The Mommy Game

This is a true story....it happened tonight in the bathtub. There is nothing like the mirror your kids can put in your face.

Mary Ella: I'm going to put my face in the water
Addy: No!
giggle, giggle, giggle, giggle
Mary Ella: I'm going to put my face in the water
Addy: No!
giggle, giggle, giggle, giggle
Mary Ella: I'm going to put my face in the water
Addy: No!
Mary Ella giggles and Addy gets distracted
Mary Ella: C'mon Addy, let's play the mommy game again....

So proud

Molly Kate has turned 6 months! Wow, I can't believe she is already 6 MONTHS! She has celebrated by sitting up, chugging formula, and devouring butternut squash!

Our little drool monster sitting so pretty!

As Addy says, "nummy, num....squash"

We've been spending a lot of time outside lately.... Digging holes, picking flowers, riding bikes, swinging "superty duperty high". Mary Ella is begging me to take off her training wheels....eeek! That just has to be a daddy job. I'm too nervous to teach her to ride a bike. If I were to do it, she'd look like the Michelin Man by the time I had her padded up. Scary thought...

Mary Ella also had a fieldtrip to the farm this week. A kiddo from the other pre-k4 class lives on a working ranch/farm. His dad also happens to the one of the commanders for the space shuttle. Pretty cool, huh? Anyways, it was a beautiful piece of property.

They had baby chicks, turkeys, goslings, and ducks. Mary Ella only wanted to touch with her fingertip. I tried to coax her into holding one, but who am I kidding???...it took her two years just to touch the starfish at Moody Gardens.

I just love seeing her in her class setting. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...she is truly in her element when she is at school.

I included this picture because the pig tickled me so much. Wilber's stomach was dragging on the ground and was being a little shy around all the kiddos. My first thought when I saw this pig was, "I've had days like that...."

Shortly after Addy had croup, Molly developed croup and then I caught some version of the virus. I think we are finally on the mend and are awaiting Scott's arrival tomorrow...for good! Yes, we survived the month.

Mary Ella-isms Part ll

So this morning Mary Ella snuck out of her room and I found her cuddled up on the couch. I had just made Addy breakfast, so she was strapped in. I took the opportunity to go over and snuggle in with Mary Ella. I put her in my lap and as kids do, she melted and conformed into the perfect mold of my lap. After a few minutes she sat up and looked at my belly stating, "Mom, your belly is getting big and hard like Santa Clause." For a brief second, I thought, "Well at least she said hard." HOWEVER, she immediately corrected herself and said, "oh, soft, soft...I meant soft."

I'll admit, there is some extra skin down there from three pregnancies, but how am I supposed to take this???? Honesty is way overrated....

Mary Ella-isms

I just had to document some of the funny things Mary Ella has said over the last couple of days. If only I could creep into a child's mind for a couple of hours....

The first came while we were in the bath tub last night. All three of my wiggly children were in there and I noticed Addy stiffen up and get this intense look on her face which could only mean one thing....it was time to place that very wet, slippery bottom on the potty. Poor thing does not like going No. 2 in the potty so she began to resist. I elicited Mary Ella's help in encouraging her sister to carry through with the task at hand. Mary Ella then stated in her sweet, mommy voice, "C'mon Addy I'll be very impressive if you poo poo on the potty."

After bath I began to fix dessert. I know it is a bad, but I just had to revive my chocolate chip cookie habit now that I'm off the allergy diet. Mary Ella was so excited she couldn't wait and wanted to eat hers raw. I popped a couple, well, ok....Four in the oven for me. Once they were taken out, Mary Ella began hitting me up for another saying, "I want one that is roasted."

Then today I picked her up from school and asked her how her day was and she responded, "We went outside and my nose didn't even snot up when I was out there!" Snot up? Where did that come from?

I love this age....

