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.