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.

It has been awhile

I didn’t realize it has been so long. Where do I start? I will start yesterday and move back. Yesterday I had to take Lily and Isabelle to their checkups. Lily had her 2 year check up. It was just a little off schedule. I forgot with everything going on. She did great. Her weight was 32 lbs and height was 37 inches. Lily was such a big girl. She received her second dose of flu and the H1N1 vaccination. Dave and I were not sure about the H1N1 but the doctor recommended that the kids get it because of Isabelle. We have never had the kids or ourselves get flu vaccinations.

Isabelle is doing great. She weighs 15 lbs. I had to take her off her monitor because she was moving so much. It took sometime but over the last six weeks I have been weaning myself from the need to put it on her. For about the last three weeks she has not used the monitor. Her doctor said she was doing very well. Isabelle is rolling over and is tolerating some tummy time. Last night Isabelle enjoyed her tummy for at least 20 minutes (this was big). She reaches for her toys and has a strong grip. When Isabelle smiles her whole face lights up. We have been blessed with this little girl. She also gets to start eating cereal.


Halloween
We always go to my cousins house. She lives in a nice development. This year we had pizza and then Amanda had activities for the kids to do. They each had to find a pumpkin in the yard and then they got to design a face on it. The adults got to do the carving. My Uncle Jerry was put to work. The kids then had to sit on balloons that had prizes inside them. This was harder than it looked but the kids had a great time. They did some other activities and then it was time to go get some treats. This year Lily was an elephant (her favorite), Isabelle was a giraffe (this is what the incubator was called-I felt it suited her very well), Nolan was Wolverine and Brooke was Hannah Montana (the wig only lasted for a few houses). When the kids were finished we went back and made smores. We had a great time.

Dave and I both got to have a little me time. He went to his annual Nascar race and I went to Longaberger (Dresden). I had a great time with my mom, Oletta, Krista and Amanda. The last time I left for a whole weekend was a long time ago. I’m still waiting for my Aunt Krista to email me pictures. I didn’t take my camera. Dave and I also went to a WV football game and had a great time.

Brooke and Nolan are both in an activity now. Brooke does her ballet, tap and Irish. She loves to dance but Irish is her favorite. Nolan has started wrestling. Dave stopped coaching high school but it was for a good reason. Nolan is so happy that his daddy is helping him. Dave has Nolan practicing on Brooke. I think Nolan really enjoys it.

I will try not to wait so long to post again. Have a great day.

Uncle Jerry

What is it?

This is the inside of my hard working husbands car. You may think why is she showing this. Well I had to venture into this mess last week. I was looking for something and thought I may find it in his car. I didn't find what I needed but I did find a package addressed to me. I looked at the return address and saw that it was from a coworker of mine.(Barb S.) I then looked at the date stamped on the package, it was April 6. This was during the time I was at UVa with Isabelle. When Dave came home from work I asked him about the package and he said he didn't really remember putting it there. Later he said he vaguely remembered putting it there when he got it out of the mailbox. His intentions were to give it to me on the weekend. As you can see from the picture Dave is not a very neat person. I knew this when I married him but thought I would be able to help him. I guess I've haven't done a very good job. (Love ya honey)

I received a very nice book and card in the package. Maybe I needed the inspiration now and that was why it was misplaced. Anyways just wanted to share. Have a great day!!!

Student of the Week

Nolan was very excited to tell us he was chosen as the student of the week. He came off the bus with a big smile and said he had something to show me. I am so happy for him. This is a great confidence boost for him.

As I'm sitting here writing my post I here a noise in the room that will one day be the kids play room. I need to take the trash out so I will look in the door from outside. The room is blocked off from the house. I only go out there when I need to do the laundry. With a family of six I should do it every other day but I hate having to go outside to the laundromat (house joke). I thought I was going to see a mouse but we have a bird in the room. Dave wanted to take the plywood down from the kitchen so I wouldn't have to go outside. I hope he sees why I didn't want him to. I didn't think birds would be the problem. The room is the old kitchen. Back when the house was built the kitchen had a dirt floor. Later concrete was poured so when Dave tore the room apart we have a dirt gap between the studs and the concrete floor. This house has lots of things that need to be done and one of these days we will be able to sit back and enjoy it, but right now it is really getting on my nerves. I hate clutter and it is everywhere. Enough about the house.

Here are the new additions to the Choiniere family.

Those of you who know me, know that I'm not a cat person. Dave loves cats and the kids love Granny and Pa's cats. I knew that some day we would probably have a cat. I have told Dave from the beginning that I would deal with my issues but I will not change the litter box. Well when Dave went to New York he came home with 3 kittens. The mother had left them and he just couldn't separate them. They have been staying at Dave's parents house. Granny has been taking care of them. Dave has told the kids that the kittens will come home when he has their playroom finished. I'm not sure when this will be but maybe this will help get things done sooner. The cats will be outside cats but with the weather turning Dave doesn't want them to be outside yet. Nolan has the black one and its name is Sylvester, Brooke named hers Buster and Lily named hers Cow. We tried to get her to change but she said I told you Cow, so Cow it is. Isabelle is to young for a kitten but when she is bigger we will get a dog.

Have a great day!!!!

Lots going on

This is the picture we gave for Grandparent's Day. It is never an easy task getting everyone to look at the camera.


Dave began putting the play set together on Saturday. My Uncle Jerry came to help after working 12 hours. He is such a great Uncle. He has helped Dave with many projects. As you can see in the picture Brooke and Nolan were ready to help. Dave is wondering how he got stuck with this job. Dave's dad also came for a few hours and then they had to fix his brake line.







Isabelle has been a great sleeper since last Wednesday. She has been taking her last bottle somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30 and then she doesn't get up until 7am. This has been a wonder treat. She is also sucking her thumb and I think this has helped to put her back to sleep a couple of times. We took her for a follow-up on Friday and Dr. Rogers said she looks great. She weighed 12 lbs. 14 ozs.

Isabelle is such a happy baby and loves to smile. Her face just lights up.

It is so funny seeing her suck her thumb. She likes to keep her other fingers up and she makes lots of noise.

I will post next about our new additions to the family.