Christmas Morning

Christmas morning means one thing!! Waking up early to open presents! This year was so much fun! It took the kids forever to go to sleep the night before because the wind was howling outside and they were so excited about Santa coming! Layton came running in our room at about 1:30 in the morning to tell us that Santa had been there and that he had brought a castle! We finally let Layton and Ainslee get up at about 6:00, but they could only look at the presents that weren't wrapped and go through their stockings. Ava's a girl after my own heart! She loves her sleep, even on Christmas morning!

Here's Layton in his school bus tent! As soon as Santa saw this on ebay, he knew it would be perfect for this little guy! Layton loves to play school bus, and there's plenty of room in there for his sisters to ride along!

Once Ava finally woke up, she was pounced on by the other two to look at her kitchen! She now has her very own kitchen and doesn't have to share Ainslee's!

And here's Ainslee in front of her baby care station! It has a high chair, crib, sink, and swing. It also came with a baby that is dressed in Disney princess clothes. The baby is so cute! She even has a little twinkle in her eyes!

Santa also had a few wrapped presents for the kiddos. Layton got a scooter and Transformer's helmet. Ainslee got a Disney princess CD player and baby that is about as big as she is! Ava got a new little baby and high chair/swing set. They loved going through their stockings that Santa packed with new socks and underwear. He gave Layton a big thing of gum and the girls necklaces. He even managed to find those green panties that Ainslee wanted!

Christmas Recap #1

Christmas started for us on Christmas Eve at my mom's house. We had Christmas-y finger foods like sausage balls and little smokies!! Yum! Then it was time for the presents!!!!

Tyler, Layton, Ainslee, and Ava in front of the tree before we passed out presents! Don't they look so cute in their pajamas???

Ava was so funny! She had no concept of waiting her turn! She wanted to rip into all of her presents at once! Here she's excited about something, but I couldn't tell you what! She loved all of her presents!

Here's Ainslee opening her laptop that my mom got her! She loves playing with that thing! Ava had gotten one for her birthday in November, and Layton also got on for Christmas.

Here's Layton opening a yo-yo that my sister got him! He loves to pretend like he's Mr. Lusk doing tricks with it!

Learn from each other

Raising kids that are only a year and a few months apart sometimes feels like I'm raising triplets! Sure there are some pluses.... like they're all on the same schedule! They go to bed at the same time, they eat at the same time, nap at the same time (BIG plus!), snack at the same time. They're interested in the same things so it's easy to buy toys that they'll all like! Sharing clothes is almost a reality! They like the same movies and enjoy the same restaurants!

There are a few draw backs though. For example, you'd think that by the time you got to toddlerhood with your third child, it would be old hat, but since the first two are still in it too, it's like we're still rookies! Plus we still have lingering questions, like when will they be able to completely go to the bathroom by themselves??? I mean ALL by themselves, clean up and all!?! When will they learn to pick up their toys without making us sound like a broken record that's stuck on "Get in there and clean up"..."Get in there and clean up"...."Get in there and clean up"... When will they realize that sleep is a good thing and not something to be dreaded???

One good thing is that they can learn from each other! They learn how to dress themselves by watching each other, they learn how to feed themselves, they learn how to work the DVD player...oh wait that's not a good thing because now all of our DVDs have fingerprints! The following conversation is an example of Ainslee trying to teach Ava the proper pronunciation to a word:

Ava: ook dere's yeh-yo. (Look there's yellow)
Ainslee: UGH
Ava: yeh-yo, yeh-yo, yeh-yo
Ainslee: UGH! Ava! It is not YEH-YO!!! It is LELL-O!!!!!

Okay so they can't learn EVERYTHING from each other! But sometimes it's fun listening to them try!!

Oops...I did it again..

Okay...bad title I know! But look at me! I've gone forever between posts again! My plan with the subtitle was to go back and update on each kid, and I started with Layton because he was the easiest, starting Pre-K and all, but it just didn't happen! The only thing I for sure want to add is that Ava did turn 2 in this midst of my blog neglect! She's such a sweet little rascal...by far the most outgoing of my group and oh so friendly! She's also very mischievous and loves to aggravate her older siblings! We love you sweet Ava!!!

Christmas is now over, and let me just say that this has definitely been my favorite one so far! I say that every year though! The older the kids get, the more they remember from the year before so they more they're excited!! Our kids believe in Santa, and Christmas Eve as I was sitting in the living room waiting for them to fall asleep, I was reminded of how sweet it is when you believe in magic! They really believe, without question, in a man that knows everything about them, down to the color of panties they're hoping for in their stocking! (Green for Ainslee!~who knows why!?!) Well there may be no real Santa, but there is someone who knows everything about them, right down to the number of hairs on their heads...and they believe in Him too! Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us to become like a child. I've heard countless sermons on this topic over the years, and I wasn't even planning on going there with this post tonight, but don't you think if we all had faith like children, we'd worry about far fewer things?!? It's something to think about I guess. I was listening to one of my old Acapella CDs this morning in the car, and these lyrics kind of brought the same thought: When you're up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams, and your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan's manifesting schemes, and you feel the urge within yourself to submit to earthly fears, don't let the faith you're standing in seem to disappear, Praise the Lord....

I always like to turn the radio up really loud with that one and pretend like I can sing! ;-)

Okay...favorite presents for the kids: For Layton it would have to be one of his many buses! He got a bus tent, a large play bus, and several small buses, and he loves them all! For Ainslee it was definitely her baby doll center that has a crib, swing, high chair, and sink all hooked together, and for Ava I think it was either one of her babies or her Barney that Trey's parents gave her! That girl loves her some Barney!

It's hard to pick my favorite part about Christmas this year. Up real close to the top though, was Ainslee's face when we were passing out presents at my mom's house on Christmas Eve. We tried to get it on camera, but we really needed a video camera! Her eyes were big and wide and she kept moving her tongue from side to side like she was getting ready to really dive into all those presents! It was the funniest thing!!

Well I guess that's it for tonight! After watching Julie and Julia tonight I feel like I have the motivation to do this a little more often! Now let's just see if I can find the time! Good night!

Going WAYYY back...all the way to Pre-K

Subtitled: Catch-up part 1

Well looking at my blog, it's been about 3 months since I last posted anything. I think that indicates one of two things: either that I've fallen off the face of the earth, or that I'm a teacher and in between school starting and coming home in the afternoons and feeding, bathing, playing with, reading to, and rocking the kids, there's just not much time to self-reflect or whatever this is that I do! Plus there are lots and lots of new TV shows on right now, most of which I fall asleep while watching, which is why I am totally in LOVE with our new DVR. I still can't remember to fast forward through the commercials, but I really, really love getting to watch the second half of Castle on Tuesdays instead of just having to wonder whodunnit!


