Pre Christmas/Pre-Baby Shenaigans.......

Our Christmas "ham" ball.....


She is always up for a "cheesy" smile these days.....


Our tree - which will probably be coming down tomorrow - it's a tad bit dry!!

So prior to Adi being born...it had been on my "to do" list to make sugar cookies with the kids.....since Grandma was here helping out I figured this was a good time to tackle the quest...anyone that knows me, knows how much I don't like "messes"...so letting the kids decorate their own cookies takes A LOT of patience on my part. I decided to give them each 2 cookies, there own bowl of frosting and just turn my back and not watch. They actually did all right and I only had to take the sprinkles away....Eli proceeded to dump almost all of them on one cookie.



And although someone didn't actually get to decorate her own cookie...she had no problem taking bites of the cookie she was offered......by who??


of course...none other than Papa!


a "cheesy" frosting smile


Ana's cookies....


Eli's cookies....take note of the tree - it is a little heavy on the green sprinkles.....

How we managed....

Well I can honestly say - we would not have survived these last two weeks without the help of Grandma!!
Thanks so much Mom for coming and spending as much time as you did with us this last month we really appreciated it!!


And I am so thankful to report that we are only having to survive these 3 days over Christmas (Thurs., Fri., Sat.,) before more reinforcement and help arrives. My sister-in-law will be spending this whole next week with us and then Grandma J arrives a week from Sunday to spend another whole week with us....Any takers for the 3rd week in January??


The proud big brother....


and the next BIG sister.....

Merry Christmas!!

Be proud...we didn't actually make it to Christmas Eve service yesterday.....but we did manage to get all the kids dressed in their Christmas clothes and take a picture.

Our Christmas Gift.....

We are home....Eric and I both very tired...Eric had his 3rd Chemo treatment today prior to coming home from the hospital - so we just need to make it through the next couple days and hopefully we will both have regained some energy - But onto cuter things....Here she is.....so far a very content baby - let's hope it stays that way.










Biggest sister wasn't so sure at first she really even wanted anything to do with her....but she has warmed up quickly and will be a very big help in the days to come - thank goodness. Eli thinks she is pretty great...and Ema is somewhat interested, but hasn't been too concerned about her yet - I am sure that will all change when she wants the attention and we can't give it to her.

She's HERE!!

Introducing

Adilyn Grace Egge

Nickname: Adi

Born: 12/21/09

Time: 12:16pm

Weight: 8.0 lbs (our smallest baby yet!)

Length: 20 inches

She is just perfect - healthy and we are all doing well!

Bundled up....

Our temps finally made it into the double digits today so the kids bundled up this afternoon and went out and played in the snow for awhile.....While Grandma and I attempted to clean off our driveway a bit....






A snowman was the highlight of "snow play" - after this was done they quickly lost interest in the snow and opted for playing on there riding toys or shoveling instead.


This was Ema's first time out in the "white stuff" - she was fine if she could stay in one place but walking with big boots on and snow pants proved to be a little challenging for her.

Baby Flips....

Just a little update....

We ended up not being able to go to the hospital unitl 4 today for the "baby flip".....too many babies being born right now.....

So at 4 we went.....- me having good contractions....but they quickly put that to an end - it's needed in order to do the procedure....and after three "lovely" tries - a nice ole IV in my arm (you know as a just in case) - then the Dr. arrived and proceeded to do a quick ultra-sound to see the exact location of the baby....and wouldn't you know - baby flipped all on her own!! Thank goodness...but I kind of had wished they had done the ultra-sound prior to stopping my contractions and three tries for an IV.

So now we are home...hoping we don't make it many more days.....

Thanks for the prayers......it was such a relief to not have to go through the procedure of flipping the baby.....

Keep watch - there should be more to come SOON!

Tuesday Update....

Just a little update.....Eric did in fact have Chemo today and so far feeling pretty ok.....or I guess has OK as one can feel after having such lethal drugs put in you......

