Our Five Ring Circus: January 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014

Everyday Life Week Four

I'm fairly certain this was the most boring week we ever had!  Liam was still sick and Grant and I ended up catching his cold, plus it was ridiculously cold outside, so we barely left the house!
 

WEEK 4

January 22nd

Liam was still sick, so we canceled his OT session and spent the entire day at home. My sister, Kelly, stopped by for a visit that afternoon.

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January 23rd

Spent the day at home.

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January 24th

Spent the afternoon at my parent's house and had dinner with them before returning home.

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January 25th

Woke up to a winter wonderland.  Braved the crappy roads to go to Dom's 12th Birthday Party at a local bowling alley.  The kids had a great time and didn't want to leave!  We went home after the party and had a quiet Saturday night...that doesn't happen often for us!

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January 26th

Grant and I woke up sick, so we canceled our plans for the day and just stayed home in our pajamas.

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January 27th

Just a typical Monday, but this one was spent at home the entire day.  Again. That night, the temperature dipped lower than I think I ever experienced. The kids had a school cancellation already, so we let them have a sleepover in Dylan's room.  That ended with Lexie falling off the bed, and hitting her ear off a the corner of the nightstand.  The cut went straight through and bled so much, but Grant was able to stop the bleeding and bandage it.  I'm relieved we didn't have an ER visit!

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January 28th

School was canceled thanks to the frigid temperature. I know my Minnesota and Canadian friends are laughing over this one, but hovering around 0 and dipping below is a big deal here.  We get a winter, but not one this cold! Another day spent at home.  Another night below zero.  BRRRR!

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That sums up the most boring week ever.  Is it Spring yet?!?


Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Life With Four

Four kids.  FOUR.  There are times when I actually pause and shake my head in disbelief over the fact that we have four children.

In the early days of our relationship, Grant and I would spend hours discussing our future.  I remember when he asked me how many kids I wanted.  I blurted out four without even thinking about it.  He laughed, and said that he was thinking one or two, but we would see.

I don't think either of us imagined that four kids would become our reality!

We didn't plan on having children until we were in our thirties.  HA!  After 4 years of marriage, Dylan came along. We were 24 and 25.  Two years later, Lexie joined our family.  We thought we were done having children, but in 2010, we decided we needed one more to join us.  We became a family of five in August 2011, and we finally felt complete.

Then Liam came along.  Our oops.  Our beautiful, amazing, wonderful oops.

It was then that we realized our real mistake was thinking our family was complete.  We didn't know how much we were missing until Liam was born.  He was the one that completed us.

I get asked all the time how life is with four kids.

Brace yourself....

It's easy. It really is.  Once you have three, one more doesn't make much of a difference!

I'm going to be honest.  There are moments when the chaos or bickering gets to me.  There are moments when all four kids need something at the same time, and it feels like my eyes are going to bulge out of my head as I run around, trying to meet their demands.  There are moments when I don't want to clean another mess or cook another meal.

But those other moments?  They are perfect.  The love that fills our home exceeds anything I ever imagined.

Our days are full of hugs, kisses, laughter, big smiles, sweet little voices, singing, dancing, jokes, and I love yous. Most days I go to bed thinking I'm the luckiest human being on this planet, and every morning I'm reminded of that when I'm greeted with big smiles from four happy, healthy children.

Our life is filled with love.  So much love.   Sometimes our days are filled with chaos.  But even through the chaos, I realize just how blessed I am.

Dylan, Lexie, Lily, and Liam were the best gifts I have ever received, and now they get to enjoy the gift of having siblings.  They have an incredible amount of love for each other, and I'm so proud of the way they take care of each other.

So...life with four kids?

Joyful.  Chaotic.  Loud.  Messy.  Emotional. Breathtaking.  Challenging.  Funny.  Crazy.  Exhausting.  FUN.

But most of all...rewarding.

Our home is full and our hearts are full.  This is my life and it's more beautiful than I imagined it would ever be.  

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Thursday, January 23, 2014

Everyday Life Week Three

WEEK 3

January 15th

Dylan woke up with another high fever, sore throat, and stomach ache.  I began to suspect strep.  I drove an angry Lexie to school (she didn't think it was fair that she had to go!), and took Dylan to the pediatrician.  Sure enough, his strep test came back positive.  We went to our pharmacy, then had to go to a different pharmacy because ours was out of the antibiotic he needed.  The rest of the day was spent at home.  

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January 16th


Dylan was feeling much better and was able to return to school later that morning.  I dropped Lexie off at school, dropped Dylan off at school, then returned home.  That afternoon, I met Amber at Olive Garden for lunch.  It was fun to spend time with her!  After the kids got home, we had to drive to the car dealership to pick up Grant.  His car had to go into the shop for an inspection.  On the way home, we picked up an antibiotic for Lexie, because guess what she got?!?  Luckily, the pediatrician just called in a prescription and we caught it early.

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January 17th

The kids were off from school.  That afternoon, Dylan, Lexie, Liam, my mom, and I went shopping.  We had dinner with my parents, then went home.  Lexie stayed behind for a sleepover.

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January 18th

Liam turned 5 months old and started solids! That evening, we went to Steph's house for a party.  We had so much fun with our friends.  The roads got really bad, so we ended up spending the night at their house. All the kids stayed up really late, and Steph and I stayed up talking until around 3:30 AM!

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January 19th

We woke up around 9:30 and headed home.  We ended up spending the day at home.  Grant's mom and brother came to visit.   The girls fell asleep early on the couch, but we woke them up and let them all watch a movie together that night. 

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January 20th

It was quite a day.  Dylan and Lexie didn't have school, Grant finally got laid off, Lexie's 6th tooth fell out, and we went to dinner at our friends' house.  While we were there, Liam spiked another fever.

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January 21st

Dylan and Lexie returned to school, Grant stayed home with Lily, and I took Liam to a weight check turned sick visit.  The good news was he gained 5 oz in 8 days and his lungs were clear from pneumonia.  The bad news was he had a really bad cold and a double ear infection.  We stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a new, stronger antibiotic for him.  After Dylan and Lexie got off the bus, I drove Grant back down to the car dealership to pick up his car.  The rest of the night was spent at home.

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