Not a lot going on around here, hence very few and far between posts. My baby is trying to crawl. Somehow everything new that he has done lately, I have missed. My husband has been the one to tell me and then I can watch for it. Anyway, he is up on hands and knees sometimes. He is finally becoming a bit more independent so that I can set him down for short periods of time without him wailing. He is 6 months now. Wow! I just can't believe it. His half birthday was yesterday. I remember when Lillian was 6 months and my sister called to wish her a happy half-birthday. How different life was back then, over 3 years ago!

At church Sunday night someone looked at me shocked that I was holding a baby and said that she didn't even realize that I was pregnant! She decided it was because I didn't look pregnant. Hmmm... ya, that must be it. (see pic above. i couldn't move it for some reason)

One piece of news around here is that my husband will soon be hobbling around. Well, hobbling more than normal. He is having surgery on his knee next week, so that should be fun. Another person to take care of, not to sound selfish or anything.

IT'S HOT!

It is so hot. We have been stuck inside like it is the dead of winter because it is so hot. There is a drought and our grass is dead because it is so hot. On Thursday, our air conditioner went out and I thought I was going to roast inside my own house because it is so hot. I can't wait for things to cool off a bit. The sign outside our church says "and you think this is hot?" That really made me giggle.

I am glad that everything that comes with fall is starting up again. I need some structure and more activities to keep us all occupied. MOPS is getting underway soon, and until then we are busy planning and preparing. AWANA is starting in a few weeks, too, so that will be nice. We have started going back to church on Wednesday night after taking a break from it after my son was born in February. I am really looking forward to it. Plus, our church has dinner before church every Wednesday, so that combined with MOPS in the morning makes Wednesday a busy but nice day. Almost like a day off.

Don't know what MOPS is? MOPS is Mothers of Preschoolers. There is one near you. Go to MOPS.org and you can do a search or find out how to start one yourself. It is a great program of mothers supporting mothers, getting out of the house for some mommy time while your child enjoys themselves in another room. There is something for everyone- crafts, fellowship, food.

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

I love taking quizes. This is pretty right on, I guess. I do love fall, except that it means winter is on its way. I get excited every year at seeing the trees change. The description is pretty acurate, too.

National Night Out

Last night was not a total blast. Lillian had fun going down the huge inflatable slide and running around with her friends. But for the rest of us, it was just really, really hot with not enough food. It wasn't all bad. We had a nice time visiting with some friends and Chris got hit on by a little girl and her mother. We entered a drawing for a lawn mower (we really need a new one!) so we had to stay until the very end to see if we had won, which of course we didn't. Isaac got his first ride in a real swing. Even though we didn't have the best time, I am glad that we went and I will probably go again next year because it is nice that the community has these kinds of events for us and has them for free and also, the kids really did have a lot of fun.

Today was my baby girl's first day of pre-school. (Don't tell her I called her baby girl) She seemed to have a good time and had lots to tell. She played with play-dough and painted. She didn't get to go outside, though, because all the teachers said it was too hot. Two boys got into a fight and one got in trouble. She said she forgot to learn and was pretty distraught. I think she wanted to go back to learn. I told her she probably did, just didn't realize it.

And what did I do with my time? I did my Bible study, folded some laundry and watched People's Court. Not really the relaxing day that I had envisioned, but it was nice and quiet. Now, I only need to plan Isaac's naps on this same time frame and I will be all set!

Tonight is National Night Out. We are going to our community center for some fun and food. Probably hot dogs, but it will be fun. That is, if my husband gets home from work on time, which is really not likely to happen since we have plans. I guess I shouldn't complain, he did have a four day weekend. We didn't do much, mostly stayed home and enjoyed each other, which is nice. Chris and I played games and we went swimming yesterday. It was a very relaxing, enjoyable weekend.

short, short stories

By: Lillian

Once upon a time there was a beautiful mermaid call Ceochana mermaid.Then her mom washed her clothes in the washing machine so she could be so pretty. And then she said"Mom, your so pretty. Thank you for washing my clothes, they are so beautiful." Then she said, "Mom, I'm ready to go to bed." And then she said, "Mom, can you sing me a good-night song. Can I wash my teeth and take a bath, please?" Then she had to take a bath. She said, "I will stay in bed, Mommy. I will see you in the morning and then my daddy will be here." The End

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called Sleeping Doobie and her moms name was Cinderella and her sisters name was Snow White and her fathers name was Followtheleaderconchonda. The End

We have been trying to get our 5 month old to fall asleep by himself at night. I have been reading up on all the latest ways of doing this. They all seem about the same to me. I know I am tired of nursing him to sleep and then as soon as I lay him down he wakes up. We have tried the cry it out method, but it makes me feel jittery. So we are taking what we like from a few different methods and basically doing what we have already been doing. There was an article recently in Parenting magazine about different methods and this pretty much makes up my research on the subject. With our daughter we pretty much let her cry it out and had planned to do the same with Isaac but now we remember that he is not Lillian the second, he is Isaac and we have to do things in the way that is best for him, not what worked for Lillian. That is a hard lesson to learn. But anyway, last night he cried for about 30 minutes before finally conking out. So, we will see how it goes the next few nights. I don't know if my poor heart can take it.

I signed Lillian up for part-day preschool today. She starts on Tuesday and we are all so excited! It will be only on Tuesday and Thursday for 3 hours but I am totally looking forward to it. She needs more of an outlet to be around other kids and not around me. She keeps reminding me that I can not stay with her, I can only drop her off. Like I need reminding. So this fall we will have school Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, MOPS on Wednesdays and church Wednesday night and Sunday morning and AWANA Sunday night. So this will give us a nice break from each other. Although, she is moving into the Sunday School class that I am assistant teacher in, so that will be interesting. This all sounds like we don't really like each other very much, but that sure isn't the case. She is almost 4 now and really needs to be independent. We are both ready for a few hours apart and this will ease us into regular school as next year she will be in pre-k every day for a few hours.

We also went to the pool today where Lillian spent most of the time pouting because her friend was playing with another little girl instead of her. When does this go away? When do kids learn to play with more than one person at a time? Why is Lillian seem to always be the one left out? I told her to just go play with them- they weren't excluding her- or just find someone else to play with but she just didn't seem to feel like she fit in with them.

We are looking forward to a good extended weekend this week. My husband 'might' have Friday off and will have Monday off, too, so that should be fun. Maybe more van shopping, maybe some water park fun, for sure some being lazy around the house. Should be lots of fun!