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Brothers

2 months

Back in the Game

Will turned 8 weeks on Friday the 15th so he's now officially old enough to go in the Energy Center at the gym with his big brothers. We were away last week and returned late Saturday night so yesterday was the big day! I dropped all the kids off in the Energy Center and was able to work out. I did a one hour Body Pump class followed by one hour of kickboxing. That will be my routine on Mondays and Thursdays. I will probably also take Body Pump on Saturdays and do cardio/swimming/hot tub on the other days. It's great to be back!!

New Address went through...

Hopefully everyone followed me here...

New Blog Address to come...

I am going to try and change my blog's address to www.thebrothers4.blogspot.com
Just wanted to let y'all know... I'll let you know if for some reason that name is taken...

Happy Boy, Happy Boy...

Hubba, Hubba, Hubba, Hubba, Hubba...

Brotherly Love

Will's One Month Check Up

Today was Will's one month check up. He did really well. He weighed 11 pounds, 9.5 ounces and was 23.5 inches long. He had an ultrasound of his head last week because his fontanel is large. The the ultrasound was normal so that was good! He has another ultrasound coming up on August 4th. This one is of his hips which is standard procedure for breech babies. Will was a footling breech which means he was born foot first!! The doctor said his hips look normal... but we'll do the ultrasound anyway as a precaution. He does have a blocked tear duct in his right eye but that should go away by the time he's one (if not sooner)... (Kevin had one when he was a baby...) He also has a teeny tiny birth mark on his right eyelid... he was so alert and happy for the appointment which is always good... we go back in one month... Good job Will!!

One month...

I can't believe our baby boy is one month old today! It has just flown by waaay too fast!! Will is doing so well and is growing like a weed. He has his one month check up on Wednesday - I'll keep you posted on his progress... :o)

Introducing...

Our newest baby... William John was born on June 20th at 9:03 am. He weighed in at 9 pounds and 15 ounces. He was 22 1/4 inches... so far, the longest baby in the family but not the heaviest (Eddie was 10 lbs, 3 ounces). Will is such a good baby and we are having fun with a baby in the house again.

Mom and Will


Dad and Will


Hello everyone!!!


Just relaxing...


Eddie holding Will


Kevin holding Will


Ryan holding Will


All the "boys" in the family

Carl Donald Borleis, 1933-2008

Carl Donald "Don" Borleis, 74, of Elverson and Lyman, S.C., passed away at home in Elverson in God's perfect timing on Wednesday, June 18, following a long illness and went to be with his Lord.

He was born on December 21, 1933, in Baltimore. He was the son of the late Catherine (Bullock) Borleis and Carl William Borleis of St. Maries, Id. He was the beloved husband of Geraldine E. (Single) Borleis, with whom he shared 54 years of marriage, celebrated on June 12, 2008.

Borleis' career as a printer in Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania included more than ten years for Tursack Printing Inc. of Morgantown. At one time, he was employed as a police officer in West Boylston, Mass. He served his country in the 8605th U.S. Army Security Agency, stationed in Oahu, Hawaii.

He was a member of both Ebenezer Bible Chapel, Elverson, and Apalache Baptist Church, Greer, S.C. He enjoyed serving the Lord through the ministry of Senior Groups; Prime Time in Pennsylvania and Golden Hearts in S.C. Also, Borleis and son, Donald, in 1994 traveled with Josh McDowell Ministries on a short-term missions trip to Russia.

Borleis is survived in addition to his wife and father by three sons, Daniel and wife Sue Borleis of Concord, N.C.; David and wife Janet of Gardner, Mass., and Donald and wife Shawna of Greenville, S.C. He is also survived by three daughters, Deborah and husband Ken Breitkreuz of Centennial, Colo.; Diane and husband Fred Hubler of Bethel, and Dawn and husband Ed McGurn of Braintree, Mass. Also surviving is a brother, Carl William Borleis Jr. of Minnesota. Borleis was grandfather to 13 dear grandchildren; twins Brooke and Brandon Borleis; Alex and Evan Breitkreuz; Adrian and Lani Hubler; Maddie, Zachary and Emmie Borleis; Eddie, twins Kevin and Ryan and William McGurn.

Borleis was an avid photographer whose photos won several awards at community art shows. He also enjoyed various hobbies, including model cars, fishing and was a fan of baseball and NASCAR racing. He, along with his wife, Gerry, especially enjoyed attending Gospel Music Concerts.

Funeral services with military honors were held Saturday, June 21, at Ebenezer Bible Chapel in Elverson, with Pastor Deane Boyd officiating. Interment was held at the adjoining cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made in the memory of Borleis to Ebenezer Bible Chapel, 289 Warwick Furnace Road, Elverson PA, 19520, or Apalache Baptist Church, 1915 Gap Creek Road, Greer, S.C. 29651.

Bummer...

Well, I guess it was bound to happen... someone posted a comment on my last post that contained some spam. When you clicked on the comment, it took you to a website that claimed to be scanning your computer for viruses. I didn't know how to delete just the comment so I had to delete the entire post. Thanks for your comment, Stephie! I will repost the pictures for those who haven't seen them... and unfortunately, I had to turn comment moderation and word verification back on so this doesn't happen again... I know that's a pain when you are leaving a comment, sorry! I'm off to scan the computer for viruses!!!

Happy (Belated) Easter

It was 25 degrees for our Easter Egg Hunt!! Can you say COLD????


The Easter Bunny brought us baskets!


On our way to church...

A Visit to See Grandpa

As some of you may know, my Dad has esophageal cancer. Last week, the tumor became large enough to block off the esophagus. He had been admitted to a hospital in Michigan where he and my Mom were spending a few months visiting when this was discovered. Thursday they put in a feeding tube. On Thursday we packed up the kids and made the 850 mile journey to Michigan to see him. He started to look better each day after the surgery. We arrived Friday night and drove home Monday and Tuesday. He is now home in PA receiving hospice care. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Here are the kids - Ryan is showing the card he made for Grandpa:



Ryan and Grandpa:



Grandpa pretending he is ET and making Kevin laugh:



Eddie and Grandpa:



My sisters Deb and Diane (yes, they are twins) checking out my big baby belly:



Grandma at Creative Health Institute (where they were staying in Michigan) showing us the fresh grass to be made into wheatgrass juice. (They don't call it "The Wheatgrass Place" for nothing):



And we can't leave out BIG BOY - the kids' new favorite restaurant:

Ryan's Turn

Saturday was Ryan's turn to visit the ER. This was his first time. As of Saturday, he was the first of the three to get stitches. We were on a field trip with the Cub Scouts to the USS Salem. We all went up "on deck" to wait for the tour to begin - and as we were waiting, Ryan slipped on some snow/ice and fell on his chin. I saw him fall but did not see the cut as it was under his chin. I thought he was just crying because he was covered in snow. It wasn't until a few minutes later when Eddie said "Wow Mom, he's really bleeding" that I saw the cut and it was a big one. It wasn't too long (about an inch) but it was open and you could tell by looking at it that he needed some stitches... so I grabbed Kevin and Ryan and we headed to the ER. Thanks to the other leaders who took care of Eddie while I was gone - and I was gone for 5 hours!! Ryan was very brave during the whole event and now has 6 stitches in his chin. They have to be completely dry for the first 48 hours. Luckily they are disolvable so we don't have to have them removed although we will pay a visit to the pediatrician on Friday to make sure they are all out and to make sure there are no signs of infection. Funny thing is, after we were done at the hospital, he thought we were still going back to the ship! Maybe someday! I did contact the folks at the ship and they are going to send us a refund and a little something from the gift shop so I'm sure Ryan will be excited about that!!

Seeking a Financial Advisor

Do you have a really good financial advisor? How do I go about getting one? Do I pick one out of the phone book at random? We have a bunch of things we want to do and need some advice. Has anyone read "Missed Fortune"? It's a great book! It's a different approach to investing. I am reading it now. Our mortgage broker recommended it to us and I'm finally getting around to reading it. Well, I actually had "Missed Fortune" before but didn't finish it so this time I am reading "Missed Fortune 101". I've been getting some advice from Dave Ramsey too - but it will be nice to have a sit down with someone and get all our questions answered. Speaking of Dave Ramsey... my kids have been really into America's Funniest Home Videos this year. We happened to watch the "Grand Finale" where someone is awarded $100,000 for the best video (this is after winning $10,000 for being the best on their show). The video that won the $100,000 was of a little boy in a bath tub / whirlpool (one of those big tubs) and his Great Dane. The dog jumped in the tub and they won $100,000. I remember telling the kids that if THAT video won, we'd better get working on some entries. Anyway, I remembered at the end of the show, they asked them what they'd do with their money and they said they wanted to get a pool in their backyard. I don't know why that stuck out in my mind but it did... so I get this month's email from Dave Ramsey (yes, there is a point to this story SOMEWHERE) and the call of the month was from the family that won the money and they had questions about what to do with the money. It's a pretty funny call - check it out!
http://a1611.g.akamai.net/f/1611/23575/9h/dramsey.download.akamai.com/23575/audio/mp3/MyDRS%20Blog/01092008_dave_drive.mp3
*I still can't figure out how to post a link but if you triple click on the link, you should be able to highlight the whole thing and then copy.

I passed! I passed!

I just got the call from the OB nurse and my glucose tolerance test result was 95!! The cutoff is 140. I can't believe it! When I was pregnant with Eddie, it was 139!! I don't remember what it was with Kevin and Ryan but I think it was in the 130's. What great news!!! I was so not looking forward to testing my blood 6 x a day and a really strict diabetic diet!!! But I do think it's a wake up call to start eating better and as soon as it warms up a bit, I will walk when the kids are at school... that is, if I'm not napping! By the way, I'm 20 weeks along today so 1/2 way there - maybe a bit more than 1/2 way since I'm sure they'll schedule me a week early for a repeat c-section. Have a great day everyone!

Mr. Handsome

This year I decided to splurge on Easter suits. Here's Ryan trying his on: