Sam's Birthday!!

Writing thank you notes.



Get that spooky spider (or as Gabe says...POOKEY PIDER!!)

The new book from Gigi and Papa...by far his favorite!

Granny and Grandpa's box!


Black widow!!
Before school on Friday. Looking pretty good despite vomiting 8 times in three hours!! Poor Sam.

A box full of spiders!! Nothing a big shoe couldn't take care of!


Almost too cute to eat.

On June 2nd, Sam turned six. I cannot believe I have a son who is six and getting ready to graduate from Kindergarten. He is so big. Everyday he delights me with how smart and clever he is. He is such a fun kid. He is also a very no nonsense child, very mature for his age. He loves to learn about things that "worry" him, particularly spiders and tornados. When I asked him what type of birthday he wanted he told me a spider tornado birthday. I was finally able to convince him to go with one theme and we settled on spiders. On Friday I took cupcakes in to his class that looked like spiders. His cake on Saturday looked like a huge black widow and had creepy lime jello guts. It was a ton of fun to make and a lot of fun to watch the boys eat.

Sam was thrilled with his gifts. He receieved a spider themed package from Granny and Grandpa along with some cash, his FAVORITE gift! Nina and Tim gave him some water guns. GiGi and Papa got him a book, microscope and Hummer remote control car. From Amy, Casey, Eric and Laura he received more of his favorite gift, MONEY! From Ethan and Gabe he enjoyed sidewalk chalk paint and from us he received a book and an awesome airplane that shoots from a "gun". He loved all of his gifts and said it was the best birthday ever! He was so thrilled with everything he started writing thank you notes right away without prompting. He's such a thoughtful kid!

Keep him in your prayers as he is still vomiting about every 10-14 days and we still aren't sure why. He definitly has the doctor perplexed. We go for allergy testing at Walter Reed on June 25th, which is the Monday after we return from Family Camp at the Officer Christian Fellowship Camp in Pennsylvania. We are all excited to go!

Memorial Day!!

Mom, "Nina", the boys and I. The boys are sporting their new Buzz Lightyear Jammies from Gigi and Nina.


The Spencer/Leppert/Akin/Derham family Memorial Day feast.


Chillin' at the "O" Club Pool


Gabe was pretty sure someone told him he wasn't supposed to play with fire, so what was this guy doing!!

For Memorial Day we enjoyed a great weekend with our family. On Saturday night we went to a Japanese Steakhouse for an early birthday celebration for Sam. It is always fun to watch the boys faces at those places. On Sunday we spent the day at the pool...ahhh...summer, it is so nice to have warm weather and pool fun! Sunday night my Dad's two sisters came over for a little Memorial Day cookout. Even though it rained it was nice to be with family. Monday Anna, Mom and I spent the day at the mall shopping, I had a blast. I can't tell you the last time I was at the mall without two strollers and three kids! Hope everyone else had a wonderful Memorial Day and remembered why we had the day off. If you need a reminder check out www.icasualties.org.

AWANA

The boys loved being in AWANA this year. They finished the year out with a bang and received all of their patches. Sam finished his first rank in Sparks and Ethan graduated from the first book in Cubbies. I was very proud of them for learning so much about the Bible!!

New Baby!!

On May 16th, some of our old friends from Kansas had a baby. Jillian Deme is very cute. The boys were very cute and loving with her. These are some pics of when we went out to see her. CONGRATS Nancy and Ryan!!

THE FAM!!

Greg and I thought this was a good picture of the Spencer Family enjoying "an adventure" at Fort Hunt Park.

P.S Gabe looks a little out of it because Greg set the camera to take the picture and then RAN over to us, it was quite a sight!!

Birthday Girl

On Thursday, May 17th, I turned 28!! I had a wonderful day.

First, Greg made me breakfast before I dropped Sam off at school and the little boys at the Child Developement Center. Once free, I high tailed my little hiney over to the hospital for my doctors appointment and some routine tests. Of course my doctor didn't put the orders for lab in correctly so I had to run all over the hospital to get it put in before my appointment. This was my 28 week appointment so I had to have my one hour Glucose test and blood drawn for my Rho-Gam shot. The tech said I set a world record for the speed at which I drank my "orange kool-aid" for the glucose test (geez, I'm in a hurry and it really doesn't tast that bad)! After my one hour was up they drew more blood, and then I proceeded to bleed all over my arm and my purse, fun, fun. I rushed over to another area of the lab to pick up my Rho-Gam shot (I have 0- blood and Greg has 0+, if they didn't give me shots, there is a chance my body could build up antibodies and attack my baby) and basically ran to my appointment. As soon as I got in with the doctor the fire alarm started going off, more adventure for the day! We all had to leave the hospital and walk was across the street, just in case. Luckily we got back in fairly quickly and I saw the doctor again. Dr. Kunar said everything looked good and he sent me to get my Rho-Gam shot, which they deliver in your upper thigh/butt! Happy Birthday to me, huh?!

