Hummel Land, USA

Welcome!

2010-10-15T22:16:00.008-04:00

Welcome to Hummel Land, USA! This blog was like therapy to our souls, a way to express our thoughts as we faced many trials as we went from one child to four children! Yes, we had triplets! We no longer update, but have decided to keep this blog up on the web. We are amazed how God is using this blog to touch lives. Feel free to take a look around. We have a story to share and it may take awhile to get it all figured out. So, prepare yourself for an adventure ride. Use the Blog Archive (to the left) to maneuver your way around the site. Feel free to leave comments! We'd love to hear from you.

Blessings

Burke & JoEllen

Quick Kiddo Update

2010-10-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

~CAISLYN~

Can you believe that she is now 7 years old and in 1st grade? We can't believe it! She loves to sing, play school, draw pictures and make her own creations out of just about anything! She is learning to read and enjoys reading books with Mom or Dad each night before bed. She is a beautiful girl on the inside and outside.

~JAKOBI~

This little man is now a big 4 year old! He is excelling in his second year of preschool and working hard in speech therapy. He's doing great. He loves to pretend he is a puppy, draw pictures, write letters, and play video games on his Mama's computer. :)

~MAYLEE~

This little girl is a BIG 4 year old too. She is realizing that she is no longer a baby and is pretty much doing everything on her own! Her Mommy and Daddy still enjoy her "baby snuggles". :) At bedtime she still loves her thumb and her little bunnies. She enjoys singing, dancing, cutting paper with scissors and being funny. She really does have a sense of humor! She knows how to get everyone around her laughing. She, too, is enjoying her second year of preschool and has graduated from speech therapy.

Radio Interview

2010-10-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

You can NOW listen to the radio interview! Check out the Circle of Friends website below.

JoEllen Hummel Interview

http://www.ourcircleoffriends.org/radio.php

Turning Your Blog Into A Book

2009-04-16T17:00:00.005-04:00

We found an awesome website that is helping us turn this blog into a book. If you are interested in this process, you can check it out at blurb.com

We are printing this book for Caislyn, Jakobi and Maylee, so that they can treasure this journey we've been on thus far! It has been fun playing around with this book. We're trying to keep it as authentic as we can, but we've had some fun and changed a few things, a few minor things. I can't wait to see it in book form.

Maybe one day we can WRITE a book, but God will have to place that opportunity in our lap, because right now our time is LIMITED! :)

Hope all is well with everyone. Everyone here is doing fine. A few of us have really bad colds, but other than that, life is goood!

3 1/2 years of Blogging Has Come to an END!

2009-03-31T14:50:00.011-04:00

Well, this is it, folks! I am almost speechless. Thank you again for riding along with us as we went up and down the road of life. I'm sure that there is more adventure in store for this little family, but we know God is with us and He will take care of us. We pray that you "saw" and "heard" our message through this blog. A message of God's love. May you embrace that love and run with it. God has so many awesome things in store for all of us here on EARTH.

Blessings to you all,
Burke, JoEllen, Caislyn, Jakobi & Maylee

We'd still love to hear your stories. You can send those stories to us at hummelfive@gmail.com

Our new donkey

2009-03-24T23:01:00.009-04:00

I couldn't resist posting these pics for you all! Tonight we adopted a donkey! I am sad now that Burke and I were not here to experience this with our kiddos. Burke was in a business meeting and I was out with the gals! (which I needed so badly and had an awesome time!) Thankfully Papa and MeeMaw were here to experience this new adventure.

By the way it sounds, Caislyn was really anxious to ride our new donkey, but it sounds like this is going to take some time. She needs to establish a friendship first! :) She spent a lot of time brushing his hair. Good start, Cai! Maylee liked the donkey and was not afraid of him. She even sat on him. We better watch her, because if you stand behind the donkey he may kick ya! Jakobi Dean was not interested in the donkey but loved to feed him food. I love the picture of him standing by the can of food, while holding the lid in his hand.

The donkey's name is up for debate, this is why I keep referring to him as "donkey". His previous owners named him Sylvestor. Caislyn wants to call him Tweety. Burke wants to call him Waffle. (his fave line from Shrek is the line where Donkey says, "and in the morning, I'm making waffles"). Maylee calls him "Donk". Jakobi calls him, "Don-Key", he emphasizes the "k". I honestly do not care, but would love to have a name figured out soon. Maybe we should be original and just call him Donkey.

1 more week

2009-03-24T16:18:00.001-04:00

We messed up in last week's post (I changed it, so no need to go back and look!) and said that today was the last week for our blog, we meant to say NEXT WEEK, the last day of March.

We really appreciate the comments and emails from last week. Some of you really touched our hearts. (thank you for your kind words and stories) Some of you are confused. (I know it may sound confusing, but honestly we are just done with this chapter in our life) Some of you are sad. (No need to be sad. We still have email. To those we know really well, we intend to stay on FACEBOOK) Some of you are protesting! (You guys are crazy! Sorry, its not going to work! I mean that in love!)

We KNOW that this is the time. The time for this part of our ministry to come to an END. This doesn't mean that we still do not have a ministry, because we do have one and intend to use it. Hopefully forever! We look forward to using our story to touch lives. We never dreamed the impact that HUMMEL LAND, USA would have on people, especially when it was created for the sole purpose to keep family and close friends all updated with the happenings in our life.

It still blows our minds how many people have been here and stayed with us thru the thick and thin. THANKS.

A rare treat

2009-03-24T16:01:00.001-04:00

On this day, the kidders had an early bath and a late supper. I think it was a long afternoon that day, so we thought a bath would kill some time. :) After their bath they came out to find Daddy eating something yummy...Doritos!! This is a rare treat in this house. We hardly ever have chips in this house, not that we are against them or anything, but this Mama just isn't a chip lover, therefore she never buys them. But, this day was a little different, we decided to grab Subway for supper and their Daddy couldn't resist getting a crunchy snack to go along with the subs. So, we let all three kiddos indulge on this salty ranch treat!

This is the time

2009-03-17T10:41:00.004-04:00

There is a time. This is the time.

We have been blessed to be able to share our family’s life with you for the past 3 1/2 years. We started this blog the summer of 2005. It was created mainly for family and friends. In the Spring of 2006, the triplets entered the picture! Before we knew it, this was a HIGH TRAFFIC blog. You have laughed with us and cried with us. We have made a lot of friends through this blog. It has been amazing.

But this chapter of our life is ending in 2 weeks. March 31, 2009 will be our final post for Hummel Land, USA.

This blog has run its course and served its purpose. It has served as therapy and a sounding board. It was our chance to share the hope Christ gave us. That opportunity has been priceless. For that, we want to say “Thanks.” Thanks for listening to us as we went though so many ups and downs.

As the days of March slips by we would love to hear from you. We have heard from some of you, but there are some of you whose voice we have never heard. We would love to hear your story. We have created a special email account for this purpose only. So, feel free to email us there. Email us at hummelfive@gmail.com

Ready, Set, Go!

2009-03-17T10:18:00.005-04:00

The other night, these 3 kids were all about delaying bedtime. They all knew what time it was but decided that a race would be more fun than heading upstairs and jumping into bed. It was funny to watch them all 3 line up and yell, "Ready, Set, Go!" and then they would take off running. Caislyn almost always won the race. Maylee won one race and came close to winning a couple other races. Jakobi did his own thing. He even did a little bit of crawling (have no idea why! You'd think he'd know that he was taking the slow route.) After 10 races, we made them get upstairs. Although I have no idea how they fell asleep so fast... their little hearts were pounding out of their chests!!

GO CAISLYN!

The Elmo slippers didn't help Jakobi win any races!
I thought this was funny. Caislyn wanted her picture taken with Jakobi. Maylee didn't like that idea and tried to pull Caislyn away!

Thankful Tuesday

2009-03-10T08:01:00.000-04:00

Today I am thankful for a sensitive and loving Caislyn! This girl genuinely cares for people. Once she knows you, she LOVES you with all of her heart. She is known to give hugs, create handmade cards and offer help to those who are hurting. We are proud of the little lady she has become.

Today I am thankful for a healthy & thriving Maylee Bug! She has been through so much in the past 2 years, yet she remains so strong and vibrant. She makes our day complete when she asks to be cuddled. She gets so excited about it that she literally jumps into our arms!
Today I am thankful for a bouncy, super active, always moving Mr Jakobi Dean! I love that he can stop for a second to give a kiss, a hug and sometimes even a pat on the back.

What to do or say when someone has lost a baby (or babies)

2009-03-10T07:37:00.005-04:00

*For some time now, I've been wanting to do a special post on this subject. I finally got the guts to do it. I did this, simply to help others out. I am not pointing blame on anyone here. Burke and I have been blessed with a loving family, a supportive Church Family and a great group of friends who truly care. These ideas worked for us and has helped us along in this journey of loss. These are suggestions, incase you ever need 'em!
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1. At first, say little and give plenty of hugs! If you've never gone through this kind of pain, sometimes your words can hurt (without you ever even knowing it) and a hug is really all a person needs at that moment in time. It tells the hurting parent that you truly care.

2. Write a nice note or card. Send it in the mail. This was a biggie for us, the outpouring of cards/notes helped us not feel alone in our pain. We still treasure those cards and notes. They were all placed in a basket. That basket now sits in our kitchen as a reminder of "not walking alone". I now try my hardest to send cards to parents who have lost a baby or child, even if I do not know them personally.

3. If you are related to the hurting family, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE extend your arms during this painful journey. If you are invited to the burial/memorial service, please go! If you live close, take a meal over and deliver it with a note and a hug. Thankfully, Burke and I are blessed with a wonderful supportive family. We would not be here, where we are at today, if it wasn't for our family! It always breaks my heart to hear others say that their families have never ONCE acknowledged the loss of their baby. OUCH! This leaves scars on hearts. I know its hard to know what to say or do, but you need to do something (any of these ideas in this post can help!).

4. Avoid comments like, "You can always have more children" or "I can only imagine how much you are hurting". These comments hurt like crazy! Maybe just stick with idea #1 of this post. If you truly do not have the words to say, just do not say anything at all. Instead, just give the hug of love!

5. If you've been in a similar situation, write the parents a note. I've met some pretty amazing moms through this journey. Moms who pursued me and wanted to help me along. You KNOW who you are, so thank you once again! Like I said in #2, I try to do this, even if I do not know the parents personally. I express my condolensces and give a brief summary of our journey. I try to keep it short, nothing too long or overdone.

-If you've been in a similar situation and know the parents, give them a call. You could even offer them the chance to talk in person. It is nice to have someone you can relate to when you are in a hurting situation like this. Every person is different though. Some may not be ready to talk, so give this some time. Maybe a note about this offer (meeting and talking in person) would be appropriate at first. This allows the person to know whom they can confide in whenever they are ready. For me, I didn't really want to talk about Breckin. I could type my thoughts via blog or email, but other than that, I didn't want to talk about him and the whole situation. It was painful and all I wanted to do was cry. It didn't help that Maylee was in a very critical state and I was wrestling with thoughts of possibly losing her too. I realize now that NOT TALKING was not a healthy choice at the time. (although, Lora, you were there to talk to. Perfect timing for that!) I should have picked that phone up and called! Even if I didn't call you back, I was STILL comforted by your willingness to reach out. So, do not get your feelings hurt, if you never hear back from the hurting mom/dad. Who knows, they may contact you later on down the road. In the meantime, pray for the family.

6. Go together as a group to show your support and love. For us, a group of our college friends from Indiana Wesleyan University, went together and sent me a beautiful bracelet that had all of my childrens names engraved in it. I will treasure this forever!! Shelly Buck was the inspiration behind this special gift, which meant a lot, since she too is a mom who had to say goodbye to her sweet precious baby. Even though we all had gone our separate ways after college, the thoughtfulness of this gift allowed us to still feel connected to this special group of friends.

7. Remember the baby's birthday/anniversary. This is BIG! You could send a short note or email. Just to say you are thinking of them on that particular day. If you do not know the exact date, that is fine. You can send it in that same month and say, "You are on my heart right now and I am praying for you". For us, since we have this blog, we always appreciate the comments we recieve around the triplets birthday. Very comforting.

