Feels like home

We just got home from church and we had a great morning--our pastor comes and goes during the summer so when he is there it's always encouraging, helpful, etc. so that in itself was good. There have been some outstanding preachers already this summer and I love hearing other people but when he's back it feels like home. This was our first time to put Joy in the nursery and I fully expected to be called out and she made it through. We have kind of a bad reputation around the nursery (what is it about church that my kids don't like?!) so I had to gather my courage to go in to drop her off. The other kids did great today and didn't cry until we picked them up from their rooms. (what is it about picking them up that makes them cry?)

I ask you a lot of questions don't I?

Anyway.

I made one of our current favorites for dinner last night so I thought I'd share the recipe. Really, y'all, it's one of the easiest things to make. It's one of Robin Miller's recipes and if you want to try it click here.

Pretty, isn't it? I double the crepe part of the recipe and usually make dessert for the week out of them. I eat dessert all day long...Sean may eat it every other day. Last night I made banana crepes and tonight we'll eat strawberry ones. Just make some whipped cream and you can put pretty much anything in a crepe. Yum.
Miss Charlie took a big hit this weekend and you can see the bruise on her lip. Ouch. She fell onto a rock at the park by our house. She's so tough she cried pretty hard for about 2 minutes and that was it. I'd still be crying with that swollen lip!
Miss Joy is getting in a little groove the last two days. We'll take what we can get! She's close to laughing I think though I forget when they can actually laugh for real. You'd think I have those milestones memorized but you forget so quickly. I've learned a little more about her, what works and what doesn't...and yes sometimes what worked an hour ago doesn't work anymore but that's okay. It's a marathon, not a sprint, right?

Not that I participate in either kind of running. Just so we're clear. Happy Sunday!

Just in case you thought I was super mom

Not that anyone ever thought that I was...except maybe me?

The last two nights Joy has been a crazy girl. Not crazy like cute and it's crazy how much we love her. Crazy like did somebody trade babies when I wasn't looking and give me her younger self before we had her on reflux medicine. I'll give at least part of the blame to a growth spurt but the rest, I just don't know what it is.

You ask, this is your third child, right? This should no longer be a mystery. Things should be running smoothly at this point. I mean, she's just a baby how bad can it be? For the record if any of you ever asked me that last one I'd happily pack her things and send her with you.

Not really.

Only those of you I know in real life.

Imagine this.

Mother of three has a few good days and feels like she's got it all together. I can do this, she thinks. I will survive and so will they. We will all look back on this time and laugh one day, and maybe we'll even laugh a little now. We can do it!

New baby has issues and mother of three gets to her breaking point after a few days of constant whining from not only the baby but the other two kids. Insert extremely helpful family members who selflessly help mother of three for hours on end. Without pay. Feeling the pull of the rest of the world, mother of three leaves her house to run an errand or two while her mother (also a mother of three!) takes care of the kids.

MOT (mother of three, I'm getting sick of typing it,) goes to Costco to return a shirt that she bought on the fly that doesn't fit. She's been needing to return it for about a month so she figures it will suffice as the outing she craves. MOT drives to Costco and puts the car in park to gather her thoughts so she doesn't fall apart once she tastes the freedom of the outdoors. She gathers the shirt in her arms and opens her car door. Then she opens her purse to get the receipt for the shirt. Oops. MOT switched purses last night and didn't put receipt in the new purse.

MOT loses it. Suddenly life revolves around the receipt (or lack therof,) and she cries. All hope is lost. I can't do it anymore she thinks. I'm at the end of my rope. Maybe my mother will just keep them all day and I'll sit here in the car in the Costco parking lot and cry. Yes that'll be nice.

Can't you just see it? Haven't you done the same thing? Or something scarily similar?

Geez I hope so.

If I wasn't a counselor I'd go ask one for help clarifying just what my problem today was. But I know what happened. I am tired and so are the kids. I'm frustrated with Joy's lack of a schedule and realizing it's my fault she isn't on a good one yet. I'm human and a sin-filled mess.

I'm normal.

Since I'm fully qualified to talk myself through my little fit I did so and came home...to happy older children and a sleeping baby. Children thriving without me. Life going on without me. And I couldn't be happier about it.

I'm putting my big girl pants on and having a good afternoon. One filled with a few good friends and their kids keeping us company until my baby daddy comes home from work. He had a three day trip, one day home, then a four day trip that ends today. Our reunion will go something like this:

ME: welcome home honey!

HIM: thanks babe good to be home!

ME: I'm going out--maybe to Costco for a good cry I'll see you later!

HIM: what?

ME: (already out the door) uh huh...i love you!

HIM: what?

ME: in car (already running,) bye!

And he'll handle it. He'll take over and do what the kids need and he'll even play with them and get them all ready for bed and they'll just burst with excitement that he's home. I'll drive maybe around the block before I realize I miss the kids and for sure miss my husband and I'll come home a different person. Refreshed and thankful that this is my life. Weird how it all works, isn't it? Then tomorrow will be a new day.

Thank You, Lord, for new days. For giving me another chance at being a mom without yelling at me for how poorly I do it some days. I couldn't do this without You.

Good times in the bumbo

I think we'll shelve it for a while.

Really? I mean really?

Just a quick update: I survived my first day of all three kids by myself. I know I'll be judged for admitting it took me ten weeks to try it but y'all, I needed that long! Anyway, the head honcho came out this morning and found the leak. Guess what. It's nowhere near the hole that has swallowed my backyard.

Really? I mean really?

I just have to say really quick that America's Got Talent is on right now and Emmy just said, "I'd just cry if Simon said that to me." It broke my heart a little bit to tell her that wasn't Simon. She doesn't watch as much late night (to me 8:00 p.m. is late,) TV as we do. She's never seen American Idol OR America's Got Talent.

Really? I mean really?

Anyway.

The hole that those poor souls dug yesterday is a worthless hole that will cost us no telling what to fix and it'll cost the head honcho even more since those same poor souls have to come back tomorrow and fill it back in. Head honcho and his A team found the leak, capped it and turned our hot water back on! Can you feel me smiling?

Maybe it'll take a week for the actual plumbing repairs but I don't care...we have hot water, the kids are all asleep, and I just finished a strawberry Crystal Light slurpee from 7-11 without interruption.

NOW can you feel me smiling?

Night night.

Big News and Big Holes

Hey y'all guess what! This one has made it three nights in a row on her own! I did perform the pacifier assist, (as did Mom when she helped me) but no feedings and that means she's graduated from baby to big girl in my book. Gonna get her a fancy name tag and tell her to wear it with pride :) Big Girls sleep all night and have very happy mommas.
Nattie and Joy taking in the sights at Cath's house, where we invited ourselves to go for a swim. Cathy is one of Mom's oldest friends and her daughter Maggie is one of my oldest friends. Maggie and I used to play when we were Joy's age. See the bottle in the background? When my Dr. told me to switch to Dr. Brown's bottles I had no idea the difference they'd make. If your baby is gassy from taking in too much air while they eat, (isn't that every baby?) get these bottles. Now I highly recommend them and I wish I'd had them for Ty. Charlie didn't need them--she was so easy and calm all the time. About the milk: I'm still nursing or pumping but I'm having issues. What does one do when one is feeding every 3-4 hours during the day and then the baby doesn't eat from 10-6? I can't believe I'm typing that those are the hours she's going (!!!!!!) but it's kind of an actual problem because there is so much milk in the morning that she can't even eat. Engorged much? Yes much. Men, if you're there, I do apologize for where the conversation is headed. Move on to the end of the post for something manly/vaguely exciting to you.
Ty loves to swim. It's his first question every day..."Ty go to the pool?" And adding his new favorite thing: "Ty go to the pool right now!" He says "right now," all the time. I'm pretty sure it's because I say, "Ty, stop throwing a fit right now or..." fill in the blank. "Ty, stop whining right now or..." Funny how they repeat some things we wish they wouldn't! It's hilarious though, how he uses it.

Do you remember the pictures of Ty in the wheat field? Same field a few months later. Not quite so pretty anymore. I'm glad Sean took the pictures when he did!
Popeye and Joy hanging out. She looks pretty chunky in this picture, doesn't she? She's getting bigger by the minute and I'm loving it. And now we bring you to the not so pretty part of the weekend.

See this? It's supposed to be under my house. Instead, it's beside my house.

And this? This is the hole where it came from.

Yes yes I know you're jealous. Not everyone can have something like this in their backyard.

See how pretty all that hot water is dripping into the big massive hole? The guys came today to start digging and tomorrow the big guns are coming to find the actual leak. Thank God it is near the exterior wall and not in the dead center of the house. I have no idea how long we'll have the hot water turned off but I'm guessing that problem gets a whole lot worse the closer to the center you get. So far so good as far as leaving the floors intact...I'll keep you posted.

Literally.

My version of a vacation

The plumbers came yesterday to share the joy of slab work with us. When they got to our house we had hot water and leaky bricks. When they left we had a hole in the side of the house, no hot water, and a plan to dig trenches on Monday. In true form, I packed up the kids and (reluctantly) Max too and headed to Waxahachie.

I mean it's bad enough facing life without instant hot water but add three hot water-dependent children and you have a recipe for disaster. And many tears. To be fair the guys added a valve so I could turn the hot water on and off for each use. Two problems with this: valve is in the garage and no one trusts me to remember to turn it off. Which makes the leak worse by the minute. I'm sure you agree it's better for the health and well-being of all involved to add to Nattie's hot water consumption until Monday. Sean is flying this weekend so we'll get home just in time for him to unload my car :) love him. A lot. Pray for him as he anticipates many headaches and pain facing what is about to happen to our house. Thankfully they think it's mainly an exterior leak so maybe we don't have to pull up the wood floors. When I say "we," you know I mean I will be inside the house offering drinks and Popsicles to the people actually doing the work.

We have big plans to walk up and down the driveway today and maybe squeeze in a trip to Sonic/Target. Big times. I'm most excited about taking the kids to church on Sunday to the church where I grew up and where mom and dad still go. It's filled with the most fun, gracious, interesting people that I can't wait to catch up with. So many of them prayed for Joy (and all of my family!) so it's a joy to let them love on the kids.

I'll try to take pictures...you know how that goes.

Please pray for Pops (Sean's dad,) today. He has back surgery this morning and we hope the pain he has been in is coming to an end!

I'll be back up and running after the house mess is fixed. Until then, say hello to my girl of ten weeks who is thisclose to sleeping all night. I hope.



Have a great weekend!

The difference between men and women

I took this during church this past Sunday. Sean was sitting beside me holding Joy and she was fighting sleep because of the lights. He kept covering her up until she drifted off. He was really sweet to her. With his mission accomplished he leaned over to tell me something and I braced myself for a sweet comment about our third child. Want to know what he said?

"Luke, I am your father."