At the Lake

Saturday afternoon we picked up our rental van at the airport and drove the 3.5 hours to our reunion location. Each of my siblings is in charge of cooking all the meals for one day (our day was Sunday) so we stopped at the Super Wal-Mart closest to the lodge to pick up all our food. I was hoping we could get in and out in an hour. Nearly two hours later and spending more money on groceries than we ever have before... we were back on the road. Since Sunday was our cooking day we spent most of the day in the kitchen either cooking or cleaning up, but now we get to enjoy the rest of the week having all of our meals prepared for us. Yum, yum.

Yesterday was the first day the girls we able to go out on the lake. We have a fun trampoline on the water that the kids have loved jumping off of. Abigail didn't hesitate to take the plunge...

Carly had second thoughts once she started sliding down...

Justin had a hard time even getting on it.

There's also a paddleboat and fishing boat that we can use during the week.

Check out the rust color of the lake...

Last night we bundled up (not that it's cold, but the mosquitos are savages here) and had smores by the campfire... delicious! I also saw my first fireflies... they are awesome, but impossible to take a picture of.

Mall of America

We woke up early last Thursday to catch our 9 am flight to Minnesota. I was hoping to be able to take Jason's car seat on the airplane so he could nap on the way. He has no problem falling asleep in his car seat, but falling asleep in our arms is a rarity. Unfortunately it was a full flight so I spent the next three hours dealing with a restless baby. It was a lot like sacrament meeting, but with no place for him to get down and cruise around. Jason finally gave into the exhaustion and fell asleep in my arms... five minutes before we landed... just my luck. In spite of being so tired, we didn't have to deal with any crying fits, I'm definitely grateful for that.

We spent the first two days in Minneapolis with the majority of our time at the Mall of America.

I remember as a teenager thinking how awesome it would be to go to the BIGGEST mall in the US. It was definitely huge, but I've outgrown my teenage passion for shopping. Instead we bought Justin and the girls a unlimited pass to enjoy the amusement park in the center of the mall. They had a fabulous time.

Carly is much more adventurous than Abigail and seemed to always be smiling from ear to ear, even on the "scary" rides.

Jason tolerated the loss of regular napping surprisingly well.

The price paid

I usually cut my girls hair myself. First, I’m totally cheap and can’t justify paying $10-15 or more per child just for a haircut. Second, they are so young that they could care less how their hair looks so if I make a mistake, no big deal. A few months ago I received free hair cut coupons to Gene Juarez Academy for the girls. I told them after school gets out they could have their hair cut in an actual salon (in truth they would be guinea pigs for young girls dreaming of being real beauticians, but it would be free). They were so excited. When I called to make appointments, I found out children have to be at least five years old. Seriously?!? I tried to convince them that my four-year-old would sit perfectly still, but policy is policy. Being the kind and generous mother that I am (wink, wink) I decided we’d head down to the mall and they could still get a “professional” haircut. I found $2 coupons online so that aided my generosity. We went down Monday afternoon only to find out they were “training” that day so they weren’t taking any customers… so frustrating. We went back last night, here’s their before and after pictures (my camera was on the wrong setting... sorry.)

Abigail got a few layers which really helps give her curly hair a little bounce, especially in the back.

Check out Carly’s before picture of the back of her hair. Abigail gave Carly a haircut several months ago. If you look at the right side you can clearly see there’s a section where the hair is at least 3-4 inches shorter. Obviously I’m not a Mom that’s totally into having my girls all cutesy because she’s been walking around like that for ages.

I never walk out of these hair joints happy. They don’t wash the hair, they don’t style the hair, and quite frankly they don’t even cut the hair very well. After I got home I noticed that the back of Carly’s hair is totally choppy. So even after paying for a “professional” cut, I still have to trim it myself… argh!

Aunts and Cousins

Three of Justin’s Aunts were in town visiting his Mom last week as well. We got together with them Sunday afternoon. It was a perfect summer day (upper 70’s, nice breeze) so we spent some time walking around Justin’s parents property. The girls really enjoyed playing with their cousins.

Justin’s sister, Tami had her fancy shmancy camera there so she took lots of pictures.

All the Fletcher grandkids with Grandma and three of her sisters.

The big kids enjoyed finding candy at the end of “treasure hunts” set up by Justin’s aunt.

I love this picture of “J”, if only that darn flower wasn’t in his hair. Maybe Tami could magically erase it with her editing skills.

