Parker turns 4!

Happy Birthday Parker!

We prayed and we prayed that God would stop the early complications in my pregnancy and bless us with him. And that He did! Parker, you are energetic, loving, smart, funny, sweet, shy, and a pistol! You add so much to our family and to our hearts. We are so happy to have celebrated you today!

A few St. Patrick's Day cupcakes for the birthday boy!

Our shy boy....not wanting to be in the spotlight during the "happy birthday song" - very much like his momma in this area.

Took 4 tries to blow out all 4 candles...he almost wouldn't blow them out because he was embarassed that we sang to him.

Holding two of his presents....a red basketball (no other color is acceptable) :) and his new airplane.

Going to be having his party next Saturday....more pics to come.

Soaking it up at the park

It has been unseasonably warm around here lately - reaching 74 degrees on some days. This was one of the "cooler" of the warm days, but we are spending a TON of time at the park soaking up the sun! Jeff is hoping for another snowstorm (I think we've only had 2 or 3, with only 1 requring any shoveling) but the kids and I are loving the nice weather. No hats, coats, boots, and gloves. No one playing in the snow on the way out to the car and ultimately falling in it before they climb in the car!! It takes much less time to get out to the car when there is nothing but shoes to put on. Sounds like a silly thing to celebrate, but not when you are a mom of 4!!

Princess Piper

I bet you don't have a princess at your table! She loves her princess crowns and tutus! We are often fighting with her over taking the tutu off for dinner. She can't stand to part with it.

Hey, at least she has her clothes on at the table....she loves to take her clothes off down to the diaper and then wear just the tutu! :) (She's going to hate me later for posting that!)

"Uh, Mommy?"

So I am upstairs in the attic going through some clothes that I am planning to sell. All of a sudden I hear the thud thud thud of someone running up the stairs (presumably Peyton or Parker who were in the basement playroom when I left). I am fully expecting to hear some sort of whining (the norm for this time of day - the witching hour before Jeff gets home) but instead what do I hear? "Uh, Mommy? Why did you let Piper and Paxton outside?" says Peyton. "WHAT?" screams the panicked Mommy.

I knew exactly what had happened....there is a babygate blocking the sliding glass doors to our deck and our backyard that sometimes comes loose. Often the kids will play with it and it will pop out. Well I race down the stairs expecting to see two toddlers on our deck and much to my surprise there is NO ONE on the deck!!! I hear little voices and the pop of the sandbox being opened followed by shrieks of joy! I find Paxton still working his way down the flight of stairs (thankfully he has "mastered" walking down the steps if he has a railing to hold on to) and Piper ready to dive into the sandbox! I scoop up Paxton and race Piper up to the top of the stairs trying to explain to a 2 yr old why you should never go outside without Mommy or Daddy. Which is clearly not getting through the cries of disappointment from having their fun interrupted!

Peyton was a tough baby, but a fairly easy toddler when it came to knowing his boundaries. We didn't have to have locks on the cabinets. We didn't have to put the loft ladder up on the wall in our apartment because he never attempted it. We didn't use babygates past 17 -18 months. We could trust him for the most part.
As for the rest of them.... YEAH RIGHT!!! They are into EVERYTHING!!! I often wonder how much of it is their personalities and how much of it is learned, at least for Piper and Paxton. Parker, still at almost 4, he can't be trusted. He regularly gets into something he shouldn't - he's the reason we put the babygate by the doors in the first place!

Although I would often like to have another baby (*gasp* I know!) but I think another toddler would put me in the looney bin! I don't want to rush the fun times of this age group, I could do without all the chaos that goes along with my toddlers' choices!

Fun at our house

Piper is all about her dresses and skirts! (mommy is too!!)

Pax loves to sit on the boys!

Nevermind Piper crying in the front of this photo - I think its a cute one of Peyton and Paxton.

I crack up everytime I see this pic of Parker!!

Those eyes are just too much!!!

My poor bubba with an abrasion on his face from the tape holding his oxygen tubes in.

Didn't you hear? Applesauce is the latest and greatest form of shampoo.

Daddy and his princess.

Go Phillies! We are very excited for baseball season to start again in this house!

Love him!

A day in our jammies

A few weeks ago we spent the day in our pjs....

(his favorite two things to do...steal cups that aren't his and climb!)

Couldn't resist taking one of them actually sitting still and together!

A very LONG winter

It has been a very long winter of sickness in our house!! I think the warm weather is just not allowing things to be killed off! Poor Paxton  has had more illnesses than I can count. Most recently has been fighting a double ear infection since the end of Jan and was just hospitalized for a few days for a virus that caused severe wheezing and the need for oxygen.

We went to the pediatrician on Saturday morning and then were sent over to the Phoenixville ER (next to the drs office). After a few hours there we were transferred by ambulance to GrandView Pediatric unit - Phoenixville doesn't have a pediatric unit. He was admitted Saturday afternoon and we didn't leave until Monday afternoon. His oxygen levels kept dropping throughout the night on Saturday and he needed to have oxygen. Needless to say he WAS NOT happy about tubes being shoved in his nose! During the day he was on blow by oxygen which was MUCH easier on both of us!

 He spent quite a few hours awake that night. Finally by 4:30 we were both able to go to sleep for 2 hrs! He received breathing treatments every 2 hrs for 24 hrs and then was taken to every 3 hrs and then finally before we left on Monday we were to every 4 hrs. Thankfully my parent's and Jeff's mom were able to watch the other kids for us until bedtime and then Jeff went home to be with them.

We were both VERY grateful to be home on Monday afternoon. Bedtime couldn't come soon enough- I was running on about 10 hrs of sleep over 3 nights/4 days.

Unfortunately on Saturday night he got another fever!!! I was ready to scream! Back to the doctors on Monday we went! He still has an ear infection (the same one from back in Jan). So right now we are trying another antibiotic and hopefully avoiding the next step - an ENT doctor. He is still on one breathing treatment a day - mostly preventative to help build strength up in his lungs while he battles this ear infection.

Needless to say I am ready for this winter to be over!!!!!

These photos were taken with a cell phone so with his movement they are rather blurry. By the end of our stay he was a little maniac running the halls of the pediatric unit!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

This was an attempt at trying to get them to sit together. If I could have gotten them to sit and look at me long enough, I would rather not have the babygate in the background or the couch, but they're all looking! :)

PS - Piper insisted on putting the headband on herself!