Holidays 2009

A few weeks ago, we spent the weekend with Mom and Dad R while Joy and Samuel also visited. The little guys had a great time running around with each other. Sam and Caleb especially enjoyed wrestling and playing together. We took a bunch of family photos on Saturday morning in an attempt to get a picture for Mom and Dad's Christmas card. What a job! Of course, no one wanted to look at the camera and smile at the same time. This is the only keeper shot.
By the time we changed the little kids' outfits and regrouped them for their own photo, they were done. They wouldn't cooperate at all, and this is the best we were able to get. It will have to do.

We all ended up with a stomach flu the week leading up to Thanksgiving. One by one, we all succumbed. It was the worst stomach bug I've had in a long time. It was also only the 2nd time Nathan has had a stomach flu in 10 years! Sara was the only one who escaped, thankfully! We were just getting over it by the time Thanksgiving arrived. We enjoyed food and fellowship with Mom and Dad Rohrer, Zack and Josh. The kids were so excited that they got to spend the night at Grandma and Papa's house since Nathan and I had to work on Friday. It was Sara's first night at Grandma's without Mommy and Daddy, and she did great! She took her bottle on schedule and slept all night like a good little baby. Caleb and Libby enjoyed all the Christmas decorations that Grandma and Papa had set up. Caleb and Papa set up the train together. Both Libby and Caleb kept slipping away to "drive" the train at every opportunity.

We spent Sunday afternoon at our own house doing our own decorating for Christmas. Libby helped do everything this year. She set up the nativity scene all by herself and helped Nathan and I decorate the tree. She hung the stockings and set out all of the little nick-knacks. Caleb came down from his nap to see all the decorations and was so excited. He kept saying, "Yay! It's Christmas time! I love Christmas time!"

Sara is coming up on four months already! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. She is enjoying sitting in her Bumbo chair and loves "talking" - screeching, cooing, laughing - all the time now. She hasn't rolled over yet, but I'm expecting it to happen any day now. She really enjoys bouncey knee horsey rides, warm baths, and anyone talking to her. She smiles most of the time that she's awake. She is such a good baby! It was last year at this time that we found out she was on her way. That year flew by so fast. I'm savoring each day with her. Sooner than I would like to think about, she'll be out of this happy, chubby baby stage and on to the independent toddler stage. Ahhhh!

I find myself actually looking forward Christmas this year, and not only because I finally get a paid holiday this year. Seeing everything through the kids' eyes makes it so much more exciting, and keeping little secrets about presents is always fun, too. Libby and Caleb can hardly wait for Christmas. As a little girl, I remember thinking that the days and weeks before Christmas would never be over so we could have our celebrations and presents. I'm trying to keep the kids busy with little things to help pass the time for them. Libby and I made a "princess" cake on Monday. Yesterday we wrapped presents and this morning we made a few kinds of Christmas cookies together. Now, what to do with them next week?

I'll end this post with some of Libby's most recent photography. She's been using the camera lately when we're not around. It's always a hoot to see what things she decided to photograph.

Trick or Treat and Other Mischief

Libby and Caleb thoroughly enjoyed their trick or treat this year. They made it completely around the neighborhood this year for the first time. They also rang the doorbells and actually said "trick or treat" and "thank you" on their own. Libby chose her dress in September and could barely wait until Halloween to wear it. All year, she was planning to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast until she found this dress. It is a white wedding dress with satin and lace and little rosettes. She loves it and wants to wear it all the time. She wore a long sleeved white shirt under the dress since it was quite chilly, damp and windy on Halloween this year. Caleb was Dracula. He told people he was a "vampi-uuuuhh". They was both so cute! We took lots of pictures of them. Sara stayed with Grandma and took a nap. She didn't fit in Caleb's pony costume from 3 years ago, and it was really too cold to take her out for very long. That evening, Dad excavated the swing out of the basement and brought it up for Sara to use. She loved it! The mobile, music and lights really kept her attention. She just stared and stared without blinking for the longest time.

In other news, Libby is making great progress in her reading and math this year. She can sound out so many words now and is almost through the alphabet sounds and some sound combinations like "sh", "ch", and "ar". Caleb is specializing in good natured trouble making. In an average day, he can really make a mess! He always says, "Sorry" in such a forlorn way that you can't help but forgive him and prepare to cleanup the next disaster. One example is how he tried to help himself to Libby's birthday cake a few days after her birthday party. I found him eating frosting off the side of the cake while it was upside down on the floor. He has recently discovered painting as well, and enjoys painting masterpieces with some rather muddied water colors. He is so proud of his new ability to color within the lines when he is coloring. We are working on color recognition now - just yesterday he colored a purple sandwich. Sara is such a good little baby. She is still sleeping all night - usually from 9-7 or longer if Caleb doesn't wake her with his racket in the early morning.

