Weekend!

Saturday was one of our only days this week during which we had David home.  We were hoping to really take advantage of the time as a family but Haley woke up a little under the weather so we ended up hanging out at home for most of the day.  Both of the girls slept in for a while and then Daddy gave them breakfast and took a shower with them.  We noticed Haley wasn't feeling well when she was sitting in David's lap after her shower and her eyes were all red and she kept saying she was cold.  She said she wanted to lay in our bed so I put her in our bed where she promptly fell asleep for over an hour.  Considering Haley has been fighting even her afternoon nap lately, this was not normal.  She woke up whining after over an hour and I went in there with her and rubbed her back and she kind of dozed on and off.  Then she said she wanted to try and eat a pancake (Todd had made pancakes for breakfast) so I gave one to her but she didn't eat any of it.  Then David gave her some yogurt and he said that she ate a bunch of that.  She was awake for hardly an hour and then she asked to lay down again.

Meanwhile Emily was hanging out and playing with Jay or David.  She went down for her afternoon nap after lunch and slept a solid two hours.  Haley continued to sleep through the afternoon (in our bed by the way) and then got up a little bit before dinner and seemed to be doing a little better.  The highest her temperature ever got to was 99.7 which is hardly anything I think for toddlers.  David and I played some one on one Dutch Blitz during naps, it was fun but a lot slower than normal games.  David made cheeseburger soup for dinner and it was so good.  I tried to help out here in there but he likes to be the only cook in the kitchen.  After dinner we cleaned up the dishes and straightened up the house because we had invited some couples over for games.  Julianne and I made an apple crisp for dessert and people started to arrive around 7.  We had three couples over from church, the Ashleys, Grubbs, and Yeakleys.  I gave Haley some Tylenol after dinner and I think that really helped her.  She didn't have tons more energy but she wasn't whiney or clingy anymore.  We put Emily to bed around eight and let Haley stay up longer and watch a Dora movie.  The Yeakleys and Ashleys left around ten but the Grubbs stayed and played until almost midnight, it was a lot of fun.

SATURDAY night was not so great.  Haley ended up getting up at least five times.  Sometimes she was just whining and some of the times she said she was hungry which didn't surprised me since she didn't eat very much on Saturday.  We eventually just brought her to our bed and she slept a little better but still not great.  David had to be at church at 8:30 because he was leading worship so he was up by 7:30.  I had kind of decided to just stay home with the girls because of our bad night.  Emy woke up around 8:45 and Haley slept in until around 9.  She woke up happy and without any trace of a temperature.  I gave her breakfast and she ate without any problems.  It was probably a little after 9:40 that I decided to go to church.  Our service starts at ten so I just put my hair in a pony tail (I know, gross, try not to visualize it) and put some make up and clothes on.  Then I got the girls dressed and we jumped in the car.  We missed the first two songs but made it for the rest of the worship time and the sermon.  We sat way in the back, David didn't even see us until the end of the service.

Emily hasn't seemed sick at all so I put her in nursery but left Haley with me.  Emy has had hardly a trace of separation anxiety, I'm still waiting for it to hit.  It was especially obvious today when I sat her down on the rug in her classroom and she sat there looking up at the teacher while I walked out, she didn't even look after me!  Haley sat on my lap during the sermon and watched the Ipad.  I had to keep a close eye on her because she loves to try and turn up the volume which I really can't blame her for because why would you ever want to watch Sesame Street on mute?  After the service we stayed and talked for maybe five minutes tops and then headed out.  Haley was acting completely normal but I didn't want to chance anything.

Julianne and Todd made baked potatoes for lunch and they were so good.  Haley ate a bunch of cheese and yogurt and maybe a bite of the potato.  After lunch I put Emy down for her nap and let Haley stay up for a little bit because she didn't seem tired.  Even after waiting, Haley had a hard time falling asleep.  She really did seem like her normal nap-fighting self.  David left for an overnight trip to New Jersey around 2:30, he'll be back super late on Monday night.  I let Haley sleep until around 4 and then I woke her up.  Emy kept sleeping until almost 5!  It was overcast and rainy today so I think that helped them sleep.  We ate leftovers and banana muffins that Todd had made for dinner.  After dinner the girls played for a while and I read them a bunch of books.  Haley was being so cranky and disobedient, I couldn't figure out what her problem was.  I didn't think she could be tired since she had such a late nap.  David got to PA around 9 and skyped us with Mimi, Pops, Aunt Rin, and Uncle Daniel for a couple minutes before bedtime.  Haley and Emy were mostly silent during the short call.  I realized why when I put them in their beds afterwards and they both rolled over and went to sleep right away.  Well, Emy went to sleep right away but Haley had to use the bathroom a couple minutes later, then she went to sleep.  She never has to go right before bed when I ask her, only five minutes after she's been in bed!

Haleyism:
Haley says 'because' all the time and I don't think she has any idea what it means because it is rarely followed by anything.  I say "because what?" or "because why?" all the time and she looks at me like I'm crazy for asking.

Emilyism:  
This morning Haley handed Emily her paci and Emily said "thank-you" so clearly.  I wish I had gotten it on video but Emily hardly ever says it when we are staging it!  I know that sounds fishy.

I did take some pictures today and then realized my memory card wasn't in the camera, oops.  Instead I have this video that was taken last week but wouldn't load on a previous post.

Emy and Daddy

Cheering for LU and playing outside

Thursday started off with women's Bible study.  David left early for an overnight trip to New Jersey so I brought the girls along with me.  They did fairly well for the first hour or so but started to get restless towards the end.  Emily actually played with the big kids for most of the time.  Every so often she'd crawl over to the moms and I'd hold her and feed her some of my muffin.  In the last thirty minutes our hostess, Meg, told the kids she would turn on a Dora for them.  Haley was so excited.  Until Ms. Meg couldn't find a Dora episode on her Netflix so she pulled up some dog cartoon.  Haley was pretty mad.  So mad that she ran over to the TV and hit the screen.  Kind of embarrassing...for her mother that is.  I took her into their bathroom and gave her a spanking (as discreetly as possible) and then she came out and said sorry to Meg for hitting her TV.  I don't think she minded too much because she gave her a hug and said it was okay.  I don't think she would have given her a hug if she was mad at her...hopefully.

After Bible study we came home and had lunch and then I put the girls down for naps.  Well, I put Emily down and Haley played around for a long time.  I would say for almost two hours.  I would have just let her get up except I really wanted her to take a nap because we were going to be up late in the evening.  She finally dozed off around three and then I woke her up at 4:30.  I took the kids outside and they played on toys for a bit before dinner.  Julianne had to work in the evening so she left around 5:30 and Todd got home from work a couple minutes after she left.  I made spaghetti for dinner, Emily loved it but Haley refused to eat sauce on her pasta.  After dinner we skyped David for a little bit and then the girls and I left to go to the LeTourneau boy's soccer game.

The head boy's soccer coach goes to our church and he said that Thursday night was one of the biggest games of the season.  They were playing our school's rival ETBU.  I brought along the girl's little folding chairs and a chair for me and we set up near the bleachers behind some students.  A bunch of other people from church came so we weren't alone.  Emily spent most of the game standing on her chair and Haley spent a lot of the game working on her chair's placement.  I thought we probably wouldn't be able to stay for the whole game because it didn't start until eight but the girls did really well so we ended up staying for the whole thing!  It was a super exciting game, we won 2 to 1.  We headed home around 10:15 and Emily fell asleep on the way and they both went down as soon we got home.

FRIDAY was a pretty slow day.  The girls both slept in after their late night.  Haley was up by nine and Emily slept until 9:30.  We got up and had breakfast and got dressed.  Amanda Caldwell had texted and asked if Haley wanted to come play for a bit in the morning so Emily and I dropped her off at their house and then went and got some groceries at Wal-mart.  Then we came home and put the groceries away and then went back to the Caldwells for lunch.  Amanda had also invited us for lunch afterwards.  Haley ate a ton of macaroni and cheese and all of her pineapple.  Emily of course ate everything we gave her and then afterwards crawled under the chair she had been in and ate the remnants off of the floor.