Anyway, so I logged on this morning because I've taken a comp day that I earned from my CPR training this summer, only to find that someone has been leaving totally weird, anonymous comments on one of my posts! They're long and crazy and not even in English. It might be in wing-ding font, but I really think it's in another language. I dont' know how they get a font for another language, but whoever it is, stop it!

OK so what's been going on with us?? Layton started Pre-K back in August. He actually had to start a couple of weeks late so it was really September. He is in Ms. Blackstone's class and totally LOVES school. Being at school has really heightened his love of buses! I thought it was kind of cute last year, but this year it's a full-blown obsession. Every bus we see he wants to know which bus it is. I try to outsmart him and just tell him just some bus name, but it doesn't work. The other day I told him the bus was the parrot bus (our buses are named after animals..aren't everybody's??), but he very quickly and emphatically told me I was wrong with a "NUH-UHHH...the Parrot bus has a different front!!!" Buses have different fronts?? Who knew?? And apparently the Little Dragon bus doesn't make the chhhh sound like the Turtle bus does so I couldn't fool him there either! He gets to ride the bus over to the Middle School in the afternoons, which was nerve-racking for me, but awesome for him! I thought he would be scared, but he wasn't at all! Of course, the middle school is nothing if not the dog-capital of the world so getting him OFF the bus proved to be tricky in the beginning. I'm very happy to announce that, with the help of a very understanding mother who walked her dog to the school each afternoon to pick up her children, Layton can now get OFF the bus and walk all the way down the sidewalk to my room without me! If you're wondering how that sweet mom helped me, at first when I met him at the bus stop, she would just stand back and let me get Layton before she got her kids. Now that I don't meet him, I trust that she's still standing back and letting him go before walking herself.

One thing I've noticed since he started school is that I never, ever get the full story! Now I'm really worried about what my students went home and told their moms about ME! Lucky for me, my sister is a pre-k teacher too so I can call her up and get the rest of the story! Like when he was whining because he didn't get to go to recess "like AA's and Mrs. Pullen's class did." Here's how the conversation went:
Me: Well, why didn't you get to go outside?
Layton: I don't know
Me: Where did you go instead?
Layton: I just had to go in a another little room.
Me: Where was your teacher:
Layton: I don't know..I looked for her but she wasn't there so that girl just took us to the other room but Ms. Blackstone was not there!
Me: So did you go outside then?
Layton: No, we just had to watch a movie while the other classes played
So when I talked to my sister later I asked her to please explain because I knew there was some sort of logical explanation here, and of course there was! During PE, Layton's class had hearing/vision screening so the other classes played outside while they did that. They watched a movie while they waited for their turn!

I could go on and on, like when he got time-out at recess just for going down the slide the right way (He wasn't supposed to go down the slide at all! HELLO big mud puddle!) and how now anytime he mentions the nurse's office, he equates it with a fire drill just because when he went for his flu shot, that just happened to be the same time that they had a fire drill. Poor kid thinks it will always happen that way!

Well I believe I've rambled on and on enough. How does that happen when you start talking about your kids!?! Just wait! I'll give a catch-up post on Ainslee and Ava shortly! Feel free to skim right over unless you're their grandparent and then you're supposed to be truly fascinated at the wonders that are your grandchildren!

Our Darling Ainslee

It's hard to believe that our little Ainslee just celebrated her 3rd birthday. Trey and I consider ourselves truly blessed by her. We are two of the very, very few people who get to see the real Ainslee. For those people that only see the shy, timid side of her in public settings, you might be surprised to learn what she's really like.

She is very complex and has many different sides to her personality. I never imagined that a three-year-old little girl could be so dynamic. She's sweet and bubbly and has such a great sense of humor. She's very silly. Laughter rolls out of her. She loves to make others laugh. I love to see her with her guard down, enjoying her brother and sister. They play so well together. She's very nurturing. She has a good imagination and loves to pretend. She tells everyone their parts in her imaginary world. (You be the sister, and I'll be the mama; you be the brudder, and you be the daddy.) She's fiesty. She's stubborn; headstrong. She's unpredictable, and she keeps our lives interesting. She's comfortable at home and worries about the unknown. She asks a lot of questions. She's smart. She doesn't like dogs, but she says she likes cats, even though she's never liked a cat that she's seen in real life. She loves to sing, and she does it all the time! She wants to please. When she's in a bad mood, she likes for me to rock and her tell her that I love her. (and I love that she'll let me rock her and love on her!!) She doesn't like men in general, but she loves her daddy. She responds better to praise than punishment. She doesn't like to be without one of her siblings. She's a middle-child, not the baby, not the big kid, searching for her place. She loves all things girly. She wants to be a princess or a ballerina. She loves pink and glitter and loves showing off her earrings! She likes to feel fancy. She feels pretty in a dress and insists, much to my delight, in always having a bow! She loves shoes and jewelry. She's good at puzzles and loves to color. She's a picky eater, and loves to drink sweet tea and chocolate milk.

We love her so much. We love every side of her. Our prayer for her is that she knows that even though she's not the baby or the big kid, that she's right where she belongs, in the middle, right in the heart of our family. We pray that she'll love God, that when she's big enough she'll choose to follow Him, and that she'll lead others to Him.

Consider this your warning

I hate WebMD. Ok hate's a strong word. I dislike WebMD and all of the self-diagnosing that can occur. For a hypochondriac like myself, websites like that can really ruin your day and your ability to sleep peacefully. However, they can also be like..how does Edward put it?...a drug to me. Totally addicting. Now there's this other website that I've discovered that you can type in your symptoms, putting and or or, and it spits out a whole list of possible diseases! For example, I learned that I could have malaria, really, malaria, all because I experience dizzy spells while I'm on my period. Of course it could also be anemia, chronic kidney disease, excessive dieting (yeah right!), the flu, or hemorrhagic thrombocythemia.

So I was on WebMD the other day, trying to decide if a certain skin issue was cause for seeing a doctor, or if I just needed to put a little hydrocortisone on it and forget about it. (Honestly, though, what self-diagnosed hypochondriac could forget about any ailment!?! We always see a doctor!) Well I learned that, of course, the issue could be life-threatening, even in rare instances, cancer, so I better go on and get it checked! So I made an appointment with a dermatologist and sweated the days until I actually could get in. I don't know why dermatologists can't give you same day appointments. Don't they know that the sooner cancer is diagnosed, the more likely you are to survive!?!