Friends and Food

We had some friends stay with us last week for a few days. It’s hard to believe it’s already been over three years since the Gibbs moved away from our neighborhood. Thankfully they still come back to visit at least once a year. Jason really enjoyed having another baby around. He was very interested in her and liked to give her lots of love taps (slapping her head). She must not have minded too much though cause she kept coming back for more.

We organized a BBQ at our house on Saturday so the Gibbs could spend some time catching up with friends. We had nearly 30 people at our house (including kids). Who would have thought we could manage that many? It was lots of fun, but I’m TOTALLY bummed I didn’t take any pictures.

It all started with a phone call…

Justin’s cell phone rang on Sunday, June 8th. Caller ID indicated it was the 1st counselor in the stake presidency, President “B”. He asked if we could meet with him some time that afternoon. (Oh no, I thought, stake conference is in two weeks) Of course we both started speculating who was getting a new calling. I have been in my stake calling for over four years, but we wouldn’t have to meet with the stake presidency just for me to be released. We both love our ward callings. I am serving as the young women’s secretary. The girls are amazing and being a secretary (behind the scenes with little speaking or teaching involved is perfect for me). Justin has been ward clerk for over three years so we figured it was probably his turn for something different. Of course we were nervous what that would be. Justin’s work can be very unpredictable. I feel like I can’t fully commit to being someplace at any given time because he might have to work late.

Justin met with President “B” for only a few short minutes before I was asked to come in. I felt a huge sense of relief. I figured if it was a calling that required a great deal of Justin’s time they would have needed to talk for much longer. I walked into the room and Justin was smiling… at that point I knew we were in for something we could easily handle.

President “B” started talking about various callings and responsibilities. He mentioned that some callings aren’t even in the manuals. (Now I’m thinking, yippee, Justin’s going to be the stake grass cutter, we can handle that). Then he continues by saying that some callings are even included in the scriptures (oh, no this is heading in the wrong direction). He turns to the scriptures and starts reading from Doctrine and Covenants 107. I don’t remember what the verses were I just remember hearing words like: “high priest” and “council”. I was so confused. Why was Justin smiling when I came in? He couldn’t possibly be excited about this. As soon as President “B” officially asked if Justin would accept a calling on the stake high council, I turned to Justin and asked if he knew what the calling was before I came into the room. He didn’t, this was the first he’d heard it as well.

Justin (and I) accepted the calling and was ordained a high priest yesterday afternoon. I’m certain he will learn a lot as he serves in this capacity. When he receives his assignment (i.e. assigned to a specific ward or to a stake auxiliary) I’m sure we’ll have a better idea what were in for.

Wish us luck (I don’t think “congratulations” are in order)

A Special Day

Today was Abigail’s last day of school. Actually they didn’t spend any time at the school. We spent the day at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma. Justin stayed home so I could tag along and help chaperone. There were so many parent volunteers that I was only assigned to one other girl besides Abigail.

My favorite animal at this zoo is the beluga whales.

Check it out, he even smiled for the picture!

We were standing so close to this cute pair of elephants.

No trip to the zoo would be complete without the tigers… doesn’t he look mean?

I like to watch Jon & Kate plus 8 on TLC. It’s the story of a family with seven-year-old twins and three-year-old sextuplets (that’s six three-year-olds!). They recently started a tradition where each child gets a special day to do what they want with Mom and Dad (Jon & Kate) all by themselves, obviously something really rare with eight small children. Today while we were riding back to school on the bus Abigail said, “it’s like it’s my special day and I wanted to go to the zoo.” It was a special day. I rarely have the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with my kids. When we got back to the school Abigail really wanted to walk home together. As we walked hand in hand she commented about how great it was to spend all day, just with me… melt my heart. She’s a sweet girl. Her special day didn’t end there. We have friends in town staying with us for a few days… busy, busy, but lots of fun too.

Bathtime

From his first sponge bath in the hospital Jason has always loved being in the water and taking baths. The other day Jason rolled over for the first time in the bathtub.

Don’t you just want to squeeze those cute little cheeks?!?

Mariner Game - June 08

Justin’s work sponsored a Mariners night on Friday. The plan was for me and the girls to meet Justin downtown. After an already stressful week, dealing with traffic and trying to find a free parking spot just about threw me over the edge. I finally pulled into a $15 parking area and decided to just pay the hefty price. Unfortunately, I only had $7 of cash. That was the last straw. I told Justin to come out of the ball field and meet us (with thousands of people walking around that was an ordeal of its own). The girls and I went inside while Justin parked the car (miles away in a free parking spot… sometimes I think we are way too cheap.)

