Beach Weather?

It was warm last week. Nearing the mid 80's. And it had been so long since we had been to the beach. So we went. Was it the best possible beach day? Not by a long shot. Although warm, it was windy and the water was still too cold. Did the kids seem to mind? Not in the least.

Kyla hasn't been to the beach since she was a toothless, hairless chubby little thing (okay, time hasn't changed much, but still...). She instantly fell in love with the sand, eating as much as she could frantically shove into her mouth. Mmm, tasty. Please forgive her dorky hat--it was all I could find that would fit that noggin.

Allie suddenly requires much less attention at the beach than she did last year. That was nice. She also needs a new suit this year, although the sunglasses seem to fit just fine. Forgive her "granny panties."

Damon showed off his shark squirt gun. Very tricky.

Kyla showed off one of the things she loves to do--hang upside down. "She's like a little..." What is the best way to end that sentence?

I love this picture of the end of the day. Cole and Allie were in the truck ready to go, but had to get far enough away so Vegas wouldn't slobber all over them. Kyla wanted to join the "Trap Train." Thanks for the photos, Noel!

Easter and 10 months

Everything is coming early this year. Daylight savings the first of March? Easter on the 23rd, the same week as St Patty's Day? What is the deal? I'm not sure who created the calendar for us this year, but I am not entirely on board with the decisions made in our behalf. What do we have to look forward to now until school gets out?

Easter, although early this year, was great. We had planned to go to Orlando the end of the week to visit some friends, but at the last minute it didn't work out and we took advantage of some time at home to dye some eggs. It went much better than I anticipated it would and we ended up with some really great eggs.

I talked Allie into letting me put curlers in her hair Saturday night, which we haven't done for quite a while.

We had to be at church early because we were singing in the choir, and Jeff also had to teach Elder's Quorum. I knew I needed to get up earlier than 7:30, but I didn't. Because Jeff was preparing his lesson (how can guys get away with doing that, by the way?), I knew he wouldn't be able to help me with the kids. I'm amazed we made it to church by 9:05, although the choir director may have had a minor stroke wondering if we were going to show (Jeff IS the tenor section). We were supposed to sit on the stand for the whole meeting, but I stayed with the kids until after the sacrament. A wonderful lady in the ward offered to sit with the kids and I handed Kyla off to the bishop's wife. After the second time Allie had to be taken out (crying that she wanted med), the bishop's wife went out and got her, too. The rest of the meeting went smoothly.

I wanted to take pictures before church, but because we were running late, it didn't happen until after. Luckily (and maybe a tender mercy from above), everyone cooperated. Could it be the candy waiting inside with their Easter baskets that encouraged them to behave? Whatever it was, we were able to get a few pics that I thought were great.

Russ and Julie came over for dinner and we had a great afternoon with them. Kyla offered to put on her ears and pose for a picture, but only if I promised not to wipe her runny nose first. I reluctantly agreed.

The kids all had fun. Except for when I made them sit and pose for a picture. We only had one take, and this was it. Ah, memories...

Monday, Kyla celebrated her 10 month birthday by doing absolutely nothing different from every other day of her life. She climbed around inside the coffee table (yes, I said inside. Jeff broke the glass while he was sitting on it a couple of weeks ago and now we are sporting an open table. Kyla thinks it's a jungle gym. Jeff thinks it's just white trash).

She posed for me in the tub...

And humored me by holding Bexley for the traditional "see me grow" shot.

At ten months she still has no teeth, loves copying what I am doing (patty cake, making random noises), is slowly cruising around furniture, and has given up nursing and baby food. She also loves attacking any child who is on her level (meaning, sitting or crawling) and smothering them with kisses and gentle love pats. She is yet to find anyone who enjoys it.

Killer

I think we were all expecting something big to happen.

A year ago, my mom cut off all her hair, a year earlier than she planned...
My dad was released from his calling as a member of the bishopbric of a young single adult ward..
My mom was released from her calling as Young Women's president...

We all wondered, what was coming? A call to the Stake Presidency? But Stake Conference came and went and that wasn't it.

