What is fall without leaves...

We had a birthday party for Baga (my mom) and Baga Sue (my gramma) at our house the weekend after their birthdays. Matt and I made a cake that took about 8 hrs total to make. It consisted of a chocolate frosting over brownie layer over marshmellow creme frosting over chocolate chip cookie over marshmellow creme frosting over cheesecake over chocolate frosting over graham crakers and then in the reverse again. Man was it yummy, man was it rich!

After we celebrated, we raked up leaves and Baga, Baga Sue, Barby and the kids jumped in the leaves. We all had a fun time celebrating!

Elf on the shelf

Our Elf came to our house in November 2011. These are some of "Trix"-as named by Noah- adventures since he has been at our house.

 Trix acting as a tree topper since we don't have one yet

Trix got in a carry-on bag to go to Iowa with us

Trix hid in Gramma Pam's flowers the first day we awoke in Iowa

Trix ate some of Daddy's birthday cake

Trix decided to try a cow ride out 

He thought he would help with wrapping presents, but just got all tangled up.

Wanted to make sure he heard the Christmas songs loud and clear!

 

Visited the true meaning of Christmas

Since there was no snow, Trix decided he would make a snowangel

Back in Gainesville, Trix got in on the decorations.

Checking Noah's stocking to make sure stuff would fit in

Trix hanging out in the kitchen with the lollipop Noah gave him

The letter Trix left Noah since he was going to stay at the North Pole to help with toy production.

So if you have any ideas on where Trix will be tomorrow...send a message my way!

Ashley

December Update

Well, I took Foster to the pediatrician again today and he still has an ear infection:( He had to get an antibiotic shot in his leg and will follow up for the next 2 days with shots. He also is being put back on the nebulizer for some wheezing associated with his cough that has been hanging around for several months now. In other health news, I slipped and fell and fractured my tailbone. The good news is that most daily activities are fine. The bad news is, it takes a while for tailbone fractures to heal.

In Noah news, he has been having a great week at school- all greens! We are still contemplating taking him out of school and homeschooling him. Please pray for this decision because it is a big one for all of us!

15 month check up

Foster had his 15 month check-up today and a recheck for his second (or continuing) ear infection. His stats are 21pounds 11oz, 31.5 inches. Both are 15- 25 percentile...so he is little...just not quite as little as his brother. Foster also still has an ear infection. We are traveling to Iowa tomorrow so pray for a smooth trip and not too much pain for his little ears and pray that antibiotic #3 does its job!

halloween

A couple pics from Halloween. The one of the boys and I was taken by Pam on Skype, hence the low quality from camera on the computer. The second one is from a neighbor's iPhone. Not too bad of quality. Our house is in the background behind me. We are in the neighbor's yard when the photo was taken. And yes, we did spray paint the boys hair blue. Don't worry, it came right out!

Thanks to Katie

Thanks to Katie Whitlock, I can finally get my blog to publish again! I was so frustrated with it that I gave up. Thanks for the tips and I will try to get some new posts up soon!

another tooth!

Foster has another tooth on the top right. He is also now pulling up, cruising, catching himself when he falls forward, and trying to learn how to let go while standing. Tomorrow we are heading to Gainesville for a 9 mo checkup for Foster and a 5yo check up for Noah. I have decided that Foster's nickname is "Ironman" because he is so big and his initials are "Fe" like the periodic table symbol for iron. His eyes are still blue like daddy's, so we think they will stay that way.

On the "home front," we are blessed to have family members who are able to purchase a house for us in Gainesville while we continue to wait on our house in Iowa to sell. We have an offer in on a house (we are the back-up) and have not had an update on what is going on with that property and not for lack of trying. Hopefully we will hear something tomorrow.

I am praising God for bringing my brother-in-law home to Jacksonville and allowing him to get restationed here because it was truly an act of God that that happened. Praying for my 2nd cousin and his teaching job. Also for family friends who have to make decisions about a sister's living situation. Praying for wisdom in our house search- the where, when, and what. Thanks for joining with me!

Noah's Graduation

Noah graduated from PreK in June. Here is video from his graduation.

Another milestone...

Foster reached another milestone today. He was getting it down really good until the camera came out. See if you can catch what he figured out today.

New news on Foster & Noah

Well, Foster obviously is changing everyday. His first tooth came through the week after we came back from Iowa. His second tooth came through last week. He is still crawling backwards and has not figured out how to go forward which makes him very frustrated. He stands up at the table/window/chair/wall for 10 minutes at a time.
Noah has started reading! He is reading easy readers like Green Eggs and Ham, Cat in the Hat, Go Dog Go, The Giving Tree, etc. He also has the Tag reading system, so any books in this realm would be great gifts for him this year. For the tag he already has the Ispy book and Map. He is almost in 5T clothes...just remember that we now live in FL. Too many long sleeves/pants wont get as much use as short sleeves and shorts. He also loves games!

Long Lost Videos

So some of these are really old, but I wanted to get causght up. So here goes...



Noah loves making his brother laugh and Foster laughs best for Noah!





Yummy! Foster gets his first solids. He loves to eat.









More to come...

The rest of the previews...

Somehow I missed these when I was saving them to my computer...I then realized I was missing them because some of my favs are in this group!

Photos with Mrs.Linda Bainter

We have a wonderful and very talented photographer friend Linda Bainter. She is a budding photographer whose work is in full bloom! She is very resonable $100 for an hour session which includes 20 shots on a CD for you to have. She is located in Gainesville, but says she will travel...When you need her info, message me.

since the last time...

After reading a friends blog and how she writes everything as if telling her daughter a story about her life, I really liked the concept and think I will try it out for a while on our blog for the boys...

Foster, this was your third trip back to Iowa. Two weeks before we were to go, you were sick. On Tuesday morning I decided to take you in, but by the morning Noah, you were even more sick than Foster. We (Baga Sue and mommy) took you to the pediatrician in Gainesville. The doctor took one look at you, Noah, and said " I think he has the flu!" He ran a rapid flu test on you which thankfully came back negative. Since you were coughing so bad, he put you on an antibiotic for that and the eye infection that seemed you were getting from Foster. We were to continue the drops we had been putting in your eyes Foster. The following Saturday, Mommy had a Pampered Chef meeting in Orlando to attend. Foster, this was the first time I was leaving you for a day. Daddy had plenty of milk to give you, but you refused to take it from a bottle. Knowing that you had started to cough like Noah, I left my meeting early to come home to feed you because I did not want you to continue to get sick. By the time I made it back to Baga Sue's house, Daddy and I had decided to take you into urgent care. The Dr. there said you were wheezing again and to start you back on abuterol with the nebulizer and also that you had an infection in your right ear which she put you on amoxicillin for. Sunday night as you went to bed, it seemed like you were getting better. You went to bed around 9pm, but woke with a dry diaper at 3am. After trying to get you to nurse with not much success, I decided to take you to the emergency room in Zephyrhills. When we arrived your blood oxygen was around 85% which is evidently really concerning. They tested you for RSV which did come back positive. They gave you a nebulizer treatment and it came up to 91% then followed it with another one. Your levels stayed the same and the ER Dr made the decision to admit you to the hospital. Now since before you were born, I have always thought I would end up in the ER with you many more times than we have ever been with your brother, but I did not think it would start so soon. You were always so wild in utero that I knew we would be making trips to the ER with you. We stayed in the hospital for two days. Noah and Baga Sue were our most frequent visitors, but daddy and Baga also came by to see us. On Wednesday we checked out of the hospital. I was glad to be going home but still concerned for you because you still were not nursing very well. I had also gotten mastitis while we were in the hospital for the second time since your birth. When we were discharged you were on Amoxicillin, Prednisolone and Abuterol. Noah was still on his Ceptra and I was on Dicloxacillin. I felt like I was running a pharmacy. We had a few days to recover before heading to Iowa to see family.
So, we made a trip to Iowa to see Dan, Lynn and Amara (Pronounced "uh-mar-uh") when they made it back from Turkey, as well as numerous other family members and friends. They are going to be making our house in Iowa their home until it sells or something else comes up for them. It will be great to have them in the house making it smell like a home again and keeping up with the snow removal and when the time comes, lawn care. It was really fun seeing you Noah, with your brother and cousin, both so little compared to you. Monday evening we were able to spend time with the Wedekings. Tuesday evening, daddy too you, Noah, to the urgent care because your ears were hurting and you had a low grade fever. This is your first ear infection since you were about a year old. They put you back in an antibiotic. On Wednesday, we had a half birthday for Foster and had many people come by to visit. We hung out with the Jensen grandparents, got to see Charlotte, Jerry, and Darrell along with Gramma and Grampa Bolin, and Uncle James and Aunt Nicole came and stayed with us. Foster, you were cutting teeth and screamed the entire time G&G Bolin and Charlotte and Family were at the house. It was rather humorous. On Saturday we were able to celebrate with Alan and Emily as they were married. Noah, you loved dancing with Kelsey at the dance and you also did a dollar dance with Emily. The next morning we headed to Colfax to have a yummy lunch with Dave Jensen and family then to the airport. We had a great trip and it was wonderful to see everyone.

When we got back home, we went for Foster's 6 month check up.
Stats:
16# 10 oz (50%)
27in (75%)

I had the pediatrician recheck your ears Noah and you still had an ear infection. So he prescribed another antibiotic for you. I surely hope this helps!

Everyday I am learning more about being the mom of two little boys. I am blessed to have both of you in my life and I am excited to continue on this journey. I am thankful to our creator for trusting me with your care and hope that I can honor him in raising both of you!

where have the Bolins gone?

It has been about 4 months since I last posted, I thought I would update you on what is going on in our lives. First, it has been crazy...by this I mean we have been living out of suitcases for over six months now but have been so blessed by our friends and family who have graciously taken us in in the last six months. Matt started out living with the Searbys. With the birth of their daughter approaching, he moved out in mid September. He stayed the next couple of weeks with friends from Harvest Christian Church, Pete and Lou Peterman. In the last couple of months we have all house sat for both the Searbys and the Williams. Matt and Josh are both working at the vet school, so when Matt stays in Gainesville they carpool to the University.

The boys and I spent our first five months with my sister Amy and her family. It was great to get to watch them grow together as a family and get to know Matt (yes Amy married a Matt too) my brother-in-law. Brilei and Noah spent many hours playing together and Presslei spent many hours holding Foster. We enjoyed our time with the Smiths and especially enjoyed attending their church, Celebration, with them. I later found out that this church is one of the main supporters of 6:8 ministries in Costa Rica that Matt and I served with in March 2008. It is always neat to be reminded of how all of God's kingdom works together even when it is all over the globe.

Baga Sue put Foster right to sleep

Surprise!

Look how skinny I am!

Foster next to a "Sugar Britches" doll at 4 weeks old

Foster practicing tummy time and Presslei getting in on the action

Noah helping give Foster on of his first bottles ever

Foster in the baby K'tan

Foster having time with "Sweet P" (Tink's nickname for Presslei, Tink is my "auntie" name)

Noah and Foster cuddling on the couch

In October, we (the boys and I)were fortunate enough to be able to travel back to Iowa so that Foster could meet the family and friends we left behind. We truly miss all of you! The second day we were there, I had an open house and invited everyone to come by and see us. We had over 50 people come by to see us and felt the love of the community we were surrounded by in Iowa. In the beginning of December, our family including Matt went back to Iowa and visited again, celebrated Christ's birth with Matt's family. It was God's timing for our trip. The night we were heading to our hotel near the airport for our early morning flight, we received a call from Matt's mom letting us know that she had cervical cancer. She is currently being treated with radiation 5 days a week and chemo once a week. The good news is last week she had a scan at the half way point in her treatment and the tumor has shrunk to half of its original size! We praise God that his healing is at work. Please join with us in praying for Pam.

 

Papa Pete's hand with Foster's hands in October

Noah and Foster were gators for Halloween

The middle of December was our time to give Amy and her family some time without us. My grandmother is about 1.5hrs from Gainesville (Matt's commute the other direction to Amy's house took about 1hr 20mins). She has offered her house to us. We have been living with her for almost a month now. The big difference between here and Orange Park is the price of groceries! They are almost double here as compared to OP. Of course we don't have a publix close by to shop at, so that could be part of the problem. We have been enjoying our time with "Baga Sue" as Noah and Brilei call her. We have been attending church with her at the Ridge Manor United Methodist Church. Last week we were able to make it down to Tampa to spend the afternoon with my Dad and Deborah. The "boys" (Matt, Noah and Dad) went out on the boat. Noah had a great time. We had some yummy smoked chicken and potato salad and tomato salad. We also got to spend some time with my mom and help with a few little projects.

That is the gist of it. I also believe that 2 blogs is too much for me. So until I figure something else out, I will continue to post on here. We will be 3 Bolins plus one :) If the Big Ten has as much revenue as they do and they can't count, it is fine for me too- some humor my Father-in-law will be proud of!