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.


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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.


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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.

Back in the Swing of Things

Last week was Spring Break. It was a much needed break! I was blessed with the opportunity to fly up to Minnesota and spend some time with Dustin and Heather. We went on the search for bridesmaid dresses, and we found one that everyone liked! It was a wonderful trip. It was also my first time to fly in 5 1/2 years. I was a little apprehensive about going through security since I wasn't checking my bags. I did have a small slip coming home. In Dallas, they did not require you to pull out your little bags of liquid stuffs. In Minneapolis, they did! I ended up pulling a bra out while I was getting them out to scan. Nice!

Michael and the girls also went on a trip over Spring Break. They went to Branson with Michael's parents. They had a lot of fun getting to spend time with grandma and grandpa. Allisyn mastered the art of texting while they were away. My heart melted a little from the sweetness of her texts. She was so proud of herself too!

Today Allisyn went back to school. The little girls and I start back tomorrow. Tonight is our last night of FPU. We are still trucking along with our budgeting. It sucks sometimes, but we know we need to do it, and we know it will pay off in the long run. At least that is what we keep trying to tell ourselves!

Tomorrow I get to start the rest of this semester with a Chemistry test. I don't like taking tests after a break. I think I am ready for it, but there is always that feeling you will forget something over the break. I have become very thankful that I decided to take Nutrition online. Talking with some people who are not taking it online, it is much demanding in class!

Well I need to get back to books in preparation for my test tomorrow!

Just some pictures

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Getting ready to hunker down

I keep looking out the window to see if the snow has started. They have hyped this storm up quite a bit, and everyone has cancelled everything for the day. It is currently 4 pm and all we have is lots of rain. Which is a huge blessing. I'm not saying I think we won't get anything, but I'm not buying the 6-10 inches they have been claiming. I'll let you know if I end up eating my words. So far with the recent weather, I have missed one class, and my chemistry professor's morning class has missed one class so she had to push our test back one day. I'm ready to take it now and I am hoping that we don't miss any more class so it doesn't get pushed back anymore. I don't like starting new chapters before we test on the last material, but that is what she is doing while she tries to catch the other class up to us. 

   Today Miss Piper woke up in a good mood and we thought she was feeling fine. By the time we had got gas, and made it to Target, you could tell she didn't feel well. So we got the essentials and headed home. We  were home for less than 5 minutes before she threw up. She took a bath and has been sleeping most of the afternoon. We woke her up after her fever hit 104 and made her take some Tylenol. We had to bribe her, but she did take some. I am praying that it doesn't spread to everyone. Especially since they keep saying we are going to get hard and may be stuck in the house for a day or so. 

I enrolled the girls in summer Sonshine school and I got Gabi enrolled for next year. It seems so weird to me that Piper won't be going to Mother's Day Out anymore. I cannot believe she will be in Kindergarten. I know say this all the time, but really I don't know how Gabi is going to cope without her. Miss Gabi is such a pistol. Yesterday the girls were stamping and she would come running into the room saying, "Daddy! C'mon!" with such excitement that he couldn't say no. She would show him her picture, then she would show him her hands and say, "Look, Daddy. I made a mess!" She has also started telling us that things aren't fair. Really? At 2 1/2 she thinks things aren't fair? She is in for a rough road if she thinks things aren't fair right now!! She also likes to tell people, "NEVER!" Piper is the recipient of this one a lot, and Piper just tells her she is being silly. She also likes to tell us "I DON'T want IT!" If anything isn't going her way. 

Allisyn's teacher emailed me last week to tell me that she jumped from reading 43 words per minute to reading 73 words per minute! We are really proud of her! She loves reading to her sisters, and is reading more challenging things with minimal help. 

Piper has a love for dolphins. So Allisyn checked out a book from school about dolphins so Piper could enjoy it. Piper was so disappointed they had to turn it back in, we went to Barnes & Noble and got her a few dolphin books of her very own. She couldn't be more proud of those books. We also picked out a few new books for her sisters to enjoy while we were there. I love the way my girls always think of each other and try to do things to make each other happy. It makes me think that with God's help we must be doing something right with them!

Well Miss P is now waking up so I'm going to hang with her for a little bit to see if she needs anything. If you are in the line of this storm, be safe. One weather guy just said there is a "donught" over the city and it is keeping to snow away, but he expects it to come down within the next hour or so. We shall see!

I want a train your dragon!!

