Storage wars and long naps

Sunday night the girls were quite active.  Haley woke up famished at 5:30 so David fed her some applesauce and she went back to sleep until 8:30.  I think that was because she had a small dinner and then went to bed at 6:30 the night before.  Emily was up at 2 something and 7 something and she was wet.  At 2 I thought she was sweaty so I took one of her blankets off.  At 7 I realized she wasn't sweaty, just so wet that her diaper was leaking.  I had given her a bottle the night before and maybe I forgot to change her diaper right before bedtime or something.  Whatever the case, she was so wet.  I was glad that Monday is my laundry day because her sheets needed it.

Lucy arrived around 9:15 to play and we actually all got our shoes on and headed out almost as soon as she arrived.  Our friend Richard from church had told us about a storage shed auction that was going on at some storage units a couple miles down the road.  If you've ever seen Texas Storage Wars (I have only seen the original one so I haven't), the auctioneer and his wife from that show were conducting the auction at this one. Richard it was possible that some of the "actors" on the show would also be there but they weren't.  Richard is getting married this summer so he was going to buy in case he saw anything.  David and I were going just to look and David made sure of that by refusing to get any cash out of the atm on the way.  He was glad that he did, I was super bummed, haha.

The way storage auctions work is this.  People don't make payments on their storage unit rentals and the owners seize the property and sell it at auction.  The whole unit goes to the highest bidder and must be emptied by 5pm on that day.  The units that are going to be sold are opened right before the bidding starts and we were all allowed to file by and look at it.  We weren't allowed to touch anything or rummage through anything.  You must pay in cash.

There were eight units sold at this particular auction and I would have bought two of them, haha.  I especially would have bought this one unit that was FULL of baby/toddler toys and equipment like a bumbo, high chair, tummy time mat, swing, exersaucer, outside toys, and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't see.  That one went for $75!  And the guy that bought it was so reluctant when he raised his hand, it had been on fifty dollars for so long I really thought it was going to go for that.  Anyways, it killed me not to get that one!  I held Emily the whole time and David kept tabs on Lucy and Haley who played ring around the rosey most of the time.  I did think it was funny that everytime they opened a storage unit, Haley and Lucy would rush over to look in as if they were high rollers or something.

The low point for David came when Haley said she had to use the potty.  The whole place was cement and we were caged in by a chain link fence.  David went a couple units over and let her pee in a corner.  That corner happened to be across from the next storage unit that got auctioned off.  There were two guys that were standing right by/in Haley's pee pee puddle...oops.

After the auction excitement (for me at least) we came home and had lunch.  Haley and Lucy split a grilled cheese sandwich.  Then, since it was super sunny and a high of 87, we went to the splash pad.  I put Emily in the stroller and pushed her back and forth until she fell asleep and then David and I sat and watched the girls play.  The splash pad is so much easier when Lucy is along because then Haley has someone to play with.  David and I were able to sit and talk the whole time and were hardly ever interrupted.  We finally peeled the girls away around 2 because I figured I better put them down for a nap before it got too late.

While they slept I cleaned and David went out to the airport to update an airplane.  When he got back Lucy was gone and we headed to the gym for a class.  The girls did well in their class but they were ready to eat by the time we picked them up.  That was good because  had put dinner in the oven.  We ate when we got home and then David went out and started a fire for the men's group they have every other Monday night.  I had invited my friend Chelsie to come hang out during men's group because her husband comes.  They don't have any kids and are new to the area so she's always open to just hang out.  She brought her nail polish stuff and did her nails while I did Haley's nails.  Then she helped me put the kids to bed which was super nice of her.  She read Haley two books while I looked for her paci.  She read her two books because it took me that long to find it!  The girls went right to sleep which was convenient because then Chelsie and I could just talk.

TODAY David had to work all day and we had a MOPS planning meeting in the morning.  The girls must have known that we had something because they were both up at 7:30!  They cuddled for a little bit and then I got up and made them waffles (aka, put them in the toaster).  They ate while I started my shower.  Haley finished eating while I was in there and came to the bathroom and took of all of her clothes and got in with me just as I was finishing.  I filled the tub up a little bit and threw Emily in there too and they played while I finished getting ready.  I never did wash either of them but they had a fun time.

I kept Emily with me during the meeting since she just sort of sits and plays on the floor and the MOPs baby-sitters always seem like they're one child away from insanity or something.  Seriously, it's ironic that a Mothers of Preschoolers group has that much trouble with watching children.  Haley was crying when I picked her up but I think she was just done being in there.  We went to the church playground afterwards with a couple other people.  Haley is such a little climber.  She was climbing up all the highest ladders and little rock climbing wall things with the best of them.  I pushed her on the swings for a while too.  We stayed for over an hour and then I decided to head out.

Haley had been eating Emily's cereal but it didn't hold her off enough.  She was pretty hungry by the time we got home.  I fed them and then put them to bed.  Emily took a while to fall asleep.  She had dozed off while we were at the playground and I think her brain thought she had already taken a long nap.  She talked and played around in her crib for a while and then eventually went to sleep.  Haley is a pretty heavy sleeper, she fell right to sleep, even with Emily's babbling.  She ended up sleeping almost three hours too!  When she woke up she had a snack and played outside for a bit.  Then she and Emily played in the den while I finished vacuuming.  At 5:30 we went and picked up Chloe to baby-sit because David and I had small group.

I brought Emily with us to small group since Chloe had a lot of homework and they were kind of a handful last time she had both of them.  David went right to small group from work.  Emily was pretty excited to see him, she may have been more excited to see the Creech's dogs.  She did really well during the study, I was glad because I was kind of hesitant to bring her in the first place.  I had told Chloe that she could keep Haley up if she wanted since she had taken such a long nap and hadn't gotten to see David yet.  They were watching Dora when we got home.  Chloe said she had read her a bunch of books and Haley hadn't seemed tired at all so she let her stay up.  She was pretty glad to see her Daddy.  We let her stay up a little bit and then we put the girls to bed.

Haleyism:
Haley and Lucy were being so funny today in the car.  Haley kept trying to reach for Lucy to hold hands but she obviously couldn't reach.  Then anytime Lucy would say anything Haley would say, "you are crazy Lucy."  They also did a lot of singing.  Their songs ranged from 'twinkle twinkle little star' to 'happy birthday' to the Doxology.

Emilyism:
We watched a thirty minute video for our small group and Emily was watching it like it was gospel truth...oh wait, it was!

Haley and Lucy at storage wars!

Yeah, they had even taken their shoes off at this point.  I'm sure you're thinking how redneck we must've looked but you should have seen everyone else, haha!

Playing at the splash pad

This baby hates the water

She'd rather play with the toys in the shade

Cutie

She fell asleep in the process of taking her hat off.  No joke.

A little taste of the auction

Our weekend

SATURDAY was a pretty low key day.  We slept in a little too late and I almost missed a bridal shower for a girl from our church that I had forgotten about!  Fortunately, my friend Meg texted me and that was my reminder!  David stayed back with the kids which wasn't too bad because Emily was napping at that point.  When I got back he was feeding them a frozen pizza for lunch.  Well, he had put it in the oven so it wasn't frozen anymore, you know what I mean.  After they ate we put them down for naps and then I went to Lowe's to pick up a couple things.  We did a lot of home improvement projects on Saturday.

First I worked on some curtains for the den and then David and I went outside and planted grass in the front yard.  That sounds pretty simple but it involves tilling up the ground with a garden hoe, then mixing in some topsoil we had, then laying some fertilizer, then laying some grass seed, and finally spreading pine needles over it all.  Oh, and then we had to water it.  The girls woke up while we were working on that and we didn't finish until dinnertime.  We decided to reward ourselves by grabbing our dinner at Chick-fil-a and taking it to the splash pad to eat.  Haley was so excited to be at the splash pad, almost too excited to eat.  We stayed there a solid hour until it started to get late and consequently, cold.  I had brought their pajamas so we put the girls right into those and came home.  We let them stay up for a little bit to play and then we put them to bed.

SUNDAY David went to church early to observe worship set-up (he's in charge of it next week) so I was on my own to get ready with the kids.  Haley woke up a couple minutes before my alarm went off so she kept me company the whole time.  Emily ended up sleeping late and we almost had to wake her up to get out the door on time but we made it!  I held Emily through the sermon and she did well.  She has a pair of red shoes that Aunt Carly got her for Christmas that she loves to play with so I usually just give her one of those and it keeps her busy.

After church we went to the Maglott's house for a block party.  The Maglotts are in our small group and they helped us put on a block party for our neighborhood about a year and a half ago so we were helping them do the same thing in their neighborhood.  We were basically just there to help with food and make it look like there were people actually there, haha.  Jess had a pack 'n play set up for us in the spare bedroom and Emily took her nap in there during the party.  They only had two families from their neighborhood come which was kind of a bummer for them but both families had kids so it kind of seemed like a lot of people.  Haley was pretty tired by the end of the party and was cranky so I held her on my lap.  Although, as soon as the neighbors left she got down and played nicely until it was time to go.  She may have more of an introvert personality because all the people made her cranky.

By the time we got back from the block party, it was almost four so we decided to just keep Haley up from a nap.  Emily ended up taking a second nap at home while David played with Haley and I made a meal for a girl I know from Monday night Bible study who just had a baby.  At six we had two couples from church come for our bi-weekly game night.  They are the same two couples that have come the past two times.  It was so easy this time because Haley was so tired.  She ate a couple bites of dinner and went straight to bed. Emily stayed up a little later and then also went to bed.  Last time we had game night Haley took a while going to sleep so this time was a lot better.

Haleyism:
When we were at the splash pad yesterday David was playing with Haley in the water, I sat out with Emily because I thought the water was too cold.  Anyways, Haley had come and dried off and then told us she wanted to play again.  David had also dried off and had his shirt on again.  We told her she could play one more time.  She said, "Daddy play with Haley?"  He said he would and started walking towards the water.  Then she said, "Daddy take his shirt off?"  Haha, she seemed to think that he couldn't really seriously play with her if he still had his shirt on.

Emilyism:
Emily ate hardly anything for lunch and dinner, I'm not sure what the deal is.  I think maybe her teeth hurt her or something.

At the splash pad

David is teaching her to stand on the sprinkler

Playing with toys

Notice I even have a towel around me at this point!

New curtains are up!

close up

Haley throws up more and the rest of us chug grape juice

THURSDAY was another uneventful day at home.  I opted to skip women's Bible study because Haley was still considered contagious.  We played outside for a little bit and watched one episode of Dora.  Emily went for a morning nap then woke up and Haley went down for her afternoon nap.  Later I went in and put Emily down for her second nap but she was a little loud and woke Haley up.  That cut Haley's nap down to only an hour and a half but I figured that was okay because then she would go to bed early.

