Easter

I guess "they" say that life doesn't always go as planned right? Well, our Easter weekend was one of those such times. Good Friday morning Sam woke up with nasty, goopy eyes again! Long story, short, I took him in that afternoon and the doctor believed that the sinus infection we thought had gone away, had in fact, NOT. So, we put him back on an antibiotic. Because he had taken a turn for the worse again, he wasn't the happiest camper Friday or Sat.

We had planned to meet Dan, Mar and Jackson in Wheaton on Sat. for a time at the little zoo and have our own egg hunt with them. Well, because of Sam's issues, we thought we better lay low and not risk infecting the Glavach family! So, we did an egg hunt at home instead for the girls and Hannah invited her new little friend Mia from down the street. Despite Sam's sickness, we were able enjoy a beautiful day!

I guess Hannah is contemplating where to look for her next egg in this picture. :O)

Ellie found one!

Easter was great! Sam was well enough to take to the city to spend the day with Brian's family. We arrived in the morning and I stayed home w/ him while the rest of the family attended the Moody Church service. Steve, my father-in-law, was home sick as well, so while Sam napped, we watched the service live online. It was nice to feel like we were there with everyone. :O) It really was a beautiful service.

After church, we celebrated with the family up in the party room on the 56th floor of the building...even Molly, the Johnaik's new pup was there! She and Sam bonded!

Sam is 11 months old now!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the girls w/ their dresses on...shame on me! And unfortunately, when we got home, I realized we didn't get one of our family either! So, I made my family sit down and pose for the camera. And, unfortunately, this picture was taken just minutes before poor little Ellie got hit with a nasty stomach bug. Needless to say, it was a long night.

So, here is the Giere family w/ one not-s0-happy 2 1/2 year old. (and a somewhat stunned looking 11 month old!)

Here we are three days later and Ellie is still pretty out of it. Her fever seems to be gone, but she has been left with one issue...let's just say, I've been changing a lot of diapers! (it's actually times like this that I'm sort of glad that she's not potty trained yet...although that's one of the next things on the 'to do' list!)

We hope that you had a blessed, healthy Easter!

These are the days...

We've been kind of sick lately...nothing major, just a nuisance. Here's a recap of the past few weeks.

Sam has been the poor child to really have been hit with these nasty bugs all winter. Actually, his doctor believes that he got an ear infection a couple of months ago and it just never really went away. So, instead of getting better, he'd seem fine and get worse...the last time, two weeks ago, he had an ear, eye and sinus infection all at the same time! Thankfully, he is a trouper! He had his moments, but overall, was still a good, happy little guy.

Ellie has basically had a cold for a month. At one point, she had a low-grade temp, but it went away pretty quickly. She still has a runny nose and slight cough, but otherwise is fine.

Hannah had been the same...just had a cold w/ a low-grade temp for one day a few weeks ago...until yesterday. Last night she began complaining that she didn't feel well and long story, short, I took her temp and it was 102! This morning, it was up to 103 and she complained that her ear hurt. So, off to the doctor we went. I love it when your child is old enough to tell you that something is wrong, because, sure enough, both ears are infected!

What does it mean when the pharmacist starts calling you by your first name when you drive-thru to pick up a prescription? Through it all, we give thanks to our ultimate Healer and giver of life. We are blessed, truly!

Okay, enough about that! In the midst of all of this sickness, of course, we've still had our fun! Sam is one growing boy! He had his hair cut again this week and I just can't believe how old it makes him look! His current loves are: opening the cabinet doors and letting them bang shut (as long as his fingers aren't in the way!), playing with the beach ball, standing and pushing toys across the kitchen floor, eating "big people" food, and last, but not least, crawling to the stairs and climbing them...at least 10 times a day!

Yes, Sam is wearing Ellie's fleece and he's playing by the baby center. Poor kid!

Common Sammy sight...scooting around the corner (probably headed for the stairs!)

Big boy with a new hair cut!

Sam's favorite activity...climbing the stairs!

Ellie has been a riot lately! On the one hand, she is "all 2 year old," becoming stubborn, throwing little fits and beginning to test me by saying "no" to me. The funniest thing is that she has discovered (and mastered) her "angry" voice. When she's upset and/or begging for something she's not getting, she'll make her voice low and almost with a raspy, deep voice, grunt out what she's trying to say. I don't think there's been one time that I haven't laughed at it! On the other hand, she's a little sweetheart too. We moved her to the big girl bed a couple of weeks ago and she was just as proud as a peacock! She even had to show Grandma and Grandpa her new bed (as if they'd never seen it before!). She also savers any time that I give her some one-on-one attention (must be a middle child thing). She loves to be tickled and to snuggle. Her vocabulary and sentences are coming right along too. She loves to repeat things that Hannah says (which doesn't always please her older sister) and again, voice her opinion when she seems fit!

No matter how many times we've tried to tell her, she insists on wearing glasses upside down!

Hannah is becoming a little woman right before our eyes. She continues to sprout, already growing out of a pair of jeans I just got her a couple of months ago (that were LONG when I bought them! And no, I don't think I shrunk them...she's just growing!). She's definitely inherited her daddy's long legs! She's been really into how other things grow too. She had some money saved up and when we said she could pick something out to spend it on, she said she wanted to buy caterpillars that turn into butterflies. If you haven't heard of this, check it out here. What you do is, order caterpillars that come in the mail. After you receive them, you get to watch their life cycle right before your eyes. It's been so interesting to watch this amazing transformation! Hannah loves checking on her butterflies (they are in the chrysalis stage right now) several times a day. She has a very hard to restraining herself from touching the little cup they are in, but is doing a good job at it! ;O) Hannah is and always has been such a social butterfly herself, it's no wonder she loves her new pets! Speaking of, her new thing is to ALWAYS want to have a party! The problem is that she'll say to me, "Mom, let's have a party...tomorrow." She'd have a party every day if she could! ;O)

Caterpillars - First day we got them

Hannah and her "pets"

Caterpillars - week 2 (taken April 7)

April 8 - all 5 in their chrysalid form!

Okay, I know this got REALLY long. Sorry...just thought I'd fill you in on life...these days...

Peek A Boo

Sam's new move

It won't be long now and we'll have a little man running all over our house! (and I thought he was hard to keep track of now!!)


Sammy Boy! from Sarah Giere on Vimeo.

p.s. can you tell I'm having some fun w/ making movies? (love the Mac!)

My New Favorite Song

Hannah came home from school last week and sang us this song...don't you just love it?! I seriously cannot get this song out of my head and for once, that's a good thing! Enjoy!!




Don't you know... from Sarah Giere on Vimeo.

Toothless in Chicago

Our little girl is not so little any more! Hannah lost her first tooth about a week and a half ago! We had gone down to Chicago to Brian's parent's for the evening. Hannah's tooth was VERY loose when we got there (to the point where I couldn't even look at it - I get so grossed out by loose teeth!), but we didn't think too much of it. About 5 minutes after Brian and I headed out to dinner alone, Connie called with the news...Hannah's tooth had just come out...in her corn!!! Apparently she had taken one bite of her corn on the cob and lo and behold, her tooth decided to stay put after she took the corn out of her mouth! She was so proud, rushing right to the bathroom to check herself out! We were proud too!

When we returned from dinner, we carefully put the tooth (which was in a baggie) into my purse for safe keeping. We had to wait until Monday night to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy to arrive and sadly, that afternoon, the tooth was lost again...this time in the car. I was driving with the kids and gave Hannah the baggie to look at, giving her strict instructions NOT to open the bag. And what did my daughter do? Naturally, she opened the bag and out came the tooth! I tried to retrieve it, to no avail. She was so distraught about missing out on the tooth fairy. I mean, DISTRAUGHT! So, I quickly told her that I thought the tooth fairy wouldn't mind if we wrote her a note explaining what happened. So, that's what we did and sure enough, it worked. The tooth fairy came in the night and left Hannah a wonderful donation to her piggy bank!  

