Been a few days!

This time of year is definitely busy! Things have been going pretty good! On Christmas Eve we went to the Christmas Eve service at our old church and got to see a few friends I had been wanting to see for awhile. After that we drove through Frankenmuth and looked at the Christmas lights! This is something I did every year as a child and I wanted to continue it with my kids while we were here!

Christmas day didn't start out so good! Kiersten woke up at 5:30am with a high fever so I took her right into the ER! They did chest xrays and everything but couldn't find the reason for the fevers so they sent her home. The good news is that she didn't have any seizures and she was able to come home and open gifts with the rest of the kids! After we opened presents and ate lunch here at my inlaws I went to my Grandpa Wagners house! We had a lot of fun there! We also seen my dad and brother and sister that I haven't seen in 9 years! I am still the shortest kid in my family!!! Not sure how I feel about all of it yet but we will see how it goes!

This past weekend we did the family Christmas on Jon's side of the family! We went to a hotel and had a blast! It was so great to see everyone and the kids had so much fun! I love getting to see family at the holidays and hope that we can do it every year! We got back from the hotel today and we are all wore out! Those nights of staying up late have wore us all out!

Tomorrow I am taking Adrianna and we are going to go and get our hair done! Adrianna is just getting a trim but I am getting the highlights again and my hair cut! It is driving my nuts getting this long! I need to have something that is easier to take care of but looks good-no boy haircuts for me! I think this is pretty much all of our news for now! I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and has an even better New Year!
Stacy

Our trip so far

So things have been ok so far! We picked the perfect day to travel! We had no problems at all. If we would of left on Friday or Sunday we would of been in trouble but since we left on Saturday the weather was great! The kids were great! We had the normal little fights that the kids did but other than that things went well. Kiersten and Jon are the only ones that fell asleep on the way here. Kayleigh was just so excited to be traveling there was no way she was going to fall asleep when she actually got to go bye-bye!

Today has been up and down. My sister in law had her baby this morning. A little boy! He was 5 lb. 3oz. so he has to be in a special place in the hospital for observation for 24 hours. It is because he is under 5 1/2 lbs. I am disappointed because I wanted to get up there and get pictures of him and get the calendar done for Jon's mom. I am so glad though that he is healthy!

Please pray for Kiersten again though because this morning she is running a fever for no reason again! It was 101. I have given her Motrin and put a wash cloth on her to try to bring it down. I am not going to panick yet but we will see what happens! If I don't get on here again I want everyone to know that I wish them a Merry Christmas!
Stacy

New update

Ok-since tomorrow is going to be a very busy day I decided to get on here and wish everyone a great Christmas! Tomorrow we are surprising the kids with Christmas morning! We decided to do Christmas before we leave and just do the stockings when we are in Michigan! The best part is they have no clue we are doing this. That means they go to bed on time tonight and don't have any trouble sleeping, also they don't try to sneak downstairs to peek at their presents because they won't even know that they are down here! I feel like such a little kid because I am so excited!

After we do Christmas in the morning we will clean up and I will start packing our stuff in the can while DH studies for his test tomorrow night. Since he won't get home until late I want to get all of the stuff in the van before he goes to work. We want to get up and leave by 5am on Saturday so if we get everything in the van early tomorrow I can go to bed early and we will just have to get up, get dressed and leave! I can't believe it is just two days before we get to go see family! Finally-first time in 4 years we get to spend Christmas with everyone!

The kids are all doing good. Their first day off school was today and they have just been having fun around the house. I went up to the new school this morning and helped Adrianna's teacher with unpacking the new classroom. After they go back in January they will be in their new school and new classrooms but I just feel bad for these teachers that have all this work to do to get these new classrooms ready in such a short period of time! When I came home and opened the door I was greeted with the overwhelming smell of puke. The dog got sick in her kennel and layed in it so the whole downstairs stunk. My DH cleaned up the kennel but because she layed in it you could still smell it. So I scrubbed the kennel out and then took the dog upstairs to be bathed so now she smells good again!

Ok-I think that is enough of an update! I really hope that everyone has a great Christmas. My DH found out that I ordered a Poker Set for him so today I decided to order this acoustic guitar set that he had on his amazon account to try to surprise him with that. It is expensive and has me worried that we will not have enough for the trip but I just felt that he really wanted it and it would just make his Christmas. He wants to learn to play so he can't start until he gets the guitar. Problem is it may not arrive ontime-we will have to wait and see! Have a great day and holiday season!

