Dreaming of some Zzzzs

***UPDATE***
Last night I went to bed at 9 and slept until 6!! Yay! I feel better. Hannah's fever is gone and her teeth have arrived.

Last night was perhaps the worst night I've had, ever, with both of the girls. They both went down fine, except that Hannah's fever spiked to 103.8. I gave her infant motrin and she went to sleep. The guys had their Bible Study and I hung out in the room and went to bed around 10:15. About 10:45 (just as I fell into a great sleep) I awake to hear Hannah screaming (not crying, screaming). Jeremy ended up getting her and tried putting her back down to sleep. I went back to bed...5 minutes later, screaming again. So, I got up and decided to stay up because I hate to lay down and get back up. It really messes with me. The guys left a little after 11 and Jeremy went to bed. Before I go further, let me say that Jeremy would stay up with me if I asked him to, but I believe that it is important for him to get sleep because he has to work the next day. If I'm tired, I can just lay low around the house, he can't. So it makes me happy when he goes to bed at night.
Anyway....Hannah screamed and cried for about an hour. Since she was no longer feverish (completely gone), had a dry diapers and I even *gasp* nursed her, so she was fed, I let her cry it out. So, about 11:45 Nicole gets up and says she has to potty. This happened a few more times. Hannah is still screaming, Nicole keeps getting up to go potty, and I'm awake. Hannah finally falls asleep at 12:30, Nicole had been down again about 15 minutes, so I head for bed. 5 minutes later, here comes Nicole. We go potty, lay her down, I go back to bed. 10 minutes later (of course I just fell asleep again) here comes Nicole again. I decide she doesn't have to pee, so I rock her in the living room. Something I haven't done this late at night in a long long time. I decide to cherish the moment and I truly enjoyed rocking with my sweet -growing up to fast -baby. She however was wide awake!!! It took me close to 45 minutes to rock her to sleep. So I transition her into her bed about 1:30 or 1:40. I decide not to go right back to bed, just in case. About 2, I crawl back in bed and head to sleep. At that time, I had decided not to get up at 5 and go to the gym...I knew 3 hours wouldn't be enough sleep for me for the next day.

5:45, Hannah is screaming again. There is NO consoling her or getting her back to sleep. I lay on the couch with her for about 30 minutes, give up and start playing with her. Jeremy gets up at 6:30, Nicole gets up when she hears the shower turn on...and alas, the day has started with me only getting 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

I was cranky this morning...I can not lie. But, by about 8:30 I was having normal conversation and making some sense. I've had a good day with the girls and even visiting with a few friends. I am sooooo sleepy and didn't get a nap because sweet Hannah decided not to take one yet this afternoon (she did sleep about 3 hours this morning, which was good I guess since she didn't sleep much last night).

Why did I post this...not to complain, although it may have sounded like it. I was actually cool with everything and submitted to the fact that I am their mother, and this is my job...until 6:15 this morning when I held Hannah up and told her I didn't know what to do with her, hahaha.

You know what though...there are many mothers and babies who do this on a nightly basis. I'm thankful nights like this are somewhat uncommon for us. I enjoyed rocking with Nicole. I did not enjoy listening to Hannah scream, but I was happy when she finally fell asleep. I'm thankful my girls are healthy, strong little people that can take a bad night and make it into a good day. And, I'm even more thankful that God's grace is sufficient for me. I could not have made it through today without his grace in my life, I would have been a mess. So, Thank You Lord for showing me abundant grace today.

FIRST WORDS!!!!

Of course my mom thinks Hannah has been saying 'Yaya' lately (her name from the girls) and Jeremy thinks she's been saying 'dadda' (which is quite likely), but I think I can absoluetely officially say her first words are ' bye bye'. She said it several times just now (while waving bye bye). Of course on camera it wasn't quite as purposeful...but I'm putting it down in the book. Here's the video.

2 Prayer Requests

I have two prayer requests I want to pass along.

1. Please pray for Rick, Justin's girlfriend's father. He was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer just before the new year. We got to see him and his wife, Debbie, on Sunday. They came over for pizza for my birthday. It was great to see them both. Rick seemed in good spirits and looked great. He's receiving treatment.

2. Also, please pray for our friend Nathan. He is a Navy Seal that was just deployed again. He'll be gone for 16 months! That means he's scheduled to be back August 2010. He is on a very dangerous mission (obviously, we don't know what but I'm sure it's more dangerous than we can even imagine!), and we just ask that you pray for his safety, and the safety of his team (most of whom are married and have children!). We met him a few months ago while he was home and he's a pretty interesting guy. He loves the Lord and His Word. I just figured the more prayers, the better for a soldier who goes in where others can't or don't.

Thanks for reading this and adding these two men to your prayer lists. I'm so grateful we can approach the Throne of God with confidence and pray for our friends. What a blessing.

4 kids under 4, whew

Yesterday I got to watch our friend's kids, Peyton(3) and Caulder (1 1/2). They are sweet boys, but wow...what a difference 2 more children make, no...make that 2 more boys. I had some activities planned, which was good. We read a book called "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie". Then we talked about circles and the kids got a sticker every time they found a circle. Unlike Nicole, the boys weren't really into that idea, so it got scrapped. Then we glued together a paper mouse, which actually went really well. However, by 9:30, I had used up all of my tricks and I had till 4:00. hahaha. After Hannah woke up, we walked to a little park in our neighborhood. This was good because it took up a good hour of the morning. Then, we came back and Peyton and I washed my car while the other kids watched, we had lunch and nap time even went ok (I snuck one in too...I'll tell you why in a minute). Looking back on it, it wasn't a bad day at all. In the moment, I felt a bit scattered. Here are some observations and thoughts from the day.

1. Boys are different than girls (and I don't' just mean on the potty...although I was scared Peyton was going to pee all over the bathroom, he didn't). Boy are louder, faster, and more intense. Peyton didn't stop talking all day, and he talks loud. He plays loud, he is loud. Nicole is loud sometimes...but not all the time.
2. I got a glimpse of what's to come. In one word....TATTLING!!!! Uh, this was the most draining part for me. But, now I know what to pray about and read about over the next few months as I'm sure Nicole will pick this habit up. Any advice on dealing with tattling would be much appreciated.
3. Bathroom and diapers are the most time consuming part of the day.
4. It's really hard to meet all the needs of each of the kids all at the same time.

I love Peyton and Caulder. They are the closest thing to sons that Jeremy and I have. We have been a part of their lives since day one, and hope to be for a long long time. They are wonderful little boys. However, I've never spent this much time with them as the caregiver before. And it's definitely harder than just being fun "Aunt Michele" when we get to play when we're just hanging out. I think I get to watch them every Monday as Brooke (their mom) finishes school this year. I am looking forward to it. But, I definitely need to be prepared and have a plan. And, hopefully Hannah won't be teething every Monday either, which brings me to my next point.

Hannah's two top teeth are coming in, and bless her little heart, it is NOT easy for her. She has been running a fever for about 30 hours now. It got really high yesterday for about 2 hours, but the rest of the time, it's been bearable. She's pretty happy for the most part, with a little extra fussy in there. This complicated yesterday because I really just wanted to hold her and comfort her, but I couldn't because of the other three...so that was tough. Her teeth still haven't broke through yet, hopefully today. Oh...this was why I needed a nap yesterday, I only slept about 3 or 4 hours the night before because she was crying so much:-( But, she slept all night last night.

Well, I suppose this post is long enough. My point....we had a good day yesterday with the four kids, but I need help dealing with tattle tales. Hannah is teething and hopefully will be better soon. And, I'm caught up on sleep.

