Am I right?

We have been trying to get Taylor to sleep upstairs for a while now. The room the girls currently share is too small to put a real bed in and she is now too long for her toddler bed. We could put bunk beds in there, but Callee is too small for a bed yet so we couldn't take her bed out to make room for the bunk beds. Taylor has not wanted to sleep upstairs so for the past week, she has slept on the floor in her room. I have asked her every night if she would like to sleep upstairs in the bed set up for her instead, but she always politely declines. I feel bad for her, but she can't sleep in our bed so she'd rather sleep on the floor. I told Mike Sunday night that we were going to have to make room in their room for her bed even if it meant moving the dressers out into the hallway until Callee's bed could be moved out and we could move the bunk beds in.

Last night Taylor came to me about a half an hour before bed time and asked me what her choices were. I asked her choices for what? She asked where she could sleep, so I told her in her bed or upstairs in the big bed. She told me she'd like to sleep upstairs. When it was bed time, I took her upstairs, read her a book, and said her prayers and I told her not to get out of bed. I didn't hear a peep from her so I took a shower and when Mike got home I told him she was sleeping upstairs. He asked if she had gotten up and I told him no so we went up to check on her.
There my baby was, not such a baby anymore, sound asleep in her big girl bed not fearing a thing off in dream land. I'm not so sure I am ready for this and Mike definitely is not because he decided to sleep on the air mattress in the other room in case she woke up scared or needed anything. We finally got what we want and now I'm wondering, is this what I wanted? I know it is best because now she isn't sleeping on the floor and is much more comfortable, but I hate that she is on a different floor than us. Also, Callee woke Taylor up every morning so I think this will help with her grouchiness. I just hope we made the right decision.

I am officially the worst mother!

I was changing Callee's clothes last night into her jammies and she started to scoot off my lap. I put up my hand to catch her (I didn't want her falling) and she lunged forward at the same time. My thumb nail scratched her bottom eyelid pretty bad and she has a little bruise (aka - black eye!) What kind of mother gives their baby their very first black eye? I am terrible.

On a whole different note, the girls and I had a great evening last night, until Taylor had to go to bed and didn't want to. We were done with dinner early, because I made scrambled eggs and sausage, it didn't take too long. This is what happens when you forget to thaw anything! We colored, watched some TV, played and ran around like crazy. Callee went to bed at 8:00. Not only is she teething, but she is hitting a growth spurt too and that makes for one sleepy little baby! I tried putting Taylor to bed at 9:00, but she actually didn't get up again after 10:30 so she went to bed really late! I tried telling her last night she wasn't going to want to get up for school today, and what happened? She was a bear to wake up! I did make her go though, even though I felt bad, like I should keep her home.

I got to watch my friend Jenn's baby girl. She is the chubbiest 5 month old ever! I absolutely love chubby babies, however, I've never really had one. I told Jenn to leave her at my house because she had some running around to do and Addison was being fussy. She left her and I think she was lying about her. She was not fussy unless Callee was in her face. She just sat there so content and looking around. She is such a good baby!

That was my Monday evening followed by not getting to bed until late! Hopefully it will be an earlier night tonight. I hope everyone has a great day!

A post of pictures

My mother's house was raided by grand kids last night. My sister and I have always met at my mom's to take the kids trick or treating together and last night was no different. My poor mom though, her house was trashed in the first 10 minutes, but what a trooper she is. She never complains of the messes they make she just says, "Don't take pictures, I don't want people to think this is what my house looks like all the time!" So, here is the disclaimer, anywhere my kids go there will be a mess. No body's houses are usually messy, we just happen to be there.

Taylor in her Care Bear costume. She didn't like the hood on so she's trying to take it off. Callee in her monkey costume. What else was she supposed to be? She is a monkey! Callee and daddy. He was trying to get her to stand so I could get the whole costume. I wanted to get the back too cuz she had the cutest tail, but that wasn't happening.

My niece as a cheerleader. Taylor in the background trying to get her hood back on cuz I told her she better leave it on.

My nephew. There are actual pictures of him below, but he just loved this picture. Something about mysterious?

And here the agony begins. I could not get a good picture of them. My nephew does think he is a rock star though. Taylor, again, doesn't have her hood up and where is Callee?

Callee is trying to make a break for it and I think my niece was the only one ready for that picture. Oops.

Taylor eating pizza after trick or treat. Her and CJ quit early so they ate and got bathed while we waited for Casia and Callee to come back.

He is a goofy child, but I love him.

He thinks he's sexy or something. I don't think he realizes he's only 7. He was talking about his girlfriend at school. When did he grow up?




Overall it was a good night. Now I can't wait for the weekend!

The mind of a 3 year old...

A conversation between Mike and Taylor on the way home from school today:

Taylor: Mom's going to be mad at me.

Mike: Why?

Taylor: Because she said I was getting pictures today and I gave the lady my envelope and everything, but she didn't give me any pictures.

Mike: She will get them in a couple weeks. It's okay.

Taylor: Turn around I forgot the envelope.

Mike: Did you give it to the lady that took your pictures?

Taylor: Yes, but she should have given it back cuz I didn't get any pictures so she can have her money in a couple weeks! I'll see if my teacher has it.

Then Mike had to explain how we paid for it, but they had to take the pictures and then send them to the school and that's when we would get them. Too funny.

Our girl is growing

She is so happy!

Callee had her 15 month check up today and I was anxious to see how much she has grown. She has really been packing on the pounds and she seems to be getting pretty long. She has always been really short. I am not sure why, but once again comparing them, Taylor has always been in the 90% for height and 10-15% for weight. Callee was always in the 25% for height and 50% for weight. I guess these two really are night and day.

Callee is up to 31 inches and 20 pounds 3 ounces. She has really grown since her last check up. She was 18.1 pounds and only 27 inches at her one year. Maybe that is why she is so defiant, growing pains (just kidding). Just wanted to give that quick update. Have a great weekend, I'm going to sure try!

One going on puberty!

Here is the dilemma. After reading Life with Hannah and Lily I realize I am not alone. Callee has a horrible disposition sometimes (I think she'll start her period any minute) and other times, she is the happiest most cuddly baby around (I indulge this). You would think her zodiac sign is Gemini, but it's not. I love the child to death, but she is starting to wear my patience too thin. I feel horrible because every night I can't stop watching the clock thinking, "Is it bedtime yet?" I am not trying to wish her life away, but I wish for bedtime every. single. day!

Let me give you a little background information. Taylor was such a happy baby all the time. She rarely cried, never through all out tantrums, and in the event she had a minor melt down, you could calmly talk to her. She was a very rational person from a very young age. She talked extremely early and could comprehend what you were telling her. Even today she says many things that makes you ask her, "How old are you," to which she happily replies, "3!" I am not trying to compare my children, but you have to understand where I am coming from instead of saying "It's just her age." It's not just her age, Taylor must have never been 15 months if it's her age. It's her I think! What am I going to do with a 15 month old who, when throwing a fit, will hit, kick, throw something (including herself) and fall out all over. I do time outs with her and she gets up and is fine for a little while and then the saga continues.

Like I said, I am not trying to compare these two, but Callee has always been very unpleasant. Maybe it was the way she was brought into the world, but she literally screamed for 9 1/2 months. I loved her then as I do now, but all too often I would think, "Please just shut up. I can't take it anymore." I hated feeling this way and I hate that I am starting to feel like she is once again defeating me. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a "lay down and take it" kind of person, so why am I letting a 15 month old kick my butt?

I am asking for any one's advice. If you read and just don't comment if you have something to give, please let me know. I would appreciate it. By the way, notice the photo above? How old is she 15? And below is Dr. Evil, but she is happy here!

