Pottery Barn and Jesus

Ok....so I have to blog this really fast before I go and do some housework. When we were in Pottery Barn Kids in Orlando, the girls were playing kitchen with other kids. The store was very open to active play. Anyway, this one girl was being rude to Isabella and grabbing toys from her. Seeing her sister treated this way, Abby walked up to the girl and said," You should share with her. The Bible says that you are supposed to share, so you should share your toys. Okay, sweetie?" It was the sweetest thing for her to try to help Isabella and teach others what she'd been taught. I did try to talk to her about not being too bossy to other kids....I don't want her preaching to everyone. But at the same time I was proud that she wanted everyone to handle the situation correctly and wanted to help them do just that. She is listening to what we teach her!

Baby Update

Yesterday I went to the doctor. I'm 15 weeks along now. Isn't this pregnancy starting to fly by? The heartbeat was in the 160s. Great! Dr. Peeler said all looked well, and we'll do our big ultrasound on Ali Kate's birthday. That will be a big day around here. Her first birthday and the day we've all been waiting for. Girl number four or boy number one? I do have to say that we both kind of want a boy this time. We'd love another girl, but we both have wanted at least one son.

I saw the results of my 3 hour glucola test. My sugars were beautiful. Perfect numbers that I wish Abby could have every day. That drink would have sent her to 400, I promise. Thank God that my pancurious (as Abby calls it) works perfectly.

Anyway, the visit was quick and non-eventful. That's usually good news. I didn't gain any weight this month....even better news. Gotta save room to pack it on at the end....right, Ali
Kate?

Paramedic Wendy Reporting

The Children's Museum absolutely saved me today. The girls and I have been so stir crazy since we've been cooped up at home so much lately trying to get ready for Christmas, recuperate from vacation, and do mounds of laundry. We spent 3 hours today at CMOM, and we had a blast. Ali Kate got to slide and ride on the rocking horse. Abby put on an intricate puppet show complete with a formal announcement to the "ladies and gentlemen." She even called and made reservations for Ali Kate and I to watch the show. She also gave us a showtime to be at the theater. Isabella had a great time shadowing her big sister as they played house, theater, fire trucks, and more.

We had so much fun at the fire truck. I donned a paramedic vest while we rescued a hurt little girl and put her on the cot to put into the back of the police cruiser so that she could get to the hospital. We had a very complicated storyline about this little girl. Abby's imagination is just taking off.

We invited Matt for an impromptu lunch, and he really had a good time. He brought us sack lunches, and we all feasted in the little cafe they have. Then Matt actually hula-hooped with the girls in the lobby in front of everyone. Major feat in my opinion. We visited the Christmas decorations (Isabella was scared of the Santa popping out of the chimney) on our way to the stage. There Abby and Isabella dressed up and performed all kinds of plays and hosted royal balls. I got to be Prince Wendy. Yes, I said Prince (not princess). Hey....with all girls, someone has to be the prince.

Anyway, CMOM was just what the doctor ordered. We all had so much fun together and didn't worry about what had to be cleaned, washed, or fixed for a few hours. I needed to get out of the house to focus totally on them and give them good Mom time. That membership is worth so much more than what it costs. We're keeping one of those!

Thank you, God, for giving me these three sweet girls and our new baby on the way. I really enjoyed motherhood today. I pray that I get some relaxation and time away here and there so that I can be refreshed and offer them my best each day.

15 minutes

I've got 15 minutes while I wait for Abby's blood sugar to come up....so I thought I'd sit and write. She's 42...yikes! I mixed her insulin tonight, and it obviously was a bit much for her little body. Oh, this rollercoaster. You can do the same thing two days in a row and get totally different results. But we keep on trying. And we will every day.

