YAY!

At nearly 4 months old, Miss Vi is 25" long and 15 lbs 10.5 oz. What a big girl!! The Dr says she has GREAT muscle tone and is very alert and extremely cute! :)

On another wonderful note, GraceAnne made Violet laugh almost the whole way home. It was the most fantastic music we could possibly hope to listen to. Violet thinks GraceAnne is the funniest thing she's ever seen. She also thinks she has the best big sisters in the world. She's right! What a lucky duck. ;)

Too Cute!

They like to watch movies together. Violet likes anything GraceAnne picks out. Yes--I am aware it kills brain cells. Yes--she will probably have fewer brain cells than Gracie. No--I'm not worried about it. She only does it once a week or so and my kids are baby geniuses, so I'm sure she's just fine. ;)
Who can resist a man and his baby? Especially his baby girl! My hubby is so cute and he makes the cutest babies, too!
She likes to look down at me. I guess it's a new perspective, but it makes her giggle a lot!
There she is doubling over in laughter after looking at me from above. Blurry--but let's call it "artsy" ;)

Did I tell ya'll that the host special for Pampered Chef for October is 60% off the cookware? It's amazing cookware in Stainless Steel or the Executive finish (nonstick). Ask me how to get all kinds of other free stuff, too! :)

Love and miss you all!

I am Officially...

...your new Pampered Chef Consultant! I am SO EXCITED about this opportunity, and I really can't wait to get my parties going and see how big God can make this! I signed the papers today and my goal is to have over $1,250 in sales and more than 4 shows within 30 days. In order to be considered a "show" I have to have $150 in orders.

Please consider hosting a show, the benefits are awesome, (You get free product, half-price product and a discount on everything else. You can also take the host special--September is 60% off the cookware--and get 10% off any future sales as well as booking benefits. Just ask.), not to mention I will come to your house and cook for you and your friends! If you live far away, that's okay, because you can still do a catalog show and get benefits. If you live in Illinois or Wisconsin, we'll be there this winter, so maybe we can do a show then! A Christmas show with desserts would be fantastic!

Above all else, please just PRAY for me and success in this venture. I'm really thrilled at the prospect of what this could be, (a chance for me to get out of the house once in a while, make some money and get some more adult interaction), so thanks for all the prayers, well-wishes and business!

On the grander scheme of things...this has really helped me decide "what I want to do when I grow up." I've been trying to decide what I would go back to school for once all the kids are in school and since I don't need a career, I'd like to do something fun for me. I'm thinking culinary arts is in order. Allan is totally behind me on this and has suggested it to me for a long time. It just took me a while to be settled in the idea that what I'm really doing here as a Mommy is the most important and Blessed thing I could possibly be doing! I've always loved cooking and presentation, so I think it'll be a great thing.

As for Allan and Gracie...

Check out my rocker babies!
So I've told everyone about Pampered Chef and about Violet's obsession with her Beatrice Bunny, (found at the checkout counter at Central Market), and her thumb. What I've failed to mention in a while is Allan and GraceAnne.

Allan got done with school on the 5th. For the last two days he visited a prothetics shop in Irving, (near DFW airport), and made me bring him his laptop so I could see the place. It was immaculate. In case any of you has never been in a prosthetics lab, allow me to paint a picture. Imagine the messiest garage you've ever seen in your life. Now picture it lit well with fluorescent bulbs, tape on the floor in random spots and plaster smeared EVERYWHERE. Allan usually complains that he spends most of his time looking for a darned tool instead of actually doing his job. He's been fitted at, volunteered at and now done rotations at several facilities, so he knows this is a common theme with these shops. This place he was at in Irving was amazing. Each station was color coded with its own tools and had pegboard for the tools to stay organized at said station. The floors were so clean they could probably be eaten off of. Allan has found his dream and I asked him if he'd consider doing his residency there, to which he said no. Why? Because they only do upper extremity orthotics & prosthetics. :( Hopefully he can inject a little organization into whatever shop he ends up doing his residency in and then whichever facility he ends up working in. I know how clutter drives him mad.

He's been very busy during his off time. We decided we'd stop feeling sorry for ourselves about the house not getting done, (will they EVER FREAKIN BE HERE???), and work on someone else's house. A couple we are friends with from church hate their house--very long story as to why they live there and coming from a woman's point-of-view, I understand. The livingroom was done in paneling, (not the nice historic stuff, but the nasty Irish immigrant 1970's crap), and was very dark and uninviting. The husband works a lot and very hard and doesn't have a lot of time to do things around the house, (although he's quite good at them! He put in a beautiful tile floor that will make this room look GORGEOUS!) Allan has spent the better part of the last week ripping down popcorn ceiling, (double ick), and pulling down the paneling and re-mudding and taping the sheetrock beneath. Today he's priming everything and tomorrow they will be painting a lovely pale yellow with a brick red accent wall that our friends picked. They have been such troopers letting us into their home to rip it up, create dust and we are so much better for the whole process. We love them to pieces and I truly hope they're thrilled with the new livingroom. It looks so different already!

