Super Cailin

Doctor visit today: early stages of pneumonia for Cailin. Sad to say, not a new thing for our "Super Cailin" (a self-given nickname). Every month since October she has had this type of "asthmatic" episode. Someone brings a cold into our house, usually Eric from school, and we get sniffles and a cough. She gets high fevers and a cough that makes you turn purple and hurts your stomach muscles. The latest episode started Friday night when her fever was so high she saw a "little lady monster." The fevers continued all weekend. She seemed a little better today. She was playing and proved to be Mommy's little helper when she decided to wash the lunch dishes. Now she is vomiting, probably because of her new antibiotic. But we do have hope tonight that she won't wake up. I tend to be naive about such things. I have to be or I'll always be thinking that they will wake up. Super Cailin will be playing again in no time...I hope. She prefers the name Super Cailin ever since she wore a cardigan that she buttoned only at the top and didn't put her arms through, much like a super hero cape. We call her Super Cailin throughout the day and sometimes when we forget, she will remind us. To me, she is my little super hero. Even when she is sick her eyes sparkle and her hugs are VERY STRONG.

Pictures from the Past

I decided to search the old "photo albums" for old pictures when writers block settles in. The familiar story holds true of having several pictures of your firstborn in nice neat albums and his siblings do not have the same amount of recorded memories. We DO have many pictures of Eric and ALL his little sisters...but little sisters' are ALL still in this computer. So a quick search of random pictures once in a while will be nice:)


This is our Philly Phanatic...he has always loved baseball. We lived in Sea Isle City, New Jersey at the time. We had one of very few houses with a side yard...the perfect size for Eric to start swinging the bat. He was serious about it back then and he is serious about it now.


Eric's crazy hair here reminds me of our little miss Super Cailin. We still have this guitar. Eric makes his super heroes perform on rock stages that he constructs and he himself still loves to rock out with a guitar and drums.



Eric has such a sweet face. He just knows that he has to give me a hug and kiss and he has my full attention. You can see Alayna in the background...hard to remember those days. Alayna, my baby. Life goes by so fast. I think I'll keep this "Pictures from the Past" blog idea a recurring thing...we are but a vapor.

Car Blog

Diaper bag- check. Juice cups and water bottles- check. Go get your socks and shoes on! Did you brush your teeth yet? Please go potty before you get in the car! I have to change Ella's diaper. Alayna, can you please go find Izzy and put her in the laundry room. Cailin, where are your shoes? Eric, BRUSH YOUR TEETH!!! Everyone look for Mommy's keys- must be in the car. This is just a small earful of the "It's time to go...let's get ready!" speech. One day I might put it all to music.

Finally, out- everything and everyone. Now let's get in the car. Go in and buckle! Mommy will be right back - keys must be inside. I come back out- GET BUCKLED!!! Everyone clicks- we pull away. Right in a cirlce we go...back into the driveway. Mommy forgot her wallet and cell phone. (This happens quite often, and I am sad to report often times it's found in the diaper bag.)

We live more than thirty minutes from everything. I am blessed that the kids do so well in the car.

Today's destination is Clearwater, Florida...home of the Phillies Spring Training stadium. Alayna and Cailin are with Gammy and Ella and I are packed in a van of boys. To the backseat I go...perfect view of Miss Ella.

Here's the scoop on Ella-teething, coughing, congested, tired. She HAS TO sleep on the way there. Our eyes engage quite often. She's not used to Mommy sitting in the back seat. To actully sit and watch her play, squeal, point, and giggle- despite my bottom falling asleep as I sit back here, this is quite nice. Her eyes though are so blue and SO HEAVY. She's watching me and fighting it. Thirty minute nap- tops. This should be an interesting day...

To my surprise she had a ball (no pun intended). Didn't bat an eyelash (no pun intended)...no sleep during this game. When the day was done...she got back in her carseat, got woozy, and did not notice me staring at all. Eyes shut and asleep. What a beautiful view I had! I am thankful that I could change my point of view for those moments. My mist became meaningful again.

