So this is me teasing you...but in a nice way

While knee deep in the throes of potty training, I want to give y'all in the outside world something to get excited about! I recently learned about a great company and you know how I am about oversharing...I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

In this case, it'll actually benefit you to hear me out. You know how we're always looking for a one-stop-shop now that there are little people involved? A place to find all that you're looking for without actually going into a store wrangling 1 + toddlers? Well get your pencils out. I've found a store for you!

CSNBaby has my vote for new favorite website. Where can one person find everything from great sought-after toys to stylish diaper bags to crib bedding? If you're in the market for any of the above, head on over! Look around and see if you can guess what I'll be giving away in a few days. The company has more products than I can count so good luck figuring it out. Until we meet again, happy browsing!

Oh and an update on things here in the throes...yes it's a real word I double-checked.

Ty is doing great! He had 0 accidents yesterday and only one today...when his Daddy took him on a long walk around the neighborhood ??????????????? Anyway, he is so proud of himself and responds very well to the candy being thrown at him to "go" on the potty.

Charlie. Well, she's just trying so hard. Making little progress. She may be too young to get it so if today there's not any breakthrough then we may punt on getting her potty trained too. We don't want to traumatize her and this morning she resorted to sucking her thumb a whole lot (not normal,) so we are easing up a little and just watching her. It would be fantastic to get them both out of diapers but I'm hoping we are also being sensitive enough to "get it" ourselves...that she might not be ready.

Either way, it looks like Ty is soon going to be a full-time diaperless little boy. Diaperless is not a word.

Feel free to use "throes," but not "diaperless." You might get a dirty look from an English teacher.

Shoot you might get a dirty look using "throes" too.

Anyway.

Come back soon to join the giveaway party!

Day 2

She's now alternating between her own undergarments and those belonging to her brother. Yesterday she went through 14 pairs. Today she is still in the first one. Her brother has had one accident since yesterday morning at 9 am. We are in shock he's doing so well! More updates to come...

Potty Training: It takes a village

A day in the life of our backyard

Bringing it on and whatnot

These are my long lost older children.

Actually they are my long-ago small, now growing-so-big nieces and nephews with my firstborn right there in the middle. He was a little over a year old and couldn't have cared less about Halloween. We wrangled him up/down and put a lion costume on him anyway. I can't find a picture to show you but trust me it's adorable. At least we think so. No it's really adorable. I'm sure of it.

Thanks for the well-wishes and advice so far on the potty training. Keep the comments coming if you've got advice to share! It'll be lots of fun and a little bit nauseatingly horrible, if that's a possible scenario.

I'll surely tell you all about it. You're welcome.

The air is changing around here and pumpkins are out. I've started working out consistently (gasp), and I'm not ashamed to admit part of my go-to workout plan involves Tae Bo videos that I've had since college. Go ahead and laugh ladies but I lost 20 pounds in college when I did them consistently...well and I also cut what I ate in half around the same time...come to think of it maybe I should do that now too...anyway, my devotion to Tae Bo is so great that I'm not too timid to tell you about it. The man may be cheesy but I have to have someone yelling at me to get a workout done.

It takes me back to high school I guess. I can remember the first few practices, (of any sport-mine was tennis,) where you've been sitting on your rump all summer then suddenly you're supposed to snap back into shape. You'd give your right arm to just have a snow cone there during your workout because that's been getting you through the summer without melting. You, not the snow cone. Those still melt well into November around here.

Anyway.

You're running drills and are sweating a non-girly amount and your coach is standing over you yelling to finish whatever it is you have to do and you just want to punch him and go home. But you keep at it because when you're 16 you don't really have a choice but to listen to your coach if you want to play at all, right? Or you're truly interested in getting better at your sport. Whatever motivates you. I was definitely more of the "If I don't do it I won't get to play" type. No internal motivation here.

So I've been walking/running and doing my videos when I can't leave the house. While walking I'm listening to music and pretending there's someone behind me telling me to speed up. When I do the videos I have Billy telling me what to do. No internal motivation needed! I'm not seeing a difference yet but I know I will. My winter wardrobe will thank me.

On to more exciting things...

Jennie is getting very close to having David's little brother soon and we're so excited to meet him!

I've managed to complete my BSF lessons on time and last week since Sean was home to help me I actually showed up on time too. Thank you for the prayers/encouragement!

Joy has her first cold, (don't know how she caught that since Sean's had one for about a month AND we take her everywhere...it's a mystery really,) and has done okay with it. Not great but much better than master Ty does when he's got one. We took little miss to the Dr yesterday because she had a fever and runny nose and since I lean toward the hypochondriac side of life I thought she had swine flu, (of course I did,) but no sir she's just got a good old cold.

We are eating new meals so my desire to cook more hasn't gone away. Thanks to Carley, we have a new favorite salsa recipe. Sean asks me to make more about every three days once he's finished the old batch.

We've established what the kids will be for Halloween: Diego, Dora, and Boots. I'm no expert but I think they'll be the cutest little threesome ever. Ty's costume consists of real clothes plus a vest I found on Ebay. Charlie's is complete with a wig that I'm really hoping she'll wear and Joy's is a full costume that she's borrowing from her cousin who was Boots a few years ago. It'll be a great thing if they actually wear their costumes. We will, as usual, hope for the best.

and finally, I'm hosting a giveaway here soon so if you're planning a cruise or a trip somewhere exotic better make sure you can get on the internet there...you won't want to miss it!

You ready for the answer?

Welcome to the cooler weather, where candy corn is found in little nooks and crannies around the house. They serve a very specific purpose around here: bribery. So combining those,
with a watch set to the atomic clock so that we don't miss an important appointment...
and also throwing in some germ-fighting soap...now do you know what we're doing? So there's the candy corn, the watch, some antibacterial soap...

Any last guesses?

Okay here's your last hint. If you don't get it after this y'all aren't as smart as I thought.
If you guessed potty training Ty, you'd be right! Well, actually, you'd be wrong.

You see, because we thrive on impossible tasks around here, we're also potty training Charlie. At the same time.

Prayers and donations welcome.

Thanks for playing along and do share any potty training tips if you have them! We are starting on Monday so I have time to read through and apply your tricks. Keep 'em coming!

So you might have to take my word for it

See those little people on stage? Anyone who doesn't go to my church want to guess who they are?

I'll give you a few hints.

1. At least one of them, (I'm honestly not sure about the other one!) played many a concert in College Station.

2. They share a first name.

3. They Be Near(ed) us during church.

I'm not good at vague clues in case you're new around here. Yep, you're right! Shane and Shane had a concert this weekend and then also led worship on Sunday morning. Of all times I wish we had kept Ty in "big church," at least until they finished. I think he would love listening to them.

I've got exciting news to share soon so I'll give you a few hints about that as well:

1. I need another adult full-time to help with it so I'm working with Sean's not-working-next-week schedule to help me. And Nattie is coming too.

2. It will make life as we know it much different.

I work in 3's...so last one...

3. Candy corn is a major component in it.

Any guesses?

Tomorrow...I mean yesterday

Yesterday is right but tomorrow is more fitting.

Confused?

My niece is Annie. The red-headed orphan with a fiery spirit. In real life, Emily has brown hair. And she's not an orphan.

The fiery spirit part, though? Right on.

She was magnificent. Hit every note and every step perfectly! The show was so good it was worth the drive to Wichita Falls, (which was about two hours each way,) and as a bonus we ate great Mexican food. We went to the little farmers market on the square and picked up okra, oranges, and tomatoes. Did I tell you I started making fried okra? I haven't perfected it yet but when I do I'll share the recipe. Right now it's kinda good and kinda greasy, but mostly just greasy. Bear with me.

Oh and looking at these pictures it's not quite as big a mystery where Charlie gets her wild hair. I know y'all were thinking it.

It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful

So what if you're crying right along with your kids by the time the traffic breaks. You should still count it as a victory that you're OUT of your house.

Got covered in kid slime with your favorite shirt on despite your best attempts to look nice? You're past the "I don't care what I look like" phase. Good for you!

Everyone eating frozen pizza for dinner? You probably played more today instead of cooking and that's okay. In fact, playing is highly underrated.

Didn't get to writing thank-you notes until weeks after the kids' party? Add a thank-you for the recipient's grace and for the friendship they give you that's worth more than any gift. They will understand!

Got the Dora theme song running through your head at all hours of the night? Look at the bright side: you're watching it enough that your kids are probably bilingual.

Can't find your keys? Oh there they are in the play kitchen. At least the kids are figuring out how to tell you where they hide stuff. Progress is progress.

Aren't you bogged down with frustration sometimes? Set the frustration free! Compare your life to another moms' life and you're likely to feel better about your own. I mean at least it's YOUR OWN children you're dealing with. I don't know how preschool teachers do it!

Yesterday I picked Ty up from school in the pouring rain. From somewhere deep within the boring mommy came out in me and I got irritated that Ty kept jumping in the puddles. I mean, really, honey, let's just run to get out of the rain! He kept tugging. I kept frustrating. Yes I know it's not a word.

Stay with me.

As I was dealing with my inner battle I looked up to see another mom ahead of me. Jumping in every puddle with her son and having a great belly laugh with him.

Good for her.

Shame on me for being boring and missing the moment of dirty splashy fun! Luckily I had a little fun left in me and combining that with the realization that true fun with your kids is rarely planned, I got over it and followed her.

The mom I want to be.

So don't worry if things aren't clean or even remotely close. It doesn't have to be pretty. It doesn't have to be done. And thank God it doesn't have to be perfect.

It's becoming clear we've gotta get out more

It wasn't pretty but we did it

If you don't count the fact that I was last in my group to arrive, (35 minutes late,)

and the fact that the kids got into bed 45 minutes late,

and if we don't count our tardiness on both ends because neither was MY fault but the result of choosing I 35 for travel--something I know better than to do--

WE DID IT!

And now I'm tired and just want to go to bed.

Write more tomorrow?

Yes okay.

No laughing please

Want to update you on all I'm attempting right now. Well, not RIGHT NOW but at this time in my life. No laughter please. At least until I'm done.

*Cooking meals even when Sean is on a trip so I won't continue to eat South Beach pizzas and/or cupcakes left over from Ty's Birthday for every meal.

*Working out on the days he is home and getting back into fighting shape.

Even I laughed a little at that one.

*Waking up earlier than any of the kids so I can get dressed in real clothes every day. I'm really determined to do this one. And well I'm determined to do all of these but this one for sure.

*Only checking e-mail/blogs/facebook twice a day-morning and before bed. My computer is right in the middle of the room we are always in so I have tried to multitask and done a horrible job of it. Sometimes the clothes really do need to be folded fresh out of the dryer.

*Ironing at least once a week and on top of that doing a good job ironing instead of my quick once-over right before I/we need to wear something. Ironing is a little bit frustrating for me because the way I see it, it's going to get wrinkled in approximately 3 seconds around here with all the grabbing and pulling so what's the point?

I know there is a point so I'm gonna work on it. If you see me in public and I look wrinkled, you have permission to ask me if I ironed what I'm wearing. If I'm feeling particularly open to criticism I'll laugh it off and if I'm not I'll bring my ironing to your house. Just being honest.

*I'm starting BSF tomorrow for the first time. In a city 30 minutes away. And Ty is going to a little class too.

I've laughed a lot at this one. I'm hoping Jesus will help me out with getting all of us fed and clothed in time to make the 30 minute drive so I can drop the girls off and get there in time while dragging Ty to meet yet another new group of people--all before 9:15 a.m. I'm exhausted just typing what all has to happen tomorrow between the hours of 6:30 and 9:30.

*To answer your question: Why in the world would I start BSF at this stage in life for the first time and take on such a weighty Bible study knowing full well I can't form a sentence by the end of the day as it is?

That's a good question.

And I'm already in a Bible study that I LOVE. I did it last year and it's called Mom2Mom. We started last Friday and it was so fun. It's at our church so not only do we hear great teaching but I've gotten to meet many other women in my church.

So really, Mary, why?

Well it's simple: I think I'll need more Bible training than ever before to make it. God is faithful to give us what we need and I need better perspective most days! I always spent Wednesdays with Sean's parents anyway so while Ty and I go to BSF the girls will stay with Mimi. We all win.

Wish me luck. Or pray for it to all come together. The latter will be more helpful.

Thank you so much.

It's looking like we won't meet with Joy's surgeon until late this month. Oh I almost forgot-we went to the Dr yesterday for her 4 month checkup.

She is a hefty little thing, though lighter than her sister was at this age. She is off the charts in height and head circumference...a normal thing for my kids...but in the 85th percentile in weight. She weighs a little over 15 pounds. We are decreasing her Prevacid dose for the next few weeks and then weaning her if all goes well. Saying goodbye to Prevacid will be an emotional experience because I think we will have put the drug companys' kids and grandkids through school once all three of ours are done.

Really, Joy is thriving. She flips from tummy to back about 20 times a day, also known as naptimes. She can just about roll back to her tummy but often sleeps on her side. I've never had a kid that rolled this early so it created some issues but thankfully she's "getting it."

Whew this is a long one! See what happens when you limit yourself on the computer. Oversharing takes on a whole new meaning.

Here's hoping we greet you tomorrow with a success story!

Happy Birthday Ty

Don't you love this last picture? Mom captured his true feelings on a walk in front of her house and for the life of me I can't figure out why I didn't sent it as my Christmas card that first year. He was right around Joy's age and didn't enjoy life too much at that point. I'm not gonna lie: no one within a four mile radius did either.

Oh I kid.

Three years ago today he came into our world. Three years ago today I became a Momma. Three years ago today I felt my first moments of fear that something would happen to him. That I wouldn't be able to protect him, and that he might feel pain.

And he has caused me moments of sheer joy and sheer exhaustion. He has brought about waves of fear and satisfaction. Made every emotion humanly possible part of my everyday normal. He has changed everything about his daddy and me.

And we are so proud.

Happy 3rd Birthday munchkin, little man, master Ty, buddy, and big brother. We love you more than you know.

Happy Day Day to Ty

Because that's how his sister sings it...

Celebrating master Ty's birthday a little early. Wish me luck!

Update

It's been kind of a full day. Ty went to school and Sean took him so he could experience the drop-off sadness. Except there was none. Apparently Ty just waltzed right into class. I'm so relieved even though I'm just a tad jealous that he didn't give Daddy any drama.

We found out the results of Joy's CT scan and in the words of the nurse, there is still "a little something" in her left lung. We were hoping for an all-clear result but knew there was a possibility of something there so I'm choosing to focus on the positives. There are many!

Joy is alive.

She came out breathing completely on her own and functioned as a healthy newborn.

She has been a reminder of God's faithfulness to many people.

She has opened doors to share our faith in circles we would have never been in without her issues.

She has brought me true joy in my role as a momma.

She has given Charlie something to do. Charlie always looks after her "Bay."

Joy has grown well, hitting milestones on time which neither her brother nor her sister did. Ex: rolling over. Now I don't always look at it as a positive but it is a milestone!

We have grown as a couple as a result of the uncertainty that surrounded Joy's prognosis. I never doubted Sean's devotion and stability but both became sanity-savers for me.

We have a surgeon ready to talk through options and when faced with decisions we have full confidence that he will choose conservatively. He told us months ago that he will give her as much time as possible to grow and hope the cysts/tumor will go away before operating.

We live in a city where there are multiple hospitals equipped to handle whatever issues our family can come up with.

Our God heals and continues to perform miracles just like Joy every day. He is alive and well!

My greatest joy stems from knowing that He is fully aware of where we are and what's really going on. There is no point in lying or keeping stuff from Him. On days when we feel strong He rejoices with us and on days when fear and anxiety overwhelm us He sits right there and holds our hands. Like the song that has been played many times since Joy's story started to unfold, MY GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE!

The day I starved

Hey y'all this is Joy. I couldn't eat after 6 am today so they could look at my lungs. You would have all been so proud of me! I was starving but I kept my cool. For the most part.


Daddy held my paci in my mouth to make me think I was eating. I'm smarter than they think.


I had to lay still so they could see my lungs. Lucky for me I don't remember much after they put that mask on my face and told me to count backward from 20.


This was what they gave me when I woke up. Pedialyte instead of the real stuff and I was so hungry mommy didn't need to even hold the bottle-I had quite a grip on it!

Thanks for praying for me to be okay. I'm fine now, happy to see my brother and sister soon. They said we should know something about my lungs in two days.

Love Joy

The Jeans

These are the jeans. This is not my body in case you were confused. I tried to take pictures of myself in other jeans and then these to illustrate my point that they make you look two sizes smaller but my pictures weren't worth a hill of beans. I know you're not surprised. So look at how they look on a size 0 model and imagine yourself in them. If you're a size 0, I'm not sure I want to be your friend.

I actually have lots of size 0 friends.

Okay just a few.

Things like that don't matter but if you have any remote issue with jeans you will love these. Mama Em, they don't cost a zillion dollars but they are a pretty penny. Unless you're a bargain shopper like me and find them for less than half price. We use a cash budget and I've told you I get to use most of it because I have a husband that is less than interested in what he wears. This pair of jeans that I plan on wearing every single day this winter cost as much as a few pairs of cheap shoes. I'm not a shoe person. If you're a shoe person stop buying shoes for a while and you can buy these jeans.

On to the important stuff: where to do they sell them and how much do they cost? Well if you're really interested, here's the link.

So they sell them at Buckle but I bought them at Nordstrom in the teeny bopper section on the clearance rack. When KJ and I checked her Nordstrom in Houston they told me they didn't sell Big Star jeans and I must be confused about where I bought them in Dallas. Y'all, I'm not that senile yet.

You can also buy them from their website. I didn't link to it but just google Big Star denim. If I can do it Lord knows you can too.

More about my trip maybe tomorrow...I need to get to bed. Tomorrow is Joy's CT scan and Nattie and Popeye are keeping the big kids so Sean and I can both go to the hospital with her. Pray for her to stay calm and conserve her energy. She can't eat past 6 am and the scan is scheduled for noon. Pray for a restful night and for her little lungs to be clear. We believe they will be but this is something we knew we were facing once she was born. We aren't worried or afraid of what we will find but it will be a rough morning for Joy. And I'm sure for us as well.

To be honest I feel like a heel for talking about jeans and my daughter's health in the same post but such is life, right? One is clearly more important I'm counting on y'all to know that.

I'll update as soon as we know anything, which I'm guessing will be a few days. Thanks!

The road goes on forever

And the party never ends

The drive to Houston from Dallas is not a bad one, especially if you're a native Texan. And if you like alternating between old country and Latino music.

I counted how many Robert Earl Keen songs I heard on my combined 9 hours of driving and I got up to 17. It was fabulous. My favorite stretch of the trip was when I could hear Aggie 96, my old but still all-time favorite radio station. Memories flooded my mind and it was like putting on an old pair of jeans that still fit, which reminds me to tell y'all about the best pair of jeans ever. You thought I was all over the place before with my posts, a little vacation just makes it worse! They're in the washer now but I'll take a picture later on and show you--get your pencils out girls--these jeans make you look a good two sizes smaller than you really are.

You're welcome.

So the combination of good country music and good company made my trip just what I needed. We laughed at things that probably weren't that funny and there were moments that were definitely funny. The best moment, (in my opinion,) was when KJ's 8 months pregnant sister hit the dance floor shaking her baby stuff to "All The Single Ladies," where literally even the DJ couldn't stand up he was laughing so hard. Come to think of it maybe that's not funny to anyone else and clearly I needed a vacation.

I'll tell you more about my trip later and show you the jeans but until then, enjoy your Labor Day festivities!

As if the in-town vacation wasn't enough

It's official.

I'm admitting it.

I need a vacation from my life.

Me and my husband we need a wife.

Remember that song?

Without oversharing, (you real-life friends get to hear it all the time,) I've been really near the edge of insanity. The rolling over and waking up routine Joy had going for a while was exhausting. Thanks for the advice. I'm working with her. I love her. I do not love her tricks.

Well maybe I do a little bit. They are tricks after all. New developments, new discoveries, new ways of communicating. And she's so different from Charlie that it seems like she's the first baby all over again. I mean, it hasn't been that long since I did all this, right? Anybody with more than one kid will tell you, though, they can be as different as night and day.

For instance, when Ty needs attention he whines. He throws himself around like a sack of potatoes and thrashes around near you, but not really ON you. Charlie latches onto you like a leach. Arms and legs wrapped around you, laying her head on your shoulder, slight whine coming from somewhere down deep in there. She has no secrets that girl. You know you're wanted, needed rightthatminute or else the whining will increase.

Today when I picked Ty up from "school," it was clear he'd had a better day than last Thursday. I left the girls with Sarah so Charlie could finish napping and while taking them to and from is quite a good workout it isn't exactly preferable. You remember Sarah, right? From my birthday? She's the babysitter that lied to me to get me home and since she'd had to call me before when one of them was actually vomiting in the background I believed her when she told me it was happening again and I rushed home...now you remember? Okay anyway. So the girls were with her at home.

I walked into the hallway and saw Ty walking back toward his room from music. I ducked into an open room so I could watch him a little longer, knowing full well if he saw me I'd be toast. Once they got into their room I stood outside with another mom and watched him. He was having a good time. Watching the teacher, smiling, taking it all in. I had a moment where I thought I'd burst I loved him so much.

Then he saw me.

And his day was done.

He said, "Hey Mommy!" a big improvement over last weeks' sobs when he saw me. Then slowly but surely, his empty stomach and tired little body took over. Before long I was hoping someone would trade kids with me. I was really wanting his Daddy to take over but he is on a trip. Where was that sweet kid I watched a mere 30 minutes earlier?

Gone baby gone.

So my point is that I have been craving a little time out. A little vacation. Want to hear a cool story? As if this post isn't long enough already? Okay I'll make it short.

I decided to call my friend KJ, one of my college roommates. She got married in Destin about a year and a half ago and I used that as an excuse for a vacation then. She lives in Houston and I was recently made aware of the fact that her hubby is away on business so I thought I'd see if I could go see her. You know, invite myself down to Houston for a vacation.

Get this. When I sent her a text yesterday asking her what she had going on this weekend she sent this back: YOU COMING TO SEE ME? And I was all: YEAH THAT'S WHY I'M TEXTING YOU. And she was all: I INVITED YOU DUMMY I'M HAVING THE GIRLS OVER TO CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY. And I was all: I DIDN'T GET THE INVITATION BUT THAT SETTLES IT, I'M COMING.

An hour later we figured out that she sent an invitation to my old e-mail address and the invitation was for this weekend.

How weird is that? How perfect is that timing? It's as if God was making it all come together so I wouldn't fall off the deep end.

And so friends I'm stocking the fridge for my hubby whose response to my request for a girls night in Houston was, "Sure. Just make sure I have juice and diapers." Is that all he is worried about? Really? Not if Joy will cry in the car the whole way to wherever he's going or if a kid has a blowout or how to coordinate naps? Really? "Really, that's it?" I asked. "Yep," he said.

Man he is a keeper.

Returning to the newborn days of sleep deprivation

I'm not back in the swing yet. I keep thinking I've crossed a hurdle, hit a milestone, arrived. In many ways we have. We go to the park, we go to Sonic, and we go to church. That is it for now but I think it counts, don't you? Oh, and don't forget we go to school.

Which Ty still calls church.

This morning I asked him if he wanted to go to school, (hitting it a little early-he goes on Thursdays,) and he said, "No okay. No school. No church. Bye bye school. Bye bye church." Two steps forward, 43 steps back.

We have started having play dates. Remember Heather, who made this pretty blog for me? She brought her circus over to play with mine. It was a fun new tradition of chaos. Heather, hope y'all come back!
This is Tatum, Heather's second baby, who is coincidentally 14 months younger than her brother. Think we've got something in common other than the chaos. Or we have the same chaos. I knew I liked her when we met in the nursing mothers room many many months ago. I didn't get a good picture of her son Trevor because he didn't stand still for a combined three seconds the whole time he was here. And that was just fine. Her kids have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. My camera doesn't do them justice and my Lightroom-using husband wasn't around to help a sister out. Or a wife in this case.
Can you hear me smiling that it's not THIS HOT anymore. Praise God we've survived another summer. It's all downhill from here. I took this a few weeks ago and thought, "One day it won't be this hot and we'll all be outside, happy again..." and before I knew it the "one day" was here.

We scheduled Joy's CT scan to double-check her lung and it's on September 8th. We are hopeful the results will confirm what we learned back in May and it will be clear. It will be adios specialist visits unless you count the pulminologist we have to take Charlie to. Just mentioning that makes me a little squeamish about the fall illnesses. Dear Lord give me patience and a positive attitude about fall illnesses. I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to facing all three of the kids sick at one time. I mean, really, how am I going to do it? When Sean is on a trip? Really? I'm taking applications now for a nanny. I can't really pay anything.

Any takers?

Yeah I haven't had much luck yet finding one.

For a few months after Charlie was born, (but before I realized I was pregnant with Joy,) we talked about adoption in our future. The somewhat far future but still--Sean and I both talked about the possibility but our visions were a little different. He said there are so many older children who need a home and so many boys who need a dad to help them find their way. I agreed about the older children but threw in I was hoping for an older girl who may or may not have child-rearing skills. You know, she could really help out with the babies and all.

Oh I kid.

On to more realistic and important topics. Joy has started rolling over and waking herself up. She sleeps on her stomach and when she rolls over looks like a turtle on its back, arms and legs flailing (one of my ?? words--spell check likes it so maybe it's right?) It started four nights ago and has gotten progressively worse. First night she woke up twice. Last night she woke up 9 times. In a span of 10 hours.

Y'all know how good I am at little/no sleep and how whiny I get when I have a few nights in a row of broken sleep. I wonder where my kids get it? So here I go again asking for help. What has worked for you? What should I do? I went through sleep issues with Ty but he was older and could already roll both ways. Charlie just laid there on her back for hours without any training. God love her she was an easy baby.

What should I do? Right now after consulting a few relatives/baby experts I have been going in and flipping her back to her tummy and leaving. She goes right back to sleep. I haven't fed her during the night in a couple months and don't want to start again because I think it would confuse her. I've tried leaving her and she will cry for as long as I leave her, so that's not working either. She forgot how to sleep on her back! Any ideas?

A brand new appreciation for swings