She Dropped Her Dolly...

no, not in the dirt, but worse actually. Haley had gotten a "new" baby-actually she got it at a resale (thrift) store and loved this doll. Such a cheap dollar store doll but she LOVED her. And it was the first doll she had ever named. Sunshine. (yeah, I know, kinda 60s...but it was sooo cute to hear her talking to and playing with Sunshine). So, yesterday we went to Port Aransas -a 20 minute or so drive + a ferry ride away. We decided, after eating lunch, to hit what was supposed to be a consignment store and souvenir store. Really, it was a tiny store full of breakables connected to a thrift store. So, we poked around for a few minutes (might've been longer except there was no a/c in this place...the heat index was 111 yesterday, so no. We didn't stay) and of course Haley laid her doll down somewhere. We did not realize this until we had walked back to the van-at the restaurant and gone to another souvenir store (which we quickly left due to really bad words on shirts/glasses/etc). At this point it's well into naptime, everyone was hot and tired...we think Sunshine might be missing. We were sure to spell everything so Haley was not aware of what we suspected. Then we drove home.
Little did I know this had affected my daughter so deeply. No, not the one that the doll belonged to. Lindsay. She came to me in the middle of the night sobbing! Literally sobbing!!!! She was so sad that Sunshine was gone. She told me "Mom, I know it's silly...it's just a doll. But I keep thinking of when she wanted Sunshine (the night before) and looked under her bed thinking she'd be there" This poor child. It was not for herself but for her little sister and her missing favorite doll. So, I spent the next 2 hours trying to decide if I should drive back out to Port Aransas today and try to retrieve said dolly. I'm thinking "no" because the odds that we'd find that doll in that thrift store are sooooo low....but how sad is this situation?

**side note** last night Haley got a light flick on the mouth from her daddy for repeatedly telling him "No" when he told her to do something....she didn't miss a beat but told him "teep a hands a self"!!! LOL

this morning Harold and Haley and Jared were all standing by the kitchen counter ogling the muffins I had made from scratch a package and Haley didn't like how Jared was encroaching on her "closest to daddy" position and pushed him away saying "best friend daddy"!!!! How funny is that???

Monday's Dr Appt

After about 5 agonizing minutes the dr was able to find the heartbeat of my little one. Somewhere in the 150s it was beating away right behind the placenta. :) I am feeling him or her move very occasionally. Started last week prob'ly but I wasn't sure enough to really say it "out loud". Now? It's still faint, and maybe a first time momma wouldn't quite attribute it to the baby but it is, it sure is! I remember this! This is the time when the movements are the best thing in the world. Later in the game they are not so fun ;) When the baby is a little more, dare I say, violent?!? It's still extremely reassuring and you're glad that it's happening...it just...hurts! But I'll take it all if it means my little one is healthy and growing.

14 weeks down and 24 to go...but who's counting?

Oh, and we **should** get to find out what this little one is in about 4 weeks...now that's something to count down to!!!! :)

Forever

Forever 19.
Forever gone-
from this world.
Forever in our hearts.
And...
forever will June be such a bittersweet month.
The month he was born
And...
The month he suddenly. Inexplicably. Left.
No warning. No good-byes.
Eric Levi Montgomery
June 6, 1988-June 19, 2007

I Think...

that the Gosselins should sit down and have a long chat with the Duggars about what makes for a happy family. Maybe they could learn a few things about how to treat each other and what their priorities should be when you have a large family. So sad for the Gosselins....so happy for the Duggars!!!

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272626531.shtml

Such Unpredictability!

I think that Haley takes after her daddy...I can never predict what she'll like or not like, be afraid of or not...it's crazy!
Today, we went to the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History because Jared's scout pack was meeting there and because it was a free day at the Museum (I think Lindsay figured it up and it would've been like $40 to go normally!) So, we had somewhere fun for the kids and air conditioned to be for like 3 1/2 hours! Can't beat that, now can ya?
So, they were having this water thing there (trying to get people to be more aware of waste and pollution, etc-we are always in a drought here) and the kids had the most fun running around to each little "booth" set up around the museum and getting the free stuff (from candy to coloring books to mugs to highlighters! and more!). Here's the part about Haley that surprised me: there were some "characters" in costumes and she LOVED them! Most 2 year olds I know of (including my other two-who were overall less high maintenance than Haley) don't like 5-7 foot characters with big things over their heads! Her favorite was the bee:

(Bumbeeeebeee) and she kept going up to him all by herself even. It definitely gave me a laugh--and gave me hope as we plan to go to Disney next year. It'll be really fun if we can get her picture with the characters without her crying and trying to get away!

Some more funny Haley-isms: When we were getting into the van to leave she was fighting with me about her carseat-she never does this!? And I told her "I'm not playing these games with you", so the rest of the time she was CRYING and saying "Play games mama". LOL How do you explain to a 2 year old that there are no games to play, it was just a saying! :)

On the way home we were trying to keep her awake and talking to her about the suckers she'd consumed from the "booths" and I asked her how many she'd had and she said "two" (actually it was three, but ok) and then she said "fight daddy candy". What?? Turns out that when she tried to run off with a sucker stick hanging out of her mouth we said "no way". So, Harold took off to get her to come back or give up the sucker and they "fought" LOL!!!!

A good day all in all. Lots of laughs and something to do. Lately? That's enough! :)

I Remember!

In the night I attempted to force Haley to go back to her own bed. I remember why it's not worth it. I was up for almost 3 hours in the night. I'm already dealing with some level of insomnia from pregnancy and this did not help. By the time she quit crying and her and Lindsay were back to sleep...I was wide awake. Left to contemplate my guilty feelings for forcing something on her that wasn't right for either of us. I was to the point of wishing I could go and scoop her sleeping little self up out of her bed and put her back in my bed. I didn't, but I wanted to.
So, this morning she woke up. Still in a bad mood. Still very tearful. The problem is not behavioral either. I don't know of any 2 year old that would lay in their bed wide awake waiting til they can fall back asleep. (This was all contemplated after I had spanked her and been very "firm" with her...and at that point felt as if I could not "back down"). So, I sat rocking in the chair we've put in her room while she tossed and turned and alternately laid there quietly and cried. I fought every instinct in me (plus the part of me that was so tired and just wanted to be in my bed) to go and cuddle her up. I wish, this morning, that I had gone with my instincts!
Another thing she's not ready for that I keep pushing her with is potty training. She's not ready. She has yet to even pee on the potty (maybe once) and we already have so many struggles in life...
You'd think I'd learn. Maybe with the next baby.

We're Going to the...

beach, we're going to the beach!!! Do I loooovve the beach? No. and it doesn't love me (sun)...but we're getting out of this house for a day! That, I can love! This is our final field trip for this school year and so we'll be seeing our homeschool friends and learning a little about "beach life" (not that of a beach bum, but the actual wildlife that is at the beach! ;))
Hopefully I'll have some pics for posting later, but last time I took my camera it got sand and water in it. Not a good combination of things to carry around in your digital camera. (This is a different one, needless to say!) That was when I was pregnant with Haley...and the damage showed up right around the time I was due to have her. Yeah! A new baby and no camera! Woohoo! Hopefully I can do a better job of protecting my camera this time.