8. After a few months, offer a memorial to the hurting family. This can be so healing for not only parents, but also for siblings (and grand parents, aunts, uncles...). Burke's Aunt and Uncle (along with G'pa and G'ma B) came to us and asked if they could purchase a tree in memory of Breckin. They gave us choices of good memorial trees and then let us pick which tree we wanted. They let us decide on the location. We decided the tree would be fitting in G'ma and G'pa's back yard, by the playhouse. A place where Breckin's siblings and cousins would be playing. We even had a tree dedication. We invited our family and planted the tree that day. The kids had fun decorating Breckin's tree with bird seed ornaments. During the summer we enjoy watching all the kiddos in the backyard, right beside Breckin's tree. We also enjoy watching Breckin's tree change throughout the 4 seasons. Its pretty special to us. I know I will BAWL my eyes out if my in laws ever decide to move. (no pressure!)

-Another suggestion of a memorial, is making a donation. We had a couple make a donation to the Ronald McDonald House in loving memory of Breckin. We received a nice note card from the Ronald McDonald House stating who the donation was from. Burke and I made sure to send a note of thanks to this couple.

-In memory of Breckin, several families made donations to our county's Hospice program.

-This past year, a very special couple donated in Breckin's memory to the Tree of Lights. Every year, Hospice of our county decorate a Christmas tree and put on display down town. Each light represents a life that was taken. We recieved a nice note card in the mail from Hospice, stating who had given in memory of our sweet Breckin!

-All of these donations were complete surprises and the thoughtfullness behind it all still makes our hearts melt.

9. Send a book to the parents. Send a book to the sibling(s).

10. When the person decides to talk about the situation, let them vent. Do not try to have all the answers. Just sit there and listen. Tell them that you will pray for them, but only if you truly will pray for them. I know for us, there were times that we simply didn't know what or how to pray, so intercede in prayer for them! Its a gift like no other!!

*** ONE LAST THING***
Don't exclude the siblings! Depending on ages, this will vary on what to do. I am sure this can be a tricky one. I honestly can not say what or what not to do, especially since our Caislyn was only 3 years old at the time of Breckin's death. She simply didn't comprehend the whole situation, it wasn't until a year later when her questions began to come out. But, the cards that were sent to her specifically, shortly after Breckin's death, I KNOW will mean so much to her down the road. Children who are old enough to understand will NEED you!! Let them know you love them and that you care. There's numerous things that you can do. Take ACTION!

Loving this moment...

2009-03-03T21:45:00.003-05:00

I was savoring this moment! It was a very short moment, indeed! Normally these two fight over who gets to sit in my lap. I miss the days when I would hold these two in my arms for hours at a time. Those days are far gone!

It was funny, before this picture was taken... I yelled, "Grab a camera...hurry up...someone is going to yell...hurry up....someone is going to jump off my lap" :) :) :) You can see it in Jakobi's eyes...he was getting ready to make a run for it!

Imagination Movers

2009-03-03T21:31:00.010-05:00

All three of our kiddos love the show called Imagination Movers. It is on the Disney Channel. We have it recorded on DVR, so every morning when they wake up, we let them watch this show right away. Its a good "jump start" to the day. This show is about 4 guys who love to have fun. They are very creative and they have fun "catchy" songs. I love to watch the kids jump and dance to the songs. I'm surprised I didn't take a picture of them dancing. They really get into, especially Caislyn and Jakobi. I think they are going to be the dancers of this little family. :)

On this morning, they were watching Imagination Movers on the TV and also on the computer. We found the website for Imagination Movers and Caislyn was enjoying herself to a game. Jakobi and Maylee were very interested too, as you can tell from the 1st picture. :) If you are interested in the website, CLICK HERE.

Jakobi & Caislyn are zoned on the computer

and Maylee is zoned on the TV!

Maylee is a pro at smiling for the camera!

Let's SING!

2009-03-03T21:23:00.004-05:00

I love these pictures of Jakobi and Caislyn singing and interacting with each other. This is a rare thing for these two. Normally, Caislyn will play with Maylee, probably because Jakobi is happy to play all by himself. That is what he prefers. So, when moments like this take place, I try my hardest to capture it through photos. On this evening, they were both in their jammies, all ready for bed, they were supposed to be in the basement cleaning up the toys, but instead they had the wild idea to SING. I ran down to see what was going on and this is what I saw...

SINGING THEIR HEARTS OUT!!!

Elmo LIVE

2009-02-24T07:49:00.000-05:00

On Friday, Burke took a vacation day, so we all piled into the SUV and headed up to Cleveland. We surprised the kids and took them to see "Elmo Grows Up". Jakobi and Maylee LOVE ELMO and watch ELMO all the time here at home, so we jumped at the opportunity to take them to see the LIVE version. Even though Caislyn isn't into ELMO anymore, she still enjoyed the show. She really enjoyed watching Abby Cadabby, the pink girly fairy! During the entire show, Maylee kept pointing to the stage and yelling, "Elmo!" Burke and I laughed and laughed at her! It was hilarious! Jakobi was so excited about it all that he tried to escape our row of seats and tried his best to make it up to the stage!! After several warnings from his Mama, he finally found a permanent seat on his Mommy's lap. He wasn't too happy about that, but eventually calmed down and enjoyed the show. :)

Eating a pretzel before the show

Going in for a KISS!
SMACK!
Here we are before the show started
The kiddos were so well behaved, they loved looking around,
even before the show started!

Caislyn with her Daddy and Teddy

Jakobi during the show Caislyn during the show

Maylee during the show

This was taken in the lobby, Jakobi and Maylee were so excited to see a picture of Elmo
Maylee was so excited that she insisted on touching him!

This was taken at intermission, the stage is behind them

What a stud!

If I Were Starting My Family Again

2009-02-24T07:20:00.016-05:00

When I was in Florida, I took the time to read this book, "If I Were Starting My Family Again". This book is written by, John M. Drescher. John is happily married and the father of five grown children. This book was a good easy read. I thought the author had a lot of good things to say about what he would do differently when he was rasing his kids. A real encouragement to me. I did a lot of underlining! I highly recommend this book to parents! I'm sure you can buy it on Amazon.com or even borrow it from the libray. It doesn't take long to read. I'm not a big reader and I had this done within 45 minutes.

I will share some of my favorite parts of the book:

--"If I had it to do over, I would spend more time with my children. Times together, not the things done alone, are what we remember."

--The greatest thing a father can do for his children, is to love their mother. The greatest thing a mother can do for her children, is to love their father.

--When a child knows its parents love each other, that child experiences security, stability, and a sacredness about life that it can gain in no other way.

---A child who knows its parents love each other needs little explanation about the character of God's love or the beauty of sex.

--Never fear spoiling children by making them happy. Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow--the wholesome warmth necessary to make the heart blood circulate healthily and freely.

--When we learn to laugh together we also learn to love and work together.

--Children get hope from their parents confessions that they fought similar battles and temptations. They love and respect parents who are honest with them. Children gain new confidence and strength.

--Probably no other thing encourages children to love life, to seek accomplishment, and to gain confidence more than sincere praise--not flattery--but honest compliments when they have done well.

--"I know now that encouragement is a better way to discipline than to blame or reprimand."

--"We forget that life is largely made up of little things and that our faithfulness in small things determines to a great degree the happiness of our families."

--Little acts of kindness, and love have a power that we must never underestimate. Just the touch of a hand, a loving smile, a careful compliment, a close caress, can work wonders.

--"I would be more ready to go a little out of the way to care for another, for I know now that it is usually in small unscheduled happenings when we help others that we find great meaning."
--"I would seek to develop feelings of belonging."

--If children do not feel that they belong in the family and that loyalty and love flow to and from them there, they will soon find their primary group elsewhere.

--When children feel they belong in the family and are of real worth there, they enter the world strong, feeling loved and accepted, and with the ability to love and accept others.

--"To develop a sense of belonging, I would aim to make bedtime one of the most delightful hours of the day."

--"I would seek to share God more intimately. I would strive to to share my faith all day long. I would use informal settings and unplanned happenings even more than that are formal and planned."

--"Today I realize how quickly children can sense the wonder of God' s world--both the natural and spiritual. I would find more time to take sleeping bags in the summer and lie with my family beside me under God's heaven. We would speak of the stars and listen to the noises of nature, the wind whispering in the trees and the small sounds of unseen creatures. "

--"I would speak more with my children about the God who sends forth the sun as a strong runner for a race and as a glowing warmth to evaporate the mist of the morning."

--" I would talk about how God lets the curtains of evening fall while painting the afterglow in the western windows."

--"So, if I was beginning my family again, I would make every effort to be a better listener. I would listen when my children share their hurts and complaints, their joys, and what they are excited about."

Sunny Escape

2009-02-18T16:08:00.002-05:00

ANSWER: FLORIDA!!! Spent the nights in Kissimmee and drove to Cocoa Beach on Friday & Saturday. On Sunday and Monday we visited the beautiful Gaylord Palms Resort and spent most of the day by the pool.

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Here I am with my lap top & Mt Dew!

It still seems like a big dream....5 beautiful days in Florida....with an amazing friend....without our kids...80 degree weather...with no rain!!! That is just a summary of what last Thursday to this past Monday looked like. :)

My friend, Marie, invited me to fly down with her and to keep her company while her hubby auctioneered at a huge machinery sale. With encouragement from my hubby and finding child care for the kids, the next thing I was doing was buying plane tickets and packing my suit case!

We spent numerous hours in the sun! (we were wise with the SPF!) We basically relaxed and rested up from all of our Mommy duties. We found a nice spot on Cocoa Beach where we camped out for most of Thursday and Friday. We also enjoyed some shopping, a movie and ate some amazing food. We found a nice resort on Sunday and spent that day by the pool. We loved it so much that we went back Monday morning and afternoon. We enjoyed walking through the Resort too. My favorite part was the Everglades and the gators that were swimming in the water.

One of the hi-lites of the trip... a surprise package landed on the porch of our rental house. Of course, to my surprise, it was from my hubby! Inside the package was chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day! That guy sure is the sweetest!

The three kids spent most days with Grandma H, which was a nice comforting feeling for me, just knowing they were in good hands. They spent the evenings and the weekend with their Daddy. Sounds like everyone got along great, although Daddy woke up sick on Sunday morning, so his time here at home was a little challenging. He's the BEST hubby for encouraging me to get out of here for a little while. I feel so relaxed on the inside and feel like a NEW Mom and Wife. Thanks Marie for inviting me!!!

Gaylord Palms Resort

Reading a good book...Hopefully I will find time next week to post about this book.

Posing at the Machinery Auction. I thought Jakobi would appreciate this picture, since he is beginning to really enjoy playing with trucks.

My chocolate covered strawberries!

With a jet, someone was writing words in the sky!!

"JESUS"

"GOD"

Where Did She Go?

2009-02-17T21:13:00.005-05:00

This Mama had the opportunity to Get Away for 5 days! Can you play the guessing game? Where did I end up? What did I do? Go ahead, GUESS! I am going against our Blogging Rules...I am going to post tomorrow with the location...I will also tell you all the fun details of 5 beautiful days spent without kids.

Special Day of "Love"

2009-02-17T21:02:00.011-05:00

Before I left on my trip (can't say where yet! You need to guess first!), we gave the kiddos a few Valentine surprises. They were so cute as they sat patiently for me to take a picture. We told them it was a special day of "Love". A reminder of our love for one another.

We love you FOREVER and EVER!

Caislyn's new My Little Pony, Rainbow Dash

Jakobi's first Thomas the Train

Maylee's new doodle pad

We Did It!