Weary Walmart Worries

Thoughts of a Mama Gone Nuts...

I need to go food shopping. If I feed my kids any more animal crackers...they are going to start to throw them back at me. The dilemma? A mom ALWAYS wants her kids to get the optimum amount of sleep. So, courtsey of Daylight Savings...sleep gets messed up.

The girls now sleep an HOUR later. I would have to wake them up an hour earlier in order to get Eric on the bus on time. (We drive to the bus stop, it's so far away.) So we have been driving Eric to school each day this week.

And here the thoughts roll...
Ella needs to take two naps...AM and PM. Should she skip her morning nap and should I just go food shopping with my ladies? (We always do this...but Uncle Chris is in town and Gammy and Papa John said they would watch the girls while I shop.) So should take her AM nap here and then we'll head out into the world? Will I be home to put her down for a nap in the afternoon? And if so, will she be up at 3:30? I have to drive down to get Eric off the bus then.

Oh boy! And I had to woke up Alayna to take Eric to school. Will she fall asleep in the car? Will Cailin take a much need rest in the car, too?

I told Gammy I'd call her at 9am to let her know my plans...MY PLANS??? I don't know, ask my kids. The decision was made...I'll let Ella sleep here in the morning and head out to visit and go food shopping (with my fingers crossed that an adult come home with me so I don't have to wake Ella up to get Eric off the bus.) That will work IF she doesn't fall alseep on the home. Turns out, Uncle Chris didn't get in until late and the Field house is not happy that I called so early. How's a girl to know?? I just put Ella down for her nap...and she screamed...REALLY?? And now she's not sleeping...why bother?

I'm about to break! This might all sound like nonsense to some. But these decsions ARE important. I confess I do lose my sanity in hopes of saving my sanity IF they sleep.

Off to make the best of our day...I believe it was in Mighty Python..."Always look on the bright side of life." Yeah we see Uncle Chris! Yeah we visit our grandparents! Yeah we WILL have food other than animal crackers!

Winter Wetlands

We have lived in Florida for almost three years now. The last two winters have been beautiful days filled with blue skies, white clouds, and cool breezes and it was DRY. This winter was different. While our family and friends to the north experienced much snow, we had much rain. Several times on gloomy days, Eric had said, "This looks like New Jersey." (He seems to have vivid memories of the two years he lived there.)

The kids and I made the best of our wetlands. Rain boots, toy boats, play alligators, pirate ships, and even the boogie board. Each giant puddle had to be inspected for critters. Once the kids got the clear, they jumped, splashed, and ran straight into every puddle they saw.

No snow angels. No snowmen. Or snowball fights. Yes, after each foot of snow Jersey received, Billy and I would reminisce about how excited we were about those snow days. Sledding at the pit and walking on the beach in the snow are great memories.

Our kids winter memories will differ quite a bit from our own...but that's just fine with me! To see my girls in their mismatched outfits and crazy blond hair play "follow the leader" and sing silly songs while pulling each other along in knee deep in muddy water... I am grateful. To see Eric dive in puddles with his boogie board and carry his sisters along for the ride...I am grateful. When its chilly, we do follow up our day with hot chocolate and marshmallows and we pile on the blankets in our cozy pajamas...we love our winter wonderland.

Spring is on the way...and hurricane season :)

Party Time

Finally the time arrived to celebrate Ella's first birthday!! She started the day off with excitement (as if she knew cake and presents were coming, very intuitive.)


We began the party scene, by doing what we do best in Florida during winter...playing in mud puddles. (Video to come later...still working on getting that to go my way.)


We have actually spent hours in the mud. Mommy checked for ants, frogs and bugs. They got the clear and went wild. We did catch a couple of gators. It turned out to be quite a scene for a rock and roll stage. Things got nuts when the Jeep headed for the water.


