Spring Soccer

"Green Thunder"

These boys are too fun when they get together. Port had a great game and scored 2 goals. Halle and I watched from the car, but were super proud of how hard he played. It's going to be a fun season!

"Shark Attack"

Halle and I missed Haynes game because I was feeding her. When we walked out to the field we were shocked at how cold it was, and quickly headed back to the car. Haynes had a great first game with his buddies.

Sweet Sisters

Ella is really a sweet big sister. Her new favorite thing is to find her bible and come "read" stories to Halle. The other thing she likes to do is sing to her. I bought an automatic nose suction thing when we thought Halle just had bad congestion, but it is my new favorite gadget. It has a button to play nursery rhymes while you suction the baby's nose and Ella LOVES it! I just constantly remind her that she doesn't need to "suck Halle's nose, just mommy!"

Trampoline Time

Brian has been entertaining a ton on our trampoline lately. Our kids and Brian LOVE the trampoline! Brian is so creative they can't wait for him to come up with some new game to play. He does a great job of including Ella even when the boys would prefer to just wrestle. This weekend it was freezing, but the kids didn't care at all! I couldn't stop laughing when Brian kept asking if they were sure it wasn't too cold and the kids had been waiting for him outside for about 10 minutes....temperature really doesn't affect kids at all!

Apnea Machine

Brian told me that I needed to make sure and take a picture of our apnea machine. I disagreed completely, but then he made the point that we would probably not even remember this little season. This is the machine that can make the loudest and most aweful sound you have ever heard. Everyone described it to me like that and I thought they were being dramatic, but they weren't! It tells us if her heart rate gets too low or too high, or if it has stopped for a significant amount of time.

The cord goes to a little belt that is wrapped around her tiny chest. I can take it off for baths, but we really wear it 24 hours a day. I am using an old purse for a diaper bag because it has a divider in it, so the apnea machine has it's own compartment. We have laughed because Brian will carry her until I look over at how funny he looks carrying a purse. He proposes that I carry the purse and he'll carry the baby, but then we have a wire hanging between us which is even funnier! Angie thought it was a leash...which is a great comparison! Halle literally isn't usually more than a cord length away from me. I feel extravagantly blessed because this hasn't felt heavy at all, but we will be SO excited when we get rid of it!!

Halle has broken most of my "newborn rules." She has slept in our room in a cradle until this week. I always just put my babies in their beds immediately, especially since I am literally in the next room. We are significantly more aware of feeding and not really pushing her too much, I really do feed every 2.5 hours. I haven't let her cry things out much, she hasn't really needed to thankfully! The only thing that she really gets upset about is if I don't burp her very well...Brian has learned this the hard way:-)

Halle Beth

Halle went for her weight check on Monday.

She weighed in at 6.1 pounds!!

She gained 11 oz. in about 2 weeks, I must say I am so proud of my hard work:-) We will go back next Monday for another weight check, they will download her apnea machine and hopefully get a great report. We are believing that we will be able to stop supplementing soon and get rid of our 24 hour apnea machine next week!

She is just moving into a few newborn clothes, instead of 3-5 pound clothes! We honestly just fall more in love with our sweet baby every day. She really likes her hands, which Brooke reminded me that Ella was like that too! She has AWEFUL gas, just like Ella too. Brian has taught Ella that when she hears anyone toot, Ella will say "Halle!" Haynes can't leave our presence without checking on his baby sister and giving her a kiss. Port is great protector of Halle and would just sit holding her for really hours.

Ella Bella

Ella Rose

I just felt like I needed to record a few stories about this crazy girl. We absolutely adore her, but she definitely keeps us on our toes.

Ella has become quite our sleep walker...except she's awake while she is doing it! Saturday morning Brian took her to get donuts and she didn't stop talking the entire time. Apparently she revealed that she had poop on her fingers and put it on the spanking spoon?!? While changing her diaper Brian pulled out used (poop covered) wipes out of our wipe box. What happened while we were sleeping, I mean I'm up at least 3 times a night!?!

Sunday morning I come into the living room to find poop all over Halle's burp clothe and dress from the night before...again not sure how this happened!

Ella is really loving dancing right now! All she talks about it going to take tap and ballet class, getting ballerina clothes. If you get the chance please convince her to dance for you...it is hilarious! (no I have not taught her any dance moves!)

