You might need something besides a doctor...

As we were playing doctor today Caelen and I took turns having various ailments: she fell off a roof, I had the flu and hurt my leg. When it was her turn, I got up to change the music and came back to find her laying on the couch with her eyes closed. I thought, "Alright, we've got a blind one in need of some healing here." So I asked, "So what's the problem today?" and she replied, "I'm DEAD!"

Now Addie is having a turn being the doctor. She comes over with the stethescope and says, "I doctor," and as she places it on my tummy she says, "There you go!" and walks away. Then she brings another tool over and repeats. If it's a medicine container or the thermometer she asks, "Want some? Say Ah!" and puts it in my mouth. But then she came over with the reflex hammer stuck in her eye. Guess we're not quite sure on the use of that one. But she always says, "You're welcome!" before she leaves. (I just got a shot in my eye! LOL)



Caelen loves it and is so proud of her sister when Addison gets a new word. She often has a few per day. But yesterday Caelen couldn't remember what Addie's new word earlier that morning had been so she begins asking me, Grandma, and Addie all at once, "What was Addie's new word? Mom, what was Addie's new word? Addie, do you remember your new word?" No one could remember. So Caelen says, "Addison! Say your new word!!" and Addie proudly replies, "NEW WORD!"

While in Addison's room together I hear Caelen say, "Child, figure out how to do it yourself." And I've actually never said anything like that to them.... that I recall.

Umbrella, Muffins, & Mini Marshmallows

Sorry about the sideways picture, but when uploading straight from my camera I don't know how to flip it. Here's Addie's latest obsession - her umbrella. She inherited it from Caelen who got a new one for her birthday and offered her old one to Addie. She treasures this thing, but only when open. If it's closed she pitches a fit until she remedies the situation. This is Addison down for a nap with her beloved. She had just come from a car ride where she held it, partially opened, over her head the entire ride exclaiming, "I did it! I did it!" (And seriously, as I'm typing this blog Addison and her umbrella are climbing all over my legs.)

Here are my little bakers making blueberry muffins. I thought I'd occupy Addison with a spoon and a cupcake liner while her sister got the job done but Addie ended up filling 5 of the muffins!

And how sweet is this beautiful face as she roasts mini marshmallows over an open fire? It was totally all her idea and when I saw her hunched over the fire patiently roasting, I had to run and get my camera!

Addison has turned two with a vengeance and we still have a month until the official milestone. The tantrums and fits have begun, especially when I ask her to clean up her toys at Grandma's house before we head home for the day. When I took her Tabby (her blankie) away for disobeying, Caelen remarked (in a non-haughty manner), "Mom, you're the best mom ever. You always know the right discipline." I laughed (mostly in disbelief) and asked, "Do you think that even when I'm disciplining YOU?" She smiled and earnestly replied, "Yeah." And I believe her. Like my mother in law said, that's a girl who loves her some rules.

I'm learning with this pregnancy that I hate hate hate being out of commission. I can't handle it. The nausea was incapacitating and now the sciatic nerve pain has gotten to such an unbearable point that I can't walk without tears coming to my eyes or crying out in little yelps of pain, which is really embarrassing (luckily my kids don't pay me any mind and they're the ones around the most.) I've actually honestly never had pain as acutely unbearable as this. So here I lay on the couch, on my other side, with ice on my butt, in the middle of winter. Thomas had to come home early from work today which always makes me feel really bad. And my chiropractor can't see me until Tuesday morning. Until then, I don't know what I'll do. I sat up to change a diaper and almost began crying. I think my pride is hurt more than anything and I just need to get over it. I'll just have to rely on Thomas to get me water and chocolate from my secret stash for a couple days. The things we take for granted, like mobility....

All in a Day

Today while Thomas was trimming his beard before church Caelen was just watching him. Finally she said, "Daddy with that beard you look a lot less like a girl."

Then on the way to church when Caelen was asking what we're doing the day after tomorrow (she's always planning WAAAAAAAAAY ahead) Thomas told her that today has enough trouble of it's own. He said it in Thomas-ese though which is always harder to understand than the King James Bible. After a silent moment Caelen replied, "Daddy, you don't have to teach me everything, my friends teach me things too. I make my own decisions Daddy and you and Mommy don't have to teach me everything, my friends teach me too." I looked at Thomas and asked, "Wait, is she four or fourteen?"

