Thursdays are for Cuties

P.S. Is it bad that I sometimes make Libby wait a few minutes to eat because the sight/sound of her sucking her fist is so adorable?

Hello. Goodbye.

Hello

Part of a VBS directors job...

(Or anyone who has a job...or a house...or anyone.)

...is to make a few phone calls.

About stuff.

Today I did that.

I already know my voice is borderline annoying/sounds like a 12-year-old.

I try to sound somewhat intelligent/educated.

And say "um" less than 1,000 times.

Which leads to long pauses.

Which I think makes me sound...unprepared? uninformed? lame? like I'm trying to read something else? I don't know.

I hope when I enter the professional world I have a job that requires no phone talking.

Is that possible?

Even Will gets irritated talking to me on the phone.

I irritate myself.

Goodbye.

(Every time I hang up after a conversation Charlie says, "Who was it? What did they say?" I don't know where she gets that...:))

If wishes were dishes...

...then we'd all have a feast!

Libby at two months.

I wanted to applique 12 onsies for Elizabeth.

One for each month...and then take her picture in them...

for fun, for cuteness.

I haven't done any.

She's two months old.

Since she's was born I've probably read...20 books? That's a conservative estimate.

I need to delegate my "free-time" better.

Although, nursing really only lends itself to reading.

And I spend at least 2.6 hours nursing a day.

Not that I read all that time, but you get the picture.

I read this on someone else's blog and I had to laugh, this is exactly me:

"I always wanted to be a bread making, green living, coupon using, organic eating, skirt wearing, quiet tempered, well organized, person. Instead I am a donut buying, plastic cup using, online shopping, pizza eating, sweat pants wearing, loud mess!"

Warning: This is Looong

Ohmyword.

It's been quite the day already...and it's not even 4:00.

Nothing bad...just busy.

---

Elizabeth had her two month check-up today.

I had to take all four kids - and they all behaved beautifully.

She is 24inches long which is the 96th percentile.

She weighs 10.8 lbs (not to be confused with 10lbs 8oz...that is different) which is the 48th percentile.

She's gained almost two pounds in a month...

which is about an ounce a day...

which is perfect. :)

She still has thrush (I am too frustrated to even blog about this). I'll be going to pick up her third prescription later.

The Dr. kept going on and on about how beautiful she is and how social and how alert.

She may say that to everyone.

It doesn't matter.

It's so nice when people say good things about your children.

Especially when they have M.D. after their name.

---

I have a pretty good job.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

Yes, sometimes they are late to get her...either scheduled late or just running late...sometimes she irritates me...

...but for the most part she is a VERY good girl.

She's very smart.

She's really cute, and she gets bathed regularly (a must for me!).

She was sick last week and so I only watched her a couple hours one morning (she was supposed to come back that afternoon but got sick!) and then one day.

I still got paid for three days.

I tried to give back the money for the day I had off, but her mom wouldn't take it.

Then they had plans and her grandparents were supposed to watch her on Saturday...but they canceled...so I said I could keep her...it was seriously like four hours and two of it she was sleeping...and they paid me for another day.

(I realize this is becoming all about $, but that is WHY I work and I am so grateful!)

They gave me a raise after I had Libby. Just because.

Every Monday (or the first day I watch her) her mom brings me my pay for the week.

I've never had to say a word about it.

Well, I say, "Thank you!"

---

Will's gone this week.

He's supposed to get back Friday.

The kids and I are leaving Friday at noon for Iowa.

My nephew turns one.

Will might get back early and then we'll get to see him...

...otherwise it will be nearly two weeks apart.

It's sad.

Anyway, we both made a goal to lose 10lbs. while we're apart.

It is so not happening on my end.

I quit the 30-Day Shred.

I'm okay with being exhausted/sore muscles...but it was killing my knees.

I even made Will watch me to make sure I was doing the exercises right.

I can't be getting old, can I?

I've been walking almost everyday though...since I quit...not since Will left...that was like two days ago:)

Sigh.

---

I made pasta with pesto sauce.

It came in box...on clearance at Target...for 1.97...it fed us all...

the kids loved it, both had 2nds, Ben had 3rds.

---

VBS starts two weeks from today.

It's nearly all planned...

...just going to be a lot of work putting those plans into action.

I'm excited to see it all come together.

I told you this was long.

Lots of love.

xoxo

8 Silly Reasons I'm Glad I'm Married

If I wasn't married...

1. I would have to hire someone to do yardwork...or hire someone to watch my kids while I did it

2. Date nights would be lonely

3. When I'm in the middle of cooking something and am missing an ingredient...who would go to the store?

4. I would have to get a "real job"

5. I would never be in any pictures

6. I wouldn't have anyone's clothes to borrow/steal

7. I would decrease my texting by...50%

8. I would have to be "The Bug Killer/Relocater" - I hate hate hate spiders (I had to kill one this morning...mere hours after Will left)

---

Will's out of town for work.

Yikes:)

Thursdays are for Cuties

This is what Libby's hair looks like after it's been in a pony.

She can totally pull off a mohawk.

Messing Around

Just some pictures I played around with on Picnik.

I do it for fun.

I'm not delusional enough to think I have any skill.

---

I don't know what to blog about.

I'm feeling decidedly more negative than positive.

I don't really want to spread the negativity around.

I had yesterday off.

I read a book, let the kids play outside, took them to the park, cooked dinner and cleaned the kitchen.

I did not: do laundry, work on VBS, get my house cleaned, sew gifts for my cousins babies or a whole bunch of other things I wanted to do.

I'm just frustrated.

I have soo many good ideas.

And no follow through.

Dear Monday,

I don't love you.

I don't know if it's real or my mind messing with me: but you are a hard day to get through.

Especially when Charlie was up in the night throwing up.

And Ben didn't want to sleep in...even a little.

And someone crashed my van and we might have to pay for it.

And our freezer is wonky.

And our kitchen light won't work.

And I'm the only one in the house who knows how to do dishes.

Or empty ones that have milk in them.

Seriously?

What did I ever do to you?

Husband Bragging

Smiles.

Will and I love, love, love to read.

I hope our kids do, too.

---

Today is Will's birthday.

He is the ripe old age of...twenty-four.

Gasp!

Did you know he was six months younger than me?

Now you do.

Since it's his birthday, I wanted to take the opportunity to brag about him a bit.

Because I think he's fabulous.

First of all...he married me. :) He puts up with all my "junk."

He moved me and our baby girl out here after living in the same town his entire life.

He joined the USAF. He went through boot camp. He went through tech school.

He was away from us for five months.

All to give us a better life.

He looks pretty good in uniform, too. I'm not going to lie.

He listens to all of my crazy ideas. He supports a lot of them.

Almost a year ago...he bought us this house.

A huge accomplishment for any just-turned-23-year-old. Especially with a wife and two kids.

And now we have three kids.

And he's great with all of them.

He's sweet and funny...sometimes crazy silly. He can almost always make me laugh. He's good at math and spelling. He always compliments my cooking. He likes to drive and listen to music. He takes out the trash and vacuums. He rides his bike to work. He always volunteers to change a dirty diaper when he's home. He deals with my compulsive texting. He even replies when he can.

He encourages all my endeavors.

Most importantly, he shares my faith.

He is my best friend and my biggest fan.

And I am his.

Truth in Advertising

Have you seen those Pampers commercials?

Claiming to "sag less" than Huggies?

I didn't buy it.

But I did buy the diapers. I had a coupon. They were on sale.

Never again.

This is after his morning diaper change. Maybe an hour or so?

I just prefer Huggies. They seem better all around.

I had to bribe him with mini M&M's to get him to let me take these pictures.

"Yeah, all my clothes are in the wash..."

:)

Date Night

On Tuesday Charlotte and I went on a date to the movies.

Both the babies stayed home with Will.

We saw Marmaduke.

I thought it was very cute.

She was very excited. Almost too excited to eat dinner. She kept saying, "But I thought we were taking Libby?" Which...made me sad.

Taken with my phone. I'm (past)due for a new phone. I should look for one with a better camera.

We were two of four people in the theater.

We sat in a little "loveseat" type seat.

With our popcorn between us some of the time, cuddling and holding hands the rest.

It was a wonderful date.

---

I don't know what it is with me about leaving my babies.

I just feel like they can't possible survive without me.

I know it's ridiculous.

I can't remember how old Charlie was when I first left her somewhere.

Probably around a month. I remember why: we were going to see a play with my in-laws.

Ben...was about six weeks. I let my mom take him home from Light in the Night while I finished up. Gosh, I took him everywhere. Granted: 90% of the time I had Charlie with me too.

I've already left Libby with Will three times. She's seven weeks old.

Twice I left her to take Ben to the Dr.

And now this time to take Charlie to the movies.

She hasn't died.

Actually, I'm pretty sure she slept through the first two times and fussed just a little while we were at the movies.

How is it possible that this makes me feel like a bad mom?

I don't know. For sure.

Anyway.