When we picked the girls up from my mom's this weekend Gabi was ready to go home right away. She had a great time, but she went out with Michael when he was taking stuff out and insisted on getting the car right then. She didn't feel that she needed to go back in and tell Mamaw and Katy bye. She was ready to go. She had both her Pooh and her Violet in her car seat with her. Violet is the Leap Frog dog that sings and talks and knows her favorite food, color, and animal. Well, maybe not her animal, but that changes frequently and I can't plug her into the computer every 5 minutes to keep her up to date. Right now Violet says that her favorite animal is a cat, and she meows. On the way Gabi was meowing along with her. So Allisyn kept asking her if her favorite animals was a cat. Gabi kept telling her no. First she said it was cow and had some mooing to go along with it. So Alli asked if her favorite animals was a cow. Gabi looked at me with a sneaky grin and said, "No, Alli! It's a sheep! Baaaa!" Then she started giggling it was pretty cute.

Then Piper pipes in and says, "My favorite animal is a train your dragon." She really likes the movie How to Train Your Dragon. She proceeded to tell us how she thinks they are beautiful, and how they can fly so high she could see the birds, and all her friends. She keeps telling me that she really wants one. The only way I can really respond to that is that I would, really like one too. I mean really, who wouldn't want a trained dragon? That would be pretty cool. She and I will keep dreaming about it.

Gabi was climbing on her play kitchen when we were putting her movie in yesterday. I asked her if she remembered what happened the last time she was doing that. She replied with a "yes!" I asked her what, she said, "I don't know." I reminded her that she fell off and got hurt, her precious little response, "Oh, okay. Thanks mom." Thankfully she didn't repeat that tonight, but I'm sure it will happen again.

Piper seems to going through a perpetual growth spurt. It's either that or she has her dad's metabolism which causes her to be constantly hungry. So last night when we were getting ready for bed, she came in and said, "Mom, you forgot to get me a snack. I know this because my tummy is still hungry!" I grinned at her and asked her what I was going to do with her. Her response: "Just love me forever. Is that a good answer?" I might of squeezed her a little too tight and told her it was the perfect answer.

Piper is also insistent on keeping her bedroom door shut. This results in her room being so cold that she doesn't like to get dressed in their. Michael started letting her change in Gabi's room, but Gabi has decided that she doesn't like it and kicks Piper out. No really, if she's in there she screams, "Get out, Piper!" Piper can play in there whenever she wants, but apparently the line is drawn at getting dressed in there. So I tell her to change in the bathroom which is actually warmer anyway. This morning she was getting dressed and her underwear was twisted and she was having a hard time getting them straightened out. I told her to tell them to quit being silly. She laughed and told me panties weren't human and they do not have ears to hear her tell them that.

Allisyn is still kind of working out of her less than wonderful stage of sassy and selfishness. Last night she wanted to get in the car first, but Piper was clearly there first and was in before Allisyn even moved out to the garage. She started whining about it, and my not so mom of the year response was, "Whaaa! You should have gotten your stuff together and gotten outside first." She got this look that only Allisyn can give and said, "I don't like it when you tell me Whaaa!" I did apologize, but also told her I didn't like it when she didn't do what she was told and whined about things not going her way because she didn't do what she was supposed to. She really wanted to say more, but she was smart and held it in.

Gabi still finds herself trying to hold onto being the baby. Yesterday she was wanting her daddy to carry her up the stairs when he went up. He told her that she was a big girl and she could do it herself. She cried out, "I not a big girl, I still a baby!" I'm not sure if he said something back to her, or if she just thought about it for a second but the next thing I heard was, "Okay, Gabi is a big girl."

So those who know me well, know that grace and coordination are not my greatest blessings. This morning I was standing on the stoop with Allisyn waiting for the bus. I told her I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Don was a minute or two late this morning. She then told me, she was going to have a sub bus driver today and tomorrow. So I tell her to stand in the yard, so they would see her. Then she sees it not turn down our street. So we walk back inside to get ready to take her and we hear it. So we run out. It stops where the designated spot is, at the end of the street. Mr. Don stops right in front of our house. So Allisyn takes off running, and me without shoes on, runs out to the end of the yard to watch her get on the bus. So I'm standing in the yard, in the rain, barefoot, trying to protect my coffee from the rain with my lightweight jacket. I see her get on the bus, and turn to hurry back to the house and find a hole in the yard and I go down. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, my feet hurt more because they were frozen. I did manage to not spill my coffee during the whole ordeal.

Well, I should really be studying. Right now I'm sitting on campus watching the snow come down. It is so beautiful and distracting. Okay....off to study. Maybe.

We will be finding beads forever...

