It has been a standing joke that I've been sleeping with the UPS guy and that's why Ella has red hair. So the other night at the dinner table Dustin said, "I wish I knew the name of that UPS guy you've been sleeping with."
Josh said, "His name is Bill."
And we all laughed hysterically.
Now tonight...
Dustin: So, Josh...how often does Bill come over?
Josh: Oh..I don't know.
Dustin: Does he come over twice a week?
Josh: Yup.
Dustin: Is he cute?
Josh: Nope.
Dustin: Is he nice?
Josh: He's a psycho.
Can't make this stuff up guys...well,...maybe Josh could.
On my own again
Dad is officially back home and I am on my own again. Right now I in the middle of Ella's "cranky time" (every night between 7 - 8:30 she's fussy and inconsolable which her pediatrician is totally normal) and twenty minutes ago Lauren walked into the family room with a poopy diaper in her hand. It was her own and she was showing it to me all proud because she had taken it off herself. HOWEVER, she had gotten poo all over her shirt, her leg, her pants, her sock and her hands. It is moments like these I miss that extra set of hands even more. Or at the very least...someone to laugh with after the disaster passes.
Thursday night Dad and I took the kids out to a park since it was such a beautiful night. They had a blast and Josh was quick to make friends with other kids but poor Lauren was devastated her big brother had found other friends to play with. I felt so bad for her because she kept running behind him yelling, "Josh! Josh!". Once mommy jumped in to play with her all was well with the world again.
We got some super cute pictures of Ella, too!
Then Sunday was Ella's baptism. What a day! It was so nice to get the families together, as always. Once we got past the cake disaster and fiasco at church we got to focus on the reason to celebrate: our little Ella!
We are extremely thankful that so many people traveled to be with us for her baptism. But I cannot thank one person enough; my Dad. He helped me get ready for the party all week and pretty much cleaned my house from top to bottom for me. He has always been so supportive and helpful and I cannot even begin to find a way to thank him enough.
Thanks again, Dad!!
Josh is doing well and unless I told you he had surgery you would never know otherwise. I swear we were home a matter of three hours and he was up jumping around like nothing had happened on Thursday. We are so thankful that everything went to smoothly and are grateful for the excellent care he received at Mercy Hospital.
I went to pick him up from school yesterday and needed to tell his daycare bus driver that he would not be going with her. As we waited a group of girls came up and waited by us.
Me: Josh, do these guys go to your daycare, too?
Josh: Mom, those aren't guys. Their women.
Me: Well...my mistake.
He kills me!
Then on Saturday we walked in the house and dad has just mopped the kitchen and foyer floors and the smell of Pine Sol filled the air.
Me: Boy, it smells good in here, huh?
Josh: Mom...that's the smell of cleanliness.
Seriously. I was both offended and impressed by his vocabulary at the same time.
Hope everyone has a great week ahead of them!!
Thursday night Dad and I took the kids out to a park since it was such a beautiful night. They had a blast and Josh was quick to make friends with other kids but poor Lauren was devastated her big brother had found other friends to play with. I felt so bad for her because she kept running behind him yelling, "Josh! Josh!". Once mommy jumped in to play with her all was well with the world again.
We got some super cute pictures of Ella, too!
Then Sunday was Ella's baptism. What a day! It was so nice to get the families together, as always. Once we got past the cake disaster and fiasco at church we got to focus on the reason to celebrate: our little Ella!
We are extremely thankful that so many people traveled to be with us for her baptism. But I cannot thank one person enough; my Dad. He helped me get ready for the party all week and pretty much cleaned my house from top to bottom for me. He has always been so supportive and helpful and I cannot even begin to find a way to thank him enough.
Thanks again, Dad!!
Josh is doing well and unless I told you he had surgery you would never know otherwise. I swear we were home a matter of three hours and he was up jumping around like nothing had happened on Thursday. We are so thankful that everything went to smoothly and are grateful for the excellent care he received at Mercy Hospital.
I went to pick him up from school yesterday and needed to tell his daycare bus driver that he would not be going with her. As we waited a group of girls came up and waited by us.
Me: Josh, do these guys go to your daycare, too?
Josh: Mom, those aren't guys. Their women.
Me: Well...my mistake.
He kills me!
Then on Saturday we walked in the house and dad has just mopped the kitchen and foyer floors and the smell of Pine Sol filled the air.
Me: Boy, it smells good in here, huh?
Josh: Mom...that's the smell of cleanliness.
Seriously. I was both offended and impressed by his vocabulary at the same time.
Hope everyone has a great week ahead of them!!
First surgery
Well we are home from the hospital and Josh and Dustin are all cuddled up in his room watching Space Chimps. He did AWESOME!!!! I mean...AWESOME! The nurses were just ooing and awing over him and as we were getting ready to leave the main nurse came up to him and told him that he is the best little patient she's had in a very, very long time.
