Perspectives of a Drama Mama

And the Winner is...

2011-08-29T11:20:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Deana Hartsell! You're the lucky winner of the drawing for the My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software!! Hope you have as much fun with it as I have!

And thank you to My Memories for allowing me the opportunity to try out and share your products with my readers!

Anyone can still receive $10 off the My Memories Suite software by using the code in my previous post below. :) So if you didn't win the software, that's a great way to get it at a discount!

Thanks to all who entered and read my blog!

Exciting Giveaway for the Crafty! Or NOT So Crafty...

2011-08-24T16:46:00.001-05:00

Several years ago I began scrapbooking. Decided I'd do scrapbooks for my children, documenting their childhood in adorable pages of pictures and embellishments. I say "FOR" my children, however, they're NEVER allowed to touch them without close, adult supervision!! Maybe they'll get to have them when they're married-depending on how responsible and mature they are at that point.

Looking back now, I realize I might've been a bit too ambitious with it. I had it in my mind that I would do a book for each year containing pictures from each month. Now, from birth to age 1, it's pretty easy to do as you always have tons of pictures documenting another month of life and there are so many milestones in that first year! I got that first book done with flying colors! LOVED every minute! To make a long story short-I've got four completed books for my NINE year old (only five short years behind!) and two completed books for my SIX year old. (four years behind on her!) So I have six bulging, 12x12 scrapbooks that I've moved to two different states and three different houses. NOT TO MENTION, we've added two more children that don't even HAVE a book NOR any hard copy pictures printed out. :-O

My present day mind set is that I no longer have the time or space for making these scrapbooks. My "littles" won't let me sit and glue and cut and play with pretty papers and embellishments. AND my husband likes to have dinner and clean laundry at least a few times a week...SOOOO... ENTER DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING!!

I've recently come across great digital scrapbooking software from My Memories! My Memories is a Polaroid company that "has a quickly growing collection of fresh and unique digital kits as well as My Memories Suite, the number one rated digital scrapbook software out there." I've been playing around with the software and it's really fun and easy to do. After I create my scrapbook page, (or photobook page, calendar page, greeting card, etc...) it can be shared online, saved to a disc or printed out. Here are a couple of pages I've done recently, just playing around with the software:

This second page actually has a video embedded in it so that when the page is opened a video automatically loads of Emma telling her story of pulling her first tooth! SO COOL!!

Here is a YouTube video showing more about the My Memories Suite software:

Another video about My Memories Suite:

GIVEAWAY DETAILS!!

My Memories is giving one of my readers the My Memories Suite software! All you have to do to be entered into the contest is visit the My Memories website, check out all their great digital paper packs or layouts, come back here and comment below telling me which is your favorite! That's it! Entry deadline is Sunday, August 28th. Winner will be announced on Monday, August 29th! Good luck! :)

My Memories has also given me a DISCOUNT CODE I can share with my readers and friends! Get $10 off the MyMemories Suite v2 scrapbook software!! Just click the link here and use the coupon code below!

Discount Code: STMMMS94544

School, A Baptizing, And a Giveaway!

2011-08-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

School starts this week!! (worth repeating) School starts this week!!! I think I'm more excited about it than my girls! ;-) Taylor will start 4th grade, makes my stomach turn a bit-she's growing up too fast! Emma will start 1st grade. All I can say is...WATCH OUT 1st grade, she's coming!! Addison is also starting "school"...actually a mother's day out program. She doesn't start until next week but we are SUPER DUPER excited about it!! I won't know what to do having only one child to take care of for a few hours! But I'm sure I'll manage JUST fine!

Other exciting news...Taylor is being baptized on Sunday afternoon! Nathan's Papaw is baptizing her. The baptismal service is at the Ouachita River. She asked me last night if there are gators in the river. Ha! Mayyyybe one too many episodes of Swamp People?!?!

We sure have been enjoying the cooler (90's would be considered COOL) weather lately! A great break from the 115's and even 117 one day. The kids have played outside a lot more the past few days. On Saturday, Nathan and I were outside playing ball with them. Addison snuck up behind Nathan, grabbed the legs of his athletic shorts and YANKED them down to his ankles! Since he was holding Macy on his shoulders at the time he couldn't let go of her to pull them up. He was in a predicament!! We have a semi-private back yard...privacy fences on the sides but it backs up to the 3rd tee box on a golf course (it's SATURDAY, remember) and there's only a black coated chain link fence in back...and some other backyards beyond the golf course. He was laughing so hard and yelling at me to come help him. I'm not sure what possessed her to do that...I think it was an accident maybe but then after seeing all of our reactions (Taylor & Emma were rolling in the grass laughing) she just kept trying to do it again and again.

I found out today that we are among the less fortunate. As Emma was deciding what to have for breakfast this morning, she plopped down on the bar stool and wailed, "It's TERRIBLE to be poor! We don't even have any BREAKFAST!" ...sob, sob... OH, that child! She has absolutely no idea about anything outside of her own little "Emma World!" Just to clear it up, we DO have food in our house...bananas, apples, strawberries, grapes, pop tarts, oatmeal, 27 boxes of cereal!! -just to name a few! She just "didn't have enough choices!" I know, SHE AIN'T RIGHT!

Moving on to more exciting news...
I was contacted by a digital scrapbooking company and they want me to host a GIVEAWAY here on my blog!! I have downloaded their software and have begun to test it out and play around with it. It's really cool! One page I did even has a video embedded into it that plays when you open the page. You can turn your pages into calendars and also make greeting cards as well! I'm super excited about this as I am YEARS behind on my scrapbooking! I can either print out my album, have it bound into a book or keep the album on a disc. I can also share my album online or through email with family/friends. In addition to the free software giveaway, they're giving me $10 discount codes to share with everyone! My next post (within a few days) will be the giveaway post! Stay tuned for that!!

Hope you have a great week!

Extreme (for me) Couponing!

2011-05-17T14:49:00.003-05:00

First off--My computer issues have been resolved now! So other than having several high maintenance children, a house needing cleaning, and a husband who likes to have dinner when he gets home at night, I've got NOTHING holding me back from blogging again! So here we gooooo....

For those of you who don't get completely inebriated with joy over sales, getting things for FREE, saving $ on groceries, etc...ya might get a little bored with this post! I'm about to tell you about my extreme (for me) couponing shopping trip today. I'm so excited about it I can hardly contain myself! And when I get excited about something I have to tell EVERYBODY I know about it! I already told my mother and mother-in-law and Nathan, so now it's your turn to hear it! :) This stuff is addicting, I tell ya!

Now, I'm no extreme couponer like those women you see on TLC! (I say that with a head tilt and shrug as I think of the 30 boxes of cereal, 17 bags of chips and 66 bags of individual sized chips stored in my pantry.) THEY WERE ON SALE PEOPLE-AND I had coupons on TOP of the sale prices! I promise I'm not one of those stock pilers...I do not have 200 boxes of antacids stored under Macy's crib! YET! No, just kidding...I only try to stock pile the things we actually use on a day to day basis.

Yesterday I started looking at the deal finder websites I subscribe to, to see if there were any sales out there that I couldn't resist. I found quite a few posts about sales at Target and WalMart that I couldn't pass up. Let me interject here, it is EASY for me to pass up some sales when I weigh the scenario of--taking a one year old and two year old into a store--with the great bargain that is in that store. Many, MANY times, the children win out and we stay away. It's just not worth the headache, screams, people looking at the lady with the crying children wondering how she is so talented to have BOTH of them screaming their heads off at once. Yep, what can I say, I'm full of useless talents!

Anyway, back to my story! So today the babies and I loaded up and headed to Target and WalMart. Here is a nice picture of my mini-stockpiles I scored today!

Now, it is small compared to those you've probably seen on TV, but 7 bottles of body wash, 15 bars of soap, 7 tubes of toothpaste...that's extreme for me.

So now, to ease the excitement that's bursting inside of me I HAVE to tell you about this stuff. From left, 5 3-packs of soap, I got these for FREE plus I had an overage of 15 cents that came off of my total bill. (That happens when your coupon is worth more than the price of the item-ex: this soap was $.97, my coupon was $1 off.) Next are the 4 bottles of Spic n Span antibacterial spray. I paid $.47 each for those. 5 sticks of deodorant, $.47 each. 5 tubes of Colgate toothpaste, $.25 each. 2 tubes of Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothpaste $1.88 each-the most expensive thing I bought. 7 large bottles of Old Spice body wash, $.48 each. 5 trial sized bottles of Gillette shaving cream, $.42 each. Aquafresh training toothbrush, $.49. 2 gargantuan bottles of peroxide...drum roll...$.09 each! Nine Cents! And finally, 2 24-count boxes of ibuprofen...drum roll again...$.02 each!! Yes, TWO CENTS! HA! Here it is in a nutshell: I got $60.47 worth of stuff and I paid $15.34! Aren't you just SO THRILLED?!?! OK, well, maybe not as thrilled as I am. :)

The checkout lady at WalMart was not as thrilled as I was either. I thought she just might hyperventilate if she kept huffing at all the coupons I was handing her. hee hee!! She REALLY didn't want to give me the soap for free plus the 3 cent each overage, but I made her call over a manager who set her straight. (Both babies were screaming at this point too! -evil grin with tongue sticking out!) Don't know what it benefited HER to deny me the free soap and 15 cents-I will just avoid her line in the future. :)

I texted (is that even a word?? spell checker says no but maybe it's just not up on current lingo!) the above picture to Nathan too and told him what I spent-NO-SAVED on everything. He was so happy. No, not really. He texted back "On the 17th day of May, a coupon monster was born...LORD help us!" Well, at least his mother was excited for me...she's out buying her coupon binder as we speak! -big grin- :-D

To find out more details about how you can score some great deals like these, and more, check out the "Tips on Saving $" tab above.

They've Finally Added an Email Subscription!

2011-05-10T23:24:00.001-05:00

For some of you who've read my blog since the beginning, you remember getting emails when my blog was updated. I quit doing it because it was kind of a hassle and I wasn't sure if any of you even wanted me to notify you by email when I posted a new message. Blogger has now added this feature for us! So if you would like to get an email when I've posted a new message, fill in your email address in the space provided at the right and click subscribe! Easy as pie! Apple Pie! With crunchy oatmeal crisp topping! And maybe some vanilla ice cream! Mmmm! Are you hungry now?

I've not posted in a while and this one is going to be short since my space bar on this laptop is STILL broken (as previously stated here) and it is a true PAIN to type anything on here! Getting this issue fixed soon though. So stay tuned!

Conrats ManuelFamily! You Won!

2011-04-02T09:02:00.000-05:00

Emma listened to the responses to her joke this morning and chuckled at them all. Her favorite punch line though was the one from Heather Manuel! (ManuelFamily) "Why did the cat use the bathroom?" "To show Addison how it's done!" Ha! Very good!

I've got a $5 Starbucks gift card with your name on it! Congratulations! :)

I guess that kitty cat did its job because Addison is doing an awesome job with it! We're starting our third day today and she's only had one accident in the past two days! ~and I'm not even counting that one because she did it while she was in time out and ANYBODY would pee on themselves pitching that big of a screaming fit.

You just never know about THIS one...

2011-04-01T13:55:00.002-05:00

I went through Emma's papers from her backpack this morning after taking the kids to school. Found this "book" that she apparently made during her free time in class. After reading the first entry in her "joke book" you can see why I was a little apprehensive to proceed to the next page.

It was to my GREAT relief to find the next three pages of her book BLANK! :)

How about we have a little fun with this?! Take a guess as to what the punch line of this joke might have been in her mind. The best guess (according to Emma-she'll be the judge on this one) will win a little prize! Something you can enjoy with YOUR morning reading...hint hint! :)

Leave your guesses in the comments section (click on "comment" below) and Emma will choose one Saturday morning! So hurry and leave your comment for her! :)

Addison's...Latest...Victim

2011-03-29T10:48:00.000-05:00

Addison.Strikes.Again...HerLatestVictim...ourComputerKeyboard.Spacebar...GONE!If I press hard between each word I can make a space but...itTookMe5minJustToTypeThatLastSentence...SO...evenThoughIhavePlentyOfBlog-worthy-material-I-really-don't-think-you'd-want-to-read-it-like-this. :( LooksLikeIGetToDoWhatIDoBest...Make-another-DR-appt...for-the-computer-this-time!Hopefully-it-won't-scream-about-getting-a-band-aid-like-its-attacker-does!

Nice Shoes!

2011-03-08T15:02:00.002-06:00

This morning I woke up to a loud truck passing by. It instantly made me think of the garbage truck. Which then made me think "Is it Tuesday? YES, it is!" I then remembered that I did NOT roll out the overflowing garbage can to the curb last night.

We have garbage pick-up once a week. And unfortunately, we have a completely full, if not OVERFLOWING, wheeled garbage can each week. If we dare miss a trash day by neglecting to pull the wheely can to the curb, it's a hot (stinky) mess in that garage by the NEXT Tuesday.

So, thinking that the garbage tru...excuse me, Waste Management Vehicle, is about to be passing up my trashy abode, I jumped out of bed and hit the floor running. It had been raining so I quickly slipped on Nathan's size 11 crocs, lest I get my bare feet wet. As I'm opening up the garage door I thought, it's only 7:00 am, so hopefully there aren't any neighbors stirring or cars passing by yet. Not that I care that much if anybody saw me being awkwardly (because they're stinkin size 11's) pulled down the driveway by the heavy wheely can in my pajamas with messy hair and yesterday's make-up under my eyes.

I'm about half way down the driveway when I hear "Nice shoes!"
Awww, crap!!, I thought. I turned to see who'd caught me and I see my next door neighbor is walking out to his truck. (Even though we've lived here since July, I've only seen him and talked to him once. ...nice. -not him, the situation. Well, I guess he's nice...except for his stupid, barking dog that I'd like to CHOKE most days...ANYWAY, that's another rant for another day!)

You know when you wake up startled by something and your first words of the day come out warbled and jumbly and don't make complete sense? Yeah, that was me at that moment. I stuttered something like "I, I, thought I heard big truck. Forgot to take it to the trash last night." In my head I'm going (WHAAATTTT???)

He smiled and said, "Yes, you heard a big truck." That was all. He got in his truck and left. Now that I think about it, I think his truck was running. It was probably HIS truck I heard start up! Oh well.

I probably looked like the village...or neighborhood idiot this morning, but...I got that trash out in time!

RESTART!!

2011-03-04T17:27:00.001-06:00

You ever have those days where you get up and within the hour, you realize you need to hit the restart button and try that all again? Nah, never happens to me either. Yesterday I had to take Addison to the doctor. Fever, ear pain, you know the drill... So, I have recently become a BRAVE WOMAN and no longer find a babysitter for the well child, in order to only take one with me to doctor visits. (I paid for this deeply this day!) I also go ahead and let them schedule me with the earliest available appointment time too. (Livin' on the wild side!) That's so I can run my britches off trying to get myself and the other two, one of which is undoubtedly crying or throwing fits cause no two can have good days on the SAME DAY, ready and out the door by only 5 minutes late. RESTART! RESTART!!

So we get to the appointment and only have to wait 5 minutes before I see our nurse coming to get us. THE DAY IS LOOKIN' UP FOLKS! As we follow the nurse making our approach to the scale, all H E double L breaks loose. (Addison is walking and I'm carrying Macy in her car seat-that weighs 897 pounds. Can you see it?) Addison balks and begins screaming her head off "NO!!!! I DON'T WANNA BAN-AID!! NO!" and is absolutely having a screaming fit and won't even THINK about stepping on that scale. RESTART! RESTART!

So, I put on my excellent mother facade and I'm sure in an OVERLY exaggerated manner, I calmly and collectively sit Macy down and go to comfort Addison who thinks she's about to get a shot. When Macy sees me step away, she looks at the nurse and a couple of other on-staff onlookers who've approached the scene of the chaos, and SHE goes to pieces. So as I'm wrestling Addi onto the scale, the nurse turns and begins to unharness a screaming, bucking Macy from her car seat, which only escalates her ear piercing cries. We finally manage to get Addison's weight while the nurse is still trying to hang on to a fit throwing baby. I take Macy from her, crying stops instantly, and Addison takes my hand and all is calm again. The nurse is just standing there gazing at me. I'm sure by this time I've got a hair or two out of place and look like a deer in headlights. I took a deep breath and said "Well, CRAP! Get us to a room! STAT!!" She said "You'd have thought I'd pinched them both back there!" I said "Yeah, WHAT DID YOU DO?!!"

Once in the room, I quickly made up a bottle and stuck it into Macy's mouth and gave Addison some crayons to color on the exam table paper with. Both were temporarily happy...aside from Addison insisting "I NOT GET A BAN-AID MAMA!" every 2 minutes. Macy got her 2nd round of flu vaccine, which of course started the crying again and terrified Addi AGAIN...more of the "I NOT GET A BAN-AID!" declarations start. Then the Dr walked in and said her usual "Hello Addison and Macy, I'm Dr blah, blah, blah .... is all that was heard as they BOTH fell apart AGAIN! RESTART! RESTART!

The on again, off again screaming and fighting every movement of the doctor and nurse continued throughout the visit but we finally made it through the appointment-all limbs still attached and hair in tact, for the most part. As we were exiting the room I heard the nurse and her intern (lucky her!) behind us sharply exhale as if to say "whew, they're leaving!" (Ugh! Well I say! The nerve!) I say without looking back "Welp, we made ya work hard for ya money today, didn't we?!" They laughed, but I'm sure it was a laugh of relief.

Addison has double ear infections but no bladder infection....she finally decided it was ok to "pee" in their little bag they attached to her. That's a whole 'nother story... Pretty sure it would contain TMI, so I'll probably just keep that one to myself.

Another deal FOUND!

2011-02-11T11:24:00.001-06:00

So excited to find another great deal on shoes for Addison this morning! Check out the "Deals and Steals" tab for details!

Check out the Deals & Steals Tab!

2011-02-10T16:59:00.000-06:00

I just updated the Deals and Steals section of my blog with my latest finds from Amazon! :) Check it out!

Makeover!

2011-02-08T16:40:00.000-06:00

As you can see, I've given my blog a new makeover! It's taken me all day and my house is a disaster and my children are just running wild and my hubby will be home any minute and won't be happy at all about the living conditions he'll be coming in to :-/...but it's all good!

I'm still doing some tweaking and editing but...what do you think? I was trying to make it more reader friendly (less cluttered!) so I removed quite a bit and moved some things to the tabs above. Some things are still a little out of whack...but I must STOP for the day. I'm still not sure it's exactly how I want it... Any thoughts????

Another Great Giveaway! (but not from me this time)

2011-01-21T13:14:00.013-06:00

Here is another SWEET giveaway I have to tell you about! It's from my friend Heather, from Heather Flowers: Fotog! She is an amazing photographer and such a sweet person to work with.

Got kids who can be a bit difficult come picture time? (me! me!) NO PROBLEM! Got a hubby who really doesn't like to have pictures made (or especially PAY someone to do it!)? (me! me!) Again, NO PROBLEM! Heather can somehow magically get GREAT shots of your family and her prices are unbeatable! AND---She travels to you! What's more, she actually makes your photo session FUN! Yes, I said photo session and FUN in the same sentence! Even Nathan agreed it was fun and said we'd be using her again! (Can you say MIRACLE??)

I added a few of the photos she did for us back in the fall to this post below. You can see more of her work on facebook at Heather Flowers: Fotog! Check her out and get in on her giveaway!

Here are the details and how you can enter:

VALENTINE GIVEAWAY--

One mini-fotog session (a $60 value) just in time for Valentine's Day 2011! Here's how to enter:

Go here to her facebook page and "like" her page. Next, share a link to her page on your facebook wall. Go back to her page again and under the giveaway post, comment "Pick Me!". That's it!

Good luck!

Lovin' Some Deals & Steals!!

2011-01-17T11:11:00.002-06:00

I absolutely LOVE finding great deals! It's such a rush to get something I want or need at a huge discount or a great price! I don't go online hunting up these deals myself, no time for that! Rather, I subscribe to several websites that find them FOR me. Recently I became a member of a site called No More Rack. They post sales daily and I get an email about their upcoming sales. ALSO, just for registering on their site (which is FREE, by the way) they give me a $10 shopping credit! FREE MONEY!

Today on No More Rack, they have jelly watches that are TOO CUTE! They're by Geneva, a brand I already own and LOVE. They're on sale for $10 today and guess what...since I've not used my credit yet, for me they're FREE! I just have to pay the $2.99 shipping!! Since I already own two of these watches, ;-) I'm going to pass on this deal. But you can totally score this one if you'd like. BUT HURRY! Their deals sell out SUPER QUICK!!!

Click on the link below to register and then see what deals they have that you NEEED! :) Please use the link below so I can receive credit for referring you! (Another neat way to get free stuff that you can use once you've joined the site!)

http://www.nomorerack.com/?cr=248062

Another deal today that I posted about on facebook is at Crocs.com. I got Addison a super cute pair of mary jane crocs for $9.38 shipped! They're on sale for $7.99 PLUS you can use the code "thankyou" at checkout for an additional 20% off! Sizes are very limited so if you're interested in this deal, you'd better jump on it quick!

AND THE WINNER IS...

2011-01-17T08:29:00.012-06:00

Good morning! I'm so excited to announce the winner of the CSN Stores gift certificate! We documented our drawing this morning in pictures... (Took them with my phone so please excuse the low res.) :)

Your names before they went into the drawing bowl

Folded up nice and neatly...
Little bed head beauty gets the honors this morning...the early bird gets the worm! :)

Here she goes...

A lucky name drawn...

AND THE WINNER IS........

TABITHA!!

Congratulations Tabitha! Thanks for reading my blog and being a faithful follower since the beginning! :) Oh, and I felt that "nudge" and I'll do my best to write more often! ;>) Send your email address to mine (hollandgirls2@yahoo.com) and I'll get your gift certificate code to ya!

Thanks everybody that commented! I appreciate you reading my blog too and I've made it my mission now to find MORE giveaways! That was totally fun!!

Oh my...I have to get off here now...Nathan's child just came up to me so excited that she "got a ban-nay!" (a band-aid!) Yes, that IS what you think it is. Why do I not write as much as I used to??? This says it all...

It's GIVEAWAY TIME Peeps!

2011-01-14T13:00:00.009-06:00

Okay my sweet people, it's time for the giveaway details I've been telling you about! Keep in mind now, this is my blog's FIRST giveaway and while I would LOVE to be giving you a beautiful bright red Kitchenaid stand mixer or a way-too-cool MacBook (as a couple of my followers were ambitiously hoping)...well, we're just not quite to that status yet! (How awesome would that be though, right?!!) So here it is...CSN Stores has given me a $15 gift certificate to be given away to one of my readers! CSN Stores carries "just about everything, INCLUDING the kitchen sink!" (AND FREE SHIPPING on just about everything!!) They have over 200 online stores where you can find anything from swing sets to shoes (check out these cutesy bootsies for Mama!!) to stylish furniture to cool cookware! (Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP you fellow foodies?!)

All you have to do to get your name in the running for this gift certificate is simply comment on this post below telling me how you follow my blog. (EX-Through facebook, by checking my site for new postings, or from my email blast.)

If you do not already have a Google account, it's EASY to sign up and FREE. When you click on the comment link below this message it will take you to a new screen where you'll see a blank comment box. Underneath that you'll see a place to sign in with your Google account information or sign up for one. You are not required to have a Google account. If you choose to post your comment as "Anonymous," PLEASE give your name in your post. Otherwise I won't know who posted the comment.

Contest Rules:

Contest begins once this post goes live and will end at midnight on Sunday, January 16, 2011. Winner will be announced on Monday, January 17, 2011. Contest is limited to US and Canadian entrants only. One entry per person. Do NOT put your email address in the comment box for all to see. I will find YOU if you are the winner. The winner will be chosen at random by a random number generator and will be announced here on this blog, which is also directly linked to my facebook page. If you're a friend of mine on there, you will see it on your newsfeed or my profile. The winning commenter will also be notified via email. The email will contain the one-time-use gift certificate code to be used as you wish on any of CSN Store's 200+ websites! Yah-Hooo!!! Are ya ready to go shoppin'?!! Comment away! And GOOD LUCK! :)

What Makes You Smile?

2011-01-13T17:23:00.002-06:00

Lots of things make me smile. Some days I just have to look harder for those things than others. Today would've been one such day. Busy day of cleaning up, laundry, finishing putting away the last bit of red and green decor, etc, etc... What should've only taken me a few hours however, took me the entire day today, which frustrated me...deepening that ugly wrinkle that lies between my eyes. Grrrr! The reasons it took me all day to do a few simple tasks-Macy didn't nap more than 20 minutes ALL DAY LONG today and Addison, well, she's two-enough said.

One thing that DOES make me happy and makes me smile is giving to others. I absolutely LOVE giving gifts or a meal to someone and seeing their eyes light up in excitement and delight. It's fun to make to someone else's day! So you can imagine my pure joy today when I found out I was going to be able to do a GIVEAWAY for my blog readers!! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!

I'm just about ready to get this giveaway going...working out a few more details, crossing my i's and dotting my t's! It's not a HUGE thing that's being given but it's still something. More than you had BEFORE you entered the giveaway, right?! :) I'm hoping to have everything ready to post on here later tonight but it's possible that it might be tomorrow afternoon before I can get it posted. One thing that YOU can do to make absolutely sure you get in the running for this giveaway is make sure you know how to comment on my blog post. That is how your name will be entered to win. You will have to comment on the giveaway post.

So, go ahead...try it out! Comment on this post and tell me your GUESS as to what the giveaway will be!!

The things they share...Sometimes more than just stories!

2010-12-04T09:57:00.003-06:00

I don't blog much anymore. (Newsflash!) I feel guilty when I spend time blogging and there's housework staring at me or kids needing to be fed, changed, wiped or whipped. (Just kidding on the whipped part...you can tell by the way my kids act that they don't see much of that!) And I can't have the hubs come home from work, look around and say "Ummmm, so how was YOUR day? What did you DO today?" I at least have to make it LOOK like I slaved a little bit.

So why am I blogging right now? One might think by the previous statement that my house is clean and kids whipped! ...I mean WIPED, WIPED! You'd be wrong. I am blogging from the laundry room. Yep, laptop set up on the ironing board and I'm folding and washing and drying between thoughts. BA-DA-BING! MULTITASKING! I figured, I do my best thinking, reflecting and talking to myself in my laundry room so why not set up the computer and write it while I work. So here goes...maybe the lent bunnies won't eat the innards of my computer.

When I pick the girls up from school...YES, I'm moving on to a new thought. Keep up!...they both come running to the car, hop in and start shouting things about their day at me before the sliding door has closed. It's so sweet that they want to tell me about their day without me having to ask. And it's a bit of a competition between them to see who gets to talk first. They both start and then one usually knows she was a half second later starting so she shuts up and glares at the other till their done with their story.

Emma was first yesterday to tell me her exciting news. "Mom! Guess what! You know my goooood friend Gracie H?" (There's several "Gracies" in her class so they go by last initials.) "Guess what she GAVE me today!" She holds up a previously wadded up but now unfolded, Christmas printed napkin. "Her napkin!!" My stomach did a flip in disgust and I wanted to scream "Ahhh, throw that down!" but she had already been holding it for some time, damage was done and she was so thrilled by it, I had to act as if it was a priceless gift. "So Emma, WHYYYY did Gracie H. give you her napkin today?" "I don't know, she's just a really good friend Mom." Mmm hmmm I say. Thinking to myself, just as soon as she's not looking, that CLEARLY USED napkin is going to go missing! Ick!

Emma paused for a second so Taylor jumped in. In her most preppy, matter of fact, you are NOT going to believe this, voice she says "MOM! Guess what!" (They like to start their stories out like that...gives them a little more suspense!) I say back to her in that same OMGosh voice "What?!" "The book fair is coming to our school next week!! And I only need eight dollars!" Me: "Only eight dollars, huh?" ...as I'm thinking, that eight dollars becomes sixteen because there are two that are going to need EQUAL, EQUAL I TELL YOU!, amounts to spend. "Yes, because I found two books and they're only four dollars each! Can you believe I only want to spend eight dollars?!!" (shaking her head in disbelief.) "What can I say, I'm just a cheap steak!" (That wasn't a typo.) I didn't correct her...I'm thinking I might need to hear that one again some time. :)

Forgot to add in there...the whole time the girls are excitedly raving about whatever it was that happened at school that day, Addison is screaming "Me too! Me too! Me too, Mommy! Me too!" And she doesn't stop until I say "You too, Addi?!" Then she laughs and screams "YEAH!!!"

Well, the dryer just stopped and I need this ironing board for a folding table, so...that is all!

Coupons Coupons Coupons!!! Love Love Love!!!

2010-02-27T15:48:00.008-06:00

I absolutely LOVE getting a great deal on the things I buy. Whether it be groceries, clothing, shoes, groceries, baby items, household items, groceries or groceries, doesn't matter; it THRILLS me to be able to get them on sale or discounted!

Just this weekend, I came across quite a few websites that have info on current sales and coupons you can print from your home printer and deals you can get online! I put the list of my favorite of those websites here on my blog to share with you. Many of the coupon sites will allow you to print more than one coupon so that you can use both (if your store permits) or use one now and save one for later. I found that with most of the coupons, I was able to print them twice.

You can become a fan of many of these websites on Facebook and keep up with new deals and coupon info through your newsfeed page. Some give you the option to subscribe to their site and they will email you with new coupons and deals that become available!

My biggest bargain I scored today was from Coldwater Creek! Through the Hip 2 Save website, I found a great deal on a pleated scarf! They are on sale for $4.99 and Hip 2 Save provided a discount code you can enter at checkout for an additional 25% off. After my tax and shipping my grand total was $4.09!!!! After purchasing this so cute pink scarf (also available in other colors) I decided $4.09 is SO cheap I should've bought two! So I went back to the site, figuring that it wouldn't let me use the discount code twice, and I put another scarf of a different color into my shopping cart. It DID allow me to use the code again so I got ANOTHER so cute scarf, again for just $4.09!

I haven't decided exactly what I'll do with my scarves yet...keep them for myself (depending on just how cutesie they are), use them as stocking (or Easter basket) stuffers for Taylor and Emma, or give them as a gift next Christmas. Doesn't matter...for $8.19 total, they're a steal! :) Here are pictures of my new bargain babies:

AREN'T THEY JUST TOO CUTE?!!!

If you now need yourself a bargain scarf, here's the link and the discount code you can use to order yours from Coldwater Creek! (They also come in gray and a darker blue) DON'T FORGET: Use the code WHH8520 at checkout to take an additional 25% off!

http://www.coldwatercreek.com/Products/Detail.aspx?productid=45314&ensembleid=51396&colorid=373&refLink=outlet-accessories.aspx&Skn=outlet

If you like Old Navy deals as well, Hip 2 Save also tells you how to get Old Navy coupons (10% off your entire purchase and 15% off your entire purchase through 3/4/10) by clicking on certain links in their ad. You have to read the instructions closely though so that you click on the right things...it's a little tricky but if I could do it, I'm sure you can too!

