Texas Pictures!

I have way too many pictures, so I will just do a few each post. Our first few days were filled with doctor appointments, Chuck E. Cheese, and the Fort Worth Zoo. I did not take pictures of all three girls screaming at the doctor's office, but here are some pictures from our day at the zoo.


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Picnic lunch- Cerys, Uncle Josh, Bailey and Papa


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Who needs a stroller when you have Papa's shoulders?


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This is my "little" brother


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Uncle Caleb and Cerys

This is how Addison saw the zoo. It was really windy that day and she would freak out when it hit her face, so I had to keep this blanket over her all day. She slept all day so it didn't really matter!

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And this is Addison at Chuck E. Cheese- she was very interested! :)

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Resting and Rehydrating

We made it home yesterday- Wednesday morning. It was sunny and warm-ish in London but by the time we drove to Wales it was cloudy and overcast. Oh well. We were so tired we didn't really care. We have been trying to get our body clocks back on this time zone, but it's tough. We've all been so sleepy today. We decided to get up this morning on time like normal which would help us adjust easier, and Cerys wanted to go to school so we let her. By the time she got home she said she was too tired for lunch and would rather sleep. So at 11:45am we all laid down for a nap and slept for a good long while.

Bailey did throw up once on the airplane, but thankfully I caught it in those nasty, scratchy airline blankets. We have been watching her closely since last Saturday when she came down with this stomach bug. She would not eat anything on the plane, nor would she drink much. Today she stopped having wet diapers (I gave up on the potty training, I'll get back to it soon!) so I knew we were in trouble. Today is day 5 of vomiting and diarrhea, poor thing. By this afternoon she was very lethargic, so I took her in to see the doctor. Thankfully the emergency appointments doctor was one of the doctors that I like and who specializes in pediatrics. (Thank you Lord!) After checking her out he sent us straight to the hospital, she was dehydrated and told us that if we had waited another 12-24 hours it would not have been a good situation! He told us where to go in the hospital, and since we live so close I came home super fast and nursed Addison while Marc got a bag together for Bailey in case we ended up staying the night. I was praying so hard that she would not have to be admitted, and thankfully we only had to stay for about 3 hours. Since she would not drink anything from her sippy cup, they had to use a syringe to get fluids in her. Why didn't I think of that?!? After an hour and a half of 10 ml. every 10 minutes she was able to keep it all down and she perked up! She was even asking for food, which is the first time in over 24 hours she has wanted to eat.

We are home now and she is in bed. We are hoping that today was the last of her tummy bug, the doctor said it could last 5-7 days, and this is day 5. And we are praying it does not get the rest of us, especially Cerys or Addison!

Speaking of Addison, she was 2 months old on Wednesday but we have not had a chance to take her 2 month picture. While we were in the states we took her to our pediatrician's for a check up. She is a whopping 12 pounds, 12 ounces!

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I am loving her fat rolls!!! She is by far the chubbiest one of the three, Cerys and Bailey were not even on those growth charts for the longest time! Little Miss Addison is in the 95th percentile for weight! I've breast-fed all the girls, so not sure what is different this time, but I'm loving her chubbiness!

I'll be back later with pictures from our trip. If I can find the camera!

It's a Go!

Ok, no tummy bugs made their appearance last night, so we are getting on the plane! Would you please pray for us this evening?

*as we say goodbye to my family, it's NEVER easy
*for an uneventful flight
*for the girls to sleep some, if not all night
*for the tummy bug to stay away from the rest of us while on the airplane

Thank you so much. We are humbled by your love and support!

Goodbye Target, Blue Bell and Mexican Food

I know I joke a lot about Target and food, but I know it's only superficial, silly stuff. It's just fun to be back in the USA and do things that we don't normally get to do...like drive right up the store and park the car, instead of walking to the store. Parking places here are HUGE. I guess they have to be since the cars are so huge. We have been driving my aunt's Ford Expedition the last few days, that thing is a small tank!