Here is Taylor with her goofy smile:

This and That

Yesterday my sister and I took all the kids to McDonald's to play. I know, huge germ pit and really, what lives in there anyway? This McDonald's doesn't have a ball pit, only the tubes and slides and such, so in my eyes it's not quite as disgusting. The kids had a ball, except for Callee who had to sit on time out. She has such an attitude; it really is amazing how young these girls get them. I thought I had at least a few more years before this started, you know at least until puberty and hormones. Not a chance with this child. I was holding her milk for her so she wouldn't spill it, but she didn't want to take a drink that way, she wanted to hold it herself. Not a chance Callee Rose. She started throwing a fit and crying, you had to be there to really appreciate the attitude that comes out in these times. So we put her on time out. I thought she was screaming before that. She was wailing so hard and so loud it was borderline embarrassing. When her minute was up, she was all blotchy and red from screaming so I offered her the milk again (this was mean I know, but I wanted to see if what they say is true. They say if you use time out before they are 2 you are wasting your time because they don't get the concept and will keep repeating the behavior.) Well, she drank the milk nicely without having to hold it herself. Moral of the story: Callee is either a genius or these "experts" aren't so smart. I think I will keep doing things my way.

Here is another issue I have been thinking about lately: potty training. Not that I expect her to be potty trained in the next 6 months or anything, but we started sitting Taylor on the potty to get her comfortable with it when she was only 9 months. Callee is 14 months and has only sat on a potty one time. Taylor was completely potty trained one month after she turned 2 and at this rate Callee will be going to kindergarten with diapers. Ok, probably not, but I should probably start her sitting on the potty and trying to teach her the way I was teaching Taylor way before this age. The problem is I stayed home until Taylor was almost 3. I wish I could take a year off and get Callee potty trained and then go back to work. Am I doing a disservice to Callee by working? Is Taylor the one better off because I stayed home with her? I hate these guilty feelings, am I spending too much time with one and not enough with the other? Is this one going to get mad because that one got to do (fill in the blank)? I think I'm going to go scream now.

Taylor started preschool

Taylor started preschool on Tuesday. She goes every Tuesday and Thursday and so far, she seems to like it. On Tuesday when we dropped her off, she broke my heart. There are about 14 kids in her class (3 teachers), but 10 of them go to the same church. Taylor doesn't happen to be in that group. She looked so sad and lonely standing there by herself. She is so shy that she won't introduce herself to anyone, but she said she did meet a little boy named Connor. Hopefully this will help her and she will become used to her new routine. She didn't cry at all though which really impressed me. On the first day she got to paint a big apple and she loves to paint so she was thrilled. She can also tell you apple starts with "a" and she knows how to spell her name. Before when you asked her to spell her name, she would say T-a-y and then a bunch of other letters that are not in her name. Now she can tell you T-a-y-l-o-r. I was pretty impressed. I'm not sure what she got to do today, one of the downfalls of working full time, but I'm sure I'll hear all about it if she'll talk to me on my lunch and if not at 5:30. I miss my girls so much when I'm at work, especially when I have really bad days like today, but I know I'm doing this for them to have a better life and we are doing the best we can. I just hope someday they understand that too.

We had a really busy weekend and like always every place we went I forgot my camera. I get so mad at myself about that. Saturday was my nephews birthday party. Nothing special just cake and ice cream and presents. It was nice because the kids all got to play together and then apparently Casia and Taylor didn't get enough of each other because Tay stayed at my sister's house. They had a really good time and she came home Sunday afternoon.

When Taylor got home, we went to Mike's grandma's for a picnic and some games. We played lasso golf and corn holes, which I suck at both but it was still fun. All the kids were running around and we ate way too much food. It was all so good you had to try a little of everything. Time went so fast while we were there and by the time I checked the time it was 8:30. That is Callee's normal bed time so no wonder why she was so fussy. We headed home to put two exhausted little girls to bed and an exhausted mommy followed not long after. It was overall a great day, but I was beat and I knew Monday was going to be just as bad.

Monday my sister and I took her two kids and Taylor to the Canfield fair. Mike had to help his sister move so he couldn't go and we knew Callee wouldn't get a nap if we took her so Mike's mom watched her for a couple hours. CJ, Casia, and Taylor rode every ride they could and ate a lot of food. They got to play this game and no matter what you won, so it was nice for them. They all had a really good time, but again after walking in the sun for hours I was completely exhausted and sun burned. It was a great end to a great summer and I can't wait until next time, except my baby will be 2 next summer...SCARY!!!

I hope everyone else had a great weekend and a wonderful week!

