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Stop the press!

On July 12th, 2008

Peter ate two sticks of carrots and all his peas in one sitting without us asking!!!!

He does eat vegetables!

Surprise Iowa City Fire Department tour

Last weekend, we decided to go out for a family outing to the Iowa City Farmers Market downtown. As we walked to the market, we passed the Iowa City Fire Department. To all our surprise and excitement, a very nice firefighter invited us (well, really Peter and Natalie) to look at their fire and rescue rigs. It was soooooo cool, even for this 33-yr old mom. I was excited for the kids to see the fire department upclose and personal and it was pretty cool for Sam and myself as we never got to see anything like that before!

Peter even got a lift to sit in the drivers seat. Can you tell by his face that he was excited?!

Natalie got her turn in the truck, too!

With so many buttons inside the fire truck, I'm so relieved the kids didn't push something they shouldn't - like the siren! The firefighter offered for us adults to get a turn at the wheel. It was VERY tempting and would have been exciting, but we passed. It definitely would have been another one of my exciting experiences in big rigs like my first ride in a combine 5 years ago. I was so excited to ride that combine that harvested the corn fields near our house; I told everyone at work about my thrilling experience. They just laughed - apparently, people in Iowa ride combines as early as they ride their trikes!

Anyway...

The nice firefighter gave the kids stickers and Junior Firefighter hats before we left. Natalie was so happy to wear it - she kept it on all the way through the farmers market.

We hope this the beginning of many cool experiences for the kids to learn about things like the fire department and what they do. We showed our appreciation that morning by dropping off a dozen of cookies from the farmers market for our fellow firefighters!

Two weeks and over 150 diapers later

Thanks to all of you who've sent their well wishes for baby Elaine!

It's been a rough two weeks, but I feel the six of us (including Sydney) remain survivors.

Elaine continues to do well. As some of you may know, she had the unfortunate luck to get some of my hyperthyroidism antibodies in her bloodstream. She's been on medication to lower her thyroid levels. Fortunately, it's temporary and she's already showing signs of outgrowing it as her dose has been lowered as of today. Otherwise, she's gaining weight and eating very well. Her nights and days are still a little switched, but hopefully that will correct itself soon!

Peter and Natalie are being great older siblings. They just loves to give baby Elaine hugs and kisses all the time. It is apparent that Peter is a "pro" when it comes to being a big brother whereas Natalie is exploring her new world of being a younger and an older sister. Ah...Welcome to the world of the middle child, Natalie! I hope you take it well!

Sam has been a huge help, sacrificing a lot of time from his work to stay home and help out in every way possible. I'm afraid that time to get into the normal routine is nearing or upon us. I haven't yet gotten a grasp of how I'm going to handle three kids at home on my own. Worse off, how will I be able to get them all out of the house on my own. At times like these, I often think back and rest assured that my mom, too, was a mother of three. So far, all 3 of us turned out fine and my mom still has her hair! I, too, will survive. (*channeling in some Gloria Gaynor*). If all fails, I take comfort in also watching Jon & Kate Plus 8 and thank God that I have only 3 not 8 mouths to feed!

I leave this entry with Elaine's first video appearance - shortly after birth.

This is how she started...we'll see how she'll grow!