School....

School...to be or not to be, that is the question. We have yet to have a full week of school since Christmas break. Storm after storm after storm. Wind, ice, snow, more wind. It is crazy!!!

The other night I woke up at 3a (normal in my world) and noticed how cold it was in our house. Looking at the thermostat, I saw it was 57 degrees in our house when it was supposed to be 65 degrees. I notified Eric (the resident repairman) and he braved the cold to find out the snow had drifted over our furnace's exhaust pipe (that isn't what it's really called, but I don't know the right name). Anyway, when that happens, the furnace automatically shuts off. Nice.

Today the boys got up and having had very little or no school the past two days, Danny had to check to see if there was a delay. What he discovered instead was that the normally scheduled early out for today had been changed to a full day. The boys were not pleased.

I'm procrastinating unloading the groceries-we go through almost a gallon of milk a day, cleaning up the house, and getting supper started. But oh how I love that short time of day when everything is quiet because both girls are sleeping. Too bad there is no time for a nap. :)

Finally....

Finally, a couple of pics for you. The first is all of us at the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. This year Caleb was careful not to get a piece of corn stuck in his nose! :) Eliza was two weeks old on that outing! And then we have Eliza right after a bath. She is growing quickly and doing well. I'm getting a little more sleep and every little bit helps! This morning I went jogging for the first time since before I got pregnant. It was a little rough, but I made it! We'll see how I feel tomorrow. :) It's a great Sunday afternoon....relaxing....reading....snoozing (well, hoping to snooze). Looking forward to the holidays.....

The results are in...

Eliza had another appointment today to get weighed and she came in at a solid 8lb, 12 oz, which is 3 oz above her birth weight and 8 oz more than she weighed four days ago. Praise God! What a relief to all of us here on the home front. She obviously has started to pack on the pounds (or ounces, to be specific) and our doc said we didn't have to come back until her 2 mo. appointment. Thank you to all of you who were praying. God gave us a resounding "YES" in answer to all of you warriors!

I know, I know, more pictures would be appreciated. Hey, life with four is busy and I'm tired!

Prayer Request

Please pray for Eliza. She still is not back up to her birth weight. Not good. The doctor doesn't really know why she isn't gaining weight. It's causing her mother some extra stress....also not good.

Pray for wisdom, peace, and that she'll put on weight!

Last night...

Yesterday was a marathon day. I was up from 4:30a to 10:45p. Whew!

But in the midst of the chaos, at dinner, Caleb gave me reason for a good belly laugh. (And believe me, my belly is in need of even the minimal toning that laughing gives your stomach muscles!)

Me: Caleb, can you name the months of the year?

Caleb: Sure. February....March....Luke....John.....

The transition to 4

I'm seriously wondering what it is that I did all day when I only had three kids. Life is VERY full right now. In a good way. We're taking things one day at a time and that is working.

The beginning of this week was a serious challenge for me and Eliza. On Sunday night she decided to stop nursing. And she didn't nurse all day Monday and part of the day Tuesday. I then went to see a consultant (an angel in disguise) named Val who helped get us back on track. Turns out I was using a pacifier that was making Eliza lazy and so she didn't want to work to eat. Who knew? After a couple of days of using some "equipment" to help get Eliza back on track, she is now almost completely back to nursing normally. And I can't tell you how happy I am! Thank you, Lord!

I know some of you are asking for more pictures. I'll see if we can get some up this weekend. Eliza's two week appointment is today. She is a beautiful gift.

Eliza Jean

Holly woke me up at midnight, we arrived at the Hospital at 12:45, and I (Eric) delivered Eliza at 1:45! Everything went very quickly and smoothly and everyone is happy and healthy. And I got to be the "catcher"! I fought off a near fainting spell with some orange juice after the nurses escorted me to a chair. Then I was back in action and was able to keep ahold of the warm wet wiggly mess soon to be known as Eliza Jean. 8lbs. 9 oz. 20 in. Girl. Here's some pics: