Grandpa's visit and Emily is small

THURSDAY was a super busy day.  It started with the a septic consultant coming at 8 am to talk about our sewer situation with David.  Apparently the thing has not officially failed yet so we are going to keep it as it is as long as we can.  While David was outside talking boo, the rest of us were inside getting ready for women’s Bible study which was going to be held at our house.  David and Grandpa Wybenga had coffee cake and coffee for breakfast and then they headed out to go for a walk and run errands.  While they were gone we had a good Bible study, the kids played very nicely for most of the time.  I put on a Dora movie for them at the end when things started to get hairy.  Emily went down for a nap about halfway through the study, she never lasts very long in the mornings. 

After our Bible study Evelyn and Lucy stayed here for an extra thirty minutes or so while Amanda ran some errands.  They are going away over the weekend so was trying to put some last things together.  I just left the Dora movie on for them, it was a pretty easy gig with Dora’s help.  I had some macaroni and cheese and yogurt I needed to get rid of so I fed them that after the movie.  Haley went down for a nap as soon as the Caldwells left.  She went down at about the same time that Emily woke up.  David and Grandpa got back and talked for a while in the living room.  I had David hold Emily while I straightened up the house.  Then I went and laid down for a while, I wasn’t feeling super great.  I’m still not sure why, but two Tylenol did the trick.  David brought Emily into me after a while and I fed her and then left her there where she fell asleep. 

The Smith’s are also going away on a trip for spring break and Meagan had asked if she could bring Leeland and Kinsley over for a bit in the afternoon while she did some cleaning.  They arrived around 3 which was just when Haley was waking up from her nap.  They played in the den while I made some cookies.  David laid on the floor and watched them play.  He also moved our mailbox at some point that afternoon.  Our mail lady came with an official notice asking us to move the mailbox.  I was glad they had the notice because last year they just told us to move it and then David moved it and it turned out that they were not supposed to just tell us.  David ended up having to move it back again.  Anyways, on Thursday he moved it again and we got mail today so I’m guessing it is good.  I’m really glad we got to move it because before it was across the street and our street is fairly busy.  Now it is on our side of the road and a lot closer to the house.  Before I felt like if there was an easy mailbox to mess with and get away with it, it would have been our’s.  Anyways, enough about the mailbox.

Haley was so excited to play with Leeland and Kinsley.  Usually she wakes up from naps so cranky but seeing them put her in a good mood.  They stayed a little over an hour and after they left I started on dinner.  We had invited three families from church over for dinner on Thursday night.  Well, most of the families.  The wives in these three particular families are in Costa Rica on a school trip so it was three dads and their kids.  One of the dads is the pastor of our church and he came with his four kids, another one came with his three kids, and the last one was a dad with just two kids.  All together we were six adults and eleven kids.  I felt bad for Grandpa Wybenga, we had invited them a while ago before we knew Grandpa was coming but he went with the flow no problem.  Our house was pretty loud during the dinner hour.  I made a bunch of pork in a crockpot and then David bought tortillas and we had pork tacos with Mexican rice and cookies for dessert.  Two of the boys are adolescents and eat a ton so I made a lot of meat.  We ended up freezing a bunch because it was way too much food but I’d rather have too much than not enough!  After dinner I took Chloe and Ella (the 8^th grade girls from our church, their families were two of the families eating at our house) and Emily to the Caldwells to do our Bible study.  We are studying the book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness thanks to my sister Carly who did a shout-out of it on her blog.  Way to go Carly, we love this book and I think it is going to be perfect for this.  David stayed home with the rest of the company and Haley.  He said everyone stayed until about 7:45 and then filtered out.  Then Grandpa read Haley a bunch of books and then she went to bed.  I got home around ten, Emily had fallen asleep on the way home so I let her sleep in her infant seat.  She woke up after an hour or so and I fed her some applesauce and then put her to bed.

Thursday night Emily slept five hours and then I put her paci in and she slept nine more and then I fed her and she slept three more.  Grandpa Wybenga left this morning around 8.  Sadly neither of the girls were up when he left but it was good he didn’t wait for them to leave because Emily did not wake up until close to ten.  Haley was up by 8:30 but still kind of sleepy and cuddled in my bed with me until nine.      

We got up and showered and ate without going to the gym because we had Emily’s 6 month well-check at 11:15.  You are supposed to arrive fifteen minutes later so we tried to be leaving the house by 10:50.  We were a little late but it didn’t matter.  They act like they have fifteen minutes of paperwork for you to do but it was just one lousy sheet about lead paint.  No we are not re-modeling our house!  Emily came through her appointment with a clean bill of health.  The only catch is, she is shrinking.  Here are her stats:

Weight: 15lbs 6.5 oz (37.17%)

Height 24.75 in (16.21%)

Head circumference: 16 in (6.9%)

Haha, so basically Emily has a small head.  The only place she really shrunk was her weight.  At her five month appointment she was 15 lbs 8oz.  so she has lost 1.5 ounces in a month.  Dr. Bagnell chalked it up to her having been sick although her appetite did not really change when she was sick.  I wonder if it is because she is a bit more active now.  She flails a lot more and really pushes up a lot during tummy time.  Either that or she has heard us talking about how she is catching up to Haley and has started to feel self-conscious.  Whatever the case, Dr. Bagnell was not concerned and neither am I because that kid eats a lot.

After the doctor’s office we came home and had lunch and then I put the girls to bed.  Haley slept two and a half hours and Emily slept three.  As soon as Emily was up we headed out the door to Hobby Lobby to pick up a frame I had done.  My friend Amanda had stitched a Bible verse for Emily when was baptized and I finally got it framed.  Haley loves Hobby Lobby so she was thrilled to be going, I think she just likes to say it.

We were not there long and David was not going to be back until late so I decided that we might as well visit the pet store on our way home.  Haley was so excited to go in and see all of the animals.  Her favorite, oddly enough, are the fish.  After the pet store we walked outside and Haley saw all of the carnival lights and rides that was set up in the parking lot of the mall.  I know Corinne knows what I’m talking about but for the rest of you just know that every so often a random carnival comes to Longview and sets up in the parking lot of the mall.  Haley pointed and asked, ‘what is that?’  I decided that I couldn’t really explain it so we might as well go and see it.  I put both girls together in the stroller by having Haley sit in the back and hold Emily on her lap.  It ended up working out really well, Haley loved holding Emily.  We walked around and looked at all of the rides and I asked Haley which ones she liked.  She really really wanted to ride the merry-go-round but I knew I wouldn’t really be able to do that with her and Emily and the stroller and everything so I told her we could go tomorrow and she could ride it then.  She repeated tomorrow, horsies, and daddy about a hundred times so I think she got the gist. 

After the carnival we headed home and ate leftovers for dinner.  Emily ate a ton of sweet potatoes; she must have heard that she is underweight.  After we ate we played for a while and then I put Emily to bed, she was so tired.  Haley was still going pretty strong so I read her a bunch of books and then put her to bed.

Haleyism: 

On Thursday Haley had three accidents!  I was feeling pretty frustrated but today she didn’t have any accidents at all so I’m not sure what the deal was. 

Emilyism:  

On Thursday Emily’s nap total hours added up to six hours!  She took a two hour nap in the morning and a four hour nap in the afternoon.  Today the grand total was maybe four if that.  

Emily at the doctor's office

This was obviously taken before her shot

She loved the paper

Haley and Emily in the stroller.  

Haley refused to look at the camera

Haley, LOOK OVER HERE!!!  I know it looks like it was freezing but it was really sixty something.  The sun went down so I thought it would be cold, haha.

Grandpa and Emily

She is tickling him under the chin

Reading books with Grandpa

Grandpa baby-sitting