Emily slept about two hours and then she was up.  About the same time that she woke up David got home.  This was fortunate because I was trying to get dinner on the table and keep the girls separated at the same time.  Haley loves to give Emily hugs after her naps so it was proving to be a hard job.  About that time Jon Creech came so I could fix a bad haircut he had gotten earlier that day.  I was at a good stopping place for dinner so I paused and fixed his hair and then went back to making dinner all while David watched the girls.  Haley did not each much at dinner, only a couple bites of pasta and some applesauce.

After dinner I took Haley with me to go pick up Ella for Bible study.  Then we came home and waited for Amanda and Chloe to get there.  David watched the girls and put them to bed while Amanda and I started our new study of the book of Ruth with Chloe and Ella.  The girls had a bit of a hard time going down, I think it didn't help that Haley knew people were here.  I thought she would be so tired that it wouldn't matter but apparently it did.  When Bible study was over I took the girls home and then came back and read a little bit with David.

We were just turning out our light to go to bed at around 11:35 when Haley started crying.  We figured she must have lost her paci and hadn't found it yet so we gave her a couple seconds but she was only getting louder.  I went to help her and she had thrown up all over her bed.  I grabbed her and took her to the bathroom (her bucket was in the den) and got the last bit of it in the toilet but had gotten some on the carpet and walls (I later saw in the morning) on the way.  I asked David if he would rather clean up or take a shower with Haley and he chose the first.  I was glad.  For whatever reason getting wet at midnight is just the last thing I would want to do, even if the alternative is cleaning up throw-up.

David stripped down and took a shower with Haley while I rinsed off her linens and started a load of wash.  Then I worked on the carpet.  It was all a pretty nasty affair and it will be a very long time before I eat chicken with a basil cream sauce again.  Through it all, Emily was such a little blessing.  I put her comforter over her head to keep it semi-dark while I turned on the light to clean the carpet and she hardly stirred.  I could have kissed her, but then again, I don't want to spread germs if either of us have them.

After Haley got out of the shower I put her in some fresh pajamas and held her on the couch with the throw-up bucket.  The throw-up bucket, by the way, is a green plastic bowl that Aunt Rin gave us when she graduated.  We are putting it to good use Aunt Rin!  While I sat with Haley, David got dressed and went to Wal-mart to buy some Welch's purple grape juice.  He had been playing with Haley that afternoon and was putting toys in his mouth to make the girls laugh.  I warned him not to but it was too late, he said Haley had just been sucking on the play medicine dropper that was currently in his mouth.  Oh the irony.  Anyways, David was terrified of getting sick and felt like a midnight run to get grape juice was in order.  Haley threw up once while he was gone but we caught it all in the bucket.  She is pretty good at letting me know when it's coming.  She holds her hand over her mouth, like she's about to throw-up...because she is.

David came back with two family size jugs and we each downed a glass.  Then David got out our book again and started reading while we waited to see if Haley would throw-up again.  Thirty minutes later David was still reading and Haley was passed out beside me.  We put her back in her bed, said a prayer, and went to sleep.  It's good we prayed because Haley made it through the rest of the night without throwing up.

Both girls woke up at around 8:30 this morning so it wasn't too short of a night.  I was super bummed because my MOPS group went strawberry picking this morning and I didn't feel like we could go.  Seriously, having sick kids has felt like prison!  We had a slow morning of playing outside.  I wanted to make sure that both girls slept at the same time so we ate lunch and then I put Emily down first at 11:30; Haley followed a little after twelve.

Emily slept two and a half hours and Haley slept about two, meaning they both woke up around 2.  I told David that I had to get out of the house or I was going to go crazy.  Haley seemed to be feeling fine so we decided to run some errands together.  First we went to the consignment shop to cosign some summer clothing.  Then we went to an estate sale in a super cool neighborhood.  The houses and yards in that area are so pretty, David and I decided they must have a pretty strict homeowners association.  We didn't find anything at the estate sale but it was fun to look at the house.  Then we went to Albertson's, a grocery store that we don't usually go to but had seen in an ad that they had some great deals on meat.  They had 3lbs of beef for sale for $5 and chicken for $1.68 a pound.  That is a pretty good deal for us.  Anyhow, the best part of Albertson's was their car shopping carts.  Haley about wet her pants when she saw them.  Actually, quite literally, I had to take her to the potty about five minutes after she got in it.  We got some pictures of course:

Driving the cart

Haley saying 'cheese'

Keep your eyes on the road Emily!

After Albertson's we went to Kroger because they were having a big sale on Tombstone pizzas ($2.50 a piece in case you were wondering).  Then we went home.  We weren't gone that long but it was so nice to get out.  I started on dinner while David fed the girls and then played with them.  Then I played with the girls while he did the dishes.  Then I read some books to them and put them to bed.  They were in their beds, asleep, by 7:30.  Emily probably took seconds to fall asleep and Haley maybe took a minute.  Haley acted pretty normal for most of the day so we gave her grape juice too.  We are almost done with the first jug.

Haleyism:
Yesterday Haley spent a lot of time pretending to throw up in the green bowl, she thought it was hilarious.  Today she didn't pretend, I guess it wasn't funny anymore.

Emilyism:
Emily's motto is "you can eat anything if you put your mind to it."  Also, I have been putting grape juice in her food.  I also gave her some in a bottle.  She's drank a total of at least 2 ounces.  We'll see if it helps.

Yeah, I didn't know I was taking a video...

David took this picture of the girls playing together

Haley is sick

Last night David and I were just headed to bed around 10:30 when we were awakened by Haley crying.  I figured she had lost her paci so I went in to help her and she was in the process of vomiting all over her face and pillow.  Sorry, I realize now that some of you may be eating breakfast, sorry.  Anyways, I took her to the bathroom where she finished throwing up and then I stripped her down and she took a shower with Daddy.  She had eaten a lot of spaghetti and strawberries for dinner at the Caldwells and cheese for snack before bed.  I know this because I saw all of it.  While they showered I stripped her bed and started a load of laundry.  When she got out of the shower I put her in new pajamas and held her in our bed.  Until about five minutes later when she started throwing up again.  We had a bucket so I was able to get her over to it with only two drops escaping: one on the floor and on on my pillow.  I changed my pillow case and cleaned up the floor while David boiled her paci and cleaned her up.

About ten minutes after that Haley threw up again, all of it made it in the bucket.  About fifteen minutes after that she asked to use the potty and then ended up throwing up again, all of it made it in the bucket.  She did not throw up near as much the second, third, and fourth time as she had the first time.  After the fourth episode she laid with us in our bed while David read Robinson Crusoe.  She fell asleep after a little bit and we kept her with us for a good thirty minutes before we thought it would be safe to put her in back in her own bed.  That was at 12:20.  At 1:30 she woke up again and had thrown up again, just a little bit.  We gave her a new pillow and cleaned her up and put her back to bed.  At 3:40 she threw up again, hardly anything and we cleaned her up and gave her another new pillow.  

After the sixth episode she did not throw up anymore.  Emily woke up at 7:45 and I fed her and she slept in until 9:30.  Haley slept in until about 9:45.  I obviously decided to skip BSF for the day and after looking up her symptoms online, I figured I should skip church too.  Everything online said that people who get the stomach bug are highly contagious for at least three days.  So from here the day basically turns into one huge yawn.  Haley spent most of it watching Dora and What's in the Bible on the couch.  Emily went down for a nap around noon which was also when David left for an overnight trip.  Emily woke up at 2 and Haley went down for her nap at 2.  Haley slept until almost five and Emily went down for a second nap just before five.  Emily only slept about forty minutes and then she woke up so I fed her dinner.  

Haley ate half of a waffle for breakfast, a couple pieces of cereal for lunch, and a whole waffle for dinner.  I know that waffles sound like a weird thing to feed your sick kid but it was the only thing she wanted to eat.  I barely put any syrup on it because I just didn't feel like that would sit well.  I broke out some grape juice because I've heard that it is a good preventive for the stomach bug (shout out to Aunt Carly).  However, upon further online research I found that my Welch's white grape juice would be no good, it had to be the purple stuff.  Emily and I still drank a bunch of the white grape juice, better safe than sorry.  I don't like purple grape juice at all anyways, I'd almost rather vomit...knock on wood.

After dinner I had to get out of the house, I was going a little bit crazy.  I loaded up the girls in the van and we went to the park.  I put them in the double stroller so that they wouldn't be touching eachother.  We walked around for a while and then I let Haley play for a while.  I hope no kids go down the twisty slide at the Boorman Trail park because Haley did that one over and over.  It's not like she was licking it though so I feel like it would be okay.

We came straight home from the park and I put the girls in pajamas and we skyped David.  Then I read them some books and had them in bed at 8:20.  This was only three and a half hours after Haley woke up from her nap but she went right to sleep.  I am really praying that no one wakes up throwing up during the night, pray for us if you think about it! 

Haleyism:

Haley is a pretty easy sick baby when she's not throwing up.  She just likes to cuddle and lay around.

Emilyism:

Emily loves to be outside.  It was only a high of 65 or something today but we spent a lot of time walking around the yard during Haley's nap.

Sicky pooh

Feeling well enough for a smile

Will this one be next?!

Good naps, bad bedtime

This morning we had MOPs.  Both of the girls slept in and I ended up having to wake them up to feed them and get ready.  Emily regularly sleeps through the night now and it is amazing.  There's just something incredible about waking up in the morning and realizing that it's the first time you've woken up since you put your head down.  I don't think I will ever take sleep for granted again!

Anyways, once the girls were dressed and fed, we headed out the door to MOPS.  I go about twenty-five minutes early to help set up so Haley usually just brings her breakfast along in the form of a pop tart or bag of cereal.  Then she eats her breakfast and follows me around as I set up tables and chairs and everything.  Emily hangs out in her infant seat and watches all of the commotion.  She stays in there for almost all of set-up, there's plenty to see.  

Emily stayed with me during MOPs today.  We had a speaker come and talk about enjoying every stage of motherhood.  Her name was Crystal Bowman and she is from Holland Michigan!  She lives in Florida now but she is a children's book and devotional writer.  Emily sat and chewed on random things I found in the diaper bag for most of the presentation.  Towards the end I stood with her in the back because she was starting to get antsy sitting.

After MOPs I brought the girls back home and we ate lunch outside.  Emily was tired so I took her inside to take a nap and Haley followed and climbed into her bed and asked for her paci.  I hadn't planned on putting her to bed for another forty-five minutes but I figured if she wanted to sleep then she might as well.  It worked out because Haley slept almost three hours and Emily slept three and a half!