Wayne and Tara decided to stay at Dixie for a few years instead of moving...
Heather and Samuel decided it was time to move closer to home, and relocated from Hawaii to Las Vegas, much closer to the family...
Jeff will be finished with school in 3 months and we will be living in Utah for the first time in six years...

What was coming?

We found out a few weeks ago.

My mom has breast cancer. Even typing that makes me feel like I swallowed a rock. She found a lump, had it removed, and heard the bad news about what it actually was. She had a second surgery where 20 lymph nodes were removed from under her arm. It was in 2 of the 20. Now she will have to go through chemo as well as radiation, which could put her out of commission for the next year. She'll lose her hair and won't be able to take long trips to see her grandkids. Wait, she already parted with her hair (most of it) and soon none of her grandkids will be more than 4 hours away...isn't that interesting?

We all feel that this is the Lord's will. It's serious, as all cancer is, but everyone is hopeful that she will make a full recovery. And maybe we have been prepared for a while now, as it hasn't been much of a shock for any of us. My mom admitted that she knew she was going to have to have chemo from the very beginning, knowing that anything else would be "too easy." She is already talking about how much she has learned and how tender her heart has become. It's just a bump in the road, something that will enable our family to become closer to each other and closer to the Lord.

We all made our picks for March Madness this year, and we named my mom's team "Kancer Killer." As of today, Kancer Killer is in first place in our league. That makes me smile, and also makes me think that she is going to come out on top. Where she belongs.

Love you mom. Thanks for being such a fighter.

Spring Break Carolina!

(Sung to the tune of "Sweet Home Alabama")

Wow, where to start? I know it's been a while, and I have a lot of catching up to do. Feel free to browse the pictures if you don't have time for a travelogue.

We spent several days last week in North Carolina in the Smoky Mountains for Spring Break. What a great time we had! It was a long drive, one none of us were looking forward to, but we made it. I doubt Allie or Kyla will have any long term memories from the trip, but hopefully Damon will remember a thing or two. Jeff and I certainly will.

We stopped in Columbia, SC on our way, which was a little more than halfway there (about 4 hours of driving). We had heard great things about a little bbq place called Maurice's and we just had to stop. The food was good, but I'm not sure it was any better than Hoggie's in Columbus. We were hungry, though, and it was worth it just to be surrounded by real southerners, whose accents are a bit difficult to understand.


We also visited the State House building, which was beautiful. It was under construction during the Civil War and was actually bombed in several spots by the Union. When they rebuilt it, they marked these spots with bronze stars, and Damon loved locating them on the sides of the building. It was chilly and a little rainy, but we were all glad to be out of the car, so no one complained.



We made it to Maggie Valley, NC by nightfall, meeting up with Dr. Rumble, an instructor from Jeff's school, and his wife. We were staying with them in their cabin literally 5,000 feet straight up into the mountains. The view there was amazing, especially when before the morning fog burned off.


I was sick Sunday (AGAIN) and I don't know if it was the flu or food poisoning, but I spent all day in bed while Jeff and Dr. Rumble (who the kids got to call Daddy John!) took the kids on a tour of a little town called Cataloochee. By night, I was feeling better (about 70%), thankfully, so I could join the family for the rest of the festivities. Russ and Julie (and boys) met us there Sunday night, as they were all still recovering from the flu.

Monday we went to visit Asheville, NC. What a cool little town that is. It's very artsy, yet because of it's locating so close to the mountains, it also is a popular tourist spot. We walked around the city, then stopped for lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. We had some great pizza and rootbeer (seriously, it was good) and took a picture. Julie took the pic, Russ was home in bed with the flu (does anyone believe that I had food poisoning? Probably not. But no one else in my family got it (HALLELUJAH)).


We parted ways with Julie, and headed to the Grove Park Inn, a luxurious spa and resort that opened it's doors in 1913. It was gorgeous, and I'd like to go back someday. Maybe I can win a contest and go for free, I'm sure it's not cheap. Does it remind you of something out of a JRR Tolkien book?

We had heard that the fireplaces were huge, so we headed into the lobby to check them out. Sure enough, we could've fit our family in them. I know the picture is blurry, but you get the idea.