Taylor loves to pose, but at this point probably wished I would have put the camera down!

AMAZING!!!

Last night I was writing Mike a note before I went to bed reminding him to turn off the porch light when he came in. In typical Taylor fashion on the bottom of the note I had to write everyone's name. She then wanted to write her own note to him and I let her. Then she said can you help me write my name and we did that. She was then ready to try to write her own name. Amazingly, she did. You could tell what each letter was even though they weren't in a straight line. I was so proud of her. Just wanted to brag a little, but I'll take a picture of it this weekend and post it here for all to see. But I'm off now and I'll post more later. That's my little brain!

Why is that?

My children are hilarious. Just little every day things they do (like the face to your right) crack me up. Of course, nothing in particular comes to mind right now, but looking back over the course of their lives, there have been some hilarious times coupled with plenty of good ole belly laughs. So then, why is it everyone thinks their kid is the funniest, cutest, smartest, best at everything? Whether we mean it as a competition or just some good ole fashion bragging, people's (children's) feelings get hurt in the crossfire. It's not that we ever intend to make one of them feel inadequate, but so and so talked at x age, why isn't your child? Is there something wrong? These may be innocent statements maybe the moron doesn't realize everyone develops differently and at different ages, but none the less, if this keeps up over the course of their lives, someone's feelings will get hurt.

My family is great for this unfortunately. When I was pregnant with Taylor, another one of my cousins had a little girl 7 months older then Tay. Well, unfortunately, she walked really early (9 months) and Taylor walked really late (15 months), from then on the battle was waged. This is not how I want to raise my children. You can do this, but so and so can't. I never want my kids to feel like they are better than someone or below someone. Mike and I do the best we can to give them not only what they need, but also what they want. My kids do not go without the necessities, but in the same token, we are not loaded so the minute they ask for something, we don't run out and buy it for them. They are loved to the extreme, have food on the table, clothes on their backs, a roof over their head, and a huge amount of toys. Why is it then, that I constantly feel they should have more and be in this or that? Why can't I just be grateful that we have two healthy kids who need for nothing and are loved and provided for?

Well, I'm off for now, just a little somethin, somethin to ponder. A much more fun and happy post tomorrow with lots of great pictures. But here is a picture of the caged beast herself.

Isn't she lovely?

I was doing a little research (bored at work again) because I have no idea what Callee's name means. I just named her that because I like the name. When thinking of names while I was pregnant, I researched all of the ones I liked, but for some reason never thought to look up Callee and see what it meant. Before I knew it she was here and had no name. We decided on Callee because all I went through it was only right for me to name her, right? I absolutely loved (and still do) the name Callee. It has such a sunny ring to it. I looked her name up yesterday and it means "beautiful" or "lovely". Not a bad choice considering I had no idea what it meant. So I was talking to my mom about it yesterday because Callee had a very fussy, unhappy day. She is either getting more teeth or she is growing and just wasn't happy. I made the very mean comment of "There is nothing lovely about that scream. I wish she'd just stop. I don't know what's wrong with her except she's tired and I can't put her to bed right now." I really need to stop and count my blessings. 13 months ago I thought this child wasn't going to make it. I would have paid good money to hear that scream if she wasn't with me so why do I get so impatient with the crying. I know it gets on other people's nerves too, but it's supposed to, she is not their baby. She is mine and I should value the time, happy or upset, that I have with her. Now let's just see if I can put those words into practice next time she is just plain unhappy, which will probably be tonight.

I took some pictures of Callee last night because Josh had taken Taylor to the park to play. I was trying to get a little bit of cleaning done and this is the beautiful face that came waddling out of her bedroom toward me, I had to share this with Terry and Sandy cuz they are the ones who bought it for her. I began to crack up, which is good because I wasn't in the most pleasant mood due to the incessant screaming, and then she started laughing. Of course she didn't have a clue what I was laughing about, but I guess what they say is true, laughter and smiling are contagious. Here is wishing many smiles and plenty of laughter to you and yours. By the way, does anybody even read this or am I talking to myself? Leave me a comment if you do cuz I all ready know what goes on day to day. Here is one more of Ms. Lovely!

