Going to see baby Alex

I'm so excited that I FINALLY get to meet my nephew, Alexander Joseph Lane! I'm driving down on Monday with Rachel. The boys are staying behind. I'll miss them dearly, but I figured that I wouldn't get much time to visit with Wendy or Alex if I had to keep up with my precious son! So, Rachel and I leave early Monday morning and we'll returen Tuesday night. It'll be short, but at least we'll finally get to talk, hug and spend some time together. I have really missed my sweet sister since she moved to Bainbridge and we can't just get together on a moment's notice. We talk several times a day, so we know what we're doing and going through, but there's something special about seeing people in person. Anyway, we can't wait to get there and squeeze our newest family member and of course, congratulate the Lanes. I'm sure I'll have LOTS of pictures to post when we get home.

MK Debut

It's on my mind and it's tomorrow. I have NO idea if anyone is coming or not. I got a few regrets, but not many. At the least, mom, Deborah and my MK director, Jennifer Slape, will be there. Que sera-sera! (Or however you spell it!) Whatever will be will be! I have to start somewhere and a debut is a fine start...even if no one shows up. I do love MK products, how they feel...what they do for my skin...so I am happy to endorse such a great product...even if I don't get to share with many tomorrow. :)

Hold for Pick up

In light of my Mary Kay debut this Sunday, I had to go to the MK distribution center today to get my order. (I placed the order too late to have it shipped to my house, so it was "held for pick up.) The dist. center is all the way in Suwanee, and on a Friday afternoon, it took forever to get there! I called Nick and asked if he would go with me and the kids and then we would go to the Mall of Ga. as a special treat. This was not exactly what he wanted to do after a long, HOT day at work, but he drove us all the way there anyway. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the Dist. center and then we waited in line for about 5 minutes, then we got in more traffic trying to get onto I-85 to get to the Mall. The mall was very crowded...apparently it's quite the hang-out spot for teens. But, it wasn't so crowded that it was unenjoyable. The kids were SO excited when they saw the Merry Go Round and they both rode a horse with Nick standing between them. It was hard to stay grumpy and tired for too long when we saw their sweet, smiling faces and heard their excitement as they rode around and around. Bradley squealed the whole time and Rachel would pat her horse on the neck, telling it to "go" and waved enthusiastically every time she passed me. (I let them ride without me...I've done it quite a few times, and sometimes it makes me a little nauseated!) We ate supper after that and then threw some pennies into the wishing fountain and played in the Kidgits playzone. We ended with a cookie from Great American Cookie Company and then headed home. We turned a rather boring, FAR travel into a great time, and I think the kids agreed. Thanks for being a good sport, hunny, and driving us all the way into forbidden land...GWINNETT COUNTY!!!

LOOOOOOOOOOOONNGG Day!

I see your hiney...all cute and shiny!

Today was a long day! It started at 6:30 because we had to go to the ENT this morning. It was a follow up to have Bradley's ears checked to see how his tubes are draining. Turns out, they're doing great...thank goodness! I wasn't sure if water was collecting in his ears or not since it's very hard to keep water completely out of his ears. Even in the tub, with vaseline covered cotton balls, Bradley still likes to lay his head back and sorta "float" in the tub. Of course, when he does this, water gets in his ears. Anyway, I was very glad to hear that the amounts are apparently small enough not to cause any damage to his tubes. We left there and went to "Old McDonald's" as Rachel sometimes calls it and played on the indoor playground and had lunch. It was so stinkin' hot, I couldn't imagine playing on an outdoor playground right now! Rachel and Bradley had so much fun playing with the handful of other kids who were already playing. It's so neat that kids make friends with other kids instantly. They don't have to know anything about each other, no names, no background, no toy preference, they just want to play. How neat to be a kid!