There were only 3 rows higher than ours and it was a cold, windy evening. Winter coats, gloves, and blankets would have made things much more comfortable. We had plenty of snacks though. Justin’s work provided a goodie bag with lots of munchies for the game. (That kennel corn is seriously addicting!). In addition, Justin bought the girls a big pack of Starbursts and a Snickers bar for me.

(Not the best seats in the stadium, but free)

(We had a great view of the Seattle skyline)


We lasted til the bottom of the 7th inning. The Mariners were not having a good night… maybe it was the whole Friday the 13th thing. The girls were on a serious sugar high and talked non-stop all the way to our free parking spot and during the drive home. We had a good time in spite of the stress and cold.

(Meeting the Mariner Moose - Carly had just gotten hurt in the kids area so she wasn't the most excited to put on a happy face)

Cruisin'

Jason’s movement update:

• Although he first rolled over way back in January, Jason hasn't rolled much until the last month, he is finally rolling both directions without difficulty
• From a sitting position he can slowly turn himself in a circle
• He can occasionally pull himself up onto something into a standing position
• He can not get into or out of a sitting or standing position without help
• He is cruising around furniture (see video below)

Mariner Game - May 08

Memorial Day week was a long work week for me. I had Monday off, of course, but worked late each evening and did not see the kids again (awake) until Saturday. I had promised the girls a while back that I would take them to the game on the Sounder train. I talked up bringing treats and playing at the playland near Safeco's center field and riding the really tall escalators. While we went to the game, Holly stayed home with Jason. Abigail and Carly were excited to get free "Marineros" caps upon entering the ballpark. I guess the theme was celebrating Latin America baseball or something like that. Anyways, we got a big bag of caramel kettle corn and brought a few snacks, too. I learned you can never really bring enough snacks to the game. The girls could eat them nonstop. Abigail and Carly thought it was pretty cool to watch the roof cover the field as the rain started to fall. Riding the train that dad rides to work was a thrill as well though Abigail complained it moved too slow. I think the girls had a really good time, at least enough that they want to go back this week on the tickets provided by work!

I will always remember going to a Mariner game with my dad a couple years ago. Behind us was a dad with his two girls probably between 10-12 years old. These girls were amazing. They knew the stats of all the players, how the players stood in the batter's box, their fielding position, their number, everything. I was so impressed. This is my attempt at perking the girls interest in these types of sporting events. I figure if they have good experiences now maybe they will have more interest later.

Rain, Rain Go Away

I can’t believe its June already. It feels like March here. It’s been cold and rainy for way too long. Abigail only has one week left of school… maybe then we’ll see some sunshine. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted. We’ve got a lot going on right now, but we’re all doing well. Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks:

While Justin was working late, the kids and I ate dinner at the park (one of the few days it didn’t rain)

Jason likes to spend most of his time on his feet and has started to “cruise” around. Few problems with that: #1 - he can’t get himself onto his feet (not quite pulling himself up very well), #2 - he’s not very stable, #3 – he can’t get down (occasionally he’ll fall gracefully, but more often he just falls).

Look Mom, I’m on the wall

Note: His Grandma Fletcher gave him the shirt pictured here. It says “If you think I nap a lot… you should see my Grandpa” (with a picture of Grandpa snoozing in his lazyboy)… so true. Speaking of sleeping, Jason slept in this morning until almost 10am (going to bed at 7pm) and I didn’t have to get up at all during the night to feed him or help him find one of the many binkies in his bed… yeah, Jason!

10 Years

This is my family.

This picture was taken 10 years ago, on my 21st birthday. It was a week after we found out my Dad had an inoperable brain tumor. My Dad past away two months later. His funeral was the last time all my siblings have been together. This afternoon I received an email that all six of us will be together this summer at our family reunion. I’m thrilled!

10 years
6 marriages
3 divorces
11 births
2 deaths

Needless to say my family has changed a lot in the last decade – time for a new family picture… ten years is too long!

Random

Cursed - (Genesis 3:17-18) “…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles (weeds and mushrooms, too) shall it bring forth…” Our family spent Memorial Day outside. The girls played with neighbors and friends while Justin and I did yard work…. all day long. It amazes me how long it takes to weed our small yard. My legs are still sore from all the squatting. In the end it was worth all the hard work. My backyard makes me happy.

Does anyone know how to get rid of mushrooms??? I can’t seem to keep them away!