Stacy

Great Day!

SO we went and got our pictures done at Sears this morning. I made it a morning appointment because I thought it would be best for the kids and I was right. We thought we were going to be late but we ended up getting there on time and the kids were awesome! The photographer was great and made the kids laugh and got them involved. I asked her if we can suggest her all the time and she said sure and gave us her name! I just loved all the pictures so much that we did end up getting the disk so we can make more prints! Jody thank you so much because we never would of went and did this if it were not for you! Your picture will be on it's way soon! You might have to give me your address again though because I may have lost the envelope with it on there!

I was so worried that the twins would not smile or the kids would act up and we did have our moments but it all worked out! The twins were so willing to do whatever the photographer asked. Justice was a ham, of course when is he not! The older two did great. Adrianna did have a melt down but the photographer whispered in her ear and she calmed right down. We did forget that she wanted to have her picture taken with a certain background and she started to cry but since they were not busy at all Jessica took the girls back in and used the background and then took on of the two boys together! I am so glad that she did because I love the ones she got. Jody, I totally forgot to ask about the birdseye view-is it the one that I got of all the three looking up at the camera because I feel so bad that I forgot about it? Anyway, here is the results of the pictures! Tell me what you all think and thanks again Jody! Have a great day everyone!
Stacy

Where has the week gone???

I am sitting here and I can't believe that it is already Wednesday! Girls-down for a nap and the older three at school! Rest time-not! I have been busy making my mother in law her calendar for Christmas! I just need a few other people to send me some pictures for it and it will be all done-oh yeah and waiting for one sister in law to have her baby-that would be a big one! I decided since she is having her baby early and very soon that we would wait so he can be in the calendar too!

Things have been going pretty good this week! We are all getting very excited that our trip is coming up so fast-just hope that while we are there that the time goes slow but you know what they say-time flies when you are having fun!

Ok-so you know that your dog is getting too big when you are sitting here on the couch and the dog puts his paws on the back of the couch and leans over your shoulder. Sorry random but as I am typing this that is what Daisy did!

So I think I better start making a list of things that we need to pack for our trip! The other day I thought about the little swimmers since we will be staying at a hotel for a few days for the family Christmas. I also remembered the girls seats they sit in to eat! I definitely want to make sure that I have those or we will never be able to keep them at the table!

Well, I guess there really is nothing new to post about! We have had a pretty uneventful week so I guess that is a good thing! Hope everyone else is having a great day!
Stacy

Another fun day!

SO the first Saturday of every month is supposed to be the day that we take the kids out for a fun not expensive day. We were not going to do it today because of the trip we are taking home for Christmas-we figured we would use that as our trip of the month but we found something fun to do. The base was having this toy drive thing. Their were 3000 guys that jumped from planes today for the kids. In order for them to be able to jump they had to bring in a toy for a child in need and then wait to see if they were one of the ones that had their number drawn. I think the idea is awesome! Needless to say we didn't know exactly where this was happening. Bragg is a huge base so we had to make some calls to finally figure it out. We ended up getting there very late but their were some pluses to that. First we got to park very close! No walking over a mile to get to the drop zone. Second, we got to see the last group of guys jumping (honestly-how long is a kid going to want to sit and watch people jump-I guess my kids would probably do it for awhile because they know that Daddy also does that but hey-they were happy with what they saw). Third, they also had rock climbing for the kids. Since we got there so late there was no lines so the kids got to get right up there and do it. They were so excited about it. Justice got about half way and then decided to look down and that would be about the moment that he got freaked out and decided he was done. Michael got a little over half way and then did the same thing. Then you had Adrianna who would of made it to the top except the fact that she slipped. They loved it. Ok-fourth good thing--cotton candy! What kid doesn't love cotton candy. I had to bring the twins coats home and wash them because they made such a mess with it but they loved it. And fifth-we didn't have to freeze for so long. WE were out there the perfect amount of time to where we were a little chilly but not too bad. And the sixth and best part of it all the cost-----absolutely FREE!!! I love when the military does things like that!

