Julia is 7!

Friday Julia turned 7. We went shopping, tried on perfume, looked at the puppies at the pet store and then went out to dinner with Daddy for her birthday date while Grandma and Grandpa watched all of the other kids. I did her hair and put a little make-up on her for something special, which is just what she loves. She called it her "extreme makeover".

This picture below is my all time favorite picture of Julia.

Julia was our biggest baby, weighing in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. and she was born with a dent in her chest, causing her to sound like a pigeon when she slept :). She was also our most content baby. I think she is probably the most like I was as a little girl - in looks and in behaviour. She is a little lazy and may seem like an airhead, but surprises us with her scholastic ability. The other day she told us the first 11 verses in Matthew chapter 4, word for word, where Satan tempts Jesus. She had just memorized it on her own from listening to the Bible on cd at bedtime - we couldn't believe it. She enjoys attention - performing, dancing and singing. She loves girly things like makeovers, yet enjoys playing with the boys and playing sports. She is definitely our friendliest child, talking to everyone. We love our Jules!

Rebecca - the other birthday girlSaturday we celebrated Janae, Julia and Rebecca's (cousin) birthdays at Grandma and Grandpa's house with slip n slides, water guns and food. On our way to the party, we stopped at the feed store by our house because they had a petting zoo and free horse and pony rides. The kids loved it. Josiah even got to ride a horse for the first time with Janae. We should have just had our party there :). Unfortunately our camera battery was dead. Jeremiah playing in the shaving cream - our fun way of cleaning the tables

The show down

Oh the joys of living in the country (and crumbs on the floor)! I need to be thankful it was a mouse and not a snake like 2 neighbors found. Javier killed it with a broom and then thought he was funny getting out the little gun. Remember Javier is an expert at this kind of thing from killing rats in Dominican. The first time I went there I freaked out because I saw rats just running on the tops of the walls (there aren't really ceilings in normal houses- just zinc pitched roofs) and nobody even cares. They laughed and said, "Oh they are just playing baseball up there."

Jackie asked what if his whole family comes tonight looking for him. Let's pray that doesn't happen!

Jameson - 8 weeks

Our smiley guy

"See mom I am being a good boy, I just want to pat his head"

"Look at me or I will squash you""Mommy don't be mad at me, just look at my cheesy smile"

Happy birthday Jeremiah!

This is the first picture I ever saw of my Jeremiah.

This was Jeremiah in his crib in the orphanage

The birthday boy at his party

Jer Jer with my mom - you can see their little brownie cakes on the counter

Jeremiah is 1 today! Oh how I love my little Pudge. I admit he is spoiled now and is perfectly happy if he is held and cuddled, but not so big about being put down. In a way this is good sign for bonding because when we first got him, he was happy just to sit on the floor all day if we let him. I call him my little chocolate drop because, like my obsession with chocolate, I just can't get enough of him. We just love to eat and kiss his chub. Last night during Bible time he was bouncing and clapping and "singing" during our song time and he kept on doing it while Javi was teaching and reading the Bible. He had no clue the singing was over. It was so darling. We try to use that time to train them to sit quietly and listen, but Janae was holding him and cracking up and it was just too cute to stop him. Although he is so sweet and laid back, he is our naughty one and just smiles at us every time we say no and goes back to the "off limits" object over and over. We definitely have a lot of training ahead of us, but he is worth it.

PS - Happy birthday to Rebecca (my niece) and Gilbert Kendall our friend. Oh and if you thought my birthday posts were over for a while - stay tuned because we still have Julia's on Friday - yikes!

Health

Our only family member who was not sick, Jordan, got really sick, so now it has been through everyone and I think all of the kids are doing better, except for Jameson. Every breath he takes is still rattly and he still has coughing fits at night and some fevers, so we continue on with breathing treatments. Javier and I are still struggling with congestion and fevers, however thankfully my mastitis is gone with the help of antibiotics.