Polished up and ready to go. Spring flowers galore. The kids were actually tired out and well behaved all day so I could cook and clean. Of course that ended upon the arrival of our first guests...running, screaming, pushing, shoving, and now its time to spring forward and lose more sleep...alright!


Here's Mimi and the party girl, Miss Ella who seemed a bit out of it. We could tell when she didn't eat dinner, she was feeling out of sorts.


Cousin Brendan was really into the party. I do wonder what Sarah put in his sippy cup. Come to think of it, Sarah did say that he had been waking up in the middle of the night...hmmm?

Miss Ella, smiles and giggles herself...not really sure what is going on as we gather around to sing Happy Birthday.

She did like the chocolate chip cake...YUMMY!

Alayna was happy too :)

I am way-too-tired...but I would love to post the pics of Alayna and Cailin in the same dress for their first birthday parties. (Just humor me and imagine how cute it would look if I did that!)

We talked about stars this morning at breakfast. (I do have pictures of us "shining" like stars...but to spare you I did not post them...lots of open mouth waffle shots.) Each kid would put their hands up with big (gross) grins and shimmy their fingers as if they are glowing, much like Ella is attempting here. My prayer for each of my child is that they will "shine like stars in the universe by living out the Word of life." Philippians 2

Praying through God's Word

I went to a MOPS meeting today and the Youth Pastor discussed how we can better pray for our children. To start the discussion he took a handful of journals out of his bookbag. This hit home for me. For years now, I too, have had a stack of prayer journals, but this busy Mommy hasn't picked up the pen lately. The YP gave us an excellent tool for prayer...Word's God, duh! God has written us a love letter...how eager are we to read it?? How often do we share it with our children?? Just recently I talked with Eric about using the Bible verses he learns at AWANA...in prayer. In Colossians 1:3 Paul says, "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you." I quoted this verse that night when we prayed for our AWANA leaders. He said, "Hey I didn't know you could say Bible verses when you pray." So Eric's bedtime prayer was, "Dear Jesus, We thank you for today. We pray that I have no bad dreams and that I have a fun day at school tomorrow. And that John 3:16...That God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life. And we pray for..." I thought it was so funny how he told God one of his memory verses. But shouldn't we do something similar?? The Youth Pastor included a GladLib (remember the word game MadLibs you did as a kid?) of Ephesians.

GladLib of Ephesians 3:14-21

Heavenly Father please help my responses to all circumstances in life to be to get down on my knees before You as the one who magnificently parcels out all of heaven and earth and
___________________________________________________
(insert your mailing address including street number, city and state)

I ask You to strengthen __________________ by Your Spirit,
(name of child)

but not in brute strength, but instead a glorious inner strength which comes from You as the Christ living in him/her when he/she opens the door to his/ her heart and invites You in. Keep both his/her feet planted firmly on love, so that he/she will be able to take in with all the Christians, especially at
_____________________________________________________,
(name of home church and their small groups they are involved with)

the extravagant dimensions of Your love. I want us together to reach out and experience the breadth, to test the length, to plumb the depths and to rise to the heights of Your love! Through You we can live full lives, full in the fullness of who You are. You really can do anything. Apply this even in my disbelief about
_____________________________________________________.
(situation in your life together that is very difficult or maybe seems impossible)

You can do far more than we could ever imagine, guess or request in our wildest dreams! I am and want to always be amazed by how You do this not by pushing us around, but by working Your Spirit deeply and gently within me and him/her. I praise You and give You the glory!

(adapted from THE MESSAGE paraphrase of the Bible)

Attention Walmart Shoppers

EVERYTIME I go food shopping at Walmart, there are so many questions to answer. Here is a list of answers for everyone to refer to if you are wondering.
- NO, I do not have a set of twins. (I get this question everytime.)
- NO, I do not have triplets. (You would be surprised how often I get asked this.)
- YES, they are a handful.
- Blue eyes come from Daddy. (YES, they all have the same Daddy.)
- YES, they are ALL mine. NO, I do not have a babysitting service.
And by the way, I can hear you gasp when you pass me in the aisle. Yes, I can see your head turn.
I am sure questions will continue. But that's okay, just know that they are LOVED.

