Another weekend

Wow, what a difference a week makes! Last week I was sick as can be, entertaining Bob's family. This week I feel like a whole different person, in part because Anna had a great night last night. She went to sleep at 12:30, then slept until 5:45 (!). After I fed her, I put her back down, and she slept until 9:45. And so did I. Ahhhh. What a difference a few hours of uninterrupted sleep makes in one's outlook on life in general.

It's a good thing she's being so cooperative, and I have such a good outlook on life, because Mom and I have retackled pottytraining Jonathan, and frankly, he's not been nearly so cooperative. He's trying to be, but he's having a hard time putting it all together. Thursday was not a good day; Friday was a little bit better, but it involved him staying in the kitchen on the linoleum the entire day. Fortunately he is happy being read to or just playing with his little Larry the Cucumber figure and a Duplo horse, so he didn't complain much. Also, we plied him with juice boxes and apple juice (both are VERY special treats around here), so he thought that was great. He's just having a hard time feeling (or I should say noticing) the urge to go (he's improving, though), and he's having a hard time emptying his bladder completely when he does go. Also, he has never pooped on the potty, which causes me some concern, especially in light of Luke's constipation issues. Since he has no compunction about pooping in his underwear, you can understand my hesitation to let him out of the kitchen! I'm not sure what we'll do about church tomorrow--probably just put him in a diaper, and work more next week. I just never dreamed he'd have such a hard time with these concepts! I'm praying for patience . . .

A Complimentary Dinner

Tonight I made enchilada casserole for dinner, a huge favorite of the boys'. They gave me an appreciative round of applause at the beginning of the meal, and then when Nathan was all done (3 big helpings later), he leaned back and told me it was "excellent . . . as usual". Luke followed that up with, "Hey, Mom, your tummy is shrinking!" Why yes, LOL, thanks for noticing! It's not shrinking fast enough to suit me, since I still am nowhere close to fitting into any clothes, but it IS smaller. Usually the kind of "tummy" comments I get are something like, "Wow, Mom, your tummy looks like a big stretched-out balloon", which was said by Nathan after I had Jonathan. Not nearly as complimentary, I must say.

I think the boys were predisposed to be so flattering because I went to the library this morning after my dental appointment, so they have all sorts of new books to read. Yes, I am feeling well enough to run errands! It is so nice to be able to do things without that chronic excruciating soreness. I feel I am still more tired than normal, but the pain . . . so wonderful to have that gone. I am thanking the Lord to live in the age of antibiotics! I can't imagine how those pioneer women could have handled mastitis--bears and Indians, yes, but mastitis, no.

Deck Garden

Once again, Bob and the boys have planted a deck garden. It's really thriving due to all the rain we got over the weekend. The box in front has beans--all the strings are Bob's innovative space-saving way for the vines to climb. They also planted squash, spinach, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, and bell peppers in the other boxes. The boys aren't big fans (yet!) of peppers or cucumbers, so I think they only were allotted one or two plants. In the big pot that you can only see the edge of, Bob has 2 tomato plants (boys aren't big fans of those yet either, LOL), and 2 blueberry "bushes" (actually "twigs" right now--we're hoping they make it, much less ever bear fruit!) I'll try to post pictures to show the progress.

In other backyard nature news, yesterday morning we saw a pileated woodpecker out our study window. Nathan actually was the spotter. The bird was pecking away at a stump we have back in our little stand of trees, so he was really low to the ground. After he finished pecking, he rooted around in there for awhile, geting bugs out with his sticky tongue. Yummy! He's a pretty big bird, with that striking red crest on his head, so even the little boys could see and identify him. After that exciting interlude, it was back to the test review books for the boys. The Stanford tests are in 2 weeks!

Infection 1; Antibiotics 0

Now for Round 2 . . .

I called for an appointment as soon as the line opened this morning, but the only one they had was at 3:40. I knew that wouldn't work, since I would be stuck in rush hour going home, so I decided to go back to Bethesda's ER. I had prayed last night that if I was supposed to go back there, there wouldn't be any good appointments left at the Fairfax clinic, and there weren't. Nothing like clear direction!

I didn't get there until 12:15, and it started out badly, as there were no parking places at all by the ER door. I had to drive around the complex (it's huge) to the other side where there was a parking garage. Fortunately, I found a place there. The check-in lady even recognized me ("Hey, didn't you have a breast infection on Friday?!" "Yes, it's the same one, in fact.") When the doctor came in to see me, she also recognized my case! This has never happened to me before in military ER medicine! She was the head ER doc on Friday too, so the doctor I saw then had discussed my case with her. She remembered my allergy to penicillin, and their drug discussion. She said that I didn't have an abscess, but that the infection was obviously not responding to the antibiotic they had given me (clindamycin). She decided to start an IV antibiotic on me then, and to change my prescription to Keflex. This is what I took when I had mastitis with Caleb, although I would never have remembered without someone saying it first. She told me they didn't try that first because some people who are allergic to penicillin are also allergic to Keflex. Thankfully, not me.

Well, you know how ERs are-- it took awhile to get a corpsman in to put in the IV, another while for a nurse to come in to hook up the actual solution, awhile for the solution to run, and then an even longer while for someone to come back to check on me and take it out! I did 2 crossword puzzles and took a nap, LOL. But then I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription, and let me tell you, this is where I really missed having Bob there in uniform! When I got up there and saw that there were no seats left in the waiting area, and people were basically waiting all over the place, that was a bad sign. They have a number system, like at Wright-Pat, and I was able to get in a different set of numbers because I was "discharged from the hospital", so I didn't have to wait AS long, but it was still a wait of about an hour and 10 minutes. Whew! Other people were waiting well over 2 hours. Ridiculous. Active duty in uniform get a whole different set of numbers, and their numbers are called immediately! They only have to wait about 10 minutes, as their prescriptions are just immediately filled. Ah well. I eventually made it out of there at 4:30. I was so worried that I would totally get stuck in rush hour traffic on the Beltway, and if I had been traveling on the Inner Loop, I would have. There was an accident, and they were stopped! But the Outer Loop was moving, albeit sluggishly, and I made it home by 5:30, ravenously hungry and desperate to pump.

Anna has been a real trooper through this whole ordeal, taking a bottle like a champ when I've had to be gone for a feeding (or 2, LOL). That was such a relief, to know she would do that without making a huge fuss about it! And I've certainly been pumping a freezer full of milk, so it's good to know she'll use it. Mom did yeoman's work (don't you love all these Navy terms I'm sprinkling in here? It's a whole 'nother language!) here at home with all the kids, both Friday and today. I probably would have had a nervous breakdown if she hadn't still been here! The Lord knew she needed to be here for such a long time! As for me, I'm pretty tired, but--call me a cock-eyed optimist--I think that possibly I am less sore now. Oh, I am so praying that I will feel better tomorrow!!!

Mastitis Update

The good news is that I survived our company, both on Friday night and today. The bad news is that I really am not any better, and I certainly wasn't thrilling company. In fact, I had to go upstairs a few times to lie down today. But hey--no one is coming to see me, right?! They want to see Anna, and fortunately she is just fine! Last night at the Bible study potluck, Christine told me she had mastitis with all 4 of hers, so she couldn't believe that I hadn't canceled! We all have to eat though . . . As we were talking, she noticed I was shivering, and she ordered me to bed! We compromised, and I lay on the couch under a blanket. How ironic that on what must be one of our busiest social weekends of the year, I am feeling my absolute worst! I'm not planning on going to church tomorrow either. How funny--I went to church 5 days after delivering, but mastitis 3 weeks later is keeping me away.

The problem is that I can't keep my temperature down. I'm taking 800 mg of Motrin about every 8 hours or so, with 1000 mg Tylenol midway, but my temperature keeps coming up after about 3 hours. I get a huge headache, chills, etc., and I end up in bed in my fleece nightshirt surrounded by warm rice bags in an attempt to stop shaking. Eventually I fall asleep, and then some time later, I awaken absolutely drenched in sweat with the fever broken. I'm still pretty sore, so my guess is that the antibiotic I'm taking is just not working very quickly. Since I am allergic to penicillin and am nursing, that really limits what I can take. I've played around with the intervals between the Motrin and the Tylenol, but I can't stop the fever. Frustrating.

We had a great time (well, those of us who were well!) today with Bob's sister Ann, her husband Wally, and their adult daughter Christi. Bob and the boys played Power with Wally, everyone played Skip-Bo, and of course, Anna was passed around whenever she was awake. Christi won Jonathan's heart because she tirelessly read tons of books to him and Caleb. After all our days of sunshine, today it poured down rain pretty steadily. I had hoped people could go outside some, but that didn't happen! I'm hoping that they, as well as others in Bob's family, come back again soon to visit when I'm feeling totally healthy.

Oh no! The big "M" word . . .

. . . mastitis. Yesterday afternoon I nursed Anna right before leaving for track practice. I noticed that I felt a little painful on my left side, and I wished I had time to pump as well, because it just didn't feel empty. But I didn't; we were late as it was, so off we went. By the end of track, I was very anxious to get back home to pump, and I was very uncomfortable. I realized what was happening, so after pumping and nursing, I put warm moist compresses on it, but that was temporary relief at best. I knew I was running a fever last night, and it was past the "clogged duct" stage, so I called for an appointment this morning. Alas, the Fairfax clinic didn't HAVE any appointments. I knew I would have to go to the ER at Bethesda, since it couldn't wait until Monday. Fortunately, Bob was able to come home at 11:30 to take me. I was so thankful, since I wasn't looking forward to maneuvering on the Beltway with my soreness, as well as a raging fever of 102, a pounding headache, the chills, etc. Amazingly, we got seen pretty quickly. There's something about having the active duty person there in uniform that really helps! We got there around 12:00, and we were done by 1:30. Is that a record or what?! So now I am on antibiotics, which will hopefully take effect quickly. Like I have said before, I would rather go through labor and delivery again that have mastitis. It is so painful. Bleh. I had a bout of it with Caleb too, back in Ohio. After that, I became a fervent advocate of the "football hold", since I had heard that that empties the ducts better. I always started with that, and then I would switch positions midway through each side. I didn't have any more problems with Caleb, and none at all with Jonathan, so I was feeling pretty confident that I had solved the problem! Obviously there is something more going on, though, and I don't know what it is. What amazed me was just how quickly it progressed. Hopefully it will go away just as quickly. I am off to take a nap before our Bible study potluck, which is at our house this evening. Fortunately, we are just providing the meat and drinks, so we don't have to do too much. Mom has been so great about cleaning the house, and Bob will do the grilling, so . . . not much for me, which is good, because I don't really feel like I'm worth much today! Tomorrow Bob's sister Ann and her family are coming up from Richmond to see Anna. I'm really hoping to feel better by then.

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Yesterday I put Anna in the stroller and walked a few houses down to where the boys were playing in our neighbors' back yard. There were several kids there, including a family who was just visiting. One little girl, who was probably 8, asked whose baby it was. Jonathan piped up proudly, "That mine sister--ANNA CLAIRE!" He still has problems with feminine pronouns, but at least she is no longer "that guy". And that's pretty big progress for less than one month!

Four Very Happy Boys

My brother's wife's parents ("Mr. and Mrs. H") were kind enough to send some really cute outfits for Anna. They were also kind enough to give Walmart gift cards to each of the boys! You can hardly imagine the excitement when the boys found that out! As I have said before, we allow them to buy Lego Bionicles, but they have to use their own money. When they received this unexpected windfall, they were ready that moment to make a trip to Walmart, but it had to wait until this afternoon. Caleb especially was thrilled, since he doesn't really get an allowance, so he didn't really have a way of buying one yet. Nathan, Luke, and Caleb didn't let the week go to waste, however--they made the important pre-buying decisions of who was going to get what. So once we actually got to Walmart, they just basically snatched the correct ones off the shelf, and there we were! All done! Jonathan decided on a Lego Knight named Sir Rascus. He apparently has "power-armor", but Jonathan was most impressed by his big sword. When we got home, everyone assembled their person (or whatever you call a Bionicle), and then I was treated to the happy sound of boys playing for a long time. A priceless gift for me!

Spring Break is Over

We had a glorious Easter. The weather was nice, especially in the morning, so it was easy to visualize being at the tomb, seeing the stone rolled away, and, best of all, seeing the risen Savior! We went to church in the morning and then we had our big meal at our regular dinner time--I'm just not organized enough to get everything in before church to eat right afterwards! After dinner we finished going through our Resurrection Eggs with the boys. I really like these. Each egg has a token from the Easter story (like a piece of linen, a donkey, a wine cup, etc.), and as you open each egg, you read the corresponding Scripture reference and the short reading in the little booklet that comes with the eggs. Easter was a lot more meaningful this year because Nathan really asked some good questions about it. Yesterday he wanted to know how people in the Old Testament were saved, before Jesus came. We had a good discussion about faith using Abraham as an example. Friday night, while reading our bedtime Bible story, we had a good discussion about the Old Testament system of sacrifice, and how Jesus fulfilled all of that completely. I love being a part of seeing children work out their faith and gain a deeper understanding of who Christ is and what He did for them! Along the same lines, Nathan and Luke started watching the Narnia DVD last night. As Nathan said, it's a perfect thing to watch for Easter! They didn't get that far before it was time for bed, but Nathan is looking forward to watching more tonight. I'm not sure if Luke will watch it all. He's more like me--not a fan of scary things that you see. I would much rather read the book, where I can control the images better in my mind, than see a movie, where someone has already put their own images there, ready to go straight to my brain!

We also celebrated Grandpa's birthday last night with coffee cake (and rice krispie treats for Caleb). It's ironic that coffee cake was what Caleb first reacted to as a baby! I think it was Dad's birthday then too, and we were over for cake. Caleb would have been about 6 months old. After I ate my piece, Caleb chewed on my fork and promptly broke out in hives all over his face. The cake has walnuts on it and milk in it, and Caleb has turned out to be allergic to both of those. Anyways, Dad left this morning for his trip to China, and he'll be over there for his actual birthday, so we celebrated early.

Today it has been back to the old grind, however. The boys did some of their standardized test review book, we reviewed Latin, and I finally installed Typing Instructor on our computer so the boys spent a goodly amount of time doing that. In fact, I think I might start doing some of the lessons! It looked fun and easy, and I am not a good typist at all. I told the boys to aspire to their Uncle Dan's and Aunt Claire's skill level of typing, NOT their mother's! And of course I did laundry. I will confess that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the amount of laundry that we are generating. I feel like I can barely keep up with the regular loads of darks and whites, and the "other" loads (towels, sheets, delicates, etc.) keep getting pushed back. At least we're heading into summer, where shorts and t-shirts don't take up nearly the amount of washer space that seatshirts and jeans do!

Another picture

Here is another picture of Anna, specifically for Aunt Claire who requested more! She is a real sweetie--how could she not be, with all that brotherly love?! She still won't look at the camera when I try to take her picture, though. I guess I'll give her another few weeks to master that . . .

Spring Break!

This week we have pretty much taken as Spring Break. By that I mean, we haven't done any school, and we might as well call it something! Grandpa was here (he leaves Monday for 2 weeks in China), Daddy took off Tuesday and Wednesday, and the weather was just gorgeous--definitely not a week for hitting the books! Instead, the boys have spent lots of time outside. Nathan and Luke have played a lot of basketball at the end of the cul-de-sac. Bob took them, as well as Caleb, for a bike ride on the W&OD bike path Thursday morning, and then they had track practice Thursday night. Today all the boys played tennis with Bob at our swim/tennis place. Maybe we'll call it sports camp week. Ahh, the joys of a large family--plenty of people to play with! It's also been a good week for freezer pops, which is what you see Jonathan clutching in the picture. No way was he putting that down for even a second!

Tonight Bob and I are going on a date (is that what it's called when you're alone with the person you married, away from your house? LOL!). I think we're going to Chevy's since we have a coupon, and I love Mexican food. Meanwhile, back at the ranch here, Grandma and Grandpa will be holding down the fort and grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. (Isn't that great how I could mix metaphors and use TWO place descriptions for our suburban Colonial house? LOL!) I'm sure everyone will do just fine.

Well-Baby Update

Anna had her 2 week well-baby appointment today. Bob took yesterday and today off, so he went with me while the other boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa--a date! Anna is now 9 pounds 5 ounces, up from her birthweight of 8 pounds 11 ounces. That is exactly what Caleb weighed at birth! She's now 22 inches long, up from the 20.5 inches she was at birth. So she is growing just fine. We saw a doctor I have never seen before. He was very nice. I'm not sure where he is from--maybe Greece or somewhere like that? Definitely not a native English speaker, although I think that is a prerequisite to work at that clinic! He was funny--he knew Anna was a girl, and referred to her as "Beautiful girl" and other expressions like that, but everytime he referred to her with a pronoun, he used male pronouns--JUST LIKE JONATHAN! I laughed in the car, but I managed to hold it in in the clinic. The doctor was very concerned because I didn't bring along records from her birth (which the hospital never gave me). I couldn't tell him her Apgar score, and he had a hard time moving past that.

Doctor: You can't remember [his] Apgar score?