I decided that while I was seeing a dermatologist, I might as well go ahead and get a total skin check. I mean, look at Izzy, hers almost went undetected! Plus Khloe Kardashian gets total skin checks every 3-6 months! Now my real-life friends have varying levels of skin care. Some of my friends get checked every year, some tan during the summer, and one of my friends owns her own tanning bed and tans year round. My mind went back to my 7th grade year when Mr. Spears was showing us the stages of Melanoma. He told us about how fair skinned people are more likely to get skin cancer. I remember very clearly, him pointing all around the room, and saying, "One of you WILL get skin cancer." And my friend, John Knight, (that's right John, I haven't forgotten!) pointed at me and silently mouthed the word, "You." Please keep in mind that the reason I made my appointment in the first place had nothing to do with skin cancer. I didn't have a scary mole or weird freckle that I was concerned about. My problem was more along the lines of eczema, but you see how my mind works.

Anyway so I went to my appoinment totally convinced that my eczema was cancer and the skin screen was just precautionary. For those of you who have never had a skin screen before, it's really not as bad as it sounds. It's not like you're lying totally exposed for the entire nursing staff and waiting room to see. The doctor lets you hang on to some bits of your dignity as she looks at one little section and calls out every freckle and stretch mark (why did she have to point that out!?!) so that a nurse can record it on your chart. Then, there it is, the small, but ever-present gasp, something you do not want to hear from you doctor. "What about this freckle?" she asks. "Oh that's nothing," I tell her, "My OBGYN dismissed that one already as nothing scary." Then she tells me that she dis-a-grees with him. She what?? Disagrees with him?? So it is something scary????? Images flash through my mind of all the melanoma pictures I've seen; pictures of Grey's Anatomy and all of Izzy's suffering; even John, pointing at me, picking me out as the one who would eventually get skin cancer. I couldn't believe it. This is it! This is how I will die. I'm usually not so dramatic. I've only proclaimed that this is how I will die two other times; one when I was in labor with Ainslee and my epidural wasn't working, and I didn't think it was possible to live through that amount of pain, and two, a few weeks ago when I was flying to KC. I don't know why. I was just convinced I would die on that plane ride. See...hardly ever dramatic!

So I went home clinging to may last days, waiting for the phone call with the results of the pathology. In the back of my mind, I really do know when I'm being irrational, and I think that's how I got through those days until she called. I rationalized in my head that chances are the spot really was fine, just like I did when I rationalized that women make it through deliveries every day and planes take off and land safely every day. So I really didn't sit by my phone waiting, and I didn't say my last good-byes. But then the phone rang. It was my home phone, and the only people that call me on my home phone are my mom or the Texas Association of State Troopers. My mom was at work, and the troopers usually wait until dinner time to call and collect their $50 donation so they can send me my awesome decal for my car. Of couse, I've only given that donation one time because my friend's husband is a trooper, and I thought I'd help him out in case he needed a new uniform or gun or car or something, but then my friend told me not to donate to TAST because her husband is a member of a different organization. I answered the phone, and sure enough, it was Candie from Texarkana Dermatology with my pathology report. My heart was racing, my head was spinning. I sat down for the news. Then she said, "The spot is benign." In my state, all I could think was, "Benign? What does that mean??? Cancer? Not cancer? Cancer? Not cancer? Oh why do they have to use real medical jargon????" It reminded me of the time that I was on the phone with Ava's dermatologist, and she was explaining to me that Ava had Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and all I could think was, "Oh thank goodness it's not staph!" Hello! Anyone ever hear of MRSA staph?? The bad kind?? The kind that doesn't respond to antibiotics!?! Yep that was me, breathing easy. Her doctor probably thought I was some kind of an idiot, sounding relieved that my daughter only had Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Luckily, though, I was able to settle my mind and remember that benign means no cancer. Yippee! I'm free! Free from worry!! But then she gave me the rest of the news that the spot did have moderate to severe change in it, and while this time it wasn't cancer, I should consider it my warning! (dum, dum, dum, dummmmm)

So friends I say all that to say, that I would like very much if you would consider my warning, your warning also. Go get checked! Seriously it doesn't take long, and it's not nearly as embarrassing as you might think. If you don't have a dermatologist in the Texarkana area, Antoinette at Dr. Parham's office is wonderful, Dr. Gaylor at Collom & Carney is great (but she's on maternity leave until September), and Dr Young with Dermatology Associates is also top-notch, if you feel more comfortable with a man looking you over. Call, make an appointment, get it done!

Our favorite breakfast

This is my first attempt to do a recipe with pictures on my blog! Lots of other bloggers do it, and it's a real treat to see how theirs turn out. Like this pizza recipe that I told my sister we have to totally try out on our next girls' night! I could totally see us sitting on her couch, watching a sappy romantic comedy, eating this pizza, and drinking a glass of wine, except of course that we don't drink wine, but sweet tea just doesn't sound as sophisticated. Let me apologize in advance because I am 1) not a good picture-taker and 2) not a good cook! So why on earth would I risk the shame of the whole world few people that read my blog seeing my lack of skillz?? (That's right! With a Z...because I'm cool like that!) Because it's good I tell you! This is a good breakfast and your kids will totally eat it up! I'm sorry for those who are watching their waistlines! This one's not for you!

So here are the ingredients. You'll need 2 cans of biscuits (I guess if you're someone's memaw, you can make the buiscuits from scratch. Just be sure you make about 2 cans worth), 1 cup of white sugar, cinnamon to taste, 1 stick of margarine, 1 cup of packed brown sugar.

First, combine 1 stick of margarine with 1 cup of packed brown sugar over medium heat.

While that's cooking, combine 1 cup of white sugar and cinnamon in a gallon-size ziploc (brand not important) bag.

Next quarter your buiscuits one can at a time and drop them in the ziploc bag with sugar and cinnamon. Shake to coat and put the quarters in a greased muffin pan. (2 cans will make 12 muffin-sized whatever these are)

Then spoon your melted margarine/brown sugar mixture over each muffin cup and bake at 400 degrees for 10-13 minutes.

While that's cooking you can start the icing! No exact measurements here, but you'll need some powdered sugar (or for those who are food network-savvy, confectioners sugar), milk, margarine, and vanilla. I am very picky about my vanilla, and I have found Adam's best to taste, that's right, the best!

