Our new additions

Meet #4 & #5 LOL

Bathroom sink

I hope we aren't the only ones with such a 'busy' bathroom sink LOL  It drives me crazy having so much sitting around, especially cleaning it all...but it's pretty much a necessity & I don't know that we have any other options.

New hair

Despite feeling awful since about midnight, Fri night, I continued on with our weekend plans and tried my best to act like nothing was wrong.   One of those plans included getting my hair done, so here are the cruddy cell pics.

Happy Birthday, sweet Savannah!!!

I can hardly believe my sweet girl is already 11yrs old!!!  It seems like yesterday I was 36wks preg, on bedrest & hoping she stayed put for a little bit longer.  She proved to us right away just how fiesty she is by arriving the next day.  My little peanut was 6lbs9oz, which is a good size for being a mth early.  I remember how tiny and sweet she was.  I loved dressing her in the little preemie outfits and watching her change and grow.  I still remember the day her daddy called me at work & said "you'll  never believe what she just did - she took her first steps!"  I was so sad that I missed it (though daddy did video it) but at the same time I was so happy that Kevin was able to witness it.  Those two have such a special bond & it's been really neat to watch the two of them over the years.  She can be such a girly girl, but she also loves watching StarWars, etc. with her daddy.

Happy Birthday, my princess.  You are an amazing young lady.

1-22

A couple of years ago I got really tired of looking for the kids GameBoy games, so I went to WalMart and bought a HotWheels over the door car holder and turned it into a game holder.  Each game slot is labeled & the kids have colored popsicle sticks with their names on them.  They have to check games in & out using this system and we've since added their DS games.  It's worked WONDERFULLY - no more lost games!!  (OASN: the empty slots with no sticks are games we lost in the wreck :sad)

1-21

1-21

Bought Sav's cake for her birthday party tomorrow :adore  She LOVES it - thinks she's too big for the candles and 'Happy Birthday, Savannah' business.  We'll see tomorrow if she wins on the candle front :giggle

1-20 Retail Therapy

1-20

Got up and started getting H, Layla & I ready for Grandpa's funeral.  I could only find ONE of my black dress shoes & ONE of H's black dress shoes :ugh  I turned the house upside down when H told me he didn't like them, didn't want them & had thrown them in the trash :uh :lmao  What else can you do???

I, being the tightwad that I am (:lol), only own one pair of black shoes, so we left early & headed to WP to shop at JcPenney's.  On the way over, I remembered this store called Shay's that we've been in a couple of times.  They sell brand name items for roughly 50% off.  I decided to stop there first and found some STEALS!

I rarely splurge, but I found THE cutest shoes that were originally $50, for $20 :faint  AND, then I decided to look at purses because my own black purse was ruined in the wreck.  I found a really cute one for $15 :faint

Never mind the mud still on my shoes,  I had other things on my mind :sad

Robert 'Bob' Hite

It's not a picture that I took, but in honor of my Grandpa :(

We had his visitation tonight & seeing him hit me alot harder than I'd let myself even think about.  Lots of tears, but lots of laughter as we sat around and shared stories & memories :adore

What's a mother of 8 to do....

when 7 of her kids have DS' & she's tired of looking for and replacing styluses?

Make stylus chains/holders, of course!

18th

1-18

Lots of pics today :)

The kids & I just went for our first ride in the new van.  What an experience that was.  I went out with Layla first & Savannah and Harrison were behind me.  I opened the door and asked Sav to lift Harrison in, which she does but then turns and steps away and before I made it back over he fell out on the concrete :(  He busted a tooth, bloodied his lip & got a bloody nose.  The nose freaked me out the worst.  For a few minutes, when he would cry, blood would spray out :scared

I finally got him all cleaned up and calmed down and Savannah settled down & we decided to try again LOL

Our second try was successful :D

The kids were a bit apprehensive at first, but as soon as we took off they were fine with it.  A couple of them commented on how different it rode and how it felt safer.  Kev had told me it did, but driving it was amazing.  It really did feel less wobbly & top-heavy.  I was so used to that rocking sensation in the old van & this one doesn't do that at all!  I don't know if it's just the stabilitrak or if the frame is different, or what.  The kids all said they loved it :adore

We just went for a quick drive to get everyone used to it before our long(er) trip to Springfield this weekend. 

Ok, ftr, I did have the twins fix their pads.  Sav IS buckled & Livy's headrest was lowered (temporarily) in an attempt to see Savannah LOL  Savannah wants a booster like Olivia's, so I'm gonna pick that up tomorrow or Thurs.

The van:

My loves :adore :adore :adore :adore :adore :adore :adore :adore

                               



Olivia :ugh :LOL

17th

Yesterday, Savannah & I enjoyed a much needed Girls' Day Out!  She's been having some issues (due to the wreck) and it did her good for the two of us to have some one on one time :adore

We went to Big Lots and picked up an ottoman that Kevin had bought when we were there on Thursday for my MRI.  On Thurs, we had H & L with us in the Jeep and couldn't fit it in.  So, we folded the seats down and picked it up.