Caelen and I had the priveledge of getting to see the Asante (Swahili for "Thank You") Children's Choir at church this evening. They're a group of orphaned Rawandan children who have been sponsored through African Mission Alliance and travel the globe to sing, dance, and share their testimony of God's faithfulness in their sweet lives. So it was very lively and loud and colorful. It was a ton of fun and of course I was teary just watching the joy these kids exuded.
Caelen had a blast, she loved their costumes and dancing, she kept commenting on how good they were and that she didn't know how to dance like that. At one point she said, "Mom, I have never seen kids like this before, they're all brown or black," which I thought was really funny because she's totally seen dark skin everyday, but I think a huge group of children dressed in their African clothes really made an impression. Then she noted, "Mom, they're really gonna have to pee after this."

Following the choir we had a going away dinner for some friends from church. We had it at the church so we just wandered over one building where Thomas and Addison met us since Addison was done with her nap. Poor baby girl was eating dinner at her seat and next thing the entire room knows, she's fallen, food and all, face first to the floor. When Thomas lifted her up her lip was bleeding. Now she's got a fat, red lower lip, but the tears stopped when she saw the cupcake I had been saving for her. After two of those puppies she was running around the room smiling again.

Big changes for little girls

Converted Addison's crib into a toddler bed today ::sniff:: When did my baby get to be, well, not a baby? I did it most to save my achin' back. I can't lower her down into her crib with this huge belly anymore, and after talking with my doctor about my chronic siatic nerve pain (I know, I feel lame even admitting to how gimpy I am) I decided it would be best to do as little of that kind of heavy lifting as possible.
The questions run through my mind: What will happen when she realizes she doesn't have to stay in bed?? What if she falls out? Will she be wandering the house in the middle of the night? Will bedtime become a battle? We'll see.....

Today Caelen and I were working on a money worksheet. She was learning the value of coins. There were pictures of a dime, nickel, penny & quarter on the page and she had to draw a line to the value written out 1 cent, 5, 10 & 25 cents. I asked her to tell me the numbers first so I pointed to 5 and she said, "Five cents", I pointed to the 10 and she said, "Ten cents", I pointed to the 25 and she said, "CHRISTMAS!" Evidently she stared at her advent calendar long and hard last month :)

Later we were working on finding hidden objects in her activity book. I was looking at the pictures, all beginning with "c" and said, "OK, so we need a cat, cake, carrot and chicken." She replys, "No Mom, that's a rooster." I said, "Oh is it? Well, it says 'Chicken'". She laughed sheepishly and said, "Oh sorry Mom, I can't read very well." Sweet child! She can't read at all, but she's learning!! I was laughing at how cute that was.

We're making serious progess on the baby's room! The only things left in there are the computer stuff, my sewing table and photo albums. Thomas is bringing home some bins tonight and working on some shelving in the garage so hopefully tonight the photo albums will be out of there! Maybe some other things as well. I love home decorating anyway but when a baby is on the way I get really antsy!

On Dasher, on Dancer, on Woodrow & Vixen

Merry Christmas 3 days late!

My kids were so spoiled rotten as evidenced by the tree (this is the Christmas Eve tree, so not including Christmas morning and Christmas dinner with Thomas's family) and yet they still can't find anything to occupy themselves during the day. Well that's not entirely true, everything they want to do involves me: Pretty Pretty Princess, reading books, card games, puzzles... and if it doesn't involve me then they'll find a way to make it involve me. After playing with them all afternoon yesterday, Caelen was busy finding hidden objects in an activity book and Addison was coloring all over the cardboard playhouse so I thought, "Hmm... maybe I'll go to the bathroom to steal a couple minutes of privacy." Before I had been in there 30 seconds they were both in the bathroom staring at me. Lock the door, you say? I'd rather them calmly staring at me than banging on the door, screaming out my name, sticking little fingers under the door and asking why I shut them out.

Thomas came home and asked me how I was. I replied, "I have two midget shadows and a parasite but I'm alright."


But back to Christmas. Ever made reindeer food?? Reindeer like a combination of oatmeal or rolled oats and glitter. Pretty simple! Even a 20 month old can do it.
Then spread the food out where you expect the reindeer to land (I don't recommend the roof) and see what happens. Caelen spread it out all over the patio just before she headed to bed on Christmas Eve. Woodrow had glittery ears when he came to bed that night....

Pure bliss is your first Barbie

or finding out Santa left you just what you wanted: A Scooter! (with a special place for your Barbie to ride along)
All the present opening proved to be too much for Addison who ended up protesting by the 5th present. She didn't want to open a darn thing and she was so not impressed with the remote control My Little Pony Airplane Santa left for her. But she's taken great delight in all of her coloring books and any toy that has to do with Dora.