Callee's Eye

Okay this post is going to seem pretty terrible to a lot of people so if you don't like stories of abuse don't read on. I took Callee to the doctor yesterday for the bump on her eye. She is only a tiny little 18 pounds 1 ounce. I think my kids are just very tiny boned. Anyways, I also mentioned the hard bumps she has on her breasts. The ones that have been there since she was born and I can't remember to mention, only because I am a great mom. It turns out the hard bumps are actually breast tissue. Babies develop this from all the hormones given to them by the mother in utero (sp?) and usually get rid of it just before birth with the amount of growing they do. Since she was early, she never had a chance to get rid of it. So, I have to keep an eye on them and if they get bigger, she may have a hormonal problem, but they've stayed the same for 13 months so I think she'll be okay. Onto that eye. I have enclosed a picture of the bump and swelling that has incurred. The doctor had some fancy name for it, but it's pretty much an allergy bump. One of the glands in her eyelid is clogged due to mucus and other allergy related fluids. He gave her an eye drop as well as put her on Zyrtec to help alleviate some of the symptoms so this doesn't keep happening. She also has to go to the eye doctor because she is still cross eyed. We should know when that appointment will be next week some time. On to the abuse. We are getting ready to leave the doctor's office and I am getting her dressed and listening to his instructions. I went to pull her shorts up and SLAM!, face first into the concrete floor. Boy did I feel horrible and like the world's worst mother. As she was screaming she was burying her face into my shirt. When I finally got her to look at me there was blood everywhere. That is the second time this week she split her lip. The doctor tried to get the bleeding to stop as I tried to calm her down. We thought she was going to need a stitch but it quit bleeding on its own eventually. Boy do I win mother of the year abusing my daughter in front of the doctor. We went to my mother's to pick Taylor up who was still at Chuck E. Cheese, it being a rainy day and all, what better place to take some kids? Taylor came back and we were off to pick up Callee's two prescriptions. Two of them cost me $64, and I wonder why we can't get ahead. $64 for two prescriptions? Does anyone else find this ridiculous? Anyways, we got home and it was bath time. I took a few goofy pictures of the girls in the bathtub as well as after they got out. Check out Callee's eyes in this pic, could they turn in anymore? Sandy, you're a nurse, is this normal?Taylor is such a goofy child. When I asked her why she was doing that, she said, "Just to see if you saw me." Okay, well I saw you and now everyone can see nicely down your throat. No strep there. When I got them out of the bath tub I began doing Callee's hair and Taylor was doing her own. Here is a picture of the great hair dresser's work. She did do her hair beautifully and let's face it she deserves a round of applause for not getting the comb stuck in her hair.

I put Callee to bed after I did her hair and I was going to try to do Taylor's hair. She kept telling me she wanted it down so I just brushed it out. Then she said, "Mom, I want my hair like yours." I told her I was not cutting her hair. She seemed mad I didn't understand what she meant and said, "I don't want it cut, I want that thing in my hair like you have." I still had no clue so I asked her if she could show me, and she politely guided me toward the bathroom. She pointed to my straightener and said, "That!" Well that makes sense now doesn't it. I told her I could not straighten her hair all the time, but I would do it for her tonight just for fun. So I did and she looked really cute. And then Taylor went to bed.

She woke up this morning about 8:00 very whiny and that is so not how I want to be woke up. She then proceeded to start screaming and pretty much having a fit. I wanted to beat her butt. She woke Callee up, who I luckily got to go back to sleep because if she gets up before 9:00, Mike is in for a long day. Is there any way I can get her to wake up not screaming? She doesn't have to be in the best mood, but I can't take a huge fit that early in the morning and she cannot keep waking her sister up. I even put her to bed earlier than normal last night, what gives? Any suggestions from any of you out there? Here is the diva herself posing for the camera with her freshly straightened hair. Doesn't she have much attitude?

Taylor is officially enrolled in preschool!

