Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! WOOHOO!!

Okay...so it is only technically 11:30 pm here right now...but in New York it is already the NEW YEAR!!

So...happy 2009!!!

Let's see what you got 2009!

BRING IT!!!!!

Photo tag...

Photo Blog Tag--I'm it!

It's easy to do--just open your picture files and select the 4th (fourth) photo. Then post it. Since it's an easy one, I'm tagging everyone who hasn't done it yet. I have TONS of different photo files, so I just picked the Christmas photo file and this is what popped up! Christmas Eve service...Major. Such a cute little paper boy! :-)

For the love of poop!

That is right...the love of poop is back. Again...if you read earlier posts from a couple months ago, you would see the problems that we have had with poopie. Ick. Would you believe that for the SECOND time in Major's young life, I have managed to run poop through my hair? That is right. Laugh it up...you all deserve a good laugh. I was changing a VERY dirty...diarrheay diaper that had exploded all over him, his sleeper, his sheets, his blankets and stuffed animals. I didn't have glasses on or my contacts in. I just got out of bed to go get him...my hair was hanging in my face...I started unzipping his sleeper, and of course, I got it ALL over my hands trying to delicately get him out of it. My hair was hanging down and getting in my mouth...so what do I do? I take "said" hand and run my fingers through it to get it to stay back. Halfway through I realize the error in my ways. Needless to say, I threw him in the tub...washed him up as the smell from my hair was gagging me with dry heaves, then got myself in the shower and washed my hair. ICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please pray for my mom

If you want to stay updated on my mom, you can go to her care pages that is listed off to the left. It is Suzanne Stutzman Carepages I think it says. Anyway, she has been very tired and not able to do much of anything. She got some fluids and steroids and that perked her up a bit, hopefully she will get more today and it will perk her up even more. Her liver was also noticed to be enlarged. For those of you who don't know, mom has Metastatic Breast Cancer. Please keep her in your prayers. Here is a pic of mom and Major.

For the LOVE of Pete AGAIN!

This kid!! He is SUCH a rascal!!! In a post from a few months ago I was a basket case because Major kept stealing my car keys...AND because he kept messing with the dog bowl and spilling the water!! UGH! What a little rascal. Well...that time had passed...or so I thought! The turkey just escalated! He has moved on to bigger "bowls". When looking for my car keys the other day...where do you think I found them? That is right...IN THE TOILET!!!!! AAHHHH!!!! Can anybody say NASTY!!?!?!?!! Granted...it was a toilet with nothing but toilet water in it...but STILL!!!!!! It could have been worse...the boys sometimes forget to flush. Whew...thank goodness they flushed prior to the keys meeting the water. Anyway, needless to say, the whole family has been coached on KEEPING EVERY BATHROOM DOOR IN THE HOUSE CLOSED AT ALL TIMES! Before that day, I had found a binki or two floating...don't worry I tossed them out...I had found legos...you name it. So...NO MORE! Those doors stay shut....then, Santa brought Major cabinet locks too. We had them in the old house from all the other kids, but we hadn't put them in in this house yet. Well...thanks to Santa, the cabinets...at least the bad ones are locked. He had a couple cabinets that he likes to play in that just has boxed food or pots and pans in them...I am fine with that...but the BAD cabinets are locked! Santa also brought Major more binkis...since so many went for a swim. What a rascal. The other three kids NEVER EVER showed an interest in the toilet, in any way, shape or form, so I am not used to that.

He has learned to use the stairs now too. He used to know how to go up, but not down and we have 4 sets of stair in this house. Luckily one set has a door on one end. We put a gate at the top of the long set of stairs...but the other two sets...which have only 4 steps each we have let him just learn. He has learned to lay on his belly and back up until his knees come off the first step...and so forth and so on. It is really cute. Cam starts making beeping noises when Major starts "backing up".

