Adding Insult to Injury

April 29th:

This is the chair on my back porch. Good thing I pulled out the patio furniture and cushions, what with it being spring and all.

Oh, yeah, and I think my pregnant self has kidney stones.

Kill me now, April 29th. I hate you already.

How many licks?

Just how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

Maybe somebody with a lot more patience could let me know, 'cause I, of the supremely impatient type, have never made it without just biting right into that tootsie roll part.

And while we're on the subject of how many and patience and such...

Does anybody know how many 11:00 pm fruit smoothies, ham and cheese sandwiches with jalapeno peppers and servings of bruschetta it takes to make a small person? (I know...weird cravings, right?)

As for that, I may have already lost count but I'll let you know on October 6th.

Oh, please, please, please... pray for me that this baby has less of me and can be patient enough to wait at least until September to make HER appearance.

And for those of you who don't do so well with subtlety, yes, this is an announcement and yes, it's a girl!

Stating the obvious

Why YES! My husband is out of town. Funny you should ask. How did you know? Is it because it's almost midnight and I am not in bed? Or maybe that the house smells like pizza? Oh, wait, I know... I watched last night's American Idol and tonight's result show in one sitting. Me, alone, here, wondering what my problem is. Why don't I just go to bed? I can sprawl comfortably across the middle of the bed, I don't have to wake up to his early alarm or his snoring, I hardly have to make the bed in the morning because it looks, well, undisturbed.

**Whether or not I snore is a hotly debated issue but I DO have video of him snoring.

(if you can hear his snoring over my giggling, that is!)

So what's the deal?

Maybe...it's because...

I slept alone for fifteen months when he was in Iraq and I just plain don't like it anymore.

So come home soon, Stew. I'm tired.

Dear Hadley,

Nine years ago right now, I performed a miracle. I gave birth to you, a beautiful little girl. You are the one who made me a mom, the one who made Stewart a dad, the one who made us feel like a family. You are the one who taught me that I had more love in my heart than I know what to do with. When the doctor handed you to me, I looked into your eyes and had the sensation of staring into eyes that I knew so well. Eyes that may as well have been my own. Not that our eyes look alike...it wasn't that. Yours were the eyes of a kindred spirit, the eyes of a loved one, eyes that knew my heart. You knew me and I knew you. Even though it had taken ten hours of labor, I could not sleep. I spent the entire night awake, staring at you. My baby!

Hadley Anne Peay. You taught me to be a mother and each day that I know you, I love you more. Because of you, my Hadley girl, I grew to know our Savior and to long for His coming, to long for the day that you will be made whole. But also because of you, I learned that it's really okay to be who we are today, right now, at this moment. Because you, Hadley, are so much more than okay.

Every day you remind me. Every day you are my miracle.

Happy birthday, Hadley Anne. We love you!

What time is it?

I don't know about where you are but here...

It's spring break o'clock.

Oh yes.

No preschool for a week.

No early morning catching the bus for a week.

No hurry up, it's time to go.

No get to bed, it's a school night.

No dance, gymnastics, piano lessons, soccer.

Which means no car pools.

Ahhhhh.....Spring Break.

The beautiful prelude to summer.

Short enough that you can really enjoy having all your kids around.

To kick it off, I'm still in my pajamas.

I'm thinking about getting dressed before noon.

I'm also thinking about cleaning out the garage but that definitely won't happen before noon.