Portland Fire Awards Ceremony

On Monday night we attended the Portland Fire awards ceremony for Colin's promotion to Harbor Pilot. We were brave enough to bring the kids and luckily it only lasted about an hour. Here they are posing on Colin's fire truck:Ok - terrible shot (I was pretty far back with Juliet on my lap) but here Colin is shaking Commissioner Randy Leonard's hand:
Grandma Mary joined us and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the kids:
And Samuel took this picture:

Today's Ultrasound & Pregnancy Update

Now that I have passed the point of miscarriage (women are allowed into Labor & Delivery at the hospital after 20 weeks), I am being closely monitored on many levels by my doctors. Tomorrow I will be 26 weeks, which means the baby would survive, but probably have loads of issues. So today I had my first ultrasound making sure my body isn't going into labor (cervix check, placenta check, baby check) and I actually got a peek at this boy's face! Here's his profile:
And here is a look at his nose and mouth and his hand/arm over on the side like he is shielding his eyes. During the ultrasound, I saw his little mouth gulping fluid and his eyes moving back and forth (open). So sweet!



Now for the pregnancy update - I know there are many women out there that would love to get pregnant and can't or can't keep a pregnancy or have babies with genetic issues, so I'm not going to sound whiny - I am extremely grateful for how far I have made it. However, I am now being continually tested for something called cholestasis. It's a pretty serious condition that causes insane amounts of itching all over the body, especially at night (exactly what I have been dealing with for a couple of months now - think: yeast infection all over your body that no amount of cream will cure). It's caused by the liver dumping bile acid into the mom's (and ultimately, the baby's) bloodstream. There is a still born risk (the leading website has a section for infant memorials - ugh) with this and doctors always induce labor the moment the lungs are developed. I've been tested twice now - the first test came back normal and I was just tested again yesterday (still waiting on these results). Usually the blood doesn't show anything until the third trimester, so we'll see. I'd like to think I am just have allergies, but I've never had this in my entire life, so I'm thinking something is going on.

Also? Still having major morning sickness. It's a bit like first trimester, where I have little warning and I could end up spending the day on the couch (if Colin is home) or out and about praying I can keep my food down. Not sure why the morning sickness hasn't subsided yet and quite honestly, I can handle it, if I didn't itch incessantly at the same time. What a mess I am!

At any rate, the baby looks great right now and as of now I am not going into labor. And quite honestly, seeing that sweet little face moving around on the ultrasound today gave me just the encouragement I need while spending the night awake either nauseous or itching.

My Kids This Week

I love when my kids enjoy cleaning. I didn't even ask them to help, but Samuel offered to clean the toilets again (something is wrong with that kid) and they all took sanitizing wipes and occupied themselves for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, Sissy fell off the counter, but that was bound to happen, right? Joel and Sarah and Mom came over one night for dinner and I caught all the cousins watching a movie (ok - the smaller girls didn't really do a lot of watching):
Samuel drug out the Pack N Play and the kids spent some time making a fort and playing in there.
Sissy takes her baby doll pillow and goes "nigh night" on it. I couldn't resist getting down on her level and taking a picture.
And Samuel ask that I take a picture of him doing his schoolwork.

Scrapbook Page

I feel like it's been forever since I sat down in my craft room! After a particularly hairy 24 shift with the kids yesterday, I snuck in my room alone to finish this page this morning. I do so love the polaroid picture trend right now - I just converted my regular photos to these little polaroids and resized in Photoshop. The kids scrapbooks are starting to fill up and I love that - I just hope I can keep it up after the baby arrives!

Juliet's Naturpath - Some Good Info

In April, Juliet paid a visit to a new naturopath in Milwaukie, Dr. Jesse Butler. In all honesty, I would rather forego traditional Western medicine all together and have my family just treated by naturopaths, but there are some roadblocks in the way, so for now we will just deal with Juliet's allergies and immune system.

