Family Reunion Take Two

The guys took off to golf for the day and we hung out at the cabins. Mom braved the water and swam with Amelia. I feel like I need to say the following, "Amelia, Mommy would have swam with you IF and only IF no one else would have gotten in the freezing cold water. I don't advise swimming in May. However, you have the Gammy of the century and she got in with you. BUT, I was right there clapping and hollering like a crazy person."

Okay, I feel better. Except that I have no pics of Gammy and Amelia in the water... In fact, I have no pictures of most of the day because we were eating yummy treats, playing on the swingset, throwing rocks in the lake, looking at the boats, and of course, swimming.

And, when the boys got back there was more swimming. It was Ingrid's first time in the water and she did great. Amelia loved it even more than she had earlier in the afternoon.


Elise started crying the minute I put her toe in and decided to just chill with Popper.

These two are the foundation of our family and were still up at almost midnight watching the Name Game :)
That evening we hung out until way past bedtime with the Statler bunch and told stories and laughed a lot. Mom sat in the cabin while the three girls slept and of course deserves another medal :)

It was a wonderful weekend.

Family Reunion Take One

I am way behind on posting, but I don't feel like backtracking right now because we had such a fun Memorial Day weekend. Our family reunion was a blast and the three little girls were SO good. None of them missed a beat spending two nights away from home in a cabin on the lake; in fact, they thrived. SUPER FUN and perfect weather and company. Now, I pretty much just took pictures of the girls. Next year I hope to not be consumed by their delicious cuteness and actually take pictures of my extended family because they are ohsocool and we had ohsomuchfun.

We arrived at Indian Hills and Mom and Dad had their latest purchase sitting out in front of the cabin. It was an instant hit. (Elise is not standing up by herself).

I know I have said it before, but I LOVE watching other people love on my kids. And, there was plenty of that going on for two straight days. Amelia met some of her cousins for the first time and was especially delighted to play with Alayna. Two of the "big girl" cousins played with her on the playground and she thought she was hot stuff. All so adorable. And Elise Mae rarely had to be put down for a second.


After some playing it was time for our big family meal and the girls got on their matching dresses from Gammy. So precious and I can't help but wonder if next year there will be another little girl in the picture or a sweet tiny man in the middle. They looked adorable :)
This next picture cracks me up because I said I wanted a shot of all four of us and I didn't realize until right before we snapped that I was holding Ingrid and not Amelia, lol.
After we ate.. And ate.. And ate.. Seriously-the food was insane. Amelia wanted to swim and it was like seven and the water was freezing cold and the sun was going down, but I said YES :) Now of course, I was too big of a chicken to put one toe in the water but her daddy and Uncle D went with her and although she shivered uncontrollably, she had the most wonderful time. She loved the pool last year and I knew she wouldn't remember that and was curious as to how she would do this summer. She wanted to do it by herself and was annoyed that she had to be held around the waist, ha.
She was very big into jumping off the steps to Ross and jumping off the side with him holding her hands. Brave girl. She wanted to do the slide, but I wouldn't let her. Ross put her up halfway and held onto her and Derek caught her at the bottom.All three girls slept great and we awoke for another day of fun. Here is a shot at the end of the day with my best friend in the world.

Pot O Gold

The tornado warnings are ridiculous. And plentiful. And I am weary. However, I will keep watching until we are in the clear. Sunday's storms produced something beautiful; Amelia's first rainbow. So, I will focus on that.

Ross called out that there was a double rainbow and Amelia started screaming and clapping. She was so overjoyed to see the "real" rainbow. It was a wonderful experience after a stressful night. This was one of the brightest rainbows I had ever seen and I loved its meaning.
Praying for many tonight.

Letter of the Week- D

EDIT: Please pray for my friend Kayla and her sweet baby Audrey. Audrey has very suddenly become critically ill and needs many prayers. She just turned a month old and has been making such fabulous strides and this is quite a shock for her family.
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New letter of the week. Unfortunate word to accompany it. Devastation. That's all I see on the news and on the computer. It is the deadliest tornado to date and it is only an hour from my house. Over half of Joplin seems to be completely destroyed. I continue to scroll through the list of people missing and the pleas of those searching for their loved ones. It is awful and has continued to storm all day with more tornadic storms in store for tomorrow. I just don't have it in me to post much. However, my dear friend told me to stop looking at pictures and lists of missing persons and she is right, so I thought I would jot out a quick something before bed.

We went to a very sketchy aquarium in Branson on Sunday and fed some sharks. Not kidding. A hole in the wall with a shark tank. Super safe place for your kids, right? Amelia fed these sharks with food on a stick inches from her face. I was so scared and she kept saying she loved the sharks. She even went home with a stuffed shark courtesy of Gampy. There are no pictures because I was pacing around with Elise with the shark madness took place. I almost fed a sting ray but chickened out and dropped the food in the water. Amelia also got to pet a big snake. She did this with a HUGE smile. Seriously?? I regained my composure and got a few pics that I will post later. An eventful day.

