And It Continues

Our A/C woes are continuing - they brought in the new compressor (after the first replacement failed) but then the A/C technician couldn't get the pipes to align in order to weld them together.....so today we have the manager out to see if he can actually get this taken care of!  It is so ridiculous that we've been without A/C for now a month!

But, we have to look on the bright side, at least the weather is starting to cool down!  We're trying to get outside to enjoy it as much as we can.  The parks are a lovely option on a Sabbath afternoon!  Oddly enough, Addison seems to be scared of swings, so that is never high on her list, but she's starting to enjoy the slides!  She of course is also always exploring and finding things to get herself into (and INTO HER MOUTH!)  Addison definitely has a propensity to put everything into her mouth - it is insane.  We never had this problem with the boys - so we welcome all prayers that this child doesn't choke!  We're hoping that this phase passes quickly.

With the fact that Zachary loves sports so much, they have also been heading out to the front yard in order to play - baseball is his current favorite sport, and Gram-Z and Papa-Z had given him a baseball bat for his birthday, so they have been giving that some use as well in the front yard!

Amy took the kids to the grocery store while Karis mowed the lawn last weekend.....and of course the two boys had to entertain themselves in some way, so under the cart they went!  That lasted for a little while, until Kaleb decided to lay his head down on the ground (which made pushing the cart very difficult!)

 

Blizzard Beach

Last Friday, we had a special treat when Zachary and Kaleb had a school field trip to Blizzard Beach, and Amy and Karis took the day off to go with them.  Amy ended up having to work in the morning, but managed to jet off to spend the afternoon with them.  The weather was perfect for the day in the water, and we all had a fun time on the many rides.  One of the favorites was the "family ride" where we all got into a huge tub that sailed down the slides.


The sun was bright, so the slides behind us were washed out in the picture, but we were all smiles!

Karis, Blake, Evan, Zachary and Kaleb

At school, Kaleb had "crazy hair" day - and of course, it is a little harder for his hair with the fact that it is long - it won't spike as easily - so Jennifer to the rescue and she made him have "hair dreads" - green and blue no less!  He was thrilled.

The other big news for us is that last weekend, Zachary's football team won their first game!  And Zachary caught an interception!  It was very exciting - in fact, we're not sure if the kids or the parents were more excited! :)

We have been plagued lately with air conditioning woes.  When we bought the house, we got a home warranty for unforeseen problems.  About 3-4 weeks ago, our air conditioning in the master bedroom stopped working. They said that it was the inside unit, so they replaced the coils in it, and lo and behold, it STILL wouldn't work.  So, then they decided that it was the outside unit and they replaced the compressor.  And you got it...it STILL won't work.  This is very frustrating - at night, the room gets very hot of course, so that is contributing to Amy's insomnia - waking up sweating in the middle of the night is not great!  The overhead fan has been a blessing, and it is starting to cool down so we'll be thankful.

Addison has popped another two teeth, so she has a total of 8 now.  It looks like one of her molars is starting to come in potentially as well.   She is starting to throw temper tantrums (GASP, this isn't supposed to be happening at 14 months!!!) - complete with throwing herself back on the floor.  We're in for it with this child!

Sitting still long enough to actually look at a book - this is a small miracle for our little tornado Addi!

Retirement Woes

Last Friday, Amy said good-bye to her work mother - Phyllis.  Phyllis has now officially retired after working part-time for the last year.  Phyllis is a very special person - she was the first person to befriend Amy when she started to work at the Corporate office 14 years ago!  She has been a confidant and friend over the years - a listening ear when venting was needed, and a guiding voice when Amy needed to be reminded of the important things in life, and how to look at life from a different angle.  She will be greatly missed!  It certainly is not the same to go to work now without her - actually, work has definitely changed a lot over the past months, as Kelli J also "hung up her work suit" to stay at home with her babies.  Every year, we have to do an employee survey where one of the questions asks "Do you have a best friend at work" - and both of these ladies qualified - now Amy has to find a new best friend quick! :)

Addison is growing like crazy - although still not talking other than a few times it has sounded like she has said "Up", "apple" and she says "mamamama" and "dadadada" a hundred times, but not sure that she is actually connecting the words with the people!  She is walking really well now, and has her favorite "haunts" in the house (a few cupboards in the kitchen that she can get into, and the linen closet and one of the drawers in the master bedroom....although finding the office door open and the computer accessible is a special delight for her!)

Every child's favorite - playing in the dishwasher!

One of the things that we're enjoying at the house is the fact that there is a fair amount of wildlife around.  Although one instance was a bit TOO MUCH - Karis was driving home with the boys a few weeks ago and Zachary shouts "There is a bear!" - it was climbing up a tree just a few houses down from ours.  Too close for comfort!

Touching a turtle that seems to have 'adopted' our yard as his home.

Phrase of the week:  Mommy and I went to "whine-mart" - ha ha ha, I'm not sure how kindly Walmart would look upon being called "whine-mart" by Kaleb, but this is apparently what he thought the name was!  We don't go there often as it is a little scary in terms of the clientele at times - but we were headed back from a field trip yesterday (Zachary had gone home with Karis separately), and we headed in to grab a few groceries.  We sadly matched the clientele too well yesterday - Kaleb was in swim trunks (no shirt....Amy was crossing her fingers that they wouldn't make her leave under the "No shirt, no shoes, no service" but apparently if it is a child that doesn't a shirt on, it is okay!?)....and Amy had on a beach towel wrapped around her waist......  Yes, we weren't at the top of the "classy" scale for sure!  Oh well, we grabbed our groceries and skedaddled!  It is definitely cheaper at "whine-mart" but it is hard to find organic items!

Joining the Club

Last weekend was a busy one - we had the pleasure of hosting a get-together for our friends the Vohwinkels who were here from Texas for the AHS Controller's conference.  So we had about 30 people over to the house for haystacks.  It was great to catch up, but sadly we did not take any pictures, so we're having to borrow the ones that our friends took while they were here (good thing there are several bloggers!).  God is good, it was wonderful to be able to share together as friends - we are truly blessed with people that have listening ears when you need it!

Thanks to Allen for this picture!

That evening, we headed off to the Adventurer Induction where Kaleb joined the club.  He has been having a good time thus far, so it has been very positive.  There haven't been as many crafts this year for Zachary, which is a definite plus! 

Two handsome boys!

The next day of course was Zachary's football - and dealing with Addison's fever.  Poor thing, but thankfully she got better by Tuesday, so that was a relief.

Every year Amy coordinates the Controller's conference, so that was a MAJOR relief when that was all done - it is a worry every year, but thankfully it was time well spent, and there were no major hiccups.

Phrase of the week:  I have a headache, but when you go to sleep, God comes down and makes you feel better in the morning!  Amy's not sure if Kaleb truly had a headache or not (or if this was mimicking his brother), but it was so sweet to hear him talk about God making him feel better!

Sports Galore!

This week's post is going to be short and hopefully sweet! :)  It has been a rough couple of weeks with a lot of work related stress, and Amy has suddenly become an insomniac, so the creative juices are going very slowly!  Add to this the fact that Addison has had a 103 degree fever all day and finished it up with projectile vomit all over Amy (our apologies to anyone that was at our house this weekend, we thought she was just teething when it was just a low grade fever yesterday!) - it has been a day that we'll be happy not to repeat (Dear Lord, PLEASE do not let the boys get this bug as well, nor the parents!!)

 

Back in August, we went to a baseball game over in Tampa with the D's.  Somehow this did not get posted as it should have, and it was just too fun to miss so better late than never!  We had great seats - maybe 8-10 rows from the field (maybe even closer!) right off of third base.  It is an indoor baseball diamond, which was nice in the heat of Florida!  The kids really had a fun time, and of course we ate our way through the game.  Kaleb actually paid attention the whole game this time, sitting beside Adam D who explained to him what was going on etc throughout the game.  Thanks Adam!

 

 

Last weekend, Zachary had his very first I9 flag football game.  It is a league that plays on Sundays, and there is a group of boys from FLEC that joined together to play.  Some of the usual kids are on the team (Blake, Luke, Cole etc) but there are quite a few other boys that were new to Zachary, so it is fun to get to know them.  The team has lost both games thus far, but Zachary seems to be handling the disappointment well and it is a good "teachable moment" about just having fun, learning to play as a team, and doing one's best.

Addison is walking very well now, although when she wants to go really fast she'll still drop down into a crawl and zoom off.  She is quite a character, and laughs now quite a bit.  One of her favorite things to laugh at??  A game that no parent should allow.....the boys come stand close to her, and she'll take a swat at them (usually connecting, which is what they're hoping for)....and then the boys dramatically fall to the ground as if she has knocked them over and then they jump up again to do it all over....She just belly laughs at this game, she thinks it is so funny!  And because the Z parents like to hear her laugh, we have turned a temporary blind eye to the fact that she's learning to hit people (yes, we'll be nipping this in the bud quickly!)

Look at that grin!

 

Ooh La la!