Just Curious

Okay...I have two blogs going here...this one, and our ministry, http://www.youthofukraine.blogspot.com/. So...when my ticker tells me that "X" amount of people have been to my website, I don't know if it means to the Nebraska Fillemans one or to the Youth of Ukraine one. So...I am just curious...how many of those tickers are coming to the Nebraska Filleman's website? Would you mind letting me know? Maybe leave a comment...just curious. I am thrilled either way that we are having a lot of people checking out either website! As a fledgling ministry, any exposure is good exposure! And...as a family of 6, I would love to know who of my family and friends follow our blog!

Thanks!!!

Thought of the Week

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."

~Benjamin Franklin

Christmas!

WHAT FUN!! But...OOOOHHHHH what a MESS!!!!! A couple things happen every year to me. The first...I get all hyped up for Christmas...and than it happens...and then its over...and it makes me say, "That was it? It's over all ready?" It comes and goes SO fast! The second thing that happens....I get almost depressed because of the horrible mess!! I normally wait until after the first of the year to take the Christmas decorations down. No way...not this year. I took them down this past weekend. I couldn't stand the clutter anymore. Between all the toys...my husbands stuff that he just can't seem to put away...and all the Christmas stuff, I just had to have SOME clarity...and that clarity came with taking down the Christmas decorations. Ahh...now my living room feels that much bigger to me. Now I just need to vaccuum and pick up everybodies stuff because for some reason, I am the only one that can do that and knows where everything goes. Funny how that happens. We did have a lot of fun though. We went to church Christmas Eve, and MaKenna sang in the "choir". She is in the middle in the maroon dress with her finger in her mouth...next to the boy with an argyle sweater. Really...she sings well with her finger in her mouth! :-)Here is a picture of my baby boy....dressed as Jeff would say, like the paper boy.In this picture, Jeff turned Major's hat around...Cam said, "Dad...what are you doing, this isn't, 'Pimp out my kid' night. Ha! I thought that was funny...you know...pimp my ride...pimp my kid...ha!!!Then we went to my moms where my sisters family already was, and we ate pizza...a bit off of tradition, but mom wasn't feeling up to cooking...and neither were we.

Everyone got a lot of really nice stuff. The boys were thrilled about their MP3 players and MaKenna LOVED her new doll house! She was ecstatic!

Christmas Day, Santa came to our house and delivered goodies, and then we went and opened our presents under the tree. The highlight for the boys were their Nintendo DS's. The highlight for MaKenna was her Diamond Castle Barbie...the highlight for Jeff and I was RockBand for Wii. We are such kids aren't we?? Major just walked around messing with everyone's toys and ignoring his own. He could have cared less...but he was happy! So much paper to play with!!

Then we went to my mom's house for lunch. That was fun! Santa stopped there too, so the kids got even MORE things. As if they needed MORE! :-) Here is my mom and Major snuggling on Christmas day.

Here is Major, my sister Rhonda and her daughter Brooke snuggling some more...

It was late in the afternoon before we got home, but we played with our toys...downloaded music on the boys' MP3 players, rested...ate...ate...and ate some more. Then mom and dad came over after dinner and watched us all play RockBand. I rule on the drums...but is anyone surprised???? :-) Nah...I am only kidding...I am a bit rusty. I start giving piano and drum lessons though in a couple weeks so I suppose I should brush up on my stick handling! :-)

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We are still recovering. I am going to go now so I can clean, clean, and clean some more!!!

BLESSINGS TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!

The weather outside is frightful!!!!!

Okay...okay...so the weather outside is delightful right now...but two weeks ago, it truly was frightful! That is when I appropriately titled this entry, but the didn't get around to posting it. Oops! Sorry! Yes...two weeks ago was AWFUL to put it mildly! We had negative temperatures, PLUS windchills, making it feel even MORE negative. So...for example. It was 5 below one night, with a windchill that made it feel 30 below! YIKES! On top of that we had snow...snow...and more snow. Sometimes we had all the sleet and ice that we could ask for...but mostly it was just plain, bone chilling COLD!