Haley played outside after her nap while I talked on the phone with Aunt Kelly.  She spent a lot of time trying to catch birds.  She watches them land in the yard and then she walks out to them and they hop away and she just keeps following them until they get annoyed enough and just fly off.  It's actually pretty funny, I should take a video of her doing it.  David got home a couple minutes after Emily woke up around 4.  He played with the girls for a while and then we loaded them up in the van and took them to the Caldwell's house.  Amanda had offered to watch them a night this week so David and I could go on a date.  We decided to go tonight because it worked out with David's work schedule.  Haley was so excited to be going to the Caldwells.

When we picked up the girls Haley and Lucy were playing pretty hard but Haley was excited to see us.  Emily was happy to see us too, she gave us big smiles and flailed her arms and legs a bunch.  Amanda said that Haley had eaten a lot of spaghetti for dinner and went potty once while she was there.  We brought the girls home and gave them a bath.  Then David put them to bed while I went to a MOPs planning meeting.  He said they were pretty difficult to get to sleep.  Both of them cried for a while and finally Haley asked for a snack so David brought them to the kitchen and gave her cheese.  Then he took them back to their room where Haley laid quietly and Emily cried.  David said he was starting to feel tense with Emily crying so he laid her in her crib and then just prayed that she would stop and he said she started calming down pretty much as soon as he started praying.  So I guess there you have it folks, a new sleep training method.  Sit next to the crib and pray.  Just as Emily was quiet, Haley popped her head up and asked to go to the potty.  David took her and then she went right to sleep too.

Haleyism:

Haley went boo for the mops workers and they were super impressed.  When I picked her up the teacher said to another teacher, 'Isn't Haley the one who went #2 in the potty?'  And the other worker said, 'yeah!'  They were acting like she had been tying her own shoes or something.

Emilyism:

Emily has gotten a little bit harder to put to sleep lately.  The past couple days that I have laid her in her crib, she has rolled over onto her back and started laughing.  It's really hard not to smile back at her!

Haley is feeding Emily her clementine slices which she has already gotten the juice out of and chewed up.  Emily accepts willingly. 

I was trying to upload a video that David took of Haley eating the other day and it wouldn't work.  So instead I uploaded this old one of Haley eating.

Dinner at the Watson's

Monday morning I had to go out to the airport for a meeting in the morning and when I got back around 11, Lucy was at home playing with Haley.  Emily was sleeping, and there was some other baby in our room sleeping.  I'm not sure if its even legal to have that many babies in a house.  Anyway, as I walked up to the front door, I saw the fruit of Haley and Lucy's morning work, namely, all of Katelyn's parsley ripped up and stuffed in the cup holder of a camping chair.  Katelyn was so proud that she nourished that parsley through the winter and they totally ruined it. I played with them for some time as Katelyn continued to clean.  I presently made them some grilled cheese sandwiches at their request and made them sit at the picnic table to eat.  Actually, I only made one and gave them each half.  Haley must have been pretty hungry because at one point she took Lucy's and started eating it as well.  The baby who was sleeping in our room, in the mean time, had her mom come and pick her up.  After lunch, we waited for Emily to wake up.  As soon as we heard noises on the monitor I changed her diaper and we headed out to the splash pad.  Katelyn had heard it was open for the season and since she claimed this was the hottest day this week, we decided to take the kids.  Haley was pretty excited when we got there.  I wasn't so sure.  It was about 74 degrees and sunny.  However, there was absolutely nobody there and it looked like the water hadn't been turned on all day.  There are three systems running on push buttons.  About 25 jets are powered by each of these three buttons on a timer.  I ran over to test the buttons before we parked and got all the kids out.  Old faithful came to life.  We set up shop and put their bathing suits on and plenty of sun block.  Hey had fun filling buckets and running though the ice cold water.  Emily got one molecule on her big toe and cried.  The girls had fun but were shivering by the time we had to leave.  When we got home, they all went down for a nap.  I took the opportunity to mow the lawn and Katelyn kept cleaning.  When the girls woke up, Amanda came to get Lucy and Katelyn made a chocolate mousse while I played with Haley and Emily.  The Watson's invited us over to eat at their house.  Haley and Emily did pretty well while we were there.  They played nicely with Chloe, who is slightly older than Haley.  This was nice because really, they both say "MINE!" a lot and that can get ugly.  Ron, who stays home with baby Claire (trisominy 18 baby) is from New Orleans.  He made red beans and rice, which also includes sausage.  It was so good.  Chloe helped to feed Emily some pieces of homemade biscuits Ron had made.  Then we went in the living room and got to know them a little better.  The girls played dress up and watched some disney movie.  The mousse turned out spectacular and everyone loved it.  At about 9:20, we headed home.  Haley was hungry when we got home, so I made her a grilled cheese sandwich and she ate the whole thing!  Then we put their jammies on and read their Bible story and they went right to bed.

Haleyism: Haley used the potty so many times today and when she peed, it was a lot, not the usual squirt.  I know...TMI

Emilyism: I read their Bible story in the dark with a flashlight to help them relax.  As I glanced at Emily just before I left, I saw she was on her back with a huge smile on her face.  That baby is suspiciously happy.

Emily didn't care for the water, neither did I for that matter!

Haley and Lucy

sitting on a column of water

RUN AWAY!

I'm just waiting for them to get blasted in the face

This looks wierd.

Haley and Chloe

I like the bee behind Haley.  Its FAT!

Playing dress up. Note the shoes!

The armadillo we saw as we pulled into the driveway.  Also, somewhat related: today I was outside in the back yard and saw the ground moving where a mole was crawling around so I smashed it with my foot. At least, I think I smashed it.  

