Break's Over

Selah has been relatively tame lately-limiting her destruction to things like crayons and paper and books. Today, however, she assured us that she hasn't lost her knack for quick and disastrous destruction. Bryan planted 80 plants from seed to do the border of our flower beds back in March. He's faithfully watered and cared for these plants. He even took them to work to give them plenty of sun and keep them safe. (He has a big window with multiple ledges.) This evening he was preparing the flower beds to plants the flowers and Selah and Micah were playing in the tent in the yard. Near the plants. And, as usual needed more than a normal amount of supervision. Like they (or at least Selah) literally need a keeper. So they did,of course, dump the plants. 22 of them. Which amounted to about half of the good ones. Poor Bryan.

And then he brought them in, bathed them, and put Selah in her room. Where she ended up crying herself to sleep. Before dinner. Since it was almost 7 and they had a big, late snack, I didn't even wake her. Hopefully she isn't up too early tomorrow!

Micah Loves Soccer

So much so that he wants to sleep with his soccer ball. He's incredible, he even does drop kicks ...barefoot! Then there's his frisbee skills. He has a throw that is so razor sharp he can take you out. And today he was introduced to basketball. Oh boy. Another new love. He's an incredible natural athlete. Maybe he'll get a college scholarship...

Does it Get Any Better Than This??

Strawberry Muffins

We had strawberry muffins for breakfast today. While I thought they were good, I don't think they are anything I'll be craving. The kids,however, were blown away. Jonah ate 10 and Noah ate 6 before I realized it and stopped them. The little two each ate 3. In other words the kids and I ate two dozen muffins. For breakfast. Good thing the recipe made 3 dozen so Bryan will get to try some!  I'm curious, though, if the outstandingness was at all effected by the fact they didnt have breakfast until 930...and normally eat at 730.

First Broken Bone.

Noah fell off his bike today and managed to obtain a buckle fracture. We debated bringing him in,  since after a few hours he still wouldn't use it, but he wasn't in a ton of pain. Then I was opening a toy package, with those annoying zip ties, and i slipped and stabbed myself in the wrist with the box cutter. So we thought we may as well both go in. I'll spare you the pictures of my wrist (which I got off easy with glue and a tetnis shot) but here's a few of Noah and his arm. Red arrow points to the buckle. There's a fracture there,too, but it's hard to see for us normal people. He has a temporary splint until he sees an orthopedic surgeon but the doc says he's likely to have an over the elbow cast. Hoping for a waterproof one so he can still swim.

Caution: Low Flying Aircraft

Currently we only have KC-135s and A-10s stationed here these days. But every now and then fighters come in for a day or two. Today we had a visit from an F-16. Hard to get anything done with him flying around, seeing as how we all just want to watch him fly!

Helpers!

What could be better than 2&3 year old helpers?

Good Bible Study!

You know your 2 year old had a fun day when he takes a sip of his drink,refuses his food, and promptly falls asleep at dinner. Too bad my 2 year is 32 pounds and not the most comfortable lap buddy! He sure is sweet, though.

Trouble's Shadow

I was cleaning the bathroom and I heard a chair being pushed through the kitchen. I wasn't too worried as Bryan was in the kitchen doing schoolwork. But when I came out to check, I found this little guy checking out the contents of the cupboard. He's not as nimble as Selah who needs no help to climb on the counter but he is resourceful enough to bring a chair all the way over from the table to climb himself up there. Guess she's teaching him well.

I'm mad!

Mommy won't paint my fingernails, only my toes. She says that I'll eat the nail polish off my fingers. I tried to tell her I don't eat PINK nail polish but she doesn't believe me!

Sweet Noah

He made our bed for mother's day. What a thoughtful child.

That's Selah

She made a mother's day card this morning. (Hence the colored legs.) And she wasn't allowed down until her toes dried...so she had to find some kind of trouble. The blue stuff is the boys' hair gel. I really can't expect any less.

Sleepy Mikey

If the tv goes on in the afternoon or we go for a drive...he WILL Fall asleep. Hoping he'll still sleep tonight!

Selah Loves Toothpaste.

Green Eared Dog

Jonah made this puppy at co-op a few weeks ago. And took the picture. I thought it was a cute "pose," and that he did a good job.

