Sleepy Days!

That half grin and half frown is my little Miss Lydia enjoying her thin mints girl scout cookies, compliments of Grandma Fultz, and wanting to cuddle for a picture but fighting it all at once. Oh, how I adore this little princess! Little does she realize...but in 3 short months here she will have a little sister joining her! The belly is round, leg cramps are abundant, and baby #5 still does not have a name. This is very unusual for Steve and I...but so is our life right now!

Mr. Aiden is preparing for kindergarten next year. He amazes me with how fast he picks up some basic letter and number skills. Just a few months ago he started rhyming--everything he said was a rhyme--he claims, "My brain told me that it rhymed!" He even felt the need to tell me, after we moved our big family into a small 1000 square foot rental home, that "A small house does not rhyme with a lot of stuff, huh Mommy!" It still doesn't rhyme...I'm afraid! But, he is a ninja at heart! He will flip and kick, roll and jump all over the place. When I tell him that he is a brave boy, he says, "My brain told me how to do that!"

Connor thoroughly enjoyed bringing all these Mardi Gras beads home from school the day before their Mardi Gras holiday! That's right peeps--Mardi Gras holiday!!! Lydia has claimed most of the already!

Connor still watches out for Mommy, as he always has. I was driving the kids to church last Sunday. Steve and I had both worked a 12 hour night shift. He was 3pm-3am and I was 7pm-7am. He got home at 4am, and the kids were up and ready for a Daddy to take care of them just a short while later. I commanded him to go to bed, since he had to work again that night at 3pm, and I got me and the kids ready for church. The drive to church is 30 LONG minutes. Half way there, I pulled over and fell asleep with instant dreams. After 10 minutes I told the boys that it was necessary to go back home--we tried! Connor told me that when we get home, he wanted me to put Lydia down for a nap, he and Aiden would play in their room with the door closed, and he would let me take a nap on the couch. He has told me often that I don't sleep enough, and I need to take care of my body if I want to be healthy. He then began to plan out how we would make Sundays work from here on out--I have to sleep A LOT on Saturday, work Saturday night, and then go to church! What a good 6 year old boy! Tonight, he thanked Heavenly Father that we were able to go to church!

And the best always comes last! Steve is seen falling asleep all the time now. This is actually kinda how he looked at church today! Can't resist posting pictures of Daddy and his girl!

They Look Sweet and Innocent...

These pictures are from the happy days of take home pizza, all you can eat buffets that had steak, and lots of MacDonald's...or Burger King! Times are changing in this house!

Well, for the most part, I can say that my children are all sweet and innocent. Today, however, they took me by surprise! All, but Aiden, which is a shock in and of itself. Note, these pictures are from an earlier day in January--NOT TODAY! Do not be deceived!

I have been working a lot lately--Steve too! We love hot pockets, frozen burritos, cereal, chips, etc. Nursing school taught us survival, and now our nursing jobs are simply applying all the wonderful skills we established as typical tired nursing students. These skills are not limited to the IV's, injections, assessments, careplans, and critical thinking, but also the pizzas, burritos, hot pockets, chips, and M&M's!

So, in attempt to be a little more motherly, and wifey, I decided to make dinner for Steve and the kids tonight. We both worked 12 hour shifts last night, met each other in the cafeteria at midnight (snuck away from our units just to see each other...cute huh?!), and got home this morning. He was home 3 hours prior to me, but stayed up to tend to the kids until I got home. He was working again tonight, so he was sound asleep all day while I attempted to hold down the fort! Back to dinner...

As I was making dinner, I held Lydia and said, "Mommy's making dinner tonight, that's kinda weird huh?!" She looked at the dish, and without hesitation said, "Uh-oh." Hmmm....clue #1 was in place, this wasn't gonna be good! Connor saw the final masterpiece and told his Dad, "I knew I shouldn't have woke up this morning so I wouldn't have to eat dinner. It's like a nightmare!" Lydia tried it and cried, Daddy ate in delight, Connor and Aiden were astounded when they found out they were going to bed with nothing (then I broke and told them to stuff a gogurt in their mouths quickly before bed--bad parenting skills!), and I ate proudly! I like cereal and frozen foods....they don't like me though, sadly!

Happy Birthday Little Princess

Miss Lydia turned one on Wednesday. It was "perfect" timing--with a huge move, new jobs, the delivery of all our "stuff", and an awful ear infection. Hmmm...not so perfect after all! Lydia was miserable on her Birthday--she even got a late night trip to the ER with Grandma and Mommy for an ear infection. Yet, we did sing Happy Birthday before we left--she was focused on the red M&M's that Grandpa brought for her, but when she reached for them and ended up with messy chocolate frosting covering her hands, she got a little cranky.

Just a few days later, she wore her pretty Birthday dress, in true princess fashion, and charmed us with her dainty beauty! Once, again, we sang Happy Birthday to her, and once again, she reached for the same red M&M's!

We love you Miss Lydia--binky and all! You have brought us pure joy!

Another Rushed Birthday...

Happy Birthday Daddy Dear!!!

Birthdays have been chaotic this year...Daddy even expressed feeling like Knit Knox from Imagination Movers. We have lots of tan boxes around the house...it makes for a perfect boring birthday. We say that with humor intended!!! We still made time for cake and presents...not much, but it was nice. We also found out...on his Birthday (Friday the 8th) that Miss Lydia will be a big sister to a sister!!! YAHOO! We're having a girl! She is due June 2nd and weighing in at 10 ounces. I am half way there...I can't believe we'll be holding 2 babies...16 months apart, but still babes! Well, we are off to Louisiana in the morning.

Great Video to our Democrat Leaders Who Promised Hope!

A friend posted this video on my Facebook page today. I love the message. I think it should go for both parties, but I agree with the premise that the Democrats promised hope and change and all we have gotten from them is change. The change they have brought is taking us far from the principles and beliefs that we have as Americans (I believe most don't support this garbage anyway). It is time we show them the door. It seems a little odd that so many of the Democrats are jumping ship all of the sudden. I don't know that I am ready to trust the Republicans who may take their place. Whoever it is, they need to be with us, the American people, 100%. No more double talk! Anyway, here is the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiyqvuTxaEs . I could go on all day with this stuff, but I will spare you. We will do another family post soon!

Lydia's Blankie

The Beauty of Blue Grass!

So these are the pictures of the place that I took the kids off-roading last week. We found this park by mistake a couple of weeks ago while we were driving around town looking for something to do. I believe the place is called Blue Grass Park. It is a beautiful place to drive around and looks like it would be good fishing and hunting (for birds at least). So far, it is one of the most beautiful places around Evansville that we have come across. As it looks now, it will soon be a memory, but a place that I would love to visit again someday.

This is a picture of the day after going off-roading with mommy. I took her since I had taken the kids the day before. Even Lydia loved it, but Crystal was not as thrilled. A lot of the mud had gotten washed off from the rain and snow, but I had to capture whatever evidence was left. The second time we went was more wet and muddy, and we could have gotten stuck. Lucky for us we didn't, but we did bang a few rocks on the bottom and hit some branches. I don't think it was anything too serious. The car still runs and we are grateful for that. We are also grateful for all the good times we can have as a family.