Just one of the Kids!!!!

The other night we were on our way to eat out with friends. It was me and the girls (and Will) in our van and Mark was in the car in front of us. We started talking about how that the friends we were going out with only had one kid and we had more than them. Reagan said "yah, we have Taylor, Reagan, Will.... and Daddy". Yes, my 3 1/2 year old considered her dad - one of the kids!!!! Taylor then replied, Daddy is not a kid, he just acts like one. No comment needed there. :o)

From Kindergarten to College - In One Night!

For all of you who really know me and my family you know that Taylor (my oldest) will be going into K5 in a few weeks. We have already started school shopping and just last week picked out her backpack, lunchbag and a thermos all with a Disney Princess theme. Over the past week or so Taylor has been overwhelmed with the thought of going to college. Yes, my 5 year old daughter is already stressing over college. There have been a couple of instances where she has been exposed to talking about college, once at my mother's where one of the boys my mother was watching told her that "she had to go to college or she would end up a bum on the street" - to which she started crying and then another instance where we watched College Road Trip (to all of you who have not seen this, do not waste your time) at a friends house on Sunday evening. In this movie, the daughter goes with her father to a couple of difference colleges (which are obviously away from home) and it shows how the father is sad and is trying to get his daughter to go to the college "closest to home" - this also ended up in some tears from Taylor. These instances sparked my daughter's thinking and just yesterday morning she had an in-depth conversation with Mark about college. She wanted to know if she had to go to college - to which Mark responded - yes! To this she advised that wanted to teach doctor's how to be doctor's. Mark said, okay that sounds good - why? She responded because you do not have to go to college for that. Mark replied, yes you do! She then informed him that she wanted to go to a college that was in Indiana so that she could see her mommy and daddy every night and morning. :o)- As Mark was relaying this conversation to me, we both though how nice it would have been to have had a camcorder running and to catch this conversation on tape so that one day, when she wants to go far away to college, we could play her that tape!!!! We have had 5 1/2 years with our Taylor and have watched how much she has grown into a little lady over that time. She has already turned into quite the thinker and quite the conversationalist. She says she wants to be a doctor, which would be up her alley, she will have a full blown conversation with anybody whether she has known them for months/years/or just seconds. Sometimes I think she might be a journalist or something like that because of her constant desire to ask questions and to know more. However, whatever she becomes - after going to college - I know she will always be "Our Taylor".

An Anniversary Unlike Any Other

Today is Mark and I's 7th wedding anniversary. I for sure can't believe that we have been married for 7 years, let alone that we have 3 kids, our oldest to start K-5 next month (pardon me as a I wipe my tears)! Last night for my anniversary dinner, my mother, father and sister took me and the kiddos out to eat. Yes, I just said that my parents took me out for my anniversary with my kids!!! Mark left yesterday afternoon to take 5 of his volleyball girls to volleyball camp at Maranatha in Wisconsin and will not return until this Friday. Mark has been gone a total of 4 weeks this summer, and it just so happened that one of those weeks is falling on our anniversary. Tonight, to celebrate my 7 years of marriage to the man I love and the father of my children, I'm going to eat at my parents house, watch Jon & Kate plus 8 with my girls and then head off to sleep in my old bedroom in between my two daughters. This, my friends, will be an anniversary unlike any other!!! Mark for sure owes me BIG TIME when he gets home!!!!!!

Old Memories

The other night, I sat down with my girls and my sister to watch an old favorite of ours - Anne of Green Gables. My sister and I had been waiting until we thought the time was right to pull it out wanting to make sure that the girls would at least somewhat comprehend it, and be able to sit for the length of this 3 hour long movie. We decided to do it in parts, we haven't had 3 hours to just sit and watch TV for who knows how long. Taylor did very well with it. Constantly asking questions, starting with "Why did Anne break that slate over Gilbert's head". To which we had to respond that he had called her Carrots because of her hair and it made her angry. The whole movie consisted of why does Gilbert do that to Anne, why does Anne respond to Gilbert like that? It was quite comical to constantly respond that Gilbert liked Anne and he was doing that because he liked her. She couldn't grasp the concept of him liking her, yet teasing her (I didn't want to tell her that this is probably what you will experience in life too - since that is just what guys do when they don't know how to act around you because they like you). Last night we started Anne of Avonlea. At the beginning of the movie Taylor wanted to know if Anne and Gilbert kissed in this movie, or got married. We told her that no, they don't get married until the 3rd movie. She was very concerned for Gilbert when he asked Anne to marry him and she told him sorry - she couldn't. I thought she would cry, but she didn't. It is great times to just sit with my girls and watch movies with them that I loved and cherished as a child. I created a new memory the other night with my girls, and hope to watch this movie with them many more times in the future. I encourage all who have not watched Anne of Green Gables in a long time to do just that - it is such a wonderful movie and brings back so many wonderful memories!!!!!