Next on the list was Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak in North Carolina. Actually, it is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, which we all thought was really cool. You can drive most the way there, which was very appealing to the small children and the still queasy wife. We went to the summit, trekking through the mud the last little bit. On observation tower is under construction, hence the rebar, but at least we can say we stood at the highest point.



We found a better picture location a little lower, after a nature hike through the woods. There was ice everywhere, which Damon found incredibly enjoyable. Kyla, on the other hand, was not in the mood for any nature. In fact, she wasn't in the mood for much of anything. But she didn't have much of a choice. Notice we're all in green--it was St. Patrick's Day.



Tuesday we spent in the Smoky Mountains. It was about an hour's drive from Maggie Valley to Gatlinburg, TN, and we really enjoyed ourselves. There wasn't much to see along the way (it was incredibly foggy), but we tried. Here Damon and Jeff pose in front of the mountains. They are there (we were assured).



Here is my favorite pic from the trip--we pulled over to a lookout and hiked around a little. Jeff put his camera on timer and we got this shot (on our third attempt no less!). I want to print an 8x10 to frame in our house. It will be a great reminder of all the fun we had on our trip. We took the video camera the rest of the day, visiting Gatlinburg, mining for gems in Cherokee, NC, and hiking to Mingo Falls (which was more of a cardio blast than an actual hike--158 steps up!). Sorry no pics from that, but it was great!


We are all glad to be home and have spent the last several days trying to recover from the trip (and watching March Madness nonstop). I still have so much to get caught up on. I am trying to read all the blogs I have missed out on, but have given up leaving any comments. At least until I am caught up. I have missed you all, though, and have enjoyed reading about what I have missed. Hope Easter treated you well!!

p.s. The best quote of the trip comes from my nephew, Cole, who has two brothers and no sisters. He was watching me change Kyla's diaper and commented, "She sure doesn't have a penis!"

Not entirely accurate

Have you seen these circulating lately? I was desperate to break 90, but was hovering between 80-85 for many attempts. So, when I got this one, I had to record it! Try it, it's fun and a bit of a cardio workout!



94 words

Speed test

Random Thoughts

Random thoughts that have been running through my head this past week:

1. While doing laundry this week, I folded 3 pair of Damon's underwear, 15 pair of Allie's. Is Damon bathing enough? When will Allie stop having accidents?

2. After being sick this weekend (more on that later), I commented to Jeff that I am not ready to be pregnant again. He responded by telling me that I have 3 1/2 years left. For what you might ask? That's the time he's giving me for having babies. After that, he's not putting out anymore. I'm still not ready to be pregnant, and I think 3 1/2 years is enough.

3. I guess I am weaning Kyla. I had hoped to nurse her until she was one, but my body has apparently decided now is the time. I woke up one morning after my trip and noticed that something looked different in the mirror. It turned out to be my chest, which is shrinking. Sad, but true. I'm going to still try to nurse in the morning and at night, but I may be done besides that.

4. Speaking of chests, my mom had a lump removed from her breast yesterday. Damon was praying for her Sunday night, and asked Heavenly Father to "bless Grandma's bump in her breast." We all thought that was rather humorous, and now Allie has started praying for Grandma's "bumpy breast." I'm sure she would be so thrilled.

5. I think Jeff and Allie may have escaped the flu bug that bit the rest of us. I left for Time Out for Women in Tallahassee Friday afternoon (amid tornado warnings!), just in time for Damon to throw up at school. Jeff picked him up, and he threw up three more times that night. I started feeling sick during dinner, and spent half of Sheri Dew's talk in the bathroom, trying not to throw up (great timing, huh?). I finally gave in about 1 am and threw up a few times after that. Kyla, who had started the whole thing by throwing up Wednesday, got diarrhea and wouldn't eat anything for Jeff. What a weekend for him to be stuck home with the kids! And what a daddy!

I think my dehydration contributed to my lack of milk, but it was totally worth it. I felt much better Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the conference (more on THAT in a minute). When I got home Saturday night, the house was clean, the kids were happy and feeling better, and I was greeted with the biggest smile I have ever seen on Kyla's face.

6. Today after dropping the neighbor girl off after school and getting back into the van, I was nearly knocked over by the stench ("what is that stench? It's fantastic! Max, grab a bag. We'll come back for the rest. Of course when I say WE I mean YOU." Movie?). Upon questioning, I found that the stinky one was Kyla. Girl can pack a punch!

