Have been so busy

We have been so busy. Sunday, I decided that I was tired of not being able to walk in the girls room. So, we (Travis, me, and the girls) took everything but the bed, and dresser out of there room. Right now some of it is still in my living room. I'm putting things back one by one, b/c I want the room to look neat, and for them to be able to know what they have to play with. Also the biggest accomplishment for the weekend was that we finally got the mattress on the top bunk of the bunk beds, Lydia has slept with Katie Grace since she came out of her crib, she has always slept with Katie Grace, and I thought she would have a hard time sleeping alone, but she has done well.
Becca had a doctors appointment Monday for another weight check, and in two weeks time of exclusively nursing she gained again woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She weighed in at 9 pounds and 11 ounces!!! Her next appointment is her 2 month appointment where she will get her shots :(
Katie Grace is beginning to have some behavior problems at home and at school, so I've been dealing with that, and the fact that everybody is in such a hurry for me to go back to work.
I have gotten a few candle orders here recently and hope they pick up enough pared with Travis' handyman work to keep me home a little while longer still.
Lydia's 4 year school life will be determined tonight, there is a meeting about the new 4 year program which from the outside Travis and I aren't pleased and don't plan on her going to 4k next year but are going to the meeting tonight to get the detailed description of the program and why they changed from the current plan. We also get to see the new Northside Middle School since thats where the meeting is.
Well this was short and sweet but I've got tons to do

Two dreary lazy days

Thursday and Friday were dreary, rainy cool days, and me and my household were just as lazy. Two days in a row, all I've gotten done was wash dishes and fix supper. I read a good devotional yesterday from Proverbs 31, they always have such good devotions, and more often than not, they can be related to my personal life, either past, or present.
Now for the updates:
Erin:
Well, I need to call Monday and make an appointment for my 6 week checkup with my doctor, I had one on Monday February 18, but I had sent Travis to Greenville to pick up some jars, because we have two candle orders and didn't have any jars to make them with, and while he was gone I got a phone call that his Papa had passed away, and so I called the jar place and had them to have Travis to call me. I told him I would cancel my appointment and that I wanted him to go to the funeral (his family had waited to let us know that his Papa had passed away until 2 hours before the funeral) so he did, he wasn't by any means dressed for the occasion, but he went, and I canceled my appointment, and stayed home with Becca (he had taken Lydia with him). Becca and I had a good day that day, it was my first time alone with her just me and her, and it was great! I've been really lazy these past two days with the weather sending us such much needed napping weather, we have been in a drought for so long now. I printed me off a Bible reading plan this morning, I seem to get so sidetracked when I try to read the Bible through no matter what the plan I use is so I decided to do a thirty day New Testament reading program, then hopefully *when* I stick to that it will be easier to then do the ninety day reading plan. I desperately hope to get some more things accomplished today than the past two days. I've had a few days of upset stomach and its affecting Becca as well, she is just staying so gassy. My back has been catching for the past week of so and when it does, I cant' move at all until it releases.
Travis:
Travis has put in a few more job applications the past couple of days. He's still working out at the couple's house from church, and apparently is nearing the end on one of the rooms he's been working on. He's been in a good bit of pain here lately, and of course when that happens he seems to take it out on anything in his sight, but he's been very good about controlling his anger, and pain so I'm proud of him for that. Thursday in the mail, we got one of those mailers from one of the local car dealers, saying if this key opens the key to the box you could win one of these two cars, well, the other options were to take the cash value of the cars, or you could win a $5 Wal-Mart card, or you could win nothing and be entered in a drawing for $5,000.00, well, hey its worth a shot right, you either win a new car, get some money, or a free Wal-Mart card, so before he went to work on the house he's working on he stopped by and of course what did he win..... the gift card. He missed an appointment at DSS Thursday so he had to go by there and set up another appointment after he left the car dealership, and they set him up another appointment for this coming Thursday.
Katie Grace:
Ok, so for a little background before I mention this.... A school bus driver in Ware Shoals was arrested this week for duct taping the children on her bus (see story here) so I asked Katie Grace what Ms. Rose (her bus driver) does to the children when they are acting badly on the bus. Here is what she said "If you are sitting in the back she makes you come sit at the front." Then she said. "and if you are bad lots of times you will get a bus slip" then I said what is a bus slip, and she said "I don't know, I think its when the bus gives you a spanking, because Ms. Rose drives the 'Magic School bus'." I thought that was so cute, I didn't even know that she had heard of the 'Magic School bus', but she said they read about it in the library at school. She didn't have school yesterday, it was a teachers work day. She had a fun day at home, we did absolutely nothing! I let her stay in her pj's all day, and we watched movies, and did some well needed and appreciated cuddling. I gave her a new snack yesterday, ants on a log, and she loved it, at first she just wanted the peanut butter and the raisins, but then when she started asking for more and I noticed she had not touched the celery, I told her to try them all in one bite, then she wanted more, and of course by then, we were out of celery.
Lydia:
Lydia was super sweet the past few days. She is getting so grown up. She is so smart. She can count further now at 3 1/2 than Katie Grace could count at the Christmas break of this school year, I guess its really benefited her as well as Katie Grace to work with Katie Grace around her. I guess the things that Katie Grace struggles with and needs extra help with will probably be Lydia's strong points if that continues to the be trend. Lydia still doesn't' like raisins so yesterdays snack wasn't' one she appreciated, she just ate the peanut butter, she wouldn't even attempt to try the celery. In the past week or so her imagination has really improved, she is playing with things that never really interested Katie Grace, but of course when Katie Grace is around, she wants to be just like her. Lydia didn't have as many questions yesterday, but instead had lots of self led play with her imagination, I'm proud of her for that, Katie Grace didn't ever really do much of that. I'm glad that she has begun to smile more often now, used to if you caught her smiling she would stop, and now she is smiling and proud of her smiles. She is eager to learn, but doesn't want to do anything to learn, she just wants to be able to know things, that she things she should know.
Becca:
Becca has had a few good days, she's been nursing quite well, and actually last night slept from 12:45am to 5:40am I was so pleased to have had that much sleep at one time!! woo hoo She is getting so big! I cant' believe just a little over 4 weeks ago (WHAT?!?!?!? I can't believe she is even that old much less older than that) that the doctors put her in the hospital for failure to thrive, and were wanting to give up on her, b/c she was losing so much weight, and now she is such a chunk! She is smiling more and more each day, and the girls are even getting excited over it too! Poor little thing has such a bad diaper rash, and is in such pain when she wets or soils her diaper. She just smiles and smiles when I sing her body parts to her at each diaper change, she loves the song I made up, its just "Nose, ears, cheeks, *high pitched* chin" and then repeated over and over again and she just loves it. She also has the most painful hiccups and almost always when she has them she spits up :( Well, I'm sure gonna pay for this, she went back to sleep and I've stayed up now Katie Grace is up, and I'm not gonna get to go back to sleep :(

