Happy Birthday Jayde!!

Happy Birthday Jayde. I can't believe you are 8 years old already. It doesn't seem that long ago that you were a little baby! Your dad and I are so blessed. We have enjoyed watching you grow and learn and turning into the girl you are today. We love you Jayde and we are so proud and glad to have you as a daughter! I love this picture of Jayde with her brothers and sister, she looks like she is just having so much fun! :)

Happy Birthday Doug!

Happy Birthday to my husband!!

November seems to be a crazy month for us. Not only is it Doug's birthday today, tomorrow it is Jayde's! Then there is our anniversary and Thanksgiving...which happen to fall on the same day this year. I always feel like I'm go go going, but especially at the end of the year!

So anyways, Happy Birthday Doug! The kids and I are looking forward to sharing your special day with you!

Busy...

What is number 6 going to be like? I'm hoping she'll be a easy laid back baby, but knowing my luck I'm sure she'll be keeping me pretty busy just like her brother's and sisters. Last week Doug and I took the little guys (Jaxon and CJ) to my doctor's appointment. I think it helped them feel more involved in the whole process. They got to listen to the baby's heartbeat. My OB is great, he got down to their level and was playing with them and he asked Jaxon what he thought the heartbeat monitor was and when Jaxon said he thought it was a phone he played right along with him. So Jaxon got to "talk" to the baby through the heartbeat monitor. It was pretty cute, especially when my OB pretended to be the baby and talk back to Jaxon. Anyways, though Jaxon and CJ thought they were pretty darn special that they got to talk to the baby. We have finally picked out a name for our little girl, one that we both agree on. Cassandra Diana...though the kids all call her baby Cassie for short.

So anyways, baby Cassie is looking good. I went to see the specialist on Tuesday and so far the Antibody E doesn't seem to be affecting the baby in any way. We really like our specialist. It cracks me up that as soon as we get any questions or concerns out of the way Doug and him get into all sorts of interesting discussions (most that have nothing to do with our reason for being there). We have definitely lucked out in the doctor area here.

Anyways...since the kids didn't have any school today due to it being Veteran's Day, I figured it would be a good time to try and get our Christmas card pictures done. I recruited my mom to give me a helping hand (along with my step-nephew) and we headed to the park. Why is it that the oldest child is the most difficult one to get a decent picture of? We had to work really hard to get Doogie to give us a "real" smile and not one of those fakey cheesey ones. My step-nephew actually really came in handy for that since he started doing goofy things behind me to get the kids to laugh. The picture you see is one of my many attempts, I don't think it turned out too badly (and I still haven't gone through them all.)

Playing Catch Up Again

Halloween has come and gone and we are already into November. Time does fly and November is a busy month for us. We have Doug and Jayde's birthday, Thanksgiving and our anniversary (which happens to land on the same day this year). I also need to get my rear in gear and get Christmas presents made and shopped for.

Keeping my fingers crossed as well that November brings good health to our family. The kids all finally seem to be over (except with a little bit of a cough leftover) from the crud they had a week or so ago. CJ had tested positive for the flu and they put him on tamiflu (which worked wonders for him). He was definitely one sick little guy, with the high fevers and cough. Thankfully though he didn't have any seizures with his fever which I'm hoping means he has outgrown that stage in his life. Jaxon was also on the tamiflu since he was starting to have the same symptoms as CJ, though we didn't have to get him tested.

We were able to get everyone half way healthy (barely) in time for Halloween. The kids had a blast trick or treating this year. CJ had talked about his bucket, getting candy and saying trick or treat weeks in advanced, he was so excited when he actually got to do it! After every house Jaxon would turn and look at me and ask if we were still going to trick or treat! After going around our block the two little guys were worn out from the walking so Doug took them home while I stayed out with the three oldest, we were also trick or treating with some friends of Jayde's and they all had so much fun together. I think I was just as worn out as the kids when we finally headed home with their buckets full. So now we have way to much candy in our house and I'm having a hard time resisting it! Darn candy is going to make me huge!

Speaking of getting huge, the baby is doing good. I go in later today for my appointment with my regular OB and then go back in to the see the specialist next week. The kids are starting to get more excited about the baby, now that my stomach is getting more noticeable. The girls especially are always coming over and patting my stomach and saying "hi" to their baby sister.

So anyways, nothing super exciting to report. Just trying to keep everyone healthy and keep up with all the kids!