Mall-ing Around

Yesterday was a fog in my mind. I braved Walmart with three kids in the blazing heat and managed to make it home in one piece. Last night was rough with Rebekah sleeping sporadically throughout the night. I was out of my mind tired and had trouble "following through" with getting her back to her bed. I would feed her in the chair, then fall asleep myself and forget to burp her. Then, by the time I "came to," Rebekah would be up again and I'd have to do it all over again. That is ROUGH!

I "slept in" for an extra hour past the time David got up with the older ones. So at 7:30am, I rolled out with Bekah to the kitchen half awake. David had some insane notion that we were supposed to get ready and leave the house as fast as possible. I hadn't even had my coffee yet. If I were meant to pop up out of bed, then I'd sleep in a toaster... I somehow managed to eat, drink some coffee, shower and get everyone dressed and out the door for an impromptu Saturday morning adventure.

David's little surprise plan in his head was to take us to the mall. I was not dressed for the mall (how embarrassing); but we ventured into the Disney Store because they were going out of business, and David wanted to purchase stuff. So I took advantage of this, since he rarely ever WANTS to purchase stuff. We bought Disney dolls and princess toys for the girls, as well as princess pajamas. It was fun. We also stopped at a store to buy me and Haleah a pair of Crocs. I never bought Crocs for myself before because I thought they would make my feet look like boats. I am wearing my Crocs now, and my feet do look like boats, but I am past the vanity part of it and am going for the comfort part of it. I love em!

We then hit another outdoor high end mall (how embarrassing again, since I was in my grundgy Saturday mom clothes). All the women walking about were in designer sundresses and adorned with jewels. I suppose that's not me anyhow any day of the week! We checked out the outdoor fountains for the girls and ate a super fast lunch at Red Robin (super fast because all 3 girls were fussy). I had to take my lunch to go and ate in the minivan while I nursed. Nice!

Finally, David had promised Haleah at the beginning of the day that we would go to a playground. Haleah calls them forts. She didn't forget, even though by this time all kids were entirely exhausted! So we drove to this huge mega playground that looked like a castle. The kids didn't end up taking a nap for the second Saturday in a row, and we are paying for it now. (They are all crying now as I blog; thank goodness I can type fast, but I might not be able to edit this one). And David just informed me that there is a leak in the water heater that is streaming through our house paneling outside. Nice!

Time to go!

p.s. I am adding this later... Tonight was a nightmare. Haleah threw a big shoe at Kaelah's head and knocked her over. They also cried straight for 2 hours over absolutely nothing because they were so exhausted. Kaelah has already woken up twice (with night terrors??) and it took 2 hours to get the newborn down. I am DONE with today! (I hope).

Let's Call It a Day

Sometimes I'm just so tired, I feel like I can hardly function. My legs feel wobbly after 8pm and I am a sweaty mess. But I crave some alone time to be with my thoughts before I go to bed. Therefore, I Facebook and Blog real quick (and sneak a dessert as well--I'll never lose the baby weight this time, I fear).

Today was a decent day, I suppose. I watched my nieces today, and I wasn't real ambitious to go crazy with activities. We made crafts using beads and chenille. I made a bug. Another eventful moment included me freaking out for a bit thinking the triplets that live behind me were coming over to play too (that would have made it me watching 7 children--gasp!) But that didn't pan out. Whew! I think I need to loosen up a bit...

Other day's highlights included Gracyn helping me to peel potatoes, Kaelah and Haleah bouncing on top of Gracyn (see pic), playing with balls outside, Cora slapping Gracyn in the face, dragging the branches from a tree our neighbor cut down from our fence line without our permission and debating with my mother-in-law over immunizations, milk, and crib bumpers when she came for dinner tonight.

That's all folks!

All About K.K.

Today was another wash out, weather wise, so we didn't do much but stay inside. So I thought I'd take this post to talk about my middle child tonight. Her name is Kaelah Irene Whitt. We call her "K.K." or "Buggie." Her sister Haleah calls her "K-tah," so we've taken to calling her that too.

Kaelah is a little peanut and is 18 months old. She and I share the same birthdate. She is in the 1 to 3rd percentile in weight and height, but in the 75th percentile in head circumference. We were concerned for a while about her smallness, as her pediatrician originally put that fear in us. She had a heart murmur, but that turned out to be what they call an "innocent" murmur. We also had her tested for various other ailments through blood testing, including Celiac disease, but all tests came out normal. So now, we are convinced that Kaleah is normal, but is just a little bitty! And she looks and acts healthy to us!

Although Kaleah is small, she eats more than her sister and is a born leader. She is so lovable and sweet that people seem to want to be where she is and be doing what she is doing. Kaelah always seems to come up with creative things to do on her own and can entertain herself quite well. She is also a helper and likes to help me pick up the house. She takes her clean clothes to her room after I fold them and throws trash away when I tell her to. She is a people pleaser. She always says "sorry" to her sister, even when she is the one that got whalloped or had the toy taken from her. Kaelah is also very outgoing and is not afraid of other bigger kids, even the ones at Chick Fil A that try to run her over on the indoor slide. But she gets right in there and doesn't let the bigger ones push her around. (She calls Chick Fil A, "flay," and loves to go there).

