Olivia's First Blizzard

Okay... so maybe it wasn't a blizzard by U.P. standards, but all our downstate friends would have been panic stricken over the 12-ish inches of snow we got yesterday. I took Abby out to shovel it while Olivia napped. We didn't get much shoveling done. Mostly I spent my time putting mittens back on and making paths for Abby to walk in, since 12 inches of snow is a little much for a girl of her size. I only got the snow plow residue shoveled up along the road and the sidewalk to the front door before we had to quit. Steve had the hard job of finishing the driveway when he got home.

Olivia is feeling much better. She's finished her antibiotics and no longer has a fever or excessive crying. She still has a pretty bad cold and has been throwing up the snot she has been swallowing, but even that has been much improved from earlier this week. Abby has also been showing some cold symptoms, so we are hoping she is feeling better soon too. We have way to much celebrating to do this month. And that celebrating starts with a trip to St. Ignace on Sunday for a party at the home of Dr. & Mrs. Krantz - the newest dentist who works for the tribe in their St. Ignace office. I'm hoping the girls will be feeling well so we can all go.

And, life around here should be slowly resuming normalcy since Kimberlee and Ryan brought baby Felecia home today from the NICU. We are very excited to meet her once the girls are feeling well again. So I will be back to just my kids and the occasional visit of my other kids. Not that we don't love having them around - I just don't have the energy to deal with 7 kids. I don't know how my mother survived it. I'm still exhausted just thinking about taking care of that many children.

We are hoping that we won't have too much more snow this weekend. We have been scoping out new snow blowers this evening since the 30+ year old hand-me-down machine we have is pretty well past it's prime (and I can't start it so I'm no help with it around - or I should say I couldn't start it and Steve wasn't around to show me the trick). Steve and I are pretty sore from hand shoveling - it was not fun with heavy, wet snow.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Olivia and Aunt Hannah - Olivia finally made up with her on Sunday after Hannah tickled her and ticked her off on Friday. Abby wasn't too sure about letting "tickle Hannah" near her baby. I'm happy to report we have made progress on Abby letting Hannah play with her "tiny baby sister."
Olivia and second cousin Lydia - they are about 5 weeks apart and had some fun exploring each other and the present pile from Meg's wedding shower.
Abby and Jack showing off their Just Dance skills - Abby has become obsessed with the game, particularly dancing to Ring My Bell. She has some funny moves.
Here's Abby and best buddy cousin Jack taking a break from hockey time.Olivia and Jack practicing their goalie skills.

Well, we survived perhaps our most interesting Thanksgiving weekend. I doubt we will be able to top it for just plain craziness. I had some moments where I wondered what kind of crazy mental illness I had acquired, but we survived and it didn't seem to result in any irreparable harm to my sanity. We ended up filling the car with people instead of luggage and Maize... here's how that all happened.

Since the last post (10 days ago), we've still been waiting for Kimberlee to bring baby Felecia home from the NICU. She's doing much better and should be out soon, but in the meantime there are still lots of kids to take care of. We had last weekend (the weekend of the 20th) off from extra child watching duties since they had a friend come up to spend Saturday through Tuesday with the kids. During that time little Rian had another seizure, so that time got bumped to Wednesday so that they could start him on his medications and watch for any adverse side effects. So on Wednesday we got two 11 year old girls and a 9 year old for the weekend. It filled every seat belt in our car to head to Hastings Wednesday night (and when all the seat belts are full we have no cargo space). Poor Maize had to stay home alone for the weekend - luckily she had an amazing dog sitter letting her in and out.

We had a great time in Hastings seeing family - we got to spend Thanksgiving day with the Hodges family and saw Great Grandpa Harley and Great Grandma Lorraine, who just happen to be two of Abby's very favorite people. She was really, really looking forward to seeing them. On Tuesday night she had gone to bed with big girl under ware on and when she woke up dry on Wednesday morning I gave her the option of calling one grandma to tell them what a big girl she was. She picked Grandma Lorraine. Our big girl friends did good all day, although Evelin's diabetes was a big challenge since she was burning off sugar faster than she was eating it and her blood sugar was going really, scary low. That made for a stressful night of checking her to make sure her sugars didn't go too low.

