Happy 1st Birthday Aislynn!!

(Eating your Birthday Cookie with Frosting)

I can't believe that it was a year ago that I met you for the first time. You came into the world quickly once the doctor told me that the cord was wrapped around your neck and your heartrate was dropping. I pushed, breathed, pushed, breathed, pushed, breathed without taking the usual break in between contractions. After about 10 of these pushes in a row, you came into the world! You were so tiny...the tiniest of all 3 of my preemie babies.

I could already tell that you were different than your brothers. Your cries were not nearly as loud or as frequent. You were wide awake, but calm and serene for the first 8 hours of your life. Then you slept most of the night.

You've kept that same disposition for this first year of your life. You seem perfectly content to be along for the ride. As long as you're included, you're happy. Sure, you have opinions and you let us know them, but usually you are pretty happy and mild tempered.

I was terrified to have a third child. I thought that I couldn't possibly handle another person demanding so much of my attention and energy. Thank God that He knew better than me. My life would never have been complete without you in it. You are a gift from God that I desperately needed.

Sometimes it is scary to think about you growing up into a woman...this is even harder for your daddy. I can tell when he looks at you that he would literally eat burning hot nails if it meant keeping you from any pain or heartache. Ultimately, we will have to trust the One who gave you to us. My prayer for you is that your heart will always be captivated first and foremost by the God that created you. May you always know your beauty in the eyes of your Father.

We love you Sweet Girl. And we are so glad that you are part of our family!

Love,

Mommy

New Haircut

I got my hair cut and colored today. It took 2 heavenly quiet and peaceful hours of me sitting and having someone take care of me, for a change.

I no longer feel like an overworked and underpaid mom. At least not for the rest of today!!

Gavin's Interpretation

Yesterday, Gavin was sitting next to me while I was holding Aislynn on my lap. We were all having fun singing songs when Gavin got carried away and kept getting right up in Aislynn's face. Finally, she was fed up and put out her hand and pushed him away.

"Looks like she's saying that she wants you to back away and give her some space, Gav." I said.

"No mom. She's saying, 'I love you Gavin and I want to touch your face.'"

Caedon's a Heart-breaker

An adorable little blonde girl in Caedon's preschool class has a crush on him. She brings him drawings and notes everyday that she made at home for him, she writes that she loves him on her notes, she asks him to hold her hand. And he...well, he's completely clueless.

Last week, she brought him a picture that she had obviously worked for a long time to color (everything was colored in the lines and she had used about 25 different colors). "Here Caedon. I made this special picture for you at home." she said. "Huh?" Caedon responded, "Just go put it in my cubby."

When I picked him up and asked why his friend colored him a picture, he responded, "I guess I'm the only one who is nice to her." For the record, this is an adorable girl with lots of friends at school. When I asked if he wanted to color a picture for her, he said, "Sure. I'll color a Speed Racer picture so she knows what I like."

Today, when we got to school a little late, there were 5 pictures for Caedon in his cubby. Later during class, the teacher reported that the little girl wrote Caedon a note on some pretty paper with pictures of pink shoes on it. She even asked the teacher how to spell his name and wrote "I Heart You." When she presented it to Caedon, he took one look at it and said, "I don't want that. It's got girl shoes on it." The teacher said, "Caedon, I think that the message on the note is more important than what's on the paper." Caedon replied, "Well, I don't want a note with girl shoes on it."

Will he be this clueless when he's in high school?

Caedon's Hearing Test

Last week, Caedon had his 5 year check-up at the doctor's office.  Here is his conversation with the nurse as she tried her best to perform a hearing test on him:

Nurse - "Ok, Caedon.  Here is a special button that I want you to push every time you hear a noise coming through those earphones on your head.  Do you understand?"

Caedon - "All right."

Long Pause...........

Nurse - "Did you hear anything?"

Caedon - "Yeah...just a beeeeeeep."  (high-pitched noise)

Nurse - "OK.  Whenever you hear any noise, you need to push the button.  Let's try again."

Long Pause..........

Nurse - "Did you hear anything?"

Caedon - "Yeah....but it was a baaauuump sound." (low-pitched noise)

Nurse - "All right.  Caedon, no matter what the noise sounds like, you need to push the button whenever you hear anything, ok?"

Caedon - "OK"

Long pause............

Nurse - "Did you hear anything?"

Caedon - "Yeah, but it was coming from far away...I think it was in the other room."

Nurse - "Caedon, when you hear any noise, you need to push the button, ok?"

Long pause......

Caedon - (shouts out) "I heard a beeeep."

Long pause.......

Caedon - (shouts out) "I heard something!"

Nurse - (tries to control her laughter) "I guess we'll do this his way." And she continues the test with Caedon shouting out everytime he hears a noise.  

She finishes up the test and Caedon announces, "I'm done doing this now.  It's really boring."

On the Way Home from Grandma's House

"Look Boys.  There are sheep outside Gavin's window."  I announce.  Both boys start craning their necks to look outside.

"I see them!!" Gavin shouts.  "And they ARE sheeps!"

this is post by Dan...Emily will return shortly.

One of the gifts that Caedon and Gavin recieved was a set of Little Einsteins figures that have space helmets on their heads...basically fishbowl-like bulbous globes.  Anyway, here is the conversation that ensued after he put one in his mouth.

Caedon-  Ahhh...Oww!  I hurt my mouth.

Dan-  How did you hurt it?

Caedon-  I put this in my mouth and then it was stuck.

Emily-  you couldn't get it back out?

Caedon-  No!  I used all my opening-up power to fit it in there...then there was no power left to get it out.