Baptism and infection

It's been a very busy week!  Amma came out Saturday evening for the night, Girl2 was baptized Sunday, the Girl started feeling rough again Monday (she's been up and down for six or so weeks).  The Boy and the Girl had their annual check ups on Tuesday, so the Doctor ordered blood work and a urinalysis for her.  Hubby took her to get that done Wednesday afternoon.  Thursday afternoon, I got a call from the Doctor.  White blood cell count was high, iron was low.  She's likely fighting an infection.  If she didn't seem better after naptime, take her into the Stollery.  So Hubby spent six hours at the Stollery Children's Hospital Thursday evening.  She's been fighting a UTI, so now she's on antibiotics and behaving so much more like herself.  This means that she's back to playing, pulling, and she bit both of her brothers this morning.  First she bit Boy2 because she wanted to be where he was and he wouldn't move.  Then she bit the Boy, I think, because she was pretending to be a dinosaur...

But here are a few pictures of the baptism on Sunday.

She was so happy the whole time!  I think she thought she was getting a bath.

The Sunday School kids come up to the front and get splashed a bit :)

And the whole congregation get to meet the newest member!

The dress she was wearing is the dress my Grandmother (on my Dad's side) made for me when I was blessed.  And now all of our children have worn it.  We were kinda hoping to get them "done" in the gown Hubby, Hubby's brother, Hubby's mother (and so on) wore, but I seem to grown really big babies and it wasn't made for the chunky monkeys we produce.

Yesterday, the Boy's school did a Terry Fox walk and I went along with the kids.  They had so much fun!  It was amusing to me, though.  There were some kids just laughing and talking, and other kids spent nearly the whole time complaining that it was too hot, too long, they were thirsty.  It was a relatively short walk (by my standards) and my boys had absolutely no complaints.  They have been on much, much longer walks.  And it never ceases to amuse me when kids come up to me and say "Hi, Boy's mom!"  I need to start telling them to call me either by my name or Mrs. Macintyre.

And yesterday evening, the kids watched The Sword in the Stone.  They weren't sure about it at first.  They thought that it looked a bit scary, but they absolutely loved it!  They loved that Merlin turned into a small, itty, bitty germ to beat the dragon that was Madam Mim.  They thought that the girl squirrel was too much trouble.  They told me all about everything that happened.  The leaky tower, the Pike trying to eat Arthur, Kay trying to become King.  I love hearing them recall the events they've seen.  They do it with books too.  Love it, love it, LOVE IT!!!

little blurb

I'm going to take a quick minute here to write.  The Boy just took off with Dad for school, leaving me with Boy2, the Girl, and Girl2 to hang out a bit before we go to the church for our weekly Bible study.  So, instead of doing up the breakfast dishes and tidying up the evidence of a morning of play, I am at the table with my coffee, the Girl (finally eating her breakfast yogurt and drinking from two sippies: one of juice and one of milk), and Boy2 is having a snack of Buried Treasure muffins (the boys helped make them on Saturday).  Girl2 was sleeping, but just woke up so now Momma is abandoned for the cuteness that is the baby.

It's been busy here, as always.  Made five apple pies (three dutch and two normal) on Friday.  Saturday found me with a migraine for the morning, and we made those muffins in the afternoon (fill the muffin tin 1/2 way, put a dollop of jam in centre, then cover with more batter), followed by a dinner/fundraiser at the church in the evening.  Sunday was Sunday and all that it brings.  I taught Sunday School this week and we had fun playing "Who Am I?"

School on Monday for the Boy.  He's joined the running club that the school does (it runs at lunchtime for any student that wants to join) and when he gets home I get a full dose of what went on during the day.  He brought home a completed workbook already and I could feel the pride just oozing out of me for the accomplishments of my first born!

And he wants to have fall party on Saturday.  A chocolate cake with white icing and autumn decorations everywhere.  I've already dug out our scare crows for the front yard, and the kids thought that it was awesome!

Yesterday when I was picking Boy2 up from preschool, I heard alot about how he loves to answer questions.  They were covering the creation story, and he knew what was made on which days.  Then I guess they sang a song about a whale and he just shouted out that Jonah had been swallowed by a whale.  It's good to know that he does know the answers to these things.  We ask him and we get a blank stare!

Hubby bought a case of peaches on Sunday.  So tasty!  But the ripen so quickly and spoil so suddenly.  So we ate about half of them and I made up some peach crisps for the freezer with the rest.  And I still have bunches of apples, so I'll probably do a few more pies and then make some apple sauce.  It's been a really long time since I made apple sauce...

Girl2 is in an exersaucer!  We tried it out on Friday, she didn't really like it, but she's loving it now.  I have to remind the other kids not to bounce her, or spin her, or generally overwhelm her.  But she's enjoying not laying down or back all of the time.  She can be interacting with everyone and not feel trapped by her swing or the bassinet.  And I'm not afraid of leaving her in the living room with the bigger kids for a few minutes (well, within reason.  They do tend to get in her face a bit).  She can't get trampled on if she's not laying on the floor.

My van has new headlights!  Hubby ordered them and put them in yesterday.  He keeps waiting for something to go wrong, though.  He thinks it was too easy :)  We shall see, but I think that they are fine.

best friends

Well, it's Sunday after the first full week of school and we've all survived.  By the end of the school week the Boy was very tired and missing his siblings.  Playing at the park after school he was holding the Girl's hand all over the play ground and going down the slides with her.  He held Boy2's hand from the school doors to the playground and from the playground to the parking lot.  Very pleased and thrilled to be in Grade One, but missing the play time at home.

Boy2 is being very responsible.  The teacher said she is quite impressed with his sense of order and right from wrong.  It's kinda funny how, on preschool days, Boy2 is asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow for naps.  It certainly tuckers the child out.  And it's a very odd sense of deja vu.  When I dropped the Boy off for preschool the first year we were here, I was leaving and coming home with a two year old and a baby.  Now, two years later, I'm dropping off Boy2 and coming home with a two year old and a baby :)

This morning the Girl got herself into her high chair and declared " I love Girl2.  She's my best friend!"  It was absolutely adorable!  My two year old confessing love for her three month old sister!  And she can't wait until Girl2 is big enough for them to get bunk beds.  Hopefully the friendship will continue.  I can remember being both best friends and worst enemies with my own sisters, so it should be an interesting time.

We lost the driving force for our choir in the last couple of weeks, so I'm going to try to keep it going for a bit.  I'll need to look at some music and see if we can pull something together for Thanksgiving.  The problem  we seem to have here is that there are some who commit fully, and others whose interest wans.  And talent (obviously) isn't the same for everyone.  There are those who enjoy singing but can't carry a tune in a bucket, some who do well as long as it's melody, and others who are quite gifted with the harmony.  I realize that it would be unrealistic of me to hope for a group of angels singing, so we'll be puttering along with our faithful few.  And hopefully some will want to join later on too.

So I've picked out a fairly simple hymn for October, and we'll go from there.  I do think the hardest part for me will be to not sing, but to stand and direct instead.  A growing experience.

I've been busy filling our freezer.  I made a few apple pies this week and I'll be doing more this week.  Plus baking.  Muffins and cookies, maybe some pizza buns for the Boy's lunches.  We'll see.  I'm getting tired of making sandwiches, even though he's not tired of eating them.

preschool

First day of preschool for Boy2, and he was so excited!  He couldn't wait to go. Hubby took the boy to school this morning and I was going to take Boy2 with the girls.  As soon as Daddy and the Boy left, Boy2 was itching to leave :)  But he had to wait all of ten minutes before it was time to go!

First day of First grade!

My little Boy is on his first day of Grade One!  Yesterday is when school officially started, but they did a staggered entry, so today is his day.  He was so excited, he was up at 6 and wanted to leave as soon as he was done eating his breakfast!  I hope he never loses that enthusiasm for learning.  As I was in the classroom with him, getting his school supplies put away, I heard him talking to his classmates about his birthday.  There is one child from his class last year in the same class this year, but he started yesterday so he wasn't there this morning.  So my Boy was talking to his soon-to-be friends about his summer.  This is not a shy boy!  And I am so pleased with that.

Boy2 was a little disappointed that he didn't start preschool today, but he goes tomorrow.  And he is super excited about that!  Poor Girl, she won't quite know what to do without brothers around!  But she got a taste of it when the boys did VBS, and we'll stay busy so she'll adjust.

