Breakfast

Well, we find out something that is more fun than moving in your first trimester with an infant, toddler, and 7-year-old instigator. When they are all sick. Strep test was negative, so it's just a nasty virus that has to run it's course. Fun stuff!
The two little ones just want to be held- which is SO unusual, & I just wish I could enjoy it instead of being annoyed. Life is so funny sometimes!
Well, this morning Noah fell back to sleep in my bed for an hour (Yay!) And when he got up, Jonah had already had a donut & yogurt & chocolate milk for breakfast. (Only becuase we are moving- I assure you I would not feed that much sugar to my kids normally.). Noah said he would just like a donut and chocolate milk for breakfast. But when I brought him his donut ( one he picked out at the donut shop, mind you!) He laid his head down and cried like his best friend had just died because he wanted one with powdered sugar on it, not chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Of course, to a 3-year-old, not getting the donut you want may be about as traumatic as losing a friend.
Long story short, he had Cheerios in chocolate milk for breakfast. Guess it wasn't as bad as it sounded as he had two bowls- and then asked for that donut he didn't want!

HELP!

I am looking for suggestions, all you moms (and dads) out there. We cannot get Selah to take a bottle. Never have been able to. (We waited to offer it too long- like 3 months.) We had this trouble with Noah, as well. But we were able to get him to drink out of a sippy cup -at 2 months old it was pretty funny looking. I was in school, though, so we didn't have a choice & it was only 2 or 3 feedings a week. It worked okay. Sometimes he would miss a feeding, but he was big and healthy so it was fine.
Well, tried that trick with Selah. Didn't work. She just chews on the cup like she does the bottle. And like she does a straw cup-although she does take an occasional sip from the straw. Today I even tried letting her sip it from a cup. That has had the best result, yet. But still resulted in less than a half ounce of consumption for 10 minutes of "sipping."
Now they say they won't starve, but I don't think that they have met Selah, yet. This child STILL cries herself to sleep at every nap and at night. It has been about SEVEN MONTHS of this. It took use 2 months of offering her cereal to get her to eat it. TWO MONTHS! And for the last 2 or 3 weeks it was 2-3 tries a day!
If you are wondering why this is such a big deal, well there are a couple of reasons. The first is that the doctor feels that it is imperative that I stop nursing because I am pregnant. And when I went in to my last appt, and admitted that I had not weaned her yet, I was told, I HAD to, immediately. The reason I hadn't weaned her? (Besides that she won't take a bottle?). Because my researched showed there to be ABSOLUTELY NO RISK to a healthy pregnancy. Certain conditions make it riskier, none of which ail me. So when she told me that I HAD to, I said, "really?" Not trying to be smart, just surprised because of my research. Her words were, "REALLY. Unless of course you don't care if you miscarry.". Okay, then. Way to make me feel like a bad mom! Of course I care! An unplanned pregnancy does not equal an unwanted child!
So I left her office upset and resigned to weaning. But by the time I got home and relayed this info to Bryan, I was determined to find SOMETHING that made this risky. There is nothing. Ther is no research that has been able to link nursing while pregnant with a higher rate of miscarriage. There is a slightly higher rate of premature delivery, and therefore the 3rd trimester is the riskiest. But I do not plan to still be nursing in the 3rd trimester. And even if I did, I HAVE NEVER GONE INTO LABOR! No matter how long we waited or what we tried, I have had to be induced with all 3 kids! I just do not feel that this is risky.
BUT... (There is always a but!) Turns out I'm not producing enough now. Often a problem during pregnancy. So I would like to supplement. Selah did not have a wet diaper AT ALL between 11 am and 10 pm, yesterday. Now we did go to Bryan's aunt's for dinner, but she hadn't had one before we left either. Obviously she is very dehydrated. So I have to do something, & don't know what. If you have any "tricks" that worked with yours, please share! I feel like we have tried all of the things they recomend- besides starving her. But even after 5 hours she isn't interested. We have multiple types of bottles and sippy cups. I am just out of ideas. And trying to move, so this is stressful and time-consuming. Neither of which I can spare! Thanks for at least having read this big long thing that is going to annoy Bryan!

Happy Birthday, Tammy!!!

We just wanted to give a quick "Happy Birthday" shout out to Tammy today! It is her 40th birthday, and I hope I look as good as she does when I turn 40!!!!! Hope it's a great day Tammy! You can visit her blog by clicking here.

(I mean, seriously, she looks 25, not 40!!!! I have more wrinkles than she does!)

Helloooooo!

I apollllllogize if I sound garrrrrbably, it is a bit hard to talk underrrrr the waterrrrrrrrr!
(Plus, I can't hear yet, and we all know how hard it is to talk if you can't hear!)
Alright, I will use my special gear in here to talk a little more clearly. I just wanted to introduce myself. I am the newest Wilhelm. I know, I know, you probably thought that the next Wilhelm was going to be a dog, but it looks like Dad lost that bet, yet again.

