Big Big Plans!!

Today is my father-in-love's birthday. He is 80 years old! Can I just tell ya that I absolutely LOVE this man? He is a strong honorable man who loves his family and his God and his country. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne division in the US Army and is so proud of that fact that he does not let a day go by that he is not wearing SOMETHING on his person saying so!! I am so honored that he calls me his daughter in law. Not to mention how grateful I am for the FABULOUS job he did raising his son!!!!

So, in honor of the big day we are having a big 'ol party. And I mean BIG!!! Too big for a house, we have to throw it in the park! That's how big it is!!!

And then tomorrow - seeing as how everyone will be in town, there is a graduation party for our niece Chelsea. And, since everyone will STILL be in town, there is a baby shower for another niece Heather on Sunday. She is expecting her first baby in November and has herself the cutest little baby belly!!! She was probably about a size 4 to begin with, so it is ALL belly and soooooo cute!

So, a b-day party, grad party and baby shower all in three days. That is a LOT of food my friends! Not to mention that all three events are outside, so that is a LOT of mosquitoes too. Any one have any ideas on how to keep my girlie safe with out putting poison on her face all day, every day for three days?!?!?!

I probably won't be around much this weekend, so have a great one and stay safe and cool!!

XOXOXOXOXOX

Fitness On Friday - Not So Good

Originally all I was gonna say on this post was "Don't Ask!!!" However, since this is my accountability station, I feel it necessary to tell ya... I have gained a pound in the last two weeks. I know it does not seem like much, and considering that at this moment I could not even BEGIN to tell you where my food journal is, I am grateful for that! However, I am a little disappointed in myself. So I gotta use that to hop back on the wagon. Back into the game.

Big, gigantic weekend though - Birthday party, graduation party AND baby shower. YIKES! Pray for me to be strong. And to find my journal. And to be strong.

Did I mention I need strength?

Yeah!

A Little Of This, Little Of That ...

Our church had a blood drive on Monday. Since I am now a SAHM (that is "stay at home mom", for all of you behind on your blog-ese lessons) and cannot, at this season of my life, take off on short term mission trips or be a summer camp counselor on a regular basis like I did in my single days, I look for opportunities to give back, while not straying too far from the people who need me most. So, I jumped at this chance.

Now, I am not a big fan of the needles. I am more often that not, what they like to call a "hard stick" - meaning they have trouble finding a vein and, usually, when they do it is either buried beneath all of my "fleshiness" (I think that this is a polite phrase for FATTY CELLULITUS TISSUE!!), it does not hold still - did you know that veins can roll?!?!, or it is very small.

"Very small" is what we had this time. She was not sure that it would last for a whole pint. I had heard that before and everything had been fine, so I decided to go for it. And I was wrong. It WAS too small. They only got about a third of a bag before it started flowing so slowly that it was clotting before it reached the bag.

Clotting quickly - good should I ever, ya know, lose a limb or something. Not so good if you are trying to fill a big ol bag o' blood with the fluid flowing in a puny little vein!!!

That being the case, I did not receive the highly acclaimed "I Gave Blood Today" badge of honor. Instead, I was stuck with the sad little "I Tried" sticker and this lovely "Badge Of Honor" ...


Pretty, huh? I know YOU want one!!!
(Guess my career as a druggie will not be very fruitful. What with being forced to walk around with the arm that says "please arrest me and send me for a urine test IMMEDIATELY - I promise I will fail. And I don't even have to eat a poppy seed muffin!!!")

In other news, Sophie is not sleeping well again. This time it has NOTHING to do with her sinuses. She just wakes up a LOT!!!! She is not hungry - the most she will drink is MAYBE two ounces. She cries till someone comes to her. Continues to cry until she is given a bottle - which, as I mentioned, she barely touches before drifting back to sleep.
Yesterday we went to see the doc to be sure that it is not her ears or anything else and, after she took one look at the bulging luggage beneath my eyes, she asked me around four hundred and eighteen questions about Sophie's sleep patterns. And then she gave me a verdict:

