Adventures in Potty Training: Book 3 Chapter 1

Larkin's turn. I've been waiting to find out what was going on with her bowel issues to potty train. Now that we know what's going on and it won't get in the way of potty training, I have no excuses. Larkin is 3 and will be a sunbeam in 2 months (crazy). She needs to be potty trained, in my opinion. She's doing normal for the first day...a few accidents. So here is the first funny story:

I put her on the potty. She didn't go (I don't think she had to). I took her off the potty and said, 'thank you for sitting on the potty.' She bowed and said in her little 3 year old raspy voice, 'My pleasure'. This girl makes me laugh everyday. She is hilarious!

Finally the Answer

I took Larkin to the pediatric gastro dude yesterday. The diagnosis is IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). All we can do is continue with the Miralax on an 'as needed' basis. The doctor said that this is a life long condition, but she will cycle through times when everything is working fine and times when she'll need the miralax. I asked the doctor if there are foods to avoid and foods to push. She said 'no'. Generally, dairy can cause problems, but Larkin still needs dairy so feed it to her and stay on top of the miralax. This is genetic (thanks Grandpa Smith). There are others in my family with this condition. It's no big deal, just something we have to deal with. We're happy to have a diagnosis and that it's a common condition and very treatable. All in all...good news. We'll take it!

Larkin's Birthday Cupcakes

She blew them out one by one.

They are supposed to be ghosts, or 'ghostes' as Larkin calls them.

Larkin's Birthday

Larkin loves baby dolls. She takes care of them very well. She feeds them, changes diapers, and puts them to bed. She has great maternal instincts and will be a very good mother one day.
Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Bales!

SHOES!!!!!

oh, and gloves too.

PRESENTS!!!

My Larky and me

Today our little baby turned 3. Unbelievable....maybe because she still doesn't have much hair. She was a very early talker and we are still surprised to hear real sentences coming out of her mouth. It's extremely hard to believe that in 2 1/2 short months she'll be a sunbeam. Larkin loves being around other kids and loves to dance & sing. I've taken her to primary with me a couple times (I teach the sunbeams) and she loves it.

I Love My Dog

See what I mean? She Loves her dog. And he's such a good dog! He puts up with all the hugs without a complaint. Larkin gets a little jealous and will pinch, kick or ever hit him and he's NEVER snapped at her. Such a good dog!

I Love Jewelry

Larkin is turning into such a girly girl. Her new favorite activity is getting into my jewelry box and putting on all my necklaces and bracelets. She likes to wear shoes and pretty dresses too.

Happy Birthday Rainey Jewel

Our sweet Rainey Jewel turned 5 years old on September 20th. She got an early birthday present on the 10th (Elijah our dog.....she calls him Malijah). So I bought this wonderful cupcake recipe book called 'Hello Cupcake'. Way cute. You can get it at Target. I highly recomend it! My good friend, Amy, and I spent hours making these little Malijah pup cakes. We had a great time. This kids didn't seem to care very much. They thought they were cool, but ended up taking off the ears and nose or just throwing the whole thing away. It was tough to watch. But to talk about Rainey.....she is a funny kid. She doesn't like wearing clothes and is often in just panties. She LOVES her dog. I mean, it's ridiculous. She is taking ballet and seems to enjoy it very much.

My Birthday Cake

This is totally late, but people are still asking to see pictures. I turned 31 on September 16th...I don't care about telling everyone my age.....maybe because I'm only 31. Anyway, I like to make cakes. I don't claim to be good at it by any means, but I like to do it. So I made these sandals. They were fun and loud.....just like me?

Well, that was fun.

Bad news....I'm allergic to Elijah! My face has broken out like a 15 year old and Elijah didn't even lick me. The doctor told me that there is a shot I can try. I'm willing to try, but I'm not very optimistic. For right now, Elijah stays outside. He's very sad. He barks, cries, and scratches the back door. Today wasn't too hot and so Rainey was out with him a lot and that made him happy. He is still sleeping with the kids at night. We kind of have to let that happen or he'd bark all night. The plan right now is to clear up my symptoms. After that, I'll probably start with the shots and then slowly introduce Elijah back into the house and see how well I can tolerate him. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

My Progress- Back on Track

I had a little bit of a set back a couple weeks ago. I ran out of the food that I like and kind of 'caved' for a few days...eating some candy, breads, etc. But, my new shipment of food came and it's all the stuff I like. According to the scale this morning I've lost just over 10 pounds, HOWEVER, I put on a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear since Larkin was a baby. Not only that, but my current pants are getting too big. The scale doesn't mean everything!

My training is coming along. I ran 7 miles on Saturday. The last 2 miles were super hard, but I finished. This morning's run didn't go so well, but that's okay. 5 more weeks until the race!

The Happiest Girl in the World

A picture says 1,000 words....or maybe more in this case. Needless to say, she loves her new dog.

Happiest Day of Rainey's Life!

Many of you may or may not know that our Rainey Jewel is obsessed with dogs. There are no words to describe her love for dogs. Jim and I decided that she needs a dog. We knew that we couldn't handle a puppy so we searched the Houston Humane Society website for our perfect dog.....older, not too big, and house-trained. And, we found him. Elijah is a 2 year old beagle mix. I went down to the Human Society this morning to fill out adoption forms thinking that this process would take 3-5 days. Turns out that Elijah was ready to be brought home today and if we wanted him, we had to take him today. So I took him. We originally planned him to be a birthday present for Rainey, so we gave her an early present. She is in heaven with Elijah. She calls him 'Mlijah'. She keeps thanking us over and over and asking if we're really keeping him forever. Larkin came with me today and was very nervous riding in the back seat with Elijah, but she is okay now. Even Jacob (who is normally terrified of dogs) is happy with him. Elijah is very easy going (so far) and very happy to be receiving all the attention from the kids. I think we've found a good match.

Happy Birthday To ME!

I gave myself an early birthday present....new running shoes! They are Brooks Adrenaline. The Adrenaline is the shoe I wore to run my marathon. They're great. Highly recommend any design by Brooks. I can't wait to brake them it!

Ballet

Rainey started her second attempt at ballet this past Tuesday. She LOVED it!! I told her that she only wears her ballet slippers on the dance floor and that she needs to take very good care of them. She was all over that! .....telling Larkin, 'Don't touch my slippers because you'll get them dirty.' She was very excited to pose for me. AND, she let me fix her hair in a bun and loved it!! She came home telling me all the different steps she learned and the fun she had. Maybe this year she won't run off the stage and ruin the recital!

First Day of School

I know this is late, but better late then never. Our little Jacob is growing up so fast. He started second grade 2 weeks ago. He claims that he didn't want to go back to school, but he loves it. He's a great reader and does very well in math. He and I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. He really enjoyed it and can't wait for his Harry Potter viewing party tomorrow night with his friend who also just finished the book. Keep up the good work, Jacob!

Weekly Update

I have lost exactly 9 pounds, but the scale is not the best measurement of my progress. My body is changing. Even on the days when the scale doesn't move, or worse, it goes up...my pants still fit better. My plan is to continue with NutriSystem for 1 more month and then start Weight Watchers. I feel like I'm in a better place now and can keep track of points and plan my meals better. Maybe next week I'll have passed the 10 pound mark! That would be awesome.

Pre-School

Tuesday was Rainey's first day of pre-school. She's holding her favorite kitty for show-and-tell.

We have a small group, but I love that. The kids did great and seemed to love every second of school.

My Progress

As of this morning, I've lost 7.2 pounds (in 2 weeks). Lately, my weight loss has been 2 steps forward, 1 step back. In other words, I was lighter yesterday than I was today, but tomorrow I'll be lighter than I was on Sunday. Follow me??

My half marathon training has been pretty rough...to say the least! I was supposed to run 5 miles on Saturday, but could only run 4 and then walked home. I waited too long to start running and the sun was high. So I blame the sun and the fact that I'm not consuming enough calories, which will change today. This morning I ran 4 miles and it was brutal! I was extremely slow. I'm hoping that as I eat all the calories I'm supposed to, the running will get easier.