2009-02-12T16:05:00.005-05:00

WE DID IT! For the very 1st time, Burke and I were able to publicly share our emotional roller coaster ride of 2006! I will be honest and tell you, it was harder than I had imagined it to be, but it was so relieving to let out all of those thoughts. It was so good to finally be able to vocally share our story. I feel comfortable blogging about our story, but when it comes to vocalizing it, it has been a struggle. I feel more confident now. I believe Burke feels the same way too. I feel like we could do this again. Maybe not anytime soon, since this was so new for us, but down the road I can see us doing this similar kind of a thing again. I truly do believe that some healing took place for us last night, which feels so good right now. Oh and I just have to say, I was blown away by my hubby. He shared from his heart and pretty much ran the show, which was fine with me, since I was dealing with nerves. He was so thorough in details and was so genuine with his words. He was not there to just tell our story, but was there to help those who were struggling. It was important to him to tell the world the reasons to WHAT GOT US THROUGH a really scary and heartbreaking chapter of our life. Those reasons being, Our Faith in God, Our Family's Support and Encouragement, and Good friends to lean on and to offer up countless prayers on our behalf. He also used the line, that he used several times during Our Big Storm, "If you can't control it, then you must not worry about it". Which was a good reminder for me. I think I needed to hear that again. After last night, I have gained even more respect for my hubby. He rocks! It was awesome to listen to him talk and to share form his heart. I learned a few thing too. :) For me, since I was battling nerves, I had to continue to pray on the inside, that I would be able to get the words out, the words I had so desperately wanted to share, especially to the parents who have lost a child. I am proud to say that GOD took over and gave me those words!!!! Afterwards, we were able to talk with several parents. We basically listened as they shared their story. I was moved by one mom in particular, I will not say much, since I didn't ask for permission to share details on this blog. Her and her hubby have been going through similar emotions (like the emotions we went went through and continue to go through) of having triplets and losing a baby. In their case, they lost a baby girl at 5 days old. My heart just broke as she shared details with me. I am so glad she came last night. I think this was her 1st evening out, since her babies have been home. I KNOW God has brought this Mom into my life for a reason and I told God that I would do everything I can to help her through this difficult journey. (If you are reading this, sweet girl, please know that I really do have a heart for you. I hope we continue to stay in touch.) If you could, say a prayer for my new friend. I really appreciate that. Thanks again for your support in last-night's speaking engagement! Thanks to our family. You have no idea how much you mean to us. In the past 2 1/2 years, each of you have shown us your support at some point in time and we wouldn't have made it this far in our journey, if it wasn't for you. We thank God for revealing himself to us once again, for giving us this opportunity to speak out about some real emotional, heartbreaking moments, but to also speak about the awesome and miraculous acts He did for our family during those 86 days of uncertainty.

Things I love about you, Maylee

2009-02-10T23:12:00.006-05:00

You, my dear, crack me up every single day. You KNOW when it is time for me to change your diaper, so you take off running. The very same thing happens when it is time to get dressed for the day. I love how you love to SING! This week you are enjoying Jesus Loves Me. I love hearing your voice in the morning, as you wait patiently in your crib for Mom-Mom (your name for me) to come get you. You almost always greet me with a "Hi Mom Mom". :) I love how you like to get right in front of my camera and then ask, "See it?" after I've snapped the picture. :) I love how you sleep with "Bunny". You get upset if you can not find her when you are ready for naps or bed time. You didn't realize that Mom-Mom has always had a secret stash of back-up bunnies, just in case we lose one before bed. Well, you found that secret stash. :) And on that particular night, you insisted on sleeping with all three bunnies!!

OSU Cowgirl!

Going to bed with 3 bunnies!

How can you sleep with all of those bunnies in your bed? :)

Things I love about you, Jakobi

2009-02-10T23:05:00.007-05:00

I love you, Little Man! I really love that hi-pitch voice of yours! You'd think I'd get annoyed by it, but how could I when you use it to say, "Hi Ma!" You probably say "Hi Ma" and "Hi Daddy" a hundred times in one day. No, not really, but it sure sounds like you say it that many times. I love that your appetite has increased. You are still picky with what you eat, but the things you do enjoy, you normally ask for seconds. I love praying with you before you go to sleep at night, I especially love how you quietly say "Amen". I can barely hear it. I love how you demand independence. It reminds me that you are not a baby, but a little boy who simple want to be a Little Man. :)

Here you are at Church last week. A friend of mine found me later and told me how impressed she was by you. How well you handled yourself and how good of an eater you were.

You love that bed!

You look so cute under those big 'ole covers.

Cavs Fan

Things I love about you, Caislyn

2009-02-10T22:50:00.002-05:00

Oh, sweet girl of mine! I just love so many things about you. Your tender heart, your beautiful singing voice, the way you love on your little sister, the gentle wake up calls, your creative soul, your imagination!! I will never forget the Saturday when you begged and begged to have an Orange Juice Stand outside in the snow! :) Since it was close to 15 degrees outside, we finally settled to set up on the kitchen counter. You loved your two customers, Daddy and Mommy. We even gave you real money for our yummy cups of Orange Juice! It was the best juice ever.

Saturday Morning OJ Stand

Lovin' on Maylee Bug

Fashion!!!! FASHION!!! Where do you come up with all of these ideas?

Sick Again

2009-02-10T13:39:00.011-05:00

This is not our winter for good health. Not to complain, but its been crazy around here. All three kiddos have been sick! They all three suffered with different symptoms! It started with Jakobi on Friday. He was having breathing issues. He's had this before, which required breathing treatments, so we headed to the Doctor on Saturday morning and left with a prescription for Albuterol, a breathing treatment to give the boy every 6 hours. 24 hours later, he was a different boy! Saturday evening, Maylee began coughing, which led to hacking, which kept most of us up that night! She was miserable. She was still coughing on Sunday, so she missed Church, which means she didn't get to hear me sing my solo, which was so sad, because I just know she would have been singing right along with me. She was still coughing yesterday, but seems to be back to herself today. Oh, and Saturday night, Caislyn woke up sick and all day on Sunday complained that her throat was sore and her ear was hurting. Motrin did the trick, until about 10pm Sunday evening. We were up with a very miserable girl! So, yesterday I took her to the Doctor and left with two prescriptions. She is doing a lot better today, although she didn't go to school, since she's not back to 100 %.

I know that being sick is a part of life. Every time my kids are sick, I thank God that the sickness is only temporary. It could all be so much worse. I pray for all the families out there who have sick children every single day of the year. I truly do think of you often!

I think this Mama needs a break! And it looks like I am going to get it! I will keep you hanging on to what I am about to do. I will inform you in next week's post. *Keep us in your prayers tomorrow evening at 7 pm. Burke and I will be sharing at Aultman. THANKS.

Tomorrow Night @ 7pm...

2009-02-10T13:16:00.000-05:00

We will be....

talking about this little girl....

and talking about this little boy...

and talking about this sweet little angel...

and we'll also be talking about this BIG GIRL!

If you think about it tomorrow, we'd appreciate your prayers. Burke and I will be speaking for the very 1st time about our triplets and the loss of our son, Breckin. This will take place in Aultman Hospital's NICU. We will be sharing about Big Sis Caislyn and her experience during my pregnancy, her reaction to the babies after they were born and her journey with the loss of a baby brother. We feel like we are prepared for tomorrow night. Actually, we feel more prepared than we thought we'd ever be at this point in time. We know that God put us into this situation, so HE has found a way for us to be ready for this. May God use us to help others in a time of uncertainty and to be able to minister to those who are going through a time of loss. Pray not only for us, but also for the parents who will be there tomorrow evening.

*We will post a special post on THURSDAY to share about this special evening*

This is for YOU, Daddy!

2009-02-03T22:47:00.002-05:00

--Daddy--

I found your sweatshirt and thought it would be fun to put it on!

I made Mommy take a picture of me, just for you!

I love you, Caislyn

Awesome Moments

2009-02-03T22:26:00.008-05:00

I tell ya, here lately my life has been filled with so many special moments. Moments where my kiddos simply amaze me! I am so proud to be their Mama. I love my job! I wouldn't trade it for the world. The list is so long, so I will give you ONE awesome moment for each child.

--Maylee discovered her singing voice!! For several weeks now, I've been practicing up on a song (In Better Hands by Natalie Grant). On a daily basis, I would play the song and sing it in front of the kiddos. A few days ago, I turned the sound track on and started singing and about fell over when Miss Maylee began singing the words with me. I just couldn't believe it, because this girl NEVER sings. It was almost to the point where I was a little worried about her. I didn't understand why she wouldn't try to sing. Today she pointed to the cd player and yelled, "We sing"!! So, I scooped her up in my arms and we began singing the song (In Better Hands) together. It was a moment I NEVER want to forget. It was precious. It was sweet. It warmed my heart. I love listening to my kids when they sing. I get all excited on the inside, maybe because singing is a passion of mine. I especially love it when they say "Jesus" in a song!!!! I wonder what Maylee is going to do when I sing my solo this upcoming Sunday morning. Will she sing out loud? :) I will let you know what she ends up doing.

--Caislyn has been saying her F's!! This is major! Caislyn has always struggled with the sound of the letter "f". If you've been following this blog, than you already know that Caislyn has been involved in speech therapy for the past 2 years. The other day, I was in tears when I heard her say "fish"! She said it so clear and she didn't even say it slow. It just came out of her mouth. It was like no big deal to her. It was for me! She used to put a "b" in place of the "f", so you can see now why I was so happy to hear her say "fish" the correct way. This was a big milestone for her. She's still working on a few other sounds, but I can tell she's really trying to work at it now. She's even catching herself whenever she says a word incorrectly. I always praise her when she corrects herself. She'll stand there and smile. Whoo-hoo, Cai-Cai!

--Jakobi moved out of his crib and into a BIG boy bed!! He loves being in a big bed...that first night was so exciting for us all! At nap time and bed time, he loves to climb up on his bed all by himself. He even gets under his blankets. He looks so little in that bed. :) We haven't had any big issues with him now that he is in his bed. He has fallen asleep by his bedroom door though! :) I think he was so used to crawling out of his crib, that it became a habit for him. He did do something funny tonight...about an hour after I put him to bed...I went to check on him and couldn't find him. After looking around the room for a little bit...I went back over to his bed to find him sleeping at the opposite end of his bed. That silly boy. Yes, I was a little weepy when the crib left his bedroom...but after seeing him laying in his big boy bed that first night...the excitement in my heart grew, because he looked so happy and so content. He is growing up into a HAPPY little man!

Bedrooms

2009-02-03T22:05:00.015-05:00

We are very happy with the way the kiddos bedrooms turned out. We had a good friend paint them for us. We chose a blue and sand color for Jakobi's room. It's all Boy! And we chose two shades of pink for the girls bedroom. All girly!

We also moved Jakobi's crib and dresser/changing table out of his room and sent it down to Kentucky for Brianne and Matt. We moved Caislyn's bed and dresser out of her room and set it up over in Jakobi's bedroom for him to enjoy now! We set up an air mattress in Caislyn's room for the time being, as we patiently wait for the new bunk bed and dresser to get here. Maylee is still sleeping in her crib, in the guest bedroom, but once she decides she is done with the crib, she will move in with Caislyn!! That will be an exciting day.

This week, we hope to find the time to hang pictures in their bedrooms. Once we are finished decorating, I will post a few pics for you to see. I'm not a big fan of posting a ton of pics of our house, especially since this is a high-traffic blog, so pics will be limited. But, I know a lot of you are curious to what the rooms look like. I know this because you've been sending me emails asking for pictures. :)

Jakobi and his Big Boy Bed!
These two will have fun sharing a bedroom!

Caislyn loves her new quilt.

Ski School

2009-01-27T22:32:00.007-05:00

Sounds like these two had a pretty successful night out on the slopes!! We are very proud of you Caislyn & Bryson!

Jakobi Dean & Maylee Bri

2009-01-27T19:45:00.005-05:00

Mr Jakobi Dean has been out for Miss Maylee Bri!I don't know what it is, but he just loves to pick on his little sis. The funny thing in it all...Maylee doesn't seem to mind...she gets a little shook up at first, but then it almost always ends with giggles.Well, not ALWAYS, but most of the time...she is a tough booger and can take the blow.On most occasions, Jakobi shows up when Maylee leasts expects it...and without any warning, he'll sneak in from behind, wrap his arms around her waist or chest and fall backwards...Maylee falling with him! I would love to snap a picture of him doing that.

I'm not sure what is going on in this next picture.

All I know is Maylee lifted her shirt and Jakobi followed along.

This next pic cracks me up...Jakobi was just being silly...

Maylee was looking at him like, "what in the world are you doing?"

And then, of course, he thinks he needs to tackle her once more! She didn't like it at first...but like I said...it almost always ends with giggles and it did end on a happy note. It looks like I didn't get a picture of her smiling though!

Snowboarding

2009-01-27T17:33:00.004-05:00

Caislyn is at it once again! Last year this was all new to her and didn't make it to the bunny hill until her last lesson. This year, she started off on the bunny hill! She is really enjoying this sport. She is working on her self confidence, as she breaks away from her instructor. As I type this, she is on her way to the slopes, for yet another lesson. As I look out the window it is beginning to snow, so this should be a fun evening for her.

Here she is...she's doing it all by herself...Go Cai-Cai!

I love the look on her face here!
Her Daddy spoiled her with a giant cookie.