The point is. When I had Ben I didn't need to leave him because Charlie was 2.5 and still getting plenty of one-on-one time. Just like Ben is now.

I just felt/feel like it's so important for me to take some specific time to just be with Charlotte.

Not holding a baby.

Not worrying about what Ben's getting into.

I don't know if I'm expressing this accurately, but it really just seems so imperative.

You know? Before she grows up and I can't.

---

I was reading tonight about some people who don't tell people they know IRL (in real life) about their blog.

While I love sharing. And I actually wish more people (like extended family) would check in here once and awhile.

I totally get that.

A place to just vent and be and vent (did I already say that?) without worrying about what people would think or say would be...

nice.

I'm already pretty bold around these here parts though, which if you're reading this I guess you know.

xoxo

Craft & Thrift

The little girl I watch turned two over Memorial Day weekend.

She had her birthday party Sunday and we were invited.

I appliqued a little tank top for her with Curious George fabric. He is her favorite.

I also made her this little dress. It turned out so sweet. I hope her mom puts it on her so I can see her wear it. I want to make one for my girls. Maybe for myself, too. :)

The back has this buttonloop. It was the first time I'd done it, I was pretty proud.

Some blankets and burp cloths I made for the baby shower...I'm not sure how well it went over...

Sweet stuff. I got the pan FREE at a garage sale Saturday. It actually fits in my tiny oven. I'm collecting the white dishes with green flowers (to match my kitchen). I got the idea from my mom who has enough dishes for ANYTHING...but she has my grandma Mary to look at thrift stores/garage sales for her...so my collection is growing much slower. I was really excited to find a gravy boat though:) I'm also forming an eclectic green glass collection.

---

Libby is seven weeks old today.

The laundry situation around here is out of control.

Will's game was down today. It was nice.

Life is good.

True Story

Once upon a time...

A girl was having a crazy busy Sunday.

She stayed up super late the day before and got up ridiculously early.

She almost made it to church on time.

She went out to lunch at Qdoba with her mom and kids. Her mom paid. :)

She "ran" into ARC (thrift store) to look for dishes/picture frames (more on that to come!).

She went home. Prepared for a birthday party/baby shower.

She went to birthday party. Sweated like crazy. Felt a little odd.

She dropped her husband and son back home.

She went to a baby shower.

She left the baby shower. Called her husband. Asked what he wanted for dinner.

She decided to pick up Long John Silver's. She almost never goes there. It's out of the way of her house, pretty expensive as far as fast food goes and, let's face it, kind of like a heart-attack-in-a-box.

She pulled over in the parking lot to quiet her crying baby. Baby wouldn't be quieted.

She decided to drive home (maybe 10 minutes?) and deal with the baby there.

She stopped at a stoplight on the way.

SOMEONE DROVE STRAIGHT INTO HER VAN. Not on the side. Not a little bit. DEAD ON.

She wasn't even looking...which is okay...remember, she was stopped?

She checked that her older daughter was okay...she was.

She got out and took the baby out of her car seat - baby is crying, crying, crying.

The man next to her at the stoplight pulls his car to the side of the road and calls 911.

She can't find her phone anywhere (it went flying...).

Finally finds it. Calls her husband.

He stops what he's doing. Puts on shoes (no socks! ew! but sweet:)). Puts their son into a backpack carrier. Hops on his bike. Rides down to the accident. Marriage is so many things - but having someone drop everything and come running (riding...kind of like a knight:)) is a wonderful thing.

She gives her baby to her husband and the baby stops crying...finally.

The end. (Not really...but I'm done.)

---

There are nice people left in the world. A lot of them.

A woman drove up right after the accident and saw me holding a screaming Libby and trying to deal with the police, an EMT and a firefighter, find my insurance, talk to Charlie, and breathe. She pulled her car over. Came over and took Libby. I know you all are thinking - is Stacia insane? I'm not. I know she was a Christian. I could feel her praying for me when she put her hand on my arm. She wrapped Libby in her blanket and spent the next five minutes talking to her, singing to her, loving on her. Libby screamed the whole time. I took Libby back and she hugged me before she left. So, so, so nice.

Another woman...who lived at the house we wrecked in front of...came home just after the accident and was asking if we needed drinks. She's like, "I have cokes, water..." I thought that was so nice.

The man who called 911. He stayed for the whole thing. He wrote all of his information down and gave it to me. He picked up Will's bike after Will got there and threw it down.