Me: Umm, no. I never really heard it. They whisked her aside to make sure she didn't aspirate any meconium . . . I did hear them say she pinked up really nicely, so I'm sure it was fine . . . maybe an 8 or 9?

Doctor: Can you remember what [his] Apgar score was?

LOL! He was also like that with the question of how many total hours she sleeps, day and night. I have never added it all up, so I kept hemming around, saying that she was doing really well, eating about every 3 hours during the day and going at least 4 hours once during the night, and she usually is up about an hour after feeding during the day . . . so how many hours is that? But he kept wanting a real number. Let me get out some paper. . . I never did answer.

I did call the hospital where I delivered, and tomorrow I plan on going there to sign the release form so they can send her records over to the clinic. So that should put his mind at ease--he can get her Apgar score straight from the records!

Sobering News

This afternoon, Bob was paging through my dad's copy of Checkpoints, the alumni magazine for the Air Force Academy, when he noticed a familiar name on the last page. His roommate from the Academy, Steph Kajah, died on February 15 in a skiing accident at Breckenridge. Wow. That was a shock. Steph was the man who led Bob to the Lord. He would faithfully read his Bible and listen to Chuck Swindoll on the radio, and eventually Bob was curious enough to start asking questions. Bob was religious, but he didn't really know God or understand what Jesus did for him. Steph was the one who explained that Jesus took Bob's place and paid the penelty of death for Bob's sin so that Bob could have a relationship with a holy God. We are confident that Steph is in the presence of the Lord right now, and because of his faithful testimony, Bob will be there when he dies too. I am so thankful for Steph's life, since he directly impacted my life by leading Bob to the Lord, but I am so sad for his wife and family. And it is also very sobering to reflect on whether or not I am impacting anyone's life for eternity, since none of us know how long we'll be here on earth.

Caleb and Anna

Caleb loves his sister, who he always calls by her full name "Anna Claire". The reason he loves her is that "we haven't seen her for years, months, and days". LOL, it sounds like she's just been traveling or something! I'm sure when she is older she will appreciate knowing that she was missed in our family even before she was conceived!

The picture quality is bad here, but for some reason I had a real problem getting this picture to post. Oh well. It was a really cute picture on the camera! : )

Open House

Wow, I am so pooped right now. There are a lot of families in the greater D.C. area that we have been stationed with before, or that have been at Wright-Pat and know my parents. This afternoon we had an open house for all those people. It was so much fun to see all these old friends again, a real Wright-Pat reunion! Mom and I have been especially busy the past few days cleaning and cooking. I was worried before it that no one would come. In fact, I never wanted to have an open house, like for my high school graduation, because that was always my fear. And then yesterday afternoon, right after Mom brought Dad home from the airport, and as I was in the middle of making a big pan of fudge, the doorbell rang. It was one of our old friends, along with one of her kids. I was surprised to see her, but I quickly figured out that she thought the open house was yesterday! Ack! She told me I looked great, which made me laugh inside, since I was wearing a ratty t-shirt and sweats, which were covered in flour, chocolate, etc., since I had been baking desserts all day! Bob and Nathan were at Home Depot, which was a little awkward too. When they came in, Bob asked brightly, "So what brings you out this way?", and she answered, "Why, your open house!" I really hope she goes back and looks at her email, just so that she can see that we aren't really ditsy and totally unprepared for major social events that we host! Anyhow, that whole thing made me anxious about the real thing today--not a good omen! But not to worry. People did show up, and we had such a great time with everyone. The kids all played well together (and there were a lot of them), and there was lots of laughter in the family room and around the table as we told stories and caught up! I wish they all lived closer--in one big neighborhood! Again it makes me look forward to heaven, where I know we who know Christ will have eternity to spend together, laughing and catching up, all in the presence of Christ, where there will be no more tears and sorrow! The Christian military community is such a great group of people. We did have plenty of left-over food, so Mom and I are looking forward to some days of left-overs while we enjoy our clean house. Well, the clean house will probably only last a few hours, but still . . . it was nice while it lasted!