If you know of any other coupon or bargain websites that I didn't list, let me know! I'd love to check them out and add them to my list!

Happy Shopping!!! (is there really any other kind?! Well, maybe swimsuit shopping, but other than that?!)

Monday ramblings: My attempt to postpone the housework just a little longer.

2010-02-22T14:06:00.003-06:00

Well, it's a Monday! Got most of my to-do's checked off of my list. Except for anything to do with cleaning up our pigsty that was totally trashed over the cold, rainy, we can't go outside so we're stuck in here together, weekend. I'm completely avoiding it, however I think I'm going to HAVE to tackle the kitchen soon...something in there smells like the movie theater and we've not popped any "movie theater butter" popcorn lately. Weird! (...and scary!)

Went to the grocery store this morning with Addison after dropping the other two off at school. Seems like just about every time she and I are at the grocery store, there's some sort of major ordeal with her. Either she throws up all over herself, the cart and me and we have to abandon ship and leave. Or she is mad about something and is screaming, squirming and kicking the whole way through the store (have I mentioned she's got a bit of a temper???) with her mother rushing down the isles, grabbing the necessities, glaring and DARING anyone to look at us funny or comment on her fit. Today, thankfully, our deal was not a big one. We dealt and made it through our shopping list, all hair still in tact. About halfway through our trip she looks down at her bottom, starts lifting one leg, grabbing at her diaper and saying "Meh-meh, meh-meh, meh-meh." (That's her words for "Mama," or "Hey you, get me that," or "I want what you have," or just a general response to any question. Vocab is not one of her many talents right now.) Her diaper had leaked and soaked her bottom and down part of one leg. So I did what any good mother would do...I completely ignored it and finished the chore at hand-getting through that grocery list. What did you think I would do...take her to the restrooms and change her? Noooo way! I figured she was better off sitting in her own pee for a little while rather than going into one of those germ infested stink bombs we call public restrooms.

I have another doctor's appointment again this week. Those things just keep coming faster and faster! It's a "nothing" appointment. One where I'll go in and he'll say "You good?" and I'll say "I'm good" and then he'll say "Good, see ya in two weeks." And I'll say, "Really, two weeks? Crap, are we getting that close already?" Not that I'm not anxious to meet our little Macy, I just know she's a WHOLE LOT easier to take care of right where she is right now! Oh, yes, her name is going to be Macy I guess. Can you hear the "I like it alright but not just overly enthused about it" tone in my words? Nathan named her. He said since I named the other three and since he had to go through the "procedure" of making sure we have no more children, he gets the privilege this time and it was either Macy or Bella so I should be thankful that it's Macy! No middle name decided on yet though. I also have to do that glucose test this time too...drink the nasty sweet "oh it tastes like sprite if you get the lemon-lime flavor bull" stuff, then wait an hour and have blood drawn to check for gestational diabetes. So I decided that maybe we should go ahead and while we're waiting during that hour, have one of the 3D ultrasounds done. I called today and as it turns out, you have to be 28 weeks before they'll do it. I'll be 27 and 3 days...apparently those extra 4 days makes a difference to the scheduling receptionist. I tried to explain how since I'd be there anyway, how much more convenient it would be to do it then....nope, no luck in swaying her. So I'm going to go back on March 3rd, 5 days later and have it done then. In those 5 days, the baby will have grown & developed substantially and will be able to look at us, smile and wave, giving us much better pictures of her. I'm not put out by the receptionists inflexibility or anything.

On a more serious note, I have to ask you to all say a little prayer for us. Nathan and I are considering not sending our girls to public school next year. I've had this overwhelming notion for several months now that maybe I should home school them. Any of you that know me very well know this is extremely "left field" for me! I have never thought I would, should or could home school. I loved my job teaching in public school and always thought my children would be a part of a great public school system, just as Nathan and I were. But the fact is, times are changing and things are just not the same as when we were in school. There have also been some other little issues and concerns I've had lately that have also contributed to us considering it. I am extremely fearful but at the same time I know that if God is calling me to do this, he'll provide the means. So I'm just going to keep praying about it and researching it for now and hopefully we'll know for sure soon what we're going to do.

Well, car loop line's-a-callin' so till next time... :)

It's A Girl! ...AGAIN! :)

2010-01-14T09:50:00.003-06:00

Most of you have probably already heard via facebook...but for those that have not...my ultrasound at my last doctor's appointment showed that we, in fact, WERE incorrect last time in thinking I was carrying a boy. He is actually a SHE, again. Our doctor was quite sure based on the ultrasound tech's pictures that it is a girl. Before he came into the room to see me, he'd already viewed my ultrasound pics with the tech. He came in smiling and shaking his hung head and said "Man! I really thought you were getting a boy this time but I guess I was just hoping too much for you and trying to see something that wasn't actually there. I'm sorry!" I laughed and told him it was no big deal, we were totally fine with another girl. (Me probably more so than Nathan-but he'd never show it.) I explained to him that it had only been like a year and a half ago that we were buying a new PINK car seat and everything else pink, preparing for Addison, so all of her baby things that we still have are practically new. I told him it was good because we are already prepared for this baby...not much to do or buy to get things ready for her arrival. Which really is a blessing considering how busy I stay with the other three girls. Now I don't have to worry about going out shopping for all new blue baby things. Which, I probably WILL go out shopping some, but it'll be for the fun stuff...outfits and such!

Schools here had been canceled due to the cold temperatures on the day of my ultrasound so I had to take all three girls with me to the appointment. Nathan met us there to watch the girls for me. I expected that they could all come into the ultrasound room with me but once they called me back, they told me no children under age 8 were allowed in. :( A bummer because that also meant that Nathan couldn't come in either. So after it was over, I gathered my new pictures of her and went out to break the news to Nathan. Bless his heart, Addison, and probably Emma too, was giving him fits in the waiting room so he had to take all three of them out into the hallway and walk them around. He was just about at his wits end when I found him to tell him he was getting yet another daughter. I fully expected him to be really let down and disappointed. I mean, who wouldn't be, if they were in his shoes.
So I say, "Well, we were wrong last time, it's another girl...I'm SO SORRY!" All he said was "No way, are you serious? Well, that's okay, another girl will be good. At least we're already prepared for her. Oh my gosh, FOUR GIRLS! WOW! HA HA!"
He was so good about it all...as he has been every time with everything...finding out about our third and this fourth pregnancy...as I was falling apart and worried, he was confident and happy and comforting to me. He is so good! And such a great daddy to his girls. I guess that's why God saw fit to bless us with another girl.

So anyway, that's it. Another girl is on her way to our home. And boy is she coming fast! I have a hard time keeping up with how many weeks along I am. Thankfully, "there's an app for that!" I checked my "what to expect..." app on my phone this morning and I am 21 weeks and two days. Only 18 weeks, five days left to go. I guess being busy with everything else, I've not had time to dwell on the days passing by and every time I check that app on my phone I'm astonished at the "weeks remaining" number. It's dwindling down so quickly. Not that I'm not ready to meet her and have her here to hold, but I know from experience, she is so much easier to care for right where she is! :)

One more thing that Nathan did say that day before we left the doctor's office: "We're going to have to rethink that name Eden Elise. I really don't like it. At all!" Shoot! I thought it was really pretty. So we may be back to the drawing board for names. Unless I can keep saying it to him often and it grows on him enough for him to say, okay. :) But name suggestions are always welcome! So if you have any baby girl names you can share, bring 'em on!

I'm not napping (or facebooking-at the moment), I'm blogging!

2010-01-06T12:49:00.005-06:00

No, you're not dreaming, I am actually blogging! Something I hardly EVER do anymore because when I do have the time to do it, I usually decide that a nap is more important to me at that moment. (It's also partially Facebook's fault!)

Thankfully I have regained some of my energy and stamina back now that I'm in the second phase of baby bearing. The first 14 weeks or so were pretty rough, thus no blogs during that time. My knuckles drug the ground from morning till night. I was in bed EVERY night by 8 pm and spent most of the day consuming the box of saltines and drinking ginger ale. Two wonderful God-sends to have on hand during the first three months of pregnancy! I am twenty weeks now, as of yesterday. And boy, is this time flying by! I guess the other three are keeping me so busy I don't have time to think about adding another baby to our household. I also think it's partially a God thing too...he is protecting me by keeping my mind busy and not thinking about adding a FOURTH child to this already busy household!

At my last doctor's appointment I was at 16 weeks and he attempted to see if he could tell the gender of the baby with a small ultrasound machine he has in his exam room. The best we could tell it looked like a boy. What we were seeing hadn't looked like any of our girl's ultrasounds! However, we had never had an ultrasound that early before either. The doctor seemed to think what we were seeing were BOY parts. I go back tomorrow for my 20 week ultrasound that will be done by an ultrasound tech on a good machine that will show more detail and can be zoomed in. So I'm positively sure she will tell us that the last ultrasound machine's resolution was just too low and we, in fact, are having another girl, (Eden Elise) NOT a boy. Then I will be more at ease knowing that I'm all set for having a baby girl. Since it was only about a year and a half ago that we bought a brand new car seat, stroller, etc...ALL pink, of course! Not to mention all the other PINK baby items we have! Pretty much everything is pink. I love pink and girly! And it is so much fun to shop for pink and girly things! However, if it IS a boy, I'm going to try to console myself with the fact that I will at least still get to shop...not pink and girly, which is all I know, but blue and boyish. (Whatever that is!) :)

Nathan is "sort of excited" (as he says) that it's a boy. He's looking forward to not so much PINK, I think. He has decided that HE should be the one who names this boy since (he claims!) I named all the girls. He is pretty set on the name Noah Graham. At first I didn't really like it at all but the name Noah is growing on me. Every time I hear it I think of the "Noah" in the book & movie The Notebook, and boy wasn't he dreamy?! McDreamy and a little McSteamy too! :)

Okay, enough about baby stuff...

Christmas this year was great! For the first time since we moved to Florida, we were able to have Santa and our family Christmas here at our house. The girls were excited that Santa came to their house, even though he had to come just a few days earlier than the normal Christmas morning. It worked out well that way. We were able to have Santa and open gifts with each other and were still able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Meme & Nana. The girls got way too many new things, as usual. It's hard not to overdo it this time of year. And I justify it to myself in that during the year, other than birthdays, I don't buy them toys and things, just clothes/shoes as needed. (and sometimes MORE than needed...)

I actually saw the Times Square ball drop on New Year's Eve this year. First time in a few years, I think, that I've actually been able to stay awake for it. I was fast asleep ten minutes later however. But hey, I made it! I didn't make any resolutions this year. I figure, I'm barely keeping my head above water so to speak as it is, Its probably best to just stick with getting through each day, getting my housework and childwork done. I think by the end of the day if everyone is fed, clothed in clean clothes, has a relatively clean place to live and are somewhat happy, I'm doing good. And adding something new to my "to-do" list or "to-be" list is just asking for a meltdown!

A quick update on the kids...
Taylor is growing up SO fast! She just turned 8 about a month ago. She is still doing well in school and enjoys it. We are hoping to get her started back in piano soon. Nathan's aunt is giving us her piano and we're really excited about that! Now if Nathan can just figure out a way to get it here to our house and unloaded. We didn't know how heavy pianos are! I'm hoping we'll have it here soon so that Taylor can get back into it. Taylor continues to be a huge help to me with her sisters. Or at least with Addison. She takes really good care of her when I need her to. And she is also a big help with housework too...a lot of times without even having to be asked, she'll just go get the broom and start sweeping the kitchen or dusting. The night before her birthday I had decided that the ends of her hair really needed to be trimmed. So after her shower I got ready to trim it. She has been asking for a while to have her hair cut up to her shoulders, which would've been about 4 inches or more off of it and I didn't want her cutting it. On this night, she played on my soft side and told me that for her birthday she really wanted to look pretty and would I pleeeeeease cut it up to her shoulders. So, I cut off about 3 1/2 inches, I was too afraid to do more. It was just below her shoulders. And it did look really cute. I was nervous about it but really liked it that length once it was done. She was thrilled with it. Naturally, only being fair, I had to cut Emma's a little bit too-what little bit she has. She loved hers too. We'd never seen so much prissing around and swinging of hair as was done that night!

Emma too is growing up fast! She'll turn 5 in a couple weeks. She is still a tiny little energetic thing with a huge imagination. She is hilarious. She makes us laugh, and scratch our heads in wonderment, every day. She absolutely LOVES school and hates holidays when she has to be out of school. She is learning so quickly too. She has started reading already and can add small numbers too. She can write and tell you how to write numbers all the way up to 100. She can also tell time on a digital clock. All of these things she has learned without my help, and MUCH to my surprise! Especially the telling time thing...one day she came into the kitchen where I was and said really sassy like "MOM! It's 5:28, when is supper going to be ready?!" I glanced at the clock and it was 5:28. Another day, she had asked me to show her how to do math. So I gave her some basic addition problems and showed her how to do them by drawing dots & counting them. I did the first one for her and then left her with it. When I came back, she had added all of the problems correctly without using any dots or making any other marks than the answer. She told me she just used her fingers to count them up instead of drawing those dots. She still very much lives in her own little world and hardly notices what's going on outside of her world. She is oblivious to things (outside of Emmaville) most of the time.

Addison turned a year old on Oct. 30th. It's so hard to believe she is already a year old! It doesn't seem possible. She is walking and going all over the place. She got a new wagon that has seats in it for Christmas and she loves it. She will sit in that wagon, in the living room or her bedroom, with her books or toys for half an hour or longer! It's GREAT! :) She is really sweet most of time. She can't say much...Mama, Gah-Gah (for Dada), Bye-Bye, and Buh (for book or bird or anything else that begins with B). She can be a little feisty at times and has developed quite a temper. And she has learned how to take out her anger on her sisters, if they're the source of it, by slapping at their faces or pulling their hair. She is VERY dramatic! Even more so than the other two girls, if you can believe that! When Nathan or I have to tell her no or get on to her for something, she opens her mouth so wide and just cries and cries! And sometimes she'll fall down into the floor like she's hurt and lay there and cry. It's funny to us now but won't be for long I'm sure. She is still a good sleeper and goes to sleep on her own every night. She goes to bed at 8:00 when the other two do and doesn't get up until around 7:00 or 7:30. We've been very fortunate in that area!

It's been really cold here in Oklahoma for the last couple of months. And I mean REALLY cold. We got about 4 or 5 inches of snow here on Christmas Eve. We had already left town before it started but when we got home were pleasantly surprised that it was all still on the ground. Emma and Addison had never seen snow before. Taylor and Emma played in it for two days and loved it. It still hasn't all melted yet. Our entire front yard is still completely covered and hasn't melted hardly at all. The back yard is about half covered. Tonight we are expecting to get more snow and are supposed to have bitterly cold temps from tomorrow through the weekend. The low on Friday morning is 1 degree! THAT'S ONE DEGREE! It would be kind of nice is they'd cancel school for Thursday and Friday since it is going to be so very cold that way we wouldn't have to get out in it. Wait a minute....what am I saying?!!

Okay, that's enough for today...until next time, which I have no idea when that will be but maybe tomorrow so that I can tell you we're having a girl! ...or for sure that it's a boy...stay warm! :)

And Here We Go Again!

2009-10-13T09:13:00.002-05:00

Well, it's PAST time for a post, or so I've been told! I have found that updating a quick, short facebook status has been much easier for me to find time to do rather than updating this blog. Just because I am overly critical of what I write on here and have to go back, edit, add to and take away before I will post it and by that time three hours have gone by and well, frankly, I just don't have that kind of time laying around these days. I just had a thought...just imagine if I could magically turn all these goldfish and cheerios that are scattered on my kitchen floor into minutes added to my day...not just ANY minutes, FREE TIME/MOMMY TIME minutes! Well, wait a minute, now that I think about it, that would just push bed time back...never mind, nix that idea!

Okay, enough stalling...on to the good stuff that you came here for...

I found out yesterday that I am going to be an aunt again! My brother and sister in law are having another baby! I am so excited for them but at the same time I was completely shocked to find out she's due the end of May, she's 7 weeks along. Why am I so shocked? Because I too am also due the end of May, 8 weeks along. Yes, you read right, we are having another baby too. If our due dates are figured correctly, I am due May 25th and she is due May 29th! Isn't that the craziest thing you've ever heard! I know what you're thinking..."NO, that's not the craziest thing...the craziest thing is that YOU are having a 4th CHILD!!" Yes that is nuts too, I agree. I know you're sitting there trying to calculate how old Addison will be when this one gets here...she'll be almost 19 months. Taylor will be 8, Emma 5.

It has not been the easiest news to swallow, let me tell you! I have known for a month now and have just now been able to talk about it without going to pieces. But I've come to the realization that I'm just not supposed to ever have clean hair, fresh makeup and be dressed in anything but ratty t-shirts and athletic pants, ever again. And I'm okay with that!

I was really afraid of what Taylor and Emma would say when they found out. I don't really know what reaction I thought I would get from them, I just didn't think they would be very happy about having another baby in house. They were excited though.
It made it a little easier to be able to tell them about aunt Lesley at the same time too. They kept saying "Wow! Two babies!" Then Taylor looked at me kind of funny and said, "Mom, four kids?! FOUR!!! Oh my goodness!" Emma, just laughed and went right back to being in her own little Emma world where everything revolves around her and sings to her music. She hasn't really had much of an opinion about it. Which I expected. She's a strange one, that one.

Now that I have let the cat out of the bag and have gotten the news out into the open, I am feeling a little bit better about the whole situation. I have to keep reminding myself that babies are a blessing and how fortunate I am to be able to have them when there are so many couples out there that want them so badly and can't have one of their own. I do feel blessed.

Now, I know you're wondering about Nathan and how he is handling the news. If you know him very well, you know how he has never been one to want more than one or maybe two children. But just as his reaction was when he found out we were having a third, he was excited again and thought it was really something that we would now have four kids. He has seen it as nothing else but a blessing and has had no doubts about our abilities to raise a fourth at all. I tell him he only feels that way because he gets to LEAVE every day!!! He overlooks all the day to day things and sees the big picture. He thinks about Christmases and Thanksgivings when the kids are older and how much fun it will be to have a big family during those times. I think about those too...but it's always prefaced with "If I survive and make it to..."

We're going to have a very busy spring on BOTH sides of our family! On my side, we will have my brother and sister-in-law's new baby, our new baby, and my cousin Abby is having a baby in April too. Three new babies on that side! Which will bring our family Christmas count to 35! I think, if I counted them all! That's just my Mom's parents, mom's sisters and brothers in law, and their children and grandchildren. And yes, we all still get together and exchange gifts every Christmas. It's wild but so much fun! On Nathan's side, his brother Jerry and his wife, Amy, are expecting a baby in April too! Two new babies at Meme's house! And all of the grandchildren at her house so far are ALL GIRLS! We have four girls there now. And, Amy and I suspect that we'll both probably have girls again this time since that seems to be all these Holland men make. So, possibly 6 little girls! Very expensive! :)

Well, I smell something strange, and it's either me or Addison's diaper so I'd better get off and either change a diaper or shower. And FYI, if you choose to comment on this post, I have already heard all the comments I need to hear such as "Don't you know what causes that?" And, "Have the Mormons converted you guys up there in Oklahoma?" And, "Watch out Duggars!" Those comments, while as hilarious as they are, have gotten old and stale on this end now so if you absolutely MUST make a joke, please come up with something new and fresh that will make me laugh! Thank you! :)

Second Day of Second Grade...so far so good!

2009-08-20T16:23:00.005-05:00

Taylor has now been through day two of second grade and so far, it's going great. She has had no complaints so far, however they've not had ANY homework yet (what's the matter with that teacher???) and during the day they're still doing fun activities and crafty type stuff-getting to know you/the classroom/the school stuff. I have a feeling starting Monday the work will begin and then I doubt every day will be so hunky-dorey! But for right now, we'll take it!

She's made a few friends already and once again this year there are a couple of boys in her class that, based on what she's told me about them and some of the things they've done/said, she's been instructed to steer clear of! I'm beginning to think a private, all girls school would not be such a bad thing. :)

She really likes her teacher, Mrs. Jansen. I met her at their "supply drop-off" day and she seemed nice. She seemed kind of quiet and a little shy. When I asked her where to put all of the supplies, she looked around her room and said "Oh, just pile them on Taylor's desk and we'll figure out what to do with them tomorrow (the first day of school). She admitted to me that the start of school had come upon her so quickly and she didn't have things together really yet. Hmmm.... Well, if you know me, you know that didn't sit well. I'm trying not to make any assumptions about her and hoping that things will be fine this year. I learned from Taylor's kindergarten year that as long as SHE is learning and happy there, I have to put my feelings about the teacher aside and not worry about it. I think having been a teacher myself makes my feelings toward my child's teachers worse...I tend to think "Why isn't she doing this, or that, or it would be much simpler/easier/better if she did it this way, etc..." I know it's wrong to be that way...my way is not the best way for somebody else...I guess! :) However, it works so great for me, I'm sure it'd be better for others too! (kidding!) {I must add, I did NOT have those feelings toward ANY of Emma's teachers!!! Tabitha and Dee, I thought you guys were FABULOUS!!! Anybody that can take Emma and teach her the things that you taught her without pulling your hair out has my utmost respect and confidence! :)}

Emma has enjoyed being home (sort of) by herself. (Addison has been taking 3-4 hour naps in the mornings-Whooo-hooo!!) This morning she hugged me and said "It's just ME and YOU!" She likes the extra attention. She's still talking about Jesus a lot. Don't know WHERE that's coming from. This morning she told me that Jesus doesn't like big kids only little kids because some times big kids hurt little kids when they play together. I told her I didn't think that was right and that I'm pretty sure he likes big kids too. She said very confidently, "NO, he DOES-INT!! So I asked her if she remembered the song, Jesus Loves the Little Children. "Yes" So I asked her "Well, what's the next part of that song?" She couldn't remember so I said "ALLLLL the children of the world!" I said "See, even big kids too!" She just laughed and said, "Nah, I don't think so." ??? She also told me he doesn't like Santa Claus either. I never understood her reasoning behind that one. She moved on to another subject so I counted myself as lucky and didn't ask again!

Yeah, so Addison has been taking these incredible naps in the mornings. It's so nice! I SO hope she keeps that up!! She is really growing and learning new things! She waves and says bye-bye now. She finally refers to Nathan. It's "Ga-Ga" not Dada but he'll take what he can get. I can ask her now "Where's Gaga, or Emma or Taylor" and she will look at them. I know, she's brilliant! :) She's not walking or even trying to yet. Well, she'll walk around the coffee table but won't try to let go and when I try to walk with her she just bounces (dances). She loves music and any time she hears singing or music she bounces up and down. It's so cute! She's got her two front teeth on the bottom. She's working on getting her first top tooth...not one in the front, it's on the left side of her front teeth. Looks like she's going to have a vampire fang. Hmph, me and all those "Twilight" books I read while pregnant with her...:)

Well, the afternoon monsters are coming out and growling at me so I'd better strap on my guns and tend to them! :)

Things are ok in OK!

2009-08-17T06:58:00.010-05:00

Time for an update! We are officially Okies now! We arrived at our new house here in Owasso (suburb just North of Tulsa) a little over two weeks ago and have gotten all settled in now. So far we are all really enjoying it here!

We got into town on a Saturday night. The girls and I were so excited to get up here and see everything! As we took our exit and began making our way through town all three of us were shouting out all the stores and fast food restaurants we saw. "Hey look! There's McDonalds! Cool! Look, there's a big Walmart! Neat!" You know, the IMPORTANT places! As if those places don't exist on every corner in EVERY town! :) The kids were so thrilled their seat belts could barely contain them!

We settled in LATE that night on our air mattresses and slept pretty well, actually. All that excitement over McD's and Wally World must've worn us out. The next day we began unpacking the things that we had brought with us and then we all piled into the van and went out to see things in the day light. I only THOUGHT I had seen a few great places to eat & shop the night before. That day I found my mother ship...one of my most favorite places in the world to go...a place where my love tank gets filled to the brim and overfloweth...HOBBY LOBBY!! And I'm talking, a NICE, BIG one too! I nearly hyperventilated when I saw it all huge-ish, sitting on a nice corner on a hill only 2 minutes from my house. All I could get out was "Look! Look! Look!" In my awe I remember faintly hearing Nathan's voice say "THERE IS NOTHING THROUGH THOSE DOORS THAT YOU NEED!! NOTHING I SAY!" Surely I was dreaming that though...because SURELY he'd never deny me my Hobby Lobby!
{Quick Interjection: For those of you, mostly my FL friends, who don't know what Hobby Lobby is, it's a store filled with crafting supplies, home decor items, seasonal decor, etc...it's like JoAnn's but way better! And cheaper! They run 1/2 price sales EVERY WEEK! It's a heavenly place! Not so much in my husband's eyes though.}
For the past four years I have been deprived of this place since the entire state of FL only has ONE, ONE I TELL YOU!, Hobby Lobby. And it's in Panama City or some place far from Melbourne. So after discovering it, my mental to-do list was just updated and everything was shifted down the list by one bullet point. Okay, enough about H. L...

We also found several great strip malls (who came up with that name anyway...I really don't like it! A man, I'm sure!) with lots of great stores. But I won't bore you anymore with my excitement over the shopping that, by the way, is MINUTES from my driveway!!! Ahhhhh! :) In our new house, the girls each have their own rooms now. They were excited about that but I was a little worried that Taylor & Emma would have a little trouble with sleeping in a room alone since they've shared a room for over a year. So far they've done great! There's only been one morning that I've woken up with both of them in our bed. They're enjoying having their own space. The new hasn't really worn off the house yet with them, they're still enjoying playing together in their rooms everyday.

We've visited a couple of churches also. We liked one but are going to take our time and visit quite a few. Although I am ready to find one and start getting connected to people and make some friends. I haven't found a MOPS group here yet. I found a few listings on the internet but most of them are all in Tulsa and I'd like to find one here in Owasso. I'm sure there is one, I'll just have to keep looking. Pray for us that we'll find our church home and friends soon.

Taylor starts school this week. Her school is really close to our house too...about a mile away. She's indifferent about starting. She's still enjoying being at home during the day and playing with Emma so she says she's not ready to start yet. I'm sure she'll like it once it starts. We go to meet her teacher tomorrow and she starts on Wednesday. The tardy bell there doesn't ring until 8:50! I'm super excited about that!! That's almost an HOUR later than what we're used to! Woo Hoo! She gets out at 3:15. We're waiting to hear if Emma has gotten in to a preschool at a church here. A church we visited has what looks like a great preschool...much like the one she went to in FL. They were full when I called to get her in but the director told me she would be first on the waiting list and if this year goes like past years, she'll get in. They are a Tues, Thurs school with an "enrichment" day on Wed. She'll go from 9:30-2:30 on Tues & Thurs and then on Wed, it's 9:00-12:30 and on that day they teach them spanish, art, math and something else. She is definitely in on the Wed classes. We just have to wait until the first week it starts to hear if she made it in for the Tues/Thurs classes. Keeping our fingers crossed!!

We have a big back yard here at this house. The girls are really enjoying it! They play kickball every day and have races from one fence to the other. It's been pretty hot in the afternoons but not near as humid as it is in FL. And I thought I'd never find a place where the wind blows as much as it does in FL but I stand corrected! The wind is unreal here...blows strong most of the time. Our first thunderstorm here looked more like one of the hurricanes we experienced in FL! The wind blew so hard, I was really scared there was a tornado coming! I kept checking the weather on TV and online to make sure we didn't need to take cover.

Nathan's job here is in an office in Tulsa which has been strange to us. He actually gets up and leaves for the day and is home at night. It's been a nice change and he's enjoying it too. I am really glad to have him home every night. He does have to travel some but nowhere near what he had to do when we lived in FL. He has to travel this week but only for two days so that won't be bad.

I've only met one neighbor so far. She was interesting. An older lady that knows everybody on our street, what they do for a living, how many years they've lived here and every fault they have. We were getting in the van to go to a doctor's appt one morning and she was outside sweeping her driveway so I thought I'd be polite and go over and introduce myself. Nathan had already met them one day when he was mowing. 15 minutes after introducing myself I finally was able to wedge in "I'm sorry to cut you off but we're going to be late for an appt if I don't get going." She seems to be a very particular woman and very opinionated and outspoken. She said she calls or writes the homeowner's assoc. every week about something. And after talking with her that short time, I have no doubt that she does. Lord help us keep her on our good side!! She told Nathan "All I ask is that you keep your kids off the street in the culdesac! Please don't let them ride their bikes in the culdesac." That was one of the things I was looking forward to for them! Letting them ride there because it's a really big culdesac and there's so much room for them to ride. I understand where she's coming from, not wanting an accident to happen. Nathan told her that we're pretty protective of our kids and we wouldn't let them get in the street. She told me they travel a lot and are gone for two weeks at a time usually so maybe we can sneak out when they're gone. Again, I really hope we keep in good graces with her!

Well, the kids are up ready for breakfast now so this blog session is over. I'm sure I'll have pictures and a story to add this week when Tay starts school so I'll be back soon! :)

(See "Perspectives of Taylor & Emma" for a little story about just one of the many things Emma has done lately.)

...And a Month Later, Here We Are...

2009-07-08T22:56:00.005-05:00

So, it's been over a month since my last post. At my last writing I was getting things ready for us to move to AR for the summer. Well, we've been here for a month now. My kids are totally out of control! Nathan and I always joked about how when we would come here to visit all the grandparents...a week here would equal two weeks of working to get our kids back to normal. :) At this rate it'll be next year before they're corrected!!! They have so much fun and more freedoms at their grandparent's houses than they normally do at home so it leaves them quite spoiled rotten by the time we leave. And add to that their girly sassiness and boy do I have my hands full! Good thing all Addison can say is "Ma...Ma...Ma...Ma and Bye...Bye...Bye...Bye!" However, sometimes I think even THAT sounds a little on the dramatic and sassy side. She has already, at a mere 8 months old, learned how to turn on the drama! If she is crawling or pulling up and she falls over even the least bit, she opens her mouth so wide and just screams like she has really hurt herself. And if I just look at her and say "You're okay, it's okay" OH! That just won't do! She will cry even more. She expects to be picked up immediately and hugged and kissed and bounced until enough time goes by that she deems is appropriate depending on the severity of the accident. Then I can put her back down and she'll be off to the next adventure. I AM enabling her just a little bit in that area because I play it up to her like she has just had one of the worst boo-boos ever and I'll whine with her and say "Oh, my goodness, oh, it's so bad, oh my..." I think it's funny because as long as I'm going on and on about it, she'll keep saying "Ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhhh!" (No tears at all!) I'm sure I'll regret babying her like that one day...however right now, I still enjoy it.