Thankfully my children are grateful. When Caelen opened her first gift on Christmas Eve morning (a tiny ornament with her name on it) she said it was the best present she could ask for. And Caelen is especially generous, usually wrapping up her possessions to give to her friends anytime she sees them. I often have to tell her that we won't be seeing that friend for a week or two but the gifts for that friend just keep piling up. As a parent you're always trying to balance out the materialism and entitled attitude that can develop without being a killjoy at the same time.
Christmas was a lot of fun, and if I thought there was a lot of pink this year, I haven't seen next Christmas with 3 baby girls!

My 3 Girls

Some of Addie's new sentences:
"I can't reach it" (Comes out "I can't teach it")
"Help me Mama" ("Help you mamas")
"Daddy, where are you?" (Daddy, are you?")
"I found it!" ("I find it!")
"Stop it!"
"Get down"

and everything exciting begins with "Look!" She says Caelen clear as a bell, now we just have to start calling Caelen by her name instead of "Sissy". Sissy was borne out of necessity since Addie couldn't say "Caelen" and couldn't refer to her until we gave her another word, hence Sissy. But now when she says Caelen it's so darn cute!

She's a non-stop chatterbox, jumping bean, wild child and she's full of joy. Unless she's pitching a fit over having to clean up. Someone please explain to me how a not-even-two year-old knows that cleaning up is repulsive. I have not been able to trick her into thinking it's fun, although that could be from watching her sister make a stink over it....

*************************

Caelen started in a about 5 this morning coughing with every breath. She'd actually been having coughing fits all night, for which I had gotten her juice and her humidifier with cough supressant vapors. Finally at 5:30 (tired of getting out of bed) I jostled Thomas and asked him to get Caelen a spoonful of honey and tell her to drink the juice I gave her. He says OK and promptly does absolutely nothing. So I push him again and ask (ever so sweetly) again. He says OK and just lays there. This time I get a bit louder, push him harder and say, "THOMAS can you get Caelen some honey?" to which he asks, "A pie plate?"

His daughter is apparently just as bleary minded when she has woken up because the conversation they went on to have in the kitchen was just as silly.

Daddy: I'm getting you honey and then it's back to bed.
Caelen: Huh?

Daddy: I'm getting you honey.

Caelen: Me?..... You?....

Daddy: Huh? I'm getting you honey.

Caelen: No thank you.

Daddy: Yes, you're going to have some honey and then drink your juice and go back to bed.

Caelen: OK

At least he didn't hand her a pie plate.

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I'm almost 23 weeks pregnant with only 16 left to go. Our newest sweetheart will be born on or around tax day when I'm 39 weeks. At least that's the plan! I saw her move from the outside for the first time a couple of weeks ago and Thomas felt her move about a week ago. Caelen was resting her head on my big round belly last night while we watched a movie. Whenever I laughed she said the baby was kicking her. I didn't argue too much ;)

I have come to terms with waking up nauseaous every morning (some mornings much better than others) and I still am "sick" about once a week. It will be amazing to wake up after the baby has been born and not feel ill.

I'm so ready to meet her. 16 weeks isn't too long right? That's what I'm trying to tell myself. I'm so ready. We've got a bassinet, clothes and everything else a newborn baby girl could need! Let's get this pregnancy over with :)

Tangled

I don't think taking your two precious daughters to the movies for the first time is something you should brave alone. Especially when you suspect that one of them will NOT be sitting through the whole movie. That's why God made aunties.

So we hit the first showing at the theater today. 11:00am. I knew if the girls had to wait any longer, we would all be going crazy, so I was definitely going with the earliest show. We arrived 15 minutes early and there was one other guy outside on his phone, all the box office windows were closed and the door I tried was locked. So, before my kids started to worry the place would never open we took a photo oppurtunity.
My face is crazy, I know. I just didn't know why the theater wasn't open and didn't know what to expect of the kids either.
Then I noticed a door slightly ajar so we marched into the theater and asked the first employee we saw where we could buy our tickets. This guy, who was probably fresh outta high school informed me, "We're not open." I sassily replied, "Well, your door is open. When does the box office open?" to which he checked his watch and said, "Uhhh, 3 minutes ago." "Sweet," I said as I headed back out the door to wait for another 18 year old to help us get our tickets.
After Icey and popcorn purchases we found our seats, with only two other kids with one of their parents sitting in the theater with us.
So about 10 minutes into the movie Addison spilled Caelen's Icey on her dress and then fussed until I took it off. She spent the rest of the movie in tights and cowgirl boots.

