More to be thankful for.

When I wrote the previous post about Thanksgiving, I had no idea that in a few days we would have an even greater reason to be thankful.

Friday evening Laney developed a cough and fever, by Saturday morning she was a very sick little girl. After a quick trip to the pediatrician we were sent over to the ER where things turned serious very quickly.

She was diagnosed with pneumonia and bronchiolitis, put on oxygen, and sent to the PICU. It was a scary situation that God mercifully turned around. After a day and night in the PICU, Laney was taken off the oxygen and moved to a regular floor. We came home yesterday afternoon.

Here she is tonight playing with Grandmama.

Every time I look at this little girl I am overcome with thankfulness that she's here, home with us, and healthy.

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love,
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

Thanksgiving - plan B

So, yesterday when I got Eden out of bed and discovered that she had thrown up, I knew things were not looking good for our Thanksgiving Day celebration. When she was still sick last night, we made the call to switch Thanksgiving dinner from our house to Nae's parent's house.
For that reason, these are the only two (really bad) Thanksgiving 2011 pictures we will have. Nae and the 3 older kids went on to his parents with the food (and forgot the camera) while I stayed home with the still sick Eden and Laney. We watched a little tv, read some books, kept down some sticky rice, and whined a lot.

Despite this interruption to our plans, we still have so much to be thankful for:

- a house that now has floors throughout. Nae finished just this week laying the last of our bamboo floors.
- healthy kids. Nothing like a few days of sickness to make you appreciate the well ones.
- little Laney. This time last year we had no idea that we would celebrate Thanksgiving 2011 with 5 kiddos.
- all the extended family we saw, skyped, and talked to today.
- a Heavenly Father who knows what we need even when we fail to understand why

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

3 months

Our little Laney Lou, Laney Lou-Lou, Laney Bug

Lane Bane, Laney Baney (these from Alena who we often call "Lean Bean")

is 3 months old today. She continues to be an extremely compliant, easy-going baby which is much appreciated by her Mom. We love her lots.

The Thanksgiving Feast

Today was the annual Thanksgiving Feast at the kids tutorial. They got to make butter, friendship soup, corn cakes, and pumpkin pudding as well as the table decorations.

Gabe tolerated the dressing up, but Mya had a great time. She said it was, "A very fun day!"

A job he never complains about

(and we have plenty of leaves for him to work on.)

Baby

The rest of his birthday

Does the birthday boy look sleepy? Maybe it's because he was up at 5 - a combination of birthday excitement and the time changing.

I thought this was very fitting for Gabe, and I got it for the girls to give him.

This is the "I wonder which Lego set this is? " look because no birthday would be complete without new Legos.

A bike upgrade. Alena was quick to take over his old one.

How old are you today? 8
What is your favorite color? blue
What is your favorite food? tortellini and pesto
What is your favorite book? Robin Hood
What do you want to be when you grow up? a chemist
Where is your favorite place to eat out? IHOP
What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? shopping, but it depends on what kind of shopping it is.
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? take apart computers
What is the best thing about having Mya for a sister? she plays Legos with me a lot
What is the best thing about having Alena for a sister? she likes to play feet war with me
What is the best thing about having Eden for a sister? she is funny
What is the best thing about having Laney for a sister? she smiles at me
What is your favorite thing to do with your friends? play
What can't you wait to do when you get bigger? work
Where is your favorite place to visit? Virginia
What do you love about going to Mathu and Pathu's? eating eggrolls
What do you love about going to Grandmama and Grandaddy's? playing in the woods
What is your favorite thing to play? Legos
What thing do you most dislike doing? having a strep test
What is your favorite part of the day? morning when I wake up
What would you do if you could stay up all night? watch a movie and then play with Legos
Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world? New Zeland or maybe Mars

What makes you happy? Saturdays and getting new Legos
What makes you sad? when all my sisters gang up on me
What do you wish you could do? choose what I get to eat for every meal
What made this the best birthday ever? Having so many freinds

eight

If I could go back 8 years and tell the mom of this little guy anything I'd say:
all those sleepless nights when you don't think he'll ever learn to sleep through the night? He will. It will take years, but he'll learn and he will go to bed without screaming too.

All those tantrums where he throws himself in the floor and bangs his head, all those times when you call him and he looks at you and runs the other way? He'll learn. It will take a little (or a lot) of instruction, but one day you'll call his name and you'll know that he will come. One day you'll say "No" and he'll accept it without dissolving into tears.

All those days that you worried if you were doing things right; all the time you spent wondering if he would ever turn into a respectable little boy? Stop worrying and wondering because he will, and you'll look back on those 8 years and wish you had just loved them for what they were - not wished them away. And oh yeah, as soon as you think you have him all figure out; he'll change and you'll start all over.

Happy birthday to our first-born. We love you more than we ever thought possible eight years ago.

Walk like an Egyptian

Monday was Ancient Egypt day at the kid's tutorial and they came home looking like this:

They rotated through different stations of brick making, wrapping each other as mummies, eating Egyptian food (hummus and grapes) and some others that I can't recall at the moment.

Is this wig not hilarious?

I have no idea how they made these things. Mya just said, "We used lots of glue."

Eden apparently heard Gabe and Mya discussing the making of bricks out of mud and decided to give it a try as well.

Happy Birthday to My Amazing Wife!!!

Let me count a few ways:

1. Gabriel - the son of my life. You brought him to my life and I wouldn't trade him for the world. He is like me and I am like him.
2. Mya - my beautiful prima ballerina...
3. Alena - my lovely laughter, the joy of my day...
4. Eden - your spark in my life that is wrapped in a 2 years old body...
5. Laney - what wonder, how amazing that God would love us this much to bless again...
6. My heart-beat, dearest..

Here's a message from your children for their mother...

Here's from the non-speaking child: