A real blog post

I have been posting a lot of photos recently without much in the way of detail about your lives recently. Jeremy's sister, Tiffany, and her family (Chris...husband, Seth...2 year old, and Susannah....2 month old). We spent many evenings with them and enjoyed their company. Jeremy went to Cape Cod a few weeks ago for training on a very large job that God has provided for AVI. It's a blessing that they have work right now and we are thankful for His provision.

As for the girls and I, life has been pretty normal, trips to the park, making spaghetti with play doh, and water our plants in the garden. Until today....Hannah threw her first major heavy duty tantrum. Oh my word!!!! I made it happen though because just a few minutes before the tantrum, I was thinking how good Hannah has been because I have had to "discipline" her very little. At this point, Nicole was constantly getting her hands flicked for touching or trying to stick things into electrical outlets, knocking over decorations, and throwing food on the floors. Hannah on the other hand almost looks as though she will cry if I catch her crawling in the general direction of an outlet and I say, "Hannah...NO". So, I was getting all worked up in my head about how "good" she is and that she'll be so "easy". 10 minutes later she is throwing play-doh, hitting me, throwing her head back in a full body tantrum because I won't let her eat the play doh. I must have selective memory, because I do Not remember Nicole having a tantrum like this (although I'm certain she did). But, boy oh boy, did it catch me off guard. Actually, I think she was exhausted because she didn't get a good morning nap.

About that....Hannah will not stay in the nursery. Every once in a while, she makes it through, but more often than not, I am paged within 20 minutes to pick her up. She screams and cries the entire time. I'm not sure what to do. Nicole has never had a problem in the nursery. As early as her first weekend walking, she would walk right through the door and not look back. In fact, I felt a little sad and hurt because she would walk in so easily (haha). Hannah however Hates it. I feel so bad for the poor workers, and it is hard for me. So...what do I do??? Do I keep putting her in the nursery and picking her up a little while later, or should I hold her out for a few months and see if she grows out of this? Generally, she is only in the nursery for an hour at a time. Today was MOPS, so it would have been closer to 2 hours. Advice is needed.....(this is not knew, she has NEVER liked the nursery)

I haven't really said anything about Nicole. She has been really good (I hate to say that, will I have a terror on my hands when she wakes up because I was "bragging" about her?) She is very excited about her seeds that are growing. She just seems to be really happy and settled. She is growing up into such a little girl. There is NO baby left in her. She won't be 3 for 3 more months, and she's already growing out of 3T clothes and wearing (or should be wearing) 4T!! She is very tall for her age. She loves to carry around baby dolls and rock them. She also likes to play with her daddy and swing, of course. I am LOVING this age. Oh, she's just great.

Hannah is great too by the way. She is growing and learning knew things. She is now 10 months old and wearing 12 month clothes (although because of the cloth diapers, she still sometimes needs bigger pants). She easily stands, and is finally taking steps when holding on to someone. She falls a lot, which is often worrisome. She is a cuddle bug. She loves, loves, loves to snuggle against you. She gives hugs and kisses (sometimes on demand, sometimes not). She is saying "dada", "doggie", and "duckie". I think she says a lot more, it's just not understandable. I think that she thinks she is Nicole's age, because she is always trying to do the same thing Nicole does.

Pray for them still. Nicole is getting better at being loving and kind, but, whew, does that girl have a selfish streak in her (don't we all?). We are working hard on this. I thought that as Hannah got bigger and started getting into "Nicole's" toys, that Nicole would have a hard time with this. But, not so (at least so far). It seems that the older Hannah gets, the better Nicole gets with her. Maybe Nicole is like me and just not a "baby" person.

Well...there ya go. That's the fam for ya!

A poem

I was reading a blog written by a mother with 4 children under 4 who seems to be amazing. Her blogs are always fun and interesting reads. Anyway, she quoted a poem that I thought was really sweet. It was first published in the Ladies Home Journal in 1958. It's entitled "Song for a Fifth Child" and written by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton.

Enjoy.

Song for a Fifth Child.
Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past dueP
at-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Family and fun

Jeremy's sister and her family have been down visiting this week. We finally got to meet Susannah, their 2 month old baby.

Grammy and the girls.

HELP Hannah is being eaten by an alligator!!

Me holding baby Susannah.

Nicole and her cousin Seth going for a wagon ride

Awe...I LOVE to see these two playing together.

We also have sprouts growing from our seeds! A tomato plant sprouted Saturday I believe. Now we have 3 more tomato sprouts, 4 pea sprouts, and 2 green bean sprouts. It's pretty exciting! We have a composter now (thanks dad!) and we really want to make the garden bigger already. Oh boy....we have got the bug, well...hopefully not bugs...

The park and other fun photos

I am going crazy with my camera the past couple of days. I met some friends at the park today (a new one to us, we had never been there before). It was fun, and they had some cool equipment, so I got to take some fun photos. I also snapped a few at home. Enjoy:-)

I walked out of the bedroom the other morning and this is what I saw! I can't believe Hannah is big enough to pull herself up and play at the kitchen!

Bounce House fun

Last week I took the girl's to my friend Teri's house. She just got a really cool bounce house (at a highly discounted price, way to go!). So, we helped her break it in, sort of. Anyway, she did a post on her blog about it. She click HERE and it'll take you to some fun pictures of my girls and her boys.

Our Garden

One area that is nearly impossible for me to save money is fresh fruits and veggies. So, we have decided to try a small garden this year to see what veggies and fruits will grow in our sandy soil. Jeremy built a frame and we filled it with rich soil. Today we planted carrots, green beans, peas, onions, and cucumbers. Unbelievably, I still have room left, so when time comes I want to try some lettuce and broccoli. We had fun as a family outside tonight, so I have a ton of pictures to share. I hope you enjoy them:-)

Girl's Night

Yesterday afternoon I started talking to Nicole about having a "Girl's Night", just Nicki and mommy. She was very excited. So, she helped me put Hannah to bed a little before 8:00...and she got to stay up with me. Of course, we first had to wash the dishes and clean up from dinner. However, Nicole was incredibly helpful! It was fun. After clean up was over, the fun began.

First, we blew Nicole's hair out straight and then styled it with the curling iron.

Then, I let Nicole pick out the polish, and we painted. Yep...our toes!

Nicole painted hers first.

Then she painted mine.

I then painted her fingernails. As we were sitting on the floor waiting for them to dry, she kept reaching over and hugging me saying "My friend mommy, my friend mommy" She says this occasionally, but last night she said it over and over. She was having a blast. Once our polish was dry, we set up camp in the living room and watched the last half of Mary Poppins. We laid on the floor watching the movie, eating popcorn and cookies. It was so sweet. Nicole had a great and so did I. The night topped off with Nicole getting to sleep in my bed. It's great to get to spend time with her like that. I look forward to many many more special nights with her...and one day Hannah.

And, for those of you dying to catch a glimpse, here's a picture I took of myself on my cell phone.

Well, my mother -n- law dared me....

to cut it short (after I got the ok from dear hubby of course). Yes ladies and gentlemen (um...probably only ladies on here except dad and "gramps"). I got my hair cut last night. My dear mom cut it for me, and I really love it. I can't post a picture though because I don't have a camera...so you'll have to wait a few days. Maybe Friday.....

If you're dying to know, you can click here for the picture we went by. And here is another style of the same cut. What do you think? See ya'll soon.....

kisses and fun

I tried posting some of this yesterday, but for some reason it wasn't working out very well. So, enjoy this little update.

Hannah has started blowing kisses. It's so cute. Here's a little video.

Here are some cute pictures from this weekend.

I don't think Nicole looked only two in this outfit...she's so cute.

I loved these two pictures of Nicole and her daddy...they are two peas in a pod.

Hannah had spaghetti Saturday night for the first time. She loved it. Of course there was more in her lap and on her face than in her mouth.

Have I told you before that I love my family? Well, I do...they are the best!

CVS Update

I took the girls with me to CVS this morning because they were FINALLY offering some good items with ECBs. Well, It was a great, and disastrous trip. Disastrous first...

I was in the diaper aisle trying to find more pull-ups in Nicole's size. Hannah was sitting in the cart (you know, where the baby sits) and Nicole was walking beside me. While the cart was still, she decided she was going to stand on the side of the cart (feet on the bar below and hands on the basket). Well, CVS has very small shopping carts, so the weight of Nicole made the cart tip over. I couldn't catch either one before the cart fell. Both Nicole and Hannah hit their heads (very hard) on the shelving units. The cart was on top of Nicole and I couldn't get it up or Hannah out of the cart. They were both screaming, and I was finally able to pull Hannah from the cart, but I couldn't get the cart up on all four wheels. I was finally able to push it off Nicole, and as I do this, a sweet lady who was on a different aisle and heard the crash came running over to help me. She had a little girl between Nicole and Hannah's ages. I was very shoock up and both girls had large red areas and marks on their heads from hitting the shelving. After a few minutes, both settled down and they were fine! Praise God! I just sat on the floor with tears in my eyes for a couple of minutes. I don't think I could stand up. It was scary. I took them over to the pharmacist and asked him to look at them and teach me signs of a concusion or anything else I should look for. They looked fine, and now, just a couple of hours later, their little head boo boos are gone. They were fine after about 5 minutes....but I believe I have just now stopped shaking. Whew....it was intense, but they are both ok. So, I thank God for that! I carried Hannah for a while, and eventually put her back in the cart, only to find a moment later that she had almost slipped out of the cart through one of the leg holes. Our CVS cut the straps off the cart to hold the babies in!!!!! So, I held her the rest of the time.

So, with my super safety goggles on, we continued on our CVS excursion (only because it was clear that both girls were ok of course). I purchased $52 worth of stuff, but I only spent $8.00 out of pocket, used 10 ecb and earned back 20 ecb. Looking back, I could have done better, but I was still pretty shook up (and it's hard enough to think right when the kids are ok, let alone when some catastrophe happens!).

FYI...GREAT CVS Money Maker. See the Neutrogena facial bar. It's $2.99. The deal this week is buy 2 Neutrogena products and receive 10ecb. These bars are not pictured in the ad, but they work. So, I bought two bars (rounded to $6) and I earned $10ecb back.

Thanks for bearing with me through the story, and for not judging me to harshly. These things happen, and this is why the label on the cart says not to let your kid ride on the side. I'm really thankful for the lady who came over to check on us. It was sweet of her and I needed someone at that moment I think.

The Great EsSkate Photos

Hey Ya'll,
Here are some photos from the skate last weekend.

This was one of the "big bridges" that scared me to death to go down.

Katie and I before the event on Sat.

I have the yellow jacket around my waist

All the skaters, waiting around. You can barely see me. I am in the middle, with my yellow jacket on. You can see my friend, Katie's, hot pink jacket and blue helmet

Katie and I eating after Saturday's 15 mile skate.


Linda, Me, and Katie during one of our breaks. We all skate together on Saturdays.