My first Home Birth Experience

WOW! How exciting!!! I got to help keep Isabella ocuppied today while her mommy gave birth to Jackson Levi! What an exciting day!


He was born just before noon and weighed 7 lb 10 oz. Such a small, precious buddle!


Bella was quite excited about Jackson!


Leslie is such a strong woman and I'm so proud and impressed by her! Not only was this my first home birth "experience" (I really had NOTHING to do with the birth) but my first time really being around a birth other than my kids - even then I was only partly there! Very cool! Or Rad, as Amanda would say.

Cameron Update

Don't you just love the contrast in that first Land Run picture? Bren & Cam...giant & shorty! ☺

I don't think I blogged about the visit to the GI specialist. He assured us that nothing was wrong with Cameron. Not even Celiac Disease. He told us that Cameron's report showed a wheat intolerance or allergy, but not Celiac. Hmmm...a years worth of testing, speculating, etc. and nothings wrong. It was a day to absorb.

The nutritionist is still coming out to weigh Cam every month. When I started tracking his data on my own, he was 23 pounds and 33.5" tall. That was December. In March, he was 23.12 pounds and up to 34.75" tall. In April, he was up to 25 pounds and 4.5 ounces! We are definitely seeing some growth in this little man. He is fitting a lot of the 3T clothes I bought for the summer and he's even got a little chub...little, but it's there!

We are still mostly wheat free in our house. Cameron is now allowed to enjoy some wheat products when were eating with others though. Overall, getting wheat out of the house really reduced our usage of processed foods and I'm sure that is a lot healthier for all of us.

We're thankful for all the prayers that were said for us during the last year. It is such a relief to see him grow and know that he is healthy.

Yummy AND Easy!

Easy Flourless Peanut-Butter Cookies

1 C creamy PB
1 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Drop by rounded tsp. onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet. If you and your kids can wait that long. :-)

From The Complete Book of Gluten-Free Cooking by Jennifer Cinquepalmi

Oklahoma Land Run Re-enactment

Today our Co-op did a Land Run Re-enactment. Here are the boys in their western gear


Brendan and two of his friends were the Land Officers. They got to give out deeds and collect fees.


This group really goes all out with their Land Run. The costumes were so cute!


Even some of the mom's dressed up!

Most of the families created some sort of item that they could trade. Several families had baked goods and candy. Yum! This store sold homemade crackers and homemade note cards!

Of course, we can't have a new town without the Sheriff and a jale...or is that jail?!

This family had all the dishes, served lunch to all that wanted. She even hand washed her dishes in a dish pan!

Cameron picked up any gun he could find. He had a blast!

Brendan and his posse

Bang Bang

Besides my first sunburn of the year, it was a wonderful event. Can't wait for next year!

Harn Homestead

Harn Homestead is a step back in time, really, in the big city of Okc. It's an original Land Run property! We went on a field trip earlier in the month to explore the land!

I didn't get many pics of Brendan, he and the older boys stayed busy!


Cameron & his daddy both want one of these!


Cameron was right at home in the kitchen. He liked that he could reach the stove!


See...I told you! There's the OK Capital Building!

The house...

Here are the barns:

And the one room school house

They even gave the students an example of how school was back then. It was a little harder with all of our toddlers but they were to be quiet, boys on one side and girls on the other. We even read the pledge how it was written at the time.

Resurrection Weekend

I went back & forth on whether I wanted to even have the boys color eggs this year. I felt like the Easter Scrooge!

But, I found these neat "Color Snaps" for less than a buck so I picked up two.


They are basically Q-Tips with food coloring in the tubing between the cotton ends. Snap one end and the color drains to the cotton on the other end.

The boys seemed to enjoy it.

We spent Saturday in Lawton with Granny & Papa, Aaron, Hilerey and baby Alexander. This was Cam's first time to hold Alex. He enjoyed it!

The best "Resurrection Sunday" picture I could manage. Cameron doesn't like to pose for me!

Sunday we shared with Gramma & Papa, and the Greats, Jess, Aaron & Taelyn, Les, Mike & Bella, Lyn & Allison. It was a nice weekend with WONDERFUL food!

Cameron loves the babies and they seem to love him!

Photography Adventures

I forgot to mention that I also got to take pictures of my very pregnant sis. Check them out: http://ablafamily.blogspot.com/2009/03/belly-shots-34-weeks.html

Lots of Catchin' Up 'Round Here

So, a lot can happen in 6 weeks. I feel exhausted just thinking about it. Here are some of the highlights:

Alexander Chesley Polliard was born to Hilerey & Aaron on March 4th. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz.





We spent a Sunday playing at Will Rogers Park in Okc. It was a beautiful day to play outside!


Another day, we played at the Lake Overholser park and walked across the dam. Can you believe this picture was taken less than 10 miles from our house?!

We dog sat the Lutz dog for a day. Here's a picture of her and Sam checking each other out. Always entertaining!

We met the Lutz fam at the Omniplex. Here, Wilson & Brendan are experiencing 74 mile per hour winds. "What's the big deal???"

We also got to play at LOL in Lawton on it's first day open. Pretty neat place!

Some great shots of the boys...

Brendan jumping in the sleet!

Then, the snow!

Cameron & Dad - hiding from Bren's snowballs!

Baby Taelyn's great smiles!

Cameron has a great seat to watch the widening of NW 67th Street in Lawton!

We spent a day at Jasmine Moran in Seminole, OK with Les & Bella. Look at Brendan - he's inside a bubble!

This was cool. Bren was standing in front of a projector. When he stuck out his arms, the balls on the screen collected in his arms...

and when he put his arms down, the balls fell down!

Cameron loved the slide!

And everyone loved the fossil dig!

We also took a field trip to Martin Nature Park. This was a first for our family - even though it's right here in our city AND it's free!

We went to Tulsa for Alexander's Baby Shower and Baptism.

The boys had lots of fun swimming at the Holiday Inn!