We stayed at the Caldwells until about 1 and then headed home.  Haley was starting to get emotional as we left, really she just didn't want to leave but I think she was also tired because she fell asleep as soon as we got home.  I let her nap for just short of two hours but that must have been too long because she had a really hard time falling asleep tonight!  After naps Julianne and I took all of the kids outside and the around in her little car and said 'whoa' over and over.  David got home a little after six, the girls were so excited to see him.  He said as soon as Haley ran to him she said, "do you have your Ipad?"  Oh my.  Julianne made some delicious chicken chili for dinner, Emy ate tons.  David had brought donuts back from New Jersey so we had those for dessert.

After dinner David and I went to the gym and put the girls in childcare while we went for a walk outside.  When we went to pick them up they were doing walking practice with Emily, good luck with that haha.  We brought them home and fed them some yogurt for snack and then put them to bed.  Emy went down fairly easily but Haley stalled for a while.  Eventually she went to sleep around 9:45!

Haleyism:
Today Julianne asked Haley if she had to go potty because she was doing a little dance and she said "No, I just went to the potty...It's true!"

Emilyism:
Emily took a couple more steps today.  Her longest record is just two and she still definitely prefers crawling.

Playing outside together in the car

Emily playing in her room, also you can see some of David's hairy leg

 

This is a video of Emily with a mitten that was infatuated with tonight.  I think this one ends ugly though...

Wednesday happenings

Today we had Bible Study Fellowship in the morning.  David did not have to fly today so it was really nice to have him home because he helped me feed the kids and get out the door on time.  Haley and Emily both did well in their respective classes.  Emily was asleep in her swing when I went to pick her up but they said she had only been sleeping for maybe fifteen minutes.

After BSF we came home and had hot dogs for lunch.  BSF is over by eleven so it was kind of an early lunch and then the kids got to play for a bit before naps.  Haley and Jay played really nicely together, actually maybe they did better because they were actually playing separately for most of the time.  Emily went right down for her nap but Haley had a harder time.  She eventually went down and then I ended up having to wake her up after an hour because I wanted her to sleep tonight.  After naps Emily was kind of clingy so I held her for a while and then passed her off to Dave while I started my casserole for the church potluck.  Haley and Jay played for a bit outside, they do well when they play outside.

We left a little early for church because we had to get gas on the way.  Then I ended up forgetting some stuff I needed for Bible Explorers so we had to go back.  Haley was pretty confused, she knew we were supposed to be going to church so it was really messing her up.  Haley ate some pizza for dinner and Emily downed a bunch of macaroni and cheese.  We are meeting at a church now for our Wednesday meetings so it is a little different.  Actually it is a lot easier.  The girls get to play in an actual nursery with toys and the other kids get to meet in actual classrooms.  Before the babies were being kept in a hallway (literally, I should take a picture it was kind of funny) and the older kids were in the same room where we ate so they were always running back to the food table and grabbing bites between activities.  After church we stayed a while and talked and then headed home.  We gave the girls a snack and then put them to bed.  Emily went right down but I'm not sure if Haley is even asleep yet!

Haleyism:
Haley understands her limitations in height.  When she can't reach something she goes right to the kitchen and starts pulling her chair to wherever she needs to reach.  It was cute and everything until she started doing it to get things she's not supposed to have like markers or David's phone and Ipad.

Emilyism:
This morning Emily woke up about five minutes before my alarm was going to go off (7:40) so I just brought her back to our bed and she cuddled on my chest.  It was really sweet until she kept taking her paci out and trying to shove it in my mouth, so gross!

Emy playing the kazoo!

Too much flash!

Haley holding up her purse which she wore all day

Emy says 'thank you'

This morning we had MOPS so we had to get up a little earlier than usual to get out the door in time.  I set my alarm and was all ready to go but Haley and Emily were prepared to sleep in for half of the morning.  I turned on the light in their room and sang a wake up song but both of them turned and kept burying their heads in their pillows.  Eventually I pulled Emily out of her crib and Haley got up a couple minutes later when she heard Jay in the kitchen.