*You should go over to Bryson's Blog to see what he has been up to! Believe it or not, he's been on the slopes too. He's learning how to ski, which is just awesome. YAY BRYSON!

Daddy & Daughter Road Trip (and NO MORE BABIES!)

2009-01-20T21:12:00.009-05:00

Caislyn and her Daddy went on a road trip! Burke took a vacation day on Friday and by 9am they were out the door and didn't return home until Sunday evening. Burke has been wanting to do something with Caislyn for quite awhile now, so they finally found some time to get away. They headed down to Kentucky to visit Brianne and Matt. From the way it sounds, they had a blast together. It sounds like Caislyn had a lot of One-on-One time, which is what I think Caislyn has been been craving. Daddy also spoiled her rotten, but in my opinion she deserved it. On the way down, they stopped at an outdoor mall, which was fun but maybe a little too cold! Once they reached their destination, Aunt B took over and helped Caislyn with art projects and baking.

I love that my hubby loves being a Daddy. He is very involved in all of our kids lives. I remember before we had kids, listening to him dream of the day he'd be a Dad. He'd talk about all the things he'd like to do with his kids. Teaching them how to kick a soccer ball, coaching baseball teams, going on road trips...and so on....it was a pretty big list. I knew he'd be good at being a Dad, but boy has he blown my socks off as I sit back and watch him interact with our children. Its a pretty neat sight to see.

During the weekend, I spent all of my time with the 2 little ones. I really enjoyed those 3 days with Jakobi and Maylee. I wasn't quite sure how it would go, considering Jakobi has been having his share of "time outs' and temper tamtrums lately. I was a little nervous that it would be a long weekend. It ended up being a fun weekend for the 3 of us. I was able t

o take a little closer look at their world. I didn't realize that I have a daily battle....the battle of the age gap...trying to connect with a 5 year old and then turn around and trying to connect with two 2 year olds. I'm sure every mother goes through this phase. It sure can be draining at times. So, this weekend gave me the opportunity to be in Jakobi and Maylee's world ONLY. It was fun. We did a lot of dancing and jumping on my bed. Made meals with the play kitchen. We made a tent. They also helped me clean out a few closets. We also met up with some special friends. I also learned a few things...Jakobi can be very particular about things. We have two booster seats for meal times...a light blue seat and a royal blue seat...apparently, Jakobi thinks that he must have the light blue booster seat, not the royal blue seat. He also MUST have the frog bib, not the Monkey bib. This made me understand why we sometimes how wild melt downs at meal times. He simply wants those two things. So, it has helped me understand him a little more. :) I also learned that Maylee is Queen of pronunciation! She can put most of the beginnings and endings to words, unlike Jakobi and even Caislyn at this age. I really do not think we will have speech issues with her.

In other news: Jakobi is moving out of his crib and into a BIG BOY BED!!! He's been constantly climbing out and it has been a big fight to keep him in there. I'm not sure if he'll stay in his big boy bed either, but then maybe he will feel BIG and will want to stay there. We will find out soon. I'm so excited for his bedding that we found. We are also going through paint swatches for his bedroom. I tell ya, it is fun decorating a boys room. We've never been able to do this before. We always decorated "girly" rooms for Caislyn. When we moved here we decided to hold off on painting the kids rooms, because we knew the "baby stage' would soon be gone. It is a little sad for me to think they are not babies anymore. Although, Maylee can be our baby for as long as she wants. She still loves her crib, her thumb and love her cuddles with Mommy and Daddy. She can stay that way for as long as she wants. But once those days are over, I may have a BIG cry! Don't get me wrong, I am also very excited for them. They have come so far and have been babies for so long, it is exciting to begin a whole new chapter. I think maybe its the fact that we will no longer have babies in this household again. We have peace about it, but its still all so bittersweet.

How did this post go from an exciting Road Trip to a sad story of No More Babies!?!

Modeling

2009-01-20T21:01:00.004-05:00

We found these cute dresses for the girls. They normally do not do the "matching" thing like other sisters do. So, this Mama has decided that it is time that we do a little bit of the "matching" game. I better do it now while I still can. I am sure there will be a time when they will not want to match eachother. So, a couple of weeks ago, we put on their matching dresses for Church and they both wore a big smile. They really enjoyed it. After we got home from Church, I thought it would be fun to get a picture of them together. Of course, Caislyn was in the "posing" mood, BUT Maylee wouldn't look at the camera because she was distracted by her Big Sister's modeling moves. You will notice in the 3rd picture, Maylee was only looking at her sister so that she could learn the pose for herself! She was simply taking notes. Cracks me up! I love my girlies.

Rock Star

2009-01-20T20:22:00.001-05:00

This little man loves music. He loves to run around with his Elmo guitar...sing on the top of his lungs, so that everyone in the house can hear him...he can also surprise us with a few good dance moves. What a talented little guy.

Cancelled

2009-01-14T14:53:00.007-05:00

Due to a winter snow storm, Burke and I will not be speaking tonight at the NICU. Hopefully we can reschedule for Feb 11th. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Our 1st Blog Award

2009-01-13T20:50:00.003-05:00

We were awarded by Twin Powers Activate!

Thank you so much.

Rules: Pick 5 blogs that you love or enjoy the most and pass along the award. It is that simple. Don't forget to post it on your page.

Oh how difficult to post only 5! I follow so many of you!!

1. Crazy Sommers Daze

2. A Place We Call Home

3. Jay And Tammy

4. The Unterwagner Triplets

5. The Troyer Family

Finally, SNOW!

2009-01-13T13:18:00.010-05:00

We've been waiting and waiting for snow! And when I say snow, I mean LOTS of snow. 3-4 inches of snow. (We may have more than that now! It continues to snow everyday.) We couldn't wait to get Jakobi and Maylee out there, especially since this was their 1st time to experience the snow. I'm normally not a big fan of winter, but there MUST be one BIG snow fall during the long season of winter. I think I enjoy it more now...probably because I have kids of my own now and want them to have memories of playing in the fluffy white stuff.

When we first looked at this house, to see if we were even interested in moving here, the one thing that caught our eye was the good 'ole hills for sledding. Our back yard is a hill, perfect for these three little ones. The front yard is the same way, only you need be very careful that you do not run into the fence. Our side yard is the same way, only you must be careful to not run into the barn. Our drive way would be awesome to sled down, but the sad thing about that, the road would not be a good place to end! We'll let them discover all of that when they get older! (maybe not the drive way though!) For now, we will stick with the back yard. It is probably the safest place to be.

WALKING UP THE HILL!!

The suspense begins...

Here they are...getting ready to go down the hill...

hopefully Jakobi and Maylee will like this!

This is how they landed. Caislyn jumped right off.

All three kiddos loved this!

This is blurry, but as you can see these two love to sled!

All done!

Jakobi loved going down the hill

Maylee loved this little sled

Bug is checking out the snow

Maylee going up the hill

She doesn't show much emotion, but she LOVED it!

Teasing Mama! Cai wanted to throw this batch of snow!

When did this girl get to be so BRAVE!?

Uht-oh! Problems!

Off she goes!

GOING DOWN!!!

This is how they ended! Jakobi loved it!

The little red/yellow car made it out to the snowy terrain!
Daddy helps Cai make a tunnel in the snow

Jakobi overseeing the project

Working So hard

She was in a daring mood...she took off her hat....
and wanted to crawl through her tunnel!

Trying to crawl through the tunnel!

Not happy!!

Attempt #2!!
Our Beautiful Snow Princess!

OSU

2009-01-06T07:32:00.003-05:00

These were taken last night. The kiddos were all dressed up for the Tostito Fiesta Bowl. It was a BIG bummer to watch OSU lose! It was a good game to watch though.

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

2009-01-06T07:14:00.002-05:00

Today starts the routine. We've been without one for a couple of weeks now. Soon, Caislyn will be heading out the door and onto the school bus. Life will be back to normal. Although, it was fun having lazy pajama days! BUT, I think this Mama is ready for the routine of life to begin. I miss it. I need it. I think we all five need it, actually.

Mr Jakobi Dean has been keeping us on our toes lately. He has been acting like a 2 year old! Oh wait, he is a 2 year old! He's also been more on the hyper side. This came out of nowhere. He's normally a laid back and quiet little guy, but now he's been an active man on the go! He is heard from every corner of the house. Maylee just kind of stands back and looks at him like, "what are you doing?" Who knows, maybe we are entering a new phase with Jakobi or maybe he's happy he's no longer sick. It sure took him awhile to bounce back from that nasty flu bug. Who knows!

So, hopefully this routine will kick in and everyone will benefit from it, like we all did before. Hope you are enjoying the beginning to a NEW YEAR. Its crazy to think its 2009. I look forward to many things that this year will bring. I may not know what is coming up, but I know that God has me in the palm of His hand. If I let Him guide me, Life will be grand. Well, maybe not always peachy, but I will press on, because He's got my back, no matter the circumstance.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! GOD BLESS!

January 14th

2009-01-06T07:08:00.000-05:00

We would appreciate your prayers right now as we prepare ourselves for our 1st speaking engagement! This will take place on January 14th at 7 pm in Aultman Hospital's NICU Family lounge. We will be sharing the story of our triplets and also talking about the loss of Breckin. I know for me, I am really nervous. At the moment, I am at a loss for words. I know that God can change that! This is where your prayers are needed. This is something new for us. I never dreamed we'd already be to this point of "sharing". I mean, it has only been 2 years and 3 months. Burke seems to be doing fine. He's my rock, so he will be a big help as we "tag team" this together. I know God has big plans for all of this. There are several families in the NICU right now who are going through a lot of difficult times, a couple of them have recently lost a baby. I pray that God can speak through us to touch their hearts.

Thanks for your prayers! We have an amazing support group through this blog. :)

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T00:14:00.004-05:00

Sitting on the couch with my hubby, enjoying the New Year!

Looking forward to a fresh start and new beginnings!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-30T22:22:00.007-05:00

Dear Breckin,
We know you attended a BIG Party on Christmas Day!
We love you.
Mommy and Daddy

Celebrating Christmas (with the Flu Bug!)

2008-12-30T12:52:00.006-05:00

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Our Christmas was quite intersting this year. Ready for a long winded story? Here I go! 4 out of the 5 of us were blessed with the flu bug! Caislyn was the lucky one and didn't get sick. (maybe her body was tired from being sick a few weeks ago!) It all started with Burke, a week ago on Monday. He emailed me saying that his tummy was in knots. Before I knew it, he was home from work early. You know he is sick, if he comes home early! This lasted all of Monday and most of Tuesday. Tuesday evening, I (JoEllen) started feeling crummy. I knew as soon as I went to bed that I was not going to have a good night of sleep. I was right and I had a very miserable night! I was bummed, because the next day (Christmas Eve) we were going to have our Christmas here with our kiddos. I continued to feel sick all of of Wednesday, but managed to get through all the fun events that took place that morning. That afternoon, even though I was miserable, we decided to pack up and head to Indiana. Half way there, Maylee decided it was time to empty out her tummy. (I know this is gross, but that is what happened!) Great, what do we do? Continue on? Get my family sick? After a phone call to my mom, she said to keep going and that we'd spray everything down with Lysol. (She told me later, "If it weren't for Christmas, I would have told you to turn around and go back home".) Maylee was sick all of Thursday (Christmas Day) and Friday. She was not herself. She wouldn't eat and was very clingy to her Daddy. On Christmas Day, Jakobi woke up after his tummy emptied out all over Daddy. (for some reason he was sleeping on Burke's belly) What a nice Christmas present for Daddy. :) Jakobi was clingy most of Christmas Day. He only wanted his Mommy to hold him. He wasn't fussy and didn't seem to be miserable, just clingy. On Friday, Maylee slept a lot and Jakobi seemed fine. Kind of weird. But, Saturday was a different story for the little man, he was now miserable and it didn't help that we were traveling back home. He was not a happy man during that trip back. He was sick all of Sunday and even sick yesterday. I think he is doing better today. He still doesn't have a whole lot of energy but atleast he was able to keep his breakfast and lunch down. We are ready for this to be over!!

There ya go. The story of a memorable Christmas! This doesn't mean that we didn't have any fun, because we did! It just wasn't the perfect Christmas that we had in mind, but we got through it together and still made many memories. It was so nice to see my side of the family again. We hope to visit more often in the upcoming year.

Now, to the good stuff...Pictures!!

