Update

A week or so ago, Brennan, being a good husband, was taking the garbage out, but when he opened the big garbage can outside a cat jumped out. Unfortunately I was out of ear shot, but according to him he screamed like a girl. It cracks me up every time I think about it. We love Brennan.

I am feeling more overwhelmed and out of control than I did right after Joshua was born. He's been sleeping terribly and for the first six months after I have a baby I can somehow deal with sleep deprivation and then overnight my ability to deal with it ends. I think ultimately it's a survival tool to force me to figure out how to get my babies on some semblance of a schedule, but it might be a rough few weeks. It also helps that even in the middle of the night I find Joshua adorable.

Anna is busy, busy, busy. She got third place in her class spelling bee and is now studying for the school spelling bee. She got a speaking part in the 6th grade musical production and is working on memorizing her lines. She and Abby slept in Joshy's room while we had Brett and Jamie here and Brennan or I discovered her in rocking Joshua a couple of times. He would wake up and rather than wait for me to come get him she got him out and tenderly rocked him back to sleep. So sweet. We love Anna.

We've known for a few years that Abby has a mild case of asthma. It hasn't been a big deal, just a little shortness of breath or a tight feeling at night. She has an inhaler and uses it mostly just before bed. Last Sunday night however, she was in bad shape. We thought she had pneumonia or bronchitis or something. She was really wheezing and uncomfortable and extremely pale. We took her in Monday morning to our pediatrician to find out it was an asthma attack. He said we should have probably gone to the ER, her heart rate was 175 and her blood oxygen level was 89. Fortunately she responded quickly to the nebulizer treatment they gave her. The doctor gave us a nebulizer, and some steroids. It took her a few days to regain some color in her face. I'm so grateful for good medical care and modern medicine. Poor little Abby has had to stay in during recess thanks to the fact that we have the worst air in the country right now. She's been a champ. We are so grateful Abigail is okay and we love Abby.

Nate has become a genuine football fan. He's had ample opportunity too, let me add. 36 bowl games, really? Anyway, I was in laying with the boys in my room and I let him watch the end of a game. He started yelling about pass interference. I was skeptical that he actually knew what that meant so I asked him and he yep, he explained it perfectly. A few days later I heard him yelling to Brennan something like, "Oh my gosh, Dad, did you see how deep that pass was?" Very cute. We love Nate.

Earlier tonight Abby and Nate were not getting along. Abby didn't want Nate to play with her and Anna which made Nate mad etc. Abby came into the kitchen to tell me about it and I was lecturing her about being nicer to Nate when Ben started yelling for Abby. She tried to just yell back, "What Ben?" But he wouldn't have it, "No, come here." "Why?" "Abby, come here right now." She walked into the family room where he was casually perusing a "Diego" book and he looked up at her and said sternly, "The truth is, share." What funny little man. Later tonight he came out of my room and said, "Mom, Daddy is watching boxing and I told him he's not supposed to." "Is it boxing or ultimate fighting?" "You mean the kicking kind?" "Yes, if it's the kicking kind he's not allowed to." I walked into my room to find Brennan sheepishly laughing. He said he turned on the tv and saw the fight on and started watching. Ben climbed down off the bed. When Brennan asked him where he was going he was vague but said something about needing to tell Mom something. He's keeping us all in line. We'll take his help, heaven knows we need all the help we can get around here. We love Benny.

Joshua is six months old! Can you believe it? He sits up and he plays with toys and he gets mad if I walk out of the room. He drenches me every time I give him a bath with his new found talent for splashing. He laughs and laughs at the kids and gets so excited every time he sees Daddy. Most importantly, he's very fat. Very, very, very fat. We love every single roll and dimple. We love Joshua.