WOW A lot Has Been Going On

I see a long post in my very near future...lol.

Where do I begin... I will begin with June 11th, the last time I made a post. Later that day we (my good friend Tina and I) rushed Avery to the ER in a local German hospital. She is okay but let me tell you about it. She was fussy all evening and eventually threw up. I wasn't too worried, she has reflux (which is VERY common in babies her age) so she honestly throws up "a lot." I laid her down next to me and she violently threw up again, this time choking on it and for a VERY short while was not breathing... so I called my good friend and her husband who live 1 block away and both, bless their hearts, dropped everything and came over. Eric stayed with the kids while Tina sat with Avery in the car to watch her breathing. So we got the hospital and she violently threw up 2 more times while there. They decided she had better stay the night. Tina went to my house and bless her, she took care of my other three children so I could stay at hospital with Avery. In the late morning the doctors said she seemed fine (they had her on a heart monitor all night) and there was no indication further tests were needed, so they let us go, suggesting perhaps she was fighting off a bad cold (well there were no signs of a cold). 5 days later she had another "episode". This time she never lost her breath, but she just kept throwing up until, bless her heart, her stomach was contracting and nothing was coming up. So, since there wasn't the breathing "issue" we (this time all the kids and I) took her to the American hospital that is about 20 minutes away. Turns out my little girl is having a reaction to single grain baby cereal (the oat kind). Both times she had the "episodes" were the first times she actually swallowed any of the cereal I had fed her (it was time 4 and time 5 she had anything new). So I can't give her anything but breast milk for the time being. I have an appointment on Monday to see a doctor to work out what Avery's food plan is.... because my plan is NOT to nurse her until she is 18 years old...lol. Other than that my dear girl is doing really well.

On June 18th I sent my other daughter away... sniff sniff. She went to an overnight summer camp for FIVE DAYS!!! I couldn't talk to her for FIVE DAYS!!! It is a girl scout camp 2 hours from here. Samantha is so AWSOME!!! I am so proud of her. When she first said she wanted to go, she didn't know any girls going and knew none of the camp councelors and she still wanted to go! Before she actually went though, we found out that 2 girls she knew were going. Anyway, when I dropped her off, she gave me (and the kids) a tight hug and kiss goodbye, turned around walked away and didn't look back. It was a GREAT moment because I realized that she has far more confidence than I ever knew. While the 5 days she was gone were really hard on me, she had a fantastic time, took 4 rolls of film in the first three days...lol!!! Can't wait to see those crazy pictures...lol.

On June 19th, Tristan went to a 5-day DAY camp just about three blocks away from the house. It was a boy scout camp. He also had a fantastic time. On the way home the first day he told me "Mom, I am learning how to be a man." When he said that I looked down at his hands and noticed that they really aren't little boy hands anymore, they are mini-man hands. He has the popping veins and his fingers are thicker and not baby-ish anymore. He actually shot a BB Gun and a bow and arrow (both activities made me slightly cringe inside... but "ya' gotta let go a little Meghan" I thought) and he made rockets and did some art work.

On June 21st, Keagan learned to ride a bike without the training wheels. I promised him I would teach him the week both the big kids were doing cool stuff, and I did. He did a GREAT job and learned really quickly. He didn't have a lot of confidence at first, but I realized it was because of his shorts. He was afraid of leg injury. As soon as he changed into pants he was suddenly so well balanced and taking off. My friend Tina came up with the perfect place to go to continue to build his confidence and it worked great (it was a really large circular "track" he could ride on).

I am a very lucky woman. Life has not always dealt me a stellar hand (has it for anyone?) but here I am, the mother of four fabulous, entertaining, confident, smart and I must say good looking kids...lol... and I am married to one stubborn, smart, successful, loving, talkative (yes he is talkative if given the chance) handsome (he helped make those great lookin' kiddies), courageous hero of a man. I do complain about things from time to time, but often I wonder, what the heck do I have to complain about? Ah well, I'll think of something to complain about tomorrow...lol.

I updated the pictures again and here is a few words about them...

There is a picture of Sammi receiving an award from her teacher for reading the most books (every kid in the class got a unique award).

There is also a picture of Avery and another baby that was born on the same day as Avery. Her mother is my friend Dara and she is Dara's third child. We were friends before the babies were born. Her eldest was in a 1st grade class with Sammi and her middle child was in a pre-school class with Keagan and she and I are the same age. We were due on different days, but both of us delivered on the 20th of Jan, her in the 8am hour and me in the 8pm hour. I actually called her house to tell her my water had broke, and her mother answered and told me she had delivered that morning.

Anyway enjoy the pictures at:

http://www.msnusers.com/PilchFamilyPhotos/

My wish for you today is this.... I hope your day is going SOOOO well that you find time to complain about the little things.

Thanks for stopping in!