Christmas Pictures

I couldn't wait for the annual Christmas card to share some of the Christmas pictures of the kids. I sure love this little crew!

Four Times

I had to be pregnant four times to figure out the following:
1. If I take Zofran in the day and Phenergan at night I get a full nights sleep and don’t get woken up (to throw up) at four or five when my stomach gets really empty. (You wouldn’t think this is rocket science because the major side affect of Phenergan, and the reason why I have always resisted using it for nausea, is drowsiness. It works awesome for me.)
2. If I go to the chiropractor on a regular basis back pain can be minimized. Why did I live with sciatica during my last pregnancy when I could have at least tried chiropractics. When I starting having a problem at about 17 weeks this pregnancy I thought “I can’t live with this” and I went straight to the chiropractor. I haven’t had to live with it, at least yet.
3. If I wait to have my ultrasound until the new-year I won’t have to pay the $400 out of pocket since my deductable hasn’t been reached for the current year. Our deductable is sure to be reached next year. Even if I was anxious to know the gender I could do that for $75. My doctor said that the ultrasound helps them to anticipate problems that may present themselves at birth, but it doesn’t really matter if I have it at 20 weeks or 30 weeks.
4. If I don’t wear make-up for twenty weeks or so my life is simplified and my friends still like me. I have never been confident enough to go without makeup, but when I was throwing up allot it really simplified my life to not deal with mascara. Now that I am feeling better the make-up is back on.

With all of these great discoveries I wonder what else I will discover in the next 16 weeks. (I really have 18 weeks, but 16 sounds so much better.) I am sure to discover yet another way to get labor induced, which is why I am planning on 16 weeks. Hopefully I can figure out a way to sleep at 36+ weeks. I guess this finally figuring a few things out is just one of the many benefits of having lots of babies.

BTW I am using the bead idea to help Caleb and Cara balance their “service.” (See the prior post.) When Cara does something nice for Caleb she gets to put a pink bead in the “service jar” when Caleb does something nice for Cara he gets to put a blue bead in the jar. The goal is to keep it almost even. They only get to put beads in if I tell them they can. Caleb is much more aware. It is really helping the problem from the prior entry.

Caleb's Personal Assistant

At the age of five Caleb has scored a personal assistant. He has been asking Cara for her services for years, but it is getting really out of control. Every time Caleb needs something done that is not "fun" for him he asks his assistant, Cara. The three kids shower together most nights, and Cara comes running out of the bathroom at least once and usually twice or more to get a toy or something for her brother. On Halloween every time Cara got a piece of candy that Caleb liked he would simply ask her if he could have it and her sweet reply is always "sure" as she would pass it over. (Every once in a while I tell him no way.) When he drops his pencil on the floor while doing homework he always asks Cara to pick it up for him. Yesterday he refused to clean out the dishwasher and asked Cara to do it for him. She got right to work. When I told him the only people that would get candy would be those who did their chores he asked Cara to get two pieces. She never refuses. They don't fight. If she ever resists his never ending demands he says, "fine, I wont let you in my room." She instantly complies. If I had a dollar for every time Cara has come to me to say "my brother needs help." I would be a millionaire. When he is in a pinch he just sends Cara for help.

If you have any ideas how I can deal with this please help me. I don't want to discourage Cara from serving her brother but really enough is enough! Maybe it is fine, but maybe they are getting ruined. Caleb is going to spend his life bossing people around fully expecting them to comply, and Cara is going to continue to serve the bossy and ungrateful. Help!

Halloween

I tend to be a "bah-humbug" when it comes to Halloween, but my kids have been SO SO SO excited. We had to make a calendar at the first of the month for Caleb to count down because otherwise he was asking me ten times a day "how many days until Halloween?" (Of course the calendar was good to help him with his numbers too which he is working hard on at school.)

The day finally arrived and the kids had a great time. There was a school carnival on Friday night. Caleb came home from school and told Cara that the principal had told them to bring their brothers and sisters. Cara sounded concerned as I heard her say "but my sister isn't here yet." I assured her that she could go even without a sister.

Caleb dressed up as Captan Jack Sparrow on Friday night and as a Storm Trooper on Saturday.


Cara was an adorable little witch. It was so fun to hear her say Trick-or-Treat and Happy Halloween to people. I may have been the only one that could understand Happy Halloween, but her speech is improving.


Andy was a bumble bee. He was so cute crawling around and scavenging the floor for dropped candy and begging for candy from Caleb and Cara. Without words, he sure knows how to beg.


I had to also post some pictures of carving pumpkins. Carving Pumpkins, like coloring Easter Eggs, is a tradition I could live without, although this year it really was quite painless. I just have to post pictures to prove to my family that I do it even though I don't like to.


Andy enjoyed snacking in Caleb's Jack-o-Lantern lid while the rest of us were carving.