Katie's 1st day of Kindergarten

Katie began Kindergarten on Aug 29th and loves it! She is meeting new friends and comes home everyday telling me about the new things they're doing (ie. going to music and the library) Her teacher this year is Mrs. Lane. One thing that surprised me is that she comes home with homework every Monday and works on it throughout the week... then it's returned back to her teacher on Thursday. Guess I didn't think we'd have to be doing homework quite yet...

In her classroom... ready to learn and have fun!

Kristiana's Hospital Stay

As many of you already may know, Kristiana was admitted to the Elko hospital last Wednesday night for a bad skin infection that had turned to cellulitis and an infection in her blood.

A little heat rash began in the crevis of her neck, under her chin, while we were in Idaho about 3 weeks ago. She is a healthy baby with lots of rolls and no neck! So, we had a hard time getting that little heat rash to heal. It soon turned to a yeast rash and the bacteria took over. I had taken her to our local clinic when we got home but the medicine just wasn't working. It was continuing to grow, have open blister-like wounds and just looked horrible! I was going to take her back to the doctor (this time her pediatrician) but when she began running a high fever we rushed her to the Emergency Room instead. She was immediately given IV antibiotics and had labs drawn. She was then admitted to the 2nd floor for 3 days of IV medications and various creams on her neck.
As much as I didn't want to be admitted I was happy to be in the hospital where she was being taken care of and where things were getting done that I obviously couldn't do. I sat for 2 1/2 days in the that hospital bed holding her! We talked, smiled at each other and watched LOTS of t.v.!! We got to know the hospital staff and loved them... they fell in love with Kristiana and took great care of her. Many of them were newer nurses and had never really taken care of a baby before so, Kristiana was also a learning experience for them. Her fiery red rash soon began to heal and the infection level in her blood was down so, we were discharged home on Saturday afternoon with 2 oral meds and 2 creams that are to be applied each 3 times a day. I also came home with an antibiotic because while in the hospital I came down with strep throat, again, and spent those 2 days fighting a fever and sore throat... I figured being in the hospital was a good place to be sick!
We are so thankful to all of our friends and family who helped us out while the baby and I were in the hospital! Casey took a few days of work to take care of the kids and go to Elko to see us. Also, my dad was down from ID and helped out alot. Along with our good friends, Dena, Ambur and Judy. So many people helped out with our kids and feeding them :)

The hardest part was about our baby in the hospital was all of the poking and prodding that she got. We got very little rest due to everybody coming in and out (nurses, lab techs, doctors, housekeeping etc)

All smiles and ready to go home!! We arrived home just in time to watch BSU beat Georgia and, our friends Becky & Tony made us a yummy brisket dinner.... which, was WAY better than hospital food!!

Kristiana 2 months

Kristiana is now 2 months old and beginning the fun stage of being able to interact with us. She loves to hear what a beautiful baby she is and will always give us great big smiles! She has really put on the pounds lately and has more "baby rolls" than her other siblings had at her age. She has moved up to size 3-6 mos clothes... One of her favorite things to do is eat! Since birth Kristiana has wanted to eat every 2-3 hours. At first she was eating that often during the night too but, has recently extended that to every 4 hours (yay for mommy!) She is our first baby that loves the bottle and gets one at least once a day. Her siblings love her so much and enjoy talking to her or holding her. Trenton is especially close to her and likes to gently kiss the top of her head or talk his sweet baby talk to her.

California

The end of last week we received word that Casey's Grandma Dora had passed away. She was 93 yrs old and such a sweet lady! I had always looked forward to visiting with her during our trips to CA and she will be greatly missed. Sunday morning we left for CA to attend Grandma's funeral and visit with Casey's family. We came home yesterday so, it was a quick trip (the funeral was on Tues) but we enjoyed seeing Casey's family... including Jerry & Bernice and his family and, Marie who had flown in also for the funeral. It was also great to see his cousins, aunts and uncles etc. Grandma had 56 great-grandchildren so that just gives you an idea on how big Casey's family is! Here are just a few pictures from our time there... A trip to CA wouldn't be complete without a meal at In N Out!

My adorable little (big) nephew, Peter!

Katie with her Auntie Ri

Dad and Kristiana hanging out

Tys got to celebrate his birthday again and LOVED his new Spiderman presents!

Oh man!! Oma is the new Spiderman!

Jerry and Casey with their long-time friend, Ken

Bestest Buds... Trenton, Tys and James

On our way home we stopped by the Old Sacramento Train Museum; Trenton has a huge love for trains and was in amazement the whole time we were there. He kept exclaiming "look Mama, a choo-choo!!"

Tys 4th birthday

Tys celebrated his 4th birthday last Saturday! He had been planning his Spiderman pool party for months and was SO happy when his big day finally arrived. 7 of his friends came for the special occassion and they enjoyed an afternoon of swimming in the pool, running on the slip 'n slide, eating Spiderman cupcakes and playing with new toys.

Happy Birthday, Roo! We love you so very much and are thankful for YOU!

Too Many Bambinos

Why is it that whenever I'm out and about with my 4 kids people are always asking me how many kids do I have and how old are they? Than, they look like they're going to pass out when I tell them my kid's ages (5yr - 5weeks) and yes, they're all mine (as Michelle Duggar says "I gave birth to all of them!" lol) They usually tell me I'm crazy and move on.

Yesterday topped it off when I had my kids at Katie's VBS program... along with an added bonus of Katie's friend, Jolena. I spent the 2 hours chasing boys during the program (thankfully Kristiana was in her car seat) then, juggling 5 plates of food and VBS goodie bags during the VBS bbq. We somehow managed to make it through lunchtime with only 1 meltdown from Trenton who lost his chips on the ground and was upset when I wouldn't let him pick them all back up again (we had already held up the line long enough!) I had learned to find friends who will watch the baby while I try to load 4 toddlers in the car without getting them ran over or lost... by the end of our "fun" bbq lunch at VBS mommy is sweating, still hungry and looking for lost Tys (yes, he was found...) When our ordeal was over a Mexican lady, who had been apparently been watching me the whole time, came over to me as I was getting in the vehicle and nicely smiled. She didn't know English but somehow got it across to me that I was "loco" and "too mas".... crazy and too many bambinos!!
yes, I may be slightly crazy but, I love them and wouldn't trade this season in my life for anything in the world... although, another set of hands would be nice....

Kristiana continues to grow in leaps and bounds! She will be 6 weeks old on Monday and has been getting to wear her new 0-3 months outfits now. She is sleeping a tiny bit better at night and getting herself on more of a routine throughout the day. Her smiles make up for her crying whenever she's not being held (yes, she's spoiled! lol)