When we got there they brought us back to a room and ironically it was the exact same room I was in when I had my gall bladder out. Josh thought that was pretty cool. So we got him changed and opened up the goody bag Mercy gives all children patients and he immediately put his new hat on.
The nurse had to give him a nasal spray treatment before surgery and warned is that it was going to be pretty unpleasant. He took it like a trooper and acted like it was no big deal. They gave him some Versed and pretty soon we gave our kisses and he was off! No tears...from him or me!
Twenty minutes later we were talking with the doctor about how the surgery went and another twenty minutes later they brought us back to him. He was pretty sad and uncomfortable but the nice nurse set him up with a little more morphine and a healthy stash of popsicles and apple juice. That was honestly the worst part from a parent's perspective...just watching him cry and be in discomfort. Oh man...that was tough.
After 45 minutes he was more like his ol' self so out came the IV and a quick wagon ride out to the truck and we were heading home!
In preparation of the surgery Josh got to rent a ton of movies and pick where we went for dinner last night. He picked Chuck E. Cheese and reluctantly I agreed. I figured we can suffer for a few hours since he was going to suffer today. The kids had a ball...and Dad and I popped some Ibuprofen as soon as we got home.
Other than that not much else is going on. Ella is growing like a weed and becoming more and more interactive each day (which makes nap time that much more sweet). And she love, love, LOVES her mobile on her swing. It's too funny to watch her become mesmerized by those things!
Dad is here this week and helping me with the kids and preparing for the Baptism. It's been pretty hectic and I honestly feel like I may be losing my mind. I'm guessing that my recent memory problems are more due to the fact that I just have a lot on my mind this week.
Well, off to play mother/nurse/maid/chef!! Thanks again for all the prayers!!
When we got there they brought us back to a room and ironically it was the exact same room I was in when I had my gall bladder out. Josh thought that was pretty cool. So we got him changed and opened up the goody bag Mercy gives all children patients and he immediately put his new hat on.
The nurse had to give him a nasal spray treatment before surgery and warned is that it was going to be pretty unpleasant. He took it like a trooper and acted like it was no big deal. They gave him some Versed and pretty soon we gave our kisses and he was off! No tears...from him or me!
Twenty minutes later we were talking with the doctor about how the surgery went and another twenty minutes later they brought us back to him. He was pretty sad and uncomfortable but the nice nurse set him up with a little more morphine and a healthy stash of popsicles and apple juice. That was honestly the worst part from a parent's perspective...just watching him cry and be in discomfort. Oh man...that was tough.
After 45 minutes he was more like his ol' self so out came the IV and a quick wagon ride out to the truck and we were heading home!
In preparation of the surgery Josh got to rent a ton of movies and pick where we went for dinner last night. He picked Chuck E. Cheese and reluctantly I agreed. I figured we can suffer for a few hours since he was going to suffer today. The kids had a ball...and Dad and I popped some Ibuprofen as soon as we got home.
Other than that not much else is going on. Ella is growing like a weed and becoming more and more interactive each day (which makes nap time that much more sweet). And she love, love, LOVES her mobile on her swing. It's too funny to watch her become mesmerized by those things!
Dad is here this week and helping me with the kids and preparing for the Baptism. It's been pretty hectic and I honestly feel like I may be losing my mind. I'm guessing that my recent memory problems are more due to the fact that I just have a lot on my mind this week.
Well, off to play mother/nurse/maid/chef!! Thanks again for all the prayers!!
Big Sister Lauren!!!
This was her FIRST time holding Ella!!! She did great!!! Although...when Ella started screaming she covered her ears and said, "Owie, Mommy!"
Too cute!
Easter
We started our Easter preparations on Friday. When Dustin got home from work on Friday we decided to sit down and dye our eggs. Boy, oh boy. That was a new experience for Lauren and she's lucky I'm not the kind of mother who is scared by a little permanent dye.
Josh had fun mixing the colors and seeing what different shades we could create. It's always fun to see his mind working and learning.
Then Saturday I went into work for awhile and then we met up with our friends from Omaha for an Easter egg hunt. Man did the kids have a blast!
The had three legged races, egg tosses and the traditional "Egg on a spoon" race. It was such a great afternoon activity and the weather was absolutely perfect. Then we had a nice lunch on the other side of town and came home for a nice nap. It was the perfect day!
Then Sunday morning we got up for church. You know me and dressing my kids for special holidays - I go all out. So I got the girls matching dresses, a new suit for Josh and a tie that matched the girls. Of course I love to document my achievements so I was hoping to get a nice picture of them all together.
Yeah...I'm not going to tell you who didn't cooperate. I let you see for yourself.
Take #1
Take #2
Take #3
So I finally said, "FORGET IT!" and settled for two out of three.