We are still waiting on things to go through with the sale of our house in Florida. Hopefully it'll all be finished in a few weeks though. I visited Tulsa a couple weeks ago and Nathan and I went house hunting. We found a house that we are hoping to rent. We are sending the application in on it next week. After it is accepted then we'll call the moving company and have them go to our house in FL, pack it and move it to the new house. I'm hoping to be in the new place by the first week of August. That would be the ideal thing, however, who knows how long it will take. Moving companies are super busy in the summer time. They told us it could take a couple of weeks before they get to us. But once they get to our house, it will take only two days to pack it and load it on the truck. Then another day or so to get it to Tulsa. When they told me "One day to pack and one day to load" I wanted to laugh and say "Yeah, RIGHT!! You'd better bring an army with you!" They did send someone about a month ago out to the house to take notes on how much furniture and 'stuff' we have so they'll know how long it'll take and how many boxes to bring. I guess they know what they're doing. I'll be shocked though if everything is boxed and ready in a day.

The kids have been enjoying Arkansas the past few weeks. We have been spending time at both my parent's house and Nathan's parent's house. We also spent a few days in Conway at my aunt's house...her girls are about the same age as mine. My kids didn't want to leave there. They had so much fun playing with their cousins! We went to the lake on the 4th. We spent the day out on the water and then went back out on the water that night to watch the fireworks show. They really liked that...I'll post pictures as soon as I get them uploaded.

In between all the fun, all three girls have been sick too. Addison just finished her 20th day on antibiotics! She got an ear infection a couple weeks ago in both ears. The first ten days of antibiotics didn't clear it up so they started her on a different one for ten more days. She seems better now but still has a cough and congestion in her chest. Emma busted her head open a couple weeks ago. The girls have a room at my parent's house and they have bunk beds in there. The ceiling fan is over one corner of the top bunk. I had warned the girls not to get on the top bunk when the fan is on...but you know Emma...got to test the boundaries. She climbed up there anyway and decided to see just how bad it would hurt to get hit by the fan...so she stuck her thumb up there and let it hit it. It hurt she said. Well, apparently she was going to get down and she got too close and the fan blade hit her right in the middle of her forehead. Taylor came running to me telling me that Emma had been hit by the fan. I didn't hear her crying so I just said, "Okay, I'll be right there" thinking she was just turning on her normal dramatics! I finished folding a towel and then I heard her scream "Ahhhh! I'm BLEEEEEDING, I'M BLEEEEEDING!" I ran in there and sure enough, there was blood covering her face and dripping all over the top bunk. I wanted so badly to scream and start freaking out!! I grabbed her down and ran into the kitchen to get a towel. I held it on her head and laid her on the couch to survey the damage. It was pretty deep and made me nauseous! I called my Mom and Dad and had them come home from work so that Dad could stay at home with Addison and Taylor and Mom could hold the towel on Emma's head while I drove her to the doctor. We got her head glued back together...thankfully no stitches. Although, now looking back I wish they HAD used stitches. The glue didn't hold and the part of her cut I can see underneath the nasty steri-strips that are coming off, is still open. The nurse who glued it back together put steri-strips on top of it before the glue dried so now we have steri-strips stuck to it and they can't be pulled off or they'll pull out the glue and the cut will be open all the way across. It's in a mess! It's been almost two weeks and she still can't get it wet...which they didn't tell me to begin with and I did let it get a little wet in the bathtub a couple days after it was glued! ANYWAY...when I took her back yesterday to have it checked they told me there was nothing they could do now...it has to heal from the inside out.

Along with all that, Taylor and Emma both had the 24 hour stomach bug too and spent the biggest part of the night throwing up. LOVELY!! That's all done with and I think everybody is well and good now. ...knocking on wood!!

Nathan is in Florida right now. He flew in on Wednesday and will be there until Monday morning. He had to be at the base for a few days. I'm so jealous, he is staying at our house. I wish I was there, I miss my bed and my stuff!!! It's a good thing he went though...one of our a/c units was messed up and had leaked water into the garage (thankfully it didn't damage anything) and the pool was a mess. He'd hired a pool company to take care of it weekly but they hadn't been there in a few weeks. So he had to call and find out what was up with that-it had rained one week on our day (Imagine that! Rain in Florida in the summer time! Who'da thunk it??) and the next week was the 4th so they took a holiday...Ugh! Also the garage door keypad outside the garage isn't working either. We had given a key to a nearby friend, thankfully, so Nathan was able to get the key and get in when he arrived. So he's working to get that fixed as well while he's there.

Well, I guess that about catches you up on what's been going on with us...I have to get off here and check on the children. Up to no good, I'm sure! Will post again when I get the chance. :)

Last Week in Melbourne

2009-06-01T09:26:00.002-05:00

The countdown has begun...we are now into our last week as Floridians. It's so bittersweet. -a little heavy, scratch that, LOT heavy on the bitter side. I'm having a hard time motivating myself to get started on all the "to-do's" on my list of things to do before the end of the week. I think mainly because I'm dreading leaving. It is so hard!! As much as I want to be closer to family, I also don't want to leave our "family" here.

The closer it gets to moving day, the sadder and more depressed I'm getting. I'm really hoping that once we get to AR for the summer, I'll be okay and will feel better and maybe actually be excited about moving to a new place. Right now, so not the case. All I want to do is sit and cry! And doing that makes me feel even worse because in the back of my mind I keep remembering all the prayers that Nathan and I have sent up telling God how much we miss seeing our family and how much we miss AR. How can I go from feeling that way to clinging onto this place? It's gotta be hormonal! I don't know how else to process it.

I just know that the past week or so, I've been trying to savor every minute of this place and take everything in, trying to write every detail of it onto my memory. -Guess that's why I took 116 pictures of us at the beach on Memorial Day. Yes, ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN! -obsessive??

So, this week, I've got to start packing up some things that we're going to need while we're in AR for the summer and also the things that I don't want the moving company to pack and move for us (pictures, scrapbooks, etc...). I get weary just thinking about all of it. My list of to-do's and "Things to Pack" keeps growing and growing. And Nathan flew out to MS this morning and will be working there all week long, naturally, so I'll be doing most of it myself. -Which I'd probably be doing regardless, since I'm anal like that and have to oversee all of the packing anyway to make sure everything I want packed gets packed.

Friday afternoon Mom and Dad will land in Orlando and the girls and I will go pick them up. They are coming down here to help us drive back to AR. We have to take both of our vehicles back and I knew I'd need help driving and taking care of the girls on the 16 hour trip up there. Friday night is the Daddy Daughter Dance at our church so Nathan and the older girls will go to that and Addison will be here with Mom and Dad. I am helping with it too and I'm so glad that I am so that I can watch! :) Yes, I'm going to be the mom that follows her girls on prom night, taking pictures and watching from a far, like the paparazzi! Ha!

Saturday and Sunday Nathan has drill at the base and then on Sunday afternoon after we're all loaded and Nathan gets back from the base, we'll be heading to AR. We're planning on staying with family in AR until our house here in FL sells and we find a house in the Tulsa area. We're praying that everything with our house will go through and be done before August so that we'll be settled in Tulsa by the time school starts. We're (trying) to keep an open mind to the fact that it might not happen that way though and look at the possibility of still being in AR when Taylor has to start the school year. We've not decided exactly what we'll do if that happens. Just say a prayer for us that everything with the house will go smoothly and quickly and we'll be in Tulsa before school starts. To us, that would be the ideal situation.

Nathan will start working in Tulsa full time on the Tuesday after we arrive in AR. We should get to AR some time on Monday and he will have to leave that afternoon and head to Tulsa. (Busy time for him!) He has an apartment rented there and he will be living and working there all week and then come back to see us on the weekends.

So, that pretty much sums up what's going on with us right now. The girls are excited about going to AR for the summer but are sad to leave their friends here as well. Taylor cried at school on her last day as they were lining up to leave. She said that she was just really going to miss her school and her friends there. (Breaks my heart!)Emma has started expressing her sadness about leaving her friends as well, which kind of surprises me. I guess I thought her being only 4, she wouldn't really think or understand too much about any of it. -and because she is so "live in the moment" and "fly by the seat of her pants"...she is generally in her own little Emma paradise all the time.

We have been getting in as much time with our friends here as we can over the past few days. Friday night we hosted our Sunday school class fellowship here at our house. We had a Mexican food potluck. We had so much food! And I think I counted 32 people in all in our house! Wild! -but so much fun!!

Well, that to do list is calling and I've wasted away almost half of the day now so I guess I'd better get started on something! :)

To all our Florida family, we love you and cherish you and are so thankful that God brought you into our lives. We are better people because of you and your impact upon us. We miss you terribly already and we'll never forget you!

To all our Arkansas family, can't wait to see you and spend time with you this summer!! We love you!

To keep in touch with us over the summer: My email address has changed and I will be able to check it wherever we are. (Yay!!) It is hollandgirls2@yahoo.com. I am also on Facebook (WAY TOO MUCH!!) so you can also keep up with us on there. I will try to post another blog once we're in AR and have gotten settled in there.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T17:17:00.001-05:00

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In my spare time...

2009-03-08T10:26:00.007-05:00

I've finally found a few spare minutes to write today. I have recently come to the conclusion that I need to purchase myself some type of voice recorder. One that I can wear around my neck or clipped to my belt loop (might as well be used for something, Lord knows I don't dare put a belt through there!) I blog in my head EVERY day, several times a day, but can hardly ever find the time to write them down here. And then once the thoughts have gone through my head, they vanish, never to be conjured up again. Where do they go? Who knows. Probably to that large area of my brain that was paralyzed the moment I gave birth to a third child. It has become a storehouse of important information and things I need to remember that doesn't function anymore and also severely affects my ability to think clearly, speak logically, and act rationally. Now what was I talking about again?

So since I've obviously NOT been blogging (you've let me know so through all those emails) what in the world have I been doing with all my time lately? I wake up in the morning and the next thing I know, It's 11 pm and I'm passing out again. Does that happen to you too? My days go by so quickly. I have so many things I WANT to do during the day, like blogging, scrapbooking a few pages, etc...but after I do the things that have to be done, the day's over and I'm exhausted. I know you're busy too and you know where I'm coming from so I won't bore you with the details of day. So here's what's going on with us.

Nathan is staying busy with his new job. He has to travel A LOT! His territory that he covers is Mississippi, Alabama and and panhandle of FL. (I suddenly feel like I've blogged this before. If I have just ignore me or indulge me and keep reading.) ANYWAY, he has been gone about 3 weeks out of the month. If not to his territory to work, then to Houston or Tulsa to his company's main offices for meetings and trainings. He is home just for the weekend now, but he has had drill yesterday and today so he's gone until 5:00pm. He leaves again tomorrow for another week in Texas and also in Oklahoma too. He enjoys his job but wishes he didn't have to be gone from home so much.

So, we decided a few weeks ago to put our house up for sale and move closer to his job so that hopefully he will not have to be away from home so much. It's a scary thing to try to sell a house in this market right now. We just keep praying about it and are leaving it in God's hands and letting him take care of everything.

So far we've shown the house three times. I have been spending a lot of my time trying to keep it cleaned and picked up just in case a realtor calls and wants to show it. ~I don't even have to tell you what an impossible job that is! The first time we showed the house, I got up that morning and looked at my house and thought "Okay, this is probably the worst it has ever been." There was "stuff" everywhere, bathrooms needed scrubbing, floors needed to be vacuumed and mopped, the dust bunnies had become mobile and were running circles around us. Wouldn't you know it, THAT'S the morning we get the call...someone wanting to see our house. How ironic, I thought as I stood there holding the phone, a wild, glazed over look in my eyes. We had two hours to get it presentable and get out. Thank God Nathan was home that day. As soon as I got off the phone with the realtor, we started running. It was madness! Two hours later, we had it spic and span! We put the kids, still in their pajamas, in the van and took off. We couldn't go anywhere though because I too was still in my pajamas with makeup from the day before under my eyes and my unbrushed hair half falling out of a sloppy pony tail. We had bribed the kids into helping us clean so we owed them the whole toy section at Wal-Mart. A McDonald's happy meal had to do for the time being since we could drive through and no one had to see the shape we were in. So we got happy meals and found an empty parking lot not far from home to sit in. It's times like these that we're so thankful for DVD players in the car!

We've not had any offers yet but hopefully we'll have something soon. As far as moving is concerned, Nathan's bosses told him that there is a chance that they will not want him to move to Mississippi but will want him either in the Tulsa area or Houston area. (I'm really pulling for Tulsa! -much closer to AR than Houston.) So say a prayer for us that everything will work out according to God's will for us and that we'll be able to accept whatever happens.

Taylor is doing well. She is really growing up fast. She is such a great help with Addison. She loves her so much and can't get enough of her. She holds her and plays with her all the time. Every morning when Taylor wakes up she goes straight to Addison's bed to see if she's awake. If she is, Taylor will stand over her talking & cooing to her, making her smile. It's so sweet. She is still taking piano lessons and is doing well with that. She is beginning to play songs that require both hands! Her first recital is coming up in April and she's been practicing hard on her recital piece. We don't have a piano, we just have a keyboard that is about half the size of a regular piano. It has worked for her up until now. Her recital piece and songs that she'll be learning in her new books uses notes that are not on her keyboard. So we've started looking for a good, used piano for her. School is going well also. She is far more interested in socializing than in reading or math (especially) but she manages to get pretty good grades.

Emma is really growing up fast too. She's still a little mess. She keeps me on my toes...all the time. Addison is still not too sure about her. Where Taylor gets smiles from her, Emma gets a crazy look like "What are you?" Mostly because she doesn't talk calmly and sweetly to her, but rather yells "Hey baby!" to her and runs off. She's like the cartoon Tasmanian devil. Her voice has but one volume, LOUD. We're working on that...daily! She can be really sweet too though. She likes to make cards and draw pictures for me all the time. I have found that she is the best when Taylor is not here. When Taylor is at school, she is so calm and just plays so sweetly by herself. She sits and watches TV and will entertain herself a lot of the time. The minute we pick Taylor up from school, her demeanor changes. She becomes a wild child. Still can't quite figure this out. She still loves preschool. She is learning so much. She has started writing a lot lately and will sound out words and try to spell phonetically. Last week she made a card for her friend Owen and on it she wrote "To Oin". I was so impressed with her!

Addison is growing like a weed! It's unbelievable how big she has gotten. Last week she had her 4 month well checkup. She was over 15 lbs and was 26 3/4 in. long! She is wearing 6 month size clothing now. She is the sweetest little thing. She smiles and squeals all the time. She loves her swing and will spend a couple of hours at a time in it. She is pretty good with our busy schedule and doesn't mind being in and out of her car seat several times a day. For the past week, she has been sleeping through the night. She goes to sleep between 8:30-9:00 and doesn't wake up until around 7:30 the next morning. It has been so nice!! She is a big Mama's baby. She always has been. She watches me everywhere I go when I put her down. When Nathan or Taylor is holding her she watches me and looks for me. I haven't left her in the nursery at church or MOPS yet. I haven't been ready to be away from her yet.

Last night Nathan and I got to go out to eat by ourselves for the first time in months! Our friends Hope and Mike have been offering to keep the girls for us and we finally took them up on it. Taylor and Emma were so excited to get to go to their house. They've been begging to go for weeks now. They had a great time...they got to make homemade pizzas and play with their little dog. Addison was not happy about me leaving her at first but she finally settled down. It was hard for me to leave her but I knew she was in good hands and would be fine. Nathan and I didn't know what to do with ourselves! I kept feeling like I was forgetting something and feeling the need to say "Don't smack your food!" or "Sit down!" He finally quit smacking and sat down. :) They took some pictures of the girls and emailed them to me last night. Here they are. They didn't send one of Emma-probably couldn't get her to sit still long enough. :)

My time is up...I'll try to write again soon.

Here are a couple more pictures Hope and Mike just sent...apparently Emma did hold still for a minute! :)

2009-01-23T11:59:00.003-06:00

**Since I do not blog every day, I send a mass email out when this blog has been updated with a new post. If you currently do not receive that email and would like to know when I have posted a new message, send me your email address either by leaving a comment with it here or by emailing it to me and I will add you to the distribution list.**

SEE TODAY'S NEW POST BELOW:

Daddy's comin' home...let's DANCE!! YEE-HAW!

2009-01-23T07:38:00.004-06:00

It's FRIDAY!!! YEA!!! Normally I'm not this excited about Fridays...when you're a stay at home mom, every day is pretty much the same, they kind of all run together in one mass of daily routines...but today Nathan comes back home! I've been living like a single mom for the past three weeks and I've got one teeny little floss size strand of sanity left and even IT is beginning to fray.

So fitting is the new song that I have playing when you enter my blogosphere today.
To give you an idea of the state of mind I've come into over these past three weeks: This morning after I dressed myself, all three girls, fed the older ones breakfast, packed a lunch, asked 22 times for them to hurry & brush their teeth, nursed the baby, loaded everyone into the car and was headed for school, Emma had a revelation. "Mama! Wouldn't it be so cool if I had three arms!" "Yes, baby! Then I could rip one of them off and beat you with it! Ahhh ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!" I am laughing my head off and I look back sure that I'll see the girls doubled over in gut wrenching laughter...they are just staring at me like deer in headlights, frightened looks on their faces. I stopped laughing and said "don't you think that is so funny...rip one off and beat you with it?" They both looked confused and said "No, that's really not funny." Then I realized how crazy that sounds. Did I really say that out loud?! Oh my! Of course I was only joking, if she did have three arms, I wouldn't dream of doing anything so violent. ...probably. I'd take lots of pictures of her and sell them to the tabloids.

So yes, it is SO time for their father to come home and give me a break from the daily routines that I've been doing by myself. I don't mean to be whiny about it. I say all of this in fun. I am so grateful that Nathan has a job and that he is really enjoying it, lucky him...staying in fancy hotels, going out to dinner nearly every night, meeting new interesting people and making new friends, yee-ah...I'm so thankful. :) -just kidding, sort of. No, really, we have truly been blessed and I wouldn't trade jobs with him or anyone else for anything in the world. Staying at home with my girls is the toughest job I've ever had but it's also the most fun and rewarding. And if I keep repeating that and repeating that and repeating that and repeating that...oh, sorry! ;-)

Okay, back to the Hamster Dance song that's playing...this morning, I was not in the best of moods. Emma had been crying and whining since she opened her eyes this morning and by 8:00 I'd already HAD IT with her. (Probably where the "beating her with her own third arm" joke stemmed from, now that I think about it.) So as we were driving back home after dropping Taylor off, she was back there in her car seat whining about something and I started flipping through the radio stations only to come upon this silly little song. Immediately it was like my dark cloud lifted, the whining from the back seat silenced and the most dramatic and intense dancing commenced. We danced so hard under our seat belts that we broke a sweat and it was so much fun. As we were driving down our street dancing our hearts out I saw my neighbor walking down his driveway. I quickly pulled my arms out of the air and placed them back onto the steering wheel, gave him a polite wave and smile and pulled into the garage, realizing that no matter how normal and ordinary I was trying to appear, the music and thumping bass coming from my car could be heard two streets over. Probably making me seem extremely strange! Oh well, he's a little weird too so it probably made him feel better about himself. (Pat on the back.)

So we sat in the garage, (now out of our seat belts), dancing as hard & as fast as we could before the song ended. Instant attitude changes on both of our parts. After we came into the house I was thinking about how weird that was the way we were both out of control dancing to that song like we were in our own little worlds with no one or no worries around and it made me wonder why that song put me in such a state of euphoria. It quickly came to me. I am BECOMING A CHILD AGAIN! I've spent so much time with these children that I'm reverting back to a childish nature. Well, you know what? SO BE IT! Acting like a child turned my whole morning around. And I think I'm going to have to act like that a little more often. Lately I've become somewhat of a sour puss, and it's time to be FUN again! Well, at least for a little while...until I catch a neighbor watching. hee hee! ;-)

I have decided that I am adding this song to our morning routine and probably our nightly routine as well. And mid-day probably...any time that I am feeling beat down by my children and need a quick pick me up. Okay, so maybe it'll be an hourly ritual.

You're probably thinking, "Man, she REALLY needs some adult time!" Tis true but I know as you sit on the other side of this computer you are tapping your foot to the beat and wanting so badly to break out into some serious moves! Go for it! Nobody's watching you...although I so wish that I were. So as I think about each person that I know reads my blog, I'm imagining you gettin' your groove thang on and it's hilarious! OH, and before you break it down, don't forget to turn off your web cam, lest you be the next big hit on You Tube! ;-)

*Disclaimer: I hesitantly added Taylor's latest "blurb" because I thought it was funny. I apologize if the language offends you, that was not my intention. I normally would NEVER post such language on here and do not condone using such words but it was spoken in sincere innocence. She had no idea that the word she uttered was not acceptable to use.

Let me see if I remember how to do this...

2008-12-20T12:32:00.002-06:00

Finally I've found a little time to blog! It's been forever! The only reason I have the time right now is because all three of my children are in restraints. No, I've not "finally gone off the deep end," we're in the car on the way to AR for the holidays. I've been able to check my email, surf the web, play on my facebook page and now blog. I'm actually enjoying this 16 hour drive we're on! :) There are only so many demands that can be made on you in the car. I'm thinking we may have to sit in the car more often. Can I hire anyone to drive us around while I check email and blog? Any takers?? The pay is good...well, probably not but I'll buy us a round at the Starbucks drive through!

So, updates on the fam since my last blog...

We returned from AR the weekend after Thanksgiving and Nathan left again for more job training in Houston the following Monday. He was gone for two weeks and just returned this past Thursday night late. He was glad to get home. He was surprised to see how much Addison had grown in that two weeks. He is nearly done with his job training now, thank goodness! He will leave in January after we return from AR and will be gone for three weeks to Tulsa again. That will finish up his training and then hopefully he will not have to be gone as often or for as long.

Nathan's mom flew down from AR on the tenth of December to stay with us. She came to help me out with the girls while Nathan was gone so that I could get some things done around the house and get some Christmas shopping done too. It's been so nice having her with us. It's given me a little more freedom, especially in the mornings getting them all ready for school. The girls have enjoyed having her too.

Taylor started back to school after we returned and the transition back into her classroom went really smooth. She picked back up with everything just like she'd never left. She is still enjoying her first grade year. She has an awesome teacher who is so sweet. We celebrated her 7th birthday on the 10th. I can't believe she is 7!! It has gone by way too fast! On her birthday she wanted to go to El Chico for dinner. Since it was her birthday she got to choose where we would go out to eat that night. I was not looking forward to going there as I am still breastfeeding the baby and mexican food could really hurt her tummy if I ate it. But, since it was Taylor's day, I decided I could find something there to eat and would use every ounce of will-power I had to resist the salsa (my favorite!!) since she wanted mexican food. She ordered chicken strips. (CHICKEN STRIPS!!!!!) On Sunday we had her birthday party at the skating rink. (Is it ring or rink? The word rink sounds funny...anyway...) She hugged the wall around the rin(k/g) for about two rounds, maybe, then said she was done with skating. She didn't like it anymore...she played the arcade games and won tickets for some rinky-dink toys instead. She had a good time with her friends regardless, so I guess mission accomplished.

Emma has been a real mess lately. I'm not sure if it's all the adjustments with having a new baby in the house or what. She has been getting into EVERYTHING and has just been really high maintenance. Some days are good, when Taylor is at school, and she will be really sweet and will play and watch tv and be contented. A few days ago I was getting her dressed and decided to try to straighten her hair. I finally got all of her curls straightened and her hair was so long! She thought she was so pretty. She couldn't quit looking at herself in the mirror and flipping it. All day she fluttered around on her tiptoes like having her hair soft and straighted made her float around like a fairy. Her Christmas party at her preschool was this past Friday. She had a good time at that. Her friend Jaden came over that morning to ride with us to school and she kept asking him to come into the bathroom where I was straightening her hair (again) so that "he could see how beautiful it is." He'd come to the door and she'd say "look at my hair, it's straight and so pretty!" He'd say "I see it Emma, I'm going to go play now." That same dialogue occurred about three more times before I was finished with her. Later as I was finishing getting dressed I heard Emma and Jaden talking in Nathan's office...(There is a mounted deer head on the wall in there) Jaden said "Hey Emma, why is there a reindeer on your wall?!!" Emma said, "That's not a reindeer, that's just a deer! ha ha!" Then Jaden says "Well, where's his butt?" Emma said "Ha ha ha!! He doesn't got no butt!" I was cracking up listening to them. They are so cute.

Little Addison is really growing. She was 10 lbs and 23 inches long at her one month checkup several weeks ago. She'd grown 3 lbs and 3 inches in a month! Rightly so, as much as she eats. She's a little piggy! Her cheeks have really filled out now. She's had a little trouble lately when she nurses. The pediatrician says it's reflux and she's now on Zantac for that. I can't tell much of a difference, she's still having some difficulties tolerating my milk, more so at night between 8 pm and 11 pm. During the day and at her 2 am feeding she is better. She has now grown out of her newborn clothing and is in 0-3 months now. :( ...so sad. They grow so fast. I swear she is getting bigger right before my eyes. She has started smiling at us now when we talk to her and also when she sees something familiar, like things hanging on the wall. Last night I thought she was going to laugh out loud at the refrigerator as I stood filling my glass with water. I was a little jealous that I'd never gotten a smile that big before.

Well, I'm beginning to get a little lightheaded staring at this computer screen in the car so I'd better get off before I have to use Addison's burp cloth myself! Hopefully I'll get to post again soon...probably on our way back to FL after Christmas. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Happy Holidays from the Holland Elves (QUICK! Scroll down and pause the music player below!)

2008-12-10T10:32:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Addison

2008-11-10T14:19:00.006-06:00

Here she is! Baby Addison got here on Thursday, October 30th at 12:12 pm. She was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 20 in. long. She is a really good baby. She hardly ever cries and is very patient and laid back. (Third child has to be, I guess). Labor & delivery went well. The doctor broke my water at 7:45 and I only had to have one round of pitosin (sp??) So from start to finish it only took her a little more than 4 hours and two pushes to get here! (I was so thankful!!)

Taylor & Emma love her and can't get enough of her. Taylor is a good little "mama" and a big help to me too. Emma is still a little indifferent when it comes to the baby. She will walk by and say "hey baby!" and then go on about her business. She is still very much "all about Emma" and doesn't pay much attention to anything else.

My mom flew in on Wednesday afternoon and stayed with us. She kept my other two girls while we were at the hospital and then helped me out tremendously when we came home. Addison wakes to nurse every two hours around the clock so night time was really rough. Mom and I began taking shifts...I would nurse and then two hours later Mom would give her a bottle and then two hours later, I would nurse again...and that cycle would continue through the night.

Nathan had to leave to go to Tulsa for training with his new job on the Monday after Addison was born. He has to be out there for three weeks straight. It was very hard when we left him at the airport. He and I both were crying.

My aunt Connie flew in on the following Wednesday so that she and my mom could drive back to AR together that weekend. We enjoyed having her at our house so much. The girls had a really good time with her. I think she was quite worn out by the time she left us! She was a big help with them and to me and mom as well.

My family had been begging me to come back to AR with my mom and aunt after they found out that Nathan was not going to be home and I would be by myself with my girls and new baby for that long. I wouldn't hear of it. I just kept telling them that I would be fine...I had lots of friends offering to help me out during the day and bringing meals to us in the evenings. After about three nights of no sleep, I realized that I couldn't keep having nights like that and then be able to get up and function and take care of the girls the next day by myself. So with a little prompting from Aunt Connie I decided that I would come back to AR with them just until Thanksgiving. Nathan will be able to come and to AR for Thanksgiving and we'll drive back to FL together the following weekend.

We got to AR on Saturday afternoon and are enjoying getting to spend time with our family. Nathan is close enough that he can drive here on the weekends to see us so that has been nice. He's not having to go a full three weeks without seeing his girls. I am homeschooling Taylor while we're here. Her teacher and principal were so nice and understanding about me withdrawing Taylor for these next two and half weeks. Her teacher is emailing me her lesson plans and mailing her tests to me so that I can continue working with her on what they're doing in class and she won't be behind when we return.

Got to go...baby is waking up AGAIN! :) Hopefully I'll get to write again soon!

Date Confirmed Today

2008-10-23T18:12:00.003-05:00

My OB's nurse called this morning and my induction date and time was confirmed today! I go in at 6:15am (yawwwwn) on Thursday morning the 30th. I went in with Emma at that time when I was induced with her and she was here by 12:20pm-only 6 hours. Or, actually closer to 5 since they had to get me ready and "hook me up" and all that. So I'm HOPING this one will get here even earlier than that; but if not at least by that time! :)

Nathan comes home tomorrow night from his two week trip to Tulsa. As I was talking to him on the phone tonight and spanking the bottoms of two quarrelling, screaming little girls he said in a pitiful voice "Don't worry, I'll give you a day to yourself when I get home." A DAY?! DARN TOOTIN' YOU'LL GIVE ME A DAY! I MAY NOT BE BACK ALL WEEKEND! A day! Humph!!

MEN! Don't even get me started! I'd better just get off of here right now. ;-)
Later...

OUCH!! Will I Ever Get Used to this Huge Belly?

2008-10-21T17:27:00.004-05:00

You are NOT going to believe what I did to myself today!! Well, most of you who know me are not going to be surprised, but anyway...
This afternoon, I decided that I needed to sterilize a few bottles, pump, things like that just so they'll be ready if I need them next week when Addison gets here. I am standing there in front of the huge pot of boiling bottles and things, and all of a sudden something in the pot shifted and splashed boiling water out ONTO MY BELLY!! Right in the front beside my now outie belly button! AHHHHH!

I guess I was standing too close, I don't know. It hurt SO BADLY!!! The skin there was already sensitive from being stretched so thin! I have FIVE burn blisters next to my belly button now! F-I-V-E!!!!

It hurt so much for my shirt to touch it that I had to tuck my shirt tail up under my bra to hold it up off of the blisters while I walked around with aloe vera gel smeared all over the front of my belly. Such a pretty sight, I tell ya!

It is SO time for this to be over...it has become a danger to me now! :o

We Have a Date!

2008-10-20T21:01:00.004-05:00

Went to my weekly doctor appt today...if I've not gone into labor by next Thursday, the 30th, he will induce me on that day. Or, we're hoping for that day...he can't call to schedule it until this coming Thursday. I told him that I would really like to do it that day but I wasn't opposed to the 31st, Halloween, either. I told him that my aunt was born on Halloween and she turned out to be fairly normal. ;-) I love you Laura!

So I have a light at the end of the 9 month tunnel now. I'm so done with this being pregnant junk! It was fun for a long while but not anymore. I can barely move now and when I do move I have braxton hicks contractions so strong that I can barely breathe, let alone walk! And don't even get me started on the heartburn and reflux! I have to sleep sitting nearly upright every night. ...did I say "sleep?" I mean, doze for a couple of hours between potty, tums and water breaks. If the wives tale about heartburn and a baby's hair is so, this one is going to be born with flowing locks! But I'm sure she'll be like my other two and lose it all within a few weeks and I'll be KY gluing little bows on her bald head. :) Can't wait!!

My girls are so excited...we're counting down the days now...9 days till Nana gets here and 10 days till Addison gets here. I'm anxious to see how Emma is going to react to the new baby. She's been the baby for 3 1/2 years now. I think she'll probably just be indifferent to her. ~Look at her or want to hold her when she feels like it but go on about her "business" most of the time. I think Taylor is going to be really good with her...like her second little mommy. Which I'll have to watch closely...she told me the other day that when the baby wakes up in the mornings, I can just stay in bed and she'll get up and get her out of her crib and take her downstairs and fix her a bottle. Sounds great in theory!

Taylor and Emma have really been looking at my belly a lot lately and rubbing on it as they pass by. One day Emma was singing "She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes..." and she walked by me and put her hands on my belly and kept singing only she sang "She'll be comin' round the belly when she comes!" ha! Tonight, Taylor was getting into the shower and I was handing her the shampoo and she said "Man, Mama, your belly sure is getting fat!" I just stopped and looked at her and she quickly said "I mean, full of baby! Not fat!!" We both just started laughing. I really wish I had been writing down all that they've said to me over the last few months. Of course I've forgotten all the funny or sweet things they've said. I'm pretty sure the "comin' round the belly" thing I won't have trouble remembering.

Emma still thinks that I need to be the "Lady with the Lost Dog" for Halloween. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...here is a picture of the costume:

Nice, huh?!! I let her look at a newspaper insert of a hundred costumes and this is the one she notices! ~naturally! Like I could actually WALK in those heels!! ;-) Luckily I'll still be in the hospital with Addison on Halloween. I REALLY despise Halloween! Luckily this year, our Wal-Mart didn't put the life-sized dead guy lifting off his head in the front doorway of the store! It was a nightmare last year trying to get Emma through the doors and past him every time I had to go grocery shopping!

Nathan will probably have to do the "trick-or-treating" thing with them this year by himself, unless Mom helps him out. Or, I'm hoping, since they got to go to Boo at the Zoo with the Chiuchiolos and are going to our church's fall festival this Saturday, we can tell them that was their trick or treating time and now we'll pass out candy to those kids who come to our door. In the past years, Taylor has preferred passing out candy here at home rather than going door to door in our neighborhood. One year, when we ran out of candy and I told her we'd have to turn off our porch light and stop, she grabbed her candy bucket and wanted to give out the candy that she'd collected. I let her, AFTER, I picked out all of the chocolate and Nerds, of course!

Well, I need to get off of here...I feel a bedtime snack urge coming on! :) Got to take advantage of those while I still have an excuse! :)

Addison's Nursery

2008-10-11T13:01:00.006-05:00

Since I posted pictures on here of Taylor's & Emma's room a while back, I decided I'd better show you Addison's nursery too! She was feeling a little left out... :)

Her bag is all packed and her "coming home" outfit is ready to go! The little dress is a smocked, hand-me-down dress. Either my Granny or my Aunt Donna made it and smocked it. Depending on which of my cousins it was made for, it could be somewhere around 25 years old! It still looks brand new...and there's no telling how many of my cousins have worn it and passed it down!

Read on below for my next post...you got TWO today!!

Ending one chapter, starting another...

2008-10-11T11:29:00.004-05:00

An update on Nathan's job...
In my last post, last Friday, I told you that he had received an offer letter from Brunswick (the boat company that he used to work for) and was waiting on Baker Hughes (the Mississippi company) to get back to him about what their thoughts were after hearing about the situation with selling our house. On Monday of this week, he had to have his offer letter signed and faxed into Brunswick by 2:00pm if he was going to accept it and take the job with them.

All morning and afternoon we were waiting to hear from Baker Hughes to see what they had to offer, if anything. Naturally by 1:00pm we were very anxious and poor Nathan was just pacing waiting for the phone to ring. At 1:45 he said, "that's it, I'm faxing this letter in to Brunswick and taking that job. I'm ready for this to be over with!" I said "No, wait just 15 more minutes and fax it in at 2:00 just like you originally planned." He sat back down and we started talking about how Baker Hughes most likely would call back and say something like "We're really sorry but we don't have the resources to do anything for you right now...good luck to you...see ya!"

At 1:50pm, Mike, a VP from Baker Hughes calls! 1:50, I tell you!!! God's not working on the virtue of patience in us or anything!! So Mike tells Nathan how much they respect the way he has handled the situation and that he has shown so much integrity and honesty with them through all of it and that's the reason they want him working for them. (Praise the LORD that He gave Nathan the grace they needed to see in him!) He told him that they will let him continue to live here in FL for as long as he needs to and they will give him a couple of accounts to manage down here. Also, he will still be in charge of the MS, AL and FL panhandle territory as well but he won't be expected to travel up there weekly; he is to fly up there for a few days and travel the area as he sees the need to. No pressure to be up there on a regular basis! (WHAT A BLESSING!)

Nathan was supposed to be in Tulsa this coming Monday to start a two week training course for them. So he asked Mike about that and was wondering what he needed to do to prepare for that training. Mike said to him "You know what, you have a new baby coming in just a few weeks. You don't need to be away from home right now. We're not going to worry about starting your week & two week long trainings in Tulsa and Houston until things settle down at your house. Maybe you can start the trainings in late November." That was the next "hurdle" we were facing...Nathan being gone the entire last two weeks of my pregnancy and then having to leave again a week after bringing the baby home. God took care of it!!

He will have to fly out to Tulsa for just a day or two here in the next couple of weeks but it won't be any big deal...not like the two week trip would have been.

So, he has officially taken the Baker Hughes job. We are so thrilled and relieved to have passed through this little chapter in our life! It has been truly amazing to see God work in our situation from day one! We have been so blessed in the midst of all the turmoil. And we both feel like we've received the best of both worlds so to speak. We were both excited about the possibility of getting to move closer to AR and our families but at the same time we were both really hating to leave everything we have here too. Now, we can stay here longer but we still have the hope that when we're able to sell our house we can move up there to MS.

Nothing is impossible with God. Through all of this, we've learned to stay on our knees in prayer, have faith and trust in Him that everything will work out according to His perfect plan and believe Him. 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)

So now, I'm happy to say "The END" to this chapter of postings about Nathan's job. I guess the new chapter starting in a few weeks will be about baby Addison coming and how we all are adjusting-and of course, lots of pictures!! I'm not leaving you hanging between now and then...God-willing I'll still be posting. I'm sure there will be lots to talk about between now and then! ;-)

As you've probably already noticed, I've added a few things to my blog. I just love playing around with things on here! Hope you like the changes and additions! Be sure to see the new "Perspectives of Taylor & Emma" section. I'll be posting things that they say in that column. -this section is liable to take over my entire blog!! -especially when Addison gets here! I'll leave it to your imagination. I guess it could be worse, we could be having a boy! And "boy" would there be lots of dreaded explanations there! ;-) Thank God for small favors! :) No offense to you mothers of boys...you have my utmost respect!!

Another addition to the 30's club...

2008-10-03T07:38:00.003-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!

Today you officially join the 30's club!
Don't fret about feeling old, this is just the beginning and there's nothing you can do about it.
When I turned 30, a good friend told me "You have officially ARRIVED!" Arrived at what, I'm not quite sure yet...arrived at the salon for a gray covering color treatment maybe; arrived at the gym to do extra reps to get take off these 30 years of "baggage" that don't seem to melt off anymore, possibly...or maybe arrived at the plastic surgeons office for a botox injection.

Anyway, your very welcome for the encouragement this morning! ;-) However, being a man, you probably don't need encouragement about your age and you probably don't care that you've aged because aging on males tends to enhance their appearance while doing the exact opposite to most females. So unfair...but this is YOUR DAY, not mine to moan. Hope you have a great birthday today! I love you!

Wow...that's about all I can say to title this post

2008-10-02T19:17:00.004-05:00

I hadn't realized that I've not written anything on here since Sept. 10th! A lot has been going on around here in the past few weeks, mostly all pertaining to Nathan's job situation...here we go! :)

Nathan was offered the job in Laurel, Mississippi a couple weeks ago. He has accepted it and is supposed to start on Oct. 13th with trainings. It is a good offer and we were looking forward to being 10 hours closer to our family! Although at the same time we were really heartbroken to leave our friends and church family here. We just wanted God's will in the situation most of all. And at this time, we felt this is what he wanted us to do.

So we started the process of getting our house ready to put on the market. Since 2005, when we moved here and bought our house, the value of our home has decreased by an astronomical amount. You wouldn't believe it if I told you what it appraised for then and what it will sell for now. It's truly mind boggling! We had two different realtors come to visit us last week and both had about the same news for us..."It's not good!" So Nathan spoke with our mortgage holder to discuss with them our options when we sell...also NOT GOOD! They basically told him that he'd have to quit paying his mortgage payment and let the house go into foreclosure or do something similar which also affects your credit and is not good but isn't quite as bad on your history as a foreclosure. So needless to say, we've been just a little stressed about this but at the same time, we've been trusting God that He will work it out for us. We know that He sent this job opportunity to Nathan for a reason and so we were just putting our faith in Him to work out all these other seemingly hopeless details. We've been literally on our knees for a week straight asking Him to help us out with this situation!

"Ask and ye shall receive..."

So far, this catches you up to this past Tuesday. On Tuesday night about 8:00 Nathan got a call from the president of another company with another job offer. Ironically, it's the same company that just laid him off! Dumbfounded? Us too! Brunswick owns Mercury, the engine company that Nathan used to work for but they also own a boat company too that sells boats. The man he spoke with is the president of the boat side of the company. Anyway, he offered Nathan a job, same salary and benefits that he had before and his territory that he would cover is here in Florida. We wouldn't have to sell our house and move.

So we've been asking ourselves and God, is this how He is answering our prayers? By sending Nathan another opportunity that lets us stay in our house longer? -or is it to give Nathan peace about letting the MS people know what's going on with our house and possibly offer options to help in some way. (He now knows that he has another job option if they can't offer him any options...he knows that now he doesn't HAVE to take their job and move so it gives him a little leverage in the situation.)

So, the first thing he did on Wednesday morning was to call the "Brunswick" man back and ask that the offer be sent to him in writing before he calls and tells the MS people anything. They had the offer emailed to him to sign by that afternoon. He called and spoke with the MS people and told them the situation with selling our house. He was worried about calling them and about what they might say. We prayed that they would be understanding about it all. They were very nice about it and told him that they would never ask him to sell his house and move under those conditions. They told him they wanted to talk about it and see what they could come up with for him. Just the answer we were hoping for. Now, he is just waiting to hear back from them to see what they might offer him. We are still praying that God will continue to work in the situation but more than that we are praising Him and thanking Him for what he has done with everything already.

As of right now, we pretty much have our minds made up on staying here and Nathan taking the Brunswick job. Even though job security is much greater with the other company and even though it's a possibility that we may be in this same situation a year from now (no job), considering the economy and it's a recreational industry, at least it will give us time to work on getting out from under this house and hopefully the market will rebound somewhat as well or the government will get something in place to help people out in this situation. But we're still waiting to hear back from MS and we're not closed to that possibility yet.

No matter what happens, we know that God is good and he "works all things to the good of those that love him." We just have to keep praying, believing Him and watching what He does for us. It has been amazing to see Him work over the past few weeks! And how perfect His timing has been...not always what we think is perfect while we're in the middle of it but after coming through it we can fully appreciate it. So that's what is going on with all of that!

Another blessing...on Monday I had my (now weekly) doctor's appointment. Emma went with me. It was an "exam" day (Ugh!!!) so I was a little concerned about what she would do or say since she had to be in the room with me. Luckily, my doctor was talented enough to carry on a complete conversation with her the whole time he was "examining" and I don't think she ever knew what was going on. Or at least she didn't mention it to me. Now, there's no telling what her preschool teachers heard the next day, but as long as I don't know about it, I can still greet them with my dignity in tact. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.

While in the doctor's office I told him that I had noticed a significant decrease in the baby's movement the day before and that morning. I had hardly felt her move at all on Sunday. He hooked me to a fetal heart & movement monitor and after 20 minutes he came to check the read out and he said that her heart rate and movement were pretty "flat" (there weren't enough "peaks" on the graph, it was just a straight line) and that he wanted to check it again and if it was not better, he was sending me to the hospital.

Emma in the mean time is letting everyone know that she is "Weady to go home! Wite now, Mama! Take dat sting off of you and wets go home!" All the while laying half way out of her chair and turning her body upside down and around again. I am laying there trying to quiet her down, all the while praying that everything was okay with Addison and planning out in my head what I was going to do with Emma if he did send me to the hospital.

He came to check to print out again and there were more "peaks" on the graph. He said she must have "woken up" now but for me to keep a close eye on it and if she stops moving again, to come back in as soon as I notice it. She seems to be doing better and is moving a little more now. Please say a prayer for her too that she is okay and growing and developing normally.

Whew...you thought you were clicking on here to read some humorous, witty comments about the Holland household! Instead you were bombarded with some heavy "junk"!! ;-) Well, here's something to lighten the mood a little before you go...

Tonight the girls were supposed to be cleaning their room up before they went to bed. You've heard me speak before about Emma's aversion to cleaning up...she's still afflicted! And now, when she and Taylor have to clean up something together, it wears on Taylor's nerves and she starts to act up and whine. By the time they finished, I was yelling and not pleasant at all...to say the least. I had HAD IT with both of them by this point and I can't even remember everything that I swore to take away from them for giving me such a hard time tonight. The last thing I took away was them getting to go to a movie tomorrow night-something they've been looking forward to all week. I told them they'd have to "EARN IT BACK!!" So, I am tucking Emma in her bed, not so gently, kissing her goodnight with a snarl still on my face, and she smiles at me and in a soft sweet voice says "Mama, you ahh so sweet and so nice. I tink you ahh bein so nice tonight." ha! It took all that I had to keep the snarl on my face until I could get out of their room and laugh.

When I've had a night like tonight, I always look forward to going into their room later after they're asleep and pulling the covers up around them and giving them another kiss before going to bed. Sometimes they're so much sweeter when they're sleeping...and quiet...and still...and not whining, not defying...just lying there off in dreamland. It fills my "love tank" back up and I can go to bed peacefully and then get up and do it all again tomorrow.

Hodge-podge of stuff...

2008-09-10T07:45:00.004-05:00

Aren't you proud of me? I'm writing again without a month going by! -not that I have anything to say, really or any news of note...so read on with low expectations and you shouldn't be too disappointed. :)

Emma and I are just hanging out here at home today, cleaning mostly. Well, me, not her~she mostly walks in behind me pulling out things I've just cleaned up, getting into things she shouldn't be, needing a snack or juice or a hand wiping her hiney, etc... If you have children, or had children or have been responsible for children, you know full well what I'm talking about.

I received a big surprise yesterday when I opened her backpack from preschool. Inside her folder was a coupon for a "big bear hug" because she had done a great job cleaning up at school that day. Total shocker to us! (Even Taylor's eyes bugged out and mouth hung open when she read it!) ha! Here at home, she is not a good "cleaner-upper", to put it mildly. When asked to clean up her messes her usual response is to fall out onto the floor and whine "I'm tie-ud! I can't pick up all dat stuff! Can you pwease helwp me? Tay-wer, will you do it fo me?" That's where the stuggle usually begins. I tell her to "get up off of that floor right now and get busy!" She rolls around a little more until I have to give her a spat on her leg. Then the whining goes to full blown crying with more whining. The entire process usually lasts an hour or so with several spats or spankings during that time. She'll learn one day just to do it and get it over with quickly rather than going through all of that. (Shhh...don't shoot down my dreams! It's my party, I can 'be dillusional' if I want to.) (I'm just so glad she does it here at home only and not at school or church!)

A lot of times I catch Taylor picking her stuff up for her. Taylor has such a soft spot for her when she's in trouble which can be a good thing, but not when it allows her to be manipulated by her 3 year old sister into doing her jobs for her! I once walked into Emma's room to find her sitting on her bed, tear stained cheeks from the hour of crying and spankings, giving orders to Taylor of where her toys and books were to be put. "Dat one goes over dere, Tay-wer. No, dat doesn't go dere, it goes in dat udder box." And there poor Taylor is cleaning up her room for her! Yes, I know I'm in for it as she gets older! Taylor and I have since had a few talks about her letting Emma manipulate her like that and that it doesn't help Emma for her to clean up her messes for her...she needs to learn to do it herself. "But she won't, Mama, and if I just do it for her she'll be done faster and then we can play." Taylor says. Too sweet for her own good. :)

I do have some good news to share, Nathan has a job interview today. He got a call on Monday from a company that he applied to several weeks ago. He hadn't heard anything from them and had sort of put them on the back burner, so to speak, thinking that they probably weren't going to call. He's had several other things he's been working on since then. Anyway, he is meeting a man this afternoon in Naples (across the state) and having dinner with him tonight. He's excited but a little nervous too. So say a prayer for him today.

I'm reluctant to say this but I know I'm going to get emails from my family and friends back in AR asking where this job is...I know that is one of your main concerns! So, to save my inbox from being overloaded today, here goes...The company is out of Laurel, Mississippi. I'm not sure exactly if that's where his job will be or not though. If I remember right, the job was either there or in Texas but I'm not certain...I may be confusing this one with another one. And to you, my dear Florida family, DO NOT start praying that this is not the right job! Remember, this is our welfare here! :) Yes, Cindy M., I'm talking to you too-don't do it! ha! (For those of you who don't know, Cindy is my friend that I'm helping coordinate MOPS with this year. She is so afraid that I'm going to move away and she'll be left to coordinate MOPS herself...which she is TOTALLY capable of doing quite well!)

To those of you in my Bible study class...I walked Taylor to class today instead of doing the car loop. I can say, totally honestly, that it was mostly because of the traffic in the drop off line rather being afraid to let her walk by herself. -well, I was a little afraid but that wasn't the deciding factor today. For the rest of you, I'll briefly explain: Taylor begs for me to take her through the car loop in the mornings and drop her off so that she can walk by herself to class. The majority of the parents and students do this. All last year she begged me and I wouldn't do it. I am so afraid that she won't make it to class or that something will happen to her on her way. Fears that are probably completely irrational! I like to physically walk her to class and hand her off to her teacher. So this year she has begged again so I have done it twice-AND I found out that sometimes Nathan lets her walk by herself when he takes her...I flipped out on him about that when Taylor "accidentally" let it slip that "Daddy lets me do it." I loudly and psychotically played out all the things that could have happened to her from him not walking her himself to class as he sat there looking at me like I'd lost every lick of sense that the good Lord had given me.

When I let her use the car loop, I worry about her most of the day and am not completely relieved until I see her in the afternoons waiting in the car loop line for me to pick her up. Is there any other mother out there as anal about things like that as I am??! I won't let my kids go anywhere hardly by themselves! Which, with Emma, that's understandable since she's little. I'm trying to ease up a little in that area with Taylor since she is getting older and can do some things by herself. However it is really hard for me to do it. Anyway, in our bible study class we're working on believing God and having faith in Him. Yesterday we talked about being able to take a stand of faith in big things but then not being able to with small things. -smacked me in the face for sure! So I shared with them my little thing (not trusting Him to protect my kids) where my faith is lacking.

Yesterday I did drop her off and tried to be brave about it. But on my way home from bible study, as I pulled onto the street to turn into our subdivision (I have to go by the playground and it's during her recess) I said a little prayer "Lord, if I could just see her out there playing I'd feel so much better." And despite my such little faith, He allowed me to see her among all those other kids. She was standing off to the side of the playground, away from the other kids, with her friend laughing and playing. It was one of those moments were I was overjoyed by that little answered prayer but feeling a little guilty for not having more faith that he had answered my prayer that morning to get her safely to class. I am reassured daily that this is definitely the bible study class that I need to be in right now! :)

Well, Emma and I need to get on with our day and she is begging me to use my computer. -a new skill that she has learned. Quick story about that (well you know me better by now, my stories are usually not quick ones but drawn out sagas of more details than are necessary...see, here I go again!) Anyway, last week when I came home from taking Taylor to her open house at school I found Nathan downstairs watching TV and Emma nowhere around. When asked her whereabouts, Nathan nonchalantly tells me "She's upstairs playing games on your computer." "WHAT?!!", the mother screams. "She can't do that by herself!! She can't even read OR work the mouse without 'clicking' all of her fingers and thus pressing both mouse buttons!" To which I was told to calm down that she in fact CAN work the mouse and on 'Noggin.com' anything you move your mouse over it says aloud for you so she doesn't HAVE to read. I rush upstairs thinking that surely my computer would be no more...would be crashed into the depths unable to be retrieved. There she sits, big as you please, playing a Dora game. I said "Emma, just what do you think you're doing missy?" And in a most haute, grown up way she says, "Pwayin a game on yuh com-poo-tuh. But I'm aw-mos done so you can have it in jus a minute when I'm finished." Speechless, I stand watching her and she is doing it, clicking on the right things.
The next morning I am getting dressed, thinking Emma is downstairs watching TV. I find her on my computer, playing games on Noggin. I have no idea HOW she was able to get to Noggin.com by herself. Of course, I freak out a little and she calmly shows me how she got there by herself. "I jus cwicked on dat widdle stah (the "my favorites" star on Internet explorer-which was already opened up to another web page that I hadn't closed the night before.) and found dee widdle Noggin moose and cwicked on him. Dat's allllll, Mama!" Hmmm...my little Einstein. Yes I know I should be worried, very worried! :)

Have a great day!!
PS-I just received this funny email (pasted below) and thought it quite appropriate to add to this blog:

Kindergarten Son
A Mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he wouldn't notice her.She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise, so she agreed.The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew. She did this for the whole week.As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally she said to Timmy, 'Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?'Timmy nonchalantly replied, 'Yeah, I know who she is.' The little girl said, 'Well, who is she?''That's just Shirley Goodnest,' Timmy replied,' and her daughter Marcy.''Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us? ''Well,' Timmy explained, 'every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life,' so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!'The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace. May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always.

The Past Three Weeks in a Nut Shell...a Really Big Nut Shell

2008-08-31T20:06:00.017-05:00

Hey all! It's been like three weeks since my last post, some of you already know that and I've heard from you about it too. Sorry! Been a little busy around here and when it's not been busy, I've been napping. You understand: third trimester, sleepy, LARGE, uncomfortable, heartburn. When I do find a comfortable spot or position I can't help but fall asleep. Especially if my other two girls are sleeping. I napped today for a while and then later this afternoon, we were on our way home from playing at the park with the girls and I yawned and could've fallen asleep again! It was quiet in the van, the girls were watching a movie and I was sitting very still. That's pretty much all it takes. Stillness, quiet, zzz*snore*zzz.

So, a lot has gone on in these past three weeks. Where do I even start? I guess I could start with Addison. I went for a 3-D ultrasound three weeks ago last Friday. She was 27 weeks. It was really neat except that she wouldn't really cooperate with us. She was turned into my spine and hid most of her face for the entire hour. I had to roll from one side to the other (no easy task at this size) and I had to get up and walk around for a little while to try to get her to turn over for us. She refused. Finally at the end of my hour she turned over to face us but put her hand up in front of her face as if to say "Bye! Leave me alone now, please!" Taylor and Emma enjoyed getting to see her, however Emma got tired of her pretty quickly and was ready to go home. I also got a DVD of the entire hour set to music. It was neat to watch her wiggling and moving as I was feeling it at the same time. One time I felt her stretch from one side of my tummy to the other and when we were watching it, she stretched her head back so far that I thought she was going to lay it onto her back! It was so weird...like she has a double jointed neck! She also kept opening & closing her mouth (drinking, is what the nurse said...sounds pretty gross) and she would stick out her tongue.

Here are a few of the better shots that we got of her. -and of course, the goodbye wave shot.

Profile

Another Profile in 3D (Her hand is up on her chin.)

Waving Goodbye

After leaving the ultrasound clinic, we headed up to Georgia for Nathan to attend a job interview. That job hasn't really worked out. He's had several leads and is waiting on phone screening interviews from a couple of places. He is still working at the Air Force base just about every day. His orders to work there continue through the month of September. We are trying not to be anxious or worried about it. We know that God has a job planned for him and we're just trying to be patient and wait to see what it might be. We've been blessed so far to have the Air Force for income and insurance. Keep praying for him that the right job will come along soon and that God will give him the wisdom and discernment he needs to know it is the right one.

Last week a man that works in the same building as Nathan, someone he has met but doesn't know very well, asked to talk to him. This man told Nathan that he had been on his mind lately, he had been thinking about Nathan's job situation and had prayed for him. He said that he woke up thinking about Nathan and felt God saying to him that he needed to tell Nathan not to be worried about the job search so much but rather be thanking him for his future job because it is already in the works. As this man was telling Nathan this, he also told him that it was the weirdest feeling that he had and that it made his hair stand on end. I think Nathan was pretty much speechless but thanked him for telling him that and told him that he would start thanking God for his future job instead of praying so hard for something to come up and thinking/worrying so much about it.

Mom and Dad drove down and got here on Thursday of the next week. They brought Nathan an extra vehicle that they had for him to drive. We were so thankful for that. He had been fortunate to have found a buddy that lives close to us who also works at the base and he offered him a ride to the base everyday. But he still needed a vehicle of his own to drive. We enjoyed having them here for the weekend. Of course, the weekend went by way too fast and none of us were ready for them to leave.

(Pictures of Nana with the girls...BEFORE the weeping and wailing started...the day they flew back home.)

Last year about this time, Taylor had begged to get her ears pierced. I finally gave in and one Saturday we went to the mall, stood in line to have them done and then just before it was her turn, I backed out. I just couldn't do it! I kept looking at her little baby ear lobes and I couldn't bring myself to put holes in them. Of course, she was furious with me. I told her that maybe when her Nana came back for a visit, she could take her and have it done. Wouldn't you know it, one of the first things out of her mouth when Nana got here was "Hey, now that you're here, you can take me to get my ears peered!" (That's not a typo...she can not remember 'pierced' so she says peered.) I was floored that she remembered that! We'd not talked about it in months! So on Saturday, Nana, the girls and I all went 'back to school' shopping. Taylor needed a few things to start school, which included earrings. I tried to pretend that it wasn't going to happen the whole day as we shopped. I even forgot to bring my camera...something I was kicking myself for later, being that it would've made THE cutest scrapbook page ever! I didn't even have my cell phone to use to take pictures. So you'll just have to imagine the scene in your head as I describe it. We went to the Merle Norman store in the mall and I told the lady at the counter that we'd like to have Taylor's ears pierced. -I added an "I think" to my request and apparently by the sick look on my face she could see my apprehension. So she began talking to me about it, asking me after every few sentences, "Now, Mom, are you sure you're okay?" I'm sure Taylor was about to go into fits waiting and hearing her ask me if I was sure...she knew that I was NOT for sure but rather conned into this by a six year old. Finally she began talking to Taylor, explaining the "Very Important Responsibilities" that go with having your ears pierced and taking care of them. She spent what seemed like an eternity stressing the importance to her of caring for her ears and not touching them without washing her hands first. FINALLY, the moment came. Both women readied themselves on either side of her, Nana stood in front of her holding her hands as I watched hesitantly over Nana's shoulder. They were almost ready when I noticed Taylor's face turned from flushed to ghostly white. She asked nervously "Are you about to do it?" They told her not yet, they were just lining up their guns and they'd let her know when they were going to do it. One more second and they gave the warning and 'click' it was done. It's a good thing they did it fast, because I felt sure Taylor would have passed out had she waited any longer. One of the guns got hung in one ear, the back of the earring wasn't going on right. That scared her a little so she started to tear up but just as fast as she did, the lady got it off and they immediately began pouring cleaning solution onto her ears to soothe the heat. All in all, it was a good experience. I didn't cry, though I wanted to. I actually liked the way they looked in her ears. I didn't feel like they made her look too grown up as had been my initial fear. They're cute. She has done a great job caring for them. Just about every night and morning, she reminds me that we need to "doctor" them and she brings the solution and cotton balls to me. It's really not been as big of an effort as I had feared. Here is a picture of her new earrings. This is also the picture I took of her on her first day of 1st grade. (sob...sob...) So, the next event would be Taylor's first day of first grade. She was so nervous the night before. More nervous this year than even last year. I think it was mostly because she knew that none of her classmates from last year were in her class this year. She has a whole new group of friends to make this year. She woke me up that Monday morning at 4 am saying she couldn't sleep because she was worried about school. This made it so much harder on me leaving her this year than last year. I gave lots of assurances and hugs and she did fine. Her teacher this year is very sweet and loving so that helped too. Here are a few more pictures of her on her first morning.

Saying Hello to her teacher, Mrs. Majoy, and getting a hug

Sitting at her desk, ready for the day. (Probably wishing Mom would STOP with the camera!)

That was on Monday...this was Tuesday:

This would be our driveway and street out in front of our house (I am taking this photo from inside of the garage, as it was still pouring out. You can see how close the water was to coming in our garage!) Tropical Storm Fay...just a rinky dink tropical storm, not even a full blown hurricane dropped in for a visit and decided to sit and stay for a while...dumping 20+ inches of rain on us in a matter of a couple of days. School was canceled that day and remained closed for the rest of the week. We were not able to leave our house until Friday afternoon because the water was so deep in the streets of our neighborhood, it would've flooded our vehicle. You can only imagine how nuts we all four were by Friday! Just after noon, Nathan ventured out and down the street to wade in and see if he thought we could get out. He came back with the good news that we could and then said "I think I'll run up to McDonald's and get us some lunch." I said "OHHH, no! You're NOT going alone! GIRLS! GET IN THE CAR WE'RE GETTIN' OUT OF HERE!" I've never seen them get in that car and buckled so fast...utterly delighted to be getting out of the house. Emma had started in on Wednesday saying (whining) "Mama, can't we pweese jus go some-wayah?!" It was miserable. But, it could've been so much worse. When the rains finally stopped and the water began receding we felt so fortunate and blessed not to have gotten any water in our house. Many of our neighbor's homes were flooded. The amount of water was just unreal. I've never seen or experienced anything like it. We had FISH!! swimming in our driveway! Here are just a couple more pictures that I took of our front yard.

Nathan carried all of the furniture that he could upstairs and the rest we stacked on paint cans from the garage and we put our stuff in plastic bins so that if the water came in it wouldn't damage it. By this time we were beginning to panic. It was still raining and the weather reports said it wasn't stopping any time soon. Luckily, they were wrong and it did stop not long after we'd gotten everything as secure as we could get it.

So this past week, Taylor had her second first day of school and Emma got to start preschool as well. Things are finally back to normal and the water is all gone. We're beginning to get settled into our routine now. The girls are both loving school and were excited to get started back.