Only in the midwest can it flip on a dime though...and right now, it is in the mid 40's, sunny and mildly breezy. Ahhh...that is nice. It is funny though...once the temp hits below zero...as soon as it is in the 20's, nobody wears coats anymore! Funny how that works!! I can remember, living in Phoenix, it would be in the 50's in the winter, and we had BIG coats on and were freezing. Now...50 here is jeans and t-shirt weather! My blood has finally grown used to the cold. Jeff too...he had shorts on the other day!

RSV, Stitches, Pneumonia, anything else???

So...as if we didn't have enough going on with birthdays and Christmas and vacations, etc...Major suddenly started acting fussy and just not himself at all. Last Sunday night, the 14th, he started coughing pretty good and just being really fussy....which is totally unlike him. Nothing we could do would make him happy. Little did I know that the night before was the last night I would sleep for over a week. :-( He just had a really rough time that night, coughing, breathing, everything. I made an appointment for him Monday. He didn't have a fever, and I figured he just had a virus so I hated taking him out in the cold, but the weather was supposed to get worse the next day and I was afraid that if he got worse we would have to go out in even worse weather, so I decided to take him in before the storm hit. Well...he was diagnosed with RSV. His O2 Sats were only around 90, but they don't ABSOLUTELY admit until their sats are at 88...so 90 was borderline. They considered admitting him, but I told them I had a nebulizer at home and we would stay up all night if we needed too. I figured I wouldn't sleep in a hospital anyway. So, every 3-4 hours we were doing breathing treatments on him. He couldn't sleep laying down...he would just wake up coughing and gagging. Even sitting up on me on the couch, he would only sleep 20 minutes or so at a time before his coughing would wake him up. He also started running a fever. Oh yeah...and did I mention that the doctor also said he had a nice ear infection? So he was also started on antibiotics. Tuesday went by with no improvement and his breathing treatments didn't seem to be helping him breathe. His chest was starting to dip in when he breathed and he just was really struggling. So Wednesday I took him in again. They thought they would admit him, so they wanted me to wait until later in the day so there would be rooms opening up. No such luck...no rooms in the "inn". BUT...his sats were still around 90, so again...it was borderline anyway. They gave me a different breathing medication to use since the Albuteral didn't seem to be cutting it. They also discovered that not only did he have an ear infection and RSV, but he had also developed Pneumonia. Oh...goodie. No wonder the kid isn't sleep or eating! I honestly think he has lost 4 pounds since this started because he has not eaten anything. The new breathing meds seemed to be doing a better job, so we all had a sigh of relief and just kept a close eye on him. Thursday night I was so excited to not have to see a doctor and to just rest....when suddently *WHAM------AAAAHHHHHHH-----MMMMOOOOOMMMMM* Oh dear. It was Cam. He was "surfing" on our rocking chair Audoman (not sure on the spelling), and he fell on top of it as it fell over exposing its metal parts. One of those metal parts impalled his lower kneecap. I took one look at it and called my dad. (Jeff wasn't home yet). We weren't supposed to take Major out anywhere because it was 10 below zero with a windchill making it feel like it was 30 below zero, so I asked my dad to come over and watch the kids while I took Cam to the Urgent Care...he was going to need stitches. Well...this particular night we had warnings and advisorys coming out of everywhere. Ice Storms, Blizzards, Wind Chill Advisories, you name it, we had it. So getting to Urgent Care was a chore all in its own. We were there for two hours. By the time we left my windows had THICK ice on them. I don't have a scrapper...don't preach to me...I don't know where it went...I think it grew legs and walked off when we sold the Suburban. Anyway, Cam and I had to sit there long enough for the ice to melt off of the windshield using only the defroster. We slid all the way to Walgreens where we had to pick up his prescription for antibiotics. We got home at bedtime...but luckily school was cancelled the next day anyway. So...five stitches and a bottle of antibiotics later...I FINALLY sat down...then the baby started to cry........