Halloween....that's the big topic of discussion at our house right now. We don't celebrate Halloween, and we've told Abby that. Everywhere we've gone though, people have innocently asked her what she's going to wear for Halloween. She just looks at them with a blank stare, or she tells them, "We don't celebrate Halloween." She's gotten some crazy looks from people, but I'm so proud that she isn't afraid to tell people how we feel. She doesn't even know what Halloween is other than that we've told her that people dress up and get candy and that almost everybody doesn't mean anything bad by it....but some people do. Anyway, she told me that she was going to be scared to go anywhere on Halloween because Halloween night would be scary. So she's obviously hearing things from somewhere....and the only time she's not with me is at childcare at church. I'm guessing some kids were talking about Halloween in Sunday School. Anyway, she's peppering me with questions. Matt and I have chosen not to do Halloween or any of the fictional guys like Santa or the Tooth Fairy. We tell them that they are fun stories and characters just like Dora or Diego. They can enjoy them, but we will not tell them that these random strangers come into their homes. We just won't do it. So we'll get flack from people I'm sure. We've already gotten some from family.

Anyway, I'm beginning to show. My belly popped out about 2 weeks ago.....early, early I know. I guess it's having 4 kids back to back that's done it. Anyway, I'm actually doing really well. I am nauseated most mornings but nothing like with the girls. Does that mean it's a boy? Old wives' tale! I'm worried I'll be wearing a tent from like March on if this doesn't slow down though. Yikes!

I taught the girls how to play freeze tag and hide and seek today. Isabella doesn't get freeze tag yet at all. She just likes to run and poke people. Abby loved it! She is really into games and winning at this age. It's so cute!We got lots of good exercise while Ali Kate took her morning snooze.

Abby's starting to read now. She can read about 20 words by sight or sound. I'm really super impressed with her. She loves to try new words....it's fun for her. We're not pushing at all. If she wants to work on it, we do. If she doesn't, we don't. She's only 3....so I'm not going to push her.

Isabella is becoming the sweetest thing ever. She is constantly giving "smoochies" and "smoosh hugs." She never kisses though. She asks for a kiss and then gives you her cheek so that you can kiss her. It's adorable. She loves being near me. Today she brought her pillow into the bathroom and laid on it on the floor while I took a shower because she didn't want to leave. So pitiful. She has been saying "I love you tons" all the time. It's so sweet.

Ali Kate is charming as usual. She's doing the pre-crawling steps like getting on all fours and twisting around. I give her about 4 weeks. She's so easy-going....always waiting for the next adventure. She can say mama, dada, bye bye, and baba. She can clap and play peekaboo. She's getting so big...18 month clothes! At 9 months old!

Anyway, I need to go recheck Abby.

Night, night.

Out of the mouths of babes

This morning when I was changing Isabella's diaper, we were talking about when she was going to start wearing panties. I asked her if she wanted to wear big girl panties like Abby, and she said to me, "Abby wears huge panties." Then she told me that she wears Elmo diapers and Ali Kate wears diapers with numbers.

At church this morning Abby had a helper in her room named Yasmine. Abby kept calling her Jasmine, and the teacher kept correcting her. Finally the teacher said to Abby, "What if I called you the wrong name? What if I called you Isabella?" Abby said, "No, that's ok. You can just call me Sleeping Beauty."

Ali Kate- Hooray!

I haven't written much about Ali Kate yet. Last week she mastered her new skill of clapping. I don't remember the girls ever clapping so enthusiastically. She just lights up and grins (with drool running out of her mouth) as she claps over and over again. I think she's secretly proud of her new feat. We're proud of her. And I haven't written yet about it...but her first word is officially "mama." She's been saying it for about a month now, and it's the only recognizable language that she has. She babbles some, but her "mama" is very clear. It tickles my ears to hear her say "mama." She's working on that baby move where they go from sitting up to laying on their bellies. I keep putting toys farther and farther away from her so that she has to reach farther and end up on her tummy. That skill seemed to be a prerequisite for the other two learning to crawl. She's not interested in moving yet. Isabella was rolling across the entire house at this age, but Ali Kate just rolls back and forth within a 4 foot area. I don't think she's interested in what's far away.

She just got over a yucky case of bronchiolitis a couple of weeks ago. She was miserable, and of course the albuterol she took made her scream non-stop. We took her off quickly. She's doing great now. Hopefully she'll avoid that the rest of the season.