I'm too lazy to stir so I put it all in my milkshake maker and blend it. If I were to measure it, I would guess that I probably use about 1 cup of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar), a few tablespoons of milk, a tablespoon of vanilla (I heart vanilla!), and a tablespoon of softened margarine. I just blend it all, and alternate adding more sugar, more milk, and more vanilla until it tastes like I want it to taste, is the right consistency, and there's enough! I suppose to you could water (milk) down some store-bought icing, but I've never tried that.

This is what your baked whatever these are called will look like.

Now, line a cookie sheet or sturdy flat surface with wax paper. Cover the muffin pan and very carefully flip it, so that the ooey gooey can run down! Yum!

Wal-lah!

Add your icing, and serve it up!

4th of July and maybe some other stuff...

Obviously I titled this post before I actually wrote it so who knows what will come out!

We'll start with the 4th of July. Our fourth of July started way to early in the morning. I got up at 3 AM so that Sara, Shanda, and I could go see our friend Suzanne get married!!! (None of us liked this picture of ourselves, but obviously I am the only one that can truly complain!) The four of us were so close in high school, and we all went to UCA together! Suzanne and I were roomates our freshman and sophomore years! (Then I got married our junior year so Trey was my roomate!) Suzanne married a really nice guy named Tad, and now they're moving to Philadelphia. She just received her PhD in speech pathology! (and here I am reciting the "i before e except after c" so that I could spell received correctly...no I do not feel inferior in the least!) I loved Suzanne's wedding! It was so sweet and so personal. They had a unity candle. Tad's parents lit his side, and Suzanne's brother and sister lit her side. Suzanne's mom passed away our freshman year of college, and her dad was in the hospital and couldn't be there. They had a web cam set up though so he could watch, and they could see him too. *Suzanne's dad passed away this week. Our prayers are with you Suzanne, Eric, and Lauren.* There was a break between her 2:00 wedding and her 5:30 reception. We just went back to the hotel and crashed, because remember we had gotten up at 3 AM!!!! The reception was so much fun! They had a full dinner and dancing. One of the dances they had was the married couples dance. All the married couples got on the dance floor, and the DJ would call off a year and if you had been married longer than that year, you stayed on the floor. The last couple was this little old couple that had been married over 65 years. Shanda, Sara and I have all been married 8 years to our husbands, but we didn't get to show that off. :-( At 9:45 the city fireworks started and there was a perfect view from her venue. We didn't stay for the whole thing because Sara and I were feeling a little doomsdayish and couldn't get the thought of the balcony collapsing out of our heads. The photographer took a picture of the four of us before we left so I'll post that after Suzanne sends it to me. The next morning our flight out wasn't until 10:00 so we were able to sleep in until 6:00. Did I mention that our rental car was a Hundai?? That little go-cart/lawn mower (that's how it felt anyway) got like 40 or 45 miles per gallon!! We went 240 miles in it and only had to put $10.00 gas in!! We have got to get one of those! We made it home around 5:00 in the evening and I was so happy to see my sweet family! They had spent the weekend in Little Rock at Gram and Pawpaw's. I hear they had a wonderful time swimming at Aunt Kathy's and playing outside!

A few weeks ago we got the girls' ears pierced!! Ava had been called a boy one too many times! In WalMart that morning a lady said, "Well hi little man." I couldn't take it anymore! That afternoon I took both of them to Claire's and had it done. We had been going back and forth for a while; Ainslee asked for earrings a few times, and we kind of skirted around the issue. She did really well! She sat so still and didn't act the least bit scared until they put the marks on her ears. She only cried for a second and stopped when they gave her a mirror and sucker! She LOVES showing off her pink daisy earrings! Ava didn't do quite so well! I had to hold her down while she squirmed and tried to throw herself out of my arms. The passers-by gave us some pretty dirty looks, and an old couple sitting in front of the cookie place shook their heads at me! They finally got it done, and she has been so good at home letting me clean them!

Every now and then we'll hear some blasting from Red River Army Depot. Urban Rural legend is that they're detonating unused missiles or bombs or something like that. We've always called it a sonic boom or "blasting at the plant." This morning they've been blasting quite a bit, and Layton got a little scared because it can be pretty loud and usually shakes the house. This was his explanation to Ainslee: "It's just a man that has hiccups and he's jumping up and down to make them stop. It's nothing to be scared of, Ainslee." Now I, for one, find that a little more scary than "blasting at the plant." He also said the booms were yellow...or maybe orange.

The other day I was shopping. I've had my eye on this comforter set for a while. I really want new bedding in our room! It was originally set for like $150, and I noticed not long ago that it had been marked down again to $85. Well, I turned the corner, and there it was on the end of an aisle with a big red sticker on it loudly proclaiming, $50!! $50 for the bedding that I've been wanting that was orginally $150!! Can you believe such luck??? I texted Trey! (He didn't answer me.. for some reason he didn't share my enthusiasm.) Now the problem was that I haven't been putting back for that, and I didn't have any money allocated to new bedding. (i.e. Dave Ramsey budget). So I paced in front of it a few times...and counted how many they had left (5). I knew they wouldn't last for long. I knew I couldn't just cover from other places because we've already had a couple of unexpected expenses that I've had to pull to cover. The thought did cross my mind that we do have that $1000 emergency fund still in the bank. I could pay for the bedding with that and next month replace the money in the emergency fund. Sure, new bedding isn't quite an emergency, but the fact that I know next month when I do have the money, there won't be any bedding sets left does put a little added hurry-up pressure on me. So what did I do??? I held my head up high and kept walking! Next month I will start an envelope for new bedding, and when I have enough saved up, I will find something else that I like just as much. Who knows! Maybe that bedding set will still be online somewhere!

Blog Hop

Today is Blog Hop Day!!! And this week's theme is Favorte Photograph.

This picture is Layton, 2 1/2, the day that Ava was born. When I was pregnant with her, we would tell him that I had a baby in my tummy, and he would say that he had a puppy in his tummy! When Layton and Ainslee came to see her for the first time, we had gifts for them from her. Ainslee's was a new baby doll, and Layton's was this puppy. He loved that puppy! Layton was really into the Wiggles at that time, so he named it Wags. He took it everywhere, including the hospital at his last asthma-related hospital stay. He held on to it the whole time so that he wouldn't be scared, but somehow it got left behind when we left. He was so sad when we got home and realized it wasn't with us. The hospital couldn't find it either. I can't imagine what happened to the puppy. We tried to replace it, but there weren't any more. We bought it at Cracker Barrell. Now, every time we go to a Cracker Barrell I look in their stuffed animals to see if there is one. No luck yet, but we'll keep looking!!