We've had a shoe trunk for several years, but for whatever reason :uh  it doesn't hold all of our shoes any more :lol  Kevin found this leather ottoman for a STEAL!  It was originally $199, then they marked it down to $99 and the one WE bought had just a few scuffs on the backside (I think with some leather conditioner you won't even be able to see it) and was marked down to $30 :faint

We put it in the living room underneath the big windows and the kids are already loving crawling up their and reading, playing their DSi's, etc.  You lift the cushions and there is storage underneath.  Voila.  New shoe trunk!!

16th

1-16

So, my birthday came a little early, plus we made a big decision that we're celebrating :adore

I am the luckiest woman in the world.  I'm certain of it.

I wish I had my camera :cry  My video cam takes awful pics & doesn't do these pieces justice - they're stunningly gorgeous :adore I LOVE them!

15th

Heard from insurance company re: settlement on old van. While it wasn't as good as WE hoped, our banker was impressed, considering current value.

Kevin & his dad will be driving 5 hrs (each way) tomorrow to pick up our new van.



We've found vans closer, but we're getting a crazy good deal on this one It's a 2009 Ford E350 12 pass...same as our old one, just a few yrs newer

14th

My two smallest lovies first thing in the morning

YES, that's Christmas stuff in the background. No, I don't normally leave it up this long, but ya know

Sweet Baby Girl (13th)

I can't believe my baby girl turned 10 mths old today!  She's getting so close to the big 1!!!

A bit behind...

So, let's catch up.....

I had my appt with the spine specialist & got GREAT news.  My neck is just fine & I'm now free of the collar!!!

Was told they suspect all pain in back is due to lots of muscular damage & ordered back on full regime of pain meds & muscle relaxers and given rx for physical therapy. Ordered brain mri & told to come back in 2wks if no improvement.

All pretty good news, UNTIL! We got ready to go to bed at 11pm & I take my m.r. Shortly after midnight I started experiencing the exact same thing that I did with previous m.r.....felt like I was having a heart attack. Went to ER, did the whole EKG thing & found out what I already knew based on side effects I'd read about online and experienced with the skelaxin, that it was another adverse reaction to the meds & I needed to make sure my dr's knew I was to no longer take skelaxin OR flexeril and they advised not trying another muscle relaxer either Got home shortly after 5am.

I'm so ready for this crazy rollercoaster to be OVER!!!

Yesterday

For yesterday:

It's not a good pic, but a funny moment captured :giggle

Olivia had indoor soccer practice last night, so we headed over into the other section to play. 

Kyra was wanting her & Layla to pose with the teddy bear for some pictures.  As soon as Ky sat down and Sav put Layla on her lap, Lay tooted really loud and everyone busted up :giggle  Yeah, we're all 13yo boys.

Sunday Sunday

Today has been a rather frustrating day for me. Sunday is one of my big cleaning/getting ready for the week day and my body just doesn't want to cooperate I'm trying to take it slowly and be patient with myself, but it's hard.

OAPN: the kids are great! They're still being a tremendous help to me.

Kyra being silly @ The Frescolns' house Saturday night

Livy & Layla playing with the kitty

For Saturday

I was having internet problems yesterday, so here is Saturday's post :)

Today was a great day! Some friends of ours offered to watch all of the kiddos for the day so that Kev & I could go out (if I felt like it) OR we could have a break and just sleep all day I dosed myself up and was feeling pretty good, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. We dropped the kids off at 11am & went out for Mexican food & then went to see Have You Heard About The Morgans? We enjoyed the movie and the alone couple time We picked up a couple of things we needed at WalMart and headed back to our friends' house. They said it was their turn to bring us dinner (the Baptist church had lined members up to bring us meals every night since we've been home ) and if we felt up to it we could stay and have it there....so we did! It was delicious, but I began to fade quickly and am now home trying to nurse my pains But, all in all it was a really wonderful day.

My computer is acting up and the site I upload my cell pics isn't working for me, so I'll use a Christmas Eve picture of the kids for today's pic

365 project

I'm a little delayed, due to the wreck, but I am going to start the 365 project and post a pic/story every day.

Our wreck on Christmas-day definitely has opened my eyes and given me a new outlook on life and I think this challenge will be the perfect thing to remind me of all the wonderful every day things that add up and matter so much.

I feel truly blessed & lucky that we survived the crash.

My first hurdle is to start taking, and allowing others to take, more pictures of myself..esp with the kiddos. It's something I've always hated doing, but after all this I realized it's something I now think is important to do for my kiddos. I have to get over this hang up.

So, here I am. No make-up & rather banged up but persevering.

Ignore the open game closet behind me

What a Christmas!!

What started out as a joyous day, ended in a traumatic event.  On our way to Kevin's aunts house we hit a patch of ice, slid and rolled the van 2.5 times before it finally came to a rest on the roof.  All the windows on the driver side were busted out & the windshield on Kev's side was totally smashed in - not leaving room for Kevin.  He was miraculously thrown to the right (was buckled in) and escaped being injured.  I was not buckled and was thrown into the back of the van and have been experiencing a lot of pain that has taken me to the ER and doctor numerous times (I see a spine specialist next week).  The kids escaped with pretty minor cuts, scrapes, bruises & concussions for what it was.  None of them cried, they all handled the situation very well.

It is very evident that we had a shield of protection around us and several angels guarding us.  We are so incredibly thankful that we all walked away from this.

You can see the video here