GraceAnne has been getting back to her old self since Rhiya left. It's the strangest thing to watch her go from being the oldest to being the middle. In some ways it's wonderful and in other ways it's very frustrating. She basically turned into a tiny monster over the summer and got in trouble A LOT. Now we're readjusting to her being a big girl and having some responsibility again. I know the emotions run high for the kids, (all of them!), with the changes that happen. She's feeling better now, but she really misses her sister. I feel so sad for her. But! She's starting school again on the 2nd of Sept. and she's thrilled! I'll be glad to have her around some kids her own age again and I've heard VERY good things about this pre-K program. It's only 2 days per week again, but that should be okay. I'd like to get her into dance classes this fall as well. We'll see.

I'm not sure how much I'll be updating this for a while. The month of September will be just crazy with Pampered Chef stuff and getting back into the swing of school things. Allan's fall semester will be easy-as-pie and he'll be home most of the time, so I'm sure we'll be on-the-go a lot. (WOOHOO!) But I will update as frequently as possible, if for nothing else but to post pictures!

A Better Week

Well, Allan and I went on our first totally sans babies date in a REALLY long time last night. We went to RuthsChris...YUUUUUUUUUUM!!! I must encourage everyone to go if ever given the opportunity. It was fabulous! On the way home, however, we decided we cannot go without Vi for a few months yet. She was less than ecstatic about her milk bar leaving and fussed most of the evening. Poor baby! I am so grateful, though, that we have friends who will deal with that for us so we can get a few hours away. We are so Blessed!
We did find a car...it's not a Maverick, but it's still pretty darned sweet! It's a 1966 Ford Falcon. It drove us home from Fort Worth and it's in really good shape. It's enough of a project to make Allan happy, but not so much of a project that he can't drive it to school when the weather is too crappy for the scooter. THAT makes ME happy. It has a little 289 in it, (read: V8), so I have grand dreams of tearing off the line at a stoplight and making everyone's jaws drop. Allan said it can be that way someday because the engine is just that good. YAY! Most awesome thing about this car?? It was only $1300, leaving enough money leftover from our savings for the car to get a new stove for me. Since I'm going to be hosting a million Pampered Chef parties soon, (we hope and pray!), we decided I should have a slightly better kitchen. For anyone who has not seen my gorgeous stove...it's a 1984 beauty with burners that heat extra hot on one side and not so hot on the other, giving me even cooking and an oven that makes quick work of any pizza crust while leaving the top gooey and raw. About the only good thing about that stove is that it has a "double" oven...there's a small oven on top...so it works out great at Thanksgiving.
Violet got a new friend. Her name is Beatrice. Beatrice will be the equivalent of Foo-Foo. If you haven't met the Foofinator, he is GraceAnne's best friend. He's a white bunny that Allan's cousins gave to her when she was 6 weeks old. She has been obsessed with him ever since. We attached him to her on purpose and he has done his job well over the years, comforting her. We now have THREE Foo-Foos and she still likes to snuggle all of them. There is a pretty funny story with why we have "all dem Foo-Foos," but that can wait for another blog. Or I'll probably forget. Whichever! At any rate, Violet loves Beatrice and I'm going to have to find another. If anyone happens to be cruising Central Market and sees a Beatrice Bunny, please pick her up. I'd be eternally grateful! I didn't see anymore of them at ours.Violet has also discovered her thumb. Just within the last week she has decided it is her buddy. At first I was upset about this, but it is so stinking cute and makes her so happy that I have decided I don't care. My thoughts on it are this: She won't go to college sucking her thumb, (hopefully not even Kindergarten!), and since she's my kid she'll likely need braces anyways, so I'm at peace with it. Besides, it's attached to her. Unless I want to hover over her all day and constantly replace her thumb with a binky and listen to her wail over the whole ordeal, I'm just going to have to give in.

I'll update about Allan and GraceAnne soon. Big things going on around here...busy things! Love and miss you all!

Is it over yet?

The summer, I mean. I love the warm weather, I really do. I'm a sun baby and I think I was always meant to live someplace warm, but this is beyond warm. This is ridiculous. It's been over 100 degrees for weeks now and we've had no rain. Last year was so cool and rainy until July and we never really got above 90. This year is insane. We can't even go outside to play in the water and cool off, because there is no relief. The water is hot and you get fried to a crisp the second you set foot out there. We've broken the record for hot weather in this area. I can't wait for it to cool down!!

Then I talked to Morris, (the guy working on working on our house), and he was a little elusive as to what is going on with the house re-building process. Well, I talked to our Vet Rep, Tamara, who hooked us up with these guys in the first place, because if she harrasses them she doesn't sound like an ungrateful punk...she said they are having trouble raising the money because it's a very *expensive* project. I wish they could keep us in the know with these things. At least now we know specifically what to pray for. I'd just really like them to have this stuff *started* by the time Violet is crawling. It's a hazard for a baby. There is not one room she can play in safely.

Then we saw this SWEET red Maverick. It is SO BEAUTIFUL. We're looking for a "backup" car for when the weather is too bad for Allan to ride his scooter. We had set aside 2k for the thing. The Maverick is one of my dream cars...so sweet! Anyway, it's 3k and I scratched around and pecked and we can manage 2606.00, but that's not enough. The guy said he was "pretty" firm on the 3k, but would go down a little. But not $400. Yeah--I'm so pathetic I even considered selling some of my diapers to get the money for this car. (No, I won't do that. I'm not *really* dumb, I just think like a dumb person sometimes!)

