Miss me?

You should, because it has been too long since I have come here to post. Sure, I post on my workout blog some, and my photography blog some, but here... No, I have been a bad mommy blogger.

What's new with us?

It has been a fun and uneventful summer for the girls. My spoiled little princesses had their vacations, and swimming, and trips to the library. For me, this summer has been spent in a fog. I have had a hard time motivating myself to (1). workout (2). stay awake (3). serve a purpose. The reason is a very annoying thyroid problem. I am severely hypothyroid (not the one where you miraculously lose weight and are hyper all the time). Oh no, I have the thyroid issue where your body basically slows to a crawl. Sleepy, depressed, and packin' on the pounds, My summer in a nutshell. I have made myself participate in things that the children will like because I love them and want them happy, but as far as things that I know i should enjoy (working out, going outside, blogging, etc.) I have just not had the energy. I expect to be back in the swing of things in a few weeks, then watch out!

As for any other new developments around here, I'll just go down the list of a few.

*My oldest is obsessed with tween spy novels and wants to work for the CIA when she grows up. If she can learn to keep a secret, she will do well.

* My middle child learned to tie her shoes. I taught her, and we were both proud of ourselves. If I can get her to wash her own hair, I can call her independent.

* My baby got her ears pierced. She told everyone she knows at least five times. She's impressed with herself.

* WE GOT NEW FLOORS! We finally saved up enough to put new floors in. After pulling up the former homeowners carpet we discovered why the vacuum was coughing at us. There was enough built up dust underneath them to build sandcastles (or dustcastles) all over the house. ICK! I'm so glad that nasty stuff is gone. I love my floors!

I hope all my readers are having a great end to their summer, and I promise I'll come back soon and post about all the fun stuff we are doing.

How was your summer?

4 year old Bean

Today we celebrate Ella's 4th birthday.

Ella is wild, she never sits still, she yells even when she's just talking about something as mundane as cereal. I could not imagine life without her. As she lay beside me this morning after her early morning wake up call, I listened to a rare moment of her peaceful rhythmic breathing and reflected on the day of her birth.

It was a normal pregnancy (although I did have gestational diabetes), a normal delivery, and I expected there to be no complications. She was whisked away to the nicu right after birth, however, and stayed there for 7 days because her lungs hadn't developed fully. From what I hear, this is fairly normal for babies of moms with gestational diabetes. It rocked our world though. We were a mess. We walked around in a sad stupor for that first week, and after she came home, she was never put down. I now fully accept responsibility for her all too independent personality. She's had it with the coddling and she wants to be on her own!

She paints walls with primer after we have just finished the last coat. She applies nail polish and makeup to her legs, arms, face and the carpet. She tries to put together meals for herself (much to the satisfaction of the dog). If she can't reach something, she tries to rig a ladder out of books, boxes, and toys. She likes to call strangers via cell phone and have conversations with them. We like to say we supervise her enough to help prevent the major destruction of our property, but there are never enough eyes around here, to be honest. I'm hoping that with age, her sense of indpendence will guide her as we try and train her up to have common sense as well.

Ella has been the best surprise/blessing/gift I have ever received. I thank God for her chaos everyday (well, almost everyday).

Happy Birthday, Ella!

I've added a blog

I'm a mom, but I'm also an "athlete". I use that term loosely. I'm going to continue to use this blog to tell stories about my crazy/dysfunctional family, but I've also started a "fitness" blog. Come read it!

http://desertthedessert.blogspot.com/

Summer Daze

The girls left for a vacation to the farm in Arkansas where my husband's parents live. They were gone for about 2 weeks. I spent these weeks doing a whole lot of NOTHING! Well, not exactly nothing...

I slept.

I ate out. A LOT.

I took newborn pictures of Levi.

I went to Six Flags with my Bethany.

I slept some more.

I did dishes, twice. (that's how much we ate out!)

Oh, and I got this...

It says Selah, and you can read it both ways. It hurt, and I love it. :)

Hopscotch

We had a little break in the heat, so my little crazies headed outside to play some hopscotch.

Here are some fun pictures!