Well, I did it. I enrolled her in preschool and she seemed to like the atmosphere. She got to meet her teacher and Callee went with us too. She told her teacher, "My mom is going to stay with me," to which her teacher politely replied, "No honey preschool is where kids come to learn and be away from their parents to play with other kids." She seemed a little uneasy and very brashfully replied, "Well she is today!" Ms. LaDonna (the teacher) tried to tell her that was okay, but when school actually started, she would have to come alone. Taylor just ignored her, so I started second guessing my decision.

There were books and easels everywhere. There was a sandbox and a fish tank. Taylor as well as Callee seemed to be fascinated by all of this as they were running from one thing to another. Ms. LaDonna and I sat and chatted about different things, what I expected and what I should expect, and I must say I was certainly impressed by her approach to every subject, whether I was asking the questions or Taylor was. At one point Taylor announced quite loudly that she had to poop, "RIGHT NOW!" I started to pick Callee up and head down the hall when she offered to keep Callee with her. I warned her Callee would probably start screaming as she is a huge mama's girl and with that Taylor and I were off to the bathroom which was just a couple of doors down so I could still hear everything. Callee wasn't crying, in fact she was giggling her little lamb giggle ( I need to post a video of that here sometime.) This really impressed me with her.

When we made it back to the room, the girls continued exploring. It's amazing how big of a mess those two can make in 35 minutes. Ms. LaDonna and I continued talking about Taylor's developments and then she spoke with Taylor. She was impressed with her vocabulary, who wouldn't be? And she said she seems like a very happy well adjusted 3 year old.

She sent us on our way with a hand book and some forms to fill out. I left her a registration fee check and told her I would contact her next week about setting up another meeting with her to drop off the papers and go over any final questions. I was getting ready to have the girls help me pick up the toys and I told them it was time to go. My very precious child decided to inform me I could just leave her there because Ms. LaDonna was her teacher now. This made me have mixed feelings. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard for Taylor to leave us to go to school like I thought it would be and yet it broke my heart. Boy am I glad that I'll be at work when she goes so I won't even notice she's gone.

Overall, I was very impressed with not only the center, but her teacher. I feel very comfortable about sending her here. There is some kind of peace and I feel like maybe this is where Taylor needs to be at this time in her life. All that I am asking from you guys is a little prayer that all will go well on September 4, her first drop off day.

Reminiscing about Callee's birthday

Thursday Callee will be 13 months, hard to believe...I know. I do not want her to grow up, she is our last baby. I was thinking today that I never posted the pictures of her party. This one is my mom holding her at her party and doesn't she look as happy as always? I don't know why this child hates life so much, she is never happy! I am hoping that will change one day and she is now an excellent walker. She still falls occassionally, but she has decided walking takes too long she'd rather run. So now she is trying to run. This girl and I are going to fight so much I can all ready tell. She is strong headed and smacks anybody in her way. I told her yesterday not to hit because it is not nice, and she smiled right before she slapped me. So I scolded her and she laughed. I don't know what I'm going to do with this child. Anyways, the pictures down below are of Callee's smash cake and her just getting into the cake. Unfortunately, I didn't get an end product picture because we were all covered in it. Anyone who knows Callee knows she isn't afraid to get dirty so you can imagine what she looked like. Enjoy!

Tonight, we go look at a preschool for Taylor and if all goes well, we will also enroll her. She is so very excited as you can imagine. I think this will really be good for her, but like I said before, it means my baby is getting too big. I'll probably be a basket case when Callee is ready to go. I found this pic of Taylor when she was a little over 1. It goes with the spaghetti faced picture in the previous post, but I had to post this one because the face she is making is priceless and I had to post it. Also, I think they look so much alike now. In the picture, Taylor is about a month older than Callee is now, is it just me or do the two sisters who used to look absolutely nothing alike have a striking resemblence now? Let me know what you think.

This weekend has been a ton of fun even though we haven't done much. We met Ashley for dinner Friday night and here are the girls eating the leftovers on Saturday. We went to Max and Erma's in Cranberry, PA (yes I drove an hour to go to Max and Erma's only because it was Ash!) We had a great meal and over all, the girls were pretty well behaved. It was so good to see Ash considering we haven't seen her since Lacey's open house, June 9. I miss her a lot. Hopefully she'll come for the weekend soon. Saturday, we watched Taylor's friend Makayla while her parents were at a wedding. What a treat....I do NOT want 1, 2, and 3 year old little girls. I'm not going to write about that right now but maybe another day.