7. TOFW (which may have just as well stood as THROWIN' UP FLIPPIN' WEEKEND). We had a great time. I went with six other ladies and we all squeezed into one minivan for the 3 hour trip to Tallahassee. I'm so glad we all got to go together--we had such a good time. Conversation topics varied from how many girls our husbands kissed before us and what we would want to do if we knew we would never have kids to the health benefits of breast milk and "business socks." We set Lindsay's camera on the tv, turned the timer on, and proceeded to take lots and lots of pictures of ourselves, trying to get a good one. We all joked that was something only women would do. Thanks for the pics, Lindsay!

Night one, pre-puking. (Back-Daisy, Lindsay, April and me. Front, Mariah, Julie and Noel (my two SIL's that live here in Jax).

Day two, post-puke, inside the convention center. Noel, what are you standing on that makes you look SO tall?

At our lunch break, we called home to check on the hubbies and kids. Lindsay thought it was funny that we were all on the phone at once.

It really was an awesome weekend, but my favorites were Hilary Weeks, Sheri Dew (the part I heard) and Mary Ellen Edmunds. I came home feeling rejuvanated, with all kinds of goals to help me be a better wife and mother. All Jeff wanted to know what what I had told the other ladies about him. I couldn't of anything that he would be upset about, so he said it was a successful weekend, too. Love you all! Thanks for making it possible!

Timeout!

After deliberately pouring a cup of water on the table while we waited for Jeff to get home for dinner, the child in question was sent to timeout. I may have assisted the child's progress by gently nudging him/her with my foot, which was not well received. While in timeout, this is what I heard from the other room: "I don't like mom." Then it was sung, "I don't like mom, I don't like mom." When this got no response, the child ventured, "I'm going to say butt to you (this part made me laugh) and kill you (this part didn't)." Do I enforce "soap words" when they are said during a timeout, when bad behavior is already being ignored? Conundrum. When I still ignored this outburst, the song started again, a little more angrily this time. "I don't like mom!" Any guesses which delightful child I am referring to?

The Rest

CHANCE: It's hard to know even where to start with what I learned from my brief encounter with our second baby. I know that the Lord wanted me to learn to have faith in Him, and to trust in His plan. My testimony grew more during December 2003 than in any other period of my life. The hardest things for us can also be the best, and I feel that I am a better person, a better mother and a better disciple of my Savior because of it. Even still today, I am learning things from the experience, and my perfect son who watches over us from heaven. We took several pictures of him in the hospital shortly after he was delivered, but most of them didn't turn out because the flash wasn't on (it was a disposable camera at the hospital). Here are a couple that did turn out, because I know you are probably curious as to how big a 10 in 12 oz baby is:

ALLIE: Ah, the many lessons of Allie. I know the Lord decided I needed to learn patience when He blessed me with her. That is the case with all children, I know, but especially with Allie. She has been a challenge from the beginning and I don't see the end in sight. She came into our family when I was desperate for a baby (any baby), and that made it much easier to deal with all the crying, and there was a lot. Now, she has grown out of the crying, but tests my patience in so many other ways. While it is hard to discipline Damon because he truly seems remorseful after he does something wrong, it's hard to have sympathy for Allie because she doesn't seem sorry. I am optomistic about her future, but also realistic, and I think we are in for a battle with our little independent child who doesn't really care about what anyone else wants. I love her, don't get me wrong, and my life would be empty without her, but I know she is here to teach me patience. I hope I learn that lesson soon!

She can be very sweet, but this is how I remember her as a baby:

She loves life and doesn't stress out about things like Damon does. She is willing to try anything, and I think that will help her out in life. She is strong-willed, sneaky, and eternally optomistic about not ever doing anything wrong again. I love this little girl.

KYLA: Well, the verdict is still out on my latest love, and what I have to learn from her. So far, I have learned just how much love is in my heart. There's never a shortage, which is amazing. She is so sweet and fun and excited about life. I can't wait to learn all there is to learn from her! This is from early this fall at Sea World.

This is the point where I would end with something really great. But Kyla is screaming and Allie is begging for attention and so this is going to have to do.