We've had our fill of Mexican food and Blue Bell Ice Cream (but not Target!) for a while. We've seen most of my family and some of our friends. Now it's time to head back across the pond and get back to work. We have had a wonderful time, but we are T.I.R.E.D. We are so not use to going, going, going but you just have to while you are here! On Saturday I was feeling rather exhausted after being up early on Friday for Bailey's surgery. We had plans to go to two malls and do some shopping and eating. Marc was in Oklahoma for the weekend, so it was my Mom, Dad and the three girls. Mom offered to let me stay home and sleep while they took the girls, and the offer did sound rather great. But I didn't want to miss the chance to walk around the malls and hang out with my parents. It was a long day, but so fun...except that it ended with Bailey getting a stomach bug. At first we thought it was from the anesthetic from her surgery, but it lasted for two days! Today is the first day she has kept her food down. Not good timing when we are suppose to get on a 9 hour flight tomorrow afternoon back to London. I'm praying that we all escape it or that it hits tonight so we will know to delay our flight a few days. I can't handle puking kids on an airplane! Cerys was complaining today of a stomach ache, so we will see what happens during the night.

Please Lord, if it's going to come, let it come now!

It's rather annoying that we are leaving Dallas now that the weather is nice and warm. It was kind of cool the last two weeks, but not too bad. Today was sunny and 80 degrees! Not fair. I did something fun for me this morning- I got a massage! I've only had one in my life but I decided to treat myself to one while I was here. Gotta get all those knots out of my shoulders before I fly with three kids- although I will have them again by the time we get home! The massage was so wonderful, I would have paid just to let me lay on that warm table. I had one hour of silence while a very kind lady rubbed out all the knots and stress. It was wonderful!

Wow, this post is really random.

I have lots of pictures that I will have to post once we are home.

I'm trying not to cry just yet. That will come tomorrow. For now I better go, not sure if it's the Mexican food I had for dinner talking back or if I'm getting the stomach bug...

I'll keep you posted about our flight!

All is Well

We are home from Bailey's surgery, thank you for your prayers. It was a quick surgery- less than 10 minutes! She acts like nothing ever happened, which is just the way I like it!

On the way home this morning she said very sleepily-'Mommy, that medicine that man gave me feeled good!" Ha!

Whirlwind

Trips like these back to the states always seem to go by so fast. Way too fast. I finally have a quiet minute to sit down- oops, spoke too soon. Addison is crying.

Ok, I can finally take a breather and sit down to let you know what we've been up to. It has been so much fun seeing our girls having so much fun. They have played themselves out and have fallen into bed every night absolutely exhausted. I love it. We're going to have some serious withdrawals next week when Gigi and Papa are not around to spoil them. They will not be liking us very much when there is actual bedtimes and no "sweets."

We spent two days with Marc's brother and sister-in-law and we just love them to pieces. They have three BOYS the same ages as our girls pretty much- Cerys and Jacob are 9 months apart, Bailey and Spencer are 4 months apart and Addison and Carson are 11 months apart. Needless to say, it was great fun watching the cousins interact with each other. It was really cute to listen to their little conversations. It broke my heart to drive away from all five of them waving in their driveway. We are really looking forward to being back at the end of December for six months. The house we will be staying in(in McKinney) is right in between my parents house and Marc's brother's house so it will be a blast!

Today I introduced the girls to Willow Bend Mall, or rather The Shops at Willow Bend. They have a really neat play area where they ran their little hearts out. And after walking around the mall we ate lunch in the food court. We ran into one of our friends (Hey Stephanie!) from church and her precious little girl, so we got to eat with them and catch up on life a little bit. That was a special treat. Oh, and speaking of special treats, we left the mall and went to see Uncle Josh, who is the assistant manager at Dunkin' Donuts. The girls were so excited to choose their own donut and then had a major sugar high the entire afternoon. And no nap. Oh yes, they were real jewels by 5pm.

Our time is quickly coming to an end and there are still so many people we would love to visit with. Hopefully in December we can catch up with you! I don't know why I always think I can do everything I want to do in such limited time. Oh well. It's been fun.

The not so fun part is that Bailey will be having tubes put back in her ears and her adenoids taken out this Friday. I'm so sad for her, as she is obviously so use to her ears sounding like she is underwater. Her doctor could not believe she was not screaming on the airplane. I'm hoping she will be a new person after this little surgery. We would appreciate your prayers for us early Friday morning. I'm going to take my camera because I know she will be just precious in her little hospital gown! I'm so thankful to the doctor for working us in at such notice. I'm still amazed at how fast things get done here in the US. I realized how we've gotten use to the NHS because I rang her doctor's office yesterday to make sure the surgery was still on. The surgery coordinator was wondering why I would even ask because "once a date is set, it's happening!" Oh, okay. Cool.