Girls go to a rodeo and Daddy comes home!

SATURDAY was mostly an uneventful day for us.  Emily had woken up during the night Friday night so I just brought her to bed with me and we cuddled together when she woke up around 8:15.  Haley slept in until after nine.  We got dressed and had breakfast and then headed to the gym just before 11.  I know that's pretty late to work out and take a shower but that was the only spot they had left and the prospect of showering in peace was well worth the wait.  Emily was crying when I went to pick up the girls but the worker said she had just started.

When we got home I put Emily down for a nap and then Haley and I went outside and ate lunch and then I watched her play for a while.  She is really good at playing by herself when she's outside, much better than inside.  When we're inside she's always asking to read books which is really great and everything but it does get old after a while.  I kept Haley up later than usual and didn't put her down for a nap until after two because we had a late night planned.

She ended up taking a little bit to go to sleep which ended up being a good thing.  She woke up from her nap a little after five and we all ate dinner together while we were skyping David.  Then we ran to Dillards to take back some dresses that were vetoed by Aunt Rin as flower girl dresses.  Haley was pretty excited to be at the mall.  She kept walking up to random clothes and saying, 'this is pretty.'  We had some extra time so I decided to stay for a little bit and let Haley play on some of the quarter machines.  There was a group of young teenagers next to the ones she was playing on and I think Haley spent more time watching them than actually playing on the toys.  After watching those kids I realize that I am not looking forward to those years at all, so awkward.

After the mall we came home and changed into warmer clothes, and then headed out to pick up Chloe and Ella.  I had invited Chloe and Ella to come to the Longview rodeo with us on Saturday night.  I have gone every year and it is always a lot of fun.  The only hang-up with the rodeo is that it starts at 8pm and goes until after 10, not a great activity for little kids.  It turns out, Haley and Emily were not in the minority, there were tons of kids there.  I didn't have to hold Emily for almost the entire rodeo because Ella and Chloe took turns with her.  Haley spent a lot of the time jumping from one bleacher to another which pretty much gave me a heart attack everytime.  I finally got her to relax and sit down when I pulled out her snack.

Haley really did like to watch the rodeo, I think her favorite were the cows.  She described everything as 'crazy' and, in her defense, rodeos are pretty crazy.  I was hoping that Emily would go to sleep but she stayed wide awake the whole time.  I even gave her a bottle and cuddled her but she would have none of it.  The last bull rider finished his ride at 10:25 and we headed for the van right away.  Emily fell asleep about two seconds into our ride home but Haley stayed awake to say goodbye to Ella and Chloe and walk into the house herself.  A lot of the people at the rodeo had popcorn and Haley asked if she could have some but I was out of cash so I told her I would get her some when we got home.  The second we walked in the door Haley asked me for popcorn.  I transferred Emily to her crib and then made Haley some popcorn.  She ate a bunch of it and then went right to bed, it was after 11!

SUNDAY morning Haley and Emily woke up on their own!  I thought for sure that I would have to wake them up for church but they both woke up around 9.  I gave both of them waffles and then got them ready for church.  I handed Emily off once we got to church and held Haley, she was being kind of clingy.  The Caldwell family is all sick with a virus so they weren't there but Haley's friend Chloe Watson was there.  We sat two rows behind the Watsons and Chloe insisted on sitting with us which I said was fine.  My friend Meg Freeman sat with us (her husband leads worship so she usually just sits with her kids anyways) which was really nice because Haley had to use the bathroom once.  Emily did well during the sermon, she only had one outburst of 'da-da.'

After church we stayed and hung out for a while and then went home for lunch and naps.  These girls were pretty tired from their late night.  Haley slept almost three hours and Emily slept about two and a half.  After naps I fed them a snack and then we went outside to play.  David called around five to tell us that he was on his way home so we put the lawnchairs on the front porch and waited for him to get home.  Both of the girls were so excited to see him.  I was pretty excited too.  He played with the girls while I made dinner and then we all ate together.  After dinner we played in the den and then gave the girls baths.

I figured they were still kind of tired from their late night so we put them to bed a little before eight.  Emily went right to sleep but Haley was not tired.  She was half-heartedly crying on and off so I thought she would eventually drift off.  Well, I guess her whining woke Emily up because after about ten minutes of sleep, she woke up screaming.  It was so weird, she never does that.  It took me a little bit to calm her down and then I put her back in her crib and she immediately started screaming.  I think she is either in pain about something or has suddenly decided to have a serious case of separation anxiety.  David was in there with both of the crying girls and finally he just brought them out.  We gave Emily some medicine and now she is hanging out in my lap while I write this.  David is reading Haley some books.  Hopefully they will go to sleep soon.  I will keep you posted.  While we wait, here is a video that David took:

And another one:

After a billion books, we just put both of them to bed again.  Both of them laid down right away and went to sleep.  I would say it was a win for the parents except that it is 9:15.

Haley throws up

THURSDAY morning we had women's Bible study.  David  left around noon on Thursday for a long trip until Sunday so I left Haley home with him so they could spend some time together.  Emily came with me and  did really well during the study.  Lucy and Evelyn brought her toys and she was happy the whole time.  We got home about thirty minutes before David had to leave.  We ate lunch and then said goodbye to daddy.  Then I put the girls down for naps.  Haley slept about two hours and Emily slept around three.