Now I lay me down to sleep

I wish I could bottle up our night time prayers and keep them forever. I hope that when they're 24, 22, and 21 that I can still hear their sweet voices as they talk to God. Layton has outgrown the traditional "Now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer that we taught him when he was a baby. Here's how his goes (This is what he said tonight; each night is similar but not verbatim.)

Dear God...thank you for all the people that go to church that we get to meet. Thank you that Mama's going on a air plane. Keep her saved (safe) and bring her back home. Thank you that we get to go to Gram and Pawpaw's house. Please keep us safe so we can come home and hug and kiss and love each other. Amen.

Then it's Ainslee's turn.

Now I lay me down to sleep and pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night and keep me safe till morning light. Dear God, thank you for my hair cut stuff. Amen.

Because evidentally her play haircut set is very important to her. Sometimes she says thank you for her ponies too.

Then we all say the Now I lay me down to sleep prayer for Ava. I wonder what she'll tell God thank you for when she's bigger.

Trey and I also pray outloud before the kids go to sleep. I always let them hear me tell God that I'm thankful for them and for Trey. Trey usually mentions something that's happened that day or something that's coming up.

I love that time in our night. I love that they're learning to tell God thank you for the things that they have and that they're learning to talk to Him about things that are one their minds.

Pictures

We had pictures made last month for Mother's Day gifts for my mom, mother-in-law, and sister. Maegan Grant of Tatertots Photography took them, and she did a great job! I am having such a hard time deciding which pictures to buy. Click on over and see the slide show! (If you're on my facebook, this is the same link I already put over there!)

Lessons learned

Have you ever had one of those moments when you look at your kids with such pride that you can barely hold back the tears? Okay...I know, I know that sounds very dramatic. I think since becoming a mom the tears come a lot more easily than they used to (although I've always been a pretty emotional person). My dad used to tell me that I wore my feelings on my sleeves. Sometimes when I'm at a program at school I even get a little knot in my throat because I think that one day my kids will be doing that, and already I feel so proud. That is extreme...maybe I should consider some sort of emotion-supressing medication. Anyway...

Today the kids were picking up their toys before lunch. We have a rule this summer that all toys have to be picked up before lunch is served. Layton and Ainslee are both big enough to pick up their toys without help, and mean ol' me also makes them pick up most of Ava's toys too. She puts a few up, but she's not quite at the point where she can be responsible for all of her toys. There was only one toy left: the US puzzle that Ainslee had gotten down. Now usually I do not have the rule that you put up what you get out because sometimes it's just impractical. But today it just happened that I assigned Ainslee the task of putting up that puzzle. She, in all her 2 year old glory and stubborness, decided she would not. Fine. She's not invited to the table. We sit down to eat while she sits on the floor, and you would have thought she hadn't eaten in DAYS! She screamed and cried and kicked and wailed, and at one point she even threw the puzzle and its pieces. She was screaming, "I WANT TO EAT!!!!" I, surprisingly calm (surprisingly because you know how toddler tantrums can get your blood pumping!), told her that I wanted her to eat too but that she had to pick up that puzzle first.

Layton has a tender heart. He watched her, with his plate of food in front of him and tears starting to come to his eyes. Then he looked at me and said, "Mama, can I put the puzzle up for her?" I looked at Trey, and we were both thinking the same thing: How can we not let him? Sure, that won't help Ainslee learn that she has to put her toys up, but isn't kindess such a more important lesson? He got down and told her that she could go eat because he would put the puzzle up. She told him thank you and got in her seat and started to eat (actually she started to complain about the food that was on her plate, but I don't want to mention that because it just doesn't fit well with the story...maybe it does because sometimes aren't we ungrateful even though someone's doing something nice for us?).

I thought about what he was doing and the lesson that I hope he and Ainslee learned from it. It was such a simple act but still so meaningful to me. I hope they learned that sometimes you give, not because someone deserves to receive and not because we expect something in return and not because they're going to say thank you over and over and be so appreciative. You just give. You help even though it means that your food won't be as warm. You just do it.

I think Trey and I took something away too. I couldn't help but think about all that God has done for me, certainly not because I deserve any of it! He gives and blesses and there's not a thing in the world that we can do to repay him; it's all already His. It also made me think about how I can treat other people. I can give and show kindness, even when someone is kicking and screaming or complaining and being ungrateful. I can still be kind because what better way is there to show God's love?

It's summer!!!!!!

Woohoo!!! It's summer!!! School's out! It's hot! The A/C runs non-stop, and I am loving every minute of it! We are off to a great start! Last year I told myself over and over and over that last summer would definitely be the hardest one! Ava was still taking a morning nap and Layton's and Ainslee's schedules weren't quite in sync. There was never a minute in the day when they were all asleep. They were all very, very needy and drained more out of me than I thought I had to give. But man, oh man, this year has been great so far. They play all morning, eat lunch, lay down for naps at the same time, wake up, have a snack and play some more! I'm trying not to worry about how I'll get in the important stuff like housework and TV. That kind of stuff can wait until the weekends or until the kids are old enough to clean the house themselves while I sit back, turn the TV on, and read a book during the commercials. Y'all don't mind if my house is a little messy or if my clothes aren't perfectly ironed, right??

OK so what have we been doing with ourselves since school is out and Mommy doesn't have to go to work??? Well this week is vacation bible school at church. Layton LOVES it...Ainslee...not so much. She must like it a little, though, because they came home and set up all the chairs and put on a puppet show and play "bacation bible school". We have big plans to do LOTS of bowling since a bowling alley in town offers two free games every day per child. Can't beat free! On Saturdays, I am planning on taking them to storytime at Books-a-Million. Other than that, we dont' have a lot planned! Just the normal, play outside, watch out for snakes, run through the sprinklers, lazy kind of days.

I'm hoping to fit in some scrapbooking too. I still have a gift certificate to the scrapbooking store that I need to redeem. When Trey works weekends, he'll have a day off during the week so I think those days will be perfect for me to hide out and work on my scrapbooks. I am pretty far behind. I have about 4 pages of 2005 done, and that's about all I've had time for since having kids!

I also like to plan the kids birthday parties in advance. Ainslee's birthday is August 3. I am planning an evening party on that day (it's a Monday) complete with a wading pool, a slip & slide, sand area, and maybe sponge throw. I think we'll serve hot dogs since that's around dinner time. I bought sand pails to give as party favors that they can use in the sand area. Do y'all have any other ideas? Games? Cake? I was thinking about either doing floats, an ice cream cake, or sundaes. I am going to start on the invitations this week.