The thunder is rolling and the lightning is blazing up the sky and I am safe and warm in my home with my family. And I am so thankful and I love them.

Zoom

Man. We've been busy. With Ross working so much this final stretch to finish up his first year, (HALLELUJAH) we have just been doing a ton of stuff so we won't miss him as much. Tonight is his LAST night of nights as an intern. So excited. He has been a zombie and I've felt like a single mom this entire rotation. This is most of what we see when he is home.
Thank goodness for his parents coming up one night and my parents letting us stay with them for a few days. I get tons of support and love :)

We've been...

- Getting shots. Elise did wonderful and barely cried for her four month shots. She weighs 14 lbs, 5 oz and was in the 50th percentile. She is 24 inches long which was the 25th percentile. Her checkup went great. Our pediatrician referred us to a neurosurgeon to have the indentation in her forehead looked at to make sure that there are no problems with it. We don't have a date for that appointment yet, and although I am apprehensive and anxious to get it over with, I am glad we are going to have it checked out. Here is the brave girl.

She is rolling over both ways now and even crawling!! Yes, you read right. She puts her head down and scoots her little buns way up in the air. It is crazy and she can completely crawl off her blanket backwards.

- Making penguins. Miss wild hair lady made a few penguins after nap (thanks Aunt Steph for running them off). We just stuck with P this week and we will start a new letter next week. Amelia loves to "make" the letter P now.


- Seeing Lily. While we were at Gammy and Gampy's for a few days Brandy and Lily came to visit us. Elise and Lily had so much fun together and I hope they are great friends like their mamas. Brandy added an extra two hours to her trip just to come see us and I appreciated it SO much. Lily was just precious and is still looking just like her Daddy to me.




- Pumping our milk. Amelia loves to pump milk for her babies. Umm. Bizarre. And hilarious.



-Playing games. Amelia loves to play her matching game and Hi Ho Cheerio. She has a really clear concept of both games and even tried to cheat at Hi Ho Cheerio. The spinner "accidentally" got moved over to the 3. I love playing games with her and it tears me up a little to think of all the game nights to come. Growing up we always played Life, Yahtzee, Sorry, Trouble, Pacheezi, and many more games as a family. I cherish those memories and can't wait to create some for Amelia and Elise.

-Going to our last day of MOPS. Amelia wasn't interested in posing really, but here she is on her last day. Although she cried almost every single time we went, she really ended up enjoying her time there. I think this will be a battle with us for quite a while. She gets very anxious and nervous before I leave her at church or at MOPS. It has gotten easier for me because I know she needs to learn to accept being left for one or two hours in order to prepare for preschool and kindergarten. I can barely type those out without bawling hysterically. Can you even imagine me at the drop off? Definitely will scare off other mothers and potential friends.


That about catches you up. Better Shelb? Sorry to leave you hanging. Here's a picture of my two babies because I love seeing them side by side


Oh, and we got a new chair with our tax money because I rock. I mean, obviously figuratively speaking, but I literally rock, a ton. I rock both my girls to sleep for naps and for bed, so I needed an upgrade.

Playdate and Princesses

(We are taking this P thing seriously.) But, we are not taking the pee thing seriously. Not yet anyway. Diapers, diapers, and more diapers. Much better than accidents, accidents, accidents.

Princess Time


Playtime with Liam was a blast today. Zeke took a nap while we were outside, but of course Elise Mae did not :) It was gorgeous again and their backyard is so flat and lush and wonderful. I'm a little green with envy.

I'm also a little envious (or a lot) of her new furniture piece. She has trains in the T, diapers in the D, baby toys in the B, etc. I was in heaven with each drawer I opened. How cool is this?



Peace.

Letter of the Week- P

Amelia and I started a letter of the week and this week the letter is P. So, I figured I would play along.

Picturesque- The Mother's Day weekend couldn't have been more beautiful. In every way. The weather was fabulous. Clear, blue skies, slight breeze, sun that went on for days--it was perfect. We celebrated my Daddy's birthday with delicious cupcakes and a yummy meal. I have said it before but I always knew I wanted to find a man like my dad, but the problem was I couldn't! It seemed that I couldn't come close to finding a man that was powerful in a quiet way and encouraging and intelligent and loving and not afraid to show affection and not afraid of a woman who was strong. Thankfully I kept looking and found Ross, but my father will forever be the first man that held my heart and has kept it safe all these years. I forgot my camera, but stole a few from mom and snapped some phone shots.


Perfect- I have two daughters that I pray will love the Lord fiercely and know that they can dream big dreams. It is the most insanely fun and challenging thing that I could have ever dreamed up. It still is flabbergasting for me to look at this picture and comprehend that these are my children. What a big deal :)



Playful- Amelia got to play and play. She helped Pop in the garden, worked on Meme's computer, swang with Gammy, smothered Ingrid, played downstairs with Gampy, and so much more. Uncle D got Amelia her very first chocolate ice cream cone and Aunt Steph let her play in the pantry. At G and Pa's she planted tomatoes, fed cows, walked to the creek, gathered rocks, got muddy, chased Frank, and smelled flowers. Deeeelightful I tell you.

