Memorial Day Memories

I feel like my days and weeks are beginning to run together. Where does one day end and another begin? Goodness...it's not even June!
We had a great Memorial Day weekend. It's our first weekend to use our new (to us) boat. Brandon spent a lot of time looking for just the right boat, and he came home with it a few weekends ago. Analise said, "It's so nice daddy finally found a boat after looking for years." She said it like it felt. Saturday we spent time at home continuing to clean it up, and Brandon worked on other things. Analise was able to go down to the cabin with her grandparents that afternoon and spend the night down there. She was thrilled! Her Aunt S. was going to be there, and so were her cousins. Brandon and I were excited to see her excited, and honestly, we enjoyed a little more peace and quiet around here.
Sunday morning I woke up to quite the surprise. Brandon was up already and finished in the bathroom, so I walked in to take my shower. As my eyes focused, I saw a garter snake in my shower. Yes...a snake in my shower! Eeekkk! Thankfully the curtain was already open, so I didn't pull it back and discover the snake. The ironic thing is that growing up, I had a long, black rubber snake that my mom and I would hide from each other, trying to scare the other. When I first saw the garter snake, I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't the rubber snake. :) I went into the kitchen and informed my knight in shining armor that there was a snake in my shower. He was surprised but took care of the matter quickly.
We quickly packed up the two girls and headed down to the lake/cabin. Analise and Grandma loaded up on our boat with us, and we had a great time. The weather we beautiful, the girls did awesome on the boat, and Brandon was thrilled to drive the new family toy. We did some trolling, and then grandma took the younger ones back to the cabin for naps. Aunt S. and cousin B then came over to our boat for some more fishing/relaxing/sunbathing. Even though I actually reapplied some sunscreen, I still managed to burn.
We spent the night at the cabin, which for me is quite a feat...packing everything for everyone for one night and then finding sleeping space for everyone. The girls got to bed late, but PTL they slept in! We ventured out Monday as well on the boat for some more fun times.
Analise enjoyed the boat as long we weren't going fast. At one point while Brandon was zipping along, Cousin B had his arm around Analise, while she was holding on for dear life. Maisie was sitting next to them without a care in the world. Those two are so different!
This past week moved along nicely. Brandon was home for supper and then gone in the evenings helping his brother build a fence. The girls and I tried staying busy. One night we made it to the library to sign up for the summer reading program. Analise loves to read, but it never fails...when we go to the library, she is always wanting to check out a movie. The girls chose several books, and I told them it was time to go. Analise asked me, "Are we going to go order now?"
Another day this week we made it to two parks. I don't know if the girls love anything more than playing at a park with friends. Yesterday they played in the sprinkler for the first time this season. I love hearing them laugh and squeal while having so much fun.
Maisie is fascinated with trains right now. She gets so excited when we hear one (which is rather frequently where we live.) She also loves when I drive over the "choo choo bums."
This week Sadie took a tumble down and split open her chin. I wasn't in the room to see it happen, but I heard the thump and went running in to find her. Maisie quickly got Sadie's blanket, and we snuggled up. I then noticed blood all over the blanket, and I found the source at her chin. Analise split open her chin when she was three, so this looked all too familiar. Thank goodness Grandma was available to watch the other two while I took in Sadie. We were there an hour and a half by the time we left. Sadie was such a trooper; she was content while we waited, and she almost fell asleep when they did the gluing.
Hopefully this is the only serious injury for the summer!

Maisie loved being on the boat

Analise enjoyed "driving" the boat.

Sadie never complained about not being comfortable

Transitions

As the school year came to a close, we now move into the summer months. I'll admit, I was sad to see preschool end. I've said it many times...we love the kids and the teachers. Analise has had a blast! I will also miss the schedule through the week. I know we will get used to a new summer schedule, but I don't know yet what it will look like. Her graduation program was really cute. She sang to her heart's content and did all the actions. Maisie loved watching, and even Sadie bounced along to the songs. Analise, we are so proud of you on such a great year!

Sadie looks cute as a cowgirl, doesn't she? I'm learning that Sadie has a love for music already. All my girls have, and I want to instill that in them while they are young. Sadie loves to bounce and clap to music, and she can even "hum" a tune to a song. Sadie has another top tooth, bringing the total count to six! She's eating a lot and beginning to do a little better with a sippy cup. She's at the age where she can miss a morning nap, or she sleeps when we are home. It's been nice having more flexibility of getting out in the morning.
Sadie has officially been home a year! The time has flown, and she has grown!

Here are my firefighter girls. Last night at dinner, Brandon was gone, so I sent Analise down to get us all hats for our "girl party." She came up with these hats. Sadie didn't wear it while eating, though maybe that would have been good idea. She makes such a mess with food in her hair!

One night last week I ventured out for a fun craft. I called Brandon in so he could witness the girls doing something "crafty." We do something like this maybe twice a year. :) We do lots of coloring....but Maisie is beginning to lose marker privileges. Anyway, I am trying to make a tradition of having the girls paint a flower pot each spring. My dear nurse who helped save my life gave the girls paints, brushes and pots last year. I think it's fun to see how they improve on their painting over the year, and it's a reflection time for me.

The day finally arrived - Maisie climbed to the top bunk. I came in their room, and there she was up high, beaming ear to ear. Analise was at the ladder saying, "Mommy, I accidentally helped her climb up!" We let them play for awhile, but now we are trying to keep her down. Analise's headboard stores all sorts of items, and Maisie made a big mess with it all. Here they are peeking out.

Brandon went turkey hunting on Saturday and came home with two big toms! The girls get so excited for him, and Analise can't wait for the day to go with him. However, it's Maisie who loves touching the bird all over and Analise the hesitant one.

We have been keeping pretty busy, some days more than others. I think I am learning that having a 5 year old is different than a 4 year old. She is wanting more independence, and I am going to have to teach her the appropriate way in having it. I find that the older two are having more arguments than usual. I'm so sad the day has come. They have times where they play great together, and my heart is overfilled with joy. Then more frequently the times of whining and not getting along. This makes me want to pull out my hair. Boundaries...we all need them this summer!

It doesn't help that I have an early bird sharing a room with a night owl. Analise wakes up early each morning (early for me, anyway) and Maisie usually ends up getting up the same time. Now if Maisie doesn't wake up, she'll sleep another hour. That hour of sleep makes a big difference in her mood!

Speaking of getting up early, I've been getting up at the crack of dawn to exercise. When I stood on the scale at the doctor a couple of weeks ago, I knew I needed to get my rear in gear. About the same time that I was thinking that I needed to start running (which by the way is not my favorite form of exercise), a dear friend mentioned she liked running and wanted to get back in shape. We are going to meet two times a week at 6:15 to run. Let me tell ya, my legs are so sore! It's a sign that something is working. :)

We had a sad loss this past week. Brandon's grandfather passed away. We are so thankful that he is pain free and dancing with Jesus. However, we will miss him greatly! His death and funeral sparked a lot of questions from Analise. Wow...some were deep and hard to answer. Thankfully she knows that he is in heaven and that she will see him again one day.

The Joys of Motherhood

The week of flying solo is over. Brandon was gone for five days, and we always miss him. Thankfully, I felt like I had a little more energy then the week before, and the girls did well. It helped that our mornings were full. In addition, having family in town is always a blessing! I think what I enjoyed the mosting was going to Analise's school field trip to a park. The weather was beautiful, and I haven't been able to go on many field trips. I love doing those type of things...I think it's the teacher in me, along with being her mom. Analise liked having me there, but it's nice that she is independent and still does her own thing.

This past weekend Analise began running a temp. Nothing else...just a temp. I know I we should be thankful, but it was still a bummer. We missed out on her Uncle's birthday party. We tried having our own fun by eating supper in the livingroom while watching a movie. We can't do that with the other two around. Dinner on a coffeetable has "Mess" written all over it! I had taped "Happy Feet" the night before, so we watched that. Talk about a disappointment. I am so thankful she was young enough to have the junk go over her head. We will not watch is again, and I won't recommend it to anyone. We had a good time, until rest of the family got home. She said, "Mom, I missed out on all the fun!" See where my night ranks?

Another thing we were afraid we were going to miss was church. Her preschool class was singing both services, and I didn't want her to miss it! Since the pastor is doing a sermon series on the 10 Commandment, they sang The 10 Commandment Boogie. Now that I recommend! Got to love the group Go Fish! Anyway, since her fever was down, we took her to church with us and let her go on stage to sing. She loves that type of thing.

That afternoon she truly began to feel better, and I thought we were home free for rest of the week. Wrong...Monday afternoon - pink eye! I found Sadie's drops (a no-no, I am sure.) but I wanted those drops in asap! Today was her last "real" day of school, and she was star of the day. A double whammy in missing. Since it looked better this morning and wasn't mattery, I took her up to school for just snack and show and tell. A dear friend took care of the other two girls so I could enjoy this time. I believe God gave me a little blessing. Again the teacher in me still loves being in a classroom, but with two other children, I rarely get to do those things. Today I got to spend an hour with her in her class. I was thrilled! Each of the kids at show and tell asked Analise a question, and hearing the answers was fun. Let's see what I remember:

Fave color: blue

Fave number: 4 (all the teachers and I thought she'd say 5)

Fave dolphin: the kind that squirts water out

Fave pie: she doesn't have one

My favorite question came from her cousin: "Which bricks do you like better...big or little?" Big.

What she is looking forward to most this summer...swimming in her cousin's pool. :)

Here is a picture of my Mother's Day gift from Analise. She painted it at school...she's so proud, and I will always treasure it!

Sadie has grown a lot in the past year. Here is a picture from the NICU last year; they made these for each of the moms. I adore it! You can see that the petals are her fingerprints. We took a picture this Mother's Day to see how much her hands have grown. Amazing, isn't it? It was special having all three of my girls with me this year for Mother's Day. My gift this year...exactly what I asked for - a massage. :) Sixty minutes relaxing without kids...what more could I want? :)

A household of girls...poor Brandon. His nephews would say he is girl trapped. :)

Friday night I was ready to go get Maisie's hair chopped. Part of me was sad because I love seeing girls in pig tails, and I know Brandon does, too. However, Maisie's hair is SO fine and thin, she always pulls her clips out, and what settled it for me...cutting gum out of her hair on Thursday, and a sucker in her hair on Friday. I think the chop turned out rather stylish and cute. She was excited, too.

I forgot to mention a couple of things about Maisie in my update post. She is able to recognize uppercase letters. I am always amazed because unlike the firstborn, I don't spend as much time with her on these things like I should. I guess she is learning from her preschool sister! Also, Maisie knows her colors, but she doesn't KNOW her colors. I am a little concerned - should I be? She remembers all sorts of things that amaze me, but she can't get the colors right. Any tips?

Here's a peek at the back of the new do.

It's about time...

...for a girlie update! I find myself thinking of things I want to remember, but I am sure I'll forget some things as I am posting.

First, Sadie is doing well and completely over her pnemonia - yeah! No more breathing treaments and medicine. I did end up taking her in spur of the moment this week. When I laid her down for her nap, I noticed the inside of her ear was all bloody. I couldn't tell if was from something outside or inside the ear. Thanks to my sister in law watching the other two, and the deductible being met, I took her in. :) Sure enough, she had just picked a scab. After knowing that, I could rest better that night. That girl has gone to the doctor her fair share.

Sadie is on the move, and boy is she quick. She discovered that crawling on her hands and knees really was better than swimming across the floor. When Analise saw her crawling on her hands and knees, she said, "Sadie is crawling the old fashioned way!"

She is still pulling herself up to anything she can, and just yesterday I saw her take some baby steps along the couch. It will be so nice when she is walking. It's so hard going outside with her, because I hesitate putting her down.

She's eating great and loves almost anything I give her. Now if only I could convince her to drink from a sippy cup. She is now attached to a blanket, but I've learned her bottle is a comfort item, too. I have another 6 weeks or so before she must be done. So I will go with my nature and procrastinate on this switch. Sadie is saying, "uh-oh" and waves bye-bye while trying to say it. She enjoys blowing kisses and does each night when we tell the girls goodnight.

Sadie in the hippo ball pit All three enjoyed it

Maisie: Is growing up so quickly. I love hearing her news words and putting them together. She is saying some three word sentences, but she will say longer sentences with filler words. The gals came this week for a follow up on how she has been doing with the speech help. They were thrilled!

She is still doing great with potty training. The only thing I wish she would learn is to not take her pants and undies completely off. I put them back on several times a day. Last week she had an accident so I went in her room to get new bottoms. In the meantime, she went out back and was riding the glider wearing only a shirt! I could only laugh and dress her quickly. Maisie is learning that Sadie can ruin a project quickly, whether is be knocking down blocks or taking apart a train track. We are trying to work through this.

Maisie is still a great eater, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her. She's not very heavy. Her absolute favorite still is fruit. Fruit will trump anything else on her plate. Even with a kid's meal from a fast food place, she will pick applesauce or oranges over fries. If only I would do the same...
Sadie finally crawled into the dishwasher

Maisie is protected against UV rays...
Analise is closing in her her preschool year. I am so sad. We will both miss the great teachers, neat friends, and I will miss the mom friends, too. Today she was at the park all morning and loved it. Thankfully the weather was great. They walked around a big pond, and she told me she saw a turtle and a goose. One of her friends saw an octopus, but she didn't see it. :)
Last week was Awana awards night. She was so excited to get her Cubby certificate. She learned a lot of verses this year. I am so proud of her!
A couple of weeks ago was Kdg. round up. It was a good time for her to meet her teachers and see what the school looks like. I know she is excited, but it will be a big step. We don't know any of the families or kids that will be in her class. My heart's desire and prayer is for her to find at least one Christian friend.
Yesterday as I was putting Sadie down for a nap, I heard the girls go out the back door. When I walked out of Sadie's room, I got a big whiff of something flowery, but I couldn't figure out what. I went out back, and there was Maisie on the glider wearing sunglasses and a hat. Analise announced that she had even put sunscreen on Maisie. That explains the smell and two big, white globs on Maisie's forehead. Stick around here long enough, and you are gauranteed a chuckle.