21 children?

As a young girl I imagined myself with lots of children. In fact, one of my favorite books was (and is!) The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes.

The momma bunny in the book was fairly liberated, considering her 21 children, but somewhere along the way I was impressed that having lots of children was not too cool. Even ten years ago I could not have imagined where I would be today. 

If I had known all the things that would happen, I would do all of it over again. Yes, I would.

But, we still struggle from time to time.  I almost hate to share the hard stuff, because I want to be the sort of person who lifts people up. I'll be real today, OK?

Ralph won't eat. More accurate to say that I cannot predict what he will decide to eat and when he will decide to eat it. He is not too thin and his little thighs are pretty meaty looking lately. But I worry that he is not getting the nutrition he needs to grow properly. You know...up and not out.

Ralph will ALWAYS drink. Milk, water, juice, anything liquid. Is this because of the Lasix? He never seems to get enough to drink. When I set a plate of food in front of him he turns his head and asks for a drink.

This is making me crazy. Sometimes if I can pry his mouth open and get one little bite of food in his mouth he will eat. I don't want to fight with him at every meal though.

I'm going to try to relax and give him a break. I'll give him toddler formula instead of milk and give him a little space at mealtime. He ate a nice lunch after water therapy today. Maybe he needs more physical activity? 

Photos for your viewing pleasure:

Leroy at the Fall sports program at the high school.

Everyone was ready to go, except Jordan. Here is Rose tying his shoes for him!

Ralph and Ruby playing on the floor. He is so tender with her, when he's not smacking her! LOL

Ruby laying on Ralph. She really seems to like him!

The pound she gained over the last two weeks went straight to her cheeks.

Chipper, my football star.

More Ruby. She has one of those faces...full of character.