Marshmallow Soup

Yesterday Josie asked me when it was going to be cold again, and I told her not for a while, since it's finally summer! She said, "But I want it to be cold again! When is it going to be cold enough for you to make me some marshmallow soup?" After some digging, I realized that she meant HOT CHOCOLATE. How cute is that?

Why Babies are Babied

You know how you always hear things like, "Well, she's the baby of the family..." and "She always gets what she wants because she's the BABY," and "She's the baby, she can do no wrong...." Well, I have figured out this phenomenon. It's not BECAUSE she's the baby... it's not because the parents LOVE the baby more. It's because by the time the baby comes around, the parents realize that their other kids have grown up WAY too fast and they just want the baby to STAY a baby for longer. I am loving Adelaide's 'babyness' so much right now that I want her to stay just like she is!

It Just Doesn't Pay

Today at church, Sadie came out of Sunday School and showed me her "boat," which was made of that green foam you put flower arrangements in, popsicle sticks with paper sails, and drawings of little stick people. She said, "We learned about Jonah. He disobeyed God and he was REAL stubborn and he got swallowed by a giant fish which is also a whale!" As I was admiring her project, I noticed that her boat only had 4 people on it. I said, "Who are these people? Is that one Jonah?" She said, "Oh no... that's you, and that's Daddy, and that one is me, and the other one is Adelaide." I said, "Where's Josie?" She answered, "Well, we had to throw Josie off the boat because she is stubborn like Jonah."

Just a-Cleaning

Yesterday we got the pool out from behind the shed and proceeded to clean it up. Well, I squirted dish soap in it, got out some rags, and squished some spiders, but Sadie and Josie carried buckets of water back and forth and had to climb in and scrub out all of the winter grime. I decided to make them do it themselves so they could see what it feels like to complete a "job well done!" I think it was worth it, because they were so proud and THRILLED to be able to play in their pool all day yesterday (including Adelaide, who climbed in and out, in and out, in and out). It's hard to not step in and do everything for them, since it would be so much quicker (and easier) for me to do it, but I know that's not very character building. I really don't want my children to feel "entitled;" to become people who think that the world owes them a living. I just can't stand people like that!

Adelaide is One!

I can't believe how fast this past year has flown by. I can't believe my sweet little Adelaidey-Who-Dee is already a whole year old. Let me just say that I have thoroughly enjoyed being home with her this year. I didn't have the opportunity to stay home when Sadie and Josie were this small, and I feel very blessed to be able to enjoy this time with Adelaide - well, with ALL of them. She is such a joy to me... I love seeing the little changes in her every day, the little things she learns, the new looks she comes up with, the new words she makes up (my favorite is "ticka-ticka-ticka," which sometimes morphs into "ducka-ducka-ducka." It's like she is really tasting the words almost... like she's rolling them around on her tongue and experimenting with them to see what might come out! She's so developmental! I love it. I love her sweet personality and how she's so jolly and chubby and CUTE. The definition of cute baby is what she is!

We had her birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa's house last Sunday afternoon, and we had a great time. We let her open presents first, then we had dinner (roasted turkey, yum!) and then the cake. Apparently, I let the elastic strap on her pointy birthday hat flick her on her chubby chin and so she was screaming while we sang to her and brought the cake over. It seemed all was lost and she was just going to have a tantrum, but I had the presence of mind to stick my finger in the cake icing and plop it in her mouth. The crying, shall we say, CEASED. She forgot whatever was bugging her and went straight for the cake... "Hmmm... let me poke my finger in here, and here, and oh, over here... and I will eat this, and that, and oh yes, this! Yummy! How much of this is Mommy going to let me have, anyway!? All of this? For me? I can't believe it! Joy of joys!" It was hilarious to watch her pick away at the cake, especially when she put one palm completely on top of the cake (to protect it from thieves, I guess) and continued sticking her finger in the other side and cramming it in her mouth. Thank goodness Aunt Cindy was there to give her a bath! It was not a one person job! She had icing in her ears days later, and you don't want to know about the poop issues... but I think it was worth it! :)

If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anysling at All

Sometimes I wish Josie would be quiet and not say "anysling!" But usually she succeeds in cracking me up. Once we think something is funny, then she hangs onto it and uses it FOREVER. There is no new material with this comic. If it works once, that's good enough for her. For example, "Yoy-yoy-yoy-yoy" is a goofy way that she likes to laugh... she does it every time, if she thinks anyone is listening. Another thing she says is "Ahwahmen, Ahwahmen" at the end of her prayers. Then she laughs and says, "Hahah! I said AhWAHmen." This does not ever get old for her. She also knows most of her shapes, but the pointy thing with 3 sides is forever going to be known as a "Trianganal." Just as Grandpa is now always going to be "Poor Old Grandpa," since he no longer has a minivan. :)

Sadie and Josie were playing outside and sharing a bag of Natural Cheetos (if you haven't tried these, try them! They are so much better than the fake flourescent orange ones!). Suddenly a fight broke out and I heard Sadie yell, "Well, I'm going in! And I'm taking the Cheetos with me!" Later when Adelaide broke one of her puzzles apart, Sadie said, "Hey! You know better than that! You're one!" She pretends that she's wearing a nightcap like Laura Ingalls, only Sadie's nightcap is usally her underwear. She scared me into thinking I had somehow created an anti-Semite the other day when I heard this from her room: "HAhah!! Now I'm going to get those Jews!" I walked in and looked around, wondering what the heck was going on and WHO she had heard this from! Then she explained that she was pretending to be Hamaan, and Josie was Queen Esther, saving the Jews from the evil Hamaan. Thank goodness!! I should've known she wasn't saying anything bad... after all, the other day she reminded me when I asked her if God makes good things AND bad things happen, or if He's only in control of the good things. She answered, "Well, Mommy, God turns the bad things INTO good things. From the mouths of babes.

Give one to me, sir!

Today we had a huge yard/garage sale, and Sadie and Josie ran their first business venture - a Lemonade/Cookie stand. Lemonade was $.25 and cookies were a steal at $.10... they made almost $15! They were great saleswomen... they would follow customers around and look up at them with big eyes and say, "Excuse me, ma'am, would you like some lemonade?" Who can resist that? Not many people, it turns out. They finished with a huge profit margin. The funny thing is, neither of them know how to make change yet, so they ended up with a LOT of tips. Some people thought they were so cute, they just gave money to promote "free enterprise." Josie got the cups ready, Sadie poured, then Sadie took most of the money (she also tried to swipe some of mine:) and Josie would say, "Thank you! Now you can give one to me, sir!" Once a lady said she had to go to the car to get a quarter and Josie said, "Oh, you don't have to do that - you can have one of mine to buy some lemonade with!" There were about a dozen people here and they all laughed at her because it was so sweet and cute. She ducked her head (I think she was a little embarassed) but I told her I was proud that she was so generous! Adelaide spent the morning eating raspberries in her high chair outside, surveying the landscape and yelling "Dad! Da Da DAD!"

Rats, Teeth, and Pig-Pickins

We left for NC on Wednesday last week and we got home around 2am on Monday morning. It was a short trip, but we had a lot of fun while we were there... the girls got to go to their very first pig-pickin (at Louis & Brenda's house) but Josie was mad that she didn't actually get to PICK the pig. I think she wanted to pick it out herself. Anyway, they got to hang out with their friends Kimmie, Noah, Dalton, and Hailey, eat a lot of BBQ, and swim in the most freezing water I've ever felt in my life. Then we went to my cousin Adam's Honey-Do shower and played with Cameron, Caleb, and Bayleigh. The girls stayed with Papaw and Mamaw while I went to Girls' Night at Melanie's new house, and they had a good old time feeding fish (carp in the Marina) their leftover grilled cheeses (Sadie said Papaw got grumpy when she tried to feed the fish her WHOLE sandwich... he said he didn't buy the sandwich for the fish - he bought it for her!), then Sadie held one of their renters' pet rats. Josie wouldn't touch it, but Sadie thinks she is Steve Irwin, so she thought it was fabulous. They also got to play with Lauren and Sydney, but the baby and I didn't get to go because she was crying for her bed. Josie got launched off the see-saw, landed on her head, and Papaw had to pick her up... later, she got launched off the wagon INTO the garage, but she just jumped up and said, "I'm Okay!" Like mother, like daughter, I guess. :) Adelaide learned to play peek-a-boo by putting her hand over both eyes at once... she was a teeny bit S-P-O-I-L-E-D to her mother, but we don't say that out loud. She didn't want anyone to hold her but Grammie and Amanda, but strangely, if she couldn't see me anywhere, she was fine. I think she's going to be a great actress some day. Talk about your over-reacting. Anyway, Great Grandma spoiled them as usual, but she wasn't feeling as well this time so we had to be careful with her! She was still traipsing around through the garden and bushes with them, though... nothing will keep her down when she wants to be up. The most interesting thing happened when I wasn't even around. Thomas, Elizabeth, and Josh came over to Grandma's to visit and Elizabeth asked Sadie if she could see her loose teeth (she had 2 that were ready to fall out, but she wouldn't let anyone near them). She talked to Sadie the whole time she was "inspecting" her teeth, and Sadie was answering all of her questions, and she didn't even notice when Elizabeth pulled not ONE, but BOTH of those loose teeth! Sadie didn't even know it! Amazing! Sadie said that from now on when she has a loose tooth, we have to go and visit Elizabeth. :)

Wrath of Grandma

Sunday we went over to Grandma Beth's for her birthday celebration. Josie decided to have some alone time outside on the little deck off the front walk (about a foot off the ground). She said, "I think I'll just go have myself a little snack at the red table out there," and out she went. A few minutes later, I heard a little voice call "Mommy!" very softly. I looked all around, and then movement from the window caught my eye. All I could see were Josie's feet sticking up in the air and an upside-down red chair tumbled on top of her. I raced outside to make sure she was okay, but when I got there and asked if she was hurt, all she said was, "Help Mommy... I'm squishing Grandma's flowers!" You have to know Grandma and her love of gardening, but apparently somewhere along the line Grandma put THE FEAR into Josie! Poor Josie. I had to laugh...it was like she was scared to even call for help (loudly, anyway) because horror of horrors! Grandma might come and catch her in the flowerbed!

I Think it was a Moose

Jesse found my "Lowe's List" in the floor of the van, but he wasn't interested in the list. What caught his attention was the "DIE" scrawled on the back of the list in giant 2 inch letters. Hmm. At first, I thought I was getting death threats (not those again! :) then we realized at the same time that the list was written on a piece of paper that Sadie had written her name on... the SA had just been torn off. Thank goodness for her distinctive "i"s...there is no space between the dot and the letter - she just sticks the dot right on top so they look like lollipops.

Yesterday on the way to school, we were talking about death (again). We heard about the Indians wearing loincloths on our Little House on the Prairie CD, and this sparked a long conversation. "What are loincloths? Why were they wearing them? Was Tarzan an Indian? Who else wore loincloths? Adam and Eve wore loincloths, but why did God kill animals to make them? Why didn't He just give them some clothes? (I thought this was incredibly insightful and a great opportunity to talk about blood sacrifice... had I not been talking to 2 preschoolers). And what kind of skin was it? Was it a moose? I think it was a moose. How did God kill those animals? I think He just zapped them." Josie asked when she was going to die, and I told them that maybe we'll be lucky enough to still be alive when Jesus comes back and then they won't ever have to die. Sadie said, "Hey, we would really have everlasting life! Just like John 3:16!" Then she proceeded to spout off the entire verse AND give me a lecture on the word perish, which means "to die, you know, like in Esther when she says 'if I perish, I perish.'" Sometimes I am seriously overwhelmed at what these children absorb. I pray that I keep giving them the right things to fill their little brains, because they are SO SMART and they remember EVERYTHING. It's such a responsibility.

Cuteness

Adelaide just seems to get cuter and chubbier by the minute. I've started calling her my little linebacker. :) I know that once she starts walking, some of the chubbiness will come off, but I don't want it to! I love how squishy and soft and yummy she is, with her poochy little belly and her jelly rolls on her legs. She is so cute that I can hardly stand it! Today she tried to climb into the bathtub - and she would've made it, too - but Sadie and Josie sounded the alarm just in time. She's pulling up on everything now, and she's practicing climbing up and down the stair into the kitchen...thank goodness we only have one step up there into the family room or I'd be a nervous wreck. Every day I am reminded of how wonderful and fleeting these baby days really are. I thank God that I'm able to be here for every minute of hers.

Sucker!

Josie's version of a classic:

"Get outta the way, Old Dan Tucker! You're too late to get your sucker!"

Sunday after church, Sadie said she was thirsty, but the only thing we had in the car was a bottle of blue Gatorade that Jesse brought with him. I passed it back to her so she could have a sip, but apparently the blue dye in it somehow reacted with her skin - she's had a Gatorade mustache for almost 4 days now. It's funny, though -it's so perfectly symmetrical that she kind of looks like Fred Flintstone or Homer Simpson with stubble. She's taken to talking with her hand over her upper lip when she thinks about it, because I can't stop giggling.

What'll it Bee?

Yesterday, Sadie went on a field trip with James and Aunt Becky to learn about baby animals and bees. Today, we wrote a story chronicling her trip. She learned quite a bit about milk, lambs, plowing, etc., but when we got to the "bee" portion of the story, I began to wonder if maybe the teacher was just making stuff up (or maybe Sadie was :)...

"We learned about bee pupa - eggs of bees. Beekeepers spray smoke on the bees so they will gobble up the honey fast so it won't get burned up and they'll get a tummyache." Interesting.

Safety Troll

The other night Josie asked me if I would read her "the book about Choke-a-pontas. I mean, Hocus-pontas. Um, Poca-chantas. You know, that Indian."

She has also decided that her role in the family is that of Chief Safety Officer. Her main job is to police who is or who is not wearing their seat belt in the car. One day I mentioned that she was the Safety Patrol; yesterday, she said, "Daddy! Put on your seat belt! I am the Safety Troll!"

Jesse taught Adelaide to nod her head on Saturday. I know that doesn't seem like a big accomplishment, but it is SO STINKING CUTE to watch her nod her little head in response to you nodding YOUR head. I'm loving it. She's also pulling up on everything and feeling all proud of herself for standing there, seeing the world from a whole new angle. I confess that I am not very encouraging at this point... I want her to stay a baby just a little bit longer. :)

Yesterday, we (and by we I mean Jesse, Sadie, and Josie while Adelaide and I watched) planted 4 trees in our front yard. Hooray! I love getting new trees, and these are the same kind that are at my Daddy's house in NC, so they make me feel at home, too. :) Anyway, Sadie is beginning to have what I always called a "smart mouth." She doesn't really understand what this means, though, and I have tried to explain in vain. I think she's too smart to NOT say "smart" things, but I don't think she really gets the connotation that it sends to people... she doesn't want to be "sassy," but sometimes she says things without really meaning for it to be sassy and it just IS! So back to the tree planting thing... she hit the tree with her shovel, and Jesse told her to stop because it was a baby tree and she might hurt it. He said, "Would you hit a baby with a shovel?" Later, as he was shoveling dirt back into the hole around the tree, Sadie looked at him and said, "Daddy, would you throw dirt on a baby?" Sigh. I'm in for it.

That's Just Ducky

Adelaide was having a very verbal moment the other day. Just when I got excited, though... well, look what happened.

Me: "Say duck."
Adelaide: "Uck."
Me: "Say Quack."
Adelaide: "Cack."
Me: "Say dog."
Adelaide: "og."
Me: "Say woof."
Adelaide: "uff."
Me: "Say cat."
Adelaide: "at."
Me: "Say Ma-Ma."
Adelaide: "Cack."

Looking for Work

I was trying to explain the importance of being a good mommy to Sadie and Josie, ie: I have to feed them healthy food, not feed them a lot of sugar, I have to be careful what they watch on TV, I have to make sure they say their prayers, etc. Josie said, "What will happen if you are not such a good mommy, Mommy? Will you be out of a job?"

Worm Condo

Today, we planted lettuce borders around our flower beds. I'm thinking that if we keep the veggies closer to the house, maybe it will keep the bunnies farther from the veggies. We shall see. We used this stuff called Deer Scram, which supposedly works on rabbits, too... my tulips are still there (last year they were chewed off to a NUB) so I think it may be working. It smells HIDEOUS, though. Oh well, at least it's organic. The kids lost interest in the planting shortly after they discovered 5 worms in the dirt (it would've been 6, but Sadie accidentally pulled one apart when she was trying to get him out of the ground) and proceeded to "relocate" them to the worm condo currently under construction on the other side of the driveway. The worm condo consists of a big pile of mud, 2 watering cans, a hole, 4 muddy croc shoes, and 2 disgustingly dirty little girls wielding garden tools. Ick.

This afternoon, we made our semi-annual trip to the dentist for cleanings (for Sadie & Josie). Josie insisted that Sadie go first because she was "afraid that MY teeth will fall out, too." We love going to the dentist. The kids think that the moving chair, the tiny mirror, and the spinny brush that tastes like vanilla ice cream are THE BEST. I'm a lucky mom, I know - some kids would have to be tied up and bribed, threatened, and smacked to get them in the chair! Anyway, the hygienist once again recounted the evils of thumbsucking to Sadie, who just smiled and nodded and pretended that she was going to try to stop. Hah! I could tell what she was thinking - "Get me out of here so I can get my Snoopy and I'll show you how evil sucking a thumb can be!" Oh well. She can't suck it forever, right?

Pa! It's Easter Day!

Yesterday was Easter Sunday and we had a nice church service and then a fun family lunch at Aunt Cindy's house. Well, it was fun for everyone but Adelaide, who skipped ALL her naps and was a bit of a grouch. Lydia and I hid our Easter eggs for the kids, and then we kept forgetting where we put them. Apparently, we're better "hiders" than we thought we were. When the kids took a turn and hid them from US, we realized that they really are smarter than we are! Their eggs were much trickier to find than ours were!

This morning we were playing "ponies" in the girls' room while Adelaide crawled around getting into mischief, eating plastic snakes, and busting her top lip on the floor. Suddenly, something smelled STINKY. It turned out to be Adelaide, but I didn't know that at the time, so I said, "Josie, I think you stink!" Meaning to say that she AGREED Sadie piped up instead, "I exist!"

Today at lunch, Jesse asked Sadie if she lost her other tooth yet (she has another loose one on the bottom). She said no, and then he asked Josie if she'd lost a tooth yet...she said no, and then he said, "Well, did you lose any hair?" She looked right at him and said, "No, did you lose EVERY hair?" Oh man, I laughed so hard. I don't think that she meant it in a mean way at all, but the way it came out was so stinking funny.

We've been listening to the Little House in the Big Woods on CDs that Sarah got Sadie for Christmas last year. The kids (especially Sadie) LOVE these stories. As soon as we get in the car, Sadie asks to start the CD, please! It's amazing how she sponges up these stories (along with the ones that Grammie, Mamaw, and Papaw tell her) and can repeat them to you almost verbatim! Today, when I asked her to call Daddy for lunch, she yelled up the stairs, "Pa! It's dinnertime!"

Who is it?

Adelaide is all over the place now, and she is really asserting her newfound sense of independence. She wants to eat only things that she can pick up, she refuses to let me change her diaper or her clothes without a HUGE fuss, and she flails her arms at any given opportunity to show her disgust and annoyance. Sunday at church, she actually smushed her face into the carpet and kicked her legs while she screamed - her very first temper tantrum, I think. I had to laugh, but I'm kind of concerned about the tantrums to come! She's pointing at everything now, which I think is SO CUTE! Her favorite things to "point out" are birds, Daddy, pictures on the wall, and magnets on the refrigerator.

Jesse told the girls about serving papers downtown and how the men always yell through the door, "WHO IS IT?!" So when we were on the way to the library the other day and I asked Sadie who her Storytime teacher was going to be, she yelled (in a low, growly voice like Daddy's) "WHO IS IT?!" I nearly had to pull off the road it made me laugh so hard.

This morning as Josie was drinking her cranberry juice and eating her yogurt, she said, "Mommy, how do they mash up crayons (she pronouned this as 'crans')to get cranberry juice?" A good question, I thought!

5 Years and Counting

I can't believe that I am now the mother of a 5 year old. It always seemed to me that FIVE seemed like such a big number... like it was a milestone that was so far away for us. But now, as of around 10:00 this morning, Sadie is five years old. Sigh. I have mixed feelings, as usual. She acts so grown up, sometimes, that I forget she's so young. Being such a tall little bean-pole doesn't help matters, either. Tonight before bed she said, "Oh well. I don't think I've grown ANY since I was four. I am exactly as tall right now when I'm five as I was yesterday when I was four!"

Today she got to go up to the birthday box at church, and I just watched her, smiling and proud that she's my daughter (she was so cute and ladylike in her special black & white birthday dress with the red rose pinned on the skirt), but also a little teary-eyed... knowing how fast the past five years have flown by and knowing how fast the next five will. Sometimes I hug her so tight - not wanting to let go, but knowing that one day I will have to. I have to remind myself that she's on loan to me from God - that she's really His and not mine at all, but He certainly knew what He was doing when He created this whole mother-bonding thing. It's like the saying "Being a mother means to forever have your heart walking around outside your body." When I have time to actually sit and ponder the meaning of life, sometimes I think about how I am HIS child, just like Sadie is MY child. And if God loves me even more than I love her... how much must that be! It isn't even fathomable to my fragile, limited mind. We are so undeserving... especially me. Undeserving of His love, undeserving of these precious babies and these precious years. Undeserving, but incredibly grateful.

Alert the Media

A funny thing about kids is that they like to keep you in the loop. They want you to know what's going on in their lives. For instance, you might be standing in the kitchen, minding your own business, when a four year old zooms in and yells, "Mommy! I gotta go poop!" then runs back down the hall in a blur. I love how no matter where I am or what I'm doing (or what they're doing, for that matter), they BOTH have to let me know about their bathroom activities. Sometimes I tell them that I'll alert the media, but usually I just say, "Okay! Thanks for telling me!"


Another thing that I love is that when they have a sudden feeling of love, they just HAVE to let you know. I love sudden hugs for no reason, slobbery kisses when I've just fixed my hair or put on make-up, and (most of all) when someone comes in and yells, "You are the best Mommy in the woild!" "Mommy! I love you so much as the stars!"

Missing Tooth

On Wednesday afternoon, Sadie said, "Mommy, my tooth is wiggly." When I went to look at it, I yelled, "Holy cow!" and immediately called the dentist because it was REALLY LOOSE. I didn't think you were supposed to start losing your teeth until you were 7 or 8 years old! The dentist set me straight, though, and said that it was perfectly normal to be 5 (in 2 weeks), suck your thumb, and lose your bottom teeth first. Whew. I was seriously scared at first. Sadie climbed on my lap to cuddle and said, "I don't think I want to lose my tooth! I want to stay a little girl." She seemed a bit sad, so we snuggled and I told her that even though she's growing up, she will be a little girl for a long, long time... and she will ALWAYS be MY little girl.

She walked around messing with her tooth for 2 days, and it looked so funny - it was literally just hanging by a thread in her mouth. She was kind of snaggle-toothed and it was hard not to laugh because it was almost sideways in her mouth. We made a special trip to the library to get books about losing teeth, and she talked to her grandparents about it - Papaw said to look out for the Tooth Fairy, because she's a sneaky one; Grammie tried and tried to get Sadie to let her pull it, but Sadie said NO THANK YOU!; Grandpa said, "Hold everything! Turn off the TV! I have to see this!"; Grandma said she knew a story about Mole and Troll and a string and a doorknob - Sadie said, "Well, I am NOT going to do THAT!" and Grampie said, "Poop? Foot? WHAT is loose? Your what?" Sadie yelled, "My TOOTH! My TOOTH! IN MY MOUTH!" (Grampie can't hear on the phone).

So Friday night, tooth barely hanging on, we brushed teeth and went to bed. Saturday morning came and Jesse asked Sadie where her tooth was. She said it was in her mouth - but it wasn't. They tore her bed all to pieces, searching for the missing tooth, but they couldn't find it anywhere! Sadie decided to write a note to the Tooth Fairy. It said: Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost my tooth and I can't find it. I looked everywhere but it is gone. From Sadie.

She put the note under her pillow and this morning, she had 5 whole dollars under her pillow! Wow! The Tooth Fairy must be trying to keep up with inflation. I only used to get $1. She woke me up and said, "Hey! Mommy! Do you want to see what the Tooth Fairy gave me? A note! And a TON of money!" She showed it to her daddy and to Josie, and then, without any coercion on our part at all... she said, "I'm going to give part of this to God at church today. And here, Josie - you can have one too." We were so proud of her!

Baby Fonz

Adelaide officially started crawling on Saturday while we were in NC. She was trying to get Josie, who had a hat with a ball in it, and suddenly everything came together for her! Now she's getting faster by the day! My favorite thing that she does these days is "tweedle" her OWN ear while she's nursing, much like Sadie tweedles Snoopy's ear when she's sucking her thumb. I wonder if she learned it by watching her big sister.... I also love how she waves her hand in the air and chirps, "HEY!" like the Fonz. Yesterday I went to get her up from her nap and she was sitting up in her bed, looking at her elephant book (Mommy Loves Me) and having a good old time all by herself. I guess even babies need some privacy, but in this house, that is a rare treasure.

The Longest Name Ever

Josie said when she grows up, she's going to name her baby Rainbow Child Necklace Beauty Flower Jewelry Bracelet Snowflake Hairclip Heartbeat. My only question is that with TEN names, can't just one of them be Mommy?

The other day Josie asked me (quite logically, I thought) if since God can hear everything we say all the time, "Does God have really big ears?"

As we were driving to town, Josie informed me that she did NOT want to take the highway. She wanted to take the low way.

Yesterday, she said, "Mommy, do you remember that time a long time ago when we snuggled with Daddy on the couch and we had a blanket and it was night and Daddy made a fire in the fireplace and we watched the Crocodile Hunter and it was cozy? (Sigh) That was a wonderful special time."

If You Axe Me...

Highlights from our trip to NC in March:

"What the? This is the cook on the table place Papaw and Mamaw always take us to, but where's the cook on the table?" We ended up staying there anyway, but only because Papaw said we could go to the playground afterward.

"Where's Scotty? Dag-gone! We want to ride on the 4-wheeler!" I had never heard the expression "Dag-gone" from Sadie before... she must've picked it up on this particular trip.

Sadie lost her shoes in the sandbox while she was playing with Noah and Dalton... it was so nice to be where it was warm enough to TAKE your shoes off.

They both had their first lesson in football with Adam - hopefully they will improve as they get older - heehee! I was later informed that Adam is a FUN older cousin to have.

"Tiny pancakes, Grammie! We want tiny pancakes!"

We played at Heather's house one afternoon, and before we could turn around, Sadie, Josie, and Sydney were all naked and heading for the dress-up clothes.

Great Grandma Genevieve stayed up with Josie just about all night one night when she was having an earache. Grandma excels at over-nurturing and being a GREAT great-grandma. :)

They loved climbing trees this time... especially Sadie, who must be part monkey. Once when they were pretending to be woodcutters, I heard Josie say, "You axe this side and I'll axe that one."

When Amanda came over, Sadie said, "I like Amanda. She's nice. And pretty. AND pretty cool!"

Josie informed Uncle Thomas that "Our family's baby has SIX teeth." I think she was feeling competetive with Bayleigh, who can already stand, but has less teeth than OUR family's baby. :)

There was lots of holding hands with Caleb (Josie) and wrestling with Cameron (Sadie) and Bayleigh kept trying to get Adelaide to stand up like her, to which Adelaide replied, "BLAH blah ble blah!"

Baby Days

I know that Adelaide is still a baby (she's 9 months now), but she's SO close to crawling; she's eating finger foods; she's singing little squeaky songs to herself; she's growing every day! And that makes me kind of wishful for the little tee-tiny baby days again. You know, the snuggly soft sweet whispery cuddly baby days, when she would just lay in my arms and stare at me for hours (or until she drifted off to sleep).
Now she's just busy, busy, busy. So am I! But it just goes to show you that no matter how busy mommies get, there is still room in their for hearts snuggling a newborn. Adelaide is already older than Sadie was when we got pregnant with Josie... this saddish feeling just makes me wonder if we should have one more, or if I would feel this way about my youngest no matter HOW MANY babies I had. I'm obsessed with watching "Kids by the Dozen" and the Duggars these days - don't get me wrong... I would never have a dozen children, but I can kind of see where they're coming from now!

Jesse's Girl

Lately, Sadie has been asking some really good questions. Like, "When Jesus comes back, will He be the king of the earth or will GOD be the king?" She also wants to know about levers, pulleys, how plants grow, if fish sleep, what kind of foods bats eat, why do teeth chatter, how many minutes are in a day, if a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable, etc., etc. But, she's still her father's daughter: last night, she came upstairs where I was working in the office and passed some STINKY gas. Instead of saying, "I Tooted!" and laughing like she usually does, she turned around, walked out, and said, "I'm gonna leave that one for you to enjoy, Mommy."

Bad Morning to You

Adelaide has had an unexplained high fever for the past several days. At first, I thought it was because she was teething, but then the fever kept getting higher and higher. When it went up to 104, I gave up and took her in to the doctor on Saturday morning. After checking her out, he said the good news was that her ears looked great (we assumed a fever meant an ear infection; it usually does with our kids), but the bad news was he had no idea why she'd had such a high fever for so long. Since girls are more apt to get UTIs, he thought that was a possibility... unfortunately, the only way to get a sterile sample to check for it is to catheterize. I fought him on it, because I had to go through that once with Josie and I knew it was awful... but he finally talked me into it, because I didn't want her pain to persist if it really WAS a UTI. Anyway, it was torturous. I had to hold her little arms down while she screamed and cried and looked at me like, "Why are you letting them do this to me, Mommy?" I cried and cried. THEN, I had to take her to the lab for bloodwork (the ladies were super nice there and let us go in front of everyone because they felt so sorry for Adelaide) and I had to hold her while they dug around in her little arm with a needle to try to find a vein. THEN, we had to go BACK to the doctor's office and they gave her two shots full of this gluey-like high powered antibiotic (which they said really hurts as it goes in) in her chubby little thighs. Needless to say, it was NOT a good morning. The only redeeming thing about having a sick little one is the thankfulness that you get when you realize that some parents have to go through things like this on a daily basis - God help those people. That, and the pitiful snuggling of their heads into your shoulder because that's all they feel like doing. The snuggling is not so bad.

When You Talk to Little Girls...

This is what you might hear:

From Adelaide: "Foof. Goog! FFFFfffff.... baboo! Gi! Gi!"

A few weeks ago after their baths, Sadie put a toy in her mouth and dropped it in front of Adelaide, who thought it was SO FUNNY that she laughed until she THREW UP in the bathroom floor.

From Josie: "Daddy took us to McDonald's to play on the playground, but he took some vegetables to eat while we were in there." - Which was NOT TRUE. She just didn't want Daddy to get in trouble for feeding them fast food!

When we were eating lunch the other day, Josie said, "Is this supper? Dinner? Lunch? I get infused."

After we read "The Little Bitty Raindrop," Sadie informed me that when rain goes back up into the sky, that means it "EVAPORATES," which she learned at the Natural History Museum last week. I asked her what it's called when it falls back down. I was looking for condensation, but Josie surprised me when she piped up, "That's called GRAVITY!"

From Sadie: "A bad stranger that's a GIRL? I guess you'd kick her in the ...!"

When we saw a little girl at the store who still had a pacifier (and she was probably 5 years old), Sadie and Josie both laughed. I asked them why they were laughing, and they said, "because she's a BIG girl, not a baby!" Later that day, Sadie, after some deep thought, said, "I think it might be time to stop sucking my thumb, because I don't want people laughing at ME."

When talking about praying to idols, I showed them Adelaide's "snozzler," just because it was sitting there on the table and it was handy. I said, "Can you imagine praying to something that isn't even alive? Like this thing?" They both said, "Ha hah! That's just crazy! Oh great and powerful snozzler...!"

The girls locked me in the bedroom and set a "trap" for me. I heard Sadie yelling outside the closed door: "BEHOLD! The hamster is trapped!" I guess I've graduated from "mean old witch" to "hamster."

When we were watercoloring at the kitchen table, Sadie said, "Huh! Well, look at that! The paint is being insorbed!"

Sweethearts

I love how when Adelaide is nursing, she'll grab on to the strap of my nightgown and yank on it like it's her lifeline, or rip cord, or air horn (if she was a truck driver). I also love how sometimes she'll see something she thinks is funny (while she's eating) and she'll laugh these explosive little laughs, WITH her mouth full. I can't believe how much I love this whole breast-feeding thing - especially with my past history of giving up! I almost gave up with her, too... thank goodness I didn't.

Last night we had our first annual Sweetheart Supper for church (which I coordinated). It seemed to be a resounding success - especially the "Not So Newlywed Game. The girls stayed home with some teens from church (Keylah, Alissa, and Chloe) along with 4 other little ones. They had their own Valentine party while we were having ours. Sadie said they had a good time playing hide and seek AND they got to watch Bambi. Josie loves having people over, though usually she forgets their names and just calls them "That Girl" or "That Boy." Today, Jesse gave them their little Valentine surprises - heart socks, little stamps, and tiny flowerpots with seeds - lavendar for Sadie and strawberries for Josie. He told them it was because they are his sweethearts and they just lit up... they thought it was great. So do I. My daddy always gave me a Valentine's gift or sent me flowers to school, and it really made me feel special as I was growing up. I'm glad Jesse's decided to continue that tradition.

Thunk

There I was, minding my own business, trying to get the girls ready for preschool this morning, when I heard it -- the dreaded THUNK, followed by crying and screaming. The crying? Adelaide and Josie. The screaming? Me. Adelaide rolled off the bed and landed with the back of her little head up against the dresser. She was fine, but it scared her - and Josie, who was playing with her when it happened - to death. Poor Josie was all to pieces and couldn't stop crying about it; later she told me that God came down and gave her a hug and that made her feel much better - but she was still sad that Adelaide "got hurted."

I'm kind of relieved that it happened, honestly, since all babies are supposed to hit their heads before they're a year old (an old wives' tale, I know), and I was responsible for both Sadie's (the awful car seat incident) and Josie's (the phone dropped on the head trick) thunkings. At least Adelaide's is over with!

Josephine-y Jellybean-y

Today, Josie and I had special "Mommy/Josie" time. We went to the Christian bookstore, and she picked out a tiny little Bible that she carried around in her pocket and showed to everyone who would look at it. She also made up lots of stories that she "read" to me in the car on the way home. She's so funny and personable, but she worries about talking to strangers. I tried to explain to her that it's okay to talk to strangers if Mommy or Daddy is around, just not when she's by herself. She asks me what's okay to do ALL the time, like she's constantly trying to figure out boundaries and rules in her little head. I'm glad she's always trying to do the right thing, although she still tries to get out of any wrongdoing by saying, "Sadie did it!"

The other day, I was trying to tell her that she needs to be still and quiet sometimes (she had talked without ceasing ALL DAY LONG) and I said, "Even the Bible says to be still and know that I am God." Of course, she replied, "YOU? YOU are God?"

She's been using some awfully big words lately, but my favorite things that she says are: "As a fatter-a-mattley," and "A-wah-men, I said A-WAH-men!" closely followed by "It goed away" ie, "my knee hurt, but it goed away."

Josie and her "Monkey-phone."

Winter-y Giggles

Josie to Mommy: "I love you than anysling."

Sadie about supper: "Corn on a stick? I LOVE corn on a stick!"

Sadie about her Betta that has long fins: "I think I'll name my new blue fish Boo Boo Chicken."

Adelaide in her growly voice: "Blah-blab-blah-blab-blah!!!"

Josie about the giant 4 foot icicle on our back deck: "That is the biggest one of ever!"

Josie about her books of choice: "I like these... especkeley that one."

Josie to Mommy when she's supposed to be in bed: "I can't sleep, Mommy. My toes keep talking to me."

Sadie to Daddy when he mentioned getting rid of something old and worn out: "Give it to Mommy! She likes to wear old worn-out stuff!"

Josie to a (mildly offended) lady at the grocery store: "I'm proud, proud, proud to be a COW!"

Peace

Yesterday, Josie had to have some bloodwork done, and she was simply amazing at the hospital (we had to go there to the lab) - she didn't even whimper when they drew out 5 vials of blood. They asked if she wanted to look at the pretty picture on the wall so she wouldn't see the needle, but she said, "No, I want to watch!" She thought it was so cool to see the blood coming out of her arm! What a little trooper.

We spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa last night (since Jesse is still not home from Jamaica and Grammie's time at our house was up) and we all stayed together in Grandma's "beach room." Adelaide was in a little baby sleeping bag next to the bed, and Sadie and Josie were in a pallet (feet to head) at the end of the bed. As I sat there perched up on the high antique bed, surveying my "kingdom of little girls," I felt this overwhelming peace... of knowing that my children were all safe, warm, fed, and cuddled up right there in the same room with me. That's an awesome feeling - one that I truly thank God for. When I think about all the mothers in the world (Israel, in particular), who are in constant fear for their children's very lives, I can only sit in wonder and awe that God has chosen ME for this gift of peace.

Concentrate!

We re-read Hiawatha's Childhood (the actual poem) the other day and the girls sat totally enraptured the whole time. I love the fact that they will listen to, and actually pay attention to, a poem! It does my English major heart proud. Anyway, later on that day, Sadie's little mind was working away as it usually does, and she said, "So, Mommy... Nokomis was actually Wenonah's mother, so she was Hiawatha's grandmother. And Nokomis determined to take care of little Hiawatha, since he was an orphan." I didn't even know she KNEW the word "determined," much less how to use it in context!

Josie cracked me up when she was helping Grammie make a cake the other day. She wanted to lick the icing off the beaters SO MUCH that she put the back of her hand to her forehead, put a pained look on her little face, and drawled, "I fear I shall die if I do not have it!"

Sadie and Josie were in the kitchen trying to tie a ribbon around one of their stuffed animals, and they are not the best knot-makers in the world. From the laundry room, I heard Sadie yelling in an exasperated voice, "CONCENTRATE, JOSIE! YOU MUST CONCENTRATE!"

Adelaide is very close to crawling these days... for the past two days she's been rocking back and forth on her knees and yelling "Goo!!" in the new deeper voice she's developed lately. Her top two teeth are a constant source of wonder for her - she's always clicking them with her bottom ones and making faces like "What the heck is in my mouth?"

I'm With You!

The Southern drawl that usually follows us home for a few days has lingered on this time... just last night, Josie sang, "Go tell it on the mountain! Over them hills and every-ware!" and Sadie just turns hers on and off on a whim - "Hey! Look over back air behine at char! My Snoopy's over air behine at char!" Sheesh.

Today, the girls were asking me how God talked to Joshua (the subject was brought on by listening to their cousin Cameron singing "The Battle of Jericho" song). I told them that a long time ago, God spoke out loud to people sometimes, so they could hear Him with their ears. I said that today, God talks to us through the Bible and we can hear Him with our hearts instead of our ears. Josie said, "Hey! Mommy! Sometimes I can hear God in my heart! Do you know what He says? He says - Don't be scared because I'm with you!"

That totally MADE MY DAY. :)

Christmased Out

Whew. The rush is over, and I finally have time to sit down for five minutes without someone yelling "MOMMY! I NEEEEEED YOU!" at me. We had Christmas morning at our house (with just us) on Monday morning, and it was so much fun. The girls' two big gifts that they REALLY wanted were somehow hidden by mischievous elves, and after they thought they were all done, they found the others. It was SO CUTE. Jesse asked them if they had gotten everything that they wanted, and they said, "Yep.... oh, wait. Except for my treehouse (Josie) and my purse with lots of stuff to put in it (Sadie)." The look on their faces was absolutely priceless when they found their gifts hidden in the corner. I think that's going to have to become a tradition!


We had a great trip down to NC, and the weather (and traffic) both ways was a definite blessing. We had no bad weather to contend with, and traffic was clear and easy. I couldn't believe it! Anyway, we got there early Tuesday morning, so we had basically a whole week to visit, party, and do nothing. We got to spend lots of time with Papaw and Mamaw (yes, there was tractor-driving involved, and Sadie got to steer all by herself), our cousins (Adelaide and Bayleigh had a fabulous time getting to know each other, and Sadie and Josie had a great time at our Christmas Eve get-togethers - trying to pull poor Bryce apart with their other cousins and wrestling with Caleb and Cameron), and our friends (the girls made their debut at Melanie's new house for the first time and we also got to spend time at Louis and Brenda's AND Brian's house). Sadie and Josie attended their very first wrestling match with Britt and Natasha at my old high school, and you should've seen them doing their own moves on the gym floor in front of the bleachers!

Unfortunately, Jesse and I both got a yucky cold - no big surpise since I seem to get sick EVERY time I go home - and we had to cancel a few things toward the end of the week. However, I did get to see my friend Jason whom I haven't seen in almost five years, so that was good. All of the girls were EXCELLENT the whole time we were there (with the exception of a couple of minor meltdowns brought on by lack of naps). As always, Sadie and Josie had a grand old time at Great Grandma's house, even though it was a bit crowded for my (and Jesse's) taste this time around. The weather was gorgeous most of the time, and we didn't even need a coat for a few days.

Adelaide is getting her two top teeth now to go along with her two bottom ones. The girls are offically "Christmased Out," and I have purged the toy closet and toy box to make room for the giant mountain of presents they received from our Ohio family before we left plus the other giant mountain of presents we hauled back from NC!

We're glad to be home, and now we're just trying to get back into the swing of things. Thank God for our families, our friends, and the hope of a new year.

Hooray for Me!

Adelaide said "Ma-Ma!"

That Christmasy Time of Year

I must say, I've been enjoying the Christmas season this year (so far). We've baked cookies, made yummy butter mints, made and decorated clay Christmas ornaments, cut out cinnamon applesauce ornaments, decorated everywhere, sent out newsletters, wrapped presents, danced to Christmas music, learned the "What Can I Give Him?" poem, sang "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "The Little Drummer Boy" over and over, read lots of Christmas stories, built a gingerbread house with Grammie, watched Rudolph, Frosty, and the Grinch (but not to the obsessive extent of last year), watched Christmas lights with Grandma, Grandpa, and Sarah, delivered cookies and goodwill to our neighbors, visited an amazing display of Nativity scenes (HUNDREDS of them) and generally had a fun Christmasy time. We're almost packed and ready to leave for our Southern Christmas :) but first... it's time for the yummy Christmas Breakfast for Supper celebration with Grandma Beth, her new waffle maker, and a ton of relatives and presents at our house! We can't wait! :)

Num Num

Today, Adelaide got to hold her very first food (well, the first food that I didn't snatch away from her because she swiped it off of my plate when I wasn't looking). I did give up and start giving her rice cereal last week because she was watching all of us eating supper with this pitiful look on her little face, and she couldn't take her eyes off my fork as I was eating. I broke down, and boy is she a little chow hound. Anyway, I bought her these little organic rice husk things (called Num Nums) that dissolve easily, and she tore into one today and goobed it all up with her baby slobber... she ate the whole thing (this was great entertainment for Josie, who watched the whole thing) and looked very pleased with herself.

I was thinking today that this is the only time that the girls will be THIS age on Christmas. I know, I know. That's a goofy thing to think, but I can't seem to help it. Never again will they be 4, 3, and 6 months at Christmastime. I guess it makes it sort of bittersweet, but also more special. Let's make it a good one!

Rub a Dub

Never have I seen a child enjoy her bath more than Adelaide. The cooing. The splashing. The gurgling. The squealing. The trying to catch the streams of water dripping from her washcloth. The belly laughs. The gleeful snorts when I wash the ticklish palms of her hands. I think I have almost as much fun watching her as she has being in the tub!

King of Candyland

We were wrapping presents, Christmas music playing in the background, when Josie informed me that "Santa Claus is coming to town, Mommy! He's coming to town in a red convertible!"

Yesterday, we went to Candyland, a life size version of the board game for kids to play around in. Sadie had a great time - up until I told her to stop running, to which she replied, "Who made you king of Candyland?" I had to hide my laughter as I sent her to time out. Where does she even hear this stuff?

The Lost Book of the Bible

After learning a new song at church, I heard two little voices echoing down the hall: "Do not LIE! Do not STEAL! Do not deceive one another! That's BENNIGAN's Chapter NINETEEN, verse ELEVENTEEN!!" Okay, so maybe they've been going out to eat a little much lately. I immediately started going over the REAL books of the Bible, just in case they were too confused. :)

As I tucked Josie into bed the other night, we were snuggling and talking and I asked her what she thinks she wants to be when she grows up. She hugged me and looked into my eyes and said, "Mommy, I don't want to grow up." I asked her why, and she said, "Because, Mommy... I don't want to be big. I always want to be your little girl." Le sob. I then had to explain through my watery eyes that no matter how big she gets, she will ALWAYS be my little girl. Then I ran to my room and cried!

Gitchee Gummee

We were at the mall the other day and I walked down the hallway away from the kids while pushing the stroller. I could still see them, but I guess they couldn't see me because suddenly I heard my own words coming from Sadie's mouth: "Don't you ever go out of my sight without telling me first, Mommy! Never, EVER! Do you hear what I'm saying to you?"

Josie marked all over our bed with a black magic marker. When confronted, her response was this: "Well, you were busy and I couldn't find any paper." Hmm. At least she was honest, I guess.

Adelaide has started this thing where she reaches her little hand up while she's nursing and starts patting, patting, patting me on the cheek. It is so sweet! I can see why some moms say they get addicted to breastfeeding.

Two Saturdays ago, we went to the circus. It was FABULOUS! Better than when I was a kid! Jesse got us awesome seats - we were in the 2nd row, right on the floor... almost close enough to touch the elephants! The girls thought it was great, too - they were enthralled from the moment we sat down. We loved the dancing ponies, the clowns and the bubbles, the racing motorcycles, the acrobats...all of it!

The other day we saw the very first Christmas lights on our street and Sadie said, "Uh-oh. Now we have to be good or Santa Claus will not say 'Ho Ho Ho'---he will say 'NO Ho Ho!"

I totally missed my exit on the way to gymnastics class and made us late. I was feeling really dumb, and Josie practiced her encouragement tactics. She said, "It's okay, Mommy. It's okay if you messed up. You are still the best Mommy!" It made me feel so much better!

We borrowed Hiawatha from the library last week, and the girls were immediately taken in by Longfellow's drum-beat meter. Now, I hear them running through the house yelling, "By the shores of Gitchee Gummee!" "Daughter of the Moon! Nokomis!"

I Like to Move It

Usually when I tuck Sadie in, I sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (while I rub her back, of course). Sometimes, I switch it around and say stuff like "Up above the world so high, like a Snoopy in the sky... Like a hotdog in the sky... Like a tea tray in the sky..." She always laughs, but I can tell it drives her crazy. She ALWAYS says, "No, Mommy! Like a DIAMOND in the sky." The other night, I went through the whole thing and switched it 3 or 4 times, and she was getting exasperated, saying "DIAMOND!" every time, when I said, "Like a ruby in the sky..." She started, "No, Mommy... well, okay. I like rubies."

Jesse took the girls out on a Daddy date Saturday night while I had my Spa Party at our house. They went to the "Jumpy Place" and then to see Madagascar. Josie was totally impressed with the "I Like to Move" song. You can imagine my delight when I caught her in the bathroom in front of the mirror, pants down, shaking her little butt and singing at the top of her lungs, "I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT!"

In other news, Adelaide has started growing a little baby mohawk on top of her head. I think she's a little young to be showing that kind of individuality, but she insists on keeping it that way. :)

Guacaroni

Tonight after an exciting round of jumping on the kid-size bungee jump at the mall (loads of squealing, laughing, and general merriment all around) and watching Daddy get his first pedicure (an anniversary gift from ME :) we stopped to grab some Mexican food on the way home. Jesse went in while I waited in the car with the kids, and we ended up discussing guacamole. Josie said, "Guacamole... guacamole... but wait - that's yellow, and made of noodles!" Sadie said, "No, Josie. That's MACARONI. Sheesh." Josie smacked her palm to her forehead and said, "What am I saying?!"

Yummy Yummy

Life seems to be in a whirlwind for us right now. School on Mondays, grocery store on Tuesdays, gymnastics on Wednesdays, doctor appointments and the library on Thursdays, breathing time on Fridays, busy busy weekends, Church on Sundays, do it all over again. I've decided that my new motto is, "A clean home does not equal a happy home." Maybe if I chant that over and over, I'll stop being so OCD about cleaning up after the kids ALL THE TIME.

Today, Josie belts out, "YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY I've got LOVE IN MY TUMMY!" about 100 times in a row. I asked her where she learned it, and Sadie rolls her eyes and says, "Grammie." Of course. Grammie also taught Sadie the diarrhea song ("No stwain, no pain, just sit and let it dwain..."); I'm beginning to wonder if my mom's visits should be supervised. :)

Adelaide has developed the cutest little chipmunk cheeks that you will ever see. When she smiles, her whole little face lights up and her eyes almost disappear! She is an absolute joy to be around... well, 90% of the time. The other 10% is spent screaming her displeasure at not getting F-O-O-D fast enough, and it literally makes my ears roar. The kid is LOUD.

Fall Updates

I didn't realize it before now, but fall is apparently the busiest time of the year for us. I haven't had a free minute in the past 3 weeks! Anyway, here is an update of some of the girls' memorable fall moments:

Sadie was lamenting her sad life (the fact that she couldn't have two juice boxes in one day) and she said that it wasn't fair. I told her that life's not fair. She thought about this for a minute, then scowled and said, "Well! It IS fair! If it's not, I'll just KICK EVERYONE!" Ironically, I've had that same thought myself. She has learned to ride her bike WITHOUT training wheels... a marvelous feat for a 4 year old, according to the bike store where she got her new kickstand (she's so proud of it!). Jesse taught her in 3 lessons. I'm so glad he did - I couldn't bear to watch her dive off one side and then the other, over and over! He told her it's more important to learn to FALL correctly than to learn to ride. Gotta give him credit there... I wish I had learned to fall! Maybe Sadie won't break every bone in her body like her mom!


I overheard Josie muttering to herself in the family room the other day as she piled blankets and pillows on the floor: "I'll just make my little self a bed right here... make my little self a bed." I can only assume she meant she was making HERSELF a LITTLE bed, but I thought it was so cute that I didn't even ask. She somehow developed impetigo on her little butt, and so she's had a rough time for the past couple of weeks. Bless her little heart, she gets in the shower (no baths till it's all better) and sticks her butt under the water and says, "Ahhh... that feels good on my poor booty!" It's finally almost cleared up, thank goodness. I've been up to my ears in laundry, since I've been washing everything she touches. Miraculously, no one else has caught it (yet).

Adelaide now has her two bottom teeth and she's grabbing everything that she can get ahold of with her chubby little hands. She's also fond of sticking her feet straight up into the air and flapping her arms like she's trying to take flight. She spent the evening at Grandma and Grandpa's house last weekend while we took Sadie, James, and Josie to the Zoo for their annual Boo at the Zoo night (the puppet show with the shark was everyone's favorite). Instead of taking her nap like she was supposed to, she opted to scream her head off until Grandma peeked in the door to check on her. When she heard the door open, she turned her head, looked straight at Grandma, and LAUGHED! Stinker. She's already got us figured out. I gave her her first taste of rice cereal last night at dinner. She looked so proud of herself when I popped it in her mouth, like "Ha! Finally!" Right now she's kicking the heck out of the duck on her play gym and yelling "GOO!" at the top of her lungs.

Jesse has lost a lot of weight (I'm still stuck at 10 pounds, but that's better than nothing!) and is working a lot, since I'm not working at all. Oddly, I'm more tired than I have ever been in my LIFE. People who say stay-at-home moms don't work are just plain crazy. I'm loving the fall leaves, sick of hearing about the election, reading a book called "When Mothers Pray," planning a Spa Party, weed-whacking my garden to get it ready for next year, and trying to not go nuts. That's pretty much it for the updates... guess I'll leaf it at that! :)

Soon and Very Soon

Josie - whose favorite song at the moment is Soon and Very Soon, We Are Going to See the King - is still in the throes of potty training. Although she's doing pretty well, she doesn't really give much notice of when she's "gotta go!" In the car the other day, she said, "Mommy, I need to go pee!" Since we were about 10 minutes from home, Sadie started singing, "Soon and very soon, we are going to see some pee... soon and very soon, we are going to see some pee!"

Earlier that day, Josie got mad at me because I made her buckle in her booster seat. Next thing I knew, she was crying in behind me and sniffing, "Nobody likes me... boo hoo hoo... nobody likes me." Sadie and I cracked up. Finally, Josie laughed too and said, "I'm tricking you! Everybody likes me!"

They both really want to know when Jesus is coming back (so do I, for that matter). They ask me out of the blue, and they get frustrated when I can't tell them an exact day or time. I keep telling them that even Jesus doesn't know when He's coming - only God does. Sadie said, "Well, I'm tired of waiting." Josie replied, "God, please make Jesus COME NOW!"

In other news... Adelaide has a tooth!!!

Thinking

Sometimes I worry that by the time I HAVE time to sit down and enjoy my kids, they will already be all grown up. They're changing so fast... I looked at my 2006 scrapbook this morning, and Sadie and Josie are already SO different - especially Josie. She turned from a baby into a little girl in a matter of moments, it seems like. I tried to find the exact minute when she changed, but it doesn't seem that there was one. Either that, or I missed it.

Right now, Josie is playing with her little pet shop while wearing her blue Cinderella gown and Sadie is playing with her My Little Ponies while dressed up in her big floofy pink princess dress. I want to play with them, but I feel like I have a hundred things to do. However, I know that pretty soon they won't really want me to play with them...they'll have better things to do. Now that I think about it - what am I doing here? I have to go!

Sunny South

We went to NC on the first of October, and the girls had fun:
-Sewing with Great Grandma Genevieve
-Killing tons of little red "beetle-bugs" with scalding hot pots of water (carried by Grandma, of course)
-Riding on the back of Papaw's pickup truck on the little "stools" (wheel wells)
-Playing with Junior and Sissy, Mamaw's two new Boston Terrier puppies
-Going to the Apple Festival and buying a stop-sign shaped flyswatter from the Shriners
-Visiting and playing in Sharon and Gary's RV, otherwise known as the "house car"
-Sorting and categorizing tons of buttons on Great Grandma's dining room table
-Wrestling with Cameron and Caleb
-Going on a picnic with Mamaw and Papaw
-Watching Adelaide stick both legs STRAIGHT UP in the air so she could see her toes
-Jumping on the trampoline at Kristi's house with all their cousins
-Rolling down "Acorn Hill" with Kimmie, Noah, and Dalton, and playing "Spies" until they were so tired they couldn't even stand up
-Riding up in the van on Papaw's hydraulic lift while he changed the oil
-Seeing Mommy chase a crazed yellowjacket all over the car (inside and out) for 20 minutes until she finally smushed it... Josie said, "Mommy, you're my hero!"
-Hearing Sadie make her first REAL joke when Josie said she wanted to eat her "BURGER," to which Sadie replied, "Yuck, Josie, I didn't know you liked to eat BOOGERS!"

"I said to myself, Self, are those Fleas?"

Sadie is the narrator of her own life. If you follow her around all day, you might hear her saying things like: "She places her hands on the floor and everyone says 'What is she doing?'" "As she climbs to the top of the ladder, she wonders what she will do next!" "What is that you are hiding, I ask myself!"

Today, Josie asked me if I remember when we were sick "Last Day." Last Day refers to any day other than today, whether it's yesterday, last week, or a month ago. Anyway, she was talking about being sick and throwing up (a traumatic even she recalls pretty often) and she said, "When I threw up in my bed, that's when I had the flea in my mouth...that's when we had fleas." Since I don't remember ANY of us having fleas, we're pretty sure she meant when we had the FLU BUG. FLU BUG = Fleas. I can follow that. :)

'Nastics Class

A few weeks ago, we started gymnastics class at a new gym... it's WAY better than the one we went to last year. The kids think it's great, mainly because there is a huge pool-size pit filled with giant foam squares that they get to jump in. Sadie gets in trouble every week because she refuses to get out once she's jumped in. The kids can actually get lost in there... once in a while you'll see a foot or a hand sticking out, but the rest of them gets buried under the blocks. There are also two "in-ground" trampolines, which are WAY safer than regular trampolines. Josie is still a little scared to jump on the suspended one (it's attached by springs over a big square hole in the floor); she always asks the teacher to hold her hand. She says, "I'm afraid that I will fall through the little holes! I need for you to hold my hand and jump WITH me." She's getting braver and braver though... I think she'll do it next week!
Today when they were going through their obstacle course (forward rolls, monkey jumps, balancing on the "turtle," etc.) Sadie was in line for basketball behind this little boy who forgot to replace the 3 little balls on the polka dot after he threw them. Since these were implicit instructions from the teacher, Sadie went over, poked him on the shoulder, and explained the situation in the way only she can - complete with the expectant little face and upturned palms. Apparently, he agreed that it was his "bad" because he went right over and fixed them for her.
Anyway, they're loving it, and I love watching them learn coordination and balance... Lord knows they need help with THAT since I'M their mother!

Snuggle

This morning as I was feeding Adelaide (in bed), Sadie came in and crawled in next to me to snuggle. Josie, of course, was still conked out in her room (she's my late sleeper). It was nice being tucked in between both of them so close and snug!

Jesse & I have started the South Beach Diet - along with several other members of the family. So far, he's lost 10 pounds and I've lost 4. I'm pretty happy with that, since I'd come to a standstill of baby-weight-loss. Now, if it just wouldn't start snowing next month, we could stick to our bike-riding, too!

Responsible

Being a parent has got to be the most terrifying job in the world. In what other profession do you have the sole responsibility of making sure that an individual or group of individuals learns EVERYTHING they need to know to SURVIVE? Even in the Army, the guys already know how to wash their hands, brush their teeth, eat, pray, and poop! Sure, you might have to teach them certain survival tactics, but they already know the basics. The Lord knows I sometimes FEEL like a drill sergeant. SADIE! PANTS! NOW! JOSIE! NAPTIME! ON THE DOUBLE! The Bible says "do not worry about tomorrow," but I find myself disobeying that order a lot. I'm constantly wondering if I'm making the right decisions regarding the girls...if I'm turning them into the kind, considerate, well-mannered ladies I want them to be, or if I'm overbearing, overprotective, and well, overwrought! How do you know if you're giving them the proper tools to be productive citizens of society and of the kingdom of God? I don't want to wait until the last minute to figure out, Whoops! Should've done it THAT way, I guess - you know, when Sadie's 17 and hindsight kicks in. It scares the heck out of me. I feel SO RESPONSIBLE. I know that sounds silly; I AM responsible for them. But the vast weight of these little lives that God has placed in my hands not only lifts me up - it weighs me down. I feel so blessed with a purpose as their mother, but I also feel a burden for them. How can I make sure I'm doing the right things? Experienced parents out there (preferably ones that did not turn out serial killers and the like), can you give me any advice?

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Sadie's story:
"Once upon a time there were five little girls: Rainbow, Sunny, Cloud, Sky, and Marlene."

Josie's story:
"One at a time, there was a froggy, and there was a froggy, and there was a frog, and a mommy frog, and a daddy frog, and POOP!"

It's a bird...a plane...a pineapple!

Today at lunch, Sadie was (again) recounting how she was right about the whole "Sharks and Middles" debate (that's the game she played in Swimming Lessons - Sharks and MINNOWS. She's bound and determined that it was called Sharks and MIDDLES). She finally said, "I am right and EVERYBODY ELSE is WRONG." Laughing, I told her she was just like her daddy. She said, "Nope, I am just like my Papaw." She's right... both of them are notoriously always right.

Tonight we rode bikes at one of the parks close by, and we had a picnic for supper while we were out on the trail. It was great fun! Sadie rode her own bike and pumped her little legs just as fast as they would go (although she did have to get off and push a couple of times). Josie rode in the trailer with me, watching the sun set and looking for flowers. Adelaide was all googly-eyed, watching the world zoom by... loving it and laughing from her perch on Jesse's chest. It was a great family night. On the way home, Josie the chatterbox rehashed everything she had seen that night (and some things she HADN'T): "I saw trees, and flowers, and birds, and the sun, and the moon, and the sky, and rocks, and a squirrel, and dirt and woods and a pineapple...." A pineapple? I think she was just testing me to see if I was listening.

Hey, Ladies First!

We started preschool again last week, and the girls had a good time... they seem to have settled right in (Josie is doing really well with concentrating this year) and they are ready to learn! Yesterday we learned bike safety, and they were so cute zooming around the parking lot "obstacle course" with their little pink and purple helmets on. Earlier, all of the kids were playing on the playground and there was some pushing and shoving at the ladder to the slide. Aunt Becky told the boys to be gentlemen and let the ladies go first, so they did. Later on, Josie ran through the boys yelling in her low, gruff voice, "HEY! LADIES FIRST!!!" She reminds me of Imogene in The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever.

Adelaide is intent on sucking her right thumb, whenever she has the good fortune to find it. She's kicking her play gym and her bouncy seat to beat the band, and cracks herself up when she looks in the mirror. She thinks that MOMMY is the funniest person alive, which is great for me, since the other two were total Daddy's Girls when they were this age.

Yesterday in the car Sadie was playing with her Magnadoodle when she piped up from the backseat (she can buckle herself up in her booster now), "Hey, Mommy! Look at this word! I wrote the word SAP!" I looked, and sure enough, she wrote it AND read it. Then she defined it, "Sap comes out of trees and it is sticky and you can make syrup out of it." "Oh, and I also wrote MOP." Well, needless to say, I was impressed. And proud of her!

Jesse bought me a bike for my birthday. Well, actually, he bought himself one too. AND a bike trailer/stroller thing so we can pull the kids along behind us. We took them all out yesterday... I pulled the trailer and Jesse strapped Adelaide to his chest in the Snugli, and we tooled around the neighborhood. It was GREAT. I cannot even express how great riding a bike again is - I think it's been about 10 years since I've been on one! The wind in your hair, the breeze at your back, the good tired feeling when you jump off, the freedom... Sigh. We should've gotten bikes YEARS ago. I'm loving it!

Overheard

"I don't WANT to! Hmmph!" "Deeper than the hollar..." "If I was an Ade-lady-who, I'd toot real loud and say GOO GOO! I wish I was an Ade-lady-who!" "Stop touching me!" "Don't talk to me!" "I love you bigger than the sky!" "Can I hold the baby?" "Have you seen my Snoopy?" "Can you get me some chocolate milk?" "Can I have a snack out of the snack closet?" "God does not ever have to go to sleep." "That is NOT funny!" "I am serious!" "Oh, I love you so much!" "You are my best friend!" "I need you!" "I'm slinking about the mole!" "I stay up longer because I am older." "Goo!" "Mommy! I NEED you!" "You are a booty butt! Hey, I said booty butt!" "I slink so."

Fair Birthday

God may or may not look like a cloud, according to Josie. Sadie is of the opinion that He looks more like a lion. I told them that the Bible says we are made in His image, so I'm pretty sure He looks more like a person. Sadie said that if that's the case, then He at least has HAIR like a lion. We went out to one of those Japanese cook-on-the-table places for my birthday on Wednesday, and while the food was excellent, the best part was watching the chef torment the kids (much to their delight). He kept yelling "FIRE!" and scaring the heck out of Josie (she bravely made a conscious decision to laugh instead of cry) and Sadie thought the egg tossing and knife throwing and "Oh yah, I'm good, Oh yah!" was hilarious... she laughed the entire time. They stayed with Grandma Beth while I went to the spa with my mom on Thursday (Yay Spa! Yay facial! Yay massage!) and they baked me a cake in Sadie's EasyBake Oven. I also got great cards this year... a talking Elvis, a singing Jackson Five, a Woogley Boogley Bee (from Josie), a singing "Over the Rainbow Card" (from Josie), and lots of others. Yesterday we went to the fair with Becky and her kids. We had a good time, but we were pretty much "Faired Out" after 3 hours or so. The kids loved riding the dragon roller-coaster, but poor Teagan got a bee sting on her hand while we were waiting in line. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of all the rabbits (SO cute), the giant turkeys (the kids gobbled at them until one of the turkeys gobbled back and scared them to death!), and the dairy cow demonstration. Then we saw all the miniature horses (our friend from church was showing hers there) and the ducks. By this time, we were all filthy and dusty and hungry (you don't really fill up on cotton candy and kettle corn) and hot so we headed back to the car. On the way home, I dropped Josie off at Grammie's house and Sadie spent the night with Deanna and Lynn for the first time. I was afraid she would be scared and cry to come home, but the opposite happened. She had such a fabulous time (going to Chuck E. Cheese, watching the Bee Movie, snuggling with Deanna, and playing castle/"Mean Guy" with Lynn) that she cried because she HAD to come home.

Goodbye, GoopEye

Today we went to Storytime (the kids were thrilled to learn about dinosaurs and make Pterodactyl bracelets), then to the park (we hiked into the woods and Sadie the Duck Terrorist had a grand old time screeching at the ducks and giving them little duck heart attacks), then home for a picnic. It was a fun day.

Thankfully, the GoopEye has made a retreat from Adelaide's right eye... FINALLY. I hope it's gone forever! Everyone kept asking me if it was pink eye, or conjunctivitis, or another yucky eye disease, and I had to keep explaining over and over that it was only a blocked tear duct. I'm hoping we've seen the last of it.
Today when I was tickling her under her arms, she started making an unfamiliar noise - I thought she was coughing at first, but then she kept doing it with this big smile on her face and I realized SHE WAS LAUGHING! That made my day.

Jesse is teaching Josie to ride her bike... Her little feet barely reach the pedals so she's having a hard time pushing hard enough to gain any momentum. To remedy this situation, Jesse tied our dog leash to her handlebars and has been pulling her around on the driveway as she pedals and steers. Sadie thinks it's hilarious and rides all around them like a buzzing bee, flitting here and there and showing off how well she can already handle HER bike. It's an odd thing to see your husband leading a bike with a leash.

Woof

Today the girls were pretending to be dogs. Sadie said she was a Collie Dog. Josie said she was a Chili Dog.

Adelaide-y Who?

Adelaide is SO sweet and beautiful, I just want to squish her. I know that sounds weird, but you know how you get that primal urge sometimes to just SQUEEZE something? That's how I feel when I look at her chubby little cheeks, thighs, arms, well... just about any part of her. When she's nursing and looking up at me with her big blue eyes, it just makes me want to melt. Especially when she smiles WHILE she's nursing. Her smile lights up her eyes, and she's so cute that I can't even stand it. I can't really explain it, but I'm guessing that if you're a mother, you know what I mean!

Wanna Hear It? Here it Goes!

Josie is a songwriter...at least while she's in the car. This is her new thing: "Hey, Mommy. I see a green light. I know a song about a green light. Wanna hear it?" "Hey, Mommy. I see a tree. I know a song about a tree. Wanna hear it?" "Hey, Mommy. I see a con-vert-ible. I know a song about a con-vert-ible. Wanna hear it?" You get the idea. The songs are actually pretty interesting, and they usually go something like this: "Oh, green light! You are green! And you are tall! And where is your mommy green light and your daddy green light and you are the baby green light! La la la!"

I Taught her That

My cousin Taylor came home with us this trip (she's flying back down on Thursday) and the kids have had a hey-day with her. She's been so fabulous... I mean, I wish I had a 14 year old all the time! The girls are loving it. Today, they painted birdhouses together and played in the pool just about all day, then they went for ice cream tonight. I don't know what I'm going to do when she leaves - I'm spoiled!

We all went to the zoo on Saturday, and we met Deanna and Lydia. After a bit of an altercation at the Wendy's drive-thru (don't ask), we had a high old time visiting the sea lions, monkeys, tigers, and bears. When we went into the rain forest, which is dark, Josie immediately yelled, "HEY! Where's Deanna!?" This wouldn't have been funny aside from the fact that Deanna was pulling the wagon that Josie was sitting in. Deanna laughed and told Josie that she couldn't see her in the dark.

On Sunday at church, Taylor went into class with the girls, which they loved, and then we all sat together during the worship service. For one of the first times I can remember since I was a kid, I almost laughed OUT LOUD during the service. Sadie moved up to sit in the pew in front of me between Grandma and Jenny. She had Snoopy, and was (of course) sucking her thumb. I poked her and whispered, "No thumb!" She popped it out of her mouth, then leaned forward s-l-o-w-l-y. This head-bent stance is the one she takes when she is sucking her thumb, and she must've known I would think that's what she was doing, because suddenly I see two "thumbs ups" sticking up on top of her head. I cracked up!

Yesterday we went to Teagan's birthday party, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They love Teagan, they love parties, and they love Darryl and Lydia's house (where the party was). Unfortunately, sweet and fun-loving Josie has a dark side. She and Teagan had a bit of a, shall we say, "run-in" over a pair of brown crocs...Josie was bound and determined that they were hers (they weren't) even though she wore her purple and pink ones. Needless to say, there was much screaming and kicking and a general melee ensued. I don't know what I'm going to do with her. She's like Dr.Jekyll sometimes...I can only imagine how things are going to be when she gets older and has PMS! Yikes!

We went for a walk this afternoon and bought green beans from our neighbor's garden, then came home and broke/strung them. Taylor and I did the stringing, and Sadie and Josie broke. It was so much fun! I love stringing beans. The girls made up a bean song that goes, "Beans, beans, BEANS! BEANS, beans, beans." Catchy, isn't it? :) I also bought Adelaide a new play gym today, since the one Sadie and Josie used has kicked the bucket. When we put her on it (the girls both had to help assemble it, because they "are like Papaw," they informed me), Adelaide just gooed and kicked and smiled all over the place. She whacked one of the toys with her little fist a couple of times, but I'm not sure it was intentional, since she isn't totally aware of those things growing off the ends of her arms yet. Anyway, she was excited, and she started sticking her little tongue in and out, in and out. Sadie said, "Hey, do you see that? I taught her that."

Holy Mole-y!

Sadie and Josie have the terrible habit of leaving the door into the garage standing open. Therefore, a MOLE got into our house. I was the unfortunate soul who spied said Mole down the hallway, running into Adelaide's room WHILE SHE WAS SLEEPING IN THERE. What to do, besides yelp, scream, and jump up and down?? Horror! I finally sucked it up and ran in, grabbed her, and high-tailed it out of there. Sadly, the girls had heard my screams and lived in mortal fear for the past 4 days until we caught said Mole on a glue-trap in the middle of the night. They were inconsolable; they were convinced that said Mole would attack in the middle of the night, and they refused to do anything alone. The buddy system is alive and well at our house. Josie was in Time Out on the stairs into the living room when I heard a shriek and screams of total panic. I thought the mole was attacking her, or at the least, that she had seen it lurking by the basement door. Instead, she yells hysterically, "I-HEAR-A-NOISE-I-THINK-IT's-THE-MOLE-IT-IS-GOING-TO-GET-ME!!!!" Thank goodness Jesse got rid of the varmint early this morning, and life can go back to... well, ... as normal as it was before!

Can't You Just Feel the Moonshine (part 3)

Sheesh! This trip was LONG! I'm tired of writing about it! On Wednesday, we went to Heather's and had chicken nuggets and some kind of yummy veggie pizza, along with popsicles that they girls spread all over the house. Sadie got dressed to the 9's in Sidney's (yes, Josie, SID-NEY, not SIN-DEY) dress up clothes. We found out that Sidney has the same purse-stuffing propensity as Sadie. Poor Sidney, who has 2 older brothers and never gets to play with girls, kept saying, "Don't go! Don't go!" anytime I stood up or left the room. Josie had an accident, probably from guzzling all of Heather's juice boxes, and snuck in to ask Heather for a Pull-up. She said, "It's a secret! But that's okay if we don't tell Mommy. Where are the Pull-ups?" Of course, Heather told me, and then Josie came in, gave Heather one of her infamous squinty-eyed mean looks, and said, "Hey! That was a SECRET!!!" The kids all wrestled around and played outside, where they hid from us in the back of the van and found a GIANT butterfly. They had a blast. When we left, Sidney asked if she could smell our car - that was funny! I think maybe she liked the smell of baby Adelaide or something.



Then we went straight to pick up Papaw and Mamaw and ride up the mountain for a picnic - which was promptly rained out. So, we ended up at Shatley Springs and ate fried chicken, greens, biscuits, preserves, and sweet tea. Sigh. It makes me hungry just typing it! Then we fed leftover cornbread to the fish and ducks, and Josie found a caterpillar which Sadie dubbed "Greenie" and we sat there telling stories - Papaw told the famous Junebug & Chicken story - and just goofing off by the pond for over an hour. Sadie told Mamaw that she had "beautiful voice when you tell stories," trying to bribe her to keep going (Mamaw has LOTS of stories). In the car on the way home, Papaw read the Potty book (much to his dismay)!

On Thursday, we had a pool day with Aunt Sharon and Angela. Then the girls had a big old time beating up Papaw outside. At supper, he told her to leave that dirty old dog (meaning Snoopy) alone, to which she replied, "Papaw, it is NOT playtime, it is EATING time." He cracked up, since these were the same words he said to her the night before. Josie discovered a love for matchbox cars and Mamaw gave her some to take home. Adelaide smiled and gooed at Mamaw and Papaw all through our hamburger supper. When I left to go get diapers at the store, I said I'd be gone about 15 minutes. Sadie piped up, Or more like 40 minutes!" Does she know me, or what? Josie got mad because we had to go home to go to bed and she said, "I'm not going to say ANYSLING!!!" Sadie walked over to Great Aunt Nettie's house with me in the dark, which was a big deal for her. She said it was her first time walking around outside when everyone else was in bed.

Last but not least, on Friday, Adelaide ROLLED OVER! From front to back! 3 times! Sadie and Josie high-fived each other, then Adelaide. They were all proud of her accomplishment! :) Then the girls had a curler party with Grandma's curlers, Marie brought them fancy flip-flops, and we had Josie's 2nd birthday party outside, which turned out to be a lot of fun. It was very low-key and laid back, and lots of people showed up to play outside and just hang around and talk and eat watermelon and popsicles. Josie got a lot of loot, too!

Can't You See the Sunshine... (part 2)

Sunday, we went to church at White Oak after a breakfast of sausage biscuits. The girls both enjoyed saying "uh-huh-huh-huh-uh-huh-huh" on the dirt road (I think that's the first time our van -just bought from Beck & James) has ever been on a dirt road)The girls insisted on seeing Great Grandpa Ralph's grave, so we walked up to the graveyard and they were very interested in knowing whose grave was whose, why they died, etc. Josie said, "This is Great Grandpa Ralph? But I love him so much and I never get to see him!" They had fun playing with their cousins Meghan and Lauren, and visiting with Great Aunt Odessa. Great Grandma pointed out the big rock that rolls over when it hears a rooster crow, and then we picked up Chinese food for lunch. Later we wrapped up Papaw's birthday present (a tub full of bubble gum) and Sadie wrote Papaw on the top. At his party, Josie got so tired that she got out of the tub, stripped off her swimsuit, and took a naked nap on the side of the pool. Later we had airplane races on the driveway with Angela, Lauren, and Papaw. The next day they slept in (thank goodness) until 10am, then played the "Ant Killing Car Wash" (don't ask) on the patio. Hailey came over to play and they had a big time bouncing a ball in a sheet, eating pinto beans, calling each other "Bootie Butt," and going on a Snoopy hunt with a giant flashlight. Adelaide was smiling up a storm and cooing at Great Grandma, much to her delight! Later we had "Girls' Night" with my friends and all the kids came tromping through the living room like the Lost Boys - Zorro, Darth Vader, some kind of sword-wielding pirate, etc. and they all followed Stephen and Scotty outside like the Pied Piper. Stephen tried to help Josie get her shoes on the RIGHT feet for once, but I heard her yelling at him, "But I LIKE THEM THIS WAY!!!" When we got home, Josie tried to feed all of those pesky nocturnal birds at 10pm, and Sadie cried because she saw a picture of her and Grammie and she started feeling all nostalgic.

On Tuesday, the girls stayed with Brenda and Kimmie, Noah, and Dalton while I went to lunch with Chass and Becky. They had a fabulous time there, then had a watergun fight with my Daddy. We ate at the "Ham House," which Josie decided was "Sam's House." Sadie ate tons of jelly off her knife there... what kind of mother does she have?! Back at Grandma's, Josie spilled powder all over the bathroom floor, and so she and Sadie took it upon themselves to wash the floors in the bathroom with water and washcloths. Grandma thought that was so funny...seeing two little kids mopping the floors on their hands and knees! Now if only I could get them to do that at home!

In My Mind I'm Gone to Carolina... (part 1)

After a LONG trip (10 hours, to be exact), we made it to my Grandma's house at 2am. We stopped 3 times so I could nurse Adelaide; apparently stopping that much adds on 2 hours to my traveling time... usually we get there in 8. On Thursday, we played with Cameron and Caleb. Alas, Cameron is finally too big for the Pack-n-Play, so there could be no pinto bean party this trip. He made himself useful by lifting the 3 smaller kids in and out of the Pack-n-Play and moaning and groaning about it. :) Adelaide had her big southern debut, meeting Great Grandma, Thomas, Elizabeth, Josh, Papaw, Mamaw, and Dillon (Mamaw's grandson). Sadie and Josie also "re-met" him, and Sadie was not impressed. It takes a while for her to warm up to some people, and he was being a typical boy (he also was trying to be "the boss," as she put it, and she did NOT go for that at all!). He asked her to be his girlfriend, and she just looked at him like he was crazy, then she said, "No, I do not." Josie said, "I will! For 2 weeks!" Then we all swam in the pool; Josie was a hit in her "Superman" floatie suit. Sadie got mad at Papaw because he squirted her in the face with a watergun and she flat out refused to believe that it was an accident. Was she TICKED!!! She finally got over it and decided that squirting HIM in the face was payback enough... and also a good time. That night after I got all the kids in bed, Daddy picked me up from Grandma's house and we had a Father/Daughter date, which was fabulous... I think it's probably been at least 8 years since we've been able to go out by ourselves and just sit there and talk. I loved it!

On Friday, Grandma showed the girls her "Moonbloom" flowers, which were right up Sadie's alley. Anything having to do with the moon or stars are her favorite things at the moment. Then we went up to Angela's house to play and swim (the girls are so brave when she's around...seems like they trust her in the water more than they trust me...?) Josie pigged out on fresh peaches, then we went back and fed the birds with Great Grandma. We had supper with Papaw at the Japanese place, then walked at the park and played on the playground. Papaw thought it was funny when he was pushing Josie on the swing and she counted all the way up to "Eleventeen!" Sadie enjoyed watching the tennis players, and they both pretty much got disgustingly filthy in the gravel/ashes on the walking trails and in the playground. When we got back home and I put them in the bathtub, they streamed dirt all over the place. Yuck! After they went to bed Mama, Nettie, and I played cards with Sharon... I forgot how much fun it is to play Rummy!

On Saturday, the girls got their wish and finally got to go play with Kimmie, Noah, and Dalton at Louis and Brenda's house. I'm telling you, they play the "I'm Noah. You're Kimmie! Mommy is Dalton!" game all the time. It's so funny... anytime they're fighting about something, Jesse will say, "I'm Noah!" and it totally distracts them so they forget what they were fighting about. Anyway (I'm distracted myself, now!) we went over there and played in the pool and goofed around for half the day. Brenda was having a yard sale, which Josie was thrilled to see (she loves yard sales) and she also has a huge stash of UNMONITORED juice boxes in the fridge on the screened in porch. What better place could there possibly be? Louis gave me a deal on a picnic table that he built, and Don offered to drive it home on the back of his truck for me. It's sitting out on my deck now, waiting to be stained! We went home for naps then over to Thomas and Elizabeth's house for the Sunday School pool party (do you notice a pool theme yet?). The girls have no fear now that they have had a)swimming lessons - Sadie and b) the Supersuit - Josie. They jumped right in! Sadie hurt her butt when she jumped so she gave it up and played with her cousin Taylor OUTSIDE of the pool. Then we all rode the golf cart with Josh, and somehow Josie got her feet stained all bloody red. It was the weirdest thing... we figured she must've stomped some Koolaid somewhere along the way. We finally got to meet Bayleigh, Natasha and Britt's baby who is 2 weeks older than Adelaide. She is so cute! She looks like a little Kewpie doll. The only thing cuter than the two of those babies is the two of them TOGETHER!
That night, Sadie said, "Hey. I want my Daddy." I asked if they wanted to call him and talk to him, but Josie said, "NO! I want to SEE HIS FACE."

And a One-a and a Two-a and a Three-a

Okay, after causing much confusion to my devoted readers, I must clarify and say that these are NOT the same baby. There are three different girls here!

Yakity Yak

Monday was Josie's actual birthday. Here we have the rundown of what happened:
She fell down, skinned her left knee. Fell down again, skinned her right knee. She was minding her own business next to the stairs and got stung by a bee on her hand. (When she was crying and showing me her swollen little hand, I asked her if she knew what happened to bees after they sting you. She snubbed, "N-n-no." I said, "They die!" She perked right up and laughed an evil laugh... "Heh-heh-heh-heh!" To top off the day, at supper, she fell down the stairs. When Jesse tried to stop her rapid descent with his foot (which was the closest part of him to her) he kicked her in the face. Sheesh. I am hoping that this does not foretell what the rest of her third year will be like.

Adelaide has a funny, funny cry. She says, "Gi! Gi! Gi!" (this rhymes with knee); she also says, "Weh. Weh. Weh." Just like you'd say it if you were pretending to be a crying baby. She also always has to be doing something with her left arm: raising it above her head, waving it around, making punching motions with it (she already tried to pop Jesse in the face), holding it over her ear, and sucking on her fist. I think it must've been her favorite when she was in the womb... she can't get enough of it. She spoke her first word with some vehemence, then looked mighty proud of herself. The word? "Yak." Fitting, considering that's what her two sisters do all day long. Yak, yak, yak.

Sadie thoroughly enjoyed herself at Bible School... she made some new friends, showed off her new swimming skills, rode the golf cart, ate popsicles to her heart's content, and was allowed to indulge herself in her favorite pastime (which I cannot stand!). No, it's not picking her nose, or doing anything really bad or yucky... It's... it's... Argh. I can't even stand it. It's collecting millions of little bitty things and putting them all together in one place. Doesn't matter what it is! Beads, silk flowers, jewelry, blocks, fake diamonds, a comb, a tea strainer, a golf ball... the list goes on and on. No matter what she has, if you can put something INTO it, she has a compulsion to FILL IT UP. MUST NOT STOP UNTIL IT IS FILLED UP. Me, being the obsessive sorting out type, finds this behavior to be like nails on a blackboard! I know it's probably just a phase and maybe I'll miss it when she grows out of it, but let me tell you: It is HARD for me to sit by and watch it happen without snatching her purse (bucket, pillowcase, cup, hat, shoe, whatever) and sorting it back out!

The girls made us so proud at the Children's "Sounds of the Kingdom" program... they actually got up on stage and sang "In the Highways, In the Hedges." Even though they wouldn't let me move off the stage and I had to sing with them, they still did it! Josie grabbed the microphone and hogged it the whole time, and Sadie fidgeted quite a bit, but THEY DID IT! In front of 200 people! That's my girl(s)!

Jumpy Party

After much anticipation, Josie's "JUMPY PARTY at the JUMPY PLACE!" was a resounding success. She wore her birthday girl shirt and tiara ALL day long, even to the grocery store to pick up the cake. Then, great happiness of happinesses, they got to skip naps! Then, off to the jumpy place we went to meet all kinds of friends and practically the entire Ohio family (the NC family has another party scheduled for the week we are down there). There was stuffed-animal making (Josie got a giraffe, Sadie got a pink poodle), sliding, jumping, and bouncing around to their hearts' content, then there was pizza, cake, ice cream, and fabulous presents - opened from the birthday girl chair. I can't believe she's already three! I told her, "Now you are 3 whole years old!" She said, "Now I am old... like Grammie!"

Sharks and Middles

Sadie finished her swimming lessons last week... she knows how to float on her back now, and she can put her whole head under water. Josie is trying as hard as she can to keep up, so hopefully they'll both be swimmers in the next year or so. She was so proud when she finished playing "Sharks and Minnows" (she thought it was Sharks and Middles) and got her certificate of completion and her popsicle!

We went over to Grandpa and Grandma's the other night and stayed very late... until the lightning bugs came out. The girls had a blast TRYING to catch them and since Grandma was housing some teenagers from church camp, they had some help. They thought it was so cool to have glowing bugs in their hands and in their jars! It was such a nice summer night... they had on their pj's and were catching lightning bugs with no shoes on! What says summer better than that?

Special Delivery

Last night when we were praying (saying the Lord's Prayer), Sadie said, "Mommy, does God deliver us GOOD? Like in an envelope? Like the mailman? He delivers evil from us and good to us?"

Today, Josie was "nudie-butt" in the pool yet again... after a rousing rendition of "I Skinny-dippin! I Skinny-dippin!" she proceeded with this fine little ditty: "Row, Row, Row this boat, jinly down a stweam, Mary Mewilly Mary Mewilly, like a bus a gween."

Don't fret None

Last Sunday we had a cookout at Beth and Roy's house with some friends that were visiting from England (they have a little girl, Leah, who is 2 1/2). Sadie and Josie were so sweet to her, including her in everything, and calling her "our new friend." Leah is so cute, and her little English accent cracks me up: "Mummy, may I have some more potatoes?" And "I have to go wee-wee." Speaking of wee-wee, while we were there, Josie went to the potty and no one knew it. We were all talking and laughing and then when there was finally a break in the conversation, we all heard this little voice (which had obviously been calling for a LONG time from the direction of the potty): "Mommy!!! Daddy!!! ANYBODY!!!"

The way the girls' minds work never stops making me think. For instance, Sadie keeps saying that her "foot is dizzy." I couldn't figure it out until she said that it felt like it was spinning around and she kept it in one place for too long. So, foot asleep = foot dizzy. Josie, on the other hand, keeps saying, "Mommy, I am sleepy of this." That one was easier to figure out: sleepy of this = tired of this. I think it's so interesting how their brains grow and develop and figure things out.

Adelaide went for her one month check-up on Thursday... she's gained 2 pounds and has grown an 1 3/4 inches! When they weighed her on the scale, she squirmed around like crazy and just about turned over all by herself! The nurse called the other nurses over and said, "Look at this! Look how strong she is!" She did really well with the doctor, and cooed at him and she didn't even cry when he was looking in her ears. I was impressed. She's a sweetie. She's starting to smile a lot more, and she definitely knows when I am around. I love it. Looking at her makes me happy and sad at the same time... happy because I have her and she's so sweet and cute and wonderful and a world of possibilities all rolled up together; sad because I know this is probably the last time for me to be the mommy of a newborn. But I must enjoy it to the fullest extent! I must not fret! Here is her latest picture, complete with a milk goatee!

Bliss

Every once in a while, you experience a moment of sheer bliss. These don't happen very often... I can count on one hand the times I've had in my life that would fall into this category; today I had one of them. Usually you don't notice it until later... today, for instance, I didn't really realize it until I had 30 seconds of peace and quiet (very rare around here) for reflection:

I was sitting in our yard, watching the sun go down... it was warm, there was a nice breeze, I was nursing my baby and she was looking up at me, Josie had stripped off all of her clothes and was sliding buck-naked into her swimming pool, Sadie was wearing her favorite dress, bicycle helmet, and elbow and knee pads and was riding around on her bike, and Jesse was working on something with a screwdriver inside the garage. It. Was. A. Perfect. Moment.

Suddenly, it hit me: The only things that matter in my life, that REALLY MATTER, were right there in front of me at that very moment. Could anything be more perfect than that?

Dinosauraus

A while back, we went to one of those cook-on-the-table Japanese places. When the chef put the steak onto the grill, Josie said (really LOUDLY), "Is that Mouse Meat?" This is because of one of her favorite songs - A Wiggle and a Hiss - about a snake that hunts a mouse for meat. Needless to say, I'm glad she didn't ask if it was CAT meat. Good grief.

Things have been going pretty well around here. After week of feeling nigh unto death, the antibiotics finally kicked in on Monday and I started feeling a lot better. So much better that I have made an effort to rejoin the land of the living, ie: we went to Sam's Club yesterday AND to get Adelaide's 1 month picture taken AND to the Walking With Dinosaurs production downtown. Sam's was anxiety-causing, to say the least. We had to get 2 carts, and I had to pull both of them to the van, unload, load kids, feed baby, etc. It was hard. I know I'll get used to it, but it's hard! Then we ended up spending almost 2 1/2 hours at the portrait studio because they were understaffed, although we had an appointment, which was irritating! Adelaide did not want to cooperate with the photographer, of course, but the girls did. They cracked me up with their cheesy smiles and goofy expressions. After we were finished and were looking at the proofs, of course the baby woke up and had the sweetest smiles you ever saw. A day late and a dollar short, as my Daddy likes to say. Anyway, the pictures turned out pretty cute. I will try to post one when they come back.

The Dinosaur thing was pretty amazing. Although going downtown is somewhat nervewracking for me (I think I'm becoming a bit of an agoraphobic), the actual show was great. The dinosaurs looked SO real and the kids were fascinated. Sadie couldn't stop talking through the whole show: "What is that dinosaur doing? Where is he going? Why is he so big? What are those horns for?" and Josie just kind of sat there, mesmerized. Every once in a while she would say, "What's that one's name?" but other than that, she just watched. They thought it was really cool... I was impressed that they actually sat through a 90 minute show without jumping around and falling off the balcony.

Picking and Grinning

The other day my mom said to Sadie, "Oh, sorry, I was confused." Sadie said, "Well, that's what happens when you get old." Sheesh.

She's also taken to saying, "As a matter of fact..." and "Back in the old days..." like she knows about the old days! I don't even know much about the old days!

Josie, on the other hand, has decided that ACTUALLY is her new favorite word. She says actually this, actually that... it makes her sound much older than 2 1/2!

They were out in the yard with Grammie last week and there was a bit of an incident involving a watering can that they both wanted. It ended with Josie on the ground, Sadie on top of her... both of them yelling and screaming... Sadie grabbed the toy and ran away, laughing, the victor, and Josie threw a tantrum on the ground, hollering her woes to the sky and anyone who would listen. Then suddenly she stopped, jumped up, and ran away. She said, "Well, I was crying, but then I saw a butterfly, and I was happy."

They both went to pick strawberries with Aunt Cindy, Aunt Becky, and their cousins yesterday. They had a blast and picked LOTS of berries. Becky said Josie was the best picker of them all, and went around saying, "Hey! I need a bigger basket!"

Adelaide is doing great... she's getting cuter and cuter, and yesterday she said, "Goo." I love it when you first hear their little voices. Sadie and Josie ask at least 5 times a day each if they can hold her, and they love just looking at her and petting her little head. I, on the other hand, have had a very rough week. I ran a fever of 104 for a couple of days, with chills like I was in the North Pole, and ended up back at the doctor again (after talking to them a hundred times on the phone) and I have 3 different infections... mastitis, a UTI, and my incision site from the C-section. I'm now on high-powered antibiotics, but I feel like I've been in the middle of the 7 deadly plagues or something. Hopefully God has heard my pathetic prayers and I will feel better soon... I'm so tired of being sick and tired (I'm sure everyone else is, too! :)

Genetics

Josie got bucked off of her ROCKING horse last night. She somehow leaned a little too far back and CRASH! Right on the floor. I cracked up. So did Sadie. Josie, who was on the verge of crying, decided to laugh since we were, then proceeded to do it over and over again. Sadie, while pulling a wagonload of mulch across the driveway, failed to look up and BAM! She ran right into the back of Grandma's car. Maybe they don't look much like me, but they are definitely MY children!

Adelaide is doing really well... she's gained back almost to her birthweight, her light jaundice is pretty much vanished, and she is getting cuter every day. She's also sleeping well, usually about 5 hours at a time at night (she'd probably go for longer, but I'm waking her up for now - according to Babywise, the Baby Sleep Bible :). I'm doing fairly well... thank the Lord for mothers/grandmas! My mom was here all week last week, and Beth was here Saturday until last night. They are the best!

Ade-lady's Birthday

Where to begin? All day last Wednesday, I felt very weird... I went around hugging the girls constantly, writing them letters to read when they grow up, praying, etc. I guess I was just scared. Apprehensive would be a better word, I suppose. I couldn't sleep at ALL that night, which was just as well since we had to be up at 5:00am on Thursday morning to be at the hospital by 6:00. On the way, Jesse played some Lonestar song on the iPod which almost made me cry (probably not intentionally being sentimental, knowing my husband) while we watched this gorgeous sunrise coming up over the highway. When we got to the hospital (he totally utilized the maternity parking the whole time we were there) we went straight up to the 3rd floor and they checked us right in... I was the only one on the whole floor that morning, so we got plenty of attention. Something that helped ease my tension was noticing a plaque on the wall of the maternity hall: Psalm 139: 13-14, "You knit me together in my mother's womb; I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!" We got everything situated (gown on, IV in, monitor on, cathether in --ick --prayers said, etc.) by 8:00am. I kept telling them I had to pee, but the nurse said my bladder couldn't be empty when she put the catheter in so I should wait. Well, I waited and waited an WAITED and finally Jesse went out and got her. When she put it in, we saw her eyes grow wide with amazement as the bag just about completely filled up all at once. She said, "Whoa!! You really DID have to go!" Like I was making it up or something! At that point, my bladder felt like it was the size of a pea (no pun intended) PLUS I was nervous which makes me have to go anyway. Enough of that, though. So once that was done, Jesse got his scrubs on (which would barely fit over his giant shoes... apparently most doctors have tiny feet or something) and suddenly it was 8:35 and they came and got me and took me through the swinging doors to the O.R. The anesthetist (Dr. Donahue), whom Jesse thought was funny (when I asked if he would be in the O.R. the whole time, he said, "No... I usually leave to take a smoke break.") immediately got started on my spinal block, and got it in the very first time with no trouble at all. The only thing I felt was the little needle they used to numb me. It was surprisingly (and I was relieved, believe me) painless... my right side started going numb right away and they laid me back on the table and started putting up the drape in front of me. Before I knew it, the doctor came in, 2 nurses for the baby, 5 other helpers, and a paramedic in training (I told them I didn't care if he watched the surgery; I will probably end up calling him for help one day when my shoulder falls out). Jesse barely made it in the door before they started cutting! Suddenly, there was tugging, pulling, and voila! We heard Adelaide cry for the first time... which of course, made ME cry for about the millionth time in 9 months. Jesse said she was perfect, and that she looked like me but with the "Roy lip" and my Daddy's skin tone. They held her up for just a second so I could see her and the doctor said, "Happy birthday, baby!" She was so cute with her dark hair and olive skin and her scrunced up little face! The nurses took over with the baby and then it seemed like a LONG time before they finished sewing me up... When they finally did finish, they moved me to another bed and put Adelaide next to me while they wheeled us to our room. After that, everything is kind of a blur... I was SO sleepy, but I couldn't really go to sleep. I dozed in and out all morning and afternoon, but I don't remember much of what happened. My mom brought the girls in with their "Biggest sister" and "Big sister" t-shirts and they were SO excited to meet the baby. Sadie just stared and stared at her, and then whispered, "I think she's gonna break my heart!" Then Josie said, "She's so cute... she's just so cute. Hey! I need to see her feet." Then Beth and Sarah and Roy came, then Lyd and Darryl, Melissa and Caroline, Cindy and Becky... there were a lot of visitors, which was nice. Jesse brought us flowers and a huge purple butterfly balloon, just like I'd always wanted :). He had the world's most uncomfortable chair/bed, so he only stayed with us on Thursday and Friday nights. I mainly stayed in bed and tried to rest, but they feed you so much at the hospital I would barely finish one meal before it was time for the next one! The nurses were fabulous... I couldn't really have asked for better care - I think they were better this time than at the previous two hospitals I've had babies in. Adelaide was a little bit jaundiced, but not so bad that they had to treat her or anything; we were sprung from the joint on Monday around lunchtime, and Daddy picked us up to bring us home. Lots of people in the hospital, the elevator, and the sidewalk stopped to tell us congratulations and how cute she was on our way out. When we finally made it home, the girls were about to pop with excitement, and could not WAIT to hold their new sister!

Introducing... Adelaide!

5-29-08

9.47 lbs.

21 1/2"

Thankful

Well, the big day is practically upon us. Seems like it took forever to get here, and now that it IS here, I wonder if I'm ready. I wonder if you can ever really BE ready, though... the idea that when I leave here I will have 2 kids and when I return I will have 3 is just crazy. I remember the day that Jesse drove me to the hospital in NC to have Sadie, and the way I felt as we drove down the road... thinking, "Hey... I will never be the same after this. My life will have completely changed the next time I see that billboard, or that stoplight, or that farm." Boy, was I right. Same thing with Josie... nothing has been the same since. Now that there are going to be 3 of them, I know that life is going to do another drastic change for us. It makes me sad, in a way, because as hectic and crazy as life has been the past couple of years, I have had a really great time with my two girls. They are such a joy and a blessing to me, even though it can be tough sometimes. I wonder now if I've lived in the moment enough... if I've enjoyed every second quite as much as I could have - and I know that I haven't. The only consolation is that now, it will be me and my THREE girls. Although life will be changing for us drastically, what possible bad can come of having someone else to love? I remember feeling that way before Josie was born, too... like I was shorting Sadie out of time with me. But now, oh my gosh, I could never have imagined how much they would adore each other and take care of each other and play together and just be best friends. I never would have taken that away from either one of them. This new baby, hopefully, will just add to that family dimension... and Sadie and Josie constantly surprise me with their capacity to care and love - I pray that God will keep that sweet spirit about them as they grow and mature and learn to love their NEW baby. Same goes for me. I'm excited about meeting her... having a new little person with her own personality is truly the greatest miracle that there could be. It's so mind-boggling to think that from 2 people, God can create another totally different person, unique, individual, and also in His image. I am awed and amazed and humbled that He's given me this gift. Not just once, not twice, but now THREE times. It's so true that we can do nothing to deserve His gifts... I mean, what possible things could I have ever done to begin to make up for the joy and blessings that being a mother brings? Nothing. All I can do is be thankful.

The Bigmouth

Last weekend, Jesse took Sadie on her first ever fishing trip. She loaded up her pint-size fishing pole and tackle box (courtesy of Aunt Sarah for her birthday) and left with her Daddy, so excited that she could barely contain herself! She ended up catching 6 sunfish and 1 "Bigmouth Bass." Jesse said she did really well and he was proud of her for being patient and waiting for the fish to bite! How proud of herself was she? Well, the pictures speak for themselves.

Josie and I had fun Mommy-Josie morning... she picked out what she wanted for breakfast (bacon, all-colored cereal, and oranges) AND she got to watch whichever cartoon she wanted (Miss Spider's Sunnypatch Friends) on Noggin. After that, we headed out to the big Kids' Sale garage sale at the fairgrounds. She had a good old time playing with all the toys that were for sale, and she picked out (and paid for) a brand new Belle princess doll - a whopper of a deal at only $.75!

9 More Days... 9 More Days

I am so miserable that I do not know what to do with myself. Yesterday at church, I had a sudden and unexpected allergy attack - my nose completely stopped up, my eyes started watering, I started coughing and sneezing - you know the drill. It intensified into a major headache, a low grade fever, a sore throat, throwing up, 2 amputated hands, and - oh, wait. The hands were a separate symptom... I CANNOT FEEL MY EITHER ONE OF MY HANDS. Add all this to the ginormous bowling ball attached to my belly, and you have one stinking miserable mama. I did not sleep at all last night. Again. I ended up coughing my head off while simultaneously anointing myself with Vicks Vaporub and half-heartedly watching "Sahara" with John Wayne. Jesse said when I did fall into a fitful sleep (for about 30 minutes) I only made weird moaning sounds like a dying chicken.

What can this mean, I wonder? Maybe it means that it's time to get this kid outta me! Sigh.

On a brighter note, my mom gave me a baby shower yesterday at her house, with the help of my sister-in-law. It was fun, even though I was kind of zoned out on doctor-allowed allergy medication, ie: stuff that was not very helpful. She had tons of food, and family and friends came over to wish us well and bring me cute outfits, diapers, wipes, and a fabulous gift certificate for a massage. Can't wait to redeem that one!

15 Days Left

I'm getting excited about meeting the new baby... the girls and I watched their birth videos yesterday and I remembered meeting them for the first time - and now that I KNOW them, it's just interesting to look back and see them when they first came into the world. It makes me wonder what this little girl will be like... more like Sadie? more like Josie? Will I finally have a child that looks somewhat like me? (Jesse must have very dominant genes). Whoever she is, I can't wait until she's OUT of me... no more kicking and punching and rolling over in me... and IN my arms. Can't wait to hold her and snuggle her and smell her sweet new baby smell!

Oh... and maybe when I see her little face we might actually be able to come up with a name!

Mariachi Socks

The other night when we were "belly painting" the goldfish bowl on the new baby, the girls were all crazy and excited and hopping all around. They spilled the cup of water, spilled some paint, and wreaked general havoc until Jesse got irritated and snapped at them to "Stop being so goofy!!!" Sadie stopped what she was doing, looked at me, and said, "Well, SOMEBODY's in a crabby mood."

Josie decided to wear her white and pink sparkly cowboy - excuse me, cowGIRL - boots to Sam's Club the other night (they LOVE Sam's Club... don't ask me why. I think it has something to do with Icees and Hot Dogs and Free Samples). She refused to pull her pants legs down on top of the boots, so we ended up stuffing them down inside of the boots, at which point she said, "Hey! I look like the Mariachi Band!"

Sadie, who was also supposed to be getting ready to go to Sam's Club at this time, said, "I am a grown-up. I am bigger than Josie, and I go to meetings (?) and so I am a grown-up. Hey! I am grown up now and I can take care of myself. Now, Mommy, will you please help me put on my socks?"

Last night, Josie and I had special Mommy-Josie time, and she got to take a bath all by herself. She thinks that's the best thing ever... which I guess makes sense when you've spent most of your life being forced to always take a bath with your big sister! Then we read 6 books (ending up with her old favorite, Goodnight Moon) and snuggled in the rocking chair. She said that she will still be my baby even when I have another baby. But she will also be the big sister! Tonight, we had special Mommy-Sadie time, and we just sat in the rocking chair and talked and read "Gulliver Mickey." She said that she wasn't worried about the new baby coming... she wants it to sleep in the bed with her when it gets big enough. She also said that she thinks God gave her to me first because she is such a good helper. :) I think she's probably right.

Something Fishy's Going On...

Told You

We have a new song in my iPod (yes, Jesse finally got me my very own tiny green iPod - I love it! It looks like a little pack of chewing gum!) called "Whatever Happened to the Dinosaurs? No One Really Knows." After listening to it on the way home today, Sadie said, "I think I know what happened to the dinosaurs, Mommy. I think they're all still here... they're just INVISIBLE." I said, "Well, you know what? That is just as good an explanation as any other one I've ever heard. You might be right... but nobody really knows." She said, "Well, YOU know NOW! I just TOLD YOU!"

Josie is getting funnier every day. Her voice keeps getting deeper and deeper, especially when she's trying to act "serious." For instance, when she says, "I don't want to." She insists on putting her shoes on the wrong feet EVERY TIME, because she insists "I like it that way." She's also trying to be a really good helper for me lately, saying things like, "Oh yes, Mommy, I will do that for you RIGHT NOW." I love it!

What time is it?

It's wake-up time

It's snuggle-time in bed with Mommy

It's cartoon-time

Time for breakfast

Time to get dressed

Time to do chores

Is it time for school?

Is it time for a juice box?

Is it time for stories in the special reading chair?

It's lunch-time

It's play-time

It's nap-time

Time to find Snoopy

Time to look for your Blank

Time to snuggle in and close your eyes

Is it time for Daddy to come home?

Is it time for us to help Mommy with supper?

Is it time to clean-up?

It's time to eat

It's time to pray

It's time to wrestle with Daddy

Time to get in the bath-tub

Time to wrap up like a baby

Time to be a nudie-butt... time for PJ's

Is it time for Bible stories?

Is it time to brush our teeth?

Is it time for bed already?

It's time for lullabyes

It's time for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

It's time for prayers

Time to give kisses and hugs

Time to say, "Don't let the bedbugs bite"

Time to dream sweet dreams

But not time to grow up... not yet.

Cheers and Jeers

Last night Josie was drinking "tea" with Grandma and Aunt Sarah when she decided that she wanted more milk in her tea. She said, "I need more milk!" Grandma said, "What do you say when you need something to drink?" I'm pretty sure that Grandma meant "please," but Josie held up her teacup and said, "Cheers!" Aunt Sarah is taking the credit for this one. :)

Today after church I took the girls to ride these little mini-trains in a near-by park. As we were waiting in line, they were running around in a meadow, picking flowers and chasing butterflies. As I watched, suddenly Sadie's skirt fell completely off and landed around her ankles. The look on her face was priceless... and I couldn't stop laughing as she limped over to me with one hand holding her skirt up. THEN, (she had one of those days) we were playing outside and she kicked a ball, causing her Croc shoe to fly up, up, up into the air - falling back down and bopping her square on the head. Thank goodness they're made of lightweight plastic!

Only 26 more days to go for me and the new baby (we still have no name)... I look like a CARTOON. I gained only in my belly this time, and only about 18 pounds so far. Usually, I gain all over and I'm up to about 35 pounds by now. Of course, I was sick the whole time with this one too... all this leads me to believe that it's a boy, but the doctor is 99% sure it's another girl. I guess there's just one way to find out, though, right?

Hmphh

So, in the grand old tradition of the dipstick who asked me, "You used to be a teenager a long time ago, right?" my very own husband said to me the other night (keep in mind that I am now 9 months pregnant and extremely huge and irritable)... the conversation was something like, "I feel like the baby is dropping further and further... like I might go into labor at any time with this one!" and HE said, "Well, you're older and in worse shape than you were with the first two." Hmphh.

Spring Sillies

* Here we have "Crazy Crayon Toes" and the new fashion craze that Josie is trying to get started.

This morning, Sadie was looking out the door onto the deck when she yelled, "Mommy! Quick! Unlock the door and bring me my BEE-noculars!" She proceeded to bird-watch for 30 whole minutes, spotting a Red Robin, a Cardinal, and a Squirrel-bird.

After they were all dressed and ready to go to Grandpa's house, Josie made a sloshing appearance in my room... her head was completely soaked with water. Sadie explained that Josie had held her head under the water dispenser in the refrigerator door. I do not understand my child! :)

Disgust

The other day we went shopping and I was trying on clothes in the fitting room. Seeing as how I am 9 months pregnant, trying on clothes was not the best idea in the world to begin with! Add to that the fact that I am super slow and klutzy, and you have 2 very bored and antsy little girls who are trapped in the fitting room. As I got close to being finished, I looked over and to my horror, Sadie was LICKING the mirror on the wall in the fitting room! Ugh! Ack! I went over and held her by the shoulders, looked right into her eyes, and said, "That is disgusting! You must never, never EVER EVER lick ANYTHING!" She stared right back in my eyes, paused for a second, and then said, "Not even a popsicle?"

Sheesh.

Monster Masks

A couple of weeks ago we went to see a hockey game and the girls thought it was great. Mommy did not think it was quite so great simply because I spent most of the night waddling up and down the stairs to take one or the other of them to go potty! They had free hair painting, fake tattoos, and face painting for kids, and when I asked the girls what they wanted (thinking they'd ask for a butterfly or a heart or something girly) they BOTH wanted a mask! Especially Josie - Sadie at least wanted a rainbow mask, but Josie wanted a scary monster mask!

Flower Children

On Saturday, Jesse took both the girls to a "workday" at church to help with spring cleanup. They wore their little gardening gloves and they worked their little butts off all day! They hauled mulch (and climbed/slid down the mulch pile), pulled weeds, and did lots of other stuff to "work on God's yard." They were there from 9am until about 4pm, and when they got home, they had to strip off in the utility room... Josie had mulch all the way down in her diaper, and Sadie's feet (she had on her garden shoes) were completely black (even between her toes). They immediately headed for the bathtub, then once they were all cleaned up, they collapsed on our bed with Jesse and all three of them zonked out and slept until 6:30. I had to force them to get up to eat supper, and then they went back to bed and slept all night. Jesse was so proud of them!

So today, it was a beautiful day outside (one of the first of the year) and silly me decided to do some yardwork. Since I can barely bend over now, it was NOT an easy task. Luckily, the girls donned their gloves, grabbed their rakes, and got busy helping me. It's so cute to see them digging, carrying sticks and leaves, pulling weeds, and being little gardeners! We put pinwheels all over the place, and then they drew on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. It was a lovely day :)

7 more weeks

Insomnia. It's driving me crazy. I keep waking up at at 3 am and I CANNOT go back to sleep until 6, when I might as well just get up! I'm sure it's linked to pregnancy. 7 more weeks. 7 more weeks. 7 more weeks. That's my new mantra.

We got back from NC late Sunday night... we had a rough trip, especially me. I felt so crammed into the car and SO uncomfortable that it was just ridiculous. Everything got on my nerves, and it seemed the only time I was really enjoying myself was when I was sleeping! Sheesh. 7 more weeks. 7 more weeks. The girls had a lot more fun than I did, which is how it should be, I guess! We went to the carnival on Tuesday with Papaw, Mamaw, my cousin Angela, and her little girl Lauren (she's between the ages of Sadie and Josie). They had a really fun time together and got to ride ponies, the merry-go-round, the race cars, and they climbed the crazy climbing thing (Josie was really good at this!). Mamaw also let them play the duckie game and Papaw bought them cotton candy. Wednesday, Thomas came home from work early and played with the kids for hours. He and Elizabeth and Josh came over and they all played outside, spinning around, running, playing ball, and getting all sweaty and hot. It was really warm out for 2 days (and SUNNY - YAY!) and they played while I sat out in the sun and read. The rest of the week was spent playing with Britt and Natasha (due with her 1st baby the same day as I am), zooming up and down the driveway at Papaw's house while he pushed them on the little car, eating Great Grandma's pinto beans, feeding the birds, playing in the fort at Aunt Sharon's house with Cameron and Caleb, wearing themselves out at Brenda's house with Chasity's kids, and generally having a good old time. Saturday was the baby shower that Angela and I had for Natasha, and though we got a late start and had to RUN to finish everything on time, it went well and we had a great turnout. The girls had fun playing in the toyroom with Hailey, and then they took turns "helping" Natasha open her presents and "modeling" them for everyone to see.

All in all, it was a good trip. Only my hormones and I had a rough time! :)

What? FOUR Already?

Saturday was Sadie's fourth birthday. This morning, I told her that it was her birthday, and she said, "What? My birthday!? Already?? I'm FOUR!" She had a good day.... we went to a real tea room with the 2 grandmas, Aunt Becky, Teagan, Aunt Cindy, and Laura. She loved all the china teapots and cups for everyone, the tiny food, the whole nine yards. She wore a blue polka dot dress that she picked out herself, a pearl headband, AND white kid gloves. She was so grown up. I couldn't talk (I'm in the throes of laryngitis again), but I could bask in the glow of her cuteness. :)

She spent the rest of the day (and night) with Grandma Beth (her choice for a happy birthday! :) and then after church on Sunday, we had a cake and ice cream party (courtesy of Grammie) at our house.

Josie went on a special Josie/Daddy trip to the zoo today and had a fabulous time. She came home hyped up on sugar (rock candy) and thrilled with her gift shop purchases (a snake for Sadie's birthday party and a "purse" full of tiny little animals for herself, which she played with ALL night and talked to as if they were 20 babies of her own.

Can I Get a Cotton Ball?

Well, Josie has pretty much potty-trained herself over the past week and a half. Neither Jesse nor I thought that she was ready yet (she won't be 3 until the end of July) but give that girl a little incentive and she goes for it! We made her very own potty bank a couple of weeks ago (she gets a cotton ball for going #1 and 2 cotton balls for going #2). Whenever she fills it up to a certain line she gets a) Candy b) a trip to the playground at the mall c) eating at her favorite place (Mexican) and seeing the Mariachi band and the best of all --and hardest to achieve -- d) Chuck E. Cheese's! She filled the whole potty bank up in record time, let me tell you. She would go potty over and over and over again, and every time when she finished, she would say, "Give me some toilet paper, please. Now, can I get a cotton ball?" She's been wearing cute little Winnie-the-Pooh panties around at home and today she wore the same big girl pull-up ALL DAY LONG! Coincidentally, today was the day we took them to Chuck E. Cheese's, too (even though both Daddy and I have colds). They had a blast, and Sadie has been great as far as "peer pressure" goes. She knows that when Josie wins, SHE wins too. So she's been saying, "Hey Josie... don't forget to go potty! Do you need to go potty? Good job! High Five!" Anyway, tonight, the funniest thing happened... There's this clock ride there (think Hickory Dickory Dock) that has a little chair the kids sit in and it goes all the way around the clock a few times while playing a little song (the kid has to buckle in before it starts). Josie picked this particular ride as her very favorite for tonight, and she must've ridden it 10 times or so. The funny thing was, she would climb in the chair, Sadie would buckle her in, put in the money, then tickle Josie's feet - when she could reach them - as the chair went around the clock. Josie thought this was hilarious. THEN, they traded places. Sadie got in the chair, buckled in, Josie put the token in, and then she ran around to tickle Sadie's feet. Somehow, instead of tickling and letting go like Sadie had done, she somehow decided to latch on to Sadie's feet with both hands... in a death grip. The ride, oblivious to what was going on, kept going up, up, up... and so did Josie. The highest the thing goes is about 5 feet off the ground, so the highest Josie got before she lost her grip and went Kerplunk! on her butt was about 3 1/2 feet or so, but you should've seen the look on her face!!! I thought Jesse and I were going to crack up. It was great.

Bunny and Big Wheels

This past weekend Jesse went to visit our friends in Illinois with Darryl, Lydia, and Sadie. Sadie was not homesick in the least, but Mommy had a rough time with her being gone! It was the first time she had ever been away from me - I've left her, but she's never left ME before! They had a blast, though... Sadie was the world's best traveler, apparently. She spent hours playing with her "activity bag" that I packed for her, and Jesse let her watch Happy Feet on the laptop with the headphones. This was her first experience with headphones, and Jesse said that Darryl and Lydia were cracking up because every five minutes Sadie would shout, "HEY LYDIA! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE?!" while wearing the headset.

Sadie and Simon (Aaron & Lydia's son in Illinois) got along really well all weekend. They have similar temperaments, and although she's a year and a half younger than him, she's about the same height and she's a BIG talker, you know. Sadie was also great with Miriam, Simon's little sister... she always invited her to play with them - I guess because she's so used to playing with her OWN little sister. I was pretty proud of her for that!

Jesse said that it was kind of cold there this weekend but the kids wanted to play outside. They were racing around on the bike and big wheel when the grown-ups heard a crack and a big thud - they turned around and saw Sadie looking down at the ground with the front fork of the big wheel all the way down on the driveway with the front wheel completely broken off. Simon was a little bit concerned over his big wheel at first, but since he just got training wheels on his big-boy bike, he handled it okay. This is a re-enactment of the "Big Wheel Incident."

When they left on Friday, I said to Josie, "I'm going to miss Daddy and Sadie while they're gone, aren't you?" Josie turned around, looked at me, and said, "Nope!" So while they were on their big adventure, Josie and I spent the night at my mom's house on Friday night and then went to have breakfast on a farm with the Easter Bunny on Saturday morning. Afterward, we visited the animals on the farm and Josie had a great time... we rode on the wagon behind a tractor, saw all the new baby lambs (they all loved Josie and came right up to her so she could pet them), taste-tested silver-dollar pancakes, and took a pony ride! She picked out cherry rock candy as her special treat, but she decided it was too hard for her. She had a great time. Later that day, we met Grandma at Sam's Club and Josie went into the jungle (the plant display) and got a Slushee. Then we spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Josie loves being the center of attention, so a good time was had by all!

Snow Funny

Yesterday, Jesse, Uncle James, and Grandma took the kids sledding down the hill at her house. They had a blast... Sadie didn't last as long as Josie did, though. Josie was out there for hours, eating snow and making everyone pull her back up the hill so she could go down again all by herself. And, although we just got like 4 feet of snow, funny things are still happening around here.

My mom was talking about "keeping her foot in the door" at her old job, and Sadie said, "But Grammie, if you keep your foot in the door, it's going to get squooshed!"

The girls and I were goofing around on the bed, tickling each other, playing 'footsie,' and telling stories. I was telling them about a mean old crocodile who was sneaking up on a baby hippo, and we were all being really quiet, waiting for the crocodile to pounce, when Josie goes "thpppt! I TOOTED!" We all cracked up, and Josie said over and over, "I messed up you story, Mommy! I messed up you story!"

We were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and the girls were upstairs. Suddenly, things started flying over the railing on the loft down into the living room. I said, "Sadie, I don't want to see you throwing stuff off of there ANY MORE." She said, "But Mommy, I didn't think you could see me!"

Josie was wiggling around on the bed and she kicked Sadie in the nose. Sadie almost started crying, then Josie said, "I kicked you in the schnozz! Sadie, I'm sorry I kicked you in the schnozz!" Sadie forgot all about crying and we all started saying "Schnozz! Schnozz! Schnozz!"

From out of nowhere, Sadie said, "Mommy, you know those strings in the bathroom where Grammie works? So the little old ladies can pull them if they fall down and they can get help? We need one of those in our bathroom so I won't have to wait so long for you to come help me when I go potty."

Josie singing the wedding song at Grammie's house: "Here comes the pig, here comes the pig!"

Sadie when confronted with a no-no: "Hmm. Mommy, I think one of your children did it. But it wasn't me, so it must've been Josie."

Sadie when cleaning behind the bed: "Hey look! A cobweb! One of those "cob-spiders" must have built it."