Here is Caislyn setting up for Santa. She drew him a lovely picture,

set up the nativity (her idea!) and set out a few treats.

The next morning, all the kiddos were happy! :)

Jakobi was very excited!

We discovered that Santa had been there! He ate his treats and moved Baby Jesus to the Christmas plate. HE wanted Caislyn, Jakobi and Maylee to know that Christmas wasn't really about him, it was about Baby Jesus and his birth!
Maylee and her stocking

Caislyn and her stocking

Caislyn opened up a few Hannah Montanna items!

Jakobi and his stocking

He took his time when it came time to opening presents.
There was no rushing! That may change next year. :)
During breakfast, Burke read the Christmas story. This year he used the Little People Nativity while reading from the Bible. Then we move to the living room for presents.

Caislyn had some fun expressions! She made so many faces.

I chose these photos, they are my favorites!

Maylee didn't show a lot of excitement.

She enjoyed unwrapping the paper though.

Jakobi knew what to do! He didn't need help.
He was almost a little too serious and
he very focused when he tried to remove the tape.

This year, we ended with a "together" gift.
It was a surprise that the kiddos had to find in the basement.

Little Chefs!

Christmas Day IN INDIANA.
Look at Jakobi and Maylee.
You can tell that they are not feeling well.

Maylee wasn't quite ready to open presents

Jakobi wanted Mommy to hold him!

Caislyn loving on a new dolly

Maylee wanted to be held by her Daddy

Wow, we got a smile out of the boy!

Maylee is not thrilled! She was just miserable.

Here he goes! What a pro he is!

What a good toy for Mr Jakobi. He loves tools!

We ARE A TEAM!! Thanks to my hubby,

I was able to enjoy the day with family.

He is always so helpful when it comes to our kiddos.

I am blessed.

Another good facial expression

Of course, its Hannah Montanna!

Maylee slept through most of the presents.

Here she is after her nap.
I think she is happy now!

The last set of pics were from last night. Its a tradition for our family to help Santa out at a local retirement home. This year, Mommy and Jakobi missed out, due to Jakobi being sick and Mommy being tired. Caislyn and Maylee (and cousins) enjoyed the evening being Santa's elves.

I hear that Maylee wasn't too sure of Santa at first.

Looks like she warmed up to him after she found a candy cane.

Cookie monster
Caislyn (and two of her cousins) posing with Santa.

Waiting to pass out presents to the residents

Caislyn waiting on Santa to read off the name on a present

Passing out a gift to a lovely lady

An "Early" Hummel Christmas

2008-12-30T12:08:00.006-05:00

We celebrated Christmas with the Hummel Fam on Dec 20th. We met up at Mom and Dad Hummel's house and spent all day together. It was nice to see Matt and Brianne again!

The kids had fun opening their stocking gifts.

I didn't get a picture of it,

but Jakobi had a roll of duck tape in his stocking.

Maylee now has a purse. Caislyn should be happy,
no more little sisters sneaking her purses away!

Jakobi had a fun time opening presents.
He knew what to do as soon as a present was handed to him!

Caislyn opened up some nice gifts.

In this picture, she was happy to see some

Hannah Montanna slippers.

I'm not surprised that Maylee wanted to throw her new ball!

Checking out new books. Jakobi is eye balling

Maylee's new Elmo coloring book!
Caislyn in her own little world

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

2008-12-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

From our house, to yours!

The true meaning of Christmas

2008-12-23T07:41:00.000-05:00

IS JESUS!!Jakobi loves playing with the the Little People Nativity Set. He likes to find Baby Jesus and give him a kiss! He also likes to pound on the Angel, because when you push on the angel the song, Away in the Manger plays. Oh, that poor Angel, he gets beaten and thrown off several times a day!!!

Oh, So Tempting!!

2008-12-23T07:29:00.001-05:00

I WANT THAT BALL!!!

I better not, Mommy will not be happy with me!!

There's nothing like a cup of Hot Cocoa!

2008-12-23T07:18:00.004-05:00

YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!

More on "Scrubbing"

2008-12-23T07:09:00.005-05:00

A few of you wanted to know more details on the "scrubbing" technique, that I mentioned in last week's post. I know I am not as detailed as I used to be, so I appreciate it when you ask me for more info. I will try to do my best by explaining this technique to you. I lost the paper with all the steps, so this is going to be JoEllen's version. (I hope it all makes sense)

Technique? Use a dry wash cloth and scrub in circular motions on your baby/toddler's cheeks for about 2 minutes. After that, move to the inside of their mouth (Cheeks and gums). I'd say for another 2-3 minutes. The whole idea to this technique is to get your child to be more aware of their mouth. This is just another way of helping your child discover their voice.

When? Any time of day, preferably before you read to your child

How often? I'd say once a day and after they are comfy with the idea, move to twice a day. At the beginning, this may be a challenge for both parent and child. Your child may think you are being mean, but simply explain that you are helping them. Turn it into a game. If you stay consistent they will learn to enjoy it and eventually make all kinds of silly noises while you do this fun scrubbing game with them.

Then what? After technique, pick out a good book to read with your child. Point to pictures and say the names clearly. Ask your child to repeat a word after you. You may be amazed by what they will say back to you. :) It may take several "scrubbing" sessions before you will notice any change or improvement in your child's language.

If you try this, let me know! I'd love to hear about your experience.

Free Blog Backgrounds! So Easy!

2008-12-23T07:03:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you all noticed the change in our blog. If you are interested in jazzing up your blog, you should check out The Cutest Blog On The Block, although your hubby may be skeptical of this. He will think it is all girly stuff (flowers, hearts, ribbons) . Tell him that its not all girly. :) :) :) I tried to stay as neutral as possible, for Burke's sake!

Here's the website. http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/backgrounds.php?cat=39

It's free. It's easy! It only takes a few minutes to do.

HAVE FUN!

Healthy Little Girl

2008-12-16T12:53:00.013-05:00

It is so nice to see that smile again! Thankfully, last week, Caislyn only had a 24 hour bug! Last Tuesday, she laid on the couch and didn't do anything but watch movies. She didn't want to eat, she didn't want to talk, she didn't want to smile, she didn't want to sit up and she didn't even want to color! (this is major for her!) The following morning, she woke up in a good mood and all she wanted to do was EAT!!

Here she is in Mommy's robe!

What a goober.

Check out the 2 french braids that her Aunt Nicole put in her hair.
Thanks Nicole. Sometime, I need to watch you do this. :)

I think Grandma Hummel started a tradition of allowing the grand kids to make gingerbread houses at her house. Caislyn did this project last year at Grandma's house. This year she had fun once again making her own little sweet house. She is so proud of it. They used a buttermilk container and graham crackers to make this and then, of course, used icing to glue it all together. Another easy idea for anyone to do at home.

Speech Therapy

2008-12-16T12:39:00.001-05:00

Jakobi and Maylee have been making progress with their speech! Thanks to Speech Therapy! We take them to a training center about 20 minutes from our house, the same place Caislyn started out her speech therapy. They enjoy going to therapy...they always look so grown up as they walk down the hallway to find their classroom. I can't believe it, but they will be attending Preschool next year, here at this very same place. (If they qualify for the program, which I am sure they will!) Time is ticking away!

Here they are playing in shaving cream....Jakobi loved it....Maylee wasn't so sure about it...whether they liked it or not, they both learned the words: "snow", "car", "vrooom" and "beep", just by playing and watching one another. We always get a lot of creative ideas from therapy. We've learned many ways to stimulate language too....here's the #1 idea that I'd recommend to anyone who wants to get their child talking...scrubbing!! With a dry wash cloth, we scrub on Jakobi and Maylee's cheeks and also on the inside of their mouth. I know, it sounds strange! It works though.

During most sessions, we spend time at the sand/water table....although we normally do not see sand or water....it all depends on the theme of that session...this session was all about snow....so they had fun playing in the styrofoam popcorn! They both enjoyed this. They also found animals in the snow too. This activity was a good way to go over animal sounds, like: "Moo", "Bah", "oink", which Jakobi is really good at. This was a good refresher for Maylee. In the past, they've played in kernels of corn and beans. Anyone can do this at home with a bucket or big bowl! So easy.

Here they are at the smart board. I think this is Jakobi's favorite thing to do, he gets a little excited over it. The screen allows a child to press on pictures and move objects around. I didn't get a picture of it, but they enjoyed decorating a snowman. This activity also teaches following directions and taking turns. They look so grown up sitting in those little chairs!

Another "Duck" Tape Story

2008-12-16T07:17:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know.... this stuff is normally called "duct" tape, but I like to call it duck tape...makes me feel less guilty for sticking it on our two youngest children! :) I didn't even realize it, but this actual roll is called "Duck Tape". I noticed this the other day...made me smile! Oh, by the way, it looks like we may be running low on this stuff. Maybe the next roll should be bright orange or lime green. Something fun and festive!
The duck tape story continues....we started duck taping the zippers on both Jakobi and Maylee's sleepers. Jakobi is the KING of this little game. He would strip down in the middle of the night and wake up to his teeth chattering. I wasn't sure if I felt sorry for him or not. He sure did look pittiful though. Well, now MISS MAYLEE has joined in on the little game. I couldn't believe it when I opened up her bedroom door...there she was jumping around as happy as can be...with her jammies off. Thankfully, unlike her brother, she hasn't figured out the game of "diaper stripping". We're praying she never will!!! ;) I'm so glad these two do not share a bedroom. I have a feeling, if they shared a room, Maylee would have been mimicking her brother weeks ago!

Today

2008-12-09T23:15:00.002-05:00

We discovered that Maylee loves piggy back rides!

Today was not the day that I had planned! I was hoping to get up, take a nice hot shower, get Caislyn ready for school, get Jakobi and Maylee ready for the day and then head down the drive to put Cai on the bus. I was hoping to come back up and sit down to hot chocolate, write out Christmas cards and bake banana bread, while Jakobi and Maylee played together and watch Christmas movies.

Instead of all of that fun stuff, I woke up to a little girl telling me that her tummy hurt and that she wanted me to write a note to her teacher saying, "Caislyn is sick. Do not touch her". I knew at that moment this was not going to be a day of fun! Somehow, she talked me into getting ready for school. (I'm not a morning person, so this is the perfect time for anyone to talk me into something) Inside I knew this was probably not a good idea, but we still had 45 minutes, so I thought, "why not? We'll try it and see how she does before the bus gets here". Well, not even 5 minutes after she was all ready to go, her tummy had other plans! Thankfully we were in the bathroom when this all took place. As soon as her tummy decided to give up, Caislyn softly said, "I don't think I am going to school today". So, we took her out of her clothes and back into pajamas. She laid on the couch all morning and then took a 3 hour nap in her bedroom. WOW, this girl hardly ever takes a nap! Thankfully, her tummy didn't do that nasty trick like it did earlier in the day. I just hope it stays that way. Hopefully she will have a good night of sleep.

Jakobi and Maylee were so good today. They knew that their Big sis was not herself. Every time they would get close to her, Caislyn would yell, "don't touch me!!" They took the hint and stayed away. I just hope that this bug is a 24 hr bug and that this stops at Caislyn and doesn't move on to the rest of us. I guess, we will wait and see what happens.

Hope you all have a good week! Don't forget to Purrel! :)

Decorating the Tree

2008-12-09T23:04:00.000-05:00

Caislyn and her Daddy stringing the lights onto the tree

Maylee would not leave the strand of lights alone!

Jakobi knew what he wanted to do!

Maylee would put this ornament on and then she would take it off. On and off, on and off!

The next day, I found her taking them off and throwing them as she would yell, "ball"!!

Mommy was not a happy Mama! Thankfully, she has learned her lesson and has been leaving the tree alone!!

Finding The Perfect Christmas Tree

2008-12-09T22:58:00.003-05:00

We had a lot of fun going together to pick out our Christmas tree this year. I'm so glad the weather was decent, it wasn't too cold out. I feel like we've reached another milestone together...just being able to get all of us out of the house and being able to enjoy an outing together as a family!I look forward to many more outings in the upcoming year.

Caislyn was smart and made sure that we found a tree that had soft needles. If you remember last year, we had a long needle tree that hurt to the touch and it was a pain to clean up after the holidays were over!!! This year we found a soft short needle tree. I think its the best one yet!

Maylee was a follower that day.

Caislyn is telling Maylee to feel the needles.

Jakobi was a follower too!

He also tagged along with his Daddy, hand in hand.