Bravery – Abigail had her first cavity filled yesterday. According to our dentist (he tends to be overly cheesy at times) “she is the best young patient he’s had in 28 years of dentistry.” I think he said the same thing when she went to the dentist for the first time on her 3rd birthday. They’ve always been able to take all the x-rays on both my girls. I’m not sure where they get their bravery from. I have a very low threshold for pain. The girls don’t even cry getting immunizations. By the time each of the girls went in for their two year check-ups they were brave enough to endure it without a tear.


Aliens – Stephenie Meyer released her first adult novel this month, “The Host” and I got my copy last week from the library. However, I didn’t want to start reading it before our camping trip. I wasn’t sure I could handle reading about aliens invading human bodies while sleeping outside in a tent. The five minutes around the campfire talking about bears was bad enough (and yes Chrystie, we do have bears in Seattle). So I started reading Saturday morning and finished yesterday. 619 pages in three days (with three kids) is fast for me. I obviously really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. Not as much action as the Twilight series, but well worth the read.

Tip of the Day

Do you ever have problems with your aluminum foil and keeping it in the box as you unroll it and tear it out? My mom dropped by while we were camping on Friday night and shared a little tip. On each end of the box of aluminum foil there is a little notch that can be pushed in to hold the roll in place. There have been so many times when that roll comes out and to think I had no idea there was a solution for it. I especially have problems tearing out the clear plastic wrap out of the box. Same solution available. Amazing I never knew about these.

Camping

We’ve been camping every Memorial Day weekend since Carly was two months old. Our favorite campground is in Carnation. There’s plenty of open area for the kids to play, a paved loop perfect for riding bikes, a river to cool off in, flushy toilets and hot showers. In previous years we’ve camped in the pouring rain (unfortunately more often than not) and the blazing heat. This year we had near perfect weather. It was even warm enough on Saturday for the girls to play in the river. We set up camp early Friday afternoon and stayed until Saturday night. Justin and I successfully cooked meals in our Dutch oven and made a delicious peach cobbler. I wasn’t sure how well Jason would do, but he slept through the night and even took his naps in the tent without any objections! It was a short trip for us, but we all had a great time.

Getting ready for smores… yum, yum!

Carlyism

My Dad used the term “Hollyism” to describe things I said that didn’t quite make sense. Although, they always made perfect sense to me.

In our house we have “Carlyisms”. I really need to keep a notepad handy so I can write these things down. She cracks me up! Here are a few she said recently:

A recent prayer went something like this, “please bless that we didn’t run into anyone and crash their car and then take us somewhere.”

Carly: Can I have a bar?
Mom: A what??
Carly: From him who makes them (pointing to the picture of the Quaker man)

This morning as I was feeding Jason some leftover baby food, Carly said, “If he finishes those two I want to give him chicken little dinner.” (chicken noodle)

Yesterday I was listening online to the popular song “Apoligize” by OneRepublic. The chorus repeats the lyrics “it’s too late to apologize”. In her adorable four-year-old voice Carly sang, “it’s too late for papa johns.” If you listen closely it really does sound close.

I'm Ready

I just read over the last post (written by Justin). He doesn’t post very often so I’m sure as some of you started reading it, you may have been a bit confused. Holly went to DC? Holly went to DC with her DAD?? Wow, that would be an incredible trip considering my Dad past away nearly 10 years ago. Washington DC isn’t on my list of places I most want to visit, but to be there with my Dad, I’d go anywhere. Justin and I aren’t in the best position to travel together (without children) so I’m glad he was able to take advantage of the opportunity and spend that time with his Dad. I think it’s my turn to start planning a trip. Wouldn’t you agree? Justin says as long as I only spend as much money on my trip as he spent on DC. Unfortunately my boss isn’t nearly as generous as his. Actually, I think Justin realizes I could use a little time away as well and I think a week with the kids would be good for him too.

Justin's Trip to Washington DC

My dad and I spent the week in Washington DC last week. We were able to build in some sight seeing around 3 days of tax training sponsored by Georgetown University. We took the Sunday night redeye to Baltimore (BWI) and arrived early Monday morning. I requested to be seated in a row with no one else in it so I could lay down and sleep the whole way. As my luck would have it, I picked a row where none of the arms go up. Luckily another lady volunteered to switch rows with me. My dad ended taking advantage of the 3 empty seats while I took his emergency row seat. Planes really are not built for the comfort of tall people.


