Talking, Crawling and Mad bc we she is not Walking

Sweet Sassy was 7 months old yesterday (7/29). Cannot believe it!! She has changed so much over the last 7 months and even just in the last month.

She still loves to eat, although this week she has gone through a spell where she hasnt really eaten much. Im thinking that it is her mouth hurting. We still do not have any teeth, but she drools like a leaky faucet and knaws on everything she can fit in her mouth.

She is no longer inch worming her way around, she is really crawling (sorta). She does this thing where she gets on all fours, pushes her booty in the air and then pulls her feet under her and sits down, then goes again. It takes her a while to get where she is going, but with determination she gets there.

She babbles all the time, sometimes it sounds like she says words and I think Im crazy for hearing words bc she is too young, but I promise she says Hey, Yeah, nannie nannie nannie (for Granny), Pawpaw (sounds more like POPOPOPO) and mama and dada.

She is so active, she wants up, she wants down, she loves for you to let her walk by holding her hands. Jake has been a lot of help in this area bc he is the perfect height to hold her and not have to hunch over. She loves the walker except when she gets stuck between the chairs.

you have to watch her though, she loves to get under your feet and has almost knocked me down a few times.

She is really playing with toys now, loves music and dolls and her big brother. Gracie takes time with her in spells, but she has been so busy this summer with friends and going that Sophie has not been first on her mind. Gracie is good with her for about 10 minutes and then she has things to do.

Sophie is certainly a momma's baby except at 6:45 everynight. Its almost like she has a built in clock to know that it is 6:45 and other Granny's show is off so they are going outside. Its almost wierd this child. She will be fine and then about the same time every night she gets so ansy and then here comes Hazel to go swing and then Sophie is fine and dandy

She is just growing so fast, pulling up on things. She has let go a few times (on accident I think) but I dont think it will be long before she is walking bc she wants to walk SO BAD!

So in the last month she has conquered the crawl, talks almost all the time and throws one heck of a fit if you want let her stand and practice walking. She is certainly going to be my strong willed child

Overwhelmed and Overflowing

"I still remember, when 30 was old" I heard this in a song the other night and I cant get it out of my head. I do remember years ago thinking that 30 was old, so very old. Now that im 30, I dont really feel that old.

I do feel overwhelmed most days, not complaining (just have a full plate).

We have been getting ready for school to start (next week). What happened to summer vacation??? I remember not starting school until almost the end of August. The kids barely got 2 months for summer break (yuck).

This will be Jakes first year of BIG SCHOOL! Been having a pretty hard time with that. I know he will do fine, but I worry about him so much. I dont remember being so worried about Gracie bc I knew she could handle herself, but Jake is still so small. He is smart as a whip and I know in my head that he will be just fine, but the momma in me wants to go with him so I can make sure that he doesnt get lost in the big ole school.

This whole thing with my kids growing up has really been hard. I didnt realize how fast it would all go by.

Gracie starts 5th grade this year. OH MY!! I remember the night that Sam and I decided that we would start trying to grow our family, never dreamed then that I would have 3 children. I remember being in the hospital having this precious baby girl, who at the time we didnt know was a girl. I remember sitting in the tub the night she was born and balling my eyes out at the thought of her growing up, knowing that she wouldnt be a baby forever and that the time that I have to hold her would be limited bc she would be grown in a blink of my eye.

Although she is not technically grown, she is growing up (way to fast). She is slowly going from a baby, to a little girl, to a big girl to a young lady. And IM NOT READY!!!

I found myself watching her the other night as she slept and thinking back to when we brought her home for the first time. Scared out my mind to be a mom for the first time, worried I wouldnt here her when she cried, worried I wouldnt know what to do when she needed  something. Crazy things. I remember Sam not sleeping for the first few nights bc everytime she would make a sound, he jumped up to go check on her until finally he put her in the bed with us. (NO THAT DIDNT HAPPEN WITH JAKE AND SOPHIE) he was a pro at sleeping through all of their sounds (haha)

My beautiful little girl is about to be 10 in a little less than a month. Where has time gone!!

Now my sweet little Sassy (as we like to call her). If you had told me a few years ago that I would have another baby I would have looked at you with the thought of throwing a pie in your face. Didnt want any more children. I had finally gotten Gracie and Jake to a point of being self sufficient, they slept late on Saturdays, they could get a bowl of cereal on their own.

Then Sam and I went through a bad spell, didnt see any light at the end of that tunnel, but God is good and He pulled us through and at the end he placed a blessing on us that neither one of us could have imagined!

I was in total denial mode when I began to even think I was pregnant!! This couldnt be happening, not now, my other two children were planned by me and I was mentally ready for all that I knew was to come.

But the Lord had a wonderful plan of his own and in December of last year we were blessed with another beautiful little girl, who looked so much like Jake when she was born, It felt like DEJAVU!!

Couldnt imagine my life without her now. But she is not that little bitty baby that I so wanted to stay small, so I could enjoy every last coo and smile (not the gassy ones), every moment, every little face,all the cuddle time you get when they are so small. She is about to be 7 months old and I dont know what happened to all the time it took to get here.