DAMON

Have you ever thought that your children were sent to you to teach you a lesson? And I don't mean that in a bad way (although, come to think of it...), but this morning as I was taking a shower I started thinking about how different each of my children are and what that should mean to me in my life. Basically, I am trying to figure out what it is about these kids that make them right for our family, and me in particular. Here is what I have come up with:

DAMON: Ah, the firstborn, the one who changes everything. I honestly believe that having that first baby was harder than having the second or third. And he wasn't a hard baby or anything, but it completely changed my life. I think I needed to learn that unconditional love and selflessness that is required to be a mother. But I think Damon was sent to us, to me, specifically to teach me how to love. He is so easy to love, because he loves so easily. I know I have complained before because he seems to be TOO affectionate, but it is one of the things I love most about him. He doesn't leave in the morning before giving everyone hugs and kisses (Allie has insisted she be included), and usually multiple times. He is, and always has been, hard to discipline because he is so tender and I hate hurting his feelings. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Damon, my lover boy:

About 9 months old. He had the best cheeks!

Almost two in both of these.

This one is the one I can see Kyla in. He has very different eyes, but this look of his reminds me a lot of her.

And this one makes me laugh. He learned to make a piggy noise when he was one and it was his greatest trick (that, and responding to the question "what are you?" with "OBESE!" about the same time). Here he is mid-snort.

I was going to do just one post on all of the kids and what I have learned from them, but it is now time to pick Damon up from school, so I think I will go ahead and post this one and finish the rest later.

Funky town

I'm in a sort of funk today. I'm not really sure why. I vacillate between being very easily annoyed and not particularly caring about anything. It's a strange state of mind, and I'm not exactly sure what to do about it. The "easily annoyed part" mostly centers around my sweet baby. She loves me, as I have previously mentioned, and tries to follow me around. It's fun--for a couple minutes. But when I am trying to do things (especially fold the laundry), it's annoying. This morning I plopped her down next to Allie and I could hear them playing so cute together. Until I walked into the room. Kyla immediately got a goofy grin on her face and dashed toward me (by "dashed," I mean rolled her body onto all fours and crawled as quickly as she could, reminiscent of the turtles that keep showing up outside our house). I tried to capture the sweetness of my girls playing together for once, but this is what I got, Kyla beginning her "dash." I think she may have a career in track and field ahead of her...

After picking Damon up from school today, we had to stop at the post office on an errand from Jeff (always fun with three kids) and I decided to run into Publix and do our weekly grocery shopping. I didn't have a long list (just 12 things) and since it is so close to the post office, decided I would go ahead. I dislike grocery shopping so much, but it must be done. While I love buying food, I hate watching the total climb higher and higher than I planned and I especially dislike dealing with the three kids who have gotten completely out of control.

For most of the shopping trip, I was rutted solidly in the "not caring" frame of mind, and it didn't really bother me when I had to take Allie and Damon to the bathroom or pull Allie from the cart kicking and screaming because she wanted to sit upside down. But an hours worth of shopping can get to you (why did it take so long, I was only going in for 12 things!!), and by the end, I couldn't shove cheerios in Kyla's mouth fast enough and Allie started complaining about having to hold the bread and started squishing it. I went from not caring to annoyed in 1.1 seconds and flicked Allie's ear from behind. Don't ask where that behavior comes from, it was a total gut reaction. I felt bad after because it was neither logical nor loving, which I am trying harder to be, and then slipped back into not caring again. Strange.

I hope I bust out of this funk soon. I have a lot of fun things to look forward to--Time Out for Women is in Tallahassee this weekend and I am so excited to take a trip with some of my favorite ladies for a great weekend. Too bad it's only Monday.

Speaking of funks, these books have shown up in the mail the past few weeks, all addressed to my hard-working honey. Can you tell by the titles that someone else is in a funk too and is counting down the days until he is finished with school?

UPDATE: I wrote this yesterday, but never published it because Blogger was having some troubles. I feel better this morning. Thank goodness for mornings.