My two friends and I are leaving the kids and husbands at home and going to Kansas City to see our good friend, Suzanne, get married. It's July 4 weekend. We'll fly out of Dallas Saturday morning and fly back in Sunday morning. It's going to be a quick trip, but we're looking forward to the time away. I'm a little nervous about flying. I've flown several times before, but I usually take enough Dramamine that I sleep for the whole flight. Since I need to be fairly coherent not long after landing, I don't know if that will be an option. I keep trying to think of friends that have flown recently (like ever!) and have made it there and back safe and sound. That makes me feel better when I hear success stories, ya know?

The Shred...Cute kids...Prayer request

So I ordered the Shred...Ever heard of it?? No?? Well obviously you're new to the blog-o-sphere because every person whose blog I read that I don't actually know in real life (did you know people read people's blog that they don't even know! Do I have any readers that I don't know??? Probably not!) Anyway...Where was I? Oh yeah...The Shred...Everybody whose blog I read is talking about the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. It all started when I read this post a while a back on Big Mama's blog and read the post that she hyperlinked and decided that I needed to give that bad boy a try. So yesterday (a good month later) I ordered it off of a reputable website and paid for it with paypal just to be safe so that I don't relive the horrible 2daydietwholesaler.com debacle! (No! I still have not gotten my stinkin' diet pills!) So in the next week or so I expect to be shredding these pounds right off! Wish me luck!

Does anyone else think that their own kids are so stinking cute??? Oh my gosh! I just think I have the cutest kids EVER! Let me gush for just a moment! Layton, my darling, tender-hearted, Layton, upon hearing that we weren't going to church a couple of Sundays ago because the girls were sick and Daddy was having to go to work, got a little teary-eyed. He wiped his eyes and said, "I'm not going to cry; I don't know why my eyes are getting all wet." Bless his heart! He tries to be such a big boy! And did y'all know that he's fast??? Oh my word! That boy can run! I think we may put him in soccer just because he can run so fast! (Oh and Jason Rankin...if you're reading this....be sure to give Trey a super hard time about that!!!) And Ainslee has this cute little habit, when she's in an agreeable mood to answer everything with a simple, "Sure." It's very quick and a little high-pitched. "Ainslee, will you take Ava her cup?" Sure! lol...maybe you have to be there! Her life is a musical, usually to the tune of the Wonder Pets. She was...ahem..on the potty the other day singing, "There's Mama...in the mirror...I see Ava..." She's sings ALL the time! Speaking of Ava....she's gotten the cutest little personality. The other night she was making these dramatic, surprised faces where her mouth in a perfect oval and her eyes wide with shock. She expects you to mimic her face, and if you look away for a second, she gently grabs your chin to move your face back to hers and says, "Hey, hey." I was dying laughing. Every time I would look away, she would do it again! It was so funny...We should have videoed it! If you ever want to distract her from anything, all you have to do is say, "Want to go get some shoes???" Works like a charm! That girl loves shoes!

Oh we go back to Dallas next week for Layton's check-up with his asthma/allergy doctor! He's doing very well lately, but with t-ball, we're having to do more breathing treatments than we were before. I am thinking that the doctor may leave him where he is, medicinally speaking. (I didn't actually think that was a word, but speck checker didn't catch it!) I just hope he doesn't up his meds again. That stuff is expensive, and there's not a lot of generics! Say a little prayer for that, if you don't mind!

My thoughts on potty training...

Let me first start this post by saying that I have absolutely no authority over potty-training rules, and I have no scientific evidence to back what I'm saying here. But I do have two potty-trained toddlers, and I have lots of friends with toddlers, some of whom have asked my advice, plus I have a 3rd child coming up in need of potty-training. So, if nothing else, I type this to refresh my own memory!

I consider a child potty-trained when they can wear panties/underwear in public. But how do we get to that point? Here are the phases as I have seen them.

Phase one--Are they ready?
During this phase, your diaper wearing baby will start to let you know when they need a new diaper. They may insist on being clean at all times, and they may even go to a private place in the house to hide while they use the bathroom in their diaper. Oh yes, my friend, they are ready to be potty-trained!

Phase two--Panties in the house
Pick a week or two when you can spend almost every waking hour at home. I know, I know it sounds impossible, but it's really not. This is to give your little darling as much panty/underwear time as possible. Stock up on all your favorite floor cleaners; you'll need them the first couple of days especially. On the first morning, if they wake up dry, have them sit on the potty to use the bathroom. It may take a while, and they may refuse to sit as long as it takes. If they do not use the bathroom in the potty, put their panties on them and retry every 10-15 minutes until they either use the bathroom in their panties or the potty. Either way they'll feel the sensation. For the next few days, focus on the potty. You know from changing their diaper regularly about how long they go between tee-tees so about 10 minutes before it would be time for a diaper change, have them sit on the potty. If they are truly potty-training ready, it won't take them long to figure out the feeling before the pottying, and they'll be getting to the potty in time with few accidents. It's important to remember that during this phase they are learning to know when to use the potty, but they may still not know how to hold it until they can get to the potty so accidents will still occur. When you do have to go out in public during this phase, strap on the diaper or a pull-up and hit the road. (Trips to town are the only time I suggest pull-ups!) If they tell you they need to use the bathroom while you're out, pull in to the first convenient store, bank, grocery store, friend's house, whatever and let them go.

Phase three--Panties in public
This phase comes on gradually. You'll be hopping along in the latter stages of phase one, where they're making it to the potty almost every time, but you're still not sure about car trips because you can't always guarantee that you'll be able to stop so they're still in their diapers or pull-ups, and then it will happen. You'll be driving to Wal-Mart; they'll tell you they need to use the bathroom. You'll say, "Oh honey, there's nowhere for Mama to stop. It's okay. Go ahead and use the bathroom in your pull-up." You'll cycle this conversation over and over again until you reach your destination, and there you'll realize that they haven't used their pull-up. You'll run in to the store, hold them over the cleanest toilet, and they'll let it flow. They've held it! Wow! They're such big kids! A few more times like this, and you'll get brave enough to pack an extra outfit and let them ride to town in panties! Eventually you'll forget the extra outfit because you never use it, and wall-lah they're potty-trained!

Keep in mind that during this phase they may still have night-time accidents and may still need overnight pull-ups or diapers.

Phase four: Panties at night
This is the long awaited phase, where you can stop buying diapers and pull-ups altogether. They're wearing panties, or underwear, at home all the time, you never even consider not letting them wear panties or underwear in public, but those night times still make you nervous. They still wake up wet every now and then, so you don't want to risk them wetting the bed. Eventually, though, you'll realize that it's been a long time since they've woken up wet. You may have even made it through an entire package of pull-ups, and you'll think, "Good grief, what a waste of money!" If you're like us, you'll buy one more package, for just in case, but you'll go ahead and let them wear panties while they sleep. You'll freak out if they ask for a drink before bed, and you'll make them use the bathroom and really empty that bladder before they go to sleep. And in the morning, they'll wake up dry! And the next morning, they'll wake up dry, and the next morning they'll wake up dry! Whew! The potty training is done!

