Catching Up

Where to begin?  I have a list of things I need to write about!  So much happens in a few months with three and a half kids.  I guess I will just have to jump in.

Jacob
When I went to South Carolina back in August, Jacob really missed me.  I'm sure all the kids missed me, but Jacob REALLY missed me.  The first night I was away, Brandon called and said Jacob wanted to talk to me.  When he got on the phone, he was crying and said, "Mommy, where ARE you?  I need you!"  How do you respond to this?  I wanted to somehow jump through the phone and snuggle him.  Brandon made a compromise with Jacob after we got off the phone.  Jacob got to sleep with Daddy in Mommy and Daddy's bed while I was gone.  That dried his tears immediately.  The only problem with this compromise is, when I got home, he still wanted to sleep in our bed.  No need to fear, we got him back into his bed and all was well...so we thought.  The next morning Brandon almost stepped on Jacob when he got up for work.  At some point in the middle of the night, Jacob dragged his quilt, pillow and teddy into our room and made a pallet on the floor.  I thought this was so sweet, until he continued to do it.  School was going to be starting soon and I wanted to make sure he was getting enough sleep.  He couldn't be sleeping well if he was sneaking into our room.  Luckily, after catching him once at two in the morning, he didn't do it again.  Now, to make sure the kids get enough snuggle time, we snuggle every night before bed.  They beg me to plant a garden on their backs, (just like my grandaddy did to me) and Zoe plants one on my back.  I know there will come a day that they won't want to snuggle with their mother, but I will be there until that day comes!

Jacob started Kindergarden the last week of August and is loving it.  At least, I'm pretty sure he is loving it.  Jacob doesn't like to talk a lot about his day.  I want to hear about every little thing but when I ask him what he did at school, he says, "we played."  That's it, that's all I get.  I got a little frustrated with this and decided we needed a new plan.  Now, every day he has to tell me one thing about school.  Just one.  I write this lonely statement down in a journal for him so that one day he will understand how difficult life was for me.

He is very proud of his Transformers backpack and Star Wars lunch box!

Zoe
Zoe misses Jacob!  Every morning Zoe wakes up and asks, "Is Jacob at school?"  She looks forward to walking to the school every afternoon to pick him up.  In Jacob's absence, Zoe is finally accepting Peyton as a playmate...kind of.  She will share with anyone, including Charlie (our dog), but not Peyton.  If Peyton starts to crawl toward her "girls" (polly pocket princesses), she screams.  In her defense, Peyton does put them in his mouth and slobber all over them.  During the day, Zoe spends her time playing dress up, singing and dancing, and coloring.  If she gets a new coloring book she will sit for an hour coloring.  Needless to say, I love coloring books.  Zoe enjoys snuggling every night too, but her definition is a bit different than Jacob's.  Where Jacob basically lays on you and puts his face in your neck, Zoe just wants to lay in the same bed.  She wants her own pillow and space.  She will lay near me so I can put one arm on her, but that is the extent of her snuggling.

Peyton
He is walking.  That is enough.  I shouldn't have to say more but I will.  Peyton took his first step in early August but has recently taken up to ten steps.  Not only is he walking, but he climbs the stairs in 3 seconds flat.  This child keeps me on my toes.  Usually I can tell where he is in the house at any given moment because of Zoe's screams.  It just makes me nervous when things get too quiet.  For some reason, Peyton likes to play in the toilet and Charlie's water bowl.  I know, gross!  Understandably, we keep the door to the bathroom and baby gate to the kitchen closed at all times.  If for some reason we forget, I hear Jacob yell, "Peyton's in the potty!"  Trust me, that is not something any Mom wants to hear.

He had just started climbing the stairs at this point and would get  tired very easily.

Baby
I have a baby bump now and have started feeling the baby kick.  I look forward to my doctor's appointments every month to hear the heartbeat.  We have our anatomy ultra sound on October 4th and are really looking forward to finding out what we are having.  Everyone asks if I want a boy or a girl.  The answer is, just like every other parent, I want healthy.  But, if I got to choose, I really don't know which I would prefer.  A girl to keep things even and dress up in all the cute stuff again.  A boy would make it easy for him and Peyton to share a room and be best buds.

