{p,h,f,r} spring break addition

The kids were out for spring break this week and I have loads of pictures to share with you.  I may have taken a few... hundred.   Here are some of my favorite {Pretty} ones.

Ready for {Happy}?  Here they come.

I love these feet.  They make me happy.

Sprinkle park after bed time = happy kids.

I am a woman of few words today.  Here are my top picks for {funny} for the week.

for some reason all three of my kids are enamored with alligators right now.  We went to Fudpuckers  to feed the gators and Zadie was crushed because I wouldn't let her get in the water to wrestle with them.  

And this folks, is what happens when you hand the camera to my mom and say, "Here, get a picture of me with the girls."  Well, it's me, mostly, and that is Rosie's foot.  Good try mom.  

Every time I got the camera out to sneak a picture of Rosie playing, she made a bee-line for me to check out my camera.  It is pretty cool.

Happily, I have no pictures to share for the {Real} this week.  The weather was beautiful, the children behaved (mostly).  The only bummer is that I have developed a strange eye infection.  I swear I think this last pregnancy has just about done me in.  How about it mothers of 3 or more?  Shall I ever regain my ability to fight of injury and disease?  Or should I just plan to dress as a pirate for Halloween from now on.  Maybe I can get a be-dazzled eye patch and be the coolest pirate on the block.


Head over to Like Mother, like daughter for more {pretty, happy, funny, real}.  ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com  

The Jamboree

One thing about living in a small town (or for us, a series of small towns), it takes a little time to learn the language.
Andy signed up to play 7 and 8 year old baseball this year, big boy baseball.  Let me tell you, the learning curve for mama has been steep.  When I got the practice schedule that had us at the ball field 5 days a week, I thought, "this must be the wrong one, this must be for the teenagers."  Oh, I have a lot to learn.
Today was the "Jamboree."  It took me the entire week to get a handle on what that means, and I'm still not completely sure.  But we loaded up the kids, chairs, coolers and camera and went to the ball field.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong Tallassee folks, but I believe that the games they played today were just for practice.  Although, Andy assures me they counted.  There was a scoreboard and the Braves won them both, so you can bet they counted to Andy!
All that matters to this mama is that it was a lot of fun.  Andy played, we cheered, the girls played in the dirt.  A good time was had by all.

That pesky fence- it totally wrecks my action shots

Andy hanging out on first base... unlike t-ball, he now understands that he should watch the game while on base.

Victory dance. Got it covered.

Jan and Charlie came to watch the game, and to get the baby's nose.

And if there's one thing that 7 years of motherhood has taught me, it's that small people will put up with almost anything (including 6 hours at the ball field) if there are good snacks provided.

and lots of drinks to stay cool.

Sugary ones that are only allowed on special occasions :)

Yep, you're the man.  Lots of base hits and a few RBI's.  Yep, I was watching the games.  I might have to learn a little more about baseball since Andy seems to love it so much.  Last year all I knew was that Andy was "that guy who stands between 2nd and 3rd base to try to stop the ball from rolling into the outfield." 

 So that was the Jamboree.  It also included yummy b-b-q and a great playground.  Can't wait for next year!

Checking in

For those of you who check in with us, I wanted to let you know that Rosie is back to her happy little self.  Oh, how I have missed her giggles!  The dr. let us go to only 2 breathing treatments a day for the next month, and then we should be done with the whole mess!

Here ar a few pictures of our celebratory trip to the zoo.

Of course we left the stroller at home.  Grrrrrr.  The girls did love the rented one, though :)

I am not sorry that I don't have a picture to share with you of me trying to get the crazed parakeets off of my head.  You will have to settle for this shot of Dave- the bird man.

And of course, our Zadie is always happiest when surrounded by non-human friends.

Thank you so much for all of your help and prayers these past 2 weeks.  We are so blessed by our family and friends.  You bring us great joy and peace in the midst of trouble.

{p,h,f,r} searching for calm during the storm

Most of you know that it's been a difficult week at the Barkalow's.  Rosie is sick.  We continue with the breathing treatments and antibiotics in hopes that she'll be herself again soon.  It's been 7 days since she's had anything to drink and I'm fighting the overwhelming sadness that she will likely not nurse again.  Just like that.

Of course, with three precious children, there are beautiful moments.


                                                                                                     {Pretty}

Who says you can't have a breakfast picnic?

                    {Happy}

Zadie was so happy when we found 2 four leaf clovers in our yard.  Especially since Andy had never found one :)

                                                                {Funny}

Sweet bunny

Why do they love to take the cushions off the couch?

                 {Real}

Rosie did lose a little weight in the hospital, and she feels so small to me, but as you can see, she's got plenty to spare.

Andy has been so sweet and agreeable through it all.  He is loving baseball practice; he can't wait until the season begins.

Say a prayer for our Rosie.  It breaks my heart each time she cries.    It's a sound I've  rarely heard before this week.

Rosie is home

Many of you know that our plans for the past week went way off track when a cough that the kids were passing around became much more serious for Rosie.  When she stopped nursing, I knew it was time to take her to the doctor.  (Rosie loves her some milk).  I took her in and she was laboring to breathe and wheezing.  RSV.  Well Crap.  They sent us straight to the hospital and checked her in for breathing treatments, re-hydration and put her on oxygen.  Well, that was Thursday.

I'm happy to report that we've come a long way since then.  It's Saturday afternoon and we're home.  Rosie is asleep in her own bed and no one is coming in to poke her, check her IV, empty the trash can, ask if she's pooped.... you get the picture.  Let's hope it's a nice long rest.  (Mommy and Daddy need it too)

Well you know that once she was feeling better, I had Dave bring me my camera.  Of course one doesn't think of taking pictures while one's child is suffering, but once she was herself again, it was a nice distraction from the unpleasantness of the hospital.  She's quite a ham.

What is this thing?  Did I mention that Rosie is on a nursing strike.  She has not nursed (or taken any liquid by mouth) for 3 and a half days.  We are currently trying anything to get her to drink.  Bottles, cups, straws.  No luck yet.  Maybe now that the IV is out she'll get thirsty.  I'm trying not to stress.  Have y'all met me?  Yeah.  Maybe I should start drinking.

Oh, a camera, I'll take that instead.

Short on toys... have a breast pump.

Get me out of here already!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support this week.  Don't know what we would have done without our wonderful friends and family.  I'll keep you posted on her progress, but for now she's just happy to be home with her toys, the bunnies, and her brother and sister to make her laugh.

Rosie is 9 months old!

Here she is folks.  I know this is a ridiculous lot of pictures... but I totally narrowed them down from like 100.  Is it my fault she's such a ham?