Baby Beluga

Kyla is nine months old. That's the length of an entire pregnancy. Crazy. She is so much fun, although her clinginess to me is getting a little old. She doesn't seem to really like Jeff anymore (if I'm around) and cries more now than she ever has. But she's still so cute. She has learned to clap and will do pat-a-cake, although I am yet to get it on film. Stay tuned for that one (I'm sure no one will die of anticipation). She can't hold still, which has gotten increasingly annoying when I am changing her diaper. Still has no teeth. Is starting to reject baby food in favor of real food. Climbed up three steps at church. Basically, she is just a big girl (19 lbs 4 oz, so not huge).

I think she was getting tired of the same old Bexley shots, and decided to get creative. This is her showing how strong she is.

She constantly gets mistaken for a boy, even when she's wearing pink. I have never been one for big bows, but I decided enough was enough. Now she will be sporting one of these when we go out of the house. Come on hair, grow!

This pic is to show how tiny her nose is. You can barely see it when looking at her profile. Being one who has never been too fond of my nose, I am enjoying looking at hers.

Finally, here are some goodies from Allie:

I told her I needed to try some shorts on while we were at Target. Wide eyed, she said, "But people will see your garments!"

After watching Dora: "Does Swiper have blood inside his body?"

And looking at my ceiling fan, "Does your fan have caterpillars inside?" I think we may have discovered the source of her nightmares...

Now that I type those, they don't seem as funny as when she actually said them. I guess you had to be there.

Tara, this is for you!

Let's make something clear: Damon may look just like Jeff, but he is a totally different person. Jeff loves sports and all things manly. Damon loves dancing and all things girlie. He spends all his time with his mom, two sisters, and 10-year old neighbor girl next door. Honestly, what do you expect? He has recently shared with us his love of dance, and, against Jeff's wishes, I tend to encourage him. When he put these new jammies on last night, I told him they looked like gymnastic pants, but he insisted they were dance pants. Then he proceeded to show me his moves (in my defense, I didn't know they were going to be so tight).



Of course Allie had to get into the act by showing the moves she picked up at the ward talent show a couple of weeks ago. The best part, though, is what Damon is doing in the background. Enjoy!

How old?

At what age can I start leaving my kids in the car while I run an errand?

Scenario: I needed to stop at CVS to get milk. It is $3.99 there (not on sale this week, dang it) and I'm hoping to save myself $.80 or so by not getting it from the grocery store. I pass CVS taking a neighbor girl home from school. My three kids are in the back of the van, and Allie has fallen asleep because she hasn't taken a nap. After dropping neighbor girl off, I stop at CVS. I am only going to run in for a couple of minutes, grab two gallons of milk, and come right back out. Oh, I am going to pay for them, too. Damon is 5 years 7 months old. Can I leave them in the car?

I know the answer to that. And I didn't leave them in the car, so you can stop dialing child services and hang up the phone. I thought about it (briefly), then woke Allie up, got all the kids out of the van, and put the two girls in a cart. Damon pushed while I grabbed the milk and headed back to the van. After paying for it, of course. I think it took as much time (if not more) to get the kids in and out of the van than to actually buy the milk. And now it has got me wondering, how many more years of this do I have to look forward to? How old does my oldest need to be before it doesn't seem negligent to leave him alone in the car with the other kids? 7? 8? Just curious what you think about that. And at what age can I leave him alone with the kids at home so that I can go to the grocery store (another post for another day...)?

TIIIIIIIIRRRREEEEDDDD

I'm tired. I haven't slept well this past week, thanks to my two lovely daughters. I also have posted several times in my head, but haven't actually sat down to write anything. I've missed it.

Allie and I went on a "date" on Wednesday night. Jeff and I decided we would spend some "one on one" time with our kids once a month. In January, Jeff took Damon to Chuck E Cheese and then they brought ice cream home to share with us. So, Allie decided she would do exactly the same thing on her date, only with me. I snapped a pic as she was getting out of the van with her cup of tokens (left over from Damon's date, or night out as Jeff would call it), but didn't take any more once we were inside. Allie is still a little too young to actually play the games, and would lose interest after a few seconds. I didn't want to waste the coins, so I would try to quickly finish the game after she ran away. I actually lost her twice, and once found her riding the big horse with another little girl. Embarrassing, yes. After that I blew most of the tokens playing Wheel of Fortune so we could spend the tickets on a Lik Em Stick and go home. I think she had fun, though, so it was worth it.

