the 5th of July

July 5, 2006 we added Suzanna Faye to our family.....

she was 8 lbs. 3 1/2 oz.
20 inches long

We arrived at the hospital that morning at 5:30 and by 7:54 I could finally kiss her cheek.
She was born by c-section (like the other 3) and I remember thinking during surgery, "Why is this taking so much longer?" or am I just so impatient to meet this new baby girl? We found out after surgery that the Dr. had a little bit of a hard time getting her out of my ribs...she was wedged into them.

I loved watching my other 3 children meet their new sister for the first time ever. Everyone wanted to hold and touch this new little miracle!

grandma khankeo
One of my favorite parts of having a baby is all the friends and family who come to join in the excitement! I love when people come to visit and it's so cool how many people came to welcome Suzanna Faye.

grandma & grandpa g

Aunt Melissa & Uncle John

Aunt Holly & Makayla

aunt arlene & uncle jon

Kevin, Sherri, Caedmon, & Kaiya

Crystal, Madalyn, Travis, Kristin, Lauren, & Lawson

Lyndon & Krista

Our neighbors and friends Erick, Amee, Abi, and Aden

There were many other visitors...just figured you are getting weary of all the pictures.....

Our second night in the hospital, we let Isabella stay and help with Suzanna. She was so excited! We were not sure if the hospital staff would allow it...so we just did it, and hoped that no one would make her go home. I loved how she hurried through her shower so she could get back to my bed and hold her new sister. Isabella had been praying a long time for a baby sister, and now she had her. It was so neat to see those 2 bond. Isabella was a great help while we packed the next day being my legs and getting things for me while Donovan filled out paper work and got everything ready to go.

After we arrived home and got settled Great Grandma & Grandpa came to see our new little girl. We had so much fun settling in and putting our new baby in her new room. We had spent one night at home....and the next morning we woke to the biggest scare of our life. I had gotten up once during the night to feed Suzy and at 6 a.m. I thought it was kind of weird that she hadn't yet cried to eat again. I got up and went to her crib to find her shaking, arching her back, and she looked as if she was choking. Her eyes were also rolled to the back of her head. I was so scared and panicked, with no idea what so ever to do for her. I took her to the bathroom and got a cold washcloth to put on her face. Hoping to stop what ever was happening to her. I kept looking in her mouth to see if she was choking on something. She was not. I called for Donovan who caught just the tail end of "this." "This" thing that was happening lasted for about 45-60 seconds. Uncle Jon who lived down the road came immediately and Donovan and I rushed her to the E.R. I kept thinking the entire way there that she was dying. She was very un-responsive and lethargic. I tried to feed her all the way to the hospital and she would not nurse. She laid in my arms with no response. But she was breathing. Praise GOD. We arrived at the hospital where they did a CAT scan, a chest X-ray, blood work, a urine analysis, and a spinal tap. They determined that Suzanna's blood sugar was too low. They ruled out that any permanent damage was done. And that the low blood sugar was the only thing that had caused the seizure. However we needed to be admitted to make sure that she would maintain her blood sugar on her own.

She was hooked up to an IV with a blood sugar check every 3 hours. Around the clock. It was so sad to see her little heels and arms turn black and blue. It was so sad to watch and she got poked so many times.

We kept track of her blood sugar on this chart...one time it dropped below 60 and we had to up the IV fluid....preventing us from being discharged. Her blood sugar had to be maintained for 6 hours in order to wean her off of the IV fluid...in order to be discharged. It was so discouraging and tiring. After being in the hospital for 2 days we were discharged with her. She had maintained her blood sugar with out the IV for several hours. The Dr. said this is one of those newborn things she hadn't yet figured out to do on her own. Kind of like when babies have problems with Jaundice. I was still so scared after all we had been through. What a journey. I am so thankful that God put me in her room at just that right time to see her seizure. And thankful that he had the best Dr. ever to help us when we arrived in the ER. Someone willing to admit she didn't know and call the Children's Hosptial in Indy. Willing to transfer us if we were not comfortable with the care we were getting. A doctor willing to walk us through all the steps to make sure we understood everything happening with Suzanna.
That Dr. didn't "happen" to be working that day. God put her there.
We came home again...and this time for good. We came home to meals and more friends coming to see this little miracle.
my friend, Beth.

I will never forget that week of our lives, and I'm so glad for pictures....to keep fresh in our minds God's faithfulness and answers to prayers on the behalf of our daughter, Suzanna Faye.

My cousin, Rosetta Faye...also named after my mom.

