Sick?

So, Miss Abby has come down with everyone's chest cold. This does Not make me a happy Mama.

The night before last, she was up fussing and coughing and rattling all night. We got very little sleep.

Last night, she ate at 11:00pm, and then wasn't interested in anything but sleeping. Wouldn't eat, and didn't want to move from her comfy spot next to Mama. She slept through the night with no coughing, or rattling, but she scared me half to death that she didn't want to eat.

So. Babies are scary when they're sick and don't sleep, and they're scary when they're well and sleep like rocks... I'm never happy.

Mother, er Sister Hen

Just got home from Abrielle's two week check-up... Took Liana with me. (John is still off work, so he was home with the other two.) I'm *SOOOOO* lucky to have such great helpers!!!! She is such a mother-hen!!! The nurse told us to take Abrielle's clothes off, and Liana asked if that meant her little mittens too. The nurse said yup, and then Liana said, "You know she has sharp nails and she might scratch herself, do we have to take them off?" lol... I knew she'd be a fabulous big sister! :O)

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a nice Thanksgiving! John's sister and kids came up for dinner (her hubby is a hunter, so he was off looking for his deer for the day). We had way too much food, but this mama is going to appreciate the leftovers, especially since I'm still dragging from whatever bug this is. It was nice to not have an enormous house full of company since we're still sick, but it was also nice to not be "alone" for the holiday too. Just enough company to be special, but not enough to make it stressful, know what I mean?

Last night the girls and I finished up the pies (four kinds this year; apple, plum, cherry-cranberry and pumpkin.) And when I say "girls" that includes Abrielle. John plunked her in the middle of the kitchen table between the flour canister and the Crisco and she had her very first pie-making tutorial. Can't start too young I guess! She'll be a pro by the time she's ten! It was really fun, though it did seem "wrong" to let such a new baby get floured up! Liana and Aleksa love to play with dough scraps, so they were having a ball. (Adam and Papa were off playing a game together).

I've been really intimidated about making the turkey... only tried that a few times before and it hasn't ever been very good at all. (Can you say D.R.Y.?) This year though, we put the birdie in a salt-water brine overnight, and WOW was it yummy! I'll never make it any other way again! (Thank you allrecipes.com!!) (Well, John actually made it, because I couldn't do all the lifting involved.) If you've never tried making a turkey this way, ya gotta give it a whirl - you don't even have to baste it in the roasting process! It's juices are sealed in from the salt-water soak. Easy.

We have so much to be thankful for... I hope you all found many things to thank God for too.

Hospital Pic!

Have to share Abrielle's hospital picture! Hope this works!

http://www.our365.com/webnursery/WebNursery/BabyFinder/BabyFinder.aspx

birthdate 11-12, last three letters of my last name: fis, and I think you have to select the state: WI

Sick

Well, five down, one to go. Everyone except Abrielle is or has been down with a nasty upper respiratory bug since we've been home from the hospital.

I've been down the hardest I think, but I'm sure it's because I've been sleep-deprived on top of being sick. I'm actually wondering if I don't have pneumonia... if I'm still rattly in the morning, I'm going to the clinic. *groan* I thought I was done with doctors for another few weeks.

We're really praying our littlest princess doesn't catch this one. It really is a nasty bug, and she's just such a tiny thing...

Pictures!!!

Had to show off my sweetie... I couldn't get these to post in the order I wanted them to, but you get the idea... The mixing bowl bath pictures were kind of a nostalgia thing... Abby was the same birth weight I was, and my mom gave me my first baths in a mixing bowl. I thought it would be fun to give Abby her first bath in one too. (I do have a regular bathie for her, so don't feel too sorry for her yet!) ;O)

Doesn't the little Miss look thrilled with her Mama? lol!

I love this one of Liana and her Grandpa. I extra love how much they resemble each other!

My favorite picture so far, though is below... The older three aren't having Any Fun at All with their baby sister, as you can plainly see...

Below is our coming home picture... I'm not sure we can smile any broader.... :O)

And here's our Little Fish... the Princess Abrielle aka Abby, Abri, Brellie, Abriella, Lella, Lelly, Abriellie or Sweetie Pie, depending on Mama's mood. :O)

Four of my own

Can't believe it. Today, John and I drove home from the hospital with a healthy, bouncing (well, not quite!) baby girl. That's never happened before. We've always had quiet, sad drives home from hospitals complete with plants and sympathy cards. We've never done the "happy reasons to leave the hospital" routine.

And frankly, we're still more than a little bit in shock over everything that has happened in the last nine months, let alone the last few days. A baby? For US? The belly kind? No way, nuh-uh. Fisher babies don't stick. Or, maybe they stick, but stick to the wrong spots. Everyone knows that the Fishers adopt their kids. But, Abrielle has so far lived up to her name. It means "Strong one of God." She must be a strong one to still be with us...