Wednesday night was a rough night for Kyla (Monday and Tuesday hadn't been great, either). She had been coughing like a seal for a few days, but developed a fever Wednesday. After I got home from my date with Allie, I woke her up to feed her before going to bed. She threw up on me, and acted plain miserable.

Neither of us slept much that night. She was breathing so fast, really laboring, and couldn't seem to get comfortable. I thought it might be easier for her to breathe if I was holding her upright, so I spent a lot of the night in the recliner trying to make her comfortable. Nothing worked, and I couldn't sleep with her breathing so loudly on me, so I ended up back in my bed listening to her restless sleep. Thursday I took her in to the doctor and he decided it was probably something viral (croup usually is, and since that is what I thought she had anyway, I wasn't surprised). her fever had gone down and she was actually acted much happier, but because of her rapid breathing he decided to start her on some breathing treatments. We give them to her every 4-6 hours and she seems to be doing much better. She is coughing a lot more (a good sign, if you ask me) and hasn't had a fever in days. Damon even likes helping out if she'll let him.

So, we thought we were doing better and I slept pretty good Friday and Saturday (although Ky Ky was waking up more often than usual, one night even messing her diaper at around 3:00 am). But last night was horrible, and it was due to daughter #1. She woke up at about 3:30 crying about a scary dream she was having. I tried many things over the next couple of hours, but she couldn't seem to get control of herself enough to fall asleep. She wanted to get in bed with us, but that wasn't going to happen. Jeff and I decided when we got married that our kids would never sleep with us. There were a few reasons, such as no one really sleeps when a child is thrashing around, but we never have let our kids sleep with us. I gave Allie four options: she could sleep in her bed, she could get in bed with Damon (who was awake and begging her to stop crying), she could sleep on the couch, or she could lay on our floor. There was something wrong with all options, according to her, and she drifted from one to the other without making a decision. It must have been 5:00 (and after many tears) that she finally went back to her bed and went to sleep. At 6:00, Kyla woke up hungry and I practically slept walked into her room. She went back to sleep, though, thankfully. Needless to say, it was a bad night for everyone. And today hasn't been a picnic either, with a sleep deprived Allie to deal with. Cross your fingers for a better night tonight and a more patient mommy to deal with her the rest of today.

Here are a couple more shots of her shiner, which is pretty much gone now. Although I may have been tempted to give her another one last night when she wouldn't stop crying, she made it through without any bodily harm (not even a thump on the head from Jeff).

We've decided that we're not going to make her take naps anymore. She is trying to make the transition, but hasn't quite got there yet. On days she does take a nap, she doesn't fall asleep until 9:30 or 10:00, yet she seems to still need a nap most days (she'll often fall asleep in the car around 5:00 if she hasn't had a nap). I'm trying to compromise by letting her take a "rest," or stay in her room for an hour reading books and listening to music so I can have some peace and quiet myself. We'll see how this goes...

As a side note, Allie asked if we could take her hair elastics out while we were waiting to see the doctor with Kyla. I asked her why. "I want Dr Joyner to see my long hair," she said. What kind of child do I have on my hands?

Okay. I know I got "bag tagged" a while back, but have been avoiding posting because mine is ever so boring. If you haven't seen this going around, someone tags you to take a picture of the contents of your purse and post it on your blog. Here's mine:

1. My $3 planner from Costco
2. My wallet
3. My cell phone
4. My mp3 player
5. A tiny notepad
6. Flavored lip gloss from Bath and Body (an item Allie covets)
7. gum
8. 2 mustard packets (not sure why those were there)
9. baggie with cheerios
10. empty baggie
11. 2 diapers
12. wipes
13. medicine dropper

Told you it was boring. I tag anyone who hasn't done this and has any interest at all in cleaning out a purse (how about you, Lindsay?). Okay, my hour of "me time" is passing quickly, so I am off. I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns if you're interested in reading my take on it. I'm probably not going to post when I have written a book review, so if you care about reading reviews, I hope you have added my book blog to your google reader (and if you don't use google reader, which tells you when blogs have been updated, you should!).