Emma's first day of preschool.

MOPS is getting ready to start up for me as well. I'm really excited about this year...my friend Cindy and I are the coordinators this year (scary that someone entrusted that to us! ha!) We had our steering committee retreat Friday night at our mentor mom's house. We had a lot of fun. Our group of moms who will be planning and running our meetings with us are wonderful and our mentor mom is just the greatest! Most of them are new and didn't know one another very well but they all hit it off at the retreat and everyone seemed to have a really good time getting to know one another. We barely got through everything we needed to do because of the conversations going on and new friendships being made. It's going to be a lot of fun this year.

I started attending a new bible study on Tuesday mornings. It's a "Beth Moore" study...I just LOVE her studies! I am nearly finished with the first week and it is so good! I always learn so much from her. This study is about faith and believing God, not just believing in Him. Very appropriate for me right now considering all that is going on in my little world.

I go back to the doctor on Tuesday for a check up on little Addison. I started my "every two weeks" visits now. I have about 10 weeks left until my due date. At my last appointment I discussed with my doc about inducing me. I really, really, REALLY need for mom to be here with me when she comes. Because of her work schedule, my due date is not a good time of the month for her to take off and be here for a week. So I asked my doctor about inducing me a week early. He was fine with it as long as everything is going well at my 36 week exam. Everything is going well so far. I've been eating Tums like candy every day and night. I have heartburn and reflux so badly right now! She is really active too and I've never felt kicks and pushes so strongly before. She is a little hoss! When she pushes, kicks or turns it nearly takes my breath away because it is so hard and strong. And you can see my tummy shift and jerk. Nathan is just amazed when I lay down at night and he can see my tummy jerking from side to side or see a round lump bulge out on one side. Lately she's had a sharp extremity poking the top of tummy. Today in church I kept having to put my hand on top of my tummy and push her down and little because it hurts. It feels like a heel, knee or elbow steadily poking me. You can feel the sharp little round curve of whatever it is. I'm trying to enjoy all the movements and kicks and just savor every moment since this will be (WILL BE, I SAY!) the last baby I have.

Well, it's nearly midnight and I can't believe I've stayed awake this long! Hope you have a great holiday tomorrow! Pray for those people in the path of Hurricane Gustav and also pray that Tropical Storm Hanna will stay away from us.

Hardships and Blessings: Remembering Whose in Control

2008-07-26T08:50:00.004-05:00

Whew...what a week! I'm glad it's almost over. It's been a pretty tough week here at our house this week. Our faith has definitely been tested. God has shown us that he alone is in control. That can be a tough concept IF you're a controlling type of person. Which, you know, I'm not! Hold on...got to dodge that lightning bolt! Ahhh!

On Monday morning, our world as we know it was turned upside down. ...and shaken a little bit! Nathan got a call from his boss that morning about 8:30 and he was here in Melbourne and asked for him to come meet him. Nathan's company has been making cut backs and has laid off quite a few people but through all of it neither Nathan nor his boss ever had any concern for his job. All that Nathan has ever heard from them is how well he's doing and how they want to promote him to their home office within the next year or so. But, that's what his boss needed to meet with him about. He had been laid off as well. By 10:30 that morning, everything was gone...his job, his vehicle, cell phone and computer. All gone.

As you can imagine, I was in pieces. Not the best way to be when your husband has just lost so much that he loved all within a couple of hours. Before he even left that morning to go and meet his boss, he was reassuring me that all would be fine and that even though he no longer had a job, God has always taken care of us and he would see us through this as well...for me not to be worried or upset...he wasn't. Easier said than done...as I sat there nearly 6 months pregnant and knowing that being without a job means being without insurance as well. I felt so lost, I can't imagine how Nathan was feeling at that time.

After spending the first three days of this week crying and being bitter, things are better now. Or at least for today. I am finding that we have to take it one day at a time and spend a lot of time praying for God's peace and guidance. God has already shown us in so many little ways this week that he is in control and is taking care of us better than we could even imagine.

Nathan is still in the Air Force Reserves and is able to fall back on that for a while. That was our first major prayer...that he could be put on orders for a couple of months which means that he will be able to work out there every day like a full time job. These orders have to be approved and they don't always go through depending upon a lot of things. That prayer was quickly answered and his orders have gone through. We only have one vehicle now and I'm not sure how that is going to work out but I'm not worried about it as I know we'll figure it out as we go. With him working there we initially thought that he'd be taking about a $1000 a month pay cut. We were okay with that (we HAD to be) knowing that we could make a lot of cut backs here at home to try to make up for it. BUT, another blessing, he found out that he'll actually make a little more working there than he did when he was working for Mercury.

Another thing we had to pray about was our insurance. Mercury offered him a severance package which was 6 weeks of pay and insurance coverage. After that 6 weeks, we have the option to use Cobra insurance which will keep our current coverage on medical only, not dental or vision. The downfall is that it costs nearly $1000 a month. But, we figured it's better to have it than to not. However, God had another blessing waiting for us in this area as well. We found out that we can get on the Military's insurance plan which will cost us a little over $200 a month and we'll have full coverage for our family. Also, they will take me with my "pre-existing condition" (sounds like I'm handicapped or something the way they put it!) and will pay 100% of my prenatal care and delivery. By the end of my prenatal care, delivery and hospital stay, I will have paid somewhere around $250 total for EVERYTHING!! Amazing!! This insurance is so much better than what we already have! We had one small hurdle to jump to get our family on this plan...Emma's birth certificate. I guess I never ordered one from the hospital when I had her. So I got online and ordered it but they said it would take 7-10 days to process and then they'd overnight ship it to us. Well, to get on the plan by Aug. 1st, we needed the certificate sooner. But we didn't worry we decided we'd just keep the insurance we have that is continuing under the severance pkg. and then switch over in Sept. We would have to be out a little more $ than we would if we could switch but it wasn't a big deal. I ordered her certificate on Thursday. Friday afternoon, the FedEx man came with her birth certificate. I was shocked! I don't know why...after all the other small miracles and blessings I should've expected it.

Through this whole week of me falling apart here and there, Nathan has been strong and optimistic. Every day I have 'jokingly' asked "Nathan, where are you gonna work? Nathan, where are we gonna live? Nathan, what's gonna happen?" -all in one breath. ha! It has been our comic relief when we start to get stressed out. We just laugh and laugh. -Yeah, I think we're going a little psycho! Once when I said it, he came back with "I was thinking...YOU go to work and I'LL stay home!" I REALLY laughed at that one!! Loudly and obnoxiously...I think he got the point. ha!

Our phone has been ringing off the hook every day! Nathan's boat companies that he took care of have been calling offering their condolences and letting him know how much they liked him and are going to miss him. They've been just as shocked as he was. Several of them were so upset that they called his bosses at Mercury to tell them what a mistake they've made...that Nathan was the best rep. they'd ever had and that their loyalties were no longer with Mercury any more. Of course, I was like "YES! Tell them about it! Drop them like they dropped us! See how THEY like it!!" (Yes, I know I'm so wrong! Bitterness and anger can get the best of me sometimes, you know.) But Nathan has been the opposite. He has been encouraging his customers to stick it out and see what happens. SO not what I would be doing probably. He is handling everything with such grace. It's really something. He has had the opportunity to witness to several people when they call outraged and wanting to know how he is handling such a terrible thing and wondering what he's going to do. He has been able to tell them how he trusts in God and knows that he is going to be taken care of and how he can have faith and not be anxious about it but excited about what God has in store for him now.

Well...I have to get off of here now. My family is waiting on me to get dressed to go to the beach and they're getting really impatient! Wonder where they get that from??? We're getting out of the house to play for a little while today.

Please pray for us that whatever God has in store for us, we'll be able to see His plan clearly and will make the right decisions. We appreciate your prayers and encouragement so much! Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Pictures you requested...

2008-07-16T19:35:00.004-05:00

As you requested in your comments and emails, here are a few pictures of the van that I copied from the internet... I had to put one on here of the "back-up camera" that is in the rear view mirror. Isn't that cool?!! See, vans are cool...vans are cool...vans are cool...vans are...whoops, sorry. The last picture of the dash board is like ours except we don't have the navigation system and ours is dark gray instead of tan.

Never Say Never

2008-07-16T09:08:00.004-05:00

If there is one thing I should have learned by now it's to NEVER say never! In my "earlier" years, (I'm refusing to use the word "younger" as I am holding tight to that description of myself...especially in lieu of the events this year has bombarded me with...explain later...) I used the phrase loosely about a lot of things. Such as,

~"I will NEVER move farther away than an hour or so from my parents." I can remember my high school English teacher asking our class just days before graduation to raise our hands if we planned to return to our home town to live after graduating college. My hand flew up as if that was the craziest question ever. Pfff! (that's the sound I made when asked that question and the sound I made just now thinking of how far off my plans were to where I'm actually at now.) It's in thinking of things like this that we can appreciate God's sovereignty! If he'd revealed to me that day where I would be today and everything that has happened in between, they'd still be scraping me up off of that classroom floor! -probably as I fearfully and frantically clung to the legs of my desk.

~"My kid will NEVER throw fits like that! That mom needs to get control." Oh my! My sincerest apologies and regrets for ever judging another mother's parenting. Sometimes, for no apparent reason at all (or simply upon hearing the word "no"), these little people go nuts and start convulsing and screaming to make sure everyone around you knows how terrible you are. They have minds and ideas of their own that do not work as rationally as yours -sometimes-does!

~"I will NEVER use candy or sweets as a bribe to make my children behave in public." Mmm hmmm...I don't call it bribery any more, I call it supporting my local dentist and his family. Helping out my "neighbor"; that's IS the Christian thing to do, you know.

~"I will NEVER go out in public without my makeup on and my hair fixed. Not even to the grocery store or post office." Since I now live in a town with more than a few thousand people, I can reassure myself that whoever I see in those places, I will probably never see again and if I do they certainly won't remember seeing me in that state. I also tell myself that if I do see a friend or acquaintance while I'm in that state, it will only make them feel better about themselves, seeing how hideous I look without makeup and knowing that I am a real person too who doesn't have it all together all the time. -or at all! :) Even though I am probably being delusional in thinking that they ever saw me as "together" in the first place!

~"I will NEVER feel old or depressed about a birthday. Because I'll always look young and feel young and energetic and will never have gray hair, stretch marks, wrinkles or any other cosmetic flaw that would make me feel as if I look older." Is the vanity of my youth showing? Yes, and so is my gray hair, crow's feet, frown lines, stretch marks and who's jiggly arms and thighs are these anyway? NOT MINE! Good bye fantasy world, hello my actuality! Again, praise the Lord we don't know what the future holds for us. :)

~(This "never" belongs to Nathan and certainly warrants adding to this list considering our present situation. This is something I didn't actually say never to but accepted due to his persistence on the subject.) "We will NEVER have more than two children! EVER! Can you imagine adding another child to this household?! NO WAY! We'd have to be CRAZY to have three kids!" Well, crazy is as crazy does, as the saying goes. ...or is it 'stupid is as stupid does'? hmmm... And as you know we ARE adding a third child in the early fall. Once again, our "I will never" has turned into "Alrighty then!" Nathan took the news of our surprise new addition much better than I did, shockingly. I'd been fully prepared to administer CPR and talk him down from a worrisome rage when I broke the news to him. Oddly enough, it was I who needed the aid. He reminded me again of God's sovereignty and knowledge of what is best for us. And now, we can hardly wait till our Addison Kate gets here in early November!

My list of 'nevers' could go on and on but I won't do that to you as you're opinion of me has probably already been altered from what it once was. But I have to deliver one last 'never':

~"I will NEVER own a mini-van. Not that they are not great for those families who need them but I just don't like them for myself." Shamefully I say this: I believe I've said to my mother more than once when she suggested a mini van for us "I'm not old enough to drive a Mom Wagon!" I can hear you now, those out there who drive a mini van..."Whhhell! The nerve of her!" I know, I know, I hear ya, and again, my sincerest apologies for such thinking on my part. My mouth has been slapped shut and my vain pride has been squashed. I am now the PROUD owner of a mini van!
And I say 'proud' with all honesty. I absolutely LOVE it. I've had it for three days now and every day I'm coming up with some little errand that we MUST run just so I can drive it. I don't need to tell you how ecstatic my children are about it. They think it's the best thing EVER! And so do I. Taylor told me "This van is WAY cooler than our old car!" Boy, do perspectives change with age. It has a DVD player for them with headphones so when we get in the car and start down the road, there is PEACE! Ahhhh! Silence, except for the occasional little giggle which is a very much welcomed sound. I was reluctant at first, I'll admit, when we started looking at vans. Nathan was sold on them from the start. I knew that I was going to have to get something bigger since our family is growing but a mini van was not it! And even as we test drove, negotiated price, and finally drove out of the parking lot in our new ride, I still had an aching in my heart for my sporty little car. As I drove out of the dealership parking lot in my new van, I looked at my sad, rejected little car sitting there and said with a tear, "goodbye my youth." Oops, did I say that out loud? Apparently I had as Nathan was giving me look something akin to "oh, please!" and Taylor says "Mama, you had youth? Was that like when you were in high school?" "Yes, honey, I guess it was."

So, I'm coming to the conclusion that maybe vanity is something God wants out of me, now. Ya think?! "And THIS my dear, is the year I'm going to beat it out of you if I have to" said God. Just now, I looked up the word 'vanity' in the Encarta Dictionary and the first definition given is "excessive pride, especially in personal appearance". Uhh! That's not ME! Well, not EXCESSIVE!! humph! Welllll......maybe it is me.

This year, first month of this year to be exact, I turned thirty with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It was as if I was killing over in the next day or so, the way I acted about it. And it wasn't that I felt old, it was just having to say that number...no more a youthful, preppy answer of "I'm twenty-whatever!" Was I being vain about my age? Check!

Next came the news in March that I would be having another baby. No more just the four of us, now we are becoming a brood. I don't think I was prideful about only having two children. However, looking at having three did change the image I held of myself, I'll admit. At first when I thought of me taking care of three kids, I saw myself looking run down, messy haired, and baggy eyed, wearing lounge pants and an over-sized dirty t-shirt every day and literally falling apart. Not a pretty picture. I know, I've seen it before in my bathroom mirror on my less than graceful days. Prideful about my image? Check!

And lastly, I now drive a mini van. Something I always thought was fine for older women who had lots of kids and needed it but not for me. Remember, "I'm not OLD enough to drive a van." (Sorry, I just poured salt into that wound, didn't I?) Even on the days when I did look like that run down, frumpy mom, you couldn't tell in my black car with tinted windows! My image was given by the exterior of my car, not what was actually driving the car. Again, more vanity? Check!

Well, I've shared more than I should have about my character flaws and personal thoughts. You probably think I'm a terrible person. And while I have made light of myself being a vain person, it is not something I'm proud of. While all brutally true, it was shared in the hope of amusing you. And making you realize you're a much better person than you thought you were! -kidding! Saying all this 'out loud' has helped me to see how ridiculous I can be about things. I think through writing all this, I'm beginning to gain a new perspective about a few of the things I've been prideful about and I'm okay with letting it go.

There is a song that keeps playing over and over in my mind as I've been writing this. It's an old song typically sung by children. The chorus goes like this: "He's still working on me. To make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me.!" How true that is and how grateful I am for His love and patience with me!

If you know that song, you're going to be singing it in your head for the rest of the day!!! ~you're welcome! :)

2008-06-22T16:32:00.003-05:00

Here are the pictures I spoke about from the post earlier today...the room is FINALLY finished! :) Well, except for a couple of things left to hang on another wall (not shown). But it's pretty much done now.

This week in the Holland house...

2008-06-22T07:26:00.004-05:00

We've been back home in Florida for one week now. We've had a pretty busy week considering we're on summer "break"! It's been a fun busy though, well most of time, and for me anyway...don't ask Nathan how his week has been. I've spent his money and put him to work this week!

We got home about 8:30 last Saturday night and boy were we all glad to get here. We'd stopped on Friday night in Mobile, AL to spend the night. Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and headed out for another 8 hour day in the car. It actually took us 10 hours to make what should have been an 8 hour trip. Emma had to pee EVERY HOUR!! Since I had limited the drinking I wasn't sure if she really had to go or just wanted to get out at a gas station in hopes that Nathan or I would have a weak moment and let her have some candy from those mile long candy isles they have. I would try to distract her and put off stopping but would see that she is either a great actress or she really did have to go. She'd squirm and whine and say "I haf to go weely bad! Pweese stop Daddy!" and then she'd get this deer in the headlights look (which she can do really well with those huge eyes she has) and she'd say "Oh no, heeah it comes! Heeah it comes!!" Her voice getting an octave higher each time. Before she could get it out all the way the second time, Nathan would be headed for the exit, an exhausted and perturbed look on his face. I'd quickly get Emma out of the car, dragging Taylor along as well to make her go too even though she would argue that she just went an hour ago and didn't need to go again. I knew it'd be just our luck that if I didn't make her go too, we'd get 10 minutes down the road and then she'd start in about needing to stop. So here we go again, into another disgusting gas station bathroom, me grossed out and aggravated dragging a sluggish and whiny Taylor in one hand and hanging on to a prancing, skipping Emma in the other hand. My aggravation growing with each drag and skip, knowing that there's no way Emma could be skipping and prancing like that if she had to pee that badly and wondering if Taylor could feel any more like dragging dead weight.
Finally on into the afternoon, the potty stops had slowed down and I was able to take a little nap. Which was a good thing considering the mood I was in. The day before I think I had cried all the way to Mobile pretty much...sad about leaving Arkansas and knowing I wouldn't be back there until Christmas and wouldn't see many of my family members until then and they wouldn't get to see my new baby until it's more than a month old...reflecting on the sadness we went through and were still going through after losing Memaw...knowing that I wouldn't get to see my sister-in-law as her pregnancy progresses and see my new nephew when he's born...add to that the hormones of pregnancy and as you can imagine I was a mess of emotions. So I really needed to nap to keep my mind occupied. Anyway, I wake from my nap to Nathan saying, "Oh, crap!" "Dang it!!" and we're coasting off to the shoulder of the road just 100 yards short of an exit ramp. The air in the car was hot and stuffy and I noticed the a/c was off. I groggily asked what we were doing to which he answers "I was trying to make it to this exit before I stopped AGAIN!! to get gas and we just ran out." I just stared at him and asked through gritted teeth, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!! AND JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING TO DO NOW?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ...blah, blah, blah, blah!!" I was so mad at him. To his defense, he had planned to stop at an earlier exit to fill up but when he got to the exit, it didn't have any gas stations, it was just an exit to another highway so he had to keep going and this was the next one we came to. So I laid it on thick about how he should've done things differently and then really poured it on when I realized that Taylor, Emma and I were going to have to sit there in the hot car on the side of the interstate by ourselves while he walked to the exit and then to the nearest gas station to get a gas can and fuel. He really didn't need all that from me since he was already aggravated about it and knew he'd have to walk in the heat and then have to spend extra money on a gas can (which by the way, those places will rip you off on! They know you're in need and desperate I guess, so they benefit from it.). So he left, cell phone in hand (I had insisted he take it in case someone stopped to kidnap us while he was gone.) on his mission to get us going again with strict instructions from me to "MAKE IT FAST, BUDDY!!"

So obviously, we weren't kidnapped and he made it back with enough gas to get us to a station. He was sweat soaked by the time he returned and mad about what he'd had to pay for the tiny plastic gas can but I didn't cut him any slack, you know. He got the silent treatment for a while, which he was probably more appreciative of than offended by considering the tongue lashing he'd received earlier.

Sunday morning was father's day. We all woke in a good mood and well rested after sleeping in our own beds for the first time in 3 weeks. We went to church and then afterward Emma informed Nathan that since it was his day he got to choose where we were going for lunch. To my pregnancy-induced-craving joy, he chose our favorite Mexican place down the street. Whoo-hoo, chips and salsa, here we come! :)

On Monday, I had my monthly doctor's appointment and got my appointment for my ultrasound for the next day. Taylor and Emma went with me and got to hear the baby's heartbeat. We were all excited about getting to find out if we're having a boy or girl on the next day!

When we got home, I started my quest to find bedroom furniture for Taylor and Emma. Since our 4th bedroom is used for Nathan's office, Taylor and Emma are going to share a room and let the new baby have Emma's smaller room. I wanted to find matching twin beds for their room and go ahead and get them settled into their room together as soon as I could so that they could have most of the summer to get used to sharing a room before school starts again and the baby gets here. I wanted to do it early because I wasn't sure how well they'd do sleeping in the same room. By Wednesday, I had priced furniture at every place possible and finally settled on some and ordered it online that morning. Much to my impatient glee, the furniture shipped that day!

Tuesday we all went to the imaging clinic for the ultrasound. All four of us plus the technician squeezed into the tiny room to see our baby. I'm only 20 weeks now so the baby still looked a little alien-ish. The lady got lots of pictures of her face and head, her foot and a picture of her with her arms up next to each side of her face. Then she finally got to the one picture we were all waiting for. First we made out the v-shape of her little legs and then in the center of the V, we all looked closely...and nothing. A perfect v shape with "no danglies" as the technician put it. Looks like we're having another girl! Taylor wasn't very excited about another girl, she really thought it would be a boy this time and she kept asking, are you sure it's a girl? Emma was glad. Mostly glad about getting out of that room to go to McDonald's for a happy meal though. Nathan and I were happy that it's another girl too. We didn't really prefer one to the other, just want it to be healthy whatever it is. Nathan's been asked several times if he is okay with another girl and not getting a boy. He always says that he's happy it's a girl, that he enjoys his girls and he also says "your girls will always take care of you." Which seems to be true.

Wednesday, I started my search for bedding for the girl's beds. Good grief, that stuff is outrageously expensive! Well, my taste in it is anyway. Nathan is much more conservative in this area than I am and I knew that since he'd let me get all the furniture that I'd wanted, I was going to have to find a bargain on the bedding. I searched and searched and couldn't find ANYTHING I liked, in the colors I needed that was in our price range. I just redecorated Taylor's room last year and got her a black and white printed comforter and made all of the accessories a combination of pink and lime green and black & white polka dots. So as to not have to replace all of those accessories, I wanted to stick to the black & white with lime and pink theme. This day, I didn't find one thing that would work.

By Friday, I had all of the girls furniture here! I was so excited that it had only taken two days to order it online and get it here! So my entire day Friday, I was cleaning out Taylor and Emma's closets and toys. It was an all day job, not exaggerating one bit! I took out 5 rubber tubs of clothes that no longer fit from their closets to save for hand me downs, 6 trash bags of toys and clothes to take to goodwill and four bags of things to throw away. I took apart Taylor's day bed and moved it and the mattress out into the hallway for Nathan to carry down to the garage. After I had stopped using my changing table with Emma, I removed the front rail and moved it into Taylor's room to use as a dresser and stand for her TV. So I removed Taylor's things from the drawers, took her TV out of her room (they no longer will have a TV in their room which will be a good thing!) and put the rail back onto the top. The good thing about having hardwood floors is that it makes it easy to move heavy furniture by yourself. I slipped folded wash cloths under the feet of the changing table and slid it back into Emma's old room. Sure, I could've waited until later that afternoon when Nathan finished working and let him help me but like I said before, patience is not in my vocabulary when it comes to this stuff. I'd much rather do it all myself. That way everything gets done how and when I want it to! :)

I definitely paid for my bull headed, stubborn impatience later that night. It was close to 7 pm and we'd not had supper yet and everybody was getting hungry. I waddled to the couch to lay down as by this time after all that I had done that day, I was exhausted and not feeling well at all. Nathan had told me over and over that day, you're doing too much, you need to slow down or you're going to over-do it. But, you know me, I just HAD to get it all done and couldn't wait on him to help me. So anyway, by this time I had gotten lightheaded, nauseated and weak and had to lay down for a while. Nathan went to pick up something for us for supper as he saw that I was in no shape to cook anything. When he got back with the food, I thought I was going to puke when I smelled it. I couldn't eat a thing. And if you know me, you KNOW that I must've been really bad off if I couldn't eat! An hour and a half later and I'm still stuck on the couch not able to move much without having the urge to dump my guts. Then I realized that Taylor's room was empty and she'd have to sleep with us if we didn't at least get her bed frame and mattresses set up.

So I convinced Nathan that it had to be done so we got up and got busy. I wasn't much help since I was still feeling dizzy and weak but we managed to get both beds set up so that the girls could sleep there that night. After getting their excited little bodies into their new beds, I headed for my bathtub for a long bubble bath soak! I felt a lot better after that and went straight to bed and crashed thinking for sure that they next day I'd be bedridden!

Saturday morning, after a cup of coffee, I was ready to get started again. Our day was spent putting together the girl's headboards, nightstand and dresser. We got those pieces put together and then it was time for Nathan to take Taylor to a birthday party. I couldn't take her to this one because it was at a skating rink and she'd need me to be out there to help her skate. Couldn't you just see that? Me out there trying to help her skate for the first time while trying to keep my balance. I have a hard enough time keeping my balance on my own flat feet, put me on wheels and you're just asking for a disaster! It didn't take any convincing at all for Nathan to see that it would be much safer for Taylor, me, and the unborn if he went instead! While they were gone I continued my online search for bedding. I finally conceded that I would have to just go with the same bedspread that I had purchased for Taylor last year. The black and white print that I got at Wal-mart. I wasn't happy about it because I really wanted these other ones at JCPenney but they were just too expensive. So when Nathan got home, I headed to walmart to pick up what I needed for their beds. When I got there, I found two twin comforters that were almost exactly like the ones I had wanted from 'Penney's' and they were on sale for $21!!!! (You gotta LOVE Wal-mart!!) I was so excited! Since I had saved money on those, I was able to get the curtain to match them AND found lime green throw pillows on sale for $4 too! Whoo-hoo!!! I also found the sheets that I wanted on sale at Target. Was it my lucky day or what?!! Nah, I don't think it was luck. I think God was rewarding me because I had finally decided to do what Nathan had asked me to and go with cheaper bedding. It had taken me a couple of days to give in but I had finally "submitted to my husband" and changed my attitude about it without giving him any lip concerning it. So yes, God had rewarded me. :) I got the girls beds all made up and looking pretty last night, just in time to unmake them and tuck them in. They were both excited about their new room and loved how it looked. I'll post a picture of it later, when I finish rearranging the pictures on the wall and get the curtain up. I plan to do that today! :)

And now it's Sunday. The day of worship and rest. I guess by now you've figured out that since I'm blogging on Sunday morning, I'm skipping out on the worshipping part. Now don't go judging me just yet! Some time around 7 this morning, Emma came into our room and crawled into bed with us. She does this every morning and wakes us up saying "My bewey is hungwy! Wet's go get some bwek fest, Mama! Come on, Mama, git up!!" This morning when I reached over to her to get some cuddle time, I noticed she felt hot. I couldn't find my thermometer so I had to use an old ear thermometer that I wasn't sure even worked anymore. I used it on myself first and each time I got like 96 point something so I figured it might be one or two degrees lower. I tried it on Nathan too, (as he lay there asleep..hee hee!) and it read 94 degrees. So I knew when I used it on Emma I would probably need to add a couple of degrees. Her temp. registered 100.5 in one ear and 101.5 in the other! I gave her some Motrin and she seems to be better now. She doesn't have any other symptoms so I'm not sure what's going on with her. So anyway, that's why we're home this morning. Nathan didn't go today either, he's getting his things ready to go to Oregon for a week. He has a training thing he has to go to with the Air Force. He flys out tomorrow and won't be back until Friday night. He's got to get his bags packed, get all these tubs of clothes out to the garage (good luck with that one! Our garage is going to have to be cleaned up and things straightened up first.) and then make a trip to the Goodwill store. Looks like the "rest" is going to escape us today too.

Well, you're probably sick of reading this by now...if you've not already hit the X box at the top of your screen. I'll post a picture of the girl's room once I get it finished today so you can see what I've been doing over the last week since we've been back home.
Talk again soon!

Hello again...

2008-06-04T14:23:00.003-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! We're in Arkansas right now visiting family. Nathan's grandmother passed away a week ago Sunday so we came up here a week earlier than we'd planned. We're here for 3 weeks now. Aside from sad days we've had since his "Memaw's" passing we've had a good time seeing everyone here. We've not been up here since Christmas so it was nice to come back for a good long visit.

I don't have long to write so I've got to keep it short. I have to tell you this one funny story that happened to us since we've been here...

We got to my parents house this past Saturday afternoon and when we drove up there was this little dog that walked up to our car. (My parents have never actually OWNED a dog however there have been several that have taken up residence at their house since I was a kid. They seem to feel welcomed here however you would not call either of my parents "animal lovers"~that is unless it MOOs!) This little dog is a cross between a Jack Russell and either a Corgi or a Dachshund. It has a fairly stocky body and would be an average sized dog but it walks on 2 1/2 inch legs. When I got out of the car, I just looked at this "so ugly it's cute" little dog and said to Nathan "What is that?!" It actually belongs to a neighbor from down the road (my parents live out in the sticks so there are no close neighbors really, or streets for that matter...just dirt and half paved roads.) Anyway, this dog belonged to him, the neighbor, but he works out of town or something and isn't home much to take care of it. So it has been hanging out here at their house for the past couple months.

My girls are just absolutely CRAZY about this dog and to be honest, the rest of us are pretty partial to it as well. It has the sweetest disposition and personality. It loves my girls and plays with them but won't jump up on them and isn't hyper as a normal Jack Russell breed is. He minds very well and is just a great little dog. (NO, we're NOT bringing it home with us...trust me the topic has come up several times from my girls! I like this dog but not as my own.) My girls get up every morning and look outside to see if "Jack" (whose real name is Cooter but we prefer to call him Jack for obvious reasons) is still outside. He has been every day and ready to play with them. They go out first thing, still in their pajamas to pet Jack and throw a ball for him.

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon Taylor, Nathan and I had walked across the pasture to my Dad's pond to fish for a while. ~and of course, Jack came with us. Nathan and Taylor decided to get into a little aluminum, flat bottomed boat and fish in it for a while. Jack and I stayed on the bank and fished from there. After a while I guess Jack decided that he wanted in the boat. So this little dog, goes swimming out to the middle of the pond and Nathan has to pick him up out of the water and put him in the boat. ha! It was so funny.

Later on they paddled over and I got into the boat with them. So all four of us are in this little boat, Taylor and Jack watching Nathan and I fish. Jack came up and was sitting beside me and as I reeled my bait in he saw it and jumped half into my lap and acted like he was going to lunge out and grab my bait on the end of my pole. So when I felt him do that, I took my elbow and tried to elbow him back into the seat. Instead, I elbowed him right off the seat and into the pond! He went under and wasn't coming back up! Taylor was screaming "Daddy, get him!!" Nathan was yelling "Why did you do that?!!" I was yelling "I didn't mean to just get him!!" All the while we could see Jack under the surface of the water paddling his little 2 inch legs for all he was worth but not making it to the top of the water. Nathan reached and reached and finally was able to grab hold of his muzzle and pull him closer to the boat but then he lost his grip on him. All this time, Jack has never broken the surface of the water...Taylor and I are still screaming. Finally Nathan caught hold of one of his legs and pulled him out of the water and into the boat. He had been under water for at least ten to fifteen seconds. Poor Jack coughed and sneezed up water for the next several minutes and then seemed to be okay. Taylor grabbed hold of him and said "Oh Jack, I was so scared for you! I thought my Mama had killed you!" ha!

Needless to say, Jack wouldn't sit by me the rest of the time we were in the boat. He sat really close to Nathan and even jumped up into his lap and laid his head on Nathan's chest. ha. He's doing fine now and is still playing with the girls everyday...however he doesn't get very close to me without lowering his body to the ground sheepishly and cowering down. Poor thing.

Well, that's all for now. Don't know if I'll be able to post again before we get back home on the 15th, but I should have plenty to blog about by then. Talk to you again soon!

A number game...excessive? Let's compare!

2008-05-08T12:24:00.006-05:00

So I was doing some counting the other day and I have a few numbers for you that I'd like you to just take a guess as to what in my household I might have been counting.
Do it! Just for fun, take a wild guess before you read on. Here are the numbers I counted:

81
112
18
24
43

(~No it was not grains of rice, or how many beans were left in the bag, or the number of squares left on our final roll of toilet paper. These numbers do not come from my pantry or potty! However that seems to be where I spend most of my time lately. But that's another story.)

Okay, here we go...prepare to be amazed!

Several weeks ago, as I was putting away laundry, I had a dilemma. Every stinkin' drawer in my bedroom was full. Not just full but overflowing. For example, once you were able to pry the drawer open, you had to use all of your strength to hold down the contents while pushing with all your might to shut it back. And it was not just a few of the drawers that were like this, as I just said, it was every last one of them. [We have a large chest that has 6 large (large warrants repeating so you get the picture loud and clear) drawers and then we also have an armoire that has another 4 large drawers and 4 small ones.] So that'd be 14 drawers in all. If you're counting.

My bed held stacks of folded, fresh laundry ready to be put away and I had no place to put it. I finally cleared out a place on a shelf in our closet (no small feat as our closet is jam packed also) and placed the "overflow" on the shelf. So the next thing I did was to politely approach my husband (okay, you know the truth but "politely" sounds better) and I asked him if he would "please clean out his drawers". Being a male and not humanly capable of resisting it, well I'll spare you, I had to clarify "NO! The DRAWERS in our bedroom that contain your clothing!" He agreed that they needed to be cleaned out and said he'd do it.

I being the caring, good wife that I am did it for him last Saturday. It had been three blasted months since I'd asked, I guessed I was going to HAVE to do it if it was going to get done!!! (So much for that caring, good wife part; but who am I kidding, you know the truth.)

Before I go any further, let me interject right here that not ALL of the drawers contained Nathan's clothing. I did take up 3 of them with my things. (YES, THREE, out of the FOURTEEN that we have!) Okay, just needed to clear that up as to not get into trouble with my husband IF he reads this. So, it's on record, I said it, SOME of the drawers were mine. Something else I must say...just so you get the ridiculousness of the situation, his drawers did not contain any of his khaki dress pants, jeans, nice shirts, work shirts or nice pull overs. They only hold his underwear, socks, t-shirts and shorts. That's all! 11 drawers it took for that! But I digress...

Back to it...The first thing I did was to take everything out of each drawer and pile it on my king sized bed then I went through each stack only keeping the things that were not stained or holey. -or saying something completely inappropriate like "Hooters" or "Phi Lambda Chi Hoopty something or 'nother" (Yes, that would be from college days which were 8-11 YEARS AGO!)

Here are the answers for your numbers above:

81 was the number of t-shirts that were contained in some of those 11 drawers of his. THAT WAS NOT A TYPO! I PULLED OUT EIGHTY-ONE T-SHIRTS!!! It's the TRUTH, its ACTUAL, everything is NOT satisfactual...I had no "wonderful feelings or wonderful day" ...zippity doo da...sorry, had to do it! :)

After weeding through, I allowed him to keep 6 solid white that he occasionally wears as undershirts, 6 solid black that he needs to wear with his Air Force Uniform (he generally wears one maybe two of them a month when he goes to drill. Do we need the other 4?) 11 printed short-sleeved t-shirts and 13 printed long-sleeved t-shirts. So now were down to only 36 t-shirts in his drawers. Sounds a little excessive, but considering that number was 81, I'm fine and dandy with 36.

**One more thing to keep in mind: My laundry is NEVER completely done. And on this day that I cleaned out the drawers it was FAR from being all done. So you can actually add 5-10 to each of these numbers to get the ACTUAL number. (I haven't taken a new count since adding more clean laundry into the drawers.)

112: Just for kicks (not because I was going to clean it out too) I went over to the closet and proceeded to count ONLY the number of shirts hanging in there. Not pants, jeans, anything else, only shirts. To be fair to him, (sarcastic HA), this included long sleeved and short sleeved. There were 112 shirts hanging there. I was dumbfounded! Aren't you? I mean have you EVER heard of such???? It's NUTS!

Next...18, would be the number of SHORTS in his drawers. The majority were khaki shorts. In fact, since we're being number people here today, only 5 pairs of the 18 were of another color or fabric than the traditional cotton khaki kind. Who doesn't need at least 13 pairs of khaki shorts, I ask you?!

24: Again, since I was into counting that day I decided to count the pants and jeans hanging in the closet. Yep, 24 pairs of (khaki, mostly) pants and blue jeans. I don't even have anything to say about this. Twenty-four says it all.

And for our final number, 43, what did you guess for that one? You didn't guess SOCKS did you? Wow! You're really catching on! 43 was not the actual number of socks in his drawers before the massive clean out. 43 is the number I put back into his drawer, allowing him to keep. Well, keeping until he can throw out the ones he doesn't want. There were many more pairs and single socks missing their match that I threw out. By that time, I didn't have the energy to count how many I was going through.

So I know you're asking yourself how I can remember all of these numbers to write about it almost a week later. I wrote them down as I counted. Seeing the mounds on my bed, I knew that the number would be astronomical. And Nathan being more of numbers person would have a much better appreciation for the actual number of items rather than the 6 trash bags it took to haul it all out not to mention his appreciation for me cleaning it all out for him. So I did it just to enlighten him on the gravity of the situation.

Later that day when he called from the base, as he was at drill that day, to ask what I'd been doing I answered with the usual answer that he expects "oh, nothing." Then I played the guessing game with him. I told him I had cleaned out his drawers and asked him to guess how many of each thing he had. He was so far off it wasn't even funny. He was astonished at what he'd had packed into those drawers. Just the reaction I was hoping for. He defended himself by reminding me that he'd not bought hardly ANY of the items...they almost all had been given to him either by his company or the t-shirts for example by dealers of his when he visits their dealerships or tournaments. It's true but it doesn't excuse the fact that there were so many.

So I've done a lot of thinking about this clothes situation and I believe I have figured out why he has so many. In counting the 112 shirts in his closet, I noticed that many of them he's had for 8, 9 maybe 10 years! So the reason he has so many is that men's clothing does not go in and out of style like women's do! It's SO UNFAIR, if you think about it. I mean, would you dare to put on something that you wore 8 years ago? Heck no, because number one, IT DOESN'T FIT ANYMORE...you can't even get your calf into those pants not to mention the gluteus MAXimus and that blouse just doesn't look the same split open at the upper arms and rolled up over your tummy,(another unfair advantage that men have!) and two, it's 7 seasons out of style!!!

I just wonder if my husband's drawers and closet are the only ones like this? And I have to say, this is not the first time in years that they've been cleaned out. They get cleaned out at least once every couple of years. I guess he has just hung on to things that probably needed to go and now it's just piled up.

So I have a little assignment for you: NO, you don't have to clean out your drawers..unless they need it. What I want you to do is just to go into your husband's closet and count the number of shirts hanging there. Be fair and count winter and summer (short and long sleeve, as that's what I did to get the number 112). I just wonder if the number hanging in Nathan's closet is anywhere near the number in YOUR husband's closet.

I've put a poll on here (find it below) where you can click the range that your husband's number falls into. I'm interested to see how this turns out! So DO IT! It won't take you long to run and go count...go right now so you can click on the poll! Remember shirts only! ~and you don't have to sign in to vote, just click on the circle by the number and then click vote.

Bye Bye Nana, Hello My Reality!

2008-04-24T19:35:00.002-05:00

It's been a somber day in the Holland household today. Nana flew back to Arkansas today. She was here visiting for a week. We've had such a good time with her. She and I got to spend more time together this time than in past visits. Since the girls were both in school, she and I did a lot of shopping and eating lunch out. It was so much fun! The girls have really enjoyed her too.

I have decided that I need Nanny. A live-in one! This past week has been so nice having Mom do my laundry, pick up after the girls, help me cook and then clean up the kitchen. She probably got home this afternoon and crashed from exhaustion.

In addition to helping me out around the house, she also made 4 dresses for the girls on Tuesday and Wednesday. They each got a new sundress and also a new dressy "church" dress. They all turned out so cute. I made hair bows and covered headbands to match them. I got on the sewing machine once to sew together two strips of grosgrain ribbon to cover a headband and I had thread coming out of that thing something awful! Looked like a rat's nest when I finished. Also in that one setting I de-threaded/un-threaded (whatever the word is) the sewing machine needle TWICE! Now how does THAT happen?? I still don't know for sure what I was doing wrong. Finally after quite some time I managed to stitch the ribbons together with machine and all ten fingers still in tact-a miracle in itself. The whole episode reassured me that me being a seamstress is not my calling. I'm clueless and a disaster when I touch a sewing machine! But I can make a mean hair bow and headband! ~just don't look at the underside where the stitching is! :)

So, I guess it's back to reality for me. LITERALLY! My live in "Nanny", shopping buddy and doting Mama is gone and Nathan left today as well. He'll be gone until Saturday night. So I'm back to single mommy mode for a while. The girls have nearly done me in today. They are breaking me back in quickly!

Just after leaving the airport this morning, heading back home, I get a call on my cell phone. It's the school nurse. (I'm thinking, "Here we go, reality is setting in all too quickly!") Taylor is in the clinic with a "terrible" tummy ache but doesn't have a fever or anything. I talked to her and told her that she has to go back to class as I am in Orlando and can't come pick her up and her daddy was out of town as well. I sweet talked her into eating lunch and then seeing how she felt. I promised I'd call and check on her as soon as I got home. Her teacher called me this afternoon and said she was doing just fine. Whew! Considering she puked last night in the middle of the night, I felt I had dodged a bullet of possible stomach flu. Actually I think it was what she ate for dinner that upset her tummy last night. That's why I sent her to school in the first place.

I've had Emma home with me all day today. She was pretty good this morning but as the day went on she fluttered back and forth between sweetness and terror. She's been in time out today more times than I can count. I definitely think that the "three's" are going to be much worse than the "two's" were. She is so strong-willed and into EVERYTHING! I have to constantly know exactly where she is and what she's doing at all times. Today I saw her sitting at the dining room table and she told me she was working on her craft. (Her craft is rearranging the pins in the pin cushion Mom had used while sewing.) I opened the refrigerator door to grab a bottled water and when I closed it (THAT QUICK!) I see her with the sewing scissors about to cut the power cord to Mom's sewing machine. I screamed NOOOOOOOO! and went running toward her. Luckily my scream scared her and she dropped the scissors and started crying because I had scared her so. After hiding the scissors and calming her down it was time to go get Taylor at school. On our way to the car, she spots Taylor's Leapster handheld game and wanted to take it with her in the car. I was glad to find something to occupy her time and her mouth while we were in the car. I gave it to her and she threw it, got this terrified look on her face, threw up her arms and started screaming. There was an ant on it. OH MY GOODNESS! So I brushed off the ant and checked it for more. I tried giving it back to her and every time I'd get it close to her it was like I was handing her a snake. She'd scream and wince but then when I'd go to lay it back down in the garage she'd scream and cry WANTING it. AHHHHH! It was a no win situation for me. After five minutes of this back and forth, I finally threw the game down got into the car and let her scream. ~all the way to Taylor's school. Lucky for me it's only a mile down the road! She finally hushed after I threatened to leave her in the car once we got there to pick up Taylor.

Another new thing for her lately has been while we're driving down the road she'll ask "Mama, are there any policemen around?" So I usually say "probably, they're everywhere!" I tell her this because not long ago she used to take her arms out of the straps of her car seat and could literally remove herself from her seat with the belts still buckled! How she manages to do it, I don't know because I make sure the belts are snug on her. She's like some Houdini! 5 point harness, my butt! So back then I told her the police would get her if she got out of her seat or took her arms out while we're driving. So she has sort of become obsessed with wondering where policemen are. ANYWAY...back to my story. Wednesday night we'd gone out to eat and on the way home she kept putting her wet shoes on the back of the seat in front of her and kicking it. I asked her a couple of times to stop and Nana who was sitting back there with her got her feet down a couple of times and told her to not do that. I looked back at her and she was going to put her feet up again and I said "Don't you do it!" She just looked at me and did it again! UGHHH! The nerve of that child!! At that exact moment, my Dad called my cell phone. His ring tone on my cell is a police siren. When we heard it I looked out my window and said "Look Emma, here is the policeman right here and I'm telling him to come and get you for not minding me!" She went ballistic! I figured since she is so brazen she'd not think a thing about it. She started screaming and crying "No, no no! I'll stop! Don't let him get me!" She wouldn't stop screaming and crying, terrified, until I let her hear my Dad's voice on the phone and we all were assuring her that it was just my cell phone, not a police man. I felt terrible after that. Wanting to feel like she got what she deserved for her behavior I still felt so bad for scaring her like that. I also didn't realize she was actually afraid of the police. I'm going to have to change that. I certainly don't want her to fear them. But we did all get a good laugh later at her episode of freaking out.

Among the drama, the crises, the whining and crying and nearly making me lose my mind, my children reminded me tonight of how intelligent and comical they are. How? I'm glad you asked. I couldn't write this blog tonight without telling you about THIS one! I am just amazed some times at how smart they are...tonight Taylor had just gotten out of the shower and Emma was getting ready to get into the tub. So they were both naked in the bathroom. I'd walked out to come into the office to check an email right quick while Taylor was finishing up in there and I hear them talking. Taylor says, "Hey, lets make ourselves be bunny rabbits!" So when I hear this I figure I'm about to be in for a couple of naked children hopping around through the house. No, no. They're much more clever than that. They come into the office where I'm at my computer and say "Look, Mom! We're bunny rabbits!" They both turn around and sticking out of their naked butts are big wads of toilet paper made into balls. -bunny rabbit tails! It was disgustingly humorous. I suddenly forgot about all of the happenings of the day that have pushed me near the edge of insanity. I think they do things like that on purpose...to give me a fresh new start for the night and into the next day.

One more episode before I could get them settled into bed. Buddy went missing. Buddy would be Emma's ratty pink elephant that she sleeps with EVERY night. The one thing we could NEVER do without! I put him in her bed when I came upstairs to get them ready for their shower and bath...thinking I was pretty clever to do that so that I wouldn't be searching for him after I put her in bed. ~as I do nearly every day at nap time and every night as well. Well, what do you know, bed time comes and Buddy is gone. I'm talking M I A...GONE!!!! I can't find that 'dead gum' stinkin' little thing anywhere. I searched and searched every room in the house, even going back down stairs to look. I finally consoled Emma by telling her I'd keep looking and IF I found him I'd bring him to her. On my way back upstairs after searching again downstairs, I reached to turn on a lamp that sits on the landing half way up the stair case. Who do I find, stuck BEHIND the lampshade sandwiched between the shade and the wall? Buddy! I think he got there when one of my precious angels threw him over the balcony trying to make him hit the floor below. They missed and essentially put him in the greatest Buddy hiding place in our entire house. I didn't ask them how it happened. At that point I didn't care. All I cared was to get that child her night-night Buddy and finally be done with the bed time rituals!

Well, I must go now...my TV show is coming on soon and I don't want to miss it!! More stories on the way...

New Recipes Added

2008-04-16T10:28:00.002-05:00

13 new recipes just added to my website.
The list is posted on the right under the web address.

Out of hibernation...though possibly only briefly

2008-04-05T08:01:00.006-05:00

Hey there! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been in hibernation. No, really! Except for waking up to do the things that I have to do, I've been sleeping for the last three weeks. And eating...hence the expanding waistline!

Every spare moment I've had to nap and sleep, I've slept. I have been so exhausted from the time I'm forced out of bed in the morning until I can get back there at night. I'm just barely functioning. A "normal" side effect of pregnancy, I guess. My kids just look at me like "what is wrong with her?" as I sit on the couch nodding off and fighting to stay awake to watch them play. They're smart though, and know that it's at these times that they can pretty much ask for whatever they want and if its something they can get themselves, I'll say sure, whatever. They're taking advantage. But who can blame them?

When I am awake, I'm hungry. If I don't have food on my stomach at any time during the day, I'm nauseated. But it's all good. I'm beginning to feel like I'm on the down side of it all as the past couple of days I've not had to take an afternoon nap and haven't felt quite as nauseated. I'm beginning my 10th week so I'm getting closer to that 2nd trimester mark where things (usually) begin to look brighter.

I had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago and everything is looking good. The baby looked like a little bean with a heartbeat. My due date remains the same, November 8th, however my doctor said that November has an ugly birth stone and I will probably want to deliver the end of October. (That's the moment when I fell in love with him.) He said that if it's another girl, I will for sure want her to have October's birth stone and not November's. Interesting that this man knows so much about birth stones. I found out later in that visit that it's because he was born in November and hates the color of his birth stone.

I was really nervous when I went to my first visit with this doctor because I had been thinking about me being down here in FL when my mom and all other family is at least a two hour plane ride away. I didn't want to have a doctor who would force me to wait until my water broke or I went into labor on my own, as many of them do. I wanted someone who'd let me choose the day to be induced so that I can better plan and make darn sure my Mama is here! Not that I don't have friends here that I can call on for help but when you're having a new baby, you just gotta have your Mama there. Or at least I do. Anyway, at my first visit I asked him what his policy was on inducing. He told me that he pretty much didn't have any policies on anything...that if everything was going well and things looked good, he had no problem scheduling an induction. He said it helps him to better plan as well. I thought right then, "We are gonna get along great!" So then after he suggested that I have the baby 8 -10 days early so that it'll be an October baby, I almost shouted out loud "WHOO HOO"! I had to restrain myself not to hug him and tell him how great he was and how much I like him.

The girls are still pretty much oblivious to the fact that there's a baby in my tummy. However, last night Emma says to me "Mama yuh belwy wooks full. Is dat way-uh duh baby is?" They both have said that they'd like to have a baby brother. Occasionally they'll say a sister would be good but for the most part they want a brother. My brother and sister in law just found out that they're having a little boy in Sept. So I've been trying to convince my girls that Lesley can have the boy for us and we can just have another girl. I've sort of been there, done that with girls and know what to expect with them. I have some little girl stuff and can be easily prepared for a little girl. So it's no secret that I'd just as soon have another baby girl.

We have, however, come up with a boys name that we all like. (Or at least I like it right now-that could change in the future depending on hormonal changes.) If it's a boy we're thinking of naming him Jack Henry. Nathan really likes the name Henry. I'm not very fond of it but it was my Papaw's middle name and I was absolutely crazy about him so that made it easier for me to stick to Henry. So far we can't come up with a girl's name that we like. I have so many girls in my family that it's hard to find a name that's not already used. So if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!! Email them to me or leave a comment on this post.

Okay, that's more than enough "baby" talk. On to something else...

Last weekend, I went with my friends Bridget, Karen and Karen's daughter Brittany to the Beth Moore conference in Jacksonville. It was amazing! We had such a great time and Beth was wonderful. We were all impressed that she doesn't have her topic already chosen months before the conferences start. She prays about each one and then speaks on whatever God lays on her heart to speak about. I heard more than just us say "Her message was aimed right at me!" A few ladies behind us said "Was she in our car on the way up here?!!" It was really something that each one of us 14,500 women needed to hear that same message. I've embedded a video clip from the conference above this message . This is a recap of pictures from the event...and listen to the song by Travis Cottrell. He is the worship leader for her team and he has the most beautiful voice! This was one of my favorite songs that he performed there.

Nathan kept the girls that weekend while I was gone. I left on Friday afternoon before they got out of school. On Saturday, he had to get them to Taylor's t-ball game at 8:30 and then to a birthday party at 4:00. He managed to get everywhere he was supposed to be and the girls survived. I had laid out and ironed their outfits before I left and when I hung them in the closet I did so in the order that they'd need to wear them and looped their coordinating sandals and crocs over the hangers as well. I instructed him not to let them talk him into letting them wear different outfits or shoes. They have their own ideas about what "matches" and looks good which differ greatly from mine. I told him he was on his own with the hair and just to do the best he could with it. When I called him Saturday morning before the ball game, he was a little frustrated and said "They are NOT making good choices this morning!!" I just said "Yeah, well, welcome to my world. Have a good day!! Bye!!"

On that Sunday we all went down to Fort Lauderdale to see my friend Amanda. She's one of the only friends from high school that I've kept in touch with since graduation. She is a doctor in the Navy now and her ship was docked for the weekend at the port down there. She'd called and asked if we'd like to come down and see her ship. We had a lot of fun with her. She took us all over her ship. It was so neat! The girls just loved being there with her. Several days in a row afterward Emma would ask to go back to "Wah-duh-day-uh" (Lauderdale) to see "Amana". When I told her that "Amana's" boat was way out in the ocean taking her back to her house in Virginia to see her husband and little boy, she'd just cry and cry. Once they saw that Amanda was fun and she played with them a little bit, they never stopped talking to her - constantly! We barely got a word in. They jabbered the whole time! She was probably worn out after our visit. ha!

Nathan has drill at the Air Force base this weekend so the girls and I are just hanging out and being lazy today. Last night he was at the base for a while so the girls and I had gone to get something for supper and on the way back Taylor and I got into a deep discussion about Heaven. As we were driving home, she said, "We're all going to die." "What?! What are you talking about?" I asked. She said "We are! We're all going to die." I told her yes that one day we would but that it wasn't something I wanted to talk about. Then she says, "I don't want to go to Heaven." When I asked her why she said "because there aren't any toys in heaven. It's boring!" I tried to explain that in Heaven she'd have everything that she'd ever want or need. Then she said "yeah, but you have to wear dresses EVERY DAY!" "What?!" "Yes, Mom, I know because I've seen all the pictures and even the men have to wear dresses!" Again I said "What??!!!" "Yes, I'm right, Mom because every picture I've seen of Jesus at church and in my Bible, he is wearing a white dress with a red belt and that's what we have to wear too! So I don't want to go." I just said "Oh, good grief!" I was at a loss as to what to say to that. She doesn't want to go to Heaven because she doesn't like the dresses that she'll have to wear. Finally I just told her "Taylor, when you die you have only two places that you can go...Heaven or Hell." To which she replied "What's Hell?" "It's where Satan, you know, the Devil, lives and there is fire and bad things there and the people that go there are on fire but they never burn up they just hurt and cry and it's really a bad place." At this point when I turned to look at her face I knew I'd said way too much. She was just looking at me with her eyes wide and mouth open. She said "Well I don't want to go there! I guess I will go to Heaven then. But Mom, you said that I'll have everything that I want in Heaven, so will I have that other webkinz animal that I want?" I had nothing left. I said "I'm weary child, go in the living room and watch TV."

Well, I've got to get busy cleaning up my house. Hurricane Emma and Hurricane Taylor came through this past week and left disasters in every room. I've put off mopping, scrubbing bathrooms, etc...for as long as it can be healthy to. I'm dreading even starting it but it just HAS to be done. By the way, I'm in the market for a free housekeeper. If you know of any good ones, please let me know!

Hope you have a great weekend and I'll try not to wait so long to post the next message. Talk to you soon!

"Don't call the fire dept., your dinner has been extinguished! And by the way, ..."

2008-03-18T19:58:00.004-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! There's been a lot going on around here the past couple of weeks. Hmmmm....where shall I begin???

A little over two weeks ago, I started noticing some weirdness going on with me. Clumsiness, forgetfulness (way more than usual) and I burned dinner slap up two nights in a row, setting off the fire alarms and everything, smoke everywhere, the whole bit. Now I can occasionally get distracted and cook something longer than it should've been or forget that bread is in the oven and let it get too browned but I hardly EVER burn things to charred bits as I did these two nights. Never, that is, except when I'm pregnant.

It's been that way with every previous pregnancy too. I have a hard time in the kitchen; a place that I'm normally comfortable and competent in. So after that second night of burning dinner, dropping everything I put my hands on and feeling just off, I decided that the next day I would go to the store and get a pregnancy test. You know, just to put my mind at ease. I was only like a day or two late starting my cycle, nothing to get too excited about. Were it not for those other "symptoms" I was experiencing, I'd have thought nothing of it.

I get home that Tuesday afternoon, go into the bathroom to "get this over with" and 15 minutes later, I'm still in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet lid, head in my hands, staring at a test stick that's screaming POSITIVE!, thinking, "Oh Lord, are you serious??! What are you thinking, Lord? I can barely keep it together with two kids, what am I going to do with three?" I was flooded with images of myself in dirty three day old t-shirts and pajama bottoms staggering around my unbelievably trashed house with dark bags under my eyes and a far off look on my face, the two older kids running circles around me throwing the "trash" into the air while a baby sits on my hip crying and flailing its arms at me. I opened my mouth to let out a scream but remembered that Emma was in the next room watching TV and I didn't want to scare her. So instead I opened my mouth and let out a silent yelp.

I finally pulled myself together enough to exit the bathroom and make it to the couch. I kept trying to repress those overstressed worn down mommy images but they just kept coming. I was horrified. Until I realized I had a bigger problem. I was going to have to break the news to Nathan and that was NOT going to be a pleasant experience.

It was only a few days prior to this day that he and I had a talk and decided that we were ready to schedule him for surgery. Since the day Emma was born he has said "We're done! No more kids, two is plenty for us." He's been ready to have the procedure done for quite some time now but I never was quite ready to take such a drastic step, until now. Also, I had an appointment coming that Friday for my annual exam and I had already planned on having the doctor prescribe some birth control pills for me. Keep in mind, our current method of prevention has worked for the past several years! We'd just decided that we needed to take extra precautions now since we were settled with our two girls and weren't going to have any more children. ~HAAAA

How ironic it is that the very week I decided that I am happy with just two kids and that things are perfect just the way they are, I find out that we're going to add another member to our family. I'm usually not one to question God, but that day, I had A LOT of questions! I didn't call Nathan immediately, I waited for him to call me later that afternoon (he was out of town for a few days, working). His response was the complete opposite of what I had expected it would be. He was excited and happy about it. No worries, just excitement. (Okay, who is this man and what did he do with my husband??!) I was stunned that he took it so well and was laughing and saying things like "maybe this one will be a boy but I'd be happy with another girl too" while I'm sitting there on the verge of a nervous break down and a crying fit.

I believe that God prepared his heart for the news and replaced the feelings that he would've normally had with the feelings that we both needed to have. That whole day, I had worried and fretted over it all but after talking to him, he calmed me down and I began to feel better about it and realized that it is a blessing. I began to feel guilty about the things I'd worried and fretted over.

I am doing much better now with it all. I'm beginning to get more excited and less worried about everything. I know that God wouldn't give me more than I can handle and I'm holding him to that promise! I just have to have faith that everything is going to be fine and that soon we'll not be able to imagine our life without this new little one in it.

I was also worried about telling Taylor. She says to me every once in a while "Don't you wish sometimes that you just had me and not Emma too?" (Ha!) I have to reassure her that having Emma here with us is so much better than if we didn't have her at all. Usually by the end of our talk she feels better and is glad that she has a little sister again. She took the news pretty well too. She is excited although it's hard for it to seem real right now. She keeps asking me "Are you SURE you're having another baby?" ha!

My due date is November 9th. (Well, November 8th, but Abby and I decided that November 9th was a better date! ;-) ) I go for an ultrasound on Friday so that will probably give me a more accurate date. Luckily, I haven't been sick much. Just a little nausea here and there and certain foods turn my stomach but that's about it. I have been extremely tired the past couple weeks. Thank the Lord that Emma still naps in the afternoons. Bless her sleepy little heart! That has been my saving grace. We've been taking 3 hour naps every day! And I still am ready to go to bed by 8:00! -never get there at that time though. I'm hoping this fatigue will ease up soon, as we're about to be taken over by the laundry piles and dust bunnies.

Nathan's mom, brother, sister-in-law and niece got here on Saturday of that same week. We were excited to have them here. We had a really good time with them while they were here. The girls were thrilled to have their Meme here for a week. ~and so was I! I got a little break! :) We hated to see them leave. The girls cried and cried but it was school day for both of them so that helped. By the time I dropped them off at school they'd both calmed down and stopped crying.

They are both looking forward to Easter this weekend. Emma has an egg hunt at her school tomorrow and Taylor has one on Thursday. I'm sure they'll be all candied up afterward! I'm looking forward to the long weekend but not the dreaded Easter outfit search. Nathan and the girls are taken care of and have nice new outfits for Easter but not me. I guess I'm going to put it off until Friday or Saturday and then run around like a mad woman trying to find something that comes close to matching them. Ugh! We don't have any big plans for Easter day. Going to church then out to eat and come home and take a nap (YES!) I'm going to miss spending Easter in Arkansas with my family. :( Ahem, gotta stop that kind of talk right now or I'll start bawling! The emotions are in no condition to handle it right now, thanks to the raging hormones!

Well, I've nodded off and bumped my head on my keyboard twice since I started this post so I guess I'd better get to bed! Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!!

Something about Saturday...

2008-03-01T18:48:00.003-06:00

Don't you just LOVE Saturdays? I think they're great. You can either spend the entire day in your p.j.'s reading, watching movies or playing with your kids. Or, if it's a nice day, you can get outside and enjoy it. Today I did a little of both. I stayed in my p.j.'s till almost noon, reading, sippin' my coffee and just piddlin' around the house, and then I decided not to waste any more of this beautiful day inside. The weather here was gorgeous today! I dressed the girls up and we went outside for a photo shoot. I wasn't satisfied with the backgrounds in my own yard so we ventured to the park down the street and got some good pictures there. You can view the slide show of the pictures I took by clicking here.