So after that fun time we went to Walmart and got our Christmas clothes! We are getting our pictures done next Saturday and I wanted to make sure that we had some nice clothes to wear for them! Us girls are going to all be wearing some shade of purple although the twins is more of a purple burgandy color but they have beautiful dresses. The guys are all going to be wearing nice pants and blue shirts. I can't wait for the pictures! Still praying that they kids all cooperate for this!

After we came home Jon took Justice out for his special day and they went out for dinner and then grocery shopping. They didn't get home until late but that is ok. Not only that but Jon went and bought some more clippers since we can't figure out where his went and now the boys will also have a nice hair cut for the pictures! I am very happy about that! I think the only bad part of the day is that tonight the flu sickness finally caught up with Michael. Earlier in the week he was feeling dizzy but never actually threw up but that all changed tonight. I am hoping that this doesn't mean that the twins still have a chance to get the flu as well! I am so ready for this sickness to get over with!

Well, I think this is all for tonight! No cool pictures because we forgot the camera! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and I will be back again soon with more updates!
Stacy

Sorry-forgot to mention

In the slideshow there are pictures of the girls leaning into eachother. It was so cute! We were sitting there eating our pizza and all of the sudden the girls started leaning over and whispering to eachother! I thought they looked so cute I had to get the camera out and take a few pictures! Just wanted to explain what those pictures were all about!

Fun night

So tonight our neighborhood center had a supper with Santa night! You got to tell Santa what you wanted for Christmas, eat pizza and make crafts! It was a pretty fun night. Kayleigh LOVED Santa. As soon as she seen him she ran up to him with arms wide wanting him to pick her up and once he did she settled right in for some cuddle time! He is her new best friend! And then there is Kiersten who was the complete opposite! As soon as she seen him she went into hysterics-kind of like she did at the doctors office yesterday! She wanted nothing to do with him! The kids had a lot of fun even though they already know that there is no such thing as Santa they played along and enjoyed themselves! I am adding a slideshow of some pictures I took tonight. My wonderful camera is broke so I had to use Jon's who's camera is no where near as good as mine but it is better than nothing! Hope that everyone has a great night and great weekend!
Stacy

Another New Update

So I finally got Kiersten into the doctors this morning. She screamed like a mad child when she seen the doctor. She totally flipped out and didn't want the doctor touching her. The doctor finally said that she has a virus and gave her Tylenol, Motrin and come cough stuff. I am not going to give her the cough stuff though because it says to talk to the doctor first if you have seizures. I decided if it is just a cold then I could help her deal with it without the cough medicine because I am not risking some stupid medicine causing more problems!

I am really in the Christmas mood. Just wish I had more money to buy things. I still haven't got Jon anything for Christmas and I really want to get him something special! Wish some ideas would pop into my head! We are starting to cut it close and I still have no idea! I still haven't put the Christmas lights on the outside of the house yet. We are leaving in 16 days and now I just don't see the point in putting them up. I have the Christmas tree up inside and I think for this year that should be good enough! I might change my mind later though-we will see.

I am starting to get a headache again! I swear I just need to get some more rest but that is next to impossible. I know I won't get any extra sleep while in Michigan either-probably less actually. I know that the kids will get up super early at Jons parents house and I will have to get up and make sure I keep them quiet so they don't wake up the rest of the house! Even when I tell them to stay downstairs so they don't wake up anyone else they never listen. They get to excited about being at Grandma's and Grandpa's and want to go straight upstairs and start the day even if it is before 6am.

I think Kiersten might fall asleep over on the chair. She hasn't had a nap yet today and is really tired. I am trying to hold her off until 3 when I can put both the girls down! Anyway, I need to get off of here and go take care of some things! Have a great day everyone and thanks for the prayers for my family!
Stacy

Quick partial update on Kiersten

I just wanted to let all of you know that Kiersten's fevers have gone down so far. THe problem is she woke up coughing really hard and is still doing so and she is saying that her throat hurts. No her temp won't even read normal-it is below so I am not sure what to think about that. Needless to say there are no appointments available at the clinic but they have called us back and said they want her seen today because of her history-they want to stop anything before it happens and they are trying to put a referral in for her to be seen at an urgent care clinic off post so we are waiting on the call for that. We told them that it had to be this morning since Jon has to be to work by 2 and they said it would be but here it is 10:35 am and still no call for the appointment so we will have to see about that! I will update again when I can but please keep praying that the fever at least stays away! That is what I am worried about the most!
Stacy