Waiting patiently as Daddy pays for the tree

I think they are posing in front of our tree. It sure looks little in this picture.

Isn't it funny how that "perfect" tree always seem to get bigger once you get it set up in your house?

Jakobi and Maylee are watching their Daddy's every move,

as he gets ready to lift the tree into the back of the truck.

Thanksgiving Day

2008-12-09T22:44:00.006-05:00

This year, we enjoyed the day at Mom and Dad Hummel's house.

The food was amazing. I think we all took seconds! I know I did.

If you know my father-n-law, you know that he can be one silly guy.

He thought it would be fun to sit the turkey legs on the kiddos plates,

just to see what they would do. At first, they looked at it funny,

and then they tried to eat it with a fork!!

Caislyn just wanted her picture taken with a turkey leg.

She didn't want to touch it!

Caislyn loves to be creative in the kitchen,

so she was all excited when her Grandma

helped her make sugar cookies that looked like turkeys.

She made a few turkeys and then decided to make her own designs.
My father-n-law made a turkey out of veggies!

Daddy kissing all over his Bug-a-Bug!

We all have so much to be thankful for. I know that I am thankful for my family!

We have been through so much together and have grown so much as a whole.

God has blessed all of us in so many ways. Thank you, Lord.

More to come....

2008-12-09T11:08:00.002-05:00

We'll be back later on today to post about Thanksgiving and the day we picked out our Christmas tree. Right now, this is what Caislyn is looking like...

She woke up at 2:30 am SICK! She was so upset that she couldn't go to school.

(that's a good thing, right?)

Wrestling Match

2008-12-09T10:58:00.004-05:00

I'm surprised that it took these two kiddos

2 years to figure this all out!

Jakobi held on tight, as Maylee squirmed around
Maylee tried her hardest to wiggle away!

Here she goes!!

She is working really hard here as Daddy keeps snapping pictures!

Sorry Jakobi, but I think she's a fighter! This girl does not give up!

Caislyn Loves Snow!

2008-12-09T10:51:00.001-05:00

Caislyn is 100% Snow Bunny! She was so excited when we had our 1st snow fall. She came running into our bedroom that morning all excited about the snow! Hopefully we can get her back to the slopes, so she can try snowboarding again.

We're Back!!

2008-12-02T13:18:00.002-05:00

The Hummel Family is back in town! Like any other month, we had a full schedule of events. Let's not waste time, here's a few things that took place while we were away from the Blogging World. Be sure to scroll down to see pictures. Next week, I will go into more detail about our Thanksgiving and our adventure to picking out a Christmas tree. Oh, and we'd like to know who came back to see us! Leave your name in the comments section. THANKS.

-------------------------------------

JoEllen read the book, Multiple Blessings. Written by Jon & Kate Gosselin. (Thanks Marcia for letting me borrow it. I couldn't put it down.)
Jakobi tested us with taking his diaper off, so we decided it was time to duck tape that diaper on. Works like magic! (Thanks for the suggestion, Denise!)
Caislyn moved up to Level 3 in gymnastics!
Jakobi and Maylee DID NOT enjoy playing in the fall leaves this year!
Maylee has been stringing two words together ("Hi Daddy", "My juice")
Burke started a "biking" routine each evening. He suckered his wife into it too. (I guess he needed accountability?) I'm glad the bike is in the basement along with the TV! ;) Burke is seeing the results in his clothes and JoEllen is seeing some muscle...for once! :)
We learned that a new baby will making his/her debut in May 2009! (No, not from us! From Matt & Brianne! CONGRATS you guys! We can't wait to spoil this new member of our family!)
Caislyn learned how to draw a star all by herself.
We enjoyed a FREE Month of Netflix!
JoEllen celebrated her 28th Birthday on Nov 9th.
Jakobi has a new love for stickers
We had our 1st snowfall on Nov 17
Maylee tried to climb out of her crib and ended up injuring herself in the process, thankfully no broken bones.
OSU beat Michigan!
JoEllen continued reading her Bible...3 chapters a day...she completed Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel and 1 Kings.
Caislyn had a good time playing in the snow!
Jakobi thought it would be fun to play the piano and the guitar all at the same time
Caislyn fell in love with braids and pig tails
Maylee tried her 1st popsicle and loved it.
We spent T'giving Day at Mom and Dad Hummel's house. The food was amazing!
Jakobi and Maylee learned how to wrestle.
We picked out a Christmas tree!
We decorated the inside and outside of our house. We are all set up for Christmas now. I'm loving the wreaths we have hanging oun our windows outside. Something new this year.
Maylee has been testing us when it comes to pulling ornaments off of the Christmas tree.
Caislyn met Santa and Mrs Claus!
Breckin's tree has been decorated (Thanks Mom and Dad H!).

Jakobi and his duck tape!

Get me out of here!!

Caislyn's star that she drew and colored all by herself

Caislyn loves snow!!

A talented little boy

I love braids (and OSU!)

Maylee loves popsicles!

Thanksgiving Day

Wanna wrestle?

Checking out the needles. So soft!

Let's find the Perfect Tree!

Decorating

All Done! Isn't it Pretty?

She thinks the ornaments are balls!

She has been pulling them off and throwing them!

Santa, please come to my house on Christmas morn!

Breckin's Tree is all decorated for Christmas!

Saying Goodbye (only for a little while)

2008-10-28T21:40:00.003-04:00

We're READY for a BLOGGER BREAK! We promise, we're not trying to be a tease. We just want a break. Thats all. We will be back though. We will continue on in the month of December. I am sure we will have a lot to say when we return to the Blogger World. Don't forget to come back!!

We'll leave you with these beautiful Fall pics that we took on our drive through Panther Hollow. This place is so pretty, especially this time of the year. It is only a 5 minute drive from our house. It is known for the BIG glacier rocks. Caislyn had fun taking pics of all the rocks and even insisted on getting out of the van, so she could pose in front of one. She was so funny. It was a chilly afternoon, so we decided to leave Jakobi and Maylee in the van. Maybe next year!

Future Photographer!!

Cai made her Mommy get out for a picture!

WE LOVE THE COUNTRY!!!!

A Butterfly, A Lady Bug & A Bumble Bee

2008-10-28T21:31:00.001-04:00

Caislyn the Beautiful Butterfly

Maylee the Pretty Little Lady Bug

Jakobi the Buzzing Bumble Bee

We had fun trick-or-treating tonight. We did the annual trek to the grandparents houses, along with Uncle Beau's clan! It was a cold evening. I'm glad we drove to the houses! :) We're all pooped out, including the Mama and the Papa Bear. Glad the little ones are sound asleep in their beds. I will be hitting the hay very soon. I thought the kiddos did quite well tonight. There was screaming involved when we were getting ready for the evening, and then a few tears at Uncle Beau's house, but after that, they were all gems!

Helping Daddy Recover

2008-10-27T09:06:00.003-04:00

Last week, Burke had toe surgery. When he was home recooping, this is what the normal picture looked like. These pics were taken on the afternoon of his surgery. Caislyn was at school that day or she would be in these pics too. She is the "nurse" around here. She has such a sensitive heart for those who are hurting. Jakobi and Maylee took this opportunity to smother Daddy in love! They would take turns laying down with their Daddy. It was so cute. Burke is feeling a little better, still in pain though. He tries his hardest to keep his foot elevated, even at work. Today he is happy to get the bandages changed, but bummed that he still has stitches and has to wear the shoe for another 10 days. I hope he is up for trick-or-treating tonight!! We are all excited to go...too bad it is so cold out today...in fact, its SNOWING!!!

Blowing off the leaves

2008-10-21T14:17:00.005-04:00

We're enjoying the change in seasons. We did some yard work this past week...pulled out our annual flowers...weeded...power sprayed and blew leaves into piles. It was fun having the kiddos out with us. Caislyn rode her bike, Maylee played in her little car and Jakobi followed Burke everywhere he went. He loved the leaf blower. I was happy to get this pic of Jakobi holding Burke's hand. They walked all the way down our driveway and back. AND then Maylee got a little jealous and starting running down. If you've never been to our house, our house sits on a hill, therefore our driveway can be quite the work out. Not too bad, but enough to get your heart pumping. But REALLY BAD, when your 2 year old starts running down it. For the little tikes, once you start running, its hard to stop! This sometimes ends with a face plant on the ground! Not a pretty picture. Thankfully, Caislyn caught up with her and grabbed her hand. What a nice Big Sis!

Fall is my favorite time of the year. This is the time when I begin to slow down. I stay home more. I do little projects. I try to keep life simple. I wish I was better at slowing down during the summer months. Fall is a soothing time of the year for me too. I love the cool breezes, the colored leaves, bon fires, the yard work (not fun in the summer when its so hot and sticky out!), watching my kiddos jumping in piles of leaves, curling up in blankets....the list goes on. If only it would stay around a little longer! It always flies by way too fast. Winter always sneaks up on me...every single year!!

Jakobi loves our cat, Jack. He has been really brave lately and has been running after the cat. He used to just stare at him from a distance. Jack is so tame, so he is always happy when Jakobi is in the mood to pet him.

This picture cracks me up...Caislyn is almost crawling up the drive way! She was pooped from chasing Maylee Bug. I think Maylee was tired too, because they both sat down for a few minutes. I'm not sure what Cai is doing to Bug's head. But, I sure do love that their legs are both crossed!

Just Like His Father

2008-10-21T13:54:00.000-04:00

Do I really need to explain here?

Messy Spaghetti

2008-10-21T13:49:00.003-04:00

Yep, she loves it!

She had two helpings that night!

Caislyn loves Ballet

2008-10-21T13:33:00.003-04:00

Caislyn LOVES being a ballerina! This is her 1st year to take ballet and she's doing quite well at it. She loves to practice at home. Just look at her ballet slippers. They already look worn out. She will tell us (demand us), "Look over here. Look at me". :) Here she is right before we headed out the door last week. So graceful. So sweet.

Blogger Break

2008-10-14T10:52:00.001-04:00

Due to a lot of things going on in my noggin right now and several projects that I'm working on, I've decided to take a Blogger Break for a little while. Please, do not panic on me! :) This is only temporary. This Blogger Break will be in effect for the month of November. So, you still have two more weeks of Hummel land, USA.

I just thought I'd give you a heads up.

Book Worms

2008-10-14T10:28:00.000-04:00

I've been seeing a lot of THIS going on lately! Big Sis loves to read to Lil Sis. On this particular afternoon, I found them looking like this in the living room. :)

Mr Jakobi loves books too! He gets really excited when he looks through this book, "Arthur's Reading Race". I wish you could hear his high pitched squeal! ;)

Go BUCKS!

2008-10-14T06:56:00.000-04:00

It just wouldn't be right if we didn't add pics in our OSU gear! We always enjoy dressing up on Satudays. This year, Jakobi and Maylee even get into the spirit of the game. Burke loved watching the 1st part of the game with his kids. I like the picture of Burke laying on the couch with Jakobi and Maylee curling up on him. Oh, and YES, I NOW have a #33 jersey to wear! GO BUCKS!

Feeling Good

2008-10-07T14:07:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here eating a bowl of chili, topped with buttery corn bread and slices of melted swiss cheese. Yum! I'm getting a late start on lunch today, but I guess that's my fault. But if you were in my world this morning, you would soon realize how tough it would have been to fit lunch in. Thanks to Burger King, Jakobi and Maylee ate their lunch in the stroller while I did some grocery shopping. I guess, I could have eaten something from Burger King, but their food just didn't sound good to me.

Things feel so good right now. I told Burke the other night, "I feel like we are entering a good phase in life". I'm not saying that life has been bad, but its not quite as challenging right now. I'm not running all over the place like I used to!!!! I can actually sit down and enjoy a few moments of life. I know its the fact that Jakobi and Maylee are no longer babies! This makes life a little easier on me. They no longer take a bottle, they can now feed themselves, they are learning to talk and communicate their wants and desires, they are very helpful when it is time to clean toys up, they are also very helpful when it comes time to change their clothes in the morning and also at night when it is time to get into pajamas...there's so much to add to this list. Caislyn has been awesome, as well. Now that she is 5 years old, she has decided to be Miss Independent. She does much better at keeping herself entertained, although Mommy MUST play "School" with her on a regular basis! Its a MUST! :) She really enjoys looking through library books, singing and dancing on our coffee table, making tents and playing with her stuffed animals. I love to peek in on her when she is off in "dream land"!