Plus Rhiya is gone and it feels so WRONG to drive to the airport with 3 kids and drive home with 2. The babies are even sad about it. Even if she gets on my nerves sometimes, (which of my kids doesn't??), I miss her like crazy and I hate saying goodbye. What I hate more than that is trying to explain to a 4-year-old why she can't have her sister. "Her mommy misses her" doesn't cut it anymore. She told me two visits ago, "Well, I miss her, too, can't WE keep her?" :(

My real issue isn't what we can't do or what we don't have, my issue is that I'm having a stupid pity-party and can't seem to shake it. We started reading The Purpose Driven Life, so maybe that will help. I need to get out of this little funk.

A good friend of mine made that wonderful picture at the top for me. She's so fabulous with that sort of thing. She also made Vi's birth announcements. I keep telling her she should charge, because she's REALLY good at it and enjoys doing it. I know she could use the extra money. So Ginger...MAKE IT A BUSINESS, because you're just that good and I totally would do it for money if I had half your talent! ;)

My Monkey Babies

Hahahaha! My kids have my husband's ears!! Aren't they hilarious? Since they're girls you can't really tell until they have their hair up or you see an ear peeking out from behind the tresses. It's so cute, though. And they like to show them off, as you can see!
Rhiya leaves tomorrow and we'll all be so sad. :( She's been such a help with Violet and while it's frustrating to raise 3 kids, it's been a fantastic experience for all of us this summer. We're learning some better ways to exert our boundaries and better ways to deal with each other. Those are definitely lessons we needed to learn. GraceAnne is getting better at being calm about situations instead of screaming or melting down, Rhiya is learning to trust us when we tell her something and I'm realizing more and more the tone of my voice. It's been a lot calmer this last week, after being HECTIC for the last 3. As usual, just when we settle into a good routine, it ends. :( I know there will be tears tommorrow.
Look at this big girl!! She's jumping in her excersaucer already. I can't believe how much she's grown in the last few months. It'll only be a few more months before she's terrorizing my floors, (oh dear, I'd better start mopping now!!), and talking to us in more than just baby babbles.

Allan is doing his last day of class for the summer semester as I type! I'm so glad to get to keep him for 20 days! Last year his break was only 10 days and it wasn't enough. His fall semester will be exceedingly easy, (spoiling me again!), because he doesn't have rotation. This means he'll only be gone 3 days per week. WOOHOO!! We've been so Blessed in that he gets to really be involved with the kids while they're small. When GraceAnne was born he was between the Army and school, so he got to stay with us for 3 months and now we get to keep him fairly frequently, too. I'm soaking it up, because I know the next one won't get that luxury. I don't know what I'll do when Allan actually has a 9-5 schedule all the time!

I actually have an update, too! I'm going to start selling Pampered Chef. I'm really excited about this. I started looking into it because the September host special is 60% off the pots and pans which I've been DROOLING over for a long time now. When I got to looking at the catalogue, I saw that the consultant kit is really cheap for a lot of the stuff I really want. When I met with the consultant I've been talking to about the party, I realized that this is right up my alley. I'm always looking for excuses to get together with people, meet new people and cook! This will be fantastic! So anyone who wants to buy some Pampered Chef, let me know in September. I need to get my sales to $1250 in Sept. to become "qualified" and get my website and wedding registry priveleges. Then you can all order online through me anytime and I'll get the credit :) I'm really looking forward to this, please wish me luck and pray for me!

Hope all is well with everyone...we love and miss you all!

3 Months Old!

WOW! Miss Violet is 3 months old today. On one hand it seems like it's all going so fast, (did we REALLY get our positive pregnancy test one year ago this month!?!), and on the other it feels like she's always been here, and joining us in May was just exactly what she's been waiting to do forever.

She's been such a Blessing to us, (as are all our children!), and had brought us so much joy! Violet is very calm, sweet and smiley. She is already giggling and "talking" to us. She mimics our actions, (she loves to play the "tongue" game and also smacks her thigh in response if we do the same), and our sounds. I think she will be very intelligent. She's also very strong! She rolled over from her back to her belly for the first time yesterday and can sit for a couple seconds at a time by herself. Of course, she's the cutest little thing and could win any beauty contest! Not as if I'm biased or anything!!

Violet is so loving, too! She's so different from her sisters in that she's cuddly and lovey and doesn't cry much. She's a lover, not a fighter. I think I will have to watch out for this one, because where GraceAnne wears her heart on her sleeve, Violet will be able to get away with anything with her hugs and love. Yes, I'm a sucker already! She makes me want to have more babies, and that scares me, because I've heard a million people say, "if you'd had your last one first, you'd have never had any more!"

I'll leave you with a video...sorry it's dark.

The Best of Months, the Worst of Months

I can't believe July is almost done. It's been a great month and we've been so busy, but I'm glad to say it's almost over, really. My emotions have been at full tilt and I am having trouble dealing with a lot of things right now. The best medicine for that is to talk about all the good stuff, so here goes:

Rhiya got here on the 5th, as you all know and she'll be with us until the 6th of August. She's growing up and while that is sometimes frustrating, (couldn't they all be cuddly and sweet like Vi forever?), it's neat to see. I'm just grateful we get to see her sometimes and we get to spend an extended period of time with her in the summers. Both she and GraceAnne are obsessed with their baby sister and that couldn't make me any happier!

