Goodbye Dial-up

Jones Spring has finally caught up with the rest of you. A lot has happened in the last six months but nothing to big.

Brooke is in the third grade and loves it. She is still dancing two days a week. Her eyes are doing great. Dr. Mark said that it looks like her eyes are shaping up. We haven't had to do the eye patch the last four months and her eyes haven't gotten worse.

Nolan is in the first grade and doesn't get excited about school. He does what he has to and gets good grades. He started peewee football and really started to like it. Wrestling started not to long ago. He has been in two tournaments and his season starts in January. He did really well on Sunday. Nolan had three matches and he won all three. He got a gold medal and has informed us that he needs a place for all his trophies and medals. Dave of course will get right on that. I love watching him and all his facial expressions. He gets so excited.

Lily is still as stubborn as ever. She wants everyone to be quiet when she has something to say. She is on a big Cinderella kick. As of today she thinks if I take my hands off the steering wheel that we will fly to the Land of Oz. I told her I couldn't get her blanket out of her backpack this morning and the person on the radio said that everyone needed to keep both hands on the steering wheel (it was just perfect timing). She said mommy I guess you are right.

Isabelle is a lot like Lily. She wants what she wants. Isabelle does a lot of climbing and wearing our shoes. She likes to squeal and yell. Right now she is singing and trying to tie Dave's shoes. She likes to sit at the computer and play with the mouse and the keys. She says more and more words each day and jabbers a lot. It's hard to believe she will be two in March.

Here are a few pictures of all four. I hope you enjoy them it isn't very easy to get all four looking at the camera.

In the last two months I've been very lucky to get some time with just Dave. We went to Puerto Rico in April and just came back from Chicago. For those of you wondering we didn't win the lottery or anything. Dave has to travel to different territories that he is responsible for and Puerto Rico happens to be one. We had a great time. I got to relax during the day, which usually was sitting by the pool and reading a book. We did some sight seeing in the evening.

We returned Monday from Chicago. We had a wedding to attend. It was a beautiful weekend.

Enough about us, I'm sure most of you want to here what is new with the kids.

Brooke
Her dance recital is coming up. On June 12 and 13 at the Apollo-4 pm. Tickets are $8.00. Brooke turns eight next Tuesday, June 1. It doesn't seem possible. She is becoming a beautiful young lady. She is happiest playing school and dancing.

Nolan
He is playing t-ball and has a few games left. Nolan is such a ham. He recently gave a girl a ring on the bus. This girl gave the ring to Brooke so that Nolan could give it to her. Dave told him that was the way to do it. Dave seems to think everything Nolan does is funny. He has been wanting cologne on in the morning.

Lily
She is finally potty trained. She just decided that she was using the potty and has been for over a month. Lily just turned 3. She wants what she wants when she wants it. Sometimes Lily will play school with Brooke, but she is usually following Nolan around.

Isabelle
She is doing great. She walks holding on to things. She has 4 teeth and its seems more are on the way. Isabelle likes to get into everything. For some reason she has been getting up for a night time snack- hope this stops soon. I take her to the doctor in June.

I will include pictures later on. The big kids just got home from school, so my time is up.

Have a great day!!!!!

We Believe In Miracles !!

Isabelle has turned one. Her birthday was March 3rd and we had a celebration with family and friends Saturday. The last year has been a year of growing for all of us. Isabelle began her journey three and a half months earlier than she should have. Weighing only a 1 lb and 12 ozs we weren’t sure of her survival. In the beginning I remember thinking did I do something to make this happen. I would analyze this pregnancy with the other three. I just couldn’t help to think that I did something wrong. The doctors said that I probably got an infection, but they weren’t sure.