We spent Friday with Steve's family and the girls enjoyed seeing their cousins. Abby is finally figuring out that big kids aren't going to hurt her, so she is doing better with the boys and with other kids. Maybe it's because we've had so many big kids around for the last few weeks. Olivia is still pretty uneasy with the big boys getting into her personal space, but I have a feeling she will hold her own once she gets a bit bigger. Our big girl friends had lots of fun playing with our nephews, so that made our day much better. We also got a better handle on the diabetes, so it was much less stressful for Steve and I.

We had fun Saturday taking Abby and the big girls to see Tangled. She really loved the whole movie theater experience and was super quiet and attentive to the whole movie. After the movie we had a bridal shower for cousin Meg, who is getting married in like 3 weeks. The girls all did good with the entire Osgood family around. Olivia did lots of cuddling and Abby did some cloth diaper modeling for cousin Sarah's new business endeavor. But, Olivia also started to feel sick. No fun.

Sunday was a long drive with a sick baby, tired toddler, and tired big girls. We survived it and made it home to a house that was 50 degrees. We turned up the heat, shoveled the 5 inches of snow that had accumulated on our driveway, and then headed to dinner and the store. By that point both Steve and I were pretty much exhausted. I'm sure our dinner conversation was pretty lame, but I honestly can't remember any of it. And Olivia was pretty miserable - runny nose, coughing, runny eyes, low fever. So... long night, with not much sleep for us. I ended up sleeping on the couch with Olivia so she could be upright. We didn't end up with any extra kids since they had a little guy with croup and we definitely didn't need to mix our sick kids with theirs. Luckily, a grandma was available to come stay with the kids and big Ryan, so we are off the hook for child care right now. We need that so that Olivia can get to feeling better.

Olivia wasn't better yesterday, so I took her into the after hours clinic when Steve got home from work. She's got a really bad cold and a double ear infection, but as of this morning she was doing much better. Not great... but better. We've got her on antibiotics and ear drops, so that is really helping. She's almost acting normal today and at least a little happier and more on her regular schedule. Now we just need to get her sleeping all night, in her own bed. And I need a vacation... but that isn't going to be happening for months. So we will see... I think I'm still sane, but it may be questionable.

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.

Where To Begin...

Well, I'm not sure where to begin in the explanation of how 10 days have elapsed without me having a single spare moment in which to sit and collect my thoughts. It has been, perhaps, the most stressful week of my life. Or maybe that was Olivia's first week... I haven't had enough perspective yet to decide.

We have managed to have some great times in spite of the chaos that has been going on in life of the Lewis family, who since December have been involved with our bible study and basically become great friends. They have a baby that could arrive at any minute (she is scheduled for her c-section one week from Tuesday), 5 kids on top of that including a little boy who has become very much the terrible two that his age creates, and 3 kids who have medical issues - one diabetic, one who has had seizures since age 6, and another who's seizures that started last weekend and created all the chaos we have been living through). Pitching in to help their family out during some scary medical emergencies made Steve and I so grateful for happy, healthy children.

We tried to get pictures of the girls in the leaves, but by the time Abby decided to join us, Olivia had decided she was over it. Oh well... we can try again later. And we bought clearance Halloween costumes, which have been a source of much entertainment for Abby the Pirate and Abby the Red Queen. So... I am still working on processing my life for the last 10 days. It has involved lots of extra kids, lots of prayer, and lots of hugging my own babies. One of these days I will catch up and be able to comprehend reality again... until then, sorry for my ramblings.

A Message From Abby

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Halloween Hangover

We had a lot of fun on Halloweekend. It is a lot more fun with a girl big enough to be excited about trick or treating and understand the idea of going door to door and saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" to each house. Abby had a great time. We had a party and went trick or treating with all her best friends. When I say we went trick or treating I mean Abby and Steve - Olivia slept through the entire costume part of the party. Now the hard part is regulating the candy consumption, since we had quite a bit of leftover candy (I may have overdone it with 4 bowls...).

