We rocked Iowa City

Last week we took the babes for checkups. Report: they are incredibly cute. Oh, and P's palate looks good so far and L does not need a palate expander. We will meet with the surgeon in December for our consult on his tooth extraction and bone graft. It was a fun day to be together and go on a " date" as Levi called it. We were all tuckered out.

Phoebe's palate repair surgery

On September 18th Phoebe had her palate repair surgery.  Here she is with Dad before they took her back. The procedure took place in Iowa City since she is under the care of the cleft team there.  We have a wonderful surgeon.  They said that she would probably be in the OR for 3-4 hours but it ended up being closer to 6 hours.  Everything went well and We are praying that everything looks good when we go back on Monday. 

Here is P after surgery.  Recovery was much more rough than I had anticipated, but I am so thankful for the great care of the hospital staff and that the Lord brought her through healthy.

After 1 week she began to turn a corner and she perked up a little.  She stopped needing as much pain medication, she noticed her toys again, and gave us more smiles.  Nights have been rough since she has trouble getting comfortable with her "arm accessories" :).  I found that leg warmers come in handy for keeping these things clean and secure.  It seems that we have collected enough to coordinate with outfits thanks to friends who have dropped of unused sets of them.

Two weeks post surgery she is feeling much better!  Getting back to her self but still wanting Mom and Dad close by.  She is still not a fan of the all liquid diet and certainly not the arm restriction, but only 5 more days to go until hopefully we are free from all of that!

Thanks to my Mom and John who came for 3 weeks and to Micah's mom who is coming later this week.  Also friends who have showed up with food and offers to help.  It has been harder than I expected in some ways but the precious time that we have spent sitting and snuggling is a treasure.  All of the kids have been troopers and it is such a blessing to parent them all.  To God be the glory!

School is cool

Aren't they adorable?  For reals y'all.

Levi started preschool at Our Redeemer Lutheran School.  He just turned 5.  He LOVES it there.  He only goes for a half day, (M-TH) and then we get to play in the afternoons.  He has a bit of a hard time sitting still but I bet he will get the hang of it.  He is extremely social and is totally into his new friends.  Other things he loves are cars, Wii, his scooter, and basically anything that allows him to move very fast and be very loud while laughing.  He is still going to speech twice a week and making great progress.

Isaiah is in the 2nd grade at Kennedy Elementary.  He will be 8 in October.  He LOVES his class.  He loves to read and to have us read to him.  Currently he is listening to the Narnia series and the Lord of the Rings series, alternated every night.  ;)  He just joined the Cub Scouts and is really diggin all of the activities that they are doing.  He loves being with his brother and sisters, creating/building things, and campfires.

Naomi is in Kindergarten at Kennedy Elementary.  She just turned 6.  She had a rough start to the year, what with missing mommy and such, but now she LOVES it.  She has met some really nice friends at school and loves riding the bus.  She is very social and likes to tell me everything about her day when she gets home.  Her favorite things are playing with her neighborhood friends, playing outside, going on dates with Daddy, and having girl time with Mommy.  

And Princess P and I get to snuggle, play toys, and run errands while the others are gone.  She is 19 months old now!  She is such a joy to us all.  We all adore her and have had a blast watching her explore her new surroundings.  She has been home 5 months!!  She loves to climb, do anything outside, have Daddy throw her around in the air, suck her thumb, and scowl at anyone that tries to pick her up other than Mom and Dad.  No complaints here!

What the heck...

...happened to this summer?!  It totally just started and now its over.  Here are some favorite pics minus our vacation pics.  That's a whole 'nother slide show.

She is on the move...and so am I

Lord of the Rings Art

We recently finished reading The Hobbit at bedtime.  Isaiah made a play-dough model of Smaug (the dragon).

Isaiah wants to make sure you can make one for youself if you're interested. Here are his instructions:

1) The tail -- get some play-dough (a small amount) and just roll it back and forth til it makes kinda like a tube but with no hole inside it

2) The end of the tail -- cut a little triangle out of the play-dough and stick it onto the end of the tube (make sure it looks like a point)

3) The body -- you make kind of a circle and kind of medium-sized with how big or how small you want it. Use a pencil or pen or chop stick or whatever and poke lots of holes in it. Make one kind of bigger hole -- this is the spot where the arrow went when Smaug died (you will only know this if you have ever read the book -- that is where Smaug was invented).

4) The mouth -- cut a circle out of the play-dough. Poke (2) holes for the eyes, or put (2) dots of play-dough for eyes. Then get a really small amount of play-dough and roll it back and forth five or six times and if it doesn't work you can roll it more. Then, curve it like a smile and put it on the head so it looks like he's smiling.

5) The wings -- get (2) pieces of play-dough (try to make it the same amount) and cut the wings however you want them to look. Then, put them kind of on the edge of the body, then get (2) amounts of play-dough and make them short like the smile but longer and put them onto the middle of the wings.

6) The legs -- make them just like you put the amounts onto the wings, but make them as legs. Then, you can add any other accessories however you want them.

Phoebe Walking