Guilty!

Yesterday the kids were playing so well together.  They are such buddies, always following each other around the house. 

First, they were playing sleepover.

Next I found them playing doctor. 

Then they played quietly in their bedroom for awhile.  I wasn't sure what they were doing, until they came out and I noticed this...

Henry had a large chunk of hair missing from the back of his head.

I've been watching the occasional Columbo lately, an old family favorite, so I set off to solve the mystery.  Much like Columbo, I had my initial suspicions.  I just had to prove it.  In my search for evidence, I found this...

Exhibit A

Next, I needed to question the suspect...

And sure enough, Claire had some new bangs as well.

It didn't take much for her to confess.  She and Henry were playing, and in her words, "I thought it was okay because I'm 5-years-old now". 

Well, I'm afraid that will not hold up in court!

  I admit, Joe and I had a hard time not laughing at the situation.  We did, though, have a serious talk about the appropriate use of scissors.  Then, of course, we had to complete what she began, finishing Henry's haircut.

  

And for this Mommy Detective: Case Closed!

{ Valentine's Day }

Joe's pancakes

Claire's valentines

Five year anniversary of bringing Claire home from the hospital

Claire's 5th Birthday

Claire's Golden Birthday! 

She turned 5 years old on February 5th.

With an unexpected snow day, I was happy to have Claire spend her day with us. 

Perhaps the highlight was our visit with the "baby doctor", as the kids call her.

It was really neat to bring Claire in for a reunion almost exactly 5 years after Dr. L. delivered her.  I asked Dr. L. what she remembers from Claire's delivery.  She admitted that there are very few deliveries she remembers specifically.  After delivering so many babies, most of them blend together.  Claire's delivery, however, she will remember the rest of her life.  I called her in the middle of a stormy winter night.  She met us at the hospital, where she found I was preeclamptic.  I was 5 weeks early, but ready to deliver. 

She recalled how there came a point when Claire's heart rate dropped dangerously low.  She knew she had to get the baby out immediately.  As I was prepped for a C-Section, she had me try one last time to push and amazingly, Claire was born, wide eyed and wonderfully healthy.  Dr. L. still sighs with relief just retelling the events.  I'm grateful we can all look back on it with gladness.

And 5 years later, we celebrate with Claire, not only her birth, but her life.  Claire, of course, really wants to help us celebrate, so she took the liberty of drawing the cake she wanted me to bake for her birthday.  That was very thoughtful of her...

We celebrated both Claire and cousin Gracie's birthdays with a combined party.

Claire helped me decorate the dining room. 

She did a wonderful job.

The birthday girls.

The Sternbergs love a good lunch!

Grandpa helps Claire open her gift.

Grandpa's homemade "dominos" style game,

combines Claire's love for both puzzles and games.

The following week, we also had a nice lunch at the

Puplis home to celebrate Claire's birthday.

Grandma makes amazing cupcakes.  Almost too pretty to eat.

Grandpa playing with Henry.

As the adults talked around the table, we looked over and spied Henry laying on the floor, gazing into the eyes of his buddy, Bailey.  I wish I could have overheard that conversation!

The kids with Great Grandma. 

Omphalocele Awareness Day

How could I forget the one day dedicated to raising awareness for the condition that is very close to our hearts?  Sorry Henry!  Omphalocele Awareness Day was actually January 31, but a few days ago, Henry was walking around without his shirt on and he looked down at his stomach and said, "I have a beautiful belly".   That's what reminded me of his special day. 

Here he is showing off his muscles...and his beautiful belly.  

 

About 1 in every 6,000 babies is born with an omphalocele.  Of those babies, sadly, 25% do not survive.  An additional 50% have severe defects with their heart or other organs. 

I remember sitting in the room with the doctor after our ultrasound, hearing the worst possible diagnosis.  He believed our baby wouldn't live.  There were just too many defects, likely a chromosome abnormality. 

And that's why I love it when people ask me how Henry is doing today.  I love to say that he's doing great!  We're so grateful for the love and laughter he brings into our lives every day.  I can't imagine our family without him.

Introducing "Herm"

21 weeks.  That's how far along I am in my pregnancy.  I didn't make an official online announcement, and I haven't written much about it, but I'm happy to say that this has been a rather smooth, uncomplicated pregnancy.  Besides the typical morning sickness and the common pregnancy symptoms, I've really enjoyed this pregnancy. 

Looking back, it all started on my birthday this past fall...

I hadn't mentioned anything to Joe, but I was pretty sure I was pregnant.  So when I woke up that morning, I took a pregnancy test, expecting a nice birthday gift.  But the test was negative.  I was a bit surprised and disappointed, but I was determined to still enjoy my birthday.

Well, a couple days later, I was still feeling pregnant, and so I took another pregnancy test.  Sure enough, this time the test was positive.  Another baby!   

I wanted to surprise Joe.  For dinner I fixed him baby back ribs, baby baked potatoes, and baby corn.  I thought he would get the reference right away, but it wasn't until halfway through dinner that I finally asked him, "Don't you see a theme in tonight's dinner?"  After a bit of thought, his face lit up as he understood my announcement. 

In talking with our doctor throughout the pregnancy, she has maintained that there's no reason to expect anything other than a very healthy pregnancy and delivery.  But I suppose, after having such complicated and high risk pregnancies in the past, it's hard to really feel confident.  I have been nervous for the ultrasound since the day I found out I was expecting.  Two of the worst days of my life were days I had ultrasounds: the first finding that our baby had died, and with Henry finding what we thought were fatal defects. 

The big day came a couple weeks ago.  The ultrasound technician was a gift from God.  She was so sweet and very encouraging.  The first thing she did was to check for any sign of an omphalocele, and she quickly gave us the all clear.  She then checked for any major defects with the heart, brain and spine.  Again, everything looked good.  With that behind us, and feeling much more at ease, she went on with the routine ultrasound measurements and pictures.

The baby was awake and active, which was fun to see, but of course, it made it difficult for the technician to get a clear picture.  We did, though, see the baby wave to us with his/her little index finger.  And like Claire and Henry, this baby also had the hiccups.   Okay, enough of my jabbering, and onto the main feature - our sweet baby... 

Hiding from the camera, the baby's left arm covers his/her face.

There's that lovely face.  The left arm on the right side of the picture with the hand up by the ear.  And his/her face looking down toward the bottom left corner of the picture.

The profile.  I love that little nose.

I know everyone's next question: boy or girl?  Well as our technician put it so perfectly, that's between her and the Lord.  We're waiting to be surprised.  It's hard to wait, but so worth it!

And I suppose the other question you may have is who's "Herm", from the title of this post?  "Herm" is a combination of her and him, a loving nickname from Don and Lynn.  But don't worry, it's not likely a name we'll keep once the baby is born.  We're working on it! 

Pokagon 2014

This past weekend we celebrated our 23rd year visiting Pokagon State Park with my extended family.  It's always great to be there, but this year was our first year there since the death of my Grandpa.  We certainly missed him, but we know he'd be glad to see us all together, enjoying the tradition he and Grandma established for our family. 

 

First fun activity for the weekend: Grandma and Grandpa took

Claire and Henry on a bear hunt and look what they found!

A new generation playing cards and board games at Pokagon.

Father and son soaking in the warmth.

Breakfast with the family.

Celebrating Andrew's 5th birthday.

We missed having my sister and her family there, but maybe 2015! 

Ping Pong for the boys.

 

Claire's favorite activity: Craft Time with the Cousins

Henry picked out a plane to paint.

Claire chose a reindeer.

 

Henry's favorite activity: roaming the halls with his suitcase. 

Gearing up for the toboggan run! 

Making our way to the top of the hill.

The kids and I watched as Sylvia, Kelsey, Joe, Laura

and Mike flew down the toboggan run.

 

The kids both loved the pool this year. 

Claire was all over the pool, swimming with her cousins.

 

Enjoying time with extended family.

              Top Left: Grandma watching a video with the kids

              Top Right: my Dad, Gord (Grandma's friend), and Uncle Dan chatting

              Bottom Left: Cousins playing a game

              Bottom Right: Amanda, Evie, Great Grandma and Joe playing their

              annual game of Scrabble.

 

It's not too often we see Henry sitting so still. 

He must be reflecting on the fun weekend.

 

The kids did great and really enjoyed their weekend. 

At one point, Claire asked if we could stay forever and ever.  It's so special to have our children enjoy the same traditions that I enjoyed as a child.

The kids really loved being with their cousins this year.  Sylvia's old enough to take the younger kids under her wings, and they all played together so well.  Makes for an easy, relaxing weekend for the parents, too!

 

 

A New Year

 

A new year with much to be thankful for in 2013

and much to look forward to in 2014.