After my head spinning day at the hospital, Greg met me for lunch at Macaroni Grill. It was really nice to eat lunch in a nice quiet adult restaurant. After lunch I picked up the kiddos and went home for a rest. I think my second trimester energy has worn off, I'm very tired and totally unmotivated.

When Greg got home from work he and the boys got busy decorating the kitchen for my "party". I had a wonderful ice cream cake, and got an awesome new Epson PhotoMate Snap, it was a very thoughtful gift! I had a wonderful day. Here are some pics from the big day.

Belly, Belly, Belly

Yesterday afternoon we spent the afternoon with the Kules. Ryan is officially retired from the army as of yesterday so we thought we would celebrate. Nancy is VERY pregnant and VERY ready to have the baby!! Here is a picture of us together. I will be 26 weeks tommorow.

Heather

BUGZ!!

Every year the Fort Belvoir Kindergarten classes put on a Spring Play called BUGZ. Sam did excellent in the play, we were SO proud of him. He was an Army Ant, appropriate huh?! Here are some pics from the night.

Preggo pics...

I don't have many side photos of me pregnant...this is the best I had, sorry Shelley :)

I'll have to have some more taken...I'm looking pretty big these days. I was at the doctor the other day and the nurse basically told me I looked BIG for not being due until August...thanks lady. Oh well....

April

Waiting for the Pirate Movie at Busch Gardens


Mideival Times Dinner Tournament


Sam waiting to go to sleep...


Giving a thumbs up and feeling pretty darn good after the procedures.


Greg and I (24 weeks...16 weeks or less to go!!)


Well as usual we have been super busy. I cannot believe April is almost over!! It has flown by.

The first week of April was Spring Break. We had a great time at Busch Gardens FREE, thanks to their military program, we saw Meet the Robinsons and we went to the Mideival Times Dinner and Tournament. It doesn't sound like much, but it sure kept us hopping!! My Mom and Dad were here for the last part of the week, it was a lot of fun.

Last week was the second round of Sam's tests. Greg's parents came and were a great help watching the other boys. We got to Walter Reed at 0630, Sam was "asleep" by about 0900 and we were on our way home by 1400. The intial readings of the tests were positive but we will know a lot more by this Friday. I'm anxious to hear some results.

I took Gabe to the pediatrician this morning for a really bad diaper rash, she wasn't worried about the rash but said he has a very loud heart murmur. We will be meeting with the Pediatric Cardiologist sometime in May to explore that further. Ethan has three innocent murmurs and they are pretty sure Sam has one as well, so I'm guessing it just kind of "runs in the family". We shall see.

Other then that we are surviving. I'm ready for school to be out and for the pool to open!! I'll post a few pics of our month.

Heather

"Mommy....."

"Mommy, I think Mary Poppins and God should get married".....

"Really Sam, why?"

"Because they both, know everything about everyone"

Ah...out of the mouth of babes :0)

T-ball

Sam started T-ball yesterday. He seemed to really enjoy hitting, trying to catch and running the bases. Here are some pics from the night.

George W. + Walter Reed = CRAZINESS

Well Sam and I had an interesting morning. I got up at 5:30, which is REALLY early for me, and got us out the door at about 6:34. On the way to the hospital we were listening to the radio. The DJ was so excited to share that President Bush was going to be visiting Walter Reed today, how exciting, right?! Well if we'd gotten to see him it would have been nice!! When I told Sam "W" was going to be there he said, "Oh good, I've been wanting to meet the President". It took us about an hour to get to Walter Reed (it's 26 miles away) and about another half hour to get through the gate and to park. I was actually very pleased. One time I came up with Ethan and spent over 45 minutes looking for parking, it was terrible!!