Annie and Millie are caring for their sweet little kittens and have most recently moved them to Caleb's room. I don't know what they were thinking when they chose his room over all the other places they could have gone in the house. Hopefully, we can convince him to leave them alone when he is supposed to be napping.

I was comparing pictures of Libby, Caleb, and Sara when they were babies to see how much they looked alike. Sara looks so much like Libby that she could be her clone. Here are a few pictures to compare. See if you can tell who is who. The rest of them are posted online.

This month we are teaching the three four and five year old kids at church. They are so much fun! They are the same kids that we taught last year, so I am enjoying having my kids back again. Libby is going to be in the children's Christmas production at church this year, so she has a littler practice after church each Sunday.

October Already

I can't believe October is nearly gone already! This summer has zoomed right on by and now fall is almost over, too. The leaves are all coming down and we are enjoying a nice Indian summer this week. We're trying to get all the fresh air we can while we still have the chance. Libby, Caleb, and Sara enjoyed playing in the leaves at Grandma and Papa's house this weekend. Fall is fun!

The kids just celebrated their birthdays - Caleb turned 3 in September and Libby turned 5 in October. Sara is 12 weeks old now, too. They are enjoying learning new and mischievous things each day. Libby is doing homeschool kindergarten this year. She is whizzing through her math and phonics books - learning her numbers and letter sounds like a champ. She is also learning to read! I'm so proud of her progress. We are using the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons text book and I'm quite happy with it. She is reading lots of simple stories in the book as well as picking out words and sounds that she recognizes on road signs, in story books, and on TV.

Caleb just moved out of his toddler bed into a twin size "big boy" bed. We are still having trouble convincing him that he actually needs to stay in his bed at night and not come visit us five or six times after he's been put to bed. Caleb spends most of his time playing with his hot wheels cars and pestering his sisters. He adores baby Sara. He can often be found cuddling up next to her on the floor and talking to her in a high pitched cooing voice. His devotion to her is really heartwarming. I was so worried that he would be jealous of her, but he seems to really truly love her.

Sara or "Sara Bear-a" as we often call her is growing at an amazing rate. She is at the top of her weight and height curve at the pediatrician's office. Her fussiness and colic that we endured at Mom and Dad's house for the family reunion in August seems to have passed completely. She is on a schedule that is working well for all of us. She has been sleeping through the night - usually ten or more hours - since she was seven weeks old. She is such a good baby. She is smiling a lot of her awake time now, though her Grandma complains that Sara doesn't smile at her as much as she would like.

The cats Annie and Millie have had their second litters of kittens recently. The eight new babies should be ready to go to their new homes by Christmas! I'm hoping to finally pay off the purchase prices of the adult cats and their vet bills after their ER visit this summer for eating the dog's pain pills. Our poor old Mandie girl had to be put to sleep this summer after she developed an inoperable brain tumor. We were able to treat her with Prednisone for 2 months before she left us and enjoyed our final time with her. She has always been a wonderful dog. We added a new black lab girl named Pepsi to our family while Mandie was still with us. She is generally a very good dog. She still needs some work to be a good as Mandie was, but she's a quick learner. As I am writing this, she is curled up on the couch with the kids while they are watching TV. Our old parakeet Oscar died this past week. He has been a widower since one of our foster cats killed his mate Kermit about 4 years ago. He had been pretty lonely and somewhat neglected up on his high shelf to keep him safe from the cats. I don't think we'll be getting another bird any time soon - at least not until we get rid of some cats.

Nathan is still at Allstate and still looking occasionally for something else. In this economy however, we realize we are blessed to still have our jobs. I am back at the veterinary office part time. We are still looking for a way financially for me to stay home with our kids full time and give poor Grandma a break from babysitting. She has been watching our kids since Libby was born 5 years ago! Maybe we should give her a raise :) We certainly couldn't do this without her and the kids love her so much.

The kids are looking forward to Halloween in Canton this coming weekend. It should be fun! Libby is going to be a bride and Caleb is a vampire. Their costumes are really cute. I'll be posting pictures after they collect their candy. Our most recent pictures are posted on my Picasa pictures.