Merry Christmas!!

Let us not forget the true meaning of the season! God gave us the ULTIMATE gift over 2,000 years ago wrapped in a bundle and lying in a manger! We didn't even deserve it, but He gave it to us anyway! What a incredible Savior we serve! This Christmas as we are warm and snug by the fire or the tree with WAY TO MANY presents around us, let us remember that we are SO lucky to live in the United States of America, where we can worship freely and celebrate Christmas in the way we do. So many people around the world are not so lucky. Millions of people will go to bed tonight hungry, cold and lonely. Please pray for those who need God, pray for those who are lonely, cold, hungry or away from home. Please remember those who have no idea why we celebrate Christmas. I thank all of you...our friends, family, body of believers for all of your friendships. I couldn't have asked God for a better group of friends, support group, etc.

Love and hugs to each of you this holiday season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

MaKenna's funny

Here is another MaKenna funny! You just gotta love those 4 year old comments! Jeff got a deer a couple weeks ago...at the dinner table, Cam asked Jeff where he got the deer. This is how the conversation went:

Cam: Dad, where'd you get the deer at?

Dad: In the tree stand.

Cam: Ah

MaKenna starts looking a bit distressed. Her brow furrows a bit and she says,

"How'd the deer get up there?"

HA!

Major's first birthday!

After we got back from Florida, the next day was Major's birthday. We had a little birthday party with some of his closest friends. Thanks Deana for making the Texas cake! We had a nice evening with our friends. Major could have honestly cared less about the presents. Once they were open he would play with one...but he wouldn't go back to open another one. He did like these hockey sticks from Deana though...he plays with them all the time. Gee...I wonder if he will be a hockey player like his brothers? I guess that is how one year olds are! He had a good time though. He didn't try the cake that night. He just played in it, but he tried some of the left overs later on in the week and he really liked it! We had had our own little birthday party with him the day before on his actual birthday, and he tried some of the cake then too. He likes his sugar! :-) Just like his mamma! He did make quite a mess though...UNLIKE his mamma! :-) Be nice! Anyway, then that weekend we went to my mom's for my birthday party, my sister's birthday party and Major's birthday party. Mom had yet ANOTHER cake! Ugh! Then I wonder why I can't lose my "Major" weight! We had a great time...we had a special visitor! SANTA came by!!! We all got to give him our wish lists and we all got pictures with him! It is always a treat to see Santa. MaKenna and Jake were afraid of him though. Major wasn't sure...maybe next year he will be more sure.
So...all in all...Major had a great first birthday, I had a great 25th birthday (smile) and my sister had a great...birthday too! I'll get in trouble if I post her age.

In the mean time, Jeff went hunting several more times, and he got another deer. This one was a doe. She was good sized though. He butchered it again and did all the meat processing himself. I don't mind him doing that...except he chose the coldest night of the year up to that point to do it, and he got too cold so he finished his butchering process IN MY KITCHEN!!!! You can imagine my horror! So...needless to say, the kids went to Deana's the next day...thanks again Deana...and I spent a big part of the day cleaning the kitchen spotless. I had a bit extra time, so I cleaned the boys' room too. That was just as nasty as the kitchen! :-~

Thanksgiving weekend, cont...

Okay...so we got Disneyworld done...Cocoa Beach...now it is Sunday of that weekend and we decided to go to Sea World! What fun! We got there early and there was no line....hardly nobody was there. The first thing we saw was the ride Atlantis...and there was NO line at all...so we decided to do that first thing. We ended up going three times...each time...NO line! It was pure bliss! I am in the front of this picture with my niece Brooke...dad is behind me with my sister and then Jake is behind dad with my other niece and Cam is behind Jake with my nephew.