Doubt

I don't know if I'll ever be past the stage in my life where I constantly doubt myself. Is it normal, or am I just neurotic? There's nothing more frustrating to my husband than when I assail him with a barage of questions as to how he thinks I'm doing. Me: "How was dinner, honey?" Him: "Great" Me: " Are you sure, because it didn't show in your face that you were really enjoying it while you were eating." Him: "It was great, really!" Me: "I'm not sure you really liked it." Him: (sighs)

Me: "What do you think of this picture, honey?" Him: "Good, really Good!" Me: "Are you sure, you didn't even look at it for very long..." Him: "I didn't have to, it's great!" Me: I don't know, it probably needs more work" Him: (sighs loudly and rolls eyes)

Me: "Honey, How does the house look?" Him: "It looks great, Honey" Me: "You didn't say anything when you came home" Him: I haven't even come all the way in the house yet" Me: "Well, I'm sure if it was really great, you would have already noticed" Him: "What can I make for dinner?"

I do this to my friends too, although I will readily admit to them that I have an issue and need constant affirmation. They handle it in stride (probably because I take the bulk of it out on my poor husband)

Sooner or later he tells me like it is, that I'll never believe anything he says unless I start having confidence in myself. I don't know why I have this issue. I was alway loved and supported, and have always been given plenty of encouragement. It's just something in my psychie that makes me ridiculous.

Right now, I'm having to push aside all my doubt and surge forward professionally. I feel very confident in my abilities in what I do, and business is starting to really pick up. It's so exciting, but the better I feel about something, the more doubts that creep in. My inner dialogue is terrible and I'm having to stop and shut myself up. I compare myself to some peers, I compare my work with theirs and wonder why I'm not as busy as they are. I am my own worst enemy. How do I stop this vicious cycle. I'm starting to think that I should just use these thoughts and succeed just to spite them.

100 Things that make me happy

I have seen this on a few other blogs and thought it would be fun to try.  I always like to try to put things in perpective and remember all my blessings.  Even if you don't blog, I encourage you to make a list of all the things that make you smile.

1.   staying up late and talking all night
2.   a great haircut
3.   crunchy ice
4.   watching Taylor's face on her favorite ride at six flags
5.   the feeling i get right after a great workout
6.   when my dog spoons my legs
7.   hearing Ella sing herself to sleep
8.   dinner at my parent's house
9.   wind chimes
10.  my favorite jeans
11.  the beach at night
12.  when someone catches me daydreaming
13.  teen camp
14.  wednesday night at church
15.  sunday nights with the teens
16.  talking about books with Kayleigh
17.  fall weather in Texas
18.  floating the river
19.  taking a great picture and not being able to stop looking at it
20.  a great nap
21.  coke zero
22.  getting into God's Word with friends and talking about it
23.  word searches
24.  the smell of the kids right after they have had their bath
25.  new car smell
26.  a paid off car
27.  a great fitting t shirt
28.  crab legs
29.  snuggling with any of my babies
39.  talking with my husband about our future
40.  dancing
41.  girls weekends
42.  riding horses
43.  holding hands with Baxter
44.  a great massage
45.  falling asleep to music so my dreams have a soundtrack
46.  birthday cake
47.  laughing so hard i cry and/or can't breathe
48.  clean sheets
49.  razorback football
50.  flip flops
51.  looking at old photos
52.  the feeling you get as you are climbing the highest part of the roller coaster
53.  the smell of rain
54.  a chick flick
55.  reading a book cover to cover
56.  when my girls use a new (clean) word for the first time
57.  hearing my girls giggling up in their rooms
58.  jumping out from behind a door and scaring someone
59.  date night
60.  my "special days" with each of the girls
61.  quiet prayer
62.  my niece's dimples
63.  fuzzy slippers
64.  giving money to someone who needs it
65.  talking politics wih my political geek friends
66.  baking
67.  having company
68.  shopping for furniture
69.  long hugs
70.  ponytails
71.  getting a letter
72.  singing
73.  Crossdirection Worship team
74.  History
75.  waking up thinking i am late, but realizing i still have a few more hours
76.  Christmas morning
77.  talk radio
78.  hearing a great song for the first time
79.  a clean kitchen
80.  editing photos
81.  long walks
82.  fresh cut grass
83.  a beautiful sunset
84.  family game night
85.  fun sunglasses
86.  looking at the ocean from our cruise ship
87.  jumping on a trampoline
88.  making a new friend
89.  the look of fresh paint
90.  new baby smell
91.  tickling my kids
92.  chasing my kids
93.  teasing my husband
94.  waking up knowing it's my hubby's day off
95.  super mario brothers
96.  my mom's lasagna
97.  my dad's jokes
98.  The Golden Girls
99.  cloud watching
100.  love notes

Can you name 100?