Happy 10th Birthday Janae!

Hours after birth2 weeks old

18 months

Our neighbor from our last house made this set of beads for Janae for her birthday.

10 years ago I gave birth to a scrawny, elf looking baby with tons of curly hair and a big huge mouth. She was late and losing weight in my womb. It was detected because I had weekly (at least) ultrasounds due to exposure to 5th disease as a teacher. The labor was complicated and her heart beat dropped drastically when my water broke, so I was told to prepare for a c-section. Instead they set up a fountain inside of me to keep her afloat. Amazing! I look back and am so thankful the doctor did not rush to do a c-section which would have affected all my subsequent births.

Because of the scares, we were just so thankful to hold our 5 lb 6oz baby girl. When everyone left the room we both said she was so funny looking, but that didn't even matter. With a little chub, she quickly turned into a beautiful baby and is now a stunning young lady whose heart is worth far more than rubies.

Today Janae and I met Daddy for lunch and then I took her to a store to choose some clothes. She thanked us several times for a great b-day. At night we watched her birth video (a birthday tradition). We will celebrate all the "March girls" in a couple of weeks with cousins and grandparents.

Happy Birthday Josiah and Aunt Carol + video

This is the youngest picture I have of my little love. It is his visa picture, probably taken when he was found and turned into the police.

These pictures were taken with a disposable camera while he lived in the orphanage before we were able to go get him. Look - the walls are lined with cribs w/2 babies in each (and there were many rooms on each floor like this one). Also notice his lack of eye contact. Every single picture from that camera is like that. In the airport ready for his first trip to San Diego to meet relatives.

Josiah with my Grandpa

Let's get the party started!Josiah and his birthday gifts Taking after his daddy in the janitorial business.

Here is a video of Josiah doing his favorite thing

March 16 is Josiah's given b-day. We doubt that he is really 2 yet, but this is the date he was given. The special thing about today is that it is also my Aunt Carol's b-day and tomorrow is Janae's b-day. We celebrated his and Jeremiah's b-days on Sunday. They both LOVE brownies and ice cream (Josiah's not big on cake) so that is what we did.

Josiah also got to go to San Diego with my mom this past weekend for the first time. We wanted to take advantage of him flying free before he turned 2. He did so well and was a real sweetie with everyone. I can't believe that 3 months ago he was the fussy, shy one. I guess he was a blessing to everyone at my grandpa's nursing home too and my grandpa (who has Alzheimer's) "came alive" and talked to Josiah. My mom also said she hasn't seen her mom this happy in a long time. Babies and kids are so good for old people.

RSV

The doctor's office just called that they got the RSV test results back and poor little Jameson does have RSV - So back to the doctor tomorrow.

* on a side note - in my last post I wrote that we were discipling Janae and Jordan one night a week, not disciplining -LOL (that was funny Julie). I meant that we are meeting with the kids and encouraging them through the meditation of God's word, prayer and a book study. Janae and I are going through a small John Piper book called Dangerous Duty of Delight and learning how to take something out of God's word and letting it affect our lives, not just reading it. Maybe later Janae will let me share some of her journal and heart as to why we finally started doing this.

Our crazy life

*The 3 big kids went to the Renaissance Festival with Grandma and Grandpa

*We bought 17 female chicks that should start laying in 4 months

*Javier started discipling Jordan and I started discipling Janae 1 night a week - it has been so fruitful and such a joy

* 9 out of 10 of us are sick - congestion, fevers, sore throats, coughing

*5 on antibiotics

*Jameson is 6 weeks, 8lbs 14 oz. - he is not gaining enough and doc wants me to supplement

*Jameson has congestion, cough and fever - on breathing treatments - testing for RSV

*I have mastitis = pain/fever/body ache - aggravated/caused by Jameson not eating enough because he is too congested

*My mom helped us today thank goodness

* The weather is beautiful which means besides lots of outdoor play time, we have been getting projects done and eating all our meals outside