Good and Bad

The good is I should get to actually watch the first half at least of Bryan's soccer game since the little two don't have to be kept track of.
The bad is that bedtime might not go well tonight...

I think I'll just enjoy the peace for now.

Mud

It was 40something and raining at Jonah's game this week. Miserable. The little two couldn't resist the temptation of the puddles even in the cold, though. And had I known how muddy they'd get. I'd never have allowed this. But they had a blast and went home naked. And I even got some video though it won't post.

Creative Kids?

I was very sad to start the day yesterday by breaking my butter dish. (Which just broke as I picked it up!) Not only did I love that butter dish but I really hate broken glass! And I didn't even notice the kids who climbed on the island to see what was the matter until after I took the picture.  Guess they knew they'd get yelled at if they tried to come over and see. At least they stayed out of the glass, I suppose.

Seriously Selah?!?

She just drank water out of the road. It 's really not surprising we're always sick. And then she says, "Eww, yucky!" No kidding.

Monkey Again.

Jonah's artwork.

Big Brother Noah!

Noah loves to show off his reading ability to anyone who will listen these days. Selah and Micah were the audience on this occasion. He was reading a Dick and Jane book. So sweet.

Daddy's Lunch

Could you imagine opening your lunch bag and finding your 3 year old? I can't believe she can fit so well!

Jonah

Too cool to smile nicely these days.

Noah

Obviously he stamped himself. One can only guess as to why.

Super Cool!

Sailing

It worked much better for Noah (40#s) than Jonah (72#s). Personally, I think it's a bad idea, but seems I'm the only one. Pernaps this is because I usually do the ER runs. And get to pay the bill.

Just In Case.

They're in prime position just in case the ice cream truck might come by. Apparently they don't realize they need money for that?

No Words.

I think this speaks for itself.

Easily Entertained.

Daddy gets a new "toy" and kids pull up chairs.

Beautiful Day!

Perfect for breakfast outside! (And maybe some haircuts?!? yikes! Shaggy headed kids!)

I Stuck!

Jonah was kind and took Micah to swing. And he got stuck. Poor child, good thing he's so easy going and understands "wait just a minute! I'm going to get Mom!"

Self-sufficient Selah

She got herself breakfast this morning. Apparently, I wasn't fast enough, never mind it wasn't even 7am. Not the healthiest breakfast- Cinnamon Chex and Macademia Nuts. But really, it could be worse. Especially considering it's Selah!

Lego Pool

Selah's swimming in Legos this morning. I think we may have too many. And i just love Micah's innocent face.

Unrelated, this morning i heard commotion in the kitchen and this was the following conversation:

Me: what are you guys doing?
Micah: Selah has tomatoes!
Selah: SHHHHHHH!

At least one kid is still honest to a fault.

10 minutes later...

While she was in her room thinking about what she did wrong, she snuck out into Micah's room, climbed the shelves in his closet, got the basket down and dumped gross smelling lotion all over. No, I have not cleaned up the lipstick yet. Yes, I need a nanny. It is virtually always her fault that Bryan comes home to a frazzled wife, no dinner, messy kitchen, no clean laundry, and carpets that need to be cleaned.

Today's Selah Adventure

Lipstick.
I haven't cried...yet. and I haven't beaten her...yet.
And I need to update on all the stuff she did last week. Shes been on fire the last couple of weeks. What was my reasoning against daycare again??

Somethings Never Go Away

Like feeling disappointed to see an A- on the top of a paper with your name of it! It's actually just my blood type written on the top of the script for my glucose test and antibody screen/rhogam injection. But for a second I was taken right back to school days wondering where I lost points. And on a side note, crazy to think we're closing in on that point in the pregnancy already! Mr Elijah is 23 weeks along! 16 and a half and counting...

News Stories on EE

Interestingly enough, twice in about a month there have been news articles about children suffering from Eosinophilic Esophagitis- what Micah has been diagnosed with. We saw his GI today, first check up for him since he was diagnosed at the end of January. (But I won't expound on my frustration with that!) Doctor was happy that Micah was growing along the same curve and seems to be doing better. I expressed concern that we weren't certain that the steroids were making a difference that maybe it was only the PPI (Proton-pump Inhibitor) that was making the difference. So he suggested removing the steroid and seeing how he does. He said his goal is to make Micah as comfortable as possible on the least amount of drugs. Good, that's what we want, too! But it seems like that is the only thing we agree on. Well that and the fact that frequent scopes aren't high on the list, especially since they use general anesthesia. But as his parents, we want to attempt to find the food(s) causing the reaction and eliminate them and perhaps he can live a normal, healthy life without ANY drugs and just a more restricted diet. His GI seems to think that is unlikely. He also has stated while we will monitor his numbers (the number of eosinophils in the esophagus) and continue to watch for damage in the esophagus, he doesn't really think numbers are a big deal . How the child feels is more important (hard to truly know with a 2 year old!!) And we agree it is important to watch for visual clues of improvement or decline...but we want to see improvement in numbers. The doctor stated basically that many GI docs will be very concerned with gettting the number to 0 and he thinks that is unecessary. Why? to prevent future damage. Well, sir, to be honest...that's why we care. He's 2. We are thrilled to have caught this so early. But we feel that gives even more responsibility to get it under control while we still can! He even directly said to me that he feels it is more important to directly focus on and treat the symptoms. And THIS is exactly what is wrong with the medical commuunity these days!!!!!

So, we are in the process of having Cincinnati look at his case and praying they will take him as a patient. Bryan and I both feel that they are a much better source of information and treatment and really want to feel like we have doctors more concerned with helping our child, not drugging symptoms!

As for Noah, I think I forgot to mention he tested negative for EE. (Which you probably assumed from the lack of info!) Milk is definitely a no way, but he is doing much better without the milk in his diet. However, we are still having a lot of issues with him and he saw the GI today, too. He wasn't too concerned until he saw he lost weight in the last 2 months. They didn't say how much and the kids were not well behaved today during the appt so I wasn't of the right mind to ask. But, he had blood drawn and said if that is all normal he's not going to worry at this point. I'm so desperate for answers, whatever they may be. I'm just one of those people who needs to know. Suspense kills me. In movies  and in books...and tremendously more so in real life!

So here are the links to the stories if you are interested- this is what we want to prevent!

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/18/health/feeding-tube-allergies/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

http://www.andersoncooper.com/2012/03/22/a-boy-allergic-to-food/
This second link is mostly 2 video clips and admittedly very dramatized. Not downplaying the severity of the disease for this child, I just thought the videos were kind of cheesy- but also show how damaging and life threatening this can be.

Sleepy Mickey

Mr Micah fell asleep on the couch this afternoon. He's just so sweet.

Finally An Artist?

We are a very unartistic family. To the point of patheticness, really. But today, Selah and Micah are painting. And Selah tells me she made a rainbow. Micah says nothing, just hands me a paper. Believe it or not, Selah (who is 3.5) did the one on the left. And Micah (who is 2) did the one on the right. Selah is following the path of her older brothers and her parents. But Micah? We're  impressed. May not be a true artist...but compared to the rest of us, it's shockingly good!

March 2012

We took the kids over to the church and got some fairly good shots a few weeks ago. I did manage to get them mailed off to some of the family so now I can share with everyone.

...the prayers of the saints went up before God...

Revelation 8:4

 The Wilhelm Kids.

March 2012

Jesus, show me the way.

Dear Lord, Please tell Mom I don't need Math!

Hey God, Did you see that Lego church I made today? Pretty cool, eh?

I'll say a prayer if you let me light a candle...

Dear Lord, NO MORE SISTERS. Amen.

...and a pony...and a new baby doll...

Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God, from the belly of the fish.

Can I light another one? I'll say another prayer!

120 years to build the ark??

Selah, curled up with the Good Book.

R.C.C.M.

Really Cute Christian Missionaries

Oh, those aren't for me?

Here, Jesus, I stole you Selah's flowers!

Trouble and Trouble's shadow.

If you hang on the handle long enough, it just pops open!

Noah- 6.5 years

Selah- 3.5 years

Jonah- 10 years

Micah- 2 years

He doesn't know it yet, but I traded him my peas!

Love is in the air? Where?

Best Friends... for the moment.

Shaken, not stirred.

I couldn't sleep. I needed a snack and fresh air.

That's MY ball, thank you very much!