Caelen was riveted whether she really understood the movie or not. I wasn't worried about her, I knew she would enjoy herself. Addison sat maybe 50% of the time, the rest of it she spent running up and down the stairs yelling, "Hi Mom, Bye Mom." "Uh-oh Mom" etc. When we left she said "Buh-bye TV" and waved at the screen. She promptly melted down in a candy coma by the time we got to the car.
All in all, it was a great time! And a very cute movie.

Cheers!

Addie learned, almost as soon as she could talk, "Cheers!" Caelen as well. I've found that little ones like to point out when something is the same. It usually starts when they realize they and someone else both have a cup, hence, "Cheers!" It's kind of our way of saying, "Hey we're the same." It usually trickles over into other areas: if Caelen and Addie both have a baby doll they might bonk the doll's heads together and say "Cheers!" for example.
But I got the best "Cheers!" ever just about 15 minutes ago. Addie and I were laying on my bed and she was pretending to go to sleep, talking about the pillows, saying "Night night!" Then she said, "Mom, night night!" so I lay my head down just like her and closed my eyes. She lifted her head up with the biggest smile, head-butted me and said, "Cheers!"

Baby Girl & Caelen strikes again

So yes, it's baby girl 3 on the way! Don't ask for a name, we're completely confused as to what to name her. But she's beautiful and long legged. She sucked her thumb and liked to kick my bladder during the ultrasound. We're so excited and Caelen decided (after a day of mourning the baby brother she wanted) that she will "love her new baby sister." Addison on the other hand has a fit if I hold any other child... so..... we'll just have to see.....

**************

Me: Your birthday is almost here! I can't believe you're gonna be four!!
Caelen: ...and you're gonna be 59!
Me: (laughing) No, thank you, I'm gonna be 29.
Caelen: How old are you now?
Me: 28
Caelen: (confused) How can you be 28? You're 59.

*************

Caelen had a rough morning Thanksgiving morning. I can't remember why, and I think it was only rough for her. So after getting all grumpy, and then calming down, we thought the drama was over. About 10 minutes later she says, "Guys, even though I have a happy face on my mouth, I'm still very upset!!" I said, "Don't worry Caelen, we wouldn't dare assume you were happy honey."

*************

We were leaving Auntie's house yesterday after Thomas had installed a door and some lights while Heather cut my hair (I love how that works out ;) and we stopped at the gas station to fill up. While Thomas was at the pump Addison kept talking about him and "asking" where he was. Finally, in a pleasant voice, Caelen responds, "Daddys filling up the car with gas!..... freakin kid...." I couldn't speak, I almost died laughing. If there was any chance I was going to tell her that wasn't kind, it flew right out the window immediately. I couldn't stop, and Caelen figured out pretty quickly that I was laughing at her so she started giggling uncontrollably and we all had a good laugh for about 5 minutes until I was able to ask her where she heard that, to which she responded, "Garfield Christmas." Still kills me.

So will it be "The Girls" or "The Kids" from now on?

Addie's had a language explosion and within a couple weeks it's totally changed how she relates to everyone. The "sentences" have begun, multiple words strung together to get her point across. She never fails to communicate (even to Caelen) what she wants. It's making life a lot easier. When I was gone at Women of Faith for literally 2 days, I came home and realized her enunciation was clearer.

She's a huge fan of Mickey Mouse and has named her Little People toy man "Diego". She calls her Dad "Thomas" sometimes. She held a short conversation with Thomas on the phone and he ended up laughing, probably because it was so cute. She's pretty easy going but definitely testing the limits now, and she can be quite the stinker when she thinks we're not looking, especially to her sister. Unfortunately Caelen ends up taking matters into her own hands and hurting Addie worse and then Caelen gets in trouble. I just wish she'd give me two seconds to take care of the problem. I'm a full time referee.

Caelen found out I was going to see Harry Potter with some girlfriends so she suggested I go see it with another one of my friends who I hadn't mentioned. I said, "Well baby, she's just not a big fan of Harry Potter," and Caelen replied, "Oh really? Who does she root for?"

Today Addie was looking out the car window at the rain pointing and shouting, "Water!" So we discussed that yes, rain was water. Then she looked intently out the window and said, "Fish!" I encouraged her that fish DO live in water but Caelen quickly pointed out that fish don't live in rain and she couldn't be seeing fish outside. A few minutes later, just to make her point, we drove past a truck with a fish on the back and Addie jumped at her oppurtunity and yelled, "FISH!!" She told us!

Today I walked into the living room to find Addison smearing a glue stick on her eye.

So today is Monday and on Wednesday at 2:25pm we have our big ultrasound!! First and foremost I really do just want to know that it's a healthy baby. The baby flutters around during the day but is either a) not nearly as active as my other two or b) not noticed as much because I'm so busy with my other two kids. Either way, peace of mind would be amazing. And then, of course, I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl. Adria's doctor told her she doesn't believe that the heart rate can tell you the sex since if they're active it'll be faster and if they're resting it'll be slower. So our baby's heart rate of 150 (which would be a girl) will just have to wait to be confirmed or not.

Beautiful Ballerinas

Life has been chaos. The kind where I make lists of all the things I have to do and then cry. Of course, maybe I cry because I'm pregnant, I'd like to blame it on that since I cry almost everyday now. I know a lot of it is I'm tired, I'm pregnant, but it seems like whether for joy or sadness there just seems to be a lot of reasons to cry.

The brightest spot in my day has been my children! (believe it or not). God has granted me some enjoyment of them that I haven't had with all the slogging through life & morning sickness lately. It's been so fun to tickle feet and raspberry bow-butts (bellybuttons). I figure if life is gonna totally overwhelm me, then I may as well forget it and go play with my kids. I sure as heck ain't ever gonna get it all done and find the time to enjoy them. Just gotta do it.

Addie is growing up fast and talking so much! Everything is, "Look! Cat!" or "Look! Color!" Whatever she sees or does she wants to share with us by shouting, "Look!" She tells us to watch her a lot too and we often have two beautiful girls shouting, "Watch me! Watch me!" at the same time.

Addie can also be a stinker and has her share of time outs, usually for abusing her sister which sends Caelen straight to tears. Caelen's so sensitive and Addie just pounds on her until someone grabs her and makes her stop. I can understand Addie's frustration and she has no words to say, "Leave me the heck alone sissy!" But when she pushed both Daniel and Austin over and made them cry in the space of two minutes I realized we're gonna have to start taking it seriously (and then we can laugh to ourselves later.)

Caelen is such a big girl that I can't believe she's not going to Kindergarten, like, next month. When she's not asking her daddy how the sun works or what energy is, she's telling God that the sunset He painted is, "just perfect Lord." She's a budding artist, and takes great joy in all kinds of artistic endevours. Painting, coloring, stickers, so I introduced her to collages. My mom used to give us all her old magazines and have us cut pictures out and paste them on an unfolded paper bag. Caelen has hers proudly displayed in her room now.

She also just finished a four week ballet class with Riley in which she ended up doing a lot better than I thought she would when she first started out. She can actually show you first position and other arm positions. She's great at following directions and just like her dear old mom would get so frustrated when others in class wouldn't do what the teacher said to do (at least that's what she told me after class).


As you can see, Caelen is tall. (Riley is 3 weeks older than Caelen for reference.) When Caelen introduces herself to someone new she says, "I'm Caelen Abigail and I'm as tall as my friend Ty." Which is an impressive but of information if you also happen to know that Ty is one year older than her. Her grandpa and uncle ARE over 6 ft so there's height in the family. We'll see.

He loves us both Mom

Every night I rock Addie in the rocking chair in her room in the dark as she lays against my chest and I rub her back and sing Jesus Loves Me. When it comes time to say, "Yes, Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me the Bible tells me so" I always substitute her name in place of "me". Yes Jesus loves Addie. And after I say her name (all the while her head is still on my chest) a little, quiet, very tired voice says, "Mommy." Not like a question, or an argument, just a small addition to the song.
Yes Jesus Loves Addie
Mommy
Yes Jesus Loves Addie
Mommy
Yes Jesus Loves Addie
Mommy
The Bible tells me so.

Baby #3

There's my baby! One of the best days of the whole pregnancy is when the ultrasound tech pulls a picture of your baby up on that screen for the first time. I always breath a sign of relief that it's actually in there and I'm not just fooling myself. The little heart was just pumping away and we could see the umbilical cord and everything. I'm always overcome with all my motherly instincts and fall instantly in love with my little bean.

Here's another little bean. She's swiped her big sister's roller skates and actually did amazingly well on them. Once she hit the hardwood I was helping her, of course. But on the carpet she moved around all by herself! I definitely trust Addie in the physical realm more than Caelen.
Daddy and Oldest sister picking out a name for the new baby. Caelen liked Arion for a boy because "it sounds like Ariel!"

I ordered Caelen a legit Backpack from Dora the Explorer complete with Map in the side pocket for her Halloween costume. She's going to be "Princess Dora" so there's not going to be any way to tell she's Dora unless she wears this backpack, otherwise she'll just look like a, well, princess. And that'll cause a whole lot of frustration for Caelen if I know her at all, hence the backpack!

But Backpack is Addison's most favorite part of Dora. If there's anything she likes better it might be Isa or Diego, but backpack and map are right up there, and I'm getting to be a smart mommy of two. No way am I ordering just one! So I got one for each of them. You have never seen two happier girls! They carry them everywhere and are pretty adorable. Backpack is almost as big as Addie so that's a pretty cute sight when she has it on her back. Now I'm just sticking Addie's diapers in hers and Caelen always has a fancy array of toys in hers.

I have a video of Addie chattering away about her backpack when she first inspects it upon arrival but this site won't let me upload it right now. Hopefully I can get it on here soon.

Another horrible day of morning sickness. Actually this one takes the cake for the worst so far. I was sick in the bathroom 4 times before lunch and was pretty convinced I wasn't keeping anything down. For fear of dehydration I called Thomas but he was unable to come to my aid even though I knew he desperately wanted to. Then Courtney offered to take my kids for the rest of the day so I could rest. While waiting for her, there's a knock at the door and it's Amy (we always call her Josh's Amy since we have so many Amy's in our lives!) and she's got a bag full of 4 types of Gatorade! I was so blown away! Then Courtney shows up 5 minutes later and takes my girls back to her house. I lay down on that couch and fell asleep for 3 hours. I have fabulous friends and am very blessed. But now I think I'll have to sign off. It's about 5:00pm which is not a good time for this "morning" sickness.....

When it's Worth It.

What's on my mind right now isn't the morning sickness, it's not the kids, it's not all the chores that I should be doing. No, as a matter of fact, none of those are on my mind because they're all gone for one glorious morning. Thomas took the children to Pastor Bern and Kat's house while he helped Bern with some electrical stuff and installing of ceiling fans. Kat was awesome and offered to watch the kids while the men worked so I could have a free morning. Seriously?! I couldn't have wanted anything more.
So I took my time this morning getting caught up on my study, cleaning my house to some of my favorite music and my morning sickness seems to have taken a hiatus for the time being. I feel almost normal. I feel relaxed, the opposite of stressed and excited. Who would have ever thought that my definition of a great morning would have been being by myself, cleaning my house and goofing off on the computer, but it is.

What's all this talk about morning sickness? Yes, it's true, I've done it to myself again. Those little creatures are always worth it even though they suck the life out of you for so long. All I have to do is look at my girls, or look at their baby pictures and I have no doubt in my mind that it's beyond worth all the vomiting, antacid pills, exhaustion and the chronically messy house with no food in the fridge.
My first ultrasound is Tuesday and I'll get my official due date but for now I'm saying that I'm 8 weeks along and due around April 20. That will probably change (though not by much) on Tuesday, so I'll update again later.
In the meantime while I can still tie my shoes and even wear my normal pants, I cannot sleep on my stomach anymore, can't get through a morning or evening without tossing my cookies, and absolutely can't keep my eyes open past 8:30pm. I'm subsisting on Ghardettos, Chex Mix, 7up, Snapple and breakfast burritos. Don't show me garlic, cucumbers, sandwiches, salads or anything I normally eat. I was totally embarrassed at Food Maxx yesterday when I realized my cart was full of chips, cookies, popsicles, and soda, and I could barely see a few fruits and vegetables at the bottom of the cart. I told the girls, "Enjoy it all now, as soon as Mommy's not pregnant, I'm not buying this stuff again!" Then I hoped no one would judge me as I loaded up the conveyor belt.

My biggest concern when I found out I was pregnant was how I was going to lead the discussion each Thursday for Breaking Free at the women's Bible study at Hessel. When I was asked if I would be interested in being a discussion leader (way back in May or so) I honestly informed everyone that that was really when we would like to try to get pregnant again and that I get incredibly sick. But at the same time, I knew that the Lord was asking me to do this, so I said yes.....then I got pregnant right on schedule. I also got sick right on schedule. But you know what? Graciously the hours of 9-12am haven't been bad and this week I felt pretty great during the discussion time. As soon as it was over I was popping chex mix like a mad woman, but how awesome is that?
So I'm learning the meaning of sacrificial service, of doing it when it's not convenient or it might cost me something. It's easy to serve when it's easy, when it doesn't cost us much. But how about when it's hard, when what we really feel like doing is laying on the couch with potato chips and watching movies while some imaginary nanny watches our kids? As I prayed about whether I was doing the right thing by continuing on in my commitment, I felt no permission to give up or turn the job over to someone else more equipped than myself. Now I'm seeing why. He had something great to teach me, something I've desperately needed to learn and am still grasping. I told Him it's hard, He understands, but He loves me too much to leave me the way I am: selfish and sometimes lazy. So watch out ladies, I'm coming with my chex mix and barf bag and we're gonna do this Breaking Free thing together! And afterward I pray none of us will be the same.

Buh-Bye Hair

My one and a half year old knows more words pertaining to Dora the Explorer than anything else. She knows a couple animal names, and common courtesy words like "thank you" and "please" but from Dora she knows: Backpack, Map, Dora, Diego, Isa, Tico and the best word of all - "Fo Fawdy" which has now become our household name for Swiper.

Addie also loves to look at the cieling with her head thrown back. I think it makes her dizzy. She always smiles about it and if she's somewhere safe (like on our bed) she'll then proceed to fall over and giggle. If you pick her up and she's in a playful mood, you better hang on because she'll throw herself backward and never come up again.

Caelen cut her hair off. Yes it's true. I closed my eyes for just about 2 minutes while on the couch and Thomas was changing his clothes from the work day when he comes out and I hear, "Daddy, look what I did." There was a huge pile of hair on the floor and she had taken the right side off right under her ear. There was a bit missing on the left as well. She said, "I wanted a hair thing like Grandma." Grandma Janet had shown her a lock of her hair she had kept and Caelen decided she wanted some too.

Thankfully I sent a photo text to my sister who was over in about 30 minutes to undo the damage. The result is an absolutely adorable bob with side swept bangs. I couldn't be too mad, I had kinda been wanting to do something with her hair but was afraid of her reaction. She, by the way, loves it.

New Camera!

I would like to officially welcome my new camera to the family. I know.... I just got a new camera... Christmas Eve morning to be precise. But I don't take care of my material possessions, either that or I'm a huge klutz (probably both) and I think the other camera got dropped one too many times. I knew when a little piece of bright orange plastic fell out when I opened it up that it was time to start saving for a new one. I was bound and determined not to go to Yellowstone without a new camera (I mean, seriously now) so here it is, or more like here's what it does.

These are some zinnias we have growing in our garden that are now adorning my parents' dining room table. There are colors in these pretties that you only see from Crayola. I, unfortunately, am no photographer and the picture doesn't do the vivid colors justice.

Addison Paige. How adorable you are.

Some of Addie's current words:

"A Guy" - Chicken

"Bee" - Bird

"A Pain" - Airplane

"Papa" - Grandpa

"Fluffy" - Cat

"Saw Wee" - Sorry

"Too" - Me Too

"Mo Me" - More Please

"Tattoo Baby" - Thank You (Baby)

"Gabby" - Garbage

"Poopy" - Diaper

Sissy

Binkie

Toy

OK

Yeah

Baby
Yucky

If she hears an airplane (and her ears are tuned in) she shouts it out and points to the sky. She says "Get Down" when she dances. And she follows directions really well now.

You know it's summer when you have watermelon faces.

Caelen decided she was MAD today in the car. I say "decided" because it truely comes out of left field. She screws up her face and talks all grumpily announcing that she's mad over and over. Finally after joking with her couldn't get her to stop and she began taking it out on her sister, I asked her why she was so mad. She said, Because Jesus was taking so long to come back, and she just wanted some love from Jesus. I said, I did too and happily we have His Spirit in us. She said she didn't care about having the Spirit she wanted some love from Jeeeeeesuuuuuusssss. So I told her she needed to talk to Jesus about it then and quit taking it out on her sister.

Coloring for Jesus!

This morning Caelen was coloring a page out of her Princess coloring book "for the Lord," she said. It was a picture of Cinderella all dressed up in her wedding gown, I couldn't help but think that was absolutely an appropriate picture to give the Bridegroom Christ! ;) Anyway, she wrote "Lord Jesus" on the picture, opened the slider and said, "OK Lord, here it comes!" and threw the picture out the door. She shouted a little Hallelujah and closed the door.
I can't make this stuff up.

Addie Talks and Takes a Time Out

Addie says, "Thank you Baby" everytime she says thank you. I noticed it today when Caelen handed her her tabby blanket and Addie clearly said, "Thank you Baby!" She's said it alot today to other people and I realized that everytime Caelen thanks her sister she sweetly says, "Thank you Baby." Just copying big sister!


Today Addison had a short conversation with the bagger at the store. She said Hi and he said, "Hi, how are you?" and she said, "Good!" Pretty funny and unexpected.


Addison won't watch TV, never seems to be paying attention but she knows Dora. A few weeks ago she was saying, "Dory Dory Dory" over and over and I realized she was pointing to Caelen's Dora juice cup. She points her out everytime she sees her now. Go figure.
She also calls Grandpa "Papa". She saw a picture in her book of him and called him that. Now a week later she walks over to a picture of her Grandma and Grandpa and points to Grandpa and says, "Papa!" She's happy when she talks about him.

Addie had her first time out yesterday and actually ended up having another later in the day. I remember Caelen being a year and a half when I started her on time outs and she got it. I wasn't quite sure if Addison would understand, but she did. She was pitching a bratty fit and completely outta control so I took her and set her down in the entry way and told her not to move. She sat there happily (not sure about that part) talking to herself and holding her feet rocking around in the corner until I came and got her and said she could be done. Seemed to do the trick too.

In other discipline stories. Caelen has made a bad habit of coming out of bed with some excuse. So last night when she was refusing to go back to bed Thomas told her she would have to have a spanking if she didn't listen. Well she folded her arms, stared him down and didn't flinch as he counted to 3. So he sighed and walked over, administered some discipline and took her back to bed. She began crying that she needed love from her mom so I went in and lay down with her and we talked for a bit.
I told her it wasn't ok to disobey daddy like she had. And she said, "Yeah but I just wanted a swat before I went to bed." I confusedly asked, "You WANTED a swat??" "Yes" she replied. "Why?" I half-laughingly asked. She answered, "Because I just like the sound it makes."


"If you think you are seeing the same show all over again seven times a week, you're crazy. Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again" ~ Frederick Buechner

Prayer Time with Caelen

I have had this killer sinus infection for about a week now. Just when I thought it was on it's way out, it came back right above my eyes. As I lay on the couch with my warm rice sock over my head Caelen said, "Mommy, I'm sorry you have an owie. I'm gonna pray for you." And she bowed her little head with one hand on my knee and whispered, "Dear Jesus, Thank You....... ::whisper whisper whisper:::........ Hey-Man! Mommy, I prayed for your owie."



Caelen's prayer for our dinner tonight was: Dear Lord, thank You for this food and I didn't know that sometimes cracks have flowers in them! Hey-Man. (Apparently she had seen some cracks in the concrete out in the garden with some little flowers!)

In other Caelen Prayers: Caelen wants to be a million things when she grows up and they're all professions that help other people so I told I really loved her heart in that. She wants to be a mom, doctor, firefighter, soldier, and police girl. She asked me if she could be all those things and I've always said, "Of Course!" Well today I said, "Maybe we should pray that God show you what you should be." So she began whispering to Jesus about it. When she was done she announced, "God said I can be all those things!!"

8 is nice, but 35? You Go Guys!

I woke up to one of the sweetest sounds in life this morning; little Addison was calling, "Mommy? Mommy?" from her crib. Not distressed, just letting me know she was awake. She was wet from an overloaded diaper which was probably the reason she finally got desperate enough to call for me. She's usually satisfied to play quietly in her crib until someone hears her happy squeals and comes to say Good Morning.
Our routine goes on to me and her cuddling on the couch with our respective morning beverages. About 15-30 minutes later Caelen will open her door and Addison will begin happily saying, "Morning! Morning! Morning!" over and over until Caelen says, "Good Morning" and gives her a hug. Mornings are a sweet thing right now, it's nice to be in a good stage with the morning time instead of waking up to chaos like I have most of my parenting life.

Happy 35th Anniversary to my mom and dad! Seriously, I remember their 25th like it was just a couple years ago. We were in Maui and I had already graduated high school. We bought them a beautiful monogramed throw blanket that still rests on the back of their couch. This year I think I'll send some goofy card I ended up grabbing because the kids started screaming in the middle of Target and I had to just go with whatever was in my hand. Ah life.