  So I have been MIA for the past two weeks. I think. Last week was big for me. I had two first tests. The first was on Wednesday in my Individual and Family Development through the Lifespan class. It's a nursing prerequisite. This is pretty much the same as Developmental Psychology with a little more emphasis on how nurses see things. It's not new material for me, but I was still a bit freaked about it because the instructor likes to remind us that they test harder in nursing school by giving multiple correct answers. You are responsible for choosing the MOST correct answer. I feel pretty good about the test. I should be able to run up and see my posted grade tomorrow.

   The second test was the dreaded first Chemistry test. I feel pretty confident about that one too. The little girls were pretty outstanding with letting me study. They didn't always want to be on board, but we didn't have any major issues. I did not get much studying done with all three of them home except for when Michael was awake to deal with them.

  I was thankful for the timing of the tests, because I was able to get both first tests out of the way for our church's annual marriage retreat. Michael and I have gone 4 out of the past 5 years and we are always blessed by getting to go. This year was no different. We came away with new tools to help our marriage and were blessed with some wonderful fellowship. We also got to have lunch with Michael's parents on the way home where they blessed us with a microwave since ours has been out since right before Christmas.

  The girls got to spend the weekend with Mamaw and Aunt Katy. They were all so excited and were looking forward to it the entire week ahead of time. On the way there Gabi and Pooh were singing and dancing about getting to spend the weekend with Mamaw and Katy. She was also the first one to give us our hugs and kisses good-bye. I'm not going to lie; it made me a bit sad. It was also a relief to know she was not going to be upset when we left.

   She is becoming such a big girl. She is totally in her big girl bed now. She has decided that she no longer wants to sit in her high chair. She wants to be at the table with the rest of the family. She is talking so much. I love the conversations she has with her sisters. It totally melts my heart the way they love and adore each other. The next big thing we will be working on with her is potty training. I keep telling myself, I'm not going to push it, but I think I might need to give her a little nudge to get her going. Allisyn is doing her best to try to get her interested, but so far she isn't buying into it.

   Allisyn is doing pretty well. She has been going through a particularly sassy and disrespectful phase, but I'm optimistic that we are coming through the end of it. Tonight she lost her 5th tooth. She lost it during Bible hour at church because she was messing with it the entire time. Tonight she also knocked an entire dish of pony beads into the floor. They of course went EVERYWHERE!! I'm positive we will be finding them under the couch and under the bookcases forever. The little girls immediately went to go help her pick them up. It was so sweet. Piper told her, "It is okay, Allisyn. I will help you clean up this silly mess."

   Allisyn's basketball season is over. She missed her last game because we were on the retreat, but we got to go to her team party to get her medal on Thursday. We feel blessed that she had such a great coach and hope Allisyn can be on her team again. I think if she can quit overthinking things and just play, she will be pretty good. Right now she tries to overanalyze what she is supposed to be doing, and it trips her up a bit.

   Piper has one more basketball game. We are kind of sad that if she wants to play again, she will have to find another coach because after they turn 5, the Y no longer offers co-ed basketball. Thankfully co-ed soccer lasts a while longer and she will be with the same team this spring.  She is the only one who is going to play this spring since Allisyn decided she doesn't like it being outside when it is cold. Piper's speech is also making some improvements. We still have a lot of work to do, but we love seeing her progress.


  We are doing pretty well on our FPU journey. Michael was able to pick up some OT and has put in the request for some more if it becomes available. It feels like we are both fully on board this time around. It's kind of fun to see progress being made.

  So this was a catch up blog, for those that like that kind of thing, I promise more funny stuff in the next one.

 

Want to Hug Me?

As I started typing this there is conversation going on in the other room. Michael, "Don't go back upstairs! Go give your mom a hug." I knew better than to even attempt a guess at what that was about. The next thing I hear is the pitter patter of little Gabi feet running to come see me. In she comes naked as could be. "Hi, MOM! Want to hug me?" Yes, I did give her a hug through my laughter.

I'm hoping that once I get settled into more of a routine with school and life, I will blog more than once a week. Once a week is better than nothing right? Things are going well. I've been able to slowly get my feet wet this semester in all my classes, and I've been doing a pretty decent job with keeping my house fairly in order. For those who know me well, keeping up with house by itself is huge!

The girls are doing well. Allisyn is still up tonight trying to finish her reading. She has been stalling all evening. I even heard her try to claim that this reading was boring. Usually she does not resist it this much. She has decided that she is not going to play soccer this spring. We asked her why; wanting to make sure she really didn't want to. Her response was, "Because it is outside, and sometimes it is so cold." We laughed at that one and told her that might not be the best reason not to play especially since the season doesn't start until March. She did say that she didn't think that soccer was really her sport and that she liked basketball more.