MOPs went well, the girls did well in their classes except Haley had an accident in her panties.  I think it was just a couple drops but the teacher noticed she was wet and changed her.  She has started leaking again but had been doing better the past couple of days so I was surprised.  Her teachers actually kept apologizing so I wonder if they just didn't get her there in time or something.  I told them Haley should have told them sooner!  Apparently Emily had been on and off crying in her class but she must have been well fed because when we got home I changed her diaper and a bunch of Cheerios spilled out.

After MOPs we came home and had lunch and then the girls went down for naps.  I have started putting them down for naps separately because Haley keeps Emily awake otherwise.  So I put Emily down and then wait about ten minutes and put Haley down.  Haley slept a little over an hour and then got up and played with Jay.  I took all of them outside once Emily woke up and they played on riding toys and ate pretzels for a snack.  I pushed Emily around in a little riding toy car we have and she kept saying 'Whoa!' every time we'd go over bumps.  I don't remember Haley talking so much at her age, I'll have to look it up in her baby book.

David got home around five and he played with the kids while I made dinner.  Julianne and Todd just won a bid on a HUD house today so I made chicken with a basil cream sauce to celebrate!  They got such a great deal on this house in such a wonderful neighborhood, we hope the inspection goes well though, that could be a deal breaker!  After dinner David played with the girls and gave them baths while I did the dishes and folded laundry.  We have a white stove and I cleaned the stove top, it needed it big time.  After baths we played with the kids.  Julianne was cleaning up blocks and Emy kept handing her blocks and Julianne would say 'thank-you' everytime and after a couple times Emily started to say 'thank you' back!  It was crazy because she was doing more than just the inflection, she was totally doing the sounds too!  David and I kept trying to get her to do it again so we could get it on video but she wasn't doing it as clear.  Haley helped me carry laundry to our room and her's and then we put them to bed.

Haleyism:
Anytime Haley doesn't want to do anything she makes the excuse, "I'm too big."  It's the oddest thing.  Today I told her to eat her hot dog and she said she couldn't because she was too big.  Also, today I was using the bathroom and she came in and asked if my panties were dry (I have been asking her that because of her aforementioned leaking problems) I told her they were and she said, "Good job!  You are a big, big, big (stopped and looked thoughtful then said) Mommy!"  I tell her she's a big girl when her panties are dry.

Emilyism:
Emy points at stuff and waves.  She also says 'whoa' when she experiences any kind of unusual motion.  Today she was sitting in the rocking chair in their room and she started rocking and saying 'whoa' really loud as if she was on a roller coaster.

David let the kids watch a show on the Ipad tonight, even Emy was into it!

This video is of us trying to get Emy to say thank you...she ended up tooting and Haley didn't think it was funny.

(Associated Press) - Two Year Old Cries While Witnessing Crying Baby Sister Receive Inoculations -- The Haley And Emily Canche Story

Today we woke up around 9 am. All of us were in the bed by the time we finally got up.  We gave the girls breakfast and called the Healthy Living Hideaway and got a slot for Emily at the gym at 10:45.  Katelyn and I ran around the outside track.  I could only manage to make it one time around the track running due to my back pain, but we did walk around a few times and we got to talk which is nice.  The weather is nice now in September in Texas.  The temperature has dropped and it's pretty cool in the mornings.  Haley played with babies and watched some movie or something.  Emily did well and didn't cry at all.  When we were driving home I told Katelyn maybe I would see if my friend Josh could do lunch on Wednesday.  Then Katelyn said "don't you have Jobs for Life with him on Wednesday anyway?" and I realized that I actually had an informational meeting today at noon, which was fifteen minutes away.  I hurried home to drop off Katelyn and the girls and went to the meeting which lasted a long time.  Katelyn had started to clean when I got home.  Emily was asleep and Haley was just playing but soon went down for a nap.  I started helping Katelyn clean the house and we finished with just a few minutes to spare before we had to get the girls up to take them to the doctor's office for Emily's well check.  Emily was right on track with her stats...that is to say, she was right on track with Haley; the two of them, together, are expanding the growth charts in the downward direction.  Emily was 27.75inches long and 18.5lbs 4.5oz, with a remarkable, yet easily foreseeable BMI of 16.7 (57.43%).

The girls started to get sick of waiting in the doctor's office.  Haley went potty probably 5 times legitimately.  We practiced numbers, colors, and animals with this one toy.  We also saw the Watson's there.  They took baby Claire in there because she has been sick with some congestion and I think they were gonna head to Houston if it looked bad.  That baby is pretty big and old looking.  She has longer hair.  She is still small but she's almost a year old now.  Haley was really excited to see her.  Emily had to get a couple shots today which was no fun.  Emily obviously cried, but Haley also cried and said she was sad that they were hurting Emily.  I guess she inherited some of my empathy.  Then we went home and played for a while.  Katelyn and I had Bible study tonight so we left the kids with the ever-gracious Feenstra's and headed out there.  Haley was kind of bad I guess because she was crawling under the table during dinner.  We got home and put them to bed.  

Haleyism: Haley always says "leave the door open." when we put her to bed.  Now I know why.  If the door is open, we can't hear her sneak out of her bed into ours.  We aren't even in there! I don't think it's that much more comfortable of a bed... The other day I got back from work and sat on my bed to take my shoes off and I heard "Daddy" behind me.  It was her just smiling in there laying on my pillow.  She is a wierdo.

Emilyism:  Emily has officially taken her first steps.  They are tiny but I think they count .  We are trying to capture them on video.  

Our attempts to capture a step.  I think there is a tiny one in there.

Weekend!

SATURDAY David did not have to work so we had a family day together.  We started by sleeping in and then we packed a lunch and took it to the park.  We parked a mile away and then walked to the playground.  The girls ate their sandwiches in the stroller on the way and David and I ate while they played.  It was only a high of 81 so at that time it was maybe only 75, it was so nice.  We didn't get home until close to two.  Emily had fallen asleep on the way so we transferred her right to the crib and then decided to just keep Haley up so she would have an earlier bedtime.  Lately she has been going to bed really late if she has a good nap.  I mean, we put her to bed plenty early, but she lays there and sings and talks until close to ten.  Of course she comes out and asks to use the bathroom about five times during that time too, and somehow manages to eek out a couple of drops everytime too.

While Emily napped Haley read books on my bed and then we let her get down to play with Jay once he woke up.  Julianne and Todd went out to look at a house late in the afternoon so David and I stayed and watched their kids so they could concentrate on the houses they were looking at.  David offered to make dinner while I watched the kids, I think I got the short end of that stick actually.  He made a delicious cheeseburger soup and I made some biscuits to go with it.  Juli and Todd went on a date to Smashburger and talked about houses.  We told them we could keep Jay because we were taking Haley and Emy to the pet store.  We went after dinner and stayed for almost forty-five minutes.  We gave Haley and Jay a pep talk before we went into the store.  David said they had to stay with us and they couldn't run and then he made both of them say 'okay' to show that they understood.  Haley responded by saying, "Okay, no running and no screaming."  We hadn't said no screaming but we added that to the rule list.  Haley and Jay seemed to enjoy the fish best but Emy definitely preferred the puppies.

After the pet store we came home and put Haley right to bed, she was tired.  Emy had taken a solid nap so she was not ready to sleep yet.  I ended up having to give her a bunch of applesauce and then she eventually went down.

Last night Haley woke up several times and came to our bed.  I think she must have been cold or something because she didn't ever ask to use the bathroom or anything.  Fortunately she tends to cuddle more on David's side so it doesn't really bother me too much.  We got up and got ready for church and then headed out.  It was nice because we didn't have any responsibilities at church so we didn't have to be there early or anything.  David had to go to the airport right after work so we drove separately.

The girls and I came home and had quesadillas for lunch with the Feenstras and then they went down for naps.  At 3:30 we all packed up in our cars and headed to look at the house the Feenstras are looking at.  It is actually a HUD house which is what our house was when we bought it.  That basically means that it is a house being sold by the government because it was foreclosed on a government loan.  The bid is over on Tuesday and they wanted a second opinion.  I like looking at houses so I was happy to do it.  I was kind of nervous about how the kids would do but they actually did great.  We were there for an hour and apparently there isn't anything more fun than running around an empty house.  It was a great house, I hope the government accepts their bid because it would be an amazing deal!