After naps I packed up the girls and we went to run some errands.  First we went to the Dollar Store where Jess Maglott had told me that they sell Nature's Own bread for $1!  As a matter of fact, they do!  The only problem was they were out so I bought another brand of bread for a dollar, I'll let you know if it's any good. After the dollar store we went to Wal-mart and picked up a couple things before heading home.  Haley requested waffles for dinner so I toasted some for her and Emily and reheated some spaghetti for myself.  I was just getting my dinner out of the microwave when Haley randomly threw up.  She had not mentioned that she wasn't feeling well and had been acting completely normal so I have no idea what that was all about. I cleaned her up and she went right back to eating her waffles.  So random...hopefully.

After dinner we loaded up in the car and picked up Chloe and Ella for Bible study.  I brought them back to our house where Amanda had just arrived.  Then I put Emily to bed and put on a Dora movie for Haley.  Haley was glued to her Dora movie until we were all finished and then I put her to bed.

TODAY was a cold day, the high was only 64!  It started out with a morning of play with Evelyn and Lucy.  Amanda had a doctor's appointment and had asked if I could watch the girls.  Haley was so excited to play with them and I was happy to have them keep her busy.  It gave me plenty of time to keep myself updated on the Boston marathon bomber search.  Emily took a nice morning nap from which we eventually had to wake her up because I wanted her to take an afternoon nap at the same time as Haley.  Lucy and Evelyn left around 11:45 and Haley, Emily and I headed out to Chick-fil-a for lunch.

A girlfriend had texted a bunch of people to tell us she was going to be there so we decided to join them.  Emily ate a bunch of french fries and pieces of bread from my sandwich.  Haley ate a couple of french fries and then inhaled an entire ice cream cone.  We ended up staying just under two hours.  Haley had a great time on the playground and used the potty twice while we were there, the second time it was boo.

I put the girls down for naps as soon as we got home.  Haley slept two hours and Emily slept three.  Then we went to visit our elderly neighbor Francis.  She has not been feeling well so we took her a Get Well card with a picture of the girls in it.  Her daughter Dorothy opened the door and said that Nana was sleeping so we gave her the card and then headed home.  

The Masons had invited us for dinner at six and we still had about an hour so we used the time to Skype with David.  He had not been feeling well all day but was starting to come around and talked to us for a while.  I wonder if he had whatever Haley had.  Both of the girls were pretty excited to see him.  Haley brought him a bunch of food from her kitchen and kissed the screen when it was time to say goodbye.

The Masons made breakfast for dinner which turned out to be a huge success for Haley because she eats pancakes and bacon and they were both on the menu.  I fed Emily before we left but she still sat in their high chair and ate a bunch of pieces of pancake during dinner.  I told Haley on the way over that she had to be nice to Caroline and give her lots of hugs and kisses.  I said this because sometimes at church Haley gets all clingy and pushes the girls, including Caroline, away from her.  She must have understood because Caroline opened the door for us and Haley immediately hugged her, haha.  She let Caroline carry her around all evening and was very sweet to her so I was pretty relieved.  Emily loves Dr. Mason, kind of random I think, haha.  We stayed after dinner and I talked with the Masons until nine and then headed home.  Both girls went to bed as soon as we got home.

Haleyism:

Haley is sooo cranky when she wakes up from naps.  Please let me know if you have a solution for this.

Emilyism:

Emily loves dogs.  She loved the Mason's dog and would start kicking her feet and waving her arms everytime she saw it.  

The girls playing house

Emily playing, she sits up pretty well now

skyping with Daddy

Notice the keys in Haley's toes, haha

Haley is showing Daddy her doll

Here she is feeding him a piece of chicken

As you can see, David is pretending to eat the chicken

Now she is feeding him a piece of corn

Daddy's helper

This morning Haley, Emily and I had BSF.  My group was in the children's classes today and I was assigned a class in the age level between Haley and Emily; most of them were about fifteen months.  Those babies seemed so much older than Emily and so babyish compared to Haley.  I guess that would make sense since they are between them.  There were only four kids in there so my job was pretty easy.  It was cool to see the program they have for the kids, even for ones that young.

After BSF we came home and started on lunch.  David had borrowed a pick-up truck to work on picking up logs in the yard.  You may remember that a tree fell in our yard back on good Friday.  David had borrowed a chainsaw and cut it up and today he hauled it off.  Longview has a place called Longview compost where you can take trees and leaves and stuff and pick up mulch/compost soil for your gardens.  David took two loads to the compost place and then brought back some mulch and mulched the garden.  Haley was so excited with all of the activity.  She insisted on going outside to 'help' daddy.

Jon Creech helped David do a lot of the work so I made both of them quesadillas for lunch.  While they were sitting at the table, waiting for lunch, Haley started singing 'Jon is crazy' to the tune that she usually sings 'pee pee in the potty' to.  It was pretty random, Jon didn't seem to offended so that was good.  After lunch I put Haley to bed, Emily had already been sleeping about an hour.  Emily woke up first from her nap after about two and a half hours so I played with her until Haley woke up.  Then we all went outside to help David wash the truck he had used.  Then we washed the van.  Haley loved 'helping.'  She would get her arms all sudsy and then wash the cars with her hands.  She also liked pulled out the rags from the bucket and laying them out on the picnic table.  Emily was content just to watch.  Well, she was content for the time it took to wash the truck and half of the van, then I just held her.

