Katie's visit to ENT doctor.....

So, we had Katie's checkup with Dr Jacobs at CHOP the other day. The nurses and doctors were all so impressed with how healthy and happy looking the babies are............it made me feel good! :) Doctor Jacobs holds a special place in my heart, b/c he is the Doctor that figured out what was wrong with Katie back in Nov 2006 when she was airlifted to CHOP. It was an amazing and scary sight to see a number of doctors and nurses surrounding your 2 week old baby, and nobody knowing why she was having so many "blue spells". Dr Jacobs came in and instantly knew it was a heart issue...........Anyway, since Katie has been sounding like she has "congestion" after she eats/drinks, she is scheduled for a swallow study this coming Monday. This will determine if there is any aspiration going on when she eats/drinks. Dr. also scheduled another bronchoscopy for the end of March. She had one a year ago, so they like to do a comparison to keep an eye on her tracheamalacia......I'll keep you all posted. :)

Brotherly love

Austin has become quite the bully lately, but as soon as he hurts one of his siblings, he is sure to go over and give a hug! :)

Watching Daddy leave for work.....

Silly girls......

Oh no! See what Austin can do now????!!!!

Mommy's weight loss

So, I thought I would add some pics in of myself............since I am down now 72 lbs since October. The pics are a little out of order.......but the last pic is my "fat" pic, if you will..........last Easter 2008. The middle pic is from Dec 2008, and the first pic is the most recent--New Years 2009....I'm starting to see a difference!

A minute or two in the life of us......

Mommy's 32nd birthday!

My birthday was on Sunday, 1/11. Since Tom had to work on Sunday, we had our family over the house on Monday for pizza and cake. The pizza was very yummy, and the Carvel cake was sooo delicious! :) I got lots of Lane Bryant gift cards----which is sooooo much fun b/c I keep going down in sizes and I need new clothes!!! :) Nicholas bought me a beautiful picture frame from the Aquarium and I can't wait to put a pic of him in it! My IPOD broke back in December, and Ijust couldn't justify buying a new one at the time, so when I did buy one, I made it my "early" birthday present!!! :)

At the gate....

My little munchkins are always waiting for me at the gate that goes into the kitchen..........whether

I am doing the dishwasher, or cooking dinner..........I always have some little friends waiting for me at the gate!

No nap!

So this is what happens in our home when there is no nap! :) The other day, once we put them down for nap, the girls and boys decided to have a "poop party". Ugh. So, after cleaning up the "party" room and the "party-goers", I decided they were staying up the rest of the day. No way in He** was I cleaning and shampooing that room AGAIN!!! Soooo, by dinnertime, Matty, Katie, and Emma were passed out on the couch..................Austin had slept earlier in the day, so he was a happy camper playing with his blocks alone-not having to share!

She loves posing....

Katie always has a cheesey smile ready for me!

Matty got another haircut!

I swear, this boy's hair grows faster than anyone else's I know!! He needed one sooo bad---and he looks super handsome now! :)

Sleeping at the Aquarium

As part of Cub Scouts, Nick and Daddy were able to sleep at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden on Saturday night.

Nicholas had a GREAT time. It is such a good age for a place like this-he learned sooo much and was so fascinated with all of the sea creatures. This is something he will remember always, I am sure!!! How many people get to SLEEP with the fishies???!!!

Will they ALWAYS share ONE bed???

Soooo, we had to get rid of the cool VW Bug toddler beds............basically b/c my four little ones are TERRORS and took apart the bed too many times!!!! :)

So, I was able to use Nick's old toddler bed and my friend's toddler bed, along with the two car beds I already had. The one bed I got from my friend is a "Princess" theme...........so I brought it in the room..........made a big fuss about it with the girls............brought their Princess pillows in with it, and still.................where do they sleep? Or should I say, where do they ALL sleep? In ONE bed TOGETHER!!!! I know they are cramped-I mean, come on, look at the bed!!! They're falling off..................but it's so cute, that they want to be together...............this is how I find them nightly----very rarely do they separate two and two anymore................

Emma and Nicky

Emma adores Nicholas. Wherever he goes, she is sure to follow. I think she likes to raise he** with him, to be honest...........she KNOWS he will be having fun, for sure!!!!

We LOVE our Nanny and Poppy

Nanny and Poppy's house on New Years Day

Happy New Years!

We were on our way to Nanny's and Poppy's for a yummy New Years Dinner!

Lexi's drawing

This picture does not do the drawing any justice, but Lexi did a really nice sketch of the Twilight characters..........

The best New Years present

So, as many of you know, I have been on a weight loss journey for some time now.....practically the past TEN years, however, really committed since this past October. I am proud to say that as of this past Monday, I have shed 58.8 lbs (Yes, every 1/10th counts!!!) That is more weight than my Nicholas weighs!!!! Anyway, this morning as I was getting dressed, Nick came to show me the drawing he made on his MagnaDoodle toy. He said he drew Daddy, Mommy, and Nicky. And then he pointed to the big pants that Mommy was wearing. He said that those are my "old" pants, and now I am so skinny (NOT!) that they are too big on me! It was sooooo cool to have my 6yo realize the healthy changes I've been making and notice the difference it has made in me! I just about cried! :)