Cousins

My sister and her kids came down for a short 24 hour visit yesterday. Her kids were off from school due to Teacher Convention so she kindly made the journey down to see us. I was a naughty mom and took Zach out of school for a half day so he could spend some time with his cousins. We enjoyed the afternoon together by hanging out downtown Naperville with some gorgeous fall weather. Thanks for coming Sian!

Dayna & Kiera taking on baby duty with miss Lindsey. She fortunately was willing to let them hold her without any crying. A big step for her!




They were running up & down the hill. Kiera is missing in this picture but you can see her in the background still rolling down the hill. They had a great time! Plus they earned a few extra dollars for Naperville's old school candy store, which was our next stop.





all the boys


















the cousin's posing... what a great shot!

8 months today

Lindsey is 8 months today!

Although she is looking older, not too much has changed in the past month. She continues to get stronger and is slowly using her lower body strength to move around on the floor. She has been evaluated for services and has qualified for physical therapy which is starting this week. A physical therapist will be coming once a week to work with her. It should be interesting, as she is currently a bit too much like her older brother, Zachary, as she cries at absolutely everybody. He was the same way as a baby. But hopefully she will warm up to the therapist and be a willing participant in the sessions.

So far she seems to be my best eater as she loves all and any baby foods, which hopefully continues for a while. She is also figuring out how to self feed herself with cheerios which is a fun new task!

weekend in Indy

We were down in Indianapolis this past weekend visiting Marks older brother, Chuck and his wife Jackie. They have two kids & a third one on the way that is due early November.

We were blessed with fabulous weather, actually it was unseasonably hot for October. In the morning we headed out to this adorable pumpkin patch that had pumpkin painting, pony rides, a tractor hay ride, petting zoo, train ride, etc... They even had live music. The kids loved it and my boys just love spending time with their cousins!















An afternoon hike in the woods.


















At the campfire roasting marshmallows & making smores. A must when camping out.


























The older kids camping out in the tent. They had a ball and loved it!

Lindsey Lu at 7 months

7 months today.
She's getting stronger & bigger everyday, which is a good thing, as her brothers are always wanting to hold her & cuddle her. She fortunately adores them just as much and gets very excited when they give her attention.

She's slowly developing at her own speed and beginning to roll her way around the floor. Our next milestone we are working on is sitting up, but I fear it might be a while before we get there. This one is definitely developing at her own pace.

Lindsey's update

I am so relieved to say that Wednesday September 8th has come & gone, as yesterday was our day for Lindsey's appointment with the Neurologist.

I am so happy to report that the appointment went really well. The neurologist was a super nice guy & spent a good hour with us talking about Lindsey and thankfully, alleviated all of our fears.

Without going into all of the details, he thinks she is doing well and doesn't think their is a need for further diagnostic testing (like an MRI or a CAT scan). He spent quite some time examining her head & measuring it, as the size of her head compared to her weight/body size was listed as one of the concerns for the referral. She is still little (below 20% for weight) and still has a big head (which all of our babies have had, I say the bigger the head, the bigger the brain :-), but her head measurements are not off the charts and he thinks developing appropriately. He does however think she could be about 4-6 weeks developmentally delayed with her motor skills and recommended we have her evaluated for PT services, which we already are in the process of doing.

So all in all a very positive appointment. He wants to see us back in about 4 months just to check on her one more time, but then after that her case with him will be closed!
I appreciate and am thankful for friends & family who have expressed concern and prayed for us during this time.
Lindsey is just such a blessing to us and adds great joy our family!

Cameron's off to preschool... yes!

Cameron's first day of preschool was yesterday! Don't know who was more excited about preschool starting, me or him? I was definitely ready for him to start & I think he actually was too.

Its funny how each of your children can be so different when they hit new milestones. As with Zachary, we have had and continue to have major tears and separation anxiety with every new transition. Cameron, however, walked off yesterday into his classroom without saying goodbye or even looking back at me. Ironically, Zach happened to be with me for the drop off as he didn't have school yesterday and said, "wow Mom, Cameron didn't even say goodbye or cry." It was a wonderful teaching moment to be able to say, 'yep Zach, that's how its supposed to be :-)" And I thought to myself, 'and this is how its supposed to feel when you take one of your children to school.'



Brothers... the older brother proudly helping him pose for the exciting day ahead.

A chilly Labor Day

After the super hot summer we have had it was a bit of a bummer that the final official weekend of summer wasn't the perfect beach weather. We normally plant ourselves on the beach all weekend, but not this year so instead we enjoyed some other activities.



We hit the Sheboygan County Fair, which is full of fun things to do. It includes tons of animals and carny rides.
My parents also came for a night on their way back from a few days away in Door County.









riding the rides











Mark on the Ferris Wheel with the boys














The boys on the dragon ride which they both loved.















Our parents. Aren't they a beautiful bunch?


Our best shot in an attempt for the "perfect family picture." Didn't turn out as good as I
hoped, but oh well. Try again next year.










One thing the chilly weather was good for was for lots of time in Mark's Mom & Dad's new hot tub!
the boys loved it and went in there several times a day.