Ella Turns One

Ella Turns One...

She was born on March 6, 2009...at 5:13am and weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 18 inches long.

Mommy's "My Mist" Blogspot can have many functions. Outreach, outlet...and BABY ALBUM!!
I am very excited to make this Blog a journal that my kids can look back on in the years to come.

So here is just a bit of Ella's First Year...

Such tiny feet and hands!! Ella is still a little peanut. She is just 16.5 lbs. During the last couple of weeks Ella finally decided it was time to get teeth #3 and 4, and now she is walking (and falling, too:) One of her favorite things to do is give kisses. Imagine someone giving you a big wet fake kiss...puckered lips and a big squeak. We hear that sound most at bedtime as she tours the bedrooms giving kisses to the crowd.

When you look at her and play with her, you can feel her sweetness.

Ella has had many adventures during her first year. This is a picture of her sleeping in the trunk of the van at the beach. (NO, IT WAS NOT TOO HOT!!)

Yes, she actually fell asleep like this in her bouncy seat. She kept sliding and sliding. But, yeah, she stayed asleep there was no way I was going to touch her while the other kids had many "projects" going on.

This is a picture of our travels to New Jersey. Ella had fun on the plane. We hope she enjoys the car ride that we'll take in there in May.

Ella adores her big sisters. She constantly watches what they are playing with and how they are playing with it. You can see her study them and try to mimic them. Tonight she tried to put on blue sparkle flipflops. She has the most fun with her big brother. They play tag and wrestle together. It's quite a sight!

Ella Mae...you are a joy to so many. May the Lord have His hand upon you and guide your days ahead. Thank you for being a beauty whose heart shines bright.

You Are My Sunshine...

...My only sunshine. You make me happy when
skies are gray. You'll never know, dear,
how much I love you. Please don't take my
sunshine away.

Heavy Things

Recovery is messy too. Tons of laundry...done, or so I thought. Why do diarrhea accidents happen right after I finish all the sheets and clothes for the day? The neglected house is what I have to work on next. And the shopping. And the decorating. And the baking. And the cooking. (Ella's first birthday is tomorrow.) And keeping up with the cranky girls. Alayna now arises between 10pm and 12am. When our bodies make bad sleeping habits, we feed into them. Over and over. Two nights now has screamed for super long stretches. She is just having trouble falling back to sleep once she turns over. Have you ever had that happen?

As I type this morning, I'm delirious. I saw the clock at 11:15, 11:57, 1:13, 2:23AM! Finally I went out to the couch (which I never do) in a desperate attempt to start over and try again and sleep. Somewhere between 3 and 6am I slept.

My heart and my mind would not stop racing. My body was limp and exhausted. But I couldn't make the leap into dreamland. One of my many, many thoughts was that maybe my mind races because I hardly talk to adults during the day and when Billy arrives home it's chaos. No time to get these thoughts out before bed. Then, I was thinking that this was only partly true. Perhaps, what the real problem is I don't take my thoughts and daily frustrations to the Lord. He cares about my chaos...why do I not talk to Him about it? Crying, fights, dishes, laundry, pee, poop, mess. The Lord cares and wants to hear from me. He wants to hear me trust Him. He wants to hear me put my faith in Him that He will provide the energy and strength I need. He wants to hear me say He is able to take care of me. Today, with three hours of sleep, I feel HEAVY (and woozy). But I feel so HEAVY I have dropped to my knees already in prayer.

(And when Billy left for work, his tummy hurt.)

IT continues

IT happened to me. IT happened to Alayna. As Billy said, "The cheese stands alone." Pray for my tired cheese. Brighter, cleaner, healthier days to come. Praise God for the help I received!! He is my strength when I am weak.