Another Texas campout

Now that we have established that summer camping in Texas sucks we have started a new tradition of fall camping. Seriously, I am so glad that I have friends that love camping just as much as I do because when it comes to camping, the more the merrier! It just so happened that the weekend that we decided to go camping it got pretty cold so some people maybe didn't enjoy it as much as they could have but I have to say being a little cold sure beats sweating to death. We were able to enjoy the fire and hot cocoa which is pretty much the best part of camping anyway.

Dave decided to get himself a new hobby and bought himself a telescope. The kids thought is was very cool to see everything up so close.

He is still trying to figure out how to use that thing.

Camping breakfast- YUM!

I don't know how that kid gets as dirty as he does. There is a little bit of marshmallow mixed with some dirt and who knows what else on his face.

All of the kids lined up and ready for some adventures with "Adventure Dave".

Susan and Andrew were a new addition to our camping trips. They sort of had a rough night and I really hope that they don't decide that they hate camping because they were so fun to hang out by the fire with.

My mom gets the grandma of the year award for offering to take Tatum for the night so that we could enjoy ourselves more. It was a cold night so I am grateful that I didn't have to worry about her getting too cold.

One with nature

I really love fall in Texas. After enduring the dreadfully hot days of summer I am all about getting outside as much as possible. While Dave's mom and brother were visiting from Canada I decided to drag everyone outside for a Sunday stroll through some nature trails. I discovered some nature trails behind our community center that I never knew existed so I thought it would be something that the kids would enjoy, and they did.

Along the trails they had a "Meditation Grove" where we stopped and the kids used their Yoga skills. They became one with nature.

Ohmmmmmmmm

Even Dylan and Joyce gave it a whirl.

After our walk we went to one of our favorite spots and fed some ducks.

A lovely Sunday afternoon.

The SpookLEE crew

There are always good times to be had on Halloween and this year was no exception. Our Halloweens always start well before the 31st, with the YMCA, Halloween parties and other great community shindigs. By the time the actual day of Trick or Treating comes around I am about costumed out. I loved having Halloween on a Saturday this year but true to Lee family style these days, we were still pressed for time and running late everywhere we went. I made our new traditional Halloween dinner and we were off to our church parking lot for some trunk or treating before making our rounds around our neighborhood. As always the kids scored a lot of candy- good for them, bad for me!

Tatum's first Halloween- Our little Daisy!

Paige as a kitty cat- she kept her ears on about as long as it took me to take this picture.

I bet you will never guess what Ethan is........I was dreading the words that would come out of his mouth when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween- I knew it was coming. Pikachu! And of course it is not a popular costume and cannot be found in stores so I had to search the internet for a costume. My options were a $40 costume from a specialty site or a $5 costume from E-bay. Hmmm can you guess which one I chose? Unfortunately, the costume I chose didn't come with a mask so I had to get creative and make his hat and paint his face. He loved it which is all that matters and all of his friends knew exactly who he was so I guess I didn't do too bad of a job.

Addyson wanted to be a vampire this year. As only Addyson would do, she lost 2 key components of her costume at a party the night before- her teeth and her collar. She tried to fix that by finding Ethan's Darth Vader cape from last year- good to go.

Ready, set, lets get some Candy!

Tatum is 12 weeks

I can't believe that Tatum is already 12 weeks old. The time has flown by, the girl is keeping me on my toes! She is high maintenance, and very fussy so I am struggling to keep my head above water with all of the other things that I need to be doing to take care of the other 3 and keep the house in some sort of order- I am not going to lie, it is rough. She does still have many moments of being peaceful, happy, and content and that is what makes it all well worth it. I am so in love with her and am trying to enjoy every little bit of her that I can. She is finally started to put on a little bit of weight, her cheeks are getting chubby and she is getting squishy squishy- I love it.

Anyway, here are a few pictures that my friend Justin took of her a few weeks ago. If you live in the DFW area and want to get family pictures or any kind of pictures done he is awesome. His website is whatimagination.com.

Tatum's blessing

We had the opportunity to have Tatum's blessing day the same weekend as Addyson's baptism which worked out really well for our family that was here. It was a busy weekend, to say the least! She was so beautiful in her blessing dress and didn't even cry during the blessing, which I am not sure I can say about any of the other kids.

We decided to just keep it family in the blessing circle. My 2 brothers and step-dad (not pictured) and Dave's brother and Dad participated in the ordinance.