Next, we had to go to Kroger. We went through there as quickly as we could and then sweated to death just walking to the car to unload the groceries! We don't usually run so many errands on days when we have gymnastics, but it just worked out that the ENT appointment was today, and since we were already out and trying to reserve gas by running more than one errand on a trip, we were out longer than usual. Oh well! We were all pretty tired when we got home, but I was cutting it really close to Bradley's nap time. As it turns out, I had sorta missed the "window" where he'll willingly and easily lay down and go to sleep. He kept crying and fussing, so I went in to rock him. I had only been rocking him for about 5 minutes (and he was NOT going to sleep) when I heard Rachel crying and screaming in pain. I knew this was a serious cry, so I took Bradley into the den and Rachel was holding her eye and crying. Apparently, she was trying to do flips into the rocking chair/recliner and she somehow stumbled or missed the chair and hit the corner of her eye on the lever that releases the foot rest. It took me a long time to understand exactly how she did it. At first, she was just crying and pointing in the chair's direction. After a little while, she calmed down and told me more of what happened. She said, "I try to be gentle but I stumble and hit my eye." Anyway, thankfully, she hit to the right of her right eye instead of IN her eye. It's tender to touch and a little puffy, and I'm sure she'll have a little bruise, but thankfully, she didn't do more damage. Why do my kids have to be such monkeys!!!???? So, we all sat still and chilled out for a half hour or so until we had to leave for gymnastics. Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way there and I let Bradley take a long nap in the car while Rachel was doing gymnastics. (I was able to park at the door, keep the car running, watch Rachel take off her shoes and join her friends and then I got back in the car.) Rachel had a blast at gymnastics. Right now, it's just her, Raquel and Camryn. Those 3 girls have so much fun together! I think some more kids are moving into the class next week, so it'll be interesting to see if/how the dynamics change. Anyway, we came home, fixed and ate supper and then Nick took the kids outside with him while he weeded the garden and I cleaned the dishes. Almost every night, the kids want to get in their baby pool and splash, make a huge mess, etc... Who can blame them in this heat! But, I looked out one time and saw Bradley sitting in a huge pile of dirt in the garden, very contentedly playing and getting nasty while Nick worked. Rachel was still in the baby pool. At about 7:30, we all came in and I stripped the kids down. For some reason, maybe because they feel so free, the kids LOVE to run around NAKED! They did this for a good 10 minutes and just giggled and giggled! Running around the kitchen and den is their new favorite pasttime! Little sillies! So, I gave the kids a bath and put them to bed. I'm so tired and ready to get in bed myself! G'night!

Summer time

Today was so hot it made it clear that summer is here! I met my old teaching friend, Holly, for lunch in Grayson. She also let me practice my Mary Kay dialogue on her with a facial. It was really fun for me...I hope she enjoyed it. She looked gorgeous, but she's a pretty girl anyway, so it wasn't hard to enhance her beauty. Anyway, I had a great "break" from the kids and on my way to pick them up from Gege's house, I decided to get our swim stuff and hop in the pool before coming home. How refreshing it was!!! I had been sweating soooooo much from doing nothing, and I just couldn't resist the thought or sight of the pool. So, we all swam for a couple of hours and felt so much better even though the water has warmed up considerably just since the weekend. I'm sure by August it will feel like a "too-warm" bath and not be refreshing at all. Oh well, such is a Georgia summer! On my way to pick up the kids, I couldn't help but reflect on how blessed I am. I'm so free to do fun things! I got to have lunch with an old friend, show off a product I love, leave my kids with their grandmother and not worry for one second, drive around in a very comfy air-conditioned car while listening to whatever I wanted, cool off from the scorching heat in a beautiful pool and then go home to a comfortable place where I could relax for the evening until bed.

Thank you, God, for the MANY blessings you have bestowed on me. I do not deserve them one bit and I know these simple, earthly things do not at all compare to the real gift, real blessing, you gave me...my salvation. The fun and freedom I experience here in this life is nothing like what I will experience for eternity. Wow!!! What an incredible, incomprehensible thought!

Lessons from Bradley

Although I love Bradley just as much as I love Rachel, he teaches me much different lessons than she does. He is so curious, so adventurous, so impulsive, so loving, so sweet, so demanding, so Bradley!

A few weeks ago, I had been doing laundry. (The mounds never seem to get any smaller!) I also have a terrible system...I wash and wash and wash, but seldom fold and put away. I think in our next house, I don't want dressers or drawers, I just want HUGE closets, a HUGE laundry room and lots of laundry baskets. That way the clothes will be where they're supposed to be! Anyway, I had been in the laundry room getting clean clothes out of the dryer, and took a load into the den to (never be) folded. I think I started another load in the washer and then was just picking up toys or something. I saw Rachel playing, but didn't see Bradley. I could hear him so I thought he must be in his room or Rachel's. I checked both places and he wasn't there. So, I peeked in our tiny laundry room and didn't see him. Then, the dryer door popped open and there was Bradley...IN the dryer!!! Thankfully, it was cool because I hadn't done a load in the dryer for a few hours. I thought it was funny, but I was also alarmed because who knows what trouble he could get into in there. He hadn't been able to close the door, but still, I don't think that's the best place to play. So, the little explorer has taught me to ALWAYS keep the dryer door closed!