LIFE is GOOD!

Update on Speech Therapy

2008-10-07T13:44:00.005-04:00

Jakobi and Maylee say "Raaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr"!

Caislyn may not like dinosaurs, but Maylee sure doesn't mind! :)

Jakobi and Maylee had Speech Therapy this morning and amazed me once again. The theme was "pumpkins and leaves". Their therapist read them a pumpkin story, let them paint a pumpkin picture, let them play in corn kernels (with hidden pumpkins, pine cones and leaves). All of these ideas are so simple, and somehow it gets these two to talk! Jakobi talks a lot more than Maylee right now, but she's not far behind. She likes to babble when she wakes from her naps. I let her lay in bed for quite awhile, just so she can get her talking time in for the day!

Caislyn loves her new harmonica! I might add, its a little annoying.

Caislyn's Speech therapy is going well. She gets therapy in Preschool. Her teacher sends notes home and tells us how well Caislyn is doing in this area. A BIG improvement from a year ago!! I'm so glad we made the decision of putting her in this Preschool program. Her teachers have taught her so much. I really think she will be one of the most confident Kindergartners next year!

Taking A Big Step

2008-10-07T13:34:00.002-04:00

It looks like I will be sharing with the Parent Preemie Connection! AND guess what? I will not be alone! Burke is coming to and we will be sharing together. Burke and I both feel like it is time that we use Breckin's story for God's glory, for His purposes. We've shared with the blog world, now its time to share with the outside world too. Which is a little different than sharing here on the blog, because now we will not by typing, we will be talking!!! That's a little scary to me. I think for Burke too. But, we feel that we need to so we can eventually be comfortable with it. So by taking this big step, we both agreed to speak at the Preemie Connection. This is a group that meets every Wednesday evening, specifically for parents who have kids in the NICU. This takes place at Aultman Hospital, the hospital where the triplets were born. I remember attending a couple of meetings when Jakobi and Maylee were in the hospital. It was a nice feeling to know that we were not the only ones going through drama on a daily basis. We simply were not alone! I remember feeling that way at times, feeling alone, thinking that no one else would ever understand our roller coaster ride. But, talking to other parents who were going through it at the very same time is a feeling I can not describe. It was a special connection. There was no need to share your worries, because the other person already knew that feeling of "worry". It even became a time of witnessing. We did feel strong, due to so many prayers, that some parents marveled at our positive thinking and wanted to know why we were not down in the dumps. I didn't think of it at the time, but now I see where God was using us even when we were at one of the lowest times in our life.

This will all take place in January. I know, thats a few months away, but since we are new sponsors to our youth group at Church, which meets on the same evenings as the Preemie Connection. We do not feel comfy missing a Wednesday night with our teens right now, since we've only been meeting with them for a few weeks now. This will also give us plenty of time to prepare for this BIG STEP in verbalizing our story to others. So, in the meantime, we'd really appreciate your prayers. THANKS!

Hanging in there

2008-09-30T14:54:00.000-04:00

Last week, was a little rough at times, but Burke and I made it through with a lot of prayer and encouragement from others. Breckin was on our minds a lot! We both deal with his loss a little different from the other, so there were times when we wondered what was going on in the other person's noggin. But, with patience and endurance, we were able to talk about Breckin and how much his little life means to us personally.

I want to thank my Sunday School class for letting me have a good cry. I had not cried much, until that moment. I felt so silly , but yet it felt so good. I am so glad you were able to see a piece of my heart as I grieve the loss of my baby boy. I know I do not verbalize enough, simply because it can be so hard to talk about at times. Your words of encouragement, emails, phone calls, prayers, kisses (ha! Carol!) and flowers made me feel so loved. I felt so much comfort last week, because of you. THANKS so much.

Where we would we be without our FAITH, FAMILY & FRIENDS?? (thanks for that reminder Dad Hummel!)

*On another note, please keep me in your prayers. I have been asked to share our story and Breckin's story to a group of parents who have little ones in the NICU right now. Part of me does not feel ready to do this, but then there is part of me saying, "try it, you may feel better by doing it". God has already brought two moms to me, I was able to help and encourage them as mush as I could, but the fact that He brought them my way, is HUGE. So, there may be a calling here. So, please pray with me, and we will see what happens here on out. Thanks so much.

Now that they are 2, they think they are BIG STUFF!

2008-09-30T14:34:00.008-04:00

Seriously! You'd think these two grew up over night!

For example, Jakobi told me that he went poopy. He even said, "poopy". He has told us several times over the past 4-5 days. He sometimes motions for a diaper and then lays right down on the floor, ready for us to change him. He is definitely aware of the situation! On Sunday, he went to Burke and fussed that he was wet. Burke looked at Jakobi and realized that he didn't have a diaper on!! He learned a few minutes later that Jakobi took his pants and diaper off all by himself.

Maylee must be paying close attention to her brother, because she too, has been telling us when she is poopy. She also tore off her diaper, only at this particular time it was during nap time! She took her diaper off a little too early!!! Thank goodness she wasn't poopy on that occasion. :)

Okay, you have probably heard enough about poop!!! Let's move on...

More big things took place...

Maylee started saying words!! That is MAJOR! Here's a list of words that she can say: "thanks", "please", oh my!", "out", "apple", "ball", "yes" and of course the word "no"! I enjoyed listening to her when she woke from her nap yesterday. She was talking up a storm. She was also laughing at herself. I think I listened to her over the monitor for a good 20 minutes! Well, I was reading during that time too, but it was fun to just listen to her gabbing away! I'm afraid this little girl will have more than enough to say when she gets the hang of the talking!

Jakobi started counting! I usually say "1" and then he continues on with "2" and then the two of us say "3, 4, 5"!! Today, Maylee chimed in when we got to the #3. So,, maybe she'll catch on soon too. We usually hold out the 5 for a long time, so it probably feels like a game to them. Still, that's a big deal to me!

A milestone took place too: No more baby gates in the house! The gate on the steps had been up for a year. Last week, they both decided to explore and see if they could climb up and over the gate and see if they could make it up and down the steps all by themselves. Sometimes they would get stuck half way over from the gate to the steps, so I woud rescue them, but was not happy with them for disobeying by climbing on the gate. So, I'd always put them in the time out chair. This was NOT working, because they kept on doing it...over an over again! I was getting tired of it, so, this Mama gave in and took the gates down! I am so glad I did, it keeps them entertained and they love to go up and play in Jakobi's bedroom. All of a sudden our house feels much bigger!! They've been keeping themselves occupied upstairs. After awhile I begin to wonder what they are up to. It seems like a long time before I can finally get up to see what they are doing. :)

There is more to this "BIG STUFF". They've also been naughty! Jakobi opened up the dryer door and climbed in it. When I found him, he had 2 stuffed dinosaurs, his blanket and a blox inside with him. He actually peeked out of the dryer and threw me a cheesy grin. He scared me hallf to death, because I was not expecting him to be in there!

Jakobi also learned how to turn a door knob. A day later he learned how to open up a door. That meant trouble, because we kept finding him in rooms that he was not allowed to be in (our bedroom, the bathrooms, the garage!). So, I had to be a mean Mama and put up door knob covers on several of the doors!

BUT....before the door knob covers were put on, Jakobi and Maylee snuck into big sis's room and tore it all up! Caislyn went hysterical! I did not blame her one bit. I think I decided right there and then that this is not a good time for Maylee to move in with Caislyn. We have been pondering that whole idea. I do not think they are ready for that yet. The big sis needs a place of her own. She needs a place to run to when she needs to get away from 2 year old toddlers!!! :)

Birthday Cake Ideas

2008-09-30T14:15:00.002-04:00

I've received several emails regarding the caterpillars that I made for Jakobi and Maylee's birthday party, so instead emailing you all back, hopefully you can get the info here in this post.

I usually use Wilton cake pans whenever I make the kiddos birthday cakes, so when it came time to bake a cake for Maylee and Jakobi's 2nd birthday party, I decided to browse Wilton's website. I was so excited when I came across the Birthday Cake Ideas. I was a little overwhlemed with all the great ideas, so many good ideas!! You should check it out. You may be there awhile.

I like the fact that you can use the same cake pan and turn it into several different creations! For example: You can use the lady bug cake pan to make an elephant cake, a kitty cake and a bumblee cake. I almost made the bumblee cakes, but once I found the caterpillar idea, I was in love! Although, if you look on the Wilton website, you will notice I made a few changes, so these are not exactly like the creation on the their site. I wanted to make them look furry!! To give them a furry look, I used my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator.

It was so easy to make a caterpillar out of cupcakes. I had so much fun with it. Caislyn helped me too. We also made an extra batch of cupcakes, just to make sure we had enough cake to go around. Caislyn had fun decorating the cupcakes with spice drops, m&m's and sprinkles.

I really liked the cupcake idea, simply because I didn't need to worry about cutting pieces of cake. I do not know why, but I always dread that part of it. So, at this party, I had it easy.

I am so happy that I am carrying this tradition on to my kids. As a child, I always loved the surprise of my brithday cakes! My mom made most of our birthday cakes and it always made me feel so special. Thanks mom! Hopefully our kids will get that same feeling inside. :)

Caislyn's surprise to her Daddy!!

2008-09-30T13:29:00.004-04:00

Burke had a birthday last week and Caislyn couldn't wait to make him something! She had it all planned out and whispered all of the details into my ear. While Burke was at work, she spent most of the day making puppets and a puppet theater (I think she was inspired by a lion puppet she made at school). She did all of the work, except for cutting a window out of the box. Like always, I was quite impressed. You can not see all of the detial in this picture though. The box was all decorated with designs and glitter glue. She was so proud of her work and could not wait to surprise her Daddy!!! Her plan worked, he was very surprised!! He had fun playing puppets with her for awhile too. He told me later on, "that's all I needed for my birthday". :) Its amazing that our kids enjoy our birthdays more than we do!! Good job, Cai-Cai!

Jakobi & Maylee's 2nd Birthday Party!!!

2008-09-24T14:53:00.007-04:00

On Monday, we celebrated Jakobi & Maylee's 2nd birthday!!! This last year flew by way too fast! That 1st year felt like forever! But, now that they are healthy and active, time just won't slow down! We had so much fun celebrating thier birthday. It was a beautiful evening to be outside. It also helped that both Jakobi and Maylee were in the BEST of moods. I think they knew all the attention was on them and they enjoyed every minute of it! Maylee wasn't really into the presents, although she never cried. She wanted the buckle off (she was in her booster chair) and she kept saying, "out". Which, by the way, is a new word for her. Atleast that is the first time I've ever heard her say it. Her Aunt Nicole would laugh at her whenever she'd say it, so it became a little game for a little while. So cute.

Jakobi enjoyed opening his presents. He knew what to do. He wanted to play with all of his new toys right away, but once we handed him a new present to open, he was fine with putting toys down and was eager to open up a new one! I think he even squealed a few times. :)

I love the picture below! You can tell Caislyn is NOT in love with Jakobi's new dinosaurs :) She better get used to seeing them in our house, because I think Jakobi is going to be a dinosaur lover! I caught him playing with one the other day and he was yelling, "Raaaarrrr"!!!

Grandpa and Grandma Hummel made vanilla homemade ice cream! Yum! I think the kiddos thought it tasted better in the ice cream maker than in a bowl. Silly kiddos. By the way the pics look, I think Papa started the mess!

Jakobi wanted his caterpillar cake!

It made me feel good that he wanted it so bad. :)

Maylee wanted her caterpillar too! But, of course we made her wait until after we lit the candles and then she had to wait until after we sang the Happy Birthday song! Once she got her hands on it, she was in fine form! For quite awhile!

We had fun watching the cousins play in the back yard together. Bryson was so nice to teach Jakobi how to play catch. Jakobi was really into it, as you can tell in a few pics below.

I LOVE this picture! I was actually quite surprised that Jakobi was sharing his new puzzle.

Remembering Breckin

2008-09-24T14:39:00.000-04:00

On the triplets birthday, Sept 19th, we took the family up for another balloon launch for Breckin. I hope we continue to do this year after year! This year was so different from last year. Last year, Jakobi and Maylee were content to stay in their car seats. This year, they wanted to throw pumpkins and climb all over grave stones!!! I was just happy to have them there and to be able to explain to them why we were there, even though I know Jakobi and Maylee have no idea yet. Caislyn knew what was going on though, which I think is great. She even waved to the sky and told Breckin "Happy Birthday". Yep, that was a tear jerker. But, made me so proud of my Cai-Cai! To lighten the mood, we took the fam (and the photogragher-Thanks Mom H!) out for ice cream!

