Guess who is 3 months old?

This little lady is. She is such a good baby and so easy. I do wish she would sleep a little better at night, but we can't have it all. She smiles all the time and just hangs out when she is not sleeping or eating.

Sometimes, when I put her in her swing or chair and go about doing my chores, I forget she is even there because she is so quiet! She is hardly ever fussy and most of the time will give you a big toothless grin.

She has been a true blessing to our family and we love her more and more each day.

Hotel room, men vs women

It is so ironic the way Kevin and I differ in our hotel living vs our actual home living.

At home, I am a super clutter freak. I can not stand clutter. It makes me crazy. The mail stacks on the dining room table and I have to restrain myself from throwing it all in the trash from clutter rage. I have to organize the playroom every week so that I don't go in there and just throw all the junk away. Kevin, on the other hand, completely clutters his side of our bedroom with clothes, magazines, books, a safe (for the moment) and I'm not sure how he gets out of bed.

At a hotel, completely opposite. He puts all his clothes in the closet or dresser. He gets so angry with me because I walk into a hotel room and throw my bag down and then proceed to scatter everything around the room. And now that I'm in charge of 3 bags and lots of clothes for me and the girls, he is so annoyed! It actually makes me a little happy, so he can feel how I feel 360 days of the year. Wha hahahah!

So here is my latest hotel room trashing. It's so freeing for me!

Prayer

This week we lost Kevin's dad, Edward. He had a very risky heart surgery performed on Wednesday. The surgery went well, but after the surgery his body just couldn't survive. He passed away on Thursday afternoon and of course went to be with God.

This is the second time in my life that I have watched someone take their last breathe. I watched my Grandma Rosa Lee take her last breathe and then watched the funeral home take her body away just hours later. Each time I was so grateful that I knew in my heart their souls had gone to heaven already and it was just their body left for us to bury into the Earth.

This time was slightly different though, because Ed was having a high risk surgery done and was basically told he had the choice to have the surgery or he had the choice to wait for a very large aneurism in his heart to burst. He chose the surgery in order to take the chance that it might work and he might survive. He chose the surgery for Nancy and for his grand daughters. He went back and forth on his decision and just the day before, he told Nancy he was not having the surgery done. Of course he did and I assume he knew when they took him back to the operating room, he might not come back. He told Nancy it had been a great 54 years and went in. I am so sad to think of how scared he might have been, but I would like to tell myself that he was peaceful about it.

I caught myself doubting prayer yesterday. I had guilt that maybe I hadn't prayed enough or maybe I wasn't faithful enough or maybe since I had a small amount of doubt he wouldn't survive, he didn't survive. Then I thought, this is God's plan. Well if this was God's plan, why did I even pray about it? I have been a Christian all my life and I strongly believe in prayer, but I had doubt for the first time in 31-3/4 years. It didn't feel good. Maybe it was me grieving? Or maybe it was because I am still struggling with having a newborn, working part time and trying to be a supportive wife/daughter in law, and my mind is tired. My thoughts are tired.

Kevin and I discussed it and Kevin was so insightful and so at peace with Ed's death. He was so grateful his Dad didn't suffer. He could have been in a vegetative state or he could have been in pain, but he really never came out of sedation and when they removed the ventilator it only was a few minutes before he took his last breathe. Kevin feels God was kind and merciful to his Dad. I see that, but I am still struggling with my thoughts and wrapping my hands around the situation.

If he didn't have the surgery, how much longer would he have lived? I will never know the answer and now I must pray that God will help me have faith to believe that he did what was best for Ed and for Nancy. I want to believe that and I want to be grateful he did not suffer at all, and I am.

I do miss him already, so does Sallie. We stayed the night with Nancy last night and Sallie told me quietly that she missed Pop Pop. She has not cried, but she was very quiet the whole time we were there. He was a wonderful man and we will miss him. I pray for Nancy and Kevin that after the dust settles and everyone is gone, they can grieve quietly and that they are truly at peace with his passing.

The many faces of a 3 year old

This is what a typical day looks like with my 3 year old:

Happy one minute, sad the next, mad, and of course silly. She's gorgeous in all of them!

July happenings

Lulie is 2 months old today. She is doing really well. She has a little bit of a tooting problem, but that runs in her Mother's side of the family. Other than that, she is healthy and easy. I am very grateful for her health and I am very aware of how blessed we are to have 2 healthy children.

She sleeps fairly well. She does not really sleep as much during the day as Sallie Rose does, but it probably also because she has so many places to go with her big sister that she doesn't have time to sleep. I feel as if sometimes she is in her car seat more than she is at home. She just goes with the flow. I am sure that she will be a more laid back child than Sallie Rose, just for the fact that she has to be. Her World is much busier and much louder than Sallie's was. I was the 4th child and that is why I am so cool as a cucumber. :) Not really.

Lulie eats well, and just last night she slept from 9 pm to 7:30 am. She woke up once and I gave her a pacifier and she slept through the entire night. I am not sure that this will be the norm, but I think we are getting close to her sleeping through the night on a regular basis. I am very happy for that. Although, I haven't really minded getting up with her once a night to feed. I am a lot more relaxed about not sleeping than I was with Sallie. Sallie Rose trained us a lot for this 2nd child. She is our coach.

