Wedding!

Today, my baby sister got married! It was a beautiful wedding, and a very special day. Hopefully in the not too distant future, I will get more pictures up, and post more of the details. Until then, enjoy the pictures of my beautiful sister, and her new husband!

First dance.

Aww.... not as cute as the bride and groom, but still cute!

I'm getting married today!
I'm getting married today!

Awww....

How long will this last?
Benjamin meeting my cousin, Alex.

My lesson of the day

My lesson began with the words, "Kierstyn, come here NOW." These words were spoken quietly, but very sternly, so I hurry into the kitchen, where Curtis is standing, holding Benjamin and blocking the dog from entering the kitchen.

"You didn't close the garage door, and now there's a raccoon in the garage, close to coming in the house."

I had been working on loading a few odds and ends into the van, and had left the van, the garage doors, the door into the laundry room, and the door from the laundry room into the house, all open. The raccoon was standing at the dog food, which is right by the door that leads into the laundry room, and the house.

So, I quickly get the dog into the living room, and take the baby, and Curtis begins to scare off the fearless raccoon. After a lot of banging, the raccoon leaves the garage, only to come back in as Curtis circles the van. Stupid animal didn't even know that it should be scared!

A few moments later, Curtis went back out to close the van up (I decided I wasn't going out till the sun came with me). Stupid raccoon was back! Curtis scared it around the house, where he finds THREE more raccoons! A family. Lovely!

So, the lesson of my day.... close the garage door, and especially, close the door that could let potential rabid animals into the house.

Benjamin's rough day

Check out Benjamin's blog for more details.

Benjamin had an appointment with the ENT to check his hearing, which could have been effected by the meningitis. We couldn't do the hearing test because Benjamin has fluid on his ears, and an ear infection, which explains the no sleeping/screaming thing.

This evening, Curtis went to Sams to put gas in the van in preparation for our trip to Kansas for Megan's wedding. Before he went there, he picked the dog up from PetCo, since KC decided to have a mud bath this evening (must have taken a note from the kids). The older kids were asleep, and Curtis took Benjamin so that I could get some packing done.

While Curtis was at Sams, he decided to pick up the van a little. He went in and out of the van a few times, getting trash. When he tried to go to the other side, the van was locked! KC, in he spastic state had locked the doors, with Benjamin in the van, which was off! Thank goodness for Pop-A-Lock, which was there in less than ten minutes.

By the time Curtis got Benjamin out, Benjamin was screaming! Poor kid is sick, and got locked in the car. All this a week after being in the hospital. My Mom thinks that God has something special is store for Mr. Benjamin!

BTW

I forgot to mention that the whole reason the Newcomers were over last night was because Lindsay was sweet enough to bring us a meal! It was quite tasty, and very much appreciated. Then, after bath time, Lindsay got the joy of trying to squeeze Micah into his too small jammies that I had forgotten to put away. :-) It was like I was watching her put toothpaste back in the tube.

Thanks for everything Lindsay!

Playing in the sandbox

Tonight, Kyle came over to help Curtis put the swing set together. I figured that while they were outside, it would be a good opportunity for the kids to play in the sandbox. Kyle opened it up, and informed me that it was more of a mud box. I concluded that it was just wet sand, and that the kids could still play. Well, as you can see, it was a very muddy box! The kids had a ball, I had quite the mess to clean up!

Too Cute!

Party Time

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We had Elizabeth's birthday party at the pool this evening. It was a fun time of friends, swimming, pizza, swimming, cupcakes, and more swimming. We had a hard time keeping Elizabeth out of the pool, even when opening her presents! She had several of her friends there to help her celebrate... the Findleys, the Arnolds, the Mikeals, the Newcomers and the Andersons. Enjoy the pics of the party!

Elizabeth's birthday

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A quick pic for the day

Here's my favorite picture of the day! Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Feelin' good!

Benjamin is doing great! He still has a tiny temp that we are watching, but it's not nearly has high as it was. We can tell that Benjamin just feels better. His mood has changed a lot, and I like this happy baby a lot! He's so happy and feels so good, that he's just started smiling. Here's one of the first smiles that I captured, just this morning.

Presents

Benjamin brought Elizabeth and Micah some presents home from the hospital (actually, it's just the hospital gowns that we "stole"). Both kids are very glad to have Benjamin and Mommy back home, even though Benjamin and I spent most of the afternoon sleeping or eating!

The ordeal in pictures

I don't want to be in the hospital with meningitis!
Benjamin loved sitting by the window, while practicing holding his head up.
Hospital life can be a little boring at times.
Getting some TLC from Daddy.
The IV. (The reddish stuff you see is fuzzies from a sock they had on his hand.)
Getting discharged!
The IV hand. Don't worry, it looks much better now.

Home!

We're home!

Benjamin is doing okay. His temp was up this morning, and as we were leaving, it was even higher. They almost didn't let us leave, but the doctor said it was okay, he knew we knew what to do, and we take Benjamin back for a follow up tomorrow.

Please pray that his temp would stay under control in the next 24 hours. Also pray for the other kiddos. They just want to love Benjamin and hold him, but Curtis and I are limiting that, and it's tough for them.

