Savannah Turns 9

Savannah has been looking forward to her birthday for months.  She loves a good party and her birthday gives her the opportunity to have one.  We've been talking about what to do for her party for weeks and decided upon a cupcake party.  This will not come as a surprise to anyone who has seen Savannah's bedroom recently.  When she took over Lindsey's old room, we decorated it with a cupcake theme.  Savannah decided to carry that theme over to her party.  She had a "cupcake war" party.  The girls were separated onto teams where they were given prepared cupcake batter.  They got to add whatever they wanted to the batter and then we baked them. While the cupcakes were baking, the girls got to decorate aprons, open presents, and play games.  When the cupcakes were baked and cooled, the teams got to decorate.  They were very creative and had fun.  Thanks to Duncan Hines who makes various frosting flavor packs you can add to frosting-- it added to the fun and I didn't have to make various flavors.  Savannah had a great birthday.  She got a lot of nice things, including a new pair of high heels!

We are so grateful for Savannah.  She is definitely unique and all girl.  She loves being a mom to her younger siblings and also a teacher.  Her room is full of whiteboards and school books.  She is a joy to watch grow and she is so helpful.  Happy Birthday Savs!!

Ashlyn's Surgery

Ashlyn was born with a small cyst above her right eye.  I took her to a couple of doctors when she was two months old, they both concurred that it would have to be removed.  I was much more comfortable with one doctor and chose him to do the surgery.  He wanted to wait until she was between 9-12 months old, then she would be bigger for the anesthesia.  Meanwhile, the cyst was getting bigger.

In the middle of October, I felt like I should call and make an appointment.  They had an opening for that weekend so I took it.  This meant that Ashlyn had surgery while James and the girls were in Italy.  It was a little nerve racking for me as I worried about the risks of the anesthesia.  Our amazing home teachers came and gave her a blessing the night before.  Ashlyn and I headed down early the next morning.  She couldn't eat for six hours before surgery but she was happy.  When they took her in they told me it would be about 30 minutes.  As the time progressed to over an hour, I started to worry but remembered her blessing and knew she was fine.  They finally came and got me after an hour and twenty minutes.  The doctor asked if I had been worried that it was taking so long.  I admitted I had been.  He explained to me that they had had a problem getting the IV in, it took them 13 tries before they hit a vein.  He then showed me the cyst and talked about the surgery.  The cyst was much bigger than I thought it would be.  He told me she had a small indention in her skull because it was pushing into her head.  Other than the IV problem, everything went smoothly.

I went back to see her after she woke up and they let her cry for a bit to get the blood circulating.  She was not happy but I think it was more because she was starving and she had braces on her arms to prevent her elbows from bending.  The braces kept her from touching her eyes.  She had to wear the braces for a couple of days.  Other than frustration of not being able to get the binky to her mouth, she didn't seem to be bothered at all by the surgery.  She is back to her old self and happy as ever.

I have often thought about parents who go through much more difficult situations-- where the anesthesia is the least risky part of a surgery.  How grateful I am that we are blessed with healthy children.

Trip to Italy

Heather and Savannah were lucky enough to be off track when James had to go to Italy to a dental conference.  It is the same conference he and I attended last year.  When the opportunity came around again, I was unable to go because we have sweet Ashlyn.  James didn't want to go alone so he took Heather and Savannah.  Worried that the girls would be bored or lost during the dental conference, I encouraged him to take his parents along to help watch the girls while James was busy.  The five of them set off for ten days of Italy.

They all had fun together.  From what I've heard, one of their favorite things was the hot chocolate they had in Florence.  They also had fun at the leaning tower of Pizza.  Savannah says her favorite thing was eating and seeing all of the "amazing stuff."   Heather also liked the food and spending time with her dad.

Getting ready for Halloween

Halloween is always a fun time of year.  Because we have three birthdays in the month of October, we especially look forward to this time of year.  It usually takes a couple of days to get all of the Halloween decorations put up inside and outside.  Ashlyn didn't seem to mind the spookiness at all!

Ashlyn and Savannah

Savannah and Ashlyn (or better known around here as Savs and Ash) have a special bond.  Since the day Ashlyn was born, Savannah would race home to see her.  Usually she would wake her up from a nap to hold her.  Their bond has grown stronger and stronger.  Savannah can always bring a smile to Ashlyn's face.

Luke is 15

Luke's birthday came and went with some excitement and fanfare.  Birthdays tend to be a little calmer when they are on Sunday which Luke's was this year.  James came back from early morning church meetings to help serve Luke breakfast and then he opened his presents.  Shopping for Luke's birthday this year was the easiest by far.  Luke went online, picked out what he wanted, ordered it, and it was shipped to our front door.  I merely had to provide the credit card and approve the spending.  I admit there wasn't a lot of thought put into it by me, but at least I knew he liked what he got and he had fun doing it.

I have probably mentioned before that Luke has a friend who shares his birth date and another friend who's birthday is two days before.  Because these young men all live in our same neighborhood and share many of the same friends, they usually have a party together.  This year was no exception.  The weekend before their birthday, everyone showed up at our house for a party.  With teenagers you just have to provide food and supervision so the parties are easy.  They have a good group of friends who have hung out together for years.  The group has gotten bigger as they entered junior high but they still have a great time.  I have enjoyed watching them grow into remarkable teenagers.

How grateful we are for Luke.  He is an example to all of his younger siblings and a big help to us.  It is fun watching him grow into a young man.  He is a bright, out-going, happy teenager.  He definitely keeps us busy trying to keep up with him.  Happy Birthday Bud!

The birthday boys-- Chandler, Tyler, Luke