Finally, we are back after the flu, first ER trip, etc.

Well, what did i tell ya. I was right. Since that last post i am now finally getting some stuff done again. Clayton was in bed for 5 or 6 days with the flu and still really tired and a little cough for several days after that. He is still a little tired now but pretty much back to normal. I can tell, because bedtime is becoming difficult again :/ I dont wish sickness on my kids, for sure, but it was kind of nice to have them laying low and quiet and sleeping without any trouble for several days. Jeriah was sick for a couple days then better for a couple and then in bed again for a couple more. The baby managed to avoid the flu, i think, but had 2 ear infections and a nasty cough. I had Jeriah and Mathias get the nasal swab test for the flu bc they could have gotten antiviral meds but it came back negative. I read the test is not very accurate and am sure Jeriah had it. Its a horrible test. Jeriah screamed bloody murder, "aaaaaaaahhhh....let go of me!!!!" it was worse than shots!

Anyway, everyone finally started to get better last weekend and then Saturday night i was unloading groceries and i heard a thump-not very loud so i thought the baby just fell off the first stair. i did not hear any crying. eric and i get to the bottom of the stairs, Mathias is face down not crying. i am waiting for that delayed cry as eric picks him up and turns him face up. He is white, his head/neck is flung backward (like when kids arch their back and head in pain or temper) and he is not breathing. His eyes are open but not registering anything.He started to breath and relax his body after i took him into my arms and told eric to call 9-1-1. But he was not crying or blinking and was just staring at me like he was not computing anything. Then he was closing his eyes like he was going to fall asleep. I managed to keep him awake and within 5 or 10 minutes he was looking "normal" and by the time the dreadfully slow ambulance came (i wont call them again) 1/2 hr later, he was acting pretty normal. Actually, before the paramedics left he was trying to climb the stairs again.:( why cant they learn faster?:( anyway, i took him myself to ER for a CAT scan just to be sure he was ok and he was. no bumps, no bruises and he could not have been more than a couple stairs up but that was enough to scare the heebeegeebees out of us. the ironic thing is that he has fallen down 16 stairs and gotten only a little rugburn, so i dont know how he managed this. Thank God for all the angels he must have surrounding our children!!! And yes, we now have a gate that is working "good enough" at the bottom of our stairs. We have a spindle rail so it is not easy to put a gate there.
On a more positive note, the boys are enjoying school and learning to count to 30 and start to read. Mathias is 9 months now and very mobile and talkative. He does not walk alone but he runs on his knees and stand up alone occassionaly and walks with his push toy with much excitement. He is a very congenial and social little boy. He brings much joy to our family. oh yes, and lets not forget all the teeth. he got two bottom teeth at 4 or 5 months. then at 7 1/2 months he started getting the 2 top ones, then the top incisors which finished coming in this week and guess what? yes, lo and behold, the bottom incisors are about to push through now. that is 6 teeth in like 2 months or less with no break in betweeen any of them!! poor boy. (and poor mommy:))
Well, that is just one week and this post is getting long, so it may take a few days to catch this thing up.
Before I head back to the chaos, here is a brief summary of recent weeks. My grandparents were up here in October for their old church's 45th anniversary. They lived up here for 8 yrs til my dad was a sophmore in highschool. My grandpa was a pastor and they were key instruments in building the church. Eric's mom and aunt Lyn were here also for a few days and we did some hiking and a fall tour to Copper Harbor. The day they left eric had to go out of town last minute (yes like very last minute-he got the call tues night and left wed afternoon). I had planned to take a trip to my sisters in St Paul that weekend with the baby so instead I took all 3 kids and decided last minute to leave Wednesday instead of thursday since everyone else was leaving too. It took us about 7 1/2 hrs which is not bad with kids-they are good travelers. We had fun and surprised my mom who flew in Thursday to visit my sister. We will be heading back to ST Paul this Wednesday, with Eric this time, to spend Thanksgiving with Luke, Grace, and Olivia. We are planning to be in kzoo for Christmas.
oh, Jeriah did a dance class today and clayton a gymnastics class. i think in December they will both do gymnastics which they love. they are also learning to ice skate on sundays. imagine how i felt when clayton came home sunday (the day after Mathias' ER trip)from skating with a bump and bruise on the front of his head!! :(
angels, angels, angels....do not leave us

We were hoping to go to Maui next month with Eric, or possibly in February, but we had to replace the solar water heating system in our Maui house this weekend so that cost may keep us in Michigan awhile longer. We shall see. I am glad to live in Michigan but I really miss my Maui family, especially with so much going on in all of their lives right now. I nice long walk in the sun on the Wailea boardwalk with a mango iced tea at Cafe Chow (??sp?) would be nice too:)

Flu???