Trained Night Cryer/Feeder

So, basically we have a LOT of work ahead of us. See, Sophie - even though she weighs in at just over 24 pounds, is not a big eater. We are lucky if we can get her to eat more than 6 ounces at a feeding. I never thought too much of it, since she get the recommended amount in on a daily basis. However, she gets it in a little at a time. This means that she eats smaller amounts more often through the day. SO, she is used to having feedings closer together. And this is why she wakes up. She is not hungry - she has eaten enough through the day - she is just used to eating more often. It is a comfort, so she cries for it and needs it to get back to sleep. SO, I now have to increase the time between feedings - and thus the amounts of food - through the day so she can go longer between feedings at night.
We also need to help her be able to soothe herself back to sleep at night. She is fine with this at nap time and when she first goes to bed. We turn on her music and the thing that puts fishies on the ceiling and she goes right to sleep (even without the fishies at nap time, because it is too light to see them). But at night, if she wakes up, she cries for a bottle and some attention.

SO, here is where I need your help. How does/did your children get back to sleep in the night? Any products that helped - a crib soother (hers sits on a table, where she cannot reach it to turn it on herself), special music, tricks or ideas.

PLEASE, I need any idea I can get! Ask your friends, send em my way. I will take any suggestions I can get. ANYTHING at all!!! I am tired ... and desperate!!!

Thank you in advance. You are rescuing us all.

Picture Perfect Monday - Yay For Technology

Where would we be without the modern convenience of things like cell phones, without which we would never be able to share random moments, like when Hattie decides to bestow "princess-ness"on her sister ...

... or Sophie and her daddy decide to take a snuggle break in the middle of COSTCO ...

... or the girls decide to go for the X-Treme closeup ...


... grab for the camera ...

... or just share a quiet moment on the front lawn?

Yep, technology is good!

Ups and Downs and The Craziness Inbetween

OK, first off - may I ask you all to pray for my sweet friend Rachel and her family. Her Mom passed away this weekend. She had been dealing with many medical issues lately and they knew it was coming. Somehow that does not make it easier though. She was a believer, so what does make it easier is knowing that she is now enjoying a perfect, HEALTHY, Heavenly body and resting in the presence of Jesus! Rachel is a blogger, her site "Devoted" is listed in my link list on the sidebar (I can't get the link thingy to work!) if you would like to read about her mom. Thank you for your prayers - I know I can count on all of you!!!

Secondly, another friend and her hubby recently lost their pet dog. Now, this was no ordinary pet. My girlfriend Carol is a retired police officer and her hubby John is still active and has been on the canine unit for a while now. For the past 5 or so years he has partnered with Baloo. Last Monday they were following a bad guy through a construction site and Baloo fell in a hole and died. These people are SERIOUS pet lovers and Baloo has lived with them the entire time they have worked together. They are devastated by the loss. Please pray for them as well as for some choices regarding John's career that they are now facing.



And thirdly, today is my Paula's birthday. She would have been 38. It still seems so foreign, this world without her. I have to stop and remind myself that she never met my girls, never got to see me be a mom. That hurts. She was an AMAZING mom. At least once a week I wish, more than you could imagine, that I could ask for her advice and input and HELP!!! I miss her every Friday - we had guitar lessons, ice cream dates, movie nights and/or shopping at Walmart on Fridays. When she was doing chemo, it was on Friday and I would sleep over to help her through. More often than not, the next day she was ready to go garage saleing. I would have to explain - AGAIN - that they were FULL of germs and other people's filth. We would argue - AGAIN. She would win - AGAIN. And we would go to Einstein's Bagels for an "everything" bagel and a large "frosty beverage" and be on our way. She could sniff out a garage sale a mile away. She was great at finding a bargain, but mostly we just found some fun and a few laughs. I hate that she is not here with me anymore. I LOVE that she is in Heaven. I miss her like crazy every single day. I can't wait to walk on those golden streets and see her walking toward me. She is saving the mansion next door to hers for me - 'cause she promised she would. I can't wait to see how she painted the walls. I bet there is at least one pink room ('cause she knows I would secretly want one - though not QUITE as pink as Faith's room), one muraled wall and one sunflower SOMEWHERE!!! She wouldn't have it any other way.

Did I mention I miss her?

Yeah, I thought so.