30 Days of Thanks #30!!!!!!

I did it! I never finish things like this. John says I am not a finisher. Oh yeah, bite me. Ha! I am totally kidding. It just seemed right. No? Oh well.

No really. Today I am thankful for the life that I am living. For my husband who loves me (despite the fact I just told him to bite me :), 3 of the world's most precious children, a family that I am extremely close to, a home to live in, a car to drive, a wonderful school for my child to go to, a church home, friends of new and old, and most of all, for the Father who was, is and forever will be.

30 Days of Thanks #29

Today I am thankful for a little time to myself, an awesome cyber Monday deal, lots of free stuff at Walgreens, and the TV carts at Kroger. I can't say what I bought for Emmy on Cyber Monday, because it's a secret, but... I will say I paid less than half of what I almost bought it for at Target last weekend. And yes, I have become the crazy coupon lady and love to get the free stuff at Walgreens. It takes some time to organize a trip, but today I came out with candle, 4 bags of M&M's, 2 boxes of granola bars, a gift wrap paper cutter, 2 packages of bobby pins that I desperately needed for my hair which is still too short for a ponytail (NEVER LET ME HAVE MY BANGS CUT AGAIN!), for $1.22. And Hope and Emmy's medicines, but that was no deal. Blah. Kinda put a bit of a damper on the whole $1.22. Oh well. I did brave a trip to a different Kroger today. When you exit our neighborhood, you run straight into a Kroger. So, I have never had much of a desire to drive a whole 5 minutes to the other Kroger, but it is a Kroger Marketplace, or whatever, so we ventured over there this afternoon. I may never go to our neighborhood Kroger again! They have TVs in. the. cart!!! I never heard a peep out of Hope and Noah. Do you know how huge the entertainment factor is when taking 3 children to Kroger?! This is HUGE. Best shopping trip with 3 kids, ever.

30 Days of Thanks #28

I cannot tell you how thankful I am to be home!!!! I love to visit everyone, but you guys know I am a homebody. I need my space! :) We had such an amazing weeklong visit. It was so good to catch back up with everyone. It was very hard to leave, especially with Hope crying.

And, I almost fainted when we walked in the door to our house. When I left, it was a disaster. But, ole John came through. He cleaned the whole house while the kids and I were gone. That guy. You never know what he's up to.

My mom bought and recorded one of the Hallmark books for the babes. It was"The Night Before Christmas." Hope and Noah were so excited tonight when we opened it up! It is a very special thing. I highly recommend doing this if your kids are away from loved ones. Thank you Mimi! I know we will treasure this forever.

30 Days of Thanks- #27

Today I am thankful that my dad is okay after a mildish heart attack on Thanksgiving Day. We were keeping it hush hush at dads request until we knew what was going on for sure, but today they went in and placed a stent in his heart and repaired the blockage. He is doing great. We are hopeful that this will help him feel a lot better.

We have driven to Van Buren to John's parents' house today. The kids slept the entire way. Hope was devastated when we left my sister's house after being there a week. I think our visits make her miss the cousins even more. She cried and fell asleep soon after we started driving. She seems to be better tonight after some time with uncle Jamie.

After a week away, I am ready to be home in my own bed! Any guesses as to what I will be thankful for tomorrow?!

30 Days of Thanks #26

Oops, I fell asleep! Black Friday was a long, yet productive day! Complete with shopping, a migraine, packing, among other things!

But, I assure you, I was thankful! Thankful that Christmas time is HERE! I am really trying to not overdo the shopping this year. The kids are allowed to ask Santa for 3 things, and we are each giving a gift to each person in the family. I think it will take the craziness out of the day and help us to slow down and enjoy it. I am looking forward to it. And it is really making me think about each gift I am buying.

We are soon headed back to Texas. I assure you it will only be a matter of hours before I start pulling out the decorations!

30 Days of Thanks #25

Happy 30th Birthday to my husband. I am so thankful for you. You are the best Daddy and husband. Thank you for always, always putting us first. We are all so lucky to have you. Love you!

I am also thankful for Thanksgiving day. I love it. My giant family gets together with kiddos and aunts, uncles, everyone, and we enjoy each other, as well as some of the best food EVER! My Uncle Bobby makes a killer chocolate pie. Don't even try to top it. It cannot be done! We all have our assignments on what we are to bring. We don't even discuss it, really, you just know what you have to bring. And you know I am only allowed to bring the GBC (Green bean casserole.) Today, I was promoted to cookie maker. The first batch was awesome. Then, I forgot about the 2nd. My sister took over the 3rd, and I was demoted back to GBC. Maybe next year.