And here she is. No pie sales, no rummage sales, no plane trips or paperwork. Instead, she's wrapped in a quilt I hand made for a baby that slipped into heaven many years ago. I never could quite give it up to anyone as a gift or to our girls as a doll quilt. But now, seven years later, there is someone actually wrapped in it... a beautiful little girl with John's eyes and cheek dimple, my nose and my chin. How many times had I used to wonder about what "our baby" would look like. And here she is, in the flesh. John and I just look and look, and look and look. And even when we rub our eyes, she hasn't gone away.

I'm sure every new parent feels that way, but to us, she's still a shock to our system. Even while I was in labor, she wasn't quite alllll the way "real" to us. I was just going through the expected motions of "what comes next" not really letting myself totally soak in that at the end of the day there would be a little baby handed to us. John felt the same. And when they actually DID hand her to me, I just couldn't believe it. My tears crashed into me like a semi out of nowhere. I didn't think I would get all emotional, and I didn't expect to, but I couldn't stop. There couldn't still be some mistake, could there? No, here she was, on my chest, with the doctor and nurses congratulating me. She must be mine. Wow. That just seemed way too easy. Where were the strings?

And yet, aside from so many people telling me how miraculous it would be to be handed "my own" baby, I still stand by my stock answer that I do indeed know how wonderful it is to be presented a child "of my own." The day we met Adam, Liana and Aleksa, I bawled like a baby. Adam loves to remind me of that... And while none of my older crew have green eyes like us, or "my nose" or whatever, they are miraculously "our own" dear sweethearts, just as Abrielle is. It's just that our three didn't want to sit still for any length of time, and certainly weren't willing to let Mama nurse them. ;O) The love amount and quality, however, are the same, and that's what makes a family.

We are so blessed. Four babies of our own! God is so good.

Announcing....

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abrielle Koryn, AKA Little Fish, was born at 11:29 this morning! She has lots of hair, a dimple in her chin, and enormous feet! She's 6 pounds, 1 ounce, 20" long, and came out screaming, and the only one who could console her was her Papa. Everyone is doing great, and we couldn't be more thrilled.

Sack Cloth and Accents

Poor Adam. English vowel sounds have always been hard for him. Spelling has been difficult sometimes, because he hears certain vowels the same way, or he flips them. Like today during school, he was writing a story and wrote "pup" instead of "pop" - he pronounces them the same way, so he has a hard time hearing the difference between them. The short "e" and "a" sounds are also trouble-makers for him.

Tonight though, his accent and vowel problem about made his Papa choke on his spit.

John was telling the kids the story of David and Bathsheba (as delicately as possible, of course!), explaining that after David had seen Bathsheba, that he had her husband killed so HE could marry her. John really tried to camp on the fact that after David was confronted about what he'd done that he was terribly sorry about it, just as we should all be, and that David was actually a man after God's own heart, etc.

After the story ended, Adam said, "Papa, I bet David had sex."

John said, "Um, what?"

Adam said, "I bet David had sex cloth and tore his clothes because he was sorry."

John breathed a relieved sigh. "Um, I don't know, Adam, maybe he did have SACK cloth, but we do know he was very sorry..."

Times are changin'

Woke up this morning totally thinking I must be in the wrong household.

I walked down the stairs to the kitchen where Liana was busily scrubbing away at the stove. She wasn't tired anymore, she said, so she decided to clean. *blink, blink, blink*

Next, I walked to the kids' rooms, where Aleksa was making her bed and straightening their room. Nobody to remind her, she just did it. *blink, blink, blink*

Then, I checked Adam's room to see him reading in bed, enjoying a book. He's the only one that didn't completely floor me, as he's been our bookworm lately.

My kids are growing up. How could that possibly be?!

The doctor told me this week that Little Fish (uff da, almost wrote in the name there and completely spilled the beans) is supposedly ready any minute.

Life is changing around here, for sure.

Stromboli recipe

I've had a few people email or ask me what stromboli was. Thought I'd just post the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of bread dough (you can use frozen, but I always just make a pizza crust dough in my bread machine. Then I don't have to thaw anything out!)

Ham or Turkey lunchmeat

Shredded Mozzarella and/or Cheddar/American (cheese slices work too)

Pizza Seasoning

Pepperoni

Any other pizza topping you want. We like black olives and mushrooms too.

Pizza sauce for dipping (served at the table)

Directions:

Roll out the dough into a big rectangle

Arrange lunchmeat and Pepperoni "single file" down the middle (lengthwise) (don't cover the whole crust, just the center third)

Put cheeses / toppings on top of that

Sprinkle generously with Pizza Seasonings

Take one side of the bread dough and fold it over the meat/stuff. Pinch it down. On top of that, put another layer of meat and cheeses and seasonings. Fold other side of dough over that. Pinch down well. Seal all edges. Butter the top of the stromboli, and sprinkle with more pizza seasonings (to make it pretty!) and maybe some parmesan cheese too. Make slanted cuts all up and down the stromboli (again, to make it pretty.)

Bake for 30 minutes on 350º. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping, if desired.

Number Of Servings:3-4 adults

Preparation Time:about 15 minutes (not including time to make dough/thaw dough)