The most perfect first born.

Oh, my little Leah Kate. Thanks to her, I (finally) became a Mom. And she fits the mold as the first born to a T.  She's soon to turn 6. No, 16. One of the two, I'm not sure.

She was the MOST perfect baby. She slept through the night (10-12 hours, exclusively breastfed) at 8weeks.  By 9 weeks, I was ready for baby #2 because I was so madly in love with her. And because she was so easy.

She was amazingly healthy until nearly her 3rd birthday. Then, she developed a cough that we couldn't rid of for anything, and after months and months, she was considered to have reactive airway disease (asthma). She also developed one ear infection after another. The poor child has been hospitalized twice with asthma/pneumonia, and seems to pick up every viral or bacterial infection sent her way. Including, this past year, pertussis. Yes, whooping cough. Yes, she's vaccinated.  And lots and lots of strep (reminding myself to have her tested to she if she happens to be a carrier).

Anyhow, when she gets sick- she gets SICK. The poor thing has been through so many steroid treatments. It's pitiful. She is so used to being sick, it breaks my heart. But she just battles through. She was recently tested for cystic fibrosis. It was negative.

Then, at age 4, she was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder called Selective Mutism. Basically, she went a FULL YEAR in preschool without ever speaking, and rarely using the restroom while away from home. Everyday is a struggle, but she works SO HARD to overcome this. It's a tough world for her, but she is VERY brave.

Despite all of this- Leah is my mature, trustworthy, bossy, intelligent, majorly observant child who helps me run the house. Tell her something once- she'll never forget. This, I have to be careful with. She has been obsessed with clothes and shoes since the age of 18 months. She picks out her clothes, AND all her siblings' clothes daily- and most days gets them all dressed. She changes diapers, wipes noses, cleans up messes, and most recently- makes waffles for breakfast.

Here's more of what I love about her. And what drives me crazy.

- She's serious, yet a major giggle box.
- Although she's messy, she loves to clean.
- She's obsessed with braids. I can't do any fancy braiding. She's not happy about that.
- She can fall asleep faster than her Daddy, and that is quite a feat.
- She's the biggest chicken! She won't go upstairs, or down, without a sibling by her side.
- She thinks our family should be all together, all the time.
- She doesn't want Mommy and Daddy to stop at 4 babies. She's got room in her heart for more.
- She recently failed a vision screening, but did not need glasses. Wouldn't stop until she got "fake" ones.

- She's a beach bunny, loves summer, and doesn't want to come in from the outdoors.
- She's scared to death of cats. And a lot of other animals, at that.
- She's unbelievably sassy.
- She's an artist. Just ask her.

- When she grows up, she wants to be a doctor and a pilot and a mommy.
- She loves, loves, loves gore (just like her Mommy). If she's not in the medical field, I'll be sad.
- If someone needs prayer, she stops right then and there to pray. "In her head," quietly.
- She breastfeeds her babies, and has for as long as I can remember.

- She's sneaky.
- She has a lot of compassion for others.
- She loves to eat out, possibly more so than Mommy.
- She's a complete Daddy's girl.

- She eats anything and everything. Fruits and veggies, and fruit roll ups, are among her favorites.
- Her Uncle Patrick is one of her favorite people ever.
- She's thrilled to be going into 1st grade.
- All she wants to do is grow up. She just wants to be "big."

Just on vacation a couple of weeks ago, as her and Jenna were swimming, it started to rain. As we took the babies, stroller, etc., around the corner under cover, we slipped out of their sight for a brief second. Next thing we know, Leah takes Jenna by the hand, finds a pool worker, and tells him that they lost their parents. She makes me SO, SO proud. She's responsible, nurturing. The best big sister, the most perfect first born, my Leah Kate.

I've gotta do more....

..... videotaping. As I lay here, unable to sleep, I like to remind myself that there are things I'm not doing that I should be doing. Some call that beating myself up. Whatever.

One such thing is videotaping (one word??) the ever-so-adorable things my kids do.

Such as: Leah likes to make Norah do a cheer, a "J-E-S-U-S, no one better to the East, to the West" cheer, per se, that basically pulls her arms out of socket. But Norah cracks up. That should so be documented. You know, other than the description that's now in my blog.

And Mitchell, with all his new words, sayings and demands in his awesome toddler world. It goes something like this: the big girls are sitting at their table using up a mature tree-sized amount of art paper, drawing pictures for anybody and everybody, when Mitchell all of a sudden bursts into a sprint. He buzzes by them, shouting "NANA-NANA-BOO-BOO, YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!" No one's even trying to catch him. He doesn't care. It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I'd probably never be able to catch that one on video anyway, it's so random. And all you'd hear is me cracking up anyway probably. So, you'll just have to take my word on that one.

Note to self: tomorrow, break out the video camera. Hopefully, I can remember how to use it.

Bubbles & Ice cream!

((Hoping others can relate)) You know that time of evening where the sun beats through your windows and reminds you that you really need to dust?! As a total clean freak, it drives me nuts. So, I usually grab a rag and dust some part of some room every evening at that time. And, every evening at that same time, Mitchell points up to the scattered dust, gleaming in the sunlight, and excitedly shouts "BUBBLES!"

The big girls went to Nana and Papa's to play with their cousin Nataley today for several hours, so Daddy and I took Mitchell (and Norah, of course) for ice cream. It was the best ice cream cone he's ever had.

I'm going for it!

So, I already feel like I spend too much time on the computer on any given day- shopping, paying bills, diagnosing family members, looking for ways to make my life easier, signing the kids up for activities, chatting with friends, searching for new design and redecorating ideas, looking up recipes, battling the insurance company, facebooking, house hunting, searching for vacations, uploading pictures, searching for affirmations to get me through my day, and occasional couponing - but I've now decided to start blogging. Wish me luck.