Anyways, we went to church this morning for Taylor's Bible School program. She didn't want to get up and sing and do the motions. I told her she had to be a big girl and show me what she learned. Her teacher told her she would give her a bag of candy if she would stand up there like a big girl and that is what she did....stood there. No singing, no dancing, not even a smile, but it was still wonderful. I'll write more tomorrow, but I'll leave you with some really old pics of Taylor.





Here she is as a baby and a toddler. The last pic she would have been two in 3 months. Time changes everything...unfortunately.

The Dilemma's conclusion

I did it, I called around and got information on a few different preschools that come highly recommended and I get to go look at 3 of them next week. Taylor isn't as excited as I thought she'd be, but she seems pleased. I don't know what to do. I think this is going to be very overwhelming for me but I have to do it right?

I don't even know what I am worried about unless I think they won't take care of her. She only goes two days a week for 2 - 3 hours, depending on where we send her. The worst part is that it is in the morning when I'd be at work anyways. Talk about anxiety over nothing. I am just so worried that they won't take care of her and what if something happens to her. Too many what if's. I think I'd like to home school my kids and have them live in a bubble please!

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Callee, on the other hand, is walking so well these days. It is amazing. Just a few short days ago she could only take 3 - 4 steps and now she is everywhere. She still falls, but she can walk from one end of the house to the other and although she does stumble, she is getting very good at catching her balance again. And, she also had 4 teeth break through yesterday. Just a little while longer of her being miserable. Thank goodness because she could possibly be one of the crankiest babies ever!

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Congratulations to Terry who became a grandfather 3 times over on Wednesday. His daughter had a baby girl who weighed 7lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 inches long. Terry, it's official, you are surrounded by women. This makes granddaughter number 3.

Bible School

Well, Taylor went to Bible School last night. The babysitter drops her off with her kids and then her old Sunday School teacher brings her home. This really is a nice set up for me and really the only way she could go. It doesn't start until 6:30 so I would have to rush home, get dinner, feed her, change her and rush her to the church. It ends at 8:30 and Callee is usually all ready in bed or headed there then. I was worried when I picked Callee up from the babysitter yesterday that Taylor wouldn't want to go and instead would want to go home with me....not the case.

She had just woken up so yes she did want cuddled for a minute, but when I asked if she was going home with me or to Bible School with Abby and Alyssa the answer was certainly clear...she was ready to be a big girl. I was very happy and sad at the same time, but I told her if she needed me to have Shelley call me.

I looked at the clock and it was 8:45. No call, no Taylor. I figured she would be home soon so I sat on the porch and waited. 9:00 came and still no Taylor, so I called Shelley. She explained they were almost home and she was proud of me for not calling before as she assumed I would. Am I that psycho? I have become much more laxed these days without calling people 600 times in an hour just to see if she is still breathing. I saw a van pull around the corner and it was Taylor, home at last. She hopped out of the van and exclaimed, "I didn't even cry!" Of course I was proud of her, but then she reminded me that maybe she could go to preschool this year, as she was now a "big girl."

I told her we would talk about it, but maybe this proves she might be ready. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

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Callee enjoyed every minute of being the center of attention and I think she really needed it yesterday. She is getting about 7 teeth so she just wanted to be held and not have to fight for the attention and who can blame her, it's not like she was held non stop for 9 months. It was nice to focus only on her and this week will be a nice break from our routine.

The Toy Room

Well, we were so busy this weekend. We cleaned out the basement and got about 15 bags worth of garbage. Mostly old stuff we'd been hanging on to or papers we thought we might need.....turns out we didn't. We also went through all the old baby clothes and gave about 10 bags to Good Will. My children have/had entirely too many clothes. Well, Mike and I went through most of our clothes and gave a couple bags each to Good Will also. Okay so maybe we all have too many clothes. Regardless, our house actually seems moved into not just sort of staying there. It took us two years, but we are almost there. We put a toy room upstairs for Taylor and her millions of toys, some of which we also gave to Good Will, but she still has tons. She loves it and wants us to move her room upstairs.