He has also taught me many times that he's interested in his diapers and what's in them. You would think that I would have learned my lesson by now. Well, yesterday we were just playing after lunch. Rachel had to go potty...#2 and as I was helping her wipe, I noticed some poo on her shirt. I thought, how on earth did that happen? But, I just took her shirt off and told her to get a new one. Anyway, I was on the phone and noticed that Bradley was messing with the tv...changing settings so the program went blank. I walked over to him and accidentally said the inappropriate "s-word" that was all over his legs. So, I guess he had pooped a little earlier and decided to put his hands in it and rub it on his legs...how nasty!!!! He must have also gotten it onto Rachel! I was horrified and grabbed him and put him in the tub...with his clothes on. Thankfully Rachel was my big helper! She went and got me the soap and a towel since we were in the hall bathtub, which has none of our bathing supplies. I also instructed her to go watch tv in my room since I wasn't sure where all the poop was. YUCK!!! I cleaned up Bradley, who wasn't in the least bothered by any of this disgusting mess. Then, I began inspecting for poop. I'm not going to tell you where I found a couple of smudges because I know I'm already going to have fewer and fewer people who willingly come over, and I don't want you to have to think about exact locations. Thankfully, I only found 2 smudges in the whole house. So, I think I caught him before he did too much damage. Lessons here: watch Bradley EVERY second, change him immediately after a poop, go up a diaper size. I think he may be ready for the size 5's in diapers now. We've noticed a little pee leaking out during the night...so that may also explain the poop, maybe there's just not enough room in there. And, I really do change his poop very quickly after it happens, but I guess I don't want to let him know it's there and have a chance to "explore". Also, I may need to introduce him to the potty! As for watching him every second, I do the best I can, but apparently he requires a little more.

Anyway, sorry for the disgusting details and for making you wary of visiting! This is just our crazy life that I love...poop and all!

Thank you Bradley, for reminding me to be on my toes, never assume you're not into something, and for being so precious, curious, loving and embracing every part of your life...even the crappy parts! :)

Sunday...

Just a quick run around the den before bath!
This is fun!

Yea! Me and Bay can run so fast!

Little Amish kids

I like my hat!

Sweet girl and Papa

Dancing...

I LOVE my bonnet and my bunny loves his hat!

what a great day! We made it to church AGAIN! I got to hear the awesome worship service and then take part in the Lord's Supper. That's always such a humbling experience, breaking bread with fellow believers who are remembering just exactly what Jesus did for us, when we didn't deserve it even the tiniest bit. WHEW! Then I took both kids to the nursery and Rachel did great...she immediately started playing with the other kids. Bradley did too! He started playing and making himself comfortable, obviously feeling familiar with the situation. I was so excited! There were some super nice nursery workers in there and we chatted for a while. I then slipped out for a few minutes to see how Bradley would do. I left exact instructions as to "Bay's" whereabouts in case Bradley needed him. I was gone for about 2 minutes and I heard the hysterical tears. I let the workers do their best for about 5 more minutes and then I went back to the nursery. I slipped back in and comforted Bradley and he was fine. He played again and was very comfortable as long as I was in there. So, I stayed for a while longer. Then, I slipped into the bathroom and no tears. I came back in and he continued to do well. So, we're definitely making progress. I only heard about 4 minutes of the sermon, but every little bit is wonderful. Anyway, we left there, went to eat lunch at Zaxby's and then came home for a rest. Bradley took a nap, Nick rested and Rachel and I rested and did crafts.

We were pleasantly surprised when Nana called and said she and Pop were heading back from Athens and wanted to stop by. They stayed for just a little while, but it was nice chatting and looking at Nana's pictures. Rachel made us "buy" a dog from the pet shop in my bedroom and then we had to show off the dog's trick. Funny girl!

We were also glad to see Gege and Papa on their return home from Ohio. They had been in Berlin, in Amish Country. They brought us back some yummy Amish cheese, bread, chocolates, popcorn and both kids a children's Amish hat. The amish boys wear straw hats with the thin, black ribbon on it, and the girls wear pretty little white bonnets. Rachel was thrilled to see hers and couldn't WAIT to put it on. She thought it was so pretty that she went and picked out a "pretty" outfit from her room that she thought went well with her bonnet. She was quite precious in her enthusiasm to wear the bonnet. She also put a hat on her bunny and carried it around with her. Bradley was hot, tired and thirsty, so he wasn't into wearing his hat at first. But, once he saw how it looked on Papa, he decided to put it on. So, I grabbed some pictures of the kids in their "Amish-wear". How cute!!! Thanks Gege and Papa for the yummy delicacies and the adorable hats!

What a fun grandparent-filled day!