Joseph Goes to the ER
Following his shots Joseph had not been himself, but by Thursday I knew he was sick. He was spitting up more than usual and I knew this was more than just his reflux. That night following his final feeding at around 7:30 I was burping him and he spit up, there was blood in the spit-up. Of course for what ever reason I could not get a hold of my dad, Bryan was at his softball game and not answering his phone, so I called the doctor on call and she asked me a bunch of questions and it came down to if it happens again go to the emergency room. About 5 minutes later it happened again. As soon as Bryan’s game was done I called him and told him we had to go to the ER so he rushed home and I took Joseph in one car and Bryan followed with the girls in the van. After about 3 hours, poor Joseph had been poked and prodded in everyway and his blood work had been run they told me they think it is related to his reflux. Essentially his reflux is now so bad that he has torn a part of his esophagus or possibly his stomach. My dad suggested that next week we call Joseph’s pediatrician and see if we need to go to a GI specialist to check for damage. So at this point it is a waiting game, but so far so good! I’ll keep you posted.

Joesph had his 4 month check up
Yesterday we went for Joesph's 4 mo. check up, and the Dr. said he looks great. Joseph is continuing to grow but at a more normal rate, he is weighing in at 15 lbs. 6.5 oz. which is between the 50th and 75th percent tile. He is 24 and 3/4 inches long, 50th percent tile. When I went back and checked the girls records I found that both girls weighed 15 lbs. 7oz. at 6 months but both were 25 inches at 4 months, so no surprise he is heaver but the surprise is he is shorter.
We can begin solid foods any time between now and 6 months, I will try to remember to pick up some cereal the next time we are at the grocery store and we can begin the process. I am not overly excited about the process of starting solids since nursing is so much easier and begining solids can be such a long process for all of us to figure out what we are doing!
Joseph received 4 shots (2 in each leg) and an oral, poor boy was so happy with all of the attention he was receiving and then bam! they got him and he turned red and let out a scream that broke my heart! Eileen told me later that before they gave him the shot she was nervous, she said she knew he was not as tough as she is (when she got her shots she didn't cry). When we got home from the Dr. Joseph was fine and went down for his nap but got up a short time later and was crying like I had never seen him cry before! I almost called the doctor thinking it may be an alergic reaction since I was unable to sooth him and he would not eat (not at all typical behavior for him). After about 45min. I was able to get him to relax and eat, then he fell asleep in my arms and stayed there for about 3 hours in and out of sleep. He was much better after a good nap and still slept through the night. This morning when Joseph woke up he felt a bit warm so I gave him some meds. before his nap and hope he is feeleing better when he wakes up.
Other than that things are going well for us we are going a bit stir crazy since we are on week 2 of sick kids. Eileen was sick the first week and just as it was begining to look like we were going to get out of the house, Olivia gets sick! Now that Olivia is feeling better Joseph seems to not be feeling too hot since his shots. All of this together time in the house is making us all a little crazy, the girls are fighting, I'm sick of the fighting and Joseph is just along for the ride. Maybe tomorrow we can get out of here and go burn off some energy.

He Did It!

Jonathan and Sigan are engaged. We are so happy for the two of them and are thrilled to offically welcome Sigan to the family.

Joseph was baptized in a private ceremony on June 4th at Good Shepherd Catholic Church. The church provided a photographer to take some pictures for us, they FINALLY arrived today. Some of you who were there have been asking about these pictures so just let me know if you are interested in copies!

This picture is of everyone who was there (less Brenden,
he was not interested in haveing his picture taken at that time)

Our Family with Joseph's Godparents
Aunt Lori and Uncle Brian

Just Having Fun


I was nursing Joseph and the girls came down dressed like this, see what happens when you are not watching them!

Strike a Pose
On these hot hot days you can't help but "cat nap" and you might as well look good doing it!

Joseph Rolled
At 6 weeks and again at 7 weeks Joseph rolled from front to back but not again since, well today he rolled from back to front! He was playing at his kick toy while I tried to get some things done and when I went back he was on his stomach screaming (he doesn't enjoy tummy time). Who knows when he will roll again but he did it!

Madison
It was great to see Jonathan and Sigan this past weekend but it was also nice to spend time with "the fam.". Benjamin came down from the Twin Cities and Brian was able to stop by Nana and Papa's house to visit also. It was really nice for all the kids to have some one on one time with their Godfathers. The kids (ok mostly the girls) loved seeing Nana and Papa too, they had such a fun time painting, getting their own ice from the ice maker on the door of the frig (we ran out of ice one night!) and making cookies. It was great having 3 uncles in there was almost always someone with enough energy to push them on the swing, play lawn golf or take them to the park, and if they didn't have enough energy sicne we were at Nana and Papa's house they were able to watch a video! It is nice to be able to bend the rules everyonce in a while.

A Visit From the West
We had a great visit with Jonathan and Sigan this past weekend. Jonathan home from a from Alaska so he and Sigan drove in from Wyoming for an almost week long visit. It was great to see them both without the scheduling conflict of a holiday, Jonathan and I were able to get a cup of coffee and catch up (thanks to Sigan and Nana watching all three kids for me). With Uncle Benjamin, Uncle Jonathan, Sigan and her parents Eileen had her first sailing lesson. I wasn't able to join them but from what I hear it was a blast! Eileen had an awesome time being on the boat (it had a potty which Eileen found VERY exciting!) and loved all of the undivided attention. It was great to catch up with everyone and we can not wait for their next visit back to the mid-west.

Happy 4th of July!
We had a very nice 4th of July here in The Falls. The fire works are on the 3rd at the highschool, we knew we didn't want to take the kids to the grounds due to the crowds so we loaded them up in strollers (yes we had to use two!) and decided to see how far we could walk before they went off. We walked a ways and then infront of the Walgreens on Appleton there was a group gathering so we decided to set up our blanket there and it was perfect for us, bathrooms for Eileen and since we were far enough from the grounds the noise didn't bother the girls. I know Joseph didn't know what was going on but he became very happy once they started. On the 4th we did yard work and when it got dark we took the girls out to do sparklers after Joseph went to bed, they LOVED them- I think we went through 6 or 7 boxes of them.

Eileen Goes To The Movies!!
As most of you know getting Eileen to sleep through the night has been our most challanging parenting issue for the past 4 years. Well-Eileen did it, she finally slept 30 nights in a row (her dry erase board that she recorded her nights on is the picture above). The reward for her was her first trip to the movies! Olivia and Joseph spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa so Bryan and I could both share this experience with Eileen. She was so excited she stood for about 60% of the movie and still is not sure what she saw but she says she liked it and is working on her next trip (another 30 nights, she is up to 4). I am loving that all 3 of our children are now sleeping through the night, although now we get up a bit earlier!

Our First Beach Trip!
With the heat coming in this summer I had to find a place for us to cool off near our new home. Going on line I found a great county park with a wonderful beach near our house. The girls loved the beach and were so proud that they could go in the water "all by them selves", Eileen was going underwater and floating while Olivia had a blast just playing with the wet sand by the shore line.

Olivia is sleeping in her "Big Girl" bed!
The night of the pizza party Olivia woke up during the night and I took advantage of this and asked her if she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed, she said yes. Since that night she has been sleeping both at night and during naps in her new bed and on Wednesday we moved the crib into Joseph's room and he is enjoying the comfort and space the crib offers. Thus far the bed change has not had any impact on either of their sleeping, both continue to sleep through the night and for an unknown reason Olivia has not decided that she can get out of bed on her own once she wakes up, avoiding any problems of her wandering the house.