I should be in class

So why am I blogging? Allisyn called me on my to class saying she didn't feel well. She wasn't running a fever so I told her to go back to class and if she felt worse later to call me and I would pick her up. Then mommy guilt kicked in. It has been pretty brutal this semester.

In our rush to find a replacement sitter, I didn't discuss many of the things I should have when we found Hiroka. (Who is proving to be wonderful!) So I texted Michael and Hiroka. Hiroka said she was more than fine with adding one of the older girls if they needed to come home. She even offered to go pick her up if I had left a car seat for Gabs. (Note to self: start doing that.)

So I decided to leave my first class early to pick up Alli and take her home before my second class. I can't really afford to miss my second class so I wanted to go pick her up before she called. So I called the school to see if they could have her ready. Then the nurse called me back and said Allisyn was feeling better. Like night and day feeling better.

I'm glad she is feeling better, I think she was just really tired this morning. I'm also a little frustrated that I left class for no reason. So I'm sitting in my car trying to refocus before my next class. I have a test in anatomy and microbiology on Monday, and I am no where near ready. Hopefully I can get it together over the weekend and at least pass them.

This post is from my phone, so sorry if it is full of grammar issues.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Here we go again

Wasn't I just blogging about childcare woes? They seem to be never ending for us. The childcare we had lined up for Gabi has informed us she is taking a hiatus from her daycare until she gets some stuff sorted out. We aren't sure what kind of emergency she has going on, but we do know from those who recommended her to us, it must pretty big for her to do this. So here we are again back to square one. I know that God will provide, but I'm really not liking the journey to get there. I'm already feeling like I'm not getting into my classes like I should be, and the uncertainty of who is going to be taking care of my sweet Gabi isn't helping at all.

On to some brighter bits of life, yesterday was opening day of soccer season! The big girls both had 10:00 games, so Gabi and I went and watched Piper's game, and then we were all able to walk down and catch the end of Allisyn's game. I missed out on Allisyn playing goalie. Apparently, she is pretty good at it! I cannot wait to see her in action. Piper did pretty well. She actually got into the middle of things a few times and made some contact with the ball.

Gabi wanted to keep up with the record of all the Hurlbut girls refusing to play in their first game. It was really really hot out, and she was probably hungry. I got a bright sunburn from her game. She has an earlier game next week, so hopefully it won't be as hot, and she will be more into it.

Michael is enjoying his new job. We are enjoying his schedule of him being off on the weekends! He should get to make all the soccer games this season, which is especially nice when we have two games at the same time.

Allisyn and Piper are both enjoying school. They both seem to enjoy their teachers. I think we should have good years this year!

Now I must try to get back to studying. I have a test on Friday, and one the following Monday. Hopefully everything will get sorted out with Gabi, and I can find the appropriate focus I need to study.

What Am I Doing?

Sorry I haven't been around. Life gets crazy, and I don't make the time to document all the exciting things that happen. This summer was AWESOME! I didn't have any classes, so I was able to enjoy the summer without the added stress of keeping up with assignments. We made two trips to Minnesota. One was for the blessed event of my brother and his beautiful bride getting married. We were all in it, so it was super exciting and super fun.

Did you miss the pictures? No worries! Here's the link to the photographers blog!
http://betsywall.com/blog/2013/08/heather-dustin/

We celebrated all three of the girls' birthdays while we were up in Minnesota. That meant two trips to the Mall of America. We made a stop at the Amercian Girl Store both times. That is where Allisyn decided to do her birthday shopping, and then Piper FINALLY got to pick out her Amercian Girl for her 5th birthday. Good memories were definitely made this summer.

But now that summer is over and we are settling back into the routine of things, I find myself struggling. Last year, we had our schedule all planned out. It was going to work out nicely, and my mommy guilt was minimal.

Things changed. Michael accepted a job at the VA hospital. This is FANTASTIC! I'm super proud of him. It has been his long-term goal. He was hired on as a supervisor and will be working nights again. The big challenge? He has to do his training during the day shift. This meant our nice little schedule we had set up had to change. We had to find someone to watch Gabi while I was in class. Hello maximal mommy guilt.