Tomorrow it's onto baby acrobatics....please pray it is a successful outcome...and it just naturally puts me into labor when it's all done.....a baby right now would be VERY WELCOME!!

A "baby" raspberry lemonade....

Ahhh...I sure hope in a years time we can look back at all this and find some humor. Today has proved to not be very humorous in the least.

I had my 37 week appointment this morning...and in a weeks time this baby has decided to flip - no longer head down - BREECH......

Just lovely, not the news any of us were ever wanting to hear....but so goes the story of our lives right now.

So, what's next - well hopefully Eric will have his Chemo treatment tomorrow - it was postponed from last week because his white blood count was too low and he ended up getting a pretty unpleasant cold that he has been fighting all week now. Please pray that we can actually have Chemo tomorrow.

Then on Wednesday I'll be admitted to the hospital and my Dr. is going to try and manually flip this baby....I am having to be admitted because of possible risks/complications with flipping and I'll be there in case I need an emergency c-section. Please pray this baby cooperates and everything goes how it should.

Ana's School Program....

Ana had her first ever School Christmas Program tonight.....She did so great - we were all so proud of her!




Ema - just trying to keep her quiet and entertained....she actually sat most of the time in the isle
and did really well.


Here is Ana entering with her class......


Of course she instantly spots us....


I was just happy to see her stand up there so well, not get scared and actually participate in the singing...although I am not convinced she knew all the songs....


Here are 4 short videos of the different songs they sang...please excuse the poor video shooting...I was actually using our digital camera...so the quality isn't the best and my hand is pretty shaky!














Great Job Ana - We are so proud of you!!!

Our cute kids....

A little preview of the "Christmas" cuteness to come!!

This picture was once again courtesy of my cousin who now has her business up and running.
Check out her website at Kalin Brook Photography

The perfect cure for the long winter ahead........

A JUMPING CASTLE.....
that now takes up 2/3 of our play area!!

During our cold/snowy spell in October I could hardly imagine how long our winter was going to be.....the kids needed to burn energy and getting outside with 4 kids, one being an infant just doesn't seem as plausible this winter.....so we are bringing the fun inside.....


We bought this for the kids....and then there was a "steal" of a deal on the same one on black Friday....so we bought another.....and got a good chunk of change back....it's all worth it now!!



This would be our no fear child....(could we finally have one of those) - Ema loves it in the castle!!


The three crazies......it's so wonderful - Ana even knows how to turn it on and off!


One of Eli's favorite things to do is catapult himself off the slide.....




Ema seems to think that every slide she goes down needs to be head first.



It sure has provided us with some good naps and early bed times!!!

Cookie Helpers....

Tonight we attempted our first "cookie bake" of the season.....not that they were even really cookies, nor did I even really have the so said "recipe".....but we attempted...I am not sure they look entirely like they should....but they were good and no one was complaining. And well the whole point of these were that Ana and Eli could pretty much do everything. Basically it was placing a "kiss" of some kind in the center of a pretzel and melting them in the oven and then topping it off with an M & M.....I don't think we used the right kind of pretzel - oh well.


Ana gave up after the first round....but Eli stuck around and was a big helper...although I think he had a hidden agenda, the more he helped the more he got to "snack" on the treats.

Cheesy Smile.....

If you ask Ema these days to give you a "Cheesy" smile....this is what you will get!!


Check out all those teeth she is finally getting.....I think my kids have got to be the "slowest" teethers around....


Even so talented as to give you a "cheesy" smile under her nuk!

Update on the Update.....

Just a small update to let you all know - Eric ended up not having Chemo today.....after a visit with the Dr. and reviewing his lab results today it was determined Eric's blood count was way to low....Eric woke not feeling the best this morning and we now also have one child down with a fever and ear infection....so there is an obvious "bug" going around our house...please pray that this clears quickly and Eric is able to beat this bug without any other medical intervention.