WE MISS YOU, BRECKIN!

THINKING OF YOU EVERY DAY!

Here's an upclose look of the stone. Thanks Mom & Dad W!!

2 Days of Blog Posting!

2008-09-23T15:29:00.001-04:00

Yes, you read that right! I will be posting Today and Tomorrow.

Today I posted about our trip to Vancouver, Canada! Enjoy the video in the post below.

Tomorrow I will post about Jakobi & Maylee's 2nd Birthday Party and Breckin's Balloon Launch.

See you tomorrow.

Vancouver, Canada

2008-09-23T14:18:00.027-04:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

You had no idea!

Lastweek, Burke and I left the states and flew up to Vancouver, Canada! Burke had a Business Convention there. We were so excited that it worked out for me to go along too! Burke attended business seminars in the morning and then the afternoons were spent doing whatever we wanted. We went shopping, walked around the big city, ate lunch by the water, relaxed with a massage at the Spa, ate chocolate, visited with Dad & Mom Hummel and also with Mike & Karlene.

We enjoyed eating on this trip!!! Ohio National made sure we had enough food to eat! The 1st night they welcomed us with a formal meal in the Fairmount, the 2nd night they sent us to Bluewater, the 3rd night they took us over to Steamworks and we had the whole restaurant to ourselves, and the last night (always the BEST night!)was a formal evening with high-class dining, a live band and a dance floor. Burke and I were honored to be there and to be able to watch Dad Hummel receive the Lifetime Achievement Award!!!!! Dad Hummel had no idea, so that made it all the more memorable! The week was full of so many memories. I always enjoy watching Burke interact with other business men, he really does a nice job at not only talking about business but also talking about life. I also met some incredible people. Women who've gone through similar situations as me. One particular lady (I will not say her name) heard about the triplets and the passing of Breckin and was so encouraging to talk to. She, too, had gone through a similar experience herself. It was so nice to have someone who understood my pain. Our pain.

The view from our window was gorgeous. It overlooked the mountains and water and also the big city. It was hard to get a good picture of our view, seeing that we didn't have a balcony. So, we took some good pictures from Dad and Mom Hummel's balcony. You will see those in the video. You will also see Burke at BC Place (Football) and also GM, the Home of the Conucks. He and his dad took a couple of hours to check these two places out. I think that was an afternoon that I did a bunch of nothing! I loved every minute of it.

What a fun trip! We relaxed, met some new friends and ate yummy meals. Who could complain after all of that!?! Thank you Ohio National! (We missed you Megan & Katherine!) When the Winter Olympics takes place in 2010, it will be fun to say, "I've been there!" :)

Oh, and I can't forget to tell you that I was stuck in an elevator!! Yep, it was crammed full of people and the elevator would not move. It was hot and stuffy and it didn't help that a lady was freaking out the whole entire time. I felt bad for her, so I sucked it up and pretended to be fine. But on the inside I was having a panic attack of my own. I really thought I was going to pass out. EEEH! I was so happy when those doors opened up 15 minutes later!! I wanted to RUN!!!!!

Thanks to my parents, all three of our kiddos were taken care of while we were gone. Thanks Mom & Dad! We are so blessed to have you in our lives. The kiddos already miss you!!!!

Harvest Parade

2008-09-16T12:19:00.000-04:00

We always look forward to our hometown's Harvest parade! We normally sit in the sidelines and always have our hands ready for the catch (of candy that is!). This year was different, because we participated in the parade by riding on a float for Hummel Insurance. It was going to be only Burke and Caislyn on the float, but at the last minute, I decided to take Jakobi and Maylee along for the ride too. It ended up being a wild time! Thanks to Karlene for holding Maylee. I really do not know what I would have done without an extra set of hands, because it was a lot of work for me by holding onto Jakobi! That little boy loved throwing candy! I could not believe it! He was probably throwing way too much at a time. Well, I KNOW for a fact that he was throwing way too much, because half way through the parade our bag of candy was empty! Jakobi was NOT a happy camper. He wanted more candy. He was trying his hardest to wiggle out of my arms for a search of candy. Thanks to our friend, Lillian, we were able to throw out a few more pieces of candy! :) Caislyn and Burke sat in the front of the float. They threw out little footballs, advertising for Hummel Insurance. Grandma Mary sat with them too. Grandma loved every minute of it, but she whispered in my ear, "this is the last time that I will do this". :) Overall, it was a fun time, even though Caislyn was bummed at the end of the parade. She kept asking, "where's my candy?" She is so used to sitting with her cousins on the side of the road and catching all the candy. At the end, I would roll my eyes to the bag full of candy that she had collected. It is almost always ridiculous. You'd think she went trick-or-treating! But, she always has such a fun time. So. we'll see about next year, she may not want to sit on a float again! (Maybe I will join her on the side of the road and let Burke take Wiggle Boy and his Lil Sis!)

To My Baby Boy

2008-09-16T12:02:00.000-04:00

Hey little buddy, I can't believe that Friday will mark 2 years! That's just nuts. So much has taken place in the past 2 years. I wish you were here to experience all the fun times. I think I'm learning to live life now and not just sit back and be sad because you are gone from this Earth, although the pain will never leave my heart. I will always ache to have you back in my arms. But for some reason it feels different these days. A sense of relief that you are no longer suffering from the cruel Edwards Disease. I'm starting to feel more comfortable as I share about you to others. Recently I was able to comfort another Mommy with the passing of one of her triplets. A precious baby girl. I was able to tell her that she will be alright. I was able to witness to her about the love of Jesus. It was a nerve-racking experience, but a rewarding experience. Sometimes, I often think God has more for me. Its almost a tapping on the back, asking me to continue to tell your story to other hurting families out there. As time goes on, we will see what God has in store for your story. I can only imagine what your world is like right now! I often daydream of the things you are seeing, the things you are doing. I sometimes wonder if you are still a little baby. I wonder if you age in Heaven. Hmmm, I guess I will figure that out when my time here on Earth is done. So, for now I will just keep on dreaming of you and looking forward to holding you again.

Little Mama

2008-09-16T11:47:00.000-04:00

Here lately, Maylee has been a Little Mama! She loves to walk around the house with this baby carrier and my Cabbage Patch doll. Its fun to watch her pretend to take care of a little baby. I can't help but think that not long ago, Maylee was just as small as that little Cabbage patch doll!!

Pretty Decoration

2008-09-16T11:40:00.000-04:00

This girl loves to get into my bathroom drawers! She knows that my stuff is off limits, but constantly asks me, "Can I look at your stuff, Mommy?" On this particular day, I gave in and let her get my stuff out. I figured she wanted to play around and experiment. I found it funny that she wasn't interested in wearing any of it. She wanted to make a "pretty decoration", as she called it! This girl is One-of-a-Kind! I love her creative mind!!

Jakobi and his hat

2008-09-16T11:33:00.000-04:00

I've been trying my hardest to get Jakobi to wear this Nike hat. I just think its always cute when I see my nephew in hats. Its a boy thing, right? I was happy when Jakobi gave the hat a chance. Not for long though, but atleast he put it on himself. No forcing from Mommy! I think he wanted to just make me happy for one minute! What a smart booger.

Love Bugs!

2008-09-16T11:29:00.000-04:00

You can't read Caislyn's shirt, but you can see Maylee's. It says "Love Bug". Burke was shopping one day and found these adorable t-shirts and instantly thought of Maylee, since her nickname is Bug. Caislyn was with him at the time, so she thought she needed one too. I like this picture of the girlies cuddling up to each other. They truly are pals!

Caislyn's 5th Birthday Party

2008-09-09T16:57:00.002-04:00

Her birthday is really tomorrow! But with everyone's crazy schedules, we ended up celebrating a few days early! We had fun getting ready for her party. She even helped me make a sign that said, "Caislyn Is 5!" The plan was to be outside but the rain canceled that, so we moved to Plan B and set up in the living room. She was giddy all day as we were getting things ready for her party that evening. What a fun age for a birthday. At 5:00, her G'pa and G'ma H came over for supper and then at 6:00 her Uncle Beau, Aunt Nicole and her cousins Bryson, Reagan and Kennedy and then her Great G'pa and G'ma B...they all came over for presents and cake. And yes, the Hannah Montanna cake was a big hit! She loved it. When Burke brought it out to her, her face was priceless! :) Overall, it was a fun evening with family. After everyone left and went home, Caislyn took all her new treasures up to her room and shut the door. We didn't hear from her for an hour. It was hilarious when I went up to check on her. Her room was decorated and organized in Caislyn's own creative way! She was one happy camper, who slept really good that night! :)

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! You amaze us everyday!

Mommy & Daddy

Burke and a Hannah Montanna Cake!

2008-09-09T15:33:00.002-04:00

Believe it or not, but my hubby decorated Caislyn's birthday cake. I was very impressed with him. Here's pics to prove it. He was sneaking around during his lunch break. He didn't want Caislyn to see him in the laundry room as he decorated away! We always keep the birthday cake a secret. And since Caislyn has been begging for a Hannah Montanna cake, we knew this surprise needed to be a big hit! (and it was!!) I will be honest and say that I was a little nervous. I am sort of a control freak when it comes to my kiddos birthday cakes. I should not worry with him though, he has a very creative mind. He did a great job, as you can tell in the pics. How many kids can say "My daddy made my birthday cake?" :)

Gymnastics Again!

2008-09-09T15:12:00.000-04:00

Gymnastics is back!!! Caislyn was so excited! She took a break from them over the summer, but she so desperately wanted to keep going. She would ask us every week, "Can I go to gymnastics?" So, you can just imagine her squealing and hopping around last week when I told her to get her leotard on. Here's a few pics before we headed out the door. I drop her off at Burke's office and then he takes her. Its a good 20-25 minutes away, so this is gives them some good quality time together. Rumor has it, the girl was a rock star!!! She didn't forget the skills, in fact it was like she gained a few new skills. Maybe it paid off to have her watch the Olympics this summer.

Maylee loves to swing

2008-09-09T15:02:00.002-04:00

I love to watch my kiddos play in the back yard. It almost always takes me back to my own childhood. I smile as I watch them run around and play like I used to. On this particular morning, Maylee wanted to swing so badly, so I told Caislyn to lift her up and see if she'd sit there by herself. SHE DID! Caislyn pushed her for quite awhile. Maylee smiled and laughed and squealed with delight. Its moments like these that really take me back to childhood, because I would spend hours swinging!!! Maylee and Jakobi now have a new swing, its a bucket swing from G'pa and G'ma W. Maylee has already tried that out and I think this is going to be one of her favorite activities this Fall.

Oh, and yes my girlies are wearing their pajamas! They were having a "Pajama" day! We love "Pajama" Day!

Look What I Found

2008-09-09T14:43:00.001-04:00

Look what I found in Mommy's kitchen drawer! She doesn't realize how smart I am. She let me play in a utensil drawer, not realizing I'd sneak into the other drawers! I was so excited when I saw my big sister's secret stash of Dum-Dum suckers! Mommy gave in and let me try it out. I liked it for about 2 minutes and then I was done....I didn't like the sticky mess! Thanks for letting me have a "sugar" experience!

40 Years Together

2008-09-02T20:08:00.002-04:00

I am so proud to say that my parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary!

To celebrate this big day, we set up a tent in my brother and sis-n-law's back yard and decorated the place with red roses. It was a beautiful time. We are so blessed to have parents who love each other and who are committed to sharing a life together, who stay together when life throws curve balls. They are an example to us as they live their life with Christ at the center of their marriage. We love you, Mom and Dad!!!

Caislyn's 1st Day of School

2008-09-02T14:42:00.002-04:00

Here's Caislyn on her 1st day of school. She entered her 2nd year of Preschool! Her class moved from the Training Center to the Elementary School, which is only a few minutes from our house. She was really excited for school, but very nervous to ride the school bus.This was the 1st year for her to do this. Burke came home and helped her through the nerves.
(Be sure to look at the very LAST picture!)

This last picture is PRICELESS!!!

This was Caislyn after getting off of the bus and running to me!!!
She had a FUN 1st day! She was so excited to tell us all about it.

I am so glad she likes school. She has come so far since last year!

I just can't believe she has one more year until Kindergarten!