Ups and Downs

So the three older kids all made it to school today! Justice got his 7th Purple Cat in a row (on days that he has been there). He is getting so much better at being good at school. Needless to say now that he is home he is feeling sick again. I am hoping that this will pass and he will be better. The worst part is now Kiersten is running a fever. It is just a low one but with how fast her fevers rise I am very worried about her. I have started her on the Tylenol and Motrin and hope that this time we will be able to control it. I guess all that trying to keep her away from everyone and trying to keep her healthy didn't work. I just hope that the fevers stop without her having seizures this time! Please keep praying for her.

Other than that everyone else seems to be doing better! I am so looking forward to our trip to Michigan-just 18 more days! Also I don't remember if I put this on here or not but we are getting our pictures taken at Sears on the 13th thanks to my great friend Jody! By the way Jody-I need to know what size you want so I make sure I order it. I didn't forget that was part of the deal! I am so excited about this but also worried because it is always hard to get the five kids to look in one spot-you know how that goes Jody except you have even more-and the twins have only had their pictures done by other people four times! Once from Jody but they were too small to listen to you if you say look over here, twice at studios and they did awful and then this summer when my sister in law took the pictures and they didn't do all that great then either-but better because it was their Aunt Joy but that day Michael was having nothing to do with pictures and he was the oldest! All the ones where the girls were smiling and looking at the camera Michael was pouting or making mean faces! Anyway, after we do that I will try to find a way to scan the pictures or if they have disks maybe I will get one. It has been so long since I have done pictures in a studio that I don't know how they do things anymore!

Well, I think that is all the news for today! Hope that everyone has a great one and I will update on how Kiersten is doing soon. If I am not on for a few days then please pray for Kiersten because that could be the reason-other than that I will make sure I update tomorrow so you won't be worrying about her either!
Stacy

Kiersten's Cardiology Appointment!

So I took Kiersten to the Cardiologist today for a check up. They did the whole work up which surprised me but I guess since she is a new patient there they wanted it all for their records. She did awesome-even with the EEGor EKG can't remember which is for the heart and which is for the brain anymore since she has had so many of both! She just sat there and let them do everything they needed it was so cute and they kept saying how their kids never would of done that at her age. The cool thing was when they did the ultrasound on her heart they had a TV set up so she could watch Blues Clues and that made her lay there and let him do that-they were very impressed.



And for the results! When he did the exam where he just listened to her he said if she didn't have the scar down her chest you would never know by listening to her that she ever had heart surgery. That was so good to hear. He even talked about Dr. Jonas and how he is the best for her type of problem so she was lucky to have him for the surgery that Kiersten had! Then he did the ultrasound on her heart. He showed me the patch and said he thinks it is all covered up. There is one thing that bothers me that I have to leave to God. Before when they did the ultrasounds on her heart all of her leaks she had cleared up and there were no more. Well, today she has a small leak. The doctor doesn't look at it as a problem so I guess I shouldn't either but the fact that it didn't have any leaks before and has a small one now worries me. He did say that normal people with no heart problems can get leaks in the same place and it not cause a problem at all and they will just keep watching it. They also said that because of how big her hole was and where it is located she might have problems when she gets older with getting out of breath easily if she does sports and stuff but then again she may not. He said this because there is a spot that showed up on her EEG/EKG (again not remembering which) that shows that her right side works a little slower than her left. This is only because of the patch. They will continue to do this test as she gets bigger and if the difference starts getting bigger than they will have to figure out what to do. He said he isn't telling me this stuff to scare me-only because he had to give me all the info but he doesn't think that Kiersten will have a problem. All that being said we go back to the having to trust God with it all. I have to try to not treat her any different than the other kids-just because I worry all the time.



Other than that things are going ok. We are dealing with the flu here. Jon started it early Sunday morning then the boys were not feeling good and a few hours later Adrianna started in. Michael was better today but Justice and Adrianna stayed home from school still sick and now I am starting in I believe. I am just praying that the twins don't get it because usually what one girl gets the other does and I really don't want Kiersten to get the fevers that Jon and Justice have had. Please be praying for all of this and for us to be able to just trust God with Kiersten. It is hard to not want to go and just have everything fixed right now!