Done deal

Many of you have been on our "tummy trouble" journey since Addy. A brief refresher might be warranted. Addy was born with multiple food protein intolerance meaning.....protein I ate caused her to have severe colitis resulting in months of attempted problem solving. In the end, I had lost too much weight by giving up every "likely" allergen, she was dropping off her growth curve and we still didn't know what proteins she was reacting to. It was a very difficult time for us. In the end, she could only tolerate a prescription formula that was completely pre-digested. Fast forward to Molly Kate. I knew there was a chance I could have another baby with these same tummy troubles; however, the "Pollyanna" in me kept saying, "I've had one normal one, what are the chances????" Well, within 5 days after her delivery I knew.....we were about to face some of the same challenges. However, I was blessed with the knowledge having finally gotten into a routine with Addy. I hoped this would be a simple fix since we were catching it so early, unlike Addy (we didn't know until she was 4 months). Maybe just milk this time???? Not so. It turned out that Molly had the same EXACT intolerances as Addy. Anytime I ate dairy, rice, oat, egg, or chicken products Molly's colitis would relapse. So I gave all those up and continued to breastfeed upon the recommendation from her GI doc. My goal was to get her through the "cootie season" aka winter. She will be six month's on April 19th.

Well, Scott came into town this weekend (ahhhhhh!) and Mary Ella had reached a significant milestone. She has stopped sucking her thumb and her "jewel" jar was full. Therefore, that meant we were going to have a pizza party to celebrate her success. I've been contemplating weaning recently and I really wanted to participate in the pizza party. With a little nudging from Scott and assurance that I was not "damaging" or "short-changing" her, we decided it was time.

So here is Mary Ella. She was so excited and proud of herself. She wanted cheese and hamburger pizza and the cinnamon sticks....of course! We are so proud of this girl. She has worked so hard to give up this habit she's had since she was 5 months old. Her little thumb callous is going away.

Here is my first bite of something cheesy in almost 6 months! Yes, it was wonderful! I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said I wasn't sad, because I am. There is a little guilt in my heart thinking I am being selfish, but logically I knew it was time. She is about to start solid foods and it would be very difficult knowing if she was reacting to something I'd eaten or was giving her. I keep forgetting I can have that glass of milk or that Reese's peanut butter cup I've been eyeing for months. Mmm they are so good.

We SO enjoyed having Scott in town this weekend. We picked him up from the airport and as he opened the door all you could hear were girly screams of excitement. Everyone waiting on their rides turned and smiled when they heard our excitement. Unfortunately, we were homebound all weekend because Addy developed Croup. Thank God Scott was home. After we finally got them in bed the first night, Scott hugged me and I melted. It felt so good to be in his arms again and comforting to have him back under our roof. We are anxious for him come home for good!

Now on to our list of restaurants we want to "hit" before we leave town....Rudy and Pacos here we come!

Success (in progress)

We are still breathing and we are only two days away from Scott's visit! Although it will only be for two days, it will still be great to have him under our roof for a little while. We've been going about our routine between extracurricular activities, school and home. The days have passed by fast, but we've felt every bit of it. We finally had "I miss daddy" tears from Mary Ella four nights ago during prayers. It was heartbreaking. It must all be so confusing to a four year old. However, those tears have gone and each night we "cross off" she gets more excited about getting to see her daddy. So we are sure going to soak up his presence this weekend!

We've had many successes over this last week. Addy is now in her "big girl" panties. Yep, we really had to rip that bandaid off when she brought me a pull-up filled with nastiness (oh yes, she was holding it in her hand) saying, "moooooommmmy, nasty poo-poo...yut....yut mommmy". She's doing pretty well. She's had a few accidents, including one on my bed even though we had just gone to the potty....oh well, it is a good thing everything in my house is washable. Addy has also begun to really express her love for all of us. She's always nestled in and let us love on her, but now she is giving extra squeezes during hugs and running up to us saying "I ya you, I ya you" and giving spontaneous hugs. It is uncontainable and you can tell she's doing it because she really feels it. Yes, those sweet moments make all the other challenging moments fade.

Mary Ella has been promoted in swim class. This girl is such a water bug. What is even better is that there is another little girl in her class who is just a sweetheart. Since they are the only two, they get lots of attention from the teacher and each other. They encourage each other and are quick to be fair looking out for the other's interest. It is so refreshing to witness this as so many times I've witnessed the opposite in various places which can be so discouraging. She also came home today with a cup full of green grass she planted at school. Oh, she is just so proud of that grass, but what am I going to do with it? Guess I better "google" and figure it out.