Church was absolutely wonderful. Can I tell you how much I love our new church!?!?! The music is always beautiful, the message is always applicable to our daily lives and it all contributes to this feeling of being spiritually fed. And that's something we had been missing for some time.
Then of course we joined everyone over at Larry & Toni's for Easter dinner. Yum-o!!!
After dinner we had the Annual Bricker Easter Egg Hunt and of course the kids had fun!
Of course we had to grab some photos of the kids and guess who wouldn't cooperate. I know...you're shocked, right?
We hope everyone had a blessed Easter because we certainly did!
I do want to put in a quick prayer request. Our little Joshie will be having his adenoids out and his nose cauterized on April 23rd. I know it is completely routine and I'm not really nervous about the procedure...I'm just worried about him. He will have to be put under general anesthetic but it will only be outpatient surgery. So if you could think of him in the next few weeks I'd really appreciate it. He's pretty excited at the thought of not having nose bleeds all the time...and so are we.
Josh had fun mixing the colors and seeing what different shades we could create. It's always fun to see his mind working and learning.
Then Saturday I went into work for awhile and then we met up with our friends from Omaha for an Easter egg hunt. Man did the kids have a blast!
The had three legged races, egg tosses and the traditional "Egg on a spoon" race. It was such a great afternoon activity and the weather was absolutely perfect. Then we had a nice lunch on the other side of town and came home for a nice nap. It was the perfect day!
Then Sunday morning we got up for church. You know me and dressing my kids for special holidays - I go all out. So I got the girls matching dresses, a new suit for Josh and a tie that matched the girls. Of course I love to document my achievements so I was hoping to get a nice picture of them all together.
Yeah...I'm not going to tell you who didn't cooperate. I let you see for yourself.
Take #1
Take #2
Take #3
So I finally said, "FORGET IT!" and settled for two out of three.
Church was absolutely wonderful. Can I tell you how much I love our new church!?!?! The music is always beautiful, the message is always applicable to our daily lives and it all contributes to this feeling of being spiritually fed. And that's something we had been missing for some time.
Then of course we joined everyone over at Larry & Toni's for Easter dinner. Yum-o!!!
After dinner we had the Annual Bricker Easter Egg Hunt and of course the kids had fun!
Of course we had to grab some photos of the kids and guess who wouldn't cooperate. I know...you're shocked, right?
We hope everyone had a blessed Easter because we certainly did!
I do want to put in a quick prayer request. Our little Joshie will be having his adenoids out and his nose cauterized on April 23rd. I know it is completely routine and I'm not really nervous about the procedure...I'm just worried about him. He will have to be put under general anesthetic but it will only be outpatient surgery. So if you could think of him in the next few weeks I'd really appreciate it. He's pretty excited at the thought of not having nose bleeds all the time...and so are we.
All about Ella
Sorry it's been two weeks since I've posted any pictures but as you can imagine...life is pretty hectic around here. I've been working part-time down at the office on top of everything else so that just adds to the chaos.
Anyway, excuses, excuses, right? I know what you're thinking....."GIVE ME SOME BABY PICTURES!!!!"
All right, all right! Calm down!!
Ella is doing great!! She is still the sweetest, little thing EVER! However, I do have an appointment with the pediatrician on Wednesday because I'm afraid she has the same reflux issues that we had with Miss Lauren. She's been more cranky than usual, the spit up is really getting worse and she doesn't like laying flat. Those were all the same signs I had when I figured something was up with Lauren, too. So hopefully we'll be able to get some medicine for her so it won't hurt anymore.
Other than that, she is so very patient. And can you believe that at exactly four weeks old she's mastered the art of raising her hand when she wants something?!?!?
HA! It would be nice if that were true, though!
The kids are still enamored with her and Josh has not gotten tired of holding her either.
And neither have I. There is nothing more rewarding for me right now than sitting in the recliner and holding her. This is what I look at for hours a day...
And it's the happiest I've been.
Anyway, excuses, excuses, right? I know what you're thinking....."GIVE ME SOME BABY PICTURES!!!!"
All right, all right! Calm down!!
Ella is doing great!! She is still the sweetest, little thing EVER! However, I do have an appointment with the pediatrician on Wednesday because I'm afraid she has the same reflux issues that we had with Miss Lauren. She's been more cranky than usual, the spit up is really getting worse and she doesn't like laying flat. Those were all the same signs I had when I figured something was up with Lauren, too. So hopefully we'll be able to get some medicine for her so it won't hurt anymore.
Other than that, she is so very patient. And can you believe that at exactly four weeks old she's mastered the art of raising her hand when she wants something?!?!?
HA! It would be nice if that were true, though!
The kids are still enamored with her and Josh has not gotten tired of holding her either.
And neither have I. There is nothing more rewarding for me right now than sitting in the recliner and holding her. This is what I look at for hours a day...
And it's the happiest I've been.