The girls worked on a lemonade stand this month. They put it up two weekends in a row and had a lot of fun making money, but also learned about business. I *tried* to teach them about thinking ahead, inventory, not eating our profits, reinvesting and tithing on our earnings. The first weekend they made $55 and the second weekend it was more around $24. They haven't done it again yet, I'm not sure if they will, but the first weekend they opened it, the Ennis Now magazine came to take their picture and we're hoping to see them in it next month. How fun!

Allan's buddy from the Army--Chris, Chris' wife Katya and Chris' twin brother Don came to stay with us for a weekend, too. Since Chris left the Army, he's lived in Russia and he and Allan haven't seen each other in 7 years. We had a lot of fun with them! Even though I was nervous to meet people who mean so much to Allan, they are so down-to-earth and easy to talk to. I'm sure I had talked to them way too much by the time they left, but I must say it was nice to have some adult conversation. While they were here we went to Lake Bardwell and had a picnic lunch of brats and chicken and veggies. It was a great time and the kids got to swim, so everyone was very happy! We were sad to see them go and hope they have a great time on the rest of their trip. Since they've gone we've been talking about saving up to go to Russia sometime. Allan has always wanted to visit there and I think it'd be a great time. Now if I can just get him to start listening to his Russian tapes again and teaching the kids!!
Allan's sister, Trish came to visit for a weekend, as well. It was so great to have her here and I wish she could come once a month! The kids enjoy her just as much as we do, (maybe more, even!!), and she's so great to them. She really makes an easy house guest, for sure. While she was here we went to the Farmer's Market, took the kids to make mosaics and made GraceAnne a princess canopy for her bed. We were all very sad to see her go!
So now that the month is almost done, I'm almost ready to breathe a sigh of relief. Allan has 20 days off of school coming up after next week and I'm looking forward to having some time with my husband and getting some help with the kids. I did ask for a busy summer, didn't I? Well, I got it. Thank You, Lord! :)

Sh*ttiest Mother of the Year

When we got pregnant with GraceAnne the advice came rolling in; and along with it, funny stories about what other moms did in their post-partum deliriums. So many stories were about leaving their child--carseat and all--someplace while they went on as if they'd never had a baby. The prospect of this mistake terrified me and I never laughed at one of those stories. Thankfully, even though I had MONO and was exhausted beyond all measure, we managed to never leave GraceAnne anywhere.

Until today. Of course today is Sunday so we went to church. Actually, it happened like this. We go to church at 9:20am so we can eat breakfast before Sunday School. Violet woke me up at 7am and went back to sleep at 8:15am. I thought, "I can get about an hour of rest if I lay down now!" I was already dressed, and Violet was dressed and bathed. The next thing I remember, Allan is saying to me, "it's 9:20." I just looked at him and he walked out of the room. Violet woke me up at 10am. I went downstairs, found I was alone; checked for the car, saw it was gone. Figured they'd all gone to church and let me sleep. So I decided to plop down on the couch, feed Violet and then strap her to my chest and walk to church. That's what we did and I made it to the church, (about 4 blocks away), around 10:20am. I said 'hi' to lots of people in the fellowship hall who were oohing and aahing over Vi in her front pack and sunglasses. Then I sat down with my class, who all smiled and said 'good morning.' The seat I chose was next to Allan and Trish. After a few minutes, Allan turned to me and asked, "did you bring GraceAnne with you?"

WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
?!?!?

I inadvertantly left my 4-year-old daughter at home. Of course the panic rose up in me immediately and I said "KEYS!" I sprinted out of the church and drove about squalled tires out of the parking lot and drove 50mph home, crying and pleading with God to 'PLEASE let her still be sleeping!'

She wasn't. When I found her she was at the top of the stairs crying silently. I picked her up and carried her into her room and held her and squeezed her and gave her kisses and told her I was so sorry. She said 2 things to me: "Where's Daddy?" and "I wanted you." I managed to get her dressed and her hair combed without crying too much because I didn't want to scare her, but I was a wreck.

After letting her pick her own pretty dress for church and taking her out for pancakes and taking her to Mosaic Madness where she got to make a mosaic unicorn she seems to be okay, but I am still a ball of nerves. What a schmucky mom!

The difference between those women's stories and mine? When they realized they'd left their infants, they went back; only to discover the babies sleeping peacefully in their carseats or playing happily with their hands. When I came back home my baby had been wandering the house calling for her mommy and found no one. She had already moved past the wailing stage, which is always first, and gone to the silently weeping stage--reserved solely for those moments when mom sucks the very worst. Those other babies will have absolutely no recollection of the event whereas I'm praying my baby doesn't have issues of abandonment forever. *sigh* Someone kick me.

And We're Back!

Finally got my computer back. I'm glad to have it back but kinda not, too. Now I'm going to have to listen to my 2 eldest daughters whine and complain about wanting to be on it and I'm going to be getting back into my money-making things, so I'll be busy again and well...I guess I'm just never pleased.

I don't have much time to blog today, my kids are on my nerves, but I wanted to say "hey, I'm back!" and post a picture or two of the sweetest little baby EVER. She's so calm and sweet and I think I have kissed bald spots into her head.

Can someone please come and help me clean my house? Trish is coming this weekend and it's a royal wreck. I have a million and one things to do and Violet is obsessed with being held and talked to. The truth is I love to hold her and talk to her, much more than doing work, so many times I just give in to what she wants and I get squat done. Any takers? I could use the adult company, too ;)

I'm not the same...

...person I used to be. In most ways that's a good thing. I don't think it's a complete change, because my personality is the same, but my roles have changed. I've been thinking about this a lot lately as Rhiya is hitting puberty and headed full-force into becoming a teenager. It really wasn't so long ago that I was there. I'm 26 now, and while that feels so far away from 18, I'm not so far disconnected that I don't remember. But I am far enough away to realize teenagers are know-it-all punks who think of not much besides themselves. I don't think they mean to be--I know I didn't--but, still, that's the way it works. The ignorance is almost cute when they're not smug about themselves. I'm also not saying I don't enjoy teenagers. In fact, a couple we are good friends with has 3 teens who I get along with fantastically and I love to joke with them. I'm just nervous about how much changes in a seemingly short amount of time and how much will apparently still change based on what I've seen in my older friends. Some days I feel like I've bent all I can and I'll snap back any moment now.

Here are the 5 biggest changes:

1. I now lean on God and strive to be a better Christian. This is the biggest and probably the best change. I suppose most people would assume becoming a mommy would capture those two titles...I sure did...but anyone can be a mother. While it's special and amazing and my most important role on this earth, nothing can beat having a Heavenly Father to turn to in my most worn-out times. Faith keeps me forward-facing and hopeful. My life was so empty without God--even with children.

2. I don't fight my husband anymore. I don't mean to say we never have an argument, because we do. But I don't fight our roles anymore. **gee, none of you ever knew me as argumentative, did you?!?** For a long time I thought I could be just as good as he is and do the same things he does and maybe even do them better and I took every challenge as a direct insult to myself. ('I am woman; hear me roar,' much??) I was so exhausted doing this...I get tired just remembering it! I was constantly on the look-out for criticism and always on my guard. The day I finally realized that we are different for a very good reason and both equally important was an enormous victory for us both. I know he was tired of my being on edge as much as I was. I'm glad I know now that our children need us to be polar opposites in some cases, and that it's the way God intended for us to be. It makes things a lot easier and helps me to appreciate Allan, too.

3. I am less of a child than my children are. I do still fall into traps. I still argue with my 4-year-old sometimes. I still melt down when I'm tired like my 2.5-month-old. I still get a pissy little attitude and roll my eyes like my 11-year-old on occasion. For the most part, though, I'd like to think I command just a bit of authority in the household and every day I try a bit harder to be sure that I act my age instead of my shoe-size. This is less than easy, to say the least. I've always been stubborn and strong-willed and a know-it-all. (Is GraceAnne my just desserts?) I'm sure my mom will laugh when she reads that and think that it's an understatement. Hahaha. But! Yesterday I managed to have a real conversation with Rhiya about something that REALLY made me mad and I didn't yell or have a condescending attitude. (yeah-sometimes I *really* don't realize I sound that way, folks) I know this because she wasn't sad at any point during the conversation and didn't leave the room upset. In fact, she came to me a few minutes later and asked me to help her name her Littlest Pet Shop pets. SCORE ONE FOR MOM! She can be taught!

4. My priorities have changed. It used to be those 3 would have been completely backwards. I thought putting God or my husband first meant I loved them more and my mom has this uncanny ability of putting her children before anything else in the whole world, so I thought that meant loving nothing and no one else for a long time. I am glad to know I was wrong. She tried to teach me that lesson a few times as a young-adult and it always fell on deaf ears, but now I can see what she meant. Just because my priorities are God, husband, children does not mean I love my children less, it just means that I realize the importance of things. It's like when Violet is crying because she is hungry at the same time GraceAnne wants a snack. Violet can't very well walk to the fridge and get a yogurt, so she is top priority. That doesn't mean I don't love GraceAnne as much--it only means that Violet's need is more directly based on me at that moment. God and Allan will be who's left when our children leave this house, so I can't neglect those relationships in lieu of my kids, because then I'll have nothing when they leave.

5. I'm so happy. I spent a lot of time being miserable and scared as a kid. The crap with my step-grandfather left me feeling alone a lot of the time. I still struggle with that, but deep in my soul I'm happy. I have Jesus, a fantastic husband, 3 beautiful girls and our life is so very Blessed. I really hope that Joy flows from me onto everyone I talk to and everyone who sees me. I am so tired most nights, (last night I don't remember falling asleep, rolling away from Allan's arms, or even picking Violet up out of the bassinet to feed her I was so exhausted), and most days I don't have time to shower, eat properly or even do much past throwing on some pants and putting my hair in a ponytail. I know I could be a truly scary sight to anyone in the outside world, but my hope is that despite that, I exude Joy and Love, and that--like my sister-in-law Trish--people are moved by the way I lead my life and want to learn more about what makes it so great.

Blah

Well, my computer decided to take a dump on me, so Allan thought he'd wipe it clean and reinstall the OS. We figured it'd be a 2 day project to move all of my important stuff onto the external drive, wipe the computer and get it rebooted. WRONG--one of the discs has some scratches on it so the computer won't read anything. We have to order new discs and they can take 7 business days to reach us. Fantastic. So in the mean time, I have nowhere to download my photos and nowhere to vent my frustrations. I sneak on Allan's laptop when I can find a spare moment, but I won't be updating this much until we get my PC up and running, because this thing is a pain in the butt.

Everything is going well with the girls. They had a lemonade stand this weekend and made $55. I was trying to teach Rhiya about business and responsibility and serving the public. I think some of it sunk in, but the biggest motivator was the money, of course. They intend to put it up every weekend to make some spending money for the summer. Ennis NOW magazine came out to take their pictures. It should be published in the next edition of the magazine. HOW COOL! Rhiya is pretty excited about that.

Violet is getting so big and she's so interactive now. She really likes to be talked to and loves to talk back. I got my first fantastic giggle out of her a week or so ago. I almost cried. GraceAnne wouldn't laugh at me until she was 5 months old, so this is pure bliss and I'm eating it up. She loves to talk to her daddy--he and her sisters are her whole world.

I'll cut the update short here. I know it gets boring without pictures to look at. Hopefully within the next week. Hope all is well with everyone!

All Our Babies...

...in one spot!! Rhiya got here on Saturday and we've been running non-stop since. I suspect the whole month will be like this and go way too fast. Before I post pix of Rhiya and GraceAnne, let me show you a SUPER CUTE picture of Allan and Vi. Don't beat me--this is the way they uploaded, folks!
AWWW, aren't they the sweetest?!?

Here's GraceAnne and Rhiya with a "nest" they made. GraceAnne said there were 100 eggs, but Rhiya informed me there were actually only nine. Either way--adorable!
Here they built a fort in GraceAnne's room. They were pretty creative, I must say, because they had to figure out how to make it without chairs. I told them they weren't allowed to cart the chairs upstairs.
And because I absolutely can't resist my husband being cute with the baby, here's another. She's helping him out! Don't they look like a couple of geeks, staring at the screen with an R2D2 shirt on? SO CUTE!
Everyone is fully enjoying Rhiya being here. She and GraceAnne are getting along pretty fabulously. What never ceases to amaze me is how young I realize GraceAnne is when Rhiya is here. She really is *only* four. Whatever that means to us adults, it apparently means a need for much love, attention and playtime for kids. I'm sure that seems fairly obvious to you all, but having a child who acts at least 3x her age makes it difficult to remember at times.

Hope all is well with you all! We love and miss you.

Happy Independence Day!

I broke out the Nikon for the first time since Vi was born today. Not the greatest results, as it was impromptu and my backdrop is very make-shift, but cute, nonetheless.

Happy Independence Day to everyone out there! Today makes me think of my husband--who served in Iraq--and my Grandpa Wendell--who served in Korea. I know that both fought for what they believed was right and all the while they were gone, longed for the types of things we do today to celebrate this nation's independence. So I will be sure to be super-grateful for their sacrifices, (Allan of his leg and Grandpa of his new bride), as we take the kids swimming with friends and grill burgers today...I will give an extra measure of appreciation as we stand in awe of the fireworks tonight...I will thank God that he brought the two most important men in my life back from war relatively unscathed...and I will pray for all the men and women who continue to serve this country.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

2 Months Old!

Wow, our baby is 2 months old! She hardly seems, (or looks!), like a newborn anymore. She's smiling to beat the band, laughing, wiggling A LOT and likes to try to sit up. She thinks she's big and at 13lb 2.5oz she fits the bill for sure!!

So...after 2 months, I'm not so traumatized and I can even take a joke about getting pregnant again. Until this afternoon...Violet was straining so hard trying to fart, I guess. She was crying and fussing and pushing and turning red. In that instant I remembered the sheer horror of giving birth and I have been hurting ever since. What on earth was I thinking?! How did I allow myself to forget?! I promised myself on May 1 I would never forget the agony of childbirth and here I am--2 short months later--SMILING at newborns again?! Say it ain't so.

God has a funny way of making us feel okay with procreation. I think back on life before Violet and it seems she was always there. I remember specific times when I was doing things while pregnant, (Thanksgiving dinner, shopping with Marie and the kids, going to prenatal appointments), and I don't remember having a belly or being pregnant or even being kicked from inside. Of course I *know* these things happened. I *know* I relished the time and tried so hard to savor the moments and lock them in my mind. I *know* I complained about being uncomfortable and tired...but I just don't really recollect exactly how it was. And I'm shaking my head at myself that I am suddenly "okay" with the idea of doing it all again. WTH is wrong with me?

Much Better Day!

I was prepared for today to really suck, but other than spending $10 on gas, it wasn't too bad, really! I am exhausted because my husband and I decided to spend some time together last night, so we were up until midnight and Miss Violet decided today was the day for mommy to get up at 5:45am. But so far I'm alright thanks to my old friend Coke. (Soda, people, get a grip!) I just have to hold out until Allan gets home tonight at around 7:30pm. He's taking the scooter back to the dealer to see what needs to be done.

The shots were a no-go; I'm relieved. So is GraceAnne, I must say! Last night Allan expressed his concerns about Gracie's 4 year shots and I tried to talk him down saying things like, "if she were going to have a reaction she would have already, blah blah blah" Then I realized this morning, if he sat and discredited my feelings like that, I'd be really mad at him! So while I was up, holding a certain happy baby, I did some research and found that a couple of children have started to show signs of autism after their 4-year shots, despite being perfectly normal, (and typically very smart!), beforehand. I did some more research and found that lots of parents opt for titers instead. This means they draw a vial of blood to check the child's immunity to the disease before giving vaccinations to see if any of the vax's are unnecessary. Drawing blood doesn't sound like much fun, either, but better one stick and not putting any diseases into her than 4 sticks and pumping her full of God-knows-what. So our conversation DID go something like what I posted yesterday, but when we got there and started to discuss our concerns with the Dr, she said that there's really no need for a titer right now because we KNOW she is partly immune, since she's had other vaccinations. It will be later when the immunity will be compromised because they "wear off" after time. She said I'm the biggest threat to the kids because it's been so long since I've been vaccinated. She suggested Allan might be a threat, too, but since he's at the medical school he's totally up-to-date on every shot imaginable. The Army tends to be somewhat anal about vaccinations, too, so I think he's probably good.

Yes, we did switch Dr's. This one is still not thrilled with the idea of not vaccinating, but she wasn't rude about it. She said the girls are PERFECT, (we already knew that, but it's SO NICE to hear it anyway!). She said GraceAnne is very smart and NOT underweight. She said she will probably always be real thin, since Allan and I were. She said that we're doing a great job and she will see us in 2 months. YAAAY! The facility is VERY clean and VERY nice and the nurses were FANTASTIC! GraceAnne was completely comfortable from the very beginning with all of them and that is something we've not had the pleasure of experiencing since we were in WA state with our first pediatrician. I'm SO grateful!

Miss Violet is 13lb 2.5oz and Miss GraceAnne is 32lb. Miss Violet is 23" and Miss GraceAnne is 40.5 ". Violet is more on the average side of the height spectrum than GraceAnne was at her age. GraceAnne is starting to fall back on her height percentage and is sitting around 60%. Maybe they will be peanuts like me. Hopefully they'll be around 5'7" I'd love to be 5'7". Not too tall and not too short. 5'5" isn't bad, but I still can't reach some things I'd like to reach and my legs are too short, I think. Or maybe they're just too fat and I'm confusing things. Hmmmm....

Then I got the mail! I thought our Social Security checks wouldn't be in for about 2 more months. WRONG! They came today. WOOHOO! :D Gracie's and Vi's are going straight to their accounts and we'll be opening their ESA's this month. Mine is going to get the bug fixed so Allan has a car if he needs it. That and he always spends money on what I want to do and I figured it's about time for him to get something he'd like now. I also got a rebate check from something I bought a while back, (actually I got it for free at CVS, so I made some money on it!), and a bunch of coupons and a $50 g/c to Bennigan's from MyPoints. We'll use that on Saturday when we pick Rhiya up from the airport. YAAAAAAAAAAY! Rhiya will be here in 5 days!!!!

Oh yeah, and it's payday, so it's just a good day all around. Thank God! :)

Not Much News

I don't really have anything to say today, but I hate leaving the same blog post up for too long. Tomorrow we have to take the kids to the Dr. By WE I mean ME. Allan will be at school. It should be great fun, since GraceAnne is due for 4 shots. She hates the Dr. already and she's going to be fit to be tied when she realizes what's going on there. Which will probably be immediately upon entering the vehicle. The conversation will go something like this:

"Where are we going, Mommy?"
"To Waxahachie to get some papers and to Corsicana to see the Dr."
"Baby Violet has to see the Dr?"
"yes."
"Will she get shots?"
"no" (we're delaying Vi's vaccines)
"Do I have to see the Dr?"
"yes."
"I'm not getting shots, am I?"
"hmmm...yes."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

At which point she will scream and cry and kick and then calm down for a second and ask if she can have Starbucks afterwards, (a cream drink, don't freak out people!), and I'll tell her yes and then she'll start sobbing as though her heart has been broken.

Even more fun--when I get to be the one to hold her down, all 3 1/2 feet of her, by myself so they can stick her 4 times in the legs. I used to think I could never be more sad than when they poke babies. I was wrong. It's MUCH WORSE when they poke big kids. At least babies go to sleep afterward. Big, dramatic kids limp around and cry and tell you they are sad at you because you made them get poked. Big kids also can't be nursed to comfort afterward and though Starbucks is quite tasty, it just doesn't seem to have the soothing effect that the breast does.

BUT! Tomorrow I'll have the stats on the girls and that will make for a much more interesting blog post.

over and out.

Stealing our Joy

Yepp, that's the devil's newest task...trying to steal our Joy. See, we've been a little too God-oriented these days and Satan is trying to make us eat our words. I'll tell you what's going on and then why that won't happen.

I've mentioned before I have a real lack of patience. I have gotten a hair better with the kids, but I'm still pretty temperamental about other issues. I've been running to Waxahachie every day for GraceAnne's swimming lessons and it's wearing me thin. Especially since Violet thinks mommy must get up at 6am. Yes, I signed myself up for this, but you bet I learned my lesson and it won't be happening again. 6pm is just too late to be getting out of the house and running to the next town, getting home at 7:30, having a snack, doing bedtime routine and putting Vi to bed and reading the bible and then finally passing out around 11pm. Yeah--you're tired just reading it, aren't you?! ;) This routine makes for 1 tired mommy and mommy is so not cool when she's tired. :(

Last night at swim lessons I got a call from Allan. He was in Garrett, (about 3 miles north of Ennis), and his bike had stopped. Yepp...overheated and stopped. He said he was praying to make it to a gas station and he made it. Then he was so intent on finding the gas station that he couldn't get back to the road he was on, so drove 16-18 miles in the boonies, (not hard to do here!), and ended up in Garrett, where the bike decided it was hot and tired. (also not hard to do here!) It stopped and Allan walked it home. When he took it all apart, (or attempted to, because some kind of demon was making that task next to impossible), he found lots of pieces not hooked up the way they are supposed to be and things done very half-@ssed. The bike was not fixed by the time it got too dark and late to work on it anymore, so he took my car to school this morning. Which is a gas guzzler. Although I filled it up 2 days ago, it will probably have one last trip back and forth to Waxahachie in it before it hits E.

Since he has my car, we can't go to GraceAnne's play date. We NEVER do ANYTHING, (except go to Waxahachie *UGH*), and when we finally get a phone call and make some plans, this crap happens.

*BUT* I don't care what Satan tries to pull...God is going to win in this house. These are just little things right now, seriously, we're Blessed that these are our only problems. I know he will try harder...kick down well-laid plans, try to bash in the door...but we have a rock solid foundation now and he can forget about it. He can p*ss me off and he can make us cuss and he can give us a headache to beat all headaches, but the bottom line is God loves us so much he gave us these:
...so Satan won't be winning around here. We could see God working yesterday, as Allan was working on the bike. The girls and I pulled into the driveway and saw him with the bike in pieces and GraceAnne squealed her usual, "DADDY'S HOME!!!!" I cautioned her and said, "yes, and he's probably pretty mad about the scooter, so let's be super sweet to him and not jump all over him, okay?" She walked bravely to him and said, "so...the scooter is broken, huh? And you're going to fix it! You're probably pretty mad?" I think he was so stunned he didn't know what to say for a minute, but the rest of the evening was pretty smooth. Yeah, Allan was cussing in the driveway and we were in the house by ourselves, but God gave us all a measure of patience last night that we haven't seen in a while because we KNEW He would. When we finally made it to bed around 11pm I said, "you know Satan is going to try to get us to go to sleep without reading, don't you?" He said, "that ain't gonna happen." So dog-tired, we read, gave God His glory for the day and went to sleep. After all--we still have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, each other and these smiles:



...and who could ask for more?

Poop and Coupons!

Let me tell you a story about a coupon freak named Tara. A long time ago she and her husband were broke and trying to save an emergency fund. Tara decided coupons were the best way to cut expenses around the household and found a fun little place called Coupon Forum. (www.couponforum.com for anyone who's interested!) Here is a picture of the freak:
Let me also tell you about a little baby named Pooper...I mean Violet. Experts estimate that a parent will spend thousands of dollars on diapers before their child is potty trained. This is a small fortune, and--if invested properly--could completely pay for a college education. Here is a picture of the Pooper:

(she looks very innocent, doesn't she?? At the very least she doesn't look like a bank account drain!)

So the freak got smart and said to herself, "what if I could use coupons to thwart this awful expense?" She started asking all her friends for coupons and to let her know when deals were coming up. One day the trumpets sounded and it was announced that there was a deal at Target. Target was dumb and put out 2 printable coupons, one for 5$ off the purchase of Pampers diapers and Pampers wipes and one for a free 5$ g/c when you buy said diapers and wipes. Lo and Behold, they could be used in conjunction! Now, the freak had already started a stockpile, before the pooper was even born...but this deal was too good to pass up. So she gathered together her $2 off Pampers diapers and her $2/2 Pampers wipes manufacturer's coupons along with the printable Target coupons and headed over to her local Target store.

Let me break this down for ya...last night I got 6 packs of diapers, 6 jumbo packs of wipes, 3 packages of Oscar Mayer wieners, 3 packages of Teddy Grahams, 2 packs of Kraft singles, a can of Planters nuts and 2 tubes of toothpaste for
*~*drumroll please*~*
$24.xx! Doesn't that just about rock!? For those who haven't purchased poop catchers in a while, the diapers alone should have cost over 60.00!

Here is a picture of the stockpile:
That is over 40 packs of diapers from size 1 to size 4. We've already used at least 10 packs, too. I don't even want to think about how many packs of wipes are in there! Regardless, the count still only adds up to around 100$ in my own money. The rest was coupons or CVS Extra Care Bucks. Sorry it's kinda dark...if you super size the picture you might be able to see it better.

So I feel a tiny bit bad about the waste that represents, but apparently not bad enough to cloth diaper. We did that with GraceAnne for the first 10 weeks and while we only paid about 10 cents per diaper back then, (way cheaper than paying full-price for a pack of 'sposies), I'm paying WAY less than that now, so.....I'll have to think up other ways to stay "green."