Good grief!

I have a party in 5 days. Who's dumb idea was that? If you're a friend and weren't invited, please remember we still love you. We just have way too much family in the area. That's why we try to celebrate at church or small group or bible study. It's also part of the reason I've been begging to move away! If you're family, I'm kidding and love you a ton and am so glad Eric's kept us here!

Eric's promotion

The FREAKIN' Maradmins (what tells us if he's getting promoted or not) aren't out yet. If he gets promoted it will happen on Wednesday. Is it really too much to ask to know more than a day in advance? Though I guess so since he didn't know about the boards more than the day before. I HATE the military mentality sometimes. All in all it's not a bad life, but if I have to hurry up and wait one more time I'm going to scream. It's been a trimester worth of a pregnancy already. I'd be a third of the way through growing a baby! Come on people!

PS Sorry I used bad words but it was fitting at the moment.

No more diapers!

At least for Ziggy. She's been day trained-for the most part-since the end of February. I just told her I wasn't going to put anymore diapers on her. It took about 5 days until we had hit all the regular bathrooms-stores, church, other people's house-and she stopped freaking out about using other potties. But I gave away her last handful of diapers the other day. We were still using them at night. Mainly she's out of them more on my part (Eric actually helped last night too!) than hers. I get up and take her at least once. If I don't then she still pees. I'd set up an alarm in her room but the smart, evil child unplugged it and put it back in her sister's room within an hour. So we'll try that again whenever I get around to it. But I'm so excited; there goes $4o a month. Yea!

Some days. . .

Some days I just want to run away. This is looking like one of those days and it's not even 8 am.

SIGH

That was my day yesterday. First Vee got her diaper off and pooped on the floor-I know, great way to talk, Jess. That was the first thing I heard out of Zoe-"Mama, Baby pooped!!!!!!!" So I cleaned it and her up. SIGH. Then I started a Leapster purse for ClaireBeth. The only case you can find is blue and doesn't hold many games. It's also like $20, as is the elusive pink backpack, which also has no padding. So yesterday I endeavored to make ClaireBeth a padded purse with a pocket for storage. It took like 6 or 7 hours. I am the worst sewer in the world. BIG SIGH. Then Eric, who was supposed to be home around 10:30, didn't make it home until at least after 4. I had lost track at that point because I was still struggling with that stupid purse. I almost know what I'm doing, so maybe the next one won't be so bad. HUGE SIGH. Eric offered to finish it for me, but I'm trying to learn to do it on my own. I also still have two slings to make and I'd like to learn how to make cart covers, maybe bedding and car seat pads. Maybe I'll start my own line, who knows. I did end up chatting with a friend on facebook that I hadn't seen in 6 years. She asked for baby advice so I had plenty to talk about.

I'm here.

Hi, I'm still here. I've been trying to clean while the girls are occupied/sleeping and when they're awake they try to help too much to type. I'll write soon!

Baby storage

The girls were all in their bathroom and the door was shut. I had told ClaireBeth and Ziggy to go take a shower. Since Vee was in there I figured she was getting clean too. When I went in she was in the cupboard sitting on towels playing with hair stuff. Not where I expected her.

Happy Birthday Haylie Dean!!!

Haylie's 5 today. Yea!!!

What did you say?

Vee's starting to talk and she has 4 or 5 sounds that stand for words. My favorites are OOOO for shoe and didi for thank you. The rest of it sounds like Bibble from Barbie's Fairytopia. And unfortunately I'm starting to understand what both puffballs say.

I'm stuck here again

So it's one of those days, weeks even, where I've been feeling lonely again. I'm doing Beth Moore's Living Free. I'm in week 5 (we're discussing week 6 on Wednesday and I've never actually made it to the group if that tells you anything) and while a lot of the study has been great and very convicting, day 3 was perfect for today-see, I knew there was a reason I was behind. I'm not lazy it was God's timing! Just kidding!

The title is Overcoming Feeling Unloved. I feel it more now because the little girls are clingy and dependent (normal for just turned three and one), Eric is at work or asleep 95 % of the time and I don't have a best friend as it were. Every time I feel like this the house becomes a disaster, I get easily frustrated and snappy with the girls and Eric doesn't have the energy to deal with the way I'm acting when he comes home so he doesn't even bother, which usually means that we spend less time together which just makes everything worse.

Obviously I've been trying to fill a need in my life with my family. Sometimes I shop to avoid the house and so I don't have to be alone with the girls (note: this does not work since they're exhausted from being out and about all day and they melt down and I explode). I read to escape. I eat worse and definitely don't exercise, not that that happens much anyway. Since I'm gone all the time the house falls farther behind so I don't want to be there. It's a hard cycle to break. And all through the misery and pain I hear a voice saying "Talk to me. I love you. I always have and always will. You are my precious daughter whom I ransomed from a life like this and yet you still choose to live like this. Let me help you."

Only God can love you unconditionally. No matter what you've done or are doing right now can turn God away from you. We might think we have this kind of love on earth but humans are weak. Feelings change, people move, bodies die. God is trying to woo you constantly. He loves you and wants you to know Him and love Him too. He doesn't need it. He desires it. He desires you.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life. John 3:16. Meaning that God loved us so much that He let His son die to pay for all of the things that separated you and me and everyone from Him. Whoever believes that and accepts that and lives their life in God will have life with Him on earth and after we die. For someone who loves like that our feelings-which are not truth or concrete-can look rather silly I'm sure.

If you ever feel alone or unloved, know that God is there waiting for you to call out to Him. You don't know what to say, just tell Him you are there and want to be with Him.

The following is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman called Live out Loud. Sometimes I live as though I'm not one of God's children, knowing of His love and that He has a plan for me. This reminds me of that feeling.

Imagine this…I get a phone call from Regis

He says, “Do you want to be a millionaire?”

They put me on the show and I win with two lifelines to spare

Now picture this…I act like nothing ever happened

And bury all the money in a coffee can

Well, I’ve been given more than Regis ever gave away

I was a dead man who was called to come out of my grave

And I think it’s time for makin’ some noise

Veezee Bee

Since I wrote about Ziggy on her birthday I'll write about Vee now. Vee's 16 months old. Actually she hit 16 months the same day Ziggy turned three as they're 20 months apart exactly. I remember waking up that morning at a quarter to 4 and saying "Okay God, we might as well have her today. It will be easy to remember and they'll all end in zeros. Let's go, let's go, let's go." He laughed at me and let me wait almost 13 hours before I had her. I had been hoping for January 20th. It was 4 weeks early but as long as she was healthy that fit in the pattern, all starting with Js and having a 10, a 20 and a 30. Am I the only one who notices patterns like that? Sometimes I feel like Harold Crick in Stranger Than Friction just not as good at math.

So Vee. She has light brown hair and huge brown eyes that look like they're going to change to hazel. My eyes went from chocolate brown the hazel when I was 5. Eric's eyes went from blue to blue/green (like ClaireBeth's) when he was 14. So who knows when they'll change. She's a petite little thing that still wears 12 month clothes and she's not growing out of them any time soon. As to her personality, she is something else. Definitely the baby in the family in that if one of us sits down she considers us her personal furniture. At this point she will first attempt a warning push to claim her rightful spot. If that doesn't work she'll get physical, which of course is stopped right away. Her temper is starting to get the best of her. I'm not sure what happened. One day she was the typical sweet little cuddly baby and now she's the rotten little typical toddler. I missed the transition. Vee started walking at 9 months before she was really self-assertive. Now she's called The Boss by some of the nursery workers at church and she thinks it's true.

Don't get me wrong, she's a sweetie. She helps clean, she likes My Little Ponies and will put princess mega blocks on top of cars and drive them around. She loves singing and dancing and bubbles. She's a typical toddler. I just haven't actually wanted to realize it yet.

The bestest birthday presents ever!

Gee and me

Playtime with Daddy

Future beauty queen. Where's my tiara?

You can't prove this is Sissy's chair!

Zoe's first day as a three year-old

Today she woke up to Mama and sisters singing happy birthday. I always decorate their rooms, or beds if they share. Then we had smoothies for breakfast and took ClaireBeth to school. After that we went and got three balloons that matched her dress for pictures and got her birthday pictures taken. We went to the library and had Carl's Jr for lunch. Daddy came home and ate with us. We watched Diego from the library and then went to the commissary to get her birthday dinner-chicken nuggets, pizza and mashed potatoes. She got a pony that she lost before we got to the freeway due to her atrocious behavior, but it didn't do much good because she got her birthday present when we got home. She is now the proud owner of Groovy Girl Ellie Mae and her show winning pony. Then of course comes cookies with candles and then bedtime-Mama's favorite part. It's been a long three years.

