I started teaching again today - it felt nice to do something other than cleaning/managing a home and taking care of kids! Of course, I love teaching, too. I started a new student today... he's very bright and learned fast, I look forward to working w/ him some more... I've been listening to classical music everyday while doing dishes lately, on Josephine's Strawberry shortcake CD player! I have so many CD's that have been collecting dust on them ever since I had Maureen - so I'm trying to play them again. I can at least LISTEN to music since I don't have the time to practice much anymore! One day, when we have some extra money and Michael is out of school, I will hire a babysitter to watch the kids once a day for at LEAST an hour so I can practice! I never thought I'd miss practicing so much - it was definitely a stress reliever and an emotional outlet. And I'm am determined to get a Doctorate degree in Music one day! Even if it's in Pedagogue and not Performance, I will do it!

Anyhow, last week was our first full week back with homeschooling. That's why I haven't posted in a while - it's taking me a few days to get back into our routine... We did some school at Michael's mom's house, but not much. We'll be doing school on Sat. for a while until we get caught up. Michael started school last week, too, along w/ doing some work study and a teaching assistantship. He's already loaded down w/ tons of schoolwork and stressed out! I remember those days clearly... The new (used) van's check engine light is on and the oil light keeps coming off and on... we're pretty sure it's the oxygen sensor and a fuel pump that needs to be replaced...

well, I'm gonna go... i'm trying to type and hold veronica at the same time - not an easy task w/ a squirmy, fussy baby. She took a late nap, so she's going to bed late tonight, I guess!

Home Sweet Home!

We got back home last Friday. Nobody is sick - yeah! The van is running OK, although the check oil light has been going off and on... even though the oil and filter was changed right before coming back home. Michael changed the oil again w/ a different type of oil and it seems to be running better. We'll see...

I'm not writing much - I've spent the past hour going over a couple hundred pictures, trying to narrow them down, then making the image size smaller on all of them. Overall, the past month was a bit stressful with all the sicknesses and the situation w/ the van, but there were many great moments, too! I have to say, God was with us through it all. Things could have been a lot worse. I feel very blessed to have such a supportive family - we couldn't have done it without you all!

We had a wonderful Christmas day at Michael's parents' home, then going on to his Granny's house. We went to the park once w/ all the kids. We saw a large display of Christmas lights (for free!). Josephine went to her first Saints game - I especially love those pictures! Maureen's last iron check was 9.8 - it's amazing how fast it's going back up! Her last chest x-ray showed some fluid left in her right lung, but the Dr. said it's nothing to worry about so long as she's behaving normal, eating fine and has no fever. Veronica learned how to sit up on her own at the end of December. Veronica has fully recovered from RSV, as well - she's very lucky she didn't end up in the hospital like many babies do. Finally, the kids got to see a great show of fireworks from the front yard - I can't believe it's really 2008. All in all, it wasn't so bad!

Here's a TON of pictures. Enjoy!

Over a week ago, we left here to go visit my parents. We made it to Pensacola, FL, and stopped at a Walmart to get a thermometer for Maureen. She has fever, again. Michael insists we turn around and go back to his parents' home. So we do. On the way, our van starts making noises again. We barely make it to Singing Rivers Hospital in Pascagoula, MS (the van killed on us 5 times, and the noises coming from the engine are horrible). After 3-4 hours in the ER, we find out Maureen has pneumonia! She seems to be recovered from the pneumonia now... we will have a follow up appt. with a doctor on Monday...We get the van towed back to the city Michael's parents live in... We KNOW KT automotive ruined our engine (there was no tapping noises before they fixed the gasket, but there was afterwards). Michael changed the oil before we headed for FL, and the tapping noise went away...temporarily! KT automotive is already giving us trouble about owning up to their mistake... we're not sure what we're going to do about it. It will cost $7,000 to replace the engine...

A few days ago, we took Veronica to the doctor. She tested positive for RSV, which puts a lot of infants in the hospital, and oftentimes causes pneumonia. We have been very lucky and have not had to take her to the hospital... She has been doing breathing treatments w/ a nebulizer every 6 hours and is responding very well to the medicine. She'll be on that treatment for a week or two, until her symptoms are completely gone.