This week's update marks a momentous occasion - Addison has started to walk!!!  At just 13 months, she is well ahead of her brothers, who did not start to walk until 15-16 months.  Bravo little girly!  She has been actually mastering it very quickly and is starting to walk long distances on her own.  She still will sink down into a crawl at times, as it is faster, but it sure won't be too many more weeks before she is running!  She is so cute, she will get askew as she's walking and start to walk a bit sideways - we call her the little sidewinder!  And other times, she'll arch her body and put one leg out very straight - almost as if she's doing a dance move! :)

 

Karis' ankle is healing quickly, and thankfully the antibiotics seem to be kicking the infection to the curb.  He got his sutures out this week, so now it is just a matter of waiting for the swelling to completely go away.  He was pleased that he no longer has a "cankle!"

Poor Kaleb was extra brave one day on riding his bike without the training wheels, and decided to ride his bike a little ways up a neighbors gravel driveway.  Not such a smart move unfortunately, because he ended up losing his balance on the rocks and fell kerplop - forehead met big rock....  Kaleb was very brave though and quickly stopped crying - but Daddy was a bit concerned about the imminent arrival of Mommy home from work - so he shooed Kaleb in saying "Hurry, we need to get inside and get some ice on your forehead before Mommy sees you!!"  Even with ice, when Mommy walked in the door, it was quite the goose egg! Ouch!

Zachary took a cookie, and Amy offered him a little ice cream as well, and he said "No, less sugar, less hyperness!" Kaleb woke up at 4:30 one morning (seems to be having adjustment issues with the new house) and came in to wake Amy up saying "I heard a strange noise in my room, I need someone to sleep with me." Amy took him back to his room saying "Let's go back to sleep, you can sleep by yourself" to which Kaleb aptly replied "Why not, YOU sleep with Daddy!" Too true Kaleb!

Surgeries Galore

We're running behind on our blog updates - we typically try to keep our blog posts from getting too long (and what if we run out of something to say the next week?????), so when there is too much going on, we'll just wait and post that the next week.  As such, we have TWO surgeries to report on this week!

The most major one was Karis' surgery a week ago Thursday to remove his hardware from his ankle.  All of it.  Three screws, one cable, and one honkin' long rod.  Poor guy had to be there by 5A - needless to say he drove himself, as we didn't want to ask anyone to come over to our house at 4:30 in order to stay with the kids!  The surgery was amazingly fast, and he was out of the hospital by 10A.  He did not need to have any crutches, and was able to walk to the van (after the required wheelchair ride out to the door).  What a he-man!  He had taken two weeks off of work based on the scheduler's recommendation, but the doctor said that he could go back the very next day.  It was Labor Day weekend, so we decided to play it a little safe and he went back to work the next Wednesday.  In retrospect, that was a good thing because he is on his feet all day, so the painful part is the SWELLING, which doesn't react well to being upright all day.  He was in quite a bit of pain on Wednesday due to being on his feet and having an ill-chosen pair of socks rub against his ankle all day.  This has now progressed downhill and his sutures are now actually infected - not good, but he was able to get onto antibiotics quickly so hopefully he'll be on the mend soon.

Ready to ride on out!

Rod, three screws, and then the cable attachment!

 The second surgery was the removal of Zachary's supernumerary tooth - it was in the front on top.  Amy took him into the oral surgeon three weeks ago, and the nurse came out and said that he was ready to have his TWO TEETH removed.  Amy freaked out, because no-one has ever said that there were two teeth to be removed.  And it isn't as if you can put one BACK if you make a mistake!  She signs large malpractice claims for the hospital, so she is well aware of the fact that mistakes can happen.  Insisting upon talking to the doctor, she talked it through with him (who he in fact was offended that she was questioning his skills.....).  Thankfully, there truly was only one tooth in there, and all seems to be well!  He was in 7th heaven as he was able to eat ice cream for two days straight!  The first day the effects of the anesthesia kept him very low-key and wobbly as he'd walk around (so we would hold onto him so that he wouldn't fall).  Now that the "shark-tooth" (as named by the aforementioned doctor) is gone, his adult tooth is coming in super fast (and it had been an empty space for the last two months!).

Chilling in the waiting room before going into the room - we put special cream on his hands and elbows to deaden the skin for the IV needle - Amy was wishing that she had the special cream for whenever she went in for a doctor's appt!

We wanted to post the 12 month progression of Addison's monthly pictures as well now that she is the ripe old age of 1 year old!  It is so fun to look back and see how rapidly they have grown - these are precious pictures we have looked back at the boys' many a time!  Stay tuned next week for some big Addi news! :)

The first glimpse of our precious little girl!

Love how they are still in their little "ball" shape even after they're born!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poor bear was forgotten in this picture, and it isn't as if we can retake it! :)

 

Is she cute or what!  Love those dimples! Twelve whole months old!