Ring around the Rosey...

We have an extra couple of girls with us for a couple of weeks while their daycare provider is recovering from having a baby...Bailey and Mallory used to go to daycare with the boys and I worked with their mom at First Fed....so they are going to be playing with us for a little bit while Amy recovers from having a baby girl:) The boys are really liking having Bailey around...here they all are playing Ring around the Rosey...it was TOO cute:) also, here is a pic of Ashley Jo..she has the army crawl thing down and she was under the chair playing...now the fun begins:)

Easter 2008

OK...I know I am behind the times, but better late than never, right??? Well the reason I am so behind the times is because we had to cut our Easter celebration short because the kids were coming down with something...turns out Elliott got croup AGAIN!!! and Ayden and Ashley both have running noses and slight coughs...I swear it will never end, huh???? I just wish we could get past all of this cold weather stuff so we can start feeling better, and then I can open up the windows and air out this house!!!! we need some fresh clean air around here:) so I have been busy tending to sick children, and not just mine, but my daycare kids as well...Jamison & Samantha got Infulenza A, and Caleb has been coughing as well...KIDS!!! oh well...I think we are all on the mend though...so anyway...here are the pics from Easter, the boys did have a good time hunting eggs, even if they were a bit on the crabby side from not feeling good!!! Maybe next year it will be warmer and we can get outside and hunt!!!:)

Fun with Friends

Our friends Trent, Susie and their son Brayden came to stay with us last week and we had tons of fun!!! Mike and the boys (Nick & Ben) came over for supper one night and we just had lots of fun chatting and catching up:) we don't get to spend nearly enough time with our friends from college, so it was great getting a chance to spend lots of time with them...plus all of our kids like each other, so it is a definite bonus:) We can't wait to get up to see Trent and Sue and Brayden & the new baby (Ashley has high hopes for a girl!!! see what you can do about that!!!) sometime soon:)

Bathtime

Here are our kids enjoying bathtime:) they love their new tub!!!

Chris is feeling a little bit better!!! It is just hard for him to stare at the computer at work all day, so he is still having a lot of pressure and pain with the eyes...hopefully that will reduce as the days go on...also he says his vision is OK, but still not where it should be...I guess we will just have to wait it out a few more weeks and see how things improve!!!

We didn't do a whole bunch this weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Lansink came up today to play and help me celebrate my b-day, we did lunch and then some shopping:) The kids loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa again and didn't want them to leave, but they had to go feed the cows...MOOO!!!!!:) Grandma and Grandpa also brought us our treats from their trip to Mexico...the boys got cute little drums and t-shirts and Ashley got maracas and a cute little Mexican dress...I got a fabulous bowl for some chips:) and a beautiful bracelet, and Chris got a very nice Tequila set with some shot glasses ( that ought to take the pain away!!!)

All in all it was a good weekend....Our friends Trent, Sue & Brayden are coming this week from Minneapolis to stay for a few days for a funeral:( But the bright side is that we get to see them and the boys will get to play with Brayden, he is exactly 3 months older than A & E, so that should be a fun time!!! I will post some pics of play time when I get a chance this week!!!

The last couple of days...

Have been very crazy around here...it all started on Saturday when Chris woke up complaining of a headache and blurred vision...so he went to the doctor and they said it was a sinus infection...On Sunday, the vision continued to deteriorate and we went and spent a lovely evening in the ER, to which they said yes it is a sinus infection, and gave him some pain pills and told him to check in at our clinic on Monday if it wasn't better...Woke up on Monday, no better, so went to the doctor...he sent him to the eye doctor, who said that yes it could all be from the sinus infection, however he wanted to keep an eye on him...well Tuesday (my b-day) he woke up and was miserable and couldn't see any better, and was actually worse!!! so he called the eye doctor who sent him to the Jones Eye Clinic, who ran test and said that his left eye looked swollen and that he thought he was losing his vision and that he needed to make an appointment with a neurologist who specialized in eyes down in Iowa City at the University of Iowa Medical Center...they scheduled it for 8:30 Wednesday morning....so we took off on Tuesday night, and drove to Cedar Rapids and stayed with Chris' sister and brother-in-law (some birthday celebration for me, huh???)

The boy's got to stay and play with their cousins (they had tons of fun) and we left to get some answers!!! So long story short, he has Optineuritsis, which is basically a swelling of the optical nerve...they ran tests because this can be caused by high levels of spinal fluid or tumors, but everything came back clean, so they say that sometimes this just happens...his vision should return in about 4 to 6 weeks, as of right now it is just in his left eye, his right was okay, so hopefully this will get better soon!!!

I just wanted to keep you all up to date and let everyone know what is happening, hopefully now that we have an answer we can get him better as soon as possible!!!

On a lighter note, thank you to all of you for your birthday wishes!!! I appreciate it so much:) Love you all!!!

Twin Conversation....

Yesterday was a little chilly here in Sioux City, but the sun was shining so that was nice, anyway...I had opened up the front door and just had the glass door shut to let some sunshine in, and the boys decided to eat their snack in front of it after their nap...here is the conversation that followed...

Ayden: Hi, Kitty...
Elliott: where kitty???
Ayden: outside
Elliott: where???
Ayden: outside
Elliott: where???
Ayden: outside
Elliott: where???
(get the picture...this went on for a little while!!!)
then frustrated, Ayden finally said...Kitty, outside!!!
then they both just looked at each other and started laughing...!!! not quite sure what was so funny, but none-the-less, they were amused!!! hmmmm....I have a feeling that these conversations are going to becoming more and more frequent...it is really too cute:)

anyway...just wanted to share the ramblings of 2 two-year olds!!!

Bathroom Update

George and Jane, Chris' parents were here this weekend to help finish up the bathroom. I will get some shots of it and post soon...it is not totally completed yet, but they got the tub and the surround in, plus the cabinet with the new sink, the floors are in and grouted and we also have some paint on the walls!!! we will get there, slowly but surely:)

also here are some pics of our silly kids from this week:)

Sunday mornings...

So it is Sunday morning, and of course my children do not realize that they are totally allowed to sleep in on Sundays, so of course we are up at the crack of dawn...but the boys really like to watch Mickey Mouse on Sunday mornings, so I snapped a few pics just a little bit ago of the boy's dancing to Mickey...

Also update on Jo-Jo, she is trying to push up onto her knees, she can do it, but is not quite strong enough to hold herself there for very long, but it is only a matter of time, also she is soooo big and has started to feed herself crackers...yummy:) she loves them!!!

In like a Lamb...

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful here:) March really came in like a lamb this year, so we decided to take advantage around here and went on our first wagon ride of the SPRING!?!?!? It was lots of fun...the boys loved it as much as they did last summer and Ashley enjoyed her first ride!!! it was too cute and lots of fun to get out of the house for a while...I just hope this weather continues and we can keep getting out, now just get all the snow melted and for it not to be muddy and we can play in the back yard!!!:)