Name change

Fairly soon, the blog will be undergoing a name change. I find it unimaginable that Blue will enjoy painted toes and frilly bows. The web address will stay the same, but the name will be different.

Are you talking to me?

While it was here, we went to the state fair. I must admit this was my very first time ever. I'm just not a ride-the-rides kind of person, but Little sure is.



Little had a great time with her friend.



Little did not like the big slide. She may be terrified of heights, like her Mommy.


Little has been taking ballet for a few weeks now. There are only certain days that parents can observe their children, and yesterday happened to be one of them.



I discovered that not only does my child not listen to me or her Daddy, she doesn't listen to her ballet instructor either. Isn't it precious how all the other kids are looking at and paying close attention to the instructor? And then, there's Little.



But when it's time to run and play, we begin to listen.



Above all, she has fun.

Hopefully, the structure of ballet will help her with focusing and attention span. If not, we are in trouble.

Wow! How time flies....

I have not been a very good blogger here recently.

To be honest, I haven't been very good at much here lately.

I got two nearly dead plants living in my laundry room. Either my over-watering or Husband's insistence that indoor plants like being outside for longer than 48 hours in 90 degree daytime temps and 40 degree nighttime temps has done them in. However, until there is no more green on them, which isn't long, they will live in the greenhouse of a laundry room.

For the rest of the plants, they are managing well. Especially the fake one.

In addition to killing plants, I've been up to burning hamburger meat, wrapping Christmas presents with tape that refuses to stick, failing to get the nursery in order, and just generally being a bad person.

In spite of all my flaws, I am determined to have some pictures of our life lately posted tomorrow. At least I have good intentions.

What is wrong with me?

So, I tried to change up that distracting, hideous background,and this is what I got. It's not exactly like I intended. And I'm too pregnant to change it.

Apparently, I am too pregnant to take pictures either. I don't think my camera has been out of the case in at least 30 days. I'm a terrible mother.

I am sure for most of you, Christmas seems months away and not of your current concern. Well, for me, since this baby will be coming pre-Christmas, I have been trying to finish Christmas shopping.

Ya'll, it's hard to Christmas shop with Halloween candy and decor on every aisle.

But, I am determined to be done by Thanksgiving. That's right. Done. By. Thanksgiving.

The great thing is I am nearly done with the kids. (Melts my heart to say "kids," like, with a "s" on the end.) And nearly half of the adults and all the other kids (you know, that aren't mine) are taken care of, as well. So, I am making progress. I will complete this mission.

Speaking of missions......

I debated about telling you about our most recent fiasco, but I may as well.

Little and I attended a beautiful outdoor wedding this past weekend. It is to be envied by every other outdoor wedding. The weather alone was absolutely perfect.

The wedding took place on the pier of a pond, with the reception surrounding a lovely pool.

Had I known how the night would end, we would have skipped the wedding and sent our condolences later. However, with the series of events that have occurred over the past few months, I should have known.

Little and Sweetmama (my grandmother, Little's great-grandmother) were busy traveling back and forth to various reception tables, in particular, the candy table. They had made several trips with great success. Then......

It happened. I had just turned to look at Little and Sweetmama traveling around the pool. And as I am sitting with my back to the pool, I hear a splash. I jump up, run to the side of the pool, and see my grandmother and daughter in the swimming pool.

Mother's instinct is get the child (who cannot swim) out of the pool. And so, I jump in and realize we are in the deep end. I grab Little from my grandmother and hand her to someone standing at the edge of the pool. I have no idea who. It could have been anyone. Mission I is to get the baby out of the pool.

Mission II get my grandmother out of the pool. I grab her hand and pull her to the side. A few men come to assist her out. And now I'm the only one in the pool, so my pastor encouraged me to swim to the shallow end to exit the pool.

Everyone was okay. The water was cold. The night was cool. We all realize the blessings because of what could have been. (Especially considering that my grandmother later informs me that she cannot swim.)

Now, let me back up and tell you, I had on a dress. In case you are unaware, when you jump in water in a dress, the first thing your dress does is float to the surface. I think my dress ended up around my neck. And there was plenty of pregnant meat to be shown.

Apparently your dress will have no concern as to how many people are witnessing your dress around your neck. Your dress laughs at the fact that your pastor is standing there. Your dress could care less if you are 32 weeks pregnant.

Your dress (probably sensing that you are furious with it), in a last ditch effort to reconcile, snuggles with you relentlessly when you exit the pool, therefore, clinging to every bump and bulge. Your dress was a very bad dress.

I just cannot look anyone in the eye anymore.

And that dress is in dire need of some punishment for what it did to me and all those innocent bystanders.

Do we stay or do we go?

I would say that 2011 has not been so kind to us, but as much as that is true, we have still been blessed through out. We've just had a rough couple of months.

I have finally started sleeping again. In all seriousness, please give thanks for this. I am thinking that the insomnia started around April. I thought I had it all together. I thought I had people fooled. Wednesday night at church, a dear friend of the family asked how I was doing. Being someone I can be completely and totally honest with, I said that I was doing much better since I had been able to sleep every night for the past several nights. Her reply really surprised me...."I can tell. You look so much better. I have been so worried about you, because you have been looking so bad."

Did it hurt my feelings? Not one bit. I knew I was feeling bad from being so exhausted, but I had no idea that I was looking bad. It's been one of those times in my life that when people asked me how I was doing I simply replied that I was fine, just because I really didn't want to discuss everything with everyone. I thought by saying "I'm fine," it was believable since I looked fine. Apparently, this was not the case.

So maybe when you see me next, you will see someone who looks better than the last time you saw me, and hopefully, I will continue to look well rested.

With our ever expanding family, we have been tossing around the idea of selling our house. We have a home we are interested in, and we have already shown our house to three families already. Of those three, one family has been shown the house twice. It is a big decision for everyone involved. Truthfully, I just don't feel at peace about anything involving the house. No peace with staying. No peace with moving.

The crazy thing is we don't even have a "For Sale" sign in the yard. Several neighbors heard we were getting ready to sell, and they have done all the work. We thought that we might go ahead and put the house on the market, because with the economy, it may take a while to sell. But it may not.