We were very early for Sam's appointment so we walked around the hospital. Sam always enjoys the sights of Walter Reed. It is an interesting place. Nuclear medicine finally opened at 9:00 and we were the second ones in (Sam hadn't eaten anything because of the test and I was hoping to get in a little early). His appointment was at 9:30, but they didn't take us until 10:00. Poor kid, he was really hungry. They finally came and got us and Sam got to wear some snazzy purple gloves while he ate his radio active egg sandwich. He ate it pretty quickly BUT it was disgusting. They cook up the egg with no grease, no butter, and no seasoning. It was very dry and he couldn't drink anything until it was all gone. I was very proud of him. After he ate they took pictures of the food "going down" every fifteen minutes for an hour and a half. Walter Reed is not the most kid friendly place so it was VERY boring between pictures. We colord A TON of pictures!! The best part of the test was that the tech would let Sam "draw" on the computer screen after each picture with his radio active tummy. It was kind of neat! After all was said and done the doctor read the results and said it appears that he is digesting well. I was pleased with the results but also a little disappointed because I had hoped this test would explain what the heck is going on.

Leaving the hospital we had to find the special "non being used by the President" elevators. When we got down to the lobby they were blocking off hallways so we hoped we would get to see the "big guy". Unfortunatly he was on the floor above us, but I had my camera phone ready, just in case!! Sam went up to a Secret Service guy and asked if he could meet the President. He told him no, that only certain people can meet the President but that if Sam told him his name he would be sure to tell the President that Samuel Spencer said hi. Sam was pretty happy with that. We ran into another Secret Service guy who gave Sam a Secret Service pin. He was thrilled and told me he wanted to put it in his scrapbook. We managed to get out of the parking garage and off of the Walter Reed's grounds just as they were going on "lock down" to get the President home as well.

Getting home was yuck!! It took us about an hour and half to get home. Traffic was bad because of lunch, Friday and the start of Spring Break. Gotta love DC! It is so nice to be home and relaxing!! Thankfully I have about three weeks to rest before venturing down there again. Next time I'll be with Greg so that will help a ton. Hopefully that appointment will give us a clue as to what is wrong with his belly....stay tuned!!!

Heather

CHECK THIS OUT!!

I added a new link to our website. It's for a company called Saving Dinner, their site is www.savingdinner.com

I LOVE THEM. Every Wednesday they send you a menu of six meals, plus a grocery list. All I have to do is print everyting and I'm on my merry little way. It is saving me SO MUCH TIME and the dinners are REALLY good. You can pick from several different types of menus, Regular, Hearty Healthy, Low Carb, Frugal, etc. as well as how many diners you have (2, 4 or 6). I can't tell you how this has helped my sanity at the grocery and at meal time. In the past every week I would drag out my cookbooks and come up with a menu for the week along with a grocery list. It was HORRIBLE. We are eating healthier, eating things that are in season and I'm spending less at the commissary, what more could you ask for. Check it out!

Heather

P.S. Don't forget to read the other five posts I made today!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well as you can see from all of the pictures, we have been very busy. Things never seem to calm down around here, but we're having fun.

As of tommorow, 26 MAR, I will be exactly 20 weeks. Time is really flying. We had another ultrasound done on 20 MAR and we are DEFINITLY without a doubt having another boy. I followed the news with a trip to IKEA!! Lately Gabe has been getting his leg stuck in the crib. If Greg wasn't here to lift and then pull I'm not sure I would be able to get him unstuck without calling the fire department (maybe a little extreme). We decided with new baby about four months away it was probably time to move Gabe to a BIG BOY BED. We went a little crazy in the kids department but he now has a room that is too stinken cute!! I think we are all jealous of his new bedroom "stuff", which includes, new bed, pillows, sheets, quilt, rug, stuffed dragon, dragon wall hanging as well as much more. Yesterday we spent the afternoon, cleaning, rearranging and setting up the dragon room. He loves it and has been really good (knock on wood) about staying in bed!!! We are waiting on some new curtains which will be the finishing touch for his new big boy room.

Gabe's first nap in his big boy room.

Snuggeling after his nap.

In the process of resetting his room we had to find room for all of his "baby" stuff. We have a really, really big closet at the end of our hallway perfect for a nursery!! Now Spencer baby #4 has his own room complete with crib, changing table and a bunch of linens, but I don't think he will complain. When he starts sleeping through the night we will move him in with Gabe, but for now he has his own cozy abode!

