Haley's friend Chloe is the baby whisperer

Tuesday night Emily slept all the way through and did not wake up until 7:30 on Wednesday morning.  She slept a solid 11 1/2 hours, we are just pushing for that magic 12!  I ended up feeding her and then laying her next to David while I took a shower and she fell back to sleep.  Then I had to wake her up to go to BSF, poor boo.  Haley, Emily and I all headed out to BSF and David left for an overnight in Beaumont Texas.  I had volunteered to watch the children's workers children while they listened to the recorded lecture after the normal BSF time.  I know that is kind of confusing but basically it just means that we stayed an extra hour at the end and packed a lunch.  There were only four children that we had to watch, in addition to my two and there was another lady signed up to help with her little boy so it was a pretty easy gig.  Most of the time was spent eating lunch and taking children to the potty.  

After BSF we headed home and I got a text from David telling me that his plane had broken and he would be home later that afternoon!  We were so excited that he didn't have to be gone overnight.  It was pretty cool actually because when we were praying the night before I asked God to 'break the plane or something' so that he wouldn't have to be gone.  It's just a lot easier to have David home on Wednesday nights because it is the night of our church potluck.  

I put the girls down for naps when we got home and David got back while they were sleeping.  Once they woke up we went to Wal-mart to pick up a couple things.  Then we came home and played outside until it was time for church.  Haley ate one and a half pieces of pizza at church which is a lot for her.  I ended up putting Emily in with Haley's class because she was being so loud with the adults.  Dr. Mason was sitting behind us and she kept catching his eye and laughing out loud.  After church we took the girls home and put them to bed right away.  They were so tired.  Emily actually fell asleep on the way home so we kind of had to wake her up, get her ready for bed, and then put her to bed again.  I was just going to let her sleep in her clothes but she kind of woke up anyways.

THURSDAY morning the girls and I had Bible study and David had to go out to the airport for a bit.  Haley seemed to have a wonderful time during the study.  She kept walking through our discussion group holding random toys and smiling real big.  At one point she walked through with a handkerchief on her head, she is a little weird.  Emily did not enjoy Bible study quite as much.  She started out doing great but was definitely getting tired towards the end.  I was standing up and holding her and trying to feed her but she just wanted to  sleep.  That baby will not eat when she is tired, she just gets mad when I treat to breastfeed her.  Finally it was time to go so I put her in her infant seat and she literally went right to sleep.  We ended up staying another fifteen minutes or so.

I had invited a new girl from church over for lunch after Bible study so we hurried home.  Her name is Chelsea and she and her husband just moved to the area.  We had them over for dinner a couple weeks ago so this was just kind of a follow up lunch.  I made BLTs and had yogurt, berries, and granola for parfaits.  Chelsea is a teacher but has just started subbing every so often since they moved here so she has had a lot of downtime.  She said she really appreciated me having her over because I guess her husband is not real talkative and she loves to talk.  She ended up staying until four!  I put the kids down for naps after lunch and she was still there when they woke up.  It was a good visit.

After Chelsea left, David and I loaded up and took the kids to the gym.  Haley had not woken up particularly happy and I think she needed a change of scene.  It's amazing what a couple minutes away from home can do for that kid.  She perked right up as soon as we left the driveway.  David and I ran together and then did some weights and then picked up the girls.  The workers said they were great and it seemed to knock the attitude out of Haley because she was much more pleasant.

As we were heading out I got a call from Melanie Watson asking if I could pick up her daughter Chloe from school.  It worked out pretty well because we were already in the van so we just swung by there on our way.  Haley was pretty excited to see Chloe, they are pretty good friends.  After we picked up Chloe we went by Smashburger to get some burgers.  We and the Caldwells had a coupon to Smashburger so we had decided to use it at the same time and eat together.  Smashburger is fairly near our house so we decided to just eat at our house so the kids could play.  We picked up our burgers and learned that they no longer accept coupons on cell phones so it really was no deal at all, haha, oh well.  We'll have to print it out and use it again before Sunday.

We set up dinner outside at the picnic table.  Emily was in the exersaucer and the four girls all sat on one side of the picnic bench with Amanda and the rest of us sat on the other side.  The girls probably sat and ate for maybe two minutes and then they just started playing.  Haley and Chloe came and got chicken nuggets every so often so I figured they ate enough.  Around 6:45, Amanda and I headed out to pick up Ella and Chloe for our little Bible study.  David stayed home with all three of the children.  He later recounted his experience to me:

First I fed Emily some pears, she ate a ton of pears.  Then I put the Dora movie on for Chloe and Haley and I just hung out with Emily.  Emily was not being very good, she kept fussing and crying.  Then Chloe asked to hold her.  I thought it was a bad idea but I just let her hold her anyways.  As soon as I handed Emily to Chloe, Emily stopped crying.  Chloe then held Emily for the next ten minutes at least and Emily didn't cry the whole time.  I knew I should take Chloe home but it was just so easy for me since she was taking care of Emily.  Finally I loaded everyone up and took Chloe home.  Then I stopped by McDonald's on the way home to get a milkshake for Haley and I to share.  Then we came home and I put the girls to bed.

So there you have it folks, David pawned his baby off on a 2 year old and it actually worked out for him, haha.  Chloe's little sister is baby Claire, the miracle baby with trisomony 18.  When I got home the girls were sleeping but fortunately they each woke up once so I did get to see them before David and I decided to go to sleep which is about now so goodnight!

Haleyism:

We are trying to teach Haley to say 'excuse me' when she wants our attention but we are already in a conversation.  I think maybe we should just try to teach her to not talk to us when we are in a conversation instead.  She is a little too persistent.  

Emilyism:

Emily ate some chicken nuggets tonight.  Well, I'm not sure how much actually made it into her stomach but she was really working on one.

SPECIAL NOTE:  My roommate Julianne Feenstra gave birth to a little girl this afternoon!  They didn't know what they were having and I was really hoping for a girl so I am SUPER excited!  Her name is Carrington Joy and she was 9 lb 3.5 oz; you think that is big, her big brother came out 11 lb 2 oz!

Haley, Evelyn, and Lucy were sitting on poor Owen at church on Wednesday

Chloe and Haley hugging Emily

When Chloe wanted to hold Emily she would clap her hands twice, and then reach her arms out for her.  It was seriously the cutest thing ever.  Now Haley has started clapping when she wants to hold her, haha.

You know, just hanging out