Our little Trouble-Maker

I recieved the following email from Larkins' nursery leader this morning. Jim and I had a good laugh:

Hi Lindsey,
I talked to your husband for a minute after Nursery today and I just wanted to pass the info. on to you. I'm wondering if you could "practice" the nursery lesson for next week with Larkin sometime before Sunday. We'll be doing lesson 5 in the nursery manual (it's online).
Larkin does great during the play time and usually during singing time, but we're having a hard time during the lesson keeping her still. She has a little group that follows her (so popular, especially with the boys:-), so I'm hoping if Larkin is a bit calmer during the lesson, then maybe the class will be a little calmer.
My hope is that with a little "practice" this week, she'll be familiar with the lesson and excited to be a reverent helper. I'm also happy to come to your house and do a practice lesson with her if you think that would be more helpful.
Thank you!

Larkin is the youngest and has definitely gotten away with murder. It's been so easy for us to say, 'well she's just a baby.' I guess we need to make her sit at the table, sit still for FHE, etc.

Larkin Update

The doctor has had Larkin on 2 teaspoons of Miralax per day. The goal is that she have 1 good bowel movement a day that empties her bowel. She's not doing that. She has 5-6 little ones per day. The doctor told me to increase her dosage of Miralax and see what happens over the weekend. If she has not improved, then he's going to send her to a specialist. Of course, on top of her 'issues' she has had a diaper rash for over a month. It's not a big deal except that she's uncomfortable and it makes changing her diaper (5-6 times a day) really difficult. We've got a Rx for her bum and she should be feeling better soon.

Larkin did something new and disturbing on Monday that we are now keeping our eye on. As the kids and I sat down at Target's food court to eat lunch, I looked over at Larkin and noticed that she was shaking like a leaf. She was also going to town on her pizza. It's obvious that she was super hungry and maybe her blood sugars were low. She's never done that before even though she has the typical 2-year-old diet of milk and juice and crackers. The doctor said to bring her in the next time she does it and we'll test her blood sugars. Sometimes I feel like we're in an episode of 'Mystery Diagnosis'. I just hope that this is nothing but a little big of 'backed up bowel' and Larkin will be fine after we up her Miralax. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon!

Pretty Toes

I woke up today in a horrible mood. The kids miss their daddy and were really acting out yesterday. I decided that I needed some alone time. Luckily, I've got one of the most wonderful friends a girl could ask for. I called her and asked if I could dump my kids on her for a couple hours. Then, I hit the spa. I giggled all the way there. It was wonderful! The best message I've ever had! Then I got my toes done. I used to hate pedicures because my feet are so sensitive, but because I like pretty toes I was able to get used to them and now I'm hooked. Who can resist pretty toes with a beautiful flower...don't forget the tiny jewel! Thanks again, Amy! You're the Best!

My Progress

I was very excited to hop onto my scale this morning to see my progress. I have lost 5.6 lbs in 6 days.....and with almost NO exercising,but that is going to change. I've signed up for another half marathon that I'll run on October 17th (Larkin's birthday). It's too late to do a full 12 week training schedule so I'll start on week 4 on Monday. It will be hard, but doable. Here's my running schedule this coming week:

Monday: 3.5 miles
Wednesday: 2 miles
Thursday: 3.5 miles
Saturday: 5 miles

I haven't ran more than 3 miles since my last half marathon in April! My only concern with all this running is that my appetite will increase for sure! I already struggle with the munchies, but I realize they are only habits and that I'm not truly hungry. Thanks for all the supportive comments. I'll continue to post my progress!

