Dreams. . .

I have always had very vivid dreams. Most of the time they are crazy and make no sense whatsoever. When I was a kid I had some pretty scary ones---some were reoccurring and I would be afraid to go to sleep some nights b/c I would be afraid to have them again. One in particular that I still remember---I would dream that I was dreaming and I would "wake up" and really feel like I woke up but would actually still be sleeping. (Does that make sense?)  At that point my bedroom door would open and this lady that looked like a witch would come in and start walking toward my bed and I would be frozen and unable to move or scream or anything. It was horrible. Then I would wake up for real and be scared to death that I wasn't really awake. I'm praying against things like this for my children. Anyway---I had a horrible dream last night that I was holding Riley and trying to clean up a broken wine glass that Hayley knocked over in and around my bathtub. (I spend so much time in my bath sipping on glasses of wine---must be where that one came from)  : )     I was worried about her stepping on the glass so I was telling her to get away and picking up the glass and I heard splashing and looked down and Riley was completely submerged in the bath---face up looking straight at me. I had somehow managed to drop her in the bath without knowing it. I reached down to get her out and couldn't get a grip on her with my free hand---the other one had broken glass in it. I finally was able to get her out and she had been holding her breath the whole time and was perfectly fine---no coughing, no crying---just fine!  There was more after that----like I left Hayley in a hotel room to watch Riley while I took Jack to some soccer game. But when I went to check on them really quickly---I guess I just left Jack with the "team"--- Riley was closer to 3 years old and Hayley hadn't changed ages, but they were just laying in a bed playing.  WEIRD, huh?  Not sure why I decided to blog about this. If anyone has an interpretation you would like to share, feel free to do so! I believe the Lord still speaks to us in our dreams and it is possible He is saying something to me through these. It is also possible that I simply have vivid, crazy dreams. : )  

On an totally different subject---any Biggest Loser fans glad to see who went home last night? I won't write the name in case anyone hasn't caught up on DVR yet. : )  I LOVE that show. Tra and I are in the middle of se

ason 2 of Prison Break. It's one similar to 24 where every episode leaves you unable to turn it off until you see "just one more."  And we've been LOST fans since day 1. Another show I really like and that I watch in the afternoon sometimes during naptime is Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. And last thing---while I'm on my tv topic---is everyone aware that Beth Moore is on "Life Today" with James and Betty Robison on the Daystar channel every Wednesday?? She speaks for about 20 minutes on certain topics and it is SO good. Today's was especially good---about renouncing strongholds in your life and the power of our words and the power the spoken word has over the Enemy.  Gotta have my "Beth fix" every week! That woman is overflowing the the Holy Spirit like no other person I know! So thankful for people like her in my life who can help steer me in the right direction in my daily walk. 

Last story for this random post---The other day I was at Chesley's house making a "special delivery" and about to leave. I was looking for Jack and couldn't find him. I called his name a couple of times and asked Calista (who was also at Chesley's) if she had seen him. She gave me the weirdest look as if t

o say, "What do you mean have I seen him?"  As I was processing her look I realized. . . I was HOLDING HIM. Yes---I could very possibly be losing my MIND!!  : )  Gotta love "mommy brain."  

And here are the reasons for my loss of brain cells---I wouldn't trade them for ANYTHING!! Thanks, Nana, for the fun package you sent!! Getting ready for Easter!! 

And look at that little Riley smile---most likely laughing at one of the bunnies!  

Jackalopes, Sleep (or lack of) and Dinner

This morning Hayley was eating breakfast and randomly said, "I like Jackalopes. They're good. I like to eat em'."  I sat staring at her w/ a confused look on my face trying to figure out what she was talking about when I realized she was talking about CANTALOUPES!! Ha ha ha!! That kid cracks me up!

Riley slept last night from 11:30-6:50!! That would be even more exciting if Hayley wouldn't have come down to wake me up at 2:30 saying she was soaking wet. I know I will get a whole night's sleep again. . . one day. : ) 

Tra and I got to go out to dinner last night w/ our third wheel (Riley) and had the best time. Riley slept in her carrier the whole time. LOVE that girl. Valentine's day is extra special to us b/c it is our engagement day! It's so fun to think back on that night. He surprised me w/ a proposal after a mere 6 weeks of dating--I know CRAZY. And topped it off with taking me out to dinner and BOTH of our families were there to celebrate with us!!  It was one of my red letter days for sure. And that was 7 years ago---it seems like it was just yesterday! 