A few of the highlights:

Holocaust Museum

Newseum

Library of Congress

Buca di Beppo, Fuddruckers, Cosi

Tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing(where money is made)

Monuments

(Washington, WWII, Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean War, FDR, Jefferson)

Smithsonian Museums

(Air & Space pictured here)

Mt. Vernon (George Washington's home)

Arlington National Cemetery

Capitol Building

JOY

We all encounter faces that bring us instant joy. Maybe it’s the huge smile your baby greets you with in the morning. Or the look of a child completely absorbed in a book. I have no doubt that all parents love seeing the peaceful face of a sleeping child. This is one of the faces that always makes me smile.

Jason moved out of his infant seat this week (long overdue). And although he’ll still be rear facing, his new seat won’t allow me to see him watching me while I drive. I love turning around and seeing those big eyes smiling at me.

Park

Last night we headed to the park for dinner and some family fun.

Nine Months!

I know people say this all the time, but seriously, I can hardly believe my baby is already nine months old. I was holding him in front of my bathroom mirror today and he’s gotten so big. Today he had his checkup with the pediatrician. He currently weighs 21 lbs. 3.4 oz and measures 29 ½ inches long.

I mentioned that we had some "rough moments” last week between Jason having a cold and cutting his first tooth. Today the doctor noticed Jason has a lot of fluid in his ears. Apparently he may have also had an ear infection. As far as I know this is the first ear infection any of my kids has had, although I’m still unclear if Jason is getting over one or if he may be getting one. Anyhow, the Dr. said if he started to act cranky to call in and they’ll prescribe some antibiotics.

Other than that, Jason is doing really well. I was encouraged to give him some more tummy time. Jason still chooses not to roll over and doesn’t seem to have any desire to crawl, but he loves being on his feet.

I took this picture yesterday. I rarely see him sleeping. He always goes to bed awake and never falls asleep in my arms. I went into his room to wake him up so we could get the girls to swim lessons (oh, how I hate waking up a sleeping baby). He had his blanket up over his face and when I pulled it back he didn’t wake up. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures. So sweet.

Working the System

Two years ago our yard underwent a complete renovation – tons of hard work and quite a bit of money, but we’ve loved the results. However, there’s one variety of plants that started to spread and little shoots would pop out in nearby areas. Check this out:

(We couldn't save that poor purple plant in the middle)

I called the warranty lady at the landscaping company (kindly explaining that we made it clear we wanted a low-maintenance yard) and after several weeks she agreed to send someone out to help pull out the shoots and prune them back. The plants are only under warranty for the first twelve months and they would only replace dead plants, not plants we don’t end up liking. So they could have easily told me “Too bad, your loss.” Anyhow, when a gal came out she tried to fix the problem, but soon realized it wasn’t an easy task (she didn’t want to do it herself). We talked it over and decided it would be an on-going problem (they will continue to spread, even if we pull out this years shoots). I told her I’d like them completely removed then. She said she would send one of their employees out do it another day. She took several pictures to show the warranty lady and we bonded as we talked about how horrible the situation was. I was friendly as I expressed my disappointment about having to be liable to replace all the plants (we planted 17) and asked her to relay all we discussed to the powers that be. Within a few hours I received a phone call and was told not only will they pull them all out, but they will replace them all and bring in new dirt and bark to make it look as great as it should. Wow, I hoped for this result, but didn’t really expect it. I was hesitant to call and look stupid thinking they owed us anything, but just shows that it pays to ask.

Here’s a picture of a few of the plants after they were dug up. The plants filled up the entire back of their work truck. It took the guy over five hours to fix everything.

Over the years I’ve gotten some killer deals on things. I think you have to expect great things, but not demand them. Here’s one of my favorite and proudest:

June 2005: Our freezer wasn’t working great. It was no longer under warranty but I decided to pay for them to come out and look at it. They ordered a part to get it fixed. In the meantime they gave us a credit so we could purchase a freezer until they could get ours working. It was a big enough credit to purchase a large upright freezer which we put in our garage. I even purchased one that wasn’t their brand and they still paid for it. THEN, they couldn’t get the part in to fix the freezer in the house, so they ended up replacing the entire 4+ year old fridge and freezer for FREE and we got to keep the freezer they bought in our garage. Best deal we’ve ever gotten and I didn’t even have to pay the small fee to have them come out in the first place.

I like to think that I am an awesome deal getter, but maybe, just maybe, this is one of the blessings we’ve received from always paying a full tithing... Maybe it’s a little of both.