After looking at the house I took the girls to Wal-mart to pick up a couple things.  Then we came home and I made hot dogs for the kids for dinner. Haley ate two and a half hot dogs, a biscuit, and a bowl of cereal for dinner.  She must be growing!  Then we let the kids play in the den while I worked on walking practice with Emily.  She did a couple steps where she would take a step and then fall into my arms and a couple super small ones (like her foot maybe moved forward a half of an inch) while staying steady.  I'm not sure that they count.  Julianne said they did but I'm going to say they didn't since David wasn't home and I don't want him to feel bad!  I just put both the girls to bed and now I'm just waiting for Dave to get home while I watch the Bears beat Pittsburgh.  I'm not even sure who I want to win, I wouldn't mind if they both lost somehow!

Haleyism:
Haley was just crying in her room a couple minutes ago and when I went in she said she was crying because "all of the animals were going to get her."  Oh my, I hope she was just hamming it up to see if I would let her get up or something.

Emilyism:
Emily hit her head really hard today when she was climbing up on a diaper box.  She was really silly for the rest of the night so I hope everything is still all tight in her head.

Haley, Emy and Jay were all trying to fit behind the easel to play

Jay and Haley at the pet store

Playing together in their matching jammies

Daddy and Emy at the pet store

Monthly update!

Well I am so behind on here that I feel like it would be impossible for me to go day by day and catch up.  I would be catching up the rest of my life!  So, all that to say, I am going to give a monthly report and then I will be caught up and hopefully able to cover the day to day again!

I left off with Aunt Rin's wedding which is pretty hard to follow, maybe that's why I got so far behind.  Anyways, after Rin's wedding we had another full day of vacation and then we headed home on Saturday.  We were going to stop halfway on our way home and make the trip two days but we decided we wanted to make it back for church so we did it all at once and I was glad that we did.  The girls both did well traveling in the car and we made pretty good time, although I don't remember what that time was.  When we got home the Feenstras were at our house.  Julianne Feenstra was my roommate in college and she and her husband Todd were in the process of moving to Longview.  Todd was already working full time in Longview so Julianne and her two kids came down for a visit while we were out of town.  They ended up staying until Wednesday morning and then they headed out.  I remember the morning that they left I got my haircut, just a trim though.

The next two weeks were spent enjoying the last days of summer before things like Bible study, MOPs, and Bible study Fellowship started up.  One weekend we went to the Smith's and swam and had dinner with them and the Creech's.  We had a couple game nights with those couples from church that like to play games.  Todd was around for one weekend and the next weekend he went up to Tennessee to bring some of their stuff back on a trailer.  David worked a lot but didn't have very many overnights if any.  David also had an MRI and found out that he has a herniated disc in his back.  His doctor prescribed steroid shots in his back but after talking to another doctor it was recommended that he do physical therapy instead which he has not started yet.

I went to several storage auctions but didn't end up buying anything because there is this guy named Kenny who is on Texas Storage Wars who has started coming to all of the auctions whether they are taped or not and buying everything.  It's actually pretty annoying.  There was one unit I really wanted that had a Baldwin piano in it but it went for a lot.  The guy that bought it knew I wanted it because I was bidding against him and he said I could have piano for $200.  I knew that piano was worth more than that so I took him up on it and it is currently in our living room waiting to be sold.  I haven't posted it on craigslist or anything because there is a couple form our church who is interested and keep saying that they want to come see it but they still haven't!  For now it's kind of nice because the kids don't have to share the piano, they each have their own, haha.

On Sunday, September 8th, Julianne came down with Jay and Carrington to stay at our house with Todd.  Her parents ended up coming out and visiting and taking their dog back with them to Plainview which is about six hours away.  We had their black lab Barron with us until Tuesday and I think it was really good for Haley because by Tuesday she was not scared of him at all and was petting him regularly.  He is a pretty laid back dog and didn't hardly ever even look at Haley so I think that's why she was okay with him.

