ESP

As a mother, especially of an almost four year old, I can usually predict what she is going to do or say. Like sometimes when she gets a really sweet look on her face, I know she is going to start hugging and kissing me and telling me she loves me over and over. This happens a lot when I take her to go get ice cream, to her favorite mexican food restaurant, etc...BUT then there are those moments out in public you try your best do distract them from their current thought process so what is about to come flying out of their mouth won't. However, children are not as distractible as they lead you to believe. I don't think I've been successful at completely disrupting the thought process only successful at delaying the outcome. For instance, if we are maneuvering a busy place and I say, "excuse me," her response is "why is that person getting in our way?" OR I (frequently) hear "Mom, she/he is not listening to their mommy. That's bad." Maybe I haven't adequately explained the "Don't pick the speck out of another's eye when you have a log sticking out of yours" Parable. These are relatively minor and expected comments. However, the other day we were in Target and a short-statured lady crossed our path. We made eye contact and I said, "hello" as I always do....we do live in the South, right???? Mary Ella's eyes quickly caught sight and might as well have broken her neck to see. WARNING WARNING, CHANGE COURSE, CHANGE COURSE. In my best attempt to distract her I quickly turned down another aisle saying, "oh, I need to check something out. Mary Ella, look at these pretty candles." Meanwhile, she's going "mom? Mom? MOOOOOOM!" Again, I was trying to delay the outcome of her thought-process. Finally, we reached a point of what I hope was safe and said, "Did you want to say something?" She stated (giggling I might add), "that lady was really short. She's really silly...." I'll spare you my "parental response" but I was oh, thankful we reached safety before that came out of her mouth. Just proof they always keep you on your toes!

Drum Roll Please

Well, dear family and friends, decisions have been made after much deliberation and many prayers. We are going to be moving to Tyler, Texas in a year. Although we had always thought we would go back to Louisiana, this opportunity presented itself and was too good to pass up. We are so excited as it is a beautiful place to live, good schools, strong church community and a good size. The good news is that we will only be a little over an hour away from family and friends in Shreveport and only 30 minutes away from my sweet friends, Heather and Jillian, who are settling in Longview. What a relief it is to have the decision made before this baby comes (another drum roll please) on Friday, October 19th (tentative date for my c-section). Oh by the way, (last drum roll) our newest baby girl will be named Molly Kate Burlison.


Mary Ella has been doing VBS all week and is belting out the songs in Walmart (our home away from home). I just let her go to town and it puts a smile on most people's faces anyways. I got her the cd of her vbs music and she couldn't wait to get home to show me her "moves". She said, "When daddy gets home I can show him allllll my moves." Too adorable for words. This child just thrives in these environments.



Addy and I have had some quiet time in the mornings with Mary Ella being gone, so I've taken that time to get down on the floor with her and play. Something the second, third and so on don't get as much of. We've had a great time and I've realized just how much she tries to say. The standard squeal and reach tends to get her what she wants anyways, so why would she have to talk? I've also noticed Addy is definitely our "sensitive soul". She got frustrated throwing her toy down and I responded with a stern/definitive "no". The result? A bottom lip poked out so far it almost touched the floor and tears welling up in her eyes. She was heart broken. Certainly discipline couldn't be this easy, right????

Happy Father's Day (Belated)

I would have had this up sooner, but my computer crashed over the weekend. After emerging from panic mode, I hooked up our old laptop and got it running. The hard drive on our computer is not even being recognized and after many thoughts of "backing up" all my pictures, I haven't done it yet. SO I'm praying that some or "most" are recoverable since I haven't downloaded to Kodak Gallery since Thanksgiving. I've been told it would cost somewhere between $400-600 to recover the pictures if it is the hard drive that has failed....something that will have to wait until after residency.

Now, on with what is really important.....my husband, the daddy to our girls. The Father's Day festivities began on Thursday. He came home to a freshly mowed, edged, clean yard. Now, any of you who know Scott know he dreads doing the lawn. In his defense, we do have a large yard with lots of edging/weed wacking involved....not to mention the humid, summer heat. Anyways, that provided much relief especially since it rained all weekend. Then, on Saturday, my mother and her husband came down to their home on Tiki. I promptly called to see if we could drop the kids off so we could get a quiet dinner alone and, of course, my mother was happy to do so. We went to Rudy and Pacos where we stuffed ourselves silly and got a chance to talk about future plans and decisions we are in the process of making....very exciting. Sunday, I cooked roast and the fixins for lunch. We laid around the rest of the day talking about how full we were. We only got down cereal for dinner. While cleaning the kitchen, the girls were taking turns running to jump into daddy's arms. They were giggling and laughing having so much fun playing. What a blessing he is to those girls! He accomplishes so much at work then comes home and can still be a wonderful, attentive father to our girls giving them lots of hugs, kisses and playtime despite unimaginable exhaustion. I love you honey, Happy Father's Day!

