Early Mornings

Caleb calls our stroller "the baby train."

I have never been a morning person (as all my family and friends can tell you). I tried to create Ava into a late morning girl as well. It worked well for a while but really she has always loved the morning. She wakes up happy and excited to start the day...shaking her crib until I come in and then squeeling in delight when she sees me. Everyday the second we take her out of her crib, she begins waving. I don't really know who she thinks she is waving to, but none the less...she waves. The great part was that on occasion, she would sleep in some...8:30, 9:00, it was awesome. With three children, I feel that my days of sleeping until 8:30 are long gone. Yesterday, Ava woke up at 7:00 but I got her to lay back down in my bed with me. About an hour late I hear a wisper outside my door...I see two little heads peaking through the cracks saying "Ashawee....we're hungry....can you make us oatmeal." Anniiyah and Makayla then decide to crawl in bed with me. Somehow during their "quiet" entry into my bed, Ava stays asleep. For the next 5 minutes we all lay in silence until I hear "Ashawee....can I watch Dora...." Time to get up and start the day.



Saturdays are tiring. Caleb is at work and I still haven't learned the art of entertaining at home. I am getting better but still feel like I need to take all children out of the house for some grand adventure. Yesterday that included a fabric store (where we got yelled at for touching too many things), big lots (where we had to have a lot of talks about how you can't always get what yo want), family dollar, and a bridal shower (I spent my time there chasing Ava...thank goodness for lots of friends who were also helping me chase children). It's now Sunday and from 7am to 8am I have gotten almost an hour of alone time. I hear little voices though and I am sure breakfast will need to be made soon. I will end this entry with some quotes from the week...





Anniiyah: "This girl at school had the same backpack as me and then this other girl had the same name...it's just all freaking me out!"



Makayla: "Sometimes, baby ava just gives me a headache."



Anniiyah: "In the morning, before school, Caleb gets us up and Ashawee just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps."



Makayla about hearing the song Bye Bye Bye: "Oohhh...that's my song!"

More videos

Here is another video of Ava from today. She is starting to really love playing and exploring. In this video she is playing with Anniiyah's CD player while the girls are at school. She loves music adn really loves her dancing.

Dancing Queen

change is good...

I am making it a goal to write more on the blog. If for nothing else but to look back and be able to reflect. This past week held a lot of change. We now have the priviledge and responsibilty of loving 3 girls. I have felt a lot of things over the last 5 days. I am excited....I am scared...I am tired...I love each of my girls so much. At this point we know that our arrangement is not permanent, but we are going to love as much as humanly possible, teach them about Jesus as much as possible, grow with our girls as much as possible, and seek the face of Jesus while life takes on a lot of new shapes. I am sure that things will feel more normal after a couple weeks and I need to remind myself that I know plenty of people with three kids who are perfectly fine!

Last night when Caleb and I layed down in bed we started going through the day yesterday and the course of events...Here is a little rundown for all of you who are far away...
* Woke up to three very hungry kids...2 are NOT morning people and 1 thinks the morning is very funny
* ate breakfast, got dressed and began working on hair...
* after a little complaining and a lot of grease, the hair project was complete...
* 2 girls got loaded on strollers while the other sat on the toilet...for 45 minutes...
* After the toilet situation, we were going to be VERY late for the first day of school but what can you do????... (PART 1 of our day was all before 8:30 am).
* Got to school and I filled out paperwork for 1 hour! Caleb chased two little girls around the school office until finally we couldn't take it anymore...he signed what he needed to sign and took the little girls home...
* I finally left the school and walked home in the rain...this was the first time I had been alone in 4 days....
* I worked for a the rest of the day while caleb cooked, cleaned, did nap time, grocery shopped, and picked up Anniiyah from school
* We ate dinner with friends which was awesome becuase it was two more people to love on our girls (and us) and two more sets of hands to wipe noses, bottoms, and anything else that needed to be wiped:) (Love the Henleys)
* Finally we made the cookies that had been promised the night before...
* With cookies in the oven, it was time for baths...(Aunt becky assisted becuase i was holding the battery cord in the back of my computer to try and get it to turn on so I could get the files that I needed)
* After two cookies each (and one that got snuck to Ava while i was still holding the battery cord in my computer) it was finally time for a bed time book and bed...
* All girls to sleep by 8:30 and time to survey the damage from the day...
* By 10:00 the living room, dining room, and Kitchen are all up to Starr cleanliness standards (these are VERY low standards by the way) and we can sit and visit with Aunt Carrie who brought over hair products...
* 12:00 am brings about bed time becuase in 7 hours....here we go again! it was a good day...