Happy Birthday Carolyn!

Can you believe it, my baby is 1!! This year has gone by the fastest out of all of the kids. The entire journey of Carolyn seemed to fly by. Being pregnant with her, her first few months of life and then you get to the point of when you don't really remember what life was like before that child. I mean you remember but it just feels so natural and right to have that person in your life. I think that has got to be the best feeling ever. You just feel good, your heart is happy! Carolyn has been an amazing baby. Very patient and happy. She adores her brother and sister, and the feeling I believe is mutual. I am so glad that Genevieve has a sister to grow up with. Having a sister is so awesome! Carolyn is a mommies girl most of the time. She is my cuddle bug. But when Daddy is home she only has eyes for him! Then she is his cuddle bug. For her birthday we invited some of our friends over for some homemade pizza and birthday cake. I always laugh when there are more adults then children at a kids party(don't worry, the kids were not drink all that wine). But really how many friends does a one year old have? It was a lot of fun. Carolyn enjoyed lots a fruit and pizza. Then it was on the the main event. The CAKE!! Carolyn did like to squish the cake more than eating it. After thoroughly squishing her piece of cake it was bath time. Carolyn partied so hard she was asleep before 7:45.

Leah is 4!

Can you believe it!! Leah Elliott is 4!! I hardly can....I remember when she was born. Holding her in that enormous blanket. The blanket seemed heavier than she was. She has been so endearing and sweet since the day she was born. She also has been a fighter!! After learning her diagnosis of Down Syndrome there was so much up in the air. She could have problems with her heart, her eye sight, hearing, physical disabilities and mental disabilities. She has never stop to amaze me with her abilities! I don't see a child with disabilities here. I see a child that has every possibility before her and she is going to do it. She is the light on a rainy day. Her smile can warm your heart, she has a purpose in this world. I can't tell you how much Leah and her family mean to me. They are amazing examples of how to persevere even when the world is against you. I love you Elliotts!! Anyway back to her party!! It was held at the World of Bounce..Awesome!! We played in the bounce houses for about an hr and then headed to the party room for pizza and cupcakes and candy. Mary! You did a fantastic job on the decorations. I don't know how you do it!! The kids jumped right into the food. After everyone was thoroughly stuffed we sang Happy Birthday to Leah. Presents were opened next. Leah is so sweet...she really lets you know if she likes or dislikes something. I love the honesty! All three of my kids were exhausted by the end and were in much need of a nap. We said our goodbyes and headed home for some shut eye.

Oh Boy! or Girl!

Yep, here we go again!! It is still pretty early but the test says I am pregnant. We are so thankful for this blessing no matter how long it lasts. The baby is due early October.

Dilemma

Ok so here is my dilemma. To Facebook or not to Facebook? I have decided that FB can and probably does take up too much of my time. I mean it is crazy how obsessive I can get with it and it is starting to bother me. I was first introduced to the crazy world of wanting and needing to know every ones business by Blogger. Blogger was a great way to help the family see pictures of the kids. I have been enjoying my blog for three years:) And then I was introduced to Facebook (thanks Carrie, Erin and Janessa!). All of a sudden I am able to find people that I knew years ago. I mean now I had the ability to make up for all of those years and it just got down right addictive to see what people were posting. Now I must say that I am very proud that I never got into the whole Twitter thing. I draw the line there!! So now I have come to a point where FB has lost its great appeal and now I think we have to break up. I could spend more time with my first love, The House of Hinze. I think my real issue is that on FB I can load 30 pictures at once and be done in a matter of minutes. Blogger can take me hours to post my pictures. I have never been one to only post a couple pictures. I have to post at least 10 and when they get up into 20 -30 it can take me days to post. I wish blogger would let my upload more than one picture at a time!! So, I have been going back and forth on this issue. To Facebook or not to Facebook? What do you think?

So much to say...

Well I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and an uneventful New Year. Christmas was nice and quite here in the House of Hinze. Scott was post call Christmas day so as soon as he got home we opened presents and then he went to bed. The kids played with new toys and I watched Christmas movies. Thank you family for all the wonderful presents. We are so thankful for your generosity. The Monday following Christmas we packed up the car and headed west to see our Northern Iowa family. The trip out was not too bad just a little long. The kids did very well, watching movies, looking at books and playing with toys. We arrived in the big city of Dows around 11 pm. The kids transitioned will into bed and a good night of sleep was much needed. Scott's parents were so excited to see the kids. Scott's dad Jay broke his heel in April so he has not been able to travel out to Ohio to see us. It was a much needed trip. The week was full of visiting friends and family. Of course a trip downtown to my favorite store the Mercantile. I stocked up on some yummy jams. My sister Sarah and her husband Joshua came up for dinner one night. Grisham had a blast wrestling with him. And I enjoyed spending time with my sister. Friday night, New Years Eve was spent at a friends house. I went home a few hours early to put the kids into bed. There was noooo way the kids nor I would have made it to midnight. Scott had fun and won a couple games. Go honey!! Saturday we said good bye to Scott's sister Heather and her family. I can't believe how big her kids are now. Later that day my parents came up to visit. It was great seeing them and the kids were so excited to have both grandmas and papas in the same room. We started to pack the car for our trip back home on Sunday morning, when all of a sudden Carolyn started to throw up. At first it just seemed to be a passing thing but she started to throw up every 20 min. Around 10 Scott decided it was time to take her up to Belmond to the ER. The doctor on call was very nice. He ordered some lab work which meant Carolyn had to be stuck. She was pretty dehydrated so it took a couple attempts. I really really hate to see my kids in pain and if God would have let me I would have taken her place. After an hour of trying to place an IV, I asked to have her transported to Blank, if she was going to spend the night in a hospital I wanted her to be someplace that was used to dealing with babies. The doctor agreed and we were transported by ambulance. Scott followed behind in a car. As soon as we got to Blank Carolyn seemed to be doing much better. She was able to take some pedialite and kept it down. The nursing staff was amazing, and so kind. Carolyn slept a little, drank a little and by morning was almost herself. She still needed to have wet diapers and keep some formula down. We were discharged by two in the afternoon. It could have been much worse and thank God He was with us. After leaving the hospital we went to my parents house. Grisham and Genevieve were waiting for us. The next morning we packed the kids up and headed home. We did have one more little bump in the road but later proved to be no big deal. As we were loading the last bit in the car early Monday morning we discovered a nail in the front right tire. We decided to fill the tire and go as far as we could on it and fix it somewhere down the road. We stopped at a Firestone just over the Illinois border. We were in and out in 20 min. We actually made really good time on the trip back. Grisham later said that he doesn't want to go back to Grandma and Papa's house because it was too too too too very very far away. I tend to agree with the boy:) Thankfully our new house is half the distance!