Olivia is getting quite close to figuring out crawling. She's been practicing picking her belly up off the floor for the last couple of days. She's going to have me running around chasing her soon. And I'm going to need to get my baby gates up before I want to. Olivia's also working on night 3 of the Cry It Out method of sleep training tonight. I wish she could have been easy like Abby, who started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and never stopped after that. Olivia, on the other hand, has been up once or twice each night since about 6 months (we had that brief interval from 4 months to around 6 months where she slept all night, so I know she can do it). We started Sunday night with the CIO plan. Olivia woke up at 11:45 and after Steve checked on her and put her back into bed she cried until after 2:00. It was a long, long night laying in bed listening to her cry. I hated every second of it, but I hate feeling exhausted even more. Last night she woke up twice, but only cried for 10 or 15 minutes each time, so I'm hoping after another night or two she will have the system figured out and will just put her little thumb back into her mouth and go to sleep.

Abby is still cracking us up. She has been really into barbies and dancing lately, so we had a barbie dance party last night. She had all her barbies lined up around one of Olivia's blankets and they were all taking turns dancing. She also dances at any opportunity (music on t.v. shows, songs she makes up, even the nintendo wii dancing game). I think dance class will be in her future - and I know her dad is not looking forward to all those dance recitals.

Compare - Abby and Olivia 7 Months

Can A Mom Get A Break Around Here?

And lately the answer has been no. But that's okay - like I told Grandma Jennie, there will be plenty of time to rest when I'm dead. Or when they grow up and move out. Then I'll probably wish I was back to the craziness and exhaustion that has defined my last few days. In fact, as I am typing this, my children are both confined in Olivia's exersaucer and jumper (yes... Abby climbed into the exersaucer again and she can't get out. I am leaving her there for now. It is safer).

So... our craziness started Saturday. We took the girls to Mackinac City for the day with the intention of getting Abby some winter appropriate shoes of some sort and we heard that the Hush Puppies store was having a sale. It was a great sale, so great that they were all out of Abby's size. But we had a good time being tourists and checking out the other stores. Sunday was also busy - we attended the birthday party of Abby's friend Autumn and tried to get cleaned up a ready for a busy week. And I committed myself to helping our friend Andrea with two extra emergency foster kids (she already has 2 adopted foster kids and another that she has permanently and will be adopting). So yes... I willingly put myself into a situation where there would be 7 kids and 2 adults with all the kids under 5 and two of whom didn't speak English. It was a hard day to begin with, then my friend Kimberlee called to tell me that the doctor thought her water had broken and she needed someone to take her two little boys so she could go get that checked out. So... 9 kids, under 5, two who can't communicate with Andrea and I. Yep... I'm tired. Still. Luckily, Kimberlee's water hadn't broken, so we are still waiting for that baby to arrive in a few weeks. And the Spanish speaking foster kids were moved to a Spanish speaking foster home near the school where the little boy attends. But boy, did that day wipe me out.

Olivia hasn't helped matters any. She has reverted to newborn sleeping habits at night. She is up at least once, and some nights twice. And if I don't nurse her, she is not going back to sleep. We tried Monday night to get her back to sleep without nursing. After 1 hour I gave in and fed her. After 2 hours she finally was sleeping soundly enough for me to lay her down. Grr..... Some days I wonder why she can't get with the program. It wouldn't be so frustrating to be up in the middle of the night every night had she not slept for 11 hour stretches just a few months ago (for like 9 weeks). I know she can do it. I don't know how to get her back into the sleeping habit without depriving the rest of us of a lot of sleep. The Ferber (cry it out) Method does not work for this child. So yeah... I definitely have 2 strong willed children. This could be a long, long 18 years.

And all of that only brings me to Tuesday, when my willingness to watch Kimberlee's kids for a dentist appointment and house viewing turned into another 5ish hours of extra children. They had a lot of fun. Maize, maybe, did not. I am happy to have them around to entertain Abby, but it makes resting or getting anything done impossible. Abby loves having "her boys" Rian and Huron over. She even thinks they are her brothers. So, we'll keep them around. Then she can have 2 "brothers" without me having to have 2 more kids.

