MORE BABY ROME

I thought I would post some more pix of Rome. He is such a darling baby!! We had such a difficult time with him in the beginning though! The picture of Branden bouncing on the ball is a good representation of what we did with him for the first 6 weeks!! Our knees, backs, and patience were raw! I had similar problems with Parker as a baby and I always swore that if I had another child like him, I would be really aggressive about getting him some help. After a couple of visits to the pediatrician for "colic", we ended up at the GI specialist. They figured out that poor Rome is allergic to proteins. I have always loved nursing my babies and so it was super hard to switch to feeding him formula. It was trial and error, but we eventually found one that is special ordered at $50 a can!!! YIKES! Thank goodness our insurance company helps us with paying for it. (As a can only lasts for 2 1/2 days!!)Other than meds for his reflux he doesn't require anything else and he is such a good boy now. The kids adore him!! Kamarin is his little mother and loves to just hold and rock him. His big brothers like everything about him...except when he cries!!

BABY ROME

We are no longer Hoopes 5...we are now Hoopes 6! I am not sure how to rename my blog, so for now it will remain the same. These are some of the earliest pix of our sweet new addition. He has been so much fun and such a blessing to our family!!

CARVING PUMPKINS

I think that carving pumpkins is such a fun family tradition! The boys each picked out the perfect pumpkin and then they were ready to carve. Everett spent a lot of time stabbing his pumpkin with various tools. He also refused to stick his hand inside the pumpkin to pull out the guts! Parker was meticulous in his efforts of cleaning and cutting. We definitely missed Kamarin this year, as she was at her Dad's. We were successful in creating spooky jack-o-lanterns!

PARKER'S PRESENTS

Parker had a couple of gifts that he REALLY wanted for his birthday this year: a watch and a yo yo. As you can see by the pictures...he was very pleased with his presents. Little brother also got a yo yo to join in the fun. Dad and Mom spent the next several days rolling up yo yo's...so the boys could stand on the couch and try again!

1ST AND 4TH GRADE HALLOWEEN PARTIES

I figure that I had better hurry and post all of our Halloween pictures from parties and trick-or-treating. I was schduled to be induced to have our baby this morning. The hospital called and they are full until this afternoon...so, we are waiting! The boys class Halloween parties fell on Parker's birthday. His class was having a pizza party too. He wanted me to bring in donuts for the class. His teacher always does an apple bobbing for each of the kids. Parker almost got a bite into his apple. Everett's class had fun making spiderwebs with paint and eating plenty of junk.