Miss Molly Kate has a snotty nose and sounds like a little piglet right now. There is something about that big, open mouth smile with snot pouring out of her nose that makes me smile. I mean, really....it is so darn cute. She is getting closer and closer to sitting up. If her bottom wasn't so round, she'd be doing it by now :). She giggles constantly at her sisters and they soak it up. They like to see who can be the silliest and who can make her laugh the most. Many times these involve Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) performances. Mary Ella is Miley, of course!

Their grandparents offered to keep them while I snuck away to get a pedicure and do some clothes shopping. My feet were is such bad shape, the lady had to do a callous remover....ewwww! And I realized I only had one pair of shorts and they were 4 years old. I haven't been shopping for clothes since last winter and then I found out I was pregnant a month later. I think I've been pregnant or nursing for about 3 years now, so shopping was never high on my priority list. Therefore, new summer clothes were long overdue and needed. It was a nice break from routine.

Now, on to the world of insurance quotes, utility hook-ups and whatever else needs to be done....uh-oh, nevermind, Molly's crying...it is 10:30pm...hope we're not in for a long night! That snotty nose might not be so cute after all.

Girly girls

Our girls prepping for bed
Mary Ella and Addy wanting to dig into the candy
As my Aunt MB says (I love you)"Courtney in a baby"

Maybe I'll find humor....

I am telling you now....I have a whole new level of respect for those single moms and military wives out there. I had to say goodbye to my sweet hubby. Sure I will see him in 12 days for a weekend and then he will go finish his rotation, but, ugh....we miss him. He was packing up to leave and I was fighting back tears....I was determined not to cry. He already felt bad leaving (not that this was his choice), but why cry and make it worse? Well, I couldn't hold it. Maybe it was a way to show him this house doesn't feel right without him...I don't know, but I got emotional...sorry babe. Anyways, I thought to myself, "I can not imagine what it must be like to send a husband off to war for months, even years. And those single moms/dads out there who go it alone everyday" There are some of my friends out there who fit in these categories. Please know you all have my utmost respect for what your family sacrifices for our country. If I lived near y'all I'd bring you meals, take your kids to play, and have slumber parties....whatever you needed, just know you ALL are in my prayers. I do think about you all often.



One of the things I like about myself is that I can usually find humor and positive after challenging situations occur (not always in the moment though). So the first 36 hours were, well, ...challenging. I know I'll find humor in this in a couple of days....



1. Molly pooped and peed all over me right before bath. Addy then took her hand and smeared it everywhere while I was trying to convince Mary Ella (rather sternly) to come to the bathroom for bath.

2. Got a phone call and while I was on the phone Addy proceeded to fill Molly's mouth with "milk cookies"....I expect to see green poo over the next couple of days.....

3. Got them all to bed and had trouble falling asleep (another side-effect from hubby absence).


4. Molly decided to have a screamfest between 4 and 5 am. She put her self back to sleep and awoke again at 6:30 am. She also woke up Addy.


5. Swim lessons at 11:30am proceeded by a phone call that they would be showing the house between 5-6pm, so I clean the house like a mad woman.


6. 4pm gymnastics


7. 5 pm Leave gymnastics to go get Sonic and drive to a isolated location to nurse Molly while the other two eat and watch a movie until we can go home at 6pm


8. Get home and get through bath without too much incident (other than Addy dumping water right on Molly's face...she's gonna be one tough kiddo)


9. Addy then gets a busted chin and bloody mouth courtesy of Mary Ella pulling her off the bed...for the record, Mary Ella apologized profusely.


10. Addy must have climbed on countless forbidden surfaces to obtain numerous forbidden items. I feel like I was chasing her down all night.


Add into all that a fussy, tired baby. Tired mom. Kiddos that miss their dad (me too). Surely it can only go up from here, right???? We've got a busy month ahead planning to close on our house, swim lessons, gymnastics, school, and end of the year stuff, so stay tuned......