Despite all the bad luck, we have some very good luck. Michael's grandparents have a '98 Dodge Caravan they are giving us! Thank you, thank you, thank you Grandma Ruth and Paw Paw Julio! You are a God send!!! After we fix a few small things with it, we will be heading back home so Michael can get back to school! Also, Maureen's iron level is steadily rising. It was 6.5 a couple weeks ago (normal is 12) and the last time it was checked, it went up to 7.2. It's still very low, but we're happy the iron supplements are working! Once we get back to MS, we will be taking her to a hematologist to get more answers on what type of anemia she has and what is causing it...

Still no pictures - haven't had the time!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year! I'll keep this short for now... We are visiting w/ Michael's parents and HOPE to get to my parents' home soon! We have had a total of 6 illnesses in the past two weeks - Josephine has been sick twice, Maureen three times and Veronica once. Maureen went to the doctor today and her iron is even lower... Michael's granny has been in the hospital for an uncontrollable nose bleed and high BP. AND our van needed a gasket replaced - $895 and 2 days later, it's fixed again. Now we just have to wait for our children to be healthy again so we can go visit my parents!

Christmas day was wonderful and we have tons of pictures, I just haven't had the time to go through them, make the image size smaller and post them. It may be a while before I get to those...

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas! It'll probably be a while before I post again!

I can't believe I haven't posted in a week! Things have been a little extra busy around here... Josephine and Maureen went to the dentist today. Josephine did great - she was very cooperative during the whole process and had no cavities - yay! Maureen cried the whole time while I restrained her (again!) but was perfectly fine as soon as we got out of the chair. She also did not have any cavities.

Michael is FINALLY done with school!!! Click on the link labeled "Family Pictures, Michael's Ceramics and paintings" on the left side of this screen to see a lot of pictures.

I'm keeping it short for today. I'm off to bed!

We went to the local health unit to get Veronica's vaccines today... she got three shots and one medicine she took orally. They weighed her and she weighs 17 lbs. and 6 oz.!!! She's 5 months and one week old. She's definitely bigger than Josephine and Maureen were at this age.

Yesterday, Josephine was talking about tummies, for some reason... she said "Maureen's tummy is bigger than Veronica's tummy, mine is bigger than Maureen's, Mommy's is bigger than mine, Daddy's is bigger than Mommy's, and God has the biggest tummy of all!" Michael and I just cracked up laughing.

Here's a cute picture of Maureen. She got her new bike today... will post pictures of that soon, too. This one came w/ a pretend baby carrier on the back of the bike to put baby dolls in. She had tons of fun putting her doll in and out of it, over and over again!

Go LSU!!!

Yesterday was a very long day! I left the house at 8:15 AM (that's really early for me to get out of the house w/ three kids!) to go to a doctor's appt. for Josephine and Maureen's well check-up. Josephine is 35 lbs. and 3'6" tall, and Maureen is 24 lbs. and 2'8" tall. They pricked Josephine's thumb and Maureen's toe (i thought that was weird!) and they both got a flu shot. they gave Josephine's shot in her skinny little arm (I thought they should've done it in her thigh or rear end) and Maureen's in her thigh. Yes, they both cried. All the while Veronica fusses in her stroller as I continually pop the pacifier back into her mouth... Josephine's iron was fine, but Maureen is still anemic, so they gave her a prescription for vitamins and sent her to get her blood drawn and tested to get more accurate readings... little did I know that that would require walking a marathon to find the admissions office in the hospital, waiting in line to get admitted into the hospital, getting admitted, waiting some more, FINALLY getting seen by a nurse who takes blood from Maureen's tiny little arm. It's not easy restraining your own child and holding her arm still knowing she's being pricked by a nasty needle! The nurse didn't get it right away, either, and had to move it around some before finding her vein... poor baby. To make things worse, the majority of the staff, nurses and doctor we saw weren't the friendliest people in the world either... Anyhow, we all had a LONG day! we got absolutely no school done. I'll be doing only necessary subjects tomorrow to make up for it!

Next week, the dentist. For Josephine and Maureen. Wish me luck!

Michael's last day of school is Dec. 7th! Hooray! We all look forward to him finishing this semester. He's been working like crazy and I'm very proud of him! I'll post some pictures of his finished works when he's done w/ school.