Piper on the other hand is ready to play soccer again. When she isn't actually playing basketball, she loves it and thinks she is awesome. When it comes time to play, it is hard for her and soccer is easier. It was kind of funny this weekend at her game she was standing right under the goal and got hit on the head, she looked down at me while rubbing her head. I gave her the double thumbs up she likes to give, and she frowned at me and shook her head no. She called out, "It's not cool, it hit my head!" I told her to shake it off and keep playing.  

We could have signed Gabi up for soccer since they let them play up a year, but we decided to wait. Piper's soccer and basketball coach is going to coach soccer for both of his boys and Gabi could have been on his other team. I know she will love it when she does start, but we decided for the lighter schedule this season.

 I need to start making notes of the funny things that happen during the week if I'm unable to blog more often because by the time I sit down to do it on the weekend, I don't remember too much. I think it is safe to say that Gabi is now officially out of our bed. We did have one night where after the sixth time of getting up with her, I tossed her on Michael's side of the bed and let her sleep with me, but we haven't had any repeats since then.

 

 

 

Ummm, where did the week go?

So we are now back into the swing of our regular routine. Everyone is back in school. I survived my first week back. I'm even a little ahead! I'm sure that won't last long, but it feels nice! It is going to be a pretty intense semester, but I think I have some good professors so that calms me down a bit.

The girls are doing well. Allisyn is in a sassy period and is driving me nuts. She also seems to think it is okay to wear the same socks for three days in a row. Yes, I did tell her that this was not a great idea. I am fairly certain we have discussed the importance of changing things like our socks and underwear daily, but apparently she needed a refresher in that lesson. She is doing well with school. We have some things she needs to work on, most of those have to do with more attention to detail and giving more effort. Her reading is doing really well, and her teacher wants her to start reading at a higher level to keep herself challenged. It's so awesome to see them make the connections and see their minds grow!

Piper is in a wonderful, loving phase. She likes to tell us that she has God and her family in her heart. It's beautiful and makes my heart very happy. The other day when I picked her up from school she was covered in grass. I asked why and her teacher explained they were rolling down a small hill outside. I asked Piper if it was fun, and she yelled yes! I love the way she loves life and enjoys the little things.

Gabi's speech is doing so well! The other day when we got home from Sonshine School, she told me she wanted to go swimming. I told her it was a nice idea, but we had two big problems. First it was too cold, and the second was we don't have a pool. She was pretty insistent that we could make it happen. The next she brought it up again, and I was forced to burst the bubble once more. I told her, we didn't have anywhere we could go swimming. She retorted that her daddy would find a place for her to swim. I wished her good luck on that. She has yet to bring it up with him. Right now she is in her room and I occasionally hear her yelling out Spanish words along with Dora.

We are doing pretty well following our meal plan. The hardest part is coming up with the plan. It's pretty easy to follow it once we come up with it. We had another possible big hit with the budget. Allisyn knocked my backpack off a chair and ended up splashing my laptop with water from the pets' water dish. When it happened, I didn't think it did anything because it didn't get that wet. None of my books in the same pocket got wet. The fall wasn't that far and it was surrounded by books so it didn't take all the impact. Unfortunately, when I went to pull it out later it wouldn't power up. We are hoping we can take it in and it will be something small and easy. Thankfully, I don't have anything I would hate to loose on it. Things need to chill out so I can start saving money for a trip to Minnesota! There is definitely going to be one this summer, but I would love to try to go before then!

Tomorrow night will be two weeks of Gabi sleeping in her own bed. She is doing such a great job! It is helping her work on being a big girl in other areas too! Still not showing much interest in losing the diapers, but I'm hoping it won't be long! That will be a nice break on the budget.

I'm really excited that school is out tomorrow! We should all get to sleep in and not have to get up and go somewhere right away. Hopefully it will be a peaceful day!

Ready, Set, Breath

We had a nice weekend. Miss Gabi is doing great at sleeping in her bed and has started referring to herself as a big girl instead of insisting that she is a baby. This morning her daddy brought her in to lay down with me when he was running Allisyn to school because she missed the bus. She slept for another 3 hours! Tonight will mark a week of her out of our bed and sleeping in her own! We have to get up and settle her back down and change diapers, but everyone falls back to sleep pretty quickly. Now if I could just Michael and the dog to stop snoring, I should be doing great with the sleep! Overall I feel a lot better since I have been getting more sleep, praise the LORD!!

The big girls both had basketball games this weekend. I missed Piper's game because I was picking up Allisyn from a birthday party. Michael said Piper did a great job and had a lot of energy. This is a great improvement for her. In the past she has been kind of sour and reluctant to play.  Allisyn is doing great with her basketball. We need to practice with her more to help her boost her confidence, but she has a lot of fun.

Saturday, Gabi had a really restless night. We weren't sure if she was coming down with something or what her problem was so we kept her home from church. Michael and the big girls went to Bible class and early worship. Gabi and I stayed home. When she finally woke up, she was really clingy and wanted to be close to mom. Allisyn and I went to the evening worship. We also accomplished our 2-week meal plan. Does anyone else have a problem with this? We have tried e-Meals in the past, but we didn't follow it too closely, partly because I'm a picky eater.

Today started the new semester. I logged into my online Nutrition class. I immediately wanted to log out and log back in to see if it would change.  It will be a heavier load than I was mentally prepared for, but I feel confident that I can do it! Tomorrow will be first Chemistry lecture. I'm trying not to psyche myself out. I know I can do it, I should have passed the first time around. Wednesday will be first nursing class and Chemistry lab. I'm more concerned with the lab part because the instructor I chose did not get the best reviews. I'm glad my first week of being gone all day the little girls will be with their dad. I hope it makes it easier for them.

Tonight began the first of our 9-week FPU refresher. Hopefully the third time is a charm and we will be able to permanently make the changes we need, to become better stewards of what God has blessed us with. Hopefully we will also keep up with Monday for the Master when FPU is finished. It's a great place for a cheap family meal with great fellowship and the opportunity to do service work for the Lord. It puts us home past bedtimes, but tonight Gabi was out when we got home.

Well time to shut it down and watch some Thunder basketball!! THUNDER UP!

The cleaning continued

Another successful night for Little Miss Trouble! It was a bit of a rougher night. Michael and I both had to get up with her a few times, but she slept and woke up in her bed!

This morning, while I was working on our budget, I walked into to the bedroom to get the laptop and I saw Michael pulling out the drawers of our dresser. It has not functioned properly for quite a while now. If you  know Michael, you know that being handy isn't really his thing. He will be one of the first to tell you that. So I was very proud and impressed when he was able to fix it. Now all the drawers slide in and out and can be used again! Since the clothes were out and need to be sorted and refolded anyway, I took the opportunity to do a little weeding out of my clothes. I have two trash bags ready to donate. While doing my weeding, I was thinking of a conversation we have going on on one of my mom boards. It helped me realize I really need to invest in some quality timeless pieces for my wardrobe. Pieces that will last. I have a not so great trend going on of buying cheaper, lower quality pieces, thinking I'm saving money, but then they wear out pretty quickly and I have to replace them. For now, I am going to make due with what I have and try to make it through the winter. I'm sure the clothing budget will be going towards the girls as they continue to sprout up.

This afternoon Michael took Forrest, our 9-year-old lab into the vet for his check-up. He has to take medicine to help his thyroid keep up. When we first took him in 2008 he weighed in at 96 lbs. We thought he was looking a little thinner and today he weighed in at 63 lbs. He had dropped about 8 since his last visit, but it's not a cause for concern. She suggested we up his food a little to see if he can put back on a pound or two. Other than that, everything looked good! He is such a great dog and loves the girls so much. Piper and Gabi can occasionally be found laying on him like a pillow. It is pretty precious!

I also got us signed up for our church's annual marriage retreat! We always enjoy getting to go and the girls always enjoy a weekend with Mamaw and Katy.

Well Little Miss Trouble is sitting on my elliptical having a meltdown because I told her Allisyn couldn't help her ride it. Her new favorite word, "WHY?" is being yelled at me. I'm pretty sure she started earlier than the other two. Good times.

The recovery of a seahorse, a turtle, and over 20 hair ties

Tonight is the fourth night of my final move to get Gabriella to sleep in her own bed. The past three nights have been successful! She did try to test the waters to see if her daddy was on board with the plan. When he held his ground and let her know that he was indeed on board, she went to bed without a fuss. About 1 a.m. the poor thing woke up with a dirty diaper and I think it took a minute to hear her because she was sitting on the end of her bed crying like she was wanting to come get someone. I felt bad, but at least I heard her. Michael had no clue that I had to get up with her or Piper last night. Thankfully both settled back to sleep quickly and I did not lose too much sleep.

So yesterday, being my last free Wednesday this semester save for Spring Break, I decided to straighten and clean the living room. No big deal, right? Well it started out as no big deal, but by the time we needed to get Piper ready for speech my brain was turning and ideas were formed. I FINALLY had an epiphany on how we could change up our living room. The way our cable is wired, it limits us to where the TV stuff can go. Add that limitation to the layout of our living room, and we got stuck for a while. Yesterday was the day that I had a breakthrough! Luckily, Michael agreed and he helped me out.