Looking back on the pictures it is amazing how quickly I began to look past all of the wires and monitors that were helping her survive. I was able to hold her for the first time when she was three days old. The nurse had a system of getting her out of the incubator. I remember being so scared that Isabelle would be hurt. The nurse reminded me over and over that Isabelle needed to feel my touch. Holding my children for the first time had always been so easy with my other three children. Here I was waiting for someone to carefully give her to me. It took a good five minutes to arrange the wires, IV lines and all the other lines. Isabelle was so tiny and fragile. I tried to take every feeling in and remember the moment. I couldn’t help to think that this would be the only time I got to hold her. Holding her against me just put things into reality. I watched the monitors, still learning what everything meant. I couldn’t rub her skin because it was still very thin. Her eyes were still fused shut and she had so many wires hooked to her. Before she was born I remember thinking what is she going to look like. I tried to remember what I had just read in one of the pregnancy books, but I had skipped the parts about early delivery. I’m still glad that I never read those parts because I would have been even more of a mess. Holding her tiny hand I prayed to God that he would continue to help her grow. For almost four months we watched our baby girl over come many obstacles.

Looking at Isabelle today you wouldn’t even know that she was a preemie. She is over 19 lbs and is crawling. Her first tooth has broken skin and she is getting closer to pulling herself up. She loves to squeal and will wave sometimes. Isabelle loves to eat and likes to play with her siblings. She is such a happy baby and has a wonderful smile. Her whole face lights up when she smiles. She truly has completed our family.

This last year has been rough but God has truly blessed us in so many ways. We have meet so many wonderful people that we never would have known. Our family and friends have been so supportive and we truly appreciate everyone that has made this year easier for us. THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

For Isabelle’s birthday celebration, we asked that everyone not bring gifts for Isabelle, but bring items that the Ronald McDonald House needed. Everyone brought so many items to donate. We will be making a trip to the Ronald McDonald House this Saturday. I cannot wait to take everything to them. We know that your donations will be a blessing to so many families.

We had a very tastey strawberry cake for the guest to eat. Isabelle's cake is in the freezer. She will get her cake in June (which was my due date). Remember the whole adjusted timeline. So you will have to wait and see her reaction. I have a feeling Isabelle will be like Nolan. Which means I will have to take the cake from her before she gets sick.

WITH MUCH LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isabelle

Yesterday I took Isabelle to the doctor and he was very pleased with her progress. She is a big 18 lbs and 3 1/2 oz. Isabelle's doctor says to give her more baby food. She is technically 10 months but adjusted 7 months. I have been going very slowly with the food. I just didn't want to push to soon. Isabelle watches you when you eat and will move her mouth. It has been so hard deciding when to give her baby food. With my other children they were eating some at seven months but not that much and at 10 months they were eating finger foods. She is making lots of progress, but I would say that I have not helped her in the eating category. We are working on this.

She likes to suck and hold the spoon.

Isabelle is expected to be caught up at age two, developmentally. At this appointment she is now in the 25 percentile uncorrected. Her doctor was so pleased with this. We will go back in two months for her year checkup. Isabelle has also gotten good news about her eyes. Earlier this month the eye specialist said he didn't need to see us for another two years. He said it looks like everything is working as expected.

Nolan

Nolan is having a great time wrestling. Dave is coaching Nolan's group and they enjoy there time together. Nolan has had three meets so far. He has won a few matches by points and has won 2 matches by pins. He just wrestled this Sunday and he got his second pin. His excitement was priceless. Last night at practice he got his gold pin (large gold safety pin) for his match. We had to attach it to his wrestling bag. His next meets are this Saturday and Sunday.

Brooke

Brooke is busy with dance. I got to go into her dance classes last week and she did a great job. They have begun practicing hard for there recital coming up June 12 and 13. Brooke doesn't walk in the house she dance everywhere she goes and has been teaching Lily. For some reason Brooke thinks the rug in the living room is her stage and feels we should watch her dance all the time. Brooke has also been doing a great job wearing her eye patch and it is showing. She has been to the eye doctor two times in the last four months and her eye is improving. So we will go back in a few months to check on the progress.

Lily

Lily by far is the most stubborn of the four kids. We haven't made any progress with using the potty. Everyday when I ask her about using the potty she replies maybe tomorrow. Anyone with any ideas please feel free to let me know. I guess I should be please with her manners. Lily always says, please change me.

As for Dave and myself -nothing new for me, but Dave did start a new job. He has to travel for now but hopefully it won't be to long. So please keep him in your prayers for safe travels.

I hope you have a great day.