Oh MY!!

Holy CRAP!! A whole month has flown right past me and I haven't updated or posted a thing to our blog since the 1st of the month. What is my problem??? Oh yeah, I failed to mention that we had something every weekend in March and we all got ear infections AGAIN!! I think that we are doomed to never be well or escape these nasty infections. It was so miserable at the Sandman house that we didn't do a thing for a week. This is the first week that we were back among the living. I am praying that we stay this way for a few more months. I hope again that you all are staying healthy.

In addition to the sickness, Derek's class is to host the WP Alumni banquet this year and of course he hasn't helped get it off the ground so I have spent several days getting the letters ready, and have begun the organization of this ordeal. And I also recently created my P.E.O. chapter's yearbook with Word and ClickBook (way cool software to create brochures and planner pages and things of that nature).

And tonight we enjoyed a pancake supper at Rainbow Promise for Haylee and Alexa's preschool fundraiser. I flipped hundreds of hot cakes!! And the girls each performed a song of their choice for all of us to see.

Noah's Walking

YEA for Noah, he took his first steps on his own Wednesday, February 27th!! We were all so excited and cheered him on; he loved it. Now if he would just continue to walk on his own, but crawling is so much faster (I guess). And as many call it; the Frankenstein walk is the cutest ever. I will get some photos taken so that I can post too. But we couldn't let one more minute go by without sharing the news.

It is a new found freedom for him. I am also quite thrilled for him, but that means that he is growing up. It happens so quickly.

More illness?? Please NO...

On the 10th of February, we had Noah dedicated and enjoyed a wonderful family gathering afterwards. By this time, Haylee was continually coughing her brains out. Then on the 12th, I took Noah to McCook by 7 a.m. MT to have the tubes inserted into his ears. I am thinking, great, things will get better now!! Well, Derek and I take off for our vacation (the first in four years) on the 13th and the kids are all coughing, but I was sure that it was just the common stuff going around. Well by that afternoon, Haylee and Alexa had vomitted and Noah was still running from the nose and ears! This is not the ideal situation for the grandparents. And not probably the best time to be on vacation, but what can you do? You had booked this months in advance and who knew that the kids would get the junk again?? Only this time to find out that all THREE have ear infections. Haylee's was the worst, followed by Alexa and then Noah. Bless my parents for taking all three to McCook to see the pediatrician and get some answers. After a couple of days on antibiotic the girls were better. Noah was still very sick. So we decided to lay very low for the remainder of the weekend and on Monday Noah was still very ill. So after a couple of phone calls to the pediatrician; she prescibed an oral antibiotic in addition to the ear drops that Noah was already taken. She said that we should see an improvement within three days (I sure hope so). Oh, I also failed to mention that Derek was sick the entire time we were on vacation and he thought he had ear infection too. So, off to the clinic on Monday for him; and yes, he had it too. I am continually praying that I will be spared so that I can continue to take care of all my sick ones. Therefore, we are not going anywhere this entire week to insure that we can be well. So, to the sadness of the girls, that means no preschool, AWANA or MOPs this week. And we love everyone of those activities. But I figure that if we can't get well, how can we stop spreading all the junk??? I hope everyone else is staying healthy.

Too Many Ear Infections!

YIKES, Noah just completed his 5th ear infection and upon seeing the ENT today, he still has fluid in his ears! I realized that we don't go to daycare or have children in school yet. So how can Noah have so many ear infections? Well according to the doctor, I have my own daycare at home! I should have known this since there are 3 of them running around. Noah is completely miserable and needs to be held all the time. The doctor says that he will be even more mobile after tubes than he is right now. I don't think this is possible since he is by far the busiest of them all at this stage in babyhood. But, I'll believe the doctor and go with him on this one. I did ask if we could please get the 3rd surgery free (he didn't find this as funny as me). After all, Haylee and Alexa had their tonsils out :-) I thought it was a great question. At any level, Noah is not a happy camper because of this fluid so he will be getting tubes in two weeks. I am praying that he won't have any more infections between now and then. But just in case, the doctor gave us antibiotic to get us through.