Counting down!

We are only 2 weeks away from the baby's due date now! I can't wait to meet our new little baby girl. The doctor says everything looks good and she is developing right on target. We have been filling our days with the usual work and play and enjoying spending time with each other before the baby arrives.

The kids are growing and getting into mischief all the time now. Last week, Caleb wrote all over the TV, entertainment center, and himself with my lipstick. Just this afternoon, he dumped all of the cat food bowls into the water bowls, tore up one of my Little House books, and wrote on the counter with permanent marker. Those are only a few of the highlights of his naughtiness. Just when I am cleaning up his latest mess, he is in the next room creating another mess. He is quite a handful! Libby has been mothering Caleb, tattling on Caleb, and enticing Caleb to get into trouble. Between the pets and the kids, our house is really a crazy place lately!

























Our old dog Mandie has taken a turn for the worse over the past few weeks. We were thinking that we would have to have her put down this past Saturday, but she has temporarily improved on Prednisone. We are enjoying her while we still have her! She has in inoperable brain tumor, so it's only a matter of time. . . In the mean time, we have adopted a new dog as well to make the transition easier on both the kids and us when poor Mandie girl does leave us. The new dog is also a black lab female named Pepsi. She is a younger trimmer version of Mandie, and we are really impressed with how well she is fitting in so far. She is about a year and a half old, house trained, calm around the cats and kittens, great with the kids, and really sweet all around. Most importantly, she and Mandie get along as though they have been together forever; this is a major accomplishment for Mandie, who normally would like to eat any dog who looks at her. They walk together side by side on leash, lie down next to each other in the house, and sit next to each other for treats and handouts. It appears that Pepsi was meant to be and is the perfect dog to follow in Mandie's paw prints.


Hopefully, we are not too far away from baby Sara's arrival and will be posting pictures of her on the blog very soon! Here's to hoping anyway!

Not Dead Yet

I've had this nagging feeling for months that I really need to get caught up on my blog. I realized I was really overdue on it when I saw that my last post was last December! Time has been one thing just running away from me at top speed lately and I haven't made blogging a priority. So, I'm trying again. I have to get caught up some before our new baby arrives, and I've only got about 4 weeks left!

The kids have been keeping busy learning all kinds of new things this spring and summer. They have learned how to jump off the diving board, pedal their big kid bikes with training wheels, swing by themselves, make their beds, and potty training for Caleb! It's been so active, but lots of fun for them and us.

The new baby is developing right on target and is VERY active most of the time. She is a little bigger than we were expecting at the last ultrasound, so the doctor said she should be around the same 8 1/2 pounds that Caleb and Libby were if she's on time. She is due August 11th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she makes her appearance a little earlier than that, however. . . Most of the baby things are ready for her arrival - Libby's old baby clothes are washed and ready, the crib is up, the car seat is in the car, and her little hospital bag is packed. I had to get all of the little things out of the way early, or I was going to forget them!

We are the proud owners of a three Siberian cats and six kittens at the moment. We launched our kitty website earlier this spring when we learned that we had kittens on the way (http://www.kriskasiberians.com/). So far, the kitten from Millie's first litter is sold and gone, and we're working on finding homes for the second litter of six Annie. One is spoken for and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be receiving deposits on two more in a few days. That leaves three more to find homes for. We're just hoping and praying that they are all spoken for before our new baby arrives.

In other pet news, Mandie has been having some health issues over the past few weeks. It's currently a mystery to the vet what is wrong with her, so we're just trying to treat with steroids to stem her symptoms. She has been exhibiting a head tilt to one side, vertigo, and stumbling, in addition to some potty indiscretions. I'm not sure how much longer she'll be with us. Poor old girl :(

We had to find homes for some of our other pet cats a few weeks ago, as well. Libby and Matt graciously agreed to take Honeycomb for us, since Annie and Millie had been chasing her and beating her up at every opportunity. Mom told us about some ladies in her church who were looking for cats to keep them company. So, we packed up Honeycomb, Static and Butternut and made the flying car trip to Maine in one weekend to drop off the cats at their new homes. I really miss them, but I'm hoping they are happy and settle in to their new homes soon.

While we were in Maine, we finally met baby Matt and had a great time holding him and making him giggle. He is so cute! He really got me into baby-mode. Holding him made me want to hurry up and have our baby ASAP!

Hopefully, I'll be on here a little more often than 6 months next time! I'll end this post with a few pictures from this week of Caleb and Libby being themselves.