Kate's birthday

I took these at my niece Kate's first birthday party. Unfortunately we had to leave before the birthday girl woke up from her morning nap (such is life, right!) so I don't have a picture of her...I do have some of my big kids though! Mom was helping me last weekend so I took the liberty of only taking Ty and Charlie across the metroplex to the party and left Joy with her.

This would be a cool action shot if I was a real photographer.

You think Charlie was tired?

Ty making himself at home. Nice leg hike, don't you think? He's eating a Smarties sucker. Did y'all know that existed?? I didn't until the party and I've already started stockpiling them for emergencies in my diaper bag.
This would be Charlie's dream come true: a rolling cart to collect stuff in. Especially if there are this many balls available to drag around. Right after this picture she caught the back of her heel with it so she stopped but for a while she was my favorite bag I mean cart lady.

An affair to remember

We had the best time at Bonnie's wedding! It was sweet, Christ-centered, fun, and full of people that we love and hardly ever get to see. I'd be lying if I didn't mention that a big part of the fun was just getting to be with adults and laugh as loud as we wanted to without wondering if we'd wake up a little person with all of our fun we were having. I love my children but it does a momma good to be away. Especially when they are in the very best of hands while you're gone. Mom, Dad, and Emmy, thank you for keeping the rugrats so we could have a fun night out!

Bonnie and Mark during the father/daughter dance. He did part of the ceremony and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. He is a great daddy and is obviously very close to Bonnie. There were many sweet moments between them during the wedding.
Aside from the fact that I look 5 months pregnant in this picture, (why am I standing like that?)it is a cool one because this is Christian and when he was 7 I was his nanny. He is now 12 years old and almost as tall as I am! And Sean was particularly impressed with how iPhone savvy he is. He taught Sean all about some new applications and that's saying A LOT since Sean knows almost as much about the phone as the guys at the Apple store. That's the cake table behind us--I made sure we sat as close as possible to the bride's cake. I'm no fool.
Love her. This is Brandi, and you've heard about her before. She was the high school "youth girl," when I was the jr. high one and she's as wise, funny, gifted, and pretty as they come. This is the Brandi I was visiting when I found out I was pregnant. Her little girl that we were visiting way back then was the flower girl in Bonnie's wedding and Brandi was the matron of honor.
Casey, who took Brandi's job after her and worked with me, Carley (y'all all know her by now!), Bonnie, (prettiest bride EVER,) and me, only looking about 3 months pregnant.
Our first post-baby picture! Woohoo we did it Carley! I'm so glad you came with us to the wedding--it was fun to catch up without the babies taking our attention away from each other!
Priscilla, Mark, and me. I don't know if I've mentioned it but they are moving, (like now,) and we will all miss them terribly. Mark is the new president of Denver Seminary and so obviously they're moving to Colorado. Dern, I guess we'll have to visit.
Me and my man, minus the green tie I made him wear for the wedding...that we borrowed from my dad. Yes I made him match--and made him wear a long sleeved shirt in the Africa heat that we have been blessed ?? with here already. He wears a uniform four days a week so this is one of the few times you'll see him dressed up. I love it when he does but I know it's a pain when you have to wear a suit/tie/uncomfortable uniform shirt. I know this because growing up the minute Dad walked in from the office he'd put on overalls or those horrible polyester coaching shorts. You Waxahachie girls will remember those days!

I flagged the pictures that I wanted Sean to send to my computer and somehow the one of Jake and Bonnie didn't get to it...I'll put it on as soon as he has the chance to send it! It was, after all, their wedding :)

Ty's car wash

Since this is my first video my secret is out: I'm a hick, born and raised in a small town in Texas. Well okay born in Dallas raised in a small town actually. Words like 'doin,' 'fixin,' and 'whatcha,' are normal and part of everyday speech. If you had a vision of me being all refined and well-spoken, sorry to burst your bubble.

Ty loves going through the car wash and since we can't go through it every day he came up with his own version. I directed him to get it on video yesterday but the boy started making laps around the plant a few days ago. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "Ty going to car wash..." He's a genius I tell you. A genius.

Ty's weekend of mourning

This weekend our friend Bonnie is getting married. We couldn't be more excited for her but Ty is losing his first girlfriend to another man. I haven't told him yet but I'm sure when I do he will cry.

His tears may or may not occur at the same time as a regular fit so it will be hard to tell how much of his heartache is for Bonnie.

See how much he loves her? He asks for her like he asks for Nattie/Popeye/Emmy/Mimi/Pops. The best part is that he has barely even been around her until very recently. If I had a million dollars I'd hire her to be my nanny for the rest of my life. Like I'd keep her around even after the kids graduate from college and everything. I'd let Jake (future hubby,) come too. I'm all for supporting her marriage :)

I met Bonnie when I first started going to my church when she was in high school. During her senior year we took a tap class together and I had more fun than you can imagine driving back and forth to the dance studio and making a fool of myself in front of her. It was one of my absolute favorite times in the last few years. Sadly I had to miss the recital at the end of the year--otherwise I'd certainly post pictures of the event to embarrass both of us. You can't have it all.

Another favorite memory of Bonnie is when I drove with her and her mom Priscilla to Denver to visit another friend of ours who I'd worked with at church. Brandi, a great friend and post-worthy girl all her own, had just had her first baby so we were going to meet miss Madren. We drove there and back in I think four days to visit the Pembertons and the day we left I took a pregnancy test and it was positive.

Master Ty in the making. Well in the baking.

Gonna leave that one alone.

Anyway.

I say that a whole lot don't I? Well it's like I'm talking to you so I probably say that a whole lot in conversation too.

Anyway.

See it fits.

I had not told Sean I was pregnant because I took the test early in the morning and he had already gone on a trip. I didn't want to tell him over the phone so I did what every respectable newly pregnant girl would do: I told Priscilla and Bonnie before I told my own husband. I couldn't stand having this huge secret! I had not even told my own mother because I didn't want to tell her over the phone either! It was like a fire hydrant gone wrong every time I opened my mouth that morning. Excitement just spewed out. I still feel bad I didn't tell Sean first. He doesn't care for the record. On our way back into Texas I called Sean and was so revved up I picked a fight with him and then we had to finish the fight before I could tell him I was pregnant. Oh the memories.

I got to share in this new phase with two precious friends, a mother and a daughter. Both of them are gems. Both are beautiful and godly and constants in my life. Both are some of the first people at the hospital when I have a new baby. Both are people that I wish you knew in real life so you could laugh like I do at/with them. Mostly with them. Both of them were at my wedding and their husband/daddy Mark was one of the poor souls who married us that fateful day in August nearly four years ago. In the little chapel where it was 96 degrees in the coolest corner of the building. Again, the memories.

Tomorrow night is one of her showers and then the wedding is on Sunday. It'll be a big night for us since Nattie and Popeye are coming to keep the kids ALLOFTHEM and we'll dress up and I'll maybe even blow dry my hair and put makeup on. Gasp. Won't that be fun??! Yes indeed it will.

I'd promise to take pictures but then I'd feel bad if I do something totally like myself and forget my camera. How 'bout I promise to try to remember my camera. That will have to do.

Happy weekend until we meet again...

Put Me Back In

I think I'm going to cry...

Whoever said this life was fun doesn't know what they're talking about. I have to cry to get anything done around here and there are other little people throwing stuff and making constant noise so even when I AM tired and want to sleep they keep me awake! Mom and Dad, put me back in that warm cozy place where I never got hungry or cold. Please. Thank you, Joy

Time to crack down

I had a feeling this would happen. There are few things these days that I can predict and be prepared for and I'm getting used to the new schedule--or lack thereof. I'm not a scheduled person so it's not too upsetting as long as you don't mess with my sleep. Um, don't you have a baby in the house you ask?

This is true. That's not the issue today though.

The issue is discipline. I've (we've) been disciplining master Ty since he was literally 9 months old--he would try something and we'd have to teach him where danger was and what things he was not allowed to play with. He has a bit of an edge to him and is pretty intense so his biggest battle is controlling his fits. Which he can. For those people who told me to walk away and let him have at it I have much to say: you people did not and do not know my boy. He may be edgy but he is extremely self-disciplined when he wants to be. And stubborn. When I did try the walking away thing around 18 months, he would simply extend his fit throughout every room in the house. Wherever I went he went and he just got louder and more upset. They say it takes the wind out of their sails...and his sails just got more and more filled by the second. So we found what works for us and stuck with it. We say, "No fit," and he knows if he keeps on he will get in trouble. 9 times out of 10 he stops. The other time when he escalates he gets a spanking. He gives us little trouble these days aside from yelling at his sister when she is being disobedient. Thank you big brother, future hall monitor.

Nice bridge into today's topic: disciplining Charlie.

Isn't she too cute to discipline? She's chewing on a medicine dropper she stole.

No she is not. She has been a peach all her life and now is starting to try her hand at fits and whining. Neither are going to fly if I can do anything about it.

What I'm working on right now is how to tackle the issues. She's a sweet one and loves to be touching you--I've thought through how this plays into what she throws fits about. Inevitably it's when she wants/needs to be held and I can't hold her. Insert new mom guilt. Her new sister has taken her place, she can't get what she needs, etc. I DO have those thoughts but I have to remind myself that God gave Joy to us and it wasn't an accident that she was born a short time after Charlie. He planned it that way. There are times when I have to hold or feed Joy.

What I'm trying to achieve in Charlie's case is just the ability to help her learn to control herself. In the meantime I'm trying to hold her more, let her sit in my lap while everyone is playing, (and when Joy is asleep,) so she knows she is loved and then when I do start really cracking the whip I mean cracking down on her it's a good balance. She's just so funny sometimes it's hard to keep at it. Yesterday she started whining then when I just looked at her shaking my head she started stomping her feet. I couldn't keep from laughing. The best part is that she'd concentrate on her feet and forget to cry/whine at the same time so she alternated. I gotta get this on film...

Edited to add what Emmy suggested: Sean can look at Charlie and she'll start crying. If she throws a fit and he looks sternly at her or God forbid says, "No," she falls apart. Nice.

Happy Father's Day Pops!

Pops,
This was our first business meeting at your office. We were talking about lots of important stuff like juice and golf if I remember correctly. You love golf as much as I do and I sure do have fun watching it with you. We say, "Is he gonna make it? Bye bye golf ball...he missed it...he did it!" You are so fun and I like it when you take me outside to play with golf balls and slide at your house. You are a wonderful grandfather and you taught my daddy how to be a daddy. You did a great job Pops and I love you! Love, Ty

Gene,
What Ty said is right: You taught Sean how to be a father and he is a magnificent one. He takes care of the kids and of me with such passion and he learned that from you. We are so grateful that we live close enough to come see y'all as often as we do so our kids really know you inside and out. Thank you for always helping me with the kids when I am there without Sean--you and Louraine have made it very easy and comfortable for me to come there when I need or want to. I am so thankful for the legacy that you have created for your family. You have taught Sean the importance of faith and serving in our church and doing our best with what God has given us. I couldn't have hand picked a better father-in-law! Love you, Mary

Why I'm Glad Sean is My Baby Daddy

He genuinely wants to know exactly what we did all day when he is on a trip

He talked about wanting kids from day one so I knew I wouldn't have to talk him into a family

He gets choked up every time we talk about one of the girls growing up and liking a boy

He also talks about guns every time we talk about one of the girls growing up and liking a boy

He takes whichever kid I'm having trouble with to give me a break

He tells me to leave the house for however long I want to while he is home

And never calls me to tell me to come home when I take him up on it

He tells each kid about 10 times a day that he loves them

He tells me even more times than that and he tells me that he's proud of the mother that I am

He never questions my "Mother knows best" moments

He loads all three kids up and goes to the park and I don't even load all three up to go to Sonic

He switches the car seats between cars however many times I ask him to without complaining

He is a ninja swaddler. Sean lingo--Ninja=the best at something.

He takes the sick ones to the doctor and takes the ones who need shots there too

He holds the kids down to get their shots so I don't have to

He got me a new blue tooth headset so I can still talk on the phone even though I only needed a new one because I washed mine in the washer

And he didn't get mad at me for doing so

And maybe this one is actually my third one since I lost one before the washer incident

He is a fantastic daddy and I'm so glad he is who he is and does what he does and is teaching them what he teaches and loves them wholeheartedly

Sean you are the rock of our family. We would all be lost without you. I love you!

Happy Father's Day Dad/Popeye/Jimbo

Dad, Popeye, Jimbo,

You are all three and you do all three well. You are and have always been the gentle daddy that most people only dream of: never lacking compassion and always pushing me to be MY best instead of THE best at something. As a Dad you have been excellent and my pastor says to not use that word lightly.

As Popeye you fill the role of iron claw, stroller pusher, and food sharer. You tickle the kids and now Ty says, "Iron Claw," when he wants you to tickle him. You have been in charge of the stroller and bags when we all go out numerous times. You share your beloved Fritos with the kids and with Emmy's help have taught them a deep love for said Fritos. It kills you to leave the kids when they are crying even when I tell you to leave them because they are putting themselves to sleep and they are fine. Many times we have come home from an outing after leaving you in charge to find you holding somebody because you couldn't stand to leave them upset. Even though I told you to. I know why you can't and that's okay. I'm sure you didn't leave us when we were babies and I don't know how you and mom survived without some kind of schedule for us. You are just much more patient than I am I guess.

Many refer to you as Jimbo and they say it with affection. You have served a distant father role to many many people and give sound advice to those who need you. You have earned awards and respect for your ability to help people resolve conflict. Many people look up to you and we who know you well see why.

Happy Father's Day Dad/Popeye/Jimbo. Sorry I didn't give you a real card.
Love,
Mur

Happy Birthday Aunt Emmy!

Hey guys it's Ty here. Momma is translating for me since I don't know how to type. I wanted to tell you it's my Aunt Emmy's Birthday today! Her named is pronounced "Immy," in case you were wondering. She's super fun.

She takes me cool places like Northpark to see the ducks and turtles. Sometimes when momma tells me we're seeing Emmy I say, "ducks, turtles?" and other times I say, "and Phoebe?" When Emmy comes to my house Phoebe comes too. That's her dog. Momma tells me Phoebe used to live with her and Daddy until I was born. Apparently she bites. She doesn't bite Aunt Emmy though--don't worry.
This night was SO FUN for momma and Emmy helped a lot with me as usual so momma could talk to her friends. Emmy teaches me everything I know and I'm always excited to hear her sing even though she doesn't have a great singing voice. She knows lots of cool songs and tells me I'll sing songs like those at school. Since she teaches at school I'm excited to see her every week once the Fall gets here. (She teaches at a real school so he won't see her every week, but don't tell him that. We are using her as motivation to get him excited about MDO)

Aunt Emmy is the greatest. I sure like sitting on her lap watching my movies when she is here. I think I'm her favorite person. And she is mine. Happy Birthday Emmy! We love you!

Wordless Wednesday

Help me Jesus...


Well ALMOST wordless Wednesday

Life in the circus

Last week Bonnie, (the bride whose wedding prompted me buying a new pretty dress--not the one I showed you but an even better one that I found for $30!! Remind me to show you a picture soon...) came over to play with us while I was home by myself with all of my children...thus making me NOT by myself with all my children. We played outside and when it was time to go up for naps we noticed Charlie was dragging a diaper behind her. You never know where wet diapers are these days--dirty dirty ones go right into the trash but wet ones--well--usually do too. I assumed I'd left one from that morning on the floor or something but once we got closer and Bonnie got the camera we realized it was Charlie's CURRENT diaper dragging the ground. Y'all it was the funniest thing I've seen in weeks.

I have no idea how it was still attached on the back. She was trying so hard to go up the stairs and being the mother I am I wouldn't help her until we got a good picture.
Ty has discovered bubbles. Bubble wands, bubble machines, you can't hide them from him. He kept dipping his head in the clean water bowl after he'd dipped his bubble wand thing in there but thankfully he never got bubbles in his eyes. Now that would have been fun.
Popeye has been holding Joy trying to soothe her the last few times he's seen her so she will stop crying. He has a really slow heartbeat and he can knock them out cold every time. See. She's getting chunky!
And here is Joy's hubby Cody. He's cute as a button and they've had a few dates already. Supervised of course. Carley and I are hoping they'll behave this well on all of their future dates.

Kind of a random group of pictures I know but that's life these days. I start to write something and a little person needs something so I come back later and think, "What was I going to write?What is this picture from? What's my name?" It might be like this for a while so I apologize in advance. On a huge positive note, Joy is settling down thanks to her meds. She has taken good naps every day (well the last two days,) sleeps between 3 1/2 and 5 hours at night, and is much easier to soothe during feedings. Praise the Lord! I had my 6 week dr. appt. today and got a clean bill of health so I won't be going to my OB's office for a year. I've been averaging once a month for the last three years so I'll miss everybody. If I had another wedding the nurses would all be in it I know them so well. Wow a whole year...Today I told my doctor he's in big trouble if I'm there before then :)

Good story for you: Yesterday Sean was up early and went out front to pull weeds. He left the door cracked so he could hear if anyone woke up so I could sleep in. Love him. Anyway Max was hovering by the front door wanting to go out. Before Sean could stop him Max pushed/pulled the door open with his snout and ran after a man on his bike. Like across the street. Not only did he knock the man off his bike--trying to play I'm sure--knocking the man onto the street, (man scraped his elbow and that was it thank God) a car swerving to miss the man hit Max. Of course Max is fine. He is like a bionic dog. Sean took him to the vet last night and there is nothing wrong with him. We're hoping the man on the bike doesn't sue us...and Max, well, I get so frustrated with him! That isn't news if you've known me for long. I have no doubt he will probably do the same thing again. Lord willing nobody will get hurt!

The feeding bell just went off. That's code for a baby is crying. Bye bye

Twirly

I think I'm pretty cute.

Momma does too.

I'd Say I'm Back

Remember me mentioning a new plan for this week's husband/daddy-less weekend? Well I punted a little early. For those of you like me who don't use football lingo in everyday conversation, that means I gave up and ran to my mother. Sean taught me that the phrase "I punted," can be applied to anything. Dinner=McDonalds...I punted. House a wreck=I punted. Called a babysitter=I punted. See, pretty applicable in a variety of situations.

The plan was for me to keep Joy here at home and Mom and Dad to keep the big kids at their house. It would give me the chance to really work with Joy to figure her out (ha! that will be years,) and Ty and Charlie a change of scenery without a crying baby to spoil their fun. See little miss Joy is precious and cuddly and cute but she's a screamer now thanks to a case of reflux that is nothing short of horrendous. Only her older brother had it worse so we have been down this road before...dreading every feeding because she will no doubt be in pain and let the world know. Bless her heart. Bless my heart. Bless all our hearts.

On Thursday we (me, Mom, Joy, Charlie, and Ty,) went to Charlie's 18 mo. checkup and since I missed her 15 mo. one she got 4 shots. Somehow I missed her checkup because I guess I was busy going to my own appts. for Joy?? Or just trying to keep my head screwed on straight?? Or a combination of the two maybe?? Poor Charlie took the pain well and got a good report: She weighs 31 pounds and is still above the 97th percentile for height so she's growing well. Rounder by the minute but as long as she's also growing taller it should even out someday soon.

While we were there...oh wait let me back up...

Wednesday, the day before the scheduled appt. for Charlie that I MYSELF SCHEDULED I called my doctors office to ask about Joy's meds. The nurse called back to talk through the options and she said, "Well, since you'll be here tomorrow for Charlotte why don't you bring Joy and have her (dr.) look at Joy too?"

"Um yeah sure. Since I'll be there tomorrow that will work. I had no idea I would be there tomorrow."

There is a reason I compare myself to a grasshopper.

While we were there one of the many tornadic events blew through the area so it was even more of a three ring circus than usual. By the time we all got into the office Mom was wet up to her waist and the kids had each individually had meltdowns. Ty was scared of the thunder, Charlie was out of her drink, and Joy was crying for whatever reason at the time. I think she needed to burp on the ride over so it hurt by the time we got there.

Anyway.

Dr. F increased Joy's reflux meds (thank you Prevacid...I owe you) and we found out she weighs 11 pounds now. We also found out her head isn't symmetrical because she favors laying on one side while she sleeps. If we can't help her even it out by 6 months she will have to wear a helmet to correct it so we are working on sleeping her on her right side. She doesn't like it. Stay tuned.

All this was to tell you how the new plan worked out. My 24 hour period with my third child, my miracle child I am so grateful for, consisted of me begging her to sleep but to no avail. It consisted of her grunting, eating, fussing, and just being awake every hour or so. By sunrise I was ready to punt. Ready to go to Waxahachie and have help with Joy. Ready to tend to the other two for awhile. And I'm so glad I did.

We are back home now, back to plan A. I'm not a type A person but plan A--it's working out well for us. Mom is here helping until Sean gets home and while it hasn't been smooth, (both Ty and Charlie have fallen and hit their heads on the wood floor since we've been here, AND Charlie has had a weird reaction to her shots) it's good to be home and keep working on things. Maybe soon Joy will astonish us with her pleasantness and sleep more than three hours at at time. You'll hear about it when it happens I'm sure!

Plans for the summer

We're gonna be taking some family bike rides. I'm thinking about getting Ty this bike that he claimed on a trip to Richardson Bike Mart. Doesn't he look cute?
Gonna be holding this one, feeding her and teaching her how to play and watching her grow. Some of you have e-mailed asking about Joy's health/tumor situation and our plan is to have the surgeon who would have done the surgery do a CT scan on her chest at 3 months old to see if there is anything there, (apparently sonograms can miss things so it's possible there is a little bit of the cysts there but it still could be totally gone,) so if he does see anything we will go back to him when she is 6 months old for another CT scan and surgery. Obviously we are hoping that the sonogram was accurate and there is nothing there but until the 3 month scan we aren't given a 100 % clean bill of health. Other than that, she is completely perfect. At least I think so.

"What'you talking about Willis?"

Of course my pictures are out of order. This one is from two weeks ago so she's a little chunkier now and she's stopped peeling. The lizard phase lasted a few weeks but now she's getting the really soft skin and I'm a little jealous of her complexion. Mine goes in and out of hormoneville.

As far as other plans for the summer? I told Sean yesterday I feel like we're coming out of survival mode, starting to think ahead about things and feeling just a teeny bit more confident.

Of course that backfires when you say it out loud. Remember the last few posts? I know that's what y'all were thinking.

We don't really have any big plans at all for the summer and I think I'm the only one in the family with a bike. Ha! The one Ty found is so cute though so we'll see. His birthday is in September and I do love to go on a good bike ride. Sean was actually at R Bike Mart to get tubes for the jogging stroller tires so at the very least we'll start going on walks soon. In a week I'm cleared for physical activity and I'm kinda excited about it!

If I'm MIA for a few days it's because we're trying out a new plan while Sean is gone on this trip and it might require more rest on my part. i.e. sleeping any chance I get instead of functioning in the world...just when I declared coming out of survival mode. I promise to have new pictures of Joy when I return!

Some funny moments

Ty counting Daddy's hats

Charlie brushing her teeth while cooking

I fear I'm seeing a pattern...

I'd love to tell you I learned my lesson(s) Saturday and yesterday went much much smoother. The problem with that is you'd probably see right through that and wonder why I wasn't honest. I'm into over-sharing so why wouldn't I recap today for you as well? I wouldn't? Oh yes I would.

Let's go in reverse order for fun.

I wrote most of this last night but got sidetracked and forgot to finish. Surprised? Me neither.

So in reverse order, let's talk about yesterday:

I'm pumping as I often do while writing and all three kids are asleep. Ty and Charlie for the night, (Lord-willing,) and Joy for the first of a few naps that lead into tomorrow morning. Looking at it like this really helps, I agree Michelle. You said it and you were right! Before bed there was the pudding/milk routine and before that was bath time. Normally bath time in our house is the height of happiness. Um not tonight. All three kids were crying. Hard ugly crying. Why? I tried asking them and didn't get any answers I could understand.

This is why the reverse order thing isn't ideal. There might have been a few reasons why Ty and Charlie were crying--they both fell and skinned knees/hands at Double Dip a few hours ago on my watch. Sean got home tonight (Woohoo! Welcome back to the party babe!) and met us at Double Dip with the Stevensons and the Balls. Emmy was with me and was helping a ton as usual...again, the backwards thing is tricky or maybe I'm just tired...so even thought the parent/child ratio was in our favor both of my kids ended up bleeding and needing to be held. Why doesn't God give us additional arms when we need them? Like if you hurt yourself or your kid needs you but you don't have a free hand, "Go go gadget arm." and Bam there you go.

God, just an idea. It would really cut down on my time asking You what in the world You are thinking giving me three children. I'm just saying.

While at the ice cream place we had fun but there WERE multiple bloody knees and the occasional panicked moment when we couldn't see everybody. Before Sean got there (he landed and met us there so he could see the kids before bed--awww) it was hairy. Once he got there it improved a little but to keep things interesting not only did Joy finish the bottle I brought for her, she had to nurse too bringing her grand total for one meal to like 4 1/2 ounces. ???? Maybe she smelled ice cream and was hungry? I had to borrow Carley's hooter hider. 

You know you're good friends when you can ask to borrow a hooter hider.

Thank you Carley.

The car ride to Double Dip was the first time in two weeks that Joy hasn't cried the entire time she is in her car seat. Victory! We don't know what we did differently but she was quiet for 99 % of the ride. What a difference that makes in the car mood! Leading up to the car ride was dinner, which consisted of Bagel Bites for the kids that they wouldn't eat. They always eat them ??? but we ended up making them chicken instead. It's not smart to take them anywhere without a good processed food meal in their bellies

Before dinner there was calm play time and naps. Ahhh now I remember why we went backwards. See how nice things are now that we started at the beginning? It leaves everybody in a nice place.

Here's hoping things start becoming a little less dramatic around here. 

If I Showed Pictures You'd All Get Sick

Let me give you a run-down of the day's events. I could not make this stuff up.

Joy had a good night so I was semi-well rested. Nattie and Popeye are here helping and Joy's medicine is helping already. Some of you asked what her symptoms are/how do I know it's reflux and not just fussiness. When she eats and burps she cries, arches her back, and refuses to finish a feeding. Big clues that it hurts to eat.

Okay on to the day. It's only like 1:00 right now so I hate to think what else could transpire.

This morning I heard Ty first. Usually he wakes up happy jumping in his crib. We can hear him loud and clear from downstairs so this morning when I heard him crying and not jumping I knew something was up. I got to his door and smelled it: The inevitable 'there is something really nasty on the other side of the door' smell. Me, well-rested confident mother of three, went in. The smell was almost too much but he was crying so I walked to his crib and saw that his intestines had exploded in and ON his bed. Not like the sheets, (those too,) but the actual crib had stuff on it. I used approximately 45 wipes to get him cleaned up and put him in the shower. Thank You Jesus my mom was here to get the stuff out of his bed and start cleaning it-I do better with the child than the cleanup...y'all, it was everywhere. His mattress is now ready for the trash man. Can't be saved from the remnants of the explosion.

Insert disclaimer:Sean is on a trip so what I'd normally say, "um I'm all done here...YOU do it," to, I had to do.

Anyway.

Crisis over. Except that the stuffed animals that normally reside in his bed are now sitting out for the trash man because they were also casualties, which made going to bed a little hard for him. Tears, protesting, now calm and asleep.

Not that I noticed because Charlie was crying so hard that I had to go to her room. In there I found her with both legs caught in the crib slats and so I spent the next few minutes pulling on her and asking her to quit fighting me so I could free her. At this moment she is running laps around her room after my failed attempt to calm her down enough for a nap. Mission so not accomplished.

Since the nap time events coincided with feeding Joy I had to hand her off to my dad so he could heat a bottle of milk to finish her feeding. As I handed her off she spewed on me. Nice. Changed shirts on my way back to Charlie's room after my first attempt to calm her down.

People, what am I gonna do when I'm by myself???? Right now we have a 1:1 ratio of adults to kids are we are hanging on by a thread!

What Do You Think?

Me as an infant, my Mom guesses 3 weeks old

Joy today, four weeks old

I'm thinking we could be related...

A Few Things I've Figured Out

*What used to seem hard or tiring, (ex: taking two toddlers to the grocery store,) seems like a breeze. Only because I'm used to tending to an unpredictable very small baby and these two suddenly seem completely predictable. Right down to the things they would maybe try to grab off the shelves and the amount of juice they will consume during the trip. Each kid finishes one whole cup between home and the store which is about 2 1/2 minutes from my house.

*Before having children, I went to CVS for things like mascara and nail polish. And maybe an occasional Diet Dr. Pepper if I was caught out in public without one. (Gasp) Want to know what I go to CVS for now?

About $150 dollars worth of meds for my three small children in one trip. Baby Joy has joined the ranks of reflux victims in my family...and Prevacid, while worth every penny, is--well--a whole lot of pennies.

I'm not really complaining for two reasons: One, I am so glad Joy is healthy otherwise. She is a gift and a miracle and we are so grateful for her. I have never enjoyed the itty bitty baby stage as I have with her because I know how blessed we are to have her. The other reason: I know I'll never do this again unless Dr. Greebon didn't complete his mission, which he always does. Anyway.

*Feeding, dressing, getting, and keeping three kids in the car can take upward of two hours. Even with two adults working on it.

*Getting and keeping three kids happy can take even longer.

*I need a video monitor. Otherwise I average 76 times up and down the stairs each day. Good for the baby weight, bad for the...well...not bad for anything I guess. I have gone from zero working out for the last three months of pregnancy to constant physical activity in the last two weeks. I'm tired.

*Getting up during the night is not as hard when you know it will not last forever. If you need a great resource to help teach your baby to sleep, go get our favorite book. It's called Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. It radically changed our household when Ty was about 6 months old. The book helped us get the kids on a good sleep schedule and they (big kids,) sleep an average of 13 hours/night consistently. They go to bed between 7 and 7:30 and sleep until 8. Glory. Now to clear something up: It doesn't guarantee your child will be happy every second but I guarantee if your kids sleep that long you certainly will be.

*Cooking things that can be used in different ways really helps during the mid-afternoon meltdowns. I made a roast with carrots and potatoes a few days ago, (my MIL recipe and it's super easy--Roast, one packet of Lipton onion soup, and one can of cream of mushroom soup, cooked for three hours at 350) so we ate it one night for dinner. The next day I used my meat grinder and made sandwiches out of the meat. Another recipe from Mimi, this one you just combine the ground meat, sweet relish, and Miracle Whip. It's like tuna for people who don't do tuna. We may or may not have eaten those sandwiches for two meals yesterday.

*One must not leave Charlie alone with babies. I have not done this at all and I'm pretty sure Joy owes me her life for it. I have become a bodyguard of sorts. Remember the book Of Mice and Men? You know how Lenny loved things TOO much and sometimes the things didn't survive? That's what we're dealing with.

*And my final observation: it is possible to eat, talk on the phone, discipline kids, read magazines, and blog all while pumping. It is impossible to do any of the above while nursing.

I lead a glamorous life and there's nowhere I'd rather be.

I like it I LOVE it

Well when I made a comment about how often I change my blog and mentioned two of my friends' names, (one real-life friend from church and one blogging friend) I really didn't expect one of them to make me a permanent one.

Even though I used the words, "until one of you gives my blog a makeover..."

I didn't think it would happen. They are both moms of little bitty kids and Lord knows I get how tired that makes a girl. But thanks to Heather, welcome to the new and mucho improved Grasshopper Momma. So glad you're here.

If you like what she did, go over to her blog and give her some kudos--or is it just 'give her kudos' I don't know. Just tell her how great she is. Her kids are 14 months apart too and just wait til you see them...super cute.

Because the Tribute to George Got Me Thinking

Did y'all watch the concert for George Strait? Oh it was so good...Looking back on the memory of...

The days of discomfort and concern for my little girl. Little did I know that the lack of sleep would pale in comparison to the worry for her health. A few days before D-Day (delivery day,)I went to Target with Sean and this is what I got in return for my plea for him to not make fun of me for riding the cart. I really didn't care about anything those last few days I was so uncomfortable. Um and to be honest this wasn't my first time to use it.

Oh and another memory with Carley. When we both started showing we decided to start taking belly pictures together. We set out to take one once a month then weekly near the end. I think we took a total of three the whole time. Way to go us. We were committed to documenting the whole thing then we both got too tired to follow through. Go check out pictures of her little man Cody on her blog. We look forward to being in-laws in the future.

In other news, Jennie found out she is having another boy! David will be such a great big brother...and husband to Charlie. Oh come on y'all do it too with your friends' children. Wouldn't it be nice to just eliminate the drama for your kids??? Ha!