She got her flu shot today, and she barely whimpered. She did great (unlike her big sister Abby who kicked and screamed for dear life). Isabella did great too...not one single cry. Isabella heard us tell Abby that we had to do it in the leg to get it in the muscle. So when she got on the table, she said, "I have muscle." She repeated that for the next half hour. I guess her "muscle" (translated chunky legs) helped it not hurt so much!

Sneaky Noses,Tummy Kisses, and More

Isabella said the cutest thing the other morning. I was waking her up for the day (well, actually getting her out of her crib...she was already awake), and she looked at me and said, "I have a sneaky nose." I asked her how it was sneaky, and she just said that she had a sneaky nose. She proceeded to tell me that throughout the entire day.

Two nights ago we were lying on the couch reading bedtime books, and Abby said, "Mom, can I kiss the baby goodnight?" I said, "Of course." So she came over and lifted my shirt a little and whispered good night to the baby. Then she gave my belly a little smooch. It was one of those moments that just melt a mommy's heart.

I told her that I was going to go to the doctor the other day (I had to go to the dentist). Anyway, Abby asked me if they were going to take the baby out. She totally knows how that works, but it suprised me that she forgot about the long wait for the baby. I thought it was so cute that she was ready to meet the baby. I only hope that it wasn't a comment on the size of my belly. I'm only about 6 weeks, but I promise I'm pooching. Not that I had an even kind of flat belly.....but it feels different to me. Maybe I'm just crazy!

I'm Pregnant!

I can barely contain myself as I utter those words. Yes, this is the fourth pregnancy, and it's still as exciting to me as the first time. I absolutely love my babies, and I love being pregnant (despite the nausea, vomiting, etc.). So far, I've felt 100% awesome with this pregnancy. Now we only found out last Sunday night (a whopping 10 days ago), so I still have time to start getting sick. But with the other girls, I was already sick at this point. I'm praising God for every day that I feel so great!

For baby number four, let me tell you how we found out about you. About two weeks ago now (around September 20th or so), I started eating mounds of food. Now, I do love to eat, but I do normally eat like every other person. Anyway, Matt casually said that maybe we needed to make a Walgreens run. That's code in our house for picking up a pregnancy test. On a sidebar, every test I've ever taken (and I've taken quite a few) are the First Response ones, and they've been purchased at Walgreens. All except Abby's were purchased at the Walgreens off Swinnea. Anyway, I digress. We didn't get a test then. I figured that it was just the pre-menstrual munchies. I've been known to eat us out of house and home the day before I start. So a couple of more days passed. On Saturday morning (Sep. 22), I got out of the shower and told Matt that I thought my period was late. I went and checked the calendar, and I was three days late. Not usual for me. I'm pretty much regular at 28 days. So I said I was going to Walgreens. Want to know his suggestion? Why don't we wait a couple of more weeks, and then we can get a test if I don't start? Oh, Matt....let's be a month late before we take a pregnancy test! Crazy!

So I said I'd wait a few days. Sunday I began to wonder if maybe I really might be pregnant. Could God have really given us another child so quickly? Ali Kate is only 8 months old, so this seemed pretty sudden. Well, Sunday afternoon, I went to the grocery store and made a quick Walgreens run. I didn't mention to Matt that Walgreens was included in this outing. So I came home and made a beeline for the bathroom. I didn't tell Matt anything other than I needed to go to the bathroom. Well, I took the test. Let me just say that this was the most pregnant I've ever been when I've taken a test. As soon as I took it, both lines turned up bright pink. Usually, the control line turns up bright and then another very faint line appears after a couple of minutes. Not this time! They both turned very bright very quickly.

Well, I always envisioned how I would creatively announce our last child to Matt. I'd thought about creative visits to his office, a romantic dinner, a package sent in the mail that contained the test, etc. However, I was so excited when I saw those two lines that I literally ran out of the bathroom screaming and jumping up and down. I was a wild woman! Matt and the girls looked at me like I'd lost my mind. Perhaps I had. Matt didn't say anything for several minutes. This was the first time he hadn't jumped for joy with me. It was a very hard moment for our family. I was thrilled before I even took the test at the possibility of having another child. Now my dream was real, and I could not contain my excitement. Matt, however, was having visions of more children to care for, a bigger mortgage, more late nights, etc. He was truly scared I think. By the next morning, I think the Lord had calmed his heart....and I'm now so glad to say that he's genuinely excited about our new baby.