Today is kinda cloudy its off and on raining, and currently its 46 degrees. The weather bug says we are supposed to have dense fog throughout the morning.

Well, I'm getting away from here now, and gonna try to get some rest before Becca wakes up again.

Well, shoot!!

Well, I called the doctors office to verify Becca's appointment for tomorrow and she said it was today at 10:40am, I said well shoot, usually yall call to remind of appointments, and I was really thinking it was today (I had lost the appt card) and so now her weight check appointment is Monday at 9:30am.

Also, I need to add that my to do list will be for today and tomorrow, b/c its now very late, and Katie Grace is getting off the bus right now, literally the bus just backed in the driveway. So that means that my list will have to span across two days.

An Intro to my family at its current state, and detailed updates

Today is Thursday February 21st 2008

This is my first blog here, I have blogged a few times in my myspace page, but haven't' kept up with it. I hope to use this page to highlight the days and nights of motherhood, and my children's lives. I hope to be able to show this to my children one day or to print off the pages pertinent to them and give them a "Book about me" for each of them, when they get old enough to appreciate it. My goal will be a paragraph per child per entry, whether it be daily, weekly, or monthly. For future references we live in Hodges SC, in a two bedroom single wide mobile home.

Katie Grace is 5 years old, and is still enjoying herself at school, however has some bad days here and there. She really enjoys doing her homework, as long as its in very short time spans. She is still very loving towards me and her sisters, and still likes to rough house with her Daddy. She has had two bad days already this month :( to which she gets "jobs" piled on her when she does that, my mother and sister seem to think that she's acting out to earn time with her Daddy. Katie Grace loves to:jump, cut flips and cartwheels, sing, and watch TV. Her best friend at school is Michelle. She loves to hold and talk to Becca. She is struggling with cleaning up her room, unless I get her started, or help her finish it. She loves that she has PE two days a week at school. Overall she is such a joy as a daughter, and I couldn't have been more blessed with a first child than her. Overall, she is a Mommy's girl, and loves both of her sisters very dearly.