These pictures are from Connie, right after the big moment!

 

Boy oh boy!

Since having Sam, we've been asked several times if we can tell a difference between having girls and a boy. Honestly, for most of the past 10 months, we couldn't...until now. I think Sammy is ALL boy now! 

For example...

He's bummed that his big sisters get to go play outside and he's stuck in the house with Mommy.

He's ALWAYS on the go...he's a cruiser now! 

He LOVES balls!

He loves to be near his sisters (okay, I know this isn't really a boy thing, I just like this pic!)

And, last but not least, he loves to get in to places he shouldn't be and MAKE MESSES!!! (look how proud he is!)

One more picture of our little man...10 month old Sammy and his baby blues and pearly whites! (please excuse the messy face :O)

Melts a tennis mom's heart...

Hannah started tennis lessons on Monday and I couldn't be more proud! Okay, I know it's not that big of a deal, but well, it kind of was for me. And honestly, it was almost a little strange. For 33 years I've been the one on the court, with the cheering section watching from behind the glass windows (or bleachers most of the time) and now, I was the one with the camera out (notably the ONLY parent with a camera there!) watching my little girl hit the court! I have to be honest, I was a little jealous! But you know what? I couldn't believe the thrilling feeling that welled up inside as she swung the racket for the first time and whacked the ball (into the net, but that's okay)....I'll never forget it! She's going to be a star! (Brian and I are already making plans to move to Boca Raton, FL to enroll her in a tennis academy there!)

I took the picture below through the glass window, thus the woman's reflection...sorry, I just HAD to get a shot of H on the court! And NO, she did not stand still for one second of her 1/2 hour lesson! :O) 

After the 1/2 hour was up, I asked her how she liked it. She said she had fun, but it was too short. AHHH, this girl can't get enough of tennis and she's only 5...I LOVE IT! 

3 little loves

Taking care of Reagan

Sharing with Hannah about baby Reagan was something I was torn about. Hannah has known that Mar was having another baby and she also has known that Reagan was sick, since we prayed for her quite often. I decided, on Wednesday, to tell Hannah about what happened to Reagan. 

I told her that baby Reagan had died the day before. 

She looked at me surprised and said, "Already?"

I said, "Yes, but you know what? She's in Heaven now with Jesus and that's a good thing."

Without skipping a beat, she exclaimed, "I know! And now, Jesus can take care of her!"

"Exactly Hannah!"

And with that, she turned around and did a cartwheel. Pure and true. Jesus is taking care of her and always will!

Reagan Joy

I've been away from my blog for a bit, while I've been updating Reagan's. Precious Reagan Joy Glavach was born Monday at 3:20pm. She weighed 3lbs. 10oz., a sweet little peanut!

And now, she is dancing with Jesus in Heaven, just one day after she graced us with her presence. Although only here for a short time, there were so many prayers answered before she left this earth...she was held, kissed and loved on by her mommy and daddy for hours...a true blessing!

During the past two days with my dear friends, one song has been constantly coming to mind, easing some of this pain. Great is thy Faithfulness has not only popped in my head, but was the first song I heard played on the car radio as I drove home Monday night from visiting Reagan, Dan and Mar. What a gift to hear a beautiful choir sing such a powerful song...RIGHT when I needed it! Thank you Lord for your faithfulness now and forever!

Another thing I wanted to share is a song I found on another blog of a sweet baby girl who had T18 also. Her mom posted this song...a beautiful reminder about God's promise of holding us, even in the hardest of times in life. You can here Natalie Grant sing "Held" here.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and especially Dan, Mar, Jackson and their entire family. You can still click on the "Pray for Reagan" button on the side of my blog to find beautiful little Reagan.

Baby Reagan is here!

Reagan Joy Glavach was born today at 3:20 pm. She was brought immediately to the NICU and is doing well, in stable condition. I was able to be at the hospital this evening for quite some time and even had the pleasure of meeting Reagan in person. She is a true beauty...a gift from God! Mar is doing really well, although by this evening, the physical and emotional toll this is having on her began to kick in. Please continue to pray for Dan, Mar, Jackson and baby Reagan. 

Click here to meet the new little peanut yourself! :O)

Firsts...

Sam has had a few "firsts" lately and I wanted to share them with you! 

Sam cut his first tooth! (look closely...it's on the bottom!)

Sam started crawling forward for the first time! (he mastered scooting backwards a few weeks ago...now he is really on the move!)

Sam started standing up next to things for the first time!

Besides all of that fun, we got to go to MI for a short trip last week while my parents were home from CA for a few days. (they go back tomorrow...they're so lucky!)

We got to visit Great Grammy Smith and kept her laughing with the craziness the three little one's brought! She loved it!

Sam was particularly entertaining when he found the empty "toy box" and had a ball! What a face!

 

Here's all the kids at Grammy's!

We also got to spend time with Luke and Taylor and visit Chuck E. Cheeses for Luke's 8th b-day. Happy Birthday Luke!

Back home this week, Hannah had her last gymnastics class of the session. Since Brian had off for Presidents Day, we all got to go to watch her final "performance!" What a treat!

She really enjoys gymnastics and does really well, but we did decide to try tennis lessons next. So, stay tuned for pictures in the next couple of months of the next Steffi Graf!!! :O) 

Baby Reagan

Many of you know our dear friends Dan and Mar. Mar and I met our freshman year at Taylor and through the years have become wonderful, close friends. We've shared a house at TU, shared an apartment in Indy, stood up for each other in our weddings, shared fun weekends in MI at the lake and now, have shared the joys of parenting with one another. 

Mar is pregnant with their second child, baby Reagan Joy and they have a son, Jackson who is 2 (and good buddies with Hannah and Ellie!). On Feb. 25th, Mar is scheduled to deliver Reagan in Chicago. Please join us in praying for Dan, Mar, Jackson and Reagan, as several months ago Reagan was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. You can read more about their story and sweet baby Reagan at this blog: www.reaganisourjoy.blogspot.com

Heat Wave...

Okay, so we didn't exactly have a heat wave here in IL, but it certainly did warm up a LOT this weekend! It was in the mid-50's today!!! And, what do you do when it starts to warm up outside? 

On Friday (when it was "only" in the mid-40's):

You...watch your daughter lick the snow that is melting down the glass door. 

You...build a snowman with your daughter because it's actually warm enough for you to "brave" going outside (yes, I'm a wimp!)! Poor Ginger the snow woman only lasted a few short hours before the heat got to her. :O)

AND you...watch your daughter make her baby brother laugh by throwing snow at the window and being super goofy!

On Saturday when it got hotter:

You...wash all of the baby toys in hopes that ALL of the germs will stay away for the rest of the winter! (Poor Sammy is still fighting off his ear infection! We are on day 4 of the 2nd antibiotic to get rid of that nasty infection! Augh!)

And you...let your kids sit around in a tank top and diaper for a couple of hours before getting dressed to play outside!

Hope you had a WARM day too! (Sorry Mom and Dad...we noticed that we had the same temps that you did in Palm Springs today! I bet you were freezing!!! :O)

Precious sleeper

This is how I caught Sammy sleeping the other day. So cute!!!! Naturally, I laid him down so he could get a proper nap. :O)

*I took a video of him too and will try to add it here...if anyone has a secret on how to get videos on blogger, let me know! I have trouble every time I try it!!! (and I do condense the video to make it smaller...)