We started looking and found someone pretty quickly. She was close; she was a mom with two little girls for Gabi to play with. She had her degree in early childhood development; we were excited. Then 5 days before she was supposed to start watching her, she called and said she couldn't do it. I totally get the why and have no ill feelings toward her, but, needless to say, I went back into panic mode. Then we got a recommendation from some friends. This lady is even closer! She watches a few kids on different days, so Gabi still has people to play with. She really enjoys it. Then I get a text saying she has a family emergency this week, and she isn't going to be available this week. More panicking. Thankfully a wonderful friend from church said bring her over here! Gabi has been doing wonderfully with it all. She is just going with the flow.

Today she started back to Sonshine School. It's her Mother's Day Out. She loves it. She gets a lot out of it, and would be disappointed if she didn't get to go. So now, my sweet three-year-old, who was going to go hang out with a friend one day a week, and then have her SSS twice a week is going to childcare three days a week on top of her SSS. I know she is handling it well, and she seems to be enjoying it all, but I can't help but feel guilty that I'm not there with her like I was for the other too.

I turned in my application to nursing school last week, and I was mostly excited, but part of me was scared. What is it going to be like if I get in? I'm already struggling to get in enough study time this semester. (What am I doing blogging, right?) Allisyn has mentioned several times how she wishes I could be a "just at home" mom again. So that's where I am. In a place full of doubt and uncertainty that I am doing what is best for my family. I need to up my prayers and work on giving it completely over to God, but it's such a hard thing to let go of without dwelling on it.

Two more weeks!

I have two more weeks of the semester left! I am so excited and relieved. I took my final lab exam today, I have my final nursing exam next Wednesday. My exam four and my final in Nutrition will both be open to take next week. I have a Chem test on Tuesday, and my final in there will be the following Tuesday, and then I will be finished! Michael and I decided I will take the summer off. I will study for the TEAS test over the summer, and I will take a full load in the fall. Two of the classes will be online, and my two science classes will be MWF. They will be back-to-back so I will only have to be on campus for 4 hours. I just have to figure out Gabi logistics on the days Michael needs to sleep. If you could say a prayer about that, I would appreciate it.

We are rapidly approaching the end of the year for the girls too. Allisyn has her first research project going on. She got her second choice for her topic and will be doing her project over the arctic fox. She checked out a couple of books out from the library tonight to start her research. She also has her first school field trip coming up. I'm a little disappointed it is on a day where Michael has to sleep so I can't volunteer to go. I can't remember if I mentioned her school play or not. It was absolutely precious! I'll try to post a video of her classes part sometime.

The little girls will have their school program on the 2nd. I'm hoping they are both healthy. Last year Gabi got sick the day of and she had to stay with Mamaw while I went and watched Piper. Piper's class is doing a birthday celebration for someone everyday until the end of the year. Her teachers wanted to give everyone with a summer birthday a chance to celebrate. The kids all think that is pretty awesome.

Allisyn is really making great progress with her reading. Piper and Gabi are both making progress with their speech therapy. Piper is really enjoying soccer this season and was happily surprised when Mamaw and Aunt Katy made it to her soccer game last weekend.

Gabi continues to be our most dramatic child. We don't hear "NEV-ER" quite as much anymore, but we do hear, "I don't HAVE TO!", more than I like to. She still isn't showing any major interest in potty training. We still aren't pushing it. She is still trying to decide is she wants to be a little girl or a big girl. She tries to sneak in that she is a baby every now and then, but we quickly let her know that she isn't.

Tonight we went over and said good-bye to our neighbors. They are moving tomorrow to San Antonio, and the girls wanted to be able to tell Landon bye. They have been pretty great neighbors, and we will miss them. While we were there the little girls were running all over the near empty house in amazement. It was comical. Then Gabi found a guitar and decided to put on a show. She felt she was just getting started when I said it was time to go. She had a major tantrum before she finally settled down. I’m not looking forward to her threes. The big girls have shown us that the threes are more challenging than the twos.

Well, I should probably hit the hay. Both little girls haven’t been sleeping the greatest the past week or so, so I should sleep while I can!

I love being a mom

I don't have any hesitation saying that the greatest thing I have accomplished in my life is giving birth to three of the most beautiful little girls ever to grace the earth. I feel so blessed and privileged that God entrusted me to be their mother. I am very thankful that he blessed me with a wonderful husband, to travel the road of parenthood with. I am fairly certain that our girls would need immeasurable amounts of therapy if I did not have him by my side keeping things balanced. I'm not saying that we get things right the majority of the time, I'm just saying we get more right together than I would by myself.

I love the way Allisyn likes to tell me all about her day and her friends. I love the way she tells me about her thoughts and ideas and dreams. I love the way she loves our family. She is so smart and creative. She is a thinker, sometimes she overthinks things and gets herself worked up. She is such a caring soul. I love the way she always tries to make sure Gabi is happy, even when we have to tell Allisyn to stop babying her. I love the way she tries to tell Piper about school so Piper will feel prepared. I love knowing that Allisyn will be looking out for her. I love how Allisyn and her dad have a special bond that seems to be related to being the oldest child. I love her wanting to be a big girl and help with more things.

I love the way Piper looks at the world always with eyes full of wonder. I love the relationship she has with each of her sisters. I love her imagination. I love how she gets excited and thanks me a hundred times when we have pancakes for dinner. She is so loving. She is a puzzle machine! I love how she cherishes one on one time with us. I love how she loves Forrest, our black lab. I love how she calls him her dog. I love how Piper and I seem to have a special bond that may be related to us both being middle children, or the fact that I see so much me in her. I love how she tries to be big like Allisyn, but she can quickly go back into little girl mode and just be 4.

Gabi. Sweet Gabi. I really do not think our family would have been complete without her. She brings so much love and joy it is positively overwhelming at times. I love it when she hugs my neck real tight and gives me kisses. I love the way she loves her big sisters. I love the way she loves her dad. I love the way she kind of has everyone wrapped around her little finger. I love her battle of wanting to be a big girl, but still wanting to be a baby too. I love how she leaves out M and N in her alphabet. I love they way she adores Flynn (our cocker spaniel.) I'm pretty sure she would let him sleep with her if he behaved well enough to not have to be in the crate at night.

I love how Allisyn is an early bird, I cannot relate to it, but I love it because it is who she is. I love how Piper and Gabi are more like their momma and they love their sleep. I love how all three girls will eat a spoonful of peanut butter for a snack. I love how Allisyn and Piper tell me I'm the best mom ever for something so simple. It makes my heart get almost too big for my chest every single time. I love how Piper loves dolphins and how Allisyn will check out dolphin books from school to read to Piper.

I love the way they love their uncle Dustin and the conversations we have about how much we miss him. Gabi seems to always bring him up on days that I am missing him a little bit more. I love the way they always include Heather too. I love how they say they want to see their grandma and grandpa "right now." I love how they tell me I better not make them "wait forever" to see their Aunt Sandy and cousins again.

I am so thankful that I am the one they call mom. I am so honored that God felt we were capable of raising them. I know we don't always get everything right, but I am so thankful that they are forgiving and loving and ours.

Things you don't ever expect to say...

Today has been a rough day physically. I'm not sure if it is my body's way of telling me to rest or what. I've had a pretty wicked headache and no energy. Thankfully, Michael is super dad and took the girls to Piper's soccer game. His parents were in town for the weekend so they went as well. I tried to at least study, but it wasn't going to happen. Poor Piper seems to be experiencing something similar to last week, so she and I will be missing church again tomorrow.

Tonight Michael was giving Gabi a bath in our bathtub because she didn't want one in their bathroom. Yes, she is a tad bit spoiled. He got her cleaned up and ran her some clean water to play in and then stepped out for a second. I heard her hit the drain to start loosing the water and went in to shut it.

I was not prepared for what was waiting. She was sitting there with both of her hands full of poop. My response to her as she was sitting there trying to give it to me was, "Let me get your dad, I'm not on that kind of duty tonight." Don't judge, I have had more than my fair share of poop in the bathtub incidences when he has been at work.

So he comes back in and cleans in out and cleans her up...again and tells her, "No more pooping in the bathtub." We had been discussing earlier in the day when the last time either of us had changed a poopy diaper, guess we don't have to be concerned anymore.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Quick Catchup

It's been a while I know! We are approaching the end of the semester at rapid speed! At this moment, before running up to the campus and seeing the score on the test I took on Wednesday, (side note: I've been so tired this past week, I completely forgot about this test and the fact she was going to post the scores last night. I could have run up all day today to check what I got) I still have all As!

Gabi is putting up resistance again to sleeping in her own bed. She isn't back to our bed completely, but there are nights that after 3:30 am when she says, "I can't go to sleep, mom," after we have had an hour or so battle over her staying in her own bed that I give in and let her sleep on her daddy's pillow. Piper has also had some trouble at nights and has ended up in our bed a few times. This past week was exceptionally rough. I was running on fumes on Wednesday (which is why I'm not holding on to high hopes about my test score.)

Allisyn has gotten back into her sass mode. She ended up losing iPad privileges for a week and movies in her room for at least 2 weeks. We had a pretty big ordeal on Monday night. I asked the big girls to straighten up their craft table. She said it would take them forever and that there was no way they could get it done before bedtime. It is one small table, and there was well over an hour before bedtime. I told her if they didn't want to do it, I would do it, and stuff would get thrown away. She proceeded to tell me that I must hate her. That did not sit well with me. Those who are close enough to me can probably figure out why. I seriously would have rather she told me she hated me. Telling me that I hated her because I asked them to clean up their table did not go over well with me. I ended up having to leave the room and shutting the door behind me. Thankfully Michael was still home, and he was able to deal with her and get her to bed. I think it sunk into her, because her attitude has greatly improved since then.

I've been running a bit behind on many things. Preparing for Easter was no different. We went shopping for dresses the Thursday before. Piper, looked at a few, then she saw THE dress. It was pretty close to last years, except it was purple. Allisyn, it took forever, well not really forever, but it was at least twice as long as both the little girls combined. She likes the bright and sparkly and loud dresses that don't really say Easter to mom. There were quite a few selections shot down by mom because I didn't think they were appropriate. She finally came back to one of the first ones I suggested. Gabi was pretty easy too. I picked out three choices for her, and she immediately knew which one she wanted. I was pretty excited she picked the one I favored.

Then I sweet talked Michael into running to Payless as well. He had to go to work that night and didn't have a lot of time, but he was wonderful and we went anyway. I was really not feeling up to trying to take all three girls shoe shopping by myself. Gabi picked the first pair of sandals and the first pair of tennis shoes that she tried on. The girl knows what she likes. Piper tried on 2, maybe 3 pairs of dress shoes, and settled on her sandals. Same went for her tennis shoes. She had to settle for her second choice of sneaker because they didn't have her first choice in the needed size. Allisyn was a whole different story. She tried on over 10 pairs of dressy shoes, and had a really difficult time making her final choice. Thankfully her sneakers were pretty easily chosen. The big girls ended up with the same style. Due to Allisyn taking so long, I looked around a bit, and found a new orange purse! I really miss my old one, and was happy to find a new one!

We made a trip back to Vinita for Easter. We had not been back to see everyone since Christmas. We didn't make it around to see everyone, but the girls really enjoyed getting to hang out with their cousins over the weekend. Piper woke up not feeling well over night so the little girls and I missed services, but they still wanted to wear their dresses. They even all chose to wear them on the drive home.

Well that's the update. The past week has definitely made me question my choice to go back to school more than once. Hopefully things will get back into the groove, and we can finish out the rest of the school year strong.