We have scouted out our Black Friday shopping plan. I am off to get a couple hours of sleep before we leave... at 2:00a.m!!!

30 Days of Thanks #24

Today I am thankful that my beautiful, smart, and hilarious niece is going to be my guest writer for tonight! She is so talented, and I can't wait to read what she is going to write! She just turned 11 this week!

Take it, Riley Kaye:

The sun sets on this beautiful day,all those tears wash away , the moon rises as if it has something to say,"tomorrow will be a brand new day" and the way he says it she believes in every way that tomorrow will always be tomorrow,yesterday will always be yesterday, and today will always be today tomorrow will never be yesterday and yesterday will never be today.



Is she not amazing???? Y'all give it up for Riley Kaye in the comments! She will be checking them!

30 Days of Thanks #23

I am thankful to be in my hometown. It still feels like home. They still know me at Gadwalls grill where we would often eat. I know all the back routes (not so much in Texas!) I run into people I know in Target. I can run drop off my niece at the dentist. I can have my mom take Noah to school. I can see my family a lot. I miss these things! A lot.

30 Days of Thanks #22

Happy Birthday Riley Kaye! Love you, sweet girl!

Today I am thankful for my dear friends, Deni and Shauna! I love you both, ladies! I so miss eating lunch with these girls every Monday for lunch bunch. They are some of my very favorite people. We met for lunch today, and it felt like we hadn't missed a Monday, even though it's been 3 months! We all brought our daughters today, which was so fun! Our daughters range from Abby, a college freshman (who we adore!) to Palmer and Emmy, the babies. My mom is a part of our lunch bunch, too, so that is also very special. Julia came too, so it was a fun girlie lunch. Where was Noah? At his old school with his beloved Miss Mesha, who I am also very thankful for! ;)

30 Days of Thanks #21

This would not post last night....

Today I am thankful to be at my sisters house for the week! Happy to have lots of days with my very favorite people. Well, minus John who is still in Texas working. Wish he was here too! The big kids are still going crazy they are so excited to be here! Time to turn this off and lay the law down ;)

30 Days of Thanks #20

Who would have ever thought I would make it 20 days in a row. Not me! I hope I can finish it out....

Today I am thankful that we seem to at least turned the corner on the whole Family Cold of 2010! There have been no fevers today!! Yay! The bigs were up to no good today, so they must be feeling better. John and I have been a bit sluggish, but, moving better than we were! This cold has kicked all of our rears. The only accomplishments that have been made in the last few days is that we have become alot better at the game Angry Birds on our iphones. Sad. True.

I did make it out to sell a few things at a resale shop today. Well, I attempted to anyway. Not that successful. There is a new one in town, and I took a few toys up there just to see if it was worth my time to bring more stuff. It's not. Don't bother. But, on a plus note, one of the things they passed on, a tent, someone overheard them and gave me money on the spot for it. Woo Hoo! Maybe I should just set up shop in the parking lot? That would be genius. We have ended up with 2 tricycles, so I took 1 up there to see what they would offer. I dropped the stuff off, and was told they would call me when they were ready to make an offer. When I went back, they had already placed the tricycle on the floor without me agreeing to take what they were offering. It was a 60 dollar trike that Hope rode maybe 5 times. They offered me $4. Umm, no. So I took it back. Crazy people. I miss Duck Duck Goose. :( The whole tent thing ended up being a fiasco. The owner was furious that the lady bought it from me. I understand that that is not the best place to do that, but, she had JUST passed it up, the lady handed me money, there was no one else around. The woman was like a crazy lady she was so mad. I did hold my tongue, suprisingly, but really, she was ridiculous. She made me wait 4 hours to offer me $4 for a tricycle. Just smile and hope that we will come back to shop. And as I tell Hope when she is fussy, have a happy heart. :)

Emmy Love had her first cereal today! She cried at first, but I calmed her down and tried again and she did great. Fingers crossed that this continues to go well!

She will be trying some kind of veggie for Thanksgiving! Doctor's orders.

30 Days of Thanks #19

Today I am thankful for our new pediatrician's office. You know I will never find one who we love as much as Laura Sanders, but, we have found a good fit for us here. And, I like the way the office runs here better. When we would call the office in LR, no one ever asked "who's your doctor?" So, you usually saw many different doctors, whoever had an appointment open, unless you specifically requested someone. Here, my kids always see the same doctor, and the same nurse. As much as we love Dr. Laura, I couldn't tell you who her nurse is. Dr. K's nurse is Sherry. And I love her as much or more than the dr. She knows us. She knows Noah wants an orange sucker when he first comes in. And that if we get it for him, life will be easier for everyone. She also always takes Emmy from me so I can help Noah. She knew when I said we were going home for thanksgiving, that I meant Arkansas. She helped us all survive all 3 children getting shots today. And even helped me laugh a little at the absurdity of us thinking this was a good plan. And, as we were leaving, she hugged me and told me to remember that one day my youngest will be 18 like her baby.

