Felecia Lewis

This is the baby that all the fuss for the last few weeks was about. She's 6 weeks old now and adorable. And I got to watch her last night, so Abby and I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of her, since I'm sure it's a lot harder to do at her house with all the helpers around.

Olivia was amazed by her. She kept crawling over and pulling herself up to peek at Felecia and touch her. She did pretty good at not being a jealous baby with mommy holding someone else. Abby thought that Felecia was the most wonderful doll. She immediately got one of her own dolls out and laid it down near Felecia for the photos. And then she kept a careful eye on what baby Felecia was doing. She also worked hard at keeping Maize far, far away from her baby friend. We did good for having 3 little girls and just one mommy, but I sure don't know how people do that every day. I don't have enough hands...

I Learned This From My Mother

I have an awesome mother - how awesome I did not realize until this week when I had 7 kids to take care of at the same time. Now, she may have only had 6 children, and there was a little more space between us than between the group I've had lately, but still... my mom is amazing. I don't know how she survived it, or how we survived it for that matter. This little girl is the reason I've had 7 kids under my roof on and off since Wednesday. Her name is Felecia and she is the little sister of the whole bunch of big kids that have been staying with Steve and I. I have three wonderful friends up here in the frozen north, but of the three I spend the most time with Kimberlee - we go to church together, live closest out of the bunch, and I have a backyard that her boys often need to blow off some steam in. On Monday she had an emergency c-section and we added Felecia to the bunch of babies that come and play at our place. Except that Felecia, like her soon-to-be best friend Olivia, has been giving us a big scare and spending some time in the NICU. She's making major improvements, but there isn't a definite timetable for her to be home. So, until then we are on-again off-again parent stand-ins for the rest of her brothers and sisters. We are off this weekend after a long couple days of entertaining and comforting kids who were really missing their mom.

So here's my happy bunch (from left to right: Huron (2), Nia (11) Nikomi (11), Olivia, Rian (3 1/2), Abby, and Evelin (9). They've been really awesome and the big girls have been super helpful. And we've even learned how to take care of Evelin's insulin pump and manage her diabetes - I hope we NEVER have to do that for one of our own kids!In the middle of all the crazy I took Olivia in for her check-up and flu shot. She was a healthy 18 pounds (50th percentile) and was up to 26 1/2 inches (25th percentile). And she was super friendly and inquisitive, so we got the all clear, good job, looks like she's doing great from the doctor. He'd even forgotten she'd been in the NICU since she's done so well since coming home. We are certainly blessed beyond measure. She is going full bore on the army crawling and stealing of Abby's toys. It won't be long and she'll be crawling for real - she's already up on all fours, she just has to figure out how to make her limbs go. It's amazing how fast she's growing up. It seems like we just brought her home from the hospital.
Abby has been enjoying having some round the clock friends and her first slumber party. It was her first and last co-ed sleepover and all 3 toddlers did fine after some initial tears because the boys really, really missed their momma. The three of them really love each other, so I've had a fun week listening to them play together and enjoy the company of a kid from another family. Pretty soon they are going to think of each other as siblings instead of friends - Abby had already been calling them her brothers for a few weeks.

Abby's also doing good potty training, although she's had a few accidents with all the chaos and me forgetting to remind her to run in and use the potty. But she's back to staying dry all night, so I'm betting we will be done with the pull ups full time in the next few weeks. She sure is growing up fast.