My Journey

After being well over-weight since Larkin was born, I've decided to do something that I consider dramatic. I've signed up for NutriSystem. The meals came to my door on Friday evening, but didn't start the diet until Sunday. It's been hard not to snack between meals..especially after dinner. However, I am motivated by the results that I have already seen. I have lost 4 lbs in 3 days. I haven't even been working out (although I'm fixin to hop on the treadmill right now). The meals aren't as bad as you'd think. Last night's dinner of Swedish meatballs was very good even though Jacob told me it looked like 'the bathroom'. Nice. My goal is to loose 35 lbs and that would bring me back to pre-Larkin weight. It's been extremely difficult being so over weight. It's a vicious cycle of eating poorly and feeling worthless. While I'm sure most of this is in my head, I do feel very judged by people for being so over weight. If I'm in public and I eat something healthy, I feel like people think I'm only eating it because people are looking and then if I eat something not healthy I feel like people are thinking 'should she really be eating that?' In my ward, I'm the organist and I absolutely HATE getting up and down from off the stand because I feel like people are looking at me and thinking, 'wow, she's pretty big.' I know that I shouldn't care about what people think, but it's human nature. Okay. Enough of that. I'm very excited about this process and I'll be posting weekly updates. This will also motivate me to do well.

Law-Hong Day

Today was very law-hong (long). We were excited to watch my brother's graduation up at Sam Houston State (not so excited about the 1 long trip both ways). It was great to watch him graduate and we are all very proud of him. However, graduation ceremonies were not designed with small children in mind. After dealing with a wiggly Larkin for 1 1/2 hours, Rainey had a melt down while we were trying to take pictures and it continued until we reached our car. Then we all went to Chili's for lunch. I've decided that I hate Chili's. We had to wait for 25 minutes for a table. The kids were literally rolling on the floors with boredom. AND, why is it that no matter which Chili's I go to, the service is always SUPER SLOW? What's with that? So anyway, after being at Chili's for 2 hours (I'm not kidding), we made the 1 hour drive home. My dad drove and I sat in the back with the kids. Jacob and Rainey fell asleep. I tried to close my eyes too, but Larkin had other ideas. Just as I would nod off, she'd poke me and ask if I could see the water tower. FYI, Larkin is obsessed with water towers....weird. We got finally got home and were able to change our clothes, pick up the house a little, and relax before we headed to mom and dad's for the graduation party. The party was fun...until.....SO, I forgot the kids' swim suits and they wanted to run in the sprinklers. I told Rainey that she could run around in her underwear. This was great and fine, but soon after she came inside she started crying and crying that she was itchy. I looked and her body and saw several, several nickel sized welts. Misquito Bites!! Mom had some After Bite that I rubbed on her bites, but she couldn't calm herself down. I decided it was time to go. I was on my way to CVS (with dad in my car) to get some benadryl for Rainey when she threw up all over my herself and my car. Jacob grabbed Larkin's head and and screamed 'Don't look!" So now Rainey is crying, Larkin is crying, and Jacob is complaining that he is thirsty. I turned the car back around and went back to mom and dad's house. My mom cleaned up my car while I cleaned up Rainey. The kids are asleep now (Rainey's sleep is a bit drug-induced). What was that you say? I should go to bed too? Yes well, because I didn't plan my lesson or finish the bracelets for Super Saturday earlier in the week, I have to stay up and do them now. I will never procrastinate again.

Larkin's Ultra Sound

After waiting and calling and waiting and calling, I finally got to talk to a nurse. She said that our doctor is not in today, but, "I can tell you that the ultra sound looks normal." While I am relieved that there was nothing horrible on the ultra sound, we're left wondering what in the world had her in so much pain?? She was in severe pain on Saturday, but come Sunday morning (and since then) she's totally back to normal. No pain at all and her color is back to normal. She is also acting normal. The doctor is supposed to call me tomorrow to further discuss the ultra sound, but I see no reason to pursue any more testing....unless/until she shows more symptoms. The next test is supposed to be more invasive and I see no reason to submit her to that if she's healthy. I imagine the doctor will probably feel the same way. Thank you for all the prayers and concern on Larkin's behalf. It was very scary and sad watching her in so much pain not knowing what was going on and not being to do anything for her. My personal opinion is that maybe she did have a UTI, but by the time I had her tested she was almost better.

In other news: Jim called me from work yesterday to give me a heads up that he may be traveling to Malaysia this month. He called me today and told me that he's leaving TOMORROW for 2 weeks. What can a girl do? 2 words folks: Retail Therapy.

Another Test

After speaking with Larkin's doctor again on Thursday, he decided that she needs a Renal Ultra Sound. From what I understand, this means that they inject dye into her to see what happens. They are checking for any kind of blockage. The ultra sound is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 10:30 with an arrival time of 10:00. My good friend has volunteered to watch Jacob and Rainey for me. It was a huge relief to have her step in like that because I didn't know what I was going to do with them. Thanks Tiff! I owe you one!

Larkin's condition changes daily. One day she seems to feel fine and another she's miserable. While yesterday was a bad day with her being in a lot of pain, today is a good day and she doesn't seem to be in any pain at all. The ultra sound results are supposed to be back right away on Tuesday...we'll see.

Back to Square One

the dr. called today and told me that Larkin's culture showed NO infection. So what is it? Why is she in pain when she tries to 'go'? Why did the test in the dr's office show blood in her urine and her white blood cell count was high? He doesn't know. At the beginning of the conversation, he told me to take her off the antibiotics, but after some talking, he told me to keep her on it for a couple days, "If she's still not better by Monday, bring her in and we'll put in a catheter." Oh goodie! She'll LOVE that. The dr. seemed to focus in on her yeast infection (which is 99% gone) and her constipation. I explained that I don't think she was ever constipated, but that she was holding everything in because it hurts to pee. He told me to keep her on the Meralax anyway. MmmK. We'll see. I'll post update.

Good News Explanation

I don't mean that a UTI is 'Good News'. We are happy that Larkin has a UTI instead of something more serious.

Good News

We were finally able to run a urine test for Larkin this morning. She has a UTI. In hinds-site, I think that she has had it for almost a month. I'll meet with her doctor in a couple weeks to decide if we should get aggressive about testing for kidney reflux. I'm very happy that this was not more serious, but it sure did scare us while we didn't know what was wrong.

Tests

Sweet Larkin has been sick for quite awhile. On Friday afternoon, I called the nurse and explained that she has had a fever off and on for 2 weeks....along with some other symptoms. I asked her if ordering a blood test would be appropriate. She said that she'd have the Doctor call me back. When he called, he told me to buy Culturelle from the pharmacy and see if she improves. This medicine boosts your immune system, improves digestive health, and restores the natural balance of good bacteria in your digestive tract. We went out and bought it ($18...ouch!) and put it in her juice. She perked up quickly and was nearly fever-free on Saturday and Sunday. However, being the paranoid mom that I am, I still took her in this morning for a blood test. The doctor also ordered a urine test, but we're still working on that (I'll spare you the details). Her blood work should be back on Wednesday or Thursday.

I've always known from the time she was 2 months old that she was going to be a sick little child. My gut tells me that her immune system just can't fight off infections as quickly as others. Call it 'mother's intuition', but I've always had a feeling that she was going to be sicker than my other kids. I hope it's only an immune system disorder or something and nothing horrible and untreatable. Then of course, it could be nothing. We'll see.

Jacob's field Trip

This is horribly overdue. The 1st graders went to the zoo this year. The girls and I followed the buses down. I was very nervous about Jacob riding a bus all the way downtown, but I 'cut the cord' and let him do it. Here he is petting a turtle.

S'mores

In early May I realized that my kids had NEVER tried s'mores. Feeling like a horrible mom, I took them to Wal-Mart and we bought the stuff. They thought it was good, but messy. You won't find a picture of Jacob eating them because he just couldn't handle the mess and left the table too quickly. Needless to say, we probably won't be doing s'mores anytime soon.

And here's Jacob's

I finally finished Jacob's board. It was harder than the girl's because most of my stuff is sparkly. But, I'm happy with how it turned out.

More sleeping in Weird Places

I was in the kitchen on the phone with my friend this afternoon when Larkin came

wondering in (half asleep). She layed down and zonked out for almost 2 hours. What's going on with this kid?

Sleeping Babies

Larkin is recovering from a little bug and is still a little tired from not sleeping so well at night and being sick. This afternoon, she gathered up some toys in her stroller and sat down to watch Mickey Mouse and promptly pooped out!