Positive-Yahoozle de doozle Steph peed on the stick again and we have a winner. Do we love babies in our family or what? Amelia says, "It will be a girl and we will name her Ingrid, just like Ingrid." Duh. Read this.

Pampered- Barb gave me a sweet Mother's Day card and a crisp 100 dollar bill! Mom, Steph, and I are going on a shopping trip JUST us courtesy of our sweet husbands. Ross got me a card from him and one from each girl, plus a cute summer watch.

Pig- Our pig from today's craft. Amelia told me that pink and purple both start with p and I was so impressed. After I cheered and screamed she said, "Well, pizza does too. Right? P- P- Pizza." I lost it.


Precious- Seriously, she is. First time in highchair. Amelia has declared she is getting a booster seat.

Pigtails- Ingrid just became even cuter. And her dedication was so special--I was so delighted to be a part. (You are looking pretty cute too Memer).

Print- I printed a 317 page book of all my blog posts from 2010. I like it so much that I think I will go back and print 2009 also. It is fun to go back and read old posts and I hope the girls will appreciate and enjoy these when they are older.
Pathetic- Ross is on call again this coming weekend (three weekends in a row) and it will end up totaling 28 straight days. He's been worthless around the house. Can't really blame him, but it stinks to have him miss everything and then when he is around be sleepy. Come on Florida!! Hang in there babe and chug the coffee.

This was a bad idea, really. I can think of a million more P words and so I'm not sure how or where to end.

Just a Swingin'

Some cute pics are coming, but first, a list.

1. Today I googled, "cute mom bathing suits." Wow. On many levels.
2. I ate seven chocolate chip cookies.
3. I made a workout plan. Florida countdown six weeks.
4. We watched The Little Engine That Could tonight. Amelia LOVED it and so did we.
5. This month Ross works fourteen hours a day and is up at four thirty. Annoying/Tough.
6. He crashes right after the girls (or before) but somehow managed to stay up for The Office. Classic.


I decided to try Elise in Amelia's swing this afternoon and Amelia was more than delighted to push. Elise was surprisingly content being pushed sideways and smiled at the many starts and stops. Fun day :)
Who is the greatest pusher??
7. Summer means shaving legs. I barely have time to shampoo and condition. Guhreat.
8. Amelia has five stickers on her sleeping chart. Yahoooooo.
9. I love living in Ozark. LOVE.

Ending on nine just because. Have a grand Friday.

Big Sister Day

Mom and Dad came to get Elise on Saturday morning and after we all enjoyed McDonalds for breakfast, they headed back to Harrison with her. I cringed as they left because I thought Amelia would start to lose it when realizing she wasn't going with them and I was wondering how Elise would do on her bottles.

However, Amelia just happily announced to me it was Big Sister Day and that she was ready and "eck-sited." So, off we went for her first requested activity-- pet store. She loves this place and I even let her pet a bird ( yuck). I had decided I would try to say yes to every request she had on this day and it was proving to be a challenge as soon as we walked in and that big gray something or other bird was out for people to pet. She then wanted to play with this little yorkie that she named Blackie. Deal.
She then wanted to go to the park. I wasn't prepared for this as it was cold and she had on sandals. I am adamantly against a park/sandal combo. However, we found a park by the pet store and off she went. This yes thing was working out okay and Amelia was telling complete strangers it was Big Sister Day.




Then it was off to The Food Court for some Chik-fil-A. And a side of new tennis shoes.

Okay, and a sugar cookie.



And, oh, why not? A trip to Target. And finally, a very late nap.

We then played and played and played. Since Ross was on call we went to eat supper with him. There was a slight detour to Kohl's. Amelia loves to go to stores and it was funny that she requested to go here and "ride around." I parked on a different side and that was a huge mistake. She saw Party Warehouse and there were tons of balloons in the window. Ahhh. You know her obsession... She asked to go in and get a balloon for her dad. UM. Yes?

We went in and she picked out a big, yellow, helium balloon. It was a lemon. She says, "My dad loves lemons." Okay, lemon balloon it is. Ross smiled ear to ear and carried his lemon balloon to the cafeteria and all around the hospital.

Bath, books, and snuggles. What a fun day. It was great to give Amelia all my attention and truly enjoy the day with her. She is honestly such a neat kid and has so many funny things to say. I was surprised by how many times during the day she said that she missed Elise. It was touching. She kept saying, "Man I miss that girl."

Thanks to Mom and Dad for keeping Elise. So glad she did great on her bottles and at church. I know some people don't have a great relationship with their parents or their parents would never volunteer to keep their kids overnight. I have some friends that live hours and hours from their parents and so they don't have opportunities that I do. Don't think for a moment I don't realize how blessed I am.