Addyson in her babtism dress holding Tatum in her blessing dress- aren't they beautiful!

The proud parents.

We are so excited to see what this little one becomes and all of the blessings she will bring to our family and all those who she comes in contact with.

On the 20th of September we celebrated Addyson's 8th Birthday. It was a Sunday so we just kept it simple- sang Happy Birthday had some cake, which she helped decorate, with ice cream and opened presents.

We had a really tough time trying to figure out what to get her for her Birthday. When I asked her what she wanted the only thing she said was a Nintendo DS or a hamster. We were definitely not getting her a DS considering I bought her an MP3 player last year and it was lost in less than 2 months and I am not about to take care of a hamster. So, Dave and I decided that she needed a new bike because she had outgrown her Cinderella bike she got on her 4th Birthday. Luckily, she loved it and has since wanted to ride it all of the time.

We had Addyson's party a week later on the 26th. I was a little nervous planning a Birthday party with a bunch of girls right after having a baby, Birthday parties are a lot of work. I was thrilled when she told me that she wanted to keep it small and just have a few friends go to the movies to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and then come to the house for cake and ice cream. Wow, that sounded pretty easy! It of course didn't turn out quite as smooth as it sounded, it never does for me, but it still turned out great and she had a great time.

I just know a slumber party with a bunch of girls is in the near future for Birthday party requests and I am scared. These girls are loud and crazy, they sure know how to have a good time.

Addyson's baptism

Since Addy turned 8 years old, she had the choice to be baptized- and she did! She was so excited for the big day. She understood the important step that she was about to take and couldn't wait. She was baptized on Oct. 10th surrounded by lots of family and friends who love her very much. We were so happy that Dave's parents and little brother could fly from Canada and my brother and his family could come from Nashville as well as the family that live nearby could come to share the special day with her.

This being our first child to get baptized, I had no idea how much preparation needed to go into making it happen- what a busy day. Luckily we were able to get to the church just in time and I am glad that someone reminded me to take a picture of Addy and her Dad before entering the font.

Addy with Aunts, uncles, and cousins from my side of the family.

She looks so beautiful all dressed up in her white dress. We are so proud of her!

After the baptism we had a great dinner with family and friends and to top it off,

big fat cake- yummy!
Congratulations Addyson!

Addyson's Baptism

Addyson was baptized on October 10, 2009 and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wendy made a video to celebrate the occasion and we showed it during the baptism.

Happy 8th Birthday Addyson

Addyson is 8 years old today! Has it really been 8 years since I gave birth to this crazy child of mine? I am so grateful for blogging because it gives me a great opportunity to document my kids childhood and our family history. Unfortunately Addyson and Ethan don't have as much documented about them when they were smaller so I wanted to take this opportunity to post some photos and stuff from when Addyson was small.

(2 weeks old)

Addyson was born September 20th, 2001 at 2:51 p.m in Portland Oregon. She weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19 1/2" long. She has always been determined to do things her way and that was just how she chose to come into the world, right side up. She was breech and was delivered by C-section. She was beautiful and so perfect.

(7 months)
It is strange to think back what life was like when you only had 1 child. Our world revolved around her. We were so happy to have her and enjoyed every milestone she made.

(1 year)

Addyson has always had a big, big personality and is full of energy. She has been making us laugh from the very beginning. She has always been so affectionate and loving to her family and friends.

(2 years)
The experience with your first child, I think is the most memorable because it is like nothing you have ever experienced before. We had no clue what we were doing, we were just learning along the way. We didn't exactly "plan" to have Addyson. We kept feeling proptings that we should get pregnant, however we were in no position financially to have a baby- not to mention we had only been married a few months. We shrugged off the feelings and said we needed to wait a couple of years. Well, the Lord had other plans and we found out we were pregnant 5 months after we were married. Somehow things just worked out for us! I know she was supposed to be ours and although things may have been easier if we would have waited, I am so grateful that she blessed our lives and the lives of her future siblings.

She is a great big sister who has a lot of love for her brother and sisters. We love you so much Addyson and are excited to watch you grow into a beautiful young woman. This is a big Birthday because she will be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know that she will be a great example to her siblings and to her friends.

Happy 8th Birthday!

Paige is potty trained!