Loved and MIssed

Short and sweet and to the point - I MISS MY HUSBAND!!!!!! He truly keeps me going day to day. He brings humor, when there seems to be nothing to laugh about - He offers advice, when I feel all options have been weighed - He creates stabilism, when my world seems off balance - He shares a hug, when all I need is comfort - but most of all - He shows true love, when I need it most!!!!!! I miss you Mark - Only 2 weeks and 1 day!!!!!!

To Sleep or Not to Sleep - That is the Question?

So, as of today, I have a 4 month old. My son has gone through many milestones, he has smiled, he has responded to his name, he has giggled, he has eaten cereal, he has held his own toys and picked up his own toys, and he has as of yesterday rolled over from his belly to his back. However, the one thing that Will just has not mastered is sleeping through the night. Yes, by 4 months, an infant should be sleeping through the night. He will give me wonderful nights full of deep sleep wherein he will sleep from the time I put him down at night (usually around 9:30/10:00) until I wake him up in the morning (usually around 6:30 when I go to work and around 8:30 when I’m at home). However, the last few nights have felt like when he was a newborn, like I am at the hospital and every 3 hours the nurse is coming into my room waking me up taking my vitals and telling me it is time to feed my kid. Like clockwork, he has been up almost every 2 hours, he will start to cry, it starts softly and then gets louder and louder. The whole time I am imagining and hoping that I am just dreaming. But no, it is not a dream. So, I get myself up and go into his room and there he lies with his eyes wide open. Sometimes he will continue to cry until I pick him up. Other times, so help me, I will look down on him and he will actually smile as if to say, yes she heard me and she came! Last night was probably the worst. I probably got a total of 2 hours uninterrupted sleep. Today, I am feeling actually quite well, peppy even. Which makes me ponder? Can I actually handle less sleep, or am I runny on pure adrenaline? I think the answer to this question is purely adrenaline. It takes love to wake up at 2:00, 3:30, and 5:30 and still look forward to coming home to see that dear little one, even if it means facing a night like last night all over again.

Tongue Tied?

How many times have you heard someone say they are tongue tied? When people say the are tongue tied they are basically saying that they can't get their words to come out right. Well, it is actually a medical term as well. My little 4 month old baby is just that - tongue tied. Meaning, the skin under his tongue goes to the tip of his tongue and he can't stick it outside of his lips and he can't reach it up to the top of his mouth. Such a little thing, but it could do some major damage. From my research, being tongue tied could lead to a speech problem, bed wetting, snoring, and (of course in the way future) a problem with kissing. :o) Well, to my dismay I had read that many doctors like to do the wait and see option where they wait until after they are 5 to see if it has caused a problem with their speech. Well, excuse me, but my girls were both speaking rather clearly at 1 1/2 - 2 years old. Their speech is already set by 5, so why wait I asked myself and eventually my doctor. My doctor; however, is rather old school and has agreed that it could cause problems and so she will do just what I wanted - she will CLIP HIS TONGUE!!!! Ouch you say - but I've heard it's not that bad. It is just skin, no fat and no muscles. They just take a tongue depresser and force his tongue upward and take a sharp object and clip - It's done. They don't require stiches and the bleeding is minimal. Now, granted, my doctor has already informed me that I could not be in the room (you know the paranoid mother factor). So, my son (in about 2 weeks) will no longer be medically "tongue tied". Now, I can hopefully stop worrying about what him being tongue tied could do to his speech and the fact that he might have problems kissing some day and start worrying about the fact that he might want to kiss some day.