Sun-Day

After two days of icky weather we are back to beautiful sunshine! Abby has been spending a lot of time outside enjoying her swing set, sandbox (which now has sand in it), and sprinkler. We had a pool out for a while, but Abby had a problem remembering not to pee in it, so we drained it and decided a sprinkler would be a better way for her to cool off.
Olivia has been a lot more alert and interactive in the last couple weeks, so Abby has been enjoying more and more play time with her little sister. She loves sitting with Olivia on the chair. Olivia seems to like Abby too and gives her great big smiles. She just won't do them when I have the camera.
This is the pool girl right before she had her accident in the pool. So consequently her daddy drained it. We have had unusually warm weather around here for most of the last week and we supposed to hit 90 at least one day this week. I'm thinking beach...
So basically, Friday we were busy baby sitting Abby's friend Maddie at lunch time and her friends Autumn and Abby in the evening. Abby had a great time with all her friends. I got exhausted. That's a lot of running. And on Friday I managed to whip up 2 baby slings and a baby blanket for gifts - and they had to be done ASAP since one recipient is leaving the U.P. for the south side of Chicago on Friday night. Saturday was a lazy day, except for the part where Steve and I dug the sandbox out so that we could put in 10 to 12 inches of sand. The box as it was built would only hold 3 or 4 inches and we decided that wouldn't really meet Abby's needs. So we did some back breaking labor hunched over since the roof over the sandbox was about 4 foot high. Today we had lunch with our friends the Dodges, went to a graduation open house for one of Steve's co-worker's children, and then used our new sandbox and sprinkler to play in the back yard. I didn't realize how busy we had been until I sat down and typed all that out. I'm getting tired just thinking of it all... I think tomorrow is going to be much less busy.

Going Cordless

Olivia turned 3 weeks old today and had two little milestones in the last 36 hours. The first was her first spit-up, which of course went right down the front of my shirt yesterday around lunch time. I could have done without that. The second was losing her umbilical cord stump this morning - oddly enough at the same moment she was spitting up down the front of my shirt. So she is now cordless and Abby is having a great time comparing belly buttons with her baby sister.

Abby has been having a good and bad transition to being a big sister. Most days and most times are good, but she's also been having lots of meltdowns and fits. It will be good to try a day just the three of us girls tomorrow so we can start to establish some rules and regulations for the little girls who live around here. One will need to learn to nap by herself and the other will need to learn that she can't have everything she wants right at the minute she wants it. Actually... reading that sentence I think they both need to learn both of those lessons. I guess I have a lot of work to do.

We had a lot of fun with Grandpa Roy and Grandma Von here the last few days. And we got a lot of yard work done thanks to Grandpa. We have a great spot set for Abby and Olivia's new swing set and a nice new garden with a small rock retaining wall (we found the rocks when we were cleaning up the weedy "gardens" that were left out back). Last night we had a little birthday party for Abby and Grandpa Roy, since Grandpa's birthday was about 2 weeks ago and Abby's birthday is in 2 weeks. She had a great time opening some presents and has lots of cool new Belle things and princess pajamas. She was very impressed with it all, except for the singing gift bags... those kind of freaked her out.

Abby and I went tonight to our small group bible study for the first time since the first Wednesday in March. She had a great time seeing her friends, although she has completely forgotten her playtime manners and how to share. We have some major re-learning ahead of us on that front. But it was great to see friends and have some adult conversation with them. Abby gave all of her friends big hugs on her way out the door... it was the most adorable thing. I can't wait for Olivia to get big enough to have such great friends too.

Muddy Buddies

Abby and Maize took advantage of some 49 degree weather after having lunch and took their first outside adventure of the year. Abby was more interested in being outdoors than Maize. She helped me sweep off the porch and we checked all around the backyard to see what was growing now that we've had almost a week straight of 40 degree days. I know it's way to early to expect Spring in the Upper Peninsula - I'm sure we will get some more snow and cold weather - but it was nice to enjoy some springy weather today. It's just a shame she wouldn't turn around and give me a smile for a picture. And her pants are pretty muddy, especially the bottom since the yard was kind of tricky to walk in.

Abby, Steve, and I spent the evening yesterday with our friends the Dodge family, including Abby's great friend Maddie. They had so much fun dancing and hugging. They are pretty adorable together. Steve also got his first - and probably last - dose of the Academy Awards. Neither of us are really movie people, so we really didn't care who won what or who wore which dress, but we did have fun with friends and Abby got to spend time with one of her two best buddies, so we always jump at the chance for that to happen.