Paige is a superstar! We have been encouraging her to go potty for a while now, and all she ever had to say was "NO", which she says to most things. I am not sure what happened but she suddenly had a desire to try and after about a week she was doing her thing on the toilet with very little effort from us. I have been spending a lot of time at home just lounging around taking care of the baby so it could not have been a more perfect time to let the girl just run loose in her undies- now I can't get her to put her clothes on to save my life! I am so excited to now only have 1 child in diapers. That is like an extra $30 back in my pocket every month....... oh, wait now that $ is going to Tatum's diapers(sigh). I can't believe how big she is getting:(

The First Day and Week of school

Woohoo, school has started! The kids have been counting down the days for school to start, it seems since the first day of summer, and while I have enjoyed our fun in the sun, I have been pretty excited as well. The day finally came and we were all thrilled. Since Tatum was so fresh out of the hospital and I didn't want to take her into a school full of kids and their germs Dave and I weren't able to go together to take them. Because it was Ethan's very first day of kindergarten I decided to let him pick who he wanted to take him, and it was no suprise when he picked his dad to take him to school (sniff, sniff). So, I helped them get their gear, gave them hugs and kisses and watched them walk out the door. Ethan's attitude about the first day of school was very different from Addyson's first day of kindergarten. He had no worries, wasn't nervous at all- I practically had to pry Addyson off of me she was so scared.

Ethan waiting out in front of the Kindergarten classrooms patiently waiting to go in.
His teacher's name is Ms. Hartung. She is a new kindergarten teacher this year and seems really sweet, she looks like she is 16, so far he really likes her.

Addyson's teacher is Mrs. Leach and she is a breath of fresh air from her teacher last year! I am so glad that she has a teacher that is not only good but actually likes kids and will treat her well.

The first week went off really well, they both got out of bed with no problems in the morning (we will see how long that will last with Ethan, the boy likes to sleep!), they were very well behaved in their classes, and they are loving it. Ethan has had a little trouble keeping track of his things- 3 out of the 4 days he brought lunch to school he misplaced his lunchbox, he completely lost one. I am sure he is just overwhelmed right now, I hope!:) I am excited to see how much they learn and grow this year. I can't believe I have 2 in school now- oh how the time flies!

Tatum's homecoming

Tatum has been home now for 11 days and we are loving every minute of it, even if it is at 2:00 in the morning. We thought that we had to wait until the 20th to bring her home but the nurses suprised me on the 19th(Dave & I's anniversary) when they told me that her antibiotics would be done that evening. I had to really convince the Dr. to let me take her home that night, he wanted me to wait until the following day to discharge her, but in the end he was happy to let me have my way. It worked out perfectly because Dave and I had already asked my mom to babysit the kids so we could go out for our anniversary, so after our date we went to the hospital and brought her home. She has been a really good baby thus far. I forget how much they sleep and how often they fill their diapers at this age- the diapers are piling up!

I am already starting to feel a little sad that this is the last time I will be experiencing this newborn stage! I don't doubt our decision to be done having kids, I am sure everyone experiences the same emotions with their last child regardless of how many kids they have. I am just trying to enjoy every minute because I know how quickly they change and grow. So what if the housework doesn't get done right?!

The kids have been so sweet with her. Ethan comes straight home from school, washes his hands, and asks to hold her, then Addy, then Paige of course. Addyson really likes playing the mom role. I kept having to get after her for the way she was holding Tatum because I wasn't confident she would have quick enough reflexes to catch her if she lost control of her head and Addy broke down crying and said, "I just really want to be a parent!" that made me laugh. Needless to say we have had to set some boundaries. She is one loved little baby.

And pretty dang cute too!

3 more days!

When Tatum was originally put into the special care nursery the neonatologist said that she would probably have to be there for 7 days of antibiotics so in my mind she was going to be coming today. I even verified it with one of the neonatologists and she told me I could bring her home Monday evening. The kids were excited, of course I was excited that the wait was finally over. Then, on Sunday the main neonatologist called me and broke the news that she actually had to stay 10 days because of the strain of bacteria that she tested positive for. My heart sank and I just cried and cried and cried! Of course I want her to get better and I want to make sure that the antibiotics kill every last bit of it but I was so disappointed! So, I decided to have a little fun when I went up to the hospital Monday evening. I brought a bunch of clothes and blankets and bows and my mom and I played a little dress up, she didn't like it too much but it made me feel better.