Thank you!

Clarification and Update

We have gotten several questions/concerns after people have heard the diagnosis of meningitis. Here's a clarification, since we don't want to cause anyone any fear or concern.

The meningitis that Benjamin has is not contagious, nor is it harmful. What the doctors think happened is that he picked up some virus. Because of how little he is, and the way his body works at this point, the virus effected is brain, rather than his nose or stomach, like it would for us. If you were around Benjamin in the past few days, you were NOT susceptible to this form of meningitis, only to the virus which caused his meningitis. Being around his now will not make you sick. Once we get him home, the doctors have encouraged us to keep him away from the other kids as much as possible for his own protection, since him immune system is pretty shot right now.

Now for a quick update. Benjamin has had a really good day. His temp has stayed down through the day, which is a huge blessing! It is obvious to Curtis and I that he is feeling a lot better. Hopefully this will lead to a restful evening.

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers!

Morning Update

The doctor just came in to check on us. Benjamin had a pretty good night, but both of us are very tired this morning. His temperature is still a little high, but is controllable with Tylenol. The first round of tests have come back, and Benjamin has viral meningitis. This is NOT CONTAGIOUS. We are still waiting for more tests to come back to confirm the first test results. Our doctor said it's still unclear what long tern effects Benjamin may have, but since we caught it so early, he's not too worried, and Benjamin should have no long term problems. Hopefully we will be leaving the hospital tomorrow morning, but a lot will depend on the rest of the test results, as well as his temperature.

Thank you for your prayers!

Prayers for Benjamin

Please keep Benjamin in your prayers. This morning he woke up with a temp of 101.8. I called the doc, who had us seen first thing this morning at our pediatricians office. Because he's so young, and his temp was so high, we were told to go immediately to the ER. Once we got to the ER, they ran a multitude of tests.... spinal tap, urinalysis, blood work and chest X-Ray. With a baby as young as Benjamin, and a temp as high as his was, this is all standard procedure. the doctors have told us that 9 times out of 10, it's nothing major.

We have been admitted to the hospital, as we wait for the results from all these tests. Benjamin is also receiving IV antibiotics. We have been told that we will be here two or three days.

Specific things to pray for:
* That the test would show everything is clear, or that it's simply a virus.
*Pray for our kids, who are being taken care of by many wonderful people in our church family.
*Pray for peace for Curtis and I. It's never easy to have a baby in the hospital.

We are being very well taken care of by our church family. And we know that we already have the prayers of all our loved ones. I will keep the blog updated, as we get more information.

Ordination and Installation

This morning at church, Curtis was installed and ordained as a deacon in our church. Never before did I realize how much work goes into the preparation and training of deacons and elders in the PCA! First, Curtis had to be nominated, have the nomination approved by the session, and then he accepted the nomination. After that part of the process came the tough part, the training! He went through a 12 week course studying scripture, the Book of Church Order, and the Catechism. It was so amazing to watch Curtis work so diligently, and see his excitement over learning so much. Once he finished the training, he took a written test. Then, he met before the session, where he was orally tested. Once the session approved him for the office of deacon, the church as a whole voted to accept him as a deacon. And then this morning, the journey came to an end, and Curtis is now a deacon! Or maybe I should say, the journey has just begun for Curtis!

I am so proud of Curtis and the work that he has put into the whole training process. He has done it with joy, and has grown so much spiritually. I know that he will serve our church, and our Savior, well in this position.

Since I knew Curtis would be dressed up, I thought it would be appropriate to make sure that the rest of us looked half as good as he did. Thanks again to Grandma, the kids look adorable in their matching light blue outfits (you can't tell, but both boys have sail boats on their outfits). And of course, when everyone looks good, a picture must be taken! So, here's our first attempt at a family picture. Thanks to Jim Bob who manned our camera, and Kyle who provided the candid shots. He's our self proclaimed paparazzi!

Really, my children are happy sometimes!

Apparantly, Elizabeth isn't happy about this whole deacon thing. She's heard about the meetings, I guess.

At least I can laugh at the hilarity of the situation!
Daddy and Micah
Elizabeth's face says it all!

What a day!

We had quite the day this yesterday. It was one of those days were everything that could go wrong, did!

