Oh what a weekend!

Hello! Well, the kids and I flew to Ohio this past weekend, and then the girls and I drove over to Ft. Wayne for a wedding that we were in. What a busy weekend! We got to see my sister & her kids, Tom's parents, and friends in Fort Wayne. It was good to visit! But, it felt like a whirlwind weekend with little time to just relax. Oh well!!

Here's a picture of the girls before the wedding:



When we got back home, Tom decided that he'd had enough of the races while we were gone, so he let me use the ticket he had, and I went to the races by myself! It was pretty neat (maybe a little boring at times), but overall a pretty fun experience. Here's a picture:



Lastly, today was Camden's surgery for his tubes & adenoids. He made it through surgery OK. The doctor said his ears were FULL of fluid, and he thinks he'll be glad to hear now, and that his adenoids were definitely so big that nothing could drain back down the throat, which is why it all came out his nose! I got to go back to the recovery room to get him after surgery, and he wasn't a very happy camper about the whole thing. It was kinda sad...every time he'd wake up a little, he cried. Once we got back to our room, he basically slept until we went home. I did my best to take a picture while I was holding him:



And even after sleeping for hours after surgery, he fell asleep again in the car on the way home, and this is what he looked like once we got home:



So far tonight he's been a little more like himself. He played a while this afternoon, then took another nap when Tom got home from work, and now that dinner's over, he's back up & around again. Hopefully he'll sleep tonight after all the sleeping he's done today. His nose is still really runny, and he's got a bit of a cough, but hopefully in the next day or so all this will clear up. He's on a liquid diet today and tomorrow we can go to soft stuff, then hopefully back to normal by Wednesday.

Well, I'm off to get kids in bed now!

A few of the latest things around here

Well, it looks like we bought a 1 acre piece of land on the lake. We've agreed on a price with the seller, and the contract is signed, but it is contingent on us getting our financing. So, we've been to the bank (well, banks, but who's counting??) and turned in the paperwork we have so far, and now we're just waiting on our builder to turn in his official estimate so the bank can get an appraisal done. Plus, we've got to get a new survey done & a perk (sp?) test on the property for the septic system. We had originally put a closing date on the property of 4/28 but I'm not sure if that will actually happen or not. We'll see! So, the journey has begun, and I have to say thus far it has not been enjoyable, but everyone involved has said this is the worst part - the paperwork - so let's hope they're right!

For those of you that are interested, you can look up what floor plan we picked by going to www.ultimateplans.com, and then putting in plan #321020. We've made just a couple minor revisions, but nothing real big.

A couple other things that I think I've forgotten to post in the past couple weeks:

- Tom bought a cheap washer & dryer for the apartment so we don't have to go to the laundromat anymore! Yeah! Although, they're very loud after having them in the basement of your house for years, and now they're right in the kitchen. I don't ever forget that I'm doing laundry now - that's for sure :)

- Camden is walking now. I bought him a pair of little blue crocs on Friday so he can walk around outside. There are a lot of pine needles everywhere, so I didn't really want him walking around bare foot outside. He is still a little wobbly, but his balance is getting better, and he is proud as can be of the fact that he walks. He looks like a drunken sailor a lot of the time & he falls a lot, but he gets right back up and is on his way.

- Since we decided to build (which means we'll be in the apt. for an extended period of time), we also decided to break down & get our own internet connection here at the apartment. We were able to get some wireless connection if we sat in just the right spot with the computer in just the right position before, but it was very slow much of the time, and the connection would "give out" much of the time right in the middle of stuff, so it's been so nice having reliable internet again. Unfortunately, it means the girls are back up on webkinz much of the time, and we're all kinda fighting for "internet time" again :)

Overall we're doing well. The weather is great - Tom said it's supposed to get in the high 80's this week, so we'll see! I will try to post some pictures this week sometime since it's been a while again since I've posted any of the kids. Please pray for the paperwork stuff to go through on the land so we can get moving (literally) on the house. The builder claims if the weather cooperates, there's a small chance we could be moved in before the baby arrives. I'm not holding my breath on that, but with lots of prayer, you never know! After all, who would have thought our house would sell so fast? The Lord is watching out for us!

Another surgery...

Well, Camden had his appt. today with the ENT doctor. I think this guy is gonna like our family :)

He took a look in Camden's throat & said he has huge tonsils & adenoids. Now, when I had been to see him with Jenna, I had asked about having tonsils out, too, and he said Camden was too young to have them taken out. So, it was interesting when he looked at them today, he said he almost had second thoughts, but he feels like he really is too young. He said even if it was his own son, he'd do just the adenoids and keep an eye on the tonsils until he gets a little older. He also checked his ears, and said he has fluid in them as well, so he'll need tubes too.

We would have the surgery next Monday, but since we're flying out on that Thursday for Indiana, he said he'd rather wait until the next week. So, looks like he'll be going in on the 28th for surgery.

The discouraging thing about all this is that this doesn't leave much hope for the next Palmer kid! Seems like all our kids are destined to have adenoid/tonsil issues. I guess Jenna hasn't really yet, but she's still young!

Home sweet apartment

I have been asked by a few people for pictures of our apartment, so I finally got around to taking a couple. I kept thinking I'd wait until it was clean, but realized quickly that it only really stays clean for about 10 minutes because the kids immediately get stuff out after we clean up, and we're back to where we started. Oh well...

Here's a picture of our "fancy" TV stand :)



Our dining room table & chairs (along with upside town rubbermaid tub for the 4th seat)...



The kid's closet:



Our living room:



Camden's bed:



Our bedroom with king size air mattress. (We had a smaller one, but the girls put a hole in it by jumping on it too much, so we bought a bigger, more comfy one. This means we don't really need the single mattress Tom had bought when he moved down here, but it still sits in our room)



And here's the girl's beds:

The latest...

What a week...
I woke up Sunday morning with pink eye! Luckily I happened to have antibiotic drops in the stuff that got brought to the apartment, so I started those right away, and things are going well!

Camden had his follow up dr's appt. today to check on his adenoids after being on antibiotics for 10 days. They did clear up his nose, but the doctor is pretty sure he still needs his adenoids out since he breathes so heavy & snores at night. So...we're going back to the ENT doctor Monday & will probably get surgery scheduled then.

As for a house, we're still torn as to what to do, but we took a leap of faith & put an offer on a lot of land on the lake last night. Depending on how that goes, it looks like we're gonna try to build. The only discouraging part of that is that we'll almost definitely be in this apartment until after the baby is born. I can't even begin to go into what all that involves as far as plans for people coming to visit, but the Lord will work out those details if this is what we're supposed to do. He has taken care of us so far, and will continue to do so. So, I'll do my best to keep you posted on what's going on in that aspect.

Mackenzie has been telling us how hard school is down here. She seems to like the challenge, but we've been noticing that she is getting really grumpy in the evenings. We're trying to get her in bed earlier, but it just causes even more drama because she refuses to admit how tired she is. Please pray that she'll get the rest she needs!

Guess that's about it around here!

IT'S A....

baby :) I had my 1st doctor's appt. with my new doctor down here yesterday. It went really well! I really liked the doctor - he was easy going, funny, and easy to talk to. We talked about my progesterone "issues" and when it was all said & done, he said he's never had anyone on the progesterone that I'm on past 14 weeks. SO, I'm done with the shots! Obviously he said if he sees a problem later on, we can re-evaluate, but he really doesn't see a need for me to have them since everything looks just fine, and my past history with pregnancies shows no complications of any kind! YEAH!! Tom said he thinks I like the new doctor just because he told me what I wanted to hear.

I also had an ultrasound yesterday and the baby looks good they said. I had this great post all planned in my head for today (It's April Fools day, you know), but I couldn't bring myself to play a trick on everyone & make up whether it was a boy or girl. So, in keeping with tradition, there will be no news ahead of time as to whether it's a boy or girl. Now keep in mind, I was the only one at the appointment yesterday, so I'm loving the fact that for all anyone knows, I MAY know what the baby is, but unless I get a large enough bribe, I will remain quiet with any and all info!

So, happy April Fools Day to everyone, and may you play many tricks on people, but not get tricked in return!