Lydia is 3 years old, and she loves attention. Lydia is in a very heavy questions phase. She is always asking "why do people make..." Lydia loves her Daddy very much. Overall she is a Daddy's girl and loves both of her sisters. My biggest issue with Lydia this week is staying seated during meal times, and completing her plate. Lydia is more of a drinker than an eater, she can down 2, 3 or sometimes 4 or 5 cups of juice, water, or milk, if you let her, but takes turns liking things to eat enough that she will complete it. Lydia loves Becca, and wants her to listen to her and watch her when she tries new things, she doesn't' understand that Becca can't "talk" back to her yet. Lydia loves watching TV, having books read to her, horsing around with her Daddy, playing dress up, and being paid lots of attention.

Becca is 6 weeks old and 1 day today. She is starting to smile and coo more often. I am very happy that she has overcome her weight issues, and her breastfeeding is going very well now. She still is taking Prevacid for her reflux, but is doing much much better with her nursing, she is now down to no bottles, and just nursing exclusively. She is getting so big, and is just a joy to be around. She is aware when her sisters and her Daddy are in the room, and is happy to see and hear them. She loves her Mommy so much. I can't tell just yet if she is a Mommy's girl, or Daddy's girl, she is just as equally happy with both of us, as well as the girls. She has another weight check tomorrow, and I will update afterwards to how it fares. She seems to have a preferred schedule of pacify nursing from around 9pm to 1am then nursing at 1am 3am and then again around 5 or 6. This being said, she is co-sleeping with me during that time. She mostly sleeps in her bassinet in the daytime.


Ok so the picture of me is a little old, but its the latest picture of me I have. Obviously it was taken Wednesday January 9, 2008I am a year older now, Sunday past was my birthday (2/17), and I turned 28. It was a very emotional day. Nobody told me happy birthday until almost dark. The girls and Travis went and picked up Chinese food and brought it home, and went to Bi-Lo and got me a cake. It was a very good cake too. I am not emotionally ready to go back to work yet, and Travis is doing everything he can to help me postpone my return. I am enjoying being back at home. My lifelong dream has been to be a SAHM, and I thoroughly enjoyed the 2+ years that I was a SAHM after Lydia was born. I am very seriously considering only going back to work on Friday and Saturday nights and sign up to be a substitute teacher for the elementary schools and go back to school for my early education degree, even if it takes me 6 years to get my degree I think it would be best to go back part time, instead of full time. I am trying to get as much stuff cleaned out of this house as possible, my short term goal to get rid of it is to gather up Jeep loads of stuff weekly and take it to the flea market to try to sell it, and then at the end of each month what ever hasn't' sold take to donation locations. There are also a couple of people that want stuff taken off of there hands so badly they have told us we can take it to the flea market and can keep the money from it, so hopefully that will also help extend my maternity leave a little bit too.

Travis is doing better, thank God. He is having more good days than bad days here lately. Not that each day isn't a painful day, its just that he is getting more and more able to deal with the pain, and is learning what things will increase and what things will decrease the pain. He is still having days where he is sleeping all the time, but they are becoming lesser and lesser. He is still waiting on his workers comp lawsuit out of Alabama, and heard this past week, that they are willing to pay for the blood clots, and that he should begin to get paid very soon, we had to fax in our past years tax returns, and Travis will have to call in his disposition sometime soon as soon as the lawyer calls and says he needs them. Also as far as the disability goes, he should have a court date for that sometime in the next 18 months. His lawyer told him to try to put in as many job applications as possible, and if they hire him and he isn't able to perform the job at the level they require, they have to write a statement for the courts, and if they don't' hire him they have to give a statement for the courts explaining why.

My goals for today are:

1. Wash dishes
2. Refresh Living room (the portion that has already been detailed)
3. Detail clean from sink to stove
   
4. Detail clean from my chair to the couch
5. Fold and put away clothes on the clothes line
6. Wash and hang Katie Grace's clothes
7. Wash and hang Becca's clothes
8. Fold and put away Katie Grace's clothes
9. Start supper
10. Begin load of Travis' clothes

Well, this is it for now, I am going to get busy before Becca wakes up to eat. Katie Grace doesn't' have school tomorrow, so hopefully she can help me get some things done this afternoon when she gets off of the bus. I will plan on updating again tomorrow.