Over the past week or so, we've been trying to get Rainey to sleep in her own bed across the hall in Larkin's room. None of the kids were fans of the new sleeping arrangements so we let Rainey go back to Jacob's bed. Obviously, Jacob and Rainey like sleeping together.

Gettin Crafty..part 2

Here's Larkin's. I'm trying to work on Jacob's now, but it's really hard! I've got to find 'boy stuff'.

More Raineyisms

Rainey to Jim: you have hair in your nose!
Jim: yes, I do
Rainey: you need to get those out!

Jim cut his nose hairs today. Thanks Rainey!

Prepare to laugh..

This was on my friend's blog. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfGXmxJ1vM

Raineyisms

Picture me on my hands and knees cleaning something sticky off the floor. Rainey walks up to me.....

Me: Rainey do you know who did this?
Rainey: I don't know. Maybe it's a mystery.

Gettin' Crafty

I really love craft projects. I never claim to be good at them, but I like working with my hands. Here is my latest project. It's 2x2 square plywood. I sanded and spray painted the edges. Then, added paper, pictures, and embellishments using Mod Podge. This one is Rainey's, obviously. I used her favorite color, purple (at least it was her favorite color the moring I asked her) and lots of jewels! I love playing on her name 'Rainey Jewel'. I even added 'raining jewels' on one side. I'm going to hang it up in her room. I'll post pictures of Larkin and Jacob's when I get those finished.

Houston, We Have Hair!!

Larkin will be 3 years old in October. This weekend, I discovered that I can make a tiny pig-tail. Yay!! Jim thought she was so cute on Sunday morning that he grabbed his camera.

Grab a Tissue

Jacob has been in piano lessons for 1 year. He has been doing so well. I'm so proud of him and I hope he sticks with it!

Larkin's Laxative aka..the Pool!

I don't know what it is about the pool that makes Larkin poop, but this is driving me crazy! The last 2 times we've been to the pool, she has pooped 3 times! 3 times!! Seriously Larkin?? And for those of you that haven't used swim diapers in awhile, they aren't the most 'secure' diapers. Using wipes is a joke. I mean, where would I even start?? I have to take her over to the showers and rinse her off. Thanks, because that's not embarrassing.

My Sensitive Girls

Several months ago, Larkin developed what I thought was a nasty diaper rash. After several days of treatment, her rash was getting worse so I took her to the doctor. As I opened her diaper for the doctor, HE FLINCHED at the sight of her rash and told me it was a yeast infection. Yikes! He gave me ointment that worked great and she was fine...until a couple days ago. Her infection is back (luckily I still have some ointment). So, I realized that it has to be the Target brand diapers. That is what she was wearing the first time she developed the infection and a few days ago she was wearing one. So, there you go. No Target diapers for us anymore.....they don't work well anyway. On to Rainey Jewel. This little stinker is a sensitive little person. If her clothes don't hang just right she gets frustrated, whines, and wants to take her clothes off (and does). Over the past several months, she has asked us to scratch her back. At first, we thought she just liked her back scratched. Jim even brought her a little back scratcher from Malaysia. But, recently she has become more and more uncomfortable and now just plain miserable. At first I tried putting lotion on her morning and night, but her skin didn't seem to be dry and it wasn't helping anyway. So, on Friday it dawned on me that it could be our Tide laundry soap. I took all her clothes and pre-washed them (twice) in plain water to rinse out the Tide. We bought Dreft (the baby detergent) and washed her clothes in that. While I was busy getting her clothes washed, we let her run around in her panties. She was so happy that we let her do it all day and again after church on Sunday. It seemed clear that her clothes were the problem. After wearing her Dreft washed clothes, she seems to be doing much better. She is still a little itchy, but I'm sure there's still traces of Tide in her clothes. And where did my girls inherited their sensitive skin? That would be me, I guess. I've had to stop using my beloved Moonlight Path body wash because it irritated my skin. But, I still use the body splash and lotion (only on my hands).