After that we went and saw the Aquarium. It was really cool. Part of the floor was glass and you looked down into a fish tank. Major REALLY liked that! In this picture you can see the fish swimming under Major.

Then it was off to the Kraken. Another ride that had ABSOLUTELY no line. We rode this ride, 3 or 4 times. This picture is of my dad, my mom, Cam and I. This ride was really one of the better rides I have ever ridden! It was great!
We started working our way to the Shamu show. It has been awhile since I have seen Shamu...but whales must have a really long life span, because I saw Shamu in San Diego about 20 years ago!!! :-) Anyway, we ran into a dolphin and I could resist this beautiful picture!

We were ALMOST all smart. Everyone sat OUT of the splash zone...since we were already soaking wet from the Atlantis anyway...except for Jake and Kayla...you wanted to be in the splash zone. They couldn't be alone, so Uncle/dad Jeff offered to sit with them. What a good guy! They got pretty wet during the show! It was a great show! We all really enjoyed it.

We then walked over to where they keep the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. MaKenna ABSOLUTELY LOVES horses...so this was by far her highlight!! I am going to frame the below picture and hang it in her room. She enjoyed petting him and she even got to buy a Clydesdale stuffed horsey! She was so excited!

Then we went to eat lunch. It was while we were eating that the heaven's opened up and let all its fury out on us! It was torrential rain...lightning...thunder...wind...the whole nine yards. We were all told to take cover. After awhile they said we could move about because the lightning was done...but the raining was STILL a torrential downpour. We ran across the "street" to the Polar Express traveling exhibit which ended up being one of our favorites! It was great. And while we were in there it stopped raining. We were in there for about an hour. We were STILL soaking wet, from head to toe! It got a bit cooler then. We went to a few other exhibits and then to the Sea Lion and Otter show....my personal favorite! It never fails...I laugh so hard I almost wet my pants! It takes so little to please me! Anyway, then it was off to the kiddie ride area...where MaKenna took her first rollar coaster ride. She LOVED it! Mom and I then took Major to the Nursing house so that we could feed and change Major. He loved getting out of the stroller!


After the kids have plenty of time in kiddie land, we decided it was time to go. But...we ran into Shamu on the way out....below is Kayla and Jake...and then Cam and MaKenna.

We shopped a bit on our way out and we decided we would come back the next day because we had gotten free second day passes. We didn't have anything planned for Monday as that was the day we flew home, but we didn't leave until six. OH! I forgot to tell you something really important!! Jeff was so sweet! They have divers that dive for Oysters...they bring a bunch up for you and you pick your favorite one...for a price of course...and they open it up for you right there, clean the pearl and give it to you. He decided to do that for me for my birthday! It was SO sweet! I could have had it mounted while we were there, in a necklace or whatnot, but I just had them put it in a nice Clam shell box until I decide what I want to do with it. My niece did it too and she got the rare TWINS. So she is going to make earrings for herself someday! It was a neat experience!

So...the next day we packed up our luggage, checked out of the hotel and off we went to Sea World again. We had missed the Manatees and Dolphins, so that is right where we went. On our way there, we stopped and saw and touched the sting rays. Ick. But I did it! So did my mom...I was very impressed. Below is Jeff and Major, and then my dad.

Then it was off to the dophins! We all had our hands in the water, and they would come over and talk to us and wave to us, but they didn't want to come let us touch them. I was bummed. But they were fun to watch. I really like how they have it set up. You can watch them above water and below water. Very cool! We also checked out the Manatees and the crocs. I happen to have a soft spot for Manatees...so that was a lot of fun to see their chubby little bodies...much like my own! HA! :-) We stopped for a bit and took some pictures. Here is my mom and dad....then with my sister and I...then just with mom.

Then it was off to the dophin show. It was a beautiful show! I don't remember it being so elaborate with acrobatics, etc. It was awesome. But...as soon as it was over we had to practically run to the exit to get to the airport in time. We had to drop off the vans and get through security with only a couple hours to spare.