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet daughter. I have loved you before I knew you. It has been an amazing 3 years getting to know you & your adorable self.

a little food + some friends = lots of fun

Two weeks ago we had a backyard party.....

we invited two small groups from our church. One of the groups being our own. My step mom came over and prepared all of the food which included:
Curry Chicken
Asian Beef
Rice
Egg Rolls
and for dessert:
Rice Custard
She charged $10/per person as a fund raiser for my sisters college expenses this fall.
MMMMmmmmm...I love when she cooks!! I think everyone else did as well! I esp. loved when at the end of the evening I came into a spot free kitchen with all the dishes washed and put away.

The best part was the un-interrupted conversation and hysterical laughing that took place that night.

Man I love our church! I love the people. I love connecting with people in a new way, in a different setting.

Thanks for such a fun night my friends.

Thanks Julie for emailing the pictures...you did a great job capturing the night in photos! Finally one picture of you....And it may need a little explaining for anyone not there that evening. Julie was thinking it would be sweet to have a picture with her and her hubby in the hammock swing, however when she went to sit in front of Ed...he threw up his hands and freaked out thinking that she would make the hammock fall down. Now did I get that right Ed...or would you like to set the story straight??

of couse we didn't have real wine...they were only kids.

I grew up going to Bible School. It is a cool memory of mine from childhood. And it's something I want my kids to grow up doing. Last week they did. But this is nothing like I grew up doing in the 80's. My kids took a trip back in time & went to Rome.

They got to go to Paul's house and meet Brutus his house arrest guard (who is asleep in this picture) oops..better not tell the Roman solders, they would be HOT!

They went to visit the underground church and all the danger that went with that. They went to Extollo...which means praise.

The kids also had chariot races.

One of my favorite little Romans.

Another couple of my fav's, in the market place.

Every night the kids were given 3 denarii and could go to the market place to spend them. Several booths were take home projects like the above picture where they could make an abacus.

The stand where I worked was the food shop. Every night we offered rat on a stick (kind of tasted like chicken), snake on a stick (similar to hot dogs), olives, grapes, bread, almonds, dried fruit, or cheese. For drinks we offered wine (watered down of course) or water. The kids could pick one item for one denari. (Did you know back in Bible times...they really did eat rodents???)

They could also visit the metal working shop and make a necklace.

The animal sacrifice shop. Where they could pet a baby deer, goat, lamb, chickens, baby kittens, or a rabbit. Thankfully we had no sacrifices last week. I don't know how we would've gotten blood out of the carpet!
There was also a toga shop, an architect shop, and about 6 others which names escape me now.

My friend Bobbie, came from up north and won the prize for coming the farthest for Bible school. Making a 2 1/2 hour trip to be there. :) I was happy for her help in the food shop. Here she is with her oldest son, Chase.

Donovan was a group/family leader and it was so fun to both be a part of such a special thing at our church. We had some very energetic and creative leaders last week! It went so well and by the end of the week on Friday night we celebrated with a pizza party for the staff of Bible School.


Saturday night we gave Donovan his Father's day gift......


By the looks of it...the gift was a hit! See my wrapping job was a red blanket...caught in mid air in this picture.

Hooray for a homemade ice cream....Suzy looks a little nervous don't you think??

We put it to use the very next day at a Father's day picnic in honor of our favorite dad in this family. We tried out a coffee ice cream recipe. Our new goal for the summer is try making a new flavor every week.

Some things I love about Donovan as a father:
-His ability to make things fun around here when it gets a little mundane.
-The way he will jump and jump on the trampoline with the kids.
-The way he plays with them in the pool so I can take a break.
-The way he makes the beach fun and builds things for them.
-The way he prays with our kids every night at bedtime.
-His silly names he comes up with for the kids.
-His steadfast love and devotion for our family.
-His commitment God, me & his kids.

What a fun weekend! More to come on the rest of the weekend....later.

I think I'm raising the next Neil Armstrong......

I had never had an ultrasound when pregnant with Isabella. So you can imagine the thrill when I had my first one a little over 7 years ago. And after the awe of seeing a healthy little baby I cried. I remember being with Donovan that day and after the Dr. appointment we went to lunch to celebrate. But I had lots of tears. Tears of disappointment. In my mind I was growing a little sister for Isabella inside my womb. I felt so guilty for being disappointed, after all I had a healthy baby. But it still loomed. It took me several days to get over what I had wanted, or thought I wanted.

After I changed my thinking to a boy...and all of what extra parts he would come with...I was getting used to the idea. Then we picked a name for our son. I grew to get excited. Then we went to pick out his very first outfit to bring him home from the hospital in. I was very happy and thrilled with meeting this new little boy.

I was so glad God gave me time to adjust. Because God really does know the very best for us. I love his plans. Sometimes I just need some time to adjust to His way of thinking.