Now onto Thursday and Friday and then Trick or Treating. And maybe by December my life won't be so crazy busy. Or Olivia can sleep through the night. Or something...

Olivia Rolls Away

We have now retired changing surfaces other than the floor for Olivia, since she's developed the nasty habit of rolling off them. Ouch! She also rolled the entire length of the nursery at church this morning. I'm sure she could crawl if she wanted to, but she seems to be content to roll her way around. Funny girl!

Abby and Olivia's Disney Adventure

Well, we made it to Disney and back in one piece. After we returned... well that may be another story. We had a great time enjoying some warm weather (okay... hot... high 80's may be warm for some of you, but we are yoopers now and that was HOT!). Abby really enjoyed the swimming pools and splash pads around our resort. Olivia liked the water too, as long as it wasn't splashing or spraying around her. We probably caught Abby at the bottom of the tot water slide at least 100 times. It was marvelous and perfectly clear and sunny except for Thursday, when some hurricane related clouds rolled through.

We had great flights and mostly great behavior from our little helpers. Neither one of them really had too much trouble on the plane. Olivia cried a little, but not too much and it was crying because she was tired not because her ears hurt. Abby had a great ride both down and back sitting between Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott. She really had a wonderful time with them (we all did) and their extra hands made the vacation a lot less stressful. Let's face it, watching two small kids at a busy resort and theme park is hardly vacation. It's more like work. But with help from my parents we had a great time and even got to squeeze in some relaxation.

We took Abby and Olivia on their first visit to the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. Abby was super excited to finally see the "princess castle." She had a great time riding on the rides. She rode most of the rides a person of her size can go on. I was bummed that It's A Small World and the Spinning Tea Cups were closed for refurbishing, but we still managed to fill our day with lots of great fun. And I'm pretty sure that the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride was Abby's favorite anyway, since we rode it twice. We also stood in a very long line to meet the Disney princesses. After waiting 30ish minutes to meet Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle we were excited for Abby to have her big moment. It did not go as planned. Abby and I went to meet Aurora and you could tell Abby was a lot freaked out by the fact that it was a real woman and not a statue like the Aurora we saw at Downtown Disney. She did pose for a picture and said thank you to Aurora. Then we got into the line to see Cinderella (which at this point was one person long since they let a small group into the princess pavilion at a time). Abby looked at me and told me it was my turn to see Cinderella and she would take pictures with Dad. So, I sent Steve to take her and meet Cinderella. Again, the look of terror was on her little face, but she smiled for a picture. We finally got to the line to see Belle, who is her all-time favorite and who she had been asking to see all week, and she told us there was no way she wanted to see Belle and that she was done. So we left without the Abby and Belle picture. She went out and told Grandma Mary that "Belle was over it and I didn't want to see her." Oh well... maybe next time.

Along with that great quote she had some other funny moments. We were feeding her and Olivia some cheerios for breakfast one morning (yep... Olivia is eating cheerios and everything she can get into her mouth), when Abby announced to Grandma Mary that we got Olivia, or "that girl" as she is frequently called, from a Happy Meal. If only it were that easy... I'd have a whole slew of kids. She was also shocked and amazed when she saw another random girl at the pool with the same bathing suit. She kept looking at the girl and saying to me "hey Mom, that girl is wearing my swimming suit." She had her other suit on, so she was sure the girl had gone into our room and stolen her bathing suit. I couldn't talk her out of it. She also got to be on the big screen at the Mike's Laugh In ride, which is a screen show based on Monsters, Inc. If you've seen the movie then you'd know that she looks a little bit like Boo, the toddler girl in the movie. During the ride's show, they used cameras to show various people from the audience on the screen as characters from the movie. Abby was amazed when her little face popped up in front of the whole theater. She hasn't stopped reminding me of it yet.

So... you can tell we had a great time. We enjoyed the Grandma and Grandpa time, the pool, and some quality time with our girls. And now we are enjoying some laundry and cleaning to get our house back into shape. And I'm working on new recipes, since last night "the dinner" made Abby throw up (her words, not mine).