Meanwhile, here are the girls stats.
Hope: 36 pounds - 4th%
height- 42.5 inches - 5%

So maybe there was not a huge growth spurt... :)

Emmy: drumroll..... 11 pounds 1 ounce!!! - and ladies and gentlemen, she has made her way back onto the chart... 6%! we will take it! The big dose of Carafate is helping. We are going to start her on cereal this week to see if that helps or hurts the tummy issues. The hope it, of course, is that it helps and we can start to wean her off some of the meds.

Her height is 25 inches- 74% (who is this kid and what has she done with my short child?! ;)

I am so very thankful she is growing. I can't even tell you how thankful.

30 Days of Thanks #18

Today I am thankful for a day of snuggling my 3 babies. And for a husband that sees the importance of that over things like cleaning the house!;) We are all sick with colds/fever. I had to keep Hope home today. We were leaving for school when I felt her head and it was on fire! Poor baby. She sat in my lap for a solid hour today, along with Noah while Emmy slept! Then, I got some good snuggles with Emmy while the big 2 were napping. It was a good snuggle day!

Updated: 30 Days of Thanks- #17 My SIX year old!

My sweet girl, I just cannot believe you are 6. Where does the time go? Do you know that you make me smile every day? You are a fun, sassy, creative, silly, smart, beautiful girl. I could not be more proud of you. Here are the things you are up to:

• Wear a size 5 in clothes. You have had a big giant growth spurt this year! We will measure you at your check up tomorrow.
• Your favorite foods are PB & J, yogurt, macaroni and spaghetti. Oh, and the newest discovery... fried chicken! And any kind of fruit.
• You will not eat beans. Or anything green. Except French Cut greenbeans. No really. No other cut will do. Only French.
• You say you want to be a Mommy when you grow up. You will be the best!
• You love dressing up!
• You love the ones who love you. You make us all feel very special.
• Your favorite shows are Eloise, Disney movies, Barbie movies... You aren't interested in the shows like iCarly, Hannah Montana, etc, that a lot of others are watching. That's fine by me! Stay a princess, sweetie.
• You and Daddy have read the entire Junie B. Jones Kindergarten series. You are now reading the first grade ones.
• You have the best laugh I have ever heard.
• No loose teeth. This is killing you.
• You love your Mommy, but, if I am telling the truth, you are a Daddy's Girl. Big time. He is so wrapped around your little finger! I love it.
• You love your new American Girl doll. Your other toys are getting sad that you aren't playing with them right now. Ha. You also love to play with your doll house, polly pockets, and with your kitchen set.
• You love to help cook in the real kitchen too!
• You start Upward cheerleading in a couple of weeks. We couldn't talk you into playing basketball.
• Your brother and sister are so lucky to have you for a big sister.
• Your favorite joke: Knock Knock. Who's there? Interupting Cow. Inter-MOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You really crack yourself up with that one. There are also several other variations ie: The interupting chicen, baby, dog, bird, lion. You like to mix it up.
• You got in trouble at school for really the first time this week. And it really wasn't a huge deal. But, it broke your heart that you made your teacher sad.
• You love to write! You have posted signs all over the house. Including one on your door that says "Dot Com In" I thought it was because you are technologically advanced, but then you showed me how it says "Don't come in!" You also made this sign for me:

It is a sign reminding me that when I mae your PB & Js, that there is to be "No putting Jelly on the Same Side!" You want me to put the PB on one side, the jelly on the other, and then put them together. Gotcha.

• Wear a size 12 shoe! I was in the 4th grade with a size 12 shoe!
• Still love your Ooh Ooh.
• Love singing, dancing and performing for your family.
• You make art projects all the time.
• You can read the level H books all by yourself from school
• You pick out 10 books from the library every Friday. You are so very careful not to loose them. Thank you. Can you teach your brother? We are missing 2 of his.
• You are starting to understand the whole money thing. You are doing great at not asking and crying for every single thing you see.
• You have started, oh so quietly, sneaking in to sleep in our bed in the middle of the night. We are always surprised to find you there in the morning.

I love you Baby Girl!

Original Post:

Happy Birthday sweet Hope Louise. I thank God everyday for letting me be your Mommy. I can't wait to write down all the wonderful things about you. But, as you know, we all have colds and Mommy needs to go to bed to be able to somewhat function tomorrow. I will write all about you and add it to this post tomorrow. I love my Hopey Lou, Lulu, Lou, Squeezy, Sugar, Hopey Louisey Lemon Squeezy, Baby Girl, Coo Coo Bird,  Wheezy, Tootsie Roll, Sunshine, all the way to the moon and back.

Noah Red- 2.5 years

Okay, so my dear friend Shauna might have suggested that I have been neglecting my poor Noah in my 30 Days of Thanks. He is very much a stubborn, moody, wild two year old, but please don't think for a minute that I am not thankful for my Noah Red! You never ever could have convinced me before this child was born that I could love him this much. Oh, I knew that I would love him, but, oh, not like this. My bond with him seems to be different with him than with my girls. Not better, not worse, just, I don't know, different. I was a little wary of having a boy, honestly. Oh, sure, I have loved some special baby boys in my life (Wade, Clay, Keller...) but, I just felt comfortable with the mother-daughter bond for myself. Happily, I was not given the choice! I could not be more grateful for God giving me this boy. And I am so thankful to be experiencing the different bonds with all my children. I wouldn't trade my girls for the world, I am just oh so thankful to have the joy of raising this boy as well!

Noah Red, you are 2 and a half! And a hand full! Here is what you are up to:

• Sleeping in a big boy bed!
• No more pacifiers!
• Using the potty when YOU think it is a good idea. Which is about once every 3 or 4 days!
• You are still a little guy! You wear18 month clothes now. You can wear 2T shirts, but absolutely not the pants! I am hopeful you will be wearing 2T soon though, as we have some adorable hand me downs from our sweet friend Drew I am dying to get on you! :)
• You wear a size 4 diaper
• You talk all.the.time. Every time we see the doctor (which has been often since Emmy's arrival!) he comments on how awesome your speech is.
• You know the difference between numbers and letters, which is a bit odd to me! If we ask where the numbers are on a page, or sign, you show us. Same with letters.
• You can identify specifically the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 10.
• You can spell your name when prompted! "N-O-A-H! That spells NOAH!"
• If anyone asks you how old you are you say, "I'm 4." I cannot convince you that you are 2.
• You would do anything for a honey bun. I don't know where the obsession came from. But, you can spot them from a mile away in the grocery store. And, every single morning, even though you know we don't have them, you say, "I wanna hunbun."
• You have recently discovered the Wiggles. And you are borderline obsessed with them. I don't understand! Next to Yo Gabba Gabba and Caillou (he's such a whiner), The Wiggles are my least favorite. You had your daddy in tears tonight he was laughing so hard at you! You brought down Hope's little car for her Barbies, sat on top of it, turned the steering wheel with your fingers and sang "Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car."
• You cannot stand boogers. If you have a snotty nose, you loooooose your mind. You cry, "I got Boogahs." You would absolutely use a box of tissues a day if I let you.
• You have more energy than anyone I know.
• You love to go to the grocery store to ride in the car.
• If Emmy smiles at you, your laugh so hard, which makes her keep smiling!
• You might have a little crush on Hope's teacher. She hugged you one day and you still talk about it. And you told us she likes kisses. Slow down there buddy.
• You are Mommy's baby, without question.
• You still ask daily to go to Ninny's house to ride the tractor with Wes. This is funny, because you are terrified of the tractor (and a tad bit afraid of the very loud Uncle Wes! :)
• Life just can hardly go on if we don't have Sunny D in the house in the morning.
• You get sad every day when Hope goes to school.
• Your favorite outing is to the library. You know you can take home 3 books and 1 movie and you don't let me forget it! You can also point out the library every.single.time. we pass it. And about 50% of the time you start kicking and screaming to go there. I need to find a new route.
• You will still snuggle with me any time, any where. I love you for it.
• You inherited the inability to take cold/allergy medicine from me! It has always made me hyper. You too. You will not be getting any more EVER after the day we've had today. ;)
• You want a train table so so badly. I hope you can keep it together for the next month so that Santa might bring you one.
• Your favorite books are, Hug, Once Upon A Potty, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and any on the Usborne "That's not my..." books.
• Your favorite things are Dinosaurs, trains, fire trucks and tractors.

Thank you God for Noah Red. I love him more than I could have ever imagined.

30 Days of Thanks #15 Feetsy Weetsies

Yes, it's true. I love Feetsy Weetsy PJS. Footed pajamas have been called "Feetsy Weetsies" in my family since Uncle Ross started talking and always refered to them as those. Tonight is a chilly night for Texas, so all 3 of my babies are tucked into their beds with their Feetsy Weetsies on. Noah and Hope love them. We actually hide them from Hope until it is cold enough to wear them. She wore them a couple of weeks ago on a warmish night. When I checked on her, she had completely unzipped hers, but arms and feet were still in! She told me the next morning that it was "perfect" because she wasn't sweaty when they were unzipped. Yes, I am partial to Feetsy Weetsy pajamas. I am enjoying seeing them all run around in them, because I know that all too soon, they will outgrow wanting to wear them.

30 Days of Thanks #14

Today I am thankful for a fun day with Hope. We promised Hope an ice skating trip a couple of weeks ago, and today we made good on it. I took her while John stayed with the littles. She fell down at least 60 times. But, she got up with a smile on her face, ready to try again. She improved so much by the time we left. I was even able to stand on the side and watch her do the last 2 laps without going with her ( I was worn out!) On the way home she said it was the best day ever. It was a very good day!

30 Days of Thanks #13

Today was a DAY, I'll tell ya! At MOPS on Friday, I met a new friend, and after talking for a while, I found out she is a photographer. I was telling her that I hadn't had a chance to get Emmy's picture in John's hand made like the other 2. I had Hope's and Noah's made at 12 weeks, and Emmy is about 17 weeks old now. It has really been bothering me. Anyway, she was so very nice and asked if we wanted to come over today and take the picture. She also said to bring the bigs and try to get a shot of everyone! Yay! Well, we got there, Emmy was fussing, Noah was tired and Hope was being very silly. We took a few pictures all together, and a few of the kids. Then, Emmy lost her mind. John was finally able to get her to sleep and we decided to take the picture with her sleeping. She took a few of those and then..... Noah threw up all over her house! I was mortified! She was so calm about it, and I was rushing Noah outside. Noah and I were covered in vomit. Lovely. Kym found us both clean shirts to ride home in, and even sent us with a package of crackers so one of us didn't have to get out and get some later. So, today, I am very thankful for a new friend who is not afraid of a little (LOT) of vomit. :)

Noah seems better this evening. I am really hoping the rest of us can avoid whatever bug he has, because John has another training this week he can't miss (meaning if I get sick, I am still in charge of 3 kiddos!), and, most importantly, Wednesday is Hope's Birthday!

30 Days of Thanks - Day 12

Today I got to go to Hope's class and be the "Mystery Reader." I am fairly certain I was the most chaotic mystery reader ever! But, it was so fun. I was hoping John could stay with the littles while I read first thing this morning, but, of course, he had to be at work early. So, my next brilliant plan was to drop off Noah at an hourly playcare place we have found. Until I found out they only opened 10 minutes before I needed to be in the classroom. So, I just decided to go for it and take the whole crew. Of course I couldn't tell Hope I was the reader, so she was thoroughly confused as to why everyone was dressed when we took her to school this morning. I am fairly certain that has never happened before. You will usually find Emmy and/or Noah still in their pjs when we drop off Hope. And, maybe possibly myself. (Read below. I am NOT a morning person!) So, I dropped her off, then went back to the car for a few minutes, and then loaded the littles up and went to her room. She really was surprised! She has asked me several times if I would be the secret reader, and I have always said that I couldn't because of the babies. I brought two of her favorite books, "I Love You, Stinky Face" and "The Carrot Seed" (Thank you, Suzanne Pate!) I thought Emmy would be fine laying on a blanket (wrong) and that Noah would sit quietly in his stroller and listen and eat his breakfast (wrong.) Luckily Miss B. is a saint and helped with both. I ended up with Emmy Love on my lap, and Noah sitting by Miss B. (Which Noah loved, because, well, we are pretty sure he is in love with her.) I made it through the books, hopefully without embarrassing Hope too much. (Just the right amount of embarrassment. You have to have some fun with this, right? :)

I am also thankful for my new MOPS group. This was only my second meeting, plus a field trip to the fire station. I met lots of new people today, and had a good breakfast! I am looking forward to getting to know some of them better. Joining a MOPS group is something that is way out of my comfort zone, but I am glad I did it.

30 Days of Thanks- #11 Heroes

Today I am thankful for the Heroes who serve our country. When my little brother, Ross, was in Iraq, Hope didn't say he was a soldier, or a Marine, she always said he was a Hero. So, that's the term we use now. I think it's fitting!

Ross in Iraq

 Today, Hope's School had an assembly honoring our Veterans. We were asked to write the names of family members who had served on two stars we were given. Hope is a lucky girl. She has 4 heroes in her close family (and many more great uncles and cousins as well!)

Papa Paul and Uncle Ross shared a star.

 And so did Papa Roy and Uncle Vince

 The wall where the stars were displayed.

 The program was impressive. The kids were very respectful, and there were tons of Vets there. I was a bit surprised! Noah usually does so well during Hope's assemblies at school, but today, he was just tired and fussy, so we ended up roaming the halls for most of it! But, we talked about it again tonight and thanked God for the Heroes in our family, and all the other Heroes and their families.



I am also very thankful for one of my dearest friends, Brian Steele, and his wife, my also very dear friend, Kerum. Brian is going back for his 3rd tour of duty soon, and his wife will be holding their family together in North Carolina. They are an amazing team, the Steeles. Please keep them in your prayers.


Okay, the next part is pretty silly, but it was so fun, I wanted to share. Hope was sent home with a family project this week. The instructions stated that Tom Turkey needed a disguise to escape the farmer on Thanksgiving day. We could use anything we wanted. After we dressed him up, we had to write some sentences about our turkey and how he escaped! Hope absolutely eats this stuff up. She was so excited about it yesterday, but we didn't get a chance to work on him until tonight. She already had her plan all worked out!

Here is Tom Turkey before we dressed him. Hope did a little coloring, of course. The yellow things are, of course, spotlights. What turkey bride is complete without them, I ask you?

Here is Tom after we dressed him up. As a bride, of course! This iPhone picture is terrible, but he/she is complete with veil, necklace, artificial flowers, crown, and silver shoes! I love him/her!

These are our sentences. I wrote them exactly as instructed by Hope.

 I love love the part where she says she has to go to the church to see my man! Where does she come up with this?!

30 Days of Thanks- #10

Today, I am thankful for our little morning routine. On the way to school every morning, we sing "This is the Day!" And their sweet little voices singing their little hearts out makes me smile, and makes my day. Even Noah now will start singing as soon as I sit down in the car. I turn off their DVD, turn off the radio, and sing with them. They have many many different versions, and it ends up being pretty silly by the time they get to school. I am not a morning person. My kids (at least the bigs) are not morning people either. We are all slow moving, until I get in panic rush mode to get Hope to school before she is tardy (which I am sad to say, has happened.) So, I am usually frazzled by the time we get in the car, which I know affects them too, especially Hope, but when we get done singing, we have all calmed down and gotten our glad rags on.

30 Days of Thanks- #9

Today I am thankful for a quick escape with just Emmy. I loaded her up to get her prescriptions refilled and run to the grocery store, while John gave the bigs a bath and put them to bed. Emmy loves to ride in either the Baby Bjorn or the Moby wrap. I love that she can face out and see people. She was very bright eyed tonight, and several people stopped to chat with her. I am thankful she did not throw up on anyone but me. (On that note, the spit up is out of control. She wore 4 outfits today! 1,2,3,FOUR! And I changed my shirt twice. We are upping the Carafate, so hopefully that will help. I was feeding her in Ikea last weekend, and let me tell you, when it hit the ground, it sounded like we had just gone down the log ride at Silver Dollar City. Splash. Sorry for the visual, but, yeah, it happened.) In the grocery store, she started looking for me. She knew I was close, but she couldn't get her head quite there. I turned where she could see me, and she smiled, like, "oh there you are!" She is definitely a mama's girl. I love it.

 Lacking for Pictures tonight!

Here is the Carafate. These 3 huge bottles are only a 30 Day Supply! Yikes!

Here is a preview of a project I have got going. I managed to find the same Baby Lulu outfit that Hope wore in her famous AAAAUUUUGGGHHH! Picture on Ebay! So, for now,

This is Hope...

And This is Emmy!

30 Days of Thanks - #8

Today I am thankful for Hope's new school. I just love it. If she couldn't be at Indian Hills with her Ninny this year, then there is no other place I would want her to be besides her new school. She is where she needs to be. And, I will say it again. She has the perfect Kindergarten teacher. She is everything you pray your kindergartner will have when they start school. Seriously.

And as a Mom, I like the parents at her new school. I am not a real, "Get out and meet people" kind of girl, but moving away from all things familiar (literally) has forced me out of that a bit. We went to Chik Fil A tonight for a fundraiser for the second time this school year. It was funny how different it was this time. I actually know the names of some of the moms, Hope knew kids that weren't even in her grade, and one of the mom's just came up and took Emmy from me for a minute. It feels good to be getting comfortable around some people.

I don't think I have shared this on here, but I also have a new friend that moved from Little Rock the same week we did! And her kindergartner goes to Hope's school! We did not know each other in Little Rock, even though she was a dental hygienist at my dentist's office! How crazy is that?

I am so thankful that the many houses we thought were going to be ours, aren't. We are where we are supposed to be.

American Girl Day!

I am thankful today for these sweet girls... and my sweet mom and sweet sister!

30 Days of Thanks #6

I am cheating. I fell asleep in Noah's bed before posting, so I am posting now. While I was layig down with him, I thought, I need to go post, but instead, I just enjoyed being with him. In return, that is what I am thankful for. Sweet time with Noah Red. Noah decided a couple of weeks ago he wanted to sleep in the twin bed in his room instead of his crib. The comforter has cars on it, so he calls it "The Cars Bed." I said, okay, but that if he slept in the big boy bed, no more paci... and to my surprise, it worked! He is paci free! And he really hasn't fussed about it much at all. He picks out his books, and lays down on his beloved Pillow Pet with his Ooh Ooh monkey. On that note, Hope became very attached to her Ooh Ooh right about the time we took away the paci too. That is happening with Noah, too. We bought him his own Ooh Ooh because he always wanted Hope's. Now, unfortunately, he wants both! So, Hope knows to hide her Ooh Ooh when Noah is going to bed, or there is a major meltdown. Not every night, but a lot of nights. And only if he sees hers right before bed. Hopefully soon, he will just want his.

Last night I was laying with him after we read a book about Trucks. I said, "Noah Red, you are a very special boy." He said, "Yeah Mommy, I special boy."

(My Sweet friend Deni took this picture on the day Emmy was born! She kept our Noah that whole day! I am thankful for her too!)

And then I said what we say every night before bed....

Thank You, God for Noah Red.

30 days of Thanks - #5

Today I am just thankful for a great great day. The American Girl Store did not disappoint! It was even more fun than I thought it would be! I think even the grown ups turned into little girls again for awhile. I remember always admiring my sweet friend Mary-Margaret's American Girl collection when I was a little girl. I loved all the little details in the stuff for her doll. I had lots of American Girl books, but never the dolls. I knew who I would pick though, Molly. Her books were the best.

Anyway, we left too early this morning anticipating traffic, but, it wasn't bad at all. We got to the store 30 minutes before it opened. So in the car, I wanted Jenn to listen to Taylor Swifts new song, Never Grow Up. It was a good way to set the mood for the day! I will try to post the lyrics tomorrow with the rest of the pics.

Mom bought each of the girls a doll of their choice for their upcoming birthdays. Hope chose Molly! Without any prompting from her Mommy! She likesMolly's accessories, is what it boiled down to. But, I did love it!
More tomorrow!

30 Days of Thanks- #4

I am so thankful my sister, two of my favorite nieces, and my mom are sleeping upstairs in my house right now! They have come for a visit, and a special trip to the American Girl store and Cafe tomorrow to celebrate birthdays! I cannot wait. It's totally possible that I am reliving my childhood through Hope with this! After a lot a lot of looking at the catalogs and looking online, Hope has decided she wants Molly. She is pretty pumped about it, too!

Today, after Ninny got to meet Hope's beloved teacher, Miss B, we went to Sam Moon, Ikea, Justice, and our family favorite restaurant , Uncle Julios. Oh My, their bacon wrapped shrimp is to die for. Mmmm.
I don't have pictures from today, but here is an example of what fun Hope has with the cousins! We miss you Julia T! Wish you were here with us!

(And, I am also thankful for this Blog writer app on my iPhone that is allowing me to post this on my iPhone from my bed! Otherwise, tonights post would not have happened, and I would have failed 30 days of thanks after only 4 days ;)

30 Days of Thanks #3 - My Sweet Emmy Love

Oh, My Emmy Love, how in the world did I ever live without you? You warm my heart. I cannot quit kissing your sweet noggin. This is a little late in being posted, but you are 3 months old! You are quick to smile, as well as quick to scream! You are definitely Mommy's Baby right now, and want me and only me. I am okay with that. It does make your Daddy a little sad when you start screaming as soon as I hand you to him, and when you calm immediately when he gives you back. But, I have no doubt, just like your sister, you will soon become a Daddy's Girl.

You did decide to finally grow some! Last week, you weighed in at a tad over 10 pounds. Still a wee one, but a growing wee one! You still take several medicines, but they have really really helped you! You still spit up quite a bit, but that just allows Mommy to dress you up multiple times per day. You are in a size 1 diaper, and, get this... you are wearing 0-3 Months clothes! Way to go sister. I do appreciate you making sure we got our money's worth on those newborn clothes.

You drink typically 6 ounces at a feeding now. Sometimes 4-5. And, my sweet precious girl, you are sleeping through the night about 6 nights a week! This makes me love you even more. We may have got you in a bad habit right now, but we swaddle you up and put you in your swing, and you are out! Daddy is usually the last one to bed, so he usually puts you in your bassinet when he goes to bed.

You adore your brother and sister, which is so fun to watch. You just cannot even contain yourself when they start talking to you! You can almost giggle. A high pitched squeal will occasionally come out when you are really excited.

Still no movement on the rolling front. Again, I am okay with that! It is so handy to be able to lay you on my bed while I get ready in the morning.

You try to "will" me to come get you out of your swing, I am convinced. If I have put you in there to get a few things done and I walk past you, you give me the stare down. If I stop to look at you for a minute, you give the biggest smiles. But, when I walk away, you usually cry. So, I pick you right back up. You are tricky like that! I carry you around the house a lot. Usually in the Moby wrap or the Baby Bjorn. You must be facing out, though, or you simply won't have it!

You have brought so much joy to my soul, sweet baby. I just cannot get enough of you.

Love,
Mommy

30 Day of Thanks #2

Today I am thankful for John. I cannot believe we have been married for 8 years! Crazy! This last year ranks right up there with the craziest yet. A new (surprise!) baby, a new job, a move, Hope in Kindergarten. The biggest change comes with the new job. Have I mentioned how hard it is to have a husband that is gone 4 days out of the week? It is. We made it work, and somehow survived still liking eachother. But, it is so great to really be a family again. We have all eaten dinner together close to every single night since we moved here. It has made a big difference for our little family. He is here to give the bigs a bath every night, and to feed Emmy her last bottle for the night. Sometimes I think about how hard this would be if he was still traveling. Ugh. If we never go back to that lifestyle, it will be too soon! His new job is not exactly the 8-5 job we (I?)were anticipating, but that is probably because John works so very hard. If he is asked to do something, he will do what it takes to get it done. I can't even tell you how many mornings I have woken up, and find he has been working all night. I am very grateful that he works so hard for our family, and that even if he is working through the night, he is doing so from our house, and not hundreds of miles away.

And now for a little John story...
This last weekend, I probably laughed harder than I have in months. In an effort to save a little money, I wanted to give filling our own printer ink a try. John, of course, made a little fun of me. I didn't let that stop me! So, I found a kit and brought it home. I started reading the directions and realized that I could probably use an extra hand. Well, in true John fashion, he comes to the rescue... only to kind of take over. I was really okay with that. We read, we googled, we (he) was finally comfortable to go for it and add the ink. I am not sure what happened, but, ink started spraying everywhere. But mostly on John!

I could not stop laughing. I don't know if you have ever tried to get printer ink off of a human, but it is not easy! After he had tried several things like soap, hairspray, fingernail polish remover, and soaking them, he stared to get a little worried. John has a big training this week, and I started picturing him trying to present information with these hands, and explaining to everyone that his wife had a great idea how to save a little money. I could not get myself together! Luckily, I too am smart, and googled how to remove printer ink from hands. The answer: OxyClean. It worked! My favorite part in all of this was as he was scrubbing his hands, he quietly said, "I guess that's why they included rubber gloves in the kit." Ha! I did not see those, but the fact that he did and chose not to wear them made me laugh that much harder. Good times.

I really really want one of these!

How fun does that look? I could ride to pick Hope up from school everyday with the littles in the bucket!Click on the picture to find out more about Madsen Cycles ... and how you can win one! But, if you win, can I at least ride around the block with my kids in your bucket one time? It's only fair.

30 Days of Thanks #1

Let's try this again. I failed this 30 days of Thanks blog challenge last year. Disney World happened. And I got so behind, I still haven't caught up with the Disney pics. Ugh. I am not going to let that keep me from trying it again! So here we go.... day 1...

Today I am thankful for my sweet Kindergartner! We had Hope's very first Parent-Teacher conference tonight, and I am just so proud of her. She is doing so well in school. She is reading independently, and she has just grown, learned and changed so much in just a matter of weeks. I am so not ready for her to be 6 in a couple of weeks!

I can tell you that Kindergarten wears this girl out! By Friday every week, she is just zonked. A couple of weeks ago, she faked sick at school. I suspected she was faking, but what do you do when the school nurse calls to tell you that she doesn't have a fever, but "she looks so pitiful I wanted to call you." I loaded everyone in the car (I was in the middle of bathing Emmy when she called) and went to get her. She did look pitiful. But, as we were walking to the car (that's right, we had not even got back in the car!) she said, "I'm not really sick. I just wanted to come home." OMG. Are you kidding me. My first reaction was to want to march her back into the school. But, I didn't. What if she walked in and threw up everywhere? I didn't want to be THAT mom. So, I took her home. But then, she did sleep ALL afternoon, so I do think she was just exhausted.

This Friday, things got really quiet here at home. So, immediately I knew something wasn't right ;) I went upstairs to find this...

Love it. She was asleep in the playroom... all dressed up... sleeping on top of a lid to a storage tote! Haha! Love her.