Today Abby is using her imagination and is pretending to be Grandma Mary's puppy "Bark-ski". The real puppy - who's name is Barski - moved to a new home, but I'm sure Grandma Mary would rather have this new version of her puppy visit. We even had to get a dog leash out so that Bark-ski could go on a walk around our house. And she's crawling everywhere around the house instead of walking, since dogs can't walk. What a girl...

Our Girl - 26 Weeks

If a full night's rest has become elusive, welcome to the (sleepless) world of pregnancy insomnia. Between heartburn and leg cramps, bathroom runs and that big beach ball beneath your nightie, it's no wonder your body's having trouble calming down and drifting off. But there are lots of tactics to try that should help keep you in bed (and asleep!) instead of pacing the floor; these include daytime exercise, a daily dose of fresh air, and limiting fluids before you hit the hay. What's up with your baby? She now weighs a full two pounds and measures nine-plus inches. And this week, her eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, start to open. Of course, there's not much to see in there, but if your baby spots a bright light (or hears a loud noise) near your belly, you may notice an increase in fetal activity. (Hey, I'm in here, Mommy!)

from (http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/week-26.aspx)

We had a check-up today. Baby's heart rate was 138 and she was moving all around. Everything is right on track according to the doctor. We had the re-test for the glucose challenge test, so hopefully that will come back normal and the gestational diabetes will be a thing of my past :-)

Abby had a really fun afternoon playing with her best friends Autumn and Maddie. She didn't even cry when I dropped her off at Autumn's house and left. She is really growing up fast!

Fall Fun

Abby is still working on her molars, so it is still hard to catch her without a hand or two in her mouth. And, this morning she fell and bit her lip pretty badly, so she's been checking it out. Luckily her Dad was home for lunch and he was able to check and make sure all of Abby's teeth were still in working order.
Abby helped me rake the yard yesterday and again today. By the time I was ready to quit today we had a pretty good pile started, so we tried the bury the kid and throw leaves trick. Unfortunately she wouldn't open her eyes and smile nicely for a picture. Oh well...
I'm not even sure she enjoyed being buried, but she did like throwing handfuls of leaves into the pile and kicking loose leaves too. Sometimes she was too helpful though and was pulling handfuls of leaves out of where I have raked and throwing them into areas that were already cleaned. Sometimes her helpfulness is too helpful. She also liked having me rake leaves into her, which made raking without whacking her pretty difficult.
Evidence of the "helper" throwing leaves from the pile into the place I had already cleared. Abby had her friends A.J. and Maddie over to play today. They had a good time, mostly. Since they are all approaching the terrible two age we had some sharing issues and needed to do a quick search for enough play phones for everyone, but for the most part they have a good time together and it is nice to have some adult company during the week.
Happy fall to you all and good luck raking up your leaves! We still have about 1/2 the yard to go, so I'm pretty sure we will be back at it again tomorrow.

Best Friends

Abby has been enjoying some weekday play dates with one of her best friends, AJ. Last week we played with AJ on Tuesday and Friday and she came over again yesterday. The girls always have fun together. The only thing missing is the third musketeer, Maddie. Yesterday we heard some exciting news - Abby's friend AJ will be officially adopted by her foster family tomorrow. We are so glad that AJ will be a permanent part of Abby's childhood and can't wait for the age when they can have sleep overs and parties and all the fun things that make childhood memories great.

Abby is eagerly anticipating Grandma Mary's surprise visit tomorrow. When I told her yesterday that Grammy was coming to see her she had the biggest smile I've ever seen. And she must have said Grammy about 20 times in a row. She was super excited.