I wish I knew how to load pictures onto this Mac, but I do not. Marc is at the Rangers' baseball game with my dad and brother so he will have to show me later. I have some great pictures from the Fort Worth Zoo and Dunkin' Donuts. Bailey should be their poster child. She loves chocolate donuts. She is her mother's child.

We will be soaking up as much family time as possible this weekend before headed back on Tuesday. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about taking the girls away from Gigi and Papa and their uncles. Gulp.

A List

This is going to be quick, but here is a list of things we've been up to so far-

*all 3 girls had pediatrician appointments- never, ever take 3 kids to the doctor at the same time

*Bailey will be having tubes put back in her ears next week, probably Friday. We kind of knew this was coming, but still sad for her. The first set of tubes have grown out but her ear wax is so disgustingly thick that they never actually came out of her ears. She had to have her ears basically vacuumed out, but it was worth it because she passed her hearing test after it was done! (She failed part of her hearing test last month in Wales) She will also have her adenoids removed at the same time. Poor baby girl.

*We went to the Fort Worth Zoo yesterday, it was sunny and cool- a great day!

*I've only been to Target once, but I plan to change that real soon. I've yet to get to Wal-mart. I have a list of things I need to take back so I better get busy on that.

*the girls have been to the playground more times than I can count- and my parents have been the ones to take them which is even better! :)

*We are super tired. We are adjusted to the time change, but still just exhausted. We are not use to going, going, going. It's all been really fun, but really tiring.

There is a lot more, but it's time to run out the door again. We are spending the morning with some of our best college buddies and their kids- 3 couples and 7 kids- should be a fun morning!

Please excuse any mistakes, don't have time to proofread!

We're Here Y'all!

By God's great GRACE and MERCY, we had a wonderful 10 hour flight! (Well, as wonderful as 10 hours in a plane can be!) The girls did GREAT! I was in the bulk head seat with Addison and a pull-out baby cot and Marc and the girls were behind me. Maybe that's why I thought it was a great flight! Ha. No, seriously, they did great. Cerys did not sleep one wink, but neither did one complaint come out of her mouth! Bailey was so pleasant and played and even took a short nap. Addison slept most of the time when she was not eating.

Anyway, we are here at my parent's house, and it is good to be home! Mom is making dinner, Dad is at the park with the girls and I'm sitting in my Dad's recliner just chilling! I didn't realize how home-sick I was until we got here and I was sitting on my bed feeding Addison and the tears flowed. I'm also only 6 weeks post-partum so I'm pretty sure hormones are still a big factor for me right now.

We feel so blessed and humbled- our sweet friends (you know who you are!) left a huge gift sack for us full of American goodies and cute baby items, plus a very generous gift card to Target! That will my first stop tomorrow after getting my hair fixed- the red is coming out! :) Anyway, seriously, we are so humbled. I cried again after opening their sweet gift. Why are people so nice to us! I've just really felt God's love and grace over us today as we have travelled. I'm really looking forward to the next 2 weeks!

Gettin' Ready

It's late and I am ready for bed, but I thought I would post one last time before our trip. I have a lot to do tomorrow in getting ready, all the while entertaining the big girls and feeding Addison every few hours- so this will be the last post until TEXAS!

If you are the praying kind, then we would appreciate your prayers:

*our early morning drive to London's Heathrow Airport
*10 hour flight- need I say more?
*our time in the states to be refreshing and restful
*that our time with family would just be as full as possible and seem like double the time

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was in a funk. Still in it. It's been a rough weekend for me. I'm not sure what is going on with me other than I'm a tired momma of three kids, four years old and under....plus I'm homesick and needing a break. This trip has come at a REALLY good time. I'm looking forward to the grandparents entertaining the kids and visiting with old friends...oh and of course mexican food. I would love it if you would pray for me to come back feeling energized and out of this funk. Thank you.

See y'all in Texas! (Cue theme song from Dallas)

Posterous theme by Cory Watilo