We were going to wait to tell people so that we could tell them creatively, but Matt decided to ruin that. My mom called a couple of hours later, and Matt said to her, "Your daughter has something to tell you." I gave him the evil eye, but he just smiled at me. When she asked me what I needed to tell her, I said nothing. But I have a persistent mother. My "nothing" was not good enough. After she pestered me a few minutes, I finally broke the news. She screamed in excitement. Then of course I called Andrew to tell him. The next morning I told Laura and Dad. We then kind of slowly told people one by one last week until I got to church Thursday. After I told a few people, everyone knew. Leave that up to a bunch of women! It was fun telling our big news. Of course, we got some "Are you crazy?" and some "Was this planned?" But all in all, I always love announcing pregnancies.

In MOMS, I handed out announcement cards that had a place to vote boy or girl. We had two votes for girl and the rest for boy. I think everybody is rooting for that boy. We've also had lots of mentions of twins from people. I couldn't even imagine having twins with three young ones already! I could easily do twins the first go round but not with three little ones.

Anyway, I go to the doctor Monday, and I can't wait to see my tiny baby on the ultrasound. I love having ultrasounds and getting to peek at the baby. Woo hoo!

Today's a Brighter Day

Ok....so the drama and trauma of yesterday have worn off. We have had a much better day so far, probably in part because we've been in church all morning. It was wonderful to be sitting under Jean today. I needed to hear that someone out there knew how tired and overstressed I am. She is always such an encouragement. Her words were fitting as always.

Abby went on a nature walk at church and came home with a paper sack of leaves and flowers. She was so proud as she showed us her treasures of things that God had made. I was excited that her teacher took the time to teach them rather than just babysit them during the childcare time. Abby really enjoyed picking the flowers.

I don't really know what Isabella and Ali Kate did today....they were happy when I picked them up though. So I guess they had a good time. Isabella doesn't know any of the kids in her class, and I don't know whether she likes it or not. It's hard to tell at this age.

We had a great group at MOMS today. It was so sweet to hear first-time moms talk about their new babies and about how they love being moms. I need to hear that as a mom who is in the trenches with three tiny ones. Life is very different with one than with three. I have been in both spots. I wouldn't trade this spot in a million years, but I'd love the pace of having just one baby sometimes. Life is very fast at our house!

Anyway, I folded 3 loads of laundry when I laid them down. Now it's off to put those clothes away and tackle some more! Woo hoo! As your family multiplies, so does the laundry.

What a day!

I'm about to scream. Today has been one of those preschool days 100%. It started at 5 am when the girls (all 3) decided to wake up and scream for no reason (at least not one apparent to us). Matt fed Ali Kate a bottle....that's all she needs to get back to sleep. Abby drifted back off on her own, and I was up with Isabella until 6:30 trying to get her back to sleep. Doesn't it seem crazy to be trying to get her to sleep in the morning? Anyway, I am usually up by 6:30....well, I didn't get to bed till after midnight since I was working on our MOMS gifts. So I was not about to approach today with only 5 hours. And, for some reason, I was extremely nauseated at 5. That's why Matt got up with the baby. I had these weird notions that it was nausea from pregnancy. (I couldn't think of any other reason I was nauseous.) Well, I guess we'll see in a week or so.

Anyway, we went on through our day with Isabella in full force. Temper tantrums, screaming, hair pulling, spilling drinks, banging things on the kitchen table, pouring her peas onto the table at dinner and laughing about it, having a total meltdown at a friend's house when she couldn't have the pink dress-up shoes (She was already wearing their purple ones!), etc.

On top of that, Ali Kate was just plain fussy. That is not her temperament at all. She is almost always the most complacent, happy, giggly baby. But not today. Maybe she could sense the stress. She screamed unless I held her.

Abby was whiny all day long. She was low at lunch which can make you moody. Tonight she didn't want to eat her dinner, clean up her toys, take a bath, obey anything. She of course didn't want to share anything at all with her sisters. She also knocked Isabella down in the kitchen and produced some major drama.

Today was supposed to be a major "work on the house" day because it needed it. Instead it was a "serve as a referee" day. That's the hardest part about having three this little. I feel more like their manager than their mother so often. It's very hard and takes lots of work to get good quality time, especially individual time, with them. There is just so much to do....and they create more work by the minute.

Anyway, I usually write only about the good. And I do have a couple of entries in my mind that I'd like to do. But I think I needed to vent for therapeutic reasons tonight. My mind is cluttered, and so is my house. I don't function well in clutter! I am so Type A it's scary. On an even funnier note, we got a newsletter from the Honors College at Ole Miss that featured people from our class since it's the 10th anniversary of the inaugural class. Anyway, I thought, "They'd never be interested in featuring a stay-at-home mom....the only people featured were "making it big in the world"." I know that is from Satan, but sometimes it is so hard when you work all day every day with your kids and they act like they did today. I know that my fulfillment is not to come from them, and that's what I have to keep telling myself. I just felt like I'm doing it all wrong today.

Adios.

Stage 3

Ali Kate just ate her first Stage 3 food, and she wasn't too thrilled. I gave her about 1/2 a jar of the Macaroni and Cheese dinner, and she was less than excited about this new taste. Last week I did let her have some real sweet peas that I smashed in my fingers before serving. She lappedd those things up! She's a sweet pea fan for sure. We still haven't ventured into Gerber Puff and Cheerio land....I know I had the other two on those already, but I'm just not ready to make her a "big girl" yet. Same thing goes for the sippy cup. I'm just not ready to admit that she's not a little baby anymore. (You would think the 12 mo. clothes on her 22+ pound frame would have persuaded me a bit already, but they haven't.)

Anyway, she is growing up too fast already. In four months, we'll be singing "Happy Birthday" to her. Is this why I always get pregnant in time for the 1st birthday? Do I really long for little babies that much?!?

Toddlers...Gotta Love Them

Yesterday we had leftovers for lunch....hashbrown casserole which my girls generally love. Well, Abby was clamoring as usual for chicken nuggets, and I told her that we were having leftovers instead. She looked at me oh so seriously and said, "Mom, I'm not a leftover eating kid." I couldn't hold back the laughter. I told her that she'd have to be a leftover eating kid at least for that meal.

Today I was taking a shower, and the girls were all in their rooms for independent playtime. They are to play in their own rooms for a little down time. Well, I got out of the shower and heard, "Moo moo." I peeked around the corner and saw Abby creeping out of her room and "mooing" toward Isabella's room. Isabella is terribly afraid of the "moo" sound. We don't know why or how this started, but we're learning to cope! Anyway, I have no idea how long Abby had been "mooing" at her sister. Needless to say, we had to have a talk about not "mooing" during independent playtime.

A couple of weeks ago we were all playing in the living room when Isabella disappeared. After about two minutes of not hearing her, I went to investigate. She had climbed onto the changing table and was laying there waiting for a new diaper. She told me she needed her diaper changed...and it was a stinky one. I could not believe this child had climbed up there and was beginning to try to change her own diaper. (Let me note that I had just given her a new diaper about 45 minutes earlier.) Potty training is around the corner. I've been avoiding it because she's not ready....but her interest is beginning to really peak!

I'm Entering the 21st Century

I'm now entering this century! I am so not a computer user....but I've really wanted an outlet to journal my life's journey as a mom. All of my daughters have their own journals where I record letters to them on what has become a very sporadic basis. I used to journal often....but I have three daughters ages 3 and under. So one can only figure out that I don't have much opportunity to journal to them. I am not going to quit writing them letters, but I do hope that this will serve as a way for me to capture the stuff of daily life. I type so much faster than I handwrite...so that's why I've chosen blogging. We'll see how it goes.