Yesterday the Girl turned 2!  It's amazing to think of the time that has passed.  She got some new clothes, jammies, and a battery powered xylophone thing that talks and sings and encourages pattern recognition.

It's all about accessories.  She absolutely had to wear her new outfit (which is alright, I can understand that), but then she was looking high and low for her pink sunglasses.  Not her newer blue ones with the starfish on them, but the pink ones.  Then, when Momma found them, she had to put them on, even though we were all inside and she probably couldn't see a thing with them on.  I really don't know how I managed to mother a girl who is such a Girl!

And she is such a personality!  Reminds me alot of Boy2... Very strong willed, very opinionated... well the Boy is that way too, but he's more quiet overall about everything.  I just hope that Girl2 will be a bit softer around the edges than her two closest siblings.  Time will tell, though.  And we'll love her no matter what the personality develops as.  Each one brings their own quirks and foibles, idiosyncrasies, and lovable traits.  I think that they all make a child more enjoyable.

Here is a very surprised look from Girl2.  She really enjoys laying on her own, not being held all the time.  However, even when she's on the floor, she doesn't want to be left completely alone, so you'd better not abandon her!  You'll definitely hear about it...  I think she has a greater volume than her sister (and that's really saying something!)  We lovingly called the Girl a banshee, but banshee #2 is far worse, methinks.

And here is the Birthday cake for the Girl.  At snack time yesterday, Boy2 asked me why I wasn't making a cake for the birthday.  Then in the afternoon when we were at WEM (that's where the Girl wanted to go.  See?  Such a GIRL!) the Boy asked me what kind of cake we were having.  I said DQ ice cream cake.  His eyes went wide and he asked "Did you get the recipe?"  It is so flattering that he thinks his Momma can make anything! I've never tried an ice cream cake, but it's an intriguing idea...  Maybe I should see if I could...

This is the blossom of a plant.  The plant is one that Hubby gave me on our thirs wedding anniversary, so we've had it for four years now.  The amazing thing about this is that this is the very first time it's bloomed.  I didn't even realize it was a flowering plant!  But it decided to blossom for our seventh anniversary, so that was pretty cool.

Random

There are pictures I could post, but they'll wait.  The kids have been so good these last two days.  Hubby went on a trip to Saskatoon for the wedding of some friends (he's a groomsman) so we've been daddy-less. He left yesterday morning around breakfast time, the wedding was this afternoon, and he'll likely be home 4 am tomorrow morning.

The kids have helped me tidy, vacuum, and do dishes.  The boys have made their beds and out away their laundry!  They even have been playing pretty good together.  So, while it's sometimes frustrating that they make a mess right after I clean up, it's a happy mess and it'll clean again.

Today it's turned cooler again.  The sky is overcast and the wind is blowing.  No rain yet, although it's supposed to all night.  Today we made a cheesecake :)  (one of Hubby's favorite desserts!) for us to have tomorrow.  And we're doing pulled pork (so I should probably get my act together and make a potato salad).  But I could do that tomorrow.

Laundry is getting done, dishes are (almost) all caught up.  And I am so tired.  I should have gone to sleep earlier last night, but I didn't really want to.  It's called a good book and avoiding the empty bed :)But I slept pretty good.  Hubby called to talk to the kids at bedtime, and I love being connected through texting.  This morning we skyped, and the kids thought that it was so cool!  Not the first time we've done that, but I don't think it will ever get old.

I'm surprised we've had as good a day as we have.  My head has been sore since before I got up :( but maybe the kids sense that and behave better out of fear.  Or I guess it could be out of concern...

And it seems as though they are bottomless pits!  Eat, eat, eat!  Yogurt, bread, fruit, they are eating everything!  Made cinnamon raisin bread today, and they had some for snack.  Yogurt is nearly all gone, we're out of apples... but at least it's all healthy!

I tried to give Girl2 a bottle today.  She's had them before, but it's been a long time.  She spent 5 minutes giving me funny faces and only drank 0.5oz.  Then she refused the rest.  So we finished nursing.  Methinks my window of opportunity for bottle feeding is gone...  She has very expressive eyebrows, though :)