Bad pictures and a haircut

I have an Easter post started, but I haven't uploaded any of the pictures off of my big camera onto the computer yet. So I'll just tease you with this back-of-the-camera shot:

 Unfortunately that picture just about sums up our picture taking experience these days. Elyse is all over the place. Evan has decided that folded hands by her face is her new "pose". Luke says outside is too bright and he can't smile. If you need further proof that a picture of all three looking decent is impossible, let me leave you with this gem.

That was from the Saturday before Easter. Mom and Dad and I tried to get the kids to take a nice, classic bluebonnets picture. It's amazing I didn't pop an artie and die right on the spot. But looking at this picture makes me laugh every time. Oh lordie, those kids.

A much better way to get all three kids in a picture? Let one be asleep, one be on his bike, and one running behind the bike rider.

Hope you weren't expecting to see any bright eyes and sweet smiles!  Just kidding. One evening Luke begged me to let us go on another walk. My first instinct was to say no. My feet hurt from wearing heels to work that day, I needed to get dinner started, and I just plain didn't wanna. But then the unselfish part of me remembered that in a few weeks it will be way too hot to go for a walk, in a few years they won't wanna go for a walk, and then I will die a lonely old woman. So for a walk we went. And I'm so glad we did. Life has been good lately! Evan got her first hair cut yesterday! I met Mom after work and Evan was so excited she made up songs about getting haircuts and being beautiful for 45 minutes.

I figured almost three years was a really good run. Her little haircut is so cute. It's not super noticeable, but the girl trimmed at least an inch off, evening it all up, and gave her some long layers. It will help balance out the crazy when we go out in public like this:
 

 Yep. I actually went to the store like this. Pink leggings, fuzzy boots, long sweat shirt. And I let Evan go in her dress up dress, flip flops, and sunglasses. And how in the world can life be anything BUT good when this little face is around.

She's started waking up before me on Saturday mornings. Normally my back is to her, so suddenly I'll feel little fingers on my spin and wrapped up in my hair. Once I get myself untangled from her firm grip, I roll over and this is what I see:

Perfect start to my day. Every time.

Six months

My beautiful girl. You are now six. months. old. Half a year. As much as this saddens me, that my brand new newborn days are long gone, I sure do love this baby that is currently sitting in my lap and trying so hard to bang on the keyboard while I type this. I don't really mind though. You are completely lovely and happy and wonderful.

So what have you been up to this month? Well, you still aren't sleeping through the night. You still get up once or twice a night, but part of that has been from ear infections. Yep, this month you got your first ear infection. First in the left, then in the right. It's made sleeping difficult, and one night I even resorted to putting in my sweater I'd been wearing to help comfort you. 

You are almost sitting up by yourself (you can for several seconds before toppling over) and two days before your 6 months birthday (last Saturday) I finally started you on solids. Avocado!

It's been a wild success, and next I plan to bake some sweet potatoes for you to try next.(yes, I'm going to try and make as much of you baby food as I can. I like trying new things with each new baby!)

This month you also started going to bible class. I've been teaching this quarter in your class on Wednesday nights, but generally you've been asleep on my shoulder through most of class. Last few weeks you've woken up to join the party! And you've even sat up long enough to play with your friends! (I've also just started leaving you for bible class on Sunday mornings too. Mrs. Deeann was just THRILLED to finally get her hands on you! But *sniff sniff* Momma was sad you are getting to big and busy to come with me to bible class)

I don't know what your length and weight is officially, your well check isn't until May 5th, but you are wearing a size 6 month in clothes and size 2 in diaper. We nurse all the time still, and your sleeping schedule isn't typical- instead of a morning and afternoon nap, you take a reeeeeeeeally long one right in the middle of the day.

But, I don't really care about your wonky nap schedule. I don't really care that I still get up with you at night. I don't care that you spit your medicine back in my face and that you had a poop explosion so spectacular last week that I couldn't tell which end it came out of. I just love you. It's a little amazing that you still have a face after all the kisses I have given you. Such a happy girl. Such a sweet baby. And you are mine.

Pictures!!

Remember that one time 10 days ago I said I had a ton of pictures to throw up on here? Well you are in luck! Today is the day! And you're also lucky because I've whittled it down, been much more picky than normal, and didn't put every. single. one. I wanted to up. Basically all the adorable sleeping baby pictures that I have will stay on my phone until I transfer them to my external hard drive. Which needs to be soon because I'm already out of storage again. I think this is the third time since Elyse has been born.

But in my defense, I've been trying to get better about taking videos and those take up a LOT of room.

Small group one night. Elyse and Jace where having a nice conversation with Josh.

 My handsome boy and his poor arm. This was right after he broke it. Next week he goes back to the dr to see how/if it's healed!

Ready for some outrageously cute matchy matchy sisters?!

For real y'all. I can't stop the matching. Yesterday Mom and I went to Once Upon A Child and I managed to find a dress in EVAN'S size that is the same as a dress she already had and ELYSE can wear this summer. Oh my goodness, it's like it was their destiny to match.

To be fair, matching sisters is just a thing we do in my family.