Yet another dillema. I love the fact that they share a room on the same floor as us except when they wake each other up. The quick fix would be to have Taylor's room upstairs, but this bothers me in so many ways. First of all, once again she is my baby and I love to have her close. Second, will she actually sleep up there when the time comes? Third, what if there is a fire? How will I get to her fast enough? I don't know what to do. I think I am having a really rough time letting her grow up and I wish I could just let her. I'm sure when I have hindered her enough and I then want her to grow up, her baby ways will drive me crazy.

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Taylor, who for the most part is a pretty big tom boy, decided this weekend she may be a little girly girl too. We went to Angie's Saturday night and she asked me to wear a dress and she absolutely insisted on bringing her purse. This purse was filled with not one but two "Princess Express" credit cards, which she faithfully calls her debit cards (do you think we use ours too much?), her sunglasses (complete with case), her cell phone (which also had a case) and her set of keys. Off we went. The entire way there she kept asking me if I would yell at Christopher (who is 6) if he tried to play with her purse. I tried to inform her he wouldn't be interested in her purse, but as soon as we arrived she told him not to touch her purse. To this he said "I'm a boy!" She was then convinced, finally, that he would not be bothering her purse.

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Callee was up until midnight last night. I have no idea why. She went to bed around her normal time and for whatever reason, about 10:30 she was up and we couldn't get her back to sleep. Usually, I would have been a little irritated and begging her to go back to bed, but she was hysterical last night. She is still doing the few steps and falling, but she is getting better at it, however, last night was a different story. She would start over by the TV in the living room and run to the couch before grabbing on and giggling. She kept doing this over and over making Mike and I laugh so hard (probably from being exhausted.) At one point, I was doing the one eye cry. My monkey, she is a riot.

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I think a lot of times I take my kids for granted. I am making a conscience effort from now on not to do that. I want to enjoy every moment-good and bad-every day.

By the way, Taylor is going to Bible School this week. We'll see how she does and maybe this could determine whether she really needs to start preschool yet or not!

Taylor's school

I am faced with a dillema. Taylor wants to go to school this year. She is three and I could put her in preschool, however, I still see her as my baby. I want just one more year of her at home and then she can go to preschool next year.

Here is the dilemma, Mike thinks I am only "wasting her brain" by not sending her this year. I do agree she is smart and does need to be stimulated and maybe this would help her, but like I said she is only three. The other part of the dilemma is that she wants to go. She loves the idea of school because that is where her cousins get to go and she wants so desperately to be like them.

The problem with her wanting to go......................she thinks I can go with her. I have tried to explain to her that she will go to school with other kids but mommy and daddy can't go and for whatever reason, she isn't getting it. She acts like she doesn't even hear me, like she is in denial or something. How can I get this through her head and am I making the right decision by keeping her home another year or should I let her go and grow up?

I need some advice, but I don't know who to turn to................HELP!!!!

Callee is WALKING!!!!!!!!!

Callee has decided it is time to start walking, which I am very grateful for. I know everyone thinks I am crazy, but she will be so much happier when she can keep up with the other kids. She can all ready reach anything she wants so why not walk as she's doing it?

It is so cute because she is doing the 3 or 4 steps and then sit down, which Taylor never did. I was a little disappointed when Taylor never did it, but in typical Taylor fashion, she had to be completely sure and perfect before she'd try it. And she was. She didn't walk until she was fifteen months but one day she got up and walked across the room without stumbling. It was amazing because I thought she'd never learn because she always acted so uninterested.

Callee is a completely different child all together. She isn't afraid to take any risks. She doesn't have to be completely sure of herself, she is more carefree. The child has absolutely not one ounce of fear. She will let you swing her around without her blinking an eye. She has the most precious giggle while you are doing it and something about that giggle lets all your fears, worries, cares, and stress go out the door if only for a few minutes. These are the moments I have grown to love more than anything else and after a bad day at work, I live for the belly laugh of an innocent baby, not yet tainted by this dirty world.

Congratulations Callee...........I am proud of you!