So most of you are probably a bit surprised to be seeing me already, but don't worry my parents were, too. But now that they have gotten over the shock of having to find a set of 6 stocking hangers for this Christmas, they are THRILLED! And I bet you will be as well! I mean, really, who doesn't love a set of brand new baby feet? (Did you see mine up there? Aren't they CUTE???-They are on the left for those of you who are a little confused. And my head is on the right, and I am lying on my back.)

(This is the view looking down on me- As if I am sleeping in that new crib Santa is going to bring me! Sorry they turn out so well, but I was so excited for my mom to see me that I couldn't stop moving! -And if you are thinking I look like a boy, well, that would be the umbilical cord, so don't get so excited!)
My brothers are excited, too. But they just found out about me a couple of minutes ago. (They don't keep secrets very well.) And Selah WOULD be excited, but, well, she's a bit too wrapped up with herself to really care what is going on with everyone else. That's a girl for you, I guess.
Well, my parents have promised to keep you updated about my journey to "life in the real world," so I am sure that you will be seeing me again soon. I can't wait to meet you all this Christmas!
Love,
Micah or Hannah/Leah
(Well, of course I know who I am, but my parents have to wait a couple of more months to find out. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for them!)

Selah finding trouble

Blessings in disguise?

We all know how stressful packing and moving can be. And when you have to decide what it going into storage and what is coming with, it is even more so. (Add in 3 kids and an extremely sleep-deprived wife, and well, I'll leave that to your imagination.)

So sometimes, instead of getting upset about things, it is easier to find the "blessing in disguise" and move on.

This is the freezer. Earlier this week it was full of food. And I have been stressing about using the food up as we will only have a small freezer attached to the fridge at the new house. Usually when we move we end up giving away hundreds (not exaggerating, it is a big freezer) of dollars worth of food away. I was DETERMINED not to do that this time. This time we had 6 weeks warning, and we were going to use the food up.

Or maybe, the door was going to get left open for a few days and everything would melt and have to be thrown away and solve my problems.

No, I wasn't thrilled throwing out 2 30 gallon outdoor trash bags full of food, but it eliminated a stress for me!

(And I was able to save a few things, and able to get it all into the kitchen freezer. This one is bigger than the new one, but we should be able to use up some of it and take the rest!)

Then, last night some heavy storms came through.

And some high winds today. SUPPOSEDLY, the wind gust were only going to hit 21 MPH. I promise you it was AT LEAST 70. I have never seen gusts like that before. And Bryan and I were lucky enough to watch our table literally take flight and then, well, crash land.

Notice the glass top came off the bottom, which is upside-down, and the chair is through the middle of the glass top that is no longer full of glass. And we all know how much I like to clean up broken glass...

And about 2 minutes later, as we are still gawking at the table, another huge gust comes and takes the grill.
Bryan believes that the grill is salvageable, though it did look like a line of some sort broke. And hopefully we can just buy a new table of similar size once we get where we are going.
Like I said...less to move and store!

Proof that Selah has hair.

This is what she looked like when she woke up from her morning nap, today.

Selah & Zip-It.

Selah was pretty interested in Zip-It, kept poking him in the eye.

A bit behind again...

I have a few pictures and lots to say (not that I am saying it anymore!) but not enough time, as I am TRYING (very unsuccessfully) to get ready to move in just over a week. So, I hope that once we have settled, things will be better than normal since I will have a mere fraction of the space to clean and keep up with! And I have to say, I am SO anxious to move, not so much because I am excited, but more just because I want to be DONE! Most things are going in storage, and although we have done this 3 times before (put stuff in storage, not move. This is will be our 10th house, not including the times we have lived with family) it is still hard to decide what needs to go with us and what can go in storage. Having 5 people doesn't help...but in just a few weeks, I will have more time to spend with my kids!!!!!

Sweet Sleeping Kids...

After my rough day with the kids, I couldn't help but share how sweet they looked when I went into check on them before I went to bed.

Santa Noah

Not sure why he has no pillowcase on his pillow, but it doesn't seem to be bugging him. (Apparently, neither does sleeping on the carpet.)
I was wondering what all that ruckus was!

Cooking Blog

So I have been trying to decide how to do this, and I finally just decided to create a separate blog for recipes. I had planned on a "corner," but there is SO much stuff on here already it drives me nuts. So the link is http://www.cookingwiththewilhelms.blogspot.com/ . It is still in the rough stages, as I haven't time to work on it right now, but check back for dinner ideas whenever you are running low! I will post the recipes, with my comments (as if you care, but you might) in the future. Right now it is just a picture of dessert last night. I added it to the list on the right hand side for future reference.

No more whining

I made my own blog to whine on, so you won't hear anymore here. I apologize. This will stay strictly a "family" blog, now. I am not sharing the new blog site, as it is kind of fun to just be anonymous. I can say WHATEVER I want, and it won't come back to haunt me! It is still on blogspot, so you may run across it sometime. If you do, well, enjoy it, leave a comment or two, but DON'T TELL ANYONE ELSE! Not even Bryan!!!