A Day Late. . .

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

When I woke up this morning. . .

. . . I didn't think the phrase "Put the poop back in the potty NOW," would have come out of my mouth. GROSS.

I'm so excited---I found a gymnastics place where Hayley and Jack can take a class at the same time! Hayley goes w/ a 3/4 group and Jack and I will do a mommy/me class in a separate group, but we'll all be in the same gym! (Actually, it will be Jack, Riley and me---she'll get to be in the little Snuggly pouch thing if she isn't sleeping in her carrier--which she did today!)  I've been so bummed b/c it is something I've especially wanted to get Hayley into, I just didn't know how to make it work w/ the other 2 tagging along. We did a free trial class this morning and it was so cute watching her do everything. She loved it. I didn't know until we got there that Jack and I could do a class at the same time, so he sat with me in the bleachers while we watched Hayley for an hour. He did pretty good, but did have some meltdowns b/c he wanted to go "pay" too! So I'm looking forward to going back next week and seeing how he does! And an extra special treat--one of her friends from church is also in the class she is in! We didn't know it until we got there today---fun!!

Why did they have to move LOST to Thursdays??? Every Wednesday I've gotten so excited only to have the let down when I remember it isn't until tomorrow night. 

And that's my random post for the day! : )

WHEW!!

Today was one of those days that I imagined in my head it would be like having 3 children. It started out with Hayley getting up earlier than usual and she found me laying on the guest bed in Riley's room (I had fallen asleep there after getting up what seemed like at least 20 times to put the paci back in the mouth.) LOVE IT when that happens. I wake up and feel like I didn't even sleep since I am on top of the comforter and not in my own bed. So I take her back to her room and go down to Riley crying in daddy's arms needing to be fed. (Riley, not daddy) : ) Hayley comes back down as I'm feeding Riley and hangs out with me as I get ready for church. She complains of a tummy ache and I respond every time with, "I'm sure your pretty hungry. It will feel better after you eat." So I make her breakfast, still complains of tummy ache. Says, "Mommy, I have to stay home from church b/c I'm going to throw up." I say, "Noooo, you're fine! We're going to church." We get to church (all 3 kids in coordinating outfits---not typical for me to do but made me want to do more of it--they were so cute!) While sitting on floor w/ Hayley putting her shoes on the right feet : ) she starts to whimper, "If I go to my class I'm going to throw up!" At that point I start to panic. This girl LOVES going to class at church, school, wherever. You don't have to bribe her to go places. I say, "I'm sure you're going to be okay. You'll be fine! (Big smile on my face trying to cover up concern.)" So she goes. We make it through w/o being paged, get in car and head home. And then it happened. For the FOURTH time in her life she threw up in the car. So it's chaos from there for what seemed like the rest of the day. We get home, get 2 clean kids in house, transfer H from car to garage, strip down to take to bath, Riley's screaming at this point, Jack's hungry, Tra's cleaning out car seat/car. CHAOS. So we get everyone situated finally--things are going better. Hayley feels better, is up playing acting FINE, she and Jack take off around the corner and go upstairs (so I thought.) Tra had gone to get the car washed and cleaned out, Riley swinging, I'm eating lunch (finally) talking to my mom on the phone. After a few minutes I head upstairs to check on them and I hear them in my bathroom. So I go in and they are standing in the shower---Hayley has my little pair of scissors in her hand and you can imagine it isn't pretty. Thankfully she didn't think to cut her OWN hair---but she did decide to cut her brother's hair. Lots of hair---chunks in the shower floor, shirt covered in hair. It actually doesn' t look too bad and we're considering having her cut it on a regular basis. : ) Ohhhhh boy. The day ended with Riley crying if she wasn't being held from 5-9 and Hayley again complaining about her stomach and at 9:00 I headed out to the store for my weekly run and actually enjoyed the quiet time in the car and walking around for an hour by myself.

And if you're still reading---(didn't mean for this to be so long!) I guess you need crazy days like this to fully appreciate the days that are semi-normal. What a joy to have these crazy days though. I wouldn't trade them for anything! (Well--- maybe a spa-day) : )

THANK YOU!!!