New Teeth, Old Teeth

New teeth, old teeth. Red teeth, blue teeth. One tooth, two teeth. I feel like I should be writing a Dr. Seuss book...
As many of you know, Haylee surprised us with permanent teeth on her 5th birthday. And then about 6 weeks later another tooth. YIKES!! She is too young to be growing permanent teeth. And this is what the dentist said too. Usually, kids start closer to 6 when they get the big teeth; not in Haylee's case. In fact, she was getting the new teeth and not losing the baby teeth because they were coming in so far back behind the baby ones. And they are 1 1/2 times the size of the baby teeth HUGE!! Having a mouth full of several sets of teeth isn't fun!! So, after a trip to the orthodontist and several to the dentist; Haylee had THREE teeth pulled on the 17th. Now her large teeth will have a place to go. And we will begin annual visits to the orthodontist. Who knew that these trips would begin sooo soon!! Not me. I decided that this is coming from Derek's side, not mine.

New Years Resolutions

Well I resolved to not be so uptight with my kids when they are continually fighting. But I can't seem to let it go. I do encourage them to solve the issues themselves, but I am always the referee. I guess that goes without saying. It's a Moms job. I don't like to though.

I had also hope that we would stay healthy with the New Year. That got thrown into the toilet too. Derek came down with influenza for 2 to 3 days before he actually could return to the feedlot again (with medical help of course, this is how you know he was REALLY sick). Noah's nose keeps running and Ms. Alexa has been running a fever. I spent 3 nights on the couch so that I could avoid the illness and ended up with a bit of a cold. I spent more time with cleaning products then I planned too. But we are on the mend trying to regain the energy and strength before the sickness storm hit our home. I am praying for a better week and more especially a healthy one.

Word to the wise, get flu shot! Derek wishes he would have.

Happy New Year!!

Our family would like to wish each of you a very Happy & Prosperous New Year. We are so thankful for the gifts from above and are blessed to have such an awesome family and great group of friends. Thank you for your many blessings. May you all be blessed in 2008.

The True Meaning of Christmas

I almost forgot to share this awesome story with you all. Probably the week or two before Christmas Haylee looked at our Christmas tree and noticed that there was a really neat ornament of baby Jesus in the manger and Mary and Joseph on each side. She asked if that was baby Jesus and I said yes. And then she noticed the angel at the top of the tree and said, "Mom, that looks just like the angel that told Mary she was going to have a baby"! I said, "yes, it does and I would imagine that the angels did look alike". I couldn't let another day go by without sharing that special moment. She knows what the true meaning of Christmas is and with the reinforcement from preschool and AWANA and Sunday school she has absorbed it all!! I feel truly blessed that my children are learning so much each day, not just in the world, but from God too. The circle begins to feel complete doesn't it!! I hope that Christmas was special for all of you as it was for us. And Alexa just thinks that Christmas is so much FUN!!! She can't wait for it to roll around next year.

The New House (finished)

These are the photos from outside to show the finished look of the house. We moved a couple tree rows and while I was watering I took photos of the outside. The photos are from the top: the front; the back (the little shed out is the old fireplace area that was built to house the small pipe and above that is the original upstairs; everything to the left of that peak is new); a nice view from the west looking at the garage and office windows; and then the view from the east (the left two windows are the kids rooms and then the door is into the kitchen). We even got our lawn started!! That was a very busy 4 weeks of constant watering. As many of you know that while your building/remodeling a new spot you don't always have the funds to put in underground sprinklers, so I am the watering crew (if you will). We feel pretty fortunate to get the lawn started so the kids can enjoy it next summer and not have to play in the dirt. But I am guessing that Noah will probably prefer the dirt over the nice soft lawn. Alexa will always prefer to play in the mud because it is so much fun! And Haylee would rather be clean most of the time. I will try to get some finished photos of the inside so you can see how we chose to finish the look. That will be tricky since we have three kids that love to make messes! And as always, when you are in the area please stop in to see us.

Alexa turns 4!!!