No more generic white onesies, she is wearing pink every day now!
This is the outfit I was going to bring her home in but since I will likely be bringing her home around 9pm I will probably just put her in some PJ's.

I wanted to give the nurses something to say thank you. I bought the cookies and goodies on Saturday and I was afraid that if I didn't give them to the nurses now I might eat it all.

The last couple of days I have felt comforted like I can definitely do this for 3 more days, I am grateful for that! I have really struggled with the fact that I feel as though I haven't been able to bond with Tatum like I have my other children when they were first born, it has made me really sad. The nurses have been great in the evenings giving me a private room to nurse and spend time with her which has been such a blessing because it allows me to bond with her a lot more.
I hope the next 3 days fly by!

Update on Tatum

Tatum has been in the NICU for 5 days now and she has gotten so much better! Each day that I visit her she is improving more and more. They have taken her off of oxygen and she is breathing great on her own. She also doesn't have to have that nasty feeding tube anymore, she is bottle feeding and today we had quite a bit of success with breastfeeding- I was so happy! She also doesn't need to be under the warmer anymore, her body temperature has been perfectly normal so she gets to have a regular bassinet. Of course she is still hooked up to all of the leads monitoring her heart, pulse ox, and respirations and then her IV. Poor thing, I think everyday that I am there she has a new IV site. Her blood culture did come back positive, so she did sepsis which is scary! The really scary part is that it came back positive for Group B Strep which is a bacteria that the mom carries and is passed to baby during labor. It can cause pneumonia(which is likely what Tatum had) or even menigitis and can be fatal to newborns if not caught and treated quickly. The wierd thing is that I was tested for GBS 4 days before I delivered and it was negative so we never would have known. I cannot begin to describe how grateful I am to the nursery nurse who went with her gut and had Tatum checked out because she could have gotten really sick!

Tatum her 2nd night in the NICU.
Dave and I visiting her.

This is Tatum last night, she looks so much better!

I can't wait to bring her home!

Meet baby Tatum Audrey Lee!

So some of you may know that I was pretty anxious to have this baby ASAP! I was having a lot of back and hip pain, I was exhausted, and super emotional. I was really hoping to have her over the weekend and lucky me, it did happen. It was funny because my good friend Aprille had her baby 4 weeks early on Friday after her water broke in the middle of the night. I went to visit her in the hospital on Saturday and we were talking about how uncommon it is for a women's water to break, only 15%! Then, around 4:30 a.m. I felt a pop and what do you know my water broke too! We called my mom and headed to the hospital. The problem was that I wasn't in active labor and once your water breaks you only have about 16-24 hours to deliver, I don't like C-sections- done that don't want to do it again. Because I have had a C-section before, I cannot be induced so after sitting in the hospital for hours with no progress I was stressing. Fortunately, after trying some "untraditional" methods it started to move a long slowly. I got my epidural and waited some more, a lot more comfortably though- LOVE epidurals! After about 12 hours the Dr. decided that she wanted to try to move things a long a little quicker and gave me a very small amount of pitocin. It did the trick, I went from a 5 to complete in 45 minutes and she came out in 2 pushes! Did I mention I love epidurals?! She was born at

4:24 p.m. on Sunday, August 9th.

Tatum Audrey Lee all covered in goo.
She weighed 6lbs. 12oz. and 19 3/4 inces long.

She has a head full of dark thick hair, very different from her sister Paige.

The kids couldn't wait to meet their new little sister. My mom was asleep on our couch when Ethan woke up in the morning and saw her, he got very excited and ran up to tell Addy and Paige that Grandma was downstairs and mom and dad were gone- he knew what that meant! When they came to the hospital they couldn't hold her enough and Ethan couldn't stop kissing her. I might have a little bit too much help when I get home.

Later that night we noticed she wasn't acting right, she was extremely cold, grunting and crying a lot, and she refused to eat- I was worried. They decided to put her in the special care unit of the nursery and take blood, do a chest x-ray, put her under heated lamps, and give her some oxygen. Unfortunately what it looks like is an infection in her lungs. She is having trouble breathing and her lab work showed an infection so she will likely have to stay in the hospital for a week while they give her a full course of antibiotics. They are feeding her through a feeding tube, she is getting IV antibiotics and is hooked up to all kinds of probes- SAD!! It will be strange going home with no baby, the kids will be disappointed but we hope she just gets better! We are very blessed!