Record Lows

So...it is frigid!!!! hahaha. For my northern friends and family....here was my car at 8am this morning (it's already melted). However, I believe we had record, or near record lows last night....low thirties near the coast, mid twenties inland. It should warm up to a beautiful 60ish degrees. I love Florida winters:-)

Parable of the sower

Every Sunday Jeremy leads a devotion with our family (geared at Nicole for now, but it's unbelievable how much I get out of it too). This Sunday we talked about the parable of the sower. Remember that one? (very roughly paraphrased) The man was sowing (planting) seeds. Some feel on the hard ground and got eaten by birds, some fell on rocky ground-sprang up quickly but soon died because of no root, some fell on ground with weeds and thorns - again, sprang up quickly but go choked out, and some fell on fertile ground-and grew up strong. After talking about the parable and it's meaning, we got out some soil, pots and a few seeds (ok...I admit, they were Jeremy's sunflower seeds for baseball, so we are going shopping today for real planting seeds, but the point was made). Here are our pots.

Nicole had fun planting the seeds and I'm sure she will remind me to water them each day on her way to the swing set. I love that we are doing this as a family, and I just pray that the seeds we are planting now will fall on fertile ground of Nicole's heart (and Hannah's...but she was more interested in eating dirt) and that one day that seed would grow into a love for the and a dependence upon the Lord.

After our seed sowing, we just hung out outside for a while. We still have some sand on our paver from filling the cracks, so Nicole enjoyed playing it in. Jeremy got very creative with the camera and took some really cool pictures.

way behind

OK...I am not doing the right thing right now. I should be cleaning and cooking for our big dinner tonight with the college ministry leaders to plan the next few months, but instead I'm on the computer. doh! OK...I just have to post a few pictures since I haven't for a long long time.

The girls dressed up alike (last week) Aren't they cute?

Mrs. P was down in December because her daughter Kathee was having a baby. Nicole became good friends with Mrs. P. When she left, she left a sweet note for Nicole and special purse and matching headband. Here is Nicole sporting it with her cute outfit.

We went to the zoo (way back in 2008!!! No wait, it was Jan 2, so it was this year, I'm not that far behind!). Here are some fun zoo pictures.

Other than that, I haven't taken many pictures lately. I'm loving how clean my kitchen and bedroom is, so I've been working so hard at keeping up my cleaning schedule:-) So, I've been busy during naps. I blew my budget this week for groceries (BIG TIME) so nothing to brag about there, haha. But, I knew of you were missing me (right Mama Pat...)

Shopping for Time

Yet again, I have to send you to my new friends (whom I've never met) over at Girl Talk. Really...you should read them every day, short little posts that really speak to me almost daily. Today they were talking about how as women, we are great at shopping (grocery, shoes, car, clothes...whatever). Almost without thinking we make lists, we plan, we compare. We know where to find the best produce, the best deals on diapers, the best prices on the Internet. But, do we schedule our time the way we schedule our shopping trips. Of course, this related to me because of my obsession with coupon shopping as of late.

We wouldn’t dream of going to the grocery store without a shopping list, or buying a car without haggling over the sticker price, or purchasing new shoes without checking the price tag, but we throw away our time as if we had an endless supply.
As a result, we often miss out on the best deals life has to offer and end up paying big time in guilt, anxiety, and a lack of confidence that we’re really doing the will of God. More often than not, we’re overwhelmed by life’s choices and demands. Perhaps, most unfortunately, we lack fruitfulness in Christ’s kingdom.

This is me...or has been anyway. I have not posted much recently for several reasons. One is that I don't want to miss out on one of my best deals in life...my two little girls. I have been working really hard at being with them both physically and mentally when they are awake. I don't want Nicole to think back on her childhood and see me sitting at the computer...that's not where I should be. Our days have been more peaceful, fun, silly and loving. I am loving being with them...both Nicole and Hannah. I don't want to be on the computer at night if Jeremy is home and during naps, I have been working hard at keeping my home in order. This has left me little time right now for my blog, e-mails and whatever else. I'm trying to learn to sneak them in every now and then...but for now, a quick update every once in a while will have to do. I know some of you enjoy the blog and enjoy seeing the girls, so I PROMISE that we will still post. It just may not be daily as it often times was...maybe just a few times a week.

I don't want to miss out on any moment the Lord gives me with my two daughters and my wonderful husband. I am thankful to have them all.

A year in Review 2009

I have been wanting to do this post for a while, so even thought 2009 has begun and 2008 is long gone, I still want to do a year in review.

January

Dad had major surgery just a few days into 2008. He came over and had a picnic with us the day before.

Jeremy was ordained as a deacon at our church

I had a super fun birthday. We went to a hockey game with a small group of friends, got into a powder sugar fight, at a late dinner and dessert at Applebees, and laughed so much my 6 months pregnant belly hurt. Also, my friend Ashley had her baby on my birthday:-)

Went to the zoo with my dad, Papa.

A favorite picture of mine.

February

Not many pictures this month. Nicole ate corn on the cob, that was pretty funny.

Finished tiling our kitchen and bathroom

March

Played a lot in water

Easter egg hunt in the yard and easter egg dying.

Western Murder Mystery party for my dad's 50th birthday.

This is taking longer than expected because I am having formatting issues. I'll complete the year later:-)

A quick update I suppose

Well, hello out there. Anyone miss me? ; -) I simply have not had time to post lately. I have been working hard at slowly (very slowly) getting my home back in order. As the week is halfway over, I'd have to say that I am pleased with the progress I've made. Each day I focus on a specific room or area of the house in my cleaning efforts. Of course, I still pick up all the rooms, but one room gets special attention. For example...
Mon: "Green" Room/desk
Tues: Master Bedroom
Wed: both bathrooms
Thurs: Girl's room
Fri: Living room/bar into the kitchen (the WORST pile of stuff in the whole house)
Sat/Sun: general pick up

Then, each day of the month I have a monthly task I try to accomplish. This week I have cleaned the inside of my car, totally organized the desk (didn't finish), shine my floors, clean the china cabinet and clean out the inside of the fridge/freezer.

So far, this is working for me. I'm pleased.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The girls and I did not leave the house. We enjoyed spending time playing, cleaning their room (Nicole is very good if you get her at the right time), putting together puzzles, making homemade Whole Wheat bread, and other fun activities. I wish every day could be like yesterday. Attitudes (both the girls' and mine) were wonderful, Nicole was obedient, and when she disobeyed, a simple "look" did all the talking, Hannah was happy and life was great. We are reading the book of Romans every morning, which I have been enjoying. After reading a chapter, I try to explain it to Nicole, then I pick out a verse for her repeat with me. She really likes this time. Then we sing fun songs and make noise with her instruments. Hannah enjoys the "music", she is quite the little dancer.

Speaking of Hannah, she is full blown crawling now. Her arms get a bit tired and if she's going across a room, she'll start on hand and knees, but end up in military position. She has already learned to go both up and down the small step between rooms. She is growing up much to fast. I wish she would slow down, just a bit.

Nicole's vocabulary and sentence structure are getting stronger. She is in love with her doggie (now called puppy). She compares her love for Jeremy or I with her love for her doggie. She told me today that her love for me matches her dog (I can't remember her exact words, something like, "mommy...love...me...match...doggie". I have very much enjoyed Nicole's company this week. She is a funny little girl and I love talking with her.

I have a lot of pictures, however they aren't on the computer I'm using, so I'll try to post later:-)

The last thing I want to share is an important prayer request that some of you already know about. Erica, my brother's (Justin) girlfriend, just found out last week that her father has lung and brain cancer. Specifics are unclear to me because I'm getting info after being filtered through several people, but I will say that her dad is need of urgent prayer, as well as her mom. Her dad's name is Rick and her mom's name is Debbie. They are a sweet family, and the news of cancer was a complete shock to everyone and has been difficult to process. Please remember them in your prayers. I'm proud of Justin because he has really been a rock for both Erica and her mom to lean on. I can't believe how grown up he is:-)

Well...I hope to share more later. Until then....

hot, hot, hot

No time to write anything interesting or post cute pics (which I have!) but I just had to say...it's hot! We just came in from outside because we were sweating in January and needed som AC. Really...it would be nice to have a little cool weather...

Welcome....

baby Susannah Kate, born Dec. 31, 2008 at 9:33pm. She weighed 7lbs 11oz. She is our first niece, and second child to Tiffany and Chris.

We're happy your finally here Susannah:-)