Seaside, School, Surgery, Sick and Smiles!!

So we have had a lot going on in our little family and it has been awhile since I filled you all in on it. First off we made a couple of visits out to Seaside. The first time was just our little family. We went to Tillamook and then up to Seaside. We really had a great time. The second time we went was with my whole family minus Danielle and Clinton (tears). It was supposed to be raining and chilly but turned out to be an absolutely amazing day. It was perfect weather and we sat on the beach and played and played the day away.

Moo Moo Ellie and Farmer Paden at the cheese factory.This is the kiddos and me.

Kirk and the older kiddos. This is Ellie's new pose.

Kirk and the kids getting all set on the carousel.

You can see Ellie in the background there. Kirk was a little ways away from her.

Here's Paden enjoying his ride.

Cousin Ella. She is number 3 for my brother, David.

Cousin Hannah. She belongs to my brother, Derek.

Here are 3 of the moms waiting. Hannah's mom, Carrie, Me, and Ella's mom, Sara.

The day after Seaside was Ellie's first day of Kindergarten. She was soooo excited to finally go to school. It was all she could talk about the whole morning. Even though she was a concerned that she might be a little allergic to stinky feet. I love that girl!!

Here she is ready to head out the door. Kirk's family always took pictures in front of this tree on the first day of school. We couldn't break tradition.

Here she is in her classroom. I wanted a picture with her teacher but he was helping some students. Mr. Modrall is Ellie's teacher and the cool thing about him is that he was also Kirk's Kindergarten teacher. Cool, huh?

Last week Paden went in to have surgery. He was born with Hypospadias. That means that his urethra didn't make it all the way to the tip of his penis. It came out of the bottom of the penis. A couple of weeks before his 1st birthday he had the repair done. Unfortunately, the repair didn't hold and he sprung a leak. So he went in and had the repair done again. This time they closed him up with a flap. Fingers crossed it holds!! Anyway, it was supposed to be a day surgery but he was bleeding just a little more than they wanted so they put a pressure dressing on him and kept him overnight. He was such a trooper and all the nurses fell in love with him. He is doing great now. He complains a bit about it hurting but really can you blame him? It gets less and less each day.

Here he is in his bed. He didn't spend a lot of time there. He was more interested in running around the room. It was nice when they finally took the IV out. I was tired of untangling him all the time.

This is actually where he spent a lot of his time.

Ellie has been sick the last couple of days. It has been really pathetic. I hate it when they are sick because it makes me feel so helpless. I don't like that I can't just fix it. Luckily today she has been feeling a lot better and has actually started eating and keeping things down. YAY!!!

Isn't that so pathetic?

On the upside Riley has been doing fantastic!! He is such a charmer and a really sweet boy. We absolutely love having him in our lives. At his 2 month appointment he was weighing in at a hefty 13 lbs. 14 1/2 ozs. He was 25 ins. long. That puts him in the 90th percentile for weight and the 97th for height. Those are numbers we have never heard in reference to our children. The older 2 both maxed out at the 50th percentile and dropped down from there. We definitely love our chubby boy!! He never has a moment's peace either. His brother and sister are completely smitten with him. I swear Riley will end up cross eyed because they are always in his face. I have included a little Riley video just to give you an idea of how his day goes.

But through everything that has been going on here we have had a lot of smiles!!And I mean a lot of smiles.A WHOLE lot of smiles!!

I sure love these kids!

The Pear Bread

Everyone has been asking me for this recipe. It is SUPER yummy!! It is from allrecipes.com. The only thing I changed was I diced the pears instead of shredding them and I also used 3 cups instead of 2. Also bake it at 350 instead of 325. I love allrecipes.com. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as my family has.


Pear Bread I

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
2 cups peeled shredded pears
1 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the bowl.
In a separate bowl combine the oil, eggs, sugar, grated pears, pecans, and vanilla. Blend well. Add to well of dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x5x3 inch loaf pans.
Bake in a preheated 325 degree F (165 degrees C) oven for one hour and 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack before removing from the loaf pans.