Keep in mind that children get to these phases at different ages and will spend different amounts of time in each phase. For example, our son was potty-trained at 22 months, but now at four years old, he still sleeps in a pull-up. Our daughter was potty trained at 18 months, and now at 2 1/2, she sleeps in panties and never has an accident. My now 18 month daughter is in phase one. We're not convinced that she's ready for phase two just yet.

Don't try to push them to or through the phases. You'll only frustrate yourself. Go with the flow, poor pun intended! Happy pottying!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

As for me, here's what I have not been doing!

*I have not rocked my Ferberized 18 month old to sleep the last..umm..3 or 4 nights because she's teething, and I can't bare to hear her cry when I think she might be in some sort of pain!

*I did not bring my grade book and lesson plans home to do over the weekend, only to take them back to work this morning and do them very quickly while 1st period took a test!

*I did not substitute a can of chili for taco meat in a recipe tonight because I was afraid our hamburger meat might not have withstood Saturday's power outage! (by the way, if you ever do think that you can substitute a can of chili for taco meat in a recipe, you would be mistaken!)

*We did not take McDonald's in to Red Lobster yesterday simply to avoid paying out the rear for food my kids won't eat anyway!!

*I did not just use the expression "out the rear!"

*I did not feel just the tiniest bit nostalgic today while looking at videos that we took just a year ago of our kids who have grown up so much in that little bitty year! Where does the time go?

Show of homes

I have fallen in love with this blog so I thought I would participate in her show of homes! (Even though mine is really nothing to show!)

We'll begin with an overview of the living room as looking from the kitchen. Pardon the four year and one year old making their city. I have the furniture so spread out to allow for lots of play room for our three tots.

This is a bookshelf that my sister had in her house when she was single. I love it! It's so big. On top the picture in the middle (that should be hanging) was given to us by our young married group as a going away present when we moved from Conway to Texarkana like 6 years ago!

This chair my mother-in-law gave me after I found out I was pregnant with my second child, Ainslee. I love it! The pictures on the wall are some of my favorites too. They are each of the kids when they were exactly one month old. They're in almost the same position with almost the same background!

This is our end table with one of our nebulizers. I should have turned that picture around because it's one of my favorites. It's of Layton kissing Ainslee's forehead when she was just a few weeks old, and he was about 18 months old.

This is probably my least favorite part of my living room. I'm a horrible decorator, and it shows right here!

This is one of my favorite things. I wanted a chest like this the whole time I was living single, and my parents got it for me when I graduated from college. It was made in 1880. It used to be more of a focal point in our living room, back when I had a focal point and decorations. Now it's tucked to the side and is holding the second nebulizer. The mirror I also love for some reason. My mom bought it at a garage sale when I was like in middle school, and I put it in our house when Trey and I first go married.

Ainslee, the little mother

Based on these two pictures and Ainslee's play habits, I truly believe she will either run a day care, a foster home, or give birth to may children!


Here she is ready to accomodate six babies. Notice how she's watching over them as they sleep. She does this all time! She'll usually tell us to be quiet so the babies can sleep!

This picture was back in December! She has a double stroller, and Ava is pushing the single stroller. Sometimes Ainslee will get the double stroller and have the grocery cart beside her and will tell Ava to push the single stroller! She's going to be a great mom!

Easter morning

I know..I know..Easter was like a month ago, but I haven't posted pictures of them in their cute, coordinated Easter outfits!! Layton's shorts and Ava's outfit were actually from last year (Ava wore Ainslee's from last year). I found Ainslee's on Ebay and bought Layton a new shirt to go with the shorts, and my sister made their bows!

A few pictures...

It's been a while since I've posted some pictures on here so ....



Here are the kids before Layton's first t-ball game. Ainslee's and Ava's shirts have Layton's number and say "sister" on the back!

This was a cute sister moment I couldn't help but capture! Ainslee told Ava to sit in her lap!

Then Ainslee moved over to the chair, and Ava followed!

This was on a Saturday, and the kids were in Ainslee's room playing. When I walked in, I asked them what they were doing, and Layton replied, "We're pretending that we're watching TV." Something just doesn't seem right about that! =)

Not Me Monday...

Let me just say that I LOVE Not Me! Monday on McMama's blog! I love reading everybody's posts and laughing at what everybody certainly did not do this week! So here goes...

*I am not posting this in a last minute effort to win a prize!

*I did not try to check all my favorite blogs at work today, knowing that blogs are blocked, just because I was having blog withdrawals! I only work at work!

*I have not read the online verson of the rough draft of Midnight Sun twice because I was having Twilight withdrawals! Isn't Twilight just for teenage girls???

*I did not go crazy, thinking that maybe, just maybe I might be pregnant with my fourth child, even though I had my tubes tied 18 months ago! And I certainly did not have my facebook, twitter, and myspace status change already in my head! Luckily I will definitely NOT (seriously not!!!) have to use that status change! (Does everyone get that that particular not is not part of Not Me! Monday???? I'm not pregnant, people! Lay off!)

*I did not use the word chillax this week! That's definitely only for the teenagers!!

*And I did not tell my two year old to wait just a minute to use the bathroom so that I could finish this post, and I did not snap at my husband for his impatience while I type!

UPDATE

Well thank you all so much for praying for me! We had a very good weekend! We made it to the store, I budgeted for the month, my sister and I got a lot done, not one tear was shed while my in-laws were here, and Ava's lip looks remarkably better!! I wish I had a picture to show y'all! Church was still a little rocky. Ainslee & Ava cried so much that their teachers called us to come stay with them in their classes. We'll keep working on that one! ;-)

Thanks again for the prayers!!!

I'm stressed...

and feeling completely overwhelmed right now! But I just took some of the wonderful herbal stress pills that Joanna gave me and said a very specific prayer so I am feeling better. If you would like to pray for my stress level here are some specifics you might want to mention:
*that we can make it to the grocery store tonight (all 5 of us) in the pouring down rain
*that I can get the budget budgeted tonight
*that the kids will have some great quality time tomorrow with my in-laws instead of displaying their separation anxiety that has come on rather suddenly
*that I will be able to help my sister get a lot done at her house tomorrow
*that Ava's lip will heal already
*that we can go to church Sunday without kids crying in their classes (see...separation anxiety)
*also thank you to God that we have a grocery store, money to budget, kids that love us so much they don't want to be apart from us, 2 sets of grandparents that love our kids, my sister & her new house, doctors and medications to treat Ava's lip, freedom of religion, and wonderful congregations in town!

