I know I owe you all a BIG update!  And I’ll get there!  But thought I’d share our Easter morning family photo in the meantime! : )

While a reunion was LONG overdue, we were also gathering to celebrate my Grandma’s 90th birthday!  We had a special dinner for her and we all wrote her notes to share special memories and thoughts with her.  She was very surprised and had a great time!  The great grandchildren all got along very well and it was nice to catch up with everyone.  It was sooooo much fun!  Now we just need to make sure it’s not another 7 1/2 years before we do it again!

(Image courtesy of http://kelleighratzlaff.com/life/john-316-valentine-printable/)

Last Wednesday, our friend Eli visited on her way home from holiday festivities with her family!  We don’t get to see her very often, so it was nice to catch up.  Hannah was disappointed when she found out Eli was an adult and not another kid to play with.  But once she got here, she warmed right up and enjoyed showing her all her Barbies and learning how to play Princess Dominoes.  That night, we took advantage of Portrait Innovations $9.95 holiday special and had new family pictures taken!  The kids did a great job!  Ben had his first haircut a month ago, but his hair is growing fast, so Aunt Amy is going to come teach me how to use the clippers so we can get rid of his Donald Trump hairstyle! lol :  )

I have spent most of break (that we’ve been home) sorting the massive amounts of baby clothes, little girl clothes, and odds & ends that have collected in my front room over the last year.  It looked worse for days, but it’s now looking better!  I’ve stored most everything in diaper boxes, because I honestly didn’t have enough tubs to put stuff in.  So we now have a towering wall of diapers boxes, sorted and labeled.  We passed on little boy stuff to friends with a little boy and I have little girl stuff if anyone’s interested!  Check that off the to do list!

For New Year’s Eve, we went to a friend’s house for a kid-friendly New Years.  We left at the kid’s bedtimes, but had fun hanging out until then!  We got to meet little Declan and Hannah had soooo much fun playing with the big girls!

And then there was yesterday…I was supposed to attend a teaching conference in the morning with Nate.  My mom was going to watch all 3 kids and I got to earn some CPDU’s for my DCFS renewal.  But Monday night, Ben started running a temp of 102.9.  We figured it was his ears (he had fluid in them before Christmas and we figured the antibiotic just hadn’t cleared them up).  So, I stayed home with him.  When he got up from nap, his temp was over 104, so we went to Prompt Care.  Ear, nose, throat, everything check out fine.  His belly was distended and really tender, so they did blood work, urine sample, and chest/belly x-ray (OMG…do not submit your child to this if you don’t have to…it was horrible and Ben screamed the whole time).  The doctor saw his bowel distended and air in his belly, so they sent us on to the ER.  Nate met me there and he underwent a whole new set of x-rays (Nate got to do the holding this time).  Three hours later, we left the ER to head home.  Come to find out…he’s just really constipated.  WHICH…is better than something really bad, but still.  So…chances are, Ben met his individual insurance deductible on the 3rd day of the new year.  But again…so grateful it was nothing more serious.  Oh…and I was back at the doctor today with Hannah…but it was just for her 4 year old physical…and she got a GREAT report!

Now…all three kids are napping and I am headed to lay down too.  I think I earned it!
(P.S. – I know comments aren’t working, or weren’t on my last post.  Gotta e-mail Adam about that again.  Sorry!)

Martin Grandchildren in their Reindeer Shirts

Hannah delivering stockings!

Hannah with her new Princesses!

Ben opening the Elmo Piano for Grandma’s house!

Bekah loves Puffs! Good thing there were some in her stocking!

Well…if you know me, then you know I don’t like to be told I “can’t” do something and take it as a personal challenge to prove people wrong.  (I know…not extremely logical because it doesn’t really matter, but it’s a personality quirk!)  So…in the little increments of time I’ve found over the last few months, I’ve gotten their books almost completely finished!

I just sent the last of the photos for their books to Walgreens to be printed this morning!  Then I have a half dozen or so pages to still write on, BUT…other than adding “firsts” as they happen and birthdays, they will BOTH have completed baby books!  Yahoo!  One of the last collages I had to do for their book was their “bath time” collage.  I did it last night and they turned out so cute, I just had to share!

(Sorry for the excess white around them!  The spot in the baby book was 6.75″ x 5.75″ so I had to do the collages as 8×10′s to have the correct sizing.)