We made it through security with LITTLE to no trouble. They always seem to give me trouble...I don't know why...I am a trouble magnet. But, then I found this great NASA store and I HAD to stop in! Jeff got me a shuttle replica for my birthday also, so that was exciting for me! Here is MaKenna and I. We must have REALLY looked like tourists...but that is okay...we were in an airport!

We all had a quick bite to eat, and then off we went. This flight was very full and Major was VERY tired of being held, or strolled. He was pitching a fit while we sat on the tarmac and some idiot a few seats ahead said to me, "Shut that baby up!" At which point, my husband who the man had not seen, spoke up and said very loudly to my brother in law who was sitting across from this man, "What did that Jack*ss say Mike!" My brother in law repeated it and the man quickly turned around and apologized saying he would never talk badly of this mans (Jeff's) baby. He was talking about something else. RIGHT!! That man though this baby was traveling with his little mamma and no one else...then he saw Jeff and quickly retracted the story! Serves him right! The next flight was after an hour layover in ATL and Major had his own seat, so he was in seventh heaven. We didn't hear a peep out of him the whole flight! We didn't get into Omaha until after midnight and we still had to get our luggage and the cars. We were home around 1am. We were tired the next day...and the kids had school and Jeff had work...but it was well worth it!! We had an absolutely incredible time! The memories will last a lifetime! For more pictures, I have them scrolling in a slide show to the left. Or...you can go to my Picassa web photo album...I have a link set up on the left as well.

Now...the next post will be of the chaos we have suffered at the Filleman household this week! RSV...stitches...you name it...it has happened!

Thanksgiving weekend, cont...

Okay...so you know about Thanksgiving...you know about DisneyWorld...the next day was Saturday, and that was my 25th birthday! Raise your hand if you believe that it was my 25th....anyway, we chose that day to go to Cocoa Beach. Wow. That was very exciting for me because I have had a lifelong dream of becoming an Astronaut, and though I didn't get to GO to Kennedy Space Center, I DID get to see it while we were passing, and that was incredible. I know...it takes so little to please me! :-) Next time though, I will be going TO Kennedy! I studied all my young life to be an airforce pilot so that I could eventually become an Astronaut. Then I found out I had bad vision...or at least not the vision that they required. So...I decided to be a nurse in the military. And here we are now. I STILL have that dream, that some day Nasa will send up a stay at home mom! Hey...you never know! A girl can dream right?? Anyway, we got to Cocoa Beach around lunch time. I grew up close to the Oregon Coast. We spent a lot of time at the beach, but I forgot how much sand can creep into your sandwiches when you eat at the beach. Next time, I will just eat in the car. So, we ate on the beach, while the kids played in the water and in the sand. It was a VERY nice day for the beach, but the water was VERY cold. Of course, it didn't stop our little polar bears though! And yes, we did get in too, but not like they did! We stayed until dinner time, then we headed back and had dinner with mom and dad. They didn't go to the beach, mom wanted another day to rest, so they spent that day at the pool reading books. Mom said it was a fantastic day for them. We missed them at the beach, but glad that mom got the rest she needed. The only bad thing about the beach was that Major was starting to be very unhappy. He had a great day on Thursday, a pretty good day on Friday, but by Saturday I think he was tired of being held, strolled or in the car seat. He was SOOO fussy. It was at the beach that we also discovered that he had 4 teeth just barely starting to poke through. Two molars and both of his eye teeth. Ahhh...that is why he was so fussy. Once we gave him oral gel, he fell asleep. He slept the WHOLE time we were at the beach. I was kinda sad, I wanted pictures of him playing in the sand...instead, I got this....

We had a wonderful time at the beach though, and I had an incredible birthday!!! Happy 27th birthday to me!! Did I say 27? I meant..........

Jake, Shawn, Major (still sleeping), Cam, Kayla, Brooke and MaKenna in front.