On a more serious note, Sam and I have been spending a lot of time at the doctor lately. Poor kid, he has this wee problem with vomiting. For those of you who have known us since he was a baby this isn't necessarily a shocker. He was a PROJECTILE VOMITER as a baby and spent four days in the hospital because of it when he was a toddler. We felt like we had everything under control until recently when he started vomiting in the morning. He would wake up ravishingly hungry and then throw up four or five times, rest for about thirty minutes and then be back to normal. For awhile he was doing this about every 7 to 10 days. I took him to the peditrician. He told me that he was clearly not contagious (none of the rest of us have every gotten sick) and that he could go to school after an "episode" but that he wanted him (Sam) to see a Pediatric GI. In the meantime he put Sam on Prilosec in hopes that that would calm his stomach. Unfortunatly it did not. We saw the GI on 09 MAR. She spent a LONG time with us and was VERY helpful. She has put Sam in for a TON of tests to try to figure out what is wrong and put him on some new meds. She also told me that Prilosec works best when taken in the morning (oops, nobody told me that). Before leaving the hospital Sam had a bunch of bloodwork done. He was a TROOPER, didn't even cry. So far all of that bloodwork has come back normal (YEAH!!). She was testing for Celiac, food allergies and a few other things. On Wednesday I spent the entire afternoon at Walter Reed getting Sam ready for his tests. This coming Friday, 30 MAR, he will have a Gastric Emptying done. Basically he will eat an egg sandwich that is made with some radio active material and then they will take pictures of him every 15 minutes to watch as the food goes down. On 19 APR he is going to have a scope done of his esophagus. They will also do a biopsy of the cells in his esophogus and stomach. This should definitly rule out Celiac and or food allergies AND give them a better idea of what is going on. He will also have a head MRI done that day just to make sure he doesn't have a brain tumor. He has had this done before so we aren't too worried, they just have to rule everything out. Sam will be asleep for both procedures, please keep us in your prayers during all of this as I'm sure I will be a wee bit nervous!

Other then all of that things are looking good around here! Greg and I feel like our lives and marriage have finally gotten back to "normal" since all of the deployments. The kids are doing really well. Sam loves school. Ethan and Sam love AWANA and Sam is getting ready to start T-ball. Gabe is a joy, he suprises us everyday with how big he really is getting. We are excited to see what this new season will bring. Hope everyone is doing well. I would love to hear from everyone soon.

Heather

Greg's Birthday!

On March 14th Greg turned 34!! He's an old man!! Just kidding baby....here are some pics from the big day!!

Dr. Suess' Birthday?!

Evidently Dr. Seuss' birthday is a big deal. When I was a kid I don't recall celebrating but now a days you are an "ol' stick in the mud" if you don't. Ethan, Gabe and I started our big day at a celebration at the public library. They read books, played games, did a craft and had a cookie, YEAH!!

After that big celebration we decided to meet Greg at Costco in Arlington. HOLY MOLY!! I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT. I have never been so completely overwhelmed in all my life. I am not meant to be a big city girl! After shopping and a bite to eat at Subway we headed over to Sam's school for their Dr. Suess parade. Sam was so proud and handsome.

My FIRST Weekend Away!

In February I got a wild hair and decided to go visit a friend of mine in KS. I have NEVER left the boys with Greg overnight so I was really nervous. Of couse the big day arrived and we had SNOW and ICE. Greg got me to the Metro, I made it to the Airport, and then I sat for 10 HOURS!! Everything it seems had been canceled. I finally got to Fort Riley, 12 hours later then expected. Chrissy and Robin (two of my girlfriends from Riley) graciously came and got me even though it was almost midnight. We spent the next five days catching up and having a great time. Luckily my trip home was far less eventful. Greg and the boys had a great bonding experience and I enjoyed having NO responsibility!! The first pic is of me leaving, the others are of the boys playing in the SNOW!!

Lots of NEW PICS!!

I have a ton of new pictures to add. For some reason blogger has had a really hard time loading them lately so we will see how much I actually get on here. Things, as usual, have been really crazy around here. These first pics are of the Super Bowl party we attended. Everyone there were people we knew from Fort Riley, which was rather odd, seeing as we were in BOWIE, MD!! We had a great time. The last picture is of Nancy and I showing off our pregnant bellies!! In this pic I was about 12 weeks and she was about 24.

Another BOY!!

Well, I was dying to know what the heck we were having. I found a place in Woodbridge that would do a gender check for $100. I knew that are chances were slim but I was willing to lose a little dough to find out now. The doctor was very nice and showed us a few things he would normally charge more for. He did one test that is supposed to tell if your baby is at risk for downs, and he said our baby looked very healthy. After all the measurements he looked for gender and sure enough said it was another boy. Greg asked how certain he was and he said 95% so I think we can probably go ahead and start planning for more blue.

Sam was pretty disappointed. He really wanted a sister. Ethan was thrilled either way and Gabe could care less. We've always wanted a large family so Greg says we will just try again, but I'm tired and not getting any younger, so we'll just have to see.

I have another ultrasound in about 6-8 weeks so we will know for sure then (I'm pretty certain now though).

Heather