Yes, yes, I'm still alive... and we have a new baby!

Well, to put it bluntly, having 4 kids is KICKING MY ASS! I've been so busy, so the last thing on my priority list is getting on the computer. I have to fit eating in somewhere!

My new son, CIAN LEO was born late July. His name is Irish, and is actually pronounced "KEE-an". He is so sweet and he LOVES his siblings. He's 2 months old now, and is smiling at us and beginning to coo. Very sweet.

Two weeks ago we had a scare though. He developed a high fever and barking cough, so we went to the ER. He was immediately admitted, and they ran ever test under the sun. He had blood cultures and labs drawn, he was catheterized, and he had a spinal tap. After two days of IV antibiotics and negative test results he was discharged. Apparently it was all just a virus. Poor baby :( He's doing much better now.

Arie is adjusting well to his new baby brother. There has been NO jealousy really. I'm very proud of him. We've started the evaluation process to get Arie into the special needs preschool. We're fairly sure he'll qualify. Our final meeting to determine eligibility is in early October. The preschool would help him SO much, so our fingers are double crossed. Here's some shocking news: ARIE IS EATING LIKE A CHAMP!!! Just recently he has started eating pretty much everything. In fact, at some meals he eats more than Micah! I don't know what happened, but it was like a switch was flipped in him. It amazes me to hear him ask for food now. It's so wonderfully strange! He is such an angel. I hope the food battle is over for good. We wont have his feeding tube removed for a year or so though. We need to make sure that he continues to eat and grow before we remove it.

Micah and Elaine are doing great as well. Elaine is happy to have a new baby brother to play with, but she has put her request in for a girl. I've told her that she's going to have to be happy with three boys 'cuz I think we're done! Micah tells me constantly that he loves "baby Cian". He's finally ready to potty train (at 3.5 years old! ugh!), so HOPEFULLY I won't have three in diapers much longer.

I'm thinking about returning to work in January. With all the medical bills, money is tight. The LAST thing I want to do is go back to work, but I need to. I can only work once a week, but it's better than nothing. It will be good for me to get out of the house anyway.

I'm hoping things settle down soon. I'm sure they will. I REALLY need sleep. The baby still wakes every 2-3 hours, and Arie is still up for an hour or two in the middle of the night.

Anyway, it's 10pm, and I'm off to bed. Night night!