Big sisters need big girl beds

Leah's latest blog entry and the fact that the company I work for keeps taking their site down for maintenance has urged me (and given me the time) to update you on what is going on around here.

Last weekend Abby's room was changed from pink to blue. I told Tim I had chosen a paint color on Saturday morning and by Sunday night the nursery was transformed (pictures will come later). So after a few days of Abby sleeping in our closet, she moved into Calyn's room. Since Calyn refuses to sleep on her top bunk, they are sharing the bottom queen size bed. The first night Zach woke me up at 4 am by handing me Abby's blanket and telling me she was on the stairs. The next night (we put up the gate) and both girls slept through til morning. The third night, Abby slept fine but Calyn somehow traded places with Tim during the night. Tonight is the fourth night. I really thought getting the girls to fall asleep together was going to be the problem. So far this has not been an issue and the transition is going much better than anticipated. The only sad thing is that when Abby is playing upstairs she will run into the nursery and just stop and stare. I think she is still surprised by the the blue color and that all of her stuff is gone. However, I think in the future she will enjoy having a baby brother more than her own room. I'll keep you posted on that one.

P.S. We are super excited about Baby Dooley #2 and maybe Abby can give Annerson some advice about being a big sister in the near future.

Big Decisions

Zach and Calyn invited Jesus into their hearts on Saturday night. We (especially Tim) had been having an on-going conversation leading up to their decision. They both decided that they were ready and Tim and I felt confident that they understood the decision they were making. Thank you to all of you that have prayed for them over the course of their lives and please join Tim and I in praying that they will follow Christ all of the days of their lives.

Two months from today...

we will welcome this little guy.

Did I say little guy?

I meant big guy. The doctor is estimating that he weighs 4 pounds now and told us to expect a 9-10 pound baby at birth.

So mark your calendars for September 17, 2009.

And maybe he will have a name by then.

My Girls

Here are my favorite recent quotes from Calyn and Abby.

From Calyn:

"Mom I got marker on the back of my book but I put some lick on it and it came right off!"

"We locked our bathroom door so daddy can't go in there and make it stink."

From Abby:

"Excuse me."

"Here you go."

"Stop." (complete with holding up her hand)

Blessed

Tim has been out of town for a few days and I have been so blessed by my friends.
Husband and wife, L and L, along with baby A came over yesterday and took the kids all swimming so that I could rest. Last night we had to vacate the house so that our weekly Bible study could meet. Our adopted grandma, J, and her daughter J met us at the mall. We walked and then had a small candy treat. Both Js also sent a sweet treat over for Bible study.
Today, I had an unexpected doctor's appointment and some testing. Adopted grandma J came over early and took the kids to PDO. She even canceled her own plans so that she could help. Tonight the W family came over and we ordered pizza. I took all the kids swimming, but it was nice just to have company.
Mrs. R has also called several times to check on us. And Amarillo B offered to let the kids come visit in Amarillo.
I have an awesome group of friends that have blessed me. I usually don't mind Tim being out of town, but somehow this trip was different. I think already felt frazzled before he left. Thankfully my friends stepped in to help and the kids have really been a joy.
Thank you so much to everyone for helping me. What amazing brothers and sister I have in Christ.
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40

Running on fumes

This describes my life in so many ways right now.
Literally.
I ran out of gas today with all three kids in the car at 3:oopm. It might have been funny except that I did the same thing about three weeks ago. That now makes twice in my life that I have completely ran my car out of gas.
Figuratively.
I am tired. Emotionally. Physically. I like to appear and pretend that I have it all together, but I do not. I like to keep our normal, busy schedule even when I know I need to slow down. Some days I count the minutes until nap time. I think God is trying to teach me something, but I need to take the time to listen and learn.

My brother's words

I stole, I mean borrowed this post from my brother, Charles. It is his take on the wedding and I agree with his summary:
This past weekend, I officiated the wedding of my father to his new bride, Lou Smith. The comment I get the most is, “Wow, that was quick!” And its true… It hasn’t been quite a year since we buried mom. In truth though, my mother’s illness removed her from our lives years ago. Quite literally, I said “goodbye” to my mom over three years ago. Dad’s grieving had been a long process that did not begin at her funeral, but like mine had also started years earlier.
Dad and Lou started hanging out together with some friends for breakfast, then they started hanging out for game nights, then they became joined at the hip! I have known Lou’s family all my life. We all went to church (West Side) together. Jennifer and Brandi were friends of mine and Beth. My mom and Lou were friends – good friends in fact.
Lou lost her husband about 4 years ago. So while it was a bit of a surprise, their relationship and happiness all just seems to fit. …and I think everyone, including Beth and I, are very happy for Dad and Lou.
Besides that kiss… The wildest thing for me to come to grips with is that my tribe has increased. I now have a whole new “step” family with sisters and brothers-in-laws, and nephews, and everyone else!.

Before:

After:

And here’s that kiss… I was waaay too close for my own comfort!

And then Zach puked

What? You say. I'll tell you the story.

We cruised through the wedding ceremony. Nine grandchildren, four children, two parents, one nephew, and one great neice all performed flawlessly. A traditional Baptist reception (you know cake and punch) was well underway when...you guessed it. Zach puked. Abby received a direct hit while Cayln and I received significant bounce off the floor hits. The room cleared rather quickly clearing the way for the newly wedded couple to leave for their honeymoon. Here is a picture taken just before they left.

They look happy. Don't they?