Sunshine

Saturday was a beautiful day. It seems like I always go into a weekend hoping we will get lots of things done around the house, but we hardly scratch the surface. Disappointing for me, but I think the girls would say it was a perfect day for them. Justin and the girls went on a long bike ride and ate lunch at the park. They both LOVE riding along with their Dad and want to go any chance they can. I wouldn’t be surprised if Carly is riding on two-wheels this summer.

Like me, Carly needs her shades on anytime the sun is out. The sunshine is so foreign to us lately that we didn’t think to put sunscreen on the kids. The both have sunkissed cheeks and bright red farmer tans.

The girls also played outside with a few of the neighborhood kids (always a great time). That evening we enjoyed our first outdoor BBQ of the year. Love that Famous Dave's BBQ sauce!

Jason has finally mastered drinking from a cup – yippee!! What a big boy… he’s nine months old today!

They're Here

For the last year it’s seems like our house has been all about losing teeth. As fun as that is, I’ve been waiting for Jason to get some teeth. He wants to eat everything we are eating and I’d feel much more comfortable giving him food if he actually had some teeth to chew with. Jason will be nine months old on Sunday so it’s about time. Abigail got her first tooth at six months and Carly was five months.

Okay, so I know the whole snot situation is a little disgusting but it’s the best I could do. Between cutting his first tooth and dealing with a cold, we’ve had some rough moments this past week.

All sorts of crazy...

Abigail has allergies: she’s allergic to nuts, eggs, fish, trees, dogs, cats, etc… She used to be allergic to milk, peas, and beans, but she’s thankfully outgrown these. Almost a year ago we took Abigail off of Singular, an asthma medication she had been taking for three years. Things seemed to be okay. Her asthma would really only bother her when she was sick or traveling. The past week though she’s been coughing a lot. It’s so hard to tell if it’s asthma or a cold. She’ll seem fine otherwise until the end of the afternoon and then she’s so wiped out she’ll just lay around for hours. I kept her home from church on Sunday, but she’s been fine at school all week. Then this morning she’s wiped out and not sure she can go to school… What’s up? One minute she’s running around the next she’s out. I rarely take my kids to the doctor, but a few more days of this and I may have to.

Then there's our little man Jason. It’s nearly noon and he still hasn’t woke up!! Justin put him to bed last night around 7 pm. He did wake up last night around 1 am and struggled to get himself back to sleep, but come on… isn’t this a bit extreme?

So not to leave out our crazy little Carly, I’ll share part of her prayer she said at lunch last week. “...please bless Daddy that he won't get taken from the policeman and that he'll be grateful to be at work." I’d love to look into her thoughts and see where she was going with this… so funny!

Little Mother

Have I mentioned how much I love this girl?!?

Last night Jason woke up a few times so this morning I was even more tired than usual. I could hear him in his room this morning babbling. As usual Abigail was already up and quietly reading downstairs. She came up to my room and asked me if she could go talk to Jason… the girls are always excited to be the first to greet him each morning. So for the next half hour she played with him in his room. I finally got up and got him out of his crib and laid him on the floor. Abigail again spent the next 15-20 minutes entertaining him while I rested. (I sound horribly lazy, don’t I?) Eventually I dragged myself out of bed, again, and dressed Jason in the clothes Abigail had already picked out. We came downstairs (Abigail carried down a pile of diapers to the garage) and I put him in his chair with some cheerios to keep him happy while I went into the office to check my email. When I returned several minutes later Abigail had put a bib on him and was feeding him his leftover applesauce from the fridge. It was then that I recognized how amazing my six year-old daughter is. She essentially took care of Jason most of the morning without being asked. She is such a huge help to me everyday. While I finished feeding him she got out her leftover pancakes from last nights dinner and heated them up in the microwave for breakfast. I love this girl!

The Instincts of a Mother

I’m sure I’m not the only mother who has worried about her baby falling out of bed on those nights they’ve slept next to you. There have been times I’ve even dreamt of my baby rolling out of bed. I wake up as I desperately try to save them, only to find that they are sound asleep in their own room. Last night I had some crazy dreams.

I could sense my baby rolling near the edge of the bed. I lurched toward him to catch him from falling. He hollered out in pain. It wasn’t my baby. It was Justin. And I didn’t save him from falling, but I did stop him from rolling over.

This morning as Justin was getting ready he noticed that I left a two inch scratch across his chest.

Thank heavens it wasn’t my baby!