Ziggy Pics

If only she was this peaceful when she was awake.
Queen of the tower at Vee's first birthday.
Daddy's girl!
Good morning! I'm three today.
Three-year-old on the loose.

Yippee!!! Zoe Isabel's three!!!

Zoe Isabel is three today. Born at 2:04 am at 6 lbs, 13 ounces and 20 inches-a monster, right?-she is now 37 inches and 31 pounds. She was actually our biggest baby. Thank goodness! She has bright blue eyes and medium blonde hair, and a huge personality. You know when Zoe arrives. It's been a great three years. Here's hoping for many more!

P.S. Like a dork I can't get my xD card to work, so when Eric gets home I'll get pictures up. I hope.

Another chance

Well, another week is here and a fresh start to try to live my life as it should be lived, meaning not for me and by my own strength-which is why I feel like I'm floundering-but for God and by His strength. Another chance to try to instill habits that I should already have. Like cleaning, and talking and reading with God and playing with the girls. Then once I have the habits teaching them to the girls. I'm supposed to get up at 5:00. Then the next two hours should be habits for me. The next hour and a half are habits for the girls. I just don't always-meaning usually-get up when I should. If I do, I don't always do what I should. Which is stupid because my day goes so much more smoothly when I do.

So today I'll try again. I'll get up in about two hours, take a shower and get dressed. Then I'll go out to the car, get my bible study bag and read at least some of the two chapters I've had two weeks to read in Having a Mary Heart In A Martha World. It's a great book, but it deals with busyness, which is not my problem. Do they have any bible studies on laziness? I'll have to check that out. After that I'll work in the kitchen. Monday is my free day but the kitchen really needs it.

So as to cleaning, I set one day for one type of room. Mondays are free, for like a set time to work on laundry or hall closets or an area that really needs it. Tuesdays are kitchen days, with the floor scrubbing and wall wiping. Wednesdays are living room/dining room/toy room, with the dusting and a little reorganization. Thursdays are bathroom days, with the tubs and the floor scrubbing and the wall wiping. Fridays are bedrooms with the sheet changing and the dusting. Hopefully it all takes me less than an hour, because I start at 6:00 and the girls get up at 7:00. If I have to vacuum I usually do it after I take ClaireBeth to school though. No use trying to make the neighbours hate us, I'm sure they don't need any help.

Then I hope to get a chance to play with the girls. It seems like all I do is try to clean or hide. Some days hiding wins. They should make you fill out an application to be allowed to have children, seriously.

So here's to praying and hoping I have a productive day. It might just change the whole week.

You know it's going to be a GREAT day when. . .

you open the nursery door and are overwhelmed by the smell of poop. Now usually you can tell when Vee needs a diaper change, but this wasn't normal. I don't even know what happened, but whatever it was it must have been gross. There were thin little bits on the carpet and some of it is stuck, so now I have to clean the upstairs carpet, which I've avoided doing for the last 14 months we've lived here. There was also some in her hair and under her nails. She slept with Ziggy last night, so I had to give them both a bath. Not my favorite thing because it's not Vee's favorite thing and it is Ziggy's favorite thing, which results in lots of messes. I had to close off their room until I have a chance to disinfect everything. I should have said I wasn't going to be a mom today and just taken the day off. Oh well, the best way to look at it is I have only 18 years left to bring the last one up to follow God then they're officially all the way His.

The Man Rules

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down
Finally, the guys' side of the story.
We always hear "the rules" from the female side.
Now here are the rules from the male side.

These are our rules! Please note, these are all numbered "1 " ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon
or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to
almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help
solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.


1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in
an argument.
In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.


1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways
and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one

1. You can either ask us to do something
Or tell us how you want it done. Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it
yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have
to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and
neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows
default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin
is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched.
We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We
will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer
to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything
you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you
are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball or golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.
Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;
But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can -
to give them a laugh.

Pass this to as many women as you can -
to give them a bigger laugh.


My husband sent this to me, which is an oddity because I didn't know he even had an email address. If there are any mistakes, remember, a man wrote this and a woman can only correct so much. I still haven't seen "our" rules, but the guys think we have them out there some where. This must make them feel better.