Change and the Big Day

Saturday is my dad's wedding. Wow! A year ago, I never would have believed I would have just typed those words.
But Saturday brings change, even more change. I firmly believe that this is what is best for my dad. He deserves to be happy and have a life partner. He now has a reason to get up each morning. He was always loving and dedicated to my mom and he deserves to be loved again. Lou is a fantastic woman and brings out good things in my dad.
But change is change and is usually hard.
Will you please pray for me on Saturday? And for my brother as he performs the ceremony? Will you also pray for joy for all those that attend the wedding? I know I am not the only person who misses my mom and it is hard for people to separate my dad from my mom. It is also hard for people to not tell me how great my mom was when they see me, which at your dad's wedding can be a little awkward.
Thanks!

The Week in Review

I am borrowing this idea from one of my favorite blogs. We have been so busy since I last posted that maybe a review is in order.

Calyn and I went to Wichita Falls to attend the wedding shower of my dad's fiance. Cal threw-up the whole way there but was fine once we arrived. Car sickness maybe? The shower went well and we made it home with less drama.

Tim, Zach, and Abby attended a birthday party and picked Grandma up from the airport.

We survived the first week of swimming lessons at Tech. The new leisure pool is amazing. We got rained out one day but were fortunate to have on our suits because it poured on us.

We had a nice picnic at Legacy Play Village and a fun time at gymnastics.

Papou arrived mid-week and joined the festivities.














We hosted our weekly summer Bible Study and again had only guys show up.

I got to spend precious time with Leah, Annerson, and Janis.

We finally slayed the green monster living in our backyard.











We had lots of sweet treats: cookies from Mrs. Camp's and custard from Sheridan's.














We are thankful and blessed to have Grandma and Papou visit each summer. Papou treats us to many meals out and Grandma does a lot with and for the kids.

Next week, we have another week of swimming lessons and then we head back to Wichita Falls for my dad's wedding.

A Special Day

Today is/was my mom's birthday. I am still not sure the proper way to say things like that. Instead of getting all sentimental on you (lest my friends think I am going crazy-yes you Stephanie), I wanted to share a neat story.
A couple of weeks ago I was at Taco Bell with all three kids. In the middle of lunch without any prior discussion of death Zach says, "I think Jesus just reached his arms out of the sky and took meme to live with him." I told him that was exactly what happened. Calyn promptly replied, "Yeah but we didn't get to see it because we were still in Lubbock." I wanted to tell her that even though I was there that I didn't get to see it either but that I knew that it happened because of the peace on meme's face. I figured I would save that info for a time in the future when they have a better grasp of death and heaven.
I am so thankful that my mom got to spend her special day with Jesus.

Thank you Mr. Fed-Ex Man

A 'first' occurred at our house yesterday.
I was expecting a work-related package from Fed-Ex.
Fed-Ex packages usually arrive at 10:30am 0r 2:30pm.
The 10:30 am slot passed with no delivery.
The kids usually go down for nap at 2pm.
I debated delaying the nap to wait for the possible 2:30pm delivery.
But I was exhausted and really needed a nap myself.
I put the kids down for nap at 2pm.
I began my usual e-mail/blog/facebook check.
About 2:25pm, I heard a light tapping on my front door.
So soft I thought I might have imagined it.
I quickly hurried downstairs and opened the door.
The expected package was inside my screen door (placed there silently).
The Fed-Ex man was already on his way back to his truck.
He gave me a silent wave.
Wow!
A Fed-Ex man that actually read my sign saying that future Red Raiders were sleeping.
And actually respected my need for quiet.
He made this overly tired mom's day.
So thank you Mr. Fed-Ex man.

What I am thankful for right now

We had a wonderful and safe family trip to Albuquerque.

I came home to a clean house.

My housekeeper turned on my air conditioner and forgot to turn it back off so I also came home to a cool house.

My incredibly intelligent husband has trouble working the DVR (he led me to believe that all of one of my favorite shows was not recorded but he was in fact mistaken).

Cherry yogurt and iced animal cookies.

Tylenol P.M.

The tiny kicks of my unborn son.

All three Dallas children are clean and sleeping peacefully.

I miss my mom.

The mom who:

loved Jesus,
taught me to love Jesus,
thought my dad was the greatest man on earth,
loved to watch football,
had a heart for missions,
encouraged me to play sports,
prayed for me daily,
attended all of my sporting events,
watched preachers on tv before going to church on Sundays,
made sure the fridge was stocked with my favorites every time I visited,
suggested that I attend graduate school at Texas Tech,
took me shopping for new school clothes every year,
gave food and money to those in need,
always fell asleep on road trips with her mouth wide open,
was a servant,
harassed Hardin-Simmons until they raised my scholarship money level,
tried her hardest to give special gifts even when they were unappreciated,
thought of my husband as her own child,
and
loved my kids with her whole heart.

Repeat it with me

There is no crying in t-ball.

Well,

apparently if your name is Calyn, there is alot of crying in t-ball.

Calyn suffered her first injury of the season. She was playing pitcher and got hit with a fly ball in the arm. I think it was the first batter of the second inning (they only play two innings). She came out of the game and cried and cried and cried. I was actually getting a little worried because she usually shakes things off quickly. She cried until ice arrived and was miraculously healed by the time she got her after game snack. She kept saying that the batter did something bad by hitting her. I tried to explain to her that it was her job to catch the ball and that she technically was at fault. It did not help that both the batter and his dad apologized after the game. Awfully sweet, but no help. I just had to laugh.
On the positive side, Calyn did bat really well before the injury. She hit a grounder up the middle that almost hit the center field fence. Now we just gotta work on those catching skills!