Quiet Chaos

I never realized how fast 3 years goes until I look at my baby.

She went from this:

(taken in December 2006)

to this:

(taken at her 1st birthday party)

and finally to this:

(taken a few weeks ago)

Time sure does fly by, but I'm hoping it will slow down a little. I want my baby to stay a baby just a little while longer.

Callee, happy 3rd birthday you sweet, sweet brat! It was 3 years ago that I was worried if you'd make it through our ordeal or not and when you did I knew you had to be one tough cookie and you most certainly are. I love you and so many others love and care about you too. Your smile lights up a room and you are never afraid to voice your opinion about something or to let us know EXACTLY what you want. You are a typical 3 year old and I love every minute of it. I hope your day is all you want it to be and the next year will be a great one too.

Love,

Mama.

Things here have been so unbelievably busy. In a good way. Our weekends are packed with family fun things and during the week we are at baseball games for my nephew who made all stars (and some weekends too) and with work, swimming and playing we are just plain busy. In the evenings Mike and I are making time for each other and it's been good for us. I don't know what will happen when/if he gets called back to work, but I know that we are making the most of our time we have together now.

Prior to our 'talks,' the girls and I would do different things and I'd say about 40% of the time Mike would join us, but the majority of the time he'd stay home and do his own thing. Now, it is a very rare thing for Mike not to do everything with us and it usually involves homework or one of the girls needing a nap so he stays home and I take the other one.

Our weekend consisted of this: Friday, we went grocery shopping and hung out at home and then we headed to my parents and had a bon fire and sparklers. It was a good time and we all had a ton of fun. We didn't get home until 10:30 so we were all beat and ready for bed.

Saturday, we got up early and were at the baseball fields by 9 a.m. to watch my nephew play. It was a double elimination tournament and he won his first game, but lost his 2nd and 3rd so we were done at the fields about 2:30. We headed to my aunt's for a picnic and after the first picnic Mike and Callee went home to take a nap (my sister was nice & dropped them off at home for me.) Taylor, my niece Casia and I headed to my other aunt's for another cookout. We had a good time there too and then headed home to pick up Mike and Callee for fireworks. We went to my friend Jenn's house and went with her, her husband, her mom, her daughter and her BIL to watch the wonderful show of lights. All 4 kids (ages 7, 5, almost 3 and 2) fell asleep DURING the fireworks...I think they all need to have their hearing checked.

Sunday, I got up and went to church alone because Casia, Taylor, Callee & Mike were all still sleeping. Casia & Taylor didn't get up until 11 and Callee slept until noon! They went swimming and then the cleaning fest began. We cleaned inside and did the porch, it's furniture and our cars. I was beat by bedtime, but it was a great day spent primarily at home and a lot was accomplished.

Last night we had an 'intervention' of sorts for Lacey. She has had some free time for the past couple of weeks because of her break from school and has done a 180 going back to the life she was living before having Bella and dragging Bella along for the ride this time around. One of her good friends that she talked to a lot right after having Bella, my mom and I have been talking for the past couple of days and comparing our notes and assessments of the changes. We decided last night we needed to see if some of our speculations were true or not and we needed to talk to her and find out what she was thinking and feeling and if there was any way we could help her. I bought a home drug test and it was negative (thankfully!) That definitely made the 3 of us feel a little better, but we still needed to see what was going on and how we could possibly help her.

We all talked to her and then listened to her and I am hoping that at least some of it got through to her. I love that ~~stupid~~ girl so much and want what's best for her and my niece. It is so frustrating to watch and hear some of the things she is doing and I couldn't just sit and watch anymore. It was emotionally draining and I didn't get home until 12:45 so hopefully I'll be in bed at a decent time tonight.

My nephew plays at 8 tonight so we are going to that. I'm sure it'll mean a disastrous morning getting the girls up and ready to go to my moms, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. This all star thing is so important to my nephew and he's so proud of himself. I love watching baseball and love watching his all star team play...man are they tough. I have pictures from his weekend tournament, but can't find my usb cord so when I find it I'll post some pics.

So that's what's been happening around here. Oh and Mike went back to school for his new quarter today so we are back to early mornings with late nights and cranky kids. I wouldn't trade the memories we are making and showing all the kids that a family's support is constant for anything. So what have you all been up to?