Busy-ness and baby stats

What a weekend.  We had a DiscipleNow this past weekend, plus a children’s ministry day at the nursing home, plus Abigail’s birthday party.  It ended up being more hectic than originally planned because the girl who was supposed to teach the girls at the D-Now backed out, and I ended up doing it kind of last minute, leaving childcare up in the air both for my kids as well as the kids of the worship leaders; we had told them that I could care for their kids all weekend.  So Clay and I bounced back and forth between caring for kids and teaching students all weekend.  But, although exhausting, it was good.  I think the students all had a good time, and overall it was a good first event for us here.

Abigail had her first  ever “friend party” on Sunday, with 7 kids plus our kids. I made cupcakes and mixed different colors of icing and set them out with some sprinkles and they all decorated their own cupcakes.  She opened her presents and they ran around the gym playing with the playgroup toys and had  a great time.  Very low-key; I think some of them, especially the parents, may have been underwhelmed.  Oh well.  That’s the kind of party you have when your parents are making two house payments.  She took some pictures with her new camera, and as soon as we have the right equipment to install the software onto this computer, we’ll get her stuff up.  Keep watching out on my blog, because eventually I’m going to let her do her own page on my site with her own pictures and stories.

Then this morning we finally headed to the doctor for some well-child visits and overdue shots.  The stats are as follows, because I know you’re all on pins and needles to know them:

Samuel:  5 1/2 months, 18 pounds (75th percentile), 26 inches (about 45th percentile)

Elisabeth:  24 months, 25 pounds (25th percentile), 33 inches (25th percentile)

Abigail:  6 years, 42 pounds (25th percentile), 44 inches (25th percentile).

Other than Elisabeth’s skin issues, which we finally got prescription-strength stuff for, and Samuel’s bad cough, which doc said not to worry about, everyone is healthy and good to go.  We’ll find out Catherine’s status in June at her checkup.  Oh, and by the way, my little man that everyone swoons over because he’s so good–he got two shots today and DID NOT CRY!  He actually laughed at the first one because the nurse tickled his leg as she stuck him, and he’s so incredibly ticklish.  He didn’t laugh the second time, but he still did not cry, or even fuss.  He really is the baby who never cries!

So that’s our life these past few days.  I’d like to say that after this weekend things will be slow for awhile, but I know better.  I had a stretch of empty weekends that are already filling up like crazy.  Such is the life, right?

My big boy

Samuel went back to the doctor for his 2-month checkup yesterday (a little late, but better late than never, right?)  He weighed in at a whopping 13 pounds 6 ounces!  He measured 24 inches long!  He is on the 75th percentile for both weight and height.  He’s definitely a healthy little dude.  He was proclaimed healthy and good to go in all areas.  He got two shots and an oral vaccine, a first for any of my kids.  He handled himself much better than his sisters, who all got flu shots and acted like they’d been shot.  (Thankfully they have an awesome daddy who took time out of his day to come help me with this “shot extravaganza!”)  We fixed those boo-boo’s with the cool ice cream treat I found at Target, which also happens to be called Shots, believe it or not.  It’s a knock-off of Dippin’ Dots which Abigail begs for everytime we go to the mall.  So between the Shots and the cool band-aids, they all felt better pretty quickly.

We also picked up pictures of my sweet little cowboy yesterday, and I think all who see them will agree with me that he’s the cutest little cowboy ever.

That’s about all the update I have without jumping the gun on something I hope to be able to share on Sunday.  Hope you all are well and that you’ll be hearing good news from the Hall house in a few days.

He passed!

We had Samuel’s follow-up hearing test yesterday, and he passed with flying colors in both ears.  Cross that one off the list!!  Thanks for the prayers.

One month and a busy weekend

Samuel hit the one-month mark last Tuesday. We celebrated by having his picture made, which wasn’t exactly his favorite thing to do. But we got a few really good ones, and I can’t wait to get them back next week and take them to show off in Somerset. He went to the doctor Friday for his one-month check-up, and amazed his Mommy with his new stats: 21 3/4 inches and 10 lbs 10 oz!! He’s grown 2 inches and gained almost three pounds since birth!! He may be our first big baby; our girls have all been on the smaller side, especially Elisabeth, so it’s really strange to go from one who’s doing well to be above the 5th percentile, to one who’s already at the 75th percentile!! But at least we know he’s healthy!! Also, the doc said not to worry about the whole hemoglobin thing; we’ll retest at 6 months and most of it is cleared up by then, and even if it’s not, it’s not a huge deal. So it was a pretty positive doctor visit.

On Thursday night, my Mom and Dad arrived for a short visit. Mom and I managed to fit in a little shopping on Friday, of course. We had a good visit with them, saying goodbye on Saturday morning, then after a little rest, Clay’s Mom and Dad came in Saturday afternoon for their short visit. Clay and I squeezed in a date on Saturday night, taking advantage of free babysitting, and went to see Fireproof. It was, as I’m sure you’ve heard, a good movie. Steve and Claudia got to go to church with us on Sunday as well. They left this morning, and now we’re just in serious weekend recovery mode.

Samuel continues to have his fussy moments, which are sometimes fussy hours, but I think he’s gradually settling down some and showing glimpses of being a happy baby. He has slept 4-5 hour stretches several nights now, just not in a row. The past few nights have been kind of rough with both him and Elisabeth crying a lot at night, but they will surely both get comfortable soon and let their mommy get some sleep. I continue to dream of a day when we put our kids to bed and they stay there and stay quiet until morning. Surely that day will come–if not while they live at home, then at least I can look forward to sleeping all night once they all move out!!

I guess that’s about got us updated for now. We go to Purdue for Samuel’s hearing re-screen on Wednesday, so I’ll let you know those results as soon as I know them.

Just 10 more days until we get that boy on some Bluegrass soil!!!

Samuel over the past few weeks

Finally, finally, some new pictures.  It’s basically a showcase of his different outfits since he looks pretty much the same in every shot, but I know these grandparents back in Kentucky.  They want pictures, pictures, and more pictures.  We don’t care if they all look the same!!  So here you go, and remember, you’ll get to see him in person soon!!