After the vehicles were washed we came inside and I made Mexican rice for the potluck while David and Haley showered.  Haley was pretty much soaked so we figured we might as well make it an official washing. When it was time to go to church we found ourselves in a bit of a crisis when we couldn't find Emily's paci anywhere...ANYWHERE.  Just picture us crawling around the house trying to get at eye level for a paci.  Finally David reasoned that we were driving separate so he would stop by Wal-mart on the way and pick up new pacis.  He had to return the truck so that is why we were driving separate, it was Dr. Mason's.

Both of the girls did well at church.  Haley ate a bunch of pizza and at least two cookies.  Emily did not last long in the adult part, she kept spitting and screeching so I moved her to Haley's class.  She only took that one nap today so she fell asleep on the way home.  I changed her into pajamas and fed her and then she went right to sleep again.  Haley fell asleep as soon as she had her applesauce snack.

Haleyism:
It is quite a process to get in and out of the church at BSF.  I have my bag, Emily's bag, and Haley's bag.  Plus I am carrying Emily and holding hands with Haley.  I would get out a stroller but I am usually a little bit late and I always feel like that will take forever.  Anyways, today we were walking back to the van after it was over and Haley told me she had to use the potty.  We had already left the building, walked the driveway and were about to cross the street to get to our van.  So, picture me with three bags, holding Emily and holding Haley's hand who is now holding herself with her other hand.  I should have made her go before we left but I forgot, oops.  Anyways, while I was trying to figure out what to do she peed right there in the street.  I was glad that I didn't try to make it back to the bathroom because I think we wouldn't have made it.

Emilyism:
Remember how I was nervous that Emily would wake up super early because she went to bed at six last night?  Well, she dashed all of those fears by waking up at 8; she slept 14 hours!  I think she holds the record in our family (Dave, Haley, and I) for longest consecutive sleep stretch.  Anyways, I personally think she deserves a medal.

Loving the high chair

She actually looks kind of tired here

That's a little better

Daddy's helper

This was mostly how she helped

This one was not as much help

Spreading out the rags on the picnic table

Oops, has to use the bathroom!

Haley is bad for the baby-sitter

Emily slept twelve and a half hours last night!  Haley was the first to wake up this morning.  She can open doors now so she came in to our room.  As I heard her feet coming, I scrambled to remove temptation (i.e. ipad and iphone) from where they were charging.  She ended up climbing into bed with us and we just hugged and talked for a while until we heard Emily coughing and making noises through the monitor.  I went and brought her over to Katelyn because she was pretty hungry after breaking her record for longest sleeping time.
*switch writers to Katelyn, David had to go borrow a truck for yard work tomorrow*

After a little bit of cuddling we all got up and started on breakfast and getting dressed for the day.  David set up the high chair and Emily ate her first meal in there.  She ate really well so I guess she liked it.  I was trying to hold off the high chair for as long as I could because it takes up a lot of room in our kitchen.  Emily has gotten a little too rambunctious for the bumbo though, she pushes the tray off now.  Anyways, she seems to like the thrown feel.

After breakfast, and a couple phone calls, it was time for the gym.  We dropped the girls off and then David and I ran outside.  Then I went in and took a shower while David did some weights.  David picked up the girls and they were standing outside the locker room when I came out.  We went home and fed the girls lunch.  Emily was so tired so she hardly ate anything and just went to bed.  David made a frozen pizza for him and Haley to share for lunch and I went out to lunch with a friend from church.  David put Haley down for a nap and both girls were sleeping when I got home about an hour and a half later.

Emily woke up first after a two and a half hour nap and was super hungry.  We put her in the high chair again and that must have been too fast too soon because she got real sad unless I was standing right next to it.  I think she's starting to have a little bit of separation anxiety.  She was a lot happier once she had some food in her belly.  Haley woke up after sleeping almost three hours, she was also pretty cranky.  David cuddled with her until she adjusted to being awake.  Then we all decided to head to the park for a little bit before dinner.  The high was 90 degrees today so it was a little bit on the warm side.  Haley was flushed and Emily was getting sweaty by the time we headed back home.

Once we got home we fed Emily and started on dinner.  David threw some spaghetti together for Haley and the baby-sitter.  We were meeting with our small group this evening so Ella was baby-sitting.  Haley came with me to pick her up and when we got home Emily was already sleeping in bed.  David is pretty good, he had finished making dinner and put the baby to sleep in the fifteen minutes we were gone!  Emily was so tired so that's why we opted for the early bedtime.  I really hope she's not up at 6am tomorrow because she definitely went to sleep at 6pm.

We left Haley with Ella and were gone for about three hours.  When we got home, Haley was still awake. Ella said she started screaming anytime she put her in her bed and she was afraid that she would wake Emily.  She had been rocking her in her room for the past fifteen minutes or so.  She also reported that Haley had peed her pants and thrown a fifteen minute fit.  Apparently she wanted a pop tart so Ella got one for her.  Then she said she wanted it hot so Ella put it in the toaster.  Then she said she didn't want it hot, then she wanted it hot, so forth.  I think she was probably just super tired.  Haley gave me some problems going to sleep too.  She got out of her bed and I told her that if she did that again than I would spank her so she just sat in her bed and wailed.  Finally I went in there and she said she wanted some applesauce so I gave her some and she ate three helpings and then went to bed without a hitch.  I guess we should tell baby-sitters that applesauce is the key.

Haleyism:
Haley apologized to Ms. Ella before she left.  I think I may need to explain to her that she needs to obey Ella or there will be spankings!

Emilyism:
Emily eats in a high chair now!

Hanging around

Wearing daddy's flip-flops

She loves to balance on the side

Special challenge: what is wrong with the random big wheel?