Mystery Solved!

I am so excited, relieved, thrilled (whatever you want to call it) because today I have solved or found the mystery that has been in the back of my mind for a week and a half. Over a week ago I was cleaning up after friends left my house. I noticed, in predictable fashion, there was one of Addy's sandals dropped randomly in the hallway. I picked it up and immediately began looking for the other. Well, I couldn't find it anywhere. No big deal, right??? Let me tell you why, to me, it is a big deal. I have to spend money on my children's shoes because every time I go the inexpensive route, their feet end up with blisters. Now, I don't spend an "unreasonable" amount of money on shoes. I just have to get good quality shoes with soft leather. Anyways, due to this, my children usually have the very basic 2 pair of shoes per season (Addy has one pair, sandals, that are versatile enough to where with dresses or shorts). Every spare moment this last week got spent looking for the sandal. I even didn't let Scott take the trash out because I feared she might have stuck it in there. Yes, I rummaged through trash bags 2-3 times before I finally put it out. Try stomaching that when your pregnant! I looked in every drawer, cabinet, under each bed, etc.....still couldn't find it. I had about given up and realized this weekend I would probably have to buy a new pair as her feet were getting blisters from the inexpensive ones I already had. Then yesterday I was on my hands and knees picking up toys in the computer/toy room and a reflection caught my eye behind the computer desk. There it was shoved between the wall and the desk. It never ceases to amaze me how these children can find the tiniest space to place things. Often it takes me getting down on their level to find things that mysteriously come up missing (which is quite often).

Could it be?

On Monday, June 11th we celebrated my "baby" sister turning 18 years old. I'm fighting back tears as I write this. You see, I had always wanted a little sister. I begged and pleaded, but came to realize by ten years old we weren't going to be adding to our family until....my mother came home at 40 years old pregnant. No, this was not planned. I immediately began praying the baby would be the sister I'd always wanted and she is. Having siblings 14 and 17 years older than her could not have been easy at times (like having double the number of people telling you what to do), but she handled it well. This lovely young lady has had to deal with more than her fair share of life situations in the last 18 years from my parent's divorce to being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease (and several things in between). These are things that could have ruined her spirit and kept her from living the gift of life. However, God totally protected her during these times and preserved her true joy for life enabling her to feel good about being silly with friends and standing up for her moral beliefs when it counts. These are things I wish I had accomplished at her age. She has a second family in her youth group at church where she has found refuge time and time again. What an amazing gift to us, her family, to watch her grow into this young woman.

Bumpety Bump Thump

Well, we've hit the big 20 weeks! I am officially halfway through with this pregnancy. Truly unbelievable. The picture above is Scott and I on our way out the door to the Annual Anesthesia Banquet. We had a great "adult" night. I couldn't help but think of where we were last year....in a mommy fog with a two month old. Now here I am pregnant again and next year we will be celebrating Scott's completion. Again, truly unbelievable. I got many comments about being crazy and several pitiful stares due to this expanding belly. But as my friend Jeanine just said on her blog...my hands are going to be full and that is just the way I like it! We certainly wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, all I have to do is see a precious infant and tears of joy well up in my eyes. She's not even here, yet she is already part of our family. Of course she does make sure I don't forget she's in there with many bumps, thumps, twists and turns. Oh yes, she's an active one!

We have some other big news about our Addy. She is now tolerating peanut butter. Yes PEANUT BUTTER! All I have to do is spread a little on a piece of eggless, non-dairy bread (Iron Kids or Sara Lee) and we have an "easy prep" meal. I'm in mommy heaven. With all these new foods Addy has become quite enthusiastic about eating. In fact I have to oil the pantry door so she won't come running yelling "snack" and "more" every time I open it. If I get caught usually two Oatmeal Teddy Grahams (new and so good by the way!) do the trick. Like I have said before, seeing her smothered in ice cream will definitely be a welcome sight and we're hoping this is right around the corner. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I think they already are!