---

As I said...I don't really know what happened. The girl driving just misjudged I guess. She had a learner's permit. She's 21. She was NOT drunk or anything like that. They were very apologetic. She kept saying, "Baby, okay? Baby, okay?" because Libby was crying. They have insurance. Someone is coming to look at the van Wednesday. It held up remarkably well. I really couldn't believe it...the car the other people were in was really smashed up and had to be towed. It really was just an accident. And everyone is okay. And the police officer didn't write us a ticket for not having the current proof of insurance card.

P.S. This is my 100th post.

Lazy Days

Thursdays are for Cuties

Warning: A whole buncha pictures follow...

---

I've decided that:

~I know next to nothing about photography/photo editing

~I know even less about the "blog world"

~I jumped into all this with both feet and am going to keep going...I love it...even just for me

~It would be awesome if blogging could be my job...I don't know how people get so many followers...I guess I need to write a book or something...

~Working out is ridiculous. Even more so when combined with housework, cooking meals, running errands, picking up 30 lb. toddlers, etc.

~I will never give up my love affair with Mt. Dew. I just can't do it.

~Libby sucking her thumb today is one of the sweetest things I've ever seen

~This week is going by too fast...I want to capture life with a 6, an 88 and a 215 week old and remember it forever...yes, I really did the math...yes, I'm a dork...even more so for using the word "dork"

~I wish I really had handwriting like the font on the pictures; wouldn't that be awesome?

Reality Check

Last night I finally finished Elizabeth's dress...

I started knitting it when she was just over a week old.

It's the type of thing that I would have finished in a couple days before she was born.

Now it will probably only fit her for a few more weeks.

It was a big wake up call.

Most days I'm just getting done what absolutely has to be done.

Which is okay for now.

Other things in my life feel a little overwhelming.

I try not to think about them.

Then weird things happen.

I had a dream about vacation Bible school last night.

I wouldn't call it a nightmare...

but a very stressful dream.

You know? When you wake up and your jaw is all tight and you have a million thoughts running through your head?

I just need to get through one day at a time I guess.

Speaking of days...and reality...I just finished day two of the 30 Day Shred.

Whew. It's quite the workout.

I've heard it gets "better" around day five or six.

Here's to hoping.

June

Wow, this year is flying by so quickly. :)

So just a quick recap of the weekend...my grandparents arrived Saturday morning (before I had time to fold/put away laundry mountain!). They were able to park their huge, amazing motor home across the street at the middle school. We just hung out at home until Will got off work. They brought each of the kids bags full of new clothes! They are so generous. I showed them around the house (not laundry mountain). We ate some lunch. I talked to my grandma about some patterns I bought. After Will came home we headed off to Ft. Collins and the girls + Ben went to a quilt shop and the boys - Ben went to a shooting range. It was only the 2nd or 3rd time I'd ever been in a "real" quilt shop, so I really enjoyed it....the kids behaved so-so. After we reunited we went to dinner and then came home and went to bed! Sunday morning my grandpa came over to look at some things around the house with Will. We had brunch. Will and my grandpa fixed three major problems around the house; our leaking faucet, our leaking shower (basement), and our leaking windows. It is so nice to have those things done! He also showed Will how to hang things on these plaster walls. Yay! It was so great to see them, we were really sad they had to go home so soon. And now Will wants a shih tzu like Bandit. (This is really detailed...more for my information later...sorry.)

One of Libby's gifts (the hat) from a friend of my grandparents. She works in a really fancy kids' clothing store (like Clothes Pony here) and has given all three of my children beautiful gifts.

Hello, my name is Elizabeth. I am six weeks old today. I enjoy hanging out in my swing, laying on my belly, holding my head up for extended periods of time, and long walks on the beach. I have been consistently sleeping six hours at night for almost a week, though my mom wishes it was 12 to 6 instead of 10 to 4. I am pretty easy-going, but I have been tending to have a fussy time in the evening. I have started cooing and talking and smiling. My siblings adore me and I'm really starting to notice when they are around me. My mom really needs to get her act together and get my picture taken with them before I get any bigger!

---

June is going to be a busy month for us.

We have lots going on and VBS is literally right around the corner.

I also have some pretty hefty resolutions this month:

*Lose baby weight. I'm not going into numbers, because I know skinny people read this. Will says sustainable weight loss is 2-3 lbs. a week...so that is my goal.

*Have at least one 'date' with Charlotte

*Have at least one date with Will

*Six days of the week I want to have at least one activity planned just for the kids. It might be something as simple as taking them to the park a few blocks from here or getting the play-doh out, but I want less TV and more other stuff.

*One day of the week I want to do something just for me...take a bath (alone!), get a pedicure, work in my craft room uninterrupted....something.

*Try at least one "Yes" day

We'll see how it goes!