Other things K.K. loves: Barney, Dora, our cat, riding in the stroller, seeing Daddy come home, gummy treats, wearing hats, dressing up with jewels and princess stuff, trying on big shoes, buckling things, taking baths, inspecting new things, sucking on her right ring and middle fingers, drinking juice from her princess cup, bagels with cream cheese, bananas, going for rides, brushing her teeth, making funny faces and giving "woobahs" (aka. kisses).

I also love all of the words Kaelah says. She says "troll" for the remote control, for instance, and it's so cute. She also says, "naw nee," for "naughty," when I'm talking about naughty corner. Today, Haleah put her bear into our naughty corner for "hitting Kaelah," and Kaelah told the bear that he was "naw nee."

Kaelah is a wonderful addition to our family. She was a mommy's baby and is turning into a daddy's girl, just like her older sister. However, she is still our cuddle bug. These are just a few things I love so much about my Kaelah.

Wash Out

We were invited to my sister-in-law's for BBQ on Memorial Day, so I didn't have to cook. A plus! But I brought Mountain Trail Mix along as a token item... The afternoon started out quirky, as do most of our get togethers... My sister-in-law left to go to a friend's house to obtain a screwdriver in order to assemble the new kiddie picnic table she bought for the occassion. My mother-in-law had to run to the grocery store to buy new ice cream for the banana splits (because someone left her freezer door open, she said, and melted all of the ice cream she had). And I was left with my kids and my nieces and my nieces' friend to play Barbies. There were about 20 naked Barbies and my agenda was to get them all dressed, which proved not to be an easy task.

David put the chicken on the grill, the volleyball net was set up for "later," and the holiday fun was about to begin. But then... out of nowhere... the rains came. And came. And came. Yes, it was a washout. My kids danced in the rain for a bit and we ended up having a nice meal inside (minus my girls dramatically spitting out the potatoe salad). But the festivities were shortened and my family went home early. I brought Rebekah back to the rocker in my room to feed her. I fell asleep on the chair with her in my arms. At some point David came in to scoop the baby up. After that I crawled into my bed. I must've been washed out too!

Intro to Popsicle

I don't know why my kids had never had a popsicle before. I guess I never thought to do it. But today in Alabama, after church, it was so hot at Grandmama's house that there was no other option to cool off. The pool wasn't ready yet, and my poor kids were sweating buckets. So out in their Grandmama's garage, they enjoyed their first pops. And they loved em!

And Grandmama had a nice time holding Bekah. The baby was smiling at her for the first time... We had dinner over Grandmama's house and David fixed the filter on his mom's pool. So hopefully it will be ready for us to dive in soon!

The Zoo

It's hard to think of a good title when you're so entirely exhausted! David and I are sooo pooped after leaving the house at 7am to make it up to the Nashville Zoo. It was our first true outing/excursion/adventure with our full family of 5. Wow, 5!!!

We had to stop half way there (at a vacant office building off the highway) for nursing and diaper changes. Kaelah peed through her first set of pants. Luckily, I had packed like we were gonna be gone for a week! The kids did not want to get back into the car after the stop, so we walked over to a gas station and bought some M&M's to coax them back into their seats.

We finally got to the zoo and were shocked at how many people there were; probably due to the holiday weekend. Yikes! We saw birds and meercats and elephants and giraffes, etc. The leopard was cool too because it came right up to the window and the picture we took looked like Haleah was petting it.

It was hot and David and I were wiped out by the 2nd hour there. The kids were hot and tired and hungry. We packed lots of food and it seemed to be all gone. We decided to go back to the car to convince the kids to nap while we took a short ride. David drove us around a nearby neighborhood and showed me where he once lived, where his father grew up and where he went to elementary school. It was neat. The kids napped about 20 minutes. Not great, but it was something. K.K. woke up to see the playground at David's old elementary school and got so excited that she woke up Haleah. So we had to take them over there to play.

After that, David and I reeeeeeeeeeaaaaalllllllllllly wanted to head home, but we knew if we had come this far that we better go back to the zoo. And there was a jungle gym at the zoo that Haleah saw and wasn't about to forget about! So we went back.

All in all, it was fun. All of the parents there looked like we did at the end of the day. And our kids all seemed to be acting the same way as well. There was an understanding there. We got back in the car and headed back to Alabama. We ordered a pizza via phone on the way home, picked it up, crammed it down the kids' mouths at home, wiped them down, got them "jammied up" and brushed and "threw" the fussers into bed. (Whew. You can really sense my attitude here, huh?)

I am glad that we ventured out; but this will be something we only do once in a while. I told David, "We are NOT going to Disney World with our kids until all of them are past napping stage." So I've got about 5 years to plan that vacation...

Collage Mania. Organized Chaos.

Today is the first day of summer for the grade schoolers in our town. And it's the first day I am watching my nieces Cora (12) and Gracyn (8). I will be watching them 2 days a week this summer. So I've been brainstorming things to do with them that my kids might be able to do at some level as well...

