Sand

This past week we went camping at Indiana Dunes State Park. The weather was perfect. Cool, breezy and sunny. Nights were pretty cool. This was Baby Bean's first camping expedition on the outside. We went camping while I was pregnant with him. He slept well at night and even took a nap! He loved the sand and was really good on our hike. My blessed husband carried him in the sling. The big kids were amazing. Boundless energy. They scaled the dunes like pros. Husband and I are not exactly in the same shape we were in 10 years ago before children so we took more pauses. The view of the lake was spectacular. We could even see the Chicago skyline clearly. The kids definitely want to go to the beach again. Hopefully, it involves an ocean this next time. :) DH is not a fan of the beach so we will see if that will come to pass. Probably mountains or Nebraska prairie next.
We even got to see Venus in transit between the sun and earth. Something we will never get to see again. DH was able to get a pic on his iphone so I will try to upload that later. So awesome to see God's creation. From a planet to a small lizard it is truly amazing to see how big God is and His creativity knows no bounds.

 The black speck is Venus

 Evening on the dunes

 These flowers were everywhere on the trails

 Ready to head onto the beach from the trail

The water was beautiful. Large ship in the distance.

Survival

This has been a long difficult week. Baby Bean had surgery to repair his cleft palate on Monday. Surgery went well and the surgeon seemed pleased. Hopefully, it will heal well and completely. We go for his post-op in another two weeks. At that time he should be off all restrictions. He has to wear arm splints to keep his hands out of his mouth. He is not happy to put it mildly. He is slowly eating more and drinking is going a little better today. He is currently sleeping. In his own bed. By himself.

Haven't really taken any pictures of the kids this week. I did snap a few quick shots of some plants. Last summer my in-laws bought me some plants for my birthday. We had a drought last summer so I wasn't sure how they would fare. Everything seems to be doing fine. I might have to move a few things that need a bit more sunlight. 

Hydrangea just starting to bloom! Lovely.

Lavender. This one is thriving! The other two need to be moved a bit to get more sunlight.

Oh dear. I have done it again. I like reading other blogs but am awful at updating mine. I think I try to set high expectations when I need to be more reasonable. How about a post every Sunday? I think that might work. No promises. Not even going to try to update everyone on the past months. Two pics and then more on Sunday!

 Easter

My sweet girl turns 7. She wanted banana splits. Yum.

Saturday

Lots to catch up on. The last post was in April so I guess I will start from there.

April-Baby Bean turned 2months. My sister and I went to Chicago to visit our new nephew. Had a few appointments regarding Baby Bean.

May-We began the taping process in anticipation of Bean's first surgery. The process was so much simpler than we expected. He tolerated it very well and the cleft was closed from 13mm to 3mm. A huge answer to prayer.

June-Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit the first week. My tiny sister arrived home from S. Korea. Bean's lip repair was on the 27th. He came through like a champ! He did much better than expected. His lip and nose also looks great. He still has many surgeries in his future but we are pleased with the progress made so far.

July-My birthday and my sister's. Bean off restrictions from surgery. Precious friends and family from church pitched in to get me a massage and were so generous I was able to get my haircut and go on a date with my husband. The date never actually happened. But we were able to have some mini dates after the kids went to bed. Matilda monkey lost her 1st tooth at the end of the month. Fervent prayers were offered up to bring tiny sister's fiancee to the states.

August-Tiny sister's fiancee arrives!! State Fair. Bean's 1st ear infection. My sister's wedding shower.

September-Wedding month. Lots of routine dr visits. Matilda loses 2nd tooth. Our 12th anniversary. Lots of birthdays!! Adoption finalized and then a visit from the nephew (he brought his parents along for the ride).

My brother visited can you tell?

My sweet boy! 3 years old!!

Yes, he did that by himself.

Who Knew

Apparently, I have a blog! Sorry internet I have been busy. While I have had plenty to say I just haven't wanted to sit down and type it out. Baby Bean is three months old. It seems like a long and short time all at once! He is still eating well. Sleep is a little more challenging. I can see a slight improvement. He has his lip repair on June 27th. We will have to transition him to a special bottle for the three weeks post-surgery. It is more of a squeezy bottle with some tubing on the end. We will start working with him a week or so before surgery so it isn't as traumatizing. I am not looking forward to surgery as I am pretty sure the three weeks post-op are going to be miserable. He likes to fall asleep cuddled on my chest which he won't be able to do. His bottle will be different. He will have to wear arm splints. All of this on top of being a fussy baby. Anyone want to trade me places? We are praying that he will surprise us and it won't be awful. And if that isn't God's will....we are praying we will have stamina to endure!! I will try to put some stuff in the freezer over the next few weeks.

The girls are doing well. Matilda is reading. She is making slow, steady progress. Bella is almost done with most of her school work. We should be finishing up in the next few weeks with everything except history and math. Biscuit is loving spring/summer. He is outside every chance he can get. The girls start swimming lessons this next week. Can't wait to see how they do!

All Things New

We have lots of new things around here!

A new baby!

Four kids!

New glasses for reading!

A new guinea pig named Charlotte!

Baby Bean is 5 weeks old now. He is eating well and sleeping well at night. During the day, not so much! We started school again full time last week. So far, so good! Bella went to the eye doctor last week. She is slightly farsighted. It is something she will outgrow. She had been having headaches so we are going to do glasses for now. The guinea pig came compliments of my midwife. She needed a new home and since the girls had been wanting one for so long we decided to take the plunge. She is very sweet and doesn't smell!

I also have a new niece and nephew! The niece was born 10 hours after Baby Bean. The nephew was adopted a week later but found out about the same day Baby Bean arrived! Such a huge blessing! I haven't received permission to post photos of them publicly so just imagine cute babies! And yes my mom is very busy! Lots of grandbabies to snuggle!

Baby Bean

Baby Bean has arrived! We are loving him to pieces. Our sweet boy arrived Tuesday morning at 6:45. He weighed 8 lbs 14 oz. He was 21.5in long. He has dark hair and I won't be surprised if he ends up with brown eyes. He is absolutely precious. The girls are in love with him and would like to hold him all the time. We won't have to worry about someone to help hold him. Biscuit is cautiously optimistic. He has held him a few times and likes to talk about him. Here are a few pics and then I am off. I probably won't be posting anything for some time.