It was so cool to add our 2nd to our family...I loved watching Isabella mother this little baby. I loved having blue all around us. I was in for a huge adjustment as far as the work load! I could not believe how much time and energy 2 required. Isabella and Jack are 23 months apart. I was so sleepless and thinking back to that time I may have had some postpartum depression going on in the mix. It seemed Donovan and I were both busy with a baby in each set of arms...and when he went to work....well it was me in a balancing act. We made it through and somehow when I think back to those days of just 2 kids at home....I sit in awe of how did I think that was so hard????

Celebrating Jack turning 3 at the park.
Jack's 2nd birthday

And a fast forward to last Monday...June 15th when we celebrated turning 7 at my sister Holly's house.

She invited us to go swimming for the day. What a blast our first time in the pool this summer!

Aunt Holly has a special gift for making birthday's special. This greeted us on the front porch that day. She also ordered pizza that day and had it delivered! What a treat!!!!

What a guy! This boy Jack is one of a kind. He has such a strong will, I'm learning how to relate to him- I hope better in the last couple of years. He has a hilarious sense of humor! I love it. He has humbled me on more than one occasion. I love that for the most part he is outgoing! He makes our family so much fun. I can't imagine our family without him.

Last week was so so so full! We had Bible school, swimming lessons, plus it was the first full week off of school. Over the weekend we had our small group here for dinner, and celebrated Father's day with 3 different groups of family. AND...we had to showings on the house last night. Are you starting to see why I didn't have time to blog????

Quote of the day
from yesterday over lunch

Jack: "Where do people go to the bathroom in outer space?"
Me: " I have no idea, Jack."
Jack: "Probably just where ever they want to, and then rockets would smash into it."
Me: "SICK!"
Jack: "Wouldn't that be cool if we could go to the bathroom where ever we wanted?
Isabella: "No, that would get smelly."
Jack: "Can Isabella, Dad, and me go to outer space sometime? I really want to see what it is like. For real."

jelly and bathroom breaks....not in that order necessarily

cleaning

washing

tasting

dipping into sugar

blending and chopping

and into jars

how fun to have so much help with jelly.

quote of the day:
Suzy after going poopy on the potty.

Suzy: "look mama- I went a mama poopy, a daddy poopy, and a baby poopy."
You guessed it...it was 3 turds. Should I be offended?

what I have to look forward to when isabella turns 18 in about......... 9 years....

The cakes were finished Sunday morning...I was so happy how they turned out.

I am not very good at writing on the top of cakes...I tend to write going down hill. So I used my ol' fall back plan on cake decorating.

We went early to the open house to help my parents set up. We got many perks for going early....

450 egg rolls were made that day.....it took all morning to make, wrap, and fry. Oh so very delish. My step-mom makes the best egg rolls you have EVER had in your life.

We left my parents for a couple of hours because my nephew was also graduating that day..

Ryan, graduated from Burr Oak High School.

Which was pretty special because that was the same exact school my mom graduated from, back in 1962. We found her class picture framed on the wall.

There is an award the school gives for most outstanding & exceptional student in character. One is given as the "man-hood award" and the other is awarded to the woman. We were so excited for Ryan that he won the Man-hood award. He has a heart of gold. Ryan is a sweet sweet man and I was bursting with pride for him and all he has accomplished in high school.

Here is one tired little girl that did pretty well despite missing her nap for the day. She is holding the roses I was given by Ryan at the graduation.

After graduation we headed back to my parents were the open house was in full swing.....

my sister, Michele and her boyfriend, Lucas.

photo shared from jim carpenter

What a fun, fun day. But LONG. We got home about 10:30 that night and fell into bed. So glad we could be part of the day.

Quote of the day:
Jack: "I need the camera"
Me: "Why?"
Jack: "I need to take a picture because this is spectacular!!"

Idea #2 when you plan to go to the beach but it's too cold....

you can go to the PumpkinVine Trail. We took our time getting ready this morning and then headed out with picnic in hand and drove to Goshen.

What was not such a great day for the dunes, ended up being a perfect day for biking the trail.

I think overall we estimated that we went about 4 miles.

It is absolutely beautiful.

It is so fun to be at the stage with our kids that they can withstand long amounts of biking.

The quote of the day comes from Jack just after this picture was taken.
Donovan: "Jack it kinda looks like your dropping a deuce in this picture."
Jack: "Yep, I was... and it came out gold."


I sense the need for retraining coming on....

Man...I love these kids!

Some cool sights we saw along the way....Notice the big monkey in the tree.

We rode until the end of the trail and here we are headed back. What a great family activity if you are in the Goshen area.