Mary Ella continues to have some challenging behaviors...mainly "attention seeking" so I took her for some one on one time and this is the conversation we had in the car:

Mary Ella: Mom, where is God? (looking out the car window)

Me: Well, honey, He's everywhere. Where do you think He is?

Mary Ella: He's in my heart, right???

Me: Yes, he and Jesus are in your heart and when you do nice things and are nice to other people that means you're letting him out (this comes for Holly Bea's book "Where does God Live"...highly recommended along with all her other books).

Mary Ella: That makes God happy right?

Me: Yes. And when we are mean or bad that means we're not letting Him out and that makes Him real sad.

Mary Ella: But I'm nice, right???

Me: Yes, you're real nice. Sometimes we all forget to let Him out and make mistakes, but He still loves us more than we could ever imagine.

Mary Ella: Yep, he sure does. He gives us lizards, sharks, fish.......

I said it before. The best conversations happen in the car. What comes from this conversation? Not that I expect her to magically obey and be nice all the time (I'd worry if this was the case!), but that she's thinking about it and learning. Despite the frustrating times, moments like these affirm that they are "getting it" and are so comforting/reassuring.

Picture This

Last night, during our time after bath and before bed, the girls disappeared into Mary Ella's room. Before long, I noticed there was an eerie silence emanating from that room with a closed door. Every mother knows, when the silence gets deafening, it is time to go "eye-ball" the situation. I walk in and Addy was sitting at Mary Ella's table, grinning ear to ear as Mary Ella was adorning her with every sticker she could possibly find. Mary Ella looked up and said, "doesn't she look pretty mom???" Although Addy does not speak, her face totally concurred with Mary Ella's assessment of the situation. I walked out and my mind kept fast forwarding to years down the road with them helping dress each other, putting make-up on each other, and giggling in the process. To end yesterday with that image in my head was definitely one of those Divine boosts God gives me as I'm continually reminded what a gift and responsibility these children are.

School's out, now what????

Can a mother really prepare for the summer? Mary Ella is one of those children, much like me, who does not fare well with boredom or "inside activities". She needs to be stimulated which was my main reason for starting her in Mother's Day Out at two years old. So, when school gets out for the summer, I begin planning because we have to fill up our time with plenty of sensorimotor and learning activities to avoid whatever negative behavior boredom might elicit. Here is our weekly schedule:

Monday- Moody Gardens-Palm Beach
Tuesday- Swim Lessons- backyard play
Wednesday- Free Day (usually errands)
Thursday- Swim Lessons and some sort of "field trip"
Friday -Swimming

Still, boredom has struck and Mary Ella, for whatever reason, has decided she needs to take a stand on every tiny decision, request, chore that is being requested along with some other undesirable behaviors. I don't like wearing a "mean mommy" hat at all because in the back of my mind I'm wondering, "what am I doing or not doing that is causing this????" or "Surely, her last molars are coming in or maybe she's not sleeping well???" But in the end, I come up empty handed or empty-minded with no clue/excuses as to why my normally empathetic, sharing, sweet girl is choosing to act this way. Ahhh, the perplexities of motherhood. Good news is that these phases are usually temporary. I just hope it ends sooner rather than later! Where is she now....ASLEEP! Could I be wearing her out, who knows?

On a positive note...I donned a bikini to swim today, bare belly and all. Mary Ella looked at me and said, "Look at your big, beautiful tummy mommy! That baby sure is growing, but she's not ready yet." I only wore the bikini b/c I was sure no husbands would be around and I needed to clean my maternity one. Wouldn't you know a husband did show up? Poor thing might have nightmares for a while :).

Did it Again.....

Did you ever notice children don't seem to be bothered by illness unless they are running a fever over 102 degrees? What takes adults 24-72 hours to get through doesn't seem to phase the kiddos for even five minutes. I got up early this morning and went to go get the donuts with sprinkles we had promised Mary Ella (and baby #3) last night, picked up Starbucks for the hubby and myself, then returned home thinking...."isn't life great????" Addy had just started talking in her bed when I walked in the door, so I went to get her. There she was smiling with dried vomit all over her and her bed and her left eye almost completely swelled shut courtesy of a monster island mosquito. Scott and I can't hardly guilt ourselves over this one because not even a peep came from her room last night, BUT you can't help but feel bad she had slept in that for who knows how long. Now that I've had two daughters who have done this, surely this can't be too abnormal, right??? Do I have to forfeit the "mother of the year award" again???