The Tuesday after they arrived we had our first meeting of MOPS which went really well and the Wednesday after we had our first meeting of Bible study Fellowship and that next Thursday morning the women's Bible study from church started up again.  We don't usually have anything going on Mondays or Fridays.  So far I've gotten Julianne signed up for Mops and BSF so we've been going around together in a little herd, it's kind of fun.  Haley and Jay are getting along pretty well, they have some rough spots throughout the day.  I've never seen Haley get as mad as she's gotten at times, it is actually kind of funny.  Haley and Emily are both too rough with baby Carrington, Haley is actually not allowed to touch her at all because one time she was kind of pushing her face into the carpet, oh my.  Jay and Haley almost always want the same toy, today they have been fighting over the Christmas book that Grandma and Grandpa recorded for Haley back in 2012.

Emily is not walking yet but she has gotten better at communicating.  Both of the girls have been eating a ton, they must both be having growth spurts.  Emily goes in for her 12 month well-check on Monday so we'll get her one year stats then.  Haley has gotten slightly obsessed with princesses and dresses.  She usually asks to wear dresses when it's time to get dressed.  Haley has gotten better at holding her pee during the night.  She wears panties during her naps and usually has a dry diaper in the mornings.  The only downside is that if I give her liquid in the evening at all then she wakes up during the night to go.

Okay, that is my mid-August through mid-September update.  I will try to get back on day to day tomorrow.  Also I am going to make a huge Birthday tribute for everyone's Birthday that I missed in the past month, including Emily's!

I'm back! Wedding catch-up

I know, I am a little ashamed to even be showing my face on here since it has been so long!  I have found that not blogging can catch on like a disease, once you stop, you just can't stop stopping.  Really it has just been so long that I couldn't quite remember everything that had happened!  Fortunately, my sister Carly has a blog and fortunately we were together at the place where I am supposed to pick up so I just finished reading her's for a refresher.  Honestly, it took a lot of self-control not to copy and paste but I figured some people would notice an odd emphasis on details pertaining to Calla, Kelsey, and Jay (her kids).

I am writing now about Wednesday, August 14th, the day before Rin's weeding!.  It was actually kind of a junky day, rainy and overcast but it worked out because we were in wedding preparation mode.  We spent a lot of the day setting up the downstairs for the reception.  I decided the best way I could help would be to keep my children out of the way.  We braved the beach despite the weather but when we weren't cold, we were getting bit by random little flies that looked like house flies but bit like horse flies.  They didn't seem to mind the layers of fly spray we put on either.  In the end we packed up and headed back.  I put my girls down for earlier naps because we had to leave for wedding rehearsal around 3.  Several of the in-laws and cousins stayed back at the house but for us it was a whole family affair since David was singing and Haley was a flower girl.  I brought Emily along because I figured I needed practice keeping her quiet and quite frankly, I didn't think anyone would appreciate having a random extra baby at the house.

David sang beautifully and Emily behaved herself well but Haley did not seem to understand the flower girl role.  I hadn't made a big deal out of it all summer because she usually does better with situations when she doesn't really know what's going on but it didn't take long for her to realize what was expected.  She did okay with her first try, I think she made it at least halfway down the aisle and then turned around to give me her basket of petals because 'she didn't want it.'  Then she went the rest of the way without it.  That was the best she ever did.  By the last attempt she wouldn't take a step without crying.  Ironically, as soon as we sat in the pews she wanted her basket and was playing with the petals and acted like being a flower girl was the best thing ever.

After rehearsal we drove back to the house and had the rehearsal dinner.  The food was amazing!  Aunt Rin gave the flower girls gifts showcased in little bags with their names on them.  Most of the gifts were quiet activities that they could do during the wedding ceremony.  We had a photo shoot after dinner and then I put the girls to bed.  The men all took Daniel out for a little bachelor party and we stayed up late and talked with Rin.  Our little chat fest actually outlasted the boy's thing.  They got in and went to bed and we were still going strong!