Well it might take me longer than i thought to get this updated. Clayton woke up sick so i spent the whole day trying to take care of him and lysol everything and keep everyone away from his germs. Now that they are all asleep i feel like i am going to collapse--no germss no germies no germie no germies! I am not sure if it is the flu or some other virus, but I hope we dont all get it. Eric will be home in an hour or so from his 1 1/2 wk work venture where he successfully played "superman" (just in time for halloween :) ). Just in time for the germ laden family to slobber him with germ-infested kisses :) Lucky him :)

yes we are alive

i know i know, it has been forever but i promise to update this soon. eric has been gone again and we had visitors this month twice,as well as a trip to St Paul,MN to surprise my mom while she was visiting my sister. so i have lots of pics. hopefully this weekend i can put up some more.

Gate

Bought a temporary gate to protect our baby's precious head and all while we wait for the other gate to arrive. :) He is trying to cope with another tooth breaking through. I would not be surprised if it is here in the morning.

aaah. baby!!

Eric returned home Sunday from his 2nd business trip this month. Hopefully this marks one of the last ones as the current project is nearing an end. Unfortunately the end of his work on the project may take up all of December, even through Christmas. :(
This week Clayton wanted to go with Jeriah to his Sunday school class and was all upset because he needed to "play with Jeriah, need to play with my best best friend" :) awwwwwww!
Mathias is still trying to grow up way too fast. He is standing and walking along furniture and trying to eat our food and crawling fast. He even almost climbed into the bathtub Sunday! Unfortunately his advanced development has caught us offguard and unprepared-he has fallen down the stairs twice this week :( We have 16 stairs! Thankfully they are carpeted and the floor at the bottom is not concrete or anything too hard. The first fall was short, i think. He must have slid most of the way down bc i only heard 2 thumps, but today i heard more. i thought eric was skipping down the steps until i heard the baby hit the floor and cry. I'm sure he is fine since he cried harder when i put him to bed than when he fell down the steps and he did not have any marks on him this time. He has a rub burn scab on his nose now from the first incident. Yes, we have a gate, but it does not fit. I ordered one a week or two ago but it has not arrived and he decided to sled down them before we were prepared and of course in the 10 seconds that we were distracted. I may have to hit up Walmart tomorrow and see if they have anything big enough. I expect that he will have two more teeth any day now. Hopefully he does not knock them out anytime soon :/ (sorry, that is kind of ill humor, but trying not to stress out too much)
I hope the next post has only positive remarks.
oh, Clay got to be the "Green Star Student" this week and be the leader and have show and tell. He did a really good job. he likes school and tells me about it when he gets home off the bus. Jeriah is enjoying school also. Tomorrow will be his 3rd day.

pics

 
 
 
 

Growing Like Weeds

The baby is 7 months old tomorrow and growing way too fast. He is off the charts (over 100th percentile)for his height and 75th percentile for his weight-29.5 inches and 18 lbs 14 oz. He is an avid crawler now and standing up all the time and even taking a couple steps along furniture or when holding my hands. He has hair now too and it is growing really fast. Mathias loves the water and tried to crawl back into the bathtub with his brothers several times this evening after I had taken him out. He just never stops moving! Now if I could just get him to stop teething and sleep all night, I think I would be a new woman!
Clayton had his first week of kindergarten this week and Jeriah had his first day of preschool today. They both are enjoying school. They are also still trying to recover from the wasp trauma from last month. Sometimes they are ok outside, but last week they would not go out willingly and whenever they saw a bee or flying insect Jeriah especially, would scream at the top of his lungs. The first time he screamed I thought someone was dying! He saw one at school today and did not flip out but he did run to his teacher and cling for a minute.
Clayton's word of the week is "outrage." He was in trouble for biting and told to stay in his room. He came to the top of the stairs and said, "This is an outrage!" I had to laugh at that one. Apparently it came from his favorite video-Planet Heroes.

Our vacation in Elk Rapids was wonderful. Eric was able to stay the whole time and my sister and brother were there for 4 days. We had a lot of fun in the water and in town. Eric and I did a ropes course that made us a few years younger (or maybe older ??). And I won a round of putt-putt for the first time ever!!
We were able to see uncle Charlie and auntie Kate during their stop in Michigan on their way out to Utah. We also spent a week in Kalamazoo while Eric was in CA on business. yes, again! He is still traveling a lot but hopefully in the next month or 2 that will slow down a lot. Well, i am sure there is a lot more but i am going to bed. Here are a few pics and videos. Here is my first try at posting with picasa. Try this link and let me know if it works. if it does i will add more. these ones are from Mackinac City on our trip back to Houghton on Sunday and Monday.
Sarah