While we were moving some of the stuff around, we found two missing pieces to a favorite puzzle, the seahorse and the turtle. We also found over 20 hair ties. Our cat Molly is obsessed with hair ties. She sneaks into the bathroom every chance she gets to try to steal them. Apparently most of them get knocked under the entertainment center and bookshelves. She was very excited to see them again, but that excitement was deflated when we took them all away.  We finished up the living room this afternoon and I love it. The girls seem pretty excited about it too, which is always fun when they get excited about things.

Today was a lovely day. We dropped the little girls off at Sonshine School, had a quick breakfast, and we finally made it see The Hobbit! The day was made even better with all three girls having great days at school.  There were no visits to the office  today by Miss Piper who did not explain the situation very well at all. She was being very defiant to her teachers and was given the option to change her behavior or to go to the office. She chose the office. I seriously almost busted out in laughter when her teacher told me that. First, because I can totally see her doing that. Second, because I can see a little me doing the exact same thing at that age. I'm not exactly sure what took place at the office, but she now knows it is not a good thing to have to go.

Well Michael and Allisyn should be getting back from Allisyn's basketball practice soon, and I hear Miss Gabi up out of bed playing. Time to go remind her of the new rules.

Night Two Goes To MOM!

It is now 8 a.m. Allisyn is off to school, Michael is crashing around in the kitchen, and the little girls are still asleep. In their OWN beds!! Gabi fell asleep in her bed again last night! I changed her diaper before I went to bed and I did not hear anything from her all night. She did fuss a little when Allisyn slammed her bedroom door this morning, but then again so did I. I slept really well last night!

Today is my last Wednesday until spring break that I will get to be home with the girls. I have a three hour class then Chemistry lab starting next week. My wonderful sister Katy is going to help us out with the little girls the weeks that Michael needs to sleep. I am a bit saddened by this. This is the first time that we have had to get help watching the girls since I started back to school. I haven't felt too guilty about going back to school knowing the girls have been with their dad. I am very thankful that Katy can help out and they will be with someone they know and love, but it's still kind of hard.

I'm still waiting on one textbook to come in the mail, after that comes in, I will have all my books. Yesterday we got our new Financial Peace set in the mail. It looks kind of snazzy. We start back up next Monday. I am hoping and praying that we can stick with it this time.

Well I am off to read the two devotionals I am following. I think I am going to read one in the morning and one in the afternoon to help me stretch out my Bible studying over the day. Baby steps right?

Apparently my editing skills are better in the morning after 8 plus hours of sleep than they are before those 8 hours and running on only 4 hours of sleep from the night before. Michael didn't find anything that really needed to be changed this morning!

Night One Went to Me!

So last night was the beginning of me putting my foot down firmly for the LAST time about Gabi sleeping in her own bed. There have been a few attempts before. Some of those attempts had decent starts but something always happened that took us back to square one. Not this time. I may not get a whole lot of sleep this week, but I'm prepared. I think. At least I do not have anything needing great attention to detail this week. That is a plus.

So last night we left off with our conversation where Gabi tried to say she was still a baby, so she could sleep in our bed. I told her this was mom and dad's bed and Gabi had her own nice bed and she was going to start sleeping in it. She left in tears and returned to the movie she had playing in her room. I checked on her once and told her she needed to lay down on her pillow instead of sitting at the end of the bed. She begrudgingly complied. The next time I checked on her she was out cold!

Then of course I couldn't get to sleep. The first time I got myself settled she fussed, I went in, laid her back down and covered her back up and she went back to sleep before I left the room. Then when I was almost asleep at 2:30, she woke up again. This time I had to change the diaper, and get her some more water. This time she had a meltdown. She wanted momma. It was the moment I had to decide if I was really going to be strong, or if I was going to crack like I had all those times before. I took a deep breath, gave her a big hug, told her she was NOT coming to my bed. Tears came streaming, cries pierced the silence. I was afraid Piper would wake up. Thankfully, she slept through it all. I let her cry for a little bit while I sat on the stairs. Then I went back in and gave her another hug and  told her how much I loved her. Then I turned on her Leap Frog dog Violet and set her to 10 minutes of bedtime music. There were still screams and tears, but she calmed herself down. When the ten minutes were up, she asked for it again. She was almost asleep, so I turned it on one more time and went to bed.

I did not hear anything from her until I had to wake her up for Sonshine School. We praised her quite a bit for being such a big girl today. Hopefully we will get the same results tonight with fewer tears and screams. Hopefully I am not too tired to stand my ground if I need to.