Easter Bunny & Oreo Balls

I am so excited that the Easter bunny is coming to our house tonight!!! Does the Easter bunny (wink, wink) come to yours??? Our kids are getting candy (no chocolate), sunglasses, & umberellas. The bunny doesn't bring big gifts to our house; he brings small things that they've been wanting for a while that I really don't buy in our every day outings. What are your kids getting?

I'm also in the middle of making some fabulous oreo balls! I can't wait to rip into those bad boys! I have never actually made anything with almond bark before, and I'm not really enjoying waiting for it to melt on the stove. I should probably be stirring it right now since the package says in all caps DO NOT OVERHEAT!

More on the lip...

Well Monday did roll around, and it still hadn't shown much improvement so I called the dermatologist again, and she was able to get us in that morning. (Can you say, "Wow!" Who ever heard of a same-day dermatologist appt???) She was not at all happy, although very professional, that the pediatrician had taken her off of her orginally-prescribed medicine in exchange for, what we learned, was actually a less-effective medicine! (And you remember how much it cost right???) So $90 worth of medicine got thrown in the trash, and we refilled the meds that Ava was originally on. We're on another 2 week round with another appt scheduled for April 23rd. I gotta say, though, it seems with this bug it's two steps forward, one step back. It, again, started to show real improvement, and then she woke up this morning with it oozing again. I think it must really itch her in the night, and she rubs it on her sheets. Who can blame her? But how can we stop her???

Update on Ava's lip

After I posted about Ava's lip, it continued to not improve. It really didn't get any worse, but still, it showed no improvement. She continued to bleed at night and seemed to be in pain. On Monday after posting, I decided that I didn't want to wait until the following week to have her seen by her regular dermatologist. I called her pediatrician, and his nurse was very kind and got us an appointment for that very day for a dermatologist within their clinic. That doctor was wonderful, and in fact, we may switch because I liked her so well.

Anyway the lip...she preliminarily diagnosed her with impetigo and gave us an antibiotic and cream but still took a culture and said she would call us if it came back as something other than impetigo. Well she (not the nurse the actual doctor!) called our house phone 3 times Thursday. It was too late to talk to her by the time that I got home Thursday evening from work, but I was able to leave my work phone number with her nurse. Friday, she called me at work (I still can't believe the doctor called me herself! That makes me think a lot of her!) and told me that it was not impetigo, that it was actually MRSA. Well the only thing I knew about MRSA was that it had been all over the news a while back and that people had died from it. So naturally, my heart started racing and I was getting out of breath, but still trying to listen to everything she was trying to tell me about caring for the "super bug." Her lip had already begun to heal and looked tons better by then so she felt like we were on the right track, and continued the same treatment, only adding a topical antibiotic to the oral antibiotic and topical ointment we already had.

That night, after spending the afternoon googling (in between teaching of course) MRSA and now knowing just how contagious it is, I checked over my other two children, and to my dismay, found a spot on Ainslee's bottom that also looked like the dreaded staph. I took her directly to our urgent care clinic, where they confirmed my suspicions, and thanks to Walgreens (you know how I love my Target pharmacy, but they close at 9:00) we were able to get her on an antibiotic that night as well.

Then Wednesday when we picked the kids up from the babysitters, we noticed that Ava's face was starting to look infected again. It was looking so good! Pretty much healed. I don't know why the change of events, but through my reading, I learned that this strand of staph adapts rapidly and can become worse fast. We knew we needed to get her seen again. Well evidently dermatologists take off more than pediatricians so we weren't able to get her back into see the new doctor, but we were able to get her into a pediatrician (not our regular one but who cares) and she prescribed yet another antibiotic ($45 medicine!) and another cream (another $45 medicine). It's looking some better, but we're not blown away by the progress. I figure I will call the dermatologist again on Monday if things haven't improved.

Ainslee, on the other hand, is looking great. She has a persistent eczema spot on her bottom that she scratches a lot. I guess she came into contact with Ava's MRSA, got it under her fingernails, and transferred it to her bottom. Nevertheless, it is pretty much healed.

Thank for the emails and well-wishes. I really hope we get this taken care of soon!

Prayer request

This is a blog that I follow regularly. Please click over and pray for their sweet baby.

Proof that Trey's the neat freak!

As if you needed proof!!

I overheard this mini-conversation while Trey was dust-busting the edges of floor:
Layton: Can it be my turn next Daddy?
Trey: No way; this is all me!

And today while Ainslee was playing with her play cleaning things, I heard her say, "I'm cleaning...I'm cleaning just like Daddy."

I know that doesn't look good on me. I promise I do some cleaning, and I makes LOTS of lists of things that need to be cleaned, but by far Trey is the one that stresses about everything being clean!

Disclaimer: This post makes it sound like our house is immaculately kept, and it is NOT. If you come over unannounced, you will definitely find a cluttered counter, dishes in the sink, and beds unmade, but you will not find one crumb!

Ava has beautiful skin except....

Ava has the most beautiful skin of all my children except for one problem area...her upper lip.



For the past few MONTHS it has been broken out all but maybe a day or two here and there. We'll get it cleared up, and then her nose runs (as always!) and it breaks right back out.

This morning when she woke up it was really bad. I guess it had been itching her during the night because it's pretty much raw and her sheets had blood on them.


I don't know what to do, and I am definitely open to suggestions! In fact, if you think someone you know might know something we can do, please forward this post on!

Here are the things that we already use because of Layton's and Ainslee's excema-prone skin:

*Tide or All Free & Clearn laundry detergent
*Bounce Free fabric softener
*Suave Free & Clear Children's shampoo
*Dove for Sensitive Skin soap
*Cetaphil cream
*Neither Trey nor I wear cologne or perfume
*We also have a variety of different Rx excema creams of different steroid strengths on hand(which are not approved for her from the Dr.) as well as Elidel (which hasn't been approved for her either); we are wiling to use them on her if we are told that they're safe for her skin. She wasn't old enough when they were prescribed.

I should also mention that she's seen her pediatrician twice already for this spot. He gave her an ointment (not for excema) and an anti-viral. I do have an appt scheduled with a dermatologist for April 2, but I don't know what to do until then with it being so bad right now!

Oh yeah and click on the pictures to see them closer up!