The Pottytraining Blues

So I've started pottytraining Jonathan, who will be 3 on June 2. You may think this is a bad time to start, having just had a baby, but since my mom is here, it's actually a good time. She can help get him where he needs to be while I'm nursing or whatever. The only problem is that Jonathan didn't get the memo. He has had 2 other times where he has been extremely interested in pottytraining, and he has come to me when he needed to go, even pooping. Unfortunately both of those times were right before big trips (to Colorado in June and to Texas in December), and I just couldn't think about having a newly trained boy on a long car trip filled with rest areas and truck stop bathrooms. Blech. So I let him go, but I didn't do much to encourage him, like put him in underwear or really work with him. Of course, now that I am ready, he is not much interested. Well, that's not completely true. Bob told him he could have a Skittle when he went, so for the past few days he has been motivated to go, just to get a Skittle. Unfortunately, if he is NOT in the mood for a Skittle, or he is involved in something else, then he is not so interested in going. Also, he is not pooping on the potty at all. Wednesday, right before piano lessons, he went in his underwear. Let's just say that was very messy and leave it at that. Also, add in that I wasn't pleased, since he had just peepeed on his potty. Sigh. After that, I was leary of underwear, so I have been putting him in Pull-ups. That was probably a good move, in that he blithely pooped in one this morning. Unfortunately, he has also peed in them a few times today. Grrr. I have never used Pull-ups with the other boys, since I think they feel like diapers, and hence aren't that effective in pottytraining, but I don't want to deal with poopy underwear again. Maybe I was wrong and this isn't a good time! The other boys have all pottytrained very quickly within a month or so of their third birthdays, so maybe I should just hang it all up for another month. Sigh. I hope all the hype I've heard about girls being easier to pottytrain is true.

Happy One Week Birthday!

What a difference a week makes! We celebrated Anna's one week birthday by eating ice cream while the birthday girl napped. She'll get hers later on, I guess! Anna also had her first sponge bath this morning. Obviously cleanliness is not a priority for me, LOL! She really wasn't that dirty until a day or so ago, when she started spitting up after meals, just like all her big brothers. Somehow, I grow incredible spitters-uppers. Anyways, I grew tired of the sour milk smell. She didn't even fuss during the bath. She's really very even-tempered, from what I can tell so far. She has also made incredible progress in getting her days and nights straightened out this week. For the past few nights, she has slept really well. Last night I fed her at midnight, then she woke up again at 4:00, and again at 8:15. Hey, I can work with that! She's starting to have her eyes open a little more often during the day, to the great delight of all her brothers. Speaking of brothers, Jonathan has progressed from calling her "that guy" to "my baby" (actually, to be accurate, "MINE baby"--he speaks sort of a King James English). I have actually tried to take more pictures of her, but for all her even-temperedness, she is not a very cooperative model, LOL! She always waves her hands around at the last minute, turns her head, screws up her face, or something, so there really aren't any great pictures. Sorry Aunt Claire! I'll keep trying though--a mother's love and all that. Off to nurse again!

A Family Picture

Here we all are, just a few hours after Anna was born. I haven't even been moved upstairs to the postpartum ward yet! Grandma and Grandpa brought all the boys to see their new sister for the first time. Nathan and Luke were excited to see the baby, but Caleb and Jonathan really wanted to see me. Awww. That melts a mommy's heart!

I think I look like I'm feeling pretty good here, and you know, I was! And I still am. It's amazing the difference between having your first child and having your fifth! If only you could have your fifth one first! LOL! I remember going to visit my friend Elizabeth after she had her fourth. Nathan was about 9 months old at the time. I asked her how she was feeling, and she said something like she wasn't ready to do jumping jacks, but really she was feeling pretty good. And I clearly remember thinking, "She's lying!", since I could very distinctly still remember how I felt a few days after having had a baby--like my whole nether region had been through a meat grinder, and I could barely sit down, not to mention how exhausted I was. But as I have discovered myself, she wasn't lying! One of God's little gifts to moms of more than one, I guess!

In other "Anna" news, she had a really good night last night. Obviously posting about my troubles here got her to shape up, LOL!

Anna Claire

Here's a picture of Anna. She looks like Caleb did as a newborn. We're settling in nicely. She is still a little mixed up as far as her days and nights go. She is really alert from about 1:00 AM until 3:00 AM, but she only wants to sleep all afternoon long! We're still working on all that. The boys just love her. Jonathan is so funny--he calls her "that guy", and he never uses any feminine pronouns. So he'll say things like "That guy has his eyes open." He's funny. Caleb is very particular and only calls her "Anna Claire". Luke is enthralled with her; he by far is the most interested in her every move. Nathan likes her, but he's not gaga or anything. LOL! It's been fun dressing her in pink. She actually has a much nicer complexion than the boys ever did--no pimples or anything--and she looks surprisingly cute in pink! Who knew?! Time to nurse again . . .