Sallie Rose has been really wonderful lately. We are all finally adjusting to our new life. It only took 2 months! She is still very Mommy needy, but not as bad and not so much in a bad behavior anymore, but more loving. I can't blame her, I am pretty fun to be around. :) Once again, not really. Sallie has been taking swim lessons once a week. The first 2 lessons were dreadful and she cried the whole time and would not put her face under water. Then, the 3rd lesson she cried less and went under water. And finally, she is getting more comfortable with the fact that her hair and face will get wet in the pool. Not to mention, we were at a friend's house the other night and she almost drowned. It was very scary, but she also realized that she needed to learn to swim in order to be safe and have fun with her friends. And it reassured me that however painful it was for me to watch her cry during lessons, it is would be a lot more painful to have her unsafe in the water.

Sallie Rose is also head over heels in love with her baby sister. I am so glad that she loves her so much. She just sits and watches her sometimes and laughs at her "tiny hiny". She is so happy to have her around and she can't wait for her to crawl and play with her. I hope that their love for each other grows and that they never have a sibling rivalry that causes deep seeded jealousy. I try not to compare them in any way and I always try to give each of them the attention they need. I hope that we can continue this way and have 2 girls that are best friends.

I am back to work again. As nice as it is to get out of the house, I forgot how much work and drama I have to deal with at the rentals. My first full day back, I stepped on a used "contraception" in our parking lot. We have our summer prostitutes back apparently. So, I dealt with calling the cops, getting a gate lock and so on for the first full week back. I would much rather have a babysitter come over and me go lay by the pool or go shopping or workout. Of course everyone wants that.

We are doing well here in the scorching hot, humid Savannah and we are enjoying our new addition.

The crying games

This week the theme at our house is crying. It is so hard to watch my babies cry, but I know as long as they are safe it is fine.

Sallie started swim lessons last week and she is always so excited to go but when we get there it is nothing but crying and screaming. I am not even sure why she cries, all she is doing is swimming with the girl and occasionally having to go under water. We do all these things at the pool when we go. So, I stand outside and listen to her cry while she does swim lessons. I know eventually she will stop being scared and learn to swim, which of course is a necessity in my book to keep her safe.

Lulie is now 7 weeks old and I have begun her sleep training. I did it at the same age with sallie rose. She was beginning the routine of falling asleep in my arms and then the minute I put her in her bed, she would wake up crying. So began the crying it out method. I put her down a little awake and she cries. I comfort her every 5 to 10 minutes until she falls asleep on her own. Not fun. 45 minutes is usually how long it takes. We have had 2 rounds of it already and hopefully it will begin to take less time and only a couple of days.

Then there's Kevin. He has been sick and very tired and he cries a lot too. Only I don't comfort him, I let him cry it out for hours before I just kick him out of the house. :) kidding

It has been a hard 7 weeks with a newborn, my father in law's health issues and of course the lack of sleep. Some days I wouldn't trade it for the world and other days I would trade it for a good 2 hour nap. But usually when I am gone from the house for more than a couple of hours I miss my little family so much.

I look forward to a fun summer.

Lulie- 6 weeks

I can not believe Lulie is already 6 weeks old, tomorrow. It has already gone by so quickly. Overall, she has been a great and easy baby. She basically sleeps good at night and just hangs out during the day with a few short naps throughout the day. Until yesterday, when she evidently was not doing well on the formula we were giving her. She has been a little fussy and gassy for a while since she has been on all formula, but I didn't really think much about it; however, the night before last she was up every 30 minutes crying and tooting.

I decided to switch her formula yesterday and she seemed so much better last night. She is still sleeping as I type, which is unusual for her to be asleep this late. We are not on a real set schedule, but we are getting there. I am still trying to learn her patterns and it is hard sometimes when I have such a busy day with Sallie Rose to try and pay a lot of attention to the fine details of Lulie. I feel bad about it, but this is the life of a 2nd child.

She stills has a full head of black hair and she is definitely growing, but she is still very tiny and petite like Sallie Rose was. I love holding her tiny little body up close. I never really enjoyed that stage with Sallie Rose, I was always looking to put her down so I could sleep, work, etc. I wish I would have done more of that with Sallie, but this time I know to enjoy these moments, because very soon she will be 3 1/2 and all you will be doing is washing her mouth out with soap, putting her in time out, or taking away her toys and occasionally have a good time with her.

Speaking of 3 1/2 year olds, Sallie Rose is doing really well. She has been such a good big sister. She genuinely loves Lulie and wants to be with her all the time. She can't wait for her to wake up and will stand by her cradle and see if her eyes are opening. She kisses her and laughs at her to see if she will smile. She calls her "Lulie Belle" or "baby Lulu". She has been so great with her and I love seeing her eyes light up when she sees her in the morning or when we pick her up from school.

We are still having some problems with her being a little naughty though. She loves to argue and talk back and I am trying so hard to stay consistent and discipline her so that she will not be a disrespectful brat. I take away videos and toys on a daily basis and I am constantly having to remind her to "act right". She seems to do fine at school and everywhere else, but at home she loves to test the limits. She also gets really tired and cries over the littlest things, but she refuses to take a nap. She will intentionally do something (like throw a toy) knowing that I will discipline her (throw away anything that she throws or slams down) and then when I do, she falls to the ground screaming. It is really frustrating and I am crossing my fingers that with continued discipline and encouragement, this will pass soon. I feel like this has been going on for months now.

When she is in a good mood and we are not having to discipline her constantly, she is so fun and silly and I love to be with her. She loves to play pretend things, like school or church. She still loves to dress up and she still loves to do anything artistic. We go outside a lot and color with chalk or just water the flowers. She also loves to play with other kids. I really love my girls and am so thankful for them, even when they are naughty. Ask me that in 12 years when I have a 15 and 12 year old.

Look how happy Kevin is to have 3 girls!