How cute is this template and header??? Amanda (see link) did this for me and I LOVE IT!! Thank you for using me as a guinea pig! It is going to be extra fun to blog now! 

Bummer!

Apparently the new, cool template I downloaded the other day caused problems on other people's blogs too and erased their links. What is the deal with that??  Oh well---back to my search for a cooler, cuter blog template that doesn't cause problems. : )  Sorry Angela and whoever else was affected by that particular website. For now, I will settle with blogger's pink template.

Riley turned 2 months old yesterday! She is so much better in the evenings lately. She is doing lots of smiling and cooing---so fun! She's also wanting to hang out in the middle of the night more than usual lately. Lots of "bonding time" last night. 

Hayley picked out the book "Love You Forever" last night before bed. I cannot EVER get through that thing w/o choking up! And then I get to the part where the mom drives across town and climbs into her "little boy's" window and crawls across the floor and picks him up and rocks him in her lap and it kind of creeps me out. That's just weird. It is a sweet book though. 

Jack is becoming more and more his own person. Last night I learned he does NOT want his food to mix together---never mix guacamole with his beans!! He screamed and cried about that for several minutes. Tra and I were having a hard time being serious trying to get him under control b/c we were laughing so hard! He is very much into routines at bedtime in particular too. He has a certain order he likes to do things in and heaven forbid if you mess it up! Hayley is actually the same way. Hmmmm. I wonder where they get their OCD-ness? I'll give you a hint---it's NOT from mama. : )  I say that, but I have those tendancies. Our everyday plates and bowls are 3 different colors, and I always make sure to order the colors before I put them up out of the dishwasher b/c I don't want 2 of the same color together. So maybe I'm weirder than I thought. : )  I need to finish this book I "borrowed" from my mom (sorry I haven't returned it yet, mom!) but I love the title---"Everybody's Normal Until You Get To Know Them."  But life would be boring if we were all normal! Hope you other "weirdos" out there have a great day!

A New Look!

I'm so excited about my new blog template---not too excited that somehow my list of "Blogs I Read" was deleted.  That's like losing your cell phone in the sense that I don't have people's blog addresses memorized!! : (  I've been wanting a cuter template for a long time but haven't been able to figure out how to make it happen. This particular one was SUPER easy! The link to the site is on top of my page. It's the nice orange strip that I will change to a softer color if I can ever figure out how. : )

Hope everyone has a great week! 

Road Trip!

Thursday morning Tra went to the dr. and found out he had bronchitis and spent the rest of the day in bed. As I went about my day I thought to myself, "Stay at home and take care of 3 children by myself AND a sick husband, OR take 3 children to Austin to stay w/ parents and celebrate my mom's birthday." Either way would take some serious effort, but I opted for our first road trip of 2008! We said goodbye to dada at 7pm Thursday and were at my parents' house by 10! We didn't stop on the way there. Riley did great and slept the whole way. Hayley slept half of the way, and Jack kept me company the whole time. About an hour outside of Austin he was wanting his juice that he had dropped that I couldn't reach, so I handed him my large chick fil a cup of ice water that was about a quarter filled and he spilled it ALL over himself. I thought about stopping to change him but he stopped screaming after a couple of minutes so I kept on truckin'.  Poor baby was SOAKING wet when we got there. : (   He's the best little kid. We had such a great time being w/ Nana and Big D! My dad was working in Florida all week and we surprised him at the airport Fri. morning by all going to pick him up! Neither of my parents had seen Riley since she was 2 weeks old! Needless to say, they were both very excited to have us hang out for the day yesterday and this morning.

We headed home around 1pm this afternoon and made it back by 5. I stopped to get gas in Belton and ended up feeding Riley and making the dreaded trek into the gas station w/ all THREE children b/c Hayley had to go potty. grrrrrr. At least she let me know she needed to go and didn't go in her car seat. It actually went fine--much better than I played it out in my mind--and we got treats for the rest of the way home. I'm hoping Jack doesn't get sick tonight from eating a whole package of Skittles. : )  Whatever keeps em' happy---if the babies ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!!  : )  I was in such a hurry packing before we left, I forgot my camera. So no pictures of the weekend. It sure was fun! We love you, Nana and Big D!!  (These pictures are of the last time my parents were here---Nana making gingerbread house w/ Hayley and Jack and Big D holding Riley for the first time at family Christmas party!