Then my sweet Granny. Love her to pieces. Yes she can get on my nerves, she is set in her own little ways, she gives my kids anything they want and she at times can be very demanding. But I love her.

I however didnt realize how much my life would change when she came to live with us. Yes I knew it would be an adjustment, but I was ready for that. I however didnt realize that it would be a complete life change.

Going to the grocery store for instance, use to be this run it get what I need and get out. For the record I TOTALLY HATE WALMART. I can go and go and go without every going to  Walmart. Before she moved in that is exactly how it was. I would go to the grocery store, I would go by Freds or Family dollar - maybe the occasional Dollar General, but only about once a month would I ever run in Walmart. Not anymore. Going to the store now consist of going to Walmart EVERY SINGLE WEEK. I almost need to take a pill for this trip. There is no RUN IN AND RUN OUT, there is NO LETS GET WHAT WE NEED AND GO, there is no WE DONT REALLY NEED ANYTHING FROM TOWN THIS WEEK, and we are a far cry from LETS JUST RUN IN THE GROCERY STORE AND NOT EVEN GO TO WALMART (what, this would be the end of the world)

Walmart trips usually last anywhere from an hour to and hour and a half (EVERY WEEK) plus if we have to go to the grocery store (BC I will not buy meat at Walmart) then your looking at over 2 hours. Ususally with 3 kids, one of which is a baby and does not like to shop and thinks that she is suppose to be in the bed by 7.

We have tried different days thinking this would shorten the time. We tried Thurday evenings after supper, we have tried Saturday nights thinking that a day at home would prepare me to survive, we tried Saturday mornings but this added a trip to McD's for breakfast (takes even longer bc the kids always wanted to go play and then get mad bc they cant). Currently we are on Friday nights. Which works but only bc I make it.

But I love her and if she gets enjoyment out of going to Walmart then I will try to deal with it and go on. This past week she got sick and was rushed to the hospital. Kinda opened my eyes to the fact that she isnt a spring chicken anymore (82) and that I know her days are numbering down. I could most certainly go before her if God so decided, but age does mean something and I know it is something I cant just ignore.

My life totally was changed bc of this woman. She raised me from the time I was born, and continue to provide for me until the day I married. So it is my turn to take care of her.

Though my life at times feels so overwhelmed with work, cleaning, 3 kids, church, a brother who is struggling to get right, a husband, a grandmother, 3 cats, a dog, trying to find a breathing moment and time to myself, I have no regrets and other than WALMART I have no complaints because all the overwhelming feelings are taken away by the overflowing of love that I have for all of them.

Brings back Memories

I met my dad and my brother Eric on  the Gulf Coast a week ago. We had such a great time. I remember going to the coast every year for summer vacation and sometimes I would get to spend the summer down there. These are some of the best memories I have. I had an aunt who had a pool and after we would leave the beach we would go to her house and swim some more. I remember my dad taking and throwing us in the pool for hours, (was much smaller then).

I remember always going to SHARK HEADS souviner shop when we were down there and always going to the Shipyard where my unlce Doug has worked since before I was born. I love going to the shipyard at night. It is always so lit up and you can see all the boat they are building and knowing that you got to see some of the biggest battle ships before they even float on water, to me it has always been cool. I remember being there right after they brought the ship "THE COLE" into dock for repairs after the terriosts blew a hole in the side of it killing so many sailors. That I will never forget.

After my parents divorced (still stinks) trips were different but still had a great time.

Beaches were always so full and we would stay out all day.

This trip was a little different.

The beaches were not full, years have changed us all alot and now being the mother to small children and experiencing the excitement of your children playing in the sand, and playing in the ocean (somewhat) was all new.

The oil spill stopped a lot of the ocean going fun. We did make it to Gulf Shores and looked for some TAR BALLS (a strange request of my husband since he wasnt able to go) yes we found some, saved them and Gracie is planning on taking them to science lab once school starts.

Sophie got to see the ocean for the first time (and ate the sand). We ate at the famous LULU's in Gulf Shores and of course visited the ship yard where Jake stood in awe of the huge battle ships they were working on getting ready to travel to the war to help fight for our freedom.

In all it was a great trip and I got to spend some great time with my dad and brothers and sister. Me and my dad have had a distance between us for a few years, but God has mended that relationship and I see that some things are not always what others would have you believe.

Here are a few pictures of our trip, Cant wait until next year.

Cant catch me

Sophie L O V E S the walker. She gets in the thing and goes every where. Her favorite place however is straight to the dogs water bowl, turns it over and then parks her walker over the water and kicks the water with her feet. She is just a little mischeivious.

She celebrated her first 4th of July (without pictures) Me the mom who takes pictures of everything, missed out on taking 4th of July pictures. Oh - we had a great time with family and food.

We are leaving this weekend going to the coast (Biloxi) for a mini vaca and to see my grandparents who we havent seen in several months. Not really the vaca I was hoping for but it will do. Our original plans were to go to Gulf Shores and rent a condo with my brother, but that is not going to work out this year, so we are just gonna cut it short and go visit family for a few days. At least we are getting out of town for a bit.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!