Girls Night & Boys Night

Ella, Halle & I had our first girls night!

We decided we were going to find Cinderella to watch. We headed to Hastings and were informed that it is in the "VAULT." We found another girly movie and Ella grabbed some pink gum. (Yep...she ate the entire thing by the end of the night! I don't think she swallowed all of it, but definitely some of it...)

Next we stopped and picked out some nail polish. We did REAL manicures...soaked her nails, filed them, and painted. She loved it and insisted that my toes should be the same color:-)

We had such a fun girls night and can't wait for more to come!!

Halle loved it too:-)

The boys got to head to the Thunder game with Daddy and Jake. They were beyond excited! I had to make them promise not to brag to Ella. (Ella loves pretending that she is going to the "Boz" game and watch the cheerleaders)

Apparently the boys had a great time and were quite wound up...check out that picture! I would guess there was a lot of sugar involved, especially since Daddy was involved:-)

Sharing

Let's be honest...my kids can fight with the best of them. Sometimes they are super sweet to each other too! This was their solution at the park today when they only had 2 swings and 3 kids. I love watching my boys love on their sisters!

Wet Suits!

Champ bought the kids their own wet suits and they love them! Thankfully Champ bought one for him too, I'm not sure who else was going to get in the water too:-)

Sara and Zac are engaged!!

Sweet Sara got engaged this Monday!

Sara and I met through House Church a few years ago. I have known Zac since he was about Haynes age. They have been dating for a while and we are so excited about their new season of engagement! Zac was super sweet and personally invited us to their engagement party. We are beyond excited for you two!!

Wake Time

I'm constantly getting the comments "Is she ever awake?"

Well...we aren't awake very often but here are a few shots of our beautiful eyes.

Isn't she a doll!

Ducks!

The kids stayed with Lolli and Champ this weekend, while Brian and I took the House Church leaders (and Halle) to the lake. Champ called and told me they were going to see the chicks at Atwoods. I made it very clear that "chicks" were not to come home with us...

then we got a message and some pictures of our new "ducks!" We didn't say anything about ducks:-)

Lolli and Champ have three new ducks! The kids absolutely LOVE them!

Port named his "Sonic."

Haynes named his "Green Lantern."

Ella named hers "Daisy."

NEW SWIMSUITS!

Lolli bought the kids new swimsuits. Who would have thought that they are getting so much use out of them in March!

Halle Beth

We took Halle Beth in for a weight check last week. She is up to a big 5.6 lbs!! We are currently nursing, then giving a bottle of 1 oz breast milk...every 2.5 hours. Her breathing is dramatically better and our apnea machine really hasn't gone off since we got it! Our life has taken a dramatic slow down, but we will do whatever it takes to help our sweet little one grow. We (our entire family) fall more in love with this little one each day! We will do another weight check next week and we are believing for BIG numbers!

Family Night

The last few weeks have been slightly intense, so we had some beautiful weather and took advantage of our favorite family night. We headed to campus to eat dinner and walk through campus. The boys brought a frisbee and we had a blast! Our kids are just so much fun and there is nothing I love more than spending time with my sweet family!

Spring Break

Spring Break was a little different this year. Since our top priority right now is to put some weight on sweet Halle, we couldn't do as much as I would have normally planned. We spent some time at Lolli and Champ's backyard. Port wrote out his entire alphabet for us on the sidewalk!

The kids have been dying to swim!! I finally let them jump in, but it is still FREEZING water. They were hilarious and just reminds us that kids really don't care about the water temperature!

Naptime...

That's right people...I managed to get everyone asleep at the same time! I walked into the living room and found Hartley asleep in Ella's chair too.

My sweet Halle Beth napping too. I wouldn't dare try to take a picture of the other three while they are sleeping. As for sleeping patterns our kids have started an amazing new habit! Since the time change our kids have been sleeping until 7:30 am at the earliest!!! Oh man...if you only knew how amazing that is for us. My parents watched the kids this weekend and their only rule was not to screw up their sleeping habits:-)

Ella has also started a new trend...she REALLY loves her room! We have found her playing in her room at 11 pm, 3am, etc. Oh my!?!

Tired?!?

We've been having a hard time getting Haynes and Ella to go to bed lately...

Tonight Haynes got out of bed about 3 times so I went in and told him if he wasn't tired I had some things he could do. He jumped out of bed as Port hook his head at him:-)

I told him he could go outside and pick up 10 pieces of poop. After a few tears he headed to the backyard. I went to deal with Ella so Brian got to finish this while cuddling with Halle. (We were pretty sure there wouldn't be much clean-up without some encouragement because Haynes really does a great job avoiding clean-up.)

I came back in to find the bag of poop sitting in the middle of our living room! Brian then told him if he wasn't tired he could brush Hartley's teeth...I had to leave the room I was laughing so hare! Haynes decided that Hartley would move too much and went to bed tired...seriously!!!

Emma Hope Hartsock

Emma Hope Hartsock

8 lbs 3 oz

20.5 inches

March 14th, 2011

We didn't get to go to Waco to meet sweet Emma the day she was born, but we can't wait to meet her! Halle is beyond excited to meet her new best friend!

Fun with cousins...

Friday Port and Haynes had their dream play dates. Port spent the day with his cousins. Kourtney picked him up from school and he got to stay and play all day.

Haynes got to spend the day with Miss Abbey and his best buddy Beau. They had so much fun together they even managed to take a nap together!

Words don't really express how thankful I am that while I was dealing with Halle, I honestly didn't even think twice about my boys. They were in the best hands! Thanks for loving my precious boys so well!

Orange Leaf

Our first family trip to Orange Leaf. The kids favorite part was when their cousins drove by for a quick hello! I love that my kids eat theirs as quick as possible and then run finish mine. Hartsock's do love sweets!

Omniplex

Port had a field trip to the Omniplex the Monday after our week with Daddy. Brian had signed up for the field trip thinking that would be the week he was home, but we missed it by a week. I didn't think I should take a week old and Haynes, so my mom went instead. She sent a few pictures from their day at the Omniplex.

The boys favorite part was painting their faces!

OU vs. OSU-Halle's first game

Saturday afternoon we decided to get out of the house and head to the OU v.s OSU game. In case you thought we were really serious fans...it was our first game:-)

Halle loved the game, she didn't make a sound or move most of the game.

The boys trying their hardest to get on the camera...didn't happen this time!

Ella loved the dancing for the camera too!

Popcorn Trees

I love SpRiNg!

Ella calls these "Popcorn Trees!" Anywhere we go she will cheer and point out the "popcorn trees."

Halle update...

So we thought our doctor visits were over...but we were quite wrong. Friday was Halle's 2 week check up. Everything went pretty well, but Halle had lost weight so we had to schedule a weight check for Monday. Port had a play date with his cousins, Haynes had a play date with Beau, and Ella and my mom met us for lunch. After lunch we went by the mall and I fed Halle in the car while Ella and Lolli went inside to play. When I finished feeding Halle I put her in the stroller and headed inside. On our way inside she started gasping (which is normal for her breathing) but I felt like she wasn't recovering. Then her little lips, nose. and forehead turned blue. I ripped her out of the stroller and started praying! After convincing myself that I had actually seen that, I called Dr. Stacy.

Dr. Stacy had me come to the office immediately and then had us admitted to the hospital for observation. Brian raced home for the second time this week and met me at the hospital. They did blood work, chest x-rays, and an ultrasound of the heart. They hooked her up to some monitors so we could monitor her heart rate and oxygen levels. They started her on some medication for acid reflux too. We have some amazing friends and family that dropped everything and came to support us, watched our kids, and mostly prayed.

Halle's alarms went off quite a bit Friday evening, and I about lost my mind! Thankfully about 12:30 a.m. we fed her and put her in her crib. Her oxygen levels didm't drop once after that and they weighed her at 3:00 a.m. and she had gained 3 oz!!! Praise Jesus!!!!

They sent us home about 12:00 on Saturday. We now have our own apnea machine that alerts us when her heart rate drops too low or goes too high. While we are beyond thankful for the machine that gives us a peace of mind...our hope and trust is in Jesus. We believe that Halle will be healed QUICKLY!!

Halle Beth

Halle Beth...what a week!

Sunday:

Halle started to get a little cold last weekend. Sunday her congestion was getting significantly worse, to the point that Sunday night I headed to the ER. On my way to the ER I prayed for favor with the nurses and doctors. Halle and I were admitted and in a room in about 5 minutes! They did a RSV & flu test, chest x-rays, and all that came back perfect. They drained her congestion and sent us home, determining that she just had bad congestion.

Monday:

Halle's breathing was getting worse and I was about to loose my mind! Her breathing was so struggled that I knew something had to be wrong. Her tummy had gotten swollen and she would throw up after I would feed her. Monday night she was so bad Brian and I would take turns holding her instead of sleeping!

Tuesday:

I called the doctor saying I just had to bring her in and let them look at her. I felt like the Lord told me not to take Ella (the boys were at school). I was praying on my way to the office that my doctors would be on my side, love my daughter well, and clarity for her problem. I felt clearly that the Lord said to "Trust Him!" When I walked in they we beyond helpful and compassionate that something wasn't right with my daughter. After evaluating her they decided that they were going to admit Halle into the hospital. They were determining where (Children's or Norman and NICU or pediatric). Dr. Stacey came in and said I needed to get the the hospital ASAP and there was a doctor waiting to do an emergency upper GI on Halle. I called Brian and he headed home ASAP!

Her upper and lower GI tests came back perfect, praise the Lord! They were beyond concerned that there was a blockage in her intestines which would be life threatening. We still had a problem of bloated tummy, throwing up, and awful congestion. They sent us home but told us if anything alerted us to go back to the hospital and they would admit us...meaning another night of holding Halle:-)

Wednesday:

We had an early appointment with Dr. Stacy. Halle had gained weight, her tummy had reduced in size by 2 inches, she threw up milk instead of bile...Praise GOD! She sent us to a ENT to check her throat.

Thursday:

We went to our early appointment and they had us head to Children's Hospital. They did a scope on Halle's throat and there was so much congestion they had to drain her and do it again! Halle was the toughest kid I know! They determined that she has layrngomalacia.

Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of "noisy breathing" in babies after the newborn period. This disorder may become obvious as early as the first two weeks of life, with noisy, raspy breathing while taking a breath in . At first the noise simply sounds like nasal congestion, but it occurs without nasal secretions. This type of "noisy breathing" is known as stridor and has a high pitched, harsh quality. The stridor is usually absent with the child is at rest and becomes more prominent when the infant is lying on his/her back, crying, feeding,excited or has a cold. The stridor usually is at it’s worst around six months and then gradually improves. Most children are symptom free by 24 months.

We know that God has had His hand on Halle Beth all week long! We are believing that she will be healed and no longer struggle to breathe in the name of Jesus. We are super thankful for all the prayers this week. God has been so near to us, we have been overwhelmed by His peace! We are thankful for answers, but know that that doesn't have to be our truth. As my kids say, "There is no laryngomalacia in Heaven, so Jesus definitely doesn't want Halle to have it here on earth either!"

Human Mobil

I came in the living room last night to find this sight. Haynes had climbed into Halle's bed and unhooked her mobil. I guess she had been crying and he decided he would make her happy! While all my kids LOVE Halle, I would have to say that Haynes is the most in love with her. He loves that she is tiny (I think because he is always being told how small he is), he really doesn't go about 5 minutes without checking on her and kissing her, and he is always making sure that she has his BB or some stuffed animal. Thank you Jesus for sweet siblings!

Halle for Show and Tell

Haynes got to bring snack and show and tell to Gingerbread this week. He was super excited to bring Halle Beth for his show and tell. In fact when he brought the bag home he wanted to go ahead and put Halle in the sack...I put an end to that quite quickly (even though he did have a point that she was small enough to fit). He was super sweet introducing Halle to all his friends. He described her as:

tiny

sweet

only kiss her feet-because she is sick

Hawee Beff

Port got to bring show and tell the week Halle was born and was super disappointed that his new baby wasn't here in time. We decided to stop in on Port's class so he could introduce his sister to his friends. When we walked in his face lit up like nothing I have seen. He jumped up and quickly introduce his friends to Halle Beth.

Happy Birthday Shannon!

The girls planned a surprise party for Shannon at Sooner Bowling on Sunday night.

Port bowled a strike on his first attempt...with bumpers:-)

Haynes had a blast!

Ella really loved her shoes!

Shannon we absolutely adore you! We pray God's richest blessings over you this next year. May it be the best year yet!!! Happy Happy Birthday Sha Sha!