...etc etc.  That list could go on and on.  It seems that as they get older you start to dread the future milestones...like...Junior High, High School, driving, and most of all college!!  There comes a point when you realize that you want life to slooooow down, and that point for me is right now.

Besides Jessalyn, every other "baby" that I had, had a two year old sibling.  That in and of itself is a life that can't be explained until you experience it.  Fun?  Yes.  Crazy?  Yes!  Does it take away from how much you love the youngest?  No.  Like I said, I have loved each of my babies the same.  But you learn to love the youngest in the midst of a certain sense of chaos.  For me this meant, while potty training an older sibling or eventually, while potty training one sibling and dragging another to and from school and sports.  I wouldn't change a single thing about the spacing between my kids.

I guess I've just realized that "how" I am able to love Truett does seem a little different from the rest.  Being that  there is four years between Truett and Owen it's almost like having my first again, but without the anticipation of what life will be like when they hit all the major milestones.  And honestly, it's awesome.  I do feel like I spent much of the day's with Jessalyn anticipating and looking forward to a new stage of life...both for her excitement and my own.  It IS fun to watch your kids learn new things and fun to be proud to watch them as THEY are proud of their own new accomplishments.  And with that said, I am just as proud and practice certain "tricks" with Truett just the same way I have with all the other kids.  It's not that I want to slow it down....but I have learned that with Truett I am able to just live in the moment a bit better.

He's learning to sit now..which is fun.  It's fun for him, its fun for all the bigger siblings..and it's a new way to entertain him for me.  I enjoy it...and will help him master this, but only because that is where he is now.  I am able to just enjoy this stage as it comes...and really, we've lived through many of the milestones that a child can have and it's kind of less of a big deal (to me) as they reach them.  And this concept alone is what allows me to "love" Truett a little differently.  Not MORE...but just different.

Why am I sharing this?  I'm not really sure.  I guess it's just something that I've been thinking about and trying to wrap my brain around lately.  I guess I can't say enough how much I am enjoying Truett.  Just plain enjoying him.  There are lots of people who have had a few kids and then taken a break and thought "well...I'd love to have another but the thought of 'starting over'.....".  I personally highly recommend it.  I remember thinking this of other families...thinking "wow, I can't imagine having such an age gap between my kids"  (only because what I 'knew' was an approximately 2 year space).  Now that I've experienced it I know that there is nothing like it!  Especially if you've experienced family life and parenting as I have...having the first few (or four:) kids just about every two years.  The dynamic of our family has changed for sure.  It is difficult at times as we experience "baby life" along side of "elementary school life".  I just know there are some out there who think they might want another but hesitate because it's "too late" and the older kids are too old....for me, there has been nothing better!  Having my fifth baby is just the opposite of "been there, done that"...in reality it's a whole new experience, one very different from the last four.  

New Year

Wow.  It's been so long since my last post, that it seems everything here on blogspot has changed!

I've thought of many things that I would like to strive for in 2012...you know, the usual things like 'play my drums more', and 'read more' etc.  I even thought about starting a 365 picture thing..which really, would be pretty easy (using instagram)....but I decided that overall I just really want to be able to focus on my family.  Somehow Josh and I manage to fit a TON of stuff into our lives....and often times, even though kids are with us, they are sort of in the background of what is going on.  I honestly don't think this is a bad thing all the time.  There are things that we do that are important and that are good for our kids to see us involved in.

Really though, right now is an intense time in raising our kids!  Between having a baby AND elementary school kids it's just tough.  Sometimes our lives are so busy and we find ourselves doing 6 different things at a time...and one thing that gets neglected is really listening to them.  They all come home from school with many things to say and stories to tell..mostly about what they did in gym that day or on the playground.  These stories usually come out during times that are busy..like for example, Ethan LOVES to chit chat while he's in the shower.  This is fine, but when we have to get four kids through the shower it gives them each about a 7 minute (yes..we use a timer) limit each before we run out of hot water!  Ethan can't chit chat and wash his hair at the same time..multitasking is not one of his strong suits!  Anyway...not only is Ethan trying to multitask, but so am I..often helping him in the shower, while cutting someone else's nails and holding a baby at the same time.  So when he starts talking...I'm honestly like "uh huh...yep...ohhhh" and not actually hearing a single thing he's saying.  That's what I want to work on.  I want to work on looking my kids in the eyes when they are talking to me...even if I'm trying to do a gazillion other things at the same time.  What I really want to do is drop the other things I'm doing (well..not literally "drop" them...pooooor Truett:)...but I want to stop and focus on what they are telling me.  Trust me when I tell you that this is hard for me...when I have four kids that all want to tell me something at the same time, while I'm in the middle of something else....it's difficult.  Not because I don't want to hear what they have to say..I DO, I really really do...it's just that the busyness of life really gets in the way.  Sadly.

I read a blog post from a friend recently about choosing a Theme Word for 2012...you can read her take on this subject HERE .  My initial thought was the word "patience".  I definitely need that, but honestly, I don't think that will change from year to year.  I need to work on that every second of my life!  But, as I typed my thoughts above I am thinking that my theme word for this year should be "listen"...because there's a whole lot more in my life that I could spend more time listening to than just my kids!  I can listen more in prayer, while reading God's word...I can listen more intently to my husband and to the people I come in contact with on a daily basis.  There is a lot of listening to be done...and not just listening, but actually HEARING.  So that's it..my theme word for 2012 is LISTEN.

And with that said, yes, I do have some of the usual "resolutions" in mind.  I really really do need to get playing the drums more often.  I don't practice.  I've now been playing the drums for 6 years so I can't really live on the "I'm a new drummer" excuse anymore.  I really need to be improving...I want to be improving.  I also want to write in this blog more often.  I just love having this as a journal of sorts for the family.  As for the 365 idea...I will likely share a picture a day all year (I do this without thinking about it)...but just to keep the things that I "have to do" to a minimum...I'm not committing to that:)  Oh, and I have this little idea for a children's book that I would actually love to get written.  I definitely do NOT claim to be a writer and have no clue as to how one might go about writing a book...but I have an idea that I think is original (I think?) and really would like to run with it if at all possible.  We'll see if that actually happens....

And just because I can't post a blog entry without a picture....who wouldn't want to focus on looking into these eyes and listening to what they have to say to me?!?!