Brandon and I
Brandon finally got his official orders to Hawaii.  Just like my Dad used to say to me, "What did the monkey say when he got his tail caught in the fan?  IT WON'T BE LONG NOW!"

One more random picture.

Our neighbor's had the Fire Dept over for some reason.  Don't worry, nothing serious.  Jacob and Zoe got their own personal tour.  It was great!

Charleston

The last weekend of summer, Jena and I drove down to Charleston, SC to see Kathryn.  I hadn't seen Kathryn in SIX years!  That was way too long.  We stayed up too late every night and got up early.  I went to bed at 7 the night I got home and slept for 13 blissful hours!  We had so much fun at the beach and in downtown.  I will say I'm a bit jealous of Kathryn.  Charleston is so beautiful... and fun... and in the South!

The Natural State

We got to go see my Aunt Jerilyn, Uncle David and Grandparents up in Arkansas on this whirl wind trip!  It is a rare occasion that we are able to make up there but I'm so glad we did!  The first night we were there was very exciting.  After the kids went to bed, the adults sat down to play a game at the kitchen table.  I kept seeing something, like a cat, on the other side of the glass door in Aunt Jerilyn's sun room.  I didn't realize what it was until it practically put her face up to the glass.  A big mommy raccoon with her two babies.  They were apparently in there trying to get to the fish food.  We tried to heard them out, but of course, that didn't work.  I wish we had video taped Aunt Jerilyn and I hopping from chair to chair talking in soothing voices to these animals.  It was probably pretty funny and no wonder they didn't listen to the crazy ladies on the furniture.  There was the debate of shooting them, trapping them, or letting them go.  I voted for letting them go just because it was a Mom and her babies, but I don't live in the country and have to deal with them on a constant basis.  After explanation, I can understand why Aunt Jerilyn wanted to shoot them.  We ended up setting a trap, but didn't catch any of them.  Pretty exciting for our first night! 

The next day we were able to visit my Grandmother.  I wish we could have spent more time with her.  She is such a classy woman and I hope I can be just like her!  I left Brandon and the kids at the house playing in the pool while Aunt Jerilyn and I went to visit Grandaddy.  I always get emotional when I see him and wanted to be able to visit with him without worrying about the kids.  I love that the first thing Grandaddy said to me was, "You're so beautiful and I love you."  I love Grandaddy so much and miss him terribly!

The last day we were there, we went boating!  We had been at the lake for about 15 minutes when Jacob said, "Mommy, I want Daddy to get a boat."  Then he clarified, "I want Daddy to get a boat like this one!"  So do I Jacob, so do I.  We all had a blast and were worn out by the time we got back to the house.  The next morning we slept a little late, then started our trek home.  Brandon and I were so tired of fast food and being on the road, we decided to drive through the night to get home as soon as possible.  We took 3 hours shifts the whole way back, sleeping when we weren't driving.  We made it home at 7 on Monday morning and slept blissfully in our own beds!  We had a wonderfully exhausting vacation!

The raccoon family.  You can see the other baby on the outside of the screen.

The bluebonnet picture on the wall is a mainstay.  I will always remember that picture!

Home at last!

On to the Longhorn Hatin' City

I was going to title this post "Aggie Land," but Brandon did not approve.  He suggested, "The Livestock Mutilating City," in reference to "Saw 'em off."  I think Brandon feels alone in family full of Aggies.  Anyway, on to the good stuff.  The first morning we were in College Station, my Mom got up with all of our kids and let Brandon and I sleep blissfully until 10...well, maybe it was 11.  We spent most of our days playing in the pool or water in the backyard.  What else is there to do in the summer in Texas, right?  Mom and I went to my new favorite store, "Charming Charlies."  We spent 2 hours walking around looking at jewelry and spending a good bit of my birthday money.  We were also able to take care of something extremely important to me.  My insane craving for Jalepeno Garlic Tilapia from Carinos.  If you haven't had it, you must try it...heavenly!  We got to do some family photos and I got to test some ideas on my guinea pigs.  All in all, a great time!

The look of determination!

Why do my children never smile in family photos?