As is Saturday night rollers. Evan got inducted to the club this past Saturday night. Out of the eight in her hair, one somehow got torn in half, three were loose in her bed, and four stayed haphazardly attached. And yes, you may laugh at my closed eyes.

I seem to be way more in to the bubble gum necklaces than Evan is (I think they are just too heavy and bother her), but that doesn't stop me. I tried my hand at making one myself! 

"I weady fo chuch Momma!" Oh, yes. she. did.

We didn't have life group on Friday night, so I took the childrens out for a walk.

On the aforementioned trip to Once Upon a Child, I found the most ridiculously sized bow I have ever seen in my life. I stuck the tag in El's headband and it was literally bigger than her face.

 

 One last one of my handsome dude. This was at his friend's birthday party two Saturday's ago. (This past Saturday was the Bunny Breakfast, but all that will get lumped in with Easter). Love him!

Pain, new job, babe updates

Whew. What a ca-razy last three weeks it's been! It all started on Wednesday two and a half weeks ago. I had just sat down at a table at Paradise Bakery to wait for my sandwich, mindless checking Twitter to kill the time. A girl that I follow had reposted something that I really liked from an account I'd never seen before, so I clicked on it to see if it was a good feed worth following. It turned out to be Cody's girlfriend.



I felt like I couldn't breath. My lunch came and all I could do was cry. That was MY husband she was kissing. She was saying how much she loved the man I had commited my life to. She was the "perfect couple" (per the comments) with the man whom my children still ask why he doesn't live at home with us.



All the pain from the rejection came rushing back and was crushing. And then I had to go back to work.

sorry momma

But then my life shifted. Later that afternoon I got a phone call. A GIANT phone call. See, the last three months have been spent applying for jobs and interviewing. It was time. My job was refusing to give me a raise, and between the hour commute and now having three dependents to provide for, it was time for something new. I'm now working in town.



Did you hear that?



IN TOWN.



As in, my office is in between my house and Cindy's house. I've gone home for lunch every day for the last two weeks. I've been able to run medicine on my lunch break over to Cindy's when Evan spiked a fever. I was able to go by the pediatrician's today to pay for the visit Elyse had to have today AND go to the store AND STILL go home to eat. Tuesday I'm having lunch with Sara. When Shae has her baby next week I can go by and see them with out the kids.



Y'all. It's a whole new world.

I really like the woman I'm working for too. I'm her executive assistant and the only thing I'm worried about is not living up to the girl who I replaced. What if at the end of my 90 day trial time she tells me I just don't have what it takes? I've spent the last two weeks trying to absorb as much as possible. And writing a bunch of lists. I'm less likely to forget the fifty million things coming at me if I at least write them down.


So that's enough about me. What's been going on with the babes? (warning: in the near future there will be a post with about 25 picture on it to catch up over the last few weeks)


On one of the days that I had an interview, I took the whole day off and spent part of it with just Luke. He has been saying that he wants to play hockey, but I knew as soon as he got on the ice he'd change his mind.


I was right! He had a quick dentist appointment to replace a filling that had fallen out (I'd taken Luke and Evan in the day before. Evan had ZERO cavities! And Luke had no new cavities!) and then I took him ice skating. HE. HATED IT. We got about 1/16 of the way around the rink and he wanted to call it quits. I said no. With TONS of encouragement he made it all the way around (oh, the things we do as moms) and then we took a 5 minute brake on a bench. Miraculously he wanted to get back out and try it again. We eventually made it all the way around one more time and then he was done for good. I took a few laps by myself, and then I took my boy to lunch.

I'm so glad that I was able to have that little bit of time with him. Since Elyse has come along, we haven't done anything just the two of us. It turned out to be perfect timing for two reasons: I got a new job so no PTO to be able to do things and he broke his arm.

Yep. You read that right. He broke his arm again. This time it is an inch below his shoulder joint. He was at his very first sleepover party (can we all take a moment of silence that my baby is now big enough for sleepovers?) and they were at the park. Luke and his buddy were running around, crashed into each other, and Luke managed to fall just right and fractured his humerous.

All of the parents were at small group, so when Trane's number came up on my phone I laughed and said I was the winner, I got the first phone call. I WASN'T expecting to end up in the ER. And wouldn't you know, after he got his splint set, he wanted to go back to the party. So he did. And he stayed the whole night.

My middle girl is as funny as ever. She loves to dress herself.

We were headed to Target and I have finally reached the point in motherhood where I don't really care what the kids look like. By the way- when it was snowing outside I couldn't get her to wear her hat. Now that it's in the 80's? She's worn it every week.

 

See also: if you are ever wondering how I take three kids shopping by myself, this is what it looks like. I'm not joking when I say we are a traveling circus.

And my littlest babe finally participated in her first bible class. I haven't left her on Sunday mornings yet, I still take her to bible class with me, but Wednesday nights Tamara, Mom, and I are the cradle roll teachers. Usually she's asleep on my shoulder, but twice now she's been awake and able to participate. Its so funny because there is an automated cow that moos and walks that terrifies her, which is exactly what happened to my other two children. None of the other kids are bothered by it, but my children cry.