Haley and the Brusts eating their rehearsal dinner

The girls and their bags

We resorted to the Ipad for entertainment and Jay and Haley had a little squabble about it

I guess Jay graciously took a backseat, what a gentleman

Aunt Rin and her flower girls!  Haley looks like a native in that dress, haha

Practicing, Haley already looks terrified

THURSDAY was the wedding day!  It was raining on and off but it didn't really matter because there were no plans for the beach anyways.  Most of the morning and afternoon was spent working on decorations for the reception.  I actually volunteered to watch all of the children upstairs while everyone else did that so I kind of had the easy job.  Easy because Calla did most of the work, I just made sure nobody got hurt.  The kids spent most of the time pretending to be various animals and Calla was their master.  Usually they were dogs but sometimes I heard Jay referred to as a cow, Haley a horse, and the best man's little boy Dico, a monkey.  Usually I just had the Brusts and my kids so it was kind of fun to pretend I had five kids, Jay and Haley being the twins in the middle of course.  For lunch I heated up some macaroni and cheese and put it in bowls on the floor so the kids could continue pretending to be animals.  I did insist that they use forks.  I put my girls down for early naps and then joined the crew downstairs as they finished hanging paper pom pom things from the porch.  Our departure time for the church was supposed to be a little before two and it ended up getting close at the end.  We had to wake up the girls from their naps and I changed them into their wedding clothes on the way there.  It's a good thing the place was an hour away because I also finished my hair and did my make up on the way.  We made pretty good time so we stopped by a McDonalds to get Haley a snack and get a chocolate milkshake to help bribe her down the aisle.  By showtime I had the Ipad, a milkshake, M&Ms, ring pops, and various toys at my seat to entice her to walk to me.  I showed her all of these things before sending her back with Aunt Carly and then taking my seat.  They must have all slipped her mind when it was time to walk down the aisle because she froze.  Calla and Kelsey beautifully walked the ten steps (seriously shortest aisle ever and she still couldn't do it) but Haley just stood there like a deer in the headlights.  David and Kelly kept playing but she kept standing there, even when Pops leaned over and said some things to help her go down.  In the end Carly grabbed her out of the way and discreetly walked her down the side aisle while the rest of us were watching Rin walk down.

Really I have to say Haley's performance did not go up from there.  I definitely should have opened everything that Aunt Rin had gotten her the night before because everything was still packaged up nicely and she kept asking me or Grandma to open things for her, not a quiet task.  I would honestly love to forget the split second where I looked away and she turned the volume up on the dumb Elmo video she was watching on the Ipad.  Finally David leaned over Grandma and Grandpa, grabbed her and took her outside with the other in-laws and their kids.  I think it was punishment enough to be out with Uncle Jonathan, Uncle Jon, and Uncle Josh for the rest of the ceremony, haha.  David had to rush back in to play the special music.  Emily did well the whole time, I had a bottle for her with a super low flow nipple.  She didn't even get to finish the thing, haha.

After the ceremony we did pictures and Haley ended up smiling nicely for her pictures with Aunt Rin, hopefully that is the only thing anyone remembers about her participation in the wedding!  She continued acting naughty and eventually I had to take her to the van and spank her.  Actually our van was locked and I didn't know where David was so I spanked her in the Brust's van, haha.  She was better behaved after that and completely herself once we headed back to the house.  I think big crowds make her nervous or naughty or something because as soon as it was just Daddy, mommy, and Emy in the car with her, she was chatting away nicely and acting normal.

Both girls did fairly well at the reception.  Our table was right next to the Brust kid's room so we put an Ipad on in there and they were in there for a while after dinner.  I gave the girls applesauce as soon as we got there so we didn't really have to try and coax them into eating any 'real' food.  I put Emy to bed during an open mic part of the evening and she was so tired I maybe missed one or two people sharing.  I took Haley up later during on of the Nigerian dance songs, I didn't really know it anyways. :)  Then David and I had the night to ourselves!  It actually was a lot more enjoyable once Haley and Emy were gone!  The wedding reception was so beautiful, and the food was amazing.  After open mic Daniel sang a song he had written for Rin which was super sweet, at some point they had their first dance and Dad danced with Rin and Daniel with his mom, and then I think it was just dancing until it was time for the DJ to go home and Rin and Daniel to head out!  It was such a great day, I wish more of our friends we unmarried so we could go to more weddings.  Tomorrow I will keep updating!!

The bride and groom!

Pops tried to get her to go down but she just couldn't do it

The ice cream bar!  It looks like David was trying to cut in line in front of the bride!!

David singing at the wedding, he did such a great job.