A 'Wicked' Adventure

I'm here in the hotel lobby on the Sheraton in San Antonio. We arrived yesterday in the late afternoon. Our plan is to hit Fiesta Texas (six flags) today and then do some sight seeing tomorrow. SO, when we entered our hotel room yesterday one on the first things I like to do is check out our view. I peeled back the curtain to find that we are directly across the street from the Majestic Theater. What I saw next was unreal. It was opening night....of Wicked! To make a long story short, after 2 failed attempts by me, Jim waltzed over and scored 2 tickets, 1 for me and 1 for Jacob. Jacob was so excited because I have been promising him for 2 years that I'd take him to see it. (by the way, we have been listening to Wicked in the car pretty much everyday for the past 2 1/2 years). It was awesome!! I've seen it before, but was still spellbound. There were a couple of times when Jacob leaned over and said, 'This is cool!" But, my favorite moment was during 'For Good' when Jacob grabbed my arm and whispered, "I'm glad we came." This was an experience that I'll never forget.

Home Stretch...kind of

Jim has been gone for 2 weeks. We've got 1 week and 1 day to go. The kids miss their daddy a lot. Larkin asks for him everyday which is hard because she's too young to understand. Rainey thinks he's still at the airport just hanging out or something. Rainey really needs her dad. She is very insecure without him. The smallest thing.....the wrong cup, the wrong cartoon, ANYTHING, and she's a disaster. She always gets this way when he's gone. Larkin is kind of the same, but she gets clingy...which is understandable, I'm very cool. I didn't even try to send her to nursery this past Sunday. That probably would have scarred her for life. So she came to primary with me and the rest of my little Sunbeams. Jacob seems to be doing okay, but he's sick of me and only me. I've been very blessed to be feeling as well as I do. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm on anxiety meds and they have been and HUGE blessing to our family, especially when Jim is gone. I'm able to be frustrated and tired, but still functioning without yelling at the kids. AND, I'm still enjoying them! Here's a funny little exchange between Larkin and Me....

background: I like to pretend to 'eat' Larkin's cheeks, neck, tummy, etc. So today after a diaper change, I was 'eating' her.

Me: I ate your cheeks!
Larkin: I eat you?
Me: okay.

She then takes a 'more than pretend' bite of my forehead

Me: what do I taste like?
Larkin: chocwate (chocolate)

Perfect.

Update

I'm happy to report that my cousin's 2 year old boy is doing great after his surgery. A week ago they removed a cancerous tumor and were able to get all. Better yet, the chance of recurrence is the same with or without out cemo SO as of right now, he's free to go! He is still healing of brain surgery and he'll need MRIs every 3 months, but WOW that was a close one.

Grandpa Heaven

This was taken in Atlanta a couple months ago. Larkin was a little sick. I gave her some cold medicine and she fell asleep cheek-to-cheek with Grandpa.

More Cancer

My mother-in-law was here for a visit this weekend. While we were out shopping we were talking about a friend of mine who recently found out she had cancer and passed away only 5 days later. I told my mother-in-law that it seems as though every time I turn around someone new has cancer. Later that day I found out that my cousin's little 2 year old boy has a brain tumor. Very luckily, it was only 1 inch and they were able to remove it all. However, it looks like he will need chemo. I saw a bumper sticker that I think sums it all up: 'CANCER SUCKS!' Please pray for Teague Wiggington.

More family photos.

Dog Pile

I was trying to get Rainey to lay down in the bluebonnets by showing her what I wanted her to do. She decided to dog pile me. Larkin followed.

Family Photos

We went back to Brehnam and the bluebonnet fields to take pictures with the whole family. Jim very much enjoyed taking pictures of not just the kids, but the scenery.

Fields of Blue Bonnets

We couldn't NOT get pictures in the beautiful blue bonnets (not to be mistaken with Blue Bells which are actually purple).

The Blue Bell Cow

I think this is the best shot we could get. Kids from Lt to Rt: Rainey, Larkin, Jackson, Ashlyn. And then, of course, there is Larkin hugging the cow's milk sack. Nice.