So today we've done collages. We dug up all of my coveted People and Parenting magazines and snipped away! Cora and Gracyn were really into it and did a great job. See the pics. Gracyn and I helped find some pictures for Haleah's collage, but we didn't get very far. Haleah liked to practice with the scissors which kept her entertained long enough. I got those child safe ones, of course!

The problem came into play when Kaelah was stomping on everyone's magazines and paper and was being so fussy. I can't blame her though, because she doesn't quite have the motor skills yet for this activity. And Rebekah was cryin and cryin. I ended up nursing her while cooking grilled cheese for the kids at the same time. Now try doing THAT at home!

Weird Things

It's weird that my kids cry and fuss as I'm cooking dinner like they are starving to death. Then once I set the food out on the table they don't eat a bit (or a bite). It's weird that they demand Puffs (or other snack choice) when I'm within 20 seconds of getting food out on the table. It's weird that I slave to make nice meals (I consider myself to be a good cook), and then nobody likes it. Why do I bother?????

It's weird that my 2 (almost 3 year old) refuses to go big girl potty all by herself when she wants to do EVERYTHING else all by herself without help.

It's weird that my kids tell me they are excited about the trash man coming (or the Schwan man), then run and hide or cower their heads when they get here.

It's weird that my toddlers each have their "pooping corner." Haleah likes to poop in the toy room, and Kaelah likes to poop next to the entertainment system in the living room. How weird!

Boy, I could name weird things all night long, so I will just have to do more installments of this stuff as time goes on...

Hot Flashes, Among Other Things

Today I went to my 6 week post partum visit. I shared with my doctor about the terrible and constant hot flashes I've been having. I am also still not ready to diet and feel like I eat like a mad woman all day long. I always seem famished! So, she thinks there could be a thyroid issue. I have to get some blood work done. It's always something! But I knew I didn't have these issues with my first 2 babies, so something was up.... We shall try and figure this out!

I just put the kids down to nap. Haleah looked up at me as I laid her down and she said, "Are you going to be a good girl Mommy and go nappydoos?" (that's our word for nap). I told her that I would LOVE to go nappydoos. Unfortunately though, I have to scrub the smeared food off the couch, run the recycle bin out to the street before the trash man comes, clean off the table from lunch and attempt to get the toilets cleaned. Don't know if I'll accomplish this all before at least one of them gets up! So I better hop to it!

First Smiles and Bottles

Baby Rebekah has had some of her first smiles. And of course she smiled at me first! She is such a sweet, laid back contented baby, though she has her fussy and awake times after dinner up until around 10pm. The older girls are mostly so good with her. Kaelah says, "Hoda. Hoda," which means "Hold her. Hold her." She likes to get the Boppy pillow and get ready for me to lay the baby on her lap! And Haleah likes to kiss her real hard.

Both older girls want to be a baby again. We recently got our bottles back out to try supplementing with Rebekah, and Haleah immeditely said, "I remember those!!!!" Haleah used to LOVE bottles and it was a long drawn out battle to get rid of them. We had "passed them on to baby Kinley," our friend. Now the bottles are back. I gave Haleah and Kaelah each a bottle to use for their baby dolls. But Haleah kept insisting I put milk in hers. I kept saying "No way!" And she kept crying and crying. And persisting. And persisting. I held to my word and knew that if I gave in and gave her just one bottle filled with a liquid, that it would be all over. So I listened to the fussin...

Anyhow, later in the night I told the girls to get a book and I would read to them while I nursed. Haleah picked the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." The book starts off saying, "If you give a mouse a cookie...then he's going to ask for a glass of milk..." Well, Haleah didn't want me to read the book. She wanted to read it HERSELF! So she started reading, "If you give a mouse a cookie... then he's going to ask for a bottle!" I tell you that child does not give up!!! But I am not going to give up (or in) either!

The Terrorizer

Haleah has taken to pinching Kaelah's cheeks. Today she decided to use her claws and scratched poor K.K. from her eye to her nose, drawing blood. I am horrified and don't know what to do. Where did I get a child that would do such a thing to her little sister? I am so upset.

Matching Dresses

Today we tried on matching dresses for church, made by our pastor's wife, Joni. They were so cute on each of the girls, but I was sweating buckets trying to get them ready. Then I broke out the camera to take some pics, and of course, there was no cooperation! The baby was crying like nobody's business. Ah, at least I tried! Give me some credit.

To Kill A Snake (and Entertain My Kids)

I'm going to just jump right in and tell a quick story of today--- David took the girls for a walk to give me a few moments to pick up the house. They came across our neighbor, Keith, who just got finished chopping the head off of a 4 foot long black (unknown name) snake!!!! It was still writhing and wiggling and David decided to let the girls pet the dead snake. Nice. Keith thought David was weird. So do I. But it was the highlight of their evening...

Baby Steps

Hi All,
I'm a blogger and I think I like it! I am new to this and will work over the next few days to figure this out. I'm super excited to have a place to store memories of my children and family as they happen, so these precious moments don't fade away in time...