Both of the little girls had a great first day back to Sonshine School. I have to talk to Piper's teachers on Thursday because she said she had to go to the office today yet I was told nothing. Something happened with a boy in her class, Piper's head, and her teacher not seeing what happened. I'm sure if it was something serious they would have let me know, but I feel bad not being able to help Piper feel better about it because I do not know what happened.

After I dropped them off, I stopped by campus to pick up a book I'm renting for the semester. My parking pass was in the other car so I had to park in the pay lot. It is a dollar for your first hour. Since I was only there for ten minutes, the guy at the pay booth let me go for free! It made my day. Since sleep was minimal for me last night, I just came home and did a few small things around the house and then watched four episodes of Doctor Who.

Tuesdays are Gabi's speech days with the wonderful Miss Nita. We were blessed to have her work with both Piper and Gabi. Today Piper and Gabi were working together and both of them were doing really well. It is exciting to see them improve. I wish we would have been more proactive when Piper was younger instead of listening to our pediatrician and waiting. Piper is making great improvements too, but I wish she would have had the same advantage as Gabi starting earlier.

Well, I'm off to try to convince the little one it is time to stop talking to her Pooh movie and lay down for the night.

Who doesn't eat sausage in the bathtub?

Today was Allisyn's first day back to school from break. The house felt weird without her. The little girls didn't seem to be bothered by it. They go back to Sonshine School tomorrow. I'm relieved, Piper needs an outlet. She drove us a bit nuts today. Michael went back to work tonight for two nights, then he is off for his regular week off.

Gabi has been really good at playing with herself. Today, while Michael took Piper to speech, Gabi got out her Minnie car and was looking for the Mickey car that goes with it. We went all over the house looking with her calling out, "Poor Mickey Mouse. Where are you?" It was cute for the first 5 minutes, after that, not so much.

Tonight we had breakfast for dinner. With my goal of eating more natural and less processed, we made from scratch. I don't think I will ever buy a mix again. We had sausage to go with the pancakes. When Dustin and Heather watched the girls for us while we went to the Thunder game, they made pancakes. Gabi ate their pancakes. She did not eat ours. We asked her why she was not eating our pancakes and her response was, "You're not Dustin and Heather." Feeling the love. When she got down from her chair she still had a piece of sausage. She loves sausage. First, she was spinning her circles in the living room with it. Then she followed Allisyn into our bathroom and talked Allisyn into helping her get into our bathtub. That is where she finished her sausage. Who does think the bathtub is a great place to finish your dinner? Especially if it is sausage. Then she continued to play in the tub for several minutes.

Right now all the girls are in their rooms watching their before bed movie. Gabi and I have already had our nightly discussion about how she needs to start being a big girl and sleep in her big girl bed. She tried to tell me she was still a baby, so she could sleep in my bed. I came back with this is mommy and daddy's bed, not Gabi's. She did not appreciate it and left the bed and room. We will see how it goes.

A Weekend to Myself and New Year Goals

Michael took the girls to Tulsa to spend the weekend at his parents.  I had bunco on Friday night, and I usually enjoy the weekend to myself. Unfortunately bunco was not all that fun for me this month and it left me in a bit of a funk. I did get some decent sleep both nights so that was a huge plus. I do enjoy a weekend to myself on the occasion, but this whole break from school has been a little weird. I don't feel like I've been completely able to relax. I always feel like I should be studying. Starting in a week, I'll be back to the grind, so I should totally enjoy it while it is available.

After waking up, I took a look at the dreaded budget. Yuck. We got hit with some major unexpected expenses last year, so we are going to have to be more diligent in staying on the budget. We are going to be going through FPU again. Maybe we will get it and stick with it this time? Dave Ramsey has updated it, so at least it will be newish...maybe. Hopefully.

Then I watched Hatfields and McCoys. I'm kind of spoiled. My Uncle Randy wouldn't let anyone else borrow it until I got the chance to. Even though, he knows it will take me a bit to get it back to him. It was really sad. I'm not sure I recommend it because it is very sad how much hatred they had and how much devastation it caused.

Then I returned to Doctor Who. I had taken a hiatus due to school, but I am back and will hopefully make some good progress within the next week. Even if I have to watch on my phone or iPad.

Also excited that Downton Abbey starts tonight! Season 3! So excited!

As I mentioned above, this break has seemed a little weird. I have a huge list of books that I want to read, but for the life of me, I just cannot seem to get into any of them. Totally not like me. I love to read. I love to escape, I love to stay up later than I should be getting lost in a book, but it totally hasn't been happening. I'm not even feeling crafty. I know what's going to happen, as soon as school starts back up and I need to dive into Chemistry and Nutrition and then I'm going to want to do anything but.

So I don't do resolutions because they don't ever hold up. I do try to make a few goals to try to shoot for. Sticking to the budget better is one. Strengthening my walk with God is on my list. I have signed up for a few plans to follow to help me actually get into the word. I've really slacked off on getting into the word. I have noticed a difference and I'm not proud of it. So encouragement and prayers would be appreciated!

I also have the goal of trying to make a meal plan and sticking with it.  Doing more of the cooking instead of letting 95% fall on Michael is one. I'm not holding my breath on this one, but I am going to try to make an effort. I'm not big on cooking. I like to bake, but that's not really great for the whole trying to eat healthier goal. So those are some things I'm going to strive for. Being more active is one too, but I usually stink at that one. We have the elliptical, but Gabi doesn't appreciate anyone using her jungle gym. We are actually considering selling it because we are afraid she will get hurt on it.

Battle of Wills

A lesson that my family would greatly benefit from is that I function better and I am a lot nicer when I get good sleep. I can even run on less sleep if I get good sleep. Gabi has a real hard time getting this. She is under the impression that she can come in, in the middle of the night and sleep with us. Sleeping with us wouldn't be so bad IF she didn't think she had to sleep ON TOP of me.

This morning started out like many others, with me begging Michael to please pull the child off of me so I would not fall off the bed. The picture above was the amount of room I had when I got up to go to the bathroom. Since she is in the parroting phase she repeated her dad's "And that's a problem because?" When I told her she took up too much space.

So today we, okay just me because Michael doesn't seem to be on board with me on this, talked about all the ways Gabi is a big girl and discussed how big girls sleep in big girl beds. Well, my side of the discussion praised her for being a big girl, her side of the conversation consisted of "Go! (No), I baby." It was accompanied by a lot of crawling and grunting since big girls walk and talk.

She wants to do everything her sisters do like painting, and glittering the table. She wants to play with their toys, she want to do things without help. She WANTS to be a big girl, except when it comes to sleeping in her bed. She isn't showing too much interest in potty training either, but after Piper, I'm not pushing that one. I just want some sleep!!

Yes, I admit there are some areas I want her to SLOW down with the growing up, but she can hurry up with the sleeping in her own bed. I woud be able to embrace all her (too big for her) antics if I had the proper energy to!!



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2013 Let's Begin Again

Hello blog world! It's been a while, a long while! Over a year. I've decided to try to give it another go at the blog. Last year was a good year. I'm tracking along at school. I have decided to change my major yet again. I feel that I can do God's work better working as a nurse than I could working in a crime lab or some other similar setting.  Wouldn't it have been nice if I would have stayed on this track in high school? Thankfully the Lord took me on a long detour that put me where I am today.

Our sassy princess is in first grade. She does very well and loves going to school. She is a wonderful big sister and fits the role of oldest child very well! My second to last blog was about her loosing her first tooth in Kindergarten. The new one has just started coming in within the past month! She is playing basketball and has said it is her favorite sport so far. She definitely has the height for it! She now has her own bedroom. We moved her upstairs to the guest room when Dustin moved out. She loves having her own room. It has increased the peace in our house.

Our spunky firecracker is doing her Pre-K at our Mother's Day Out like Miss A did. She is still in speech. She is making great improvements, but still has a long way to go.  She tends to get lazy and not want to put forth the effort needed. She is very detail oriented. She loves doing puzzles and we introduced her to Legos for Christmas. She is playing basketball too, but has not embraced it. She seems to enjoy soccer more. She is very loving and so full of life. She loves that she doesn't have to share a room anymore. Sometimes she takes it too far and doesn't want anyone to come in!

Little Miss Trouble is a handful and a half! She is also in Mother's Day Out and she is having a great year! She is also in speech, but she has made great improvements! I think it is because we had her evaluated as soon as we thought there was a problem instead of following the advice of waiting we were given with Miss P. She picks up so much from MDO and her sisters that she surprises us all the time with what she knows. She knows her colors, can count to 13 by herself, knows most of her alphabet! Neither of her big sisters had these tasks mastered before 2 1/2 so we are super proud!

Michael is still working nights at OU Children's. He still enjoys it. He is an amazing dad and wonderful husband. We are so blessed to have him.  He is very encouraging and patient, because Lord knows, I can be really difficult to live with. Coming up on the 5th we will celebrate 10 years of being together. I thank God for leading me on the path he did and blessing me with this amazing man.

I'm still working on trying to balance everything. Many times, I fail miserably, but there are usually lots of laughs in the process. This semester I will be facing my old nemesis. That's right, I will be taking on Chemistry, and I WILL come out on top this time! I have to, its required! Hehehe.