You'll never guess what I'm doing!!

I'm cleaning my bedroom and bathroom! Poor Eric came home last night. I wasn't expecting him until at least Friday. And you could tell by the house. The hallway upstairs can't even be walked through. You have to hop. Vee crawls and I keep an eye on her in case she gets buried. My suitcase is still in our room. At this rate I might as well leave it out until I go to Ohio. My bathroom had so much hair on the counter you could have made a Locks For Love wig. So my room's close to clean, just have to dust and dump the girls' stuff in their rooms and vacuum. YEA!! The bathroom needs the toilet and floors scrubbed. If you're asking, "Well, why aren't you doing it?", it's because I'm stalling, duh! The worst part is that I worked (for the most part) through like 3 hours of Harry Potter trying to get it done. Well, off I go to contemplate finishing. But then again C.S. Lewis's A Horse And His Boy seems more fun.

Aiyanna Hope

My father-in-law's girlfriend's son's baby was born close to midnight last night. A little girl named Aiyanna Hope. 5 lbs, 9 ounces and 19 1/2 inches I think. I deleted the message, sorry. It sounds like everyone's doing fine!

I recant!

Please, name your children anything you want. Maybe then we won't all name our kids the same thing. I typed in Claire Elizabeth just for fun and was astounded at the number of returns. Veronica Lizette wasn't as bad at least, though I'm surprised at how many people spelled it wrong like Eric did. For Zoe Isabel I found someone who named their gerbils Zoe and Isabel, along with all the little girls with the same name. I wonder how she'll feel about that. I thought it was funny when I found someone who had named their cat Jessica. Oh my poor darling daughters. I was hoping to save them all from the sadness of being lost in the crowd even in their own classroom and of course the using of the deplorable last initial. Oddly enough, though, ClaireBeth is the only one in her school with our last name. For our last name that is really surprising.

Good things about not sharing a bathroom-a husband's perspective.

*There aren't five eye shadows the same color that my wife insists are all different left all over the bathroom.

*I don't trip over the scale in the middle of the night that my secretly weight-obsessed wife left out.

*There aren't tampons with three different colored wrappers all over the place because I can lock the cabinet so Baby doesn't get into them. Why do they need three different colors anyway?

*No one cares if I leave the toilet seat up just once.

*There's no hair on the counter.

*I can empty out the 15 bottles of product in the shower. Good old Zest is all you need.

*It doesn't matter what color towel I use to wash my face dry my hands or after a shower.

*I always put the toothpaste away.

*No one's yelling for me to bring more toilet paper because the baby threw it in the wet bathtub.

Obviously these are written by the wife, and we won't include the gross ones.

You're a star!

Yea!!! I got a picture up! Since Ziggy turns three next week, I thought I'd show you what her first cake looked like. Eric decorated it. Don't ask about last year's. Needless to say Daddy was at work and Mama was stuck doing the cake and it showed.

The good things about not sharing a bed.

So Eric went back to work this week and won't be home until at least Friday. There are some advantages to this, like not having to share the bed.

*I can leave my bible study stuff out and open next to me for when I wake up.

*I can use all the blankets I want because the Human Heater isn't next to me yelling "It's burning up!!!!!"

*I don't have to walk around the bed to go to the bathroom. Even when I was pregnant Eric always ended up closer to the bathroom.

*No one else is going to complain about the cracker crumbs left by the girls when they were watching a movie.

*I only have to clear off the floor on one side of the bed.

*I can turn the TV off without someone waking up and turning it back on for the noise.

*I can have drinks on both nightstands with no questions as to how many cups I need in one room, now that I have a nightstand. Eric won that battle until we moved down here and we bought a new bedroom set. I traded the dresser mirror for a second nightstand.

*I don't have to worry about how bad my morning breath is.

*I don't have to worry about how bad his morning breath is.

*I don't have to kick anyone that I can't lift out of my bed on the off chance that I want to make the bed.

*Since the TV is in our room and we usually watch a movie before we go to bed (we don't have channels) I can watch whatever I like. Yea!!! No more Adam Sandler!!!

Check back later for Why it's great not to have to share a bathroom. Just kidding, that's probably what he would have posted when I went to Alabama!