We have found a new favorite food for Abby - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but only if you cut them with a cookie cutter. Her favorite shape was the star sandwich, so if you ask her what she'd like for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack you are likely to hear star sandwich. We will see how long this kick lasts. She still loves her chicken nuggets and hot dogs too, so at least we are getting more variety in her diet.

Great News!

Abby and one of her two best friends, A.J. - October 2008

This is an old picture of Abby - back from the days when she was 5 months old. It's hard to believe it was 10 months ago! We are posting it because we are happy to announce that one of Abby's two best friends, A.J. is going to be officially adopted by her foster family and will be a permanent part of Abby's childhood. We are so happy for the Hood family, who have been A.J.'s parents since A.J. was just a few months old. I can't wait until Abby and her best friends A.J. and Maddie are able to head to kindergarten together and celebrate all of childhood's milestones together. What a blessing best friends are - even at a young age. And what a blessing it is to see a child taken from a terrible situation find a loving home in a Christian family! I have a ton of respect for my friends Kevin and Andrea.

To celebrate A.J.'s adoption we are going to try and have a little play date and ice cream party today. Then we have to get to packing so we can head down toward Lansing for Adam and Anne's wedding. Adam and Steve survived dental school together and had quite a bit of fun in the process. We can't wait to see him, Anne, and the rest of the dental school friends who will be attending the wedding. And Abby can't wait to wear her new shoes or visit her Grandmas and Grandpas and practice her new word - more. Unfortunately it is going to be a very, very short weekend, with the wedding taking up most of the day on Saturday, so we probably won't get to visit everyone we want to. So if we miss you this weekend, it's not because we don't love you or want to see you - there are just so many hours in a day! And we have to celebrate Grandma Mary and Aunt Courtnie's birthdays on Saturday night (hopefully).

Time to get back to reality - the dog is barking at something outside...

Best Buddies

Maize hides in the bathtub when she gets scared by loud noises. Abby decided to join her the other night. Poor Maize was freaking out, while Abby was trying to feed her with bath toys.
But even when Abby tries to feed Maize dirty bath water, they are still best friends. Abby's been practicing her dog mastering skills by telling Maize to "sit." I'm still not sure Maize understands what Abby says to her, but Abby is really certain that she is going to be the newest dog whisperer.

Abby has two new words that she learned yesterday. I'm not sure where she learned them, because we hadn't been practicing them. Her first new word is "more" and her second word is "girl." She also has been practicing "eye" a lot - complete with the poking of anyone's eye who is fortunate enough to be within arms length.

Finally... The Photos

We finally got the pictures of our best girls to upload. Hope you enjoy them :-)

Yesterday we let Abby have a little juice diluted with water for the first time. We are starting her on cereal in a couple weeks, so we wanted to give her the chance to try something new before the big girl food transition. The pucker on her face when she first tasted the pear juice and water was priceless. We should have had the camera handy. After the initial pucker she decided juice was okay, and promptly sucked down most of the bottle. If one thing about this little lady is certain, it's the fact that she won't hesitate to eat. She doesn't eat a ton at a time, but she likes to eat often, so it balances out. She generally has about 6 ounces at a time and then saves room for a "snack" a couple hours later.

Now that Abby is a great napper (on my bed, but napping nonetheless), I am finding it increasingly difficult to get out of the house. By the time she gets up in the morning, I only have about an hour before Steve is home for lunch, so I can't really go out. Then, after visiting with her dad at lunch and playing a bit Abby goes down for another nap around 1 or 2 and sleeps for 2+ hours. So by the time she is up again it is about


















time for her dad to be getting home. And when he does get home he is tired and wants to just chill out here. We are going to have to figure this out so I don't go stir crazy!

To add to the feats of strength that Abby can perform, last night she was sitting in her high chair while we had dinner and decided to use her arms to pull herself into an upright sitting position. She has been doing little "sit-ups" when I lay her on her back as well. Our little lady will be sitting on her own in no time. It's hard to believe it's only been 15 weeks since she was born!