I was surprised but the girls did really well and let me take lots of pictures of them. Generally when I decide to photograph them with posed shots it's a huge fiasco that ends with me losing every ounce of patience I had to begin with (and also my temper!) and the girls whining and crying and falling out in the floor or on the ground. It's SO MUCH FUN! ;-)

I don't have too much to write about tonight, but before I go, I have to tell you about this strange lady I ran into at Walgreen's this afternoon. I was standing at the counter waiting to ask the pharmacist a question when this older Hispanic lady walks up talking to I guess whoever was around to listen to her. Since I was the only one standing there, I became the ears that she needed. She asked if the "two little bambinos" sitting in the chairs were mine. "Yes, they are. " "OH, dey are byoooteeful! Dey look like you." "Oh, thanks. " "Look at dat! Dee wan has dee brown eyes and dee udder has dee blue. Isn't dat something." "Yes, yes. " I can tell by how fast she keeps talking to me that we may be there for a while. She just kept on...one thing after another. But, since I was still waiting to speak to the pharmacist I was glad to have someone humor me for a minute. Next she tells me "My bambinos have dee green eyes like my fadder. Excep for my daughter, and she come out ugly. But what can you do?" I wanted to crack up now after hearing her say that her daughter "came out ugly"!! But I couldn't because she was serious as a heart attack! She said "My sons, dey dee ones dat got the green eyes." All I could think was "her poor daughter". I just wonder if she's had to put up with being the ugly one her whole life because as you know, if you've ever been around Hispanics, they tell it like it is. There is no lying or beating around the bush to spare feelings or anything else. They are brutally honest and right to your face! And there's something to be said for that, though...they don't lie about what they think. They tell you straight up. Much different from a lot of us who tell "little white lies" to keep things running smoothly and people happy. Which I found out this past Tuesday in Bible study, is WRONG! According to scripture we're to be completely honest at all times, while doing it in a godly, loving way. I'll be honest, that was a most uncomfortable and difficult lesson for me. One that I've not mastered. I mean, I know that it's wrong to out and out lie, but I've really never thought much about the little white lies that I tell. I don't even think of them as lies, rather, just being nice! It is so much easier for me to just be cordial and not say what I really think. But starting last Tuesday after class, I am trying harder to be completely truthful and avoid even the little white lies. Whoa! I didn't mean to get off on that tangent...just sort of came out.

As we were leaving the store we passed by an older black lady and she had stopped to ask a store employee where to find something. She said "S'cuse me, where you pottin' sole at?" (I didn't know that Walgreen's even carried potting soil! Seems a little odd, don't you think??) Too bad for her because the employee was Hispanic and apparently didn't speak much English. He just smiled really big and pointed to the bottom shelf of household cleaners. The lady looked at him confused and louder this time (because we all know that if someone doesn't understand English, it helps if you yell in English at them) "NO! WHERE YO' DIRT AT?"

I had gotten two laughs (at other's expenses) in a matter of 10 minutes. I seriously considered moseying around the store for little while longer to see what else might happen. But my girls, who were in tow, reminded me that I no longer get to mosey around stores, leisurely looking at things and taking my time. So we hurried to make our purchases and got out of there.

Well, I have to get off here now. I sat down to simply upload my pictures and I decided to blog a little, while I waited for them to finish. An hour later and I'm still up here, secluded from the husband and kids. Apparently the husband has decided to be finished with his turn entertaining the girls because he has sent them up here to me now. "WHO'S READY FOR BED?!!"
Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!
Talk to you again soon!

Hey, Let's Go To The Dentist!!

2008-02-26T19:09:00.005-06:00

Normally I don't post a message this soon after a previous one but my day today was "post worthy" I felt. My children gave me plenty of drama and humor this afternoon. ~and after you hear about it you'll understand that "blogger therapy" was a necessity for me tonight.

The day started out pretty well. After getting Taylor delivered to her classroom, Emma and I headed to Bible study. My class was fun. We all laughed a lot and learned a lot as well. After Bible study was over Emma and I headed to the mall to make a couple of exchanges and have lunch. We had a good time, just the two of us. She acted very mannerly and disciplined the whole time. I was so proud of her. ~and very curious of exactly who this child was that had taken up shop in Emma's body. But I didn't dare question where the real Emma was, I just reveled in the moment. We got our exchanges done and our lunch ate and headed home, victoriously avoiding the mall play area with very little fit throwing about it.

At 2:00 we picked up Taylor from school. My day is still going [strangely] euphorically well. Taylor claimed to have a great day at school and was excited when I told her that she had a dentist appointment later this afternoon. (She hasn't been to the dentist since we lived in Hot Springs...so at least 2 1/2 years ago...I know, I know, I'm a horrible mother for not already taking her...yeah, yeah)

So now this is where my day begins to take a turn to the dark side. I had put Emma down for a quick nap earlier when we got home from picking Taylor up. I put to bed a happy little angel baby and woke up a demon child who was madder than 'you know the place'! Why? I have no idea. I just know that she was not a happy camper and I had to put fuel on the fire because I had to brush her hair and get her dressed to leave. She didn't want to wear what I was putting on her, her flip flops hurt her toes, she didn't NEED TO GO POTTY...as she sits there filling up the throne, and she DIDN'T WAN NO BOW IN HUH HAYUH!" What should've taken me 5, maybe 10 minutes tops, took me closer to 30. We FINALLY start to head out the door, 3 minutes before Taylor's appointment time!! (Luckily the office was only 5 minutes away...only 2 minutes late, which for us could be considered early!) No longer was I the confident, happy, keepin'-it-together mom. Psycho mom was desperately trying to rear her ugly face!

At the dentist's office, the ladies at the desk looked as frazzled as I was when I walked in the door. They were very busy with whatever it is that they do. I found out later that everyone including the hygienists and nurses were in a hurry because they had a meeting to get to that afternoon. That should've been my first sign to turn around and leave right then. Well, the nurse came to get Taylor, who by this time had started to get nervous, and she escorted her to the back, (not even asking if I'd like to go with her), while at the same time handing me 67 forms to fill out and sign. I asked if I could go with her but no, they needed the forms and I wasn't "allowed to be in the room for x-rays which is what they were doing first." So I rushed through signing God knows what and checking every "no" on the four page form of medical history (SHE'S 6 FOR GOODNESS SAKES!!! NO, SHE DOESN'T HAVE SYMPTOMS OF ARTHRITIS OR PROSTATE ISSUES! DON'T THEY MAKE MEDICAL HISTORY FORMS FOR CHILDREN???) Finally I finished the forms and was allowed to go back to the extremely small and crowded exam room where Taylor was reclining in the chair waiting. The nurse put Emma and I on a teensy little stool in the corner and told us to watch out and not bump our heads on the shelves that were right above the stool. (Thanks!) Emma would not sit still. I swear she must've flipped and flopped in my lap a hundred times. And here we are not sitting in a chair with a back support but on a stool that only held one of my butt cheeks! I would've normally already put her down on the floor to stand but we were surrounded by wires and all sorts of dental equipment. It might've been fine for any other child to stand amongst it but it was a hazard for Emma. The doctor finally came in 30 minutes later, took a quick look in Taylor's mouth and said "Nice healthy mouth, needs to floss more. Have a good day." I thought "Wow! We waited thirty minutes for that. Fabulous!" (~that was sarcastic, in case you didn't hear it.)

The nurse sits down now and proceeds to polish Taylor's teeth before the hygienist starts her part. She gives Taylor a run down of all the equipment that she'll be using on her in about 10 seconds and then she proceeds to polish. Taylor is doing great considering I know she didn't even catch one word of that explanation she was given of what was about to be done to her. I'm situating Emma on my lap again and telling her through clenched teeth to "BE STILL", when all of a sudden I hear the suction tool and Taylor about jumps out of the chair and starts bawling. The nurse jerked back in shock and just looked at Taylor and at me. I got up to console her, ask her what happened and tell her that everything was alright-it was just sucking the spit out of her mouth. The hygienist walked in as I was calming Taylor down and I told her that she just got scared of the suction tool but that she was alright. That lady looked at me and the nurse (who is now putting away all of her tools and taking off her gloves -giving up!!!) and says, "We're gonna need to recommend her to a specialist." All of this took place in a matter of two minutes, at the most! Apparently she felt the need to keep saying that "She needs to go to a specialist" because I kept standing there stunned and staring at her with my mouth open not believing that they were stopping and giving up that quickly. Didn't they know how difficult it was for me to get us there in the first place and then we'd spent 45 minutes there already and now she's telling me I have to take her somewhere else??!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! In utter disbelief, I managed to cough out the question "Specialist?!" She said "Yes, Ma'am, she needs to go see someone who treats children who are afraid." I just kept standing there looking at her, dumbfounded. I honestly could not believe they were not going to finish. It's not like Taylor was out of control or was refusing to open her mouth. She'd just been startled because she wasn't warned that the suction tool was fixing to be shoved into her cheek.

I guess I kept standing there longer than they expected because they kept asking me "Now, how old is she?" (They treat patients beginning at age 6.) "Grrrr...She's 6!" "Yeah, she needs to go to a specialist, they'll be able to treat her better and handle her better." The point was, they didn't want to take the time necessary to work with a child because they were in a rush to get to their meeting. As I walked out of the office dragging my children along, I was so ticked off that I could have spit nails! I imagine I looked something like the guy who plays the incredible hulk just before he makes his transition into the big green monster.

Emma had to pour salt in the wound too before we left. When we were sitting in the waiting room waiting on the nurse to bring me a referral from the dentist, Emma kept saying to Taylor "Sissy, you didn't get a new toowf bwush and you didn't get a stick-uh ee-duh!" "Sissy, you doan get to have a new toowf bwush!" Poor Taylor was just sitting there, still scared and upset but not crying anymore; thinking she'd done something wrong. That's just like an ole' meanie sister, isn't it!

After we got in the car we had to go straight to the baseball field to register Taylor for t-ball. The entire way there the girls fought, teased each other, screamed and cried, something fierce! I thought I was going to be completely gray headed before we could get there. I did see something that pulled me out of my stupor and made me laugh a little despite my screaming children in the backseat. I got behind this car that had been purchased from Dimmit Chevrolet in 'Podunk' Florida. You can get an idea of my state of mind by this point by my finding the name "Dimmit" humorous. All I could think about was that some poor soul had grown up with the last name "Dimmit"! ha! In my head I started yelling at the girls, "STOP IT, DIMMIT!!" and I thought it was so funny. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a little dose of comic relief before I slipped off the deep end.

We pulled into the parking lot and were a few minutes early so we sat in the car to wait until closer to time. Emma, of course, wanted to know what we were doing so I told her and she decided that she wanted to play t-ball too. I explained to her that she had to be 6 years old before she could play and that maybe we could see about letting her take dance instead.

Have you ever read any Junie B. Jones books? I don't read them much any more now that Emma is getting older and talking more because they scare me. Emma has many qualities that are like Junie B. On more than one occasion I have thought that things she did or said sounded just like something I'd read in a Junie B. Jones book. Like this for instance: We got out of the car to go up to the concession stand to meet the registration lady and the whole way up there Emma was jabbering LOUDLY "I'm not twee any mow, Mama! I'm six now and I wone to pway t-ball too. Mama! Do you hee-uw me? I'm not twee! I'm six so I can pway! Hey, I doan see whey-uw da dance is? Mama, whey-uw is my dance at? Am I gonna dance hee-uw?"

By the time we were back in the car headed home, I needed to be comforted. Badly! I'd had it!!! ~and I'd told the girls that several times now. It was already after 6 o'clock and now I had to figure out something for supper. Sadly, when I need to be comforted, I often look to food to do that for me. So we stopped by Chilis and picked up their appetizer sampler and a huge coke that I could drown myself in. Man, it was a gooood coke! As usual all that the "comfort" food did for me was make me feel bloated and nauseated. I did get some relief in the form of early bed time. I had Emma bathed and in bed by 7:45 and Taylor was in the shower, on her way to being ready for bed.

When I put them to bed, and get them all snuggled in and help them say their prayers, it's like most of the day's stresses and drama just fades away. This is when I think my girls are the most precious. When they're settled down, telling me they love me and saying goodnight. I turn out their lights, tell them I'll see them in the morning and smiling, I quietly close the door.

THEN I RUN THROUGH THE HOUSE, MY HEAD THROWN BACK, ARMS STRETCHED WIDE, SILENTLY SCREAMING "PRAISE THE LORD, I'M FREE! I'M FREE! I'M FREE!"
...just kidding! ;-)

A visit from Nana and Papaw

2008-02-24T15:32:00.006-06:00

The weekends always go by way too fast, don't they? They especially do when you're dreading the end of them more than usual.
Mom and Dad got here Thursday afternoon. The girls were ecstatic! We had to peel them from the ceiling all weekend long. They were so excited to get to spend time with their Nana and Papaw. On Friday, Nathan and Dad went fishing. (I think that was the main reason we got my Dad down here for the weekend-aside from seeing his girls, of course!) The girls, Mom and I went shopping. We found lots of good deals for the kids. ~Isn't that ALWAYS the way it works out? We all had a good time, well Mom and I enjoyed ourselves. I had to bribe the girls with a new webkinz pet and a chance to play in the play area at the mall to keep them from whining about going into ANOTHER store. Hey, whatever works! Taylor HATES to try on clothes! I have such a hard time finding things that fit her right that I have to have her try on everything as not to risk having to come back with returns. So she had to be reminded of her reward (new webkinz) many, many times. Emma doesn't mind trying on so much, it's just getting her to stand still long enough to get the clothes on her! She bends and poses and sticks out her behind while you're squatting down to her level pulling and tugging to get things over her little booty that she's holding way out to the side, begging her to straighten up and hold still. It's a workout in itself! I put Mom in one dressing room with Emma and I took another room with Taylor. After about 4 1/2 hours at the mall, both girls had reached their breaking point. So I bought them their new pets and we headed home.

We'd had a good excuse to stay out shopping all afternoon. We talked to Nathan and Dad earlier in the day and they were on their way home to take a nap and encouraged us to spend as much time out that afternoon as we'd wanted to. They left home that morning to go fishing at 4 am!! How they find that sport anywhere near worth getting up at that ridiculous time in the morning is beyond me! But anyway, it did give us a good excuse to do a little more shopping. ~We were helping them out and doing something nice FOR THEM. Uh huh.

Later that night Nathan was asking if I had gone in a particular department store known for heavily reducing the prices of their nicer khaki pants and dress shirts this time of year. Since they NEVER reduce anything worth looking at in the misses department like they did in men's, I had bypassed them all together. (I'll show THEM!) He had stopped in that store in a mall in Stuart (a town about an hour or so south of here) and said that they had tons of khakis and dress shirts really cheap. So he got my dad interested in checking it out and believing that he could use a few new duds himself. So Saturday, after having a big breakfast and all of us getting dressed, we headed down to Stuart to the mall. We didn't tell the girls where we were going, lest we'd see the devil himself come out in them and fits would be had. So we told them we were just taking a ride and going to Stuart to see what we could find and we'd go out to eat. Since they both love going to restaurants, they kept their fits in check. That is until we got to the mall. Upon entering the parking lot, Taylor made the connection and verbalized it that "This looks like a mall! Please tell me we're NOT going shopping again!" Then Emma chimed in "NO, I don wan go to da maw!" We assured them that we'd only be a few minutes to let Daddy and Papaw find some pants and shirts. Taylor did pretty well the whole time, keeping the whining and dragging of feet to a minimum. Emma didn't do as well. She started crying and whining about 30 minutes into it. She didn't stop until we were walking back through the parking lot. It was not a pleasant experience! And of course, that would be the time I'd find several really cute things (ON SALE) that I wanted to try on but couldn't since she was throwing fits every 2 minutes. Oh well. We did have a nice dinner.

We went to a seafood place on the river (Intercoastal Waterway). We sat outside on the back deck and the weather was so nice. There was a warm breeze blowing the whole time. The girls got to feed the seagulls the leftover bread we'd had. They loved doing that. Mom and I enjoyed sharing a piece of key lime pie and coffees after we'd persuaded the men to take the girls to feed the birds. When they came back, there was one bite of pie left that had to be split by two slightly perturbed little girls. ~they hadn't known we were sitting there enjoying dessert! ;-) Since it was time to go they just shoveled in their half bites and licked their spoons clean right quick without saying much.

This morning we got up early to take Nana and Papaw back to the airport to catch their plane home. On the way to the airport, Emma decided that she didn't want to call Papaw "Papaw" anymore, rather she is going to start calling him "just 'Paw'". Not long after that little revelation, she decided that "Paw" wasn't right either, instead it would be "Pop". By the time we let them out at the airport, he was being called "Poppy". We'll see if any of those stick. Taylor was pretty quiet the whole trip. She is always very sad the day her grandparents leave. It's heartbreaking for me to see her that way. She did hold it together pretty well and didn't cry too much, unlike Emma who wailed and wailed for miles after pulling away from the airport. Taylor was hugging on Emma in the back seat and trying to comfort her. It was sweet. She told her "Emma, when you start missing Nana, just smell of your neck and you can smell her." I about lost it when I heard her say that. But then the tears were replaced by laughter when I looked in then rear view mirror to see Emma straining her head down as far as she could trying to get her nose to her neck. She was getting frustrated and said "How do you do dat? I can't do it!" Taylor showed her to pull out the neck of her shirt and put her nose to it. Much easier than bending your neck down. Apparently she smelled Mom's perfume on her too because she hushed and was mesmerized by that for a while.

Nathan left today too, heading for Wisconsin for meetings. He'll be there until Wednesday afternoon. Before he left he was telling Taylor that they had piles of snow there taller than his head and how he was going to get to see a lot of snow. He asked her if she'd like to live there one day. I interjected that they don't have swimming pools in their backyards there and they never get to go swimming since it's cold up there (thinking that I'd turn her off to the idea of living in a place like that) to which she replied "Yeah, but they have ice skating!" I guess she told me!

Well, I know this post wasn't very witty or funny. I didn't much have any of that in me this afternoon. I hope you have a great week this week and try to look on the bright side of whatever situations you're in this week (like Taylor did with the ice skating). Talk to you again soon!

Fab Hair Day Cut Short by Monsoon

2008-02-12T14:06:00.010-06:00

(**Disclaimer: Please excuse any spelling mistakes in the following post...the spell checker button is broken on this thing! ~and sorry this is so long. It's only one day's worth of occurrences...if that gives you ANY idea of how long my day was yesterday. I'm sure you'll find it to be a quick and amusing read. You have my permission to add me to your prayer chain, prayer list, or whatever. )

(Tuesday, February 12th, 2008)
It is a messy day here today! It started out fairly nice, cloudy but nice. Emma and I went to Bible study this morning. Afterward, we stopped by Wal-Mart to return a duplicate toy that she'd received for her birthday and pick out something else. As I was walking in I figured it might be raining by the time we got finished but I didn't think much of it and I didn't have a single umbrella in the car anyway, so we went on in not worrying about what we might come back out to. An hour later after FINALLY finding a toy that was good enough to replace the other one, we headed for the doors. It was not just raining. It was monsooning!!! A feeling of pure dread and disgust flew all over me as I stood there looking out the doors hesitating and wondering "What can I do? What can I do?" I hadn't put Emma in a cart since we were just going in after one thing. (However, it IS Wal-mart so we came out with three bags full!) Upon coming to the conclusion that the rain was not going to slack up any time soon, I decided I could get to the car faster with Emma and the bags in a shopping cart. So we found a cart near the doors and I slid Emma in and laid all of our bags inside, rolling the tops down, attempting to protect the contents from the downpour that awaited. Remember I told you about me going to the gym and running on the treadmill? Well, we were about to see if it had been paying off! Of course, my car was parked half way across the parking lot, so I was going to have to book it if I was going to get there quickly enough that we wouldn't be completely soaked to the core. ~Apparently I'm going to need more training on the treadmill.~ I slowly approached the automatic doors that headed out into the torrential cascade of showers. I told Emma to hold on tight, we were running for it. And I was off. Have you got the mental picture in your head?? Emma is hanging on for dear life. I'm running as fast as I can, arms stretched out and legs striding as wide as they'll go. I know you see it now...and it's okay that you're laughing at me; if it hadn't actually been ME, I would be laughing too... The buckets of water were falling much heavier than they appeared to be from the shelter of the store. Emma kept squinting her eyes, trying to keep the rain out and yelling "Aahhhh! Aahhhh!" as I was yelling back "Holy Cow! Hang ON! It's Okay, It's Just Rain, Emma! This Is Fun, Emma!" (-trying to convince myself more than her!) She was just looking at me like I had finally fallen off the deep end! Dumbfounded! The entire time I was running, completely taken aback by the amount of water falling from the sky, all I could think about was the children's church song "The rains came down as the floods came up, the rains came down as the floods came up..." Despite how fast it felt like I was running, by the time we reached the car, you couldn't have gotten either of us any wetter than if you'd sprayed us down with a fire hose! Hair, clothes, purse, bags, ALL, soaked! Then of course once we reached the car, I had to get Emma into her car seat and buckle it before I could close her door. When I finally got the bags and myself into the car all I could do was sit there and pant. I glanced up into my mirror and Lord bless, it was a frightful sight! My hair was in ringlet curls all over my head, still dripping, and the rain had pelted my face so that my eye makeup was running down my cheeks. I managed to find ONE old Sonic napkin in my console to blot the makeup from my face. I turned around to look at Emma and she's sitting back there in a trance looking like a drowned rat...eyes as wide as they can get. I said "Whew, we got a little wet didn't we, Emma!" Understatement of the year! I was trying to comfort her a little. She just said "Yeah, I want Buddy!" (Buddy is her little stuffed pink elephant that she sleeps with every night and occasionally takes with us when we go somewhere. Her comfort. -especially at times when she thinks that her Mama has gone completely psycho!) I found Buddy in the floor board and handed him to her. She held him up close to her face and kept staring at me.

The ironic thing about all of this is that for the first time in a long time, I was having a GREAT hair day!! (~ I know it's shallow, but stay with me!) When you live in armpit, Florida, having a good hair day despite the humidity is a major deal! I had straightened it a little this morning but it still had a lot of body. It was smooth and shiny. I mean, I could have seriously done a shampoo commercial today. I nearly broke my neck swingin' it back and forth and admiring it in the mirror. I was lookin' good this morning! ~well, my hair was at least. When I got home and went into the bathroom to survey the damage, I realized that Emma not only gets her curls from my dad but also from me. When I purposely try to let my hair curl and stay wavy after I wash it, it's not even as curly as it was after the deluge I had been in 15 minutes earlier. It looked like I had just finished having a spiral perm put in my hair. Which would've been fine if I hadn't already spent so much time this morning getting it smooth and straight. Oh, WELL!! So much for that. Now it's pulled back into a pony tail and flippin' out all over the place. ...the usual.

I had several more things I'd intended to say this afternoon but I have run out of time talking about my stupid hair. If I get a chance later, I'll add to this post. Nate is out of town for the rest of the week so I will most likely be bloggin' my fingers off, attempting to keep my sanity! ;-)
And on that same note, say a prayer for me that I'll keep it together while he's gone. I rarely sleep well at all when he's not here. Also since you're prayin', pray for him too that things will go well this week at the Miami International Boat Show that he's working at.

~~~~~Continuation of previous post~~~~~
Somehow yesterday afternoon (it is now Wednesday morning; the morining after yesterday's post) I knew that my day would be filled with more post worthy material. Good thing I didn't know exactly what it would be or I would've gone straight to bed and pulled the covers over my head!
Okay, so after leaving you yesterday it was time to pick up Taylor from school. So I went and sat in the car line and waited...and waited...and waited (as usual). The great thing I've found about waiting in the car line is that I can read while I wait. I don't have to worry about what Emma is doing while I engross myself into the pages of my book because she is strapped into her car seat in the back seat. I usually let her bring along a book or some kind of toy to keep her occupied as well. ANYWAY, after leaving the car line with Taylor now in tow, we headed to the post office. I had several different things to mail that required more than just standing in line to buy stamps. I'm not sure what it is about the post office that makes my girls lose all recollection of how they are supposed to act in public but it never fails, they do the second we walk in the door. I'm beginning to think the postal supplies are laced with some sort of airborne hyperactivity stimulant. Before going inside, I warned them that they'd be very sorry if they acted up in there and that they'd better be on their best behavior. Apparently that speech to them sounded like "Blahhhhhh, Blah, Blah, Blahhhhh, Blah, Blah! And I mean it!" For the second we walked in, they began running circles around me and every other display in the place. No amount squeezing their arms as I pulled them in closer to me or giving them the evilest of evil eyes seemed to deter them. ...until we reached the counter to pay for our stuff, and THEN when spoken sweetly to by the postal lady, they put on their angel faces and smiled ever so humbly at her. I asked what the postage would cost me to overnight them to Arkansas, assuring her that I'd put them in packing peanuts and give them snacks to sustain them for the trip. She wouldn't hear of it though. ~apparently doesn't have children of her own!! Needless to say, by the time we got home I was fit to be tied and they were still apologizing, knowing that punishment was surely coming. They were both sent straight to their beds for a nap. I've found that that punishment works very well for me. ;-)
After a couple of hours of peace it was time to wake the blessed angels so that we could get ready to go to Family Night at Wendy's. We were meeting some friends there to eat and let our kids play for a while with the clown.
Before we got ready to leave, I went to the bathroom right quick and was hit with my next obstacle for the day. To spare you the details, however that's not really in my nature, I pretty much like to share it all and kick modesty to the curb (nothing is sacred around here)...it hurt like crazy when I peed and there was blood in my urine. GREAT! I've never had a U.T.I. before, but both my girls have, and I now have a new respect for their tolerance for pain. I called a friend who has had this condition many times before and she recommended that I get in to see a doctor asap. She seemed to think that if it had already gotten that bad, I didn't need to wait till morning to start antibiotics. Okay, so I've not been sick or needed a doctor since we've moved her 2 1/2 years ago. Do I even HAVE a physician to make an appt. with? Of course not. So on my way to Wendy's I called a couple of phone numbers that she had provided me with of the urgent care centers here in town. Luckily one of them accepted patients until 7 pm and also accepted my insurance. So after our Wendy's dinner date, the girls and I headed to the clinic. Let me just interject here that it is STILL monsooning outside-wonderful backdrop to the drama I'm going through today.
Here in the last few years I have become somewhat of a germ-a-phobe. I carry two different types of hand sanitizer in my purse and also have another big bottle in the console of my car. I use it on myself and my kids only a couple hundred times a day. I knew as we approached the clinic that my OCD tendencies in this area were going to be out of control. I had to take my healthy kids and myself into this clinic full of sick, sneezing, coughing people. I could've puked right there in the lobby. Finally, after 45 minutes of waiting, trying to entertain the children myself ~because they'd been forbidden to touch any magazines or books sitting on the tables~, and only 4 separate applications of hand sanitizer, it was my turn to go back to see the doc. I had to give a urine sample. Both of my girls have had to do this and knew exactly what I was going to have to do. Taylor's only concern was who was going to hold the cup for me while I peed in it. I had to horrify her just for a minute by telling her "Well, you're going to have to hold it for me." To which she replied "Unh, uh! Emma's going to have to hold it for you 'cause I ain't touchin' it!" My sweet Emma said "Yeah, I'kin hode it fow you Mama!" ~with a smile of anticipation on her face. I assured both of them that I was capable of holding it myself. Much to Taylor's relief, as she had already begun to get a little freaked out by the fact that Emma was willing to hold it.
The doc. confirmed what I already knew and gave me a Rx. Of course, when we pull in to the Walgreen's drive through, despite the fact that there isn't another soul in the store OR in the drive through, it's going to be 20 minutes before they can have the Rx ready. I'm willing to wait but Taylor has started squirming because she "has to pee SOOOO bad!" and Emma is whining that she's tired and ready to go home. So I told the lady I'd just have to pick it up first thing in the morning and we headed for home. When we got home it was 8:30 so I got the girls right to bed. The weather forcasters were predicting bad weather for us through the night and we were under a tornado watch till the wee hours of the morning. That's just great, I thought! Give me just one more reason not to sleep well tonight! So I was up, unable to sleep as I watched a "storm system capable of producing tornadoes" that was to cross us at 12:45. I had already put both of the girls in my bed with me so that in case of bad weather I wouldn't have to do so much running around to gather them up and head downstairs to the closet. -'cause we both know from my experience earlier in the day that running fast isn't my strong suit. Some time around 1-ish I dozed off, comfortable that the weather had died down enough that it was safe for me to sleep. Emma woke up at 3:00 and would not get still and go back to sleep. So it was back to her bed for her...which she didn't like one bit. She cried for me and called out for water, a hug and all sorts of stuff until 4:00, when I went in to give her my last threat before I was going to lose it. It was then that I noticed that she seemed warm and her cheeks were flushed. I took her temp. She had a fever and needed medicine. After all that, I got back in bed and listened to her call for me again for another hour. Some time after 5 this morning she went to sleep.
At six stinkin' thirty that blasted, God forsaken, junk box of an alarm clock went off signaling that it was time for me to rise up and walk. I just laid there whimpering "No, no, no, no, no! Lord, Jesus, give me the strenght to get out of this bed." And he did. I was suddenly hit with sharp pain in my lower pelvic region reminding me of the infection looming within and forcing me to get up and run to the potty. I made it, just barely.
Only by the grace of God, Taylor made it to school on time and I managed to get myself to the drive through (thank you, Lord, for drive throughs) pharmacy to pick up my medications. Needless to say, Emma and I are having a lazy rest of the day today...despite the fact that my house looks like that tornado actually DID hit us. Emma hasn't run any more fever yet and hopefully she won't. I am beginning to feel better too and am peeing the most interesting shade of neon orange I've ever seen!
Well, that was probably t.m.i. (too much info.) but like I mentioned earlier, nothing is sacred around here.
Be back soon! ;-)

Saturday Ramblings...

2008-02-02T14:31:00.000-06:00

The girls and I have had a pretty relaxed day today. Emma woke me this morning, much to my disappointment, at 7:30 am. I convinced her to get in bed with me and watch tv, hoping that I would be able to sleep just a little longer. If you know Emma, though, you know that she is not a reticent child. Even at the very moment she awakes, she's got something pressing to say and must say it loudly enough to ensure that everyone else in the county hears her. I managed to ignore some of her chatting long enough to doze in and out of consciousness. Finally around 8:15 she'd had enough of talking to herself and my snoozing was over. She was ready for her chee-wie-ohs.
As I attempted to fall out of bed, my body was begging me not to. It was stiff and rigid. My muscles were sore. Any slight movement caused aches in every muscle I have. As I staggered into the bathroom, wondering what was wrong with me today, I remembered why I would be sore today and probably tomorrow as well. I started going to the gym this week on the mornings that Emma is in preschool. Much to my surprise, I've enjoyed it. And up until today, I've not been stiff or sore from my workouts. (Apparently, I wasn't doing it right!) Well, yesterday morning, Nathan let me borrow his ipod so that I could listen to music while I worked out. I had no idea the amount of motivation that would come out of that little electronic device! I was on that treadmill jammin' to some rock n' roll music that he has programmed on it. I didn't know who was singing or what they were saying half the time but the beat was enough to keep me going at a brisk pace. Then I decided that I felt like jogging a little. So after a half mile warm up I started jogging. At this point, the music really started motivating me. I was like Rocky Balboa training for a victory. Nothing could stop me! I pushed myself to make it to a mile and a half, which meant that I had jogged for an entire mile! I can't tell you the last time I jogged a mile, if ever! I was so proud of myself, and I could just feel the pounds melting off of me like butter on a hot biscuit. I just knew I'd be at least 5 lbs. lighter from that jog. I had only used up about 25 minutes of my planned hour workout time so I headed over to the eliptical machines. I love those things but I'm gonna tell you what, if I so much as lifted one hand off of those handlebars, I would go flying off of that thing. So knowing that balance is not something I was blessed with, I hang on tight and hope that if I do fly off, I won't take down the person next to me. After doing another mile on the eliptical, I decided I'd better get off since I no longer had feeling in my legs, which made the machine that much more perilous. Not wanting my upper body to be jealous of the calisthenics I'd put my lower extremities through, I headed on over to the weight machines. After much lifting, burning-ouch!, pulling, burning-ouch!, pushing, burning-ouch!, and crunching until I felt I had rid myself of at least one of the tires around my midsection, I called it quits and left the gym, head held high and sure that I was so much thinner than I was when I entered those doors.

Those feelings of thinness came crashing down later that afternoon as I was getting dressed to go to a Mom's Night Out event with my MOPS group. Earlier in the day I started feeling a little crampy and I realized that "Mildred" was coming for visit very soon. As the afternoon went on, I kept getting more and more bloated until I looked like I was at least in the seventh month of a pregnancy. (Scary!!) So every outfit I put on didn't fit right and made me look blimpish. ~really ticked me off and put me in a foul mood. Finally after an hour or so of putting on and throwing off clothes, I conceded to wearing what I had originally planned and avoided any mirrors as I prepared to leave.

I don't know about you but during the first day of two of this "time of the month," I'm not right in the head! I'm just off a little bit, well more than usual. I'm scattered and can't seem to process things just right and don't even get me started about the emotions that come with it. So since I was 'not right in the head' last night, I left home headed for my much needed Mom's Night Out an hour too early. Lucky for me (and the friends I was about to meet up with), God was taking care of me by planning for me to leave that early. I realized as I was pulling out of the driveway that I was WAY too early and God told me quite plainly, "GET YOURSELF TO WAL-MART RIGHT NOW AND BUY SOME MIDOL AND A BOTTLE OF WATER AND TAKE THE DRUGS AS SOON AS YOU RE-ENTER YOUR CAR!" So of course, I obeyed. After about an hour, I was feeling more myself again. Although I still felt like a blimp in the clothes I had on but whatever! I ended up having a really good time and laughed so much I barely had any eye make-up left on when I got home.

As I'm writing this I'm still in my pajamas, hair wild and pulled up in a messy ponytail. There's nothin' better than loungin' around in your pj's all day when Mildred is visiting. However I have to get off here and get dressed as it is getting late and Nathan will be home soon. I convinced him that I needed a music player myself, like his ipod, to keep me motivated while I work out. Since I rarely stay motivated to work out for any lenght of time, and he's paid for us a gym membership, I think he's hoping it will do the trick! ;-) We'll see!
Have a great rest of the weekend!!

Happy Birthday to WAHHHHH!

2008-01-22T20:04:00.000-06:00

Emma's Third Birthday

Eating lunch at a Mexican restaurant...they sang to her and gave her this sombrero to wear as she ate her birthday dessert.

In my immediate family, aside from Nathan's birthday in October, we like to jam pack everything into two months rather than spreading out the celebrations throughout the year. In December we have Taylor's birthday, our wedding anniversary and of course Christmas. Then in January, we have my birthday and Emma's birthday. Come the end of January, we're pretty much partied out!

This past Sunday was Emma's third birthday. As you can see from the picture above, she enjoyed her "bowf-day wunch" very much! When we left church, Nathan and I asked her where she'd like to go for lunch today. We made a big deal about it being her choice and we could go wherever she liked...so long as it wasn't Chuck-e-Cheese's or Cici's! ...or McDonald's or (the list could go on and on!) ...but we made it feel like it was her choice no less. She wanted to have "ships and saw-sah"! Yum, yum! Looks like Mexican today! My favorite, I thought! We went to this little family owned Mexican place close by where she enjoyed a taco, beans and rice. She announced promptly after our waitress had seated us that it was her birthday. I'm pretty sure the entire restaurant heard what a special day it was due to her excitement which gave way to ear splitting volume in her words. Our waitress was wonderful. She was every bit as dramatic about it as Emma was and she played along with her quite well. It was an entertaining lunch. I took the above picture of her with my cell phone as I had forgotten or rather never even thought about bringing my camera along when we left home that morning. It was, after all, Sunday morning...I'm glad to get out of the house with myself, my Bible and both children completely dressed. It's a bonus if I remember anything else, such as Emma's bag containing a change of clothes, juice, goldfish and no telling what else that has fallen into the bottom of it! I've considered putting a note in the top of the bag, the kind that pops out like a pop-up book, that says "Enter at your own risk...no guarantees that you'll come out with your extremities still in tact!" But I digress...Anyway, she enjoyed herself and her lunch. When we came out of the restaurant, there were a flock of pigeons flying over head as we walked to the car. Emma spotted them right off and so she stops in the middle of the parking lot and starts in with this high pitched, shrill, ear piercing "Caahhhh, Caahhhh, Caahhhh" sound. -she's using her "crow" call to call to these birds! (~learned how to do that from her Papaw Donny & Uncle Tommy while we were home for Christmas...thanks so much for that one guys!) So then Taylor joins in calling at them. Here we are standing in this parking lot, and my sweetly dressed baby girls have now morphed into some kind of rednecked bird whisperers, completely oblivious to anything else going on around them, totally focused on these pigeons! I did the only thing I could at that point and said "Yaw girls, git yo lil' tails in this here car 'fore these people ship yo lil' hineys back to Arkinsaw!" Never a dull moment! ;-)

As I mentioned earlier, I also celebrated, uk hum, excuse me, mourned my birthday this month as well. I turned thirty...eeww!...this past Friday. It was not pleasant and I didn't enjoy it near as much as Emma did hers. I know...those of you thirty somethings, forty somethings and fifty somethings out there are going "Oh, please, make me puke!" But just indulge me this for a few minutes or the time it takes for you to read the rest of this...My actual birthday was not as bad as the day before. The day before all I could think about all day long was..."This is your last day in your twenties!" Waaahhhh "You're going to be OLD tomorrow!" Waaahhhh "You're gonna wake up gray, aching and falling apart tomorrow!" Waahhh Waaahhh Waaahhh! I teared up and started to cry on and off all day long. I just felt physically SICK! I was anxious and full of dread and just plain ticked off too. It wadn't pritty! Then the actual day came and I was surprisingly feeling -not better- but not as bad either. It was like, okay, it's here now, nothing you can do about it. ~like I could have in the first place! I did get to look forward to going out to dinner that night, just Nathan and I. We got a babysitter for the girls...they were ecstatic. We went to this cozy little Japanese restaurant, not the kind with the hibachi grill where they cook in front of you, this was a sit-at-your-own-table kind of place. We'd been once before and it was really good. We had sushi and teriyaki steak and chicken. Mmmmm it was so good. I'm salivating now just thinking about it! No, maybe that's just drool. Uh oh, is this the first episode of losing control of the bodily functions??...this is NOT a good sign! (ha!) Nathan has finally converted me into a sushi lover. Well, lover may be stretching it a bit, liker or enjoyer may be better terms. It's easier for me to enjoy it now since I saw Dr. Oz on Oprah say that it won't kill you...eating the raw fish and all. When they serve your meal at this place, they don't offer you utensils. Or at least not American utensils. Rather, they give you chop sticks. And no rubber band to bind the top ends together with either. You got two wooden sticks and you're on your own! All of you that know me very well know how just far my coordination and gracefulness extend. Not past the end of my nose. So it was quite a challenge for me to eat with those God forsaken shards of tree. After about a half hour of balancing one grain of fried rice to my mouth at a time and piercing the meat with the end of the stick while awkwardly lifting it to my mouth, I chunked the sticks and started digging in with my bare hands! ...just kidding. It wasn't quite THAT bad. After a few lessons from my cultured, whiz of a husband, I began to get it down well enough that I didn't shoot food onto other patrons. I didn't say I that I didn't shoot food across our own table though. I'm sure the sushi chefs (try saying that three times! I'm sure there is another name by which they go by, surely!) who were just beyond a small glass divider to my right enjoyed watching me juggle my rice. At any rate, we had a nice dinner and enjoyed ourselves. Afterward we went shopping for a little while till it was time to head back home. I found this jacket that was on sale that is too cute! ~don't know when I'll be able to wear it, since I live on the equator and it stays hot as you know the place. But it was on sale, and did I say it is so cute?! That trumps any rational reason not to buy it.

This birthday has brought about many troubling feelings and emotions. I've suddenly realized that I feel stuck in some weird, in-between rut and I'm not sure where I go from here. Behind me are the days that I was working, teaching, starting our family and getting my life going and now here I am at home, raising my girls and taking care of our household. Taylor has gone to school, Emma is in preschool and will be starting school in a couple of years and I'm not sure where that leaves me. I don't really want to go back to teaching and if I do decide to I'm going to have to take some classes and get re-certified to do so. I don't feel like that's what God is calling me to do. But at the same time, I don't know what it is I'm supposed to do next. I'm getting the itch to start working again, not that I'm not enjoying staying home and taking care of my family, I so am and feel truly blessed that I'm able to do it. I'm not ready to go back into a full time job right now, for sure! I want to still be able to be home when my kids are and take care of Emma here at home. But I'm ready to start pursuing something or getting something in the works for my future. I want to believe that it's God giving me this desire since never before would I have ever said I want to return to the work force. All my life, all I've ever wanted to do was stay at home and care for my family and my home; not the least bit interested in a career. So these sudden career-oriented feelings have caught me off guard. I love writing on this blog and I think I would love to write something more than just this but that is about as far as I can take it, as I have no knowledge whatsoever of how to write anything else or where to even start. I just know that when I sit down to blog, I don't have one single thought in my head as to what I'm going to say beforehand. It all just sort of flows out and turns into this 2 hour long discussion with myself, and of course you. So I don't know. I'm praying that God will reveal to me whatever it is that he wants me to do and that he'll give me a passion for it and dissolve any other interests that I have that are not his will. I know that I'm not going to be truly happy and find joy in my work unless it's what He has called me to do. I really want to look back later at this point in my life and see that this was not a desert I was standing in looking around trying to figure out which way to go but rather the on-ramp to a freeway with God holding my hand and taking me into the next exciting chapter of my life. Whew, that was deep. Lemme crawl back up here and wrap this up. Anyway, pray for me that I'll find what it is that I'm supposed to do and I'll be praying for you that you're where God would have you to be and you're reaping the blessings and the joy that comes from being in His will.

Smorgasbord of thoughts (for lack of a better title for this one...)

2008-01-15T18:42:00.000-06:00

This past week (since my last blog) has pretty much gone by in a blur. It seems like the older I get, the faster each day, week, year, decade...(Ahhhh)... goes by. Is it that way for you too? Sometimes I feel like I'm still in the past week trying to catch up and catch my breath and get myself to where I physically am in the next week. Like I'm a hamster running on a wheel, only my wheel is spinning faster and I'm not running at a matched pace...which means I'm tumbling over...and over...and over frantically kicking and flailing trying to get back up again. (Did you get that mental picture?) Since we've gotten back home from being away for Christmas, I've still not been able to get myself reorganized and back into my groove. For whatever reason, it sure is taking me a long time this time. I always have a hard time coming back to my home after being at my real home...did all those "homes" make sense?? Anyway...it usually takes me only a day or so and then I'm fine again, wrapped back up into my life here not having much time to be homesick for AR. However this time, I wasn't ready to come back down here, and to ice that cake, the temp. here has been 80 degrees every stinkin' day! There's something terribly not right about 80 degrees in January! Do you agree? Most people here, though, think its just great. That's the reason many of them are here (snowbirds as we call them-here for the winter, back up north for the summer). Having only two weeks to wear my cute sweaters and my cute jacket were not near enough. I think that has been part of my problem; a clothing issue. (Totally ridiculous, I know...only another "clothes lover" would understand.) Today though, my sun has shown a little brighter. The high here was 60! Whoo-pee!!! I got to wear one of those new sweatsuits I was telling you about that I bought in Branson. Made me so happy. ;-) Ahhh, the little things...

Last week I started two new Bible studies at church. Yes, I said two! And yes, I do need that many! :) I go to one on Tuesday morning...we're studying "Bad Girls of the Bible and What You Can Learn From Them" and then the other one is on Wednesday night. It's a Beth Moore called "A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place". I normally wouldn't have chosen to take two at one time but I had already committed to going to the Tuesday morning class when I found out that the Beth Moore class was starting on Wednesday night. I can't pass up a Beth Moore study; they're always so awesome and I learn so much from her. At the class Wednesday night, I saw another lady there who is also from Arkansas. Warren actually...only 30 minutes from my home town. I met her and her husband last year. They hadn't lived here long then and they were just getting involved with our church. We were both floored and excited that we'd found each other and we were from the same area. It made me feel not quite so isolated down here, and it did for her as well. She and I were talking after class and she was wanting to know about our Christmas and if we'd gone back to AR. She and her family didn't get to go back this year but her parents came down here for week. I felt really sorry for her because she's having a hard time with being here and misses AR and her old house terribly. When she asked me how I was handling being here and if I felt that way, it actually made me feel better talking to her. I had been really homesick and just sort of down the past week, just as she has felt the entire time they've been here. Once I started talking with her about it and identifying with her feelings and hurts, I started telling her the good things that have come out of us being here and in encouraging her, I made myself feel better. Would you call that reverse psychology or maybe upside down psychology??? I don't know. But I told her how much being here has strengthened my marriage and how much we love our church and how immediately we'd plugged ourselves in to several ministries within the church and that we'd made many Christian friends who've become our extended family and it doesn't make it quite as hard anymore. In talking to her I started realizing how blessed we've been since moving here and how many opportunities we've had to do things and see things that we'd never have gotten to see or do otherwise. If I get nothing else out of being here, just the realization of all the things I used to take for granted alone will be enough. So I guess having a little pep talk with yourself (or through someone else) every once in a while is helpful to bring you out of your slums! Or it was for me anyway.

I started reading the books that my friend Courtney recommended...See "Must Reads" at right...I bought the first one, Twilight, Thursday night and since that night, I've been totally engulfed in them! I've read every spare moment I've had...stopping only to feed a mouth, wipe a behind, go through the bath-time routine, and sleep a few hours. I took the book to bed with me on Thursday night and naturally I got to a really good part and couldn't stop reading even though I had to prop my eyes open with toothpicks. I was so close to the end that I had to keep reading. When I was done I thought to myself, man, it's probably close to midnight, I've got to get to sleep. I rolled over to set the alarm and the clock read 2:30 AM!!!!! "Oh, crap" I thought..."I've got to be up in 4 hours!!!" But it was worth it. I'm now about half-way through the third novel. It's funny, reading is a new thing for me. Not that I COULDN'T read or didn't read well (((Deana-I know you were about to make a joke out of that!!)))) I'm a good reader but I had absolutely no desire at all to. I hated reading and thought it was a colossal waste of my time. Now, I love it. I'd rather be reading...especially Nicholas Sparks books, however I think now these Stephenie Meyer books have passed him up in my author race...than doing anything else. I've been surprised how fast I've been able to get through these thick books. Deana still tells her class of her teacher friend (me) who took a whole year to get through to get through one elementary level chapter book! -actually I think she's stretched it to three years now. And you know, it might have actually taken me three years to finish it, now that I think about it. Anyway, if you've not read these books by Stephenie Meyer, go get the first one and start reading it!!!! One little caution to you...don't judge the book based on what the back cover says, or where it's located in the book store or library. (Easy there, it IS PG rated!! That's not what I'm getting at!) I wish I could tell you more about the story line but anything I say about it will not do it justice. Just know that based on reading the back of the book, I would have never had any desire what so ever to read it~so ignore it. With that being said...go get the book!!! Book(S) rather! ~you'll need all three! Trust me, once you finish the first you'll not be able to wait to get the next one. Same thing after the second book...you'll want to start the third immediately. Unfortunately the fourth book in the sequel doesn't come out until this fall. So we'll have to wait a little longer for that one. Movie producers will begin production of Twilight, the movie, in February. I wasn't able to find a date of its expected release. Hopefully by the end of next year.

One funny story before I go...This afternoon Emma and I went to wal-mart on our weekly grocery shopping trip. I didn't get to the store till late and we had to nearly run down every isle grabbing what was on my list and chunking it into the cart. Naturally they had like three checkout lanes open and each one had ten people waiting to check out. Ugghh! So frustrating as I stood there checking my watch knowing that if that cashier didn't move a little faster I was going to be late picking up Taylor from school. So I'm quite agitated at this point, to say the least. As we're standing there at the back of the line, an older couple gets in line behind us. They made their annoyance at the lines known immediately and the "wife" kept trying to flag down employees as they passed asking them to open up the lane she was standing next to. It was amusing. The man was certainly from up north by his fast talking yankee accent and the woman was Hispanic with a heavy Spanish accent. Can you picture them? But that's not it. It wasn't long until they'd caught sight of Emma's big eyes staring at their aggressive behavior. I was standing at the front of the cart anxiously waiting my turn to load down the conveyor belt. This gave them plenty of room to move in closer to her and strike up a conversation, complementing her on her "beautiful eyes and curls." Normally whenever a stranger speaks to her, she ducks her head and either smiles or looks down. I have to make her speak a "hello" to people. Well, by the time we left the store she was calling them her "new friends". ha! She did her usual, dropped head reaction at first but they just kept talking to her and all of a sudden she lifted that head and started talking. Ten minutes later, she is STILL talking their ears off jumping from one subject to the next. She told them that her birthday was coming up on Sunday and that she's having a party with "aw of huh fwinds comeen." She asked them to come as well. She showed them the party invitations we'd picked up in the store and told them all about Dora, who was on them. Apparently they don't have any children around because they didn't know who Dora was. Anyway, I just knew that they HAD to be beginning to get annoyed at her constant jabbering but I couldn't seem to find a good time to cut in and cut her off. I was getting embarrassed at all she was talking about...nothing that was to be embarrassed about but nearly each story she told I had to clear up their confusion in some way, explaining further what she was talking about. The poor man kept saying in his fast accent..."What, What...What was that sweet haht?" Anyway, I thought she was finally winding down as I was almost done checking out and then I hear something come out of her mouth that just mortified me...she's still talking about Dora and she happily says "And Boots has a tail coming out of his butt!" I gasped and said "Emma!...Emma..." but she wasn't listening to me. The man was looking puzzled and confused at his wife (wondering if he really heard her right) and his wife says "Wat deed she sey?!" and he says (with his head cocked to the side, with a slightly confused but amused look on his face) "Iee think she said Boots...has a...tail...coming out... of his.....BUTT! Huh!" Emma noticed that they didn't think they heard her right so, of course, she ignored my scolds and confirms it by saying it again. They just laughed with their eyebrows raised and shaking their heads. I just covered my eyes with my free hand, and shook my head. I was beet red, I know. Luckily, the cashier handed me my receipt just then and I took off. All the while I'm practically running out of the store she's yelling at the top of her lungs "BYE! BYE! BYE!" I looked back to see them still laughing and waving goodbye to her. Oh well, at least she put them in a better mood and maybe made their time in line a little less aggravating. ~I don't know, though.

Back in the groove...

2008-01-08T19:14:00.000-06:00

We're back home now and beginning to get back into our daily "routine", (I like to fool myself into believing that our madness has some type of order to it so that it deserves to be called a routine.) We got back home on Saturday night. Our trip back down here was uneventful, thanks to Benadryl! ;-) Emma did much better coming back home than she did going up to AR. On the way up there she cried probably 13 of the 16 hours we were in the car. It was pure misery! That is, until I remembered that I had packed a survival kit of all types of goodies...cough medicine, benadryl, tylenol, motrin, benadryl itch stick-cause LORD help us if one of them has an itch! ha! ~Donna, you and Laura know exactly what I'm talking about! Anyway, once I remembered that I had benadryl, I yelled to Nathan over the whining and crying to "Pull over!" When I told him that I had benadryl in her bag that I could give her to help her calm down and get to sleep, he almost stared a hole through me. He was a little perturbed that we'd had to endure hours of endless crying before I remembered. In my defense though, I'd had a REALLY LONG day that day (Taylor's Christmas program and party that morning, packing, packing, packing, loading the car, etc...)and I've developed a "sanity saving mechanism" since becoming a stay at home mom that allows me to tune out pretty much anything! It's quite nice! I knew she was not sick or in pain and there was nothing I could do to make her happy (she wanted OUT of her seat!) so I just tuned her out and stared out the window in deep thought and relaxation. After we pulled to a stop on the side of the road, we both quickly agreed that she seemed to have the sniffles and her "allergies" must be bothering her. (I have to do that to justify to myself giving her medicine.) So for the next 3 hours, we had some peace finally.
We all had a good time while we were there. The time always seems to fly by way too soon and we never get to see everyone that we wanted to see or do all of the things that we want to do while there. You really start to miss and appreciate things that you've had all your life once they're taken away. Things you didn't really know to appreciate in the first place. (...like hills and trees and cold weather, in my case.) We started off with our Christmas celebrations the day we arrived. We got to Mom and Dad's that morning around 4:30 am. (Praise God for Nanas that will get up and occupy the grandgirls at that hour and let the parents go to bed.) That night we had Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. They do "Dirty Santa" instead of drawing names. It was fun, for some of us-(I got a Lampe Berget and Nathan got a tool set!!) However, I don't think my Mamaw "gets" the game and every year she gets a gift that she "can't use" or "doesn't want". We've tried to explain that that happens when you play dirty santa...you don't always get something you necessarily want. It was quite an ordeal. Several of us suggested that next year she should not play the game with us, we'll all just bring her a separate gift. Maybe that'll work out better. She usually tells us, though, that she'll put our name on the gifts we give her so that we'll get it back when she dies. Ha! In fact each one of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have things in her house that have our names on them. I have an early 1990's model stereo system that is a combination record player/tape player. It stands about 4 ft. tall and has a pair of 4 ft. speakers that go with it. 15 years ago, I was excited when she told me that it would be mine when she died. ~however it felt a little morbid and weird. God love her! Taylor gets a little weirded out some times when she starts telling her things that she can have when she dies. She doesn't know whether to be happy or sad about it so she just kinda looks at her confused like and says "okay." One time a couple of years ago, when we were pulling out of her driveway, Taylor asked me when Mamaw Ford was going to go see Jesus. I said "I don't know. Why are you asking me that?" She said "because she told me that she's ready to go see him." That started a whole discussion that I was not prepared for! Okay, off this rabbit trail and back to the subject...

Monday we had Christmas with Nathans parents and then later with his Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Nathan and I got a Nintendo Wii game system from his parents. It is so much fun! He and Taylor and I have had the best time with that thing! Taylor and Emma got lots of fun stuff too. "Lots" is quite the understatement there! At Nathan's Mamaw's house we draw names. My sister-in-law had my name and she gave me a monogrammed apron that is SO cute and a new cookbook (do you think she read my last blog before getting my gift? ha!) The cookbook is really interesting. It's by Jerry Seinfeld's wife, Jessica Seinfeld. It's called Deceptively Delicious and in it she shows you ways to fool your kids into eating vegetables by pureeing them and hiding them in different foods. I read the whole book before we left to come back home and in the car on our way home, I planned out our menu for this week using several of her recipes. Monday I went to the grocery store and then all afternoon long, I was roasting, steaming and pureeing all kinds of vegetables! ha! I pureed spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and carrots. While I was in there pureeing the vegetables so that I could hide them in her recipes, my girls were coming in there grabbing the raw broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and eating them. Several times I asked myself "Why are you doing this when obviously you don't have a problem getting them to eat vegetables! They're eating them raw without even dipping them in ranch dip!" But, I figured it couldn't hurt to add in more veggies to our diets. That night, I made her meatball soup that had sweet potato puree in the soup and meatballs ~it was really good! We all really liked it. I also made her brownie recipe that, get this, has pureed spinach and carrots in it! You don't know how hard it was for me to stir that bright green stinky pureed spinach into my chocolate brownie mixture! I was sure I was completely ruining a great thing. I felt like I was committing a terrible sin doing that to perfectly good chocolate! They baked up nicely and smelled good, much to my surprise. In her recipe she says to let them cool completely before serving so that the spinach taste will disappear completely. Now tell me who can NOT eat a nice warm brownie right out of the oven?! I certainly don't possess that kind of willpower! I decided to try a hot one and OMG was it good!! I was so surprised and impressed that I had to try a few more just to make sure they really were that good! ;-) I took one to Nathan to let him try. He'd passed through the kitchen several times while I was in my pureeing frenzy. He would just look at me with wide eyes, thinking I'd lost my mind. He did ask me what in the world I was doing to those vegetables! ha! When I brought him the brownie, he looked it over, smelled it and then asked "What'd you put in this?!" I refused to tell him what was in it until he tried it. Cautiously he took a bite. Said "Mmmm" and took another bite. Once I was sure that he liked it, I told him what it had in it. Then of course he turned up his nose and just said "Why?" I told him that it made me feel better when I ate half the pan in one sitting to know that it was "healthy!" ha!
Okay, back to Christmas...That night we left Nathan's grandparents and went back to my parent's house. The next morning, we all got up to find that santa had come. The girls were opening and strowing toys from one side of the room to the other. It was so much fun! Tommy & Lesley were there too. My kids wake them up and they sit there on the couch wide eyed and drowsy watching my girls tear through their gifts. I think there are lots of times when my girls make them feel grateful that they don't have children yet! ha! After we opened all the gifts and enjoyed Dad's annual Christmas breakfast, we got the Wii out and we all played it all day long. We all stayed in our pajamas till late that afternoon. It was nice!
The day after Christmas, Nathan and I went to Branson for a couple of days for our anniversary which was on the 19th. We had fun. It snowed on us on the way up there! It was so pretty! We shopped the whole time. I'm blessed to have a husband who loves to shop at outlet malls! He was so good too...I was shopping in several different shoe stores and he was helping me by holding my purse and bringing me shoes to try on that he thought I'd like. He never once got impatient, even after I had tried on nearly 10 different pairs of tennis shoes and then decided not to buy any of them! ha! You can surely tell how I feel about my body right now based on what clothing I bought for myself. I bought two knit jogging suits and 4 pairs of pajamas! The pajamas were on sale and were a great price or I wouldn't have bought that many...maybe. I wanted to buy more of them, you know, one for each day of the week but I stopped at 4 after seeing Nathan's expression when he saw I was carrying that many. He couldn't believe I was using my Christmas money to buy pajamas. That just blew him away. I explained what a bargain they were and showed him how cute they were (you know he was really won over by that one! ha) and that they'd last me 10 years, as that's about how old my others are. (Don't even go there with that mental picture! Trust me!) Before we left town coming home I wanted to ask him to take me back to old navy where I could pick up another couple of pair of them but I decided I may have to do that when we get home, by myself. (hee hee!) We didn't go to any shows or anything. We'd planned to go to a movie one night since doing that is a rare thing for us but Nathan got a phone call from a friend as we were arriving at the theater telling him that a guy he used to be good friends with had drowned while fishing at lake DeGray. After that neither of us felt like doing anything. We were so shocked and so saddened by the news. Aside from having Christmas with my Mom's family, the rest of our holiday vacation was pretty emotional. We had Christmas with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in Hope at my aunt Donna's house. It was a lot of fun, as always! Then on new years eve we attended the funeral. It was really sad. He had a wife, 4 year old daughter and 5 month old daughter. Nathan and I still can't believe that he's gone. He was so much fun to be around and was always joking and laughing. He'll truly be missed. That night we went out to eat with some friends and to a movie. We saw I Am Legend. If you've not seen it, DON'T GO! I HATE scary movies, for obvious reasons if you've been reading my blogs very long, and in this one, I had my jacket over my face and my ears plugged almost the entire time! It was awful!!! New years day we ate lunch at Nathan's parent's house with all of his family. We had all of the traditional foods that you have at new years. It was really good. Again, I ate way too much! The next day I was playing with the Wii and I figured out that it has a slot for you to put your sd card from your digital camera and it has a program that you can use to play around with and create slide shows with your pictures. Well, I was messin' with my camera and thought I was editing one picture and I deleted EVERY picture on my camera. It made me sick. I wanted to puke! I lost every picture from Taylor's Christmas program at school, all my Christmas pictures, Christmas morning, pictures from Branson and of the snow. Gone, all gone! I still can't think about it much or I just want to cry. Luckily Nathan's mom took some pictures of the girls opening presents at her house and then we have video of the girls waking up to their Santa presents. I am hoping that since it's a digital video camera, I can get some still pictures from it too. I'm not sure how to do it but I'm going to check my manual and see if it's possible.
We had one last Christmas celebration to do. It was with the Hartsells. Deana and I let our kids exchange gifts every year and then she and I do too. Remember those extra pajamas I wanted? Leave it to my best friend to come through for me! She got me the cutest pair of pajamas that came with pants AND shorts! -thinking of her FL friend there. Every year we get each other pajamas and a Christmas platter. We've done that since our first Christmas together. So in addition to my 5th pair of new pajamas, I got an adorable sectioned Christmas tray! It actually matches the tray she gave me last year perfectly! I could cater one heck of a Christmas party now with all my trays...and could do it in my pajamas too!

The girls have both started back to school. They were ready and excited to go back. Although my Christmas trees and decorations are still up, we're beginning to get things back to normal. I'm hoping to get my decorations down tomorrow. Maybe. I dread it. As much as I like decorating everything and putting my trees up, I detest taking it all down and packing it away again. Emma is still singing Christmas carols. She asks every time we get into the car for me to turn it to Christmas music. I tell her every time that the radio stations aren't playing it anymore because Christmas is over. Boy that makes her so mad when I say that. She yells, "No it isn't!! It's still cwistmas!" Today she was singing Silent Night. She's a lot like her daddy when it comes to singing the right lyrics. She just makes up words that sound like the right ones. Her version of Silent Night goes like this..."Siiii went ment night. Hoe wee ment night. Ahhh, Ahhh, Ahhh...Ahhh, Ahhh bwight. Hoe wee Isabel tenduh an my..." ha! It's hilarious to hear her sing it. I am going to try to get her to sing them on video and then I'll post them on you tube and put the link on here.

Well, I hope things in your life and home are returning to normal and your getting back into your "routine" now that the holidays are over. Good luck with your new year's resolutions, if you made any. Nathan and I joined a gym today. So we're taking the first step. Now if we can just stay motivated through the end of the month. That's usually about as long as it lasts! :)