11:00 drive to the Findleys to go swimming
11: 15 van dies while turning onto the Findleys street
11:30 make it to the Findleys house (via walking)
11:40 start making phone calls to get the car towed, and try to get a hold of Curtis, who was in meetings.
12:10 kids are done swimming, so Christi fixes lunch, while I walk to the van to put the key in it so that the tower can pick it up.
12:30 it starts raining, ruining the kids' picnic
12:45 van is towed
12:50 we realize I have no way of getting home.
12:55 finally get a hold of Curtis, who comes to take us home. We have to go in shifts, since we were in the little white car, and only had two carseats.
1:10 I get home with the boys.
1:15 Curtis leaves to get Elizabeth, and I lay down since I feel terrible.
1:20 I decide to take my temperature. 100 degrees. I call the nurse.
1:45 Curtis makes it home with Elizabeth. My temp is now 101.7 degrees. The nurse has told me to go to the lab to get a urinalysis. About this time we figure out that we aren't going to be able to get a rental till the car place call our warranty place and tells them what's wrong with the car, and a rental is approved by our warranty company.
2:00 I feed Benjamin and leave. Curtis is on the phone trying to figure out a way to expedite the process so that we can have a car that can fit all the carseats.
3:00 the nurse calls to let me know that I have a severe bladder infection (caused by the c-section) and calls in antibiotics.Curtis has worded with the car place, and the have graciously offered to go ahead and diagnose the problem.
3:30 I', feel really bad, all three kids are a mess.
3:50 we call Lindsay to help Curtis so that I can sleep.
4:00 Lindsay gets here right as Micah is chocking on the top to a bottle of soda, and throwing up.
4:30 we hear from the car place, the fuel pump has gone out. They get everything figured out, and we're able to get the ball rolling with the warranty company on our rental.
5:30 Our friends the Ackermans arrive with dinner, and more help.
6:40 Charles and Curtis go to pick up the rental, Elizabeth has been asleep for over an hour, Benjamin is screaming, and Micah is getting sleepy. Thank goodness Laura was here!
8:30 All three kids are asleep, which is good because my temp goes back up to almost 102. I'm a shivering, weeping mess.

What a day! But we were so blessed in all the drama. We had Christi who was able to help me with the kids while I got things figured out with the van. We had Lindsay who came over to help out. The Ackermans brought dinner, and helped out too. The car place worked with us, insuring that we got a rental for the weekend, allowing us to be able to make it to church. My doctor was able to quickly figure out what was wrong so that I could get treatment before the weekend. Isn't it amazing how gracious God is, and how blessed we are!

I am feeling better, but not great. We have a rental, but realized that the carseats were still in the van, and we had no way of getting them. Yay for the Arnolds and the Findleys who have extras that we can borrow!!

We feel so blessed by all our wonderful friends who have helped us through our crazy day!

Sluggers

My two little sluggers! Thanks for the outfits Grandma (Mom)!

#1 Songs

If you go to this site, you can see the number one song form any day in history. Here are a few of the highlights from our life.

Curtis' birthday "Kiss You All Over" by Exile

Kierstyn's birthday "Call Me" by Blondie

Curtis' highschool gradutation "MMMBop" by Hanson

Kierstyn's highschool graduation "The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy & Monica (funny, because my graduation was the first time Curtis "noticed" me, and saw potential for a relationship. Little did we know....)

When we started dating "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith(from the movie Armageddon, which was the first movie we saw together while dating, and the first time we held hands. Awww!)

When we became engaged "Smooth" by Santana featuring Rob Thomas (hahaha!!! Well, Curtis thought so.)

Wedding Day "Independent Women Part I" by Destiny's Child (ironic, huh!)

Kierstyn's college graduation "Foolish" by Ashanti

Curtis' college graduation "Lose Yourself" by Eminem

Found out we were pregnant with Elizabeth "Baby Boy" by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul (yes, a baby, but not a baby boy... yet!)

The day Elizabeth was born "Burn" by Usher

The day Micah was conceived "Inside Your Heaven" by Carrie Underwood (Had to put this simply because it was too funny not to!)

Our 5 year anniversary "Don't Forget About Us" by Mariah Carey (again, the irony!)

The day Micah was born "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent featuring Olivia

Day we found out we were expecting Benjamin "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake (Yeah right!)

The day Benjamin was born "Makes Me Wonder" by Maroon5

Micah update

It's been a while since I've given an update on Micah. And considering how busy he's been, that's just wrong!

Micah has adjusted well to being a big brother, and as you can tell from the video below, he loves holding Benjamin. The problem is that he just doesn't know his own strength. We're working on being gentle, and giving soft hugs. It's so sweet to see how loving he is with the baby! I wonder how long that will last....

Whenever I'm trying to take of picture of someone, Micah will step in front of the camera, and smile. This is actually one of his more realistic smiles. Usually, I get a cheesy fake smile.

Micah is still a man of few words. And the words that he does say all sound like, "doll." To try to help him communicate a little bit more, we've been really working on some signs. He can sign more, all done, please and thirsty. Once we conquer eat, he'll be in good shape!

Outside is the only place for Micah! Even if it's just to check the mail, he loves being outside. Often times he will get his shoes, stand by the door, and cry. So pathetic, but kinda cute too. It seems like whenever we go outside though, he is eaten alive by ants! Most of the time, he doesn't care, he just keeps on playing. His poor feet, legs, and hands suffer the most.

Micah loves ducks! He has duck toys, duck books, and loves to visit the pond to feed the ducks. While Elizabeth is running from the ducks screaming, Micah is chasing the ducks, screaming. And any animal with feathers is a duck, and therefore quacks. It's hysterical when he sees a flock of birds, and suddenly you hear quacking from the back seat.

What a joy and blessing Micah is to our family! I am continually amazed by how richly we are blessed by this little boy.

Brotherly Love

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all in blue

Check out Benjamin's blog for more pics from this evening.