After telling Dr. Butler that Juliet catches every virus and hangs onto it forever, we decided together to get her tested for food allergies and he also immediately put her on a strong probiotic powder and Cod liver oil (for her inflamed skin). I would return after her food allergy results were in and we would discuss from there her treatment plan. Can I just say how much probiotics made a difference in her right away? The boys caught a cold and she didn't ever catch one single symptom of it. She's been to church and remained healthy. Dr. Butler informed me that babies born before 39 weeks never get the bacteria in their gut solidified, and that hinders their little immune systems - which proved absolutely correct in Juliet's case.

After getting her results back this past week, I met with him once more and was informed that she is allergic to eggs (I laughed out loud at that one - I feed her fried eggs and toast almost every morning) and soy. He advised me of many things - not just for Juliet, for nutritional advice for our entire family. First - I have to remove eggs completely from her diet (even trace amounts) for one month and then if I want I can try them again later to see if she gets really sick. He let me know that everything we eat has an immune response - be it good or bad. If her (or our family's for that matter) immune system is working on processing bad food, then we can't fight colds/flu as well.

He also let me know that I should back off gluten. What?! He said that his family is gluten free by choice (they are not celiacs) because it is hard on our systems. He said that anything that can cause a major disease in other people should be avoided by everyone all together. Interesting thought.

Other interesting notes:

-Eat food that's as close to nature as possible and eat what is grown near you - not shipped from somewhere else. We adapt to our environment, so eating fruits grown in the tropics don't jive with our system well.

-Shade grown veggies (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers) should be avoided as they are inflammatory.

-Soak legumes before you cook them - it will improve digestion.

-Avoid all soy products, peanuts, dairy.

-Limit citrus - it's hyper-allergenic. (This is insanely true for Juliet - she breaks out in a rash the moment she consumes strawberries and oranges).

-Drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day.

-Cook only in stainless steel, Pyrex or cast iron.

I found all this information a bit overwhelming, but since this appointment, I have cooked mostly gluten free and given Juliet no eggs in anything. What a challenge!!

Sarah's Wedding

Jude and Samuel and I were a part of Sarah's wedding party yesterday and Colin caught a few pictures amongst all the business.

Aren't the boys handsome in their suits?!Sissy spent much time swinging from poles saying "Watch me!"


I never get pictures with my kids - I love this one. I technically am with my four kids in this picture - weird!
Jude playing with the paper cranes.
Our kids dancing was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.
Sissy and Grandpa Jeff.
Jude dancing with Grandma Jan.
Ella, the flower girl (who danced with Samuel a lot) and the boys.

Easter Egg Hunt

We headed to Corvallis on 4/17 to participate in an Easter egg hunt. The kids had so much fun! I love watching the kids' face light up over such simple things as hunting for plastic eggs. These are the moments I really don't want them to grow up - adults really can learn so much from children.

Ok - can we talk about her hair?! We have taken to wetting it down every morning and combing it, but it takes on a life of its own, especially if she has spent time in her carseat or her bed.
Samuel showing his loot.
Jude's jubilee at finding eggs. Yes, he wears superhero paraphernalia almost every day.

This is the best shot I could get of the cousins - I have a real respect for professional photographers who photograph children.

Jude's 4th Birthday

I was quite terrible at taking pictures for Jude's birthday - not even capturing his outing to Red Robin (his restaurant of choice) or him eating the tarte I made him that he picked out of the Barefoot Contessa "How Easy Is That?" cookbook.

Here are some moments I did capture: Jude's prized birthday possession - a superhero outfit sewn by his Auntie Joy:
Here he is opening a gift with his girl cousins looking on.
Oh, the look of excitement on his face!
Here is a shot of his cape from the back:
He wore this ensemble to preschool and continues to don it regularly for playing throughout the days.

Samuel's T-Ball

Samuel began T-ball in April and I have to laugh at any sport involving 4-6 year olds. Organized sports in this age group is sort of like herding cats at times. At any rate, I'd say it's an understatement to say that Samuel loves playing and Colin loves teaching him how to throw and catch.

Here they are warming up before a game:Stretching out:
This was a random shot of Samuel before the game started in the dugout:
And he actually got three homeruns that day - here he is coming in for home base: