I went to my appointment with the Primary Children’s heart specialist and… … He said we have nothing to worry about!! There is a possible VSD but it is very small and not in a critical location. He said he does not foresee any problems with little Gertrude’s heart 🙂
I love good news!
Happy Memorial Day
Benji finished his 4th year of soccer! This was the first year of all boys and bigger goals and a goalie. Benji is still very timid but he tries hard. He played positions this year and was able to try everything except goalie – he was to nervous for that one.
Packer finished his 2nd year of soccer! The Green Ninja’s won 6 games and lost 1 . Packer played his best season yet. He was able to get a couple of goals and he dribbled the ball quite a bit. He got to play with his cousins Luca and Sam. Actually they had the same team as last year: Packer, Sam, Luca, Calista, Trevor, Eli and Jake (Braden moved).
Every month needs a few random posts. Especially when you are home from church a little early with a sick child and have a few minutes of quiet time.
We are moving in 2 weeks. It is consuming our lives, Everything we do revolves around the move and we are busier than I can ever remember. My growing belly is not helping in the productivity but I am excited about the new baby and the new house. We are managing to get things done and it is exciting. I keep packing things away and the kids keep wanting to know where their stuff is. I keep giving the “it will only be 3 weeks without it” speech and life goes on. I packed all of my earings except the ones I was wearing and now I lost the back on one of them- Ben gave me the  “it will only be 3 weeks without it” speech and life is going on :). My family is almost home so here come some pictures:
Cali is almost done with her first year of preschool. She brought home her picture and information from her first week of school back in August and then a recent picture and info from this week. She has grown up a ton. She has only grown an inch and gained 2 pounds but she is my big girl. Sometimes I forget that she is only 4. I ask her to help with the house and the kids and then I realize that in some families she would still be considered a baby. I feel bad for a bit but she is really good at being the big sister, the helper, and the little mom. A couple times a month she throws a terrible tantrum and reminds me that she is still little and hard to reason with but then she is back to happy and helping. She loves to play girl things and play with girls and be a girl and do hair and makeup and nails. Here’s some of her girly pics:
Cali couldn’t see her hair in the back so we had to take a picture so she could decide if she liked it.
Karlee showed Cali how to do Braids and Ponies so she (with my help) did one of each for school that week 🙂
Posing at the park – sometimes she loves to be a girly girl.
Packer loves to do his homework. He has learned to read and is working really hard on writing. He sounds everything out and has no clue about word spacing BUT he tries and it is adorable.
Rose always tells me that she is a baby like Ray Ray.. She doesn’t want to be a big girl, she always chooses the baby roll. Naked like Ray. Hold me like Ray. They are only 16 months apart and as he gets bigger they are getting closer in size and really enjoying playing and being silly little babies:
  
Raymond is not a baby anymore. He runs around the house and follows the kids and tries to do whatever anyone else is doing. He is our most mischievous child yet. He loves to walk now and is learning new tricks all the time.
We are having a GIRL. We came back from the ultrasound and Rose and Cali were anxiously waiting and it was so fun to tell them that it is a girl – a baby sister! The boys found out after school. They took it well but were hoping for a boy.
my babies always have a hand in their face
little feet
looking straight at her
Rose had a  Ventricular Septal Defect or VSD when she was born. She had 3 or 4 small holes between the lower ventricles of the heart. They healed on their own in the first year and she never had any symptoms. BUT because of Rose’s history they searched the heart specifically for a VSD and they think they found one. I go to primary children’s for a specialists opinion next week. The danger, as I understand it,  is that the oxygenated blood will mix with the non oxygenated and the baby will not be able to get enough oxygen to breathe correctly. In most cases the holes are small and the baby can breathe properly and the holes close as the heart grows. We are praying that will be the case with this little girl of ours. In a perfect world her little heart will grow and the hole could close before she is even born.
We are excited about little Gertrude… (that might be her pre-birth name). All of the kids have started talking to my belly and giving it/her hugs. I also wore my first maternity shirt today.
Ben had a birthday. It was on Thursday. The kids made him open his presents first thing in the morning! He went out to lunch with the work crew. After school we took balloons and cookies to the office… we were loud but he loves us. We played with the new remote control car until dinner time. We had smoothies! We fixed the car, then raced it some more. We sang and ate cake. We put the kids to bed and then Ben’s parents stopped by to wish him a happy birthday. It was a good day. We love Ben. He is awesome.
presents!
Balloons
Getting the new car ready…
everyone loved dad’s gift
homemade smoothies!
wacky cake with homemade frosting
Raymond made him talk – EAT UNDER THE TABLE!
That was a LONG winter. We love being able to go outside. We are still back and forth with warm and cold and rain and clear but we have had some beautiful days and we have taken advantage of them. Ray is loving being outside. We had Christian and Sam one of the days that we went to the park. I LOVE when the kids play and use their imaginations…